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Gloria Victis plays host to Santa
Over this past weekend, Santa Claus had the opportunity to visit the in-the-making Gloria Victis and delight testers. In the newest pre-alpha patch, Santa appeared on Stoneholm Island and regaled listeners with his... rather unusual adventures. The patch also implemented a new gathering system, animations for said gathering, added in a few new locations, and buffed bow-and-arrow attacks. The team also had a special message for the game's supporters: "Thanks to all of you who put your trust in ourselves. You gave us the chance to continuously create the project of our dreams. You are our everyday Santa Clauses and support the Gloria Victis developing in any possible way." [Thanks to Chrysillis for the tip!]
Gloria Victis is all up in your beeswax
In yesterday's pre-alpha patch, Gloria Victis shattered all sense of boundaries and decided that it was going to make your beeswax its business. Yes indeed, we are finally living in an era when beeswax has been added to beehives in an MMO, and life will never be the same again. (Actually, my editor informs me that Ultima Online has that as well because it has everything.) Other changes with the patch included global buffs for capture-the-flag winners, cattle horns as "by-products of [the] animal skinning process," a buff to gear durability, a higher change to get weapon drops from humans, and a rework of the mob spawning system.
Gloria Victis pre-alpha patch adds weather system
While it's still very much a work in progress, a weather system (with clouds!) has come to Gloria Victis with the advent of pre-alpha patch v.0.1.1. The new patch isn't solely about additions that make Weather Channel fans geek out, of course. The title added an item decay and repair system, updated the world map, included more music, improved mob AI, and further optimized performance. Still, if gorgeous sunsets and foggy days are the sort of eye candy that gets you excited about an MMO, the weather may be the biggest addition yet to Gloria Victis.
Gloria Victis implements dialogues and other improvements
The Gloria Victis pre-alpha is getting a bit more chatty today with the implementation of the dialogue system in the most recent update. Said update also contains the first implementation of bow-wielding NPCs defending cities, the addition of buff and debuff descriptions, and various bugfixes and improvements -- all good things unless you try to open a dialogue with a bow-wielding NPC and get an arrow in response. The design team promises that this is just the beginning of major changes, however, with the next patch slated to add the first pass of the questing system into the game. Territory capture mechanics are also coming, allowing an entire nation to benefit from captured lands. So onlookers can enjoy a more robust rollout in the coming weeks as the game adds more features in.
Gloria Victis gets the greenlight on Steam
We all know a green light means go, and the community has told Black Eye Games to keep right on going developing Gloria Victis; the independent project has been officially Greenlit on Steam. Not only did the community vote in support of the project, it did so overwhelmingly, taking the medieval game to rank #1 in under two days. The devs noted that the next step is to complete the necessary digital paperwork and work toward an early-access launch. However, since they'd like Gloria Victis to be in a more playable state before early access, players shouldn't expect to see it on Steam for a few months yet. For those who have supported the game through donations, an option to tie accounts to Steam will be available at a later date. [Thanks to Alleomurand for the tip!]
Gloria Victis needs your Steam votes
After its first day on Steam Greenlight, Gloria Victis is already in the top 100 and is hoping for an even better showing. Black Eye Games is heavily promoting the indie medieval MMO as it goes through the Greenlight gauntlet with the eventual goal of being offered through Steam's digital platform. Steam users can choose whether or not to vote for Gloria Victis to be greenlit. Currently the game is in pre-alpha testing with regular patches and expects to lift its NDA in the next few weeks. Gloria Victis features sandbox crafting, plenty of PvP, non-targeted combat, a feudal social system, and a harsh world. Its storyline is being written by The Witcher's Jacek Komuda and Maciej Jurewicz.
Gloria Victis rebuilds animations and database as alpha approaches
Updates on Gloria Victis have been sparse recently, but according to the development team, that's because a lot of behind-the-scenes work has been getting done. The team has just finished polishing off two major projects, starting with a complete rework of the game's database structure to allow for easier updates and improvements. The downside is that it doesn't make much difference in play; the upside is that it will allow the team to easily change and update the game with less futzing about. Black Eye Games has also reworked the animations for combat as well as the mechanics, and different sorts of weapon will now interact with armor in a more realistic fashion. The team is working on a video to show off the improvements, though it's not quite ready yet. It's a bit of an invisible update, but it means that development is still continuing, and when the game finally launches into alpha testing it should be that much more engaging. [Source: Black Eye Games press release]
Gloria Victis launches new website with latest info
Fans following the medieval MMO Gloria Victis now have a new website to peruse; Black Eye Games has announced that after many revisions, the new site is ready and filled with new concepts and game lore. Want to learn about the combat and equipment or the various nations and the geography? Now you can. For those who want to contribute to the development of the game, the new website makes it easier by utilizing the Xsolla, a complex international payment system that offers hundreds of payment methods including SMS payments. Those who have already donated as well as those who choose to do so now will be eligible for future thank-you gift packs that include such things as a custom-drawn coat of arms and your name carved on plaques and gravestones that all appear in the game. More information can be found on the new official site. [Source: Black Eye Games press release]
Gloria Victis updates animation tech, hires famous writers
We first heard of Gloria Victis during last year's unsuccessful Kickstarter campaign, but the medieval MMO has grown by leaps and bounds since then. The most recent update provides news on a reworked database, Warband creation, mo-cap animations, and the addition of three well-known writers for the game's lore. Jacek Komuda and Maciej Jurewicz have both worked on The Witcher and Bulletstorm, as well as dozens of other published works. Their "gritty, bloody, dark" style will show through in the game's storyline and the team at Black Eye Games hopes to show off a few lines for fans soon. [Source: Black Eye Games press release]
Gloria Victis shows off latest update in screenshots
The last Gloria Victis update expanded the landmass for adventuring. And now the newest update makes that land more interactive than ever. Not only can players harvest crops (including picking mushrooms), but they can also use doors, gates, and levers -- actions that will be integral to utilizing castle traps and siege machines. There are also revamps to structures and character creation. You can get the full scoop on the forums. In addition, the new website -- with more in-depth information about crafting, lore, combat, and nations -- is almost complete. A teaser for the site is seen above, and the new screenshots of the game are in the gallery below. [Thanks to Liting Zhu for the tip!]
