Battle Realms™: Zen Edition is a digital relaunch of the original Battle Realms & Battle Realms: Winter of the Wolf with working P2P multiplayer, a multitude of fixes and improvements published on Steam (Early Access) by Ed Del Castillo on December 3, 2019. The return of Battle Realms was first announced on November 14, 2019 on the official Facebook page.
Features[]
Unlike the 2013 re-release of Battle Realms + Winter Of The Wolf on GOG , Zen Edition is a project in active development featuring many improvements, fixes and online multiplayer support. Most notable features of the release would be:
- Active development. Steam Early Access & a plan to move the release and the franchise forward.
- Online P2P Multiplayer via Steam.
- Visual updates across the entire game (models, textures, visual effects and such).
- Modern hardware & software compatibility. D3D9 support.
- Increased FoV. Widescreen and Ultrawide resolutions. Multiple monitor support.
- Balance overhauls, new features, fixed critical gameplay bugs (see all updates ).
Steam Early Access[]
| "We like to think of games and game development as services that grow and evolve with the involvement of customers and the community. There have been a number of prominent titles that have embraced this model of development recently and found a lot of value in the process. We like to support and encourage developers who want to ship early, involve customers, and build lasting relationships that help everyone make better games." — Steam |
Edward Del Castillo's Statement on Early Access[]
- Why Early Access?
| "For us, Early Access is all about reengaging the Battle Realms player and opening a direct dialog between them and us. We want to recreate the vibrant Battle Realms community of the past and provide the kind of direct response to questions and problems that arise during high intensity gameplay.
Battle Realms isn't finished, and we intended it that way. Early Access lets us put the majority of the game on Steam and then accept the feedback from players to polish and hone the game to perfection. We are committed to making the best 1.0 possible and we want to bring the fans in from the very beginning to make the game that they want as much as we do." |
- Approximately how long will this game be in Early Access?
| "I'm hoping that it will be less than a year, but it is hard to tell right now. I want everything to work well and most, if not all bugs that we find, fixed." — Ed Del Castillo |
- How is the full version planned to differ from the Early Access version?
| "Currently we are only supporting English. I'd like to be supporting all the languages BR had in its final release, along with any bugs or exploits we find removed from play.
Beyond that we are hoping for a deeper integration with Steam - including achievements and the rest." |
- What is the current state of the Early Access version?
| "Battle Realms Early Access is almost as feature complete as the 2001 release of the game.
All resourcing is in, all training, upgrading, combat, FX, and environmental systems. The game should be fully playable as a single player game and up to 2v2 multiplayer. We are sorting out some minimap issues associated with interactions between the Steam Overlay and the game, and we are looking into ways of incorporating localizations in Spanish, French, Italian, and German. Originally these were all different versions with different builds but we are looking at what it would take to put it all into one version of the game." |
- Will the game be priced differently during and after Early Access?
| "Yes. For now the game will be priced at roughly half of what we intend to price it at once we reach 1.0." — Ed Del Castillo |
- How are you planning on involving the Community in your development process?
| "Community will become integral to making the best 1.0 version of the game possible. I encourage any bugs found be reported to Support@battlerealms.com as we are forming a database to handle the perfecting of the game. Beyond that, as interest allows we will consider making Battle Packs, Expansions, and potentially even sequels to the game." — Ed Del Castillo |
Notes[]
- The game received its first large-scale overhaul on December 15, 2022 with the release of the Update 1.58[1] that had been in development for almost a year. At the time of its release, the update generated a lot of positive feedback from the community.
Links[]
- Battle Realms: Zen Edition on Steam: Store page and hub for the game.
- Battle Realms on Discord: Official Discord server with the active community of Battle Realms.
- Battle Realms on Facebook: Official Facebook page.
- Battle Realms on Youtube: Official Youtube page.
- Battle Realms on Twitter: Official Twitter page.
- Battlerealms.com: Official website.
- Battle Realms Online Guide: Main hub for BR: ZE regarding its gameplay mechanics and other useful information.
- Battle Realms Reddit: Official Subreddit.