Head Log: 06.16.08

Hello all Rune players! And to the Rune 7th Anniversary contestants in particular:

We at Human Head are very grateful for your continued support of Rune. We also wanted to let you all know that we are very impressed with the quality of the submissions for the Rune 7th Anniversary Contest. Great work, everyone! We are honored by the quality of your creations and the obvious talent and effort that went into their development. Human Head raises a horn of mead to each and every one of the contest entrants.

Human Head would very much like to thank Phil Pliuskonis of · Rune2.Net and Laurie Wise of RuneGame.com for their invaluable efforts in hosting and co-designing this contest. Without Phil's excellent work designing, developing, and maintaining the beautiful contest website Runeiverse.com, Laurie's deep knowledge of the Rune community, and Laurie's and Phil's constant evaluation and adjustment to the voting system, the Contest could simply not have happened. We at Human Head raise a hefty mug of mead to the both of you!

Now before we get too light-headed from all the mead-raising, we'd like to let the winners know that we are in the process of collecting all of their addresses and shirt sizes (we promise to stay sober enough to get the addresses correctly assigned to the labels). The shirts are being printed as we speak, and we expect to be able to send out the prizes within two weeks.

On a side-note, as that information comes in, we continue to be impressed not only at the talent of the Rune community, but of its global reach. Playing Rune is truly an international experience, and Human Head is proud to be a part of it.

Thanks to you all,

Everyone at Human Head Studios

Head Log: 03.04.08

Hello, Rune fans around the world! Got a good Viking level, drawing, or story on the brain? Then get it down and digital and submit it to the Rune 7th Anniversary Contest!

To celebrate the 7th anniversary of Rune's release, Human Head Studios, RuneGame.com, and Rune2.net are sponsoring a taking-all-comers contest for original creative content based on themes, characters, and environments from the Rune universe.

Prizes: The T-Shirts

There are fifteen equal prizes: T-shirts from a very limited run of same, specially designed by Human Head and that evoke the original “developer” shirts from Rune’s release.

The Competitive Categories

There are three submission categories, with five prizes in each category:

Mapping

Please submit your very best multiplayer Rune map for consideration. There can be only one map per entrant. The zip file size should be no more than 3mb. The map should be accompanied by any necessary additional documentation (readme.txt) and any necessary support files so that it can be easily accessed and played. The map does not have to be brand-new for the contest; you may submit existing work for consideration.

However, the map must not have been submitted to any previous mapping contest.

The maps will be judged on flow and balance, creativity, aesthetic quality and consistency, performance, and the all-important “fun factor.”

Fiction

Have you been inspired by the Rune universe? Either continuing Ragnar's adventure, or introduce other characters of the Viking age? Here is your chance! Send in your stories -- We would love to read them!

Please submit your very finest literary treatment of Viking lore set in the Rune universe. The work should be no more than thirty pages, and may be a short story or may constitute a chapter in a larger work. Regardless, the submitted writing should stand on its own and encapsulate a story or event. The work should be submitted in English, and there must be only one submission per entrant.

The work will be judged on creativity and creative use of the Rune characters and their universe. It will also be judged on the quality of the writing itself: command of the language, proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation, and the writer’s personal flair

Concept and Illustration

Please submit your vision of the Rune World and its denizens, both known and as yet undiscovered, in JPG format for consideration. The work will be judged on a number of merits: originality, creativity, execution and aesthetics, style and overall completeness of the effort. There can be only one submission per entrant in this category.

Concept work will tend toward the visual realization of new characters and environments within the Rune universe.

Illustrative work will tend toward a narrative or aesthetic expression of characters and environments within the Rune universe.

Submissions and Moderators

An individual may make a single submission into no more than two of the three categories as identified above: Fiction, Mapping, and Concept/Illustration. All work submitted for judging must be original.

In any category, any submission that is determined in Human Head’s sole discretion to have been plagiarized will be removed from consideration.

The moderators for the contest are Laurie Wise of RuneGame, Phil (Socketboy) Pliuskonis of Rune2, and Ted Halsted of Human Head Studios. Human Head Studios reserves the right to make final decisions on matters relating to the contest and the awarding of prizes.

Duration of Contest

The contest will run between March 1st and May 1st. This is the time frame in which you must make your formal submission to the website

There will then be a ten-day period for voting. The winners will be formally announced on May 15th. The moderators will then collect the addresses of the winners and a brand-new Ragnar T-shirt will be on its way to your mailbox from Human Head Studios.

