The Chronicles of Spellborn Newsletter, 19 January 2006 Issue 3
 

Welcome to the third issue of The Chronicles of Spellborn newsletter! You have received this email because you have signed up for it on the TCoS website.  Newsletters arrive every two to three weeks and serve to update you on the development and Beta test progress, community news, and other information related to TCoS.  In addition, some of you may have had a friend send you this Newsletter.  If you would like to receive future copies, please register on our website.

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CM Notes
The third edition of the TCoS Newsletter is being brought to you already.  It seems like no time has passed since issue two, but that is already three weeks ago.  My how time flies when you're "having fun" . . .
 
We've entered the New Year and been intensely focused on continuing to develop the game.  We've had some progress, some setbacks, and some general weirdness.  In short, all you'd expect from testing a game!  The team has been busy with a variety of new things in the meantime, such as working on the voice recordings which will be implemented in TCoS.
 
We've got a new exclusive interview, the announcement of our Recognized Fansite Program, current Beta news, and much more.  So sit back, relax, and read a bit about what's been going on in our world!

- Mathew “Corwynn Maelstrom” Reuther, Community Manager for The Chronicles of Spellborn. 

  

Beta test update
There are around 700 testers working on getting TCoS ready for public consumption at this point.  Some of those folks have been around for almost two months now, while a great number of them have only been in for the past week or two.  The mix of testers is proving enourmously useful, and the issues we've had reported have helped a great deal.  In many cases we've been suprised at the issues uncovered by the dilligent work of these fearless volunteers.

Testing isn't always fun and games, and certainly not in a Beta which has focused very heavily on underlying code, but there has been a bit of time to have fun indeed.  Recently the Beta participants organized the very first tournament in which (classified) individuals (classified) against (classified) (classified) for the honor of being named (classified) champion!  (Just kidding, the very first PvP tournament was held last weekend.)  The lucky winner of the contest was xarr, who will be
receiving a nice prize with compliments of the TCoS team.  (And we didn't even tell
them we'd be awarding prizes . . . sneaky sneaky.)


Interview with Chris Evenhuis, all round artist for The Chronicles of Spellborn.
Continuing last month’s effort in giving you newsletter readers some exclusive looks behind the scene in creating The Chronicles of Spellborn, we sat down with Chris Evenhuis. Chris is an all round artist specializing in creature design and concept, texture and promo art.

Chris, can you tell us a bit more about yourself and your background?
Hi, I am Chris Evenhuis, 27 years old and a major in Environmental Science and Biology. I have a background in design, illustrations and comic art. My comics are mostly horror/fantasy oriented and contain psychological elements. My last published comic was The Darkness: Resurrection, published in 2004 by Top Cow Productions.

What is your part in the Chronicles of Spellborn project?
I mainly design human characters, creatures, monsters, animals, armor and clothing. Sometimes I do world design, but most of that was finished when I joined the project. I take part in the on-going discussions about fitting the design elements into the overall Spellborn world; since those decisions have a lot of effect on the final design of those elements. Also, a lot of technical stuff is involved in my work since my sketches need to be built in 3D by the modelers.  I need to work within the 3D software to finalize the textures on the models since I also do a lot of texture design.

What is your vision on the graphics designed for The Chronicles of Spellborn?
What I like most about the Spellborn graphics is the appeal of the characters and their surrounding world. It’s not easy to explain this, but I instantly notice in other games when graphics work or not. Things don’t have to look realistic in order to look real. Take character design for instance - a character just works when you can immediately see that the character has a life, a story and a history. All those things can be achieved by designing the right graphics. This is very important when designing for a game like Spellborn in which the world’s history has a profound impact on the world and the characters living in it. The same, of course, also goes for the world and item design.



What do you find important when designing graphics for The Chronicles of Spellborn?
I think I can partly answer this one by pointing you towards my answer to the earlier question. But furthermore, I always try to give my designs a sort of natural female elegance. Even when designing the monsters. This is something I miss in a lot of other games. When I design the final textures, I always try to stay very close to the original artwork, because the artwork contains the style and atmosphere that the creature or object was meant to have.  Luckily this is made very easy since most of the time I get to texture the objects built, based on my own original artwork. Last but not least, I really like the fact that I get to produce a massive amount of different armor and clothes, so no player has to meet his twin brother or sister when playing the game.

