Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War Announced

[Pike]

http://www.relic.com/images/misc/40K_RTS_small.jpg

THQ AND RELIC ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE WARHAMMER 40,000: DAWN OF WAR


Popular Tabletop Wargame to Take PC Gamers by Storm in Fall 2004

CALABASAS HILLS, Calif. - December 10, 2003 - THQ Inc. (NASDAQ: THQI) today announced Warhammer 40,000; Dawn of War, the first real-time strategy title in its agreement with industry-leading PC development studio Relic Entertainment Inc. Based on the world of Warhammer 40,000 - the dark, futuristic, fantasy universe traveled by millions worldwide from Games Workshop (LSE: GAW), the world's largest tabletop wargames company - Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War is scheduled for release in fall 2004.

"Warhammer 40,000 encompasses an extremely rich universe where legions of warriors engage in intense tactical combat scenarios, the perfect backdrop for a real-time strategy experience," said Philip Holt, Vice President of Product Development, THQ. "When we looked for a developer, Relic's expertise in the genre and passion for the license made them the ideal fit."

"The opportunity to work directly with the creators of this highly-regarded, well-traveled world was very enticing for our team," said Alex Garden, CEO at Relic. "Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War will bring the epic moments of the tabletop gaming experience to life with genre-defining front-line combat scenarios."



A bit more info here: http://www.relic.com/product/dawnofwar/

[Kroggy]

Fast move on the new forum Pike. gg.

[ionfish]

pike is magic like that.

[DemonTalons]

HELL YEA~! Are all the races going to be included?

[ani]

wow, gg :D

[32bit]

wicked. i've been waiting for a decent 40k game for like, forever and a day.

[starrider]

now we know what nsp3 is. finally!!

[-V-]

Let's just pray it dosen't turn into an "exclusive" release for the geometry shapes systems, or get rushed and turned to mush like HW2.

[El Russo]

I'm confused; isn't NSP3 a forestry sim? Forgive my ignorance if I'm wrong. If I'm right though, I suppose there isn't an NSP4 seeing as we didn't consider they'd be making another game so quickly and also that we now know what it would be.

[ÜberJumper]

There is another NSP as well.

[JargonFilter]

woah, a WH4k forum already created. that was fast.

[mrmin123]

this should be great(!!)

[GuaRRand]

I dont trust orcs in space...
Its worse then goatshooting vikingships!

[El Russo]

Originally posted by ÜberJumper
There is another NSP as well.
So I take it that would be NSP4, right? Also, is the forestry sim still NSP3? Was WH40KDW an NSP?

[Russian Ninja]

Already these forums have attracted attention, which means that most likely when the game nears completion, these forums will possibly explode.

Again.

[Aurek]

Oh my god yes, holy shit, yes!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhurihgriwjhgirwh :fright:

I dont believe it, finally after years and years and YEARS of waiting a brilliant developer is FINALLY getting the wh4k lisence. Relic I will personally have all you're childern right now

[ÜberJumper]

Russo:

Things Change.

[NovaBurn]

Hmmmmm warhammer; my friends play it a bit. looks fun once you get all them little space marine dudes.

btw russo; NSP4 = homeworld2 expansion: dawn of the vaygr

:D :D :viking:

[ÜberJumper]

Nova:

You'd be wrong with that guess.

[El Russo]

Originally posted by ÜberJumper
Russo:

Things Change.
Dammit! Answer my questions Jumper!

Having looked about, it seems that NSP4 was Warhammer, but doesn't that still leave us with NSP3?

[Sajuukar]

Ono, it's not an orgininal idea from relic... I feel... sad...

[ÜberJumper]

NSP3 is a generic term for whatever the next secret project to be announced is.

The guys at Relic (In my experience anyway) usually have no idea that they're working on is refered to by the community as a NSP... they have internal project names to refer to them by.

[Arioch]

Surreal.

[chavez]

Originally posted by Aurek
Relic I will personally have all you're childern right now

careful, we might just hold you to that ;)

[Splitstar]

im a happy little bugger :3dcool:

[Taiidan Admiral]

Will the Tau be included?

