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The Epic Games Store now
offers its next freebie with the promised release of
Thimbleweed Park with a 100% discount off its normal $19.99 price. To get
this for nothing you need to pick up your copy over the next two weeks. They
also reveal the next game they'll be giving away come March 7th will be Slime
Rancher. In the meantime, here's a tour of Thimbleweed Park: Welcome
to Thimbleweed Park. Population: 80 nutcases.
A haunted hotel, an abandoned circus, a burnt-out pillow factory, a dead body
pixelating under the bridge, toilets that run on vacuum tubes... you’ve never
visited a place like this before.
In Thimbleweed Park, a dead body is the least of your problems. Switch between
five playable characters to uncover the surreal secrets of this strange town in
a modern mystery adventure game from the creators of Monkey Island and Maniac
Mansion. The deeper you go, the weirder it gets.
Created by Terrible Toybox, Inc.
Steam announces a free
weekend is underway for
BATTLETECH along with a half-off sale on the mechanized action/strategy
game for Windows, macOS, and Linux. Here's a pitch to entice you into trying
this: From original BATTLETECH/MechWarrior creator Jordan Weisman and the
developers of the award-winning Shadowrun Returns series comes the
next-generation of turn-based tactical 'Mech combat.
The year is 3025 and the galaxy is trapped in a cycle of perpetual war, fought
by noble houses with enormous, mechanized combat vehicles called BattleMechs.
Take command of your own mercenary outfit of 'Mechs and the MechWarriors that
pilot them, struggling to stay afloat as you find yourself drawn into a brutal
interstellar civil war. Upgrade your starfaring base of operations, negotiate
mercenary contracts with feudal lords, repair and maintain your stable of aging
BattleMechs, and execute devastating combat tactics to defeat your enemies on
the battlefield.
LGM Games announces Starpoint Gemini 3, a new installment in the Starpoint
Gemini series of out-of-this-world action/RPGs. They don't yet specify a release
date, but the game's
Steam
listing and announcement trailer
say to expect it sometime this year. They say to keep an eye on their
YouTube Channel for an
upcoming series of video developer diaries. Here's the announcement with word on
what to expect: Zagreb, Croatia, February 21, 2019. LGM Games™, creators of the
Starpoint Gemini franchise, are proud to announce a brand-new title.
The new installment is an open-world space action single-player RPG that puts
the player in the cockpit of Captain Jonathan Bold, a space adventurer
travelling the vast universe of Starpoint Gemini 3®.
For the first time in the franchise, Starpoint Gemini 3® introduces 3D, animated
NPCs that players can interact with, and this time the flight path leads beyond
Gemini as they get to explore two new planetary systems, visiting various
venues, from pubs with shady clientele to high-tech facilities and noisy, glitzy
nightclubs.
Along with the action-packed space battles, Starpoint Gemini 3® comes with an
array of novel possibilities. With the help of ADAH, a digital consciousness
that runs the ship's computer, players can operate the ship's drone and
accomplish tasks they wouldn't otherwise be able to do.
The immersive gameplay and the absorbing story of Starpoint Gemini 3® takes the
players on an unforgettable adventure.
Starpoint Gemini 3 key features
- Adrenaline-packed dogfighting combat
- Brand new tri-system universe layout
- Immersive gameplay and an absorbing storyline with
a copious quantity of encounter quests, characters and activities
- Detailed visitable interiors
- New out-of-ship drone control and exploration of
space structures
- Rich, versatile free-roam content
- Modular ship upgrading system
Continue here to read the full story.
Galactic Civilizations III: Retribution is now available from
Stardock and
Steam, offering the promised new expansion for Galactic Civilizations III,
the 4X space strategy game. For a limited time this is on sale, and you can
pick up the expansion for 10% off and the base game (which includes the Crusade
expansion and Mega Events DLC) for 70% off. Here's the
release trailer
from a couple of weeks ago, and here's more on how you can redeem yourself with
Redemption: Today, Stardock released Galactic Civilizations® III:
Retribution, a brand new expansion for its popular space strategy sandbox game,
Galactic Civilizations III. In Retribution, your civilization has uncovered
powerful artifacts, discovered how to construct hypergates, encountered two new
major civilizations, and much more.
