Lifeless Planet creator teams with Fallout: Nuka Break studio for live-action film
Lifeless Planet is a game I really wanted to like.
is a game I really wanted to like. It's built around an incredibly intriguing premise about a one-way mission to an alien world, and the discovery that you're not actually the first to visit. It ultimately didn't live up to my expectations, but I've never stopped thinking that it's still a really fantastic idea. Apparently I'm not the only one.
Lifeless Planet creator David Board revealed a new Kickstartertoday aimed at funding the creation of Lifeless Planet: Arrival, a live-action film focusing on the two members of the crew who leave the doomed spaceship to explore ahead of the game's protagonist. The game never delves into what drove them to leave their fellow astronaut behind, what they experienced during their time on the alien world, or how they came to grief; the film, however, "is their story."
Several production companies had expressed interest in making a Lifeless Planet film, Board said, but he opted to go with Wayside Creations, a studio with a history of game-related projects including Fallout: Nuka Break, Aperture R&D, and a Legend of Grimrock series that was successfully Kickstartedearlier this year. The film is expected to run five to seven minutes in length, although it could be expanded into something bigger with sufficient funding: The initial Kickstarter goal is $20,000, but Board said stretch goals will be added later.
As Board says in the Kickstarter pitch video, Lifeless Planet's success is due primarily to its story, and while I would have preferred to see it fleshed out within the game itself, it's a pretty natural fit for film, too. I was initially attracted to the game by the cinematic quality of its teasers, so I'm actually pretty optimistic about Arrival working out—assuming it gets funded, of course.
The Lifeless Planet: Arrival Kickstarter is live now and runs until November 10.
Black Ops 2 PC and Lego Lord of the Rings 360 disc mix-ups
If you bought Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for PC or Lego Lord of the Rings for Xbox 360, you might want to check your discs real quick. Users have reported some truly bizarre mix-ups for both games which left them with either demo versions or the wrong game entirely. Game Informer reports users (as well as one of its own writers) have discovered only a demo disc for Lego Lord of The Rings--clearly labeled
Lifeless Planet aims to put "adventure" back in "action-adventure"
I hate getting my hopes up only to have them brutally dashed against overwhelming odds, but sometimes I can't help it.
I hate getting my hopes up only to have them brutally dashed against overwhelming odds, but sometimes I can't help it. Case in point: Lifeless Planet. Based on the creator's description and trailer, it's a game I'd kill to play. Luckily, that won't be necessary, as Kickstarterisn't powered by any sort of human sacrifices (that I know of). Instead, you need only drop a few coins into the project's hat, and you'll even be generously rewarded for your troubles.
So, what's the game about? In a nutshell, it takes place in a universe where humanity's taken to the stars, and one astronaut stumbles across what he assumes to be an uninhabited planet - which sort of goes with the whole "lifeless" territory. Before long, though, he stumbles across the abandoned remains of a Russian civilization. That's right: space Russians . Here, though, is the part that really sold me on the project:
"The goal of Lifeless Planet is to put the 'adventure' back in 'action-adventure,'" wrote creator David Board. "I grew up loving games like Out of this World, The Dig, and ICO, and I want to create a gaming experience in the spirit of those classic adventure games."
That, of course, sounds like a breath of fresh air in a sea of games that don't let you take two steps without causing some sort of explosion-based genocide. Better still, if all goes according to plan (read: people contribute enough money), Board hopes to have the game finished in "under a year." More specifically, July 2012 seems to be the goal.
So then, if you're feeling generous, why not contribute a few bucks? Honestly, the Kickstarter rewards pretty much justify the cost of entry all on their own, and it's for - in my opinion - an extremely good cause. So get to it. Mother Space Russia needs you.
Lego The Lord of the Rings out today on portable, November 13 at home
The Fellowship of the Ring will gather anew on November 13 on U.S. home consoles and November 23 in Europe, and sets out today on PlayStation Vita, Nintendo DS, and 3DS. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announced the release date for Lego The Lord of The Rings on PC, PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360. Fans of the Lego series of games know about what to expect from the games: a lighthearted take
Bring Back Couch Co-op in Team Tractor Beam: Hyperjump Heroes
Team Tractor Beam: Hyperjump Heroes brings to PCs a split-screen, couch co-op gravity shooter for groups.
brings to PCs a split-screen, couch co-op gravity shooter for groups. Developed by Hot Mess Games, and inspired by at-home multiplayer memories, the gameplay allows for up to four players to play in three different game modes.
Core gameplay puts players in control of a shielded free-floating pod equipped with a tractor beam, able to move through a zero-gravity environment. The beam allows the pod to grapple with certain objects floating within the 2D map, although the shield must be lowered in order to use it. Team Tractor Beam (TTB) offers Versus, Survival, and Podball modes for multiplayer matches, each allowing up to four players in split-screen gameplay.
Versus games are standard deathmatches with pods searching for and fighting each other. Players can grab red crates with the tractor beam in order to start using a temporary power weapon. Survival pits players, or a single player, against waves of AI enemies while protecting, and repairing, a core. Finally, Podball puts players in a variant basketball match, where players’ pods grab a floating basketball and use the tractor beam to move it into the opponents’ net.
Developer John Lawson described Team Tractor Beam: Hyperjump Heroes as a “get-your-friends-round-for-pizza multiplayer”, with a small variety of high-intensity game modes. The game requires controllers to play. It is available on itch.iofor free. Hot Mess Games is currently working on a twelve-level single player campaign; gamers can stay updated by following the game on Twitter.
Nintendo Fusion: Believable prototype, or outlandish rumor?
Don’t believe the hype, as rapper Flava Flav once cautioned America. In this case, the “hype” I’m referring to is any rumor and/or leak about the next console coming from Nintendo. Everyone in the gaming press is aware of Nintendo’s current unprofitability , thanks to poor sales of the Wii U. But only the most pessimistic doomsayer would actually think the company is already calling it quits and moving
Saturday Spotlight – Golden Dozen Solitaire (GameTop)
Saturday Spotlight is a promotional series that offers publishers and game hosting sites the opportunity to have one of their games mentioned in a news post on Indie Game Magazine.
is a promotional series that offers publishers and game hosting sites the opportunity to have one of their games mentioned in a news post on Indie Game Magazine. Each post is sponsored by the publisher mentioned in the headline and as part of the article’s outro.
Back in the golden days of Windows 95, one of the free games that came pre-installed on PCs was Spider Solitaire . In the modern era, where overindulgence has made the phrase “too much of a good thing” a lost cliche, gamers can now expect to play not one, but many variations of solitaire for free at any time.
Golden Dozen Solitaire stays true to its name by offering twelve different card games. As can be seen in the screenshot above, these include Monte Carlo, Tri Peaks, Klondike, and of course, Spider Solitaire, among others. The card collection also boasts a laid back soundtrack and the ability to track game statistics.
is free to download (the game requires 6.5MB of free space to install), and is available exclusively for Windows PC. There are no restrictions or limitations, so all twelve games are available in full for free.
GameTop is a sponsor of Indie Game Magazine. According to their official statement, “ Gametop.comoffers high quality games for Windows and Mac users. The games are offered free, without in-game ads or malware. 100% trusted and safe.” Any publisher or game hosting site interested in inquiring about booking a slot on Saturday Spotlight should send an email to vparisi@indiegamemag.com
Bowling is dead! Long live Nintendo Land!
“Is there anything we can all play together?” When a series of events conspires to assemble a gathering of friends and/or family at my house it’s never too long before this question floats to the surface like a dead body broken free of its concrete boots. And although it’s asked innocently enough with the presumption I’ll be able to produce a universally agreeable answer in the same TA-DA! manner as
Rumour Time: Assassin's Creed 3 sequels to feature co-op?
Ubisoft have perched themselves on the top of a tall building, hoping to scan for clues as to the direction to take the inevitable next entry in the Assassin's Creed series.
TGLhave posted a series of screenshots of a survey sent out by the company, hinting at possible features that may be introduced.
The most interesting avenue they're exploring is a drop-in co-op mode, designed to let a friend help out at any time during the campaign. The site also reports (although doesn't have screengrabs of) questions probing players' interest in a second title feature AC3's lead Connor (spinning out his frontier adventures into a Brotherhood style meta-franchise), and the continued inclusion of mopey bland-face Desmond.
Does co-op Assassin action appeal? Tying it to the single player campaign sounds like a curious plan. While it'd be nice to muck about in the series' parkour playgrounds, I can only imagine my dogged insistence on completing every mission as stealthily as possible would just infuriate any potential playmate.
Thanks Kotaku.
LEGO Lord of the Rings first trailer released
This fall, LEGO is digging its detachable, plastic hands into another blockbuster movie franchise, The Lord of the Rings. The title was announced earlier last month, but Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has now released a trailer showing their interpretation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic journey to destroy the one ring. Surprisingly, LEGO Lord of the Rings’ characters are fully voiced – a departure
Hearts of Iron 4 trailer offers the tiniest first glimpse of game footage
Here's a first, brief look at Hearts of Iron 4.
Here's a first, brief look at Hearts of Iron 4. And I do mean brief: of the minute-long tour through the beginnings of World War 2, around 12 seconds are given to this latest offering from Paradox's Clausewitz Engine. If you're a veteran grand strategy fan, you already know what to expect. Maps, men and giant arrows.
Also new is a HoI4 website promotion. On the official site, fans can log in to join one of the three factions—Allies, Axis or Comintern—then recruit new people for a chance at an upcoming beta.
