Ask World Fusion is a regular feature at Atriarch Vault. We collect questions from fans and send them to the developers for answers. Today Lead Game Designer Serafina Pechan, offered information on the number of characters players will be able to have per account.

The following is an excerpt of Serafina's in-depth explanation:

"I think when a player has less characters, the characters they do have become more important and have a stronger influence and greater impact on the world itself.

"...We want players to be more than the sum or their "main" and "mules". In Atriarch, I want to see players identifying with their lineage, family, faction, accomplishment and self-defined community."

“We are very happy to get this series back on retail shelves again,” says Pro Sotos, Product Manager for Strategy First Inc. “The Gold Pack is sure to please all the fans of the Jagged Alliance series and is a great way to celebrate our newfound partnership with Sirtech.”

In Jagged Alliance 2, gamers take on the role of a rebel leader who must use negotiation, strategic tactics and battle strength to win back the helpless nation of Arulco that has been taken over by a merciless dictator. Until…. Jagged Alliance 2 Unfinished Business brings players back for more. Arulco is under attack again, but this time, from powers within. Ricci Mining and Exploration Co., who ran the country’s mines before the recent civil war, want to reclaim their mines and have based themselves in the neighboring country of Tracona. Players must find and destroy the missile base and make their way back home safely while avoiding the dictator’s wrath!

Thorsten was quick to admit that, on the surface at least, Sudden Strike II looks a lot like its predecessor, sharing the same basic graphics engine and interface. "You shouldn't judge a game only on its graphical changes" though, he insisted. "Under its surface there are many more differences. The whole engine is optimized, primarily the multiplayer code where some parts are new and much more stable than in the past. On the game side there are many changes. The damage model has been completely overworked and is now more realistic. The Japanese are a new nation with new unique units, and of course all other nations have new units too. Airplanes can now land on the map and be manned with your units. Also, there are armoured trains, which can attack enemies over a long distance."

Already being compared to such hit strategy titles as Age of Empires and Heroes of Might and Magic, Celtic Kings: Rage of War offers two games in one and is sure to appeal to the entire gaming community.

“Celtic Kings is a great game for both role-playing and real-time strategy fans,” said Pro Sotos, Product Manager at Strategy First. “We are very excited for the game to hit retail shelves.”

Celtic Kings: Rage of War brings the great Celtic battle to life in two exciting modes: strategic and adventure. In strategic mode, players take on the role of either the Romans or the Gauls and join an RTS world where only tactical and strategic maneuvers will help them in their quest for power. In adventure mode, players take on the powerful role of Larax and battle the evil forces that raided his village and killed his wife.

dynamic, high quality games and applications—announced today that it has made its 100,000th sale of its downloadable game, Super Collapse, less than 10 months after it was released.

“Collapse has been wildly popular —this is our first downloadable game to achieve this mile marker so quickly,” says Garr Godfrey, cofounder of GameHouse, which features a variety of free and downloadable games on its web site, www.gamehouse.com. “The demand for Collapse has been so unbelievable that we are considering introductions of similar games,” concludes Godfrey, hinting there soon may be a new offering in the works.

Emurasoft finished localizing the original Japanese game this month, but they expect the preview version to contain some linguistic errors or inconsistencies that weren’t found. To join the preview version test team, access the ShadowFlare official website at www.shadowflare.us, and fill out a registration form to register.

Ask World Fusion is a regular feature at Atriarch Vault. We collect questions from fans and send them to the developers for answers. Today Lead Game Designer Serafina Pechan, offered information on three topics including the wide variety of environments to be found in the game:

"What environments are there?

"Atriana's planet is arranged with certain biomes in mind to create a realistic ecosystem and environment. As we design areas in Atriana, we use the biomes to determine where we can realistically place different types creatures and plants. We believe using the biome method makes our decisions in world design a bit more sophisticated than using the well-it-looks-like-it-would-go-there method. Right now, the biomes are used by the designers, but eventually we plan to make the biomes interactive for players.

Microsoft Game Studios today announced the launch of the official "Quantum Redshiftä" site, at www.quantumredshift.com. Visitors can catch a glimpse of the game's various hyperspeeds through four movie clips in the Speed Factor section. As players race at higher speeds, they will notice that a tiny bump in the road is now a powerful launching ramp. In the Pilots section, there are character bios for seven of the game's 16 racers, which includes screenshots of each ship, home circuit and weapons. Expect continuous site updates with new media and pilot information until "Quantum Redshift" hits stores shelves this holiday season.

