DSOGaming report that Rune will be skipping Early Access as the full release is planned for this year.

Human Head Studios has announced that after securing additional funding sources, it will be able to skip the Early Access phase for Rune: Ragnarok, and release it in its full glory. While the team hasn’t specified yet when the game will come out, it has confirmed that it will released in 2019.

[...]

Wccftech has an interview and a preview about The Surge 2. In addition DSOGaming has some screenshots for the game.

Chris: So the use of nanites carries on and is a core story concept. How has the world changed in gameplay aspects from The Surge? From what I’ve seen, it seems a lot more open with more directions you can take.

Jan: Yes, it’s a city so you expect that you can go to a number of places and not just in a straight line. One thing is the variety, we can show many different environments. You can already see with the forest like park area, we also have some underground areas, a run-down harbour district and places like that. Also, and what’s even more important, is we can offer much more variety in terms of gameplay. So what we wanted to do is move away from the linearity in the first one. We did open up the game world in the first one as you played, but there was little reason to go back to previous levels even though we tried to incentivise it a little bit.

This time it’s really different. So you have the city centre as your hub of exploration and you can go in whatever direction right from the beginning. You could say “Okay, I want to follow the main quest” or “Let me go explore a little bit”, “Where does that lead me?”, “Maybe that’s too strong for me now” or maybe “Hey, I’ve found some cool stuff. That will help me in the main quest”. However you want to play it, you can take on major tasks in whatever order you want and have different outcomes that affect how you continue playing the game.

[...]

Another area improved is the actual combat mechanics themselves. Whereas in the original – if memory serves – blocking was limited, though offered options to jump or duck, now you have full directional blocking. Look where the attack will hit you and block in that direction. It makes combat more intuitive and can really help because blocking the right way can knock an enemy back, opening them up for a flurry of strikes. It’s all performed in a way that I can’t help but like, it’s the act of learning an enemies movements and patterns and targeting what benefits you the most – though be warned, chopping off a robots arm won’t kill them, they’ll just adapt the way they fight.

It all makes for a tense and challenging combat system, combining your requirements for tactical thinking while choosing what to attack, precise movements or at least blocking/dodging because you will get torn into fairly easy and of course the abilities, weapons and armour you bring into battle with you. You can also get a few tips from other players because, in a brand new addition, you have graffiti. Graffiti that you can leave for, or can be left by other players, that seeps through the internet and shows in your game, much like the messages from Souls’ titles.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

OnlySP has an extensive interview about The Waylanders.

So what is the game? It is clearly an RPG on an epic scale, and one that will be crammed with rich lore and a plethora of options for the player. Sergio explained that the story is based on the brothers’ homeland, Galicia. “Waylanders was born because we travelled around Galicia, as well as a good part of England and Ireland,” explained Sergio. “There is a very good background and history. It’s a very beautiful environment. Our land is very special because it is known as Celtic, but it is not one of the Celtic nations, yet we still have a lot of Celtic legends here. There is a lot of magic and mystery in the legends, so we thought a lot about what we can discuss in an RPG. Obviously it’s a very fresh mythology.”

Fernando expanded upon that basis with some more historical context about the medieval setting. “We knew about the story, where it was going to be set and that it was going to use Lebor Gabála Érenn, an Irish book that talks about how the kingdom of Ireland was created in around 500 BCE. It’s a story that tells us about how people from Galicia went to Ireland, so we thought it would be cool to look at that. It is a story that certainly hasn’t been told in video games before, and even hasn’t been touched by cinema, and it involved a lot of magic, a lot of mythology, a lot of fantastical creatures. We thought it was something that would be good to explore be in an RPG, and that’s when we began to grow our idea that could be the perfect idea. The perfect story for the game.”

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

A new update for System Shock (remake) looks at some new art for weapons and other stuff.

April Update

Posted by Nightdive Studios (Creator)

Hello backers! It’s Stephen from Nightdive with this month’s update. 

This month has just flown by and after GDC was over we got right back to work! Our goal is to bring Medical to a level of final polish we can use as a benchmark for the remaining levels. This includes implementing the weapons, enemies and mechanics that are missing and adjusting the lighting/fx.

Let’s take a look at weapons!

        ⠀⠀⠀⠀    

The hi-poly models for the mini-pistol and the magnum are just about complete. With the help of the community we’ve condensed the original weapons list down to a smaller, more manageable amount and combined some of the omitted weapons’ firing modes and functions into the weapons we’ve decided to keep. 

         ⠀⠀ 

We also made sure that weapons will share parts like grips and receivers. This will help ground the design with the game world. Tri-Optimum would be manufacturing these weapons and would have the goal to not only save money and production time, but to ensure the parts could be easily swapped in the event of malfunction. 

