Monday - March 11, 2002
| RPGvault serves up part no. 6 in a series of Q&A's with French developer Vircom on their online RPG Black Moon Chronicles. Today's turn is Samuel Goulet. He's a sound designer at Vircom. Now guess what the interview is about ;) |
The Pendragon test realms for Mythic's fantasy MMORPG have been patched to version 1.48B. Release notes -as always- at The Camelot Herald.
Also at Camelot Herald is news that the servers will be taken down for maintenance tomorrow morning at 08:00AM EST (01:00PM GMT). |
 Interplay's 4th Quarter Results
Posted by Moriendor @ 18:06 - Top 
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Interplay's 4th quarter (2001) results just dropped in via E-Mail. It's a very lengthy press release but to make a long story short: Interplay still does not seem to be doing very well in financial terms.
In figures: Net loss increased by US$ 0.1 million in Q4/2001 to US$ 4.9 million as opposed to a US$ 4.8 million net loss in Q4/2000.
Net revenue decreased by roughly 30% from US$ 30.8 million in Q4/2000 to US$ 21.5 million in Q4/2001, despite Interplay's ability to cut down on expenses by approximately 30% from US$ 16.9 million in Q4/2000 to US$ 11.8 million in Q4/2001.
I'm no financial analyst but things sure don't look too well for Interplay. Let's all hope that they are going to recover soon or -at least- stay in business by merging with someone big who lets them keep their brand name (which automatically excludes EA from our hopes ;)).
Here's how Interplay's Interim CEO Herve Caen commented on the results:
"Although our fourth quarter revenues were lower compared to last year,
the Company did successfully release Baldur's Gate(TM): Dark Alliance(TM) on
PlayStation(R)2. The product has shipped over 500,000 units worldwide and it
was ranked among the Top Ten PlayStation(R)2 games in its first week of
release. In addition, our operating results improved slightly, mainly due to
the Company's continuing efforts to decrease operating expenses. Furthermore,
we still expect to have an excellent line-up of games scheduled for release in
2002, some of which include Hunter: The Reckoning(R) and Baldur's Gate(TM):
Dark Alliance(TM) on Xbox(TM), RLH(TM) on PlayStation(R)2 and Icewind Dale(TM)
II on the PC," commented Herve Caen, Interim Chief Executive Officer and
President of Interplay.
Click here for the full report. |
| Microsoft/GPG have updated the official Dungeon Siege website by opening up an all new section for the Siege Editor. The Siege Editor is the tool that will allow players to make their own custom maps, missions, and much more. The game editor is supposed to be released shortly after Dungeon Siege hits stores. It will be offered as free download. |
| Two screenshots from the Icewind Dale II menu were released by BIS. One shows the menu when you access it during day time and the other during night time. They can both be found at our hosted site The Locus Inn. |
| Two screenshots were made available by BIS, showing the main menu. One shows how it looks when you acces the menu during day time and the other how it looks during night time. |
Larian Studios has put up two new screenshots of Divine Divinity.
Here's the description that we received from Larian:
The first one coming straight out of a secret library somewhere in Rivellon, the second one showing a rather bloodthirsty male warrior.
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Here's the latest from the Icewind Dale II forums.Josh SawyerAbility scores have changed
The original post has been edited. You start with 10s in each stat and have 16 points to spend. You can also drop points down to racial minimums if you so desire (and suffer the consequences). Every four levels, you will receive a bonus point to place in the statistic of your choice.
For people who "need" an editor to play a "decent" paladin: do some math.
STR: 14
DEX: 12
CON: 14
INT: 10
WIS: 12
CHA: 14
This "sucky" character using the listed system gets +2 to hit and damage with melee weapons, +1 to AC, +1 to hit with missile weapons, +1 to Reflex saves, +2 to hit points per level, +2 to Fortitude saves, +1 to Will saves, a bonus 1st level cleric spell, and +2 to all saving throws on top of all other bonuses.
Would you prefer 3rd Edition multiclassing and feats, or 2nd Edition's kits?
Have you played a 3E multiclass character vs. comparable single-classed characters? In the vast majority of cases, they have equal usefulness. My 3rd level cleric/5th level monk was not as good a cleric as the 8th level cleric, nor as good a monk as an 8th level monk. She certainly was good at casting minor buff spells and doing some good melee damage, but -- everything else was pretty average.
Who needs gem?
Gem are worthless? I guess you didn't have much to buy around the time of Wyrm's Tooth, aka "DeBeers Gem Repository".
BloodlustWhat does charisma do?
There will be dialogues which vary depending on the character's charisma score. Other stats also play important roles for certain dialogues as well.
Different combinations will be required for different dialogues - some will require only one stat, some will require a combination of stats, so it's always a good thing to keep that in mind when making up your party, so making a balanced set of stats should be a factor in deciding your party's composition.
