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Voodoo Extreme has the story that talented development house Troika Games has closed its doors as a result of lack of funding for future projects. Rumours of their closure have circled for the last week or so, but today's announcement makes the closure official. Troika is best known for its table-top RPG adaptations, such as The Temple of Elemental Evil and games based on Vampire: The Masquerade. From the announcement: "We want to thank all of our fans for their support these past seven years, it has really meant a lot to us that there were people out there who enjoyed our games enough to create fan-sites and follow our progress as a company. But we especially want to thank all of our employees - we had the pleasure of working with the some of the most dedicated, hard working, creative people in the industry, and we really appreciate all that they did for Troika."

An anonymous reader writes "The No Mutants Allowed website has gotten hold of some screenshots of a post-apocalyptic RPG that was in development at Troika Games - the news story claims: 'Due to recent developments, [the prototype has] currently been put on hold.' Did the recent acquisition of the Fallout license by Bethesda kill chances of a Fallout 3 made by the game's original development team?" A recent messageboard post at the Troika-based Terra Arcanum fansite also suggests: "According to several unconfirmed rumors... Troika were also in the bidding for the license. In the end though... Troika were simply out-gunned."

Thanks to Eurogamer.net for their preview of Vampire:The Masquerade - Bloodlines, with new info and screenshots on the FPS/RPG hybrid from Troika, the creators of Fallout and Arcanum, and the first announced title apart from Half-Life 2 to use Valve's Source Engine. According to a Troika representative, "Bloodlines is the first game to combine the classic RPG feel with a first person shooter engine", and Eurogamer also single out the return of the classic RPG 'conversation tree' as providing fresh gameplay ideas: "For example, your character may have excellent seduction skills, or be part of a specific clan that allows you to ask questions or offer responses otherwise unavailable to you, and these 'special' branches of the conversation will be shown in a different font to indicate this."

Thanks to Eurogamer.net for their preview of Vampire:The Masquerade - Bloodlines, with new info and screenshots on the FPS/RPG hybrid from Troika, the creators of Fallout and Arcanum, and the first announced title apart from Half-Life 2 to use Valve's Source Engine. According to a Troika representative, "Bloodlines is the first game to combine the classic RPG feel with a first person shooter engine", and Eurogamer also single out the return of the classic RPG 'conversation tree' as providing fresh gameplay ideas: "For example, your character may have excellent seduction skills, or be part of a specific clan that allows you to ask questions or offer responses otherwise unavailable to you, and these 'special' branches of the conversation will be shown in a different font to indicate this."

An anonymous reader writes "Just writing to let you guys know that UGO has an interview with Tim Cain, co-founder of Troika Games (makers of Arcanum), talking about their latest game, Dungeons And Dragons: The Temple of Elemental Evil. The game appears to be based off the popular D+D module of the same name. Cain is best known for his work on the fantastic Fallout games from Interplay."

An anonymous reader writes "Just writing to let you guys know that UGO has an interview with Tim Cain, co-founder of Troika Games (makers of Arcanum), talking about their latest game, Dungeons And Dragons: The Temple of Elemental Evil. The game appears to be based off the popular D+D module of the same name. Cain is best known for his work on the fantastic Fallout games from Interplay."

According to Gamespot, who have exclusive details and a single piece of concept art up, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines has been announced for PC, courtesy of publisher Activision and developer Troika Games (of Arcanum and former Fallout-involvement fame.) Quite apart from the excellent RPG pedigree of the team working on it, this is an FPS blend which is the first announced third-party title to utilise Valve's Source Engine, as being used in the gorgeous-looking Half-Life 2.

According to Gamespot, who have exclusive details and a single piece of concept art up, Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines has been announced for PC, courtesy of publisher Activision and developer Troika Games (of Arcanum and former Fallout-involvement fame.) Quite apart from the excellent RPG pedigree of the team working on it, this is an FPS blend which is the first announced third-party title to utilise Valve's Source Engine, as being used in the gorgeous-looking Half-Life 2.

chadeo writes "Ok all you arm chair game developers, listen up. Over at RPG Codex there are currently 4 articles, written by professionals in the industry, on RPG design. There is A Christmas lesson in CRPG design by Timothy Cain, Thoughts on RPG development by Leon Boyarsky, Hand of Gosh Darn Good Design by Chris Taylor, and Treatise on Combat to Pink Floyd by Gareth Davies. All of them are a great read, and you can join in the discussion with the authors and see how your ideas stack up. What do you think is the key to a great RPG?"

chadeo writes "Ok all you arm chair game developers, listen up. Over at RPG Codex there are currently 4 articles, written by professionals in the industry, on RPG design. There is A Christmas lesson in CRPG design by Timothy Cain, Thoughts on RPG development by Leon Boyarsky, Hand of Gosh Darn Good Design by Chris Taylor, and Treatise on Combat to Pink Floyd by Gareth Davies. All of them are a great read, and you can join in the discussion with the authors and see how your ideas stack up. What do you think is the key to a great RPG?"