Automan: Al-Wadiya

Automan: Al-Wadiya is a 2005  developed by  and published by, part of the larger Automan series. It is the fifth main installment in the series and is the second game to not feature the chronological order of the release, but rather the location it was set in. It is also the first game in the series which does not take place in the year it was released in, rather in the past. The game is set in Al-Wadiya and is based heavily on the tri-city region in Alvakalia in the year 1993, and follows the story of Abu Mihrabi and his eventual entanglement with the oil mafia and several underground crime organizations. It was released in June 2005 for the version and in August of the same year for the  and  version.

The game features many real life inspiration and elements from various aspects of development, such as the location which is based on three cities in Alvakalia and their surrounding regions combined into a single map as the first map in the series to feature more than one major city along with extesnive rural areas. The plot is heavily based on the real life occurences and events that happened within Alvakalia in the 1990s, mainly the diminishing power of the oil industry and the rise in street crime within its cities, and is also influenced by several TV shows and films depicting the eventss at the time of portrayal. The game has been viewed by many game commentators to be "one of the most pivotal Automan games ever produced" as it introduced a lot of features which would be commonplace in future automan games, such as a high level of customizability, the RPG-style mechanics and gameplay, and the vast inclusion of mini games and other side activities.

It is considered by many critics and commentators to be "one of the greatest games of all time" and ranks number 1 in a lot of publications for "most memorable game of the 2000s" and "best games of the 2000s" published after 2010. It recieved universal acclaim from critics for its massive technological and gameplay leaps from previous games, although some aspects were still criticized such as its wanky controls. Nevertheless, it became the best-selling game of 2005 both in Seratof and in many other countries, and was the best selling game internationally for that same year. By 2013, the game had sold more than 25 million copies accross all platforms. The game's far reach and advancement in technological ability is often cited as a "landmark" and "pivotal" moment in gaming industry, influencing many games and projects released after the game's initial success. The game also attracted significantly more controversy and backlash for the portrayal of and  introduced in the game. In 2014, an official iOS version was released to the market. It was also re-released for the in 2008 and the GBox 2 in 2009. The sequel to the game, Automan IV, would be released a mere two years in 2007.

Gameplay
Automan: Al-Wadiya is an  with  elements baked into the core gameplay. In-line with the previous Automan games, the game is played from a perspective set in the Al-Wadiya region, a fictional region located in Alvakalia, providing a large area and space for the player to roam around and perform missions and various other activities found in game. On-foot, the player may move in a variety of ways such as walking, running, crouching, sprinting, climbing, and jumping as well while being able to wield a variety of weapons at the player's disposal to engage in hand-to-hand combat or in gunfights with other NPCs or gangs. The player may also utilize a variety of vehicles in land, sea, or air.

The game is progressed by completing linearly designed missions with set objectives. There may be more than one mission available to the player at a given time, but further advancement to the story will require that the player finish all the prerequisite missions to unlock a specific mission. However, the open nature of the game enables players to decide when they are going to complete the missions, and may engage or perform numerous other side missions or activities in the open world environment. When not on a mission, players are able to freely roam the unlocked areas as the game still features map progression found in previous Automan games. New to the game are various activities such as and vehicular schools such as a driving school and a pilot school.

The role-playing elements introduced in-game is revolutionary for the time period. For the first time in the series' history, the player is able to fully customize the outside appearance of the character, including the protagonist's weight, clothing, relationship with some NPCs, and gang respect. The player is also able to tune and customize their vehicles by entering select tuning garages scattered throughout Al-Wadiya. Restaurants and clothing stores have also been introduced in the game as a place to spend some money in return for objects which affect the stats of the player such as appeal and weight. Eating too much will cause the player to replenish some health and in the long term will cause the player to gain weight. To lose weight, the newly added gyms are available for the player to visit, increasing the muscle and buffness of the player along the way. Bars and clubs have also been introduced in the game though they are of interest mainly in the dating side activity, also new to the game.

