Show Us Your Rig: Hyper Light Drifter's Alex Preston
Show us your rig
Alex Preston, creator of Hyper Light Drifter at Heart Machine, has two setups at the same desk so he can quickly switch between what he is working on.
Each week on Show Us Your Rig, we feature PC gaming's best and brightest as they show us the systems they use to work and play.
at Heart Machine, has two setups at the same desk so he can quickly switch between what he is working on. Preston has a Macbook he uses with a Cintiq, before switching to his PC for Hyper Light Drifter's level editor. Though I would've liked to know more about the dog that's blending into the photo above, Preston was kind enough to tell us about his rig and what he's playing right now.
What's in your PC? CPU: Core i7 (first gen) Motherboard: Asus board Storage: 256 gig Samsung SSD for the main drive, 500 gig Samsung SSD as storage RAM: 8GB Radeon HD 6950 2GB (I know, I need something new) Case: Old beat up Lancool Keyboard and mouse: Corsair K65 (love mechanical keyboards) + Logitech MX 518 (best mouse I've used, still kicking after all these years) OS: Running good old Windows 7 Monitor: First gen (and best!) 30 inch Dell monitor.
What's the most interesting/unique part of your setup?
I use a Macbook with a Cintiq attached for my art and design work (the workflow is much more pleasant for Adobe products on Mac, for me at least.) I then move over to the PC to work in our editor and build levels. It's been surprisingly efficient.
What's always within arm's reach on your desk?
Headphones and water. I need to shut noise out at times to focus, and I always forget to drink if a bottle isn't staring me in the face.
What are you playing right now?
I'm replaying Dark Souls and Ocarina of Time. Also Smash Bros every day at the studio. Luftrausers before bed.
What's your favorite game and why?
A toss up between Ocarina of Time, Fallout 3 and Super Mario RPG. These games, while very different, all stunned me on the first play-through. Each has a world, story, tone and/or aesthetic that gripped me and felt magical at the time.
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Jump to Section: Best Price Comments Our Verdict While it doesn't feel as vital as Battlefields past, inventive new multiplayer modes and a fresh, if slightly unfocused campaign make Hardline the worthy TV spin-off to DICE’s big budget blockbusters. Pros The multiplayer's fresh without diverging too drastically A short satisfying if slightly silly campaign Hotwire and Crossfire could become your new
Company of Heroes 2 adds new server system and map in Aftermath update
Multiplayer lag is the primary enemy of Company of Heroes 2's new .
. Launched yesterday, the RTS's new features boast an improved server system that should bring a better, more stable experience to the online battlefield, according to developer Relic Entertainment. Aftermath also includes new combat balancing, a community-made map, and a more efficient surrender mechanic.
Relic's new "Battle Servers" will now act as a go-between for CoH 2's online multiplayer matches instead of connecting players to each other directly, as was the case previously. The new servers should mean that a single lagging computer won't slow down the entire match, even in larger games, according to Relic's community manager Jeffery Simpson.
"With the new system players will be connected directly to a Battle Server, which will relay game information between players," Simpson writes. "If one player has a poor connection, only their game will be affected."
In a nod to user-created content, the new community map—Crossing in the Woods—appears thanks to the work of player OnkelSam and can host matches of two to four players. Relic initially released map-making tools back in November, and the developer is calling Crossing in the Woods the "first of many" community maps to be added to the game. The full list of Aftermath tweaks and changes to CoH 2 can be found hereand you can check out the update's trailer below.
Thanks, PCGamesN.
Hyper Light Drifter backers getting three-day "preview build" next weekend
Hyper Light Drifter is a game about capes and lovely pixel art, and it looks a little something like this .
. Pink, purple, blue, green—I remember all of those! Gears of War's brown buildings and caves and everything are but a distant memory now. So yes, Hyper Light Drifter has me pretty intrigued, and if I had backed the game on Kickstarter, I'd probably be muttering "hooray" now under my breath. Developers Heart Machine have announcedthat a "preview build" (basically, a beta with stuff locked off) is going live next weekend, for three of our Earth days only. To get in, you'll need to have stumped up $25 during the Kickstarter or pre-ordered via the game's site, but even if you didn't, I'm sure there will be plenty of footage floating around next weekend. So everybody wins.
If you qualify, expect a Steam key to arrive via email sometime before the preview launches next weekend. You'll be drifting the light hyper on the 26th of September at 12:01 am EST, and you'll be brought to an abrupt halt at midnight on the 28th. A Mac version of the preview is possible, but Heart Machine aren't promising anything at the moment.
Sony Online Entertainment sold, becomes Daybreak Game Company
Okay, hands up who saw this one coming.
Okay, hands up who saw this one coming. That's nobody, then. Sony Online Entertainment has been bought out by investment management company Columbus Nova, and as of right now will be renamed Daybreak Game Company. Which in no way sounds like a front organisation for a cult in a '90s thriller starring Ethan Hawke.
"Today, we are pleased to announce that we have been acquired by Columbus Nova, an investment management firm well known for its success with its existing portfolio of technology, media and entertainment focused companies," the MMO publisher formerly known as SOE revealed in a statement. "This means that effective immediately SOE will operate as an independent game development studio where we will continue to focus on creating exceptional online games for players around the world, and now as a multi-platform gaming company. Yes, that means PlayStation and Xbox, mobile and more!"
SOE—that is, Daybreak—said it will be "business as usual," and that all existing SOE games will continue to operate normally. "In fact, we expect to have even more resources available to us as a result of this acquisition," it said. "It also means new exciting developments for our existing IP and games as we can now fully embrace the multi-platform world we are living in."
The price of the acquisition by Columbus Nova, which in no way sounds like an affordable hatchback, has not been revealed. We've reached out to the former SOE for further detail on what this means for their current and future games.
Titanfall matchmaking update leaves beta, joins Attrition and Hardpoint modes
After a week of beta testing, Titanfall's new matchmaking system has made its way to the shooter's bread and butter game modes—Attrition and Hardpoint.
to the shooter's bread and butter game modes—Attrition and Hardpoint. Theis intended to fix problems players have had with skill imbalance between opposing teams, according to details released by the developer for the beta test.
Rather than going for the speediest team selection possible, the new system will, according to Respawn, use the reams of background skill data collected by the game to match you with appropriate competition. If you're getting ground into dust by a slickly-organized enemy team, the game will remove you from that lobby and place you somewhere new.
While it's now being rolled out for what feels like the game's most-played modes—Titanfall's version of team deathmatch and domination—Respawn says the new matchmaking will be introduced to the rest of the "Classic" playlist over time. For the moment at least, it doesn't look like Respawn is changing the way matchmaking functions for Titanfall's campaign mode.
With its giant mechs, squads of AI bots, and parkour mayhem, Titanfall has never felt like a game where the line between high and low-skilled players was all that clear. There's just so much to do most of the time. Depending on how you look at it, the game might seem either frustratingly chaotic or satisfyingly busy. But Respawn obviously has some specific ideas, based on its internal data collection, about the ways in which matches should play out. I look forward to spending some more time with the system to see what kind of effect it has on what is—for me—still a pretty thrilling ride.
Hyper Light Drifter closed beta scheduled for June, full game planned for end of the year
As well as being one of our most anticipated games of the year , Hyper Light Drifter is perhaps the prettiest indie action-RPG I've seen in some time.
, Hyper Light Drifter is perhaps the prettiest indie action-RPG I've seen in some time. Although, given that the genre also contains the scatalogical pestilence of The Binding of Isaac, that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise.
The strength of its gif-laden Kickstarter pageis surely a contributing factor to the $645,158 the team raised - 2,389% of its intended total. Having gone so far over the intended goal, though, the scope of the project has naturally increased. In a, the developers have announced what that means for the game's release.
"After heavy development, much discussion and examination, the team and I have decided that we will not rush the project," writes Heart Machine's Alex Preston. "There's an intense desire to create a polished, beautiful experience and we need more time to do so. We plan for the closed beta to come out near June, so you'll still savage hordes of beasts and explore a section of the world in due time. The Steam + PC release are first, as they were the initial platform; we have our sights set on the end of the year holiday season. Other platform releases are planned to follow shortly thereafter.
"The original approximation of a June release was for a game developed with just myself and Beau Blyth, something much smaller," Preston continues. "I would have been creating art for the next six months, with much rougher edges and animation. Since we have been given this remarkable opportunity, the project has evolved, requires polish and finesse that I was not originally afforded."
