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Alan Miranda
Alan Miranda is an American computer game designer. Career Alan Miranda is a previous BioWare employee, who had worked on '' Dungeons & Dragons'' titles like ''Neverwinter Nights'' and '' Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal''. In 2003, he left BioWare to form his own company, Ossian Studios, with his wife Elizabeth Starr. Miranda approached BioWare joint CEO Greg Zeschuk in 2005 to discuss the possibility of Ossian developing a "premium module" for ''Neverwinter Nights''. Premium modules were adventures created for ''Neverwinter Nights'' by BioWare and other companies. BioWare had been given autonomy on the premium module process from the game's publisher, Atari, and Zeschuk approved Miranda's proposal. Miranda's initial draft of the project was a pirate-themed adventure in the Sword Coast, which happened to be the same idea that BioWare itself was creating a premium module for, '' Neverwinter Nights: Pirates of the Sword Coast''. Miranda revised the concept and chose the West ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zeschuk. Since 2007, the company has been owned by American publisher Electronic Arts. BioWare specializes in role-playing video games, and achieved recognition for developing highly praised and successful licensed franchises: ''Baldur's Gate'', ''Neverwinter Nights'', and ''Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic''. They proceeded to make several other successful games based on original intellectual property: ''Jade Empire'', the ''Mass Effect'' series, and the ''Dragon Age'' series. In 2011, BioWare launched their first massively multiplayer online role-playing game, ''Star Wars: The Old Republic''. History Foundation BioWare was founded by Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk, alongside Trent Oster, his brother Brent, Zeschuk's cousin Marcel, and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dungeons & Dragons
''Dungeons & Dragons'' (commonly abbreviated as ''D&D'' or ''DnD'') is a fantasy tabletop role-playing game (RPG) originally designed by Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. The game was first published in 1974 by TSR (company)#Tactical Studies Rules, Tactical Studies Rules, Inc. (TSR). It has been published by Wizards of the Coast (now a subsidiary of Hasbro) since 1997. The game was derived from miniature wargaming, miniature wargames, with a variation of the 1971 game Chainmail (game), ''Chainmail'' serving as the initial rule system. ''D&D'' publication is commonly recognized as the beginning of modern role-playing games and the role-playing game industry, and also deeply influenced video games, especially the role-playing video game genre. ''D&D'' departs from traditional wargame, wargaming by allowing each player to create their own Player character, character to play instead of a military formation. These characters embark upon adventures within a fantasy setting. A Dungeon Mas ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neverwinter Nights (2002 Video Game)
''Neverwinter Nights'' is a third-person role-playing video game developed by BioWare. Interplay Entertainment was originally set to publish the game, but financial difficulties led to it being taken over by Infogrames, who released the game under their Atari range of titles. It was released for Microsoft Windows on June 18, 2002. BioWare later released a Linux client in June 2003, requiring a purchased copy of the game to play. MacSoft released a Mac OS X port in August 2003. ''Neverwinter Nights'' is set in the fantasy world of the ''Forgotten Realms'' campaign setting, with the game mechanics based on the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' 3rd edition rules. The game engine was designed around an Internet-based model for running a massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), which would allow end users to host game servers. Up to 64 players could connect to a single server. The intent was to create a potentially infinite massively multiplayer game framework. This game was named after the ori ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Throne Of Bhaal
''Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal'' is an expansion pack for the role-playing video game '' Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn''. It adds a multi-level dungeon called Watcher's Keep to the game and completes the main plot. There are several new weapons, a higher level cap, a further refined Infinity graphics engine, and new class-related features and magical skills. The novelization of the game was written by Drew Karpyshyn and released in September 2001. Gameplay The gameplay is similar to previous entries in the ''Baldur's Gate'' series, with the player controlling a party of up to six characters, including the protagonist, who can be custom designed at the beginning of the game. The player can also import their character from either ''Baldur's Gate'' or '' Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn''. In expanding from the original game, ''Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal'' adds a number of features that distinguish it from the original. It is set in a number of new locations in Teth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Greg Zeschuk
Gregory Zeschuk is a Canadian businessman who was a VP at Electronic Arts and General Manager at BioWare Austin until 2012. He co-founded video game developer BioWare in Edmonton in 1995 with Ray Muzyka and Augustine Yip, after all three earned their medical degrees from the University of Alberta. Zeschuk announced his retirement from BioWare on September 18, 2012. He is currently involved in a number of projects related to the craft-beer industry, including the production of a web-based interview show known as "The Beer Diaries." Greg is also the chairman of the board of the smart playground technology startup, Biba Ventures based in Vancouver, BC. BioWare projects credited with platforms and dates * ''Shattered Steel'' (PC and Mac, 1996) * ''Baldur's Gate'' (PC and Mac, 1998) ** '' Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast'' (PC and Mac, 1999) * ''MDK2'' (Dreamcast and PC, 2000) * '' Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn'' (PC and Mac, 2000) ** '' Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Atari
Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., founded in Sunnyvale, California, in 1972 by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, was a pioneer in arcade games, home video game consoles and home computers. The company's products, such as ''Pong'' and the Atari 2600, helped define the electronic entertainment industry from the 1970s to the mid-1980s. In 1984, as a result of the video game crash of 1983, the home console and computer divisions of the original Atari Inc. were sold off, and the company was renamed Atari Games, Atari Games Inc. Atari Games received the rights to use the logo and brand name with appended text "Games" on arcade games, as well as the derivative coin-operated arcade rights to the original 1972–1984 arcade hardware properties. The Atari Consumer Electronics Division ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sword Coast
A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed tip. A slashing sword is more likely to be curved and to have a sharpened cutting edge on one or both sides of the blade. Many swords are designed for both thrusting and slashing. The precise definition of a sword varies by historical epoch and geographic region. Historically, the sword developed in the Bronze Age, evolving from the dagger; the earliest specimens date to about 1600 BC. The later Iron Age sword remained fairly short and without a crossguard. The spatha, as it developed in the Late Roman army, became the predecessor of the European sword of the Middle Ages, at first adopted as the Migration Period sword, and only in the High Middle Ages, developed into the classical arming sword with crossguard. The word ''sword'' continues t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pirates Of The Sword Coast
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, vessels used for piracy are pirate ships. The earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean civilization, Aegean and Mediterranean civilisations. Narrow channels which funnel shipping into predictable routes have long created opportunities for piracy, as well as for privateering and commerce raiding. Historic examples include the waters of Gibraltar, the Piracy in the Strait of Malacca, Strait of Malacca, Madagascar, the Piracy off the coast of Somalia, Gulf of Aden, and the English Channel, whose geographic structures facilitated pirate attacks. The term ''piracy'' generally refers to maritime piracy, although the term has been generalize ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
