End of an era - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:58

As some of you may already know, Blade Universe will be closing its doors in a few days. Our host, eUniverse, has decided to close down the entire Gamers Alliance network, which obviously includes us. However this comes at a time when both Warlock and myself were beginning to realise that we simply don't have enough time to do the site justice any longer anyway, and so we have decided not to look for a new host.

Since the game was released you may have noticed the distinct lack of the kind of guides, walkthroughs, editing info etc that you might have expected from us. The fact is that we don't have time to produce this stuff - we have responsibilities, families (in my case anyway) and demanding jobs, and it's reached a point where we don't feel like we can continue to maintain the site to the standard that everyone rightly expects.

It's clear that the Severance community is still growing though. See the previous news post for two new sites which will hopefully, along with others (check out our links page), pick up where we left off and keep the community informed. I hope they will also prove to be the kind of information resources that we failed to become.

There is still plenty of amazing stuff going on over at bladex. Josh's brilliant Gladiator mod is now on version 0.9.1, coming close to the defining version 1.0, with masses of improvements and new features since I last mentioned it here. One of those new features is the ability to play on some third party maps created with Gladiator in mind, some of which are simply wonderful and enhance the game enormously. I'm amazed at the work these mappers are doing already with what must be the most unfriendly and awkward level editor ever to be released to the public! :o)

On the subject, there's a new editing site worth keeping an eye on - The LED Center - where there are some great tutorials for the LED being developed.

So, all in all things are looking great in the Severance community. Also, for those of you who don't check out the official forums very often (you really should), Juan has announced that the patch is now in testing, and he's also posted a breakdown of RAS's future plans (also mentioning how incredibly well the game is selling).

Anyway, see you around.

Doc

Two new fan sites - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 18:40

Two Severance fan sites have recently gone live, both offering plenty of game info, screenshots, links and so on, plus lots of original content:
La Orden de Ianna is a spanish site with lots of stuff worth checking out and also boasting their own forum.
The Order of the Sword (the names appear to be a coincidence) is a UK site that's recently got up and running, also with their own forum, game info and lots of plans for the site.

I recommend visiting both, and keeping your eye on them for regular updates. It's great to see the community growing.

Computer Gamers review - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 16:01

ComputerGamers.com have reviewed BoD, giving it a score of 94 and a 'Gold Award'. That to me suggests they liked it :-)

LED development - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:18

Had any success using the level editor? There is some interesting and very useful discussion going on both on the Rebel Act editing forum in this thread, and here at Bladex. Some folks have really got their teeth into this exceptionally difficult and unfriendly tool and are beginning to work out how to do things.

Local copy of LED - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:14

You can now get the level editor and tools straight from our downloads page.

Today's reviews - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:10

Another three reviews. I can't tell you what they're like, I've given up reading every single one, sorry :-):
TechTV
Gamer's Pulse
Gamepower

Reviews update - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 0:04

Just getting up to date on the reviews (rather belatedly, sorry). Three more today (thanks to Moke and Blues News):
worthplaying.com - in Swedish, try translating here.
Videocardz
Head 2 Head

Gladiator 0.4 - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 21:25

In case you haven't been keeping up to date with the near constant flow of improvements to the fantastic Gladiator mod over at Bladex, it's now up to version 0.4. Here are the most recent additions\fixes from the version history of this single player Arena game for Severance\BoD:

0.3
* F1 now works in the arena.
* You now select the desired level rather than it being random.
* You can now continue when you die.
* Just about everything is cleaned off the map when you start a new round. Be sure to pick up things you need before starting the round.
* You are now granted a new weapon each level.

0.4
* Multiple enemies now get generated.
* Fix problems related to not detecting enemy deaths.
* It no longer pauses after every kill. It will still pause every once and awhile, but not as often.
* Added Ragnar, Salamander, and Ice Golem to the fray
* Fixed problem where switching weapons crashed.

Level Editor released - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 21:19

The editing tools for Severance\BoD are now available on the downloads page at the official Rebel Act site. Thanks to Rossella for spotting this first.

Go on, what're you still reading this for?! :-)

Review at Fragzone - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 0:13

Swedish site Fragzone have reviewed Severance, giving it 4..um...things (presumably out of a possible five) :o)
Swedish is another language that Babel Fish currently doesn't 'do', so try the translation portal at langenberg.com (though the web page translation is giving me a little bit of trouble at the mo).
Thanks again to Moke.

Danish Review - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 21:11

There's a review of Severance on Danish site HardwareTidende, with the game receiving a tidy 95% score overall. Since my knowledge of Danish is practically non-existent I haven't a clue what the review's like, so if anyone knows of an online translator that can do Danish to english let me know because I can't find one :-)
Thanks Rune.
Update: big thanks to Moke who pointed me in the direction of this excellent translation site.

They just keep coming... - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 15:46

Another two great reviews today, at Online Games Review and Broken Pixel. I think this quote from the Broken Pixel review sums it up:

What can I say? As soon as I launched the game I was already sh*tting in my pants.

Bladex Gladiator mod - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:30

This has been in the pipeline for a while, and finally Josh at Bladex has decided to 'go public' with the latest version of his Gladiator mod for Severance\BoD, since many of the gameplay elements are now in place. Although he plans to add a lot more to it (so keep an eye out for new versions on Bladex) it's still more than worth downloading and playing, it's extremely addictive :o)
Gladiator pits you, as your chosen character, against increasingly tougher enemies from the single player game in Severance's Arena maps (currently the map is chosen randomly when you start a game). The game is broken down into 'stages', and when you beat enough opponents to level up you will be given time to compose yourself before hitting a key to kick off the next stage.
Check out the site for more details of what Josh plans for future versions, and to download the mod.

Two more reviews - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:03

Today saw reviews popping up from Sharky Games (offshoot of the well known Sharky Extreme) and GamersUnitedNetwork (this one's in German, so pack a Babel Fish).
Both are great reviews that are worth reading, and give the kind of high scores we're used to seeing :-)
Here's a bit from Sharky's:

In Severance, gamers finally have a 3D fantasy close combat game that offers fights that are tactically challenging without scrimping on the adrenaline either. While each encounter might start off as a slow exchange of blows and blocks, when you finally finish them off by slicing off a limb or or two or three the adrenaline will be coursing through your veins like.. oh, sorry, hadn't I already mentioned the limb removal bit? Well, suffice to say, Severance is bloody good looking, in every sense of the word.

Review @ playNOW! - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 18:08

Another new review today, this one at Australian site PlayNOW!, and a good one it is too. The reviewer has obviously spent a great deal of time with the game, and written an incredibly detailed, informative and balanced article. He closes with brief summaries of all the major points (with separate scores for each of the usual suspects - graphics, sound, AI etc), and a final score of 9\10. It's a good read, but don't take my word for it, get over there and dig in...

Review on IntelGamer - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 18:20

IntelGamer have posted a great review of BoD, which charts the authors journey from initial scepticism and frustration (mainly with setting up the game it seems) to being extremely impressed and drawn in. His final verdict is a very respectable 88%, so hopefully other sceptics might take heed of his advice to "never judge a book by it's cover"...

The game was looking better and better. I then walked out to fight some skeletons. One skeleton charged at me with a shield raised and I smashed my weapon at him, which he blocked with the shield. The shield splintered in two pieces, and I was able to hack the skeleton to death. That was one of the most impressive things I have ever seen in a game.

Two new reviews - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 19:59

There's still a steady stream of reviews appearing on the net, and todays new ones are at Gamezone and Fragland, giving above average scores of 8.5 and 80% respectively.

Mods - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 2:29

Some cool stuff tonight. Josh of BladeX has developed two new mini-mods, firstly one that actually adds difficulty levels to the game (from 'very easy' through to 'hell') by offering varying levels of damage adjustment (both dealt and received), based on percentages in relation to the original settings. Brilliant stuff. His other mod allows you to drop your bow in the game, thus freeing up a weapon slot (not recommended unless you've already played through the game once, because having a bow is essential at times).

Not only that, but Adam of the Severance Mod Page has created a mod based on what started as tongue-in-cheek ideas thrown around by a few members on the forums recently. This modification actually allows you to exploit the nutritional value of the severed limbs of your slain enemies...yes, you can eat limbs for HP if you're desperate! Not only that, if you aren't famished (ie not at 1\5 or less of your current max hitpoints) then you can still eat body parts but you have to roast them with a torch first. Now don't ask me how you do this exactly, I haven't tried it yet, but I do know that Adam has increased the default torch burning time to make it easier. Tell me you don't like the sound of this :o)

Summary:
Difficulty levels
Drop bow
Cannibalism

More reviews - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 21:03

Not a bad review day, with Games Xtreme and PC Gameworld giving the game 82% and 95% respectively. Both reviews are well written and well worth reading. Here's a fragment from PC Gameworld:

The sound is no letdown either. The rattling of armor, the clanging of metal, the opening of new wounds, and the whizzing of arrows are all unmistakably clear. Certain enemies have horrifyingly distinct calls. Some of the lesser minions will bark at you or call others close by for assistance. Some of the guards will laugh at you and wiggle their swords in mockery of your skills. And others are most clearly recognized by their earth-shaking footsteps...The voice actors also perform commendably. No where do voices sound like they don't belong or are far-fetched and each actor does a solid job of portraying his/her character.

walkthrough-online.com - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 13:29

I overlooked one important link when updating our links page yesterday (thanks for the nudge Tribe), and though it's not complete yet it's definitely worth everyones attention. I'm talking about the Blade walkthrough-in-progress over at walkthrough-online.com. The main guide so far consists of incredibly detailed descriptions of six of the games massive levels, and there's also a demo walkthrough, descriptions of each of the four characters and plenty of other useful info. Even if you don't need help getting through the game, it's still worth checking out and keeping an eye on.

CGO Review BOD - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 17:35

Computer Games Online have posted a short but sweet review of Blade of darkness, giving it 4 out of 5 stars and not finding a great deal to fault :-)

Level Editor soon - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 14:53

Sorry for not posting about this sooner (*kicks self*). For anyone who doesn't keep an eye on the Rebel Act forums, Juan has announced that the level editor for Severance\Blade will be released very soon. It is being prepared for release whilst Rebel Act simultaneously develop the first patch for the game, which should also see the light of day very soon.
They are currently translating the remaining spanish text in the editor and modifying it so it can be used with just one monitor rather than requiring two(!), but expect it any day now.

Fan Sites - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 14:30

The links page has been updated and now includes all the fan sites we know about, including the ones that have recently appeared. If you run a site dedicated to Severance\Blade or know of one that is not listed please let us know, the community is growing and we hope it will continue to do so.

New Review - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:38

Spanish site Meristation have posted a full review of Blade:The Edge of Darkness (frames site, I don't want to post the direct page address so just follow the link to the Blade review) written by TaCtO, a familiar name to regulars on the Rebel Act forums.

Our good friend has produced an incredibly detailed and passionate review of the game, managing to remain objective for the most part and tackling some controversial topics, and finally giving it a score of 8.5. It's definitely worth your time, so head over there and don't forget to take a Babel Fish with you (the translation won't be great, but stick with it :-).

New OpenGL Raster - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:46

Rebel Act have released a new improved version of the alpha OpenGL renderer for the full version of Severance\BoD. You can get it straight from our downloads page. Don't forget to check out the readme.

Severance mod site - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:26

A new web site, the Severance Mod Page is dedicated to delivering you third party script mods for the game. The first mods available there include a 'respawn' mod, designed to reduce the amount of times you have to load a saved game by letting you "save your position and health, instantly. Whenever you are killed, you will be 'respawned' to this state", and a 'Bow Aim' mod which modifies the bow slightly to make it a little easier to hit those pesky Orcs.
The site is definitely worth a look, and keep an eye on it for regular updates. Here's a section of the intro text on the site:

These mods try to improve Severance by making it more accessible to less experienced players, and to change things which we believe are frustrating or bad design in the game. This is based on our own taste, as well as on a significant amount of opinions we saw in the form of newsgroup postings. We try to avoid creating 'cheats'. Also, we only create mods which are in the spirit of the game as intended by Rebel Act.

Review on Project-Gaming - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 13:42

Sorry this is a day or two late, Project-Gaming have reviewed Severance: Blade of Darkness, giving it 3.5\5. Thanks to Blues News.

Review at D2K - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 14:42

DeadAlfs have posted a review of Severance giving it 9\10 overall. It's worth checking out. The article is very well written, and is full of quotable material, but here's a taste:

You raise your left arm to parry the creature's attack, but your pitiful wooden shield smashes into pieces. Angered by your sudden vulnerability you lash out with an overhead axe swing, but the Orc is too fast. He's already behind you. You don't even have time to heave your weapon up before your legs are severed from underneath you. Lying on the floor helplessly, the last thought that occurs to you is that this game really is nothing like Rune. In Severance you really have to learn how to fight.

Blade Resource Website - posted by Warlock @ 12:05

Phayyde has just started a very interesting looking website called Bladex. As explained on his site, this is what it's all about:

"Bladex is a Blade Technical Resource. It's designed for anyone with an interest in Blade of Darkness, whether it's a mild curiosity, an ambitious project or just a simple question. This isn't a support site. Rather it's a place where we can discuss Blade under-the-hood."

Gamespy and RPG Planet - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 17:25

RPG Planet have posted their detailed and very promising first impressions of Blade of Darkness, whilst Gamespy have finished their full review of the game giving it 81% at the end of a lengthy, interesting and generally very positive article. Both definitely worth a read.

Review on XGR - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 16:15

Hot on the heels of their first impressions article, XGR have posted a full review of the game, giving it a more than respectable 87%.
Despite them clearly not having read the manual (see the paragraph about their attempts to play multiplayer over the net) it's mostly a good review, and is accompanied by a some captioned screenshots.

Review and First Impressions - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:08

DailyRadar's review of Blade of Darkness is up, giving the game a 'HIT' rating. Definitely worth a look.

Meanwhile, since they're "having so much fun playing it", XGR have scribbled down some first impressions of the game along with some screenshots, as a precursor to a full review. Their impressions so far are very positive, check it out.

Review @ GamesReview - posted by Warlock @ 20:57

Spanish gaming site GamesReview has publised an in-depth review (10 pages with 30 screenshots) of Blade (aka Severance and Blade of Darkness), awarding it with a 92% overall. The review is in spanish.

Review at GameSpot - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 12:37

GameSpot have reviewed Blade of Darkness, giving it a good score of 7.2. Here's a brief snippet:

Blade of Darkness features some impressive special effects. Predictably, you can rend your opponents limb from limb. Severed appendages fly forth amidst plenty of arterial spraying, which pours to the ground in bright red splotches. At the same time, the death animations are motion-captured to be quite dramatic. Your fallen foes will put on quite a show before they come to rest on the ground--as will you, should your character be killed.

