Gladiator game coming out in December

[Bee]

From Gone Gold:

Coliseum!

Sunlight glints off of steel. The coppery stench of dried blood rides the wind. The crowd, a gargantuan organism that feeds off of pain and death, bellows in anticipation of the coming ultra-violence. Your warriors stand confident, as they should be with the amount of training you've put them through. And those enchantments you purchased from the Black Priest of Ka'shran weren't exactly cheap. Hey, exercise is good but sometimes you need an extra edge. But will it be enough? Will your warriors carry the day? Or is it time to find a different vocation from being a gladiator manager?

Find out in the exciting new gladiatorial simulation for Windows, Coliseum! Developed by Stormcloud Creations and published through Shrapnel Games, Coliseum is a sports management simulation for folks who don't normally think about playing management simulations. Why coach a Major League Baseball team through season after season when you can be in control of three gladiators cutting a swath of gore through tournament after tournament. Forget the designated hitter rule, imagine the designated beheading rule!

In the fantasy world of Coliseum players take on the role of a gladiator manager in charge of three promising young warriors. As manager you'll have complete control over the development of your team. Train in specific areas to boost certain statistics, purchase magical spells and potions to enhance a fighter's proficiency (watch out though, as using too much can build a tolerance in your combatant), hire fresh raw talent and free agents while selling off team members who are past their prime, and witness the bloody action found in the Arena.

Combat unfolds in a blow by blow manner, using a vivid text description engine capable of literally hundreds of thousands of descriptions. With over two hundred possible wounds, including ones that can linger over a gladiator's lifespan, Arena battles are extremely varied. No two games will ever play the same!

One of the more unique aspects of Coliseum is the Potential factor. Each warrior in the game is rated in several areas, and while you'll know those common stats you won't ever know the underlying Potential each warrior has. This is a hidden stat throughout the game, and it's entirely up to the player to figure out if a warrior has reached his peak or is just getting started. Combine this with a realistic aging model and you have the making of a manager's conundrum. Has your fighter simply pushed to the limit of his aged body, or has he finally reached his hidden Potential? Could he be a late bloomer? Put him out to pasture too soon and he may just be back later for revenge!

With hundreds of thousands of statistical combinations that make up your team and your opponents, a massive library of wounds and disorders, an unlimited number of seasons to nurture your warriors, outside events that can change what's happening in the Arena, and much, much more, Coliseum is an entertaining management simulation with endless replayability.

Coliseum's release date is December 10th, and currently it can be pre-ordered for the amazing low price of only $14.95! That's almost 50% off of its regular price of $24.95. The game will ship in a sturdy DVD case, perfect to keep on your shelf next to your copy of Gladiator or Spartacus.

For more information on this fascinating sporting management title, or to simply pre-order, please visit http://www.shrapnelgames.com/stormcloud/coliseum/.

[Bee]

Along the same lines...I'm currently playing "Gladius" on one of the consoles. Another Gladiator school game that is pretty decent, but it's for the console (ugh). I much prefer strategic games on the PC.

[WSUCougar]

Pretty cool! This is actually very similar sounding to a game design that I had in mind...oh well.

For $14.95 I'm going to go ahead and pre-order it.

[sabotai]

The scope seems kind of limited:

"Play an unlimited number of seasons. Each season consists of ten fighters duking it out for total Coliseum supremacy. At the end of the season the four best fighters advance into the ultimate championship to decide who is the land's true Champion!"

Only 10 fighters?

This looks like of similar to a design I had rolling around in my head too. Maybe I'll have to forget about the fantasy gladiator sim and do the other gladiator sim idea I have (sci-fi type gladiator).

But for $14.95, that's a little too hard to pass up. I pre-ordered too.

[Bee]

yep, the ten fighters thing worries me a little, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I also pre-ordered it.

[Pumpy Tudors]

Originally posted by Bee
Along the same lines...I'm currently playing "Gladius" on one of the consoles. Another Gladiator school game that is pretty decent, but it's for the console (ugh). I much prefer strategic games on the PC.

No comment about Coliseum, but Gladius has completely roped me in. It's good people.

[CamEdwards]

if this one were just a little more based in reality it might be worth the money. Two things about this really really REALLY turn me off.

1- They quote a band called "Hallow's Eve" on the main page.

2- Fighters have names like Omrvn Pukefear.

Now if someone were to take this idea and introduce a universe full of gladiators (instead of the ten that Sabotai mentioned), maybe include names from the appropriate time period, and get rid of the metal band references... I'd gladly plunk down $14.95.

[Bee]

Originally posted by Pumpy Tudors
No comment about Coliseum, but Gladius has completely roped me in. It's good people.

me too. It's actually gotten mediocre reviews but I think that's due to it being a turn based strategy game on the console. It's much more of a computer game than a console game. Kind of like they targeted the wrong audience for this game.

