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Guns of Icarus Online overhauls progression and matching
The latest patch for Guns of Icarus Online is going to make it a great deal easier for characters to get better. The game's progression system has been completely overhauled, with level now tied to experience earned via matches rather than to achievements. This is accompanied by a reorganization of stats and traits and a bump in the level cap to 45, which will also bump existing characters and give them more levels to play around with. Said patch also improves the game's matchmaking system, which helps get players into the action more quickly while also providing a more balanced system for everyone. A new tutorial to introduce new players to the game and a spectator system that makes it easier to watch games unfold have also been added, giving players new and old alike plenty to enjoy. Check out the full patch notes or just steal a glance at the video showing off these new features past the break.
Here's part three of that Guns of Icarus post-mortem
Did you miss part one of Muse CEO Howard Tsao's ongoing post-mortem for Guns of Icarus? How about part two? All caught up now? Good, because Gamasutra has published part three. In the latest installment, Tsao shares lessons learned from two successful Kickstarters. "We realized that Kickstarter was amazing, and it would fundamentally change the relationship between developers and fans/players, but we couldn't have predicted how soon and how spectacularly," he writes.
Guns of Icarus postmortem on post-publisher challenges
If you're a Guns of Icarus fan, an indie fan, or just a gamer interested in the creative process, you should take a few minutes to read the ongoing dev diary from Muse CEO Howard Tsao and co-authors Eric Chung and Tim Doolen at Gamasutra. Part two was published this morning, and it tackles the dev team's development struggles in the aftermath of part one's publisher debacle. "Designs on paper are rarely any good until they're tested in some form," Tsao says. "Ultimately, everything begins with low fidelity (cards, dice, paper, and role play) prototypes but sometimes jumping straight into digital prototypes is required. At the time, it was important to move fast and find results quickly and in this it case meant one person going from ideation, designing interaction flow, to digital prototype. A combination of flexible responsibility, knowledge, and Unity's low barrier to entry made it possible."
PAX East 2014: Guns of Icarus Online's expanding environment
PAX East taught me that I am apparently not the right person to pilot a ship in Guns of Icarus Online. In my defense, I was trying to do what my ship was designed to do. The co-op mode on display is all about delivering supplies to a final point on a map, and I was flying the fast scoutship. So I figured, why bother slowing down? Why not just jink left and right and avoid anything in my way? As it turns out, the reasons to not do that are quite simple: The boss encounter at the cargo dropoff requires two people, and you need to actually retain control of the point rather than just wing to it at full speed. So I may have sent my ship crashing to the ground in a tumble of burning wood and broken steel. (By "may have" I of course mean "I definitely did this.") This isn't a failing on the part of the game, just a failing on my part for trying to bull-rush through something. But it's still fun; the game gives players a variety of things to do while they're busy crewing the various stations across the ship. And it's just one place the developers are going with the game.
PAX Prime 2013: Guns of Icarus Online's new Adventure mode, features, and PS4 version
Guns of Icarus' Online's concept of crewing airships in a steampunk future might be a little strange at first, but it's something that Muse Games is really passionate about. I linked up with founder Howard Tsao yesterday at PAX Prime to talk about the game's upcoming Adventure Mode, which will add new context to battles over the unfriendly skies. The new online mode won't replace Guns of Icarus' current lobby-based multiplayer mode, but it will add new content, including missions and factions to provide a backdrop for actions in the game's steampunk world.
Guns of Icarus Online coming to PlayStation 4
Muse Games is bringing Guns of Icarus Online to the PlayStation 4. Muse's Howard Tsao penned the announcement post on the official PlayStation blog earlier this week, and it's worth a read since it details the game's long and often arduous three-year journey from napkin sketch to PC release. There's no official date attached to the the game's PS4 debut yet, but you can keep your eyes peeled via the game's website. You can also see what we thought of Muse's dieselpunk airship extravaganza when we checked it out late last year.
Guns of Icarus adds new ship, upgrades chat and more
Now might be a good time to check in with Guns of Icarus Online if you're fond of steampunk airships or blowing them out of the sky. Muse Games' buy-to-play title recently updated to version 1.3 of its client, which adds a new ship type, a new gun, and plenty of upgrades to the game. The new ship is called the Mobula, and Muse says that it's ideal for both standoffs and pursuit. "Of course, this comes at a price," the company's press release says. "Its slow turning speed makes it vulnerable to flanking maneuvers, and its repair points are tucked away inside the hull." Also new this patch is the ability to form parties, assemble crews prior to entering a match, and a "bigger, better, faster, stronger" chat system. Various other systems have been tweaked, and we highly recommend visiting the official website to find out how.