           ⠀⠀  

We’ve stayed true to the original game by incorporating the initials of the developers into the weapon names. The SK-27 Shotgun has quickly become my favorite weapon ;) 

 

[...]

An AMA (ask me anything) on Discord for Chernobylite and some trivia about the game.

Hey stalkers!

We've just finished the Ask Me Anything session on our fresh-launched Discord server. If you're into free chats with other Chernobylite fans, join us here:  https://discord.gg/mehRmzY 

Below is the transcription of the chat with Wojciech Pazdur, the Creative Director of Chernobylite. We hope you'll find at least some of the answers helpful.

Sorry for typos and language/grammar mistakes - it's a raw copy of real-time conversation. 

Q: I saw in a videogameplay that the character gain exp doing stuff, there will be a level progression with skill/stats?

A: not that much oriented to skill/stats as in RPG games, more for surviving (managing resources) and overall character and team development. But some skills will be gained.

Q:  Is it possible that we can visit the heart ("big foot" too why not) of the accidental nuclear reactor of Chernobyl in the game ?

A: Yes, this is why we run Kickstarter - to re-create as big part of Nuclear Power Plant as possible

Q: Will there be a large selection of weapons and usable items in the in-game world?

A: There will be some, but it's more survival than RPG, so not that many.

Q: Will there be throwing knives in the game for stealthy players?

A: Not planned.

Q: about the KS, howl ong do we have to up our backup to a higher pack? will it end when the funding goal is reached or is there a specific date set?

A: you can pledge until the end of campaign on 11th of May - regardless of when we reach the goal

Q: I see in the pre alpha footage that the dialogue is in Russian is that going to be the only language

A: we plan other languages, but besides Russian, Ukrainian and English we can't confirm more voices (however there will be subtitles for others)

Q: Can you give us any idea of the system requirements at this point

A: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1016800/Chernobylite/

Q: Will there be varied missions like stealth, sniper , vehicle for example

A: there's a lot of missions, but so far we don't plan sniper and vehicles. They're 

oriented on survival and exploration, sometimes combat.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

OneAngryGamer reports that a Daggerfall spiritual successor is in the works from some of the original developers.

Ian from Indigo Gaming is heading up a project along with Julian Jensen and Ted Peterson — developers who worked on Daggerfall, Morrowind and Oblivion — to make a spiritual successor to the original The Elder Scrolls II: Daggerfall. They’re currently laying out the design roadmap and engine-agnostic systems for a prototype, along with recruiting artists (specifically modelers, riggers, and animators) to help build the prototype.

The news was made available via a forum thread over on the Daggerfall Workshop, where Ian pitched the recruitment drive to the community, writing…

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

VG24/7 reports on what they saw of Greedfall from a hands-off demo in Paris last week and also spoke with Spiders CEO and co-founder Jehanne Rousseau.

Much like Fallout 4, party members will like or dislike various actions or acts of omission by your character. Greedfall takes this a bit further; if you piss off one of your companions for too long, say by bashing the natives in front of Siora, she’ll leave your party forever and become your enemy.

Greedfall begins with a lengthy prologue, sort of like a massive tutorial island. There are all sorts of quests to be getting on with and for the completionists out there, you’ll need to do every quest available first time around. You see, Greedfall isn’t a true open-world game – once you leave the Serene, you can never go back.

[...]

Thanks Gabriel!

@BluesNews A new expansion for Two Worlds II has been announced called Shattered Embrace.

Publisher TopWare Interactive and developer Reality Pump Studios officially announce Shattered Embrace, a final expansion for Two Worlds II that's expected in Q3 of this year. This was actually first mentioned three years ago with the announcement of Two Worlds III. Word is this conclusion to the game will be available individually, as part of the season pass, or as part of a new standalone version. Here are some screenshots, and here's word:

[...]

Henriquejr spotted Kickstarter update #93 for Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem:

Introduction to Wolcen’s story

We wanted to share with you  some story elements so you can understand the context surrounding the  main character and his companions before you start the story, in order  to give you keys that will improve immersion. Although the “spoilers”  term is always subjective and related to an intimate perception, I’ve  ensured that these elements only give you contextual information that  your character already has when the game starts.

A fantasy world

Wolcen is a world of magic with some technological hints, with Enneracts at the heart of each practice.
Energy  crystals are fueled with Enneracts energy to power pistols and engines  in some parts of the world, while others rely on a more religious,  mystical, or even scholarly approach of these artifacts.

Yet,  magic is rather uncommon and often associated with witchcraft. The  knowledge of the occult is even more rare: people have heard of spooky  stories and yet the average person wouldn’t know what a demon is, aside  from a concept to scare children.

