Stargate Worlds : worlds

Stargate Worlds Sets Up Camp on YouTube

Zyuu — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 23:13:16 GMT

See the latest game play footage and interviews with the people behind the development of Stargate Worlds, the MMORPG with wormholes, assault rifles and snakes that take over your brain.

Jim Younkin from the Stargate Worlds marketing team will be publishing brand new videos daily between Monday to Friday. You'll be getting an inside look at Stargate Worlds from game play footage to exclusive chats with the team responsible for building the game.

Simply visit http://www.youtube.com/user/JimboMarketsSGW... to view the videos.

Closed Beta Will Happen Within Weeks

Zyuu — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:18:18 GMT

Straight from the official Stargate Worlds website they have announced how the Closed Beta is only a few weeks away. This is awesome news, I personally look forward to this game a lot, being a dire Stargate fan.

If you have not yet signed up for your chance to be one of our beta testers, be sure to do so very soon! The Closed Beta phase of testing is just a few weeks away.

SGW settings up base camp at GC08

Zyuu — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 03:21:10 GMT

Ever wanted to find out more about Stargate Worlds and planning on visiting Games Convention in Leipzig this year? Well, then you're in luck since the Studio Head behind Stargate Worlds – Dan Elggren and also the Senior Marketing Manager Kevin Balentine will be attending to a meeting with the media at the heart of the Leipzig Train Station – Leipziger Hauptbahnof.

T-shirts and also dog tags will be handed out for free and you will be able to check out the very latest game play trailer and also get the latest information on the development of the MMO. This is also the event that marks Stargate Worlds' introduction to the European gamer.

You'll be able to visit during August 21-23.

GameSpy Steps Through the Gate

Zyuu — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 23:58:07 GMT

GameSpy have explored Stargate Worlds and made an article about their impression thus far.

The positive sides of the game according to GameSpy is how there's a unique cover system; a variety of mini-games; and also action-oriented gameplay. On the darker side however... Interest in the MMO may be largely tied to your enjoyment of the film and television series.

Developer Chat this Friday

Zyuu — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 20:45:31 GMT

There's a Stargate Worlds developer chat this Friday, July 18th at 11.00AM Pacific, or 2.00PM Eastern. SGWirc is the host and the IRC information is the following:

#stargate-worlds on irc.sgwirc.com
Event lasts for an hour
You may only ask three questions per person
To ask your question type /msg Q your question here

Curse will be sure to join the developer chat on Friday and perhaps we'll see you there?

Poll about the footage shown at XPlay

Zyuu — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 17:23:32 GMT

Cheyenne are having a poll after showing the first example of gameplay from Stargate Worlds. If you missed it, we posted the trailer a week ago.

What are your thoughts on the trailer, is SGW a MMO that you could consider to be playing?

New Game Play Video

Zyuu — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 16:30:14 GMT

About a day ago we reported that X-Play was going to publish an exclusive game play video of Stargate Worlds. It's now available, and you can check it out below!

Studio Head Dan Elggren, Creative Director Chris Klug and Art Director Howard Lyon talked to the X-Play team about production of the game and the upcoming beta.

Elggren took a character through several environments of a pre-alpha build and played through an assault on a drug lord stronghold on the alien planet Lucia.

Looking good, being a big Stargate fan, I can't wait to get my hands on this game and explore the different galaxies and worlds.

Stargate Worlds @ Curse

Game Play Video on X-Play

Zyuu — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 05:11:31 GMT

Firesky sent out a press release to us today, where they share details of a upcoming game play video premiere this wednesday night at X-Play.

The G4 Network's X-Play recently visited FireSky's offices in Mesa, AZ, and walked away with an exclusive first look at game play from Stargate Worlds.

Studio Head Dan Elggren, Creative Director Chris Klug and Art Director Howard Lyon talked to the X-Play team about production of the game and the upcoming beta.

Elggren took a character through several environments of a pre-alpha build and played through an assault on a drug lord stronghold on the alien planet Lucia.

Scheduled for 8 p.m. PST, July 2, 2008.

