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Sanctum 2 postmortem talks big ideas, low console sales
When the standard challenges of game development combine with advancing a series and learning to port to consoles, it's easy to imagine how things could become overwhelming. Sanctum 2 developer Coffee Stain Studios persevered from building the sequel to its first-person-shooter tower defense hybrid, but co-founder Johannes Aspeby's postmortem on the game, posted on Gamaustra, covers what was learned along the way. Coffee Stain initially envisioned a "free mazing" system, which would have let players set their own start and end points for mazes, but the concept was ultimately scrapped six months into development due to the team constantly discovering new flaws. Aspeby explained that changes weren't just limited to pre-development, either - at launch, Sanctum 2 spawned materials in the team base rather than automatically allocating them between players. This was meant to encourage sharing and to avoid making one player build every round, but it resulted in teammates racing each other to horde materials for themselves. Coffee Stain's internal testing didn't catch the problem, but the team is now hyper aware of the difference in atmosphere between an acquainted studio and a bunch of strangers playing a game online together. Bringing the game to Xbox 360 and PS3 meant dealing with the Technical Certification Process, which Coffee Stain allotted a few weeks for in order to find and fix any problems. Realizing the process' time sink led the team to hand off testing to another company, allowing Coffee Stain to solely focus on fixing problems, not discovering them. Performance issues also surfaced with the console versions, resulting in enemy and tower limits, as well as alterations to Sanctum 2's environments, like building walls to limit draw distance. This affected the PC version as well, as Aspeby noted the studio wasn't able to just make a different version for Steam. Aspeby estimated that a third of Sanctum 2's development time was spent getting the game ready for consoles, but added that in terms of sales, the payoff "hasn't been anywhere near the work." Sales on PS3 were particularly low, keeping the studio from even considering bringing Sanctum 2's season pass content to that console. Aspeby still seems optimistic about the experience though, concluding that the team "still had a hell of a good time, learned a lot, and made enough money so that we could continue making video games." [Image: Coffee Stain Studios]
Steam deals: The Bureau, The Raven, games that don't start with 'The'
This should come as little surprise to consistent Steam users, but the digital distribution platform is holding a sale on some video games over the weekend. Italics. A smattering of tempting deals are lined up right now, starting with The Bureau: XCOM Declassified for under $12.50 (and also now available for Mac). Episodic crime adventure series The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief is also part of this weekend's deals and on sale for $6.24. A digital deluxe version, including the game's soundtrack and other digital goodies, is on sale for $7.50. Coffee Stain Studios' tower-defense shooter hybrid Sanctum 2 is free to play this weekend and only $2.24 if you want to buy. Free to play game Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign is holding a sale on three booster packs, each unlocking various characters in the puzzle offshoot. Early Access dungeon crawler The Mighty Quest for Epic Loot is down to $13.39. These deals will last for varying lengths – some games you've only got 48 hours to grab, while others are cheap until January 27 – so if you're interested, boot up your Steam client and give 'em a gander.
Humble Jumbo Bundle spotlights Orcs Must Die 2, Garry's Mod, Magicka
Humble Bundle organizers have launched the Humble Jumbo Bundle, serving up digital copies of Unknown Worlds' FPS Natural Selection 2, Coffee Stain Studios' tower defense shooter Sanctum 2 and Paradox Interactive's DLC-bundled Magicka for a buyer-chosen price ($1 minimum). Beat the bundle's average purchase price (currently hovering around $4) and you'll also receive Robot Entertainment's Orcs Must Die! 2: Complete Pack, Croteam's retro-styled shooter Serious Sam 3: BFE, and Facepunch Studios' sandbox mayhem simulator Garry's Mod. Note that Garry's Mod requires a Source engine game such as Counter-Strike: Source or Half-Life 2 as a base in order to function, but considering that it gives players the power to create brilliant works like Half life: Full Life Consequences, it's worth it. The Humble Jumbo Bundle will remain available for sale through December 17.
Sanctum 2 jumps into the fray on May 15 [Update: PC too, PSN soon after]
Coffee Stain Studios' Sanctum 2 will launch for the Xbox 360 on May 15, Major Nelson has announced. We've followed up with publisher Reverb to see if this is the launch date for PSN and PC, as well. Sanctum 2 is the sequel to Coffee Stain Studio's hybrid first-person shooter and tower defense game. Coffee Stain Studios was founded in 2010 by local Swedish students, and its first game was I Love Strawberries on iOS. Update: Reverb got back to us and confirmed the May 15 is the launch date on PC as well as Xbox 360. We're told the PSN version "will launch soon thereafter."
Shoot a glance at these Sanctum 2 screens and trailer
These screens and trailer for Coffee Stain Studios' Sanctum 2 show off the action-packed shooting in the game. Sanctum 2 is slated to launch on PC, Xbox Live and PSN sometime in 2013.
Sanctum 2 defends PC, consoles in 2013
Sanctum 2, the sequel to Coffee Stain Studios' hybrid tower defense and first-person co-op shooter, is expected to launch sometime next year Joystiq can exclusively reveal. The first Sanctum, which has sold over 300,000 units on Steam, was a PC-exclusive title. The sequel is planned for PC and "digital console platforms," with Xbox Live and PSN specifically mentioned."Sanctum has been a huge success on Steam for Coffee Stain Studios, and bringing the next version to console players as well as the PC market is a great next step to share this unique experience," said Ted Lange, executive producer for Reverb Publishing. "We all have logged quite a few hours with Sanctum and can definitively say that what Coffee Stain has in store for Sanctum 2 will blow the minds of Sanctum fans and new gamers alike."Beyond revealing the title to us, along with a release year, details are still tight on Sanctum 2. Doug Kennedy, CEO of Reverb Publishing, told us, "The team is diligently working to get the title ready."Update: After receiving updated information, altered 2012 launch window to 2013.Update 2: Sanctum is $3.39 on Steam today.
