Design Notes
Artix
Making 3D things in the Real World posted by Artix on

How in the world do we have time for all of this!?

Two days ago, Captain Stratos sent me an urgent distress message stating, "I need to talk to you before I do something bad..." I was alarmed and immediately talked with him. He ranted with unbelievable rage for hours (and I am not making this up) over the use of a stock photography image for an important, but never before seen "love interest" character in Mass Effect 3. Apparently this is what critical life problems are like within our gaming community. We too have a "never before seen" character... Galanoth, the DragonSlayer, who has NEVER taken his helmet off in-game. Concerned by this whole ordeal, we changed the real life Galanoth's contract so he is legally obligated to wear his helmet AT ALL TIMES. J6 is crafting it as you read this.

J6's prototype of the Galanoth Helmet

Making Galanoth's helmet is a pretty lengthy and interesting process that you can follow as it happens on J6's Twitter. Xero created a 3D model based on Galanoth's character. J6 turned the 3D model into a paper replica which he assembed as pictured above. Then J6 wiill use this with something moldable to create a thick base helmet. Then he will create a mold from it. Finally, he will use a plastic to create the final helmet, attach the extra pieces, and paint it. We believe he is going to make 3. One for Galanoth... one for him to keep... and one (maybe more) to auction off to to help fund his wedding to the lovely Cinazul which is happening later this year!

Artix and Sepulchure Action Figures

They are almost here! Mido and I put everything we had into designing the boxes, special AQWorlds cards and... well, everything in the box here at the lab. It is amazing to see them actually being produced! Maybe we went a little overboard putting an armor, weapon, helm, CLASS and an entire Castle for use in-game at AQWorlds in each one... but this is our 1st action figure. SO, NO HOLDING BACK! So....NEXT MONTH, the collector's Artix and Sepulchure action figures will be available at HeroMart (shipping anywhere in the world) and Toys"R"Us (store locations in the U.S.) *tries to hold back excitement but fails epically* WOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Artix and Sepulchure Action Figures

As previously mentioned there are also a limited number of variant figures in Black versions of the armor. This will be meaningful with the upcoming DoomWood: Part 2 "Reforging the Blinding Light of Destiny" which will also take place in AdventureQuest Worlds next month (+2pts for Good timing!) They will exclusively be available at HeroMart for our craziest players.

Update on our Undead Crypt

While I was writing today's post for you, Thyton sent me NEW concepts for the undead soldiers and BOSS creature for our 3D game's prototype dungeon. Check back tomorrow and I will post pictures for you to check out! Also, I will give you a summary of all of this weeks' new game releases. I would like to thank all of you who have been posting messages to me and the team on Twitter and Facebook. You are awesome and we love you!!! (In the friendship way, not the creepy stalker way... o_O)


Read More

Artix
Dungeons and Dages posted by Artix on

Lairs, crypts, asylums, inverted floating pyramids....

Before we can start designing ultra creative, innovative dungeons, we must first design a "simple" prototype dungeon. A proof of concept... to learn how all of the pieces will work together. We need to determine how big the floor and objects will be (We went with 4 meter by 4 meter tiles.) Then we need to build the 3D assets: floors, walls, pillars, doors, ground objects. Then we need to texture them with art. Figure out how to add pressure pads to trigger doors, and animations. The first dungeon should be 6 sections long including: a starting area, 3 extremely different sized linked rooms, and a giant boss fight chamber. Llusion created the concept sketches below. Thyton and the team realized the quickest way to get me to agree (to pretty much anything) was to make a crypt filled with undead. So he started sketching bizzare undead abominations and theming objects for the dungeon. As you can imagine, their plan backfired, because I got over excited and set the deadline for everything to be Finished on Friday.

Dungeon of Wedonthaveanameyet

Have an idea for our undead themed dungeon adventure? TWEET ME name suggestions on Twitter! Be sure to include a #AQ3D so I can search by it.

A few other interesting things are going on! This past weekend was Dage's birthday... and the items he released in AQWorlds have become the most popular items EVER released in the history of the game. In other news, the Artix and Sepulchure action figures are going through special testing so that we will be able to get them in stores in UK/Austrialia. Also, we found this AMAZING stop motion animator who is making a fight video with the toys. Most players are suggestions the song "Battle On!" by One-Eyed Doll. What do you think? Finally, the commenting system for this website is aaaaaalmost done. Soon you will be able to post your replies right here on the site (So excited!)


