GDC Report
The MMORPG.com team is at the Game Developer's Conference. In this article, Managing Editor Jon Wood updates our community on some of the things that they have seen or learned while at the show including looks at Aion, Fallen Earth, Earthrise and more!
Well, it’s been an interesting couple of days here at the 2009 Game Developer’s Conference. I’m excited to report that it’s been a busy show and that we’ve seen a pretty wide variety of games and talked to a lot of interesting people. Over the next week or so (starting when we get home on Monday), we’ll be releasing a ton of video interviews covering a wide range of games. I thought though, with the bulk of our interviews behind us, that I would write this article as an overview of some of the important or interesting things that we’ve learned or seen while we’ve been here:
Fallen Earth
This morning, we had a chance to meet with the team from Icarus Studios to talk about their upcoming post-apocalyptic MMO, Fallen Earth. What I expected to just be an interview actually turned out to be a pretty extensive demo of their game.
Both Keith (our News Manager and my partner in crime for this conference) and I commented on the fact that we’ve been watching this game grow for quite some time, really since it was little more than concept art and design outlines, and it’s interesting to see how far it’s come.
In the past, we’ve seen previous builds of the game that were, while interesting indications of where it was at the time, still showed signs of being from a game at an early stage of development. I want to say now that the game has come a long way since last I saw it. I mean, that shouldn’t be surprising given the fact that it’s now in Closed Beta. Everything, right down to the lighting looked more polished and engaging.
In the video that you’re going to see in the next little while, the guys gave us an overview of a number of different game systems including: the tutorial area (which we were told you would be able to skip on subsequent plays through the game), an escape from a post-apocalyptic Hoover Dam which had been generating power for the survivors of the plague that caused all this mess in the first place, the game’s crafting system that the developers told us was important to the post-apocalyptic setting because players actually have to make (or purchase at inflated prices) such things as ammo, weapons, clothing and anything else you’d be able to buy at Wal-Mart today but that might be more scarce when humanity is teetering on the brink of extinction. They also talked a bit about the faction system in the game, how there are no good or evil factions so much as there are good and evil aspects of all of the factions available.
All in all, there’s a lot to look forward to coming out of this game. I could talk more, but the guys really did a great job explaining all of this stuff and more in greater detail that I replicate here.
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Aion
This is one of those games that people ask me about every time I go to a show. It’s been pretty consistently followed by MMO fans, even through the major releases that have recently gone out, and with good cause. For visual-minded people, for example, the game is just stunning. I’m hard pressed to think of a game that has so immediately struck me with just how “pretty” its graphics were.
During the presentation that we were given at GDC, the game’s Community Manager spoke quite a bit (and demonstrated) a couple of the game’s more unique features. Now, I don’t think that anything that came out of the demo was necessarily new or shocking information, but I think it’s worth re-capping for those folks who might have lost this game from their radar.
The first thing that they talked about was the vast customization that is available in the game. Now, while there are only two races available in the game, and neither of those is a particularly standard fantasy race, the customization is so deep that you can actually create characters that look very much like classic Dwarves of Elves. I think the point that I’m trying to get around to is that it gives players a lot of options when it comes to how their characters look.
During the presentation, they also talked a little bit about the flight feature of the game. For whatever reason, for some players, free-form flight in an MMO has been a kind of holy grail. I think personally that it comes from the flight paths in WoW where you can literally look down over a living world… but I digress.
I was impressed with the flight system and also with the fact that the developers have put limitations on it. Not in terms of freedom in where you can go or what path you take to get there, but in the form of a timer that doesn’t allow players to stay infinitely airborne. This means that aerial combat has to be not only planned out like a normal combat, but also planned out in terms of duration.
Not surprisingly, Aion was one of the highlights of the show for me. I think that players who have been waiting patiently for this game will be pleased with the end result.
EVE Online
Not a lot in the way of ground breaking announcements with this one, but because EVE is a sandbox style game, it’s always worth checking in with them whenever possible to find out what new developments they’ve got brewing.
One of the highlights of the interview focused around the Council of Stellar Management. For those who don’t know, that’s the player elected council (of players) who get a chance to sit down with the EVE developers and not only share their own thoughts and ideas about the way that the game but also to convey the ideas of their fellow players.
