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Allods Online introduces developer diary
It's been about a month since we heard anything from Allods Online, and even longer since we heard anything that didn't include the words "cash" and "shop."That's been remedied thanks to the addition of a brand new developer diary, and the first entry was posted late last night. Associate Producer Darren "CHOMP" Allarde kicked off the diary with "What does the Allods Team do," a look at the day-to-day routine of the team and their communication with players. Additionally, there's a clear explanation of exactly who Gala-Net is and what they do, versus who Astrum Nival is and what they do: "We don't fix bugs, we report them. We don't program and work on new in-game features, we hear what you have to say, tally it up, and communicate to Astrum Nival the feedback that makes sense for the game in our region." The developer diary is off to a good start, giving some important background information about who does what. For the full entry, take a look at the official site.
Newest SWTOR dev diary talks about designing MMOs
MMOs are an incredibly diverse form of entertainment, with something out there to suit nearly every gamer's tastes. From the business model to the genre to the style of gameplay, players are able to pick and choose their preferences from an ever-increasing library of titles. One choice is that of a game versus that of a world. "Sandbox" is a term we see popping up more frequently the past few years as more developers move away from the quest-and-storyline driven style of game. Some players just prefer to explore the world on their own terms, rather than follow a set series of quests and such. So developers need to choose which sort of game to design -- one or the other, right? Not necessarily, according to some of the minds behind Star Wars: The Old Republic. Principal Lead Systems Designer Damion Schubert thinks it's possible to have the best of both worlds in one game, and this new developer diary talks about how Star Wars: The Old Republic is attempting to find that middle ground. "I've long advocated that moderation is the way to go, and I believe on The Old Republic we are successfully travelling a middle path, a centrist path that takes the strengths of both: provide a directed and balanced game experience inside a lush, free-form Star Wars world." Can BioWare find that middle ground and keep both the sandbox fans and the quest fans happy? We can't wait to find out. For now, take a look at the full developer diary to read the rest of Schubert's thoughts on the matter.
Mafia 2 dev diary introduces us to Vito's mother
She may only play a cursory role in the first Mafia 2 developer diary from 2K Czech but main character Vito Scaletta's mother really stood out to us when we watched the video you see embedded above. She's certainly not lacking in the character department, with "character" being one of the two themes the clip focuses on, and "story" making up the other half -- even though she's only allowed a few short lines in welcoming "her boy" back home. We're hoping, however, for some good old-fashioned early 20th century maternal scolding as Vito dives deeper and deeper into the criminal underworld of 1940s slash '50s America. He's just doing what he's gotta do to get by, Ma! %Gallery-6189%
Alpha Protocol has gadgets and gizmos aplenty, whozits and whatzits galore
Alpha Protocol is showing off the "toys" in this latest trailer for the espionage RPG. Some of the footage features gadgets used to accomplish missions stealthily, but mostly it features guns and ammunition -- like phosphorus shells to set enemies aflame. Aside from the toys, the footage also gives us a better idea of what the gameplay looks like. Alpha Protocol is currently expected June 1 in the US, while Australia and Europe receive the package drop a week earlier. %Gallery-86521%
Development diary explains the Warhammer Online changes
The rebalancing of Warhammer Online's Scenarios has been an arduous process for both the players afraid of losing well-loved content and developers trying to narrow down the field to help everything achieve critical mass. After a fair dose of testing and evaluation, they've reached a point where they're comfortable letting development manager Mike Wyatt write up a development diary giving a clearer picture of what informed the rather sweeping changes to the game's structure. As Wyatt puts it, first of all, trimming the number of Scenarios consolidates the best-liked encounters and weeds out the less-popular versions. Second, a smaller number of Scenarios allows better balancing and tweaking of each, helping improve the overall experience. Lastly, the smaller number can have their rewards more easily brought in line, to avoid making one Scenario much more profitable than others. What follows is a listing of the Scenarios that will rotate in and out versus those that are constantly available, which seems a bit smaller than the last one we received. The diary makes no mention of population concerns, content loss, or the general community reaction (ranging from "meh" to "no"). Still, with an ambitious change we can only hope that Warhammer Online's revisions prove to be a good thing for the game as a whole.
