ace-team-software posts

Rock of Ages' premise is both original and fun, something which games can have one or the other but rarely both. This week the development crew at ACE Team posted up its first blog about the "rolling a boulder through different art periods" title with a look at how they tried to balance the 2D and 3D art together.

The blog shows off a couple of the team's attempts at solving the 2D issue including one where it used sprite art to convey a 2D figure in 3D space. It's, well, kind of creepy and we are personally glad that ACE Team abandoned it. In the end the team decided to make the objects that affects the rock's movement in the game 3D and make everything else 2D. We just can't wait to push that rock down a medieval painting when it's due out in 2011.

2009's release of developer ACE Team's weird first person shooter Zeno Clash was one of the highlights of the PC indie scene last year. While the team has already said it's working on a Zeno Clash sequel it looks like the next game to be released from the team will be something totally different.

In its E3 2010 game line-up Atlus revealed it would publish Rock of Ages from ACE Team. There's still no word on what kind of a game it will be or when it will be coming out but we are going to take a shot in the dark and predict it will not be a game adaptation of the recent Broadway 80s's hard rock-themed musical.

[Via Joystiq]

ACE Team promised extra free content would be released for their recent and acclaimed first person action game Zeno Clash and today the company revealed plans for a three level challenge pack called The Pit. The levels will be released sometime this weekend. According to a press release, ". . . gravity is the enemy and taking a wrong step can be fatal. Destructible floors and traps await the skilled who want to reach the bottom of the pit alive."

ACE Team will also cut the price of Zeno Clash by 50 percent this weekend in suport of the new downloadable levels. You can check out a YouTube video showing gameplay from The Pit levels after the jump.

Gallery: Zeno Clash

Valve's Steam service has an interesting and different game discount deal today. The word is that the upcoming Source Engine based first person action-melee game Zeno Clash from developer Ace Team will be released via Steam on April 21. However, if you pre-order the game on Steam right now you will be able to purchase the title for just $9.99.

That price is 50 percent off its normal $19.99 amount. And there's one more catch: the $9.99 discount is only in effect until 3 pm EST on Friday. After that the game will be sold at a 25 percent discount on Steam until its April 21 release.

When you first play a game you are always looking for something in it that's new. Something that's different. Many games promote themselves as original. Most of the time, their "original" ideas are just slight variations on the tried and true ("It's a first person shooter but the gun fires lasers instead of bullets! Cool, huh?")

And then there is Zeno Clash.

This independently made Source Engine game from Chile-based ACE Team is really trying something new and original. It's a first person action game that does have shooting in it but instead of a run-and-gun FPS you actually have to use your noggin in order to get the best out of it. Oh, and it has an art style that is, without a doubt, different than any other game of its type. Ever.

Oh sure, you could try to compare the visuals to other titles like the Oddworld series or some other game that has a more organic feel to it. The truth, however, is that you have never seen a game like Zeno Clash before. Its mix of primitive native art combined with a fantasy feel makes you sit up and take notice, and perhaps check to see where your bottle of Mad Dog 20 20 is.

Last month we marveled at the weirdness of Zeno Clash, an upcoming Source engine powered PC fighting game from Chile based ACE Team Software. But apparently that's not the half of it. Today the game's PR folks sent over some new (and yes, weird) screenshots from the game and some new details on the game's storyline and gameplay.

See that creature in the screenshot above? That's the game's "hermaphrodite creature called Father-Mother" and is also your mom-dad's player character in Zeno Clash. That character, named Ghat, has to escape his family with a lady named Deadra to explore the game world of Zenozoik. Zeno Clash will feature your Ghat going up against a variety of enemies and fighting back using "deflect & elude combos, knockback finisher punches and punishing grab attacks." There's also weapons to use that are made via scrap and junk found in the game including "dual wielding guns, a musket, skull bombs and more."

Zeno Clash will be released via Valve's Steam service in the first quarter of 2009; the game is still looking for a retail publisher.

You may have never heard of Zeno Clash; this first person fighting-action game from Chile based ACE Team Software was first revealed in 2007 without much notice. The game, using Valve's Source Engine, has some of the wildest looking art styles we have ever seen in any game, anywhere. That alone makes us interested.'

Unfortunately we got word today from the developers that the planned release of Zeno Clash has been pushed back from this year to February 2009. The note on the game's official web site indicated that ACE Team simply wanted some more time to polish Zeno Clash. The team is also submitting the game to the Independent Games Festival this year. We just hope the game is as wild and fun as its visuals.