Merry Christmas!

Our studio's closed for a few days, but we have one more thing to send you off.

Happy holidays everyone! 

See you next year!

Surprise!

Well, here it is! We promised you a surprise, and it's a biggie. The first official trailer for Swords & Soldiers! It took a bit of work, but we really like the way it turned out. Everything you see in this trailer is ingame footage!

A bit scary really, finally showing it in motion. We hope you like it! 

Some fresh bits for those cold nights

Hang tight! We're preparing a Christmas surprise! Well, it's a bit less of a surprise now. But anyway, something is coming! *ominous sound*


And to help you guys get through the wait, there is also something new RIGHT NOW! We managed to squeeze out a little more faction info: the fearsome Poison Bomb and powerful Frost Hammer are up for display, so head out to the Factions section and check it out. We also whipped up this little gadget on the right, to let you know what this mysterious 'Frost Hammer' type character will sound like in the actual game.


I'd also like to take this opportunity to thank everybody who stopped by for testing the last few weekends. Thank you for every bit of constructive criticism to help us improve our game! Especially the last weekend was extremely hectic, but we got some great feedback and everyone was generally very positive. We enjoyed seeing you play the game, and we hope you'll be interested in testing again in the near future!

HME aftermath: Gamers, Groupies & Battleaxes!

The HME weekend is over and done with, and I think we can all look back on a successful couple of days.

We had a small stand in the corner of a bigger one, which itself was drowned in even more giantesque stands. Nonetheless, people found our little Gladiatorial Corner of Carnage™ and we were pleased to see that those people really enjoyed themselves.


We had two setups where several players could duke it out in multiplayer matches. Vikings versus Aztecs, we saw a lot of glorious battles. Most people stayed for a rematch or even a re-rematch! These were also the greatest skirmishes to watch as the game is quick to pick up and players learned to use skills and units fast and effectively.


It wasn't just fun and games for us though, as the matches progressed, we made note of some bugs and considered some tweaks here and there. This was the first public appearance of Swords & Soldiers after all and we wanted the game to do good. Luckily, at the end of the day, everyone enjoyed themselves and S&S didn't disappoint!

As a bonus, we put up the first spells for the Vikings and Aztecs on the Faction section, so be sure to check those out!

I leave you now with a world premiere: WiiWare Boothbabes!

Ok... so we borrowed them from another stand, but it still makes for a great shot!

The shinyness... it's so shiny!

A brand new site for Swords & Soldiers!

And with it come a few changes and some new goodies, huzzah! In the Media section you will find the already released screenshots, instructional video and wallpaper, but now you can also find some fancy concept art drawings!

The Unit Spotlights have been moved to the Factions bit where we'll release new units and spells regularly. To celebrate the new site, we put up the first Aztec unit for you to enjoy and marvel over.

There's a FAQ, because, well.. everyone has one and we want to hang with the cool kids! This blog is now included in the site as the News section, so to everyone who links the blog directly, update your links to the brand new and PETA friendly Swords & Soldiers site!

As Joost stated, we'll be at the HME starting Friday, so be sure to drop by our humble stand and play the game!

In other news, now that the site has been updated and S&S will be shown to the public for the first time, we'll start with the hotly anticipated in-game trailer. So be sure to keep an eye out for that within the next week or so!

I feel like I haven't linked to the new site often enough.. so be sure to go to Swords & Soldiers....!

Swords & Soldiers playable at the HME 2008!

Next Friday, Saturday and Sunday Swords & Soldiers will be playable at the HME 2008 in Utrecht! We will be located in the so-called 'Utrecht Booth' (Hal 11, 11D056). We are looking forward to hearing the reactions of the public to the game, as this will be the first real public showing of the game! The game is not yet finished, though, so we will also abuse this chance to spot new bugs in gameplay, graphics and code. You are all welcome to be our beta testing bunnies, live at the show floor! We expect only Viking and Aztec casualties, though...

The HME 2008 is one of the largest game events in the Netherlands. It is located in the Jaarbeurs in Utrecht, The Netherlands, next to Utrecht's central station. You can find more info on www.hme2008.nl.

Big little things

Lots of them. And then some more.

It's funny to see how many small things need to be done to make gameplay smooth and polished. Months ago, most units and spells were playable, so we thought the game nearly done. But if I look back at the amount of things we added since then, then I see how wrong we were. We were only halfway. We added some really big things, like lots of graphics and a campaign with a real story and varied missions and such. But also lots of really small things that are in fact very important, although most players will not even notice them, except in that fact that the game plays much better.

Here is a little example of that. Swords & Soldiers can be quite hectic, with lots of units in combat at once. Because the game is 2D, these units often overlap on the screen. That is okay, but their healthbars tend to overlap as well. So yesterday I programmed a system that adds forces to the healthbars, so that they move away from each other when they overlap. It is almost a real physics system, and that only to make the healthbars more visible! It works very well and the only thing players will notice, is that the healthbars are always nicely visible.

We added dozens of such small, hardly noticeable, incredibly important features. Which is why the game has been delayed from a release in 2008, to a release in early 2009. This decision will only make the game that much better, though! I hope. Soon you can see more of what I am talking about: a first real in-game trailer will be released within one or two weeks.

-Joost out

Testing done.. for now!

Thanks to all the testers who helped us with the game over the past weekends! Your feedback will be incorporated into the game to help make it even better.

If you didn't get a chance to come by this round, keep an eye on this site for new dates!

Swords & Soldiers testers needed!

We're looking for testers who would like to come and play Swords & Soldiers and rigorously test both the multiplayer and singleplayer experiences!

