Wednesday - March 06, 2002
RPGvault features a new part in its series of Black Moon Chronicles developer profiles tonight. This time introducing us to Francois Masse, a game designer at Vircom.
Sorry about the missing French 'accents' Francois ;) - there should have been one of those ","'s under the "c" in "Francois" and one of them "´"'s above the "e" in "Masse". |
Raph "Holocron" Koster (Creative Director) has addressed the profession and skill selection/development system in Sony's/Lucas' upcoming Star Wars MMORPG in two forum threads over at the official SWG boards.
Here is no. 1 where he talks about the classless but skill-based profession system and here's no. 2 where he clarifies a few skill/profession related issues that obviously bore the potential of easily being misunderstood. |
The official Dungeon Siege website has updated with a link to an audio interview, held with Dungeon Siege's producer Chris Taylor at X-treme Gaming Radio. The interview is split up into two parts, sporting 11:17 minutes in total. It has been recorded at the recent Microsoft International Gaming Festival (formerly a.k.a 'Gamestock').
There are also some new screenshots and photos from the MS event right here. |
| Gone Gold has apparently talked to 3DO's Public Relations department today and they have confirmed that they have received final code for both, Might & Magic IX and Heroes of Might & Magic IV for some more in-house testing before both games should go gold shortly. Both games are supposed to be released by the end of March. The probability for 3DO's ability to ship both titles as scheduled is rising once again. |
DeusEx Machina has -in cooperation with Through The Looking Glass- caught up with Bill Money (Producer of DeusEx PS/2 and Deus Ex 2 PC/X-Box) from Ion Storm Austin to grill him on the DeusEx Playstation 2 port DeusEx: The Conspiracy which should be in a store near you very soon. The game seems to be basically finished and is just waiting for Sony's approval before it'll go gold.
Here's an interesting snip from the interview. Makes you kind of wonder how much M$ pays for those X-Box exclusive deals (exclusive in terms of the console market - there will be a PC version of DeusEx 2).
DX-M: Though it is early, would you personally (either you, Mr. Money, or various members of the team can answer this one – your discretion) be interested in working on the Playstation 2 version of Deus Ex 2, or any other Deus Ex series products?
Bill – The Playstation 2 is clearly the established console leader and we are always looking for ways to expand our audience. Currently, however, DX2 is a PC and Xbox title.
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| Also on ToTheGame.com, you can find some nice paperdoll artwork from Might & Magic 9. |
| Tothegame brings us a UK boxshot from Valhalla Chronicles, together with a nice factsheet. The roleplaying game Valhalla Chronicles is set in an undefined mythological/historical version of the Viking world somewhere around the years 800-1000. The game will unravel an epic story of a time of Vikings, discovery, adventures, raging wars and mythology. Valhalla Chronicles will not only take you to Miklagård (Constantinople) and Vinland (North America) but also to Valhalla, Svartalfheim, Hel and Muspelheim. As one of four heroes you must interact with humans and gods and choose your allies with caution in order to complete your mission. You will meet the powerful and short fused Thor; god of thunder, the wise Odin; god of magic and wisdom and the vile and deceitful Loke, half god and half-giant. |
Colin Grant, the Marketing Manager at JoWooD, was partner in an interview about Etherlords over at Player of Games. Here's a bit:
PoG: Also how does a player complete the game?
The ultimate goal is to become the Lord of White Ether. Working through the
campaigns is how to succeed at Etherlords. After that there is the online play and single missions that should keep players coming back for more. There is also a duel mode where a Lord is pitted against another Lord in a tactical battle using player defined spells as this is an integral part of
the game.
Strangely enough, they call the game "Etherlord" on the site... |
3DO Europe has just released two new artworks from Might and Magic IX and Heroes of Might & Magic IV which should make it easy for U.K. Might & Magic fans to identify the games in a shop of their choice. These artworks are going to be on front of the retail boxes.
Here they are (click for a larger version):
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Well, not just about Earth And Beyond, but the interview with Louis Caslte at Gamespot UK holds some info on Westwood's upcoming futuristic MMORPG as well:
GS: Moving away from Renegade for the moment, there's at least one other revolutionary product coming out of Westwood studios in the near future - your first massively multiplayer online RPC, Earth and Beyond Online. How big is this for you?
