Farflame reached out to David Zakal to talk about Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness, for which a Kickstarter campaign has started today.

RPGWatch: You revealed a story about evil forces that repeatedly tried to destroy the world until they came up with a scheme based on greed and destruction from within. Some people would probably say it is a common fantasy story while others would see some parallel to our world in it. So how would you describe it? Is it mostly based on common fantasy tropes or is it mostly allegory? Or is it more complex than it seems?

David: In the Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness backstory, spreading greed is indeed a new plot by dark gods to infiltrate, turn, and eventually wipe the world of mortals. Mortals have learned to cope with fear and evil, but have not learned to face their own weaknesses such as envy or greed. While fear from an external force makes people stick together, envy and greed silently divide and turn them against each other. As you said, it is destruction from inside. Another interesting point in the backstory is that one of the dark gods requires this scheme because she would cease to exist otherwise. She fights to keep a long-time status quo: her eternal life. The status quo and establishments have changed throughout our real history, and those who were interested in keeping the status quo did not hesitate to use the most subtle and ruthless methods to stay in power. Therefore, this is another point where people may find an allegory to the real world, but I would like to state that our game is purely fantasy and any similarities to real-life events are coincidental. We want to make a game our players love and enjoy.

 

RPGWatch: How does the skill system and character progression work? I noticed that classes have unique skills but are there also common skill trees for everybody? Some perks? Pets?

David: Your characters gain experience points during gameplay and combat. When they collect enough experience for a level-up, the game indicates this, and you can finalize the level-up by allocating various things (e.g. skill points). There are three general skills that are available to all classes: Bargain & Persuasion, Learning & Research and Brewing & Drying. Of course, the maximum points you can allocate may be different for each class (a Fighter will never brew as well as a Druid or research as well as a Spellweaver). Additionally, there are a few weapon skills as well (such as Throwing) that are available to all classes.

The closest equivalent to perks I can think of are special abilities that characters may receive at level-up or after special, rare events. In terms of activation, these work like spell-like abilities and behave in the same way as spells in terms of re-memorization. For example, Thunderclap Berserk and Prolonged Berserk are such abilities for the Fighter class.

Pets and familiars are planned to be a Kickstarter stretch goal.

 Paradox Interactive have submitted a guide to PCGamesN to help players new to BattleTech.

...

Assembling your lance

The group of mechs you take into battle is called a lance, and while you can take up to four mechs with you, there is nothing stopping you from taking fewer. The main restriction is the carry capacity of your dropship - it having a limit to the sheer tonnage of mechs it can hold. This is to stop you from taking four towering assault class mechs into battle. If you want to take in an assault mech you’re going to have to fill out the rest of your lance with lighter classes.

There are four mech classes in all: light, medium, heavy, and assault. Though, it’s not as simple as light mechs being recon units and assault mechs being heavy hitters. You can kit a light mech out with a suite of flamers so it can dance around heavier mechs torching their pilots. You could also have a heavy mech that’s low on armour but heavy on support weapons that you have to keep behind the battle lines.
[...]

It Lurks Below has launched onto Steam early access for US $20.

From PC Gamer
Diablo creator David Brevik announced his new passion project, a 2D sandbox RPG called It Lurks Below, earlier this year, citing games like Terraria, Minecraft and, yes, Diablo as major influences. Today, he-and by he, I mean Graybeard Games, the indie studio Brevik founded-announced It Lurks Below's Steam Early Access launch: it's now available on Steam for $20.

It Lurks Below will remain in Early Access for a few months, but Brevik reckons it will fully release later this year. The current build is "full featured," he says, so he'll be working on fleshing out the end-game content during Early Access. And for those wondering, yes, the price will increase post-Early Access, though we don't know by how much.

[...]

PC Gamer reviewed Frostpunk recently giving it an 89/100.

Frostpunk is a city-builder and a society simulator, but most of all a crisis management game where the crisis doesn't end until the game does. A few hours with Frostpunk and the tornadoes and tsunamis of Cities: Skylines seem like minor inconveniences. The traffic jams and noise pollution you used to fret over are now an utter fucking joke. In Frostpunk, if citizens are unhappy enough they'll banish you from your own city to die despised and alone. They might leave town if you fail them, but first they'll spend days trying to convince others to join them in mass exodus. Frostpunk is a tense, gripping, and often stressful survival strategy game filled with difficult, sometimes unthinkable choices. It's tough to play but even tougher to stop.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

Divine Divinity has been reviewed by our own GabrielMP_19.

