PC Gaming News Message Board older than one year ago

Here, before your eyes, is the world’s first interview (if you ignore a Danish one from a few years ago) with the Hitman creators’ re-formed Reto-Moto, in which they discuss their recently re-announced game, Heroes & Generals. I’ll admit that seeing the in-game alpha footage yesterday, I sighed at what looked like yet another WW2 FPS. But I’ve since learned that the game is a lot more than that. It’s a persistent, massively multiplayed game, combining traditional on-ground soldier FPS battles with strategic resource and equipment management from the tents. To find out just how that works, I spoke to Jacob Andersen, game director for Reto (and original artist on all the previous Hitman games). He talks about the game’s persistent world, how the strategic elements of the General roles work, and what lessons have been learned from their days at IO.

(more…)

The actual Neverwinter MMO isn't set to come out until later on next year, but Heroes of Neverwinter is a new social game that's available to play right now on Facebook. According to the trailer above, it offers the "deepest RPG experience Facebook has ever seen," with some strategy-accented, turn-based combat based on the D&D system, and even a dungeon creation tool to play with. As you might imagine, the game is heavily microtransaction-based, so your journey through the Forgotten Realms will likely be punctuated with plenty of pitches to spend some real-life dough on the title.

But if you've been waiting for Facebook games to actually show a little more complexity (more complexity, at least, than those wooden animations in the trailer), Heroes of Neverwinter does up the ante. It's available for free right now on the big blue social network.Heroes of Neverwinter brings D&D combat to Facebook

As Adam mentions below, HD remakes serve to make games look like your rose-tinted, 1920080 memories of them. Trying to play through the original MDK2 now is a tough feat, so having it remade for modern, hi-def eyes is a splendid thing. But the original Leisure Suit Larry? That looks like a pile of pixels even in my most optimistic memory. EGM are reporting that Replay Games and Larry creator Al Lowe have the rights to the games and plan to give them new life. As well as start on some new adventures.

(more…)

Oh man, the HD re-release of MDK 2 is almost upon us. It’s coming out on Beamdog tomorrow for $15 and the trailer is hiding over the hills and out of range beyond the jump.

(more…)

When Tom Sennett stepped on stage to pick up the Game Design award at this year's IndieCade, his entire speech suggested strongly that he doesn't, um, really care. But here's his secret: He actually does. "I take the work very seriously," he said. When it comes to Deepak Fights Robots (currently available on Mac, Windows and Linux), Sennett actually cares very much.

Sure, the graphics look like they were created with free software and a mouse (they were), the action ranges from surreal to nonsensical, and the game's funky soundtrack and aesthetic (that extended even to the signs around Sennett's IndieCade display, as seen above) might make you think Deepak Fights Robots is just a joke. It is funny, but once you dive into the game mechanics at play here, there's a surprising amount of depth and insight built on just a few standard platformer-style tropes.

The Swapper is one of IndieCade's most fascinating finalists this year. While the trailer will definitely pique your interest about the title (it features some really interesting "create-a-clone" gameplay -- more on that in a bit), what's most incredible about this one isn't how it looks or plays. It's how it was made.

The Swapper was created by Facepalm Games, which is actually two teenagers named Otto Hantula and Olli Harjola (along with a sound designer) from Helsinki, Finland. They've created a few games, "but nothing as big as this one," they told me. You may think, given the amazing textures and bump-mapping on the game, that they used some kind of high-end engine to create it. Unreal Engine 3? CryEngine, maybe? Nope.

"They're actually made of clay and some other stuff," said Harjola. As in, actual physical clay, which he modeled, photographed, and then put into the game with lots of dynamic lighting. "I probed a lot of different graphic styles," he says. "I don't really like 3D modeling, but I really like doing stuff with my hands, and this is what I came up with."

John Carmack, id Software co-founder and creator of classic franchises like Doom and Quake, has made his opinion of PC-focused development clear. It used to be the PC was always the lead platform, leaving the consoles to play catch-up -- but those days are over. Speaking to Kotaku, Carmack state...

I spent the weekend in a haunted watermill, which was pleasant and all, but I would rather have been at the Indiecade festival, battling inanely with invisible weaponry and rearranging boxes with strangers. The whole thing is done with now and that means it’s time for me to take a look at the winners, some of which I’ll cast no more than a sidelong glance at because they aren’t coming to PC. Last time I spoke about IndieCade I named my pick of the entrants as Proteus. Read on to see if the judges paid attention to my words and for a PC-centric awards ceremony of our very own.

(more…)

Rob Hale’s bemusingly frantic Waves has just released a demo. It’s a three minute burst of the Crunch Time mode, which you can get from Squid In A Box’s main site, here. The full game is out soon, and will be $10 either from Squid (DRM free) or via Steam. But in the meantime, you can finally get your hands on the explody colour confusion.