Gloria Victis doubles playable land area in August update
The fantasy MMO Gloria Victis has released notes on a new pre-alpha update last week that not only doubled the land area for players to explore, but also added a new town that most fans of the game have been anticipating. Aside from sound and game performance improvements, the team at Black Eye Games says the focus for August will be polishing mechanics rather than developing new content. And if you have an itch to be a virtual star, the team is looking for in-game actors for the game's upcoming promotional videos. Be sure to check out the gallery of nine new images below and head on over to the forums for info on the update.%Gallery-188901%
Gloria Victis releases its first pre-alpha trailer
Gloria Victis has been slowly unveiling new bits of information to fans, mostly focusing on screenshots. But screenshots don't show the world in motion, which is kind of a big deal -- a game can look wonderful in stills but move stiffly, or it can look nice in motion and be boring in static pictures. So fans should be quite happy to see the first trailer from the game showing off four minutes of gameplay, UI, and animations. If you haven't been interested in Gloria Victis before now, you still might want to take a look at the trailer, since it's narrated with an explanation of the game's design principles and overall goals. It's definitely meant to be more on the low fantasy end of the scale, focusing on freeform attacks and player skill over gear progression and the like. If that sounds like your thing, take a look past the break and check out the full trailer. [Thanks to Liting for the tip!]
Gloria Victis pre-alpha screens show forest updates
Black Eye Games updated its Gloria Victis Facebook page over the weekend. The occasion was a pre-alpha feature push that saw plenty of new stuff make its way into the fledgling sandbox. "The forest is now filled with life," the post says, including boars, foxes, wolves, and plenty of raw gatherables like bark, timber, hops, flax, and sunflowers. Black Eye has also enlarged the game world proper and added humanoid mobs. There are screens of all this stuff and more behind the links below. You'll also find some Massively-exclusive screens behind the break. [Thanks to everyone who tipped us!]
Gloria Victis teases with more screenshots, talk of alpha two
Black Eye Games' brand-spanking-new MMO Gloria Vicitis is promising a lot; realistic weather effects, day and night cycles, and NPCs that don't just stand there are all on the game's agenda. Although an original attempt to crowdfund the game was unsuccessful, it looks as if the team isn't giving up as testing marches on. Only a small number of testers are currently in the pre-alpha test; test number two is apparently not far beyond the horizon. The developers are also opening up crowd-funding to increase server capacity for even more testers. The studio is calling its game "paradigm breaking" and "realistic," which seem like pretty heavy words, but a new batch of pre-alpha screenshots does hint at its potential. What do you think? %Gallery-184960%
Gloria Victis forecasts realistic weather system
If you need a reason to check out and possibly support indie MMO Gloria Victis, Black Eye Games hopes to tempt you with realistic weather. Actually, it's more than that; the team dubs it the Seasons system. The idea behind this system is that the game will change seasons, lighting, and weather on a regular basis, and these conditions will affect combat and strategic planning. Movement will be hampered by rain, for instance, and visibility by fog and blizzards. In addition, some NPCs will change their activities based on the weather, and some mobs will only come out in the daytime or nighttime. The team also reports that it's completed a "major overhaul" of its animations. Gloria Victis is still seeking crowdsourcing capital and is nearing pre-alpha stats. [Source: Black Eye Games press release]
Gloria Victis hits Kickstarter
Black Eye Games is an indie studio trying to bring MMOs back to the Dark Ages, and the team needs your help to do that. The team has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund Gloria Victis, an MMORPG that harkens back to the good old days of gaming. The listed perks of Gloria Victis include a combat system that steers away from lazy targeting and homing projectiles; magic that is reserved for elite skills rather than handed out to every character upon birth; historically accurate medieval weaponry and armor; and a classless system that allows for unrestricted character development. The game will be free-to-play with a cash shop that provides only cosmetic and quality of life goods. Check out the game's Kickstarter to get better acquainted with its development direction.
