Europa Universalis IV's Cossacks expansion gets release date

The Cossacks, the latest expansion for Europa Universalis IV, is on its way to PC on December 1st, Paradox announced today.

The Cossacks, the latest expansion for Europa Universalis IV, is on its way to PC on December 1st, Paradox announced today. This DLC brings a new diplomatic system to the ever-growing historical strategy game, allowing you to highlight areas where you plan to expand to your enemies and allies. You'll be able to do favours for your allies, too, as well as incentivising their allegiance by offering enemy territories.

There's a whole host of other in-depth changes to the game, too—here's a feature list from The Cossacks:

"- The Estates : Allocate lands to clergy, nobles and merchants as you try to balance the powers in your Renaissance state.
- Tell The World What You Want : Designate neighboring provinces as “places of interest”, build trust with other nations, and entice allies with the promise of land for their support.
- Tengri : Tengri is now a Syncretic faith, allowing it to tolerate a secondary religion as if it were a national faith.
- Horde Unity and Razing : Nomadic nations now must pay attention the horde unity of their tribes – a unity that can only be maintained by the occasional pillaging
- Improved Culture Change : You can now restore a previous culture to a converted province, or convert a province you hold to a culture that is not your own.
- Native Policies : Set your policy for colonial encounters with natives. Are you focused on quick subjugation, peaceful growth or trading advantages?
- Improved Espionage : New spy actions allow you to study the technology of more advanced countries and prod your rivals’ subjects towards independence."

Paradox also highlights that, as usual, players of EUIV will get the benefits of updates to the game even if they don't buy The Cossacks. Which, as usual, is mighty nice of them.

Portal Sells 4 Million Excluding Steam Sales

Why It's Fun: Counter-Strike

On the eve of Valve hitting go on Counter-Strike: GO, I thought it'd be useful to revisit why the once-mod continues to have its hooks in so many of us.

On the eve of Valve hitting go on Counter-Strike: GO, I thought it'd be useful to revisit why the once-mod continues to have its hooks in so many of us. Just like true love or a really outstanding taco, explaining what makes Counter-Strike good can be inexplicably tough to put into words. Go on, try. "It's, uh...tense? The guns feel nice. ...Teamwork?" Told you.

Read on for some notes on why I think Counter-Strike continues to be a classic. We'll have a CS:GO review up later this week.

SHORT ROUNDS Prompts the player to iterate on tactics; creates context for winning streaks, losing streaks, ties, coming from behind to win. Death is a time-out to reflect on the next round, creates oscillation between tension (being judged/spectated by teammates) and relief (watching/judging your teammates).
WEAPONS THAT "HAVE A MIND OF THEIR OWN" Takes skill, time to understand + control weapon behavior. High-fidelity hitboxes—where you aim matters fundamentally. But alternately, firing recklessly (spraying) can produce lucky kills. Uncertainty is fun (“Who's going to win this shootout?”).
EXCELLENT MAP DESIGN Fixed spawns; easy to orient yourself (complexity rarely goes beyond two or three routes), nameable landmarks (“double doors,” “bridge,” “back office,” “near spawn,” “at B”). Constructive asymmetry; when sides swap, they also typically swap tactics sets/roles (cs_assault: Ts are well-protected defenders, CTs are sieging). Map design carefully tuned to account for player movement speed—equidistant chokepoints. CTs + Ts arrive at chokepoints if they both leave the spawn area with knives out. (e.g.: On cs_office as CT, if I'm going to snipe, I have to sprint to the outdoor hallway to get eyes on main hall in order to give myself an opportunity to catch Ts moving from their spawn to garage). CS' levels generally have a totally pristine appearance: they generally don't bear any evidence of combat until the round actually begins. This "blank slate" not only creates opportunities for the environment to convey valuable tactical information about what's happened (bullet holes, cracked windows, opened doors, broken grates, turned-over filing cabinets), but damaging the world itself can be inherently fun.
PURCHASING SYSTEM Players can buy weapons and equipment at the start of a round. This is a system that suits competitive play and builds a metagame throughout a match, and it makes the decision to not spend/be conservative a cost/benefit decision (typical second round choice: save up and hope to loot a rifle from a dead player, or spend now and be better-armed).
MEANINGFUL COUNTER-TACTICS In most situations, snipers can be countered by smoke/flash grenade, flanking, synchronized teamwork, or planting the bomb. In some situations, rushing can be countered with good positioning, waiting and listening, and/or long-range weapons.
CULTURE Dead players form an instantaneous graveyard chat room/peanut gallery/sideline. This shared social space with opponents creates an opportunity for rivalries or other relationships to form between players (clan recruitment, heckling, complimenting). Weapons have reputations or even stigmas; knifing or pistoling someone wielding an AWP might be seen as a David/Goliath scenario. Zany maps ( de_rats, Mario Kart), sprays, and server mods that offset the seriousness, create opportunities for pranking.

Video: The past, present and future of League of Legends eSports

League of Legends is among the most successful eSports in the world right now, and the lion's share of that success is due to developer Riot Games' support.

But what, exactly, has Riot done to nurture League as an eSport -- and why? Riot VP Dustin Beck hopped onstage at GDC 2016 to break down the details, and in the process spoke to the investments Riot has made in eSports and the lessons it learned along the way

It was an interesting talk that offered a rare, frank look into the development of an eSports ecosystem, including the bumps and the learnings along the way.

If that's something you might be interested in watching, good news: you can now watch the entire talk for free over on the official GDC YouTube channel.

About the GDC Vault

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vaultand its new YouTube channeloffers 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

Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense expansion announced

As the UK recovers from its election hangover, so Paradox announces Common Sense.

As the UK recovers from its election hangover, so Paradox announces Common Sense. Don't worry, it's not another manifesto—instead, it's an expansion for historical war-'em-up Europa Universalis IV. Common Sense is all about expanding the role of religion and politics, two things that have never embroiled the world in conflict. Nope.

Parliaments: The English crown and other constitutional systems of government can now use their flexible system to pass laws through parliaments National Churches: Protestant kingdoms can customize their new faith and make it a true partner to the throne. New Religious Systems: Buddhism and Protestantism both get fresh coats of faith-based paint New Options For Subject States: Once just tiny money faucets, recent expansions have made vassals and colonial nations more useful. Common Sense gives you new tools to exploit them or keep them in line Government Ranks: As you invest in the development of your nation, you can climb from a small duchy to a major empire, unlocking new benefits. New Government mechanics: Theocracies will have new actions and mechanics to highlight their unique character, and the Holy Roman Empire can create Free Cities

Common Sense will be available on June 9, and be accompanied by a free update of improvements and fixes.

Feature: Magicka Almost A Victim Of Poor Planning

Toxikk trailer discusses its old-school movement model

In case you'd forgotten , Toxikk is a deliberately old-fashioned multiplayer FPS that spurns regenerative health, iron sights, free-to-play, and other elements you might find in many modern-day shooters, returning to the increased mobility and much faster speed of games like Quake and Unreal Tournament.

, Toxikk is a deliberately old-fashioned multiplayer FPS that spurns regenerative health, iron sights, free-to-play, and other elements you might find in many modern-day shooters, returning to the increased mobility and much faster speed of games like Quake and Unreal Tournament. Following a 'gameplay reveal' of the early access shooter back in September (I've embedded that below), developers Reakktor Studios have released a new ten-minute videodetailing the game's old-timey movement model. You'll find that at the top of this post.

It's a pretty interesting video, revealing (well, if you've not played Toxikk) that players will be running by default, and that in fact the Shift key causes you to walk instead. Double-jumping is in too, which is good news because double-jumping makes everything better. Literally everything. Adventure games, bat mitzvahs— everything . Here's some, perhaps more exciting, footage of Toxikk in action:

Ta, Blue's News.

Trust Nothing in Deluded Mind

Nothing is quite as terrifying as the sensation of not knowing what is real and what is a hallucination of the mind.

Nothing is quite as terrifying as the sensation of not knowing what is real and what is a hallucination of the mind. Players step into  the shoes of a haunted FBI agent, Dean Catrall, in Pyxton Studios UG (limited liability)’s newest first-person horror game, Deluded Mind .

Players join agent Catrall as he hunts down a wanted drug dealer along with his partner, Robert Page. When both agents discover the dealer’s apartment they’re greeted by a grim message, a young woman dead. The dealer was tipped off about the agent’s and has set a trap knocking both agents out. When the player awakes they’ll find themselves in the abandoned mental institution, Hillstone Asylum, where they’ve been drugged with a hallucinogen and their partner missing. It is up to the players to save their partner, survive the onslaught of their checkered past and bring the criminal to justice.

Deluded Mind is currently in development but is expected to release by the end of the year for Windows PC, Mac, Linux, and PS4. To learn more about the game visit the official website, and “like” on Facebook. To learn more about the developer Pyxton Studios UG (limited liability), visit their website, “like” on Facebookand follow on Twitter.