Dual weapon usage
In the original IWD rangers had one extra attack to simulate dual wielding. In IWD2 rangers will start out with one slot in the proficiency of dual wielding when the character is created.
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| Two new screenshots from Divine Divinity are on display in our gallery. One of them showing a fighter in a library and the other showing a fighter who had a dispute with some guards. Either visit the gallery or click on the thumbnails below. |
Also on C&VG, you can find a first look at Summoner 2. Not too long, and no screenshots presented. Here's something:
According to developer Volition, combat has been completely overhauled since the first game. Few specifics in terms of control are available at the moment, but real-time scrapping was shown at the Vegas event, and it was promised that Pava would be in full command of every thrust and parry. The original used a complex chain and combination system that unfortunately led to abject tedium. Better luck this time round.
Whereas in Summoner the camera stayed at a respectable distance during fights, here it gets right in on the action. This also goes for general adventuring – the end result is reminiscent of a warlock-and-warriors bastardisation of the Dreamcast RPG hit Phantasy Star Online (albeit not online), with sword-laden characters encountering a healthy amount of combat. |
A Freedom Force Q&A with Ken Levine has been posted at Computer & Video Games today. This is an interesting bit:
How many people on the Freedom Force team worked on System Shock 2? What did you learn from that title and incorporate into FF?
Ken: A bunch, including myself (lead designer of System Shock 2) and Jon Chey (project lead of SS2). Sound designer Eric Brosius (of Shock 2 and Thief fame) is handling the bumps and gurgles once again. And numerous people in the Boston office are actively consulting on the game. I think System Shock 2 defined the kind of games Irrational makes, which is giving the player a lot of choice about how they play their game. Shock 2 was essentially a shooter that used its RPG elements to let you decide how to face the challenges of the game. It also had a strong simulational component. Freedom Force does things much the same way (except it's a tactical game with lots of RPG elements) and in addition, we are also going heavily into the user modification area. |
For you Mac freaks out there: Icewind Dale for Mac has gone gold, and MacGamer celebrates that day with some goodies at their site:
Today MacGamer ushers in MacPlay's new role playing adventure by declaring it "Icewind Dale Day". We give readers a whole lot of frozen RPG goodness: Our Giveaways column offers a copy to this week's winner, we re-launch our Desktops department with a beautiful Icewind Dale desktop, we feature an IWD Post-Mortem from Chris Jacobson - programmer behind the Mac version, and we even offer a new deal on Icewind Dale in the MacGamer store. If you're the kind of person who likes a killer RPG, today is a good day to be visiting MacGamer. Take a look at the links below... Amonngst their goodies is a IWD Post Mortem with Chris Jacobson, and here's a bit from that, too:
Work on Icewind Dale started in November, while I was still an employee of Mumbo Jumbo. I had just finished up working on Myth 3 prior to that. Icewind Dale was my only project at the time, but once it went into beta I had plenty of free time to work on other projects.
My work with Icewind Dale finished March 1st when the last build was sent off for Release Candidate; and that build was declared Golden Master a week later. Afterwards I moved on to my next project - I'm a workaholic! I even work while I play Dark Age of Camelot. I've also been indulging in increasingly larger games of Mage Knight with fellow coworkers Scott Campbell and Kyle Shubel. |
| A little late (their servers had a problem over the weekend), but now it is here: the latest update went online at the Morrowind site, featuring a new wallpaper, and they report about the french forums for Morrowind from Ubisoft, as well as about the german ones (but as a regular reader of RPGDot, you know about them since March 1st *g*) |
The Armchair Empire has done a review for Drakan 2 - The Ancient's Gate. The reviewer is closing his article with these words:Other than the save system (which I’m not inclined to deduct many points for because I know it is a plus to a lot of gamers), there is little to complain about with Drakan. The hacking and slashing can become repetitive certainly, but I have played very few combat heavy adventure games where this was not the case. Approaching twenty hours of gameplay, the value of the game is very high, and, in the end, the game simply feels like such a labor of love that it is hard not to like it. The attention to detail, the story, the action, the graphics—everything about the game is solid and well thought out. Anyone who likes fantasy adventure games is likely to be happy with their purchase. The final score for the Drakan 2 is 8.8/10 points! |
| Gameport offers a bunch of new and exclusive screenshots from Another War, an RPG developed by Mirage from Poland and published by Cenega. Nice isometric engine they have :-) | | Source: ToTheGame |
| About 90 seconds of footage from the PS2 version of Grandia can be found in a trailer at Bonusweb.cz. You should have DivX to view the movie, though. |
Gamers rejoice! This posting on the official Freedom Force forums has news that will delight quite some RPG fans: Freedom Force has gone gold. Here's the posting:
Good news everyone, Freedom Force has "gone gold", i.e. been approved for manufacturing! This means that it will be in stores soon. I don't have the final on-shelf date but I believe it will still be around the last in week of March.
It's been a long road but the results are worth it. The game is cool and I think you will all have a lot of fun with it.
