Black Mesa project lead talks Valve’s "really compelling" VR holodeck tech
Comment
Carlos Montero is lead environment artist at Cryptic, the chaps who make Neverwinter. But he also moonlights as project lead of Black Mesa, the Source remake of Half-Life - and it’s likely for that reason he joined a select few at Steam Dev Days for a private tour of Valve’s VR cave.
DayZ Early Access review
Comments2
I watched from the bushes. Two heavily armed bandits, picking clean the corpse of a survivor. After they walked a ways down the road, I moved in to take a look.
There was some valuable loot that they had ignored: some rags, a screw driver and a bright blue backpack. Not exactly unobtrusive, but the extra storage was a must.
I don’t recall hearing anything, but I remember feeling it. I turned around to the barrel of a M4 pointed directly between my eyes. I froze. It was one of the bandits from before, standing there. Silent. I waited for some sort of interaction, a gesture, a sound or my likely death. Instead he simply lowered his gun, and walked away.
A million questions raced through my mind. Why I was I spared? Was it an act of kindness? Maybe his friend was in trouble?
I wasn’t spared. It wasn’t an act of kindness. His friend was not in trouble. That friend was stood behind me the entire time with a fire axe. I simply wasn’t worth a bullet.
You are dead - would you like to respawn?
Yes.
QuakeCon is happening again: id's 19th summer shindig dated for mid-July
Comment
In the beginning, I imagine - I’m younger than some couches - QuakeCon was a bit different: a LAN celebration of the genre id had created and continued to lead. Now it’s a press conference for new owners Bethesda, and a support group for an id creatively diminished after the failure of Rage. Also a LAN party, still. North America’s largest Bring-Your-Own-Computer event, this year scheduled for the weekend between July 17 and 20.
Watch the changing fortunes of Eve Online's corporate empires
Comments3
The war within New Eden has been raging for a decade. Massive corporations go head to head over vast expanses of territory and assets. Some just like a good fight. Only this week, trillions of ISK were laid on the line after a corporation owner forgot to pay the rent. With 2013 now behind us, we can take a look into the very front lines of those skirmishes in a very pretty fashion. A video of last years battles has been stitched together into a beautiful time lapse, and you gotta see it.
The Big Bad Interrogator: The Wolf Among Us Episode 2 Red Band trailer is pretty grim
Comment
We've been left waiting for a good long while for episode 2, title "Smoke and Mirrors", and I'm salivating like a wolf at the prospect of finally playing it. Cliffhangers are bad enough when you can find out what happens a week later, but by the time the second episode launches we'll have been waiting for four months.
Anyway, no more faffing around, here's the Red Band trailer for the upcoming episode.
Randal's Monday is like Groundhog Day for pop culture geeks
Comment
Adventure games, at least traditional point-and-click romps, have always really been about stealing everything not nailed down, so it only makes sense that the titular character of Randal's Monday would be a kleptomaniac, and a sociopath and terrible friend just for good measure.
Being a terrible friend, Randal wakes up on the Monday morning after his friend's engagement party with a killer hangover and his chum's engagement ring. Like any normal human being, he sells the ring and sets off a series of catastrophic events and a nasty curse. Oh yeah, and his friend kills himself.
Comedies, these days.
Nosgoth hands-on: death is better from above
Comment
They come from the rooftops as night falls. Growling, snarling things. The humans huddle together in a courtyard, eyes frantically darting, bows and guns constantly shifting targets. A shadow passes over them, huge, bat-like wings blocking out the moon. Bolts, arrows and alchemical grenades fly into the air, and the hideous vampire flees. It was a diversion. There’s a streak of grey flesh, and one of the creatures fells a hunter. The rest of the humans run and hide in buildings as their companion is dragged off into the night.
I didn’t expect to enjoy Nosgoth, Psyonix’s free-to-play 4v4 multiplayer arena game, as much as I have been. It’s a simple premise: humans and vampires beating the crap out of each other, but the interesting range of abilities and ease with which one’s life can end gives it surprising tactical depth. It can be tense and nerve-wracking, savage and empowering, and most importantly - there’s buckets of blood.
Get some hands-on time with the Nitrous Engine in Star Swarm
Comment
That Star Swarm demo, showing off a 10,000 ship battle, from a few weeks ago was a pretty tantalising look at what Oxide's Nitrous Engine can do for strategy games. Now you can take it for a spin yourself and download it from Steam for free, pitting vast fleets against each other for no other reason than battles in space are really, really cool.
