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Dive into a sci-fi game anthology full of stars and weird games
Game jams are marathon sessions where game makers put together a game in a short period of time, typically just one or two days. Naturally they're unpredictable -- as likely to conclude in quick interactive jokes as they are substantive games. Sometimes 48 hours of game development ends with Broforce. Other times it ends with Kitty Punch. Rather than invite all game makers to come together for a non-stop creative session, Antholojam founders Zoe Quinn and Alex Lifschitz invited creators to pitch ideas based around a theme and then gave them a month to complete their vision. Now there's Antholojam 1: A Golden Age of Sci-Fi Anthology, gathering together 15 beautiful and strange games resulting from the first of these curated jams.
Look directly at the 'Sunshine' with Oculus VR
Oculus Rift offers some pretty out of this world experiences (punching sharks and becoming a bird immediately come to mind), but getting an up-close and personal with the sun aren't among them. Until now, of course. That, my friends, is what Sunshine Observation Deck is for. If it looks familiar, that's because it's based off of a set from the 2007 Danny Boyle flick, Sunshine -- you know, the one that heavily influenced the original Dead Space and that's by far one of the best sci-fi flicks from the past ten years. Anyhow, the walkthrough lets you explore the movie's solar observation deck and adjoining science lab, witnessing Sol in its fiery majesty. You can't adjust the intensity of the filter brightness, but given that, you don't need to worry about catching a nasty sunburn, either.
Blacklight: Retribution loses studio, continues on anyway
It turns out that the worst news for an online game -- having its studio close -- may not be the end of the world after all. Zombie Studios, the devs behind multiplayer shooter Blacklight: Retribution, announced today that it's closing shop and that a new studio has arisen from its ashes to take care of the game: "Now it is time for us to part ways and close our doors [...] We want to congratulate and wish nothing but success to Builder Box, the new studio starting up that has acquired some of the work Zombie is parting with, including all rights to Blacklight: Retribution. The new studio is comprised of past Zombie employees that put their hearts into Blacklight and we have no doubt will continue to do so." Builder Box's Facebook page also posted a notice, reaffirming the game's future: "What does this mean for you the fan? While ownership of the game has changed, the people behind the scenes who have been constantly contributing to the Blacklight universe for the last four years remains intact. Builder Box will be working with Perfect World so that, as a fan, you can look forward to more updates and exciting changes in the coming year."
Space strategy MMO AD2460 launches on December 29th
After two months in open beta, space strategy MMO AD2460 has announced its official launch for December 29th. The spiritual sequel to 2000's Planetarion, AD2460 is playable in-browser, meaning it works on mobile too. Players will be spending their time developing alliances and empires and fleets, and once the game is out of beta, they can expect to pay $1 a week in sub fees. Fifth Season's Christian Lassem dropped by our comment section earlier this fall to dispel confusion about the game and show off a slice of combat via video, which we've included below.
Players power direction of Oort Online's development
Oort Online's dev team is not content to make this voxel sandbox in the isolation of its ivory tower (or the corner of a deserted warehouse, whatever may be), but it has been asking for constant input from backers for the direction of the game's development. "As the game currently stands, the playable features are quite contained as we've been focusing on establishing the core MMO services and game engine," the devs posted. In a recent backer survey, 43% of those surveyed asked for the devs to prioritize the creation of character races out of the four options presented. In addition, the team said that some of the biggest priorities for a 1.0 release include resource gathering, crafting, and PvE combat. At the bottom of the list? "Real money purchases -- I want short cuts!" Oort Online is a "universe-sized" sandbox that's currently in alpha testing and has raised over $123,000 in crowdfunding. [Thanks to Jose for the tip!]
Descendants Kickstarter promises 'real freedom of choice'
One thing you can say about Descendants, a new space sandbox that's asking for fan donations via Kickstarter, is that it's certainly not lacking in ambition. This creators of this sci-fi title promise that players really will make a difference: "Our main goal is to create exciting game mechanics with real freedom of choice." The rundown of Descendants' proposed feature list is staggering: The game will have 20 playable races, 50 base classes, 20 prestige classes, crafting, land ownership, and a full-fledged political system. Cities can be built and spaceships designed from the inside-out. Of course, this sort of ambition doesn't come cheaply; Descendants is asking for $900,000 to get this game cooking. The team created a 40-minute overview video of the project that you can watch after the jump to see if this is a game worthy of your interest -- and your dollar.
Space strategy title AD2460 jumps into open beta
The stars and beyond are the limit for AD2460, a new science-fiction strategy MMO that just went into open beta this past week. AD2460 places players in charge of a homeworld and space-faring fleets in an effort to research technology, conquer worlds, and form alliances. This so-called "WMMO" ("W" stands for "web-based") is playable in a PC browser as well as on tablets and capable smartphones. While developer Fifth Season welcomes any and all players into the open beta, it urged participants to log bug reports to help the title become more polished. When it goes live, AD2460 will offer a 14-day trial followed by a subscription model of $1 a week. AD2460 is the spiritual successor to Fifth Season's Planetarion, and if you're interested, you can check out the story trailer after the break.
