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Introducing the Stargate Worlds YouTube channel
Firesky has launched a Stargate Worlds channel on YouTube, and has promised that a new video will go live every week day from here on out. So far there are six videos, all of which are brief, punchy developer interviews related to the various weapons in the game.A few of them are a little painful to watch due to extreme geekiness, but there is a somewhat amusing running joke about the flamethrower weapon being a terribly kept secret. Its existence is unconvincingly denied in most videos, and in one it is confirmed but the developer insists that flamethrower gameplay is not ready to be shown to the public. He says this while a monitor behind him displays all kinds of in-game flamethrower carnage.Firesky proudly brags that the channel was the #1 most subscribed on YouTube during the week of the 21st, and that it sits comfortably in the top 25 for the whole month of September. That said, most of the videos have only had a couple thousand views, except for the very first video (the flamethrower one), which had 8,000 views. Huh; that's kind of like a microcosm of the monthly lifecycle of an MMO! Anyway, we've embedded the flamethrower footage on the other side of the jump.
New Stargate Worlds wallpapers feature in-game imagery
The official Stargate Worlds website has been updated in two waves with nine new wallpapers, most of which show in-game locales and combat engagements. You can go look at them at the official site, or you can grab them right here instead! We're awesome like that.Most of the wallpapers depict a city, but we're apparently not quite Stargate SG-1 literate enough to identify it. There are a couple images of combat (including one of someone getting torched by a flamethrower; that's kinda cool), one shot of a Jaffa in the previously mentioned city (pictured above), and one montage of weapon concept art.Despite a few cash flow problems at the studio, Stargate Worlds' closed beta test is either already underway or imminent, depending on who you ask. So if you like these images, you might as well go sign up.%Gallery-32906%
Stargate Worlds studio faces cash flow issues
Get ready for some dubious corporate drama. We were contacted by a tipster claiming to be a Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment employee. He or she alleged, among other things, that CME/Firesky is in critical financial condition -- that it has accrued a large debt, that massive layoffs are planned, and that the future of Stargate Worlds might be in jeopardy. Knowing full well that potentially-scorned anonymous employees are rarely a wholly reliable source, we contacted the company and provided them an opportunity to comment.We were told that the tip was full of inaccuracies and overstatements. The official comment was this: "Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment is a start up, and like many start ups, we face the typical cash flow issues that all pre-revenue companies face. CME continues to fund its operations in the same way it has done for three years and the viability of the Stargate Worlds project is not in question. We fully expect to complete and ship Stargate Worlds in 2009."
Stargate Worlds open beta to come right before launch and not suck
Stargate Worlds Studio Head Dan Elggren told videogamer.com in an interview that there will be an open beta test for the game immediately before the commercial launch date. That's not a shock; most MMO developers these days run a small open beta test in the one or two weeks immediately preceding launch.Elggren promised that the beta will be "pretty solid product," and pointed to Funcom's Age of Conan open beta event as the best example of what Cheyenne Mountain/Firesky is trying not to do. Our readers who participated in that beta may remember terrible performance and stability issues.In both videogamer.com's interview and in a chat with us earlier in the summer, the SGW team has acknowledged that open beta events are more marketing tools than technical ones. The closed beta (which will begin within the next few weeks) might be a different kind of affair though.[Via Ten Ton Hammer]
Stargate Worlds beta "just a few weeks away"
Cheyenne Mountain/FireSky's Stargate Worlds beta test plans seem to be on track. At the Leipzig Games Convention, Studio Head Dan Elggren told the press that the beta would start in "early September/October." If you were worried that wouldn't happen, it might be time to stop worrying and start signing up (if you haven't already); there's an announcement at the official website saying that the closed beta test is "just weeks away."No further information was provided. We just got the above and a reminder to sign up. Since it's just the closed beta, though, you're not very likely to get in too terribly soon what with 200,000 applicants and all. That probably shouldn't upset you too much, since early closed beta tests tend to be about as playable as Ultima IX: Ascension.Hardcore Stargate Worlds fans will of course ignore these words of wisdom, because that's the kind of crazy gamers can proudly be.
