Dust 514 Message Board older than one year ago

Since DUST 514 traces its lineage to EVE Online, we wanted to give it the same rich combat environment that EVE Online has when it comes to vehicle classes and roles. For example, in EVE Online there are ships that share the same hull (and thus the same look) but have very different performance envelopes. This will be true in DUST 514 as well with vehicles that will share the same chassis or hull class but depending on their roles and level of technology, offer very different battlefield characteristics.

Another key aspect that is similar between ships and vehicles is the capacitor. A good way to grasp this concept is to think of capacitors as the energy source that powers everything in a vehicle. From weapon turrets to repair modules, almost everything that you fit on to your vehicle in DUST 514 will need to draw capacitor points in order to function. Because of the fusion technology that the capacitor is based on, you will never “run out” of capacitors in the long run, since it will always replenish itself over time. However, as you activate weapons, scanners, ECM and other modules over the course of a battle it is very likely that your vehicle will deplete its stock of capacitors in short order.

Much like ships in EVE Online, this means that when you customize your vehicles in DUST 514 you will need to pay heed to how much capacitor your vehicle has and how fast the modules on your vehicle will drain it. Therefore, along with combat and repair modules, a discerning player will also need to consider fitting modules that will act as a reserve “fuel tank” that can replenish depleted capacitors on vehicles, and this will certainly add an extra dimension to vehicular gameplay that is unique to the EVE universe.

Also similar to EVE Online is the skilling system for vehicles available to players. Each class of vehicles will require a player to have trained the necessary skill before he or she can pilot it. This will allow players to explore and specialize in vehicles that are more suitable to their own style of game play, and the variety of vehicle specialization is every bit as deep and wide ranging as EVE Online. So, let’s take a look at a couple of advanced vehicle roles that you, as a player, can look forward to specialize in.

The heavy attack vehicle (HAV) was conceived as a breakthrough weapon and as such is meant to be used as the armored fist by many mercenary forces. However, when the situation on a battlefield changes something even more powerful may be required. This is where the Marauder class HAV comes in. With more powerful armaments and heavier armor, the Marauder can be used to deal with the enemy’s “lesser” HAVs.

Hull: Madrugar
Race: Gallente
Class: Marauder
Module Slots: 6H/4L
Crew: 3
PG: 2540
CPU: 235

Combat / Special Abilities:
Can fit siege module

Bonuses:
10% bonus to resistance per level
20% bonus to racial turret damage per level

As you can see from the stats above, the Gallente Marauder offers more module slots giving the player more customization options than the regular HAV. It also has special abilities not available on regular HAVs in that it can fit a siege module, which is a very powerful upgrade that will allow the Marauder to go into “siege” mode thereby granting it even more powerful combat capability. The Marauder also offers role bonuses that give it tougher resistance to enemy fire as well as higher damage dealing bonuses to ensure the death of your enemies.

Of course, all that extra performance doesn’t come cheap and the Marauder is by no means invincible… provided that your enemies know its weakness. As you will see in the next vehicle class, we have created a new vehicle role to counter the beast that is the Marauder.

The in-game maps in DUST 514 are designed to utilize varying terrain features to give players more tactical choices on the battlefield. That means there are plenty of places to conceal and set up ambushes. The fog of war system will also shroud enemies until scouted by friendly forces. So, how can players counter such an array of concealment in order to quickly reveal and assess the battlefield? The solution is the Force Recon dropship.

With its unique combination of speed, stealth, ECM and sight bonuses, the Force Recon dropship will be the mainstay of any mercenary army that wishes to maintain a strong ECM/ECCM presence on the battlefields of New Eden. Worried about what’s hiding in that embankment just around the corner? How many cloaked enemies are waiting in ambush near that upcoming objective? Or, maybe that EW LAV on your team needs a little ECM support? Well, send in the Force Recon dropship to get the job done!

Hull: Myron
Race: Caldari
Class: Force Recon
Module Slots: 8
Crew: 6
PG: 300
CPU: 500

Combat / Special Abilities:
Can use special cloak modules

Bonuses:
20% bonus to sensor dampener range
20% bonus to sight range per level

Now that you’ve gotten a taste of advanced roles for vehicles, let’s examine some of the vehicle modules that we have in store for DUST 514 and how they will work in game.

The cap booster works by replenishing a fixed amount of capacitor points instantly when activated. Each vehicle can only carry a limited amount of capacitor charges, and an empty capacitor booster cannot replenish capacitor points on its own.

Sometimes the best way to knock out a tough opponent is to drain its capacitor bank and like EVE Online, the maxim: “no cap equals death” is just as true in DUST 514. Energy neutralizers work by remotely depleting a targeted vehicle’s capacitor bank. It does require a lot of capacitor points to activate it, however, so a capacitor booster module will most likely be required in order to feed the cap guzzling energy neutralizer.

There’s an old adage that states “an enemy can’t attack what the enemy can’t see.” and this is certainly the case when we add electronic warfare to the battlefield. Advanced combat vehicles like the HAV require a host of electronic gadgets in order to identify, acquire, and dispatch threats effectively. Electronic counter-measures on the other hand, can leave your enemies blind and helpless on the field and often during critical moments.

So, how can a sly player utilize the modules mentioned above to fit his or her vehicle and maximize its effectiveness? Imagine a battle in progress on a distant planet somewhere within the EVE universe. The attacking mercenary forces send in their Marauder in a gambit to break through the defender’s fortifications. As the Marauder smashes its way through barriers and choke points in its mad blitz to the objective, a Force Recon dropship suddenly de-cloaks in midair and begins to drain the Marauder’s capacitor. As the capacitor banks on both vehicles plummet each pilot is hammering the cap booster activation button in a desperate attempt to keep their vehicles supplied with enough power.

The Marauder pilot sees his capacitor bank emptied and has just run out of cap booster charges. He calls for help on the squad channel asking, no, pleading for someone to come and rescue him from his predicament. As the dropship batters away the last bit of armor off the Marauder, a friendly LAV jumps off a cliff and simultaneously lands next to the Marauder and activates its ECM module to break the dropship’s lock on the Marauder. The Marauder pilot gratefully thanks the LAV pilot and quickly limps off to the rear for urgent repairs.

The info above shows just a fraction of the inter-connected dynamics in DUST 514’s vehicle gameplay and the diversity of vehicle fits that will be available to players in the near future. We hope you are as excited about it as we are.

P.S. The retreating Marauder was later destroyed at a choke point by an ambush party before it could be repaired.

So here’s a thing – Massively have been talking to CCP at GDC, and this came out of their discussion:

And while the devs weren’t ready to make any official statements on the spot, a bit of wink-nudging indicates that a PC release may still be in the cards. As the devs note, mouse and keyboard controls are already supported in the PS3 version of the title. “I wonder why we did that,” Hilmar joked during the interview.

We have, of course, always been said that releasing the Eve tie-in purely on consoles is the way of madness, so perhaps CCP have always (sensibly) had that PC release in mind. We shall see.

Hi beloved PS Blog readers – we hope you have been enjoying our series of articles here. We have some big news about DUST 514 coming out this week and wanted to write a more personal note about it here, to you.

