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Pathfinder Online shows off its map
Lead Game Designer Lee Hammock is your host and guide to a tour through Pathfinder Online's detailed maps. Pathfinder's maps look a little different than a typical MMO map, offering more of a malleable report on shifting allegiances and events in a hex layout. The main map is color-coded to show terrain type, with symbols and lines representing cities, trade routes, player towns, security levels, and points of interest. Knowing which resources come from which terrain type will be crucial to building up player settlements. Hammock and his beige shirt of stunning good looks star in a nine-minute developer video that you can watch after the break.
Pathfinder Online's devs on dynamic escalations and new races
In the latest installment of the Pathfinder Online video blog, Goblinworks PvE designer Bob Settles joins lead designer Lee Hammock to discuss escalations and alternate races. Races are the simpler topic; Hammock explains that the team does plan to expand the available races significantly, noting that races that are flavors of other races are much easier to implement because of shared models. And what about escalations? "Escalation" is the team's fancy term for one of the game's many dynamic, hex-shaped zones that are reserved for monster spawns and can over time, well, escalate and expand to neighboring hexes, ramping up in scale and difficulty with elite bosses. Multiple escalation themes are discussed in the video, including escalations that allow participants to do something other than beat mobs into submission. Enjoy the video below.
Pathfinder Online opens new storefront, posts first video dev blog
The Goblinworks team has this evening posted several bits of news about its forthcoming sandbox, Pathfinder Online. The studio has revamped its website and opened a new store it's calling the Goblin Squad Store, a "portal for merchandise that is currently only available to Goblin Squad members." The store appears to be a way for would-be backers to toss some (or more) cash at the developers even though the Kickstarter has ended. In return, gamers can select from a lengthy list of add-ons both physical and digital, including tabletop miniatures, forum titles, gametime, and even a swanky messenger bag. If you're keen more on learning about the game than on funding it, the team's new video blog might be of more interest. The first of planned biweekly episodes went live tonight and features Goblinworks' Lee Hammock and Stephen Cheney explaining how slots and divine powers work in the game. We've embedded the vid behind the cut.
Pathfinder's latest dev blog outlines reputation, alignment
If you missed this week's Pathfinder dev blog, well, go read it! It features an update/intro penned by GoblinWorks CEO Ryan Dancey, while the meat and potatoes concerning the fantasy sandbox's alignment and reputation systems are brought to you by designer Lee Hammock. "Reputation is our system for measuring how a player behaves in game," Hammock writes. "We want to provide a means by which a player can judge the aggressiveness of other players at a glance." Pathfinder's rep "has no bearing on your interactions with NPCs, quests, escalation cycles, or other PvE content." Alignment features two components. One, the player's core alignment, is chosen at creation and "is the intended alignment of the character." Active alignment, on the other hand, "begins at core alignment values but changes based on player action." Specific examples and much more detail are available via the links below. [Thanks Chrysillis!]
Pathfinder Online dev blog explains territory and the hex map
You wouldn't normally think that something like hex size would be such a big deal in a video game, but Pathfinder Online's Lee Hammock explains in today's most recent blog post that it can make a huge difference. First off, the type of hex matters. Whether it's a settlement hex, a wilderness hex, a monster hex, or an NPC hex, each version determines control capabilities, building laws, resources, and so on. This basically means that no two settlements will be alike. If you'd like to read up on how much territory and the hex map actually matters in Pathfinder Online, head on over to the dev blog to read more. [Thanks matixzun for the tip!]
Pathfinder's Hammock talks PvP behavioral incentives
Curious about how PvP is going to work in Pathfinder Online? You're not alone, as it's something of a hot topic in the game's community according to the latest Goblinworks blog post. Lead designer Lee Hammock walks us through the team's current thought process which includes player identification through alignment, nods to the Pathfinder pen-and-paper roleplaying game, and behavioral incentives. It's this last bit that's most informative in terms of sussing out what sort of game Pathfinder Online wants to be. Hammock lists large PvP wars, attacker flags, and discouraging mechanics like bounties, death curses, and reputation loss as desirable behaviors.
