You can say whatever you want to say about the RPG Codex, but one thing is for sure they have good interviews. This time the interview is with Colin McComb about writing for Torment: Tides of Numenera.

You’ve credited Chris Avellone with being responsible for a pretty extraordinary 50% of the overall writing on Planescape: Torment, including the first drafts for three-quarters of the characters. T:ToN, on the other hand, seems to be gaining creative contributors almost by the day, one of whom (Pat Rothfuss) is coming to games-writing for the very first time. As the lead writer, how exactly are you planning to manage all of these disparate voices? Is there a danger of an individual vision being lost in the rush to bring in more recognisable, Kickstarter-friendly names?

Having a distributed ensemble writing team is something that we planned for from the start, so while the danger you mention is a risk, we’re prepared for it. Now that the Kickstarter has wrapped, I’m sitting down and fleshing the story out further. This involves outlining specific story beats, levels, and thematic elements to hit at certain points, among other things. It has been a very busy month since the Kickstarter ended and it’s going to be (at least!) another very busy month before we get anyone else really going on the design. That’s just as well, because narrative development is a hugely iterative process, and we’ve already improved and tightened various aspects of the story. By the time our other writers come on board, we’ll have a solid base for them to work from. Further, we’re going to get them rolling in stages, so issues flagged by the first group will translate into improvements for the second, and so on. This staged roll-out will make it easier for me to review their work for consistency and style.

In the meantime, we’ve got our novella writers working on the Tides stories, and we plan to use those to help acclimate the other writers to the baseline of the Tides.

It’s my hope that our writers will feel grounded and able to work with what we have by the time of the first writers’ meeting. At this meeting, we’ll be discussing the story in excruciating detail and breaking it down bit by bit in order to tidy it up.

And then, after they all get moving, I’ll be overseeing and reviewing their work throughout the process. I don’t imagine that I’ll be writing 50% of the game, but I will be writing a fair portion and am going to have my hands in pretty much all of it – whether writing directly, editing, or providing feedback. Fortunately, we have the example of PST to prove that the game doesn’t need to be the work of a single author – multiple writers works just fine, provided there’s good oversight.

The year is 2015, and Torment’s been released. A man appears in a fiendish puff of smoke and offers you the chance to create a game in a setting entirely of your choosing, with absolutely no need to worry about marketability or mass appeal. What do you choose?

Do I have to worry about legal issues? Frankly, I want to keep going with stuff I’ve been involved in and already made a part of me. Numenera is right up at the top there—it’s new, exciting, and the boundaries are wide open. Rothfuss’s Kingkiller world would be pretty great; I know he’s interested in making a game set there. Hell, if we’re novelizing fiction, I’d like to make a game in my Oathbreaker setting, because I’ve been living with that in my head for more than a decade. I’d love to explore the world I created for Torn before they went in a different direction.

If we’re talking tabletop settings, I’d love to work in Birthright again. Doing something with Paizo’s Golarion would be cool, and of course Planescape is always going to have a special place for me.

But even beyond that, I’d love to develop a brand-new setting, because world-building is so goddamn fun. I’d love to do something in the world of Endless Night, where the players are the last bastion of Light... or perhaps the first. Or what about a modern-day horror game being penetrated by dimension-crossing monsters that attack by creating passages through nightmares? Or an urban crime fantasy?

Seriously, though, just one setting? There are so many good ideas out there that I can’t possibly choose one right now while I’m neck-deep in the Ninth World. Let me ask Lucifer (or is it Mephistopheles?) when we’ve wrapped up Torment. I might have a better answer then.

The mouse with a lute RPG called Ghost of a Tale has been funded on Indiegogo with one day left to go.

WE MADE IT!!!

That’s incredible! No, really; it is. Why? Because a month ago “Ghost of a Tale” wasn’t on anyone’s radar. No journalist was aware of anything in regard to the project. The campaign was a text-book cold start.

So you can all be proud of yourselves, because you’ve made it happen. In fact from my point of view that is the single most amazing thing about the whole adventure; to see that you, the backers, decided this could be a special little game worth helping. And that you acted on this feeling.

As I wrote on the main page, one of the reasons I started this campaign was to see if there were enough potential players that could be bothered; it was to be a stern (and very public) verdict on the viability of the project itself. And boy did I get a resounding endorsement!

