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[Interview] Novus Aeterno: Novus Aeterno - A Seamless AAA MMORTS
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
Novus Aeterno is described by its team as a "seamless AAA MMORTS" that is aimed squarely at fans of both MMO and RTS genres. We caught up with Taitale Studios CEO Nick Nieuwoudt to talk about Novus Aeterno. See what he's got to say before leaving your impressions in the comments.
MMORPG.com: Novus AEterno has been described as an “EVE Online / StarCraft love child”. Do you think this is accurate? How so?
Nick Nieuwoudt: Eve Online captured the essence of the true ‘vastness’ of space. StarCraft as an multiplayer RTS game, achieved an intellectually challenging strategy game which endured for years.
Novus expands the RTS genre to achieve both the vastness of space, as in Eve Online, with the strategy and competitive gameplay of StarCraft.
Novus AEterno has built a HUGE space go-anywhere-do-anything ‘sandbox’ on what is likely the largest strategy scale to date; and at the same time, offers the micro-management elements you have come to expect in an intellectually challenging RTS game such as StarCraft, Sins of a Solar Empire, Dawn of War, Homeworld, etc.
Read more of Suzie Ford's Novus Aeterno: A Seamless AAA MMORTS.
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Comments
*yawns* Another developer claiming a "AAA" title. I really wish they would stop saying that. That is just a load of bull. Your game was just in Kickstarter and you're already claiming AAA? Let the players decide that, not you. You are walking into unknown territory with what you're attempting to do. Curt Shilling thought his game was AAA as well and look what happened (not that I would wish that on anyone).
I don't mean to be a snit this early in the morning, but I am so SICK of these developers trying to hype up their game only for it to turn out...*sighs* this is really all ad nauseum as many gamers have seen what has happened over the past year with alot of crappy games (maybe the past few years). Hype train comes rolling in and the game does not deliever and turns out to be just a throwaway money grab.
Sorry, Nick. Until you actually PROVE your game is AAA, at this point, I'm starting you at a D minus. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.
"Its better to look ugly and win than pretty and lose"
When talking BIG are we talking hand made assets or just a bunch of space which takes literally no effort to make.
I would definitely go further than using Eve as an advertising pitch,Eve falls well short of a triple A game,it is basically null space with some ships and pvp,anything else is near meaningless.
Soooooo what is this game doing to create some depth and more than pew pew fire power?is there great visuals,3d animations,tons of assets?
Is the combat more than a spreadsheet like Eve does,or is there actually lots of visual damage and weapon choices ect ect.Being able to easily spot your enemy is not FUn,thjat is waht ruined COD,the RADAR ruined the game completely.Point being i would not copy anything Eve does,that is simply a niche game that garnered a following when there was ZSERO competition,i would expect every competitor now a days to be at lkeast 300% better than Eve not because i want it,because iot it should be EASILY doable to surpass Eve.
Sci-Fi is the toughest genre to build a game for,you need space/ships/planets/avatars/resources both in space and on planets,you basically need to build TWO games not one simple space sim.
Does this game deliver or not,or is this just a marketing pitch to get kickstarter money?
Make no mistake,people are babbling hot air when they say peopel are never happy and always going back to their FIRST,i would play ANY game right now if it has triple A quality and i don't care what genre it is.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
wow, the critics are out in full force today...not that this is unusual for mmorpg.com
it sounds like a fundamentally solid idea and if they can pull it off i think it will offer a serious competitor in the online market.
"There are at least two kinds of games.
One could be called finite, the other infinite.
A finite game is played for the purpose of winning,
an infinite game for the purpose of continuing play."
Finite and Infinite Games, James Carse
sounds interesting and well worth following, which i will do but........
the first thought i had about player population that popped into my head was EVE without empire space - very, very tiny
another very important aspect for this type of game - "ftp" or sub?
Well, the reason why we get extremely suspicious when marketing buzzwords like AAA get thrown around, is that SO MANY developers have used those exact same empty words and failed to deliver on their promises.
