Given it has been so long since I formally released maps for Blood that an entire generation of fresh victims has been able to be raised within the time, it is prudent to offer some insight for the uninitiated onlooker.
In ages long past, before Blood had many of the exciting innovations which have since emerged, I set forth to create a campaign which would defy the prevalent trend at the time whereby incomplete projects were released with alarming frequency for Blood. In a twist of fate, I was seemingly not immune to such trends, and the project, then called Rage Against the Machine for a handful of reasons, one being that it was meant to topple the trend, did not succeed in as much that it failed to fulfill the promise of its name. I am proud to say, however, that it was largely held in high regard, but as with all things, eventually became submerged in the sands of time.
Now, a little over fifteen years later, and with myself working in secret for many of them, we are on the verge of seeing the second episode of the campaign finally release. Appropriately named
The Shadow Out of Time, the second episode will mark the resurrection of this creation, now
Fate of the Damned, and it will provide an all new, glorious experience for purveyors of Blood.
What awaits you, soon, is nothing less than a carefully crafted love letter to Blood made over the course of years. I have set out with intent to create a largely unforgettable experience to honour Blood's spirit, and while the campaign, certainly in moments yet to be revealed, will venture to strange domains and estates not seen in the original Blood, I attempt to keep everything bound by the game's fragile essence and to do things right by Blood's strict gameplay formula while pushing the boundaries respectfully in places.
If you are looking for a fantastic Blood adventure with an express intent to honour the game's spirit doused with an unhealthy amount of attention to detail: watch this space.
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Some might be wondering what this means for Rage Against the Machine. As the video above suggests, I am entirely rebranding it. While I think the old name certainly still succeeds in standing out, a fresh coat of paint is a good idea to mark its return to the spotlight. As discussed above, from a certain point of view it failed to live up to one aspect of its name, and I feel that the new title is better tonally for the story of the campaign, which of course has yet to be revealed in full.
The new release will include the original episode 1 and its cutscenes, but the cutscenes have been heavily improved. The maps for episode 1 have been tweaked quite a bit in subtle ways, though they are still largely similar structurally to how they were in v1.0. When released, the project will include a readme file documenting all the major changes for episode 1's maps for the rare people who read such things. I strongly advise that anyone looking to play or re-play episode 1 rather wait for Fate of the Damned v1.1, as it will be a much smoother and more pleasant experience.
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Here is a list of the features that you will soon be able to immerse yourself in, which I've taken from
Mod DB:
Mod DB wrote:The version 1.1 release will contain the following features:
- 2 episodes consisting of 18 maps total, which fully support Single Player, Co-operative, Bloodbath and Capture the Flag across all difficulty settings.
- A series of exhilarating, all new, low resolution cutscenes which tell the campaign's story.
- Lots of new, chilling music as an optional extra.
- A splash of custom art that is used sparingly.
- A large amount of fiendish secrets waiting to be discovered.
- Challenging and occasionally downright unfair encounters with BLOOD's monsters, unsuitable for those whose faith is weak.
- Support for the NBlood and BloodGDX ports - to a point.
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Finally, in closing, here are but a few more modest screamshots to gaze at, again marked as spoilers for those who wish to go in completely blind: