@Wccftech A first look at Left Alive and an interview with the developers.

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Why have you decided to blend all of these genres together?

Really the idea is that different people have different ideas in their head about how they want to play. Some people are very good at action games, some people aren’t so good at action games. We wanted to give them that freedom of choice to play the way they wanted to.

It also gives you the chance to roleplay in different ways. You can play as a moralistic character if you want to go through and be scrupulous or you can play more of a pragmatist if you want.

Do the three characters reflect different aspects of game genres?

You’ve always got the option of how you will handle each of the characters here. They’ve obviously got their own backstory and reason for being in the city when it was invaded, and they’re all dealing with their past as well. So you’ve got the choice: if you really resonate with that character and their background and think they should be played a certain way you can, or you can play how you want to play if you prefer.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

PCGamesN reports on a tweet made by Brian Fargo that indicates he will buy back Interplay if The Bard's Tale IV sells well.

Brian Fargo was a founder of Interplay way back in 1983. The company’s impressive list of credits covers everything from The Bard’s Tale to Fallout and now, it seems, Fargo wants to buy it back. Of course, videogame companies don’t come free, and he says there’s one condition before Interplay comes back to one of its original founders – you’d better buy his next game.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

The September update for Xenonauts 2 highlights the progress that is being made in many areas.

Xenonauts-2 September Progress Update!

Now the dust has settled on our successful Kickstarter campaign, it's time for a progress update on Xenonauts-2!

There's lots of exciting stuff to talk about, even though the lingering admin from the Kickstarter has kept us busy and the summer holiday period means that we've frequently been without one or more important team members!

Air Combat:

The first thing I want to show off is a very early incarnation of the air combat. The art and design are both still very rough, so try to look past all the placeholder art from the first Xenonauts and the rather simple combat interactions in the video.

Our objectives for the X2 air combat were to make something that was fast-paced but still rewarded the same skills as the rest of the game – tactical and strategic planning (I felt the X1 air combat emphasized reactions over good tactics). I've been playing with a lot of different ideas over the past few years, but I feel we've now hit on a good idea that will be able to combine both speed and tactical depth once complete.

Essentially the player has a certain number of turns to shoot down each UFO before it engages its jump drive and escapes from your interceptors. Your interceptor weapons have limited ammo and generally do more damage the closer you are (as do the alien weapons). Your interceptors can make one move each turn before they attack, but the UFO is also able to move - which it does by moving your jets up and down the battlefield to represent it speeding up / slowing down. Different UFOs will of course have different strengths and weaknesses, and the system supports up to three combatants per side.

I'll likely be writing an entire update devoted to the new Air Combat model once things are a bit more polished and the design has developed further, so I won't try to explain any more about the rules for now – but I just wanted to show everyone that we do already have a basic air combat system working and hooked up to the rest of the strategy layer!

Armory & Soldier Equip:

The next thing I wanted to talk about is the Armory screen and the soldier inventory mechanics. The UI concept above incorporates two major mechanical changes since the start of the Kickstarter, and also gives you some idea of the direction we'd like to take the final UI now we can afford to divert some of our funds to a dedicated UI artist (although it is only a rough style / layout concept, so don't read too much into the details).

The first big mechanical change is the return of the grid-based soldier backpack from Xenonauts 1. We were initially planning to remove this as part of a package of changes to make the inventory system less cumbersome, but we reconsidered our position after the community raised some valid points about why this might make the game less interesting to play. We're currently in the process of implementing the old backpack / inventory mechanics (they'll be in for the closed beta), as well as the other planned changes that were uncontroversial improvements to the system.

The second change is my first concept for the modular armour system that forms part of the modular equipment stretch goal. This works by splitting armour into two different inventory slots: the "Armour" and the "Plating", and giving items in both a set of % resistances against different types of damage.

The “Armour” is the base layer of armour your soldier is wearing – at the start of the game it's the blue Tacsuit, but your research efforts soon unlock different types of suit that offer better / different protection against the various damage types (ranging up to the endgame Exosuit).

“Plating” represents any additional armour you wear on top of this base suit, so the starting Tacsuit allows players to wear either “Light Kevlar” or “Heavy Kevlar” plating (the heavier plating offers more protection but weighs more). As the player progresses through the research tree, the Plating can be upgraded – e.g. Kevlar vests become more protective Alloy vests, etc.

This system allows players to mix and match armour to suit the specific mission. If you want good Chemical protection, you can equip your soldiers with a Chemsuit but then issue your assault troopers heavy plating and your snipers light plating. The way that plating upgrades through the game keeps older types of armour relevant, too - that same Chemsuit will still be somewhat viable in the late game if you have sufficiently advanced plating available, although advanced tech like an Exosuit would obviously be better in most situations.

Remember that this idea is still at concept stage and not yet implemented, so it may well change prior to release (or even prior to the closed beta!)

New Aliens:

Finally, I just want to show off a quick piece of concept art for a new alien to go in the game. The 3D art for this alien is not yet complete, but it's planned to be a single-tile psionic support unit. 

