An expansion for BattleTech has been announced called 'Urban Warfare'.

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GEAR UP FOR A NIGHT ON THE TOWN! The second expansion for BATTLETECH is coming to a city near you on June 4. Learn more: 

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1047180/BATTLETECH_Urban_Warfare/

KEY FEATURES
-City Fights - Urban Warfare introduces destructible buildings, changes to line of sight, and ‘Mechs that can now affect the battlefield around them using explosive fuel tankers, water lines and broken electrical transformers to their advantage.
-Electronic Warfare - ‘Mechs equipped with Electronic Countermeasures (ECM) and nearby friendly units are obscured from enemy targeting systems and immune to indirect fire. Meanwhile, ‘Mechs equipped with Active Probe can reveal, locate, and target enemy units that would otherwise be hidden.
-Two New BattleMechs - The experimental Raven 1X sports an advanced electronic warfare package combining ECM and Active Probe systems into a single lightweight component. The new Javelin BattleMech is a compromise between speed and firepower, with close-range knockout power.

Yippee Ki Yay Mr Falcon showed off some gameplay for Dark Future: Blood Red States.

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Step into the extraordinary, dystopian world of Dark Future, a game of both action and strategy unlike any other. Let's Play Dark Future Blood Red States 2019 Gameplay!

The release date for Battle Brothers DLC Warriors of the North will be May 9th.

Release Date Announcement

What started out as a small DLC has become a sizable expansion again. We’re happy to announce that the ‘Warriors of the North’ DLC for Battle Brothers will be released on May 9th for the price of $8.99 or your local equivalent. You can already find and wishlist it on Steam right here and on GOG here.

The artwork above can also be downloaded as a wallpaper here.

The ‘Warriors of the North’ DLC for Battle Brothers expands the game with a more distinct northern region, as well as different starting scenarios to pick for your mercenary company. Face an entirely new faction of barbarians in battle, wear new viking and rus themed gear, and follow the legend of the ‘Ijirok’, a mythical creature of the frozen north!

Features

• Origins – Pick one of ten different origins and play as northern barbarians, peasant militia, or a flock of cultists. Each origin has special rules that shape your campaign into a different experience from beginning to end.

• New Opponents – Face an entirely new faction of northern barbarians, complete with their own gear and unique mechanics.

• Legendary Locations – Visit two new legendary locations and fight two new bosses in a quest that leads to a legendary reward.

• Champions – Hunt down enemy champions and face them in battle to claim famed items for yourself.

• New Banners and Gear – Dress in style with a collection of new viking and rus inspired banners, shields, helmets and armors. Use new weapons and let loose the new nordic warhound!

• New Contracts and Events – Earn your stay in the north by taking on new contracts. Immerse yourself in leading a mercenary company with even more illustrated events.

• New Music – Two new music tracks accompany you on your adventures.

• New Achievements – Challenge yourself with new achievements.

Please note: You’ll be able to continue your current campaign with the DLC, but you won’t have access to all of the new content until you start a new campaign.

Dev Diary #1 for Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 asks the question 'Who is Hardsuit Labs?'

Hello, my name is Liz Starr, I am one of the Producers at Hardsuit Labs, and I have the dream job of working on Bloodlines 2. I am very happy to bring you this dev diary about Hardsuit Labs and the story behind our fantastic team.

Hardsuit Labs began in 2015 with Andy Kipling, Russell Nelson, and a team of about 20 people. We had all worked at another studio together before. When that place went out of business, Andy and Russ – then a Production Director and Tech Director – decided to ask a few of their former teammates to help start something new. Back then, we thought that it’d take maybe five years of bringing older games to newer formats for this band of veterans to gain enough reputation to pitch a full game production.

Two years later, Ka’ai Cluney, our Creative Director, burst into Andy’s office with an idea he and his friend Brian Mitsoda had come up with. Ka’ai is one of those people who seems to have been everywhere and done everything; from design at id Software and Monolith to building roofs in Alaska. He had worked with Brian (of Troika and Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines fame) before. Together, they came up with a concept that lured Brian out of his own indie studio, into our team.

More importantly, it convinced Andy and Russ to go all in and to start pitching that full game project three years earlier than we’d have guessed.

When I discovered that what we were pitching was Bloodlines 2, I was beyond excited. Not only because Paradox has released some games that I give much of my free time to, but also because I am a huge World of Darkness fan. I wish I could tell my LARPing younger Ventrue self that she would one day be working on this game.

Turns out I wasn’t the only one: One of the wonderful things about World of Darkness and Hardsuit Labs is that we have a lot of fans in the team. There’ve been off-hours Vampire tabletop games in the conference room since before the project properly started. Those who were new to the IP were gently introduced to the fandom and have also embraced it.

