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City of Steam fashions a pressurized skill tree

Justin Olivetti — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Game mechanics, Previews, Dev Diaries

Many MMOs have skill or talent trees, but when you're doing a steampunk game, why not take a bland staple of the genre and turn it into something awesome? That's what City of Steam's Lead Designer Dave Winking is promoting when he shows off the team's ideas for turning the mundane into the fantastical.

After taking feedback from previous generic builds, City of Steam's dev team revamped the skill tree's visuals and mechanics to entice a "whoa!" out of its players. The concept is that the tree is now a maze of pipes, boilers, and valves. Players will build up "pressure" over time, pressure that can be vented into different pipes. The more pressure in a pipe, the higher a skill goes, and once a skill hits 100% pressure, it's usable by the player.

Winking says that players have more options than just filling up a pipe; they can also over-pressurize pipes to achieve higher skill ranks and take multiple paths to achieve better skills. There's even a mystery skill that Winking says will "make your character explode into pieces of bread with cat's heads stuck through them." Of course, he then says he's probably teasing about the last thing.

City of Steam fashions a pressurized skill tree originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 09 Apr 2012 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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LotRO dev diary details the Instance Finder

Matt Daniel — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, News items, Free-to-play, Dev Diaries

In today's Lord of the Rings Online developer diary, game systems engineer Leo "Ransroth" Zelevinsky takes some time to provide players with information on the Instance Finder coming with Update 5. In a nutshell, it works like this: The tool exists in order to allow players to easily find instance parties and to reward them for participating in random content. Joining and completing an instance or skirmish using the Instance Finder, which can be done with or without an existing fellowship, will grant players instance currency, which can then be redeemed for spiffy loot.

For the full details on how the Instance Finder works, head on over to the official dev blog.

LotRO dev diary details the Instance Finder originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Funcom details Secret World Templar mission [Updated]

Jef Reahard — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Horror, Game mechanics, MMO industry, New titles, News items, The Secret World, Dev Diaries

Templar Week continues at Funcom, and this time the firm is teasing fans of The Secret World with bits and pieces of the game's factional missions and mythology. Today we get a look at a rogue agent mission within what is ostensibly the world's oldest (and definitely its most well-known) secret society.

Funcom's dev diary paints the Templars as an uncompromising bunch, and players interested in joining the ranks of these ancient smiters of evil will travel to London, where they'll "feel the weight of thousands of years of history in the great arches of Temple Hall." They'll also be chasing a defector across the globe and even into some sort of alternate hell dimension, and you can read all about that and more at MMORPG.com.

[Update: PC Gamer's got a preview of bunch of spooky TSW monsters too!]

Funcom details Secret World Templar mission [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Nov 2011 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Massively Exclusive: Aion mentoring guide

Jef Reahard — Mon, 16 May 2011 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Aion, Game mechanics, MMO industry, Patches, News items

Aion's 2.5 patch is on final approach, and in fact the new content and game systems made a smooth landing on NCsoft's test server just last week. One of those new systems allows high-level players to mentor their low-level counterparts, and today Massively has teamed with NCsoft to present you with an exclusive guide to the new functionality.

In a nutshell, low-level players will receive XP and unrestricted loot drops while the high-level mentor earns token rewards that go toward the purchase of high-end gear. One of the complaints consistently leveled against Aion over the first two years of its North American life has centered on the game's steep leveling curve. When coupled with the new quests introduced in previous updates, the mentoring system looks to provide a quick and easy path to the cap for young Daevas as well as an excuse for Aion geezers to wax nostalgic about how much harder it was way back when.

Join us after the cut for the skinny on Aion's mentoring mechanics.

Continue reading Massively Exclusive: Aion mentoring guide

Massively Exclusive: Aion mentoring guide originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 16 May 2011 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earthrise dev diary highlights West Horizon lore

Jef Reahard — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, New titles, News items, Earthrise

Ready for more sci-fi lore, courtesy of the Earthrise dev team? If so, head over to MPOGD.com and check out the latest journal entry for the sci-fi MMORPG. Like the previous two installments, the piece focuses on the history of a particular location in the world of Enterra, and this time around that location is the West Horizon.

