深空视界
深空视界
has been around for what feels like forever. Launched in 2003, this sci-fi MMORPG has played host to epic spaceship battles and on a scale that most other multiplayer games can only dream of. Now, the spin-off title is on the horizon, aiming to take EVE fans on a whole new adventure.e.
EVE Frontier is an in-development space survival MMO where players will be able to explore a brand-new galaxy, collect resources, unlock more advanced spaceships, and build extensive bases.
Last month, we had the opportunity to chat with CCP Games' Helgi Freyr Rúnarsson and Guðlaugur Jóhannesson, who are both software engineers at the studio with extensive academic backgrounds. Rúnarsson has led "world generation and resource design" in the project and got a PhD in computational astrophysics from Aveiro University while specializing in black hole simulations. As for Jóhannesson, he developed the "physics and backend systems." He also holds a PhD in astrophysics and is a Stanford University postdoc in cosmic-ray and gamma-ray research.h.h.h.h.
How does CCP Games' new title compare to EVE Online when it comes to simulations and its cosmic scope? How does all that work in tandem with the 'gameplay needs' of a project that is prioritizing fun? They told us in depth about all this and more.
The following interview has been editorialized and trimmed for better flow.
As a bunch of huge space nerds, the hot topic we were dying to learn more about in relation to EVE Frontier was how the team applied the to successfully simulate a three-galaxy merger, which players could freely explore and take over..
"We're using a full-scale version of that code," Rúnarsson confirmed before going really deep with his explanation of the process: "We have the Hernquist prescription to generate the initial conditions of the galaxies. It's a three-decade-old prescription done by a physicist called back in the '80s... He basically came up with nice probability density initial conditions for galaxies to construct them numerically, both their positions and velocities, and all of that stuff.""."