Horizons Vault Feature: Ask Artifact Entertainment
This week's Ask AE has been posted at our Horizons Vault today, with an assortment of questions asked by visitors to the message boards. The following response comes after a question about European servers:
We have plans for European servers, currently we are talking with several companies about partnering this part of the service. I don't anticipate a European server available at launch however that could change if we form the right partnership. There will be a 1 player server, we have not decided on server labeling yet.
Horizons: Empires of Istaria is an MMORPG being developed by Arizona's Artifact Entertainment. While the game has had some funding issues since its inception began, Artifact announced last week that full funding had been procured, and that the game's development continues in earnest.
7:16 PM - Pipeline
Fallout: Tactics Chat Announcement
Over at the official Fallout: Tactics site, there's an announcement regarding an upcoming chat. Here are the details:
Hey all you Fallout fans! Here's your chance to talk to the Fallout Tactics team directly... yep, that's right, it's an IRC Chat!
Who will be in attendance from the Fallout Tactics Team:
Chris Taylor - Senior Designer Tony Oakden - Producer Ed Orman - Lead Game Designer Karl Burdack - Lead Programmer Parrish Rodgers - Lead Artist
Fallout: Tactics is being co-developed by 14� East and Micro Forte, and published by Interplay. The game will take place in the same game universe as Black Isle Studios' Fallout 1 & 2, but will have more of a strategy focus than its predecessors.
7:14 PM - Pipeline
The 3D view looks very impressive, and can be easily panned using the arrow keys. You can also zoom in and out (with full zoom out being a useful long-range tactical overhead view) and rotate the camera (though the current system for rotation is rather clumsy, requiring you to drag your mouse to the screen edge). All the creatures are rendered as polygon-based objects, and look pretty decent for it. You'll recognise many of the old favourites - goblines, elves, zombies, skeletons, centaurs, etc - as well as some new minions, such as the stone-throwing giants. The terrain is similar in style, but one significant change is that it no longer wraps around, instead the map edges are hard edges. This makes tactical play simpler, but somewhat less dynamic.
Charybdis is developing Art of Magic, and Bethesda Softworks will be publishing. The game is planned for release in mid-2001.
7:13 PM - Pipeline
Anarchy Online Interview With Darren Scott At AOForge
AO Community Representative Darren Scott has been interviewed at AOForge. In this snippet, he describes optimal grouping conditions:
The optimal way to hunt big monsters in Anarchy Online will probably be a well-rounded team of 6 characters. The more the merrier, but a lot of the reward system and balance will make the classical role-playing party very efficient and fun to play. In addition there will be big monsters that will take the cooperation of several teams and players to bring down. Let me add that there is still more tweaking to be done on this. Lag should work out quite well, but it is always a good idea to look at the Internet forecast before entering a big combat.
Anarchy Online's developer, Funcom, is based out of Norway and Ireland, although it will be opening a facility in North Carolina prior to the game's launch. You can learn more about the sci-fi MMORPG by visiting our Anarchy Online Vault.
7:13 PM - Pipeline
RPG Vault Feature: Evil Islands: Curse Of The Lost Soul Intelligence Report
“Gipat is a desolate land, which belongs to no country. It is mainly populated by Goblins, Orcs and other beings hostile to humans. The only human settlement is very small and constantly under a threat of calamity. An occasional visitor could also come across a settlement of the outlaw brigands, who somehow manage to get along with the wilder population of the island. Metal is not known here; people make their weapons from ivory and stone, and their armor from animal skins. Remnants of an unknown ancient civilization are scattered all around the island. Gipat is a fairly small and out-of-the-way land packed with crowds of hostile monsters, of no interest to any of the world's large empires.” - Nival Interactive website
The island of Gipat is also the starting point for Evil Islands: Curse of the Lost Soul, the latest blend of strategy and RPG elements from Russian developer Nival Interactive. Set on Gipat and two other islands, each with its own unique inhabitants, culture, climate and monsters, it casts the player in the role of an ordinary being who finds himself in an inhospitable setting, not knowing how or why he is there. The game was recently released in the developer’s home market and in Germany where publisher Fishtank Interactive makes its home, with an English-language version scheduled for the first part of next year. We take a look to see what players can expect in our new Evil Islands: Curse Of The Lost Soul Intelligence Report.