We will organise several testing days during which candidates can come to the Ronimo Games office in the middle of Utrecht. To apply for one of these testing days, send an email containing your name, age, game experience (how long have you been playing games and what sort of games do you prefer?), current (or last) education and preferred date to testers@ronimo-games.com. If you are picked, you will receive an e-mail with further information.

The next available day for testing is:

None at the moment but stay tuned for new testing dates to get your shot!

Unit Spotlight #1: The Berserker

Today we're starting our unit spotlight series. Every now and then, we will be showcasing one of the units of the three factions. Today's spotlighted unit is the Viking Berserker.

Berserkers are the first and last line of defense in any Viking raiding party. These battle-hardened warriors display all the brutishness the Viking clans are famous for. Berserkers like nothing more than to wade onto the battlefield and introduce their mighty battle-axes to their enemies. Any warlord would be wise to bring a couple of these guys to whatever battle or barbeque!

Leaders: Blood, Sweat and Spittle!

What would a base be without a hyperventilating leader showering his troops with spittle as he bellows them on? Well, just a big empty building really. So here they are!

Leaders are a proud breed and are known to have a deep rooted fondness for their base. They can really get annoyed if anyone builds a base nearby just to show off. It's not entirely uncommon therefore to find two leaders duking it out over their bases' bragging rights. Unsurprisingly, they will use any means necessary to protect what is theirs and send dozens of troops out to make the opposing base a whole lot flatter.

Apart from treating their army as their personal battering rams, they will fulfil a few worthwhile tasks for you on the battlefield. They will warn you as soon as an upgrade is completed, yell at you when your gold is running low or seethe with fury when their beautiful base is under siege.

As a fun extra, here's a shiny wallpaper featuring the Viking and Aztec leaders. Perfect for decorating your personal S&S fan shrines. It even comes in different size flavours!

But who is that dastardly figure in the middle? Only time will tell!

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Vikings, New Additions and Roasted Swine!

As the days are getting darker, and the temperatures colder, 12 brave souls march on to save Wiiware from evil puzzle games! Shields shall be shattered, spears shall be splintered, swine shall be roasted!

So... right now we're working really hard on getting all assets of the game together. A working menu, the campaign missions and all sorts of graphical tidbits are being introduced in the game, while old unit- and spellgfx get revised to be up to standard with how we want the game to look and feel. Things are going pretty fast right now as everyday there are cool new additions to the build we're running.

The best thing is: We still love to play the game ourselves! Playtests always are a lot of fun. My favorite faction right now is Vikings. It's always fun to brute-force-crush the insidious tactics the other two races can throw at me. The Vikings are also definitely the easiest faction to get into and the campaign will start off with them as the main story focus. Although the Vikings will allow for elaborate tactics, they always have the good ol' axe and a bad temper to rely on.

K, signing off, but not before I leave you with an all new screenie of the game, showcasing the freshly added Viking Warlord and devastating Aztec Statue: laser-eyes, pew pew! Expect more updates in the coming days! Skøll!

Instructional video!

To show everybody what Swords & Soldiers is all about, we created an instructional video. It basically shows you how to play the game, using some basic examples. Of course, the final game will contain lots more units and spells. And I'm sorry for all the fans, but the final game will not contain any stick figures.

The game itself is coming along nicely, the core gameplay and balace is nearly done! But there's still lots of work to be done. So, if you'll excuse us, we'll get back to work!

Two new interviews

Two new interviews I did for Swords and Soldiers:

Pewnem

1Up

Update on the status

Currently Joost, Maarten, Ted and Machiel are working on the port from pc to WiiWare. The game is already running on pc.

Gijs, Ralph, Olivier, Martijn and Marlies are making particles and visualisations for the campaign.

Myself, Jasper and Tom are building the campaign levels.

Tonight it's thursday so that means gamenight at Ronimo, probably some Rockband and pizza :)

The Ronimo Team

So let's introduce the team, from left to right: Joost, Marlies, Machiel, Jasper, Ralph (...The Ring?), Olivier, Fabian (the one sucking blood out of Olivier's neck, Martijn, Maarten, Tom, Ted and Gijs

De Blob is out!

As some of you might know most of our core team consists of guys who worked on the original PC version of de Blob (this version) And today is the day the new de Blob game came out for the Wii here in Holland! So we already checked it out in during lunch and we're very happy with the results. We would like to congratulate the Blue Tongue guys for handling our baby so incredibly well. And we're very grateful THQ took the time to really polish the game.

For us de Blob was a great project. We needed to build something of that scale to know if our team was ready to stand on its own after we graduated. The intial assignment was pretty baffling. An information centre at the heart of the Dutch city of Utrecht wanted a game. The station area of that city is going to be a construction mess for years to come, and they wanted us to put it into a more positive light. To show them how lively and green the city would be afterwards. And we thought it would be nice if people were able to make the future city lively themselves. So we made de Blob. And for us it was a great way to get some good grades and prove to ourselves we could do it. But then came THQ.

It was a bit of a shock, being mailed by THQ with their request to buy the rights from us. We knew the game was pretty fun but we never expected this to happen. It gave us a massive boost in starting our own studio. It delivered five us some personal money and our studio lots of very useful contacts. All of which helped us to deliver you Swords & Soldiers!

Opening Dev Blog on Swords and Soldiers

Hi Everyone,

The guys here at Ronimo thought it would be cool to make a blog on the development of Swords and Soldiers, because of all the positive reactions that we had. I'll try to keep you all up to date on the development!

For everyone who missed the first news on the game:

Homepage Swords and Soldiers

Interview WiiWare World

Interview Start Select