Massively Speaking

Eskil Steenberg talks LOVE, progression, and making indie MMOs

Jef Reahard — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Culture, Interviews, News items, Love

Eskil Steenberg's LOVE has been flying well under the radar of late, even more so than is usual for an indie MMORPG. A little phenomenon called Minecraft happened over the past year since LOVE's launch, and while both games hail from Sweden, that's about where the similarities end. In fact, comparing LOVE to any other game is rather challenging (but also instructive), as evidenced by a new Eurogamer interview.

Steenberg is literally a one-man development show, and the piece covers a lot of fascinating ground including everything from how you measure the title against more traditional fare to how players react when confronted with LOVE's open-ended paradigm shift. Gamers will "play a game like mine... and they'll go back and play something scripted and say 'oh my God this is so archaic.' It's like if you play Dragon's Lair today. I'm not controlling it, it's all fake," Steenberg says.

The interview also touches on why Steenberg opted for a non-traditional approach to massive development, or put another way, why he didn't fall into lockstep behind World of Warcraft (and EverQuest before it) as the vast majority of the industry has done. "I'm trying to do something completely different," Steenberg says. "What they're doing is limiting what you do. You follow, you grind upwards. [Progression] is something you should do if you want to make money because you get that hook. But I was never interested in making my players addicts."

Eskil Steenberg talks LOVE, progression, and making indie MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Feb 2011 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Friday Livestream: Eskil Steenberg's LOVE

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Events, in-game, Massively Meta, MMOFPS, Love

Hey everyone, it's your favorite day -- Friday! The weekend is fast approaching, so let's kick it off by checking out a brand-new game!

This week's topic of the livestream is LOVE, the single-man MMO created by Eskil Steenberg. LOVE is a surreal fantasy where players fortify their settlements against waves of hostile computer-controlled tribes. However, LOVE doesn't stop the players at creating just fortifications alone! Players can terraform the environment, lay down power lines to defensive weaponry, construct buildings, and more!

So please, ~~hit the play button above to watch the livestream~~ narrated by Seraphina Brennan, or double-click the video to be taken to our Livestream page, where you can chat with other Massively users in real time, talk with Sera, and learn more about LOVE or the MMO industry at large!

Update: Thanks everyone for coming! The stream may be over, but you can catch a re-run of it by pressing the play button above! Enjoy!

Friday Livestream: Eskil Steenberg's LOVE originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Free Love for the holiday weekend

Eliot Lefebvre — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Events, real-world, News items, Love

Those who lament that nothing innovative and interesting is being done in the field of MMOs are probably unfamiliar with LOVE, a project seeking to redefine pretty much any core assumptions about the genre. Players build and create, levels are based upon relationships with other players, and the entire world is a surrealistic masterpiece of a landscape. Oh, and the entire project is the work of one man, Eskil Steenberg. It's the sort of thing that would be well worth checking out, and during the holiday weekend, you can do precisely that.

From 6 PM GMT on Friday until noon on Monday, LOVE will be having its first free weekend, giving players curious about the actual mechanics of the game a chance to log in and take a close look at how the game works. That runs the majority of the Labor Day weekend, a fine time to log in and get some serious construction going. Keep an eye on the official site or on GamingLove for more information on registration.

[Thanks to bartillo for the tip!]

Free Love for the holiday weekend originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 02 Sep 2010 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Love's developer requesting player input for bug fixes

Rubi Bayer — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Bugs, Love

Eskil Steenberg is a busy man, but that's not stopping him from retaining his title as the world's only One Man Traveling MMO Development Studio. Hey, he should get that trademarked!

For those following the progress of Steenberg's Love MMO, you are fully aware that the man stays on top of constant improvements to the game. His Twitter followers are fed a regular dose of update notes and he's not shy about appearances in his own Teamspeak channel.

This week, as he returns to the states for Siggraph 2010, he asks his loyal fans for their input on bugs that need squashing. The compiled list will be addressed this weekend, with another aim at a Teamspeak visit as well. Check out his most recent forum post for all the details.