Nowadays, Hardsuit Labs is a good mix of seasoned veterans and recently bloodied developers of many different backgrounds. One example of strengthening this mix is Cara Ellison, who joined us early last year. Cara's known to some for her work as a journalist (at Rock Paper Shotgun et. al), to others for her work on Dishonored 2... and to even fewer for her testing on GTA4. We value our diversity of experience and the diversity of us as individuals; we know this brings more perspective to our work and company culture, and ultimately creates better games.

For Bloodlines 2, this team is putting all its passion and motivation behind the narrative of Brian and Cara. We can’t wait for you to sink your teeth into it!

Sigma Theory is described as a turn-based strategy game set in a futuristic global cold war. The game is currently in Steam Early Access and 10% off.

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STORY

From the creators of the award-winning sci-fi game Out There...
In the near future, a paradigm-shifting scientific discovery looms over the world, promising radical new technologies. The world’s superpowers realize they could have the power to destroy the global financial system, wipe out entire countries or even gain access to immortality.

However, this discovery — called “The Sigma Theory” — can only be harnessed by a handful of scientists. You are placed at the head of your country’s Sigma division. Your objective is to ensure that it is your nation that reaps the benefits of Sigma Theory before anyone else.

To achieve this you will have powerful resources at your disposal: a cadre of the world’s most elite covert agents, advanced tactical drones and, of course, your own skills in diplomacy and subterfuge.

It’s a cold war out there, one in which mankind must face up to its future.

THE ULTIMATE ESPIONAGE SIMULATION

Turn-based espionage: Use your special agents to dominate the world. Seduction, blackmail, manipulation, industrial espionage… Every low blow is both permitted and encouraged.
Dynamic narrative: Develop and manage your relations with over 100 NPCs: lobbies, armed groups, politicians… Alliance, deception or assassination, you choose.
Field operations: Direct the kidnapping of your targets during gripping pursuits through the world’s greatest cities. Discretion or direct confrontation, your agent’s life is in your hands.

Recruitment
First, recruit a team of four special agents from 50 unique unlockable characters to support your missions. Each comes with their own story, motivations and traits that define their behavior during missions.
Access the investigator, soldier, hacker, seducer and other archetypes to complete your Sigma division and execute your strategy.

Espionage
When your team is ready, assign them missions around the world to gather scientists, discover compromising documents on local politicians, and more.
Exploit your agents’ abilities to seduce, manipulate and bribe your targets over to your side or have them neutralized.

Counter-espionage
Other nations will also use their agents to infiltrate your country and seize your scientists. Track, capture and interrogate them to gain information on your enemies, then exchange them for ransom when they are no longer useful.

Exfiltration
Order your agents to exfiltrate scientists recruited to your cause during gripping turn-based exfiltration phases through the world’s greatest capitals. Choose the position your drones wisely to support these delicate missions.

Diplomacy
In Sigma Theory, diplomacy is the key to achieving your goals. Meet your foreign counterparts and further your objectives using flattery, threats or blackmail. You can also recover your captured agents, advance your research, and much more. Develop your relations with powerful lobbies and armed and influential groups to obtain their favor. But be careful, they may turn on you.

Tech Tree
Sigma Theory is the cause of this cold war. Rally scientists from around the world to your cause to discover new technologies to gain the edge and change the world. Mind control, destabilization of the world economy, robot soldiers, immortality… Will you keep these discoveries for yourself or share them with the world?

Games that inspired us:

XCom, Phantom Doctrine, Plague Inc, Pandemic (board game), Rocket Ranger, Tropico, Armello, Civilization, curious expedition and so much more

A new update for Tales of Maj'Eyal answers the question of what's next and announces a new expansion called 'The Lost Land.'

What's next for Tales of Maj'Eyal! A lot, and then some!

Hello my minions!

Recently I was surprised to find some people wondering if Tales of Maj'Eyal was dead (as in not developed anymore). I was like "WTF??" because I knew it was not, quite the opposite in fact, but then I pondered some more and realized that I'm utterly bad at regularly communicating that fact! So let's try to improve on that with a Grand List Of What Is To Come (Possibly).

