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PlanetSide 2 beta coming 'within the next month'
Could it be true? A beta announcement? It could, and it is! That's right PlanetSide 2 fans -- your itchy trigger fingers will finally get some relief sometime "within the next month." Granted it's not an exact date, but the end is finally in sight. Sound too good to be true? Well the news comes straight from the mouth of Executive Producer Josh Hackney in the debut episode of Command Center, Sony Online Entertainment's new developer diary series for the latest and greatest on all things PlanetSide 2. You can hear it for yourself after the cut. As if the promise of the impending beta wasn't enough, the 21 minute video offers more juicy tidbits. Hackney goes on to assure that veteran PlanetSide players will get into to the beta first through high-priority access. Then hosts Matt Higby, Creative Director, and Tramell Isaac, Senior Art Director, talk about upcoming events, the infiltrator class, costumes, and E3. They end the show by displaying fan art.
Embers of Caerus videos cover player stats and dynamic ecology
Indie sandbox MMO Embers of Caerus wrapped up its kickstarter feature week with a pair of developer videos covering player stats and something called "dynamic ecology." That sounds like a 400-level college course if you ask us. Embers of Caerus has 10 player stats that are divided into two categories: physical and mental. These stats aren't just linebackers for your DPS quarterback; they're highly important to the game's many sub-systems. For example, resilience is vital to help fight off infection and parasites. It's interesting to note that while stats increase as players engage in related activities, they will also decrease over time if neglected. The devs say that the dynamic ecology system is "one of the most ambitious sides to the project." Dynamic ecology enables the world to be alive and changing, particularly in respect to creatures. While Ultima Online attempted to do this and failed, the Embers of Caerus team is confident that it can succeed due to lessons learned. There will be few if any static spawns, and each kill will matter a lot more than as in other MMOs. Check out the two lengthy videos after the jump!
Embers of Caerus' naval combat is 'almost a ship simulation'
Embers of Caerus' feature week continues, and the topic du jour is naval systems. Technical director Dave Belcher steps in front of the camera to talk about the indie sandbox MMO's ship implementation, which he describes as "almost a ship simulation." Other MMORPGs feature sailing ships, of course, but Embers of Caerus is aiming for something a bit more ambitious. "You're using the weather, your sails, and your control of the ship to gain best advantage from that weather," Belcher explains. "Weather is persistent throughout the game, and wind plays a huge role for ship captains and naval tacticians." In terms of the ships themselves, Belcher says that the dev team will implement everything from tiny rowboats to frigates and larger galleons. Have a look at the full video after the break, and don't forget about EoC's Kickstarter project, which wraps up in three days. [Thanks to Sam and Dave for the tip!]
Firefall video diary talks open-world design, shows pretty vistas
It's March, which means it's high time for another Firefall video dev diary. Today's installment is all about (open) world-building, and unlike many of its shooter contemporaries, Firefall features a sprawling, accessible open-world map. As world-builders Bobby Ross and Nick Keith explain, the game's jetpacks allow players to traverse vast distances and explore every little nook and cranny to their hearts' content. One example of Firefall's breadth comes courtesy of "Mushroom Island," a huge rock formation that's initially visible on your first drop-ship ride. Ross says that scaling the enormous formation is a reward in and of itself, with a spectacular view of the game's newbie area waiting at the top of the path. Keith goes on to explain how Firefall integrates its PvP maps into the rest of the open-world design, primarily by giving non-combatants the option to stop over and watch arena matches and various conflicts in certain designated cities. Check out this and more via the full video after the break. [Source: Red 5 press release]
Massively Exclusive: Storybricks team talks art, animation, and non-combat design
Namaste Entertainment is working away on Storybricks, and the company has just released a new exclusive video dev diary featuring CEO Rodolfo Rosini, art manager Oliver Bermejo, and a glimpse of the game's art style and animations. Rosini talks at length about the inspiration behind the art; one of the chief influences is a book called The Illusion of Life by early Disney animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. Rosini also name-checks Generation X geek icons like Dragon's Lair and The Secret of Nimh as well as more recent properties like the Fable series, and he says that the Storybricks team aims to convey emotion in a similar manner to these epics. "We want to capture some of the Disney magic without necessarily making a game for kids," Rosini explains. Rosini also talks a bit about the game design philosophy behind Storybricks. In current MMOs, he says, NPCs have two states: They either serve as quest dispensers or as targets. Namaste is aiming for a new type of gameplay that isn't built exclusively around combat. "Don't get me wrong -- murder works fairly well. There are 12 million murderers in World of Warcraft," Rosini says. "I've been one of them for many years, and I think it's a great game. But there has to be something different." Enjoy the full dev diary after the break.
Firefall video diary talks Medics, Assaults, and that dreaded balance word
Mmm, Firefall. Red 5 Studios is starting the Thanksgiving week off right with a delicious helping of video. The entree consists of David Williams talking a bit about class design and the balance challenges inherent in the title's battleframes (for the uninitiated, battleframes are the suits of power armor worn by Firefall's soldiers, and in gameplay terms they determine your class and combat role). When it comes to the dreaded "B" word, Williams uses the game's Medic class as an example, and he says that Red 5 wants combat docs to be able to deal damage and fulfill the primary support role. This poses a problem, of course, because other classes (like the Assault) aren't able to do both. The Medic "needed to be fun, it needed to be threatening, but it also needed to be just below the offensive capabilities of an Assault," Williams explains. See what else he has to say, and get a good look at Firefall in action, via the video after the break.