Love's developer requesting player input for bug fixes originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LOVE adding first major expansion

Rubi Bayer — Tue, 04 May 2010 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, News items, Love

We've not heard a lot from Eskil Steenberg since his MMO LOVE launched last month, but it must be going well, as he has unveiled the first major expansion for the game yesterday. AVAIL will be a free expansion, bringing the welcome addition of character progression to the game: "Many players feel that while enjoyable the game is pointless. You build only to have it be destroyed, and they would like to see a more long term goal to pursue. AVAIL will add character progression but in a way that is very different from how other games implement it."

LOVE will continue its basic goal of player cooperation in that you "level up" by working with and gaining the respect of other players. The interesting thing here is that it's a constantly shifting design -- just because you have a good working relationship with player 1, that means nothing if player 1 logs out and you begin working with player 2. If you don't already have a good working relationship with player 2 you'll need to cultivate one as part of your progression. You can find all the details on the expansion on the LOVE site.

LOVE adding first major expansion originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 May 2010 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Eskil Steenberg: Why is LOVE so unusual?

Rubi Bayer — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Interviews, Love

Eskil Steenberg's LOVE stood out from the MMO crowd from the first time it was presented at GDC two years ago. It didn't fit neatly into any pre-determined genre and the game's appearance was different from anything we were used to.

Two years later, LOVE has launched, and Steenberg is thrilled to see his work reach this point. He spent some time recently chatting with Gamasutra about how the game developed the way it did, what its focus is, and what he hopes players will take away from it.

LOVE isn't only unusual because of its appearance, Steenberg says. It also stands out because the focus is somewhere completely different than your traditional MMO games. Players cooperate to develop and build the world, interacting with it as they see fit: "It becomes almost like playing a RTS but one where you're playing a peon in an army, and you can decide what to do -- you can stay at home and build, you can explore, you can do all kinds of things," Steenberg explained.

That's just the beginning of what makes LOVE so unusual, though. The full interview is an interesting look at the mind behind the game, and can be read at Gamasutra.

Eskil Steenberg: Why is LOVE so unusual? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Apr 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Love launch day roundup

Krystalle Voecks — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, Launches, MMO industry, New titles, News items, Love

Today is the day that Eskil Steenberg launches his indie procedurally-generated art-house MMO, Love. As if the idea of one man creating his very own MMO weren't ambitious enough, Steenberg also created a comprehensive set of tools to build the entire game from scratch. If you're curious for more information on this beautifully unique MMO, we've gathered up some highlights from our coverage of Love here for you to check out. Perhaps we'll see you in game!

	Anti-Aliased: What is Love? So what is love? That's certainly the metaphysical question of the ages, isn't it? ... That's why we're going to spend this week talking about Eskil Steenberg's indie-MMO, Love!
	A first look at the Love alpha The graphical style floats somewhere between impressionist and Abstract, with only the suggestions of people and things. Gone are the "customize your character heavily" moments of an MMO. You simply log in and your character is immediately created - an amorphous entity ready to take part in all that Love has to offer.
	Two new videos bring the Love Since we've heard about Eskil Steenberg's concept for a procedurally generated MMO, we've been craving a close look at Love. Luckily for those of us who have only heard about it through news sources, he's decided to publish a video presentation showing off just what gameplay is like in Love....

Continue reading Love launch day roundup

Love launch day roundup originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 25 Mar 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Shots: Home is where the Love is

Krystalle Voecks — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Screenshots, One Shots, Love

With Eskil Steenberg's indie MMO, Love, set to launch in just a little over a month, he's been incredibly busy pushing out updates and refining the game further. The idea that one man has managed to bring a whole new form of MMO from idea, on through building all the tools, to creating the game, running the beta, fixing all issues, and soon -- publishing! Add to that how uniquely beautiful the procedurally-generated world of Love is, and you can see why we're glad to see players sending in One Shots from there.