PC gaming is doing fine: $3 billion growth predicted this year
Comment
Growth is good. Okay, maybe not all growth. Certainly not unsightly growths. And probably not the growing sensation that somebody is watching you when you're singing classic rock in the shower. But the growth in the PC gaming market is something we can all probably get behind.
Research firm DFC Intelligence forecasts a $3 billion growth in the PC gaming market this year, from $22 billion to $25 billion. So I guess things are going okay.
PC Games News
All Feeds and Submitions Submit StuffState of Decay MMO probably happening, definitely
Comment
State of Decay was a little bit like a zombie survival MMO, but instead of other players, you worked with really inept NPCs who you could sometimes play if they hadn't already gotten themselves killed by running through a horde of zombies screaming "I'm delicious! I'm delicious!".
Undead Labs had clear MMO ambitions, and with the acquisition of Patrick Wyatt, co-founder of ArenaNet and En Masse, it looks like they are gearing up to that big undead MMO they've always dreamed of.
Total War: Rome II – Patch #9 Released
SEGA and Creative Assembly have released the ninth update for Total War: Rome II. This update comes with performance and memory optimisations in Campaign modes, improved framerates when units clash in battles, as well as battle AI and behavioural improvements. You can view the complete changelog below. Continue reading
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl – Lost Alpha Mod Gets New Footage
The team behind the Lost Alpha mod for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Shadow of Chernobyl has released a new video, showcasing the improvements and changes that have been made to it. As the team noted, in this 9 minute demo movie, we see the new WIP DX10 render in action, the ragdoll changes the team implemented, and the smarter AI for NPCs. Enjoy! Continue reading
Far Cry Z-DAY Enters Open Beta This March – Zombie Mod For Far Cry 3
A team of modders is currently working on an interesting mod for Far Cry 3 that is inspired by Day-Z and Left 4 Dead, and is called… Z-DAY. Z-DAY is a fully fledged singleplayer campaign playable through the Far Cry 3 Map Editor after installing mod and map files. The campaign will consist of multiple singleplayer missions very much inspired by games like Left4Dead, but with a Far Cry twist to them. Continue reading
AMD Promises Even Further Performance Increases On Battlefield 4
As we’ve already said, this day may be dedicated to AMD. After all, Mantle has just been released. While AMD’s latest drivers have not been unleashed, the red team promised that it will bring further performance improvements on Battlefield 4 via some new drivers and patches. Continue reading
AMD’s Ruby Tech Demo – Two More Images Surface
Lots of AMD-related news today. Two new images that showcase the new Ruby model have surfaced. AMD’s new Ruby tech demo is powered by CRYENGINE and takes advantage of TressFX tech. There is no ETA yet, though we hope that AMD will release it sooner than later. Enjoy and kudos to Guru3D’s member ‘CPC_RedDawn’ for spotting them! Continue reading
Bugbear’s Next Car Game Has Raised $1 Million Over A Week
Bugbear Entertainment announced today that the official Early Access launch of its titular demolition racing game, aptly titled Next Car Game, has been a huge success. According to the press release, the game was officially launched on Steam mid-January, and it instantly took the Steam Top Sellers chart by storm. In total, the game made over $1,000,000 during one week in sales through its own pre-order site and Steam. Continue reading
Analyst Claims That PC games Are More Popular Than Both Xbox One & PS4 Titles
Play.com has revealed – via a press release – that the most talked about game over the New Year period was online multiplayer horror survival game DayZ. The new release beat the likes of Call of Duty: Ghosts and FIFA 14 in being the most talked about game between 1st December 2013 and 17th January 2014, according to an analysis of what gaming journalists and gaming enthusiasts discussed online. Continue reading
Week In Tech: Are SSDs Really Reliable?
By Jeremy Laird on January 30th, 2014 at 9:00 pm.
Oh hell, it’s happened again. But this time it’s induced not only frustration but a sudden pang of guilt. Another of my SSDs has gone titsup.com and my borderline breathless fanboyism for SSDs is flashing before my eyes. What have I done? Have I been wrong all along? Are SSDs still not fit for public consumption? At the very least, it’s reason enough to re-examine just how reliable the latest solid staters are and whether the reward is worth the risk. Read the rest of this entry »
A Song Of High & Higher: Game Of Glens
By Alec Meer on January 30th, 2014 at 8:00 pm.
My first glance at Crackdown 2 dev Ruffian’s attempt to Go Indie had me muttering ‘oh great an Angry Birds clone, just what this wretched planet needs.’ Then I looked closer and instead rubbed my chin while muttering “huh, World of Goo as an RTS. They could be onto something with that.”
