Gaelyn had been preparing all his life for this moment, ever since The High Council prohibited Magickal Combat unless taking place in Sanctioned Tournaments he knew this is what he wanted to do with his life. 10 years of Magick School, as the Commoners called it, had finally gotten him to this moment in time ... his first Sanctioned Tournament.

He was nervous, but all the old Wizards and Mages told him that the really good ones were always nervous before a Match. Faintly the crowds cheers could be heard in the Arena, he could tell the start was getting close by the franctic Jeers and Whoops that he could discern. This was his time ... this was the moment he would show the world that he was the best there is ... the blue glow of the Tournament Teleport Spell started appearing around him and all Gaelyn could do was smile...

Recently I took some inspiration from Guimo and his Warscale project and decided that I need to get serious about my Game Development again. So the time has come to dust off and old project that I had shelved and get things moving. So this is the first status update (in what I hope to be many more) of the game and it's progress.

What is Wizard Wars?
This is a game concerning the imaginary conflict between powerful Wizards in a duel of sorcery. The opponents perform magickal gestures with their hands to create their supernatural weapons - spells. Some are so potent as to be able to blind a man, call forth terrifying creatures, or even kill the unfortunate victim instantly.

Consequently each Wizard must rely on his own cunning to be able to time enough defensive spells to avoid the brunt of his adversary's attack, yet force in sufficient offensive spells of his own to crack the magickal armor of his opponent, and banish the Wizard from the Arena.

The game is an attempt to capture the spirit of such a battle in as simple yet exciting way as possible. This paper version of the game originally appeared on "rec.games.abstract", and has been modified in order to make it successfully translate to a computer game.

In honor of the first blog, I have provided FREE downloadable Backdrops for your PC/Mac in all the formats your heart can desire.

1024x768
1152x864
1280x1024
1280x768
1280x800
1280x960
1366x768
1440x900
1600x1200
1600x900
1680x1050
1920x1080
1920x1200

We are currently deep into the Design Phase and are busy finalising the Design Document, which at this point in time is about 75% complete. Whil I have been waiting for some comments from the other member of the team I have been working on the core of the Game Engine which is based on Torque 3D.

The next phase will see me focusing on the Visual aspect of the game with particular attention paid to the UI and HUD. I should be able to provide some screenshots of those elements in the next update.

Until then, enjoy the backdrops and keep the Magick Alive.