The CSM, as it’s known, is currently gearing up for their third elections. I bring this up here because I still find the concept of a player-elected group that can advise a development team to be a step forward in the “player rights” movement in MMOs. Personally, I think this concept is ideally suited for a sandbox MMO like EVE.
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Jumpgate Evolution
We got our first real, solid look at Jumpgate this GDC. Here’s another example of a fairly unique game that looks like it’s coming along nicely. Space can be handeled, at least visually, in a number of different ways. EVE Online, for example, takes a more “realistic” look for their space-scape. In other words, at least from my experience with the game, there are a lot of stars and black space. Don’t get me wrong, I think EVE looks great and the darker look of the ships fits well with their chosen setting. Jumpgate, on the other hand, at least from all of the images and gameplay that I’ve seen, takes a different approach. Their ships are sleek and shiny-looking and their environments match, making use of space anomalies and other irregularities to produce vibrant colored, yet still appropriate feeling vistas.
I have to say as well that any MMO that encourages the use of a joystick is a-ok in my book.
Another interesting point of note is that Jumpgate, as a NetDevil production, falls under the larger umbrella of the recently announced Gazillion company that is made up of a number of MMO studios. It’s going to be interesting down the line to see how this effects the game, if at all.
Earthrise
Here’s another post-apocalyptic upcoming MMO offering, this time from the folks at Masthead. This one is in a much earlier stage of development, and this show was the first time that they were showing any gameplay.
During the demonstration, we were shown a little bit of the game’s interesting combat system. From what I could tell, the system is based around powers similar to those of most MMOs, but through progression, you’re able to enhance and even in some cases combine abilities. Also, you’re able to cue up more powerful abilities to your right mouse button and once they’re activated they can be used for only a short period of time. Still though, I’m sure it will be better explained once you see the video.
So far so good for this game as well, but it’s still to early to say anything even remotely concrete other than to say that it’s quite different from most other MMOs that I’ve seen recently.
Mabinogi
Our meeting with the guys from Nexon, the makers of games like Maplestory and Mabinogi, was really quite informative. In it, we talked a little bit about the most recent expansion to the latter game which added a whole slew of new content to the game and expanded the size of their world by something in the region of three times. It also introduces two new races to the game, when before there were only one.
From there, we got to talking a little bit Nexon’s approach to the Free to Play market and how their games are brought into the North American market. I’ve always been at least a little bit intrigued by the concept of localization and what companies do to alter their games to move from one market to another. It turns out that the large expansion to Mabinogi is actually a part of that effort. In the game’s original market, new content is traditionally rolled out in small increments. Here, on the other hand, we tend to more often respond to large, sweeping expansions. So, when it came to rolling out the new content, they felt that the right way to approach it was to give us something bigger than a small rollout.
The Secret World
Sorry folks, I can’t talk about the info on this game just yet, it’s been embargoed . Just thought I’d whet your appetites a little bit and let you know that as soon as we’re able, we’ll tell you everything we know.
There’s certainly more to our trip to GDC, and it isn’t over yet. Even as you’re reading this, we’re meeting with more developers and getting more information about all of the MMOs that we can. I hope that you’re looking forward to our videos bringing you up to date on the development of many of the upcoming MMOs being talked about at this show. It’s been an interesting experience for us so far.
Can't wait to see the Earthrise vid and the day when the embargo is lifted for TSW!
Wonders if HiRez studios was there too. If so what did you learn more about their mmo Global Agenda?
I can't beleive you guys didn't cover Love... It's the one game I'm looking forward to.
http://www.quelsolaar.com/
An mmo made by one guy, that looks like a 5 year olds' watercolor drawing, would be laughed out of GDC. And since mmorpg.com was at GDC and not in that guys basement, that explains one reason they didn't cover it, now don't it?
Hurry up and get that Earthrise vid out!
Also, when Funcon removes the "embargo" on the Secret World, do your members here a favor and implement your own "embargo" on it.
After two proven failures, why should they get publicity for the third failure-in-waiting?
Embargo? Can this be expanded on? The implication is that MMORPG.com is refusing to talk about this game or is it a denial of information on the studio's part?
Basically Funcon said "You can't show this to anyone until we say so".
Basically Funcon said "You can't show this to anyone until we say so".
*slaps forehead* I suppose that';s one way of looking at it. I'd just like to point out that this is a VERY common thing to do with any kind of media outlet. We are given information ahead of time so that we can work on our stories or what-have-you, and given a date on which it's cool to publish.
