News Archives: 2005-2010

AoW1 Released on Impulse and Gog

Many of you have already seen it but we want to highlight this breaking story and keep it here. Swolte reported out on the AoW2 newspage the following:

Wow, what is this…

It’s like being thrown back in time several years. Developers posting on the forums, as well as enthusiasm about a new release!

Exciting times! As was announced by Arnout in the been awhile thread, Age of Wonders I, the digital rerelease, was coming ‘soon’. And did it!! Today Age of Wonders, the original, is available again after all these years. Please see this thread for details.

Age of Wonders II as well as Shadow Magic will be available soon in the same places at Impulse and GoG.com !

Hurray!!


Historic event: the first PBEM video of a complete match!

Written by Swolte on AoW2 and HG Main site

I think that never in the history of this game, a match has been recorded with such detail as the match between Enginerd and PawelS for the 2009 1v1 tournament.

You need to take a look at the interview and the video posted at the TNS show from October 29th here!
Enginerd has recorded each day of his match and edited into a YouTube video for all to see!

You are urged to leave comments regarding the video in the actual gamethread here. I think we are lucky that the match itself has been an exciting one as well. It shows some of the tough decisions you can be faced with when playing at a highly competitive level, and the numerous options the game provides to solve them.


Security Breach

Angel Zen, HG’s Chief Technology Officer, has confirmed a security breach of our servers which left virus-infected files in our database. At this time, we are not prepared to release any details as to the origin of the breach or the specific threat level, however we strongly recommend that that all users, particularly those who have accessed the site since 16 July, run deep virus scans, as well as a current spyware scanner such as Spybot Search & Destroy as there is a chance you may have been affected.


AoW1 Summer News and Updates

It has been an amazing and eventful year thus far at AoW1. We’ve seen several new forummers come join us and they are participating in several games. We welcome the newcomers. If you haven’t had a chance to meet them be sure to say hello.

Have you ever wondered which race is the favorite out there…or which spell sphere… or which lvl 4 unit or level 1 tiles (who comes up with this stuff?!). Recently I found myself voting against the border tiles but there are so many to choose from. Several elimination games are nearing and end and a few new ones have started. You can vote once per day and support your favorite or eliminate the rest. You can go here for details.

Come join us at AoW1 Forums, it’s a blast!


AoW1 Needs Your Help, All Forum Members Needed to Vote!

You’ve waited long enough… The maps were made a couple months ago… Our expert panel has now made their comments… And they are very interesting reads! But we need your help, we need every forum member to go Vote! That’s right, read through the comments, check out the map, play it a bit and Vote! That’s right… just give it a score, we need your input here.. 7 Maps were submitted in two different themes for the Winter Holiday Mapmaking Competition. Some really good maps, check them out.

And… if you’re bored and want to see another exciting tournament just come down to this thread to watch 18 players go to battle in this doubles tournament. Exciting times at AoW1… What’s next? Well… we’ll save that for another Newspost!


AoW1 Winter Mapmaking Competition Update

The maps were finished some time ago and the judges are almost done. It’s been a fun adventure as we’ve recorded the chat sessions with the judges. Ever wanted to know what the judges really think? How bold can they be in their comments? Did they get it right and do you agree with their analysis? Their comments will soon be made available to the public. Sample comments can be found following the link below. Stay Tuned!

Now we just need your help! That’s right, it will soon be time for the community to judge the maps. Starting Mar 15th the voting booths open and you will have two weeks to call in your vote on the maps. That’s right, you, the community, get to vote on the maps. Take this week to start reviewing the maps so you’re ready to vote next week. It’s going to be a great discussion the rest of this month so come join the fun!

The link is here .


AoW1 2v2 Tourney Sign Ups NOW!

That’s right… time for another tourney… this time it will be a 2v2 tourney. Teams will get to play a minimum of two games (kind of a round robin, double elimination sytle format). Sign ups started just yesterday for this tourney and we already have 7 players with more to sign up. Haven’t played AoW1 for awhile, well that’s ok, the teams are going to be selected such that an experienced player gets paired up with a less experienced one. So don’t be afraid if you’re rusty, come join the fun. Details can be found here.

Also, we have just started a thread where we are discussing the fun of playing AoW1 online. If you want to join that discussion then come on down here. We’d love to get the online games moving forward and we can use your help.


