Archive for 2009

Environment Artist Rick Ruiz on his past experience as an architect, previous games he worked on, and some clever use of Lego’s.

Rick, tell us a little about what you do at Hi-Rez Studios.

I am an Environment Artist.  I model and texture many of the architectural sets as well as many props and key objective structures.

How did you get into the gaming industry? How did you get to Hi-Rez Studios?

I have been in the industry for nearly ten years.  I majored in architecture when I was in college and in my free time taught myself 3D Studio Max and Photoshop.  I decided architecture was not the route I wanted to go, so I decided to pursue my hobby as a career.  I went to a school in Santa Monica, California to study computer graphics and 3D modeling, and through the school was offered and internship to work on one of the Spyro the Dragon games.  After working on a few big name titles over the years I stumbled upon Hi-Rez Studios (which was then, hiring a new team to develop an online game) while looking for a job in my hometown of Atlanta.  Turned out that one of my co-workers in California was friends with a former art lead at Hi-Rez and the rest was history.

Describe your video game experience; when did you start playing/making games?

I was pretty much raised on video games.  I remember first playing games on my Atari 2600 when I was just a few years old.  As I got older, I remember spending many late nights with my brother and cousins trying to master the latest game on the NES.  Over the years, my brother and I owned almost every console when they came out.  With the amount of time I spent playing video games as a kid it was only fitting that my career would be to make them.

What is your favorite class/character to play in Global Agenda?

Assault. I have mastered the art of using tracking rocket launcher as a sniping weapon much to the dismay of others during our internal play test. Nothing more satisfying than blasting someone from the opposite end of the map.  Sometimes I’ll switch to Recon to mix it up a bit.

What are you most excited for in Global Agenda?

I’m most excited about the release of Global Agenda after working on the game for the past few years. Also excited about the environments and how they are shaping up.

What experiences do you draw from when creating content for the game?

I draw a lot of my inspiration from architecture around the world.  Also much of my inspiration comes from film and art, especially science fiction.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to break into gaming?

Master one facet of the industry whether it is art, animation or programming.  Always be ready to learn new techniques and grow your skill set. Be willing to keep up with the latest technology.  As an artist, having a killer demo reel would be a great asset.

Favorite game(s)?

Many of the NES classics like Legend of Zelda, Metroid, and Kid Icarus.  Newer favorites include the Sim City series, Team Fortress 2, Rock Band, and World of Warcraft.

What do you do in your free time?

Aside from video games, I like to get creative.  I enjoy painting, but my medium of choice is Lego.  I build a lot of Lego structures in my free time.  I’m not talking about your kid’s Lego set they got for Christmas, but building realistic larger-scale structures with Lego.  I have a large collection of buildings I have made from the past 8 years which are inspired by real-world architecture including several skyscraper models that are several feet tall.

I also enjoy spending time with my wonderful wife Macy, traveling, watching football and hanging out with friends and family.

What is on your iPod/MP3player?

Everything from more popular bands like U2, Coldplay, and Moby to more obscure stuff like The Echoing Green and the Benjamin Gate.  I also have a lot of soundtracks, classical, Techno, 80’s and 90’s rock, and video game music as well.

Personal art from Rick Ruiz:

LEGO CREATIONS

If you can imagine a world in which World of Warcraft and Team Fortress 2 had a baby (though WoW always wondered if Planetside had actually been the father instead) and then they slapped a jetpack on that baby’s back, then you’ve clearly got an overactive imagination - but you’ve also got something similar to the ambitious Global Agenda.

Award-winning team-based shooter-MMO available for pre-purchase today

ATLANTA, Dec. 15, 2009 — Hi-Rez Studios announced today that Global Agenda, the award winning team-based shooter-MMO, will launch on Monday, February 1, 2010. The game will be available for pre-purchase through the Global Agenda website, Steam and the Amazon.com Marketplace starting today. Players that pre-purchase will receive beta access, in-game items, and other incentives.

Global Agenda players will experience both co-op and competitive multiplayer shooter features after a one-time purchase with no subscription needed.  An optional subscription package, called "Global Agenda: Conquest" will be available for players who wish to participate in a massive-scale game of territory control on a persistent world map.  

