To start off, David explained a bit about how the mechanics work in the game. All vital information, from your current party to the monster you're fighting, is accessible via several interface windows along the edges of the screen. Each and every interface window can be resized, moved, and manipulated in order to set your display however you feel it's most efficient. The options screen is quite advanced, as well, providing a great number of audio and video settings to ensure the best performance from virtually any system specifications. In addition, you can assign keyboard shortcuts for many regular tasks.

The pre-order pack gives you exclusive acces to in-game items and to a quest that is only available by pre-ordering Horizons - Empire of Istaria. By entering the unique key code contained in the pre-order pack when registering the full game, you will be given the chance to identify yourself as one of the first to pioneer a new frontier.

Includes:
* Sneak preview of "The Making of Horizons"
* Promotional Videos
* Fan-site Kit
* Desktop Background Art
* Animated Game Characters
* Exclusive Key Code

Once I arrived in the town I was greeted by Mr. Bowman's huge green dragon. They haven't fibbed when they said the older dragons were big! He escorted us to the newbie monster fields where many undead zombies and maggots meandered around. Mr Bowman told us a little bit about the combat system and special attacks that we had and then told us to try them out for a bit as he had something he wanted to show us. Hand to hand was pretty straight forward when killing these, for us, underpowered monsters, we could kill them with a single un-enhanced swing. During our mass killing the Dragon was busy summoning these two huge bloated monsters called Ruxus, anyone familiar with warhammer they look like squigs on a massive scale...A huge mouth on to small legs. Mr. Bowman's dragon started off our fight by softening the monsters up a little bit for us then we ensued with the tail kicking. I am really not one for hand to hand fighting, if involved in combat would rather waggle my fingers at the monster from a safe distance, but it was very enjoyable. As short as our little combat lasted it was completely noticeable that the special moves the combat specialists receive will be needed and the person will have to put a bit of thought into when they should use them as they all have timers on them. While talking about the combat specialists, not all the skills bestowed upon them are just special moves some of them improve the owners use of certain items and skills.

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Among the cities in Artifact Entertainment's Horizons: Empire of Istaria, the Dwarven citadel of Aughundell is said to be the closest to impregnable. Situated within a mountain range, it's built right into the solid slopes of Mount Grenaden. Augmenting this already formidable natural barrier are multiple layers of defensive bulwarks skilfully planned and placed to channel the attackers into constricted spaces, thereby reducing the advantage of sheer numbers - and even if the defenders are pushed back, each fortification provides an opportunity to regroup. The validity of this design was proven forever during the period called the Lament, when the Dwarves, although sorely pressed, were ultimately able to fend off the forces of the Withered Aegis. The city's narrow, serpentine corridors may not seem the most appropriate for commerce, but the craftsmanship of its stone construction is undeniable.

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The first thing we did was to check out Bowman, who played as a dragon, one of the nine playable races you can use in Horizons. Bowman guided us through the game’s user interface, which consists of a Windows like interface that is very customizable and movable in your player HUD. Bowman showed us how we could create a sword in the game via a formula already put into our inventory. We then walked over to a village blacksmith where we saw that we didn’t have enough bronze to make the sword. Resources are a big point in Horizons and can be gathered and stored by characters for use in creating weapons, items and even houses in the game. Bowman gave use some bronze resources which we then used to make a sword with a click of the mouse button. There is also an option to risk using part of the recommended resource to make your item which might actually make what you want or fail.

Can you give us any details on the Ritual of Life Everlasting, or the Realm of Blight?

The Realm of Blight is one of many extra-planar worlds in the Horizons game universe. Specifically, the Realm of Blight is an alien place of darkness, evil, and corruption that has invaded the Prime realm of existence, or simply “The Prime”. The curse of “undeath” is said to originate from the Realm of Blight, and it is not uncommon to call the undead “blighted”. Oddly enough though, it was a Human from the Prime (Torrin Macalir) who learned to master the powers of the Realm of Blight, creating the Withered Aegis from various powerful entities from the Realm of Blight, along with his cadre of necromantic allies. Still, the Realm of Blight has always existed, much like the other realms do, and will always be tied to the Prime in one way or another. One of the first major goals of the Living Races will be to try and defeat the remnants of the Withered Aegis and break the stranglehold the Realm of Blight has on the Prime.

The Ritual of Life Everlasting is the foundation for the player’s ability to circumvent the usual associations with death. In gamer speak, it explains why you don’t stay dead when you die. As far as the Horizons game world is concerned, the Ritual’s effects were accidental. The original intent of the mages who enacted the Ritual was merely to try and stifle some of the necromantic powers of the Withered Aegis. Instead, it started a sort of forced evolutionary advance for the Living Races, giving them in essence a taste of immortality. It will be up to the players to discover the new powers they have been given over the course of play (all players are considered to be “Gifted”, or affected by the effects of the Ritual).

<Lepidus> <Nelson> Will Horizons ship to Canada the same day as the United States or will it be held back a few days?
<Steve_Snow> Horizons will be available in Canada at the same time it is available in the United States.

<Lepidus> EVERYONE & THEIR DOG: Can you give us a release date update?
<Steve_Snow> Right now, we are targetting a November release for Horizons.

What’s an average day in the life of Steve Escalante like?
I generally get in the office around 8:30-9:00. Most of my mornings are filled with conference calls with Atari, our European hosting partner Game Network, or any of the many partners we work with (hosting, billing, merchandising, etc.). These typically end around lunchtime. I get an occasional call from some of the third party websites. I skip lunch; touch base with my web master (Noel Graham) and marketing artist (Fil Worobey) to make sure we are still on track with our current plans. Todd Jones is the man for our trailers. There is typically a trailer in production 24/7, so he and I discuss where he is and what he needs. Throughout this day I am working with the merchandising partners, making sure they have the art assets and content they need. Screenshot creation is always a bear, but Fil ensures we get some new ones as often as possible. There is typically something to work on in that respect. In the evening I try to get back to the many contracts I am negotiating. This usually entails many long phone calls with these other companies/partners to make sure we are in agreement. Then I write up my changes and send it off to legal. Around 7 pm I get in touch with Asia since it is the start of their day. In between the conversations with the companies in Asia I answer questions Atari has sent me via email and try to get interviews, Q&As and other online features done.

We are currently taking questions for our next Q&A with Steve Snow, Producer for the Horizons project. You can submit your questions in the Horizons Q&A #5: Steve Snow - Question Thread.

• New Content
• New Forums
• and the public release of our exclusive Horizons Summer Trailer!

Horizons Vault Developer Chat
Who? David Bowman and Steve Snow
When? Wednesday September 10th - 8PM EST
Where? The IGN IRC server (chat1.ign.com) in #Horizons

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Head on over to Gamer's Pulse to check out the other two official wallpapers!