AoW1 PBEM Campaign starting

It seems an idea sparked by Unknown250 had Deroman take leadership on what seems to become a very interesting project. Playing, chronologically, through all the original scenarios, players (each representing different factions throughout the campaign) will be able to contribute to what seems to become a story of epic proportions!

Check it out here!


Angel Enginerd!!

I am glad to announce the divine transformation of cherub Enginerd to Angel Enginerd!

He has been a Cherub since July 2007 and he has done an outstanding job ever since. This has been demonstrated in the successful organization of multiple tournaments and his calm, yet consistent enthusiasm. He has taken over almost all responsibilities for the AoW1-part of the site, and, in the process, gained my full confidence!

His new angelic powers will grant him the power to change some of the webpages and control over the downloads sections. I am sure he will put these to good use.

Please congratulate him
here!


AoW1 New Year Tourney Updates!

Happy New Year everyone and it certainly has been an eventful year for us at AoW1. Looking back we had a lot of fun… and we’re still having fun. The submission deadline for the Holiday Mapmaking Competition has just ended. There were 6 maps submitted for the two different themes. Surprisingly we got 5 entries for the Historical theme, including a rookie map from a long time veteran of the game. Once again Skout77 submits multiple maps, a regular in the competition and has always scored well in them. Arctic Wolf is looking to repeat a victory from last time. Great maps, check them out. Judging will begin soon and we’ll need your help as the entire community will be participating as judges. Details here .

The 1v1 tourney that started several weeks ago is progressing well. Of the 16 players that signed up for this single elimination tourney there are only 8 players left alive, Congratulations to Thorongil for being the first player to make it to the Semi Finals. He’ll face Enginerd or Zsaber before he can lay claim to being in the finals. Disenchanted and Draco are set to fight it out in the quarter finals and Eriksson stands ready to face his quarter final match against two newer players still finishing their 1st round match. Check out all the details here .

Lots happening as we will soon be announcing a 2v2 tourney that we hope to kick off soon. Come and join us at AoW1 Heaven!


AoW1 Holiday Tournaments, Come Join the Fun

At the start of this festive time of year it is time once again for another tournament… what… you mean there are TWO tournaments?!? That’s right, we just started a 1v1 pbem single elimination tournament with 16 players on Arctic Wolf’s winning map Snowscapes and Mirages. The tournament started a couple weeks ago and already we have had the first games completed. Congratulations to Thorongil for posting the first win over a skilled opponent… Well… it was a warm up game for Dafyth as he doesn’t play much AoW1 but we must thank him for dusting off his old CD to play with us. Enginerd is well on his way to beat Froster, can the rookie pull a rabbit out of his hat? CrazySlyHawk and Slipkyes are battling it out as is Zsaber and Ecthelion. Disenchanted and Mad87ger are well on their way. A couple games to watch are against some tough players with Dan playing Draco and Gandalf playing Eriksson. You can follow the 1v1 competition here.

Our second tourney is a Holiday Map Making Competition. There are two categories this year, one is the “Festive Winter Holiday” theme and the other is a “Historical” theme. There are several maps already registered but still lots of time to create one. Maps can be submitted up until the New Year. Also, be on the lookout as you, the forum members, will be helping to judge so get ready and enjoy your Christmas Holidays with us at AoW1 Heaven. Happy Holidays!


And the Winner is… (AoW1 Mapmaking 2008 Tournament)

Fine… We’ve made you wait long enough for the results… We’ll tell you… Just keep reading after the big announcement…

1v1 map – Snowscapes and Mirages by Arctic Wolf
Anything goes map – The Warren by Iguanaonastick
Special Judges Award – Skout77 for making 3 maps

Congratulations to the winning mapmakers, well done! Also, many thanks to our judges. Thank you Draco, Thank you Dan Petersson. They spent many hours pouring over and playtesting the maps. We really appreciate their efforts. And we cannot forget to thank everyone who participated. Please congratulate the winners and leave comments here.

As in previous tourneys I am amazed at the quality of maps. There were some pretty tough decisions out there. Each judge had their own likes and dislikes and it was a very close battle in the 1v1 Category. Skout and Arctic Wolf battled it out for the top spot but in the end Arctic Wolf produced the winning map in Snowscapes and Mirages with Skout’s Lineage following very closely behind. Both wonderful maps that we hope you play and enjoy. It was also nice to see newer mapmakers try and take on the more experienced ones. Well done Crazyslyhawk, maybe next time (and he put 2 maps together for this tourney, Wow!).

