Wednesday - February 27, 2002
| Neocron Online has a log of the recent IRC chat with the dev team from Reakktor Media, makers of Neocron, an upcoming futuristic MMORPG online... |
| Just in case you get cold turkey because there haven't been reports about Dungeon Siege screenshots today, here is your relief - a gallery at GameSpyDaily, with very nice screenshots... |
| RPGVault has posted the next Black Moon Chronicles Developer Profile, this time about Humberto Valencia, the Marketing Associate from Vircom. The article is rather short, so no snippet served today :-) |
| Dark Times, a nice fan site for Dark Age of Camelot, has added some new Albion maps to its impressive collection. If you get lost or if you are looking for a certain location, this is the place to look. |
Evil Avatar collected some information about Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic from the latest issue of Computer Games Magazine:
The XBOX version of KOTR will debut first, PC gamers will have to wait. PC gamers will not see this title until late 2003, while XBOX owners could see it this XMAS. In essence, KOTR should be viewed now as a XBOX game that will be ported to the PC later.
Main reason for PC delay release is that Lucas does not want this title going up against Galaxies for Star Wars fans on the PC. Also BioWare and Lucas view this title as an aggressive move into the console market, that both will put their focus towards in the future. BioWare wishes to have 50% of their titles on consoles within the next few years. The XBOX appears to be their console of choice. BioWare will not abandon the PC market however, they view this as their roots.
The XBOX and PC versions of KOTR will be somewhat different. They don't explain the difference, but they say there will be some to target both platforms better.
Knights of the Old Republic will use an engine called Odyssey. Supposedly it takes advantage of the the latest graphical technology in the GeForce 3. The Odyssey engine is a step above the engine used for Neverwinter.
The gameplay will be more action packed than the Baldur's Gate series. They describe it as a "rules-based real-time system, with a strong action component".
There will be "minigames" included that are like those found in the Final Fantasy series. These will be in the form of interactive cut scenes.
Three classes is all that is described here, choice of gender will be in.
The game will feature a level up system with skills you get to put points in. You can pick what skills you wish to learn.
Your actions will determine if you drift towards the dark or light side of the force.
You must play as a human, but your party can (up to 3 at a time) anything from wookies to druids.
You will visit about 8 worlds in the game, some familiar like Tatooine.
Character animations feature eyebrow movement, moving eyes, rustling hair. Animations for emotions are included as well like fear or pain. Described as some of the most life like characters seen in an RPG like this to date.
You control a starship called the Ebon Hawk, and this is how you travel in the game. Ship has the same "character and focus as the Millennium Falcon in the movies".
Well, the PC version being late is bad news, for sure... :-( | | Source: Evil Avatar |
Two more site that bring us previews of Warcraft 3: Game Revolution and Game Club Central. Here's a clip from the latter preview:
Call me mortified, but hey, I LOVE the undead race! The Undead are a very powerful and hard race to play you will find. However, I have found that they are the single most diverse race, and quite popular in the Multiplayer games I have been in. When you start as this race, you begin with 4 Acolytes (They build and collect gold), and a single Ghoul (Used for lumber gathering and also a very good melee unit). As you begin construction on your empire, you start to notice some of the spooky effects they wrote into this race, both in sound and graphical. The Abominations for example, drip with blood from their Torso, and have many (reattached) severed limbs from other bodies. This went a long way into developing an atmosphere for the Undead, and Blizzard does a great job with the other races also. The Undead haunt gold mines rather than building a main building near them. This means you can send a lone Acolytes into a cleared mining area and open a new gold mine. Of course you can setup a citadel there also if you want to collect more lumber. With the weapon/defense upgrades the units get, this is one heck of a powerful race. Can you control your deathly urges and come out ahead of your opponent? |
The official website for Asheron's Call 2 has opened its doors to the public. Jeffrey Anderson, offers these words of welcome:
We are very pleased to welcome you to the official Asheron's Call 2 Web site. Everyone here at Turbine is excited about the continued success of the Asheron's Call franchise and glad to have the opportunity to share our passion with you.
