Bruce Shelley working with Ubisoft on “Settlers 7”
Its been just over a year when Ensemble Studios closed its doors (29th Jan 2009) and we have seen lots of news where the developers have set up new companies such as Robot, Bonfire, NewToy, Fuzzycube and Windstorm and we have seen some of the developers join posts in other prestigious companies such as Paul Jaquays now working at CCP North America. However news has been scarce about iconic Ensemble developer and co-founder Bruce Shelley, until now.
Today it was widely revealed that Bruce Shelley has joined Ubisoft’s Blue Byte studio where he will be working as consultant on the RTS game “Settlers 7”. It looks like nothing can keep Bruce away from RTS video game development! You can find out more about the game and see Bruce in action as he describes the economy structure of Settlers 7 in the YouTube video below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mXIs5Z1Kk5c
Also check out the high res download of the video over at BigDownload.com
Settlers 7 open beta now open
More good news is that the Settlers 7 game that Bruce is working on is now accepting beta signups so that you can get a first look at the game. More details about that available here: http://www.fileplanet.com/promotions/settlers-7. Note also that an ubi.com account is needed for registration so be sure to get that setup first.
Remember-EnsembleStudios.com will be following developments of this game closely and will update with any more Bruce Shelley blogs or vidlogs. Keep an eye out!
Halo Wars now available on Games on Demand
Halo Wars is now available on the Xbox Marketplace under Games on Demand. Gamers who have yet to try Halo Wars can download the game today from the Xbox Live. The games box art also shows a new header with the game now bearing a “Platinum hits” graphic. Good news all round! Here are the details you need to get more information:
Content: Halo Wars
Price: Check pricing for your region
Availability: Asia, Canada and US
Dash Text: (Online Interactions Not Rated by the ESRB) This game supports English. Download the manual for this game by locating the game on http://marketplace.xbox.com and selecting “See Game Manual”. Halo Wars is a strategy game based on the legendary Halo® universe. Command entire armies of Spartans, Warthogs and more into combat as you join the crew of the “Spirit of Fire” to battle the alien Covenant. Designed from the ground up for the Xbox 360, Halo Wars let you effortlessly command powerful armies in epic battles. There are no refunds for this item. For more information, see www.xbox.com/live/accounts.
Halo Wars runner up in Kotaku’s best cut scenes of 2009
The awesome cut scenes in Ensemble’s Halo Wars have received a runners up place in Kotaku’s best cut scenes of 2009. There is no question that the quality of the cut scenes in Halo Wars are the best yet in any Halo game, rendered fully in outstanding CGI. A YouTube video with all the 30 minutes worth of cut scenes can be found below and also at the Kotaku website where you can read about the Halo Wars runners up award and other games with great cut scenes.
Link to article: http://www.kotaku.com.au/2010/01/best-video-game-cut-scenes-of-2009/
Words with Friends – Geek Sugar’s download of the day
![wwf_logo[2]](http://remember-ensemblestudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/wwf_logo2.jpg "wwf_logo[2]"){kind=logo}
NewToy’s Words with Friends iPhone app has exploded since its launch in August 2009. Today the app is featured as GeekSugar.com’s download of the day.
Remember when Plants vs. Zombies was taking over my life? It’s officially been ousted as my number one time-suck, replaced by Words With Friends,
If you have an iPhone and havnt played Words with Friends, what are you waiting for? Download the free edition from the iTunes store today, just search for Words with Friends!
