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An Outbreak of New Info from Undead Labs' Jeff Strain
ThomasN7
87.18.7.148Member CommonPosts: 6,690
The big question: What type of game is Undead Labs making? We're seeing same-screen co-op but also mentions a vast virtual world, a global in-game community, and social tools from online games. Is it a MMOG? Is it a lobby-style co-op game?
We have two games under development. Our first game, codenamed ‘Class3’, is an open-world zombie-survival game that we will release for the Xbox LIVE platform. The follow up, codenamed (shockingly) ‘Class4’, is a full online-world zombie-survival game, also developed for Xbox 360.
Is ‘Class4’ an MMOG? No. Not in the traditional sense of the classic PC MMO with warriors, levels, XP, and assigned quests. There are already some fantastic PC MMOs out there — and a few more in the works that look quite promising — but that’s not the kind of game we want to make this time. We love online games with vast shared worlds and passionate player communities, but we’re ready to try something new by bringing those aspects of MMOs along into a different type of game.
Contrary to belief, not everyone loves a parade.
At the Lab we refer to the game we are making as a “survival sandbox” game. We want to drop you into the heart of a zombie apocalypse and let you put your personal survival plan to the test in an open world, with no predefined quest paths, no levels, no corridors, and no canned character progression; just you, your plan, your equipment, and your wits.
‘Class3’ will be a smaller, focused game experience that you can play solo or with a few friends. ‘Class4’ will bring that core game experience into a massive, shared online world with thousands of players.
Is it just zombies or are there other frights out there lurking in the dark?
‘Class3’ and ‘Class4’ are all about the zombie apocalypse. We are not re-skinning orcs and calling it a zombie game. At its heart, the zombie genre is about survival in the face of societal collapse and the complexities of human relationships in the face of dwindling resources. That is the experience we hope to recreate, so don’t expect to encounter 20-foot boss zombies, mutated Werebears, or emo vampires.
That said, the greatest enemy in any apocalypse scenario is often our fellow survivors. Just as in the world today, most people are basically cool, but a few can be real douchebags. The zombie apocalypse would probably amplify those personality traits further, drawing a clear line between people who have your back, and people who would be happy to stab your back. While the fundamental conflict is “humans vs. zombies”, you can bet we’ll be working in the human conflict as well.
Read More: http://www.tentonhammer.com/undead-labs/interviews/jeff-strain/May-16-2011
Comments
Holy shit
I'm sold
See you in the dream..
The Fires from heaven, now as cold as ice. A rapid ascension tolls a heavy price.
How many zombies can I kill before I get bored?
Seriously Left 4 Dead 2 is a great game but even it got boring after a while.
I don't care about innovation I care about fun.
Since when is L4D2 a sandbox mmo equivalent ? Troll elsewhere please!
so wait,, the shit is not even a MMO? they left GW2 for this?
The Shit not even on PS3. lols smh <----to
Philosophy of MMO Game Design
If they can pull this off half as good as it sounds I am totally sold. A Massive world apoc sandbox survival game. What would make it evn better is perma death.
One good thing can come of this. If the game is very good and people love it. Then maybe a big league company will see there is money in the sandox genre and make a good sandbox MMO. The low budget indie wannabe sandboxes ( Mortal Online, Xsyon, Earthrise etc etc) are not cutting the mustard.
Not an MMO.
Not on PC.
Not for me.
Holy crap it's not a (insert label here), fail game is fail!!!
/sarcasm off
Sounds right up my alley, I can't wait to see what comes of this.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
Not trolling really I personally love the idea of a zombie mmo(All I ever play on Counter Strike were the zombie maps) the fact that its on Xbox makes it even better, I simple ask the question that I ran into in all sandbox games.
Honest I am quite excited about this game.
Seriously if your going to criticizes any comment that you may view as negative to the game you are following the GW2 and TOR forms are a that away.
I don't care about innovation I care about fun.
Agreed.
It's a shame to as the (sandbox) game sounds kinda interesting.
Like others have said... console only? Pass.
Console MMOs never seem to do very well... particularly because console gamers aren't really the type to be willing to plunk down a set subscription fee every month, because they don't play consistently enough to justify it. They're the type to pick up a game and play it when they feel like it, and not feel like they have to play it because they've invested money into it.
It's a shame because it's a good concept that I'm sure many PC gamers would also enjoy. I have a feeling though, that the game will end up shambling along through existence hungering for the flesh of gamers it's scaring away.
The sandbox game will end up getting a pc port. I'll bet money on that.
Game sounds fantastic. Looking foward to this MMO (errr...Online World Game) more than any other.
"I agree that a subscription on top of a subscription is a tough sell, so yes, that issue factors heavily into our ongoing discussions with Microsoft about the ‘Class4’ business model.
