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Massively interviews JGE producer Hermann Peterscheck - Part two
We read recently that you were against the idea of separate servers for players who want to PvP and players who want to PvE. How do you plan to allow the two groups co-exist and still fulfill both groups' desired play-style? I'm actually not opposed to that at all. I think it depends on what kind of game you have. The issue of PvP versus PvE is a hotly contested issue in the core gamer circles and the game development industry. Outside of that, it's not nearly as hot a topic. It's like every other almost religious debate, like capital punishment or abortion or whatever. You're never going to convince people that are believers in one versus the other that the other is correct. If I hate PvP, you're never going to convince me that it's a good thing. You have to build the game in such a way that you acknowledge that both of those positions are valid and that you give both sides something to do. That being said, the way you implement it into your game is largely dependent on the kind of game you want to make. So if you look at a game like World of Warcraft, which is a largely kill-collect, progress-based game, you see the Battlegrounds and Arenas and stuff like that. They've acknowledged that both are important. The way I see it working in a game like Jumpgate is that the large PvP space battles are largely going to be done by the people who represent a large minority of players. Maybe something like twenty percent. They're going to log in every day and want to engage in massive battles. Those people are being fed by the player-run economy, which is being contributed to by another minority of players. And the rest of the people are in the middle, and are probably going to mostly hang out in the safe areas. Every once in a while though, they'll venture out and see what PvP is all about. You basically just divide the space. This area of space is safe, this area of space is not safe. But you have to make sure that there is opportunity for fun on both sides. If you make a sort of situation where the first 30 levels are PvE and the second 30 levels are PvP, you're going to make everybody hate you. The PvE players are going to quit at level 30, and the PvP players are going to wonder why they have to grind through all this crap to get to the fun part. "I'd love to have something like the hardcore servers in Diablo where you lose everything if you get killed." So by bifurcating the experience, we tell players, 'Go PvP, and you'll get X rewards. Go PvE and your rewards are Y.' There's no bias towards one or the other and you can easily flip between the two. That's kind of how I imagine Jumpgate being. That said, I'd love to have something like the hardcore servers in Diablo where you lose everything if you get killed. So I love the idea of having a server where everything is open PvP, and you can kill anybody at any time, and that's it. We'll see how that pans out, but that's how I imagine the Jumpgate universe working in regard to that. How does that translate to an end-game. Obviously, PvP players can just continue with their huge battles, what would be the PvE equivalent of that? That's already reasonably well-established. PvP would be something similar to Battlegrounds, where you have instanced PvP and also open, epic PvP between organizations. And then on the PvE side you have things like really, really tough creatures that you have to band together with a bunch of people and there's limited access to. Those are the things that give you the best rewards in the game. Personally, I like both. I like engaging in big battles against other players and I also like cooperative battles operating with others people against some giant boss that nobody's every taken out before. So we try and do both of those things. We've read on your forums that you're knocking around the idea of including capital ships, how big are these battles going to get? We've been knocking the idea of capital ships around for a while. It's sort of the consequence of the way that we approach iterative development. If you think about space fiction, one of the things that always comes to mind is blowing up the Death Star, basically, or the equivalent in other fiction. It's the huge base that a bunch of people take out. So we've had this idea for a space station. And there's all these reasons why we thought we wouldn't be able to do it. We didn't have time, maybe it's something that we can do after release, but it kept coming up. So we decided that we have to look at this. So we actually made a battlestation. And it turns out that fighting a huge battlestation with a bunch of people is really really fun. The natural progression of that is to have some sort of large ship that flies around . My expectation at this point is that they won't be player-flyable. One of the problems we had is that since Jumpgate is a skill-based game and if you have this giant battleship that you're flying and you have turrets on it -- now you have to balance it against you and your ship with aiming. It's tricky. We've thought about things like having other players man the turrets and then one person is the pilot, which games like Battlefield have done, so there's a possibility for that. But for now, when we're talking about battleships, on the PvP side they would be largely AI controlled and player-friendly and on the other side, they'd be either giant things you attack or things that fly with you when you attack. You as a pilot would still be controlling your personal ship. That being said, it's really cool to fly around and get that sort of Battlestar Galactica thing going. You see the huge ship that's sort of hulking along, around it are the little Corvettes that are a little bit faster, and then around that are the sort of quick-moving individual craft. We want to create that sort of experience. How do you take something like mining for minerals or hauling cargo and make that as fun as a giant space battle? I don't know, I think it just sort of works out. I spend many hours in EVE just mining. In fact, right now I'm trying to get my isk bars because I want to do that. So I'm happy to spend lots and lots of time just mining, learning