Jagex Ready to Conquer Consoles (+MechScape stuff), Develop article by Will Freeman Options

[Ren]

http://www.develop-online.net/digital-edition (Page 6 & 7)

Jagex Ready to Conquer Consoles by Will Freeman
As the release of its next MMO draws near, the UK’s biggest studio says it is going to broaden horizons away from browser-based technology - and onto TVs


UK independent Jagex has confirmed to Develop that it is looking towards releasing its first console game. In an exclusive interview with Develop, senior staff at the studio – one of the largest in Europe – said that it will start work on the project after work is complete on its next MMO, currently codenamed Mechscape.

“The earliest thing I did as Chief Technical Officer is make sure we became quite program-agnostic,” revealed Jagex’s Mark Gerhard, who was appointed as CEO earlier this year. “That’s not just down to the client that we run, or even down to the platform of our targets. It’s down to the languages. We’re in a good shape now to be able to go to console, and not run on Java Virtual Machine right now.” He also revealed: “I suspect that the next project to come out of the studio will be a console game, which will be based on a proven IP.”

Despite still carrying a working title, the arrival of Mechscape is imminent, and while Jagex head of games development Henrique Olifiers has refused to be drawn on a release date, he did offer some perspective on why the game has been underway since 2006. “We are getting there,” promised Olifiers. “We are polishing the game now. Most of the job is done, but we don’t want to compromise with the date. We perform play tests all the time, and we want to have the freedom to change as much as we want. We want to release the product when we say ‘this is finished and this is brilliant’, and not be pressured by any commitment that we could have made to the community.

“Ultimately we’re only going to launch it when we’re happy with it,” added Gerhard. “Call it internal quality control if you will. That’s why we haven’t committed to a date. “It’s not about the right time to launch, a PR opportunity or a commercial opportunity. It’s really just about ‘when is this game ready to go out so it will be fun?’ That approach is really us going back to our roots, if you will. It was always in the company’s DNA. “I think we dabbled for a year or so with the ‘hack, ship, hack, ship, hack, ship,’ model; being more corporate or commercial or what ever the right term is. That just wasn’t us. “So our return to roots is frustrating to some in terms of ‘when is it going to come out?’ But the game? I can say its looking good. The guys are doing a fantastic job and I’d say we have one last big push. It’s so close it hurts.”

A sci-fi MMO, Mechscape is designed for a more mature player than those typical of Runescape’s user base; a demographic the team at Jagex is confident it can court without alienating newcomers, says Olifier. In the interview with Develop, which is available to read in full at on our website, the company CEO also elaborated on the studio’s relationship with Java, and its influence over the creation of Mechscape.

“I guess we started off again being Java guys, and the fact is that really Java couldn’t do everything we needed it to do,” explained Gerhard. “So Jagex built a ‘Java Audio Graphics Extension’. We had to write our own library for audio and for graphics. It’s come a long way, but our entire framework is its own proprietary systems from endto- end, from web servers through to file systems – everything is by Jagex. “We used the Java syntax, but everything else is built in house. That technology allowed us to do incredible things that you’ll be able to see with Mechscape. The experience is a real evolution, and it’s surprising because it’s running in a browser. And I don’t think you’d be able to do that with traditional Java, if you will, but that’s nine years of development in the making. We sometimes surprise ourselves. ”

[Robinhoodrs]

Very very nice, "It's so close it hurts"... So what they are saying is, it's around a month away, last time MMG said this is when PvP Update was coming and he said those words and it came out in a week!

Omg!

[Crash Jordan]

Interesting read.

The guys are doing a fantastic job and I’d say we have one last big push. It’s so close it hurts.”

Can't wait.

[Yminsky]

Holy awsome balls, I'm so excited! erm....woops...I'm a little too excited because I just pee'd.

[Cursed]

Cool but more of it was about Mechscape than consoles. :O

Nice stuff.

[St Lucis]

More console news, nice. “I suspect that the next project to come out of the studio will be a console game, which will be based on a proven IP", RuneScape anyone?

[Cursed]

I don't really see Runescape being played on a console. It would be quite hard to get everything working right, since the mouse plays a big part in Runescape. Unless of course they were to redo the WHOLE game, which again highly doubtful.

Edit: plus if they were to redo the whole game, it wouldn't be Runescape it would just be another game.

[dudleyspud]

I don't really see Runescape being played on a console. It would be quite hard to get everything working right, since the mouse plays a big part in Runescape. Unless of course they were to redo the WHOLE game, which again highly doubtful.

Edit: plus if they were to redo the whole game, it wouldn't be Runescape it would just be another game.

They could be releasing a game based on "Betrayal at Falador" or they could release a series of games.(e.g. Mahjarrat series, gnome series etc.)

[Darth Irule]

Getting close to release! Can't wait.

[Rick Astley]

"So close it hurts"

That's awesome!

[Zamorak]

Very very nice, "It's so close it hurts"... So what they are saying is, it's around a month away, last time MMG said this is when PvP Update was coming and he said those words and it came out in a week!

Omg!

Omg, I can feel the pain alrady

[Saradane]

Very very nice, "It's so close it hurts"... So what they are saying is, it's around a month away, last time MMG said this is when PvP Update was coming and he said those words and it came out in a week!

Omg!

You are correct, it was roughly a week between him saying this and the release of the PvP update. I think with a project like this you are looking at around 1-2 months more, closer to the 1 I would hope.

I am so stoked for this game. May I just say that this information has offered a variety of new facts which is defiently sign of progress. I mean for Jagex to be talking so openly about the project after MechScape signifies a close release.

THANK YOU MSW! ILY!

~Brad

EDIT: In response to the platform game. There are three options.

1) The Console supports Jagex's specific Java Coding.
2) The games they have currently are ported.
3) A whole new game.

This post has been edited by Saradane: Aug 10 2009, 12:48 PM

[Hayaemsay]

Interesting read, it's unlikely we'll get any information on the console game for at least two years.

[Garanaw]

MechScape for 360? Would be awesome for me, since it might not work on my macbook.

[Wege]

So close it hurts.

Mod MMG said the same about the name-changing thing for RuneScape in his Q&A session, is it linked?

This post has been edited by Wege: Aug 10 2009, 02:03 PM

[whovian39]

"So close it hurts"

That's awesome!

Well the waiting certainly hurts lol

[Rick Astley]

"So close it hurts"

That's awesome!

Well the waiting certainly hurts lol

When Mod MMG says "It's awesome" MechScape will be out that day/next day.

[PoultryChamp]

Oooh! This is promising.

[Shadow of Sofia]

*gasp* My waiting has ended... This s a great way 2 bring up hype!!

[Lord John]

Well they've said soon for ages. I'm not hyped, quite the opposite.

Yes I know you all love me now for ruining all your excitement ;)