When the news of a LEGO based MMOG broke several years ago, fans of LEGO and MMOG's alike were very excited to say the least. Fanboys were drooling over their bricks and keyboards in anticipation of the immense imaginative effort that would eventually bring the LEGO world to gaming and turn all of us into mini-figs. We all immediately starting dreaming up fantastic structures we would build in this universe, the possibilities endless, and wondering if LEGO Star Wars characters were going to be in the game. It was all fantastic speculation by the geek underworld as LEGO Universe was pushed off from release dates in 2008 & 2009.
Now, LEGO Universe is finally nearing completion. With a release date in 2010 (an exact one has not been announced) and beta testing to begin soon, the dream of playing in an online LEGO fantasy world is closer than ever to becoming reality. So far, information about the game has been kept under tight wraps, developer NetDevil has been playing it close to the chest as well as publisher LEGO Group.
Knowing that LEGO Universe will bridge the generational gap between geek parents and geek kids, GeekDad was offered an exclusive (that's right, exclusive) opportunity to a question and answer session with the development team behind LEGO Universe, including two new exclusive pieces of concept art images! Back fanboys! Back!
I took a break from building a custom LEGO pirate spaceship complete with firetruck accessories and the ability to transform into a submarine to speak with creative director/producer Ryan Seabury and the rest of the LEGO Universe development team about this groundbreaking game.
GeekDad: Ryan, let's get right into the thick of it. What I've been asked the most when prepping for this Q & A is can we play as Batman? That is, will the licensed characters from Traveler's Tales games be available for in game use or interaction?
Ryan Seabury: There are no announced plans for use of crossover IPs when LEGO Universe initially launches. We do converse with the excellent team over at Traveler Tales Games, and I’m sure we’ll uncover some interesting opportunities as we move forward. That’s something Traveler Tales producer, Jonathan Smith and I just recently addressed together at the Develop conference in Brighton, along with Henrik Lorensen, who is in charge of online and virtual activities for the LEGO Group, and completes the LEGO gaming “trifecta”.
GD: Second on my list of most important questions to ask is about parental controls. Will parents be able to log in separate and basically check in on their child, or more specifically - check in on who's talking to their child?
Dev Team: We prefer to think of it as “parental involvement” more than “control”. We of course will provide a safe and trusted experience, but at the same time, respect our child players’ rights to their own space. Our goals are to educate parents, keep them involved with their children’s play experience, and give both parents and kids the tools to communicate with each other and with us appropriately.
We hope parents will enjoy the game as much as their kids – so moderating their child’s online play will be more fun than anything. LEGO Universe will offer content appropriate for both children and adult gamers. The storyline is appropriate for all ages, and the building/customization tools will certainly entice older players.
GD: Continuing on that subject, how about moderation - will it be handled through community moderation, by the host or third party independent moderation?
Ryan: First and foremost, the LEGO Group and NetDevil are dedicated to the safety and well-being of children in LEGO Universe, and will never compromise on this commitment. In developing an online world based on the LEGO play experience, we are exploring many solutions for maximizing children’s safety.
We will be using a mix of technology, process and people, combined with community input to provide the most creative and safe environment possible. We’re also trying to address this question by asking some fundamental questions in different ways… for example, WHY do I want to share my creations in LEGO Universe? What social connections bring the most value to shared content? In this way, we are finding some less obvious and more clever solutions to moderation. As a parent myself, and an avid online game player, I believe it’s actually a lot safer letting your kids play in an online world where almost every action is being tracked for some metric value, versus for example, letting them run around unsupervised in a crowded shopping mall.
GD: Let's get on to the gameplay. What can be said about the building in LEGO Universe?
Dev Team: You’ll be able to build in a lot of different ways, starting with very simple gameplay-oriented building (similar to what you’ve seen in Traveller’s Tales excellent LEGO Star Wars/Indy/Batman games) all the way up to very complex brick-by-brick creative designs. There are numerous building experiences in-between as well - for example, modular building of a rocket ship. Ultimately, our vision is that players will be able to bring their creations to life inside their own worlds in LEGO Universe.
GD: What types of missions will be available? Quests? Build challenges?
Dev Team: With a creative and building focus, LEGO Universe gives players the opportunity to create content, compete and interact with friends, battle and explore as they unravel the game’s storyline and interact with LEGO bricks online. The building aspect alone will provide endless re-playability – much like the classic LEGO bricks.
