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| Might and Magic nostalgia |
posted Wed, Aug 20 2008, 15:29 by Gaidal Cain |
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| There's a fairly nostalgic piece about how great the old Might and Magic games (IV and V in particular) were over at GameBanshee. The author notes several things he thinks more modern RPG:s should copy from MM. Considering the fact that those games still generate discussions on the board, that seems like a smart idea. |
| 8 comments |
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| Patch 3.1 Available for Download |
posted Tue, Aug 19 2008, 12:46 by Angelspit |
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After a long delay, patch 3.1 for the Tribes of the East expansion is finally available. The US and European version can be downloaded here, while the various localizations can be picked up at the bottom of this post. In that post Fabrice Cambounet explains why we had to wait for patch 3.1:
"Well, the main point is that we (Ubisoft) have not pushed Nival to release it fast. It was not a priority, as the game (ToE) was considered quite polished at release, and we wanted this patch to be as clean as possible (ie, not generating its own new bugs). Although the work started on the patch sometime after the game release, we preferred to keep it in testing for as long as it was not rounded up. So, its been mostly stable for a couple of months, and we spent more time getting sure nothing was forgotten in terms of localizations, links, docs, etc. Here it is now, and i'm quite confident that we havent overlooked something."
With that announcement came a change of personnel in the producer seat, with Erwan le Breton (the Tribes of the East producer) taking over Heroes of Might and Magic while Fabrice focuses on Heroes Kingdoms. Here is another quote:
"This is a very complex project to produce, and its been a rocky ride all along - you are aware of a good part of the events that have happened along the development, release and support of Heroes. Its also been very upbringing to dwelve in a large & structured community such as the Heroes fanbase. The interactions have been numerous, very constructive and useful most of the time, even if a lot of them took place backstage. I hope you are happy with the work done here on this unique brand, and will continue to be happy with what will be released in the future." |
| 22 comments |
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| BAFTA Back On In 2009 |
posted Wed, Aug 13 2008, 17:21 by Kalah |
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 Yes, yes, I know... but it's another slow news day... BAFTA has announced that after skipping video games awards in 2008, they will be back next year. The next British Academy Video Games Awards will take place on Tuesday 10 March 2009 at the London Hilton, Park Lane.
Even though they say so themselves, BAFTA's game awards were created as an inspiration for creators and players alike: "to motivate and inspire those who make them and to educate and develop the tastes of those who play them."
Contrary to sales figures, these awards are meant to reflect the quality of games and not just how successful their PR departments have been.
"With a focus on creativity and innovation as opposed to commercial success alone, niche but highly creative work can be recognised and rewarded."
This will be received as good news by certain defeatists who have complained that small game producers are finding it increasingly difficult to survive in a world of constantly expanding game studios. With a BAFTA in the bag, a small game producer might indeed find the market more open to their endeavours. That's the idea, at least. |
| 1 comment |
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| New Fan-made RMG for Heroes 5 |
posted Mon, Jul 28 2008, 18:15 by Kalah |
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Here's a bit of good news in the "slow news day" season: nevermindspy has announced the release of a new beta version of his Random Map Generator for Heroes 5.
Content:
- All types of terrains added
- Players can now select town from withing the generator
- Roads will lead from towns to other towns and to other zones access points
- Feature "disable IT" (Instant Travel) now works
- Added random amount of dwelling for starting zones
- Fixed several bugs
Version 1.11 of the RMG can be downloaded here. Just run setup.exe and away you go!
NB! uninstall previous version before installing. |
| 11 comments |
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| The Rise and Fall of Sandro |
posted Thu, Jun 19 2008, 16:00 by ByteBandit |
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 A story of Love and Hate. War and Peace. Life and Death. Sandro is familiar with all HoMM fans who have played the HoMM games through the years. Follow his beginnings in Northern Enroth to his final stage of existance before the Gates of AvLee. All HoMM games can be used for this Campaign. They include HoMM 1, HoMM 2 (PoL), HoMM 3 (SoD), HoMM 3 (WoG 3.58f), HoMM 4 (WoW) and HoMM 4 (Equilibris). HoMM 5 was not used here, because Sandro was not included in the game. The maps included can be played individually of course. And there is a fully illustrated Document with the download that tells the story from one map to another, for those who may not have all the games. There is also "connecting" texts that explain what's going on between maps and what is about to happen. We feel some of the story elements within the maps may surprise and shock you. And we hope we have treated some situations you'll encounter, with dignity. We felt they were necessary to tell the story the way we saw it. (You will also discover why Sandro is so evil.)
Download it here.
