Blood Bowl - Legendary Edition 12 new playable races

[Darkson]

Does anyone else hope for a CRP box set release to tie in?

I don't "hope" for it, I "hope" GW sell the whole license to a gaming company that gives a $hit.
I wouldn't be entirely surprised though.

[GalakStarscraper]

Does anyone else hope for a CRP box set release to tie in?

... or am I being too optomistic?

Personally I'd go with the 2nd.

Galak

[SBG]

Well, CD being my favorite race in BB, this Legendary Edition is now very low on my list of "Games to Buy this Year"...

They really want us to hate them...

Fred

[Darkson]

Interview from Paris Game day:

Hello,

On this link you'll find an interview of A.Villepreux, from Cyanide, made during the French GD, past Week End.
It's in french.

http://lbbf.forumactif.com/blabla-f9/re ... -t1934.htm

A poster on the Cyanide forum sent me that link yesterday, and then was kind enough to supply a rough translation (as my French is non-existant ).

He doesn't want to post it himself, which I can understand, so I will instead.

OK, I try to make a short translation.
First it's not an "interview", the guy report his discussion with A. Villepreux, Lead Dev at Cyanide.
Words between () are mines.


BBEL will be full LRB6, with weather (!), Gob Bomber, Babes, wizard and so on, they also talk about skills and changes for player like WE catcher.
Not all Champions will be implemented but two by roster (+Morgh for all)
No compatibility between BB (actual) and BBEL
No mods.
BBEL only on PC
GW don't want CD at this time, Cyanide prefer this option because of technical difficulties with Bull centaur.
Release limit for BBEL is October because Cyanide has other works for the end of the year (understand: finished or not the game will released for october).
No patches for actual game before BBEL release (And they'll are busy after, understand what you want... ).

Hope this help.

It's not "official" informations, there is a sort of storm in the french area about this, it was posted and (what a surprise!) post was deleted ...
VinceFromFocus is very angry, he said "It's not true, never Antoine Villepreux said that" (He wasn't here during talking) and so on.
So, no, I don't think it's a good idea to post this in general area, for the moment, at least.

Edit: And to be honest, nothing in these informations are really a scoop.
Enarion and others had always given such "news" for the most, rest could be find by Focus/Cyanide history.
It's more informations that Focus don't wan't to tell us officially than secrets.

[Darkson]

Direct translation as per Google Translate:

Re: issue with Antoine VILLEPREUX Backslider (Lead Dev 'in Cyanide) in GamesDay

Message Backslider Tues April 20 - 1:18
Sunday, April 18, 2010, c \ 'is the French Games Day, the great rendezvous GW \' s year to the frenchies.
On this occasion, as now for 3 years, Cyanide is a booth for the Blood Bowl game (note that Lutetia Cup, and its stand took the opportunity to grow as each year!).
Meanwhile Anthony, I am hands on two types of Focus (focus and Vincefrom??? Fromfocus). They remind me nicely to not take pictures, including MV are presented. As I am older (lien \ 's age) and that con \' them (lien \ 's unconscious) and frankly I am not hiding place for them (the rules, it \' s like girls c \ 'was made to be broken, we are relapsed or did \' t-), it m \ 's just asked not to post them.
So I put a series of questions they ask me to wait a bit and \ 'wait Antoine.

He finally arrives.

Backslider: Hello Anthony, the great moment is the new \ 's announcement BB legendary edition (BBEL to read) that she is given more?
Anthony: We are working hard to fix all the bugs (at least most) and stick as closely as possible to the rules.

Backslider: The rules of LRB5.0?
Anthony: No, we are working to adapt than the LRB6. The powers have already been worked (eg horns), the players are already modified (eg Receiver Wood Elf) and integrate all the rules (babes, pomegranate Goblin, weather ...)

Backslider: Weather? there will be snow, finally, on the land?
Anthony: Yes, the snow is made and the Snow Troll \ 's it like it. For my part, I find it very successful.

Backslider: Since we are talking about team, he is constantly referred to 20 teams when the rosters are 21 in number. L \ 'team is less ...
Anthony: The Chaos Dwarfs. The choice is voluntary and imposed by GW.