Three more reviews - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 16:08

Another three full reviews have popped up today, all are very detailed and make for good reading:

FullOn3D - a whopping great review, goes into great depth and very balanced. 8\10

PC.IGN - again, detailed and well balanced. 8.8

GameRush - moans about control a bit, but doesn't let it cloud his judgement :-) 80%

OpenGL Renderer - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 17:04

Rebel Act have released the (alpha) OpenGL raster for Severance\BoD, you can grab it from our downloads page.
Please note that this is unsupported, but may be of some use if you're having trouble with D3D. Rebel Act promise to release another version soon, with many of the minor problems ironed out. Be sure to read the readme before using it.
If you're interested in my own personal findings with the renderer, check out this thread on the official forums (this is only some musings after a brief play around, so don't assume this is a controlled trial of the renderer!). I'd also like to encourage anyone else who tries it to post your results and opinions on the same thread.

Official forums are back! - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 13:36

Anyone who noticed that the offical Rebel Act forums have been been on the blink since yesterday will be pleased to know that they are now working again.
If you haven't visited before why not check them out. There are topic areas for general Severance\BoD discussion, editing, support, spoilers (help if you're stuck!), Arena and more, and you'll most likely make some friends while you're at it :-)

Review at GameOver - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:29

US site GameOver have reviewed Blade of Darkness, and though they only give it 73% overall it's a pretty positive review and an interesting read (oh, except for a misinformed and very misleading description of multiplayer!).

French Review - posted by Warlock @ 13:18

French gaming site JeuxVideo has a review of Severance up on their site, giving it a very respectable score of 17/20.

Eurogamer Review - posted by Warlock @ 12:39

There is a new review up on Eurogamer. It's a well done review and probably your best bet if you're still wondering if Severance is the right game for you. Here's a snippet:

What makes Severance really shine though is that each of these characters follows an entirely different path through the game, so while the dwarf starts the game battling his way through a string of mines and fortresses that have been over-run by orcs, the knight begins in a prison cell having been captured by a traitor and must escape from a castle before continuing his quest. Effectively you are getting four games in one, with different missions, maps, special attacks and tactics for each of the characters.

Blade Special! - posted by Warlock @ 10:54

Spanish gaming and community site area66 has a big ass coverage of Blade with tons of info, screens, interviews and...stuff. The whole lot is packed in a wonderful design and presentation, so be sure to check it out!

If your Spanish is a bit rusty, be sure to stick a babelfish in it.

New Poll - posted by Warlock @ 12:58

Time for a new poll! Now that the game is out we're asking all of you, who got the game already, which of the four characters did you end up playing? Please don't vote unless you have actually played the game.

New Screenshots at Eurogamer - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 12:22

Eurogamer have posted ten new screenshots of Severance with a bloody theme.
Thanks Scott.

Stomped Interview - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 18:19

Stomped have posted a Q&A with Juan Diaz-Bustamante, covering lots of topics including AI, weapons, multiplayer, the game engine and more. Here's an interesting quote about Codemasters approach to marketing the game:

Stomped: Blade of Darkness is being promoted as a very bloody and gory game. How do you feel about violence in gaming in general and in your game in particular?

Diaz-Bustamante: I must say that I don't feel very comfortable with that approach. Blade of Darkness is not a violent game. I mean, we are not looking for gratuitous violence. Blade of Darkness is a realistic game, an epic adventure game. It means that you have close combat with swords and so on, and if you want to make it realistic, you need blood and mutilations....

2 new reviews - posted by Warlock @ 15:51

There's a brief review up on DailyRadar UK where lack of strafing and too low paced action is turned into a big issue and takes up half the text, but otherwise it seems positive (not quite sure what they thought really...).

German gamingsite GameSurf, on the other hand, are very positive in their review, scoring 9/10 and awarded "GameSurf TopTitel".

Stick a BabelFish in your ear if needed!

Blade of Darkness in stores already - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 23:27

We've heard that Blade of Darkness has already started appearing in some stores in North America, and other people are being told by their local game retailers that it will be on the shelves tomorrow :-)

Review @ Gamesdomain - posted by Warlock @ 9:16

Gamesdomain has their review of Severance up along with some new screenshots (thanks eXteR). Here's something you ought to know (if you havn't played the demo):

More interestingly, there's a stamina bar that decreases with each attack. Using a weapon that is too heavy for your character will cause it to deplete rapidly and leave you standing breathless and vulnerable. This forces players into a more thoughtful fighting style than, say, Oni - the button-bashers will soon find themselves lying on the floor, probably with something less than a full complement of limbs.

Gamespy: 20 Questions With Juan - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 21:01

The latest installment in Gamespy's series of interviews with developers is 20 Questions with Juan Díaz -Bustamante, talking briefly about the development scene in Europe, life before Rebel Act and the game itself.

SOTD - posted by Warlock @ 20:25

In this screenshot (although it's not as clear as in actual gameplay) you can see two shadows generated by standing in front of two lightsources. Pretty cool, eh?

IGN Countdown: Day 4 - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 10:29

Todays article in PC IGN's BoD countdown looks at multiplayer, and specifically the Arena levels available in the game with screenshots of each.

SOTD - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 0:47

A bit late today, sorry. Check out the newest shot on the screenshots page. Keep the requests coming in for screenshots - tonights shows off the rippling effect in the water (and it looks even better when it's moving, believe me :-)

Avault First Impressions - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 20:33

Avault have jotted down their first impressions of Blade of Darkness, and very positive they are too. The article is also accompanied by a few choice screenshots. Here's a snatch:

When battling others, one of the guilty pleasures lies in the opportunity for dismemberment. Frequently, I was able to severe the limbs of my adversaries and behead them as well. In fact, you can continue to mutilate an enemy's body after the victim is dead which could, in the spirit of wry humor, serve as a lesson to those who were particularly frustrating to defeat.

More Screenshots on Gamerush - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:24

Gamerush have added four new screenshots to their gallery, these ones showing the opening level for Sargon the knight.
Thanks Scott.

Juan on possible bans - posted by Warlock @ 17:30

FGN Online has talked with Juan about the issue of Blade of Darkness being banned in Sweden and now also in Spain.

"I've just received a report from Codemasters, and it seems that the larger chains of Sweden are refusing to stock the game due to its mature rating," Juan told us. "We really don't like it, as we never intended to create a violent videogame."

Seems like there might be some more ground to our original report (story) than suggested by the Codemasters representatives in Scandinavia (story). Read FGN's full interview here.

Review at Gamesweb - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 16:03

German site Gamesweb have reviewed Severance: Blade of Darkness, giving it a massive (and well deserved) 91%. The three page review is accompanied by some nice new screenshots too. If your German is as bad as mine, here's a link to babel fish.

SOTD - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 12:43

Another day, another beautiful screenshot from the full version of Severance: Blade of Darkness. Check it out on the screenshots page...
Which character do you want to see tomorrow? Why not email us or use the comments feature below.

IGN Countdown: Day 3 - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:52

Day 3 of PC.IGN's Severance\BoD countdown discusses the diverse and beautiful environments found in the game:

Perhaps one of the most talked about aspects of the action/adventure title Blade of Darkness is the incredible amount of time that was spent on blending textures, architecture and lighting to create incredible mood and believable environments where gamers can adventure.

Screenshot of the day - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 0:30

As promised we've posted another new screenshot, click the thumbnail on the right hand column on this page.

Severance in Sweden: Update - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 16:34

We've now heard from Codemasters in Scandinavia, who say that there is no problem with retailers refusing to give shelf space to Severance due to it's 18 certificate, and that they are planning a "massive launch in Sweden".
We sure hope they're right, and that everyone can look forward to seeing the game on store shelves near them on or soon after the 23rd.

Severance Boycotted in Sweden? - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:57

This morning we received information from an anonymous source that Swedish retailers have decided not to stock Severance: Blade of Darkness on their shelves. Now, it seemed pretty unlikely that Swedish game retailers would all join together in a national boycott of the game, but nevertheless we couldn't dismiss the possibility. Codemasters have denied that there is any sort of organized boycott in Scandinavia, but have disclosed that there are indeed "problems with some of the major retailers, who consider the game to be too violent", and admitted that the 18 certificate is causing them problems in certain countries. This is in spite of the fact that Severance has received rave reviews in the Scandinavian media.

Nevertheless this certainly doesn't equate to a ban, so if gamers find they can't even buy it from smaller independant retailers, they will certainly be able to order it from overseas. If you're in Sweden why don't you give your local game store a call and ask them about it? Even try to pre-order it, and put some pressure on them :-)

More Eye Candy - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:04

A few new screenshots today, some over at Gamespot and a couple of multiplayer shots at Xtreme Network.
Thanks Blues News.

IGN Countdown: Day 2 - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 10:58

It's day 2 of PC.IGN.com's countdown to Severance\BoD release day, and they've posted an article about the enemies in the game along with some screenshots.

Return of the Screenshot of the Week! - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 15:14

...only it will be a little more regular than that. We decided that in order to keep your appetites for Severance\BoD goodness well and truly satisfied it was about time we posted some brand new screenshots (well, everyone else is doing it). So, until next Friday (release day!) we'll be posting a new screenshot every day from the full version of Severance:Blade of darkness. You will find today's shot has already appeared over to your right, beautifully presented for your delectation with a garnish of freshly diced orc (click the thumbnail and it's the first shot on the page).

More Screenshots - posted by Warlock @ 10:14

Eurogamer has posted another batch of new screenshots, taken from their review copy. Pretty cool ones too I might add!

Countdown at IGN.PC! - posted by Warlock @ 10:04

IGN.PC has started the countdown for Blade of Darkness to be released. This means they'll be posting another feature every day until the release date next week! The first installment (which was posted the 13th) gived you a closer look at the available characters. Expect a new feature later tonight!

Multiplayer Shots - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 18:40

Stomped have been sent three screenshots from Severance\BoD Arena mode. Can anyone honestly tell me they aren't dying to use this sword?!

IRC - posted by Warlock @ 18:02

We've set up a new IRC channel on EF-NET, which I hope we can all start using.

Here's the info you need:

Net: EF-NET
Channel: #severance (type: /j #severance)
Bot: @TamCanDie

I will try to set up a web-based client from Blade Universe in the near future.

You can find more info on IRC here:
http://www.irchelp.org/

If the channel is left unused for too long, the bot will probably be taken away, so now you know where to hang out while waiting for the game to be released (and after)!

Screenshots - posted by Warlock @ 17:43

Area66 have posted a new image of the day (look in the upper right cornor on their newspage), something they will continue doing until the game is released. So far they have posted 5 images.

Telefragged (and several other sites) has posted 3 shots taken from the multiplayer in Severance.

PlayNow Interview - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:48

Australian site PlayNow have conducted a short interview with Juan:

PN: Severance: Blade of Darkness combines action, adventure and RPG elements. Was that an easy goal to achieve?

JD-B: It was not easy, but from the very first moment we wanted to create a kind of "complete genre", a game that were able to feature many elements from different genres. Something we wanted from the beginning was realism, the player really thinking he or she was in the middle of a huge adventure.

GameSpot Goodies - posted by Warlock @ 23:56

GameSpot UK have posted some new great concept art along with a video clip (which I've seen before somewhere) of in-game footage, available in three sizes.

Interview & Shots - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 16:20

VGames (Israel) have a new interview with Juan (in english) on their site, and also 13 new screenshots (one of which shows the very cool world map screen that you see after completion of each level in the game).

Review @ Krawall - posted by Warlock @ 15:57

Krawall has a review up of Severance (yes, of course it's in German) along with some pretty screenshots. The review is overall very positive although it seems like the reviewer wanted more of the story and RPG elements. Verdict: 88%

Review @ 4Players - posted by Warlock @ 8:59

Another German review has popped up at 4Players. I'm not too steady in German, but I do understand: "Ein neuer Stern glänzt am Actionhimmel!" Final verdict is 92%!

Severance: First Impressions - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:04

I know the 23rd can't come to soon, so I hope this will help pass the time a bit. We've posted a short article based on first impressions of the full game, along with a dozen screenshots (which aren't great, sorry, I was too busy playing the game to worry about that, plus I forgot to turn FSAA on :-)
Anyway, please check it out and feel free to make comments.

Multiplayer in US demo - posted by Warlock @ 0:26

Masklin2 just announced an updated version of his neat hack/mod, which enables multiplayer in the US version of the demo. For more information, read this post over at the official forums. It's good fun while we wait for the game to be released February 23rd, but beware, this mod will disable normal play in the demo.

Demo Review - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 18:01

I can't tell for sure if this is old or new, but Blues have just posted it today so I guess we're in good company...Head 2 Head have put up a very positive review of the Blade of Darkness demo with a couple of screenshots. Thanks Bourrie.

Review @ .tv - posted by Warlock @ 0:34

There's a review of Severance on the tv-show "Game Over" on ".tv", where it is described as a "surprisingly deep and well-crafted game that will have you playing again and again". Severance scored 90% in this review, which is also available online with a video clip of some in-game action.

Review @ Glidenweb - posted by Warlock @ 23:51

Severance, Du bist der König! That's what German gaming site Glidenweb thinks of Severance in their review of the retail version. The review is in German so I'm not going to quote anything, but it recieved a 91% score! Along with the review are some new screenshots and a nice concept artwork I hadn't seen before :-)

Interview - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 21:57

Computer and Video Games have posted a short interview with Juan Diaz-Bustamante discussing Severance, it's sequel and the online RPG game being developed at Rebel Act. Here's a snippet:

What can you tell us about the sequel you're already preparing?

JDB: "It will offer many new features, as well as others that we didn't have time to include in the Severance, including a multiplayer game."

Why was the decision made to hold off on console versions until the second game? What do you think you can get out of Xbox and PlayStation 2 that you couldn't accomplish on a PC?

JDB: "We are basically a PC developer. But we have to be realistic as a company and Severance: Blade of Darkness will be our last PC-only game."

Winamp Skin - posted by Warlock @ 21:48

DJChava has created a new Winamp skin for all us Blade fanatics to use. The skin comes in English and Spanish versions, both which can be found in the downloads.

More Screenshots - posted by Warlock @ 20:48

Eurogamer has added ten screenshots to their Severance gallery. One of these shots shows off a pretty cool looking monster (troll?) that I just can't wait to tear appart!

New Severance Movies - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 17:40

You thought it was all confirmed, but not until now! Read this thread on the Rebel Act forums for Juan's announcement today that all of the masters have been approved (meaning every different language edition), and the release date is definitely Feb 23rd, so Severance is well and truly gold now :-)
To mark the occasion Codemasters have released two little movies of in-game footage in three different formats, varying sizes and two age ratings (one movie is censored, the other is for over 18's only). The quality isn't great, but there are some excellent sequences including some beautiful slow motion combat and more snippets of multiplayer mode. Definitely worth the small download(s).