This is due to the fact that  supernatural evil forces almost always plot from the shadows, corrupting  and enthralling mortals rather than using bruteforce. Only rare world  crisis trigger open-roaming evil creatures like undead, monstrosities or  demons.

[...]

The tactical RPG Micronomicon: Heroes has been released earlier this month:

Micronomicon

is a classic tactical role-playing fantasy game with turn-based style of combat! In the game, the player travels through a huge fantasy world.
You’ll complete some quests, fight with evil spirits,
collect ancient artifacts and toss a challenge to the strongest bosses.

Features:

• Turn-based battles on a hexagonal map.
• Real-time map travel.
• Four character classes.
• Over 20 spells – attacks, fortifications and control (can be improved).
• Powerful bosses with their own unique magic abilities.
• Lots of quests with awards.
• Equipment improvement.

World map:
The player travels through the game world in real time.
In this mode, the player can freely move, explore the world and interact with the NPC to obtain information and complete quests.

Tactical battles:

• The battles, which occur on a small map with a hexagonal grid, feature a turn-based strategy.
• At the start, the player can use the spell of his team, attack the enemy or order his character to move to another grid.
• On some maps, the team will have to first break through fortifications – they can’t attack enemies as long as they are intact.
• Bosses have at their disposal a formidable arsenal of spells – that is why it is very important to think out the moves.
• Bosses can be treated, they can call for backup, set traps, and do much more.

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Four character classes:

Archer
Specializes in long-range combat and critical strikes.
His spells help him to keep the enemy at a distance, entangling the enemy’s feet, as well as lulling the legs for a while.

Witch
The witch possesses magical abilities and can heal wounds in a combat.
Some of her spells cause damage to all the enemies on the battlefield.
When necessary, she can teleport herself to avoid close combat.

Paladin
Warrior of light. His magic can both treat all his allies and charm their weapons to deliver extra damage.
During critical moments, he can call upon the power of light, which would make enemies to treat his wounds instead of causing damage.

Warrior
An experienced fighter clad in heavy armor. His magic allows him to charm the armor of his allies.
He can quickly reduce the distance to the enemy and pull the life out of enemies using his blood magic ability.

Magic:
Magic is divided into four types – control, damage, and treatment and charm.
Each team member can use his spells in combat. Spells don’t consume energy, but once a spell has been used, you can’t reuse it in 6 moves.
When a team attains new levels, characters receive magic points, which can be used to improve spells.
New spells can be received for completing quests or you can grab them from enemies.

Equipment:
During the game, you can find lots of different items to fortify your team.
Items are separated by quality – from simple gray ones to epic orange items.
They can be improved by absorbing other unnecessary items. Moreover, the item being improved acquires more features.
When the maximum improvement has been reached, the item can evolve by merging with magical signs.
Here, the item class increases by one star, while losing some improvements.

Some pre-alpha demo gameplay for Chernobylite which is currently being Kickstarted. The game is close to funding with 22 days still remaining.

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Hey stalkers! The long-awaited moment has come. Here we go with the raw, unprocessed gameplay from our pre-alpha demo. We made some cuts because the demo is very long (avg. playing time is 1-2 hours) and we wanted to highlight the most important features, not necessarily showing the whole playthrough.

The Digital Antiquarian looked back at Darklands:

Darklands

Darklands may well have been the most original single CRPG of the 1990s, but its box art was planted firmly in the tacky CRPG tradition. I’m not sure that anyone in Medieval Germany really looked much like these two…

Throughout the 1980s and well into the 1990s, the genres of the adventure game and the CRPG tended to blend together, in magazine columns as well as in the minds of ordinary gamers. I thus considered it an early point of order for this history project to attempt to identify the precise differences between the genres. Rather than addressing typical surface attributes — a CRPG, many a gamer has said over the years, is an adventure game where you also have to kill monsters — I tried to peek under the hood and identify what really makes the two genres tick. At bottom, I decided, the difference was one of design philosophy. The adventure game focuses on set-piece, handcrafted puzzles and other unique interactions, simulating the world that houses them only to the degree that is absolutely necessary. (This latter is especially true of the point-and-click graphic adventures that came to dominate the field after the 1980s; indeed, throughout gaming history, the trend in adventure games has been to become less rather than more ambitious in terms of simulation.) The CRPG, meanwhile, goes in much more for simulation, to a large degree replacing set-piece behaviors with systems of rules which give scope for truly emergent experiences that were never hard-coded into the design.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

Project Dagger is a classic style dungeon crawler under development for Android, Nintendo Switch, and iOS platforms.

PROJECT DAGGER DEVLOGS #1 : HELLO WORLD !

Hello, and welcome to Project Dagger.

Today, we are excited to show our progress in the development of this brand-new game that is planned to be released on Android, Nintendo Switch, and iOS platforms.

