Dust 514

EVE: Dust 514
Developer(s)	CCP Shanghai
Publisher(s)	CCP Games Sony Computer Entertainment
Engine	Unreal Engine 3
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3
Release	WW:May 14, 2013
Genre(s)	First-person shooter
Mode(s)	Multiplayer

Dust 514(/ˈdʌstfaɪvwʌnfɔːrˈ/) was afree-to-playfirst-person shootervideo game,developed byCCP Shanghaiand published byCCP GamesandSony Computer Entertainmentfor thePlayStation 3.Dust 514took place in New Eden and was directly connected to CCP's gameEve Online.There was direct interaction between the two; player actions in one game affected the political, economic, legal, environmental, and social status of the other. The two games were officially connected on January 10, 2013in preparation for theopen betaon January 22.The full game was released worldwide on May 14, 2013.While previews of the game were highly positive, the full game received a mixed reception upon its initial release. It received constant updates and hotfixes after release. The game was shut down on May 30, 2016.

Setting

See also:Eve Online

Dust 514took place in the same fictional universe asEve Online,a science fictionmassively multiplayer online role-playing game(MMORPG) set 21,000 years in the future. TheEve Onlinebackstory explains that humanity, after using up the Earth's resources, began to colonize the rest of theMilky Way.The development offaster-than-lighttravel allowed mankind to expand at an extremely fast pace, leading to violent competition between space-faring corporations. A natural wormhole was discovered, and humanity entered through it to find an empty new galaxy which they began colonizing. However, the wormhole connecting the two galaxies collapsed, leaving the young colonies cut off from the worlds that had supplied them. Without support, many of the colonies in the new galaxy died off, and over time the few that remained lost their knowledge of both their technology and of their origins from Earth. Eventually, a new era began when civilization was rebuilt and faster-than-light travel was rediscovered. Five unique space-faring cultures emerged from the colonies to become the only interstellar powers in the new galaxy; the Amarr, Caldari, Gallente, Jove and Minmatar.

Eve Onlineplayers take the role of capsuleers, who are elite starship pilots made immortal using cloning technology and consciousness transfers. For much ofEvehistory, only capsuleers were immortal because the technology required to download consciousness was linked to a capsule that encloses them and leaves them insuspended animation.The capsule was designed specifically as an interface for pilots to control the ship that they were placed within. However, the discovery of a specialimplantmade it possible to achieve a transfer of consciousness without the use of a capsule, so it became possible to make immortals that were not pilots.Dust 514players took the role of immortal ground-based soldiers which were created by the military shortly after the implant was discovered.

Gameplay

Dust 514allowed players to customize infantry and vehicles with a modular fitting system similar to the ship fitting system inEve Online.

Dust 514was afirst-person shooterwith elements ofmassively multiplayer online games.Combat took place on the various planets found inEve Online,each offering a substantial amount of unique maps and sockets. Planets were divided into several large districts, which held resources and installations that dust players had to fight for control over in Planetary Conquest battles, or PC battles for short. Only the natural landscapes of each planet remained constant; the placement of buildings and surface structures was controlled by the player corporations.

Infantry inDust 514were equipped with "dropsuits" which functioned similarly to the ship hulls inEve Online.Dropsuits had various module slots which players could utilize to fit different weapons, equipment and skins. Dust 514 entities had two different health meters: Shields and Armor; of which each had individual advantages and disadvantages. In addition, certain weapons affected one health type more than the other. For instance, the Scrambler Rifle would deal 20 percent more damage to shields but 20 percent less damage to armor. There were 3 different dropsuit variants for each race with corresponding advantages and disadvantages; light, medium, and heavy dropsuits; each of which branched out to their corresponding specialized dropsuit. Some examples were the Caldari Heavy Frame which could lead to the Caldari Commando and Sentinel, the Gallente Medium Frame led to the Gallente Assault and Logistics, and the Minmatar Light Frame led to the Minmatar Scout. This gave players a broad range of customization choices and the ability to create specialized fits to perform specific roles and tactics on the battlefield.

Skill training, in a manner similar toEve Online,was also available. CCP has stated that it would take seven years to train all skills, and that it was not intended for any player to learn all of the skills. Instead, CCP believed that players would naturally become specialized by selecting a certain set of skills and becoming "really, really good at them." These skills unlocked new and better items, better passive bonuses, as well as unlocking other skills.Player-driven vehicles were also available in the game; these could be transported to anywhere within the battlefield using "rapid deployment vehicles (RDV)" at the request of players. Vehicles shared the modular fitting system that infantry dropsuits had but modules cost more than those of a dropsuit.