New Screenshots - posted by Warlock @ 9:39

Gamerush has posted 10 new screenshots taken from the early parts in the game and the four available characters.

Vote Now! - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 20:40

OK, in an embarrassing case of posting-news-whilst-in-a-hurry, it seems that I failed to notice that the full list of entrants was already up (even though I only got the news about the article this morning). So just to clear things up, all the shortlisted games for the most anticipated RPG of 2001 are now up, and the voting booth is open. So what're you waiting for? Register your vote :o)

Vote for Blade of Darkness - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:33

RPG Planet have begun the Most Anticipated RPG of 2001 battle, consisting of a shortlist of 14 games fighting it out for the title of the ultimate RPG of 2001. We will be able to vote for our favourite tomorrow, but the first 8 games have gone up today and Blade of Darkness is one of them, so head over and take a look (and don't forget to go back tomorrow and vote!).

Release Date - posted by Warlock @ 19:04

Eurogamer has recieved their review copy of Severance (Now where the hell is our copy damnit!) and along with it Codemasters affirm the release date of 23. February. Expect the reviews popping up within the next two weeks...

Severance Officially Gold - posted by Warlock @ 16:17

A couple of weeks has went since Rebel Act sendt word that Codemasters had approved the US Gold master (story) According to this story at FGN Online, Codemasters has official confirmed the fact that the English version has gone gold and ready for duplication.

PC: Codemasters had confirmed that the English version of Blade of Darkness has gone gold and looks good to ship late next month.

The game will hit U.K. retail on Feb. 23 with a U.S. release not far behind. The company promises gold version will be sent to the press tomorrow, so expect a barrage of reviews to appear on the web the day after.

New Level Overviews - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 17:28

The levels section on the official Rebel Act site (here for the US Blade of Darkness version, though the content is identical) has been updated with information on two more Severance levels from the full single player game. Kazel Zalam is an ancient underground dwarf city, and Kashgar is a long-forgotten barbarian mountain settlement. There is a screenshot of each one, accompanied by an evocative description of the location and its history.

Fan Art - posted by Warlock @ 21:53

I've just updated our fan art section with a new picture by Martin Quaia, titled "She". A nice sketch of the amazon doing her fancy stuff with a double-bladed polearm. Thanks Martin!

New Official Website - posted by Warlock @ 16:55

Codemasters has kicked up a new official website for Severance, available in flash and html versions. Not much new stuff there yet (the Visuals link doesn't work), but still worth a visit or two (there's some cute animations and stuff to discover).

Severance Webkit - posted by Warlock @ 17:10

I've posted about the Severance website kit earlier, well, now it is available for download! (2.59 Mb)

The kit includes screenshots, renders, concept art (you might have seen it all before), pluss some banner ads, a desktop theme, logos and game info.

Gold! - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:37

After waiting for so long to post this news you'd think I'd have come up with a better headline than that! :)
Juan has posted the following on the Rebel Act forums:

Codemasters has approved the american gold master of Blade of Darkness. It will go now into production!! Now we are doing, from that master, the spanish, english, german, french and italian versions of Severance: Blade of Darkness. It won't take too long!

New Screenshots - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:40

A bunch of new Severance screenshots have gone up at De Spelletjesgarnaal, a Belgian site boasting a curious mix of pr0n and gaming news :-)
Thanks [ManOwaR].

New Preview And Shots - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:24

Spielecity, a German site, have posted a great in-depth preview of Severance (in german, english translation here). Accompanying the article are no less than 95 screenshots, a good deal of which are brand new, so head on over and take a look at the eye candy...

Severance Fan-Site Kit Today - posted by Warlock @ 9:49

According to Codemasters they will release a fansite building kit for Severance, Blade of Darkness today. These zips contain jpeg images, sounds, logos, banners, themes, screensavers, videos and information to help you build your own branded web site. The kit isn't available as I type, but keep your eyes open at Codemaster's web building kit downloads page.

BoD preview - posted by Warlock @ 9:00

Gamecenter has popped up a new preview of Blade of Darkness (BoD). The preview is as positive as all the others we've seen lately of the latest preview build, so it looks good for Severance, Blade of Darkness. It'll be exciting to see the reviews popping up when people start recieving the review copies :)

Enough chit-chat. The preview comes along with 7 new screens. And if that isn't enough to get you going, here's a snippet:

When you think of medieval architecture, visions of lots of stone and wood immediately come to mind. And let's face it--gray and brown do have a certain charm, but we've got monitors that can do millions of colors, and gamers have come to expect a bit more than just two. From what we've seen of it thus far, Blade of Darkness's 3D engine is nothing short of stunning, and Rebel Act's artists have been working overtime to bring the world to life. Outdoor temples and courtyards, stone fortifications, dank dungeon tunnels, and streams that run placidly through canyons have never looked this real. The detail work on some of the architecture we saw was intricate and compelling.

First Magazine Ad? - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 0:28

Well it's the first print ad for Severance that we've come across, so we decided it was newsworthy. The below full page advert appeared in the February edition of PC Zone UK (click for larger version):

Demo Review - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:48

German gaming portal Zocks have posted a review of the Severance demo (english translation).
It's a good read, but because the babelfish translation leaves a lot to be desired I won't post a quote here :)
(thanks to BirdMadBoy)

IGN Interview Part 3 - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 12:48

IGN PC have posted part 3 in their series of Blade of Darkness interviews with Juan Diaz-Bustamente, asking him some final questions before the game hits stores in February. The interview covers quite a bit of ground, discussing the history of Rebel Act, Blade of Darkness multiplayer, editing tools and plenty of other stuff, including the following little hint about another game in development at Rebel Act:

IGNPC: So what made you guys go for such an ambitious title as Blade of Darkness the first time around?

Juan Diaz-Bustamente: I can promise you that it was much more ambitious when it started! I think that every company takes many of the things that they wanted in the first version of the game but couldn't implement and put them into the sequels and it will happen to us the same. We're actually also have been developing another game since last summer. It's an online game but it won't be released for another two years time.

Blade as good as done - posted by Warlock @ 20:06

According to FGN Online, Codemasters has informed them that Severance, Blade of Darkness is 99,9 % done. This means that the code is as good as done. I suppose we'll see an official statement about the game going gold any day now then. A solid releasedate has been set to February 23. (Europe).

Thanks justin paplus.

BU Mascot - posted by Warlock @ 19:35

Miguel has sendt us an animated gif of our little friend and mascot here at Blade Universe: Tam Can-Die. For now, you can see him walking on the right side column.

Let me remind you about our interactive story featuring this cool dude, where YOU can take part in adding to the story.

Thanks a bunch to Miguel for making it and sending it over!

Update: Click here for a large version :-)

New Movie and Preview - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:14

After a quiet holiday period news-wise it's nice to start the 21st century with a new movie of in-game footage from Severance, provided by Belgian gaming site De SpelletjesGarnaal (who, like most, are clearly enthusiatic about the game: "Diablo in 3D baby...ow yeah!" :o)

Also Computer Games Online have previewed Blade of Darkness in a short article entitled Swords and sorcery for the casual crowd (thanks Bourrie).

Merry Christmas from BU! - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 14:23

Well it's christmas eve already (where did the year go?!), so on behalf of all of us here at Blade Universe I'd like to wish everyone a very merry christmas. We'll still be on hand to make sure you don't miss any Severance\Blade of Darkness news, so don't forget to keep checking in over the next week or so.
Unfortunately we'll have to wait another month for the best present, but it'll be worth it :)

Cheers everyone!

GameSpy Preview - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 14:05

GameSpy have posted a very positive preview of Blade of Darkness accompanied by some screenshots:

The complex textures and shading are truly brilliant, making for some of the most realistic looking environments we've seen in an action adventure RPG such as Blade of Darkness. Other incredible effects such as weapon swooshes, flickering torches, and cool looking water ripples makes Blade of Darkness one of the better looking games coming out early next year.

Previews and Screenshots - posted by Warlock @ 12:58

There is a new preview up at GamesDomain.com and over at GameSpot.uk - both very positive and interesting readings.

Also, German site, Gildenweb, has posted some new screenshots.

Preview at DailyRadar - posted by Warlock @ 12:49

DailyRadar has previewed the Alpha 0.09us build of Blade of Darkness. The preview comes with a nice collection of new screenshots.

The explorable areas are huge and varied, featuring indoor and outdoor sections. While the engine is still be optimized, it's already performing admirably at 1024x768x32, even with multiple monsters on screen. The amazing part is that everything that can cast a shadow does, and it's all done in realtime. Fighting near a torch? Everything will shift in realtime while strafing. More than one light source? There will be multiple shadows, including soft-shadowing. It seems like a small detail, but it adds almost immeasurably to the suspension of disbelief.

Interview at GameSeek - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 11:14

GameSeek.com have posted an interview with Juan accompanied by 16 screenshots (a handful of which are new). One of the most notable statements Juan makes during the interview is that they will be delivering the gold master to Codemasters US on the 20th of December. Presumably Codemasters Europe will get theirs at the same time, and so things are looking good for the worldwide release date of January 26th (if not earlier perhaps?).
Anyway, here's a snippet from the interview:

GameSeek: Are you going to support the mod community (If there will be one for this game)?

JDB: Yes! You only need to see what has already happened with the demo!!!

Updates - posted by Warlock @ 22:43

Sorry for not being able to keep up with the news these last days. Here's a few things you might have missed:

Arena Mod v.1.3
There is a new version of the popular Arena demo mod available for download, with a whole lot of fixes and added 'features'.

New Fan Art
I've added a new picture by Chris ^Mace to our Fan Art Section - check it out!

Misc press-stuff
- New preview and screenshots over at French site overgames.com (thanks justin paplus)
- First "review" is up in the latest issue of PC Gamer. You can find a text version by Trojan here.
- Codemasters will soon release a "Fan Site Toolkit" utility to help budding webmasters build their own websites for Severance. More info when it is released.
- You can send a Severance Christmas card to all your friends right here and there is a Yahoo Blade club available (havn't been able to check this stuff out myself yet). Thanks to the Blade street team for the news!

Interview at Telefragged - posted by Warlock @ 16:25

Tellefragged has posted a brief interview with Juan Diaz-Bustamante.

Bakshra: I recently read that Rebel Act would be licensing it's game engine soon. Has this started yet? Is there a specific feature that is drawing these companies to your engine?

Juan: It has not started yet, as we need some previous polishing of the tools, as they are more thought for internal development. But we will start soon to license the tecnology, even adding some new features.

Preview at Gamespot - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 0:56

Gamespot have posted a detailed preview of Blade of Darkness. The article is accompanied by some nice new screenshots (19 in all) showing gameplay from all four characters and some previously unseen locations, including one which appears to be from the in-game tutorial (which is described in the preview).

US Blade of Darkness Demo - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 0:43

A US version of the demo has been released by Codemasters USA. There is no new content, except for the obvious changes to splash screens and so forth to reflect the different title of the game.
Avault have got a mirror here (thanks Blues News).
Update: it transpires that the base code of the US demo is some weeks newer than the other demos, rather than it being simply a 'repackaging' of the spanish\english demos, and some people have reported performance improvements. Thanks Juan.

Demo Impressions @ GA-Source - posted by Warlock @ 15:40

Ga-Source has posted their impressions with the Severance demo. It's not a full demo preview (as the demo stated that it wasn't for preview purposes), but they sure seemed to be impressed with it. Here's a quote:

Our affiliate site Blade Universe is the best site on the web to find out all about Blade of Darkness, including a demo guide that gives you some idea of how to play the game.

Yup! ;-)

Demo Arena Mod - posted by Warlock @ 15:30

Masklin2 has created a new mod for the Severance/Blade demo. The demo let you freely fight the opponents you want, at what exp. level you want, with any weapons and armours available within the demo-files (i.e. more than was actually in the demo gameplay) at your favourite place in the demolevel +++ (phew).

Havn't tried it myself yet, but it sounds really really promising. Keep in mind though, that this is not a multiplayer mod (as the word 'Arena' may suggest). I havn't been able to add the mod locally yet, but you'll find all the info you need in this post at the official forums! Leave a comment here or at the forums to let us know what you think of this mod....ok?

Interview at JuegosOnline - posted by Warlock @ 20:00

There's an Interview with Juan Diaz-Bustamante over at Spanish gaming site JuegosOnline. The interview is available in both Spanish and English! Here's a little taste of it:

JuegosOnline.com: Blade has been under development for some years now ¿How did the original idea changed over time? ¿Where there any major changes due to new games that raised the bar in action games -like Half-Life- coming out?

Juan: Well, I guess every game that has come out since we began the project had some influence on it some way or another, but to tell you the truth the original idea was very clear to us from the start. The reason for these four years of development has been mainly our decision to create our own technology from the scratch, which allows us a lot more freedom to create the games that we really want to, the ones we would like to play ourselves. From now on the development times should be a lot smaller.

Blade Screensaver - posted by Warlock @ 21:45

Amatar has sendt us a great Blade/Severance screensaver, which you'll find in our downloads section. The screensaver runs in OpenGL, so make sure you have a videocard that supports it. Read this description for more details. We also have a Spanish version available.

Thanks a bunch to Amatar and all his contributors!

Blade Street Team - posted by Warlock @ 20:39

There's an official online street team campaign running for Blade of Darkness managed by Codemaster partners Electric Artists. This is what they have to say to all of you:

If you like the Blade of Darkness Demo, and you are OVER 18 we are running the official Blade of Darkness Street Team and need your help. If you'd like to join the Team, drop us a line at [email protected]. We will be setting up contests, forums, and other cool stuff for all of you to talk, trade, & learn the secrets of Ianna.

Let me know, we're trying to have Codemasters/Rebel Act thank everyone who helps us out!

For more info and registration, visit their street team website or send an e-mail to the address above. Love the game? Show your support!

New Fanart! - posted by Warlock @ 20:22

We've recieved four great sketches from our fellow Blade fan, Fausto Gutiérrez. You can view Fausto's pictures in our most excellent fanart collection. Thanks a bunch Fausto for your submissions!

Interview @ MindlessGames - posted by Warlock @ 22:27

MindlessGames has an interview with Juan up on their site. Here's a little something:

RunicPagan: What modes will be available in multiplayer (such as Deathmatch, CTF, to name a few)? Are there any plans to add more after the release, or is that part up to / possible with the mod community?

Juan: Deathmatch. Yes, tehere are plans to release a most advanced multiplayer version later on.