Having been away on my honeymoon for nearly two weeks, and thus not paying much attention to videogames, I’m feeling out of touch. But I’m not sure that can account for my not having realised that a group of ex-IO Interactive founders left the company in 2004 to restart their old development team, Reto-Moto. The company was officially re-announced in 2008, and only now, forty-seven years later, have they offered footage of their first game. It’s called Heroes & Generals, and I’m having some trouble working out exactly when it was announced. Eurogamer are calling it as today. Wikipedia suggests (without proof) that it was September 2010. But then the game’s forum seems to have been alive as early as May 2010. Oh, and there were in-game shots in April 2010. But what’s important today is there’s now footage. Well, there has been since the 7th October, apparently. But I was on holiday.

(more…)

Are you a lady? Then finally there’s a game for you! While too many games are pretending that ladies enjoy the same things as men, like shooting, building cities or exploring alien worlds, Lady Popular properly recognises what it is that makes a true, strong, independent lady: shopping, hairstyles, and having a boyfriend.

(more…)

Maybe Make Some Change has certainly caused a change here, in my brain and my general emotional wellbeing. Despite the fact that it’s a Monday and a thin and sickly rain is scratching against the windows trying to chill my soul, I was actually feeling pretty good about half an hour ago. Not so much now. This is a game that may make you think or may simply make you angry or sad, but it certainly won’t make you say “By golly, that was a fun old time”. It’s a piece of interactive fiction (sort of) about this event, which took place in Afghanistan last year. You can experience it now or read my scrambled thoughts below.

(more…)

If you enjoy PC games, especially action RPGs like Diablo, but you've never once played Nethack, you probably should. No, seriously -- go, right now, download it, and check it out. Sure, it's hard, not very accessible (there are no graphics, only ASCII symbols to represent the player, items, and monsters), and enormously complicated. But it's also essentially the root of the "roguelike" genre (named after a game called Rogue), featuring random dungeons with dozens of levels, exciting turn-based combat, and plenty of unpredictable magic.

Desktop Dungeons is a game that continues in that tradition, though with one important twist: While Nethack, Rogue, and all of the other roguelikes take place over huge dungeons with multiple levels and lots of complexity, Desktop Dungeons champions simplicity. It takes place on basically one screen, in one grid, and that dungeon will cause you to level up from start to finish in just about ten minutes. It's the roguelike genre, boiled down into its most essential ingredients.

And it's glorious.

Following yesterday’s DRM-alarm going off, GSC have now said that using an always-on solution is for them “a possibility, not a choice.” We also received this statement:

“The idea of implementing DRM came in as a possible anti-piracy solution. You know the severe level of commercial piracy we have here in ex-USSR region. This said however, there is no firm decision to go for DRM with S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 as of now. Be assured, we do realize how uncomfortable this solution is for the players, so we’ll continue looking for most effective, yet acceptable for all, way of protecting the game by the time of its release.”

Sundays are for driving across the hills, and through the forests. Sundays are for getting home to a cup of a tea and a boiled egg, and realising there’s still a compilation of the week’s words to do. These are those.

• This week’s winner in the game of words is this dictionary development studio jargon that has been compiled by Gamasutra. I am sure some of them are fallacious, and I have never been used in anger, (while others are just silly), but I couldn’t help smile at “Gone All Kurtz”, “Save the Astronauts”, “Eating Your Own Dog Food” and “Pink Lightsaber”.

(more…)

While we understand our bodies' natural inclination to produce both tears and blood during times of emotional duress and physical injury, we'd hate to have to be forced to choose between the two. If the question is more metaphorical however, as is the case in this new Might & Magic Heroes VI trailer, we think we'd have to go with blood, since they appear to be the side with glowing magma creatures.

You know, now that we think about it, we'd always take blood over tears, especially in literal situations. New Might & Magic Heroes VI trailer: 'Tears or blood?'

Hello youse.

I want to talk to you about a game that really makes me smile. It’s an expensive game, but I think that if you have a group of players who find the theme appealing, it’s certainly something worth chipping in to buy. I also think it’s the best game that the publisher has yet released.

It’s Flying Frog Productions’ Fortune & Glory.

I JUST FELL INTO A VOLCANO! Click through to see if I survive!(more…)

Indie developer 'Mane6' is fulfilling brony dreams with an unofficial My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic fighting game, made in 2D Fighter Maker. MLP: Fighting is Magic is simultaneously one of the cutest and most uncomfortable things we've seen, with six adorable cartoon horses kicking the adorable cartoon hell out of each other.

The first version will have playable versions of Twilight Sparkle, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, with 11 more to follow in DLC. There's currently no release date on this project, but if you want to help the team finish, it's looking for voice talent now.

[Thanks, Zac]

Surely you lot know the drill by now? I’ve spent this morning drinking tea and finding all the best download deals from across the web, and compiled them into a convenient list format for you. What’s there going to be to tempt you to hit that download button this week? Read on to find out. As always, SavyGamer.co.k is your round the clock hub to cut-price gaming deals. Here’s your bucket: (more…)

Kotaku Australia are reporting this Ukrainian publication’s interview with GSC’s Studio Director Sergey Grigorovich. In it it he answers a huge number of questions, revealing little about the sequel apart from question one about “security” for the forthcoming game:

“Software piracy is an issue for us, we try to fight it, but within reason… Protection from piracy? Part of the content will be located on the server and downloaded as the game progresses. Permanent internet access is required. Text information, code and quests will be loaded through that connection.”