As a special agent playing only the non-subscription features, you may fully level up to eight different agent characters, participating in both player-vs-player and cooperative player-vs-environment missions, as you fight to overturn the totalitarian one-world government, The Commonwealth, and establish yourself inside the game world.

Players in Global Agenda: Conquest form their own groups, called Agencies.  These Agencies conquer territory, construct facilities, manufacture vehicles, raid bases, and engage in formal and informal alliances and betrayals on their way toward world domination.  The Conquest gameplay will revolve around player-driven politics and emergent gameplay with each battle being resolved via squad-based combat. 

A comparison of the features included in the non-subscription and subscription ("Conquest") portions of the game, as well as additional pre-order information, is available at: http://www.globalagendagame.com/preorder.html

A Limited Edition Game Box is available for purchase direct from Hi-Rez Studios on the Global Agenda website and Amazon.com Marketplace.  This Game Box includes a poster and a Commonwealth Art Book, in addition to the other incentives offered to those that pre-order (listed below).  The art book explores the historical events leading to the creation of the single, totalitarian world government called Commonwealth, as well as the emerging resistance to the Commonwealth, and the current competition for limited resources and scarce inhabitable land that exists in the year 2155 when the player enters the world.

Players who pre-purchase Global Agenda today receive the following special benefits:

• Gain access to Beta – Players that pre-order will gain access to Global Agenda beta events in January. Note that the beta servers are available for play only during specific play test windows, and that tests may be limited to only certain game features. To participate in the Global Agenda beta, you must register your Product Key online at the Global Agenda website following your pre-purchase. Registered beta participants will receive specific test instructions prior to each Closed Beta test event, as the events are announced.
• In-game Items – Players that activate their Product Key on the Global Agenda website prior to February 1, 2010, will receive a special in-game helmet captured from the Commonwealth, as well as head flair honoring the Global Agenda "No Elves" marketing campaign.
• Reserve Your Player Name and Agency Name - Gain access to Global Agenda’s pre-launch “Name Reserve” event, in which players are given the opportunity to reserve their in-game name ahead of launch day (exact dates for the Name Reserve event to be announced). Players will also be able to reserve an Agency name during the game’s official launch.

In addition, all players that purchase Global Agenda have the ability to sign up for one free month of Global Agenda: Conquest at registration (credit card required, can be canceled at any time).

About Hi-Rez Studios

Hi-Rez Studios, Inc. was established in 2005 to create exceptional online interactive entertainment. It is located just outside of Atlanta, GA. For more information, visit www.hirezstudios.com.

Global Agenda, the Hi-Rez Studios debut title, is a fast-paced, action-oriented, massive multiplayer online game set in the Earth’s near future - a spy-fi world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict. To learn more visit: www.globalagendagame.com

Sr. Character Artist Ben Knapp on his love for digital art, his past experiences with gaming, and even some personal art from his collection.

Ben, tell us a little about what you do at Hi-Rez Studios.

I am a Senior Character Artist/Concept Artist at Hi-Rez Studios.  I create in game assets dealing with characters, weapons, and devices.  I also do allot of concepts for the character team, usually to just to give a jump start on a model to get it going in a direction as well as come up with design solutions if people are having trouble with ideas.

How did you get into the gaming industry? How did you get to Hi-Rez Studios?

I have been in the game industry for about 5 years.  I started doing freelance in 2004 after graduating from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh.  Eventually I landed a gig in studio at Tripwire Interactive LLC working on Red Orchestra Ostfront.  After doing some WWII I really wanted to put some of creativity and conceptual skills to use so I synched up with Hi Rez and its been magic every since.

Describe your video game experience; when did you start playing/making games?

I remember getting an NES way back in the day, though I really couldn’t get into Mario Bros., I guess something about playing as a plumber wasn’t a big turn on for me.  But once some good titles started coming out, Mega Man, Contra, Punch Out, Castlevania, Double Dragon, Star Tropics, TMNT II: The Arcade Game…. man… it was on.  I was hooked.  It was more of a leisurely thing at first, I didn’t look at it as a career.  What I wanted to do was be a Comic Book artist.  I’m a big comic and 80’s cartoon nerd.  I eventually realized that the market for comics has dried up substantially, so I figured next best thing to get into would be the game industry.  So I applied at AIP and learned the game artisan craft.