Interview at pc.ign - posted by Warlock @ 18:09

PC.IGN has posted a new interview with Juan Diaz-Bustamante Berasategui, talking about what's up right now with Severance, Blade of Darkness and future project...and more. Here's a quote for you:

IGNPC: At what stage is the game currently up to at the moment?

Juan Berasategui: Well the game's design is almost finished and we're polishing, testing, optimizing and removing the bugs. The last design changes are related with interface and other graphical stuff to do with installing, saving and loading. At the same time, we're implementing the English, French, German and Italian texts and voices into the game.

Another Demo Review - posted by Gordo @ 10:59

PlayNow Australia have recently posted up their own review of the Severance Demo. While they didn't give a rating on the demo, they are however very positive about the future of Severance. Here is a excerpt from the review:

We promise not to harp on about the cool special effects such as the bump mapped water surfaces, excellent detail and animation of the many character models (humanoid and otherwise) and the intuitive cinematic qualities that the game boasts. But try as we might, we cannot ignore the lighting effects and we will have to carry on about that just a little bit at least.

Interview with Juan - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 16:22

GameLoft USA have posted an interview with Juan Diaz-Bustamante of Rebel Act, in which he briefly outlines the history of the company and discusses some details about Severance (Blade of Darkness to them). Here's an excerpt:

SM: We can't wait to play each of the four characters! Will there be any secret characters?

JB: No. We had planned a secret one (an elf) but we discarded it soon. Every character has hundreds of captured movements, and different sizes and a different story. It means that we have four games in one. It makes Blade of Darkness very complex in every aspect, including testing. At the end we didn't want to do it more complex!

Demo Reviews - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 15:07

A couple of reviews of the Severance demo have surfaced today, and as we expected the praise has started rolling in :-)
The review at MindlessGames gives the demo a whopping 9.8 out of 10, and the reviewer at intelgamer gives it 95% and has the following to say in summary:

This demo has impressed me more than any I’ve played in a long time and I can’t wait to try the full game. With the release pushed back to Feb/March, it’s going to be a looooong winter.

Severance Demo Mod - posted by Warlock @ 12:09

The first mod is in! This mod is made by yoodaa and changes the enemy levels and weapons to be slightly more challenging. For more info, be sure to read the readme file. Since I'm at work, I havn't been able to try it out myself, so any comments would be nice if you give it a go!

Get the Mod here!

New Poll - posted by Warlock @ 23:01

The most of you who voted (70%) in our previous poll was impressed by the latest gameplay video, but what did you think of the demo? Well, that's the question we ask you this time!

Demo Guide: Part 4 - posted by Gordo @ 10:40

The fourth and final part of the demo guide is now up and ready for your viewing pleasure. The fourth part deals with the various weapons and armour available in the demo, with a brief run-down and description on each item. Click here to view part four. If you have any additional information you would like to see added to items lists, please send them through.

Seeing how this is my virgin post on Blade-Universe too, I would just like to take this opportunity to say Hi to everyone! Expect to see more from me as I settle in to my role as a Blade-Universe staff member. (One of my first tasks in joining the team will be to take-over the Tea making duties from Dr.Haggard)

12 New Screenshots - posted by Warlock @ 20:43

The official website for Severance & Blade of Darkness etc. has been updated with 12 new screenshots, taken from various environments and levels in the game. Check'em out!

Demo Guide: Part 3 - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 20:09

The third section of our demo guide is now up, covering items\objects. Check it out here, or if you haven't read the first two sections start from the beginning :)

Demo Guide: Part 2 - posted by Warlock @ 2:44

Our next part of the Demo Guide has been published! This part will guide you through the use of Combos. If you havn't figured out how they all work and what they do, read on!

English Demo Released - posted by Warlock @ 22:33

Just got words in that the English version of the demo has been released by Codemasters! If you havn't downloaded the Spanish one yet (it has the same content) then get your ass in gear! Damnit, I will download it just to hear the english voiceovers! :)

Thanks a billion to our friends over at 3d Gamers for the heads up!

Download from here:
3d Gamers
AVault

I'm sure more mirrors will pop up. Keep an eye on Demonews, 3D Files and FilePlanet for starters.

Be sure to check out our Demo Guide!

Demo Guide - posted by Warlock @ 21:45

Severance/Blade of Darkness is indeed a very anticipated game! It appears that a hell of a lot could not wait for an English demo to be released, and therefore bothered to download the over 100Mb Spanish demo. Well, so did we (of course) and what a rush!

We all here at Blade Universe love the demo, I personally think it is the best game I've ever played, no matter what genre! Not all share this opinion though, probably because of the controls and language in the demo. With the admirable efforts of marfan, who translated just about everything into English with his language pack, things got a hell of a lot easier for all of us!

Still, many people have difficulties adapting to this new style of gameplay and controls. Therefore, we have tried our best to make you a demo guide, in order to help you on your way and familiarize yourself with the game.

The guide comes in several parts. In the first part, we'll introduce you to the basics of the game as well as the controls and combat. We will discuss weapons, combos, items and more later. Hope you'll find it usefull!

Update: This guide is also useful if you have downloaded the English version of the demo. The list of controls in the table may not be entirely correct, but I will update it as soon as I have d/l'ed the English version myself (which can take a while).

Voodoo 2 demo fix - posted by Warlock @ 18:08

Rebel Act Studios has released a fix for Voodoo 2 owners, which will run the game in Glide.

Copy this file into the 'blade\bin\raster' directory where you installed the demo.

VERY IMPORTANT:
This Glide version is still under development and doesn't support all the graphical features of the game. It does not support Voodoo 3 or higher.

Tam Can-Die ventures on - posted by Warlock @ 13:27

Ahh! This sucker almost slipped by unnoticed! Just discovered to my pleasure that a new chapter has been added to our interactive story, featuring our very own badass hero Tam Can-Die! The new chapter is called "Big Bertha" (hehe) and can be found on page two. Let's get this story kicking again!

Thanks for the submission MadS!

Release date (again) - posted by Warlock @ 23:34

According to this newsflash over at RPGVault, a new official release date of Severance, Blade of Darkness has been confirmed. Guess when you read this you think "Damn! Not again, damnit!", but this time it's a couple of days in the right direction! :-)

The new date, for Europe and US is: 26th of January 2001!

Update: This also applies to the Spanish version of the game.

Demo Fix! - posted by Warlock @ 19:09

Rebel Act has made a fix to the bug where you get stuck in the space with the stacked boxes after killing the traitor knights. This zip-file should be unzipped to the directory you installed the demo in.

If you didn't hear the news, there's also a 3rd party, unofficial patch by "marfan", which turns all the menus and text into English in the demo!

Rebel2 in works - posted by Warlock @ 16:29

FGN Online has a little exclusive about Rebel Act Studios next in 3d technology, the Rebel2 engine, which will power a yet unannounced online multiplayer game (I've heard rumours of a sci-fi twist).

Some of the elements of the Rebel2 engine will be used in the sequel to Severance/Blade of Darkness as well.

Well, read the story here!

German Demo Review - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 12:18

German site MemBa´s GameWorld have posted a lengthy review of the spanish demo, scattered with some nice screenshots. They give the demo a score of 90%, and most of the review takes the form of a walkthrough of sorts of the first third or so of the included Ragnar level.
If you're like me and your german is a little rusty, try a babelfish instead.

Demo Translation! - posted by Warlock @ 10:52

Thanks to marfan, who has really made an effort to help us non-spanish gamers with the Blade demo. He has made a downloadable zip-file, which transelate some bitmap and text files into english!

This file will also let you save your game, although I've heard rumours about it being a bit buggy. Be sure to read the readme file in the zip-archieve!

I will make a little demoguide page here at BU soon, where we will collect all the info and hints and tips on one page.

The demo is online! - posted by Warlock @ 20:13

Just a quick note: The spanish version of the DEMO is available for download now!

Get it from one of the following sites and mirrors:
3D Files
DemoNews
Arsenal66
3D Gamers
File Planet (Thanks Yanos!)

I'll add more if you mail me our leave a link in the comments to this newspost.

The DEMO!!!!!!! - posted by Warlock @ 13:45

Today the Spanish version of the Blade demo was released exclusivly through the Spanish gaming magazine Micromaina. The demo are also, as I type this, being transferred to arsenal66 and will be available for download very soon (hopefully tonight or tomorrow)!

This is the Spanish version, but I play this version at home and, except for some spoken dialogue and in-game text, it contains the most important part: the awesome gameplay. It's the best game I've ever played - no matter what genre!

So, if you can't wait for an English version, prepare for a 104Mb download ;-)

New Shots - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 23:21

There are seven sweet new screenshots of Severance on the Israeli site VGames. Thanks to Blues News.

PC Zone Feature - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 0:07

UK magazine PC Zone have printed a 6 page preview of Severance in their December issue. There are no new shots, but a wealth of information and enthusiastic gushing about the game. If nothing else this great article shows that the Codemasters publicity machine is beginning to pick up speed!
Here's a quote:

During one part of the game the player walks into a room adorned with flickering torches to discover there's an enormous hellish shadow on the alcove wall. As you slowly edge around the corner to face what must be Satan himself, you discover the truth; the shadow is owned by a diminutive runt who's taken advantage of the illusionary effect of the torches to leave you needing a clean pair of pants. Effects like this are used with great aplomb to create a formidable atmosphere from start to finish.

New Preview @ IGNPC - posted by Warlock @ 8:09

IGNPC has made an updated preview of Blade of Darkness during the press demonstration in London a few weeks ago. Some nice hints on the mp-aspects here:

Some interesting touches have been added to the multiplayer, such as weapons transforming during combat. Again, we'll have to wait for the review to see what this actually means for the one-on-one experience. The full multiplayer options will be saved for the sequel, but more on that later.

More Wallpapers - posted by Warlock @ 20:16

They...err...I have posted eight more wallpapers over at the official website (including my favourite one - the first you'll see on the page)!

Just click your way to the visuals-section of your region's website.

Preview at G-Spot UK - posted by Warlock @ 20:13

Interview yesterday, preview today. Check it out! I'd almost forgot about the hand to hand combat :-)

The graphics engine is beautiful and most objects in the game are movable, breakable or usable. Don't have a weapon? Don't worry, just pick up a skeleton's bone or a chair and throw it at the enemy. Even objects like arrows can be re-used, collected from fallen adversaries, or even yanked out of your own character's body and shot back at the creature who fired it at you. Hand-to-hand combat is also possible with strong characters like the Barbarian being particularly effective.

Interview @ G-Spot UK - posted by Warlock @ 19:24

The chaps over at GameSpot UK have conducted an interview with the dev team at Rebel Act, talking about various aspects of the game. Here's a little bit:

The game engine looks really good - can you tell us a little about how you developed it and what it's capable of?

Rebel Act Development Team: It's a real portal engine. Actually if you want a complete technical breakdown description you can go into our website where we have full details. But we have all the real-world physics regarding water and liquids, a particle system and everything you'd expect from seeing it here. It's a very, very advanced engine and has features that no other engine has now. We're going to start licensing it in the next two or three months. We're really happy with it.

Previews Galore - posted by Warlock @ 16:54

There has been posted some new previews and hands-on experiences of Severance, Blade of Darkness around the web. Here's the ones I'm aware of:

GamesDomain Review has posted a very positive first hand experience, while SharkyGames has a brief look at it in their top 10 games to look out for this season (unfortunately though, Severance won't be out before February it seems). Spanish gamingsite Gamesreview has a new preview up and so does terra, which also has several new screenshots of the game.

I will leave you with a brief quote from GamesDomain's preview:

What most impresses about the game is the way it feels. Even with this early-ish build, the game is a wonderful testament to the Madrid-based developers who created it. The control system, unlike many third-person games, is a joy. The graphics are superb, and there is a wonderful balance of arcade and RPG.

Well, the gaming media is once again picking up on Blade/Severance, we all know how the Christmas season influence sales of computer games...it's a damn shame that Codemasters have decided to push OUR game to February! Now what the heck is up with that?

Severance pushed back? - posted by Warlock @ 13:58

I just noticed this newsflash over at EuroGamer:

The big news for Colin McRae fans is that CM Rally 2.0 will be released on the 1st of December in time for the Christmas rush alongside World Championship SNooker. Operation Flashpoint is also nearing release, although unfortunately it won't be with us until April, although Severence : Blade of Darkness should hit sometime in February. In console news, Prince Naseem Boxing on the PlayStation will be available on November 3rd.

If this is true, it's indeed some very frustrating news for all of us, who have continiously seen the release date get pushed back.

Preview at Gameloft - posted by Warlock @ 21:04

Gameloft has taken a hands-on look at Severance: Blade of Darkness. There are no screenshots, but an interesting read. Here's a snippet:

First impressions of Severance are very impressive indeed. The character selection screen which the game presents you with is a level in it's own right - a castle beside a lake in which the various characters are doing various things - sleeping, sharpening their weapons, testing the strings on their bows - and you select which one to play as by moving the camera onto them.

Staff Needed - posted by Warlock @ 11:26

Today, Blade Universe is run by me and Dr.Haggard. As dedicated as we are with running this site, none of us has the free time required to actually keep up with adding new content.

We need a site director and news and content writers. I will also consider letting someone fully take over the site (at the time, I have more than enough with the official website).

If you don't want to see Blade Universe suffer a slow death, let me know what YOU can and want to do for this site! :)

Official Wallpapers! - posted by Warlock @ 22:55

The official Severance/Blade of Darkness website has been updated with 8 wallpapers for the game. Each comes in two sizes, 1024x768 and 800x600.

There are different versions for the different regions, but besides from the title the images are just the same.

The wallpapers are located in the "Visuals" -section of each website.

I'm sure they'll fall in taste!

Preview at Spanish Gamespot - posted by Warlock @ 12:03

The Spanish version of GameSpot has posted a new preview of Blade: The Edge of Darkness along with a couple of new screenshots. Grab a bit right here! Don't understand Spanish? Try the BabelFish translator!

Severance preview at Eurogamer - posted by Warlock @ 1:55

Eurogamer has posted a preview after having some hands-on experience with Severance at the ECTS. It's a positive preview, as we have got used to, and is boundled with a couple of new screenshots.

Here's a little taste:

Torches cast eerie real-time shadows that flicker across the walls, and the sight of a vast lumbering shadow emerging from around a corner or, even worse, creeping up behind you, is enough to send you whimpering behind the sofa. Of course, when a little goblin-like creature appears and you realise that the shadow only looked so imposing because there was a torch right behind it, you feel a bit silly. But the sheer quality of the real-time lighting effects is downright stunning, especially as you can pick up some of the torches and lamps scattered around the levels, and then club people over the head with them, the shadows moving fluidly across the walls as the light source moves.

Interview with Michael Hayes - posted by Warlock @ 13:19

An interview with Codemasters marketing director, Michael Hayes, discussing the global marketing and distribution of the game have been added to the European and US version of the official website.

