Archived News:
This trailer offers a
two-minute introduction to LeapDrive Online, a spaceship-based
roguelike-like action/RPG featuring procedurally generated gameplay and what
they are calling "social exploration." This is a web-based game is being
developed by one individual who is showing it off now that it's in a playable
state to support its
Steam
Greenlight campaign as well as the next stage of development, which will be
a major rebalance. Those interested should head over to the
LeapDrive Online website to register
for the closed beta. Here's more on the game: LeapDriveOnline
procedurally generates a massive "maze" (called The Maelstrom) of connected
regions of space (called Cells) much like a normal rogue-like game, BUT each
instance of The Maelstrom is shared among a community of players. All of the
players begin at the same location at the edge of The Maelstrom, but they need
to explore The Maelstrom to find a path to The Core. A number cells contain
"beacons" which allows the player to start their next journey from that cell
(you can think of this like a spatial save-point).
Built into the heart of the game is a system for sharing paths
Continue here to read the full story.
This Kickstarter seeks $50K to complete Dodge Wars: Battle for Mt.
Olympus, a PC and PS4 game coming this spring from indie developer 8 Red
Pixels as "a spiritual successor to the Super Dodge Ball series and Sega Soccer
Slam." The developer's website offers
a trailer which
includes gameplay, and here's word on how this will allow players to dodge,
duck, dip, dive, and dodge to victory: "Dodge Wars features the Gods and Titans
in an epic dodge ball tournament for control of Mt. Olympus (they are very
young). Dodge Wars is the spiritual successor to Super Dodge Ball and Sega
Soccer Slam. We have over the top super moves for all 6 playable characters
along with 7 dangerous arenas! Each arena has an environmental hazard or ability
the teams can use to gain the upper hand. Its a very fast paced 3v3 game with a
full single player story mode for each character along with robust matchmaking
and fully unlockable custom armors!" Continue here to read the full story.
The Starpoint Gemini 2
website has word that the
Early Access version of the space simulation will soon receive the first
pass at Oculus Rift VR headset support: "A couple of days before the newest
update goes to Steam, we have taken some time to
tinker around with the Oculus rift. It really does give a new perspective to
the game :)."
GamesBeat collects some developer tweets from Valve's just-launched
developer days, since the press is not in attendance.
One
tweet mentions third-party Steam controllers are in the cards, and
another
says that the Steam Greenlight program is going away. This meshes with a
video interview recently mentioned on
PC Gamer where Vlambeer’s Rami Ismail speculated that the recent rash of
greenlights was to clear the queue before ending the system. "I'm thinking that
because they've been clearing the queue at such a rapid rate. They've been
clearing 100 games every month. . .You don’t do that because there are 100 good
games on Greenlight every month," he suggests. "You do that because you want to
get rid of everything that isn't greenlit before you kill it, so you don’t upset
developers." His theory is that any developer will eventually be able to put
their games on Steam.
Ubisoft announces the release of Assassin's Creed Liberation HD, offering
upgraded graphics and improved gameplay mechanics over the original Vita version
of the stealth/action game. This
Justice For All Trailer
celebrates the release, and here's a bit from the announcement: Completely
remastered in stunning high definition with improved gameplay mechanics and
missions, Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD delivers an immersive Assassin’s Creed
storyline for only $19.99. This is the definitive Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD
experience.
As Aveline, the first playable female Assassin in the Assassin’s Creed saga, you
must use your skill, instinct and weaponry – including a machete, poison-dart
blowpipe, a whip and dueling pistols – to hunt down and eliminate your enemies
as you embark on an unforgettable journey that will take you from the crowded
streets of New Orleans through voodoo-haunted swamps and ancient Mayan
ruins.
Continue here to read the full story.
Oxide Games follows the Star Swarm
screenshots
they released earlier this week to show off
their Nitrous engine with a
new Star
Swarm demonstration trailer showing off the game engine benchmark in action.
The clip shows off the engine's ability to manage an incredible number of units
in action, each with individually modeled weapon effects. Word is there are three games currently in development using the Nitrous engine, including Stardock's upcoming Star Control game. Continue here to read the full story.
Kicking off their Steam Developer
Days, Valve offers a breakdown of some Steam subscriber and sales
statistics showing the growth of their online service over last year: Valve
kicked off its first-ever Steam Dev Days Conference by announcing the continued
growth of Steam, a leading platform for PC, Mac, and Linux software. In
addition, Valve detailed Steam's 2013 geographic performance to the more than
1,200 Dev Days attendees.
In the trailing three months the number of active Steam accounts jumped 15%, to
75 million from 65 million (announced October 2013). The growth was realized
during a busy holiday release season and Steam's Pre-Holiday and Holiday sales.
In addition, members of the Steam publishing team gave attendees a geographic
breakdown of Steam's 2013's sales revenue. While the data showed a virtual tie
between North America (41%) and Europe (40%) for the lion's share of Steam's
global activity, Russia and Brazil realized the largest year over year growth
(2013 vs. 2012) as individual countries, respectively increasing 128% and 75%.