With the closed beta set for June, the game is still scheduled to appear to backers in some form on the original date, which is more than many high-profile Kickstarters can achieve. And with the extra time, money and developers, the game has a great shot at being a significant improvement on the original design when it does finally reach us at the end of the year.
The Kickstarter update also provided some sumptuous new images, which you can see below.
Man vs. Machine breaks world records with 999-player battle
Last week we mentioned the Man vs.
Man vs. Machine world record attempt, which hoped to get a thousand players together on one server for a massive scrap. They fell ONE SHORT of their intended target, but successfully broke the world record. Woo!
The system crashed just short of the 1000 player mark. The devs brought the server back up and the game continued for another two hours. In the end, the Machines emerged victorious. “It was amazing. We did not imagine the amount of interest that this game would generate," said MuchDifferent CEO, Christian Lönnholm. "Almost until the end we were averaging around 980 players at any given moment. It was a blast!”
The Guinness World Record external observer returned, satisfied, to the Great Tower of Records, and confirmed two days later that the event had indeed broken the world record for most players in a single game.
"This would not have been possible without the players, so I'd like to send a special warm and loving “thank you” to them!" says Lönnholm. "Thank you for bringing such creativity to both the battlefield and to the chat. You had me laughing, giggling and spilling coffee throughout the event!” There was too much lag to take any effective video, but the devs took a few screenshots of the event, which feature MANY LASERS. Here they are.
X Rebirth sees huge feature overhaul in 2.0 update
Troubled space sim X Rebirth is plotting a course for a star system where second chances might be possible.
is plotting a course for a star system where second chances might be possible. A buggy game at its fall launch, the latest entry in the X universe didn't impress when we reviewedit in February. But with the release of a massive, 2.0 feature update this week, Egosoft's space adventure might have found a better heading for itself.
Now carrying the extra moniker Secret Service Missions, X Rebirth's list of updates in the new patch is extensive. You can check out a handy manual from the developer outlining all the changes here, but the 2.0 edition appears to cover nearly every aspect of the game, from visuals, to pilot careers, to ship controls. A video introducing the patch is below.
In addition to the new set of missions involving the Argon Secret Service, a trio of new starting options in Rebirth allows you to take on the role of merchant trader, mercenary, or empire builder, according to Egosoft. If you own the game but haven't fired it up in a while, there might be something here to pull you back into the game's (still) gorgeous-looking, but hopefully better-designed universe. Egosoft has promised an easier-to-understand trading system, better cockpit displays, and mod supportthrough the Steam Workshop.
Hyper Light Drifter combat video shows more pretty pixel animation
Hyper Light Drifter melted my usually unbreakable Kickstarter kaution , and it did so with GIFs.
, and it did so with GIFs. Its beautiful combat and idling animations already offer an uncanny level of charm, character and flair, and I'm looking forward to the day when it becomes a thing that I can play. In the meantime, we're going to have to settle for brief, early glimpses of the action RPG. Such a tease was posted recently by the developers, in the form of a pre-alpha combat video.
"This is a pre-alpha basic demonstration - leveling has been left out, and the weapon set is very limited," explains the YouTube description, modestly leaving out the fact that it already looks absurdly pretty. "We want to highlight a few key things for everyone, like the shield push, missile deflect/cut, and enemy management."
It's a strong start, and Hyper Light Drifter has the potential to be even better. Despite only looking for $27,000, the game's Kickstartereventually closed out at $645,158. Through various stretch goals, that total has secured more of just about everything, including new areas, encounters, a co-op mode, and online challenges.
You can find more details over at the Hyper Light Drifter site, including the original concept video, made for the Kickstarter launch.
Hyper Light Drifter is targeting a beta release for mid-next year.
Here's 25 minutes of Deus Ex Mankind Divided gameplay
The augmented return of Adam Jensen isn't out until next year which makes this twenty five minutes of Deus Ex Mankind Divided gameplay footage all the sweeter. With commentary from audio director Steve Szczepkowski, the full E3 demo is still alpha footage but already looks ridiculously impressive and rather easy on the eyes. Eidos Montreal is going back to the series roots, giving you the chance to
Planetside 2 announces plan to boost "fight intensity" after player feedback
With Planetside 2's World Domination Series Preseason 2 event now well underway, the game masters at Sony Online Entertainment are already announcing rules tweaks to counteract what the developer calls "some undesired player behavior." It seems battles in the massive MMO shooter haven't reached the desired white-hot level of intensity since the WDS Preseason kicked off on Friday.
Leading up to the Preseason, SOE changed player scoring for capturing and defending points among the game's three factions. Even though overall player deaths are up, one side effect of the scoring change has been a drop in the average number of times a player dies during individual capture skirmishes, according to SOE. This fact points to a "significant reduction in fight intensity," according to a new forumabout the issue by PS2 developer Malorn.
"We believe this behavior stems from players avoiding fights in favor of easy and guaranteed WDS points for captures, and that the defense rewards are not lucrative enough to motivate players to defend territory," Malorn writes. "This was not one of the goals of the system and we apologize for the negative impact it has had on your gameplay experience."
To combat the distasteful sight of unmotivated soldiers, SOE is working on a hotfix—to be deployed in the "next few days"—that it believes will make it more lucrative to defend territory. As PCGamesNhas reported, some players are observing giant, "zerg"-like groups of soldierswandering the PS2 continent looking for easy captures and the accompanying point rewards. Intensity, spectacle, and crazy momentum shifts have always stood out to me as the calling cards of a good PS2 match. Anything SOE can do to balance the game in favor of close fights, useful tactical maneuvers, and teamwork rather than mindless blobs farming capture points is a good move in my book.
The WDS Preseason event runs through February 28.
Schrodinger's cat alive and well in new puzzle-platformer from Team 17 and Italic Pig
I was a bit concerned about Schrodinger's famous cat for a while there - being both alive and dead can't be particularly healthy - but he's turned up in the land of the living in Italic Pig's colourful puzzle-platformer Schrodinger's Cat and the Raiders of the Lost Quark .
. The reveal trailer, below, doesn't give much away, but we can expect "a wacky action-adventure-platformer-puzzler that blazes irreverently through the wild wonders of the Standard Model, combining lateral-thinking multi-solution logic puzzles with Fists-of-Feynman kickass combat action". All of which sounds pretty good to me. Theses puzzles will involve words like 'quantum' and 'quarks' and oh dear my brain has melted already.
Schrodinger's Cat is set in an around the Particle Zoo, an "interdimensional subatomic holiday destination where patrons young and old can observe anthropomorphised elementary particles of the Standard Model roaming free in their natural environments". Unfortunately, the enclosures have been opened and all the particles have escaped, while one personcat has been sent to put things right. You'll do so by acquiring colourful Quarks, and combining them to create "temporary matter" such as ladders and grenades in order to pass through obstacles in the environment, or to beat up enemies. If it all sounds a bit complicated, you're right - there are more details about the recently announced game here.
Italic Pig (of Hector: Badge of Carnage fame) are teaming up with publishers Team 17 to release Schrodinger's Cat on Steam in the latter half of 2014.
Thanks, That Videogame Blog.
Uplay 4.0 infused with Twitch video streaming, automatic patching
If you've played any Ubisoft game on the PC, chances are you've encountered Ubisoft's online service known as Uplay .
. Experiences with the service have ranged from “fine” to “argh,” though Ubisoft is hoping to make the experience a bit better with its upgrade to Uplay 4.0.
The big news coming out of this announcement is the addition of Twitch integration into the Uplay client. Anyone playing a Ubisoft game can broadcast their playthroughs through the Uplay client. Hopefully, the Twitch integration will alleviate some of the headaches that can arise from video streaming.
Certain publishers have stood against livestreams of their games, though more and more of them are reversing that policy. Ubisoft's relationship with the PC community has been rocky at times, so it's nice to see it moving in this direction.
Aside from Twitch support, the new version of Uplay is also getting a supposedly better download manager and support for automatic updates. I haven't run into any issues with Uplay personally, but I certainly know others who have. We'll find out if this latest version of Uplay fixes those issues when the update releases sometime this October.
The Escapists infiltrates Steam Early Access
The Escapists is a game about breaking out of prison, from the studio that made that game about a heroic potato .
. Banged up for 30 years for a crime you maybe did commit, The Escapists tasks you with busting out of a fortified penitentiary, using a variety of tools and methods to achieve this. It all sounds rather exciting and open-ended, and it's now on Steam Early Accessso we can check for ourselves.
