When we talk about AI in an MMORPG, we can't help but find some of the mobs in them a bit too mechanical. With that said, the developers from Spellborn NV are working hard on their upcoming The Chronicles of Spellborn to try and make the game's AI as dynamic, yet as fun as possible for their gamers.

According to them, designing a realistic enough AI system for the mobs in the game isn't enough. Read more about it in the full article after the jump!

The developers over at Spellborn NV in cooperation with Frogster Interactive have posted a new development diary to update everyone on the progress of their upcoming MMORPG The Chronicles of Spellborn. This week, they gave us hints on how they're balancing the game's job classes and how they're working out a level playing field for the PvP aspect.

The full details follow at the full article!

It appears to be smooth sailing for Spellborn NV's The Chronicles of Spellborn MMORPG lately, given that their past few stress tests have gone without a hitch. In case the readers are wondering just what went down during those runs, the developers were kind enough to release a new diary video. It will cover how Chronicles of Spellborn's combat system worked during one of their stress tests.

As the developer explains in the video, players will find that Spellborn's FPS-style targeting system will put both high and low-level players on relatively equal footing. Your ability to hit isn't based on some obscure damage roll dictated by the game's physics. It all depends on your ability to aim with your cursor.

That aside, be reminded that this game is still in its alpha stage. Expect the build to get better in the near future. Enjoy the video.

Every good game has its fair share of heroes and villains, and upcoming fantasy MMORPG The Chronicles of Spellborn is no exception. The lore for this video game is building itself quite nicely, and the developers from Spellborn NV wanted to give people an inside look on just some of the prominent figures from the rock-realms of the Shards.

First off, from the heroes we introduce Bazir Shadowcrest and Doyen Sellgret. They both hail from the city of Quarterstone and both have built up an impressive reputation in their own way. While Bazir, a Daevi rogue, and Doyen, a human Commander of the Marksmen, operate separately, they both aim to serve the Enclave in their own unique way.

And of course what are the heroes in a high fantasy realm without their fair share of villains to fight against. Shagaine Lusinfarn is just one of the antagonists who leads the fight against the Enclave. With his Brotherhood of the Glaive sowing chaos with each raid, he seek vengeance against the atrocities he feels House Maul has placed upon his head.

If there's one villain you definitely don't want to come across in your travels through the Shards, it's this one - Adinthalos, the General of the Demon Army Forces. While Adinthalos may no longer be living among the denizens of the realms, he still haunts the dreams of those who think they can go through life without facing the wrath of the Demon Armies.

All in all, The Chronicles of Spellborn is building up a lore that makes a great basis for any good fantasy game setting. Hopefully, we'll be seeing more updates like these from the developers as time goes on. In the meantime, take a look at some of the images we have of Doyen and Adinthalos from the game.

 

Spellborn NV Community Manager Pierre-Yves Deslandes (aka Mirage) for the upcoming title The Chronicles of Spellborn posted an article over at the MMO game's official website addressing the fans regarding delays and in-game developments.

First off, Deslandes confirmed that the new release window for Spellborn is now slated for a Q1 2008 release. The community manager also added that their game publisher, Frogster Interactive, has just signed a deal that will bring The Chronicles of Spellborn in Japan.

This is certainly good news as this ushers in more gamers with different playing styles compared to those in the West. Anyway, Deslandes shared that the game recently underwent a series of internal stress tests to check if it will have any lags or server crashed during the times when so much players populate a specific region. The official said:

We simulated more than 500 players in real gaming conditions in one single zone (Hawk's Landing/Hawksmouth) without any crashes or other downtime. This might not look so extraordinary at first glance, but trust me, for a game with heavy action-based combat and such AI; this is one heck of a feat for an MMO.

That's about it for now and it seems that The Chronicles of Spellborn is shaping up to be an exciting and excellent MMO. Check regularly here at QJ.NET for more updates.

For those still unsure on what House to join in Spellborn NV's upcoming fantasy MMORPG, The Chronicles of Spellborn, then we might just be able to help you. We have some details on the different building models for High House Torque.

As you can see, the textures and basic architecture of their buildings reflect the democratic and structured way of living House Torque is used to. The typical dwelling of House Torque is very simple in design, but quite robust in nature. If you're interested in taking a look at the developer's detailed log of how the designs were created, you can click on the Read link below for more information.