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The Story of the Marked One

In Divine Divinity, you play as the Marked One. You can create a male or a female character from one out of three classes: warrior, wizard or survivor (rogue), which does not influence almost anything in the story, and only some of the dialogue is changed if you are a male or a female. While you were happily strolling around the village of Aleroth, you are struck by a thunder. That’s when the game begins.

The village of Aleroth is composed of healers and it’s in turmoil because their source of healing magic has been drying and their leader, Mardaneus, has become crazy. After helping the village, you discover that this is only the beginning of your troubles.

[...]

OnlySP reports that the Greedfall devs learned from the failures of Technomancer:

GreedFall Combat Learning From the Failures of The Technomancer

Jehanne Rousseau, the creative director of Spiders, the studio behind The Technomancer, has revealed new details on the developer’s upcoming project GreedFall.

 In a recent interview with IGN, Rosseau mentions The Technomancer‘s flawed combat system, which the developer is looking to rectify in its next title, with the director going in-depth about the streamlining and changes the studio has been working on:

“For GreedFall we decided to create a story mode, where combat will be easier, and we removed the percentage system for a gauge system instead. Critical actions can now be used as soon as the gauge is filled up, and can be applied to any type of combat action. It can be used to transform a simple healing spell into a powerful group spell for example, or of course to give the deathblow to an enemy. These changes in the combat make it more tactical, and we hope it will improve our players’s experience.”

GreedFall, then, does not appear to be a sidewards transition, but a huge step forward for the developer. In terms of scope, the title is looking to improve upon The Technomancer, in both the scale of the world and the way in which players traverse it, with Spiders “[deciding] to greatly improve the size of the game to give more importance to the exploration.”

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

Farflame spotted an Abandon Ship preview at GameGrin:

Abandon Ship Preview

Across uncharted waters and treacherous seas, lurks a beast below, a true tyrant of the depths, the Kraken. It’s the legendary sea monster at the forefront of Fireblade Software’s Abandon Ship.

Taking place in a fantasy-like naval world, where ships rule the sea, you take command of your own, with a crew in toe, and explore a procedurally-generated world. Abandon Ship’s story places you the boots of the Severed One, an escapee of the Doomsday Cult that devotes itself to the Kraken. In an open world that wouldn’t go amiss from the works of H.P. Lovecraft. The interactive story sees you severing yourself from the cult after questioning them as a whole, you become free, commandeering a ship and escaping. With the cult in pursuit, it is here where your adventure and survival begins.

Diving into the gameplay, for those who have played Faster Than Light (FTL), you will be quite familiar how things are structured. So just think, pirate ship instead of a spaceship, but with that being said, as someone who hasn’t played much of FTL, I’ll be only talking about Abandon Ship and won’t be making any comparisons.

[...]

Farflame spotted some BattleTech reviews and an interview:

Reviews:

PC Invasion: BATTLETECH Review - Score: 9/10

Gamegrin: BattleTech Review - Score: 10/10

Game Watcher: Battletech Review - Score: 9/10

MMO Games: BattleTech Review: Back in the Command Couch - Score: 8/10

Eurogamer: BattleTech review - long overdue turn-based spin on a strategy great

TSA: BattleTech Review - Score: 7/10

Interview:

Gamingbolt: BattleTech Interview: The Biggest BattleTech Game Yet

PC Gamer talked to Narrative co-lead Carrie Patel about lessons learned and world building in Pillars of Eternity 2.

“Story-wise, we wanted to get some of those conflicts and concerns in. We're always big on giving the player interesting choices that are not purely black and white. Letting the player choose how to resolve the tribe's concerns about the Adra and the possibility of Vailian colonization and showing two different viewpoints about what that might look like for them and letting the player decide.”