Developer Q&A: Episode VIII, MP3 and Transcript

Zyuu — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:49:41 GMT

It took awhile, but the eight episode of the Developer Questions & Answers for Stargate Worlds is finally out. Ten fans get their questions answered by the developers of Stargate Worlds, the interview is available as a podcast and can be downloaded here.

I have split it into a transcript below

Hello and welcome to developer Q&A episode eight! I'm Community Manager David Reed, I know this episode is a long time coming so I'm going to jump right in to your questions.

As the game progresses I know that we will be able to learn new addresses, but will we be able to teach friends them as well, or do we have to acquire them through missions and getting them via special rewards only?

Our plans are that you acquire them through missions throughout the world, you will not be able to teach other players these stargate addresses. However we do want players to group together in other worlds, so if your group leader have a gate address that you don't, you will be able to come with the group.

In combat after you target someone and acquire a lock on them, what circumstances will cause that lock to release and force you to reestablish the hard lock on said target?

When you have a target hard locked there's a way fews you can get out of it, there's really only one active way, hit the escape tag. Also if you kill the target or it despawns in any way, you'll also lose it. if the target stealths, it also lose the target. If you die you obviously lose the target or if you get at a too far distance from it or port out from the area. Or you can switch your target!

Will we have capturable towns in contested worlds?

There are no contested worlds and thus there's no capturable towns, at launch PVP will consist of a PVP server, where you can in zones that are PVP enabled, freely PVP with other people. There are however no contested worlds. After launch when we go live, there will be an episode where we launch full-scale PVP. At that time we will have certain battlegrounds and more. However, this is all on the drawing board at this time, but we might have ways to capture towns then, it's nothing we can commit to.

When you go to another world, will that instance world be private or public?

Either or the other. If we design a world for people to have privately for the group, we build it that way. if it's built for hundreds or thousands of people, we design it that way. The game will have worlds which are both instanced for small groups and for everyone. Every world is designed differently, we sit down with the content team and the systems team and come up with oh this world is something we want to be a group instance, this one we want to be a open shared world space that everyone can get into. It just depends on what content need for their story and what the system need for their gameplay. Once we know that, we design it a little bit differently in each case. You design for a small group and it instanced, you can get away with things like linear events. Shared world spaces can not get away with that.

Will it be possible to play the dark and the light side on the same server? Or will you be forced to play on seperate servers?

Absolutely you will be able to play both factions on the same server, no matter what type of server it is. Cross-faction players can talk and interact with each others and we want it to be open.

Will we be able to leave Cheyenne Mountains to explore Earth?

You will not be able to explore Earth in any real fundemental way. Some of the plans for an instance might be to explore certain parts of Cheyenne Mountain, but you wont be able to explore Earth.

Will players gain titels for achieving high skill levels or completing storied missions?

Poem answer: Once there was a player and he played Stargate Worlds and had much fun, there are stories and exciting endgame acts, he acquired every title under the sun. There are titles and they are tied to stories, endgame and many parts of the worlds.

I heard players who complain that they need to camp enemies and stand in line for quests and/or loot. Are the game designers exploring elements to get rid of it?

That's not fun gameplay?! Oh, yeah we are totally doing stuff about that. Basically, our mission system is not your typical "go kill ten jaffa". It's infeiltrate this camp to accomplish a goal. You're not having to worry too much about having to wait for a guy to spawn. Other things we're doing is to make sure that there's a lot of things to fight. We got a couple of other things as well, but I can't really talk about them right now.

Will Goa'uld players start the game with a Jaffa minion? Or have to acquire it later?

Starting out with a minion? That's asking a lot I think. Let's see.. ah.. you're a Goa'uld and you take over bodies and stuff. Starting out with a minion, I think you will have to earn it and work really hard, you will have to do a lot of work; missions. Probably within the first three levels? So yeah, pretty much you will get one at the early beginning.

Will the use of the Stargate for traveling be seen by other players when another player uses it or will it be just user group visible.