The development of DUST 514 has been an amazing experience, as we at CCP pioneer new frontiers for console games in collaboration with Sony. It has really been a process of exploring and breaking new ground – running an MMO service that needs constant updates on a console, microtransactions on a console, connecting an MMO on console to an MMO on PC in a real time shared universe and the Marketplace between the two – and there’s even more to come. Today, I’m writing about one more of those things – DUST 514 will be free to play on PlayStation 3!

This news means DUST 514 is the first ever game built from the ground up as a free to play MMOFPS on console, exclusively on the PlayStation 3. Thanks to how Sony has set up the PlayStation Network – and the innovations they have been making on it together with us – Sony’s console platform is the only one able to support this kind of game as a service and business model.

The development of DUST and CCP’s engagement with Sony has been ongoing since before E3 2011 last year, when we announced our partnership. Over that time, we’ve seen the rise of free to play and microtransaction based games in the Western markets on PC, web and mobile (they’ve been popular in Asia for some time – one of the reasons DUST development is based out of China, an interesting story in itself, for another time) – but consoles have only taken baby steps throughout this generation in this regard, with some patches and DLC and demos, until today.

Just to be totally clear, DUST 514 will be a free to play game, without any cover charge. We debated the cover charge idea for a while, kind of as a hybrid between the old business model (having to purchase a game) and this new one (free to play). As we watched the market evolve, gamers choices in free to play games evolve, our own tastes in free to play evolve and developing what’s needed to support it in collaboration with Sony, this just became the obvious way to go – no cover charge, completely free to play. It’s the right time.

To put it very simply, we think it’s an awesome, amazing opportunity to evolve how console games are made and offered to players, and we believe you’ll agree.

We know you’re eager for more, and we’ll be coming out with tons of info at our annual FanFest convention in Iceland, which starts on March 22. We’ll have first hands-on, while also unveiling details about how we are rolling out DUST 514, videos, interviews (answers to many of your burning questions – we’re watching the comments, reading the forums, listening!), and much more. Sony has hooked up amazing prizes for our DUST 514 tournament at FanFest, we can’t wait to see the battles!

Thanks for coming on this journey with us, it’s one unlike any other, and we’re just getting warmed up. We cannot be more excited for you all to play DUST 514, and being able to make that a reality for free on PS3.

Stay tuned for more very soon!

In the last PlayStation.Blog post I introduced you to the three weapon classes in DUST 514: Heavy, Light and Sidearm. In this post, I wanted to pick a few weapons that changed the way that the development team played when we added them to the game.

Gamers don’t always realize how long it can take for a weapon to make the leap from the drawing board to being fully functional and kicking ass in the game. It needs to be concepted, built, textured, animated, weapon logic needs to be engineered, sounds created, various values set up, tested, debugged, and tweaked. As you can imagine, all this takes quite a while, which means you spend a lot of time playing your game with a limited set of gear. Over time, we add new weapons to the game and they can radically alter the balance of play because they open up new possibilities in combat. Below are some examples.

Let’s start with the Minmatar MH82-BCR Personal Autocannon. This is a heavy weapon and, as such, restricted to the heavy dropsuit. As well as being simply devastating in its own right, this weapon really opened up the heavy dropsuit class once we added it to the game. For some time, the heavy dropsuit wasn’t very popular with our internal dev team. It may have had a ton of hitpoints and access to the deadly Forge gun, but it was slow and easy to outmaneuver. This saw it primarily being used in specialist anti-vehicle roles (where it excelled) but not much else.

This came abruptly to an end when the autocannon made it in to the game. Suddenly you didn’t have to fight the other dropsuit classes on their own terms with weapons ill-suited to the heavy’s slower movement. Now you could outlast any other class in a head-on firefight (though smart players can still outmaneuver the slower heavies), you had more armor and a lot more firepower; enough to destroy light vehicles as well as infantry. The introduction of this weapon unlocked the full potential of the dropsuit and gave us one of the game’s most satisfying weapons to fire. The camera shake, visual effects and rate of fire make this weapon incredibly visceral. You feel unstoppable, like you could take on just about anything, and sometimes — for just a few bright moments — you can.

A multi-barrel, rotary drive machine gun, the autocannon is a singularly devastating anti-infantry weapon. Eschewing the advantages of a lighter frame in favor of stopping power, the exponentially increased heat and vibration produced by this Boundless Creation-developed weapon makes it almost unbearable to fire. Yet despite this fact, its above average hit ratio and extreme rate of fire has earned it the nickname “Death’s Engine.”

Unlike earlier models, the weapon requires no spool up time; rounds are expelled the instant the trigger is pressed. This comes at the cost of initially reduced accuracy as the counter-rotating drives slowly align. Once fully aligned, however, the autocannon produces a pinpoint stream of gunfire with unmatched killing potential.

Specifications

Next up is the Gallente CRG-3 Plasma Shotgun. When we added it to the game, the shotgun filled a gaping hole in our weapons line up. At the time most of the weapons we had in were semi- to full-automatic with mid to long ranges, but the shotgun gave us a very powerful, very short-range weapon. It was actually one of our most eagerly awaited weapons on the team, to quote one of the designers, “shotguns are born fun.”

What happened when we put it in the game, though? As a light weapon, it can be fitted to any dropsuit which makes it very versatile. However, it was those players using Scout dropsuits that really gravitated towards it. Having such a powerful weapon helped them offset their relatively weak armor and shields. They began to use their high speed and maneuverability to get as close as possible as fast as possible with the shotgun and blow their enemy away! Of course, any potential victim in a more heavily armored dropsuit class could potentially fit themselves to soak a portion of the damage done and retaliate with a fistful of death of their own so Scouts still had to stay on their toes!

Designed for close-range combat, the shotgun is a spread weapon with tremendous stopping power. Unlike traditional cyclotron designs, a walled centrifugal well is used to simultaneously shunt dozens of plasma charges, generating a wide-pattern ‘kill spread’ that is lethal over short distances. The excessive recoil produced by each discharge is absorbed by the pneumatic armature, allowing the weapon to be fired repeatedly without significant injury to the user. The operator controlled crank-action flushes coolant through the interior well before cycling additional rounds into the chamber.

Specifications

Last on the list for this blog post is the humble knife. Imagine you’re in a desperate gun fight, you’re closing in on your opponent, he’s almost dead, you run out of ammo, but you’re close enough to use melee to finish him off… but melee hasn’t been implemented yet and he shoots you in the face! This was a situation many of us experienced before the Nova Knife went in to the game and it was incredibly frustrating. As you can imagine it was a very welcome addition and now it’s hard to imagine how we could have played without it.

Every dropsuit comes equipped with a blade so it doesn’t need to be fitted. For most players the Nova Knife is a weapon of last resort, but for a crazed few it is used as a primary. They train skills in knife handling and fit their dropsuits with Myofibril Stimulant modules to make the knife as deadly as possible. There is of course no more embarrassing way to be killed than with the knife. And no more frightening sight than a module-enhanced fast-moving Scout dropsuit that is bearing down on you as you try to pick them off before they get too close.

A close-quarters melee weapon, the Nova Knife is as deadly a weapon as anything on the battlefield. Its name derives from the heated plasma edge of the blade – formed by a thermic igniter and linear gravity condenser – that, in skilled hands, can be used to carve through even the thickest dropsuit armor.

