simulation
Latest
Football Manager 2013 was pirated over 10.1 million times, once in the Vatican
Sports Interactive studio head Miles Jacobson revealed that Football Manager 2013 was illegally downloaded over 10.1 million times in a talk at the London Games Conference, MCVUK reported. He explained that the cracked software featured a "Home" flaw, which let the developer track the IP addresses of all pirates. Among the regions Jacobson discovered the illegal downloads in, China led the group with 3.2 million downloads followed by Turkey with 1.05 million copies of the game. Jacobson added that one person in the 547,000 that illegally downloaded Football Manager 2013 in Italy was located in Vatican City. While the developer said it would "be ridiculous to think" that every illegal download equated to one lost sale of the game, he estimated that 176,000 sales were lost to pirating, and that 1.74 percent of downloaders would have potentially purchased Football Manager 2013 had the cracking software not been available. Putting it in tangible terms, Jacobson equated the lost sales to $3.7 million in revenue that Sports Interactive and publisher Sega won't see. Jacobson was previously optimistic in November 2012 about the new anti-piracy measures placed in the game, noting that Football Manager 2012 wasn't pirated until two weeks after release. By comparison, Football Manager 2013 went 119 days without being cracked, the official LGC Twitter account noted during Jacobson's talk.
Game Dev Story creator launches Pocket Harvest on Android
Game Dev Story developer Kairosoft launched its latest creation, Pocket Harvest, on Android recently. The game costs $4.99 (£2.99 in the UK) and is in the same style as Kairosoft's other creations. The farming simulator has players planting and cultivating produce like strawberries and lettuce as well as raising animals like sheep and chickens to create wool and eggs. The game also challenges players with refining their crops so they win awards, which attracts local grocers that opt to place orders with their farms. Like other city and life simulators, players can develop attractions to bring tourists into town, building on their farm's bottom line. After developing a top-tier racing team, a game development studio, a soccer team and now a farm, we wonder what "story" Kairosoft will place us in next.
Beta access now available for Football Manager 2014 pre-orders
Those that pre-ordered soccer management sim Football Manager 2014 can now access the game's beta version on Steam. Participating in the beta program gives players a head start on developing athletes in their franchises, as all progress made in players' management careers is saved, carrying over to the full version of the game. Football Manager 2014 includes cross-save support for those that own a copy of the PlayStation Vita version. Additionally, the simulation game will launch for the first time on Linux and come with Steam Workshop support for players to create and share custom roster databases, graphics and skins. Football Manager 2014 will launch on October 31.
Kerbal Space Program update opens the R&D wing for business
Kerbal Space Program has issued a new update, version 0.22, adding research and development functionality and scientific experiments to Career mode. The data gathered through research and scientific experiments furthers the player's abilities by unlocking access to new parts for potential spacecraft and space stations. New experiment modules, running a variety of experiments accruing even more data, may then be built to conduct tests around all celestial bodies found within the Kerbal solar system. This new functionality is available in the Career mode, where players can find a more structured introduction to Squad's indie space simulator's mechanics. Career mode is a new compliment to Kerbal Space Program's unguided Sandbox mode tasking players with building space craft and shooting them into space – a real trial and error game type that made up the foundation of the initial game. The 0.22 update also adds a lot of other minor features and tweaks to the existing game. Feel free to pore over it all in the patch notes past the break. Kerbal Space Program, Steam's first Early Access game, is available for the PC, Mac and Linux for $23 – both through Steam and the official KSP website.