Whether you’re brand-new to LEGO construction or an expert brick builder, whether you like to follow the instructions or just go crazy making up your own creations, you’ll be able to use bricks to build virtual LEGO models both on your own and with other players. You’ll be helping to create and customize the worlds of LEGO Universe as you play. You’ll be able to chat, team up for quests, build amazing LEGO creations together, and choose whether to cooperate or compete as you complete fun and creative challenges… or adventure and build all on your own if that’s your thing. How you play in LEGO Universe is up to you.
GD: It'll also be up to your game engine as well. What specs can you give us on the game engine being used and any optimum requirements needed.
Dev Team: We’ve really tried to build an entire game service engine that will stand up for a long time, and be extensible for many years into the future. Early in the LEGO Universe project, we combined our own codebase (developed over the years) with various bits of middleware that helped us accelerate prototype development, such as Gamebryo, Havok, Scaleform, Fork, Fmod, etc. Most of the middleware has been heavily modified at this point, due to the very unique needs of LEGO Universe. I will say, I am amazed at the ingenuity and craftiness our tech team has used to get the kinds of scenes we want to work on even the lowest of client hardware as we plan to support.
Our goal at NetDevil is to make all our games, not just LEGO Universe, playable by as many people around the world as possible. Our minimum specs are lower than most PC games you’ll see hitting the market even a year or two ago. At the same time, the game looks absolutely incredible if you have a higher end gaming setup.
If you have any kind of basic broadband internet connection, you should have absolutely no problem playing LEGO Universe.
As far as the servers go, we’re on the other extreme. We’re using some pretty sophisticated and high-end hardware and software on both hosting and distribution fronts.
GD: Ryan, LEGO isn't an original game idea, that is - you are taking something that has a lot of history and turning it into an MMOG. While there are LEGO video games, this is a completely different beast. What steps did you and your team take to ensure that the LEGO Universe would be faithful to it's hard plastic counterparts?
Ryan: We’ve flown several team members to Denmark where the LEGO Group is headquartered, to be completely immersed in the LEGO experience on multiple occasions. We’ve also got about 10 million LEGO bricks on the studio floor - any of the team is encouraged to play around and build freely, and several good ideas have come about as a result. We’ve even done a few LEGO Serious Play exercises, ways of utilizing LEGO as a creative business tool, to generate brainstorms and the like. It’s easy to see if you walk through the studio that LEGO is pervasive in our work culture.
GD: That's good, because a lot of hardcore LEGO fans will be looking for a lot of different things in this game, how do you hope to capture all their wishes?
Dev Team: We pay a lot of attention to LEGO enthusiasts and their expectations of what a LEGO Universe can be. It is easy to get lost in all the possibilities. What is important for us is to create a strong platform that can grow and empower the community over the years to truly make it a universe that any fan of LEGO would love to live in.
We’re also working with a number of LEGO fans on the game’s design and development. LUPs (LEGO Universe Partners) are not only helping create the game, but also helping to ensure that LEGO Universe will deliver everything a LEGO fan would want.
GD: Speaking about wanting, what will the currency system be like in LEGO Universe? Will there be a stud based reward system for missions and/or builds similar to the console games?
Dev Team: There will certainly be a valuable currency and numerous rewards & achievements for completing the game’s challenges. We’re looking at using similar color schemes as Traveller's Tales Games’ titles for reward scales, although we’re using coins instead of studs, as players will actually use the 1x1 round studs for building in LEGO Universe.
GD: What about the real world currency system, let's talk cost. What is the payment model and will there be micro-transactions within the game?
Dev Team: We undertook a large amount of research and have announced plans for a monthly subscription model for LEGO Universe. An interesting thing to point out here is that this decision was far less a financial concern than it was about the user experience. We concluded that of all the myriad payment methods available in today’s online world, a subscription model is the best way to provide a trusted online experience that the whole family can enjoy.
Players will be able to purchase in-game creations, but the details are not finalized yet.
GD: How about designing your own mini-figs?
Dev Team: The legacy of the LEGO mini figure may actually present the richest set of options for virtual character customization I’ve ever seen. Our plan is that all of those tons of cool accessories and decals can be earned through gameplay, building and trading with other players in LEGO Universe. Over time as you collect more and more, you’ll be able to build out your mini-fig avatar day-to-day, however you choose - LEGO Universe will give players endless options.Yesterday a wizard, today a ninja, tomorrow a pirate!
