Swords and Sandals 3 Redux News

[p]Greetings, mighty gladiators!

I'm thrilled to finally be able to push the LAUNCH button on the demo for Swords and Sandals III Redux.[/p][p]The original S&S 3 was one of the most popular games in the series, and easily the most requested for a 'remake' over the years. Over the last year or so I've been tinkering away at it and now the time has come to throw the demo version into the arena of public opinion!

This demo allows you to play the first TWELVE days of your life as a gladiator, and / or to defeat the first TWO arena champions. It's not a long demo but I hope it demonstrates a taste of what's to come in the full version of the game.[/p][p]I'm aiming to have the full game wrapped up and ready to launch in the first week of November.[/p][p]Until then, if you like what you see be sure to give me a wishlist to show Steam we've got something special cooking.[/p][p]Also, don't forget to let me know your thoughts in the comments, balancing, bugfixes, whatever takes your fancy.

Until then, gladiators, I salute you!

Cheers, Oliver Joyce
Whiskeybarrel Studios.[/p][p] [/p][p][/p]

[p]Greetings, gladiators![/p][p][/p][p]I bring good tidings from the world of Swords and Sandals 3 Redux! Since the game was announced earlier this year, I've been working hard on reimagining the original S&S 3 and bringing it back to life once more.[/p][p][/p][p]And now, I can confidently say the demo will be live sometime in late September, approximately 8 weeks from now.[/p][p]
All seven arenas from the original are now in the game, from the terrors of the Bone Pit to the giddy heights of the Vertigo Tower. The original shopkeepers also return, with a bonus shopkeeper/trainer you may be familiar with !
[/p][p]I'm currently working my way through the many bosses of S&S 3, that's probably the most time consuming part of the project. Because the stats and systems from the original S&S 3 don't translate exactly to the S&S Immortals engine (which I'm using to make the game) , I'm having to be a bit clever in how I translate the bosses to remain true to the spirit of the original, while best using the systems from the new game. Because the game uses the Immortals armour set, these bosses will in many cases be wearing fine new clothes, but I'm working very carely to ensure they still have their famous unique headgear and of course remain looking true to their old selves. (Boarhide Trader Pigsus still has a pig nose and sombrero , and now a big gut!) [/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]I've done the first few bosses (only 20+ to go, woohoo!) and am just waiting on the final batch of art for the game, the boss weapons, before I tackle them all. You'll notice in the screenshot below, the Fearful Prisoner is still using a club while I wait for his special magic staff.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]One thing a lot of people loved about the remake of Swords and Sandals 2 was the option to use the classic town background art. I've gone a step further here and also have now included the options to use the classic shopkeeper and even gladiator sprites! (The only thing that will not use classic art is the armour and weapons as there were just too many of them to remake.) You'll be able to toggle these on and off at any time.[/p][p][/p][p][/p][p]So, the next few months will be spent completing the Arena Champions and also working on the Robotics tree for Automatons. These powerful metal gladiators will not be playable in the demo but we'll be able to use them in the full version, which will drop before the end of the year, most likely just a few weeks after October's Next Fest concludes![/p][p][/p][p]Having worked on the remake and tinkered with playing it the last few days, I really find it a joy to play. It feels like a more streamlined, faster paced version of Immortals. There's only the one map, you can challenge Champions at any time, everything feels a bit more snappy.

I always intended for S&S 3 and S&S Immortals to be sort of companion 'bookends' to each other, and I can't wait for you guys to check it out in September.

Cheers, Oliver Joyce,
Whiskeybarrel Studios[/p][p][/p]