The song is Globus - Save Me. I accidently felt.
Trailer
Thứ Năm, 15 tháng 11, 2012
This Team Fortress 2 Saxxy Entry will make you feel
The song is Globus - Save Me. I accidently felt.
Trailer
Guild Wars 2 'Fractals of the Mist' dungeon unveiled
Tomorrow, Guild Wars 2 will experience The Lost Shores, the second update for ArenaNet's MMORPG that will "forever change the world" of Tyria. The update, which goes live tomorrow, introduces a slew of new features and a one-time only, multi-stage event.
Although the event is a mystery, ArenaNet is slowly revealing details about the "mini-expansion". Some of the new features include a new Ascended rarity type, Infusion upgrades, and a new monster called Agony who is found in the upcoming Fractals of the Mists dungeon. What's Fractals of the Mist you ask?
Up until now all we've known is that its a new dungeon, but today ArenaNet released the first details about the dungeon and how it will work. According to ArenaNet, it's "unlike anything you've played in Guild Wars 2."
Fractals of the Mist is comprised of nine mini-dungeons, called fractals, each offering a "distinct, separate experience with themes, mechanics, and art specific to that fractal." However, you'll only need to clear three of the fractals, which are chosen at random, for each run. Every other round, before returning to the Mistlock Observatory safe haven, you'll be faced with a bonus "boss fractal" similar to what you'd encounter with Tryia's world bosses.
Despite being intended to challenge level 80 players, the dungeon is designed to accommodate parties of any level. Additionally, to make things more challenging, the dungeon scales up in difficulty. Fractals of the Mist will remember your progress, and will poll the party's levels when you enter, scaling the dungeon to the "highest common attained level."
Your efforts will not go unrecognized, though. The higher the dungeon scales, the more rewarding the loot. At a certain point, you'll need to make use of the newly added Ascended items and Infusions to survive.
Over 1 million Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 units sold during GameStop midnight launch
Although we still don't have the official sales numbers, GameStop president Tony Bartel revealed that the retailer sold more than 1 million units worldwide during the midnight launch period.
"Black Ops 2 is shaping up to be our biggest game launch of all time," Bartel followed up. This shouldn't come as too much of a surprise given that Black Ops 2 saw the highest pre-orders in GameStop history.
We're probably still a few days from Activision releasing sales numbers, but earlier this week the company said it was well on its way to a "historic launch."
LEGO The Lord of the Rings demo discs are the actual game
The publisher issued a statement after a number of game boxes were found with a disc marked "demo" inside.
WBIE said this error only affects certain shipments to Walmart, Target, and Toys ‘R’ Us, which it's recalling from the retailers. The mix-up doesn't apply to any other version of the game.
"Consumers who purchased a copy of the Xbox 360 version of the game with the disc labeling error can contact customer support via email at support@wbgames.com or phone at 410-568-3680 for a replacement disc," the statement read.
The goof does make you wonder how these things happen in the first place.
LEGO The Lord of the Rings released yesterday for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, and Wii and on October 30 for PlayStation Vita, Nintendo 3DS, and DS.
Overview Reviews News GZ Originals Screenshots Downloads Cheats Discussions News about 10 hours Ago Rockstar on releasing GTA 5 this console generation: 'We're a content company, not a hardware company'
Of course, there are definitely a few individuals wondering why the publisher didn't just start developing the game for the next generation of hardware. While it would be very easy for Rockstar to wait out the rest of the current console cycle and release its open world crime game on the next Xbox and PlayStation platforms, that isn't exactly the company's style.
"Rockstar is a content company, not a hardware company," explained Rockstar President Sam Houser. "We use the technology we have to create content, and we try not to let ourselves get beholden to the hardware. The fact that hardware's so mature right now is exactly why we're able to go on to the next level."
According to Houser, Rockstar has been able to really use the current technology to its full advantage to deliver a game of the utmost quality. "GTA 4 was our first attempt at a new platform and HD visuals, so the first part of development was seriously difficult," he said. "Now we know what the hardware's capable of, so it's become a lot easier to move things along and a lot more fun, too. GTA: San Andreas came out at the peak of the PlayStation 2's cycle, and we put out a really good game thanks to that."
San Andreas really was the biggest Grand Theft Auto game of its console generation. Houser's comparison between that classic and the upcoming Grand Theft Auto 5 is sure to get fans even more stoked for the game. Rockstar has already stated that this will be its biggest entry in the franchise yet, and after watching the latest trailer, it's hard to argue with the fact that it certainly has the potential to be exactly that.
Assassin's Creed 3 for PC to be less buggy
The PC version of Assassin's Creed 3 will contain fewer bugs than its Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 counterparts, promises Ubisoft.
A second patch (the first released on day one) is in development and will eliminate problems on all versions — from disappearing enemies to floating muskets and a host of others Ubisoft fixed at launch. The PC version will include any patches made from now until its launch and has a special patch to help it run as smoothly as possible.
"We've added extra DX11 support for the PC version," said Assassin's Creed 3 community manager Gabe Graziani in a developer Q&A on Reddit, "so you'll notice some significant increases in texture resolution (double-res in most cases, but quadruple in some), tessell"ation (which is like, the new DX11 hotness), and some other shader improvements that will have an impact, but aren't all that sexy to enumerate in a Reddit post, hehe."
The upcoming patch will be detailed in the next week or so and feature one fan-requested change — for Connor's hood to be raised post-game.
A second patch (the first released on day one) is in development and will eliminate problems on all versions — from disappearing enemies to floating muskets and a host of others Ubisoft fixed at launch. The PC version will include any patches made from now until its launch and has a special patch to help it run as smoothly as possible.
"We've added extra DX11 support for the PC version," said Assassin's Creed 3 community manager Gabe Graziani in a developer Q&A on Reddit, "so you'll notice some significant increases in texture resolution (double-res in most cases, but quadruple in some), tessell"ation (which is like, the new DX11 hotness), and some other shader improvements that will have an impact, but aren't all that sexy to enumerate in a Reddit post, hehe."
The upcoming patch will be detailed in the next week or so and feature one fan-requested change — for Connor's hood to be raised post-game.
How Call of Duty: Black Ops II succeeds where Medal of Honor: Warfighter fails
Originals
And here we go. This is probably going to be one of those articles
where the Electronic Arts fanboys come flying out and explaining how
their game is superior and Call of Duty is a lump of shit. But after
playing both games thoroughly, I can honestly say that Call of Duty:
Black Ops II, despite being an "umpteenth sequel" from the likes of
Activision, is a better experience overall than EA's Medal of Honor:
Warfighter.
