RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[Keyrock]

I get confused with all the X games. There are so many of them. Are they some sort of space flight-sims, or just trade sims? Good/Bad/Yes/Maybe/No?

They encompass everything.  Combat, trading, building, exploring.  You can be a pirate and prey on merchants, you can be an enforcer and hunt down pirates, you can be a merchant and trade in a dynamic economy.  You can build factories, mines, complexes.  You can assemble a massive fleet and take out whole sectors.  You can pretty much play the games any way you want to.  

 

I'm a Teladi (think Ferengi from Star Trek) at heart, so I'm all about building a massive trading empire and acquiring profitsssss.

[alanschu]

After X2, X3 (and the various other follow ups like Albion prelude) just never grabbed me. :\

[Keyrock]

There is a definite contingent out there that considers X2: The Threat to be the pinnacle of the series.  X3: Terran Conflict is my personal favorite so far.  Unlike previous entries that were all basically built atop the original X: Beyond the Frontier, X: Rebirth is being built completely from the ground up, we shall see if it's for better or worse.  Sure looks good in the videos.

[MacMichael]

To take a break from the several pages of military history propaganda.  X Rebirth has some new ridiculously gorgeous videos and, get this, a release date.  An honest to goodness release date!  November 15th.  Of this year, even!

 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/08/08/eyegasm-5-minutes-of-gorgeous-x-rebirth-footage/

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEbL1p5vZpw

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhT2zmF7ip4

 

/jaw drops to floor

 

It looks so ****ing good.  Maybe the seemingly endless wait will be worth it!

 

I'm not sure I believe this.  After all the years since it's announcement, then the delay, then the lack of news, the continued lack of news, the news that there wasn't any news except that it wasn't dead... I think I just dreamed it.  It doesn't really exist.  Lies!

 

This might drag me back into TC, put another 400+ hours into it in addition to the 400+ on Steam and probably 300+ pre-Steam.

[Gorth]

X2 is the original Elite on steroids.

[BruceVC]

http://youtu.be/2m4SCUaBHS8

 

 

I have to say when you watch that video you see the misrepresentation of facts in the game, no wonder the Ruskies were annoyed

[Fighter]

They named a character 'Lev Abramovich Isakovich'... And after this they claim historical accuracy? *facepalm* Couldn't even get a Russian name right.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Fighter

[Oner]

They named a character 'Lev Abramovich Isakovich'... And after this they claim historical accuracy? *facepalm* Couldn't even get a Russian name right.

On an unrelated note, Androvich is possibly the coolest family name ever.

[Bos_hybrid]

To take a break from the several pages of military history propaganda.  X Rebirth has some new ridiculously gorgeous videos and, get this, a release date.  An honest to goodness release date!  November 15th.  Of this year, even!

 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/08/08/eyegasm-5-minutes-of-gorgeous-x-rebirth-footage/

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEbL1p5vZpw

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhT2zmF7ip4

 

/jaw drops to floor

 

It looks so ****ing good.  Maybe the seemingly endless wait will be worth it!

 

 

Absolutely stunning graphics. Completely forgot about this, time to dust of the old X games to get back in the grove.

 

Still sounds like you can't pilot multiple ships, but if we get an actual crew, with interesting characters, I can live with that.

 

I'm a Teladi (think Ferengi from Star Trek) at heart, so I'm all about building a massive trading empire and acquiring profitsssss.

 

I'm thinking a pirate first run, just because it will be interesting to see if what they say about the game is true. Would make being a pirate much more rewarding.

[Keyrock]

 

To take a break from the several pages of military history propaganda.  X Rebirth has some new ridiculously gorgeous videos and, get this, a release date.  An honest to goodness release date!  November 15th.  Of this year, even!

 

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/08/08/eyegasm-5-minutes-of-gorgeous-x-rebirth-footage/

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEbL1p5vZpw

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhT2zmF7ip4

 

/jaw drops to floor

 

It looks so ****ing good.  Maybe the seemingly endless wait will be worth it!

 

 

Absolutely stunning graphics. Completely forgot about this, time to dust of the old X games to get back in the grove.

 

Still sounds like you can't pilot multiple ships, but if we get an actual crew, with interesting characters, I can live with that.