Whenever we're worldbuilding it can be useful to pull from real world influences but you never want to be like, ‘Oh, I'm just making a fantasy version of this existing culture.’
Carrie Patel

When it comes to the day-to-day work of building a place like Tikawara, Patel explains that Obsidian’s team of area designers and narrative designers are matched up to build the space both physically and culturally. “It's our job as narrative designers to come up with good stories and make sure those are expressed in the game, but it's also something the area designers are intimately involved with. They're designing the levels, the quests, and the gameplay so we sit down early on in the concept stage and hash out what the area's going to be, where it fits in with the game, what kind of gameplay they're trying to implement, what kind of story we want to bring in and how to marry those two interests.”

[...]

Eurogamer reported on Starcraft 2 introducing paid mods.

StarCraft 2 becomes a tactical turn-based RPG with the introduction of paid mods

Pro-mods.

Blizzard has jumped into the thorny issue of paid mods with its real-time strategy game StarCraft 2.

Two premium Arcade maps will soon be available to buy: ARK Star and Direct Strike, each costing $4.99 with a share of the sales going to the creators.

ARK Star, by Daniel "Pirate" Altman, follows the adventures of the Sol Seekers, an elite team of templar on a mission to find and destroy a weapon known as the ARK Star.

You can find and craft new equipment, level up and unlock new talents and abilities. And the combat is tactical and turn-based. Check it out in the video below.

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DSOGaming reports that Dark Souls Remastered will be discounted for owners of Prepare to Die Edition. There is also a new gameplay trailer.

...
Bandai Namco did not reveal whether the game will be discounted by 50% as was advertised back in January. The game will be discounted by 50% as its Japanese website reveals. In addition, the publisher has just revealed the official PC requirements and released the first gameplay trailer for this remastered version of Dark Souls that you can watch below.

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[...]

Demon's Rise: Lords of Chaos has been released on Steam to a 40% discount.

About This Game

You are no hero … no prancing knight or scholarly wizard but a champion of the dark gods. As their chosen, you have command of legions of barbarians, beastmen and demons. Wield unholy strength, necromancy and hellfire to bring ruin to the civilized realms. Honor your gods on the bloody fields of battle in a quest for power and ascension.

Demon’s Rise: Lords of Chaos is a turn-based, tactical RPG set in a brutal and unforgiving fantasy world. Taking place amidst a horrific war in the cold north, the campaign will see your party fight innumerable enemies, huge monsters and powerful sorcerers. Victory will require the tactical use of terrain, morale, formations and magic. Build an increasingly powerful war band, command demonic allies, and crush those that stand against you.

• Tactical Choices: Use terrain effects, cover and line of sight to gain an edge over your enemies. Employ spells to hinder powerful enemies, area effect damage to clear the field of lesser foes and buffs to strengthen your allies.

• Build Your Party: Choose from 20 diverse character classes to build your war band. Your warriors will improve with every victory, becoming stronger and unlocking new powers and skills. Acts of courage and savagery on the battlefield will bring favor from your gods, which can mean the difference between glory and defeat.

• Collect Gear: Equip your warriors with powerful weapons, arcane objects, runic armor and legendary artifacts. There are thousands of items to find and collect, each with their own stat effects and background lore.

• Campaign: Fight through a lengthy campaign and numerous side quests that span more than 80 hours of play time. No level caps and the ability to replay levels at a harder difficulty add to the longevity.

• Engaging Lore: Immerse yourself in the history of Tarren, the world of Demon’s Rise. A land of broken empires and shattered kingdoms where armies of humans, demons and other races fight for bitter survival.

@Comicbook According to a press release Pillars of Eternity II will be getting three expansions.

...

According to a recent press release we received:

• The first downloadable-content pack (DLC), ‘Beast Of Winter‘ will be available in July 2018, and will take your party to an island populated by a mysterious doomsday cult, that hides an ancient secret. Players will get to experience adventuring in ‘The Beyond,’ a mysterious dimension populated by ancient souls and filled with devilish challenges.
• The second DLC ‘Seeker, Slayer, Survivor’ available in September 2018, is a combat-focused expansion taking place on a previously undiscovered island that will challenge the martial prowess of your party, and your tactical skills as a commander, as you embark on a mission to rediscover ancient relics, and pit your party against Eora’s most skilled and savage.
• The third DLC, ‘The Forgotten Sanctum’ available in November 2018, will test your party’s allegiance and morality in a quest to help (or obstruct) the great wizards of Eora. Will you befriend, betray or befuddle these venerable mystics as you uncover secrets lost to the generations? The consequences of your actions will be felt across the Deadfire Archipelago whatever you decide.

