Clockwork is a 5v5 team-based game (fort/sumo physics). After 90 seconds, a small sumo zone appears in a semi-random area in the middle of the map, which slowly grows to a full gold and blue sumo ring. The objective of the game is to capture the enemy's zone before they capture yours. Before the zone appears, there is a respawn zone that can be activated to revive dead players, but you can only be respawned once. A team receives one point for winning a round, and there are no kill points or zone points.
The scope for tactical play is vast - do players try and box off the middle to prevent access for the enemy team? Do you go for kills? With no kill points and a respawn, holes and riskier cuts become very viable strategies.
The beginning of the round is a question of how each team positions themselves on the map, ready for the zone's appearance. The round then culminates in a fight for the zone - perhaps a team has it surrounded and the round is already won, perhaps a hole and fast-gank takes the zone before the opposing team can respond, perhaps both team's have equal access to it and an intense sumo battle ensues - there are multiple possibilities.
W H Y
Clockwork has been developed largely in response to problematic aspects of Fortress, currently the most popular competitive team-based game. The main critique of Fortress is that after the initial split, the most efficient strategy is to just out-live your opponent, and the team with the most passive play-style wins (often dubbed a 'battle of the better internet connections'). With Clockwork, we have identified the most enjoyable and dynamic aspects of Fortress and incorporated them into a faster-paced game setting, without Fort's limitations. The potential strategical depth is far greater, it encourages team work to a whole new level, and doesn't lend itself to a single dominant strategy.
W H O
The initial idea has been pioneered by blondie, with the project quickly acquiring more and more people who have been helping with the development, testing and implementation of Clockwork
Now that the beta is complete, we would like to invite the entire Armagetron community to join us in playing the game and providing feedback so that we can fine-tune what will hopefully become an exciting and enjoyable new game mode. Please take part in this collaborative community project and join the discussion HERE
W H E N & W H E R E
The beta is now live and the Clockwork server is currently on the master server list. After a few weeks of receiving feedback, playing with the settings and addressing any problems, we will launch the finalised version. With this second launch, there will also be a gridstats leader-board, a pickup server, and a monthly Clockwork competition for teams to sign up to
