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Turbine brings back LotRO horse design contest
If you've ever fantasized about forming up amidst a massive host of horsemen, shouting "death!" at the top of your lungs, and charging across the Pelennor Fields to trample some orc filth beneath your hooves, well, Lord of the Rings Online isn't (yet) the game for you. That said, if Turbine's Tolkien treatment is lacking in the Rohirrim department, it doesn't lack for cool contests like the latest edition of the Design a Horse competition. One winning player design will make it into the live game in the form of a special mount to be given away at 2011's PAX East convention, and Turbine has provided a template as well as a set of entry instructions on its official LotRO website. The news blurb also features a few examples of existing in-game equestrian skins, so don't delay in submitting your work for consideration. The fate of Gondor depends on it!
Wasteland Diaries: Wasteland travel guide
Fallen Earth takes place in a vast wasteland. There are a lot of distances involved that you definitely don't want to traverse on foot. That's where mounts come in. "Mounts" are a bit of a misnomer however, because Fallen Earth also has vehicles. I like to refer to them collectively as "go-fasters." But, whatever you call them, they are a necessity. Each mount is classified by its type: either cargo, combat or alternate fuel. Each fulfills its particular role better than the other types at a sacrifice in the other roles. Read on to learn more about pros and cons of each type.
PAX 2009: Turbine tells us all about Siege of Mirkwood part 2
Basically, Turbine is doing everything they can to make these just as fun on the hundredth time as they are on the first. There are limitations to how often you can do some of them, because Turbine doesn't want them to become too grindy. The first time you summon your horse after getting Siege of Mirkwood, the game will prompt you to turn it into a skill.
Has LotRO's next expansion been named?
Kill Ten Rats has uncovered a rather interesting website, called Riders of Rohan. Curiously, this website doesn't actually go to any place new -- it simply redirects to the official Lord of the Rings Online site. So this of course begs the question, will the next expansion (presumably this year's) be centered on Rohan and its lands? Will Lord of the Rings Online players be tromping around the Riddermark within the next twelve months?It seems rather plausible given the Volume 2, Book 7 update's location, but of course there's no official word just yet. Still, that won't stop us from imagining up mounted combat as Horse Lords and massive armies marching onto the steps of Helm's Deep as we valiantly defend her gates from dark forces.
LotRO's Yule Festival has begun!
The Town Crier is going to be busy these next few weeks as the Yule Festival has officially arrived in Lord of the Rings Online. These winter festivities include contests similar to those at other seasonal events in each of the starting zones: The Shire, Bree, Duillond and Thorin's Hall. There's a return of token collecting, gift boxes, the Inn League and more!In addition, we have a new horse for Yulemath, as shown in the screenshot above. You can certainly expect a complete guide to the Yule Festival coming very soon from us at Massively, but in the meantime, be sure to check out the official forums as players uncover more in-game goodies!
Turbine: Horsemanship to become "important" when LotRO reaches Rohan
Alright, it's time for that gaming industry tradition of speculation based on vague quotes from developers! In an interview with Ten Ton Hammer, The Lord of the Rings Online executive producer Jeffrey Steefel spoke about future updates to the game, saying that the best is yet to come because now that Turbine has moved into Moria, the really interesting and fully-fleshed-out stuff from Tolkien's source material is only a few steps away.Among those interesting things is the land of Rohan, which fans of the books and movies will remember is a kingdom that prides itself on breeding and grooming the finest horses in Middle-earth. Steefel went on to say: "When we get to Rohan, does horsemanship become important? Yeah! Us and our horses would be strung up if we got to Rohan someday and didn't pay attention to horses. And it's just a matter of when."Mounts in LotRO have admittedly always been a bit basic (but in a good way!), so this could mean any number of things, but perhaps the most exciting possibility would be Age of Conan-esque mounted combat. Go ahead and meditate on that for a bit, and read the interview for a few more vague quotes about the future of LotRO and the company's console plans if you feel compelled.
G1 Jockey gallops aboard Balance Board bandwagon
We're not vain people who fret about occasionally looking silly (a quick peek inside our wardrobes would more or less confirm this), so stretching, swiveling and gurning on the Balance Board in front of others was never a huge deal for us.However, our indifferent attitude might yet be tested by G1 Jockey. Koei announced today that its horsey sim would also utilize the Balance Board, allowing players to adjust the position of their on-screen jockey as they "whip" their invisible steeds with the Wiimote. Picture somebody playing that game for a moment; doesn't it sound just a little too ridiculous? Apparently not. "Assuming a jockey crouch and powering to victory should brighten up even the longest of faces," lies the press release.Fortunately for us, we are just about vain enough not to be seen in public purchasing a copy of G1 Jockey.%Gallery-25251%[Via press release]
Sneak a peek at AoC's test server patch notes
Curse.com has posted a list of patch notes from Age of Conan's test server, which will likely go live in one of this coming week's scheduled downtime slots. You will notice that stat gains from equipment will finally be functioning correctly, and it's going to be interesting to see just how much of a difference this will make to the strength of each class.The patch notes also feature another round of class tweaks, notably some buffs for Dark Templars and damage changes for Priests of Mitra. Confusingly, Bear Shamans will be getting improved Wreck Armor combo visuals and sounds -- however, this is a Barbarian combo, so is this change actually for Barbs or did they mean the BS combo Crush Armor? Other really good things: lower level mobs will knock you off your mount a lot less (although higher mobs will do it more) and attackers at your sides will have half the chance of knocking you off -- attackers from the front will never knock you off. Finally, player cities will be able to get their Trader NPC at last. Take a look through the full patch notes for some other changes, including quest and item fixes, and perhaps start speculating on what changes will be left off the list this time.
