exploration posts

Earthrise devs on how terrain will impact gameplay

by James Egan Jul 20th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, PvP, Earthrise

Earthrise is the first massively multiplayer online game from Masthead Studios, an independent game developer in Bulgaria. The game has a dystopian setting, a single (but vast) island refuge is all that remains of the human race after the world was bathed in nuclear fire. As expected of a post-apocalyptic MMO, there will be areas of the game that are comprised of blasted out buildings and various gutted structures, but the island setting of Enterra will offer a wide variety of terrain for players to explore and exploit.

Moll, Earthrise's community manager, explains in a recent blog post: "As we developed Earthrise, we made sure that the world is tailored in such a way so it provides different game experiences - the whole island is divided almost equally between plains, hills and mountains."

Tags: bulgaria, community-manager, earthrise, enterra, enterra-island, environment, exploration, explorers, masthead-studios, moll, new-titles, post-apocalyptic, pvp, qotw, question-of-the-week, sci-fi, teleportation, teleporters, terrain

EVE Evolved: Untangling the mystery of the Sleepers

by Brendan Drain Jul 19th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, Expansions, Game mechanics, Guides, Lore, Making money, Raiding, Endgame, PvE, Player Housing, Hands-on, Education, EVE Evolved

When EVE Online's Apocrypha expansion was released, details on how wormholes and the 2500 new systems that came with them worked were sketchy. The advanced Sleeper AI found protecting these systems were a force to be feared, unknown and mysterious. There were no guides, no stories of encounters on the forums and anyone that had mounted a successful expedition was keeping their closely guarded secrets to themselves and raking in the ISK.

My corporation (Pillowsoft) were among the first to launch their expedition, having previously prepared an Orca with a medium POS, fuel, equipment and everything else we thought we'd need. We set up in an unknown system and explored this new frontier with a cautious optimism. Over the months that followed, we learned a great deal about EVE's new wormhole systems and the Sleepers that lived in them. After striking gold many times and making each of our expedition members over a billion ISK richer, we began telling our story and giving up those secrets we had been so careful to protect. Today, a great deal is now known about the "unknown" wormhole systems and with ever more corporations launching their own expeditions, it's now more important than ever to research the Sleeper menace before venturing into the abyss.

Join me for this extensive three-page article where I dole out the fruits of my research on wormholes and begin to untangle the mystery of the Sleepers.

Tags: apocrypha, ccp, ccp-games, colonisation, eve, eve-online, exploration, featured, gravimetric, ISK, joystiqfeatures, ladar, loot, magnetometric, map, mystery, POS, radar, secret, sleeper, sleepers, space, wormhole, wormholes

EVE Online and 'the places I've been' meme

by James Egan Jun 2nd 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online

The game world of EVE Online is called New Eden, a vast setting of over 5000 mapped solar systems and more than 2000 uncharted systems that can be found through wormhole exploration. The game has an interactive 3D map of the galaxy where solar systems can be color-coded according to the filters a player chooses. Pair that with a feature of the client that keeps track of each solar system you've visited, and you've got a colorful visual representation of how much of New Eden you've seen.

EVE player Kirith Kodachi created a meme of sorts where players take a star map screenshot showing where they've been in New Eden and share it with others on their sites (or Kodachi's own, Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah blog). You can check out where it started with Kirith Kodachi and follow the 'links to this post' at the bottom to see where it leads.

Tags: eve, eve-online, exploration, galaxy, inner-sanctum-of-the-ninveah, kirith-kodachi, meme, memes, new-eden, sci-fi, star-map

Kids exploring the Wastelands of FusionFall in ways devs never intended

by James Egan Jun 1st 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Exploits, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, FusionFall, Kids

Cartoon Network has done fairly well for itself with its IP-centric FusionFall. In fact, the words 'wildly successful' may come to mind when you take into account that FusionFall has already gained over 4 million registered users since its January launch. Having a TV network to promote the game is advantageous, of course, but with that many kids running around in the game's world, it was inevitable that some of them would get up to mischief.

This topic came up in an interview conducted by MMORPG.com's Carolyn Koh with FusionFall community director Richard Weil. It's interesting to note that some kids are basically testing the limits of the game world by finding ways into the "Wastelands" -- vast in-game areas where the developers test aspects of FusionFall. These players have managed to find holes in the game code and slip into these off-limits areas that were thought hidden and inaccessible to them in the first place.