LC: Earth and Beyond, by the standard of the number of resources and years, is probably the most ambitious - definitely the most ambitious project we've ever done. It's an interesting thing. There's a lot of market risk in this segment - there's very few products that do very well, most are deep disappointments. We're trying to be careful. The reason we keep moving the date on Earth and Beyond is that we want to make sure that what we're putting out there really scratches the itch from a consumer point of view. |
AVault reports that Grandia 2 has gone gold:
Ubi Soft’s Grandia II for the PC has reached gold status. Already available for PS2 and Dreamcast, Grandia II for the PC will be in stores on March 12 for a suggested retail price of $49.99. A role-playing game, Grandia II follows the story of Ryudo, who has been hired to protect a young priestess destined to take part in a ceremony that could halt the rebirth of Valmar, the God of Darkness. The game delivers a 3D world with vast cityscapes and dungeons, and a unique battle system featuring a combination of real-time and turn-based combat. Japanese developers Game Arts and Rocket Studios are responsible for bringing Grandia II to the PC. |
Daily Telefrag has posted a preview of Another War. Polish developers from Mirage Interactive describe their game as "mix of Diablo, Baldur's Gate and Fallout", and the game is set in World War II. But after checking out press-demo of Another War, the folks at Daily Telefrag say that this game is way too far from any of the mentioned RPGs. Here's a bit of the preview:
At the character generation stage you are given 4 experience points that can be distributed over the skills. More points are acquired later with levels you get. You can obtain some extra points not only by completting quests but also by interacting with the surrounding world. For example, you can take a nail out of plank bed and get 5 exp. Gettting kitchen-knife means 50 exp more. Experience is given almost for everything you do out there. It seems to me the list of "legal" actions in the final game will be the longest in the history of RPG. Actually, such level of interaction desperately needs changes of the interface. Developers didn't invent wheel here and implemented a seasoned system of huge text windows (strongly resembling the good old days of the text-based games) that can be accessed by clicking the right button on almost any of the in-game objects. This would bring out a comprehensive textual description of the object as well as the complete list of actions you can do with it. Thus, player sitting at the fountain may notice coins underwater, and get them just for fun. Or you may try to get a rusty knife out of the ground if you've got enough strength. Quest system of this kind makes exploration fun and creative, as every object may or may not conceal surpises. Even when player stands still and the game says he is climbing up the tree at the moment, Another War seems to be authentic, as the well-written texts convey even the thoughts of your alter-ego. It is a book-like atmosphere that ensnares player well and achieves a good immersion. Dialogs supply much of secondary information too, getting you to know even the minutest detail of the characters around. Every time you talk, you get info on the interlocator, on his accent and behavior. Another War is very close to the interactive novel where player has to choose the direction of the plot flow. |
A review of Disciples 2 - Dark Prophecy has been published at Intelgamer. The rating is very enthusiastic (98%!), and so is the conclusion:
If you can’t tell, I love this game. It has kept me coming back to play more than any other PC game in recent memory. If turn based strategy is your thing, then this title will pull you in and make you lose many nights sleep. Disciples 2 is currently the best of the fantasy strategy games out there, and may even make you forget Heroes is just around the corner. |
There's a new review of Arcanum - Of Steamworks and Magick Obscura at Around CNY. With a final score of 7.75/10, it is rated as "good". Here are their closing paragraphs:
My final gripe would be that the game’s relatively limited graphics still seemed to require substantial system power and I occasionally saw slowdowns on my custom 1.4 ghz power-gaming PC.
On the plus side, the game was addictive to play, the quests were clever and interesting, and it was basically enjoyable. If you like Role-playing games, Arcanum is a good choice. The graphics were uninspired but adequate, the sound was fine and the difficulty level was reasonable. I found Arcanum to be inventive and plenty of fun. Developed by Troika Games, the same team that created the original Fallout, Arcanum earned a score of 7.75 out of 10. | | Source: BluesNews |
A preview of Project Ego, the upcoming RPG for the XBox, has been posted at GIA (together with some artwork and screenshots). Here's a bit from the preview:
In the grand tradition of Princess Maker, Project Ego bestows upon the player a young child who can be raised and shaped howsoever the player wishes. After choosing a gender and name for the little sprout, the next seventy to eighty years of the game are entirely up to you. The character's appearance, skills, deeds, and reputation are determined by the course of action designated by the player, not wholly dissimilar to many MMORPG's.
Also like several online RPG's, Project Ego includes a melange of subtle nuances that allow players to fully customize their characters. For a unique appearance, hair can be fashioned in nearly any way desired, and prolonged exposure to sun will result in tanning. Chopping wood or lifting heavy objects will eventually increase muscle mass. Conversely, lazing around results in atrophy. After battles, any particularly nasty injuries could leave permanent scars. |
Lynn commented on what happens with the, recently added, roofs if you would enter the house.Lynn: The moment you enter a house, the roof 'fades away' and I like it a lot.