Save 75% on Europa Universalis IV Steam keys and select DLC

To celebrate the release of Europa Universalis IV's Cossacks DLC, this week the Golden Joystick Store has teamed up with Paradox to offer the base game and a bunch of its best DLC at a discounted rate.

has teamed up with Paradox to offer the base game and a bunch of its best DLC at a discounted rate. Paradox's grand strategy game scored 91% from PCG upon its release in 2013—and like all of Paradox's games, it's come a long way since then. Don't miss your chance to grab it at a fantastic rate.

Europa Universalis IV- 75% off: now £8.75 | $10.00

Europa Universalis IV DLC Collection- 75% off: now £12.50 | $16.25

Europa Universalis IV: El Dorado- 66% off: now £3.74 | $5.10

Europa Universalis IV: Art of War- 66% off: now £5.10 | $6.80

Europa Universalis IV: Common Sense- 33% off: now £7.36 | $10.04

These offers run until Dec 4 at 10:30p GMT / 5:30p EST / 2:30p PST.

Run by Future Publishing, the Golden Joystick Store aims to give players the easiest way to buy games yet, with a simple interface and recommendations from PC Gamer and GamesRadar to help you make your buying decisions.

Release This: DS Chrono Trigger Heads Stateside; Japan Gets Layton Sequel

Toxikk trailer tries to take arena shooters back to the old-school

Is a man not entitled to the purity of his frag?

Is a man not entitled to the purity of his frag? Toxikk thinks he is, and has previously set out its "no bullshit" mantra in a short, action packed teaser. Today's trailer is more of the same, only slightly longer and with a fuller exploration of its back-to-the-'90s FPS philosophy.

"Designed as a spiritual successor to the fast paced arena shooters of the late 90s and early 2ks," explains Reakktor, "there is no levelling, no skill-trees, no perks, no cover systems, no classes, no configurable weapons and no iron sight aiming."

I have a slight problem with marketing that relies on a situation that doesn't exist. Toxikk looks like an enjoyable cross between Halo and UT, but its hypothesis that classic arena shooters need reviving doesn't hold up. We've got Warsow, Quake Live, an upcoming Unreal Tournament, and a catalogue of classic FPS games that refuse to die. Here's UT2K4. People are still playing it.

Which isn't to say there's no room for Toxikk, just that Toxikk needs to make room amidst a healthy number of existing arena first-person shooters. As such, I wish they'd stop saying that it's an arena FPS, and instead focus on what makes it an interesting arena FPS.

Toxikk is currently available to pre-order and will soon be in Early Access. You can find more details on the game's website.

Thanks, RPS.

Floating Fish: Sublime Underwater Arcade Action

If your secret ambition in life has always been to embark on a deep-sea diving career and strike it rich, then wait no longer, because Malang Studio’s Floating Fish may be the answer you were seeking.

may be the answer you were seeking. Malang Studio has worked on a number of casual games to date, such as Into The Darkness, Tappy Soccer , and AlarmMon, an alarm clock with mini-games. Floating Fish allows you to travel the world as a cute fish reminiscent of Nemo from Finding Nemo , while exploring secret underwater hiding places to find pearls. In addition to the bright and colorful graphics, gameplay promises a combination of both simple controls that only require players a tap of the screen either on the left or right hand side in order to move the fish, and challenging arcade action that will keep players intrigued for more. The aim of the game is to locate the exit point of each level, which is indicated by a bright light. At this stage, players will have the chance to swim through a total of thirty levels.

Along the way, a range of obstacles will try and hamper you from reaching your target, including ferocious sharks, other types of fish, and nets. Floating Fish is available for free and is out now on the App Store, the Google Play Store, and the Windows Phone Store. What do you think about Floating Fish ? Has Nemo had enough adventure for one lifetime? Let us know in the comments!

New Crusader Kings 2 and Europa Universalis 4 expansions announced

Last night, Paradox took to a Gamescom stage to talk about their existing and future titles.

Last night, Paradox took to a Gamescom stage to talk about their existing and future titles. During the conference, they announced Europa Universalis 4's third expansion, and Crusader Kings 2's, I dunno, sixty-ninth expansion? Something like that, anyway. EU4: Art of War will focus on the 30 Years War, and improve naval combat and army control. CK2: Charlemagne will introduce a new 769AD start date, and chart the rise of Charlemagne and The Holy Roman Empire.

seventh

New Earlier bookmark, 769, almost 100 more years of Crusader Kings II Special story event series for Charlemagne Annual Chronicle in the style of the Saxon chronicle Custom Kingdoms and Empires, create a new title from a lower-tier title, can customize flag and name Dozens of new cultures Brand new system for climate and seasonal transitions Regency overhaul 30 years War: Unique mechanics and events for the religious conflict that ravaged Europe. Napoleonic Era: Fight for or against the revolution and create entirely new custom client countries on the map from your conquests. Fighting on land or at sea: You can now sortie from sieges, transfer occupation to allies and give objectives to your subjects and allies. Entire Fleets can now be upgraded with one click, you can now mothball fleets to avoid paying maintenance, and your fleets can be set to automatically transport armies. Marches: Turn your vessals into bulwarks against your enemies, getting less tax but strengthening their defences. Improved Diplomacy: Sell Surplus Ships, Fight for your subjects CB, Declare War in Support of Rebel factions in other countries and new peace options. Gameplay Enhancements: Build entire armies in one click and abandon cores that you no longer wish to support. Free Features for the accompanying patch: Completely new rebel mechanic, local autonomy on province level, new cardinal system for Catholics, new reformation mechanics and a new look map.

At this point, you're probably all, "so when will this stuff be released?" The answer, uninformatively, is "the near future".

Steam Greenlight's first games get greenlit

With Valve's new Steam Greenlight initiative, they're attempting to democratize the process of getting a game approved for sale on Steam (a process that was previously opaque and notoriously difficult.) Many people still aren't happy with the service's $100 fee, but despite the anger the service's first titles have just been approved. The first games to be approved for release will be: Black Mesa,

Reflex bunny-hops onto Kickstarter, seeks funding for arena FPS action

Yesterday I mentioned how Toxikk describing itself as a rare return to the old-school FPS was somewhat disingenuous.

describing itself as a rare return to the old-school FPS was somewhat disingenuous. Soon after, an email proves my point—alerting me to Reflex. It's another old-school FPS, this time on Kickstarter. Could this be the start of a new FPS-off; the Quake vs UT of post-2010 gaming. Only if the game raises $360,000 AUD (£194,500/$318,230) in the next four weeks.

As you might expect, the feature list is extremely no-nonsense:

"Hunt through complex maps filled with jump pads, teleporters and tempting looking rocket jumps and gather weapons, items and powerups. "Bunny hop and double jump around until you see something to shoot, then splatter that something all over the walls with a rocket launcher. "Over 10 game modes including Free-For-All, Capture the Flag and Team Deathmatch. "Designed for "easy to learn, hard to master" gameplay -- there will always be new strategies to devise and new trick jumps to find. "Fancy, in-game map and replay editing tools (included with every version). "Matchmaking, ranking, regional ladders, player created ladders -- both public and private. "Custom built engine that contains everything we need and nothing we don't."

There's a major focus on movement, which is no bad thing. Expect it to be fast, frantic, and—to those that don't have the time to master it—borderline chaotic. Perhaps more importantly, though, the game's creators want to support the game through a host of options. Regional ladders, team tracking, tournament hosting, dedicated servers and custom ladders will be supported, alongside clans, spectator features and LAN. Perhaps more than the arena shooter itself, it's the flexibility of the genre that seems lacking from the modern AAA FPS.

For more on Reflex, head to the Kickstarter page, or find it on Steam Greenlight.

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Old school arena shooter Reflex is now on Early Access

Nothing warms my cold barren heart like a silky smooth, old school arena shooter.

Nothing warms my cold barren heart like a silky smooth, old school arena shooter. Developed by Australian studio Turbo Pixel Studios, Reflexwas originally on Kickstarterbut the campaign was abruptly cancelled last month. Now, it's popped up on Early Access, which is great news because it means you're able to play it right now.

“The current version is very much a prototype," the studio writes on the Reflex Steam page. "We have a start on solid feeling gameplay, and a proof of concept shown." Currently the game has a playable multiplayer component as well as a map editor, replay editor and three game modes. The game has no firm release schedule, with the studio opting for a release-when-it's-done approach.

Here's the original Kickstarter trailer to whet your appetite. The game is available with a 10 per cent discount until December 2.

Unleash Adorable Fluffy Hell in Kitten Rampage

Ah kittens, they’re the internet’s favorite pass time.

Ah kittens, they’re the internet’s favorite pass time. Adorable little balls of fluff and cuteness. How could one ever think less of these little godsends; that’s because the internet doesn’t catch the terrifying destruction kittens can cause. That’s right, these little fluff-monsters wreak havoc with their unnatural powers. This is what Developer Dexmes aims to have players experience in their new game Kitten Rampage .

Players take control of a ball of delightful chaos who’s goal is to destroy as much as possible while conquering the world of man to become their new furry overlord. Players will rely on their super kitty powers as they rack up rampage streaks for higher scores. These unholy destructive powers include laser eyes and deadly poop. If a player is tired of walking around on all fours, they could just hop into a vehicle to bring about vehicular death and destruction.

