Press Releases
Total Entertainment Network Adds Online-Only Twilight Lands
3D Role-Playing Game Features Scalable, Cheat-Free Environment
SAN FRANCISCO May 14, 1997 Total Entertainment Network (TEN), the market and technology leader in online multiplayer gaming, today announced the upcoming availability on the TEN network of Twilight Lands, an online-only role-playing game (RPG). Developed by Vancouver, Canada-based ICE Online, Twilight Lands is the first of four new online-only titles which will appear on TEN in 1997 (see separate release dated today). Featuring a persistent, ever-expanding environment capable of supporting hundreds of simultaneous players, Twilight Lands joins Dark Sun Online and Diablo to give TEN the strongest RPG lineup of any online gaming service. Twilight Lands will first be available via an "open beta program," slated to begin in late May, during which anyone with Internet access can download and play the game online for free. Following the open beta period (2 - 3 months), Twilight Lands will require a TEN subscription to play.
"Twilight Lands is the first in a long line of hot new online-only titles we plan to offer going forward," said Greg Harper, vice president of business development at TEN. "With its engaging story line and constantly evolving landscape, Twilight Lands offers online gamers a pure RPG experience with an immersive, 3D interface."
In Twilight Lands, players start in the central town of Ravenshire, visiting various places of business, equipping their character, forging alliances, catching up on the latest gossip of the land, and planning quests, missions and other adventures with hundreds of other online gamers throughout the U.S. and Canada. From there, players can venture to numerous regions and locales, including The Catacombs, The Caverns, The Graveyard, The Sewers, and Troll Keep. Each area is populated with other "player characters," as well as dozens of monsters, from orcs and gremlins to trolls, skeletons, and many more.
"Twilight Lands was designed to be the graphic sequel to our "Majic Realm" MUD (Multiuser Dungeon) game, which we've been running and learning from for six years," said Kris Hatlelid, president of ICE Online. "In our experience, we found that people wanted to have an immersive 3D environment with impressive graphics, but also wanted to have the depth of a tradititional MUD. Twilight Lands accomplishes all that and more; it's designed to support hundreds of people in an environment that's difficult if not impossible to hack. With its easy-to-learn interface, and depth of play, Twilight Lands will appeal to both serious RPG players and novice gamers alike."
As one of the very few RPG titles with a 3D first-person perspective, Twilight Lands also features graphical spell effects and animated real-time combat. Playable on a 14.4bps or faster modem, the game is easy to learn and play. For more information about Twilight Lands on TEN, go to (www.ten.net/twilight/).
Total Entertainment Network is the premier entertainment network for game playing consumers on the Internet. TEN has online rights to more than 30 games -- half of which are TEN exclusives -- by leading software publishers including 3D Realms Entertainment, Apogee, Blizzard, Eidos Interactive (formerly Domark), id Software, GT Interactive, Maxis, MicroProse, Sierra Online/Papyrus, SSI and Westwood Studios. Based in San Francisco, TEN was formed in 1995 from the merger of Outland, Inc. and Planet Optigon, Inc. TEN received its initial funding from Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, with subsequent investors including: Ameritech; Goldman Sachs; Robertson, Stephens & Co., Vertex Management, and Wasserstein Perella Ventures.
(Twilight Lands screen shots are available upon request)
For More Info, Call
TEN Press Contact:
Garth Chouteau
Tel: (415) 778-3774
Fax: (415) 778-3520
Internet:
garth@tenetwork.com
Copyright 1997
T E Network, Inc.
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