First Guns of Icarus Online adventure mode Kickstarter goal funded
Muse Games has issued a press release celebrating the successful Kickstarter campaign for Guns of Icarus Online's new adventure mode. The update will add "large-scale PvE combat, player and ship progression, and much more" to the co-op airship title. Muse is breaking down its ambitious plans into a series of funding pillars, the first of which is the AI director that will enable co-op and solo PvE missions to go along with the game's existing PvP. Next up is a world map with towns, trade routes, player factions, and a "fully dynamic resource economy." After that, Muse will focus on a set of world-building tools. Guns of Icarus Online is a steampunk-flavored airship combat game with a buy-to-play business model. You can learn more about the adventure mode goals at the project's Kickstarter page and more about the current live game via Massively's hands-on. [Source: Muse press release]
Guns of Icarus looking to kickstart persistent world expansion
If you're a fan of Guns of Icarus Online -- and you should be -- you'll probably want to know about Muse's new Kickstarter project. The steampunk multiplayer airship battler has been playable for quite a while now, but the dev team has long sought to fill out the game and the world by adding something called Adventure Mode. Adventure Mode will basically expand the lobby-based live game to a persistent world complete with towns, trading, and player factions. Enter Kickstarter, which Muse is currently leveraging to the tune of a $100,000 goal. As the project page notes, Muse is "one of the only studios to successfully complete a Kickstarter campaign and deliver on our promise with a shipped game that's currently being played by people all over the world." [Thanks Angela!]
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Guns of Icarus Online
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We believe they deserve a wider audience with the Joystiq Indie Pitch: This week, Howard Tsao, founder of Muse Games, talks semi-MMO, steampunk, co-op airship battles with Guns of Icarus Online. What's your game called and what's it about?Our game is called Guns of Icarus Online. It's a multiplayer airship-to-airship combat game where you battle it out in the skies on customizable ships with your friends and against other players, all set in a steampunk- and dieselpunk-inspired post-apocalyptic wasteland. Imagine if World War I never really ended; that's where we're at.How does Guns of Icarus Online continue the narrative and gameplay of Guns of Icarus?In the original game Guns of Icarus, you take on the role of Gabriel, who is basically an early pioneer of airship flight centuries after the Great War has laid waste to civilization. He builds his own airship out of scavenged parts and goes traveling across this hardscrabble post-apocalyptic landscape, visiting scattered settlements and fighting off sky pirates the whole way. Even though he doesn't survive the voyage, his doomed flight is an inspiration to the people he encounters, a brush of contact with the wider world and a sign of hope that things can get better.Guns of Icarus Online takes place almost 100 years later, when Gabriel has become a legendary, almost mythic figure. With the rapid development of airship flight in the intervening years, the once-isolated towns have come into much closer contact, bringing both trade and warfare. It's a time of unprecedented prosperity, but also renewed conflict. In Guns of Icarus Online you are one of this new class of aeronauts, young men and women who have left their hometowns behind and signed up to serve aboard one of these airships in search of glory and adventure, seeking your fortune in the skies.%Gallery-178189%
Guns of Icarus Online launches its airships along with a trailer
Players looking forward to aerial combat aboard steampunk-inspired airships can now lift off and begin the battle. Guns of Icarus Online, a stand-alone Steam-based sequel to browser title Guns of Icarus, has officially launched. The game mixes team-based strategy and first-person shooter action, and with a crew compliment of up to four players, each airship is equipped to meet any challenge in the post-apocalyptic sky. Howard Tsao, owner of Muse Games, emphasized that the launch is only the beginning. He stated, "We have a great many promises yet to fulfill over the coming months as we continue to add content and improve player experience. The game is fun, making it even more fun will be our priority from this point forward and everything from new ships, weapons, costumes, maps, game modes, and PvE content is coming." Check out some images of the newly-launched game in the gallery below, and catch a glimpse of the action in the trailer after the break. [Source: Muse Games press release]%Gallery-169650%
Guns of Icarus Online soars to October 29 launch, pre-order now
Guns of Icarus Online, also known as That Video Game Where You Shoot Things From A Steampunk Dirigible, launches on October 29 and is available now for pre-order on Steam, for PC and Mac.Guns of Icarus Online is on sale during the pre-order frenzy, selling at 25 percent off for the standard edition, at $15. The Collectors Edition is 24 percent off, for $25, and includes the Captain's Costume Pack and the soundtrack. A Collectors Edition four-pack is also 24 percent off, for $35. Since Guns of Icarus Online is a team-based multiplayer game (on steampunk dirigibles, did we mention?), the four-pack is good for bullying friends into playing with you.All pre-orders provide instant access to the beta. Get flying, folks.%Gallery-166178%
Guns of Icarus to launch October 29th, new trailer released
Muse Games is pushing the launch of its steampunk airship combat title Guns of Icarus back by a month. The indie offering will debut on October 29th, and the firm is currently accepting pre-orders that offer immediate beta access. The team bills its game as the "first cooperative airship combat game mixing together first-person shooter action with team-based strategy." Crews of up to four players may band together on a ship, filling the Captain, Gunner, or Engineer roles and taking on other crews in the post-apocalyptic unfriendly skies. Muse recently added a spectator mode, costumes, achievements, stat tracking, and friend lists to the game. The firm has also produced a launch trailer, which you can view after the cut. [Source: Muse Games press release]
Guns of Icarus Online flies this August for PC and Mac, using Steam power
Guns of Icarus Online, a steampunk airship combat simulator, which was shown this past weekend at PAX East, will launch sometime in August."We plan to be in closed beta until middle of July, then we'll be opening the game up to more players," Muse Games founder Howard Tsao told Joystiq. "And our current target launch date is middle of August for PC/Mac on Steam."The game features a class-based crew of four flying airships, using a variety of gun emplacements and airship types to blast others out of the sky. The methodical PvP battles are expected to support 32 players.Tsao tells us the closed beta, which should be ready in a couple weeks, will invite Kickstarter supporters, with info on more invites posted on their site as capacity grows.