[El Russo]

Originally posted by ÜberJumper
NSP3 is a generic term for whatever the next secret project to be announced is.
So what's this (http://www.relic.com/product/nsp4/index.php) then? Note the "NSP4" part of the address.

[ÜberJumper]

That's for the other game that's in development.

[El Russo]

It's like trying to draw blood from a stone. Is that the forestry sim?

[starrider]

its useless trying to get relic game info from uber. they've bound him with evil blood pacts and such so he'll keep his mounth shut. all he can do is make cryptic, leave you for more, comments that make little or no sense.

[Raven of the Da]

I wish there was a smiley that expresses the extacy of joy thi s represents for me:banana: :tooth: :santa: THIS IS SO COOL:elephant: :call2: :jig: :cdance: :mdance: :call:

[GuaRRand]

The pink dancing elephant comes close... :P

[ÜberJumper]

Russo:

There was no forestry sim.

[asda]

Originally posted by ÜberJumper

There was no forestry sim.
what is a forestry sim anyway?:smash:

[Kroggy]

Originally posted by ÜberJumper
Russo:

There was no forestry sim.

You just broke Russo's heart.

[thesamonthemoon]

NOOOOooooooooooooooooo......... It can't be true.... *sniff*.

I bet the Forestry Sim is relics other NSP.

On a side note, I found this fellow who looks somewhat remeniscent of the awesome concept art on page one.
http://www.forgeworld.co.uk/acatalog/abaddon-pm.jpg
Image from http://www.forgeworld.co.uk

[ionfish]

I bet he's really good at chopping down trees, with a great big sword like that.

[thesamonthemoon]

So your saying that maybe that concept art is for the forestry sim, but their was a mixmixup, and they acidentaly posted it as WH40K: DoW concept art? Hmmm....

Or maybe relic is using that guy in both games; as the evil guy in DoW, and as the main character in the forestry sim.

[AdrianWerner]

How dare you make fun of Abaddon the Despoiler :D :D :D

Anyway..the guy in the concept art looks like ordinary space marine of NightLords(one of chaos space marines legions) iN Terminator body armor

[thesamonthemoon]

Well, perhaps, but notice the similarity between the facial texture. And, of course, they both have that claw thingie.

[The Collector]

Abaddon the Despoiler. yay.

I'm guessing we'll get the traditional fare of Chaos/IG/Space Marines. Concept art thingy in the intro post appears to have a city in the background being attacked by little fliers. Probably a "ground-side" RTS then. I'm piqued to see how they build onto a genre defined by "Build [Structure], crank out [Unit] and rush".

I'm also curious to how extensive DoW will be. It's not Warhammer at all without humans, but will they include IG/Space Marines/Adeptus Mechanicus and all the other crap? If they do, it may confuse people who might not otherwise know what WH40k is.

More 20 hr workdays?

[Shadione]

FYI, that concept art is not meant to be anyone in particular. Ideas and imagery were pulled from multiple sources to make it 'look cool'.

[thesamonthemoon]

Well, then the picture was a sucess. It definately looks cool.

[Vijil]

We dont need relic concept art. Just look at the 40k concept art!

http://www.adriansmith.co.uk/images/fullsize/c_as_1016.jpg

You know, Im becoming rather serious about heading up a forestry sim mod for IC or even this game when it comes out. We'll call it NSP3, for a laugh. I'll whip up some concept art. Who's with me?

[El Russo]

Originally posted by ÜberJumper
Russo:

There was no forestry sim.
I was thinking it a rather weak premise for a game... I was also thinking where I got the idea Relic were doing one?

[Vijil]

its from the trees in the NSP3 forum skin.

mmm, combat chainsaws :)
GE trees that shoot ppl :D

[thesamonthemoon]

Vijil - This coming from a HW2 modder: I'm with you all the way.

Hopefully DoW will be modable, and if it is, I'll help you code the sim. Can't wait to see your concept art.

[ÜberJumper]

Russo:

It was shin or myself or someone that joked about it being a forestry sim on IRC when that image of the trees was first posted.

[El Russo]

I can only conclude that I was on at the time, and very very drunk...