how that system works, and just making money in doing that kind of stuff. They have this other kind of stuff there that drives the economy . So it's a different kind of economy. The way we've implemented mining, for example, is to make it a sort of Easter Egg hunt. You're flying around amongst the asteroids, looking for that rare thing. And then you go and find it and it's like a slot machine, and you mine at it and it might drop something rare. Then you can go sell it and make a certain amount of money, and there's an anticipation and reward for that in the same way that there's a reward for taking out a new tough enemy that you've never taken out. I think it's all about giving people a path to achieve something. And you can do that with any number of different verticals -- you can do the same thing with crafting, which we call manufacturing. It's all about putting in time and effort to make progress, and getting rewarded for that is fun. To me the whole point is that different people like to do different stuff, and those same people like to do many different things instead of just one. I think many successful MMOs have alternative activities that you can do so you don't get bored. As fun as it might be to just blow something up, after you do it two hundred times, you might want to do something else too. Going back to the PvP, we've heard Jumpgate described as a skill-based game. How much is skill going to weigh in relative to the amount of time invested in player versus player engagements? We're somewhere between World of Warcraft and Quake. In WoW, equipment arguably matters more than skill (although this tends to change as you get further and further into the arenas), but if you look at a game like Quake, equipment is irrelevant because everybody has access to all the weapons. So we're somewhere in between there. A rank 1 guy coming in with beginning equipment whose the best pilot in the game is unlikely to take out the guy in the most powerful battleship and the best equipment. Our game, however, gives a much larger range where you can participate in PvP. So whereas in WoW if I'm level 65 and you're level 68 and have much better equipment, it's unlikely I'll be able to beat you. But in our game, that's not the case. If you're a much better pilot, you'll probably take me out, even if I'm in better equipment. It's that sort of subtly that I have to balance. So we have to be careful balancing that. Of course, it's very unlikely that somebody whose played the game for hundreds of hours and has accumulates a bunch of equipment is not to be a better pilot within the rules of the game than somebody who just logs in one day. So it's likely that the people who spend the most time will be the most skilled AND have the best equipment. Positioning yourselves as a skill-based game, do you plan to use client-side hit detection or server-side? We're similar to first-person shooters, where we have to trust the client to some degree, but we have a check on the server to make sure that people aren't cheating. In a game that's more turn-based, you can do something where you say you want to hit, and the server says, "OK, now you're swinging" and plays the animation. We can't do that. We have to verify and authenticate and trust more than a lot of MMOs do. But it's really no different than games like Quake and Counterstrike, and those kind of games have. You just have to solve for the cheating using the game style that you have. Anybody that's developed an MMO before knows that a certain percentage of your resources goes to the eternal battle against people trying to cheat. Every game has it, and it runs the gambit. It's hacking the client, it's trying to break into the servers, it's contacting customers and trying to steal their accounts, it's hacking memory, it's exploiting weaknesses in the system. I can't think of any MMO that doesn't have a constant war between their tech people and groups of people that are trying to exploit the game. The funny thing is that most of the people trying to exploit the game aren't doing it for any other reason than it's a challenge for them to do so. Without giving away too much, we have to be clever in a way that corresponds to the style of game we have, expecting of course that it'll be an on-going scenario. Maybe it's too early for you to talk about, but have you decided on a subscription model for Jumpgate? Will it show up on the shelves at Gamestop, or will you use digital delivery or what? It is too early to say, yes. That doesn't pose much hope for this question, but we'll ask anyway. How close are we to the closed beta? Let me put it this way, I want to release a game as soon as I possibly can, which means I want a beta as soon as I possibly can. However, I won't do it until it's necessary. The way I see it, you should go into beta when internally you can't make decisions about where your game is without it. Not just to prove some point. A lot of MMOs go into beta way too early, because they have some schedule that says, 'OK, beta here.' I think what happens when you do that is that, you have these players who are really excited about your game, and we have lots of these kinds of people. And then you release them a pile of crap doesn't work and then they say, 'Hey, why did you give us a pile of crap that barely works?' and they tear you apart. Then you close the beta, go back into development, and work on something else, and maybe it's better, but you've already burned all those people. So yeah, people ask that question all the time, and I think a lot of the time they think I'm being coy or something, but I really don't know. It's not tomorrow! And there's some period of time where I know it's not, but I don't know, because game development is a tricky thing. You don't really know when a game is going to be fun, you don't know what thing is going to make it work, and you also don't really know what major probably could be lurking just around the corner. So to know more than a few weeks or months in advance for something like a beta is just guess-work. You can beta when you're ready or beta before you're ready, but that doesn't change when it's ready. I guess the simplest answer is: as soon as we can.Thanks Hermann, we appreciate it.No problem.
