Design Notes
Kiara
Oversoul Alpha Test posted by Kiara on

It's finally here! The Oversoul Alpha test is LIVE!

OverSoul characters

You can play it here: http://devsoul.artix.com/test/Oversoul-bin/

For those of you who haven't been paying attention, Oversoul is a brand new Artix Entertainment game that's been in development for quite some time now. The Oversoul team includes Nulgath, Warlic, Rolith, Revontheus, Klunk, and Dilligaf. If you're a fan of the art and love the game, be sure to say so on facebook or twitter!

Oversoul is a PVPMMORPG unlike any of our other games. The gameplay revolves around using battlecards to battle your opponents, but you can't just use any card, you have to develop real strategies to beat different opponents! Just because you could defeat the last one, doesn't mean you'll defeat the next one. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses and it's up to you to discover what they are and build a strategy against them. And don't forget about doing PvE battles. If you want to posess rare monsters, you have to find them, battle them, and win!

This is an early Alpha test of the game, and although nothing is finalized, the feature sets are unfinished, and the game isn't totally stable, we're all very excited to see what you guys think of it... So hurry up and log in so you can comment here and tell us!

Oh and remember, both Stress Testers (those of you who logged in to stress-test the game before today) and Alpha Testers will get their own exclusive characters as a thank you for supporting the game!

Anyone who has supported AE by purchasing a membership or currency in any of our games can play the Alpha! If you think you qualify but you can't log in, please make sure the upgraded account is linked to your master account. You must log in to Oversoul using your master account.

To read regular updates and see sneak peeks of unreleased art and features, be sure to check out Nulgath's posts on the Oversoul game homepage.

Update on Artix.com

Miko, Kraken, and Draven have been busy working on the new artix.com. This includes a totally new design, code, and a bunch of back-end stuff that you guys can't see. As some of you have noticed, there have been bugs. One of the bugs was hiding some people's comments where no one (not even the admins) could see. It's been fixed now. So if you made a comment earlier this week or sometime last week and you don't see it, please post it again. ESPECIALLY if you submitted a contest entry into the AQ3D Monster Design Contest and it hasn't shown up, please please please repost it. If you don't, your entry will be gone forever and no one will ever see it. (What if your lost entry was going to be the winning one??)


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Yergen
AQ3D: Legend of LORE Video posted by Yergen on

Yergen here! How is everyone doing? I have something special for everyone. It’s the internet premiere of the AdventureQuest 3D: Legends of LORE trailer!

But first -

The flythrough trailer premiered at DragonCon at the end of our now infamous panel. My guess is there was no panel that was even near as loud as our panel. AE fans are the best! The trailer was a perfect end to an amazing panel.

While we were working our butts  off to make get this game ready, I knew DragonCon was on the horizon. Our work was looking so amazing (especially for a browser-based game) that I wanted to do something that really showed off what we can, and have, done. I had the idea of a flythrough of sorts, showing off some amazing environments and hinting at things to come. I figured we could come up with 4-5 cool environments to fly through. We had finished Ravenspire and had the Skulldoor Dungeon. But we needed 3 more, so Geopetal, Thyton, Artix, and I thought chose three new environments that we called the Ice Giant Kingdom, Northpointe, and the Sky Pirates Lair (*note: Location names are subject to change, and probably will). Did I forget to mention that we had a month and a half to finish them? A month and a half!!!  The team dug in their heels and worked like mad to complete the three full environments in the unbelievably short time. It was an impossible task and they did it!  I can't wait to show it to you.

But first -

This video wouldn't be possible if it was not for our amazing team working on it. First off, Zhoom and Minimal have been building this thing from the ground up. They have been (and are still) feverishly working to build a kick-butt engine that will blow all other browser-based MMO’s out of the water. Thyton, being the master of monster making, brings his unique blend of awesomeness, and epicness (“Epawsicness”) to the game and makes some of the most epawsic monsters, armors, and weapons you can imagine. Next, Xero, the dimensional dominator, takes those hand-drawn designs and brings them into the third dimension. He and Thyton are so in tune, it’s scary what they can accomplish... Scary AWESOME! And then Korin takes those newly created 3D models and makes them move. That bag on his head must be used to hold in his talent, and am I glad for that. I suggested he double bag it, to ensure that we don't lose any of his talent. Next is Llussion: Not only does he help in designing most of the landscapes and architectures, but he then turns around and begins building them in 3D. He has really shown how multi-talented he is. Then comes Tamarann. He takes all of our drawings and scribbles and turns them into amazing 3D models. Lately we have given him many challenges of making extremely modular houses and architecture. He accepted the challenges, and created some amazing looking and highly modular pieces, that helped make one house look like twenty. We have begun to borrow Geopetal more and more to have her start building a rich and lush world that will be LORE. She will take her experience and success of creating the world of DragonFable, and add jetpacks, nitrous, and iron armor to it to create a story that will be Epawsic! Lastly we have been lucky enough to borrow Samba. Her amazing animation skills in AQW make her perfect for jumping in and helping out with animating some of our monsters. Now, without further distractions let’s show this video!

