roguelike
Latest
Diablo III's Paragon 2.0 just might be going live today
Although there is no official word on Diablo III's site, Senior Producer Alex Mayberry tweeted that patch 2.0.1 will be going live today. The major feature of this patch, also known as Paragon 2.0, is that it adds more end-game character advancement and replayability with the updated Paragon leveling system. The changes include removing the level cap for earning Paragon experience, making Paragon levels account-wide, and allowing players the freedom to allocate Paragon Points however they want within the category (defense, offense, core, or utility) that each specific level's point is awarded. Catch more details about Paragon 2.0 on the official site. [Thanks to Wesley for the tip!]
Diablo III upgrading Paragon endgame system
Level-capped players will have a "Paragon 2.0" system to look forward to when Diablo III: Reaper of Souls releases. Blizzard outlined three major changes yesterday that will affect the endgame progression system. First, there will be no level cap for Paragon levels. Second, Paragon levels will be shared account-wide, with all normal characters sharing levels and all heroic characters doing the same between them. Third, players will get new Paragon points to spend in four categories: core, offense, defense, and utility. When the expansion goes live, players will receive their new Paragon levels based on the sum of the accumulated Paragon experience on each account. Hardcore heroes who died at 60 will also contribute to this XP pool. Players without the expansion will transition to Paragon XP at level 60, while players with Reaper of Souls will do so after hitting level 70.
Diablo III works on new community tools
Getting together with a buddy to slay the forces of Hell should be a lot easier when Diablo III: Reaper of Souls comes out, as Blizzard is adding in a couple of new social tools for the expansion. The first tool is the addition of clans, Diablo III's version of guilds. Anyone can form a clan, although a player may be part of only one clan at a time. Clans are limited to 120 members and will be searchable with a clan finder feature. Then there will be communities, which are larger and more casual social circles within the game for like-minded players. Unlike clans, communities can support unlimited members, and players can be part of more than one at a time. Communities and clans will be supported by a new interface in the game that includes messages of the day and achievement notices.
Upcoming roguelike #Dungeon generates dungeons from tweets
#Dungeon is an upcoming roguelike with a unique twist: rather than procedurally generating its own content, the game is tied to the @HashtagDungeon Twitter account, which tweets out the code that becomes a level. Players can also get in on the creative process by tweeting with the right syntax and including the #HashtagDungeon uh ... hashtag. It's a hashtag of a hashtag's hashtag! Hashtag-ception! BWAHHH. Developer Kieran Hicks told Pocket Gamer that the game will also feature other social tie-ins, like being able to leave messages for other players to see. Do you want to be honest and helpful or a trolling griefer? Either way will work. There will also be a more standard level editor, as well as a leaderboard for players to rank each other's created levels. #Dungeon isn't quite ready to go exploring the labyrinth of Twitter just yet, but is expected this summer. [Image: Kieran Hicks/Sean Oxspring]
Path of Exile previews its first mini-expansion, Sacrifice of the Vaal
The first mini-expansion for Path of Exile is coming out on March 5th, and it's meant to be a big one. This isn't supposed to just improve and expand the core game but to set the pace for the game's upcoming update structure and future expansions. So today is serving as the first preview of the update, teasing the lore behind Sacrifice of the Vaal as well as outlining the future reveals. Players will be set against Queen Atziri and the Vaal corruption she has spread throughout the land, as they try to harvest these malicious powers for their own ultimate ends. It's also hinted that players may have to sacrifice before the expansion is over if they want to put down this threat. The development team is hoping that Sacrifice of the Vaal will be the start of a four-month update schedule for the game, so players should keep their eyes peeled -- more reveals are coming before the March 5th launch date.
Here's what's in D3's Reaper of Souls CE
Want to give Blizzard more money? Now you can thanks to the Reaper of Souls collector's edition. Diablo III's expansion drops on March 25, and while the devs have mentioned the retail-exclusive CE box before, today's post marks the first time you can actually lay eyes upon the wonderment.
Funky free roguelike Soul Fjord out now, exclusively on Ouya
Soul Fjord is now available on the Ouya store. Developed by Airtight Games, the rhythm-action game stars an afro-sporting viking named Magnus Jones, who is hacking through enemies to get to the afterlife nightclub Valhalla. The developer describes its gameplay as "an extreme mash-up of rhythm game meets dungeon crawler with a roguelike twist," so death in the Norse mythology-based world holds some permanence, as seen in the game's launch trailer. Soul Fjord is free to download and supported by in-game purchases. Airtight previously launched first-person puzzler Quantum Conundrum for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Creative Director Kim Swift also served as co-creator of Valve's hit puzzle-platformer Portal. If that's not enough star power for the funky game, its soundtrack comes from Grammy-nominated Journey composer Austin Wintory.