Paradox promise a more substantial look at game footage is yet to come. Hearts of Iron 4 is due out early next year.
Rumour Time: Dragon Age 3 postponed until 2014?
The LinkedIn resume of an EA Shanghai level designer suggests that Dragon Age 3: Inquisition may now miss its vague "late 2013" release date.
Kotaku spottedthat the developer, who had done work for DA3 earlier in the year, updated his profile to say, "scope of the DAIII has been chaged [sic], which will target next gen platform [sic] and will be postpone [sic] to 2014."
The profile is now unavailable, presumably after EA deployed Strike Team: PR to stand in the relevant offices, glowering.
That the game may not make its 2013 target isn't a huge surprise. At this stage, any far off release date prediction is about as accurate as throwing a dart in a calendar. But the promise of development for the next round of consoles is interesting. Like it or not, multi-platform games are currently bound by the limitations of this generation of seven year old hardware.
That ties in somewhat with what we know of Bioware's ambitions for Dragon Age 3, which suggest a larger size and scope than what's gone before. We've already heard reports that the game will be more open-world than before, and that one DA3 level will be as big as all the levels in Dragon Age 2.
Thanks, Gamespot.
LEGO Lord of the Rings trailer features LEGO decapitation
While we weren't quite sure what to expect from the forthcoming LEGO adaptation of The Lord of the Rings, we were pleasantly surprised when we saw the plucky yet violent direction Traveller's Tales is taking in the new trailer. It's got that signature LEGO brand of silly humor sure, but it also has LEGO orcs getting sliced up all over the place. We've also got to give credit where it's due to Traveller
Indie Game Sales – ‘Orcs Must Die’, ‘Amnesia’, ‘Anodyne’, And More
Just a quick look at some of the deals going on right now, for great indie games.
Just a quick look at some of the deals going on right now, for great indie games. Prices listed are the sale price, and are accurate at the time of this posting.
Read our Orcs Must Die! review
Cognition Episode 1and Episode 2– $7.49 each (Desura)
Read our Cognition reviews ( episode one) ( episode two)
Read our 99 Levels To Hell review
If your indie game is on sale, or if you know of a great deal going on, email in sales tip to editors(at)indiegamemag(dot)com with the subject “Indie Game Sales” and we’ll be sure to include it in the next round up.
Hearts of Iron 4 first look: a slick return for the veteran World War 2 strategy series
Back to World War 2 we go, for some intense, detailed, slow-burn strategy.
Back to World War 2 we go, for some intense, detailed, slow-burn strategy. The Hearts of Iron series has typically been a daunting prospect because, well, look at it, but the fourth entry will be different. A buff 3.0 edition of the Clauswitz engine powers the sandbox. The oppressive grey backgrounds of old have been replaced by muted colours, and an adaptive interface that outlines and shades countries depending on your zoom level. A night/day sine wave washes slowly across the map, separating the brushed iron surface into sunlit and blue moonlit zones. The units are no longer featureless rectangles, but tiny models that can be guided around with multi-phase battle plans. These are sculpted with stretched, curving arrows and broken lines, depicting troop movements and battle lines respectively. I'm surprised Paradox haven't put out any screenshots yet; this is a very inviting strategy game.
There's design reasoning behind Hearts of Iron's new-found aesthetic flair. The day-night cycle may seem like a bit of visual frippery, but you have different attack options if you launch attacks in the dim cobalt night zones. "Some nations have bombing aircraft set up for night attacks, some for day," explains designer, Dan Lind. "There are different routes you can research. Some nations will focus on specific tactics during night, like the Japanese have these neat attack special attacks they can select. It's stuff that any nation can do, but some of them fit more into where they are in the world. I can wait and launch my plan at dawn, if I want, or do it at night."
Sketching out offensives with arrows adds a tactile element to planning, but can also boost the strength of an attack. Offensives are more powerful if they follow lines that have been in place for some time ahead of execution. That encourages decisive plotting, and plays into the clever new espionage system - spies can uncover those arrows and adapt to incoming attacks accordingly. "You can steal plans, and you can also draw helpful plans for allies. If you're Britain, for example, and you're doing the D-Day landings, you'll have a lot of allies and you can actually draw plans for them as well."
The espionage system should also work nicely in multiplayer. Hearts of Iron multiplayer sessions support up to 32 players, and there will be a co-operative option that'll let friends take charge of different aspects of a single nation's operations.
Just because you've drawn up a plan doesn't mean it'll execute flawlessly. Terrain - visible at high zoom levels - will have a significant affect on troop movement, which is further complicated by the passing seasons. A wet August can reduce bogs to deadly marshland, and winter in Russia will be typically punishing. The troops you're pushing around will, of course, represent historically accurate World War 2 units, but the top of the technology tree will extend beyond the reach of history. The war ended for Germany before they could roll out their standardised Entwicklung series of tanks, but if you survive long enough, you can research and deploy them as Germany might have. You can breathe life into once-discarded prototypes, too, meaning you can field operational versions of the fearsome 200-ton Maus tanks, or launch early jet prototypes.
This is World War 2 without the plot points. You take charge of any country you fancy and set yourself a grand plan - play as Portugal and invade Australia, for example. On the way you can set yourself political aims, to rescue your economy from a financial slump, perhaps. Ticking these goals off your charge sheet will improve the effectiveness of the political institutions that run your nation. The new research trees also allow for experimental weapons - not Supreme Commander laser cannons, I hasten to add - but believable weapons of mass destruction, like nukes, and failed rocket prototypes. "I've actually played as Portugal and tried to have a nuclear program and join at the very end and nuke some guy," says Lind. "I managed to get off one nuke on Germany."
The build on show was an early but shows plenty of promise, particularly in the accessibility of that appealing map - a problem point for past Paradox games, "The whole border system is newly developed for Hearts of Iron. You should be able to play almost the entire game on one map mode," Lind explains. Don't be surprised to see a similar system appearing in future editions of Hearts of Iron's sibling series, Europa Universalis and Crusader Kings.
Hearts of Iron 4 is due out early 2015.
Concept art hints at Valve space project
Veteran concept artist and art director Peter Konig has done a lot of work for Valve over the past few years.
Veteran concept artist and art director Peter Konig has done a lot of work for Valve over the past few years. His resumelists work on Dota 2, Portal 2 and Left 4 Dead 2. According to a photograph of a wall of concept art in Valve's offices that appeared earlier this year, he has also been drawing spaceships for them.
Several of those wall images match artwork in Peter Konig's online portfolio, sparking speculation on Facepunchthat Valve have worked on, or are working on, something set in space. All hands on deck, man the rumour cannon.
The Facepunch post picked up by Kotakureferences an unspecified inside source claiming that Valve are making an open, privateer-esque space adventure called Stars of Barathrum. There's no supporting evidence, though, so you could find a salt planet, mine it dry and still lack the salt with which to take that rumour. Still, it's easy to imagine some of the other space scenes featured on Konig's portfolio page being part of the same project, and they look gorgeous.
Here are some of the pieces that were spotted on the walls of Valve's offices, taken from Konig's image pages.
And here are a few more spacey shots from Konig's site.
Anarchy Reigns' Bayonetta is GameStop pre-order exclusive
It's a bad-hair day for anyone who pre-ordered Anarchy Reigns from retailers other than GameStop. Sega today announced that Bayonetta , the gun-toting hair-wearing witch from her own Platinum Games production, and two multiplayer game modes will be available exclusively to GameStop pre-orderers. While we already knew Bayonetta would only grace pre-order customers with her presence (at least until she
Saturday Spotlight – Lethal RPG: War (Black Shell Media)
Saturday Spotlight is a promotional series that offers publishers and game hosting sites the opportunity to have one of their games mentioned in a news post on Indie Game Magazine.
is a promotional series that offers publishers and game hosting sites the opportunity to have one of their games mentioned in a news post on Indie Game Magazine. Each post is sponsored by the publisher mentioned in the headline and as part of the article’s outro.
With a name like Lethal RPG , one might expect a game filled with danger around every turn. That’s partly true, but in actualityis also named for its protagonist, Lethal. Also true to the namesake, Lethal rounds up a party of “elite” warriors and adventures across the land in typical RPG fashion. That world has 13 areas to explore across 50 story quests.
The party is made up of 8 playable characters in total, each with their own individual skill sets, armor, and weapons. Combat is a turn-based affair, and once battles have ended players can test their strength against increasingly difficult versions of previous opponents in a dedicated challenge arena. Crafting also plays a major role in offering players a means to better their weapons and gear, which will be necessary in order to take down the game’s boss monsters.
Lethal RPG: War is available now for Windows PCs via Steam. The full game is priced at $4.99 USD. It is developed by EyeSpyda Games and published by Black Shell Media.
Black Shell Mediais a sponsor of Indie Game Magazine. According to their official statement, “With over 11 years of marketing, design and entrepreneurial experience, Daniel Doan and Raghav Mathur founded Black Shell Media in late 2012 and have since worked with hundreds of games on various marketplaces including Steam and the Humble Store, published over 30 titles and shipped over 550,000 copies of Black Shell Media games.” Any publisher or game hosting site interested in inquiring about booking a slot on Saturday Spotlight should send an email to vparisi@indiegamemag.com.
Obsidian's Armored Warfare is now in open beta
Obsidian's Armored Warfare seemed a little odd to me when it was announced back in mid-2014, and it still seems that way now.
back in mid-2014, and it still seems that way now. Obsidian, after all, is known primarily for RPGs like Knights of the Old Republic 2, Neverwinter Nights 2, Fallout: New Vegas, and Pillars of Eternity. In that light, a free-to-play online armored combat game seemed to come from out of nowhere. But odd or not, it's finally time to give it a try.
