MilMo Devblog

Avatars From Meet the Devlopers On MilMo BR!

2012-03-06T16:02:00.006+01:00

Hello MilMonauts,

Last week we had a pretty awesome Meet the Developers Event on MilMo BR (1st of March 2012). If you prefer to read this post in BR-PT please visit our Brazilian developer blog. Plenty of players grabbed their best outfits and traveled to Seastar Resort in order to have fun and celebrate the Sun Parade! We have chosen some of the coolest outfits we could spot, and given them a free Lock Box key! Here are the winning costumes:

Kadinos and TATAESTRELA

Slash, dow², Chico Mak, Ozwell and Vanny

ReGiggi, Liebe, Gutho and Slash again

ead, Mestre Ninja, carlão and DUW

cococococo, Banabab, Kadinos and kid

íthala, BiLLY KiD, HATCHET and caorti

MEGALuAzinHo, Dese, Selit, marilda and max tiler

Tipi, Piitchula, allina and Sosiv

Luzza, MILEID, Yukki and Alyell

Jeffers0n, Fláfesi, Vaguitzz, Fova and Mony Mimi

If you find you avatar's name misspelled please let us know as soon as possible so we can give the Lock Box key. You can contact us by posting a comment in this blog. Next post it's time to show the second batch of screen shots from the event!

Yours,

Ivan & Sara

January 2012 Player of The Month: Vanny

2012-03-01T15:43:00.003+01:00


Vanny (with the beautiful wings) and Sara!

A new month has passed, and a new player has been voted "the player of the month" on the EN forum! The winner this time is someone you probably already know about: Vanny! She plays on MilMo BR and sometimes visits the MilMo EN. She is a Game Master and long time MilMo player! If you rather read this in Brazilian-Portuguese, click here.

Vanny (with the bat wings), me (with the goggles) at Seastar

Hello Vanny, congratulations on becoming player of the month! How does it feel?

Thank you Sara. It's a pleasure to me be the player of the month. I feel very honored to be chosen because I know that we have very awesome players that could be interviewed before me. New players are coming and showing great attitude for help the players in MilMo, then, I only could think in some good names to be here. But i need also to say thank you to some players, those that are very curious about the shy-girl Vanny :)

When did you start playing MilMo? Why did you stay?

I did start play around February, 2011. At first I was very sad because my game always crashed on Rose island and after some attempts, I just stop to play. But when April comes, I tried again to play and my game was working fine :) Since this moment i could discover really what is play MilMo. Exactly when I discover that, I didn't stop to play. Every times and every days looking forward to discover more and get more things in-game. And don't forgetting about some friends, they are also my reason to play " my " amazing MilMo.


At the Eternal Monument with friends!

I've noticed you are online on quite strange times, don't you ever sleep?

Hahaha! I knew you and some players are curious about it :) Well, I have my own business and I stay sometimes in my office or home. So, where I am, I want to enjoy this time to play and help also on forum and community. But I don't have such time, then i need to stay connected on my PC, laptop or smartphone ( to help on BR forum or Orkut community ). And when we have a own business, we don't have so much time to sleep, and I use this time to play, when I am " free ".

The Hidden Tor

When playing, what do you like to do the most? Any favorite islands?

Definitely I am a person who like to talk a lot. With this, I just like to talk with friends, meet new people ( despite be shy ) and I like so much to help players when they need. If they need to solve some issues ( that I can handle ) and need help in general, like quests or tokens. My favorite island is Hidden Tor :) I love this place.

Who do you hang out with in MilMo?

I have 5 musketeers :P Persons that I'm really learning to love everyday of my real or in-game life. I'm used to hang out with Sobe, Sr.Edu, Sosiv, Kid and my new friend Alianore :) They are here <3, close to my heart and I'm grateful to have all of them on my side.

Where do you live in real life? What's it like there? Do you have any hidden talents?

Vanny is quite a painter!

I live in Rio de Janeiro - Brazil. The most beautiful city of the world ( at least for me ). My city is known as the " wonderful city " because she has beautiful natural places like beaches and mountains. We have really a lot of beaches wherever you go. We have a such biggest Carnival also, that is happening these days here :) Talents? Hmmmm, let me think :) Maybe it's hard to say " talent ", but i have some things that I want to do here: I like to paint some pictures with oil tint. They aren't so beautiful, but are my time to relax and let me be inspired by the things around me. This one I made based on MilMo " The way from to cozyville to Ancient forest ". ( don't laugh guys ).

What do you do when you are not online in MilMo?

A sunny beach in Brazil!

Sincerely, these last times I'm not having so much time to have fun without MilMo. But i like to enjoy my friends, family, dogs and enjoy my beach :) Yeah, I like so much to have time to stay on beach and relax, principally now that is summer here in Brazil. I just love it!

WOW what a beach! In Sweden it's cold and snowy at the moment. Do you have any MMM? MilMo Memories that is! Something special you remember that you want to share with us?

Yes, and I cannot forget about it. It was when we know that " MilMo BR will be closed down " and I came to MilMo EN to play. I was so sad when i was trying to invite the BR players to play the English version. Not because to play the EN version, but about the news of the end of MilMo BR. However, I could see persons that already know me, and i didn't know, because they did see me there on EN forum :) At this point, I could see me on a familiar place, with new friends and trustworthy persons. The sun always will shine on the morning, always :)

Sobe and Vanny in Vanny's Home

You are one of the first GMs in MilMo BR! Tell us what you do as a GM, and what's it like?

Yes, and it's a pleasure for me being a GM for MilMo. Sometimes I need to share my time to play in both servers. But i handle this with a such happiness and grateful that I have no words to say how I'm feeling to have a opportunity to help the players as possible. Like i said above, I am a shy person but I have a strong personality. For me rules are rules and fun is fun. As GM, I'm trying to check if the game rules of the terms of use are being followed. I need to handle with different situations and different persons that handle with you with different behavior also. I like also to check if we have some little " bugs " in-game and send these things to Junebud :) Yeah, seems to be a lot of things, but when you do what you love, the things are like a fresh wind on your face :)

Thank you for the interview Vanny, it's always a pleasure to talk with you!

If you want to nominate of vote for the next "player of the month" click here.

Yours,

EN Community Manager Sara and BR Community Manager Ivan

On the Road (Again)

2012-02-23T14:10:00.000+01:00

Hello Players,

If you follow Sara and myself on Twitter you already know that we went to Hamburg, Germany, for the Casual Connect conference two weeks ago. Sara's usually on the away team because she's well traveled, cheerful, good around people and effective at taking notes. In case I never mentioned it I know this because I used to be her teacher back at University. But that was way back when, before Junebud and in another life.

Anyway. Whenever we go off to a games meet we bring a camera along. First stop once we get back is usually a blog post. These past two weeks have been busy at the office (sorry, can't say more than that) but I finally found an opening with enough time to write something cohesive.

Train through Denmark. Sara is a compulsive reader and a news hound.

We took the train from Sweden. Last year we flew down, but this time we figured we'd try something different. I'm usually cautious about trains. I spent 5 hours every day on trains commuting to my previous job. But when push comes to shove it's very relaxing to go by train, and way easier to get work done. I broke out my laptop and worked on a company presentation for new employees. Junebud has been growing lately and it's a challenge to keep everybody up to speed.

On the ferry from Denmark to Germany. I always hit the sun deck when I'm on a ferry.

Once we'd made it through Denmark they loaded the whole train set onto the ferry for Puttgarden. Being on these ferries is nostalgic to me. When I was a kid in the south of Sweden there was no bridge between Sweden and Denmark and we rode the ferry a lot. Sara is from the Åland islands, between Finland and Sweden, so she's seen her fair share of ferries, too.

Finally in Hamburg!

We made it to Hamburg in the late afternoon and because this was our second time (we went to Casual Connect 2011) we decided to use our vast experience and walk to the hotel. This was a little less enjoyable once we found that Germany was just as cold as Sweden! Last year it was warm and spring-like and pretty much a vacation away from the blizzard at home.

View from the 26th floor. That's the highest up I've ever had a room.

Luckily we had booked rooms at a hotel right next to the conference center. Last year we had a 40 minute walk to the convention every morning. It turned out the rooms were at the top of one of the tallest buildings in Hamburg.

Conventions are a lot of work. Besides all the traveling you end up on a tight schedule. There are lectures all day long and social events every evening where there's important networking to be had. Casual Connect is really the best opportunity for Junebud because the other companies here make online games and Free games, too. Now that I think about it, I've never even worked on a single player game. I like people when I play.

After check-in and dinner it was time to get to work.

Meet & greet at Park Café with other game industry peeps.

Former Crew member Irene was in Hamburg, and so was Magnus and Malte from Triolith.

You can follow all these guys on Twitter

Convention time. The Hamburg Convention Center is bright and airy.

Step one: find the lecture halls and plan out what lectures to attend.

King.com CEO and founder explaining his views on entrepreneurship.

It was cool to see lectures from classical board game designers.

I started my own career making miniatures war games.

There were a lot of interesting lectures going on. Luckily there were only two lecture halls this year, cut down from three the year before. That meant that between the two of us we could cover all the ground when we needed to. We usually send a two-man team for information gathering conventions. On conventions where Junebud has a booth and we present our work we bring a least three people. That way there's always someone to man the booth while people eat, network or need breaks.

Lunch. Sausage. Germany.

Team Junebud doing the learning thing.

One evening we found this awesome sushi restaurant based around a conveyor belt.

Conveyor sushi – soon in a city near you.

A trend I've noticed lately is that companies like to throw networking parties in adult environments. When I went to industry parties at the turn of the millennium it was usually in something like an old railway station or a night club. These last years companies enjoy using edgier locations like this convention's Gree party in the infamous Reeperbahn district of Hamburg, or the party Big Point party at GDCO 2011 in Austin at the Playboy Mansion. It's less interesting than it sounds. The club owners have always packed away the more daring entertainment you're left with a bunch of game developers walking around with glasses in their hands. Or sitting in the corners with their smart phones, messaging all their friends and followers. Sometimes it's hard to meet new people like this as many become nervous in these environments.

That evening's social event was at Club Halo, in the shadier

part of town.

These chairs were totally metal. Go, German metal music!

(Wait, don't we have these chairs in MilMo... now I'm confused.)

One of my long time heroes, Dr. Richard Bartle, on stage.

Dr. Bartles' been a huge influence in my

theoretical understanding of MMORPGS. Read his work.

All in all it was a nice experience this year. We got to spend a lot of time with Magnus and Malte from Swedish Triolith Entertainment. They make mobile games and are hard working people. Magnus is also a former game design student of mine, but I don't take any credit. I love it when people act on their dreams and start their own companies.

We also got to meet our former co-worker Irene a lot, which was great fun. She's still sharp as a tack and cheerful at every turn and we had a great time talking about the good old days.

On the last day Irene and Sara were busy taking notes. What's the Triolith gang up to?

After every lecture you get a chance to chat with the speaker.

Sara's swapping business cards with the Google guy.

Ferry back to Denmark. The quest for Tweet worthy pictures continues.

Almost home. Home is good.