Creepy children go rogue(like) at school on Steam tomorrow
Classes start for action RPG Our Darker Purpose on Steam tomorrow at 9AM PT – and then they're immediately canceled because all of the teachers have disappeared and the school is overrun with terrifying monsters. Indie studio Avidly Wild Games Kickstarted Our Darker Purpose to the tune of $40,000 in June and pushed it through the dark, convoluted passages of Steam Greenlight in October. Our Darker Purpose has a cartoonish, Tim Burton art style and is inspired by The Binding of Isaac, A Link to the Past and Diablo – it's a roguelike with permanent twists. "Each playthrough features a unique set of procedurally generated levels," Avidly Wild says. "Death is permanent, but your accomplishments earn you resources to buy lessons and upgrades in the afterlife ... and your education lasts forever. Every game teaches you more about the Edgewood Home for Lost Children, the disappearance of the adults, and the darker purpose of the Administrators." We always knew there was something up with our school administrators.
Humble Roguelike Weekly Sale offers six ways to die for $6
The Humble Weekly Sale is feeling lethal and unforgiving, offering six roguelikes for the tempting price of "basically nothing." Yes, these products will kill you, over and over and over again – but they're on sale. You can't beat that. Three of the games are available for any price you want: Paranautical Activity (Early Access game), Dungeons of Dredmor Complete and Hack, Slash Loot. The remaining three games are thrown in if you pay $6 or more: The Binding of Isaac plus Wrath of the Lamb DLC, Teleglitch: Die More Edition Guns and Tunes, and Sword of the Stars: The Pit Gold Edition. This bundle seems to be priced according to "complexity of name." Don't worry though – they will all kill you. At a discount.
The Game Archaeologist: A brief history of roguelikes
As with adventure games, it appears as though the mobile market has triggered a resurgence in the popularity of roguelikes with both developers and players. I've been stumbling over them left and right for a while now (I'm quite fond of FTL, which takes the roguelike into space), and every time I can't help but think of how this genre is almost the antithesis of an MMO. Instead of persistent worlds rich in lore, roguelikes favor randomized dungeon crawls with little or no story. Instead of immortal characters that grow with a player over months and years, roguelikes feature permadeath around every corner. Yet there's love for both in many gamers' hearts and perhaps even a few similarities that help to transcend differences. I find roguelikes fascinating because they are so hardcore, they yank me out of my comfy little leveling bubble, and they force me to use my brains for something more than figuring out whether it's time to use the "2" key once more. So what the heck, let's take a quick trip through roguelikes this week and see where -- if at all -- they connect with MMOs.
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls is expected to begin pre-downloading in January
While Diablo III: Reaper of Souls isn't due to come out until March 25th, players should be able to pre-download the expansion some time this month. On the Diablo III forums, Community Manager Stephany Johnson confirmed that Blizzard is trying to get data to customers in January: "The exact date that the predownload will start is still TBD, but we're targeting this month if all goes well. Note: this download will begin automatically (meaning, you shouldn't need to do anything special)." Johnson went on to say that if players don't pre-download, they'll get the same data when they patch up to 2.0.1. While Blizzard typically makes some features available once its pre-expansion patches go live, the meat of Reaper of Souls -- the new class, the new act, and adventure mode -- won't be playable until March 25th.
Rogue co-creator helps pick 'Ultimate Roguelike' winner
Participants of last month's Ultimate Roguelike Challenge game design competition had a lot of pressure on their shoulders; along with creating a game using only a tileset provided by contest organizer Christopher "Oryx" Barrett, the end result would be judged by Glenn Wichman, co-creator of the original Rogue. Other judges included Barrett and Cardinal Quest creator Ido Yehieli. Adventuring Company by Slothwerks took home the gold, which is kind of appropriate since it's a game about trying to take home gold from a great red dragon. It's available now on Android and in-browser. The rest of the entries can be seen on the Oryx Design Lab website.
Battle.net beefs up parental controls
Kiddies will find it tougher to spend money in Blizzard's games, as the studio is expanding its parental controls to include locks on in-game purchases. Blizzard is notifying relevant users of this change via email and on the forums. Starting January 7th, any Battle.net account with parental controls enabled will automatically prevent users from spending money in World of Warcraft's cash shop, Hearthstone's cash shop, or Diablo III's soon-to-be-closed real-money auction house. Account users will be able to enable those purchases by logging into their account and changing the settings.
FTL: Advanced Edition adds new species of alien scavengers
If everything goes according to plan, "early 2014" should see the debut of FTL: Advanced Edition, a free expansion for intergalactic roguelike FTL: Faster Than Light adding a new alien species and new subsystems for your ship, among a host of other features. Like oversized metal locusts, the Lanius are driven by an insatiable desire to consume. Unlike locusts however, the Lanius subsist on metals and have no need for biological processes such as eating or breathing. While a lack of air might choke out less virulent species, the Lanius just shrug it off, completely removing their need for functioning life support systems on board a ship. Surprisingly, this apathy toward oxygen may be a beneficial adaptation as members of the Lanius species innately drain all oxygen from the air surrounding them. As you'd expect, this makes them poor diplomats but excellent candidates for a boarding party. Along with the new race comes new subsystems and drones. These include a new battery backup subsystem which provides reserve power in a pinch and a drone designed specifically to hunt and destroy other drones. Helpfully, developer Subset Games will introduce a third layout option for every ship found in FTL that should offer a bit more room for your new gadgets. If booting up your laptop or desktop computer seems too strenuous, you'll be happy to know that FTL: Advanced Edition will also be appearing on iOS, marking the game's first appearance on a mobile platform.
