LIBERTY'S PROFILE

So apparently, in a surprise turn of events, Suikoden III will be released in North America tomorrow! And double-surprise~ It's also going to be available for Europe at the same time!

It's available for the PS3 via the PSN store, so don't miss out on this classic RPG!


Suikoden III was the first of the series to be made with 3D, as well as the first on the PS2. It's a story of three countries and three groups who have to learn to work together in order to find the truth about the Fire Bringer and bring to light the machinations going on behind scenes, forcing their countries into a war that could spell the end for the Grasslands.

As tempers flare among the three countries, the 108 Stars of Destiny must once more be summoned to war!

Suikoden III is unique in gameplay, telling a story through three separate story lines, following three main heroes through their versions of events. There are also three minor PoVs aside from the main three.



Chris Lightfellow, the newly appointed Knight Commander of the Zexen Knighthood, struggles to balance her duty in a time of war and her personal desire to find the truth about her father whilst learning what it means to follow your heart and be true to yourself.



Geddoe, the leader of a mercenary group working for Holy Harmonia, is sent to search the Grasslands for rumours of the Fire Bringer, a group of 'terrorists' from the past who's leader held the True Fire Rune.



Hugo, the son of Lucia, leader of the Karaya Clan, is sent on a peace-keeping mission to Zexen, only to find himself caught up in a chain of events that leaves him in the center of a fiery war.





The Suikoden series is well-known for being set in the same world, with frequent call-backs to previous (and in some cases, future) games in the series. It's a cult classic which is well loved for both it's lovable cast of characters, interesting world lore and dynamic gameplay elements.

You wake one night to find yourself (and others) in the middle of a large arena. Above you is a starlit sky, filled with constellations you've never seen before and three moons. A crowd is cheering, shouting and laughing as you try to piece together what is going on. Last you recall you were falling asleep in your bed, content to drift to dreams.

A large person stands on a podium high above the crowd, smiling down at you. When he talks, you listen... in horror....


You precious few are the Battleborn - men and women who were marked at birth to become mighty warriors and defeat an evil being far beyond the galaxies you call home. Indeed, in a few weeks you would have all met a mentor who would have sculpted you in to an elite unit of powerful heroes. Alas, for you, that is not to be. You see, such beings of natural battle abilities would be wasted on something as simple as a quest to save the universe. Worry not, you now have a higher calling.

Entertainment.

Yes, yes. You, my precious Battleborn, are to join the Deathlock Arena - a place where the most powerful and worthy battle it out to become supreme champions. For glory. For honour. For your lives.

And ultimately, for the enjoyment of this glorious crowd!

As such, you will each be trained by my staff for the next three weeks and make your inter-galactic debut in a fight to the death. Of course, we'll make sure you each have the exact same chance as the others. You may choose how you want to train and in what. You will have technologies made available to you that you have never seen or heard of before.


The Deathlock Championship is a 16-person tournament where you create a character and take part. You will be given a series of choices to help you create your character, then battles will occur until a final champion is called.

It's pretty elementary... bar the twists.
- You will not know what stat is what when choosing.
- You will not know what element is what when choosing.
- You will have input into the battles, based on the skills that you are given based on your stats, elements and weapon choices.
- You will win a money purse from winning a battle and may use the money to purchase items that can be used in battle.

So, if you want to take part, fill in the sheet below! Will you make it to the top or be cut down in your youth? Will you survive to be the Battleborn?

Battleborn Creation Mechanics


There will only be 16 Battleborn in this tourney, so it's first-come, first-served. Winner will receive a badge.

• Ilan

• Pizza

• Marrend

• Seiromem

• Majoracanking

• pianotm

• Addit

• NeverSilent

• Cap_H

• LockeZ

• ExtremeDevelopment

• kentona

• Sated

• Fruebis

• Ratty524

• LightningLord

We all have opinions. Some are better than others. Some are more informed than others. Some just ain't popular.

What are your unpopular opinions.



One that I have is that I've no issue with product placement in movies/tv shows unless they're extremely blatant or out of place. I know a lot of people will complain about, say, lambourghinis being in Transformers or stuff like that but it makes sense if we're to believe it's set in our world (if I were a Transformer I'd pick a fast-ass car, too! Porsches over landrovers, sorry~)

If a show is set in our world, having a coke or adidas runners show up just makes sense. It's our world and it - for me - adds a sense of familiarity/depth/realism to the world in the show.

It's actually really weird for me when I see some off-brand name of cola or something. It pulls me out of the show and I get annoyed like 'Really? Never heard of it. Why not just add a can of coke instead?'. It literally makes me break my belief in the world of the movie.

I mean, I can understand if it's Lord of the Rings and suddenly there's a pair of Converse just slapped on someone's feet, but in the real world I'd be like 'oh, runners, right whatevs' and move on. It's just really jarring at times not to have the product placement.

Maps are an integral part of most games and they are very important. A lot of the time we make maps look a certain way without really thinking about the design and sense of such things.

The recent discussion in the Screenshot thread over restaurant (and shop) mapping has shown that it might be a good idea to discuss map design and talk about general and/or particular kinds of maps and how to go about designing them.

Let's start with something simple - the humble store.


Here's what I posted in the Screenshot thread and my general take on designing a realistic store.


One thing I would like to point out is that if you're going for a certain style, it is okay to ignore realistic stylings. If your shop is set in a cave, it's bound to be more cramped than if it were set in an emporium, for example. Think of the discussion in this thread as guidelines instead of hard and fast rules. And while you're at it, check out the second half of this month's Podcast as the Game Dev Corner this time around focussed on maps and mapping.


Feel free to bring up other ideas and 'themes', too. The thread is half to help with understanding layout and design, and half to discuss it.

Right, so some of you might remember I did a series of various prompts way back. I'm gonna do it again. And yes, it's going to get a bit uncomfortable in here.

The general idea of this series of topics is to get you guys (and myself, tbh) writing about uncomfortable subjects. It's to explore ourselves, expand our comfort zones and it's going to be gritty and hard and some of you will want to throw things at me. Fine. Don't care. Do that.

For those of you who do want a challenge, each week I will throw out a few prompts. Pick one. Pick all. Pick none and make your own. Don't care. All that matters is the writing and the prompts are there to help you in case you can't think of anything.

At the end of this series - which will be relatively shorter than the last ones - there might be a badge prize. Maybe. In any case, you'll have explored your horizons.

Now, we're going to be touching on some subjects that might be triggering and nsfw and the whole nine yards. Straight out I will tell you that they will be ugly subjects and the writing that comes from them will probably be pretty fucking ugly too. We're here to explore dark areas of writing - places most people won't go and tell others not to go and there may be drama. As such, there are going to be people who do not want to have their names tied to what they write. In that case, PM me the written piece and I'll post it anonymously.

Honestly, it's going to get dark. Some planned themes include rape, suicide, destruction of self, murder, torture, smut and a whole host of other nasty stuff. You have been warned.

That said, there will also be other lighter themes thrown in to give everyone a break and I may even open the floor to peoples' ideas and voting on themes given enough involvement.

Anyway, this topic is a heads-up on what is to come. The series will start this weekend. If you want to join in, do so. If you don't, don't.