24 August kl. 17:34

Dagens Nyheder: Tirsdag d. 24/8

Tilbage igen. Opdateringerne ruller ind lige i tiden.

Først og fremmest kunne jeg godt tænke mig at høre nogle meninger fra de folk der har flere piratkopier end originale? Hvorfor har i det? Hvad er årsgarene osv. Smut over i forummet og fortæl os om det.

Så er der nogle nyhedsartikler:

• Nye salgstal fra Europa og USA er at finde et par spalter nede.
• 2. del af det Vampire interview med Ray Gresko som Vault Network lavede. 1. del kan læses lige her, anden del kan findes i spalten nedenfor denne.
• GameSpot har en fed artikel oppe med "Top 10 spil der burde moderniseres og genudgives". Blandt titlerne er Ultima I, Pirates og Starflight. Klik her for at komme til værket.
• Hvis der var nogle der gik glip af gårsdagens opdatering mht. piratkopiering osv. så læs lige et par linjer længere nede (Mandagens nyheder), og deltag i debatten i forummet.

Til slut vil jeg spørge om der er nogle der har erhvervet sig et eksemplar af System Shock II i Danmark? Hvis det er tilfældet må i gerne informere mig om hvorhenne og hvilken pris lige her, idet jeg er på udkig efter en kopi. Det spil har fået kanonflotte anmeldelser, og demoen var enorm sjov at spille.

Mandagens nyheder:

Okay der er et par nyheder, som et nyt Ugens spørgsmål, og en Fallout FILM! Hvis du vil læse lidt mere om det sidsnævnte, så zap længere ned på siden, fordi jeg går I "blablabla"-mode lige om lidt.

Jeg lovede alle at give min mening om piratkopiering, og her er den så: Piratkopiering er noget lort, men det er I orden I begrænset omfang. Det bliver man jo ikke klogere af, men når det nu er sagt, mener jeg at man skal støtte de firmaer som udgiver kvalitetsprodukter, og piratkopiere de dårlige.
Med andre ord, mener jeg at hvis man synes et spil er godt, bør man købe spillet for derved at vise firmaet der laver spillet at man værdsætter det, og at man ønsker de fortsætter det gode arbejde. Så er der mange der siger "Nå ja, men hvis jeg har spillet på en piratkopi, hvorfor skal jeg så købe det for 300 kr?" Fordi at hvis alle havde den mening, ville der slet ikke blive lavet gode spil mere! Støt de gode produkter og køb dem for Guds skyld. Jeg har MANGE originalspil, men jeg har også en del piratkopier. Spil som Baldur's Gate, Civilization, Curse of Monkey Island, Warcraft og andre af mine favoritter har jeg på original CD, fordi så ved jeg at jeg har gjort mit for at spillet bliver profitabelt for det respektive spilfirma, og derved bliver videreudviklet og muligvis bliver der sendt nye produkter på markedet der er lige så gode. Til de 2 mennesker som ikke ejer en eneste originaltitel, og som stemte I "Ugens Spørgsmål", har jeg kun en ting at sige til:
Hvad tænker I på? Det er sådanne folk, som kopierer alting, der kan være med til at begrave et spil før det bliver udgivet. Folk som får Frozen, Shutdown, Akira og hvad de ellers hedder ind af brevsprækken hver måned.
Køb dog nogle spil mennesker! Der er folk der lever af dette, og tro det eller lad være, at piratkopiere et produkt er sgu' det samme som at stjæle fra en butik! Det er 100% tyveri. Med andre ord er jeg 20% tyv, fordi jeg har skam en del piratkopier, men det overordnede indtryk af mine piratkopier er at det er middelmådige spil som alligevel ikke er blevet en succes. Det eneste virkelig gode spil jeg har som kopi er Blizzard's Starcraft. Det er jeg faktisk også ked af at jeg ikke har købt, men jeg har næsten alle Blizzards andre produkter, så jeg har ihvertfald gjort mit til at det gode firma der leverer gode spil kan fortsætte med endnu flere gode titler. Konklusion: Køb det gode, f*** det dårlige og tag en kopi hist og her, men køb de gode titler, fordi så bliver fremtidens titler endnu bedre.

