Monsters Unleashed On Internet!(Berkeley, California; Denver, Colorado — June 12, 2002) — Skotos Tech Inc and Worlds Apart Productions, developers of innovative prose-based computer games, today announced the release of the public beta of Monsters! Monsters!: Grendel's Revenge to the Internet. Now you can play the role of any one of forty-five different races of monsters and free the land of Uthgol from its greatest plague: humans! "We've twisted around the standard ideas in fantasy games," says Christopher Allen, Skotos Tech President & CEO. "This time players get to be the villains. Vampires, mummies, trolls, minotaurs, wyverns, phoenixes — they're all here, and they're going to finally put those goody-goody human adventurers in their place once and for all." But, as might be expected of a game centering around monsters, not all is sunshine and puppies. There are plenty of interpersonal conflicts among the monsters. The chimera fight the undead, the undead fight the humanoids, and the humanoids fight the chimera. And there's always some new upstart trying to rise to power in your clan — to say nothing of the clan next door which is vying for your resources. "This is fantasy gaming with an attitude," says Shannon Appelcline, Skotos Tech Vice President, "but it's got quite a sense of humor too." "We're proud of the innovative features and gameplay in Grendel's Revenge," says Scott Martins, President of Worlds Apart and Lead Designer for the project. "In addition to a healthy dose of combat and magical mayhem, we offer strong support for social game mechanics, including customizable clans and roles and activities for leaders and Builders. The building system is one aspect of the game we're particularly excited about, because it allows clans to create their own customized lairs, dynamically extending the game world. Not everyone has to join a clan, however — we also support a, shall we say, less social play option as a big, bad 'Wandering Monster'". "Worlds Apart has also stepped up the integration of graphical elements in Grendel's Revenge," says Shannon Appelcline. "It's the most beautiful prose-based game I've seen, but it still maintains the powerful sense of immersion that only prose can provide." Graphical features include: a simple, HTML-based character creation process; on-screen maps that detail both existing developer-created realms and player-created lairs; pop-up windows for help pages, character sheets, and other common screens; and interactive HTML forms for common types of requests. Together these features help bring prose gaming to a new level of interactivity. Grendel's Revenge is the result of five years of work Worlds Apart has put into its text game engine, which currently powers The Eternal City, a top-ranked game at both Top MUD Sites and RPG Gateway Top 100 RPG Sites. The Eternal City is also renowned for its detailed combat system and its strength as a roleplaying environment. It is one of the very few prose games in recent years to have been written up in PC Gamer magazine. Although playing monsters is a fairly new idea among online RPGs, Grendel's Revenge also acknowledges its legacy to tabletop games. "We've subtitled the game Monsters! Monsters!" says Shannon Appelcline, "with the approval of Rick Loomis and Flying Buffalo. Though we're developing a totally new game, it seems only fair to credit the folks who created the genre." Monsters! Monsters!, the original game of tabletop monster roleplaying was authored by Ken St. Andre and released by Metagaming in 1976, then republished by Flying Buffalo in 1979. A new version is scheduled for the near future. Available as a closed beta since early May, Grendel's Revenge is now fully functional and is being game balanced with live player input. You can play now in this unusual prose roleplaying game by visiting www.skotos.net and have the opportunity to influence the creation of a new Internet game. ABOUT WORLDS APART PRODUCTIONS Based in Denver, Colorado, Worlds Apart is a six-year-old company specializing in the development and operation of multiplayer online games. Primarily involved in text-based titles to date, its flagship product is The Eternal City (TEC), a critically acclaimed and commercially successful Roman-themed RPG currently published by Skotos. The Eternal City was called "the consummate Multi-user Dungeon" by Computer Gaming World in August 2001, and has been particularly praised for many of its innovative social gameplay features. ABOUT SKOTOS TECH INC. Founded in 1999, Berkeley, California-based Skotos Tech Inc. (http://www.skotos.net) is a developer and publisher of multiplayer prose games. Its own releases include the storytelling game Castle Marrach and the strategic Galactic Emperor: Hegemony. It is also the current publisher of The Eternal City. A group of external developers known as "The Skotos Seven" are already working on the next generation of Skotos games. ABOUT FLYING BUFFALO INC. Flying Buffalo (www.flyingbuffalo.com) has been creating and publishing games since 1970, when it was founded by Rick Loomis and Steve MacGregor. Their primary business is play-by-mail games, including the award-winning Starweb. Their strategic games include Nuclear War and Lost Worlds. They have also published numerous roleplaying games and supplements including Tunnels & Trolls, Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes, the Grimtooth's Traps series, and, of course, Monsters! Monsters! For further information, please contact: Worlds Apart Productions: Skotos Tech Inc.: |
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