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F2P mech combat sim Hawken transitioning to Steam this month
Adhesive Games announced that its free-to-play mech combat game, Hawken, is due for an imminent release on Steam, pending a week-long transition period for registered players. Starting today, Adhesive will phase out its existing Hawken launcher and gameplay services, redirecting current players to a pre-release Steam version instead. From now on, Hawken will require a Steam account to play, and the game will no longer be accessible outside of Steam. All player progress will transfer to the Steam version. Current Hawken players will receive early access to a Steam version that includes the majority of content from the game's recent February update, though some features may be unavailable initially. "This patch will be missing some core content and you may run into some of our QA testers still working on final polish," Adhesive notes. "Right now, we're aiming for a formal release of the update in the next couple of weeks." All existing Hawken players should receive a Steam code by February 11. Adhesive will begin accepting new players after a full Steam release rolls out later this month. [Image: Adhesive Games]
Hawken update coming 'later this month,' tunes mechs, adds new map
Hawken, the free-to-play mech-based shooter from Adhesive Games, is still in open beta. It's been in open beta since December and, while Adhesive Games' Jason Hughes says the developer hopes to launch the game "sometime this year," and a new update coming "later this month" promises to radically alter the current state of the game. Pilots will now have their own progression system with a spate of unlocks attached. Last Eco, a new forest map that contrasts the usual industrial and urban warzones of Hawken, will drop in this upcoming update, as will a host of new tweaks for the current line-up of mechs. This new version of Hawken will retire the current Optimization system, replacing it with a new Tuning system - a more nuanced set of variables attached to each subclass of mech. Before, the Optimization tree had three categories covering offense, defense and movement that players could tinker around with, but now it's been broken down into more common sets of modifications. For example, every mech has the ability to change its armor in the new Tuning system, but not all mechs have the ability to change their hydraulics, which govern movement parameters. "This gives you greater levels of customization," Hughes said. "It helps create a little bit more speciality to those subclasses." On top of that, a new item slot system will limit what players can equip on their mechs. Each mech has six open item slots, so players can equip as many items as they want within those slots. "Players can't just run in with uber-powered everything, so there is a little bit of a trade-off," Hughes said. In the current state of the game, items were segregated into categories, so players couldn't equip multiple items from the same category. This new system, Hughes hopes, will alleviate that concern. Finally, this new update institutes some much-requested community features like a party system that will allow friends to group up before jumping into a match. Combined with the new party matchmaking system, friends can now stay together while hopping between battles. There is also a new co-op bot training mode, in case you and your pals don't feel like taking on humans, and an offline team deathmatch mode to help new players ease into the experience on their own.
A bespectacled look at the Oculus Rift
For the most part, being near- or farsighted today isn't that big of a deal. The only cultural zeitgeist folks like me have missed out on recently has been in the resurgence of glasses-required 3D technology in consumer media. And let's be honest, it isn't a tremendous loss. In fact, the Oculus Rift is the only thing on the horizon that is as potentially game-changing as it is unfriendly to glasses. That thing straps directly onto your whole face, there's no way a pair of fashionable specs could fit under there. Well, as it turns out, the Oculus Rift really was accommodating to my Converse frames and their too-old lenses, so much so that for the first time ever I'm legitimately excited about the once-lofty possibility of a virtual reality future.
Hawken employees genderflip CEO's sexy lady poster, have a laugh
Hawken publisher Meteor Entertainment has a handle on the gender equality gig, with ladies making up a solid half of its executive branch, according to a female employee's post on The Hawkeye Initiative. "Our gender awareness standards, compared to the industry at large, are top shelf," she writes. "We are talking Amelia Earhart in Atlantis, at a five star resort, getting a mani-pedi from Jensen Ackles. I have it good." But CEO Mark Long (a dude, if that wasn't apparent) had a penchant for the sexy lady poster above (on the left, if that wasn't apparent), and the writer didn't particularly care for it. It was blown up to poster size and placed in his office so that it was the first thing the writer – and all visitors – saw upon entering, and the last thing when leaving. "This little lady's undermeats have been the open- and close-parens to my work world for the last six months," she described. "I loathe this picture." So she did something about it. The writer roped in a co-worker and artist, Sam Kirk, to whip up a gender-swapped version of the poster, which they named Brosie the Riveter. They blew it up to the same poster size, and on April 1, they swapped it with the female one in their CEO's office. When Long saw the poster, he flipped. But then he came up to the writer and said something truly touching: "That was a brilliant prank. You called me on exactly the bullshit I need to be called on. I put up pictures of half-naked girls around the office all the time and I never think about it. I'm taking you and Sam to lunch. And after that, we're going to hang both prints, side by side." And so they did. The end.
New Hawken trailer tours the Facility, picks up slack
This latest Hawken trailer details the game's newest map, Facility, which is just one of many new additions recently applied to the game. As of press time, no mechs have been spotted wearing short skirts, long jackets or any combination of the two.
