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Steam Playtest makes it much easier to beta test PC games
Steam has served as a digital game store on PC for many years, but managing test groups, demos and reviews has generally relied on a system of demos and key distribution that leaves plenty of holes for scammers and other bad actors. Now Valve has launched Steam Playtest, so that developers can invite people and control access directly via the Steam store page for their game. Valve writes that this isn’t meant to replace Early Access beta testing, and can even be used alongside it, but unlike Early Access, this feature is free to use for developers and customers and doesn’t support sales.
RIFT gives the new Steppes of Infinity Conquest map a spin
This past weekend, RIFT players and devs alike jumped into the new Steppes of Infinity Conquest to try out the PvP map on the test server. On the forums, a dev gave players an idea of what to expect from the map, saying that teams will be ferrying stones between upgradable forts for points. However, once 1,750 player deaths occur, players have a five-minute timer to score as much as possible followed by loot for the winners. The devs followed up the playtest with a peek at some of the upcoming goodies for the game, including an Umbral Budgie mount, a mech mount, and a new powerful focus.
Camelot Unchained Q&A talks box copies, name reservations, and stretch goals
The community got to kick several questions at the Camelot Unchained team lately, the answers to many of which were returned with gusto in a new Q&A post. Some of the topics included boxed copies of the game being limited for collectors only, name reservations being done on a first-come basis through Founder's Points, and additional funding stretch goals for developing the Depths and adding more team members to the project. The magic system is coming along as well: "Mark [Jacobs] has been writing and editing the magic and combat systems documents and we have had team meetings to give him feedback. Once we have these systems to a point where the team feels that they are exciting and workable, then we can start releasing details to the community." The team also gave its monthly update regarding the development of the game. Special mentions were given to work being done on the archery system and preparation for the January playtest.
Valve looking for hardware testers, rate how well you like Valve first
Valve is seeking people to test out some of its hardware prototypes, along with released and unreleased games. Right now its looking for people around Valve's offices, in the Seattle or Bellevue area, but it may conduct remote testing in the future, so everyone is invited to fill out a playtester survey.The survey asks, among other questions, how many years you've been playing games, for your favorite game, which difficulty you typically play on, your overall impression of Valve games, if you get motion sickness when playing first-person shooters and who the beneficiary on your life insurance policy is. OK, we made that last one up, but coming from the company that created Aperture Science, it's not too outlandish.Looks like Valve is getting the ball rolling on its oft-rumored hardware-distribution arm. Which might in fact be a real arm that distributes hardware. You just never know with Valve.
Valve is ready for you to test its hardware prototypes, has a handy survey
In what is assuredly the inauspicious beginnings of an alternate reality Aperture Science, Valve Software is asking interested parties to take a brief survey which may result in being the first people outside of the company to get hands-on time with Valve's hardware prototypes. Additionally, participants will get a chance to playtest "both released and unreleased versions of our games." Putting the two together, it sounds an awful lot like you'll be trying existing Valve games with new means of input. For now, Valve's only seeking folks in the Seattle/Bellevue, Washington region of the US, but that may expand remotely "in the future." Perhaps in an upcoming hardware beta? We can't be sure! It's unclear when the survey sign-up period will end, but we've asked Valve for more info. Let's just say we'd suggest not putting it off. Click here to take the survey.
NYC: Come play SpyParty with Chris Hecker at NYU
Back at PAX, game developer Chris Hecker had his innovative project, SpyParty, on hand for showgoers to try out. Justin loved it, and now those of us in the Northeast who couldn't make it to Seattle earlier this year will be able to get our hands on it, as Hecker is holding an open play session today at New York University's Game Center (not to be confused with Apple's virtual Game Center). From 1–7PM, Hecker will host the hands-on session in the Game Center's Open Library at 721 Broadway, followed by a talk about the game wherein he'll ask for player feedback and discuss development. He'll also be interviewed by Game Center director (and Drop7 creative lead) Frank Lantz. Hecker says this will be "the last playtest for awhile," so we'd suggest jumping on the chance while you can. And if all that wasn't enough to entice you, yes, refreshments will be served. Head past the break for all the specifics (and the gorgeous full-size art for the event).
