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Archived News:
Nordic Games announces The Guild 3, a new installment in this economic
life simulation set in the year 1400. They don't commit to when to expect this,
saying it is in the works at Canadian developer GolemLabs (SuperPower 2). They
note the emphasis
this game will place on artificial intelligence, saying, "In The Guild 3, the
player will experience an AI that sets a new benchmark for the genre: the
extraordinarily adaptive AI system, the EHE (Evolutive Human Emulator), will set
new standards for economic simulations. Based on a system of six character
attributes and the AI’s ability to adapt to any need and motivation system, it
enables characteristic behaviour patterns to emerge and develop - resulting in
an incredibly immersive game ambience." Here's more on the game: The
Guild 3 takes place in Central Europe in the year 1400 where players can found a
family dynasty that endures through the centuries. As the game world is in
constant flux, the player must prove his skills in handicraft and trade,
adeptness in social occasions and ultimately politics, and be a master at
devising plots and intrigues.
Key Features
- AI System: The new, adaptive AI system is based on
a system of six character attributes.
- Societies: Particularly influential organisations,
some publicly known and others that are cloaked in secrecy.
- Massive Replayability: The AI and the random-based
global events ensure that every scenario and game feel and play differently
- Character/Dynasty Evolution: A complex skill tree,
professions, actions and bonuses are waiting to be unlocked.
- Multiplayer With up to 16 Players: Integrated
multiplayer mode and connection with other The Guild 3 players regardless of
where the game was purchased.
- Map Editor: Players can create maps to share with
the gaming community and select their favourites from a constantly expanding
library of scenarios.
After a false start
last week, Stoic announces the release of the new free update for Banner
Saga 2 that adds a new Survival Mode. This challenges players to try to
survive 40 consecutive levels of combat in the turn-based tactics game. Here are
more details: “Survival Mode is something we’ve been working on behind
the scenes for a while now,” commented John Watson, Technical Director at Stoic.
“This is an entirely new experience within Banner Saga 2. Our goal was to create
a fun, tactical game mode where fans can play from a different perspective which
focuses on strategy and the hard cost of death in combat. We modified how the
combat worked from the core game based on feedback from our community and put it
through a closed beta to make sure that it was fun. Thanks again to our
dedicated fans for their continued support.” he added.
In survival mode players have to assemble a ‘combat’ team from a wide range of
existing Banner Saga heroes. Once their team is complete, combat begins, but
beware, perma-death in battle is real and once lost, a hero can not be brought
back. Each victory grants ‘Renown’ (one of the major currencies in the Banner
Saga), which can be used to unlock more Heroes to replace ones that have fallen.
Items now drop in combat, or can be purchased with Renown, so that you can
constantly improve your combat team. A 30-second timer keeps the action moving
and leaderboards track how each player ranks against others. All three
difficulty levels are included in survival mode, so the hard core challenge is
available to those who think they can make it all the way through.
“Although Stoic is a tiny indie studio and their time is precious, they have
shown an unrelenting commitment to fans of the Banner Saga by producing more
content for them to enjoy. ” said Steve Escalante, General Manager of Versus
Evil. ”The Banner Saga 2 just became a much bigger game with the core experience
already lauded as one of 2016’s best games and now this new, free game mode
included. We hope to get this update in the console launch later this Summer as
well as make it a part of our mobile experience.” he concluded.
The FREE Survival Mode is available now for Banner Saga 2 owners (on PC and
Mac). Banner Saga 2 is also currently available to buy on Steam, GOG, Humble
Store, GreenMan Gaming, EA’s Origin and other digital PC and Mac stores.
Early Access to Final Strike is now available
on Steam, offering the
initial release of this virtual reality game featuring arcade airborne combat.
Here's a video from
back in the game's Greenlight days showing how this will help you get in touch
with your inner Russell Casse. Here's more on the release: Today the
Austin based virtual reality studio, Ghost Machine, has announced the retail
launch date for a new VR arcade flight sim game, Final Strike. The game, which
will go on sale in early access to the public today on the digital download
service steam and the
studio webpage,
features a frantic dogfight designed for virtual reality as you pilot your very
own military-grade death machine to defend earth against an alien invasion in an
end-of-the-world blockbuster finale. You can purchase the game, Final Strike on
Thursday, June 23rd for the Oculus Rift & HTC Vive VR systems on the Steam
Final Strike page.
CEO of Ghost Machine, Neal Nellans, spoke about releasing his studios latest
efforts on Steam VR, "Working on virtual flight simulators is really how we got
started building VR experiences. Final Strike represents the pinnacle of
cinematic action paired with VR gaming". The game, designed to be played as a
seated VR simulation experience. "The level of immersion that VR provides with
flight simulators is second to none, mixed with an epic alien invasion this is a
one-of-a-kind experience.", stated Nellans.
