The gate swung open.

Revolted by the thick scent of excrement in the chamber, Locklear hastened to the ladder affixed on the far wall and ascended its filth-slick rungs. Behind him, Gorath and Owyn reluctantly did likewise, gaffing on the noxious vapors in the shaft. “This is nothing,” Locklear grunted, shoving upwards against a grating. “All the windows in the palace are open right now. You ought to smell it in the winter.”

Darkness surrounded them as they slithered out of the privy, their only impressions of the chamber provided by the faint flicker of distant firelight. Ten yards before them the hall joined with an elaborate colonnade stretching in either direction. “Somehow I hadn’t pictured my first visit to Krondor like this,” Owyn sighed, falling blindly into step behind Gorath and the Seigneur.

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Alright, strategy gamers. I finally got the chance to build a video of me playing Crusader Kings 2. Luckily, the video displays the game as it appeared on my monitor, and not what I looked like while playing it (which would be disturbing and not as much fun).

I spend a lot of time blabbing in voice-overs in these videos, but before you start watching, you should keep some things in mind. First, this was played on version 0.78 of the game engine. It’s still in beta; the current version floating around in press copies is 0.80. The game has already changed in some slight ways since I encoded this video and posted it. Second, it did have a glaring bug at the beginning, which has since been fixed. You see William the Conqueror ask Harold Godwinson of England for a white peace a few seconds after the start of the video. This kind of changes things, since the famous conqueror doesn’t even try to make good on his claims to the English throne. Aside from that, things proceed in a plausible way, but I don’t want to hear any complaints relating to William. I know he should have invaded England, the designers know it, and everyone with a high-school education in either the US or the former British Empire should know it. The AI just didn’t know it, but that has been fixed.

Oh, and don’t bother asking me why certain troop types do certain things, or why certain buildings cost a certain amount. These things are still changing, so don’t sweat that stuff. Instead, sit back, listen, watch, and then ask me intelligent things, such as “Why did the AI just send the entire Holy Roman Empire into the oblivion of a civil war?” or “Holy Machiavellian politics Batman, why did you just spend 10 years crushing your own vassals?”

The video is broken up into three separate chunks. They can be found here, here and here.

Despite the proliferation of games designed for mobile platforms, the casual computer games market continues to flourish. The personal computer, because of its openness and ubiquitous presence, remains a primary development platform. So, while many other game sites still focus their attention exclusively on conventional big-budget AAA retail offerings, for your playing pleasure I have unearthed the very best hidden PC treasures that casual gaming has to offer. This represents the latest in a series of annual awards articles that now has continued for well over a decade, by far the longest consecutive casual-games award series anywhere.

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I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Samuli Syvahuoko, one of the founders of Recoil, the team behind the very cool indie title that’s coming soon called Rochard. In the game you control an astro-miner, John Rochard, who finds an ancient structure hidden deep within an asteroid that proves mankind is not alone. John and his team then find themselves stranded as space pirates trying to use the secret for their sinister intentions. He must use both his wits and mining tools to battle the space pirates, save his team, and find out the secrets within the asteroid.

After you watch this trailer, I’m fairly sure you’ll agree that it looks and sounds both fresh and exciting. So, without further ado, here is what Samuli had to say about the game!

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In case you missed out on Thursday.

Friday

Backing up a bit to Thursday, we arrived a little late due to seating issues, but Jill and I did in fact get to jump into the Gears of War 3 panel. What I can tell you is that the graphics and sound definitely appeared to have been given a bit of an upgrade. The creators told the fans that the finale wouldn’t answer all of the questions people had, as they wanted to keep the universe a bit open, but many plot points would be resolved.

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This year marked the first time ever my wife, Jill, and I attended the San Diego Comic-Con. As two proud geeks, it has long been on our bucket list, so we were thrilled when we got our tickets and made our arrangements. When the schedule was released each day, Jill and I poured over it with excitement, meticulously choosing the panels we wanted to see the most and which activities were not to be missed. But, you want to know about the Con, so let’s dive right in!

Thursday

As we approached the San Diego Convention Center, we couldn’t help but be amazed by the sheer number of people who surround us. An estimated 130,000 people attend the event each year, all descending on the downtown area for four days of nerd-dom. You may have heard that you have to wait in endless lines almost around the clock. This is partly true, and we first experienced it when we had to pick up our badges, bright and early, the first morning. But waiting in line is half the fun. Almost everyone around us was brimming with excitement, and extremely friendly. Also, Comic-Con is perhaps the best place in the world to people watch. About 20% of con-goers are dressed up in elaborate costumes and 85% have quirky, unusual t-shirts worn proudly. It’s not uncommon for people to stop those in costume to take pictures of or with them (I rocked out this Captain Hammer outfit the first day).

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I recently had the chance to do a quick interview with the folks at Kerberos concerning Sword of the Stars. Producer Chris Stewart was kind enough to take the time to answer my questions amid the team’s busy development schedule. Since I have a real interest in game mechanics and story elements, I pressed him on a number of issues that went beyond simple considerations of graphics.