Law enforcement in game has been overhauled. Chases and gunfights have been revamped, making them more difficult and engaging to the player. The six original wanted levels have been preserved in game, however the variety of troops and law enforcement agencies that will go after the player has been increased. When attaining the maximum wanted level, the Alvak army will begin chasing the player and will attempt to kill the player at any cost. If the player is killed, the player will respawn at the nearest health facility with all their belongings confiscated and some of their money taken away. If the player stll has a low wanted level, there is a chance that officers will arrest the player instead. In this case, the player respawns at the nearest police facility with all their belongings confiscated and some of their money taken away.

An improved heads-up display and radar can be observed in game. The heads-up display now displays the health as a bar and not a number. The health bar is expandable by increasing the player's stamina and muscle stat in-game, and may be increased artificially by either buying or picking up armor, shown as a separate bar above the health bar. With the introduction of gambling, it is now possible for the player to go into debt, shown with a negative balance in the HUD with a red color instead of the traditional green. The time and weapon along with the amount of ammunition remaining is also displayed at the top right corner. The radar has underwent an overhaul and now shows color depicting the terrain, as well as the introduction of several different sprites to denote different objects.

The devlopers has also improved and emphasized its focus on the role-playing aspect of the game in the interactions that can be done with the environment, most notably the gangs of Al-Wadiya. When completing missions for various criminal gangs, respect is earn, and a with a high enough respect the player is able to recruit gang members to undergo rampages with anyone the player wishes to. When attacked, the recruited members will always protect the main player. The size of the crew depends on the level of respect the player has for a certain gang, which can be increased by altering the clothing one wears, socializing and going out with the gang members, as well as completing missions for the respective gangs. For the first time, players can now buy safehouses accross Al-Wadiya instead of progressing through the story to earn new safehouses. Buying a safehouse in a district of a specific gang will increase the respect a gang has for the player.

Plot
In 1993, Abu Mihrabi (Al-Jandalī) witnesses the brutal killing of his family in the suburbs of Qudiyama by several masked men. Upset that the police shrugged the investigations off, Mihrabi presses charges against the police department, but was dismissed by the courts. Shortly after that, he became a prime target of the Qudiyama police department, undergoing a failed assassination attempt. Mihrabi sets off to the Qudiyama Jahrans to ask for help in retaliating against the authorities, using his late father's connections in the gang to gain their trust. He then proceeds to perform several jobs for the gang, eventually befriending Muscat Al-Talal (Geoffrey Sterling) and earning the respect of the gang. Along the way, Mihrabi gets inducted into the gang, and is welcomed by the leader Michel Az-Zaman (Muhammad Baduri) after capturing vast swathes of Qudiyama for the gang. On a regular outing, Mihrabi and Al-Talal were ambushed by Qudiyama police, and their base ransakced by rival gangs. Al-Talal was captured, but Mihrabi was able to flee the scene, eventually fleeing to Neu Propylina.

In Neu Propylina, Mihrabi changes his alias and identity performs several jobs for the !greek mafia, helping them acquire several properties and businesses vital to increase their income. In a deal with the oil magnates, leader of the greek mafia Anatolis Papadopoulis (Alexander Fleming) sends Mihrabi to seal the deal, and finally doing some jobs for the oil magnates in a legal war with the Alvak government. In a regular courier run requested by magnate Herbert Walker (Johann Strauss), Mihrabi accidentally peaks into the details of the documents he was carrying, which contained the exact details of his family's murder months prior. He then duplicates the documents and shreds the documents as told. In a series of events, Mihrabi contacts corrupt judge Abu Al-Fulghāri (Volga BaVolga) who initially worked for the oil magnates. To win his side, Mihrabi performs several jobs for well-known socialites to earn enough money to buy Al-Fulghāri, purchasing several businesses and property along the way.