The Escapists is currently available for £6.99, though that price will go up a bit as more features and content is added to the game. For now we can expect a "fully operational", custom-built Early Access prison ("The Fhurst Peak Correctional Facility"), containing a nontet of playable characters, three different jobs to try your hand at (Laundry, Workshop and Metalshop), prison wardens and employment officers to keep you in check, and of course visitors, lots of craftable items and "several ways to escape". The full game should feature multiple jails, more jobs, and even a prison editor so you can make your own.
Here's a recent, rather wonderful trailer showing what the game involves:
Warface's "Sneak Peek" phase adds new game modes and female soldiers
Crytek's free-to-play military FPS, Warface , has just received a free update called the “Sneak Phase” that adds in new maps, female soldiers, and a few other goodies for those who've managed to find a way into the closed beta .
The phase (which is just another word for “update”) adds a new map set in China, additional co-op missions, and a tutorial system explaining the ins and outs of Warface's four classes. The update is free for everyone in the closed beta, which you can sign up for here. More content's coming in a future update dubbed the “Pre-Open Beta” making me suspect an open beta in the US isn't too far off (the game's only in open beta in Russia at the moment).
We tried out Warfaceearlier this year, and were cautiously optimistic about the opportunity Crytek can give players. There are micro transactions, of course, but we left with the feeling that Crytek knows what can make or break a free-to-play game.
Alien Breed 3: Descent is out; demo also available
Alien Breed 3: Descent is out, concluding Team 17's modern re-imagining of the classic Alien Breed series.
Alien Breed 3: Descent is out, concluding Team 17's modern re-imagining of the classic Alien Breed series. The final part of the trilogy has grizzled chief engineer Theodore Conrad battling the alien menace on an icy, infested planet, working to get his ship operational. There's a demo available, too, so you can try out the new weapons and survivor mode levels. The launch trailer and link to the demo is embedded below.
You can download the demo from the game's Steampage, where the game is also available to buy with 10% off. For a look at the huge new monsters you'll be facing off against in the finale, have a look at the trailer below.
The Captain America Civil War trailer recreated in Fallout is *amazing*
Most 'Film X made in Games Y' trailers can look a little wooden as characters sort of skate around shapes roughly approximating what you can remember from the trailer. Not so with this Captain America: Civil War meets Fallout 4 job: It's amazingly done - capturing the trailer beats while clearly still being Fallout 4. Not sure what I like more: Cap 'Murica's period outfit or Tony's power armour Iron Man. UpIsNotJump created this little gem and was also behind the horribly catchy Fallout 4 song made from sound effects the other day, so clearly he has a knack for reinterpreting Fallout 4. Seen something newsworthy? Tell us! Topics Fallout 4 OPM oxm We recommend By Zergnet Load Comments
Firefall developer Red 5 Studios lays off 10 percent of workforce
CEO and Founder of Red 5 Studios Mark Kern announced that the company is laying off 10 percent of its staff.
CEO and Founder of Red 5 Studios Mark Kern announced that the company is laying off 10 percent of its staff. "As Firefallmatures, we must transition our priorities and our development strategy to focus on streamlined operations and live product support," Kern said.
According to the statement, most of the people laid off were from Red 5's “video internet entertainment channel,” known as Stage 5 TV. The statement assures that the recent layoffs won't affect Firefall's development and promises a juicy new patch to be issued later this month.
This might feel a bit sudden considering Red 5 recently announced it was temporarily pulling Firefall's PVP modeout of the field for additional polishing. I don't know what percentage of Red 5's staff worked on the video channel, so it's difficult to know exactly how much (if any) of the core team was laid off as well.
As always, we wish those affected by the layoffs the best of luck in their future endeavors.
Thanks, Polygon.
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Our Verdict
Wormed its way back into our hearts, but don't expect the relationship to be any different.
Amazingly enough, Worms: Reloaded is Worms. Do you like Worms? It's Worms! You don't like Worms? Move along, it's just Worms. They may be higher resolution than they were back in the 90s, the backgrounds a little more interesting, and the weapons more explosive, but at heart this is exactly the same turn-based war of bazooka-wielding annelids we saw in 1995, 1998, and every other Worms game ever, ignoring the series' brief jump into 3D back in 2003. It's also much the same game as last year's Worms 2: Armageddon over in Xbox 360 land, albeit with a few more toys thrown in.
Most games would struggle to keep going so long without radical changes, but Worms constantly manages to get away with it. As Worms 3D proved, it isn't a template that benefits from too much messing around, and it never takes long to get hooked into the fun of blowing away enemies with a perfectly arced bazooka shell, or roping onto a cliff and giving an enemy's last worm a humiliating poke into the nearest ocean. Reloaded's new features build on that rather than reinventing it, offering new features like vertical maps, fighting atop open-air forts, and a dull Ninja Rope race mode.
Hardcore purists will chafe at specific balancing changes, notably the feel and physics of the Ninja Rope and only getting four worms per team. For everyone else, the biggest shift is the addition of more defensive weapons: Sentry Guns to help lock down parts of the map, and Electromagnets that deflect incoming attacks. These turn Worms into a slightly more tactical game, but somewhat spoil the purity of simply trading shots. If you like them, or the other, sillier new weapons, hurrah. If not, at least you can switch them off in the comprehensive but oddly clunky ruleset editor.
Any changes to the single-player game are less interesting, mostly because single-player Worms is as pointless as Strip Solitaire in a nudist colony. You get escalating deathmatches, a campaign that does a reasonable job of breaking up the action with puzzle maps and interestingly asymmetric teams, a one-worm army survival mode, and plenty of other options, but none of them are much fun thanks to the ridiculously bipolar AI. One minute it's pulling off mathematically impossible trickshots, the next it's shooting up the scenery or committing suicide-by-mine. At best, it's dull as paste.
Multiplayer is firmly where it's at though, and aside from a few mid-game syncing issues, a ridiculously oversized UI and some issues finding public games in the server browser that will hopefully be patched this side of soon (check the official forums for updates), Worms remains as great as ever. It's a simple, beautiful game, and while you may wince at paying for it yet again , Reloaded is a great version that will have fans and new players alike falling back under the spell of the spineless ones.
The Verdict
Worms Reloaded
Wormed its way back into our hearts, but don't expect the relationship to be any different.
We recommend By Zergnet
Firefall developer Red 5 Studios lays off 10 percent of workforce
CEO and Founder of Red 5 Studios Mark Kern announced that the company is laying off 10 percent of its staff.
CEO and Founder of Red 5 Studios Mark Kern announced that the company is laying off 10 percent of its staff. "As Firefallmatures, we must transition our priorities and our development strategy to focus on streamlined operations and live product support," Kern said.
According to the statement, most of the people laid off were from Red 5's “video internet entertainment channel,” known as Stage 5 TV. The statement assures that the recent layoffs won't affect Firefall's development and promises a juicy new patch to be issued later this month.
This might feel a bit sudden considering Red 5 recently announced it was temporarily pulling Firefall's PVP modeout of the field for additional polishing. I don't know what percentage of Red 5's staff worked on the video channel, so it's difficult to know exactly how much (if any) of the core team was laid off as well.
As always, we wish those affected by the layoffs the best of luck in their future endeavors.
Thanks, Polygon.
Worms Reloaded trailerised
If you're looking for a video featuring a worm doing an impression of David Attenborough, then you've come to the right place.
If you're looking for a video featuring a worm doing an impression of David Attenborough, then you've come to the right place. The latest trailer for Worms Reloaded also features plentiful explosions and a host of doomed worms screaming in panic before being nailed by an airstrike. Just like the old days.
It mentions 60+ single player missions, AI opponents and the like, but who wants to play Worms alone? The originals were always infinitely more hilarious when playing against someone sitting next to you. Also: racing. This trailer mentions racing. But it doesn't show the racing. When I try to imagine what racing in Worms could possibly be like my mind fails and I have to reboot. Here's the trailer. Worms is available to pre-order on Steamright now.
Elder Scrolls Online to separate players by platform
Players in the upcoming Elder Scrolls Online MMORPG will find themselves separated by platform, according to information released today by game developer Zenimax Online.
released today by game developer Zenimax Online. Adventurers on PC and Mac will share a server world while Xbox One and PS4 players will each be populating their own respective "megaservers."