 We've got a number of new aliens working their way through our art / design pipeline, and we're making an effort to include some more distinctive aliens in the game this time around. There's certainly a place for humanoid aliens in space jumpsuits in the alien roster, but I think any X-Com successor also needs to embrace some of the absurdity of the original games to properly capture their spirit. A floating alien brain seems a pretty good place to start!

Anyway, that's enough from me - there's a lot more I'd like to talk about but I really should get back to work! The closed beta is still planned for the start of November and I'll keep everyone informed on our progress towards that deadline as it approaches.

Thanks Farflame!

A new video for Age of Wonders: Planetfall looks at the Vanguard faction.

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Planetfall takes the fantasy series into the realms of science fiction, adding new ideas to the mix of empire building and turn-based tactical combat. Emerging from the ruins of a fallen galactic empire, you’re looking to ascend to rule the galaxy once more, whether playing through a single player campaign, on randomised maps or against friends in multiplayer.

Release: TBA 2019 / Pc, Ps4, XBoxOne

Thanks Farflame!

Drew Karpyshyn was interviewed about Mass Effect by tic games network.

Drew Karpyshyn on Mass Effect

One of the things we asked Drew about was how Mass Effect came to be, including whether parallels to Knights of the Old Republic were intentional and trying to understand the overall process behind creating such a huge new IP. We also asked about what it was like putting together the team for Mass Effect.

He told us that “What we usually try to do with BioWare is we try to build on what we’ve done before. So there was a lot of the same team, some of the writers, some of the artists, a lot of the production people, from KOTOR, came on to Mass Effect. We worked well together, we had done a pretty good job on KOTOR, it was a already a big success so wanted to keep a lot of that team together.”

He also talked about the nature of the conversation wheel and how things changed with having a voice protagonist.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

A new update for Encased about random encounters. Encased is now 38% funded with 28 days to go.

Encased Kickstarter Update #5: Random Encounters

Whoa, this update came out of nowhere, didn’t it? Kind of snuck up on you, just like one of our random encounters! 

Our random encounter system is one of the features we’re most proud of. Here’s how it works: 

Every encounter in Encased is its own post-apocalyptic story. Some of these stories will resolve on the spot, others will require significant effort and maximum concentration. Many encounters have consequences and lead to a whole new series of quests. 

Random encounters occur when the player travels on the world map. A player’s Stats as well as the world’s condition directly affects which stories will be generated. 

 

There is still civilization of a sort in the east of the Dome. You might meet a water caravan, slave traders, or a Kshatriya patrol. You may stumble upon a suspicious house, or a car riddled with bullet holes and carrying a mysterious case on the back seat. You might discover money or a relic inside.  

Encounters in the east are mostly social in nature, while the west is almost barren of life. Salt marshes and white sand tell completely different stories: of bare survival and limited supplies, of struggling against the elements. You may find yourself searching out rare underground facilities offering shelter and relief from the relentless heat.

The south of the Dome also has underground complexes, but travellers won’t find any welcome there. The south is an old communications center, a place where ancient battle machines lay buried beneath the sand and rocks. There are countless small bunkers here, the kind where once you enter, the somehow still-powered doors slide silently shut behind your back.  

The north lands are now ruled by the New Committee. You may meet police and army patrols, come upon restricted areas where weird experiments are underway, and whole fields of abandoned vehicles rusting away to nothing. 

Sooner or later, fate will lead the player to the very center of the Dome where Maelstrom runs rampant alongside gangs of insane raiders, and the stranger anomalies summoned by Tower radiation. Encounters near the center involve battles with bandits, surreal zones of abnormality, the constant chatter of insane Maelstrom, and many other unusual and exciting events.

When we say ‘many’ unusual events, this is no exaggeration. Encounters in Encased cannot all be resolved with combat. There are meetings with characters, secret locations which cannot be found any other way, and vignettes — brief but detailed text adventures, where the solution will depend on a player’s decisions, Stats and Skills. 

For example, while travelling the desert the player may discover a spacious house. The doors are all locked, but there is definitely something going on inside. The player may break in (Lockpicking), enter through the open window on the second floor (Deftness), slip in through the back door (Sneaking), or simply knock and ask them to let you in (Looks). Although if you are unsuccessful, there’s always the risk of a bullet to the face. Perhaps, the player is wearing a mad raider’s mask or has shown up at a gang lair in a Black Wing uniform. Anyway, there is always a way to complete an encounter, even if it’s not immediately obvious. 

At this point most of our planned 75 random encounters have already been written. With your help there can be even more! 

Project fundraising report: $38,260 pledged by 1,010 backers! This means we’ve successfully raised almost 40% of our base goal, and are moving quickly past to the next milestone! Thank you so much! 

Special thanks also to our friends at Larian Studios and especially to Swen Vincke for their generous contribution, shout out and moral support! Larian is constantly raising the bar for CRPGs with their beautiful games. Larian’s love, dedication, and creative energy make their studio a role model for all of us at Dark Crystal Games.

Thanks Silver Coin!

A book about the story of Ultima, Origin and Garriott, named Through the Moongate, is currently on Kickstarter for the final steps of its release.

