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CCP Asia discusses China operations, DUST 514
The Asia branch of CCP Games had modest beginnings -- the company's Shanghai office was simply formed to administer EVE Online in China, although there was always the hope that the team would eventually be able to develop new games as well. Now CCP's Shanghai office is growing into a full-fledged game development studio with their work on DUST 514, a ground-based console MMOFPS that ties in with the galactic struggle for control between players in EVE Online. A recent interview with Gamasutra's Christian Nutt discusses CCP Asia and their work on DUST 514 from both a western and eastern perspective. Environment Director Larry Herring and Lead Level Designer Jing Yu Zhu give us a better idea of the challenges (and red tape) involved with developing games for Western markets in China, and a look at the console game development scene in Shanghai.
CCP's Ryan Dancey on keeping EVE Online compelling
CCP Games Chief Marketing Officer Ryan S. Dancey recently spoke with Gamasutra's Christian Nutt about the state of EVE Online and what makes the sci-fi title unique. EVE has traits that many MMOs don't, such as player governance, a dynamic virtual economy, and slow but continual subscription growth. CCP does face problems in tandem with that growth however, namely from RMT operations. There is also the issue of balancing developer control over aspects of the game's economy (mission rewards, salvage and loot drops, ISK sinks) with the ideal of allowing EVE's economy to be as player-driven as possible, explains Dancey. Among other things discussed in the interview, Gamasutra asks how White Wolf has changed following the merger with CCP Games nearly three years ago. Dancey tells Gamasutra: "It's just an imprint... White Wolf used to have a fairly large staff. It doesn't anymore. It's focusing primarily on the World of Darkness RPG products. It's not doing some of the things it used to do; board games and other card games and things. The focus of the company [CCP] is on making MMOs and our legacy table top business is a legacy business."
All Points Bulletin players to help determine game's evolution
The team at Massively is pretty happy to see that Realtime Worlds has broken radio silence with All Points Bulletin, first with the E3 2009 announcement and a video podcast, and now with some in-depth interviews about the urban crime game. Gamasutra's Christian Nutt recently spoke with APB lead designer EJ Moreland about some of the elements that could make this game different from most anything else presently on the market. The game is clearly a departure from some of the conventions and game mechanics typical of an MMO. The game's emphasis is on dynamic action; Moreland describes APB as "an online action game with persistence." And, of course, there's that incredible potential for customization they've shown off.
CCP Games boosts productivity with agile development
When CCP Games developed the Apocrypha expansion for EVE Online, it wasn't only the first time that all three studios -- Atlanta, Reykjavik, and Shanghai -- worked in concert on single project, they also created the game's largest expansion to date in record time. EVE Online's lead designer Noah Ward recently explained how CCP was able to accomplish this in an interview with Gamasutra's Christian Nutt and Chris Remo. The company switched from its waterfall development model to agile methods where the game was developed through the collaboration of small teams that showcase their progress to the rest of the developers frequently. Ward says, "Now that we've switched over, we don't have these huge waterfall phases anymore, it's just iterative, agile two week sprints, and we have a demo day at the end [...] and it's just amazing to see how much is actually produced in those two weeks."
The spirit of WoW in Resistance 2's co-op gameplay
Much has been said on the influence of World of Warcraft on the MMO industry, but comparisons between other games and WoW don't end with massively multiplayer online games. The multiplayer cooperative mode of Resistance 2, a Playstation 3 exclusive from Insomniac Games, bears some similarities in its design to the ubiquitous Blizzard fantasy title in terms of class interdependencies. Insomniac Games co-op lead designer for Resistance 2, Jake Biegel, recently gave an interview with Christian Nutt from Gamasutra on the development of multiplayer cooperative gameplay, and the games that influenced its creation. Of course, the class-based Team Fortress 2 was cited as an influence, but Insomniac Games also looked to World of Warcraft for further inspiration. "We looked at experiences like Team Fortress 2, in which there are dependencies on classes, and games like World of Warcraft, in which there are large amounts of people working in tandem, creating this kind of epic synergy to overcome these encounters that wouldn't be overcomeable as an individual," Biegel says. One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!
Todd McFarlane talks about 38 Studios and Copernicus
Massively has been watching what's happening with 38 Studios and their upcoming MMO codenamed 'Copernicus' -- and the most recent bit of info we turned up comes through today's interview at Gamasutra by Christian Nutt. Gamasutra has interviewed 38 Studios Executive Art Director Todd McFarlane, well-known to most of us for his work in the comics industry and for the numerous offerings of McFarlane Toys.Indeed, a fair amount of the Gamasutra interview focuses on McFarlane Toys and its success in the action figure industry, but McFarlane spoke a bit about 38 Studios and its MMO project as well. He touched upon how 38 Studios hopes to differentiate their game from what's presently offered: "But the question is, can we make ours feel better than the other guys? And the stuff that I'm seeing relative to what's out there in the open market, the answer is absolutely, right now." While McFarlane doesn't exactly spill details on what we can really expect from Copernicus, he does offer up some hints as to what 38 Studios is doing, and more importantly, why they're taking a different approach to the MMO space than some of their competitors. For more info on Copernicus, or just to read up on what a comics legend is doing these days, check out the full interview with Todd McFarlane over at Gamasutra.
