Collect! Trade! Play!

The Worlds Apart Productions CTP Platform

Worlds Apart can rapidly and inexpensively produce quality full-featured, scalable and secure online games using the CTP Platform.

What does the CTP Platform provide?

Collect!

  • Secure creation of digital object products. Whether they're digital trading cards or collectible miniatures, all digital objects are created and delivered in a transactional, error-free manner.
  • Collection synchronization. Use multiple computers to play. CTP synchronizes your collection data with whatever client you are using to log in to the game.
  • Collection management. CTP provides a robust and flexible interface for viewing, searching, filtering, and sorting your digital object collection.
  • Safe Storage. Collections are stored within a robust database structure that is backed up with redundant hardware and logging techniques.

Trade!

  • Trading digital objects is secure and easy. All trades go through a confirmation process to allow users to be sure that the trade is precisely what they intend.
  • No exploits. Users can't conduct a partial or otherwise incomplete trade. The trade that was agreed upon is fully executed.
  • Complete your collection. Easily identify and mark the digital objects that you have in excess or the ones you need to complete your collection. The trade UI displays your Haves and Wants depending on your preferences.
  • Unique tracking. All trades and transactions are fully logged. CTP tracks the entire history of every object within the system.

Play!

  • The distributed state machine for implementing the mechanics of the game system is:
    • Secure: All game mechanics are enforced by the server's authoritative game state, enforcing all game rules.
    • Latency-tolerant: The end-user game clients simulate the full game state as well, enabling latency-free hinting of possible actions within the game.
    • Asynchronous: The client and servers both run smoothly.
  • Flexible and modular user interface. CTP's client and rules engine architectures are modular, data-driven and independent of one another.
  • Full ownership validation. Games can require full ownership of digital objects where desired. (For example. with the exception of the guest lobby, users may only play with objects that they own.)
  • Casual and Competitive play.
    • Casual Game Lobbies with user-definable game settings, including:
  • Buddy lists.
  • Password-protected games.
  • Arbitrary game type and format customization.
  • Timed or un-timed games.
  • Multiplayer Support.
  • Observer Support.
  • Quick-join Options.
  • Customizable and exclusive player avatars and playmat tokens.
    • Robust League and Tournament System
  • Includes both "on-demand" and scheduled events.
  • Both leagues and tournaments are completely configurable.
    • Support for player ratings that are tracked and available to the users.
  • International play for a global community.
    • Complete Foreign Language Support means the game can be localized and distributed in most non-English languages. Players in different languages can play with one another in the language of their preference.
    • Interlinked Servers allow for localized server and billing setup in other regions/continents, and still allow players to play one another across servers.

Other:

  • Modular, data-driven architecture means rapid time-to-market for Online Trading Card and Board Games using the CTP Card Builder application.
  • Full featured client updater and patcher application for Windows and Mac OSX. Users may not log in with an out-of-date game client or data.
  • E-commerce system supports regular billing per-transaction as well as cyclic billing for membership programs. Modular collectible object distribution and fulfillment systems support arbitrary rarities and packaging distributions (including promotional objects, event tickets, randomized or fixed packs and starters, etc.).
  • Scalable server platform
    • Additional game servers can be brought on-line dynamically to match increased user loads.
    • Game servers are fully load-balanced using a round-robin algorithm.
  • Technical monitoring systems for load, capacity, and system faults that track both on-going statistical data as well as issuing alerts via email and pagers when problems occur.

Proven Technology and Design Capability:

This technology was developed in conjunction with The Lord of the Rings Online Trading Card Game, which launched on February 1st, 2004, and was used for the re-launch of the award-winning Star Chamber. The CTP Platform is now being used for new projects by Worlds Apart Productions.

Computer Games Magazine gave Worlds Apart's online TCG Star Chamber a 5-star review and Editor's Choice award in its March 2006 issue. In the same issue, in its 15th Annual Computer Games Awards, CGM also gave Star Chamber honors as the 9th best Computer Game of 2005, and the Best Independent Game of 2005, saying that Star Chamber "...is one of the best-designed computer games of the past five years."

IQ Gamer said in its June 2005 issue that The Lord of the Rings Online Trading Card Game does "a helluva job merging the cardboard and online worlds, better than any other product out there."