Auto Assault was a massively multiplayer online game (or MMOG), developed by NetDevil and published by NCsoft. It combined vehicular combat with role-playing elements, allowing the player to explore a post-apocalyptic future in customizable cars, motorcycles, semis, and tanks. It took inspiration, in part, from the Mad Max series of films. A 104-key PC US English QWERTY keyboard layout The Dvorak Simplified Keyboard layout A standard Hebrew keyboard showing both Hebrew and QWERTY. A computer keyboard is a peripheral partially modelled after the typewriter keyboard. ... A contemporary computer mouse, with the most common standard features: two buttons and a scroll wheel. ... Joystick elements: 1. ... “MMO” redirects here. ... NetDevil is an independently owned and operated computer games development company founded in 1997 in Louisville, Colorado in the United States. ... NCsoft (KSE: 036570) is a South Korean based online computer game company. ... Vehicular combat (also known as car combat) games are typically video or computer games where the primary focus of play concerns automobiles or other motor vehicles, normally armed with guns or other weaponry, attempting to destroy vehicles controlled by the CPU or by opposing players. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Apocalyptic science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that is concerned with the end of the world or civilization, through nuclear war, plague, or some other general disaster. ... “Car” and “Cars” redirect here. ... A motorcycle (or motorbike) is a two-wheeled vehicle powered by an engine. ... semi-trailer truck with sleeper behind the cab. ... For other uses, see Mad Max (disambiguation). ...

Players could choose to play as one of three fictional factions — Humans, Mutants, and Biomeks — as well as a class to determine the type of character they would play. The majority of the gameplay took place in a vehicle, but the player could leave the vehicle when entering towns in order to purchase items, talk to contacts, etc. Auto Assault is a massively multiplayer online game, developed by NetDevil and published by NCsoft. ... Auto Assault is a massively multiplayer online game, developed by NetDevil and published by NCsoft. ... Auto Assault is a massively multiplayer online game, developed by NetDevil and published by NCsoft. ...

The game servers have been shut down as of August 31, 2007, and current players will no longer be billed.^[1][2][3] NetDevil issued a statement shortly after the shutdown news citing an agreement with NCSoft was not reached to buyout the IP rights. ^[4] A game server is a server used by game clients. ...

Game story background

After years of widescale open war between three factions -- Humans, Mutants and the human-created Biomeks -- the issues between the groups are largely pacified on the worldwide scale, but conflict between the three remain with small scale battles involving armored cars, trucks, motorcycles, semis and tanks armed with advanced weaponry. This is the fictional, futuristic world the player starts and plays the game in. For other uses, see War (disambiguation). ... A faction is a special interest group. ... A Rolls Royce armoured car 1920 pattern Railway shop workers built this vehicle for use by the Danish resistance movement near the end of World War II. For tracked, armored military vehicles, see Armored fighting vehicle. ...

In-universe background

In 2030, alien craft drop strange terraforming pods onto Earth's surface that release killer contaminations across the world. The contaminations, if not fatal, cause mutations in some humans on Earth.

The resulting mutants are considered a plague and are herded into internment camps, however some mutants escape and form plans for revenge, causing open war. To fight this, the world's governments unite to battle them. These governments create biomechanical soldiers -- immune to mutation -- known as Biomeks that get mental and physical enhancements. The word internment is generally used to refer to the imprisonment or confinement of people, generally in prison camps or prisons, without due process of law and a trial. ...

Facing defeat, the humans nuke the world as part of a total purge program. Elite humans are saved, but the rest of humanity is nuked. Even the biomeks were left on the surface to be obliterated by the cleansing.

The humans live underground for a period of nearly eight hundred years, continuing to advance their harnessed alien technology, developing powerful energy shielding, among other advancements. All the while, they never know that the cleansing almost totally failed. On the surface, small numbers of mutants, biomeks, as well as groups of scavengers and gangs, and even mutated forms of plant and animal life; grew and thrived on the remains of the old world. Simplified schematic of an islands flora - all its plant species, highlighted in boxes. ... Fauna is a collective term for animal life of any particular region or time. ...

Because of this failure, the humans who assumed the world would be clean instead still found Biomeks and mutants on the surface. Open war occurs, but it is pacified over time.

