CCP Games unveiled EVE Vanguard, the latest in a long series of attempts to make an EVE-based first-person shooter multiplayer game, at the recent EVE Fanfest in Reykjavik. In development at CCP London since 2016, EVE Vanguard is being made with Unreal Engine 5 and will target a PC launch, whereas Dust 514 was famously restricted to PlayStation 3.
The game was featured in the latest EDGE magazine, with several key developers revealing that the legendary betrayals often seen in EVE Online may well be repeated in this new title, as players won’t even be bound to loyalty with the squad they’ve deployed with. Lead Game Designer Gavin
Skinner said:
We don’t have game modes; we have activities, and those might be different for different squads. So you might be just doing some mining or harvesting; someone else might be on an assassination mission. And you’ll brush past each other, but there’s no need for you to get into conflict and shoot each other. But maybe you’ve got some stuff that I want to take from you.
Game Director Snorri Árnason added:
You might be working together in the early phases to bring infrastructure down. But once you’ve helped me identify all of the resources and bring the infrastructure down, I might want it all for myself. Or we could agree that we really have to defend our position together.
The action flow in EVE Vanguard will be quite varied, according to Árnason.
The first phase is kind of like Warcraft III, where you’re killing mobs and upgrading your hero. Then it moves into more of a Rust-type phase, where you’re building infrastructure, mining equipment, whatever. And then, now that’s all there for the taking, you go into, basically, a Battlefield Conquest mode.
One of the main draws of creating an EVE-based shooter was to link it with the MMORPG. However, whereas Dust 514 attempted a real-time link, CCP has since realized that it is not feasible, so the consequences will be delayed. Still, they will be there, as explained by Árnason.
You might need to blow up a satellite communication tower to open up a huge advantage for your spaceship friends. Then, in the aftermath, our website will be reporting live from these border disputes and skirmishes.
It won’t be long until EVE Online Omega subscribers get their hands on EVE Vanguard. The ‘First Strike Mass Test’ is due in December.
