Cecille's Creativity

"It's a challenge in a game of this magnitude to keep everyone making the same game," says Chris Cao, the confidant, jovial lead designer of DCUO. Cao's intimate familiarity with the perils of MMO development was earned plowing the same role on SOE's EverQuest II, a credibility crucial to surviving the hard, pointy end of the highly competitive work of MMO creation. If next-gene-marathon, then producing a successful MMO is the untraman endurance challenge.

Illustrating that fact, as we wandered the otherwise non-descript office hallways of SOE's Austin Office, colorful, invariably stylish concept art piece created by Executive Creator Director Jim Lee (ans his team at Wildstorm) adorned the walls, confessing "Approved" date stamps from mid-2006. Since the game still has a vague 2009 release plan, that's at least three years of art development; the design outline was being fleshed out even earlier. Lee's role is to ensure his own DC universe style is retained throughout every facet of the design, to provide a canon seal of approval, and help navigate the relationship with license holders DC Comics to the betterment of the gameplay experience.

To ensure that visual credibility, the team at Lee's Wildstorm studio has created some 1,300 to 1,400 concept art piece for the game, covering characters and locations to retain a visual consistency familiar to all fans of a franchise that has endured for some 70 years.