In Depth Look at Weapons As we continue our work on the SWAT module, this last Friday we put live a new Identity Insider video showcasing the weapons in Identity. It's an incredibly detailed system. If you haven't seen that video yet, I'd recommend checking it out now before continuing in this newsletter, as the focus of this dev blog post is going to be going into detail about what you see in that video. Check it Out! If you haven't seen the latest Identity Insider video, check it out now. If you have, watch it again because it's awesome! Identity Insider: Weapons on YouTube It's even better than it looks We tried to keep the video short and to the point, so we couldn't talk in too much detail. I'm excited about where we are right now in development, and I've been itching to explain just how great this is. We made some bold claims, such as no game in history having had weapons this detailed and it's quite true. Some games came close, but even then their calculations were approximations based on real data. In Identity, we've taken a physical approach to all things combat and vehicle related. That is, we're able to plug in data from real life into our system and our code drives true ballistic physics naturally. It means we're able to add new types of weapons and ammo incredibly quickly, and it'll just work. Some people have been expressing that this hasn't been done in MMORPGs before because it's impossible for performance reasons, but our calculations are so optimized that the entire projectile is processed in fractions of a millisecond. It's detailed and accurate, but built from the ground up for an MMORPG, too! Melee combat I'm going to step through the key parts of the video and describe, in detail, what makes Identity different from anything you've seen before. While we show off some cool weapons in the video, and there are many more not featured, it's important to note that powerful guns aren't going to be commonplace. Most people will be armed with a handgun or similar. Because of this, melee combat will be a frequent sight and we want it to feel right. Part of the issue with melee combat in most online games is that it's just a click-fest and there isn't real room for player skill. This isn't the case in Identity, where a skilled player will almost always knock the other out. Before I made Altis Life (an old and very successful Arma 3 mod) I worked on a game called Mortal Online, which was all about melee combat. Hand to hand fighting, or using melee weapons, works much in the same way here. Another game it could be compared to would be Mount & Blade, as the control system for blocking and attacking is quite similar. In Identity, there aren't special "attacks" which deal artificial damage, but instead the actual physical movement of the body or weapon which applies a force on impact that is similar to that of real life. For example, if you were swinging a baseball bat at someone, it would be the actual bat shape which hits, and the material it's made of, it's weight, how fast it's moving and more which determines the damage it deals. Note the red circles on the boxing gloves with the image above, and as seen in the video. These are physic impact points for the boxing gloves, which collide to deal damage. They're only shown for debugging and illustration purposes, and won't be visible in-game. Weapon fidelity On topic of the bullet jamming in the Insider video, there are many factors which are controlled at a detailed level in Identity. That's not to say it's something you'll have to worry yourself with often, though. Jams will be rare and will mostly happen with cheap firearms and/or those which are in poor condition. A few of us on the development team spent a good deal of time at the shooting range here in Ottawa, paying close attention to these sort of details. You'll need to maintain your guns if you want to keep them in good shape, but don't worry as it won't be tedious. If worry about the ammo in your gun isn't your thing, just buy the cheaper and commonly available ammo; however, if you want to maximize your effectiveness you can choose the right ammo for the situation. The Insider video also mentions being able to customize your ammo. Our physics models are so accurate that a hollowpoint bullet will fly slightly differently than a full-metal jacket bullet. It'll be so slight you won't really notice, though. Where the difference really comes in is with penetration and damage. As in real life, in Identity you can have empty gun magazines (you don't drop them when empty, because they're actually valuable). If you buy a box of ammo you can then fill the magazine as you like. A single gun can fire different bullet types as well as different bullet weights (grains). Gunsmithing We have mentioned several times now that more