The Lineage II team has released more information about the upcoming Gracia Part 1 free expansion. This expansion will significantly change the user experience in that it allows for much faster leveling and advancement. However, there’s more to Gracia, including a new dungeon called Kamaloka, new skills and items, and enhancements to Cruma Tower. A dev paper from the Lineage II team is available now which covers some other features of the Gracia Part 1 update.

Developer Paper and screenshots below.

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The Lineage II development team has sent us a development diary about a new instance in the upcoming Gracia Part 1 update.

“We’ve built Kamaloka as a universally-accessible fun instance that nearly all Lineage II players can make use of, from levels 18 on up.
 They can experience multiple iterations of Kamaloka as they progress in levels, which shouldn’t take too long given Gracia’s newly-implemented fast and furious leveling.”
- Lineage II Development Team

Kamaloka Instance Dev Diary and screens after jump

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The Lineage II team has just released some very interesting information about their upcoming update, Gracia Part 1. The game is going through system level changes which will significantly reduce the “grind.”

“…the process of building and leveling characters can be a very long and frankly tedious process in Lineage II, which may serve as a barrier for letting a much larger group of potential customers to fully enjoy our game…with the release of Gracia; they’ve completely changed the rules and made Lineage II even better and a lot more fun.”

While Lineage II is still a hardcore game for the elite PVP fan, it is breaking down some barriers to entry with Gracia Part 1 and its new Vitality System. This update, expected to go live in August, is free to subscribers.

Also, the preview site for Gracia Part 1 went live last week: http://www.lineage2.com/gracia/

complete developer diary about how leveling is faster in Lineage II, and screens, after jump (more…)

Tabula Rasa developer, Brian Hudson, explains a new instance going live in a couple of weeks (it is on the public test server now), Velon Hollow.

Imagine that an evil alien race has developed a serum capable of suppressing your personality and trapping you in your own mind.
The chemicals make you stronger and more aggressive, and the sight of human flesh makes you hungry. As the last of your sanity
slips away, you are only slightly aware that your friends and family have become your latest meal!
– Brian Hudson, Designer, Tabula Rasa

This instance brings something new to Tabula Rasa… item sets and zombies!

Velon Hollow Dev Diary and screens after jump (more…)

NCsoft has released a new set of screenshots and developer paper for the free-to-play and download giant robot fighting game, Exteel. The Exteel dev paper provides strategy tips for the Trooper Mechanaught, a variety of weapons and the “Last Stand” battle mode in addition to a large set of supporting screenshots. Check them out below.

Download the Developer Paper Here

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A developer’s diary from Ken Morse, Lead Artist, has just been released. In it, Ken describes the process the art team took in order to bring Cimerora, an ancient Greek- and Roman-inspired zone, into the modern day comic book game.

“…I am always excited when the opportunity to create new settings for the game presents itself. A Task Force inspired by ancient Greece and Rome, however, was genre-stretching territory we’d never ventured into before, and presented some serious challenges.”

A developer’s diary from Ken Morse, Lead Artist

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Whats going on with Tabula Rasa? well heres a quick update about what has been going on in Tabula Rasa lately. First, their eighth update (Deployment) went live yesterday. In addition to quality of life and balance changes, they have also done a revamp of Magma Caverns, a level 50+ instance in the game, which includes a replayable “choice” mission, where the players are confronted with a decision as to which side to take – the rebels versus the Penumbra.

Mission Designer, Jason Ford, and Lead World Builder, Michael Hutchison, have both written about the changes in Magma Caverns from their perspectives. Jason focused on missions, while “Hutch” brings the Point of Interest (POI) perspective to redesigning the area.

Additionally, the development team just gave out their six-month veteran rewards, with plans to up the ante each time rewards are due. The community has kept busy with a recent Double XP weekend; spawn events, player-hosted events, and sharing their player-made videos.

Mission Designer, Jason Ford Dev Diary

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Lead World Builder, Michael Hutchison Dev Diary

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NCsoft has released a new Exteel developer diary that provides strategy tips for the Rushnik Mechanaught as well as a set of weapons and battle maps. There is also a large set of screenshots to help describe the subject of the diary which includes tips on using the weapons the Hellrazor, the Zeus Persuader, the Polymer Array and the Colony Burster, as well as conducting battles in the Dreadnaught Battle Map.

enjoy =)

You can download the developer diary Here

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The Lineage II team is continuing to send information out about their recent update to the game, Hellbound. This diary by the North American production team talks about the fun departure that Fantasy Isle represents for the hardcore Lineage II players.

“Lineage II enjoys its reputation as one of the most hardcore player vs. player (PvP) massively multiplayer online games in the market today, and its die-hard community reflects this in many ways…When our passionate players and clans aren’t involved in long-term castle sieges or fortress battles, what do they do to wind down or just want to have some fun?”

Check out the dev diary and 12 screens, which show a very different place than the rest of the Lineage II world

Download the Dev Diary - Hellbound Fantasy Isle Here

NCsoft has just released a developer’s diary that Joe Morrissey has done, which covers Issue 12 and some key developments in the works regarding the Midnight Squad, the Rikti and more. Joe is also known as Hero 1 by the game’s community. He is a Senior Designer at NCsoft’s Northern California studio where City of Heroes and City of Villains is developed, and he’s got some stuff to say!

“The Midnight Squad takes the main focus of this issue. They’ve got some of the coolest history, yet hardly any of it has been opened up to the players…they were seriously crippled by the invasion and therefore were extremely motivated to take action against the Rikti…Now we see a second perspective, through the eyes of those hardest hit from the invasion, the Midnighters.”

You can download his developer diary here: Link

Here is a fresh batch of screens for you guys to check out as well ( click to enlarge)