Towards the end of the trip we were both well tired. Four days of around the clock activity is a huge creativity boost but it leaves you physically drained. Sara had a cold that kept growing worse with every day. This is becoming a small tradition in it's own right because the same thing happened last year. The next step from here is to compile the notes and run a presentation for the rest of the Junebud Crew. But that's a story for another day.

Take care,

Ola

The History of MilMo: 2008

2012-02-03T17:53:00.001+01:00

Hello MilMonauts,

Not so long ago we celebrated the happy fact that MilMo BR had been online for one year! Now it's time for a blog series about the history of MilMo, both BR and EN. We're going to look back and see what's happened since the early start in 2008 when MilMo took it's first baby steps towards the beautiful, fun, social MMO it has become today. We have come a long way since the very first beta versions of the game!

Pre-Beta: 2008

First things first. Junebud was formed back in the summer of 2008 when some of the veterans from the traditional PC game industry decided they had grown tired of making war games. The web 3D games were an emerging market and the Unity game engine had just arrived to the scene. The free to play busies model seemed to be working nicely on the Asian market. Junebud wanted to create something truly unique and fresh, so we combined the power of streaming with our very own art direction and the free to play model. This mix was named Million Morning, and eventually got the name "MilMo".

Basic movement tests of the avatars. Do you recognize Lightmill Island?

A lot ideas for current islands were born back then. Some of you might recognize Lightmill Island from these old pictures. The MilMo art direction is a bit rough, but it's there. The hardest part was to make all the basic things work, like the laws of physics, movement and collision. When making a video game you need to construct all these things that naturally exists in the real world.

A early boy avatar. These are some of the first pictures ever taken inside MilMo.

As you can see the sky is still pretty realistic and the landscape is just basic blocks and shapes, but the feeling is there. We knew pretty early this game was going to be about exploring. We wanted to create a mix between Zelda, Super Mario and Maple Story.There should be puzzles, questing, a social aspect, enemies to fight and secrets to unveil.

A screen shot from an early promotional video.

A lot of concept art was created during this time to determine the right look and feel of the game. Concept art is great, it unites the team's perception of how the game should look and feel. It serves as a guide line for the level artists.

Character concepts for avatars.

We experimented with more realistic looking avatars, but soon settled for the cartoony ones. We aimed for a style of old western comics, nor manga or anime. Many members of the Junebud Crew enjoy drawing and reading comics such as X-Men, Spider Man and the old Super Man, which is shown in the crisp art direction.

During 2008 the Junebud Crew slowly grew and recruited new members, a mix of old game developer veterans and handpicked new talent from the game development program at the University of Skövde in Sweden. We made all the necessary preparations for moving in to our very first office. In the early beginning all meetings were held on phone and by web cam, since the crew members were spread across the country. That required a lot of discipline and good communication. Today we have an open work space at Junebud, which promotes the communication and reduces the necessary paper work.

Next part of the "History of MilMo" will be focusing on 2009, which was the year things really started to fall in to place and we released the closed beta after 1,5 years of hard work.

See you next time,

Sara and Ivan

MilMo Weapon Guide: Part 2

2012-01-27T14:48:00.000+01:00

Hello MilMonauts,

This is the second post about the weapons found in MilMo! In part 1 I wrote about all the unique weapons found in the Lock Boxes and the Mystery Box (the glowing Legendary Weapons). Today it's all about the non-magic weapons found inside the Cash Shop!

Cash Shop Weapons

In the Cash players can find many different weapons. Some of them like the Heroic Weapons can be bought using both Coins and June Cash, and some of them are JC only. The only magic weapon that can be bought using Coins is the Celestial Sword. Critters and bosses in MilMo can take two kinds of damage, magic and non-magic.

Short Damage Guide

All critters in MilMo takes both normal and magic damage, but the feared Imagination Devourer (and the Wurmling) takes only magic damage. This means the only way to defeat the Devourer is by using a weapon that deals magic damage. If you are using a magic weapon you are able to defeat all normal enemies also, since they are sensitive to normal and magic damage.

Magic weapons often have a special glow to them and their stats say they deal a certain amount of magic damage. All weapons have stats displayed next to them so you can find your weapon of choice. There are a few magic weapons found outside of the Cash Sop, such as the Legendary and Epic weapons. Right now the MilMo Shop features about 20 different weapons. Some of them like the Cursed Scythe, the Anchor and the Icicle Sword are special weapons only available for a short period of time. Sometimes these limited edition weapons will re-appear in the shop, sometimes they will not. Right now we have a sale 40% on some of the non magic weapons. Next week we will remove some of these discounted weapons from the Cash Shop, so be sure to grab them while they are still available!

The powerful Cursed Scythe was available during the Halloween event of 2011. It was also the first weapon ever in MilMo to feature a scary smoke effect.

The Hockey Stick was released to celebrate the Halloween event of 2011.

The Anchor was a special weapon only available during the Sea Festival of 2011.

The shiny Icicle Club sold during the Winter Festival of 2011.

The Frost Blade from the Winter Fest of 2011.

Basically you can divide the Shop Weapons in to three different groups of weapons. The beginner weapons (such as the Heroic Weapons), the moderate weapons (such as the Jeweled Sword) and the magic ones (like the Flying-V Axe).

The Heroic Club, quite fast but not that powerful.

The Heroic Sword, a perfect beginner's weapon!

The Heroic Axe. Very popular thanks to its beautiful design and affordable price.

The Heroic Bow, the perfect ranged weapon for any aspiring MilMonaut!

If you prefer a more powerful weapon than any of the Heroic weapons, the Sharp Axe or the Gladiator Sword might suit you. They are faster, more powerful and deals greater amount of damage. In return they are a bit more expensive. If you are looking to level your avatar as fast as possible it's a great idea to get your hands on one of these.

There's a lot of different clubs to choose from. What about a frying pan or the Viking Hammer?

The tambourine was originally made for the Orkut players but found it's way to the EN servers as well.

If you prefer ranged weapons be sure to check out the Heroic Bow or the Light Gun. Remember that you need to use ammo to fire ranged weapons.

There's a lot of cool swords on dale right now. What about the Pirate Cutlass? The Tech Sword is a steady favorite among players.

The Jeweled Sword first showed up on a screen shot from the developers level editors and created a massive amount of questions. Everyone wanted to know how to get this classic sword.

Don't miss the Screw Sword!

The Parasol is both beautiful and deadly!

The Ornate Clever is a very popular weapon; beautiful, deadly and very MilMoish in its design!

The Baseball Bat; a really agile weapon!

As you can tell there's a weapon for every taste in MilMo. Some of them are found in-game, some in the Cash Shop and some are from events or special promotions. Next time we're going to have a look at the magic weapons found in the Cash Shop.

MilMo Weapon System blog posts:

Part 1: Mystery & Lock Box Weapons

Part 2: Cash Shop Weapons

Part 3: Magic Cash Shop Weapons

Part 4: Epic Weapons

Part 5: In-game Weapons

Part 6: Offhand Weapons

Yours,

Sara

MilMo on Aeria Games Closing Down

2012-01-27T09:58:00.002+01:00

Hello players,

Unfortunately Aeria Games today announced that they will close down MilMo on the Aeria Games portal by the 8th of February. This decision only affects MilMo on Aeria Games, and not on Facebook, Orkut or the portal MilMogame.com. The original post made on Aeria Games forum can be found here.

Compensation

100% of the AP spent on MilMo during the two months prior to shutdown will be returned to players. Even if you transfer your character, you will still get full refund.

Save Your Account

Here's a guide on how to move your MilMo account to Facebook/MilMogame.com. The migration tool can be found at http://www.milmogame.com/account-migration/.

Important

You will need an existing account on milmogame.com or Facebook to use this service. It's fast and free to sign up if you don't have one. Your Aeria Games MilMo account will replace the account you choose to use in this process. Click here to get to MilMogame.com and here to get to MilMo on Facebook.

1. When you start MilMo on Aeria Games a pop-up will tell you the game is closing down. To start the migration process, click "Yes, move my MilMo account". This will only move your MilMo account, not your Aeria Games account. You will still sign in to Aeria to play games like DDTank or Golden Age.

2. When you press "Yes, move my account" you will be moved to MilMo's official web page and the account migration tool will ask you to continue. Please read the text before pressing "Continue".

3. Choose to what portal you want to move your MilMo account; Facebook or MilMogame.com. Facebook- and MilMogame.com-players use the same servers.

4. Click on "Login to Aeria Games".

5. Log in to Aeria Games.

6. Confirm the account migration.

6. You are now ready to start playing MilMo on Facebook/MilMogame.com!


Log in to Facebook or MilMogame.com and enjoy the game!

If you try to play MilMo on Aeria Games after you transferred your account you will see this screen.

We apologize for the inconvenience this may cause our players on Aeria Games.

Yours,

Sara

New BR Developer Blog!

2012-01-25T09:26:00.001+01:00

Hello MilMonauts,

Let me proudly present our new Brazilian Portuguese developer blog! You can find it at http://milmogamebr.blogspot.com for news, updates and texts written by Junebud in Portuguese. Of course thsi blog will continue existing like before! We hope you like it!

MilMo Weapon Guide, part 1

2012-01-23T10:31:00.004+01:00

Hello MilMonauts,

Today we are starting a new blog post series about the weapons found in MilMo. We are going to cover all the weapons found in-game and in the Cash Shop. Items that can be used as a weapon, but are not intended to be used as weapons, such as the uncharged Lumirod will not be featured. First out we are going to take a look at the special weapons found in the Mystery Boxes and Lock Boxes. This includes the glowing Legendary Weapons! All boxes found in MilMo will end up in your bag under the tab "Boxes" until they are opened.

Lock Box Weapons

What's a Lock Box? A Lock Box is a mysterious box enemies and containers may drop when defeated. They come in five different colors.

Lock Boxes found in MilMo

The most common one is the the green box, followed by the blue one and then the red box. Silver boxes are rare, and the rarest of them all's the golden box. In order to open a lock box you need a lock box key. The keys can be found by collecting Exploration Tokens, doing quests or bought in the Cash Shop using Coins or June Cash.

All creatures and containers in MilMo have the ability to drop Lock Boxes

When opening a Lock Box there's a small chance of getting one of the Legendary Weapons. Legendary weapons are very powerful, beautiful and has a magic glow to them. They deal magic damage and can be used to defeat Imagination Devourers and bosses. All Lock Boxes contain loot like gems, special berries, ammunition, hats and some weapons usually only found in the Cash shop. A Lock Box features one or two randomized items. Let's take a look at the special loot found in Lock Boxes.

Like all Lock Boxes the green box might give you a mix of more common loot or furniture, hats and Cash Shop weapons. The lucky ones will find the Legendary Hammer!

The Legendary Hammer

The Legendary Hammer might have less range than the Legendary Bow, but deals more magic damage. It's perfect for close range fights and comes in handy when fighting the Nikonos Boss or the Mad Weed.

The Legendary Sword is hidden in the blue Lock Box. This sword is perfect for close fights with magical or non magical creatures. It's fast, effective and has a powerful attack.

The Legendary Sword

When opening a red Lock Box there's a chance you will get the Ornate Cleaver, the Fencing Sword, the Viking Hammer or the Sharp Axe. If you are really lucky you might get the powerful Legendary Bow.