Kitten Rampage is currently in Early Access on Steamfor Windows PC with a version for Mac and Linux coming soon. The game is normally priced at $9.99 (USD)but currently featured in a special promotion of 25% off. To learn more about the game and the developer Dexmes, visit the official website, “like” on Facebook, and follow on Twitter.

Eve Fanfest 2013: World of Darkness video shows hunting, parties and parkour - "you can't make your vampire sparkle"

CCP's vampire MMO World of Darkness has been hiding from the light for the last twelve months, but behind the scenes a gear has shifted.

CCP's vampire MMO World of Darkness has been hiding from the light for the last twelve months, but behind the scenes a gear has shifted. The 70 strong team that formerly split its time between World of Darkness, Eve and Dust are now pursuing World of Darkness full-time.

It's nowhere near finished, however. Today's World of Darkness presentation at the Eve Fanfest in Reykjavik focused closely on the level design tools and shaders that CCP are using to build their next big sandbox MMO, but they did show a video. Built from World of Darkness assets, the "target footage" was designed by CCP artists to illustrate what life as an urban vampire will hopefully look and feel like in the finished game. Filming was strictly prohibited, the session wasn't part of the Fanfest livestream and CCP aren't likely to show it publicly any time soon, so instead I will use words to try and paint pictures in your head. I will also use actual pictures drawn with my hands. Here's what happened.

The video opens in a dim alleyway in the middle of a dark, wet city. The player character is an impossibly slender female. The dark, skintight trousers and splayed, spiked cuffs of her short, dark jacket are ostentatious enough to immediately mark her as a vampire, even before she approaches a man loitering in the alleyway and - after a seductive exchange - bites his throat out.

As she snacks bloodily on her victim (an NPC, McDonough confirmed later), a dozen vampires bound past the window lights of a distant rooftop, the player character tracks them for a moment as they vault over rooftops and vanish into the darkness, and then darts sideways and mounts a 12 foot brick wall with the speed and ferocity of a turbo-charged Ezio.

She quickly scales another rooftop and suddenly finds herself in an open bar. Dozens of other players mill about, chatting and drinking, dressed in sumptuous outfits. This is a representation of what CCP call the "paper doll" aspect of World of Darkness. They want fashion to be an important part of vampire society, one that could provide plenty of incentive for trade. Earlier in the presentation, McDonough suggested that vampire players will be able to hire or "manipulate" others into creating items for them.

Beyond the warm glow of the party, the troupe of vampires sail back into view. They're just silhouettes on the skyline, but their movements are quick and feral. The player character walks slowly through the party, keeping an eye on the hunting pack from afar. There's a strong gothic urban wilderness vibe to this bit. When I mention this to McDonough later he says that the scenes showing vampires leaping across rooftops from afar are inspired by scenes from CCP's internal quarterly playtests. He says that staying constantly alert to the environment outside safe zones is wise. 3360 kills were recorded during CCP's January test.

The player reaches the rail at the edge of the party, hopes over and then leaps the street beyond in one go. She clambers up onto the roof, cloaks and then makes her way through a mass of hissing air conditioning units. Emerging, crouched into an open stretch of rooftop she sees another vampire standing on the edge of the drop. The vampire spots her translucent form and adopts a fighting stance. As he spreads his arms a strange golden dust distortion appears around him. Before he has a chance to cast whatever spell he's weaving the player dashes forward twelve feet and punches him off the roof. She leaps after him and lands perfectly near his body (there's an obligatory CRASH of thunder here). Then she steps forward, opens his throat with a back-handed swipe and then drinks the blood from the wound. CCP aren't shying away from the violence of the vampire underworld. As she drinks, three other vampires drop down from the rooftops. She stands up to face her aggressors and the video ends.

The footage was rendered in the World of Darkness engine. McDonough admits that the working client doesn't run at the video's framerates, and postprocessing has been used to add additional lighting effects that they're planning to implement as they unlock DirectX11 features further into development. I wasn't taken with the spindly early character models, but the city - dark, brooding, soaking wet - was detailed and evocative. The window shaders CCP are building show interiors that shift depending on your perspective, giving depth to the multi-storey facades. Fans whirr in their sockets, steam rises from the drains. Everything glistens. I want to put on a trench coat, tip my hat against the rain and explore.

That wouldn't be smart. Players in World of Darkness start out mortal, but will be quickly tuned. Or so CCP expect. There will be players who try to last as long as they can in human form. Initially, it won't be a fully fleshed out way to exist. "We're not putting a huge amount of functionality into the mortal game," McDonough says. The other races that fill the World of Darkness universe like werewolves and mages won't be in at launch either, but CCP "consider this to be future expansions."

You can be permanently killed in World of Darkness, but it will be a difficult process. Being slain in combat won't do it, for example. McDonough said that a handful of players were perma-killed during the January CCP playtest, but wouldn't be drawn on exactly how. In the World of Darkness pen and paper RPG (the game is very much based on the pre-2004 classic World of Darkness setting) "final death" occurs when you run out of blood points. Interestingly, in the RPG, executions can be ordered by the Prince (a lordly mega vampire who rules the city). CCP have already confirmed that there will be player-elected Princes in the MMO. Will they have the power to single out enemies for complete destruction?

It's impossible to say at this stage because CCP are reluctant to give any specifics on systems they're in the middle of designing. They do mention that World of Darkness will run on one "shard" that will likely be supported by multiple server clusters to handle the added load of all that free-running. There will be multiple cities to travel between. Your character's movement is tied to the WASD keys. CCP also mentioned that they're planning to reflect the Masquerade - the pact that requires vampires to hide their existence from humans, though how is a mystery. In the video vampires were jumping freely around the city, visible to anyone who happens to look up.

The World of Darkness team are also wrestling with a desire to maintain the grim, gothic tone of the classic World of Darkness settings. "We've banned the names Edward and Bella and you can't make your vampire sparkle," McDonough joked, crushing the dreams of a million Twilight fans. I'm curious to see how CCP will stop players from voting in a brutal vampire Prince called Joe McLovelyface55. They've already made important tweaks to preserve the seriousness of the setting. "In the first internal playtest you could loot clothes. everyone was always naked, all the time. it was fun and beautiful."

World of Darkness isn't coming out this year. It's not coming out next year. It may take longer than that. CCP have held back from showing too much in case people start expecting with years of development left to run. The cat is out of the bag, however. The cat has crossed the sea. The cat has an apartment in New York and is trying to make it as an artist. I can't wait to see more in the years to come.

11Bit cracks open This War Of Mine with new modding tools

Polish developer 11Bit Studios is cracking open the heart of its IGF award-winning survival game This War Of Mine this week by rolling out a suite of modding tools to the public.

The studio has long promised to open the game up to modders as a way to extend its lifespan, and the new tools in the latest This War Of Mine update will make it easier for creative types to design new scenarios, events and items for the game.

It's common to see developers open their games up for public tinkering -- Dennaton j ust addeda (beta) level editor to Hotline Miami 2 earlier this week -- but 11Bit's decision to do so is especially intriguing becaues This War Of Mine was so specifically tuned for emotional impact.

"In This War of Mine , there is often no good or obvious choice," creative director Michal Drozdowski told The New Yorkerearlier this year. "It’s always simply about trying to survive the night, in the hope that, in the morning, the guns will have stopped."

Now that players can create their own guns and muck around with the game's systems to their hearts' content, it will be interesting to see what sort of scenarios they create.

Why the Flak Cannon is the greatest gun in PC gaming

Last week we put the Flak Cannon at the top of our list of the Best Guns Ever .

. I've taken a moment to expand on why a sci-fi shotgun from 1999 still stands as our favorite firearm.

How much to charge for VR games? Job Simulator dev wrestles with key question

PC Gamer US Podcast #327 - Pixel Blood

Don't call it a comeback: T.J. is misguidedly given dominion over the podcast for a second week running as we discuss whether the new Black Isle Studios has anything to do with the old Black Isle Studios, what our plans are for the launch of Guild Wars 2, and whether we will actually see the World of Darkness MMO before the apocalypse.

Don't call it a comeback: T.J. is misguidedly given dominion over the podcast for a second week running as we discuss whether the new Black Isle Studios has anything to do with the old Black Isle Studios, what our plans are for the launch of Guild Wars 2, and whether we will actually see the World of Darkness MMO before the apocalypse. Plus, new DayZ storytime from Evan, T.J. proposes to Crusader Kings II, and Tyler asks new Associate Editor Omri Petitte what (railgun) is best in life?

Saddle up for the content-crammed extravaganza that is PC Gamer US Podcast 327: Pixel Blood

Have a question, comment, complaint, or observation? Leave a voicemail: 1-877-404-1337 ext 724 or email the mp3 to pcgamerpodcast@gmail.com.

Subscribe to the podcast RSS feed.