The West Horizon is a name given to a section of inhospitable coastline by the region's original settlers. The area was home to various strains of mutant wildlife as well as toxic chemicals washed ashore by ocean currents. Over time, the pioneers terraformed West Horizon and eventually all of the nearby Sal Vitas Valley. The tranquility didn't last long however, as West Horizon soon came to host a Continoma-sponsored compound built to house the human test subjects from a secret government project.

West Horizon also features a mysterious sect alternately referred to as the Alpha Principle and the Sisterhood (due to having exclusively female members). This secretive group reportedly believes that humanity must purge itself of all physical and mental taints, and has achieved a kind of immortality via a scientific process known as Crystomatrix.

Check out the rest of the lore-centric details at MPOGD.com, and don't forget our previous Earthrise coverage that you may have missed.

Earthrise dev diary highlights West Horizon lore originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earthrise devs detail The Arcology

Jef Reahard — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, News items, Earthrise

MPOGD is back with another Earthrise developer journal, focused again on the sci-fi sandbox's seemingly substantial reservoir of lore and backstory. This time around, readers are treated to a brief history of The Arcology, a terraforming project begun by Continoma (one of Earthrise's major factions) at a point prior to the game's timeline.

As gamers log into the world of Enterra for the first time, they'll discover that The Arcology now lies ruined and overrun with mutants and other unsavory predators looking to take a bite out of unwary clones and their allies. The research compound, located in the northern Atlas mountains, originally hosted a large variety of plants, animals, and organisms from the far corners of Enterra prior to its destruction in a cataclysmic event known colloquially as the "Backlash."

Read all the grisly details over at MPOGD, and also be on the lookout for a new interview with the Masthead dev team coming soon, exclusively on Massively.

Earthrise devs detail The Arcology originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 05 Oct 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earthrise devs detail Autonomy

Jef Reahard — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, News items, Earthrise

'Tis the season for Earthrise dev diaries, apparently, as MPOGD.com has surfaced with yet another one from the increasingly vocal developers at Masthead Studios. This time around, the focus is on the sci-fi sandbox game's lore as opposed to its skills and equipment, and the new piece delves deep into the who, what, when, where, and how of a place called Autonomy.

This strangely-named section of Enterra functions as a sort of smuggler's haven, or as the article puts it, "a place of crime and corruption where castaways rot in their own sins." At first blush, it sounds a bit like a darker, danker Mos Eisley or Nar Shaddaa, albeit it with a mutant-infested penal colony known as The Nest lending a bit more dread to the general atmosphere.

Check out the original article as well as our gallery below.

Gallery: Earthrise

Earthrise devs detail Autonomy originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 23 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earthrise character build brings the pain

Jef Reahard — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, News items, Earthrise

Things are starting to pick up on the Earthrise news front, and thank goodness. We gamers are a fickle and impatient bunch, and extended time out of the spotlight invariably brings cries of "vaporware!" and the like. Happily, Masthead Studios has begun to release more details regarding its upcoming sci-fi sandbox, including interviews, screenshots, and dev diaries. The latest diary appears courtesy of German fansite OnlineWelten and features the third in a series of character build articles designed to highlight aspects of the game's combat and equipment systems.

Moving on from last week's featured avatar, a ranged specialist named Tommie, the Earthrise devs have unveiled Freddy, who looks to be Enterra's answer to the traditional tank archetype -- albeit with a hefty dose of offensive capability thanks to the game's use of skills over classes. The dev diary goes into great detail regarding Freddy's skill build and also drops a few hints about his equipment (which includes the Translunex Corporation's Agony flamethrower as well as power armor). "He can lay waste to a carefully planned team build and as such, is a primary target... Freddy is one of the most powerful builds in Earthrise," says the article.

Earthrise character build brings the pain originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 21 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earthrise dev diary details character builds

Jef Reahard — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, News items, Earthrise

Bulgaria-based Masthead Studios, the developers behind the upcoming Earthrise sci-fi sandbox, have checked in with German fansite OnlineWelten for the second in a series of dev journals designed to shed more light on the enigmatic title. This week's piece focuses on character builds and details an avatar named Tommie who provides a jumping-off point for examining a few of the skill and gear options available to residents of Enterra.

