Creating the planets of EVE Online

by James Egan Dec 1st 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Interviews

One of the nice things EVE Online players have to look forward to with the Dominion expansion launch today is the addition of redesigned planets. EVE developer CCP jBot was recently interviewed about the game's new look at MMOZONE and explained how CCP Games generated the planets with their in-house development environment. The work was done in tandem with the company's Shanghai team working on the ground-based DUST 514; the shaders they created allow the devs to manipulate landmasses and oceans, cloud density, city lights, and even regions with vegetation. Textures for 10 different planet types coupled with new planet shaders "should ensure that every planet in EVE is unique," said CCP jBot. The end result is that New Eden will now have procedurally generated gas giants and ice planets, not to mention various terrestrial worlds.

CCP's goal is to have the look of a given planet be identical in both EVE Online and DUST 514. CCP jBot told MMOZONE: "We're working hard to make sure when you're in space over your favorite planet in EVE or on the ground of that same planet in DUST 514 that it feels right. Obviously there are different constraints between console and PC that we live under which could mean a slight difference in the look but we're pretty excited about how things are looking on all platforms."

Check out the "Planets in Dominion" interview at MMOZONE for more on the visual improvements on the way with this latest EVE expansion.

Tags: ccp, ccp-games, dominion, dust-514, eve, eve-online, expansions, interviews, mmozone, new-eden, planets, sci-fi, shanghai

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

TheExplorer said on 8:33PM 12-01-2009

The planets look amazing. But surprisingly to me, the stars added a whole lot to the background. I heard the stars were getting a graphical upgrade, but didn't think it would add too much to the game. But they did for me, along with the much nicer looking planets.

pogger said on 9:18PM 12-01-2009

Now if only you could land on one of those giant rocks of goodness.

DrewIW said on 9:33PM 12-01-2009

Seeing a plasma planet from the ground would be incredibly cool.

Lateris said on 11:09PM 12-01-2009

I am posting in game through the new browser for Eve. The new planets look really good.

ian.75 said on 6:40AM 12-02-2009

The game is running faster and smoother since the patch. The new browser and email system are now modern and slick. The planets are a little disappointing, not looking as good as the hype suggested. Maybe this will improve over time.

I like the new red alerts you get when your shiled and armour deplete. And the fleet finder is a big improvement.

Rodj Blake said on 7:19AM 12-02-2009

The planets do indeed look very good.

It's just a shame that they didn't change the data along with the graphics.

We now have "temperate" planets with an average temperature of around 20K (that's cold enough to freeze oxygen)

ants666 said on 6:43AM 12-02-2009

the gfx are nice but there so little in the patch other then that it is disappointing. were is all the other stuff they said they were going to add like comets and t3 frigates.

Dirame said on 12:30PM 12-02-2009

That's coming with the next expansion if I believe.

Rambie said on 1:56PM 12-02-2009

They didn't promise T3 frigs for Dominion they'll be in a future patch.

CCP doesn't do one huge patch every 1.5 to 2 years, nor do they make you pay $50 either. EVE have two major patches per year plus minor ones once to twice a year.

The Sov changes have a 7-day grace period and will, of course, mostly effect 0.0 space. There will be ripples if there is many huge fights for Sov increasing demand for ships/modules/ammo.

mpdivo said on 10:23AM 12-02-2009

have you seen the patch notes?

The planets are amazing and I agree with the other poster about the stars. It really has added a lot to the gam.

Eve is definitely one of the most beautiful games out there.

Khai Mann said on 11:46AM 12-02-2009

Everything looks better now, including the starting screen, planets, window boxes, stars, etc...

Dag said on 12:29PM 12-02-2009

My poor Naglfar. :|

ThinkTank said on 8:26PM 12-04-2009

I'm finally getting around to the free trial, and really enjoying it.
Even the fetch quests are fantastic. The game has a nice pace - you actually find yourself reading the quest text, not just clicking and running...

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