As usual I never give dates unless I'm sure. So always take this kind of things with a grain of salt, they may come in two days or two years :)

Release of patch 1.6 with huge changes

1.6 is the next free big (huge) patch for Tales of Maj'Eyal. I have already delayed it far too much as such it has grown into such a monster patch that I likely won't be able to list everything going in without forgetting many others. Still, here are a few of them:

• Deep rework of early game balance, main goal being to reduce startup tediousness. This includes changes to difficulty, scaling, shops, drowning, items, ...
• A ton of cosmetic options for all playable races (including the expansion ones). From many shades of skin colors, to haircuts, beards, tattoos, ...
• Hugely improved NPC AI, smarter, better pathing, and so on. For MOAR GLORIOUS DEATHS!
• Update of Doomed, Cursed, Wyrmics, Antimagic, Shadowblades, Prodigies, Corruptors, Reavers
• Update to many randart powers and ego powers
• A complete revision of runes, inscriptions and charms
• Fixed bosses can now levelup in specific classes to keep the challenge up at higher levels/high difficulties
• Revision of many debuffs
• Melee weapon scaling revision to reign in on late game ultra high damage stupidity and buff early game low damage stupidity
• A ton of misc changes, updates, revisions, ...
• And the usual slew of bugfixes (and NEW bugs :) )

Embers of Rage free update with a new class: Annihilator

So you thought that when an expansion is released it's the end of its life? THINK AGAIN!
After 1.6, Embers of Rage will get an update with a whole new class for you to slaughter poor creatures with: The Annihilator! As its name suggests this is a class for peace-loving orcs!

Annihilators use steamguns and new heavy weapons (flamethrower, shockstaff and boltgun) to destroy their foes all while deploying automated steam turrets and even riding around in a mecharachnid suit!
A force to be reckoned with for sure!

Note to be clear: this is NOT the very next update to Embers of Rage, that one will be released at the same time as patch 1.6 along with an update to all expansions, just to update their systems for 1.6. Annihilators will come a little afterwards.

DarkGod turns evil: Microtransactions, but the good kind!

Don't go screaming bloody murder just yet please ;)
So let's say it upfront: no pay2win to be seen in there!

Now that this is said let's get into more fun details. So if there is no pay2win, what will there be?
Many things! Mostly fun and/or cosmetic stuff as could be expected:

• Additional Online Item's Vault space. Any purchase of the game, expansions, donations, ... already provides vault space, but this is for even MOAR!
• Various cosmetic themed packs. These will include shimmer appearances for most items, plus sometimes/usually additional cosmetic options for playable races. "But DarkGod, I want to have racial cosmetic options without giving you more money!" Well, fear not for 1.6 does bring in a ton of those for free anyway. The more, the merrier!
• Community events! Now for something a little different. In Tales of Maj'Eyal community events are temporary stuff that are sent by the server to any currently playing character. The server randomly sends two of those, called the Bearscape and the Lost Land of Poosh, to players automatically. There are many more, like seasonal ones, or ones only I can push when I feel like it. Now players will be able to acquire the ability to trigger either the Bearscape or Poosh themselves, in addition to the random server pushes that are not changing. But wait there is more! They are still community events, so whenever somebody buys and triggers one, all players currently online will benefit!
• I don't like pay2win. I really really don't. So instead of doing pay2win, I've decided to add a pay2die system instead! If you think your character is too strong, that nothing can kill you as you stride effortlessly through the toughest of foes, just buy this option and get a few level 500 god-level horrors randbosses summoned on you! Death is guaranteed! You can even boast online by showing off what horrible horrible creatures are about to kill you!

As for why I'm adding this now; well this is less fun but I prefer to be honest as for why I'm doing it so...
In last October Steam had a glitch in their algorithm, which effect lasted for months and for many can still be felt today. Basically the algorithm suggesting games had gone bonkers and unless your game was an AAA or super indie it sank to the bottomless depths of hell. Many indie devs, including me, had their revenue cut by like 50+% (sometimes much more).
Valve told us this was not intentional and I truly believe them; they've always been very nice people when I needed them so I have no reason to doubt their word. But still, it made me realize that I am so dependent on Steam. This kind of made me enter panic mode, I was mentally unwell for some time I must admit. Maybe I'm too fearful, a scared little boy or whatever but still that's how I feel/felt.
So I've pondered about additional revenue streams and I remembered about some players that kept asking to be able to buy more vault space and cosmetics. So finally after many years I caved in and the rest is (future) history!

And to be perfectly clear: this is just a way for people who want to support the game to do so while getting a few cosmetic/fun stuff out of it. The game itself is free/cheap and will keep on being so because making my game accessible to more people is something I truly believe in. Also I'm an evil god of darkness, thus I want to reach as many minions as possible; you know to eat their souls and stuff... :)

Next expansion announcement: The Lost Land

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And last but certainly not least... A new expansion! And not a small one at that. For a long time now I've only announced expansions when they were very nearly finished. This time I'm trying another way and instead I'm teasing it early on. As you can see on the teaser, no ingame art exists yet but many sketches. The lore, zones, foes, stories, ... are all roughly defined and being implemented. The new races and classes are already half-way done.
Still it'll be a long way until release, which will obviously happen in exactly 1DGTU!

