Here are some demos and patches that hit FileFront this week, and as usual, for the full list of demos click here and for patches click here.

Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals: Lighthouse Interactive released a playable demo for Nikopol: Secrets of the Immortals. Paris, 2023: Ruled by a power-hungry dictator, a place where the fascist rich and the abandoned poor are separated by both a literal and figurative wall. As we join our hero Nikopol, the son of an astronaut frozen in space decades ago, we find that a floating pyramid inhabited by Egyptian Gods hovers above the city. As one of their leaders plots to take control of Paris and its people, word reaches Nikopol that his father may be alive and hidden in the city’s underground, a possible pawn in a looming battle. In the search for his father, Nikopol’s journey finds him entangled in political intrigue, caught between two worlds, one of anarchy and one of immortality.

StuntMANIA!pro v3.0.1 (Windows): What’s new in 3.0.1? Fixed: StuntMANIApro logo not appearing on main menu screen, Teleport and Powerup spawn position below ground in Sand Box level, added many more customizable keys into the Keyboard Input Manager, many speed optimizations for lower spec machines, and more. (Mac)

Pyroblazer: Eipix has released a demo for Pyroblazer, a futuristic combat racing game set amidst New Apeiron, players get the opportunity to race through a multitude of environments using a wide selection of anti-gravity craft known as Blazers. In their quest for glory, players can blast their way through the scorched valleys of Gnosis, the deserted cities of Haedra or the densely populated Underdome of Evelads.

Circuit Defenders v1.5.0 (Windows): Circuit Defenders is a fast paced Tower Defense style game, where your challenge is to defend computer circuits from attacking virus armies that are infiltrating the circuits via the BlueTooth port. You have an assortment of defense towers at your disposal, and the ability to upgrade them as needed to ensure you can withstand the enemy onslaught. (Mac)

The Rise of Atlantis (Mac): Find a way to bring the legendary continent of Atlantis back to the surface and restore it to its might. In this extraordinary puzzle game with spectacular new features, handy bonuses and explosive power-ups you set out on an adventurous quest around the ancient lands of Greece, Troy, Phoenicia, Babylon, Egypt, Carthage and Rome to gather the seven greatest powers of the patron god of the Atlanteans – Poseidon. With 77 captivating levels of fantastic game play, truly unique twists never seen before and the ability of continuous replay.

Brainisaurus: Whether you want to ace that standardized exam or beat your friends at Scrabble or Boggle, WordBrain will help you become the king of words with a Word Quotient scoring system, 50 Challenge Levels, Over 40,000 words and many different kinds of word clues.

Lost In Reefs: Rumbic Studio announces the release of a new casual game. Lost in Reefs 1.0 presents a fascinating story that will hold a player’s attention till the ancient city reveals its hidden mystery. It is not a usual match3 game: a variety of modes, options and tools, advanced graphics and the charming undersea world guarantee fun and delight. There are several types of items – gold, fish and tools. The player is to collect necessary resources for building the city. Each new building allows collecting another valuable resource. It is possible to look at what is already built – and to enjoy the special feature of Lost in Reefs: the animation of the undersea world and fishes of different types, swimming to and fro. The fishes are afraid of the cursor, and it is fun to chase them! There are twelve types of fishes that become available as the player advances in the game.The objective of the game is to build and explore the ancient undersea city, but not all the secrets of the older civilization are revealed at once. Only the most skilled and persistent players will discover the wonders of The Heart of the City.

Harvest: Massive Encounter (Windows): Take control of a space colony trying to survive hordes of aliens coming your way to destroy your base in this RTS game developed by Oxyeye Studios that requires an accurate planning of every single move. There are various modes available: Normal, Wave, Insane, Rush or Creative Mode. Each one offering a different kind of gameplay. (Mac)

Patches are listed after the jump.

Read the full article

Crimson Cow and Autumn Moon have released a patch for A Vampyre Story. This patch can be used for all versions of the game currently available: US, UK, France, Germany and downloaded versions.

The suggested installation path is the same as with the game. Selecting a different path will add “A Vampyre Story” after the selected path. Make sure to correct this, if you renamed the actual game directory.