Tags: carolyn-koh, cartoon-network, casual, exploits, exploration, explorer, explorers, fusionfall, game-mechanics, interviews, kids, mischief, mmo-industry, mmorpg.com, richard-weil, the-wastelands, wastelands

EVE Online player circumnavigates the game's world

by James Egan Apr 27th 2009 at 6:00PM

The game world of EVE Online is vast, a galaxy of over 5000 charted solar systems called New Eden. EVE's explorer-types, like Jeran Tek, have successfully visited every solar system in New Eden. Jeran Tek isn't alone in such pursuits, however. This past week saw another player establish a new exploration milestone; DevilDogUSMC of The Helicon Alliance circumnavigated EVE's galaxy. It took him four days, on a journey with 118 waypoints and 502 jumps in a covert ops frigate (capable of warping while cloaked).

DevilDogUSMC spoke with EVE's volunteer in-game reporters (Interstellar Correspondents), stating why he even attempted this. He said, "Since I became a pod pilot five and a half years ago I wanted to explore this universe, but I was put into action with fleet after fleet not ever having the chance. So I decided to take a break from... politics and working with our alliance fleet and went for it. This was a chance for me to show the rest of New Eden that anything can be done as long as you commit to it and work for it."

The full story on DevilDogUSMC's journey was reported by ISD Aeterna Vitae on the EVE Online site.

Tags: bartle-types, cloak, cloaking, covert-ops, devildogusmc, eve, eve-online, exploration, explorer, helicon, helicon-alliance, interstellar-correspondents, isd-aeterna-vitae, jeran-tek, new-eden

EVE Online's wormhole exploration leads to new 'rescue' profession

by James Egan Apr 4th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Professions

Wormhole exploration is perhaps the key feature that came to EVE Online with the Apocrypha expansion. Its 'true exploration' of thousands of uncharted solar systems can bring great rewards but also entails equally great risks. The Sleepers are the strongest NPCs that players can face in the game's setting of New Eden, adding to the challenge of taking them on is the fact that you may be hunted down by players at the same time. The delayed local channel in wormhole space ("w-space") means you won't know if you're really alone in the uncharted solar system until you find yourself being targeted and fired upon by a roving gang of hostiles.

Wormholes can also have tactical environments which affect how well your ship operates in that solar system, sometimes imposing penalties. Then factor in that wormholes are inherently unstable and can collapse once enough ships have passed through, and you've got a fair amount of unpredictability injected into your gameplay. Wormhole collapses have led to a number of EVE's capsuleers being stranded in unknown regions and unable to find a way back into known space ("k-space"), much less navigate their way home again. That's where "Wormhole Rescue Service" and its founder Astro Glyde can help.

Tags: 0.0, apocrypha, astro-glyde, ccp-games, eve, eve-online, exploration, freeform-professions, game-mechanics, k-space, new-eden, professions, rescue, rescue-service, sci-fi, sleepers, stranded, tactical-environments, true-exploration, w-space, wormhole-exploration, wormhole-rescue-service

Video tutorial explains EVE Online's new exploration system

by James Egan Mar 13th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Professions, Tips and tricks

The latest expansion for EVE Online is Apocrypha, which has added numerous exploration-intensive elements to the sci-fi game. Apocrypha brought drag-and-drop to the exploration system, making the discovery of hidden encounters (and now wormholes) a more visual process than the old system. However, for those players who are accustomed to the old methods of exploration, Apocrypha's revamped system can take some getting used to. EVE Online developer CCP Greyscale posted a dev blog earlier in the week which is a visual tutorial explaining how to find all that hidden content in the game. It's pretty much essential reading for any would-be explorers in New Eden.

We also came across a player-created video tutorial showing how it's done, by Espoir from TridentGuild. The video covers everything from exploration probe placement to how to focus in on the signatures you discover. We've got the YouTube embed of the Apocrypha exploration tutorial for you below the cut:

Tags: apocrypha, ccp-greyscale, dev-blog, eve-online, expansions, exploration, explorer, game-mechanics, new-eden, sci-fi, tips-and-tricks, tridentguild, video, video-tutorials, youtube

Champions Online dev Randy Mosiondz on storytelling and gameplay

by James Egan Mar 13th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Super-hero, Game mechanics, Interviews, Champions Online

Writing for Examiner.com, Daniel Nations recently interviewed Champions Online lead designer Randy Mosiondz about the balancing act between providing guided gameplay and exploration. The interview also touches upon Champions Online's gameplay across different environments. Namely, Mosiondz explains a bit about the challenges that players will face in the underwater area of Lemuria with its full 3-D movement capabilities, and how some player powers will be modified for use underwater.

