Be a Silent Storm Poster Child contest
Competition - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Sun 11 January 2004, 15:57:41
Tags: Encore Software; Silent StormMake a World War 2 themed propaganda poster advertising Silent Storm, then email it to me by next Thursday, January 15th 2004. We'll pick the winners on Friday, gather their addresses up, and fire them off to Encore Software. They'll then send you the copy.
The rules would be not to use any trademarks other than Silent Storm stuff. Nothing involving naughty bits, either. Entries are to be in JPEG format. Only those living in the United States and Canada are eligible due to shipping stuff.
So, get photoshopping, GIMPing, or whatever thing you use to edit pictures up.
There are 11 comments on Be a Silent Storm Poster Child contest
Codex Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 31 December 2003, 14:21:33
Tags: Cornutopia Software; Flatspace; Mark Sheeky2.) Flatspace has some interesting features from rogue-like games, including permadeath, graveyards, random universe generation, and so forth. Can you tell us a little bit about why you've added features like this? What made you think they'd be interesting in this context?
Well, I like Nethack. Random elements always make a game better because they really add to the depth for such a small amount of development work. Once you've completed Half Life, there is no real reason to ever play it again so why don't they add random levels? Getting the computer to generate as much from seeds can lead to great depth and complexity without much outlay. The real Universe is generated algorithmically after all.
The exploration aspects of rogue clones is rarely used in games, yet those are some of their most interesting aspects. Every game is different. It keeps the game interesting even at the start, a plot driven game gets more and more interesting until you finish the game and never play it again. If a game is just as fun at the start as the end then permadeath is not a penalty.
Nice cover art, ain't it?
Codex Interview - posted by Ausir on Wed 24 December 2003, 00:54:00
Tags: Forlorn World; Ground Zero
6. Will the game be linear or not? How much freedom will the player have in exploring the world and the plot?
The player will have only one purpose after starting the game: to survive as long as he can. We might give the PC some quest to do, which will be his goal in life. However, as in life, he won't have to reach it. All the quests, campaigns, adventures, will be only an addition to the Great History of the World. In this game, the PC won't be a hero saving the mankind. The history of the world will be created by those that inhabit it, and the PC won't be able to influence the most important events. He will be able to try to get to know its details, meet the NPCs creating the history, or run from the place of historic events - for his own good.
As the freedom? Nobody likes limitations, and neither do we.
There are always some limitations. There's only RPG without any - Toon!
Teudogar and the Alliance with Rome Interview
Codex Interview - posted by Vault Dweller on Mon 22 December 2003, 17:08:09
Tags: Teudogar and the Alliance with Rome; Wolf Mittag4. I played the demo which I recommend to all our readers, and I couldn't help but notice that there are magical weapons and wizardry skills. How does that fit into a historically authentic RPG?
I included wizardry into the game exactly in order to make it historically authentic: When you're playing "Teudogar", I want you to feel like a genuine Germanic barbarian - and that includes superstitiousness.
People strongly believed in wizardry, and this belief probably made it actually effective. E.g., if you believed in blessings, knowing that you'd been blessed would free you from worrying about a possible defeat. This would enhance your concentration and courage, thereby actually improving your chances of winning a duel. That fact that you attributed your success to a supernatural cause doesn't bother me as long as there is reason to believe such a "spell" genuinely worked.
This is the kind of "magic" included in "Teudogar". It's not about gaining instant victory by pulverizing your enemies, but rather about tilting the odds in your favor by giving you confidence, or by demoralizing your enemies. Today we'd consider it plain autosuggestion, psychology, placebo effects, or manipulation; yet it was equally effective when it was called "magic" and its effects were attributed to higher powers' interference.
There are 1 comments on Teudogar and the Alliance with Rome Interview
Uberlong Knights of the Old Republic review
Codex Review - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 3 December 2003, 08:18:19
Tags: BioWare; Star Wars: Knights of the Old RepublicYes, the inventory does suck, despite what other reviews and BioWare claim.
But, overall, I liked it.
There are 79 comments on Uberlong Knights of the Old Republic review
Codex Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Thu 27 November 2003, 13:41:31
Tags: Anino Entertainment; Anito: Defend a Land Enraged[VicViper] You've made a very unique game in my opinion... are there any game that you got an inspiration from?
[gabusch] VicViper: a mix of old RPGs and adventure games. everything we've played along the way
[cneal] gam?
[gabusch] there's a score system in the game. reminiscent of the old adventure ones
[gabusch] that's how you can keep track of how much of the game you've completed
[gabusch] and, depending on how completely you finish the game, you can get different proclamations at the end of it
[VicViper] similar to King
[VicViper] King's Quest?
[gabusch] yeah
I liked the Space Quest ones better, personally.