But first -

Ha! Just kidding...

I give you the AdventureQuest 3D: Legends of LORE Flythrough Trailer!




NOTE: This was screencapped with FRAPS from a browser! (That is right, this is actual game footage, right in the web browser.) What did you think? Let Artix or Yergen know. We’d love to hear from you.


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Kiara
Friday's Releases posted by Kiara on

AdventureQuest Worlds

Return to Mobius: Shoot for the Stars! Light and Darkness dominate the skies in an eternal clash for supremacy... and immensely-powerful artifacts! This weekend, return to the /Mobius map in Chiral Valley to ally with either the Lunaris or Solaris clans. With your help, one side may finally gain the ability to control the stars... and Lore itself!AdventureQuest Worlds - SolarisSpeak with Yulgar to view our all-new Suggestion items! We take your designs and put them in-game for ALL your friends to /equip! Because we've put so many of your ideas into AQW, the Suggestion Shop is overloaded! So we're moving all the current gear into the Legendary Suggestions Shop. You can still buy those OR take a look at all the epic gear in the NEW Suggestions Shop!
www.AQ.com

EpicDuel

Charfade's Fade - Starting today, we are allowing players to decide whether to save or sacrifice Charfade. To decide this, we will be polling players in game. Visit Dravax to choose a side. After voting, you’ll be able to see how many players are with you and against you. When the poll is complete, Charfade will be sacrificed or saved based entirely on YOUR votes!
www.EpicDuel.com

DragonFable

Book 3 has begun! Check out the brand new intro, 'A Hero is Thawed', through the Book 3 section! You'll be able to explore Oaklore, but be careful of the members of The Rose that garrison there now!
www.DragonFable.com

MechQuest

Check the Event shop at Tek's for the NEW commemorative arm - the Imitation DragonConquest Blade! Available for 500 Nova Gems, it will remain in the shop until the end of September and won't return until September of 3013! 
MechQuest - DragonConquest BladeGo East in Soluna City to the Magic Shop to pick up the revived Ghosthunter series mecha! Haven't completed those missions yet? The mecha shop now unlocks at Rank 12 instead of Rank 21!  Also, the Star Captain Exclusive MELTFACE mode on the main interface is getting more updates tonight, so prepare to MELT YOUR FACE!
www.MechQuest.com

HeroSmash

Labor Day sale is happening now at /mainstreeteast! Get your items now before they're gone for an entire year!
www.HeroSmash.com

AdventureQuest Classic

Jacques' paranoia has made him increasingly unstable and it just may lead to Paxia being torn apart! Can you somehow diffuse the situation without making yourself an "enemy"? Log in and try, Paxia needs your help!!
This release features new rewards for those brave enough to defend Paxia!
www.BattleOn.com


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Artix
DragonCon 2012 posted by Artix on

It has been 4 days since the Artix Entertainment (AE) team boarded the BattleBus and drove (or "teleported") to DragonCon 2012. What is DragonCon? Read Cysero's guide. If you have been following us on Twitter then you know already know SOME of the story. You also probably remember when we tweeted the phone numbers off the side of pay phones at rest stops and took random calls from players. But below, you and all of our friends will find the full, unabridged, legend of DragonCon 2012 in all of its embarrasing and bizzare glory... along with all of the juicy insider secret announcements that were made about our current and new games.


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Kiara
New Weekly Game Updates! posted by Kiara on

It's the week before DragonCon, AND it's Friday. And the day will only get better when I can finally log in and play this week's game releases!