Here's a little something:

Severance is a game that is not very similar to what we've seen of games coming from Codemasters lately, will this have any effect on the marketing strategy you plan for this game?

Mike: Definately. First of all it is important that we create a great deal of buzz for this great title among the core gaming community via regular demos and information. This will then pollinate out to casual gamers. Online marketing campaigns will therefore be the biggest Codemasters have ever run.

Of course the mature content of the game means that we will be marketing to only over 18s throughout the world.

In-Game Music! - posted by Warlock @ 21:15

The official Severance/Blade of Darkness website has been updated with 4 samples of in-game music, composed by Oscar Araujo. You'll find the files in the downloads section at all versions of the official website. Dig in!

Playing Fields Write-Up - posted by Warlock @ 13:00

The Playing Fields has written a write up from the Codemasters event yesterday, where they showcased their new products and technology.

The dominant part of the article is about Rebel Act's Severance/Blade of Darkness, so head over there and read up!

Sequel info - posted by Warlock @ 9:30

Computer & Video Games has some new info regarding the sequel for Severance/Blade of Darkness. According to CVG Rebel Act confirms an advance to the PS2 and Xbox platforms as well giving multiplayer a great deal of depth! Check out the full story here.

Thanks Bluesnews!

Codemasters Press Event - posted by Warlock @ 15:04

Codemasters will be showcasing their products this Thursday. Here's the press release:

Codemasters PC Games - VIP Open Day - Codemasters are holding a press event at The Playing Fields on
Thursday October 5th from 1pm - 6pm. This is no ordinary event. Codemasters will be showcasing
their PC games portfolio through to Christmas - and making some big news announcements for 2001.
Exclusively at the event will be the world's first playable code for Operation Flashpoint as well as
the first global demo of new multiplayer technology designed exclusively for PC gamers' needs. They
will also be showcasing Severance: Blade of Darkness, Colin McRae Rally 2.0, Insane, World
Championship Snooker, Music 2000. If this is not enough to tempt you, you will also be able to meet
and interview the Severance team flying in from Spain, the Insane guys from Invictus in Hungary and
meet Codemasters' development teams for McRae 2, Snooker and Music 2000. With a massive new game
announcement, a new technology announcement, new code and materials available, this is the press
briefing not to be missed. For an invite, press should contact [email protected]

Release Date - posted by Warlock @ 14:44

I noticed a newstory over at Eurogamer about Codemasters release schedule. According to this newstory, Severance will be released December 1. in Europe, just in time for Christmas.

New Screen @ RdB - posted by Warlock @ 21:25

El Rincón de Blade has posted a new screenshot of Severance/Blade. As usual, a thumbnail to the picture can be found to the left of the mainpage.

PC Zone UK - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 16:09

UK magazine PC ZONE has printed a brief news article about Severance in their November issue announcing the new publishing deal with Codemasters.
Here's a snippet:

"Luckily, those of us still wondering whatever happened to the atmospheric flickering torches and severed heads of Blade can sleep easy as Codemasters has announced it's picked up the game and is ready to release it to an over-18 world this November."

"...(Severance) still contains one of the most advanced lighting engines we've ever seen - flames dance and flicker on torches, creating real-time moving shadows - as well as plenty of über-violence to keep the kids happy."

"Codemasters promises to take a responsible approach to the game, working closely with ELSPA and the BBFC to ensure they don't overstep the boundaries of acceptability. The game will carry prominent warnings of its violent nature, as well as the popular '18' rating label on the box cover."

ECTS Interview - posted by Warlock @ 16:54

An Exclusive interview with Juan Diaz-Bustamante and Carlos García Cordero has been posted at the official website. The interview is about their recent visit to the ECTS trade show in London and comes with three pictures taken from Codemasters stand.

European version
US version
Spanish/South American version

Dutch Severance Preview - posted by Warlock @ 0:39

The Dutch version of G-Spot has posted a preview of Severance: Blade of Darkness. Unfortunalty, I don't understand dutch (and so doesn't BabelFish), but it seemed quite positive to me, as I *DID* understand the word "Halleluja!!!" that they started the preview with...

Sections Updated - posted by Warlock @ 14:13

I've finally found the time to update our unofficial F.A.Q. and all our game info sections. If you still find some outdated info, please scream out! :)

Games Dungeon - posted by Warlock @ 0:10

It's weird how you come over stuff when you're actually not looking for it. Browsing around tonight I discovered a newly started website called Games Dungeon; a site aimed at [...] "reviews of Big Hits to come, on Adventures, RPG's and Action games."

Blade of Darkness is one of the games they have put their eyes on, although nothing new yet, it looks to be a site worth looking back to now and then.

On release dates... - posted by Warlock @ 12:15

Xavier made a post, over at the new and improved official forums, clearing up some confusion going on around the release date(s) of the game. Here's how it is:

Spain/South America: Winter 2000
Rest of Europe: Winter 2000
USA: Q1 2001

I assume that the "winter 2000"-phrase still means November 2000...

New Screenshot @ RdB - posted by Warlock @ 12:10

Spanish Blade fan site, El Ricón de Blade, has posted a new screenshot of Severance or Blade: The Edge of Darknes (which is the Spanish and South American title of the game).

You'll find the new screenshot thumbnailed at the left part of their frontpage.

New Preview and Interview - posted by Warlock @ 11:59

A new brief preview of Blade of Darkness (Severance) has been posted at CDMag along with a selecetion of screenshots (no new ones I'm afraid).

Also, RPG Vault has posted an interview with Juan Diaz Bustamante, discussing various aspects of the game as the player characters, levels, weapons to mention a few.

Amazon Goodies! - posted by Warlock @ 12:46

What's a medieval adventure game without a (sexy) warrior princess? In Severance/Blade the Amazon is a player character that got just the right proportions! Just check out the five new exclusive screenshots posted over at Meristation!

Demo in works! - posted by Warlock @ 15:57

There's an interesting post by Juan, over at the splendid (hehe) official forums, where he announces that they have begun working on the first playable version of the game. The demo will be released in October.

Blade Special! - posted by Warlock @ 9:59

Spanish gamingsite Meristation has kicked up a loooong and great article on Blade: The Edge of Darkness (which is the title in Spain and South America).

Although it might seem otherwise in the article (you'll know what I mean), you, as me, might need a translator, as the article is in Spanish.

Well, Enjoy!

Screenshots at Gamespot - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 20:08

Gamespot have posted four not so "new" or "exclusive" screenshots of Severance :o)
Thanks BlueNews.

ECTS Preview - posted by Warlock @ 12:15

Barrysworld has posted a preview, of Severance: The Blade of Darkness, from the ECTS show in London held recently. It's a very positive article and always nice to read what impressions the game has on people who get to see it hands-on.

Screenshots at Daily Radar - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 13:12

Gaming site Daily Radar have posted 13 screenshots of Severance along with a short description of the game. Only one of the shots is new, of the knight approaching a fantastic looking temple covered with heiroglyphs :o)
Oddly they mention that they could not get a playable build of the game because it is "still quite early and was even still in Spanish". Still, despite being slightly misinformed they give a good positive overview of the game.

Codemasters Stand at ECTS - posted by Warlock @ 11:41

Codemasters will be showing of Severance/Blade at this years ECTS 2000, held in London (England). If you are attending the show, run over to stand number G420 at the hall Ground Floor and take a look!

Hopefully, we will have some pictures from the stand soon. I know Juan promised to snap some shots, but if anyone attending the show is reading this, you're more than welcome to send some photos to me :-)

Official Website Launched - posted by Warlock @ 17:26

The new official website(s) has been launched with updated info on the game, new messageboard and screenshots. New content will be added on a regulary basis. Go to www.rebelact.com and check it out!

Some of you might wonder why I havn't been to active here at BU lateley. The reason for this is that I've been working with the new Rebel Act Studios and Blade/Severance/Blade of Darkness websites.

I now work as Rebel Act's webmaster, but will still webmaster Blade Universe. However, we could use a bit help updating news and other editing stuff. If you're interessted, send me or Dr.Haggard an e-mail.

pc.ign hands-on preview - posted by Warlock @ 10:41

As promised, pc.ign has kicked up their preview of Blade of Darkness (the US-version), which is - according to the preview - aimed at a January 2001 release.

It seems like they really liked the games and look forward to play it just as much as me :-)

Several new screenshots can be found in this preview as well.

And 6 more screens at pc.ign - posted by Warlock @ 8:53

pc.ign has tossed up six new screenshots of Blade of Darkness/Severance/Blade (depending on where you live) and promise a full preview of the game tomorrow. Needless to say, check back at pc.ign tomorrow as well and see what they have to say about this upcoming kickass-hit!

Thanks VoodooExtreme!

2 New Screens - posted by Warlock @ 8:42

Just noticed that GamersEd has posted two new screenshots of Severance: The Blade of Darkness. Notice how nice the blood is dripping down that side!

Thanks BluesNews!

New Screenshots - posted by Warlock @ 21:50

GameSpy have posted 6 exclusive screenshots of Severance: Blade of darkness. Included is an awsome render of the four characters...you'll just have to see it!
(thanks Bluesnews)

I've also put up a copy of the pressrelease Codemasters released earlier today.

Personally, the fact that Codemasters will publish Severance, rocks my world! I love'em, and I am ABSOULUTLY sure that they will do a heck of a job with our baby!

Codemasters to publish Severance - posted by Warlock @ 15:01

Yes, it's official! Codemasters has secured the deal to publish Severance: The Blade of Darkness. If you are wondering what the hell I'm talking about, the fact is that the game, previously known as Blade: The Edge of Darkness, has been renamed to Severance for the world-wide distribution by Codemasters.

Read the newsbit over at FGN Online!

Publisher and Demo news! - posted by Warlock @ 10:14

According to a post made by Juan at the official forums, a deal with a new world-wide publisher has now been signed and that the name of new publisher will be revealed very soon (possibly this week).

The game will be high priority in the new publisher's portfolio and
they will bring a demo of the game consisting of two levels and two playercharacters (Knight and Barbarian) to the ECTS in London the first week of September.

If everything goes as planned, a playable demo will be released thru magazines in October. This demo will most likely include one level and one playercharacter (knight).

Juan also mention that they predict the game to be launched in November and that (hopefully) they will have the new official website up by this week.

Seems like we're on a verge of some great happenings here!

New Exclusive Screenshots - posted by Warlock @ 20:36

I'm sorry for the lack of my appearance here at Blade Universe lately, but I've been pretty tied up with some more important stuff. To try and make up for this, I hand you 5 completely new and exclusive screenshots of the game that really is worth waiting for!

Good news is that a playable demo will be out very soon, and so is a new official Blade webpage I've heard. International marketing is right around the cornor and all of this will hopefully make up for the quiet period we've been going through these days.

Fear not though, you're not forgotten! Me and Dr.Haggard is still doing our very best in serving you the best and latest Blade: The Edge of Darkness news!

New Blade Preview - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:18

German online gaming magazine Zocks have put up an interesting and comprehensive preview of Blade (Babel Fish translation here).
Describing the game as being in 'direct competition with Rune', the article outlines the features of the 3D engine, covers the background story of the game and goes on to discuss weapons, characters, enemies etc. It's a nice preview, and is accompanied by a few choice screenshots (though none new).

New Screenshot - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:15

Another new screenshot over at Spanish site El Rincón de Blade depicts the barbarian having apparently stumbled upon an Orc's campfire among some ominous looking ruins.

Developers at Work - posted by Warlock @ 23:14

A new developer has been added to our Developers at Work article, this time featuring 3d artist Daniel Delgado. You'll find a load of interesting stuff to read in here, thanks to Dr.Haggard and the ones who submitted their questions thru our Blade List! Go dig in!

Interview with Xavier Carrillo - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 17:13

Spanish gaming site OneZone have posted an in depth interview with Xavier (Blade project manager), carried out during a recent visit to Rebel Act Studios.
The interview is accompanied by four short video clips (in .asf format) with voice overs by Xavier and several screenshots (some new). The article is also scattered with some concept art and four lovely exclusive renders of the characters from the game.
Go here for an english translation.

One more Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 9:07

RdB has posted another screenshot of Blade, picturing the Barbarian in fight with two Orcs. What's that effect appearing at the back of the Barbarian? Take a look and see if you recognize what this might be!

New Screenshot - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 23:19

Our friends over at El Rincón de Blade have posted a brand new screenshot depicting the Dwarf standing overlooking a river in some kind of undergound tunnel, very dimly lit and thick with fog. It's very dark, so turn your brightness up and head on over.
Go here for an english translation of the site.

Creative Weapons - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 23:06

As you may know, Blade's incredibly realistic engine will allow players to pick up almost any object in the game and use it as a weapon. This feature could certainly come in handy at difficult times. But what sort of objects are you likely to find lying around the place? Chairs, tables, torches? Rocks perhaps?
But how about limbs, recently amputated from your last unfortunate foe?
Yes, Blade apparently has a system already implemented that makes it possible to pick up a Traitor Knight's amputated arm, for instance, and beat his friend to death with the wet end (please address letters of complaint for that last sentence to [email protected]).
However, it has become apparent during discussions on the Rebel Act Forums that this feature may have to be left out of the final game, at least in the international version.
Now some people may not miss it if it isn't there, but if anyone would really like to be able to try out this feature, even if it's not enabled by default, I suggest using the comments feature below this news item by way of a friendly petition. It may not do any good but it's worth a try :-)

New Distributor - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 22:38

Quite a bit of interesting new information has been extracted from Juan on the Rebel Act Forums recently, the most notable of which being that a distributor for Blade has been found for the rest of the world (ie outside Spain and South America), and although Rebel Act have not made an official announcement to this effect, and no names have been given, Juan gives the impression that all that's left to do is dot the i's and cross the t's. Good news indeed.
On a related note, there is talk of a 'special collectors edition' of Blade being released in limited numbers. At the moment there are no promises, and we certainly don't know what might be in it, but there's plenty of speculation on the forums (t-shirt, map, audio cd etc). However Juan says that this is being planned with Friendware (distributor of Blade for Spain and South America), so the rest of us might not be able to buy it.
Still roughly on the subject of distribution, though this time not exactly cause for celebration, it seems that unfortunately there will be no Linux version of Blade.
Use this link for an english translation of the forums.

Demo Confirmed - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 21:50

The guys over at Spanish site El Rincón de Blade have been busy again.
First and foremost they report on a post by Juan (Rebel Act CEO) on the Rebel Act Forum, that the Blade demo will be released after the summer, ahead of the games release. As for what will be included in the demo, Juan is keeping his lips sealed.
In further posts on the Rebel Act forum, in answer to some questions about the game save feature in Blade, Juan confirmed that there will be no restrictions on where or how many times you will be able to save your game.
Also, as promised, Samsagaz has completed the enemies section in his overview of the game, joining his articles on the weapons and armour and the game characters.
If you need it, a babel fish will help you translate this little lot.