Turbine was started in 1994 by a small group of hard-working entrepreneurs who loved online games. In fact, the company actually started in the founder's basement. Since then, we've grown to about seventy people and have shipped some of the best online games in the world. We're very proud about what we have done, but we are still learning. We spend a lot of time listening to the true online gaming experts--players like you--in emails, on the boards and even at Player Gatherings. A lot of your ideas and suggestions have changed the way we think about MMPs. Thanks for all of the help over the years! We believe you will find it will make a big difference in AC2.
More specifically, AC2 began over a year ago with a dedicated team at Turbine. From the very beginning, we have been focused on delivering the first “second-generation” MMP. Turbine has been building online worlds for seven years now, and we are using all of that experience to reshape the franchise. I believe that this project is going to radically change the way that players think about online games.
We are focusing on what makes games FUN. Unlike other MMP projects that seem to care more about collecting money than customer care, we are working to set a new standard for polished gameplay, robust technology, and high quality customer service. In particular, we want to emphasize a few core ideals in the product:
Fun: Engaging and compelling; never boring.
Simple: No one should need to read a manual to get started.
Deep: Providing expansive depth for endless play.
Personal: The game actually “knows” who you are and what you want.
Compelling: Combining action, adventure and exploration.
Social: Bringing people together in fun, meaningful ways.
Stable: Offering a robust gaming experience.
Turbine is committed to delivering on these goals and we are excited about being part of the Asheron's Call 2 project. As always, we look forward to hearing from you about what you like (and even what you don't like!) about the game. Ultimately, this is your world and we want to do the best job possible.
Thank you again for all of the past support and your continued interest in Asheron's Call.
Very truly yours,
Jeffrey Anderson
The media section offers some new screenshots and a collection of trailers. Apart from that, the site already holds a lot of info about this (extremely good looking) MMORPG... |
Thanks to Neverwinter Vault we just found out about this week's Neverwinter Nights treat from BioWare.
The Canadians have decided to go for another Top 10 Q&A, posted to the development forums by their relatively new community manager Jay Watamaniuk.
Here's a bit:
1. What content is planned for the manual? Will there be a separate manual for the toolset? Will they be electronic (.pdf or .html) or printed?
[Trent] We're writing the manual right now. The tools section will be quite brief, as it wouldn't fit in the box otherwise. We hope to do a good deal of extra documentation for the toolset, but it may be limited to electronic format (possibly included on the discs) or even online distribution.
2. What is the current point buy being tested? What is happening with the testing of that?
[Trent] The current point buy is thirty (30). Thirty (30) points makes for a very strong character and when you add points while leveling up it is very easy to make your character near supernatural. IF we change the point buy before ship it will not be to make it higher.
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The MMORPG Myth of Soma has received a small patch (1.3MB, v1.23), which fixes the following issues:Patch 1.23 Details
Here are some details about the new patch 1.23 :
1) Fixed the autopatch function of the client (from now on it should work properly even behind a firewall)
2) Changes to Morale System :
- Devil morale players will be now killed on sight by guards therefore they won't be able to enter any town (to "help" them we've added a storage NPC somewhere in TYT...).
- Wicked morale players won't be able to use NPC Shops.
- Evil morale people will have to pay rised prices in NPC Shops.
- Morale penalties have been fixed : now you won't get any penalty for attacking/killing wicked or devil players (remember that still you can't attack anyone in town), so far we have decided to not introduce any bonus for killing low morale players.
- Morale gains have been fixed : now you'll get morale gains killing monsters (the gain will depend on the monster class, the harder the monster the better the gain).
- Since with these new changes we think they're not needed anymore we've removed some of the extra guards we've added out of town.
3) Changes to Death Penalties :
- Revive : you'll still get experience and/or stats and/or skills losses, but they've been reduced to a more reasonable level.
- Warp to Town : now quest items won't drop if you choose this option, while other items might still drop.