Tommie uses a combination of power armor and speed armor (Nova and Quicksilver, respectively), highlighting the ability to mix and match equipment bonuses in Earthrise. The character also uses a combination of weapon types including a long-range sniper rifle and short-range blades for melee encounters. The article also specifies a number of attack and buff abilities, though the Masthead team takes pains to elaborate on its desire to keep buffs in check. "We want to make sure that everyone knows that in Earthrise, buffs have very, very low durations and if you imagine having 10 of them at the same time -- well, this could prove quite difficult," says the article.

Stealth on over to the full article for more details, including snippets regarding combat medic, assault, and concentration skills.

Earthrise dev diary details character builds originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atlantica Online dev diary hints at forthcoming features

Jef Reahard — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Atlantica Online

NDoors Interactive is pleased to announce new features coming to their Atlantica Online free-to-play fantasy MMORPG later this year in their latest dev diary. The update talks about everything from new security measures to new outfits, as well as the winning Mercenary design from an earlier contest.

Check out all the details after the cut.

Continue reading Atlantica Online dev diary hints at forthcoming features

Atlantica Online dev diary hints at forthcoming features originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A sneak peek at Atlantica Online's new class and dungeon

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Sci-fi, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Atlantica Online

It's time for this newest installment of NDoors Interactive's bi-weekly developer journal here at Massively. We've covered so much already, but now we're excited to see some news of a shiny new class, called the Druid Mercenary, and the Grand Canyon Dungeon. Here's what they had to say:

Atlantica Online is proud to present our newest addition to our growing list of mercenaries, the Druid. In our next patch, players who have reached level 100 will be able to begin the recruitment quest for this axe wielding mercenary.

Continue reading A sneak peek at Atlantica Online's new class and dungeon

A sneak peek at Atlantica Online's new class and dungeon originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 04 Dec 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atlantica Online dev journal: Thanksgiving festivities

Shawn Schuster — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Events, in-game, Free-to-play, Atlantica Online

It's time for this newest installment of NDoors Interactive's biweekly developer journal here at Massively. We've already covered the Stimulus Package event and the game's one-year anniversary, so now we turn to the upcoming Thanksgiving event. Here's what they had to say:

Thanksgiving time in Atlantica Online has never been so festive, as we are introducing two new in-game event items this year. Players will be introduced to an NPC who will offer them a special Thanksgiving quest. The rewards for fulfilling that quest are new additions to your formation, as well as a new clothing item for your avatar.

Continue reading Atlantica Online dev journal: Thanksgiving festivities

Atlantica Online dev journal: Thanksgiving festivities originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 19 Nov 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atlantica Online dev journal: The Stimulus Package Event

Shawn Schuster — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Historical, Screenshots, Events, in-game, MMO industry, Free-to-play, Atlantica Online

The good folks at NDoors Interactive have begun a new bi-weekly Atlantica Online developer article here at Massively where they'll showcase the latest and greatest news they'd like to feature to the Massively readers. This week, it's all about a new event where the prize is a snazzy set of in-game wings as teased in the header image, and shown in its entirety with another exclusive image after the jump. Here's what they have to say about the event, the wings and their game:

NDoors Interactive Inc. currently has an exciting opportunity for players to join the highly acclaimed MMO, Atlantica Online with their newly launched Stimulus Package Event. Atlantica Online delivers an RPG style battle system and a lush world that incorporates characters that players might find familiar, such as, Caesar, Charlie Chaplin, Beowulf, and many more. However, instead of controlling just one character, players have the opportunity to lead a party of nine unique mercenaries into battle, such as, the inventor, Da Vinci; the pirate, Anne Bonny; the minstrel, Paganini; the Spartan, Leonidas; and many more!

The Stimulus Package Event is an opportunity for players to try out the game and have a chance to win 500 Gcoins by simply referring friends while exploring the world of Atlantica. As a special prize, the individual who has the most referred invites will receive a special item, the Blessed Argos' Wings. The next top five players with the most qualified referred invites will each receive normal Argos' Wings.