Colorado Springs gets a half dozen new HD stations from Comcast
It's been far too long since the courteous residents of Colorado Springs, CO received a decent helping of HD channels from resident cable carrier Comcast, so we're delighted to announce that six newcomers have waltzed into the EPG just this week. Disney HD (763), ABC Family HD (764), TLC HD (765), Food HD (766), HGTV HD (767) and Science HD (768) have just recently gone live, but we're left to wonder whether those incoming Longmont stations will filter their way south. Here's to hoping that eventually gets answered with a resounding "yes."[Thanks, Peter]
Comcast infrastructure upgrades to over double HD offerings in Longmont, CO
It's tough for Longmont citizens. Sitting just north of Denver and just south of Loveland -- both of which boast upgraded cable systems from Comcast that deliver 29 HD channels -- Longmont's system has yet to be brought up to speed. As it stands, the carrier can only pipe through 14 high-def options, but between now and October, it's dishing out $6 million in upgrades in order to bring Longmont's lineup up to speed. Reportedly, the city will have access to the same number (29, for now) of HD channels as Denver / Loveland, and according to Comcast's northern Colorado general manager, Mike Trueblood, the company "expects to offer more before the end of the year." Now, the wait begins.
Denver gets high-def news from CBS4, six new HD channels from Comcast
The Mile High City isn't about to be shown up by nearby Salt Lake City or faraway Detroit, as it becomes the third city in the past week to flip on an HD news channel. As of now, residents of Denver, Colorado can catch their local news in high-definition on CBS4, and in case that wasn't enough, Comcast users can look forward to six more networks in glorious HD. Yep, subscribers in the area can finally tune into TLC HD (677), Disney HD (679), ABC Family HD (680), Food HD (681), HGTV HD (682) and Science HD (683). Stay classy, Denver -- we'll be seeing you in five months or so.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]Read - CBS4 begins HD newscastsRead - Comcast adds six HD channels in Denver
Shocker: content providers raising rates in 2008
While the actual sets you enjoy high-definition programming on continue to get cheaper and cheaper, the content itself continues to become more costly. In case you couldn't already guess, 2008 will be no different than the years prior, meaning that cable, satellite and fiber subscribers across the country will all likely be seeing rate hikes. According to a recent article in the Denver Post, Comcast users in Colorado will see a rise of about four-percent in their bills, and company spokeswoman Cindy Parsons stated that the hike reflects "...increasing choices in HD viewing options and a $150 million investment in Comcast's Colorado network." Of course, these poor souls aren't alone -- DirecTV is said to be pumping up bills by around four-percent as well, and we've all ideas most other carriers will be jumping at the chance to hop on this bandwagon. Nevertheless, it's worth keeping an eye on your cable bill over the next few months, and it certainly wouldn't hurt to bark in someone's ear if you can't figure out exactly what you're paying extra for.[Image courtesy of Flickr]
Hands-on with Garmin's latest GPS lineup