The most recent example is Red 5 Studios' FireFall who went from announcing $1,000,000 in prize money: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setView/news/gameId/566/showArticle/25278
to cancelling PvP altogether: http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/566/view/news/page/1/read/28565/Firefall-PvP-Shut-Off-for-the-Time-Being.html
It's only natural that our bullshit meters go into overdrive when developers have tried to fool us so many times before.
The rts that I would deeply luv to see become a rts/mmo is the old (classic!!!) Ascendancy! It had all kinds of wild weapons/devices to research/develop, great music and wild alien races each with something special. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ascendancy_(video_game)
What do you guys think, in your opinion, defines a AAA game, there is no real definition of AAA on internet other than being made by a major game company? Budget? Millions spent on marketing(which is a waste of money)? The Amount of Sold copies of the game? Personal preferences(I like maybe half of the released AAA games in the last few years)? Or something else? And does having a AAA title make it a good game?
http://www.oxm.co.uk/40625/features/what-is-an-aaa-game-valve-volition-and-ea-veterans-discuss/
I will admit Nick shouldn't have used AAA title that easily, especially if doesn't explain why he thinks of NA as AAA title worthy, but that might be because he is slightly overzealous about the game as it is a game he has wanted to play for a long time and it is for that very reason he started developing this game. Did any of you (ScorpionOne,ZapZap or anyone else) who are criticising the game because of the use of AAA Title even check out the game a little bit? Watch one of the videos with gameplay and interview with Nick on YouTube or watch one of the podcasts on twitch.tv . With a small budget and a team of around 20 people they have done a considerably good job even though the game is still in Alpha.
Big budget doesn't mean the game is gonna be good. There are good amount of indie games which are better than some games with much bigger budget or even just as good.
Before saying something bad about a game, one should wait till it exits its Beta phase into the final stage of the game, 1.0 version.
Gatheries - One time payment(~$40) with an optional premium service($10 a month) for those who don't have too much time to play but has no real advantages especially for those who have time to play.
My gaming blog
I am really excited for this game in so many ways. It reminds me a lot of the original MANKIND game http://www.mankind.net/
Unfortunately http://www.mankind.net/ seems to no longer be as active as it was back in the day
Good luck with this title!
I don't think their CEO understands what AAA means. Which brings me to the subject of this newspost. It's a tabloid headline designed to get as many hits as possible by throwing buzzwords together.
Novus Aeterno - Interview with CEO of Kickstarted MMORTS
vs
Novus Aeterno - A Seamless AAA MMORTS!
The first one tells me what the article is about. Probably won't click it. The second tells me nothing, but oh my god so exciting!
I don't like that kind of stuff.
A little too much hype is trying to be created here. Certainly hope it is better than tha gameplay looks right now.
The one thing EVE got right, was the lack of hype creation. It was down to the users to hype it.
Maybe its a Kickstarter AAA? Easy enough to compare how much has been raised compared to other KS MMOs. I think the concept of having AAA Kickstater is fine, after all EQN is a F2P AAA.
If you can have F2P AAA, you can have KS AAA. Don't know if this particular game warrants AAA mind you.
I wonder how much longer it will be before we see EA starting a KS project for a title that would never make it to production without KS funding?
Hey guys! I am with the community team for Novus Aeterno! Really awesome that you are checking us out. Let me know if you have any questions, or if your wondering what the game looks/feels like, we livestream pretty much every Saturday.
As far as assets and scope, the game is designed under the DIME philosophy. DIME stands for Diplomacy, Intelligence, Military, and Economics. There are tools in place for people to specialize in one, or broaden their style to create a well rounded force.
As far as choice, you can decide the weapons, engines, and "extra stuff" on a ship. Combined with our invention system allows players to always be able to provide a unique and new tactic for the battlefield.
But enough talk, check out our stream at twitch.tv/novusaeterno and let us know what you think!