And influence has nothing to do with this. Yes, Activision did fly out a select few journalists to play the game beforehand, but the fact of the matter is I could've been sitting in the middle of a cold hotel in Hoboken with a 32" display and would've come up with the same verdict. It's all about the game you play, not the surroundings that Activision went all out for – though I am appreciative for being selected, don't get me wrong.
I've chosen to break down each game, category by category, to explain the differences between the two titles, and where I think Warfighter went wrong in a certain kind of way with each one. So hold your "F*CK WORKMAN'S EXISTENCE" hatred comments for a minute and hear me out.
Let's start with…
Where Medal of Honor Warfighter's story went wrong wasn't on the dramatic side. We realize that Tier 1 soldiers are human too and have their experiences just like the rest of us when it comes to family trauma and emotional fallout – even more so due to their circumstances. But the game's fault is that it tried to push the story too hard, and make us care about characters instead of establishing them. As a result, it was hard to feel any sort of connection to Preacher and his crew, despite what they were doing to keep their country safe.
With Black Ops 2, Activision went an extra mile to assure strength with their story, as they brought David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight Rises) to help put it together. As such, it felt a bit more established, I believe. Not only do you get to see what happened to Mason and Woods over the course of events following the first game (Woods has become an angry old bastard, and for good reason), but you also feel a certain connection with the main villain, Raul Menendez. There's a reason he's so driven, compared to past villains from the Modern Warfare series, and at one point you actually step into his shoes and see what kind of madness he's going through, even if it is a bit over-the-top, in a Scarface sort of way. It's better established than Warfighter, and by the time you reach the conclusion, you're actually factoring in choices and deciding on how you finish it, where Medal of Honor just…ends.
Some people will obviously feel that Warfighter's story is just fine, and from a military perspective, makes more sense than the future "psychobabble" that Black Ops II serves up. And they have their opinions, of course. But in my eyes, the story in Treyarch's latest just clicks better, and makes you give a damn about what's happening, and what you become from your decisions.
But here's the thing. Danger Close did make an interesting stride with Warfighter, and that's with the driving stages. Racing through city streets while keeping close tabs on your mark is excellent, and, for that matter, the stealth-like stage is ideal too, and feels utterly realistic. As for the shooting and other vehicular stages (like the remote sentry), they're not bad, though there are times the flaws are just too apparent, like occasional collision detection problems that stop you from lining up a rocket strike on a distant building, or the sniper stages where you think you have a target lined up and it sails into the wall.
Not that Black Ops II is perfect either, as you could shoot a guy three times and he's still somehow standing in very light circumstances. But at least with Activision's game, you have a few gameplay options. A stage where you're riding around on a horse while firing a rocket launcher has some nuance to it, though it's definitely a far cry from Lawrence of Arabia. Then there are the Strike Force stages, where you manage allied forces from above before jumping into soldiers and vehicles, to fight them from any angle. It's quite good, and you can actually succeed or fail in these missions. As for the shooting itself in the series, it's standard. You've seen it before, but it's so effective you can jump in, slash necks and shoot people in the head like a pro.
So each game has something to offer here, but in terms of accessibility and interesting scenarios, Black Ops II pushes a little further.
But judging on their own merits, let's see how each multiplayer experience sums up, shall we?
Medal of Honor: Warfighter does provide you with plenty to do, between unlocking various Score Chain awards depending on your performance, working with a paired partner in Fireteam, and trying out different modes that will challenge you, including the eSports-directed Home Run, which has become a favorite amongst the more hardcore fans.
However, there are small problems. The connection with the service runs fine, for the most part, but there are times your Fireteam tactics are questionable, forcing you to fall back to avoid certain death in some cases. (Also, it doesn't help if you're paired with an idiot.) For that matter, rewards can take a little longer to earn.
At least customization has its place here, with six classes to mess around with and various units to unlock and perfect. I just wish there was a way to really switch between them effectively in a match, just in case certain weapons and tactics aren't working for you.
Now, on the other side of that coin, Black Ops 2 brings a ton of familiarity. Fan favorite modes like Kill Confirmed, Team Deathmatch and Domination return, but Treyarch has livened things up with the inclusion of Party Games. Sticks and Stones stands out from the pack, mainly because you're only armed with a crossbow and a knife. You have three exploding shots in all, and once you're out, you'll have a heavy reliance on running up to people and going stabby-stab.
Now, Warfighter has some variants to consider, lots of customization, and plenty of worth in its own multiplayer, but Treyarch seems to have a better understanding with its options. Sure, their multiplayer isn't perfect when it comes to connections (the servers are being put to the test tonight), and there are occasional "what the fuck!" moments when it comes to you suddenly getting killed (though, let's face it, sometimes it's your fault).
But with Black Ops II, there's a better understanding with the outreach to eSports community, I believe. And if you don't quite "get" what it's about, some tools can point the way. The Call of Duty Elite service, which is now free, provides various gameplay videos that show the pros in action, and can teach you a thing or two. If you think you're ready to show something, you can also take advantage of the free live YouTube streaming service, to capture gameplay video and show everyone just how good – or sucky – you are. (And you don't even need game capturing equipment, just a valid YouTube account and an understanding of the rules.) And let's not forget Zombies, which is a great exercise in co-op, even if the later stages get to the point you're screaming at people in the name of survival. ("No, guard THAT door, you shithead!")
EA fans can say how dedicated their multiplayer is, but Treyarch just stacks the options like crazy. There is literally something for everyone – unless players are banned from their service, that is.
We didn't really get too much into graphics and sound because, honestly, both games did a serviceable job with that. Black Ops II does run a little faster when it comes to speed, though both games run into their fair share of glitches. (Nothing surmounting to the point where you'll say "The game's broken" but you get my point.)
I do think Warfighter's voiceovers aren't really that great. The characters' voices just grate after a while, and every attempt they make at adding something to the story…it just doesn't work. Black Ops II, on the other hand, doesn't try to go too far over the top. Kamar de los Reyes is a real standout as Raul Menendez, giving his voice a gruff sense of conviction, yet not going into silly James Bond-like villainy. And it helps to have Michael Rooker in your cast, no matter what the case. (One negative, tho. As cool as it is having Tony Todd on the team, he says "cocksucker" wayyyyy too often.)
It's hard to judge the DLC for the games thus far, as Zero Dark Thirty hasn't released yet for Warfighter and we have yet to hear what Treyarch has planned for Black Ops II. That said, at least both games are receiving ample support, even though Warfighter hasn't sold as highly as EA was expecting.