Garmin really didn't hold back on the releases this year, what with the new nüvi navigators, Forerunner 405 watch and Colorado handheld. We got a chance to handle a few of these, and we must saw we're pretty impressed by the thin form factors and sharp touchscreens. The new MSN Direct features probably won't revolutionize your GPS experience, and features like news snippets seem downright gimmicky when faced with the full-on internet access most of us currently enjoy on our phones, but plenty of folks will still find use for the gas price tracker, live traffic updates and movie times, and the interface really couldn't be simpler.%Gallery-12683%
Yup, here's Garmin's CES lineup
Whoa, Nelly! Garmin just did the deed and loosed a swarm of details on its jam-packed CES 2008 lineup, and sure enough, there aren't too many surprises. We'll let the new nüvi lineup get us started. First up, we figured you Americans should know that the previously Euro-only pink nüvi 200 is headed your way in Q1 for $249.99. Next up is the currently unpriced nüvi 260W, which looks to boast the exact same features as the nüvi 260 save for that luscious 4.3-inch touchscreen that this one is rockin'. Right on cue, it's the nüvi 5000 ($799.99), which you can catch more on -- along with the now official nüvi 780 / 880 (pictured above) -- right over here. Hungry for more? Head on past the break. %Gallery-12588%
Garmin's Colorado line inches closer to official
Just a day after uncovering what appears to be Garmin's CES 2008 lineup, we've now got reason to believe that the Colorado series is all but official. After first seeing the unit rumored last month, quickly "confirmed" and clarified yet again within the past 24 hours, we're now hearing that the series will boast four different models and will undoubtedly cater to the outdoorsy set. Reportedly, the Colorado will be offered up in four flavors: the 300, 400t, 400i and 400c. The whole lot will tout the firm's new "Rock 'n Roller" input wheel, an SD expansion slot, wireless sharing of waypoints, routes and geocaches, a 400 x 240 resolution display and a battery life of around 15 hours. Word on the street has 'em landing this month and next, and while the 300 is set to launch at $499.99, each of the 400 variants will demand $599.99. Hit the read link for the full spill, and be on the lookout for Garmin to fess up soon enough.
Is this Garmin's CES 2008 lineup?
We'd recommend taking all this with a grain of salt for now, but we're starting to hear rumors that Garmin will be loosing a slew of new navigators at CES. Up first is four new Colorado models, which will likely look a whole lot like these. Moving onward, we're told to expect a widescreen version of the nüvi 260 along with the nüvi 780 (essentially a revamped nüvi 760 with MSN Direct 2). Last but certainly not least, we've received a laundry list of specifications for a nüvi 860, 880 (both of which boast "voice recognition," supposedly pictured above) and 5000, the latter of which will purportedly boast a 5.2-inch 800 x 480 resolution screen and no battery, suggesting that it'll likely remain seated within your vehicle. For even more specs and an alleged shot of the 5000, be sure to take a look beyond the break.
Landmark Theatre brings the 4K love to Denver, Colorado
We've already seen 4K projectors head to a number of large US cities, but now said technology is coming to the Mile High city. Reportedly, a new Landmark Theater in Greenwood Village will boast six-screens (one of which utilizes a 4K projector), stadium seats upholstered in leatherette and the ability to pay more for VIP love seat-sized couches and food delivery. If you couldn't guess, Landmark Theaters is hoping to attract the upscale movie viewer, but ticket prices are said to be between $9 and $12 including free popcorn / sodas, which doesn't sound too bad compared to some alternatives.