It's an interesting bit of news, especially when considered within the context of a gaming cosmos that sees more and more in commonbetween PCs and console gaming. With the Elder Scrolls mythology existing as such a cross-platform phenomenon, it's not clear yet why the player base will be split into sections for each gaming console. Obviously the control schemes must play a part in dividing players but there is also the possibility that each platform's particular approach to free-to-play—and its attached economy—could have something to do with how this will play out.
ESO also announced todaythat a new round of beta invites have been sent out. We are warned to check our spam folders for any stray emails. As an Elder Scrolls player who saw massive differences between Morrowind, Oblivion, and Skyrim, I can't wait to see if ESO is able to merge these disparate strands of lore together into a new and complete experience.
Hat tip, PCGamesN.
For the latest from E3, check out our complete coverage.
Worms Reloaded trailer
Worms.
Worms. Whenever Team 17 step up to the stage with their newest material, "Worms!" is what we chant at them. This time, their newest material is Worms. Worms Reloaded will have the classics, of course - the Ninja Rope, the Sheep, the Holy Hand Grenade - but this new trailer shows that it'll also have magnets and resurrection. Those are our two most favourite things at PC Gamer. Trailer is below:
If you've never played Worms, it's a side-on military brawler with destructible terrain. You and your opponents take turns commanding wriggling cartoon worms as they fire missiles, throw grenades, call in airstrikes, or dip into a multitude of hilarious weaponry to wreak slapstick justice against the enemy worms. It'll be out on Steam on the 26th of August.
PC has Worms again: Worms Reloaded trailer
When it comes to side-on, turn based team shooters with destructible terrain, there has never been a finer example than the Worms franchise.
When it comes to side-on, turn based team shooters with destructible terrain, there has never been a finer example than the Worms franchise. Except, in the beginning, there was Scorched Earth. Worms is back from stumbling blindly around the consoles and trying to go 3D. Here's a trailer for their soon-to-hit-Steam title Worms Reloaded to prove it:
...
Jump to Section: Best Price Comments Our Verdict An exceptional story, told via one of the most vivid game worlds around. Pros The deliberate pace juxtaposed with the always rising tension. Yaughton is gorgeous and filled with touching crafted detail. The music and voice acting put other games to shame. Cons Sixaxis controls pull you out of the experience somewhat. There is a run button in The Chinese
Double Fine literally sing the praises of Hack 'n' Slash in new video
To celebrate/promote the fact its new game Hack 'n' Slash is headed for Steam Early Access and playable at PAX East this weekend, Double Fine has released this trailer.
is headed for Steam Early Access and playable at PAX East this weekend, Double Fine has released this trailer. It's a little heavy on the Lonely Island-style skit/song stuff and light on actual gameplay, but still as charming and whimsical as you've probably come to expect from the house that Schaferbuilt.
Hack 'n' Slash was birthed during Double Fine's 'Amnesia Fortnight' protoyping session in 2012, and looks like a cyber riff on the classic Zelda games, with the game's main character, Alice, wielding a USB-compatible Master Sword-alike. Gameplay will involve hacking enemies (she'll be able to alter their movement speed, for example) and bringing up a debugger to discover info about how objects in the work behave.
"Developing the full version of the game has been very rewarding because we've been able to take the hacking mechanics and make them real," says project lead Brandon Dillon. "You'll mess with the game's actual variables and dismantle the game's actual code."
We've got men patrolling the floor at PAX East, so hopefully one of them will fire back a hands-on report. I also hope someone notices I squeezed two slashes into this story. The medium is the message, people.
Double Fine literally sing the praises of Hack 'n' Slash in new video
To celebrate/promote the fact its new game Hack 'n' Slash is headed for Steam Early Access and playable at PAX East this weekend, Double Fine has released this trailer.
is headed for Steam Early Access and playable at PAX East this weekend, Double Fine has released this trailer. It's a little heavy on the Lonely Island-style skit/song stuff and light on actual gameplay, but still as charming and whimsical as you've probably come to expect from the house that Schaferbuilt.
Hack 'n' Slash was birthed during Double Fine's 'Amnesia Fortnight' protoyping session in 2012, and looks like a cyber riff on the classic Zelda games, with the game's main character, Alice, wielding a USB-compatible Master Sword-alike. Gameplay will involve hacking enemies (she'll be able to alter their movement speed, for example) and bringing up a debugger to discover info about how objects in the work behave.
"Developing the full version of the game has been very rewarding because we've been able to take the hacking mechanics and make them real," says project lead Brandon Dillon. "You'll mess with the game's actual variables and dismantle the game's actual code."
We've got men patrolling the floor at PAX East, so hopefully one of them will fire back a hands-on report. I also hope someone notices I squeezed two slashes into this story. The medium is the message, people.
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Comments
Our Verdict
Irritating level design and a poor story are somewhat redeemed by explosive action and a challenging co-op mode.
The menacing grey corridors and relentless, Gigeresque monsters of the original Alien Breed scared me half to death as a tyke, so it was with some nervousness that I booted up Team 17's modern take on their classic top-down shooter. It may not be as frightening, but in many ways it's a faithful re-imagining, right down to the voice of the ship's computer, who never tires of calmly predicting imminent disaster on a ship that's never more than a few moments away from imminent disaster.
Your vessel, the Leopold, has crashed into a long lost ghost ship in hyperspace, and now the whole place is swarming with aliens. You play as Chief Engineer Conrad, a gruff space-jerk with a handy talent for xeno-extermination, and fight your way from elevator to elevator, gradually descending into the bowels of your craft, fending off growing swarms of alien scum.
The ruined, claustrophobic corridors of your ship are beautifully rendered and the gunplay, while initially a little weak, became noisy and satisfying once I'd looted enough cash to enhance my weapons. The upgrade booths dotted about each deck enable you to upgrade your items or improve certain aspects of your weaponry, but while the look and feel of each gun changed significantly with each addon, they did little to alter the way I played.
The cutscenes are best skipped and the story, such as it is, resolves with a cliffhanger and an advert for the next game. Which is infuriating, but there are bigger problems here than a lack of closure.
The Leopold is falling apart. It's impossible to travel more than a few steps without the whole ship shuddering, or a pipeline erupting, or a doorway exploding. It's a tense and unnerving place to be, even before the aliens start careering through the walls. The trouble is that you see far too much of it. Almost every switch you're told to throw fails in some way, and the fix inevitably lies behind another broken door or burning room, sending you constantly backtracking through the levels, turning on sprinklers and rebooting computers like a mad admin assistant.
By the dozen
The frustrating level design wouldn't be such a problem if there were more foes to fight in the early stages. When the aliens did finally start storming me in their dozens, about half way through the game, everything became more exciting. Enemies can appear from any angle, bursting through walls or erupting through the floor, keeping you on edge.
It's in these moments that Alien Breed: Impact is at its best: when it has you overwhelmed, trapped in a corner, emptying your last few shotgun shells into the oncoming horde. In these desperate last stands the game delivers something resembling the tension and excitement of its predecessors.
The separate co-op campaign that runs alongside the singleplayer story provides a more intense and challenging experience, and is certainly the best way to enjoy Impact. It's a shame it isn't as long or as fully featured.
For all the flaws, there is a fair amount of action here at a budget price. If you're prepared to endure a tame opening, the explosive combat of the latter stages delivers a satisfying payload of shallow but entertaining action. Just don't go in expecting anything more than a mindless bug-shoot.
The Verdict
Alien Breed: Impact
Irritating level design and a poor story are somewhat redeemed by explosive action and a challenging co-op mode.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Tom stopped being a productive human being when he realised that the beige box under his desk could play Alpha Centauri. After Deus Ex and Diablo 2 he realised he was cursed to play amazing PC games forever. He started writing about them for PC Gamer about six years ago, and is now UK web ed.
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The hunt for closure in Metal Gear Solid 5 is its biggest fans' white whale
Warning: MGS5 story and ending spoilers throughout To say that Metal Gear Solid 5 feels unfinished - whether that feeling is intentionally designed or not - is an understatement. Broken into two chapters and a prologue, MGS5: The Phantom Pain tells the story of Big Boss, the creation of his private military organization, Diamond Dogs, and their quest for revenge after the events of Ground Zeroes. It
Mod of the Week: Turn Half-Life 2 into an RTS
MOD OF THE WEEK
Lambda Wars (originally HL2 Wars), a real-time strategy set in the Half-Life 2 universe, is a mod years in the making and has now had an official launch on Steam .
In Mod of the Week, Chris Livingston scours the world of user-created adventure for worthy downloads. This week, a mod that turns one of the best shooters ever into an RTS.
