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Ambulation: A Walking Tour of EVE's Upcoming Social Environment at NYCC
While attending the New York Comic Con the MMORPG.com team had to do a lot of walking around the city and the convention center, so it's fitting that they also had the the opportunity to talk to the folks at CCP about their Ambulation Project, which will allow pod pilots to pop out and test their space legs walking around EVE's new social environments. News Manager Keith Cross reports on the status of this feature which is still under construction, and CCP's showing at the con in general.
advertisement Over the weekend just past I had the privilege of attending the New York Comic Con, and this year there was a fairly strong showing by MMO developers and the MMO community. Among the development houses in attendance this year was CCP – Whitewolf, officially known now as CCP North America. They were there to display and demo EVE at their booth, do a few panel presentations, and deny that they are working on a World of Darkness MMO while wearing shirts with ‘World of Darkness Dev Team’ written on their backs. They were also showing some of the non electronic games from White Wolf including a card game called Mwahahaha!, which we demoed at the CCP booth on the first day of the convention. In the game you play the role of a super villain and your goal is to dominate the planet while ruthlessly hampering your opponent’s ability to do the same. The game projects an insane sense of humor which makes it easy to laugh while your minions are getting wiped out and your opponents rob you of your resources. It was a good time, even when you’re getting your ass handed to you by a guy named Viceroy Roboticus or Doctor Hitler. Of course similar feelings are common in games from CCP, where even if you get trounced in a PvP battle, it can still be fun if you lose.
But if you find yourself playing EVE and you just don’t feel like having the fun of getting podded today, CCP is in the process of preparing a space where pod pilots can get away from the kill or be killed environment of deep space and relax. I’m speaking of the ongoing Ambulation Project, the addition to EVE Online which will allow players to walk around on space stations.
The first time I sat down and heard the spiel about this new feature was at EVE Fanfest back in November. After that I sat in on a seminar at GDC where they went over some of the details with a slant more towards informing developers of the processes and procedures they used as well as their results. Now, at Comic Con, I sat in on a very similar seminar which was like the one at GDC but oriented for a fan audience and updating us on where the project stands at the current time.
As far as I could I see, there wasn’t really too much new information about what ambulation would include, but the team seems to be farther along each time I see the presentation, and it has been interesting to watch the evolution of the project thus far. As fans of EVE and non-fans alike may already know, EVE is known for its stunning space visuals, which were highly regarded even before the recent Trinity upgrade which dramatically increased the level of graphical detail. Now their stated goal is to make sure that the characters on the stations are in tune with the level of detail that players have become accustomed to on the outside of the station.
The characters that represent the human avatars of EVE players currently look like stylized caricatures appearing ina 2D image at the bottom of your screen. In the new system, players will have to make new avatars themselves, as making an automated system to do this for players would ultimately be a waste of the developer’s time. Why spend all that time making a complicated system that could never do the job as well as an actual human? Besides, with the previously mentioned level of detail that’s going into these new avatars, making a new avatar should be fun.
To find the look for these new avatars, they took examples of avatar faces that are currently available in game and tried to recreate their features using pictures of real people and morphing specific features from various faces to create realistic images similar to the original, caricature-like pictures. It’s like figuring out what a politician really looks like simply based on their pictures in political cartoons. Staring with that as a basis, they then went to work adding a dazzling array of options to customize the look of your avatar.
Characters start with their bloodline which determines a basic skull structure. After that, players have a few options to edit their skulls, but within realistic guidelines, so no cone-heads or hammerhead eyes. There are several body type sliders, which seem to be becoming a standard for the next generation of MMOs, having one slider for muscle tone and mass, which works in combination with a slider for heavy or thin characters. So players can have a thin but well toned avatar, or an obese character who could be strong and fit under the extra weight, or have no muscles at all from sitting in a pod and eating all day. The cool part about the body types is that they are on sliders, no pre set increments, and the body you choose will effect the animations of your character. The thin, toned guy will have a little more bounce in his step to show his agility, the heavy muscled avatar will carry his weight around like he’s big and strong, and the fat guy will be a little more ponderous in his motion. Body fat content and fitness will also alter the shape of a character’s face by adding more or less flesh onto the existing skull.