The mighty Legendary Bow

The Legendary Bow is one of the most powerful ranged weapons ever created in MilMo, only to be matched by the Dragon Bow, the Legendary Gun and the Epic Bow. It's an excellent tool for hunting and defeating even the scariest bosses and creatures in MilMo. It's perfect if you prefer to keep your enemies at a distance rather than engaging in close combat.

Silver boxes have a small chance of spawning the Legendary Axe. The axe deals maximum magic damage but is quite heavy to wield. It's speed is also less than that off the Legendary Bow. This is a perfect weapon for defeating the knights at Hidden Tor.

The Legendary Axe

Golden Lock Boxes might contain the Legendary Gun. Its speed and range is supreme, but the magic effect and the attack is matched by that of the Legendary Bow. Aslo, in order to fire a ranged weapon like a bow or a gun you need a steady supply of arrows or cells. All bows use arrows and all guns run on cells. Cells and arrows can be found in-game or in the Cash Shop if you are tired of grinding.

The Legendary Gun

All in all there are five Legendary Weapons at the moment. The loot found in the Lock Boxes are balanced and improved with each update. They also contain a exclusive set of Legendary clothing like the crown, the glasses and the wings.

Mystery Box Weapons

Mystery Boxes are found in the Cash Shop. They contain a big mix of weapons and special furniture. Almost all items found in the Mystery Box are sold for more than 10,000 June Cash each if bought separately in the Cash Shop.

The Mystery Box

The exact content of the Mystery Box is a secret, but it features all the Legendary items and weapons, the Phoenix Wings, the Ethereal Aegis shield and even the new Dragon Bow!

The new Dragon Bow can be found inside the Mystery Box


The same goes for the exclusive Ethereal Aegis shield

All elemental weapons are featured in the Mystery Box

We know there's a lot of different people playing MilMo. To match this we decided to implement different ways to get hold of powerful weapons. There are three strategies to get a cool weapon;

1. Hard work

You can use the free weapons found inside the game and earn Epic weapons. This takes quite some time and requires a lot of dedication and hard work, but it's free and everyone can do it. It's possible to level up the basic sword, axe, bow and club into something extremely powerful. It takes a lot of effort, but in the end you will have a weapon strong enough to deal magic damage!

2. Lock Boxes or Mystery Boxes

Some players like to take chances and try their luck. When opening a Lock Box or a Mystery Box there's a chance you will get the Dragon Bow, the Flying V-Axe or a Legendary weapon. You need a key to open a Lock Box, but the key can be bought using free Coins. If you are really lucky the Mystery Box, worth about 8, 000 June Cash, will give you a weapon worth 100,000 June Cash!

3. The Cash Shop

Some players have been requesting the possibility to buy a powerful weapon. We decided to implement the new Dragon Bow with the ability to deal magic damage. This weapon is super exclusive and has the same stats as the Legendary Bow. Right now we don't want to make the game unbalanced by introducing weapons in the Cash Shop that's more powerful than the Legendary or Epic weapons. Since MilMo is a free to play it should be possible to obtain a powerful weapon not only by spending money, but by hard work and dedication.

Next time I will cover the weapons found in the Cash Shop!

MilMo Weapon System blog posts:
Part 1: Mystery & Lock Box Weapons
Part 2: Cash Shop Weapons
Part 3: Magic Cash Shop Weapons
Part 4: Epic Weapons
Part 5: In-game Weapons
Part 6: Offhand Weapons

Yours,

Sara

December 2011 Player of The Month: Lenon

2012-01-16T16:06:00.003+01:00

Hello MilMonauts,

It's time for a new player of the Month. This time it's Lenon, who is a GM on MilMo BR. He is a dedicated player who looks out for all new MilMonauts and makes them feel welcome! He even gives some tips for those of you who want to become a GM one day!

Me (left) and Lenon (right) in my Home

Hi Lenon, congratulations on becoming player of the month! How do you feel?

Hello Sara! Firstly I would like to thank you very much for this interview. Well, I think I feel good… although I wish so much Vanny was interviewed, who knows the next opportunity? I am a shy person. But, certainly if I am here is because a lot of players want to know about me, right? So, let’s go!

We sure want to know more about you! When did you start playing MilMo? What do you like about the game?

I started playing MilMo in February 2011, wow… when I remember that I play almost 1 year, I feel so happy! Well, I always enjoyed playing games that has an innovative proposal, that is, a new way to play; it has been what I’ve found in MilMo. It fascinates me a 3D-game where you can play within some minutes, running in your own browser, no great installations, or something like that. MilMo world really is just awesome! By the way, congratulations Junebud Crew for the imagination in creating a world completely different than we are used to see there out, that is really what held me on MilMo!

Breakfast with the other GMs

Thank you! How did you find out about MilMo?

I always played app-games on Orkut platform and, as I said previously, I was looking for a different game to play. My friend told me on MSN that he had found out an awesome 3D-game, I just said to him, unbelieving: what, are you crazy? Do you really think that we have a 3D-game on Orkut? Then he introduced me the game, and I finally believed on him hahaha!

Q4: What is your favorite thing to do in MilMo? Your favorite island?

I like to hang out around… as I said I do not like to stand in an only place, as killing enemies for more than 40 minutes (oh, too lazy), I need to walk I need to see new faces and to help, if necessary. I like also to kill the Tor, in order to get some boxes… (Unlucky Lenon)

As for Favorite Island… it seems so hard to choose… all islands in MilMo are amazing, we do not see often islands like in Mice & Maniax Saga, where we explore the islands as a little mouse would see them! But, I like the island: Eternal Monument, there is calm and tranquil, I like that!

Who do you hang out with in MilMo?

I hang out with: Vanny, Sobe, Willdoug, Sabriinna, Flávinha a lot of nice friends, but generally I don’t have many opportunities to meet them often, so usually I hang out with Sobe and Vanny. Either to help or to laugh, I love hang out with them. :D

Vanny, Sobe and Lenon.

Where do you live in real life? What's it like there? Tell us something about yourself that not many people know about!

Well, I live in a very hot country, in northeast of the Brazil. We are in the summer; this is the moment that we really suffer because of the heat, so I rarely know what means “cold”, since it practically does not exist here hahaha. About me, I work morning with people, I like this because I have the opportunity of help them, and I love to help the others. I am generally very funny, but not with everybody…, I am able to easily deal with any person; I like to help my friends, I don’t like to see anyone sad, I feel I must leave everyone happy, or at least I try to do it. In short, I am honest, humble, funny and a little shy, always willing to help who needs to.

We are very happy to have you as a GM, helping people. What do you do when you don't play MilMo? Do you play other games?

I love chatting :D But out of the computer usually I study English in order to improve it always, since I learned it by myself. I have a great help of my dear friend Sobe, she is very helpful and always helps me out. I like also to listen to music, (usually old music or those with meaningful lyrics, to me music are a message that the singer wish to transmit, meaningless music don’t interest to me).

Celebrating New Year on Seastar Resort.

You learned English all by yourself? Cool! Do you have any MMM? MilMo Memories that is! Something special you remember that you want to share with us?

First, I met the beautiful and careful Vanny, I’m always speechless to describe her, she is one of the better people that I’ve met, she is really an Angel in my life and helped me out very much when I became a GM (and still help me out a lot), always friendly she did not want that bad people would harm me.

Then, Vanny introduced me her amazing friend, Sobe. She is sooo funny, is happy and transmits to us a feeling of peacefulness and joy, you are not able to dislike of her. I really enjoy every moment with her, as in MilMo Inter as in MilMo BR. I love very much them.

I became a GM – Game Master. Wow… I remember that day as if it was today, I really was not expecting it, because I was in the Forum just to help and to share my knowledge with everyone, but I received a message with a invitation… actually, I was not believing, I needed read more than 3 times to really believe that it was real. I felt happy, because I was sure that I had really helped a lot of people, for this reason I went called.

Also, I finally earned my Legendary Bow (although after opening 200 red boxes)! Poor Edu, too lazy to get an Epic Bow; I was looking for a bow that I don’t need to spend a lot of time by killing enemies; and I got it!

However, I always say to myself, my real memories are not those with material achievements, but the time that I spend with my friends, the new opportunity to meet a new face, my loud laughter when Sobe says something funny, when I meet Vanny at her home and we talk throughout the afternoon, so on… these simple things are what really makes me happy, makes me cry, makes me smile…

The Legendary Bow!

You are a Game Master. What's it like? What do you have to say to other players who want to become a Game Master one day?

Wow, really I am a Game Master. I feel just like I have much responsibility with the game. To me, to be a GM is not a status to brag very much about, but an opportunity that you have to help the people and to make MilMo a happy and fun place. GMs are the solution that Junebud found to make sure that the people are having a lot of fun in a safe virtual game. Well, if you want to become one day a GM, please follow these simple tips:

1 – Make sure you are respecting and following all the rules, if you do not lead by example, what do you really want then?

2 – Be: humble, helpful and friendly. The Junebud looks for someone who does not want to use your status as a GM to be famous or something like that.

3 – Do not worry if you think you need to have many achievements, Junebud believes this does not speak about the character of the people, but their actions in the forum, this is the way the Junebud evaluates the person, through their behavior and attitude.

Vanny and Lenon talking about being a GM.

Thank you for your time Lenon, it's been a pleasure to interview you!
Thank you again for the interview, Sara. I hope all of you have a nice day!

That's it for now, make sure to vote for the next "Player of The Month" on the Forum.

Yours,

Sara

November 2011 Player of The Month: Dragisa

2012-01-09T17:34:00.001+01:00

Hi MilMonauts,

Let me introduce November's Player of The Month: Dragisa! I know a lot of you are curious about this mysterious player that draws graffiti and keeps a bird named Pho on his head as a pet. Here we go!

Me (left) and Dragisa (right) meeting in my Home.

Hello Dragisa, congratulations on becoming player of the month! I know a lot of players are curious about you. How does it feel to be November's player?

Hello there, and hello to all my friends and my 'enemies' . Well it is very exciting being the 2nd player of the month MilMo has ever had...I never get to be one of the first in almost anything! A big thanks to everybody who voted and who didn't vote me.

When did you start playing MilMo? Why did you continue play after all this time?

Hmm...well...I started playing on the 31th of December, 2010. The game opened and I was amazed...so I started going everywhere like crazy...and started to kill anything I can...beware the wrath of ME! Too bad the game had so many errors and I couldn't play the game at all...for a few week. I was REALLY disappointed, but then it started working...I couldn't stop playing the game!!!

Celebration with friends at Alien Ruins!

How did you find out about MilMo?

I found out about the game while playing other games. That sign of MilMo was showing up above the games I played all the time, so I decided to enter it...

HERE COMES YOUR NEW KING...I THINK

What is your favorite thing to do in MilMo?

I like hanging out with friends A LOT! When gaining medals, and a friend comes, I don't continue killing and/or chatting at the same time. I fully come with them.

GUSH, I AM SO KIND...I THINK. I also like helping my friends and anybody in a need of a HELP-HERO. Doing new events and exploring new areas is really fun...when you are with me ofcourse. Just joking ;) Although, still not bad!

The Epic Team has a secret meeting!

Who do you hang out with in MilMo?

Before, when I was 'more' active, I hanged out with Ramaki, Anasta, Konoha, Im Ur King and some others. Now I just hang out with King. But, I hope to see the others again

Where do you live in real life? What's it like there? Tell us something weird about your country!

