PCGamesN has a preview of Age of Wonders: Planetfall.

There’s a lot to be said for our globalised modern world, but none of it is particularly positive for 4X games. The more connected and homogenised we become, the harder it is to make new discoveries  - likewise, the better we communicate, the less desire we have to take and conquer. For a studio like Triumph, which was founded on making games that satisfy our inner invader, drastic solutions become necessary.

Age of Wonders: Planetfall burns the routers, knocks the satellites out of the sky, and mothballs the interstellar shuttles. Technology that has united us and allowed us to explore the universe is destroyed. The Star Union, once a galactic empire that spanned many thousands of worlds, has collapsed, marooning its people on their individual homeworlds. Cut off from one another, they have evolved to become culturally unique: scavenging cyborgs, bioengineering amazons, and bleary-eyed expeditionary forces awoken from cryosleep.

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Another social and a funding stretch goal have been unlocked for Black Geyser.

Great news! We have reached the 75k goal (Rillow is now a playable race!) as well as our social stretch goal of 500 shares (Kendall the Blacksmith).

The next social stretch goal is Ay'eda the Mystic, located in Isilbright, with 750 facebook shares. We will soon reveal more about her!

The next financial stretch goal is finally 100k: a brand-new wilderness area with its own dwellers, secrets, and subquests: Valley of Singing Trees. And a brand-new spellcaster class! More information coming soon on this class.

Patch 1.1  for Pillars of Eternity II is going to be available early June, containing fixes and refinements.

Included in Patch 1.1 is a complete overhaul of Veteran and Path of the Damned difficulties. You'll find more enemies per encounter and with new level scaling adjustments the game should be much more challenging. Let us know what you think on the forums - this will be an ongoing process based on community feedback. Secondly, for players who want to play the game for a  second (or third!) time, we are adding an option to skip the introduction and jump straight into the second scene. This option will be available on the new game screen and will not require any Berath's Blessings points to activate. Lastly, the team is also adding new cosmetic options for player customization with the ability to change character appearance at any time.

More features for the game are planned though:

Just like the first Pillars of Eternity, the team is committed to support Deadfire with new features, content, bug fixes, and polish to make the game the best it can be. We are listening to your feedback on our forums, Reddit, social media, and user reviews - and the development team has many ideas for improvement, too. Through 2018, we have plans to add more quality of life changes to make the game better and better. For the mod community, we will be releasing documentation on the game data formats, and will be working on tools to help facilitate mods.  Another feature that the team is really excited about is what we are calling "Magran's Fires". Similar to Berath's Blessings, these modes can be enabled from the main menu and will add gameplay modifiers for challenges above and beyond Path of the Damned. In addition to the returning Triple Crown and Triple Crown Solo challenges, we will be rolling out challenges themed to Eora's gods, beginning with Berath, Galawain, and, of course, Magran.  As always, we are listening to feedback on what you would like to see in future updates.

And there is news about the DLC that is coming our way, some of it free:

While our programmers get Patch 1.1 ready, some of our artists and designers have had some time on their hands. They've put together the first of several free DLCs for Deadfire, "Rum Runner's Pack" which is coming out today. This pack features Mirke, a new Sidekick, along with a drunken personality idle animation and new alcoholic drinks. We will be releasing even more free DLC over the next few months that will add more items, ship upgrades, crew members, and appearance options. Look for the next free DLC to be available two weeks from now.

And some not free:

Don't forget we have three expansive DLCs on the horizon. The first DLC, "Beast of Winter", is due to land this July. We will be showing off the new areas and content in the DLC soon!

A new teaser trailer for The Sinking City.

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Can you hear that voice in your head getting louder and louder? That's me. This is not the last time we will talk... Taking place in the 1920s, The Sinking City is a game of adventure and investigation set in an open world inspired by the works of the famous American horror author H.P. Lovecraft. You will step into the shoes of a private investigator who arrives in the city of Oakmont Massachusetts - a city suffering from unprecedented floods of supernatural origins. You must uncover the source of whatever has taken possession of the city - and the minds of its inhabitants.

