The crew over at Ten Ton Hammer have an interview up with Space Time Studios' Cinco Barnes and Gary Gattis called Creating a Science-Fiction Epic. Space Time Studios is a new developer populated by ex-developers from Star Wars Galaxies, Ultima Online and Shadowbane. They are working with NC Soft on a completely new IP, one that they call 'science-fantasy'. Which basically means something more along the lines of Star Wars than Earth and Beyond.
The kicker is that this new MMO will be designed, from the ground up, to feature fighter ship combat in space, and, in fact, the game will be almost entirely set in space. This really piques my interest. I really liked Earth and Beyond for the 'entirely in space' reason but got tired of the hellish grind.
This new MMO will ask the players to take an active role in combat, as there is no 'auto-attack' button as in so many other MMOs. The results will be mostly be derived from a player's skill, but the avatar's skills will also play a role. So most likely akin to Tabula Rasa's aim-and-shoot mechanic. Only in space and between ships. Awesome.
I know there are some of you out there saying, "What about Eve Online?" And yes, Eve is out there, but the focus there is strictly PvP and more on capital ships than on smaller ships. Eve also has a distinct lack of story and it has a huge learning curve.
Hopefully Space Time Studios can find a way to not make running around in space boring and will give us something interesting to play. I know I'll be watching this one closely as they continue to develop.
Posted by JP at Sunday November 25, 2007 - 2:09 PM | TrackBack (0) | Category: MMO, PC Games | © 2007 Gaming Signal
Definitely...and I'll certainly try to keep you updated with quality facts over at Ten Ton Hammer. We've got lots of exclusives coming down the pipe on this one.
Posted by Cody Bye on Sunday November 25, 2007 at 4:31 PM
I was excited until the part where it says that it "will be mostly be derived from a player's skill". Well, that just sounds like another FPS with MMO flavors. I'll pass.
Posted by PeterY on Sunday November 25, 2007 at 8:52 PM
While it might certainly end up being a twitch game, it doesn't have to be. The skills tested might be mental rather than reaction times. Raiding in WoW became largely skill based but it isn't twitch skill, its group coordination.
Posted by scottsh on Tuesday November 27, 2007 at 12:12 PM
Some elements of twitch gaming may actually drive some traditional non-MMO players into this game. I know there are some elements of MMOs that drive me batty in that conflicts are less based on my abilities and more on my gear and my remembering of which button to press. Time will tell if this works since I doubt there will be much change in how this market operates...
Posted by Tim on Tuesday November 27, 2007 at 1:55 PM
Two words : space rats
Posted by scottsh on Wednesday November 28, 2007 at 12:29 PM
WTF does that mean? You sure you are not a sock puppet for JP? But if you are making the comparison to the fact that every MMO makes you effectively kill off vermin to collect ears, lungs, and other jiggly bits for experience. As someone with infinite knowledge of WOW, you should not be surprised at this type of questing or content. My hope is that they do away with this style gaming but again I doubt that it will happen. WOW is too popular...
Posted by Tim on Wednesday November 28, 2007 at 12:47 PM
Love space sims, but loved SWG's dirt side ability when you get space sickness. Miss hanging out at the bars chilling, or ground missions/ personal biography quest's/ home & land ownership/ custom unique crafting & stats. Seen new game engine on way that smoothly transits space to planet seamlessly. Loved player choice combat (co/overt npc/pvp features). Love upgrading weapons, vehicals, pets, homes, avatar, ect. Wish player made games within game were included (racing waypoints, cards, missions, ect.). Need sports also like orbital skydiving, snow boarding, hover bike racing, ect. Dream of parking a custom made starship on the roof of my avatars home instead of home planet star port. Miss SWG's many professions even if they were limited/ broken/ and dead ended into boredom after mastery.
Posted by tttvector on Sunday March 09, 2008 at 3:52 PM