5:03 PM - ChrisLTD
RPG Vault Feature: Gunlok Gold Gallery
At the end of the 21st century, mankind made a near-fatal error, relinquishing control of the machines that took care of life’s menial tasks, and assuming that these electro-mechanical servants would remain forever subservient. However, when the machines came to understand that they were no longer bound to unquestioning compliance, they attacked their creators, plunging the Earth into the darkness of war. In the role of one of the last remaining human survivors, players must advance through 15 levels, aided only by a few maverick robots, each providing specific skills and weaponry that must be used strategically in order to defeat many different and imposing enemies.
This is the backdrop to Gunlok, the 3D blend of action and strategy with RPG elements developed by Britain’s Rebellion. The game was just declared gold, and is expected to be available in Europe within the next couple of weeks, with North American distribution expected to follow shortly, although specific arrangements have yet to be announced. In the meantime, the developers celebrated the gold announcement by making available a large collection of screenshots and concept images. We are pleased to present them in our Gunlok Gold Gallery.
5:01 PM - ChrisLTD
Sea Dogs Preview At ActionTrip
Our affiliate ActionTrip has previewed Sea Dogs, the upcoming high seas game developed by Akella Studios. In this snippet, the writer describes life on land:
When you're not on sea, Sea Dogs looks just like your everyday RPG adventure. You'll walk the streets, get quests, look for crewmembers, buy or sell stuff. The only thing you will never be able to do in cities is fight! This may sound silly, but does make some sense if we take it that all the cities by default have governments that keep all city gates under strict control. The same goes for pirate cities where the pirate code strictly prohibits mischief and swordplay. It is yet to be seen how much this is going to restrict freedom of choice. So, if you want to buy or sell resources like tobacco, rum or sugar, you have to go to the store, if you want to buy, sell or upgrade ships, you have to go to the shipyard. Government building houses the colonial governor who is often steeped in intrigue and trying to better his position in any way possible, even by handing you confidential information or giving you quests. You have to pay most heed to what happens around courtyard and tavern, where you can easily hire new crew members or experienced officers, who are the best way to improve your ship's performances.
Sea Dogs is being published by Bethesda Softworks, which announced on Monday that the game had officially gone gold. If you'd like to learn more about the game, check out our Sea Dogs Intelligence Report.
10:03 AM - Pipeline
Art Of Magic Preview At EuroGamer
At EuroGamer, a preview of Art of Magic is available for your perusal. Here's a snippet:
Along the way you will also pick up several other characters who will aid you in your quest, but your party isn't limited to these heroes. In fact, much of your growing army will be made up of creatures which you conjure out of thin air. There are limits to how many units you can control at once though, and your supply of the mana which powers your spells is also finite. To replenish your mana you must control "places of power" by standing units on the circles which mark these zones on your map. The more you control the faster your mana will return, allowing you to cast spells more frequently, and once you have gained control of a map you will soon be able to overwhelm the enemy.
Art of Magic was designed by Mythos, then handed off to Charybdis to develop. Bethesda Softworks is expected to publish the strategy RPG in Q2 2001.
10:02 AM - Pipeline
Top 10 Features In Neverwinter Nights At Voodoo Extreme
Over at Voodoo Extreme, there's a rather humorous Top 10 List, featuring Neverwinter Nights Producer Trent Oster's take on the top features in the online RPG. Here's number 8:
Prescripted Gnome massacres. I can set up an adventure on my server with a small village of gnomes happily going about their lives. When the players enter the village a massive force of Ogres will descend on the town butchering all the gnomes in sight. If the players remain ambivalent the gnomes are butchered, looted and the ogres retreat. If the players are goody goody types and rush in to help I’ll spawn in an even more powerful horde of nasties to wipe them out. Good clean fun.
In fact, each entry on the list seems designed to express Trent's deep and passionate hatred of gnomes and halflings. The piece is definitely worth checking out, so just click on the link above to see what advantages Neverwinter Nights will offer in combating the threat of D&D;'s "little folk".
9:52 AM - Pipeline
Gunlok Screenshots At EuroGamer
EuroGamer let us know that it has put up eighteen screenshots of Gunlok, the action/strategy game with RPG elements developed by Rebellion. In case you missed it, earlier today it was announced that Gunlok has gone gold in Europe, and will arrive in stores there in mid November. Shortly thereafter, the game should arrive in North American stores, although the publisher for that market has not yet been announced.
