The Aeson
10-08-2006, 12:42
And I don't mean a mod for Counterstrike either. MMO! Yay!
Hi Jake. Stargate has been on our TV screens for almost ten years now. It's a hugely popular sci-fi series with a large following and has had a longer season run than almost any other sci-fi show. Why do you think it is that we’re only just now seeing games based on the franchise?
JS: <shrug> I have no idea. I’m as surprised as you are to be honest. The Stargate universe is so rich and diverse it’s just begging for a game to be made out of it if you ask me (and you did!). And now, we are!
The one issue with a show like this is the sheer diversity of the universe and how free flowing and changing it is. We used to have the Goa’uld as the main bad guys, and now it’s the Ori. The writers don’t shirk killing principle characters and changing situations, and trying to keep up with that can really date simultaneously developed material.
Thankfully we have some extremely smart designers and writers who are taking this into account – what they’ve come up with is truly cool and not seen before.
Other big screen to PC monitor MMOs like The Matrix Online and Star Wars Galaxies have tried – with limited success – to include key characters in the player experience. Will we be seeing familiar friends and foes, and if so, how do you intend to avoid the pitfalls in taking this path?
JS: We probably will, but not as playable characters. Trying to make them too integrated into story lines tends to open up the chances of them being killed, and that’s a no-no with any large scale license of this nature.
On the other hand, how can you possibly make a Stargate Game without having Sam, Teal’c, Daniel, Cam, and all the rest showing up? (Particularly Sam. I’m quite involved in the creation of her particular mesh – making sure it looks like right and so on. All essential work, obviously! <grin>)
How much influence does MGM have over the game’s development process?
JS: They have a large degree of visibility into what we are proposing to do, and the impact of that on the show. They’ve been so accommodating, it’s amazing. Obviously they have final say over everything – this is their IP we are playing with here, so they should. But in terms of giving us direction, they’ve been remarkably hands off, which for a developer is always a boon. It allows us to flex a bit within the universe – do some stuff that you might not expect.
Do you get access to studio assets like props and scripts? Perhaps even exclusive info on upcoming storylines?
JS: Yes, we do. But I can’t tell you what’s going to happen or I’d have to kill you – and then resurrect you, and kill you again, and resurrect you..etc etc etc. A little Stargate Humour there.
Seriously, yes, we do get advanced notice on storylines, so we can try and weave references to them in to the game episodes.
We have a few props here in a glass case – apparently a full size Stargate is on its way here to sit in our reception area! I keep trying to persuade the powers that be that the front door access should be a Dial Home Device (link in case you don’t know what one of those is). Personally I’m waiting till we get a working Zat gun before I steal anything. :-)
At what point during the show’s timeline does the game take place?
JS: It’s actually designed to be congruent. The idea is that the extra content we release (that we are calling ‘episodes’) will actually reference episodes of the show, with events, characters and situations being referenced and maybe in some cases directly used.
One thing that is really amazing is that MGM have decreed that what we do in the game will be considered canon – which means you may actually see Episodes in Stargate SG-1 that reference what’s occurred in the game! Now how cool is that?
It’s not immediately obvious how players will fit into the Stargate universe. On Earth, only a very few people even know about the stargate, and it would be a little weird having SGC personnel running around without restriction. What exactly is the plan here?
JS: That’s actually coped with inside of the story line our extremely clever head writer has outlined. I can’t tell you more with out all the killing and resurrecting again – suffice to say it has been catered for.
What are you planning in terms of visitable locations? Will there be a mixture of new worlds and previously explored ones, like Atlantis? For that matter, will you be using SGC designations, or are you able to be more creative when naming planets?
JS: We are following the Stargate bible as much as we can in respect to naming planets. Some will be known by their designations, some by ‘real’ names. Some will be familiar sites, and some will be new. We are going for a mixture of what the Stargate Fan will know and be familiar with, and some that will be new to them. It can’t be all purely established stuff because there’s no exploration requirement there.
Over the years there has been a lot of gadgetry in the Stargate universe. Will players be able to obtain and use items like Goa’uld healing devices and Antoniek armbands?
JS: Absolutely. My personal favorite gadget has always been the Antoniek armbands – imagine having those for a few days eh? [Editor's note: they give you super strength and speed.]
As it stands right now the technology trees will cover this stuff.