Specifications

One of the most exciting things about game development is watching and experiencing the game as various pieces of gameplay fall into place. Every new weapon we add to the game opens up the gameplay in ways we predicted and ways we didn’t. One of the things that excites me the most about DUST 514 is that the continuous development post-launch means that developers and players alike will get to see the gameplay evolve over time as new content is introduced into the game.

How do you build a better warrior? Militaries have tried for centuries to answer that question, but you’ll be able to figure it out for yourself when DUST 514 launches next year. Infantry dropsuits are designed to protect and sustain the wearer in even the harshest environments. Different dropsuits offer specific bonuses to speed, mobility, defense and configurability. Like starships and planetary vehicles, dropsuits come in a variety of shapes and sizes, each with a unique slot configuration and powergrid (PG) and CPU that inform the decisions you make when customizing your chosen dropsuit.

The number and type of slots determine the modules (interchangeable hardware components that enhance or otherwise alter the functionality of the dropsuit), weapons, and equipment you can fit. The slot types available on dropsuits are as follows:

• Light
• Heavy
• Sidearm
• High
• Low
• Equipment
• Grenade

The three weapon slots – Light, Heavy, and Sidearm – cascade. That is, a Heavy slot can be fitted with a Sidearm, Light or Heavy weapon and, similarly, a Light slot can be fitted with a Light or Sidearm weapon. The high and low slots are module slots, each used for particular types of modules. Equipment slots allow the dropsuit to carry deployable or handheld equipment such as scanners, nanohives, drop uplinks, repair tools and more that will be covered in a future blog. Lastly, grenade slots determine the capacity (i.e. how many you can carry) of the grenade types – Locus, AV, EMP – fitted.

The intrinsic benefits of your chosen suit define, in part, the type of role you wish to fulfill on the battlefield but ultimately it’s how you choose to fit the suit that determines what it is capable of. Do you play to its strengths or do you surprise the enemy with an unconventional, risky fit? The choice is yours.

Dropsuits are classified as Standard, Advanced, and Prototype, each requiring specific skills to be trained before they can be used. Today, we’re going to take a look at two standard dropsuits: the Assault and Heavy.

Caldari Assault

The Caldari dropsuit design and aesthetic philosophy is heavily influenced by the culture’s origins on brutally frigid home worlds, dismissing stylistic notions in exchange for the ruthless, bare-minimum functionality requirements needed to keep a soldier alive. As such, the Caldari suit is notoriously uncomfortable and outright ungainly in some instances, yet remains in high demand due to its remarkable resilience in smart battlefields.

Standard Assault

The Assault dropsuit is a versatile frontline combat suit that combines excellent protection, good mobility, and sufficient equipment hard points for mission-specific customizations.

A flat-coil e5000 fifth generation fusion core runs up the inside of the back plate, powering the entire suit. Its output and heat buildup are controlled by a L2 “Gatekeeper” regulator conduit, which connects directly to the sensor system at the base of the neck. Every joint is reinforced with kinetic sensors and two-way, high torque servos to enhance the soldier’s strength, balance, and resistance to impact forces. The suit’s helmet has more integrated sensor, communication, targeting, and data processing systems than most civilian vehicles. Furthermore, every armor plate on the suit is energized to absorb the force of incoming plasma-based projectiles, neutralizing their ionization and reducing thermal damage.

Assault dropsuits are intended for standard combat operations or those in which the objectives are likely to change at a moment’s notice. Its ability to carry anything from small arms and explosives to heavy anti-vehicle munitions and deployable support gear makes it the most adaptable suit on the battlefield.

Amarr Heavy

The look of this Amarrian suit has changed little since it was first created, due largely to the commonly held belief that its original form is immaculate; the perfect amalgam of science and religion. Aesthetics are as important as function, because to the Amarr, aesthetics are function. Enshrined within the armor, the wearer becomes a vessel, the embodiment of God’s will and an instrument of holy wrath, unmistakable, and feared, by all who look upon him. To the Amarr, the dropsuit itself is the weapon.

Standard Heavy

The Heavy dropsuit is a second-generation solution designed to withstand concentrated small arms fire and protect the wearer from the concussive, thermal, and impact forces of low-grade explosives. Additionally, its power-assisted exoskeleton facilitates usage of the heaviest caliber personal weapons.

Every vital area of the wearer is protected by 25mm composite ceramic shell or high tensile steel plates, layered with impact absorbing, compressed carbon latticework. A secondary thermal dispersion membrane channels excess heat away from the point of contact, distributing it over a larger surface area and thereby lessening the potential damage. Superconductive veins of hybrid silver coat the outer layers and connect every piece of the armor to a grounding heat sink, dampening the harmful effects of direct fire electromagnetic weaponry.

Heavy dropsuits lack the mobility of lighter suits, but this trade-off results in a defensive system that defies standard infantry conventions. No other classification of personal armor can claim to be able to stand toe-to-toe with enemy vehicles and survive.

Even with just these two dropsuits, we can already see battlefield tactics starting to take shape. The Heavy can withstand a lot of punishment, but it has no equipment slots. Pairing it with another dropsuit capable of dropping ammunition replenishing nanohives or repairing from a distance will substantially increase the effectiveness of the Heavy. Alone, a Heavy could easily be outnumbered and outmaneuvered, but surrounded by allied Assault dropsuits it becomes a tank in every sense of the word, soaking up damage while the rest of the squad picks off the enemy.

Although formidable, the Heavy and Assault suits represent only one aspect of the battlefield eco-system. Sheer firepower will only get you so far. A smart squad will utilize the force multiplying support of the Logistics suit; the recon and electronic warfare specialties of the Scout; and all the modules and equipment they have at their disposal to become an unstoppable force. After all, one should never underestimate the value of a well-placed EMP grenade.

The handheld weapons are a key part of any MMOFPS and DUST 514 is no exception. There were a few things that were very important to us.

Firstly, we wanted to avoid the feeling of “Vietnam in space” that you sometimes see in sci-fi games. The goal was to create weapons that had recognizable roles but used more advanced technologies than the equivalent weapons of today. The power of these guns would tear apart a modern day battlefield. In DUST 514 the only way your mercenary can survive the power of these weapons is due to the advanced shielding and armor of the dropsuits they wear. Without them, simply firing these weapons would severely injure or even kill you!

Secondly, it was important to us that the weapons felt like a natural part of the EVE universe. In the same way that the ships in EVE have distinct racial designs and specialties, the weapons of DUST 514 had to encapsulate the values and technology of the race that created them. The ruthless efficiency of the Caldari, the progressive aesthetics of the Gallente, the resilience and resourcefulness of the Minmatar as well as the proud arrogance of the Amarr Empire. All of this had to be communicated through the design of the weaponry; the different styles should be evident when you look at the three examples below.

What we didn’t want to do though, was to limit players to the use of one racial type. After all, you are a mercenary, so you use what works best for the job at hand. This way players are able to use a variety of different weapons to find what suits them best, regardless of its origin. Players are able to use different classes of weapon in different load outs so that they can make meaningful tactical choices and can respond to changing situations on the field of battle. There are three basic weapon classes, light, heavy and sidearm, and here we’re going to take a look at some of the weapons in these classes.

