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GenCon '04 Midnight Syndicate, Paizo Publishing, Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Lightspeed and Vampire: The Masquerade 
GenCon is the traditional paper gaming grand exhibition which has been going on for over 30 years in the Midwest, where gamers and game companies meet for all things gaming. From across the country gamers descended upon the "Crossroads of America" at the Indianapolis Convention Center as the convention was held this year from August 19th to the 22nd, it's been dubbed as the best four days in gaming. We agree!
This is the sixth part of our GenCon Recap where nothing but soda has kept us going at the convention as we jam out with Midnight Syndicate and get cheered by the gals at Paizzo Publishing becuase we read both Dragon and Dungeon Magazine, we get to hear a juicy rummor about SWG: Jumpt to Lightspped and finally just go Vamp.
Midnight Syndicate You may not of heard of Midnight Syndicate, but you most likely have heard of them if you are a gamer. These guys are their own recording artists making cool sounds and soundtracks which set's the moods in gaming. You probably see their compact discs around Halloween as they also produce creepy sounds and mood music. They've been around for going on eight years now and have four albums that have already been released. This year at GenCon they rolled out their newest release, which is built for Dungeons and Dragons and includes an hour of new music which has tracks covering ancient underground temples, forgotten tombs, and enchanted forests to name a few. We had a chance to listen to some of these tracks, and were wondering why they don't do computer game tracks, as their sounds really are powerful and can set the mood for any game, be it pen and paper or pc game. Little did we know that they already have! If you are a player of Shadowbane, they did tracks for the Rise of Chaos expansion as well as tracks on Baldur's Gate II, and are working on a new project where they are scoring the soundtrack for an upcoming movie that has the Devil involved. Game Companies need to include more of their music in their games, as these guys are rocking the house down where ever their tracks are being played with their gothic themes, they stand alone and their music can set any mood for any setting, which can scare the hell out of you. Paizo Publishing
Both issues made their August debut and they are bigger and better than before, and to knock things off Paizo has opened message boards on their official website for readers to interact not only with the editors but each other as well to share ideas over issues! These folks are undefeated! Rock on! Star Wars Galaxies: Jump to Light Speed Lucas Arts was showcasing both SWG and JTL inside the Nvidia booth, also sharing the common problem that the Mythic folks were having as people would ask about Nvidia cards, but once the noise died down we were able to speak with Ronda Scott from Lucas Arts and talk a bit on JTL. For those like me, who have been awaiting the ship expansion with baited breath, it's going to please. The hands on demos were similar to what were shown off earlier this year at the E3Expo. Fifteen ships are expected to be included in JTL, but on release there may only be the first initial five and the starter ship. Rebel faction players will be able to use X-Wings and Imperial Faction players will get Tie- Fighters. By popular demand everyone was flying the YT-1300 Transport, more commonly seen as the Millennium Falcon for fans. It's just a great ride. You can move around within the interior of a ship, move up and down ladders and man the gun turrets. Picture the interior of a house from within game, but one that you can pilot to traverse the system and engage in interstellar combat.
While ships in combat can be damaged, they will never be destroyed. Ship components though, used as upgrades to enhance your ship can be damaged. Players will be needed to repair damage. At launch, there will be no docking at space stations so that repairs can take place, you will need to land at the downports. Ships will be stored in data pads much like droids, pets and vehicles are done currently within game. Eventually after release, player cities will be able to utilize their planetary down ports to launch and land ships. For space exploration there will be five galactic zones to adventure in, similar to the planetary zones, including the solar system of Dantooine. In addition, to the two races, one of which has been announced, we heard rumors from an upset fan that the new race and mysterious third faction with their own brand of ships has been leaked. Intergalactic-Ninja-Elves will be joining the Ithorian race in Jump to Light Speed as privateers, so we had to ask Ronda what the story was, since obviously Intergalactic-Ninja-Elves will be able to take out Wookie Tera Kasi Masters. Ninja's own all! To say the least Ronda was very enthusiastic to tell us that she could neither confirm nor deny that rumor. “Har!” In the end there just was not enough time or space to get into much more depth and detail on Jump to Lightspeed. It's definitely an expansion many of us are awaiting and we hope to see larger presentations from Lucas Arts on their future products. Vampire: The Masquerade
Look forward to next years GenCon Indie! This is the place to be if you are a gamer and want all that is gaming. Discuss: Gothic Booth Babes is all we need.
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