Thus, conflict between the three groups is reduced to small scale battles involving armored cars, trucks, motorcycles, semis and even tanks, armed to the teeth with advanced weaponry. This is the world the player enters and how the game starts.

Gameplay

Parts of this article may be confusing or unclear. Please help clarify the article. Suggestions may be on the talk page. (August 2007)

The game takes place in the 29th century, after the sterilization attempt that left the Earth in ruins. Players play as either one of a new generation of Mutants, a BioMek or one of the newly emerging Humans. Players fight in their race's area of control against Non-playable characters (or NPCs) and eventually reach Ground Zero, or GZ. There, they can either fight against NPCs or Players in two different "layers" known as instances. One "layer" is the PvP layer, in which the player can go and fight against players of opposing races. The other "layer" is controlled by the faction you belong to. It is the non-PvP layer in which usually players complete their quests from GZ in. The PvP elements of the game are not available in this layer, since only other members of your faction are there. All NPC enemies are in both layers. The game centers on 3rd person vehicular combat using state of the art weapons to combat foes. Image File history File links Broom_icon. ... The 29th century of the anno Domini (common) era will span the years 2801–2900 of the Gregorian calendar. ... Sterilization can mean: Sterilization (surgical procedure) - an operation which renders an animal or human unable to procreate Sterilization (microbiology) - the elimination of microbiological organisms It can also mean the death of sperm cells due to radiation. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Ground zero is the exact location on the ground where any explosion occurs. ... Grammatical person, in linguistics, is deictic reference to the participant role of a referent, such as the speaker, the addressee, and others. ... The state of the art is the highest level of development, as of a device, technique, or scientific field, achieved at a particular time. ...

Auto Assault takes place in two settings; towns and the outside world. The town is experienced by moving the player's customized character around, interacting with NPCs, other players, and environmental objects. Upgrades and vehicles can be bought here. When the player chooses to exit the city he/she is in, they are taken to the outside world, where they traverse the terrain in heavily armed vehicles. Combat is reminiscent of a third person shooter game, with movement, aiming and firing being done in real time with the keyboard and mouse. There are also character skills, which activate special abilities. A third-person shooter is a computer game in 3-D where the camera view is outside and usually behind the main player character. ...

Auto Assault differs from other MMORPGs as it doesn't have a Death Penalty and the player can die without consequence.

Factions

The three playable factions each have distinct racial advantages and are separated into four classes unique to each faction.

Humans

Descendants of modern humans are meticulous in fending off mutation. Through the use of genetic engineering and subverted alien technology, they have staved off contamination while enhancing their strength, eyesight, agility, and mental powers. They view Mutants and Biomeks as vile perverts to the pure Human race and seek to eliminate them. Kenyans examining insect-resistant transgenic Bt corn. ... Wiktionary defines Pervert as One who has been perverted; one who has turned to error. ... The Human Race could be: The Human race. ...

Mutants

Mutants are those descended from the first people affected by the alien contamination. They see their mutation as divine intervention, and revere the change with religious reverence. They consider Humans in utter contempt for their past oppression of the Mutants and hold Biomeks to be inherently evil. A miracle, derived from the old Latin word miraculum meaning something wonderful, is a striking interposition of divine intervention by God in the universe by which the ordinary course and operation of Nature is overruled, suspended, or modified. ...

Biomeks

Biomeks are biological beings who have used technology to enhance their abilities, including cybernetic, prosthetic body parts. They hate Humans for their betrayal during the apocalyptic strike and see Mutants as dangerous religious fanatics. Cybernetics is a theory of the communication and control of regulatory feedback. ... A United States soldier demonstrates Foosball with two prosthetic limbs In medicine, a prosthesis is an artificial extension that replaces a missing part of the body. ...