Light Weapons

Light weapons are probably the most common on the battlefield and for many players the light class will be their primary offensive weapon. The Gallente G75-VLB Plasma Assault Rifle is the perfect example of this. A solid all-purpose weapon, effective at short to medium ranges it is very flexible and comes in a number of variants: standard, breach, tactical and specialist. This allows the player to select the style that best suits them: trading fully automatic fire for targeted bursts, and lower rates of fire for increased accuracy over range amongst a variety of other benefits and trade-offs.

Gallente G75-VLB Assault Rifle

Conceived by Duvolle Laboratories, a corporation best known for its ceaseless R&D, the G75-VLB solves many of the problems inherent in mass-manufactured plasma weapons. The result is a weapon that offers improved accuracy and greater containment field stability (which equates to faster, longer bursts of fire) than anything in its class.

It is a magazine-fed, short-to-mid range weapon offering fully automatic fire. Charged plasma munitions are pumped into a cyclotron that converts the plasma into a highly lethal bolt before it is expelled from the chamber. Upon impact with the target, the magnetic field surrounding the bolt collapses, venting superheated plasma onto the contact point.

Specifications
Designation: G75-VLB
Variant: Standard
Length: 98cm
Weight (loaded): 6.2kg
Weight (unloaded): 5.8kg
Max. effective range: 55m
Ammunition: Charged plasma slug

Heavy Weapons

Heavy Weapons are a different animal altogether. They can only be wielded by those skilled enough to use heavy dropsuits which immediately makes them a more specialized choice. They also tend to utilize a high amount of dropsuit power grid and CPU systems making them unsuitable if you favor a more “generalist” approach to your weapon and equipment load out. They are however devastating in the right hands. Nowhere is this more evident than in the DCMA S-1 Forge Gun. This Caldari built ordnance is an incredibly powerful anti-material weapon with only one purpose, engaging and destroying hostile Heavy Attack Vehicles, a job at which it excels.

Caldari DCMA S-1 Forge Gun

Adapted from Deep Core Mining Inc.’s proprietary technology, the DCMA S-1 subverts conventional expectations of what a man-portable anti-material weapons platform is capable of. Despite its excessive weight and extended recharge times, the “Forge Gun” as it has become known, is regarded as the most devastating infantry weapon on the battlefield, and an invaluable tool for those capable of wielding it.

Powered by a Gemini microcapacitor, the Forge Gun utilizes a stored electric charge to fire kinetic slugs at speeds in excess of 7,000 m/s, enough to penetrate even augmented armor systems. During the pre-fire charge, the forward armature locks into position, stabilizing the magnetic field and helping to shield the user from backscatter and the excessive heat produced. Power generation remains the single largest drawback of the current design, the onboard capacitor requiring a significant amount of time to reach full power after each discharge.

Specifications
Designation: DCMA S-1
Variant: Standard
Length: 135cm
Weight (loaded): 58.4kg
Weight (unloaded): 55.1kg
Max. effective range: 1,200m
Ammunition: Solid-state

Sidearms

Lastly, we have the sidearm class. Don’t be fooled by their size, these are very dangerous weapons in the right hands. Often used as a backup weapon by frontline assault troops they really come in to their own when providing a close range infantry combat solution for players in highly specialized roles (such as those using a Forge Gun). A favorite amongst these is the CAR-9 Scrambler pistol. This Amarr weapon, whilst hindered by a low ammunition count, is extremely high on power. Accurate shots with the CAR-9 will tear through shields and armor. It is particularly effective when striking the head due to its high damage output and the thinner armor plating in that area. This last point makes it a particularly popular choice for highly skilled players.

Amarr CAR-9 Scrambler Pistol

The Scrambler is a semi-automatic pistol originally designed and manufactured by Carthum Conglomerate. A small-scale directed energy weapon, the CAR-9 produces a laser-induced plasma channel capable of dealing short-range pin-point damage to a target.

Power consumption is excessive, but The CAR-9 addresses this via a rear-loaded fuel cell, allowing cells to be exchanged quickly and easily once exhausted. Moreover, advances in the polymers used in the weapon’s construction have greatly reduced heat build-up and improved heat dissipation, resulting in improved reliability over earlier modules.

Specifications
Designation: CAR-9
Variant: Standard
Length: 25cm
Weight (loaded): 1.8kg
Weight (unloaded): 1.7kg
Max. effective range: 40m
Ammunition: Energy fuel cell

Vehicle classes in DUST 514 resemble modern day battlefield armored vehicles but are more menacing…and multitudes more lethal. You can also customize the vehicles with weapons and modules to ensure highly dynamic and constantly evolving gameplay where no single vehicle can impose absolute supremacy. The ultimate goal is to create an experience where players make meaningful choices based on their surroundings and situations when deploying vehicles.

Vehicles are highly customizable; these units can be fitted with a broad arsenal of armaments, bolstered by modules that can be installed to apply bonuses and abilities to further enhance a vehicle’s combat effectiveness.

Players will be able to choose arms from all the familiar EVE Online weapon classes, from energy-based laser weapons, blaster and rail cannon hybrid technology to traditional projectile and missile weaponry. Each of these weapon types are divided over racial factions, having an affinity towards vehicle hulls from similar origins. Vehicles like the Caldari heavy attack Vehicle (HAV) for example, are well suited to using technologies embraced by the Caldari, such as their powerful armor-rupturing railgun cannons. This is not to say that this is the de facto weapon choice for the Caldari HAV. Players will have to weigh out their combat strategy, determining what style of weapon will appeal to their play style and the demands to be met for battle at hand. If there is a perceived aerial threat, players may choose to swap out their main turret mount for a large bank of guided heavy missiles to pluck their enemy’s dropships from the sky.

Add to this the power of vehicle modules onboard and a carefully tailored vehicle can truly be a force to be reckoned with. Modules fall under different umbrellas: electronic warfare, weapons modules, and engineering just to name a few. Engineering modules enable players to enhance essential functionality of their vehicle by increasing armor strength, increasing shield resilience, or improving overall speed and handling. Weapons modules and electronic warfare modules take on another dimension of utility. Weapons modules can outwardly boost the power of a vehicle’s turrets by increasing the rate of fire or damage factor per shot, while electronic warfare class modules enable players to immobilize unsuspecting targets with stasis webifiers, cripple enemy turrets with tracking disruptors, or enhance guided missile lethality on target-painted hostiles.

The modularity of these types of equipment allows players to create custom functionality across all vehicle classes simply by installing modules into a vehicle’s allotted number of slots on a vehicle fitting screen. The combined CPU and powergrid cost of all modules weighed against each vehicle’s unique CPU and powergrid resource pool determines the diversity and potency of its fit. This versatile system gives a player the ability to fit for specific tactics or purposes, putting as much creativity into the hands of the player as possible.

Vehicles can be delivered to any location on the battlefield accessible to the Rapid Deployment Vehicle (RDV). This allows players to analyze their current situation, evaluate their resources as well as their chance of success, and deploy vehicles and aerial units accordingly at any given time. Whether to deploy a heavy attack vehicle (HAV) to break through a tough defense point or a dropship to deliver infantry behind enemy lines to and wreak havoc is all up to the players, their strategy and current goals.