Backslider: Yet Jervis Johnson, GW Baltimore, said that the \ "Chaos Dwarves will be back \".
Anthony: Yes, but it \ 's License Division directly related to the GW Department which sets the rules [note: to my knowledge, the Chaos Dwarfs are still on the rosters and LRB6 \' s team and the champions are still sale].

Backslider: They are nice MV presented the Today \ 'hui, but why not talk more and not allow photos (even if at that time, Anthony did not know him that I \' ve taken the photos) ?
Antoine GW is particularly astride the game and what \ 'he waits. We develop a lot but they are very fussy about what will stay or not in the game

Backslider: for example?
Antony: for example, c \ 'GW is that locks up for the mods are not modifiable. They set the rules Aesthetic Old World, they are scrupulously respected. This explains why the artistic digressions are not plenty.

Backslider: So even in version BBEL, it \ 's there will be no color palette enriched (always one color), no texture integrable, no customization ...?
Anthony: No, none of this. The priority is the compliance for the product is available in October.

Backslider: In October? We thought to November (see Amazon example)???
Anthony: No, we affirm in October. For various reasons, including over \ 's other projects (Cyanide is in charge of developing the Iron Throne, the novels, not the set-top) that we need.

Backslider: discussing with Focus, it is referred to as \ other constraints, including fiscal years. About time, and not having been honest answer Focus, can we know the duration of the license?
Anthony: No, personally I do not know and I think our license (one person) shall be the sole authority and deal with GW.

[Backslider note: personally, I wonder whether the actual distribution of tasks between Cyanide and Focus. In fact, I do not really understand how it is that Cyanide develops while it \ 's Focus which distributes (fromfocus guys act as if it \' was to them that the license was granted) knowing that \ 'historically c \ 'Cyanide is that s \' was made by GW chopper with Chaos League. One solution that I see is that it \ 's Focus is that the license and that \' s a certain viewpoint, GW \ "requires \" Cyanide develop Focus via BB, but hey, I \ 'm away from the subject]

Backslider: It feels so good \ 's right to GW on the product and the fact that \ it decides that a particular aspect would appear in the game you said to \ now that it \' s just that GW Dwarves had put aside so that Chaos \ 'by talking to any \ time with xxxfromfocus, it was rather stressed the difficulty of managing the centaurs-bulls (occupying two spaces instead of \ a) .
Anthony: Yes and no. In fact, we take note of the decision not to include GW Chaos Dwarves. C \ 'True \' s a certain viewpoint, it suits us just because we don \ 't have not yet developed the centaurs-bulls and there are indeed things to fix if ever we ever offer them. Either they take out two boxes (and it \ 's not \' s spirit of rules as well \ 's are large bull centaurs-n \' play that \ 'a box like all players BB) In this case, we must work in the occupations of squares sense (eg not allow that \ 'another player is in the same box) or they actually occupy a space in which case he'll have to find a way to to large (eg pretending that the \ space of their box is bigger and in this case, we must \ "Back \" gamers neighbors a little bit and in addition, it must handle the collisions). In all cases, it leaves a little more time.

Backslider: The Chaos Dwarfs are absent but the goblins are finally complete. Do \ 's other races will be \ "incomplete \" as \' Goblins were?
Anthony: No, all races are complete.

Backslider: And the Star Players, will they all available? (Incidentally, the MV have Count Luthor Von Drakenhoff).
Anthony: No, ALL the celebs will not be present. By cons, it will be possible for each race can choose up \ 'to two different stars [note Backslider: hear from Morg who sleeps with everyone].

Backslider: We talked about the \ time of compliance is very high priority, but you talk a little game design. What \ 'will he \' s organization of meetings (question retransmitted by thalaris Commi ie will they finally organize a league like they \ 's hear), Will it be possible to \' hold a tournament in hot seat (question of Voodoo), will be til just say yes / no to such or such an option?
Anthony: No, for the minute, we don \ 't have thought to review the mechanism \ the tournaments, meetings ... so no implementation of the goodwill of players Commi. No, we don \ 't have thought of creating \ a tournament in hot-seat. And no, we don \ 't have implemented a system \' switches on options for tournament / championship / league ... I recall that it is also clear that GW wants: clearly, it is a product developed by GW and GW hopes that the changes are virtually impossible.