The anything goes category was truly unique. We had four high quality maps submitted. There were two good single player maps competing against a couple multi player maps with different mods. There was another struggle with the judges on this one…. Do the pink elephants get the nod over the classic Warlocks? Which one of the SP maps is better? Do my preferences lie with the mods or the SP? Tough choices but in the end a clear winner came to the front, congratulations to Iguanaonastick for the winning map made with the Warlocks mod called The Warren. This multiplayer map is a real gem.

Now that we have a winning map for the 1v1 tourney there will be 16 players that will battle it out. Follow along and watch this tourney unfold here.

And don’t forget to download and play the new maps, you won’t regret it. Then leave your comments for the mapmakers, they always appreciate to hear from you.

And if you missed out on this tourney check out the threads for more upcoming competitions…. We’re already talking about the next mapmaking competition here.


AoW1 Mapmaking 2008 Tournament Update

The 2008 Summer Mapmaking Tournament is Over! There were 9 maps entered and we are thankful for the mapmakers who kept themselves very busy the last couple of months. A special hats off to Skout who submitted 3 new maps. Thanks to Crazyslyhawk who submitted 2 maps. Four other mapmakers contributed and we are pleased to get these new maps out there. Now… the fun begins as we start judging, results will be made soon.

The team of judges is a group of veterans and we are pleased to have two first time judges with us. Angel Draco and former two time mapmaking champion Dan Peterson (he couldn’t find the time to make a map this time so we convinced him to help judge). The maps are of a very fine quality and are available in the downloads section.

In order to give special recognition to the winning map a new 1v1 single elimination tournament is beginning. Sign ups are going on right now and will continue for the next few weeks. The winning map of the mapmaking competition will be used for the head to head tourney. Come one and all and sign up!

Details for the mapmaking tourney can be found in the AoW1 Competition’s forums here

And the signups for the 1v1 tourney can be found here


AoW1 Summer 2008 Mapmaking Tournament

Yes, that’s right…. It’s time for another AoW mapmaking tournament. During the last one we had close to 30 new maps submitted with several from Rookie mapmakers. This was a great addition to the collection of maps but it is time for MORE! Let’s see how many we can get this time. How many new Rookie mapmakers are out there? Yes, you too can earn eternal fame and glory with your map!

There will be two categories of maps, the first will be 1v1 maps and the winning map will be used in an upcoming single elimination tourney later this year (yes, that’s a plug for a future tourney coming so stay turned). The other category of maps will be “Anything Goes”. That’s right… anything you want to create, any mod, any size, any style you want… just have fun. I can’t wait to see what you come up with.

Details for the tourney can be found in the AoW1 Competition’s forums here

Also, the 2008 Co-Op Challenge is still underway….. can you and your partner complete the map faster than anyone else? Details can be found here


Win a DVD of In The Name of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale!

(Note: NOT an April Fools joke.)

HeavenGames is proud to announce that it will be giving out 5 DVDs of In The Name of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, the action-packed movie based on the popular Dungeon Siege video game franchise! In addition to the movie and all of the great traditional extra features, the DVD also has a free demo of Dungeon Siege 2 for your enjoyment. All you need to do is correctly answer all 10 questions in our Dungeon Siege quiz by the deadline of April 30th and you’ll be entered in a drawing for one of the five DVDs.


A Mighty Giant Returns and Desires to become the next “Apprentice”

For many years an active and mighty player of Age of Wonders (yes the original) has been absent… well… not exactly absent but on a long sabbatical… something about building up Heaven Games, making all the Heavens grow, legal mumbo jumbo, hob nobbing with the owners, yada, yada, yada, yada. Oh, by the way his name is none other than “Draco”. Yes, that’s him, the mighty Angel Draco!

Draco has teamed up with Enginerd in a 2 vs. 2 team match against CrazySlyHawk and Balak of Thorn. They will be playing a game on the map called “The Apprentice III – Deluxe Version” . In the theme of Donald Trump’s show we are about to find out if Draco can become the next “Apprentice” (turn logs here)

Welcome Back Draco!


SOLO: Essays and Commentary on the Art of the Single Player Game” Debuts at HeavenGames!

SOLO: Essays and Commentary on the Art of the Single Player Game” debuts at HeavenGames! This new, semi-regular column on the art and theory of designing single player games will highlight important issues in the development of games, asking challenging questions about the nature of gaming, whether games will ever meet the criteria for art, and offering practical pointers on how the best single player experiences are created by designers.