Different game modes inDust 514were Ambush, Acquisition, Domination, and Skirmish. In Ambush and Ambush OMS, the goal of each team was to deplete the event team's Clone reserves. In Acquisition, the goal was to control timed nodes that move every five minutes. In Domination and Skirmish, the goal of each team was to destroy the opposing mobile command center.

AlthoughDust 514players were mercenaries, they could also seize territory from planets within a section of theEveuniverse called Molden Heath for their own alliance and corporation, which took place in the form of Corporation vs. Corporation matches. This allowedDust 514corporations to build infrastructure on captured territory, but it was unclear what manufacturing powerDust 514corporations would have.Dust 514players could also work together withEveplayers in capturing systems inEve Online'sfactional warfare space;Dust 514players could speed up or slow down the rate at which a system could be captured by winning battles for the attacking faction.

Connection toEve Online

See also:Eve Online

In a demonstration by CCP Games, anEve OnlineAbaddon-class battleship (left) fires on a ground target designated by aDust 514soldier (right).

All combat withinDust 514took place, in real-time, on planets found in theEve Onlineuniverse. The player alliances and corporations ofEve Onlinecould hireDust 514players asmercenariesto fight for control over planets; the outcome of such battles were expected to eventually affect the sovereignty of player-run political powers inEve Online.A direct form of interaction came in the form of "orbital bombardments". Orbital bombardments allowed a player inEve Onlineto provide direct assistance to friendly forces in a battle inDust 514.If a player inEve Onlinewere in position above a planet with proper bombardment equipment, the player could fire upon a target designated by a friendlyDust 514player. This was first shown to the public as an actual in-game mechanic during EVE Fanfest 2012,although it had been previously featured during the 2011 fanfest in a cinematic trailer titledA Future Vision.

Both games shared the same namespace, so a player inDust 514could not choose a username that already existed inEve Onlineor vice versa. This allowed players from both games to join the same corporation or alliance, as well as communicate between the two games in real-time.

In an interview conducted by Simon Carless ofGamasutra,CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson said that he hoped "these [Eve OnlineandDust 514] communities will meld over time ", bridging the two environments. He described the relationship between the flying-oriented nature ofEve Onlineand the infantry-oriented nature ofDust 514,saying "while the fleet does the flying, the infantry does the dying".The massive Eve universe would have been the platform for all planetary combat. Brandon Laurino, executive producer ofDust 514,stated that there would not be a set number of maps at launch, saying "We are covering literally a universe of planets, so there's thousands of different maps and they're all available to everyone who's playing."

Development

Dust 514was announced on August 18, 2009, at theGame Developers ConferenceinCologne,Germanywhere it was introduced with a short trailer featuringreal timefootage of the game.

In 2010, CCP updatedEve Onlinewith theTyrannisexpansion.Tyrannisintroduced planetary interaction, allowing players to harvest resources from planets using ground installations. A developer blog by CCP mentioned that, while the expansion alone would not include planetary combat, the upcomingDust 514game would deal with the combat aspect by allowing players to "project military force for attack and defense of planetary installations."Planets inEve Onlinepreviously held no value; the Tyrannis expansion was intended to tie intoDust 514by giving players "a reason to want to fight over [the planets]."

The original logo forDust 514,used from its announcement up to E3 2011

CCP Games reached an agreement withEpic Games Chinain 2010 to licenseUnreal Engine 3for use inDust 514.

DuringE3 2011,it was confirmed thatDust 514would be released exclusively on the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.A beta would be held before the end of 2011 followed by a release in the summer of 2012. However, afterward CCP opted to put more work into the game to improve it further and have a release date in 2013, rather than a 2012 release date.Dust 514was initially slated to be the first cross platform game, pitting Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 players with each other but CCP later dropped the Xbox 360 as a potential platform; the choice of PlayStation 3 exclusive was determined by Sony's more open platform allowingDust 514to connect to theEve Onlineserver Tranquility, whereas Microsoft's Xbox Live did not.It was also confirmed afterE3 2011thatDust 514utilizedHavokmiddlewaretechnology.

Dust 514was connected to Tranquility, the live production server ofEve Online,on January 10, 2013.The complexity of running two games on one server proved to be a unique challenge for the developers. To mitigate any performance issues that this might have on either of the two games, CCP designed a server architecture such that the majority ofDust 514gameplay was run on various "battle clusters" across the world. These server clusters would handle all the latency sensitive first-person shooter aspects ofDust 514.The mainEvecluster, located inLondon,would only communicate withDust 514for information such as character names.

The game was released on May 14, 2013, with an update titledUprising.This release build improved many aspects of the game, such as the graphics and character progression, and introduced the planetary conquest mechanic. AlthoughUprisingwas the initial release build, CCP said that it would not be the final major update: "Even when we take off the beta tag the launches don’t stop. We’ll launch significant updates indefinitely... It’s an on-going service that will keep getting better and better."

