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New team Q&A for Black Prophecy shines light on development staff
Reakktor Media has published a new team Q&A for Black Prophecy on its website but we warn you, don't get too excited if you're looking for tasty new information about the game. This article is much more about meeting the team members working on the title and discussing development challenges. The subjects being interviewed are QA manager Stephan Bast and lead programmer Marco Nowara, who both seem like pretty humorous guys -- a good trait to have when working on an MMO.It's pretty common practice to do this for an upcoming game nowadays, and we're more than happy to read long-haired, black-dressed, frowning Q&A people jokes. Our only suggestion would be for Reakktor Media to take a couple pictures of the people we're learning about next time. Knowing what someone looks like goes a long way to making them seem like a real person.
Black Prophecy interview confirms station walking feature, post-release
Let's face it, playing a sci-fi MMO where your ship is essentially your avatar is a deal breaker for some gamers. Typically we're referring to EVE Online when 'ship-as-avatar' discussions come up, but CCP's game will soon have company in the sci-fi MMO genre, with Jumpgate Evolution and Black Prophecy both on the way. Anyone who's played EVE knows that, yes, you do create a portrait-style avatar during character creation but what you see throughout gameplay is your ship. This will also be the case with Black Prophecy, although character avatars will be 3-D. Black Prophecy's developer Reakktor Media revealed that they'd like to take this a step further and introduce the ability to walk about in stations, post-launch. Black Prophecy's development director Simon Bachmann mentioned this in a recent interview. Simon told Sheila "Jube" Lewis at IGN's Voodoo Extreme: "Your ship is your game character which you can equip like you equip your player avatar in any other MMO. Next to your ship you will also have a fully customizable 3D avatar of your pilot which will appear in conversations with NPCs or other players. This special avatar will become more important in the so called 'Station walking' feature which we plan to implement in one of the future game updates post release."
Black Prophecy creators reach out to the community
Black Prophecy is a space-based science fiction MMO in development at Reakktor Media in Germany, which we've covered a bit here at Massively. But the fact is that Reakktor may not be a company that many MMO gamers are all that familiar with. The Black Prophecy team has decided to try and remedy this, with a Q&A in their community forums that introduces a bit about CEO Kirk Lenke and development director Simon Bachmann, as well as their approach to the game.Ultimately, the Q&A answers some of the questions that people have about Black Prophecy, both in terms of game mechanics and the business decisions behind getting the title published.
The importance of good audio in an MMO
In recent years, there has been a dramatic increase in the development budgets of new MMOs. To stay ahead of the technological curve, a large portion of the budget invariably goes toward the graphics department. Studios produce impressive graphics engines and mountains of art assets in an effort to make their game one of the most visually impressive out there. Amidst all the fuss over graphics and gameplay, audio is often overlooked and underfunded. It's been shown that good music and sound effects can have a significant impact on the perceived quality of a game. This is something that some development studios recognise and support but many continue to neglect this vital part of the gaming experience.In this article, I examine the importance of good audio in an MMO and explain the underlying psychology involved.
Black Prophecy interview focuses on endgame content
Black Prophecy is one of the new breed of space-based science fiction MMOs on the horizon that will be a noticeable departure from the type of gameplay that EVE Online offers. Specifically, Black Prophecy is by design a more casual game. This is not to say that Black Prophecy won't have high-level or 'endgame' content, but it will be a faster progression to endgame, according to Reakktor Media CEO Kirk Lenke. Kirk was interviewed by GameSNAFU's Sylvester Rozylo and the questions turned to PvP and Black Prophecy's endgame. Kirk said, "Black Prophecy is designed to allow players to achieve major goals in character development without investing excessive amounts of time. So basically it will be possible to reach the endgame content within a few weeks, but you shouldn't be afraid that the fun will run out once you reach the endgame." Kirk added that Reakktor "will pay very close attention to creating a lasting experience that's as attractive as possible wherein the focus will be on intense PvP action for solo, team and clan players." Kirk has plenty more to say on PvP in Black Prophecy, which you can find in his interview at GameSNAFU.%Gallery-46991%%Gallery-51088%
Space is filled with violence in three new Black Prophecy screens
Reakktor Media have released three new Black Prophecy screenshots featuring Tyi fighters blasting about space and a human shuttle exploding rather... violently. We really wouldn't want to be in that shuttle, but what self-respecting space pilot jumps into a shuttle anyhow? No, you can expect to find us in a heavy fighter blowing up other shuttles.In all seriousness, Black Prophecy really does incite a kind of awe for sci-fi and space fans alike. The completionists out there who've sampled EVE Online's visual delicacies and plan to delve into Jumpgate Evolution like a duck through gold coins, are probably -- much like ourselves -- excited to see what precious jewels are to be discovered in the latest space shooter MMO to tempt out better senses.%Gallery-46991%
EVE Evolved: Competition for EVE Online
Although the most popular MMOs of today are in the fantasy genre, a niche within the MMO market has always existed for sci-fi games. For quite some time, EVE Online has dominated this niche with a steadily growing playerbase that has now exceeded 300,000 paying subscribers. It's been noted that releases in the fantasy market tend not to affect EVE Online, showing that it's not directly competing with games in the fantasy market. Perhaps the target markets of sci-fi and fantasy MMOs have very little overlap or perhaps the gameplay in EVE is unique enough that no real alternatives exist. Whatever the reason, EVE has been blessed with a relative lack of competition since its release in 2003. But with four major sci-fi MMOs on the horizon, could the game's creators CCP be in for a rough ride?In this speculative opinion piece, I examine how EVE reacted to competition in the past and suggest how it may react to the next wave of sci-fi MMOs to hit the market.
