Fanfest details emerge on EVE's Walking in Stations expansion
In further news coming from EVE Fanfest 2008, CCP Games has given a press-only presentation detailing the upcoming Walking in Stations expansion for EVE Online. While this is an aspect of the game that's so far been a divisive issue among EVE players, the expansion will allow players to step out of their ships and interact as highly detailed avatars in ship station interiors and captain's quarters aboard their own ships (presumably while docked in a station hangar).
Walking in Stations is a project that's drawn on the talents of "special effects artists from the world of television and movies into the video game medium, a number of whom have been brought on to the team at CCP," writes Jon Wood of MMORPG.com, reporting from Reykjavik.
CCP Games has enlisted the services of an architect to design the station floorplans and structures, with socialization and interaction in mind. Customization is a key aspect of Walking in Stations, particularly in terms of a character's looks. "Hiring the costume designer has resulted in the game's clothing not only matching the stylistic feel of the game's eclectic cultures, but has also resulted in design detail which insures that everything, right down to where the virtual seams are placed, would be realistic enough to actually create and function in the real world," Wood writes.
Wood lays out for his readers what they can expect from Walking in Stations, literally describing the expansion as a stroll out of one's ship and into the station's interiors. From one's private captain's quarters to the station promenade, with its rentable spaces where players can establish their own offices and bars. Wood writes: "Taking it one step further though will be the NPCs available for purchase that will populate your space. Players will be able to create their own dialogue trees for these characters so that other players will interact with them. They will be able to take and receive items/money and should allow players to use their establishments for any number of things, including creating their own missions."
Walking in Stations will also allow corporations to have private areas for meetings or socializing, not to mention a place where potential candidates can gather or even be interviewed 'face-to-face' in a sense. Mini-games will be arriving in EVE, as will the potential to bet ISK on the outcomes of certain games.
Wood also addresses the inevitable player concerns over Walking in Stations compounding the lag issues that are already present in EVE's single-world system, writing, "We were told that the stations themselves will exist apart from the space game and shouldn't cause one another problems."
If you're looking for even more info on what Walking in Stations will and will not be, you'll want to check out Jon Wood's piece "EVE Online: Walking in Stations Presentation" for more details on what CCP has revealed about the forthcoming expansion.