Los Angeles residents invited to playtest Ghost of Sparta
If you live in Los Angeles, and are at least 18 years old, and you know your way around a God of War game, and you're capable of signing a Non-Disclosure agreement, then this is one heck of a coincidence. Sony is currently looking for people matching that very description to come check out Kratos' next handheld adventure: God of War: Ghost of Sparta, this Thursday. To apply, just email SCEA Santa Monica with your name, address, phone number, and whether you'd prefer to join in the 11 a.m. to noon session, or the 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. session. We suggest going with the first one, so that you don't have to see them cleaning up the goat offal left over from their bacchanalian lunchtime feast.
Champions Online gearing up for Revelation playtest
There was quite a stir when Champions Online first announced their new region of Vibora Bay, with a lot of negative feelings getting voiced. That was mollified when it transformed into its current form as Champions Online: Revelation, a mini-expansion free to all players of the game promising a new area, new enemies, and new plots to uncover. The wait is nearly over, and that means all the joy of testing out the new features before they go live, as the game has just announced a special playtest event with the development team on Thursday, March 11th. Running from 4-7 PM PST (that's 1-4 PM EST for those on the opposite coast), the event will (understandably) be taking place on the public test server. It's a chance both to hang out with the dev team and get an idea of what the new area will play like, with the added bonus of knowing that the people who know the area inside and out will be right there for any questions. Keep your eyes open for the event, as Champions Online will no doubt have quite a bit to reveal during the test.
Warhammer Online announces 1.3.3 patch tests
It's been a dance of extremes on Warhammer Online of late, mixing up good news and rather unsettling news -- but did you come to the game to bite your nails and be nervous? Or did you start playing to lay waste? Assuming the latter, there's some good news to be had in the near future, as two mass playtests are scheduled to occur within the next week on the public test server, Warpstone. Both are testing features slated for 1.3.3, which implies that this patch is not so far off on the horizon. Both tests will start at 8 PM EST (that's 5 PM for those of you on the other coast). December 1st will see the test of the War Report, which was explained in the November newsletter to be a new service helping players see what was taking place nearby and jump immediately to the conflict. Two days later, December 3rd will be the kick-off of a mass battle stability test, also featuring the new graphical improvements slated for 1.3.3. The announcement also mentions the possibility of winning an Enslaved Manticore or an Imperial Griffon Mount, although details are not given. Whatever the future holds for Warhammer Online, it's nice to get a chance to test out the new features before they go live, so clear away some room on your schedule next week.
Champions Online has a secret
And they're not going to tell you! However, you can probably make a few guesses as to the secret if you haven't already, when you participate in their secret playtest tomorrow. Champions Online Community Team member David "Daeke" Bass posted this interesting piece of news today: "We've got a big feature coming out next week, but we want your help to test it before then. We can't give too many details now..." When this super secret new feature hits the PTS tomorrow, it will not be as a timed event, so you can log in and take a look at your leisure. Don't have any speculation as to what it is yet? A few simple instructions on what to bring to the party might help. Daeke requests that you bring a 5-man team of level 40 players and interestingly, a Nemesis. If you want to participate you can either transfer your own characters over from the live server, or level up using the contact outside the Millennium City Powerhouse. Champions Online promises more information tomorrow -- we can't wait!
EVE Online Sovereignty playtest to be held on Friday, Oct 30
CCP Games is holding a play test of the new Sovereignty system in EVE Online on Friday, October 30th at 17:00 GMT/UTC on the Singularity test server. The devs are looking for players to jump in and help them fine tune Sovereignty for the Dominion expansion release, which is very much focused on this particular game mechanic. Interested parties are encouraged to show up early, as the devs want to give players a short demo of the new Sovereignty system beforehand. Also, they'll need to divide players into two teams, Red vs. Blue. EVE Quality Assurance dev CCP Tanis writes, "We will be testing several aspects of the new Sovereignty system, think of this kind of like a 'king of the hill' game in EVE." EVE players interested in helping out (and getting a feel for how the new system will work) should read through the info the devs have listed in the playtest announcement. The developers have stated the testing event will take two or three hours to complete. (As an aside, they're putting the Sovereignty game mechanics through its paces on Mischief Night... what could go wrong?)