Vehicles play a large role on the battlefield and are a significant threat to the opposition. The heavily armored units use long-range heavy concussive attacks while lighter units emphasize speed and flexibility. Aerial vehicles, on the other hand, excel at laying down fire from above; their vantage point over the battlefield also puts them in a good position to provide vital support functions for armored units. Each vehicle will have its own set of unique bonuses or abilities allowing them to turn the tide in battle. Many of these abilities are of a support nature, allowing different types of vehicles to team up to create even more unique roles between classes.

Vehicles and Infantry have a symbiotic relationship on the battlefield, and will rely on each other in many situations. Fully utilizing the offensive capabilities of most vehicles requires the turrets to be manned. Players can spawn directly into vehicles equipped with clone reactivation units, allowing them to get into the midst of battle within seconds after dying. Infantry can be dropped off by aerial units to vantage points not reachable by foot, or they can hitch a ride with light vehicles to cross the vast terrains in a speedy manner. Vehicles also provide support in taking objectives, laying down suppressive fire to hold back the enemy while infantry move in to take control of objectives.

In a similar way, infantry supports vehicles by scouting and setting up traps. Infantry can utilize stasis webification bubbles, target painters and other tools that disable or temporarily make enemy vehicles and installations open to attack.

Name: Saga
Hull: N/A
Race: Caldari
Class: Light Vehicle
Role: Light Attack Vehicle (LAV)
Slots: 3H / 2L
Crew: 3
PG: 180kW
CPU: 190tf

LAVs are highly versatile light armor attack vehicles with a crew capacity of up to three squad members. They are capable of stacking a wide array of lightweight modules in a single configuration, which allows them to assume a very dynamic support role on the battlefield. As an offensive unit they find strength in numbers, often found amongst a group of other LAVs at the front line of battle. Their high degree of mobility and relatively low cost make them a very common, favored anti-infantry unit amongst many mercenary contingents. However, the driver of an LAV needs to persistently be aware of how exposed his crew is to enemy fire and react appropriately so as to avoid having himself and his fellow crew mates picked off before they can land the first punch.

Name: Limbus
Hull: N/A
Race: Gallente
Class: Light Vehicle
Role: Logistics
Slots: 3H / 3L
Crew: 3
PG: 310kW
CPU: 124tf

The Gallente light logistics vehicle (LLV) is designed specifically as an infantry armor augmenter, providing infantry on the front lines with emergency repairs in the heat of battle. Due to its lightweight advanced armor coating, the LLV is quite tough compared to its light vehicle siblings. It feels nimble and is able to traverse multiple terrain types with ease. Although the LLV is mostly focused on support, it is mounted with a weapon hardpoint allowing it to fend off enemy infantry.

Name: Gunnlogi
Hull: N/A
Race: Caldari
Class: Heavy Vehicle
Role: Heavy Assault Vehicle (HAV)
Slots: 5H / 2L
Crew: 3
PG: 1780kW
CPU: 330tf

The heavy attack vehicle (HAV) class has a great combination of weapon hard-points, thick armor, and all-terrain mobility. Their role on the battlefield is to provide heavily armed support at a mid- to long- range distance, assisting lightly armored units as well as infantry. Depending on the type of main turret equipped, an HAV can relinquish its ground-pounding power for an anti-air focus.

Their thick armor enables HAVs to sustain a heavy degree of damage, giving them great staying power to endure extended combat engagement. Their competency on rough terrain allows the driver to place the HAV in tactically advantageous positions to close the trap on the enemy, or to alternatively scale challenging geographical obstacles that would otherwise inhibit less off-road capable units.

Name: Prometheus
Hull: Grimsnes
Race: Gallente
Class: Dropship
Role: Support
Slots: 2H / 4L
Crew: 7
PG: 380kW
CPU: 140tf

The dropship’s function is to support ground units by laying down fire from its two small turret hardpoints, and dropping off infantry reinforcements. It is one of the most maneuverable vehicles capable of hover flight. This allows it to quickly insert fresh infantry into a combat area with great efficiency, as well as afford it the maneuverability to effectively fall back and lay direct fire from an aerial support position. The Gunnlogi has a built in mobile clone reactivation unit, allowing infantry to awaken strapped in and ready to be dropped into combat by the pilot, anywhere on the battlefield.

DUST 514 is an MMOFPS coming to PS3 with large-scale vehicle and infantry combat taking place in – and with a real time connection to – the EVE Online universe on PC. Players are able to band up into corporations (e.g. guilds) and wage territorial conquest on thousands of planets. Following is a thematic description of Rapid Deployment Vehicles, or RDVs. The RDVs deliver vehicles to players on the battlefield, provided that they own the vehicle’s blueprint, and are skilled for its operation. The RDVs are AI driven, with a robust pathfinding system that allows them to deploy anywhere on even the largest battlefields. (We will give more insight into the game’s vehicle mechanics in a blog post soon.)

A Sky Lift-class RDV delivering a vehicle.

Shrouded in advanced optical stealth and guided by automated networked navigation systems, the J42 “Sky Lift” RDV (Rapid Deployment Vehicle) drone is able to deliver even the heaviest armor, with pinpoint accuracy, anywhere on the battlefield. The proliferation of this invaluable tech has changed the face of ground warfare in the EVE universe, giving front-line commanders the ability to strike enemy positions with little warning or reinforce vulnerable points at a moment’s notice.

Originally designed for industrial transportation by Outer Ring Excavations (ORE), the Sky Lift was repurposed for combat missions with a few key alterations. Firstly, the engines underwent a massive upgrade, from aftermarket conventional jet turbines to the latest F/4 Ionized Plasma Forges. The extra thrust they provide compensates for the increased weight of the fuselage, which is augmented with 25mm radar absorbing armor plates. Without crew, the cockpit area has been redesigned with Tech 2 drone hardware, a multi-spectrum geospatial avionics system, and a state-of-the-art Phantom-65 stealth field controller.

One key feature that was completely unchanged, however, is the “Magnetar” lift system. This retractable electromagnetic crane is powered by the Sky Lift’s main reactor but also has an integrated backup capacitor for especially heavy loads. It generates a magnetic field so powerful that most of the vehicle’s EM shielding is in place to protect against the side effects of the lift system, rather than enemy electronic attacks.

DUST 514 is an MMOFPS on the PS3 with large-scale vehicle and infantry combat taking place in, and with a real-time connection to, the EVE Online universe on PC. Players are able to band up into corporations (e.g. guilds) and wage territorial conquest on thousands of planets. What follows is a thematic description of Mobile Command Centers, or MCC’s. At 200 meters in length, these vehicles represent the largest, most powerful weapon a team can acquire, and are flown by a team’s commander. Oftentimes, destruction of the MCC means victory on the battlefield (we’ll give you more insight into the game’s command hierarchy, a system that allows players to form squads that are led by a player commander, in an upcoming PlayStation.Blog post).

A Caelus-class MCC trawls across the battlefield.