Teal'c visits Stargate Worlds
Stargate SG-1 actor Christopher Judge visited Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's game development studio to check out Stargate Worlds last week. Judge played the part of Teal'c -- the Jaffa warrior on the SG-1 team -- for the entire run of the TV series and in the movies The Ark of Truth and Continuum, and has appeared on Stargate Atlantis as well.Members of the development teamed gushed about how awesome he was on the Stargate Worlds community site. "I wouldn't have thought I was the type to get embarrassed and feel like a blushing teenage girl (no offense to blushing teenage girls) when meeting a star like Christopher Judge but apparently I totally am," said one of the team members. The team got the impression that Judge was "SUPER excited" about the game.CME/FireSky put up a gallery of pictures from the visit. The studio was also visited by Formula1 race car driver Jonathan Summerton, which seems kind of random. If you want pics of that event, there's a gallery for that too.
Stargate Worlds reaches 200k beta signups, dev chat on Friday
The Stargate Worlds team announced yesterday that 200,000 people have signed up for the game's beta test. That's not an unimpressive number, although both Age of Conan and Warhammer Online reported a lot more (but at later stages in development). Of course, history has shown that the number of beta applicants doesn't necessarily reflect on a game's post-launch popularity.In other Stargate Worlds-related news, the game's sound designer (Nick LaMartina) will be participating in a live dev chat that will be open to all on Friday the 22nd at 11:00 AM Pacific time. Head over to the Stargate Worlds website for details and links on reaching the IRC chat room where it will take place.When we visited Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment just over a month ago, a representative told us that the company was hoping to start the closed beta phase before the end of the summer. We've been a bit skeptical. Time's a-tickin'!
Stargate Worlds will be on display at Leipzig train station
European Stargate fans take note: Stargate Worlds will be making an appearance at the Leipzig Games Convention in -- you guessed it -- Leipzig, Germany. As was the case earlier in the summer at Comic Con, Firesky/Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment have some special stuff planned.The team will be "taking over" the Leipzig Train Station, where they'll be showing "the latest" gameplay trailer (we don't know if it'll be new or not, but presumably, right?) and giving away various stuff, including t-shirts and dog tags. Apparently the prizes will be given out by "Stargate commandos." People in uniform, perhaps? Also, Studio Head Dan Elggren and marketing guy Kevin Balentine will be on site to promote the game and talk to the press.The Stargate franchise has always been popular in Europe -- especially in Germany, so we know there are a few of you out there who'll want in on this. And with that subsidized airfare, getting there might be almost affordable, right?
Early Stargate Worlds combat video shows off enemy AI
Jon Wood at MMORPG recently put up a hands-on video of gameplay in Stargate Worlds. This latest footage gives us an early look at combat in Stargate Worlds. Primarily, it shows the importance of using cover to survive. Wood seems to like what he's experienced of the game so far, particularly in terms of the AI in Stargate Worlds."Getting taken off-guard by AI opponents does not happen very often. But when it does, it's just fantastic. It gets your heart going, causes you to panic," he says. The comments related to the video are drawing comparisons with Tabula Rasa but keep in mind this footage is from an alpha stage of testing. That being said, what do you think about how Stargate Worlds is shaping up?
Chat with Stargate Worlds artists on your lunch break
Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment is hosting another developer chat for fans who want to know more about Stargate Worlds. This time, the participating developers are Lead Artist Austin Germer and Lead Animator Carl Cross. The chat will take place at 11:00 AM Pacific and 2:00 PM Eastern, and will last for one hour. So that falls right on top of lunch for most folks -- or at least it can, if they schedule it right. So sneak in while eating a sandwich at your desk.The place to which you may sneak: IRC chat room #Stargate-Worlds at irc.sgwirc.com. Once you're in, ask up to three questions using the /q command. More info can be found at the Stargate Worlds community website. If you're new to the game and want an introduction before the chat, (shameless plug alert) check out the coverage of our exclusive visit to the game's development studio and our interview with the directors. Hey -- you knew we couldn't help ourselves.[Via Ten Ton Hammer]
Massively visits Stargate Worlds: The interview
During our visit to Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's Arizona studio, we got to sit down with five of the top minds on the Stargate Worlds team -- studio head Dan Elggren, creative director Chris Klug, art director Howard Lyon, VP of technology Demetrius Comes, and senior marketing manager Kevin Balentine. This exclusive, in-depth, and conversational interview is overflowing with information about everything in the game, including TV series tie-ins and cameos, episodic content, combat, graphics, mini-games, and much, much more. This meaty interview is an essential read for any Stargate or MMO fan. We've split it up into four parts for easy reading. Enjoy!%Gallery-27249%
Massively visits Stargate Worlds: The interview, part 2
Our part two of our interview with Cheyenne Mountain's studio head Dan Elggren, creative director Chris Klug, art director Howard Lyon, VP of technology Demetrius Comes, and senior marketing manager Kevin Balentine, we talk about the team's plans to reach out to Stargate fans with little gaming experience and we learn about the classic Stargate characters and lore we'll see in the game.