Best of the Rest: Jess' picks of 2012
Joystiq is revealing its 10 favorite games of 2012 throughout the week. Keep reading for more top selections and every writer's personal, impassioned picks in Best of the Rest roundups. FTL: Faster Than LightI find tremendous pleasure in games that allow me to name my characters, humanize them and create their unique, intricate backstories, for the sole purpose of making me watch those beloved little guys burn to death on a cramped space ship. No game does this better, or more often, than FTL: Faster Than Light.Another alluring aspect of FTL is that it's an indie game that looks indie. The game's strength lies in the incredible interstellar journey the player takes with her crew, and the graphics do everything they can to stay out of the way of these space battles and indiscriminate deaths. It's a mental game, high-energy in synapse rather than the screen – much as I've heard the original X-COM described. And like X-COM, playing FTL isn't just a wonderful experience today, but it promises greater, better things to come from Subset Games.
Hawken launches in open beta today, prep your mechs
Hawken, one of the more flamboyant and high-profile indie games this year, launches today in open beta as a free-to-play mega-mech battle for PC. Don't believe us? Check out the super-sweet cinematic launch trailer above.Adhesive Games' parent company Meteor Entertainment raised $10 million for Hawken's development and marketing, and part of that went into a series of closed betas leading to today's open launch. Adhesive producer Jason Hughes sums up some changes and patch notes that resulted from the closed trials, noting that there will be no server browser at launch. Eventually Hawken will have that, clan support, dedicated servers and more social features, but not today. That's why this is an "open beta," after all.
Hawken's final closed beta begins this week, open beta starts Dec. 12
Hawken has begun its third and final closed beta event, starting this week and going through until December 6. Players already invited can download the client from the official website, jump in and start shooting. You won't need to re-install, the developer says, if you've played in a previous closed beta event.Meteor Entertainment has presale packs available for the free-to-play shooter, with boosts and extra equipment available for those who know they're ready to spend some cash. But if you're not yet sold (or haven't gotten a chance to play), the game will go into Open Beta and become available to the public on December 12.
Hawken deploys second closed beta tomorrow
Hawken's second closed beta is scheduled to attack November 8 - 13. This expands on the first beta round, which ran October 26 - 29.To celebrate the second beta, pre-sale bundles of items and customization perks will be on discount for $5, $15, $30 and $60, and if purchased will be in players' garages once the game launches in open beta on December 12. Sign up to play Hawken on the game's main site.
Hawken closed beta runs Oct. 26 - 29 [Update]
Despite what plebeians like us may think, shooting giant robots with other giant robots isn't something you can rush into all willy-nilly. In actuality, there are many, many factors to consider: What if this weapon is more effective than originally planned? With if we've accidentally created a deviously cunning artificial intelligence bent on eradicating the cancer that is humanity from the surface of the Earth?Thankfully, most evil AI issues can be found through a closed beta test, which Adhesive Games' upcoming free-to-play mech shooter Hawken will be conducting from October 26 through October 29."The more that we find wrong now; the smoother open beta will go," said Meteor Entertainment CEO Mark Long in a press release available after the break, though no information was given regarding when that open beta will take place. Anyone interested in signing up for the closed beta can do so here. Just, you know, study up on your paradoxes.Update: Meteor Entertainment has contacted us to clarify the statement made by Long in the press release. By "open beta," Long was actually referring to the game's previously announced release date of December 12, rather than an additional testing phase prior to Hawken's release.
Hawken will support Oculus Rift when it launches on Dec. 12
The Oculus Rift may not technically be a tangible thing yet, but as of December 12 it can boast support for one more game: Hawken. It makes sense: every time we've seen something with mechs in it, the pilots are always wearing goofy goggles. Appropriate.In an interview with Forbes, publisher Meteor Entertainment's Mark Long offered some insight on why Oculus Rift and Hawken make such a great match. "Why Oculus works so well is the sense of presence. You have to experience it. When the graphic world is all around you, it takes the experience to a completely different level.""Hawken is perfect for Oculus because its environments are well-suited for the level of visual density and distances you're looking it," Long added. "The shapes that are close and far away lend themselves well to 3D. When you're in a typical first-person shooter, you're a slave to the direction your weapon is pointing, which is unnatural. Being in a Mech, this offers a more realistic virtual reality experience."Of course, the question of lag is ever-present with VR headsets, but Long says Unreal Engine has certain things built in that alleviate that concern. "With Unreal we can dynamically change the point-of-view and make sure that the latency is as low as possible for the viewers to eliminate motion sickness. We're going to build out a cockpit that players can buy so they can see the inside of the Mech with Oculus for a more immersive gameplay experience. This is a subset of something we're going to be bringing to the PC game."And in the end, the cost for Adhesive Games to add Oculus Rift support was minimal. "The cost of an Oculus Dev Kit with two systems will be less than $300," Long said. "The technology uses a DVI connection and USB to do head tracking off a PC," so with some wires, a headset and a fairly nimble neck, it was a fairly inexpensive feature to implement.