FIRST, WHAT IS PROJECT DAGGER ?

Project Dagger, previously known as Project Tartarus before its redoing from the ground up, is a reimagination of an old school first person Role-Playing game, Dungeon Crawling and classic Sandbox Exploration oriented, similar to classics including Dungeons and Dragons: Eye of the Beholder, The Elder Scrolls: Arena, The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall, and newer ones like The Legend of Grimrock and the cancelled project by Techland- Hellraid. It also takes inspiration from the Elder Scrolls Travels, which are unknown to most and predate the modern Elder Scrolls: Blades. The aim is to deliver the classic Dungeon Crawler experience to mobile, utilizing the robust Unity Engine, and will be published without any paywall or pay to win elements that ruin most modern mobile games.

The gameplay will concentrate on offering absolutely pure dungeon crawling, while giving the player the ability to navigate between dungeons and the overworld. The loot-based nature of the game, taking hints from the Borderlands’ formula, will be the main hook to the Player, combined with an engaging and attractive story.

Synopsis :

“As the Civil War rises in Adenfel, a new threat has been summoned under the shadow. The long-lost Elven Warlord of the House Amuril, Amn' Refer, kept inside the Ghost Prison, has broken free from his eternal sleep. A new war of shadow and magic has begun. Unnoticed by the warring Kings and Queens, Amn' Refer unleashed disease and corruption. The Divine Curse is was called for none could uncover its hidden origin.

But, it’s just the beginning. You are one of the Royal Archblade’s Apprentice, sent by Lord Thranerth to investigate these events. Travel to the crater of Hakun. And uncover the infernal scheme, involving the sinister shadow cult calling themselves as The Order of the Serpent, and determine the fate .... of Adenfel”

WHATS BEING WORKED ON ?

Currently, we are opening opportunities to join the development team, if you are interested to join the development, visit the link below and apply to available jobs.
Teamups.net
We will be in touch with you.

Now onto our first bi-weekly update.

1. Modelling

We have finished our first impression of our Gothic-styled tile-set and have optimized the meshes for use. At the moment we are in starting phase of completing Dwarven-styled dungeons, taking references from Tolkien’s Moria, and emphasizing on the geometric style of the architecture.

Our character modeler has currently begun working on some mobs and reoptimizing skeleton meshes, as well as fashioning variations. Skeletons will take a very important role because of the disease. Thus, it is important to develop variations to avoid over-repetition.

2. Programming

The basic programming has been completed. We are presently expecting an accepted programmer to join the team and start operating. However there still a lot to be done.

3. Public Relations

We are preparing to launch a public Discord sever soon as a platform to deliver exciting progress. It would also be used to create a community which the public would be able to join and participate in, see what's behind the development, and have a talk with the team to discuss about your ideas !

That is all for this Devlog, guys . Hope to see you again in two weeks, with more informations and updates, as well as an exciting announcement. Stay tuned !

Cheers!

Raihan Erviansyah, Trimatra Lead

VG24/7 talk with Chris Avellone about Obsidian's cancelled Alien RPG and say it was gearing up to be a terrifying Mass Effect.

“But as you’re entering the atmosphere, [you realise] that this planet is incredibly unstable, so your entire crew gets blasted all over the planet,” Avellone explained. “And you land and the player, and some marines, and your squads, and scientists – and the weird thing is that when Prometheus came out, I saw some of the similarities, [and thought] ‘oh, we had a character like that’. But the entire world was more violent and there were a lot more Aliens running around. It was more a question of survival, and ‘how do we recover all the supplies, and desperately try to make a base?’ It was fun to set up.”

One of the things Obsidian really wanted to nail with Aliens: Crucible was a sense of fear, even during conversation. Where most RPGs pause the action while you have a chinwag, here the xenomorphs could arrive at any time, interrupting your plans.

[...]

Thanks Joxer!

ExclusivelyGames talks about why realism matters in Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

In Skyrim, the player’s health, magicka, and stamina regenerate to the max after a brief time. On the other hand, in KC:D, the player’s health will not regenerate on its own. On top of that, the player’s stamina only regenerates to match the remainder of their maximum health.

This means that if you lose half of your health during a fight, you’ll only have half of your total stamina to work with for the rest of the fight. In other words, the more damage you take, the harder it will be to keep fighting.

[...]

Thanks Couchpotato!

A forum post on the Path of Exile forums talks about how the developers will rebalance melee in the June expansion.

How We're Approaching the Melee Rebalance in 3.7.0

In Synthesis, we performed an extensive rebalance of Spellcasting throughout Path of Exile. A lot of this work focused on a numerical rebalance of most skills.

