A
Contraption Maker website is
online, heralding development of
Contraption Maker, a sandbox puzzle game
that's a spiritual successor to the
Incredible Machine from Spotkin, a
developer that includes members of the original Incredible Machine team from Dynamix. We
have
some
screenshots showing off the Rube Goldberg-inspired gameplay, and they say Windows and OS X gamers will get the opportunity to play the game this
summer when an early alpha access program will launch. Here's word:
Solve
puzzles involving ridiculous chain reactions full of hamster motors,
trampolines, alligators, cats, and so much more. Then go to the powerful Maker
Lab, where you can create your own contraptions. Everything you loved about the
original game is back and improved with a new physics engine, high definition
art, and new parts and programmability.
The
Diablo III
website announces the
Diablo III auction houses are back online after
an exploit allowed some players
to duplicate enormous amounts of gold, though they also note that one needed
billions of gold to do this, and in the end only 415 of the game's well-heeled
illuminati took part in the duping. Blizzard clarifies that while they did not
roll back everyone's progress, the accounts of some of the perpetrators of this
game fraud have been rolled back and that accounts have been suspended or banned
based on their activity. Word is that 85% of the duplicated gold has now
been removed from the game, they expect to get more of it going forward, and
that the proceeds of the sketchy auctions will be going to charity:
What
Does That Mean for Me?
Soon after the exploit was discovered, we contemplated doing a complete
rollback, as was suggested by a number of players here in the forums.
The vast majority of players did not participate in the exploit and we didn't
like the idea of punishing them for the bad behavior of a few people. A rollback
would mean bringing the servers down for a lengthy period and a loss of all
progression since 1.0.8 was released. Many players made significant
accomplishments in the game that required time and dedication, and we felt it
was worth the work involved to try to preserve these efforts and go after the
exploiters instead.
With this in mind, we elected not to roll back the servers in The Americas and
are instead working to remove duplicated gold from the economy through targeted
audits and account actions (as indicated above) without taking away progress
that our players rightfully earned.
As of this this post, we have already recaptured more than 85% of the excess
gold from the accounts involved, and over the days ahead we will continue to
pore over our audit data to reclaim as much duplicate currency as possible.
We've also done a full audit of our code to help make sure that something like
this doesn't happen again.
So, What's Next?
Many people bought and sold items and gold on the Auction House on Tuesday.
We're making sure that all legitimate transactions go through. This means that
if your account was not involved in the exploit, you will get to keep your items
and gold, as well as any money you received from sales on the real-money Auction
House. We'll also be donating all proceeds from auctions conducted by the
suspended or banned players—including all of THEIR sale proceeds that we
intercepted as well as our transaction fee—to Children’s Miracle Network
Hospitals.
A
feature on IGN Video takes a look at
The Bureau: XCOM Declassified,
and how this shooter based on the XCOM series has evolved since it was first
announced and it had a different title and focus. Or, as they put it: "How the
new XCOM spin-off went from a first-person horror game to a tactical
third-person shooter." This includes developer commentary and footage of the
game, both then and now. Thanks Finn.
Continue here to read the full story.
Polygon examines the implications of the terms under which "donations" are
being accepted to fund
Shadow of the Eternals, the upcoming spiritual
successor to
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem from Precursor Games, the
spiritual successor to Silicon Knights. They note the company being in Canada is
the obstacle to using Kickstarter, and explain the pledge system being used, and
what it does and does not offer to donors:
The pledge system, which is
managed directly by Precursor Games and collects money through PayPal, includes
a number of specific conditions outlined in the site's terms of service
including the fact that all money given to the studio are "strictly donations
and are not consideration for any services or product," and that donations will
be accepted immediately upon receipt, unlike Kickstarter, which only accepts
funds if a funding goal is reached.
"A donation cannot be cancelled or returned once it has been completed, whether
or not Precursor Games completes the game or fulfills the specified reward," it
reads.
The website's FAQ states that the financial goal is a "flexible one" and "if it
becomes apparent that we cannot raise enough to develop this project then we
will refund all pledges."
Man, I got an emergency alert on my phone a bit ago, as the heavy rains around
here have triggered a flash flood warning. We weren't really planning on this
when we headed out pretty early today for supplies for a cookout tomorrow, but
that's worked out pretty well, because I think they were onto something with
this flood stuff... it's a scene out there.
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