In recent years a lot of the focus in the TV shows has gone towards space-based battles. Will we see anything like that in Stargate Worlds?
JS: In the initial release, probably not in terms of playable action. There may well be missions that occur during a space battle, but you aren’t going to be controlling starships in that battle.
What can you tell us about the gameplay in general? Is there anything to compare it to, or will players have experienced nothing like it before?
JS: We are going third-person, like most MMO’s do, since it’s the easiest way to show what’s going on. In terms of actual combat it’s more like a traditional third-person [action] game than it will be to the RPG-like combat of most MMO’s today, although obviously there will be some RPG aspects to it (effect multipliers, weaponry upgrades and so on).
Obviously going too far out side of the mainstream of what MMO players traditionally are familiar with is a huge risk, so we aren’t going that far. You’ll get your missions and such like in the traditional manner. Some will be individual missions, some group missions.
We’ll have crafting, different species, levelling up and so on as you would expect.
The combat will be something new in how it’s performed. I don’t want to go into too much detail because it’ll spoil the surprise – suffice to say if you actually watch how they handle combat in the show you won’t be that surprised.
An important and defining part of the show is, of course, gate travel. Will we be able to dial-up gates and travel through them, complete with wormhole effects?
JS: You most certainly can. Can’t have a Stargate game without the Stargate Travel in them, can you?
Finally, it’s been said before, but the MMO market has become quite crowded. What do you think will set Stargate Worlds apart, especially with the likes of Star Trek Online expected to enter beta late next year?
JS: Good question. The phrases “be first or be best” and “go big or go home” come into play here. The fact is we intend to be best. We are going to offer a well known sci-fi MMO, with some quite original game play elements in a field dominated by fantasy genre games.
We aren’t messing around here – there’s a wealth of experience in making MMO’s here at Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment – and we are definitely Going For It in terms of quality and fun factor of what we are making.
I won’t comment on Star Trek Online, since we haven’t seen it and that just wouldn’t be fair. I do think there’s room for more than one Sci-Fi based MMO though – they do have the license for it after all – and wish them luck with their venture.
http://www.jolt.co.uk/index.php?articleid=6815
What do you all think? This may be the MMO that entices me to take up MMOs. And apparentally the game is cannon? Coooooooool.
:D
Hi Jake. Stargate has been on our TV screens for almost ten years now. It's a hugely popular sci-fi series with a large following and has had a longer season run than almost any other sci-fi show. Why do you think it is that we’re only just now seeing games based on the franchise?
JS: <shrug> I have no idea. I’m as surprised as you are to be honest. The Stargate universe is so rich and diverse it’s just begging for a game to be made out of it if you ask me (and you did!). And now, we are!
The one issue with a show like this is the sheer diversity of the universe and how free flowing and changing it is. We used to have the Goa’uld as the main bad guys, and now it’s the Ori. The writers don’t shirk killing principle characters and changing situations, and trying to keep up with that can really date simultaneously developed material.
Thankfully we have some extremely smart designers and writers who are taking this into account – what they’ve come up with is truly cool and not seen before.
Other big screen to PC monitor MMOs like The Matrix Online and Star Wars Galaxies have tried – with limited success – to include key characters in the player experience. Will we be seeing familiar friends and foes, and if so, how do you intend to avoid the pitfalls in taking this path?
JS: We probably will, but not as playable characters. Trying to make them too integrated into story lines tends to open up the chances of them being killed, and that’s a no-no with any large scale license of this nature.
On the other hand, how can you possibly make a Stargate Game without having Sam, Teal’c, Daniel, Cam, and all the rest showing up? (Particularly Sam. I’m quite involved in the creation of her particular mesh – making sure it looks like right and so on. All essential work, obviously! <grin>)
How much influence does MGM have over the game’s development process?
JS: They have a large degree of visibility into what we are proposing to do, and the impact of that on the show. They’ve been so accommodating, it’s amazing. Obviously they have final say over everything – this is their IP we are playing with here, so they should. But in terms of giving us direction, they’ve been remarkably hands off, which for a developer is always a boon. It allows us to flex a bit within the universe – do some stuff that you might not expect.
Do you get access to studio assets like props and scripts? Perhaps even exclusive info on upcoming storylines?
JS: Yes, we do. But I can’t tell you what’s going to happen or I’d have to kill you – and then resurrect you, and kill you again, and resurrect you..etc etc etc. A little Stargate Humour there.