Amm...not much to say here. I live in Macedonia, which is located in Southern Europe. It is nice in my neighborhood because there are so many friends to play with, but you can also find lots of terrible kids that despise you, so I'd say...STAY AWAY!

My school is in my own park, so I get there in like 3-5 minutes or something.

A silly think that happened to me once was when I had to go to a city in Southern Macedonia, (the capital Skopje that I live in is in Northern Macedonia). When we came to the city on the other side of my country, I was sleeping (so don't wake me up, because legend says on a foggy night, I will come and put rotten candy under your pillows hahaha)!

I was totally in an 'amnesia' or whatever. By that, I mean that I totally forgot that I went to a different city. When I got out of the car I was creeping out because I didn't know where I was!!! I didn't see my parents and everybody in my family cause' I was running to see what is going on. Later, I 'got my memory back' and everything continued finy.

Hanging out with friends!

What do you do when you don't play MilMo? Do you play other games? We heard you draw graffiti?

Well I do like online games, but some can get you terrible viruses, so I am always careful!

To be honest, I am not much of a graffiti guy hehe. I would be a 'hooligan' then. And those kind of kids are around :O OH NO...THEY ARE BREAKING THE DOOR...HELPPP...oh no wait, it is only a..a...amm..I don't know what it is (wow this funny business is getting ridiculous). I sometimes draw graffiti pics in different places in my neighborhood and that is like signs: I have been there. Hehe I AM DRAGISA, AND I FIGHT FOR YOU

Dragisa and the bird Pho fighting an imagination devourer

Do you have any MMM? MilMo Memories that is! Something special you remember that you want to share with us?

Hmm! I have forgotten about my MMM. Let me think for a sec. I was once in a party. Many people were there: friends, admins, moderators, game masters and others! I was actually 'lost', but mostly 'stuck' and I couldn't get out. I managed to jump on everybody's head and I got out of that jungle. Ok, fine, you got me, I used the jumping ability! I took great pics with my friends (not just at the party, but anywhere, not just that time, but anytime).

I got lots of great MMOs and most of the people know it ;D Oh here is one. One day I was with my great friend, Anasta, in Air World. I was lagging so badly. Anasta went on the invisible blocks in the sky. Because of the lag, I couldn't get to her, cause' I kept falling...Finally, I had enough so I took my fleet foot and the jump ability and 'flew' right to her. Oh, one more thing.......I MISSED! Ok, that's enough MMO for now.

What one of Dragisa's "funny" Pikachu looked like at the time.

Thank you for your time! I hope you have a nice day!

It was awesome talking to you Sara!

That's it folks, see you next time!

Yours,

Sara

Meet the Developers MilMo BR December 2011

2011-12-13T11:21:00.006+01:00

Hello MilMonauts,

Last week, on Thursday the 8th of December the Junebud Crew payed a visit the the BR servers to meet with all the crazy, awesome and humble BR players. What a party! Take a look (click on the pictures to enlarge them):

The party was held at Seastar Resort

A lot of really cool outfits were displayed among the players

Aha! A Snow Man head from the Winter Festival of 2011!

Me (wearing a blue Dev Hat), standing next to the
pool with some of the BR players

Many GMs joined the event and showed up for a friendly chat

GM Cogburn helped me by translating a lot of the chat into English

Chilling around the Winter Fest tree

Is it a ghost? No it's, our dear WickyWiki who showed up to say "hi"!

Poor Winter Fest Karhu is surrounded by excited players

Chilling in my home with the GMs after the event.
I really wanted to thank them for their hard work!

Thank you all for dropping by and making this party awesome! If you got more pictures from the event that you would like to share, send them to support (@) junebud (.) com and we will post them on the Forum!

Yours,

Sara

MilMo's Class System

2011-12-02T13:18:00.008+01:00

Hi MilMonauts,

Since Update 41 MilMo got its own class and ability system. All players get to choose between 3 different class abilities each time they hit level 5, 10, 15 and finally 21. You can choose to specialize in a particular class or mix and match your own setup. You don't have to follow a specific track. The directions are damage, support and protection. Damage abilities are good if you want to deal a lot of damage, support is for those of you who like to take care of yourself and your group, and protection is for those of you who want to be able to take a lot of damage and attract powerful enemies (like the Imagination Devourer). Below I'll explain how to choose a basic class ability (the first "damage" ability). Click on the pictures to make them larger.

When you hit level 5, 10, 15 and 21 a small crown will appear in the upper left corner of your interface. Click on the crown to open the class ability window.

Now you get to choose between three different class abilities.
Read them carefully and select your favorite. Press "done" when you are ready.

If you are sure about your choice, press "Yes".

The Queen appears and presents you with a new quest that will give you your new class ability. The small crown in the left corner of your interface is replaced with the objectives of your quest.

To read the objectives, just open your quest log by pressing "L" or
press the small icon of the note book.


When you have finished your class ability quest, the newly earned class ability can be found in your profile. Open your profile and drag drop the ability to the ability hot bar at the bottom of the screen. Double click on the ability to use it, or press the same number on your key board that's on in your ability hot bar.

Some of the class abilities come in 2 versions, like the second support ability.
One for your party and one for your enemies.

The third support ability also come in 2 versions. One is for healing and one increasing your hearts. They can not be used at the same time (goes for all double class abilities).

The second protect ability, one for yourself, and one for your group.

"Regular" abilities like Fleet Footed or the Super Jump can also be placed in the ability bar.

And that's how it works! All in all you get 4 class abilities, and some of them comes in a doubles setup (one for yourself and one for the group). What are your favorite abilities?

Yours,

Sara

Sara is the Community Manager at Junebud. She also works with metrics and social media. She's got a bachelor's degree in game design. She usually spends her time moderating the forum, testing the game and planning new events.

New Official MilMo Trailer of 2011

2011-11-30T17:29:00.000+01:00

Hello all MilMonauts,

The new MilMo trailer of 2011 has finally hit the Internet! We have made one version in English and one in Brazilian-Portuguese. Help us spread the word :D

Official MilMo Trailer of 2011 in English

And in Brazilian-Portuguese!

Speaking about MilMo videos, here's a fan made one!

Enjoy!

Yours,

Sara

Happy Birthday MilMo!

2011-11-22T09:49:00.001+01:00

Hi MilMonauts,

This is how we celebrate MilMo. How do YOU celebrate?

Almost 2 years ago, back in 2010, MilMo was released into closed beta on www.milmogame.com. Then one year ago MilMo BR went live on Orkut. To celebrate this we are giving you a huge birthday discount for 48 hours. The sale starts on Monday the 21st of November and ends on Tuesday morning the 23rd of November at 10:30 am GMT +1. What about a 90% discount? This is the biggest Shop discount in the history of MilMo! It's time to get that Lifetime Membershop, those Mystery Boxes or why not a Flying V-Axe..!

Thank you all wonderful players for staying with us this long! We <3 you!

- The Junebud Crew

October Player of The Month: Sobe

2011-11-14T18:22:00.001+01:00

Hello, MilMonauts

In order to get to know some of our fantastic players we are choosing a "player of the month" every month, starting last month. First out is Sobe! Sobe has been playing MilMo for quite a while and is a well known face among MilMonuats. She is always there to help and share her wicked humor! Let's get down to business, here is my interview with her from last week!

Sobe is telling me all her fantastic stories!

Me: So, congratulations, Sobe. You are the player of the month: October. How does it feel?

Sobe: Thanks for the well wishes. I was totally speechless when I was notified that I am the Player of the Mont.

M: When did you start playing MilMo? How did you find out about the game?

S: Let me see....... when did i start playing......... Well, I started playing Milmo sometime in September/October 2010 (Wow..... such a long time ago.........). I actually came across Milmo from a Face Book advertisement. I was kind of bored with the normal 2D games on FB, and also those online fighting games.

Sobe and her son, playing MilMo together.

M: Obviously you have been playing MilMo for quite a while now. What is it that makes you play? Why do you come back?

S: During the initial stage, the superb graphics and quests really had me coming back for more (unlike the standard FB games.......... hahahahahhaa). I had loads of fun, enjoying the scenery and the wonderful quests. But being alone became a bit boring....... I mean, how much can you talk to an NPC? And then, in early November, I met Ephy and Diegralisk in Cozyville. They were so nice that they invited me to join them for a cup of coffee.......... I really enjoyed talking to real people, even though i don't really see them. They also helped me with my Exploration Tokens and some quests also. I guess one thing led to another......and the rest (as they say) was history. We even called ourselves the Three Musketeers. Well, it was my fellow Musketeers that kept me coming back to Milmo for more........ and more.............

Sobe hanging out with her friends in Cozyville.

Me: Do you have any special MMM (MilMo Memory) you want to share with us?

S: Special MMMs? I have too many!!!!!!!!! My first MMM was my first encounter with the Legendary Gielo, who was then a Game Master as well as Forum Master. He was so nice to me, even though i just newly joined Milmo. He even took the time to show me where an Exploration Token was.

My second MMM was meeting with Ephy and Diegralisk in Cozyville, and of us becoming the Three Musketeers...... (ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR EPHY AND SOBE). There are more of those moments. Moments of meeting really nice people, making new friends and getting to know them. Doing coin runs with friends and seeing who was fastest....... Getting the achievements. Earning my first Epic weapon (Sword), 1 year after I started Milmo.......... Oh, and so many many more.

The 3 musketeers getting ready to rock The Kitchen!

Me: Who are you in real life? What country do you live in?

S: My real life is the opposite of my Milmo life!!!!! I am just a humble office worker, handling some figures for my bosses. Nothing much exciting happens there, unless the internet connection breaks down......... Then the whole office goes on a panic.

I am staying in the Central City of Kuala Lumpur in the country of Malaysia......... But have easy access to beaches and a few beautiful islands which are perfect for diving (Sara, do you wanna come over for a dive, maybe be my dive buddy?)

Game Masters hanging out by the pool!

M: Diving buddy? I would love to! Are there many Malaysians playing MilMo?

S: Currently there are a few Malaysians that i know of that are playing Milmo. Ephy, DJ Blen, haster, HELLO GUY. There could be others out there and i would love to meet them..... :)....... Malaysians, apa khabar? (how are you?) Semoga kita dapat berjumpa di Milmo...... (Hope we can meet in Milmo).

M: Tell us something about yourself not many people would know?

S: Wow Sara.... this is a tough question.

Fears : That i would get too old for Milmo. I even feel too old now....... most avatars are very young teens, with their own languages.... I cant even keep up with them...... Maybe the developers could design a rocking chair for me. Then I could sit there and tell the younger avatars about the good old days........ Hahahahahah

Hopes : That i would have a constant protector in Milmo :D........ Maybe a lion for a pet? (Sara, do you think you could get me one?)

Hidden Talent: I think that i have a talent of reflecting the personality of the person I am talking to, back at them. For example, with the more fun loving avatars, i am as "crazy" as they are....... For the more sedate avatars, I am as sedate as them...........

Sobe and Diegralisk at Nikonos.

M: I would love to have a lion as a pet! What are your favorite island, item and NPC in MilMo? Why?