If you have played a computer role-playing game (CRPG), chances are Ultima played a part in its inspiration. Created by visionary Richard Garriott, and produced by his company Origin Systems, Inc., Ultima is one of the most important and influential CRPG series in the world. Through the Moongate illuminates the path of the Ultima games' history and the creative people behind this landmark series. It also covers some of Origin's other games, especially Wing Commander, and touches on several contemporary titles. Many of these tales have never before been told.

...

As I traced the paths of the Ultima games and those who worked for Origin Systems, I began to realize the multitude of games that would not be possible without the influence of Richard Garriott, Origin Systems, and Ultima series upon the industry. To ensure their place in history, I've included special coverage of the Wing Commander and Ultima Underworld series, plus significant CRPGs of the era such as Star Trek (PDP), Empire and other PLATO games, Escape! and RobotWar by Silas Warner, Temple of Apshai, Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord, Wizardry II: The Knight of Diamonds, Escape from Mt. Drash, Moebius: The Orb of Celestial Harmony, Autoduel, Ogre, 2400 A.D., Questron, Tales of the Unknown: Volume I, Wizadore, Dungeon Master, Times of Lore, The Black Onyx, Dragon Quest, and Xanadu.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales, which was originally named Gwent: Thronebreaker, will be avalable on GOG at the 23rd of October.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales

Thronebreaker is a single player role-playing game set in the world of The Witcher that combines narrative-driven exploration with unique puzzles and card battle mechanics. Crafted by the developers responsible for some of the most iconic moments in The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, the game spins a truly regal tale of Meve, a war-veteran queen of two Northern Realms - Lyria and Rivia. Facing an imminent Nilfgaardian invasion, Meve is forced to once again enter the warpath, and set out on a dark journey of destruction and revenge.

Throughout the adventure, players will explore new and never-before-seen parts of The Witcher world, embark on thought-provoking quests featuring rich, multidimensional characters. All while gathering resources to expand their army and engaging in epic story battles powered by the skill-based battle system known from GWENT: The Witcher Card Game.

Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales will release on PC via GOG.com on October 23rd, with a console release on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 set for December 4th. Details regarding the pricing of Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales will be released in the future.

On that same day Gwent: The Witcher Card Game is coming out of beta as well and will be available for free.

In a recent blog for Depth of Extinction, we are informed that the game is almost ready to be launched. Here is the launch trailer.

We skipped an update for Build 44 but are going to cover that build plus 45 in this extra special “last” blog post before the final stretch run to release the game onto Steam, GOG and itch.io! We will have an announcement regarding the launch date later this week.

In the latest version of Legends of Ellaria (currently in closed beta) the RPG system has been implemented, but it still has places to go.

We are excited to announce that a new version 0.5.42.01 RPG Leveling System is up

We have been working on different features and fixes, and we are finally ready to release some of the progress to you.

In this version, you will now find:

• New RPG system where you can level and invest in attributes, bonuses, and abilities.
• Added support for proficiencies, power attacks, and status effects
• Remade the character inventory and character stats user interface from scratch
• Remade most of the animations
• Remade the character controller. The character movement is smoother now.
• Rebalanced all RPG statistics
• Included a status bar during combat for viewing NPC stats
• Included a 3D character display in the inventory

In future versions we will be adding: 

• New skills
• Vendors
• Buildings
• Kingdom Management
• World map 
• UI and graphics improvements/optimizations

The long wait is over - Bard's Tale IV has been released today on Steam and GOG:

Bard's Tale IV

Over one hundred years later, the terrible events of Skara Brae’s violent destruction are nearly forgotten. Hidden in the shadows, an evil has waited patiently. Until now. Fanatics are gathering control, the famous Adventurer’s Guild has been outlawed and its members persecuted, and you must rise up in defiance to become the hero that the realm needs. Featuring 40+ hours of gameplay, 350 speaking parts, and over 100 pieces of incredible music.

Create the Hero You Want To Be
Play as Bard, Fighter, Practitioner, and Rogue. Each archetype features 60-70 skills and collectively they unlock 21 unique classes. Build an array of characters to make each playthrough a unique experience.

Craft your Party, Your Way
Develop, progress, and grow a party of adventurers as you see fit. Start your party with a single character. Recruit or create new heroes to bolster your ranks. Level up and customize their skills and gear. Summon creatures into battle to fight for you! Build a party that suits your unique play style!

An Adventure Around Every Corner
Traverse a beautiful world filled with wonder and powered by Unreal Engine 4. Explore towns full of quest givers, fight your way through dark and deadly dungeons, and navigate beautiful rolling hills, dense forests, and icy wastes.

Outsmart Evil
Battle your enemies in dynamic, intuitive turn-based tactical combat that rewards clever thinking. Combine spells and skills for increased effects greater than the sum of their parts. Use superior strategies, thoughtful positioning, and deadly combos to bring down your foes!

Unlock the Secrets of the Past
Unravel challenging mysteries. If your enemies don’t get you, the devious riddles, demanding puzzles, and dangerous traps which await just might. For those bold enough to seek them out, hidden rewards await your discovery.