Voting The entries will be posted on the · Rune 7th Anniversary website and will be voted on there by Rune fans and Human Head staff. Each voter gets to put a vote into each category, for a total of three votes.

In the case of a tie, an additional T-shirt will be awarded.

The Vibe

Just as the Rune game is about competition with a grin, so is this Rune contest. It’s about celebrating people’s creative abilities and a game we love to play. Everyone at Human Head and the Rune community looks forward to seeing all of your creative endeavors!

Additional

These limited-run T-shirts are intended as prizes, and there are currently no plans to sell them on the Human Head Website.

Legal

All submissions become the property of Human Head Studios. Human Head Studios retains the right, but has no obligation, to use any submission, a facsimile of any submission or any derivative of any submission in any upcoming Rune-related video game title or for any purpose whatsoever. Contest participants retain no rights, moral or otherwise, in any contest submission. Any disputes related to the contest shall be resolved by Human Head Studios in their sole discretion, and contest participants agree to be bound by these terms through their act of participation.

· Rune 7th Anniversary Contest website The Head

Head Log: 07.23.07

As part of our ongoing recovery, we are happy to announce that the Headshop is back online! Stop on over at the store and stock up on our games!

Head Log: 04.24.07

Hello, everyone.

As many of you know, the office building in which Human Head Studios is located suffered a significant fire early on Friday, April 20th.

We are relieved to report that no one was injured in the fire, and though we suffered some equipment and furniture loss due to smoke and water, we suffered no significant data loss, as the brunt of the fire was located in another part of the building.

We’re excited to let our concerned friends know that this speed bump won’t keep us from continuing our development of great new award-winning product. We will be relocating to a new office space for the short term, and we expect to be back in full development very soon.

We are working to have email communication back up later this week. Postal communication may still be sent to our old address and will be forwarded to us. You can still reach us by phone as well.

We’re very proud of the great team at Human Head, which has come together to clean up, clear out, and start rebuilding since word spread Friday morning,.

We would like to thank everybody for their understanding, encouragement, and patience as we recover.

Thank you,

Human Head Studios

Head Log: 01.27.07
Prey News: Native Peoples Magazine

We just received word from writer Michael Sheyahshe that his article on Native American portrayals in video games has been published in the January/February issue of Native Peoples Magazine. His article is featured under the "Viewpoint" column. In it, he outlines the history of Native Americans in the world of video games and he gives a big thumbs up to PREY. Buy the issue currently on the newstands to read all about it.

Head Log: 10.13.06

Hello, and welcome to the new Human Head Studios website!
Our home on the web has been completely revamped and rebuilt
from the ground up. Our first order of business will be to update
everyone on what we have been up to recently.

New Home

Aside from our new virtual home, Human Head has a new real-world home. After many good years at our old office space, we’ve moved into new, larger digs that are better suited to both our current and future needs.

Our new space was custom-built for us, with large conference rooms, spacious offices and work areas, as well as a brand new office theater with stadium seating and a killer sound system. It makes playing games and watching movies that much sweeter.
Yeah, we’re pretty happy here.

New PC/Console Game Release: PREY

This summer saw the release of our latest offering, the mind- bending first-person shooter PREY for the PC and Xbox 360. PREY’s release was the culmination of five years’ worth of hard work and it’s an amazing thrill to finally see the game fully realize and in the
hands of the gaming public.

        
   

The response has been phenomenal with both critics and gamers.
You can check out what folks are saying by checking out PREY
Reviews Here (click on "Press" link, "Reviews")

We threw a bash in downtown Madison to commemorate the launch of PREY. With an attendance of over 200 people, the party was a major event. We featured a MultiPrey area where people could
check out the game, and topped it all off with a rousing
performance by Kid Beyond.

New Adventure Games Division Release: VILLAINY

Our Adventure Game Division, which produces card, board,
and roleplaying games launched the card game VILLAINY
in early July as well.

       

The first set, EVIL MASTERMINDS, showcases three separate
decks and is currently for sale at game stores worldwide.

Gamers can choose from Mugga Mugga, the supreme simian,
Dr. Oblongata, the mad scientist, or Mallory Maleficarum,
the petulant teenage witch.

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