mmolecule has a great interview with Chris Bernert available. Chris is the Lead Systems Designer of Stargate Worlds -- Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment's upcoming MMORPG based on the sci-fi universe of Stargate.
First up after the introduction was a question I'm sure everyone who frequents Curse will be interested in -- User Interface Modification! Chris hinted at how customizable the User Interface for Stargate Worlds will be.
As I’m sure you already know everyone has a ton of questions regarding the user-interface. Will the UI be modular and fully customizable? Will third-party add-ons be allowed?
The UI design is based upon ease of use for the new player and customization for the more experienced player. We’re not ready to unveil the UI just yet but we are coming up with a design that is both easy to use as well as deep enough to maximize the play experience.
Chris was also asked about character customization on creation and he kindly obliged with some information:
Once a character is created, will there be options to change the aesthetics on that character -things like hair, skin color, height, weight, etc.?
Our character creation process allows the player to get the overall look of his or her character where they want it without too much minutia. We are using a more modular approach as opposed to a taking one face type and sliding bars in order to tweak cheekbones and such.
Players will control what faces, hairstyles, tattoos, scars, facial hair and other details their character will have.
The big difference between us and other MMOs though is that for us players get to play around with standard creation paradigms but they get to use objects created with the Stargate Worlds ‘look’ assigned to them.
Another hot topic in MMOs is character death, and this was echoed by mmolecule in the interview. Chris was up for the task and shared details on what happens when you die in Stargate Worlds.
There have been a lot of rumors and speculation about what happens when you die. Can you elaborate on this process?
Well, there is a great white light and you then begin to see many loved ones around you as you begin to float upwards and… Oh, you mean within the game.
All kidding aside, no one truly ‘dies’ in Stargate Worlds. They are just defeated. When a player is defeated they have three options; one is to revive in the nearest hospital. Two is to get revived by another player or three which is to revive where they were defeated. The penalties associated with these three choices are not finalized at this time but needless to say we want to make sure we find the balance between making defeat meaningful verses making it annoying.
This isn't the entire interview, though -- Chris Bernert answered quite a few questions, so head over and take a look.