S: Favourite Island : LIGHTMILL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is where all the new players come to. I have met many interesting avatars there :D. I had a lot of wonderful time getting to know them ....... and teasing them also.

Favourite item : TELEPODSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS......... They help me to get far away islands quickly......... Poor Sobe, she wants to get to different islands as quickly as possible, very impatient..........Hahahahahah

Favourite NPC : Cute little Snipper the crab ............. That crab is found in a few islands, and Snipper's quest gave me my first ability...... Swim ability :D

Those who know Sobe knows she is a great listener!

M: Thank you Sobe! It's been a pleasure talking with you. I am sure a lot of players appreciate the awesome screen shots you are sharing with us for this interview.

S: Thank you Sara for the interview. Always a pleasure to meet with you.

Sara is the Community Manager at Junebud. She also works with metrics and social media. She's got a bachelor's degree in game design. She usually spends her time moderating the forum, testing the game and planning new events.

MilMo News!

2011-09-27T16:43:00.002+02:00

Hello MilMonauts!

So what's going on in the MilMo Universe? I'm here to give you a short re-cap!

Headlines:

MilMo BR is coming back! Junebud will make sure MilMo BR on Orkut is alive and thriving. The date for MilMo BR to be back online again is set to the 30th of September. Right now we are moving servers and preparing for the new chapter of MilMo BR. More details can be found by clicking here.

Join the MilMo BR Community on Orkut!

New Event! Win 2 free Mystery Boxes! The brand new screen shot contest is now live at the MilMo Forum and Aeria Games.

Other:

The new official MilMo BR Twitter can be found over here. Be sure to follow it if you prefer your MilMo news on Portuguese and play on the BR servers.

The brand new MilMo BR Community on Orkut can be found over here. It's the place to be for connecting with other Portuguese speaking MilMonauts.

The MilMo Comic is till going strong. If you have missed out on any of the previous pages, be sure to catch up over here.

The servers will be down on Thursday at 08:00-11:30 am GMT +2 the 29th of September in order to get the new update in place!

That's it for now. See you soon! Visit our homepage or follow our twitter for more news.

- The Junebud Crew

Photos from "Meet the Devs" 20/09/2011

2011-09-21T14:49:00.000+02:00

Hello players,

This week we hosted the "Meet the Developers"-event in MilMo. The party was a success and the Junebud Crew wants to thank everyone for joining the fun. Here's some pictures from Seastar Resort where the party was held. We also selected some really cool outfits we want to share with you! Click on the pictures to make them bigger.


The welcome committee is getting ready for the big party!


Guests are starting to show up. The Junebud Crew are wearing the famous blue June hats!


The guests are relaxing and eating ice-cream

The Crew members attending were Avatar, Wicky, Saxen8, Iwene, -Calle- and JiTe.

A lot of guests hanging out by the pool

At most we had over 80 players at Seastar Resort at the same time!

Wicky and JiTe poolside

A lot of really cool outfits were seen during these two crazy hours

The devs getting ready to say "thank you and good night"!


The cool cat!


An ancient warrior


An adventurer ready for anything!

2 cool 4 school!


A Royalty showed up!


Beware the warrior queen!


A royal angel from above?


A lady from the future. Or from outer space.

Street-fighter brawler!


Yo bro! Keeping it gangsta on the beach!

Simple and stylish.

2010 the "Meet the Devs"-event was held on Lightmill Island.

If you got any more photos from the event, share them on the forum and get a free lock box key! More info and photos over here.

Yours,

-Sara

Update 38: Convertible

2011-09-12T17:22:00.002+02:00

Hello players!

Update 38: Convertible, is out! Let's take a look on what's new.


Legendary Wings! Mystery Box loot improved.


Back 2 school, time to get cool! New girly haircuts and jewelery.


Converters. A brand new piece of technology in the world of MilMo. It converts one item into another.


Oscar at Lightmill Island now sells converters for Coins.


Crafting. Learn how to sew and make your own clothes.


Some clothes are now found as quest rewards.

New PVP medals for the Arena.

New event 'Treasure Hunt' added
New medal track 'Mystery Boxes' added
New medal track 'Lockboxes' added
New medal track 'Arena' added
New medal track 'Wealth' added
New quests added to Lightmill Island
Lightmill Island stuck bug fixed
Attack responsiveness improved
Hotkey bug fixed
No-Brainer boss fixed
Cash Shop prices adjusted
Lockbox loot improved

Have fun online!

Yours,

Sara

Gamescom 2011

2011-08-24T14:18:00.005+02:00

Last week Junebud attended the biggest gaming event there is; Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. It's the world's largest games event with over 254.000 visitors, about 4.400 journalists and 505 exhibitors from 33 countries attending. The purpose of the trip was to attend some important meetings, demonstrate the game and look for interesting contacts. It was me, our CEO Ola and Junebud's producer Irene, who were sent to represent the Junebud Crew. Here are some pics from the adventure!


Berlin. While waiting for the connecting flight to Cologne, we visited the Holocaust Memorial.

Irene looking for the way to hotel in Leverkusen.

Finally in Cologne! Ola in front of the Cologne Cathedral.

Everything's set and ready. Waiting for the crowd to show up.


At the entertainment area, hanging out with some space marines. So awesome!


The Battlefield 3 booth displayed a real fighter jet. How do you top that?

Gamescom is the world largest gaming event with more than 250.000 visitors. The sound of all the games on display, the people and the music, is unbelievable loud.

A super cool promotion for Guild Wars 2

An ork and his caretaker.


The Guild Wars 2's massive booth.

Me and a really cool guy dressed to promote the new "Golden Eye: Reloded"

Our booth had many interested visitors

Girl cosplaying as Alice from "Alice: Madness Returns"

The beautiful Cathedral of Cologne, seen from a late night party

That's it for now. While waiting for the next update, why don't you check out the MilMo Comic? It can be found over here: http://www.facebook.com/MilMoGame

Yours,

Sara

Sara is the Community Manager at Junebud. She also works with Quality Assurance (QA) and scripting. She's got a bachelor's degree in game design, but likes the social part a bit more than tweaking numbers. She usually spends her time moderating the forum, scripting and planning new events.

PvP Arena Strategy Guide

2011-08-10T17:50:00.004+02:00

This post is going to be devoted entirely to the new MilMo Arena PvP mode, or the "Deathmatch Minigame" as we prefer to call it. The minigame was envisioned as "MilMo meets Quake 3 Arena meets Mario Cart meets Bomber man". But this isn't going to be a design post. Today I'll give you a complete brain dump on what I've discovered about the gameplay during the first two weeks of playing. First off will be an explanation of all the basic rules, then I'll go into advanced tactics and some cool combat tricks. A sort of crash-course on how to dominate in the Arena I guess. Here goes..

Basic rules

The goal of the game is to defeat the other players using melee, ranged weapons, bombs or even gravity. Note that everyone starts out with zero player level and the same two tactical assets; their legs and a rusty short sword. There is no persistent skills, equipment or stats.

Weapons

Level up your weapons!

Weapons are obtained by smashing the white hovering capsules and picking up the blue weapon bubbles contained within. There are five weapon types: sword, axe, club, bow and gun. You may only carry one weapon per class at a time (that's max 5 weapons), but each of your weapons can be upgraded twice (that's a max weapon level of 3). Whenever you grab a weapon powerup of a type you don't have, you're awarded a new level 1 weapon. If you already have a weapon of that particular type, the weapon gets upgraded - for a maximum weapon level of 3.

Pickups

There are three types of pickup besides weapons.

Pickup abilities and ammo to win the game

Powerups: these have an instant effect on your character. Examples include hearts, super jump (green shoe), fleet footed (red shoe) and the two types of ammo; arrows and cells.
Beware of these!

Powerdowns: Avoid the red bubbles at all costs. The skull will drain you of one heart, and the caltrop will slow you down, which is really bad for you in the Arena.
Abilities: These are yellow bubbles that won't be used on contact, but will be mounted in your onscreen ability slot. You may only carry one at a time. To use an ability, double click it or simply press 'F'. Most abilities affect your speed and health. The only offensive ability is the bomb.

Here, have a berry...I mean BOMB!

A simple system for Arena domination

First, think of each of your "lives" in the Arena as being divided into three phases:

Phase 1: Get moving

As soon as you spawn, get moving or you will die instantly. Find a speed powerup, get away from any ongoing fighting and get to the upper floor. Think of the basic Arena map like this: the top floors are for preparation, the ground level is for fighting and the basement is for risking a horrible death.

Phase 2: Get equipped

Avoid getting into a fight without a level 3 weapon! Go find some weapon capsules as soon as you can. Your goal in this phase is to remain undetected or atleast un-engaged until you are big and bad. Stay away from all other fighters until this is the case. The ancient chinese general Sun Tzu (author of "The Art of War") famously noted that a general should never go to battle unless he was 100% certain of winning. This principle is very useful in the MilMo PvP Arena.

Phase 3: Fight!

Once you have collected one or more level 3 weapons of choice, a speed boost and preferably a health boost of either kind, you're ready to go fighting (you may also want to pack a bomb and plenty of ammo).

Melee tactics

Every melee attack slows you down by about 50%, so using a speed powerup or ability will give you a big upper hand.
Never chase a bowman or gunman with a melee weapon unless you have a speed boost. They will outrun you and turn you into either a pin cushion or a fried chicken.
Run in a zig-zag pattern to evade ranged attacks. Especially if you hear the level 3 gun being fired up close.
Be a predator: stalk people from higher platforms. Jump down on top of them when they least expect it and chop them into pieces.

Stalk other players from above.
Swords have long range and fast attack speeds. Tip: The level 3 sword is the easiest level 3 weapon to obtain since you start out with a level 1 sword but no other weapons.
Axes do tons of damage. They are excellent for ambushes and for breaking up groups.
Clubs have lots of knockback. With a level 3 club you will completely dominate narrow places. I never stay around under the bridge unless I'm wielding a level 3 club, in which case I can easily bash any opponents over the edge and into certain death. Keep in mind, however, that death from falling does not yet award kills.

Ranged tactics

Bows and guns take skill and will take plenty of practice getting used to. However, in the right hands even a level 1 bow can prove an extremely deadly weapon.
In the beginning you may want to save the ranged weapon for groups of people who stand around fighting each other. Firing into a group will greatly increase your chance of scoring.
Ranged attacks don't slow you down. Using a bow or a gun, you can harass melee fighters by firing at them while backing up. Their every attack will slow them down, unlike yours (watch where you're going though; before you know it you may end up backing into a wall or falling into the abyss).
The level 3 gun is the second deadliest weapon in the game. It's the one weapon that gives you a very clear advantage over other fighters with level 3 melee weapons.

Bomb tactics

The bomb is without doubt the most powerful weapon in the game. Save it for groups of fighters. Run through them using a speed boost and drop the bomb in their midst without stopping. Often they will be too busy fighting each other to notice the bomb before it goes off.
Keep in mind that bombs hover! They cannot be tossed over edges onto fighters below (this is sometimes counter-intuitive but it can be used really creatively too) ...
The bomb splash damage goes through walls and floors. If you see someone on the bridge, put a bomb under it. Conversely: if you see people under the bridge, put a bomb on top of it.
If you are being ambushed close to powerups or weapon capsules, drop a bomb and get out! If you're lucky, your attacker won't notice the bomb among their new shiny powerups, and will stick around until it's too late.