Today's image comes to us from Joshua P. who writes in to explain the scene: This is a screen shot taken just after Eskil sent out a graphics update. The Kadeshi Junction is one of the most beautiful places in the game. My character, Nathon (names are randomly generated), on Atlanta-1 server, had logged on and ran through legions of the genius AI to find a good spot for a settlement. I think this is it.

Why not join the fun and send in your own screenshots to be featured here on One Shots? We can always use more to pick from. Just email them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the game its from, and whatever other information you'd like to give us. We'll post it for everyone to enjoy and give you the credit.

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

Gallery: One Shots

One Shots: Home is where the Love is originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 24 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Indie MMO Love set for March 25 launch

Rubi Bayer — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Launches, New titles, News items, Virtual worlds, Love

Development of Eskil Steenberg's MMO Love has been proceeding quietly for a few years now, with the occasional story when alpha or beta milestones are reached. Back in October, we took a closer look at this gorgeous, unique game thanks to Krystalle and Seraphina.

The work of the one-man development studio and the patience of Love fans is about to pay off: Mr. Steenberg announced via Twitter that Love will launch March 25th, just over a month from now. If the game looks interesting to you and you haven't had the opportunity to check it out yet, the official site has some tips and suggestions for getting the game set up on your computer as well as some links to informational sites.

Take a look at the game, and we'll see you at launch!

[via Heartless Gamer]

Indie MMO Love set for March 25 launch originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 16 Feb 2010 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One Shots: The glow of Love

Krystalle Voecks — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Screenshots, One Shots, Love

When it comes to looking for new gaming ideas, there's no denying Eskil Steenberg's procedurally-generated art-house MMO, Love stands out. Now in beta, Eskil has been working hard at improving the game since the last time we looked at it. Today, we have a gorgeous One Shots from the beta to share with you. This came in with a report in from the front lines, courtesy of GamingLove's iamacyborg, who writes:

This is a screenshot of a player settlement in Eskil Steenberg's game, Love, on the UK1 server. We had the base set up on top of a few pillars, over a lake, with a force-field (that pink ball) protecting the important tokens. Here's a video someone took of the settlement a little while after the screenshot was taken, once we'd set up a perimeter defence with some blaster turrets.

Are you playing something we haven't seen before - or only see rarely? If so, why not take a moment and send some screenshots in? Just mail them to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. We'll post it out here and give you the credit.

Gallery: One Shots

One Shots: The glow of Love originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LOVE open beta is now live

Rubi Bayer — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, New titles, Love

It's been almost two years since we at Massively first laid eyes on Eskil Steenberg's MMO Love, and wondered if it would ever make it to production. The unique look and gameplay features of Love made it stand out immediately, and we (along with a good number of fans) remained anxious to see the game succeed as we watched production advance and open alpha approach.

Now one-man design studio Steenberg has crossed another hurdle. He's finished up a list of 26 things he wanted to add to the game, and beta launched today. The client is available for download at the site, and three euros will net you one month of gameplay. (Steenberg suggests that you download first and make sure the client will run on your computer before you pay for anything.)

If you're interested in checking out an MMO that's unlike pretty much anything currently out there, visit the Love page, read through what Steenberg has to say, and give the beta a try.

LOVE open beta is now live originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jan 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Love's beta launches on January 7th

Seraphina Brennan — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, News items, Love

Eskil has done it! He has completed the "List of 26" and has shut off the "join Love" screen until January 7th, when the beta will officially open up to all new players.

However, if you've been with Eskil through the Alpha process, you have a small thank you gift in the form of the servers already open for you and patched up with the beta client. So, if you have had an active account this past month, log in and see some of the things Eskil has changed and/or added to the game. Things like sound -- glorious sound!

For the full run down of Eskil's 26 major additions to Love, you're going to have to check out his Twitter page. There's no formal patch notes as of yet, so this is the best you can do until Eskil gets it all down formally on paper or just lets us find out what he changed.