Read More

Artix
3D Character Design posted by Artix on

Hey... is he wearing pants!?

This week, the #AQ3D team is focusing character models and our first dungeon. This whole process REALLY reminds me of the process we used to build DragonFable. Below, is a special sneak peak for you of the first female healer/mage/caster robes and the male character which is still being worked on. Thyton's sketches combined with Xero's 3D modeling has turned out to be a great combo! If you are not a 3D artist, you may be wondering why we keep posting gray pictures of the characters. Good question!

3D Female Caster and Male 1st Draft

Here is how we are building our 3D models: 1.) Thyon draws turn around sketches of the male character. 2.) Xero sculpts it using a program called Zbrush which is gray - and that is what we post. 3.) Xero then recreates a smaller, more optimized version of the character in 3D Studio Max, and projects the details and shadow information from the original Zbrush version onto it. This makes it look amazing without being overly complex. 4.) The artists then paint the models... and the animators put bones inside the character and animate it. The process for building world maps is very similar. Check back tomorrow and learn about the FIRST DUNGEON we are building! O_O

Character Name Changes

This weekend we got an INSANE number of requests from players who wanted to change the the name they reserved. So Zhoom updated the pre-registration fly through to allow you to delete your name and get a new one. Normally, changing your name costs in-game currency, but because everyone who pre-registered is a supporter of our previous games, we made it free to change it as many times as you want. But please know... if you change your name, and someone else takes your old name. There is no way to get it back. Next, we will be adding a way for you to log in, see the amount of Alpha Points you earned, and prepare for the next alpha-related test!


Read More

Artix
Camp your AdventureQuest 3D Name! posted by Artix on

Pre-registration is open

Supporters of our previous games are officially invited to reserve their names for AdventureQuest3D! Remember, use your existing Artix Entertainment "ONE LOGIN to Rule Them All" account. Here is how it works:

1.) Click on the image below.
2.) Login using your AE Account (same one you log into Portal.BattleOn.com , EpicDuel, HeroSmash and BladeHaven with.)
3.) Choose a name for your character!

Pre-Registration is now open
Camp your character name

We hope you enjoy this 1st sneak peak of what we are building. It is amazing seeing something like this in your web browser! Please let us know what you think, the team is anxious to hear your feedback. If you are having issues, please see our Frequently Asked Questions page for this game project.

Statistics (24 hours after launch)

It has been 24 hours since we opened pre-registration on Thursday night. Considering that only players who supported our previous games were allowed to reserve their names... the numbers are INSANE! We are also impressed at how many people were able to load and use Unity. Monday, we will be continuing work on the actual game -- check back then for a game update!

  • Total "Unity Loads" 33,058
  • Character names reserved: 13,705
    (Which also means your ID# is less than 13K)
  • Page Loads: 67,494
  • Twitter... my... twitter simply exploded. It was soooo cool seeing your names!

Want to Change your Name?

We have been flooded with requests by players who want to change their name. Zhoom is currently coding a way that you can change your reserved name that should go live on Monday!


Read More

Artix
Players sent us GIFTS! posted by Artix on

Show and tell

Thank you to all of the players who have sent us packages full of gifts, drawings and fun things over the past few years. We have recieved quite a lot recently, and while we wait for the game releases tonight, it seemed like a great time to share. Today, we opened a GIANT box of goodies from long time player of our games, Genisis64, who lives in Japan. He sent a crazy collection of delicious and strange things from dried squid, lime Oreo cookies (that taste like toothpaste), green tea flavored Kit Kats, seafood cookies, pink Pepsi (strawberry milk flavored) and a special gift for Cysero. When we opened the box the entire team swarmed the table. Someone passing by might have thought it was a mob of zombies swarming a fallen hero! Thank you for the package, Genisis64! (By the way... when I return to Japan,  we are totally going to re-match in those Gundam pods in Akiba!)

