Day 3 of the Windstorm Studios teasers – the Vehicular Strike Force. Plus news about the AOE-O retail box
Its day 3 of the Windstorm Studios teaser series for an upcoming announcement of a new game. This time we learn about the Vehicular Strike Force which has recently been set up in Atomic City. The VSF help to combat the vehicular based crimes in the city after it was determined local police forces were corrupt and ineffective. The VSF only answer to the Federal Council so there is less chance of any shenanigans. The VSF is lead by Hank McKenna a veteran police officer from Atomic City. My guess would be that players will be taking the role of Hank McKenna in his task to help clean up the city and deal with vehicular based crime. Lets wait and see what teaser number 4 has in store for us!
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Age of Empires Online – retail pack pricing
We know that Age of Empires Online is a fully online based game and that it will be distributed digitally via Games For Windows Live. However, as we learned a few weeks ago there will also be a retail pack available at launch. Since then Microsoft has clarified on the AOE-O online forums what this retail pack will contain. We also have the cover art for the retail pack too.
So whats in the box?
The box will contain a download key and instructions for how users can download the game. There wont be any game files on disc – you’ll still need to download the game files over the internet. The retail back wont be a shortcut out of a lengthy download I’m afraid! Of course, the download wait is well worth it! So if you dont get the game files on disc.. what do you get with the retail pack? The answer is some cool goodies and an exclusive feature as below:
- Upgrade to the Premium Greek Civilisation. Players who buy the retail box will get immediate access to the premium Greek civilisation features including Advisors, rare and epic items and more.
- An exclusive in-game store called “Windy’s Wild Widgets” featuring exclusive items to buy and sell
- Limited edition poster and advisor cards for all you collectors out there!
- A hot-key guide so that nimble players can study all of the hot-keys to get started with the game.
How much?
How much is all this content worth? Microsoft are pricing the retail pack at $19.99 which I think is fantastic value. Marketed as the “Greek starter pack” the retail edition gets you the upgrade to the premium Greeks right from the get go with access to exclusive in-game items and physical cards this is the perfect package for Age fans. In addition the retail back gets the game good exposure in stores for those who haven’t yet jumped on the digital distribution band wagon.
Players should remember that each premium civilisation costs $19.99 separately so essentially with the retail pack you are getting exclusive access to Windy’s Wild Widgets and physical content for free. Its a bargain!
Big update Friday: – Atomic City, Gnoll Hunters and something new from NewToy / Zynga
Wow we have a pretty big update from Ex-Ensemble formed studios today Friday 3rd June 2011, infact its so big we have three studios involved – Robot, Windstorm and Zynga With Friends. Incase your’re wondering the Zynga With Friends studio used to be called NewToy before they were acquired by the Zynga machine. The “With Friends” is a link to their previous titles, Words with friends and Chess with friends. Now that we know who we’re talking about lets delve straight into todays news!
Windstorm Teaser day 2 – The corruption of Atomic City
Its the second day of Windstorm’s four day teaser of their upcoming announcement on June 6th. Yesterday we learnt about the basics of Atomic City, set in the year 2257 the city is full of unique flying cars of classic car heritage. The city is full of people and robots who serve humans every need. Think of it being a bit like iRobot, just with classic cars thrown into the mix! However, as we can see today not all is perfect in Atomic City. Organised crime is growing and thriving due to the availability of flying cars and anti grav-packs, criminals are simply too quick at fleeing the scene to be caught. This is not helped further with Atomic Cities police force being corrupt from within due to bribes from both criminals and even the cities own politicians. It would seem that a city with flying cars and robots doesn’t necessarily make a safe city. Check out teaser number 2 below:
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Check back tomorrow to see what other information we get on Atomic City!
Robot reveals the deadly Gnoll Hunters in Orcs Must Die! Plus a brand new trailer showing all sorts of new features!