Al-Fulghāri faked his death in a car accident after Mihrabi awards him with the cash, and proceeds to help Mihrabi free Al-Talal with his connections. Mihrabi returns to Qudiyama to pick up Al-Talal, but were chased by the greek mafia and the henchmen of the oil magnates, leaving the two in a cabin within the countryside. Al-Fulghāri comes to the cabin and explains that his cover has been blown, and both the greek and oil magnates eventually know who Mihrabi really is. The three eventually plan on taking down Papadopoulis by force. Al-Fulghāri instructs Mihrabi and Al-Talal to capture evidence of the oil rigs with inhumane conditions. With the help of his connections, Al-Fulghāri manages to bring Mihrabi and Al-Talal back safely to Qudiyama, where Az-Zaman was already waiting for them to finish them off.

Az-Zaman tells Mihrabi that his entire family was the target of assassination as Mihrabi's father held the key accounts against the oil magnates which could bring them down in Alvakalia. A furious Papadopoulis instructed the murder of the entire family one day before the family enters into witness protection. With the documents in place, Mihrabi appeals to several major television networks to braodcast the verdict of Papadopoulis for the whole of Alvakalia to see. They agree, and televize the proceedings. After Papadoupolis was acquitted of his crimes, Al-Wadiya enters into a state of riot, with looting and anarchy visible across the streets. A mass gathers in front of Papadoupolis's office, and he attempts an escape to the airport. Mihrabi and Al-Talal chase the vehicle, but Papadoupolis was killed when his car plunged into Wadi Al-Safar after avoiding a massive tanker of his own company.

Development
The development of Al-Wadiya began even before Automan: Moslavina was released. Concepts as to the game's scope and gameplay were already circulating around online forums and also within the office itself, signifying the "desire to make the next leap forward" in the next Automan game, one which will "define the course of the open-world games" for the rest of the future, according to an aide to the lead developers. In May of 2003, Alulim games reportedly hired an addiitonal 40 people into various teams and departments in the studio, prompting an expansion to the current office in the form of a total renovation of the head office in January of 2004. Finally on the 4th of June 2004, Automan: Al-Wadiya was officially announced by the developers, and marketed as "the biggest Automan game ever to date." The project initially costed 300 million Zakkas ($45 million), but soon ballooned to over 500 million Zakkas ($75 million) by early 2005. The project has been described as one of the most expensive gaming projects ever undertaken.

Setting and environment


Automan: Al-Wadiya takes place in the fictional region of Alvakalia named Al-Wadiya, and is set in the year 1993 during the height of the real-life Alvak oil pains with the government, and in a time of growing crime and drug trafficking within the country. It has been said that Kžeščírnji himself wanted the "next title to bigger than ever", though the decision to recreate an entire region rather than one single city or area is more likely to be a collective decision of some lead developers and the team designing the open world. The team finally landed on Alvakalia, more specifically the regions between Qudama and Neu-Thalakrad for their portrayal. After some discussion, lead developers Kžeščírnji and Včara, along with the rest of the team, agreed on setting the time to not be during the game's release like in all previous Automan games, but to be set during the height of criminality and civil unrest in Alvakalia, and selected "a time between 1989 and 1995". Eventually, 1993 was chosen as it coincided with several real life occurences.

Preliminary work was done with the entire world development team going to the designated regions of Alvakalia on a one-month long field trip and analysis of the region. Developers sketched prototype maps for the two cities they visited, and mapped the general region surrounding the cities to link in the final map. Eventually, the map containing the two cities were stitched together and the first proto map of Al-Wadiya was produced. The name "Al-Wadiya" was taken from the hotel most of the crew were staying in Qudama. In addition to on-site field work, the team also viewed and researched several real occurences and events of the Alvak oil pains in the early 90s to set as the general tone and style of the game. Several films and TV shows were reportedly used as material by the developers, as clearly referenced in the game. Včara noted that "films and TV shows really capture the feel and situation of that time period. No doubt, Moslavina was successful due to its resemblance to the style of the region thanks to the help of numerous films and TV shows."