@ELahti(Evan Lahti)

@tyler_wilde(Tyler Wilde)

@AsaTJ(T.J. Hafer)

@omripetitte(Omri Petitte)

@belsaas(Erik Belsaas, podcast producer)

BioShock 2 's creative lead is going independent

Why an Unreal Tournament made by modders is the best (and only) decision Epic could've made

Thursday was stuffed with good news for FPS players.

Thursday was stuffed with good news for FPS players. We announced Killing Floor 2, learned that Unreal Tournament was being thawedafter seven years of hibernation, and, bonus some guy taught us how to Counter-Strike with a steering wheel.

The specifics of Epic's plan to bring back the arena shooter were surprising. Yes, it was initially disappointing to learn that work on a new UT was only now beginning “from scratch,” as Epic put it. But the reason for that was encouraging—UT won't be a conventional, “boxed” product, but “a collaboration between Epic, UT fans and UE4 developers” with created transparently and with plenty of external input, Epic promises, and with all code and content available to UE4 devs through GitHub. Splendid.

In that same spirit, Epic is making the next UT free, not simply free-to-play. Epic plans to pay for the game by allowing modders and content creators to sell what they make (and share revenue with Epic in the process), a system that will likely resemble a Steam Workshop or SOE Player Studio-like content distribution service.

The next UT will be developed openly In collaboration with modders and the community Be released for free Have a PC/Mac/Linux “focus” And be “true to its roots as a competitive FPS”

We'll see how smoothly all of that goes (“A lot of this is brand new for Epic, and we don't yet have everything figured out,” the studio admits), but on paper, in 2014, I can't imagine a better plan for Unreal than that. Part of the reason this approach is so praiseworthy, though, is because it's perhaps the only choice for a brand and a genre that have steadily waned over the last decade.

If Epic had announced on Thursday that it'd tasked a 150-person studio to build a AAA, multiplatform arena shooter on the latest technology, this editorial would probably be an obituary. Excepting stuff like Ratz Instagib and ShootMania Storm—arena shooters have been fully supplanted by larger-scale FPSes (Rising Storm, Battlefield, PlanetSide 2) or by FPSes that feature weapon unlocks or other forms of progression (Call of Duty, CS:GO), a tough thing to integrate when your game uses weapon spawning as a balancing element. Epic's plan mitigates the financial risk associated with the genre while also using the Unreal brand as modder bait.

It's an approach that will save Epic money. In an era where Ubisoft pays 7,800 people to make gamesand Activision is spending half a billion dollarsto make and promote Destiny, asking Unreal Tournament, the genre's equivalent of an honored but long-retired Vietnam veteran, to compete on the same stage with the Advanced Warfares of the industry would've been foolish. Instead, Epic positions itself to judge the success of UT by how many times it's downloaded, how many Twitch viewers its tournaments bring in, how much affection it brings the brand (that can go toward potential future releases or paid updates), and how well its crowdsourced project stimulates interest and development in UE4, which will have to compete hard with Valve's iteration of Source and indie-friendly platforms like Unity in the next several years.

This way of developing the next UT also demonstrates Epic's understanding a key trait of the current generation, especially on PC—players' time is just as valuable as their money. The aggressive, ubiquitous sales on Steam and other services have made word-of-mouth a primary currency in the gaming industry. A zero-dollar price tag equals accessibility; it'll be easy for people to act on hearing something positive about UT from a friend, livestream, or trusted person they're following on Twitter. I'd also love to see Epic make skill-based matchmaking a feature in the next UT, and being completely free is a great step toward deepening the pool of players swimming in that system.

We also can't ignore that collaborative development positions Epic to capitalize on the spiking trend of mods becoming massive, multi-million-selling standalone products. You only have to look at Steam Workshopor Bohemia's year-long, €500,000 Arma 3 modding contestto realize that it's exponentially cheaper to create a big incentive for people to create spin-offs of your game than it is to do it yourself.

Epic being an engine and game developer makes them a unique company, and them using Unreal Tournament in a way that benefits both side of their business is very smart. It's an approach that leverages and revives a sleeping brand as an educational and marketing vehicle for UE4. Developing and releasing Unreal Tournament any other way might've doomed it to another seven-year coma.

How much to charge for VR games? Job Simulator dev wrestles with key question

World of Darkness will feature a "poetic" UI. It's "not going to look like a game"

World of Darkness is an upcoming MMO from CCP, creators of EVE Online .

. And it's shaping up to be something truly special. This is a single server MMO where politics are more important than crafting, where guns are toys, and blood is more valuable than gold. It'll take place in a real-world setting packed with thirsty vampires.

I'm asking World of Darkness' creative director if his MMO will be concerned with hotkeys and cooldowns.

PC Gamer: But it's going to look like a standard MMO interface, right?

Reynir Hardarson: It's a bit more poetic actually.

PC Gamer: Poetic?

PC Gamer: But it's going to look like a standard MMO interface, right?

Reynir Hardarson: It's a bit more poetic actually.

PC Gamer: Poetic?

"It's not going to look like a game, it's going to look, feel and play like a movie," explains Reynir. "So the look and feel is very film noir and the interface elements are more like actual objects or something dream-like. We're actually thinking “what is it?" These are perpetuating emotional states or actual items. And it's not really fitting to have an abstract UI."

World of Darkness will use blood as its currency; blood you'll drain from other inhabitants of the world.

"It's a highly emotional thing," explains Reynir. "It's about vampires who understand people, especially mortals. It's about reading emotional states, feeding from a mortal, drinking his blood. And at the moment he dies you get flashes of emotions and memories. It's going to be portrayed in that way."

Mass Effect 3 actors return to the studio for Extended Cut DLC

Actors Tricia Helfer, Lance Henriksen and Raphael Sbarge - EDI, Admiral Hackett, and Kaidan Alenko, respectively - have all confirmed that they've been back in the studio recording new dialogue for Mass Effect 3's 'Extended Cut' DLC.

"I just did another session with [BioWare]", Henriksen told G4TV. "They were saying there's a little bit of a problem with the abruptness of the ending. So we did a whole series of things to add to the end of the game, to live up to the quality they've been doing."

The Extended Cut will be a free addition to the end of the game that adds new cinematics and epilogue scenes. It's an attempt to build bridges with players who felt let down by the way the Mass Effect trilogy wrapped up. "We think we have struck a good balance in delivering the answers players are looking for while maintaining the team's artistic vision" BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka said back in April.

That dialogue is being recorded suggests that the script has been finalised and that the Extended Cut is entering the last stages of production - so hopefully BioWare are still on to release the DLC during the summer as originally planned.

To say that Mass Effect 3's ending divided the community would be an understatement. In our review, Tom Francis called it "satisfying in some ways, nonsensical in others, and ultimately too simple." Hopefully the new scenes will add depth and an increased sense of personalisation to the finale.

Quake Live joins Steam this week, watch the launch trailer here

Quake Live is a seriously beautiful game.

is a seriously beautiful game. The fluidity, the colours, the mindboggling levels of skill it can accommodate... it's easy to forget the appeal until you see the game in action. There's also a certain '90s nostalgia attached to the series as a whole, which is compounded by the Moby-esque music playing over this launch trailer. Take a look below.

Quake Live launches September 17 on Steam, which depending on where you are in the world is either now or tomorrow. Announced at Quakeconback in July, the shooter hasn't made the jump without a handful of changes though, which we've detailed before. Most of the changes are there to accommodate newer players, which has inevitably riled veterans. Still, as a free-to-play game with over 100 arenas, it's likely to find a legion of new fans.

Run Brave Little Candle Run in Candlelight

Grab onto courage and hold fast as the world descends into darkness.

Grab onto courage and hold fast as the world descends into darkness. The only light, the only hope in the world, rests on the head of one terrified looking individual. Who is this savior that will save the world from never-ending darkness? Well, a candle of course! Enter Pixel Maverick Games action adventure, Candlelight .

Players will step into the candle stick of this lonely protagonist as they venture forth to restore light and fight the darkness that is trying to take control. Venture forth through 15 large levels spanning across oceans, forest, and castles just to name a few.  Each level holds it’s own secrets, and players will be on the look out as there are hidden temples and secret areas for them to discover. Players will battle three bosses based on water, ice, and smoke.

Candlelight is expected to release on March 15 on both PS4 and Steamfor Windows PC. To learn more about the game and developer, Pixel Maverick Games visit the official website, and “like” on Facebookand follow on Twitter.

World of Darkness players can try to stay human, but guns are only good as a "fashion accessory"

World of Darkness is an upcoming MMO from CCP, creators of emergent, player-driven, space opera, EVE Online.

World of Darkness is an upcoming MMO from CCP, creators of emergent, player-driven, space opera, EVE Online. And it's going to be something truly special. Players will exist on a single server where politics are more important than crafting. A place where powerful players can kill off their enemies, forever. We've already talked about that side of things, and now we're going to share more secrets.

Every World of Darkness player will begin their experience in human form. How long will you survive in a server packed with bloodsuckers? That's yet to be seen.

It could result in something outstanding. Imagine hiding out for weeks with a gang of close friends. Then, one night, the immortals track you down and and are thirsting for your blood?