"Quantum Redshift" challenges gamers to display a rare combination of racing skill and weapons strategy to achieve ultimate victory. Set 100 years in the future, "Quantum Redshift" features a new racing tournament of speed and daring that has become an organized sport and is conducted on tracks all over the world. Gamers race on futuristic terrains and compete in fierce grudge matches against multiple opponents, including a nemesis. "Quantum Redshift" delivers hyperspeed racing, 16 vehicles, 16 detail-laden tracks, weapons strategy, crafty AI opponents, spectacular aerial jumps and character-based nuances to appeal to action and racing gamers.

"Quantum Redshift" is being developed by Curly Monsters Ltd. An independent production studio headquartered in Birkenhead, England, Curly Monsters Ltd. is dedicated to producing visually exciting, high-quality, action-based console games exclusively for Xbox. The company currently employs nine staff members with over 70 years of combined game development experience.

“We are very excited to be bringing the first group of Monte Cristo titles to the PC community,” said Ryan Bastien, Product Manager at Strategy First. “These are four fun-filled games that are sure to appeal to gamers of all ages.”

Airline Tycoon Evolution, an airline management game, is the follow up to the hugely popular Airline Tycoon and puts players in charge of a major airline, overseeing, among other things, all the security measures.

Dino Island is another simulation title, but this time the excitement takes place on land. Players control the reins of the world’s newest theme park, creating their own dinosaur residents, managing all the entertainment and business matters and keeping the crowds coming in.

The Partners is a life simulation game that brings a Sims style touch to an exciting law office where the daily ups and downs are anything but mundane. Control 20 different lawyers as they try to survive office politics and win cases at the same time. All the excitement of a TV series in a video game!

Micro Commandos puts gamers in a big role as part of a small group of aliens who are stuck in a human basement and need to take down enemy aliens and the life-size family cat to gain control of The Ultimate Weapon as they try to conquer the human race.

Sierra Entertainment, Inc., a studio of the Games division of Vivendi Universal Publishing, and Fox Interactive(tm) announced today Aliens versus Predator* 2: Primal Hunt expansion pack ships to computer retail outlets worldwide. Aliens versus Predator 2: Primal Hunt continues the nail-biting terror and suspense from the award-winning Aliens
versus Predator 2. With all new weapons, player characters, single-player and multi-player levels, this original interlocking story is an all out bloody battle of three of the deadliest species in the universe as the Aliens versus Predator 2 saga begins.

As this terrifying story begins to unfold 500 years prior to Aliens versus Predator 2, players become one of three heroic and deadly characters that are all fully prepared to do what it takes to take ownership of a powerful and sought after artifact. Choose to play as the Predator that becomes trapped in stasis only to awaken 500 years later, the human corporate
mercenary, Dunya, or as the Predalien, a twisted hybrid of Alien and Predator.

Other Key Features of Aliens versus Predator 2: Primal Hunt
* Nine new single player missions (three per species)
* Intense multi-player combat - includes four new levels
* Includes all patches/updates and additional maps issued by Monolith since the release of AvP2.
* New species-specific weapons and combat styles
o Human - Dual Pistols, Turret Gun, Deployable Sentry Gun
o Predator - Energy Flechette, Self-Destruct (only in multiplayer)
* Two new creatures indigenous to the planet.
* New environment - never-before-seen Predator ruins
* Ties in with original story of Aliens versus Predator 2 and provides closure to some open-ended questions

PlayStation®2 and XboxTM fans can check out the details on James Cameron's Dark Angel with the debut of the teaser site on Thursday, August 15, 2002, at 1:00PM PST and the first James Cameron's Dark Angel trailer available for download.

Based on the hit TV series created by Academy Award® winner James Cameron, James Cameron's Dark Angel is a must-have game for fans of the show and 3rd person action adventure gamers. Step into Jessica Alba's role as Max, crusading to find her sister and fellow genetically altered escapees. With 25 single-player missions and 6 unique post-pulse environments, players command an innovative fighting system that includes intense hand-to-hand combat and unique evasive moves that utilize slow motion effects and stealth.

The Celtic Kings: Rage of War playable demo features many hours of gameplay and includes a tutorial, the first mission from the adventure mode, and a single player map. Follow this link to see for yourself; http://gigex.com/gp/gp.asp?PackageId=0069000010&source=01&a=

Celtic Kings: Rage of War takes place in Gaul at around 50 B.C. where you take on the role of Larax a young warrior who has lost his beloved wife and has given himself to the goddess of War. This RTS features two distinct single player modes -- adventure and skirmish – that combine strategy, adventure and roleplaying.