Also a nice touch is that the discussion heads into his roots as a writer for pen and paper games. Mosiondz explains the differences in storytelling between pen and paper games and MMOs, and why it can be tricky to bring a story with lasting consequences to a massively multiplayer online game. Check out the Champions Online developer interview over at Examiner for more about what the Cryptic Studios super-hero title will offer.

Tags: champions, champions-online, cryptic-studios, daniel-nations, environment, environments, examiner, exploration, game-mechanics, guided-gameplay, interviews, lemuria, pen-and-paper, randy-mosiondz, storytelling, super-hero, super-heroes, superheroes, undersea, underwater, writing

Mabinogi's associate producer helps us pioneer our way through Iria

by Seraphina Brennan Mar 9th 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Fantasy, Expansions, MMO industry, PvP, PvE, Free-to-play, Mabinogi, Massively Interviews

Mabinogi's latest expansion, Pioneers of Iria, has recently gone live on the servers after much anticipation by the fans. Now players are able to not only explore the brand new continent of Iria, but also able to take advantage of new races in character creation, such as the giant and the elf, and the brand new exploration system.

We here at Massively recently had a chance to catch up with Nexon's Matthew McCullough, the associate producer on the North American version of Mabinogi, to ask him some questions about their brand new release. Is all of this new content truly real? Is it really free? Can elves and giants live together with one another in harmony?

Hit the continue reading link below, if you want the answers to these burning questions! Also, if you're a Mabinogi fan, look forward to our hands on with the Pioneers of Iria expansion later on in the week!

Tags: elf, expansion, exploration, featured, free-expansion, free-to-play, giant, interview, iria, joystiqfeatures, mabinogi, matthew-mcullough, nexon, patch, pioneers-of-iria, pvp

CCP Games to revitalize EVE Online's drug trade in Apocrypha expansion

by James Egan Mar 9th 2009 at 9:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, News items

Exploration has long been a profession in EVE Online that really held a niche appeal to players. The exploration system has been a complex one, where one had to bookmark locations in space midwarp at specific points in a solar system, and burn through various types of probes (and time) to find something hidden. The game's Apocrypha expansion is very much focused on improving exploration. While we've heard a great deal about wormholes and 'true exploration' what's been less spoken of is that Apocrypha is an across-the-board revamp of exploration in EVE Online. These changes will, CCP hopes, revive the ailing booster trade in EVE. Boosters are drugs that enhance a pilot's performance. Despite the numerous benefits boosters can impart, they're also highly illegal and being caught with them in high security space can lead to hefty fines.

The arcane complexity of creating boosters and then smuggling them into high security space have made drug production and smuggling activities that comparatively few of EVE's capsuleers get involved with. This also means that boosters, the higher-grade stuff, can be hard to get your hands on. Boosters are a dimension to the game that CCP Games is looking to improve, which should come as good news to the game's would-be drug dealers.

Tags: apocrypha, black-market, boosters, ccp-dropbear, ccp-games, clouds, cytoserocin, dev-blog, drugs, eve, eve-online, exploration, gas-clouds, low-sec, lowsec, new-eden, pirates, sci-fi, smuggler, smuggling

EVE Online Apocrypha expansion trailer kicks off storyline events

by James Egan Mar 7th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, EVE Online, Expansions, Races

CCP Games just dropped the trailer for EVE Online's Apocrypha expansion, which sets the tone for the storyline players will soon experience. The trailer depicts a cataclysmic event which creates rifts in space-time throughout the New Eden galaxy, affecting all of the races.

We see fleets of ships investigating the anomalies and take their first journeys through wormholes, emerging in unknown space. There, the explorers find bizarre structures whose design is unknown to New Eden's races. These space stations house the technology behind Tech III, advanced modular ship designs, but seizing technology potentially thousands of years beyond that of the capsuleers awakens long-dormant defenses: the drones of the ancient Sleeper race.

We've got the YouTube embed of the Apocrypha trailer in HD for you below the cut.

Tags: apocrypha, breaking, ccp-games, eve, eve-online, expansions, exploration, lore, new-eden, races, sci-fi, sleepers, storyline, tech-3, tech-iii, the-sleepers, trailer, trailers, video, wormhole-exploration, wormholes, youtube

Massively's Apocrypha expansion hands-on: True Exploration

by James Egan Mar 6th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Races, Massively Interviews, Massively Hands-on

True Exploration

For many EVE Online players, the Apocrypha expansion is the advent of true exploration. Exploration has been a mini-profession in EVE for some time now, and there are a number of dedicated explorers in the game. That said, the profession has been difficult to learn and players typically go through exploration probes like kleenex, in the hope that they'll find a hidden pocket of space to exploit. Critics of exploration have pointed out that they're not truly exploring new places, simply scanning down what's just hidden to most other players.

