Friday, July 25, 2014

PC Gamer Interviews Eve Project Legion

The concept of CCP Games F2P Dust514 shooter and how it interacts with Eve Online is just cool and probably given time could be cooler. But the PS3 exclusive was ignored and rejected by most PC Gamers and Capsuleers while still developing a niche set of PS3 dedicated players much like when Eve Online started. The game has it flaws but nothing that can't be fixed, revamped, or redesigned based on Community Feedback and the PC, this has been demonstrated with Eve Online over it's entire existence and arguably addressed with updates in Dust514. 


I saw Dust514 as an experiment for the Eve Universe and a testing ground that fell short admittedly by CCP Games. Such things happen and yes it does suck mire. To me Dust514 demonstrated that there are new possibilities for the New Eden Universe and that CCP games can take a risk, fail, and admit when they are wrong, and that is the main factor why Project Legion has the chance to surpass what the development has encompassed with Dust514 due to demonstrated tech gains per game engine from the recent  Eve Fest keynote. The over all generous consensus within my circle of PC gamer friends in the Eve Online community is "it should have happened this way at first on the PC". For me, I am glad it didn't because we will get the better half on a PC. Just the fact that this FPS is going to be released on the PC results in a high five from me to CCP Games but I will remain critical of the past. I believe CCP Games will too. 


With this years announcement that Dust514 will come to the PC as Project Legion, many fellow community members in the Eve Online Community have agreed that this should have been done from the start and are interested to see where this takes us. Clearly going from the PS3 to the PC will enable better lighting, physics, and graphical quality for the game which was already demonstrated from the recent Eve Fan Fest. The team  is sticking with the Unreal engine version 3 due to how it is highly modified. Adaptation of new tech for the games engine has been stated to be possible. But the game is far to early in it's development stage with no set release date as the game has not been green lit officially from CCP Games upper management of crusties. 

We might be waiting for a couple or three years of development time minus the occasional demos at a CCP Games event prior to a beta, lets get the transparency going once the design is approved. Hopefully they don't take too long since a lot of art assets are from Dust514. But game development does take a long time and CCP games seem to want to move in the direction we have been asking for. So far the direction is a new vibe just based on the PC announcement, so fingers crossed. The discussion with the players and the team for Project Legion is currently going on in the Dust 514 forums and has started with "what annoyed you the most about "Dust514". [SourceSome may agree while others may not agree that CCP Games is taking a new approach with Project Legion as revealed at Fan Fest this year and recently discussed on PCGamer. After I watched the video which is listed below, I became personally very frakking excited to play this FPS game. The world design already seems larger. It felt like this was New Eden on the ground proper. Take a moment to check it out. 




.:Check out the lava:.


PCGamer published an article that goes into this iteration of Project Legion that is currently in development with hopes to be green lit by the upper crustiness at CCP games. The article gives a brief overview from Legions Developers. [SourceJean- Charles Gaudechon, executive producer says “It’s all about loot, we’re going to have these sandbox areas – planets that you’ll drop into – where you’ll see other players and an ambient threat. In high security systems, where CONCORD (EVE Online’s space-cops) are present to protect you, it’s more of a social place. Here you’ll go looting, with AI-controlled drones trying to stop you.” The story behind Legion is that the big factions are dispatching item gathering reclaimer drones, but you, playing as a mercenary, wish to obtain the spoils for yourself. “You’ll find stuff on the ground and killing drones to make them drop what they've reclaimed,” Gaudechon adds, “then when you get back to the hub you can use the market to make some ISK or use it yourself in the next battle.”
Dulioust who is the Monetization Director at CCP explains  “As you go into lower security systems, CONCORD can’t protect you and friendly fire is enabled. You’ll have to watch out, even for your own friends. In highsec we tell you when people enter the zone, but in lowsec we won’t say a word. We want to create that sense of being scared.” Get your loot and get out before someone shoots you, then. “This design allows emergent game play and emergent behaviors”. “The day a corporation drops into a world and does some kind of flash mob, that’s the day we win, because we gave them the tools and the open world to go off-script. We want to create stories like the ones that come out of EVE Online.”  