Now, where the battle goes from here will be interesting, as in this coming generation, we'll really see what both sides have to offer. EA will have Respawn Entertainment's first title soon, along with DICE's Battlefield 4 and whatever else Danger Close works on. Activision, meanwhile, has Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and the top-secret project that Bungie (the creators of Halo) are toiling away on.
So, for now, the victory goes to Activision…but who knows where it'll go from here.
And influence has nothing to do with this. Yes, Activision did fly out a select few journalists to play the game beforehand, but the fact of the matter is I could've been sitting in the middle of a cold hotel in Hoboken with a 32" display and would've come up with the same verdict. It's all about the game you play, not the surroundings that Activision went all out for – though I am appreciative for being selected, don't get me wrong.
I've chosen to break down each game, category by category, to explain the differences between the two titles, and where I think Warfighter went wrong in a certain kind of way with each one. So hold your "F*CK WORKMAN'S EXISTENCE" hatred comments for a minute and hear me out.
Let's start with…
Story
Okay, in a first-person shooter, story seldom makes a difference, as most people go rushing into competitive multiplayer just for the sake of "pwning" their friends. But to some, story can be an influential part of a game. Ask anyone who's played Halo 4.Where Medal of Honor Warfighter's story went wrong wasn't on the dramatic side. We realize that Tier 1 soldiers are human too and have their experiences just like the rest of us when it comes to family trauma and emotional fallout – even more so due to their circumstances. But the game's fault is that it tried to push the story too hard, and make us care about characters instead of establishing them. As a result, it was hard to feel any sort of connection to Preacher and his crew, despite what they were doing to keep their country safe.
With Black Ops 2, Activision went an extra mile to assure strength with their story, as they brought David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight Rises) to help put it together. As such, it felt a bit more established, I believe. Not only do you get to see what happened to Mason and Woods over the course of events following the first game (Woods has become an angry old bastard, and for good reason), but you also feel a certain connection with the main villain, Raul Menendez. There's a reason he's so driven, compared to past villains from the Modern Warfare series, and at one point you actually step into his shoes and see what kind of madness he's going through, even if it is a bit over-the-top, in a Scarface sort of way. It's better established than Warfighter, and by the time you reach the conclusion, you're actually factoring in choices and deciding on how you finish it, where Medal of Honor just…ends.
Some people will obviously feel that Warfighter's story is just fine, and from a military perspective, makes more sense than the future "psychobabble" that Black Ops II serves up. And they have their opinions, of course. But in my eyes, the story in Treyarch's latest just clicks better, and makes you give a damn about what's happening, and what you become from your decisions.
Gameplay
Now here's where the two games kind of get a little more balanced. Some people trashed Warfighter's gameplay as being somewhat unoriginal, where Black Ops II gets picked on frantically for being a bit too easy for some folks out there.But here's the thing. Danger Close did make an interesting stride with Warfighter, and that's with the driving stages. Racing through city streets while keeping close tabs on your mark is excellent, and, for that matter, the stealth-like stage is ideal too, and feels utterly realistic. As for the shooting and other vehicular stages (like the remote sentry), they're not bad, though there are times the flaws are just too apparent, like occasional collision detection problems that stop you from lining up a rocket strike on a distant building, or the sniper stages where you think you have a target lined up and it sails into the wall.
Not that Black Ops II is perfect either, as you could shoot a guy three times and he's still somehow standing in very light circumstances. But at least with Activision's game, you have a few gameplay options. A stage where you're riding around on a horse while firing a rocket launcher has some nuance to it, though it's definitely a far cry from Lawrence of Arabia. Then there are the Strike Force stages, where you manage allied forces from above before jumping into soldiers and vehicles, to fight them from any angle. It's quite good, and you can actually succeed or fail in these missions. As for the shooting itself in the series, it's standard. You've seen it before, but it's so effective you can jump in, slash necks and shoot people in the head like a pro.
So each game has something to offer here, but in terms of accessibility and interesting scenarios, Black Ops II pushes a little further.
Multiplayer
Here's something that's sure to be a dividing line with the hardcore players out there. On the one hand, there are those who are so devoted to EA products after being "turned off" by what the Call of Duty games did, they'll defend whatever they release to the end. (These are usually folks banned from the official Call of Duty servers, or think it's full of "cheaters", if you will.) On the other, you have those that live and breathe Call of Duty, barely breaking away to play anything else – including Halo.But judging on their own merits, let's see how each multiplayer experience sums up, shall we?
Medal of Honor: Warfighter does provide you with plenty to do, between unlocking various Score Chain awards depending on your performance, working with a paired partner in Fireteam, and trying out different modes that will challenge you, including the eSports-directed Home Run, which has become a favorite amongst the more hardcore fans.
However, there are small problems. The connection with the service runs fine, for the most part, but there are times your Fireteam tactics are questionable, forcing you to fall back to avoid certain death in some cases. (Also, it doesn't help if you're paired with an idiot.) For that matter, rewards can take a little longer to earn.
At least customization has its place here, with six classes to mess around with and various units to unlock and perfect. I just wish there was a way to really switch between them effectively in a match, just in case certain weapons and tactics aren't working for you.
Now, on the other side of that coin, Black Ops 2 brings a ton of familiarity. Fan favorite modes like Kill Confirmed, Team Deathmatch and Domination return, but Treyarch has livened things up with the inclusion of Party Games. Sticks and Stones stands out from the pack, mainly because you're only armed with a crossbow and a knife. You have three exploding shots in all, and once you're out, you'll have a heavy reliance on running up to people and going stabby-stab.
Now, Warfighter has some variants to consider, lots of customization, and plenty of worth in its own multiplayer, but Treyarch seems to have a better understanding with its options. Sure, their multiplayer isn't perfect when it comes to connections (the servers are being put to the test tonight), and there are occasional "what the fuck!" moments when it comes to you suddenly getting killed (though, let's face it, sometimes it's your fault).
But with Black Ops II, there's a better understanding with the outreach to eSports community, I believe. And if you don't quite "get" what it's about, some tools can point the way. The Call of Duty Elite service, which is now free, provides various gameplay videos that show the pros in action, and can teach you a thing or two. If you think you're ready to show something, you can also take advantage of the free live YouTube streaming service, to capture gameplay video and show everyone just how good – or sucky – you are. (And you don't even need game capturing equipment, just a valid YouTube account and an understanding of the rules.) And let's not forget Zombies, which is a great exercise in co-op, even if the later stages get to the point you're screaming at people in the name of survival. ("No, guard THAT door, you shithead!")
