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The Secret World's first mission pack announced for next week
Those thirsting for new content in The Secret World are getting a little something to help tide them over until Tokyo is opened. In his latest Game Director Letter, Joel Bylos announced the game's first ever mission pack. Available in the item store next week, Sidestories: Further Analysis contains four new investigation missions spanning the TSW map and a new undisclosed feature. These missions will delve players deeper into the backstories and lives of various groups and characters like Dr. Aldini and the Draculesti. Bylos also gives more details on the AEGIS system, explaining that these items will be equipped in new gear slots and how the core of the system, controllers, come in three distinct types. On top of that, he noted that a few PvP fixes in patch 1.9 change the way relics are handled in El Dorado. You can catch all the details of these changes in the March letter.
TUAW's Daily App: 2360: Battle for Cydonia
We've been doing apps and puzzle games a lot on this feature lately, so let's not forget what makes a game really fun: a big robot blowing up lots of stuff. Fortunately, Battle for Cydonia is full of that, as you control a mech armed with dual machine guns through a series of missions on the future planet of Cydonia. It's a pretty simple affair, but the multitouch controls really make it shine -- you draw a path for your mech to take, and then just tap on enemies as they appear to shoot them down. You can upgrade the mech and its weapons over time, but the core gameplay here is just opening up a can of hot lead on anything that crosses your path. And plus, it's a free download right now -- if you like the game, you can pick up a "Signal from Titan" mission pack with new weapons, levels, and enemies to face off with for just 99 cents. Battle for Cydonia is an excellent little sci-fi shooter that's definitely worth the price.
How Arena.net developed the Guild Wars Mission Pack
Yesterday we discussed the official commercial release of the Guild Wars bonus mission pack. It's been available for certain players since November, but now anyone can snag it for about ten bucks from the NCsoft online story. The pack pits players against some of the most well-known foes in Arena.net's gameworld, like the intimidating Charr above.But how did they make the missions? The official Guild Wars site has up interviews with several of the developers, exploring the process behind this latest addition to the game. Lead designer Colin Johanson explains how the pack fits into the game's fiction, what a player who purchases the pack will find himself doing, and the challenges of working on the current game while working on Guild Wars 2 at the same time.Their second interview sees fellow designers John Stumme and Linsey Murdock joining Johanson to talk a bit about their past experiences on the Arena.net team, as well as the process of actually creating components of the bonus pack. Johanson in particular enjoyed how the team could focus on story in this special contend update: "In a major Guild Wars release, the focus is on the players' characters-the things they do that shape the world around them, and their adventures. With these missions, we could tell more of the story of the world itself by showing the deeds of those who had come before.'
