Massively visits Stargate Worlds
In the intense heat of North America's Sonoran Desert you'll find Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, the company producing the upcoming MMO Stargate Worlds. The location seems appropriate, as the climate conjures up images of ancient Egypt, where the Stargate franchise's mythology began. Braving the Arizona summer, we visited CME's development studio and spoke with several leaders of the Stargate Worlds team. We also observed live gameplay. Now we're happy to share our impressions of both the studio and the game with our readers.
The story of our visit and our eyes-on experience with the game is after the break. Additionally, we have an exclusive, in-depth interview with studio head Dan Elggren, creative director Chris Klug, art director Howard Lyon, VP of technology Demetrius Comes, and senior marketing manager Kevin Balentine. Finally, there's a gallery of exclusive artwork, screenshots, and photographs for your examination.
%Gallery-27249%
We were given a tour by resident PR guy Kevin Balentine. He wore a t-shirt that featured the caption "Public Relations" and a picture of Firefly's Jayne. "It's a great shirt and a job description all in one," he said. That item of Sci-Fi geekery was a harbinger of all that we would see over the course of the day. Nerf-made P90 replicas lying conspicuously on a desk in the IT department? Check. Gigantic classic game boxes hanging on the walls? Check. Stargate music mysteriously echoing through the halls from behind some closed door? Also check. Yes, this was indeed a game development studio.
About 100 people are hard at work on Stargate Worlds. Not all of them work out of the Arizona office, but the majority do. A giant array of post-it notes in the back outlined the development schedule. We didn't look too closely, but it appeared as if the project was pretty far along, so those 100 people already have a history of hard work to be proud of.
As Balentine led us around the studio, it became obvious that CME is working closely with MGM Studios to make Stargate Worlds as authentic to the movies and TV series as possible. To express its dedication, the company adorned its offices with Stargate memorabilia. The most striking of these items: a life-sized stargate in the reception area. The dedication is also apparent in the game itself. Even relatively obscure bits of Stargate lore are preserved.
For example: during our tour, we walked through a hallway completely covered in concept art. Balentine pointed out a piece on the wall. "This is the planet Tollana," he said. "But wait, wasn't Tollana destroyed?" we asked. He explained that players of the game will get to wage war for control of the planet's ruins. If that doesn't intrigue a Stargate geek, we don't know what will.
When we commented on a series of autographed photos of SG-1 and Atlantis cast members adorning the walls of another hallway, Balentine confirmed that some of the actors from the TV series have agreed to do voicework for the game.
But Stargate Worlds is not meant only for fans of the TV series. The folks at CME hope it will be appealing to all MMO players, whether they can name all the System Lords or not.
%Gallery-27249%
