Together with Good Old Games we are giving 10 keys away for each of the following games that have became available on Good Old Games:

• Cosmic Star Heroine
• Battle Brothers
• Mages of Mystralia

That means there are a total of 30 keys available.  By participating in this giveaway you can win one of those keys.

Here are the rules:

• You need to be registered on our forums
• You will have to add a comment to this news posting/thread
• You will need to have at least a total of 10 posts on our forums by the end of the giveaway (don't bother with just spamming our forums as your spam posts will simply be deleted and might even get you banned)
• The giveaway will run for one week, until Friday the 28th of July
• In your comment to this news posting/thread you can indicate if you do not want to win one of these games when you already own it. We will do our best to take this into account
• Once the contest is over, 30 people will be selected from those who commented and contacted via our forum PM to provide them with the key

Also, make sure to check out the RPGs that are on sale this week at Good Old Games.

Hardcore Gaming 101 has reviewed Torment: Tides of Numenera and compared it to Planescape: Torment in the process.

Note: the review is rich on spoilers.

Numenera is a victim of its own hype: it is a good game but it's simply not as good as the thing people imagine when they hear 'record-breaking Kickstarter campaign', and 'spiritual successor to Planescape: Torment' while at the same time looking at the amazing concept art. Paradoxically, it is too much like Planescape: Torment (when it comes to story and themes) to be judged on its own but to little like it (when it comes to mood and atmosphere) to be a worthy follow-up. Many of those sins could have been forgiven though if the game had a bigger emotional impact - but unfortunately and ironically, Torment isn't good enough at tormenting the player.

The demo for Bloom is still on schedule, so it should be just a few weeks more before it is available. The team is also looking for extra help in order to get them to be able to release the game in the not too far future. To get the funding for that they have started a Patreon page and will be doing another Kickstarter campaign in parallel to the release of the demo.

Futhermore they have also made a video available, which is a parody showing their journey so far using footage from Lord of the Rings.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker will have a detailed combat log.

The Combat Log - It's how we roll!

Dear Pathfinders,

Battles are essential to the experience of Pathfinder: Kingmaker. Some of them are quite easy while others are very challenging. Many systems, such as character generation and leveling up, equipment and spells are part of the decisions you make about every character, and combat is where you feel the results of these decisions. It is the place to put your heroes to the test and understand what went right and what went wrong. For that, combat needs to have a very clear feedback about every aspect of the game mechanics. In order to solve this we are (as many other games in this genre) using a combat log. Our usual disclaimer applies to all of the pictures here, it is work in progress and does not represent the final state of the product, all specific names are used only as reference to the original Pathfinder Roleplaying Game (R) entities and could be subject to change in the Pathfinder: Kingmaker CRPG.

Every action in combat has a representation in the log: initiative rolls, to-hit, and damage rolls, saving throws or any appropriate checks. Each has its own line in the log. And for each of the lines, you will be able to see detailed information in the tooltip. For example, if you are attacking a wolf you will be able to see all of the bonuses and penalties for the to-hit roll and their sources. Starting from a simple bonus, like the strength modifier, and up to temporary effects, like being shaken. And you will be able to see your roll for this attack. Additional information will also appear in the tooltip if circumstances call for it. For example, on a critical threat roll, a confirmation roll will appear with same detailed information, or if a target has concealment there will be a mention of the miss chance.

All the information mentioned thus far is about your party's actions. But of course you will also want to know about how your enemies do. We have thought of two options here - one we will definitely have, the other one is an idea right now, and currently in discussion and development. We are not promising the latter will appear in the game, but we are very interested to hear your opinion about it. The first option is providing all the information about the enemy - AC, saving throws, the battle log will show it all. This is clear and concise and gives you all the information you need to understand what happens in battle and what changes you need to make to tip this fight into your favor.

The second option does not provide you with this information for free; it is based on the party's knowledge and lore checks. If you are successful, some information is provided, better results lead to more stats revealed. But if your fail those rolls - you will learn that information in the same way you do on the table. If you hit 34 AC and missed against 18, the creature's AC in the tooltips will be shown as ?19-34 - meaning, that your highest miss was against AC 18 and 19 could be hit, while your lowest hit was 34, so in the worst case scenario that creature's AC is 34. Same goes for other statistics, like showing that you dealt damage, but some DR was applied to it. Along with this goes showing the creature's health condition only after a successful check. This approach is a bit more hardcore and a bit more faithful to the tabletop experience.

But back to the log. Not only combat needs to have detailed information presented, but we also have dialogs and special events, kingdom and exploration. So we are expanding the log (as a lot of games before us) into those areas of the game as well. And to make it more readable, we separate information into several tabs: combat will have everything we discussed above, while a dialogue tab will have a history of all conversations as well as special events, along with choices and checks you made. Events tab will summarize everything that happens while skipping on detailed information on combat and dialogue represented in other tabs. There you will find information on the traps you encountered or items looted, orders you have made during a kingdom turn or new areas discovered on the global map. And all of these events will have additional and detailed information available via tooltips, with some information hidden if you so desire (like hiding DCs of the skill checks).

