JC Entertainment
by Doug Flowe
JC Entertainment (Joy City Entertainment), a leading online game developer and publisher of MMO games was first established in 1994 as Chung Media. After developing their own game engines, server and client network, JC Entertainment launched notable on-line titles that helped develop Korea’s gaming industry further. With 10 million registered users of their games, JCE has made breakthroughs in online game play with titles like Warbible and their flagship game RedMoon, released in December of 1999. JCE’s 2002 line-up includes Priest and Netsphere. Both are being developed for online play and should be available Q42002.
Priest
In an effort to depart from the all-too-overused cliché of medieval/fantasy worlds in most RPG’s, Priest will be a
MMORPG set in the American Wild West. And no - we’re not talking about the cell-shaded adolescent Wild West portrayed in Wild Arms either. Priest will paint the darkest, most hellish portrait of the Wild West introducing a side of the old frontier that has never been seen before. Calling it a “hard gore, action-horror”, players can expect to deal with much more than gunslingers and drunken bar brawls.
Players assume the role of Ivan Issacs, a lost priest who sold his soul to battle the demon Temozarela. The game will be played combining traditional RPG elements with those of action and shooter games. Priest promises expansive levels, 30 playable characters and competition between online players. There will be player vs. player/NPC interaction plus quests to complete along with the main story. Woven into the story will be a plethora of interesting characters and dark scenery embodying the beautiful comic book style from the series it's based on.
Recently we had a chance to get some questions about Priest answered by Jason Kim.
Priest Interview
GCM: For those not familiar with the Korean “Priest” comics, can you give us a brief overview?
Priest, by Cartoonist Min-Woo Hyung, is a comic that has been published in the Korean weekly comic magazine, “So Nyun Champ,” since 1998. Unlike most Asian comics, Priest daringly excludes the Anime-like presentation with a new visual of rough, straight lines and wild composition; which was quite an issue in the Comic World. The main character, Ivan Isaac, is a Priest following God’s path who becomes a soulless, faithless being in order to seek out his revenge and takes on a journey of slaughtering. This is a very challenging setting for the story, which the Korean Comic Culture gave the rookie award to in 1999.
GCM: What is one of the most noticeable/unique features of Priest?
The biggest feature in Priest is its spectacular world and distinct game system. The setting of the Wild West, during the Gold Rush Era, with Zombies and Magic roaming around is a totally new fantasy world attempted by none of any other genre. (Michael Crichton’s movie ‘WestWorld,’ starring Yul Brynner, had the creative setting of a Western background with Robots fighting, but this was an imaginative world for a future western setting.) Just exploring this new world and new types of creatures give lots of interest that could not be felt by the typical medieval and fantasy worlds.
We are also working on ways to include creative new systems that will further enhance the game world. Some of these new systems are the Compound Items, users will be able to construct/dismantle the items found within the game in various ways, a Fatality ability which allows for the ruthless slaughtering of opposing forces, and the “Guardian Angel” system that enables users to develop their own “pets.”
GCM: Will all players play as “Priest” or will there be other characters to choose from?
Instead of playing as the main character, Ivan Issac, the players will choose from 5 unique classes of characters living during the time period from both sides of the factions. The two factions are the Pilgrims, who follow Ivan Issac helping him on his quest, or the Preachers who will let nothing stand in their way of destroying Ivan and all who aid him. However, for those who are familiar with the comic series and wish to live out the comic as one of the specific characters, there will be various character models available which will resemble some familiar faces from the story. As for the actual characters themselves, they will be present as NPC’s to assist the player’s progression through the land.
GCM: I like the departure from the “medieval/fantasy” setting - how is the Western atmosphere applied in order to add to or change the usual formula of RPG gaming?
The universal knowledge of a Role Playing Game, such as STR refers to strength and increases physical damage and weight capacity, will not be modified or recreated for Priest. But, instead of the castles and untouched fairy tale forests there will be western villages and vast plains showing signs of wandering life. Instead of the Dragons and mystical creatures there will be Zombies and unfriendly wildlife, perhaps even the occasional bandits. Therefore, there will be a need for various elements to be added/edited or deleted to fit with these settings.
Our biggest hope is for the players to receive an entirely new and unique feeling, but still be accustomed to the playability and game qualities. A good literature provides familiarity through “de-familiarization” yet it is not redundant. It is creative, but not “wordy.” So we believe that the world of Priest will provide those existing RPG users an uncharted but familiar experience.
GCM: The screenshots look pretty dark and horrific. How does the horror element tie into the story line and gameplay?
In typical online games the users do not easily feel the “Horror,” even if the creatures do look very gory. This is because in a MMOG it is not so easy to incarnate the feeling of being “trapped” in a closed space. This is due to the fact that countless users will play in countless areas at the same time, doing things that we do not even expect. (Kind of like trying to scare all the people in Central Park by yourself…)
Therefore, in order to provide the users with a deep story, we will introduce a variety of quests strictly for an individual player or a small group. These “individual player quests” will not be like the typical MMOG quests involving of, “kill creature X,” or, “deliver this note to merchant Y.” (Of course, there will also be other minor quests that do have these qualities) The individual quests will take place in a rather closed and more horrific environment. Due to the limited amount of players allowed in these quest areas there will be special portals used to handle the crowds and allow multiple parties to participate in their own quests at the same time. Through these individual player quests, we intend to give the feeling of fear, provide a deeper scenario, and show various game-modes that otherwise wouldn’t be used around in the main fields - like the first person mode. And of course the main Keyword of this would be, “Horror.”
GCM: What games would you compare Priest to and why?
Our answer to the question would be, “We would not dare compare our game with any other.” (If you could find a game to compare with Priest, go ahead.) However, we can mention a few influencing games for Priest. Max Payne and Devil May Cry are two games of big influence towards developing Priest. These two games provide great action and spectacular combat, which later became the major concept for Priest’s game design, “Depiction of an exhilarating combat.” Horror games like Clive Barker’s Undying, Blood2 and Alone in the Dark were also the number one games that we needed to play before creating a game focused on horror and gore. The concept art of Blood 2, which can be called the motive of Min-Woo Hyung, gave our artists a lot of inspiration. Lastly, many of the MMOG’s like EQ and DAoC, as well as ones still being developed like Lineage 2, World of Warcraft, and Asheron’s Call 2, sometimes gave us a feeling of discouragement, but also gave us the motive to push ourselves harder and create a better game.
JC Entertainment Discography
Warbible
Redmoon
HappyCity
Gabbins Family
Joy City
Axis
Future Games
Priest
NetsphereThanks a lot for your time Jason.
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