You'll probably need extreme strength of numbers to survive any length of time. Remember, in a world of vampires, guns are weaksauce and blood is the currency. Creative director, Raynir Hardason shared some exclusive details with us at last week's fanfest.

Reynir Hardarson: Yes.

PC Gamer: Will I be able to compete though? Will I be as powerful as the vamps?

Reynir Hardarson: No. Not as a non-immortal. Part of the transformation is that immediately you become a lot more powerful in different ways...

PC Gamer: So it's a decision that players can make? “I'm don't want to roll with those guys?”

Reynir Hardarson: Yes. The game begins when you die.

"It's biased towards close range combat. World of Darkness is not a shooter; you will be able to use guns but they're mostly used for defence," explains Reynir. "Guns are not effective against vampires, they can take bullets easily. Secondly it's much more powerful using your own abilities. Guns are toys. It's a fashion item, a fashion accessory." We'll have more on World of Darkness soon.

PC gaming has "around a 93-95% piracy rate" claims Ubisoft CEO

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot has been speaking to GamesIndustry International about Ubi's reasons for embracing the free to play model .

. He says free to play games are more cost effective to create because typical PC releases are so heavily pirated. He claims that "only about five to seven per cent" of players pay for PC games, "the rest is pirated."

Guillemot doesn't provide any evidence for this, but insists that the rate of paying customers for a traditional release is equal to that of a free to play game. He says that the free to play model lets Ubisoft "take content which we've developed in the past, graphics etc," to make "cheaper games and improve them over time."

"We want to develop the PC market quite a lot and F2P is really the way to do it," he says. "The advantage of F2P is that we can get revenue from countries where we couldn't previously - places where our products were played but not bought. Now with F2P we gain revenue, which helps brands last longer.

"It's a way to get closer to your customers, to make sure you have a revenue. On PC it's only around five to seven per cent of the players who pay for F2P, but normally on PC it's only about five to seven per cent who pay anyway, the rest is pirated. It's around a 93-95 per cent piracy rate, so it ends up at about the same percentage. The revenue we get from the people who play is more long term, so we can continue to bring content."

It would be very interesting to learn where Guillemot has taken the "93-95 per cent" figure from, but a belief in that high a rate of piracy would explain the aggressive DRM strategy that Ubisoft have been pursuing for the past few years. Ubisoft recently announced that they'll be charging into the free to play market with three new games, Anno Online, Silent Hunter Onlineand Heroes of Might and Magic Online.

Quake Live makes newbie-friendly changes in latest update, people get mad

In advance of Quake Live's debut on Steam, the game has undergone a major update that changes some fairly fundamental aspects of play.

In advance of Quake Live's debut on Steam, the game has undergone a major update that changes some fairly fundamental aspects of play. Players may now choose which primary and secondary weapons they spawn with, visual item timers have been added and an automated form of strafe-jumping has been implemented. The changes are all intended to make the game more welcoming to newcomers, and as you might predict, not everyone is happy about them.

"Quake is a masterful game of skill, often compared to Chess by its veteran players. However, with that depth has come a challenge to welcome and capture new players long enough for them to discover the joy to be found in what many consider the finest Deathmatch game ever made," the Quake Live team wrote in a. "For new players, it has been quite clear what the greatest barriers are: effectiveness on spawn, movement, and item control. These elements on several levels also make our game great, so we wanted to see what could be done to make the game a more enjoyable experience, all while teaching players a bit of the meta-game depth."

The full list of changes is detailed in the post and it's pretty extensive, including a new weapon, various rule changes, a higher-resolution font and widescreen HUD support, and the removal of the Chaingun and Nailgun from "several" Arena maps. But the changes that seem to be attracting the most attention are the ones related to the aforementioned "barriers," specifically:

Players may now hold forward and jump to 'bunny hop', allowing them to slowly gain up to 2x their base movement speed. Introduced Loadouts in select modes; allowing players to select one Primary Weapon (hmg, rl, lg, rg) and one Secondary Weapon (sg, gl, pg, mg). Added in-world item timers for "major" items, including armors, megahealth, power-ups, and medkit

There's been some positive reaction to the changes but there's an awful lot of unhappiness too. Some players are upset that the update ignores what they see as more pressing problems in the game, while others assert that they diminish its skill-based nature; at least one poster said it will ultimately do more harm than good by leaving new players unprepared for the demands of other, less accommodating arena shooters they might encounter at some future date.

It is actually possible to stick to the old-fashioned way of doing things, more or less. "For players who wish to largely avoid the new major changes, the legacy style of play has been preserved within a 'Classic' ruleset," the developers wrote. "All of our public Duel servers run in Classic mode. Subscribers may host additional classic servers using our 'Create Match' feature. This includes the launching of Standard Classic servers, which any player may freely join."

Even so, the majority of forum posters seem solidly set against the update. But is it really that bad—is Quake Live really being "ruined," as so many posts insist—or is it much ado about nothing? We won't know for certain until it's had some time on Steam to build up a new audience (or not), but I'm rather strongly inclined to think (and certainly hope) that it's the latter.

The Bird is the Word in Featherpunk Prime

When one thinks of futuristic space shooters, one normally pictures some macho space marine blasting his way through hordes of alien scum.

When one thinks of futuristic space shooters, one normally pictures some macho space marine blasting his way through hordes of alien scum. Or perhaps a silent stoic female protagonist clad in armor. What one rarely thinks of is a robotic, neon-colored, space flamingo. This is the unlikely protagonist players control in Super Hatch Games’s action platformer Featherpunk Prime .

Players will blast their way through several procedural levels, making their way to the top of the tower where they’ll have to destroy the Cybirdyne Guardians and their overlord, Madame Zoo. Along the way, they’ll face off against giant bosses and hordes of avian warbots. Players won’t be alone in this as they’ll have an armored sidekick with them, as well as a large arsenal of weapons and upgrades.

Featherpunk Prime is currently in development and is expected to release in August for PC. To learn more about the game and developer Super Hatch Games visit their website, Facebook, and Twitter.

World of Darkness permadeath and politics: "Hanging out in bars could be a powerful play"

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World of Darkness is an upcoming MMO RPG set in Mark Rein Hagen's vampire-centric universe.

is an upcoming MMO RPG set in Mark Rein Hagen's vampire-centric universe. He later went on to create White Wolf, the studio responsible for 1991's critically acclaimed Vampire: The Masquerade.

The truly exciting thing? CCP, creators of revolutionary sci-fi sandbox EVE Online, are in charge.

World of Darkness is taking tired MMO convention and slicing its throat. Then it's smearing the result all over a single server universe where the fight for political influence is just as important as the literal battle for blood. Get enough power and you can kill off someone's character, permanently.

I got a chance to speak to creative director Reynir Hardarson about the revolutionary mechanics. His words had us both shaking with excitement. Oh, and forget any notion of teenage fantasy. As Reynir pointed out to a relieved crowd at last week's fanfest: CCP are "not making Twilight."

Reynir Hardarson: Yes. You have to be a total... it's really hard to... you'd have to work really hard at it.

PC Gamer: So I'd have to become, say, the equivalent of an EVE Online head of corp to do that kind of thing?

Reynir Hardarson: To do that action you'd have to be prince of a city. And you'd need political support to do it.

Reynir Hardarson: Yes. You have to be a total... it's really hard to... you'd have to work really hard at it.

PC Gamer: So I'd have to become, say, the equivalent of an EVE Online head of corp to do that kind of thing?

Reynir Hardarson: To do that action you'd have to be prince of a city. And you'd need political support to do it.

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Click up there to see the first glimpse of World of Darkness' engine.

In World of Darkness lore, Princesare vampires who have claimed leadership over cities. To gain that kind of power you'll need to get voted in by other players, who'll have their own hidden agendas. World of Darkness will take the unforgiving permanence of EVE Online, and place it in a more accessible, faux-real world setting.

It also means that if your playstyle doesn't have to be PvP or PvE... maybe your playstyle is just social. There's a lot of power in that, because social power has actual power in this game. Hanging out at bars could be a very powerful play.

PC Gamer: What could I gain from hanging out in bars?

Reynir Hardarson: It's part of the prestige among vampires. Taking in political power. People will know who is very important - it literally translates into power in the game.

It also means that if your playstyle doesn't have to be PvP or PvE... maybe your playstyle is just social. There's a lot of power in that, because social power has actual power in this game. Hanging out at bars could be a very powerful play.

PC Gamer: What could I gain from hanging out in bars?

Reynir Hardarson: It's part of the prestige among vampires. Taking in political power. People will know who is very important - it literally translates into power in the game.

World of Darkness has potential to break the most hardy of MMO/vampire sceptics; CCP are not an ordinary company, and World of Darkness won't be your standard MMO. We'll have more tantalising info soon.

Just Cause 3 screenshots appear, and look rather good

Yesterday, I complained that there were no good screenshots for the newly announced Just Cause 3.

that there were no good screenshots for the newly announced Just Cause 3. Then, because I'm petty, I asked readers to tweet me with their own artistic recreations of what they think the game will be.

