Hey everyone

So I thought in today’s blog post I would cover the progress of the Mafia Online project, and why I have made the decision to start again with a rebuild.

Firstly, the reason for posting this on my own blog, rather than the Mafia Online news section; a few different times I tried to set up a blog to start posting up the news and features, and the problem is I ended up spending time trying to put that site together just right, rather than trying to actually get the development done.

So, to answer some basic questions about the rebuild;

How did the original game go?

Actually, really well. For something which was never truly intended to go live, it was really well received!

What is changing so drastically that it requires a rebuild?

I should start this with how and why the original build started, it was a side project, something I could use as a playground for some new techniques I wanted to try out, without having the worries of corporate and enterprise development.

However, I showed the game to some friends, and they really like the game. Soon there was a Beta version and a few months later I decided to put the game live. I soon found that there were some real improvements to be made.

Fundamental Changes

The reason for a rebuild, is that there are some fundamental changes to the game, such as;

  1. No death/dying
  2. No timers, energy point system instead
  3. Because of point 1, we can’t do property ownership in the same way
  4.  Stronger location structure
  5. Brand new frontend, which is far more immersive and running in real time
  6. Due to all of the above, whilst there will be paid options, there will be far less, if any, emphasis on bonds. Particularly as they lose a lot of their value without timers existing, and without death there’s no requirement for a currency which can stay with you
  7. App ready, I’m building this version of the game to be ready to be deployed into an App for iOS and Android, when the time is right

Because these changes are so fundamental to the way that the game is structured, it wouldn’t be appropriate to develop this against the existing application.

Can we have a sneak peak of the features?

Absolutely. I will post videos/screenshots of the game, as they’re available, and highlight the new features. There are going to be “less” features, in terms of activities, than on the current game. However, the features will be more interactive, and being that they’re based on an energy point system, one won’t need so many features to continue playing.

Can I be a Beta tester?

If you are an existing player of the original game, then sure, I will be posting information on Play Mafia Online about recruiting Beta testers soon.