Multiplayer online games are not typically environments that people feel comfortable allowing their pre-teen children to roam around in unsupervised. Even if the content of the game is suitable for kids, the behavior of other players may not be. Online games raise all the same concerns people have about unmoderated Internet chatrooms and other open forums, where it's not uncommon to encounter sexually explicit conversation, racism, and even verbal harrassment.
Obviously, a MMORPG designed for kids has unique difficulties to overcome, and Disney's ToonTown Online has really stepped up to this challenge. Not only have they made the game child safe, they've done it without sacrificing interaction with other players, which is one of the most compelling things about online games.
The technology behind this title is as painless as ToonTown itself. Although it is a standalone program, the game's downloader and patcher are integrated right into the Web site. It requires about 100 MB of free drive space and conveniently downloads even as you create your character. The only omission is an advanced installer option that would let you install to a directory of your choice.
Keeping it Clean
So how do you allow players to communicate without opening your game up to all the profanity that inevitably finds its way into the chat window? Instead of removing the chat function entirely, ToonTown has reduced it to SpeedChat: a well-organized collection of radio buttons which allow you to exchange preset messages. If you want to be able to type to a friend, you need to share a password ahead of time. This is far safer than using filters alone, since people will go to great lengths to thwart them, and in many cases the subject matter is more offensive than any of the specific words used anyway.
ToonTown's SpeedChat is wonderfully robust and has a broad range of phrases in the system. I'm not the chattiest person in online games, but I rarely found myself wanting to say something that wasn't included.
The other obvious trouble spot is allowing users to name their characters, as there will always be those that pride themselves on the vulgarity of their character's name. ToonTown has taken the extraordinary measure of employing people to screen all character names created in the game.
Inside the Cartoon
ToonTown looks and feels, appropriately, like being in a Disney cartoon. The colors are bright, the music is upbeat, and the mood is distinctly happy. It's a 3D game but there are no spectacular particle effects or fancy dynamic lighting, nor does it need any.
Movement is controlled with the arrow keys and just about everything else is accomplished with the mouse. Many basic actions, such as opening doors, talking to an NPC, or entering combat, are activated simply by proximity.
The game doesn't require any complicated controller moves, so the setup is sufficient, but a few more options in this respect would be welcome. The important thing is that there is almost no learning curve involved, and the interface is intuitive enough that you don't need to search though manuals to figure out how it works.
Gameplay
ToonTown has a lot in common with an RPG. You start by selecting various appearance features, colors, and clothing for your Toon. It follows a familiar animal theme, so your Toon may have something in common with Mickey Mouse, Goofy, or Donald Duck.
Then it's off to the playground for a brief tutorial on Gags and how you can use them to defeat the corporate robot Cogs that Scrooge McDuck has unwittingly unleashed on the residents of ToonTown. Cogs can't take a joke, so instead of doing combat with them using swords and sorcery, cream pies, seltzer bottles, and other Gags are the best way to get rid of them. They will fight back, using all the paper shredders and clip-on ties at their disposal.
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