People actually did this.

Also yesterday, genuine screenshots of Just Cause 3 appeared. They appeared courtesy of Game Informer, who have temporary dominion over all Just Cause 3 related happenings.

I'm going to post them anyway, like the rebel without a cause that I am. I will, however, keep the Game Informer watermark CLEARLY VISIBLE, because someone from Game Inform͏̵̧e̶̵r̸̨̛ might see this and I don't want to be sued.

As an additional challenge to all of you, I'm going to post the official Just Cause 3 screenshots – BROUGHT TO YOU IN ASSOCIATION WITH GAME INFOŔ̢M̴͟͏̴͡ER – alongside our community-made pictures. I invite you to attempt to work out the difference. Answers at the bottom of the post.

Okay, I have realised that the inherent problem with this quiz is the GAM̛̦̭̫̙̗E̘͓I̡͜͏͓̳̟͇N͕F҉̹̙̼̠̖͕O͉̙͖̟͎͟͞R͘̕҉̝̰̣̺Ḿ̩͇̘E͖̕͢ͅR̖̯̳̺̳͓̪̀ watermark. It makes it too easy. I have manually attempted to correct that in the next image.

Right, there's your lot. Did you spot them? To be sure, here are the answers.

Shot 1: by Flaillomanz.
Shot 2: by August Hassnert.
Shot 3: Just Cause 3, brought to you in as̷̙͞s̨̤͈̖̗o̵̘̰͜c̭̟̝͎̳̳͈̩͟i̧̢̭̻̜̝͖a͔̰̖͖̬̙t̸̡̲̹̤̼̖̩͉͝i̬̲̲̙̼͈o̩̟̹̠̻̘̪͎n̷̶̰͓̳͈ ̛̝͎̯̣̼͠w̧̲̖i̴͎̝̳̞ţ̥̟̲h̸̯͇ ͏͉̤̩̠̤̭̪ͅG̶̼̱͉̦͜a̻̭͍̺ṃ̤̥̗̘m̨͕͚̜m̶̳̘͈̜M҉̼̰̻̼͕̹̭͇M̴̢̜̹͚̦̝̕m̛̹͇͕̤̀͟f̨͔͔̤̩̰͠o҉̳͔̰̟͖̯ͅr̬͙̠̟͎̙m͘͏̯̣̳͕̟̪e҉̮͖͓̲r̛̙͇̀͡.̢̮̗̩̖̜̗
Shot4: by Jedi Master Luke.
Shot 5: ＧＡＭＥＩＮＦＯＲＭＥＲＧＡＭＥＩＮＦＯＲＭＥＲＧＡＭＥＩＮＦＯＲＭＥＲＧＡＭＥＩＮＦＯＲＭＥＲＧＡＭＥＩＮＦＯＲＭＥＲＧＡＭＥＩＮＦＯＲＭＥＲＧＡＭＥＩＮＦＯ
Shot 6: Just Cause 3. All Hail Game Informer.
Shot 7: by Gus.
Shot 8: by Shiny Llama.

What we want from Doom 4

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Total War: Warhammer becomes fastest-selling Total War game on Steam

World of Darkness: a new vampire MMO from the creators of EVE Online

Eve Online creators CCP have revealed more about their sinister MMO, World of Darkness.

Eve Online creators CCP have revealed more about their sinister MMO, World of Darkness. It's all about being a vampire. It's based on the World of Darkness pen and paper RPG system developed by White Wolf, who CCP merged with back in '06. The same system behind Troika's flawed by brilliant RPG, Vampire: The Masquerade.

Massivelyhave some fresh news from the White Wolf Grand Masquerade event that took place this weekend. Like Eve Online, the whole game will take place at night on a single server. You'll start out as a mortal, and will have to make the choice whether or not to become a vampire for the duration of your existence. Ironically, In a game about achieving immortality as a monster of the night, you will be able to die permanently.

The MMO hopes to stay true to the nature of White Wolf's world. Expect gore, nudity and madness to feature prominently. Massively also say that there will be a heavy emphasis on live action roleplaying (LARPing), with plot lines that will bleed out into real world ARG events. "Player politics" will be a big part of the experience, something CCP have excellent experience with in Eve Online, the most politically fraught and MMO in the world.

Gamespothave some wobble-cam footage of the introductory teaser trailer shown at last year's Grand Masquerade event, which you can see below. It's hard to imagine how the dual mortal life/vampire system, the LARPing and permadeath will work, logistically, but an MMO set in the World of Darkness universe is fascinating prospect. Who wants to be a vampire?

Just Cause 3 has a story apparently, detailed in new trailer

Avalanche's latest Just Cause 3 trailer—not the launch trailer, you're making that , remember—is all about the game's story, which everyone is totally interested in because uhhhh.

, remember—is all about the game's story, which everyone is totally interested in because uhhhh. Judging by the following video, the voice acting has improved a bit, making me worry that the campy fun of "BOLO SANTOSI" might be lost. Fingers crossed that it hasn't. Also, and more importantly, Rico Ridriguez now has a completely different face. What's that about?

Weird. By the way, Just Cause 3 has gone gold, which means that the game is finished, and will be wending its way to our PCs in a few weeks' time. December, to be precise. December 1, to be more precise. Sam got his hands on the game back in June, and seemed pretty impressed.

Brutal Doom v20 video shows 15 minutes of unrelenting gore

The for Brutal Doom has been in development for a while but there's still no solid release date.

for Brutal Doom has been in development for a while but there's still no solid release date. While you wait for the gory mod to be finetuned, why not watch 15 minutes of it in action? The update includes a number of improvements, such as general performance tweaks, more realistic/brutal blood fountains and most importantly: ragdoll physics. Overall, expect more brutality, and expect to love the shotgun more than you ever thought possible.

A few interesting tidbits: every single gib has been remade with better resolution, while the imp's midrange attack animation has been completely reworked. According to the Brutal Doom Facebook pagethere should be a solid release date for v20 very soon. In the meantime, this should sate any urges that Bethesda's recent Doom teasemay have triggered. According to our interview with Bethesda marketing VP Pete Hines, we may not see any more of that until 2015.

Download Brutal Doomnow.

February’s PS+ Freebies Include Can’t-Miss Indie Games

Every month, Playstation Plus offers a selection of games to their subscribers for free, and February includes a respectable selection of indie games.

Every month, Playstation Plus offers a selection of games to their subscribers for free, and February includes a respectable selection of indie games. Below, you’ll find the indie games available now for PS+ subscribers:

Transistor (PS4) was released by Supergiant Games in 2014. The team released their first project, Bastion , years before, which quickly became a hit on multiple platforms. Though Transistor bears a few similarities to its predecessor, the developers provided many more improvements to the gameplay experience, incorporating rich, atmospheric storytelling with combat that seamlessly transitions from careful tactical planning, to fast-paced action and mayhem. The game also features hand-painted artwork and a robust soundtrack for each level of the dark, science-fiction world.

Apotheon (PS4), developed by Alientrap, is a 2D action game where humanity in ancient Greece has been abandoned by the Gods of old. As the world starts to burn and fall apart, it’s up to Nikandreos, humanity’s last hero, to climb Mount Olympus, face the Gods and their monsters, and steal their powers to save mankind. The game uses the art style of ancient Greek murals to portray the open world of Mount Olympus, as well as the sanctuaries of such Gods as Artermis and Apollo. The bloody bronze-aged combat is fast-paced and fierce, requiring players to use swords, spears, arrows, and other ancient weaponry in order to defeat other soldiers, terrible beasts, and sluggish giants. Apotheon also features local one-on-one multiplayer combat for a unique challenge with friends.

Rogue Legacy (PS4/PS3/Vita) is a procedurally generated 2D Rogue-“LITE” game developed by Cellar Door Games, where each time the hero is killed in battle, their child succeeds them. Each child is unique, suffering from such afflictions as colorblindness, dyslexia, near-sightedness, or irritable bowel syndrome. Even with these strange traits, the lineage of the hero grows stronger, using the gold of the previous hero to upgrade and prepare the next hero for a foray into the dangerous castle. Gamers will be able to choose from 9 different classes, and will face off against 60 different enemies, with varying tactics and strengths. Rogue Legacy is not meant for the casual gamer, with even the developers promising that the hero will repeatedly die at the hands of the castle’s many powerful enemies.

Kick & Fennick (Vita) is a brand new platform adventure developed by Jaywalker Interactive, exclusive to the Playstation Vita. That’s right, a brand new game made available immediately for free through Playstation Plus. The game follows Kick as he wakes up in a desolate, colorful world and meets a small flying robot named Fennick. Equipped with a powerful BFG (big freaking gun) with a severe recoil, Kick can travel through the wild, fast-paced world by aiming the weapon carefully and using the strength of the blast to propel him over wide gaps and hazards. Kick & Fennick also features cinematic camera angles during gameplay, a story following two expressive characters, and detailed graphics and physics throughout. The game features 45 levels of ruined buildings, magnets, teleporters, and a big guard robot giving constant chase.

