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'World of Horror' brings MS Paint terror to Steam on February 20th
World of Horror, the "unsettling cosmic horror retro RPG" created by a dentist using MS Paint arrives on Steam Early Access February 20th. A full launch date for Nintendo Switch, Playstation 4 and Steam for PC and Mac OS X will be announced in late 2020, says publisher Ysbryd Games.
Virgin Orbit plans to send cubesats to Mars as early as 2022
Virgin Orbit plans to be the first private company to send cubesats to Mars. Today, it announced a partnership with the Polish satellite company SatRevolution and a dozen Polish universities to design a series of small-satellite missions to the Red Planet. The first cubesat could launch as early as 2022.
The Daily Grind: Do you put any stock in pre-release dev quotes?
This past week saw a couple of interesting developer quotes surface regarding ArcheAge and The Elder Scrolls Online. I don't know about you guys, but I filed them away for future reference, both because I'm cynical and because the topics covered are high on my personal pucker factor list. First up was ESO's Matt Firor, who stated that his game will deliver a "polished, lag-free launch experience." Then it was Trion's Evan Berman, who said that ArcheAge's "earned and crafted items are objectively superior" to what will be on offer in the title's western cash shop. I'd like to believe both of those quotes, naturally, but I didn't start playing MMOs yesterday. What about you, Massively readers? Do you put any stock in pre-release developer promises? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
The Nexus Telegraph: Talking a bit about WildStar's beta
As you probably saw last Thursday, the 1-15 beta experience in WildStar had its NDA lifted for us schlubs in the press, allowing us to chatter on quite a bit about the game. We've seen articles discussing the early levels, we've seen streams, and we've been treated to a surfeit of information on the game in its current beta state. I talked about all of that, and I want to talk about it some more because I am really excited about it. After playing the game through to 15, I've got a lot of stuff to look forward to as well as some definite criticisms. So above and beyond what I've already said, I want to talk some more about WildStar's beta.
War Thunder CEO discusses free-to-play's future on consoles
Free has become the entry point for a lot of games on both mobile devices and the computer. If you enjoy the game, you spend money, but it costs nothing to try it. But what about free-to-play on consoles? War Thunder is on the PlayStation 4 and is looking to the future, but as Gaijin Entertainment CEO Anton Yudintsev explains, the problem with a large number of free-to-play games is a matter of polish. Yudintsev goes on to compare his company's flagship game to Call of Duty and its record-breaking profits, stating, "We're not the greedy bastards here." He sees a bright future for free-to-play on consoles but also asserts that free developers have to step up to a higher level of refinement, delivering more polished mechanics to get past the initial bias of console gamers. Take a look at the full interview with Yudintsev for more elaboration on his views of the console makret compared to the PC market.
Stick and Rudder: On Star Citizen's so-called 'feature creep'
I'm going to address the allegations of "feature creep" in Star Citizen this week before misperceptions get further out of hand. If you haven't been following the sci-fi space sandbox in recent weeks, note that Chris Roberts and Cloud Imperium unveiled the title's $20 million stretch goal several days ago. Said goal is FPS combat on select lawless planets, but to hear some armchair developers tell it, Roberts is jumping the shark and gunning for PlanetSide 2 instead of simply adding some instanced bells and whistles onto what's affectionately known as the best damn space sim ever (BDSSE). If you're a Star Citizen backer or enthusiast, you already know everything I'm about to type. If you're casually lurking on the periphery of the game's fandom, though, join me after the cut for the most complete SC crash course that 1,700 words can buy.
The Repopulation introduces new event systems in its August updates
One of the major design goals of The Repopulation is a sense of a world in motion, shaped by players but also influencing player actions. August's updates to the game included the implementation of the Area and World Event systems, facilitating just that sort of gameplay. According to the most recent development blog, these systems track what's going on in the world, direct players to unexpected happenings, and then start to chain new events based off of those metrics. There are also NPCs in place to direct players toward hotbeds of activity. The game's other mechanics have also received further tuning. Cities can now benefit from new happiness-increasing structures and more flexible placement options, combat values have been tweaked, and new engagements have been added for siege warfare. There is also a variety of bugfixes and general balance tweaks, which can be found in the full patch notes included with the development blog.
The Mog Log: Final Fantasy XIV's buffet effect
A little under a year ago, I wrote a column about how Final Fantasy XIV needs to generate a wow factor. It needs to surprise people, have something unique and special to offer. There was a lot of stuff that felt distressingly rote, and that wasn't good. So what's changed since then? Well... not a huge amount, honestly. There are several features in the beta that feel like rehashes of things we've seen in other games, like FATEs and quests and instanced dungeons and so forth. Yet the game is clearly generating a wow factor, something that I'm happy about. This week, I want to throw that previous article out completely. Just kick it to the curb. As I've been playing the beta weekends and seeing what the game has to offer, I've realized that there was something I was completely failing to embrace and consider. It's the power of the buffet.