Facial features will also be very detailed. Complexion will be more than just the character’s skin color, but will include freckles and varicose veins. There will also be many options in terms of facial details like scars, tattoos, wrinkles, freckles, and the like, which can all be placed on the same face; no need to chose between a scar on one cheek or the other, you can have both and freckles too. You will be able to alter the intensity of all of these features as well. Maybe a scar is fresh and still red, maybe your scar is old and faded. Normally in games there is a limit to the number of morph targets and customization because too many of these details can slow down the game, but in EVE’s Ambulation avatars have an unlimited number of morph targets, which drastically increases customization options, with no limit to the number of textures that can be placed on the face.
With all of the detail that is going into facial and body features, players will need some fancy outfits to go along with them. CCP has hired real world fashion designers to come up with clothing that will look like it belongs in the EVE universe. Making sure that the universe has a consistent feeling, that objects that exist in that universe belong there, is important to CCP. They showed examples of their design pipeline, which is essentially a lengthy flowchart detailing the steps involved in taking a concept through to the end of the design process where it finally gets approved for in-game use. On top of this players will have a number of options when they choose an outfit. Beyond choosing the items color, they also can choose the texture of clothing, which will make it look like cotton, leather, silk or whatever futuristic material they please. They’ve also been working on a cloth simulator so that cloth and hair react dynamically to their surroundings and sway in a more realistic fashion when you walk down the corridors of the space station environments.
The initial concept of ambulation is simply to provide a social space for players. As they said at Fanfest, why would you socialize while mining for ore out in space when you could socialize at over a beer. The system is designed so that players never have to walk around on stations to be successful in the game. It’s more like the addition of a new social utility to the existing game-play. They’ll be phasing in more options and activities after the initial launch, which has yet to be announced, and the new options will mainly be driven by player demand.
Though I support Ambulation and appreciate EVE in general, I think CCP is mistaken on this point and overestimates the interest an average MMO player has in abstract activity. For most players, the be-all and end-all is achievement. If, in a given activity, they're not raising numbers or collecting items/equipment, they won't participate in that activity (at least not often or for extended periods of time).
Pant,pant,pant .drool.Patience patience.
If the station content gets as much attention as the avatars. It's ah gonna be good.
Ok fine. I know everything about this project now (however no new info in this article), but the most impotant fact. WHEN?
P.S. And yes, I'm interested in Ambulation, and I'm a every-day EVE player for some years.
"The initial concept of ambulation is simply to provide a social space for players. As they said at Fanfest, why would you socialize while mining for ore out in space when you could socialize at over a beer. The system is designed so that players never have to walk around on stations to be successful in the game. It’s more like the addition of a new social utility to the existing game-play. They’ll be phasing in more options and activities after the initial launch, which has yet to be announced, and the new options will mainly be driven by player demand."
This is all well and good, but I agree with above poster that players want something that will improve/add to their gameplay. If I wanted to socialize in an avatar, I'd go to Second Life...
Don't get me wrong tho, I think this is gonna be ridiculously sweet when it goes live.
Like mentioned, it would be better if ambulation led to some sort of activity, but its a nice piece of fluff that might be fun for a bit. We'll see how it goes.
i'm just hoping for some sort of card game to play while in stations.
First part about the blog and about darkness devs has nothing to do with eve so next time leave other games out of it.
Next, nothing new here in the news. So they have progressed a little more. wow. How about a new trailer or screen shots or a release date like Fall 2009 or something like that. That would be news. Just rehashing the same old same old is just that........OLD!
CCP needs to continue to work on fixing the bugs that have been around since BETA before they start putting new ones in with something that is not going to increase the playerbase of the game. I think someones brain up there in Iceland froze or something. Need to stick to what works and fix what doesn't.
They aren't working on the World of Darkness MMO ?