Second update this week on Orcs Must Die! – this time we have something a bit different than a trap spotlight. Instead we have the announcement of a menacing new enemy and ally of the Orcs – the Gnoll Hunter. This is no ordinary enemy, unlike the Orcs the Gnoll Hunter has no interest in getting to the rift on the other side of the level – these intimidating creatures are only interested in you, the War Mage. When the Gnoll Hunters appear on the level you need to act fast to bring yourself to arms and prepare to fend off against the hunters. You can’t rely entirely on your traps either as the Gnoll Hunter will barge straight through some of the traps on route to you. This enemy type reminds me quite lot of the big sisters in Bioshock 2.
When you hear these creatures coming be sure to ready your arms and spells.
The Gnoll Hunters aren’t the only things on Robot’s announcement list this week, there is also a brand new minute long trailer with a whole bunch of new content we havnt seen before. Watching the new trailer carefully new spells and enemies can clearly be seen. Some of these include the ice casting spell, the ability to take control of medieval like turrets / catapults and some very interesting looking flying mini dragons towards who meet their untimely end very quickly towards the end of the trailer – blink and you’ll miss them! Check out the brand new trailer here:
Its also great to see the game taking further shape in terms of UI design. I like the look of the spell book UI which allows players to fill their shortcut slots at the bottom of the screen. These slots are linked to keyboard shortcuts and mouse wheel selection allowing players to quickly move between different traps, spells and weapons during combat.
The spell book can be used to tool up the War Mage’s active inventory
Its also great to see some of the excellent physics effects as Orcs meet their end in some very interesting combination. High scorers will enjoy trying to find ways to get the highest combos in this game. The spell book clearly offers plentiful offerings of traps, spells and weapons and I’m sure there is room for expansion on these with possible post release content. Summer is upon and us and it wont be long until we can get stuck in the action. Be sure to be on the lookout for more news and previews in the press as Robot shows off Orcs Must Die! at E3 next week.
Zynga With Friends
As discussed earlier, Zynga With Friends is the name of the studio that used to be NewToy before they were acquired by Zynga. After working on the hugely popular Chess and Words with Friends series the team will soon be revealing details about their next exciting project. Not much is known at this point however I expect the title will probably be similar in theme to the studios previous games. I would anticipate another game “with friends” type of game on the mobile platform to stick with the studios trademark theme. Question is can you guess what the theme will be this time? Place your bets now ladies and gentlemen! Of course, it could be something totally different..
Windstorm Studios announcement coming in just 4 days!
If Age of Empires Online this August and Orcs Must Die! this Summer its not enough Ensemblite action for you then you’re in luck! Windstorm Studios was also formed after Ensemble Studios’ closure. Unlike other studios Windstorm is almost certainly the smallest studio run by just one man – Dusty Monk. After over 2 years of hard development work Dusty will soon be in a position to announce his brand new game to the world in just four days time. A few months ago Remember ES and Dan Griliopoulos at PC Gamer managed to catch up with Dusty in Dallas to see how he was getting on we managed to see some exciting new screenshots and learn more about the games retro-futuristic science theme. With a mix of futuristic flying cars combining them with classic car models from the 1950’s, Windstorm’s project was certainly something very unique. Refresh your memory by checking out the PC Gamer article.
Something a little bit different.
With Dusty’s heritage at Ensemble Studios we can be sure some of the key design principles will be used again in the game – expect to see a great first 15 minutes of fun and some engaging colour palette. Over the next few days we are going to see the first few glimpses into Dusty’s world and I am sure many Ensemble fans will be very excitied to jump into this exciting universe. The first of four teaser images has been uploaded to WindstormStudios.com today highlighting what is probably one of the cities in the game, Atomic City.
Click the image to read more about Atomic City
Be sure to keep your eyes peeled for more preview content over the next few days with the big announcement on June 6th. Mark it in your calendars now folks!
Orcs Must Die – trap spotlight: Wall Blades
PC Gamer has the latest exclusive for this weeks Orcs Must Die! trap spotlight. This week we have the wall blades, these are traps which can be placed on walls so that any Orcs passing close by are very much likely to be torn to shreds! These traps are best suited to smaller corridors where the chance of Orcs passing by is greater. Although, you can always “assist” Orcs on their path to death by combining things like the wind belt to give them that small nudge required to ensure they meet thier maker!