Be crafty with ease in Lord of the Rings Online Volume III
Crafting, for many people, has a bit of a love-hate relationship going on. Nobody can complain about the bonuses it offers in the long run, but actually getting to high levels is an exercise in tedium and worthlessness for many. Which is why it's always a good thing when crafting gets a boost, as is happening in the upcoming Oath of the Rangers update for Lord of the Rings Online. The game has been putting out several developer diaries outlining the changes coming for the next installment, and the most recent diary deals with updates to the Jeweller, Cooks, Farmers, Woodworkers, and Weaponsmiths. Jewellery gets a fair all-around boost, with improved stats on crafted items, new icons, and the option to queue up multiple items for production. Cooks get their ingredients rebalanced and bigger buffs offered from their food, while new Trail Food recipies help provide a new set of desirable buffs. Farmers can also enjoy new recipes to provide ingredients for Cooks, and Woodworkers and Weaponsmiths alike get new class-specific items. The details of the changes can be found in the full diary, something most Lord of the Rings Online players might not consider especially crafty but still clever.
Mythos releases first developer diary: Getting Started In Uld
Remember Mythos? The game has been largely under the radar, but still progressing. Since being picked up by Redbana, Mythos has seen a newly-revamped website with a lot of new information and has begun taking signups for closed beta. Even more recently, the folks at Redbana spent some time with us, discussing Mythos' development. New information continues to emerge regularly, and now we have a brand new developer diary added to the mix. Dev Diary 001, hosted at Warcry, is entitled Getting Started in Uld, and is pretty much what you'd expect: a guide to your first visit in the land of Uld. Dev Diary 001 will give you an overview of your first mission in the game as well as some tips on traveling, crafting, and personal achievements in-game. It's a great peek inside the game, and offers a feel for how the basics will work. Take a look at the diary here, and we'll keep our eyes peeled for more!
Warhammer Online explains upcoming RvR weapons
It's always been a bit hard on Warhammer Online that up until now, RvR never netted you a viable weapon as a reward. There were reasons given, of course, but in order to get a decent weapon you had to take part in different activities. For a game where on of the major draws is PvP, it seems like a rather egregious oversight. Clearly, the developers ultimately agreed, hence the new Scenario rewards including RvR weapons in the upcoming patch 1.3.4. Item developer Sean Bosshardt put together a new developer diary to help explain the purchasing system, the philosophies in operation, and how the team dealt with balance concerns. The currency is balanced between Emblems and Insignias. Emblems are awarded for taking part in a scenario all along the leveling road; Insignias, on the other hand, are for the endgame and are restricted to players who have reached rank 40. They are also acquired from scenarios, as well as taking or defending a keep and the initial city public quest after attacking. The system will also apparently "unlock" higher levels of weaponry as the player purchases lower ranks, thus keeping a steady flow without skipping ahead. Warhammer Online players would do well to take a look at the full diary for more details, and get ready to start getting your due rewards for crushing skulls.
Lord of the Rings Online talks about skill upgrades for Volume III
With some major combat upgrades going hand-in-hand with the last major expansion, Lord of the Rings Online drew a few raised eyebrows over the lack of major skill updates at launch. However, as the official site's most recent developer diary explains, it wasn't for lack of interest so much as wanting to see how the new combat system played out before making changes. With the upcoming Oath of the Rangers, the systems team has been hard at work adding level 64 upgrades to help each class play better and more enjoyably in all areas of the game. Outlining a simple design philosophy -- make underused skills interesting, give exciting bonuses, and leave general class balance alone -- the diary goes on to highlight the upgrades offered to each class. Champions, Guardians, and Captains get improved buffs for themselves, Burglars and Hunters see their Power concerns addressed, and other classes got underused skills happily improved to bring them better to the forefront of play. Lord of the Rings Online has always had a respectable diversity among its classes, and the coming update seems poised to improve the game as a whole by making everyone just a little stronger.
Fallen Earth's developers talk patch 1.3
Patch day is an exciting time to be playing an MMO, assuming you can look past the various instabilities, server crashes, and inevitable bugs that come with a major update. Even then, there's still the sense of doing something new and different in a familiar game, however touch-and-go the new content might be. Fallen Earth is not too far from their next major patch day, but if you can't wait for the patch to go live, there's a new developer diary and Q&A from Dev Team Lead Marie Croall and Live Team Lead Ian Lemke. The patch's major focus was a thorough revamp of the area around the starter towns, and between those towns and the central cities. It might seem odd to add such a large patch to improve the first few levels of the game, but from the developer's point of view, it's those levels that really first get a player hooked on the game, so they wanted to make it as memorable as possible. There's also some information on Deadfall Point, a new encounter area in Sector Three, offering the higher-level players something new to experience. Be sure to take a look at both features to get a picture of what's coming in the near future for your clone in Fallen Earth.