WildStar's megaservers shouldn't impact addons much
Carbine Studios took to the forums earlier today to address how player addons may have been affected by WildStar's recent megaserver merge and name changes. The good news is that "most third-party addon users" will not be impacted whatsoever. For addons that were impacted by the transition, Carbine posted tips on how to bring broken addons up to par. The team encouraged those dealing with broken mods by saying that the data is still there and that recovering it won't be difficult at all. This post is somewhat technical and relevant only to addon creators, but important to everyone who's mods are borked.
Sevencore launching globally on November 4th
Sevencore might not be your typical Cinderella comeback, but the tenacious little science-fiction title will have a fairy tale moment when it releases globally next month after being shut down in 2013. Sevencore's previous provider, Route Entertainment Korea, Inc. will be merged into Webzen, which will then operate the title worldwide through its game portal. There will be two servers for this launch, one in English and one in Spanish, although there are plans for other languages. Focusing on mounted combat as players explore an alien world, Sevencore features three races, three classes, and "incredible depth" of customization. [Source: Webzen press release]
George Lucas didn't remake 'Empire Strikes Back,' you did
Given recent events, it can be difficult to remember that the internet is capable of pretty awesome stuff sometimes. Case in point: this super-cool shot-for-shot fan remake of The Empire Strikes Back that uses some 480 different filmmaking techniques. Spotted by Digg, it runs the gamut from hand-drawn animation, intentionally cheesy live-action and even a makeshift Echo Base populated with stop-motion LEGO minifigures -- and that's just within the first few minutes. Over 1,500 hopefuls submitted their 15-second scenes, and, like with Star Wars Uncut before it, the folks at Lucasfilm stitched the best of them together to create Empire Strikes Back Uncut. It's pretty impressive on more than a few levels and we've embedded it just below. The video clocks in at just over two hours, so we heartily recommend pouring a frosty glass of blue milk and firing up your Chromecast to watch it.
EVE Online: Phoebe improves quality-of-life for subscribers and trial members
Unpacking EVE Online's Phoebe content update is so involved that it takes another one of CCP's epic posts to do it. The big thing to take away from the notes is that this update features several quality-of-life improvements for both regular and trial players. When Phoebe hits on November 4th, players will have to adjust to jump fatigue during long-distance travel. To offset that, there will be the ability to set skill queues to unlimited length, place multiple market sell orders, enjoy better exploration rewards, and experience new cloaking effects. Trial players will also see some of their limitations lifted after the update, such as being allowed to fly battleships and be a part of faction fights.
Kickstarter project aims to revamp galactic sandbox Chosen Space
Not every Kickstarter fundraiser is for a brand-new IP; some campaigns are launched in an effort to fund a more fully realized version of an existing property. And so it is with the browser-based galactic sandbox Chosen Space, which launched in 2006 and is now asking for funds to be reborn as a far better version. Developer MMO Lab is attempting to secure £5,400 to finish the previously self-funded project. The new Chosen Space: Relaunched will feature improved graphics, new features, and additional features. "We've developed our own game engine called MMO Lab which will allow us to finally make the Chosen Space we've always imagined, and which the players have always deserved," the studio posted. Chosen Space is a "living" sandbox that balances strategy and RPG elements as players customize ships, explore the galaxy, and engage in trading and conquest. The new version is preparing to go into alpha testing at the start of the new year. We've got the crowdfunding pitch video after the break for your edification.
Isaac Asimov-inspired Seldon Crisis debuts
Fans of both Isaac Asimov's Foundation series and sandbox science-fiction MMOs will find something to appreciate in the newly announced Seldon Crisis. This "completely player-driven MMO" is loosely inspired by Asimov's writing and will be starting a Kickstarter campaign next month to fund its development. Developer Chaos Interactive is eschewing linear progression for Seldon Crisis, leaving it to players to run the economy and galactic politics. There will be "thousands" of systems to explore, a wide variety of missions for player captains, and work for various factions. Lead Game Designer Mirko Campochiari said that it will be a game for the players: "We are taking MMO gaming back to its roots with an uncompromising game that truly rewards player ability and a return to old-school game mechanics, such as a full loot system, to create a challenging and more involved gameplay environment." We've got your first look at Seldon Crisis, with concept art, screenshots, and a model video below. [Source: Crisis Interactive press release]
Ninja Theory reveals Razer, a prematurely cancelled MMO
Ninja Theory, the makers of the upcoming Hellblade, revealed today that it previously worked on an MMO called Razer that has since been canned. Razer was "an epic massively co-op sci-fi adventure" for Xbox One, PS4, and the PC that would have pitted players against a gigantic alien that enveloped Earth. Three months of concept design and previsualizations were performed on Razer before Ninja Theory decided to pull the plug on the project. According to the studio, Razer "was a game we designed in conjunction with a publisher to satisfy their desirable feature list." To enlighten the community and fellow developers about the complex and involved process of creating a game, Ninja Theory released concept art, previsualization videos, and documents from Razer. You can check out the gameplay experience trailer after the jump.