9:51 AM - Pipeline
Tildruin Site Opens
Earlier today, we were informed of a new online RPG in the works. Entitled Tildruin, the fantasy game will allow players to take on the role of several "standard" fantast races, such as elves, dwarves, and halflings. There will also be a more unusual race, the Nanjarii, included in the game:
All races respect the nanjarii mostly because of their unexplainable mysterious nature. Their respect nourishes partially on fear for the unknown, that which they cannot see. Nanjarii are shapeshifters and can assume any size and shape to perfection. When revealing their true selves they wear black hooded robes. They carry items of powerful magic, such as staffs, amulets and rings.
The Nanjarii will be reserved for game administrators only, and will used to help balance various world issues. Tildruin is expected to open as early as May 2001, and will be free to play.
9:49 AM - Pipeline
Gunlok Goes Gold
During the night, we received word from Europe that Gunlok has gone gold. According to a spokesperson for its British developer, Rebellion, the game should be available across Europe on November 17, and shortly thereafter in the US. Virgin will publish in the former market, while arrangements for the latter have yet to be confirmed. Gunlok is a futuristic title that has evolved during development from an action RPG to more of an action-strategy focus. For more, you can check out the official site as well as our Gunlok Interview with Creative Director and CEO Jason Kingsley, Technical Director Chris Kingsley and Head of Design Mark Eyles in February and our Gunlok Gallery from late September.
8:22 AM - Jonric
TechnoMage Golden Too
A second golden announcement arrived from the other side of the pond as well. This one was from German developer Sunflowers, telling us that TechnoMage, its action adventure with RPG elements, has been approved for release:
Yesterday morning, 6.32 CET it finally happened!!
After three long and hard years of development, the TechnoMage Gold Master emerged from the CD burner.
The tired “fighters” who had been working on TechnoMage until the very last minute celebrated their triumph in the early hours of the morning over a champagne breakfast.
As we speak, one of the SUNFLOWERS employees is rushing to the copiers. He’ll ignore any speed traps and if he doesn’t have any punctures or other mishaps, he will deliver the Master just on time.
Melvin, the game’s hero, will now be able to safe the World of Gothos. The European version of TechnoMage Return of Eternity will be available in March 2001.
Developed for PC and Playstation, TechnoMage is reported to take place in a 3D fantasy setting comprised of eight completely different worlds.
8:21 AM - Jonric
November 7, 2000
IWD: Heart Of Winter Infobits
The visitors to Josh Sawyer's unofficial Icewind Dale board were Josh himself who's a Designer, and Programmer Richard "Malavon" Finegan:
Josh on halfling paper dolls: They have their own paper doll now.
making multi-class closer to 3rd Edition's: Big changes to the engine. That's the main reason. Every class and multi-class combination has a separate ID that is checked throughout the engine code. Changing/adding the classes is a nightmare. Sorry.
stat generation: I'm in favor of point allocation, but there are still a bunch of people who like rolling.
If I work on another D&D; game at some time, I'd like to switch to point allocation.
sub-races: Nope. Sorry, matusz. If it's any consolation, 3E Forgotten Realms sub-race rules are pretty cool. If I get to work on a 3E Forgotten Realms game sometime, I think it would be relatively easy to implement.
a reader's wish list of spells: Well, you'll get Sunfire, Holy Smite, Mist of Eldath (sort of a mass cure), and Iron Body (tough mage spell). How's that?
and: Sorry. You also get Lower Resistance.
Malavon on the ability to scribe high level spells, as in Baldur's Gate II: I'm playing through BG2 and the only 9th level spell I could scribe was "Freedom" which I assume was an oversight.
Tentatively set for release at the end of this year or early next year, Icewind Dale: Heart of Winter adds 20 to 30 hours of more gameplay while providing various technical improvements over the original.
11:44 PM - TruthSword
Neverwinter Nights Chat Log At NW Stratics
Neverwinter Stratics has posted a transcript of the chat held earlier tonight with developer BioWare. Attendees included Lead Programmer Scott Greig as well as Lead Designer and Writer Rob Bartel, both of whom commented on plenty of topics along with their colleagues such as these:
Scott on the biggest challenge: What is the greatest development challenge? The simple answer is "Make It Fun." The complex is answer is in how we do this. We really want NWN to be the best multi-player computer interpretation of D&D.; This effects every decision that we make, from design of the user interface to the number of player character models. At each stage we have to ask ourselves: Is this fun? Does it capture the feel of D&D;? There are a lot technical challenges.