This concludes our approach to the log in Pathfinder: Kingmaker. While our solution may be similar to a lot of games in the genre, we are trying to provide even more information to you, and make it a bit more interesting and closer to the tabletop experience.
[...]

PC Gamer has some expectations for a new Dragon Age game:

What we want from a new Dragon Age game

 

Bioware's epic fantasy RPG series is returning, and we're hungry for more.

Something new is being made in the Dragon Age universe. We don't know if it's going to be another huge hundred-hour RPG or something a little different. We do know that Sunless Sea's Alexis Kennedy is involved in some capacity—here's hoping for a little Sunless Sea oddness in the new game.  Naturally, when news slips out of a new entry in a big series we start to comb over our experiences with the games we've played so far. Then, wishlists start to form. What should go? What would we like to see more of? Why is Dragon Age 2 definitely the best one? Here's what we want from a new entry in the series.

Better combat

I don't expect BioWare to reprise Origins' combat—that just isn't how big publishers make RPGs now, for better or worse. It would be nice to see a little more fine tuning when it comes to customising your party's tactics, though, which was streamlined in Inquisition with a system that wasn't quite as intuitive or useful as Origins' was. Origins let you program very specific conditions for when your characters use abilities. I'd like to see the next game offer that mastery. Players who want an easier time of it can just carry on playing Dragon Age like an action game, which is honestly how I've played it since the first game came out.

I don't mind that too much—Inquisition is more than serviceable as an action game and I can only see BioWare getting better at that in the years since its release—but offering more optional ways to strategise would please some parts of the series' fanbase.—Samuel Roberts  

Less extraneous sidequests

We thought Mass Effect Andromeda would learn this lesson from Inquisition, but it sadly didn't. Low quality fetch or grind quests may pad out an open world, but they also slow down the structure of the game's story, and some players may obliged to complete all of them before moving onto the best parts of the game. Inquisition had that in particular—hence Phil's cry to leave the Hinterlands in Inquisition.

I love the open world environments of Inquisition, and the party banter is so good that you enjoy the sense of journey, and the tension that comes when you know a dragon fight is approaching. But you can have that sense of journey without tasking the player to do a bunch of extra stuff.—Samuel Roberts

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

Farflame spotted the Middle-earth: Shadow of War Shelop reveal trailer:

Official Shadow of War Shelob Reveal Trailer

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Shelob - you know her name, but what of her intentions? Can you trust the Spider?

OnlySP checked out Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord:

Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Preview | Beware the Limitations

Alongside Kingdom Come: Deliverance, another game in a medieval setting is making its way to players everywhere. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is an action role-playing game developed and published by TaleWorlds Entertainment, and the prequel to 2010’s Mount & Blade: Warband. However, while Kingdom Come: Deliverance follows the tale of a particular, preset character, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord allows players to create their own character and form individual stories. Gamers may become whoever they wish, including a lord, mercenary, merchant, or anything in-between. OnlySP took the opportunity to preview TaleWorlds Entertainment’s current five-year project, and the experience was nothing, if not unique.

In a demo offering a taste of four different battle options (two of which are the same battle on different difficulties), Mount & Blade II’s current state depicts a game ripe with unprecedented sandbox potential. Brandishing mostly-realistic gameplay (down to some of the most minute details), TaleWorlds has something special on its hands. Playing through the first battle—where gamers take control of a captain responsible for leading a unit of cavalry within a lord’s army—awakens within the user a deep sense of wariness. Limited to a long spear and a shield, players must follow their lord’s orders and lead their cavalry in a charge that accomplishes specific objectives, such as protecting allied infantry from enemy cavalry or breaking the enemy’s lines to soften them up for friendly troops’ charges. However, this battle merely serves as a stage on which Mount & Blade II’s features are unveiled.

[...]

So far, 2017 has been filled with blockbuster announcements, such as Assassin’s Creed: Origins, Call of Duty: WWII, Star Wars: Battlefront II, and Far Cry 5. Meanwhile, promising games are overshadowed by the popstars of the video game industry. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is proof that a company does not have to be as popular as the most well-known AAA producers to develop a unique, quality product. Still in development, TaleWorlds Entertainment’s innovative game offers mostly-superior graphics, outstanding audio, and gameplay mechanics that are riveting and challenging. Hopefully, TaleWorlds will improve upon the current design and fix the minor flaws present within the title between now and the game’s unannounced release date. If the polishes are made, Mount & Blade II could sneak up on the industry’s standouts and compete with the best.

Thanks Farflame!

The Adventure-RPG Fighting Fantasy Legends will be released tomorrow - Farflame spotted an GameWatcher interview with Nomad Games' Carl Jackson:

Fighting Fantasy Legends: An Interview With Nomad Games' Carl Jackson

Even before Warhammer existed, Games Workshop Co-Founders Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson were working on another beloved series in the form of Fighting Fantasy. This clever book series blended reader choice and dice rolls together into a fascinating series of player-driven stories that has captured the hearts of fans since 1982.