Backslider: So, going in this direction, it \ 's clear that \' it \ 's there will be no editor character \' s team, stadium, texture ...
Anthony: Exactly. No \ 'editor \' s team (pitcher with Skaven kind Receiver Elf blocker ON), not \ 'skin editor, no extensive range ...

Backslider: [mode spoil: WARNING the following is going to annoy more than \ a!] What about the compatibility between the \ current edition (collector or not) and BBEL?
Antoine (confirmed by Focus before it as everyone is OK about this): No compatibility: there will now be two versions coexisting: a version with 9 races and a version with 20 races. The least and most can not \ reverse. It will be a version indicator on tournaments to see if we can participate or not.

Backslider: Will there a kind of supplement version of history to move from the current version to version without paying full legend pot.
Anthony: No.

Backslider: Arf, c \ 's hard! And meanwhile, we see TODAY \ 's that are finished and available MV [Backslider note: the game version 1.1.3.3 is the version presented is one with which we play Today \' hui], will we see get \ 's here in October?
Anthony: No, it \ 's there will be no updates or provision of \' here the output of BBEL.

Backslider: Basically, you do the usual blow in it: I take out a first draft to see something of the reaction and see if it pays a little \ 'money and I honed the second version (Dawn of War syndrome for example) .
Anthony: We have relied heavily on BB we rely even more on BB second version, it \ 'is clear: it was a lot of pressure on us!

Backslider: About pressure, I note that it has been many times that you refer to, how is the relationship with GW?
Anthony: We know the pressure well managed and I must say that sometimes acerbic comments on the fofo and on the official website can be very hard to cash [note Backslider: to go there sometimes and read what \ 's there said, c \ 'is clear that \' must be a hell of a lot of cool menthos, I think Fenrir will not say otherwise]. But we know that \ 'a strong community supports us too. We specifically asked for version BBEL a Game Specialist who works with us so that everything is as perfect as possible [Backslider note: having read the thanks to UHP \ 'on the first version, I thought it \' But it was Antoine m \ 've said no to me without specifying who that person was, perhaps Fenrir knows who he could \' s act]. Now, I must also admit that GW does not help us clear: not a word in the newsletter, not a campaign, nothing ...

Backslider: Yes, I am a faithful reader of White Dwarf (the entire collection from number 1) and I don \ 've never seen such a blackout on a product of their own universe. Even \ 's other video games (Dawn of War, warhammer online, squad command, the final release ...) \' s other card games or \ other reissues \ 'old games (talisman or space hulk) made a notable appearance in WD! And BB, little or nothing that n \ is not justice!
Anthony: Unfortunately, at \ 'era \' s \ agreement \ ", we suspected a bit. We see Today \ 'hui machine GW.

Backslider: Going back to something more cheerful. The BB community is working to turn tricks, for example angles boxes blank. Will you get inspired?
Anthony: Yes, we have seen that but no, we don \ 'will not \' integrate.

Backslider: Similarly, you highlight some figures that allow some to follow the charts, to \ establish stats ... you will enrich and over again?
Antoine BBM is actually a very good product to build stats but no, we don \ 't have planned to \ establish new values.

Backslider: Yet with a few colleagues fofo (see a discussion with thalaris), you could set up databases very different: the most lazy player, the fastest coach to play his tricks ...
Anthony: Clearly not. This isn \ 'the will is lacking but the work involved is considerable and BB n \' is not the only game of Cyanide. We do that \ 'just fifty (counting tagiaires) and the development work figure very quickly.

Backslider: OK. Does it indirectly saying that \ 'it \' s there will be no bonuses galore (like stage, additional trophy ...).
Anthony: Yes, it \ 's it. A stadium requires months of work for its realization. [Backslider note: if indeed, the \ 'new breed involves adding a few new stages, eg in the snow for northern or on the beach for the Amazons, and that \' effectively produce a field takes weeks more skins and textures, we could consider that Cyanide is a busy] so yes there will be things not nice but it will not right away.

