Relicnews: the definitive source for all things Relic

Spotted on Evilavatar.com that there is a new preview up at worthplaying.com.

Relic Entertainment’s approach to breaking through with their upcoming PC real-time strategy game Company of Heroes, as summed up by developers on hand at the THQ pre-E3 summit, was to consider what problems bug them most about RTS titles and get to fixing them. Two big ones leapt to the forefront - units that behave stupidly and environments that are pretty but don’t really matter much in terms of gameplay. Given the quality of the event’s preview build, it looks like Company of Heroes has solutions for those frequent flies in the RTS ointment. It also promises to be approachable without sacrificing depth, hoping to deliver a good-looking, satisfying experience that’s figure-outable in a scant 15-minute learning curve.

The more I play RTS games, the more I can’t stand that the units are so fraking stupid! If Relic can encourage devs to fix that, all the power to them!

According to Tranj, producer at THQ, IGN will be hosting a series of ten video clips for Dawn of War’s upcoming expansion Dark Crusade.

I have been promised it will be posted on IGN this Thursday and then a new one every Thursday after that for the next 10 weeks (these are the extended versions and some were not shown yet at E3). We are slaves to PR on these, as they need to get maximum exposure with all materials we give them.

You can discuss this here. Thanks to Tyconicus for salvaging this piece of info from another thread.

The folks at at Relic and THQ have cranked out another Designer Diary for the fans. It’s posted over at Gamespot with a most excellent video explaining “Enviromental Strategy”.

This was our vision: When we planned the environmental strategy aspect of Company of Heroes, we knew from the start that the buildings in the game had to meet the core goals of the system. Buildings needed to be destructible in a way that looked believable, and in a way that genuinely affected the gameplay. Rather than spoon-feeding players preset tactics to use with buildings, [environmental strategy] would challenge them to devise their own strategies from basic principles. This emergent gameplay would keep the game fresh and fun, and reward “thinking outside the box,” so to speak.

There is no wall we cannot blow, there is no obstacle we cannot overcome. We will shape the battlefield to our needs and desires, and we WILL have victory!

Thanks to aerziel for the heads up on the forums.

Spotted on Evilavatar.com that Frugalgamer.com is reporting a $20 (US) price drop on The Outfit. (How’s that for roundabout reporting?)

Well worth the money at full price IMO. The Single Player game was a hell of a lot of fun (except for when I missed an achievement because a mission script dropped a tank on me!). I only wish I had more time for Multiplayer.

It’s that time of year again. The Summer Homeworld Meetup on WON is about to occur.

20 GMT on Saturday, June 3rd. WON Room #2

More info and discussion here.

PC.IGN.com has their "Best of E3" awards up.  Company of Heroes was named Best PC Rts of the show, while it earned a runner up (to Spore) for Best PC Game.

This year's line-up of strategy titles was exceptionally strong. In fact, deciding which of these games to hand out the award to was probably the most difficult choice we made in the show. Supreme Commander has immense scale, innovative interface additions, and the promise of gigantic wars. Medieval 2: Total War also has scale along with historical fun, an incredible meta-game, and pedigree. Company of Heroes has AI innovation, destructible environments, adaptive tactics, and a brilliantly fun multiplayer mode. It might have been that Company of Heroes was the only game that we were allowed to play, but it stuck out a hair's breadth above the rest. While World War II is hit on yet again in this fast-paced RTS, developer Relic Entertainment has pushed the conflict into new territory with squad AI that acts more like real infantry, destructible environments that create both new opportunities and challenges in every match, zones of conflict, and absolutely top notch visuals throughout the entire experience. Relic is at the top of their game here and fans of the genre should look forward to a fast and furious RTS come this Fall.

Check it out here.  Thanks to Dave for the heads up!

The Outfit map pack “Collateral Damage” has dropped on Xbox Live!

The Outfit’s critically acclaimed multiplayer action gets even more intense with the addition of three all-new maps now available for download on Xbox Live Marketplace. The Collateral Damage Map Pack will include the Luftwaffe Finale, Bleak Mile and Eagle’s Nest maps, which all build on the fast-paced, explosive online game-play.

More info in this press release.

A fellow named Isaac posted this blurb on the forums:

Registration is now open for the Warhammer 40k: Winter Assault WCG USA Championship Online Qualifiers! This is the first step on the road from the US to Monza, Italy for the world’s largest video game tournament and festival. Anybody who is interested in participating in the upcoming events must register now before their regional deadlines.

Click below for more information regarding deadlines and prizes.
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Zilor posted a scan of some interesting news from the lastest Game Informer. It talked about how Relic reacquired the Homeworld license from Sierra. The article also talks about their other projects like an RPG for kids. Very cool indeed :D.

You can check out the thread here. We’ll keep everyone updated on this. Uberjumper is checking to see if the claims from the article is true.

Edit: Uber said that Relic is not saying anything about this rumor. So for now, it’s just a rumor. Go on and live out your lives.

Hey guys, I’ve been having fun at E3 and doing some detective work for getting some information for Dark Crusade and Company of Heroes. I’m looking to write some official articles on those. For now I have some quick summaries for you guys to look at.

Company of Heroes
Dawn of War: Dark Crusade