I DEMAND RELIC MAKES A FORESTRY SIM RIGHT NOW!!!

[thesamonthemoon]

I hate to continue with such an off topic subject, but allow me to direct you to this thread: http://forums.relicnews.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=22076
(why it's on Tanis Shipyards, I have no idea... maybe a moderator could move it here?)

[The Collector]

"Dawn of War" might even imply Warhammer fantasy. By 40,000 there is no real dawn for anything. Except maybe the battles with the Tyranid Hive Fleets.

I'm still holding out for the Horus Heresy though. The image up top is either Horus or Abaddon since that lightning claw is probably unique, and Abaddon got it from Horus when he died?

http://criticalhit.co.uk/w40krp/WD199_Abaddon.shtml

At the moment, it's too early to make any sort of educated speculation. I deem the top picture to be a red herring.

[Falcrum]

Correct, I believe the lightning claw is the Talon of Horus (note the gauntlet-mouted storm bolter) and I think the figure is actually Horus, doesn't look like Abaddon (except maybe before he retreated to the Eye of Terror).
But remember it's only concept art after all, should'nt really be used to determine the exact setting of the game.

[Russian Ninja]

Nah, I doubt it could be either. The colour scheme of the armour is wrong, it's the Night Lord's colour scheme, not Black Legion or Luna Wolves or Sons of Horus (the 2 names the Black Legion used to be called). It can't be Abaddon because Abaddon has that distinctive hairstyle and also has a lot of trophies on his armour. It can't be Horus either, mainly because of the armour reason as there is no real set image of him.

I guess they just put the Bolters on to make it look better.

[blood_angel]

Im sorry but I have to say this is a potential step backwards for relic. If they thought Sierra meddling was bad wait til Games Workshop dictate everything.
If anyone knows Gamesworkshop they dont like RTS games made for their cash cows. Take Rites of War. A retro hexagonal turn based that was made well into the C&C proper RTS age.
Then theres the RTS's that were never released (but had plenty of screenies released as teasers) due to GW throwing a strop about them, prob worried itll take too much money from the overpriced paints and miniatures.

Ill be the first to apologise if my feelings are proved false. Potentially a killer RTS can be made from the rich universe that is WH40k. But no one has done it yet.

[ShineDog]

dudes, its just a chaos marine with a lightning claw, looks nothing like abaddon, and come on, its never going to be horus.

rites of war was terrible, no denying that.

but no warhammer game has had a decent dev team up till now

(i quite enjoyed the warhammer fantasy RTS games though)

[Shadione]

Originally posted by blood_angel
Im sorry but I have to say this is a potential step backwards for relic. If they thought Sierra meddling was bad wait til Games Workshop dictate everything.
If anyone knows Gamesworkshop they dont like RTS games made for their cash cows. Take Rites of War. A retro hexagonal turn based that was made well into the C&C proper RTS age.
Then theres the RTS's that were never released (but had plenty of screenies released as teasers) due to GW throwing a strop about them, prob worried itll take too much money from the overpriced paints and miniatures.

The games you mention were made at a different time, and under different circumstances. I don't know anything about their development, but I can assure you that is about as far from our experience as you can imagine. GW has started a new group dedicated to managing their video game titles, and they've been a joy to work with. They've already approved a mountain of game content, and have been very willing to compromise so that the game and the license are both served well.

In short, I can assure you that you can bury these concerns.

[Inquisitor]

Originally posted by The Collector
I'm still holding out for the Horus Heresy though.

That would be cool, no doubt, but I think I would rather DoW be based on an original story during the later history (or current history) of the 40K universe.

You don't have any room to fully stretch your creative muscles when bound to a story with predetermined outcomes. We know how the story ends. We know the main forces that took part in the conflict. We know what happens to the Emperor and to Horus during that momentous, final battle.

Also, by setting the game so early in the 40K timeline we also loose out on a lot of the factions, units, races, events, etc. that are already legendary in the current 40K universe. No Necrons, no 'Nids, no Tau, no Sisters of Battle (ahem)...you get the idea.