Package from Japan

We also recieved a package from ACW0, a player who is vice president of TSA (Georgia's Technology Student Association). The package was full of bizzare things with the craziest personal, game-related notes written on it... SO COOL! ACW0, I have to ask you this question... on the poster for TSA, you have your eyes forced closed with a giant confident smile -- were you doing the "AQWorlds Artix face" on purpose?  :-) On a personal note, Artix Entertainment will be making a little donation to help your cause.

Packages from Players

Also... on Valentines day, we recieved a box over-flowing with pink presents from Submoebi! If only Beleen had been the one to open it. The burns from touching the pink will heal, but the memory of all of those pink things exploding over the lab will last forever. The white and pink striped knee socks were sorta cute though. Finally, we would like to thank Sephira for sending us a package full of Austrailia Day themed goodness! These decorative items are helping to make the lab represent all of the awesome countries our players live in!

We would like to thank ALL of the players who have sent us letters and drawings. Words cannot describe how much your encouraging words and creative support mean to the entire team. Enjoy tonight's release and BATTLE ON!


Read More

Artix
3D Glasses NOT REQUIRED :-) posted by Artix on

Thursday @ 5pm EST is AdventureQuest 3D Pre-Registration!

Even if your account does not qualify for pre-registration... you should click on the pre-registration link tomorrow and get your first glimpse of the game and how it runs! Remember, this test will ask you to use your Artix Entertainment "The ONE LOGIN to Rule Them All!" to login. This is the same account you use for EpicDuel, HeroSmash, Portal.BattleOn.com and all of our future games.  You can see if you quality for "camp your name" by going to Portal.BattleOn.com and logging in. Captain Rhubarb put a message there letting you know! Make sure your email is up to date as we will be using it to notify you about alpha testing.

No 3D Glasses required

Over the past two weeks, the team has made unbelievable advancements to this project. As you know, we created every pixel from scratch, ourselves, and are excitedly learning along the way. Even if you are deeply impressed at the good quality of tomorrow's test (Which is worth 200 Alpha Test Points!)... I would beg you to keep in mind that this is only our 1st 3D scene.  If you have played any of our previous games, you know we are only going to get better :-) Thank you for making this exciting project possible -- it is an honor to work beside the team on it for you. Tomorrow... NAME CAMPING! Remember, you can only choose one, so reserve the one the gaming community best knows you by.


Read More

Artix
Brain Kerspload posted by Artix on

Heavy Metal for Babies?

Sometimes people link me weird things on Twitter and Facebook... some things are too horrifying not to share.

Is this what Kimberly from One-Eyed Doll was like when she was 12?  What is really crazy... is how well their music is composed. Listen to Doki Doki Morning The rythms flow seemlessly from death metal to J-Pop. I was not the first one to tell you about Dubstep.... but... it brings me much pain, knowing I may be the first one to tell you about BabyMetal. Oh Internet... what have you done? #FoxSign


Read More

Artix
Thursday is Pre-Registration! posted by Artix on

2nd time is the... um... *gulps*

You are probably asking yourself, "Self, how come Monday design notes posts are always so late!?" To which the response is, GOOD QUESTION! I was just asking our highly skilled team of scientists that very question when a horde of business mongering meeting-lords* dragged me into the meeting room and held me prisoner at excel-spreadsheet-point for the past 12'ish hours. Elsewhere, more interesting and productive 3D things were happening. Minimal is back to making the 3D female character customizable. This is the most important task currently. Once we can customize your characters... we will then be able to do the final animations, build the final armor meshes, skins, and size the world to perfectly match the hero. No pressure Minimal... <_< The rest of the team is hard at work too. We are starting the concept for our first dungeon. In this game we want at least half of our dungeons to be outdoors. Which... does not make sense if you stick with the literal meaning. Maybe we should use the word "Adventure" instead of "Dungeon"?  The point is, a hero can only delve into a giant cave full of rocks (or rock lords) so much before they yern for some fresh air. In AQ3D, we will have a lot of "above ground" adventuring in addition to lava and doom filled pits of monster infested fun. Talking about settings... what kind of new places would you like to see in AQ3D? (i.e. Floating cities, inverted pyramids, a place so gloomy it will make Mordor look like candy land?) Please let me know on Twitter! Be sure to add a #AQ3D so I see it.

* Meeting-Lords (TM) - Like Rock Lords, but less cool. As if something could be less cool than the rock lords. Which were robots. That transformed into rocks.