Misc Powerup and Ability tactics

Avoid picking up more than one fleet footed (red shoe) speed powerup at the same time! Otherwise you will simply become too fast, and will face a huge risk of missing a jump and falling to your death.
Use the F button to activate abilities, since stopping to click on the icon will be too intrusive on your combat flow.
I always use health abilities instantly, since health is always good for you and holding ability powerups will prevent you from picking up new ones.
Speed abilities, however, can be good to save for later. You never know when the need arises to chase somebody down, or to run away from a pesky level 3 axeman.

Listen!

Using your ears will save your life many times over.
Listen for launch pads and jump pads: is someone following you? the amount of time between your own launch pad sound and theirs will tell you how close they are.
Listen for the bomb fuse: always listen for the sound of a bomb fuse. If you hear it; get out! Or die.
Listen for the level 3 gun: this weapon can kill you really fast. If you hear it getting closer, make a quick look around to see where it's coming from.

Zoom out!

The latest update of MilMo has an updated control scheme which allows for zooming the camera in and out using the mouse scroll wheel. As soon as you spawn for the first time, zoom out so you get a better overview of your surroundings. This will alert you to stalkers and ambushes, and will save you a few lives.

Look intimidating!

Whether you dress using free or premium clothes, a good idea is to look as scary or cool as possible. I have noticed how many people will play less offensively against someone who looks cool or dangerous. This is silly, ofcourse, since everyone has the same stats and the guy in the demon-armor could be a complete noob. It's just the way people are wired.

What, you mean I don't look intimidating?!

A quick word about matches and score

Every game, or "match" is on for 10 minutes. The winner of each match is the player who obtained the most kills. The 10 topmost players are awarded ladder points. First place gets 10 ladder points, second place gets 9 ladder points and so on. These points will later determine your rank on the main MilMo PvP ladder, which can be viewed from the town screen. Note: currently you need to exit the game and log back in to see your ladder score updated since your last game.

This little strategy guide is only scratching the surface of this new game mode. I'm sure in the time it took me to write this blog post, many new weird tricks and exploits have been invented. Nevertheless I hope you might find it useful!

Cheers

/Calle

Today's post is made by Calle Lundgren, Game Director at Junebud. Calle has been making games for everything from the C64 to the PS3. He has also had time to help found a successful band and to start up Junebud! He has a hand in everything that goes on at the company - especially MilMo.

MilMo the Comic!

2011-07-12T11:18:00.000+02:00

Hello folks! The Junebud Crew is back again with a fresh page of awesomeness! What is Calico Tom up to and what is this treasure? Check out the comic on MilMo's Facebook page.
See you online!

- The Junebud Crew

Win your own dream outfit!

2011-07-08T14:00:00.002+02:00

Hello players! We have a new competition for you! This time you have the chance to win all the clothes your avatar is wearing in the Cash Shop. Sweet deal!

What does your dream avatar dress like?

This is how it's done:

1. Change your profile picture on Facebook to your MilMo avatar, dressed up in your dream outfit (no weapons, consumables or homes-items).
2. Be sure to display the MilMo logo or "www.milmogame.com" somewhere in the picture.
3. Take a screen shot of your MilMo-fied profile picture.
4. Post the picture and a text telling us why YOU should win your dream outfit, on our Forum http://bit.ly/nF5nZE
5. Remember, pictures displaying your real Facebook name will be dismissed and deleted due to privacy reasons. The winner is chosen by the Junebud Crew.

More info about rules at: http://bit.ly/nF5nZE

Good luck and see you online!

- Sara

MilMo the Comic!

2011-07-05T10:38:00.002+02:00

Hello players! Let me present: MilMo the Comic! The comic about the MilMo Universe is to be published on our Facebook-page, every Tuesday. Be sure to check it out by following this link.

Stay tuned!

- The Junebud Crew

Exciting Times For MilMo

2011-06-24T15:40:00.003+02:00

Hello players,

What a ride we're on. MilMo has finally begun transitioning into the game we envisioned from the very beginning, a modern mix between console platform games and the modern Free-2-PlayMMORPG. We've now completed the game up to a point where the core feature set is nailed down and we can begin thinking about cool extras and the next big features.

Dark forces have come to MilMo

This summer, we'll begin taking the MilMo concept a lot further by rolling out a number of changes to boost fun factor and replay value.

Yarrn, the new pirate cat-NPC on level The Eternal Monument

First up is our new ingame currency

Coins are big, beautiful and shiny. Every map contains 8 of them, and they respawn every 24 hours in new random locations. Use Coins to buy items in the Cash Shop. The voucher system is no more! and obviously those of you who own vouchers have been generously compensated in Coins.

You may recall that vouchers had to be traded in for one item at a time. With Coins, this limitation is history (they work just like June Coins). There is naturally a risk of confusing ingame Coins with June Coins. Our plan is to change the name and appearance of June Coins on the portals that use this currency (MilMogame.Com and the Brazilian versions of MilMo).

There are 8 Coins on each level, and they re-spawn each 24h if you pick them up!

What about Gems?

As you may suspect, Coins will eventually become the main in-game currency. Gems will remain unchanged for a couple of updates, but will eventually be replaced by Coins in all NPC shops and quest rewards. Critters will still drop Gems, but Gems will become a mana-like resource, used for magic, crafting and advanced technology. This also ties into the story and setting of the MilMo universe, in which Gems are the life-force, the essence out of which everything is made.

To sum this up, Coins will make MilMo more Free-2-Play since everyone can now get Cash Shop items with a little effort. It's obviously criminally fun to go coin-hunting. Einstein has said "Everything should be made as simple as possible, but no simpler". That's basically what we're trying to accomplish with the in-game economy, even though the path to get there has been winding and filled with surprises.

Helicopter Maps

This update also introduces a new feature: Helicopter maps. These remote islands contain special quests and NPCs, and have critters that drop a lot more Gems and lock boxes. There's also a bigger chance (risk?) of Imagination Devourers appearing! On the first such map, the "Eternal Monument", we're introducing a new MilMo NPC race - the pirate cats - along with an awesome new special ability: The Dirty Bomb!

Fly off to new, exciting places!

The Start Experience

In an effort to make the game more entertaining to new users, we've put effort into improving the 1st session experience. A beautiful start level has been added, improving the initial gameplay experience and introducing the various gameplay elements in an easy and thorough manner. There's also a gorgeous intro animation slide with epic music and a story that introduces the MilMo universe and its main storyline. We're hoping to add more of these story sequences throughout the game in the coming months, delving deeper into the story world of the queen of MilMo and the imagination devourers.

The Brink, a new start level for the new players

The Queen, new players will meet with her in The Brink

As you may have noticed, we have put a lot of effort into the economic (both in-game and real world) aspects of MilMo lately. This work is now nearing completion and we're putting our gameplay engines into full gear. We have scores of ultra-cool features lined up for the game and it's going to be a very interesting summer for MilMo!

Cheers,

Calle

Level Up

2011-06-22T16:19:00.002+02:00

Hello players,

It's been a busy time at the office lately. As some of you may already know Junebud recently teamed up with Aeria Games to bring MilMo to a wider audience. This is a big event for Junebud and for MilMo. Along with this deal comes a lot of work, and whenever we set out on a new, big stretch of development we usually arrange a JuneCon. This is basically an internal conference. Today's blog post is going to cover our meeting with Aeria Games, plus JuneCon 5, held the week after the visit.

Most of the Junebud Crew on a much needed ice cream break during JuneCon 5.

MilMo is already live on the Aeria Games portal (www.aeriagames.com), so you old hands on the English version may have met new players who connect from there. We did the integration a couple of weeks ago, and shortly afterward Lan Hoang, CEO of Aeria, along with Terry Ngo, their CTO and Pascal Zuta, Managing Director of the German Aeria branch, landed in Malmö. It was a nice, sunny day when we walked them around the office and introduced them to the Junebud Crew.

After introductions, Calle Lundgren, our game director, Fredrik Olofsson, our own CTO, and I sat down with our guests to discuss how we wanted to develop the partnership.

Lan, Pascal, Calle and Ola get down to business. The weather was great when Junebud hosted the meeting.

Aeria Games is a large company that publishes a lot of games. They're currently expanding their browser games section, so MilMo is a good fit for them. We also had a chance to sit down and talk about what kind of a company Junebud is, and what we do best. Besides, we wanted to learn more about our new allies. We had been looking for a partner who knew Free games and who had a big audience, and much as we had guessed, Aeria fit that bill to a 'T'.

After the meeting we felt we had a fresh perspective on MilMo. Aeria has a lot of experience with these types of games, and were willing to share. This meant Calle, Fredrik and I had a lot to consider when we sat down to take a look at how we wanted to expand MilMo. Once we had figured out an exact direction and a plan to get there, we called a company conference a couple of days later.

The Junebud Crew at the opening of JuneCon 5.

We've been arranging internal conferences ever since the company started three years ago. The first one, JuneCon 1, was held in August of 2008. So last week we held JuneCon 5, focused on where we want to take MilMo during 2011.

It's usually Calle and I who do most of the talking, but we've learned to set time aside for questions and discussions. The best part about a JuneCon is the chance to share ideas and compare notes. When a development team grows beyond five or ten people it's hard to keep everyone on the same page. After a conference like this everyone shares the same perspective, which makes it much easier to push ahead as a team.

We had lunch at a nearby restaurant situated on an old river boat. Summer rocks.

No JuneCon is complete without good food. Fredrik, our CTO, decided on chili, Sara went with a salad.

MilMo has come a long way since its humble beginnings, as pointed out by Calle here.

One of the things we talked about was the evolution of MilMo from a primitive MMO with 4 levels, at the launch in 2009, through the pretty big game we have today, and on to the game we want it to become. I won't offer any spoilers, but there's awesome stuff in the making. There always is.

Fruit break!

Dinner with the Crew. Calle seems pretty happy!

After JuneCon 5 the whole team went out for dinner and bowling. I was surprised when I realized we've been working together for years, and this was the first time we did something like this. Sure, the team has gone out to dinner before, but we never went ahead and did anything physical like bowling, go-cart racing or laser tag before. Most game companies do these things pretty often in my experience. Anyway, all I can say is it was awesome fun!

At the bowling hall. The smack talk begins.

The gang really got into the spirit of bowling and before long, competition was fierce. I don't know about you, but I'm not much of a bowler so it was looking pretty bleak. Luckily I ended up on the same team as Fredrik, who turned out to be hardcore and walked away with the individual best score of the evening.

Aaand... away!


Go, community team!

Yes! A fleeting moment of victory for the art team.

We work all day making computer games, which can be hard work. One of the trickiest things is to remember to have fun and to make the games fun, even when problems seem impossible. And wouldn't you know it, going out and having fun goes a long way to fuel that fire.

We're happy about the deal with Aeria Games. The Junebud Crew is psyched about kicking MilMo up a notch, as I'm sure you've already noticed. We've decided on a break-neck development schedule with frequent game updates just to cram as much cool stuff into MilMo as possible, and soon. With a big, new audience ready to find out about the game, who knows what the future will bring.