4) Updated Guild War System has been added (you can find details here : http://forum.mythofsoma.net/showthr...p?threadid=1141)
5) Other minor bugs have been fixed | | Source: Voodoo Extreme |
We received 5 short pieces of "escape music" from Lost Continents by VR1 Entertainment. Travis McGeathy, Community Manager for the game, puts it this way:
Basically, they will be heard whenever a player escapes. At present, the plan it to have one of the five played randomly each time you escape. That way, you won't hear the same brain-crushingly monotonous thing every time you "die".
Click here to get the short (570kb) mp3...
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At a site called LawMeme, Ernest Miller has written a legal analysis of the case of Blizzard sueing bnetD, a free service that offers the functionality of BattleNet without requiring CD keys to be entered. Here's what he says about the claim that bnetD violates copyright laws:
To my knowledge there is no law that holds that reverse engineering a protocol through packet dumping implicates copyright in any way.
Vivendi might claim that special programs to assist users of bnetd to edit their Windows registry violated copyright. As mentioned above, the Windows registry consists of configuration files that can be modified by the user using regedit.exe which is part of every version of Windows. It is not at all clear how provision of a program to make editing certain portions of the registry easier would violate an exclusive right of the copyright holder. Moreover, it is not clear whether a user who alters the registry is violating copyright. They may be violating the EULA (more below), but that is not a violation of copyright. | | Source: Planet Diablo |
Gamespot has a report from the International Game Festival, revealing a little bit more about Asheron's Call 2. Here's a bit (app. a third if the entire article:
The sequel will build upon and improve the ideas that Turbine used in the original game. For instance, just as the original Asheron's Call had regular world-changing events that introduced new scenery, monsters, and items into the world, the sequel will have even more events, as well as a much more interactive environment. Asheron's Call 2 takes place in the wake of a disaster that's nearly destroyed the world, so players will actually be able to help rebuild the gameworld's civilizations. They'll also be able to directly affect the world in other ways by completing complex quests. Additionally, Asheron's Call 2 will feature an improved combat model--though the original game let players choose the strength and speed with which they'd swing their weapons, the sequel will let players learn and use different fighting styles. |
Maximum Charisma Studios is gone. Here's a post from (former) employee Jesse Molina:
To our customers, sorry that nobody made an official announcement. I am writing this up right now to let you know what is going on. Maximum Charisma is gone. Enjoy the game while you can. It will either be given away open source or sold off to someone else who will revamp the game to make it what it was not, and re release it. Please do not attempt to contact customer support. I do not know what the word is on billing, but you should not be billed any longer for service. I have no knowledge about this though.
Charisma Studios has released Fighting Legends, an MMORPG that got less than lukewarm reviews all over the net. Nevertheless, it is sad to see a RPG developer going under... |
Player2Player brings you an interview with Sanya Thomas, Internet Relations Manager for Mythic Entertainment. Here's a bit:
It has often been said that MMOGs themselves and the MMOG industry are not all that woman friendly. Have you ever run into problems or issues in games or at work because of your sex?
In general... well, I know that harassment is a problem. "Tweety" used to get a lot of email from people who had just been hounded into a breakdown by nasty, hateful people. As a guide, I saw some things between players that made my hair curl. But speaking for myself - I don't generally have problems, in game or out. In game, I communicate to others very well what I consider acceptable behavior, and these "icky" personality types want someone they can intimidate. They don't want to mess with someone strong. Out of game, I don't believe in lawsuits, I believe in regular workouts at the gym and a solid stomp to the instep of the offending people. This keeps my problems to a minimum. Mythic is actually the most psychologically comfortable place I have *ever* worked, which dispels the MMOG cloud quite a bit =) Granted, Mythic is VERY unusual compared to other developers - the company is over 1/3 women. We're a pretty feisty bunch, too. |
The Camelo Herald holds word about patch 1.47 being tested on the test server. This will include a lvl 30-35 PvP area and some changes to the spell system. Here's the blurb about the PvP area:
Character levels 30-35 now have the option of going to a special RvR battleground that is limited to characters of those levels. This is being set up as a place to go to hone your RvR skills without needed to worry about being killed by much higher level characters. You do not have to go to this Battleground - if you wish you may still participate in the standard RvR raids and defenses.