Ambulation WILL increase the playerbase. There are a lot of people who don't play EVE or who stop playing only because the humanoid character is represented by nothing more than a picture.
Interested in a bit or Amarrian Poker?
This additional feature to EVE could bring so much if it's well done. And so far, CCP have shown that they're as thorough about it as they are with the rest of the game. Having seen some of those interior decors in The Art of EVE (Part V - The Future), it'll look gorgeous!
CK
I may be wrong but I believe the interview with the CCP dev stated that they would introduce things like bars, gambling, player owned stores and offices... Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought I'd read that somewhere...
Anyway, this will be sweet regardless and I think a lot of people will use it daily, which is enough to merit it's development. EVE is the most emersive MMO out there, and this can only add to that. In addition, that means that the people who play EVE likely count emersion as a prime factor for playing a game, meaning that it should be well received and utilized by the community. I know I'm stoked
I think the Ambulation idea will actually garner a whole new type of player. Those of us that like to spend a little time just hanging out with your buddies across the galaxy will be very happy about this. I would certainly love to see this idea expanded upon and improved, but I'm honestly quite excited for this. I've always considered the fact that players seem melded to their ships in some way that prevents them from exiting to be a shortcoming of the game. The devs apparently agree and are aiming to fix it. Just because for now the Ambulation is focusing strictly on social environments doesn't mean it can't be used for other things later. It may just be a stepping stone for all we know.
I'm hyped and can't way to see it actualized.
Yep.
I will buy, and play, EVE because of this when it is launched.
I don't like being a ship, only.
The next huge step in the vast world of EVE. This new addition will add so much more diversity to the world, and the possibilities can become endless with what the developers can do. I can't wait for them to implement the walking station environments and avatars. I just request that there really be alcohol, and maybe some strippers. That's it...
You are correct, sir. I can't stand playing EVE for more than a few weeks at a time for this very reason. I get incredibly bored being stuck inside of a spaceship 100% of the time. If Ambulation led to a ground sandbox that is every bit as deep and engaging as the space aspect I'd actually consider playing EVE full time rather than just a time killer when I'm inbetween MMOs I actually want to play. See my sig.
Your completly right. Although it doesnt bother me very much I cant count the number of people on these forums alone who complain about not being able to leave your ship. for me, although it doesnt bother me to much that you cant leave your ship I think being able to even if you may never leave your ship will atleast give you the sence of more freedom in the game witch i think alot of us like in MMO's
the typical eve player, rabid, drooling, impatient.
While Ambulation is a nice idle time killer - the real reason to develop ambulation as detailed as this (no other MMO comes close) is it will be used in the other MMO that is being developed by CCP. This way they get to work out the quirks through EVE and perfect the motion/animation in a scale larger than any beta would.
If you are wondering which title/universe CCP is working on - read here
EVE Collectible Card Game (CCG)?
Ambulation should be awesome. I like the idea of redoing my avatar.. with more features!
I just hope this makes the woman finally play the game. I've made her sit through a few trials and she just isn't interested. Go go Ambulation so I can stop playing WoW (again)! I hope.
When I tried the game, I didn't really see the point of the character creation. It seemed like it was used mostly for people to stick a picture in their sig's on forums.
Don't hold out hopes that this will increase the playerbase by that much if any. While this does seem like a missing part of the game, it has no impact on the gameplay at all really.
I will most definitely be checking this one out once its implemented. One of the main reasons I stopped playing (aside from twits trying to kill you because its fun), was because I was just a ship.
Sounds nice... was hoping they would describe what you could actually accomplish by walking around. Seeing other people's avatars are just fine, hell thats a small reason why i go back to CoH, but if its going to be like Pocket D on Virtue where the only interaction is with other people (most likely RPers) that wouldn't interest me in the least. Though thats the Explorer/Achiever in me talking.
Although later content that they might add to the social aspect would interest me greatly, for example:
I only played for the trial period, but will definitely like to followup with a subscription once the Ambulation goes live.
Yes you will be able to own your own bar and corps will have offices and meeting halls in Ambulation. I agree that the space stations must have content for the player.
