Design Notes

February 14, 2011

Love Is In The Air!

Babies and Weddings for everyone!

Happy Heroes Heart Day, guys! It's really good to be back. If you weren't aware I've been gone for the last 2 weeks. On February 2nd at 7:50 AM server time, my second (and final) son was born. We named him Jetson.

Jack and Jetson.

Since Jet's birth I've been at home helping my wonderful wife as much as I can and helping Jack get used to having a new family member, and generally being a very attentive husband and father.

My first son, Jack is now a big brother. He's got a 13 month head start but i'm sure that he'll teach Jet everything he needs to know about being my kid like: Which buttons to never press, Where daddy keeps his secret stash of socks, Which of his parents knees are the tastiest to chew on,  How to sense when Mom and Dad have just drifted off to sleep so he can wake up and start fussing, How to eat, drink, spit-up, burp, fart, poop, pee and cry all at the same time, and many other fun talents.

For those of you following me on Twitter, Nursey and I were completely blown away by the number of very nice messages flooding in washing over my happy family, blanketing us all in good vibes. You're all far too kind, but I humbly accept those kind wishes and pass them on to my family. Thank you.

But Wait... There's More!

Nythera is getting MARRIED!

She is the half-dragon who recently lead us into the void (and head of AE Player Support) and she's finally tying the knot with her long-time fiance'. We're happy to let you take part in her wedding in a special ONE-TIME ONLY wedding event on Friday March 4th. (Not this weekend, I'm just leading with this because it's exciting news and because Heroes Heart Day is a day to celebrate Love)

We'll have more details on that special event as we get closer to it, but for now please join me in saying a big GRATS to our favorite snarky half-dragon!

But Wait... There's STILL More!

We just found out today that AQW/HS super coder Llussion just asked his long-time girlfriend to marry him and she said YES! No date has been set and we may or may not have an in-game event but we're all VERY happy for those two crazy kids. Llussion has saved my bacon more times than I can count so I'm going to have to build him a truly excellent wedding present.

CardCaster Is Now CardClasher!

Very soon we will be releasing our Artix Entertainment Battle Cards card game, which comes with the exclusive in-game CLASS, CardClasher!

We had to change the name from CardCaster to CardClasher due to an unforseen copyright issue with another game. 

The Class will be for everyone who purchases the card game, but we also plan on releasing a Member-Only CardClahser area to give you some backstory on what a CardClasher is and provide the AQW Members with some additional content to really trick out their Class.

There is still no set release date for the card game but we WILL be selling them on HeroMart, which currently delivers to 57 countries and we are adding more ALL THE TIME! Is your country on the list?

As soon as we have a fixed release date for the card game and Class, I will let you guys know.

This Week: Back To The Sandsea

This Friday we will be continuing the Sandsea Saga we you and Zhoom head to the Sek-Duat Dynasty Pyramids to track down the immortal mummy, Sek-Duat. It will also feature a brand new mini-game and lots of new Sandsea gear, both in the release AND in the Sandsea Rep Shop.

Don't forget that the Chinese New year event will be leaving this Friday, as well as most of the Heroes Heart Day content and rares. The Heroes Heart Day Limited Time shop will be closing tomorrow at NOON, server time.

I've also heard a rumor that Black Market vendor will be returning on Friday.

GAMETASTIC

The GAMETASTIC challenge is over and we have a handful of great new mini-games which you can find HERE. A winner will be decided soon and Artix will announce the winner here on the Design Notes. As I was out, and on none of the design teams I will be a fair and impartial judge who doesn't want to get fired by his Boss who i'm told has an EXCELLENT mini-game.

HeroSmash Heroes Heart Day Items

Dumoose literally just PMd me to let me know that he will be releasing a number of new Heroes Heart Day items in HeroSmash in just a little while. Remember, right now you can only Alpha test HeroSmash and get these items if you are an AQW Member.

February 11, 2011

PLAY 9 NEW GAMES!

GAME-TASTIC! Happy Heroes Heart Day

Which game will you love the most? Today is day 5/5 of our one week game making challenge and the games are ready for you to play! As you may already know, this week the entire company split up into small teams of 2-3 with the goal of creating new games. You can say we took a break from building games... to build games! It was challenging, exciting and everyone had a good time unleashing their creativity. The entires include an organism music game, 3D mecha game, a live action game, a fat panda, an isometric scroller with Thyton making wierd noises for the music and more! Play them all and vote by clicking the face book like button and by voting on the forums. We cannot wait to see what you think!

