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Line of Defense approaches beta test phase
After a few months of silence, Derek Smart is back with a Line of Defense update. He reports that the title is preparing to transition from alpha to beta testing, even with "setbacks" due to switching the game engine. The team transitioned the game from an internal engine to the Havok Vision engine, which oversees the 25 middleware engines that handle aspects like the AI, atmospheric effects, networking, and more. He says that optimizing the game has been "touch and go for the most part," however. Smart predicts that next year should be interesting for Line of Defense. "All things being equal, we should be rolling in awesomeness by Q2 2014," he writes. "Prepare to have your mind blown. Guaranteed."
EVE Evolved: Does EVE Online have the world's largest MMO map?
MMO game worlds seem to be getting larger every year, and the debate over which is biggest frequently appears on forums and blogs. It usually starts with people breaking out infographics comparing the size of the various islands and continents in their favourite fantasy MMOs, and it escalates from there. World of Warcraft's Azeroth turns out to be surprisingly small at an estimated 80 square miles, while World War II Online claims to have the largest MMO game map in the world with over 300,000 square kilometers (115,831 square miles) of playable space modeled as a half scale map of Western Europe. Someone in the discussion will inevitably mention EVE Online, and that's when things get complicated. The New Eden star cluster is lightyears across, and its 7,699 accessible solar systems have earned it a place in the Guinness Book of World Records, but can EVE's map even be compared to accessible landmass in a fantasy MMO? All of the space between stars is currently empty and inaccessible, and players warp between points of interest within a solar system without interacting with any of the space in between. With that and the relative difference in scale between EVE and land-based games, it isn't immediately clear whether EVE Online still has the world's largest playable MMO map. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at how empty space works under the hood in EVE Online and crunch some numbers to find out whether it really does have the biggest playable game world.
The Daily Grind: Which game world do you love the best?
The game world can be a magical, wondrous place, and it can be a mechanical, sterile gaming experience. The difference between the two types is both subtle and clearly apparent for me. I've been in MMOs where the world is just a stage where props have been thrown around to provide a basic, expected setting. I've also been in MMOs where the world honestly comes alive to me through the shared imaginations of myself and the developers. So I have a simple dare when I log into a game: Make me fall in love with your world. Enchant me. Come alive to me. Be more than a winter zone stitched together with a lava zone, and exude a history and continuity that helps me believe that this could be a place where people actually lived. Of all of the game worlds you've experienced, which do you love the best and why? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
LG opening 'Game World' portal for Smart TV
A new games portal is heading to LG's line Cinema 3D Smart TVs. Called Game World, the portal allows users access to a library of paid and free games, "many" of which will be playable in both 2D and 3D. Users can play the games using LG's Magic Remote or third party controllers.LG's announcement doesn't mention any specific games, though a promo image includes the likes of Cut the Rope, Shadowgun and Plants vs. Zombies. These may be wishful thinking, however, as Polygon points out none of these games are currently available on LG's app store (though other titles pictured are).Game World will launch this September.
LG's Game World landing on its own Smart TVs
LG has just announced Game World, a new Smart TV portal that's only available to Cinema 3D Smart TV owners. The service will let users snap up downloadable games in categories such as action, RPG or arcade, then play them in 2D or 3D with the company's Magic Remote or other third-party controller. The service is not to be confused with LG's Gaikai cloud gaming service, and the company said most of the titles will be family-friendly. Mind you, that looks like Shadowgun on the main page above, so there's clearly some grown-up only entertainment, too.
Jumping out an airlock is a legitimate mode of travel in Line of Defense
Contrary to many of Derek Smart's previous expansive computer titles, Line of Defense will be "streamlined" to focus on a small corner of the galaxy. In a new dev blog, Smart outlines the scope of the MMO's territory and how it connects to his previously established game universe. Line of Defense consists of four space regions, each with its own planets and moons. The regions are connected by jump gates in the Sirius/Barnard's Star systems pathway. However, when the game first launches, players will only have access to the planet of Lyrius, with other planets and moons coming afterward. Players can teleport from base to base on planets using Dynamic Jump Pads or can transfer to a station via a carrier. Jumpgates, however, will allow players in vehicles to traverse entire regions. But probably the most interesting mode of transportation is to let loose with an orbital drop from a space station down to the planet surface below. The one thing that Line of Defense won't have, however, is the ability to seamlessly transition between planets, bases, and regions without loading screens.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite game world?
Today we're going to ask you to strip away your normal preconceptions of what makes an engaging MMO, whether it be the combat, the features, the customization, or the IP -- and look at the game world itself without any of those distractions. I guess this goes hand-in-hand with Environment Week that's going on right now in our One Shots column. Out of all of the MMOs I've played, only a small handful have bothered to construct worlds that teemed with personality, history, and unique flavor. When I'm really honest about it, most of these settings are about as generic as can be, hardly indistinguishable from the others. Yet while many games may tack on interesting elements to the flannel board of a boring world, occasionally developers put just as much time and effort creating a place that dares you to explore and get to know it intimately. So today I'd like to know what your favorite game world is -- and why. What makes or made it so special? What about it do you wish other MMOs would emulate? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
DC Universe devs talk trinity, changes to the game world
Thirsting for more information on Sony Online Entertainment's DC Universe Online? Comic Book Resources has your long cool drink of water in the form of a lengthy studio visit recap. Last week, SOE invited a gaggle of game journalists to "DC University" for a tour of the game's development headquarters that included lectures from the likes of game director Chris Cao, creative director Jens Andersen, producer Wes Yanagi, and writer/resident DC legend Marv Wolfman. In between geekgasm-inducing peeks around the studio, the lucky invitees got some hands-on time with the upcoming title as well as the opportunity to ask the developers a few questions. When the discussion turned to combat, it became apparent that DCUO isn't going down the traditional MMO "holy trinity" path with its classes and builds. Cao states that while tank, healer, and DPS parties may be possible, they won't necessarily be the norm since "everybody's a damage dealer." Cao also talked about accessible and inaccessible portions of the game world and whether players would be able to unlock more locations as the title ages. "We've bottled the city, the idea is that somebody's going to have to unbottle it," he said, referring to the storyline angle in which Brainiac cuts off access to Metropolis' Daily Planet. While the devs were noncommittal in terms of specifics, Wes Yanagi commented that permanent changes to the world would likely occur via seasonal events and new players would be able to experience the pre-event world.
Children of the AFS: useless fluff or big opportunity?
The Tabula Rasa crew has posted a new bit of fiction in their new and improved Story section, located under Game Intel on the front page. The story, which is frustratingly brief for the lore fans among us, focuses on one of the more underserved of constituencies within the Tabula Rasa universe -- the children of the AFS. Or perhaps to be more accurate, it focuses on the soldier put in charge of keeping the children of the AFS in line. Again, the story is a little brief, but it touches on another one of the soft spots in Tabula Rasa's increasingly harried armor -- the lack of lore.Amidst the criticisms levied at the game for everything from customization to endgame to PvP balance and so on, is a small group of Tabula Rasa fans that have wondered off-hand on several occasions... where is the lore? When the Bane forced the scraps of humanity through that portal from Earth, surely some civilians, some merchants, some politicians remained? The picture of humanity shown while playing Tabula Rasa is strictly military -- there are no large civilian centers (not counting the Cormans, which, as a curious sort of hippie commune, are a special case) that could flesh out the world painted by Richard Garriott and crew. Perhaps this story about children presents an opportunity?