Armored Warfare is now in open beta, meaning that anyone who wants to give it a shot can now jump into the action without any restrictions. Even better, the studio said there will be no further progress wipes, so everything you earn, you keep.
"Open beta is a big step forward for us, and it's one that will bring new challenges, as we test our game services and features with more gamers than ever before. However, these are challenges that we are really looking forward to with Armored Warfare," CEO Feargus Urquhart said. "Getting to make the game better based how you play the game, and your insights, is something we have been looking forward to for months and months."
The beta will include more than 60 upgradeable vehicles spread across five different classes—Main Battle Tanks, Light Tanks, Armored Fighting Vehicles, Tank Destroyers, and Self-Propelled Guns—fighting on nine unique PvP maps from locales around the world, 25 PvE maps, a 15-on-15 battle mode, and individual military bases offering various bonuses and discounts.
OS: Windows Vista/7/8/10 32 or 64 bit
CPU: 2.6 GHz Intel Celeron (yes, Celeron) E3400
RAM: 2 GB
Video: Nvidia GeForce 9500 GT with 512MB VRAM
OS: Windows Vista/7/8/10 32 or 64 bit
CPU: 3.2 GHz Intel Pentium G3420
RAM: 4 GB
Video: Nvidia GeForce GT 440 with 1GB VRAM
You really don't see system requirements like that anymore, do you? The Armored Warfare beta client is roughly 30GB in size, so be prepared to spend at least a few minutes downloading that sucker. Grab it at aw.my.com.
Thanks, VG247.
Skyrim "Dragonborn" DLC, Morrowind quest markers and dragon riding spotted in patch files
Skyrim fans have been data-mining patch 1.8 for hints at future updates and posted some very interesting tidbits on the Bethesda forums .
. The files contains quest markersfor the island of Solstheim, the setting for the Bloodmoon Morrowind expansion pack. Bloodmoon locations like Castle Karstaag and Raven are listedalongside new animation entries that hint at mounted dragons.
Animations listed include entries like "DragonMountedDualStaff," which suggests we might find ourselves fighting warriors dual-wielding magical staffs from dragonback. There's also mention of new weapon crafting recipes for Bonemold, Chitin, Nordic and Stalhrim armour. The data is linked to the name DRAGONBORN in the file structure, which Bethesda trademarkedearlier this year.
This hasn't been officially confirmed by Bethesda yet, but early details on the Skyrim Dawnguard DLC were obtained in the same way when fans discovered mention of crossbows and vampire lords tucked away inside an official patch. The Solstheim setting would be a sensible way to expand Skyrim given that it's snowy, mountainous, and populated by Nords. Thanks to OXMfor the heads up.
Anarchy Reigns out January 8 in N. America, January 11 elsewhere
Anarchy Reigns , the oft-delayed online brawler from Bayonetta developer Platinum Games, finally has a solid release date. Sega announced today that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 title will arrive on January 8, 2013 in North America and January 11 in Europe. Anarchy Reigns serves up a heaping helping of Platinum's signature frenetic action, and is a pseudo-sequel to the critically lauded but commercially
Indie Trailers Weekly — 01/11
Welcome to Indie Trailers Weekly, where we take a look at some of the newest indie gaming trailers.
Welcome to Indie Trailers Weekly, where we take a look at some of the newest indie gaming trailers. Like what you see? Be sure to LIKEthe video and SUBSCRIBEto the channel to be notified of our latest content.
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Created by Dimitris Rezitis
Pillars of Eternity's The White March Part One expansion is out this month
At E3, Paradox Interactive revealed as part of the PC Gaming Show that Pillars of Eternity would be getting an expansion and it would be called The White March Part One.
would be getting an expansion and it would be called The White March Part One. Now we have a release date, and it's not far off at all: August 25.
Featuring an "expertly crafted" story by Pillars writers Carrie Patel and Eric Fenstermaker, the expansion will increase the character level cap and add "a tremendous amount of new content," including artifacts, companions, abilities, and an entirely new area of the world to explore.
Naturally, that means the Pillars of Eternity 2.0 update, announced shortly after The White March was revealed, should be out around the same time. That update, true to its 2.0 descriptor, will make a number of major changes to the game, foremost among them the addition of party AI and individual character stealth.
That's about all Paradox and developer Obsidian Interactive have to say about the expansion at this point. To find out more about what's coming, they recommend having a look at the reveal trailer, which of course we already did back in June. But hey—let's do it again!
(Thanks, Gamasutra)
Mass Effect 3 Leviathan DLC to add new ending dialogue, Omega DLC teased
Mass Effect 3's Leviathan DLC will add extra dialogue to the ending according to code pulled from the recently released Extended Cut DLC.
Eurogamerspotted chatter on this (very spoilery) Bioware forum thread, which contains a link to this pastebinwith new script lines referring to the upcoming DLC pack.
And that's as much as I'll say about that in case your eyes betray you skip a few sentences and start automatically absorbing spoilers at a rate of three twists per minute. Like mercury sinking into skin, once that knowledge is in there, it ain't coming out. However, you might be interested in the other files found in recent Mass Effect 3 updates, which subtly hint at some DLC related to Mass Effect's wretched hive of scum and villainy, Omega. Mass Effect 3 spoilers lie ahead.
During Mass Effect 3, Omega is occupied by Cerberus, but there's some Aria dialoguehidden in the game files that hint at a mission to retake the space station from the Illusive Man. Some new weapon mod upgradesare contained within the recent Firefight DLC pack, with six "Omg" maps listed, including one called "OmgHub," suggesting that we could be revisiting Omega in a future chunk of DLC.
That'll be a bit further off, though, and there's still no release date for Leviathan. Here's the Leviathan trailer via IGN, snipped from the EA Summer Showcase.
Watch us play Anarchy Reigns RIGHT NOW!
We've got our hands on the Japanese demo for Anarchy Reigns. Watch us play it right here in mere moments!
Don’t Bother Washing in Slain!
It is not easy being a hero.
It is not easy being a hero. Monsters and creatures of unspeakable horror often try to kill off said hero; usually in a gory, grizzly fashion. For the hero Bathoyrn, this isn’t a dealbreaker. This guy lives in a gothic world washed with blood, which players can experience in Wolf Brew Games’ metal fueled 2D action platformer, Slain! .
Players aid Bathoyrn in his quest to liberate 7 towers from 7 deadly overlords. Each tower is packed with puzzles, traps and monsters. At the center of the tower lies an overlord who must be slain. Players will likely encounter death and when they do, it greets them in a brutal and gruesome fashion. What kind of ways can the player die? Well, how about being mauled by werewolves, squashed by weights, torn apart by blades, or disintegrated by floating monstrosities. The game will clock in at over 15 hours, featuring 3 unique weapons to choose from, and more bosses than Bathoyrn can swing a sword at.
Slain! is slated to be released on January 27th on Steamfor Windows PC, Mac, and Linux. The game will also be released on Xbox One, PS4, and the Wii U in May 2016. To learn more about the game visit the official website, “like” on Facebook, and follow on Twitter. To learn more about the developer Wolf Brew Games, visit their website, and follow them on Twitter.
Mafia 3, Thief 4 release rumoured for next gen console release
So it begins, the rush of rumours surrounding the release of the next generation of consoles.
So it begins, the rush of rumours surrounding the release of the next generation of consoles. It's interesting to keep an eye on what the console chaps are into, if just to gossip about what the big launch games are and ponder when they'll be coming to PC.
Rumours, then. There are two small morsels teasing two exciting prospects. CVGnote a report on Eurogamer.czthat suggests that 2K Czech are working on a new Mafia for the Durango (the codename for the next Xbox, supposedly) and the Playstation 4. OXM, meanwhile, suggest that the Thief 4 release date has been set for late next year when the Durango is thought to be coming out. CVG sources "indicate the report is accurate."
A pulled LinkedInjob ad for a "major Canadian company" has been posted on NeoGaf, describing a new project "based upon an existing IP that is a well known and respected action/adventure title, with elements of choice and stealth" which will "take advantage of the new platforms coming in the next two years."
The positions listed match the current listings in the "unnanounced projects" section of the Eidos Montreal site, the studio that developed Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and are working on Thief 4. That unannounced project could even be a new Deus Ex, but as thermoptic camo is sadly yet to be invented, our spies won't make it far past Eidos Montreal's anti-journo turrets. That doesn't mean we won't keep sending them, though. Off you go, spies. What do you mean "I don't want to charge blindly into a deadly anti-personnel turret," don't be silly, they're a games company, they don't REALLY have turrets (they do).
Anarchy Reigns release date confirmed, disappointing
A few weeks back, Platinum Games offered its fans a reassuring note that Anarchy Reigns was already finished , they were just waiting for their publisher, Sega, to make a decision about when to release the title. Well now they have, and Platinum Games' fans aren't going to like it. In a tweet to a hungry fan today, Sega said that they have reconsidered any launch this Summer. In fact, they've reconsidered
An Epic Journey For The Road – ‘Pocket Heroes’ Hits The App Store
After an agonizingly long development cycle, especially for an iOS title, the game billed as “the first RPG designed for a mobile platform” is finally here!
After an agonizingly long development cycle, especially for an iOS title, the game billed as “the first RPG designed for a mobile platform” is finally here! That’s right, Ayopa Games’ Pocket Heroes is due for release on July 12th — today!