I am looking forward to this and I am crossing my fingers for atmospheric flight as well as terraforming on planets within the next 3 years of Eve.
This is great news for EVE.
RP Politics will improve vastly. I can just imagine the Amarrian politican with the huge fancy Amarrian dress walking down the vast corridor, on way to the opposing corp's leader for negotiations, folowed by her close bodyguards/commanders.
This opens up a great number of possibilities for on-planet activities, aside from the Social ones.
Mini games galore, including star-wars esque Pod Racing, Gambling, Taking over Planets for your Faction/Corp and getting slaves to mine it for rich resources, Overseeing planetary mining expeditions for new and rare Minerals... The possibilities are endless... New ways of getting ISK which would involve you out of your ship and into your greatly detailed and costumized avatar. This is what many former EVE players, including myself, found lacking. And many former players will have a second look at this game once this gets released.
I have been reading all the replys and i agree with many of them. Even though i haven't played much past the trials, it was because i felt like i was too attached to the ship. If they implemented this i would probably fully join this game and never look for another mmo again.
I think many of you saying "I don't think this will add jack to the game" are not seeing the true size of the potential that they are about to add to the game. Not only will this add social aspect but HEAVY roleplaying aspects as well, as it increases immersion.
But lets not stop there... as a previous poster stated this truly would be a HUGE stepping stone. Many things could spin-off from this. They could make ground fights! Station raids.... the options are endless.
It is indeed great news for the game. A very possible and valid reason to return and play.
A major reason for me that killed my enjoyment was that I was unable to associate with my character. There was no physical entity to associate yourself to. Ships didn't do that to me, it's like trying to associate with your armor in other games and not with your character. Or your horse.
I believe they are on the very right track with this. They will definitely put the final nail on SWG, by designing a game that is dynamic, interesting and has now all the elements found in the original SWG, only designed in reverse (space first, planets later). We are definitely for some interesting times ahead of us.
It'd be nice to see some suicide gank just as the opposition leader arrives in the system :)
I think a lot of the same people who have shown interest in EVE in the past, like myself, will continue to avoid it, for the same reasons. Avatars won't make a difference.
Personally, I love EVE, I think it's probably the coolest game I've ever seen, the PVP system is great, the economy is great, it looks great. It is the coolest game I've ever seen that I can't stand to "play". Why do I say that? Because for the total of maybe a month worth of days I've gone and come back, usually not lasting that long past the trial, I always just felt like I was logging on to watch a clock, envious of all of the veterans with bigger and cooler ships, with me being able to do nothing for a very long time to catch up.
Granted, if I'd stuck with EVE all those 8 or so months ago when I first started tinkering with it, I'd probably be in one of those cool ships, I have no regrets, because I know I wouldn't have been able to stomach flying around in noob ships with noob skills for 6 months.
Some people just can't stand to be at the bottom of the barrel with a fixed progression. Some people want to feel like they can log on and severely alter their course and have some insanely odd luck in an MMO. EVE, while cool as it gets in most parts, doesn't accommodate for those that want a more in-your-face feeling game with potential to be a noob one day and a king the next.
And I am one of those impatient MMO players that just can't watch the clock, unfortunately.
I spend much time in eve educating new players. That's what I like most.
Currently, there's a part of this activity that will exist only through chat being docked in a station, explaining fittings and skills and all that can be explained...
I remember CCP speaking of briefing rooms with shared galaxy map and system map to plan operations, this would be huge.
Adding some instructor to rookie tools like simply sharing the fitting screen while drinking a quafe would be helpful!
They recently talked about having card games seeing how popular poker tournament became between eve players. I don't remeber if they talked about lotteries and such things, but seeing how popular they are, they may have some feature for this too they haven't spoken of.
What will be ambulation is only what we make of it, CCP is still following the sandbox concept, throwing new sand here with ambulation. I hope we can make a castle of it!
No... the final nail in SWG would be if they added housing... and made it as awesome as SWG's was.