 

I'm a Teladi (think Ferengi from Star Trek) at heart, so I'm all about building a massive trading empire and acquiring profitsssss.

 

I'm thinking a pirate first run, just because it will be interesting to see if what they say about the game is true. Would make being a pirate much more rewarding.

 

I'm definitely not above taking out a target of opportunity here and there (no one ever accused the Teladi of fair business practices) and I'll definitely go on raids or even military style fleet battles (usually once I have my merchant empire up and running and I can afford to assemble a fleet while my freighters and factories go about their business), especially if it will benefit my commercial empire, but I'm generally a merchant first.  At some point I like to dip my toes into every facet of the game.  If the economy is really going to be as dynamic (beyond what we've already seen in the X games) and the stations and factories as modular and interdependent, then there should definitely be ample opportunities for...  corporate sabotage, if you will.

[Gfted1]

That reminds me, I still have Galactic Civilizations II to try out from the Steam sale.

[Tale]

That reminds me, I still have Galactic Civilizations II to try out from the Steam sale.

It was good knowing you, you will be missed.

[Serrano]

That reminds me of Tom Francis' GalCiv2 diary where he went for a totally pacifist victory, it's a funny article even if you've not played the game before. 

[Keyrock]

Details about combat in Might & Magic X

 

 

HEY EVERYONE,

 

Some time ago on the Ubisoft MMX forum, MagixJonsn asked whether there "will be static idiot enemies in the game?". Although we cannot reveal too much today about the intellectual status of monsters in MMX, we can say for sure they're not static. Want to know more about the fighting mechanics in MMX? Brace yourselves and read on! 

 

 

FIGHTING IN MMX - THE BASICS

 

In MMX, combat is turn-based, which means your party and their opponents take turns fighting. While you make your move, they can only react (e.g. block an attack) and vice versa. The turn is split into several phases. The first one is the turn of the party, the second one is the monster's turn. The last phase is used by the environment for triggers, spawning, et cetera.

 

 

 

 

MOVEMENT & COMBAT ENGAGEMENT

 

Monsters come in three sizes; small, medium and large. The size of a monster depends on its 3D mesh, that is, on how big it actually looks in the game. The aggro range of monsters varies, so some monsters will attack while your party is further away, while others will attack only if your party gets closer to them.

 

In MMX, there are two stages of combat: being aggroed and being engaged.

 

Aggro:

 

you and the AI start taking alternate turns

character actions that do not end the character’s turn do so while having aggro

resting is not possible anymore

 

 

Engaged:

 

Monsters

 

don’t move

are facing the direction of the party

don’t perform range attacks

 

The Party

 

can’t perform any party action

can’t launch range attacks

can’t interact with interactive objects

characters can not unequip items

 

 In order to be engaged, the party and the monsters have to be on adjacent tiles:

 

 

 

MONSTER MOVEMENT & COMBAT DECISIONS

 

All monster movements and attacks are calculated one after the other. The monsters move simultaneously first, and then all monster attacks are animated one after another in the order the attacks have been calculated. During their turn, monsters can either move or attack. Not both!

 

 

MONSTER GROUPS

 

Monsters can form groups, and they will use that ability against your party. However, there are no special rules for group behaviour; each monster in a group decides for itself when and where to move. The ways monsters move is determined by a path finding algorithm. However, one tile can hold several monsters at once - up to three small ones, one small and one medium monster, up to two medium monsters or one big monster - as you can see here:

 

 

 

COMBAT

 

When it's your party's turn, each character can do one of the following:

 

execute a ranged attack

execute a melee attack

cast a spell

execute a warfare ability

prepare to defend attacks

 

However, ranged attacks can only be launched against monsters that are not adjacent to the tile the party stands on and has no blockers in the direct line between party and distance monster.

 

 

TARGETING

 

When the party is engaged in combat with a group of monsters, one of the monsters in front of the party is selected by default as target for melee attacks or spells. You are free to switch selection to any other monster in front of the party without restrictions and as often as you like. If the selected monster is not in front of the party anymore (for example because it got killed or the party has turned by 90°), another monster gets selected automatically to be the next target.

 

 

 

 

ATTACK PROCEDURES

 

Hit Chance

Party characters and monsters have an attack value for melee and/or range attacks. Characters get their attack value from skills, monsters have a fix value. The attack value and the defender’s evade value determine the hit chance for a strike (strikes are part of attacks).