Maybe a Horus Heresy expansion or prequel sort of thing down the line, but I'd rather prefer Relic's first 40K storyline to be a bit more original.

[Tagy]

A wh40k game being made by Relic...

This is truly a dream come true for me (and many, many others), Relic responsible with HW and HW2, two games I just happen to love. And now the dev-team making DoW is full of warhammer fanatics... Mwahaha.

I hope we get the first screens soon enough... :)

[blood_angel]

Originally posted by Shadione


The games you mention were made at a different time, and under different circumstances. I don't know anything about their development, but I can assure you that is about as far from our experience as you can imagine. GW has started a new group dedicated to managing their video game titles, and they've been a joy to work with. They've already approved a mountain of game content, and have been very willing to compromise so that the game and the license are both served well.

In short, I can assure you that you can bury these concerns.

Then I stand corrected.
I guess GW must have finally come to the realisation that the digital medium is not a tool of satan.

They compromised? I assume this means they already had a list of what you can and cant do or include from the outset.

[Shadione]

Originally posted by blood_angel
They compromised? I assume this means they already had a list of what you can and cant do or include from the outset.

No, they've been pretty good about letting us do what we want, they just let us know when it isn't "Warhammer". Quite a painless process, actually. :)

What I mean is that when working with a license you may run into incompatabilities between your game and the content. They've been very good at working with us in these situations, suggesting workable changes and solutions in many cases. At heart, GW are game developers too, just for different types of games.

[IWAssassin]

Of course there seem to be two types of people at GW. The DevBoyz we've all come to love. And the Bean counters which they're infamous for.

If Relic gets to work with DevBoyz, we'll see a great game. If Relic is forced to work more with the Bean Counters... well we all know the results of the BeanCounters in the past... from Codicies with not even a casual run through for spelling errors, to need for endless FAQs because the DevBoyz never had time to properly test something, to things that are just downright horrible...

[Tyryt]

Originally posted by Shadione

No, they've been pretty good about letting us do what we want, they just let us know when it isn't "Warhammer". Quite a painless process, actually. :)


Yay! That means no resoursing, right? :)
We need more info... Uber, get one of those vibration microphones and attach it to their windows!

[Darkness]

hehe nice decrypting tyryt :)
and we shall let the swarm consume, got my dream tyranid army ready to go on the sheet here with equipment and all

i do hope this game will give us alot of equipment and armys to select

[Dagda]

I don't know 40K and RTS just dont give me a "warm fuzzy feeling" when I use them in the same paragraph. I guess we will have to wait for awhile to see how it comes together. It may be that I am thinking of the "Dune" type games more than I should unless this warfare is more in the vain of the "Epic" brand of 40K and we have to liberate entire cities and such to produce different types of units, and thats just for IG and Chaos type stuff.

I would rather have somthing that focused more toward squad and small tasks forces with me being able to micro manage things like their wargear and stuff like that. To be very honest I would love a computer game that mirriored the 40K rules line for line and I could play people online just like I do when I am able to collect enough friends to play 40K on the table. I know...Pipe Dreams...It seems like GW may be a bit to worried about their sales sinking if to many people played an online version and stoped painting the minis...

I just hope you guys include more than the boring human type armies, or atleast offer other armies as expansions.

[Mikk]

The forestry sim joke isn't funny anymore.

What is this... Warhammer... 40 000

[Darkness]

check out www.games-workshop.com

[Mikk]

Not very informative I may say

[Darkness]

well you have description of the warhammer universe there and all the races www.portent.net takes you the rest

[SirRunOn]

Wow, cool cool, so cool. A new 40k game, made by relic even.

Notes though on games workshop. These guys make just about the best gaming products out there however they are the most greedy bunch of our way or the highway british bloodsucking bastards you will ever run across. Even the american side guys in Glenn Burnie are hard to deal with.

Watch your backs relic dudes, gw has a habit of screwing out people for their own profits. Just ask local retailers that try to stock gw stuff and are shackled into buying the whole product line of warhammer and 40k, all the citadel paints, all the terrain, glues and every other horrendously high priced pos gw puts out. If a store wants to carry gw it has to put up about 15-20 feet of ceiling to floor wall space just for them. If that equation holds for video games, you could find yourself with an overly demanding partner, REALLY FAST.