This story has been in development by me, ByteBandit, for several years now. At the same time, I also wanted to bring the older HoMM games back from the shadows because they are still challenging and fun to play. Muszka and Koni also thought it would be nice to bring them back in a whole new way. So, we have insured the most enjoyment you can get from such a story driven Campaign as this, with challenging game play and extensive reading for the average and above average player. Together, we bring you this extraordinary, one of a kind Campaign to life.
There's also a German translation available. |
| 39 comments |
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| Equilibris Still Alive and Well |
posted Tue, Jun 17 2008, 11:21 by Angelspit |
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 Many people had become pessismistic about the fate of Equilibris, the Heroes of Might and Magic IV mod that was first published years ago. Irregular Web site updates, belated map contest results and a long delay with version 3.6 of the mod were seen as signs that the project had been buried in the big graveyard of fan-made projects. Fortunately, that is not the case according to a post by project leader Dalai in our forums:
"The new version is being tested, and there are some issues. It is not fully translated. New creature banks are not balanced (too hard for their bonus). Spells and artifacts are not moved as they are planned. Some minor glitches. But rest assured it WILL appear, the project is not abandoned."
That certainly deserves a big, loud "woot". |
| 9 comments |
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| Minor Update and More To Come |
posted Mon, Jun 16 2008, 21:25 by CloudRiderX |
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Well, while I was browsing through the Heroes 3 pages on the site looking for something to do, I realized there were a few things I started and never finished, as well as a few things people asked for that I never responded to. So I'm deciding to focus on those requests for now.
For starters, I finally finished adding gold values for the Artifacts page, as well as the Combo Artifacts page, for Heroes 3. The number of marketplaces affects each artifact's value, but the listed values are in proportion, rest assured. Thanks should go to Fnord for getting me the values. There were some other errors that needed fixing (there was an obelisk in there) and some fine-tuning to be done, and at last its out of the way. Enjoy!
For the future, I'll be getting town grail buildings in somewhere, probably the town pages, as well as pictures of fully unbuilt and fully built towns, too. Sit tight. |
| 5 comments |
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| Elements Review at GamersMark |
posted Fri, Jun 13 2008, 09:05 by Angelspit |
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There is a good review of the Xbox 360 version of Dark Messiah, or "Elements", at GamersMark. It is a little more forgiving with the final score (7.5 out of 10) even if it identifies the areas where the game is lacking:
"I witnessed nine goblins kill themselves as I lay hidden in the shadows above. All I did was kick one into the fire and jump away once its brethren shouted and gave search. Their method of scrutiny impressed nothing on me but their utter stupidity as they all ran up to their charred comrade and every one of them, in succession, caught fire themselves! I reveled in the hilariousness of it all until I realized how cheap it felt. Unfortunately this was not a rare occurrence or a glitch as there were several times I gained experience from a kill that had nothing to do with my actions whatsoever."
The reviewer suggests renting the game first, something that's unfortunately not possible with the PC version. |
| 1 comment |
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| Flamestryke: In Memoriam |
posted Tue, Jun 10 2008, 12:19 by arturchix |
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I just learned that the well known, long time Might and Magic fan Flamestryke, who has created absolutely great and colorful walkthroughs for MM7-MM9 at www.flamestryke.com, has recently passed away. This is what writes Peter2 at Castle Gobs forums:
It is with a heavy heart that I must tell you that Flamestryke, constructor of some of the best web-sites about MM7-9, passed away in April. She had been suffering from cancer for some time.
I never actually met Erika Walters (for that was her actual name), but she and I had been exchanging emails for some years. She had had far more than her fair share of ill-health and ill-luck, but she never allowed that to sour her against life, and in her emails to me she remained a gentle and great-hearted lady. I hope the next life will be kinder to her than this one was.
I drink to her memory.
Our deepest sympathies to Erika’s family for the terrible loss. Rest in peace, Flamestryke, you will be remembered. |
| 25 comments |
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| JVC Working on a Fantasy MMO |
posted Tue, Jun 03 2008, 10:07 by Angelspit |
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Jon Van Caneghem's new company, Trion, has revealed their new project and announced a partnership with the Sci-Fi Channel. The first game will be a fantasy massively multiplayer online game. Trio CEO Lars Buttler told Shacknews the following:
"Trion's San Diego studio and our platform and publishing groups in Austin and Redwood City will work closely with Sci Fi's creative team in developing a dynamically evolving, massively social, connected entertainment franchise across multiple formats and platforms of choice. We are laying the foundation for an exciting new co-development model between top cable entertainment and lifestyle brands such as Sci-Fi and connected game and interactive entertainment companies such as Trion."