One technological barrier the team must overcome is the sheer size of the map, which was almost four times bigger than the map found in Moslavina, then already considered a large map for an open world game. Developers, especially open world designers, have not yet fully mastered in developing the countryside, but with similar deadlines to that of Moslavina. In response, Kžeščírnji divided the open world development team into several sections to speed development. The individual cities get their own development team while sections of the countryside get their own team. An expert in Alvak regional morphology and relief was hired by the studio to help developers map and decorate the environment accurately. This way, developers are able to concentrate on improving or developing one aspect of the map without needing to pay attention to the other sections. In addition, Kžeščírnji nearly doubled the map development team using the new hires of 2003 which some insiders think "is really a boost to the overall development speed."

The AI from Moslavina was completely reworked, and SmartScript was eventually abandoned in favor of the AIsys of Alulim Games. Coders and programmers already proficient in game AI programming were instructed to "make the AI smarter." In a series of tests and runs, it has been noted that coders and programmers were "baffled" at the immense requirements and goals set by the lead developers in such a short amount of time. After one programmer quit, the lead development team relented and removed some of the complaints given by the programmers. AIsys was eventually proven to be smarter in a demo video released by Alulim Games a few months before the initial release of the game. As such, new animations needed to be created for the wider variety of activities NPCs can do. A complete rework of the animations in game was also conducted and requested by the lead development team.

The PolyHex 3D engine remained in use for the development of the game. Most developers who have already been acquainted with the software found it easier to work with the engine and improve on the previous work rather than to have a completely new engine with better perfomances and graphics. Many models needed to be created since only a few of the old models from Moslavina and Automan III were recycled and used in the game. Most of the new models that needed to be created were countryside items and objects. In total, there were 35,000 or more dialogue lines for the game, indicating the sheer size of the game and also indicating the large jump from the previous Automan games in terms of scope and depth.

Story and characters
The team used a variety of Alvak documentaries and shows regarding the early 90s oil pains as the main inspiration for the story. The in-game story of Al-Wadiya is one of the longest and most winding stories ever to be featured in an Automan game, with more than 100 story missions at place not including the various other side missons and activities introduced in the game. As such, the game features one of the highest number of characters and dialogues featured of any Automan game until the release of Automan VI in 2020. Missions objectives were also a combination of pure fictional thought and real-life events. Kžeščírnji described the missions in Al-Wadiya to "have been made with careful selection of the events to really show how bad the oil crisis had impacted gang and criminal violence in Alvakalia, especially in the early 1990s."

The role of the main protagonist was initially a hotly debated topic among the developers. Alvakalia, being a multiethnic country, made it difficult to pinpoint who exactly should be the main protagonist of a game which is supposed to cover an entire region, and consequently an entire nation. After advice from several noted Alvak historians and characters, an arab character was chosen, with their rationale being "the arabs in Alvakalia have underwent more inequality than the other races, and were very badly affected by the demis of the oil indsutry and hence was the near-perfect role to fulfill in the story." Developers hired Alvak voice actors to play their part. Recording took three months due to the sheer amount of dialogue put into the game.

A large amount of pedestrian and NPC models were created for the game. In lieu of Alvakalia's multiethnic society and culture, numerous pedestrian models were created to reflect the different races which inhabit the respective cities. Strides were made to "fit in" the original racial makeup of the cities into the game, meaning that New-Propylina will have more greek and teuton-looking NPCs, while in Qudama more Arab NPCs are used. The multi-language play of the game could also be seen in the dialogues recorded for the NPCs, with different ethnic groups posessing different dialogues depending on the action or occasion done.

Sound engineering
In Al-Wadiya, a total of 12 radio stations could be found featuring popular songs from the 80s and 90s. The 12 radio stations which broadcast throughout the region specialize in a specific genre of song. The radio stations collectively play 230 songs, which use a smart mix and randomizer feature so that the songs played are not repetitive. In between the songs, commentary and advertisement can also be heard. Some radio stations may be aired in a different language than the others due to the localization of the game. It is also possible to import songs into the game when playing on the doors version. In addition to the songs played on the radio, a total of 30,000 audio files were added into the game, most being NPC dialogue for the various new side activities and missions present in the game.

