The PAX demo for TwinSkies

from the Better late than never dept.

The guys from Twinskies show off a closed demo for all of you who didn't make it to the booth that day in Seattle a couple of weeks ago. BigWorld licensee Meteor Games showcase Twin Skies, at least - the early version, with their basic gameplay hook Casual meets MMO :

Meteor Games is making Twin Skies.

from The Worst kept Secrets dept.

Meteor Games of California have finally come out and officially announced that they are - indeed - calling their MMOG 'Twin Skies'. As top secret operational names for games goes, this has been a thunderous disaster of, well... massive proportions. There have been a host of community related sites up and running for a number of months, providing gossip, outlines and guides to this still in the early days online game. Video blogs, newzines and all manner of promotional and support material is out there - there are even rumours of Twin Skies - The Musical. There have been videos posted, fan poetry and documents all calling this spade by its true name. The news about Twin Skies is pretty much all over the web:

"“We’re excited to announce Twin Skies, our first major project since creating Neopets and a much more ambitious undertaking that aims to change the way gamers of all ages play and socialize in MMOs,” said Adam Powell, CEO and creative director, Meteor Games. “Twin Skies’ technology and design will allow players to access the game from anywhere and in any way they choose. The immersive world, advanced technology and accessible gameplay will be fun for gamers young and old, casual and hardcore alike.”

Unlike traditional MMOGs, such as World of Warcraft, Twin Skies will provide its players with multiple access points for enjoying the game world, allowing them to interact with the game when, where and for however long they want. PC players will be able to jump into the main Twin Skies PC MMO game to adventure, craft or explore the massive open world by themselves or with friends; players can also interact with Twin Skies on the official Web site via a series of fun and impactful flash-based mini games; or users can play Twin Skies through mobile applications and games.

Twin Skies will leverage BigWorld Technology to deliver advanced 3D graphics throughout a vast and seamless open world. The PC component of the game will deliver all of the core mechanics and gameplay that millions of MMOG fans have come to expect, while pushing beyond the boundaries of current MMOG competition by including deep player customization, fun and accessible content and advanced functionality, such as player housing."

Fifty million or more sets of eyeballs from Neopets makes it very difficult to hide an IP, even in the crowded and rapidly expanding online segment. Head on over to Twin Skies to get the low down on what Meteor is doing in the lead up to PAX this year.

Meteor Games gets its 'tube on

from the If only they allowed embedding dept.

Duck on over to Youtube and check out some of the shennanigans from the development team at Meteor Games working on their as yet unannounced title.

Meteor Games' Donna Williams talks to Twin Skies Navigator

from the Music to our Ears dept.

Donna Williams stepped down from her sky throne to talk with Twin Skies Navigator yesterday about the Meteor Games 'in development' BigWorld powered title.

Donna Williams : "The original plan changed quite dramatically from our rather humble initial ideas. We always wanted to make an MMO crossed with a community, but we didn’t think we could pull off 3D. Originally we were aiming to make something in flash, like Dofus, but after looking around at the other free to play and subscription games out there it became pretty apparent that flash just wasn’t going to cut it. We were so impressed with the BigWorld engine, it really opened up so many new opportunities for us and the guys are great to work with. When we started we didn’t think we would be growing so fast, we now have 49 staff and are still hiring. That’s pretty insane for a company that has been around for less than a year! It’s a bit nerve wracking, but so much fun to see everything really come together."

Donna Williams and Adam Powell were the seed talents behind Neopets which remains today one of the largest population-driven web titles ever developed. Head on over to Twin Skies Navigator to check out the full article.

Exclusive screenshot for upcoming Meteor Games MMO

From the If you Write it They will Come dept.

Donna Williams and Adam Powell were kind enough to shunt across the image seen here for their upcoming MMO. The image depicts their Priest class for their upcoming BigWorld-based title being built at their hip studios in West Hollywood, California. Details on the game are thin at the moment - even the title of the game is a closely guarded secret.

What can we infer from this image? From the likely feature set of this class?

1. If the image is life-sized, Priests are likely be very, very small indeed. They could be up to a maximum of only an inch or three tall (or so - estimates vary). This could be a problem in raids - with the primary healers being crushed underfoot in the chaos of battle by their own comrades. Clearly, Meteor Games have yet to think this through and I can already hear the outcry from the as yet un-massed tribes of players demanding balance and redress from this short-sighted feature.
2. Again, from this image, we can infer that priests live in hilly, mountainous areas as shown by the constant cascades of rocks tumbling over their heads. Of course, if the previous assessment of their tiny scale is correct, these 'rocks' could also be grains of sand. Or dust motes.
3. Priests don't appear to have any legs, which means they probably float or levitate in their surroundings. Or if tiny in size as the image indicates, perhaps they are simply blown about by ground effect eddies from the movement of other players. Although there are no posts from early adopters of the class about control issues, we can readily see this becoming an irksome piloting class, akin to a helming a massive re-fuelling tanker aircraft as it lumbers through the night skies - in this case though, one tiny in size, more agile and set in a Fantasy World in a dress.
   
4. Priests have three horns on their head, presumably to offset their lack of legs. Again, details on these are sketchy at best, but a likely feature if they are - as we suspect - miniature healers that fly around the map in tiny gnat-like swarms - is the ability to latch onto other characters like a thorn or barb, fixing securely to them with their heads. Healing can then be applied to the target character without fear of drifting away or being flattened as unsuspecting characters sit down to polish their armour.

Check out http://www.meteorgames.com/ for more coverage on this intriguing title from the team that brought you Neopets.

Meteor strike hits

from the What's that in the sky? dept.

Meteor Games of Los Angeles today announced that they are building their upcoming MMO on BigWorld Technology. The title is in development in their stylish West Hollywood studio in California. Donna Williams and Adam Powell of Meteor Games are also the visionaries behind the Neopets franchise which sold for like, a squillion dollars a few years ago to MTV Networks/Viacom.

"BigWorld's technology provides us with an extremely powerful and highly flexible game engine, which can be tailored to the specific needs of our upcoming MMO," said Adam Powell, CEO and creative director, Meteor Games. "More importantly, BigWorld's game engine allows us to focus on game design, gameplay innovation and overall creativity rather than core technology development, thus ensuring our new MMO delivers an experience unlike any other."

The title of the game is under wraps right now - check back soon