We are working on a demo which should be available before the game hits the shelves, i.e. real soon now. Stay tuned for further info.
------------------
Jonathan Chey
Project Manager & Lead Designer
Freedom Force |
A press release over at Biz.Yahoo announces that NCSoft will publish City of Heroes, Cryptic Studio's upcoming superhero MMORPG:
NCsoft to Publish Cryptic Studios' City of Heroes
World Wide Launch Planned for Highly Anticipated Superhero Massively Multiplayer Online Title
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 11, 2002--NCsoft(TM) Corporation, the world's largest independent online game company, announced today that it will publish one of the most anticipated online game titles currently in development, Cryptic Studios' City of Heroes(TM).
The game will bring the concept of superhero role-playing to the massively multiplayer (MMP) genre and add yet another impressive title to NCsoft's growing list of online games.
City of Heroes is a 3-D superhero-based massively multiplayer online role-playing game. The game is set in Paragon City, a modern day metropolis full of super powered villains, alien invaders and underground monsters. Players take on the roles of Paragon City's superhero defenders and will be able to create their own hero, choose statistics, skills, and powers and design their own superhero costume.
``We're delighted to have City of Heroes in our publishing family,'' said Robert Garriott, CEO of NCsoft's Austin, Texas subsidiary. ``The online world has been waiting for a game based on comic book-styled superheroes. Cryptic Studios has assembled a team of incredible talent to deliver a game that will have far-reaching appeal.''
``NCsoft is exactly what we were looking for in a publishing partner,'' said Cameron Petty, Cryptic Studios(TM) CEO. ``The company has a proven track record in launching subscription-based online games in a global market. NCsoft also has a clear understanding of online content development and we're excited about working with them to make City of Heroes the best it can possibly be.''
Plans for a City of Heroes public beta test will be announced later this year. NCsoft and Cryptic Studios will be showing City of Heroes at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, May 22-24. More information about City of Heroes can be found at http://www.cityofheroes.com. |
Over at Stratics, there is an editorial about "The Power of Words", a closer look at an action that was set by Origin in December: to make the use of the word "rape" in the game a bannable offense story). Here's a part of this editorial:
Let's say you killed my avatar, and stood over my corpse and said "I raped your [fill in the blank]!" You may be saying, "I owned you," however, that's only half of the picture. You have given me the responsibility of trying to understand not just what you mean, but the context and intention of your one sentence.
Let me illustrate:
* What does the PK mean when he says that he "raped" me? Does he mean that he killed me so well that I'm "owned"? Or is he attempting to illustrate a non-consensual violent act upon my person?
* What's the context of this exchange? He's killed me, obviously.
* What's his intention? To me, you intend to show me that you've successfully dominated me, and I am supposed to, by the simple use of the word "raped," to feel anger at this violation.
Of course, these thoughts go quickly through my mind. They may not even register if at all. And yet, one simple word has brought about such responsibility where I have to decipher another person's intent. The question then becomes do I want this responsibility? |
| Tothegame has posted the second part of their preview of Warcraft 3. Contrary to other previews, this is told by one character in the game and illustrated with screenshots. Nice idea, nice written... |
The nice folks at Gamespy have written a preview of Asheron's Call 2. It's a short "quick look", and our snippet covers about 1/3 of their article:
The world, while lush, is dramatically different than the one from the original Asheron's Call. "This is not going to be the same old Dereth," Anderson explained. After living high on a lengthy golden age, the world was shattered in a cataclysm. "Players will be actively involved in rebuilding the land," Anderson said, comparing players to pioneers. For instance, you might come upon a ruined forge. By teaming up with other players to bring stone and wood to it, you can rebuild it into something that weaponcrafters can actually use. To get the forge up to 100% efficiency will take the efforts of hundreds of players over a period of time -- another way to encourage social interaction and group dynamics. |
Sphaerentor Tolkien holds a handful of new Screens for Universal's Lod of the rings game, which is based on the books and will be out for XBox only - furthermore it will be an Action-Adventure, but since it's still Lord of the rings, I thought, I report then newsbit.
In addition, the same site holds screens for a LotR game for the Gameboy Advance. |
Gamespy's Review of Mimesis Online is now out, rating the MMORPG quite average with a final score of 67%, here's why:Mimesis Online does lack in areas, especially when compared to the current leaders of the MMORPG genre (EverQuest, Dark Age of Camelot, and Anarchy Online), mostly because it's not a finished product. Perhaps someday it might be able to offer something new to those who are simply looking for a change of scenery. However, if your already playing one of the above three and are enjoying your experience, then Mimesis Online, most likely, will not take you away. |
Star Wars Episode II Trailer for download
Posted by Garrett @ 04:01 - Top
Comments (2) |
| Well, if you think like I did, Episode II will be a boring love affair, check out the 30MB sized MPG available at Movie List - looks very promising! You can even see Christopher 'Saruman' Lee in the trailer! |
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