Pathfinder Online addresses the Escalation mechanic
We know that many of you are passionate about Pathfinder Online and its current Kickstarter campaign, so today we're happy to point you towards a new developer video and links to a series of dev blogs that tell more about the game's creative process. Lead designer Lee Hammock and game designer Stephen Cheney address the topic of Escalations in this latest video, explaining that each area of the map will have creatures that need to be dealt with or their power will escalate over time. These unchecked monsters will eventually burden the zone's resources and make it more difficult for a settlement to thrive in that area. But if the threat is dealt with completely, you will earn bonuses for your settlement. Be sure to watch the entire video after the cut for more on Escalation cycles and how they work. [Source: Pathfinder Online Kickstarter update email]
An interview with Pathfinder Online's Ryan Scott Dancey
Pathfinder Online is an ambitious new sandbox MMO that is making quite a stir lately. The development team at Goblinworks began its spotlight rampage with an initial Kickstarter project raising money for a tech demo and is currently running a new Kickstarter project to raise enough money to make the game bigger and better with a faster release date. Of course, it helps that the Pathfinder IP has enjoyed wild success through its Pathfinder RPG, but a massively multiplayer online version is an interesting concept. Add to that the fact that Goblinworks is made up of a few industry vets like Ryan Scott Dancey, Mark Kalmes, and Lee Hammock, and you've got yourself a winner. We sat down with Goblinworks CEO Ryan Scott Dancey to discuss the project, the game, the IP, and more. [Update: Clarified that the second Kickstarter project isn't to complete the game. Wowza, people.]
Farscape MMO plans from shuttered studio go public [Updated]
So, Farscape fans, what would you say to an MMO based on your favorite IP that was designed by former members of Fallen Earth's dev team? If you answered yes please, we've got both good news and bad news. The bad news is that the game is dead in the water. The good news is that former Fallen Earth lead designer Lee Hammock has made a ton of information about the development process available on his blog. In a nutshell, Hammock and other Fallen Earth ex-patriots signed on with a startup company a couple of years ago. Said company claimed to have $150 million in funding, so the devs jumped into pre-production (which included a design document, over 200 pages of content iteration, and meetings with Farscape creator Rockne O'Bannon and Jim Henson Studios). After six months of work, funding dried up and the startup's CEO left the devs empty-handed. Former project lead Colin Dwan told us that the motivation behind releasing this information now is twofold. "We want people to see some of what goes into writing a design doc for a multi-million dollar MMO. We want to share the passion we had for a universe that was cut short without having a chance to see the light of day," he said. Head to Hammock's blog to see some concept art, storyline info, the project mission statement, and more. [Update: Lee Hammock has been asked to take down his blog posts on his work with the Farscape MMO for legal reasons.]
Fallen Earth promotes new leads to fill Hammock's shoes
With the recent departure of lead designer Lee Hammock, Icarus Studios' Fallen Earth was left with some big shoes to fill. The company announced yesterday that four veterans of the post-apocalyptic MMORPG have been promoted. Wes Platt steps into the Director of Content Development role, Marie Croall takes over as Senior Game Designer, Greg Roth is the new Senior Systems Designer, and Josh Peery steps to the plate as the Content Team Lead. Icarus also wants Fallen Earth players to interact with the developers, and will be highlighting questions and answers on the forums beginning on Monday April 26. Finally, both Wes and Marie will be featured on the team's Twitter dev chat next Thursday, April 29. Check out @FallenEarth for the details.