Here is a video that is apparently showing 11 facts about Moonlighter, which is scheduled for release next week.

In a new Kickstarter update for Black Geyser more info is provided on gree and envy.

Fear is the obvious path into darkness, greed is the hidden path

In the Black Geyser: Couriers of Darkness backstory, spreading greed is a new plot by dark gods to infiltrate, turn, and eventually wipe the world of mortals. Mortals have learned to cope with fear and evil, but have not learned to face their own weaknesses such as envy or greed. While fear from an external force makes people stick together, envy and greed silently divide and turn them against each other. 

Greed is deeply rooted in the game lore, and is very special because it has a dual nature: it has a divine origin, but relies and feasts on the very nature of mortal beings. It exploits something that every mortal has had since their creation. It confronts us with our own dark side that has always existed, turning it against us. Mortals turned by greed become connected to the divine source (divine nature) of the curse, increasing its global strength. This corrupts even more mortals, resulting in a cycle of feedback to the evil divine source.

Greed does not mean you are evil

Being greedy does not mean you are evil, and you can be evil without being greedy. 

NPCs affected by greed are not necessarily evil. If they hire you for a quest to retrieve an item because of their obsession and you complete the quest, you were good but contributed to the divine curse of greed, eventually making the kingdom even more chaotic. If you complete the quest but keep the item for yourself and even kill the innocent NPCs who hired you, you were evil and greedy. If you persuade them to change their mind about the quest in a branching dialogue, you were good and also fought against greed. And so on and so forth.

When you choose to be more generous and convince other NPCs (influencers) to do the same, then you attempt to break the feedback cycle to the evil divine source. While there is no way to break it completely, you can slow down the process, resulting in a "better", different state of the world by the time you reach the last chapter of the game. And different state means different challenges and adventures.

A new update for The New World, provides an update on the current status of development and shows the first animations (follow the link).

Our train seems to be speeding up. Here is what we managed to scratch off the list in the last 3 months:

- Loot screen
- Trade screen
- Character appearance customization (the system is in place, all we need are the art assets)
- Options menu
- Char creation screen
- Attack effects / Status effects (different effects can be assigned to attacks and applied on hit)
- Clothes and weapon items visual mechanics: showing/hiding, opacity masks
- Visual attack effects: muzzle flashes, sounds, particles
- Party inventory
- More animation states: more characters' body poses and better transitions between them
- Attacks of opportunity, interrupt attacks, reaction shots
- Combat AI (in progress)
- Grenades (in progress)

Thanks Pladio!

There is a new update for Legends of Ellaria, which adds the following:

A New Update is LIVE!

Dear Legends of Ellaria players, 

As you know, we have been working on a new RPG system, fixes, and features in order to enhance your experience in the game. 

Earlier this week, we released a closed beta version (for which if you own a copy of the game you can still join by PMing us on our Discord: https://discord.gg/ThC6x8F) with the following features:

1: We now have a first-person mode! Now you can switch from TPS to FPS view anytime you like by pressing "F" or any other key you bind to this action.

2: Added an inverse Kinematic system (applied to NPC's only for now) that makes them move more realistically. 

3: Added a "WASD" keybinding option.

We have now polished some of the new bugs that arose from the renewed game engine, but there will be still some Early Access bugs and fixes, which we will be happy to receive your feedback to solve them! 

Please let us know any thoughts you have of the version through the #beta-tester in our Discord, pressing the F8 bug system in the game, or on steam through our community discussions :).

We will be introducing RPG features very soon in order to build a complete game and a truly epic title in the future just for you.

LGM Games has added new content in the latest update for Starpoint Gemini Warlords, which is available for free to those who own the game.

LGM GAMES CELEBRATES STARPOINT GEMINI WARLORDS ANNIVERSARY WITH FREE CONTENT

Zagreb, Croatia, May 23, 2018. Croatian indie game development studio, LGM Games is proud to announce a first anniversary of Starpoint Gemini Warlords.

Following a successful release of Update 2.0, LGM Games is bringing yet another treat to Starpoint Gemini Warlords players; a free anniversary update in a form of a new ship.

