I am quite pleased with what appeared in our downloads section in April/May. Some relatively new mapmakers are showing some stunning maps and we have some more familiar faces taking on the gauntlet as well.

Lords of Lura-Khas by Unnapu is a medium sized map which is well tested in the pbem forums before its release. It features three playable wizards and this makes the map quite the special commodity! There is a great story in it as well, truly a labour of love!

Wizards Folly by Low_K. This name should be sounding familiar by now, and especially after this HUGE map. Everything is well done, and it should stand for an endless amount of playing time and an epic experience. Already people have started a pbem game on it with 8 players: here

Family Feud - Blood Brothers by iBobs is probably one of the long awaited mega large masterpieces. The first installment called family feud received over 2500 downloads and brought the single player experience to the next level! This map is an absolute MUST if you like single player maps. Check out the making of... series in the scenario design section because iBobs has submitted there as well -> here

Brothers and sisters by Mentork seems more like an interesting multiplayer map with a unique type of balancing. A large emphasis on naval battle as well, so give it a sail if you can!

Dreaming Tale by Dreaming is exceptionally skilled. His previous, larger, map blew me away and this little gem certainly is no different. The author's skills with the editor and terrain design are among the best I have seen.

Spring has barely started and already there is enough to get us through summer!

I have started an initiative in the Scenario Design section which has received a lot of positive reactions.

Its called The making of..., and I hope that many more designers of scenarios will follow! I think we often forget how creative and interesting the process of making a map can be. Its a journey with lots of frustrations and tricky choices. I am sure we all have our favourite maps, and wouldn't it be nice to learn a bit more about how they were created?

So, if you are a mapmaker, please join in, and those interested in your map can find a place to read up on its background and process of creation. If you would like to see a 'Making of...' of a particular map, please post it in the main thread of the series (see below), and who knows... perhaps the author will check it out!
BerenV had a great suggestion that modders could do the same!

Go check it out here!

It all started on a quiet day more than 2 years back! A huge tournament was organized, pulling in many of the biggest names in the PBEM Ladder; the Prize - the much coveted Single Champion Title!

After a grueling round of 80 matches, eight players won their way into the final reckoning for the Title. The finals were scheduled on a modified Elf vs Elf map from King David and the contestants - Swolte (defeating Torso and Henrysix) and Costa (defeating Rorschach and Kraka-Tur)

With so much at stake, both players took time formulating strategies and plans of attack and when the game started, it was amid a furious maelstorm of speculation - does Swolte, a former champion, still have what it takes to wear the Crown? or will Costa, who has proved his strategic superiority in so many games, emerge the victor?

When the dust settled, scores of heroes lay dead...and Swolte stood victorious! Congratulations Swolte and may the challenges come forth in earnest now!
You can head over here to congratulate the new Champ!

Captain Kirky is back! It turns out that the reason he hadn't been frequenting the forums the past few months was because he was working on a brand new release of Brave New World!! And what a release it is!

Hordes of new heroes, all with beautiful graphics, excellently crafted animations and their own stories; droves of new units, some with interesting upgrade paths; racial ships, new map structures...the list goes on and on. With Kirky's attention to detail and his expertise in mod-making, BNW 3.0 is a whole new game, a complete TC for Shadow Magic!



The best feature in BNW 3.0? Well, everything!! One of the most thoughtful additions, though, is the ability to play any existing map without loading/saving in the editor and without any errors! That is a boon to the SP folks.

You can get the mod here or here, via Pando

Head over here to join the discussion about the BNW 3.0 Beta.

So, yeah... this week not the traditional sadistic April fools joke from your Seraph but instead a nicer surprise that is here to stay!

Finally, a much wanted feature, the avatar, has been introduced at Heavengames!


It's very easy to activate the avatar. All you need to do is find/make a .jpg, or .gif picture (any size!) and go to Gravatar.com. Once there, you can sign up using the email address you use for heavengames, upload the image (crop it to any section you like) and wait a few minutes (or when cache is refreshed) for the image to show up.
Do note that only G or PG rated images are allowed.

You can ask any questions here!

For many years an active and mighty player of Age of Wonders (yes the original) has been absent… well… not exactly absent but on a long sabbatical… something about building up Heaven Games, making all the Heavens grow, legal mumbo jumbo, hob nobbing with the owners, yada, yada, yada, yada. Oh, by the way his name is none other than “Draco”. Yes, that’s him, the mighty Angel Draco!

Draco has teamed up with Enginerd in a 2 vs. 2 team match against CrazySlyHawk and Balak of Thorn. They will be playing a game on the map called “The Apprentice III – Deluxe Version” . In the theme of Donald Trump’s show we are about to find out if Draco can become the next “Apprentice” (turn logs here)

Welcome Back Draco!

(and we are still in!!)

"After the ninja incident, Zen was amused again. He sent our bruised forummers to hospital to receive medical attention. Many had severe wounds but spirits were high.
That was until everyone realized it was an NHS hospital! The forummers were thrown onto trolleys and left to rot. There was only one nurse in the ward and she couldn't be bothered to help anyone because she was bored. The forummers decided that half of them would have to die to amuse the nurse, while the others got their health care. They decided that another ferris wheel type game was in order.

Link:
http://www.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=1,336012,0,10


Thanks and sorry for the confusion,
Yeebaagooon"

Gary Gygax, one of the founding fathers of Dungeons and Dragons has passed away today. He was a driving force behind the popularity of Dungeons and Dragons and we can still feel its influence today, especially in the gaming industry. Over 20 million people are estimated to play D&D now. I know from my own experience that some our TS developers are fervent D&D players. Undoubtedly, Age of Wonders wouldn't have been the same.






Tim Kask, also known as Kaskoid on our forums, and one of the first TSR employees, has written a beautiful eulogy in honor to a man who has meant a lot for these worlds that are inspiring us today. Check it out here

"SOLO: Essays and Commentary on the Art of the Single Player Game" debuts at HeavenGames! This new, semi-regular column on the art and theory of designing single player games will highlight important issues in the development of games, asking challenging questions about the nature of gaming, whether games will ever meet the criteria for art, and offering practical pointers on how the best single player experiences are created by designers.

SOLO is written by Gordon Farrell, a long-time professional designer of single player campaigns for AAA games such as Empire Earth and Empires: Dawn of the Modern World. In addition, he has worked on strategy titles such as Caesar IV, Children of the Nile and BreakAway Games' Middle Eastern city builder, Arabian Lords. He is currently Lead Writer for Reverie World Studios' first game, Dawn of Fantasy, due for release in Fall 2008.

HGS regulars will recognize Gordon's work as a staple of our download sections, from games as diverse as Age of Empires and Caesar 3, to both Stronghold 1, Stronghold 2 and Age of Kings. In addition to his HGS mods, he has highly-rated Civilization 4 mods uploaded at CivFanatics as well.

Gordon is on the faculty of New York University, where he teaches narrative theory for video games, theory of screenwriting, and advanced studies in dramatic art. He also lectures at Marymount Manhattan College in video games, script analysis, and theatre history. In 2002, Prima Games published his essay, "The Theory of Scenario Design." His extensive professional and academic experience promises an exciting column filled with commentary on the art of games that will be both controversial and thought-provoking.

Our magician from Kiel has started another project for you german speaking mapmakers out there. Its called 'Project Germany' and the idea is to recreate Germany in an AoW-map! If you enjoy mapmaking, and liking to work in a team this might be of interest to you.

You can sign up and learn all about it here!!

It has already begun, but I was told that there is room to join!