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Undead Labs says 'big things are going on with State of Decay'
Is Undead Labs working on its long-rumored State of Decay MMO? Maybe so and maybe no, but the company is working on something big according to founder Jeff Strain's latest blog post. "We'll be able to share details later this year," he writes, "but as with State of Decay, we think it's best if we just keep our heads down and build some prototypes before we talk too much. For now, suffice it to say there are big things going on with State of Decay. Strain also intimates that whatever it is will take quite a while. "It's been a long haul from the original vision to this point, and the road ahead of us will take years to travel. We hope you're up for the trip, because we can't do it without you," he says.
Star Citizen finishes gaming's biggest crowd-funding drive ever
"The traditional publishers don't believe in PC or space sims. Venture capitalists only want to back mobile or social gaming startups," wrote Chris Roberts back during Star Citizen's October reveal. "I say they're wrong. "I say that there is a large audience of PC gamers who want sophisticated games built for their platform." Boy, was he right. As of 2:00 p.m. EST, the game has secured over $6.2 million and over 89,000 pledges. Star Citizen is now the highest-grossing crowd-funded gaming project ever, and more importantly it has met a laundry list of stretch goals over and above its initial $2 million target and unlocked a slew of additional features (including more ships, star systems, mod tools, base types, and voice-acting). Roberts' Cloud Imperium firm has also released a new video that shows off some very early spaceport test footage. Click past the cut to get a look at the work-in-progress environment inspired by the concept art above.
Hell yeah, it's an Infinity update
Being a fan of Infinity is an exercise in delayed gratification. The sci-fi sandbox MMO has been in development for-seemingly-ever, but given its nerdgasm-inducing feature set (which includes seamless transitions from space to planetary flight and huge, procedurally-generated heavenly bodies in a physics-based universe), the wait will likely be worth it. Today is a great day for fans, though, because developer Keith Newton has published a new update on the game's website for the first time in six months. Newton states that his team is getting "ready to increase our communication significantly," and he also says that he is leaving his regular job to focus full time on I-Novae Studios and Infinity early in 2013. Finally, there's a Kickstarter project in Infinity's near future, and Newton also fills us in on various technical details including terrain engine updates and something called pre-computed atmospheric scattering. If you're unfamiliar with Infinity, check out the pre-alpha tech demo videos embedded after the break.
Star Citizen crowd-funding tops $3 million with 10 days to go
The news keeps getting better and better for fans of Chris Roberts' new Star Citizen space sim. Cloud Imperium just issued a press release trumpeting the fact that SC's crowd-funding initiatives have surpassed $3 million with 10 days to go. The company initially launched a self-managed fundraiser on its own website that has generated over $2 million in pledges to date. This was supplemented by a Kickstarter drive that has taken in over $1 million. Roberts' pre-alpha demo reel has attracted nearly 45,000 backers as of press time, and the Wing Commander creator says that the crowd-funding success will allow the dev team to work on additional features. "This is extremely exciting for me and our team because it will enable us to create the game we've been talking about to our fans over the past month," Roberts explained. "But we can do even more. I'm still hoping that we'll reach four million dollars before we close. This will allow us to do more sooner, especially on things like our modder tools." Cloud Imperium has also announced a pledge referral program to help reach its new $4 million goal. [Source: Cloud Imperium press release]
Star Citizen well ahead of crowd-funding schedule, stretch goals added
Chris Roberts' Star Citizen is one of the more successful gaming-related crowd-funding projects to date, and even though there's still two weeks left until the Kickstarter drive closes, the title has already exceeded its $2 million goal by almost $800,000. What's going to happen to that extra money, then? It's partly up to the game's community. The Star Citizen site boasts a new poll with additional stretch goals. Choices include more ships, star systems, NPCs, an enhanced FPS mode, Linux and Mac clients, and some sort of tactical command mode for capital ships. As of press time, new flyable ships and additional star systems were leading the vote.