[CamEdwards]

If I could have somehow avoided paying $325 to a mechanic today, I would have picked up Gladius. Instead I'm going to have to hoard my money for the new Medal of Honor game.

[damnMikeBrown]

Ever been to a Turkish prison?

[Bee]

Here's a link to a thread over at gonegold where the developer is answering some questions about the game.

[Axxon]

Originally posted by Bee
Along the same lines...I'm currently playing "Gladius" on one of the consoles. Another Gladiator school game that is pretty decent, but it's for the console (ugh). I much prefer strategic games on the PC.

Thanks a lot for the heads up. Bought it this morning. I'm hooked. It will make waiting for fof2k4 a lot more fun.

[StormcloudCreations]

Hi all! Just thought i'd drop in and answer any questions people may have about the game.

Addressing other concerns brought up already:

A. I didn't write the page where it says "They quote a band called "Hallow's Eve" on the main page". I would have used something a little different, just to set the record straight.

B. The names of the warriors are randomly generated cool "fantasy" names and there are quite a few possible. The world itself is randomly generated. As with any other type of generated "players" in a career game like this, the names aren't always perfect. Its focus isn't on certain historical periods or anything like that.

C. The 10 warrior limit: This was put in for gameflow reasons, since all matches are completely simulated blow-by-blow, to make the game flow smoother and faster, otherwise turns might take awhile and the whole thing might get a bit unruly. It's meant to be a light, fun game with a fair amount of detail, but still easy for just about anyone to pick up and play without it becoming *work*.

Thank you to all who have pre-ordered the game! Your support is appreciated. I'd be more than happy to answer any other questions people have.

Thanks!

[Vince]

Good times...glad to see a developer (I'd assume) drop by to answer questions...that's always a good sign.

This game does look interesting, and I might have to pre-order it myself. Rented Gladius this afternoon, and I must admit that it looks pretty darn promising.

[StormcloudCreations]

Thanks, Vince! I truly believe in a customer-centric and customer-available policy as a developer. It's the way all developers of entertainment, small or large, should be IMHO.

I hadn't seen much of Gladius, but from what i've seen, it does take a bit of different tactic than Coliseum does to the genre.

Coliseum stays closer to the "sports text-sim" genre (OOTP, PureSim, Champ. Manager, even FOF perhaps) but minus the large amounts of micromanagment inherent in the "text-based sim" model, and with a number of medieval twists added.

I sure hope you give it a look!

[Bee]

Welcome to the board Derek.

I have a couple questions.

Are the ten gladiators you fight against from different clans? And are the ten gladiators you fight against during the season the same 10 all season or can they also be substituted for in case they are injured or something?

Do the computer controlled "clans" release gladiators, sign free agents, etc during a season?

Also, I didn't see this (although I might have missed it), but can gladiators die in the battles? Also, I know they can get injuries, but can those be career ending?

Thanks again for stopping by to answer questions.

[StormcloudCreations]

The 9 other fighters (10 including your selected guy) are different and randomly generated at the start of each game. They are automatically substituted by the CPU should a death or retirement occur, yes.

>Also, I didn't see this (although I might have missed it), but can gladiators die in the battles? Also, I know they can get injuries, but can those be career ending?

Oh yes! Gladiators, both in your fights and in the simmed fights of the other warriors, can both get injured and, on occasion, die. There are career ending injuries if an injury extends past the end of the season (especially a very severe injury) may cause a warrior to decide to hang it up for good. Also, there are about 300 different diseases and illnesses with unique names in the game, each with various severity and effects, both while the disease lasts, and on occasion cause permanent damage to stats after it goes away (its what differentiates diseases from injuries).

And you're welcome, Bee! Happy to help out.

[StormcloudCreations]

*bumping* it just once in case there are any more questions or someone didn't get a chance to see it.

Thanks!

[Bee]

I got another question...

Does an injury to a leg increase the chances that gladiator will have future injuries to that leg?

Also, can you clarify something. You said:

while the disease lasts, and on occasion cause permanent damage to stats after it goes away (its what differentiates diseases from injuries).

Does this mean that you won't have a chance of permanent damage from an injury?

Edited to be closer to normal english.

[StormcloudCreations]

Originally posted by Bee
I got another question...

Does an injury to a leg increase the chances that gladiator will have future injuries to that leg?

Also, can you clarify something. You said:

Does this mean that you won't have a chance of permanent damage from an injury?

Yes, the game does have "nagging" injuries. For instance, if a warriors gets a sprained ankle (especially a severe one, not so much so minor ones), it has a chance of recurring later on again (it's fairly rare, but it can happen).