Rob on crafting items: You won't be able to craft items directly in the game. However, the 3e rules state that the creation of magic items, etc, can take weeks or even months to perform, so we'd recommend convincing your DM to make one for you via the toolset. That way everyone's happy.
As you can learn at our Neverwinter Vault, BioWare's 3rd Edition D&D-based; RPG lets players band together in pen-and-paper style campaigns which can be run by dungeon masters. The game will be published by Black Isle Studios.
11:43 PM - TruthSword
Blizzard Server Problems Explained
Blizzard sent out a notice today explaining the cause behind the recent technical difficulties with its Battle.net servers. The problem has been attributed to the work of one or more malignant persons:
We have recently become aware of the fact that an individual, group or entity has instituted a server attack on both Battle.net and Blizzard's web pages. The result of this illegal activity has been that many of our customers are having difficulty logging on to the Battle.net game service and accessing Blizzard web pages. We are in the midst of implementing a solution, but we wanted to let you know that the situation is a direct result of attacks on our servers, not Battle.net stability.
The FBI and certain European law enforcement agencies have been notified, and we are working in conjunction with them to identify the individual. Attacks on our servers will not be tolerated, and Blizzard fully intends to prosecute this individual to the fullest extent of the law.
If you have any information about the individual, group or entity involved in this activity, please email hacks@blizzard.com.
Thank you for your patience. We will post updates on the status of the servers as more information is available."
While Blizzard's web servers have experienced occasional instabilities in the past due to a large number of Battle.net users, it's unfortunate that the source of this particular incident has been traced back to intentional wrongdoing. Thanks to PlanetDiablo for the heads up.
11:42 PM - TruthSword
Lineage Preview At Avault Lineage has been previewed by the Adrenaline Vault. Here's a snippet on the spell system:
This isn't to say that there aren't advantages of maintaining a Chaotic connotation: the efficiency of magical spells are also decided by one's alignment. The vast majority of mysticism is presided over by Grankain, the god of Evil, and Einhasad, the god of Good; and subsequently spells become ethically polarized. As a result, casting "evil" spells such as Create Zombie will slowly but surely push your alignment into the realm of the Chaotic, while using "good" spells such as Resurrection will draw you closer to Lawfulness. Similarly, the effectiveness of each casting will depend greatly upon your own alignment; thus, evil spells are much more powerful for the severely Chaotic than for someone who's only slightly so, while the same spell would be practically worthless to a truly Lawful individual.
Lineage was developed by NCSoft and is currently available in its native Korea. Subsidiary NC Interactive will bring the title to the North American market.
11:41 PM - TruthSword
Siege Of Avalon Chapter 3 Released
Shortly after we noticed the news on the official site, we received a press release from developer Digital Tome announcing that Chapter 3 of Siege of Avalon is now available:
Digital Tome Releases First Expansion Chapter For Its RPG The Siege Marches On With The Release Of Chapter 3
Houston (Nov. 7, 2000) - Digital Tome has released Chapter 3 of their first Episodic Computer Game Novel™, called Siege of Avalon. Claiming yet another “first” for this new game design and distribution model, Digital Tome is releasing “Expansion” content for the game even before the entire main game has been completed. Players can elect which Expansion Chapters to buy as they are released. Each expansion offers a unique set of features and challenges, this allows the player to customize their copy of the game simply by which add-ons they elect to install. Digital Tome is forging “an innovation in electronic entertainment.”
This specific Expansion Chapter provides a “fighter” focused set of quests and environments, putting a lot more direct combat into the game experience. While it can be played by characters of any of the game’s three main “training focus classes” of fighter, scout, and mage; it is designed as an obstacle course to greatly challenge the player’s fighting capabilities, and to give the player ample opportunity to gain new combat skills and training. The prior “Key” Chapters developed the main story of the Siege of Avalon game. While this expansion adds more story details, it primarily offers fighting encounters that extend the gaming experience yet are not mandatory to complete the main story. The game and its story concludes in the final “Key” Chapter with a grand finale in Chapter 6.
Siege of Avalon is a medieval-themed role-playing game. Chapter 1 is available free at www.siege-of-avalon.com and is an unusually complete demo; all subsequent Chapters cost $9.95 and are released every few weeks.
