Stop us if you've heard this one before: There's a new social runescape in town that allows players to guide a civilization through many an era, developing its economy, culture, infrastructure and even military with the help of friends and in the face of enemies. Jagex, the Cambridge, UK-based creator of RuneScape, recently released [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], its response to the social runescapes craze.
"We were already enjoying some of the other runescapes in this sector and we liked the concept of a fun and engaging runescape like this in the browser," 8Realms VP Phil White tells us. "When we looked around for that 'perfect runescape' we were underwhelmed by what was already on the market and realized we could do something a little different with a Jagex feel to it."
Those familiar with how most social runescapes work will fit right in at 8Realms. Players assume control over a colony of primitive humans, directing them to build farms, lumber yards and quarries to produce the runescape's primary resources. Would-[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] chiefs can then use those resources to build new structures, like main huts, prayer circles, and barracks. This cycle generally repeats until players enter the next era, or Realm, of which there are eight--get [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]?
Lumber yards quickly become steel mills, quarries transform into mines (and later into oil refineries) and farms into production facilities as players guide their civilization through thousands of years. Along the way, players will be advised by Gary, a cheeky caveman, and a series of quests that show exactly what must be done next. Of course, players can share their achievements and even ask for help via Facebook Connect. However, 8Realms is hosted on its [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] little corner of the web, but why?
"It was something that was seriously considered in the early days of planning," White says. "However we felt from very early on that 8Realms would be better situated if it started off on its own domain and was therefore not reliant on Facebook, particularly as we always wanted 8Realms to be available to play on a variety of platforms."
That's thanks to the fact that 8Realms was created using not the new hotness [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], but an older version of the web-based programming language, HTML 3.2. Regardless, players can access their burgeoning civilization from their laptop, smartphone or tablet at any time. However, we must say that 8Realms on an iPhone's Safari browser isn't nearly as responsive or well-fitted as you'll find on the good old computer.