gas-powered-games posts

Age of Empires Online is in the middle of its closed beta test at the moment but the development team at Gas Powered Games is already revealing more about what players can get when the online free-to-play RTS game launches later in 2011. In the latest video blog, we learn about one of the game's Booster Packs, Defense of Crete

This new gameplay mode is basically a tower defense game where you have to build up your forces and structures to defend your Wonder from an invading horde. This is a mode that you can play by yourself or you can team up with a buddy online to have him help you defend your wonder.

Age of Empires Online is the upcoming reboot of the classic PC RTS series. The game from developer Gas Powered Games and publisher Microsoft will officially launch later this year as a persistent free-to-play RTS game with a cartoony art style.

The game is currently in closed beta testing and now Big Download has 500 beta keys to give out to fans. Simply email us at contests@bigdownload.com with the subject line "Age of Empires Online". We will send players beta keys until they are all given out on our end. Our thanks to Microsoft for providing the beta keys. Good luck.

Two years ago this month, developer Gas Powered Games and publisher Stardock released Demigod, a fantasy action-RTS game that got hit with multiplayer issues that made the game unplayable online for several weeks. However the game has retained a dedicated following and sequel plans have been hinted at for a while.

In a recent forum post, Stardock CEO Brad Wardell told forum members, "It's time to start thinking about (Demigod's) future." He asked questions like, "For a Demigod expansion, what would you do in that?" and "For a Demigod sequel, what would you do in that?". In a later post on the same thread, Wardell states, "Stardock is trying to determine its next-generation game lineup. A Demigod sequel is one possibility."

He's a man. He's a big man with a big sword and a big shield. He's Lucas and he's one of the characters you will be controlling if you decide to check out Dungeon Siege III, the next game in the fantasy action-RPG series.

The newest trailer for the game shows off Lucas in full fighting action, using his big sword, his big shield and his big magic abilities to take a number of enemies all at once. The game from developer Obsidian Entertainment and publisher Square Enix is still schedule to swing its big virtual self to stores on May 31.

Download the Dungeon Siege III Lucas trailer at Big Download

Age of Empires Online's switchover in developers seems to be going smoothly enough. The upcoming free-to-play RTS game is now firming in developer Gas Powered Games' hands. In its second video blog for the game, its head man Chris Taylor and others are shown handling a brainstorming session.

While there's some info on the game itself, most notably its game balance features, there's also teleportation, air guitar playing on the conference table and some soccer (or futbol for your Europeans) playing with some interesting gameplay twists. We are not sure what this has to do with an historical RTS game but it's fun to watch anyway.

The game development world got a bit of a surprise late in February when it was revealed that Gas Powered Games was taking over as the primary developer of Age of Empires Online, the upcoming online free-to-play RTS game from Microsoft Games Studios.

So what does this mean for the game's development? Big Download went right to the source and got in touch with Gas Powered's founder and CEO Chris Taylor to find out more about how this switch came about, if the team will ever go back to its previously announced RTS game Kings and Castles and more.

When Gas Powered Games took over as the developer of Age of Empires Online we were happy that the upcoming free-to-play RTS game would be in good hands. At the same time we thought that this also meant that the entertaining video blogs that Gas Powered was making for their now "on hold" title Kings and Castles wouldn't be made anymore.

Thankfully we couldn't have been more wrong. Gas Powered and publisher Microsoft have started a new video blog that looks like it will be just as entertaining as those videos for Kings and Castles. It's got stufff just appearing out of nowhere, a funny confrontation and some gameplay from Age of Empires Online that ends in, well, just watch it yourself.

Age of Empires Online now has a new developer in Gas Powered Games. As revealed yesterday the team is taking over from Robot Entertainment to continue making the upcoming online and persistant RTS game from Microsoft. PC Gamer's web site has now posted an interview with Gas Powered's Chris Taylor on this suprising movie.

Taylor, who has been a huge fan of the original Age of Empires games, states that taking on this new project is a "tremendous responsibility, a scary responsibility in some regards because you've got a franchise that sold 25 million copies, so this is not something to take lightly." He also emphasised that Gas Powered is taking on this game for the long haul which is part of the reason why its previously announced RTS game Kings and Castles is now on hold. Taylor states, " ... we could come back to that game any time in the future, but right now it looks like we're going to be heavily invested in Age Online, and that's not a bad thing for anyone."

In a very suprising development, the official Age of Empires Online web site has announced that Gas Powered Games is now taking over as the developer of the upcoming free-to-play RTS game for publisher Microsoft Games Studios. Gas Powered Games takes over from Robot Entertainment who was announced as the developer for the game back in August 2010.

In a post on the game's official web site, Age of Empires Online's executive producer Danan Davis said that Gas Powered Games has been working on the title for some time to develop add-on packs for the game. He states that the switch over has been in the works for some time and Gas Powered and its leader Chris Taylor "share our long-term commitment to make this a success." The reasons for the switch from Robot Entertainment, which has a number of people who worked on the original Age of Empires RTS games, are pretty vague with Davis saying only, "Our previous development partner, Robot Entertainment, did amazing work on the game, and we wish them the best in their future projects."

You may remember that Taylor recently told us that Gas Powered's previously announced game, Kings and Castles, was now on hold and it's now clear that its takeover of Age of Empires Online's development was the reason. Davis states that even with this switch in developers the game is still scheduled to launch later in 2011.

Update: In a post on Robot Entertainment's message board, the developer's community manager assures fans that this switch was in the works for some time, saying, "This was always in the plan. We've even had some GPG guys down to the studio to get them trained up as far back as last fall. When we opened RE, our goal was to work on our own original games. We announced Orcs Must Die! this morning, and will have more info on future games relatively soon ;) "

Kings and Castles, the fantasy RTS game that was supposed to be the next project for developer Gas Powered Games, is now on hold, according to an email from Gas Powered's founder and CEO Chris Taylor to Big Download. When we emailed Taylor today asking for an update about the game he replied, "Well... We've put the project on hold for now, but the moment I know more I will let you know..." When we asked for more info he remained vague, telling us, "I can't go into those details just yet... let's call it a 'timing' thing..."

Gas Powered Games first announced Kings and Castles nearly a year ago and the developer did something unusual in order to promote it; it produced a weekly series of video blogs showing the team working on the game during its pre-production stage along with a big heap of comedy as well. In early October, the final video blog was issued with Taylor on camera saying that the videos would be taking a break while Kings and Castles moved into full production.