Buttler made the headlines last year when he said that "the days of the console are numbered," and "one more generation of gaming consoles and that is it." For more information about the project, check out this interview at Gamasutra with Lars Buttler and Jon Van Caneghem. |
| 23 comments |
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| Time to Talk Heroes 6? |
posted Thu, May 29 2008, 13:10 by Kalah |
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Heroes 5 has been relatively successful. The game was released, it sold well, reviews were fairly good, and the producers didn't go bust. After two expansions and a couple of special editions, fans are also reasonably happy, and starting to feel the urge to move on to the next instalment in the series.
There's a problem, however: Even though other games related to Heroes (such as Dark Messiah) have been made, there's been no word on the development of a Heroes 6.
When should we expect rumours to reach fever pitch? When should we expect the producers to break down under the mounting pressure and admit to the fans that "YES! We're working on a new Heroes game! Now please put the baseball bat down!" When should be expect news of people being hired en masse to work on an "unspecified" project?
It certainly seems that enough fans are happy with Heroes 5 to warrant a new instalment; question is how long it will take to get the ball rolling on something new... some would argue that the previous ball hasn't even stopped rolling yet. |
| 54 comments |
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| Forum "Anniversary" Coming Up |
posted Sat, May 24 2008, 15:22 by Kalah |
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Since the new CH forum opened less than 30 months ago, thousands and thousands of contributions have been made to this board. So many thousands, in fact, that the off-topic section alone is set to round 100.000 posts this weekend.
... no, that was all I wanted to say. Really.
Long live The Round Table! |
| 33 comments |
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| Shooting at the Granada Hills Church |
posted Tue, May 20 2008, 11:14 by Angelspit |
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| Facebook status updates are usually trivial matters, from a TGIF to a random state of mind. However, the latest update from former New World Computer developer David Mullich caught my attention: Sir Mullich was "signing up for booth duty at a school festival when a man started shooting people with a rifle." After a quick research, I found out that David was referring to this unfortunate event. David is all right, but three people have been hospitalized. Things could have been worse if bystanders had not held the shooter until an off-duty officer arrested him. |
| 9 comments |
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| On sales .. |
posted Sun, May 18 2008, 11:01 by MistWeaver |
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I'm sure most of Heroes fans are eager to know how many copies of Heroes5 and its addons was sold since game's release. After all, future of the series mostly depends on financial success of this particular game.
So, by official information from 12.2007, in Russia, CIS and Baltic States, HoMM5 sales exceed one million copies. Including addons and special editions, but excluding Gold edition which was released later. source
However, before you start calculating, I would like to note that in mentioned countries one copy price vary from 12 to 17 US dollars.
As for world-wide sales (excluding CIS), there is no official info, and therefor, exact numbers, but it was mentioned (not by UBI) that they are greater than CIS sales. Which in total gives more that 2 million copies sold.
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| 25 comments |
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| The Bright Future |
posted Tue, May 13 2008, 16:34 by Akul |
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Since many fans don't visit the Round Table and even those who do, often don't visit every tread in it and read every topic, I decided to make an news announcement that mentions new fan-made maps/campaigns that shall appear in near future.
First campaign that should be mentioned is the unnamed one made by ByteBandit, a well-knows member of RT and mapmaker for all HoMM games, with help of Muszka who is famous for helping many mapmakers on RT.
His campaign is surely unique for it consists of six maps, every of them happening in different HoMM game from H1-H4 (H5 is not included for the hero followed by the storyline is not included in that game). You better dig up your HoMM1, HoMM2, hoMM3SOD, HoMM3WoG, HoMM4WoW and HoMM4Equi (at least those you own) in order to play this unique story-driven campaign!
Link to the forum tread
Another map that I sould mention is Kordine Isles - Unveiled Land (for H3SoD), made by our new member Horns who is a HoMM fan since H2 was released. May the fact that she is new here not confuse you! Testers had great things to say about her map in every aspect of mapmaking (story, landscape, gameplay...). The map can be downloaded from the testing section if you are impatient to try this gem.
May Horns find the Round Table a comfortable place to hang around and may her mapmaking carrier continue to flourish!
Link to the forum tread
Faceless Destinies campaign for H4Equi is made by me (man do I feel stupid for advertising myself) and it shall be released in several one-map campaigns (you can call them episodes if you want) that shall be tightly connected with scripts. The storyline is dynamic and is the primary element of the gameplay, together with few new unique features.
Link to the forum tread
Legends of the Ancients (LotA in short) by Marzhin does not need introduction for almost everyone knows about it.