Check out the latest trailer on the PC Gamer website below. You might also notice some UI changes on this trailer compared to earlier trailers – its good to see the game progressing and taking shape. See if you can identify some of the new UI improvements at the link below!
Age of Empires Online launching August 16th!
Quick update here – Microsoft has just announced that Age of Empires Online will be launching this August 16th. This exciting news will certainly be something for Age of Empires fans to look forward to. With 40 hours of free gameplay and a whole bunch of extra downloadable content this Age of Empires could well be the biggest Age of Empires game in the series thus far. A vast majority of the core game design from art to game play has come from Ex-Ensembler’s at Robot Entertainment before Gas Powered Games took over towards the end of the development process. For Age of Empires, Ensemble and Robot fans gear up for an exciting August!
Check out the latest trailer for the game and what will almost certainly be the games intro cinematic as per all previous games in the Age series:
Below is the official announcement press release issued by Microsoft today:
Age of Empires Online – the next chapter in the best-selling Age of Empires PC game franchise – will be available worldwide August 16th, 2011 in retail stores and online at www.ageofempiresonline.com. With its launch, the game will feature two of the greatest ancient civilizations – the Greeks and Egyptians – and offer more than 40 hours of gameplay for free!
And that’s just where the experience starts! As players grow their empires and look for new adventures, Age of Empires Online delivers the opportunity to buy new Premium Content Packs – everything from entirely new civilizations to Booster Packs with new game modes and more. It’s the biggest Age of Empires game ever.
What’s more, Age of Empires Online adds new social interaction, customization, and MMORPG gameplay in an evolving and persistent world. Play co-operatively or competitively, craft and trade items, and level up by completing quests – all for free! Plus, Age of Empires Online still offers all the classic RTS gameplay, empowering players to build mighty empires, manage resources, earn rewards, and battle their way into rich new worlds full of lively villagers, epic warriors, and historically-themed architecture.
In Age of Empires Online, YOU RULE.
AOEO and Orcs updates
Quite a few updates to make here for one post.. I guess I have been slacking and should of got these out sooner! I blame University for taking up too much of my time! In the last week we have had some new AOEO news and a new trap spot light for Orcs Must Die. So without further adue, here goes!
Age of Empires Online – Pro civilisation packs
Last week Microsoft announced plans to have a “pro civilisation pack” as a paid for booster for AOE-O. This pack would allow players with previous RTS or Age of Empires experience to get straight into the action by skipping tutorial and low level quests. The pack would start players at level 20 which is the half-way point up to level 40. The AOE-O community has since had alot of questions about the specifics of how this booster would work and how it would fit in with the free to play model. Luckily MGS Executive Producer Danan Davis is on hand to answer the communities questions.
Posting on the Age of Empires Online forums Danan or “nwgamedad” clarifies the MGS position about the pack in a detailed thread. Here are some of the highlights from the post:
To Free to Play or Not to Free to Play that is the Question
When we thought about the Pro Civs we debated a lot about whether the Civ should have a Free to Play component or not. On the one hand, we stated before that all Civs would have a free component. On the other hand, if we allowed players to try the Pro Civs for free they would likely attract non-experienced players who would have a less than stellar experience if they started out with a Pro Civ. We purposely removed from Pro Civs all the early levels where a players gets a chance to be comfortable with the game’s features so experienced players could dive right in.
The basic summary of the MGS thinking behind having the booster pack as a paid for addition is that if the pack was offered for free then surely everyone would want a pro civilisation right from the beginning. After all, if you had a choice of a standard or pro civilisation, both for free, what would you go for? If the pro civilisation booster was offered free this may result in “newbie” players using the pack to get ahead start in the game when they don’t necessarily have the skills to do so and would of had a better experience playing the earlier levels first. Making the pro civilisation paid for helps ensure that those who do buy the booster are more aware of how the game works and know what to expect from the booster, knowing that they will be missing out on those early levels.
What exactly is a Pro Civ Pack?
These are new Civs built specifically to be started at level 20. They will contain a brand new tech tree, new art, new units, and a small number of new quests.