AdventureQuest Worlds

Empress Gravelyn, leader of the Shadowscythe, is tired of waiting for the Alliance to make its move. This weekend, she summons you to her throne room in Shadowfall to see where your allegiance lies. Do you follow the path of Good? Or is your heart Evil? Quest to prove which side you support and show your commitment to destroying Chaos! If all goes as planned, the day will come when Shadowfall flies once more!

Quibble Coinbiter’s shop in Battleon has new gear! Don’t waste a second, because this Timetravel gear will be gone faster than you can blink! Quibble’s shop will also get new draconic gear NEXT Friday while the team is at Dragon*Con!
www.AQ.com

EpicDuel

Legion and Exile forces are still recovering from the massive war within the Infernal Mines, but now a powerful force is making its way toward Delta V, ready to bring the Day of Reckoning to the planet and her people. The Slayer does not take kindly to off-worlders intruding on his home turf so he's finally releasing his personal stash of armor to help eager duelists repel the alien threat. He has also crafted a brand new weapon, The Dragon Buster II broadsword!  And he will be bringing back the legendary Dragon Weapons that return every year to commemorate Dragon*Con!

EpicDuel - Dragon's Reckoningwww.EpicDuel.com

DragonFable

The only way to stop the crazed infernal, Wargoth, is by merging him with The Professor... back into Warlic! Do you have what it takes to force the two halves of Warlic back into one?
www.DragonFable.com

MechQuest

Go West in Soluna City to pick up the NEW player-suggested weapon we've added to the Knife & Spork Challenge Advanced Contest Second Prize Reward Shop! The new HAL mission at the hair shop (in Soluna City East) is now easier - so if you couldn't get through it last week, try again tonight!  Does everything seem to be TOO easy for you? Need more variety than what you're finding in the Star Captain Club Challenges? Log in to experience the new Star Captain-Only FACEMELT mode on the main interface!
www.MechQuest.com

HeroSmash

This week we've added new items to the Movie Plex, so get them while you can!  And don't forget, the Daily Random Shop gets updated every day.
www.HeroSmash.com

AdventureQuest Classic

The quest for the Golden set will not be an easy one as the leprechaun banker Uncle Sham looks to have all the gold for himself! This release features branching choices that are affected by your alignment, plus updated and new set items!
www.BattleOn.com


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Artix
EpicDuel..."Titan" THE INTERVIEW! posted by Artix on

In an Epic PvP Interview, only one will survive!

EpicDuel has been rising in popularity for the past 2 years straight. So for those of you who do not know the bloodthirsty, warmongering team of EpicDuel.... avert your eyes and run in fear. Or if you are brave, read on!

 

EpicDuel Dragons!

 

*10am. In the dimly lit Secret Lab's War Room*

Artix: Titan, for game players who do not know you  yet... WHO OR WHAT ARE YOU!?!?!?!?

Titan: I am a 10 foot tall programming god that eats lightning bolts!

 

Artix: Are lightning bolts an excellent source of calcium with milk?

Titan: Not as much as bacon cheeseburgers, or double cheeseburgers, a Titan favorite.

 

Artix: How tall are you really? Erm. Just wait here a moment.
*Artix gets a tape measure and uses it on Titan* It reads 6'6".
Titan: The 10 foot tall programming god part is part of the lore.

Titan: No for real, I'm actually the creator and  lead programmer for EpicDuel.  I ensure on a weekly basis that new exciting content and features are constantly available in game.

 

EpicDuel Baelius

 

Artix: What is EpicDuel? ... and why is it taking up more and more of our game networks bandwith each month?

Titan: EpicDuel is a PvP game that takes place on the planet Delta V, (read Delta Five)!   It's an exciting world where players come together from around the world to battle in ever evolving strategic combat online! It's exciting because each week the battle dynamics change. Player's love it because of the ongoing struggle for control of the planet, and the ability to constantly improve and change their characters. With the release of new skills, robots, staffs, giant clubs, and super bikes, each duel is different from the last.

 

Artix: Can you fight ANYONE in EpicDuel?

Titan: When you become powerful enough, you can even challenge me!  But of course you'll lose.

 

EpicDuel Legion Defeat

 

Artix: The EpicDuel community has been growing, how about your team?

Titan: Just like our player base, the EpicDuel team has grown. We started with a team of two, and have now grown to 5 plus the constant help and great assistance from community volunteers, without them it would be impossible to keep up.