Black Desert Online closed beta slapped with delay
MMO players eagerly awaiting a taste of Black Desert Online will be waiting just a bit longer than expected; the closed beta phase has been delayed from sometime this summer to sometime this fall. Apparently, Pearl Abyss wanted a little bit of extra time to add some polish and shine to the beta, thus completely defying the point of having a beta in the first place. This delay appears to apply to the Korean closed beta test, and there's no clear word on what's going on with any of the game's other localizations beyond rumors of a 2015 launch.
New info and trailer for Techland's Hellraid
The first few details of Techland Hellraid have been revealed to Eurogamer's Polish site. The game is a horror/fantasy-style first-person RPG using Techland's Chrome Engine 5 to portray melee and spell-based fights with various demons, skeletons, and other bad guys. Just like Dead Island, the game will have four player archetypes that can work together, though they'll be classes rather than characters: Warrior, Paladin, Mage and Rogue. The game will be influenced by older games like "the first Quake, [and the] second Hexen or Diablo," says producer Marcin Kruczkiewicz. Hellraid's maps will be less open than Dead Island, and the experience system will be simpler, with skill trees that unlock as characters level up. Techland is currently looking for a publisher for the game, which it expects to have out this year on the Xbox 360, PS3, and the PC.
Dropbox adds six languages to its repertoire, throws in photo improvements for Android app
Dropbox's gone a little bit more global, adding Russian, Polish, Indonesian, Malaysian, and Traditional and Simplified Chinese language support to its file sharing service. The translated versions are available across Mac, PC, Linux and Dropbox's web interface, with an iOS version apparently in the works and "coming soon." Alongside those language credits, the Android app has also improved how it shows off the entirety of your photo collection, which should make the most of all those instant uploads.
Chillingo explains why devs need them
Chillingo COO Ed Rumley had a chat with GamesIndustry, and said that the iOS publisher (which is owned by EA) is more needed than ever by developers. Yes, he admits it's easier than ever for anyone to make and publish a game on the App Store, but the hard part comes after that. "We always remind people there is a huge difference between self-publishing a game and self-distribution," said Rumley. "The role of a publisher like Chillingo is to do far more than just upload a game onto an App Store. Today's market is extremely competitive, there are dozens or hundreds of games launching every day whether it's on iOS or Android or Windows. Our role is to help navigate this minefield." Rumley also said that more indie devs are coming to Chillingo than ever to get that help polishing and marketing their games, and I can attest, as a player, that it's been working for them. There is definitely a consistent level of quality in the games Chillingo's putting out, partly because of who they're choosing to work with, and partly because their experience on the App Store is so substantial at this point (don't forget, this is the company that published both Angry Birds and Cut the Rope, so they kind of know what they're doing by now). While obviously every game is different, Rumley did say that Chillingo is still getting heavily involved in app development, probably more so than a lot of traditional publishers out there. "Half of our role is getting a game ready for market. By that I mean making sure the balance is there, making sure the game is fun and making sure the monetization is correctly implemented. If you don't get that right, you're not going to have success acquiring consumers in the first place." Rumley added that the future of Chillingo isn't necessarily in publishing more games, it's in publishing on more platforms. The company has been making a push on Android recently, and Rumley says that the quality of iOS games as compared to the last few years has been getting better and better. But he also added that means the bar is raising higher and higher, even as he recommends that indie developers put an extra month of polish into their titles, then another month (and maybe more) on top of that. "It's a ruthless platform," said Rumley, "and there's just no room for anything except perfection."
Flameseeker Chronicles: Slow news week for Guild Wars 2
I've had it up to here, ArenaNet. We, your community, are dying for some real information. You can't keep putting out flimflam posts and expect us to be happy. We've given you our money, for goodness' sake, we deserve a -- Release date, you say? August 28th, you say? Well then.
The Daily Grind: Do you judge all MMOs by the same standard?
One of the challenges facing sandbox developers is the fact that recent themepark MMORPGs have raised the bar in terms of smooth launches and relatively bug-free experiences. Aside from EVE Online, most of the current sandboxes on offer are small indie affairs known as much for their rough-around-the-edges implementation as for their feature innovations. And yet, many so-called sandbox fans seem to expect games like Xsyon, Darkfall, and others to be as polished as World of Warcraft, RIFT, and other themeparks with fewer features and several times the budget. For today's Daily Grind, we'd like to know how much (if any) slack you cut developers of sandbox and/or indie MMOs. Do you hold these games to the same standard that you hold a triple-A themepark? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Daily iPad App: Kingdom Rush
I first played Kingdom Rush as a Flash game online, and it's very good in that context as well. It's pretty straightforward tower defense, in that you face a series of invading monsters, and need to build up towers to defend against them. But Kingdom Rush outgrows its simple tower defense roots with a number of intriguing innovations. Instead of just building towers, some towers provide you with actual units to control, and you can set rally points for them and line up your attack a little more carefully than just placing and forgetting. Kingdom Rush also makes heavy use of spells to mix the action up, and there's such a solid balance between spells and towers that more often than not, it's your spells that win the day. An actual talent upgrade tree helps hit that note a little harder: As you play, you earn talent points that can strengthen a certain part of your game, such as beefing up your ranged towers, or allowing your spells to be stronger or earn more gold. By tweaking that talent tree, you can play Kingdom Rush very differently from someone using different talents, and the excellent polish and production on the game (I would argue the iPad version looks even better than the Flash game) means it's lots of fun throughout the many various levels. Kingdom Rush is highly recommended, both as a tower defense title, and even as a strategy title for someone who might not have found a TD game they enjoy. The game is $2.99 on the App Store right now, and updates are planned, to add both Game Center integration (for the game's many achievements) and new content and enemies. Excellent title, definitely pick it up for the iPad if you haven't yet.
