Won Choi and Bart Tiongson upload their art for the art blog
Two more art blogs are now available on the Robot Entertainment website. First up is Won Choi who is partnered with Planet Age of Empires. Won has come up with something a little different, something more lighthearted than previous art blogs in the series. Take a look at the below:
(Click to enlarge)
Won comments on his reasons for the light-hearted art as follows:
I didn’t want to do anything too serious style-wise this time. I wanted to try something more fun and animated. I think characters from Pixar and Disney movies influenced me to choose this style and thought this would be a great opportunity to explore it. I can honestly say that I really enjoyed the experience from start to finish working on this piece.
Check out Won’s full blog post here and be sure to comment! : http://robotentertainment.com/blog/detail/Art-Blog-Robots-Part-5
Next up and partnered with RTS-Sanctuary we have Bart Tiongson with again something a little different – a girl and her robot ready for war.
I struggled a bit deciding the style. I really wanted to do a fun light hearted painting originally. I was going to do something along the lines of Disney, or Pixar. I also really like the artwork that’s done for The Gorillaz (music group) by artist Jamie Hewlett. In the end though, I usually tend to fall back into my comfort zone and do a more “realistic” style. I like gritty dark stuff with splashes of color here and there, and I tend to paint that way as well.
Take a look at the awesome result:
(Click to enlarge)
Yet another excellent piece of art. Again be sure to head over to the full blog and comment!
http://robotentertainment.com/blog/detail/Art-Blog-Robots-Part-6-0
With the completion of these last art blogs we now have all entries complete in the Robot art blog. Next week a poll will be online at the Robot Entertainment website allowing you to vote for your favourite artists. Remember the community site partnered with the winning artist will receive a whole bunch of Robot Entertainment swag ready to give out to members of the community! Feel free to vote for Chris Moffitt, the Remember ES artist, but I encourage you to vote for the art which you think is the most awesome of them all. Good luck to all artists and community partners!
Here is a reminder of all the art blogs so far to help you refresh your memory and prepare youself to vote next week!
| Artist | Community partner | Thumbnail | Read more |
| Gene | Age of Empires France |  |
View post |
| N8 | Age Heaven |  |
View post |
| Drew | The Bitbag |  |
View post |
| muPPetman | Remember Ensemble Studios |  |
View post |
| iwon35 | Planet Age of Empires | |
|
| rice_and_eggs | RTS Sanctuary | |
Quests on route to NewToy’s We Rule!
If you have been enjoying NewToy’s kingdom building game “We Rule” on the iOS platform then you will be pleased to hear the budding developer is about to release a whole new feature for We Rule – Quests!
According to the press release these quests will bring:
-New Reasons to Explore
-Exclusive Loot
-New Quests Every Week
This will no doubt be very exciting to We Rule players. Currently there are no screenshots of these quests and all we have so far is the ngmoco press release; but stay tuned for more updates as they come through. The press release for the new quests feature can be found below:
Explore & Adventure
We Rule Quests will have you hunting across your friends’ Kingdoms and Realms in search of assistance, goods and services necessary to complete your assigned tasks. Having the right friends with the right open shops will be key for your success. If your social map is looking a little empty, now is a great time to make new connections and prepare for what’s to come.
Brand New Loot
Quests not only earns you XP & Coins, you’ll also score exclusive characters and decorations to customize your Kingdom. Want a king to hold court in front of your Grand Citadel Castle? Complete the Quest and he’s yours!
Frequent New Hotness
We’ll be releasing at least one new quest every week. You’ll have half a fortnight to sharpen swords, sew dresses or hatch Griffin eggs to score an all-new, unique treasure. Earn glory, honor and prestige for your Kingdom by completing them all.
Our new We Rule Quests adventure is coming soon!
More info on the next adventure-fueled iteration of We Rule will be available in the coming days, so stay tuned more details.