An update on the Hello
Games website (thanks
Polygon) talks about the aftermath of the flood that ruined their offices
over Christmas, and how they are putting
things together in spite of not being
insured against the damage. Word from founder Sean Murray is they are working
on getting everyone back into proper offices, but in the meantime they are
working out of a temporary location, with some employees working from home. Sean
also says they "won't let" this delay the release of No Man's Sky, adding
that while this would "probably be a really good time" to do a Kickstarter, he
doesn't think it's "the right thing for No Man’s Sky right now." On a related
note, there's an
interview with Sean on Edge that focuses entirely on No Man's Sky, and how
the procedurally generated game is progressing. He explains how not having a
tutorial will enhance the social aspects of playing with others, saying: "the
best time for me in an MMOG is those first few weeks, where everything is in
flux and everyone is just trying to figure out the rules and the lore of the
game." He also describes why there will still be unexplored areas and mysteries
to discover for players who join at a later time.
The Puuba website officially announces
Concursion is coming this year to Windows and OS X PCs, in spite of the
failure of the Kickstarter for
this five genre mashup. Word is: "Concursion is officially a thing! And that
thing’s first trailer is out! Imagine a piñata filled with all your favorite
games. That piñata… is Concursion." Here is
the trailer of which
they speak showing how this blends various different styles of gameplay into a
single side-scrolling platformer. "Concursion is what happened when we couldn’t
decide which game to make," says Puuba founder Danny Garfield. "And ended up
making them all." Here's more: Imagine a world of bright blue skies and
puffy white clouds. You sprint across platforms, jump over gaps, and bounce off
of an enemy... to find yourself shooting rockets in outer space...
Concursion is the debut from Puuba, who today are officially revealing their
project to the world - and, consequently, any worlds residing within that world.
The result of five genres smashing head-first into one another, Concursion takes
our hero from the far reaches of the universe to dispatching of Samurai in
Feudal Japan.
It’s not a compilation. Each of Concursion’s worlds intertwines with the others.
You’ll utilise radically different sets of game mechanics in quick-fire
succession - taking on everything from platforming, to space combat, to
Pac-Man-style maze-busting.
Each of these worlds features a unique aesthetic, morphing the mechanics, sound
and even the hero himself, on his journey to save the princess and stop the
world from being torn apart! (Not that we’re asking too much of
him.)
Continue here to read the full story.
Steam News announces
that Early Access is now underway for
Next Car Game,
Bugbear's next car game. The full release of the demolition derby game is
expected this spring, but those who don't mind a few crashes with their crashes
can buy into the beta program and influence its development. Here's word:
Next Car Game is a new demolition derby themed racing game with soft-body
damage modeling, sophisticated driving dynamics and in-depth vehicle upgrading,
featuring both demolition derbies and more traditional track races. It’s all
about fun, breakneck racing and over-the-top crashes.
Expect epic crashes and tight, neck-to-neck fights over the finish line on
run-down racing tracks. Expect proper demolition derbies. Expect brand new ways
for metal to bend and the signature once-in-the-lifetime moments that can be
achieved only with true-to-life physics simulation.
It’s a motorsport, but not just any motorsport. It’s a motorsport with
attitude.
The King's Bounty website
announces a January 30th release date for Ice and Fire, the Pat Benatar-free
expansion for King's Bounty: Warriors of the North. Here's word on the
add-on: "A small island lost in the sea is covered by snow and ice. It is
inhabited by the clan of Snow Elves. Young Olaf, the son of the Northling King,
faces his destiny again as he helps the people of the North in their struggle
against the upcoming thaw. New adventures and challenges, new friends and foes,
new items and awards await Olaf on his way to victory. He will set off on a
journey to distant parts of Endoria that weren’t visited even by the Royal
Bounty Hunters…" Here's a feature list:
- Creature skill system – lead your troops through
dozens of battles and they will become stronger than ever!
- Snow Elves – a new Elven nation that prefers snow
and blizzard of the Ice Gardens instead of the green forests of Merlassar.
- Necrolizards – a new kind of the undead, Lizardmen
that have risen from the dead.
- New locations to explore.
- Over 20 new creatures.
- Revamped creatures of King’s Bounty: Warriors of
the North.
- New items with unique attributes.
- Over 20 hours of additional gameplay.
GuildWars2.com offers a look at a new Origins of Madness update that
goes live next week in Guild Wars 2, saying it will launch on January
21st. They offer this
trailer with a look at the new content this brings, which they explain
like so: "As players will see in the 'Origins of Madness' teaser video, Scarlet
will unleash a brand-new mechanical monstrosity on the living world of Tyria:
the Twisted Marionette! A gigantic robotic weapon of mass destruction, the
Twisted Marionette can only be stopped by a concerted effort on the part of
players. That's not the only threat awaiting players, as the teaser video
reveals. Scarlet's machinations have unearthed something ancient and angry in
Bloodtide Coast. The Great Jungle Wurm is a huge multi-headed creature so
powerful that only an army of players can challenge it." Continue here to read the full story.
A new "cursed" trailer
from Dark Souls II offers another look at the upcoming action/RPG sequel
using cinematics and a little gameplay footage, a three-minute clip that builds to
a climax so raucous, the music drowns out the voice acting. The video concludes
with the game's March 14th European release date and a listing for all three
target platforms, though last we heard, the PC
version will follow the console editions. Continue here to read the full story.
- Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls on
AusGamers.com.
Closed Beta Diary 2 - The Not-So Long Road to 70.
- Rust on
Eurogamer. "Alpha review."
Something seems to be wrong with our Twitter setup, as last night's headlines
did not show up in our feed,
so apologies for that. With Frans dealing with personal matters I wasn't
going to bug him about this, but he is apparently getting back in the swing of
things, and is now aware of the problem. Not knowing the cause, I can't say it
will actually be fixed anytime soon, but at least this is in the hands of
someone who has more tools to fix this at his disposal than reboots and crossed
fingers.
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