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[kalaratiri]

https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=2023393#post2023393

Back at the end of February CCP t0rfifrans announced Team Avatar and that one of our priorities was prototyping, specifically to:

"...create playable gameplay prototypes of gameplay features and try them out within the team, and within the company... The purpose of all this prototyping is to make sure we provide a strong vision for avatar gameplay, have a good demonstrable idea of why it is engaging and better understand the technology we will need to create in order to make it a reality."

The prototype itself has been finished and has been presented internally to the company stakeholders, the CSM and finally to the company as a whole. The feedback from that was overwhelmingly positive. So on to the information!

Extra-Vehicular Activity, Wrecks and Exploration

There has been an idea kicking around CCP for a long time now about an ideal starting point for avatar gameplay. That is exploring hazardous environments in order to get awesome stuff. Think scanning down a site before entering it in order to find and salvage artifacts, technology and other goodies. Sounds straightforward and it would be but for the dangerous nature of delving into long lost places where time has taken its toll on the structure and the previous owners may not have left things in a benign state. In true EVE style throw in the added dangers of lurking competition and things have a chance to go south fast. The inspiration for this comes from a lot of different places, back to the original Aliens films, Event Horizon, the cleanup of Chernobyl, high-altitude mountaineering, games such as Space Hulk, Minecraft and Moonbase Alpha, to name just a few.

Over three months we concentrated on the minute by minute gameplay of actually being inside a long abandoned structure, the hazards that it would contain and how the players might deal with them and any uninvited guests. We used the Unity engine which is a great game engine for prototyping in as it lets us create environments and gameplay very, very fast and iterate on it equally quickly. A lot of our art is much more abstract (a "grey box") than you’d see in a final game. This is due to us concentrating on the gameplay first and foremost whilst also recognizing that ambience plays an important role in how a game feels. We do throw in the occasional EVE asset here and there for flavor but those are not descriptive of any final theming or style.

The gameplay premise is simple, players move through our abandoned structures with their fitted Extra-Vehicular Activity suit, using their wits, tools and teammates to deal with the hazardous environment. Some of us are enthusiastically and maliciously killing teammates for personal gain. We’ve even allowed two teams into the environment to really let all hell break loose.

It’s a part of the EVE Universe

There have been a lot of questions on the forums about how this integrates with EVE. Whilst this isn’t the core focus for us at the moment it is something we are thinking about long and hard. Like DUST514, this part of EVE should contribute to the overall economy as well as supporting its own ecosystem. Right now we’re thinking that these abandoned structures are so dangerous, radioactive and toxic, that they can only be entered with special suits. Obviously with access to clones you aren’t worried about radiation and long term health effects of hazardous lifestyles. You probably all smoke and eat lots of bacon as well and besides robots won’t survive the violent EM fields. Robot electronics would toast, thus only teams using gear that involves crude electronics, like found in EM resistant military hardware can go in and recover the technology that lies within.
One example of a link with EVE gameplay we’re thinking of would be to put implant manufacture into the hands of players and making avatar gameplay part of the resource gathering chain it has. We want to make Avatar gameplay a viable and vibrant part of the Universe without forcing anyone that doesn’t want to use it from having to use it.

A benefit from the EVA game is that a lot of the technology that would need to be developed to properly deliver the EVA experience would be directly useful in providing social areas and tools in stations.

That just sounds like one idea...

We decided to concentrate in depth on the one idea that has kept resurfacing from lots of different places within the company. We’ve had several others and collected a lot both internally and from the forums. One example would be a Station based espionage system. The beauty of the EVE Universe is that these ideas aren’t mutually exclusive for the most part. So whilst I think we are fairly sure of the initial gameplay direction there is lots of scope for expansion.

(cont)

It has been fantastic to see the Avatar team show everyone that there is meaningful gameplay using more than just your ship as your agent in the EVE Universe. The prototyping work they have done in Unity has allowed them to rapidly explore different themes and make a game which is challenging, fun and in the true spirit of EVE.

At CCP we are now making sure that when great gameplay concepts such as these come along, we take time to assess what would be required to take them out of the concept phase, into our engine, through pre-production and into production. We must also consider how it interacts with everything else we are doing both within EVE and CCP as a whole. One of the great achievements of this piece of work is that it has really proved it is possible to rapidly iterate on new experiences without having to make a huge investment up front.

Once this prototype was demoed and I had played it (being beaten by CCP Explorer and team in the process), then came the next part. Working out what would be needed to put this concept into the game for real. The team worked together to put a pre-production and production plan together using what they had learned over the previous months and also the lessons learned from the Incarna efforts from last year.

The result of that planning highlighted that right now, we do not have the time or people to build this without impacting what we can deliver for our players who are flying in space. To create this will mean a considerable investment which will take time to put together and also a new focus for us just at a time when we as a company have another new game coming into the EVE Universe (yes DUST 514, I’m looking at you).

So, all that being said, we have a great concept to expand the EVE Universe but now is not the right time for us to take that step. It’s a step I very much want to take but I want to take it when it won’t mean removing developers and focus from flying in space. So, for the time being, watch this space with regards to exploration gameplay for EVE avatars. The Avatar team will now be turning its attention to features it can put out for EVE in our winter expansion and beyond.

