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Archived News:
Steam News announces a
free weekend is underway in
Borderlands 2,
Gearbox Software's humorous role-playing shooter sequel. Those who do not own
the game can play for free from now until Sunday at 1:00 pm EDT, and for those
who get hooked, the game is also now on sale for 75% off. Also,
Steam News announces
that pre-purchases are now being accepted for
Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel,
noting that a 10% discount is offered to those who already own either of the
first two Borderlands games.
Sid Meier's Civilization: Beyond Earth is now available for pre-purchase
on Steam, as noted by Steam
News. The game's Steam
page therefore now reveals the preorder bonuses for the sci-fi turn-based
strategy game: Pre-purchase Sid Meier’s Civilization: Beyond Earth and
receive the Exoplanets Map Pack for free.
The Exoplanets Map Pack includes six custom maps inspired by real-world
exoplanets. Specialized scripts produce randomized geographic layouts each time
a new game begins, allowing for even more replayability on new alien worlds.
- Kepler 186f: This lush forest planet is one of the
oldest known Earth-like planets.
- Rigil Khantoris Bb: Orbiting the closest star to
the solar system, the historical records of this arid continental planet’s
settlement are well-preserved.
- Tau Ceti d: This planet of seas and archipelagos
features a booming biodiversity and a wealth of resources.
- Mu Arae f: Tidally locked in orbit around a weak
star, the southern hemisphere of this planet is a blistering desert where
the sun never sets, while the northern hemisphere is perpetually in frozen
darkness.
- 82 Eridani e: An alien world of scarce water and
wracked by tectonic forces.
- Eta Vulpeculae b: A mysterious new discovery with
unknown terrain.
4A Games' management has set down in Malta, where they plan on establishing new
offices. When the Metro developer announced their expansion into the country
in May, the plan
was to continue their original offices in Kiev, but it sounds like the ongoing
conflicts in Ukraine have forced them to move their entire operations, according
to a translation of
Andrew
Prokhorov's Facebook post found
on Polygon: Dear motherland, this morning we're leaving you for some
time. Not because we don't love you, but because we have to — otherwise 4A Games
will cease to exist — it's really hard to get investors while we're at war with
[Putin]. We can understand publishers, but our hearts are sorrow and we feel
like betrayers, because we're leaving our country in turmoil. We're not
betrayers, we love you, Ukraine and we'll have with us a new part of Ukraine in
not so distant Malta. 4A Games Malta is a Ukrainian company.
A new
Letter from the Chairman on the Roberts Space Industries website recaps the
reception Star Citizen met with when the space combat game was shown off
at Gamescom, and offers a
video of their presentation at the show, which runs a full hour. Chris also
touches on the two new stretch goals the game hit along the way, and lays out
the goals for the next two million they collect, presuming that hasn't happened
already while we weren't looking. Towards that end, he warps up the post by
explaining changes they will implement to their front page which will
deemphasize their crowdfunding efforts: As part of this initiative, the
crowdfunding counter will no longer live on the front page. There are several
reasons for this, but the biggest one is Star Citizen’ isn’t just about making
millions of dollars. While continued funding is necessary to build Star Citizen
at the current level of AAA fidelity and no compromises, the first experience
for new people should be about the game and universe, not about how much money
we’ve raised. Backers do a whole lot more than just buy new ships. You are our
eyes and ears; you sell the project to other gamers better than any ad campaign
ever could, your design ideas expand our scope and your bug reports help us make
a smoother game. Every time you dogfight in Arena Commander, you’re helping make
Star Citizen better!
In the coming weeks, we intend to replace the counter on the front page with new
kinds of goals. Expect to see additional types of stretch goals for number of
players active, number of Vanduul extinguished, number of bugs reported and
more! The crowd funding information will live on in a dedicated subpage with
increased fidelity for those of you that love numbers and following our record
breaking progress.
We’ll be working on those details with production and platform over the next few
weeks… but I think it will create a better base for the community that will make
you better feel like you’re contributing to the project in ways beyond pledging
money.
As always, thank you for your incredible support. As I was reminded time and
time again at Gamescom, this community is beyond anything seen in gaming before.
You are allowing this new kind of development not only to proceed, but to
flourish.
Continue here to read the full story.
Here's a new video
showing off gameplay footage from Raven's Cry, Topware's upcoming
seafaring action/adventure/RPG. Captain's log, stardate 17th century: The
Captain’s Log of Christopher Raven
Karlsruhe (Latitude 48° 59' 2.21" N, Longitude 8° 29' 44.96" E), 19 August 12:00
UTC+1
Rumor has it that there’s a new Raven’s Cry in-game trailer lying at anchor in
the harbor. They say it’s richly laden with booty and bears testimony to the
savage, elemental forces of the sea, and to the brave fools who spend their
lives trying to tame them. How those poor souls unlucky enough to cross
Christopher Raven and his vicious band of pirates are forever doomed to a watery
grave. They say it features scenes of desperate fighting for life and limb,
where no quarter is given and none asked. That blood is spilled on land and sea
wherever the vengeful and merciless pirate Christopher Raven casts his
shadow.
Continue here to read the full story.