Thank you to each and everyone of you who have contributed to this campaign, whether from a financial or moral standpoint (and often both). As one of you said in a recent message, I shouldn’t think of this success as a heavy pressure weighting down on me as I work on the game, but rather I should think of it as an huge mark of affection for the project. And indeed I very much like the notion!

I will keep posting here any important updates until I can all direct you to an official site and community forums where you’ll be able to keep being involved in the creation of the game. Meanwhile, I am sure all of you will join me in breathing a long sigh of relief… :)

The official Bethesda Softworks blog has a new interview with Scott Chaunce (aka Soolie). The interview is about his popular Tropical Skyrim mod.

Who helped with the creation of the project?

Originally I planned on creating the entire project myself. However I came across a number of assets created by other modders that were perfect for Tropical Skyrim. So rather than re-inventing the wheel I decided to use the content created by others (with permission of course). However, I did end up modifying most of this content to fit the tropical atmosphere.

You can find a complete list of people who contributed to the project on Tropical Skyrims download page. Nevertheless the main contributors were:

• Ga-Knomboe Boy, who created most of the trees that were tweaked to fit Tropical Skyrim.
• Tamira, who adapted a number of plants produced by Yughues to be usable in Skyrim.
• Muppetpuppet, who allowed me to use some of assets from his Moonpath mod.
• lookout21, who retextured some of the wild animals for me.

Any plans to continue updates for the mod? If so, can you give us a sneak peak of what you have in store?

YES, I plan to continue updating this mod until I can show it to the most hardcore Skyrim fans without them recognizing a single thing. As of right now I have changed/added the following things since the previous update.

• Windhelm has been retextured to fit the tropical landscape.
• Most of the foliage including trees, bushes and grass has been improved. Rather than the foliage being dense and cluttered, it is now slightly more sparse, but also a greater emphasis has been placed on making it look more tropical and lush.
• The Reach has had a complete makeover; it now features dense cypress trees, which gives it more of a sinister feeling than the other areas.
• A lot of the meshes and textures have been optimized to improve performance.
• Most textures have been modified so that they blend together more realistically.
• New high resolution rock textures.
• The caves have now been tropicalified (Is this even a word??). They are now a lot more green and mossy. Also, some of the larger trees that block off some sections of the caves have been removed.
• The distant trees have been significantly improved, (correct lighting, proper sizes, and they don’t look 2D anymore).
• New high res textures for the distant terrain. In some cases, it looks even better than the close up terrain.
• A lot of ivy and other small plants have been added to the cliffs and mountains.

Before I release the next update I would also I would also like to replace some of the common sets of armor and weapons found within the game. Let’s be honest… thick fur coats aren’t really the most appropriate apparel for the jungle.

I have also added real 3D clouds to the game which react to the weather and time of the day. Adding a whole new layer of depth and immersion to the world (and also creating some truly majestic views from the mountain tops). It definitely suits the snowy version of Skyrim well, but I’m still thinking about whether it would be as appropriate in a tropical climate. Therefore I will most likely release this as a separate mod

TheKoalition has a new podcast about defining what is an RPG. Other topics include free-to-play and why it's the future.

Richard Bailey joins myself and David Jagneaux in this week's episode of Turn Based. Our colleague ElectroJade asked me a thoughtful question recently. The question was whether a game like Heavy Rain could be considered an RPG, due to the fact you assume the role of the numerous characters and make decisions for them.

I personally wouldn't call Heavy Rain an RPG, but I could easily see how somebody could make the distinction. We decided that this was a topic that should be discussed in more detail, so our main discussion surrounds the question "What is the true definition of a role-playing game?" Be sure to share your thoughts below.

Also on this episode we discuss the recent Diablo 3 auction house exploits, and the Defiance TV to video game events. There was also the awesome news that Rift would be going free-to-play, and developer Epic discussed about free-to-play business models on consoles recently. With the combination of these free-to-play topics we decided to touch on why we believe free-to-play is the way of the future.

Jagged Alliance: Flashback has a new update. The update this time covers the mercenaries, and if your interested has diorama questions.

We have been happy with the general reception of the Diorama scene and the general art style. We know it won’t make _everyone_ happy, but we really want to give Flashback a visual identity and art style. Not too comic, not too photo realistic and still inside what Jagged Alliance is all about.