Now, as Fighting Fantasy approaches its illustrious 35th anniversary, wonderful things are afoot for the series. Ian Livingstone is gearing up to release a new book in the series in the form of Fighting Fantasy: The Port of Peril in early August, and has teamed up with Nomad Games to create a new card-based role-playing video game based on the popular series with Fighting Fantasy Legends. Players will journey through events from three full books and challenge a deck of fortune or folly as they make choices and take on quests to save the lands of Allansia.

In anticipation of the release Fighting Fantasy Legends in July 2017, GameWatcher reached out to Nomad Games Design Director Carl Jackson to have a chat about the game. Jackson answered the call and thoughtfully shared more than a few details on what newcomers and old fans alike can expect. Highlights of the in-depth discussion included which books Fighting Fantasy Legends covers, how they are utilitzed, and how Nomad Games is blending the classic Fighting Fantasy elements with a few new systems.

[...]

Game description:

Create your own adventures in a dangerous land of monsters, treasures and traps. From renowned authors Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone (co-founders of Games Workshop) and Nomad Games, Fighting Fantasy Legends is a role-playing card game set in the world of Fighting Fantasy.

Travel across the land of Allansia with just a sword and some gold to your name and rise up to Legendary status. Play through the stories of three iconic gamebooks - City of Thieves, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain and Citadel of Chaos.

Each location has a shuffled deck of cards which includes fiendish creatures, powerful objects and dramatic events. You must build up your collection of powerful treasures and level-up your dice to have any chance of surviving the dangerous streets of Port Blacksand, the murky depths of Firetop Mountain or the looming shadows of The Citadel.

The world needs a Hero... you will give them a Legend.

• Based on the multi-million selling series of Fighting Fantasy Books.
• A card-based role-playing game with Roguelike elements.
• Thousands of choices ensure that no two games are ever the same.
• Uses the classic Skill/Stamina/Luck attributes.
• Take on powerful adversaries, such as Balthus Dire, Zagor the Warlock and Zanbar Bone.
• Kill monsters and add them to your Creature Codex.
• Travel across the region of Northern Allansia.
• Introducing a dice combat system unique to this game, where the player can upgrade their dice as they level-up.
• Meet iconic characters, such as Nicodemus the Wizard, Gareth Yaztromo and O'Seamus the Leprechaun.
• Earn Titles based on your deeds.
• Three difficulty levels.
• Permadeath mode - not for the faint hearted.
• Play exciting dice games, such as Runestones, Knifey Knifey and Dwarf Dice.

Farflame spotted a new Kickstarter update for InSomnia:

New screenshots and progress report

Hello everyone! Today we will show you some new in-game screenshots and give you more information on where we at right now.

Much of our work these days consists of testing of all the new game levels and especially the combat system behaviour, light and sound effects (radio, loudspeakers music etc.).

We continue to add unique content such as in-game rewards for backers and also work on balancing the craft system (as you might remember you will need resources to craft stuff and we are heading towards lack of those to make the whole process more complex and rewarding).

We also started the process of scripting the cut-scenes for the end of the game and lets say there will be quite a few of those. Other than that we are expanding on boss fights which means adding new types of enemies and all necessary animations.

Plus we have finally started to work with the publisher who is helping with translating all the text content of the game at the moment. We still have to solve a few legal questions before starting a full-fledged cooperation and as soon as it's done you'll be the first one to know all the details.

Other than that the process of character development and achievement system testing has also started. These achievements will not only add some cool looking icons to your Steam account but will also slightly affect the gameplay itself (and not always in a benefiting way).

Generally we feel quite good about the current state of InSomnia and will be able to finish the biggest chunk of development by the end of September. We will continue to tune the balance and improve each and every aspect of the game until it's humanly possible. So it's safe to say we will be ready to name release dates for different versions of the game (closed beta, Steam EA, final release) in September.

We do realize the game release has been postponed far more than anyone could expect but we are moving forward to this goal each day. We are very happy to have you as our backers and will do everything possible to satisfy you with the final game.

More news to be revealed next month, stay tuned!

Thanks Farflame!

Orpheus is a Skyrim Mod that continues the Gothic storyline:

Orpheus

Today I wanted to present to you one of biggest projects ever made for skyrim. The mod is called Orpheus. It'll be a mod set in the universe of the famous German game, Gothic. It'll be total conversion of the game so you'll be able to see a lot of famillar things from Gothic implemented into the mod. The story starts a couple of years after death of the main hero. You'll be able to visit famous location from Gothic 1 and 2. The storyline itself will be based on the fall of the Myrthana. Scattered towns of the kingdom are weakened after the civil war, but that's not the the most prevalent danger. Massive hordes of orcs have started roaming and pillaging lands of Nordmar. Your story begins when you're caught by orcs and forced to sail with them to the nearby islands of Khorinis, where you wait for execution. The game will run on skyrim engine with a couple of tweaks and fixes. We"ll do our best to recreate the dark climate of Gothic.