"But DarkGod, you didn't tell us what it is ABOUT!" Fear not my brave minion, I'm coming to that!
I can not yet reveal too much about it, and keep in mind anything can change, but here are some key facts for your pleasure:

[...]

PC Gamer reports that the Epic Store deal is worth $2.25 million:

Phoenix Point's Epic Store exclusivity deal is worth $2.25 million, says Fig investor

"Snapshot's distribution agreement has brought in significant resources," says Fig.

Epic Games paid more than $2 million to Phoenix Point developer Snapshot Games to secure a timed exclusive on its Epic Games Store.

In a thread on Resetera, a financier who supported the game on Fig - a platform that not only enables backers to financially kickstart a game, but also take a share in its profits - confirmed the game had already seen a 191 per cent return on investment (ROI) thanks to a "cash advance" raised by "Snapshot's distribution agreement" with Epic Games.

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!

The action RPG Fade to Silence will be released on April 30 - here's a new trailer:

Fade to Silence - Where Is My Mind Trailer

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Lucky Day spotted a short article about Neverwinter Nights on Rock Paper Shotgun:

Have You Played... Neverwinter Nights?

More like AriBEST!

Neverwinter Nights is a Dungeons & Dragons RPG from the early 2000s and it very handily got an enhanced edition last year. What timing! There’s a sequel where you have prettier character models, but I still prefer the first one. This is party because I like complex RPGs, but mostly because of Aribeth.

Aribeth de Tylmarande is a half-elven NPC paladin for Tyr, the blind god of justice. A lot of paladins are stuffy and over-concerned with rules. They are basically narcs. They are the narc class. Do not @ me. I’m not even on Twitter so it won’t work, haha I win!

[...]

That aside, Aribeth is actually one of my favourite game characters ever. She has a great arc in the story (extended if you also get all the DLC for the game, of which there is plenty) and despite being held back by her ridiculous armour, or perhaps pushed forwards, she is also a certified badass who swings a massive great sword around. Thumbs up for Aribeth.

DSOGaming has reviewed the action adventure Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice:

Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Review

First off, this review is spoiler-free, apart from the introduction. The screenshots are mostly from the first area, and I’ve tried to avoid even the tiniest reveal past the start of the game. Please go on and read without fear of something being spoiled for you. I’ve made sure of this.

I will confess it from the very beginning, I died more than twice! I have no clue how many times I died (there’s no in-game counter like in Dark Souls 2), but my death count was probably well over a hundred times. This was just my first play-through.
[...]

Not an RPG, Pausing
Sekiro features no classes, armors, weapons, or anything of the kind. There is only one armor and one sword which you will use through the whole game, and there are only two stats: vitality/posture and attack power. These stats are leveled up mostly by defeating bosses.

Therefore, this is not an RPG. This is a clear-cut third-person action/adventure game. However, there is still much to explore, secrets to find, and items to collect.

A bit random, but since Sekiro is strictly single-player, there is pause –actual pause. No more dying because someone is calling or ringing the door bell or trying to chat with you. Thank you FromSoftware, very much appreciated.
[...]

Conclusion: I Loved It!
All in all I had so much fun with this game. I’ve been waiting for a good triple-A ninja game since Tenchu. Sekiro delivers intense sword-clashing combat and the feeling of being a real bad-ass ninja.

Combat never felt so rewarding for me, and almost every new encounter has taught me something new that helped me along the way. I find this reward of personal growth more satisfying than some sword or trinket I might not ever use.

This game is without a doubt not for everyone. The lack of classes, armor, weapons, and online play will keep some people away. However, if you’re open to something new and have much patience for precision-timing games, your efforts will be rewarded.

The strategy RPG Pathway will get updates every Wednesday:

Pathway Devlog #8 - Preview Builds & Update Cycles

Wow, Pathway has been out for only a little over a week!

Up to now we've been in overdrive-mode fixing bugs. Additionally, we've also started introducing a handful of quality of life updates such as the undo button when recycling items as well as improved tooltip comparisons. Updates have been almost daily during this period to make sure critical issues are addressed promptly.

With today's post we want to explain what the next few months are going to look like.

New Update Cycle
From now on, we're switching to a more predictable update cycle: Every Wednesday we will release a new update. However, new features and changes will always first go to our public Preview branch. Once those changes had a bit of time to go through a testing and feedback phase we will then push them to the main branch. So in practice this means changes will generally linger in the preview branch for a week before appearing on the main branch. Sometimes we may decide to keep some things in the incubation stage for a bit longer before they make it to the live branch.