Bridging the gap between real-time strategy games and role-playing games, Tactical Commanders gives players the opportunity to build their own army and develop their characters while fighting side by side with other commanders in furious battles for glory and power. With a large variety of infantry, mobile, air and special units to choose from, commanders are able to customize their army according to their playing style.

Unique to Tactical Commanders is the mentoring system. When new players join Tactical Commanders, they are able to have a more experienced player mentor them. This gives the new player a chance to get used to their surroundings faster and grow faster as a player. When fighting alongside their mentors, new players are also able to gain experience and climb up the ranks faster. The mentors are also rewarded with experience points that they can assign freely among their units.

Tactical Commanders incorporate many different aspects of real-time strategy games and role-playing games seamlessly into one. Unlike other RTS, Tactical Commanders happens in a persistent world and units are affected by how you distributed your character’s attribute points. Shattered Galaxy (Tactical Commanders in the US) has won 4 out of 6 independent games awards in the US. Tactical Commanders has various different content and slightly different game mechanics compared to Shattered Galaxy.

Tactical Commanders is scheduled for release in Q4 2002.

In addition to all the exciting changes with this patch, we are now offering a special promotion if you use -PayPal- to pay for your Pmare credit. Two for One credits! Send in $10 and get $20 Pmare credit! If you haven’t tried playing a Monster in a game, you should! Legally wreaking havoc is a blast!! Read about Player Mares at http://www.underlight.com/php/manual/pmares.php and get ready for an adrenaline rush.

Imagine a world whose focus was on internal technology, on developing and extending the mind. Progressing not through spear, bow, gun and missile, but through mental discipline, meditation, lucid dreaming and finally-conscious entry to the Dreamstate. Imagine a world where the mind is the supreme element.

At launch, more than 5,000 North American retail outlets will begin selling the Xbox Live Starter Kit for a suggested price of $49.95 (U.S.). For the price of a new game, the kit includes a one-year subscription to the broadband-only service, the highly anticipated Xbox Communicator headset and a minigame so gamers can start playing with their friends right away. Retail programs will be supported by+ a multimillion-dollar marketing campaign that will include advertising, retail communications and promotional activities.

In addition, at least seven Xbox Live-enabled games are currently scheduled to be available on Nov. 15, with up to 10 more to follow by the end of the holiday season. Scheduled launch games for Xbox Live are “Unreal Championship” from Infogrames Inc.; “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon” from Ubi Soft Entertainment; SEGA Sports™ “NFL 2K3” and SEGA Sports™ “NBA 2K3” from Sega®; and “Whacked!™,” “MechAssault™” and “NFL Fever 2003” from Microsoft Game Studios. More than 50 Xbox Live-enabled games will launch during 2003, including “Halo™ 2,” “Counter-Strike,” “Midtown Madness® 3” and “Star Wars® Galaxies: Empire Divided™” from LucasArts Entertainment Company. More than 60 game publishers are currently working on Xbox Live-enabled games.

“We designed Xbox from day one to catapult console gamers online,” said J Allard, general manager of Xbox at Microsoft. “Xbox Live is the answer for gamers who want to take this next leap forward. Last year at this time, we took gaming to the next level by launching Xbox; now we’re in concert with our partners and the industry to ensure that Nov. 15 will once again be a great day for gamers and the industry. Xbox Live is the first unified gaming service that takes gamers beyond the box to a global gaming arena where they become the superstars.”

The Xbox Live service was part of the initial design of the Xbox console, taking into consideration specific feedback Microsoft received directly from gamers and game developers about what they wanted and expected from an optimal online gaming experience. Key to the service is the support of four datacenters: two in Seattle, and one each in London and Tokyo. These datacenters will enable Microsoft to assist publishers by managing the hosting, networking, security and billing so game creators can focus on awesome game content, and gamers can be comfortable with a single bill for all gameplay. In addition, gamers will benefit from key, consistent features of the Xbox Live service across games from all publishers, including these:

• Gamertag. A player’s Gamertag will be the same for all games across the global gaming service.

• Friends list. Players will be able to find their friends online and invite them to a game, no matter which Xbox Live game they’re playing.

• Xbox Communicator. Voice communication functionality is integrated with all Xbox Live multiplayer games, enabling teammates and opponents to speak to one another during games. Key elements of this feature exclusive to Xbox include voice masking, global muting and parental control.