Continue reading Atlantica Online dev journal: The Stimulus Package Event

Atlantica Online dev journal: The Stimulus Package Event originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 23 Oct 2009 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallen Earth dev journal: Character builds

Dev Blogger — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Sci-fi, Screenshots, Fallen Earth, Classes, Guides, New titles, Education

Although classless advancement in Fallen Earth gives players more freedom to build the characters they want and level with skills of their choice, learning how to navigate a wide-open system can be a bit daunting for even the most experienced players. With a little help from the dev team and some crib note suggestions, players can learn how to make the most of the classless advancement system.

In Fallen Earth, characters may advance in rank and abilities regardless of their class or faction, and they can do so steadily. For each rank a character gains, players earn 2 AP (20 AP per level). Some APs can also be gained by completing missions, and all APs are spent however the player desires. The resulting system allows players to raise the skills and stats they think are most important for the character they play.

Continue reading Fallen Earth dev journal: Character builds

Fallen Earth dev journal: Character builds originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 04 Aug 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earthrise spotlights the Industrial Area in recent dev diary

Shawn Schuster — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, Lore, New titles, Earthrise

Of the upcoming post-apocalyptic MMOs, Earthrise boasts a feature that sets it apart from the others: more technology. This is evident in the screenshots we've seen and the interviews we've done regarding this Masthead Studios title. In a recent dev journal at MMORPG.com, the team explains the rise and fall the great nanofactories in the game's lore, and sets the stage for your heroic character to step in and help reclaim the Industrial Area.

"Sadly, Coordinator Jared and his men were great scientists, but poor diplomats. They found the worst kind of economical ally in the face of the Syndicate, who forced them into signing a beguiling contract relinquishing control over the industrial production and the operation of the installations of the Collective. In a matter of weeks, the shady elements of the Syndicate teemed in the Industrial Area, taking "temporary control due to terms of agreement" over the immense industrial plants. The Tech Collective was forced to watch helplessly while the bandits overstretched the production capabilities of the Industrial Area, ending in fiery destruction."

Check out the complete dev diary for more of the intriguing story.

Earthrise spotlights the Industrial Area in recent dev diary originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Jul 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Changes to instances and raids in LotRO's upcoming Book 8

Shawn Schuster — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Fantasy, Lord of the Rings Online, Game mechanics, Patches

In a recent dev journal from Turbine's Jared "Amlug" Hall-Dugas, we get an inside look at some of the new changes to raiding and instances coming with Lord of the Rings Online's Book 8. As we first announced late last month through our Book 8 dev tour, these new instances are quite the focus in this newest content patch.

This dev journal goes into a bit more depth from the technical side of what we can expect from the new instances, changes to existing instances and the changes to item drops in instances and raids. Amlug also explains the drop rate changes for First Age weapons per Watcher run, and the increased availability of Radiance gear for those runs. You can check out the complete journal over at Amlug's mylotro.com page, and keep an eye on Massively as we get closer to Book 8's release, later this month.

Changes to instances and raids in LotRO's upcoming Book 8 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fallen Earth Developer Diary: New Flagstaff University

Shawn Schuster — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Galleries, Fallen Earth, Culture, Lore, MMO industry, New titles

Massively is proud to host a brand new five-part developer journal from the Fallen Earth team which will explore various levels in Fallen Earth, their storylines and how they make the player experience richer. This fourth one takes us through New Flagstaff University, and was written by Wes Platt, Content Team Lead for Fallen Earth.

Higher education's never been quite so deadly as it is in New Flagstaff University.

The campus was established by GlobalTech in the Northfields section of the Grand Canyon Province soon after the megacorp took over the national park from the federal government. A prominent and well-funded university, NFU provided top-notch scientific research and experimentation programs. In the century since the Fall, the school-like the great city that yielded its name-has crumbled into disrepair. However, it still contains equipment that's useful for scientific tinkering.