For people in the world watching it, the Stargate will deactivate and redial every 38minutes, everyone watching it will be able to see the results of it. If you dial out, you see the animation and noone else will.

If you're a news site wanting to copy this transcript, make sure to link back to Curse.com.

Check out or Stargate Worlds mini portal.

100k Beta registrants reached

Zyuu — Sat, 17 May 2008 17:29:56 GMT

Exciting news! Stargate Worlds has received over 100,000 people signing up for the closed beta so far. This is quite fast, considering it was at 60,000 not too long ago.

"This is a huge milestone for our game," said Community Manager David Read, "but as a big Stargate fan myself this comes as no surprise. In the words of Executive Producer Brad Wright, this franchise has 'got legs,' no matter what medium it reaches. Stargate Worlds is sure to excel."

You can sign up for the Stargate Worlds closed beta here.

Latest IRC Developer chat transcript now online

Zyuu — Mon, 12 May 2008 18:29:18 GMT

The most recent Stargate Worlds IRC chat transcript is now available. There was over 400 questions asked, pretty impressive!

In total, we had over 400 questions asked, yes four hundred questions asked! If we had more time, we would have had numerous more answered. Many thanks to CME and Aruspex mainly for this event happening. There were over 220 users at peak in the channel, and had a total of near 500 joins to the channel of other gamers wanting to watch the event. There were in total of 12, if not more developers in the chat room during and after the developer chat.

<QuestionServ> [AHC]Feign asks: What part do you play in developing the game?

<CME_Aruspex> I'm a Systems Designer for Stargate Worlds - that means I come up with the underlying rules and balancing for the game itself. The areas where I work the most is in Crafting, Mini-games, the in-game Economy, Social systems like chat and guilds, and some of the stuff on the Archetypes like Archaeologist. And inappropriate capitalization.

<QuestionServ> Shan asks: What's your favorite bug that made it into live or shall we say favorite thing that had unpredictable side effects

<CME_Aruspex> Hi Shan, I had a NPC in Vanguard who told you a puzzle. If you answered incorrectly, he killed you. The bug was I made a pre-condition incorrectly, and instead of killing you if you answered wrong, he would kill you if you hailed him. He also would wave at you if you hailed him, before you died. I had a lot of fun watching players run up to him and croak. We patched it pretty quickly, but I will always love my NPC who death-touched just for saying "Hi."

<QuestionServ> Shan asks: What motivated you to turn to the gaming industry when you decided to change career?

<CME_Aruspex> Good question, Shan! I used to be a science and PE teacher, but needed a new career. I've always been a gaming geek, and have always loved changing the rules on games that I played, so I thought this would be an easy enough career to jump into.

Check out the rest of the long developer chat transcript here.

Beta sign-ups exceed 60 thousand

Zyuu — Sat, 03 May 2008 02:54:17 GMT

Stargate Worlds beta sign-ups have exceeded 60.000 thus far. That's a pretty impressive number and it definately show how big the Stargate franchise is.

Only a day since the official announcement, the beta list for Stargate Worlds is already pushing 65,000 sign-ups! "We are extremely excited and overwhelmed by the positive response by fans to get a chance to beta test," said Senior Community Manager Katie Postma. " It gives the dev team a feeling of support and encouragement to know that so many people want to share this game with us, and work with us to make it better and better!"

Remember that the beta process has just begun, so please be patient if you have not been accepted yet. Testers will be added slowly over time, ramping up with much larger numbers in the coming months.

If you have yet to register for beta, do so now!

Gallery Updated!

Zyuu — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 10:43:14 GMT

We've updated our Stargate Worlds gallery and added all the latest screenshots and concept arts that we know of.

This week's new offerings include a look at Tier Five concept art for the ballistic archaeologist / scientist armor set, as well as screenshots for Lucia, Tollana, and a rendering for a Jaffa building!

View our Stargate Worlds Gallery!

Playing the expectation game with Audio

Zyuu — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:35:23 GMT

Nick LaMartin, the Sound Designer of Stargate Worlds recently published a blog where he write about the wonders of audio; sound effects and music.