Chris “muPPetman” Moffit posts his art blog in partnership with Remember-EnsembleStudios.com
Todays Robot Entertainment art blog comes from Remember ES’s partnered artist Chris Moffitt who has produced an absolutely awesome piece based from inspiration from films like District 9 – a walking, half alien looking Robot. Take a look at this amazing 3D artist talent:
(click to enlarge)
Chris explains in detail on his blog how the amazing art above came to light:
I began pulling inspiration from film, games and tons of art from the web. District 9 had one of the coolest mech designs I’ve seen in years and I loved how it even had an alien-like head with mandible like antennae that sort of mirrored the aliens that piloted them. So I thought it might be cool to make a giant, 20 ft. tall alien robot, sort of a zone guardian on an alien planet. I started some thumbs and explored different ideas, some having raptor-like legs with gun mounts and others having rows of giant, 8 ft. tall wheels. I really wanted this thing to look like it could move over terrain quickly and eliminate any intruders.
35 hours went into making this amazing piece and went through a number of draft ideas. Its always interesting to see the stages art designs go through before the final piece is achieved. :
Be sure to read all about the design development in Chris’s blog on the Robot Entertainment website:
http://www.robotentertainment.com/blog/detail/Art-Blog-Robots-Part-4
There are two more art blogs to come and then a poll will be opened to select the best. Do you have a favourite so far?
Andrew Olsen paints a sad picture with a broken robot for the community art blog
Robot Entertainment concept artist Andrew Olsen has blogged with his entry into the community art blog partnering with the bitbag a video game news and review website. The latest art entry is as follows:
(click to enlarge)
Poor Robot! The graphic is open to alot of interpretation about what is going on although Andrew explains that the pilot of the bot has become marooned on an unknown planet and is surviing by the energy outputted by the broken Robot.
I wanted to create the sense that the robot is broken down, and whoever is in that hut has been there for a long time. I’ve heard a couple of different interpretations on what people think is happening in the image, but my original idea was for the pilot of the bot to have become marooned on an alien planet, powering his life support from the robot’s energy.
Be sure to enlarge the image above and have a look at just how detailed this art is. Fantastic. Also be sure to leave a comment on Andrew’s blog post below!
http://www.robotentertainment.com/blog/detail/Art-Blog-Robots-Part-3
Nate Stefan’s community art entry with Age Heaven
Robot Entertainment concept artist Nate Stefan has published his art entry in the community art blog. Sticking with an army theme similar to the previous entry by Gene Kohler, Nate has produced a military spider drone looking like something out of War of the Worlds.
I looked at a lot of photography for this one as well as images created by other artists. For some reason my TV has been tuned to the Military Channel lately and that’s basically where I found my inspiration. There is always some high testosterone show with the latest in military tech. After one such show that featured a predator drone I decided I would try to create a desert spider type unmanned drone.
Its quite something! Check out this awesome graphic below:
(Click to enlarge)
Its looking like this is going to be a close poll! There are four more blogs to come and after the final piece is posted members of RobotEntertainment.com will be able to vote for their favourite piece. The winning art piece community sponsor will have a bunch of Robot Entertainment swag to give away to the community.
Check out Nate’s full blog post for a full insight into the background of this amazing art. Be sure to comment too!
http://www.robotentertainment.com/blog/detail/Art-Blog-Robots-Part-2
Robot Entertainment’s community partnered art blog begins
Robot Entertainment has lauched its next topic of art blogs with the latest theme being.. robots! Unlike previous art blogs this time Robot has offered community websites to partner with an artist and a poll will be opened so that members on the Robot Entertainment website can vote for their favourite art piece. The community site partnered with the artist that wins will have a whole bunch of Robot goodies such as games, shirts and robot buttons to give away however they please.
Remember-ensemblestudios.com joins a bunch of other Robot Entertertainment and Age fans sites in sponsoring the art blog. Remember ES will be partnering with Chris “muPPetman” Moffitt. You may remember him for his work with the awesome Robot vs Ninja graphic and the absolutely amazing image of Medusa. The full list of communities sponsoring the event and the artists are as follows:
| Robot Artist | Community Partner |
| Gene | Age of Empires France |
| N8 | Age Heaven |
| Drew | The Bitbag |
| muPPetman | Remember Ensemble Studios |
| iwon35 | Planet Age of Empires |
| rice_and_eggs | RTS Sanctuary |
First on the list is Gene Kohler and Age of Empires France. Gene’s piece is the “Freedom Bot Operator”. Sounds interesting? You bet! The art style is very interesting of the 70’s/80’s were things were very big (think huge mobile phones). There is also a back story to the art piece as it is inspired by Gene’s Sons thoughts about moving into the US Armed Forces, either the Army or Air Force.