Scattered Shots: Hunter Theorycrafting 101
Every Thursday, WoW Insider brings you Scattered Shots for beast mastery, marksmanship and survival hunters. This week, your host Adam Koebel, aka Bendak will be discussing how to maximize your performance through theorycrafting. Whenever someone asks me what my secret is for topping the meters, I always tell them it's because I push my buttons harder than anyone else in the raid. Most of them think I'm joking, but it's the truth. High DPS players are keyboard abusers who don't miss a single global cooldown. This is the biggest factor in your DPS, but optimization through theorycrafting still matters -- it's like icing on the cake. If you're scared of a little math, then don't be. There are fancy tools that do everything for you now such as Zeherah's Hunter DPS Analyzer, Simulation Craft and Ask Mr. Robot. Aside from squeezing out a little bit of extra DPS, theorycrafting will help you understand your abilities and how they contribute to your DPS which is going to result in better damage in the real world.
Gaijin records real tank, artillery sounds for War Thunder's ground game
You may have heard about War Thunder's ongoing ground combat additions to its primary flight sim experience. What you probably haven't heard -- or seen -- is the Gaijin devs recording various real-world tank and artillery sounds that add to the game's authenticity. A new video released on the firm's YouTube channel says that over a dozen tanks were recorded "including 40 Stug, Panzer 3 and 4, Sherman M4A3, M4A1, and others." Click past the cut to see the crew and all the heavy artillery hard at work. And don't forget to check out the War Thunder website to see the newly released tank trees! [Thanks hilaryminc!]
Space combat sim Skyjacker to include full co-op play, mission creation suite
Digitilus re-launched its Kickstarter project for Skyjacker, a "first-person, free-roaming space combat simulator." The developer is seeking $150,000 by November 22 to fund the space-faring game. Skyjacker puts players in the role of a space pirate, completing story campaign missions and looting convoys from the game's 10 alien civilizations, upgrading their piecemeal ships along the way. The PC, Mac and Linux game features co-op play, so friends can join in on the space combat campaigns, as well as session-based competitive multiplayer modes such as team deathmatch and capture the flag. Digitilus crafted a mission creation toolset for players to use as well, offering the ability to draw up game scenarios for others to play. While Digitilus successfully raised $36,131 for its Starship Constructor app in January, the full game saw one failed crowdfunding campaign conclude in July 2012, and another cancelled in May 2012. Both of those campaigns had $200,000 goals, one of which rallied $128,238 in support, so the developer's lowered expectations this time around may prove fruitful.
Football Manager 2014 launching October 31, adds Vita cross-save support
Football Manager 2014 will launch October 31, Sports Interactive announced. The game will make its way to Linux for the first time, and will also include cross-save support for those with a copy of the Vita version. The soccer management sim will feature Steam Workshop support, so players can share game skins and graphics as well as custom roster databases and game scenarios. Football Manager 2014 includes a "zoom in/zoom out" option for players to better adjust the game's interface, making Steam Big Picture mode a better fit for the game for those looking to get their soccer management fix in the living room.
Project Loon simulations test internet from above the clouds, virtually
To make sure Google's Project Loon is more internet via balloon than pie in the sky, the search giant turned to data simulations. Loon Rapid Evaluator Dan Piponi's goal was to determine the possibility of a "nicely spaced flock of balloons" to provide reliable airborne internet. Proper spacing is key for this because if the gaps are too wide, coverage will be spotty -- the opposite of what the initiative is hoping to achieve. He iterated "hundreds" of times using publicly available wind info to visualize how different stratospheric factors would affect balloon travel and found that yes, they could indeed be evenly distributed. Piponi posited that in the future, the balloons could have information about what other balloons are doing around them and adjust spacing on their own, accordingly. If you ask us, that sounds like the internet of things is taking to the clouds.
SimCity for Mac arrives with issues that prevent installation and gameplay (update: issues resolved)
SimCity for Mac is finally here, and needless to say, many have waited years for this day. Unfortunately, the arrival isn't going terribly smoothly for some, with user complaints ranging from installation issues to the game running only in a windowed mode. Put simply, SimCity for Mac is unplayable for some, and it's an unfortunate situation that's eerily reminiscent of its launch on the PC. A Maxis spokesperson tells us that its live support team is actively working with players that've encountered trouble, and for what it's worth, installation of SimCity for Mac went off without a hitch on our end. In other words, don't lose hope; if you're looking to avoid potential frustration, however, you might want to give the developers a chance to iron out these launch day issues. Update: Maxis has issued the following statement about the issues: "We are pleased to advise that the installation-related issues some players experienced with SimCity on Mac have been resolved."