Weapons Info - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 0:50

Samsagaz over at El Rincón de Blade has completed a nice section about the weapons and armour in Blade, comprising of pictures and info about each known item. Excellent stuff, check it out here.
Of course, this is all in Spanish, so you might need to use a Babel Fish.
You'll also notice on the news page they've posted another screeshot, but unfortunately this time it isn't a new one.

New Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 22:55

I just noticed that our colleagues over at the Spanish fan-site, El Rincón de Blade, have posted a new and beautiful screenshot of Blade. The picture shows the Dwarf toddling around in a pretty cosy looking room, decorated with some body parts of what seems to be the remains of a zombie. You'll find a thumbnail for the new screenshot on the main page of RdB.

Blade List Sign-Up Form - posted by Warlock @ 18:18

I have put up a permanent sign-up form, for our open mailing list, as Dr.Haggard promised earlier today. You can sign up any time by clicking the Mailing List link in the left-hand menu.

This list is intended to further develop the online community surrounding Blade. We hope this will become a friendly and enjoyable forum for any kind of discussion related to the game. Don't miss out, sign up today!

Status Report - posted by Warlock @ 15:23

Xavier was kind enough to brief me on how things are cooking (over) at Rebel Act Studios:

Manuel is back to do the last remaining special Fx, Jose is polishing movements, AI, inventory and sound-stuff, the level designers (Fernando, Miguel, Enric) are ending the last 3 levels, Carlos is finishing the save game, Bob is adjusting the magic attacks of the last enemy, the 3d guys have reviewed 1700 animations(!!), Dario is adjusting all the scripts and updating some network stuff, Angel is optimizing all that is optimizable, LuisMiguel is finishing the last skins, Emilio is checking all the sounds and music, Rodrigo is setting the 2D map, Arturo is polishing scripts and Jose Luis doesn't sleep more than 5 hours a day!!!

I'd also like to welcome Dr.Haggard aboard the team! Together we'll ensure you that Blade Universe will be the no.1 source for news and information (and a hell of a lot more) on Rebel Act Studios' Blade.

Blade Mailing List - posted by Dr.Haggard @ 13:27

Allow me to introduce myself as the new staff member here at BU. Among other things I will be helping Warlock with keeping you up to date with all the latest Blade news, and making the tea.
So, with all the confidence and poise of a toddler taking it's first steps, I'd like to announce the launch of the Blade Universe mailing list. This is intended as a forum for all discussion related to the game, and is open to everyone. So whether you want to thrash out the finer details of the game, ask questions or simply tell us all how you're going to kick our collective asses at multiplayer, what are you waiting for? Head on over here, hit 'subscribe' and sign away your life (or at least your inbox) and let's chew the fat.
A permanent sign-up form for the list will be added here very soon.

PS - d'you take milk and sugar Warlock?

New Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 15:18

Rubén Yeray sends word that they have posted a new and exclusive screenshot over at the Spanish fanpage, El Rincón de Blade. Pay attention to the rich details in those textures! You'll find the new screenshot to the left on the first page of the site.

Blade FSAA Shots - posted by Warlock @ 22:09

Yup, we got them eventually! The shots are available in a zip-file from our downloads section, including three screenshots with full-scene antialiasing turned on and three similar shots with FSAA turned off. The captures were done with a GeForce, in 32bit colour-mode. The performance is only reduced by about 5% (contrary to other games, which can take up to 50%). So, how do you like it?

Engine licensing article - posted by Warlock @ 20:10

Eurogamer has posted an article titled "The Engine Licensing Game", which takes a look at the ups and downs of licensing an engine from another company.

Various game developers comments on the pros and cons of licensing an excisting engine and building it from scratch. You'll find a few comments from RAS project manager, Xavier, in here as well.

Interview at IGN.PC - posted by Warlock @ 11:34

IGN.PC have kicked up an interview with Rebel Act programmer Jose Raluy. Here's a little snippet from the interview:

At the beginning the difference in the characters is not that much, as everyone's experience level is very low. But then, as you progress and get more experience, mainly through killing enemies, you get more sets of combos particularly geared to your character's weapon preference. So the Knight is going to get much more sets of combos for the normal sword, the Barbarian is going to have more combos for the two-handed sword, and so on.

For more goodies, browse your way to the full interview at IGN.PC

Blade FSAA - posted by Warlock @ 18:09

I've noticed that the news is out about some Blade screenshots posted here at Blade Universe, showing off Blade in 32 bit colors and full scene antialiasing with the GeForce. I'm afraid this is not the case. The mail I recieved is the same as the one the sites that have posted the news got, which did not include any attatched files. We will recieve the screenshots sooner or later, so hang in there...

10 new screens at GamesReview - posted by Warlock @ 13:18

The Spanish gaming site, GamesReview, have posted ten brand new and ass-kicking screenshots of Blade. It looks like the first group of screenshots are taken from the toturial level...What do you think? The screenshot of the Dwarf, sitting there with a cup of brew, are actually a scene taken from the system used for selecting the hero you want to play in the beginning of the game :-)

Developers Update - posted by Warlock @ 18:58

What has come to be one of our most popular features here at Blade Universe, the on-going article covering the developers and their work on Blade, has been updated. This time we've spoken to the man behind the toon rendering raster, Carlos García Cordero. Carlos is also the author of several of the tools used in-house by Rebel Act Studios and he is one of the main developers of the engine core.

New Preview at AT - posted by Warlock @ 17:15

There is a new preview of Blade over at ActionTrip.com. Here's a little something:

As all thirty five different types of your enemies start pouring in from all possible sides you will soon discover that each type has a lot of various dynamic way of getting hurt, and to make the enjoyment better still, a decent number of gore-zones and mutilation models. The enemies will range all from tiny yet thoroughly irritating critters going for your shins to gigantic behemoths (the remaining 33 types are somewhere in between). Each race will have its own psychology and race-specific tactics and skills. The enemy AI should prove very smart according to what I've heard. One of the catches about combat strategy is that there is a specific winning combination for each PC vs. each NPC; meaning that the strategy you use to fight a troll when playing the Barbarian will much differ from what you will have to use if you play the Dwarf.

All the screens are from Blade Universe, so you won't find any new screens in the preview I'm afraid.

Spotted on: VoodooExtreme

More Mirror Sites - posted by Warlock @ 17:07

New mirrors for downloading the new Blade video appears across the network, so if you havn't already downloaded it, you can get it from the following sites:

- Blade Mpeg @ CNET Download.com
- Blade Mpeg @ FilePlanet
- Blade Mpeg @ 3dfiles.com (has more mirrors listed)
- Blade Mpeg @ GameSpot-ES
- Blade Mpeg @ MeccaWorld

The list will be added to as new sites appears. If you know of a mirror not listed here, please send me an e-mail with the info.

Cool Barbarian Render - posted by Warlock @ 19:48

I don't know if you've already noticed, but if you go to Rebel Act Studios main page you'll see that they removed the link to the english version of the official Blade site. The pages are still there, but the link from the frontpage is taken away for some reason. Our friend ADi made me aware of this a couple of days ago, but I decided to wait a little bit and see if anything more happened. Nothing did and for the reason below, I just couldn't hold on anymore...

You see, the Spanish version of the Blade site has been updated with a pretty cool render of a Barbarian, leaning a big-ass sword over his shoulder! A larger version of this, with the title "Blade: The edge of darkness" printed above, would make a really great wallpaper!

Details in the new video - posted by Warlock @ 2:27

Here is a list of some of the cool and nifty details I’ve taken notice of in the new and awesome Blade video:

• How the zombie ducks to avoid an attack by the Knight when he swings the torch at him (and how lovely the shadow and light are)
• The scene right after, when the Barbarian swings his axe at two minotaurs, you can see the fleshwounds left in their stomach
• In the very next scene, you see through the 1st person view, and that big fellow swings his large sword at you, crushing your shield in bits
• The sound when the Amazon rolls and smash the skeletons head off (love that sound hehe)
• Another shield breaking in the next scene, in the fight with the Knight and the dark/traitor knight
• How the sword swings when the Knight throws it at his opponent, hitting him in the arm so that he drop his shield and cover the wound with the other hand
• The trailing mark from the arrow that flies by in the next scene and the FX showing the Amazon as she reach a new level
• Some of the different skins used for multiplayer in the scenes between the fight with the Knight and the Barbarian, which is actually showing some of the multiplayer action (one of the players is named Conan)
• The monster behind the flames, which are being exhaled towards the player character
• How the traitor/dark knight, in red armour, stings the Knight and the blood is dripping from his sword afterwards
• The defensive crouch-move the Knight does towards the end when that magic missile is launched at him
• The skeleton the Amazon fights against is on fire
• The smoke pouring out of the zombie’s neck after the Barbarian cuts his head off
• That the game is actually titled "Blade: The edge of darkness"

New Poll - posted by Warlock @ 1:28

I've put up a new question for you in our poll, asking (naturally) what your impressions were with the new Blade video. If you havn't seen it yet, I strongly recommend you to click your way to our downloads section and pick it up - you won't regret it!

New Screenshot! - posted by Warlock @ 21:32

The newly redesigned and reinforced El Rincón de Blade have posted a new screenshot of (duh!) Blade, which suits us fine since we don't have any for you today ;-) (we did hand you the video though).

Anyway, the new screenshot is of the Knight doing some archery action towards a skeleton. You'll find the screenshot to the left on the first page of the site. Enjoy!

Mirror Sites - posted by Warlock @ 14:04

Here you'll find a list of alternate sites to download the Blade video from:

- Blade Mpeg (zipped to approx. 41 Mb) @ 3dgamers.com
- Blade Mpeg (45,7 Mb) @ Vgames.co.il

The list will be added to as new sites appears. If you know of a mirror not listed here, please send me an e-mail with the info.

New Blade Video!! - posted by Warlock @ 12:11

I just got the new Blade video uploaded to our FTP from Rebel Act!! The video is in asf-format and weights in at 26 Mb, lasting for about 3.5 minutes. If you can't settle for the medium-quality, we will have the 46 Mb Mpeg version available for download here at Blade Universe later today.

Remember that we do not have unlimited bandwidth, so we encourage the ones who can to mirror the video and notify me by mail or post in the comments and/or our forums.

Oh...almost forgot, the new video kicks some serious ass! Go get it from our downloads section while it's hot!!!

The Comments Feature - posted by Warlock @ 23:32

I've put the comment feature back into the news script. Hopefully it will work well, but if you experience some problems or abnormalties, please let me know about it.

All Sections Converted - posted by Warlock @ 22:14

I've now finished converting the last sections to the new layout, namely the Blade Preview and The Developers at Work. If you havn't checked out these articles, I can strongly recommend you do so.

Be aware that some pages have changed destination URL's, so some of the links in the old news will result in a 404 error (document not found). If this happens, simply use the links from the main menu on the left part of the page to find what you're looking for.

Next step will be to get the comments feature back in the news script and fix some issues with the template used for the search result, but all in all, we should(!) be pretty much back to normal now.

New Layout - posted by Warlock @ 18:17

As you might noticed, we have completely redesigned Blade Universe to make it faster and easier to navigate. It should also support different browsers better. All the latest news headlines will always be available from the right pane and you can now search thru the news from the search field above the headlines.

Most of the old content are now converted to the new layout, but some pages are not done yet. Please report any broken links, bugs or other problems to [email protected].

Hope you like the new look!

Poll Results - posted by Warlock @ 18:07

In our last poll we asked you what part of Blade intrigues you the most. Of the 267 registered votes, 34% voted for action, 30% voted Adventure, 29% RPG while 7% was not sure. This seems like a good result for Rebel Act, as Blade is more focused on action and adventure than it is on RPG.

In our new poll we naturally ask you what you think of the new design for Blade Universe.

New Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 13:44

Here we go with this weeks screenshot! Want to see water? Then take a look at the extreme reflection in this shot. Too bad you can't see it in motion, but, as you know, it's not long until we'll be able to do just that - when the new video is released!

More Video Snips - posted by Warlock @ 14:07

Xavier popped by our forums today and let us in on a few more details on the new video of Blade. To sum it up for you, the video will give you a really good idea of the gameplay, the combat and the multiplayer in Blade. The video will not include any scenes from the intro, but focus stricktly on the various gameplay aspects. Rebel Act is very satisfied with the new video, which Xavier defines as "best of Blade".

Xavier promise that we'll see all we're expecting in the new video, so you might read thru this thread at our forums to learn some more gritty details.

The new Blade video will be released someday during June.

The Developers at Work - posted by Warlock @ 16:08

Our on-going article The Developers at Work has been updated, featuring 3d artist/modeler Luis Miguel Quijada. As usual the update also includes a picture taken from the developer's desktop. And in this one, Luis Miguel was working on the 3d model for the minor demon, which I've heard will be pretty hard to kill and have great AI behaviour.

Weekly Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 15:45

Sorry for not having this up on Friday, but in return the wait should be worth it! I'm not quite sure what's going on in this screenshot, but it seems like two smoking skeletons are amused by their friend doing some nasty stuff to the knight...

Video Update - posted by Warlock @ 14:55

Xavier (Blade project leader) has confirmed that they are currently working on the new video, which he promise will be much better than the previous one. He also told me that the video will include the main music theme in Blade.

I'll keep you updated in the comments for this newspost if I learn more of the details on it.

Official Forum Watch - posted by Warlock @ 20:07

Rebel Act has started the work on the new Blade video, so it should be out any day now. Let's hope we'll get have it ready by the end of this week - fingers crossed. Making a quality video takes a couple of days at least I've heard.

The plans for the demo has been to include one of the first levels, but they might consider to include the tutorial and a small map that will not be available in the final game. Personally I prefer the last option. It's a bit annoying to play one level over and over again in a demo, and when you finally get the full game, you'll have to force yourself to complete it for the 100th time - taking away some of the excitement and fun of it. But, most of all, I want to see a multiplayer level in the demo!

What's your thoughts on this topic?

Status Report - posted by Warlock @ 18:19

I got a little status report from Xavier here the other day and figured I share it with you guys.

Things are going quite well, we have already finished the first levels with Beta quality. You'll see many changes since you played Blade at Madrid...

The team is working very hard and they are really motivated to finish it very soon...

We're adjusting the special effects for the spells...it looks really great!!!

Friday's Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 18:08

I almost forget about this today, but hey, It's Friday again, and time to post a new sparkling screenshot of Blade - which is just what today's screenshot is. Doesn't that torch look a bit different than what we've seen before? It looks more glowing and sparkling to me. Hell, Blade is only looking better and better for each Friday! Also notice the shadows here. You can clearly tell that the ground, which the Knight stands on, is a step higher than the floor in front of him. Try picturing that without the shadows on!