Codex Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 5 November 2003, 11:34:33
Tags: Cube Warfare; Project Salus[Clockwork] Don't let those engineers die! The artist can go, but not those fixers of machinery and such
[Clockwork]
[MattBrown] in a sense, all technologies are available to you at the start... the problem isn't the technology, but the resources
[Clockwork] ok
[Saint_Proverbius] Artists create morale, and as a back up.. FOOD!
[MattBrown] heheheh exactly
[MattBrown] Technicians can repair equipment, but Engineers can actually fashion repair parts
[Clockwork] Solient Green is people!!
[MattBrown] which is very essential
[Saint_Proverbius] Soylent Green is ARTISTS!
Read the full thing for even more fun about eating people and babies and stuff.
Codex Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 29 October 2003, 10:25:57
Tags: Phase: Exodus; Russobit-M; Svetlana Haninaeva[OdinNMA] so what exactly was a quest matrix ?
[Fishka] The way you behave during the game affects the end.
[Human_Shield] Any voice-acting in the game? Getting a good english translation?
[MetalWyrm] Fishka, will the combat be turnbased, phasebased, or real time?
[blitzkrieg] im not communist
[Fishka] Quest matrix is a number of quests which are closely connected with each other.
[Spazmo] Good question from Odin: Define "quest matrix"?
[Fishka] The combat will be turn-based.
[Spazmo] Ah
[Pooperscooper] fishka great answer
[MetalWyrm] Fishka, good choice =)
[Exitium] Morrowind had a quest matrix, of sorts.
[Spazmo] Will most quests be related to the main storyline or will there be sidequests and such?
[Exitium] Do certain quests and you're given an open path to a series of new quests.
[OdinNMA] actually SP asked that..
[MetalWyrm] Fishka, assuming you're going to have cities, will you be able to be a villain in one city and a good guyin another ?
[OdinNMA] did you guys ask what the APARp system was ?
[MetalWyrm] Odin, you can read a bit about it hre I think: http://www.russobit-m.ru/eng/games/exodus/index.shtml
[OdinNMA] well that's what I'm reading now...
[Pooperscooper] is there any screens of the game?
[Fishka] Spazmo, there will be many quests related to the storyline.
The quest matrix has you!
Yeah, pretty cheesy comment, and way too easy, but you get what you pay for!
Codex Preview - posted by Exitium on Mon 27 October 2003, 14:27:50
Tags: Object Software; Seal of EvilThe story is set in the last few years of the Warring States period in ancient China more than 2,200 years ago, i.e. about 15 years before Prince of Qin. At that time, Qin gradually became the most powerful state in China and began making an overall plan to conquer the other six states. Meanwhile, Qin troops kept attacking the Baiyue people living in the southwest of China. As a result of these repeated invasions the whole race of West Baiyue led by Yan Bo was annihilated. The people of East Baiyue, under the leadership of Lan Xiong, then fought a desperate war against the Qin army.
Codex Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 22 October 2003, 04:35:18
Tags: Aaron Hall; Shrapnel Games; Space Empires: Starfury[Malfador] Dungeon Odyssey was my first DirectX game, and Starfury my first Direct3D game.
[Instar] Bumpmapping requires a fairly recent card to run right
[Exitium] Not really Instar.
[Malfador] They were intended to build an engine that I could use for SE5 to create true 3D ships for the display.
* Slith (~Slith333@adsl-158-38-135.asm.bellsouth.net) has joined #RPGCodex
[Exitium] Anything newer than the Geforce 2 will run bumpmapping just fine.
[Exitium] THose MX400 cards go for dirt cheap.
[Saint_Proverbius] Yup
[Exitium] And they handle bumpmapping perfectly.
[Instar] True. Bumpmapping does do wonders for games, look at Halo2 or Doom3
[Saint_Proverbius] Heck, look at BattleZone 2.
[SalsaDoom] Well, so long as it was optional, I don't see any problems with adding a few nice things..
[Instar] I don't know if its there in DX yet
[Exitium] Jedi Academy uses an engine that's a few years old and it's still pretty.
[Instar] it would require some more effort on the art people
[Malfador] Now, as to how many ships I can get into combat at one time, that's another question. But the main purpose was to move the space strategy genre on to the 3D era. (not that SE5 would be the first to do that).
[Saint_Proverbius] IG2 did it.
[Fyron] Yeah, but that game was lacking...
[SalsaDoom] Yeah, IG2's space battles were very pretty. To bad the game was over in an hour
[tesco] what is starshatter using ??
[Saint_Proverbius] 3D
[Saint_Proverbius] Starshatter is a sim, though.
[Instar] Aaron, what games are you looking forward to playing? I cannot wait to get my grubby paws on Doom3 or DeusEx2
[Malfador] Bumpmapping - I'd love to add all the bells and whistles to Starfury, but time is against me. The best thing to do is to add each of these features incrementally in each new game that uses the same engine. That way it doesn't take you 4 years to get the game out (O' FreeLancer, where art thou?).