Play ALL 9 of our new minigames

P.S. Also.. the AQWorlds BattleOn Battle Cards went to the printers!!! We are going to have a card game soon!!!!!

February 07, 2011

Gametastic! Day 1 of 5

Let Mortal Game Making Combat... BEGIN!

This week, the entire Artix Entertainment team (from all games) are making game! Read the original Game-tastic design notes post for full details. We just had our kick-off meeting and 9 teams have entered the competition. With only 5 days to for each game to create a game, the pressure is on! (We have a funny idea of what it mans to "take a break".) Ai No Miko is creating a special page where you can see the... bizzarly named teams... and the list of games they are making this week. In addition to the 9 new minigames we are making for you this week -- look forward to the Valentine's Day releases in all games this week! Man, this is so EXCITING!
Which will go live here (Work in progress!)

AQWorlds the CARD GAME

We are preparing to send the official AQWorlds Anything-Goes BattleOn Battle Card game off to be produced. It is 110 cards of crazy battle mayhem for 2 or 4 players. It is simple to play, but there are so many exploitable rules that you can use your Armors, Pets, Weapons, Traps, Blocks, Specials, and Counters to do unthinkable creative and sneaky moves. Unlike most card games, everything you need for 2 or 4 to play comes in a single box.  It has been a hit with people who play AQWorlds and fans of card games who have not heard of us... yet. It comes with a code to unlock a special color customizable Card Caster Class (Name picked by players following me on Twitter!) For the past week, Mido and I have been working on the final card art and the wierd Mayan pyramid shaped box & art layout. In about two months it will appear on shelves in Toys-R-Us stores in the US. About 2 weeks after that it will be available at HeroMart so that everyone, anywhere can get it. Needless to say we have been in crunch mode which is why you have not heard from me.. in fact, before my team can start on the competition we have to finish the rule sheet and make sure everything for the card game is ready!

LAST CHANCE: CTRL+ALT+DEL RARES!

Today at 5pm EST, the rares shop from the special event will be closing. Forever! This is your very last chance to get items from the CTRL+AL+DEL Shop.

February 03, 2011

GAME-TASTIC!

The ENTIRE AE Team is taking a one week break from making games... TO MAKE GAMES!

Yes my friend, you read that right! Next week, starting on Monday we are having the 1st ever one-week-long AE Game Making Challenge!

WHAT!? You are making 7+ new games next week?
The entire staff (everyone from AdventureQuest, DragonFable, EpicDuel, MechQuest, AdventureQuest worlds) will be forming into small teams of 2 to 3 people. Each team's goal is to create a new game in only 5 days. The rules are: Anything goes & make anything you want! So far there are 7 teams. The competition starts on Monday and ends Friday night... at which time we all get to play everyting that they make!

How will the contest be judged?
You and the staff will both judge. We are going to post several polls on the forums which will rate the completed games in different categories (Overall, Fun, Graphics, Sound/Music.)

Is this a good idea?
100% YES. After doing the weekly releases every week, for so many years, the team needs to mix things up and get their creative juices flowing. That is something that all of the big games will benefit from in the following weeks. Also, it will be really interesting to watch and see what happens!

What will the games be like?
Everyone is making whatever they want... so your guess is as good as mine, LOL! But there is only one week to make the finished game so they will likely be mini-game sized or prototypes/alphas for larger game concepts. Teams can create their own artwork, sound, and engine from scratch or are free to use things thay have already made. The goal is to be as creative as possible and have fun, there are no rules... just games!

Can I watch?
We would love for you to watch and help us with ideas while we are working on the games! We are going to post a special design notes for all teams and we are going to periodically stream live video in AdventureQuest Worlds. (A sneak peek into the secret underground lab... about to be 3.14159% less secret.)

What about the normal Big Game releases?
This Friday (just like every week) we have exciting releases coming out for you. Next weekend the games will all be running their special Valentine's Day events. So this really was the perfect time to do this. The best part is... if all team are successful, you could get 7 new games to play next Friday too! Maybe we can add achievements for beating all of them to the Master Account?

AWESOME! I cannot wait!
Enjoy the releases this weekend. Starting Monday... we are making some games! (I cannot believe how much I am looking forward to this. It feels like Christmas.)