EA fans can say how dedicated their multiplayer is, but Treyarch just stacks the options like crazy. There is literally something for everyone – unless players are banned from their service, that is.
The Rest
Medal of Honor: Warfighter requires a 2 GB install, mandatory, for HD textures, where Call of Duty: Black Ops II does not. For some folks, this isn't that big a deal, but if you have a lower-count hard drive in your PS3 or a 4 GB Xbox 360 model, it does.We didn't really get too much into graphics and sound because, honestly, both games did a serviceable job with that. Black Ops II does run a little faster when it comes to speed, though both games run into their fair share of glitches. (Nothing surmounting to the point where you'll say "The game's broken" but you get my point.)
I do think Warfighter's voiceovers aren't really that great. The characters' voices just grate after a while, and every attempt they make at adding something to the story…it just doesn't work. Black Ops II, on the other hand, doesn't try to go too far over the top. Kamar de los Reyes is a real standout as Raul Menendez, giving his voice a gruff sense of conviction, yet not going into silly James Bond-like villainy. And it helps to have Michael Rooker in your cast, no matter what the case. (One negative, tho. As cool as it is having Tony Todd on the team, he says "cocksucker" wayyyyy too often.)
It's hard to judge the DLC for the games thus far, as Zero Dark Thirty hasn't released yet for Warfighter and we have yet to hear what Treyarch has planned for Black Ops II. That said, at least both games are receiving ample support, even though Warfighter hasn't sold as highly as EA was expecting.
In conclusion...
Again, I need to reiterate that neither company's treatment had an effect on this article. This is based on the weight of the products themselves, which were provided for review and analysis coverage. And the truth is, as hard as Danger Close tried with Warfighter, it just doesn't stand out like other first-person shooters this year, despite the military tactics and the serviceable multiplayer. With Black Ops II, Treyarch sticks mostly with what worked so well in Black Ops, but fine tuned the options available to players in the multiplayer section, and throwing in some interesting segments in the single player (again, horse + rocket launcher = crazy). It just feels better overall, in spite of EA's best efforts.Now, where the battle goes from here will be interesting, as in this coming generation, we'll really see what both sides have to offer. EA will have Respawn Entertainment's first title soon, along with DICE's Battlefield 4 and whatever else Danger Close works on. Activision, meanwhile, has Infinity Ward, Treyarch, and the top-secret project that Bungie (the creators of Halo) are toiling away on.
So, for now, the victory goes to Activision…but who knows where it'll go from here.
Angry Bird
Bad Piggies 1.0.0 PC
Latest Update : 12-November-2012
Get ready to see pigs fly!
From the creators of Angry Birds: an all new game from the PIGS’ point of view!
Create the ultimate flying/crawling/rolling/spinning/crashing device and pilot the pigs safely to the eggs!
The Bad Piggies are after the eggs again -- but as usual, nothing is going according to plan! Can you create the ultimate flying machine and steer them safely to their destination? Those tricky pigs have a few objects they can use, but they need your help to turn these into the perfect transportation!
With more than 60 levels, and free updates coming up, you have hours and hours of pig-crashing, exploding, and flying fun! Get three stars on every level to unlock 30 more puzzles! HINT: Sometimes you need to play the level several times to achieve all the objectives -- try building a new device or steering in a different way to earn all the stars!
Features
● 60 levels crammed with flying/driving/crashing fun!
● 30 additional puzzles unlocked by three-starring levels!
● 4 sandbox levels to stretch your creativity!
● Ultra-special, ultra-secret, ultra-difficult sandbox level to unlock by collecting all the skulls!
● 33 objects to create the ultimate machine: motors, wings, fans, bottle rockets, umbrellas, balloons, and much more!
Mechanic Pig
● Need help? This little piggy will build it for you!
● Mechanic pig pre-assembles transport for you!
● All you have to do is pilot it!
● Tweak his design to get all three stars!
From the creators of Angry Birds: an all new game from the PIGS’ point of view!
Create the ultimate flying/crawling/rolling/spinning/crashing device and pilot the pigs safely to the eggs!
The Bad Piggies are after the eggs again -- but as usual, nothing is going according to plan! Can you create the ultimate flying machine and steer them safely to their destination? Those tricky pigs have a few objects they can use, but they need your help to turn these into the perfect transportation!
With more than 60 levels, and free updates coming up, you have hours and hours of pig-crashing, exploding, and flying fun! Get three stars on every level to unlock 30 more puzzles! HINT: Sometimes you need to play the level several times to achieve all the objectives -- try building a new device or steering in a different way to earn all the stars!
Features
● 60 levels crammed with flying/driving/crashing fun!
● 30 additional puzzles unlocked by three-starring levels!
● 4 sandbox levels to stretch your creativity!
● Ultra-special, ultra-secret, ultra-difficult sandbox level to unlock by collecting all the skulls!
● 33 objects to create the ultimate machine: motors, wings, fans, bottle rockets, umbrellas, balloons, and much more!
Mechanic Pig
● Need help? This little piggy will build it for you!
● Mechanic pig pre-assembles transport for you!
● All you have to do is pilot it!
● Tweak his design to get all three stars!
Download Bad Piggies 1.0.0 PC Games
Download [Mediafire] 32 MB 
Download [Dr0pbox] 32 MB
Download [Skydrive] 32 MB
Screenshot :
The Iconclasts alpha is live, play it now and watch the latest trailer
The Iconclasts is an explorative adventure platformer from indie developer Joakim Sandberg (a.k.a. Konjak). It’s a gorgeous update on Ivory Springs, which was released unfinished back in ’09. The Iconclasts isn’t finished yet either, but there is a playable alpha that you can download for free right now from Konjak’s site.
You should, because beneath that beautiful artwork you’ll find a snappy shooter set in a world rich with a level of detail you only see in games that have taken aeons to make. Go on, give it a download. It’s only 20MB. Do it. DO IT.
The 2016 release date listed under the new trailer is a joke, but The Iconclasts is “still pretty far from done.” It may well be complete enough to scoop an award, though. Konjak tweeted yesterday to say that he’s submitted The Iconclasts to the IGF. “Hug me” he adds.
Here’s the latest trailer, packed full of boss monsters, laser zip lines and some fantastic character art
Sim-plicity: I am a wolf
The world, right? It’s always in peril, always in need of saving. I’ve answered the call countless times: slaying dragons, fighting armies, battling aliens, banishing demons, assassinating Mecha-Hitler… frankly, I think I’m done. It’s time to take a well-earned retirement from saving the world and try to simply live in it. Luckily, there are a number of down-to-earth simulation games that will allow me to do just that.