"This new and shiny ship belongs to a Battleship class, and is a bit more powerful in contrast to other battleships, but not in all statistics. It even has a name! Yes... You can call your new battleship 'Glycon'. Also, it's so special it doesn't have a hangar. ", said Nikola Jukic, project manager for Update 2.0 and additional Starpoint Gemini Warlords content.

The new ship waits for you at the following stations:

• Rotterdam Shipyard (26.25 mil)
• Alexandria Military (26.25 mil)
• Plymouth Shipyard (26.25 mil)
• Atlantean Military (29.4 mil)

In addition to free content, Starpoint Gemini Warlords receives a myriad of bugfixes and localization improvements. A full changelog can be found below.

Update 2.0.1.0 changelog

Bugfixes:

• Ship particles on some of vanilla and Rise of Numibia ships are fixed;
• Campaign fixes (minor bug fixes);
• Planetary assault bugfix (the game won't freeze during the cut scene);
• Icon order and values in the research panel are fixed;

Minor Stations:

• Player can purchase a minor stations immediately after this update;
• Only the neutral or friendly station can be purchased;
• The price is different for each stations. That means that the price isn't the same for e.g. military or research station;
• The price also varies in the case if the player has a merchant perk, or not. The bigger the merchant perk, the lower the price is;
• Reputation also affects the station price. Bigger the reputation, lower the price of the station is;
• Station can be purchased via a dialogue, as well. All you need to do is to contact an ambassador.

And there are also some localization fixes for the Chinese and German languages.

Here is the ship:

Iratus: Lord of the Dead is on Kickstarter.

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Overview

Iratus: Lord of the Dead is a turn-based RPG taking gameplay inspiration from Darkest Dungeon and the sardonic tone of Dungeon Keeper. Playing as the fearsome Necromancer, Iratus players will use their undead minions to ignite a reign of terror that has been years in the making. Iratus is slated for release in late 2018 on Steam for PC, Mac and Linux.

FEATURES

• Advanced strategy system: Study your enemies' strengths and weaknesses to achieve victory.
• Raise your army of undead minions by collecting body parts from your defeated foes.
• Use your knowledge of alchemy to give unique abilities to your minions.
• Turn-based combat system with over 50 different talents for your minions.
• Stylized 2D graphics with a dark fantasy flair.
• Choose wisely: with irreversible consequences and classic roguelike features, including character permadeath.

Pathfinder: Kingmaker has a new update which announces the end of crowdfunding.

Dear Pathfinders,

We are very happy to bring you a brand new video today! Learn more about Golarion and the Stolen Lands from Paizo's very own Creative Director James Jacobs below!

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Perhaps you have friends, who have voiced interest in Pathfinder: Kingmaker, but they're unfamiliar with the lore? Feel free to share this video and help them learn what the setting is all about!

Crowdfunding ends this Friday!

As previously announced, we are about to stop collecting money towards the unlocking of additional stretchgoals. As you all know, we are aiming to release the full version of Pathfinder: Kingmaker in late summer 2018. And that means there has to be a cutoff point, where we stop promising and adding new features in order to give ourselves enough time to complete the game. As of this moment, we're at a crowdfunding sum of about 1,080,000 USD. Unfortunately, this means that Hellknights didn't quite make it in time. Sorry!

Many of you have asked whether Hellknights could be added later via post-release DLC. While we can't promise it at this point, it's a possibility. We really enjoy working on this title and since many of you keep asking for post-release content, we need to consider it. The nature and amount of such content, however, remains to be determined at a later date. Please bear with us!

As our crowdfunding is coming to an end, so is our current offer of pre-order packages. They will be replaced by different pre-order packs, which can be purchased over on owlcatgames.com. Pathfinder: Kingmaker is also getting its very own Steam page in the coming days! A little while later, sometime around early June, pre-orders for Pathfinder: Kingmaker will also come to the Steam Store, followed by pre-orders on GoG within the first half of June.

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Build 42 of Depth of Extinction features two new character classes:

Build 42: The Wrecker and Warden are here! Plus the HUD got a facelift.