Black Prophecy interview details impact of clan resources on PvP
Fans of sci-fi MMOs looking for something a tad less complex than EVE Online have much to look forward to in the coming months and years, first with the joystick-style game Jumpgate Evolution and, further down the road, with Black Prophecy from Reakktor Media. We came across an interview (in German) with Reakktor Media CEO Kirk Lenke at OnlineWelten titled "Volle Kraft voraus" that might interest gamers hoping to learn more about Black Prophecy. For our non German-speaking readers, that's "full speed ahead" and the interview has been translated into English and posted on the Black Prophecy forums by a community member named Renfield. The OnlineWelten interview hits on much of what Massively covered when we spoke with Black Prophecy's development director, but also looks at clans (guilds) and the advantages that membership can provide for players.%Gallery-46991%
New Black Prophecy screens show cockpit views
One of the trends we're seeing in the next gen of sci-fi massively multiplayer online games is the ability to shift to first-person cockpit views of the action in space. Black Prophecy from Reakktor Media is one of the upcoming sci-fi MMOs that will be gunning for your game time and which incorporates cockpit perspectives of flight. The title seems to be all about casual, drop-in fun, where you can move between third person and first person perspectives when piloting your ship in space, regardless of which race you're playing. Reakktor Media released three images of Black Prophecy's cockpit views today, from the perspectives of the technologically superior Tyi, the biologically enhanced Genide, or that of a human. You can see them below the jump, or in higher res in our Black Prophecy gallery.%Gallery-46991%
Black Prophecy keeps community up-to-date with Bulletin #2
If you're all about those sci-fi space MMOs, then you've most likely got Black Prophecy on your radar. The early screens and previews are absolutely gorgeous, and the space action-RPG looks pretty tasty too. For those who are looking for more news on just what you can expect with Black Prophecy, then the second Stellar Vox community bulletin posted on the forums by Snowcrash is soemthing you should check out. Among the goodies for this edition of the bulletin include a recent interview with Black Prophecy's design director, Simon Bachmann, by our very own James Egan; there are also great interviews with Buffed; Rock, Paper, Shotgun; and Gamesource. Beyond that, the community chatted over topics as far-reaching as factions and forum signatures - and everything in between. So if you like nice, shiny packages with all the best, then check out the second Stellar Vox compilation. It's well worth the read!
Black Prophecy not playable on console at release says Reakktor CEO Kirk Lenke
One of the sci-fi MMOs we're hearing more about is Black Prophecy from Reakktor Media, a ship-oriented space combat game. Nolvadex from Gamesource recently interviewed Reakktor Media's CEO Kirk Lenke. He gives some basic info about the game's backstory and some of the options available to players, as well as the company's choice to build Black Prophecy on the Gamebryo graphics engine. Lenke states that Reakktor plans to bring a few features to Black Prophecy that should be familiar to Neocron players. He says, "Features that have been successful in Neocron will also be ported to Black Prophecy as much as they fit into the game play and render technically possible, such as the mentioned clan system." Lenke also specifically addresses the fact that Black Prophecy will not be available on console at release: "Originally it was planned to release Black Prophecy for PC and Xbox 360, but the console version has been stopped by our former mother company, 10tacle Studios, in the past. The release of a console version in the near future seems quite unrealistic now as the porting to the Xbox 360 is much more difficult to accomplish as it would have been in the beginning of the development," Lenke says. "Nonetheless a console release of Black Prophecy is not completely ruled out," adds Lenke.