Test out the new Shards of Destiny raid in EQ2
Shards of Destiny is EverQuest II's newest update, and with it will be coming a wash of new changes to the game. One of these new additions, however, will be a brand new raid that will feature the new scaling difficulty feature, also being introduced with Shards of Destiny.The new zone, Miragul's Planar Shard, is an x4 epic level raid, which means that it will require four groups of six people to complete. The raid is linked to Norrath through Everfrost through the same door that starts the other Miragul instance. The raid will offer a challenge to all players who enter its halls, but skilled groups can choose paths that will increase the difficulty of the instance even further.
D&DO Module 7: The Monk
When we first sign on to the special Demo server Turbine had set up to show us Module 7, we found that they'd created a level 16 Monk for us to play with. The Monk class has been in the pen-and-paper game for a long time, but DDO is introducing them with Module 7 as the tenth player class in the game.As we signed in and got set up, the folks from Turbine introduced themselves: Kate Paiz (who we've spoken with before) is the game's senior producer, and Stephen Muray, lead systems designer, and Jesse Smith, a content designer on the game, also joined us as well (Turbine's Director of Communications, Adam Mersky, also spoke up at the end of the session). As the screen loaded up, Paiz said that with the design of the Monk, they wanted to create a class that played significantly differently from anything they tried before. All of D&DO's combat is real-time (as in, you must press a button to attack, rather than just choosing a target), and the Monk's new abilities add a twist to this system. Basically, the Monk has four different stances (Ocean, Mountain, Wind and Sun -- the developers said they drew a lot of the Monk's lore from Dungeons and Dragons' Oriental Adventures supplement book), and each tweaks his or her abilities and attacks -- during most of the playtest, we used the Sun stance to try and do more damage, though the designers said that depending on how the Monk is specced, he would also be able to tank and or do some self heals and group buffs as the class trained up. All of the Monk's abilities are governed by Ki energy, which can be tseen in a meter below the health bar, and is simply earned by attacking. Muray mentioned that this was to counterweight the pen-and-paper Monk's "times-per-day" abilities -- in pen-and-paper D&D, many Monk abilities can only be performed once or twice a day, and while Ki energy still lets players perform Monk tricks much more often, they are still kept limited enough that choosing what abilities you use your Ki on is very important. "Did you just Abundant Leap across that gap? Nice!" But one of those abilities stands above the rest: Abundant Leap (a variant, we were told of Dimension Door in the pen-and-paper game). Starting around level 10 or 11, the Monk can perform a move (with a low cooldown costing a very low amoung of Ki) that pushes them forward in space with a quick jump -- as you hit the ability, the screen blurs, the Monk leans forward, and suddenly you're about 15 yards ahead of where you last stood. Abundant Leap was, during our session, the most fun thing to do as a Monk -- even in noncombat situations (and perhaps especially in noncombat situations), we were leaping and jumping as much as we could. Once, to cross a gap, we jumped, in midair hit the leap ability, and landed gracefully on the other side. It's a minor ability in the overall scheme of things, but Abundant Leap, almost more than any of the other moves we used, makes you feel like a Monk.Overall, the class seems fairly balanced, and Paiz said that they had put a lot of time trying to keep the class not only faithful to the pen-and-paper version, but also a dynamic part of the MMO environment. It should definitely be a fun reroll for everyone playing DDO, and for the players who level it all the way up, the later abilities should offer a lot of interesting twists on what the team has created in the game.After loading the game and playing with the new class for a bit, our game began in sight of a peaceful shrine to one of D&D's greatest heroes.Click here to continue the preview...