SOLO is written by Gordon Farrell, a long-time professional designer of single player campaigns for AAA games such as Empire Earth and Empires: Dawn of the Modern World. In addition, he has worked on strategy titles such as Caesar IV, Children of the Nile and BreakAway Games’ Middle Eastern city builder, Arabian Lords. He is currently Lead Writer for Reverie World Studios’ first game, Dawn of Fantasy, due for release in Fall 2008.

HGS regulars will recognize Gordon’s work as a staple of our download sections, from games as diverse as Age of Empires and Caesar 3, to both Stronghold 1, Stronghold 2 and Age of Kings. In addition to his HGS mods, he has highly-rated Civilization 4 mods uploaded at CivFanatics as well.

Gordon is on the faculty of New York University, where he teaches narrative theory for video games, theory of screenwriting, and advanced studies in dramatic art. He also lectures at Marymount Manhattan College in video games, script analysis, and theatre history. In 2002, Prima Games published his essay, “The Theory of Scenario Design.” His extensive professional and academic experience promises an exciting column filled with commentary on the art of games that will be both controversial and thought-provoking.


Talonthorn Resigns

Apologies for the late notice here. I regret to inform you that Talonthorn will be leaving us as staff.

Our site owes him a lot. For example, the scenario design section is mostly built by him. He has also been very helpful in answering lots of questions on the forums regarding scripts.

Although he let me know it is not a definite goodbye, we’ll be missing him as staff.


The Clash of the Forums is Near

Baske announces: “Battle of the Forums”!

It was a lonely day. Inside the Cherub Wagon, Zen; the divine lord and God of Heavengames turned on his computer. Everything was going fine untill Zen realised something was missing. All the staff, as exemplary and *insert flattery here* as they were, were extremely predictable. This was also the case for the members. Zen then had a great idea to add variety to HG. He organised a giant party for a few members from each heaven, and sent in 3 of his most trusted staff with nice sharp kittens axes.

His plan was to assassinate the members, while he sat back and ate some popcorn. As the members realised this, they quickly gathered up their pointy sticks. The stage was set, and Zen ordered the killing to be conducted in a turn based civilised manner. What forum has the most cunning warriors? We’re about to find out…

Read this (http://www.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=1,335704,0,10) thread for more info.

The AoW nomination thread can be found here: (https://aow.heavengames.com/cgi-bin/forums/display.cgi?action=ct&f=8,5234,,60)


Finbar’s Quest – New SP Monthly Challenge Competition for 2008

It has been 3 years since the last Single Player Monthly Challenge. There was great fun and excitement in the monthly challenges and now a new group of players is ready to rise and battle it out in friendly competition. For January the map will be based on the winning single player map from the recent map making competition. Namely…. Gandalf the White on his award winning map Finbar’s Quest! Can you save the Elves from destruction? Can you find the Red Ring… and the Blue Ring? Can you rebuild the fabled Elf Capital? Can you complete the map in the fewest turns? We’ll all find out this month!

You can download the unmodified award winning map here

You can download the map for the Jan 2008 competition here

You can post and read more about the competition here


AoW Shadow Magic: Battle of the Cherubs – Timelord vs. Enginerd

Two mighty Champions of the game face off to battle but there is soooo much more at stake than just a simple match between friends…. This is the Battle of the Cherubs!

Timelord defends the honor of AoW Shadow Magic, where he moderates. He holds the honor of former WL champion, a mighty warrior and tactician with a sound knowledge and understanding of the game. Few have been able to match his skill. Will the Shadow Magic Cherub be victorious????

Enginerd is also a former WL champion…. Of the original Age of Wonders, where he moderates. He too has fought against the best in the game but has he overstepped his bounds??? He has ventured out of his realm of dominance and control for he has no honors or accolades in this new arena… will he be crushed and sent packing, can the AoW1 Cherub be victorious????

The battlefield chosen, AoW Shadow Magic! The map is set, a new upgraded map that few have seen. The game is afoot! Many will follow this classic battle of the ages, who do you think will be victorious…… post and cheer for your Cherub here

If you would like to play a game on the same map then post here


AoW1 Wizard Ladder Champion Beaten after 2 years and 17 Wins in a row!

It was just over two years ago in September 2005 when Enginerd faced off and beat Gill to claim the Wizard Ladder Champion title for a record 4th time. Nojd the great took his title from him once and the mighty Sprout took it away from him twice… but those two had retired… Who would strip the title from him this time? Many tried and after 17 successful victories Enginerd was finally defeated.