A poster on the official SGW forums said:

“Players are given more visual clues than audio clues, because in the past developers have conceded that a fair number of players eventually turn the music and/or all sound down and listen to their music.”

This is something Nick LaMartin absolutely agrees with and he want the case to be different with Stargate Worlds..

The solution, I believe, is to create something new, better, and fantastic. Don’t wait for them to become interested. Give them a reason to be. Look at the problems, be creative to come up with unique solutions, and re-define the purpose of this particular part. Maybe, just maybe, it’s disposable because it was created to be disposable. Maybe the fact that so many people find it disposable is because it’s been designed wrong from the start, and maybe if we really take the time to sit down and ponder why this part is here, maybe then it can be redesigned to be useful, elegant, and appreciated. It might even be totally unrecognizable when it’s all finished and done, but it will be a step in a new direction that we haven’t gone before, and since we know the old way isn’t working, we can feel pretty confident in labeling this as “progress”.

Check out his full blog entry here

FireSky to publish Stargate Worlds

Zyuu — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 22:57:15 GMT

New Interactive Publishing House Building A Distinct Breed Of Online Games

FireSky Portfolio to Open with Stargate Worlds MMORPG

MESA, Ariz. – April 17, 2008 – FireSky, a new video game publisher dedicated to improving how gamers play and interact online, announced today that it would publish Stargate Worlds, a massively multiplayer online role playing game (MMORPG) based on MGM’s award-winning Stargate franchise. FireSky will also publish other unannounced titles as it paves the way for SNAP games.

FireSky is pioneering the development and publishing of games for Social Networks At Play™ (SNAPs), a unified theory of online gaming that combines social interaction, economies and game play across a variety of titles. The FireSky team calls this evolution “Project: Ascension.” This project – currently under wraps – will bring gamers together in new and unprecedented ways.

“We don’t intend to be another garden-variety games publisher,” said FireSky CEO Tim Jenson. “We are focused on publishing high quality social gaming experiences online. As the industry moves online, more and more people will be turning to games as a way to spend time with friends. With a few notable exceptions, game developers and publishers haven’t done a great job of marrying quality games with social experiences. Project: Ascension and SNAP games will change that dynamic forever.”

FireSky Senior Vice President of Product Development, Rod Nakamoto, has launched more than 80 titles over his 25-year career in game development. Mr. Nakamoto leads FireSky’s four internal development studios and oversees the progress on Project: Ascension.

“There is a degree of pressure to play a title after the fun factor has gone, simply because the investment is too great,” explained Mr. Nakamoto. “Gamers who invest time building characters, making friends and gathering resources typically have no ability to transfer this investment to a new experience. We’re working on a new set of ideals that will push online gaming past these barriers and into an era of portability.”

Senior Vice President of Strategic Operations Joe Ybarra, a 25-year veteran of the video game industry and one of the founding members of Electronic Arts, is heading up FireSky’s publishing operations. Mr. Ybarra has extensive experience publishing products worldwide, handling licensed material and managing business development with third-party developers.

“From a business perspective, publishing is the logical next step for FireSky,” said Mr. Ybarra. “We’ve got the chops to do it and we’re assembling a great team here in the desert. I can’t wait to get our flagship up and running to show off our operation.”

FireSky, a subsidiary of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment, currently has four studios working on a variety of interactive titles.

“It’s almost time for us to lift the veil and show the world some of the unique projects we’re working on in addition to Stargate Worlds,” said Mr. Jenson. “Our studios are filled with talented game designers, world builders and engineers and we’ll be announcing several products over the course of the summer and fall that will lay the foundation for SNAP games and Project: Ascension. We have projects that span a variety of game genres as well as proven and emerging business models.”

About FireSky

FireSky is a publisher for Social Networks at Play or SNAP games. FireSky’s flagship product is Stargate Worlds, based on the longest-running U.S. science fiction television series Stargate SG-1® and Stargate Atlantis ™ which are officially licensed by MGM Interactive. For more information, visit the company's website http://www.firesky.com and the Stargate Worlds community site at http://www.stargateworlds.com.