new interwiev with EC team

grigdusher

http://www.worldsfactory.net/2014/06/05/warhammer-40k-eternal-crusade-interview

 

It’s been a while since we’ve updated our meaty collection of interviews. With E3 coming up, most developers are focused on the show, but we’ve managed to get the kind folks at Behaviour Interactive to sit down and talk with us about Warhammer 40K Eternal Crusade, their ambitious upcoming action MMORPG scheduled for a 2015 release on PC and next generation consoles. Enjoy!

 

• First of all, I’d like to get some clarification about the single-server nature of Warhammer 40K : Eternal Crusade. As of now, there are pretty much two ways to do a “single server MMO” – the way of Elder Scrolls Online, which effectively splits players into as many instances as needed, and the way of EVE Online, where everyone is effectively playing in the same world. From what I’ve read, you’re planning to try the latter, but this could require an incredibly massive world – EVE Online is set in space, but what if Warhammer 40K: Eternal Crusade gets 500K concurrent players at a time? Will they play on the same planet, everyone seeing (and shooting) each other?

[David Ghozland] This is similar to Eve Online but the MuchDifferent Technology we are using is using a cell system which theoretically is scalable to a very high number. Meaning that several thousands of players could potentially share the same space. Our limit is more coming from the client’s graphics card than from the server tech. To insure a good experience we decided to segregate the populations per zone or continent. In the worst case scenario we can always lock a continent because the max population for your faction has been reached. We are targeting half a dozen of continents with a population limit of about 10-20k per continent. If the game is so popular that we reach 500k concurrent players at a time then we will need to add more continents ASAP!  That would be a great reason why to open battlefields on the moons before launch and not after[laughs] !

• You’ve talked about procedurally generated content for Underworlds, inspired by games such as Diablo II and Left 4 Dead. Can you explain what kind of things players can expect to change with your procedural generation while coming back to a specific Underworld?

[Steven Lumpkin] When you enter an underworld you’ve visited before, you will descend through levels that are procedurally generated.  The maps are built out of pre-constructed chunks that are strung together in different and unique configurations with different traps, different decorations – and of course, different monsters.  There may even be unique “set piece” encounters that only occur very rarely, offering you special rewards for special challenges.  The amount and type of rewards you get for completing an Underworld will vary as well, and sometimes you’ll find powerful relics deep within that need to be returned to the surface.  So, you see, nearly the entire experience changes!

• Does that include different bosses, or different abilities for bosses?

[Steven Lumpkin] Absolutely.  You won’t be able to predict the kind of boss that will appear, or where it will appear – unless it’s a part of a rare “set piece” encounter you’ve seen before, but that’s the exception rather than the rule.  You’ll have to stay on your toes!

• Dungeons have become more and more straightforward and short in today’s MMORPGs. Are you going along with the trend, or perhaps you’d rather harken back to the massive, sprawling labyrinths that some old timers are clamoring for? Also, you mentioned that even this activity will contribute to the faction’s cause – how exactly?

[Steven Lumpkin] The Underworld is not like a dungeon in a traditional MMORPG.  Just as we don’t have a Tank, DPS, or Healer, our dungeons are more like a run through a dungeon in Diablo II or Path of Exile- or maybe like playing through a map in Left 4 Dead.  We’re creating a survival-horror experience; you’re deep in the earth, there are enemies at every turn, you’re low on health, you’re running out of ammo… but there could be an amazing treasure around the next corner.  What do you do?  While we don’t want our Underworlds to be impossible to navigate, we don’t just want them to be a straight walk in the park either.
Earning rewards in the Underworld gives you and your team resources you can spend for an advantage in fighting over territory in the open world.  Additionally, rare Relics you may find in the Underworld could serve as powerful items benefitting your faction.  We’re still looking into some other ways to make them impact the open world as well- triggering a Tyranid invasion, for example, but this is just a brainstorm we’ve discussed briefly.  We don’t want players of the Underworld to feel separate from the conflict!  Your actions matter to your faction!

• As with all Faction-versus-Faction oriented games, territory control is going to be the first objective for players. However, what kind of rewards can players expect once their faction is dominating, and more importantly what consequences will there be for the overall world? Are you going to unlock some dungeons or other content only for the winners?

[Brent Ellison] Territory control is a tool for players to succeed at the campaign, but it’s not an end in itself. We don’t actually want to encourage a single faction to take over the world, although the system will allow it (with some pushback). Campaign missions are always opposed, but not necessarily available for every faction at once. For example, while there might be a mission for Space Marines and Orks on one side of a continent, a simultaneous one for Eldars and Chaos might be happening on the other side. Missions frequently include non-control gameplay as well, such as destroying a particular object or driving a relic from one territory to another distant one.
Overall, a faction is not just trying to win everything, they’re trying to complete as many missions as possible and advance their faction’s goals. By participating in the campaign and completing missions, players can earn medals for end-game rewards and recognition, while factions can affect the ongoing narrative and future campaigns or battles in that location.

• As I understand it, during a Campaign it’s the High Command, handled by the AI, which sets the overall objectives after gathering intelligence. However, you also stated that a player-selected Council determines the focus on the faction during the campaign; how are these two things reconciled? Also, how long will a Campaign last on average?