Future developments

At CCP's 2012 Fanfest, even before the release ofDust 514,CCP had already revealed ideas for expansions in 2013. Possible future features included the ability to traverse on planets with "hostile" environments (such as lava planets) and the addition ofmechanized exoskeletonsthat players could use, called MTACs.

At CCP's 2014 Fanfest, the company revealed that development would be split betweenDust 514and Project Legion, a prototype for a PC-based first-person shooter that would attempt to address some of the shortcomings inDust 514.They planned on developing a distinct experience in the new prototype that was more aligned with their vision, while continuing to maintain some limited development ofDust 514.Had they decided the prototype was successful they stated they would have transferred existing player profiles and assets to the new game. This announcement was met with criticism from some of the player base, leading groups of core players to believe that CCP was abandoningDust 514in favor of Project Legion.At Eve Fanfest 2015, CCP said that while Project Legion was in works their main focus was onDust 514.However, CCP announced thatDust 514would officially shut down on May 30, 2016.

On April 21, 2016, CCP announced development of the gameProject Nova,a free-to-play first-person lobby shooter for the PC using Unreal Engine 4 set in theEVE Onlineuniverse.CCP developer CCP Rattati emphasized thatProject Novawas a project not a product; there was no guarantee that it would become a CCP game.

On September 22, 2023, CCP unveiledEVE: Vanguard,a free first-person shooter that would have its first beta test in December 2023.

PlayStation Home

In the PlayStation's online social gaming platformPlayStation Home,agame spaceforDust 514was released on June 13, 2012. The game space provided information about mercenaries and the Eve Universe as well as a mini-game known as Slay, a tabletop strategy game. Users could also earn special rewards such as a Merc Dropsuit and a Companion Drone.The game space for Dust 514 became unavailable when PlayStation Home was closed on March 31, 2015.

Business model

UnlikeEve Online,Dust 514did not require a monthly subscription. It instead used amicro-transaction model,making the game free to play. The game had two currencies: Aurum; which could be earned or bought with real money, and ISK; similar to but non-fungible with the primary currency inEve Onlinethat shares the same name. CCP's chief marketing officer, David Reid, compared this model to that ofLeague of Legends.Reid said thatDust 514is not a "pay-to-win" game. While some equipment could have been purchased with Aurum, the only benefit was a slightly different skin and lower skill requirements. Since the skills in question actually improved the performance of the equipment, performance of the Aurum-bought gear was actually slightly sub-par unless the skills were trained anyway.

Reception

Reception

Aggregate scores

Aggregator	Score
GameRankings	59.10%
Metacritic	59/100

Review scores

Publication	Score
Destructoid	6/10
Edge	4/10
Eurogamer	5/10
GameSpot	4/10
GamesRadar+
GameTrailers	4.4/10
IGN	5.8/10
VentureBeat	72/100
Metro GameCentral	5/10
Hardcore Gamer	3.5/5
PSU	9/10

Pre-release

Before releaseDust 514was considered innovative for its connection to another game.IGNsaid that the game was highly ambitiousand called it "...a Glimpse of the Future",whilePC Gamerpraised the orbital bombardment mechanic and the unprecedented amount of customization available.

Release

Upon release the game received mixed reception from critics. It attained an average aggregate score of 59.10% onGameRankingsand 59/100 onMetacritic,indicating mixed or average reviews.

Criticisms were generally focused on the bugs and poor execution of the gameplay.IGN's Vince Ingenito stated that Dust 514's incredible depth and customization were eclipsed by its poor graphics and gameplay mechanics. Additionally, Ingenito criticized the way the game implemented the free-to-play business model, saying it took too long for players to get into the equipment that they wanted. He ultimately gave the game a score of 5.8/10, calling it mediocre.Destructoid's Chris Carter gave the game a rating of 6/10, calling it an ambitious and complex shooter that still needed "a ton of work". Among the aspects that he criticized were the underwhelming graphics, the uninnovative game modes, and the tediousgrind.Eurogamerreviewer Paul Dean wrote thatDust 514has great potential but is "saddled with a very dull debut." Dean noted that despite having interesting factors, such as themetagameand social connection toEve Online,the game itself was mediocre and contained many bugs.However Alex Locher ofPlayStation Universepraised the unique nature ofDust 514,commending its technological accomplishments and meaningful player interaction. As Locher remarked, "Dust 514isn't some superficial and meaningless military shooter; it's a pioneering endeavour of programming, technology and consumer communication that has already created something unlike you've ever seen in gaming ".

Despite having mixed critical reception, CEO of the publisher CCP Games Hilmar Veigar Pétursson said in March 2015 that the company is very satisfied with the sales of the game, saying that "Dust 514is a profitable business of the company. "

External links

• Official website
• Dust 514on PlayStation