Fans of the genre may now enjoy an RPG crafted especially for iPhone, but only if they have friends with which to do so. Pocket Heroes is a multiplayer only game where players may start co-op games with friends in order to embark on quests and explore dungeons for all of the loot you could shake a stick at. Complete with four classes, twenty different types of monsters, retro graphics and — once more — plenty of loot, you and up to three friends should have no problem enjoying the package Apoya has carefully crafted. The game even incorporates asynchronous multiplayer, so if the real world calls, you can let your friends know that you’ll be able to continue your journey with them just as soon as you’re able.
While many other features and classes are due to release for the title, the major chink in its armor at this point seems to be its reliance on the player having friends. At this time, there is no random matchmaking mechanic in place; players must know the email addresses of those they which to play with in order to play a game, however Apoya seem to have this feature pegged as a priority for future updates.
For now, however, those of you with friends can pick up the complete RPG package that is Pocket Heroes on the App Store for just $0.99.
For more information on the game, check out Apoya Games’ official website.
Leaked video looks a lot like Thief 4
This video, spotted by Beefjack , seems to show footage from a Thief 4 CGI demo reel.
, seems to show footage from a Thief 4 CGI demo reel. The demo was uploaded to YouTube by "garrettisback" and the video tagged "thief4demoreel." Eric Wong is mentioned at the start of the video, which seems to be this chap. His experience list mentions a stint as a lighting artist with Eidos Montreal working on Deus Ex: Human Revolution and Thief 4 back in 2010/2011. Some leaked storyboard imagestagged 2010 showed a few scenes similar to those in the video above. They're embedded below.
So, all in all, it looks like this is Thief 4. Or an elaborate hoax. Either way, it seems to capture the Thief vibe quite nicely, with a few extra flourishes, like the unfolding/folding Hawkeye bow, and Garret's new "look I have a lockpick!" pose.
Anarchy Reigns finished says Platinum Games, but release date unknown
fter the unbelievable enjoyment we got out of both Vanquish and Bayonetta , there may not be another game in all of the industry that we're looking forward to more than Platinum Games' Anarchy Reigns. The developer has some serious talent, and according to them, their next game is finished. But Sega isn't ready to release it yet. According to them, the release is " TBC ." “That means ‘to be confirmed
IGM Interviews – Dreamlords Digital (Graywalkers: Purgatory)
Ugh, zombies.
Ugh, zombies. Enough with the zombies. Seriously, why are you even still watching The Walking Dead ? Everyone dies, the end. You really need to wait 10 seasons for that? Anyway, post-apocalyptic zombie romps are old, undead news. Instead, let’s shift focus to an apocalypse that’s based on the supernatural. Enter, Graywalkers: Purgatory , a squad-based tactical RPG that’s nearing the end of a successful Kickstarter campaign. (Like, super nearing the end. Unless you’re reading this hot off the press, the campaign is probably already over.)
Graywalkers takes inspiration from all the classics; Fallout , XCOM , Jagged Alliance , you name it. It also wants to build a name for itself, though, using a very stylized artistic approach, and a rather unique premise for the setting: Heaven, Hell, and Earth have merged due to an incident known as “The Rupture.” (Which, coincidentally, is also the term I use for the “meeting a girl’s parents” stage of a relationship.) To find out more about this bizarre event, and how the development team at Dreamlords Digital plans to make a post-apocalyptic game that doesn’t feel tired from the get-go, I went straight to the source. The heavenly hellacious source. Check it out.
Indie Game Magazine: It’s safe to say that post-apocalyptic games aren’t exactly a rarity in today’s market. What makes Graywalkers fresh, and something folks should keep an eye out for?
Dreamlords Digital : Yes, in today’s market, there are definitely a lot of post-apocalyptic games coming out. There are several things that make Graywalkers different from the current crop of post-apoc games around. First is that the source and nature of our world is supernatural. Most of the post-apocalyptic settings are nuclear based or virus based. Hardly any deal with a supernatural cause. Next, what makes us different is the style we’ve taken with how the game looks. Most games tend for a pure monochromatic look, but we’ve decided to add a dash of color and personality while maintaining the post-apoc aspect. Lastly, is the emergent nature of the game. Our game features a very dynamic world where things you do affect and change the world your characters are in.
IGM: Purgatory is the first installment in a planned series of games. What other cross-media plans are there for expanding the Graywalkers universe?
DD : Well, first of all, Purgatory is the first chapter in the story of Graywalkers . Originally, the game we were planning was really big, but due to us reducing the amount we were trying to raise, we split the game into smaller parts. The next installments in the series will advance the story further into the mythos of the world. With regard to other games, first on the list is the table-top RPG, which we have mentioned on the campaign.
Next, we are planning a mobile game based on the world of Graywalkers . This plan isn’t solid yet, so there’s not much to reveal at this point. Right now, we truly want to focus first on the main game, and later on we may decide to move forward with some of our plans.
IGM: What can you tell us about the world and characters of Graywalkers ? What were the events that led up to “The Rupture,” and how has it effected the world’s inhabitants?
DD : The world of Graywalkers is one that is on the brink of extinction. It is a world where supernatural evil have taken root. In Purgatory where the game is set, it is one of the few places on earth where humanity still somewhat can be called “free.” You and your band of heroes that you recruit, must unite all of Purgatory under your banner. These different factions that exist now, all have their own agenda, but it is your responsibility and destiny to get them to fight with you.
As for the events that led to the Rupture, no one truly knows, but it is rumored that the Graywalkers of that time failed to stop the events that led to the Rupture. One thing is for sure though, it was forced by an unknown party who wanted to bring the world to what it is now.
As for its inhabitants, the majority of the world lies in ruin and many of them are dead. Only 1% of the world’s population exist. And among them, they have changed as well: Hybrid races between human and the supernatural have come about. The largest change, in addition to the presence of demons and monsters as a part of life: Magic has also come back, touching everyone’s lives.
IGM: You’ve focused a lot on the hellish creatures that arrived on Earth in the Kickstarter campaign imagery, as well as the Graywalkers, but what about the inhabitants of Heaven? What role will divine or angelic entities play in Graywalkers ?
DD : The forces of heaven will play several roles. Some of them will serve as allies, while some may even serve as your enemies, depending on the decisions you make. Angels and the like have been split into several factions, so how you deal with them affects how they will be part of your story. Suffice it to say though, they will be a large part of the story.
IGM: What type of effect will players have on the world? Can you give some examples of the way a player’s actions can impact their experience?
DD : The game world will use an emergent system. This system will be dynamic and it will govern how many of the factions and settlements will act. With players being the center of the story, all your actions affect all other factions positively and negatively, depending on what you do. For example, a town has a food shortage problem. It has several ways to solve this. It can either trade for it, raid for it, or clear a nearby area of monsters and have it made ready to be converted into farmland. If you chose to raid for it, then if you are successful, the settlement you raided will suddenly go into some sort of decline, while the one you worked for will be happy and become more prosperous. Also, many of your decisions on a personal level will have long term effects as well.
IGM: What sort of emphasis will there be on survival, in terms of inventory and party management?
DD : With the game being a post-apocalyptic world, emphasis on survival in terms of inventory and party management is crucial. Having the right items and the right people for the job can make a big difference on how you play the game. We plan to have several toggles for the difficulty levels. There will be many features available such as permadeath, food consumption, weather effects, item maintenance, etc. However, to accommodate those who don’t want this level of detail, it can be shut off and you can play a normal game, wherein you only focus on the big picture rather than deal with these things. In the end, we want to give the player a choice.
IGM: Can you offer any more details about the difference between the Campaign and Freeform modes?
DD : The campaign is of course focused on the story we have laid out for the player. Despite the campaign story being integral, some open-world feel is in the game. You are guided by story milestones and they will send you on to the next part of the story. However, beyond these milestones, you are free to go wherever and do whatever you want. Of course, there will be hints to ensure that you eventually will need to progress with the story. For the campaign, winning comes when you reach the end of the story alive, well, and victorious. For the Freeform mode, the difference is heavily on the goals. There are several victory conditions which you can meet to basically “win.” It can be based on Control, Resources and Power. Once you meet one or more of the conditions, then you essentially “win.” At this point, a lot of the world you will play in will be randomly generated.
IGM: How many different character “Paths” are planned in total? Can you describe the range of specialties and abilities these characters will posses?
DD : There are are about 10 Paths planned, though there are a few more that are available. Not all the Paths are open to player characters. The NPCs cover all the paths, but players can only create characters from about 6 of them for now. The range of specialties is very wide and diverse. Some of these abilities are for survival, some are for defense and some are for offense. Suffice it to say, each character has a set of abilities which makes them stand out from each other. There will be almost 100 abilities(or more) in the game that your characters can possess. Your choice of team members will influence what you can do when encountering problems out in the wastes.
IGM: What sort of customization options will be available to the player when creating their group leader?
DD : We want your avatar (leader) to be really customized. You can customize the gender, race, path, skills and abilities. You will even have merits and flaws that will distinguish you from other characters of the same path and race. You can also customize how your character will look. This includes your hair, skin, face and outfit.
IGM: How do humans stand a chance against demons in the aftermath of the Rupture? Are bullets and traditional weapons effective against them, or do most items have a special enchantment?
DD : With the Rupture, all supernatural creatures that cross over into this world either from Heaven or Hell become mortal. As mortals, they can be killed by traditional weapons. Of course, they are still powerful and possess most of the abilities they had. So if you’re going up against a demon, a pistol might not be good enough, but maybe a rocket launcher might do the trick. Some items, though, are more effective against specific creatures (ex. Silver vs vampires and werewolves, iron vs demons, etc.)