I don't know if I made myself clear now, but there will be roofs in the demo - which will be distributed now very soon. When exactly ? I don't know. And Lar responded on the joke of starting a petition against roofsWell, for people like you and people with lower end systems, there's an option to switch them off. |
 Doug Church joins Ion Storm
Posted by Garrett @ 03:38 - Top 
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| As RPGPlanet reports, Doug church, founder of Looking Glass and designer/developer of Ultima Underworld 1 & 2, System Shock & Thief will join Ion Storm and thus Warren Spector - looks like a dream team is coming together over there... |
| Stygian Abyss, an Arx Fatalis Fansite has posted a very detailed guide for the Arx Fatalis Demo. There's a Beginner's Guide, a Quick Tour, a Full Tour and even a detailed map of the demo areas. |
MMOG Developer Chat Announcement
Posted by Rendelius @ 03:19 - Top
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UnknownPlayer.com is hosting a Public Developer Chat, Thursday at 6:30 pm Pacific. The chat will be moderated and run much like a House of Commons chat. The topic is:
"What are the most critical features to an MMOG?"
So far they have the following people scheduled to attend:
Daniel "Savant" Manachi, Themis Group
Jessica Mulligan, Themis Group
Joseph Tringali, Funcom
Travis Mcgeathy, Lost Continents
Scott "Lum the Mad" Jennings, Mythic
If you would like more information please check out this link.
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| Speaking of Avault, they published a hex cheat for Siege of Avalon, an episodic RPG by Digital Tome. |
Adrenaline Vault has previewed Grandia 2 for the Playstation 2 (of interest to PC gamers as well since the title is currently ported to our system). Here's something about dungeon crawling and combat:
Speaking of dungeons, this land provides you with plenty of chances to muck around in the stygian depths of the continent. While not exactly unique, since Chrono Cross recently implemented the same technique, it's fairly rare to find a game that eschews random encounters entirely. In many ways a refreshing change, the dungeons of Grandia II have monsters wandering their halls, and if you're particularly crafty you can avoid them entirely. More often, you'll want to time a charge carefully so that you can descend upon them from behind. If you can pull off this feat you will be rewarded with initiative, which can equal a huge advantage, as outlined below. Of course, if you're rushing headlong, it's possible for wily monsters to attack you from behind, meaning they get the drop on your hapless party, which, moreso in Grandia II than other RPGs on the PS2, is a very, very bad thing.
The reason initiative can be such a major factor in Grandia II can be found entirely in the unique mechanics of the battle system. The quickest way to describe these mechanics would be to call them a more visible version of the classic Quick Time Battle system every Final Fantasy fan knows and loves, and then leave it at that. To do so, though, would be a total injustice, since these fights play out in real time but afford the same flexibility and control over player moves that we've since seen in Final Fantasy X's turn based combats.
Grandia 2 received an overall score of 4 out of 5 stars... |
RPGDot Feature: Meet the staff members
Posted by Rendelius @ 02:08 - Top
Comments (2) |
| If you ever wanted to know who is working for your favorite RPG site: We have put our profiles online in the Staff Members section. You may take a look, but you have been warned *g* |
This is directly from MSN Gaming Zone:
March 5, 2002
We have moved our scheduled Asheron's Call Dev Chat out one week, so that we may instead bring players a special Asheron's Call 2 Dev Chat. The AC2 Dev Chat will take place this Thursday, March 7 at 5 PM PST. Jeff Anderson, Nik Davidson, Jason Booth, and Matthew Ford will be on hand to discuss Asheron's Call 2. You can find the chat room for this event here. |
Interplay testing new forums
Posted by Rendelius @ 00:31 - Top
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| Interplay is testing new forums and invite you to come over and tell them your opinion. Your old username and pw for the interplay forums is still valid. |
IGN.PC has some information about the collector's edition of Warcraft 3:
In addition to one kick-ass bundle of gaming goodness, the Warcraft III Collector's Edition will feature:
The Art of Warcraft: A high-quality coffee table book featuring rare and never-before-seen images from the Warcraft universe. Art from every stage of game development will be included, from early concepts to finished pieces, along with behind-the-scenes commentary from the Blizzard development team.
Warcraft III Cinematic DVD: Includes complete Warcraft III in-game cinematics, digitally remastered in widescreen format for television viewing. Exclusive special-features content includes concept art, storyboards, original cinematic trailers, and audio commentary from the Blizzard cinematics team.
Warcraft III Soundtrack CD: You die-hard Warcraft fans can listen to Warcraft III wherever you go.
Also included is a commemorative Collector's Edition manual signed by the Warcraft III development team and four limited edition 8 x 10 prints featuring rich artwork portraying battle-hardened veterans from each of Warcraft III's races. |
| New areas from Vircom's Black Moon Chronicles - Winds of War, can be seen in screenshots at the official site... |
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