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Saturday, August 25, 2007

PAX 2007: Graphics, social elements coming to space MMO

The game was playing out on large screens, showing off its graphical prowess. Even four years into the life of the massively multiplayer title, EVE Online can still command attention from passers-by.

CCP was at the Penny Arcade Expo in the Washington State Convention Center in Seattle to not only show off the title to those who may not be unfamiliar with the premiere space MMO, but also to talk about some of the changes coming to the title.

But there was the game, and it was drawing some attention from members of its community, a community that may be a niche group but they are not only devoted and loyal, but could also be called fanatical … no, wait … as one of community members looking over the game stated: “Fanatical might not be the right word to describe the community; it doesn’t go far enough, they are beyond fanatical.”

First up for the title is a complete graphical upgrade to high-res graphics capable of challenging the latest graphics cards on the market. Add to that the idea of ambulation for characters (which means they can move about the space station, though this will be for social elements) and you have an ambitious development cycle ahead for the CCP team.

Noah Ward, lead game designer, took time to chat with GameZone about the plans ahead.

Noah was asked exactly how the team comes up with ideas to keep the title fresh now four years into the life of the game.

Noah: “First it starts off with beer, and the senior producer and I get together and talk about what we want to do. And we have ideas for perhaps the next 10 years about what we want to do. Then the next thing is probably the players and what they are doing. It is really there game and we just make the game that they want to play. So we are monitoring what they are asking for and we are just trying to give them the tools.”

Of course, this is not an easy process, because the wants are not always unanimous and so decisions have to be made. Part of what players have expressed a desire for was an upgrade to the graphics engine.

“All the content in the game is getting new high-res versions,” Noah said. “The technology we used when we released was really cool stuff and we were doing a lot of tricks – the simulated pixel-shaders didn’t exist back in the day. So we are going to switch to an entirely new engine coming up.”

“We are still going to support the classic version, so if you have an old computer and you are a die-hard EVE player and you don’t want to upgrade, you are fine. But if you have one of these hardcore gaming rigs, and you are ready for DirectX 10 and have a gig of video memory, we are going to support that as well.”

When the game launched, it was winning awards for its look and the CCP team is aiming to re-achieve that. “We want to continue along those lines and stay cutting edge,” Noah said.

The new graphics engine will be distributed digitally. Right now the client is about 600 megs and with the new detailed graphics, the game could get large, but the dev team is trying to stay under the limits of a single-layer DVD, which is around four gigabytes in size. And even better, the new graphics will be free to the player – which is a formula CCP has always pursued. All of the expansions to date have been free to the players. Why?

“We just like it better,” Noah said. “The subscription is enough. They are already playing, they are already a customer of ours and we don’t feel the need to charge them an extra $50-$60 every six months. It’s been working for us. “

Part of the reason for the free downloadable content is that CCP believes that all players should be playing on the same gaming field, not have some players in a world that others can’t access.

And there is the next big thing that is ambulation.

“It is something our players have been asking for,” Noah said, “it’s not like Counter-Strike inside of stations. It’s more about having a place for your corporation members, to have meetings, or for players to own a bar or a clothing store or some sort of venue and for the players to socialize in that structure.”

That is about a year off though.

And not only will the graphics get a make-over, but the sound – which may be an optional download because the file size will be rather large – is getting an overhaul with new music being added and 5.1 sound coming into the EVE universe.

And, after four years, what is Noah’s favorite elements of EVE?

“I really think the open-endedness is the big thing,” he said, “the social structures that can emerge, the big alliances, and the politics, the stuff we don’t even do. We just put some game mechanics out there and the things that emerge from that are the things that interest me the most.”