Welcome to the Hawken E3 party
Turns out I didn't need to worry about finding the Hawken E3 party. First, it was in the Luxe, a grandiose hotel in the same plaza as the Los Angeles Staples Center. Second, the electronic billboard directly below the Luxe insignia read "HAWKEN" in bold white letters, a building to the north had the game title and Machinima symbols emblazoned in lights across one side, and a bumping party overflowing with people in Hawken swag spilled out onto the Luxe's second-floor balcony.Welcome to the opulent stage of high-profile pseudo-indie development.Hawken, its developer Adhesive Games and parent company Meteor Entertainment, are not representative of the standard indie community, but they carry that already nebulous label in a vague, but real, way: Meteor is the publishing arm of Adhesive and it has only one client and one focus, Hawken."First of all, we're no EA," Meteor Entertainment's Paul Loynd told me at Hawken's June 5 E3 party, hosted by Machinima. "And we only have one game. This is our thing. We're excited to be working on Hawken."%Gallery-157434%
Hawken live-action digital short is full of mechs, that guy from that thing
The first of a series of live-action digital shorts in the Hawken universe directed by Jeremiah O'Flaherty, whose past work includes Gears of War, this teaser trailer has no shortage of destruction – and that guy we saw in that thing once.
Hawken to be playable via Gaikai prior to official release
Hawken keeps surprising us. First, we were surprised that the really great-looking mech shooter is being made by an indie studio, then it surprised us to learn that it would be free-to-play. And here's another surprise: Dave Perry's cloud gaming system Gaikai has signed a deal to let players see Hawken running through the service in advance of the planned December 12 release date.Gaikai allows nearly any game to be streamed directly from its servers to any browser, which means that the first impression of the graphics-intensive Hawken will be playable anywhere Gaikai will run (including on some tablets, and computers of all shapes and sizes). This deal makes a lot of sense from both sides: Hawken needs a large audience to get its free-to-play engine running, and Gaikai could use a big title to connect users to its servers. The Gaikai demo will be on playhawken.com and a few other sites, so eyes open until then.
New Hawken gameplay teaser doesn't look like an indie game
Hawken, the free-to-play, first-person mech shooter from indie studio Adhesive Games, keeps looking better and better, especially now that its videos have lost the "this is a work in progress" warning. We guess raising $10 million will do that to a game. The latest teaser shows off gameplay during an intense battle from the inside of a mech suit that makes two things occupy our thoughts: rails guns and rockets.Watch the teaser above and enlist in the Hawken beta right here.
Hawken developers raise $10 million in capital to launch
Tim Schafer's Double Fine Entertainment has made a lot of noise by getting fans to pay over $2.6 million for them to put together an old school adventure game, but here's a reminder that there are still some reasons to do things the old way. About 7.4 million reasons, in fact: Publisher Meteor Entertainment has reportedly raised over $10 million in funding for its upcoming multiplayer mech game, Hawken.Meteor raised the money by pitching its idea to venture capital firms Benchmark Capital and FirstMark Capital, the same companies that initially invested in the makers of League of Legends, Riot Games.Riot Games later sold for a rumored $350 million. Hawken (which is being developed by Adhesive Games) is also enjoying a nice bit of player interest already, with over 200,000 signed up for the closed beta, and lots more looking forward to the free-to-play launch. Schafer and company have done great things with Kickstarter, but there's still a lot of money to be made through more traditional routes as well.
The Firing Line: Controller wars edition
Welcome back to The Firing Line, shooter fans. Some interesting stuff went down this week, much of it related to DUST 514. Even if you're not partial to what some have dubbed "the controller wars," there's still plenty of online shooter news for you to peruse after the cut. Join me on the other side for a glimpse of Hawken, Firefall, and my PlanetSide character!
Hawken brings pretty multiplayer mech battles to the web Dec. 12
We're sure you watched thousands of YouTube videos last year, but we bet only a handful featured flying robots with guns, and just one of those was an explosive multiplayer mech battle built on Unreal Engine 3 -- yeah, that one, right up there. Hawken, the breakout title from indie studio Adhesive Games, is scheduled to launch on Dec. 12, published by Meteor Entertainment.Hawken will be web-based, free-to-play and feature fast-paced action in short bursts, styled after Call of Duty multiplayer, Adhesive co-founder Khang Le said. Players in Hawken will battle for survival and resources inside flying, rocket-equipped mechs in various regions of a barren industrial wasteland (or heaven, as we call it). Hawken is multiplayer only and will play in a session-based format similar to League of Legends, Le said.For a further glimpse at Hawken's universe, hit up the video after the break, which displays desert gameplay. If that intrigues you, sign up for the closed beta right here -- get three friends (enemies, strangers) to enlist and guarantee your spot.