Yes, injuries usually don't cause permanent stat losses (its assumed a good healer worked on him), and that is the main difference between diseases and injuries. Diseases in the game tend to be more worrisome in the long run than injuries are.

Though a very severe injury may on rare occasions affect a stat permanently (like a 1 or 2 point drop in Agility or Strength).

[Bee]

Changed the thread name to give the game title a little more pub. I'm really looking forward to this game based on some of the other game demos I tried out by Stormcloud Creations.

Edit: Forgot about not being able to change the thread names.

[StormcloudCreations]

Oh, cool! Which did you try, if I may ask? Just curious.

[Bee]

Originally posted by StormcloudCreations
Oh, cool! Which did you try, if I may ask? Just curious.

The Thunderpack demo. I'm trying to decide if I have time to play the full versions with all the other releases coming out.

[Godzilla Blitz]

I've been messing around with the Nanotech demo off and on for the past couple of days. I keep losing. The most I've ever gotten is control of four stores.

I might be improving though. The first few games I ran out of cash. Now turbo gangs raid my headquarters and wipe me out. Interesting game, though.

I take it that Coliseum will be quite a bit different than the games in the Thunderpack? The two that I've tinkered with so far (Nanotech and Domain Wars) have more of a tabletop feel to them. Not that this is bad, by any means, but I get the impression that Coliseum will be more of a text-sim, and I guess I wouldn't put the Thunderpack games into that category.

[Bee]

That's a good point GB and I agree. I am still looking forward to Coliseum though because it's my favorite genre, one of my favorite subjects and has been developed by someone who's other games seem fun to play from my brief tinkering with the demos.

Too bad we can't edit the names though, then we could have an interactive dynasty like the X-Com one. Maybe Derek could implement that in a patch?

[StormcloudCreations]

Originally posted by Godzilla Blitz
I take it that Coliseum will be quite a bit different than the games in the Thunderpack? The two that I've tinkered with so far (Nanotech and Domain Wars) have more of a tabletop feel to them. Not that this is bad, by any means, but I get the impression that Coliseum will be more of a text-sim, and I guess I wouldn't put the Thunderpack games into that category.

Oh yes, Coliseum will be more "sports text-sim" oriented than those games, which are strategy games. Quite different style.

And yes, my game designs earlier on were heavily influenced both by games I have enjoyed and board/tabletop games.

[StormcloudCreations]

Originally posted by Bee
Too bad we can't edit the names though, then we could have an interactive dynasty like the X-Com one. Maybe Derek could implement that in a patch?

It's a possibility, if there's enough demand for that feature. Myself, I think the names are pretty cool for the most part; tough and fantasy-world'ish. But what the players think really matters, I suppose.

[Bee]

Well, it would work well with an interactive dynasty. Similar to GB's X-Com dynasty. Definitely a good read if you get the time to check it out. Although Coliseum would probably have a much slower turn over rate and a smaller active roster.

[StormcloudCreations]

Thought I would mention...due to comments in this forum
(and the Gone Gold forum) i've added the feature today of being able to change the names of the generated warriors to whatever you like. Hope it inspires a Dynasty thing of some type.

Just click on the name of the warrior in the Manage Roster screen, type the new name and press ENTER. That's it!

Thanks all who have offered suggestions so far! I've been listening.

[Bee]

Excellent news. The game should be coming out just in time to capture the dynasty interest after the initial flood of FOF2004 dynasties are coming to a close or being abandoned.

[StormcloudCreations]

Originally posted by Bee
Excellent news. The game should be coming out just in time to capture the dynasty interest after the initial flood of FOF2004 dynasties are coming to a close or being abandoned.

Very cool. I'd even be willing to offer a free version of Interstellar Trader 2 (my previous space trading sim, see Shrapnel page for more info) to the first person or two to start a Dynasty thing about Coliseum on here (full version of Coliseum required, since the demo will only allow a half-season of play, most likely).

[StormcloudCreations]

FYI: The demo for Coliseum has been submitted and will be available for download most likely early next week. Thanks to all those who pre-ordered or showed interest in the game! The demo will allow a half-season of play (a season is 40 days, and the demo will allow 20 days of play) and will have the save game feature disabled, but otherwise will be fully playable.

For those who are "on the fence", you may want to place your order soon if you're really interested, as Shrapnel only prints a limited run at first, and you may end up waiting on "backorder" for awhile.

I'll be around if any comments or questions need answering, of course.

Thank you!

[Bee]

I'm excited about the upcoming release. I hope it does very well and we get a sequel with the option for a larger gladiator team.

[StormcloudCreations]

heh...thanks...

If the size of the "team" is that much of a concern after the release, it's something i'll look at.