. This mod of Alien Swarm provides a bird's-eye view of the struggle between the Combine and rebels and includes both single-player and online play. The world of Half-Life 2 is perfect for a translation into classic RTS play, and the mod is both free and now completely standalone, so there's no reason not to give it a try.
If you haven't played any of the mods earlier incarnations, there's a decent little tutorial to help you get started. You begin with a little base-building. Recruit an engineer from your headquarters, and you'll be able to construct a barracks (which lets you generate rebel soldiers, everything from simple citizens with guns to harder-core veteran grunts, and specialized units like medics and fleet-footed scouts). Build a munitions plant and you'll be able to upgrade your soldier's weaponry, unlocking frag grenades, shotguns, and rifles. There are some nice little animations as the buildings are completed, sort of like the intro to Game of Thrones but with rusty little shacks instead of medieval cities.
You can also play as the Combine, who have counterpart units. Their HQ is a tiny little citadel (so cute!) and their engineers are stalkers, those weird, gaunt former humans who shamble around projecting laser eye-beams. You can build city scanners (those flash-photo taking hovering bots) to scout the map, auto-turrets, various Combine soldiers, hunters, and even striders.
The sound effects are also straight out of Half-Life 2, and goes a long way to making it feel authentic (when you order your rebel soldiers around, they call you Doctor Freeman). Combat, despite it being an RTS instead of an FPS, still has many of the same elements. For example, shoot a zombie and its headcrab will pop off and leap after you. I also had two Combine turrets wipe out an entire group of my rebel soldiers before I realized, oh yeah, in Half-Life 2 you need to lob grenades at them to knock them down. Same thing here.
Multiplayer supports up to eight different teams, and if you're short a few friends the AI can fill in. There are a few different game modes, including one called overrun, which brings in wave after wave of antlions for you to fight off while constructing defenses as fast as you can. Single-player has a number of campaign missions as well.
Online matches, at the moment, are a little hard to come by: there's a lot of waiting for lobbies to fill, only to have everyone ready to play except for one person, who then leaves, and then everyone else starts leaving to find other lobbies. Hopefully more people will be checking this game out in the days ahead, but in the meantime I found single-player enjoyable enough. You can grab it on Steam here.
The Escapists: The Walking Dead out next week
The Escapists: The Walking Dead sounds like a fun thing: a standalone spin-off of prison fleeing game The Escapists, officially based on the Walking Dead comics.
of prison fleeing game The Escapists, officially based on the Walking Dead comics. Playing as Rick 'Grimey' Grimes—and a bunch of other characters including Dale, Michonne, Carl, Hershel and Maggie—you'll have to lead your gang of non-zoms out of five locations taken from the comic: Harrison Memorial Hospital, Greene Family Farm, Meriwether Correctional Facility, Woodbury and Alexandria.
And you'll be doing it next week, as TE:TWD is out September 30, for £12.99/$17.99/€14.99.
...
Jump to Section: Best Price Comments Pros Incredibly tense gameplay Versus mode multiplayer Extremely replayable Cons Only two versus campaigns No character customization No explicit story Rescue is here - after a long, bloody battle with countless zombies, you and three fellow survivors have made it to the rooftop of a ravaged hospital, where a helicopter lands to evacuate you to safety. In a blaze
Valve's artists display digital gallery as part of Steam Community update
Valve are currently beta testing a selection of additions and changes to Steam's Community pages.
Valve are currently beta testing a selection of additions and changes to Steam's Community pages. Not only have they separated out general community activity from your own contributions, and created a Community Homeas an all-game version of the Game Hubs, but you can also upload artwork for any Valve game. It's not all charmingly crude MS Paint scribbles, though, as Valve's artists have created an installationfor this digital gallery, featuring concept, prototypes and posters for everything from Portalto Dota 2.
Artwork can only be uploaded for Valve games right now, with the rest of Steam's extensive library set to follow in the future. To use the new features, you'll need to opt-in to the latest Steam Beta Update from Steam's settings menu. You can also view them in-browser by joining the New Steam Community Beta group.
Steam has also updated Workshop entries to provide more detailed stats to creators, as well as new tabs for each Workshop item, letting Subscribers create discussions and view a full update history. More details of that update here.
Steam Greenlight approves 37 more titles, including Ikaruga, TowerClimb, Steam Marines
Well that was quick.
Well that was quick. Ikaruga only shot its way onto Steam Greenlight the other day, and it's already emerged from the other end of the Valve's giant approvals machine, covered in a viscous, sticky substance it's probably best not to investigate too strenuously. It's joined by 36 other assorted things(most of them games), including sci-fi roguelike Steam Marines, platforming roguelike TowerClimb(not to be confused with Towerfall), and lots of other things that aren't roguelikes - if you can imagine such a thing.
The full listis below. There's some great stuff in here, including action-horror Source mod Underhell, retro platformer Tiny Barbarian DX, the beautifully illustrated adventure horror Neverending Nightmares(pictured above), and a hell of a lot more.
Aartform Curvy 3D 3.0 Alien Swarm FP Axis Game Factory – AGF PRO v01.0 Blood of the Werewolf CastleMiner Z Elder Sign: Omens The Fall Fester Mudd: Curse of the Gold The Fifth Day FOTONICA Fortress Forever Fran Bow Half-Life 2: Capture the Flag Hot Tin Roof Ikaruga Infinity Wars InkFish J.U.L.I.A. Enhanced Edition Metal War Online Montague's Mount Neighbours from Hell Compilation Neverending Nightmares Nightmares from the Deep: The Cursed Heart Portal Remake Mod Ravensword: Shadowlands Real World Racing RimWorld Starship Corporation Steam Marines Tiny Barbarian DX TowerClimb The Sparkle 2: EVO (un)Lucky7 Underhell Universum: War Front Violett WrackRunescape community guarantees the return of "old school" servers
In response to high community demand, Runescape developer Jagex launched a petition system to determine whether or not it would relaunch of a version of the game servers as they existed in 2007.
to determine whether or not it would relaunch of a version of the game servers as they existed in 2007. Many vocal Runescape players feel that this era, before the implementation of a new, hotbar-based combat system and some other controversial features, presented a superior experience. As of now, the petition has passed the 50,000-player milestone and guaranteed that the servers will go live. Further milestones will reduce the subscription price for the classic game and possibly lead to the creation of a new team to create new content independent of "mainstream" Runescape.
Voting isn't free—only paying Runescape members can influence the decision. Though, there's nothing to stop you from paying for a month, voting, and canceling your membership if you feel like it's worth the petition fee. The tally is sitting at 236,000 as of the writing of this article. That's just short of the 250,000 needed to guarantee a small, focused development team for the old school version. At 500,000, a full content team will be established and Runescape members will have access to the new servers at no additional cost (currently, they will require a $15 a month fee on top of a player's regular membership.)
"Old school" would be the third running version of Runescape, joining the main game and Runescape Classic, a preserved-in-amber version of the sprite-based RS I played in junior high. Classic is not supported by ongoing updates, but it still has at least a couple hundred people playing at this very moment.
Return to rust: Beneath a Steel Sky 2 confirmed
When Revolution Studios unwrapped its stretch goals for its Kickstarter-funded Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse , a sequel to 1994 cyberpunk adventure Beneath a Steel Sky met our cyborg photoreceptors as a milestone for reaching $1 million in extra donations.
, a sequel to 1994 cyberpunk adventure Beneath a Steel Sky met our cyborg photoreceptors as a milestone for reaching $1 million in extra donations. Although only (only, he says) garnering an extra $800,000, Revolution told Developit's forging ahead with Beneath a Steel Sky 2's creation. Why? Perhaps Revolution's staff realizes the rarity of working once more on a game with a freshwater fish acronym, but it's mostly because the original Beneath a Steel Sky is downright awesome.
"We're delighted by the recent level of interest in a sequel to Beneath a Steel Sky and are currently discussing design ideas for this project which we plan to go into development following the release of Broken Sword: The Serpent's Curse," Revolution co-founder Tony Warriner said. "We're deeply touched that our Steel Sky fans are as enthusiastic today as they were when the original game released in 1994."
We gave Beneath a Steel Sky a Best Dialogue award back in 1995, and for good reason: Dave Gibbons and Charles Cecil's artfully crafted dystopian Australia teemed with comedy and creativity in a challenging cyberpunk environment. Plus, playing as someone named after a beer can never gets old. Even better, it's easily accessible as a free download off Good Old Games.