To get to the battlefield, go to your standard Medallion merchant and purchase the medallion that goes to the battlefield. Please note that only people who are 30th - 35th level can teleport, and only those who are realm level 0 to 9 can teleport (realm rank 0 or 1).
Players who are between 30th-35th level and realm level 0-9 can quit and reenter the battlegrounds normally. If you exceed this range, when you quit and reenter, you'll return to your bindpoint.
The battleground has one "home" keep for each Realm, and one keep in the middle that can be taken over. Please note that initially this keep is held by renegade NPC guards, and will have to be conquered before it can be claimed by the first Realm to take it over. |
In these dark times of game cancellations, developers and publishers filing for bankruptcy and major staff lay-offs, some comforting news are always welcome.
Although this newsbit is not directly related to Gothic II it may be good to know that Phenomedia, the parent company of Gothic developers Piranha Bytes has issued a press release yesterday, announcing the huge success of its latest freeware fun title Sven. The game has been downloaded 900.000 times since its release last week and Phenomedia is planning on releasing the game on CD-ROM later this year. A full arsenal of merchandising stuff is in the making, too.
Phenomedia is reknown for its fun games in the German market (Moorhuhn, anyone?). Sven is a sheep game. It's very simple. You're Sven, a male sheep and you have to mate with female sheep to score. Sounds easy but the sheperd and his dog are out to get you. |
Remember the first issue of CDV's Neocronicles, a fanzine for its upcoming futuristic MMORPG Neocron just released last week ?
Another issue is in the planning stage and CDV is asking for help. If you got a cool idea you should submit it via E-mail to edward.willey@cdv.de. The second Neocronicle is expected to be released in mid March. | | Source: Neocron Online |
PlanetDiablo has conducted an interview with Blizzard's Bill Roper (Senior Producer) on duping, mods, and a few more general Diablo2/Battle.net related topics.
Here's a snip:
PlanetDiablo: Players on the Battle.Net Realms are very concerned with trading items even after the recent exploit was dealt with, and some have expressed their intent to never trade again. What advice do you have for all players regarding this issue?
Bill Roper: While it is can occasionally be a difficult matter, trade with someone you trust. Building up a relationship with someone by playing for a few hours with him or her can go along way to making sure you do not get taken by a hacker or duper. Also, we hope to make any trading a safer endeavor in the near future.
Afterthoughts: This is very good advice. In a sentence: Don't trade with people you've just met! Duping will probably always be present in some form or fashion on the Realms (no matter how small the amount of dupers), but you can avoid getting duped items by trading only with people you personally know or know well enough to determine that they don't and will not duplicate items. Otherwise, you're shooting yourself in the foot, so to say.
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| The Ultima Online Update Center's In Concept pages have updated with lots of new info on updates and changes to a host of gameplay issues. Among them, possible changes to the barding skills, revised PvP and Felluca enhancements, and the virtues of spirituality and honor. Check the link for the full list. | | Source: VE |
Here's the latest from the Icewind Dale II forums:
The Ravager kit is in the game
The wizard slayer kit is being removed from the game, and will be replaced with the ravager.
The Lansknecht kit is in the game
This kit will be the replacement for Fighter: Mercenary.
What is there left to discuss?
Almost all comments are useful, but please, please, please examine all of the rules changes we have posted and understand how they work together before you make suggestions. At first glance, it is easy to explode in a shower of fire because one rule looks oddly implemented. If you fear, please know that QA has been playing through the game for quite some time now, and balance seems to be better in this game than it has been in previous games.
What we really don't need at this point:
* Suggestions for new kits.
* Suggestions for new subraces.
* Suggestions for new rule subsystems to be implemented (other than, perhaps, ways to handle our tricky multi-classing situation, which is the biggest pain in the ass ever).