Oh, and listening to Andy (humans suck I wanna be an elf) Chambers or Gav (hey... guess what mortars can't fire over things + I like making rules for game systems I know nothing about) Thorpe could quickly become death for your project. Thorpe writes some good books though, Last Chancers ONWARD!

Get your hands on some 2nd edition rules quick. If I see elite marine terminators dying in droves to lasrifle fire, I'm gonna puke... *again*

^_^ besta luck

[deggy]

We've found GW to be excellent licensors. The best I've ever worked with in fact. (much better than some of the super hero licenses, trust me!) And as Shadione has mentioned, they've been really easy to work with and very supportive of our development process.

The software development business is a little different from the retail business... in other words, we just make the game and let someone else worry about getting it on the shelf!

But thanks for the warning SirRunOn... we'll try to make sure you lot are the only demanding partners in our lives!

cheers!
-chris

[=FA=PingWraith]

lol

[Adalpheus]

Originally posted by SirRunOn
british bloodsucking bastards

This coming from an American? I know GW aren't the most likeable people on earth, and pretty ruthless businessmen but please don't just accuse them on the grounds of being british, especially seen as you come from a country that has been saying "our way or the highway" for the past fifty years...

[=FA=PingWraith]

this is not a 'my country is better than your country thread' if you have a testosterone abundance i am sure that we can find a few clubs for the both of you to beat the snot out of each other while we continue our conversation about WH40K

[Harry Palmer]

Hello

My name is Neil Roberts and I am one of the senior Character Artists here at Warhammer Online, UK. I've been keeping a keen eye on the developments on your site, being both in the industry, working closely with GW and a massive WH40K fan - I'm really looking forward to seeing how it all turns out. Keep us posted...

Neil Roberts
Senior Character Artist
Warhammer Online

[Mr Carrot]

I thought the truely appaling price rises came in with the new style management GW had to take on inorder to crack the US?

[magnet0]

now what the really should focus on is not so much 40k but battlefleet gothic, taking that game genre and putting it into a homeworld reality is much much better. they have so many ship types that relic will be overwhelmed with post to get the game done fast but thats my opinion

[Darkness]

yours alone

[Mustard]

I have a feeling WH40k is going to be more like IC than HW. Wouldn't the IC engine be perfect for a WH40K game? The amount of customization of units should work with Warhammer don't you think?

Anyhow, I thought IC is a good game which got overlooked, and I hope you Relic folk will be able to utilize the IC engine for WH40K.

Looking forward to a great game!

Btw, Darkness, your icon trips me out.

[Darkness]

hehe :) its the landing beacon for the tyranid swarms, im part of the great plan of theirs to consume all carbon based material

and im guessing theyll use a modified ic engine aye :)

[ObsceneName]

well the game has a pretty impressive A.I.
so i would say its Heavily modified.....
i just didnt like impossible creatures not because of the fact tha it sucked it was the oneline play every one used the exact same creatures..
whats the point of uber customization if there all same
but yeah its probably gonna have sometihng around the grounds of customization

[Van]

Perhaps this has been asked and answered already so please forgive a new forum member an obvious question...


Has there been any kind of announcement or hint indicating when there might be a FAQ addressing some of the questions the community has been asking?

[starrider]

nope

[Shadione]

Originally posted by Van
Has there been any kind of announcement or hint indicating when there might be a FAQ addressing some of the questions the community has been asking?

I wish I could say more than just soon, but I can't. So....

....soon.....

[=FA=PingWraith]

Give us something, lest i be foced to torture you extensively
http://www.urban75.com/Mag/bubble.html

[oldblood]

what will the concept of the new 40k be about? is it another game were you fight chaos? or will we the players be able to select the likes of Necrons, Imperial Guard, Sisters of Battle, Orks and all the other races in the boardgame? please let me know! thanks

[ObsceneName]

id perfer to see a mix of the ic and hw engine id like to see sqauds
formed from hw2 and how they fight but with the customization of ic