[...]

Thank you for the info, Farflame!

Farflame spotted this interesting RTS survey from King Art:

Iron Harvest RTS Survey Results

In April 2017 we conducted our big real-time strategy game survey among RTS fans. Over 15,000 players told us what they like, what they don’t like and what they want to see changed. These are their answers.

[...]

In Kicksarter update # 5 you can learn more about the interesting open world RPG DEMIURGOS: Path of the Leviathan:

Update V: Interface walkthrough, Objectives & Great Persons

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In this update we want to talk some more about the general interface of the game and show you a number of the things we did not have time to present in the preview video.

Among others this includes the Great Persons Encyclopedia, the Skill System and the Books, Newspapers and Notes tab.

 I hope you like our ideas and our approach.  If you have any suggestions or further questions you are - as always - welcome to comment.

Corey Cole explains why you need a team to make a game and why Hero’s Quest became a humorous one:

[...]

Why So Serious?

Look at the original Hero’s Quest (before it became Quest for Glory) team, for example. You would never know it now, but Hero’s Quest started out as a serious high fantasy game. There was no mention of humor or comedy in the original description. What changed? The team.

First came the art. Lori envisioned a beautiful medieval town in a pastoral forest setting. We got the forest, but the artist assigned to the town took Lori’s crayon and pastel sketches too literally, so Spielburg had a much more “cartoon” look than we intended. The characters also had simplistic, cartoon-like designs. Admittedly, it was hard to make them more realistic in 16 colors and relatively low resolution – 320 x 200 pixels on many displays.

While Lori and I debated how to handle this, programmer Bob Fischbach scripted the first prototype of a forest scene. Since our documentation didn’t say anything about how to handle incidental objects such as trees, Bob came up with several amusing messages including a few puns.

Yes, Bob wrote the first puns in Hero’s Quest; I just took the punishment and ran with it. After all, I went to school in Punsylvania, so it was a natural fit.

That solved our dilemma with the cartoony art style. Instead of trying to write a very serious game that would have been spoiled by the unrealistic backgrounds and characters, we redefined the game concept to be a tongue-in-cheek, humorous take on role-playing, but with a serious underlying story.

[...]

This video for XCOM2 expansion War of the Chosen explores The Hunter:

XCOM 2: War of the Chosen - Inside Look: The Hunter

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Get an in-depth look at one of the Chosen tasked to take on the resistance: The Hunter.

Daveyd spotted that the ICY: Frostbyte Edition will be released on August 11:

SURVIVE THE WHITE WASTELAND
ICY is a narrative-driven post-apocalyptic survival RPG set in a new Ice Age, where your life and the lives of your followers depend on every decision you make. Create your own character, using a detailed stat system that influences your abilities to hunt, travel, scavenge, communicate and lead, then begin a journey of survival across the White Wasteland.

It is up to you to take on the responsibilities of leadership and guide your newfound nomad family in their fight for survival. Do not take your role lightly, for each decision you make, each word you speak, ripples through the life of your community.

Take heed, for you and your clan are not alone in this frozen world. In addition to the elements and the wildlife you encounter, there will be loners and bands of miscreants to deal with. Decide carefully on whom to trust and how to react or the snow covered landscape will become your icy tomb.

FEATURES

• Experience an intense story of survival in a unique post-apocalyptic new ice age setting.
• Influence the plot with your choices, with numerous shades of morality that lead to multiple endings.
• Lead a group of survivors, each one with different needs, values and ideals.
• Scavenge for items and hunt for food while facing the challenges of starvation, illness, harsh elements and other bands of survivors.
• More than 400 pieces of detailed hand-drawn artwork that portray the bleak and dire landscape of the frozen world.
• Customize your character by choosing how to distribute attribute points among 9 different skills that affect your abilities and experience through the entire game.
• Enjoy the new combat system offering a mix between a classic turn based combat system and a trading card game.

A COMPLETELY REMASTERED EXPERIENCE
After nearly two years since the original release of ICY, Inner Void Interactive and Digital Tribe Games are proud to release ICY: Frostbite Edition, a completely remastered edition of the game. We worked to improve every lacking feature of the original ICY, recreating the game from scratch in Unity 5.Thanks to the exhaustive feedback received from our community and the experience we gained from the original game, we have improved ICY’s formula in many different ways to let it offer a real survival RPG experience in a cold post-apocalyptic world.

• A new combat system was developed: deeper, more exciting and more challenging than the original one.
• The survival experience was overhauled in order to offer more variety.
• A crafting system was introduced, allowing the player to create new items.
• The original plot was improved and new quests and characters have been added to create a longer and more satisfying experience.
• The UI was completely reworked to be clearer and better looking.

THQ Nordic has announced its gamescom 2017 lineup and it includes two unannounced IPs, one of which is an RPG set in a post apocalyptic setting with kung fu stuff.