Diorama Questions

One of the often asked question is, if the diorama is representative of a sector. And its not! It is a small visual slice of what you would be able to expect to see on a little more than a single screen. Technically there is no limitation of how large a sector could be. But there are gameplay related limitations of how fun it is to travel 10 minutes from one end to the other on foot.

Another question is, if this is final art and final models etc. It is not - a LOT can change during initial production and design phases. But Jesper and Javier have tried to hit the mood and visual style that is in their heads as close a possible. Remember this is 2 week effort - and its kick ass. So the game might in the end be a little more gritty, less color saturations etc - or it might stick to this initial take. But we don’t want the game to turn into a comic book - and we don’t want to run a bland photo realistic brown shader boring look either.

Last but not least is a question of camera angles and 3d vs 2.5d. At the moment in our heads we run a 3d environment with a fixed rotation and only little zoom. It is what we have in Space Hulk, and it works surprisingly well to not allow for full freedom. The current thought in our heads is to have a similar angle and distance as in JA2 (maybe just a little closer) - and then allow the camera to rotate 90 degrees with a single key press. But this will all be playtested and tweaked yet.

Mercenaries

Alllllll righty!!!

We have been through the list of mercenaries now and taken a look at who would qualify for a prequel, and who would be too young or not fit.

So without further delay, here is our current 3 lists. If we forgot someone you really want back (most likely we did), maybe misinterpreted backstories and ages or similar - give us a shout and we will take a second look. The lists are NOT complete through all games - we know that. And we cannot use Wildfire characters due to licensing issues.

PCGAMER has a preview for Thief 4. Not to much more to say just read the preview and comment.

One of the most interesting elements of the new Thief is an expansion of this pronounced sense of the world’s physical properties: the soft carpets, clopping flagstones, almost blanketlike darkness. Now on the borders of the first-person screen are Garrett’s hands. They rest on surfaces and obstacles, brush against walls – not always visible, but creeping into view when Garrett presses up against objects, giving a sense of the fabric and flavour of what the studio are calling a “tactile world”.

In the demo Eidos Montreal have prepared, this tactile world looks like one you wouldn’t necessarily want to touch. The introduction to The City, another core returning element, has a sense of BioShock-like parade. Garrett rides a bumpy wooden cart through a portcullis checkpoint, with piles of plague victims stacked nakedly on the filthy roadside, top hats and iron armour marking the clash of medieval and Victorian, bystanders and guards muttering and arguing as he passes by. There’s a sense that The City is happening on cue – on the left, a thief protests as he’s clapped into the stocks, on the right a noosed prisoner is kicked from a first-floor ledge and swings lifelessly into place alongside two or three others.

The City is the same place as before, with a different configuration. The Hammerite and Keeper ideologies that dominated the earlier trilogy are all but swept away (at least on the surface – the occasional Hammerite slogan might appear as a brickwork advertisement, and I did glimpse some Keeper glyphs in the demo).

Puresophistry has an audio interview with Raphael Sbarge better known as the voice of Kaidan Alenko.

It wasn’t until Mass Effect 3 when Bioware offered same sex romances options for players that a measure of equality was reached. Sbarge goes into detail as to why this was important not only for the game, but for the industry in general. (Starts at 31:20)

"I was thrilled when they introduced the Homosexual romance options in Mass Effect 3 just because obviously there was a huge audience. I spoke to the developers about it, they said they provided so many different choices we were proud of, to be really honest it was just another piece of extra content that didn’t make the final cut in the other games.

What’s amazing about the game for people is that you can cross gender! You can play through in any capacity you want, imaginatively for any of us that’s a huge factor in the experience. All of the opportunities and complexities are fascinating, and that’s what games allow to go down the rabbit hole and explore it.

As far as relationships, the writing is so wonderful. Dealing with issues of rank, emotionality and a sense of separation in Mass Effect 2. As I understand it, more women began play video games as a results of Mass Effect, I think because of these romance elements.”

 

---

 

Finally Raphael does make comment on the ending of Mass Effect 3, how he believes fans received it and what lies ahead for Mass Effect 4. (Will he playing Kaidan’s Great Great Grandfather?(Starts at 18:10)

“It was done, and people flipped out.  What was so interesting about that is  Bioware responded, they took it really soulfully to heart and really addressed it. Speaking to the fans and created that other additional content to play through other areas of the game.