A new video from CCP
Games shows off progress on the Hyperion expansion coming later this month to
EVE Online, the outer space MMORPG. Also, CCP offers two new blog posts
about the add-on, one on
Overview sharing improvements with Hyperion, and the other on
Incursion changes in Hyperion. Here's how they sum up what we see in the new
video: "We just
launched a feature site for the next release for EVE Online and an accompanying
in-development video that highlights with some of the biggest changes coming to
wormhole space, missions and incursions in quite some time. Other changes are on
the way as our rapid development cycles continue to churn out more content, more
frequently for the rich, sci-fi universe that hundreds of thousands of players
call home." Continue here to read the full story.
A new Brainiac Trailer
is now online from LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham, a video that goes so far beyond
Gotham it almost forgets to bring the Batman, though he does appear at the
beginning and end. Instead of the minifig caped crusader, the clip shows off
other cast members, including the Joker, members of the Green Lantern Corps, and
Superman villain Brainiac. Word is: "The new trailer for LEGO® Batman™ 3: Beyond
Gotham reveals Brainiac’s diabolical plan to shrink the Earth and take control
of his enemies using the power of the Lantern Rings. Now, the super heroes of
the DC Comics universe must join forces with the Legion of Doom on a journey
across the Lantern Worlds to stop the nefarious evildoer from adding Earth to
his twisted collection." Continue here to read the full story.
- 2K Publisher Weekend 2014 on
Steam.
Save up to 83%.
- Blackwell Bundle on
GOG.com. Save 75%
- Eldritch on
Steam. Save 80%.
A
Gamescom 2014 interview with Visceral Games on the Symthic Forum talks about
Battlefield Hardline, the upcoming police-themed installment in the
shooter series, though the Visceral employee they say they spoke with goes
unidentified. Hardline was
recently delayed until next
year, and this conversation indicates they expect to release it in February 2015
following an open beta phase in January. Word is: "Yes. There will be an open
beta in January, a month before the game launches. It's not sure yet if we will
do the beta on older generation systems like the PS3 and XBOX360, but they'll
definitely be on the PS4, XBONE and PC." Thanks
DSOGaming.
Avalanche Studios announces they will move into a new expanded office space in
Stockholm this fall, noting that they also recently expanded their New York
offices. They describe the open collaboration between the two locations, and say
this expansion prepares for next year, which they anticipate will be the biggest
ever for the Just Cause developer, as it will see the release of their
Mad Max game, as well as "several surprises." Here's word: 2015 is set
to be the biggest year since the inception of Avalanche Studios more than a
decade ago. Next year, players will be able to roam the lethal open-world
wasteland of Mad Max.
In addition, theHunter is on a record breaking streak. More than a million
players have signed up for the world’s most realistic wildlife experience since
the Steam introduction earlier this year, bringing the total number to over 4
million.
Avalanche Studios also has several surprises planned for next year. Keep your
eyes on avalanchestudios.com.
1C Company announces that King's Bounty: Dark Side is now available via
digital distribution, offering the latest installment in the King's Bounty
series for Windows and OS X, saying retail boxed versions will follow "at a
later date." You can see a bit of the turn-based strategy/RPG in
this recent trailer,
and here's a brief description: King’s Bounty: Dark Side is the next chapter in the award-winning King’s
Bounty saga. Time has come to join the Dark Journey to the other side of Teana
and visit a mysterious part of the world never before seen by royal bounty
hunters.
For the first time in King’s Bounty series, players will be able to choose
their hero’s race as well as class. Become a fearless Orcs warrior, lead and
heal your troops as a Demoness, or use dark magic as a fearsome Vampire.
Continue here to read the full story.
Five Nights at Freddy's is now available
on Steam, offering an
offbeat simulation with a creepy vibe based around conflicts with animatronic
bears in a haunted pizza parlor, which is not what we would call a crowded genre
(thanks nin via
Joystiq). Here's word on this unusual game: Welcome to your new summer
job at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza, where kids and parents alike come for
entertainment and food as far as the eye can see! The main attraction is Freddy
Fazbear, of course; and his two friends. They are animatronic robots, programmed
to please the crowds! The robots' behavior has become somewhat unpredictable at
night however, and it was much cheaper to hire you as a security guard than to
find a repairman.
From your small office you must watch the security cameras carefully. You have a
very limited amount of electricity that you're allowed to use per night
(corporate budget cuts, you know). That means when you run out of power for the
night- no more security doors and no more lights! If something isn't right-
namely if Freddybear or his friends aren't in their proper places, you must find
them on the monitors and protect yourself if needed!
Can you survive five nights at Freddy's?
A post on
games.on.net offers a look at Metro 2033: Redux compared with the original
Metro 2033, showing how the graphics in the reduxified version of the shooter
improve upon the original. Continue here to read the full story.
The
Gearbox Software website points to a
an IGN live video
showing off Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, the upcoming first-person shooter
follow-up/follow-down. The clip offers a first look at Claptrap gameplay, and
word is: "Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel producers Joel Eschler (2K Australia) and
James Lopez (Gearbox Software) sat down with IGN at Gamescom to bring you your
first look at Claptrap the Fragtrap in action. Find out more about Claptrap's
action skill, VaultHunter.EXE, and why you should never leave your buddies
hangin' in this video straight from the show floor." Continue here to read the full story.
There's this theory that placing bars of Irish Spring soap in your yard will
repel the deer that view flowers and shrubs as an all-you-can-eat buffet. We've
seen bars of it in other yards, and decided to give it a try ourselves. I can confirm this works like a charm... an overnight visit from the deer left
our flowerbed chewed to shreds, but sure enough, they did not eat a bit of the
soap. Success!
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