Depth of Extinction First Access » Devlog

Hey all! I know a lot of you have been waiting eagerly to try out Build 42 and it's finally here. So much new and updated stuff that I'll just dive right in.

Well, first I'll mention that we will be appearing at MomoCon in Atlanta again this year (May 24-27)! We're part of an amazing lineup of games at the Unity Atlanta User Group booths (yes, there are 2). It's an honor to be alongside some great games like TwinCop (GA Award Finalist 2018), Neon the Ninja (early access masocore platformer), Voiceball (alt.ctrl.GDC finalist) and Arbiter (co-op VR game). If you are going to the con, please stop by and say hey!

Now on the Build 42 details... but one note first... we had to reset the save data for this update so you will be forced to start a new game. So much changed that it's worth it to start over anyway!
Character Class Update

Wrecker

We covered the Wrecker in the Build 42 preview post last week but we should mention that their preferred weapon class (Heavy) has had some improvements since then to it’s effects. Updated GIF with the Shadowfury (tier 3 ballistic minigun)

Warden

Protector of the weak. The Warden is a defensive focused class whose skills are focused on providing protection and taking fire for other allies. They are a kind of variation on the tank that is probably best built with high health to be able to take a lot of punishment while others dish it out. When fully leveled, the Warden can be very dangerous by laying down covering fire to any enemy who fires on an ally.

Skills:

• Distraction - Draw enemy fire for a few turns
• Hunker Down - Automatically defend if moving on both actions
• Covering Fire - Fire on enemy that attacks an ally if in range

Remove Saboteur
We love the Saboteur class in principle but unfortunately, in game development, sometimes you have to make hard choices. The Saboteur really needed the Stealth system to be more fully realized in order to be an effective class and there is unfortunately just not time to do so before our launch. We could possibly bring them back in a post launch content update !

Rebalancing

We touched on this topic in the Build 42 preview but there are a few areas to cover in more detail.

Walls As Cover
We’ve heard the feedback: some of the interior level rooms are just not fun as there is sometimes a lack of cover. One idea we’ve been toying with for a while is to make the corners of walls function as high cover. We’ve added it into this build with the ability to “lean” around walls and fire. If this seems to play well, we’ll consider adding an additional firing animation (or something) for the lean.

Fog of war also clears around walls when you are on a corner, allowing you to safely get a look down hallways. I think this is the really interesting change and the one that has most affected my play style.

Overwatch
I also reworked overwatch as the previous implementation would take some bad shots most of the time. Now I calculate the hit chance at every waypoint (tile) on the moving character's path. I exclude the start and end and any location that is lower than a base percentage. The I choose a random value from the remaining locations. This ensures that the shot is always reasonable but sometimes really good. We will see how it plays but it seems solid so far in testing.

Trapped Containers
Another interesting change is that we now will spawn different amounts of enemies depending on the situation. One such situation is that the loot containers are sometimes booby trapped, which makes an alarm go off alerting enemies to your presence. We will continue to work on these types of situations and refining them to match with situational dialog in the encounters as well. This will be a focus for the next few builds.

[...]

Talerock started a Kickstarter campaign for the story-driven tactical RPG Grimshade:

Grimshade

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Grimshade is a story-driven tactical RPG featuring a turn-based combat system and non-linear progression, set in a fantasy world. Lead a group of adventurers on a journey through the world of Ree'Fah. Each decision you make has a profound influence on the characters, the game's story and the way battles are fought. Explore a varied and intricate world, meet new characters, reveal plot-related secrets and go treasure hunting; the world around changes as you advance and directs you further through the story.

Jeff Vogel has announced on Twitter that his Kickstarter for a new game series will start next week.

I (and several hardworking artists) have been scrambling like mad for the last two months to prepare a Kickstarter for our next game series. It's a big new thing for us, and I am terrified. We'll activate it next week. #indiedev

— Jeff Vogel (@spiderwebsoft) May 22, 2018

Kingdom Com: Deliverance will see a new patch and will also see several DLCs in the coming year, of which some are free. Next to that there will also be a special Steam deal.