And in a response to that
It has to do with how classes are coded in the game. Classes are defined all over the place in code, and each class/multi-class combination is associated with an ID found in CLASS.IDS. When "things relating to class" (which is a very nebulous classification) are checked in code, they check the class ID. Now, this wouldn't necessarily be that big of a deal, but multi-classed characters have their own, unique class ID.
E.g., Edward Raith is a fighter, Alender Kaan is a mage, and Chiloptec Blackheart is a fighter/mage. Edward's class ID is 4, Alender's is 1, and Chiloptec's is 11. What?
This means that, although we have class IDs for all AD&D classes, that does not mean we can mix and match them to establish new multiclass combinations. To create a new multiclass combo, we would have to create a new class ID for that combo. We would also have to go through all of the randomly dispersed functions that check class ID and include cases for the new IDs. Sucky time.
There are other issues associated with this foolishness, but that's the biggest one re: creating new MC combos.
About spell disruption
The system as currently designed allows a caster with average Constitution to get a spell of their highest level off about 50% of the time.
E.g.: Shikha Lilah, a 10th level cleric, is casting flame strike, a 5th level spell. She has a 10 Constitution.
10 + 5 - 5 - 0 = 10. She must roll a 10 or better on a d20 to get the spell off if she is damaged. A character with an 18 Constitution would succeed on a roll of 6 or better.
Should this be more difficult?
BTW, the initial equation is a bit fuzzy; it's actually subtracting your Con bonus from the difficulty at the end.
As a response to "the horible hybrid system"
For the record, "this horrible hybrid system" using BAB results in the following benefits for players:
* Characters other than warriors gain multiple attacks when they hit +6 BAB.
* Because the combat mechanism for resolving attacks was torn out and re-implemented, we are able to more clearly show you the bonuses you receive on your character record screen (something that people complained about constantly through IWD and HoW).
* The "decreasing attack scale" makes secondary and tertiary attacks less grossly powerful.
The "bad thing" that's left over is the fact that BAB uses the highest value between classes -- which is exactly how it has worked in every other IE game. There isn't any net loss here, people. You get benefits from it, and nothing bad has been caused because of it. Visceris is right, it would be much better if our game used true 3E multiclassing and stacking rules. However, to complain because you perceive the benefits of a rules change as being "not useful enough" seems odd -- especially when it causes no new problems. 2nd Edition's method for multiclassing has always been poopy. It is no more poopy in IWD2 than it was in IWD or HoW.
And a response on the fact that BIS is using a modified version of 3E rules
I don't care about fascist adherence to any damned ruleset, Visceris. The fact that you care about it so much troubles me.
Have you ever seen the 3E ranger? It is a horribly balanced piece of junk. Many people have removed the 3E ranger and replaced it with Monte Cook's ranger or one of a dozen alt. rangers found all over the internet. Not only that, but some people have eliminated attacks of opporunity, created new spell disruption rules, and a whole lot of other things. Strangely enough, people were still able to play the game... and it was balanced.
If you hate the game we are making because of the specific way that the rules work, that's fine. What I think is odd is the fact that you object to the mixture of rulesets as if, by sheer virtue of difference, they are incompatible and cannot produce an enjoyable game.
About Barbarians and damage reduction
Barbarians just have damage reduction, all the time. It isn't linked to enchantment level.
About Damage Reduction and Spell disruption
Only a character with a +5 short sword would be able to ignore the damage reduction according to "the roolz". What I am suggesting now (divorcing enchantment level from the resistance threshold) means that all physical attacks would have to overcome that resistance. Instead of 10/+2, it would be 10/Infinity x5 + a billion.
Grumbasho the Orc swings at the mage with his non-magical shortsword. He hits and does 8 points of damage. Too bad, sucker. None gets through. Total reduction left: 142. Mysterio the Rogue sneak attacks the mage and hits with his longsword +5. He does 36 points of damage. The mage takes 26. Total reduction left: 132.
