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Another puzzle oriented design feature that the CME devs integrated into the puzzle design were ways for characters to “cheat” in the mini-games. “We did this through the inventory and resource management portion of the gameplay,” Joe said. “You can buy or acquire various different means to assist you in playing these mini-games.”

“For example,” he continued, “We have one mini-game that’s basically a “connect the dots” type puzzle, where you’re trying to move your marker from the bottom of the screen to the top. In this puzzle, there are various blocking tiles or squares that get in your way. By burning one of these “cheat” items that you have in your inventory, a player can tell the SGW client to eliminate a certain section of these tiles to get you through the mini-game faster. These items can be purchased from vendors, but they’ll also be part of the crafting system that’s an integral part of SGW.”

Puzzles are an important part of the gameplay in Ybarra's ideal vision of SGW.

The devs of SGW are steering away from limiting the types of puzzles players can engage in, and they aren’t restricting the archetypes that can solve certain puzzles. Instead, various archetypes might be better at solving certain puzzles. For example, an archaeologist would be better suited to deciphering a runic totem than a soldier.

For players that are really interested in the “puzzle-solving” gameplay, you don’t need to fret about the puzzles in SGW being an afterthought of the game’s design. Joe was acutely aware that puzzles were a core part of the TV show, and therefore are being incorporated as a core part of the gameplay in SGW. “We have puzzles for everything from reverse engineering to mini-games that are inherent to the crafting system,” he added. “These puzzles are intertwined within the storylines, the playing fields, and the resource management portions of our game. We’re trying to make a really robust environment for that type of gameplay.”

Formulating a Plan

While these mini-games are the most obvious form of puzzle solving within SGW, you can’t mention puzzles without examining the inherent mental acuity needed to deduce where players need to go and what the need to do when they’re trying to complete a mission. Every game – single or multilayer alike - has this level of puzzle solving, but Stargate Worlds has put a new spin on things.

In SGW, it’s particularly interesting to try to figure out the location of certain quests, because traveling from planet to planet is no longer a tedious trek across worlds and has become more exciting than simply locating a location on a compass. “For us, since we don’t have a geographic basis to everything like other games do; players need to figure out what the next step in a quest might be. How do you know where you’re supposed to go next?” Joe said. “The solution to that problem was to include this sort of puzzle solving in the storyline.”

“You have all these different story tracts – and there are bunches – and you’re using them to help you track down where to go next,” he continued. “But the story tracts also have a lot of puzzle-solving involved with them as well. Thus, you’re getting a lot of puzzle-solving in the game both in an obvious and passive sense.”

Puzzles Involving Storyline

One of the most intriguing parts of SGW, at least to this intrepid reporter, is the fact that CME wants players to reach level-cap quickly. When they were in their initial development phase, Joe wanted to insure that players would have the opportunity to see every part of the SGW gameplay, rather than limiting that player to a single character type’s storyline.

Take WoW for example, how many players have played every single race/class combo? This was Joe’s goal in heightening the pace of the game to insure that players have the chance to replay the game. Whether you’re playing as an Asgaard, a Free Jaffa, or a Goa’uld, you’ll each encounter a storyline specific to your race. Once you get to the different archetypes, the storylines branch off even further.

But CME hasn’t totally separated the storylines from each other. Joe made a point to describe just how intertwined each of the storylines – even the bad vs. the good – are to one another. When you enter an instance, you may encounter good or bad PCs, and dealing with these characters – on top of completing your puzzles – is at the heart of what SGW is all about. Players will have the opportunity to prevent their counterparts from completing puzzles – aside from straight PvP – and will be forced to interact with their enemies in certain parts of each storyline.