SimCity for Mac arrives on August 29th
The splines of SimCity for Mac have been reticulating for longer than many mayors would like, but that's about to change come August 29th, when the game officially hits online servers for download. The release of the Mac version -- which costs $40 for the standard edition, or $60 for the deluxe version -- allows EA to finally make good on its promise of cross-platform, multi-player city building. If you happen to own both a Mac and a PC, you'll find that one purchase allows you to download both versions from EA's Origin store. Naturally, we're crossing our fingers that SimCity for Mac will have a smoother launch than its PC counterpart, but it seems that we'll have a definitive answer by month's end.
Unreal Engine 3 licensed to contractor for US Army training sims
Epic Games' Unreal Engine 3 is now in the hands of Intelligent Decisions, a company that creates virtual training simulations for the US Army Research, Development and Engineering Command. Intelligent Decisions wants to use UE3 to polish the movements of autonomous avatars in its Dismounted Soldier Training System, and add haptic feedback from incoming fire, full skeletal controls and environmental variation, VP of Simulation and Training Clarence Pape says. Intelligent Decisions secured the license from Applied Research Associates, Virtual Heroes and Epic via the Unreal Government Network, a program that handles government contracts for the Unreal engine. Insert your own "gears of war" joke here.
EA Maxis folks leave to open new indie sim studio, Jellygrade
Jellygrade, a new indie studio dedicated to creating simulation experiences on mobile platforms, has been formally announced today. Jellygrade is made up of former EA Maxis creative director Ocean Quigley, former engineering lead Andrew Willmott and former lead gameplay engineer Dan Moskowitz. In a tweet, Quigley says this first mystery project is about the dawn of life. "We're making a simulation about the dawn of life on earth; about lava, water, rock and the emergence of the first primordial creatures." Nothing else about this first project is known, though Jellygrade promises it'll have something to show soon.
Battle of the Bulge teased for iPhone
Developer Shenandoah Studio has teased an upcoming release of Battle of the Bulge for iPhone via Vine, of all things. You can watch the full (six-second) video below. As you can see above, the studio's great strategy is definitely coming to the iPhone. Shenandoah notes that the update will make the game universal, so if you've already bought this great World War II strategy title on the iPad, you'll be able to play it on your iPhone as well. Battle of the Bulge is an excellent title (there's a free version to try, if you haven't played it yet), and we'll look forward to seeing what differences, if any, the game has on a smaller screen.
Take-Two registers '2K Golf Links' domains
EA's Tiger Woods series may have some competition. It would appear Take-Two is preparing to tee off with a golf series of its own, Internet sleuth supererogatory discovered. A pair of Take-Two domain registrations for "Links2KGolf.com" and "2KGolfLinks.com" were recently made through a third-party company called Network Solutions. Now Take-Two could be making a brand-new series or the publisher may have acquired the rights to the Links series from Microsoft – supererogatory thinks it's the latter. We've followed up with Take-Two and Microsoft for clarification and will update this post accordingly.
Costco UK selling full-size F1 simulator for just £90,000
Costco UK is selling an FMCG International F1 racing simulator for £89,999.89 (including delivery and installation!), or $138,338.83, which is still significantly cheaper than owning an actual Formula 1 car. We also assume it's probably a tiny bit safer and easier to maintain, but that's just a hunch. The body is available in "your own choice of colour" and is made out of various combinations of composite materials, alloys and carbon fiber, with real wheels, tyres, chromed-out exhaust tips and everything. There's no engine or transmission, obviously, but it does come with one of those totally awesome detachable steering wheels. The gaming portion of the rig is powered by an Intel Core i7, an SSD of unknown capacity, 16 gigs of RAM and a non-specified graphics card outputting to three 23-inch adjustable TFT monitors. Meanwhile, sweet jams are pumped through a 5.1 audio system into both the car's body and your body, since the subwoofer is located directly behind the driver's seat.