THQ Nordic announces its gamescom 2017 line-up

July 25, 2017

It's that time of the year again... THQ Nordic to present its biggest line-up so far at the Koelnmesse, Cologne, from 22nd August.

Vienna, Austria, July 25th 2017: Gamescom, one of the world's biggest gaming conventions, is upon us and THQ Nordic is happy to announce its biggest line up so far. This year, during the event in Cologne, Germany, THQ Nordic will present a total of eight games, with two yet to be announced.

The short breakdown: Journalists and players alike can look forward to playing a near-to-final version of ELEX, the open world RPG from Piranha Bytes. Coming to PlayStation^TM4, Xbox One and PC on October 17th.

Battle Chasers: Nightwar was nominated for the "Best RPG of E3" award and is shaping up nicely for its multi-platform release on October 3rd. For the first time, you can get your hands on the game on the Nintendo Switch.

The multiplayer beta of SpellForce 3 is now running and has already seen thousands of players contributing providing valuable feedback to the development process. At gamescom, the focus will be on SpellForce 3's deep single-player campaign.

First-person underwater shooter Aquanox: Deep Descent will show its campaign for the first time to journalists and players alike.

For The Guild 3 you cannot only expect to see an improved version and advanced gameplay, but we will also have a surprise announcement to make.

The recently announced cooperation with Bugbear Entertainment for Wreckfest allows the game to make a pit stop at gamescom where it will show off a raft of new content for upcoming updates.

The first new announcement is a brand new original IP. This open world RPG is set in a unique universe and will be a post-apocalyptic kung-fu fable.

The second new announcement is a new instalment of a well-known, mysterious and horrific IP.

THQ Nordic will be in gamescom's Entertainment Area, Hall 8, Booth A011. All the games revealed above will be fully playable during the show.

The J-RPG The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel will be released on August 2:

The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel

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Among the nations on the Zemurian continent, the mighty Erebonian Empire has been quick to outwardly stake its claim militarily; yet politically, ugly bouts of internal conflict between the upper class and commoners attempting to rise to power have been steadily intensifying day by day. The Noble and Reformist Factions have been none too kind to one another over the years, and tensions between the two only stand to worsen if compromises aren’t made in the very near future.

Rean Schwarzer, like any other citizen of the Imperial Nation, is no stranger to these rising conflicts: the class system has been deeply embedded into the hearts of every Erebonian since the days of old. As a seventeen-year-old student preparing for his new life at Thors Military Academy, however, he notices that his crimson uniform differs from the standard ones issued to his peers—typically green for commoners, and white for nobles.

Enter, Class VII of Thors Military Academy. For the first time in the prestigious academy’s history, rank means nothing and skill means everything. With nine hand-picked students of various backgrounds and abilities, Rean included, Class VII readies itself to dive deep into the political quagmire that threatens not only them, but the Empire as a whole.

Taking place on the same continent as the fan favorite Trails in the Sky offshoot of Nihon Falcom’s storied The Legend of Heroes franchise, Trails of Cold Steel (Sen no Kiseki in Japanese) is the first in the series to tread Erebonian soil and explore the inner political conflicts of this oft-mentioned powerhouse nation in detail. Delve into the expansive lore that has become synonymous with the series, enjoy school life and bond with fellow students to earn new abilities in battle, take advantage of speedy, tactical turn-based combat with the newly-developed “ARCUS” system, and uncover dramatic events that stand to change everything these two opposing social classes stand for.

KEY FEATURES

• A World Rich in Depth for Veterans and Newcomers Alike
  The events of Trails of Cold Steel are expertly told so that longtime Trails veterans and casual RPG fans alike can equally enjoy its detailed, highly nuanced storyline.
• New Link System Adds Depth to Combat
  Take advantage of the Combat Link System by bonding with your allies throughout the school year, netting you a variety of combat benefits including healing, guarding and more.
• A Sleek Update to a Classic Growth Mechanic
  Trails of Cold Steel streamlines the classic “Orbment” magic system from previous titles with new “ARCUS” units, allowing for more ready access to abilities and quicker customization.
• Experience the Game as Never Before
  50% more lines of English voice-overs have been added to the PC release, bringing a fresh experience to even those who have played it before on console.

With Patch v 1.19 a new talent system, consumable inventory items, shrines, and new Hard and Epic difficulty levels among other additions are introduced to the dungeon crawler Prevent The Fall:

v1.19 Patch is Live

The 19th patch since Early Access is one of our largest patches. It took a bit longer to wrap up, but we introduced a lot of changes and new features in this patch. The biggest feature introduced in this patch is the new Talent System. We also introduced a handful of other new changes including improved blocking, strafing, rolling, new energy system for attacks and abilities, potions, new difficulty options, and a new shrine buff system along with a handful of other tweaks and bug fixes.