Warhorse Studios releases Kingdom Come: Deliverance DLC Roadmap

Steam Daily Deal

Warhorse Studios is happy to release a DLC roadmap and some new content that will be released over the course of the next year for the medieval role-playing game, Kingdom Come: Deliverance - available for PC, PlayStation®4, and Xbox One. Starting this summer 2018 with the release of "From the Ashes", Warhorse Studios will be developing 4 bigger story DLC's accompanied with a Hardcore Mode, a Tournaments Mode, and Modding Support. In celebration of the DLC announcement Steam will launch a special Daily Deal offer just for Kingdom Come Deliverance.

From May 22nd at 10:00 Pacific Standard Time (PST) am to May 24th 10:00 am PST Steam offers a special 20% discount on Kingdom Come: Deliverance along with all it's already released Downloadable Content, such as the Original Soundtrack (OST) and Art Book.

 

DLC Road Map

Jesus Christ be praised - The Kingdom Come: Deliverance journey is not yet over. Revealed by a newly released DLC road map, Warhorse Studios teases what is to come in the next year. Kingdom Come: Deliverance shall challenge you once more! Rebuild what was destroyed, equip your Cupid's arrow and aid an associate in "delicate" matters, stand your ground on the battlefield and see things from a whole new perspective with the assistance of a new best friend, woof!
The beautiful world of Kingdom Come: Deliverance awaits you yet again, young Knight!

Story DLC's:

1. From the Ashes
2. The Amorous Adventures of Bold Sir Hans Capon
3. Band of Bastards
4. A Woman's Lot (Free for early crowdfunding supporters)

Kingdom Come: Deliverance additions:

1. Hardcore Mode (Free)
2. The Making of Kingdom Come (Free for early crowdfunding supporters)
3. Tournament! (Free)
4. Combat Academy (Free for early crowdfunding supporters)
5. Modding Support (Free)

The first DLC "From the Ashes" in which you will come into the care of an abandoned village, will be shown to press on E3 2018.

Age of Gladiators II: Rome is an isometric RPG Strategy game releasing August 15th.

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ABOUT THIS GAME

Age of Gladiators II: Rome is a single-player strategy game set in the twilight of the ancient Roman Republic; a violent and unpredictable time when gladiatorial games were nearing the height of their popularity.

Hire scouts to scour the continent for potential prospects - once you have recruited your gladiators, you will need to manage their morale and personality while equipping them for battle. Recruit support staff, upgrade your gladiator school, collect bounties, research technologies, partake in side missions, and manage the wealth and reputation of your ludus as it grows each day.

As your fighters win battles and increase in level, it will be up to you to decide how to focus their abilities by spending attribute, weapons, and expertise points. Compete, trade, and interact with other in-game owners as you advance through various cities of the empire before achieving enough fame to compete in the grand coliseum of Rome herself.

Build your story. Build your empire.

Features:

• Control your gladiators with the new 3D isometric combat system, where fights can have hundreds of different outcomes. Utilize different combat styles and abilities - employ unique ethnic abilities, salves that increase physical stats, and special equipment such as bandages, stim salts, and more.

• Construct a ludus to your exact specifications in order to maximize the efficiency of your operation. Hospitals, sparring mats, barracks, armories, workshops, and more.

• Gladiators are born with their own dynamically generated physical attributes, classes, and personalities. It is up to you to shape your gladiator into the most proficient killing machine possible.

• As your gladiators level up, they gain points to spend on their attributes, weapons training, and expertise. Expertise allows you to build and customize your fighter according to their appropriate strengths. Weapons training allows you to specialize your gladiator with a specific weapon. The physicality of your gladiators will increase or decrease with age, depending on if they are in their prime or declining.

• Hire trainers to help your gladiators level faster, doctors to keep them healthy, scouts to find new fighters, and blacksmiths to improve weapons and armor.

• Manage your gladiators carefully - their morale, greed, injuries, fatigue, weapons training, and more must be taken into account before sending them to battle.

• As your gladiators gain glory from battle, they will become more widely recognized and adored by the crowds. Win enough battles and they may even get voted into the pantheon of heroes after they retire (or die).