[Via Blue's News]

Love's beta launches on January 7th originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 01 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Love counts down to the launch of beta, account holders play free

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, News items, Virtual worlds, Love

While everyone's off enjoying the holidays, there's no rest for Eskil Steenberg. The one man of the one-man-MMO team is working hard though the holidays, putting together 26 major new features for the introduction of the Love beta test.

While the features are secret, Eskil is updating his Twitter account with information on the new features as he completes them. Once all 26 items are done, Eskil will be updating Love and sending the game into beta. Currently the features look quite interesting -- such as new specialized settlements, sound pathing for the game, letting the game's AI use teleporter guns, a new building type (prisons), and something that is only referred to as "armageddon." Whatever the heck armageddeon is, it sounds awesome.

Continue reading Love counts down to the launch of beta, account holders play free

Love counts down to the launch of beta, account holders play free originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Anti-Aliased: What is Love?

Seraphina Brennan — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Puzzle, Guides, New titles, Tips and tricks, Opinion, Hands-on, Love, Anti-Aliased

So what is love? That's certainly the metaphysical question of the ages, isn't it? Is it simply an attraction to another gender, or is it a deep bond between two people that goes beyond mere friendship, and more into the realm of headbanging, suit and sunglasses wearing pride? Do I have the authority to take on questions such as this in my editorial column?

Heck no! That's why we're going to spend this week talking about Eskil Steenberg's indie-MMO, Love! We've been covering Love extensively this week, announcing that the alpha was available and showing off some really beautiful in-game footage. But, even with all of that, we never got into the meat of the game. What is Love about? What do you do in it? Why is it so special to us on the Massively staff?

Those questions and more will be answered in this week's edition. So come on in, the Love is great!

Continue reading Anti-Aliased: What is Love?

Anti-Aliased: What is Love? originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 08 Oct 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A first look at the Love alpha

Krystalle Voecks — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, MMO industry, New titles, Hands-on, Love

Ever since I first heard about Love at GDC, I've been hoping to get a chance to check it out. The graphical style floats somewhere between impressionist and Abstract, with only the suggestions of people and things. Gone are the "customize your character heavily" moments of an MMO. You simply log in and your character is immediately created - an amorphous entity ready to take part in all that Love has to offer. If you like to explore, Love has that. If you want to help build a mighty settlement, you can do that too. Alternately, if you want to run around blowing NPCs (and their settlements) off the map, that's also an option.

While it is a paid alpha - something some may balk at, and others find quite reasonable considering Steenberg is developing Love solo - the game offers an interesting twist on MMOs as we know them. It's a little bit adventure game, a little bit cooperative civilization building, and a little bit FPS. How you get through the game - through fending for yourself or working with others - is entirely up to you. At 3 EUR per 30 days of paid time (approximately $4.50 US) it's worth checking out if you're curious. If, however, you're just interested in looking in on Love from afar, we have two videos full of our very own beautiful alpha Love exploration footage behind the break.

Continue reading A first look at the Love alpha

A first look at the Love alpha originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Love opens up logins for alpha testers

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Launches, New titles, News items, Virtual worlds, Love

A while back, we mentioned that the Love alpha client was available for download, so you can run the engine on your system and help the one-man-developer, Eskil Steenberg, with gathering data for his server. Eskil has gotten done that portion, however, and has now opened the anticipated game for alpha testing audiences.

Eskil has stressed on his website that much of what Love is now may not be what the game is in a few months or years, and that alpha will be chock full 'o bugs. Things may have been going really well for him, but he is giving no one any assurances on how well the alpha will function.

For those interested in Eskil's project, the open alpha will cost you 3 Euros (about $4.50) so Eskil can pay for the servers and bandwidth. Eskil has also posted the full information on what the account creation page does, which can be found in the middle of his information on Love's alpha test.

Love opens up logins for alpha testers originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 05 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Love reaches open alpha, client download now available

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Betas, New titles, News items, Virtual worlds, Love

The above picture is not a lie -- it's the login screen to Eskil Steenburg's one man MMO, Love. Mr. Steenburg has just recently pushed the client into open alpha, letting users download and run the game on their PCs, but not log into the game. Not yet, at least.