For those who still don't know about it, LotA is a series of H5HoF and H5TotE campaigns that continue the storyline of Axeoth, where H4WoW and M&M9 ended. Two of four campaigns have been completed and can be downloaded at authors site (lick can be found further bellow)
Story is written and keeps the spirit of old M&M universe while the H5 engine is unchanged, with few minor features added to give it a more unique feel.
Link to the forum tread
Link to author's website
Humakt, another well known mapmaker, especially famous for his H4 maps, is working on two separate projects.
One of them is Gauntlet, a challenging map for H5TotE with two human players pitted against 6 AI players. Big battles shall be waged here, with enemies coming from every side. Using turns to their full potential shall be the key to victory here!
His other map is Gateworks for H4Equi, a unique story driven map whose unique gameplay is best explained by Humakt himself in his forum tread.
Link to the forum tread
Link to author's website
If there is a map/campaign that I forgot to mention, PM me and I shall add it to the list.
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And, when I already made such a big post, I should take some time to introduce the new H5TotE map that appeared on the website few days ago.
Mercenaries, made by Franzy is a unique H5 map that tries uses the powerful (tough user-unfriendly) editor to turn the game into a classic RPG game with more than one ending.
Few unique features, like daily fees for soldiers in your army, are introduced and make this map much more enjoyable.
As few members already stated, this is a map you should play even if you ain't a big fan of H5.
Link to the forum tread
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| 15 comments |
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| Keep Me Busy |
posted Wed, May 07 2008, 11:38 by CloudRiderX |
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Well, I can't believe it, but it seems I actually have nothing to do on CH right now.
While I'm not complaining about this at the moment (finishing up another school year and other stressors), when summer rolls around I'll have some extra time to kick around. So I ask you....what's next?
While keeping the subject matter on Heroes 3, please feel free to comment about ideas for improving the site's H3 section, which includes adding new things or making currently existing things better. Please be reasonable with your suggestions and I'll see if I can line up a few projects for the summer. |
| 5 comments |
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| A good week for H3 players |
posted Fri, May 02 2008, 04:27 by Akul |
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H3 players have a good reason to be happy this week for all three newly uploaded maps are for this game.
First we have Demon Business by Potman. a nice M-sized SP map with a story.
Second is Xeron Lives by Jake Brutlag. This ain't really a new map since it was posted on old H3Trio site. Because of great design and a very good storyline, this map should find its way to your Hard Drive if it alredy didn't.
And last, but not least, is Tolkien’s Middle-Earth (Allies), created by Yurian Stonebow whom every member of the Round Table probably knows. I think most of you don't need a description since everyone knows about Tolkien's LotR and everyone who visits our forums know that this is one of most anticipated maps for H3. |
| 12 comments |
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| King`s Bounty: First Review |
posted Tue, Apr 22 2008, 21:28 by Angelspit |
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RPGWatch links to the first review of Katauri's King's Bounty on CRPG.RU, in Russian. The game is apparently the greatest thing since sliced bread as the game gets a score of 9.5 out of 10.
Perhaps our Russian-speaking readers will be willing to translate some quotes for us. |
| 71 comments |
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| New H3 & H4 maps |
posted Sat, Apr 12 2008, 14:11 by Akul |
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Seems H3 and H4 maps are starting to appear in great numbers once again, which is great news for those who still have thiese two games installed on their PC's.
First one is "Dragon's Fate" by Jeff, an old H4 campaign but this time in different language. Thanks to Koni, a member of Round Table who offers to translate new and popular maps into German, some people will be able to play one of best H4 campaigns in their mother language.
By the way, if you have H4 and still didn't play "Dragon's Fate", then what are you waiting for? Download and play it! You won't regret it.
The next one is "In Deeps of Eternal Darkness", an H3 SP map made by Artas1984. Most of its battles are sea battles so it might prove to be an unique experience for some players. Also, different playstyle of two playable factions might be a good reason to play this map at least twice.
The third map is "Land of the Dead", an M-sized H4 map made by skiffer3 which has been in our testing section for a very long time and has finally been officialy released. Those who like to play in multiplayer shoudn't let this map go undownloaded. |
| 12 comments |
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| Ken Levine Loves Heroes II |
posted Tue, Apr 08 2008, 16:50 by Angelspit |
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2K Boston Creative director and Bioshock creator Ken Levine put a favorite of the community in his list of the top five video games of all time at MSNBC:
Heroes of Might and Magic 2- "I went through a tough period a few years ago and the only thing that could take my mind off my trouble was 'Heroes.' The beautiful world, the endless variety, the direct but deep gameplay...I never thought I'd find a turn-based strategy (game) to approach 'Civ,' but Heroes was up to the challenge."