[...]

Gamerant reports on a rumour that Cyberpunk 2077 is exclusively first person.

Cyberpunk 2077 is expected to have a proper reveal at E3 2018 in June, but some details may have potentially leaked ahead of time. One of the supposedly leaked details for Cyberpunk 2077 is that the game will be played from the first-person perspective, standing in stark contrast to CD Projekt Red’s previous games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which have been third-person experiences.

[...]

Henriquejr spotted a BattleTech review on PC Gamer:

BattleTech review

If, as Sid Meier likes to say, good strategy game design boils down to providing a series of interesting decisions, then what comes next should be a series of interesting consequences. This is where BattleTech excels. Harebrained Schemes has taken the hard sci-fi tabletop game (best known to PC players as the basis of the MechWarrior series) and married it to the XCOM formula in a way that brings out the best qualities of both.

You field a lance of up to four bipedal battlemechs in open-ended, turn-based combat encounters that cover swathes of open terrain. Unlike many of its tactical peers, BattleTech doesn't use a grid—this is a far more granular wargame than most, asking you to pay attention to not just the position of each mech but also its degree of rotation, its speed, and its relationship with its environment.

[...]

These are inconsistencies in what is otherwise an accomplished and fundamentally sound strategy game. BattleTech's success at making you feel—and want to live with—the interesting consequences of each mission is its greatest achievement, and will hopefully have an influence on other developers working in this genre. Where it fails, it fails because it doesn't fully implement all of its best ideas. Given the quality of what it accomplishes elsewhere, however, that's a good-faith sort of failure.

Score: 85/100

PCGamesN reviewed BattleTech giving it a 9/10. BattleTech will be releasing in a matter of hours on GOG and Steam.

The BattleTech board game has been around for decades but this is the first videogame that can be considered a true adaptation. Previous games, like MechCommander, have approximated parts of the ruleset, while others, such as MechWarrior and MechAssault, have been spin-offs set in the same universe. 

What Harebrained Schemes have achieved, however, is to capture the nuances and unique flavour of the original BattleTech. It brings in weight-class initiative-dictated movement phases, stability stats, and Called Shots. It’s very exciting for people who, like me, enjoy stats, but those that don’t can get away with just knowing the game is richer for it.

[...]

Techraptor reports that Banner of the Maid, a alt history Chinese tactical RPG, will be releasing for PC sometime in May.

The Chinese-developed alternate history tactical RPG Banner of the Maid will come to Switch, PS4, and PC later this year. This is due to the efforts of publisher CE-Asia, based out of Beijing. CE-Asia funded the development of and is handling the rights of Banner of the Maid, including publishing it on their Sonkwo store. With English, Chinese and Japanese trailers currently out now, it would be unsurprising to see Banner of the Maid localized for the three regions. While the trailer linked below only says “Coming Soon in 2018,” multiple Chinese bloggers and the video description pegs a May release.

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[...]

The Swords of Ditto is launching tomorrow on Steam and GOG and has a 20% launch discount.

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About This Game

The Swords of Ditto is a compact action RPG that creates a unique adventure for each new hero of legend in the relentless fight against the evil Mormo. Explore a delightful but dangerous overworld, brave menacing dungeons, and improve your hero in a charming village, during your quest to overcome the evil that plagues the island. Unleash the mystical Sword of Ditto and grab a co-op friend for an unforgettable adventure filled with delightful characters, extraordinary loot, and heroic battles!

Unique Adventures Linked Together: Each adventure becomes its own legend, both distinct from those that came before it and part of a heroic legacy that bind together. The deeds, successes, and failures of each hero's adventure have implications for those that follow including the ability to find weapons and recover loot from history’s fallen heroes.

Solo & Cooperative Adventuring: Battle Mormo and her evil armies alone or summon a brave friend to take up arms alongside you in local co-op mode. Fear not, even less experienced adventurers will find help from their fellow heroes through the magic of a good old-fashioned revival hug!