A special map entitled The God who will be Defeated was created by an expert mapmaker. This map was designed to challenge Enginerd as he was the God referred to in the map title. A tournament was initiated with this map where 5 players Challenged the Champ . They were all beaten but one of them came back for a second try. It was the mapmaker… who knew the tricks of this map better than anyone and set about a plan to not only beat the Champ but to dominate him! These two had faced off many times before but Enginerd had always been victorious. This time was different….

All hail the new AoW1 Wizard Ladder Champion… Arctic Wolf.

Click here to congratulate him.


AoW1 Summer 2007 Mapmaking Competition Results

Over the last year there has been a lack of maps submitted to the AoW1 downloads section. All this changed during the month of August when many mapmakers put forth a tremendous effort and produced a wide array of maps. Close to 30 total new maps were created including a small single player campaign. It is truly amazing!!!!

There were three categories for the competition: Single Player maps, Multi Player maps and Rookie Mapmakers. And the Winners Are:

Gandalf the White and his SP map Finbar’s Quest
Dan Petersson and his MP map Greyhawk’s Adventure
Jetrall wins the Rookie Award for first time mapmaker with his MP map Race to Glory

Honorable mentions go to Artic Wolf for 3 fabulous maps in the top 5, Skout77 for a close 2nd, Dan Donnard for LOTS of maps and Codius for his campaign. All the Mapmakers should be applauded for their efforts.

Click here for all the results and offer your congratulations, or click here for a list of the maps in the tourney, or click here to go to the downloads section.


Heaven Games – A New Identity

Source: The HG Blog

After considerable deliberation, the owners have decided that one major inhibiting factor for HeavenGames’
prosperity is the simple fact that it doesn’t have a clearly defined identity. It has always been a site about games, but that is far too vague for the development of any clear goals and the effective marketing of the site.

We have thus discussed the issue with our staff and decided that we should make HeavenGames a site entirely geared towards community. At its core, HeavenGames always has been about building the best communities possible, so it only makes sense that we devote all of our resources to that service…(Read more!)


Map Making Competition Really Heating Things Up!

The 2007 Map Making competition is really heating things up. Activity is increasing and it looks like there will be nearly 20 maps submitted for the tourney! Click here for the official tourney thread.

So far we are likely to have at least 5 single player maps with entries from Antichroust, Gandalf the White, Skout77, Artic Wolf and Codius. These maps are sure to be wonderful additions.

The multiplayer group is really filling out nicely. There are currently 8 mapmakers telling us they will submit maps. We have a new rookie and new forumer that has submitted one, welcome Jetrall! Also, we have lured out of retirement a few well known mapmakers namely Eloquin and Dan Petersson. Dan Donnard has submitted 4 maps thus far and Artic Wolf has 2 multiplayer maps (who knows… he could have more for us). Our very own Seraph, Swolte, has a map he’s working on. Codius will have his 2nd map of the competition and CrazySlyHawk rounds out the group.

We’d sure love to see 20+ new maps for this competition. There is still time so hurry up and finish those maps!

Playtesters Needed!

Several mapmakers have requested help for their maps. They’d really like to fine tune things and want some quick feedback. If you’re interested in helping them out then click here and search through the threads. Now is your chance to play a never before seen map!

September Competitions Preview…

As a result of all these wonderful maps being produced there will be some fun competitions where we get to play these maps. It will start in September while we wait for the judges scoring to come in. Click here to stay tuned in to the upcoming events!


HeavenGames Official Blog: The First Step

Source: The HG Blog

Hey all,

So it’s been a little while since my last update. It’s mostly because we’re still hard at work figuring out the big picture for HeavenGames’ future; it’s a daunting job but I like what’s being hammered out. Anyway, in this article I’m going to discuss the two biggest problems that I’d like to get fixed before any grand scheming…and their solutions. Solutions are good.

Problem 1: HeavenGames current staff system is not what HeavenGames needs
While everyone works as hard as possible, the current staff system is simply not enough for what HeavenGames needs. Becoming staff is a big ordeal at HeavenGames, largely because of the daunting committment on both sides…

Solution: Reorganize the staff system
Reorganizing the staff system will help our current staff operate more efficiently. First, we will make sure that all of the owners are active at HeavenGames. Next, Seraphs will be required to heavily advertise job openings to ensure consistent service and organization across the network. Finally, we will work to make a job at HeavenGames more attractive by giving benefits such as possible college credit and aid in getting a job in the gaming industry…(Read more!)