Turbine offers up a dev diary and screens for Oath of the Rangers
We got the first details on the upcoming Lord of the Rings Online book, titled Oath of the Rangers, earlier this week. Now, to add to the excitement, Turbine has followed up on the initial information by releasing a handful of screens and an excellent developer's diary. Flowing mightily from the keyboard of Jeff 'MadeOfLions' Libby, the diary gives Lord of the Rings Online fans much to discuss. Aside from the talk of storylines and a new skirmish, there's a really great behind-the-scenes portion about how precisely the LotRO team sets up something called "drama sequences." Essentially, these scripted sequences tailor NPC dialogue to you based on your own personal quest history -- bringing you info the story. There's also some information on ways the team is seeking to make travel a bit easier for the casual players, or more rewarding for those who take the long path. If Middle-earth is the place you call home, then you'll definitely want to check out the new screens we've gathered up for you as well as the enlightening developer diary over on the LotRO site. %Gallery-84675%
Latest Skate 3 dev diary shreds the industrial park, quarry
The second in an ongoing series of Skate 3 developer diaries where dudes sit around on a couch like a bunch of Chatty Cathys, this latest episode features one of the most ambitious locales to make its way into a Skate game: a quarry. Looking more like a multiplayer map from Modern Warfare 2 than a sweet spot to bust some darkslides, we're anxious to see if the execution will be up to snuff. If so, it'll be among the most unique and diverse spots the series has to offer. Aside from the quarry, the video above also provides a brief look at an industrial district, a new spillway and a new area dubbed 3rd & Army 1st & Air Force 2nd & Navy.
Global Agenda video diary details AvA battles
Hi-Rez Studios released a new Global Agenda video developer diary today, and Senior Game Designer Scott Zier promises that it's the first in a series all about Conquest. This first video serves as an introduction to the concept of Conquest and Agency vs. Agency battles. Zier narrates the video, giving an overview of how things work all the way from the basics of zone open hours to simple battle strategy. He continues by giving a play-by-play of sorts of a battle between two neighboring Agencies in order to demonstrate how it all comes together. While the series will presumably become more detailed and cover specific topics as things progress, this serves as a great first look at how Conquest works in the world of Global Agenda. We've included the video after the cut, so follow along and take a look for yourself. Thanks to Scott and the rest of the Global Agenda team, and we look forward to the next one!
Star Wars: The Old Republic releases more intel on the Imperial Agent
One of the frequently-voiced concerns about Star Wars: The Old Republic is the possibility that the non-Force classes will wind up becoming almost irrelevant. Who's going to pay attention to being a spy when you can wield an energy sword and fling lightning, right? As a matter of fact, the Imperial Agent would like very much if no one ever notices they exist. They're quite happy to stand in the background and never be observed, because as the latest developer's entry explains, that's precisely what the Agent does best. They exist in the shadow, the man of many faces and a hundred names, a presence whose influence is strongest when it isn't evident at all. Star Wars: The Old Republic faces the difficult task of making the Sith -- traditionally the villains of the franchise -- into a playable and likable faction rather than monolithic evil. As the developer entry points out, the Imperial Agent is a major part of that, of giving the chance to look at someone who is quite possibly a proud citizen of the Empire and happy to serve in keeping the peace and bring down the Republic. It's also a look at the parts between the lines of the films, the spies and intel operators whose role was important but whose faces were rarely seen. But you might decide not to look at the full discussion of the class anyway -- and as we've mentioned, really, that's what the agent would want.
Atlantica Online dev diary: Visiting Santa's Villa
It's time for this newest installment of NDoors Interactive's bi-weekly developer journal for Atlantica Online here at Massively. We've covered so much already, but now we're treated to some detailed info on their winter holiday event. Here's what they had to say: This Christmas season we are proud to bring back Santa's Villa to our players. During this holiday season, players who are over level 20 and have been playing for at least an hour will receive Mistletoe. This item, when exchanged for a Santa Villa Ticket, will give players access to all the treasures that lay inside.