Dette er et skidesvært emne at skulle diskutere, men det er lige hvad vi har brug for til at få peppet forummet lidt op. Så jeg anbefaler alle med en mening om at gå herhen, og fortælle hvad I mener, for det her er helt klart en diskussion værdig, specielt sådan som stemmerne fordelte sig I afstemningen, men det kan I jo læse mere om længere nede på siden.

Nok om det...

Nu vil jeg gå over til det nye "Ugens Spørgsmål", som handler om... Phantom Menace. Ja, det er jo ikke noget rollespil, men det er Star Wars, og derfor må vi have en afstemning om det :-)

Hvis du ikke vil vide noget som helst om Phantom Menace, så lad være at læse det næste.

Personligt mener jeg ikke at filmen var Star Wars navnet værdigt, for karaktererne var meget flade (havde ingen personlighed), og de hoppede rundt I scenerne så man blev helt rund på gulvet. Og de onde var da egentlig ikke rigtig onde var de? Der var ikke just nogle vildt onde træk over Maul eller Sidious. Effekterne var gode og Anakin var herlig at betragte, men nogle gange virkede det som om de bare skulle trække tiden ud (Pod-Racing). Nok snakken, gå over og stem, eller tag ind og se filmen.

Gårsdagens nyheder:

Der er ikke mange nyheder at hente rundt omkring, så jeg har lavet lidt opdateringer. Specielt er Release-listen ved at være klodens bedste database for informationer om CRPG'er! Jeg har ordnet alle spil fra "I" til "W", og derudover har jeg lavet links så man kan komme direkte til spillenes features! Tryk på spillets navn, og man kommer til den bedst tilgængelige side om spillet, officiel eller fanside, det er lige meget, men det bliver til et sted med konkrete informationer om spillet. Der er til masser af timer der. Derudover er det hele fra "I" til "W" nu også genreinddelt, og jeg har tilmed skrevet hvilke spil der blive online-CRPG spil. Jeg regner med at nå "A" til "H" inden Onsdag, så er listen helt komplet. Klik her for godterne.

Så er der en Baldur's Gate tegneserie at finde I multimedia-sektionen. Derudver er der nogle scripts til NPC'ere I BG, samt lidt nye animationer fra Torment. Du kan læse mere om det hele lige her. Der er også et nyt Baldur's Gate desktop-tema at finde lige her. (Det er 2'eren)

Sidst men ikke mindst, fandt jeg et sjovt stykke på Bioware's hjemmeside om GenCon, og hvad Bioware oplevede på spilmessen. Du kan læse stykket længere nede på siden.

I morgen er der forhåbentlig lidt nyheder, men om ikke andet er der et nyt Ugens Spørgsmål, PLUS, jeg fortæller om min holdning til piratkopiering m.m!

Du kan som sædvanlig finde gamle nyheder og overskrifter I vores arkiv..

24 August kl. 17:04

Vampire Interview: Del II

Vi bragte i sidste uge første del af et interview som Vault Network lavede med hovedproduceren for Vampire, Ray Gresko. Du kan finde første del i vores arkiv, og nedenfor er anden del af det omfattende interview, med masser af facts om spillet.

Jonric: Let's talk briefly about some of the important elements in the Vampire system. First, does the role of the Storyteller differ from that of a Dungeon Master or Game Master in other systems, and if so, how?

Ray Gresko: In basic game mechanics, it's a similar role. However, in V:tM, the Storyteller is expected to provide an experience much more steeped in narrative elements. You can play however you wish, obviously, but with so much background and depth to draw on, it only seems natural to 'go the extra mile' as a Storyteller in creating well-crafted characters and dramatic situations. During a 'scene', the Storyteller controls the NPCs and enemies, and makes any dynamic decisions needed to supplement the gameplay. After each scene, the ST doles out experience based on how well the players have handled certain obstacles, roleplayed, etc. There may even be new abilities available to the players based on what occurred during play.

Jonric: Please outline what is obviously a critical element in the Vampire world, The Embrace.