The Soapbox: Applying Neal Stephenson's Innovation Starvation to MMOs
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. You've probably heard of Neal Stephenson. The celebrated sci-fi author recently released his 13th novel, Reamde, and while it treads a little closer to traditional thriller territory than some of his more cerebral efforts, it still packs a futurist punch (and even led the author to comment on MMOs, virtual worlds, and World of Warcraft in a recent interview). In addition to speculative fiction, Stephenson is also prone to the occasional essay, the latest of which found its way onto the intarwebs a few weeks ago. While not directly related to the gaming or massively multiplayer industries, the piece does feature some interesting observations about the stagnant creative culture to be found in contemporary corporate America, and Stephenson also offers plenty of food for thought that can be applied to the current state of the MMO space.
BioWare Mythic isn't playing favorites with free-to-play and subscriptions
BioWare Mythic says that the market is big enough to support both free-to-play and subscription models -- and everything else in between. Talking with Gamasutra, GM Eugene Evans said that the company has to acknowledge that there are people who don't like F2P and those who do, and it's important to reach out to both groups. With Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes in beta testing, BioWare Mythic is testing the waters of free-to-play while preparing for Star Wars: The Old Republic's massive subscription launch. "We often got asked about taking our old games free-to-play, and in the case of Warhammer, we felt there was a different way of doing it," he opined, going on to say that the Mythic branch was learning a lot about polish and quality from the BioWare team. Evans commented on the observation that the widening global market means that no one business model is guaranteed to work in every country: "We're all still figuring out what free-to-play means, what the best way to monetize is, and how to run it as a business and engage players in ways they're prepared to accept."
Trion's David Reid: 'New era' of premium games inevitable
It's a brutal, cutthroat world in the MMO industry, Trion Worlds' David Reid admits, and he thinks that companies that can't adapt to the rapidly changing scene need to get out of the pool so others can swim. Talking to a crowd at GDC Europe, Reid spoke on an inevitable "new era" of premium games that are being fashioned in the forges of increased competition, challenging business models, higher development costs, and lower social interaction. "It's a lot harder to make your money back in the premium games space than it used to be," he said. Reid used Trion's approach as an example of how MMO studios need to be at the top of their game when developing games, including "AAA ambition and polish, massive scale, persistence, and customization." RIFT, which he cites as having over a million customers and holding the number two spot in the West, made sure that high-quality visuals were a key part of the experience, but also that the team was willing to listen to player feedback when preparing future content. He also pointed to End of Nation's free-to-play model and Defiance's synergy with the Syfy TV show as ways to captivate player interest and stay on top of the game.
HTC Sensation 4G takes the Pimp My Phone approach to chrome swagger
Beast phones and bling don't typically go hand-in-hand -- that's what those high-end specs are for. But if you've found yourself grimacing at the lackluster paint job on your new HTC Sensation 4G, this step-by-step by Paul White at Whitesites Blog can take it from dull geek to balla chic in six hours flat. With some dedicated elbow grease, a smattering of sand paper and some metal polish cream you've definitely seen Mumsy wield pre-Thanksgiving dinner, you can bring a bit of burnished elegance to your Sense 3.0 device. The fairly simple, albeit grueling sanding process could benefit from a speed-boosting power tool, or two, but it's those rubberized, glued parts you'll have to pop out and back into the unibody frame that should cause the biggest headache. Interested in getting your hands worn down by this labor of mobile love? Then head to the source now for a buff take on T-Mobile's flagship.
The Soapbox: Polished vs. feature-rich
Disclaimer: The Soapbox column is entirely the opinion of this week's writer and does not necessarily reflect the views of Massively as a whole. If you're afraid of opinions other than your own, you might want to skip this column. A few weeks ago I wrote a Soapbox article that exposed the flaws in the MMO first kiss theory. It generated more discussion than I anticipated, much of it spiraling off into tangents like MMO design, sandbox and themepark elements, and the seeming incompatibility between a polished game and a feature-rich game. It's this last bit that I'd like to discuss today, and you'll have to forgive me if we tread some familiar ground in the process. While there are many fascinating perspectives and debates in our bizarre hobby, none is as perplexing to me as the disconnect between gamers who want more game and those who want less game, highly polished.
