PC Gaming News Message Board older than one year ago

I’ve spent half an hour of my afternoon watching the Voxel Quest March update. It’s only fifteen minutes long but I went back in for a second viewing as soon as it finished because I realised I must have nodded off during the most important bit. The video shows a delicious voxel engine, capable of showing fantastically splishy-splashy water as well as lovely, warm cottages and trees which display their age rings when they’re bisected. It’s extraordinary to look at and developer Gavan Woolery talks about Dwarf Fortress, roguelikes and narrative elements in a soothing, world-weary tone. But when I got to the end, I didn’t know who I would be in the game or what I would be doing. I felt like I’d been on quick tour around a world that I might have no place in.

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The first part of Vostok’s grand post-apocalyptic shooter plan, Survarium, has now started inviting batches of sign ups to their beta. It’s the multiplayer FPS portion of the game, and as such basically a test of the shooting, running about, and weapon unlocking game systems. It’s an experience that will be familiar to anyone who spent time playing first-person games online in the past decade, although set in the most lavish of Ukrainian apocalypses.

So is that offering going to be strong enough to power the game through to its pseudo-Stalker co-op core? Peer into my crystal lake of toxic weirdness to find out.

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London lot Roll7′s side-on shooter Not A Hero was given a formal announcement and grand unveiling at EGX Rezzed this weekend, perhaps not coincidentally opposite the Hotline Miami 2 booth. Oh, but to compare the two would be lazy. See, while Not A Hero is a point-scoring, man-murdering, pixel-bleeding, die/restart run and gun game, it’s also a cover shooter. Having had a bash myself, I’d say it’s worth keeping an eye on. … [visit site to read more]

Bravely Default appears to have reassured the company that focusing on the creation of JRPGs can pay dividends.

Dave Gilbert is, I like to argue, the unsung hero of the resurgence of the adventure game. When things were quiet, he was industriously creating interesting, professional projects in the then-low-key world of Adventure Game Studio. With the likes of Gemini Rue and Resonance he and Wadjet Eye Games have become more prominent, and soon his long-running Blackwell series comes to an end with Epiphany. At GDC this year I caught up with the developer for an impromptu chat about growing up, pixel art, and saying goodbye to loved characters.

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Jagex has revealed the first gameplay from its upcoming Transformers MMO, with clear influences coming from World of Warcraft.

Mighty Tactical Shooter might not be the first turn-based side-scrolling space blaster but I can’t remember ever seeing one before. A friend pointed the game out as we were browsing The Leftfield Collection at Rezzed, wisely recognising that it would be precisely my receptacle of brewed leaves. The easiest way to describe it is by asking you to imagine R-Type if R-Type were turn-based and had fancy physics for debris and tumbling blocks. Orders are given to your ship using a neat radial interface and the short bursts of movement and missile-launching keep the pace at a reasonable clip while allowing for intense brain application.

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The first thing I remember from Push Me Pull You isn’t even the game itself. It’s laughter. I’d heard about it all week during GDC, and I finally witnessed people playing it projected on a ceiling at the Unwinnable House. They couldn’t stop giggling. It came in bone-shivering writhes and ribcage-pounding bursts. Upon witnessing the game itself and noting that the whole thing was centered around wriggly sausage tubes with people for ends, I immediately felt two things: 1) revulsion, 2) the truest love I’ve known in all my life.

And then I played it.

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After recent updates added bulletproof vests and shotguns, it was probably inevitable that Prison Architect would continue it’s escalation towards more and more exciting additions with each alpha. The trend continues in alpha 19 with a broad revision to the game’s finance systems, which introduces new rules for borrowing, the need to pay corporation tax, and the ability to sell shares in your prison to investors.

Video update below while I try to explain why I’m not being sarcastic.

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Stronghold Crusader 2 skips away from the muddy fields of Wales (I assume most castles are in Wales because I saw one there as a child), returning to the dust and deserts of the Holy Land (not to imply that Wales is the Unholy Land). I think of the first Crusader spin-off as being a more traditional RTS within the Stronghold mould and what I’ve seen of the sequel backs that up. The main difference between this and the first may well be the actual castle construction, which looks like it’ll allow some creative thinking. Slightly dodgy voiceovers aside, the latest trailer has some appeal and the new details on the skirmish mode suggest it’ll be easy to escape the constraints of the campaign.