So far the concept art for the House is working out quite fine. While the models above are still far from finished, we can't wait for the it to be brought alive when the game finally goes live later this year. Don't choose a side just yet as we still have more updates about the other houses for The Chronicles of Spellborn. Until then take a look at the images we have for House Torque.

 

Here's a little something for those who want to know more about Spellborn NV's The Chronicles of Spellborn. Well, actually, it's a pretty long something, in the form of a Q&A about the game.

The Q&A, which features questions asked by the game's fans and answers from the development team, is broken down into three sections: Combos, Skills and Bodyslots. Just to give you guys an idea of what the game's about, though, here's a little snippet:

Q: There won't be any class with skills that can resurrect players. Will it be possible to teleport a player to the position of another using a special skill? (Will there be items that can resurrect players?)

A: No, don't die.

Hardcore, huh? The whole Q&A post is pretty long, so we're hiding it behind the Read link below. Just click the Read link to check it out in full.

Much like any other MMORPGs out there, Spellborn NV's The Chronicles of Spellborn is based on a rich lore that should keep every player excited and immersed. One important component of that lore are the five different High Houses that date back 600 years ago prior to the in-game era known as The Great Collapse.

Before all these events, there used to be eight different houses. The three were vanished and eventually fell but they will always be remembered as the Traitor Hoses because of their unquenchable desire for power. The remaining houses include: House Maul, House Torque, House Silver, House Shroud, and House Rune.

If you are not quite familiar with these, you can think of them as similar to the houses found in Hogwarts in the Harry Potter universe. Each one focuses on different traits and features, and even among themselves, there are still old wounds and allegiances that date themselves back to the ancient times.

One such example is the House of Rune. Before the Traitor Houses fell, House Rune wasn't part of the surviving houses because it failed to choose a side. No one knows for sure why it eventually sided with the remaining four and until today, the House of Rune is still shrouded in mystery.

If you want to read more about the different houses, you can refer to our Read link below. It should take you to the official website of The Chronicles of Spellborn where developer Mike Wolf wrote a comprehensive article on the matter.

Cody Bye of Ten Ton Hammer had a little chat with The Chronicles of Spellborn Marketing and PR Manager, Marco Van Haren, at last breaking the silence of Spellborn.

Admittedly, very little news have been coming out for the North American press on Spellborn. Van Haren explains that the game is now on its final polish, and that the final closed beta, in fact, has already started. "These last few months are going to be extremely important since the last 10% of development has the most impact on the actual 'feel' of the game."

So that explains why the guys at Spellborn NV have been awfully quiet. Anyhow, Van Haren also allowed us some sneak peek into the character creation, disclosing that for upgrading your cool factor, you guys might want to head out to high end locations and dungeons, as this is here where the more powerful and rare sigils are to be found. Of course, you may well expect some more armour sets and other tools to be abound in the game.

Now, more into the armours. There are certain special armour pieces -- very special ones, at that -- that are limited only to players who have reached a certain level. The sigils also implement the same system. Every sigil represents a rank, hence, higher ranks are only accessible for high level players.

As for what's up next after you have finished blinging up your character, here's what Van Haren has in store for you:

The beginner's zone encompasses a small city and forested area where an interactive tutorial will help them get started. All the quests in the beginner's zone will help the player to get familiar with the setting, the story and the player's role with the world of Spellborn. Once a player leaves the beginner's zone there will be situations in the player's progression where new mechanics are introduced. Either the Oracle in Quarterstone or the Enclave Delegates in the Consanguineous Vaults will help them get familiar with these mechanics.

Well that sure sounds promising. Anyway, now that they're done being all secretive with The Chronicles of Spellborn, we expect more updates to come our way in the coming days, so keep it posted here.

When it comes to MMO title The Chronicles of Spellborn, expectations are all nothing short of being tremendous. You've seen the previous game trailers and music videos released by developer Spellborn NV, and judging from those, we can tell that TCoS must be one well-created game.

Some remarkable features of this game include a great background story, a lot of things to do, and add to that the use of Unreal Engine 3, and it looks like that TCoS has everything working for its cause. The only remaining question now is that, "Will the game deliver?" The developers promised a Q1 of 2007 released before and we guess we'll all see by then.

In the meantime, just take a look at these new batch of screenshots and decide if you like the game or not. We betting that you do.

See the rest after the jump!