Oh dear.

- Rob Hale, the chap behind Waves points me to this game, Sonar, which is about navigating around a maze using sound pulses. It’s a bit like a simplified Devil’s Tuning Fork. - Digitanks has a a demo, a campaign update, and a Pay What You Want just here. The game is moderately entertaining. - Sketchbrawlers looks bonkers. Will probably look at this again soon. - Rebuild 2 is very similar to the original post-zombie apocalypse management game: time-consuming. - The demo of exploration-heavy side-scroller Unepic can be found here. - Oh, also, spectacular arena shooter Scoregasm (pictured above) is out now, too.

Vlambeer’s Serious Sam spin-off/remake/demake/upmake/downmake/JRPGmake Serious Sam: The Random Encounter was always a bit of a bonkers proposition. The gameplay trailer (below) hasn’t really done much to change that perception. It is quite random.

And it looks totally awesome. Vlambeer say: “The game’ll launch on Steam & some other digital distribution platforms October 24th for $4.99. We’re pretty damned excited, that’s our first commercial release, I think.” They’re right.(more…)

Emergency! Emergency! A demonstration version of Foot-To-Ball Manager 2012 has inserted itself into one the tubes of the internet, and needs you to remove it then safely store it upon your own personal computer. If you are bold and daring enough to attempt to resolve this crisis, I beseech you to point your browser device here forthwith and then take any steps necessary to download approximately two gigabytes of English-made data. Then we will all be safe. And you can play half a season putting the feet of one or all of England, Australia, Scotland, France, Spain, Holland, Belgium, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Sweden onto a ball.

God speed. You are our only hope.

The autumnal quasi-summer has abandoned me and more than ever I am in need of indoor entertainment, preferably without spending a single penny as I’ve squandered all my money on garish Bermuda shorts. Enter Nous, a free game which claims to be a computer program seeking its purpose and identity. In order to learn it offers to teach the player, a quid pro quo in which both discover something about themselves. I should stress, that’s what the program does, not the game itself. It’s a top-down shoot ‘em up with a weirdly compelling narrative and there isn’t a fourth wall in sight.

(more…)

Editor's Note: The IPL, or IGN Pro League, is an IGN-operated e-sports tournament...

I’ve been taking a look at some of the games in the 17th Annual Interactive Fiction Competition and though I’m not going to refer to these as “the cream of the crop”, having not harvested the entire crop yet, they should fulfill a variety of your text-based needs. With storytelling in games high on the agenda today, it’s a particularly interesting moment to look at the different ways narrative can be explored through interactive prose. Far from fetch quests and attempts to second-guess a limited vocabulary, interactive fiction at its best can allow a reader-player to discover stories in all kinds of interesting ways. This way to words about words.

(more…)

Here’s an interesting thing that has arrived from a number sources into my inbox (thanks, all! I know you aren’t intentionally supporting World Space Week…) – the possibility of a sequel for much-beloved space combat strategy Nexus: The Jupiter Incident from members of the original team, now called Most Wanted Entertainment. They talk about their plans here, but the upshot of it is that are hoping to crowdfund it via the GamesPlant service. They want to raise quite a lot of cash, and I’m a bit sceptical as to whether that is going to happen. Either way, it’s the first serious effort we’ve seen toward a sequel since a tech demo leak (video below) from six years ago. I’ve also posted the more recent Nexus 2 concept trailer below.(more…)

Videogame storytelling is evolving, and the past few years have seen some fresh approaches to spinning the interactive yarn. Lewis Denby, on a mission to find out a little more about what stories mean to modern games, spoke to Splash Damage’s Ed Stern, who created the huge backstory for Brink, and script writer Tom Jubert, most famous for his work on Penumbra, to find out how we’re telling tales in this modern gaming age.(more…)

Last night saw just the latest sign that civilisation is on a nosedive to hell, as the entire internet lost its mind over the prospect of seeing pictures of a new telephone. Subsumed by that news was far more interesting news for people who prefer their technology in a hot metal box: Epic have gotten their Unreal Engine 3 running in Flash. In theory, this means running the likes of Unreal Tournament 3 in a browser – as is demonstrated below.

WITCHCRAFT.(more…)

Develop are reporting that a survey of 80 British game development studios shows that developers really don’t know what’s going to happen to gaming. Develop spake: “a quarter (24%) believe the demand for console games will decline over the next year. As much as 42 per cent, meanwhile, believe that PC games are in regression,” on the other hand it also shows “…32 per cent of UK developers expecting an increase in console games business, and 20 per cent expecting an increase for PC games.” Conclusion? Confusion!

At least they’re all certain about mobile and casual games, though: “Eighty-nine per cent believe said mobile games demand will climb, while 88 per cent claim the interest in casual games will continue to rise.” Are they right, or are they just wildly ticking boxes on a questionnaire before getting back tot he business of actually making games? We may never care know.