In a recent Digital Extremes Twitch stream that we reported on earlier today, the developers offered an exciting glimpse into the future of their next enormous MMO project, Soulframe. Spearheaded by [DE]Steve and [DE]Geoff, the team shared some insightful details about the game, despite being extremely early in its development. Here’s what we learned.
The Digital Extremes stream was roughly two hours, but Soulframe was just a minuscule fraction of that time, but it doesn’t mean that the information gathered was any less exciting. Soulframe will be introducing their “Pre-Pre-Pre-Pre-Alpha” which will take place mid-December. Emulating their approach with Warframe, Digital Extremes plans to develop Soulframe gradually, prioritizing community involvement. Enthusiasts eager to participate should sign up at soulframe.com and secure their 'Envoy Title' to be eligible for the pre-alpha phase, which will initially be limited to a small group of PC players. Invites will be sent out in batches, starting with a few hundred, and scaling up over time.
Co-op gameplay will be introduced early in the pre-alpha phase, though crossplay won't be available until later stages. Prelude Soulframe will require some heftier system specs if you wish to be selected, though those haven’t been unveiled quite yet. There will also be limited NPCs in the game during prelude, as the team intends this first phase to be primarily about the basic essence of the combat and visuals. Obviously, this stage of development will not be for the faint of heart, as the team will be looking for honest and consistent feedback so that they can create the compelling game that mirrors the success of Warframe. To that end, it’s important to note the other insanely important feature that Geof showed off during the stream – the ability to pet the dog.
A big ongoing theme that players have come to expect is the ability to pet their animals within their favorite virtual worlds. The video depicts just this, with the player character petting the oversized wolf, showing off more than just the ability to pet the animal, but the stellar graphics and some of the gear and weaponry you can expect to find in the game.
The arsenal in Soulframe will be vast, including numerous swords, spears, axes, and crossbows alongside an ongoing narrative structure of Soulframe with plans for multiple chapters that are intended to offer a less linear experience than traditional games. Head on over to the official site and sign-up by adding your email and Envoy name and be entered into the first-come-first-serve selection process for Soulframe testing.