Backslider: Considering that \ 'actually it's going to be license renewal (from \ October but for a duration not specified) and therefore a new product tracking, how long will you maintain?
Anthony: We didn \ 'do not propose that this angle. We ressortons a new version, we will follow the product and update it [note Backslider: LRB6 n \ 'is still not in place now so it could be that the pressure \ October is precisely the date of establishment Specialist Games by Version LRB6 validated)] and see with what GW \ 'it should be (if the Chaos Dwarves is typical).

Backslider: Precisely because we are talking about, how does the server load?
Antony: It is maintained and each launch \ 's new competition we are seeing a small peak. We are pleased to \ announce that we touch the 750,000 games and that very soon we will attient the milestone of 2 million TD!

Backslider: As the first of April, you will mark this kind of \ event?
Anthony: Yes. We must see both sides: \ 's side, maintenance and compliance with instructions GW (including the duration of the license source of revenue for GW-) and the \ else being able to continue to maintain servers even though \ it was not selling more gambling

Backslider: Speaking after BBEL? You are the specialists BB for GW?
Anthony: Everything in its time, the priority is really to succeed BBEL. But yes, we are a privileged partner of GW for BB: they don \ 'will not see elsewhere. We have gained some experience and are a leading player.

Backslider: It \ 's not that BB is in life not (many members of Cyanide did come with his wife and children to attend the finals of the Winter Tournament on the big screen, that \' s will not take place in Because of the \ absence of the Spanish champion who wasn \ 'could not come because of the \' Icelandic volcano), you \ 's other projects?
Anthony: The Iron Throne is very important for us and this year we released big changes for Pro Cycling Manager


Well, well ... if I remember \ 'other stuff, I would not fail to add
Remember:
- The MV version in Legendary and not before anointing can play season 4 (maybe 5 without problem, but without them)
- The legendary version is the one who will play 20 races LRB6 (no Chaos Dwarfs, decision to GW Chaos Dwarves button a few times)
- The Legendary version comes out only on PC.
- Developers are testing morning, noon, evening on a version 1.5 with all races.
- No PS3 version in sight.

[PapyHarzen]

(The link's been broken - trying to find an alternate source.)

I think it's this one:
http://lbbf.forumactif.com/blabla-f9/re ... -t1934.htm


Papy

[Kort]

I foolishly wrote a translation of this text but I decided to avoid sharing it when I started doubting of the validity of the content. Since it got out anyway, I have no reason to hold it back anymore. I am no native English speaker so you can expect some rough spots, compounded by the fact that the original text is not always easy to understand. So I had to interpret many things. I left out the author's additional comments.

Again, I just put this information as a simple convenience for the interested readers. The material has not been crosschecked.
==========================================

Relaps: Hello Antoine, the big news right now is the announcement of BB:LE (Blood Bowl: Legendary Edition). Which improvements can be expected ?

Antoine: We are working hard to solve all the bugs (at least as many as possible) and make the implementation as close as possible to the rulebook.



Relaps: The LRB 5 rulebook ?

Antoine: No, we are exclusively focused on the LRB 6. The skills have been reworked (Horns to take an example), the players have already been modified (For instance the Wood Elf catcher) and we are implementing all the rules (Babes, Goblin Grenadier, Weather...)



Relaps: Weather ? There will be some snow on the pitch, then ?

Antoine: Yes, the snow is already implemented and the Snow Troll enjoys it. I think he looks great by the way.



Relaps: Since we are talking about the teams, the inclusion of 20 different rosters is frequently mentioned, whereas there should be 21 normally. So the missing team is...

Antoine: The Chaos Dwarfs. The choice is deliberate and has been made by GW.



Relaps: However Jervis Johnson, at the GW convention in Baltimore, has declared "The Chaos Dwarfs will be back".

Antoine: Yes, but the Licensing division, which is directly in contact with the GW management, calls the shots.



Relaps: The Undeads that were shown today look nice but why don't you showcase them more and why are we prohibited from taking pictures ?

Antoine: GW is following this game very closely and they have very precise requirements. We are developing many things but they are very strict on what will finally be in the release.



Relaps: For instance ?