We have indicated that the June 3.7.0 expansion contains a similar rebalance of Melee skills, and while we certainly do intend to numerically adjust them to make sure they're viable, the actual scope of Melee changes planned is a lot larger than we have indicated so far.

Players from other Action RPGs have occasionally criticised Path of Exile's melee combat for being "clunky", especially early on before players get a lot of attack speed. We are making various experimental changes to the animation system that should help resolve these concerns and really tighten up the feel of melee combat.

In addition to animation system improvements and melee skill rebalances, we are experimenting with changes to systems such as accuracy, melee splash, leech, fortify, various Ascendancy classes, the passive tree, hit/miss feedback, melee base types, movement skills and melee damage availability on items.

This post has been intentionally light on specific details because all of the above potential changes are ongoing experiments that evolve as we try new stuff. We'll post more information in the news over the coming weeks (with the majority of it after 3.7.0's announcement in May). We are very excited about these changes and look forward to sharing more information with you.

Edit: And Cyclone is now a Channelled skill.

Swen Vincke talked about the making of Divinity: Original Sin 2 at GDC. Video is at the link.

"The same but sexier, deeper and more engaging" Those were the marching orders for 'Divinity: Original Sin 2'. In this talk, Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke takes a look at all the things that were planned to make 'Divinity: Original Sin 2' a better game than 'Divinity: Original Sin 1', and how they turned out. Vincke is a strong believer in the power of iteration, and D:OS 2 is a game where his team applied iteration at every level, with varying levels of success. The team learned a lot about how to design and organize for iteration, and the talk will focus on these lessons. This talk comes with plenty of examples of both success and failure.

A new dev blog for Battle Brothers introduces The Ijirok.

Dev Blog #122: The Ijirok

13 Apr @ 1:05am - rapsdjff

Aside from new contracts and events, the upcoming ‘Warriors of the North’ DLC will also introduce two new legendary locations linked in a single quest leading up to a legendary reward. Today we’ll look at one of the two bosses that you’ll have to face along the way – if you don’t like to be spoiled about any of that, you may want to skip this dev blog. All others, let’s go!

The Ijirok

The Ijirok is a mythical creature of the north, folklore of the barbarian folk. It’s called the Beast of Winter, for it is said that it first carried the cold into this world on its back. Legend claims the creature to be a shapeshifter and deceiver, appearing in many forms. It abducts children solely to enjoy the pain of the parents. It leads men astray in the white wastes just to watch them go in circles and freeze to death. Some regard it a spirit, some a god, and others a force of nature, like the sun or wind, but with found divinity within the aspect of a cruel creature. Whatever its true nature, in the north they all can feel the presence of the Ijirok, and they count themselves fortunate that the horrors it brings are scant and passing.



When your mercenary company finally faces the Ijirok in battle, it will appear as a great horned beast with four legs and hooves. It’s a boss fight, and it will challenge you like fighting the Kraken or the Rachegeist does. Leading up to the battle, you’ll have the opportunity to learn more about the true nature of your opponent by reading events and visiting locations in the game.

The Ijirok charges you from afar to gore and trample anything in its path. Unlike the charge of other opponents in the game, the great horned beast charging you will inflict damage, but you can defend against it with melee defense like against any other melee attack. Even if your shields prove sturdy and your men are not impaled outright, however, the force of impact may still throw them back and stagger them.



Then, at the beginning of each turn, the Ijirok will shift into a different world, one where cold and ice reign supreme, only to emerge at a different place and charge you anew. While the great beast enters into and emerges from this other world, cold seeps into ours, turning the ground frozen and changing the battlefield permanently. Anyone near the Ijirok will get the new ‘Chilled’ status effect, which will freeze your men’s limbs stiff, and lowers their initiative and action points for one round.

The Ijirok is as elusive in combat as it is outside of it, but each round you’ll have the chance to wail on it before it charges you from a different angle. Like with fighting Necrosavants, your formation is key in defeating the beast of winter while the world around you slowly turns into a frozen hell.

A new lore update for INSOMNIA: The Ark looks at the man behind the House of Bea Kera.

The man behind the House of Bea Kera

13 Apr @ 5:46am - Vault_13

Hello everyone! Previously, we have covered some of the factions that you get to meet on Object 6, and today we are continuing our INSOMNIA: The Ark lore series with a fresh installment. Since the House of Bea Kera is one of the largest groups in Reservation D-106 and the entire sector D, it’s time to give some extra attention to their leader.

Opherod

Being an eccentric and charismatic personality, Opherod had a big impact on the religious perception of ghetters, the descendants of illegal inhabitants of the space station. He was born in the Junkyard and had to live through many hardships with wit and resourcefulness as his only weapons.