However, running the client is quite important, as it will send Eskil a few important statistics. The client will collect the name of your video card, if it supports the three OpenGL extensions he uses, and it will count how many people are interested so he can go invest in some servers without going overboard. So if you're interested in eventually playing the game, you can jump on over to his website, Quel Solaar, and grab yourself the open alpha of Love to "register your interest" by running the client on your machine. Plus, you get treated to an awesome look at Love's beautiful dynamic graphics.

Continue reading Love reaches open alpha, client download now available

Love reaches open alpha, client download now available originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 28 Sep 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Five upcoming MMOs with indie-cred

Brooke Pilley — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Fallen Earth, Opinion, Global Agenda, Earthrise, Love, Gatheryn

Eurogamer's Oli Welsh attended the Game Developer's Conference last month and took a look at five MMOs being produced by independent studios. Earthrise, Fallen Earth, Gatheryn, Global Agenda, and Love are all being developed without the support of a huge publisher. Given all the big budget competition, do they stand a chance?

According to Oli, Earthrise has many interesting features but with beta set for May and release set for late 2009, he's a little concerned with the framerate issues and lack of polish. Much like its post-apocalyptic brother, Fallen Earth shines on many levels and is also due in 2009, but it is lacking in execution with animation, combat, and AI issues. As for Gatheryn, Oli is a bit confused as to why this game is even being made at all because it lacks depth and has no clear direction (here's what we thought).

On the other hand, Mr. Welsh has high praise for both Global Agenda and Love. The former appears to be an interesting blend of adrenaline-pumping MMOFPS action with more polish than an antique car show. The latter is the brainchild of a one-man army, giving it the most indie-cred out of all the titles.

For a more in-depth explanation of his opinions, follow Oli as he takes a journey through the MMO's wild frontier.

Five upcoming MMOs with indie-cred originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 29 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Two new videos bring the Love

Krystalle Voecks — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Video, New titles, Previews, News items, Love

Since we've heard about Eskil Steenberg's concept for a procedurally generated MMO, we've been craving a close look at Love. Luckily for those of us who have only heard about it through news sources, he's decided to publish a video presentation showing off just what gameplay is like in Love, very similar to what our very own Shawn Schuster saw at GDC.

For those of you who are interested in just what a procedurally-generated MMO looks like, or who are curious for more information on this art-house feel MMO, check behind the break for a couple of videos showing off the splendour of Love. As an added bonus, there's a video showing the tools involved in the making of this intriguing one-man generated title. Technical and art geeks alike should find something interesting in this pair of previews!

Continue reading Two new videos bring the Love

Two new videos bring the Love originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LOVE creator Eskil Steenberg on how his game differs from other MMOs

James Egan — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, New titles, Love

It would be an understatement to say we're excited about the upcoming massively multiplayer online game titled LOVE, and we've certainly given the title some mention here in the past. It's an MMO being developed by one person, Eskil Steenberg, featuring a rather unique art style and some interesting gameplay elements. We're always looking out for more info about the title and came across an interview with Steenberg conducted by Phill Cameron from Gamasutra, just before the LOVE creator's Independent Games Summit lecture at GDC 2009.

Steenberg discusses his choice to adopt procedural generation for LOVE, which was actually the only way forward on this project. "Working alone, you simply just can't build a massive world all by yourself, so you need to do something smarter," he says. "Given that I am forced to solve this problem, I get some added bonuses like being able to constantly generate new content while the game is running." Steenberg points out another benefit to this type of game design."As it turns out I think this could be the key to gaming in the future, as the game is able to develop and change in response to the player's actions," he says. "Rather then having a few binary plot choices, the world becomes far more dynamic and responsive to your actions."

Continue reading LOVE creator Eskil Steenberg on how his game differs from other MMOs

LOVE creator Eskil Steenberg on how his game differs from other MMOs originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 08 Apr 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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