Interviews:Creative Director Chris Klug Interview at Warcry
From Stargate Worlds Wiki (SGW)
Interview at WarCry
Visit any number of forums dedicated to fans of the Stargate universe and what you'll find is an unsurpassed passion, loyalty and devotion to a series that has excited and moved countless millions of faithful viewers. After nine seasons as a television series, after the spinoff Stargate: Atlantis started airing, and after years of fan fictions and sci-fi conventions, Stargate Command is making its next big leap into the brave new world of MMOs.
I recently sat down with Chris Klug and Sara Baker of Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment (CME) to discuss their new MMO, “Stargate Worlds”. For those who aren't familiar with the series, Stargate is—in a nutshell—a world in which humans have found a strange alien device (called a Stargate) capable of transporting us to the distant reaches of the galaxy. After finding this device, we set up a special organization called Stargate Command to make use of it and see what's 'out there'. While exploring, we humans run into a hostile alien race called the Goa'ould, as well as other strange (and often-times dangerous) races and technologies. Being the meddlesome creatures that we are, humanity is pulled into the center of galactic struggles and must secure technologies to defend itself from threats as well as strike out to form alliances and make friends. It's epic, it's heroic, and it's the perfect backdrop for an action-packed sci-fi MMO that can impress and move. At present, Stargate Worlds is still in its early design, but after a lengthy conversation with our interviewees, we came away with about as detailed a look at the early game as we could have hoped for.
The primary goal of Stargate Worlds is to make the player feel as if they're actually in the show themselves, connected to the same characters, the same stories, and the same atmosphere that they've come to expect and love. For example, the humor that's brought out in the show by Richard Dean Anderson and the writers will be replicated as closely as possible in the game, and the same epic struggles against far superior villains will be a major backdrop.
The way races and character progression is set up in Stargate Worlds is that you begin as a relatively neutral member of your given species. In order to progress, you invariably make a willful choice that will lead you down one alignment path or another—as a Human, do you choose to join Stargate Command or become part of the rogue NID faction? As a symbiont, do you call yourself a god and assume superiority over your underlings as a Goa'ould, or do you join the Tok'ra in their fight against them? And finally, as a Jaffa, do you align with your god, or do you seek freedom from your oppressors? These choices are directly responsible for the kind of life your character lives as he travels throughout the universe in Stargate Worlds.
With such room for choices and such unclear divisions between good and evil for each of the major races, we're left with a huge array of groups and allegiances, all of which are intent on pursuing their own goals on their own terms. The Goa'ould want to dominate over lesser species, the Asgard want to save their dying race and multiply, and the rebel Jaffa and Tok'ra want to undermine Goa'ould rule and rid the galaxy of them forever. The interesting thing about this, according to Chris, is that Stargate Worlds is being designed to take these goals and beliefs into account and then structure its skills, abilities, lore and missions in such a way that gameplay feels very realistic and very 'true' to what you would expect if you were actually a living, breathing member of the Stargate universe.
Similarly, two archetypes exist as far as a race's play style is concerned: we have 'free will' (which is adopted by Humans, Tok'ra, and Asgard), and then there's 'control', which is employed by the Goa'ould as well as the Jaffa under their rule. This disparity between races' philosophies will be a major part of Stargate Worlds and will help determine skill sets as well as the overall play styles of the races. Neither is inherently 'better' than the other, of course, but the different philosophies will both appeal to different types of players as well as create a believable atmosphere and bring the game that much closer to feeling like a full cinematic experience.
The most amazing thing that was revealed to me during the interview was that the executive producers of the television series have stated categorically that any story—any environments and any experiences created for Stargate Worlds—will be treated as canon in the show. When, as it's been promised, we see the Asgard homeworld in-game, anything we see there will then be relied upon and expanded upon in the television series. The greatest rallying cry from the developers and producers in the design of this game has been the decision to merge the storylines and backstories of both the game and tv series into one continuity, and then to allow each to provide context and background for the other to build off of. In the end, we're going to see a completely cohesive game universe that—yes—adheres to the original script, but also is capable of expanding the lore of the original series in order to grant us brand new glimpses into the technology, the racial interactions, and the struggles that we've been so keen on seeing. In short, we 'will' see things in the game that we've never seen before, and they will provide new, enlightening information that will make you take a step back and say 'huh, I didn't know that'. That's the big thrill in store for fans of the series—we get to learn more about aspects of the universe than we ever thought possible.
Not much is known at present about the exact implementation of the game's systems, but there are plans to offer both combat classes for the die-hard combatant as well as more tactical and strategic classes like archaeologist or medic. Each class is planned to hold a specific strategic advantage to promote teamwork in the field, and it is proposed that there will be enough classes to provide appeal for a wide array of gameplay styles. Also, in the works are plans to allow players to build structures at offworld locations. From small individual shelters to large-scale corporate headquarters, an entire tech tree is planned to make exploration and gaining footholds on offworlds that much more exciting.
PvP is planned, but the specifics have yet to be hashed out—either 'blank slate' worlds will be available for massive wars to be fought between factions, or a more structured approach will be taken—we'll just have to wait and see what path they take.
Stargate Worlds will make use of Bigworld Technology for the graphics engine and server-side operation. Bigworld is a proven solution to bring an MMO from pro-production to completion and offers a suite of tools to help accomplish this as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Finally, live events are planned to be a major focus of the game. When asked what he felt the most important method of reaching his audience was, Chris's eyes lit up and live events were at the top of his list. He wants players to be able to feel a part of the continuity, and what better way to accomplish that than to allow players to interact one-on-one with a living, breathing, dynamic set of characters and events that unfold in real-time? Yet another way CME hopes to bring the player right into the action and make them feel completely immersed in the Stargate universe.
Stargate Worlds is still early in development, but from the brief glimpse we've managed to take away from our encounter with the brains behind this massive undertaking, it looks to me like we're going to be in for a real treat. Choice, immersion, live events and a universe full of struggles that just screams 'epic classic'. Welcome, Stargate Worlds, to the global MMO community. It's about time.