Lead Game Designer Lee Hammock leaving Fallen Earth
Fans of Fallen Earth found a startling announcement on the game's site this afternoon, revealing the news that Lead Game Designer Lee Hammock will be leaving the Fallen Earth team: "Though we will miss Lee, this is an exciting opportunity for him to work on a new property that is near and dear to his heart and we are thrilled and blessed to have worked with him over the past four years in shaping the story of Fallen Earth." The (ex) Beard Man is leaving Icarus to join Gargantuan Studios as their Story Designer, and don't be surprised if the Gargantuan name sounds a bit familiar. They're the ones behind the upcoming Marvel Universe Online MMO, scheduled for release in 2012. (Editor's Note: Gazillion Entertainment's community director, Stephen Reid, would like us to clarify that the Marvel Universe MMO currently has no set release date at this time.) The Fallen Earth team will continue their push toward Sector Four in Lee's absence, and we join everyone at Icarus in wishing him the best in his new venture. You can read the full announcement on the official site.
Wasteland Diaries: Explaining Fallen Earth's patch 1.3
This week's patch 1.3 for Fallen Earth is the first in a long line of projected game-improvement patches slotted for the game's immediate future. I thought this would be a good time to talk a bit more about what is included with this patch to make it less confusing for those who may not want to read 16 pages of release notes. In addition to the site's official info and any press releases we get, I wanted to reach beyond that to a recent interview with Lead Designer Lee Hammock on the LifeNet podcast. Lee talked candidly about the changes that arrived with patch 1.3 on Wednesday, as well as more specifics on what's to come. So I'll dissect that interview for this week's edition of Wasteland Diaries.
Designing the apocalypse: behind the scenes of Fallen Earth
We know that the development teams at our favorite MMOs work hard at game creation, but we're equally aware of how much they love their jobs. It's a dream job, and while development of a new game can be tough and stressful, more often than not it's lots of fun. Have you ever wondered what goes on behind the scenes in the studio? What mishaps do the developers run across during the process, and what great ideas never make it to launch day? We talked to the team at Fallen Earth, and they generously shared some of their greatest bloopers and favorite ideas. Read along after the cut, and enjoy!
Fallen Earth gets extensive graphical update today
If you haven't logged in to Fallen Earth for a few days, that's something you may want to rectify pretty quickly. As you may have heard from Lead Game Designer Lee Hammock on yesterday's Massively Speaking, the newest Fallen Earth patch was pretty huge and there is even more to come. The patch notes were a long list of small fixes and tweaks -- things like "moved a tire that was sticking out of a wall," and changes to recipes, creatures, and mechanics. But these few hundred little changes weren't what made everyone sit up and take notice. The graphics were given a significant overhaul resulting in a completely new look for the game; specifically the terrain and skies. Along with cloud movement, players will notice much more detailed and realistic surroundings both far and near. You can find some great before and after comparisons at Ten Ton Hammer from FE Graphics Programmer Kevin Coyle The full patch notes are worth a read (you'll need to be registered on the forums to view them), but this extensive update isn't the only thing the Fallen Earth developers have up their collective sleeve. If you haven't yet checked out our interview on Massively Speaking, take a listen to see what else is coming up.
Developer round table: MMO betas
Is beta testing something of a mystery to you? Do you wonder about the how and why of a developer's beta process? Well, you're in for a treat! We recently got in touch with several MMO developers to ask them each a series of questions about MMO beta testing. In this feature you'll find opinions from Cryptic Studios, Fallen Earth LLC, Mythic Entertainment, Turbine, Runic Games and Hi-Rez Studios. It's a four-page long read, but we think you'll find lots to enjoy within those pages. For commenting, hit up page four -- we can't wait to read your thoughts!
GameX 2009: Massively talks with Lee Hammock on what's next for Fallen Earth
Content, community, and epic beards ahead fair readers! When lead game designer Lee Hammock walked into the media room at GameX 2009, we immediately tackled him into a chair and demanded he answer our many questions on what's coming up for Fallen Earth. What we got (after he figured out that we wanted to interview him and not kidnap him) were answers on the upcoming "social" patch for Fallen Earth, a look at the brand new crafting skill, construction, and the camps that will be added to the game, what lies beyond Sector 3 (hint: it's Sector 4) and how much the team loves their community. So if you're interested in Fallen Earth, or are looking for a reason to get into the game, look no further than the interview that lies beyond the break! Unfortunately though, we must make a slight correction to what Lee says in the interview. Fallen Earth did send us 2,000 trial keys, but thanks to an overwhelming response, we're out of keys! This makes us sad pandas, but you can still enjoy what Lee has to say about the game, and be amazed by the hypnotic beard.