Fixes:

• Less “stuck” animations. If problem still occurs, restart game.
• Removed two bugs (perfume and stadium) that could prevent further playing
• Support for graphics cards without AA: if the game did not start on your system, select “Safe AA” during patch installation to set AA to 0.
• Small bug fixes and tweaks

General troubleshooting:

• Playing the game on systems that are below the minimum requirements, or have a lot of other programs running at the same time, might cause problems within the game. If you encounter anything unusual, make sure to restart the game after quitting any unneeded background tasks.

A Vampyre Story can be donwloaded digitally via GamersGate where the 3158MB download will cost you $29.99 or at your local retail store.

If you still have not played the demo, you can get it by hitting this link. For the patch, hit the badge below.

FileFront has received a bunch of demos and patches this past week, and for once, it seems like the demos are worth writing about. So, to kick things off, lets start with the patches that hit this week, just in case you were unaware that one was available for your game.

As always, for the full list of patches and games, hit the links.

Patches

• Legacy Interactive has released a patch updating The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes to v1.1.
• Codemasters has released a patch for ArchLord to adjust registry entry to point to correct location.
• Crytek has released a patch updating Crysis Wars to v1.2. This patch fixes various problems, but mainly addresses balancing issues.
• Electronic Arts has released a patch updating Spore to v1.03 with 24 new and exclusive exoskeleton limbs for the Creature Creator.

Demos

Strong Bad Episode 4: Dangeresque 3: Move over, James Bond! Strong Bad’s here to show you how it’s done in his hand-crafted cinematic masterpiece. You play Dangeresque, a dirty cop in pursuit of action and big sacks of cash. Can our hero defeat his arch-nemesis and save the world? Looks like he’s gonna have to jump.

7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven: In 7 Wonders, you have to build nine of the most intriguing structures throughout history. You have to match runes to break blocks and uncover the lock and keystone for each round.

Call of Atlantis: Takes players on a fascinating journey around the ancient lands of the Mediterranean to acquire seven mysterious crystals of power able to restore the Altar of Poseidon and save the fabled sunken city of Atlantis.

Ellen Whitaker’s Horse Life: PC demo which allows you to take care of your horse and complete certain tasks.

Murlikin Rescues His Estate: Aliens are threatening to occupy the Earth and the only one who can interfere with this evil plan is… a cat.

Five more demos listed after the jump.

Read the full article

Crimson Cow and Autumn Moon Entertainment have finally released the long awaited A Vampyre Story, created by ex-LucasArts employee Bill Tiller. Full of horror, humor and addictive gameplay (from what I saw in the demo) this point and click adventure starring new vampire Mona De Lafitte tells the tale of a starlet whose desire of singing at the Paris Opera over shadows the fact that she is trapped in a castle by a nefarious vampire.

A number of challenges await the elegant opera singer as she comes to terms with her new vampire nature and learns to harness the supernatural abilities she has acquired– these abilities will also influence the events in you game.

Visually, the game contains over 50 hand-painted locations, over 20 characters from the plain weird to humorously terrifying. Mona is also not alone, for she has a side-kick in the form of a witty and mischievous bat named Froderick who joins her on the quest to realize her dream. Helping her unravel over 20 hours of puzzles, this strange little bat provides a consistent flow of wise cracks and sinister jokes.

A Vampyre Story can be donwloaded digitally via GamersGate where the 3158MB download will cost you $29.99–or you can wait until it hits your local GameStop on December 2.

If you still have not played the demo, you can get it by hitting the badge below.

Autumn Moon Entertainment has offered up a demo for A Vampyre Story. The game is coming along slowly but surely and aims to prove that the classic adventure genre isn’t dead. You can get a taste of gameplay as would-be-diva Mona De Lafitte and her sidekick “Froderick” from the free A Vampyre Story Demo downloadable at FileFront.

for more details on the game, check out the Gaming Today Q&A with Bill Tiller on A Vampyre Story. You can find additional videos and screenshots on FileFront.

Here are just some gaming related stories floating around on the web today.