Is the limit of 6 summoned monsters still in?
We are still at 6, but like 3E, summoning spells will default to summoning a single tough monster rather than a bunch of little baby monsters. |
| Freedom Force Center has updated their Character Archive with info on Mentor and El Diablo... |
HomeLan fed brings us an interview with Doug Avery about their upcoming Icewind Dale 2. Here's a bit about the seemingly short development time for the game:
HomeLAN - Development of Icewind Dale II is apparently going to take less than a year before it is released in late May. Again, are there some concerns that RPG fans might see the game as a rushed product that will not compare to upcoming RPGs that have taken years to develop?
Doug Avery - That isn’t a concern of ours. Fallout 2 was completed in only 10 months, again using an engine that the team knew very well and it was a contender for RPG of the Year in 1998. The original Icewind Dale had a relatively short development cycle and the team had to learn how to use the Infinity Engine and its editors. Our team is now very experienced with the engine, with how content goes into it and what can and cannot be done with it. We are actually pushing the engine further than it’s ever gone before. Our fans expect a lot from us and we have no intention of letting them down. I think Icewind Dale II will stand up nicely against its competition. |
Once again, Fighting Legends was bashed in a review, this time at GamesFirst. Just 2 out of 5 stars is less than lukewarm, and so is their summary:
The gaming is relatively simplistic, though it does require a torturous wait to arrive a point where the real gaming can take place. These considerations make Fighting Legends Online an addition to the MMORPG genre, but not one that I would run to take part in. The same kinds of gaming experience can be found in much more enjoyable environments with much more engaging game concepts and execution. |
This message was deliviered in my mailbox:Everyone,
We're at 2701 beta testers and growing! The next play session is:
Thursday, 2/28/2002 From 12:00Noon until 4:00PM EST (GMT-0500)
During the last session, the House of Bes seemed to be the guild to watch. Their guild hall has expanded dramatically - up to 20 membership slots - and their technology level is approaching that of the tiny Scholars of Thoth (SoT) guild. Their philosophy of "every guild building is for the public" is certainly interesting. More on BES later...
I've heard *many* people say recently that they're not so interested in pushing the limits of Egyptian technology, and much more enjoy setting up a small camp by themselves, or with a friend, and perusing a few specific areas of the game. I think that such roles are crucial, and that we (eGenesis) have to always think about the interplay between the high-tech guilds and individuals. Much of the soon-to-be-released content is agricultural, and I'd like to try to design some of this in a way that promotes single players and much smaller groups. I'd especially like to hear from solo players on our forums after some of this new content is in.
The big news for this session is "Tugament 2002" - a Tug tournament, organized by BES in order to fund new public projects. From the Forums on www.ataleinthedesert.com:
"In an effort to gain funds, Tug ranks, and community spirit, The House of Bes is throwing the first ever Tug Tournament! Entry fee will be 48 charcoal, we will cover the iron ore. 60% of all entry fees will go to the tournaments winner and the remaining 40% will go towards our public paper press project. It will be held at the University of Thought....
We will try to have some special mystery prizes for the top winners, something a little more rare than charcoal (but no pinch rollers or charcoal braziers as prizes, sorry). We will probably do single elimination for the first few rounds and double elimination in the "finals," depending on how many people register."
I've created a special sign up page on the forums section of www.ataleinthedesert.com. The tournament will start 2 hours into the play session. I will add a temporary chariot stop at the University of Thought to help new players find the event. If you can't get 48 charcoal, arrive ahead of time with some wood - there will almost certainly be people willing to trade.
Standard Stuff:
Visit our official chat channel before the session: irc.stratics.com port 6667 channel #ATITD.
If you didn't play in either of the last two sessions, be sure to install the latest version of the client from our web site (www.ataleinthedesert.com, Downloads section).
On the Nile,
Teppy (Pharaoh)
Josh (Nekhmet)
James (AmenRa)
Dave (Orpheus)
Joe (SickJoe)
Ed (EdTut)
Jeff (JeffTut) |
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