Star Citizen achieves Kickstarter goal with 26 days to spare
Chris Roberts' Star Citizen title is well on its way if the project's Kickstarter performance is any indication. Wait, Kickstarter? Didn't Roberts set up a crowd-funding initiative directly on the game's official website earlier this month? Why, yes, yes he did, but due to the overwhelming demand generated by thousands of starving space sim fans, the site had trouble handling all the traffic. Roberts Space Industries thus opened an ancillary Kickstarter project with a $500,000 target. When coupled with the $1.3 million raised so far on the main site, Star Citizen is within striking distance of its original $2 million goal with a lot of time left on the clock. Check out yesterday's Massively Speaking podcast for an interview with Chris Roberts himself.
Hi-Rez prepping Global Agenda sequel with focus on PvP
Hi-Rez Studios' Global Agenda is a curious concoction of third-person shooter, MMO PvE, and team-based PvP. The game is also a ton of fun even though it has a ton of issues (chief among them being its primary focus and identity). The game wasn't financially successful, but the developers nonetheless learned a lot of valuable lessons which led to Tribes: Ascend. While Tribes was well-received, it's something of a niche game due to its high player-skill requirements. According to a blurb posted last night on the Hi-Rez forums, Global Agenda 2 is officially in the works and it will feature a focus on PvP. "We plan to add new maps, game modes, class weapons, and build it all on our newest platform," Hi-Rez says. The company hasn't officially named the title as of yet, but it expects to start beta testing by the middle of 2013. [Thanks to Zeds for the tip!]
Skyrim Online MMO-ish mod gaining momentum
Skyrim Online isn't really an MMO. Heck, it's not even a fully functioning mod yet, nor will it ever be officially supported. It's pretty cool, though, particularly given that its aim is to enable co-op play within the sprawling world of Bethesda's latest Elder Scrolls epic. When we first heard of the mod last winter, it was pretty rough, with other players displaying as inanimate prisoner NPCs sans any clothing or armor. Now, though, the devs have managed to add some armor, basic run and walk animations, and general chat. There's still a lot left to do, including a party system, trading, AI synchronization, and PvP, but you can see a video clip of the recent progress after the break. [Thanks Sandboxer for the tip!]
EverQuest II's GU63 tweaks crafting, adds hundreds of new items
If you've been slacking when it comes to keeping up with EverQuest II tradeskill news lately, the recent Game Update 63 (otherwise known as Skyshrine) featured quite a few noteworthy tweaks. Sony Online Entertainment has posted a dev interview detailing some of the larger changes, including the addition of several hundred new craftable items. SOE's Brian "Omougi" Ferguson says that Carpenters and Alchemists got a lot of love during this patch, and combat-only players will be pleased to know that crafters can now make even more handy upgrades. There are two new consumables for each class archetype, and Ferguson is particularly fond of the tank versions which gives meatshields an additional 20% damage reduction for 12 seconds. Full details are yours at the official EQII website.
EVE Evolved: Looking forward to the winter expansion
Since EVE Online's release in 2003, CCP Games has been the center of one of the most interesting success stories in the games industry. Produced by a tiny indie development studio on a frozen volcanic rock, EVE was the perfect example of how to do things right. The game's publishing deal with Simon & Schuster allowed CCP to buy back the rights to the game several months after its initial release. With no publisher taking a cut of the profits, CCP ploughed subscriptions back into the game's development and grew the development team organically. As a one-game company, CCP worked closely with players to make EVE the best game possible for its loyal playerbase. In a recent letter to the players, CCP CEO Hilmar laments that somewhere along the line, things changed for the worse. The CCP of today bears little resemblance to the "little indie studio that could" of 2003, not just housing over 600 employees in offices around the world but also developing upcoming MMOs DUST 514 and World of Darkness. Resources are spread thin, and EVE Online has suffered for it. Last month I looked back at the blockbuster Apocrypha expansion and asked why every expansion since then has cut down on the in-space development players want. Hilmar's letter and its accompanying devblog answered that question this week with a solid plan for iteration on flying in space features during the winter development period. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look forward to the winter expansion and explain why each of the issues being tackled in the coming expansion is a big deal to players.