IGM: Can you tell me more about your Crowd Content initiative, and why you decided to pursue this option?
DD : The Crowd Content initiative is meant to allow artists an opportunity to join us and submit their content for use in the game. It will be curated, and those that are chosen and used in the game will be given due credit and compensation via rewards. In some cases, we might end up paying for it outright too, if it’s good enough.
IGM: What made tactical turn-based gameplay the right call for Graywalkers , as opposed to an action-RPG?
DD : Well, I’ve [Bob “Entropy”] always wanted to build a turn-based game. I’m a big fan of this type of game, and in the past decade or so, this genre has pretty much died. We decided we wanted to try and bring it back. With the success of Wasteland 2 and the resurgence of the turn-based RPG or strategy game, we definitely made the right call.
It’s certainly nice to see the turn-based tactical RPG reanimated. Beyond my personal bias of it being one of my favorite gameplay genres, it’s always great when development teams find new ways to breath life into classic game mechanics. Even at an early stage, Graywalkers looks like it will become a fine addition to this cherished game space. If you’d like to keep up with the game’s development, the easiest way is by following the game on Twitter. You can also check out the Graywalkers websitefor continued updates. Let’s just hope the seemingly inevitable zombie DLC manages to stay buried in the ground.
It's possible to beat Pillars of Eternity in under 40 minutes
Pillars of Eternity , or Bear Friendship Simulator , belongs to a class of RPG designed to eat up your life.
, belongs to a class of RPG designed to eat up your life. You're not meant to rush through it, but speedrunner Jiseed nonetheless has. Exploiting a number of glitches, he's managed to finish the game in a touch under 40 minutes. That's how long I spent on the character creation screen.
While 'spoilers' is stretching it, the run above does 'break the game to shreds', as one vivid Redditortermed it. Our reviewer Andy Kellycalled PoE a "deep rich and wonderfully written RPG", so don't go breaking it on your first playthrough.
Cheers, Kotaku.
Rumour: DayZ creator instructed to work on mod full-time by Bohemia
The creator of DayZ and Bohemia Interactive employee, Rocket, has been instructed by Bohemia to work on the mod full-time.
and Bohemia Interactive employee, Rocket, has been instructed by Bohemia to work on the mod full-time. That's according to an account of a fan who chatted with him at E3 earlier today, spotted by Craigover on the DayZ subreddit. The account says that Rocket believes that DayZ is "the first step towards Bohemia gearing up to make it into a full standalone game."
He goes on to say that Rocket talked about having already ported the mod over to the Arma 3 engine, and that "it works great." Rocket also reportedly said that DayZ has been tested internally with the new tech, and can "handle 100-200 players easily" on a server.
This qualifies as a rumour for now, as the comments are second hand, but Graham will be meeting Rocket at E3 tomorrow. We'll have solid answers then.
Platinum Games Anarchy Reigns release delayed until early July
Platinum Games got some new admirers (and a few enemies) when it was revealed this weekend the team was developing Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance , but we’ve been fans for years. Since the dev formed from the ashes of Capcom closing its Clover studio, we’ve truly enjoyed crazy titles like Bayonetta, Vanquish, and MadWorld. It seemed like we’d be getting Platinum’s first sequel next month, but the word
Skater Celebrates Style, Individuality, and Radical Tricks
If you’ve been craving a new skateboarding game, then Frosch Media’s new trick-loaded sensation Skater might just be the answer to your prayers.
might just be the answer to your prayers. Frosch Media is an award-winning, Sydney-based games studio that has worked on previous titles such as the Burnout series, Harry Potter , Battlefield, and L.A. Noire. Skater, which was originally born under the title Touch Skater, is a fresh approach to a skateboarding game that focuses more on the board than the player. It also comes with a clever social interaction twist which allows players to create and save their own trick runs, re-watch them, and even compare their runs with other players online.
Frosch Media director Dan Hedgpeth likens Skater to taking part in the world’s biggest online skating session, and stated that he and his team “wanted to make a game that captures some of the experience of skateboarding itself.” Skater takes place in iconic locations such as Stoner Park, Woodward Plaza, and Hollywood High, each one recreated faithfully right down to the street signs, graffiti, and stickers. There are countless moves to learn, beginning with a simple tutorial that walks players through the basics, like how to ollie, conquer kickflips, and master manuals. All movement is achieved through a combination of swipes and screen taps, so although gameplay is easy to pick up, there are always new and more artistic moves to learn, and authentic spots and gear to unlock, which are bound to keep novices and pros entertained for hours.
Ready to bust a move? You can play Skater today for just $4.99 from the App Store.
Skyforge open beta starts this month
A handful of people are still making MMOs (MOBAs being all the rage now), and in that handful is Obsidian Entertainment, of Pillars of Eternity and South Park fame, and also tanks and online science fiction.
Skyforgeis the thing they're makingwith Allods Online developers Allods Team, and they've just announced that its open beta begins on July 16th. (You can also buy a 'founder's pack' to get in on the 9th.)
'Is it free-to-play?' is the question you're probably asking, to which the answer is 'Yes'. It's free-to-play and it mixes sci-fi with ancient mythology, meaning it will allow you to "play like a god". (Hey. Some of us already do—oh I died again.) There's a new trailer above setting up the premise, and showing a bit of the game in action.
Elder Scrolls Online could be announced in May
An Elder Scrolls MMO could be announced as early as May according to a report on Tom's Guide .
. An unnamed source has told them that Elder Scrolls Onlineis in the works, and will be set in the Second Era, hundreds of years prior to any of the Elder Scrolls games.
The source mentioned that the game will include three playable factions represented by a lion, a dragon and a bird of prey. Beyond that, details are scarce, but Zenimax Online Studioshave been building an MMO for years. The Elder Scrolls certainly has the depth of lore to support a massively multiplayer world. This could be pretty special. If it's real. Bethesda have issued a "no comment." Would you play an Elder Scrolls MMO?
Anarchy Reigns gets multiplayer trailer for Gamescom
Anarchy Reigns is the directorial debut of Platinum Games' Masaki Yamasaka – but anyone concerned that the studio's well-established brand of mental-as-anything action might be subdued for Yamasaka's first time at the head need look only at this clip for reassurance. Not only does the game's horde mode – an increasingly ubiquitous element within multiplayer, and deservedly so – look satisfyingly hectic
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Jump to Section: Best Price Comments Our Verdict Professor Layton for people who watch Hannibal. Pros Fantastic puzzles Murderpalooza, but not gory Very flexible game navigation makes it easy to explore different outcomes Cons Awkward mouth flapping Playing through all the story bits gets repetitious If you’ve ever thought that one of those Escape Rooms, where you’re locked in with buddies and have
Elder Scrolls Online could be announced in May
An Elder Scrolls MMO could be announced as early as May according to a report on Tom's Guide .
. An unnamed source has told them that Elder Scrolls Onlineis in the works, and will be set in the Second Era, hundreds of years prior to any of the Elder Scrolls games.
The source mentioned that the game will include three playable factions represented by a lion, a dragon and a bird of prey. Beyond that, details are scarce, but Zenimax Online Studioshave been building an MMO for years. The Elder Scrolls certainly has the depth of lore to support a massively multiplayer world. This could be pretty special. If it's real. Bethesda have issued a "no comment." Would you play an Elder Scrolls MMO?
New Anarchy Reigns trailers introduce us to cyborg cat-man and killer robot
Sega has released a couple new character-based shorts from Platinum Games' upcoming Anarchy Reigns, a sequel of sorts to MadWorld. Platinum's message in these two clips (which could almost pass for social commentary, if you squint just right) seems fairly clear: “the collapse of society at the hands of lawless mobs isn't such a huge problem – provided you're a cybernetic man-tiger with guns for limbs
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Jump to Section: Best Price Comments Our Verdict Predictably impenetrable, but cut through the leathery hide and there's enough great game in here to give a Tigrex indigestion. Pros Huge. Seriously, there’s more game in this package than is reasonable. New Hunter Styles and Hunter Arts ensure myriad fresh ways to build your character. Cons Not an ideal starting point for fresh meat – though still better
Obsidian launches Pillars of Eternity "patch beta testing"
Pillars of Eternity players who don't want to wait for patches to be vetted and released to the public will now be able to get their hands on them early by taking part in a new "patch beta testing" program.
players who don't want to wait for patches to be vetted and released to the public will now be able to get their hands on them early by taking part in a new "patch beta testing" program. The program will provide advance access to updates, with the tradeoff being that they could introduce new bugs and all sorts of unexpected problems.
The beta patches are currently only available through Steam, although Obsidian is trying to figure out how to get it to GOG as well. Participants in the program will likely have to download multiple builds of patches over a testing period, and the studio warned that some of the patch betas may be unstable.
"We will be doing work on the patches and they haven't gone through a full QA cycle so unexpected things can happen," Lead Producer Brandon Adler explained. "To be safe, I would avoid using any saved games that you do not want to get corrupted. If you do want to use those saved games, it is at your own risk."
To get in on the action, quit and restart the Steam client, then navigate to the Library tab, scroll to Pillars of Eternity, right-click it, and select "Properties." From there, choose the "Betas" tab, enter "BETAPASSWORD" (without the quotes) in the access code field, and click the "Check Code" button. Finally, click the dropdown list and select "beta"; after that your Pillars of Eternity listing should have "[beta]" behind it, indicating that your game is now in the beta branch. An update should begin shortly thereafter.