• The Left 4 Dead demos for the Xbox 360 and PC are now live. If you are an Xbox 360 user, log into Xbox Live now and get to downloading. If you are interested in the PC version, head on over to Steam.

• Far Cry 2 has sold over 1 million units since it was released around the end of October. Seems like the demand for shooters is still going strong in this day and age–then again, it is the most poplar gaming genre out there, and who could blame gamers for that? What better way to let off a bit of frustration and pent up, pissed off rage than to shoot a bunch of dudes impeding your progress?

• Ascaron’s fantasy RPG Sacred 2: Fallen Angel has arrived in stores today for the PC and via Steam. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions will be hitting shelves sometime around February 17, 2009 providing there are no more delays. We also have some pretty cool new trailers for you which can be viewed here and here.

• Epic Games president Michael Capps is whining about the used game market cutting into his wallet. “We don’t make any money when someone rents it, and we don’t make any money when someone buys it used — way more than twice as many people played Gears than bought it.”

• iPhone gaming is pretty damn popular. Apparently “NPD report shows more people playing than working with their smartphones”. Get back to work people, the economy needs you!

• Destroy All Humans: Path of the Furon – will release on December 1 according to IGN. Taking over where the last game left off, as Crypto you are sent to the 1970s to thwart a conspiracy that threatens the Furon race.

• Big Fable 2 announcement set to burn up the internet next week. Why even tease people with something like that and just fricking announce it already? Hasn’t Lionhead Studios done this before and it was just a silly bit of nonsense like new screens or something?

• Gene Simmons, ever the entrepreneur, is releasing a guitar peripheral that is a replica of his famous “Axe” guitar for $79.99. It is only for the PS2 and PS3 and should you purchase it, please feel free to send us pictures of you with it–providing you have a tongue as long as Gene’s, otherwise we could care less. Sorry, that’s just the way it is.

• Rock Band junkies can look forward to the Foo Fighters hitting Xbox Live today. “The Colour and the Shape” is an awesome album, and if you do not want the whole album for your game, you can get each song individually.

Here are some files that hit FileFront today:

• Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria– screens, trailers
• Fallout 3 Patch (actually hit over the weekend)
• A Vampyre Story: Halloween trailer–we really screwed up on this one. Sorry it’s so late.
• And for those of you who play or want to try out Mount and Blade, here is a patch and a new demo.
• Full list of trailers can be found here.
• Full list of demos can be found here.
• Last but not least, full list of patches can be found here.

Crimson Cow and Autumn Moon have released a trailer from A Vampyre Story and again I apologize ahead of time for you having (yet again) to sit through a Nicholas Cage preview for Bangkok Dangerous. Someone end his career already! Sheesh!

Anyway, combining 3D animation and 2D designs, A Vampyre Story follows the opera starlet, Mona, a woman kidnapped by Baron Shrowdy Von Kiefer who is slowly becoming a creature of the night after coming under the vampire’s spell.

We have been following the game ever so closely over the past year or so, and you can check out all there is to know about Bill Tiller’s fun looking point-and-click adventure game for the PC by hitting this link.

We have been covering A Vampyre Story from ex-LucasArts employee Bill Tiller and crew on and off since June of last year. Details on the PC game have been running hot and cold due to Autumn Moon Entertainment tweeking the point-and-click adventure game for release, and the preparing the sequels for testing.

Today, however, Ascaron Entertainment and 93 Games have announced that A Vampyre Story will be released in October, just in time for a haunting Halloween.

This graphically beautiful game with great aesthetic value conveyed through a cast of wonderful characters and a creative storyline tells the tale of the beautiful, gifted opera singer Mona De Lafitte.  Her life was brought to an abrupt end by the vampire baron, Shrowdy Von Kiefer and she has been held by him in Draxsylvania Castle and doomed to a miserable existence as a creature of the night. In the game, you step into Mona’s shoes as she decides to run away to fulfill her dream of singing at the Paris Opera.

A number of challenges await the elegant opera singer as she comes to terms with her new vampire nature and learns to harness the supernatural abilities she has acquired. Froderick, a witty and mischievous bat, joins Mona on the quest to realise her dream, helping unravel brain teasing puzzles and adding humour to the proceedings with a consistent flow of wise cracks and sinister jokes.