Galactic Civilizations III is a 4X space strategy game set in the 23rd century
where humans and aliens are competing against each other for domination. Across
the galaxy, ancient alien artifacts are being discovered, giving civilizations
powerful new capabilities. Meanwhile, as civilizations try to carefully balance
building an economy, funding an ever growing war machine, and engaging in
diplomacy, the humans of Sol III have invented a game-changing new technology -
Hypergates - which, when connected, allow for rapid transit across the
galaxy.
Continue here to read the full story.
Bannermen is now available for Windows
on Steam,
offering the chance to answer the age-old question of who banners the bannermen.
This medieval fantasy strategy game can be picked up
on Steam, and
it carries a 10% launch discount for the next week. A new
launch trailer offers
a look, and the announcement explains all: Developer Pathos Interactive
and publisher 2tainment GmbH today launched their Real-Time Strategy (RTS) title
Bannermen on PC via Steam. Bannermen is a medieval fantasy game mixing classic
RTS elements including resource-gathering, base building, and unit recruitment,
with powerful environmental spells that devastate the enemy while reshaping the
world. These spells summon lightning strikes, tornadoes, volcanic explosion, and
additional nature-based effects which can turn the tide of battle!
“We are excited for the launch of Bannermen and can’t wait for players to try
out Pathos’ modernized take on the classic RTS formula” said Alexander Wagner,
Product Manager at 2tainment GmbH. “The environmental magic, combined with the
game’s rich characters and story, will certainly entertain fans of the genre and
those new to Real-Time Strategy.”
Bannermen takes place in the realm of Valtoria, a low-fantasy medieval world
ravaged by decades of war, starvation, and natural disasters. Players take on
the role of Lord Berrian, who is trying to recapture his kingdom’s former glory,
finding and rallying bannermen to battle against a host of tribes and the dark
Lord Karthor. By utilizing nature powers — a core feature of Bannermen — players
can leverage natural phenomena such as lightning strikes to electrocute armies,
take advantage of dust storms that limit vision to sneak past enemies, and much
more. With a fully story-driven campaign, each mission contains varied gameplay
and challenges designed to push the narrative forward. Bannermen also provides
online multiplayer modes with matchmaking and ladders.
Continue here to read the full story.
A new trailer from Tom
Clancy's The Division 2 shows off some of the endgame from the upcoming
open-world action/RPG (cue
Private Hudson). The description of this clip is very brief, but it offers a
cheery reminder that the open beta is on the way: "This isn’t the end, Agents.
The fight for our city has only just begun. Welcome to The Division 2 Endgame.
Play for free in The Division 2 Open Beta March 1-4!" Continue here to read the full story.
Trident's Wake is now available in Early Access
on Steam,
offering first crack at this top-down, twin-stick shooter for Windows. A
frantic
new gameplay trailer
illustrates the news, and here's word: Trident's Wake is an intense
co-operative twin-stick shooter in an unforgiving sci-fi setting. Join up to
three other players to take back humanity's last hope - the colony ship
code-named Trident – from an unknown race of alien invaders!
Set in the year 2350, players take control of Sentinels, mechanized chassis
built specifically to house human consciousness, in order to join the resistance
and battle to ensure humanity’s survival. With both online and local
multiplayer, up-to-4 players can join together to save the remnants of mankind,
which have taken refuge in a colony ship called Trident - civilization's last
bastion of hope. The Trident, however, has been overrun by an unknown alien
force and it’s up to players to customize their Sentinels with deadly firepower
and work together to save their society from annihilation.