[Miguel Caron] A campaign lasts around 1 week and the ONLY aspects coming from us are the primary and secondary objectives. After that, HOW you will achieve these objectives (or even IF you want to since you can still come out ahead in a campaign without completing some of the Objectives) is 100% up to your faction’s War Council.

• Will it be possible to somewhat trick a Tyranid invasion to go bother another faction instead? What kind of rewards can people expect to repel such an invasion of NPCs in the open world?

[Brent Ellison] We’ll have to see – the Tyranids are supposed to distract an overly powerful faction from pushing their front lines, so we don’t want a faction that’s dominating to be able to push them on a weaker one. In addition to the normal rewards for driving off Tyranids like XP & reward boxes, if a faction is getting really hammered then their leaders will set objectives to clear them out just like they can for PvP gameplay, and these come with their own reward bonuses.

• Speaking of combat, how do you plan to address such common situations as the “zerg effect” indoors (similarly to Planetside 2′s Biolabs), or the fact that melee characters seem to usually be at a disadvantage in games with large fights going on?

[Brent Ellison] The “zerg” is a problem we’re very committed to dealing with. We believe it’s a natural result of players following the path of least resistance to their rewards and there are three particular ways we’re planning on addressing this:

1. Providing multiple types of progression so grinding kills only takes you so far if you’re not actually taking territory or completing objectives
2. Spreading the big battles over multiple territories – our big Strongholds have linked supply depots in the adjacent territories that players must fight over at the same time or they risk losing the advantage
3. Providing a means for every player, regardless of their status as a noob or hardened-veteran of a long-standing guild, to clearly see and benefit from the orders of the strategic-minded community leaders.

The last one is particularly important as it allows the path of least resistance to work for us. If a big objective appears on your screen promising extra rewards for capturing a particular point, you’re probably going to take it. These objectives come from other players, however, who have ascended to their position on the promise that they’ll be playing the strategic layer of the game and pushing the soldiers on the ground in the right direction. If they do a bad job, the players in the faction have the opportunity to kick them out!

The effectiveness of melee in big firefights is something we’re iterating on continuously. One principle that we’re sticking to is that the melee guys have to have a means of surviving incoming fire. For the jump pack guys, that means they need to stay agile and pick guys off at the edges. Characters with storm shields on the other hand, can wade in so long as their back is covered. And when a dedicated melee character gets within arm’s reach of you, you’re in big trouble.

• The downed state proved to be pretty convenient for zergs in games such as Guild Wars 2. How will you prevent this mechanic from boosting the already mighty “zerg effect”? Are small groups able to take a zerg (provided higher player skill/equipment on average)? 

[Brent Ellison] It’s difficult to draw any comparisons between our combat and a traditional MMORPG like Guild Wars 2. Right now, the TTKs (time-to-kill) in Eternal Crusade are about 2 seconds. This means characters die at a rate more comparable to Gears of War than World of Warcraft. Combined with the fact that we have friendly-fire and a much greater max range, you won’t be seeing the giant blobs of people you do in Guild Wars PvP.
In a game like Battlefield 4 or Planetside 2, you can resurrect dead people before they respawn, which creates the same sort of effect as the downed state. In fact, the downed state mechanic actually makes it harder to rez players because they can be executed or shot from a distance, after which there’s no coming back!

• How important will equipment (weapons, accessories etc.) be for the overall performance of your character versus player skill? Can an experienced shooter player who’s new to the game beat a veteran character in an average scenario?

[Brent Ellison] Our plan with the equipment is to make progression as horizontal as possible – anything you spawn with a significant power increase is accompanied by a Requisition Point cost and will therefore be limited (and provide extra XP to the person that kills you). If the veteran player hasn’t gotten better by playing the game, a new, skilled player who quickly grasps the nuances of the game can beat them. Of course, the new player won’t have access to the same breadth of tools when making loadouts, so the situation in which they encounter each other will make a big difference.

• Will there be a contiguous space where everyone in your faction can just chill out? Kind of like Stormwind or Orgrimmar in World of Warcraft – maybe like the Fleets in Star Wars: The Old Republic, hovering in space orbit?

[David Ghozland] You will have your own quarters in space and you will share space in a frigate with your squad. If you join a Strike Force (guild), you will be able to interact with your brothers in arms in the main room of your Strike Force Cruiser. These will be the first social hubs you will experience before joining a fight on the planet’s surface. In addition, and to encourage social interaction outside of your guild, each faction as a “home island” where you can meet players of your faction and experiment with your character builds, weapons and vehicles in a relatively safe area. This zone will serve as a playground as well as a tutorial for new players. I say “relatively safe” since the Tyranid menace is everywhere…

• Do you plan to have VoIP embedded in the game, such as Planetside 2?

[Miguel Caron] Yes, you will soon see a Press Release about it… but it’s NOT like PS2… a LOT better!

• Your plan is to release the game on “next-gen consoles” as well as PC, however, I am under the impression that you will do so only as long as the platform owners agree to share the same world. From what we know of their policies, Sony agrees to cross-platform play while Microsoft does not. Does this mean that Warhammer 40K: Eternal Crusade might come to PS4, while the Xbox One is left aside, at least until their policy changes? Also, did you already do any work on the consoles versions, or are you waiting for a later stage to begin?

[Miguel Caron] We’re waiting to see the business models and rules Sony and Microsoft will have for MMOs on next gen consoles before making the final decision about releasing on those platforms.