The beta program will begin with the 1.04 patch, which is now in the works. Bugs in beta patches should be reported on the new Patch Beta Bugs and Support forum.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 spotted on dev CV and Amazon
The rumour mill is awash with whispers of a sequel to Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops.
The rumour mill is awash with whispers of a sequel to Treyarch's Call of Duty: Black Ops. Last month it was noted that Activision had bought up a series of Black Ops 2 domain names, a hint compounded by the recent appearance of an Amazon listing for Black Ops 2. The ad has since been pulled, but not before a screenshot appeared on Gameblog, spotted on Joystiq. That's not the only place that Black Ops 2 has appeared recently.
On LinkedIn, the profile of an artist at Nerve Software listed Black Ops 2 as a recent project. Nerve's last projectis listed as Call of Duty: Black Ops. The LinkedIn profile has since been taken down.
Treyarch and Infinity Ward have taken it in turns to churn out annual editions of Call of Duty over the last few years, so it's likely that Treyarch are working on the next one right now. Given how well the first Black Ops sold, a sequel would make complete sense. Would you be interested in a Black Ops 2?
Big money and bigger dreams at the EA Sports Challenge Series finals
The guys running the show, Billy Levy and Zack Zeldon, were thrilled as they surveyed the scene. From the start of the tournament – which had people lined up outside, down the street, and nearly to the river before the doors opened up – to its conclusion a dozen hours later, Billy and Zack seemed exhausted by the enormous work that went into it yet gratified by the payoff. After all, as the founders
Indie Intermission Sunday Round Up: Good Things Done Quickly
So it’s Sunday and this can mean only one thing, a day worth of playing games and not worrying about the outside world!
So it’s Sunday and this can mean only one thing, a day worth of playing games and not worrying about the outside world! Today I round-up the my week of looking over The Indie Speed Run games, so enjoy some awesome games made in no time at all.
As always clicking the title will take you to my original article whilst clicking the image will take you to the game, enjoy.
The Adventures Of Schrodingers Cat attempts to bring science and Egyptian mythology together in one sweet action adventure game. Although quite rough around the edges the game has some great ideas, a novel story and provides a lot of fun for the play-through.
Twigs is a fun and rather interesting RTS in which you must defend the beavers from oncoming predators. Although rather limiting in the scope, as you can only upgrade the blocks once. The idea is a lot of fun and is one I could see expanded a great deal.
Do You Have A Minute is a genuinely unique game in which you take on the job of a survey droid on this distant planet. It’s a challenging game that requires a lot of memorization but offers a fun unique experience.
Space Colony is a beautifully put together platformer in which you must jump from planet to plant taking them over. Of course this leads to some rather upset aliens so you must defend your colonies as best you can whilst trying to take over more.
Olympus Has Paid is a funny zany fishing/ debt collecting sim that puts in perspective just how little fishermen get paid. In Olympus Has Paid you must fish carefully to free your family from debt, but did i mention you get to use Poseidon’s trident? It’s quirky and quite amusing but also real hard!
I hope you’ve had a great time playing some if not all of the games I’ve managed to find over the course of the week. Have a great Sunday and I hope to see you back here tomorrow for an all new Indie Intermission .
If you are a developer with A fun indie game that can be played over a coffee break, we want to hear from you! Private message us on twitter @IndieGameMag or shoot us an email at editors@indiegamemag.com with the subject “Indie Intermission” and you could be our indie intermission pick of the day!
Rumour: Bungie's next game will be "WoW in space"
Rumour has it that Bungie are working on a massively multiplayer online shooter called Destiny.
Rumour has it that Bungie are working on a massively multiplayer online shooter called Destiny. The game is said to be being built in a new engine created by Bungie, and has been called "WoW in space."
Kotakugot the information from a source who used to work for Bungie as a recently terminated contractor. The source says that Destiny is being developed under the codename "Tiger", and utilises "unique online connectivity and matchmaking technology."
Bungie have responded, denying the source's claims about his contract being terminated, but haven't said anything in response to the rumoured Destiny MMO. At GDC last year Bungie's creative director Joe Staten was asked what Bungie's next game would be, and he said "wouldn't it be great if we could make a world that was always there for you? Wow. That would be great."
Bungie making a Planetside style massively multiplayer FPS? That would be pretty great, don't you think?
Video: How to design better gesture controls for 3D space
"Interfaces shouldn't rely heavily on gestures common to a particular language, common to a particular culture or group, while ignoring everyone else." In this free GDC Vault video from App Developers Conference 2013, app architect Nate de Jager of Universal Mind explores the challenges that designers of motion-sensing, gesture-based apps and games face in his talk, " Beautiful Gestures.
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About the GDC VaultIn addition to this presentation, the GDC Vaultoffers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.
Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.
Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Tech
Uncover Planetary Mysteries in Corpse Discovery
“What went wrong?” is the primary question presented by Corpse Discovery ‘s mysterious debut teaser.
‘s mysterious debut teaser. Waking up in the remains of a broken base, full of abandoned gear, players find themselves on a new, unexplored planet.
The explorer navigates various planets, each with with its own procedurally-generated ecosystem. Every planet has an objective, as well as some hints as to what happened to the stranded astronaut. The tasks usually revolve around mapping the area and finding some resources. Ultimately, the player needs to discover the purpose of their mission and some means of returning home to their family.
Further emphasizing the themes of family ties is Chip Sineni, the game’s creative director, and his examination of balancing work and life. Sineni drew from his own life experiences during development and included his family members in some parts of developing the game, including voice-overs and imagery. The game aims to thoughtfully examine what it means to be successful, and the sacrifices that often come with it.
The debut trailer is the first time Phosphor Games has shown off Corpse Discovery in any great detail. The project is coming soon to Windows. To check out the studio’s past and upcoming productions, those interested can visit the official website.
Pillars of Eternity tabletop RPG and card game in the works
Releasing to rave reviews ( including ours ) following a successful Kickstarter campaign and years of development, Pillars of Eternity is a deep and richly rewarding adventure, containing both old-school RPG roots and some reimagined concepts.
) following a successful Kickstarter campaign and years of development, Pillars of Eternity is a deep and richly rewarding adventure, containing both old-school RPG roots and some reimagined concepts. I recently spoke to Obsidian Entertainment CEO Feargus Urquhart over Skype about the benefits of funding a game through Kickstarter, their plans for future expansions, morality in games, and taking Pillars of Eternity's lore and characters to other forms of media, like books, card games, and a tabletop RPG.
FEARGUS URQUHART
Photo credit: Cassidy Rainer
PC Gamer: We hear a lot from developers that they go to Kickstarter because the game they want to make wouldn't be possible with traditional publishers. Did you shop Pillars of Eternity to a number of publishers first?
Feargus Urquhart : So, we didn't... I never shopped the concept specifically. I had talked to publishers over a period of time just about, you know, kind of the idea of a game like it in general. But it was never anything that anyone showed any interest in, it was sort of... I think a lot of publishers [have] a very big console focus. And Pillars is just not a game that is very console friendly in a lot of ways. And so, it's kind of very hard, and it totally makes sense, it's almost like you can look at [consoles and PC] as two different businesses. And so, what we wanted to do was just very different than what a lot of the traditional publishers do. That's not necessarily a bad thing, it just means that they don't necessarily have slots for that in their portfolio.
You still wound up with a publisher, Paradox Interactive. How did they help you with the game and the release?
The big thing is, ultimately, we're a developer, you know. We have a public presence and we have forums and Facebook and all that kind of stuff. We interact with people a lot. But there's a whole mess of stuff... we don't have the people to do those things. And so a lot of it was figuring out... strangely enough, my wife used to do all of the trade shows for Interplay back many years ago, and so she's an expert in doing that, but internally at Obsidian we don't have anybody who's ever done trade shows. So, a big part of, when you want people to know about your game, you want to go to Gamescom, you want to go to E3, you want to go to PAX East, West, South, North... [Laughs] I don't think there's a North.
And so, it was great to have a publisher, they already have all of the people and the mechanisms and all that kind of stuff to do that. What they also have is a group of people who can kind of talk to all of the different groups around the world who may want to put Pillars into retail in South Korea, or in Germany, or France or Italy or Poland. I know some of those people but it's not the business that we do, or I do, on a daily basis. So, a lot of it is they just really helped us get a much broader reach and, I think, more awareness after the Kickstarter, which was very cool.
There have been some high profile failures with crowdfunding. What sort of pressures did you feel while you were developing your game? You had a very successful Kickstarter, but did you see some of these other companies and games kind of falling down, and did that put added pressure on you?
I think so. I think from our perspective it was a little disappointing. But then, I think, maybe sometimes... games are hard . [Laughs]
Oh, yeah.
They're hard to make, and so I think, as least as it relates to us, this is something that we've done, and done for a lot of years, so we were, I think, maybe a bit better prepared for, 'what are all the things we need to do? How are we gonna?' with sort of a lot of experience knowing, like, 'a character like this is going to take this amount of time, we need a person of this level to be able to do it.' So going into and coming out of the Kickstarter, it was just because we were doing something we were so familiar with.
I think a lot of people on Kickstarter, they kind of do something new, and it's awesome, I think that's what's incredible about Kickstarter is that you get to do speculative things and you get to do these amazing things. Now, of course, people are expecting that you're going to be successful. But I think maybe that's the double-edged short sword? It's awesome that it's allowing people to different stuff, but when you do different stuff it's less known that you're going to be successful. And I think that was a little bit different for us. I mean, we did have to build an engine and all this different new code, and all that kind of stuff, but it was still something we had a lot of experience doing.