Ray Gresko: All Vampires were once human. It is through the process of 'The Embrace' that they are transformed into their new existence as Kindred. The Embrace is the act of a vampire (the 'sire') draining a mortal victim dry, then dropping a small bit of their own vampiric blood into the mouth of the victim (the 'childe'). The childe then dies a mortal and spiritual death, only to rise unnaturally afterward as a Vampire.

Jonric: And how about a couple of other major elements, Traditions and Disciplines?

Ray Gresko: New Camarilla Vampires are kept close to their sires, who are often lacking in giving their new childe information about the Kindred world. They are however, taught the six 'Traditions', which are basically rules governing the Masquerade, and smack of a twisted version of the 'ten commandments'. Breaching any of the Traditions is usually considered a serious crime, and rogue vampires don't last very long. In each city, there is usually a vampiric 'Prince' who rules the Kindred within his domain and will uphold the Traditions with vicious repercussions.

A new vampire comes to realize that the Embrace has granted many unique gifts. Besides the near-immortality and ability to heal damage, these come in the form of 'Disciplines'. These are spell-like abilities used for various purposes such as combat, stealth, and manipulation. You could, for instance, learn to turn into mist and slither under a doorway, or turn your hands into feral claws for a bit of the ol' slice and dice. Vampires also have many powers used for controlling the minds of others, either mesmerizing them into trances or controlling their actions entirely. These Disciplines are improved upon, with new powers being gained as the player advances.

Jonric: You mentioned the game mechanics a bit earlier. How do they work?

Ray Gresko: First off, let me make sure to comment that one of the focuses of V:tM was on a minimal rules system that doesn't get in the way of roleplaying or the fun factor of the game. In the main rulebook, only a few pages are dedicated to the game mechanics, the rest is pure background and description of the world. This is one of the unique factors of the game, and one that makes it very approachable by those players that are usually daunted by paper games.

V:tM uses a very unique gameplay system involving the use of skill 'dots'. Numerics aren't used for the representation of a character's inherent attributes or learned abilities. Instead, dots on the player sheet are filled in as the player progresses in power. Each dot represents a die when determining success of an action. To perform an action, you normally couple an ability with an attribute to determine how many dice you roll. For instance, if I wanted to punch an enemy, I would take the dots in my Dexterity (an Attribute) and add it to the dots in my Melee Ability, and roll that many dice. The die used are 10-sided, and the difficulty determines what number (or higher) must be rolled for a success. The standard difficulty is 6, so any die rolled that is 6 or higher is a success. The more successes you have, the better, and the ST can determine the effects of a hugely successful (or unsuccessful) roll. Because of this unique method of applying learned skills to inherent attributes, the ST can come up with a roll for a player to make based on the logical combination of these items. Want to crack into a computer system? Roll Wits+Computer. What if you want to make a rousing speech to a crowd? Roll Charisma+Leadership.

The other unique aspect of the dice system used is the aspect of 'botching'. Each 1 rolled cancels a success, and if you have more 1's than successes, you effectively 'botch' the attempt, normally resulting in a very bad thing happening (depending upon the ST, of course). An example of this is botching an attempt to fire a shotgun and hitting a party member, or having the gun explode into harmful fragments.

Jonric: Does the Vampire: The Masquerade have any well-known characters such as AD&D's Elminster et al? Will any appear in Redemption?

Ray Gresko: There are definitely several 'signature' characters in the license. After all, immortal characters tend to make a name for themselves after they've been around for a thousand years ;). In Redemption, the character will meet many of these key characters, and hear mentions of others in the plot. These characters are mentioned not only in the game supplements, but also in the many novels written about the World of Darkness.

Jonric: What are the major reasons that Vampire: The Masquerade players enjoy it?

Ray Gresko: If I had to summarize the reasons, I'd say the depth of the world and the unique take on the vampire mythos, the focus on storytelling and 'true' roleplaying, and the ease of use and expandability of the game mechanics. And after all, who doesn't sometimes want to slip into the role of a creature of the night, mastering dark powers and getting a taste of forbidden immortality?

Du kan læse mere om Vampire: The Masquerade lige her.

