Digital Extremes
After over a decennary , Warframecontinues to originate , develop , and reinvent itself . The third - somebody shooter / RPG hybrid has thrive as a liberal - to - playing period game thanks to steady updates expanding the story , system , and weapons . With the approaching handout ofWarframe : 1999 , Digital Extremes attend to conquer some completely unexpected thing : Y2 K , chit-chat rooms , and son circle .
“ I wrote the numbers pool 1999 on my whiteboard , ” Ford says , “ and they have sat there for the full part of 18 calendar month . ” That simple curlicue has now turn intoWarframe‘s wildest chapter yet .
Digital Extremes
Party like it’s 1999
It ’s New Year ’s Eve 1999 . It ’s the earned run average of son bands , chitchat room , and the loom specter of Y2K. It ’s Earth , but not our Earth , with signs of societal decay . “ We have a form of vaguely easterly European impression of a 1999 that has roads , military CRT concealment everywhere , and the gumption of the kind of abandoned culture , malls , stadiums , and those types of trademark for the time , ” Brennan says .
Arthur is the leader of the Hex , a group of six individuals in the summons of transforming into former Warframes . While the frames are traditionally faceless and still avatars for the player , Arthur and fellowship are something unlike . As Ford puts it , “ They ’re guinea pigs . They ’re part of some pursuit of power and security , but they ’re their character . They ’re people . You will meet them as a instrumentalist . You will interact with them . You ’ll con what makes them tick and what they ’re after . ”
My demo starts plainly enough : Arthur is looking for the keys to his motorcycle . He check in with the other member of his group one at a time , and we get a sense of their personalities , like the rapid and disorderly Amir , or the inexorable , borderline confrontational Quincy . Eleanor , Arthur ’s babe , has the keys and render them to him . Before departing , however , Arthur makes a stay at a estimator to send a quickInstant Message . These early internet chats will dish up an of import role in the raw family relationship system , where you ramp up bond paper with the residuum of the squad . Play your cards right , and you might even act your style up to love affair — and a New Year ’s buss .
“ Yes , we ’re add up a romance system to this exceptional slice ofWarframe , because it ’s the ’ ninety , ” Ford says . “ You love , if you were in 1999 on your computer , you were probably in Old World chat rooms on AOL , ICQ , courier , all these things . So all of these citizenry would have had history at the time to blab to each other . ”
The internet was n’t all smooches in 1999 , however . Anyone around in the belated ’ XC on a computing equipment probably had a ladder - in with virus as well . Ford sure did . She describe ruin a family estimator by download a computer virus in Napster , and then another falling quarry to the infamous I lie with You computer virus . The idea of technological danger is somethingWarframe : 1999explores , particularly thehysteria around Y2K.
For those who were n’t around at the time , the idea was that data processor were largely built with two - digit days in creative thinker . The system that ran the world were going to go from 99 to 00 , and there was a fear that it would make computers think it was 1900 again . Some recall this was going to bring about end of the world , with world fiscal scheme crashing , airplanes falling out of the sky , and club crumple . Nothing much occur of it on Earth , butWarframeis a small dissimilar .
“ Warframeis a game with its own narrative and world - building , there ’s a wad that relies on very specific thing happening , like a fail null journeying or an awakening for the instrumentalist . So we thought we could actually foot a moment in modern-day time to trigger some major story beat for the world . We ’re making it our own in the way that it relates to [ scientist ] Albrecht Entrati , specifically in the void . ”
It really always descend down to , what have n’t we done yet ?
The 1999 esthetic would n’t be complete without euphony , whether it ’s stain , daughter power group , shoegazey electronica , or , perhaps most importantly , boy bands , who , according to Ford , are “ vital to the plot and note . ” On - lyne is this version of Earth ’s Backstreet Boys . Not only is their euphony live to be all over the place but they could directly become a foil , if you are irresponsible with calculator and get a computer virus of your own .
“ That ’s really the initial tone in building your own boy stripe . So because it literally is a computer virus that get out of control . You need a reservoir point for that virus . So players will be able to find an infested computer out in the world , and they can take to interact with it to begin that procedure . ”
This linkup into the Lich system of rules , in which a limited honcho exists inWaframe ’s modern meter to act as a curse for the role player . An infection that start in 1999 and is left to fester for several millennium can spiral out of control . The result : a concert arena floating in blank space , and a competitiveness against a misrepresented variation of a boy band .
ProtoExcalibur
Beyond the roughly three- to four - hour drive inWaframe : 1999,we will see a number of constituent that come back from the class 1999 to the modernistic era . Arthur ’s bike was ab initio consider as a unproblematic loading CRT screen before growing into a to the full operable modal value of transportation , complete with jumps and aeriform trick . It will be fully playable in open areas like the Plains of Eidolon and Orb Vallis .
Arthur himself will be playable in the stand game and will be the first of the all - novel Gemini Skins . “ The Gemini skins , ” Ford explain , “ are our first launching into what I study the highest - grade skin ever . They ’re fully sound , they ’re fully customizable , and they are two fashion frame in one . ” The way it works is a simple emote will toggle between the base Excalibur skin and the Arthur Gemini skin , admit you to switch back and forth at any time .
It ’s not a purely aesthetic swap . The person represented in the Gemini skin is in full entire , meaning we will hear from Arthur , and get his reactions back in modern clip to things , even react to your Operator . “ So we had [ Arthur part actor ] Ben Starr record a whole crowd of line , just so we could prove it out . So he recorded , like , ‘ reload ’ or ‘ waypoint over there , ’ and if you do transfer , he ’s like , ‘ Oh , last a break . ’ So we have all of these little mo for you to play with . It just makes it feel super sassy and cool . ”
Gemini Skins , like the time period esthetical , and dating sim elements , is a new concept forWarframe . Together they form the linchpin of the next big chapter in the long - running game . I ask Ford how they decide what come next forWarframe . “ For us , ” she answers , “ it really always come down to , what have n’t we done yet ? What did we do too much of , and what do we imagine would be fun ? ”
ForWarframe : 1999that reply involve male child bands , claver rooms , and a bit of smooching .
Warframe : 1999arrives in winter 2024 for PS4 , PS5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series X / S , Nintendo Switch , iOS , and microcomputer .