Colossal. Imposing. Devastating. Any of these words could describe the MCC, but only one truly sums it up: Control. The MCC is the nerve center of any army, the backbone upon which wars are waged and battles won. It is from here, locked within the confines of a modified hydrostatic pod, that the
commander orchestrates the fate of those on the ground below. He does so having never set foot on the battlefield, but with the collective knowledge and situational awareness of every unit that has. If knowledge is power, it is the commander who wields it.

Heavily fortified and shielded, the destruction of an MCC is by no means an easy task…but it’s not an impossible one. Only a sustained heavy weapons barrage is sufficient to disable the MCC’s shields and take down its armor. If the MCC does possess an Achilles heel, it is its dependence on fuel, without a constant supply of which, its turrets, critical systems and, most importantly, shields are worthless. Commanders would do well to be aware of any and all fuel sources in a given area and plan accordingly.

I am a Server Architect on DUST 514 and, in this devblog, I would like to cover at a high level some of the online technical aspects of DUST 514, including the challenges we have met and the approaches we have taken in handling them.

As a server architect on the project, I am responsible for integrating the DUST FPS multiplayer battles into the EVE universe, as well as optimizing the DUST battle servers to perform even better. Unlike normal FPS multiplayer games, DUST 514 has heavy MMO elements. And unlike normal MMO FPS games, DUST has heavy interaction with one of the most successful MMO space games – EVE Online! This imposes challenges on what technologies we should use in order to have this level of interaction with EVE, while keeping FPS gameplay as smooth as possible.

While continuing to rely on the Unreal 3 engine for the FPS multiplayer gameplay for DUST, the interaction with the rest of the EVE universe should naturally take advantage of utilizing some existing EVE online technologies. Think about a simplified flow of how a DUST battle might begin:

An EVE corporation issues a battle contract to seize a territory on a given planet that is currently owned by another corporation; a group of DUST mercenaries comes to accept the contract as the attacker for the bounty the contract offers; another group of DUST mercenaries comes to accept the contract as the defender, so they also get a reward if the territory is protected. When the number of each team has reached a pre-determined minimum, the EVE server logic would instruct an appropriate DUST battle cluster to spawn a battle in it. This provides the battle server with all the necessary information regarding the prospective battle upon launching, and the DUST mercenary clients will then be forwarded to join the battle accordingly. After the battle is finished with everyone getting (or losing) their share of the benefits, the battle server process will then be terminated by the EVE universe.

So the EVE universe needs to manage the lifetime of DUST battle servers as well as communicating with them when needed, while we also need to make sure that the latency sensitive FPS multiplayer gameplay goes fairly for the participating DUST players. I won’t go into a deep technical discussion about how we solve the challenges involved here, as we are still exploring all the possibilities to find out the best balance point to map physical DUST battles nicely into the EVE universe!

Unlike traditional FPS multiplayer servers, we will host DUST battle servers around the globe. Since the centralized server hardware resources are pretty limited in number, we have to find ways to utilize existing server resources as much as possible. Instead of having a dedicated server machine to host one battle, we aim to have a dedicated multi-core server machine to host as many DUST battle servers as possible!

We have done a bunch of significant performance optimizations to the FPS engine we are using both on the server side and the client side, so each DUST battle server is now happily hosting a satisfying number of concurrent DUST players. Again, I will not go too much detail on how we achieved that, but rest assured that the DUST battles will be very scalable.

As always, we are continuously making improvements to every aspect of DUST 514, to make DUST an enjoyable experience for all of our future players!

We haven’t heard a great deal about DUST 514 since it was shown at E3 2011, other than that it’s a first-person shooter connected to the vast sci-fi universe of PC MMO EVE Online, and that it’s coming exclusively to PlayStation 3. When developers CCP made the trip from Iceland to London to outline their vision for this new addition to their immensely popular EVE universe, I came out of the meeting amazed at the scale of the project. Suffice to say, DUST 514 is not just another shooter.

After the meeting, I interrogated Brandon Laurino, Executive Producer at CCP, to find out exactly why PlayStation 3 owners should be getting excited.

PS.Blog: With EVE Online, CCP already has a huge, engaged community. Why are you now trying to break into the console FPS market?

Brandon: EVE Online is an incredibly deep MMO and, for better or worse, that comes with a typical perception that it is complicated. The common joke is that you have to overcome a ‘learning cliff’ to get involved. Part of the thinking behind DUST 514 is to address those preconceptions; we accept that there is a barrier to entry with something as deep as EVE Online and we wanted to make it more accessible, providing another portal and dimension into the EVE universe. What’s more accessible to a gamer in this day and age than a shooter?

Why did you specifically choose PlayStation as your partner in making that happen?

Brandon: Obviously, we were attracted to the power and the feature set of PlayStation 3, but it really came down to Sony’s willingness to work with us in bringing an MMO to the platform. There have been attempts to bring MMO games to consoles in the past but we believe we’re now in a position to do it properly, using existing features on PS3 and the PlayStation Network, and collaboratively developing new features to support our vision.

Can you elaborate on your vision for a ‘proper’ MMO?

Brandon: We’re breaking so much ground with DUST 514: we’re not only building a full console MMO; we’re building one that feeds into another MMO on a completely different platform [PC]. We’re breaking more ground by bringing the microtransaction business model to a console shooter for the first time. All of this was inconceivable not too long ago, and it’s the partnership between CCP and Sony that’s finally making it happen.

Talking about the connectivity between DUST 514 and EVE Online, is this something that’s going to most benefit EVE players or is there equal benefit to those players first experiencing the universe through DUST 514?

Brandon: It runs both ways – you can be sure that we’re very conscious of that in our design, we run through all the different use cases constantly to ensure its well rounded. EVE Online players can continue playing just the way they are and new players can jump into DUST 514 and get a traditional shooter experience, if that’s what they like. There are aspects that are consistent between the two platforms, such as in-game currency, and there are ways that EVE Online players can impact events in DUST 514 and vice versa, all without harming the overall ecosystem.

Because we have this living universe we call EVE – a single shard server, where all EVE Online players and all DUST 514 players are literally in the same universe, not a bunch of split instances, with a huge variety of dynamics and interdependencies within the ecosystem of the sandbox we’ve created – people playing DUST 514 and people playing EVE Online are essentially providing user generated content for each other, just by their sheer presence and their actions in the game world. To give an example, for a player fighting on a planet surfaces in DUST 514, the actions of the EVE Online players can trigger epic moments and provide support that is completely user-driven. Similarly, a DUST 514 player could trigger an event from the ground and do something spectacular in EVE Online. This emergent behaviour and gameplay is only possible with our level of connectivity. These are the broad strokes, the gameplay and interactions run a lot deeper than that.

In that case, what’s to stop an EVE Online veteran blowing my corporation out of space?

Brandon: We have some rules of engagement that ensure nothing drastic happens without some kind of fair warning and time to prepare, this is basically carried over and expanded upon from large scale player-driven warfare in EVE Online, where sometimes users are coordinating battles involving tens of thousands of players at once. Additionally, there are things that you can earn or build, independently in DUST 514 and / or EVE Online, or collaboratively between the two, that will mitigate those scenarios.

Putting the philosophy to one side for a moment, what is DUST 514 going to be like to play when you’re on the ground, in battle?