Recover Powerful Artifacts
The sense of discovery and mystery doesn’t stop with the environment. Recover ancient Elven weapons imbued with mystical powers and containing secrets which you’ll need to uncover by carefully examining them. Doing so will gain you deadly advantages in the battles that lie ahead.

Selectbutton checked out the action RPG Shadows: Awakening:

Shadows: Awakening Review

The Heretic Kingdoms series is no stranger to the action-RPG genre, but until now games have been limited to the PC. Shadows: Awakening marks the first entry for the series to release on Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, although the game is also available on PC.
There are subtle references that fans of the previous titles would appreciate, but newcomers to the franchise (the last game released in 2004) shouldn’t have any problem understanding the self-contained narrative. Where similar titles have been adding cooperative features for both online and local multiplayer, Shadows: Awakening focuses on the single-player experience. While the isometric perspective is familiar, some intriguing gameplay mechanics help propel the game past its competition.

[...]

Simply Put
Shadows: Awakening proves that loot-focused action-RPGs can feature a deep narrative with meaningful side quests. The unique party system works in unison with the combat mechanics, allowing you to put together a devastating combination of attacks. Featuring a lengthy narrative, and reason to play through multiple times, this unassuming title may be the sleeper hit you have been looking for.

Score: 8/10 - Great

Henriquejr spottet the Phantom Doctrine PC Patch 1.0.6:

Phantom Doctrine Patch 1.0.6 Released!

Phantom Doctrine PC Patch 1.0.6
This patch contains requested improvements and fixes. As always, thank you for your support and all the feedback. Rest assured that further updates are in the works and we're always interested in hearing from you!
Improvements:

• Dispose of body/pick up agent cutscenes are now skippable (yay!)
• The Interconnected ability now only works after a successful tactical recon of the mission area
• Volume of cinematic cutscenes played during missions adjusted
• Improved enemy agent behavior while in vigilant mode
• Removed an exploit resetting agent Heat with a tech unlock
• Improved tooltips for armor, weapons and items when comparing them

Bugfixes:

• Removed an issue with endless slow-mo for overwatch triggered for enemies in cover
• Skipping a turn with the evac panel open will not block the UI
• Removed a potential block caused by an enemy vigilant Agent trying to turn laser sensors on again
• A patrolling Agent will no longer fall off the map while jumping down
• Tracked down an eliminated a pesky rare bug which could block the game when choosing an enemy and an ability in the tutorial
• A rare technical issue when opening a new secret file is now dead and buried
• After rescuing an operative being interrogated in an Enemy Cell location, Danger gain will be correctly reduced
• An Operative working on a Hideout assignment can't be hospitalized because of a Side Story Event at the same time
• Agents in support cutscenes are now dressed in correct clothes
• Opening a door will no longer cause a nearby civilian to move
• Corrected a tooltip repetition for single shot stats of SMGs and rifles
• The system cursor should no longer appear and supersede the in-game cursor
• A disguised Operative carrying a body will now correctly upset civilians on sight
• Removed an exploit from a KGB story mission, allowing to load a game and revert to infiltration mode
• Corrected World Map text in the Italian localization
• Improved gunshot sounds passing through grids with cars
• Smashing of already broken glass will no longer be attempted
• A variety of small fixes

@DSOGaming The release trailer for INSOMNIA: The Ark.

HeroCraft and Studio Mono have revealed a brand new launch trailer for their upcoming dieselpunk RPG, INSOMNIA: The Ark, which will launch for PC via Steam on September 27th. The new trailer gives players the best taste yet of the labour-of-love RPG, eight years in the making at Samara, Russia-based developer Studio Mono.

[...]

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A new update for Nighthawks about 'Trust and Romance'. The Kickstarter is 44% funded with 17 days to go.

Nighthawks Exposed #7 - Trust and Romance

So, onto the second-most commonly asked question about Nighthawks, not including variants of "Can I bang Madame Lux?" (Answer: Wait and see). Specifically, if there'll be other romances and sexytimes, and how that will work with a protagonist of no stated sex/gender/identity in general. Time to address that one.

In Short...

Yes, and hopefully in an interesting way!

The Longer Version...

Yes, there will be romances, and there will absolutely be twisted sexytimes. However, it's not quite the set-up of a lot of RPGs, where you just partner off your PC with whoever takes your fancy. Nighthawks is a game about broken people, fiercely individualistic, who aren't used to letting anyone get emotionally close to them. As such, for 'romances', primarily think 'gaining trust'. It's more about breaking down the barriers. Being the person someone can rely on, and share secrets with. Someone who a person who refuses to ask for help can turn to in their time of greatest need, even when it might be shameful or show weakness.

In some cases, that leads to sexytime fun. In others, that's simply not what the character is looking for, and your relationship will head down a different path. Everyone in Nighthawks has their own story, and none of them consider themselves a mere bit-player in yours.