MMO Roundup: Last week on Massively
Sometimes you'd like to know that there are other MMOs out there, right? Our sister site Massively can provide you with everything you need to know about all MMOs, including WoW! Check out this roundup of the latest news from the wider MMO world. Free Realms launches todayAccording to a post on the Free Realms forums from Jason "Pex" Ryan, Community Manager, the servers will be going down this morning at approximately 8:00 AM Pacific, and will remain offline all day today while they push their final patches and run internal tests. They note that they will also be deleting all beta Free Realms characters as well. Guild Wars hits the 6 million milestoneJust in time for their fourth anniversary celebrations, ArenaNet have announced that Guild Wars has sold over six million copies. Coincidence? We think not but it's still a remarkable milestone for this popular MMO. Remember that market leader World of Warcraft has 11.5 million players worldwide and is subscription based. Guild Wars meanwhile, is free-to-play (plus box costs) and only a few months younger than WoW. LotRO two-year anniversary: Book 8 details announcedAs our LotRO 2nd anniversary coverage continues, we're pleased to bring you some of the latest news from a recent conference call we had with Turbine. This call involved Jeffrey Steefel, Executive Producer of LotRO, Harry Teasley, Art Director for LotRO and Adam Mersky, Director of Communications for Turbine to provide us with a rundown of the last two years with the game and what the future holds. Champions Online dated for release on July 14thDuring an event in the UK today, Cryptic's Bill Roper revealed that Champions Online will officially launch on July 14th 2009 in both the United State and Europe. The launch date, while a tiny bit further than expected, is probably for the better since Jumgpate Evolution is releasing in the middle of June anyhow. If both of these games hit in the same month, we'd probably lose our minds.
Black Prophecy community manager Christian Schuett on premise of the game
There are new massively multiplayer online games on the way which aim to change how we play ship-based sci-fi MMOs, bringing a more dynamic system of combat in space. One of those titles is Black Prophecy from Reakktor Media. 'Fast-paced real-time combat' is something that Reakktor Media emphasizes as one of Black Prophecy's strengths, which should be good news for gamers looking forward to having dogfights with other ships in space. Massively caught up with one of the key individuals behind Black Prophecy this past week, development director Simon Bachmann, who told us about some of the game's specifics. Jim Rossignol from Rock, Paper, Shotgun also got some details about Black Prophecy when he spoke with Reakktor Media community manager Christian Schuett, which is definitely worth a read if you're interested in the title.
Massively speaks with Black Prophecy development director Simon Bachmann
Massively is watching the influx of sci-fi MMOs very closely and we're happy to point out that gamers will soon have a number of options for space-based gameplay. While gamers will be flying and dogfighting in Jumpgate Evolution this summer, there's another dark horse in the running for your play time: Black Prophecy, a sci-fi MMO in development at Reakktor Media. Whereas the reigning sci-fi MMO title EVE Online has a well-deserved reputation for appealing to a hardcore audience, Black Prophecy is decidedly more casual. This is a design decision that Reakktor feels will keep their game accessible to a wider audience, although they state that hardcore players will still find the content is engaging on a collective level. We fired off some questions to Reakktor Media's Simon Bachmann, development director on Black Prophecy, about what the game will offer sci-fi fans and some of what we can expect from Black Prophecy's gameplay.%Gallery-46991%%Gallery-51088%
The Daily Grind: Which sci-fi MMOs are you looking forward to?
Star Wars: The Old Republic, Earthrise, Fallen Earth, Star Trek Online, Jumpgate Evolution, Global Agenda, Black Prophecy, the Fallout MMO (maybe), Blackstar, Otherland, StarGate Worlds, and even more. It seems that if you're a hardcore sci-fi fan, now is a really good time to be an MMO player with all the options coming soon in terms of upcoming MMOs. You've got everything from the blended fantasy/sci-fi to favorite movie and gaming IPs to all-new concepts to dig into and enjoy. Of course, with such a large influx coming, this morning we thought we'd ask you what some of your most anticipated sci-fi MMOs are? Which ones are you trying like mad to get into the betas for? Which ones are just kind of "meh" on your radar? If you've got more than one, which one do you think might reign supreme among your choices?
