indiegames
January 10th, 2010, 00:50
http://cache.gawker.com/assets/images/9/2010/01/500x_custom_1263075869260_legoverse.jpgA massive profile of NetDevil by the Denver alternative weekly WestWord turns up some interesting tidbits about the LEGO MMO the studio is building.
The piece, by Joel Warner, is a serious deep dive into not just NetDevil, but also the LEGO culture it seeks to tap with LEGO Universe (http://kotaku.com/tag/legouniverse/), a project that has been delayed several times and is now due out in the second half of this year. Some of the tidbits I was able to glean about the game and the studio (these may or may not be known already):
• "Just making a sixteen-stud virtual LEGO brick requires twice as many three-dimensional surfaces, or polygons, as a World of Warcraft character, thanks to all its knobs, divots and underside tubes - not to mention the tiny LEGO logos emblazoned on each stud."
• The creative team was so meticulous about making the virtual LEGO plastic consistent with real life acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, they "developed a process called ambient inclusion that mimics the way light bounces off the different colored bricks."
• NetDevil is working on moderation processes to make sure people don't create LEGO penis monsters or intellectual property-infringing LEGO Spider-Mans or whatever. While it sounds like just straight up moderation, Westword said NetDevil claims to be working on a process that "is so clever that they're not at liberty to fully discuss it." OK.
• In addition to LEGO Universe, NetDevil is working on Jumpgate Evolution and "a yet-to-be-announced title about which all visitors are sworn to secrecy."
• NetDevil's well aware its fate as a studio is tethered to this project. "After Auto Assault," NetDevil's Ryan Seabury told WestWord, "we said we'd rather go out of business than ship a bad product again."
LEGO Universe - Colorful Plastic's Answer to World of Warcraft - is the Brainchild of Colorado-based NetDevil (http://www.westword.com/2010-01-07/news/lego-universe-colorful-plastic-s-answer-to-world-of-warcraft-is-the-brainchild-of-colorado-based-netdevil/1) [WestWord]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1)http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/kotaku/full/~4/GGljs01l18w
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/GGljs01l18w/a-look-inside-the-lego-universe)
The piece, by Joel Warner, is a serious deep dive into not just NetDevil, but also the LEGO culture it seeks to tap with LEGO Universe (http://kotaku.com/tag/legouniverse/), a project that has been delayed several times and is now due out in the second half of this year. Some of the tidbits I was able to glean about the game and the studio (these may or may not be known already):
• "Just making a sixteen-stud virtual LEGO brick requires twice as many three-dimensional surfaces, or polygons, as a World of Warcraft character, thanks to all its knobs, divots and underside tubes - not to mention the tiny LEGO logos emblazoned on each stud."
• The creative team was so meticulous about making the virtual LEGO plastic consistent with real life acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, they "developed a process called ambient inclusion that mimics the way light bounces off the different colored bricks."
• NetDevil is working on moderation processes to make sure people don't create LEGO penis monsters or intellectual property-infringing LEGO Spider-Mans or whatever. While it sounds like just straight up moderation, Westword said NetDevil claims to be working on a process that "is so clever that they're not at liberty to fully discuss it." OK.
• In addition to LEGO Universe, NetDevil is working on Jumpgate Evolution and "a yet-to-be-announced title about which all visitors are sworn to secrecy."
• NetDevil's well aware its fate as a studio is tethered to this project. "After Auto Assault," NetDevil's Ryan Seabury told WestWord, "we said we'd rather go out of business than ship a bad product again."
LEGO Universe - Colorful Plastic's Answer to World of Warcraft - is the Brainchild of Colorado-based NetDevil (http://www.westword.com/2010-01-07/news/lego-universe-colorful-plastic-s-answer-to-world-of-warcraft-is-the-brainchild-of-colorado-based-netdevil/1) [WestWord]
http://ads.pheedo.com/img.phdo?p=1 (http://ads.pheedo.com/click.phdo?p=1)http://a.rfihub.com/eus.gif?eui=2226http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=yIl2AUoC8zA</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:yIl2AUoC8zA) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?d=H0mrP-F8Qgo</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:H0mrP-F8Qgo) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:D7DqB2pKExk</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:D7DqB2pKExk) http://feeds.feedburner.com/~ff/kotaku/full?i=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:V_sGLiPBpWU</img> (http://feeds.gawker.com/~ff/kotaku/full?a=GGljs01l18w:GswJo2wbtZI:V_sGLiPBpWU)
http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/kotaku/full/~4/GGljs01l18w
More... (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/kotaku/full/~3/GGljs01l18w/a-look-inside-the-lego-universe)