The preview branch will serve as an experimental area, where we can try out some changes and gather feedback from the community before making them available to everyone. So if you want to be a part of shaping the game's future, we'd love to have your help there!

The first preview build will go live next Wednesday. We will post instructions on how you can join the preview testing then.

Here's a little taste of what's coming to the first preview build:

Improved Damage Information
An area we see confusion about frequently is how damage is calculated in Pathway. In the upcoming preview, we're adding an overhauled tooltip when hovering over enemies during an attack action. In the compact view you simply see the effective damage potential. This includes all adjustmens that may occur from things like the weapon's damage type or if your character has a special bonus/penalty against an enemy type. If you press tab, you will get a more detailed breakdown of how exactly the final damage calculation came together. We hope this will help in making some of the game's more complex damage calculations clearer.

Rebalanced Loot Distribution
We're making the beginning adventures more rewarding in terms of loot drops. We want to keep the legendaries for the mid to end game, but we feel like the first two adventures could use a boost of rewarding items.

Reworked Perk Branches in Events
Another feedback we've seen popping up often is that the perk branches in events don't feel weighty enough. We are starting to address this issue by taking a lot of luck out of the perk branches. So far, you'd always have a significantly improved chance at success, but in practice it often felt like you're gambling just as much as when using one of the other standard branches. Starting with this build, perk branches will now give you a success in an otherwise risky situation. There are a few exceptions to this rule still. We think this change will make character perks a lot more rewarding to use and provide a more tangible benefit.

There will be a full changelog with the release of the build on Wednesday that will of course also include a bunch of general bug fixes and improvements!

THANK YOU again for playing our little game and sending us your feedback. We truly do appreciate every constructive comment coming our way - We're constantly reviewing your ideas and and we are looking to address a lot of the concerns in the next little while.

Some Chinese Paladin: Sword and Fairy 6 gameplay by tr1ppa:

Chinese Paladin Sword and Fairy 6 Gameplay Walkthrough Part 1 (PC)

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XBLAFans has reviewed the dungeon crawler Operencia: The Stolen Sun:

Operencia: The Stolen Sun Review: Clouded by Imbalance

Dungeon crawling, turn-based, RPG with a grid system for movement and severely difficult puzzles. That’s Operencia: The Stolen Sun. This may sound great to some and a pain to others. You’re tasked with finding the Stolen Sun (kind of randomly) and get to create your own character to do so. Along the way you’ll find more friends and create a powerful team. There are several levels with a limited amount of enemies.
You’ll be wandering around quite a bit, so it’s probably best you don’t have random encounters all the time. There are many secrets to find and you could drop hours looking for them. If you’ve ever played games like Myst, you’ll know how long you can spend trying to figure out a puzzle. Will you be sucked into a magical world of charm and find the Stolen Sun, or give up frustrated because you can’t figure out how to progress the story?
[...]

Wrap-up
A beautiful package of a game, Operencia is enchanting but clumsy. It misses as much as it hits the target of being a great role-playing adventure. There was one glitch that was alarming to me. On Atilla’s Tomb, there are sections that overheat my Xbox One X. It shut my Xbox off at least six times. Suddenly my fans would go crazy and it would power itself off. Turning it back on, I would get a message about overheating. It was only on that level but it scared me from playing on. I did battle through it hoping I wouldn’t ruin my console. I do not think there is this same issue for PC players. If you’re in love with the trailers and concept, you probably won’t be disappointed with playing it. If you don’t have the patience for puzzles that require hours of wandering around then avoid this at all costs because without a guide you’ll likely be stuck in many areas. I’m torn, I really am. While I am love stricken with Operencia, I also am tormented by its flaws.

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

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

[...]

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

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

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

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

[...]

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

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

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

OnlySP has an extensive interview about The Waylanders.

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

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

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

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

April Update

Posted by Nightdive Studios (Creator)

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

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

Let’s take a look at weapons!

        ⠀⠀⠀⠀    

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

         ⠀⠀ 

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

           ⠀⠀  

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

 

[...]

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

Hey stalkers!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A: Not planned.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

oriented on survival and exploration, sometimes combat.

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

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

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

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

[...]

Thanks Farflame!

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

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

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

[...]

Thanks Gabriel!

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

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

[...]

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

Introduction to Wolcen’s story

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

A fantasy world

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

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

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

[...]

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

Micronomicon

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

Features:

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

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

Tactical battles:

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

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Four character classes:

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Digital Antiquarian looked back at Darklands:

Darklands

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

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

[...]

Thanks henriquejr!