A little love from a celebrity of the gaming industry doesn't hurt. Levine's other favorites are Civilization IV, World of Warcraft, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Beyond Good and Evil. |
| 27 comments |
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| MM7Rev4mod Released |
posted Mon, Apr 07 2008, 09:52 by Angelspit |
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 Celestial Heavens is proud to host the MM7Rev4mod by Big Daddy Jim. This mod has reprogrammed the original Might and Magic VII game to include;
(1) an altered game sequence,
(2) ten new quests,
(3) seven ‘heavily modified’ original quests,
(4) seventeen unique NPCs,
(5) modified overland and ‘dungeon’ areas,
(6) an optional ‘post game’ encounter with a unique set of opponents,
(7) a plethora of minor game ‘tweaks’ and changes.
To play this game, you must have the original Might and Magic VII game installed with the official Patch 1 and MOK's Patch. See the ‘ReadMe’ file for installation instructions. |
| 11 comments |
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| Gerstmann's Nemesis Fired |
posted Sat, Apr 05 2008, 17:22 by Kalah |
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 Remember this? GameSpot reviewer Jeff Gerstmann gave a bad review of the latest "Kane & Lynch" instalment, and presto! he was out of a job. Fans stopped short of mailing anthrax to the heads of GameSpot, but the site's reputation as a serious, neutral, independent, true-to-the-fans gaming site took a critical hit. Gerstmann's termination coincided with GameSpot's site being sponsored by the "Kane & Lynch" producers, and the gaming community simply didn't believe these events to be unrelated, as Penny Arcade illustrated like this.
Today, the fans who lamented the popular Gerstmann's termination can smile with glee: Kotaku reports that Josh Larson, VP of games at parent company CNET, the guy responsible for firing Gerstmann, is being given the boot. The departure has been confirmed by Editor in Chief Ricardo Torres. Larson isn't very popular with the GameSpot employees, being more of a business suit than interested in creativity, and one can only guess what's for lunch in the company mess when he departs on April 9th. My guess is cake and champagne. |
| 11 comments |
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| Heroes of Might and Magic on Steam |
posted Tue, Apr 01 2008, 15:01 by Angelspit |
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Valve announced that Ubisoft is putting some of its games on the Steam platform, including Assassin's Creed, Far Cry and Splinter Cell. Games of the Heroes of Might and Magic series will also be sold there, making the "Ubisoft line-up on Steam will be the largest library of titles available from any single publisher or developer."
Update via Games Digest: "Some brilliant chap at Ubi has decided that this offer should be for North America only so here in Europe (and the rest of the world) we will just have to stick to discs and shops and daylight and shit. Lame." |
| 8 comments |
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| Two new H5 maps |
posted Fri, Mar 28 2008, 14:01 by Akul |
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It is nice to see that Sarvi and rdeford, two well known mapmakers in the community, are continuing to make great new maps for H5: Tribes of the East.
Sarvi sent us a new MP/SP map called "Breakout". The Kreegans from subterrain are trying to conquer the lands, and the player(s) require to stop them and... expand their own borders in meantime...
rdeford, Mage of Soquim sent us a SP map called "Mining Tycoon". It is one of those maps that get the titles "Innovative", "Cool", "Complexly scripted"... In other words, if you are looking for a fun map that doesn't depend on usual HoMM gameplay, this is the map for you!
Anyway, your objective is to take care of minning operations (liberate the mines from enemy factions, recruit workers and feed the workers) and crush the greedy enemies.
UPDATE on 2nd March 2008:
Mining Tycoon has been updated with newer version that fixes a certain bug which would appear if you installed a certain mod. If you encountered the bug, please re-download the map. If you did not encounter the bug, still re-download the map. |
| 19 comments |
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| Puzzle Quest Post-Mortem |
posted Tue, Mar 25 2008, 16:48 by Angelspit |
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Gamasutra spoke with Steve Fawkner at GDC 2008 and did what can be described as the post-mortem of the project. It's a nice overview of the current state of the gaming industry. The lessons they learned could benefit a company such as Nival Interactive for instance:
* Time spent polishing is time well-spent. The extra time spent certainly resulted in additional sales. Focus and usability testing makes a difference.
* Good design is still important: A graphically simple game can still sell quite well.
* Focus groups are awesome: the title change, the addition of female avatars, and the shifting of the style to something a little more anime in execution all turned out to be great changes.
* Good QA teams are even better than focus groups: even though a few bugs slipped through, a solid QA team really helps.
Read the rest of the report here. |
| 2 comments |
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