On April 12, 2012, Hi-Rez Studios delivered on its promise to rejuvenate the Tribes franchise when it launched the fast-paced, skill-based Tribes: Ascend. Just shy of a month since release, we caught up with Todd  Harris, COO of Hi-Rez Studios, to discuss the launch process, the future of the game and to facilitate a little industry jabbing.

LoreHound: First of all, congratulations on the launch of Tribes: Ascend. Did the team do anything special to celebrate the milestone? Besides praying to the server gods for a smooth launch, that is.

Todd Harris: Team T-shirts, cake and booze!

LH: Overall, the transition from beta to live has seemed relatively smooth. Yet many developers tend to have issues between last-minute patches and server stability. How did Hi-Rez prepare for the changeover?

TH: The long beta was helpful in flushing out most of the major bugs and polishing gameplay before launch.  In terms of servers, the programming team built a great technology platform that allows us to add servers very easily.  So, even with the huge influx of players we’ve generally able to add servers fast enough to keep up.

LH: Fans want to know: What happened to the Lance?

TH: We’ll see.  We’ve been doing updates every 2-3 weeks so we need to save some cool weapon ideas for consideration in future updates.

LH: A large draw to earlier franchise installments was user-created maps. Is there anything in the works on that front?

TH: Nothing in the works right now.  As you know we just rolled out Custom Servers with a bunch of user-managed gameplay settings and admin features.  So we are currently monitoring how players are using Custom Servers and want to make sure they work well for different communities. Continue Reading

The latest entry into the old-school first-person shooter franchise “Tribes” has recently entered open beta and is looking pretty good. Tribes: Ascend, developed by Hi-Rez Studios, features the same mix of precise aiming and lighting-fast movement using jetpacks and a technique called skiing that made the original series so addictive.

The pace and style of gameplay is quite different to what fans of today’s typical online shooter are used to. First time jumping into the game, some players (read – me) will be caught by surprise when they are not getting kills every 10-15 seconds and that they actually have to lead their targets and predict enemy movement. The combination of shooting and movement mechanics creates a deep and complex experience that, while off putting to the more casual crowd, will be engaging for veteran shooter fans.

The developer’s intent to borrow from FPS concepts of the past may bring a tear of joy to the hordes of hardcore players, but will the fast-paced, athletic form of combat that relies heavily on teamwork be engaging enough to be a hit with a more mainstream crowd? Watch this gameplay video and decide for yourself.

Continue Reading

Normally, Lore Hound doesn’t act as a PR siren. We strive to start discussions, highlight the highs and lows of the industry, ask tough questions, showcase upcoming escapist activities and entertain. Even posts on general MMOG news come with Op-Ed tropes. But what happened in Japan last week is anything but normal.

To that effect, we’re here to inform you that Hi-Rez Studios, the new owners of the Tribes intellectual property, is donating all of its sales for Global Agenda to the American Red Cross relief fund for the next few days. The charity goes both ways though, as Hi-Rez has slashed GA’s price by 66%, down to a paltry $9.99. This makes it a great time to buy the enjoyable shooter if you’ve neglected it so far, or purchase a copy for a friend. Or hell, just buy a second copy. It’s a more enjoyable alternative to texting ‘Japan’ to some faceless entity – Skynet – that runs our cellular networks.

The deal ends on Sunday, March 20 and applies to all regions where Global Agenda is available. Hit the link at the top of the page to purchase and then head to the official relief page for the full details.

The structure of the donation means you won’t have to have this conversation with your self-satisfying friends.

Update:

In related news, NCSoft, developer of Aion and Guild Wars (among others), also is donating a huge heap of cash to the relief efforts. NCsoft announced today that it will donate 500 million Yen (approx 4.5 million Euros/3.9 million GBP/6.3 million USD) to restoration of damages in the region. They’re definitely going all out — Even a tenth of that amount would be considered huge.

Let’s keep showing the world that gamers also can make a big difference — here’s hoping that other game companies who have the means to give, do, and that Hi-Rez’s special pricing drive is a huge success.

We don’t plan to document all the charitable efforts made by the companies we generally cover, but these two definitely stand out as a good start.