Even though on the one hand it was incredibly sad not just for the fans but the people who spent a decade working on this game, but there is something in the fact it’s over. That makes it very precious in a way. It almost makes it more special and remarkable, that folks were part of Mass Effect. That elite club of millions.

That’s not to say that there isn’t sadness but it’s being felt by gamers and developers but they said publicly there will be Mass Effect 4. “

Bloodlust Shadowhunter is a Single-Player RPG from WRF Studios. The game is also on Steam Greenlight looking for approval. The developers have a demo on the main site to try also. Give the game a look, and give your opinion in the comment section.

There is also a video of the demo from Cramgaming.

Rock Paper Shotgun has an article that shows the original concept behind the Thief series. The former Looking Glass Video Director Josh Randall unearthed a VHS of his unseen work, and uploaded it on Youtube

Thief was previously an RPG set in Camelot, built in the Stargate Engine. You would’ve played as Mordred, fighting a despotic Arthur. Merlin was a psychopath and the knights hired muscle. Not ridiculous enough? Your goal was to unearth the truth about the Holy Grail.

Shroud of the Avatar has a few posted updates on their website. The first update is the Dev Chat video. The second update deals with teir changes, and reminds everyone the grace period ends May 20.

There are still 3 days to go in order to reach the required additional 4.5 KEuro for Ghost of a Tale to get funded. With a bit of help that should be possible.
In the meantime there are some wallpapers of the game you can enjoy.

Yeah I know.... a newsbit on wallpapers?? It is indeed just a trick to lure you into pledging for the game where you get to play as a mouse.

Legend of Grimrock 2 has another development update posted. The posts topics talk about a new animator who has joined the team, new levels, items, and monsters.

Olli has been helping out Jykä to get up to speed and he’s also been active on the business side by filling blanks on obscure documents for our new accountant. Sometimes the business side of things feel like solving a cryptic Grimrock puzzle and Olli’s getting pretty good at it. Olli’s also found time to complete animations for the very first monster you’ll encounter in LoG2.

In another news, Jyri #1 has been working on new items graphics. We need at least a hundred new items for LoG2 so this will keep him and a few other people rather busy for some time! Jyri has also been modeling new environmental assets and a new puzzle object that Antti will be putting into good use.

Talking about Antti, he’s been working on the levels and we now have about 30% of the playable area in “pre-alpha state”, i.e. mapped out with puzzles and initial placement of monsters. I’ve also helped Antti by creating the first version of the very first introductory level.

Juho has been working on a new monster concept and has also been modeling assets for the first level. He’s also gotten his eyes shot with a laser and he had to take a few days off to recuperate. His new laser-cut eyes will hopefully make him even better as an artist (if that’s even possible!).

On the tech side the refactoring work for the component system is finally done. Some other notable changes are: a new quite deadly trap, and lifting off the restriction of levels having to be 32×32 squares in size. Levels can now be any size up to 64×64 and also non-square. Levels can now also be connected in north-south and east-west directions as well as vertically.

Blizzard has two special promotions going on right now. The first one is for the one year anniversary of Diablo 3 by offering a 33% discount.

To celebrate an action-packed year of demon slaying, we're kicking off Diablo III’s first birthday with BIG savings. For a limited time, you can save $20 when you get Diablo III for the PC/Mac in the Blizzard Online store. That's 33% off the usual price, enabling you or a friend to adventure in the world of Sanctuary easier than ever before.

The other one is to celebrate the 15th anniversary for the whole series with a  soundtrack available on itunes.

The development team at Blizzard continues to celebrate the 15-year anniversary since the launch of the first Diablo video game by offering fans a chance to listen to the soundtrack and download it for free through iTunes.

The official page offers notes from the composers who worked on the music of Diablo and there are also classical music themes to sample.

 

According to gamesindustry.biz Obsidian Entertainment will be working with the Allods Team to develop a PC MMORPG called Skyforge.

Obsidian's CEO Feargus Urquhart had this to say about the project.

“Skyforge is very interesting and promising project and I am glad that Obsidian Entertainment is involved in working on this game. I am confident that the cooperation with the Allods Team will be a great experience for all of us.”

GamingBolt has an interview with Development Director Chris Keenan of inXile Entertainment about Wasteland 2, and various other topics.