Path of Exile boasts 3.7 million registrations, prepares for patch next week
Path of Exile's team is celebrating a gangbuster 2013, but has plans for an even better 2014 starting with a new patch next week. A forum post from the devs lists all of the accomplishments from 2013, starting with the fact that the game went from closed beta to launch during that time frame. Other significant numbers include 87 patches, 35 new team members, a peak of 70,000 concurrent players, and 3.7 million registered players. Patch 1.0.5 is scheduled for Thursday, January 9th, and will add an Enlighten support gem, new cosmetic microtransactions, more vendor recipes, unique items, and achievements. The team said that 1.0.6 will be "even larger" when it hits.
Diablo III: Reaper of Souls coming March 25th, 2014
Get out your checkbooks (are those still used?) if you're a Diablo III fan because Blizzard has put a street date on Reaper of Souls: March 25th, 2014. This release date is for the PC and Mac only, with the PlayStation 4 release date to be announced later. Even though you won't be able to play the expansion for three months, you can pay for it today. That's so considerate of the studio, isn't it? Those who pre-purchase Reaper of Souls have the choice of three editions. The standard edition is $39.99 and the digital deluxe version (with extra goodies like a spectral hound minion) is $59.99. Alternatively, you can try to snag one of the collector's editions (with extra extra goodies) for $79.99 at select retail stores. The expansion includes a new act, the Crusader character, the Loot 2.0 system, more class skills, new modes, and more.
Get early access to Endless Space developer's roguelike Dungeon of the Endless
Amplitude Studios launched its dungeon defense game Dungeon of the Endless on Steam today. The alpha version of the game is available through Steam Early Access through two packs, both currently 25 percent off. The base-level Pixel Pack version is currently $9.74, whereas the Founder Pack is $14.99 and grants players access to additional ships, heroes and 50 percent off coupons for Endless Space and its Disharmony expansion. Dungeon of the Endless, billed as a roguelike dungeon defense game, is set in the Endless Space universe and has players opening doors, gathering goods and decimating enemies before their equipment is destroyed. Amplitude Studios divulged the game's inception, which occurred during a late-night, drunken brain-storming session, at Gamescom.
No Man's Sky might not be an MMO, but it's certainly a close cousin
Science fiction has always been about a sense of wonder, but a lot of the time that sense of wonder takes a back seat to enormous spaceships blowing one another to pieces. That's all well and good, but it's not what No Man's Sky is aiming for. The game is meant to be about exploring a strange and vast universe of procedurally generated planets. In a move that should excite MMO fans, the game will apparently include a shared playing space for everyone. The game at its heart features a shared space for all players, with the impact of one person's actions having a ripple effect. What form of interactions you'll be able to have remains to be seen, but the developers behind the game want to offer the idea that pure exploration is a dangerous and hostile affair in environments that may not welcome you. As the game progresses through development, we'll be keeping an eye on it, since the idea of a pseudo-MMO allowing you to trek across the endless darkness of space and interact with others is a heady once -- even if your interactions are only through the consequences of the other person's passing. [We've now added the trailer after the cut.]
Path of Exile going strong a month after launch
Path of Exile is strutting its stuff a month after its official launch, boasting a huge community, a new patch, and strong sales of its new supporter packs. Grinding Gear Games announced that Path of Exile has topped four million registered users and sees over 250,000 players every day. Last Wednesday's 1.0.2 patch was the first post-launch update for the game, containing new items, recipes, achievements, and various fixes and balance tweaks. The studio sold nearly 5,000 purchases of its supporter pack bundles, which range from $50 to $900, over the Thanksgiving weekend. Grinding Gear says that these purchases "have funded a significant portion of the game's development." [Source: Grinding Gear press release]
Lightning strikes in Path of Exile's update 1.0.2
Just one look at Path of Exile's newest content update preview video from Grinding Gear Games and you know that the upcoming patch sizzles -- literally. Update 1.0.2 includes the new skill Stormcall which allows players to call lightning down upon multiple or single targets. Along with a new skill, the patch is introducing five more unique items (including Wings of Entropy, a unique two-handed sundering ax that acts like duel-wielded axes) and some map mod changes. Players can also buy new items from the store, such as a lightning bat pet and -- for one week only -- special Pilgrim's hats to celebrate Thanksgiving. Content update 1.0.2 releases this Wednesday, but you can get a peek at it in the video below. More information on the patch will be posted on the official site soon.