Antoine: For instance, GW wants to prevent fan-made modifications as much as possible. They have determined the graphical design guidelines of the Old World and want to enforce them meticulously. That explains why the artistic deviations are so scarce.



Relaps: So, even in BB:LE, there won't be the possibility to choose several colors, no new textures, no customization ?

Antoine: No, nothing like that. The absolute priority is the fidelity of the implementation of the rules so that the game can released in October.



Relaps: In October ? We thought that it would rather be November (cf. Amazon) ?

Antoine: No, we confirm the October target. For many reasons, especially for the fact that we have other projects to work on.



Relaps: When we speak with Focus, we are told that there are other constraints, such as fiscal years. What about the duration of the IP licensing --- It is impossible to get an honest answer from Focus on the subject ?

Antoine: I don't know the answer and our Licensing department (one person) is solely responsible for the relation with GW.



Relaps: So GW clearly maintains stranglehold on their product and decides what does or does not appear in the game. You said that GW actually made the decision to shelve the Chaos Dwarfs for the time being although when I spoke with the Focus representatives the main reasons was rather the difficulty of integrating the Bull-Centaurs --- Like occupying 2 tiles instead of one.

Antoine: Yes and No. We acknowledge the decision made by GW not to include the Chaos Dwarfs. I must admit that from our point of view, this is not a bad thing since we do not work on the implementation of the Bull-Centaurs and some details have still to be worked out if we want to add them to the game. Either they indeed occupy 2 tiles (And this is contrary to the rules that mandate that even large players must only occupy one tile) and in this case, we have to work on this particular issue (Such as not allowing two players in the same square), or they must fit in one tile and in this case we have to find a way to make them look big (Such as giving the impression that their location is larger than it is, by pushing away the adjacent players and correctly handling the collisions.) Anyway, we now have more time to work this out.



Relaps: The Chaos Dwarfs won't be in the release but the Goblin lineup will finally be complete. Will some of the new rosters be released with missing positions ?

Antoine: No, all teams will be complete.



Relaps: Will all the Star Players be available ?

Antoine: No, not all the stars will be in the game. However, it will be possible to select up to two different Star Players for each roster.



Relaps: We have already talked about the fidelity of the rule implementation, which you have described as your highest priority, so let's move to the gameplay. What about the league management, will it be possible to organize a hot-seat tournament, will it be possible to select each option independently ?

Antoine: We do not plan to revise the tournament/league management, so no team-by-team scheduling option offered to the League owner. No plan for a hot-seat tournament either. And no possibility to select each option independently... I must remind you that it is a consequence of the expectations of GW: The product must conform to their vision and they don't want any possibility of customization to be offered.



Relaps: So, according to that, they won't definitely be no editor for players, teams, stadiums, textures, ...

Antoine: Precisely. No team editor (Such as Skaven Catcher with Elf Thrower and Black Orc Blocker), no skin editor, no color fine-tuning,...



Relaps: What about the compatibility between the current edition and BB:LE ?

Antoine: No compatibility; The two versions will exist concurrently: One version with 9 teams and another one with 20 rosters. The newest version will be able to do as much as the old one, but the inverse will not be possible. For tournaments, there will be a flag indicating the version in order to know if one can participate or not.



Relaps: Will there be some kind of upgrade for the owners of the current version so that they don't have to shell the full price of a new game ?

Antoine: No.



Relaps: Ouch, that's hard ! I can see that the Undeads are ready and available, will they be released before October ?

Antoine: No, no update or release before BB:LE.



Relaps: So you are more or less using the good old trick of the software industry: First I release a first version to evaluate the interest and the benefits, and I refine the second version (such as was done for Dawn of War)

Antoine: We have made a huge investment in BB; We clearly have even more at stake for the second version: We are under tremendous pressure !



Relaps: Speaking about pressure, I realize that you have alluded to the subject several times already. How is your relation with GW ?

Antoine: We know how to handle the pressure and I must admit that the harsh comments that sometimes appear on the forums are hard to swallow. But on the other hand, we know that a solid community supports us. For BB:LE, we have recruited a BB veteran to help us refine everything. Now, I must admit that GW does not help us very much: Not a word in the newsletters, no advertising campaign, nothing...