Ravi Sinha: With Obsidian Entertainment, Fallout 1 & 2 composer Mark Morgan, Planescape: Torment writer/designer Colin McComb and of course, the producer of the first game, Wasteland 2 is certainly brimming with industry and RPG legends. How was such a team assembled for the project?

Chris Keenan: Everything about the way we’ve planned, financed and built this project is different from the way we’ve worked over the past 10-15 years. We have our core implementation team that has worked together for a while and just thought, “If we can have anyone we want for this title, how would we do it?”.

Brian immediately reached out to many members from the original team for design help. Being that we are not working with a publisher it, we could make decisions that would have been sticky to figure out, like bringing on Chris Avellone. Being that he’s CCO of Obsidian, it would potentially scare publishers due to him knowing “trade secrets” about the game, but Brian has worked with the Obsidian guys for many years and knows he can trust them. We’ve developed a very close relationship with Obsidian and will continue to scratch each others backs.

Ravi Sinha: We’ve seen this post-apocalyptic set-up culminate in either finding a MacGuffin to save the world and usher in a new age of man or in exploring the so-called wasteland and making one’s own choices a la Fallout. Will Wasteland be in either direction, a mix of both or completely out of left field with its plot?

Chris Keenan: Well, being that Wasteland was the original Fallout, Brian and his team decided to keep a moderately similar high-level story feel. Neither were about saving all of humanity and bringing pixie-dust and smiles to all. Wasteland was all about the moments you came across while trying to bring about a bit of order and navigate issues as they came up.

The setting is pretty bleak and there really is no way to “save the world” even if you wanted to. The citizens of the Wasteland have literally had a trial by fire and after a hundred years of being in pure survival mode, they don’t necessarily operate on logic that we’d hold true in our current world.

Ravi Sinha: In regards to its design, was there always that desire to make Wasteland 2 a throwback to the classic RPGs of yore?

Chris Keenan: We went through a bunch of design ideas when thinking about what Wasteland 2 would be, but many of the elements that stuck kept that familiar feel from games of the past. As we continued to communicate the vision to our community prior to the Kickstarter release, we kept hearing how much people missed that classic play experience and knew it was the right decision for the game.

At the time, I think there was a feeling over the game development community that many game systems evolved out of necessity to a more mass market friendly approach. Publishers weren’t funding deals unless your game could sell a million units and that generally tends to remove the option of more hardcore game systems from the designs. Our approach is that we don’t care about the mass market. Our 65,000+ backers want a more deep detail and stat oriented game.

Dallas based indie developer The Fun Pimps Entertainment announced 7 Days to Die. I know some will say but it's not a true RPG. Watch the trailer then decide.

An open world, voxel-based, sandbox game blending the best elements of FPS, Survival Horror, RPG and Tower Defense style games. "Seven Days to Die" looks to carve out its own space giving gamers what they really want with a unique combination of combat, crafting, exploration, and character growth. It's not just Survival Horror anymore its "Survival Horde."

Seven Days to Die Core Features include:

• Explore a modern, beautiful, fully destroyable, fully buildable, fully dynamic, hand crafted, huge voxel world with cities, forests, wastelands, deserts, plains and mountains. Explore hundreds of points of interest and every building inside and out!

• Our advanced "Dynamic Block Stability Physics System," simulates real-time structural integrity. Build it right or watch it come crumbling down.

• Relentless enemies will stop at nothing as they claw, jump and break their way through the world in order to get to you. And watch out for the unique severely mutated.

• Mine and loot a multitude of items and ingredients to survive creating hundreds of weapons, items and traps with the intuitive and deep "Crafting System" inspired by classic adventure games but modernized. No wiki required!

• Uncover the truth as you find survivor notes that lead to better loot from the "Dynamic Story Generation System" which puts the player in charge of the story solving the "now what problem" that plague most voxel games.

• Play solo, Co-op online with friends or in our unique "Zombie Nomad Mode" for a no rules experience!

• Enjoy a fully destroyable voxel-based world blowing up everything in the entire game or build it up bolstering the defenses of an existing structure or building your own fort to try and keep the zombies out.

• Gain experience and upgrade your skills in melee, guns, crafting, and stealth!

• Rummage and mine your way through the world finding food, water, loot and the resources you'll need to survive and discover a purpose for everything in the world.