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What is a Monday morning without Caffeine? A dangerous ravine packed with razor-sharp rocks at the end of the weekend’s gleaming superhighway. I don’t function particularly well until I’ve had my first coffee of the day, which is why I’m so grateful to the galaxy’s caffeine miners. Now seeking crowdfunding over at Indiegogo, Caffeine was last featured on these pages when I first spotted a nifty trailer that displayed its sci-fi horror charms to good effect. Since then, a demo has emerged, showcasing the game’s previous incarnation as an Unreal Engine 3 entity. The release version will be constructed using Unreal Engine 4, and takes inspiration from the spooky works of Monolith, including F.E.A.R. and Condemned. New trailer below.

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We point and click our way through encounters with aliens, conspiracies and new age hokum in this 1988 LucasArts icon.

Carmack concedes Facebook involvement was unexpected, but believes it’ll benefit the future of VR.

The Warhammer universe will continue its reach through time and space with the upcoming PC adaptation of the 1999 board game, Mordheim: City of the Damned. While not set in the current timeline, Mordheim takes place in the Imperial city of ... well, Mordheim, which is part of the Warhammer universe.

While the Warhammer universe regularly deals in galactic-scale conflict, Mordheim focuses on a smaller-scale skirmish within the city, where a fallen comet has turned the metropolis into a warzone. The game, developed by Rogue Factor and published by Focus Home Interactive, looks to keep the same tone of a more bite-sized battle. Gameplay will focus on turn-based tactics with a blend of RPG elements and unit customization, according to a press release.

Mordheim is expected to let loose the hounds - and wererats - of war late this year. [Image: Focus Home Interactive]

Shower simulator. Spaceship technician. OH LOOK YOU’RE PREGNANT WITH THE EARTH.

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John Carmack, co-founder of id Software and current CTO of Oculus, has weighed in on the Internet's ... shall we say "mixed" reaction to the news of Facebook purchasing the virtual reality-oriented company. Carmack responded to a post titled "Wrong and Right Reasons To Be Upset About Oculus" on Anamanaguchi lead songwriter Peter Berkman's Tumblr page, noting that, while he was not involved in the negotiations with Facebook, he has "reason to believe that they get the Big Picture as I see it, and will be a powerful force towards making it happen."

That being said, even Carmack seems surprised by the acquisition. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting Facebook (or this soon). I have zero personal background with them, and I could think of other companies that would have more obvious synergies," Carmack wrote.

Many have expressed concern over Facebook's policies regarding private information, but Carmack doesn't share those worries. "I'm not a 'privacy is gone, get over it' sort of person, and I fully support people that want [to] remain unobserved, but that means disengaging from many opportunities. The idea that companies are supposed to interact with you and not pay attention has never seemed sane to me," he wrote in a separate comment. "I have never felt harmed by data mining, and I rather like the recommendations that Amazon gives me on each visit." [Image: Oculus]

I don’t know yet, but if I had to guess, I’d say that Sundays are for waking up blearily somewhere in Birmingham in a post-Rezzed fugue. Good thing I’ve already prepared a list of the week’s finest (mostly) games writing.

• Our own Rich Stanton writes in The Guardian in defense of The Castle Doctrine, Jason Rohrer’s multiplayer game about home invasion and trap-laying.

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Combat simulator War Thunder is a pretty big departure from Bit.Trip series developer Gaijin Games' rhythm-driven past. Gaijin is adding cross-platform multiplayer to its list of first-time ventures, a mechanic that Gaijin CEO Anton Yudintsev told GameSpot is not allowed on the Xbox One. Gaijin says that absence is why War Thunder cannot be on the console.

"Microsoft is not allowing cross-play completely; which means [War Thunder] cannot be on Xbox One," Yudintsev told GameSpot. He explained that Microsoft requires a certification of game servers to guarantee a positive experience for players, a goal that Yudintsev says "isn't possible under the current circumstances."

He added that Microsoft has a lot of "unspoken limitations" for free-to-play games, including a system of approval that's more based on whether the project's account manager likes the game, rather than a general set of rules. In contrast, Yudintsev stated that Sony is more open to free-to-play games, adding that the PS4 version of War Thunder is expected to support cross-play as early as next month.