Brandon: Essentially it’s a vehicular combat game on an extremely large scale, and then when you move into installations and outposts, it’s more infantry based. We’re using Unreal Engine 3 and we’ve incorporated a Mega Terrain engine into it that lets us create huge levels with varied terrain, with a vast array of vehicles ranging from buggies to tanks to aircraft. Typically, you would use vehicles to traverse the landscape and engage in closer combat when you deploy into outposts, but there is a huge amount of tactical freedom, way outside of those broad examples.

There’s some familiarity for players of shooters in that we have general classes or playstyles that we’ve worked out, such as light infantry and heavy weapons, but we’re hesitant to label them that way because we have something called the Fitting system – something that has been entirely ported over from EVE Online – where you can attach all manner of weapons and equipment to your character and your vehicles. It’s better to think of it like the character systems found in the deepest role-playing games; you can have the broad classes that are familiar to shooter fans, but there is massive freedom to expand on or go totally outside of them.

What’s the plan for expanding content in DUST 514?

Brandon: Right off the bat, we have literally thousands of in-game items built into the system; likewise, in terms of scale, you’re looking at a conflict taking place across thousands of planets, so we’re not just talking a dozen maps – we’re talking an entire universe of planets and areas of engagement within them. That’s the difference in scale we’re looking at here, and taking our experience with EVE Online and also, some inspiration found in the best microtransaction based MMOs, social and mobile games, and we’ve set up our workflow so that we can iterate and add new content very quickly. In terms of scale, depth and volume of content, DUST 514 will easily be the biggest multiplayer FPS on the market – also by virtue of being an MMOFPS, not just an FPS.

Talk us though how your beta is going to work.

Brandon: Just as we have done with EVE Online, we’re going to be telling a story with each of the events that happen in our game. To give a bit of context, in EVE Online you play as the pilot of a spaceship – a capsuleer – and in DUST 514 you play as a mercenary on the ground. It’s going to be a bit weird if, all of a sudden, we release the DUST 514 beta and all these mercenaries suddenly show up in the EVE universe, so the setting is that the first small group of players that get access to the Private Trials will be the first trial of this new mercenary technology in the context of EVE Online. Just as you’re helping to test the game in the real world, in the EVE world you’re taking part in war games organised to test this new mercenary technology.

With our Private Trials – we’re not calling it a Beta, but Private Trials in both the real world and the EVE fiction – we’re not taking the usual “on / off” method of rolling out a build and then taking it back and tweaking it, then rolling it out again; when we roll out with those first few users we are introducing mercenary technology to EVE, our “game as a service begins”, and the story will continue from there as that technology develops, further empowering the DUST 514 mercenaries from test subjects in war games to ultimately allowing them to take hold of their own future. It’s what we call a thematic rollout.

There will be people out there who will look at DUST 514 and assume it’s an EVE Online spin-off. How would you counter that?

Brandon: We’re not thinking of it in that way at all, I suppose is the easiest way to respond to that. The EVE universe is comprised of three experiences: one is the classic EVE Online play, “flying in space” or what we call FIS; there’s WIS or “walking in stations”, where you can now get out of your ship and explore the interiors of space stations; and the final piece is DUST 514 and we’ve nicknamed that SIF, or “shooting in face”. None of those three are spin-offs, they’re experiences of equal value that can be played independently or fully connected. If you’re connected then you’re going to get the rich emergent gameplay that runs through all three.

We have so much to talk about, much of which is new territory for me. Is there anything we haven’t mentioned that you really want to get across to our PlayStation.Blog readers?

Brandon: I hope it comes through that what we’re developing is a truly new experience on PS3 – on consoles in general. It is the deepest shooter with the richest universe ever conceived and, on top of that, by bringing to market an MMO with microtransactions, we could be changing the face of console gaming forever. This is groundbreaking stuff, but user choice is at the core – it’s playing the game however you want to play it. If you want a quick experience, you have it; if you’re looking for something deeper, it’s there. If you want to pay a very small amount of money to play, you can; if you want to be heavily invested, you can do that too. We’re providing a more extensive array of options than has ever been seen in a console game.

E3’s hyperkinetic pace can be overwhelming — even the most dedicated gamer can be forgiven for missing out on some of the most impressive game showings due to lack of time or attention span. Here, we’ve collected 10 of the biggest and brightest trailers E3 2011 had to offer. Which one is your favorite?

This dizzying cinematic trailer shows off Starhawk’s sweeping set pieces and its new Build and Battle action with panache. This is one to watch.

CCP Games’ upcoming PSN exclusive is a first, marrying a punishing PS3 first-person shooter with the player base of PC-based MMO EVE Online. DUST 514 will also support PlayStation Move and include a PS Vita component.

This slick piece of work would look at home on the silver screen. It’s got everything you could ask for: betrayal, infighting, and epic setpieces set to pounding music. My body is ready for 11.1.11.

You wouldn’t guess it from its cheery visuals, but this quirky PSN title was inspired by the designer’s stormy relationship with his father, an abusive drug user.

This new trailer sets a grim tone for Nathan Capelli’s suicide mission to New York City in a last-ditch bid to stop the Chimera in their tracks…or die trying.

These puppies cleaned up real nice for the PS3. I know I’m not alone wanting to play PSP classics God of War: Chains of Olympus and God of War: Ghost of Sparta on the big screen, and soon will be able to — in 3D!

I’ve never dared to dream that we’d see mechs in Twisted Metal, but David Jaffe, Scott Campbell and the boys have never been short on imagination. Side note: I love the actor who plays Calypso.

This PlayStation Move title is set to take gamers into a first-person action-adventure realm never before seen on the PS3. The trailer for Deadmund’s Quest highlights some of the different tools and magical abilities players can utilize throughout their action-packed quest.

This slick reveal trailer shows Agent 47 back in the saddle and better than ever. Not a hint of gameplay to be found, but boy does it look pretty.

The sequel to Sucker Punch’s sprawling open-world superhero adventure is available now, so be sure to check out this visceral launch trailer showcasing some of Cole MacGrath’s new powers in inFAMOUS 2.

Producer Thomas Farrer explained the controversial decision to make EVE tie-in shooter DUST 514 a PS3 exclusive an interview with RPS earlier today. He explained: “most of DUST is running on our own technology, it’s running on our own super-computer, on Tranquillity. And Sony is a lot more… open, shall we say, to allowing you to do those things. It may seem silly, but on Xbox Live your identity is your Xbox Live identity. In the EVE universe, having people not know who you are is quite important.”

When asked whether a 360 version was an impossibility, he reasoned that “I don’t think it’s about saying we “couldn’t” do it. I think some of the challenges we’d meet would be tricky. But then also as a developer you’ve got to weight the balance. It’s nice to work on one platform rather than two, because it means you don’t have to make any awkward compromises, technically. Also you get the benefit of a closer relationship with that platform. “

On the prickly issue of there not being a PC client, Farrer explained: “we don’t want to cannibalise our own player-base.” Read the full thing here.

While we’ve known about DUST 514 – the console accompaniment to the PC’s grand space MMO EVE – for quite a while, yesterday’s announcement that it’s to be a PS3 exclusive has brought it to everyone’s attention once more. So I grabbed CCP’s senior producer on EVE, Torfi Frans, and DUST producer, Thomas Farrer, to try to find out their motives. What is DUST? How exactly does it relate to the EVE universe? And how will a game of EVE change once it launches?