powerful guns are rarer, and that's because illegal firearms can't be purchased in a shop. You'll find handguns, some shotguns and hunting rifles there, though. Outside of that you'll need to know, or become, a gunsmith and/or a gun-runner. These aren't forced classes or occupations, but with Identity your character is simply what you decide to be through action. Anyone can do anything. Modifying your weapons will typically have pros and cons. For example, changing out a trigger could mean improved fire rate but have an affect on accuracy, as well. A new magazine release could mean faster reloads but less mobility. This will be based on several factors such as the type, quality and condition of the component. You'll be able to tailor the weapon to suit your needs and preferences. Physical accuracy of ballistics and penetration In the very first days of Identity's development, we got our hands on crime-lab documents which we based our in-game bullet ballistics upon. The result was absolutely true-to-life bullet behavior which we could expand upon with very little effort. In the video, you'll see this come into play when we shoot into the air. That might have been a bit better to show at night, though! Since the release of the Town Square module we've been focusing on SWAT module development. Part of this was the improvements, based on documents from the US Navy, into penetration calculations. Because our systems are designed to take real-world units, using real formulas was a logical progression. The results were something few other games have done, and something no other game has done this accurately. When a bullet hits a surface the system analyzes the material that was hit and knows the finest details of that material's real-world makeup. It then travels into the object, or bounces off of it with a ricochet. If it travels inside, we use other physically accurate formulas to penetrate exactly as far as it should, right down to a fraction of a millimeter. If the bullet is passing through a dense material, it can change directions from hitting hard spots. An example of the hard-spot is when I shot the kevlar vest in the video. Most bullets did not penetrate the kevlar (this vest did not have any metal plates in it), but a couple did get through with a big loss in energy. That was not a random chance, but the bullets hit a spot that had slightly less kevlar. A few millimeters of extra kevlar was the difference between stopping and penetrating. Now that is detail! Organ damage The organ damage system you saw in the video is partly our ballistics system in action, and part the medical mechanics. As the bullet enters a soft body, it can break apart and fragments can spread out, especially when using hollowpoint bullets. A shockwave also causes damage just inside the cavity. This spread can damage, or destroy, organs that it contacts. We currently have modeled two lungs, the heart and brain. We may expand on this in the future, too. When the bullet, or a fragment, passes through the organs it will cause specialty damage to the character in addition to the base damage that happens from the impact. This hit will either cause instant death or hinder the character in addition to being damaged. Blunt trauma is a different story, and can affect vision or mobility. As a paramedic, you'll need to examine the injured player and treat them accordingly. If the examination shows bubbles in the blood, for example, you'll know a lung has been hit. Paramedics will go through a quick class and test when they take the job to ensure they know best how to treat people who have been shot. Step into the Town Square! The Town Square module is now released and available on Steam. If you haven't had the chance to try the Town Square and experience a small piece of the Identity world, grab your Steam key and check it out. Identity Town Square module trailer With the Town Square now running smoothly, we've shifted much of our focus to feature development for the SWAT module. We'll continue to fix bugs and add other features to the Town Square, too. Get your Identity Steam key! To get your key, login on the main site at www.IdentityRPG.com. You can then go to the Account tab of your profile where you'll see an option to link your Steam account. You must have BETA ACCESS on your account to claim a key! ATTENTION! You can only attach one steam account to one game account, and it's permanent. Be sure you're logged into your game account which has the items you've purchased before attaching a Steam account! Once you've obtained your key from the Identity website you can enter it into your Steam client, but be sure that you're logged into the Steam account where you'd like to own Identity. Click the Games menu in Steam, and then Activate a Product on Steam. -- John VanderZwet