I’m starting with WolfQuest, a free, downloadable wildlife simulation developed by The Minnesota Zoo and eduweb, which lets you play as a young wolf in Yellowstone Park. The goals: hunt, explore, survive, find a mate, and start a family. And, as this is an educational game, I’ll be passing along some interesting and completely true wolf facts to you as I play, unless you’ve already let out a screech and closed this article the second you saw the words “educational game.”
I begin by customizing my wolf’s appearance and adjusting its speed, stamina, and strength. When prompted for a name I immediately choose AirWolf, which probably says something about me and how much TV I watched as a kid. As AirWolf, my most pressing need is food, which I can track by scent with my Predator-like vision mode. I follow some smells to find grazing elk, but as it happens, I’ve set AirWolf’s speed slider to the setting that can only be described as Exactly The Same Speed As An Elk. This means I can chase an elk for three solid hours and never actually catch him.
Quest arrows will direct you to the nearest animal's butt.
My belly (eventually) full, I’m on to my main objective: tracking down the dastardly serial killer who is murdering all these elk. Wait, no. Tracking down a mate! To do this, I must first visit three different wolf territories and interact with one wolf from each area. After doing some running, resting, catching rabbits, and dining on unending mounds of dead elk, my keen wolf senses pick up the scent trail of another wolf. I follow it until I come across a male, and determined to make the first move, I try to approach him from behind to do some friendly butt-sniffing.
These are either scent markers, or I've entered Pac-Man territory.
"I'd like to apply for the wolf position. My prior experience? Being a wolf."
Now, it’s time to find AirWolf and SheHulk a wolf den to live in, to protect us from the elements and to hopefully to give us privacy from the game camera so I don’t actually have to sit here watching myself hump a wolf on my computer. The idea is to find a den that is close to a food source, but a safe distance away from other wolf packs. It requires a thoughtful strategy that carefully balances personal safety with hunting convenience, so I just move into the first den I can find. Luckily, it’s a den surrounded by dead elk corpses, so we should have plenty of rotting, maggoty meals to sustain us.
Now that I’ve got a territory, I’ve got to make sure everyone knows it, which is best accomplished by distributing gallons of urine. I run around lifting my leg all over the place until my territory is marked. Having soaked my new home with pee, it’s time to start a family, and thankfully, the game spares me the quivering haunches and thrusting pelvises of simulated wolfsecks, and just tells me four pups have been born. I name our pups Cerberus, Poochie, HulkWolf (after both my mate and I), and leave the fourth pup named as nature intended: Puppy4. My revised goals: hunt food and regurgitate it for them, make sure they don’t wander off by picking them up and bringing them back to the den (which also builds a trusting bond), discourage predators by keeping the area around our home ankle-deep in urine, and fight off any persistent invaders.
What follows is one of the most tense, anxious, and frustrating hours in gaming I’ve ever experienced, as I have to find a way to find and eat dead elk, vomit up food, corral the pups, pursue and attack predators, and piddle over every single square inch of frontier, simultaneously. It’s harrowing. No sooner am I running off to find a fresh decomposing elk to gulp down than I get a message that I haven’t marked enough territory. I start peeing like crazy and a nosy wolf or coyote shows up, and the minute I chase it off, I get a note that the pups are hungry. I dash off to find more elk corpses and return to see that HulkWolf or Puppy4 has wandered off. While I’m collecting them, I get another notice that I’m way behind on my task of urinating all over the planet. It’s like a to-do list filled with vomit, wee, neighboring jerks, and misbehaving children, so, like regular parenthood, pretty much.
No dessert until you finish your vomit! Also, dessert is vomit.
While we’ve all had days like this, where everything needs to get done at once and so nothing seems to get done at all, rarely does an enormous grizzly bear show up in the middle of it and try to eat part of your family. While I’m busy darting around, frantically barfing and peeing all over the mountain, the bear begins nosing around little Puppy4. I drop everything (everything, in this case, is Poochie, who is dangling from my mouth) and chase after the grizzly. I can’t catch him, as once again I am exactly the same speed as my prey, and worse, he’s wily. He runs in a straight line while I chase him, leading me far from the den, then executes a hook pattern, taking a long curving route back toward my pups. Meanwhile, I need to rest, which is a nerve-shattering thing to do when you can see a bear running hard for your babies. My only hope is SheHulk, the hunter of the family, but when I get back to the den I see she’s stuck inside a log, slowly walking in place. I hope she hasn’t passed down her poor pathfinding genes to our kids.
My one mistake: bringing a wolf to a bear fight.
Sadly, before I can negotiate this reasonable deal, Bear shows up outside our den and just stands there. I move in to attack, getting in one bite before the bite icon vanishes forever, and Bear swipes me into wolf heaven. My last image is of SheHulk, free from her log, walking away. Avenge me, SheHulk. Avenge… m-m-me…
Airwolf died like he lived: with vomit breath in a puddle of urine.
The Free Webgame Round-up
With Halloween lurking around the corner like Jason Voorhees at your local summer camp, now is the perfect time to make an amazing costume, find a bag big enough to store an entire neighbourhood’s worth of sweets – and stay in all week playing games. (Did you know you can get sweeties at the shops now?) This week’s selection box includes a fraction of frogs, a pinch of medieval shark, a peck of birdie, a sliver of Snayke, and an innovative first-person-ish platform game. Enjoy!
Frog Fractions by Twinbeard Studios
Play it online here.
This is not the weirdest thing you’ll see. Frog Fractions escalates brilliantly.
Medieval Shark by Felix Weisner
Play it online here.
NOT a medieval spinoff of the James Woods lawyer show Shark.
No, Birdie, No! by Carnefrisca
Play it online here.
If the bird bites too many fingers you’ll fall. What a fluffy little psychopath.
Snazzle by Amidos
Play it online here.
We’re looking forward to Snazzle 2: Snaykes… and Laddyers.
Atum by Team Cupcake
Play it online here.
Atum: the lighter way to enjoy platformers.
Hawken closed beta video and impressions
Piloting one of Hawken’s mechs is an unusual feeling. They’re
simultaneously agile and clunky; aerobatic in spurts, but ultimately
shackled to the surface by their tonnage. While jetting to a ledge, I
usually crunch into the side, but using my thrusters to strafe, I shoot
in and out of cover like a water strider.
The claustrophobic cockpit makes wide swings as I scan for enemies. Past my HUD, the world looks like a refinery built of scrap metal and then flooded with salt water for 50 years. Hawken’s rendering is technically great—maps load very fast and the textures are crisp—but the art and sound direction make it. The unnatural, monochromatic theme of each map sells a blighted sci-fi world so cohesive that the idea of observing “good graphics and sounds” takes a backseat to just being there and experiencing it.
