Runescape 3

"This isn't how it ends..."

- Duke Horacio during the fall of old Lumbridge

RS3 or more formally Runescape: Rise of the Colonies Build 34.12.92, is an action-adventure 3rd person massive multiplayer online role playing game developed by Bungie LLC and Jagex Ltd. ROTC began as a private server managed by former Jagex Employee James Fleyton, who experimented with tools meant for the scrapped MMORPG 'Project: Raven' which was his main project at Jagex.

ROTC's private beta began on July 7, 2011, only one year after publisher, Activision signed a 10 year deal with Jagex to create the first successful Multi-Console MMO. Activision also requested the assistance of the veteran developers at Bungie LLC, whom had much experience with medieval RPG's in the company's infancy. RuneScape: Rise of the Colonies began development soon after. Rise of the Colonies, codenamed PROJECT: COLONISER, named after small-time YouTube star 'Coloniser' began internal beta testing on March 11, 2011 after the legal struggle with Microsoft came to a satisfying agreement for all sides.

Beta Testing
ROTC became widely known as the first title to support UNIVERSE LIVE, which allowed Xbox Live Users to play against PS3 and PC users. The game is also the first to utilize the revolutionary GGX Graphics Upgrade for the Xbox 360, which latched into the hard drive slot and contained the extra processing power the Xbox 360 sorely needed to run ROTC.

ROTC received extremely positive reviews from numerous review sites, while many complained of the GGX requirement and laggy interface.

Full Release
The full game was released worldwide on September 20, 2011 and utilized a heavily modified HALO: Reach engine to power the game. Bungie and Jagex released numerous free upgrades to the game such as the long awaited mounts. The graphics in-game were praised by many as revolutionary - many especially praised the liquid physics of the game, all of which were thanks to the licensed CryEngine IV to render beautiful scenery.

ROTC's servers crashed within 24 hours due to the incredible influx of new users, and were restored soon after.

New Features
RuneScape: Rise of the Colonies incorporated many new features, many of which were privately produced mods incorporated into the main game with extensive de-bugging. The new features include, but are not limited to:


 * Campaign Mode: ROTC included Jagex's first single player story mode, developed by Bungie LLC the campaign allowed up to four players to 'jump-in' and out at any times to assist in the New Lumbridge's endless campaign against Varrock.


 * Mounts: Players can now use mounts, controlled somewhat like vehicles from Bungie's HALO series. Mounts range from horses to dragons to gnomecopters, all of which were well-received.


 * New world!: ROTC incorporated a revolutionary new system where each 'world' (e.g World 1, World 2) was to be colonised by the players, beginning the world as a barren landscape to be built from the ground up. Players were tasked with constructing their own homes, while gathering resources by mining from the non-regenerating natural resources of the land, and killing off a wide range of creative monsters.


 * Catalystic PvP: ROTC included 'PK' worlds which included various pre-built structures from the various factions from the deep single player mode. PK utilized a first or third person mode and destruction physics rendered by Cryengine 4. PvP is based off the initial concept for the 'wilderness' in DeviousMUD (The predecessor to Andrew Gower's RuneScape). PvP included a new, addicting and intuitive level-up system which combined the skill-based level-up used in first-person shooters such as 'Call of Duty' and RPGs and MMOs such as 'World of Warcraft' and 'The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim'.


 * Limited Resources: Resources, now shockingly plentiful, no-longer respawn and are required to be bought from the mainland, using a new system which utilizes RuneScape 2's Grand Exchange and actual items, and all would only respawn once every two months (After Bungie's WAR Games) in which players would have to defeat waves and waves of various monsters for several days in which all player-build structures would go under attack, and will be destroyed if players did not protect them. After days of fighting the monsters would retreat, and resources would be restored.


 * Incredible, lush world: Aside from the beautiful graphics rendered by Cryengine 4 and the HALO engine, the in-game world, built to support the new-extreme influx of Console Players and UNIVERSE LIVE was featured in the Guiness World Records, Gaming Edition as the world's largest non-randomly generated landscape (Rivaling The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall's astonishing 45,000 Square Kilometers! (Over 3 times larger than great Britain itself).


 * Vertical World: Due to criticism over RuneScape 2's flat world, Rise of The Colonies features the most versatile and vertical world than Jagex has ever created.


 * COLONY System: As the game's main goal is to colonise Elleswyr, a new, untamed land players were introduced to a new, revolutionary system based off of Bungie's Forge 2.0, players are sent off of the port to Gielinor to create their own world. The COLONY system simulates a colony where players build their own cities (which does NOT involve scripted events) and must keep the city/town/village alive by fortifying its defenses and bringing enough food into the town to keep its citizens alive.

The COLONY system allows players to realistically create towns, which requires the community to work together to create. As the city is constructed, revolutionary AI controlled NPC's will find the city and settle their own homes there.

As towns are built, similar to EVE Online the community is what creates the game, almost all shops, and all companies are managed by clans of players, creating a realistic, and incredible atmosphere. It is only when the first towns are built by players, will Jagex and Bungie introduce QUESTS into the MMO.

Bungie and Jagex attempt to alter as little as possible to create the quests, utilizing, and protecting player-made structures and caves to do so.


 * Tunnel System: The new Cryengine physics allow players to dig into the ground and create small habitats there.


 * Realistic Wildlife: Jagex has introduced realistic wildlife into the MMO, allowing animals to find their own way similar to Pets from RuneScape 2.

Trivia

 * ROTC can be played from either a third person perspective or first person perspective
 * Much of the in-game world was built by players themselves, and occasionally polished and fixed by the developers to look, and work better.