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Dungeon Siege III might be delayed, but that just gives Steam users more time to play through Dungeon Siege and Dungeon Siege II. They’ll get both games free as soon as their preorder goes through. That’s a lot of dungeons.
The Golden Raspberry Awards are the anti-Oscars, celebrating the worst that film has to offer, so it comes as no surprise that our favourite video game movie director Uwe Boll be nominated for four.
The most recent dev diary for Space Siege seems to be a step away from Gas Powered Game’s dungeon crawling roots. The shifted focus from team-based gameplay to a solo character seems to allow the creation of a more compelling protagonist. Seth Walker fights a number of invading baddies aboard humanity’s last space station while upgrading his weapons and himself with all sorts of cool future technology. It sounds as if the moral choice of upgrading Seth and ultimately altering his humanity will play a large role in Space Siege.
Perhaps the best known fan-made Ultima project is Exult. The Exult team took apart Ultima VII‘s game files, wrote an entirely new engine to read the data, and made it compatible with a range of platforms, including Windows, Linux, Unix and Mac.
They even managed to revamp the graphics, and it’s by far the best way to relive one’s memories of the game. (Or, if you’ve never played Ultima VII, experience the best title in the Ultima series).
If you’re looking for something with a more modern look, then the Ultima 6 Project will pique your interest. Rather than deconstruct Ultima VI and rebuild it, Ultima 6 Project is a massive total conversion for Gas Powered Games Dungeon Siege. RPGWatch has an interview up with Jesse Strachman, the project’s co-lead producer:
RPGWatch: What most still impresses you about the game?
JS: The sheer scope of what we’re trying to do is just amazing. We look at the original Dungeon Siege game, and then we look at our own maps and all the dungeons, and I think our world is like 25 times the size or something absurd like that. It’s just so vast. Even with what little we’ve done so far, you still have probably, what, 30-50 hours of playtime? Every time I sit down to furnish another house and define another NPC’s schedule, I just have to stop and think, wow. I have to do this another 300 times before we’re done. Now that’s impressive.
While milestone builds are available to download and play (the latest being the 375MB Milestone 4), Strachman believes the whole shebang won’t be complete until late 2009.
I couldn’t find any information regarding multiplayer options, but Dungeon Siege has ample support, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it made it into the final mod.
You can check out the rest of the interview over at RPGWatch, or visit the official site.
U6 Project Interview [RPGWatch, via GGMania]
Hey, the latest box office figures are in! Would you like to know how well Uwe Boll’s shit-tacular Dungeon Siege flick “In the Name of the King” did? I bet you do. It did terribly. Despite costing an estimated $US 60 million to produce, and opening on 1600 screens, between January 11-13 it took in only $US 3.3 million. Or, around $US 2000 per screen. Which is bad enough, but lets break it down some more. Assuming average ticket price was $US 8 and the average # daily screenings over the period was 4, that’s a measly is $US 166 per session. Or 20 people. Ouch. Commence flinging your stinging barbs, but know that, even after this, Herr Boll’s skin is probably too thick to puncture. We’re expecting ones focused on blood may go down well. That or boobs. Dungeon Siege movie in box office basement [GameSpot]
You’ve got to appreciate his honesty. John Rhys-Davies, who you’ll know from Lord of the Rings if not Indiana Jones, is currently starring in a videogame adaptation. Uwe Boll’s Dungeon Siege film In the Name of the King, to be precise. But don’t think Boll’s bought his silence on the quality of game-to-film adaptations, though, because while Rhys-Davies knows which hand is feeding him, he’s also not afraid to bite into its soft, German flesh: [Hollywood's infatuation with games is]a disaster. One or two may succeed, and I hope this is one of them, but the structure of a game is completely unlike the structure of a film. And it shows the despair of the studios and producers that these movies even get a look at.
That’s probably the smartest quote that’s going to come out of that project. John Rhys-Davies Talks In the Name of the King [GameDaily]
The official site for Uwe Boll’s film adaptation of hack and slash game Dungeon Siege features a truly epic trailer for the flick, which should be fresh on the minds of anyone who saw the poster that made star Leelee Sobieski all frowny. Fortunately, the trailer for the movie, dubbed In The Name Of The King, is nothing but smiles. It features Ray Liotta as a king who can turn a regular library into a deadly book tornado and a team of forest ninja who will fight trolls or whatever. Also featured? Armies. Vast armies of phoned in performances.
Boll may not win any awards for his Hollywood translation of the PC game, but Jason Statham deserves some sort of official recognition for his ability to deliver the line “Tomorrow, we gouge evil from its shell!” with a straight face.
Hey, look, it’s the poster to Uwe Boll’s silver screen adaptation of the Dungeon Siege universe! Doesn’t Jason Statham look determined to break free from his B-grade action star pigeon-hole? Doesn’t Lelee Sobieski look thrilled to be involved in the project? You bet she does! Only criticism I can think of: needs more Burt Reynolds.
New Dungeon Siege Poster [Movies Online, via 1UP]