Official HeavenGames CEO Blog Opens

Source: The HG Blog

Hey everyone,

My name is Socvazius; I’m the new CEO of HG, but I’ve been around for quite a long time. I started visiting HG in late 1997 (at age 11), joined the staff in 2000 (my first article, a masterpiece by any standard), joined the executive board in 2003 (I have nothing to say here but I wanted to add a parenthesis for consistency), and became owner in 2005 (when I turned 18). Over all that time, I have been webmaster of 6 Heavens and have done about every possible job.

Offline, I go by the name Sergio Prado and I study history at Harvard University in Boston, Massachusetts. I am currently working in marketing at Vivendi Universal on Empire Earth III and World in Conflict. I love philosophy, history, physics and politics among other things, and to compensate for my nerdy tendencies I’ve been known to karate it up as well as do all the other things that college students do. Oh yes.

Anyway, this is my blog! While I will surely use this blog for my own narcissistic ramblings, I intend it to be used mostly to keep everyone up to date on what’s going on in HeavenGames, especially the stuff that pertains to my job: management, PR, and all the other fun parts of a gaming website. In fact, I do have some news that you guys might be interested in. For the past couple months the owners have been discussing a major revamp of how HG operates, including its staff management and exactly what services it will provide to the community. We’re zeroing in on a finalized plan, so keep your eyes peeled for a freakin huge article that’ll be way too long to be worth reading!

Until the next post my friends,
Soccy


HeavenGames Appoints Sergio Prado as new CEO

LOMBARD, IL – HeavenGames LLC, an internet leader in strategy fansites, today announced it has appointed Sergio “Socvazius” Prado to the position of Chief Executive Officer, effective July 28, 2007. Mr. Prado, a driven executive with considerable experience in the gaming industry, has worked at HeavenGames for 7 years in addition to Vivendi Universal’s brand marketing department. He currently is a college junior at Harvard University.

Prior to this appointment at HeavenGames, Mr. Prado served as the company’s Chief Content Officer on the executive board, ensuring the professional quality of content present across the network. He also headed six of its sites: for Age of Empires III, Age of Mythology, Age of Kings, Age of Empires, Rome: Total War, and Cossacks. During his employ at Vivendi Universal, Mr. Prado worked to market World in Conflict and Empire Earth III, two of the biggest strategy titles of 2007.

Tom Mescher, the exiting CEO, served as HeavenGames’ leader since its incorporation in October of 2000. He is moving on to continue his career in the IT industry.

ABOUT HEAVENGAMES, LLC
HeavenGames LLC (http://www.heavengames.com), based in Lombard, Illinois, is a privately owned web-content publisher geared towards the creation of special-interest sites for Real-Time Strategy and City-Builder games. Its sites, content, vast amounts of resources, as well as a dedicated staff & management team make HeavenGames’ sites recognized by developers and press alike as one of the premier destinations for gamers worldwide.


Summer 2007 AOW1 Mapmaking Competition

Great interest and activity is buzzing about on the AOW1 forums. Now to help keep the interest going a mapmaking competition has begun. Details can be found in this thread.

The competition boasts a new special category for Rookie mapmakers…. if you’ve never made a map before now is the time to give it a try with the rest of the Rookies.

There promises to be great excitement and fun surrounding this competition. Be sure and stay tuned in to the details.


Welcome AoW1 Cherub Enginerd!

To give Age of Wonders 1 a little more attention than it has received/deserved in the past, Enginerd was appointed as its Cherub.
🙂

He has been an active forummer for a long time, and knows the community well! He will be posting AoW1 news and perhaps organize an activity or two. I am very happy he accepted our offer.

Please congratulate him in this thread in the AoW1 General Discussion!
🙂


Forum Survey

The never ending work to improve HG continues, and now we need your help. If you could please fill out this very short survey about the forum software used on all HG sites, we would really appreciate it!

Don’t miss this chance to make HeavenGames even better! 🙂


New Site Layout

Have you noticed the changed appearance of Age of Wonders Heaven? Pecunia has completed the conversion of the old site to the new HeavenGames standard technology. Great work! 🙂

Should you notice anything that isn’t working as expected, please let us know. You can either email me or anyone else in staff, or you can post in our website comments forum. Thanks!


swolte is the new site manager

After a few years as seraph (site manager) for AoW Heaven and AoW2 Heaven, I now take a step down and hand over the seraph title to swolte. I’m not disappearing, but I feel that swolte will be far more suitable as seraph since I’ve become more or less invisible on the forums. He’s proved himself over the years, so I’m very happy that he accepted to take over my role as site manager.