24 August kl. 17:04

Salgstal fra Europa og USA

Truthsword fra Vault Network er som sædvanlig på pletten med de nyeste salgstal. Denne gang dukker en gammel kending op på førsteladsen i USA :-)

"Alas, RPGs are absent in PC Data's list of best-selling games for the week ending on July 31st. Starcraft makes a return appearance at first place, and The Phantom Menace takes the number seven spot. Alien vs. Predator and Total Annihilation: Kingdoms round out ninth and tenth place respectively. For the full listing, head on over to affiliate site IGN PC."

"It's not much better in the European-based ELSPA chart which was updated last Friday at GameSpot UK. The tactical RPG/strategy hybrid, Jagged Alliance 2, moves up four places to number 25 from the previous week. Championship Manager 3 once again resides at the top, and Dungeon Keeper 2 ranks eighth after falling a couple of spots."

"RPGs fair much better in the NPD Group's list of the 20 top-selling games for the week of August 8 -15. Making its debut at third place is System Shock 2, while Darkstone drops four notches from last week to number eight. Baldur's Gate continues to hang around, climbing three spots from 14 to 11. The remaining RPG on the list, EverQuest, ranks 18th after sliding down from 15. You can see the complete listing at GameDaily."

23 August kl. 17:04

Ugens Spørgsmål: Analyse

Spørgsmålet lød: "Piratkopier og Originaler. Hvordan ser din spilhylde ud". Det er ret overrumplende at der ca. er 50% der er mest for piratkopiering og 50% der er mest imod. Dette er nok den mest jævnbyrdige afstemning der endnu er foretaget på RPG, og det er faktisk ud af hele 47 stemmer! Her er resultaterne:

• Ejer ikke en eneste piratkopi (6) 13%
• Overvejende originale, få pirater (14) 30%
• Ca. lige mange af hver (10) 21%
• Overvejedne pirater, få originale (14) 30%
• Ingen originale, 100% piratkopier (3) 6%

Der er et nyt spørgsmål oppe, denne gang om det u-undgåelige... SW: Phantom Menace. Smut op og stem :-)

23 August kl. 17:01

Fallout film?

Interplay har ladet lidt nyheder slippe ud af deres spilafdeling, om eventuelle spiltitler, som bliver konverteret til filmlærredet. Vault Network rapporterede dette med disse ord:

Interplay Films, a division of Interplay Entertainment, is developing seven of the company's most popular video game titles. Beyond that, they are working on a number of other non-game related productions for TV and and the big screen, according to Variety. Among the known video game oriented projects are:

Fallout
A Post-apocalyptic action game. Interplay is said to be partnering with Dark Horse Entertainment on the project on the project. The trade reports that Brent Freeman (Dark Skies, Mortal Kombat II) wrote the script.

Det er meget sparsomme oplysninger, men forhåbentlig vil Interplay give nogle flere detaljer inden længe.

22 August kl. 18:07

Bioware på GenCon

Jeg fandt dette da jeg tilfældigvis surfede Bioware's side I dag. Det er deres egen rapport fra computerspilmessen GenCon. Værsgo':

Gencon in Brief

Here's a short summary of the wacky adventures of the BioWare troup as they visited Gencon '99! Four hardy BioWare adventurers from the Lands up North (that's _Canada_ to you Americans in the audience :) recently travelled south to the fair city of Milwaukee, WI, to attend the Geneva Convention (Gencon) from August 4-8, 1999. Trent Oster (Producer, Neverwinter Nights), James Ohlen (Director of Writing and Design), Casey Hudson (technical artist, Neverwinter), and Ray Muzyka (joint CEO and co-executive producer, Neverwinter) were the four chosen lads.

Our trip started comparatively easily - the last time we sent people down to visit WOTC in Seattle (meeting up there with a few people sent up from our publisher, Black Isle/Interplay), you might recall that one BioWarian attempted to fill out the 20-page US immigration form (rather than the one page Visitor form that most people prefer to fill out), and another was detained and searched for looking "generally disreputable."