My son, Jake, was currently going through the process of deciding which US military branch to enlist within, the US Army or Air Force. It was during this time that I settled upon the contents of my illustration… I decided to create a US Army WWll era recruiting poster. In order to fit within the Robots theme I came up with The Freedom Bot Operator MOS (military occupational specialty… or… job). I went the US Army route given that was the direction my son was leaning towards joining and I am a US Army Veteran myself. He ended up enlisting within the Air Force but I was far too along in my illustration to start over… and this image deadline was looming so the US Army it had to remain!
The final piece is an outstanding robot (the Freedom Bot Operator) being controlled by a wow-ed Army soldier. Take a look and be sure to click and enlarge:
(click to enlarge)
Leave a comment about this awesome art on Gene’s blog!
http://www.robotentertainment.com/blog/detail/Art-Blog-Robots-Part-1
Bonfire Studios working on “Gamechest” for Xbox Live on Windows Phone (Updated)
Bonfire Studios have updated their website with a teasing image showing what they might be working on. The image shows four different types of games being Solitaire plus board, card and logic games. It looks like these games could be bundled in one game titled “Game Chest”. Take a look at the image below!
(Click to enlarge)
Looking at the image it looks like we’ll be seeing some Bonfire Studios on Windows Phone as well as We Farm on the iPhone. Its great to see Bonfire exploring multiple platforms.
Update:
Microsoft have launched the marketing web page for the game on Xbox Live. The game is devloped for Xbox Live on Windows Phone 7. The webpage includes a video and screenshots of the game which looks very polished for a mobile game. The graphics are very smooth. Check out some of the screenshots and blurb of the game below. If you are picking up a Windows Phone 7 when they start coming out be sure to give this title a look!
Blurb:
Game Chest: Board Games Edition gives you the chance to play the classic games checkers, backgammon, and Chinese checkers in an attractive, unified environment. Rich details. Sexy graphics. Play turned based games with friends. Catchy music. New features. What’s not to love?
In addition to playing updated versions of these all-time favorites on a sweet new phone, Game Chest: Board Games Edition is filled to the brim with exciting rewards to keep you coming back. Unique collectible pins, Game Mastery experience leveling, leaderboard, and, of course, achievements are plentiful and abundant to add to your Xbox LIVE gamerscore. As you advance through Game Mastery ranks, challenge your friends to matches and earn spins on the Big Wheel that help boost your progress even more. There’s always a fresh challenge or reward just around the corner. Your favorite games, now more fun than ever!
Video
Check out the video and more screenshots on the link below:
http://www.xbox.com/en-AU/games/g/gamechestmobile/default.htm
A new age of Remember Ensemble Studios
Yes I did just use that cheesy “A new age of” phrase! But yes, today is the day that this blog finally gets a new look after using the plain-jane wordpress theme for the past coming up to two years now. I hope that this new look helps improve the website ashetically and also helps users find content more easily. I have placed Ensemble history and studio information on the top black bar, sorted by studio. On the blue bar are all the blog posts categorized by studio. On the previous design there were way too many categories, by filtering these down it should be much easier and quicker to find information about the studio your need.
At the top of the page we have a “featured articles” slider. This slider will show all the top news from the studios formed out of Ensemble. So be sure to check back often to see what’s happening from your favourite Ensemblites and new studios!
As always be sure to follow us on Twitter and subscribe to us with your RSS reader to get the latest updates from all the new studios formed from Ensemble.
I’d love to hear your feedback on this new design! You can send me a message via Twitter or leave me a private message on AgeCom, Halo Wars or the Robot Entertainment forums under my username “deanparkr”. Or if you would like to get in contact the traditional way drop me an email to: dean@remember-ensemblestudios.com
We Rule nominated for various GDC online awards
Good news for NewToy the developers of “We Rule” a game where players can create and rule their own kingdom on their iOS devices like the iPhone and iPad. If you do not have an iOS device you can see how the game looks below:
We Rule has proved to be a very popular game and NewToy have now been nominated in three different GDC Online Awards! The categories We Rule is nominated in are:
The Best Online Game Design Award
The Best Online Game Design Award honors the overall excellence of design in an online game that launched in public beta or full version in the year to May 2010. This category recognizes the best social-specific gameplay mechanics, quest design, and other major game design elements.
