Wow, they otanother update along with it:
http://www.eternalcrusade.com/Content/html/newsletter_devourer_wip.html
Steven Lumpkin
Hello Crusaders! Lead Level Designer and resident Rollplayer Steven Lumpkin (@silent0siris – with a zero!) here with an update about… well a lot of things! It’s busy times here at Behaviour. Let’s get started.
Level Design Production Update
I recently hired two new awesome Level Designers! Shawn Bauer (Level Designer) joined me in January. He studied Level Design at Campus Ubisoft and most recently worked on The Secret World. Patrick Vaillancourt (Senior Level Designer - @vaipaa83) joined us in the first week of April. He’s worked on many multiplayer shooters over his 8+ years of experience, such as Rainbow Six Vegas where he made the popular multiplayer map Calypso Casino. They’ve both started working on Outposts and Strongholds, and we’re now refining the player experience and working on a dramatic new Stronghold centered on a Laser Defense Turret.
Founder’s Program Details
Crusaders! Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade NEEDS YOUR HELP to go from great to awesome!
We have three big goals for our Founder’s Program. First, you’ve been asking for a way to support us as we finally make the first MMO in the Warhammer 40,000 universe, and we want to give you that. Second, we want to get constant feedback from our founders both through discussion and focused testing alike. Third, we want our Founder’s Packs to offer real, lasting value to you all- more than a simple color switch- as a reward for showing your faith in us so far in advance of the game’s launch.
Within the next few months you will be able to buy a Founder’s Pack for Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade. Buying a Founder’s Pack will give you full access to the full game at launch, and all four races. You’ll also get to select unique rewards from the following categories:
- Identity – Enhance your character’s core identity with unique Founders-only squad emblems, Heroes, and background-related titles, biographies, and cosmetics
- Weapon Skins – Unique cosmetics for each race
- Armor Skins – Unique cosmetics for each race
- Space Ship Decorations – Unique cosmetics to dress up your Squad or Strike Force Cruiser’s interior the way you want
- Miscellaneous – Unique execution animations and pets, both utility and non-combat
- Vehicles – Unique Founders-only vehicles
- Consumables – Extra ammunition, grenades, and other convenience items
- Accessories – Unique equipment pieces
Over the coming year we’ll be adding content to each of these categories to increase the value for everyone who purchases a Founder’s Pack.
Unique cosmetics aren’t your only benefit, either! As a Founder you will be a part of the Spearhead on Arkhona, gaining access to playable modules of Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade far in advance of the game’s launch date. With unique cosmetics, executions, and heroes, everyone in the crusade will know you were the first to win glory on Arkhona!
Make sure you and your friends are registered on the forums (and for our newsletters of course!) so you can all join the conversation! See the discussion
here for more details on the Founder’s Program!
The Great Devourer
In the war rooms at the heart of Strike Force Cruisers en route to Arkhona, conflicting reports have been testing the patience and understanding of military leaders from every race. Though there’s never been a record of any hive fleet reaching Arkhona, there are increasing reports of Tyranid activity on the surface…
Yes, Crusaders- Tyranids make up the bulk, but not all, of the PvE threat in Warhammer 40,000: Eternal Crusade. You will face many Tyranid variants, from terrifying swarms of Termagants and Hormagaunts, all the way up to massive Tervigons and Hive Tyrants. Every Tyranid organism has multiple biomorphs that it can bring to bear, each requiring a different approach.
You’ll face the Tyranids in three different areas of the game. You and your closest friends will encounter them directly in the shifting, labyrinthine Underworlds, where they make up most (but not all) of our PvE opponents. If you can fight your way through the alien threat, you can grab powerful relics, ancient technologies, or arcane secrets for your faction. Or maybe you’d prefer to descend directly into the Tyranid Hives, where you’ll be hard pressed to fend off hordes of Tyranids in wave-based combat? Your faction leadership will reward you for either choice. Finally, across the surface of the planet, every faction’s territory will be vulnerable to invasion by the Tyranids, who will expand across the surface according to their own alien intelligence. If you’re winning the war, stay cautious! The Tyranids will tend to target the faction with the most territory more than the others.
In keeping with our true open communication strategy, here are a few work-in-progress images of our Tyranids! We’ve included some keyframes of our early animations for the Hormagaunt, and a shot of the 3d model itself
That’s all for this week’s newsletter! If you’ll be at PAX East this weekend, I hope you’ll try and find me on the show floor! I may even have some interesting material to show you.
Your Lead Level Designer,
Steven Lumpkin