 

Artix: Can you tell us about the EpicDuel team?  Who is on the team, where do you work, do you have any juicy gossip, secrets? ...do you hide snacks in your drawers? What kind of snacks are they? Are there enough to share? If not can you get more? What is your team eating for lunch today?

Titan: Currently, myself and RabbleFroth (our amazing new coder) design and develop the infrastructure for the Delta V world.  We constantly evolve the engine to improve performance, and add fun new gameplay elements.  Our art team, consisting of lead artist Nightwraith, and his super art sidekick Charfade, create graphical magic on a weekly basis, churning out more content than 2 people should humanly be able to. And finally, Cinderella, a great liason to the community who has been with us from the very beginning.  She helps keep the community informed about upcoming exciting features, and more recently she's added to her responsibilities by writing the story that drives EpicDuel forward.

 

EpicDuel Legion Defeat

 

Artix:*whispers* are there .... secrets?

Titan: ... and rest assured there is plenty of gossip and secrets, but ... they wouldn't be secrets if I shared.

Well, ok, so let's not lie about it, we have some superpowerful admin codes to deal ultra damage, block everytime, and own like it's our job.

 

Artix: ...
Titan: I guess it is our job, so that makes sense.

 

Artix: Is there anything else that a new players MUST KNOW about EpicDuel? As the game's creator, can you give us the #1 tip to get into the game and start rising on your leader board?

Titan: Want to climb to the top fast?  When you first login, fight some quick battles and join a faction.  Factions are teams of players fighting together for the same cause.  Whether you want to join The Lawman alongside the Exile Resistance, or Alydriah and her Legion army, it's up to you and your allies how the world will Evolve. You'll learn from the best and climb to the top faster than you can say Double Bacon Cheese.

 

You can play EpicDuel using Artix Entertainment's
"ONE LOGIN TO RULE THEM ALL" now. Go to...

www.EpicDuel.com


Follow @Titan_EpicDuel on Twitter


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Artix
AQ3D Monster Design Contest posted by Artix on

But 1st, more photos of Jemini

With only a week to go before DragonCon, everyone from the Artix Entertainment team who is planning to cosplay is getting their costumes ready! Jemini invited a friend to the lab today... who showed up wearing a giant red Twilly suit. So, um.... O_O (Face guide) ... that was an interesting way to start the day.  Do not worry though.... the suit has an open face and hands (i.e. Non-Furry) and it is pretty funny/awesome. Jemini uses pipecleaners to prop up the inside of the ears so they are bendable and positionable. If you see Twilly... feel free to adjust his ears. You will have to wait until DragonCon starts to see pictures though! Until then, here is a random photo of Jemini cosplaying as Han Solo. Talking about which -- we have a special mission for you while we are at DragonCon. We are going to launch the 1st ever AQ3D: Legend of Lore Monster design contest.

Jemini in Han Solo Cosplay

 

The Monster Design Contest

Next week we will put up the official contest. For all of you artistic, creative and crazy players... this is going to be a blast. It will be an "anything goes" AQ3D monster designing contest where you draw and describe the special abilities and skills of your creature creation. There will be a lot of categories to win prizes, but the Grand Prize winner will have their original monster modeled in 3D, textured and animated by the AQ3D team and it will appear in the upcoming Alpha Test. *Anxious for the contest to begin!* The contest will begin next week, so start thinking of your monster concept now!


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Artix
Battle On Friday! posted by Artix on

"Oh Friday, how I love thee. Let me count the rares."

What an exciting release week! But first, happy Independence Day to all of our friends in Indonesia :-)  In AdventureQuest Worlds the Dage vs. Nulgath war JUST ENDED... but you will have to log in to see the result and special cutscene for yourself. Also, play tonight's new AQWorlds release to get clues about the most guarded secret... what your character really is. LOL, check out the Tout of Samba voice overing a piece of the cutscene... would you like to see the whole video? ( Post it to YouTube?) OMG... DragonFable Chapter 2 is about to have the grand finale boss fight! Be sure to visit ALL OF OUR GAMES as they release to see what is new in them.

 

Artix Entertainment DragonCon Flyer

We have been building brand new flyers and hand outs for the upcoming DragonCon convention. Our graphics are getting a lot better! What do you think? OOH WAIT... look what we just uploaded for you!