Also in development is Pillars of Avalon, Digital Tome’s first full-sized game novel. Digital Tome plans to introduce distinct new game novels about every nine months, with each offering up to 25 full-length Chapters. To find out more about Siege of Avalon, visit www.siege-of-avalon.com.
Freedom Force Infobits
Junior Programmer Rowan "Mr Fish" Wyborn and Managing Director Jonathan Chey were both active at the Freedom Force message board today, adding these thoughts:
Mr Fish on a first-person perspective: yep grendel, i agree that looking through a heros eyes fps style would be cool in a wizz bang eye-candy kind of way, but basically it would have no gameplay use, as it would limit your view of the world more than just the normal 3rd person camera view. I imagine it would be the sort of thing you'd do once and go 'wow..how cool is that', and then never use again.
Jonathan on quantifying powers: To a certain extent, point values can be derived mathemtically, e.g. "this attack does twice as much damage, so it's point value is twice as much". This only works with parameterizable powers and even then relies on us developing the right multipliers for all of the factors that go into a power.
Beyond that, there are powers that will have to be adjusted by hand (e.g. how do you compare a teleportation power to a energy beam power?). This comes down to a *lot* of playtesting. If anyone has any better ideas, let me know!
AI progress: We're working on the tactical AI right now so I can't say too much about what its abilities will be. Suffice it to say that our focus is on a fun AI, not a deep AI. The intention here is not to support unlimited replayability against computer opponenets but rather to provide the player with a range of interesting opponents during the single player campaign. Each opponent will have very different strategies that take advantage of his or her unique ability set and personality.
Extended replayability of this game is likely to come from the competitive multiplayer game. Of course, if we end up with an AI that will support cool cooperative play against the computer, that's a bonus. But it's not a major focus for us.
Irrational Games is developing Freedom Force using the NetImmerse Engine. The RPG is being published by Crave Entertainment, probably in late 2001.
6:43 PM - Pipeline
Anarchy Online Interview With Marius Enge At MGON
Marius Enge, the Support Manager for Anarchy Online, has been interviewed at Media & Games Online. In this response, Marius describes the zone system:
There will be zones like in Everquest, but these zones are much larger and cover a larger range of stuff in them. We also have an auto content system where players can get their own dungeon to hunt in if they feel that the world is crowded.
Anarchy Online is being developed by Funcom as a sci-fi MMORPG. You can learn more about it with a quick stop by our Anarchy Online Vault.
6:42 PM - Pipeline
New Blade of Darkness Screenshots
A dozen new screenshots of Blade of Darkness has been posted at the official site. The game, which will be known as Severance outside of North America, is scheduled for release from publisher Codemasters on January 26, 2001. Check out our interview with Juan Diaz-Bustamante Berasategui, the CEO of the developer, Rebel Act Studios, to learn more about the game.
6:42 PM - Pipeline
Dark Age Of Camelot Infobit At Lum The Mad
Following this afternoon’s announcement about Mythic Entertainment losing the Rolemaster system, it may be that the impact on Dark Age of Camelot won’t be nearly as hard as it cold have been. Team member Dave Rickey offered some information in this post at Lum the Mad:
Yeah, we've known this was coming for some time, although it didn't get as much attention we've been pulling the RM-specific material out of Spellbinder as well. We purchased the rights to Silent Death, but the new owners (no, I'm not at liberty to discuss who) have other plans for the Rolemaster system, and we knew that 2-3 months ago.
Fortunately, the process of adapting the Rolemaster principles to an OLRPG had already led us quite a ways from the original system, so when we found out we weren't going to have the liscense anymore it was pretty painless to eliminate any references to Rolemaster IP.
This really isn't an issue. If we'd had less warning, or been further along, it could have been ugly, but as it is it just meant some late nights catching up, there's absolutely *zero* slippage in the schedule (by the time we announced DB2, we were already done).
Rolemaster was a fun system, probably one of the most original out there, and it's a shame that ICE couldn't keep going. We did consider bailing them out, but by the time a company reaches forced Chapter 7, it's pretty deep in the hole and we aren't a big company ourselves. It just wasn't in the cards.
We’re naturally pleased to see this since Dark Age of Camelot has been making steady progress, with the second stage of beta just being announced. We’ll keep you updated as information becomes available.
