Lobotomy Software History Video - Exhumed

My friend SegaFanbois put together a very informative and interesting video about Lobotomy Software and their great, mostly overlooked game, Exhumed. The video explains their background, how they were making ports for other companies and their desire to make a game on their own, which resulted in creating the Slave Driver engine. This engine powered Exhumed for pc, Sega Saturn and PlayStation. While the pc version was developed as first, it was a straight corridor Doom like game, in which the player progressed on the map to the next level. However, the console versions have completely different levels and Zelda like gameplay. Unlike any fps shooter at that time, there are rpg elements present like improving the health bar and amount of "shooting energy" (instead of bullets) and gathering different artifacts such as the sandals for improved jump, breathing mask for longer underwater swimming, and secret areas to find in each level. It also features non-linear progress, where players can choose where to go next on the map selection screen. Exhumed remains to this day one of my favourite fps games alongside Half-Life and still remains highly playable and enjoyable. Did I mention it has an amazing soundtrack? If you never heard about Exhumed yet and you like innovative shooters, this game is for you!

Exhumed Soundtrack
Lobotomy Software fan blog
Like Lobotomy Software fan page on Facebook 

Getting all the team dolls is really a challenge but gives you dolphin and vulture abilities!

Finding the secret areas is fun and rewarding

 

Amun bombs serve as grenades and are very usefull

Defiance Texture Pack Update - Download

Hey there! I have updated the Texture Pack for Defiance me and Jake have released a while ago. I have refined Raziel´s current SR2 textures (the symbol on the cowl is from the Dreamcast Raziel model). The pack also includes the original white costume for Ariel (with an alternate face texture) and an alternate outfit and face for Mortanius. I have replaced Kain´s face texture to bring it closer to the SR1 render of Kain and fixed up colour of his accessories. I will update the pack with some more fixes later. You can see the changes in the comparison screenshots below.

Let me know if you like the pack or have any suggestions in the comments, thanks!

UPDATE: Thanks to Hylden´s help, Raziel´s wings are now fixed and have no white outline anymore. Thanks, Hylden!

Legacy of Kain: Defiance - Texture Pack download

The moderator from Eidos Forums, the Hylden, also made some really nice self-painted textures for Kain, Raziel, fixed up the reavers and other stuff, so check out his version too.

More screenshots available at: https://picasaweb.google.com/111750711154771636438/LegacyOfKainDefianceTextureMod#

Amy Henning talks Soul Reaver

In the article Behind the Classics found on the official PlayStation blog, Amy Henning looked back at her vampiric heritage, Soul Reaver. She elaborated more about the game´s original concept:

"The Shifter concept was the genesis of the game that would become Soul Reaver; the core ideas were all there. The hero was an undead creature, able to shift between the spectral and material realms, and glide on the tattered remains of his wing-like coattails. We conceived the spirit realm as a twisted, expressionistic version of the physical world. The hero was bent on revenge after being betrayed and cast down by his creator – like Raziel, he was a dark savior figure, chosen to restore balance to a blighted, dystopian world."

and also commented on the cut ending of the game:

"To hit the August ’99 release date, we had to cut the last few levels of the game, and end on a cliffhanger that set up Soul Reaver 2. Originally, Raziel was going to hunt down and destroy all of his former brothers as well as Kain – and then, using his newly-acquired abilities, he would’ve activated the long-dormant pipes of the Silenced Cathedral to wipe out the remaining vampires of Nosgoth with a sonic blast. Only then would he realize that he’d been the Elder God’s pawn all along, that the purging of the vampires had devastating consequences, and that the only way to set things right would be to use Moebius’ time-streaming device to go back in time and alter history (in the sequel).

So the story would have arrived at a similar place, just by a different route. In the end, as much as I hated its bluntness, Soul Reaver’s “To Be Continued” ending probably turned out to be a blessing in disguise, because I think it opened up more interesting story options for the sequels."

Cited from the original article by Sid Shuman

Soul Reaver - The Complete Soundtrack v5

The fifth version of the SR1 OST is finally done and available for download! This version is available in Ogg Vorbis. The soundtrack is divided into three parts, which can be downloaded and extracted separately. I have uploaded both versions, so you can choose which one to download.

Thanks for downloading and enjoy the awesome Soul Reaver music!

Please bear in mind, that the SR1 OST which is hosted on NR is outdated and I recommend downloading this version instead.

Note: This version is out of date. Please download the latest version 7 here.