(more…)

CCP’s much vaunted console accompaniment to EVE, DUST 514, has now been officially confirmed as a PS3 exclusive. Apparently it’s because the PS3 is much better designed for online worlds and micro-payments. I’m a touch confused about what DUST 514 is all about, especially how it interacts with PC players of a separate game. (Hence our discussing it.) Confusion I’m going to clear up when I speak to CCP tomorrow (later today in RCT, but it’s still yesterday in America). So yes, this is sort of console news, but if you read on you’ll quite how PC news it really is.

(more…)

Hi everyone! I’m the Community Manager for DUST 514, an upcoming title from CCP. This is the first time you’ll have seen DUST 514 highlighted on the PlayStation.Blog and we’re happy that we can reveal more about our game to you.

DUST 514 is a very different type of game. Yes, many people say this about their respective game titles — everyone thinks their baby is special, right? We really mean it though.

When playing your FPS title of choice, have you ever wished that there was something more to it beyond your rank, weapon unlocks, your kill/death ratio and leaderboard prominence? Those things are all great – but what if those matches you fought in actually meant something? What if your successes and failures against your opponents impacted the course of events in a vast setting, potentially changed a virtual world and the gameplay experience of thousands of other players? More than that, what if that impact was felt across two separate games – one on PS3 and one on PC/Mac – that share the same sci-fi universe?

DUST 514 is that game.

Some may know CCP as the creator of EVE Online, a sci-fi MMO with an open galactic setting. It’s a game perhaps best known for its sweeping fleet battles involving thousands of players, its dynamic player-driven economy, and for having (and allowing!) espionage and spycraft. We think of EVE as the ultimate sci-fi simulation, and that’s where DUST 514 comes in. It’s a whole new way of experiencing the EVE universe through what we call a “persistent shooter”.

“Persistence” is the key word here. The world of DUST 514 doesn’t spawn when you fire up your PlayStation 3 — it’s always there and always being experienced and influenced by other players in the EVE universe. When you take part in events in the EVE universe through combat in DUST 514, you’re taking part in something greater than your own individual experience of that world.

Your actions have significance. We think that’s a compelling approach to a game, and something that’s currently lacking in the industry. But impact on what? The EVE universe is made up of thousands of solar systems, each with a number of planets within those systems. Those same planets seen in EVE Online, where the MMO players create various planetary structures and colonies, are the potential battlegrounds of DUST 514.

Your fights impact the entire EVE setting, comprised of both DUST 514 mercenaries and EVE Online starship pilots, known as “capsuleers“. When you capture or destroy planetary structures, you are asserting dominance over regions of that planet – perhaps eventually the planet itself. As you profit while wiping out your opposition in DUST 514, the outcomes of these conflicts can affect territorial control of vast regions of space in EVE Online, something of great importance to EVE’s starship pilots.

But making allies of some capsuleers makes rivals of others… and that’s where things get even more interesting. (Can you say, “orbital strike“?) Players of both games will have ways of influencing each other, and actions will ripple between DUST 514 and EVE Online.

Part of what makes EVE Online uncommon among MMOs is that the open setting allows for emergent gameplay. Large-scale fleet warfare is fought among the stars in complex military campaigns that can span months, while spies can infiltrate corps and funnel sensitive intel to the opposition. Industrialists plot and topple rivals on the financial markets rather than through violence; skilled corps of hired guns settle disputes through… aggressive negotiations. This is just a fraction of what players accomplish in the EVE setting, which DUST 514 mercenaries will find their own unique ways to engage in. The possibilities are all there to become a part of this, but what happens is up to you.

Of course, either game can exist on its own without the EVE-DUST Link, but both sides benefit from it greatly when the players of each respective game choose to use the connections for all they’re worth.

Ah, an aspect of DUST 514 that’s near and dear to my heart. Those friends and enemies you make between the games leads to a great deal of player community interaction. CCP provides the setting with the EVE universe but ultimately it’s you, the players, who really breathe life into it. And people have certainly done so already, long before DUST 514 was even a twinkle in our eye.

EVE Online has history spanning more than eight years, with a vibrant and (usually) mature community linked together through EVE Gate, a social network for EVE players that is tied in with their characters. EVE Online players use it to communicate with their friends and enemies alike, and interact with their corporation even when not playing the game. We will open EVE Gate up to DUST 514 players as well. Opportunities will always be there for those who want to be part of the social fabric of this linked community, the wider EVE setting.

There are definitely challenges ahead, with a unified console and PC gamer community each influencing a shared setting through their respective types of gameplay. Rivalries, alliances and, dare I say, even some drama. Interesting times.

A strength of EVE Online is the depth of its economy. We are taking a similar approach to DUST 514, though we will do so carefully, with a slow integration of economic activity between both titles. (Fun fact: CCP employs two economists to oversee the EVE universe’s virtual economy, one for EVE Online and another focused on DUST 514.)

Virtual goods will be a major part of the in-game economy, and our business model for DUST 514 is built upon digital distribution and virtual goods transactions rather than following the traditional boxed games model. In fact, that’s another key thing that led us to abandon the FPS label in the first place — as a persistent shooter, our approach to creating and operating DUST 514 is more like an MMO. We will continually develop and improve upon DUST 514, but that won’t be funded by going the ‘map pack sales’ route. DUST 514 will have free expansions, and that development will be funded through virtual goods sales. Plus, everyone likes having customization options, right?

The virtual goods themselves will provide all manner of weaponry and defensive technology, vehicles, and more. This perpetual arms race will provide DUST players with variety in their gameplay and an array of virtual goods that supports a chosen playstyle.

We are just now beginning to pull back the curtain and reveal more about DUST 514. So this is an important time for CCP, and we’re very much looking forward to bringing you something that’s quite unique in the gaming world. If you’d like to hear more about DUST 514, be sure to check the following for more info over the coming months:

Official website: www.dust514.com

Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/dust514

Twitter: @dust514 (hashtag is #dust514)

YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/ccpgames

And if you’re a true masochist, you can follow me on Twitter: @ccp_shadow

Now, do you have questions for me about DUST 514? If so, I’ll do my best to answer as many as I can in the comments below.

Here's something we weren't expecting: a PS3-exclusive shooter from a PC MMO that features direct connectivity with that same MMO. But that's exactly what we got at Sony's E3 2011 press conference.

Dust 514, a online first-person shooter from EVE Online developers CCP, is itself a massively-multiplayer online game of some fashion. In addition, actions that take place in either game affect the other. How, exactly, that will all work is still a matter of some question, but CCP and Sony seem confident that this universe is something worth investing in, as Dust 514 will also include Move support, have its own dedicated Home space (yay?) and find its way to the NGP/Vita somewhere down the line.

Dust 514 is scheduled for release in the Spring of next year, and a closed beta will launch later this year.

It's a fascinating crossover that, honestly, I'm not completely sure what to make of. What do you folks think?

We have all manner of crazed reportage on the recent EVE fan-fest due from the boy Smith throughout this week, but while we wait for him to purge all those mysterious Icelandic alcohols from his system, let’s take a look at CCP’s video vision of their MMO’s not-too-distant future… (more…)