What is your favorite class/character to play in Global Agenda?

Assault. Period.  I like to get in the mix and get my adrenaline pumping when I play.  For me assault is the obvious choice, plus its the most similar to other shooter, aim and shoot.  I rock the Sticky Launcher though, and pretty much support the team and fight on the objective utilizing AOE damage.

What are you most excited for in Global Agenda?

Well I cant wait for it to be released.  Other than that, I love the characters and robots.  There are so many cool designs, great eye candy.

What experiences do you draw from when creating content for the game?

I get inspiration from pretty much everything, especially Movies, Comics, and Games.  Also I check allot of other game artists work to get the creative juices flowing.  Polycount, Zbrush Central, and Game Artisans FTW.

What advice do you have for someone who wants to break into gaming?

Hard Work and Dedication.  Nothing will get you a better shot at breaking into the industry.  Check allot of game art forums and study others work, wireframes, textures, color theory, design.  Also knowledge of anatomy, especially as a character artist saves the day.  Aside from the knowledge you got to have passion.  This industry is ever changing, and you got to be ready to change with it.  The mentality I had when I was starting out was that I had to be good enough to get a job that other professionals could be applying for that have had many more years of experience than me.  Always power up and keep getting better.

Favorite game(s)?

RESIDENT EVIL, FINAL FANTASY VII, METAL GEAR SOLID, DEAD SPACE, ASSASSINS CREED, WARCRAFT, MARVEL VS CAPCOM 2

I look at games as a story telling medium.  Its like a book or a movie, but interactive.  I love games with great stories and these games always had neat stuff to offer story wise for me.  Marvel vs Capcom 2 is just a classic, and it has all those comic characters.. mmmmmmmm.

What do you do in your free time?

I fight crime. After, I do allot studying about game art.  Trying to always get better.  I also do a good amount of freelance, for the same reason. That and I find it keeps me fresh. Dealing with different subject matters lets you try out new stuff and makes you more flexible, being able to do a variety of things.  I also love playing basketball, exercising, and hanging with peeps.  Oh yea and video games… lots and lots of video games.  Beer too.

What is on your iPod/MP3player?

Rise Against, Atmosphere, Zebrahead, Asher Roth,  Aesop Rock, Cobra Starship, Muse, Binary Star, Fort Minor, Talib Kweli, Common, Gym Class Heroes, Cartel, Weezer, Counting Crows, Tom Petty, Rocky Soundtracks, AFI, Deltron, and allot of classic rock and game music.

Personal art from Ben Knapp:

The Escapist reports on the recent outcry from the Elven community regarding insensitive treatment toward their kind in Global Agenda’s No Elves Video.

On Wed., November 18th, Hi-Rez Studios held a developer chat using Vivox Voice on Facebook. The chat featured Q&A between the Global Agenda Community and members of the Global Agenda Developer staff, including:

• Todd Harris, Executive Producer
• Chris Larson, Product Developer
• Michal Adam, PR & Marketing
• Chad Heath, Community Management
• Stewart Chisam, Operations

The developer chat features Q&A on a wide range of Global Agenda-related topics and lasts about one hour.

To listen to the chat visit: http://hirezstudios.podbean.com/#

By Susan Arendt, The Escapist Magazine

Global Agenda is kind of hard to describe. Part Call of Duty, part Eve Online, its creators promise that it will deliver a satisfying experience not just for shooter aficionados, but also for MMOG junkies. You can buy it once, or you can choose to subscribe. You can hop online for a quick match with strangers, or your can put the time and effort to creating an Agency with your friends. Trying to mesh two distinctly different types of gameplay seems like a herculean undertaking, but according to the game’s executive producer, Todd Harris, it just makes sense.

"We wanted to remove subscription as a barrier for people to try the game," he explains. Players who might find Global Agenda’s shooter-style gameplay appealing might not want to dive headfirst into an MMOG experience, especially if they’re more used to deathmatches than raids. But Hi-Rez is confident in what their game has to offer. "We thought that we could carve out enough from the Global Agenda gameplay that it would stack up very well as a multiplayer shooter," Harris continues.