During the latest closed beta session of the free-to-play mech shooter, I enjoyed stomping around so much that I was disappointed I constantly had rockets in my face. When it came to actually scoring kills…well, the video above is a bit misleading. I cut together my best moments with three classes—Assault, Sharpshooter, and Rocketeer—but in between those moments were a lot of me exploding.
It seems odd to compare Hawken to the very different Tribes: Ascend, but the contrast is useful. Tribes uses large, sparse environments and minimalist bases to emphasize player movement. I think of Tribes’ maps less as locations with hills and trees, and more as abstract race tracks. That speed and the slow-moving projectiles make evasion and escape Tribes’ primary survival techniques.
Hawken, however, is a cluttered place. While its mechs can jet around too, the “fight or flight” choice almost always ends in a fight. If I’m spotted at close range and the other guy fires first, I might be able to jet around a corner, but I won’t get far before he’s on me again. Either that, or I’ll clip a building, stumble off a ledge, get disoriented, and whir around like a broken clockwork toy. So I turn and fight. Unfortunately, he who shoots first generally stomps away victorious.
Unless I pull off some impressive evasion or get a couple lucky hits with a high-damage explosive, squaring off one-on-one against a mech with full-health while I’m damaged is a death sentence. So in team matches, sticking together is imperative. Alone, you’d better see the other guy first.
As an incorrigible sniper, the Sharpshooter class appealed to me, but only on the Sahara map, which is open enough to make long-range combat feasible. I saw others make good use of its high-impact slugs and scoped sniper rifle on the more confined, irregular maps, but I struggled for clear shots. I likewise fared best with the Rocketeer on Sahara. Its sticky grenades, which fire in threes with a satisfying plunk plunk plunk, are a tough shot when the enemy has lots of cover to dart around, and its swarm of missiles is most effective when you can maintain line-of-sight long enough for a lock-on.
I was most successful with the basic Assault class mech. The other two are difficult—and probably more rewarding had I the time to master them—because they lack the Assault class’ high rate-of-fire. They’re high risk (low fire rate), high reward (lots o’ damage), and demand a more carefully-paced rhythm of primary to secondary weapon switching to maximize damage.
The Assault’s high-speed rifle, however, steadily depletes armor, and its secondary heavy rockets can be detonated mid-air for splash damage. I got into a pleasant rhythm of pummeling opponents with my primary gun until it was nearly overheated, then finishing them off with a rocket. I would have liked more damage feedback, though. Unless I was paying very close attention to an enemy’s little health bar, I didn’t get much indication when a rocket hit its mark.
Hawken never strays from the fiction that I’m in a real cockpit, and thus relentlessly bombards me with visual confusion caused by sparks, malfunctions, and the general awkwardness of piloting a walking tank. That consistency and fidelity makes it believable, which in turn makes the fights more meaningful and desperate. But it also means that, without explicit feedback where needed, it can be easy to lose track of what the hell is going on. Did I hit him? Not sure, because SPARKS AND FIRE! I can only imagine what it’d be like with an Oculus Rift.
Hawken’s other three mech classes—Berserker, Infiltrator, and Brawler—will have to wait for the next beta event. I’m still a rookie with the three I was dedicated to learning during this brief session. I also stuck to Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch while I became comfortable with combat. I love the idea of Siege mode, in which teams collect energy to launch giant ships at each other, then fight for control of an anti-air silo to take them down, but it was too much while I was still doing my best not to jet into walls.
There’s a lot to learn in Hawken—I didn’t even get into the mech customization options and special equipment. It wasn’t hard to get a few kills in my first round, but mastering one of Hawken’s mechs seems like it’ll take awfully deep investment.
Say you’re slightly damaged and you encounter a full-health Rocketeer. Do you try to evade his lock-on long enough to wear him down, lure him toward your teammates, or try to lose him and find a place to repair? Even if you have enough experience to make the decision, making your clunky metal crustacean cooperate requires a lot of skill. That may be good news, because it means that buying upgrades and items doesn’t appear to be Hawken’s primary motivator. Hawken rewards players who are good at Hawken.
The claustrophobic cockpit makes wide swings as I scan for enemies. Past my HUD, the world looks like a refinery built of scrap metal and then flooded with salt water for 50 years. Hawken’s rendering is technically great—maps load very fast and the textures are crisp—but the art and sound direction make it. The unnatural, monochromatic theme of each map sells a blighted sci-fi world so cohesive that the idea of observing “good graphics and sounds” takes a backseat to just being there and experiencing it.
During the latest closed beta session of the free-to-play mech shooter, I enjoyed stomping around so much that I was disappointed I constantly had rockets in my face. When it came to actually scoring kills…well, the video above is a bit misleading. I cut together my best moments with three classes—Assault, Sharpshooter, and Rocketeer—but in between those moments were a lot of me exploding.
Fight or flight
It seems odd to compare Hawken to the very different Tribes: Ascend, but the contrast is useful. Tribes uses large, sparse environments and minimalist bases to emphasize player movement. I think of Tribes’ maps less as locations with hills and trees, and more as abstract race tracks. That speed and the slow-moving projectiles make evasion and escape Tribes’ primary survival techniques.
Hawken, however, is a cluttered place. While its mechs can jet around too, the “fight or flight” choice almost always ends in a fight. If I’m spotted at close range and the other guy fires first, I might be able to jet around a corner, but I won’t get far before he’s on me again. Either that, or I’ll clip a building, stumble off a ledge, get disoriented, and whir around like a broken clockwork toy. So I turn and fight. Unfortunately, he who shoots first generally stomps away victorious.
Unless I pull off some impressive evasion or get a couple lucky hits with a high-damage explosive, squaring off one-on-one against a mech with full-health while I’m damaged is a death sentence. So in team matches, sticking together is imperative. Alone, you’d better see the other guy first.
Assault, Sharpshooter, and Rocketeer
As an incorrigible sniper, the Sharpshooter class appealed to me, but only on the Sahara map, which is open enough to make long-range combat feasible. I saw others make good use of its high-impact slugs and scoped sniper rifle on the more confined, irregular maps, but I struggled for clear shots. I likewise fared best with the Rocketeer on Sahara. Its sticky grenades, which fire in threes with a satisfying plunk plunk plunk, are a tough shot when the enemy has lots of cover to dart around, and its swarm of missiles is most effective when you can maintain line-of-sight long enough for a lock-on.
