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!