He’s quick to stress that Global Agenda isn’t some sort of MMOG-ized shooter, where you click on an enemy and wait for the fight to sort itself out. "You freely aim your reticule, in our case when you do a melee attack, you actually have to land it on your opponent. [There's] a lot of player skill involved. It plays like a multiplayer shooter would, whether that’sTF2 or Battlefield." Or maybe even a little bit like Tribes - each player has a jetpack, but you can’t fire while jetting around, so it’s more for transport than aerial combat. (Still…jetpack.)

Playing the game in its non-subscription form gets you access to "match-made PVP, or also PVE content so you can level up your character that way." You’ll also get loot drops, there’s a social area, you can visit vendors, customize character with new suits and dyes, and make use of the built-in voice chat. And if that’s all you ever do, you’ll have a very satisfying shooter experience comparable to other online shooters, but as Harris puts it "We also say come for the action gameplay, then stay for the game of territory control."

Can a single game please both Shooter and MMOG fans?

Weigh in on the comment thread!

Read the entire article http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/editorials/interviews/6763-Global-Agenda-You-Got-Shooter-in-my-MMO

ATLANTA, GA, November 10, 2009 — Hi-Rez Studios, currently developing the action MMO Global Agenda, announced today that the game includes built-in voice chat and a number of other voice features powered by Vivox.

The feature set upon release will include:

• In-Game Player Voice Chat - push to talk voice chat enables team communication within co-op player-vs-environment missions as well as competitive player-vs-player missions.
• In-Game News Broadcasts -  delivery of voice broadcasts within the game that describe key victories and events associated with Global Agenda’s persistent territory control gameplay.
• Out Of Game Player Voice Chat (Subscriber Only):  Subscribers gain the ability to talk with Agency members and other Global Agenda players while playing other games or simply browsing the web.  Players can use a variety of access methods including the Vivox Web Voice within the toolbar controls, Vivox Voice on Facebook, or calling into a specified chat channel from their phone.

"Global Agenda’s combat is very team oriented, requiring close and real-time coordination between teammates in a mission," said Todd Harris, Executive Producer at Hi-Rez Studios. "Voice provided by Vivox allows our players to easily communicate with each another without requiring a separate, non-integrated solution.  Our beta community has rated the voice quality to be superb and we are excited to work with Vivox to bring this capability to our player base."

Global Agenda is a fast-paced massively multiplayer action game set in Earth’s near future, a spy-fi world of advanced technology and player-driven conflict. Players determine which factions to aid and which to oppose.

“Global Agenda re-defines  fast-paced MMO gameplay,” said Rob Seaver, CEO of Vivox. “With Vivox voice built into the world, players will be able to link up, strategize and coordinate their battles in real-time.  It is a pleasure to work with Hi-Rez Studios to craft a distinctive universe where player experience ultimately rules the world.”

Upon release in Q1 2010, players can experience Global Agenda’s award-winning multi-player PvP and PvE content after a one-time purchase of the game at retail or digital distribution outlets without a monthly fee, supporting character progression to max level and unlocks of full device inventories.

For those that subscribe to the optional "Global Agenda: Conquest" package, additional elite-level missions will be available that benefit your agency in the Alliance vs Alliance campaign for persistent territory control and scarce resources.

Hi-Rez Studios will be hosting a dev chat in their Vivox Voice on Facebook room on Wednesday, November 18^th – 10:00pmEST/7:00pmPST. RSVP to the event at http://www.facebook.com/globalagenda.

To participate, download the Vivox Voice app at http://apps.facebook.com/vivoxvoice/ then join us at http://bit.ly/TC4Hy

Not near a computer, call-in with your phone! +1 646-727-4472 x365884

About Hi-Rez Studios

Hi-Rez Studios, Inc. was established in 2005 to create exceptional online interactive entertainment and is located just outside of Atlanta, Georgia.   For more information, visit www.hirezstudios.com.

Follow Hi-Rez news and updates:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/hirezstudios

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/globalagenda

About Vivox, Inc.

Vivox is the leading provider of community-building voice services for online games,virtual worlds and the social web. Supporting over 15 million users in more than 180 countries, and over 2 billion minutes of voice chat per month, the Vivox Network is the world’s largest voice network for gamers. Vivox customers include game and virtual world developers and publishers such as CCP Games (EVE Online), EA, Gaia Online, Icarus Studios, Linden Lab (Second Life), NCsoft, Sony Online Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast. For more information on Vivox and the power of voice, visit www.vivox.com.

