by Chris Noll on Aug 25, 2011
Earlier this year Jagex announced its latest MMOG project,
style="font-style: italic;">Transformers Universe.
Details were still a bit thin so Ten Ton Hammer caught up to Art
Director Steven Huckle on the show floor at gamescom this year to see
what more we could find out. As it turns out, Steven was happy to
answer our questions.
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src="http://www.tentonhammer.com/image/view/102438">TTH:
Obviously we know that its an MMO. But is it more of an MMORPG or a
MMO action game?
Steven Huckle:
I cant really say at the moment. Its more action oriented.
TTH: Gotcha. Do you get
equipment upgrades that you wear?
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Steven Huckle:
Therell be weapons in it and therell be a progression system, so as
you play the game, you wont have the same exact stuff and stats that
you start with.
TTH: Youve got a great
IP. Youre going to be pulling in a broad audience. You said that you
wanted a big mix, so what age range are you shooting for?
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Steven Huckle:
13 and above. There are many, many reasons behind that, but I dont
want to go into them. Making it accessible for 13 and above, in many
ways, makes it a lot easier.
The films are PG as well, so it works. We didnt want to say, Lets
make an 18 game, because its transformers. Theres too many people
outside that who would want to play it. We keep it really broad. Thats
probably not the best words to use, but its true. With transformers,
theres very few people who haven't heard of it, and the kids now will
love the new stuff. Weve got it all at our disposal.
TTH: What I really liked
about the transformers movies was Megan Fox.
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Steven Huckle:
I can tell you now that she isnt going to be in it.
TTH: Oh no, disaster.
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Steven Huckle:
No chance on that one.
TTH: What kind of
timeline are you looking at for launch?
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Steven Huckle:
Were hoping for beta around Christmas time, but thats quite flexible.
Well have a closed beta, then well have an open beta, and then well
have a release. The release is going to be sometime in 2012. Those set
dates we dont know yet.
Its one of those projects where we've got the time and we want to make
sure that we get it right. Were conscious that we need to deliver and
get it out. We want to make sure, and were all big transformers fans
on the project, what we do and what we deliver is absolutely right for
us. When we go to beta and go over beta, we get the fans feedback.
Dont forget that online, we get the opportunity to be open to changing
and updating on the fly as we do it. We can see how people are playing,
what theyre liking, what theyre not liking, what theyre fans of.
TTH: Are you concerned at
all about players making transformers that look too much like the
iconic transformers, such as Optimus Prime?
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Steven Huckle:
Its something that were trying to avoid. Bumblebee is the most
popular character out there. We dont everybody getting a sports car
and making a Bumblebee out of it. There are design and style cues that
weve gotten from Hasbro that we know to stay slightly away from, but
so far, our relationship with Hasbro has been brilliant. I cant fault
it. Theyre loving everything were doing. Were really happy with the
feedback that theyre giving us, so weve been quite clever with the
way that weve designed everything that we dont too close to what the
main guys are like, but close enough so that the fans go, Hey, I can
see myself being
TTH: Inspired by?
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Steven Huckle:
Exactly.
TTH: Will the look of
their character change during the course of the game?
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Steven Huckle:
I dont know. Those are things that we could potentially do or not do.
Theres a lot of stuff, as you guys probably know, that change as you
get into beta and you start really hammering out the game with the
fans. They give you very good feedback! You need to react to that and
follow what theyre saying and listen to them, because at the end of
the day, theyre the ones who are going to be paying and playing the
game. If weve pleased them and everybody else, then weve done our job
brilliantly.