Pro Civs start off with their own Capital fully equipped with all the buildings you normally would have unlocked by questing up from levels 1-20. You will be able to use Advisors, equip default gear, start Arena games, visit Sparta (the new PVP region), choose 2 crafting specialties, place maximum workshops, and have maximum warehouses all from the get go. The empire building, equipment differentiation, and familiarization quests in early levels would be the only elements absent from Pro Civilizations. Essentially, you start off ready to play everything at level 20.
Ultimately the pro civ pack does what it says on the tin. It lets players who want to get straight into the action who already know the ropes of an RTS or Age game. Players can get started with all the essential features unlocked and can keep levelling up from there. Perhaps one of the best things with Pro Civ pack offers is allowing PvP players to get started with each civ at a reasonable level to start PvP matches right off the bat. Meanwhile new players or those who enjoy the levelling up experience can stick with a standard or premium civilisations and can play all the quests until they feel ready to join the PvP action. The goal here is satisfaction all round and I think MGS are approaching the goal well with these ideas.
For more information about the Pro Civs and how they compare to the standard and premium civs check out the full posting on the AOE-O forums here:
http://forums.ageofempiresonline.com/forums/thread/56873.aspx
Shopping with AOE-O
In other news, AOE-O Community Manager Kristin Reilly or “BatsyBatsy” on the forums is your guide for all the details on how players can shop in their AOE-O capital cities. As you may know your capital city in AOE-O is ripe for customisation. Infact you can customise the city pretty much to your hearts content. Check out some of these home cities from the AOE-O community:
Solartide spent his time creating a maze in his capital city
Alexastor demonstrates how a capital city can look when spending time carefully choosing and placing buildings
Players who enjoy customising their cities will be pleased to know there are a wealth of customisations offered. There’s even a vanity booster pack available on launch for the most creative of you! One of the things you will need to get started customising your capital city is knowing which stores are available to purchase things like materials, blueprints and other items. That’s where BastyBatsy comes in – her latest blog post details some of the stores available and the items they hold. Check out her full blog post here:
http://www.ageofempiresonline.com/Articles/Blogs-shopping.aspx#fold
Some more AOE-O animations from ChazBot
Charles Tinney has been continuing his theme of AOE-O animation details on his blog. Some of the latest animations include fishing boats, siege weapons (Palintonon’s are awesome in game!), caravans and a whole host of animals. My favourite has to be the donkey and camel caravans – very amusing! Check them out here:
http://chazamation.com/blog/2011/05/20/age-of-empires-animations-part-6-mooin/
Joystiq reveals new Orcs trap the “Spring trap”
This week Joystiq had the pleasure of announcing the latest Orcs Must Die! trap spotlight. The spring trap is pretty simple, it predictively, springs the Orcs in the direction of your choosing. Of course, simple traps come at attractive prices, the spring trap is very cost effective allowing you to build more of them if you wish. One potential idea is to place spring traps at locations to ensure the Orcs end up in the path of your more deadly traps.
Seeing is believing so check out the trailer on Joystiq below:
http://www.joystiq.com/2011/05/20/orcs-must-die-trailer-springs-a-trap/
And that’s a wrap.. I think! News is buzzing around Age of Empires Online and Orcs Must Die! at the moment. Gamers are in for an exciting time this Summer and Autumn with Orcs heading our way this Summer and AOE-O in the Fall. Both games are developed by members of Ensemble Studios and will be the first games from any ex-Ensembler’s to appear on the PC platform. Meanwhile, keep your eyes peeled for more news until these exciting games launch!
Orcs Must Die – trap spotlight: Wind Belt
Believe it or not despite the blood and gore of menacing equipment and traps like the spikes, maces, cross bow and boom barrel – there is actually a much more greener way to despatch the Orcs. The Wind Belt is the latest edition in Robot’s OMD trap spotlights. This magic is truly for the eco-friendly conscious, blow the Orcs away with a gust of wind. Blowing them into strategic places like spikes and lava is of course, most recommended! The Wind Belt is the second type of magic the War Mage can use that we have seen so far, the previous being the fire ball.
