The latest news for Dawn of War:Dark Crusade http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php Fri, 20 Nov 2009 20:30:07 +0000 360 http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=354556 Dawn of War 2, and although that was quickly covered up, it came out today and the information it holds is certainly very enticing. Staff member Togra, who lives in Belgium, had picked up a copy of it and posted a summary of what the preview contained and what new content can be expected in Dawn of War 2!

And here is the summary:

• Uses the Essence 2.0 engine with Havok physics, all optimized for DX10 and multi-core support.
• It looks great, think of the DoW intro but with a bit less polygons here and there (in terms of lighting and all that it looks almost exactly the same).
• Units also use CoH-like unit AI for awareness and pathfinding to find cover and such.
• While DoW 2 shares the same (upgraded probably) engine as CoH it won't be "CoH in space," in that soldiers in CoH will ask themselves if flanking the enemy is the right option, in DoW2 it will be more like Space Marines asking themselves if they should use their jetpacks to jump over an Ork squad to attack them from behind. Different settings, different kind of warfare.
• Preview only showed a destroyed city landscape, akin to DoW (but more detailed), other tilesets will offer deserts, jungles, mountains and other cities.
• Only the Orkz and Space Marines were revealed, more races on the way obviously and to be to revealed later this year (though how many isn't known).
• Co-op campaign for both the Orkz and Space Marines, apparently not for the other to-be-revealed races.
• More focus on making units and squads unique; every unit has got a name (at least in the campaign it seems), more details and more animations.
• Relic wants to give players rewards at the end of a mission like war gear (armor, weapons, rare objects); "Let's pimp out squads with cool stuff!", you will see these items in-game as well of course.
• You'll fight you way through the campaign with the same squads.
• You can't control more than six squads! I am not sure if this is campaign-only but the preview made it sound like it wasn't.
• There is a lot more interesting commentary from the units as well; if your SM commander is holding a Thunder Hammer f.e. then the opponent will specifically comment on that, Ork Warchief saying something like "Ooh, nice hammer, but mine is bigger!". The warchief will say something else if the commander doesn't have the hammer.
• The campaign lets Space Marines operate from a spaceship; you'll get a view of an underlying planet and you'll be able to choose from different missions (which are tagged with difficulty colors green, blue and red).
• Certain reward items won't be usable at once in the campaign, so they'll be taken back to the SM spaceship for research.
• Dreadnought can now also trample Orkz.
• No sea or air units (though jetpacks are still in of course).
• Development team of 55 people has been working on it since September 2005.
• Release in early 2009 or later.

So why not head over to our Dawn of War 2 forums and discuss it!]]> Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:09:51 +0000 354556 http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=350876 Dawn of War portals' first Screenshot of the Week competition! This week's entry submission thread has been posted in the Dawn of War: Soulstorm General Discussion forum.

• Click the image for the full size winning screenshot.
• Click here to go to the rules and submission thread.

]]> Mon, 17 Mar 2008 22:55:35 +0000 350876 http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=348543 Gamereplays.org noticed something on one of the back pages on the PC Gamer UK magazine, on the pages that show off a preview of the next magazine. What has that got to do with Dawn of War 2?




A silhouette of what is a Space Marine and the text: "Are you ready for a new dawn?"

So what do you think? Is this a pretty strong hint at DoW 2? Discuss in our Soulstorm forums.]]> Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:58:08 +0000 348543 http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=348374 Screenshot of the Week competition has been launched for both the Dark Crusade and Soulstorm portals. Screenshots from either game are currently welcome and may be submitted as entries until Saturday. Staff judging will take place over the weekend and the winner each week will receive the Screenshot of the Week medal on his or her GameReplays.org account, and the winning screenshot will be posted on the portal in all its glory.

Go here for the full rules, or to submit your own screenshots into this week's contest.]]> Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:52:04 +0000 348374 http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=348101
Most wubbed replay so far:
Mdigibou (Sisters of Battle) vs Zane (Dark Eldar)

Equal second most wubbed replays so far:
Atro|Anezti (Dark Eldar) vs Purple^jvs^ (Chaos)
Mdigibou (Sisters of Battle) vs Pr1est (Imperial Guard)

All worth downloading and watching using your copy of Soulstorm (you need the game to watch replays).

If you are new to GameReplays you may ask "What is a wub?"

If you download a replay and like it then wub it. The more wubs a replay gets the more attention is will get, therefore more downloads, more comments. It is the communities way of saying 'this is a good game you should watch'.

Enjoy.]]> Sun, 09 Mar 2008 17:46:02 +0000 348101 http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=347179 Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War: Soulstorm, the critically acclaimed sequel to the original game, has been released in North America, Australia, and Canada. The European release is not scheduled until tomorrow, March 7th.