Companions and NPCs

When it comes to specific sexualities, things are somewhat divided. Characters who might be interested in your character will be basically player-sexual and you can decide for yourself where they fit on whatever spectrum you like, be it completely open to any experience, or purely interested in your character, based on your approaches. This is the only real way to still allow the breadth of role-play that we want to offer. 

Having said that, your decisions, your character build and so on will play a big part in which Companions might be up for a little 'extra companionship'. Non-Companion NPCs will also be more defined in these regards. We don't want to simply brush over the issues here, or the interesting stories that can come from them. Hopefully in any case, focusing on trust and getting close to characters will encourage you to get invested in their stories in general, rather than just seeing who you can get into bed before the credits roll.

But if not, don't worry. We're going to have some fun with that too!

Thanks Silver Coin!

A progress update for Tanzia informs of a small delay before full release on Steam to improve the melee combat.

A little update!

1 September - Kindermann Corp

Hey everyone!

Just wanted to make a quick announcement to let you know what we're up to!

We promised to have the Steam build ready really close to the Switch launch, but after releasing on the Nintendo portable we received a lot of feedback. Most of it was great, people loved the game and the story. But at the same time some people commented on melee, and how it wasn't up to par with the rest of the game.

So we've decided to revamp melee to make it as awesome as the rest of the game.

This means the full version of Tanzia needs a little more time in the oven...

But as promised, you can access the beta build on Steam right now, and play what's practically the same content as we have on Switch!

If you want to play the beta content right now, this is what you need to do:

/On your Steam library, right click on Tanzia, select "properties".
/Go to the "Betas" tab
/On the dropdown menu select "beta"
/Close the properties window and let Tanzia update.
Now Tanzia on your library should say "Tanzia [beta]". You can start playing the beta! : )

We're really sorry about all the delays, but as you know we're only two guys working full time on Tanzia, and only one of us is a programmer!

Thank you for being patient!

If you have any questions for us or if you want to chat about the details of Tanzia, drop by our Discord.[discordapp.com]

Hevn will release September 24th on Steam.

HEVN is an open-world adventure game, set on a desolate planetoid a hundred years into the future. Corporate factions are vying for control over our solar system's resources, while others are violently advocating for humanity to retreat to a less-technological age.

Sebastian Mar sets off on a celestial mining mission, but finds his destination deserted, crumbling, and possibly sabotaged. With the help of his colleague Edna via radio broadcast, Seb must figure out a way to survive - exploring an unfamiliar world, battling its hostile elements, and fending off aggressive local life forms in order to find a way back home.

HEVN fuses exploration, action, and survival mechanics to create an immersive sci-fi sim. Navigate the surface of Naic and investigate the many sectors of the Nomini Mining Facility. Search for answers while maintaining your physical and mental wellbeing. Traverse a rich and interactive world, as you uncover an increasingly sinister plot and do what you can to make it off this faraway rock alive.

Key Features

• Navigate and explore the perils on Nomoni's off-world base on Naic
• Uncover a deep and involved mystery
• Interact with a rich environment, its machinery and systems
• Converse with both humans and droids
• Discover and utilise unique weapons and tools
• Fight off aggressive lifeforms and malicious robots
• Overcome obstacles and puzzles to progress
• Eat, drink, sleep, and take medications to survive
• Non-linear puzzle-solving, with multiple ways to progress
• Support for many languages including French, Spanish, Italian, German, Japanese, Simplified Chinese, and more

A new patch for Ancient Frontier introduces some new mission content and a new playable ship called the Manticore.

Greetings Commanders!

Today we reveal the new Outrigger ship the Manticore class heavy cruiser. This appears along with several new missions where you fight the Outriggers in the Alliance campaign. Finally, we have addressed a few minor bugs.

The Manticore

This massive heavy cruiser is constructed at a secret location known only to the Outrigger engineers. Packed with stolen modern weaponry the Manticore is one of the most modern ships on the Frontier.

The primary weapons of the Manticore are twin Coil Cannons. Coil technology was originally developed for the Federation by the Outriggers, and they kept the blueprints of the technology. Coil Cannons are long range, accurate weapons that add extra shield damage. As primary weapons the main guns allow the cruiser to deal heavy damage even through shields.

Located in the center of the chassis is a massive Drive Harpoon. The harpoon is a perfect weapon that compliments the scavenging ways of the Outriggers. It drains the energy from the main engines of its target, reducing its movement to a crawl. This allows the Manticore to stun its prey before moving in for the kill and eventual juicy salvage.

These weapons are backed up by an imposing set of quad Shredder Cannons. This is stolen technology from the Pirate clans, and serves the Manticore well. It provides very high damage at short range for engagements that close in.

All of this weaponry makes the Manticore very capable in duels with other capital ships. What really sets the ship apart, however, is its anti-fighter abilities.

First, it houses a pair of hanger bays. These typically house two Gunship heavy fighter squadrons. However there are rumors that there are Manticore captains that prefer to use lighter Explorer squadrons to better scout out targets to ambush.