Continue reading Fallen Earth Developer Diary: New Flagstaff University

Fallen Earth Developer Diary: New Flagstaff University originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Darkfall producer talks about beta, testing and setting release dates

Brenda Holloway — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Darkfall, New titles, PvP

There's a PvP-oriented game with real-time, aimed combat, a wide variety of races and tactical gameplay, but it's name doesn't have Conan or Warhammer anywhere in it. Darkfall aims to be the best free-for-all, PvP oriented game ever made. "Too good to be true" is an accusation they hear often; and yet one they aim to live up to, says Associate Producer Tasos Flambouras in Darkfall dev journal #25. Though Darkfall is feature complete, they have not yet opened their doors to regular players. The devs have hired a team of professional beta testers to check through the game first. When they do open the doors, the game will be as close to a finished product as possible, and they can focus on tuning the game for various hardware configurations and stress-testing the server without having to worry about fundamental game issues at the same time.

Darkfall NPCs go about their lives and level up as they age. Because the NPC AI is so sophisticated and seems exactly like a player to the servers, the NPCs themselves are doing a fair amount of game testing just by running around and exploring. Perhaps when the game goes live, the NPCs will eventually set up camps and build cities around popular player re-spawn points, the better to knock them on the noggins as they groan back to life. Darkfall's aim is to give players a world and let them do in it whatever they like. There won't be quests that tell you what to do, where to do it and what to do after that. It's well to the left of the sandbox-game MMO divide. Perhaps Darkfall will succeed where Shadowbane failed, to make a wide-open world where nobody is safe and anything can happen.

Darkfall producer talks about beta, testing and setting release dates originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 13 Apr 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mining in Jumpgate Evolution

Eli Shayotovich — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate, Jumpgate Evolution, Economy, Game mechanics, New titles

Steve Hartmeyer dropped another dev diary into the laps of MMO Gamer, this time he talks about how mining will play out in their upcoming sci-fi MMO. Apparently it was a "major pastime" for a large portion of players in Jumpgate Classic, and basically formed the game's economy.

That's all well and good, and I understand the need to cater to loyal players and all types of game styles, but Jumpgate Evolution (for me) better be more about the space combat (the "fun" stuff) then sitting around mining (what I consider insanely "boring" stuff).

JGE's mining is getting a whole new face lift in terms of the process and the graphical presentation. Thankfully, they intend to make it fun by turning it into a treasure-hunting activity that can be done as casually or intensively as the player wants. Whew. NetDevil will be able to provide a clearer picture in a few weeks since the whole mining experience is just now entering the implementation phase and hasn't been put through the rigors of testing yet.

So if the thought of working in a coal mine (pardon the song pun) spins your wheels, check out the diary for all the details (and there are plenty).

Mining in Jumpgate Evolution originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jumpgate's evolution(ary) inspiration

Eli Shayotovich — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate, Jumpgate Evolution, Interviews, New titles

By now you know I'm a sci-fi geek, reporting on everything even remotely interesting (and some of our readers would say, not even that on occasion) about Tabula Rasa, Jumpgate Evolution, Stargate Worlds, Earthrise, etc. I also have a fondness for the guys and gals at NetDevil, makers of the now defunct and often criticized (yet loved by it's core of loyal fans, myself included) Auto Assault.

In a new dev diary posted on MMO Gamer, NetDevil programmer Steve Hartmeyer talks about the inspiration behind the evolution of Jumpgate. We've reported before that the space combat in JGE will be reminiscent of X-Wing vs. TIE fighter, but until now I didn't know what the impetus behind that comparison was. Apparently Scott Brown (founder of NetDevil) is a lot like me (and many others I'm sure). In 1977 both of us saw Star Wars - and it changed our lives indescribably. JGE stems from his passion for that masterpiece, but it's not the only ingredient. Hartmeyer goes on to include Battlestar Galactica as another key inspiration. Apparently the original Jumpgate development team was inspired by other shows I watched (and obsessed over), such as Space: Above and Beyond and Babylon 5.

They had me at Star Wars. With the addition of these other sci-fi franchises which I loved so much, well... The rest of the entry is chock full of inspirational goodness. If you've been sitting on the fence about this game, it might be the very thing that makes you finally say: Hells ya!