 

Armor Value

Each armor has a certain armor value that reduces the incoming melee and range damage by a certain extent.

  

Resistance Value

A character's resistance towards the different schools of magic determines how big the chance is that the respective character avoids a spell/magic effect of that school. Also, the incoming magic damage of that school is decreased by a certain extent.

 

Defend Action

If characters use the defend action, their turn ends and their evade value is increased until the start of the party’s next turn.

 

Strikes

Both melee and range attacks consist of strikes. A strike is the confrontation of an attacker and a defender. Some skills may add additional strikes with a certain weapon (this only applies when the attacker has two melee weapons equipped) to a certain target during the attack.

A default range attack consists of one strike with the character's range weapon, while a default melee attack consists of one strike with each equipped weapon. Strikes for the main-hand are always executed before strikes with the off-hand.

Both monsters and characters have a certain amount of block attempts at each enemy's turn.

 

 

EXPERIENCE AND LOOT

 

Every single enemy has information on the nature and quantity of the resources and or items it will drop once defeated. Each time you start a new game, the loot of every monster in the game will be randomly determined.

 

Whenever your party defeats a monster, this is what happens with regard to loot and experience:

 

the items will be automatically put into the party inventory

the resources (gold, gems) are added to the resource pools of the party

the experience points are evenly distributed amongst all characters; the slayer of the monster receives some extra XP

the loot and experience distribution gets printed to the combat log

if one or more items can't be added to the party inventory automatically (because all slots are full), an interactive loot object will be placed on the grid the party is currently standing on. It will remain there for the rest of the game unless someone empties it completely.

 

 

So that's it for today. Thanks for your attention! If you're feeling creative, you could check out our dungeon layout contest. Have fun!

 

Your MMX-Team

Nothing unexpected here, but it's good to see progress being made.  From a strictly stylistic point of view, I like the look of the interface, even if it does take up a bit more of the screen than I'd like, though, curiously, that bothers me less in a first person view game than in an isometric or overhead view game, for whatever reason.

Edited August 9, 2013 by Keyrock

[Guest Slinky]

That reminds me of Tom Francis' GalCiv2 diary where he went for a totally pacifist victory, it's a funny article even if you've not played the game before.

Thanks for posting that! I generally love reading stories like that, and that one is the best one I've seen.

[Amentep]

I love the "work in progress" graphic on the M&M screens.

[Keyrock]

I love the "work in progress" graphic on the M&M screens.

Yeah, the goblin with the hard hat on is pretty sweet.

 

Edited August 9, 2013 by Keyrock

[Dream]

Anyone got a million bucks?

[Bester]

SEGA and Relic have issued a joint statement apologising for "any offence caused" by Company of Heroes 2's controversial campaign.

http://www.videogamer.com/pc/company_of_heroes_2/news/sega_and_relic_apologise_for_any_offence_caused_by_company_of_heroes_2.html

[Mamoulian War]

Anyone got a million bucks?

 

According to Ars Technica, that bundle is overpriced

 

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/08/do-not-buy-the-1000000-saints-row-iv-bundle/

[Oerwinde]

Did they include room service in the hotel stays? I'm sure you could rack up quite the bill on that.

[Rosbjerg]

and plastic surgery - heh, it's a good idea from a marketing persepctive.. I tihnk it's gonna spread pretty efficiently on social media between gamers.

[Mamoulian War]

Did they include room service in the hotel stays? I'm sure you could rack up quite the bill on that.

 

Dunno like yours, but my room services at various hotels never get over 10% of bill for a room

 

And I doubt, that anyone would be able to make 400000 USD bill in a week to match the price

 

Well anyone except Charlie Sheen of course...

Edited August 11, 2013 by Mamoulian War

[Nepenthe]

 

Anyone got a million bucks?

 

According to Ars Technica, that bundle is overpriced

 

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2013/08/do-not-buy-the-1000000-saints-row-iv-bundle/

 

 

Pretty sure the difference is in the auto insurance for a gallardo vs. national average (in the US). I suspect they didn't account for VAT in most of their calculations, either.

[Spider]

Do you really think that price ($(1,000,000) is including VAT?