Massively visits Stargate Worlds: The interview, part 4
In part four of our interview with Cheyenne Mountain's studio head Dan Elggren, creative director Chris Klug, art director Howard Lyon, VP of technology Demetrius Comes, and senior marketing manager Kevin Balentine, Lyon describes the philosophy behind the game's artistic style, and we learn more about the company's plan for launch and post-live content.
Massively visits Stargate Worlds: The interview, part 3
In part three of our interview with Cheyenne Mountain's studio head Dan Elggren, creative director Chris Klug, art director Howard Lyon, VP of technology Demetrius Comes, and senior marketing manager Kevin Balentine, we discuss endgame content and go into great detail about the graphics and combat.
Massively visits Stargate Worlds, part 3: Impressions
We found a lot to like in Stargate Worlds. Its cover-based, ranged combat should prove tactically interesting for groups of friends playing together. We were impressed by the attention to detail in the recreation of Stargate lore and places. We were especially excited by the mini-game concept and its integration with more traditional hardcore-friendly modes of play. CME is trying to reach and please a very broad audience, and we believe this product could potentially accomplish that goal. CME's promise to support the game with regular episodic content updates makes the package that much more attractive.
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%
Massively visits Stargate Worlds, part 2: Gameplay
We saw gameplay in two contexts. First, we saw canned footage of a firefight on the planet Lucia. Second, we visited the Quality Assurance department and watched testers play the game. The scenario they were playing appeared to be a prison break. From this we acquired a relatively good understanding of the basics of Stargate Worlds' combat. We didn't see any of the other modes of gameplay, but we talked about them a bit in our interview with the directors.
X-play opens the Stargate and brings back Stargate Worlds gameplay video
G4's X-play gained access to the FireSky Studios where the developers are hard at work on Stargate Worlds. G4 was allowed to open the Stargate and returned back with gameplay footage, while undergoing their mission they infiltrated Studio Head Dan Elggren, Creative Director Chris Klug and Art Director Howard Lyon. As for game footage Elggren took a character through several environments of a pre-alpha build and played through an assault on a drug lord stronghold on the alien planet Lucia. The game is looking great, albeit some video lag in some parts. No earth-shattering revelations were disclosed, but if you'd like learn about the game be sure to check out all our SGW coverage.
A chat with Stargate Worlds' Joe Ybarra
The guys over at MMORPG.com caught up with Joe Ybarra from Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's (or CME for short) Stargate Worlds last week at ION to talk about their upcoming MMO. If you didn't catch it when it originally went up, we sat in on his "MMOs and Hollywood" panel during the conference. Joe has a lot of interesting things to say about not only the industry at large, but his companies' game.Being that Stargate Worlds is expected to pull in both the TV series audience as well as MMO players, the team at CME is designing their title with a high level of accessibility. The title's story takes place in a modern -- or even futuristic -- setting, which means combat is similarly modern. We really love the idea that combat is being designed as a one-against-many affair in Stargate Worlds. Joe mentions that the minimum is one player-on-three NPCs and their median is about five or seven against one. That means you can expect battles to feel very action-packed, especially when you're in a group with four of five other players!
ION 08: MMOs and the television content model (SGW)
Joseph Ybarra, SVP of strategic operations at Firesky, the publishing subsidiary of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, presented a session today at ION 08 about the Stargate Worlds production model that borrows heavily from Hollywood and TV models. The goal for SGW is to approach content updates for the game more like a production cycle for television, in which an episode takes a predictable amount of time to complete (14-16 weeks in the case of Stargate Atlantis). After some background on Firesky and CME, Ybarra showed the Stargate Worlds trailer and launched into a discussion of the strategy with SGW. The idea is to adopt a movie model for the development phase and a TV model for the post-launch "live" phase. They chose to use the BigWorld middleware platform and Unreal Engine technologies in an effort to use proven tools: "don't reinvent the wheel." This allows them to both minimize risk and focus on the content.