Project Legion 
Probably one of the most interesting aspects is their take on PvE which doesn't exist in Dust514. “We don’t think of PvE as a game mode,” Gaudechon tells me. “It’s not about waves of enemies, or survival, or anything like that. It’s about ambient threat, much more like an MMO. But the main experience is still the deep PvP. We have game modes like domination, but the idea of PvE is to have a counterbalance to this. Something less intense. You’ll be able to team up with friends to tackle tougher enemies, which will in turn get you better gear. In lowsec systems we’ll mix PvP and PvE. This will create some of the most interesting PvP in the game, I think, especially with these huge maps. I can see players cloaking and waiting for you to run by, ambushing you and stealing your loot.” 
From what we can tell as community members right now the development is in the early stages , per article Gauhechon went on to say “We’re coming in pretty humble,” says Gaudechon. “We’re really excited to be coming to PC. I’m a big PC player myself, so it’s a dream project for me. If we do our job right, I think people who play Legion will find themselves eventually crossing over to EVE Online". 
We have heard this talk before with other games. But this time it is going to be where it belonged on the PC. I foresee that we will have an audience who knows the Unreal Engine and can speak up quite loudly. I am looking forward to a new experience in New Eden with a FPS so bring it.  Check out the article here. All pictures and video are from Project Legion on the PC using a modified version of Unreal Engine 3. Fly safe o/ Shoot for the head ~o. 


Sunday, July 13, 2014

A Tale of Internet Spaceships

A Tale of Internet Spaceships is a documentary about Icelandic sci-fi MMO game EVE Online, its dedicated community and the sometimes complicated relationship between its players and developers. The film was crowd funded through Indiegogo and was filmed in Reykjavik in April 2013. 

Within the documentary one major aspect that was communicated is what happens in the game 5 years ago still has an effect on the game today. Like in Wall Street when Jita sneezes the rest of New Eden catches a cold. The documentary journeys into the player base and New Edens practices with permanence, risk, the sense of victory or loss, and even Incarna itself with the pending results from the New Eden Community. 

Personally, I want to leave the CQ in Eve Online. One day...or not. But the protest was worth it for not listening to the customers in the long run for all CCP games in the present and the fuuture. As a result CCP Games has changed and stood behind the positive changes in Eve Online where it is now a company of Learning and Knowledge. 

Eve is a part of real life for the dedicated Eve Online player. Eve Online is as real as your journey takes you in game and out of game. Enjoy the documentary.  [source]





Saturday, July 12, 2014

Repopulation Interview with Joshua Halls & Kayletta

The Repopulation is a game I have been watching for some time due to the fact it 's crafting system is very inspired from Star Wars Galaxies.  Joshua Halls and Jennifer "Kayletta" Chesnes sat down with the esteemed guild leaders of Mostly Harmless who made the video. They talked about The Repopulation in the alpha testing phase for beta. Their guild has been in the Alpha for a short period of time and discussed The Repopulation and their experience. Their guild and the representatives of the game answered questions from their guild and the audience on Twitch. 

If you would want more information on the game go to the TheRepopulation.com. And if your really interested in the visual experience for this MMORPG game check out their YouTube Channel click here[source] Enjoy the video, it answers a ton of questions on this stage of the alpha test phase. 


Wednesday, July 2, 2014

New Oculus Rift Dev Kit Starts Shipping Pre Orders

The new version of Oculus VR's virtual reality headset for developers  which is the Oculus Rift DK2  is finally on its way to those who preordered the unit, the company confirmed today. The first units (45,000) are expected to start arriving the week of July 14. As a fan of VR and CCP Games space dog fighting game Valkyrie, I am looking forward to news on this wave of orders over the next few months on how the development community is working with VR. 

Check out the videos below if you have never looked at Eve Valkyrie or the Oculus rift. The first video is from the last Eve Online Fanfest (2014) Eve Valkyrie Keynote 3. The second is a tech demo.  

The game will be released for PC and the PS4.  Now if we could only get Project Legion green lit. [Source













Tuesday, July 1, 2014

No Mans Sky: PC Version

When time allows I commence my online routine due to my news addiction of online games. I check my communications in Eve Online first then head over through my list of  game news on PC gaming. This morning I learned that Hello Games is not able to work on the PC version alongside the console version for their space exploration game No Mans Sky. This is due to the small development team. That is a no brainer. But I had to line up the blocks that this studio had to endure with their studio being flooded. They lost a lot of Hardware so the deal with Sony just has to be. But make note the game is still in development and it could be sometime before we see a PC game for No Mans Sky. In the meantime a community is evolving out there for the space explorer.

I simply think the wait is worth it for the PC but time will tell. If you don't agree please take a moment to check out the video below. It really showcases the ability of their Game Engine based on procedural generation. For me it is a Explorers dream and worth the experience and the wait for a game that if you see a star, you can travel there with no loading screens. To me this is our much needed gaming future for space games. [Source