March into the Gap of Rohan with LotRO's latest dev diary
Horses thunder, horns blow, and the forces of the Free Peoples of Middle-earth ride out to meet the Enemy on its own turf. It's in the Gap of Rohan, one of the newest areas featured in the upcoming Lord of the Rings Online: Rise of Isengard, where players will finally encounter the Rohirrim proper. Turbine is excited to introduce this long-awaited nation of horse-riders to the game, and in a new developer diary, an overview of this infamous region is given. While the Gap may not be large in size, it is critical to both armies to control, as it commands one of the best crossings of the river Isen. The developers also share some behind-the-scenes info about the "tricks" used to simulate large armies fighting alongside player characters -- all while still running on your average computer. We have several new action screenshots of combat in the Gap of Rohan for you below, and the full dev diary can be watched after the jump! %Gallery-9579%
New video shows creation of EverQuest II raptor concept
It's not often that we get to see behind the curtain on our favorite MMORPGs, and Sony Online Entertainment has teamed with PC Gamer to give us one of those opportunities. EverQuest II recently released a slew of new mounts, among them flyers, gliders, and leapers that give players the ability to soar over the wilds of Norrath like never before. SOE production artist Nate Temple kept a video record of his concept design for one of the game's new raptor leapers, and we get to see the complete sketch unfold before our eyes thanks to the time-lapse wizardry on display in the five-minute clip. Temple shows off his mad Photoshop skills and provides a good bit of interesting commentary, so jump past the cut to check it out!
CCP video blog talks EVE immersion, Incarna deployment
As the clocks ticks down on EVE Online's long-awaited Incarna update, CCP is starting to roll out more PR to get fans in the mood (and to catch the eye of casual observers). The eight-year old title has long been considered one of the massive genre's premier sandboxes, but Incarna's deployment is adding a radical new dimension to the game that is taking time to both design and deploy. A new video blog featuring EVE creative director Torfi Frans Olafsson and senior designer Craig Scott looks to fill fans in on what Incarna has to offer. It's all about immersion, according to Olafsson, who says that the new avatar-based sections of the game will give players a stronger sense of self and a deeper awareness of the game environment and the scale of New Eden. Olafsson also explains why CCP is taking its sweet time with Incarna's rollout and why it's chosen to do it in stages (the first of which is the captain's quarters update on June 21st). In a nutshell, the staggered deployment is due to the update's complexity as well as to the fact that it's being grafted onto a live service that cannot be taken down for extensive tweaks. "To be honest, it's like changing the engine on a race car while it's doing 200 mph on a race track," he explains. Check out the full clip after the cut.
Ultima Online video dev diary highlights new player experience
The original PvP-centric version of Ultima Online may be dead, but the heart and soul of the sandbox MMORPG lives on thanks to a dedicated playerbase and the Mythic dev team that is continually pumping out the updates. In a new video diary, producer Calvin Crowner talks about a return to Ultima's roots in 2011 and says that doing so necessitates moving away from the checklist mentality that often permeates development cycles. "If we go through a checklist, there's no way we're going to appeal to everyone, so instead of doing that we'd rather really get back to that feel and that flavor that brought players to Britannia every day." Associate producer Bonnie Armstrong agrees and points out that Ultima is moving away from MMO-standard kill quests and focusing more on stories (which are often helped along by the dedicated event GMs on each shard). Lead engineer Derek Brinkman says this will work well with the newly optimized client and the new high-resolution environment assets. Finally, the dev team talks about the redesigned new player experience and how it is expressly intended to get players into the world quickly while the meat of the client download happens behind the scenes. Hit the jump for the full video.
Forsaken World dev diary talks guild economy, unique classes
Perfect World Entertainment may be having a bit of financial difficulty (like everyone else nowadays, it seems), but that isn't stopping it from rolling out the info on its latest free-to-play title called Forsaken World. The four-minute short features an introduction to the game and is narrated by PWE Director of Marketing Jon Belliss. In addition to showing off the requisite combat footage, he also comments on the nature of the game world itself. "Compared to some of our previous titles, Forsaken World is a much darker, western-themed MMO. This means that the artistic style, the playable races, and the game's back story are a very marked departure from all the other Perfect World titles." Belliss outlines the ways in which PWE strives to immerse players in a wholly new world via the visuals, the unique guild economy system, a level cap that is "meant to be achieved," and a new approach to traditional class archetypes. So what exactly is the new stuff, you're probably asking? Meet us on the other side of the break and have a look for yourself.
