Westwood5 TU DI 0 5 ™NNS&tmS VOLUME 1 SUMMER 1992 NUMBERl WELCOME Westwood Joins Welcome to the first issue of News and Notes, the newe t adventure for Westwood Studios. Thi publication Virgin Games® has a dual purpose: to introduce gamers to our development house and to famil­ Westwood Associates, the Las very successful as an independent iarize our elves with any problems, or Vegas-based developer of such developer, but we wanted to play a uggestions you may have regarding the games as BattletechTM , Eye of more significant role as a multime­ software we produce. If you have any questions, com­ the BeholderTM and The Legend dia publisher. After working with ments, or suggestions regarding any of Kyrandia, now has the finan­ Virgin Games on several products, Westwood software end them to: cial clout to do even more ambi­ we found them to be one of the most We twood Studio News & Notes tious projects. Virgin Games the flexible and visionary publishers 3540 W. Sahara Ave., #323 trans-Atlantic software giant, has in the industry," said Westwood Las Vegas, NV 89102 acquired Westwood and will manu- president Brett Sperry. Virgin facture and distribute Westwood's Games and Westwood will comple- AL IDE games worldwide. ment each other quite well. Welcome .................... .............. ! "Westwood Associates has been Joining Virgin Games ............... 1 The Debut of Kyrandia .... .. ....... 1 Westvvood to Debut Kamp Kyrandia ......................... 2 A Glimpse into the Past .. .......... 2 A Sneak Peek/Future ...... .... ... .. 3 KyraQdi~ Louis' Castle .............................. 3 From the Mail Bag ................... .4 As we go to press with the epic adventure. You are cast as first issue of this newslet­ Brandon, the rightful prince of ter, a design team headed Kyrandia, and you must pursue by director Brett Sperry the elusive Malcolm to recover, and designer/programmer the source of all magic, the Michael Legg are busily Kyragem. Only then can you putting the final touches reclaim your throne and restore on our most ambitious harmony to the Land of project to date-The Leg­ Kyrandia. end of Kyrandia. The intuitive interface lets This is the first game Brandon use objects and move in the Fables & Fiends™ about through a simple point­ series. Kyrandia with its and-click system, however, streamlined interface, Kyrandia is anything but easy. spectacular graphics and The puzzles are quite challeng­ realistic animation come ing which makes the game both together to produce a truly fun and entertaining. VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1 SUMMER 1992 PAGE2 Kyra:qdi_a™ would change another scene or three, worry like crazy about getting it done, and then Rick would bail us out. His professionalism actually sort of embarrassed the rest of us. We all can't wait to go home now, and we're getting a little edgy waiting for the bus. Nostalgia will set in the instant we're away from the curb. It was an important experience, and we will cherish the memories. - Coco Being on a game design team is Lead hyenas Brett Sperry and sort oflike going to summer camp. A Mike Legg are truly inspirational. Scenes from strange group of writers, designers, Nobody worked harder or laughed The Legend of Kyrandia programmers, artists, and musi- louder than these cians, we are all crammed together two. Rick "Picasso" in our psychological tent. The shared Parks is so fast we frustration and exultation brings us made him produce together with the camaraderie of a four times as much pack of hyenas. Each individual is art as appears in cherished, but all melt daily into the the final version. frantic, giggling mass that is the Every week we team. It's possible that our name Hillsfar was our first D&D DragonStrike, another won't ring a bell with you. That's product full of action and adven­ D&D title, is an action flight simu­ probably because, as a developer, ture with 5 arcade games, box­ lator game that is one of the most Westwood's name hasn't ap­ ing, archery, horseback riding, unusual and entertaining titles peared in large letters on the mazes and lock picking, within in recent years. There are sev­ game boxes. That will all change the city of Hillsfar. This made eral flight simulator games out, as a result of the new Westwood­ the quests more challenging and however, how many let you ride Virgin partnership, but let's look fun. on the back of a dragon? The back and see ifyou recognize some The Eye of the Beholder first-person perspective offers of our past titles. series, also a D&D game, was a gamers an exhilerating ride as Westwood is best known for bighitand was what critic's called they joust with fellow the adventures and