• Build your own worlds and play them with your friends using the 'Creative Mode Tools" featuring hundreds of block shapes and prefabs.

Ubisoft's official Might & Magic X: Legacy website has been updated with a profile of Shantiri's Ruins. It's one of the locations you will visit during the game.

         

"Centuries ago, a great civilization appeared on the shores of the Jade Ocean: the Shantiri Empire. The Shantiris were a gathering of various Elder Races, mostly Humans, Dwarves, Nagas and Elves. The Shantiris spread across the face of the world, building titanic cities and temples.

Then came the Elder Wars. Angels and Faceless, children of Light and Darkness respectively, consumed their hatred in a genocidal war. In a single night, most inhabitants of the Shantiri Empire vanished and their magnificent cities were cast down.

The Agyn Peninsula harbours many Shantiri ruins, attracting all kinds of treasure-hunters and lore-keepers who hope to unlock their secrets, while ignoring the persistent rumours claiming the ruins are haunted – or worse..."

A tweet from the Rampant Coyote led me to an article at The Digital Antiquarian about the birth of Origin Systems and Ultima III.

Everything about the young (literally; look at their picture above!) Origin Systems was bizarre, even by startup standards. They set up shop in Richard’s personal playhouse, a space above the Garriott family’s three-car garage which had once served as an art studio for his mother but had been commandeered by Richard and his friends years before for their D&D games. It was a big room scattered with desks, chairs, and even cots. Here Richard and his friends set up their various computers. A little cubbyhole at one end served as Robert’s business office. Robert himself was still officially living in Massachusetts with his wife, who had quite a career of her own going as a manager at Bell Labs and thus couldn’t move. Robert, however, was a pilot with a little Cessna at his disposal. He spent three weeks of each month in Houston, then flew back to spend the last with his wife in Massachusetts.

Together Chuck Bueche and Richard worked feverishly on the games that would become Origin Systems’s first two products. Chuck’s was an action game called Caverns of Callisto; Richard’s was of course the big one upon which they were all depending to get Origin properly off the ground, Ultima III.

Given its flagship status, Garriott felt compelled to try to remedy some of the shortcomings of his earlier games. In particular, he was obviously eying the Wizardry series; for all of the Ultima series’s stellar reviews and sales, the first two Wizardry games had garnered even better and more of both. Much of what’s new in Ultima III is there in the name of addressing his series’s real or perceived failings in comparison with Wizardry. Thus he replaced the single adventurer of the early games with a full party which the player must manage; added a new strategic combat screen to make fights more interesting; added a full magic system with 32 separate spells to cast to replace the simplistic system (which the player could easily and safely ignore entirely) of his previous games; added many new class and race options from which to build characters; made some effort to bring some Wizardry-style rigorousness to the loosy-goosy rules of play that marked his earlier games.

Gamefront interviewed Colin McComb on Torment: Tides of Numenera and the Kickstarter.

Given Torment: Tides of Numenera’s pedigree – it’s the spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment – it’s not difficult to understand just why so many luminaries want to have a hand in making it. Planescape: Torment was highly acclaimed for the quality of its writing, the development of its setting, and richly textured characters. Tides of Numenera represents a rare chance to revisit the past, but also to improve on it.

For example, combat: Planescape: Torment’s combat system is widley acknowledged as one of its weaker points. “At best,” McComb says, combat was “a slog in PST”. He says the team plans to address that by integrating combat more fully into the seam of the narrative. “Since we’re using a different base system in Numenera’s rules and have the liberty to craft something specifically designed for a cRPG, I anticipate that we’ll have a combat system that will be far more entertaining,” he promises.

Combat isn’t the only thing that’s getting overhauled in Torment. Character attributes will also be getting a change-up from the Dungeons & Dragons-based system of its predecessor. “We’ll be seeing them, though not in the familiar AD&D Strength, Dexterity, etc combination,” said McComb. “From the core systems of Numenera, we’re looking at three pools: Might, Speed, and Intellect. We also have a Type (a character class, with a choice between the warrior-like glaive, the jack, and the wizard-like nano), a Descriptor (smart, fast, cunning, tough, etc.), and the Focus – a special ability that elevates your PC above the run-of-the-mill citizenry of the world. In addition, we’ll have skills and other abilities under the hood (for instance, the Tides and Legacy system).”