Goliath: Summertime Gnarkness is now available on Steam as free DLC for
Goliath, the Windows
indie action/adventure where you go big or go home. Here's
a trailer showing off
the DLC, and here's a feature list:
- 4 new unique Goliaths! Now even more powerful,
faster and crazier!
- Want to decorate your Goliaths in a special way?
Epic heads of Great Heroes are at your service!
- New epic weapons for your Goliaths!
- New tough challenges for experienced
robo-warriors! Raddest tournament in the history of the world of Shards!
Brand new Dungeon of the Apocalypse! Lead the upcoming end of the world or
die trying!
Continue here to read the full story.
R.I.P.:
Obituary: Othello creator Goro Hasegawa. Wonder if he actually mastered over
his lifetime.
As expected, the Summer Sale is now underway on
Steam, or as they're calling this
year's installment the Summer Picnic Sale. We can probably find more details
when an announcement rolls in, but in the meantime, we can see that there are
the usual discounts to be had, and this year's side game involves getting three
free trading cards each day. Initial sales are for things like LEGO games for
30-75% off, the Arma franchise for 20-80% off, and the Call of Duty franchise
for 50-67% off. Update:
The announcement of this
is now online: The Steam Summer
Sale has started! For the next 11 days*, take advantage of discounts on
thousands of products, including games, videos, and software, as well as the
exclusive Summer Picnic Sale trading cards.
A
post on reddit makes the case that an offline instant action mode is coming
to Star Wars Battlefront, something that would make many players of the Star
Wars action game quite happy. The post offers screenshots of menus showing this
off, and this short video
offers a convincing case that this is real. This is all unconfirmed, and
IGN says their efforts at getting Electronic Arts to comment on this have so
far been fruitless. Thanks nin. Continue here to read the full story.
A new content pack called SHIPYARDS is now available for StarDrive 2,
the second official DLC for this turn-based 4x space strategy game. This adds 13
new customizable ship hulls, new fighters, along with more additions and
features. Here's more:
- 13 new customizable ship hulls ranging from the
smallest corvettes to two HUGE new Titan class hulls
- Each of these hulls has a special passive ability
to differentiate it from other ships on the field. Some ships gain bonuses
with certain weapons while others may have increased defensive capabilities
- A new fighter and heavy fighter expand your force
projection powers when using these new hulls
- All of the new ships employ a dynamic weapon
turret system. Depending on the size and number of weapons installed on your
ships, you will see weapon turrets appear on your ships that track their
targets independently!
- Two new heroes join the roster in this content
pack: Wyatt, the Notorious Outlaw, and Vos, the Master Engineer! Their
powerful abilities will surely help you win your next Brutal-difficulty run,
won't they?
A
lengthy forum post by Blizzard's Jeff Kaplan outlines changes they plan for
competitive mode for Overwatch based on the current testing of the mode
on the PTR. Jeff discusses their growing understanding of how best to handle
sudden death overtime and other changes they are planning based on feedback from
testers. Some of these will come before the mode goes live (currently planned by
the end of the month) and they also describe other changes that will take longer
to implement. Here's the outlook on the balance between perfecting things and
getting the new mode launched: The extent of the updates we mentioned
above are non-trivial. There is a lot of work that needs to be done to remove
the coin flip and change the format again in Escort and Hybrid maps, which means
that they’re not something we do can overnight. In fact, they’re not something
we can realistically do until our Fall season. While we think they’re good
changes to make, we don’t feel that holding back Competitive Play until the Fall
is the right thing for the game right now. Instead, our goal is to release
Competitive Play in our next content patch and kick-off our Summer season with
the current ruleset.
There’s a few reasons for this: We want players to be able to work towards
Competitive Play rewards sooner rather than later. We’ve also gotten a ton of
positive feedback from people who are playing and enjoying the system right now
on the PTR. And, perhaps most importantly, we feel like starting the Summer
season will allow us to learn a lot about what works in Competitive Play and
what doesn’t—even more than we have from the PTR. I’ve mentioned previously that
I believe Competitive Play is the type of system that will require a few seasons
before we reach the place where we want to be. We need to run the system through
its paces, in the live game environment, so that we can see how the community as
a whole uses and reacts to it. By getting the system out there sooner, we can
start making meaningful improvements sooner too.
Speaking of improvements, while major changes to Competitive Play likely won’t
be coming for a few months, we’re looking to get the Escort/Hybrid map changes
and draw functionality on the PTR in the near future. Right now, if all goes
well, we think we’ll be able to have those changes ready for testing sometime in
late July.
I don't think the leak
that the Steam Summer sale will begin today was ever officially confirmed, but
from this end we gotten more than one heads-up from developers that their games
will be part of the sale, and more than one of them mentions today. I'm not
guaranteeing it will begin today, but it seemed worthy of a warning for those of
you planning on hiding your wallets for the duration.
Also, I've repeatedly forgotten to congratulate fans of the new NBA champions. I'll try and make up
for recent spoilers by just leaving it at that (you know who you are, you champs
you), even though they won a few days
ago.
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