Fallen Earth's Lee Hammock on integrating story with the post-apocalyptic MMO
A post-apocalyptic setting can open up fantastic opportunities for storytelling. After all, it's the end of society as we know it. All our institutions are gone, our belief systems either torn away or seriously challenged. That resulting vacuum would no doubt be filled by new outlooks on the world and on life triggered by the apocalypse -- in rare cases optimistic, but more often utterly deranged. Then again, some survivors might seek to rectify the mistakes made by too many generations before the burn or plague wiped out humanity, and aim to rebuild a better world. There are so many possibilities, and these are some of the avenues that will be explored in the upcoming post-apocalyptic MMO Fallen Earth. Of course, this presents some real challenges for the game designers as well -- what is the best way to integrate these themes into the gameplay experience?Storytelling in Fallen Earth is the focus of a recent interview with lead designer Lee Hammock, who spoke with The MMO Gamer's Steven Crews about where story and gameplay will meet in the upcoming title.
Fallen Earth MMO tour will bring devs to GDC 09
We've mentioned a rather unique approach that the Fallen Earth team is taking to promote their upcoming post-apocalyptic MMO, a national tour across key cities in the United States. The Fallen Earth publicity tour began in North Carolina last month, meeting with the International Game Developers Association (IGDA), and they've just announced that they'll be working with the IGDA again at this month's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Fallen Earth will co-sponsor the IGDA networking event at GDC on March 24 and developers will be on hand to speak about the game. Key Fallen Earth devs planning to attend include project manager Colin Dwan; associate project manager Dave Haydysch; content team lead Marie Croall; product manager Jessica Orr; and lead game designer Lee Hammock.
Fallen Earth dev chat answers barrage of player questions
We don't know about you, but we can feel the era of post-apocalyptic and sci-fi MMOs fast approaching. Definitely on our 'ones to watch' list is Fallen Earth, currently in development at Fallen Earth LLC (formerly known as Icarus Studios). We mentioned the other day that the Fallen Earth devs would participate in a live Stratics 'House of Commons' dev chat, and among the five Fallen Earth team members on-hand was lead game designer Lee Hammock. The Fallen Earth devs responded to a blitz of questions from the game's future players in the Stratics dev chat, ranging from the benefits of capturing 'conflict towns' in PvP to mounted combat on horses and vehicles. In addition, Lee Hammock stated that game play videos should be released at some point in the next few weeks, and more info about the game will be coming out in tandem with this month's Game Developers Conference.Be sure to check out the Stratics House of Commons chat transcript for more on the kind of game Fallen Earth is shaping up to be.
Fallen Earth lead designer Lee Hammock on game's approach to genre
The post-apocalyptic massively multiplayer online game Fallen Earth has been getting more frequent mentions in the gaming press, earlier this month at Worlds in Motion and now at Italian gaming site Gamesource. Nolvadex from Gamesource recently caught up with Fallen Earth's lead designer Lee Hammock, who shared a bit about the inspiration that Icarus Studios has drawn from post-apocalyptic games and films. Their aim was to incorporate the best of these elements into a game that can stand on its own. In addition to discussing how Fallen Earth will balance content between PvE and PvP, Hammock addresses the competition the title is likely to get from the other post-apocalyptic MMO on the horizon, Earthrise. The two games are differentiated in ways beyond backstory Hammock says, such as Fallen Earth's 'use what works' approach to found objects and combat, specifically using "non-traditional weapons -- a parking meter or a baker's rolling pin for instance -- to provide more innovative combat and the sense of using whatever means necessary to stay alive." See the Gamesource interview with Lee Hammock for more on what Icarus Studios is doing with Fallen Earth.