Relaps: I am a dedicated White Dwarf reader (I have the whole collection since the first issue) and I have never seen such a lack of communication on a product of their own universe. Even other video games, other card games or new editions of classical games have been advertised in WD ! On BB, nothing or so little !

Antoine: Unfortunately, when the "agreement" was being finalized, we more or less expected this kind of thing. Nowadays we can see the GW system in action.



Relaps: Let's go back to more enjoyable topics. The BB community works independently on small projects, suh as painting the corners of the tiles in white. Do you intend to use that as an inspiration ?

Antoine: Yes, we have seen that, but no, we are not going to implement it.



Relaps: Also, you already track some statistics that some coaches enjoy and use to track the team and player successes. Do you plan to improve that aspect ?

Antoine: Blood Bowl Manager is indeed a great tool, but we do not plan to add new statistics.



Relaps: However, with some of the people present on the forums, it should be possible to maintain many kinds of databases: The laziest player, the quickest coach,...

Antoine: Clearly not. Not because of a lack of interest but there's a lot of work to be done and BB is not the only game of Cyanide. There only about 50 employees (including the inters) and development work absorbs a lot of resources.



Relaps: Ok. So it means that there won't be a lot of goodies (stadiums, new trophies, etc...).

Antoine: Exactly. A stadium requires months and months of work so yes there will some cool stuff be but not in the immediate future.



Relaps: Since there will be a licensing renewal (starting in October but for an undisclosed period), how much time are you going to support the new product ?

Antoine: We do not think in those terms. We are releasing a new version, we are going to support and update the game and discuss the future developments with GW.



Relaps: Since we are addressing this topic, what about the level of traffic on the servers ?

Antoine: It is not decreasing and we even have a small peak every time a new competition is started. We are happy to announce that we are close to 750.000 games played and that we are about to reach the 2.000.000 th TD !



Relaps: As for the first of April, are you going to celebrate that event ?

Antoine: Yes. There are two different aspects to take into account: On the one hand, the support and the fulfillment of the agreement with GW (Especially while the license is active), and on the other hand the possibility to keep the servers on-line even if no additional copies of the gale are being sold.



Relaps: And after BB? You are the specialists of BB as far as GW is concerned ?

Antoine: Let's not get ahead of ourselves, currently the main objective is to release a great BB:LE. But, yes, we have a privileged relationship with GW for BB: They won't go elsewhere. We have developed a good expertise and we are an important partner.



Relaps: Other than BB, do you have other projects ?

Antoine: The Iron Throne is a major undertaking and this year, we have developed substantial improvements for Pro Cycling Manager.

[Rhyoth]

To summarize :
_ no customization of any kind allowed
_ no mention about an improved AI
_ compatibility issues with the previous version
_ only 1/3 of starplayers available
_ rushing the development to reach an ambitious deadline
_ the displayed will to prioritize other projects

Well it looks like the proverb "Frenchies suck at making video games" will be verified once again...

note : The Iron Throne (fr: "Le Trône de Fer") is the French title for the series of novels "A Song of Ice & Fire" by G.R.R. Martin

[SBG]

It doesn't look promising at all...

Just because I'm stubborn, I'll wait for the CDs to be released to buy it. I know this might be never.

Fred

[lapiaz]

no CD's, no buy for me either. simple as that

[browwnrob]

This will be as big a flop as Chaos League: Sudden Death!

Essentially, they will charge people £40 for 11 races? When they say 2 stars each, Im assuming morg is included in that!

FUMBBL went into beta testing for a Fantasy Football client with updated rules which looks the job, I know where I will start playing again!

[PapyHarzen]

When they say 2 stars each, Im assuming morg is included in that!

As mister Villepreux said in the non-interview wich didn't exist, it's 2 stars each + Morgh

Papy

[Piousman]

This non-interview has since been disavowed by Cyanide/Focus (they called many of the items in this interview patently "false").

http://www.cyanide-studio.com/forumBB/v ... 80#p256185

- Piousman

[Darkson]

And do you believe a company that has repeatedly lied about pretty much everything related to the game?

[voyagers_uk]

I will still be getting it...