Subscriptions have the benefit of being simple and clear, and they allow the designers to focus exclusively on making the game fun; but they also feel like paying the water bill. You have to do it if you want water, and you understand that it can’t be truly free, but it’s still yet another bill to pay every month, which just doesn’t mix well with the fun of playing games."
http://www.tentonhammer.com/undead-labs/interviews/jeff-strain/May-16-2011
I would agree 100% if it wasn't for one little thing:
Strain is the guy behind: Diablo, Warcraft 3 and GW 1 & 2. Wow was initially his idea too but he quit Blizzard 2 years in development because he didn't like that the suits were calling all the shots. He is easily one of the best if not the best lead designer in the genre today. He also coded the original battle.net and was the guy that persuaded Morhaime that it shouldn't have a monthly fee.
Hate X-boxes but unless he makes an PC port I will buy one anyways just for the game (the MMO, not the other).
Yeah, I am a fan.
Wtf no PS3? Don't they realize that Xbox is mainly for the shooters and many of the rpg/adventure crowd goes to the ps3. That is immensly dissapointing, and I will not be buying a xbox for the game...really just killed it for me.
Microsoft was the only one willing to publish this game (which means they also fund it). Everyone else wanted it to be WoW with Zombies. Jeff Strain said hell no.
Apparently sony wanted them to go all DCUO on it and try to make the progression structure similar to the "big one" but they said no. Then they went to Microsoft and they said cool, you can make how you want but make it good or you're toast and Jeff Strain gave him a
This is not a game.
Was unaware of that, but funding aside they can still release the game on PS3 can't they since the problem was mainly on selling the game to a publisher but I guess knowing Microsoft they probably also wanted exclusive rights in return of funding.
Here is the exact quote: "Over the past year we were approached by numerous publishers expressing an interest in partnering with Undead Labs. Not surprisingly, many of them were MMO industry publishers who were drawn to the team’s track record in that industry, and while they were excited to work with our team, most of them wanted us to work on yet another World of Warcraft clone.
Screw that. We’re here to do cool new things; not rehash things that literally hundreds of other companies have been trying to do for half a decade. The team at Microsoft Game Studios immediately understood where we wanted to go with this, and they’ve been enthusiastic proponents for the vision of a zombie-survival online world game from the very beginning. In short, they’re a true partner for us, and we think they’ll drive as hard as we will to get there."
http://undeadlabs.com/2011/02/news/rude-qa-2/
Would you pay a studio to intentionally develop a game for a competing platform, even if it was going to be on your own?
Now, in the same realm of zombie games, lets look at Dead Rising.
Microsoft paid a majority chunk of the dev costs for Capcom to get that game as a platform-exclusive.
It's why DR on the Wii was also so different. A number of original mechanics were removed to make it a "new product" vs the funded-exclusive.
Ideally, Undead Labs is in a similar position, where they signed exclusivity rights for the Game, and not the IP.
Class 3/4 will be Xbox Exclusive, sure.
Doesn't mean "Class 5/6/7" will be.
Few years into live environment, when they know the ins-outs of their new idea, and have hopefully built a visible enough market, they can shop to a new publisher, or make deals with both MS and Sony.
That's a little wishful thinking, but the people steering the ship for this are probably well aware of all their options currently and looking forward much more than the speculation will be.
Either way, hell yes this game. Console-MMO's haven't really done well because no one has made one specifically console. The cross-platform games always expose either faults or UI issues stemming from the PC-oriented lineage.
Now, if you build something from the ground up, do what you can to dissuade marketing conventions (just like GW1, he isn't calling the game an MMO, doesn't want the monkier and the baggage it brings), and make something you genuinely want to make and share with people, we'll get a good console MMO-experience.
Hell, Demon's Souls is already making similar strides towards making massive-online-console a reality. Dark Souls paired with Class 3/4 will make for some fantastic gaming.
Lets Push Things Forward
I knew I would live to design games at age 7, issue 5 of Nintendo Power.
Support games with subs when you believe in their potential, even in spite of their flaws.
Very good points, and I guess true. If nothing else I just hope games like these open up the platform for more experimentation especially since some of the big guys involved such as Sony, Undead labs, CCP, Ncsoft and even Microsoft join. But I'm guessing we'll only be testing the waters until the next generation of consoles come and some more innovation can occur.
I agree, I am really looking forward to this game just to see if they can produce another masterpiece.
This should be why many should be excited about Undead Labs mmo because it won't be a WoW clone. It will be something new, innovative and something good to play. Those pc elitsts can stick with their failed WoW theme park clones.
so somehow not being a WoW Clone, as you put it, automatically makes this game good?
did you say that to MO and DF as well?
Philosophy of MMO Game Design