I didn’t mutter either of those things. I stared dumbly at the pitch video for Game of Glens for a couple of minutes, then silently opened a CMS window and began writing a complete fabrication of how I’d spent the preceding moments. I don’t know why I lie.
Read the rest of this entry »
EVE Online’s Largest Battle To Be Marked By Ship Graveyard
By Graham Smith on January 30th, 2014 at 4:00 pm.
Earlier this week, EVE Online’s largest ever ship battle took place between two of the game’s player-run factions. Around $300,000 worth of internet spaceships was destroyed. An EVE Online dev blog tells the story of the battle, breaks down the stats, and announces that the Bloodbath of B-R5RB will be commemorated in-game by a field of derelict ships.
Read the rest of this entry »
Scott Steinberg Joins Phoenix Online, Talks Business
By John Walker on January 30th, 2014 at 3:00 pm.
Phoenix Online Studios was, until very recently, a group of dedicated hobbyists scattered around the world, working on their fan tribute to the King’s Quest games. The Silver Lining was developed over many years, and faced much turmoil, before eventually seeing four of its chapters released in 2010 and 2011. Now, in just three years, they’re a major player in the resurgence of adventure gaming, developing games with industry hero Jane Jensen. It’s an impressive story, and one that’s looking like it’s still got places to go. Phoenix have just announced the appointment of Techsavvy and Game Theory’s Scott Steinberg as their general manager. We’ve chatted with him to find out why he’s joining, and more about the tale of Phoenix Online.
A CryEngine RPG, Because Those Are Words People Like
By Alec Meer on January 30th, 2014 at 1:00 pm.
This is a game called Cradle, but not this game called Cradle. That’s going to cause issues, isn’t it? Perhaps the various developers should have a cradle off. Each of them is given a screaming baby to hold, and whichever one sees the child’s damnable wailing cease first gets to call their videogame ‘Cradle.’ I’m like a latter-day King Solomon, me.
The Cradle I’m posting about here is an RPG built in CryEngine, and currently singing for its $350,000 supper on Kickstarter, with $60k-ish in hand already. While it has something on an unproven team behind it, it is both rather pretty and making the kind of bold promises that people sit up and pay attention to. “Making sure that player agency is at the heart of gameplay,” for instance. Buzzzzzzzzz!
Read the rest of this entry »
American McGee’s Akaneiro Is “In The Hole” For $1.7m
By John Walker on January 30th, 2014 at 12:00 pm.
American McGee’s Spicy Horse studio has spent a touch more on Akaneiro: Demon Hunter than it raised on Kickstarter. Gathering $204,000 back in February last year, it seems they’ve spent $2 million on the game. I’m not an accountant, but I’m pretty sure that £2m is more than $205,000. McGee has posted on the game’s Kickstarter page that it means they’ll have to “radically alter” the future of the game.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance Is Doing Awfully Well
By John Walker on January 30th, 2014 at 11:00 am.
Warhorse pitched an ambitious project. Kingdom Come: Deliverance wants to be Skyrim meets The Witcher, but without all the pretend stuff like dragons. NO DRAGONS?! you cry in fear and rage. No, but it’s okay, because there are just so many swords. This ultro-historical epic comes from a Czech team of super-developers, they behind things like Mafia and ARMA, and they say things like, “Combat is calculated entirely with inverse kinematics, so it’s not even animated.”
It’s working. So far Deliverance has made well over half a million pounds, and they only asked for £300,000. What are people doing?! They’ve gone mad! But give give give we all are, and there’s now a new video explaining more about the game’s world.
Warlock 2: The Exiled announced, pun-filled trailer released
Warlock 2: The Exiled has been announced by Paradox Interactive, a sequel to the 2011 turn-based fantasy wargame from Ino-Co Plus.
Stronghold Kingdoms players can soon download the European Warfare update
Stronghold Kingdoms will be the recipient of a European Warfare update, Firefly Studios has announced. The new update, which is free for all players, introduces the largest game world yet with more player villages, countries and Kings. The updated can be accessed come February 13 and includes 32 European countries with its own political structure. […]
King’s Bounty: Warriors of the North - Ice and Fire now available through Steam
King’s Bounty: Warriors of the North – Ice and Fire is available today digitally, 1C Company has announced.
Humble Weekly Sales features Overlord, DiRT 3, other Codemaster titles
Humble Bundle has updated its weekly sale offerings with titles from Codemasters.
@TheVoxelman on twitter
