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Flagship Studios Announces Hellgate Friday, March 25, 2005, 21:36 | TheAcolyte
| Comment! In the May 2005 issue of PC Gamer magazine, Flagship Studios announces its obviously no longer secret role-playing game project Hellgate: London. A large version of the magazine's cover for that issue is available at fansite BRN Flagship.
Since Flagship Studios is not releasing the information covered in the article directly to fan sites, there are few details from it online currently.
What appears to be known currently is that the game is played in first-person view yet retains role-playing game elements. Given the title and magazine cover, it is set in London in a dystopian future with a combination of gothic and futuristic elements.
As more details arrive, we will update our reports.
Thursday, March 17, 2005
PDF Inquirer #19: One bling to fool them all Thursday, March 17, 2005, 05:49 | TheAcolyte
| The latest news is in from the world of Sanctuary with issue 19 of The PDF Inquirer. This edition's reports include the announcement of the Cattle.net service, a contestant's fate on Barbarian Idol featuring Korlic, Madawc, and Talic, and details on the Act II mercenaries' labor union strike.
Also of note are cast details on Kill Baal: Volume 4 and the controversial story of a Necromancer accused of abusing undead stygian dolls.
4 Blizzard Job Openings Thursday, March 17, 2005, 05:42 | TheAcolyte
| During the past two weeks these postings were added to Blizzard's official Job Openings web site.
New Position - Senior Producer
Blizzard is looking for an experienced Producer with exemplary communication, project management and motivational skills to help drive current and future projects. If you have the experience and want to contribute to our award-wining games, please see our Senior Producer posting for more information.
New Position - 3D level designer
Do you love to build levels for video games? Do you know how to build "fun" into your levels? Do you look at environments around you and find yourself figuring out how to put them in to your favorite games? If you said yes to any of these questions, then Blizzard might just have the right job for you. Please look at the 3D Level Designer position for more.
New Position - 2D Illustrator
Blizzard is looking for a brilliant artist with great graphic design instincts to help create original artwork for a variety of needs. If you have talent and love the look and feel of Blizzard's products, then please refer to the 2D Illustrator posting for more information.
New Position - Battle.net Programmer
Blizzard is looking for a talented and dedicated programmer with great networking skills to help our Battle.net team develop and improve the technologies that help millions of gamers have fun! If this interests you, please check out our Battle.net Programmer position for more information.
Former Blizzard VP Bill Roper Interviewed Thursday, March 17, 2005, 05:22 | TheAcolyte
| While Flagship Studios' secret project in development has still yet to be announced, in an interview with Computer Games Magazine Bill Roper discusses bits and pieces of information about the game development process and the company's evolution up until now.
Former Blizzard North Vice President Bill Roper left the company in 2003 along with most of the key developers of the Diablo series to form Flagship Studios. Since then the company signed on with Namco to develop a role-playing computer game and its development team has gradually grown.
CGM - While we know that you can't talk too specifically about the game you are working on, can you give us an idea on if the initial game design has changed significantly since Flagship first started work on it?
Bill Roper - The core concept of the game has remained intact from the very first time Dave Brevik pitched it in his living room on day one of the company. We have been building upon that idea, fleshing out the design and then adding and iterating as we create the game. Our development process is best described as organic since we are constantly evaluating and changing the game, whether slightly or extremely, every single day. Obviously, we lock down content and
design at some point during the process, but we definitely don't write
up a design document on day one and then make the game according to what's therefor the next 2-3 years. We have found that constantly playing the game andleaving ourselves as much flexibility as we can to incorporate feedback and new ideas that come from playing gives us the best possible end result.
Monday, March 7, 2005
Hordes of Chaos Beta 7 Released Monday, March 7, 2005, 03:32 | TheAcolyte
| Comment! Darque Onyx Mods released a new beta version of its Hordes of Chaos mod in both complete and lite versions. Changes and additions include the following.
Infamous Drider crash fixed
New GUI
New maps
New monsters
New runes and unique items
New skill mastery system
Some skill fixes
See the mod's web site for more information and new screenshots.