“Players will encounter a very polished game where they can partake with friends
in a robust online battle against an alien enemy,” said Ignacio “Nacho" Baldini,
C.E.O. and Founder of Bacus Studios. “During the coming months we’ll be adding
new features to Trident’s Wake that are based on player feedback in order to
provide the best co-op twin-stick shooter experience possible.”
Trident’s Wake features include:
- A variety of Sentinels to choose from, each with a
unique ability and set of attributes that cater to different playstyles
- Procedurally-generated missions
- Customizable Sentinels
- An engaging progression system, which rewards
players with new weapons, abilities upgrades and even new Sentinels
- A wide array of weapons and abilities that add
strategic depth to each mission and complement all playstyles
- Weapon customization. Tinker with weapons until
they are just right. Players can even favor one attribute at the expense of
the others
- Weapon upgrades: Because there’s no such thing as
“too much firepower”
- Fully cooperative gameplay
Continue here to read the full story.
-
ROG Elite Ambassador. A chance to win an expenses-paid trip to PAX East
& West 2019 as an ROG Elite Ambassador.
Fall Damage announces they've dropped BATALJ
on Steam,
offering an online, turn-based action/strategy game for Windows. The
launch trailer offers
a look, and the announcement fills in the details: Independent developer
Fall Damage Studio today announced the launch of its turn based Action Strategy
game BATALJ on PC.
Cunning tactics and quick decision making are essential to gaining an edge as
players battle for control with their distinctive, custom built squads.
Players will have access to 9 different heroes and 54 units, all of which
provide a huge number of different tactical options and millions of different
squad variations for players to experiment with. Squads can be created from one
of three available factions, the scavenging and nomadic Rusters, the machine
integrated Re-Linked or the genetically enhanced Splicers, all offering a broad
range of offensive and defensive capabilities in combat.
“At Fall Damage Studio we set out to make BATALJ a truly unique addition to the
turn based genre, providing almost limitless options to face opponents with fast
tactical gameplay” Said Anders Gyllenberg, CEO at Fall Damage Studio.
The simultaneous turn based nature of BATALJ means that there's very little
downtime between turns, providing players with a fast paced strategy game as
they attempt to outwit each other with a combination of units and heroes in the
ultimate turn based head to head experience.
Players will need to develop reactionary tactical solutions across a variety of
maps as they go up against a myriad of different opponent unit configurations in
the battle for vital control points on the battle map.
Continue here to read the full story.
Day
One Patch Notes are now available for Anthem, BioWare's new action/RPG. The
game officially launches tomorrow, but has been available for almost a week to
Origin Access. These are similar to the notes found
on Reddit the other day, but add
even more changes. Grab a snack and an adult diaper and read on for the lengthy
post: For those of you who have been playing the Early Access version of
the game, we wanted to let you know that a Day 1 Patch is on its way. The patch
will deployed before worldwide launch. On February 22, 2019, the game will
include the following updates and our Live Service officially begins.
High level fixes
- Decreased loading times for older disk drives
- Fixed many infinite loading screens
- Fixed multiple challenges not tracking properly
- A number of issues have been fixed that were
causing players to disconnect or crash
- Weapons and gear now have numbers present for
modifiers
General Fixes and Improvements
Continue here to read the full story.
A
post on Steam from PUBG Corp explains the discovery that framerate on
players' computers is impacting rate of fire in PLAYERUNKNOWN'S BATTLEGROUNDS.
They say a fix is now being vetted on their test server, and outline the
implications on gameplay: Solution
We implemented a solution in the recent test server update to help alleviate the
above issues and hopefully provide better game play environment. Without going
into too much technical detail, it aims to mitigate the problem related to the
discrepancy between expected time of fire and the execution of the timer. This
happens by modifying the timer delay by a portion of the frame time. We expect
this will minimize discrepancies between the timer and the rate of fire.
This doesn’t mean there won’t be any errors, but on average they should be
closer to 0 and those that are accumulated into a buffer will decay on each shot
in an effort to keep the expected rate of fire consistent.