To start let's look at the new Talent System. Instead of the skill points that were rewarded each time you level there are now new talent points. This are spent on a talent tree split into 3 sections: Defense, Melee, Magic. The existing stats (strength, intellect, etc) are now in the talent tree so be sure to spend points on the stats as they will be reset back to 1 as a result of this patch. Along with being reset they now have some level limits as well, so if you are level 8 you will not be able to max out the stats (the last hoop for that is at level 16).

Beyond just adding the existing stats 47 total talents were introduced in this patch touching most of the systems in the game. You can now choose to upgrade different combat areas to reduce magic cost, buff pets, break parries and blocks more often, better blocking and parries, less energy rolling (along with a new armor buff), and a wide variety of other adjustments including new stun and bleeding options. You will not be able to max all talents at level 20, but talent tomes were also added that are rewarded as treasure for those interested in that pursuit. Existing players should have talent points set that correspond to their existing level so be sure to check out the talent window by pushing “T” or from the Talent Button in the system Menu.

Talents are the largest change in this patch, but it is just the starting point. Blocking, strafing, and rolling have been improved in this patch. You can now move around while blocking and rotating toward the target to block is now much easier. Strafing was fixed removing some issues with the camera making it a much more useful option, and rolling received a similar improvement so you will roll the direction the camera is facing so if you roll backwards you will roll backwards in a logical fashion that one would expect. Rolling also now has a short armor bonus that will reduce damage that can be improved via a talent.

To go along with that even more combat changes were introduced. Energy was also adjusted in this patch adding energy requirements for regular attacks and abilities. If you run out of energy you can still do regular attacks, but abilities will not fire much like magical abilities. To go along with this change the amount of energy the player has was tweaked and energy is now increased by Dexterity instead of Stamina. Energy and magic regeneration time was cut in half so you should have to wait less for the regeneration to kick in. Also, players can now do critical attacks. There is a small chance with both melee and ranged attacks that can be increased via talents.

To go along with all of that we also introduced potions with this build. There are 3 extra slots to the right of the abilities on the hotbar that can be used to store potions. Potions have a 30 second cooldown, but will provide a boost of health, magic, or energy. Potions can be purchased at the vendor or can be found as rewards. Usage of potions is done via the 7-9 keys on a keyboard, holding the trigger button and using the d-pad (up, left, right) on a gamepad, holding the “grip” button on vive and pressing up, left, right on the trackpad, and holding the grip (bottom trigger) on the rift and pushing up, left, right on the analog stick. To add an item to the hotbar in VR you have to drag it there.

Next up we introduced 2 new difficulty options: Hard and Epic. Balance is still very much a work in progress even more so after this most recent patch, but this will increase the difficulty of the game by adjusting NPC damage and health along with adjusting regeneration rates. Some more tweaking is most likely to follow, but it should provide a bit more challenge.

Lastly, new monuments or “shrines” were added to many dungeons. They will provide a buff that should last the remainder of the trip through the dungeon. The buff provided depends on the dungeon.

[...]

@SidAlpha Harebrained Schemes is being sued for copyright infringement over Battletech images by Harmony Gold.

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Harebrained Schemes is being sued by Harmony Gold, the Distribution rights holder for Robotech over an alleged copyright infringement. The Battletech and Robotech war over likeness rights has waged for close to 25 years. Now, perhaps the age old question might finally be answered once and for all.

There has not been a lot of news about Mistborn: Birthright, which probably was a sign as the latest news is that the project has been canceled and the rights to the game have been returned to Brandon Sanderson. TechRaptor found the info on the game's Facebook page.

First, we can now definitively say that this project isn't going to happen. Please know that it's not for a lack of effort. Even as a publisher, the video game industry isn't easy, and sometimes the best will in the world isn't enough.

Second, I want to thank all of Sanderson's fans who reached out with their feedback, encouragement and support over the years. It was truly a great experience to be adopted as part of the Cosmere community.

Lastly, I would like to thank Brandon, himself. He was a patient, great business partner, who produced an amazing story for the game. I still hope he finds a way to release the details or reuse it in some fashion.

@GamesIndustry Harvey Smith of Dishonored fame offers advice on how to create memorable universes.

Arkane Studios: "Lots of people have done elves and dwarves. F*** that"

Dishonored creative director Harvey Smith offers advice on how to create a distinct and memorable fictional universe

It's the dream of almost every creator to forge a world that people instantly recognise.

While few gaming realms are as instantly recognisable as Star Wars' galaxy far, far away or J.K. Rowling's wizarding world, there are still franchises set in universes that can be identified by millions of people from a single screenshot, item or phrase.

One of the most prominent examples from the past five years is Bethesda's Dishonored. The series' blend of steampunk and the supernatural sets it apart from any other franchise, thanks in no small part to the vision and leadership of Harvey Smith, creative director at Dishonored developer Arkane Studios.
harvey

Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz earlier this year, Smith offered the following advice for creating a distinct world.

"Raymond Loewy, a designer in the '50s, once said what people want is something very familiar but different enough," he explains. "Something new but not too new, not too familiar. That's a tricky combination.