Best regards,

Ola

Today's post is made by Ola Holmdahl, game designer and CEO at Junebud. Ola's previous career includes teaching game design, doing game design and creating concept art. In a previous life he was a freelance artist and an academic (but not at the same time). Follow him at twitter.com/Olaholmdahl

Update 32: Walrus!

2011-06-16T16:15:00.001+02:00

Hello players,

With this update we bring you the Sea Festival event. Ready, steady, beach comb!!! Maybe combat is your thing? Check out the cave in the Ancient Forest: something dreadful terrorizes the lands beyond. Eeek!

New weapon: the mighty Anchor!


It's the Shark Girl!

-20% on pirate items


New level and new bosses: The Hidden Tor

New event: ‘Sea Festival’

New weapon: Anchor

New Sea Festival items in Cash Shop

Lock box loot improved

Mystery box loot improved

New helicopter stations added

New cannons added

New members’ only level added

Special discount on pirate-themed items in Cash Shop.

Major server improvements

Weapon wielding bug fixed

Medal reward interface bug fixed

Window added to new default home

Have fun!

- the Junebud Crew

Nordic Game Conference 2011

2011-06-07T18:36:00.004+02:00

Hello dear players,

You might wonder what we have been up to since we last gave you a blog post? Let me jump right in and share with you! During the 10th - 12th of May Junebud visited the Nordic Game Conference. Or more specifically it was me, our CEO Ola and our project leader Irene who went there. The NGC is held each year in Malmö, the same city Junebud is located in. It's so sweet to go home and sleep in your own bed when the lectures and the party is over. No uncomfortable hotel beds ;)

Indie Game Night at the NGC. Indie game makers got to present their games to the crowd. "Vikings on Trampolines" won the Nordic Indie Sensation Award!

The NCG is an excellent opportunity to meet and greet with the new indie talent from the Nordic countries (Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark and Iceland). It's also a chance to get to speak to the big guys at Massive, DICE, CCP and other well known gaming companies.

The crew behind ”Amnesia -The Dark Descendent” attended NGC. Have you played it? It's one of the scariest games around. Ever.

Here's me with the Bloodline Champions reps: CEO Tau and graphic artist Srdan

As usual my job was to take notes during sessions, and to be sure we got as much information as possible back to the office. A whole bunch of classmates from my old game development school, the University of Skövde, were visiting NCG. It's so exciting to see what they're all up to nowadays. Some of them have founded their own game companies, like Stunlock Studios, makers of "Bloodline Champions", or Marklund Games who won a British Academy of Film and Television Arts for their game "Twang". Others are working at DICE or Mojang.

The makers of "Angry Birds", Rovio, attended the party!

As usual, the creators of the 3D program "Maya", Autodesk, sponsored all of us game developers with energy drinks.

Different color badges according to your type of conference pass. Apparently, I was a "delegate".

Jocce Marklund of Marklund Games with his game "Solve It". They won the Dare to Be Digital 2010 with "Twang".

Ex class mate Magnus Söderberg and his company Triolith have made a game called "Wisp" for the Android market.

Me and Annette Nielsen, team member of Twang and talented freelance artist

Ola at the award dinner. Later that night the Swedish electro band ”Familjen” gave a concert!

What's more, Vlad Micu, the producer of the game called "Snobli Run", visited the Junebuds headquarters. He gave me, Ola and Calle some media traing. I hope I know how to behave in front of a camera now. It was really scary and so much fun to learn all the do's and dont's when someone gives you a mic and puts a camera in front of your face. This is something Ola and Calle are far more experienced with since their days of making World in Conflict and Battlefield 1942. Practice makes perfect, I hope!

Trying to get my head around things as Vlad is instructing me

Ola in front of the camera. The Junebud headquarters are located near the harbor in Malmö.

As for MilMo, we have been working hard to deliver next update. Hopefully we are able to give it to you during the next couple of weeks. There will be a lot of cool stuff, like diver helms, a shark fin and new levels. I can't tell you too much abut this at the moment. But those of you who are curious abut the mystical Prawn King got something to look forward to!

New outfits coming up!

That's it for now, see you online!

Yours,

Sara

Sara is the Community Manager at Junebud. She also works with Quality Assurance (QA) and scripting. She's got a bachelor's degree in game design, but likes the social part better than tweaking numbers. She usually spends her time moderating the forum, testing the game and planning new events. Twitter: twitter.com/saxen8

Mystical Monster!

2011-05-10T10:18:00.004+02:00

Today I discovered a new threat while doing my usual rounds. It was like nothing I had ever seen before. The monster was big and seemed to be made of smoke and shadows. I grabbed my bow and started shooting arrows at him with no luck at all. I decided to try my magical Storm Blade on it. That knocked him back and made him fade into the shadows, and disappear. Did it have something to do with the magic weapon?

Wanted: unknown monster. Caution is recommended.
It is invulnerable against common weapons.

When meeting some friends in Cozyville I realized that shadows of these monsters appeared on several islands. A skilled artist made a sketch of what I had witnessed.

Groups of adventurers begin to form. Bounty hunters are preparing their weapons. Researchers want to find out where the monsters came from and what they want.

Who could have more information about them?

Update 29: The Joy of Giving

2011-04-29T17:55:00.000+02:00

Hello MilMonauts,

The time has come for a new update! This time it's all about new clothes for the girls, medals for gifting and special 'boxes'! Let me introduce the fantastic Lock Box! This is an item that can be found all over the MilMo Universe. It's a mystery what's inside, the only sure thing is that it will be a surprise every time!The keys to the Lock Boxes can be found in the Cash Shop.


The golden boxes are the rarest ones, then the silver, the blue, the green and finally the red one, which is the most common.

Every time you open a Lock Box you have the chance of getting a valuable reward such as weapons or other cool items. Another box is the Mystery Box. This one contains 1-2 random items from the Cash Shop or in-game shops.

Receive cool Homes items for gifting other players!

Another big improvement is the medal track for giving gifts other players. If you give one gift you get the magical golden lamp. Three gifts gets you the mighty shield, six ones the magical fountain and finally, ten gifts will award you the hoovering dragon head. All these items can be placed in your Home. Sweet!

Dressed to kill. No, literally!

It's finally possible to buy new summery tops and bikinis for your girl avatar. We've also made some adjustments to Membership-prices and Telepod packages. To wrap up our little shop overhaul we made the popular Bounce berries and Rocket berries available in handy single-berry packages!

Stay tuned!

Yours,

Sara

MilMo's Voucher System

2011-04-18T17:01:00.002+02:00

Hello players,

As a community manager at the official MilMo forum, I get a lot of questions about the game. So I've decided to put together a blog-post about the most common questions. If you need help with your game, I recommend you visit the frequently asked questions-section at our homepage, the "FAQ".

The first thing I'm going to talk about are the Adventures. MilMo is set in a fantastic, ever expanding universe. The players move between different "Adventures" when exploring the MilMo Universe, and each adventure consist of several levels. Currently there are three Adventures: Summer Tide Saga, Mice & Maniax and Air World. You change Adventures by entering the Map (press "M").

Choose between the different Adventures. Which one is your favorite?

Once in map-mode the player can choose freely between the Adventures. Just press the looking glass icon. If you are a member you have the option to collect Star Tokens at each level/island.

The Membership feature is a great way to get the most out of MilMo! Members get access to exclusive areas, a 20% discount in the Cash Shop, secret quests, one free item each month and extra gems when they defeat enemies. If you are a member you also get to collect Star Tokens at each level. There are four levels of Membership; 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and lifetime membership.

Where Star Token is picked up, a new one will spawn on that island/level after 7 days. Every Star Token is worth 1 voucher point. The vouchers created are stackable or can be traded in for items in the Cash Shop. One voucher equals one item. It is not possible to split a Silver Voucher into many Bronze Vouchers.


Members get special symbols above their heads to show they are members. There are currently 30 Star Tokens to collect each week!

If a player collects a Star Token it will respawn after 7 days, in another hidden location on that level. If a player does not collect the Star Token, it starts to "mature", and a value of +1 is added every 21st day. A Star Token can be worth a maximum of 15 points, if it hasn't been collected for 42 weeks. After this it hits its cap and stops "maturing". To get the most out of your Star Tokens, you should collect them as soon as they appear!

The Star Token at Kraken Island has been collected, the star bar is empty.

Star Tokens give you voucher points. In MilMo, almost all items can be bought for these vouchers. There are four kinds of vouchers: bronze, silver, gold and platinum. When you collect your first Star Token you receive a Bronze Voucher, and as you collect more of them, your voucher points keeps leveling up towards a precious Platinum Voucher.

The Bronze Voucher levels up to a Silver, then a Gold and finally a Platinum Voucher.

Bronze Voucher: can be used to buy any item worth up to 400 June Coins or 6 Facebook Credits. Combined: 1 voucher point.

Silver Voucher: can be used to buy any item worth up to 800 June Coins or 12 Facebook Credits. Combined: 5 voucher points.

Gold Voucher: can be used to buy any item worth up to 2000 June Coins or 30 Facebook Credits. Combined: 14 voucher points.

Platinum Voucher: can be used to buy any item worth up to 6000 June Coins or 90 Facebook Credits. Combined: 39 voucher points.

When you visit the Cash Shop, and browse an item there, you will find a small icon of a voucher next to the item if you are able to trade one of your vouchers for it. The game automatically picks the smallest voucher you have that will get the job done.

A small icon of a voucher will appear next to the items you are able to buy using your vouchers.

Vouchers can also be obtained by winning contests or events, held at the MilMo Forum. Speaking of items and the Cash Shop, players sometimes ask me if clothes and items they are going to buy will end up under the "clothes" tab in the bag. Yes they will, and what's more, you can take your clothes on and off as many times as you want once you bought them. The same goes for furniture. Rearrange them as many times as you want in your Home!

More info about items, vouchers, the Cash Shop, Adventures etc can be found at the unofficial MilMo wiki!

I hope this was helpful to you!

Yours,

Sara

New event: Spring Fling!

2011-04-14T14:19:00.002+02:00

Hello players,

We give you Update 28: Spring Fling! It is time to catch bunnies and give those yellow vile birds a go! How many of the hidden Spring Fling eggs will you find? This event will be around for about one month, so be sure to get all the new medals.

Start out by talking to Fletcher at Seastar Resort. All 18 eggs are unique.

So, this is what's new:

- New monster: Yellow Vile Bird

- New medals for defeating Yellow Vile Birds

- New medals and rewards for catching bunnies

- New Spring Fling quest line

- New Cash Shop item: Bunny Nose

- New Cash Shop item: Bunny Ears

- End of Fallen Heroes event

Have fun, see you online!

Yours,

Sara

P.S Did you know MilMo has it's own wiki? Click here to pay a visit!

Home Is Where The Heart Is

2011-04-07T11:14:00.012+02:00

Hello, players.

I've been thinking a lot about motivation lately. It's one of those deceptively simple matters. You know the kind. The sort of thing that ends up being very important to everything we do in life. In order to accomplish something – anything, really - the first step is to understand what you want. But wanting to do something and doing it are different things, separated by a long and rocky road.

Whatever you choose in life, make sure it's something
that ignites your passion. Photo by Miri.