• Become a mogul outside of the arena. Purchase property for fame or businesses through which to further increase your fame across the empire.

• Rob caravans, guard wealthy land owners, assassinate your debt holders and more with the proactive mission system. Increase the odds of success by sending reliable gladiators on the mission as well. Lawfully aligned gladiators will only partake lawful missions, while criminally-inclined gladiators will assist in unlawful activities.

• Engage in five different branches of research: combat, medical, weapons, armor, and scouting.

• Search for deals on weapons, armor, special equipment, and loans on the marketplace.

• Strive to become the wealthiest individual in the Roman empire. There are quick and underhanded ways to make money, but your reputation and fighter's morale may suffer as a result.

• Receive taunting messages from opposing bosses as well as various other messages from your fighters, staff members, and different characters as you progress through the game.

• Rename your gladiators in order to increase your attachment toward them.

• Bet for or against your gladiator based on the odds generated by bookmakers in-game.

• Fight purses and betting is based on the hype associated with each match. The greater the hype, the more lucrative the fight purse and betting market will be.

• Each game is dynamically generated and different each time.

@PCGamesN Want the Red Dwarf crew for your next XCOM 2 run? Look no further than Red9's mod which provides the voices of the crew, as long as you own the War of the Chosen expansion.

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As long as you own XCOM 2’s expansion, War of the Chosen, you can download the Red Dwarf Voice Pack from the Steam Workshop. The mod contains over 1000 voice lines from the show’s main cast, with plans to introduce more lines for the main cast and some more for minor cast members.

 

You can check out a trailer of the five in action, with some extremely well-designed models (other than Holly, who in the show is quite regularly forced to go planetside on what looks like a 90s TV), below. Alternatively, you can check out some more great XCOM 2 mods.

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[...]

Both Dark Souls II and Dark Souls III are 75% off on the Humble Store. The discount will end when Dark Souls Remastered is released May 24th.

@DSOGaming Action-RPG shooter Immortal: Unchained is releasing September 7th.

Sold Out and Toadman Interactive confirmed today that hardcore action-RPG shooter Immortal: Unchained will launch worldwide on September 7th. Immortal Unchained can be easily described as “Dark Souls with guns” and had a closed alpha phase in March 2018.

Sarah Hoeksma, Marketing Director at Sold Out, said:

“With its focus on brutal ranged combat, we hope that IMMORTAL: UNCHAINED will stand out among this emerging, unforgiving genre and prove a challenge to even the most hardened players.”

[...]

DSOGaming reports that Rune has a new combat snippet video.

Human Head Studios has released another small gameplay video for its sequel to Rune, Rune Ragnarok. As we’ve already said, the combat system seems a bit basic and we are pretty sure that this was Human Head’s intention as it wants to make it feel similar to the old Rune game.

[...]

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A new update for Underworld Ascendant.

May 21 Weekly Update - E3 Judge's Day and Fire Arrows!

23 May - Darqflame

Walter and Joe are finally back from the Pre-E3 Judge's Day presentation we had last Wednesday, and things are looking positive! We were honored and excited to see several judges actually return to play the game after hours and some even challenged each other to improve. ("I finished the level in 20 minutes!" "Okay, but I played for forty minutes, unlocked way more Memora than you and already started investing in these skills. So I can fly now." "WHAT?!?!?! I want to try that...")

E3 Judge's Day 

Community Created Artwork for Underworld Ascendant

By: Darqflame

E3 Judge's Day

On the dev side, Chris M is back from his vacation in Hawaii, and we're back to working on optimization and tightening up the levels you'll see for the Backer Alpha build. One of our awesome contract animators has also been improving our puppetmaster system for the AI, which has been leading to some really interesting environment interactions. (People tripping over crates you chuck at them in the dark is ALWAYS funny.) I believe we're also working on upgrading to Unity 2018 because there's a bug we've been struggling with for awhile that can apparently be remedied by upgrading, so while we have a breather, that's the first thing on Will's to-do list today.

Lots of big stuff in the works that we an't share about yet either, but once those are further along, you'll be the first to see it! ;)

Also, we finally got to share that .mp4 of using a fire arrow to set another object on fire!