"When you're making something you want to be recognisable, if you find yourself doing exactly what has been done before you need to put a twist on it. We constantly talk about that - bone charms, on some level, are just a system of perks but they work differently. They don't just modify an existing power, they do something different. What's their place in the main world, since most people aren't magic-using assassins?

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The latest on Copper Dreams explains how actions will play out in combat. Head to the link to see the system in action.

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Overview of Ticks and Tiles

As we mentioned in the last update, the gameplay wasn't feeling as impactful towards the goal of being able to react to enemy turns on the fly. There also wasn't a way to clearly visualize these elements. It was competent on paper and execution - turns for players/NPCs just take a variable amount of time on the combat bar to execute, however, wait times, lack of clarity of predicting enemy turns and not wanting to get stuck in a long turn during combat was hampering player actions, encouraging you to play too carefully. There was the promise of reactivity in turns, but gameplay and use of time just wasn't allowing it. Ticks, tiles and shorter phases allow the player to have the intel to make more calculated and reactive decisions.

The ruleset we had described in our original Kickstarter pitch has been a difficult one to find just the right gameplay for. The original idea had the essential premise of the turn-based model with just staggering turn order. Players and NPCs took turns when they were able to, and these took various amounts of time to perform and recover from, and could be temporarily interrupted. These actions were all displayed on a single timeline.

What we've implemented instead is a solution that replaces the general idea of ‘time' with chunks of time for actions we call ticks. We also brought back tiles to quantify distance, in the pursuit of clarity.

Ticks are represented by a quarter second of gameplay, but are abstract in that longer animations can play-out during these, or multiple hits shown off individually. So behind the scene, these play out like regular turns where gameplay they appear as more linear time.

Importantly, on a bar with other combatants these are super easy to compare. If an enemy is targeting you with a pistol and takes 3 ticks to aim, and 4 to recover from, you have the insight to know to start running and to attack after their bullet is airborne, as it obviously won't follow you. So with ticks, you can quantify how long your action will take compared to your enemy's actions, allowing you to plan your moves and have the payoff of dodging and taking cover.

In Turn Mode, which can be toggled whenever you want and is automatically turned on in combat, after any action you take recovers, the world pauses for you to take another turn. We've somewhat reformatted the UI to make this snappier, and there's no longer a confirm button for using an action. Once selected, your actions cannot be interrupted or changed, so gameplay is quite a bit quicker.
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Unseen64 explore unreleased games. With this video on Bioware RPGs they look at Jade Empire 2 and Revolver.

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► ► You can read more about Jade Empire 2, Revolver and other cancelled games in the book "Video Games You Will Never Play", available on Amazon & Createspace: https://www.unseen64.net/2016/09/19/v...

► Thanks to ItsaDogandGame for the voice over! You can check his channel at https://www.youtube.com/user/ItsaDoga...
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PCGamer looks back at Fallout: New Vegas. In particular one quest titled 'One For My Baby' which captures the 'heart' of the game.

How one quest captures the heart of Fallout: New Vegas.

If Fallout 3 welcomes you into the post-apocalypse with open arms, Fallout: New Vegas is its sarcastic, passive-aggressive cousin. Everyone in the game has an angle, and the only thing standing in the way of the house winning is your growing series of dubious decisions. This spirit of hard-edged humor and escalating choice is perfectly encapsulated by a single quest.

The setup

Looking at the giant dinosaur statue named "Dinky," and the broken No Vacancy sign hanging from the settlement's single motel, you might assume Novac is a pit stop on your path to New Vegas proper. After going through Primm and Nipton, two towns filled with conflict and moral chaos, you finally have a place to rest. That all changes when you meet Boone.

A former NCR sniper, Boone is a man isolated both literally and figuratively. Every night, he walks up a set of narrow red steps leading to the giant dinosaur's mouth. Guarding Novac against this somewhat goofy backdrop, he spends his vigil watching the wasteland through Dinky's faded white teeth-all the while wondering which of his estranged neighbors sold his wife Clara into slavery while he was on patrol.

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Swen Vincke tweeted about Divinity Original Sin II's insane dialogue branching.

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I walked into the office on a rainy afternoon and spotted one of our awesome scripters making the type of branching dialog that makes d:os 2 such a complex game to make. I should probably follow up with a video from the writer's face when she sees it :)

Here are the first reviews for for the party-based RPG Pyre that will be released tomorrow:

EuroGamer:

Dazzling and mysterious, this ambitious party-based RPG is a masterpiece.

Kotaku:

Pyre is interesting enough to play multiple times, but it can also be played just as a one-on-one sport. In the game’s versus mode, which pits you against either an AI opponent or against a friend on your couch. In the story, there’s a lot of narrative pressure to do well in the rites. Against another person, I was a bit freer to just enjoy banishing my enemies, or passing the ball down the court, or flying over an aura blast. When I played against Kotaku editor-in-chief Stephen Totilo in the office, he banished me just as I was about to score on him and I shouted, “you motherfucker.” Pyre is good in many ways. It’s even good enough that it made me call my boss a motherfucker.