Follow Vivox news and updates:

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Vivox_Inc

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/vivox 

As part of their continuing series on the Global Agenda Character Classes, TenTonHammer has published a Q&A with Executive Producer Todd Harris on the Assault class. Read the full article here. Excerpts below.

Ten Ton Hammer: It seems like the assault class fills the gaps between the classes - assaults can anchor an attack, they can draw fire away from more fragile teammates,and  they have the ammo capacity, firepower, and durability to pin down enemies and hold objectives on defense. Is that an accurate assessment?

Todd Harris, Executive Producer: I would say it’s accurate that he’s flexible and can cover the gaps. But I’d also categorize the assault class as being all about damage - whether dishing it out or soaking it up. Recon really excels at concentrated offense (against a single target or location, typically using surprise). But the assault class is typically the class that is doing the most damage overall, and over a broad area using a lot of area of effect weapons. They’re all about damage.

Ten Ton Hammer: We’ve seen assaults carrying rocket launchers, grenade launchers, miniguns, and various melee weapons as well. In other games, this class packs a punch but burns through ammo quickly. What kind of ammo considerations does an assault class have in Global Agenda?

Todd: All the weapons in Global Agenda draw off of the common power pool mechanic rather than using ammunition. Being that assaults are all about damage, they really do have to carefully manage their power pool to make sure they’re not caught in the wrong spot at the wrong time with low power. That’s something that players can spec (using the talent trees) to have either higher maximum power or faster recharge or have particular weapons draw less power. All of those are popular  choices for assault players.

Ten Ton Hammer: What options does an assault class have at melee?

They wield basically a futuristic battle axe that also has the ability to set opponents on fire. So as compared to Recon, which has the more precision instrument of the katana, Assaults are definitely more brute force.

Ten Ton Hammer: Is there chaining with the fire damage in melee?

Todd:  No, not at this time, it’s strictly single damage. There’s no contagion or chaining of the fire right now. But in general, as far as characterizing the class, Assault is always very much in the middle of the action. Not many characters can survive long under direct fire, but the Assault players typically thrive on being in the middle of everything.

Ten Ton Hammer: Another popular motif with big guys wielding big weapons is the ability to catch several enemies with one swing. Is that something that’s a part of the class as well?

Todd: Not as much with melee, but with the primary and off-hand weapons they’re able to deal out damage to more than one player at a time, moreso than any other class.

Global Agenda’s Assault class in action.

Ten Ton Hammer: At first look, the Assault class seems pretty straightforward. How were you able to mix up the talent tree options of this class?

Todd: At the highest level, you’re basically going for a tank build to soak up the damage versus an explosive build to deal out damage. Those are the two names of the class-specific trees, and then there’s a balanced tree as well. You can go extreme down either of those trees or go more hybrid. The talents combined with devices really do let you spec a number of different ways. For those familiar with Team Fortress 2, you could basically spec our assault class similar to a demoman (using grenades and sticky grenades), or a soldier (using a rocket launcher), or a Heavy (using a minigun). But you could even go more exaggerated - our tank would be much more of a tank than a heavy, and you could also come up with hybrid builds.

Finish the article on TenTonHammer.

Phill Cameron at RockPaperShotgun spent time playing Global Agenda PvE while at the Eurogamer Expo in Leeds, UK, last week.

Read the full article from his experience here. Below are some excerpts.

Global Agenda is a game straddling two worlds. It has two different payment schemes, and two different games within itself, almost. It’s a multiplayer third person shooter, with a class based system and jetpacks. But it’s also a huge sprawling PvE/PvP MMO, with the PvP driven by player Agencies that can form and break alliances on the fly in a bitter battle for territorial zones that grant bonuses and benefits.

By providing a far more engrossing experience in the persistent side of the game, Global Agenda seems to be moving well on the way to becoming the first truly hybrid MMO. It’s a big show of confidence that they consider the actual mechanics of their game solid enough to support a multiplayer shooter, especially considering the competition they face on the PC, most of whom they cite as influences. The impression of having such a thriving world just a subscription away could sway people to taking the plunge, and having them interact with the subscribers is a similarly clever move.