The Developers at Work - posted by Warlock @ 19:33

Our ongoing article, The Developers at Work, has been updated. This time we've talked with level designer Fernando Del Ama, who is currently puting his last touch on the levels in Blade before the beta. Want to know a bit of what it is like being a level designer? Want to know how the level editor works and what you'll be able to do with it? Head over to our articles section and find out!

Blade Toon Follow-Up - posted by Warlock @ 19:52

The Blade-Toon screenshots I posted yesterday turned out to be pretty popular, so I figured I'd post some follow-up info I recieved in an e-mail from Carlos today:

There are three main parts: the outlining of the objects, the processing of the textures and the special illumination. Each can be set/unset independently.

Now I have two main processes for the textures, one in color (the one I sent you and another one in Black and White), I may write more filters for the textures.

It is a little slower than the normal version, I have not measured it, but I think that it is about a 5-10% slower, maybe less. It depends on the scene. The only process that takes a little time is the outlining.

I have another rendering mode with line shading, but it's not ready to be shown.

More Fan Art - posted by Warlock @ 18:31

Our Fan Art section has been updated with a new and pretty damn cool sketch by Borja. The Dwarf looks like he has gone quite beserk here, and it should work very well as a Blade poster for you to print out and hang on your wall!

Thanks to Samsagaz for sending it in!

Blade Toon Renders - posted by Warlock @ 20:15

Rebel Act programmer, Carlos, sent me two screenshots of an interesting experiment of his: Toon Rendering in Blade. With this technique, the 3d engine renders the scene, in real-time, like a cartoon! You can view the result by clicking here and here. You can also find these two screenshots in a zip-file from our downloads-section.

Please Note: This is NOT an official Rebel Act project. It is a personal research by Carlos García Cordero and it might not be included in the final product.

Weekly Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 17:29

It's that day of the week again and we continue to do what we've done the past 12 Fridays now, which is posting a brand new screenshot of Blade! I've taken a closer look at the screenshots we've posted so far, and noticed that the texture alignment looks pretty good now compared to what we've seen in some of the older screens. Leave a comment to this newspost or head over to our forums to tell us what you think.

New game in works? - posted by Warlock @ 23:39

Just wanted to bug you with some stuff Juan posted over at the official Blade website's forums. Apparently, Rebel Act is forming a new group, who will be working on the concept and design of a new game, overlapping the last stages of the development of Blade. Could this be Blade 2 perhaps?

Juan also mentioned that the new publisher of Blade is to be announced VERY soon, along with some other good news regarding the new Blade video.

Thanks to Pookie and Joanqui for helping me out with the translation!

Some minor site updates - posted by Warlock @ 21:03

I've added Volador's Blade IRC-channel to our IRC-Info page. This is a Spanish channel and is quite often visited by some of the developers of Blade.

I've also restructured our Fan Art section to make viewing the many and impressive fan art submissions we've got so far easier.

Blade WinAmp Skin - posted by Warlock @ 15:04

ADi sendt me a Blade skin for WinAmp today. You can find it in our restructured downloads section. If you make any stuff like this for Blade (skins, wallpapers, music etc.), drop me a line and I'll add it to our downloads.

New Fanart - posted by Warlock @ 23:33

Just recieved a new drawing from Yan Le Gall (yanos from our forums), showing a follow-up of his previous submission. Great work! You can view his fan art and all the others from our fan-art section.

New Weekly Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 18:34

You know the deal, every Friday we post a new and fresh screenshot of Blade. This Friday is of course no exception! In this shot we see the Dwarf looking up, from a dark space, at something that appears to be a collapsed floor. Perhaps he fell down from there and want to get back up before some evil creatures jump out of the shadows?

Goodies before the summer - posted by Warlock @ 20:15

In the shadow of E3, Rebel Act is continuing their hard work towards a Blade beta, which should be ready by the end of this month or early June. Another thing, which they hope to kick out before the summer, is a brand new Blade video. Hopefully they’ll show off all the characters in this new video, so you can all see how different and darn cool they are :-)

Blade at E3? - posted by Warlock @ 13:40

Not likely...in fact, it is second to certain that Blade will not be at this years E3 expo, as a deal with a new publisher for Blade is not yet finalized. If anything else happen, I'll keep you posted.

Screenshot of the Week - posted by Warlock @ 19:35

The joy of Friday is once again upon us, and as always we slam up a brand new screenshot of Blade. Here we see a knight (this time with his head still attached to the neck) walking towards a gate with three dark knights waiting on the other side. Perhaps they'll be kind enough to open it, and let you inside in the heat? Well...leave a comment and tell us what you think.

Links Section Up - posted by Warlock @ 21:39

I've finally taken the time (and remembered) to put together a links section. Better late than never ;-)

If you know of any sites I've forgot to include or you have any additional information, leave a comment.

New and Fresh Poll - posted by Warlock @ 20:15

In our last poll we asked you Which Character are you most eager to try?, it seems (not surprisingly) that the Barbarian turned out to be the most eagerly awaited, with 200 votes. The Dwarf came in at second with 184 votes, followed closely by the Knight with 182 and finally the Amazon getting 149 of the total 715 votes. It was a close race for sure, meaning that all characters are found appealing and interesting. After the game has been out for a while, and we've all got our chance to try 'em out, I'll put it in a poll again.

In this new poll I'm interested in knowing which part of Blade that appeals the most to you, so go ahead and vote! Previous poll results can be found right here.

Tam Can-Die is as good as done - posted by Snikko @ 17:24

Just got the final skin from mac today so I desided to post it right away. Im still trying to get the left shoulder straps to look good where the textures connect. When I get it fixed Ill get Warlock to post the model in our fan art section. But for now check the render here (800x600) or here (640x480).

Weekly Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 18:21

It's the day of the week again, and as usual we celebrate the weekend with a brand new Blade screenshot! Swords can be a pain in the neck sometimes, at least when it's in the hands of these baddies! Wonder how it would look like from a 1st person perspective...

Two New Screenshots - posted by Warlock @ 22:59

VGames.co.il have posted two new and exclusive screenshots of our favourite game to be! I had some problems viewing the site, so in case you have the same problems you can view these beauties by clicking here for shot 1 and shot 2. Leave a comment and tell us what you think ;-)

Thanks a bunch ADi!

Any Comments? - posted by Warlock @ 22:09

Just added a comment-feature to the news script. This enables you to add a quick comment to any news-updates with a little notepad-icon to the right of the news subject. Just click the little icon and you can post your message just like in a simple bulletin board.

The Alhambra - posted by Warlock @ 22:35

If you read my little journal, The Journey to Rebel Act Studios, you may remember me describing some of the beautiful level designs in Blade. If not, let me refresh your memory with a little quote:

"Countless pillars supported beautiful formed bows and curves that melted into the roof. Colorful tiles decorated the walls and the floor as far as the eye could see"

The architecture of this particular level, which I'm refering to here, is highly inspired by what can be seen in the ancient palace 'The Alhambra' in Granada, Spain. I recommend you check out some photos from this site that I came over while searching the web. It has a great resemblance to what Enric Álvarez showed me, while he was designing the level, architecture-wise.

Weekly Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 20:12

Not much to report now in these easter days, but here is a new screenshot for you. As powerful as the Barbarian may think he is, facing a giant rolling boulder with a blade...well, let's just say it's not gonna look pretty! Enjoy the shot and your holliday!

Archived News - posted by Warlock @ 0:39

Just realized that the archived news section was getting rather lengthy, so all archived news are now archived by month. The main page is set to display 20 news updates at once and the rest can be found from the corresponding link in the archived news page.

F.A.Q. Updated - posted by Warlock @ 22:26

I've updated our unofficial Frequently Asked Questions to version 1.1. The changes made are basically more correct and up-to-date information in the existing answers. If you can think of any more questions that should be included, please let me know!

Friday's Screenshot! - posted by Warlock @ 18:53

Here we go again with a brand new screenshot for you to drool about! The weapons racks, as you can see in this picture, are for certain a thing the Barbarians find exciting. Instead of hovering above the ground, the weapons in Blade is either collected from your defeated enemies or placed in logical positions like we can see here.

Make sure you don't miss.... - posted by Warlock @ 17:25

Here's a small list of some of our key-features here at Blade Universe. You better make sure you don't miss...

- Our beloved (and first of the kind) Blade Hands-On Preview (Hot!)
- Our on-going behind-the-scenes article: The Developers at work
- Our splendid message board (visited daily by members of RAS)
- Our unique interactive story: The Legend of Tam Can-Die
- Our very impressive Fan-Art section

Translated Blade-Article - posted by Warlock @ 9:35

In the april-issue of the spanish magazine MicroMania there was an article on Blade and its current state. Spyd has translated the article into understandable english and put it up on his site for us to read. Here's a little snippet to get you started:

"We have designed the multiplayer levels so the combat is fast and vibrant and that allows to play the maxium number of people, on the local network or in Internet using a dedicated server. The final goal is to offer an intense and competitive multiplayer experience. We have pointed all our efforts in that direction"

Vote for Blade!! - posted by Warlock @ 14:59

Our host, GA-RPG, has a poll going on where they ask: "Which in your opinion is the best contender for best RPG of E3?". Blade is one of the options so go on and give it your vote (although Blade is probably a better contender for the best action game)!

Tam Can-Die is in Trouble - posted by Warlock @ 11:33

A new chapter has been added to our interactive story, The Legend of Tam Can-Die. A dramatic scene just played out in the middle of Eviltree, and Tam and his new friend Ithena Surebow have got themselves into majour trouble! What will happen next? Only you can decide... Check it out while we wait for Miguel's chapter illustration.

Friday's Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 18:21

Here we go with a new screenshot of Blade. As allways, we present you with a screenshot directly taken from the in-game experience.

This week's screen is, in my opinion, a pretty moody one and it has a great sense of space and depth to it.

Lord of the Rings Trailer - posted by Warlock @ 11:51

In case you didn't know, the preview trailer of PJ's upcoming movie of Lord of the Rings has been launched over at the official LotR-site. The movie is based on JRR Tolkien's trilogy of the same name, and part 1, Fellowship of the Ring, is coming to the cinemas around christmas 2001. Ok, so this is not directly related to Blade, but I guess many of the eagerly awaiting fans of Blade would want to see this! It looks pretty promising!

The Developers at Work - posted by Warlock @ 23:42

Our on-going article, The Developers at Work, has been updated with a new big-ass cover from the development of Blade. This time we have spoken to Special Effects programmer Manuel. Since the article was getting rather lengthy I've now followed Snikko's suggestion and dedicated a seperate page to each and one of them - all linked to from the first page of the article (of course).

Got any suggestions? - posted by Warlock @ 20:11

I just posted a new thread in our forums, and my ego is just big enough to post about it here as well ;-)

Since the game-modes that will be available in Blade multiplayer is pretty much all secret for now, why not discuss what modes we'd like to see for ourself? The thread is named "Multiplayer game-mode suggestions?" - take a look, post your comments and/or add your own ideas!

New Screens at El Rincón de Blade - posted by Warlock @ 19:25

Our Spanish friend Volador, over at El Rincón de Blade, has posted two new screenshots of Blade as well as a new concept art of the Knight. You can view 'em by clicking on the following links: Barbarian drawing a big ass sword, Dwarf getting his feet cold and a Knight on a horse!

More on the Editor - posted by Warlock @ 13:02

Genesis (Manuel) just posted some more insight on the editor over at the RAS forums. The level-editor tools will take up about 5-7 Mb - without including some system and Python DLLs. Also, the files that will hold the levels' architecture-data will be around 1-2 Mb - not taking into account the size of the textures and/or objects that may be used in 'em.

You can learn a bit more about this editor from our 'The Developers at Work'-article and our recently published 'The Journey to Rebel Act'-article - you'll find both of 'em right here!

Level Editor - posted by Warlock @ 11:28

Latest word from Juan at the RAS forums: "The level editor will be released, but we don't know yet if it'll be with the game or we'll give out the editor through internet". He also mention (in another reply) that they will (of course) do their best to make it as userfriendly and stable as possible.

Interview with Juan - posted by Warlock @ 22:59

Just noticed that 3d Action Planet have smacked up an interview with Juan Diaz-Bustamante Berasategui today. There are three new screenshots with the interview as well.

Spotted on: Voodoo Extreme

More Fan Art - posted by Warlock @ 19:40

Got a new fan-art submission from Energy today. A 3d Max scene of a tomb - Dal Gurak's tomb to be more precise. You can check it out here.

Blade Hands-On Preview! - posted by Warlock @ 21:15

This is it! My article from my visit to Rebel Act Studios is finally finished and available for you to read! It's a pretty long read, but it should worth the time (I hope). The article is put in its own special design and includes 4 completely new and fresh screenshots! Head over to our articles section and get comfortable. Enjoy it!

New Fanart! - posted by Warlock @ 20:55

It's been a while since we got any new fanart submissions, but today I recieved a piece that just blew me away! I got a sketch, from Yan Le Gall (aka yanos in our forums), a while ago of this picture. But as I didn't hear anything more from him (until now), I was worried that we would never see the final result of it. Today, however, we got the completed artwork - and it turned out to be one hell of a picture! Check this beauty out right here!

Friday's Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 20:23

I'd be darned if it's not Friday again! This means a new Blade screenie to chew on. This time it's the Knight fighting a Dark Knight after cutting his fellow in tiny bits.

Well - this is only to get you started, 'cause something *BIG* is heading your way today!

Multiplayer and System Requirments - posted by Warlock @ 19:26

Rebel Act Studios has gone public with some more information about the multiplayer part of Blade. You will be able to choose from 12 characters (3 skins for each of the 4 main characters), played in a fast and hectic arena mode, over TCP/IP and IPX networks (internet and LAN). However, the available game modes is not revealed yet.

Minimum requirements is set to PII 200, 32 Mb RAM and a 4 Mb video card, while a P II 400, 64 Mb RAM with 8 Mb video card is recomended. Supported 3d API's are Direct3D and Glide.

Some Information - posted by Warlock @ 17:54

First, my upcoming article, with a Hands-On Preview of Blade and a description of my visit to Rebel Act, is 99% complete (just some minor adjustments and editing left).

Second, Snikko and Miguel are working on a 3d model of Tam Can-Die, which will be really sweet! Take a look at the test-animation from the work in progress.

Third, if you have been experiencing problems with loading our site lately, it is because of the adds-server GA is using. This seems to be fixed now and hopefully it won't happen again.

Weekly Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 18:16

It's Friday and we're back on time with our weekly screenshot of Blade. The picture is of the Knight character, engaging a couple of orcs into combat.