Set for a Halloween 2008 release, the new game is a must see for any adventure game fan.

Yesterday,  I was pretty pleased to get some information regarding A Vampyre Story, and even more pleased to know that it was still headed our way. What I did not expect to hear about, was that A Vampyre Story 2 was currently in the works, along with another unannounced adventure game from Bill Tiller and crew.

Today, I got another email from the folks over at Kezins which included some exclusive screenshots from the game. The one posted above is from the game, and the other two are promo shots showing a happily excited Froderick and Mona about ready to bite someone.

According to Bill Tiller, the unannounced game should appeal to fans of LucasArts adventure games. The title should be announced relatively soon, and like AVS1 & 2, it will also be a point and click adventure game with 2D backgrounds and 3D animation. This original IP is inspired by a certain genre that is popular in books, games, and movies and was heavily influenced by a place that Tiller visits quite frequently.

Tiller and crew are also working on a fourth adventure title, which is still in the conception stage with only concept art being started on at this present time. It does not have a publisher attached to it yet, but it too should be announced very soon.

Thanks again Juan!

It has been a while since we have heard much in the way of the pint and click adventure game A Vampyre Story from Bill Tiller’s Autumn Moon Entertainment. The last we heard, it was coming out sometime in the beginning of this year and along with that announcement, some screenshots were sent our way.

That was back in January.

Good news today though folks. If you have been looking forward to the adventures of Mona De Lafitte who is the object of obsession for a deranged vampire during 1880’s Europe, – take heart. The game is still in process of getting the finishing touches, and Tiller does not want to put his game out until it is ready.

A Vampyre Story 2 is also currently in works, so after AVS1 comes out, we won’t have to wait so long for the next installment.

According to Mr. Tiller himself, who noticed an article wondering what happened to the game on Kezins:

Right now we are working on three games, yes three games so that is why I haven’t had time to update our web site. So AVS1 is till in test and we are optimizing the engine code for AVS1, AVS 2 and our third game. We are also doing final pick line recordings to cover anything we missed or to help fix puzzle bugs. But most of our artists are working on our new unannounced adventure game and a Vampyre Story 2.

AVS was designed two years a go so that really helped us just jump in to AVS2 without much preparation or pre-production. To accommodate doing three games we expanded from five people in house to eleven in house people. And we about that many out of house now too. We also now have a business manager and president, and he has really helped us grow and get more organized, and soon will get us involved with investors to help expand the business even more. We also have a new background painter, rigger, programmer, writer and two engine programmers. So it has been an incredible last six months and exciting things are starting to happen at an alarmingly rapid pace. We are stressed out but actually having a lot of fun at the same time, which may be hard to believe.

AVS2 will be even better because of all we have learned a lot working on AVS1. This experience is going to benefit from more engine work and better and more efficient pipeline procedures and tools that we have now. Game development is finally reaching the point at AME where it is getting routine and easier, at least on the technical side. I worked on two games that had to develop their engine at the same time as developing the assets (background, animation, sound, etc) for the game: Brian Moriarty’s revision of The Dig, Indiana Jones and the Infernal Machine, and that just added pretty much a year to the production time. But with AVS2 and the new unannounced adventure game we don’t have the problem, we just use the game engine and pop the new assets in easily and the game already works. On Avs1 it took about 8 months before we saw Mona walking around, and there were a million bugs.

But I am excited how the game is turning out and everybody has just worked their butts off trying to get this game out the door. In a way we’ kinda like the Blizzard business plan in that we don’t release a game till it has reached a certain high level of quality, because we want to have the reputation of putting out a few games, but of high quality. So that is why the game has been delayed. It’s there at that level now, and the game pretty much matches what I had envisioned in my head. It isn’t perfect but I think it is going to really entertain people and I think most people will like it, hopefully a lot. I’m really proud of it.

Thanks for the update Bill!

The website for A Vampyre Story will be updated within the next few weeks, and hopefully when the Leipzig  game convention rolls around in August, we will have more screens and more fo a concrete release date for you.

Mucho Gracias: William and Mr. Juanderful