Seriously, yes, we do get advanced notice on storylines, so we can try and weave references to them in to the game episodes.
We have a few props here in a glass case – apparently a full size Stargate is on its way here to sit in our reception area! I keep trying to persuade the powers that be that the front door access should be a Dial Home Device (link in case you don’t know what one of those is). Personally I’m waiting till we get a working Zat gun before I steal anything. :-)
At what point during the show’s timeline does the game take place?
JS: It’s actually designed to be congruent. The idea is that the extra content we release (that we are calling ‘episodes’) will actually reference episodes of the show, with events, characters and situations being referenced and maybe in some cases directly used.
One thing that is really amazing is that MGM have decreed that what we do in the game will be considered canon – which means you may actually see Episodes in Stargate SG-1 that reference what’s occurred in the game! Now how cool is that?
It’s not immediately obvious how players will fit into the Stargate universe. On Earth, only a very few people even know about the stargate, and it would be a little weird having SGC personnel running around without restriction. What exactly is the plan here?
JS: That’s actually coped with inside of the story line our extremely clever head writer has outlined. I can’t tell you more with out all the killing and resurrecting again – suffice to say it has been catered for.
What are you planning in terms of visitable locations? Will there be a mixture of new worlds and previously explored ones, like Atlantis? For that matter, will you be using SGC designations, or are you able to be more creative when naming planets?
JS: We are following the Stargate bible as much as we can in respect to naming planets. Some will be known by their designations, some by ‘real’ names. Some will be familiar sites, and some will be new. We are going for a mixture of what the Stargate Fan will know and be familiar with, and some that will be new to them. It can’t be all purely established stuff because there’s no exploration requirement there.
Over the years there has been a lot of gadgetry in the Stargate universe. Will players be able to obtain and use items like Goa’uld healing devices and Antoniek armbands?
JS: Absolutely. My personal favorite gadget has always been the Antoniek armbands – imagine having those for a few days eh? [Editor's note: they give you super strength and speed.]
As it stands right now the technology trees will cover this stuff.
In recent years a lot of the focus in the TV shows has gone towards space-based battles. Will we see anything like that in Stargate Worlds?
JS: In the initial release, probably not in terms of playable action. There may well be missions that occur during a space battle, but you aren’t going to be controlling starships in that battle.
What can you tell us about the gameplay in general? Is there anything to compare it to, or will players have experienced nothing like it before?
JS: We are going third-person, like most MMO’s do, since it’s the easiest way to show what’s going on. In terms of actual combat it’s more like a traditional third-person [action] game than it will be to the RPG-like combat of most MMO’s today, although obviously there will be some RPG aspects to it (effect multipliers, weaponry upgrades and so on).
Obviously going too far out side of the mainstream of what MMO players traditionally are familiar with is a huge risk, so we aren’t going that far. You’ll get your missions and such like in the traditional manner. Some will be individual missions, some group missions.
We’ll have crafting, different species, levelling up and so on as you would expect.
The combat will be something new in how it’s performed. I don’t want to go into too much detail because it’ll spoil the surprise – suffice to say if you actually watch how they handle combat in the show you won’t be that surprised.
An important and defining part of the show is, of course, gate travel. Will we be able to dial-up gates and travel through them, complete with wormhole effects?
JS: You most certainly can. Can’t have a Stargate game without the Stargate Travel in them, can you?
Finally, it’s been said before, but the MMO market has become quite crowded. What do you think will set Stargate Worlds apart, especially with the likes of Star Trek Online expected to enter beta late next year?
JS: Good question. The phrases “be first or be best” and “go big or go home” come into play here. The fact is we intend to be best. We are going to offer a well known sci-fi MMO, with some quite original game play elements in a field dominated by fantasy genre games.
We aren’t messing around here – there’s a wealth of experience in making MMO’s here at Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment – and we are definitely Going For It in terms of quality and fun factor of what we are making.
I won’t comment on Star Trek Online, since we haven’t seen it and that just wouldn’t be fair. I do think there’s room for more than one Sci-Fi based MMO though – they do have the license for it after all – and wish them luck with their venture.
http://www.jolt.co.uk/index.php?articleid=6815
What do you all think? This may be the MMO that entices me to take up MMOs. And apparentally the game is cannon? Coooooooool.
:D