I was most successful with the basic Assault class mech. The other two are difficult—and probably more rewarding had I the time to master them—because they lack the Assault class’ high rate-of-fire. They’re high risk (low fire rate), high reward (lots o’ damage), and demand a more carefully-paced rhythm of primary to secondary weapon switching to maximize damage.
The Assault’s high-speed rifle, however, steadily depletes armor, and its secondary heavy rockets can be detonated mid-air for splash damage. I got into a pleasant rhythm of pummeling opponents with my primary gun until it was nearly overheated, then finishing them off with a rocket. I would have liked more damage feedback, though. Unless I was paying very close attention to an enemy’s little health bar, I didn’t get much indication when a rocket hit its mark.
Hawken never strays from the fiction that I’m in a real cockpit, and thus relentlessly bombards me with visual confusion caused by sparks, malfunctions, and the general awkwardness of piloting a walking tank. That consistency and fidelity makes it believable, which in turn makes the fights more meaningful and desperate. But it also means that, without explicit feedback where needed, it can be easy to lose track of what the hell is going on. Did I hit him? Not sure, because SPARKS AND FIRE! I can only imagine what it’d be like with an Oculus Rift.
Mastering the mechs
Hawken’s other three mech classes—Berserker, Infiltrator, and Brawler—will have to wait for the next beta event. I’m still a rookie with the three I was dedicated to learning during this brief session. I also stuck to Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch while I became comfortable with combat. I love the idea of Siege mode, in which teams collect energy to launch giant ships at each other, then fight for control of an anti-air silo to take them down, but it was too much while I was still doing my best not to jet into walls.
There’s a lot to learn in Hawken—I didn’t even get into the mech customization options and special equipment. It wasn’t hard to get a few kills in my first round, but mastering one of Hawken’s mechs seems like it’ll take awfully deep investment.
Say you’re slightly damaged and you encounter a full-health Rocketeer. Do you try to evade his lock-on long enough to wear him down, lure him toward your teammates, or try to lose him and find a place to repair? Even if you have enough experience to make the decision, making your clunky metal crustacean cooperate requires a lot of skill. That may be good news, because it means that buying upgrades and items doesn’t appear to be Hawken’s primary motivator. Hawken rewards players who are good at Hawken.
Discouraging mod development “doesn’t make sense” says Black Mesa dev
Nailing down the range of possibilities afforded by modding’s creativity yawns past the comprehension of us mere mortals. Yet, for a platform housing exploding horses, rug-cutting Combine, and the nesting-doll appeal of Minecraft’s game-in-a-game sandbox, the PC keeps its lot of closed environments precipitated by developers and publishers as a means for balanced gameplay or brand protection. In an interview with True PC Gaming, Black Mesa Project Lead Carlos Montero flatly stated such a hindrance for mod growth “doesn’t make sense.”
“When you think about it, modders are like the ultimate fans,” Montero explained. “They love this game so much, they’re doing real, difficult, skilled work that you usually pay people for. Not only that, but they can add so much value to your game for the rest of your audience. Yet you still see companies look at this as competition. They sue and shut down these projects and ignore or drop support for people to mod their games. It doesn’t make any sense. In my opinion, it’s the product of businesses (or lawyers) looking at this too analytically and short-term without understanding the long-term value it can create for their games.”
Although Black Mesa earned the silent blessing of Valve during its lengthy session in the testing chamber, other ambitious projects met a not-so-friendly response from license holders legally stifling efforts. Montero’s thoughts—the rest of which you can read in the interview—reflect a sentiment by modder-turned-developer Tripwire Interactive expressing confusion over why companies would stop mods on their games.
The Free Webgame Round-up
It’s jester bit of fun.
Lord of Vandaria by Toge Productions
Play it online here.
I wonder if the lord of Vandaria has ever been to Pandaria.
Atticus and Boy Electronic by Bloomengine
Play it online here.
Nice… hat? Cushion? Licqorice all-sort?
SAIcoron by Dango Itimi
Play it online here.
SAIcoron is a bit of a ‘dicey’ game.
Organicraft by Stew Hogarth
Play it online here.
This took me a ridiculously long time to achieve.
Nitronic Rush developers discuss Distance, Kickstarter, and who or what is in that flying car
Nitronic Rush was one of last year’s hidden gems – a slick arcade racer set in a glittering digital city and starring a flipping, flying, rocket-boosting car. It was the final year project for a group of students at DigiPen, the Washington-based game development university, and picked up awards from multiple indie competitions – including the IGF, Indie Game Challenge, and indiePub. We liked it alot, and featured it in last year’s New Years free games round-up.
Three members of the original Nitronic Rush team – Kyle Holdwick, Jordan Hemenway, and Jason Nollan – are now going indie full-time as Refract Studios. Their first game is Distance, a spiritual successor to Nitronic Rush that is currently entering the final week of its Kickstarter campaign.
I spoke to the guys about their plans for the new game, the benefits of getting a second shot at a good idea, and their experience of graduating from university into a maturing indie scene.
What are the main things that you’re doing now that you couldn’t do first time around?
KH: A lot of it just comes down to engine. We built Nitronic Rush from scratch and when I say that I mean it’s all C++ – we used DirectX and some APIs but it’s mostly from scratch. So networking and multiplayer were really challenging and we didn’t really design the game with that in mind right away. So that’s a big one – just the fact that we’re using Unity. One of the biggest reasons we didn’t have multiplayer in Nitronic Rush is just because of that [original] engine.
I’d also say, just design-wise… a lot of the things we found in Nitronic Rush were found mid-way through or even towards the end of the development, including Hardcore mode. One of the coolest things in the game is that the car can turn and rotate. A lot of that was thrown in right at the end. We know that mechanic works, and obviously a lot of people have a lot of fun with it, so what if we can take that back and design a game around it from the beginning?
We’re trying to make it so that Hardcore mode is more integrated into the entire game – it’s not just a separate mode – and we’re trying to do it so it makes more sense cohesively as part of the world. They’re not just random floating tracks like they were in Nitronic Rush, they’re actually built into the world and mechanically make sense. Also the level editor, too – we had a level editor in Nitronic Rush but it was kind of an afterthought – you had to go outside into the Windows browser and enable it in a notepad file. This time, the level editor will be much better and it’ll be something that you can go in and easily select from the menu.
JH: I feel like we got lucky, in that a lot of the the playtesting along the way really helped focus what was fun and cool – the flying almost got cut at the end because we could barely figure out how to not make it punish the player for going up into the sky because if you’re going too fast you’ll crash into stuff. We found a happy medium in the end but this time we’re starting with that and seeing if we can make it a lot better. So I guess it’s taking a lot of that knowledge bringing a professional edge to the whole thing.