Updated LotRO stable route travel chart
With gas prices skyrocketing through the roof these days, it's nice to know we have other options in store. Luckily, there is no war over horses in Middle-earth, so the price of travel tends to stay consistent. But when it does change, TheBrasse.com is here to help keep us informed of the changes.In the latest, most updated stable route chart, you can see the exact routes from stable to stable, as well as the price in silver and minimum level requirements for each one. This chart includes the latest from the Evendim update. Each route is also color-coded for regular overland travel, swift travel and there's a separate section for the Ettenmoors PvP travel. So next time you're scraping together some loose change for gas money, think of the horses!
How Age of Conan mo-capped their horse mounts
MTV Multiplayer's Tracey John is their resident MMO expert, and today on the site she has a great post up discussing Age of Conan. Instead of the usual filler about PvP or the game's graphics, though, Tracey tossed a question to AoC Product Director Jorgen Tharaldsen about their mo-cap process. As we've previously discussed, one of Conan's back-of-the-box features is mounted combat. In order to get the realistic movement required for that sort of intricate system, Funcom used traditional motion capture processes on distinctly non-traditional subjects: horses.Tharaldsen responded to Tracey's query with several pictures taken at the session, and a few quick words about the individuals who did it for them. It seems, somewhere in England, there is an entire stable and stadium set up just for this sort of work. The submitted images also show the mo-cap transition process, moving the data to a final product state. If you haven't seen pictures of horses taped up with ping pong balls today, make sure to check it out. Then read on below the cut for a demo video of mounted combat, taken at this year's GDC event.
LotRO patch notes for Tuesday, February 19th
Several quick -- but arguably important -- fixes went out today for Lord of the Rings Online. A couple Book 12 quest fixes were implemented, one of them addressing a potentially annoying respawn issue. In Book 12, Chapter 5, Lozudurkh will now show up if a player in need of a key is nearby. Also, the LotRO team has locked the final phase of the quest chain "Seven Swords" -- but only temporarily. The quest was meant to be completed with a group and was apparently behaving like a solo quest instead.Aside from those two changes, there are some more minor changes -- such as fixing the value of the Bree-horse and Bree-pony from multiple silvers to just a few coppers. We're always for saving some silver, you know.
And the greatest video game horse is ...
MTV Multiplayer has been on a quest recently to find the very best video game animal, and they've begun with man's best ... non-mechanical mode of transportation, the horse. Now a panel of experts, that included 2K Boston's Ken Levine and Penny Arcade's Mike "Gabe" Krahulik, are back with their decision: Epona, Link's trusty steed in several Legend of Zelda games.But controversy is a-brewin' dear reader. For while the esteemed panel chose Epona, the readers have selected Agro of Shadow of the Colossus fame. Which one will go on to do battle with the other members of the animal kingdom? We're sure the competitors wait with baited, oat-scented breath to learn.
Off the Grid reviews Horse Fair Card Game
Every other week Scott Jon Siegel contributes Off the Grid, a column about card games, board games, and everything else non-digital.We're not supposed to judge books by their covers, and the same can logically be applied to games. We are, however, supposed to judge books by their content -- the story, the writing, and everything else that falls between the first and last pages -- and here is where games are slightly different. While sharp writing, or a good story can often strengthen a non-digital game, ultimately it's the design that determines whether it's any good.So yes, Custom Game Co's Horse Fair Card Game has a pretty bland cover. And yes, the story is pretty much explained by the title. And yes, it does come with plastic horsies. But the only thing that really matters is the gameplay, and there Horse Fair Card Game proves that it's a lot more than just a game for little girls.
Mounted combat in Age of Conan (and Warhammer, too?)
Keen on Keen and Graev points out an interesting announced feature of Age of Conan: mounted combat. Yup, Funcom is going to put people on all kinds of different mounts (horses, rhinos, and even a wooly mammoth, seen above), and pit them against each other in PvP. And each mount will not only have its own stats (in terms of defense, HP, and manuverability), but players will able to customize their mounts (as, I'd guess on the spiked tusks above). Wild.So, wonders someone on the Warhammer Online forums, will WAR do the same thing? Developer Marc Jacobs doesn't exactly say "no," but he does say that they promise nothing-- mounted combat is tough to get right, and Mythic isn't overextending any promises if they can manage it. Fair enough.But wow, if AoC does everything awesome that Funcom says it will, we might have a real bit of competition on our hands. Massively will have lots more on AoC tomorrow-- stay tuned for some exclusive coverage of what might be one of the best MMOs of 2008.
Farming fun without the cow patties
Harvest Moon Heroes producer Yoshifumi Hashimoto posits that a farming sim is far more entertaining than actual farming, and we're forced to agree -- unless you're one of those freaks who actually enjoys yard work and such. However, if you want to get close to the real thing without breaking a sweat or sliding around in the byproducts of pork futures, then the Wii version of the long-running Harvest Moon franchise is just what you need. In designing the latest installment in the series, Hashimoto says they worked to walk a fine line between work and play. After all, if the game is too much like work, then why play? Why not trundle into the backyard, shovel in one hand and spade in the other, and make your own garden? Harvest Moon Heroes works to get as close to that as possible, albeit without the added bonus of fresh tomatoes or peppers. But it sounds like the game will be a perfect illustration of the Wii's ability to translate the gaming experience into reality, or at least a semblance thereof. Sounds like a sign a great things to come.