GD: Were there any elements that after production you looked at and said, "no way, that can't be there." Or for that matter, any elements that you had to make sure were in the game?
Dev Team: As far as literal LEGO elements, there are some technical limitations when it comes to user generated content that prevents, for example, use of some of the more detailed Technic and Bionicle parts. But it’s safe to say we have more unique LEGO elements in LEGO Universe than you’ve ever seen in any LEGO game to date.
Regarding game design elements, clearly, we wanted some creative play experiences central to the game concept; what’s a LEGO game if you don’t build things? We also wanted a universe that would accommodate all LEGO play themes, past, present and future, in a story of epic conflict.
So we want to create, but we also want to battle and smash. We want to customize and socialize, but we also want to adventure and play. But ultimately, we just want everyone to have fun and connect in new ways with other LEGO fans from around the world.
GD: Smashing is always fun. How do you hope to integrate the humor of the video games into the MMOG?
Dev Team: The LEGO humor is something that comes across quite naturally when you work with mini-figs. Sometimes, it’s harder for us to keep them in a serious manner, there’s just some magic about mini-figs that brings out humor naturally, especially when we animate them.
GD: How much fan interaction has taken place to develop the game, and how much after release?
Dev Team: The game development process is interesting because we are working with fans of all ages to build LEGO Universe, including LUPs and AFOLs (Adult Fans of LEGO), as well as kids and parents whose feedback has been an integral part of the game testing process.
GD: After release, what about game updates and expansion packs? How often will there be new content?
Dev Team: There will be frequent game updates, but no official plans on timing have been announced yet.
New challenges and content will be released over time to ensure that the game world continually offers new things to explore.
GD: What other major projects has this development team worked on?
Dev Team: NetDevil has been developing online games for over 12 years now. Our current titles in development include LEGO Universe, Jumpgate Evolution (think Elite/Privateer/Wing Commander meets MMOG), and a very cool and different unannounced project. We’ve always pursued risky and ambitious projects to try to create unique experiences beyond the now standard high-fantasy MMO fare. The LEGO Universe team specifically is composed of many NetDevil veterans, and has grown to include talent from across the top tiers of the game industry, as well as a few crossovers from toys, movies, industrial and graphic design.
GD: Ryan, your job requires in-depth interactions with LEGO toys, how was that for you?
Ryan: Getting to reunite with a childhood passion like this is a rarity in our world. I feel extremely fortunate to have the opportunity to do this for a living. Having about 10 million bricks within walking distance is also a nice perk.
GD: How did you come to be producing LEGO Universe? You do realize the implications this will have for your spot in LEGO and gaming history right?
Ryan: The LEGO Group approached us in 2005 with a very brief email, something along the lines of “would you be interested in working on an online world using LEGO?”. I almost did a back flip out of my chair and ran over to Scott & Peter (the other NetDevil founders) and said “This could be the coolest MMOG EVER!”. We went through a lengthy selection process that involved an evaluation of over 50 development studios globally, and I suppose the LEGO Group liked what they saw in NetDevil. I think we had the closest shared vision of what a universe of LEGO play could really be. As for history, right now we’re just working on making a really great game that’s fun to play.
GD: What's the most awesome thing you've ever built using LEGO, besides this game? Favorite sets as a kid?
Ryan: I used to make little micro-scale transformers when I was a kid that I thought were pretty awesome, although to anyone else, they probably weren’t much to look at. Recently I’ve been getting a lot of inspiration from some of the amazing AFOLs who post countless images on the internet. I’m a big fan of Blizzard’s Starcraft, so I’ve been building little Terran marines, battle cruisers and what not.
My favorite sets when I was a kid were definitely the classic Space sets. I don’t think I have one single favorite, my fondest memories are more about how I used to play with my entire collection in so many different ways.
GD: Ryan, my thanks to you and the development team, as a sendoff - any top secret teasers you want to share about the game?
Ryan: Thank you! I would love to give some more details, but you’ll have to wait a little longer. I can promise in the months to come, we’ll be unleashing a veritable maelstrom of additional info about LEGO Universe! Stay tuned to LEGOUniverse.com!
Stay tuned to GeekDad for more on LEGO Universe in the months to come!
More LEGO on GeekDad:
GeekDad Builds the new LEGO Carousel
Hacking the NXT With LEGO's Blessing
Brickfair 2009: LEGO LEGO Everywhere!
LEGO Love Affair: A Geekological Profile
