Tag Archive for 'CCP'

CCP’s new game: DUST 514

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This sounds super interesting:

today revealed DUST 514, a console-based hybrid MMO/FPS set within the EVE universe. The announcement, which included a video featuring gameplay footage, was made during a keynote address by CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson at the Game Developers Conference in Cologne, Germany.

DUST 514, featuring first-person shooter and RTS-style gameplay, will interact directly with EVE Online, CCP’s critically acclaimed flagship MMO. This interplay between the two games opens the EVE universe to console gamers and gives them a chance to become part of one of the most massive cooperative play and social experiences ever.

“We launched in 2003 and have experienced steady annual growth– a fact we appreciate as a rarity in the world of MMOs, especially given the global economy of the past year,” said Petursson. “Our success with has afforded us the highest caliber global design and production talent in gaming. With a team of the best minds in the industry, we conceived an ambitious new take on virtual world development with DUST 514.”

The primary gameplay of DUST 514 features brutal ground combat that takes place on the surface of planets from EVE, delivering the visceral, adrenaline-fueled experience of futuristic firefights. Developed for the current generation of consoles, DUST 514 combines equal parts battlefield reflexes and strategic planning, giving commanders and ground infantry real-time configurable weapons and modular vehicles to manage dynamic battlefield conditions.

Now entering its third year of production, DUST 514 is the primary development focus of CCP’s Shanghai studio. The team includes veteran designers of EVE Online and experienced talent from various sectors of the video game industry.

“Since opening our Shanghai studio, we have invested in building a team that wants to push the envelope in gaming and be pioneers in the industry,” said Kjartan Pierre Emilsson, Managing Director of CCP Shanghai. “Having led the design and development efforts of the project from start to finish, our studio is honored to call DUST 514 our first title release.”

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My initial reaction: it’s ridiculous to have this as console only. I’m sure there are good reasons for it, but it’s frustrating as a Mac/PC user that I can’t play. Do I want to buy a PS3 or 360 to play? Not really.

Frustrating, but I’ll dig some more.

UPDATE: Rock, Paper, Shotgun’s Jim says:

To be fair: platforms were not confirmed, just that it would be on console. I don’t think that rules out PC version entirely. I’m poking CCP for clarification.

EVE Online: backbones and moans

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Here in North England mining was a common occupation. It’s only natural that I now mine asteroids in a spaceship with lasers.

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The Butterfly Effect

CCP has released a rather snazzy video to tempt players into EVE, the greatest and most confusing of all MMOs:

I think everyone at TMG has tried EVE, and then jumped right out, fearful of what it could do to real life relationships and body mass. EVE has a huge learning curve, wonderfully illustrated by this:

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Any tips for someone like me, hugely interested in sci-fi in it’s many forms, but who just can’t get into EVE?

EVE Online: Apocrypha expansion

If it floats your science fiction boat spaceship:

CCP, one of the world’s leading independent game developers, today announced the launch of the tenth free expansion for EVE Online, its popular science fiction massively multi-player online game (MMOG). EVE Online: Apocrypha.

The fabric of space itself will be transformed as vast, unpredictable wormholes open to connect previously unexplored regions of the universe to the stars of New Eden. The seeds of advanced new technology await inside of these cosmic anomalies for those brave enough to explore them. This infusion of technology will enable production of the most dynamic vessels ever ? Tech 3 modular ships with an astounding amount of customizability that can fill any role from skirmish muscle to industrial support.

Furthermore, NPC agents in EVE Online: Apocrypha will be authorized to assign Epic Mission Arcs to the pilots of New Eden. These branching, far-reaching mission strings are full of meaningful stories and more intelligent and deadly adversaries.

In addition, we are offering an entirely reworked New Player Experience for those joining (or rejoining) the game ? giving them better insight into how to thrive in a truly limitless universe. We’ve already launched EVElopedia a great repository for information on all things EVE where our players are also building their own living history of the previous five years of Alliance warfare, political intrigue and nostalgic recollection

Just this past week we broke our concurrent user record with 45,186 people flying unbound in the same game world at the same time?a huge percentage of our quarter of a million current subscribers and a true testament to EVE in our sixth year of operation,” said EVE Online Senior Producer Torfi Frans Olafsson. “Today is an unprecedented time to start playing, as you can get ahead of the curve before Apocrypha releases in stores and our hard work hits the server cluster. It’ll be easier than ever to get ‘lost in the wormhole’ that is EVE with what we have planned for the future of our expanding universe.

I’ll say one thing about CCP: they relentlessly pursue expansions and updates. Very impressive. And, all free! Take that, Blizzard!

New EVE expansion announced

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EVE Online news for those that are interested:

Players have great things to look forward to in EVE Online: Quantum Rise. Corporations will be able to set their products apart from the rest by building trust in their goods through customizable storefronts. The backbone of EVE’s vibrant economy, industrial ships are being rebalanced and optimized to better suit the needs of haulers and industrialists-including the latest edition to the fleet, a massive capital industrial ship dubbed the Orca. A new certificate system will give a quick and verifiable means to discern a pilot’s skill level in trading, gunnery or countless other professions, providing plenty of bragging rights. Meanwhile, the introduction of a medal system allows corporations to distinguish their most valued pilots and honor them for their achievements.

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