Normally, I don't mention it, but because they put out a press release before the show stating that they were talking about the game, I thought it might be nice to let people know we got some info and would release it later.
So, it's more about... We'll give you this info now for your conveneince, but would like you to hold onto it until X date" than what you said.
*slaps forehead* I suppose that';s one way of looking at it. I'd just like to point out that this is a VERY common thing to do with any kind of media outlet. We are given information ahead of time so that we can work on our stories or what-have-you, and given a date on which it's cool to publish.
Normally, I don't mention it, but because they put out a press release before the show stating that they were talking about the game, I thought it might be nice to let people know we got some info and would release it later.
So, it's more about... We'll give you this info now for your conveneince, but would like you to hold onto it until X date" than what you said.
So basically, we both said the same thing, I just wasn't as nice about it.
I heard we might have to wait till end of the first week in April for more TSW news. Can't wait when it comes. Jon gets all the good stuff.
Thanks for the report so far was a good read and appreciated.
Thanks for the update.
Can't wait for more news on Earthrise and The Secret World.
And as much as people like to hate on Funcom, yes, Conan sucks, but Anarchy Online is STILL, this many years later, the ONLY good Sci-Fi MMO to date. No it's not amazing, but point me in the direction of a better Sci-fi MMO in that kind of setting, and i'll be sure to try it out.
With the EVE info, that was nice, but as you said, nothing new. The newest expansion added a bunch of stuff, that I will never get to do, because it's way out of my league, but the game is coming along nicely.
Thanks for all your hard work guys, I know most of us appreciate it. If not even a little bit jealous.
Hope the rest of your trip is good.
Well I can't wait to play Fallen Earth. The graphics are not too impressive right now but the gameplay seems awesome. Crafted economy, no classes, skill based, and I love the faction system. Not to mention fps targetting combined with rpg numbers. Looks like a great role-playing game, which is sorely missing in current MMO's. And loving the post-apocalyptic setting too.
I agree with you. Plus. Who's to say TSW will positively end up the same way as AoC? Some people are *way* too pessimistic
An mmo made by one guy, that looks like a 5 year olds' watercolor drawing, would be laughed out of GDC. And since mmorpg.com was at GDC and not in that guys basement, that explains one reason they didn't cover it, now don't it?
Actually, Eskil Steenberg was a speaker at GDC. There are a lot of people interested in what he's doing, which is pretty innovative. Here's a post about him on massively: linky...
~Ripper
Actually, Eskil Steenberg was a speaker at GDC. There are a lot of people interested in what he's doing, which is pretty innovative. Here's a post about him on massively: linky...
~Ripper
Well, I'll be damned.
I like AO.
However, the opinion it's the best sci-fi game is due to there being few sci-fi mmos, not the quality of AO.
And it took 7 years for it to get where it is now.
And the fact it barely manages to hold onto 20k subscribers ( if even that many ), both paid and froob, goes along with what I said: 2 failures.
Funny thing is, they both failed the exact same way with the exact same flaws. Funcon had the guide ( AO ) to show them how to not fuck up AoC. Instead of learning from the mistakes, they repeated every damn one of them.
And now they have Craig trying to repair the damage, the same as they needed Craig to repair AO. Guess he has 6 years left to fix it, judging by their knack for repeating AO history with AoC.
So tell me how TSW is going to be any different.
I cannot for the life of me remeber what site ,but a site some where already did some decent info on TSW.I remeber this much it was going to be a totally different game than AOC,i think iot was more along the apocalyptic lines and did not sound like something i wanted to play.If my memory serves me right it was going to be sort of like a solo game ,in a small way like GW.I was not interested in the game so i kind of forgot most of the article.
As far as Fallen Earth goes,it again did not appeal to me.It sounded VERY linear.Like a console game that forced you through each quest to move along in the game.I prefer wide open content than linear.Nothing else in the game appealed to me either,i don't see anything ground breaking in there.
Earthrise still seems interesting enough to keep an eye on.
Umm Mabinogi? sorry those very weak graphic games turn me off.We usually see a million of them advertised on this site and every other site as well.
