The Future of the Imperium

(HILARIOS APRIL FOOLS POST BY MAC, don't take it seriously, or your mind just might turn into mush:)

Some of you have no doubt begun to wonder about the Imperiums future prospects, given the amount of work done recently and the amount of work left to do. We are sad to announce that the Hammerite Imperium campaign as you know it, and any involvement with the Thief universe and engine, has come to an end.

This is mostly due to the lack of progress we have made over the past few months (bugger all). Also, our lead architect, Alexius, has had to leave the project after snagging a job as an apprentice architect on Toronto's new catholic cathedral. We wish him the best of luck.

This change of plans is also due to the fact that the Dark Engine isn't really getting any younger. T2x is out soon, riding the comet tail of the engine's power. The Thief Community are notorious for their demand for state of the art game engines. They demand heat haze, bump mapping and vortycex polydrones. With Dromed we simply cannot supply that demand.

What remains of the team have had a long talk on the phone and decided to carry on with the Imperium as our own mod for either Doom 3 or Quake 4, depending on how much planning we get done before the latter is released. This new project will be in no way related to the Dark Mod. It will be a solely multi player orientated experience, with no single player function. Though it will feature many things in common with the Thief franchise, such as the steampunk setting, it will not be stealth based.

The mod will tell the tale of a society of fanatical religious monks who compete in a set of violent tournaments for spiritual superiority. As well as a health bar, you will have to regulate your own creaking faith in the divine maker by collecting morale boosting hymns that litter the playing arena. Forcing more than four enemies to give up the ghost in a short space of time will give you a special ‘catharsis!’ bonus run, with maximum hit points for your warhammer. At the end of every tournament you will face a ‘boss’, a spirit from the abyss that wishes to destroy you and warp your theistic worldview to nihilism. During each game, one player takes a back seat to the action and plays as the lord constructor himself, operating the various tricks and traps that doth lie around the massive cathedrals and hellish environments that make up your world.

We will strive for architectural perfection as always. Alexius has not abandoned us completely! He hath blessed our project with holy water, utterly destroying my hard drive.

- Mac