After moving to Reservation, Opherod mostly engaged in petty criminal activities and worked on improving his own education. He also managed to become a family man: his wife gave birth to two boys — Darat and Kololei. At the age of six, Darat became a victim of a severe form of somnia which also granted him strange abilities. Due to the fears surrounding somnia, Opherod was forced to do everything possible to hide his condition and find a cure.



A few years later Opherod met Scuffler, a deformed psychonaut who was known as a talented chemist. He invented “wax” — a psychedelic crioma based drug that was able to increase the somnic level of the consumer. After his first experience with it, Opherod realized that this might be the way to study somnia closer and to bring Darat to normal life.

He started studying “Taboro” — a guidebook to somnia’s world written by a long time deceased nameless author who tried to describe his somnia fueled visions. This brought him to the idea of building an underground “wax” manufacturing facility. He started developing a syncretic religious concept and attracting followers that served as test subjects: this is how the House of Bea Kera was born.

[...]

A new milestone for Star Traders: Frontiers sees the introduction of fighter wings and new art to go with it.

Update #141: Launch All Wings!

17 Apr @ 2:38pm - Trese Brothers

It feels very good to have come leaping over the INTERDICTOR milestone and finally be back to regular order -- constant, relentless improvement, new features and content. We dropped 2 hotfixes yesterday to address important issues with carriers and craft but now we're back to updates. Update #141 releases a wave of new awesome art for the craft you can get and starts showing off Faction-specific styles. It also adds a new Mass 3400 ship that isn't a carrier, rebalances and increases the counts of slots on the Basalt, Fallen and Harbinger Carriers. Finally, alongside the new art and content, we've got a raft of small balance changes to Talent cooldowns, Initiative costs, handling of missions in friendly territory, and more.

If you're just seeing this update, you should first check out Update #140 for the news of the major milestone INTERDICTION that introduces and details craft -- interdictors, bombers and shuttles!

On to the details!

New Craft Art and Fixes

With Update #141, we've introduced a wide variety of different craft visuals for shuttles, interdictors and carriers. On the component side, we've fixed the missing +Armor bonus of Reinforced Hangars.

We've also fixed all the reported crashes that came in, so please keep reporting and posting any bugs you find. We've added a protection against launching too many craft at a time on your side (4 max), fixed crashes when attempting to assign pilots and crashes that could sometimes happen when a craft was destroyed in ship battle. Also, we addressed the issue where sometimes "No Pilot" was being incorrectly shown in the Crafts tab of Ship Combat.

Also, a laundry list of Wing Tech, Leader and Bomber Talents all had cooldowns that needed tweaking or fixing. The Wing Commando "Knifework" Talent has been increased to 12 Initiative.

Wolf Vector

The Wolf Vector launches as an all new Mass 3400 option for those who demand extreme range from their spaceship. Optimized for fuel storage and speed, the Wolf Vector is perfect for a faction's high-value couriers and passengers ships. Sometimes outfitted as a secure luxury cruising yacht this craft is popular among Star Traders who appreciate a fast engine and only refueling rarely.

This ship is a variation of a design found in a player's saved game, submitted to our team. Cory played the game, fell in love with the design and modified it to create the Wolf Vector.

[...]

In part 25 of a blog series on Mass Effect: Andromeda Shamus Young has declared BioWare dead.

Everything in Andromeda is constructed backwards. Instead of saying, “Here are the events of the past, what sorts of situations and stories would come from that?” the writer says, “I want the player to drive up this hill and shoot all the dudes at the top. What’s the simplest possible scenario I could use to justify that?”[4]

The player choices are few, arbitrary, poorly depicted, and lacking in interesting options. Dialogs are rare, linear, and lacking in player expression. The few characters you meet in the open world are shallow and bland. The villain is a sophomoric one-note bore. The worlds are, by design, a mostly empty wasteland with no history, culture, or wonder. Exploration of these alien worlds consists of driving around on pre-existing dirt roads[5] so you can gun down clusters of mooks.

The developer’s perception of what made the source material interesting is so wrongheaded that this project was in trouble before it ever left the dry-erase board. This team was not equipped to tell a space story on this scale. I don’t care if you’re talking about details-first or drama-first, this is not a storytelling team in any form. This storyteller might do an okay job if you want a linear shooter with fixed cutscenes and no player agency, but they’re completely unqualified to design a world to support dozens of hours of exploration, exposition, and player expression.

[...]

The PC version of Octopath Traveler will be available on Steam on June 7:

OCTOPATH TRAVELER - available on Steam June 7, 2019

Here’s one to add to you Wishlist right away - OCTOPATH TRAVELER is coming to Steam on June 7, 2019.

Originally released in 2018, this new release is the first time that the critically-acclaimed JRPG has been available outside of the Nintendo Switch. You can see it in action in the trailer:

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What is OCTOPATH TRAVELER?

