News

E3 2014 News: Code Name: S.T.E.A.M for 3DS announced

Nintendo’s highly anticipated 3DS Game reveal has finally happened. They revealed a new IP called Code Name S.T.E.A.M Which relates to the trademark that Nintendo filed in April.

Here’s some details and screens:

Details:

NOT a Miyamoto game
Lots of coverage in Treehouse Live tomorrow.
S.T.E.A.M. stands for: Strike Team Eliminating the Alien Menace
Steampunky
Takes place in London
Cel-shaded, very comic book-ish (Some of the inspiration for the design came from Silver Age comics and artists like Jack Kirby and Bruce Timm.)
Showed the opening cinematic at the roundtable (details behind the link)
Hitoshi Yamagami (Fire Emblem, Xenoblade Chronicles and Pokemon series) is the game’s director (duckroll: Yamagami is the Nintendo director for the project, which isn’t exactly the traditional role of a game director, more like a supervisor/producer on the Nintendo side. The game’s creative director is Paul Patraschcu and Takako Sakai is the art director.)
Game is a turn- based strategy game. Has an action focus too (3rd person shooter)
Developer is Intelligent Systems
Players will take command of the unit steam a unique fighting force created by Abraham Lincoln to defend against a mysterious invasion from space
Mr. Yamagami wants to “find a way to introduce more people to strategy games & have them fall in love w/ them the way I have”
Turns seem based on how much steam they have. Forward movement drains steam (backtracking recovers steam). However, if an enemy spots you, it will attack you and lock you into the movement. So does using weapons. Different weapons use different amount of steam.
Many people liveblogging say the gameplay reminds them of Valkyria Chronicles.
“There doesn’t seem to be an overhead map . Switching between units is meant to give players a view of the battlefield.”
“They want to emphasize exploration.”
The game uses the touch screen features of the 3DS to create an intuitive control system.
The game is structured as a campaign and divided into missions. Each mission has several maps
Versus mode
Each character is unique so you can choose your favorites from a pool. Characters on screen include a woman with face paint and a braid reaching out for a bird friend, a tall black man with a gold bull head on his shoulder, a young child with goggles, a burly blonde guy and a skinnier, nerdy-type holding a book and wearing glasses.
As you play through the game, the boilers, weapons and characters available to you will increase.
Focus less on grinding levels. Instead get new characters, weapons, and equipment. No all-powerful weapon
Main characters’ weapon design is based on the weapon’s abilities and an animal motif based on the character’s personality.
Main and sub weapons per character. Sub weapon is more streamlined in design.
The terrain has a lot of depth and reflects the variety of strategic choices in the game. A character on a high piece of terrain can be used as a spotter (better moving for those on lower ground).
The developers came up with some original aliens that riff on creatures from the Lovecraft mythos.
Each character has a unique special attack. That special attack can be used once per attack (apparently also per character).
An overwatch attack is, is an attack on the enemy’s turn. Apparently pretty important game mechanic.
There are checkpoints spread around the map where you can save your game.
You can use medals you collect in the map to heal allies. Medals can also be saved to acquire more powerful weapons. Can’t buy medals from eShop.
Only 1 difficulty level.
No permadeath. Still challenging according to devs.
Same composer as Advance Wars series.

Q&A:

How does game take place in London if Lincoln started the team?

The setting being what it is, the middle 19th century, it is still fantasy. At the time the British empire was the biggest on earth, so it makes sense for the alien to target them. Victorian setting makes sense because of the steampunk aesthetic. From there we can take them to enjoy our own interpretation of steampunk, which is more american, more dynamic, more colorful.

With the popularity of FPS and TPS, is this and Splatoon Nintendo’s attempt on those genres?

Nope. It was just the idea they had and felt right.

What was the impetus to use Lincoln in the game?

There were several settings pitched. One was steam punk civil war and everyone immediately had ideas.

Who is the composer since game used rock?

Since the Gameboy Advance, Advance Wars .. the music has been composed by (the same guy) (My note: according to Wikipedia this is incorrect.) I think you noticed the similarities. I wanted the music of the game to reflect steampunk setting. Most of the arrangements use a stringy part, inspired by 19th century music, the heavy metal is inspired by the machinery. The music changes based on the situation on the battlefield.

How do you treat death in the game and is there permadeath?

No permadeath. It’s not a game that relies individual characters it relies on the team. If you take away characters could get you into a situation where you couldn’t complete the game. If the characters die in the map you can revive by paying a price in medals, if you don’t appear in the next map. We’re not evil… it is a hard game though. We want you to enjoy the game and enjoy it from beginning to end.

Will game have online?

There is not going to be online play but there will be multiplayer which will be online. (Polygon was confused about what they meant). We’re not really talking about it yet, but there will be multiple modes.

Question about the size of the cast of characters. Scale: Fire Emblem vs. a standard JRPG

Uhhh…. there’s quite a few. More details expected in the future.

Is this why we haven’t gotten our Advanced Wars?

We are always thinking about our next iteration of Advanced Wars and Fire Emblem.

Asks for status of Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem.

No no no no no. We’re right on schedule, but if I answer in any more detail I will lose my job so please have mercy on me.