The Apocrypha expansion will bring true exploration to the game, allowing players to find and enter wormholes leading to uncharted regions of space. Roughly 2500 new solar systems await EVE's explorers willing to brave the challenges within this hostile space.

Tags: apocrypha, ccp-games, ccp-hammerhead, ccp-tonyg, eve-online, exploration, game-mechanics, massively-hands-on, massively-interviews, noah-ward, races, tactical-environments, tony-gonzales, true-exploration, wormhole-exploration, wormholes

EVE Evolved: Apocrypha expansion preview

by Brendan Drain Mar 2nd 2009 at 7:30PM

Filed under: At a glance, Sci-fi, Galleries, Screenshots, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, PvE, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

As March 10th draws ever closer, EVE Online's Apocrypha expansion is coming more and more into focus. Information on the new game mechanics and content is being released in the form of developer blogs and the official expansion page complete with screenshots and artwork is already up. Most importantly, a test version of the expansion is live on Singularity, EVE's main test server. Like any good journalist, I took my camera crew onto the test server to get some pictures of Apocrypha in action. What I found blew me away, literally.

In this gallery article, I take a visual sneak peak at parts of the impressive new Apocrypha expansion with a whopping 37 screenshots. In each screenshot, I talk about all of the new additions to the game.

EVE Apocrypha preview gallery > >

Gallery: EVE Apocrypha Preview

Tags: apocrypha, artifacts, ccp, ccp-games, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, expansion, exploration, featured, joystiqfeatures, legion, loki, probe, proteus, sleeper, strategic cruiser, StrategicCruiser, tech 3, Tech3, tengu, wormhole

EVE Online launches Apocrypha expansion site

by James Egan Feb 24th 2009 at 5:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Previews, Professions, Races

EVE Online developers CCP Games have launched a new site for the sci-fi game's Apocrypha expansion, slated for a March 10th launch. The site has a teaser trailer, screenshots, wallpapers, and concept art related to Apocrypha.

In addition, there are brief video presentations from three key developers involved with the expansion: Lead Game Designer Noah Ward (CCP Hammerhead), Associate Producer Arend Stührmann (CCP Whisper), and Senior Producer Torfi Frans Olaffson (CCP Torfifrans). Their presentations range from discussion of Tech III to how wormhole exploration and the New Player Experience will add something fresh to the game:

Tags: apocrypha, arend-stuhrmann, breaking, ccp-games, ccp-hammerhead, ccp-torfifrans, ccp-whisper, eve, eve-online, expansions, exploration, explorers, game-mechanics, new-eden, new-player-experience, noah-ward, previews, professions, races, sci-fi, skillpoints, strategic-cruisers, subsystems, tech-3, tech-iii, torfi-frans-olafsson, true-exploration, wormhole-exploration

EVE Online developer explains new AI for the Sleeper race

by James Egan Feb 23rd 2009 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, PvP, PvE, Races

One of the major new features to EVE Online's forthcoming Apocrypha expansion is the introduction of an ancient race of NPCs called the Sleepers. They're a breed apart from any NPCs ever seen in EVE, largely because of their AI. They react intelligently to threats, focusing fire on primary targets but diverting their attacks to counter whatever else they're faced with. They can 'spider tank' or protect and even repair one another as combat ensues. Added to their tactics is evasive maneuvering, making the Sleepers even deadlier.

We recently showed you video footage of the Sleepers in action and while taking them on will, in some cases, be a daunting experience, this is not to say that they can't be defeated. EVE developer CCP Incognito wrote on the forums, "If you try to use the same-old, same-old tactics against Sleepers then you will have problems. Think out of the box and you will win." CCP Incognito's comments were in the context of his dev blog on the new AI, which discusses the challenges that the Sleepers will pose for players seeking fragments of their advanced technology. More than anything, the AI revamp is designed to make PvE more like PvP. Anyone planning to venture through EVE's wormholes should abandon their mission-centric ship setups and be prepared for PvP; that's what fighting the Sleeper NPCs will be like -- fighting other players.

Tags: ai, apocrypha, artificial-intelligence, ccp-games, ccp-incognito, dev-blog, eve, eve-online, expansions, exploration, forums, game-mechanics, npcs, pve, pvp, races, sci-fi, sleepers, team-epic, wormholes