OCTOPATH TRAVELER is an epic RPG, set in the world of Osterra. You’ll control 8 unique heroes - each with their own special skills and compelling stories. The cast includes:Olberic: a legendary knight seeking redemption for past failures

• Cyrus: an intelligent scholar who struggles with the mysteries of the heart
• Tressa: a passionate merchant who always has an eye for a good trade
• Ophelia: a pure-hearted cleric on a pilgrimage around the world
• Primrose: an orphaned noble who will let nothing stand between her and revenge
• Alfyn: an apothecary who wants to help and heal above all else
• Therion: a skilled thief who can get into any treasure room
• H’annit: a professional hunter, who searches for her missing master

It’s possible to start the game with any of these characters, and build your party in any order you wish. Every character has a unique story, combat skills and ‘Path Actions’ - abilities they use outside of combat.

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The turn-based tactics RPG Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark will be released on April 30:

Official Release Date and New Trailer!

Hello everyone!

We're almost there! Just two more weeks and Fell Seal will be coming out of Early Access. On April 30th, you will be able to experience the epic conclusion to your adventure in Teora.
To celebrate this, we prepared a brand new trailer that you can check out here:

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It has been quite the journey from our Kickstarter campaign to where we are now, but it was well worth it! We're extremely grateful for all the feedback and suggestions we've gotten from the community and for how much it's helped us make the game better. Once again, a huge thank you to everyone that took the time to check the game out and give us their comments and support. Your help has been truly invaluable!

That being said, there's still plenty of balance updates and additions to be made, so it's back to work for us!

Some new DLC for Conan Exiles has arrived called 'Treasures of Turan'.

Treasures of Turan Pack now available

15 Apr @ 10:48pm - Jens Erik (Community Manager)

The riches of the eastern kingdom of Turan await you, exiles! Our latest cosmetic DLC, the Treasures of Turan Pack, brings the opulent gilded palaces of Turanian culture right to your fingertips.

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With the Treasures of Turan Pack you can build palaces adorned with glittering statues, tame rhinos and elephants as pack animals, and dress in the finest Turanian silks and Phalanx armor.

Treasures of Turan comes with new building pieces, placeables, armor sets, weapon sets, warpaints and pets. As Turan is one of the wealthiest nations in Hyboria, it's fitting that this offers the most ostentatious gear and building pieces in Conan Exiles yet. Enjoy the golden decorations of the building pieces and finely wrought weapons and armor.

Treasures of Turan Pack contains:

• 39 Turanian building pieces
  • A full set of building pieces with the same stats as existing tier three
• 15 new armor pieces in three sets, such as the Turanian Mercenary armor
  • Light, medium and heavy sets with an epic end-game version of each
• 9 new weapons in one Turanian weapon set
  • Same power as iron weapons with an epic end-game version of each weapon
• 5 new Turanian warpaints
  • Decorative warpaints symbolizing opulence and glory
• 9 new placeables, such as the standing lamp and brazier
  • Craft them at the new Turanian Artisan table
• 2 new exclusive pack animal pet skins
  • Adorn your rhinos and elephants with rich and golden trimmings

All the new content from Turan is exclusive to this DLC and adds a host of new visual options but does not give any in-game advantage in power. All the new items have comparable stats to existing items.

TheGG reports that Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire has been nominated for best adventure game and best writing at the Webby Awards.

Baltimore – MD — April 11th 2019 – Independent games publisher Versus Evil and developer Obsidian Entertainment today announced that “Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire” has been nominated for Best Adventure game and Best Writing categories in the 23rd Annual Webby Awards.

Hailed as the “Internet’s Highest Honor” by The New York Times, The Webby Awards, presented by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences (IADAS), is the leading international awards organization honoring excellence on the Internet.

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Thanks Farflame!

The Sinking City was previewed by Destructoid.

Because the game is still in beta, there were several bugs and unfinished assets I encountered, all of which fell on the more hilarious side of the spectrum. One prominent character had her model used for multiple other characters, the city’s hospital had patients with a nasty case of levitating all over the place, and, my personal favorite, two NPCs on the city streets were standing face to face as one repeatedly shot the other one in the stomach with a shotgun. Those will obviously – or hopefully – be fixed by the time the game launches, leaving the only other bit of worry I have about the title centered on one of the themes of the game: racism (something I can only imagine was also inspired by H.P. Lovecraft).

Upon starting it up, a disclaimer let me know The Sinking City isn’t going to shy away from controversial subject matter. The game takes place in a time when racism was rampant in America, though writing that sentence right now makes me realize I should be more specific and say it takes place in the past. Initially, I thought the game would only tackle more fantastical racist themes with two hybrid species present in the narrative: the Planet-of-the-Ape-like Throgmorton’s and fish-faced Insmouthers. However, as you can clearly see from the picture above, actual racism against black people plays a role too.