An animated video diary from the team behind Super Hero Squad Online
Animation is responsible for a lot in an MMO. A lot of the visual personality of the game is conveyed through animations, both the mechanically important ones for special abilities and the ubiquitous flavor emotes such as dancing. So Super Hero Squad Online has both an advantage and disadvantage for the development team -- they're working with characters who have a lot of established personality, but that means there's even more emphasis on getting everything just right. A new video development diary from the team shows off the process of bringing a character to life in the game, with Wolverine getting the starring role. The video moves step-by-step from the initial modeling and texturing process through the skeleton modeling and manipulation, while also showing off several of the animations that Wolverine will (presumably) be sporting in the final game. There's a great deal of attention to detail and the fine points of what makes each character tick, so if you're looking forward to Super Hero Squad Online, click on past the break to see how the team is putting a lot of expression into little movements.
Third video diary for Going Rogue explores City of Heroes lore and powers
With only a short stretch of time left until the release of Going Rogue, Paragon Studios has released a new video documentary about the anticipated City of Heroes expansion. This time, the focus is split between the new characters and powers to be featured within the expansion, diving into the lore that surrounds Praetoria and the Emperor's entourage. Much like previous installments, the documentary both serves to preview some new material to existing fans and show off what's coming for new players or those long absent. Emperor Cole, naturally, gets to show off front and center, as does Calvin Scott of the Resistance. The designers stress that the intent is to create two sides of very different moral character in Praetoria, rather than a simple choice between good and evil. We also get a look at some of the Kinetic Melee and Electric Control powers in action, and of course, more of the cityscapes players can look forward to with the expansion. Check out the video embedded after the cut, which shows that City of Heroes isn't at risk of slowing down too soon.
Global Agenda's newest video diary details Defense Raids
Global Agenda 's Sandstorm patch is pretty sizeable, and the Hi-Rez team recently produced a video developer blog that provided an overview. The newest video follows in that same vein, but is a bit more specific. Executive Producer Todd Harris and Lead Artist Chuk Vinson sit down to explain Defense Raids, 10-man raids in which you are tasked with the protection of your dome city. Every now and again, the city's alarms will go off to indicate that an attack by robots is imminent. High-level players can work together to prevent it from happening by trying to keep the enemy from breaching the defenses and destroying the power core. If you succeed, you get a big boss fight and big loot at the end. Follow along after the jump to see the video firsthand.
Gameplay on parade in newest Battle of the Immortals video diary
It's a big day for Battle of the Immortals, as the open beta has finally started on the most recent Perfect World Entertainment game. Closed beta was quite successful, with the development team rolling out requested features like improved access to the high-end Soul Gear and improved keybinding (complete with standard WASD movement schemes). To celebrate the occasion, and to give players who haven't been following the game too closely an idea of why they might want to start, the game has released its fourth video developer diary today, this time focusing on the content found within the game. Jon Belliss, Product Manager for the game, focuses on the game's dungeons, starting off with one dubbed Knight's Jail. Everything from gameplay to rewards gets covered, complete with a semi-snarky reference that "you can complete it in ten to fifteen minutes, as long as you have a group that isn't full of idiots." He goes on to discuss the later Dragon Emperor Catacombs, which can switch between a low-level "easy mode" and a more rewarding "normal mode," and Spectre Island even beyond that. Take a look past the cut for the full diary, and keep your eyes open for more news on the open beta for Battle of the Immortals.
Sounds of Fable 2 covered in latest dev. diary
Lionhead Studios' latest developer diary hits a high note covering the audio of Fable 2. Music and sound effects are detailed for most of the piece, but the last section features British actors using those adorable accents of theirs. Prolific actor Stephen Fry, who is also the narrator of LittleBigPlanet, makes an appearance in there, and you may recognize some of the other actors as well. Check it out after the break.[Via X3F]
Lionhead releases fifth Fable 2 video diary
We know that Fable 2 is being released "later" but every time we see one of these video diaries from Lionhead, we feel like an eight-year old in the back of the station wagon. "Is it later yet? ... What about now?" This fifth video diary, which deals with magic and multiplayer, doesn't make the waiting any easier. Something else that strikes us about the video: Doesn't everyone at Lionhead seem really nice? We just want to move into a back office somewhere and live, perhaps paying our way with beta testing and the occasional foot massa -- err, coffee run. Yeah, that's the ticket. A coffee run.
Age of Conan dev video diary 5: melee combat!
Melee combat. It's one of the main reasons that a lot of people have so much interest in Age of Conan, and it's definitely something that makes the game stand out next to other MMOs. Having thrown out the traditional "auto-attack" altogether, AoC plays more like an action game, and in the newly released Developer Video Diary 5, we get an explanation of some of the finer points of this combat system.
LotRO dev video diary: Raids
A new Lord of the Rings Online developer diary has been posted on IGN.com, under the title of Raids. Upon watching it, however, it seems that it is more about explaining the basics of Fellowships and Kinships, only touching on raids briefly. If you're an experienced LotRO player, this video won't contain too much to excite you, but it is a nice introduction to the game's partying and guild systems for any beginner. Fellowship Maneuvers are brought up, and this is probably the best nugget of information that anyone starting out in the game could take from the video.So if you feel like some informative light entertainment -- and aren't too busy decorating your new crib -- click below and let executive producer Jeffrey Steefel fill you in on LotRO's team features.