A new update has been released for Ballikin, bringing it to alpha level 48. A lengthy list of changes can be found on the download page, but the highlights are these:

* You can now resize the game window.

* Graphics overhaul (increased size slightly, and sprites re-drawn at new size).

* Combat (and other) floating text display.

* Two new items, a Lantern for more light, and a Healing Balm to .. Heal you!

* Mobs now drop a better range of items.

A new Elder Scrolls Online video has been released featuring creative director Paul Sage describing how players will find useful. The Elder Scrolls Online is expected to launch this year and will be playable at Gamescom in August.

Creative Director Paul Sage describes what you'll find as you explore every corner of Tamriel. For more information about The Elder Scrolls Online, visit our website: http://elderscrollsonline.com

Update #19 for Jagged Alliance: Flashback is now avaiable on the games kickstarter page.

Stretch Goals

Although we made an update on Stretch Goals a few days ago and have reached $200,000 + opening up the Stretch Goals Box, we would like to add it to this update for all eyes to see. We know there’s still some ways to go before we reach the initial goal ,but we’re A.I.M.ing for a race to the finish.

New $425,000 Stretch Goal: 

The new stretch goal will be a small tourist island off the coast and have approximately 10 sectors. The player will be able to travel there by boat and there will be two fishing ports located on the island. Additionally, there will be a small resort located on the island, making it popular to tourist. Players can gain an economic advantage by visiting the island as well as being able to discover so called “easter eggs” along with special unlockables. 

Bear's Pit JA:F Events and Contests

As promised we wanted to give the Bear’s pit competition a mention, so here’s their hamster happy meal.

SPREAD THE WORD CAMPAIGN

Anyone can be the next San Cristobal bartender/gas station owner just by helping with spreading the word about JA:F Kickstarter: Rewards $125, $200 and $650

Follow this link for more info 

WRITE A MERC ONELINER AND WIN

Also our generous friend gdalf just spruced up his $220 reward for best merc/enemy one-liner by announcing STRETCH GOALS! Yes, he's going to add even more goodies to the pack, just join the fun and give us your line! 

Follow this link for more info

Tribute Sector 

 As a thanks to our friends at Obsidian, we’ve decided to make a special sector in their honor. The 5000 backer sector will be an Obsidian mine, where a secret cult of scientist resides and are trying to develop a new formula to become immortal, called “Eternity”. We thank the community for coming up with these awesome suggestions :D As Jesper is still hard at work finishing the diorama the visualization of the sector will have to wait, but we’ll get it up as soon as possible and also come up with the 5500 sector.

Just a few days before release of The Incredible Adventures Of Van Helsing Neocore has posted a new video simply called "Hunter's Lair."

Video Game Writers has a new opinion piece on Dragon Age 3. The writer explains in his view what Bioware should keep, and take out of the next installment.

The Dragon Age series has had two wildly different entries to date. They both have their strengths and weaknesses (I’m looking at you, Dragon Age II), but they’re still both enjoyable RPGs. Whether or not you hate being Hawke or you’re still pining after Alistair, there’s something in these games for everyone. With the third entry, Dragon Age III: Inquisition, on the horizon, it’s time to take a take a look at some of the things that BioWare should carry over, as well as those that should probably be left in the past.

Dragon Age III hasn’t received a release date yet, but we’ll likely see it early into the lives of the new consoles coming out this holiday season. BioWare is the Pixar of RPGs, and they need to recover from their Cars 2. Fingers crossed that Dragon Age III delivers when it finally hits.

DoubleBear released a nine minute Q&A video for Dead State. Topics talk about zombies, drinking, parental concerns, and a whole lot more

Since the crowd funding of Shadow of the Eternals Precursor Games has released three video updates.

Hi everyone,

I’m Shawn Jackson, the Chief Operating Officer at Precursor Games. I just wanted to give a little bit of background on myself for those who don’t know me, as well as talk about bringing Shadow of the Eternals into production.

Ken McCulloch and Denis Dyack of Precursor Games reveal two new characters from Shadow of the Eternals. Paul Caporicci announces a future vlog in which Denis will address the infamous Kotaku article

Kevin Gordon, resident Art Chameleon of Precursor Games discusses Art creation, CryENGINE3 features and current system development in Shadow of The Eternals, as well as future system and visual goals.