References to Greek Mythology

• Hestia-The goddess of the hearth
• Apollo-God of medicine, healing, truth, light and archery

Vehicles

• Zeus-The God of Gods
• Achilles-Hero of the Trojan War
• Persephone-Queen of the Greek Underworld
• Perseus-Mythic Hero
• Olympus-Mt. Olympus
• Ladon-A dragon-like beast
• Heracles-A divine hero
• Chimera-A monstrous creature
• Minos-Legendary king of Crete
• Hephaestus-God of technology
• Cerberus-Hound of Hades
• Pegasus-A winged horse
• Argos-A city in Greece
• Delphi-A town in Greece

There are other references as well. In Greek mythology, virginal Hestia (ancient Greek ) is the goddess of the hearth, of the right ordering of domesticity and the family, who received the first offering at every sacrifice in the household. ... In common historic and modern usage, a hearth (Har-th) is a brick- or stone-lined fireplace or oven used for cooking and/or heating. ... For other uses, see Apollo (disambiguation). ... For the chemical substances known as medicines, see medication. ... Archery is the practice of using a bow to shoot arrows. ... For other uses, see Zeus (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Achilles (disambiguation). ... The fall of Troy, by Johann Georg Trautmann (1713–1769). ... Proserpine by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1874) (Tate Gallery, London In Greek mythology, Persephone (Greek Περσεφόνη, Persephónē) was the Queen of the Underworld of epic literature. ... Hermes Psykhopompos: sitting on a rock, the god is preparing to lead a dead soul to the Underworld, Attic white-ground lekythos, ca. ... Perseus with the head of Medusa, by Antonio Canova, completed 1801 (Vatican Museums) Perseus, Perseos, or Perseas (Greek: Περσεύς, Περσέως, Περσέας), the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty there, and was the hero who killed Medusa. ... Mount Olympus (Greek: ; also transliterated as Mount Ólympos, and on modern maps, Óros Ólimbos) is the highest mountain in Greece at 2,919 meters high (9,576 feet)[1]. Since its base is located at sea level, it is one of the highest mountains in Europe, in real absolute altitude... Ladon is the hundred-headed dragon that guarded the garden of the Hesperides in Greek mythology. ... For other uses, see Dragon (disambiguation). ... Alcides redirects here. ... Look up chimera, Chimaera in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Front face of the MINOS far detector. ... For other uses, see Monarch (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Crete (disambiguation). ... This image is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... By the mid 20th century humans had achieved a mastery of technology sufficient to leave the surface of the Earth for the first time and explore space. ... Heracles and threatened Cerberus, Attic black-figure neck-amphora, ca. ... Image:DianaHound. ... Hades, Greek god of the underworld, enthroned, with his bird-headed staff, on a red-figure Apulian vase made in the 4th century BC. For other uses, see Hades (disambiguation). ... Pegasus and Bellerophon, Attic red-figure Pegasus and Bellerophon, from Mabie, Hamilton Wright (Ed. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ... This article is about the city in Greece. ... For other uses, see City (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Delphi (disambiguation). ... Ronda, Spain Main street in Bastrop, Texas, United States, a small town A town is a community of people ranging from a few hundred to several thousands, although it may be applied loosely even to huge metropolitan areas. ...

Shutdown

Due to lack of subscribers, a decision was made to terminate support for the product. This was communicated by the company on the Public Forums one year prior to shutting down. Subscribers that read the messageboards knew it was coming. On July 2nd, 2007, it was officially announced that Auto Assault's servers would be shut down August 31st and that the subscribers' accounts would be 'reconciled'. Offers to continue to run servers by various parties were denied, but additional “Parting Gifts” were sent via e-mail with, "...opportunities to take a part in some of our other products, including Richard Garriott’s Tabula Rasa (computer game) and City of Heroes..." Richard Garriotts Tabula Rasa is an MMORPG from NCsoft, designed in part by some of the creators of Ultima Online such as Richard Garriott. ... City of Heroes (CoH) is a massively multiplayer online role-playing computer game based on the superhero comic book genre, developed by Cryptic Studios and published by NCsoft. ...

Shutdown News links

1. ^ http://www.autoassault.com/news/
2. ^ http://www.bluesnews.com/cgi-bin/board.pl?action=viewthread&threadid=78987
3. ^ http://kotaku.com/gaming/rip/auto-assault-goes-down-in-a-ball-of-fire-274467.php
4. ^ http://aa.warcry.com/news/view/76536-Thanks-to-Everyone-in-the-Central-Wastelands

External links

• Auto Assault Official Site
• NetDevil, the developers of the game
• WarCry's Auto Assault Portal, updated news and coverage
• Biomek.org, Auto Assault Refugee Bunker
• Auto Assault at the Open Directory Project