Executive produced and co-developed by Relic Entertainment in association with Iron Lore Entertainment, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm is a complete standalone title and features two all-new armies, including the Dark Eldar and Sisters of Battle, for an unprecedented total of nine playable races. In addition to new units across each of the seven existing races, Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Soulstorm incorporates air units for the first time and introduces multiplayer medals, adding a whole new level of depth to online battles.

Recently, Iron Lore Entertainment, the lead developer of the game, shut down; however, this does not affect Soulstorm in any way - Relic Entertainment will continue to patch the game.

It is with great regret that we must announce that as of close of business Tuesday, February 19, 2008 Iron Lore Entertainment has ceased active game development. Several unrelated events occurred which resulted in Iron Lore being unable to secure funding for its next project.

Head on over to the Gamereplays.org Soulstorm forums for good strategies, replays, and discussion!

• Iron Lore Game Page
• Relic Entertainment Home Page
• Gamereplays.org Soulstorm Forums

]]> Thu, 06 Mar 2008 22:27:29 +0000 347179 http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=345130 Xfire chat with developer Johnny Ebbert of Relic Entertainment as he answers questions about Soulstorm and possibly even Dawn of War 2.


Johnny Ebbert: Hi Everyone! I'm Jonny Ebbert, the lead designer on the Dawn of War franchise. Thanks so much for coming out. I'm really excited to answer your questions and hear what you have to say.

Question: What's been the biggest challenge during Soulstorm's development?

Johnny Ebbert: Honestly? Coming up with new ideas and concepts for the new races. When you have 9 unique races in the game, this is a serious challenge. We think we've come up with something really cool for each of the new races. The Sisters have a new faith-based economy, and ability system. And the Dark Eldar have their economy based on collecting the souls of the vanquished, and using that to power upgrades and global abilities. We think you guys will like it.

Question: Will the Soulstorm campaign be different or similar to the previous titles?

Johnny Ebbert: We decided to go with the Dark Crusade style of campaign because we really liked the focus on player choice. We really wanted to pump up the volume on the experience, though, so we allowed you to conquer a whole star system rather than a single planet. We also wanted to up the importance of the meta-game economy and reinforcement. I still get really excited every time I pull up the new campaign map.

Question: How did you go about capturing the essence of the Dark Eldar and how well do you feel you did?

Johnny Ebbert: Dark Eldar are supposed to be pirates that prey on the souls of others to prevent their own souls from being devoured. So we tried to build their entire economy around this (in the same way we built the Necron economy around coming back from the dead). So we added the concept of harvesting souls from the dead on the battlefield. But we thought that this concept was so cool and we wanted to serve a larger purpose, so we campe up with the whole idea of global abilities that you can spend your soul essence on. We really love the choice it offers, and we love using the abilities on each other when we're playing against each other here in the office.

Question: As well was the introduction of two new races, you decided to implement two new unique resources to go alongside them. Are these new resources necessary?

Johnny Ebbert: Not 100% sure they were necessary, but they certainly are fun. I personally love upgrading my points to save up enough faith to unload some cool abilities on the other guys on the team.

Question: I have a question, how will pathing for air units work, can they go anywhere on the map, or will they be limited to Fog of War like the air units in the old C&C games?

Johnny Ebbert: Air units can go anywhere on the map. They're not bounded in any way.

Question: What styles were you looking for with these new races?

Johnny Ebbert: We wanted the Sisters to feel like Joan of Arc. They're the ultimate martyrs fighting for a cause, and they have a supernatural sense of luck, like a higher power is watching out for them. They also have sex appeal...which is always cool in my book. There's nothing sexier than a chic who kicks serious ass. With the Dark Eldar, we were going for the concept of quick strikers, who use your dead against you, and can slowly wear you down if you don't manage to pin them down.

Question: The campaign follows along similar lines as the one found in Dark Crusade. Why did you choose this more open ended game-play as opposed to a more narrative driven campaign like the earlier games in the series?

Johnny Ebbert: Because I personally hate being dragged along a linear story-driven campaign. I don't feel like I'm conquering anything, or making any cool decisions. All of the major decisions are being made for me, and I'm just left to sort out the details. Basically I'm a tool in a linear campaign, and at the end of every mission, I get a story piece that says, "Great work, tool! Now go do this!" I like being able to mastermind how I accomplish the end goal...in this cause...how to conquer the Kaurava system.

Question: Most companies would think it’s time for a sequel after 3 or 4 years - but what is it that keeps you coming back and making expansions to Dawn of War?