Second, it uses a massive battery of eight pulse laser turrets. Pulse laser technology is closely guarded by the Federation and the High Temple on Mars, and how the Outriggers were able to steal this coveted piece of technology is unknown. The turrets allow the Manticore to deal with enemy fighters even if it loses its own squadrons.

All of this makes the Manticore an ideal flagship for an Outrigger fleet. While rare, the few that do exist are very deadly.

New Missions

There are a total of 4 new missions available in the Alliance campaign. All of the missions are optional Bounty missions, but they give the Alliance player more options for the enemies they face.

There is one new mission in Tarsis, two missions in Hadron, and one new mission in Cygnus. Hopefully these missions add a few more choices and a little more variety to this mid game stretch of the campaign.

In addition Outrigger forces (and related rewards) have been increased in missions for both campaigns in Tarsis, Arx, Hadron and Cygnus. The Outriggers are out in force. Beware of the Manticore!

Bug Fixes
Fixed a bug (again!) where the tutorial would crash upon beating the second mission.
Fixed a bug where collecting items was not registering in a Federation story mission in the Externus sector.

Known Issues

We are aware and have confirmed that not all of the 58 events are showing up for all players. We are still looking into what is causing this and hope to have a fix soon (tm).

We hope you enjoy these updates, and thank you for playing our game!

The release trailer for Crosscode which will leave Early Access September 20th.

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CrossCode will leave Early Access on September 20!

FREE DEMO available on Steam: https://store.steampowered.com/app/36...

The developers of Odd Gods were interviewed by aussiedevs.

Aussie Devs Podcast - Episode 20 - Odd Gods

September 02, 2018

Glenn and Eric chat with Gil Maclean, Director of Inn Between Worlds and creator of the upcoming game Odd Gods.
[Play Podcast]

To celebrate the release of Divine Divinity 16 years ago, GOG is having a sale of the Divinity games (with the exception of Original Sin 2: Definitive Edition).

Din’s Legacy is now available in Early Access at a discount.

McKinney, Texas, September 17, 2018 - Din's Legacy is now in Early Access on Steam! (Windows, Mac, and Linux)

Gamers who buy Din's Legacy Early Access will receive full access to the latest alpha build, a reduced price of only $14.99 (10% off first week), the opportunity to give Soldak feedback which can influence the game, and of course, the final version when it becomes available.

Din's Legacy is an action RPG with mutating characters, set in a dynamic, evolving, fantasy world for Windows, Mac, and Linux.

During the Orc Schism, the entire Orc race was violently split into Dark Orcs, Zombielords, and the Mutated. The Mutated are tainted with Orc blood, a zombie parasite, and necromancer magic. This makes people seriously mistrust and even fear them. The fact that they slowly mutate over time makes it even worse. Who is going to trust you when you grow horns overnight?

Despite all of this, the Mutated are actually more closely related to the Elves, both their behavior and physically. They want to prove this to the world, but they are facing a tremendous uphill battle.

The trickster god Din was intrigued by their chaotic mutations and burning desire to prove themselves to the world. Always in need of champions, he made a pact with the Mutated. Each volunteer would become one of his champions trying to save the world wherever Din sends them. In return, each time they die in his service he resurrects them to continue their service.

Din's Legacy, as well as the Mutated's and yours, are all in your hands! Can you be the Champion that is needed?

For more information about Din's Legacy head over to http://www.soldak.com/Dins-Legacy/Overview.html


Features:

* Experience your character mutating over time for good and bad
* Guide your character's evolution (choosing/improving skills, suppressing unwanted mutations, etc)
* Use mutation points to mutate your character towards another character or sub-class
* Uniquely created worlds for every game, with different scenario, win/lose conditions, areas, monsters, items, and quests, give the player a new experience every time
* Explore a dynamic, evolving, living world
* Your choices truly impact the game
* Co-op multiplayer to adventure with friends

A new video for Rebel Galaxy Outlaw shows off drifting and sublight.

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Two of the most requested features we heard about after announcing RGO were the ability to fast-travel in-world from place to place, similar to the original Rebel Galaxy, and a damping cut so that you could choose to maneuver independent of your heading. So, hey presto! Here they are.

A new video for The Sinking City which is about 'The Art Of Visual Storytelling'.

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Stories can be told in different ways - and there is a lot video games can learn about it from other media. In our sixth update, we want to show you a few visual techniques we use to tell our story in The Sinking City!

Ubisoft have announced on Twitter that Assassin's Creed: Odyssey has gone gold and will release on October 5th.

#AssassinsCreedOdyssey has gone gold!! 🍾🎉

We hope you'll be enjoying playing the game as much as we did developing it and can't wait to see which paths you'll choose.

Your Odyssey starts on October 5. pic.twitter.com/Nj0EwQjdsj

— Assassin's Creed (@assassinscreed) September 14, 2018

Colony Ship is the new name for The New World. The latest update for Colony Ship discusses monsters.

First things first: we had to change the name so now the game is called Colony Ship. While it's not the most original name, it's the most straightforward one.