PAX East 2012: Guns of Icarus announces closed beta, details adventure mode
STEAMPUNK! AHH! OK, now that that's out of my system, let's talk Guns of Icarus Online. This morning, I had the pleasure of meeting with some of the folks from Muse Games at PAX East to talk about the studio's upcoming steampunk-airship-battling title. The title is still in alpha testing, though it will be springing into the early stages of closed beta at some point in the next couple of weeks. At launch, the title will be focused on competitive, match-made PvP matches a la first-person-shooters. But this is Massively, so let's talk MMOs. Strictly speaking, I'd have to say Guns of Icarus Online isn't one -- at least not yet. After the initial match-based "skirmish" mode of the game is released, the studio will continue to support it by slowly adding in "adventure" mode features. Adventure mode is more akin to a traditional MMO in that it provide a more open world for players to navigate and explore, tradeskill and economy systems, missions, towns, and settlements, all within a persistent world. While it remains to be seen whether the game will ultimately become a "true" MMO, this stylish foray into the steampunk/dieselpunk genres is definitely one to watch. Massively's on the ground in Boston during the weekend of April 6-8, bringing you all the best news from PAX East 2012. Whether you're dying to know more about TERA or PlanetSide 2 or any MMO in between, we aim to have it covered!
New Guns of Icarus video shows off cooperative airship battles
Remember Guns of Icarus? If not, let's recap: small indie studio, steampunk, airships. That probably rings a few bells, and you'll be happy to know that the dev team has parlayed a successful Kickstarter campaign into an extended development cycle. As a result, we have a spiffy new video that shows off cooperative airship combat. Muse Games also wants you to know that you can download the single-player game (and sign up for the multiplayer beta) at its official website. Before you go, check out the full clip after the cut.
Muse announces Guns of Icarus, unveils CG trailer
Browser MMOs are a dime a dozen these days, and sometimes it seems like there's a new one popping up on an hourly basis. Consequently, first impressions are everything in such a crowded marketplace, and if its CG trailer is anything to go by, Guns of Icarus may raise a few eyebrows when it launches in 2012. The game is built around the popular Unity engine and features a post-apocalyptic world that mixes steampunk, classic aviation, and an adventure-serial feel that evokes the seminal Xbox shooter Crimson Skies (and perhaps a gritty, aerial homage to Indiana Jones). Gameplay centers around your airship, and dev studio Muse Games says that "moving from town to town, trading and collecting resources, outfitting your ship, and battling deadly pirates" are just a few of the things you'll do. Your airship can also feature additional player crewmembers (or NPCs if you're a loner), and the game's skill and leveling system looks to make each crewman both unique and versatile. "Expect to find your pilot putting out a fire or your mechanic manning the guns at any moment," says Muse's press release. You can check out the new CG trailer as well as a brief gameplay video after the break.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Guns of Icarus
Being a giant, beloved video game site has its downsides. For example, we sometimes neglect to give independent developers our coverage love (or loverage, if you will) as we get caught up in AAA, AAAA or the rare quintuple-A titles. To remedy that, we're giving indies the chance to create their own loverage and sell you, the fans, on their studios and products. This week we talk with Howard Tsao, Founder of MuseGames, about his steampunk airship title Guns of Icarus. How did you or your company get started? We started exploring the virtual world and 3D chat spaces for a different company, and we became an early adopter of the Unity engine. Along the way, we saw avatars wearing less and less, and decided that we didn't have it in ourselves to push the boundary further in that direction. So we took what we learned with Unity to start making 3D games for the web and other platforms, which is what we are really passionate about. Why did you want to make games? It really is just passion and the belief that we can add something new to the world of gaming, whether that something is game play, visuals, etc.