Because rate of fire is now steady and independent of frame rate, some players
may notice a more difficult to control recoil, especially in high rate of fire
weapons on low FPS settings. Those weapons will still have to be capped by the
game’s 1 bullet per frame rule, so in conditions of sub 20 FPS, the actual rate
of fire for a weapon such as Micro UZI will still be slower.
Future Plans
We hope the changes in the recent test server patch will at least improve the
discrepancy between those with ultra high FPS and players with more of an
average set up. This solution will be applied to the test server first, but will
not be implemented in the live server just yet. We will review the data and your
feedback while on the test server and determine an appropriate time to bring it
to live based on those findings.
1C Entertainment announces the "hunt for Elven immorality" in Eternity: The
Last Unicorn is due for release on March 5th.
This trailer shows off
this action/RPG, which is not as cuddly as the unicorn reference would imply.
That is also made clear from the description: Eternity: The Last Unicorn
revels in classic action-RPG mechanics, weaving a fantastical tale that’s
steeped in Norse mythology and the struggles with immortality. Long ago,
unicorns brought about immortality, yet now they are all but extinct, with one
last cursed member still in existence. Aurehen of Alfheim is tasked with the
weighty obligation of saving the waning immortality of her fellow elves before
it fully evaporates, all the while lifting the curse on the last unicorn.
True to its old-school RPG roots, Eternity: The Last Unicorn embraces the fixed
camera stylings of yore, offering players deep skill and weapon progression as
they explore the land of Alfheim. Everything from the world’s gods and
mythology, to its imposing creatures (Jotun and Fenrir and Gullveig, oh my!) is
immersed in rich, Nordic folklore, making this the perfect excuse to brush up on
your rune readings.
Key Features:
- Two playable characters: The young elf, Aurehen,
and the Viking, Bior - each with a unique backstory and character abilities.
- Over 12 hours of deep action-RPG gameplay to
explore
- Fixed camera system reminiscent of old-school RPGs
- Skill, weapon, and ability progression tied into
exploration and character growth
- An original soundtrack built to convey both the
Nordic and fantastical themes of Eternity
Continue here to read the full story.
A five-day global closed beta test for KurtzPel is now underway
on Steam,
offering the chance to check out this anime third-person action game built with
the Unreal Engine. Those interest in participating can apply for a beta key
through this page.
If you're on the fence, this trailer shows
off the game's frenetic game style, and we have more details below: KurtzPel
takes place in the magical, wondrous world of Erthesia, which becomes plagued by
a fanatic nation called Bellatos who brings forth the Purification War in order
to eradicate all those who defy their religion. Now you must must take on the
role of a hero as a member of the Chase, an organization of KurtzPel fighting to
save their world from evil.
You will be able to compete and cooperate with fellow Chasers, fighting to raise
your ranks for a shared cause: to defeat the Bellatos Army that threatens
Erthesia. In KurtzPel, classic action game dynamics are enabled; characters have
2 separate 'Karmas' that can be used interchangeably so that you are free to
switch between various fighting styles, weapons, and classes that suit your
needs.
Continue here to read the full story.
Where the Bees Make Honey sounds a bit like a dirty euphemism based on the
birds and the bees, but it's actually a puzzle/adventure game in the works at
Wakefield Interactive and Whitethorn Digital for release on
Steam, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4. The
launch trailer shows
off a wistful nostalgic quality, which is reflected in the announcement:
Where the Bees Make Honey tells a story about reflecting on different
moments from a childhood, which are played and experienced from an adult
perspective. It's a dreamy, ethereal, and thoughtfully crafted experience about
nostalgia. The game is capturing that grace period in a childhood where playing
dress up was larger than life and changed the environments around you.
At its core Where the Bees Make Honey is a puzzle adventure game, but gameplay
variation is filtered throughout. When the game's main character Sunny is an
adult reflecting on the times when she was young, the game is played in a
first-person perspective. This transition period takes place at her workplace,
where she is ultimately at a crossroads with what to do next in her life.