6:41 PM - Jonric
Raph Koster's Website Updated
Upon wandering over to Raph Koster’s Website a little bit earlier today, we found that a couple of updates had been posted last week:
November 3rd, 2000 Looks like one of those Halloween stories won...
November 2nd, 2000 As usual, I did the annual live storytelling thing on LegendMUD this year. Every year since 1994, I've gone to the graveyard there, and in front of an audience, improvised a spooky story on the spot. This year the story was called Sugarheart, and I've posted it here under Stories/Live.
If you like these stories, head on over to and check out the spooky story contest. Alice is one of my favorite online comic strips, and voting ends today--the prize is some original artwork from the strip, I believe.
I got permission from the Rantings of Lum the Mad site to reprint the Roundtable on Fiction in MMORPGs so look for that under the Gaming/Talks section. I also reprinted the RPGVault interview I did a little over a month ago. You can find it under Gaming/Talks, as usual.
I've also updated the Online Worlds Timeline with a bunch of new info from folks like Daniel James (formerly of Avalon & Middle-Earth Online), David R. Woolley (long-time developer on PLATO), and a great set of dates for Ted Nelson's Xanadu project supplide by KaVir aka Richard Woolcock. And more... so if you're into the whole history bit like I am, you may want to check out the latest there. There's even one new law, named Dundee's Law, since he spotted it fly by on Mud-Dev.
Lastly, today I found a UO emulator shard that is using the "Advice to Virtual World Admins" from the article on Declaring the Rights of Players as the basis of their code of conduct. Yipes.
In case anyone isn’t familiar with Raph, he is the former Lead Designer of Ultima Online and the current leader of the design team on the highly anticipated Star Wars online world. The interview noted above is his online worlds interview, which was posted in September.
4:02 PM - Jonric
RPG Vault Feature: Dragonriders Q&A; #3
It’s not easy being recognized as the next potential Weyrleader. The integrity and unassuming attitude of D’kor make him a strong candidate for such a role, yet he’s always been content to live a simple life. But things don’t always turn out as one wishes, and this becomes the case for D’kor. With sinister plots and events brewing, he’ll soon find himself entangled in a web of treachery, and must confront those responsible for these acts. This is no small task, but joining him is a massive dragon companion known as Zenth, creating a formidable duo. Bonded from life, these two heroes intend to end a threat that jeopardizes their world.
Dragonriders: Chronicles of Pern is the name of this adventure game with RPG elements from Ubi Studios UK and publisher Ubi Soft. Being a game set against the lush background of Anne McCaffrey’s popular fantasy universe, and having an involving development cycle, there is certainly much that warrants discussion. Thanks to Lead Designer Oliver Sykes, we’ve been able to bring you Q&A; segments that focus on several aspects of the game. Now, we move into the Gameplay & Design portion of this feature which is the subject of our Dragonriders Q&A; #3. Inside, Oliver explains various design elements, D’kor as a character in terms of both story and game, and the relationship between him and his loyal fire-breathing dragon.
3:33 PM - ChrisLTD
Dark Age of Camelot Loses Rolemaster License
Developer Mythic Entertainment’s official site for the upcoming Dark Age of Camelot saw some unfortunate news added today in the form of the following announcement about the Rolemaster RPG system:
Mythic Announces loss of Rolemaster Rights
It was announced today in an open letter from Mythic President Mark Jacobs that Mythic will no longer be able to create games based on the Rolemaster(tm) license from Iron Crown Enterprises, due to ICE's recent bankruptcy filing. The letter also announces that Mythic has purchased the rights to Silent Death, another ICE property.
Many Mythic titles will be impacted by this announcement. Current Rolemaster-based games Spellbinder: the Nexus Conflict, Darkness Falls: the Crusade, and in-development title Dark Age of Camelot will be redesigned to remove Rolemaster-specific content.
The open letter referred to above offers some additional information, although understandably not very much in terms of specific details:
An open letter to the Mythic Entertainment Gaming Community from Mark Jacobs
For the last six years Mythic Entertainment and Iron Crown Enterprises have enjoyed both a close professional and personal working relationship. It has been our pleasure and privilege to create products that are derived from their fine works. Unfortunately, even the best relationships sometimes are greatly changed through no fault of those involved. That is sadly the case with Mythic and I.C.E. As many of you know, I.C.E. has recently filed for bankruptcy protection. As a result of this filing, many things have happened that have impacted and will continue to impact Mythic and its products.