Mortal Kombat blamed in death of 7-year old
Two teens, 17-year Leonard Roberts and 16-year old Maria Trujillo, have been charged in the death of the girl's 7-year old sister. According to various sources, they were either playing Mortal Kombat at the time or simply re-enacting moves from the game. If it's the latter, the identity of whoever linked Mortal Kombat to the death -- either the accused themselves or some outside observer -- is never made clear. An actual link to the game is even more ambiguous. According to NEWS.com.au, Trujillo alleged she was "playing 'Mortal Combat'" with her sister, and it's unclear if that's a misspelling or the sisters' name for their general roughhousing. The same report also mentioned that Roberts was downstairs playing video games while the incident occurred upstairs, according to an affidavit.Another article by the Denver Channel said they "were wrestling as they always do, karate kicking, punching and kicking," implying that the behavior is perpetual and perhaps not related to the game. Of course, labeling it the "Mortal Kombat" death makes for an admittedly catchy headline. (An article from the Rocky Mountain News abstained from mentioning the game in its headline, although a broken link on their Most Viewed sidebar indicates they may have once named it "'Mortal Kombat' tragedy.")What's disturbing for us is that, while an unverified link to video games makes it into the headline, noting that Roberts was drunk at the time gets lost in either the middle or very end of the articles we read. Shouldn't we be worried about an intoxicated 17-year old just as much as we are his gaming habits? (For international readers, the legal drinking age in the US is 21.) Sure, underage drinking and stupidity is not as new of a hot-button issue as video games, but shouldn't we try to present all the pertinent facts with appropriate prominence? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in.]Read - Teen accused in child's 'Mortal Kombat' death (Denver Channel)Read - Teens charged in 'Mortal Kombat' death (AP via Yahoo! News)Read - Teens charged in death of girl, 7 (Rocky Mountain News)Read - Game blamed for death (NEWS.com.au)
Colorado voting machines don't make the grade
In a terrifically unsurprising blow to electronic voting fans everywhere, Colorado's Secretary of State has declared the machines unreliable -- and apparently in need of a software patch. While not as harsh as some rulings on the systems, Secretary Mike Coffman decertified three out of four machines which had been tested. Why the bad grade? Apparently the machines failed on accuracy and security, two sort-of-crucial components to dependable voting solutions, and two components which have been lacking in many systems. Coffman believes Colorado's findings could have a larger impact, stating, "What we have found is that the federal certification process is inadequate." Clearly another blow for the Diebolds (er, we mean Premier Election Solutions) of the world, but hopefully a sign that we can expect tough love for suspect voting machines.
Garmin Colorado 300 GPS on the horizon?
We'll start by recommending a little dose of salt before taking this one in, but nevertheless, an interesting photo coupled with a "prototype hands-on report" has got us wondering if Garmin doesn't have a new GPS unit somewhere close to release. Apparently, the device you see above (labeled Colorado 300) relies primarily on the circular scroll wheel for navigating menus, and if we had to guess, it'll likely be marketed towards marine / outdoors customers. Aside from that, all we're told is that it should land sometime this Spring for around $500, but we're not holding our collective breath just yet.[Via GPS Tracklog, thanks Rich]
Comcast hands out six more HD channels in Colorado Springs
As Comcast continues to rollout more digital / HD channels around the nation, Colorado Springs has become the latest city to be blessed with an increase in HD options. Reportedly, the operator has launched six HD channels in its Colorado Springs market -- Cinemax HD, Versus / Golf Channel HD, Universal-HD, MHD, National Geographic HD and A&E HD -- bringing the area's total to 19. Best of all, the half dozen new choices come at an oh-so-bearable cost of nada if you're already a digital cable subscriber with an HD-enabled set-top-box.
Apple Store openings: Your reports
Two new Apple Stores opened this weekend, one in Florida and one in Colorado. As usual, we want any TUAW operatives in the area to send us their stories and pictures. So, how is it going? Did you get out to the store? Let us know!
Colorado researchers edging closer to tabletop X-rays
Although improvements on the typical X-ray are being made quite frequently of late, a team of researchers at the University of Colorado at Boulder is hoping to make a huge leap forward in the way we're forced to handle these traditionally burdensome machines. In an effort to reduce the size required to install and utilize your average X-ray machine, the crew has purportedly developed a new technique to "generate laser-like X-ray beams" that avoid the existing need for such a "monstrous power source." The end goal is, of course, a tabletop device that can handle uber-high resolution imaging at a fraction of the cost and size of current units. It all starts by using "a powerful laser to pluck an electron from an atom of argon and then slam it back into the same atom," which then bypasses the typical problem of X-ray waves "not marching in step" by sending "weak pulses of visible laser light into the gas in the opposite direction of the laser beam generating the X-rays." The feeble beam reportedly "manipulates the electrons plucked from the argon atoms" in order to perfectly intensify the strength of the process by "over a hundred times." Essentially, the researchers have devised a more controlled way to perfect the timing of X-ray blasts, and are utilizing light to focus the process rather than using gobs of energy as it hopes enough undirected beams strike the intended area. Per usual, we've no idea just how close this idea is to becoming ready for the commercial world, but considering all the competition that's currently out there, we don't envision these Buffs wasting any precious time.