The big guy AION?? the looks/graphics don't fool me the way it fools others.We are so used to looking at the realistic colors like green leaves and blue/clear water that soon as they see the ASIAN type looks of unrealistic pink grass/leaves and all sorts of wild colors for water,people mistake it for looking great.Over there they are famous for using the pinks/yellows anything real bright,to me it is just colors,it does not make graphics,and using unrealistic colors that do NOT fit the model,makes it look dumb,that is my opinion anyhow.Does AION look decent even with the phony colors ?sure it does,i can see some decent effort in there,but to me the graphics would not win out,that game needs some content beyond the normal Asian type games i have played.BIG mistakes?everyone able to fly will make a mockery of the design and will remind me of walking into Horizons and seeing nothing but players playing dragons.Will this game have any content outside of drab PVP?i am not counting on it.
More so i am interested to know what AION will bring to the table ,that makes people want to play it?what have they created ?anything new?i highly doubt it,it was obvious to me that they are banking on the flying to be what woos players lol,not in my house.I just can't see me saying"WHOA look at that i get to fly" i just got to play that game...bah i say.What does AION offer that we havnt already done?I am not going to play a game just because it has a different name or title or i can fly.AION may turn out to be good,like i said i am not expecting it.
The Earthrise vid is on youtube
Was pretty lame imho... just some moron jumping around with some mechanic spider following him
Mechanical spider... Uh, yeah, not actually got anything to do with what I saw on Earthrise, but ok.
Mechanical spider... Uh, yeah, not actually got anything to do with what I saw on Earthrise, but ok.
Edit:
Go to the 1 minute mark and you'll see what he's talking about with the "spider".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uC0fhEa2Tg
No Mortal Online folks representing? :<
Nice write up though. Thanks Jon.
With the shininess and sharp corners/joints, the spiders do look sort of mechanical.
if this is from Earthrise, I remember reading something about the use of Nanites causing things to mutate around the world... could explain the metalic/mechanical look of the spiders.
Shallow.. I think they are talking about the mechnoid in the trailer... It was a four legged crawler, that did look like a spider. I think it looks cool and showed the potential. In no way should this be considered a repersentation of Earthrise, it is a teaser and that what it should be judged by. Finally got the game in motion instead of screenshots. Hopefully the next video will be that of combat, also of the ui and skill usage.
Yes, I realized that after watchng the video and edited my post with a youtube link to it.
Yes ! -
In Love the story is not something that is "Pre-scripted" but something that is organically created while you play. ... The game is based on a powerful procedural engine that creates a dynamic world that can be changed over time by players, characters, and the passing of time.
This is something i've been interested in for a looooong time - "emergent" storylines and content, just like in a living world. I'll definitely be watching the progress on LOVE.
ARGH! Where's the news about World of Darkness.... gimmi gimmi gimmi...
he Secret World
Sorry folks, I can’t talk about the info on this game just yet, it’s been embargoed . Just thought I’d whet your appetites a little bit and let you know that as soon as we’re able, we’ll tell you everything we know.
Not too sure about this game But I hope we get some information on Rapture in the near Future, or some people know it as the un-named SE nextgen mmo. There was an information leak saying that SE is supposed to give information about this new MMO at this upcoming E3, ( I hate how SE is always tightlipped about all their new projects, they do not give you the slightest information until not too long before release.
I'm pretty pumped about finding more about The Secret World, I'm hoping it's more up my alley. As gorgeous as Conan is, it's missing several features I'd like, PvP isn't a feature to me :(
But anyway, this was a good year for GDC lots of interesting things. Speaking of Indy odd games, there's Twin Skies that just caught my eye. Seems like a cross between Free Realms and Mabinogi, I think that's going to be very interesting it should even launch this summer as free to download, don't expect huge amounts of content right away though as their plan goes against waiting forever to release a 'complete' game. The devs are the people behind Neopets expect extreme cuteness, proceed with caution. :D
Twin Skies Site
Considering I've been checking out The Secret World since summer 2007, I can assure you you are not talking about The Secret World. No information whatsover has come up about The Secret World except the settings a bit (three cities: New York, Shanguai and London), possibilities to travel to other realms and time travel, plus the 2012 apocalyptic mayan calendar talking about the end of an era, dark forces, occult societies, lots of lovecraftian elements, etc. Very few informations have come out since may 2007 and especially nothing on how the game is built. We will know more on april 7th 2009 that is sure and I'm really looking forward to it.