KH: One of the big ones, too, is atmosphere – Jordan and I worked on a number of more experimental, poetic games before working on Nitronic Rush, and we want to bring some of that into Distance. We want the world to have this mysterious past to it, and have some depth. I think one of the best examples of that in Nitronic Rush was the billboards – we had posters and billboards around the world that had some propaganda and stuff on them. That’s exactly what we want to push a lot further in Distance.
You’ve mentioned Half-Life 2 as an influence from an atmosphere point of view – but it’s a very different way of interacting with the world when you’re a flying car. How do you establish that atmosphere, given the way players will be interacting with the game and what their goals are?
KH: I think that’s one of the most interesting challenges that we have to face with this game. Initially we threw out of a lot of ideas and one is the fact that you’re moving pretty quickly through the city. But we also want you to have a lot of freedom when you’re playing through the game – it’s not an on-rails racer, so you can jump off the track and go wherever you want. We’re going to do our best to encourage players to do that, there will be hidden areas in the level and we want there to be moments when it’s obvious that, hey, there’s something over there that you should check out.
Another one is actually having a lot of the HUD UI built right into the car. That’s again another thing that we’re experimenting with to help with the immersion of the game. I don’t know if you’ve played Dead Space, but they did some stuff like that. I thought that was really interesting.
It’s interesting, having the UI on the back of the car – on the rear windshield. It’s the place the driver would never see – if there is a driver?
JH: One thing that was funny coming out of Nitronic Rush was us asking the question “is there a driver inside the car?” He’s getting exploded 24/7, does that make sense? If there isn’t a person inside the car, is the car the person? Is it kind of a Transformer? That’s a part, I guess, of the mystery – what are the inhabitants of this world? At the moment I guess they’re car-people, or something? That’s the mystery I guess we’re going after. We’re doing some things – if you look inside the car, we’re hinting a little bit at what we think it is.
I guess it’s an ongoing process for you guys as well.
KH: Oh yeah, absolutely.
What kind of person would be a car?
KH: [Laughs] It’s fun! That’s actually something that we can take a lot further. It’s that idea that the car is a character in the game.
To dial that back, then – why is that important? People will come first and foremost for the feel of the thing, the arcade racing and everything else. Why is it then important to have a sense of a character, a sense of a place?
JH: I think for us, we have fun making it – that’s a part of it! Also a part of it is that we really didn’t think about the car in Nitronic Rush having character until people brought it up. We had an idle animation where it would move the jets and stuff, and it started to feel like maybe that’s a person of its own. Especially as an indie team, we’re really avoiding humanoid characters and all that because it’s incredibly hard to get right without it feeling strange. But it’s an interesting thing to just inject a bit of human or animal personality into the car because it’s a chance for us to experiment. It’s something fun – I don’t know how many people are going to be pick up on it, but it’s something that adds to why the car’s more unique than a random Need for Speed racer.
KH: That’s exactly what I was thinking. To elaborate further, honestly that’s sort of the process of every game we’ve ever worked on. We come up with a lot of ideas initially and we playtest them and we work with the feedback we get. One of the feedbacks we did get with Nitronic Rush was that the car felt like a character. I thought that was fascinating at the time.
You mentioned that you don’t want to attempt humanoid characters because that’s beyond your tech budget as an indie. I think that’s true generally, and has influenced the aesthetic of indie games – you see a lot of low-fi characters presented in emotive ways. Games like Braid that take a particular retro aesthetic and try to make it meaningful in some new way. You’re doing that with, as far as I can tell, 90s PlayStation racing games.
JH: [Laughs] Yeah. Yes!
So what is the feeling that you want people to get out of their flying car in space? What is the emotional correlative of ‘flying car in space’?
KH: I think it’s a strange combination of curiosity and adrenaline. Obviously we want to have that adrenaline and that high-energy feel when you’re racing and you’re trying to beat your opponent and beat the obstacles, but we’re also trying to inspire that curiosity where you want to see what’s hidden in the depths.
JH: Even for us… we’re heavily inspired by a lot of the indie games recently. We mentioned a few of them trying to explain to people what we’re going for. Journey, Limbo… because they do have such a strong curiosity element that is just fascinating. You want to believe in the world and see where the developers were taking it because you think they have all the keys. The nineties element is just taking what was really fun – the innate fun-ness of the car. I think a lot of indie games do nail this, but normally you either get one or the other – you get games that are super arcadey, and then you get things that are really focused on trying to figure out what’s going on in the world. It’s just a fun fusion for us.
You’ve mentioned the potential for mod support, there’s also a map editor – will you have a facility built in to share that stuff?
JH: For the level editor, we want to make that as integrated as possible to the point where you’re sharing the levels within the game. In terms of mod functionality, a big one is allowing people to make their own cars and stuff like that. Honestly what that’ll come down to is tools – what tools we have that we’re using ourselves.
What’s the appeal of supporting that, in general? It’s a tremendous amount of work, and you’re handing over a big chunk of the game to the community.
JH: I think the biggest reason is instead of doing the game for consoles we really wanted to stay with the PC because we really like what’s happening with mod communities right now. It’s really powerful. We’ve gone in a few times and talked to people at Valve and it’s always inspirational coming out of there – they want their company to feel like a modding community and they’re really powered by that. It’s something really unique about being on the PC platform – it’s something that on the consoles, you just can’t do.
KH: As hard as it is to make tools, we’re going to be making those tools for ourselves so we might as well just add a little bit more time and make it good enough for the user. That’s one reason. Second reason is that if you can do that you can really extend the length of the game. If anyone can make can tracks, the creativity is endless at that point. I’m really excited to see where the community goes with their tracks – even the few tracks that were added to Nitronic Rush were some of the coolest ones in the game, afterwards.
It’s a debate that’s happening everywhere – giving the player tools versus selling DLC separately.
JH: We may change our mind a year from now, but we’re not as excited about having DLC packs. We haven’t had as much passion for saying that we’re the gatekeepers of content. We’re a small team, and it’s almost easier for us to let the community continue to put in content. I guess it’s just more exciting from that angle, for us, to be one of the few racing games to still do that.
KH: Realistically there is still room for both – and I’m not saying that we’re going to do this – but as much as we try to open up our tools to players to be able to add content to the game, I still think there’ll be room for us to add features. Potentially new mechanics for the cars, new AI in the world. Programming stuff, basically.
Next: leaving DigiPen, the appeal of Kickstarter, and the importance of not being locked into a single job.
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