The sound system and mechanics used in the previous game (Moslavina) was mostly recycled for Al-Wadiya with a few minor improvements.

Initial release
Al-Wadiya recieved "universal acclaim" from critics as shown by its aggregate and review scores which top the charts for the year of 2005. Both GamesMaestro and CriticMeta awarded the game a 98 out of a 100, with GamesMaestro awarding the game the 2005 game of the year award. Many of the critics praised the game's new and very complex roleplay style and mechanisms absent from previous games. John Newman of GamesMaestro commented, in his official review of the game for GamesMaestro, that "Automan: Al-Wadiya shows how the folk at Alulim Games are always striving to improve on perfection. Their combined strength and willpower is the reason we have a game which would definitely be enjoyed for generations to come." Many other commentators praise the game's really varied terrain complemented with a very diverse set of vehicles previously unfit for the maps in previous Automan games.

Harry Truman of SVH gave the game a full 4/4 in his online reviews, praising the game's more complex and diverse set of missions, with a more complex and engaging storyline. In a private interview done by the Seratofian National TV (SMTV), Truman said that "the story is good, and its execution was good. The missions really capture the essence of a man wishing to avenge for his family's death, and shows how far he is willing to push the boundaries to achieve that through a multitude of missions, ranging from the ordiniary to the senile." Jacob Blake of ING noted that "with an increased set of missions and a deepening sense of connection between the mission and how it affects the general storyline, this really does put you in the feet of XXX."

Although so, the area which was most praised and commented on was the new roleplay mechanisms built into the game, which significantly altered the player's looks and appearance depending on the actions of the player. This customizability, in addition to the wide range of side activities and other locations in the game which affect the player, was seen as a pivotal point in the game's future, as all future games somewhat improve on this concept of customizability and preference-play. Ara Samjko of Tech Outsider has said that "the game just gives you everything you have wanted to do. You could overeat, and the effects would be there. You could workout 24/7 and you will faint due to a lack of stamina. It's these little things other game developers have not yet fully mastered which sets the Automan series apart."

Sales
Automan: Al-Wadiya became a best-seller in Seratof and Alvakalia in 2005. In other countries, it was highly-ranked in game sales for its release year, and sold more than 1 million copies in only one month. By 2006, the game had sold more than 6 million copies, and reached more than 15 million copies in 2008. It is currently one of the most-sold games ever, with more than 22.4 million sales as of 2019. It brought in more than 500 million Zakkas for the company during its first 5 years, greatly increasing Alulim games'budget for its upcoming titles.

Accolades
Automan: Al-Wadiya was nominated to a variety of game shows, awards, and trophies, winning in total 12 awards between 2005 and 2010. It is the fifth Automan game to recieve a "Game of the Year" award from the SERB, and was the third game to reach 1 million sales in Seratof, earning it a platinum record.

Controversies
Five months after the game's release, a Seratofian modder by the name of SLuT87 posted several mods online claiming to enable a torture minigame which was previously absent from the game. The modder claimed that the mod was made out of unused game files present after installation. The gruesome acts and violent nature of the various torture methods in game caused the game to be banned in a few countries until Alulim Games fixed the issue by recalling almost all copies sold to the general public, costing Alulim Games several million Zakkas in containing the legal lawsuits and the reclaims. The mod was dubbed the "hot potato" mod after the codename in which Abu Mihrabi utters towards his companions when proceeding to torture a Lykoraen man.

The mod was quickly banned in Seratof and a multitude of other countries, and before Alulim Games could patch the game, a lot of countries have banned the sale and the circulation of the game. In early 2006, Alulim Games was able to patch the game, clearing it from any bans and sanctions from most countries.