Playable vignettes allow for the game to transition into each season. This
allows for a more focused approach for storytelling and player engagement. The
vignettes offer an additional perspective of the season they precede. The
gameplay varies considerably between seasons, vignettes, and moments.
Continue here to read the full story.
Aksys Games announces that their horror/adventure Death Mark is coming to
Steam on April 4th, offering PC gamers a crack at this "award-winning and
critically-acclaimed" visual novel. Word is: "Death Mark takes players on a
visually stunning and intensely terrifying journey in which the wrong reaction
can lead to a swift and sudden end." A look at the game can be found in
the official trailer
which accompanied its console release. Here's more: About Death Mark
A strange rumor is spreading through Tokyo’s H City: those who bear the cursed
Mark will die. Unexpectedly appearing on the body as a scar taking on the
appearance of a dog bite, the Mark is said to bring about your inexplicable
death. Now, having lost your memory, you stand before a mysterious house said to
protect those who possess the Mark. As the doors swing open, the countdown to
death has already begun.
Features include:
- Search and Survive! - To avoid an almost
certain gruesome death at the “hands” of angry spirits, you’ll need to
search your surroundings for clues to increase your odds of survival.
- Ghost Busting - Sometimes the sword is more
powerful than the pen. And when words fail it is time to stand your ground.
Remember the price of not holding your own is an untimely death.
- Riddle Me This - It’s not enough to defeat
the spirit that cursed you, it must be done in the right way. If you don’t,
you might survive but end up wishing you hadn’t. Be sure to parse all the
clues and information you discover correctly to make your life continue to
be worth living.
Continue here to read the full story.
A new trailer from
Xenon Racer shows off another set of locations and tracks for the upcoming
racing game, which is due on March 26th. Here's word: "The second Xenon Racer
City Showcase video was just revealed, showing cars that drift through the
streets of Dubai and Shanghai. In the "City of Gold" of Dubai, there are four
racing tracks: Dubai Beach, Dubai Downtown, Dubai Island and Dubai Festival. The
largest city in the world, Shanghai, offers two tracks: Shanghai Pudong
International Airport and Shanghai Oval. All tracks can be raced in both
directions." Continue here to read the full story.
Game Jolt and
itch.io now offer a playable
Windows
demo for How Do You Know Mr. Blue?, a tastefully named narrative-based detective
game where you attempt to track down Mr. Blue, who is surely a man of
exceptional taste and style. I'd attempt to extract some royalties from all
this, but my team of crack lawyers is still working on getting a settlement from
Steve and Nickelodeon over Blue's Clues. As for this game,
a trailer shows it
off, and here's the skinny: You are a private investigator. You have been
hired by the enigmatic mega-corporation C-Corp to track down the whereabouts of
a "Mr. Blue", an employee of theirs who has gone missing. The instructions were
simple but clear: find him by any means necessary.
Your first assignment is to interview Mr. Blue's immediate co-workers about his
disappearance. They're all claiming ignorance, but someone is lying. Find out
who.
Best of luck, detective.
Continue here to read the full story.
Besides the President's Day earlier this week, apparently the schools around
here are closed all week for a "winter break." I don't think this was a thing
when I was in school, where we had week-plus breaks around Christmas and Easter,
but nothing like this in-between. We helped our friends entertain the idled twins a bit
by hosting a cookie baking session. This was a lot of fun, and the kids were
very happy and well behaved. They also influenced the menu, which turned out to
be chocolate cookies coated in sprinkles and topped with Hershey's Kisses. They
did a fine job, and the cookies were very cute, but I tried one of them and
wow... I've had treats like rock candy and cotton candy that are basically pure
sugar that didn't seem this sweet. I'm pretty sure I got a few cavities on the
spot, and probably showed diabetes symptoms for a while.
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