I’ll still be around as an Angel to do most of what I do already today, so I’m definitely not disappearing.

You can congratulate swolte on the forums: Swolte turns orange!.


New Downloads Section

The downloads section at AoW Heaven has been updated. Pecunia has made a fantastic job with this new version, and has converted the old information to suit this new interface.

New features:
* New look
* Authors can update their submissions themselves
* More ruleset selections (and more will be added on request)
* Mini screenshots can be added

When you submit (or update) files, there’s a new field called “Short Description”. This information was not part of the old system, so please update your submitted scenarios. This text appears just below the title of your submission in the listing pages.

Questions? Comments? Bug reports? Praise?
Please post in the forum, in the thread: New AoW Heaven Downloads Version.

Thanks again, Pecunia!


Forum Maintenance

The forums will be unavailable for most of the July 23rd-July 24th weekend for database maintenance and updates.


File Submissions Working Again!

In case you’ve tried submitting a file to the downloads archive here at AoW Heaven the past few days, you will have noticed that it didn’t work. The problem is solved now, so go ahead and submit your creations!


Seasonal Compliments: Winter 2005!

😀 And the WINTER 2005 compliments went to:
PawelS, King david, Zombie Eater, Hatifnat, Greenmonster, Dwiggs, Dhuval, Magog, Evil Roc, Climber, Black Hound, Galahad_2nd, Elurin, Timelord and Stranger.

Thanks you all for the good works you’ve delivered! And good luck keeping that going!

Of course, as has become tradition, the staff picked one forummer for and interview. And this season that person was PAWELS!!!

He has done and is doing tremendous work to help modders out with numerous helpful programs! Some even believe he must have been a Triumph Studios developer!

Read all about what he did, does and plan in the new interview 🙂

If you wish, you can congratulate him here!


Lennart says hi!

Lennart Sas, the big chief over at Triump Studios, just paid a surprise visit to the forums. He has some interesting things to say about AoW, TBS games in general and of course, the New Game!
Click here to read Lennart’s post.


Code of Conduct Changes

I’d like all forummers here to note that the HG Code of Conduct has been updated. You’ll find a list of the specific changes along with some additional comments in Angel Zen’s sticky thread over at HG Main.

Most of the changes, as Zen indicates, are intended to increase the “signal to noise” ratio across the various boards, and while not directed to any specific forum there are some additional restrictions and clarifications on previously questionable actions. We would therefore ask everyone to read over them if only to refresh your understanding, as they will be enforced going forward from this point.


Map converter

Do you want to play your old AoW1 maps in AoW:SM? Now it’s possible! With yet another great hack from PawelS, you can take any AoW1 map you want and turn it into a working SM map.

Download the converter here.

Also check out the Scenario Design forums for more info.


New Fan Site

This doesn’t happen everyday, now more than five years after the release of the game. A new fan site has been added to our links page. Visit it at GameAmazon!


Age of Empires III Heaven

There’s a new heaven in town : http://aoe3.heavengames.com. As you probably figured out, AoE3H will cover everything there is to know about the upcoming Age of Empires III. The site looks great, and even I who never play RTS games must admit that the screenshots looks amazing. So head on over there and have a look, it wont hurt you. 🙂


Autumn Seasonal Compliment interview: Jomungur!

In the Verdant Court, staff decided that the first interview would have to go to Jomungur! As an intelligent and active member of our community, he has helped numerous people out with his knowledge. In the online world he is respected for his skill and personality!
It’s a very interesting and long read, as it covers the history from AoW-1 until AoW-shadow Magic! It delves deep into strategy and online gaming!

You can read all about it here, in our brand new interview section!
Enjoy!
🙂

If you wish, you can discuss the article here!


A huge campaign?

Gantaliano Hoff is trying to put a small team together in this forum thread. His objective is to create a new campaign for the game. So if you have mapmaking skills (or think you can halp out in any other way), please offer your services in the above mentioned thread. 🙂


Enginerd is the best single player around.

The 2004 Monthly challenges are over, and Enginerd came out as the champion!
You can congratulate him and check out the final results in this thread.