PC Gamer UK June issue: Star Wars Battlefront
It's election day today in the UK.
It's election day today in the UK. Here we get to pick our leaders, but what of the political process a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away? The situation was pretty bleak, I'm afraid. Just ask the residents of Alderaan, all of whom were explosively let down by their political system. Star Wars Battlefront will give you a chance to fight back against the tyranny of the Empire, or, if you prefer, to crush those bleeding-heart Rebels. We sent Wes to discover if DICE's shooter is a new hope for team-based multiplayer action.
Also this month, we asked Chris to catalogue Star Wars' complete PC history across an eight-page retrospective feature. Rather than strike him down, he came back more powerful than we could possibly imagine—delivering the definitive PC Gamer review of Grand Theft Auto 5. Los Santos: You will never find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. And that's just Trevor's trailer.
Elsewhere in this issue, Andi Hamilton explores the Doom mod scene, Phil reports on CCP's obsession with VR, and Tom Senior talks to Creative Assembly about the fantasy future of Total War. If that wasn't enough, we're also giving away a free Steam key for Dino D-Day . The issue, which is in shops now, can be ordered through My Favourite Magazines. Digitally, you'll find it on the App Store, Google Play, and Zinio, and you can subscribeto get issues delivered directly to your door. Here's our subs cover this month, and a round-up of the print odyssey that is issue 279.
This month we...
Steal the plans for Star Wars Battlefront (RIP many Bothans) Catalogue the complete history of Star War on PC, from innovative RPGs to prequel tie-ins Delve into the depths of Doom's enduring mod scene Take a look inside CCP's VR prototypes Talk to Creative Assembly about Total War: Warhammer Kick the tyres of EVE: Valkyrie, Aviary Attorney, Legacy of the Void, Ronin, Magnetic: Cage Closed, Enter The Gungeon and Total War: Kingdoms Review GTA 5, Broken Age, Mortal Kombat X, OOTP Baseball 16, Titan Souls, White Night, Resident Evil: Revelations 2, Pillars of Eternity, Sims 4: Get to Work and Dragon Age: Inquisition – Jaws of Hakkon. Prod Dirty Bomb, Subnautica and Captain Forever Remix with the Early Access judgement stick. Supertest the best streaming devices for home media Make Half-Life brutal in the Top 10 Downloads Take a trip back to TESO's Tamriel in Update Give Crysis 2 a second chance in Reinstall ...And more.Until next month, when PC Gamer strikes back.
Thirty Flights of Loving tells a better story in 13 minutes than most games do in 13 hours
When indie game designer Brendon Chung isn't making games like Flotilla and Atom Zombie Smasher, he's producing entries in his first-person Citizen Abel series.
When indie game designer Brendon Chung isn't making games like Flotilla and Atom Zombie Smasher, he's producing entries in his first-person Citizen Abel series. The last was Gravity Bone, a stylish short story about a spy. It's free, and you should probably play it.
The next game in the series is Thirty Flights of Loving, and you should definitely play it. It's another first-person short story, requires no previous knowledge of the series, and it's about a heist. The trailer is above. Without spoiling any of the story, I'm going to convince you why you should pay money for something you'll finish playing in less time than it took me to write this article.
TFOL is powered by the open source Quake 2 engine, and so runs as a standalone game. It's a first-person shooter where you never fire a gun. It's about a heist, as noted, but what makes it remarkable is how it tells its story.
Yeah, I know. Story . There's nothing more tedious to hear someone wax on about, but stick with me.
Gravity Bone was widely praised, particularly for a moment near its end in which the player tumbles from a building ledge and is presented with flashes of their prior life: a car bombing, a highway chase, an olympic sprint. It gave the game this wonderful sentimental feeling, and montage is a technique not much used in games.
Thirty Flights of Lovingexpands that use of montage to its entire story. You never actually see the heist you and your team are carrying out. Instead, TFOL is about the days leading up to it, the people you're carrying it out with, and the terrible aftermath. Events happen out of order, the clock leaps around hours at a time, and you piece together the story as you play.
We're normally so quick to condemn games that take the language of cinema and cram them in to a medium that's meant to be interactive, but Thirty Flights of Loving uses its borrowed techniques so well that it makes its traditional narrative feel more gamey, not less. It's a first-person game as Scott Pilgrim director Edgar Wright might make them.
It uses montage to tell an incredible amount of story in its short 13 minutes. It uses it to fill in character backstory with stylish, funny jumpcuts. It uses it to tell a linear story while still letting players navigate its levels in ways that they choose, without ramming them in to a dead-end.
There are plenty of other reasons to play the game, including the great blockheaded art style, the Latin American-inspired music, the playfulness of its environments, and that the story is exciting and fun even aside from how its told. But the sense I get when playing it is that it's made by someone who has spent a long, long time thinking about how to tell linear first-person stories, and who has found a new way to do it better than anyone else.
Right now the only way to get the game is to back the Idle Thumbs podcast on Kickstarterfor $30. If you're not already a fan of Idle Thumbs, you probably won't want to pay that amount just for Thirty Flights of Loving. I think it's worth all the money in the world, but I accept that you probably want to save some of yours for food and shelter.
If you are a fan of Idle Thumbs though (I've never listened to it) and are going to back it anyway, then go for at least the $30 reward tier. For everyone else, Thirty Flights will be released sometime later, for a presumably much smaller price. Sooner or later, make sure you play this game.
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Comments
Our Verdict
Beneath the endless text, Analogue is smart, focused, and refreshingly unpleasant stuff with a style all of its own.
The danger of blending fiction and interactivity is that both elements could suffer: the fiction gets chopped into pieces and shuffled out of order, while the interactivity becomes the ludic equivalent of page-turning, throwing players the odd puzzle to keep them paying attention, and letting them loose on a decision every few paragraphs to maintain the illusion of agency.
Analogue: A Hate Story circumvents most of these problems with some clever structural tinkering. For one thing, Christine Love's latest visual novel drops you into the narrative long after the bodies have turned cold: you're an archaeologist, picking through the human debris, and you bring no real expectations of shaping the story. For another, while Love's themes touch on everything from epistemology to domestic violence, she shamelessly employs the best techniques of soap opera to express them, offering up melodrama, high tragedy, and a plotline that allows for a game-changing revelation every five minutes. Analogue traps its players within a tabloidy little loop, in other words, and it can be surprisingly hard to break free.
As the names suggest, Analogue is a companion to Love's previous game, Digital: A Love Story, trading the early days of computer networks for the far future. Out in the cold wastes of space, a starship called the Mungunghwa – previously sent to colonise distant planets and longfeared destroyed – has suddenly reappeared on the radar. Your job is to pick over the craft's data and uncover its fate, and you'll be aided by two of the Mungunghwa's female AIs – both of whom offer radically differing opinions as to what went wrong. From this point on, almost everything is a spoiler; Analogue is short but ingeniously constructed, and watching its narrative clockwork spinning is a huge part of the appeal.
Faced with such a dense story, interaction inevitably takes a back seat; most of the game is spent reading text logs and showing interesting sections to the AIs in the hopes of triggering memories. Your artificial companions are lightly animated but richly characterised, and despite the limitations of your communication (other than highlighting text, you're generally left steering their conversations with a yes or no) their parallel testimonies help bring angsty life to what could otherwise be a rather drab inquest. To get the entire story you're going to have to play through the campaign at least twice, and it's a testament to Love's skills that this doesn't feel like a chore.
Switching from brutality to whimsy in seconds, while its narrative hinges on the inadequacies of technology and the reliability of human cruelty, Analogue should be a worthy mess. What rescues it is a flair for the dramatic and an acknowledgement that, even as we reach for the stars, we're taking the same old problems with us.
Review by Chris Donlan.
The Verdict
Analogue: A Hate Story
Beneath the endless text, Analogue is smart, focused, and refreshingly unpleasant stuff with a style all of its own.
We recommend By Zergnet
The processes behind King's Candy Crush
Candy Crush Saga is so huge, at this point, that it requires no introduction.
is so huge, at this point, that it requires no introduction. If you want one, this bizarre Fox News segment will tell you everything you need to knowabout how far it has seeped into the popular consciousness.
It's easy -- and foolish, and cynical -- to assume that this kind of success is some kind of fluke, or that mainstream players don't know any better than to engage with King's games. The company has found repeated success, so it must be doing something right... but what?
What principles help guide King's game development? Recently, Gamasutra traveled to the company's Stockholm, Sweden headquarters to find out.
