The first details about Project Awakening, CCP’s in-development “single-shard survival experience” are here, along with the announcement of Phase III testing, starting in May. After announcing the project, there has been speculation about just what it would turn out to be. In a press release today, the team revealed the first details.
“As a single-shard survival experience, Project Awakening is set in the dark expanse of space where civilization has decayed in the ruin of its own ambition. Players will explore a hostile and dangerous cosmos as they fight to survive against what remains and attempt to rebuild a broken world.”
Since it is a single-shard experience, the sandbox nature means that players will impact the universe and even potentially evolve it through collective actions. Still, there’s an emphasis on “player empowerment”, so while there is set to be a full experience that is shaped by everyone who takes part, the game will be “built upon the principles of freedom, consequence, and mastery within a living universe”.
In announcing the details, CCP also confirmed how blockchain technology will be a part of Project Awakening. They are using Carbon Development Platform and MUD by Lattice to build their persistent world in a way that allows players to shape if and also to allow for third-party development via blockchain.
The company is also set to make the Carbon Development Platform open-source, which will give developers and players tools to add features and impact the world. “Whether you are a player, a developer, or a programmer, we want to empower you in building virtual worlds,” said CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson. Players will have a new series of tools at their disposal to add their own features and functionality to the experience, a new way of leaving their mark on the world”.
Phase III, the next closed playtest, will start on May 21st, and CCP is currently taking signups for those interested. This phase is set to let testers have access to some of the programmable game systems and allow for creative players to build features and new functionality. The full experience looks to be very malleable, and that is also behind the setup of an online hackathon as part of Phase III. CCP has always involved its community, and winning teams here get a chance to visit the studio in Iceland.
See more, and sign up to test at Project Awakening.