Using a fire arrow to set another object on fire! (SFX are WIP) 

Community Created Artwork for Underworld Ascendant

By: Darqflame

Using a fire arrow to set another object on fire! (SFX are WIP)

Next up, flarechess is going on vacation next week and won't be back until June 4, so there may not be a very fulfilling weekly update on the 28th. :( HOPEFULLY, you'll all be able to forgive us, since we're planning to post some content this week AND the week she's out to tie you all over... also, look forward to June! We'll have another big announcement coming then :D

After failing its crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, Dolmen is now trying the crowdfunding platform Crytivo.

The team at Massive Work Studio has pulled a few strings and is proud to officially announce that DOLMEN is still happening despite missing its initial Kickstarter goal. DOLMEN will continue crowdfunding on Crytivo! The crowdfunding platform, like Kickstarter, offers players the option to back games that interest them most, but with a nice twist; Crytivo does not endorse games that feature exploitative loot boxes, microtransactions or pesky day-one DLC.

Take a look at what some of the press had to say about DOLMEN after getting a taste of the cosmic horror ARPG:

"For an Indie Sci-Fi Shooter,  DOLMEN has a Lot to Offer" - Bleeding Cool

"...at first glance, the game resembles a curious hybrid [of] Dark Souls and Dead Space, so if you liked these two IPs you will surely be intrigued by DOLMEN." - Eurogamer

"Combining Lovecraftian horror with a science fiction theme, DOLMEN is a nightmarish horror set on an alien planet." - Flickering Myth

"DOLMEN plays on the third-person action genre, but draw the game's inspiration from HP Lovecraft mythos..." - PlayStation Lifestyle

"Developers Massive Work Studio have a plan to fill in the [Dark Souls] gap ... with a new sci-fi horror take called DOLMEN." - PCGamesN

For readers just now tuning in and curious about what DOLMEN is, just try to imagine a SoulsBorne-esque title that features hardcore survival elements. Cool, right? Well, Massive Work Studio tops it all off with some major Lovecraftian and H.R. Giger horror vibes. Be prepared to encounter and battle some of the most ghastly creatures deep space has to offer.

DOLMEN presents players with a one-of-a-kind experience that boasts an enthralling storyline, chilling yet beautiful alien world, and behemoths that are sure to knock your socks off more than once. 

An update for Wolcen: Lords of Mayhem is available, providing more information about the multiplayer support, the beta roadmap, some office stuff and pets!

Beta Roadmap

The global Roadmap is nice, but it doesn’t give you many details about what’s currently happening for the Beta. Therefore, we’ve decided to open a new Beta Roadmap, more detailed about the Beta content. Each week, we will add images of the work in progress based on your votes on Trello.

To vote, you have to own a Trello account(free) and vote for what you wish to see.
The section with the highest votes each week will be granted with an image added on the Beta Roadmap.

Be careful, though, spoilers are to be expected, do not visit the Beta Roadmap if you wish to discover the content by yourself when it’s in the game

The second developer blog for Unsung Story is about the UI design.

This is Rowan Ryder again from Torus Games, here with Tyson Hollitt, who’s in charge of the User Interface design for Unsung Story. Today, we’re going to talk about UI design; where it’s currently at, how we got there and how we plan to proceed.

UI Pre-Production

At the beginning of any project, it’s important for the UI Designer to collect reference material; trends from games in the same or similar genres, trends from the industry at large and even examples of UI from software outside of games. We look at what’s working and what isn’t, then combine that knowledge with what we understand to be unique about our game.

In this case, we need to break down and understand what players expect from the UI; each units vital stats, their equipment, the turn order, where each unit can move, etc. It’s also important to lean on what the player already understands — players are constantly learning while they play a game (any game), and it’s important that the interface doesn’t ignore this fact.

Finally, pre-production involves listing out what information will need to be exposed to the player through the interface. It’s extremely helpful for the dev team to have access to this information in an easily digestible form so we don’t overlook anything as we move forward.