Jumpgate's evolution(ary) inspiration originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 14 Feb 2008 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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New Jumpgate dev journal on MMORPG.com

Eli Shayotovich — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Business models, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Opinion

NetDevil's Steve Hartmeyer penned a new entry for the Jumpgate Evolution developer journal on MMORPG.com. Today's topic deals with the "make or break" functionality of a game's User Interface (UI). While rarely something that actually "makes" a game, if not done properly, it can certainly break it. There really is nothing worse than a clumsy, annoying UI to wreck an otherwise beautiful game.

As Steve says, if a UI doesn't work players will simply go play something else. And he's right. It's ironic how this major component seems to get completely overlooked by developers. There are a lot of games that simply have wretched interfaces. Take for instance EVE Online. Over this past weekend I spent several hours in game for the first time. It's simply not my cup of tea, yet I know it is for a great many people. Perhaps it's the enormous amount of micromanagement that must be done, but to me the UI was very confusing and annoying. Which brings up another point. What may be wretched to me isn't at all to someone else. So the big question for the developers becomes: with a myriad of presentation options (and an endless number of different gamers to please), how do you build the right user interface?

Thankfully, the gang at NetDevil take this question very seriously, understand that it is important, and are hard at work to make the displays and controls accessible and easy to use. This is evident by this quote from Steve in his entry: Key choices must be practically self-evident. Frustration must be minimized, especially in the first fifteen minutes of play, when the new player is deciding whether the game is interesting or not.

If anyone is planning on attending the Jumpgate - Stratics COH chat tonight, be sure to drill Steve on the UI. I'm sure he'll appreciate it!

New Jumpgate dev journal on MMORPG.com originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 30 Jan 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jumpgate's A.I. evolves

Eli Shayotovich — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Forums, Game mechanics, Interviews

More details have emerged from the jumpgate via Steve Hartmeyer's Dev Journal over on MMORPG.com. Steve is a programmer at NetDevil working on the hotly anticipated (at least it is for many of us here at Massively) space combat MMO, Jumpgate Evolution.

Steve's latest entry, AI System: Nuts & Bolts, takes us on an amazing detailed journey through the evolution of Jumpgate's artificial intelligence system. He explains how it morphed from "simply" populating space and simulating everyday tasks of an immense number of AI ships to a system that ultimately allows players to react to and participate in spontaneous events originated by the AI itself! Uh... holy crap! No wonder the dev team is so stoked about this game's AI system.

Between the comparison to X-wing games we heard about yesterday, and now learning of the off the charts Intelligence Quotient of the AI... the needle just done popped off my Hot Meter! But there's more to it then the pure glee of such a cool game on the horizon. When you realize the capabilities of today's gaming AI (not just in JE, but where gaming AI is at right now and where it will likely lead), it all actually gets a bit creepy-cool in the "Wow, this sounds a lot like the theoretical beginnings of the Matrix or Cyberdyne Systems' development of Skynet" sort of way.

Things that make ya go hmmm...

Jumpgate's A.I. evolves originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jumpgate Evolution producer sets vision for accessibility

Samuel Axon — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Jumpgate Evolution, Game mechanics, New titles, News items

Accessibility is a big buzz word in the MMO industry right now. After some hardcore titles failed to gain traction, a lot of people are thinking that spending millions of extra dollars to make cutting edge games that only 5% of gamers can or will pay doesn't make a lot of sense.

Among those people is NetDevil's Hermann Peterscheck, Producer of Jumpgate Evolution. He recently wrote up a dev journal post at MMORPG about accessibility. First he talks about making games that are, to quote Einstein, "as simple as possible, but not any simpler." Then he talks about hardware requirements as a barrier to entry.

Looks like NetDevil plans to be conservative on both counts so as to reach a broad market. But that doesn't necessarily mean Jumpgate Evolution will be shallow. Peterscheck uses Chess as an example of a game that takes 20 minutes to learn but potentially a lifetime to master.

Jumpgate Evolution producer sets vision for accessibility originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 05 Dec 2007 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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