- We Rule (Newtoy/Ngmoco)
- Champions Online (Cryptic)
- Zoo Kingdom (Blue Fang)
- Dungeon Fighter Online (Neople/Nexon)
- League Of Legends (Riot Games)
The Best Audio for an Online Game Award
The Best Audio for an Online Game Award recognizes the overall excellence of audio in an online game that launched in the 12 months to May 2010 – including sound effects, musical composition, and overall sound design for an online title.
- Nightclub City (Booyah)
- Champions Online (Cryptic)
- We Rule (Newtoy/Ngmoco)
- Music Pets (Conduit Labs)
- Aion (NCSoft)
The Best New Online Game Award
The Best New Online Game Award recognizes excellence in any online-specific game, including MMOs, free to play titles and social network games that launched to the public in open beta or full versions in the twelve months ending May 2010.
- League Of Legends (Riot Games)
- Dungeon Fighter Online (Neople/Nexon)
- We Rule (Newtoy/Ngmoco)
- FIFA Superstars (Playfish)
- Nightclub City (Booyah)
Voting on these awards will be conducted by members of the game development community. However you can help NewToy out now by voting them in a special category the “Audience Award”.
The Audience Award honors the favorite game of the worldwide online game community. Members of the public will be able to vote on their favorite currently operating online game, with options from the Game Developers Choice Online finalists and beyond. Audience Award winner to be voted on mid-September and announced at the Choice Online Award ceremony Oct 7, 2010.
If you have played an enjoyed playing We Rule be sure to vote the game for the audience award! Voting for this award is open now via the link below. Good luck NewToy!
http://www.gdconlineawards.com/audience.php
Are you a Vintage AgeCommer?
Have you been a member on Age Community before February 2009 when Robot Entertainment took over the reigns? Well if you were you can now get your very own “Vintage” badge on the Robot Entertainment forums. It looks pretty snazzy as below:
Prior to the closing of Ensemble Studios February 2009 Age Community had been up and running since September 2005. The Community website was launched with posts from founders Tony Goodman and Bruce Shelley. I thought we would take a trip down memory lane and have included those opening posts below. Can you remember these? If you would like to delve deeper into the archives, don’t forget Age Community has records of all community announcements since the beginning and are all available here:
http://www.agecommunity.com/thearchives.aspx
Meanwhile if you qualify and would like one of those vintage badges for your Robot account just private message Aloysius with your Robot username and you will soon have the badge on your account. To PM Aloysius here is a quick link to his Age Com profile:
http://forum.agecommunity.com/user/Profile.aspx?UserID=76725
In the beginning…
The Age Community website started out looking like this:
(Click to enlarge)
With the following greeting messages from Tony Goodman and Bruce Shelley:
Greetings Friends and Fans Worldwide!!!
I am very pleased to welcome you to Ensemble Studios’ new community website. This website was built in direct response to your requests for more contact with us. One of the most exciting features is the addition of an Ensemble Studios monitored forum.
This will give the fans a direct path to communicate game ideas to our designers, programmers and artists. You will also find Age III statistics, downloads, news, developer blogs and more. This is just the beginning of our new commitment to creating one of the world’s best online communities… and your input will be the key! I look forward to seeing you online.
But Now… Let the Games Begin!
Tony Goodman, President
Ensemble Studios
(aka GreedySmurf)
09/26/2005
Bruce Shelley Interview
One of the great benefits of working here at Ensemble is hanging around great guys like Bruce Shelley. We tracked him down during his busy Asian tour to ask him a few questions.
What do you think the impact of the new Community Site will be on the Age community?
Bruce: “I see it as a place where fans can get the straight story. Forums can be fun but can get off track and take a rumor way out of context. A good community site is a place where you can get hard information. I hope it becomes a dependable and timely resource that is a once-a-day visit for really passionate fans….”
09/26/2005
