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Special thanks to Freewill for his accounts at this year's E3 Expo 2001.
As Claude and I approached the entrance to the GoDGames parking lot 'booth' across the street from the E3Expo, I noticed that there was a heckuva long line of folks waiting to get in. I had already spent quite a bit of time waiting in line for my regular E3 pass, now I had to wait again? No way, I was gonna scam myself in. So pretending I was late for a meeting, I asked the guards in the front (who were acting pretty obnoxious I noticed) if they could let me in to see someone important. They quickly told me to go the side entrance where all official business was allowed in. We did as we were told, and again, claiming that I was late for a meeting with the very important ‘Mr. G’, they let me in. Sweet! Right away I saw Santa's Head, part of the Myth III development team. Since he's also a member of Clan Plaid, I've met him in person before. After a round of hugs wishing him congratulations on his new job, he showed me around the parking lot. It was all open bars, with plenty of libations flowing. There were also plenty of babes walking the lot, in thongs, bikinis, schoolgirl outfits, etc. It was quite a sight. But back to the game...
Before I even got to the trailer, I saw Andrew Meggs. He looked like he was having a good time. He seemed really happy with the progress they've made so far and in such record time! I keep wondering if some of that nifty Half-Life goodness that he gave his blood sweat and tears for is in there somewhere. He's probably sick of me bringing that up all the time, but I really think it's cool that he had it so close to finish long ago. Too bad the powers-that-be killed it :( Anyway, Myth III was being shown in a trailer. Basically they would let in a small group of folks and show off the goods in a nice, quiet atmosphere (the actual parking lot was like a giant keg-party, heh!). Right outside the trailer was the print poster that I took a picture of. Check out the new and old characters :) So as I entered the trailer, I noticed that Scott and Fisj were going to handle the presentation. Santa's Head mentioned to them that they were obligated to do a really kick ass job because hardcore Mythers were in attendance! LOL! Anyway, Scott did a great job describing what's going on with Myth III. The 3D theme takes getting used to because it's so good to look at! All the units I saw were well defined and textured with a lot of loving care. Hats off to you guys!
In a way though, it's ironic because it seemed apparent to me that when Santa mentioned that hardcore Myther's were in attendance, Scott actually felt less than thrilled about the prospect of demoing in front of us... my intuition tells me that these hardcore Myther's love their game so much that they are being very demanding as to how this prequel should look and feel. Hence they wind up attacking Scott and putting him on the defensive, and I don't blame him a bit. Don't worry Scott, the game looks great so far! I really wish folks would just leave 'em alone and let them get their job done, and then judge the game when it's finished. Just like I reserved my judgement on Halo until I finally got a chance to play it this week (and you know what, I'm still not sure if I'm going to be first in line to buy it, but I'm definitely MUCH closer after the FanFest) Here's hoping I get to see a playable build come MWNY 2001, I'm looking forward to it!
Anyway, some further information: The team readily admits that they have yet to touch a good portion of the original Myth 2 source code: they've spent a big chunk of the last few months getting the graphic engine and other assorted stuff to the point it's at... and boy, does it show! Trees sway, dwarven cocktails light areas and such as they arc through the air: just gorgeous. The wight blast especially was quite beautiful: a shimmering blast of purple particles slamming into units! But other elements like AI, pathfinding, etc. are still very native Myth II. So folks that are claiming that they've witnessed no clumping are basing that on purely empirical evidence and not factual... I'm sure the guys will continue to make tweaks to it to really make it their own.
Anyway, so at that point the demo is over and I take pictures of Fisj standing proudly by his work. Out of the blue, the folks hand me something pretty cool... A Myth BOARDGAME! Check out the picture! I have no idea if it's even going to get released, or if it's just a promotional item, or heck, maybe even a hint at a D&D like game variation built-into the game (use the board with the computer game to open up new possibilities!) Still it was quite a thrill to get my hands on one!
Now, you would think that was enough, but Craig then took me to another
booth, the Talonsoft booth. They're the ones that are going to be selling
the first commercial WWII mod for Myth II... Green Berets. This is not such
hot news now, but I figured I'd at least show you the packaging, which I
don't think anyone else has shown. The TiBook belongs to Ron Lane aka
Point... he was showing me Wod`asini's really nifty WWII map and tagset CP2.
However, neither Wod`asini nor Point authored GreenBerets. Still, I wanted
to get a shot of the packaging so I took the picture while I was aiming at
his TiBook.
Well, that ends my adventures at GoDGames and Myth III! Thanks to Craig, Scott, Paul, and Andrew! |