This time, the only mishap came about at customs as one BioWare employee told the customs agent that the luggage he was carrying was actually the luggage of the person _ahead_ of him, then decided to change his story on closer cross-examination to say that it was really the luggage of the person _behind_ him. The customs agents were not visibly amused, but DID appear to be quite interested in hearing more about these humorous luggage antics, at least based on the length of time said employee was talking to them. The employee's electric razor (in his bag) happening to go off during this conversation probably didn't help events...in retrospect, we duly noted that this was the same employee who tried to fill out the 20-page US immigration form in the last trip...probably just a coincidence though, eh?

After we finally boarded the aircraft we stretched out in all of the luxury that economy class affords (hey, not only do we try to make good games, but we're cost effective too!). The first night in Milwaukee was uneventful aside from an unpleasant experience with a chicken-fried steak (don't ask).

Day 1
We were hardly able to contain our excitement as we prepared to enter the hallowed halls of the Great Convention. Table upon table of people playing pen and paper RPG's and trading card games filled the entire first floor of the center, with the demo areas up on the upper floors. (It sent a shiver up our collective spines, let me tell ya). We made our way to the Black Isle/Interplay booth where we installed the computer we brought down with a Neverwinter Nights demo on it, and for the first day of the show we ran Baldur's Gate since NWN was scheduled for announcement on August 6 as part of the WOTC 3rd edition announcement. Black Isle/Interplay also showed Planescape, and on the other side of the Interplay booth Interplay showed off their new Startrek game. We toured the exhibit hall and admired the gigantic WOTC castle at the center of the pavilion. The highlight of that day had to be the microbrewery we stopped at with the Black Isle/Interplay folk - there was a great selection of brews that helped to slake our thirst.

Day 2
Somewhat groggy from the previous night's microbrews, we woke early and made our way back to the convention hall. At just after noon, the Big Announcement of 3rd edition D&D was made by WOTC, and Trent and James ably represented BioWare on the stage. The announcement of Neverwinter went over extremely well - the crowd of nearly 1000 people was very excited to hear of the possibility of designing and DM'ing their own modules on the computer. For the rest of the day we demo'd Neverwinter Nights and talked and talked to the many people who stopped by the booth. We visited a second microbrewery that night but wisely largely forsook the pleasures of alcohol, preferring to be well rested for the events of the next day.

Day 3 - *The Day of Cheese*
Day 3 passed by in a blur as we demoed then talked, and talked and then demoed. Trent and Ray proceeded to lose their voices, though James managed to retain his despite talking continually, and Casey stoically demoed the art prototype without complaint for the entire duration of the show. If anything, his useage of the word "Awesome" only seemed to increase the more he demoed the game - it was truly (no, really, it was) an inspiration to the rest of us. Especially since he was the only one of the four of us who had a chair to sit down on the entire show. *One of the Interplay marketing people, Stacy, insisted that we should use the word "cheese" somewhere in this summary, so we thought we would take this opportunity to mention that Wisconsin _is_ the Dairy State.

Day 4
On the last day of the show, we left early, but not before a number of very cool things happened. We had a surreal experience with Gary Gygax at Gencon - his wife came over to ask if we wouldn't mind signing a Gold box Baldur's Gate for her and her family - and we said, "Sure, no problem, just send it to us and we'd be glad to!" (having no idea who she was at that point). At which point she pulls out a business card and we notice the name 'Gygax' on it and say, "Hey, you're not related to THAT Gygax, are you?" After which, she tells us that Gary (her husband) is a huge fan of what WE did on BG. (I mean, he's a fan of what WE did? wow - we were totally blown away). Gary was (is) one of our childhood idols (check out the last screen of the credits in BG where we thank Gary Gygax as well as Jack Vance and Fritz Leiber, coincidentally both of whom are favorite authors of Gary and Ray/James it turns out), so it was quite a thrill to meet him. Weird having him ask for our autographs though...

To top off the day, we ALSO got to meet Dave Arneson (cocreator of AD&D with Gary) at the show! We came away with the autographs of Gary and Dave, so though we lost our voices it was still a worthwhile experience.

In summary, as Trent so aptly summarized the trip: "When you gotta Geek Out, you gotta Geek Out!"

Det var nok noget nær det længste stykke tekst vi nogensinde har haft her på hovedsiden :-)