Read More

Artix
New Releases posted by Artix on

There are so many reasons to love Fridays. Here are 5 more really good ones! Do not forget, pre-registration for AQ3D is NEXT THURSDAY.

  • AQWorlds
    It is Member appriciation week! Thursday was a member release with the spooky and emotional Bludrut side-quest-line. This week's major release is a new installment of the SkyGuard featuring the highly anticipated Grenadier Class! Member appriciation week is just not for existing members... upgrade and you can join in too.
    www.AQ.com

  • AdventureQuest Classic
    New quest "The Legend of Lady Tomo" with 3 new monsters and items!
    www.BattleOn.com

  • EpicDuel
    Releasing the new Founder Appreciation bike, 70 new "broken" items. Take the broken items to Ulysses (NPC) who now has a repair item in his shop. Lucky players who find broken items will be able to repair them for a discounted price to obtain good Varium gear!
    www.EpicDuel.com

  • MechQuest
    Artix needs a cure! This week players will start quests to gather materials that will eventually (hopefully!) cure him from the H1Z1 zombie virus.
    www.MechQuest.com

  • DragonFable
    Chapter 2 continues with the True Mortal Saga. Today the finale of the Forest Gate!
    www.DragonFable.com

  • HeroSmash
    The Hero's Heart Day shop is open! Dage the Evil's set has been added to the supremo SmashCoin package.
    www.HeroSmash.com

 


Read More

Artix
Design, Toys and Pre-Registration! posted by Artix on

The Collector Figures came for final approval!

WOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! The final proofs are here! Sorry for the blurry photo. I took this picture with my phone as the box was being opened. (This way we can share the moment as if it were happening now... except with some sort of quantum time delay.) There are 2 boxes: Artix & Sepulchure. Each box comes with the figure, weapon, 5 special cards for the card game, and because these are the 1st figures ever made for the game... each box contains a code that unlocks an INSANE treasure chest of exclusive in-game items for AQWorlds. Depending on which one you get it comes with the Paladin HighLord or DoomKnight Overlord class, armor, weapon, helm and castle (with a trap door that lets you send your friends to the dungeon!)

Final Approval
These are the final prototypes. Coming in APRIL!

You may have noticed that there is a BLACK version of Artix and Sepulchure in that box too.... *nods* they call those "Variants". We made a very limited number of them. So I guess that makes them the ultra rares. After carefully inspecting everything one last time, I am approving these, and production will start today! (Listen carefully and you might just hear the factory cry with tears of joy  -- considering the crazy/obsessive number of revisions I have made to the figures over the past several months.) Even the packaging took months to get perfect -- it was really fun working with Mido on it.

If production stays on schedule, they should arrive at here at the lab's HeroMart and at Toys"R"Us in April. We will be launching "DoomWood 2: Reforging the Blinding Light of Destiny" at the same time. Also, I am contacting a talented stop motion animator to make a cool action video with them! What song should we use? Maybe BattleOn by One-Eyed Doll?

Design! Late nights, Grids & Phi

Today, while the rest of the team adds a "mysteriously dark and dragoniod flying thing" to the pre-registration walk through, Yergen and I are working on the AQ3D interface design. I was up until ~3am reading and experimenting with really interesting things like this 960 Grid Design site. It really changed the way I look at how to display things on a screen! It just so happens our game window will be 960px wide so it will be interesting to see if this results in something far more polished looking than we have ever made before. I am a huge fan of using Phi in design. Pronounced "Fee", it is also refered to as the Golden Ratio. It is a a pattern that commonly exists in nature... and art, websites, and interfaces which use it have a powerful and pleasing effect on the viewer. Also... I made lends flares. LOTS and LOTS of movie style lens flares. I think we should just make this game a giant lens flare. With lens flares on the lens flares. And spikes on the lens flares.... and on... kidding!

Pre-Registration

As of this morning's group huddle -- things are working! PRE-REGISTRATION, the way for players who have supported our previous games to reserve their AQ3D names, will open NEXT THURSDAY at 5pm EST! To see if you qualify, you can log into Portal.BattleOn.com -- there will be a message at the top of the screen letting you know if you qualify.


Read More