Sequoia supercomputer breaks simulation speed record, 41 times over
While we've seen supercomputers break records before, rarely have we seen the barrier smashed quite so thoroughly as by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Sequoia supercomputer. Researchers at both LLNL and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have used planet-scale calculations on the Blue Gene/Q-based cluster to set an all-time simulation speed record of 504 billion events per second -- a staggering 41 times better than the 2009 record of 12.2 billion. The partnership also set a record for parallelism, too, by making the supercomputer's 1.97 million cores juggle 7.86 million tasks at once. If there's a catch to that blistering performance, it's not knowing if Sequoia reached its full potential. LLNL and RPI conducted their speed run during an integration phase, when Sequoia could be used for public experiments; now that it's running classified nuclear simulations, we can only guess at what's possible.
Blood Pact: On the usefulness of SimulationCraft
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Pact for affliction, demonology, and destruction warlocks. This week, Megan O'Neill will tell you how she became the princess warlock of a continent called Pandaria by switching to saur'lock spec. You know me: I play a warlock spec that starts with a 'D' only over several dozen copies of my cold, dead body. I'm diehard affliction whether the spec is on top or not. But that doesn't mean I don't ever pay attention to the DPS simulations. I just think the vocal playerbase hedges their bets a little too much on what comes out of the BiS heroic simulations. Fortunately for me, Ghostcrawler also feels players put too much emphasis on SimulationCraft when it comes to spec balance in PvE. Does this mean SimulationCraft is not valuable? No, it just means that players should be more aware of what's going into a particular simulation and how to interpret whatever data comes out.
Rumor: EA Maxis takes 'full responsibility' for SimCity issues via internal memo
An internal memo from Maxis general manager Lucy Bradshaw details the state of the developer, who is hard at work trying to get SimCity fully operational in North America. "SimCity is an online game and critics and consumers have every right to expect a smooth experience from beginning to end," she wrote. "I and the Maxis team take full responsibility to deliver on our promise. Trust that we're working as hard as possible to make sure everyone gets to experience the amazing game we built in SimCity."Polygon claims to have the internal memo in question, presented in a series of quotes. It claims that the issues experienced in North America are starting to spread overseas. "It's also now evident that players across Europe and Asia are experiencing the same frustration." It also claims 700,000 cities were built in the first 24 hours after launch.Yesterday, EA Maxis disabled certain non-critical features in SimCity in an attempt to help lighten the load on the servers, which are also growing in number. SimCity is dependent upon a constant online connection. Being an unavoidable part of the experience, server woes have caused us to hold back our review.Update: An EA representative has confirmed with Joystiq the internal memo in fact leaked today; however, this representative did not go into any further detail than that.
Project Holodeck gets a virtual hands-on ahead of launch (video)
The team behind Project Holodeck has a daunting task ahead: it has to combine a virtual reality headset, two PlayStation Move controllers and a Razer Hydra into a unified VR input system that somehow feels natural. From what we've seen in Road To VR's hands-on with the system, the group might just pull that off. There's no mistaking the sheer amount of equipment strapped to your head -- not to mention the Lenovo laptop on your back -- but the effort does create an immersive virtualization of the player's body where walking, arm movements and body lean all work more or less as you'd expect. Although significant stretches of development lie ahead, including fully fleshed-out games and the eventual use of an Oculus Rift, there's already teases of potential commercialization and a second generation that would include lighter, sleeker components. Those curious enough to watch two grown men stage a living room swordfight (and provide insightful answers afterwards) can watch the battle after the break, and head to the source for more details.