First, the news regarding Rolemaster-based products. Due to I.C.E.’s filing, Mythic is in the process of pulling all Rolemaster-related material out of its games. This will significantly affect Rolemaster: Magestorm and Darkness Falls as those products will no longer able to be offered to users. For Darkness Falls: the Crusade, Spellbinder: the Nexus Conflict and Dark Age of Camelot, we are in the process of replacing all Rolemaster-related material with our own. Given Mythic’s long history of creating original intellectual property, we expect the changeover to happen very quickly and with no impact on either gameplay or, in the case of Camelot, of the development schedule. We are saddened by the loss of the tremendous volume of material that comprises Rolemaster but we are looking forward to the challenge of once again creating our own intellectual property for our games.
Second, Mythic Entertainment has acquired all the intellectual property that makes up Silent Death. As a result of this, there will be no change to our game Silent Death Online. We also hope to expand the Silent Death intellectual property over the next few years, as Silent Death Online will continue to be a major part of EA.COM’s online gaming strategy. We are thrilled at being able to acquire the property and it will remain an important part of Mythic’s computer game strategy as time moves on.
We thank everyone at I.C.E. for the fabulous relationship that we have enjoyed over the years. Working with both Pete Fenlon and Bruce Neidlinger has been a pleasure and everyone at Mythic wish them the best in the their future endeavors.
Naturally, we’ll be watching this situation very closely, both here and at our dedicated Camelot Vault, so be sure to watch for further news and information.
2:58 PM - Jonric
Atriarch Vault Feature: New Creature Movie
At our Atriarch Vault, there's a new Creature Movie available for download. Featuring the tentacled, slug-like Suppek, the movie is available in QuickTime format and runs just under 1.5 MB. Atriarch is an MMORPG being developed by World Fusion.
11:54 AM - Pipeline
Deus Ex Mods Article At GameSpy
With the recent release of the Deus Ex SDK, GameSpy has taken a look at some Deus Ex Mods in the works. Here's an excerpt:
Anyone who has ever spent time experimenting with Unreal-engine editing is already familiar with the basics of Deus Ex modifying. ION Storm made no changes to the core rendering technology, so not many things have changed. Mapping is still CSG based and done using the version of UnrealEd that ION released, although they added a huge amount of new toys including laser tripwires, ATM's, computer networks with e-mail, and security cameras. Likewise the game's model format is relatively unchanged, with the engine implementing facial deformation during conversations. Scripting too is done through Unreal's own high-level language, with new addable classes via the modified UCC compiler.
Deus Ex was developed using the Unreal Tournament engine, which has already hasd plenty of mods made for it. Ion Storm developed Deus Ex, and is already hard at work on a sequel.
11:54 AM - Pipeline
New EVE Screenshots
The EVE site has been updated with some new screenshots today. The new shots depict some Gallente Federation ships, one of the many empires warring for control of the game universe. EVE is an online sci-fi RPG being developed by Iceland's Crowd Control Productions.
11:53 AM - Pipeline
Evil Islands Preview At GDR
Over at Games Domain Review, there's a new preview of Evil Islands, the strategy/RPG being developed by Nival Interactive. Here's a snippet:
On first impressions, the graphics take after RPGs like Diablo and the Bioware games - but on closer inspection, they are much more flexible and attractive than either of those offerings. The free camera means it can be played from a traditional, distant overhead view, or much closer and nearer the ground, in almost a Tomb Raider-style perspective. Both have their uses: the overhead view makes it easy to manage battles, while moving closer to the ground makes navigating around Evil Island's world easier. Landscape features can be seen from a long way away, although creatures aren't visible until they come within range.
A German version has already been released, but an English one isn't expected to arrive in North American stores until February 2001. To learn more about the game, you can take a look at our recent interview with team leader Serge Orlovsky.
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EverQuest: Scars Of Velious Screenshots At GameSpy
GameSpy has served up sixteen new screenshots taken from the recent EverQuest party in Las Vegas. While many look similar to previous shots, their are some subtle differences as items like the sky have been made over. Scars of Velious will add another continent to the world of EverQuest, much as Ruins of Kunark did, and definitely requires the original game to play. You can keep up with any new announcements regarding the MMORG by visiting our EverQuest Vault.
11:50 AM - Pipeline