Whenever we set out to do something that takes a lot of work it is vitally important to be motivated. The task itself could be almost anything. It could be climbing a mountain, or surviving in the wilderness. Perhaps you want to become a great painter, write a good novel, or a ground breaking scientific thesis. The goal itself is up to you, the individual. Like me, I'm sure you have your own aspirations in life. My passion is to make computer games that reach out and mean something to people.

There's a phrase that I see used a lot, namely, “Execution is everything”. The corollary of that statement is, “Ideas are cheap”. From personal experience I believe both these sayings to be true. It doesn't take much to dream up awesome ideas for games, books, comics, or films. We've all done it! It feels good to do it. It can even be a little addictive. But still, coming up with ideas isn't the master skill. (The master skill regarding ideas is the ability to recognize a good idea, not dreaming one up. Think about it.) Executing on a good idea is where it's all at. A teacher of mine once said, “Art is 10 % inspiration and 90 % perspiration”. Another teacher later told me the same thing, only he claimed it was a 1/99 ratio. I never liked that idea at the time. It seemed to me that being inventive should count for more.

Drawing is a skill that takes time and dedication to develop,
but anyone can learn it if they commit themselves fully.

The more I work the more I believe my teachers were right. Rather, at this point in time I think of it like this: if you want to achieve your dreams, you can't ignore any stage in the process. You need a great idea coupled with great ability to execute that idea. You need skill, perseverance, a clear head, hard work and luck. That's the best part of working in a team. I've yet to meet an individual who combines all these qualities to the level that's needed. However, in a team you combine your personality and your skills with those of other people. If you get a working team together the sum is greater than its parts.

In a team we can afford to have many different motivations, too. One member is passionate about becoming a great writer, while another strives to become the best artist possible. Some members can be passionate about technology, while someone else is busy making sure the game reaches its audience. The cool thing is that in a team all these different ambitions are not only useful, but necessary.

This is the best part of my job as CEO. Nothing beats building a great team where people are burning with desire to create awesome things. A strong team is also a real win-win situation for its members. Why? Because most people feel good working with others toward a common goal. The occasional conflict or frustration is a small price to pay. There is a beautiful feeling in overcoming obstacles together and realizing that you and your team can do anything you set your hearts on.

That's why it's important to be passionate about the projects you embark on. For us, MilMo is the adventure of a lifetime. I love getting up in the morning because I know that awesome challenges await. Every obstacle is a chance to grow and every success is something I can share with my co-workers and shareholders.

Myself, Calle and Sara discussing MilMo at the lunch table.
Awesome stuff in the making.

Be warned though. Being a member of a team does not take away from your personal responsibility; to be good at what you do and to solve the problems that fall under your responsibility. You'll always have challenges and sometimes no-one else can help you. Maybe you wake up with a headache. There could be a problem in your love life. Every now and then you find that you lack a vital skill and have to learn something new. At times like these, though friends may support you, you have to work the problems out yourself.

Being a professional means being highly motivated and to produce a consistent level of quality, sometimes under adverse circumstances. There are many skillful amateurs whose best work is equal to what the professionals can produce. The true mark of the pro is to be able to produce to that level even on a very bad day.

To have the strength to produce that quality you have to know that you're living the life you desire. Even on a horrible day, you should be able to stop, take a deep breath and smile because this is the life you want and there's no other place you'd rather be. When you can do that there is no stopping you. You'll be able to walk that long, rocky road of doing what you dream of doing.

All the best,

Ola

How to Dress Like a Tron Superhero!

2011-03-23T10:38:00.000+01:00

Hello players,

Wanna dress your avatar like a hero or villain from the movie Tron? It's easy, I'll show you how! First, choose what color your Tron guy is going to be based upon - other than basic black, which is the base.

Time to build your own Tron guy!

1. Start out by choosing the ordinary (black) jeans.
2. Under "Sweaters" you will find the "Casual Sweater". Make sure it's black, and change the stripes to what ever color your Tron outfit is going to be.
3. Put on the "Green Beret Boots". Keep them black and choose the colors of the straps.
4. Move on to "Accessories". Under "Hats" you will find the cool motorcycle helmet. Change it's colors.
5. Go to the last category: "Misc". Find the "Tech Suit Elbow Pads" and the "Green Beret Harness". One again, remember to change colors!
6. To finish it up, go to weapons and choose the new "Pandeiro". Make the skin and the frame is black.

Done! Time to show off that cool outfit!

Hold on to your disc!

Have you made a really cool outfit you want to show other players? Check out the MilMo Forum at www.milmogame.com and post a picture of your avatar!

Yours,

Sara

Update 26: New Items

2011-03-18T17:31:00.000+01:00

Hello players,

The brand new Update 26 has arrived. This time we bring you two all new Air World levels: Palaestra and Temenos! There's also lots of new, cool furniture available in the Cash Shop, as well as new quests and GUI upgrades for all to enjoy.

The Elemental Weapons now have cool effects. Which is your favorite?


New wallpapers! Ghostly - Make your house a haunted one!

Get ready to rock the new levels!

A coffin? Rest in peace!

That's all for now! To get the latest MilMo News, sign up to our twitter at twitter.com/milmogame or visit the forum at www.milmogame.com/forum.

Yours,

Sara

Sara is the Community Manager at Junebud. She also works with Quality Assurance (QA) and social media. She's got a bachelor's degree in game design, but likes the social part better than tweaking numbers. She usually spends her time moderating the forum, testing the game and planning new events. Twitter: twitter.com/saxen8

Update 25 & 24: New Items

2011-03-04T13:18:00.003+01:00

Hello players,

We bring lots of new goodies to you in the two latest updates. With the new Homes feature came a bunch of brand new furniture: wallpapers, beds, windows and much more. So let's take a look at some of what's new:


What about this Armchair of Doom?


Ready for a prison break?


Our Brazilian players got some new items only available for those playing on Orkut.


Due to popular demand, the Rusty Weapons are for sale, but only for a short period of time. If you started playing after the update made on 23rd of March you can get them for free by collecting Exploration Tokens.

Have you tried any of the new special berries found in the Cash Shop? What about a pack of Power Berries, Rocket Berries or Barracuda Berries?

That's it for now. Don't forget to check out the new Air World levels: Propylon, Atrium, Labyrinth, Mezzanine and Necropolis!

Yours,

Sara

Sara is the Community Manager at Junebud. She also works with Quality Assurance (QA) and social media. She's got a bachelor's degree in game design, but likes the social part better than tweaking numbers. She usually spends her time moderating the forum, testing the game and planning new events.

A Sort Of Homecoming

2011-02-25T15:35:00.005+01:00

Back in 2008, when we came up with the idea for MilMo, we envisioned three big core features for the game. The first one was to be the adventure gameplay that you see in MilMo today. We released a basic Beta version of this in December 2009, and it would take another nine months to get to a point were we felt satisfied with the gameplay and for the team to complete the first big world.

Last fall, we began work on the second big component in the evolution of our game; Homes. We wanted everyone to have their own private space in MilMo, a place to withdraw for relaxation or chatting after a hard day's work adventuring. A place for designing and building - and showing stuff to your friends!

Concepts of furniture

From the very beginning we've had super grandiose plans for this feature set, but we didn't want to get stuck in pre-production for ages, so we decided to develop a minimum core feature set and get it in the hands of you players by really early 2011. This seemed like a big challenge, but we decided nothing was impossible.

Speaking as a game designer I was both petrified and thrilled by the gameplay challenges. How do you distinguish between the actions of sitting in a chair and moving it, without adding new buttons to the control scheme? How the heck do you move a window from one wall to another - in multiplayer - without pausing the game or showing editing gizmos? How to let players place small objects without adding complexity to the interface? We looked at several games with furnishing features. Some used intensely mouse-driven interfaces. Others had great gamepad driven furnishing gameplay. I decided to go with a light, context sensitive mouse editing mode and avoid forcing the user to learn new buttons.

Move it!

As development unfolded our Homes feature suddenly seemed to take on a life of its own and everything fell into place nicely. Sometimes MilMo just tells us how it wants to work, and we obey :)

After a fairly short development span - and a super-human effort by our lead gameplay programmer - we released the Homes feature earlier this week. The feature set is far from complete, but we've had tremendous fun playing around with it at the office and we hope you will find it as entertaining as we do!

What will your home look like?

So what can Homes do so far?
Well, you can design your dream Home by choosing from a great number of cool objects such as floors, windows, wallpapers, tables, sofas, chairs, beds and other furniture. You can place decorations such as clocks, paintings, lamps, curtains and carpets. Also, don't forget to check out our über cool music players. The juke box and the 80's ghetto blaster can play 6 unique songs each, adding that special touch to your Home. Pretty much all of the items come in all the different colors you like. Once your Home is complete you can trade Home Keys with your friends. This will let you visit them whenever you like, or throw a party at your own place. The possibilities are endless and there is a lot of fun to be had!

Classy, isn't it?

So what's next for Homes?

The most eagerly anticipated feature at the office right now is the ability to extend your home with multiple rooms. We want you to be able to build skyscrapers, villas, mansions, castles and even dungeons. This is something that we are planning to look into soon. We also have a whole new range of usable items planned, so stay tuned!

I also want to take this opportunity to introduce MilMo's new, epic Adventure: Air World.
Our company has a real head start when it comes to 3D browser gaming (a field of business that will become increasingly crowded, mark my words). This is a lead that we intend to keep. That's why we sometimes stop and reassess how we think about making games. Heading into the new year we decided, for various reasons, that we wanted to reboot the MilMo level design process and art direction.

As the level design team began building the new world, I established 6 requirements for them:

1. Shorter level load times
2. Better looking visuals (though using a lot less memory)
3. More fun gameplay (but no time from the gameplay coders)
4. More keyboard friendly areas
5. Faster development times (so we can release levels more often)
6. Improved rendering performance

The brand new adventure Air World

Some of these requirements tend to work against each other by nature. It is hard to improve rendering performance and load times while making the visuals look better et cetera. Doing everything at once is really hard. But our level designers came through and surprised me when they delivered on each bullet point above. Compared to our previous levels, the Air World maps load and render a lot faster and are more fun to play. We can make more of them in a shorter amount time than before and they look gorgeous! The level design team rose to the challenge by inventing a couple of brilliant new technical art workflows in the process. These workflows are now being investigated and adapted by our character art team with great enthusiasm.

Concepts for Air World

The scenario for Air World originated in a simple idea by our concept artist: What if Atlantis - the ancient and technologically advanced civilization - hadn't sunken into the ocean, but rather broken up through some sort of gravitational reactor meltdown, and started floating ever upwards into the air? Along with some Aztec, Mayan and Greek influences this idea really got our artists and designers - and our brilliant writer - excited, and the result is an awesome journey into a strange and wonderful sky kingdom.

Well, you may have guessed it by now - I'm proud of the Junebud Crew! I'm also overjoyed with this MilMo release and I wish you all a lot of fun with Homes and Air World,

As for the third big, huge and forthcoming gameplay element of MilMo, I will have to get back to you on that one ...

Cheers

/Calle

Today's post is made by Calle Lundgren, Game Director at Junebud. Calle has been making games for everything from the C64 to the PS3. He has also had time to help found a successful band and to start up Junebud! He has a hand in everything that goes on at the company - especially MilMo.