Ten Ton Hammer | GDC

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TenTonHammer.com's GDC 2007 Coverage Portal

Yesterday was a travel day for me, so my apologies for the lack of a Loading... My watch showed 8:00pm when I got in the cab to head to the airport and 10:00am when I opened the door to my house. I dread to think of my total travel time if I ever have to visit an event in Asia.

It doesn't seem to matter how many people you bring to cover an event you never have enough. We have three editors and an industry relations representative in attendance and truly it isn't enough to cover the show properly. At least one more warm body is required to get to the high profile meetings and that doesn't leave anyone for what is arguably more interesting, coverage of the fringe development companies.

Rumour: Peter Molyneaux may be working on a MMOG. He was part of a panel yesterday, but was unable to talk about the MMO aspect of RPGs because he was "gagged". Take that for what it is worth, which right now is nothing but speculation.

Two-hours at the Perpetual Entertainment offices on Monday wasn't enough, but they graciously invited me back last evening for beverages, some food and more importantly a first look at Star Trek Online.

I wouldn't say that I am a Star Trek fan, but I certainly enjoy the franchise, especially the ST:TNG version of it and the original series. I was able to talk to some of the STO dev staff regarding the title and though I wasn't allowed to photograph or video anything i came away with a good feeling about the title.

Joel was kind enough to give me a demonstration of how outstanding the planets are going to look from space. The weather patterns, land masses and water can all be generated quickly by the in-house toolset that he was working with. He wasn't able to talk about game specifics, but when asked how many planets we could expect to see in the game he quickly exclaimed, "A lot!"

Next up, Ryan spoke to me one-on-one about the concept art. The ships and landscapes were where I focused most of my time. It would be an understatement to say that the artwork was jaw dropping. The ships have a more "warlike" look that you have seen in Star Trek television series, but the "feel" is most assuredly Star Trek; from the swooping curves of the Klingon ships to the oval and circular shapes and "pod-like" engines found in many Federation vessels. The landscapes were equally impressive, but better yet I was able to walk 20-feet to a small boardroom where I was privy to the most impressive sight of the night, the landscape as it currently looks live, up-close and personal.

The landscape is built by an in-house tool aptly named, "World Machine". A designer gives the application the "broad strokes" idea of what he or she would like the landscape to look like and in approximately 30 minutes World Machine cranks out an incredibly realisitic looking rendition. Even though lighting hasn't been implemented yet the environment that I was able to look at appeared stunning.

Capturing the feel of the Star Trek universe isn't an elementary task, but from an art perspective the game in its current state does just that.

Today was the first day of the Expo proper with booths and all the usual symptoms of booths rolling into full view. I should have taken hundreds of pictures, but quite frankly I didn't have time to take any. My time was far from wasted however...

I sat for an hour with Joe Ybarra. For those of you who are new to the industry, Joe was one of the founding members of Electronic Arts where along with Trip Hawkins he created what we now know as the "producer" role in the industry. Joe has worked on over 50 titles, my favourites of which are M.U.L.E., Bard's Tale 1, 2 and 3, Meridian 59 and Age of Mythology, Joe also produced Shadowbane, Shadow of Yserbius and The Matrix Online. He's a legend and yet he recognized me from a meeting we had over 8-years ago.

Joe is currently working on Stargate Worlds, where he acts as Vice President of Product Development for Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment. Since it was announced it has been a title that is at or near the top of my "interest" radar.

Stargate Worlds has moved to full-line production and by the end of the month Joe expects that they will have their "first playable". They will be bringing up three worlds, one interior (possibly a Ha'atak vessel) and two exterior. They will also begin playing/testing their first story quest.

Joe explained that Cheyenne receives automatic script delivery from the television production team for Stargate. This is fantastic and wonderful and gave them an early look in to what was going to happen in Stargate SG-1 before television audiences were privy to the information. When the script for SG-1's final episode hit their desks it was a shock and as Joe exclaimed caused the development team to "Hit the big reset button". Luckily, they weren't in production yet and essentially no time was lost other than rethinking the direction that they would take with their storyline and their timeline.

Stargate: Atlantis fans will be thrilled to read that the first expansion is already planned and will cover the Atlantis universe. The third, as yet, unnamed television series will also become part of the game universe at some point.

Stargate fans should be thrilled to hear that the game's timeline will include seasons three through eight, right up to the start of season nine. The timeline for the game stops at the same point that the Atlantis television series begins which fits perfectly with the first expansion.

Joe let us know that the tutorial worlds would take about two-hours to complete and that by this summer the CME team should have a lot of fantastic content in place that we can come and take a look at.

I was also fortunate to speak with Richard Garriott and Jeff Butler. I'll pass on what I learned in the next couple of Loading... columns.

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Exclusive TenTonHammer.com Content!