A Pause to RelaxMost game developers are avid players, and look at games quite differently from mainstream audiences. King's developers are no different -- but they also understand, first and foremost, what players want from their games. According to the company's chief creative officer, Sebastian Knutsson, that's "bitesize" two- to four-minute experiences.
It doesn't end there, though. Players of its games have a different expectation than the sort of immersion and engagement routinely evoked by core games. That short gameplay segment serves a purpose: "It's not about a chess move where you spend four minutes thinking," says Knutsson. It's a moment or two where you can "relax without thinking hard."
It's Okay to FailKim Nordstrom, lead producer at King's Malmo, Sweden studio says that when developing new titles, "we can take the risk and it's okay to fail." Part of that is attitude (realizing it's okay to make mistakes) and part of this is the advantage of mobile: Games can be fixed quickly.
Nordstrom used to work for Sony, and he spoke enthusiastically about the way in which the mobile space allows developers to fix their mistakes quick, and take in player feedback and act on it.
"It didn't work, and we fix it -- and hopefully we can fix it," says Nordstrom. "We apologize and we fix it. We listen to the audience, and say, 'Okay, this is what they want. This makes sense for us.'"
When to Listen to the AudienceAs Nordstrom says, you have to listen to your audience. And sometimes this even means going against your own instincts when it comes to how you design your games.
One example: Philip Lanik, game developer on Candy Crush Saga at King's Stockholm studio, has long wanted to put in a level skip option, because many players get stuck on more challenging stages.
It turns out that the players don't want it, however. "That's a very hotly discussed topic... We want to challenge players. We are all players ourselves," says Lanik. "We listen to our players... people feel like it's cheating."
Given that's the case, well, "skipping levels, I'd love to have it, honestly, but I'd probably get overruled by the team," Lanik says. The team knows to listen to its audience.
Everybody Has a SayLanik might get overruled by his team now and again, but according to Farm Heroes Saga producer Carolin Krenzer, from King's London studio, he should still get his say. Everyone should.
When the London studio was formed, its founders studied how things worked in Stockholm and then brought that culture to the UK: "We know that it works pretty well here, that the culture allowed people to be creative and create awesome games, and that's one of the reasons we wanted to make sure we learned from the people in Stockholm," she says.
"Making sure everyone has a say and can contribute, and having ownership, it has a massive impact on the quality of the product," says Krenzer.
Listening to everyone's voice is particularly essential when game teams are small. Tobias Nyblom, product manager on Candy Crush Saga , notes that the company "used crowdsourcing within the office to come up with lots of ideas for the levels, and tried to cherry-pick the best ones for a varied flow."
Staying ChallengingGiven the mass audience for Candy Crush Saga , you might expect that the game would be a cake walk. According to developer Philip Lanik, the opposite is true: Candy Crush Saga "has to be a challenge and stay a challenge."
That's why the team needs to constantly seek new ideas from around the office. If they don't devise new types of challenges for players, the game will become dull: "playing all the time the same content is getting quite boring," says Lanik. "It has to be a challenge; it has to be a fun challenge," he says.
And yes, sometimes those levels are too tough for some players. That is inevitable, says Lanik: "We have to accept we're losing people in some levels as well."
You Can't Please EverybodyLosing players? Is it really okay? Yes -- because you can't please all the people all of the time.
Lanik also notes that when making a game like Candy Crush Saga , "you'll never find the right solution" for all of the players. "To find the balance is a really, really tough problem for us," he says. The team can only do its best, and accept that there's a limit to that.
"I'd like to see all the people progressing [through the game] in the same way, but with so many people you'll never see it," says Lanik. "The balance between fun levels and challenging levels, it's quite hard. A good mixture of different levels and different styles is very important."
The First User is UsGreat ideas for games come from within, not without. Ceri Llewellyn, a developer at King's London studio working on a yet-to-be-released title, says you have to trust yourself: "if you find it fun, generally people find it fun."
"Yes, you can think about this mythical person you can build for," says Llewellyn, but "the first user is generally us." In fact, his game was the winner of an internal King game jam -- people liked it so much that it was developed into a prototype and from there, into a full version. Without that seal of approval from King's internal developers, it never would have had a chance to make it into the wild.
Editor's note: King provided travel accommodations in order to facilitate these interviews.
Free PC games are awesome, thanks for reading about them
Writing a regular column about free games has been one of the most transformative jobs I've ever taken.
Writing a regular column about free games has been one of the most transformative jobs I've ever taken. Buried away in the depths of the internet are some remarkable things, and being able to unearth them, then share them with a huge number of like-minded people, is always an absolute pleasure.
It's also changed the way I think about games, changed the way I write about games, and even inspired me to make games. All this from spending one day a week playing mostly amateur creations then scrawling down some words about what I made of them.
I've played some fantastic games while preparing these columns., a fascinatingly dark abstract shooter that poses as a personality-evaluating AI, was one of the more intriguing ones. It's a game that spins an unnerving story through its only character, who flits worryingly between help and harm. It's immaculately presented, and alternately amusing and sinister. A real gem.
Or how about? It's a crazy golf game among the most delightful freebies I've ever seen. It presents an ever-changing landscape, a world that morphs around you as you progress through its 18 holes, and one of the most fabulously animated things. It only lasts about 15 minutes, but I spent that time with my face fixed into a grin.
For absolutely no pennies, you can experience things unlike anything else in our medium. Take Terry Cavanagh's, a co-op game that asks two players to sit on a local network, exploring an abstract maze, making changes to each other's versions of the world as they work to solve its ultimate puzzle. Haunting and abstract, it's a fascinating look at how we can work together within games in new and exciting ways.
, too, is an experimental game. In it, you explore a harrowing wartorn environment, a place where the snow continues to fall and haunting sounds emit from its farer reaches. Soldiers who are still standing walk among the dead bodies, crying. It's not polished, but it's utterly affecting.
And, more recently,'s split-screen dialogue-choosing and mundane-task-completion contrasted stunningly with the more hard-hitting elements of its storyline. Its central character is often unpleasant - a liar and a cheat and a racist, if you let him be - but the questions it asks you as a player go far beyond those that are a part of the game itself.
Then there's been the bigger games. Portal was free for a while ( it's currently just £7).got a stripped-back free-to-play version.went almost entirely free as it continued to expand, and Bungie's Marathon trilogyturned up without charge. That even the major studios occasionally give us something for nothing is a lovely thing: it might often be a smart business decision, advertising other titles or enticing in new players, but it still presents us with opportunities to try out some truly special releases without stretching our wallets.
Perhaps most importantly to me, I've spent time delving into the Adventure Game Studiocommunity. AGS is a free-to-use game engine that's powered a number of commercial games, such as Time Gentlemen, Please! and Gemini Rue, but it's also the tech behind a huge number of free releases created as projects of passion. Being astonished by the quality of,andinspired me to make my own game -- in AGS. And I'm currently working on an even bigger project that utilises it.
I've revisited older games and I continue to find new ones.is still, I genuinely believe, one of the best games available on PC - a free roguelike platformer with an stupidly ruleset and a fascinating environment to explore and destroy.is an indie adventure set in the late 1980s, and sees your teenage character embark on a touching journey of discovery. And the terrifying but brilliantrecently got an enormous update.
This week,turned up with the best name in the world and a minimalist, noir-esque vibe. It's a game in which you play as a triangle on the run in a two-dimensional city. (Its 'Appreciation Version', which functions on a pay-what-you-like model, recently fell foul of PayMate - who cancelled and refunded all orders without notice, deciding only to inform the developers afterwards that they don't work with games because 'teenagers steal their parents' credit cards to buy them'.) Meanwhile,sees your canine character scurrying around the underground picking up scraps of food, fighting with other dogs, and - most importantly, of course - exploding bottles of vodka.
This is my last free games column for PC Gamer, but those fantastic free games won't stop coming, and I'm sure PC Gamer will continue to write about them.
Recently, I interviewed some developers as part of a feature I was writing. I wanted to find out why, when they are clearly such talented designers, artists and programmers, they persist in giving away their creations and asking for no money in return. Some of them worked full-time in the games industry and made their freebies on the side. For others, it was just a hobby. But one thread ran through every one of their answers: games are awesome, we love making them, and we want as many people as possible to benefit from that.
In what can often be a cynical industry, these developers are quite remarkable people. Long may their fabulous work continue.
Thanks for reading, folks.
Star Trek Online executive producer quits
Craig Zinkievich, Executive Producer at Cryptic Studios, has just magically transformed into Craig Zinkievich, stay-at-home-Dad.