role playing the best role playing game since dragonriders in mid-air. games produced for SSI™, Bard's Tale™. The outstanding We'll continue to look at which include Hillsfar™, art and realistic music made the Westwood's past accomplish­ DragonStrike™ , and Eye of game come to life with each ments in future columns. Stay the Beholder. sound and around every corner. tuned! VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1 SUMMER 1992 PAGE3 . :~.II p&"'&'-IZ" -~ THE F•T~·lf-.:al&' A SN: :~~ m~~ ti - ~-~ _ · ___ ~-'IJJA~ The Next Big Project in the available this fall. of the dragons, creating some great works is Dune II. Virgin Games Kyrandia is also slated for arcade-style action. The next ad­ recently released Dune I, the the CD-ROM format and we've al­ venture is for the Turbo Grafx-16 strategy hit based on the movie. ready begun preparations for system, it's a fantasy role playing Dune II more a prequel than a Kyrandia II! game called, Order of the Grif­ A new role-play­ fin™ by Turbo Technologies TM , ing adventure al­ this game has some great graphics ready in development and realistic spell effects. Our is Lands ofLore, de­ next adventure is the first Dun­ signed by Deke Crum, geons & Dragons title to appear on a game creator we be­ the GenesisTM, it's Warriors of lieve you'll be hear­ the Eternal SunTM by SegaTM . ing a lot about in fu­ This game allows you to see events ture months and pro­ that take place outside from a top­ grammed by the team down perspective while the out­ that brought you Eye standing indoor action is presented of the Beholder. This from a first-person point of view. sequel is a strategy simulation game is red hot and scheduled for The game offers an automapping game that is shaping up as a real release in early 1993. feature and 29 musical scores. A thriller in it's own right. There Vie have several adventures hint book will be available sepa­ are no territories or regulations coming soon to video games that rately this fall. and you must compete against two we are really excited about. And that concludes our sneak­ other houses that have very differ­ DragonStrike is expected to be ing a peek down the halls of ent personalities and strategies, released this summer for the NES, Vlestwood. See you next time! and only one house can .g-ain con­ developed for FGI/Pony Canyon®. trol of the planet. VI estwood is In order to accommodate the video Scenes from Dune II developing Dune II for the CD­ game environment, ROM and IBM floppy disk. The the con version voice characterizations for the CD traded the flight version are nearing completion, simulator elements which means Dune II should be for a top-down view Loui.s ff Ca.stl.e As vice-president and co­ You just finished with War­ utilizing the SNES'sgraphic capabili­ founder of Vlestwood Studios, riors. What is the next project you ties to bring a unique look to the Louis Castle is well renowned for are working on? game. It is a light-hearted adventure teaching dragons how to fly in with quick puzzles and lots of action. DragonStrike, creating dungeons LC: I am now working on an The whole team has had a great deal to explore, puzzles to solve, and action/adventure game for the SNES™ of fun on this one. and an RPG for the IBM PC. The monsters to fight in VI arriors of SNES game is going to be a lot of fun the Eternal Sun, and for helping Is Westwood planning on de­ and should be on the shelves in early veloping any games for the CD­ to develop three dimensional views 1993. ROM? and other technology used in nearly every VI estwood product. Louis is What makes this game differ­ LC: Yes! We are developing sev­ ent than the other games you have an accomplished programmer, art­ eral games for CD-ROM right now. designed? ist, and designer and with all this We expect CD media will one day be experience, we could not think of a LC: This will be Vlestwood's first the preferred media on all systems. better person to ask about the fu­ game on the Super Nintendo® and we We are currently working on CD-ROM ture of electronic entertainment at wanted to make a really big bang. We versions of Kyrandia and Dune II. Vlestwood. are using a 16 MBIT cartridge and VOLUME 1, NUMBER 1 SUMMER 1992 PAGE4 superior product. Although we have gotten FroDI. The False modesty aside, mail from games for years now, Mall Bag Westwood falls into the latter cat­ we are delighted to finally egory. It's not always possible to have a means to answer them. Dear Westwood: I just read turn out state of the art software If you are interested in being that Westwood has been pur­ without the kind of budget avail­ on our mailing list or would chased by Virgin Games and I able to a major publisher.