Tuesday, March 1, 2005
Roper Interview Translated Tuesday, March 1, 2005, 13:29 | TheAcolyte
| Forum moderator Tetanus kindly contributed a very quickly and thoroughly done translation of the GamesCodes.dk interview with Bill Roper. Enjoy:
There have been rumors of the Diablo III project, and for the first time since the rumor emerged, Bill Roper has commented on it to GamesCodes.dk. Bill Roper used to be one of the "higher-ups" at Blizzard but left the company and started Flagship Studios. Now Roper has commented on the rumor about Diablo III to us, even though he hasn't given it much thought.
"Regarding Blizzard and Diablo III, they (Blizzard) will, of course, keep a passive attitude to rumors, since the game has not yet been announced. We (Flagship Studios) certainly all love the universe we have created, and hope
that it will be carried on. We still expect great things from Blizzard, and
look forward to seeing what they are working on now," Roper explains. "Even though we have no influence on the game they are developing, it sometimes feels strange that we've been so absorbed in the development of our own project here at Flagship Studios that we haven't had time to think about it."
"In the past months we've worked hard on technology, characters, monster
design and creation, sound, environment, and how to bring it all to life in
our new project. We feel that we are very close to being able to talk more
publicly about the project, and of course we'll do all we can to share our
vision with others when we go public. I think that when we do publish the game it will be worth the wait," he concluded."
Game Designer Job Opening Posted Tuesday, March 1, 2005, 12:26 | TheAcolyte
| Comment! Just added to the Blizzard Job Opportunities web site was one of the coolest postings we've seen so far, with a title as simple as Game Designer.
Blizzard Entertainment is looking for a talented and experienced game designer to join the World of Warcraft design team. Duties will include working on general game design, rules systems, play balance, interface design and story. The ideal candidate will have proven experience in game design, outstanding "people" skills, and a longstanding passion for playing games within the Massively Multiplayer Online genre.
Former Blizzard VP Discusses Diablo III Tuesday, March 1, 2005, 12:15 | TheAcolyte
| 4 Comments Danish gaming site GamesCodes.dk very briefly interviewed Flagship Studios' Bill Roper, a former Vice President of Blizzard North, the division of Blizzard Entertainment that developed the Diablo series. The article mentions Diablo III but to what extent we are not sure.
Unfortunately the content is in Danish, so many viewers may be unable to read it. If you happen to speak Danish and would be kind enough to translate it, please e-mail the result to us and we will report on its details.
Monday, February 28, 2005
Three New Mod Guides Monday, February 28, 2005, 14:20 | TheAcolyte
| Comment! The Phrozen Keep has three new mod guides for all the aspiring developers out there, including a file guide and two tutorials.
The file guide explains the mysteries of "SkillDesc.txt", which determines not only the in-game descriptions of skills but also how they are arranged on the 21 skill trees.
The first of the new tutorials teaches how to change Life and Mana potions to restore a percentage of a character's maximum rather than the standard static amount.
The final guide and second tutorial explains how to create a skill which, interestingly enough, provides skill bonus points as an effect.
Dragons' Uprising Site Reopens Monday, February 28, 2005, 14:07 | TheAcolyte
| Comment! Reiyo_oki has remade the Dragons' Uprising web site using PHPBB, featuring its own forum system. Get the latest updates on the mod as well as Reiyo_oki's custom mod making plug-ins at the new site.
Speaking of Dragons' Uprising, the latest development announcement is that the entire skill system is being reworked for the next major release. All skills from all character classes of Diablo II and its expansion set are to be replaced. Each character class will have one unique tree while the other two, which include passive and combat skills, will be shared by each class. Check the site for more preview information.
Three New Mod Map Plug-ins Monday, February 28, 2005, 09:00 | TheAcolyte
| Diabolic Cartography released three more custom map plug-ins for mod making, allowing one to replace the Worldstone Chamber, Duriel's Lair, and/or Mephisto's Lair with a different layout. These replacements are more detailed and usually larger areas with several rooms.
Billing Programmer Job Posting Friday, February 25, 2005, 09:46 | TheAcolyte
| Blizzard Entertainment made a brief update to its online job opportunities listing with the addition of a Billing Programmer position.
Blizzard Entertainment is seeking a talented and hard-working programmer to create and extend the tools, libraries and interfaces that will be used in its world-wide billing platform. Applicants interested in this position would need to be able to combine both technical and financial know-how, and be able to place an emphasis on detail-orientated tasks.
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