Colony Ship Cover Art

Now that we got that out of the way, let's talk about what RPGs are really all about - monsters. As a wise man once said:

“As one would expect, the game shines the most during the fights against humans. This is true because of all the reasons that made AoD combat great – humans are the most tactically diverse in terms of abilities, weaponry, armour, etc, which makes almost every fight against them unique to some extent.

But then you have the monsters, which are more or less the anti-thesis to everything that makes AoD combat good. Sure, the first time a new monster type appears, you might be surprised by what it can do, and act accordingly to counter it. However, monsters don’t really go beyond 2 types (and even that is usually limited to “small scorpion”, “big scorpion”), and don’t present any tactical flexibility. They are simply one-trick ponies that stop being interesting dangerously fast. Scolopendras rush forward and hit you and poison you, and that’s it. Same goes for scorpions and ants. You’ve been to one of these fights, and you’ve been to them all…”

It’s a valid and helpful point, so naturally, we want to do better. In AoD/DR most critters were melee ‘fighters’, half of them poisonous, with high DEX (to close the distance fast) and two attack types. Predictably, this design didn’t bring anything new to the table and what little it did bring got old fast.  

So when it comes to creatures our goals are:

• Tactical flexibility
• Unique abilities that humans don’t have
• Focus on various effects rather than direct damage (i.e. no 'fighters')
• Different enemies working together or taking advantage of other critters’ abilities
• Effective counters of ranged parties

Of course, having lofty goals is one thing, achieving them is another, so we’d like to run some ideas by our core audience and see what you guys think. Nothing is set in stone yet as we won’t start implementing the creatures until 2019, so we can easily make change at this point. We’re planning to have 6 creatures, mostly found in the Hydroponics and Wasteland. Let’s start with the creatures’ origin:

The Ship is en route to Proxima B, an Earth-like planet orbiting Proxima Centauri. Ninety percent of its surface is covered with water, but the planet is slightly bigger than Earth, providing approximately half of Earth’s landmass.

Losing Terran plants and crops to local pests and fungus would be catastrophic, so the Hydroponics Division was tasked with adapting the plants to the anticipated environment of Proxima B and developing biological forms of pest control (introducing predators from old Earth to change the native ecosystem and eliminate all local threats was the most cost-effective way to ensure that the colony would survive and grow).

Extensive gene-editing was employed to develop resistance to alien fungi and pests, and accelerated adaptation hacked into the plants' genetic code. Like many other critical systems, Hydroponics was abandoned during the Mutiny. The carefully cultivated flora and fauna was left on its own in harsh environs designed to propagate rapid and brutal evolutionary cycles.

When human beings finally decided to reclaim Hydroponics, they discovered an environment as wild and hostile as any Earth jungle...

So today we’ll show you 3 predators from old Earth:

Frogs

Frogs are already used in agriculture as a form of biological pest control as they have a healthy appetite for insects and are highly resistant to insecticide. Plus they have a wide range of natural abilities: jumping, toxic venom, hallucinogen, even retractable spikes (the wolverine frog), which would make them a top choice when it comes to cost-effective terraforming.

The frog is a 'hard to hit, easy to kill' critter (high evasion due to the small size and mobility, low hit points and no damage resistance). They will attack in packs and come in 3 varieties: fighter, poison spitter, and 'mind flayer'. It's a low level critter that prefers easy prey (i.e. low level, poorly equipped parties). They aren't very aggressive and won't attack unless threatened. When you run into them for the first time, they'll be busy feasting on a corpse. If you want to go through that corpse's pockets, you'll have to kill the frogs first.

Starfish

An avid predator and an opportunistic feeder, the starfish is one of the keystone species which makes it an excellent addition to any terraforming arsenal. It can regenerate damaged parts, swallow its prey whole, and it even comes with its own body armor (hardened plates and spines).

The mutated version will shoot its stomach (yeah, it's actually a thing) to drag the victim within the attack range. It will also release a spore cloud, greatly reducing the visibility and your THC with ranged weapons. During its turn, the starfish will envelop you and drain your HP, regenerating some of the damage it sustains during the fight.

Unlike the frog, the starfish is easy to hit (with melee weapons) but hard to kill due to DR and accelerated regeneration. One starfish isn’t a serious threat but 2-3 would be able to ruin your day pretty quick.

Jellyfish

It’s a mutated jellyfish originally adapted from the Portuguese man o'war and designed to hover over crops and zap insects, while turning away larger animals. Things got a bit out of hand during the Mutiny when the mutation cycles ran wild and now the few remaining floaters haunt the ruins of the Mission Control Center.

Upon detecting oversized insects, the floater will slowly move to intercept them. Bullets have no effect on it but energy weapons would bring it down in no time. In the absence of such weapons or cells to power them up, you can hack it to pieces, which isn’t an ideal solution because the floater will zap every enemy next to it (crowd control), dealing energy damage. On top of it, the floater is equipped with a primitive version of brainwave disruptor, so the closer you get, the higher the chance to forget what you were doing and just stand there, drooling like an idiot (aka skip turn).

In short, the floater is easy to kill if you have energy cells to spare or hard to kill with melee weapons if you don’t. Certain implants and helmet will increase mental resistance.  Other creatures and rival parties might (surely will) attack while you’re busy fighting the floaters.