Wait, there's already some kind of housing... 'home away from home'... It has a shield and can be deployed on moons orbits...
Maybe would not call it housing, but for a pilot, it's the closest thing to a house : You can store your toys in it, your neighbourgs may put it on fire too...
PS : and most important of all : you have to pay the bills to keep it... Doesn't this feel like home?
As an ex-SWG vet looking for a home, this sounds amazing. I'm a social gamer first and foremost, so this is what I've been waiting for. I've been looking for a game that is not quest ("kill,loot, repeat") driven, and a game that has a deep player driven economy, but also has a deep social experience. When Ambulation launches, I will be there.
A couple of posters have already mentioned what I'd thought first time I heard of ambulation. If CCP can make ambulation as deep and immersive as they have the space game, and there is no reason to think they won't. I can see planets and moons eventually becoming the ground game. That just makes me giddy.
You are going to have the ability to have a captains quarters on your ships, where you can change outfits and veiw medals and such and most likely decorate as well like you will be able to do with the corporate offices.
Combine this with the announced Faction vs Faction direction...and (hopefully player housing at some point) and you really have something !
I have tried most MMOs since the NGE, except for EVE, strictly because it lacked social interaction and a "ground game" This update to EVE will entice me to at least try the free trial.
Any sence when this is supposed to happen ?
Ambulation has no date but I'd sya sometime next year at the soonest, probably 2 years if it ever does happen (anyone remember atmospheric flight 2 years ago?).
Too bad.
I've timed out multiple times building avatars for this game. Now with more stuff to customize, any help to reduce the creation time would be nice.
As I understand it, the current avatars are just stored as parameters on the server and the client is responsible for making the 2D portraits. While the new system looks pretty involved, a simple conversion would be appreciated. I could then spend the rest of the time playing with the body and clothing sliders and only have to tweak the face.
Ex. 2D_eye[1] = 3d_eye_slider1[10%]
Will we at least get to see our old avatar while we design the new one?
Maybe they can open the avatar design interface a little, allowing us to save to disk the old 2d data and upload the new 3d data? I'm sure some player could, and would, build a simple translation program...
Breaking out the avatar design code into a stand-alone would also be nice...
my wife doesn't play because of a noticeable lack of...
dragons.
i'm hoping for pre-cu SWG in the ambulation. just think of all your avatar could do in SWG; but in eve and with eve graphics...
eve is my swg space game and project entropia is my swg avatar game. it'd be great to have A game again. especially with graphics updated from those swg ones.
Any news on this feature? :)
Soon (TM).
Okay, last i heard it would be in the second major release of 2010, so the winter expansion. But as always with CCP that's a rough estimate :)
I stand by the statement I made nearly 2 years ago.
Current date for ambulation is Q3 this year and Atmospheric flight was just a tech demo. it was never meant for use ingame [which you knew of course].
CCP does two expansions per year. they just finished the winter one for 2009 (dominion). the next expansion, first of 2010 is due in summer, and will be about planetary interaction. where planets are divided into districts and players in eve fight over the control of the planet by controlling the districts.
this is a necessary expansion for DUST514 which is a fps-rts-mmo. point is that eve players will contract dust soldiers to fight over the districts, therefore gaining control over planets, therefore influencing the sovereignty.
second expansion, the winter one, a little less then a year from now, is incarna, which is a name they chose for ambulation. it wont however be only a social tool as described before, but will be required to do certain things in game.
"sometimes you need? to get offline, to get things done.
things you dont want to register in any network"
official trailer already out
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yCcRMNT-WI
atmospheric flight will be a part of DUST. you can get all this info by watching the fanfest videos. the incarna stuff, the gameplay of dust including the atmospheric flight here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/ccpgames?blend=1&ob=4&rclk=cti#p/c/E7A45268BF4505BC/0/rNhPig8inEY
Thanks :) 2010 seems to be a good year for EVE :)
Wow, in one thread you were able to say it is both useless and useful. I guess whatever the results are of this addtion to EVE you can claim you predicted it.