• Matchmaking. QuickMatch allows gamers to enter a multiplay experience with a single button click, and with OptiMatch, an Xbox Live exclusive, players will be able to select games and opponents based on similar skill levels.

• Ability to download content to the Xbox hard disk. Only Xbox enables console gamers to download and permanently store both free and for-a-fee content that can include new levels, characters, missions and statistics.

To date, more than 100,000 gamers have signed up for an opportunity to be beta testers for the Xbox Live service. Later this month, more than 10,000 of these gamers will be selected to participate in the final stage of the beta test.

RPG Vault Silent Storm Gallery
Reconnoitre 10 exclusive screenshots from Nival's blend of RPG and turn-based tactical combat set during World War II.

RPG Vault Black Moon Chronicles Screenshots of the Week
Our friends at Vircom send along four colorful new images taken in Sysigie, home to the Knights of Justice faction.

Action Vault IGI2: Covert Strike Q&A
Three Innerloop and Codemasters team members tell us about various aspects of their stealth-oriented shooter.

Lead programmer Jim Malmros said: "First of all I want to thank all the fans for their useful feedback on the MP beta 1.0 version. You guys have really contributed to the progress we have made the last two months. We can honestly say all issues have now been tackled and this version 2.0. will rock !! Go and take a look, your next-gen online shooting havoc is only a download away... See you online."

Project 3 CEO Robert Ercevic stated: "We would like to mention again that New World Order is really bumping against the borders set by current soft- and hardware performance - and is sometimes crossing them. Please read the minimum system requirements and the readme file for this 2nd beta-test very carefully, or otherwise you might find it does not run on your pc. Also, it is quite vital to the smoothness of gameplay that people download the Microsoft DirectPlay 8.2. beta and install it. You can find the link on our website. Last but not least: keep the feedback coming !!"

New World Order is a stunningly beautiful tactical first person shooter, combining adrenaline-pumping action with sceneries taken right out of a miltary action movie. Coming to your pc mid-October 2002 in both singleplayer and multiplayer mode.

A spokesman of Project 3 also said about the beta: "The improvements proved too many to just release a patch, so we have released a completely new beta-version. Our apologies for whomever already downloaded the older version, as this one is again quite big. We assure you it's worth the effort though!"

“US Open 2002 is a game that you pick up and are immediately addicted,” says Steve Milburn, Director of Marketing, Strategy First Inc. “It’s easy to learn how to play and the highly-detailed graphics make it stand out from any other tennis game on the market today.”

Combining responsive gameplay and stunningly realistic settings, US Open 2002 allows players to have access to some of the most prestigious tennis courts in the world. Using exact plans from Roland Garros and the US Open, the game faithfully recreates 12 courts with 4 different surfaces.

Players choose to play any one of 10 professional athletes, both male and female, in singles and doubles matches. The athletes’ appearance and play styles have been reproduced in detail to include their strengths, weaknesses, and abilities on difference court surfaces.

Sound effects taken from the French Tennis Federation are used to recreate proper match atmosphere and ambience. The slightest details, such as the umpire’s call for quiet, to the ringing of cellular phones in the crowd, are all added to make each match as realistic as possible.

With a choice of 6 gameplay modes; Arcade, Exhibition, Challenge, Career, Race and Training, players are able to perform various challenges, including creating their own tournaments, hiring a professional trainer, and comparing their performances over the Internet.

US Open 2002 will be available on store shelves in August and will be distributed exclusively by Infogrames in North America.

StarShift: The Zaran Legacy will please strategy fans with its captivating atmosphere and its ease of use, which will provide an incredibly dynamic experience to players.

"We are very happy to announce StarShift. It is by far the most interesting project we've had the chance to work on", stated Stéphane Vaillancourt, CODECO founder and StarShift project director. "We are only beginning to get involved on the PC game market, but we are convinced that the public will be able to see the originality and depth of the concept behind StarShift. Being a small autonomous team rather than a multinational leaves us much freedom as for the contents of the game."

"As a matter of fact, almost everything is allowed in the game, from corrupting your enemies to being treacherous with your allies in order to assimilate their technology! StarShift is the kind of game which seems simple at first glance, but which offers a whole universe of possibilities to explore."

In StarShift, each player will lead a race caught in the middle of an intergalactic conflict. This conflict involves nine (9) different races which were brought together by the Zaran during their reign, and who now all want to conquer the biggest part of the galaxy, using whatever means they can (direct attacks, espionage, sabotage and more!).