GameSpew:

I wouldn’t be surprised if we never see another game quite like Pyre, and that’s perfectly okay. Simply describing its spectacularly outlandish battle system doesn’t do it justice; upon playing it, it doesn’t take long to realise that it works – and that it works incredibly well. Pair that with a wonderful cast of characters, a riveting story, and enthralling music and visuals, and you have nothing short of a compelling game that demands your time and attention. If you are at all curious about Pyre – and you should be – then you owe it to yourself to check this one out.

The Verge:

Pyre is a mishmash of a game. Its world is culled from multiple influences, and the core of the experience feels like two very different titles stuck together. But, as with Supergiant’s past work, it all comes together in a very satisfying way. It’s an adventure where it only feels natural that you’d spend as much time poring over ancient books as you do throwing a magic orb around an arena, and I enjoyed chatting with swamp witches almost as much as I did turning them into powerful warriors. I may not know how to say “boomshakalaka” in harpy, but I know what it feels like to dunk over a massive demon.

The last edition of the RPG Scrollbars takes a look back into RPG history:

The RPG Scrollbars: A Farewell Dip Into The Archives

It is said that the greatest test is that of time. Actually, I’m not sure if anyone’s said that, except me just then. But that’s fine. I’m sure everyone will remember. Anyway, in the final edition of The RPG Scrollbars, let’s take a look back to see what the people of the past said about what was the present but is now, by the laws of causality, in fact that past. With some help from the magazine archives at archive.org, natch.

Let’s start by seeing what was going on back at the launch of cheery RPS fanzine PC Gamer, and long-time distinguished competitors PC Zone. PC Zone started at by far the better time, in April 1993, just in time for Ultima Underworld 2. PC Gamer meanwhile had to make do with the largely forgotten Shadowcaster, one of a long series of Raven’s patented ‘take an engine and make a fantasy game out of it’ games. In this case the engine was Wolfenstein 3D, and it was really more of an action game than an RPG. It did however have a truly fantastic gimmick – unlocking the ability to take the form of assorted monsters. Weirdly, shape-shifting remains a fairly underutilised mechanic.

“The first thing you think when you see Shadowcaster is ‘Uh-oh, looks like Origin had better watch out. You see, this is a game that gives its own Ultima Underworld games a serious run for their money. In fact, this is a game that knocks back 12 pints of lager and a curry, then pounds its own chest and sings “Come and have a go if you think you’re hard enough,” at the entire RPG fraternity.”

I’m reminded of the time PC Format reviewed Descent using the three words ‘Better. Than. Doom.’ But the point of this isn’t to go back and mock old reviews for being wrong or overly-enthusiastic. Maybe that PC Format one. But in general, the curse of reviewing is that you have to hit a game hard and fast and write while the iron is hot, making it easy to both be more critical than some games deserve, or get over-excited. And Shadowcaster was exciting, especially compared to the likes of fellow reviewer Dark Sun: Shattered Alliance, which prompts a bit of a snooze just for the streamline ‘SSI and TSR team up once more to bring us another of their computerised AD&D games’. (Flicking through this issue though, I think my favourite little detail is that Street Fighter 2 of all games gets a third of a page next to a slightly mean review of Privateer, while the most 90s titled game of all time, Yo! Joe! gets a half-pager.)

But what of Underworld 2?

“Tankard of ale or bonk, sire?” was all you used to get from women in Role Playing Games. That and “Help! Help! I’m crap. I’m wearing a white dress and I need to be rescued!” Of course, that was the old days, when men were men and women were buxom serving wenches with low-cut dresses.”

Indeed. How far we’ve come since… uh… 1993. And how modern those complaints are, at least to anyone who doesn’t remember things like Unreal creator Tim Sweeney’s 1992 Jill of the Jungle’s third part, the satirical but pointed “Jill Saves The Prince”.

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Thank you, Richard Cobbett!

Techraptor reports that Nihon Falcom wants to port all their games to the PC platform:

"We Want All of Our Games on Steam"

Earlier this month, TechRaptor had the chance to interview Toshihiro Kondo, the president of Nihon Falcom – the developers of both the Ys and Legend of Heroes series. We’ve got our full interview coming up soon, but one specific answer to one of our questions stood out from the rest, more or less confirming that the company hopes to release all of their titles on PC, in one way or another, going forward. The translation for Kondo-san’s answer was provided by NIS America.

TechRaptor: It’s been said that Ys VIII’s PS4 release was made to target the west, though it and a few other “modern” Falcom titles are all receiving PC ports lately. Has Falcom been actively pursuing PC versions for more recent releases in the west?

Toshihiro Kondo: We have no hesitation about releasing games on Steam. Rather, given that we don’t have a large staff, we mainly have to rely [on] partners to help us realize a PC port. When we first started releasing games on Steam, we were initially unsure of whether or not players would want to play our older games. However, as we gradually released games on Steam and saw the very positive reaction that was much greater than we expected, we feel like we want all of our games that come out to [release] on Steam.

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