Hi-Rez puts Global Agenda on sale, 100% of proceeds going to disaster victims
Lots of game companies are stepping up to offer financial support to the victims of the recent disasters that have devastated Japan. Atlanta-based Hi-Rez Studios is going one better, as the indie MMO developer has placed its flagship title on sale for the weekend and is donating 100% of the resulting proceeds to Red Cross relief efforts. That's right, we said 100%, and from March 18th through March 20th, purchasing Global Agenda from the Hi-Rez online store will not only net you the premier MMO shooter at a $20.00 discount but send much-needed funds to our friends in the Pacific. Global Agenda is completely free-to-play after the initial client purchase, and Hi-Rez offers booster packs to speed your in-game advancement and credit/token acquisition.
GamersFirst rezzes Acclaim 9Dragons characters
Where's a good cleric when you need one? Apparently they're at the GamersFirst offices, performing the herculean task of reanimating thousands of 9Dragons characters left for dead when Acclaim (the title's original publisher) pulled the plug on the martial arts MMORPG this past summer. If you're a former 9Dragons player and you submitted a character request earlier this year, you can now claim your rebuilt level 80 avatar at the official GamersFirst website. "We are excited to finally be able to offer character restoration options for the 9Dragons community. We want players to know that we appreciate their support during our transition. We have spent a large amount of time and effort processing and improving the template characters to get players back into the game without having to redo all their hard work from before," said David Demers, 9Dragons Associate Producer.
Universal announces Blu-Ray plans; Heroes available in August
This is a post we've been waiting to write for a long time. Not only has Universal finally revealed their Blu-Ray plans for the coming months, but our favorite Universal property, Heroes, will be available on Blu-Ray this August. There's no word on a price or specific release date, but it's nice to know that both seasons 1 and 2 will be available later this year. Finally. Other Universal releases due out from July onwards include The Incredible Hulk, Hellboy II and the Mummy trilogy. For more information check out Hi-Def Digest's report on Universal's announcement. Please feel free to squeal like little girls about the Heroes announcement in the comments after the beep.Beep.
Totem Talk: Shamans are awesome.
Another week, another Totem Talk, a column by and for shamans and those that love us. Well, okay, you don't have to love us to read it, but why wouldn't you? Look how cuddly we are! We even provide Bloodlust or Heroism for your 5 mans and raids. Don't you want to adopt one of us and take us home right now? No? What do you mean, no? Matthew Rossi is disappointed that you haven't already made a shaman plushie and cuddled it upon finishing this paragraph.Okay, so my introductory column for Totem Talk went about like I expected, with most folks disagreeing with the idea that shamans need help. This isn't a new problem, of course, and it's not likely to go away for a while. Most players have enshrined the concept of shamans as OP and either deliberately or unknowingly exaggerate certain abilities (as an example, complaining that Grounding Totem, an ability which has a 15 second cast cooldown and which dies in one hit, is eating half of their frostbolts. How is that mathematically possible? Frostbolt has a max casting time of three seconds. You can cast five of them in the time it takes to cast one Grounding. It's just not possible for it to be eating half of your frostbolts, even assuming a one on one mage vs. shaman battle) but this happens to everyone. When I play my warrior, I see people complaining about 6k executes, and I'm sure every single class in the game has a similar ability or two that everyone complains about far more than it is actually capable of. But this week there will be no complaining. No, this week we're going to celebrate shamans and what they're capable of and try and sell a really interesting and fun class to everyone in WoW. So read on for tales of high adventure! Or at least tales of stuff that would be good to have along on an adventure, anyway.