On the AAA side of things, Playstation 3 owners will be able to download SEGA’s Yakuza 4 , and Eidos-Montreal’s recently rebooted Thief .

Playstation Plus is a subscription service offered by Sony that provides free games on a monthly basis, in addition to discounted games on PS4, PS3, and PS Vita. Gamers can purchase a subscription for $9.99 per month, $17.99 per three months, or $49.99 per year.

World of Darkness vampire MMO not dead, trailer shows first in-game footage

It's been quiet for a while, but the vampire MMO, World of Darkness is still being worked on, in the very darkest corners of CCP.

It's been quiet for a while, but the vampire MMO, World of Darkness is still being worked on, in the very darkest corners of CCP. This year's Eve Fanfest has been focused on the future of Eve Online the first person shooter tie-in, Dust 514, but a few more details have emerged, along with our first look at the game engine in the teaser trailer above.

It doesn't look like an MMO zone, does it? It looks as though people could actually live there. WoDNewssay that World of Darkness' cities will be stylised versions of real capitals. The footage above likely shows one of WoD's "coffeehouse" districts, a social zone where players can meet up away from the territory battles happening for the rest of the city.

The game is based on the pen and paper RPG ruleset of the same name, the same system behind Vampire: Masquerade. Expect lots of gore, high fashion and hand to hand combat. Your goal will be to amass as much blood and territory as you can to maintain your vampire empire. "Sandbox" and "Theme Park" zones will let you fight for territory and engage in some vampire politics. Players can vote each other into office as Prince of each region.

There's not much more information than that at the moment, and it'll probably be some time before we hear more, with all the work that CCP are doing on Eve and Dust. Still, it's nice to know that World of Darkness is still in the works. Reckon you'd play it?

Square Enix wants you to make Just Cause 3's launch trailer

Square Enix and Avalanche are pretty good at making Just Cause 3 trailers, but they want you, the 'community' to do the launch trailer for their open world destruction game, for a chance to win $5000 worth of stuff.

trailers, but they want you, the 'community' to do the launch trailer for their open world destruction game, for a chance to win $5000 worth of stuff. That stuff includes a high-end PC, a collector's edition of the game, and loads of audio editing kit, so it might be worth a punt if making fan trailers is your bag.

Your video must be between one and two minutes long, and they'll be judged by Avalanche and Square Enix across three categories: Best Use of Audio, Best Humour, and Best Action. From those they'll pick an overall winner, give them the aforementioned prizes, and declare their creation to be Just Cause 3's official launch trailer.

To help you make the trailer, the developer and publisher are providing a kit full of gameplay footage and licensed music, but you can safely ignore all that if you'd prefer. You'll need to submit your entry by the end of November 12—you'll also need to reside in an 'eligible country', so be sure to check the small print at the following link.

The full details of how to enter the competition are here.

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Wreaking havoc in Just Cause 3's playground of explosions

Having attached a grappling hook from my military helicopter to a tractor, I’m about to try to take off.

Having attached a grappling hook from my military helicopter to a tractor, I’m about to try to take off. In my head, this will be, at worst, mildly entertaining. A tractor dangling in mid-air while I fly around Just Cause 3’s pretty and massive mediterranean world. Maybe I’ll drop it on some of the game’s extremely fragile explosive canisters in a military base—a tractor bomb!

It doesn’t quite work out that way.

I take off and spin in the air for about 20 seconds, anchored to the ground by the heavy tractor. Rather than lifting the thing, I accidentally drag it off a cliff and it tumbles into the ocean, dragging me down with it. The helicopter blows up on contact with the water, the wreckage continues its journey to the depths. Oh well. I swim ashore. Minutes later, I’ve daisy-chained a helicopter to a blue car to a reactor unit that explodes when the helicopter lifts it high enough off the ground.

This has always been Just Cause for me: a box of tricks. As a player, you throw every component together and see what kind of amusement you can create from the chaos. The story is window-dressing; you can go anywhere in the world within about 20 minutes of booting up. I played Just Cause 1 and 2 for around 10-15 hours each. They were both fun for as long as the tricks in the box felt fresh and exciting. Just Cause 3 just needed more of those tricks. So Avalanche decided to let you become Superman.

Well, let me qualify that. It’s really more like Batman via Superman. Just Cause’s protagonist Rico Rodriguez, for whom I’ve never had any affection or feeling outside of his ability to retract and redeploy parachutes almost instantly, comes packed with a wingsuit in Just Cause 3. We looked at this in our cover feature a few months back, and from Andy Kelly’s write-up I sort of assumed it would be a somewhat breezier version of Batman: Arkham’s gliding ability. It isn’t. It’s a lot harder to get the hang of. For one thing, if you meet the ground face-first, you don’t coolly segue into a perfect landing like Batman does. You faceplant across the road like a particularly stupid flying squirrel.

“I get the same feedback from journalists,” producer Omar Shakir tells me. “They always say ‘I saw what you did and thought it was too easy—but then I started doing it myself and realised there’s actually a difficulty curve to this’. That’s definitely something that’s important to us. We want to give you the tools to feel good.”

I can see an enormous snowy mountain in the distance, as well as an oil rig out in the ocean.

What’s exciting is the element of risk-reward the wingsuit promises to bring to the existing flight pattern of grappling hook and parachute. Those two gadgets got you to where you needed to be, working in tandem with the game’s planes and cars, but now you can theoretically get around without a vehicle at all—if you want to risk it.

It’s also nice to have a new mode of transport to learn. By the end of the demo and a couple of hours of play, I’ve got a basic handle on the wingsuit. I pull off a nice manoeuvre where I skim carefully past some cliffs using the grappling hook to pull myself along. Do it right, and it feels great. I’d love to take it to the next level and glide to another zone of the world altogether, having first jumped out of a helicopter at some insane height, but I’m not allowed to stray out of the opening area. I can see an enormous snowy mountain in the distance, as well as an oil rig out in the ocean.

DeNA enters the streaming game with mobile app, Mirrativ

Newsbrief: Japanese mobile outfit DeNA has lifted the lid on Mirrativ, a new iOS and Android livestreaming app that lets users stream anything happening on their smartphone screen.

Mirrativ users will also be able to add t heir voice and face to broadcasts, a feature that could make the app an appealing proposition for mobile gamers looking to share their exploits.

"[Using Mirrativ] a mobile gamer will be able to share tips and tricks for the latest releases with their followers, while other users could seek out personalized shopping advice while searching e-commerce sites," said Junichi Akagawa, producer at DeNA.

"With any of these experiences, viewers will be able to interact with the broadcaster in real-time, sharing comments and stickers to create a conversation and shared experience."

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Just Cause 3 hinted at by Avalanche CEO, targeting "next generation" platforms

Details have surfaced of Just Cause 2 developer Avalanche's upcoming projects.

Details have surfaced of Just Cause 2 developer Avalanche's upcoming projects. Kotaku's Superannuationspotted the LinkedIn profileof Avalanche head Christofer Sundberg that hint at a follow up to Rico's ridiculous island adventure.

It appears under the title "Unannounced Sandbox Action Game," and is due to published by Square Enix. The description reads: "New installment in a very well-known game series. The game is being developed at Avalanche Studios New York studio and is scheduled for completion in June 2015 for next generation console platforms."

That's about as close to saying "look guys, we're making Just Cause 3" as you can get without actually saying "look guys, we're making Just Cause 3". Although this unannouncement does mean we've no firm details for the game, like whether it will include Bolo Santosi and her untraceable accent.

There's another unannounced game listed on the page, for an "Open-World Action Game". The description for this one reads, "Avalanche Studios first licensed game, developed based on a well-known movie license. The game however, stands on its own and is scheduled for release in April 2014. The game is developed for current and next-generation console platforms and PC."

The team have been rumoured to be working on a game based on the upcoming film Mad Max: Fury Road, which would fit the brief. It's interesting that it specifically mentions PC, while Just Cause 3 (sorry, "Unannounced Sandbox Action Game") only lists next-gen consoles. Still, given both Avalanche and Square Enix's history of PC development, hopefully there's no cause for concern.

Thanks, CVG.

When the executives behind a giant corporation like Sony say they want to attract more small indie game

makers to the PlayStation brand, they'd better have some decent developer support to attract this group of people, many of whom are already content with their do-it-yourself, bootstrapping ways. It's hard to say how many indies will get on board with PlayStation Mobile, but there are early indications that small independent game developers see potential in the platform as an attractive and affordable way to streamline Android development for PlayStation Certified tablets and smartphones, and even the Vita.

Does PlayStation Mobile have what it takes to attract indie devs?

It's hard to say how many indies will get on board with PlayStation Mobile, but there are early indications that small independent game developers see potential in the platform as an attractive and affordable way to streamline Android development for PlayStation Certified tablets and smartphones, and even the Vita. While typical Android developers may face rampant piracyand a fragmented market, PS Mobile offers a platform that runs one code on a virtual machine, making it a relatively simple proposition for the entire range of PlayStation Certified devices.