FYI: I'm still working on my article from my visit to RAS, but it's coming along quite well.

The Developers at work - posted by Warlock @ 18:15

Our featured article, The Developers at work, is updated with a very interesting and in-depth explanation of the artificial intelligence (AI) in Blade. The article is following the developers at Rebel Act Studios in the work on Blade, and this time it's AI-programmer Jose Raluy's turn to be unveiled. Enjoy!

Position Available at Rebel Act Studios - posted by Warlock @ 15:24

I recieved this announcement from Juan Diaz-Bustamante of Friendware and Rebel Act Studios:

REBEL ACT STUDIOS IS LOOKING FOR A LEAD PROGRAMER TO WORK ON A NEW PROJECT

Rebel Act Studios is a leading european games developer based in Madrid (Spain). Rebel Act Studios is developing now a 3D action/adventure game called BLADE, considered by PC ZONE UK as the best looking game by far at last E3.

Weekly Screen - posted by Warlock @ 19:03

Here we go with a new screenshot of Blade. It was supposed to be up last Friday, but some stuff prevented me from doing that. Anyway...this is the Barbarian fighting a orc chief. Notice the red trails from the Barbarians sword ;-)

Next Friday we should be back on schedule and bring you the next weekly screenshot on the day it was ment for. Enjoy it!

New illustration added - posted by Warlock @ 2:47

I've put up the new illustration for the third chapter of the Interactive Story, featuring Tam Can-Die. Another great drawing by our very own artist Miguel! Tam Can-Die longs for more adventures, so keep the story rolling folks!

I'm back! - posted by Warlock @ 20:15

Ahhh...I'm back from my holliday. I got to Spain Thursday 9th March without any plans of going to Rebel Act Studios. Well, to my own surprise I had the RAS phone number 'just in case' and made a phone call and talked with Xavier the day after my arrival. Monday I decided to buy the plane ticket and made arrangements with Xavier and Tuesday I was there!

I will have a full report as well as a Blade first-impression preview up as soon as I get some things done. Should be ready within the upcomming week. Until then I can tell you that Blade was all I hoped it would be and more; It's one hell of a game made by some excellent people!!! Stay tuned!

Oh! And about the weekly screenshot...looks like it will be a bit delayed. Sorry about that! It's busy coming home and today I need to spend some time with friends!

Blade preview - posted by Snikko @ 22:01

Just recieved a mail from Derk Bil, the senior editor of Gamers central, saying that they had written a preview of blade. You can check it out here. (Make sure to check the first screenshot as its a new one.)

Misc info from the forum (demo date and release date) - posted by Snikko @ 18:59

Just found this in a post by Juan in the forums

"Infogrames and Rebel Act have decided a few weeks ago, in a friendly way, not to continue with our Blade's distribution deal due to reasons that both companies will keep internal by now. Those reasons have nothing to do with the game itself or with the game playability or content.

We will announce which company/companies will distribute Blade worldwide very soon. We are speaking with well known companies that will focus heavily on the game as Blade just doesn't deserve to be just another game in a huge portfolio.
Conversations with those companies are very advanced.

We'll be in beta in April/May, looking for a September release the latest."

Weekly Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 19:05

I know it's not Friday, but I'm going away tomorrow and won't be back until Friday 17th. This weeks screenshot features a pretty beat up Dwarf. Whatever hell hole the Dwarf is walking out of, some evil punks have left a nice mark on his face. Pretty cool!

While I'm gone, Snikko will be holding the fort.

Release date - posted by Warlock @ 12:28

Juan had the following to say about the release date, in a reply to Bernon, over at the official forums: "it will be the end of 2nd quarter or 3rd quarter". Nothing new really, just a bit more specific.

The Developers at work - posted by Warlock @ 18:55

This time we'll take a look on RAS script programmer Arturo's Desktop along with an explaination of what you see in the picture. Read about it, from the guy in charge of making some of the nasty stuff happen in Blade, right here!

Rebelact's homepage updated a bit - posted by Snikko @ 18:00

Well. Just went by rebelact's page today and noticed that they had updated it a bit here and there. In the spanish version they had made some fun with the mouse and then updated the "characters" section a bit. In the english version, only the "characters" section had been updated. But I'm quite sure they will update it some more soon, so check it often for updates.

Friday's Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 17:54

The best day of the week is upon us once again! This means a completely new screenshot of Blade here at Blade Universe. I really like this one, the shadow effects in it is just so damn impressive and good looking! Enough said, check it out!

New illustration and chapter added - posted by Warlock @ 19:10

Miguel has completed the illustration for the second chapter added to our Interactive Story. The illustration has now been embedded into Trygve's chapter. If you havn't noticed, Snikko has added a third chapter to The Legend of Tam Can-Die where Tam meets someone in the dark forest, Eviltree. Keep the story going, while Miguel works on the next illustration!

If you want more info on this feature, please visit the Tam Can-Die info page.

Note: Appearantly our interactive story page did not load in Netscape (due to some embarassing html errors). However, it should be fixed now. Still, the form-boxes when you add a chapter, is oversized in netscape. I highly recommend using MS Internet Explorer 4+

IRC channel on EF-Net - posted by Warlock @ 17:13

We just got a bot up on the EF-Net IRC network. The channel is named #bladeuniverse. I will update the IRC infopage as soon as possible. I've posted more info in our Forums.

Enemies Section Up - posted by Warlock @ 20:38

Our enemies section is up and running. Finally, all the items in the menu are filled with information on the game we're all waiting for! Think you allready know everything about the enemies? Well, maybe you do, but it's worth checking out if only for the evil family picture I put together ;-)

Visit at RAS HQ - posted by Warlock @ 19:34

Our Friends over at the Spanish Blade fan-page El Rincón de Blade, has put up an article at their site covering Volador's visit at Rebel Act in Madrid. Our team member, Spyd, has made a translation of this article in english which you'll find right here!

Tam Can-Die goes on... - posted by Warlock @ 17:40

Tam Can-Die, from our interactive story, is continuing his quest! Thanks to Trygve Rygg, Tam Can-Die has now reached the dark wood of Eviltree! Go to our interactive story and take a look at this great chapter. Remember to check back soon for an illustration by our artist Miguel!

Blade Interview and Footage - posted by Warlock @ 16:52

ya.com, have an exclusive interview with Xavier Carrillo (Project Manager) along with some RealPlayer vido clips where you get to see some really cool footage of the game in action as well as commentars by Xavier. Be aware though, the game footage seems to be filmed directly from Xavier's monitor and is not the best of quality. It's all in Spanish, but we'll have Spyd translate and post any new and interesting info later. Thanks a bunch to Sebastián Sucho for leting us know!

Friday's Screenshot - posted by Warlock @ 18:12

It's finally Friday! As we've promised we'll be posting a new screenshot every Friday until the game is released. In the first screen up we can see the Dwarf looking at a statue from the "Ice Fortress" level (the real name is yet to be revealed). As I mentioned, the winged creature is a statue. However, Juan had this to say about it: "It's a statue, but it may come to life..."

The picture can be found in the left pane as well as in our screenshots section. Enjoy!

The Developers at work - posted by Warlock @ 21:50

This time we have talked with Javier Rollón Morán, 3D Artist at Rebel Act. Javier explains in detail the tools and techniques used to make some of the best ever seen animations in a video game! To go with it, we have (of course) a picture of his desktop for your viewing pleasure. Get it all right here, right now!

New feature! - posted by Warlock @ 12:20

Every Friday, starting on the 25th of February, we will post a new screenshot of Blade until its release! You'll not see these screenshots anywhere else but here, at Blade Universe, so stay tuned!

Also, we'll update "The Developers at Work" article once a week, featuring a new developer at Rebel Act Studios, working on Blade!

You don't want to miss this :-)

Posts in our Forums - posted by Warlock @ 0:35

If you are wondering where all the old posts in our Forums have gone, then the answer is nowhere ;-)

The forum defaults to display topics from the last 30 days. You can change this from the drop down menu to your likings. If you think it looks a bit empty...then just post a few ;-)

Two new screenshots - posted by Warlock @ 0:38

I recieved a mail from danilovix telling us about two new screenshots posted at Volador's Blade site. You can view the screenshots here and here. There's some pretty interesting looking creatures in the second shot :-)

Interview with Xavier - posted by Warlock @ 1:52

Eurogamer have kicked up an interview with project manager Xavier!

This week's EuroGamer interview is "Blade Unsheathed". We talked to Xavier Carrillo of Spanish developer Rebel Act Studios about the company and their debut project, Blade, an impressive looking fantasy action game.

Here's a little snippet from the interview:

"It's a portal 3D engine with real time physics and real-time shadows", Xavier explained. "It's very powerful, and allows a lot of interactivity with the environment. Everything has been done to reinforce the feeling of reality."

Article: The Developers at Work - posted by Warlock @ 21:24

Want to know what the level designers at Rebel Act use when designing levels for Blade? Sure you do! We have put up our first exclusive article here at Blade Universe, called The Developers at work.

We have talked with Enric Álvarez (RAS level designer) about the level editor and got the scoop on how it all works. Better yet, we got a picture of it, taken directly from Enric's desktop! Get all the juicy stuff right here!

How to slay an orc! - posted by Warlock @ 20:38

Jose Raluy, programmer at RAS, posted some info about the game controls and combos at our forums today. According to his post, combat will work similar to arcade fighting games, only slightly simplified. Both keys and the previous animations are taken into account when you make an attack. The resulting attack, or combo, depends on your timing, movement and the weapon being used.

Infogrames launching new Website - posted by Warlock @ 18:02

I just noticed a little newsbit over at 3d Retreat, that might be of interest:

Infogrames North America will be opening its new “customer-focused” website tomorrow, at http://www.us.infogrames.com/. According to the company, the site will give information on the company’s products, offer a 24-hour online store, provide downloadable demos, enable users to share information with each other, give technical support and offer corporate information.

Infogrames will stand for the world-wide distribution of Blade.

Source: 3d Retreat

Tam Can-Die ready to adventure! - posted by Warlock @ 1:58

I'm finally done with replacing the script for our interactive story, featuring Tam Can-Die! I've modified a guestbook script available at SomethingsBrewing to make it suiteable for our needs. The result is perfect! :-)

You can now view Miguels illustration for the first chapter in the story! Continue the story and have it illustrated by our artist! For more info, click here.

Interactive Story Script - posted by Warlock @ 14:38

Just wanted to inform you that I will replace the current script for our Tam Can-Die story with a more suitable one. I will try get it up and ready for tonight if everything works out as planned. The current script is still up and running, but the chapter illustrations will not be up before I get the new script ready.

New Staff Member - posted by Warlock @ 21:30

Miguel Angel Castillo will now be part of the BU staff and will be working as our artist-guy. If you've been to our Fan Art section, you probably already know who Miguel is...if not, you better check it out right away!

Miguel will start his work by drawing pictures for our interactive story: Tam Can-Die. As chapters are added to the story, Miguel will visualize them!!! Maybe this will encourage you to add a few chapters? Hopefully, we'll have the first picture up tonight, so stay tuned! Meanwhile...why not add a chapter to the story? ;-)

Site restructured - posted by Warlock @ 1:08

I have restructed the site to make it easier to maintain and to make it more flexible. As a result of this, all pages have changed the file extension from .htm to .shtml. If you get a 404 error (document not found) you may need to go back to the main page (www.blade-universe.com) and refresh. If you get this error while opening one of our page from your bookmarks, please update these bookmarks. Should you find any errors or experience any problems, please contact me!

Dynamic Movement - posted by Warlock @ 13:45

Enric Álvarez (RAS level designer and multiplayer technician) said some quite interesting things yesterday, about the animations in Blade. With the new animation system they implemented, after the Blade mpeg was released a while ago, all animations and movements will now look very fluid and realistic. The most interesting part, however, was the mentioning about the variations in the animations. A lot of games suffer from a "static" feel, where the animations are exactly the same every time you do a specific movement/action. In Blade, this will be different. Enric told us that Blade will have great variations in the character movements and animations!

Levels Section up! - posted by Warlock @ 23:55

Finally, I've put up some info about the levels Blade will have to offer! You'll find a summary of what some of you may allready know from the official Blade website as well as some new tasty bits. Put on your reading glasses and have a look!

Killer Fan Art! - posted by Warlock @ 23:16

We got a new submission, from Miguel Angel Castillo, for our Fan Art section today! This time he has drawn a picture of the Amazon. With this picture, Miguel completes a collection of all four characters available in Blade! Now, stop reading and head on to the Fan Art section and take a look at this beauty! :-)

Webdog - posted by Warlock @ 16:47

I have signed Blade Universe up at Webdog. Webdog is a neat utility where you can keep yourself updated on gaming news and .plan files from sites submitted to Webdog. You'll find Blade Universe under the program's RPG category. Why not give it a try?

New Poll - posted by Warlock @ 16:41

I've put up a new question in our poll, asking which character you are most eager to try in Blade. Make sure to give us your vote!

A page for archived polls is set up, where you can view the result from the previous poll. You'll find the link to this page below the voting poll, on the left pane.

Texture Aligning - posted by Warlock @ 5:47

There have been some worries concerning the texture alignment in Blade, from looking at the screenshots. Yuio (Programmer at Rebel Act) explains that these kind of issues are taken care of at a suitable time. Spending time on adjusting textures to levels that may be changed would be a vaste of time, before everything is 100% ready. So...relax and don't worry! We've seen the same thing in other games, pre and post the release.

Source: Rebel Act's Forums

New newsscript in use - posted by Warlock @ 3:16

Wow...look at the big change! Ok, there isn't really any major differences for you as our visitors, but the new script is a whole lot better and less buggy (I hope) than the previous one.

You'll find the news from January in our archived news section. The news posted with our last script will just be displayed on an empty page, but at least it's still there :-) I re-posted Spyd's last post with this new script (look below), taking full credits for his work hehe ;-)

Sound and Music information - posted by Warlock @ 3:06

Yuio García, Technology Programmer from RAS, answered some questions that Spyd posted on the RAS forum:

Will there be EAX or A3D support in Blade?
Both of them.
Will there be quadraphonic sound?
Yes
Surround sound through decodificator?
The sound system we use supports it... but I can't say anything, because I cannot test it and it requires permissions from Dobly labs... I will clarify this. About the decodificator, I don't think that will be necessary, but the only thing that I can say is that we are investigating it...
The sounds, will they be in 8 or 16 bit? And in what resolution?
This will be decided upon the memory and processor consumption. There's nothing decided now.
Will there be high and low sound quality (for high-end and basic computers)
Yes, I guess.
In what format will the music be?
The music will be in a custom format.
Will there be interactive music?
Yes. It will have a specific behavior in each moment and place, to obtain the desired effect.