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Hinterland available on Steam for $20
Tilted Mill's new title Hinterland is available now on Valve's Steam service for $20. Although we've yet to have any hands-on time with the game, from videos it appears to be a mix of Diablo-style combat and town building. What it really looks like is a mature version of My Life as a King, where players actually get to do the combat parts. Some of us gamers of higher chronology may recall a similar premise in ActRaiser.The self-published Hinterland is a new route that Tilted Mill (SimCity Societies, Caesar IV) is undertaking: making a budget-friendly strategy RPG that delivers fun even when the player only has one or two hours to play. One of the game's designers, Jeff Fiske, agrees with the characterization of Hinterland as "a casual game for core gamers."%Gallery-28257%
Tilted Mill shows off first Hinterland images
Tilted Mill, following up on its re-release of Children of the Nile, recently announced its new title Hinterland, expected later this summer for PC. The game appears to be a Diablo-esque city-builder set in a fantasy world with the tag line: Loot, Level and Build. The game will have small parties of three or four characters in tactical party-based combat. It appears city town building and combat may be of equal importance in Hinterland. Check out the first couple images of the game in the gallery below.Chris Beatrice, president of Tilted Mill, which is self-publishing Hinterland, believes that smaller games will allow the company to focus and be more innovative, less afraid of risk and keep quality high. Considering the quality of the company's larger titles like SimCity Societies and Caesar IV, this "back to basics" mentality may be exactly what the studio needs to produce something not forgotten two weeks after release. We're certainly looking forward to seeing what Tilted Mill creates under the financially tighter, yet innovation liberating, constraints of self-publishing.%Gallery-28257%
Tilted Mill turns with Steam power
Valve's Steam service is generating the power for Tilted Mill's digital distribution of its enhanced 2004 title, Children of the Nile. The game places players in the role of a Pharaoh tasked with building an ancient Egyptian society SimCity-style and is available for $20.Although Tilted Mill did say previous owners of CotN would be able to get this updated version for free, that upgrade is not available just yet. We spoke with the company's president, Chris Beatrice, who tells us the download should be available on their site and several others "in the next couple of days, hopefully today." He also tells us Tilted Mill is currently working on several other projects and at least one of them will be announced this Friday. Beatrice believes that game should be available this fall and we'll be sure to post what it is as soon as we get word from the company.[Via BigDownload]
SimCity Societies demo (finally) available
We know your type. You've been waiting for a demo of SimCity Societies to see if the game is right for you. Finally, after 213 impatient days, the now self-publishing Tilted Mill Entertainment have released a demo for the city builder, which you can find at Big Download. Metareviews and Yahtzee be damned, check the game out and decide for yourself. SimCity Societies is part of The SimCity Box, due out June 23.
Tilted Mill updating Children of the Nile, self-publishing next title
Tilted Mill Entertainment says it's relaunching the studio's 2004 sim game, Children of the Nile, with a major update/redesign later this year; those who already own the title will be able to download this update for free. In a letter to Big Download, the company's president, Chris Beatrice, also outlines several other plans the developer has going forward.Although known for competent (but not exactly great) city sims like Vivendi's Caesar IV and EA's SimCity Societies, Beatrice says the company is going down a new path and will self-publish its next title this fall. Although he gives no hints as to what the game will be, he expresses that PC gaming now has "new distribution opportunities" to make and sell games at a reasonable cost. If Tilted Mill's self-published titles end up being vastly superior to its mega-publisher titles, we'll be more than happy to support the company with our hard-earned cash.
What do SimCity Societies and Second Life have in common?
Over on Computeractive.co.uk, Anthony Dhanendran has a capsule review of SimCity Societies, where he calls Simcity Societies "the game's answer to virtual worlds such as Second Life." You might wonder just how deep the similarities go. We've played SimCity Societies, even though it isn't actually an MMO of any description, and - of course - we're all over Second Life. So, what does Dhanendran base his comparison on, and is it really valid?
SimCity Societies officially building this November
Initial reaction to the announcement and new look for SimCity Societies was a bit ... strong. EA tapped Tilted Mill (Caesar IV) to do the development on this game while Maxis hopefully finishes their long journey into the abyss of time known as Spore's development cycle. SimCity Societies is scheduled for this holiday season and players will be allowed to create not only the look of their city, but also the feel. You'll be able to create an "artistic city, haunted town, green city, spiritual community or most any society you want." This will also probably allow the SimCity community to go nuts and make all different types of structures. The Sim titles have always been open to community development. Gamers will have 350 building types to choose from in SimCity Societies, "each of which allows them to combine, connect and re-arrange structures freely." You'll also be able to change the way your society behaves by creating a 1984 society or one that lives in a Candyland. One of the more interesting facets is that players can combine buildings and consume resources to create "social energies." What you decide to do with the different resources (industry, wealth, obedience, knowledge, devotion, or creativity) determines the "social energy" of your society. It sounds like a very different take on SimCity, from a straight simulation to a more "game" experience. We're sure to get a taste for the game soon and it's expected to release this fall. For better or worse, we'll all get to try the new SimCity soon enough.[Via Press Release]%Gallery-3901%