Check out the new spotlight video below demonstrating the magic in action. Don’t forget Orcs Must Die is due out this Summer so you will soon be in a position to take revenge on Orcs for any reason that you see fit!
Age of Empires Online launching this autumn
Microsoft has today announced to Eurogamer that they plan to launch Robot Entertainment and Gas Powered Games developed Age of Empires Online later this year towards the Autumn. The game was originally penned to be released in the Summer but it looks like the game might be pushed back slightly. The game is launching with two civilisations, the Greeks and the Egyptians. Indications from the open beta indicate that a third civilisation is almost certainly a possibility post launch.
Any guesses what’s behind door number 3?
Danan Davis the Executive Producer on the game at Microsoft Game Studios spoke to Eurogamer about the announcement commenting that the game will launch with a free to play model and players can choose to purchase add-on “booster packs” to expand their experience. Perhaps one of the the biggest and most requested pack might be the pro “premium civilisation” upgrade. This booster allows expierenced Age of Empires gamers to get striaght into the action by upgrading their civilisation straight to level 20. There are 40 levels in total to this means vetetan players can launch themselves right into the middle and skip the tutorial and beginner missions. This is a perfect solution for new players who need to go through the early levels and veteran players who just want to get stuck in. The community will no doubt be pleased to hear about this booster pack.
Other booster packs include the “Defense of Crete” a gameplay add-on that introduces new modes of play including:
- Defend your wonder – this is where players are assigned a wonder to protect and have to build up as much defences as possible before the enemies come storming in to try and take the wonder down.
- Co-op horde mode – here you can partner with your friend to help protect the wonder.
- Plus a whole bunch of new gear to equip your units with!
Check out the humorous video blog below for a preview of the Defense of Crete booster pack:
Aside from new civilisations, gear and gameplay packs there will also be a number of vanity packs for those players who like to keep their capital cities looking pretty! Game play packs are expected to cost between $5-$20 depending on the content which seems like fair pricing to me. The only other thing to mention from the Eurogamer talk with Danan Davis is that there will also be a boxed retail version of the game alongside the digital model. Microsoft recognises that the gaming world has not completely switched to the digital model yet and there are still a number of people who prefer buying physical boxed versions of a product. The retail version will also include some kind of bonus content to get people started.
Exciting times ahead for Age of Empires players both beginner and veteran for the series. More precise pricing and further details is expected towards the end of the month so stay tuned!
Meanwhile be sure to check out the Eurogamer article: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2011-05-09-age-of-empires-online-out-this-autumn
Orcs Must Die! at E3 this year – June 7-9th
In under a months time the some of the bots of Robot Entertainment will be heading off to Los Angeles to the world re-nowened entertainment trade show, E3. I’m sure everyone knows just how big E3 is and it is very exciting to see that Robot will be there at booth 447 showing off Orcs Must Die to the masses! So if you are planning to go to E3 this year you are in for a treat.New levels, enemies and traps will be revealed at the event so even if your not going you’ll still hear about some of the exciting updates right here at Remember ES. Plus there is bound to be all sorts of media coverage from various gaming websites throughout the event. Be sure to be on the look out for Orcs news come June 7th!
If there are any Robot Entertainment fans planning to go to E3 don’t forget to go prepared. Get yourself kitted out with all the Robot and Orcs Must Die gear at the new Robot store: http://robotentertainment.storenvy.com/. You can find T-shirts, buttons and caps to suit yourself up with!
Orcs Must Die – trap spotlight: Boom Barrel
Its round 2 of the weekly Robot Entertainment reveals of some traps featured in the upcoming Orcs Must Die video game. This time we have the “Boom Barrel”. This looks like a very cool trap and it involves planting a whole bunch of explosive barrels that detonate on impact or when shot by the War Mage. Remember traps can be placed at the beginning of the level or in real time when playing the game so you can always keep the Orcs on their toes. One of the best features of the boom barrel is the awesome physics effects players can acheieve with well placed barrels. You can send a whole bunch of Orcs flying to their doom if you can set the barrels up correctly. Check out 24 seconds into the video below – now that’s awesome.
Here are the latest round of OMD screenshots:
