dungeon-hero posts

After working for the past couple of years on a game that later went on hold, developer Firefly Studios is going back to basics. The UK-based developer has now confirmed that it is developing Stronghold 3, the latest game in their long running historical RTS-sim game series.

Little info on the game itself has been released so far other than the fact that Southpeak Games will publish the title for release in spring 2011. Firefly's last major game project was supposed to be Dungeon Hero, a fantasy action-RPG. The game got a publishing deal with GameCock but Southpeak did not bring that game along to its lineup when it purchased GameCock in late 2008. A teaser web site for Stronghold 3 has launched with a simple yet effective animation.

We at Big Download, and the game industry at large, are always interested in seeing what Wired magazine will put into their annual Vaporware list. However, we have been greatly disappointed with the games and game related products that Wired has picked to be on the list in the past few years.

This year's list included StarCraft II at number one which we certainly agree with. However it also included the third episode of Penny Arcade Adventures which we think is a little unfair since two episodes were released last year. And putting Black Mesa, a Half-Life 2 mod that's been in development for several years, is very unfair since the folks behind it are doing it for fun, not for profit or even a deadline.

The truth is there are a lot of high profile games and game-related hardware projects that certainly fit the term "Vaporware" far better than Wired's article. We've decided to give our own Vaporware awards to put the spotlight on those games that were promised at one point for release in 2009 but have not only missed that deadline but have dropped off the the grid in terms of recent publicity and/or any firm new release dates (in StarCraft II's favor, its developer/publisher Blizzard has shown the game as playable at recent events like BlizzCon). We've picked 11 candidates for the award and also given a special mention to a game that, while it didn't have a 2009 release date, should have been out by now as well.

Click on the image above to continue reading Big Download's 2009 PC Game Vaporware Awards

UK-based Firefly Studios is best known for their best selling Stronghold series of castle-themed RTS games. Now the developer has announced plans to move into the MMO space with their newly announced game Stronghold Kingdoms.

A teaser site for the game has already launched with Firefly saying that players will interact with thousands of others "in a persistent medieval world". Players can build villages and castle, attack other castles and/or defend their own from invasion and make their own medieval lord. Who knows . . . you might event become King!. The game is scheduled for a 2010 release date but so far Firefly has not indicated if this will be a downloadable MMO or a retail game release.

Gamecock's purchase by Southpeak Games last fall resulted in several of Gamecock's upcoming games being brought into the Southpeak publishing line up. One former Gamecock game that hasn't been heard from lately is Dungeon Hero, the fantasy action-RPG from UK based Firefly Studios.

This week the developer's official web site finally posted up an update on the title admitting that the shutdown of Gamecock "created a number of challenges for us over the past weeks and months". Originally set for release sometime this spring, Dungeon Hero's release has now been delayed. The update didn't provide a new release date and failed to state if the game has found a publisher. It did state that Firefly has "a couple of exciting projects built around the Dungeon Hero universe that we will be talking about soon".

And for those of you waiting for an revival of Firefly's multi-million selling RTS game series Stronghold, there's good news as well. The update states, " . . . we are moving up a gear on the production of the next game in the Stronghold series."

[Via Joystiq]

One of the game industry's more interesting publishers (both in games and in their marketing) has decided to give up at least part of their independence. The Austin-based Gamecock Media Group, formed largely by the founders of the original Gathering of Developers, has now been acquired by Southpeak Interactive. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.

Officially announced in early 2007, Gamecock generated a lot of attention thanks in part to its over-the-top marketing and promotion, including parties and press events that were different than the norm (including a "funeral" for the old E3 format). The games, however, have so far met with mixed responses from both critics and sales (and one game, the PC MMO title Fury, was an unmitigated disaster as it shut down only a few months after its release). Two upcoming Gamecock titles, Mushroom Men and Legendary, are still due out this fall with Velvet Assassin due out in early 2009. The press release did not mention what will happen to Gamecock's other announced titles (Dungeon Hero, Section 8 and the unnamed action game from Croteam)

Did you ever have a nightmare where you were being chased by a monster? The folks at Firefly Studios have and some of their new screenshots for their upcoming action-RPG Dungeon Hero show some very scary monsters indeed.

Due out in early 2008 via publisher Gamecock, Dungeon Hero is aiming to be a slightly more realistic and gritty look at the genre than you might have seen in previous games of its type, with more of a "living world" aspect rather than just a place to collect loot.. We will be getting a hands-on look at a new build of Dungeon Hero at Gamecock's hotel meeting room event during E3 this week. In the meantime we hope you sleep well tonight.