38's Close talks up Vivox partnership and the IP in general

from the Joystiq AGDC round-up dept.

Brett Close, head honcho at 38 Studios talks up some tidbits on their project in Boston, Copernicus, as well as their recent announcement with BigWorld partner, Vivox :

So, the announcement with Vivox, what's that about?

So, that was about a couple different pieces: 38 Studios is all about very strong partnerships. Smart, strategic partnerships that allow us to deliver the absolute best for the customer, but also allow us to free our hands up to focus on building what we do best, which is building the game. Creating IP and building the game. We are licensing engine technologies like the Unreal engine and Big World, and in a similar way VoIP is nothing that you want to take lightly.

There's a big operation there. I'm an ex software engineer, I know how it works. You can go write some basic VoIP but there's so much more than just the protocol and transferring those packets. Vivox is the best of breed in the market for both the feature set, the technology, the business model and the operational model of us being able to offload the bandwidth and server demand to their servers. They offer incredible security solutions. Voice fonts allow one of the biggest and most exciting pieces to come together.

It's always been if Andrea's a giant orc and I'm playing a little human woman, and we start chatting it's going to sound really silly. So, I can start applying voice fonts that make her sound like some big orc and make me sound like a little human female. There are so many things that they are doing right to deliver that kind of solution that it's just easy, plug and play, we just want it. It delivers the best for us and it delivers the best for the customer.
Andrea: The community building aspect was obviously a major point for you.

Community is key. This isn't just a product, it's a service that you're delivering to the community and continuing to build and perpetuate and cultivate that community. This is a key piece of delivering something that continues to enrich the community.

A peek at 38 Studios 'Copernicus' Concept Art

from the It's not ready for Primetime dept.

Nothing 'in-game' yet, but a short review with Thom Ang - Director of Art for 38 Studios by the team at Allakhazam.

"Thom, who was very recently hired and thrown into the 38 Studios frying pan, took charge from early on and made it clear that he wanted to talk about the concept art that they had to show us. One of the first topics of our conversation was "Idealized Reality", which is going to be the official art standard or rather ‘calling card' of 38 studios. The vision is that a game enthusiast will be able to look at a screenshot or video and be able to tell that it's a 38 Studios game. They certainly seem as if they all have a very clear idea about the direction of the art: this game is going to be visually stunning."

38 Studios is helmed by Brett Close and based in Boston, Mass.

38 Studios Weighs in at Comic-con

from the OMFG How did I miss that One dept.

With a few tantalizing glances at the possible outcome of Copernicus, the more secret than the name of God project at 38 Studios in Boston. Todd and Bob both pop in for a brief and frenzied reception. Masses of video - and gossip.

Way to go Ten Ton, again.