It’s very common for developers take information for granted when they live and breathe a game for months, but as soon as a new player gets their hands on the game they’ll find it bafflingly vague and obscure. As such, we rely on an itemized list of information to make sure we’re on track (as well as regular play testing!).

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Several stretch goals for Black Geyser have been achieved in the last couple of days, such as: Language pack and modability support and the social stretch goals: Party romance and pets.

This means that the next stretch goal is, with about 10K to go, a new playable race and as a social stretch goal there is a blacksmith, who can forge weapons for you.

Three years after the release of the original Anima: Gate of Memories, the successor to that game, The Nameless Chronicles, will become available on June 19th.

Anima: Gate of Memories - The Nameless Chronicles
will be released on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and Steam on June 19th.

Madrid, Spain, May 18th, 2018:  The Action RPG based on the famous tabletop role-playing game comes back with a new, totally different adventure and a new, dark protagonist. Nameless, who appeared in the first Anima as an enemy, will be the main character in The Nameless Chronicles. The Anima Project title will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC via Steam starting next June 19th. 

Like Anima: Gate of Memories, The Nameless Chronicles is an Action RPG, hack & slash, full of magical attacks and final bosses, reminiscent of big names in the genre like Devil May Cry and Nier: Automata, and elements inherited from the traditional role. Action, exploration and evolution of the character through experience points are some of its mechanics.

Nameless Chronicles takes us back to the events that gave birth to the first Anima, but from the perspective of the enemy side. We will put ourselves in the shoes of "Nameless", an immortal who has assumed different identities throughout history, and his quest to find death after thousands of years in the world. In Nameless Chronicles we will learn details of the life of "The Nameless One", what moves him, and we will embody many of his past lives.

Carlos Blas, creator of the Anima universe, says of this new installment:  "Nameless Chronicles started out as just a little story, just another chapter in a story that grew and grew into something huge. Something we're proud of. The three members of our studio have given everything we got to make a game like this. Now, we are eager for people to enjoy the adventures of the Nameless One and see the world through their eyes."

This new Anima is a totally new and different adventure; in fact, the vast majority of the scenarios and situations differ completely from those of the first Anima Project title, although there will be elements and characters that only those who have played the first instalment of the saga will recognize.

With a soundtrack created by Sonotrigger Studios and graphics that, like on the first Anima, mixes cel-shading graphics with realistic 3D environments, The Nameless Chronicles has everything to become Action RPG of the Year.

PCGamesN reports on the future of the Tyranny IP and think it could end up being a strategy game.

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Reasonable though that might be, it means Obsidian aren’t steering the future of the world they made. If the developers never hash out another deal with Paradox, they’ll never work on Tyranny again. The publishers, meanwhile, don’t yet have any concrete plans to make a Tyranny 2, either internally or with another studio.

“We could do more in that world [but] we haven’t really decided what to do with that IP,” Wester says. “We’ll see where we end up.”

Tyranny might end up in another genre entirely. The game was set in the ugly aftermath of a war, and its opening Conquest Mode had you define the consequences of that conflict on an overworld map using miniatures. It’s not much of a stretch to imagine one of Paradox’s internal teams - the ones behind Crusader Kings and Europa Universalis - running with that premise as a fully-fledged game.

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@DSOGaming Paradox Interactive are looking into a sequel for Vampire - The Masquerade: Bloodlines.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines is considered nowadays a classic PC RPG. Created by Troika Games, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines was plagued by a number of bugs and issues that were resolved by its community. And according to Paradox’s CEO, the team is looking into a sequel.

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@PCInvasion Grinding Gear Games, the maker of Path of Exile, have been acquired by Tencent.

New Zealand based Grinding Gear Games has had great success with their ARPG Path of Exile thanks to their no pay to win monetisation policy and regular content updates. Today that have announced that Chinese publisher and all-round mega-company Tencent has acquired a majority stake in Grinding Gear Games.

According to GGG’s CEO Chris Wilson, this latest move will not impact the way in which the game operated or the company is run. The company will still be independently run by the current team with the change being that they have financial reporting obligations to Tencent. They say there will be “minimal impact on our philosophy and operations”.

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