Despite a few bugs with the beta version of PS Mobile's standard development kit(SDK), developers who spoke to Gamasutra are optimistic for the platform. PS Mobile, formerly known as PlayStation Suite, promises several improvements over the company's small-games initiative, PlayStation Minis. Some of these improvements include a tenfold size limit increase for games (from 100 MB to 1GB) and much-needed PlayStation Network integration (including DLC, trophies and leaderboards).
Minis vs. Mobile
Alasdair Evans of Laughing Jackal has developed over 10 games for the Minis and PlayStation Network platforms, including two Cubixx and two Fighting Fantasy entries. He says meeting PS Mobile's quality standards is not that different to Minis development, and Sony Europe provides direct support for any issues that arise.

Porting games to mobile hasn't been too tough for Laughing Jackal because the developer already designed Hungry Giraffe , OMG-Z and Orbit for touch and mobile platforms, as well as Minis. Evans needed only part of his team to spend about two months with the PS Mobile platform, with about a month spent on tool and engine porting and another month on game code.

Developers had to program Minis for PSP in C++, whereas PS Mobile uses C#/Mono. Evans says, "The PSP was a fixed function graphics pipeline whereas PS Mobile utilizes shaders, which meant converting our graphics code and various tools. We only allocated one person to this as we're currently working on a large-scale secret PS3 project." Evans also says that DLC is available for PS Mobile games and "is easy to implement."

Alexey Menshikov of Stardrone developer Beatshapers said his company tried PS Mobile when it first rolled out but had dropped it until late this month because of too many bugs. Vlambeer's Rami Ismail said that while the PS Mobile SDK had "a few nasty bugs," they were rather common for a new SDK.
PlayStation vs. Android vs. iOS Quoted last yearsaying Android development is a bit of a minefield, Ismail found the Android-based PS Mobile SDK surprisingly stable when porting Super Crate Box from PC. The most painful bug "made sprites that were flipped over an axis rotate incorrectly" and that took about a week of part-time programming to fix.

Overall, the porting process for Vlambeer took about a month of part-time work. "For every silly thing we needed, we found something buried somewhere that could do it."

Both Evans and Ismail have developed for Apple's SDK previously, and both suggested that PS Mobile and iOS development tool costs are actually on par with each other. Vlambeer noted that there were performance differences on their Playstation Vita, Xperia S, and Sony-provided Xperia Play, so the team recommended at least having a phone and a Vita available. However, none of these PlayStation Certified devices have exorbitant kit prices; all are off-the-shelf items.

Evans expressed certain proclivities for using Sony's SDK. "You have their outstanding team behind you, checking for errors and making sure you adhere to the platform." However, with Apple's SDK, "your technical difficulties are yours alone; the support system cannot compare to Sony's."

Ismail felt that PS Mobile might be somewhat less limiting than iOS. "While we've never had any issues with the acceptable terms on iOS, PS Mobile uses the known, tried and tested rating systems like PEGI and ESRB. That means that PS Mobile titles can pretty much contain things that Apple would not allow on iOS, like nudity or slightly more violent games. Apple obviously wants to keep iOS a family platform, something we fully understand for their device series -- it wouldn't make a lot of sense on PlayStation Mobile."

Ismail noted that Apple's SDK is obviously far more mature than PS Mobile's codebase. Apple's Game Center leaderboards, friend lists and multiplayer is important, too. While PS Mobile doesn't support anything similar yet, Ismail says he's been reassured that "they're at the absolute top of things that will be implemented soon."
A viable platform?Futurlab managing director James Marsden has developed Minis since late 2009 and finds the PS Mobile SDK "far easier to get your head around than PSP." He has argued that the platform, the Vita particularly, is a worthwhile venture for indies. "We've previously had no interest in developing for Android, but for indie game development, PS Mobile turns the Android marketplace into a viable platform."

His team had very early access to PS Mobile. He said they have developed "the best part" of future PS Mobile title Slidin' Beats on a pre-alpha SDK, and picked it back up in July along with two other titles.

Futurlab developer Robin Jubber says the team is "enjoying how easy it is to prototype on PC and send it out to HTC handsets and the PS Vita instantly. It's a surprisingly fluid environment, especially for writing to hardware as potentially complex as the PS Vita."

Concerning any possible advantages PS Mobile development has over Minis, Marsden can't say without a larger picture. "One big benefit we see for PlayStation Mobile is that we can get games with HD art and networking functionality onto PS Vita, and since there's not a huge library available for the system just yet, there's a good chance that a quality game will get noticed by Sony, supported by them in their various official PlayStation channels, and therefore sold in good numbers. When you count the number of people carrying HTCs and Xperias around too, things could be quite good."

Futurlab feels PS Mobile is an effective way to help fill the Vita's current software gap. However, he's aware that the hardware that can play Minis (PlayStation 3, PSP, and Vita) comprise "a far healthier install base" than just the Vita.

Marsden believes the real advantages of PS Mobile for are "the choice of language, the use of Mono Develop, or soon Visual Studio, the 2D engine (in fact the many engines, for instance, UI or physics), extensive sample code and tutorials and fast response times on the forums and from Sony themselves."

He says it ultimately comes down to his team wanting to create games for the core market, and twitch gameplay is a big part of that. "We're exploring ways to support twitch gaming properly on touch-only devices with our next two PS Mobile titles, and what I mean by that is not just putting virtual buttons or joysticks on screen, which we've fallen foul of before, as it just doesn't work."

When asked if Mobile will face the same network-related disadvantages of Minis, Jubber clarifies otherwise. "No, the download size limit has leaped from 100mb to 1GB, and there's no restriction over rolling our own online functionality. Mobile doesn't support [PSN] integration right now, but we are assured that integration with PlayStation Network will arrive, so we're prepared to update our games with that functionality when it is available."
What about discoverability? Discoverability concernsalso loom over the platform. To remedy that, Marsden shares, "Apparently there will be a dedicated part of the store for PlayStation Mobile titles, and I've heard that Sony [is] planning more ways to support indie developers on the PlayStation Store, but I can't share any details unfortunately."

Marsden adds, "Visibility is always going to be a challenge for a digital marketplace with lots of content, but PlayStation is a games business; their brand relies on supporting quality games, so if a developer puts the work in to develop a great game, it's in Sony's interest to support it through their various official channels. We have certainly felt the benefits of their support on minis, and I would hope those opportunities will continue for great titles appearing on PS Mobile."

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Grappling with the chaos of Just Cause 3

I'm looking at a piece of concept art pinned to a window in Avalanche’s Swedish studio.

This article was originally published in PC Gamer issue 276. For more quality articles about all things PC gaming, you can subscribe now in the UKand the US.

I'm looking at a piece of concept art pinned to a window in Avalanche’s Swedish studio. It shows a beautiful Mediterranean beach glowing in the afternoon sun. Then I look past it, out of the window, and see that it’s snowing heavily outside. It seems strange that a series famous for its tropical picture-postcard settings is made in Stockholm and New York: two cities known for their brutal winters. But then that’s what Just Cause is all about: escapism.

“Just Cause gives you that feeling of being twelve years old,” says Roland Lesterlin, game director. “You almost have the mind of an adult. You understand the world. But everyone’s taller than you. The moon is bigger. The stars are big. You get into a car and it’s big. It’s this sense of wonder and learning new things. New smells, new tastes. And games have a unique ability to give us that emotion.”

Just Cause 3, he says, is built with this feeling in mind. A world of possibilities that rewards inquisitive players, and coaxes you to prod and experiment with its systems. But at the same time, it’s not as wild as, say, Saints Row. This is intentional according to Lesterlin: “Compared to other open-world games, we push more towards the sandbox. But as outrageous as it is, we’re still grounded in reality in a lot of ways. Take the wingsuit. It feels real because it’s fast, and when you hit the ground it’s a little aggressive. But you can fly for long distances without losing momentum. I think when you get too absurd it damages your sense of escapism.”

The wingsuit joins the parachute and grappling hook as a means of getting around the massive map, and it’s a thrill to use. At any time during a grapple or parachute drop you can switch to it, and its physics are so ridiculously floaty that it almost feels like flying. Being able to transition between these three modes of transport makes traversing the new setting of Medici a joy.

The map is the same size as in the previous game, but I can tell instantly that it’s a more interesting environment in terms of layout and geometry. The area I start in features a town resting on the top of a cliff, a dramatic, rocky coastline with caves carved into it, and a huge enemy base like an oil refinery built into the side of a mountain. It feels much more sheer and vertical than the Panau of Just Cause 2: the perfect playground for the new wingsuit.

I spend a good chunk of my time with the game just floating around, soaring through rocky arches and under bridges. If you start to slow down, just grapple onto a nearby piece of scenery and give yourself a quick boost. Because that’s science.

The Just Cause games have always had stories, but they’re remembered more for their sandbox worlds. I ask Lesterlin if story is still important to them: “The sandbox came first,” he admits happily. “The narrative is fun too, of course. We had fun making it, and it’s silly and campy and we don’t take ourselves seriously. I hope people have fun with the story and meeting the new characters, but we really wanted to create that joyful sandbox first.”