In a very bubblyon the STO blog, he mentions that David Stahl will be taking over. Craig's hopes are high for the future of STO, and he speaks highly of the surviving team. He said, "when it comes to Season Two, Season Three and the future of STO, there is no end to the episodes, systems and species that [the STO team] want to desperately see put in the game. With Dan in the Captain's chair, I'm confident that this team will be true to Star Trek's vision and continue to expand STO to its fullest potential."
[via CVG]
Quake Live is no longer free-to-play
Quake Live , arguably the most enduring free-to-play first-person shooter, is no longer free-to-play.
, arguably the most enduring free-to-play first-person shooter, is no longer free-to-play. Anpublished yesterday on the game's Steam page announced the arrival of Steamworks integration and the termination of the Quake Live subscription service. That means friend lists, chat, lobbies, voice chat, server browsers and statistics now all run through Steam.
That's fine, but as Kotakunotes, not all is well in paradise. For starters, it's unclear whether id Software or publisher Bethesda ever gave forewarning that the game will now attract a US$10 charge – not that it really matters to current players anyway, since anyone with the game in their Steam library already won't have to pay.
What does sting is that veterans of the game are reporting that their old statistics and friend lists have been lost. The Quake Live forums are awash with complaints that their stats have been wiped, which must hurt anyone who has been playing since its launch in 2010.
Meanwhile, the changes brought by the removal of a subscription service seem to compensate for the newly installed price tag. "By retiring our services and subscription service, all players now have the same benefits and features in-game. All players can participate in map voting processes, have full access to customize their game to the same degree as others, and have the ability to run their own Listen Servers and configure their matches to their own liking.
"Players wishing to have more control over how they play now also have new callvote options, allowing them to opt into some of our newer gameplay mechanics such as Starting Weapons, Global Ammo, and Item Timers. Over time we found that these features were effective in some modes more than others, and so modes like Free For All now have loadouts disabled by default."
Quake Live hit Steam last year, causing a bit of controversyat the time due to its seeming desire to appeal to more casual FPS players.
League of Legends’ Taric ascends to the stars in new rework
Taric is the latest champion to be reworked by Riot, and boy has he never looked more radiant.
Taric is the latest champion to be reworked by Riot, and boy has he never looked more radiant. Patch 6.8 has brought about exciting changes to the Rift, but let’s be honest—it’s Taric’s time to shine. The former ‘Gem Knight’ has had to patiently wait for his makeover, watching from the sidelines while Summoner’s Rift and its champions have changed around him. Over time, Taric became a rare sight.
The latest update has shed light onto this stunning aspect, ascending him to his rightful place among the stars, along with new lore, kit, audio and a fresh look. It’s comforting to see that old Dorito feet has received a makeover that is worthy of his character. As Taric himself says: "I am no longer the man I once was."
Taric’s rework has left many players with questions. How did he become so buff? What hair product does he use? When will he be cast as the next Disney prince? But more importantly: what role he will play within the current meta?
If looks could kill
This eye-catching champ doesn’t just dazzle his opponents in lane: he also packs a magnificent punch. Taric’s main source of damage comes from his passive, Bravado, which activates after he casts any ability. Once activated, Taric's next two basic attacks within 4 seconds each gain 100% total attack speed, bonus magic damage, and reduce the cooldowns of his abilities. Starlight’s Touch is affected significantly more than his other spells.
Bravado is an excellent source of harass and should be used to bully your opponent early on in the laning phase. Good use of this ability will deny gold and experience, hindering their build progression, as well as allowing your AD carry to sneak in some extra damage providing opportunities to snag first blood. This early harass can quickly force Taric’s opponents under their turret or leave them with no choice but to recall. His ADC can now farm without the fear of constant poke while he can safely provide ward coverage, making it easier for his team to spot enemy rotations.
Once Taric has finished hitting his opponent with a flurry of auto-attacks he can retreat safely away and heal himself and all nearby allied champions with Starlight’s Touch. Taric stores a charge of Starlight's Touch which periodically builds up over time, with a maximum of 3 being stored at once. Make sure to hold onto Starlight’s Touch to deliver a more potent heal, and help turn the tide of the battle by giving your team a new lease of life. Starlight's Touch cannot be cast without charges, so choose your opportunities wisely as you may end up leaving your team high and dry.
Those who played Taric will be glad to see that his trademark stun is back in all its glory, but this time it comes with an added twist. Originally a targeted spell, Taric’s stun could only shut down one opponent and offered little to no impact in teamfights. This has changed with his revamped stun Dazzle . Now Taric can cast his stun in any direction, while briefly moving around before projecting a beam of starlight towards the target location. The starlight erupts after a 1-second delay, dealing magic damage to all enemies hit stunning them for a brief period of time. This can be deadly when twinned with his passive Bravado, offering a brief window for himself and his allies to deal damage to those ensnared.
The most interesting addition to Taric’s kit is Bastion . All of Taric’s abilities can now be simultaneously cast from both Taric and his linked ally, the passive increases his armour while the active shields himself and his Bastion buddy for 2.5 seconds. Bastion remains on Taric’s ally until he recasts it onto another ally, or if the two move far enough apart to break their link.
Thanks to Bastion, Taric can now double down on all his abilities creating some truly, truly, truly outrageous plays. Gone are the days of him eagerly sticking to his laner like a glorified babysitter. He can now provide support from afar with his twin heal on Starlight’s Touch and clever positioning can make Dazzle all the more threatening, increasing the chance of stunning multiple opponents.
If Taric sees a friendly jungler approaching he can recast Bastion, giving them a shield that can sponge incoming damage that would otherwise deter unaided junglers. Taric can now utilise his stun and root his opponents in place while his ADC and jungler take down their targets. Once finished Taric can heal his teammates using Starlight’s touch negating the damage taken during the brief skirmish.
Objectives can be claimed and defended more aggressively now that his team can bask in the sapphire invulnerability of his ultimate, Cosmic Radiance. Taric will activate this after a 2.5-second delay and will shroud himself and nearby allied champions in cosmic energy, granting invulnerability for 2.5 seconds upon impact. If the co-operation and synergy between Taric and his team is good, his ultimate has the potential to be the single most powerful spell in the entire game.
Reach for the stars
In the competitive meta early dives are common practice, and this is without having the safety of 2.5 seconds of invulnerability. Pro teams who use Taric could abuse his ultimate and increase potential diving opportunities like never before. We could even see Taric being played in solo lanes. After all, it is not unheard of for a support to be played competitively in other lanes: just look at how devastating Tahm Kench is in top lane.
In League of Legends teamfights are won and lost within a matter of seconds, so having a 2.5 second window of invulnerability is huge—especially when given to the whole team. It is more than enough time to quickly dispatch squishy damage dealers, tower dive unsuspecting champions and make taking control over Baron Nashor and Dragon camps less daunting. Taric’s Cosmic Radiance puts an end to otherwise-suicidal missions and creates limitless opportunities for plays that would otherwise never work. Taric says yes to these ideas, and brings them into the realms of possibility. After all: "there's nowhere left to go but up."
Quake Live reports intermittent outages due to DDoS attack
"Quake Live is experiencing issues due to a DDoS attack, and may be down intermittently while we seek to address the problem," a brief message on the Quake Live site states.
Quake Livehas reported that it is suffering through a DDoS attack, and that players may experience intermittent outages while it works on resolving the problem.
on the Quake Live site states. "We apologize for the inconvenience." The DDoS warning was actually posted last night but users on the Quake Live forums are still complainingabout difficulty connecting to the game, and according to Blue's, the Quake Live site itself has also been forced offline at times.
I'm compelled to take a moment to note that a DDoS attack—Distributed Denial of Service—is the lowest form of "hack" that a person can undertake, essentially the digital equivalent of setting a bag of dog poop on fire and leaving it on someone's front porch. Worse, actually, because at least the poop is only going to be stomped on by one particular person, who's presumably caused you some sort of irritation; a DDoS attack is tedious, indiscriminate jerkery that accomplishes nothing.
Okay, got that off my chest. No other information about the attack has been released, but I've had trouble reaching the Quake Live site myself this afternoon: Sometimes it will load, and sometimes the connection simply times out. A Bethesda rep echoed the message posted on the Quake Live site, saying, "The game will be down intermittently as we address the DDoS attack," but offered no suggestion as to when the matter might be resolved. We'll let you know if and when we hear more.