Black Prophecy's musical composers Dynamedion interviewed
Is the music in a game an important aspect of the play experience for you? If you've answered yes, you might be interested in a recent interview we came across at The Prophecy Network with Tilman Sillescu, musician and co-founder of Dynamedion, a company responsible for the soundtrack composition and sound design of many video games in Europe. One of their latest projects has been to create the soundtrack for the sci-fi MMO Black Prophecy. Sillescu gives some background into the process of composing music for games and you don't need to be a music major to follow along. He discusses what they did over the 10 months spent working on the project which Sillescu describes as 'epic and orchestral.' "We had many people working on the music: 4 composers, 3 orchestrators, a 70-piece orchestra and a 20-piece choir, conductor, solo instrumentalists, recording engineer, sound mixer," he says. "So we went to great expense to realize an optimal soundtrack for the game." There's an extra included with the Dynamedion interview at The Prophecy Network, an mp3 of Black Prophecy's epic battle music which was used in the recently released cinematic trailer.
Black Prophecy trailer offers a first look at gameplay experience
The brave new world of sci-fi MMOs is fast approaching. At this rate, it won't be long before science fiction and post-apocalyptic themed games are as ubiquitous as fantasy titles in the MMO marketplace. Among the space-based titles that will be gunning for your play time is Black Prophecy, in development at Reakktor Media. They announced today that the Black Prophecy community forums are now open and released a gameplay trailer as well. We expected the trailer to be a flashy collection of aggressive footage cuts, but what we see is actually rather refreshing, in that it's a more accurate representation of what it'll be like to play Black Prophecy. It starts off with the login screen and progresses through some of the gameplay elements from the perspective of a pilot, switching between the standard third-person MMO view and a first-person cockpit view of the action. The trailer also shows off some interesting aspects to combat such as the ability to target specific areas of large vessels and of course the various ship modifications players can make. You can download the high def version from Reakktor which clocks in at a hefty 443 mb, but we've also got the gameplay trailer embedded for you below, best viewed in fullscreen HD. If you've been wondering how Black Prophecy might compare to other space-themed MMOs already established in the market or upcoming titles like Jumpgate Evolution, the gameplay trailer should give you an accurate picture of where the title is in terms of development.
Black Prophecy cinematic trailer reveals ancient Restorer race
Among the upcoming sci-fi MMO releases we're curious about is Black Prophecy, a title in development at Reakktor Media in Germany. Black Prophecy's backdrop is a far future setting where conflict rages between humanity's two evolutionary offshoots; the biologically-superior Genides wage war against the technologically-superior Tyi. Each opposed faction threatens to wipe out the existence of their rival, but both the Genides and Tyi now face a greater common threat, the ancient Restorer alien race. Reakktor released a cinematic trailer for Black Prophecy today that shows off aggressive fleet battles and new ship designs, while giving us a closer look at the Restorers. We've got a YouTube embed of the Black Prophecy cinematic trailer for you below, best viewed in fullscreen HD:%Gallery-46991%
New Black Prophecy website launched
Have you been looking for a sci-fi spaceship shoot-em-up along the lines of EVE Online, but without the long skill training times? Well, if Black Prophecy's shiny new website is any indication, this may be an MMO for you to put on your watch-list. Admittedly, the information on their new site is quite sparse at the moment. That said, if the shiny new screen caps they sent us today from the current build are any indication, it's going to be a luscious-looking game. Kirk Lenke, CEO of Reakktor Media, said, "With the launch of the new official website we have reached another important milestone in the development of our recent project. The new website offers the latest breaking news, screenshots and concept arts of our next-generation Space Action MMOG Black Prophecy and is definitely worth a visit." While you're there you can sign up for the upcoming beta and newsletter, and check out some of the fan sites. With all the new sci-fi games coming down the wire, coupled with the hard work going into already extant titles like EVE Online, it's going to be an interesting space race. %Gallery-46991%
E308: Black Prophecy debuts with trailer, closed beta registration
Reakktor Media, the brains behind the cyberpunk MMO shooters Neocron and Neocron 2, have recently recently a brand new movie-esque trailer for their new game, Black Prophecy.The game is a futuristic space combat game, a la Jumpgate, in design. By the look of the trailer, there's going to be dogfights, explosions, pretty planets, huge ships, and pretty much everything else you could expect. The game world has also been penned by Michael Marrak, a German science-fiction author, so we can also expect a full plotline and deep world. If the text in the trailer is to be believed, it looks like all of life might be nearing a universal apocalypse?More importantly, Reakktor has also opened the registration for the Black Prophecy closed beta on their website, so if you're interested in flying around and blowing stuff up, you might want to stop over and drop your name in the hat. There's currently no word as to when the closed beta will start up, but we'll keep our ears to the ground for you and will post up the information as we receive it.But while you're drooling, waiting for the beta, you can also look at the trailer on the Black Prophecy website, plus a couple of screenshots, to keep you guessing until the game falls into your hands. Or, maybe go check out Reakktor's other work, Neocron 2, perhaps?