What keeps your job challenging, and do you feel that you are still learning things?
The real challenge for me is that I get to design things that prior to working for Spellborn, I never had the time for. Professionally, I used to draw mostly people in a fairly realistic environment and when I had some spare time I did some fantasy critters. But since I’ve worked on the Spellborn project, I’ve designed more monsters and other evil beings then I’ve ever made before in my life as an artist. Come to think of it, I’ve almost only made ‘bad guys’ for the Chronicles of Spellborn. J.

What part of your work are you most proud of?
Well, first of all, it is amazing to be part of a small, but very talented group of people. So many times I am astounded by the work those people are able to conjure up from their machines. But on a more personal level I am very proud of ‘having’ my own end-boss. I think of all creatures inhabiting the world of Spellborn, this end-boss is a real Chris-thing and very recognizable for those who know my work. So keep your eyes on the lookout!

To finish up this Newsletter interview, we included an exclusive wallpaper revealing the Vhuul creatures designed by Chris Evenhuis. You can download it for 1280x960 or 1024x768.



The Scream Contest Follow-up
A while back, (around Halloween to be specific) we asked the community to send their screams (including as much unnatural agony possible) to us. We wanted to use them for the background ambience of one of our Ancestral Quests which plays out inside of a prison. We have received quite a bit of positive feedback on that little competition and even got some real screams! Although it became quite the technical challenge, we were able to use a number of them.

We are pleased to report that some of the community have thus been been horribly mutated, mangled or even killed in the ambient track from this area. (Well, from the sound of it anyway.)

The final prison ambience can be downloaded here, featuring the voices of some of the Devs, the friendly ladies from upstairs and of course the community. I won’t spoil the fun by revealing what and who we used, but if your scream lies hidden in the soundscape, you must be able to find it.



Fansite overview
As a regular newsletter feature we let you know about additions and changes regarding the fansites which are dedicated to TCoS. While we have not seen new fansites in the last few weeks, we have been working to finish up the Fansite Recognition Program. All existing sites have recieved information about this program and the first Recognized Fansites will be announced shortly! Keep an eye on our main site, as that's where we'll be announcing this. Also, if you are running a fansite or plan to start one, we would love to hear from you.
 

Featured fansite: http://www.Spell-born.de
As one of our very first fansites, Spell-born.de has been around for several months now. The site is dedicated to the German-speaking community and offers up-to-date news and content in the German language. The team around Caithleen also offers some English content, for example an interview with our very own Corwynn Maelstrom. So, polish up your German, stop by and say hello!


  Additional fansites
 


 Recognized Fansite Program:
We have created the Recognized Fansite Program (RFP) to enhance and further strengthen the relationship between fansite staff members and the development team. As a part of this program we will deliver exclusive content for these sites and make sure they get the support they deserve. Are you a webmaster of a TCoS related fansite or planning to create one? Make sure to contact us, as we would love to get to know you.


Fan Contributions
This week we've stepped away from art in order to give a nod to some of the excellent musical work which has been done recently.  Two of our members (Sanrek and Wickens) have put together an excellent piece of music inspired (at least in part) by their TCoS experiences.  The work is still classified as "in progress" so we suspect future refinements will be forthcoming.  Until then, we've made this download available, so as not to eat up all of their bandwidth.  Make sure to let them know what you think in this thread!


Forum Highlights
There's always something going on when you check out the forums.  What might be of interest?  Where to start? Tough call sometimes.  We're going to give you a hand and point out a few good threads to sink your teeth into.

  • Volunteer programs in MMOs tend to be an interesting subject.  We've recently admitted to having one already running within the Beta, and there's a thread dedicated to the topic, so stop by and share your thoughts. 
     

  • Never too early to get in and pimp your up and coming TCoS guild.  There's a thread that allows you to do just that.  You can post your guild information for everyone to see in one handy list.  Make sure to drop a description of your guild into the forum as well!
     

  • Most of us have heard the theory about pets resembling their owners, but will your character resemble you?  This thread asks that very question.  Let everyone know if you're aiming to duplicate yourself, or go for something a bit . . . different.
     

  • Numbers flashing on screen like a video slot machine?  DO you want to see the damage you're dealing and taking in combat?  How do you prefer it if you do?  All things which are discussed in this thread are about hit damage.


Closing Comments (What's Coming Next?)
 That's it for this issue of the newsletter.  In February we'll bring you issue four, complete with a little more information on the Volunteer Program, more Beta news (including a couple of the best screenshots from the testers themselves), and of course yet another cool exclusive article.  You want the best news?  You know where to find it!  Tell your friends, relatives, cats and dogs . . . the TCoS newsletter has the scoop.

Until next time, dear readers!  Here's hoping you find a little bit more of what's been hidden.



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