The latest Identity Insider is now live on the website's about page! You'll find more detailed explanations of what's going on inside the walls of the prison. Do your best to avoid getting arrested, but those on the wrong side of the law are bound to end up in there eventually. Learn more about how Identity makes your time served fun and interesting. We expect that some people might just choose to stay in prison even when their sentence is up -- it's a whole new world in there. Check out the new Insider release, Prison Life, right here. There's still more cool information to come on prisons in the future, too! A new developer blog is also scheduled to go out this week with some exciting news!

The latest Identity Insider, Gangs and Warfare, is here! We're changing up the Insider format to bring you more information at a much quicker pace. In fact, you'll be getting multiple Insiders every month until we've covered most the core features of Identity. Today's Insider is about gangs and the systems which surround them. Find the Insider details on the "About" page of our website or, if you're lazy, click this here link.

How can I become a Insider? How can I access to alpha or beta? I don't wanna paid for early access.

Yesterday afternoon, for another Identity Insider, we've released a video detailing the workings of player housing in Identity and what it has to offer at our present point in development. This gives you a good idea of the level of fidelity we're going for in all of our key systems, and more videos will follow as we continue. Housing was chosen for our first video as our initial focus in development is for features present in the upcoming Town Square module. If you haven't already seen the video, check it out above. Housing as you've seen in the video is an excellent place to hang out with friends, but it has a lot of good practical uses, too! First, housing is the primary storage location for items you've collected. Whether it's a bookshelf full of books, a gun-rack with wall-mounted guns, or a crate full of junk, it's sort of like a bank for tangible stuff. Housing is also valuable for moderate crafting, too. Some advanced recipes might require a factory, but a lot of stuff can be created at your home using special crafting tables. A hydroponics table can even be used to grow small-scale plants, legal or otherwise!

So in regards to the thread created here: I thought it would be appropriate to make a thread for suggestions on new classes so I guess I will start. I am not sure if these classes are the only actual predetermined options someone can make their company, but assuming that is the case, classes should be generalized to fit the owner's creativity. I believe the class system should be restructured like so to represent what an economy would run like in a mixed economy. Again, I understand that this is a first-look at what corporations will look like and yes it is a hard copy which is why its a good idea to discuss Service Business: A general class involving servicing clients with a contract-based feature that will allow owner's to quote an order for essentially anything a customer wants and then both parties would approve of the agreement. An example of these services could be delivering 5 crates of shirts from point A to point B or having a car repaired in a body shop. While on the opposite spectrum, orders can be made for accounting firms and law firms as well. Merchandising Business: This will be the most common type of business in Identity and is the foundation of any economy. The method of buying and selling products higher than their purchases costs to turn a profit is what this type of business is all about. Examples of these include: Convenience stores, resellers, or car dealerships. Manufacturing Business: This type of company will have the intention of making new products to showcase on the market, and will sell to merchandising businesses in bulk to get money faster but also because it is very cheap for them to manufacture the product the more they make. Hybrid Businesses: Of course not every business are classified under one specific branch. Many companies join two channels of distribution into one in order to work more efficiently to produce a final product / service. Examples of these are restaurants where they manufacture food and sell it as a meal to consumers. As one can see these channels of distribution set each other up for a great-looking and proven economy that runs smoothly. I am interested to see if different types of forms of business ownership will be introduced, or if corporations are the only option. If so, how would you all like to see it play out? Do you think adding sole proprietorship, partnership, etc. as options will be beneficial? Thanks for reading!

Today we publish the first Identity Insider update, bringing you detailed information about key systems in Identity. Our website has expanded with a small page detailing corporations and their classes, also available below: Corporations in Identity You've made a lot of cash working odd jobs, or maybe even the odd less-than-legal task; now that you've had a taste of success, it's time to forge an empire. Corporations will allow the successful with a little extra cash to become driving forces in Identity's dynamic economy. Corporations are organizations similar to, but separate from, gangs and other social structures. They have the added ability of owning assets and issuing work orders to their real-player employees. Some assets, such as the largest cargo trucks, are available only to corporations. Once formed, the corporation is assigned a telephone number for public contact and the director (owner) can build a logo using an in-game design tool. It's then time to hire a staff and get to work. Classes of Corporations Delivery Delivery corporations can buy large vehicles for big hauls, vehicles not available to the general public. While any player can deliver goods in vehicles such as vans, to get the big-bucks you'll need to join a corporation. Legal Let's face it, crimes happen and criminals are going to be arrested. They'll need someone on the outside to convince the jury that they did nothing wrong. This is where legal corporations come into play, and their services aren't always cheap. Transportation People need to get from point A to point B and they don't always have the means to do that themselves. Transportation corporations own special vehicle assets including taxis and more, helping those in need get where they need to be. Manufacturing From the shoes on your feet to the sofa under your seat, almost everything in Identity is built and crafted by other players. Manufacturing corporations give their employees access to a wider variety of constructables and resources, for a cut of the profits. Always Expanding As with most things in Identity, we at Asylum will constantly be expanding this system adding new classes of corporations and building on those already available. Identity's release is only the beginning. If you have any ideas for a well-suited corporation class, let us know on the forums.