Watch this space, Epic Games plans to double in size
Having tired of rubbing actual elbows with fellow teammates, Epic Games' always verbose VP Mark Rein has confessed that he and his squad of developers have "pretty much run out of space" in the company's North Carolina base of operations, and that plans are well underway for an expansion to "at least" double the facility's current size. According to a report by North Carolina's News Observer, the devs coughed up a cool $1.57 million for the new office space, which will be positioned on a five-acre lot adjacent to Epic's current 31,000-square foot HQ.Headcount at Epic currently stands at 94, with current growth of around one new employee a month expected to continue for the next couple of years. So with all of this added space, will the developers get to spread out, and maybe quit knocking over each others' Mt. Dew as they reach for their mouse? Unlikely, as the report notes that the new facility will instead be largely used to house the numerous play testers that visit Epic, rather than have to rent out space down the street. We understand the need completely, though until the devs get additional space of their own we'd suggest judicious application of lids.
FASA wants you for Shadowrun LAN test
Microsoft and FASA Studios want you to test Shadowrun at their Redmond campus, that is if you are a l33t gamer. FASA is testing out some Shadowrun LAN style this Saturday, March 17th and needs some testers. The requirements for this four hour LAN session are that you need to be 18 years of age or older, live near the Redmond area, and either ranked in a major PC/console tournament or have a rank of 32+ in Halo 2. If you feel you are more than qualified then head over to the official forums for details on how to sign up. How freakin' cool is that? Being invited to the Redmond campus to play some Shadowrun with other competitive gamers in a LAN setting ... can you say sweetness? We only hope the few lucky gamers will be treated like royalty and showered with finest sodas and munchies Microsoft can buy.[Thanks, Eric]
Live in NYC? Playtest Bioshock and get paid
If you live in the New York City area and are interested in getting your hands on Bioshock before its release, then we have an opportunity for you. 2K Games sent out an invite for applications to playtest Bioshock this week in NYC. You will get paid roughly $10 an hour, get to play for three hours a day, and will be envied by all your friends and enemies. Just fill out the application after the break and email it to the address on the bottom. This is the time where we envy all of you who live in the NYC area ... lucky fellas.[Via Joystiq]
Thumbs up to Red Steel
The Official Nintendo Magazine (a European publication) recently got their hands on the very latest build of Red Steel, one of the most anticipated launch titles for the Wii. They seemed extremely impressed. Some of the major points: The controls of the game felt vastly improved, thanks to software tweaks by Ubisoft and the final remote/sensor bar hardware from Nintendo. The player is able to gesture toward defeated enemies to direct their movements. The graphics have also undergone improvements of epic proportions. The excessive hyperbole involves "forgetting everything you've seen" and the visuals are compared to a prettier version of Resident Evil 4. Which is really damn pretty. Apparently, the fire effects look really effin' good. Red Steel might just be the bar to which all other first-person shooters are measured. Why, it might even start ... a revolution.
Pokemon Diamond/Pearl impressions
So, we know that Pokemon: Diamond and Pearl sold more copies in one day than the number of plant cells in an oak tree. Certainly, the game must have blind, fanboyish loyalty excellent gameplay to warrant such sales! One of those silly "bilingual" people over at IGN got their hands on a copy, and relates his experiences accordingly.Though the basic gameplay remains the same, he makes special note of the addition of Wi-Fi battling and trading. The system appears to be streamlined and effective, and more importantly, it gives you twenty-something year old Pokemon players a way to actually trade and battle without publicly humilating yourselves.Well ... we're looking forward to that, anyway.
UK loves the Wii
Without much fanfare, Nintendo has been setting up Wii demo stations in foreign countries and inviting members of the local press and citizenry to attend. First was the event in Spain, and recently, a similar happening in the United Kingdom.Luckily, many of us are far better at speaking English than Spanish (pero puedo comprender fácilmente), so these reports are slightly more interesting. While there isn't much in terms of new information, just about everyone has been overwhelmingly positive about our little underdog. Check out the following reports. Entertainment Wise loves the Wii Cubed3 also loves the Wii Game...yeah, they love the Wii too For our Wii-loving brethren across the salty sea, God save the queen.
