Watch Dogs 2 will build on player's ability to "humanise" NPCs through profiling
Watch Dogs’ citizen profiler has proven to be one of its more divisive systems. While some dismissed its randomised text descriptions as shallow, player mileage seemed to vary according to the leaps of imagination they were prepared to take.
Creative director Jonathan Morin wants to push that “space for interpretation” in the sequel, and build on Watch Dogs’ foundations for “systemic contextual narrative”.
“You can humanise the people around you,” he said of the game’s successes. “That I definitely see as the beginning of something that is quite unique and could push the industry forward.”
Dragon Age: Inquisition character creation has outer and inner iris colour covered
Is your fantasy a dwarf with a broken nose? An elf with facial scars and a Freddy Mercury moustache? A qunari with asymmetrical horn breakage and bobbing adam’s apple?
“It’s whatever your fantasy is,” says Dragon Age: Inquisition producer Cameron Lee of the game’s character creation tools. “We want your character to be your character, rather than a fixed one we force upon you.”
Before the Fall Patch: long-awaited Battlefield 4 fixes due today on Origin
DICE will implement a “fairly massive” list of Battlefield 4 fixes today. You can tell the 1.16GB update’s a biggie because it has a name rather than a number: the Fall Patch will address many of the issues that’ve most irked players in recent months, including problems with the HUD, ‘netcode’, player movement and peering through reticules.
Might & Magic Heroes Online launch sees turn-based tactics and MMO convention collide
The Might & Magic Heroes series has been around long enough to make it through the confusing IV-V-VI middle stage of roman numeral sequalisation. And like any PC-only series that allows itself to get comfortable, it’s grown an MMO.
Might & Magic Heroes Online is a free-to-play strategy game for generals with names like L33royJank123. It’s launched in English-speaking browsers today.
Armored Warfare: why is Obsidian making a F2P tank game?
Over the last ten years, Obsidian has become synonymous with ambitious RPGs. In our own list of the 20 best RPGs on PC, Obsidian features three times, with Fallout: New Vegas, Knights of the Old Republic II and South Park: The Stick of Truth. And more recently, the studio has gone back to its classic CRPG roots with Pillars of Eternity, which Jeremy and I enjoyed quite a lot.
So what the heck are they doing developing a free-to-play armoured vehicle shooter, Armored Warfare, for Russian company, My.com? After sitting through a presentation on the game’s cooperative PvE mode, I’m still not certain.
Port Inspection: Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor
There was a bit of drama this week when both The Evil Within and Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor both revealed that they’d need staggering amounts of video RAM to run on their maximum, “intended” in the case of The Evil Within, settings.
So I’ve taken a bit of time to play Shadow of Mordor this morning and try and figure out exactly what’s going on. And I’m pleased to say that, if you were worried about the state of the Mordor port. Don’t be. It’s excellent.
Green Man Gaming to publish PC games in need as Green Man Loaded
Green Man Gaming are the digital distributors and PCGamesN chums who’ve made a success of themselves by not bullishly attempting to go head-to-head with Steam.
It’s a live-and-let-live approach that should serve them equally well in the world of publishing. Green Man Loaded is their new publishing wing, under which they hope to usher developers along the trap-laden road to market - without stealing their IP.
How Train Fever made money for its most feverish players
The tracks first laid for Transport Tycoon two decades ago were in need of urgent maintenance - and it finally came in the form of locomotion sim Train Fever. Swiss studio Urban Games wanted to recapture the spirit of Chris Sawyer’s love letter to logistics in full 3D, and sales over the last month suggest they’ve been largely successful. Urban shifted 30,000 copies in two weeks.
Some of Train Fever’s royalties will stay in Switzerland. Some will be sent to mystery investors with deep pockets. But a significant amount will be split between 651 of its players, in a quietly radical extension of the Kickstarter principle.
Windows 9 is no more. Windows 10 is now a thing
Microsoft have pulled an Nvidia. Windows 9 is now out, and Windows 10 is in; they wanted to call it Windows One, but they’ve done that already. It’ll run on just about every device, but won’t ignore the primary peripherals: the keyboard and mouse. You won’t have to worry about learning a new OS all over again either, as they want Windows 7 users to be familiar from the get go. Microsoft also want to pitch Windows 10 to businesses too:
“Windows 10 is going to be our greatest enterprise platform, ever.”
Dreamfall Chapters debuts on October 21st with its first episode: Reborn
A new developer diary for the Kickstarted Dreamfall Chapters has revealed the first episode will be released on October 21st. The company is currently in “crunch mode” to get everything ready for players, and give them the “best experience” possible. The first episode - which are dubbed as “books” - is named ‘Reborn’ - to signify main character, Zoe, and her awakening from her coma from the previous game.
Cities Skylines gets down to to basics in infrastructure demo video
Paradox - developers of transport extravaganza Cities in Motion - revealed back in Gamescom its new city sim: Cities Skylines. Today, we’ve managed to get a lengthy demo of what the basics of building a city really entails; laying down curvy roads and setting up windpower.
If you’ve still got that city building itch that you're desperate to scratch, you better take a look at the highlights below.
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