Avault: I’m glad I’m getting the chance to interview the Sword of the Stars team. Back when I reviewed SOTS: Ultimate Collection, I was impressed with how Kerberos managed to create a 4X game that was as interesting as it was nuanced. I’m sure some of my readers are chomping at the bit to hear all about the Lords of Winter in the upcoming Sword of the Stars II, but before I ask about aliens, I want to talk about game mechanics. SOTS utilizes an approach that gives each race its own unique way of traveling the stars. I’m guessing we’ll see a return of that mechanic, but I’m wondering if the races we’ve seen before will return with their unique drives? Will the Hivers be using jump gates and the Humans node drives? Or have you planned some surprises for us with the returning alien cultures?

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Have you ever wondered if some of the reviews you’re reading are influenced by outside sources? Do some alleged AAA titles get preferential treatment in the media? The answer to both could be yes, depending on where you go to read your reviews, but not here. Part of our mission statement reads: “The Adrenaline Vault (Avault) was launched on November 1, 1995 with the goal of becoming an independent source of unbiased information about video games.” And our team here at Avault takes that very seriously.

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The final day of this year’s E3 was reserved for the smaller publishers, at least for the most part. You could tell that they were the smaller publishers because they were all sequestered in a previously unused portion of the convention center, nestled conveniently between the two main exhibit halls. The room was arranged in rows of high-walled cubicles; an overhead map of the area made it look like a gigantic ice tray. But it was here where I had some of the most productive conversations of the entire show.

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More heavy hitters were on my menu for E3 Day 2. Several of Electronic Arts’ big new games (but not all); two promising new titles from 2K, including a long-anticipated reboot of one of the greatest PC games of all time; and updates of two classic arcade games from Atari. There were also some good-looking strategy games, a sequel to one of my favorite shooters from last year, and a very comfortable sit-down with streaming-gaming company OnLive.

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The first official day of E3 2011 started off with big news from the Nokia Theatre, where Nintendo held its annual press briefing, and ended up at a cowboy bar on Sunset Boulevard. In between, there were some impressive presentations of huge new games coming in the next year or so, and one new indie game that parents should check out for their youngsters at holiday time.

Say what you will about Nintendo, but they give great press conferences. They started this year’s briefing with a full orchestra and chorus performing themes from Zelda games in celebration of the series’ 25th anniversary this year. As part of Zelda’s birthday party, it was announced that Link’s Awakening would be coming to the Wii Virtual Console and GameBoy, a 3D version of Oc arina of Time (with new added material) is on the way for the 3DS, Four Swords will be available for the DSi on DSiWare in September, and the new Skyward Sword is being released for the Wii (complete with a gold-colored Wiimote) for the holidays. Also, a symphonic presentation of Zelda music scores is planned for a world tour in the fall, and the Ocarina of Time soundtrack will be available for free with new Club Nintendo memberships.

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Written by: Chris Micieli

They say you never forget your first E3, and I’m not one to doubt that notion since last year’s show was one of the most memorable things I’ve ever done. But after day one of this year’s expo, it’s hard to imagine forgetting ANY E3 convention. Especially one that debuts a brand new console!

I have an uncle that was in the stands when Alex Rodriguez hit his 500th career home run. I’ve had to hear about that moment every time I’m with him watching a Yankee game and A-Rod comes to the plate. I can’t blame him. I would probably do the same thing. Now, thanks to Nintendo, I now have my A-Rod 500th home run moment. I was there watching in person as the all new Wii U was revealed. It was a true “pinch me” moment. Nintendo goes back with pretty much all of us. Each console they have released has staying power and a following all its own. To know that I was there, live, when Nintendo showed the world their new console is something I can honestly say I will never forget.

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And so it begins once again…another edition of the annual gaming craziness that is the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Another year of getting up before the crack of dawn, getting on a crowded plane with overpriced food and no onboard entertainment (other than the games on my iPod touch), and ground transportation that just barely gets me to my hotel in time for the first event. But I’m at ground zero in the video game industry, in a place where most gamers would love to be. So I should just shut up, stop bitching and get on with it!

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BioWare is awful and I can’t stand it. There. I said it. To add to the gravity of my situation, Avault never retracts its articles and I will have to deal with the consequences for so long as I continue working in this field. Or until I get a name change and a face transplant. If I suddenly disappear, it’s because BioWare’s hired goons took me out. It’s OK though, I am ready to face the music. It took me a few years to realize that my relationship with one of my favorite developers was over. Having puzzled for a while over how this could have happened and why, I am finally at a point where everything is sorted out. Now, standing at the grave of my freshly buried romance, I want to share, with whomever is willing to listen, the tragic story of how it all came to be, and how it then came undone.

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Last week dozens of Mass Luminosity Facebook fans were intensively engaged in a contest to conduct an interview with CEO Angel Munoz. Over one hundred interview questions were submitted by fans around the globe, and the following ten questions were selected as a representation of the whole. As far as we know, this is the first instance of an open interview conducted via Facebook and then published on the Web.

Simon Grant: If you could have predicted 10 years ago how far graphics design and gaming would come, do you think anything would be different?

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