And did you learn anything from the Kickstarter process and that experience that you think you can apply on your next game, or games in the future?
You know, I think what was interesting about it, I think that the most important thing that we learned was, and maybe it was more of a reinforcement—but it was a big, big reinforcement—it was the closer that we can talk to people and involve people... back in the day it was weird to give your game out really early and have people play it because they might say stuff about it and then that conflicts with the messaging and all that kind of stuff.
But I think with us putting out the backer beta, I think that really helped a lot. While people were playing it, and obviously they had opinions of it, it let us have a better conversation with everybody about it. And I think that Josh Sawyer, the game director, he had a lot of ideas about some stuff he wanted to do that was different than the normal model of the Infinity Engine games. So, he had a lot of these ideas and then with people playing the backer beta, he was able to have these informed conversations with people about what they liked and what they didn't like, and that then changed the game. And I think that was super cool. And something that we learned was that it's okay to go out and show people things really early, and then have a conversation with them and see how to make it better.
Do you recall a specific example of something that, when you released the beta to the backers, something specific that maybe their thoughts or ideas steered in a different direction?
Yeah, so there's kind of two. One I have a little less detail about but I know there were changes. Our Rogue class was a fair amount different when it was first released to what is in the final game. And lot of that is based on conversations Josh had. The second is how the inventory system works. Josh was trying come in with a very tactical way of players dealing with inventory in which you had sort of a restrictive stash and [restrictions on] how often you could actually get into your larger inventory.
And after he kind of talked to people, and we had very good reasons, sort of gameplay reasons for wanting to do that, a lot of people just sort of talked to him about it and said, "I can get all of what you're saying but it kind of just makes the game less fun to play." And he listened to that, and so that actually changed how that whole system ended up being in the final game.
Last year we talked with Mark Darrah of Bioware about Dragon Age: Inquisition, and he was talking about how there's kind of a nostalgic drive to revisit old classic computer RPGs, but he also talked about how Skyrim had paved the way for the big open world games again. How do you see the genre right now? Is it healthy? Do you think there's more options out there?
You know... I think it is healthy. I think it's healthy, and it's not. It's interesting. I make roleplaying games, probably because I love roleplaying games. And, the awesome thing about roleplaying games is that you play them and you get on this huge adventure and you slay the dragon. I mean, that's sort of trite, but... and a lot of times because you enjoyed that experience, you want to play the next one. And I think that the only challenge right now is that particularly with something like Dragon Age: Inquisition... and what those guys did was awesome. You know, I've known Mark for years and Aaron Flynn's a great guy.
[But] that game is so huge, it's almost intimidating to think that that's how you have to compete in that genre is to go create a Dragon Age: Inquisition. And I don't think that's worrisome, it's just something that we think about. Skyrim is different, it's a big game, but it's sort of not as much... it's larger in scope but not by a whole lot compared with what we did in Fallout: New Vegas, and we were able to make Fallout: New Vegas with not a gigantic team in not a long period of time, and so that kind of thing is okay. But there's still a little bit of that concern just about, you know, people's expectations are that every RPG has to be 200 hours of content. It sort of gets into that, "Does every RPG need to be that big?"
On the flip side, I think it's been great to see that a lot of these older style RPGs, Eternity being one of them, but, you know, Shadowrun, and Divinity, and Grimrock, and Wasteland... you know I personally really enjoy them and looking at the sales, [a lot of people] really enjoyed them as well. So, that's healthy, right, that there's options. There's options for developers about how they want to make an RPG, what they can do. So, yeah, it's healthy but with a little tinge of... is it possible that RPGs could get too big?
Kind of a big topic in gaming right now is virtual reality. Is that something that Obsidian has any interest in developing for?
I don't know! It sounds cool, it's one of those things that I don't see that something like Eternity makes sense for virtual reality. [Laughs] I don't know, I mean, you're like the little god with your hand in the world moving people around. I don't know. I would kind of put it in the 'wait and see' type of thing. I'd love to see what people do with it. I'm not negative on VR, but it is a little bit of sort of, like, let's see what people come up with. And let's also see what makes sense. I would never put VR in the same place as the Kinect, but it is still sort of like, what is that application for VR that people really feel, "Wow, this is something that actually fits perfectly with it and it's something that everybody loves playing with."
So, in Eternity there's a lot of familiar character classes like the Paladin and Rogue. There's two kind of new ones, the Cipher and the Chanter classes. What in particular inspired these classes, or where did you kind of get those concepts from?
So, [the concept] of why we wanted to come up with those classes, was really this idea of RPGs, and obviously we always all go back to Lord of the Rings as the way to look at everything, but a lot of it was, we wanted to make sure that when it's related to classes there was enough that was familiar, very familiar. And then sort of having familiar classes with these sort of nuanced tweaks, and then to have kind of a small, but not tiny percentage, of anything we do be something new.
I think the Chanter in particular came from this idea of, a lot of people love playing Bard. And often the implementation of Bard in games is, they're a great idea but they kinda suck? I mean you can only beat someone over the head with your guitar so many times. So the Chanter was really this idea of coming up with a class that sort of had this musical base but was something that really, that felt like a character that really supported the party.
And on top of it, it wasn't just something that had to sit in the background. And that's really kind of where Josh kind of focused. Josh also kind of loves European history and he loves sort of singing in choir and all that kind of stuff. I don't want to call it, you know, that the Chanter is the modern Bard, but that's really what I think was he was trying to accomplish.
It feels traditionally that roleplaying games are the ones who end up pushing boundaries on questions of morality. In Eternity, a lot of the moral decisions, there seems to a lot of ambiguity. They're very gray and murky and it's hard to tell what's right and wrong. There doesn't seem to really be any clear answers. Was that a particular goal of yours?
It's important to us, and Chris Avellone did a great job of this in Alpha Protocol, of... you're making choices. Are they right? Are they wrong? But more importantly, you're making choices that are reinforcing how you're playing the game and you're being rewarded either way. Rewarded is maybe the wrong word. You're being successful either way. I think, prior to Alpha Protocol in particular, there was a lot of roleplaying games, probably games in general, there was sort of the good way and the bad people way. And the good way, you walk grandma across the street, and the bad way, you... throw her across it, I don't know.
The thing being that, particularly, the bad way was always like you were kind of playing a psychopath. So, when we started focusing on more on, well, you can be a psychopath, but more importantly you just have different ways of accomplishing things in the game, and the game lets you, and it's not like this is a bad way of doing it and this is a good way of doing it. This is just a way. And when you compound a lot of decisions like that, have the game... I don't want to say mold , that's not the right way to put it, but it lets [the players] truly make choices about how their character is expressed within the world. And that's why. So, when they're more gray, and they're not dead-end decisions, then I think players more and more get to really play the kind of character they really want.
When I was playing, I was kind of surprised to receive a stronghold so early in the game, and then I was surprised to have so much fun kind of managing it. Where did the idea for this sort of Stronghold Tycoon element come from, and are there any plans to expand on in the future?
So, a lot of that did come from Baldur's Gate 2, I think it's sort of a fond memory that a lot of people have is sort of this Stronghold that they got. It did happen a little bit later... you got it in Chapter 2 if you did a fair number of the quests. And we liked what we were able to do with Crossroad Keep in Neverwinter Nights 2, and people just like that idea of having their own place. It's also a great place for, from the standpoint when players want to feel that they have a place to have their companions congregate and they can kind of pick them up and leave them off, and it's that idea of building your home.
Now, in the future, we look at it as also a great place where we can, when we add content to the game, where we can sort of have these quests, new people can show up. If we have new features, new items and things like that, we can add aspects to the buildings, in which those buildings can do new things with items, so it's definitely a core thing of the game that we plan to grow as we continue to grow the game.
Speaking of expansions, can you give us any details on what might be coming in the future?
Sure. So, with the Kickstarter we announced that we were going to do an expansion, and so how we're approaching that is to actually do the expansion in two parts, and have one part out sooner than the other part. The idea being that people are really enjoying Pillars right now and they're going to get finished their first or second playthrough within in the next two weeks, a month, something like that. And so, we definitely want there to be content for them to enjoy and I think we're going to be talking about that pretty soon. I don't think we've released anything specifically, but it really ends up being this concept of this story that expands parts of what you would see in those sort of old school expansions we made for Icewind Dale and Baldur's Gate. So not just these three, four hour downloadable DLCs, but definitely big chunks of a story and a new hub to go to and things like that.
So that's kind of how we're really approaching it, like we've done with Eternity throughout is this idea of, these games kind of went away but not for a reason they should have. The industry shifted to so much console with this idea that PC wasn't so much of a gaming platform, which I know no one thinks that anymore. So, back then when you got an expansion you got this meaty thing with hours and hours of gameplay. And that's really what we're trying to do. So, while we're splitting it in two, it is like one continual story that people get to play.
Do you have any plans for an Eternity tabletop RPG or anything like that? I mean, you created this new world and all this new lore, do you see that expanding out to other media?
Absolutely. So, actually one of the things we're going to announce very soon, I don't even know if I talked about it. Not in the latest backer update but the next backer update, we're definitely going to talk about how we're going to be Kickstarting... not us, but another group is going to be Kickstarting a Pillars of Eternity card game. This isn't like a CCG or anything like that, but it's more just a fun, kind of, four people get around and play a single session card game. You have heros, and you have a village, and all that kind of stuff, and you can take your heroes into a dungeon, and you can also take your heroes and armies and attack your friends while they're playing, so it's kind a very fun card game and it's actually designed by Chris Taylor. Not... there's two Chris Taylors. [Laughs] It's Chris Taylor, a friend of mine for many many years who was the lead designer of Fallout.