Anyway, if you like these creatures, you'll definitely like the other three, including Old Beelzebub. If not, let's discuss.

A new dev diary for Battle Brothers introduces 'The Schrat'.

Dev Blog #104: The Schrat

Hostile plant life makes its entry into the world of Battle Brothers in this week’s edition of our dev blog for the upcoming ‘Beasts & Exploration’ DLC. Get your axes ready!

The Schrat

The Waldschrat, or Schrat for short, is a fabled living tree found in the most remote forests of the world. A creature of bark and wood, it resembles no other, and its mind is truly alien. It blends between trees and shambles slowly, its roots digging through the soil. A frightening night time story tells of how trees watered with the blood of the unjustly killed turn into twisted living trees, out to strangle and choke the life out of children that don’t behave.

A Schrat can grow limbs at a whim, and so they grow and regrowth what resembles a wooden shield to protect their more vulnerable parts. While this shield is up, they’ll be much harder to hit and damage. The shield can be destroyed like any other with the ‘Split Shield’ skill, and doing so will reveal the Schrat’s much softer innards; although Schrats can be destroyed either way, they’ll take significantly more damage without the shield’s protection. In a surprising twist, then, axes are particularly useful against trees.

A Schrat attacks by slamming its thorned roots up from below ground, knocking up and impaling whatever is above ground. It’s an area of effect attack that always hits three tiles in a straight line, starting from the tile the Schrat sits on and going outwards along how their roots grew. Anyone hit will receive the ‘Staggered’ status effect – they’ll be off-balance, scrambling and late to act for their next turn. The Schrat has the potential to inflict a lot of damage when hitting three targets with a single attack, but they’re much less dangerous if you use smart positioning and work around their limitation of only being able to hit multiple targets if they’re in a straight line from it.

If a Schrat takes sufficient damage from a single blow to sever a large enough part of them, it will spawn a Sapling upon hitting the ground. They’re miniature Schrats that are much weaker, at least until they’re fully grown in a hundred years or so, but they can still whittle your men down. It’s a trade-off then; fight Schrats with heavy weaponry and they’ll die quicker, but you’ll also have to fight Saplings. Fight with light weaponry, and it’ll take longer to beat down a Schrat, but you won’t have to fight Saplings as well.

Matt Chat reviewed The Bard's Tale Trilogy.

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The September update for The Iron Oath announces the release date has been pushed back.

September Update: Concerning the release date and more

Hello backers! We have a number of things to share with you today, along with some good news and bad news, the latter of which we’ll address first as it’s most relevant to you.  

We’ve come to realize over the last few months that our initial timeline was too ambitious for the game’s scope, and even though we’ve made good progress overall, the game will unfortunately not see a release in 2019. This also means that the closed beta which we had initially planned for next month will be pushed back to a later date. We have an idea of the new release window, but an exact date won’t come for some time as we have many new factors to consider. We do sincerely apologize to all of you who have supported us and were looking forward to the beta/launch. We hope you can understand our position of wanting to deliver The Iron Oath in a state that we are proud of, without compromise to its various aspects of gameplay. We’d also like to reassure you that this is not a financial decision and the project is not in any danger; we’ll both continue to work full-time on the game until its completion.  

So what’s the good news? We have a lot of exciting announcements in store, but we can’t quite spill the beans on them yet. In short, we’re firmly in a position that will allow us to complete the game to its full extent and deliver it to a wider audience. We believe we’ve taken the best course of action to ensure the game’s success and we hope the coming announcements will soften the blow of the delay. I know the above is all very vague, but please bear with us :)  

In lieu of the beta next month, we’ll be making our current expo build available starting next weekend to our beta tier backers so we can collect their feedback. We'll post a separate update for that once it's ready for download. We’re also planning to make another pre-beta build available some time in the first half of 2019. For the rest of our backers, we'd like to share with you a gameplay video taken from the build:

[Video]

Last month Chris took the build to the Orlando IX convention where hundreds of people had a chance to sit down and try out the game. Overall it was a little busier than our experience at DreamHack, and the game was once again well received which is always a good sign! Here’s some pictures from the event: 

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@DSOGaming A new gameplay video for a Fallout 4 mod which recreates Fallout: New Vegas. The video shows the beginning of Fallout: New Vegas in Doctor Mitchells house.

Team F4NV has released a new video, showing the first 10 minutes of gameplay from the highly anticipated Fallout 4: New Vegas mod. As the title suggests, Fallout 4: New Vegas is a remake of Obsidian’s Fallout New Vegas game in Fallout 4.

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OnlySP reports that Rune Early Access will be delayed to winter.

In a statement on the company’s website, Human Head stated that “with a heavy axe and large mug of mead, we announce that the game will now launch this Winter.” While this is disappointing news, the developer has announced a series of improvements to allay any player sorrow. These additions include improved god interaction, combat polish, additional re-builables, a revision of the crafting system to include “diverse crafting recipes,” more areas and enemies, and the inclusion of a female player character.

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