Soul Revenant - update

Hey guys, some new content for Soul Revenant will be posted here soon. Screenshots and an introduction cutscene video are on the way, so check back here during October. It is really exciting to work on this project and re-creating the deleted parts of the game. The enemies are higher poly than even those in Dreamcast version and the environments as well, (with normal maps too).

First part of the OST almost done (update)

Hey there, I have been busy with game development recently, so did not have enough time for an update. I finally got to a point when there is only few songs from the City left to do for the first part of the Soul Reaver OST. I will start uploading it (around 1GB) even before the second part is done, as they are downloaded separately anyway. I will post a link to a FLAC version of OST1 soon and update this post once the upload is done. I hope you will like it!

UPDATE: I have finished working on OST1 and OST2, so now only few tracks from OST3 remain and the soundtrack will be available soon. Thanks for waiting!

Legacy of Kain - the entire series translated into Czech

LOK fan Templayer has translated all of the Legacy of Kain videos by ChocolatierRob and included Czech subtitles, which can be accesssed through CC on YouTube. You can view all of the videos in this playlist.

Working on a new version of Soul Reaver OST (update)

Now that I am finally free from school, I can finally finish up recording the latest v5 of the Soul Reaver OST. Although I have started recording in ogg, I have decided to also export the files in FLAC format if there is enough demand for it. However, this will come at a cost of slightly bigger file size. The oggs can reach up to 499kbps, while FLAC up to almost 700kbps. The difference between them is barely noticable, so let me know in the poll on the right which format of the OST do you prefer. You can also download these two test samples to decide which one sounds better. I should be done within a few days and will post link to the new soundtrack as soon as I am done. I have also redone the soundtrack cover (the picture above), so I hope you will like it.

On the previous poll "Which remake would you like to see?" 63% (37) users voted for Soul Reaver, while 36% (21). Seems, that people are more in favour of a Soul Reaver reboot, but Blood Omen is not forgotten either. Thanks for voting!

Legacy of Kain reboot/remake coming? (new poll)

There are more and more reasons indicating, that indeed there is a new Legacy of Kain game in the progress. The latest one is an interview with Meagan Marie (Eidos spokeperson), who said when asked about a new Legacy of Kain game: "I can't even touch that, I can't even talk about anything related to that, no comment", while previously, Crystal Dynamics stated that they are not working on any Legacy of Kain there. However, this does not mean, that Eidos could not use a different studio to make a new game. So the new poll deals with what would you like this new LoK game to be? A Soul Reaver remake? Or a Blood Omen remake?

Also, on another note, I want to thank the Russian site Wheel of Fate, which started hosting the latest news from my blog on their site. Thanks, guys!

The poll on the previous topic "Which is your favourite deck from Legions of Nosgoth?" ended and here are the results:

Spectral Deck   5 (18%) Necrovampire Deck   6 (22%) Vampire Deck   10 (37%) Hylden Deck   2 (7%) Sarafan Deck   4 (14%)
There were 27 voters in this poll. The Vampire Deck seems to be the most used, with the Sarafan Deck the least. If you have tried Legions of Nosgoth, you can leave a comment on why do you prefer a certain Deck over the other.
In September, we will also  have several days dedicated to this card game and will announce the dates and hours up front, so you know when we will be online and ready to play with you.

Defiance Texture Mod for download

If you would like to play Defiance with modified textures, you can use the TexMod pack v1 made by Jake Pawloski and me. We will update it in the future to include new textures for more characters. This version includes alternate textures for Raziel (SR2 style), Mortanius (BO1 style) and Ariel (SR1 style), and also a higher res background for Sarafan Stronghold, as seen in this video. Installation is simple - just download the Defiance TexMod and follow the instructions. Remember, you can always play Defiance with the original textures as well. Enjoy!

Umah´s and Vorador´s role in Defiance revealed!

Daniel Cabuco has graciously provided the long awaited answers for the cut parts of Legacy of Kain and much more! In a question about intended appearance of Umah and Vorador, Daniel replied that she was supposed to make an appearance as a vampire worshipper after Vorador was beheaded (supposedly when Raziel would have returned from Avernus), but was ultimately replaced by a cutscene with Moebius. 

According to Daniel, Raziel would be given a quest by Umah to reclaim Vorador´s head from Moebius´ statue holding his head. This would reward Umah with being turned into a vampire. Daniel also stated that the cut was necessary due to time and also that two resurrections taking place (Raziel had to resurrect Janos as well) was a bit redundant.