BioWare announces Shadow Realms, a D&D-inspired co-op dungeon crawler
BioWare has just announced a brand-new IP for the studio: Shadow Realms, a "4v1 story-driven online action RPG" that was inspired by the team's love of tabletop Dungeons & Dragons. Shadow Realms isn't a full-fledged MMO, but will put players in the shoes of contemporary Earth heroes who will jump between our world of technology and another of magic. The twist for the game is that a team of four heroes will be opposed by one player who will assume the role of a dungeon master-like Shadowlord. "With Shadow Realms, we decided that the Shadowlord should interact with and see the gameplay world in a similar way to the hero players –- albeit with better tactical knowledge," BioWare wrote. "Their objective is to stop the group of heroes by haunting them, setting traps, casting spells, summoning monsters, and controlling any monster in the level." The game will grow with episodic storytelling, offer "deep combat customization," and feature six classes. Shadow Realms is set to go into closed beta this fall.
Oort Online strives to create a 'universe-sized' sandbox
Why should your sandbox MMO be confined to one measly world? That's the premise of Oort Online, an upcoming sandbox title that involves several worlds that can be explored, conquered, and molded by players. In this voxel-based game, players will exist on the same server and can choose to fight a nasty galaxy-spanning race called the Protectors or carve out a slice of land on which to build a masterpiece. "We think fans of procedural games are going to love Oort Online! We're making a universe-sized sandbox and giving players control over what happens," developer Wonderstruck said. Oort Online has been in development for six months and is available right now as an early access prototype for funders who spend $95 or more. The crowdfunded project also has cheaper tiers for alpha and beta access and promises a package of goodies (including a chance to win instant access) for those who send out a tweet promoting the game. Get a sneak peek of Oort Online in a dev video after the break!
Filmmaker Ridley Scott is tackling a Phillip K. Dick project for Amazon
The works of author Phillip K. Dick have proven fertile ground for classic sci-fi movies like Total Recall and A Scanner Darkly, and The Man in the High Castle is up next. Except, well, it's making its debut on the small screen, by way of Amazon Studios and executive producer Ridley Scott (pictured above), according to Deadline. For the unfamiliar, Castle takes place in a 1962 where the Allied Powers were defeated in World War II, and, as a result, Germany and Japan began an occupation of the United States -- Scott's sci-fi phase apparently isn't stopping anytime soon. With the legendary filmmaker working on Halo: Nightfall, the Prometheus and Blade Runner sequels and now this, we're even tempted to call it a trend. [Image credit: AFP/Getty Images]
Recommended Reading: Google Glass in the courtroom and 'Bill Walsh College Football'
Recommended Reading highlights the best long-form writing on technology and more in print and on the web. Some weeks, you'll also find short reviews of books that we think are worth your time. We hope you enjoy the read. Today's Tech: How a California Personal Injury Attorney Uses Google Glass by Nicole Black, Above the Law Pocket!function(d,i){if(!d.getElementById(i)){var j=d.createElement("script");j.id=i;j.src="https://widgets.getpocket.com/v1/j/btn.js?v=1";var w=d.getElementById(i);d.body.appendChild(j);}}(document,"pocket-btn-js"); We've seen everyone from medical school students to airline staff using Google Glass. Heck, even lawyers are jumping on board. California attorney Mitch Jackson is using Glass in his practice to record witness interviews and depositions to be viewed later. Jackson touts the potential of Google's spectacles in the jury selection process, especially when his consultant is across the country, and how useful the Evernote add-on is for easy case-file notations.
Battleborn melds the MOBA with a first-person perspective
Challenging the notion that all MOBAs must be played from an omniscient isometric viewpoint, Gearbox revealed its own MOBA, Battleborn, that takes place from a first-person perspective. Battleborn promises a wide array of character variety as heroes battle on an alien planet, including Elvish archers, steampunk riflemen, and minigun-toting heavies. The lore hook is pretty solid, too, with the good guys fighting to protect the very last star in the universe against a faction called the Varelsi. The MOBA will feature both a co-op campaign and multiplayer PvP mode, and will be coming to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC next year. You can check out the reveal trailer after the break.
Space Faction opens up a huge galaxy for you to explore and exploit
Is intergalactic multiplayer the new hotness on the MMO scene? It seems as though outer space has finally opened up for business, and we have another title that's eager to get in on the spaceship and ray gun fun. This new game is Space Faction, a PvP MMO that features ground and space exploration and combat. The factions part of the name comes into play because, according to the official site, "to conquer the unknown, these newcomers must learn to hone their abilities and create factions with others, because as large as the galaxy is, it isn't nearly large enough for everyone." Space Faction purports to feature a wide variety of classes and activities, from treasure hunting to collecting bounties to surveying planets. And also fighting. Lots and lots of fighting. The game looks to be in early development and is currently working on setting up a Steam Greenlight campaign. [Thanks to Thomas for the tip!]