So, that's the first thing we're really looking at, and also, absolutely on the tabletop roleplaying. We're not sure yet how we're going to do it, we were kind of going back and forth on, do we use the game's rules, do we use someone else's rules, do we come up with another set of rules? And it's something we're going to be talking [about] soon. But absolutely, we want to expand. New books, roleplaying, all that kind of stuff.
HBO series, I presume?
Absolutely! I don't think George RR Martin has done enough with his work. [Laughs] So that's our goal. We need to one-up him.
EA, Eidos, and Capybara Games honored at Canadian Videogame Awards
EA, Eidos Montreal, and Capybara Games are the newly crowned kings of the Canadian video game scene. This weekend, officials with the 3rd Annual Canadian Videogame Awards (CVA) named FIFA 2012 the top game of 2011, and bestowed both Deus Ex: human Revolution and Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP with five awards each. The three 2011 releases were the most recognized games in a ceremony that paid
Report: Nintendo rolls out NX software development kits
Dev kits are sent out to third-party developers so they can create software for a new system in time for launch, indicating Nintendo is looking to bring developers onside with a view to releasing the NX next year.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo has already started sending out software development kits for its upcoming NX console.
Speaking to the WSJ, Macquarie Capital Securities analyst David Gibson explained that the "softness" of the Wii U and 3DS means that launching the NX in 2016 is quickly becoming a no-brainer.
Adding more fuel to the fire, the WSJ has stated that people "familiar with the [NX] development plans" believe the NX will be not one, but two devices, with Nintendo packaging a console alongside a handheld system that can be used together or separately.
They also explained that, after the Wii U was heckled by many for failing to match the technical capabilities of its next-gen competitors, Nintendo will ensure the NX is up to scratch by putting "industry-leading chips" in the device.
FIFA 12: UEFA Euro 2012 Expansion Pack Video: All Stadiums
We discussed our hands-on time with the Euro 2012 expansion for FIFA 12 last week. We also promised some extra content around the DLC, which drops on April 24 for Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Here's a glimpse at the core stadia in Poland and the Ukraine where you'll be seeing Europe's finest teams butt heads starting in early June. We chose England vs. Germany for the historical rivalry (and because the Nike kits for France and Holland haven't been revealed yet). But what team do you think will hoist the cup in Kiev, and why?
Tinertia Offers Action-Packed Platforming Without a Jump Button
Section Studios just announced the release date for their game Tinertia , along with a new trailer to showcase one of the many levels that will be available.
, along with a new trailer to showcase one of the many levels that will be available. The game is a 2D platform adventure that utilizes 3D visuals, and a dynamic camera system to showcase the destructive encounters with obstacles and deadly foes. Similarly to Super Mario Galaxy , the camera shifts occur when the character takes any sharp turns in a level for a new perspective, or when something particularly exciting and explosive occurs during gameplay for a more dramatic view.
In Tinertia , players control Weldon and the powerful rocket arm that propels him over, around and through different obstacles. The controls promise to be simple to use, with no real jump button and movement based mostly on the rocket arm and the burst of momentum it provides. When used correctly, players will be able to make large leaps across gaps, defying gravity itself as Weldon makes his way through the levels. Players will also face some form of boss battles, dealing with machines that serve ARC, the controlling mechanical force oppressing the planet and keeping Weldon stranded on its surface.
Tinertia will release via Steam on September 3, preluding an eventual release for PS4 and Xbox One. For more information, follow the team on Twitteror “like” the game on Facebook.
Designing games that let livestream viewers take part in the play
Watching other people play games has become an undeniable phenomenon.
Watching other people play games has become an undeniable phenomenon. Twitch and game streaming have steadily been on the rise, with millions tuning in to watch every day. Even single player games, previously experiences you'd only toy around with by yourself, can now be played in front of a vast online audience, creating a connection between the player and strangers from all over the world, and letting everyone share in the defeats and triumphs.
This connection caught the attention of developer Robot Loves Kitty, creators of( LODM ) and their work-in-progress Upsilon Circuit . Both games are attempts to strengthen the connection between the streaming player and their audience, allowing the viewers to affect the game in different ways as it unfolds. They've seen an opportunity to play around with that bond, and in doing so have come up with ways that will make interacting with the audience more exciting, as well as encourage more people to try watching a stream due to increased interactivity.
"This is a new genre in our minds, and we want to spelunk it, dive in, and let our minds fill the void!" says Alix Stolzer, producer at Robot Loves Kitty . " What we are doing with Legend of Dungeon: Masters , as well as Upsilon Circuit, is really just scratching the surface. As people passionate about game development, we can't help but want to bravely go where no man (or dev) has gone before!"
"Legend of Dungeon: Masters lets an audience participate in the game by spending in-game currency to add monsters or treasures to the randomly generated environment."
Legend of Dungeon involves players exploring a randomly-generated dungeon, searching for equipment and trying to survive. LODM lets an audience participate in that game by either adding monsters or treasures using two types of in-game currency. If a streamer is doing well and a viewer craves more danger, they can throw more creatures into the mix. If the viewer wants to help a streamer in trouble, they can give them some useful items.
These two options can dramatically change how the game plays, adding in a degree of randomness that depends entirely on the mood of your audience. Do they want to help you or hinder you? It's entirely up to the people watching to decide what they want to do to the person playing, and for the player, there's no telling what will happen. Skilled players could easily find themselves in a great deal of trouble from an audience out for their blood, while a bad player might get help from a more compassionate set of viewers.
So far, Stolzer has seen that this often makes the game much harder. "There is a massive temptation to troll a streamer, especially if that streamer is doing well." she says. It's no surprise that there are many out there who like to agitate strangers online, and LODM now provides a simple in-game opportunity to do just that. The game add-on is free, after all, seemingly allowing anyone to download it and hop into a game to give a streamer some trouble."
"If the streaming audience really wants to get a chance to mess with the player, they'll have to help them out a bit first."
This isn't something Stolzer didn't expect, as the in-game currency is only part of what lets players add items and treasures to the game. "As the streamer plays, every so often a monster they kill will drop a treasure chest, " Stolzer says. "This chest isn't for the streamer, but instead goes out to everyone in the Masters game. Inside the chests are a chance at weapons, armor, monsters, etc. that the viewer can then chose to send in or not. Opening chests is also how the viewer levels up, and earns the "star" currency."
Viewers are not given limitless access to whatever monsters and items they please. Even if they have the currency to afford a high-level monster, they can't just throw it into the game. They must wait for it to unlock through the player finding chests, which means that if they really want to mess with the player, they'll have to help out a bit first. "If the Master players don't help equip the streamer well, or send in monsters that are too deadly, the streamer won't live long enough to send many chests; However, if they help extremely well, the streamer can kill the harder monsters that drop better chests." says Stolzer.
This encourages the audience to help in small ways, keeping that player alive even if they want to get them killed later. In this way, it's an attempt to teach the viewers that helping can be fun.
Stolzer has already witnessed some of the positive effects of this system herself. "There is a definite leaning towards being less than helpful, but so far I've witnessed quite a few new streamers getting help; not just from helpful items, but with advice on how to play, and explanations, " says Stolzer. "It's pretty clear to me that people want to play and have fun, and only some of that fun comes from ruining everything. Even those who only want to hinder might conceivably see that some fun can be had in helping after experiencing it a bit themselves.
Not that this is all about strangers jumping in to help or ruin another stranger's game. Streaming can foster a sense of community between the player and their audience, creating an experience like a bunch of people hanging out and bonding over a game. "It's amazingly fun! People come in and become friends as they watch me play and develop, and I make friends!" says Stolzer, speaking to her own experience with it. "There is a community around you, and it's also a bit like theater -- you have a captive audience! There are people there to share my triumphs and laugh with me during hilarious mistakes."
This same sense of friendship is what Stolzer also sees in many of the moments when the viewers send in waves of difficult monsters. "There is a level of interaction within the game that feels a lot like messing around with your friends as a kid -- lighthearted cruelty done with love. There is always the chance that someone completely awful will try to ruin things, but that's been the exception so far."
As of now, most streaming experiences are limited to only being able to speak to the streamer through a sidebar of text. Though a bond is formed over watching the streamer play, Stolzer felt they could do something more.
"You can affect the outcome a little, as well as potentially evoke reactions and thoughts from a streamer. With Legend of Dungeon in particular the 'Master Viewers' are literally changing the game you play, and as a streamer, how you talk to them and interact in response can drastically change your luck!" says Stolzer.
A streamer who wants to do well would be more inclined to interact with their audience, gaining the benefits of having friends controlling the loot and monsters. This system also allows the viewer to feel like a bigger part of the game, challenging skilled players or helping out someone who's entertained them in a moment of need. It encourages the streamer to be more involved with the people watching, and also encourages viewers to take a hand in making the game more exciting and fun. It strengthens the positive aspects Stolzer has seen in streaming games.
Legend of Dungeon: Masters takes the main game and adds so much more to playing it with an audience. Through being able to help or hinder the player, it encourages streamers to interact more with their audience and helps make the viewer a more active participant in the game itself. It makes everything a little more exciting, and tightens the bonds that can build between a streamer and their audience. With steps taken to keep strangers from becoming too troublesome (and providing an opportunity to see that being positive might be a nice experience), it is a clever new innovation in live streaming.