Johnny Ebbert: Every time we go to events, people are always thanking us for bringing their table top army to life. It's the first time they've ever had the chance to see the units in motion, and doing cool things like stomp the life out of someone. Other people beg us to bring their favorite army to life. With Soulstorm, we saw a chance to bring two more armies to life. And to pre-empt the next question...why not Tyranids. Because Tyranids are way too cool for an expansion pack;) Besides, it's not like a third expansion precludes the possibility of a sequel

Question: I have read that there will be a named character appearing in SS, how did you get Games Workshop to let you use him?

Johnny Ebbert: Mainly involved me smashing chairs and swearing a lot.

Question: Do you feel that Soulstorm will be a return to competitive gaming for the Dawn of War series? Is this a goal of the dev team or are you simply trying to make a fun game?

Johnny Ebbert: We take both of these very seriously. Fun is always the driver, but we try to spend a lot of time balancing the game with our balance team, and with the top players in the community.

Question: Is there any missions where you get to use a titan? A full scale one, not just the broken arm of one;)

Johnny Ebbert: Wow...I'd seriously love to do that. If only we could get more than their toe to fit under the camera;)

Question: Of the races in the game, which race was the hardest to implement into the Dawn of War series so far? What about the easiest?

Johnny Ebbert: Space Marines, hands down. They were our first race, so every aspect of the engine and the "DoWness" of the product had to be developed through them. Once they were in place, the other races were much easier to implement. Outside of that...Dark Eldar were probably the second toughest. It took us a while to find their "voice" as in...what they wanted to say and do as a race in our game. I think they turned out well, though. Outs

Question: Do you offer co-op placements for young students who are studying computer science??

Johnny Ebbert: biggrin.gif Actually, we do! We even have a program where we'll pay your tuition if you are a rockstar and we want to make you one of our franchise players. We're always looking for talented new people who want to be game developers.

Question: Does Soulstorm require much experience from the other DoW games to understand how to play?

Johnny Ebbert: None at all. Soulstorm is a standalone expansion. So you don't need any of the earlier products to play it. You'll also be able to play all nine races in single player. And we didn't make the game any more complicated with any of our expansion packs. We simply added more races to play, and a new unit to each race. Anyone should be able to jump right in.

Question: I heard that this is the final expansion for the DoW series. DoW is coming to an end?

Johnny Ebbert: They must have forgotten to CC me on the memo...

Thanks so much for coming out and asking your questions. I realize a lot of you stayed up really late for this chat. And I also realize that some of you are frustrated because I'm the world's slowest typer, and because some of my answers are so evasive. But maybe...just maybe...I'll be able to say a few things in the near future that will completely blow your minds. Thanks again for being a part of Dawn of War. You guys are truly what make the franchise so fun to work on.

Summary:

In closing, it seems both Space Marines and the Dark Eldar were the hardest to complete, and Titans are too large to add in the game. Tyranids, however, may make an appearance after all, in future instalments. Stay Tuned!]]> Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:50:00 +0000 345130 http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=342346 Buggo has posted news that the 2nd Annual Relic Community Appreciation Day is drawing near, and in relation to that they have opened it up for people to get invited inside Relic Entertainment's studios in Vancouver Canada. But why should you go there? Well, because Relic will be showing off their big secret project! That's why!

But what of those that live outside of Canada? Fear not! As they do appreciate their community outside of Canada as well, they've started a contest where you, the fan, can show how big a fan you actually are! If you win you'll get a plane trip to Vancouver, a nice two-day stay at a hotel and, of course, an invitation to the day.

Take a look for yourself and read Buggo's announcement.]]> Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:16:32 +0000 342346 http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=341443 New Look
The design is intended to match the framework and feel of the forum skin, and is GameReplays' new universal design. It is cleaner, sharper, and more modern.

Better Layout
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Easier Browsing
Tabbed navigation helps keep you grounded as to where you are in the portal, and additional related content you might enjoy is now located in the footer of every news story, article, and feature.]]> Mon, 18 Feb 2008 12:46:30 +0000 341443 http://www.gamereplays.org/community/index.php?showtopic=340721 home page of the site, which was launched early yesterday, finally adding some much needed functionality.

In addition to the fresh new look, new updates are simplified, streamlined, and now come from every game section on GameReplays. At a glance, it’s possible to see what the latest and greatest content is across the whole site, as well as what’s happening in the industry as a whole. The highlight rotator makes it easy to find the best content from each game, as well as special features on the home page itself.

The list of games on the right hand side is there for convenient access, and is sorted by the activity in each game’s general discussion forum. In the future, the ranking will be a mix of activity from a variety of factors.

Expect to see more improvements to the navigation and header in the coming weeks, as well as much more content, features, articles, and news added regularly. If you have any questions or comments, please post them in our Site Feedback and Improvement forum.]]> Sat, 16 Feb 2008 13:46:25 +0000 340721