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Artix
DragonCon Cometh! posted by Artix on

Only 2.5 weeks left before the best convention of the year

DragonCon takes place every year in Atlanta, Georgia. It is a weekend long convention (Recommended ages 15+) with 30,000+ attendees... most in amazing costumes. I guess it is really like a weekend long costume party with celebrity guests (walk of fame), panels featuring the casts of your favorite sci-fi/fantasy/etc TV shows, video games, art galleries, table top games, concerts, shopping and... well, check out the schedule on the DragonCon website. As mentioned in our previous post, the Artix Entertainment team will be attending in force again this year. We will be running a panel and a fan table!

Jemini in her FLCL cosplayOur artist Jemini (pictured above) has like 3 different costumes to wear this year.

Come see us at DragonCon

  • Artix Entertainment ALL GAMES Panel:  Saturday @ 5:30pm at the Hilton in Grand Salon E! 
  • Fan Table: We are taking turns running it all weekend. Located... um... wherever all the cool fan tables are.

 P.S. I just made my first TOUT! (New animation run cycle for AQ3D by Korin)


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Artix
Mobile & AdventureQuest3D posted by Artix on

Double Post Tuesday!

Every day we seem to come up with a new project that takes significantly longer than a day to finish. This has been the case since January 1st. Our current "backlog" of projects is so comically long that I actually had to put sticky notes on the wall to remind us that the new things we NEED to focus on are AQ3D, Oversoul, & the AQWorlds Artbook. Then... this happened today /facepalm

AdventureQuest Mobile Test

A lot of players have been requesting a mobile version of our games. But, flash does not run (well) on most mobile devices and Adobe has since cancelled their mobile flash support. Those of you watching my Facebook and Twitter this weekend saw that I was spending my free time playing around with some alternative solutions. Then, Rolith got involved...  just a few minutes ago, we had a break through. In the following video you can see AdventureQuest Worlds monsters playing their animations on top of a fairly complex background at ~24 frames per second on an ancient iPod Touch.

Based on the success of this test, we really want to try creating a AdventureQuest classic style game, using AQWorlds art, adding some DragonFable style PvP, and maybe if we can wing it... chat.

AdventureQuest 3D Progress Update

Even more good news! Adobe has.... <comment removed> *BAD ARTIX BAD. YOU SIGNED AN NDA AND ARE NOT LEGALLY ALLOWED TO TALK ABOUT THIS SUBJECT, YET.* ...and we are so happy and exicted that all of that hard work last month was worth it. We are making a lot of progress!

Minimal and Zhoom are building "server side geometry." This is probably the trickiest part of building a massively multiplayer 3D game. They are coding the game engine to know what the 3D maps look like. Once it is done, monsters will know where walls are so they will walk around them, and hackers will not be able to "fly" or "teleport around." This is especially important for PvP.

Yergen and Korin are working on the "look and feel" of combat. We have our player character battling the Trolluck at various distances and different swing speeds. We have been spending a lot of time trying to add motion trails to weapon swings. Motion trails look AWESOME! (Most of what is in the current build of the game is really generic... but our goal is to make all of the animation crazy over the top)

Meanwhile, Llusion, Xero and the rest of the team have been creating different elementally themed areas. We plan on releasing a fly through of the various areas at DragonCon. OMG! DragonCon is in 2.5 weeks!!!!!

TEDxTampaBay Talks

I was invited to speak at the TEDxTampaBay Talk on September 21st. My gut told me not to, but everyone on Twitter said go for it... and I have become conditioned to whatever you guys on Twitter say. The theme of the talk is "Story Telling." Hmmm.... what should I talk about?

DragonCon 2012

Come meet the team and I at DragonCon, the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the universe! See the website for dates and times. We will have our crazy all-games, anything goes Artix Entertainment Panel on Saturday @ 5:30pm at the Hilton in Grand Salon E! Thank you to Felicia Day for bumping our time slot ;-) We will also take turns running our fan table.... stop by each day for a different "badge tag."   This year's Day 1, Day 2, & Day 3 badge tags were drawn and painted by Dioz and Dage. Oh! If you would like ANYTHING signed, bring it to the panel or table and we will sign it for you. Something fun people have been doing ltely is getting all of the cards with NPCs on it, and getting each person to sign their NPC card!

COMING NEXT: For all of you creative types... Yergen is going to run a AQ3D monster drawing contest. More details coming soon :-)


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