Weapons, Items, & Stickers: Wield the traditional sword and bow combo alongside the decidedly less traditional vinyl record Frisbee, magic golf club, and colossal foot from the heavens to put Mormo and her legions back on their heels. Collect and equip stickers to boost up your hero and add perks to their gear to become powerful enough to banish the wicked sorceress.

Main Quests and Secret Side Missions: Approach your legend however you see fit by battling through dungeons in any order, completing side missions through dark caverns and deep wells, or confront Mormo right from the start for the ultimate challenge.

Starpoint Gemini Warlords is currently 66% off until May 1st and the other games in the series are also on sale, including DLC.

Hello guys,

Steam weeklong for entire Starpoint franchise just started!

This is your chance to jump into quite unique space experience for almost nothing :)

So, send your fleets, or send yourself AND your fleets to enemy territory and show 'em who the big boss really is!

Our selection of finest games and DLC's for this week includes the following:

[...]

Farflame spotted a Kickstarter update for the action RPG Dolmen:

State of the Game / Payment options

Today's update is to keep you up to date with changes that are ongoing with Dolmen.

Our Third Game Update rolled out yesterday with some new features and some bug fixes, this update was aimed at making Revion Prime feel more dangerous and to make the gameplay smoother for players.

Update 0.1.0.8 Patch Notes

Consumables removed, Materials can be consumed now:
As a survival game, we want to offer choice to players. You can either keep materials for crafting or use them to keep yourself alive. Choose wisely. To consume materials, just visit your overview screen and set it in on the available slots.

Molten Reactor Trait:
Removed recovery by damage and only with this reactor you will recover energy by parrying.

Enemy Improvements:
Better positioning for attacks

Enemy Difficulty changes:
Increased Overall stats to make the game harder.

Player Heavy Attacks:
Increased Animation Speed and Damage. Enemies have increased stagger resistance, giving more reason to use it.

Player Energy changes:
Fixed ranged weapon firing costs.
Regeneration won't occur while attacking or dodging.

Player Ranged Attacks:
Heavy Attack has less spread now. (Light Attack is RB/LMB and Heavy is RT/RMB)

Enemy Condition Attack Feedback:
When an enemy attacks, its trail will indicate what element its attacking with.

Burn condition change:
Before it caused 4% damage per 3 second tick. Now it will work differently. After applying burn, it will tick every 4 seconds and when it ticks it will cause a percentage of damage equal to the sum of any damage it received during the tick.

Mouse Sensitivity added:
For keyboard player you can now visit settings and tune the sensitivity.

Bug Fixes -- Disabled VR Issues.

New Payment options:

We have new options on our website, if you are unable to back us directly from kickstarter, you can now use Paypal or Pagseguro.

[...]

Fansided checked out Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire at the PAX East 2018:

Get your pirate on with Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire | PAX East 2018 preview

We hit the high seas at PAX East 2018 during our demo of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, the upcoming sequel to Obsidian’s high-fantasy CRPG.

Admittedly, Pillars of Eternity is one of those games that have been sitting in my backlog for quite some time now. The party-based “real-time-with-pause” tactical gameplay takes me right back to the old days of playing Baldur’s Gate for hours on end. This is a game I keep telling myself I really need to play. After playing a demo build of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire, the upcoming sequel to Obsidian’s hit RPG, I now realize how badly I need to get into this series ASAP.

At PAX East 2018, I met up with Pillars of Eternity 2's narrative designer Carrie Patel to discuss the game’s upcoming new sequel, what’s changed between the two games, and of course, get a hands-on preview with a demo build. Deadfire is a direct sequel to the first title: players control the Watcher, who travels to the Deadfire islands to pursue the reawakened and destructive god Eothas.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

TechRaptor reports that Conan Exiles will have new areas and gameplay elements at launch on May 8:

Conan Exiles Reinvents Itself for Launch

Funcom has heard the lamentations of the fans regarding their game Conan Exiles, and while the community won’t see everything people have requested (Conan Exiles isn’t getting an army of mounts or the like), at a digital press event I was able to get hands-on and see some impressive changes addressing many concerns people have expressed for this next adventure in the Hyborian Age.