Who doesn't like a good bumpmapped starship?
Codex Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 15 October 2003, 03:39:54
Tags: Brian Fargo; inXile Entertainment; The Bard's Tale (2004)[Saint_Proverbius] Okay, let's start. Brian's ready. I think we're all ready. So, how'd you pick the name, "inXile" anyway?
[Brian1] well.... right after Interplay I was going to E3 in May.,....
[Brian1] and I needed a quick name to get a badge...
[Brian1] i chose the "workshop" and as a joke I gave my title "Ceo in exile"... it got such a funny response
[Brian1] that we figured there was something to it.
[Brian1] and ended up with the inXile name since inexile by itself was taken.
And that's how it all started!
Codex Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 8 October 2003, 04:23:09
Tags: Devil Whiskey; Shifting Suns Studios[Split_404] oh, in the demo version it sounds like someone randomly asks to try some weed? I assumed they meant mead, was this deliberate?
[FyL] that should be something else we mention here too - in the full game, the in-game music is different depending on what instrument the bard is holding
[Justin] right - it's a very cool effect.
[Shevek] awesome *firing up demo now*
[Justin] oh, some of the sound effects will be revamped.
[Justin] and you're right - it should be 'mead'.
[Justin]
[Senrats] NO... It was Mead...
[Senrats] hehehe
[Senrats] No mention of weed anywhere
Thanks to all the guys who showed up for this!
Temple of Elemental Evil Review
Codex Review - posted by Spazmo on Thu 2 October 2003, 14:02:33
Tags: Temple of Elemental Evil; Troika GamesMmm... Turn-based.
Read the full article: Temple of Elemental Evil Review
Codex Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 1 October 2003, 08:46:43
Tags: Devil Whiskey; Shifting Suns Studios3.) Some of the mechanics of Devil Whiskey seems to limit the character creation of a party. For example, you have to roll up your attributes and only then can you select a class based on those attributes. Is there any reason why you stuck with this type of creation system over one that allowed a less restrictive manner of creation?
When we set out on this project, our goal was to create a game in homage to the great old RPG's of the late 80's. In keeping with that goal, we made design decisions that would lead to a similar experience. We believe that part of what made those old games so great *were* their limitations. If you're not worried about spending 20 hours creating a character, because the system is so thoroughly dynamic that you can tweak anything and there are 1000's of options, you can move on to play the rest of the game more quickly. Not only that, but many of us have a heritage in the old books-and-dice RPG's as well, and many of them (particularly the old favorites) work in the style described - you roll your stats, and based on those, you have certain options.
That's funny, because I did that once as a DM. I made the players roll their character attributes first, then pick a class based on what they rolled, instead of the other way around.
Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 1 October 2003, 06:16:34
Tags: Jan Beuck; Master Creating; Restricted AreaAs you can see, it was a lot of fun:
[Saint_Proverbius] What rating is Restricted Area going for, since that's a big topic?
[JanB] It´s going for M
[Saint_Proverbius] M for what kind of content? Just violence?
[Motu] ...
[Motu] maybe...
[Motu] use of drugs
[JanB] Everybody how likes to get defeated by a clever AI and doesn´t care much about graphics should check out Imerion (www.imerion.net)
[Motu] use of alcohol
[JanB] Violence, Sex, drugs, speech
[JanB] All the funny stuff
[EEVIAC] Its not going to have a really out of place sex scene like Gothic 2 is it?
[JanB] No
[JanB] We are discreet
[Motu] but you can have sex
[JanB] Yes
[Motu] a lot of sex
[JanB] Stop that!
[EEVIAC] With machines?
Thanks to all who showed up. Those who didn't, I hope your toes rot off.
Codex Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 24 September 2003, 03:27:55
Tags: Temple of Elemental Evil; Troika Games[Exitium] [Mearas] Besides removing the kids, has the game been altered in any other signigicant way as a result of switching ratings?
[TimCain] Yes. Several dialogs and quests were removed entirely, as were some characters.
[[Troika]Tom] One whole map with side quests, the brothel in Nulb, was removed
[ReAnimator] ouch!
[TimCain] Plus, Tom said some bad words in a few dialogs...
[TimCain]
[[troika]hnguyen]
[[Troika]Steve] Code was generally untouched for the censors, so I had smooth sailing.
[[troika]hnguyen] i wish the bad words were still in
[TimCain] Also, you will notice that Dick Rentsch is now just Rentsch
[[Troika]Tom] Tim used a bad word once, too!
[TimCain] I did?
[ReAnimator] I had to cover up some private areas on some models
[[Troika]Steve] Because Richard is such a horrible name to name someone.