Microsoft responded to the story, stating that it works with developers interested in supporting cross-play between the Xbox One and PC to "ensure a great user experience." On the upside, Yudintsev complimented Microsoft's ID@Xbox initiative, adding that he hopes Microsoft's changing policies for indie games will allow Gaijin to eventually launch War Thunder on Xbox One. [Image: Gaijin Games]

Our John certainly enjoyed Jane Jensen’s Moebius when he got to play it last year, but how has the adventure game changed over the last eight months? And do you truly trust John anyway? You can test both Moebius and your gamepatibility with John through a demo for Jensen’s new point-and-clicker, available now for Windows and Mac. … [visit site to read more]

Oh, how excited Worms, Worms 2, Worms Armageddon, Worms World Party, Worms Blast, Worms 3D, Worms Forts, Worms 4, Worms: Revolution, Worms: Clan Wars, and Worms Crazy Golf developers Team17 were when they announced they were making something new. “The most important game we’ve worked on in over a decade,” they called the “explosive new IP” Flockers. What could so excite the developer also behind eight Alien Breed games? Lemmings. Flockers is pretty much a new take on Lemmings, the classic nineties puzzler from DMA Design (before it became the hip and trendy Rockstar). … [visit site to read more]

While many retro revival Kickstarters dreamed of bring back old genres or broader old design philosophies, Stainless Games had a far more modest goal: mowing down pedestrians in several tons of murdercar. Two years later, it’s sort-of come true. Carmageddon: Reincarnation has now hit Steam Early Access at £19.99, giving an early taste of the vintage deathracer series’ thrills, chills, and bovine kills.

And hey, as it’s Saturday afternoon, why not ring in both the launch and settle into the weekend by watching a cute little Carmageddon cartoon? You’ll learn so much about friendship and viscera. … [visit site to read more]

On Thursday, a tax relief scheme for British game development finally passed into law. The scheme had been passed back and forth between various bodies, and finally landed on the desk of the European Commission in April of 2013. Behind the scenes, cog were still turning and the new tax rules will come into effect from April 1st. That’s good news for the British games industry, right? We’ve covered the cultural question before, as well as looking at the benefits (or lack of) for smaller developers. Now that almost all of the paperwork is in place, I contacted UKIE CEO Jo Twist to find out more about the letter of the law.

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Goats! Who doesn’t love goats? Bad people, I’d be willing to bet. Or should I say “baaaaaaaaaad people”? No, no, I really shouldn’t. What a regrettable choice on my part. I do not, however, regret picking Goat Simulator from the writhing, moaning RPS Pile O’ Games this week, as it a) has goats and b) is a boiling crackpot crockpot of perfect insanity. Sir Hayden of Dingman (and also Colorado right now) and I are going to play it until we laugh our ribs to pieces or get bored and do something else. We’re kicking off at 10 PM PT/5 AM GMT. Tune in below.

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ESO gives us a fully-realized fantasy world, but don't underestimate the workbench.

With Reaper of Souls, Diablo 3 is more sinister in tone, more rewarding to play, and more maddeningly addictive than it’s ever been.

Syfy reveals new Thursday night line-up featuring Defiance: Season 2 and Dominion, based on the movie Legion.

You may or may not be super jazzed about Oculus VR’s decision to sell to Facebook for a monetary total so big it’s nearly fictional, but a number of virtual reality luminaries sure are. Count former Valve VR mastermind Michael Abrash among them, as he’s taken the Facebook deal as a sign that it’s time for him to hang up his crowbar and practice a new kind of science: chief science, at Oculus, of course. But why now of all times – especially when Valve is loved by all many some for its free-thinking, open mentality and Facebook is, well, not? Details below.

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New updates to DayZ are coming when the team is ready, says developer.

The sound of the sea on the menu of the classic arcade racer OutRun 2006 is drifting through Tim Rogers’ Oakland apartment. For whatever reason I find myself in the ex-Grasshopper Manufacture designer’s house, and this guy is making a game, ‘Videoball’, that demands that the voice actor on his new game sound like she comes from OutRun 2006. So I am playing OutRun 2006. It is eye-wettingly beautiful. It is heartbreakingly so. I could cry but I’m dehydrated from California’s stubborn sticky hotness and how gosh darned vegan everything is.

The screeching of the children from the school from across the freesia-fragranced, sun bleached street has subsided, and Tim is cutting audio clips and swearing at the wi-fi. And the game’s menu, the game that Tim once called ‘Love: The Videogame’, well, the game’s menu is doing a perfect impression of contentment. This game is no longer available due to licencing troubles, but man, if anything was ever a game, this, THIS was a game. And I’m on a quest for the ‘ejaculatory gag’. You know, the one that Kieron mentioned in 2008, and I have never found: “I’m still terribly amused by the hyper-cheesy ejaculatory gag half-way through.”

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I’ve played Arma 3 for about 70 hours. At least 20 of those hours involved me loading up the editor, planting a helicopter and pilot on the map, and just flying all over the island. Altis is a breathtaking creation. I can’t get over the fact that it exists. Bohemia’s main duty since October has been to create a single-player campaign that uses their remarkable creation and engine, and the final part of The East Wind series of episodes was released a short while ago. I’ve played it and completed, and here’s Wot I Think.

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