Conan’s New Soul

Perhaps the change that will impact the game most on a moment to moment basis is the complete combat overhaul that Funcom has pulled off. Originally, Conan Exiles had a simplistic combat system that they based off of Skyrim. Many players had issues with it, and as combat is a core component to basically anything with the name Conan, Funcom listened. Instead of messing around with small tweaks, they opted to make a new combat system for Conan Exiles to do justice to the barbarian, taking more inspiration from recent Action RPGs.

While hesitant to name it, the Souls series is the clear inspiration, with each of the different weapons having heavy and light attacks that chain together into combos. Beyond that, there are also special finisher effects on heavy attack finishers (like bleed for daggers), dodge rolling around, and the secondary weapon/block button varies based on what you have equipped. Shields block and quickly break, two-handed attacks kick, and double daggers get a quicker, special backward dodge roll.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

IGN checked out The Bards Tale IV (-> with some gameplay videos):

The Bard's Tale 4 Aims to Put a Modern Touch on a Classic RPG

Yes, there will be humor as well.

By Ryan McCaffrey Not many realize it, but it’s true: The Bard’s Tale is one of the oldest franchises in gaming history. The dark-humor adventure/RPG began as a 1985 Apple II title under the direction of Michael Cranford with help from Brian Fargo, and Fargo has carried the torch ever since. In fact, the series has more or less returned from the dead twice: first as a hack-and-slash action-RPG for PS2 and Xbox in 2004, and then again for PC via Kickstarter in 2015 for The Bard’s Tale 4.

That Kickstarter was successful, and now The Bard’s Tale 4 is coming along quite nicely. I got a chance to play a brief alpha demo build, which showcased the Unreal Engine 4-powered visuals (a far cry from the Apple II’s sprites!) and a bit of its humor, but paid particular attention to the combat system. It’s structured similar to a turn-based tactical RPG, with a grid dictating which spaces your three party members can move to and attack from.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

The first developer blog for Unsung Story is about the level design process.

Our Game Plan

We’re still dong some pre-production, which means the team is engaging in a whole lot of planning and documentation that will let us work more quickly and efficiently as we move forward. This can be a little bit frustrating for both fans and developers, as neither of us get to see the game come together as soon as we’d like, but it always makes for a better game in the long run.

Quite some time has been spent on working out the ideal size that our levels should be. Successful turn-based tactics games tend to keep their maps on the small side, as bigger levels often have a lot of unused space. In early testing we also found this to be the case, and have been slowly reducing our level size until it feels right. Of course, making the maps too small can be just as detrimental. It’s a tricky balance!

The grid system has been a fun challenge to work with and we’ve had to take a notably different approach to designing levels on a triangle grid (as opposed to a square grid). Right-angles, for example, do not flow naturally on the grid system that we're using, but they're such a common aspect of human architecture and we have to allow for them. This requires us to think outside the box (pun intended) in regards to how we design our levels.

Last week, Alersteam have made the roadmap for Exoplanet: First Contact available.

Some of you asked us to create Exoplanet’s roadmap, because this way you can see where the game is going, track our plans and progress, leave your feedback and ideas about future changes.

We liked the idea, because we always carefully read everything that community says and thoroughly discuss all the feedback and suggested ideas. We believe that’s a very healthy relationship and very grateful to everyone who support us. And today we finally want to share our roadmap with you.

We’ve checked your suggestions about the way our roadmap should be done, took a look at the way other developers did it and ended up with Trello. We believe it’s very simple, intuitive and comfortable (that’s why we actually use it ourselves among the team).

The next step was to decide what’s going to roadmap. Of course, we can’t place everything. Also, some features could be changed or even removed due to a number of reasons (lack of budget, for example).

Starpoint Gemini Warlords has been updated to version 2.0.

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Starpoint Gemini Warlords successfully executed jump to version 2.0

24 APRIL - MMIHOKOVIC

Dear space captains!