Comcast to trial simultaneous release of DVD and films on demand
Hot the heels of Comcast's testing of TiVo comes an announcement sure to please couch-dwellers everywhere, as the firm unveils plans to release films on demand the very same day they're released on DVD. While it's no surprise to see Comcast digging deeper into the VOD closet, this plan (initially hitting Pittsburgh and Denver) hopes to seize a potential opportunity that's currently being wasted as movies hit the on-demand scenes approximately "30 to 45 days" after rolling out on DVD. Moreover, it seems that movie studios are more than willing to lend their support, as sagging DVD sales are reportedly being (at least somewhat) attributed to the skyrocketing popularity in not moving a single inch utilizing VOD. Of course, this newfangled approach could potentially hurt firms like Blockbuster, but representatives have purportedly said that studios would be "extra cautious" not to cannibalize sales in the rental and retail industries. It wouldn't be too shocking to see VOD purchases head north if flicks are released soon after their departure from theaters, but we're sure the DVD aficionados will keep piling up those collections no matter what.[Via Digg]
New vortex generators could mean better underwater travel
Scientists from the University of Colorado, Boulder have just presented a new design for "vortex generators" that they say can make it easier to maneuver slow-moving underwater vehicles. This new setup, which is inspired by the motions of squid and jellyfish, would make long and sleek submarine vessels able to hover and turn better, which traditionally have been somewhat tricky. The team, lead by Dr. Kamran Mohseni, apparently was able to design an unmanned underwater vehicle that can parallel park (really), although we're not sure what he's worried about, given that as far as we know, meter-mermaids don't exist.[Via PhysOrg]
Uncle Sam's nefarious plot to pwn your garage door
Republican / Democrat, Christian / Muslim, Team Kristin / Team LC -- despite our many differences, if there's one issue that all Americans can agree on, it's that law-abiding, tax-paying citizens should have unalienable sovereignty over their automatic garage doors. So you can imagine the uproar occurring right now in Colorado Springs, Colorado, ever since the nearby Cheyenne Mountain Air Station (headquarters of the North American Aerospace Defense Command) began testing an emergency radio frequency that has the unintended consequence of pwning numerous garage doors within a 10-mile radius. It would be one thing if the doors just randomly opened and closed on occasion -- smashing a few windshields and delivering a few good laughs -- but apparently the Air Force signal completely flummoxes the garages' RF receivers, often resulting in a pricey house call or an even pricier replacement unit. According to David McGuire, owner of the suddenly-profitable Overhead Door Co, it may be possible to slightly tweak the transmission frequency and put an end to this madness -- an option that Captain Tracy Giles and team are reportedly looking into. While it may be somewhat of an overstatement to call this the most pressing issue that the country has ever faced, if we don't come together as a nation and nip this outrage in the bud, what's stopping Big Brother from waltzing in and breaking our home surveillance cams, car door locks, or -- gasp -- even our remote-controlled projection screens.[Via The Inquirer]
Colorado scientists invent breathable rubber
In the run-up to the Iraq war there was a lot of concern that Saddam Hussein might use chemical weapons against our servicemen and women on the battlefield. One of the big problems to keep in mind while combating chemical weapons is that there aren't really any good options for what to wear (a bigger concern than you might think). One option is to don a butyl rubber suit, which keeps nearly everything bad out, but keeps the soldier's sweat in. Unfortunately, trapping heat has some nasty consequences, which can lead to heat stroke or in the worst scenario, death. Scientists at the University of Colorado have just devised a solution to make butyl rubber breathable by combining it with liquid crystals to create 1.2 nanometer-wide pores, which allow sweat to go out, but prevent larger, nastier stuff from getting in. The researchers also add that there may be a way to use this same technology to get that pesky NaCl out of salt water. From the little that we know about textiles science, this sounds like a beefed up version of Gore-Tex -- that reminds us, we'd like our breathable rubber suits in black, please (it'll go with the most of our gadgets that way).[Via Scientific American]