Warhammer Online explains the nuances of the Underdog System
One of the biggest problems you face when designing any PvP-focused game is the trouble of slippery slope -- in brief, the problem that losing makes it easier for you to continue losing and even harder to start winning. A game like Warhammer Online that's sold on the strength of fighting other players needs to be especially vigilant, hence the Underdog System rolled out with the game's most recent patch. It promises to make it easier for the losing side to regain their footing -- but that leads to the obvious question of how it will implement the change. A new developer diary on the official site explains the system in slightly more detail, helping to shed light on the method and implementation. Rather than being a straight buff to the players on one side or the other, the system revolves around making the overall objectives easier or harder based on win streaks. The underdog will have more time to capture objectives and fewer control points required to obtain victory, while the top dog will have less time to capture, more control points to capture, and a shorter duration of control. The diary also gives some example of the system in action, something that should be all but required reading for every Warhammer Online player. The system won't fix everything, but it certainly will make the game's PvP more lively and less prone to one side or the other having a consistent edge.
Borg, DS9 and more in this STO dev diary plus trailer double punch
Today we've got a double treat for Star Trek Online fans, as Cryptic has released both a new trailer (with a quick but awesome shot of Deep Space Nine!) and a developer diary that discusses some very cool stuff about the newly evolved Borg featured in the game. Yes, we said "new" Borg -- as in species and assimilation methods never before seen in the Trek universe. You can find the diary as well as the video after the break. Enjoy!
Newest LotRO developer diary looks at crafting in Siege of Mirkwood
The launch of Siege of Mirkwood today brings about quite a few changes, and the Lord of the Rings Online developer diary have been covering some of them pretty extensively. The most recent diary covered crafting and how it will be improved and expanded in SoM. The entry begins on a promising note: "Being an ally has its advantages! New recipes for weapons, armor, jewellery, and other items can be found amongst the elves of Emyn Lum in Mirkwood," and goes on to detail the many changes. The overall crafting experience was given an overhaul, and the diary included a handy tour of the new crafting panel to help you find your way around. Legendary and class item recipes have been added, as well as recipes for a new "crafted relic", an item designed to fit in a fourth relic slot for equipment, and all crafting professions will see changes in recipes and experience. Crafting guilds will find that they can now give unused guild reputation items to traders in exchange for larger reputation items. It looks like crafting is going to be much more interesting to both new and old players -- you can read all the details here.
Lord of the Rings Online developer diary revisits the Lone-lands
The latest developer diary entry is from Lord of the Rings Online Senior Designer Allan "Orion" Maki, and takes us back to a very familiar area: The Lone-lands. While the region seems like a low-level walk in the park to the majority of players these days, Maki had always felt that there was a bit of a "disconnect" and that players were being sent to an area far above their level. The Lone-lands have been given what he describes as a "massive overhaul", bringing them more in line with low and mid level players abilities. Players will find changes such as a solo version of Weather Top, a new horse travel mount to make the initial trip to the Forsaken Inn less dangerous, and some new faction and quest systems. Those, however, are just the beginning. With Siege of Mirkwood only days away, players eager to explore the expansion will find their path in the earlier areas considerably smoother. The full entry is worth looking at, as it contains four pages of great information on the overhaul -- it's a valuable resource for anyone still hanging out around Ost Guruth.
Siege of Mirkwood developer diary: character panel updates
The Lord of the Rings Online expansion Siege of Mirkwood is expected to bring about some big changes to go with all of the screenshots and video that we've been seeing, and the latest developer diary entries have been giving us lots of details to read over while we wait for launch. One of the more recent ones discussed some significant combat changes, and the latest entry covers a bit more in that vein, as well as some updates to your character panel. It's not just a cosmetic makeover, either -- gameplay has gotten a lot of work from the Mirkwood team. Three new Critical Defence statistics are added, Vulnerability has been revamped, and the differences between incoming and outgoing healing got some work too. Healing Rank and Tactical rank statistics are new as well, allowing players to increase their effectiveness by spending points. The new character panels will reflect all of these changes and you can take a look at the diary entry for a full description as well as some screenshots detailing how it works.