After a lot of work, and a lot of suggestions by players, we've just released large free update that pushed Starpoint Gemini Warlords to version 2.0

Since there are so many new things to try, allow us to skip the long introduction and get straight to the point - list of changes :

Diplomacy

• Diplomacy overhaul

Additional

• Factions will react if you try to connect to their satellites or hack them

• If you lose a station, there's a chance an allied or neutral faction will contact you and offer to retrieve the same station for a certain amount of credits

• If you lose a part of your fleet in a battle, there's a chance an allied or neutral faction will contact you and send you a certain amount of resources to compensate your loss

• Factions will react if you build Proxima shipyard

• Factions will react if you start Proxima research

• Factions will react if you end Proxima research

• Factions will react if you make a planetary assault

The rest

• Wormhole civilian tasks are improved on align change

• Scrolling with the controller on Info menu list is now available

• RECORDS Bonuses can now be scrolled with the controller

• Improved font readability in certain cases (better kerning)

• SHIPBUILDING interface button is disabled until you obtain a Hangar Level 1 in HQ, with an explanation why it is disabled

• Press View button on the controller to reveal hints on Starchart

• Hint for Command Points on Starchart

• Hint for SuperCapital Ship on Starchart

• Hint for Civilian tasks on Starchart

• NEW GAME Story Campaign and FREEROAM modes are now separated, if you're playing Vanilla game or any DLC, except Cycle of Warfare

• Hints for FOW, Camera and Select modes on small HUD icons added (previously available only on the mouse)

• Hint on Trader menu for Double-click and Shift-click options added

• Hint on a station; it says Toggle Station Interface instead of Toggle Station HUD

• Fixed and re-added troopers menu

• Fixed GPU related causes of crashes, especially on weaker GPUs

• Fixed one small memory leak

• Fixed a cause of performance drain in script system affecting long play sessions

• Fixed several minor visual glitches

• Fixed several Mod problems + improved output warnings and errors caused by mods

Hope you'll enjoy the new content, and as always we're standing by for your reactions and further ideas!

Safe travels!

LGM Games

If you are interested in learning more about the BattleTech universe being translated to video games, Techraptor went over it in some detail.

...

Where It All Began

BattleTech was released in 1984 by the FASA Corporation, who at the time had some huge IPs under their banner, like Star Trek and Dr Who. They also later on released the Shadowrun roleplaying game, which is still seeing video game releases and adaptations.

BattleTech was originally called BattleDroids, but after some legal issues with the Droid term being owned by Lucasfilm, changed its name to BattleTech.

It first started as a board/war game played on a hex marked map with miniatures, which was re-released as a 25 Anniversary Boxed Edition and can still be purchased. This boxed set is a perfect example of what BattleTech is, and if you’re interested in the BattleTech universe, this is where you should start.

[...]

Bevontule has had a name change to Wellspring: Altar of Roots. In addition the developers have updated their demo which you can find on the Steam page.

Wellspring Pre-Alpha Demo 1.3.2 is LIVE!

10 April - Multithreaded Games

Hi everyone! We've been working hard to update, optimize and fix some of the issues reported in our most recent pre-alpha demo and we have a new build available! We're looking for any and all feedback, so if you're feeling up to the challenge, dive right in: there's over three hours of content, loads of skills, items and equipment, and plenty of challenging encounters! You can download it from our store page here!

Since we've changed our name from Bevontule to Wellspring, if you want to keep your old save files and configuration settings, you'll need to do a few things, as the application data folder has a different name:

• Find the AppData folder for Bevontule--this is usually found at C:\Users\<your_user_name>\AppData\LocalLow\Multithreaded Games\
• Run "Wellspring_Demo.exe" and close it before choosing configuration options from the built-in Unity dialog.
• There should be a "Wellspring" directory in the same directory as the previously-mentioned Bevontule folder.
• Open the Bevontule folder and copy all of its contents into the Wellspring folder--make sure to overwrite anything if prompted.
• Run the game as normal!