Oh, and slightly further down: https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=2023704#post2023704

Hey guys, thanks for the positive reaction. Like stated above, our vision is to make the EVE Universe the ultimate science fiction simulator. Saying that EVE is just about spaceships, is a bit like saying that phones should only be about making voice phone calls one on one with other people. Indeed they did start out like that, but as technology evolved, they become something much bigger. We hope you guys stay with us long enough for that dream to materialize.

Oh and to someone that asked if it can be safe. Sorry, nope. The EVA gameplay is not safe, it's as safe as going into a wormhole. That's also what makes it interesting.

[BloodBird]

S W E E T .

I've always hoped they might do more with Incarna stuff and the whole outside-your-spaceship experience, and this confirms that one day perhaps, my toon(s) will be able to travel around stations, possibly planets and space-habitats, enter/exit the pod manually, explore stuff in EVA suits (didn't think of that until today, thanks CCP) and who knows, get out-of-pod while 'offline' in space or in station and explore my space-ship.

Plenty of things that can happen, but one thing is also very promising by this; EVE online will likely still be here in several years. Bigger, better, and hopefully, more enjoyable than ever.

[NISYN Aelisha]

I like what I see.  Archaeological exploration is definitely something Aelisha would be interested in, if only to get out and about a little from time to time.  Solarienne, obviously, will be wherever a bodyguard or war dog is required...  This stuff cannot come soon enough!

[Z.Sinraali]

As cool as this looks, I have to wonder why they'd use pod-clones for this and not dusties. Aren't the latter designed from the ground up to be much more physically capable, and just as disposable?

[kalaratiri]

As cool as this looks, I have to wonder why they'd use pod-clones for this and not dusties. Aren't the latter designed from the ground up to be much more physically capable, and just as disposable?

 

[NISYN Aelisha]

There is nothing preventing them from retconning that our clones have a form of NIS implant technology in them, albeit one designed to still interface with capsule technology (which I assume the NIS implant in it's 2nd gen state still isn't designed for).  After all, we don't want the young demi-gods stealing all the thunder from their predecessors in the sky.

[Safai]

As cool as this looks, I have to wonder why they'd use pod-clones for this and not dusties. Aren't the latter designed from the ground up to be much more physically capable, and just as disposable?

Very much my thoughts. I just can't see my character risking herself like this, it would seem smarter to send a drone or some poor disposable fool in my place.

That said I hope this is cool.

[NISYN Aelisha]

To be honest, if it is literally a minigame with rewards dependant on risk, like many elements of EVE, then everyone will be free to participate or get others to do their dirty work . 

I am a big advocate of 'because I can', 'boredom' and sheer showing off as reasons for capsuleers to do what they do - after all, once you are immortal, and the potential loss is considered acceptable with regards to potential gains, all that remains is a decision as to who is going - you or a proxy.

[GoGo Yubari]

In reference to that other thread, this might bring me back.

When I first heard about the first glimmers of it, I thought it was a magnificent idea. I'm very glad to see Eve Online going in that direction.

[Desiderya]

Sad that Unifex basically said that they won't touch it for quite some time.
For good reason, they shouldn't slow down on their current efforts.
But I'd pay for that feature if that would allow them to get it done.

[Esna Pitoojee]

With regards to "why would we do this?!", we may be running into conflicting views with CCP regarding how self-destructive the general capsuleer is. We, after all, are not the ones who throw ourselves into thousand-person-plus meat grinders in nullsec, nor are we typically the ones who happily sacrifice our ships to CONCORD to shoot down mining barges or haulers in highsec.

That said: In general, this idea has promise. However, much like PI, it could easily turn out to simply be done wrong. I'll be looking forward to seeing how CCP handles this when they do decide to do it.

EDIT: I just thought of something - if high-tech circuitry is damaged or disrupted by EM fields in these things, wouldn't our own capsuleer implants be driven haywire by going in there, even inside the EVA suit? If not, why can't they slap the equivalent of an EVA suit on a drone and do it that way?

[Reyd Karris]

EDIT: I just thought of something - if high-tech circuitry is damaged or disrupted by EM fields in these things, wouldn't our own capsuleer implants be driven haywire by going in there, even inside the EVA suit? If not, why can't they slap the equivalent of an EVA suit on a drone and do it that way?

This video, at the 0:56 mark explains the basic concept.

 

[Graelyn]

But we still can't get WIS.

Which was mostly completed and working in some form.

 

[Ghost Hunter]

If I don't hear my character breathing inside the space suit ala Dead Space...

[Natalcya Katla]

Dungeon crawling is what marines are for, tbh.

Boarding mechanics are a neat idea in and of itself - however, I don't see my characters strapping on combat gear and kicking down doors. Hell, none of them have ever even fired a handgun - why should they?

If they're going to make a boarding mini-game, I'd personally much rather see one where you take control of a small team of fun but totally expendable marines in a similar fashion to good old Cannon Fodder.