03.08.2007

GDC - Age of Conan Preview
"Robert E. Howard would be proud if he knew just passionate Funcom was about their upcoming title, Age of Conan. Just a few months from launch, Funcom was providing press with several chances to see the game in action throughout GDC. Ten Ton Hammer was able to go to two of these sessions and have provided you with an extensive and thorough GDC preview of the upcoming game. In this first installment of the preview, Cody "Micajah" Bye takes a look at magic, a dark and corrupt art that is prominent in the Age of Conan."
GDC: Developing Story-Driven MMOs
"Ten Ton Hammer reports on the hints, rumors, and suggestions that were flying around the room as Peter Molyneux, Dr. Raymond Muzyka, and Hironobu Sakaguchi extended their extensive knowledge of RPGs to the public in attendance. Several interesting tidbits concerning MMOs were thrown about, and the future of the industry was discussed and how the online world would influence that development."
GDC: A Dreamlords Interview With Jon Selin
"Designer Jon Selin relates the story of how a group of Swedish college students set out to create the world's first true graphical MMORTS (and possibly the most ambitious 200 launch title we've seen to date): Dreamlords. The challenges of the format, as well as the novel solutions Lockpick Entertainment continues to bring to fruition in Dreamlords, make up the crux of this live-from-GDC 2007 interview."
Dungeons and Dragons Online: Zone Guide - Three Barrel Cove
"Visit the tropical port of danger and mystery, Three Barrel Cove! Darkgolem shows you the dangers, quests, and locations of this mid level quest area!"
Dungeons and Dragons Online: Building A Guild
"How often do you find yourself asking that question? Darkgolem gives you the ins and outs of building and leading a guild, so you never have to LFG again!"
EverQuest 2: Coyote - Norrathian Quiz Show
"Be sure to join Coyote this week as he looks at EverQuest 2's first Trivia show! With intriguing questions and amazing prizes, you won't want to miss out on Norrath's favorite game."
EverQuest 2: Estate of Unrest - Manor of Mystery
"How do you defeat an army of undead, solve a number of puzzles, and reap amazing rewards? By using Ten Ton Hammer's guide to the Estate of Unrest! Join RadarX as he recounts first hand experience and shares strategies to help you beat this new zone."
EverQuest 2: Wizard Achievement Points Guide
"A Wizard guide is finally on its way! To begin the process of building, we have added the Wizard achievement points tree to our series of AP guides. Don't wait to figure out what lines you wish to add those precious points to, get the needed info to make those choices now!"
EverQuest 2: Lore and Legend Guide
"Everyone loves using mastery strikes, but did you know you have to complete the Lore and Legend quests to use them? Ten Ton Hammer has a complete new guide to these important quests. Inside you'll find the information and screenshots you need to complete them all, including the brand new Echoes of Faydwer ones."
EverQuest 2: Solo Quest Lines - The Sinking Sands
"Solo questing can be challenging, especially in some of the larger zones, and The Sinking Sands is HUGE! Don't wonder around aimlessly, not knowing where to go or what to do, give this guide a read and know where you need to be for the very best solo questing in the Desert of Flames expansion."
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - 2(XP*2)=50?
"Ralsu returns with his blog, this time tackling the topic of double-adventure XP."
Vanguard: Saga of Heroes - UI Compendium Updated
"The new DroxUI is here! New features include a 4th 3x4 hot bar, a fully expanded crafting table window, and a special healer hot bar. Download this awesome UI today."
Warhammer Online: March Gallery
"A new batch of screenshots have been released and we are here to show them off. uploaded now are twenty new WAR related screenshots for your consumption. Everything from Chaos Hellcannons to... Empire cannons, has been added to our gallery."
World of Warcraft: Warlock Guide Updated
"Our Warlock guide has been updated to be easier to use and with some extra information! Our Warlock Guide landing got a complete revamp while some other pages were cleaned up and made easier to navigate. Stayed tuned for more class updates soon!"
World of Warcraft: Where To Adventure - Levels 64-67
"Our newly revamped Where to Adventure Guide expands today to cover all the zones and instances from the Burning Crusade for level 64 - 67 players. This is the part of the game where level 70 really comes into view. You've made it through the really crowded early 60 level zones of the Outlands and can take some time to explore the middle ground between 60 and 70. There are two main zones for you to explore, while the other zones from earlier still stay viable due to some excellent quest planning from Blizzard, plus there are many new instances to explore."
World of Warcraft: Database Exceeds 3,000 Comments
"With your support, we've bypassed the 3,000 comment mark. This is a monumental moment for our gold-free database! With roughly 5,000 quests currently recorded, we can safely say that about 3 out of every 5 quests have a comment detailing how to complete the quest, where to find enemies, or other related details."

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Last Updated: Mar 13, 2016

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