Here's a full list of all the changes:

Improvements

• Removed references to "Bevontule"--new title is "Wellspring: Altar of Roots"!
• Improved cloth performance by up to 80%
• Increased Bodom's field movement speed by around 10%
• Reduced enemy AI calculation time up to 10x in some cases (most noticeable with the Drone enemy)
• General graphical optimizations
• Optimizations related to character/enemy movement on the field
• Updated some resource/item spawns
• Tweaked a few enemy battle formations so that they were closer to allies
• Rebalanced certain enemy attributes, skills and drop rates
• Reduced 'ghosting' (motion trails) on characters when moving
• Significantly reduced the chances that an enemy might move slightly out of its movement radius in combat
• Removed Kickstarter references and replaced with newsletter signup

Bugfixes

• Fixed issue where Voltaic Whelp could fail to land on the ground
• Fixed rare issue where Voltaic Whelp battle could lock up the game
• Fixed issue where highlighted collectibles could become 'frozen' when entering combat
• Fixed issue where scene fade-ins could trigger twice in a row or not trigger at all
• Fixed audio volume issues
• Fixed excessive sliding for skills that cause targets to be knocked back
• Fixed issue where minimap wouldn't appear after first cutscene if the pause menu was opened
• Fixed issue where minimap could sometimes be opened during cutscenes and battle
• Fixed issue where Klyph would require 20 more iron to see the 'black market' if the player exited the current scene and returned
• Fixed UI issue where right-clicking to cancel, when hovering over a character panel, would fail to work
• Fixed UI issue where EP/AP costs would sometimes disappear in the Skills menu
• Fixed issue where Blightculler could not be used to attack in certain circumstances
• Fixed issue where Bodom's passive skill Risk and Reward was applied to items as well
• Fixed issue where Moroch's passive skill Tourniquet applied to items as well
• Fixed issue where characters could sometimes be revived in battle to full HP instead of just 50
• Fixed issue where revived characters would not be placed on the ground until moving
• Fixed issue where area projection for line-based skills was displayed incorrectly
• Fixed issue where certain characters would orient themselves improperly when using skills

Knuckle Sandwich is a comedy RPG about a boy working in a diner who is then involved in a missing persons mystery which involves a ludicrous gang and a fanatical cult. The Kickstarter has achieved its goal with 26 days to go. A demo is available.

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About

Knuckle Sandwich is an RPG about a boy who moves out of home and starts looking for work in a new city. After landing a job at a run-down diner, he accidentally gets wrapped up in a missing persons mystery that involves a ludicrous gang and a fanatical cult.  

Bright City Life

Knuckle Sandwich is set in Bright City – a fictional metropolis on an even more fictional island in south-east Australia. Throughout the course of the game, you find yourself exploring the city, meeting all the inhabitants, and playing a role in their daily lives. 

The game is split into chapters, with each one focusing on different locations and characters that bring Bright City to life. My goal with the game is to allow for players to discover many hidden interactions that they could easily miss while playing through the main story arc.

The general aesthetic of the game is inspired by Pokémon and Dragon Ball, while the story is influenced by Fargo, The Big Sleep, and American Psycho (this combo works, trust me).

I wanted to create an RPG that doesn't feature the things I dislike about the genre (like grinding, puzzle elements, having numbers all over the screen, hoarding items, etc.), so the bulk of the game is played out by completing wildly different minigames. They include cooking food, catching bugs, showering, dancing, boxing, writing, and many more.

The battle scenes are made up of sequences that require good timing, such as landing a critical hit or dodging enemy attacks. Both the player and enemy can perform Special Attacks that are very similar to the minigames played throughout the rest of the game.

Mechanically speaking, my inspirations include Warioware, Rhythm Heaven, and Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga. While quick reflexes and a good sense of rhythm helps with Knuckle Sandwich, my aim is to make the game as accessible as possible, so less-experienced players can still beat it without an overwhelming amount of difficulty.

PCGamesN reports on medieval graveyard management sim Graveyard Keeper which will be coming out sometime in 2018.

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The trailer shows charming pixel art style, not unlike Stardew Valley’s - just significantly more macabre. Instead of farming crops, you’re conducting autopsies and planning burial plots, but it looks like there’s still a social element to the game. However, this is also quite a bit more grim this time around, as we're treated to a burning at the stake at the behest of the local inquisitor, and at one point, an overworked gravedigger can be seen hurling a corpse into the river.

Lazy Bear is publishing Graveyard Keeper with tinyBuild Games, and it should be out later this year. You can check the game out on Steam.