[[troika]hnguyen] LOL
* TimCain says "Done"
I want the naughty bits back!
Golden Land Zoology 7 - Old Marvia, Northern Jungle
Codex Preview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Mon 22 September 2003, 16:28:09
Tags: Burut Creative Team; Golden LandBehold, the Mennada:
These ones are the flying demons in female forms, and they are extremely dangerous. Their enormous leather wings end with hands which have claws as sharp as razors. Mennades are the creations of one old witch. That witch was unlucky - the men always had forsaken her. Had created the mennades, she had revenged herself upon all men. That's why these creatures attack only men. Their kind of hunting is interesting. Having a walk, the man sees the figure in seductive red lingerie. Of course, every good man will try to find out what has happened, and if the young girl needs help... Some of the hunters, who, by chance, has stayed alive, explain such concern that way: they have daughters, and that's why they are so deeply touched by the different problems of young girls. So, the traveller, seeing the mennade and walking to her, gets into the trap - and he is very lucky if he stays alive.
Heeeelllllllllloooooo, nurse!
There are 0 comments on Golden Land Zoology 7 - Old Marvia, Northern Jungle
Codex Interview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 17 September 2003, 04:16:22
Tags: Beyond Divinity; Larian Studios[Exitium] [El_Gammon] Do you give us your word that the final title won't be something like "Riftrunning Riftrunner's Riftrun" or something like that?
[valtar] lol
[Lynn] sorry, no
[Thorun] Why not? I like that title...
[Arhu] eww
[valtar] yeah sure you do
[valtar]
[Relex] pray that doesnt happen...
[Lynn] I pray with you
[Arhu] Every night..
[Lynn] We didnt like the DD title either
[Larian] Never say never
[Relex] lets erect a shrine for it!
[Arhu] You have my word, ElG, but that doesn't say much..
[Lynn] and kill the inventor!
[Larian] I honestly thought that when I saw Divine Divinity it was a typo in the contract
[valtar] lol
[Lynn] yes, me too - i was shocked, and not only me
[Larian] It took several hours before I finally figured out that it was for real
[Thorun] We were all shocked when Lar told us...
[Arhu] Divinity 2 is supposed to be called just that, not the Double-D-Word 2.
[Lynn] you had to see the faces of everybody - they all thought we were joking
[Larian] And then I had to listen to somebody for hours on how market research had shown Divine Divinity to be better than Divinity.
[Lynn] we still have nightmares
[Larian] Never trust market research
[Larian] Don't quote me on that when it comes to the box guys
[Thorun] But later the same evening we were all so drunk we forgot about it...
[Lynn] hihi
[Lynn] yes, but the next day..
[Larian] Oh yes, that was very bad
[Lynn] I have pics - anyone? ;-)
[Larian] Ahum - done
[Lynn] done
You can't go wrong with the truth, baby!
Golden Land Zoology 6 - Doctor Bug
Codex Preview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Wed 27 August 2003, 12:03:29
Tags: Burut Creative Team; Golden LandThe golden bull differs from usual one by his strength and impossible power of endurance. These bulls can survive without any food or water for some weeks. They have their name because of their beautiful skin. The costumes and dresses made of the golden bull's leather are the permanent attributes of Marvian aristocracy. That's what these beautiful animals suffer from. Hundreds of hunters search for the golden bulls in the desert, and their livestock decreases every year. That's why one can rarely meet the proudly walking golden bull nowadays. I want to ask, on behalf of entire science world, somebody who will meet the golden bull - please, don't kill him, just stay on distance.
Beef, it's what'll have you for dinner.
Codex Preview - posted by Saint_Proverbius on Thu 14 August 2003, 06:45:00
Tags: Burut Creative Team; Golden LandLegends say that wolkodlaks are evil magicians who turn into the animals and hunt for the lost people in the forests. Don't even listen to these fairytales! It is obvious that the human cannot turn into such animal - it conflicts any considerable laws. So, wolkodlaks are people who were turned into the wolf-like creatures as a punishment, probably by the evil magicians. Exactly this point of view seems to be rigorous. The modern science has already gave up the version of self-turning into wolkodlaks as nonsense, but the news from Velgrad are trying to refuse the academic point of view. The rumors say about one Elder who turns into wolkodlak at nights, but has quite becoming style of life. That means that even being the creature, this Elder does not violate the limits of good behavior. But, however, it is really not good thing to meet wolkodlak at the road. Big creature, of 2.5 meters high, with awful claws and fangs, the wolkodlak could even tear the ox to pieces.
The first four sentences of this paragraph are about the funniest damned thing I've read from a developer in a long, long time. Reminds me of the old Steve Martin SNL sketches about the medieval dentist.
Big thanks to Dmitry Glaznev and Roman Volkov!