Happy Holidays
![art_maps_wwland_sm[1]](http://remember-ensemblestudios.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/art_maps_wwland_sm1.jpg "art_maps_wwland_sm[1]")
Christmas eve today and I wanted to wish all the blog readers a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Last year was a sad time for the Ensemble crew but this year things are looking up. Studios like Robot, Bonfire, Windstorm, NewToy and Fuzzycube amoung other ventures seem to be going very well with the latter two already performing exceptionally well on the iPhone platform. Will 2010 reveal any teasers for Robot, Bonfire and Windstorm projects? We hope so! Stay tuned for updates over 2010. Meanwhile, here’s a little greeting from your friendly Robots:
Halo Wars title update 4 announced. Meanwhile, Halo Wars wins best strategy game at IGN
Today is a great day for Halo Wars fans kicking off with Robot’s announcement that the fourth title update for Halo Wars will be going live tomorrow on the 18th December. This patch implements many of the proposed fixes as discussed before, these being:
Balance:
Grunts now do more damage to air units
The Scarab now has 25% more health and does 25% more damage
Gremlins now requires 2 reactors to be built
The Arbiter now takes 25% more damage while raging
Hunters now focus their Assault Beam much faster
Brute Chopper is more effective vs. airBug Fixes:
The Cryo/Reactor Glitch has been fixed
The Multiplayer Lobby should now work better for people with misaligned controllers
Y-Abilities should no longer have their cooldowns reset erroneously
Profiles that had problems accruing points in Multiplayer should now be able to gain points properly
Meanwhile over at IGN Halo Wars was awarded the “Best Strategy” game of 2009 on the Xbox 360 platform saying that:
“PC diehards may cry foul at the idea of a real-time strategy game on a console. Halo Wars is enough to silence them. It strips away some of the depth and excessive management required out of a PC game and boils the formula down to quick strategy and exciting confrontations”
Harter Ryan, Executive Producer on Halo Wars at Ensemble Studios who now works at Robot Entertainment had this to say on the official Halo Wars community website:
“We’re proud of Halo Wars and its reception by both the Halo and Xbox 360 communities. Winning IGN’s Strategy Game of the Year is a great honor and is a fine reflection of all the effort that went into creating the game at Ensemble Studios and Microsoft Game Studios.”
Indeed! Congratulations all Ensemblites!
NewToy’s Words with Friends iPhone app nominated in Wired.com’s Top apps of 2009
Great news for NewToy their popular “Words with Friends” application has been nominated in the Wired.com “Top apps of 2009” feature. If you have an iPhone with and have played Words with Friends then show your support for the budding iPhone developer headed up by the Bettner brothers!
Head over to : http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/12/best-iphone-apps-2009/ for the full story.
Windstorm announces partnership with 226 productions
It looks like things are going well for Dusty Monk’s Windstorm Studios, a company setup by an ex Ensemble programmer aiming to deliver a groundbreaking MMO game with flying cars! The studio has recently announced a partnership with a major Russian art production company, 226 productions. 226 productions have worked on art for a number of games including Pirates of the Carribbean – The Legend of Jack Sparrow and the company has a selection of sample art on their website located here: http://www.226prod.com/
This is good news for Windstorm Studios who also along with the press release offer a brand new piece of concept art found below:
Click to enlarge to desktop wallpaper size
We wish Windstorm and Dusty continued success with their mission to create an excellent MMO title. Stand by for more updates!
New Halo Wars rank numbers revealed!
Robot Entertainment Community Manager, Duncan Stanley has quickly updated the Halo Wars community with the proposed ranking changes for Halo Wars. Previously the ranking system stood as follows:
| Rank | Score Needed | New Points |
| Recruit | Play 1 Game | Play 1 Game |
| Lieutenant | 25,000 | 15,000 |
| Captain | 60,000 | 30,000 |
| Major | 140,000 | 60,000 |
| Commander | 310,000 | 120,000 |
| Colonel | 700,000 | 240,000 |
| Brigadier | 1,500,000 | 480,000 |
| General | 2,400,000 | 960,000 |
The idea behind this change is to help make the General achievement easier to attain whilst still being relatively difficult. Rest assured, in order to achieve this top achievement players will still need to play alot of Halo Wars. Feedback about this proposed change can be made in the official Halo Wars community forum. – head over there and check out the discussion!
Robot to reduce the number of points to reach General rank in Halo Wars
Robot Entertainment Community Manager Duncan “Aloysius” Stanley has confirmed that Robot intends to reduce the number of points to reach the General rank in Halo Wars. The number of points to reach the rank currently stands at 2,400,000 exp. The number of points has been criticised by some players as taking an unreasonable amount of play time to achieve. In wake of the recent launch of Halo Waypoint on Xbox Live which tracks players achievements across all 360 Halo games (Halo3, Wars and ODST) this should make the top achievement more balanced with other games achievements. Currently the scoring system stands as follows:
| Rank | Score Needed |
| Recruit | Play 1 Game |
| Lieutenant | 25,000 |
| Captain | 60,000 |
| Major | 140,000 |
| Commander | 310,000 |
| Colonel | 700,000 |
| Brigadier | 1,500,000 |
| General | 2,400,000 |
Stand by for announcements for an adjusted scoring / ranking system!