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Thanks Farflame!

Grimshade has been released on GOG to a 10% launch discount.

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Grimshade tells the story of the company of heroes, by a twist of fate involved in the cycle of events unfolding in the world of Ree'fah. Numerous dreadful monsters infested the forest around the city of Brann and high walls could no longer protect residents from the attacks. The menacing army of the neighbouring kingdom suddenly landed on the outskirts of the city, wreaking havoc. There is no hope for salvation — the strength of the defenders is running low, but the King and his loyal Champions had vanished.

Series of sudden events and odd coincidences force people to act. Get acquainted with each of the heroes and unite them — entirely different, sometimes bizarre and frightening, with their motives, but one purpose for all — to find out the real causes of what happened to them.

Lead the group of the adventurers on a journey and explore a varied and intricate world, meet new characters and reveal plot-related secrets. Remember, beauty is deceptive — danger lurks everywhere. Test your skills in challenging turn-based battles, adjusting your combat tactics and optimal team combinations for each foe you met on the way.

Key Features

• Seven memorable characters, including Kiba, the dark child, Charlie, the talking sniper badger, Alister, the brave guy with an Ether gauntlet, and Ruby, the princess of the thieves. Each of them has their role (sometimes more than one) on the battlefield and their own mission on a big journey.
• Character development system is based on equipment: each piece of armour, weapon or accessory gives a unique skill to a particular hero, expanding their range of attack types and defensive boosts. Find, trade for, or craft new equipment to improve your characters and make them versatile and adaptable.
• Complex tactical turn-based battles: a variety of elaborate enemies won't let you complete the whole game using a single tactic or invincible team build. Choose wisely the squad you take in a fight — proper positioning and awareness are essential to your success struggling against powerful foes.
• The vivid and diverse world of Ree'fah: immerse yourself in the hand-painted fantasy universe of Grimshade and discover an impressive history in more than 20 hours of an exciting journey.

Thanks you!

A Kickstarter update for Thea 2: The Shattering announces a May 13th release date.

Thea 2: The Shattering launch date announced!

Posted by MuHa Games (Creator)

So the cat is out of the bag, we hope to release our second baby out in full on May 13th 2019!

We still have several weeks of hard work and heavy polish to make the game what we want it to be before release, but we are confident Thea 2 is nearly ready to see the wider world. 

Early Access so far 

 

The minimap is live, so no more guessing where the other biomes are hiding.

We've made an array of significant changes, updates and additions during ea, and we hope you will enjoy the final product. 

Over the last two months, some of the bigger updates have been:

- minimap

- revamp of crafting and resources

- re-design and addition of new god traits and god cards (you can now begin the game with more non-human characters, and there is a points system)

- added domination victory, which allow for players to complete the game in ways other than the main quest (some victory conditions include reaching certain population threshold, killing enough of the other factions or having a diverse population)

- quest logbook (full implementation in progress)

- fixed minor factions so they can now appear on biomes alongside the main faction villages (so now you can meet Stingers, Night Demons, Forest Demons, Scavengers or the Shadowkin)

Stingers are one of the minor factions that now work, and it seems those bees like to ride wolves...

Those are but a few of the major changes, but we've also been constantly improving and fixing things, in accordance to our wonderfully active community. 

Last steps?

There are several key aspects that need to make their way into the game before May 13th:

- kickstarter events and divine quest line (both are due to return from the proofreading within a week and will be implemented soon after)

- VO for the main quest (in progress)

- general balance (in progress)

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Thanks you for submitting this news!

Twinfinite and GameReactor have previewed Divinity: Fallen Heroes.

Twinfinite:

Is the X-COM-style gameplay loop going to hold up over 60 missions? Or perhaps a better question is whether it will compare favorably to the Divinity games fans are used to?

That probably depends on how involved the story, characters, and decision-making is in the finished game. I wouldn’t bet against Larian Studios getting the balance right, as I’m certain they know just how important storytelling and role-playing agency is to the Divinity franchise.

Still, this has been designed as a combat-heavy Divinity experience targeted at those who relish strategic turn-based battles, and in that department, it looks like a real winner.

GameReactor:

Quite how deep the story goes remains to be seen, and we'll need to see careful use of the characters if they're going to remain as relevant in Fallen Heroes as they were in Original Sin II. That said, all of the characters we know and love are still very much present so prepare to fight alongside Fane, The Red Prince, Lohse, Sebille, Ifan Ben-Mezd, and Beast in this tactical twist on the series. There's huge potential for this one given its rock-solid origins, although there's a way to go if it's going to live up to the standards set by Original Sin II.

Thanks Farflame!