RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[Inyourprime]

So Maxis has decided that we don't need a create-a-style in the game anymore. This was a feature that allowed players to replace any texture in any object with another texture in the game. That was in the Sims 3. Not anymore, that's DLC now (not confirmed, but c'mon it's EA).

 

 

 

 Some players are not happy about the fact that we don’t have Create a Style in game anymore. What would you like to tell them?

 

At the moment we are not planning to add Create a Style in game and we don’t know if this feature will be added later on. We are focusing on making the base game great, stable and powerful. We want The Sims 4 to ship with a very high level of quality and we decided to focus on certain areas.

 

But wait! There's more!

 

This game won't have a 64-bit client.

 

I mean...... lol. So you have a 32-bit client that could discourage modding and you don't have create-a-style which should push dlc purchases. So what else are you going to tell me, EA?

 

EA: Well, uh, it also won't come with pools and toddlers.

 

Me: lol

 

I might as well just stick with Sims 2 and 3.

Edited June 27, 2014 by Inyourprime

[Oerwinde]

Sims 2 has been my favorite so far. Open For Business and a couple simple object mods let my character open a comic book store, and all the supernatural sims in each expansion let me build a pretty sweet Munsters-esque family.

[Galomtala]

http://www.gamestop.com/xbox-one/games/halo-the-master-chief-collection/115398#bonusFeatures

 

 

Don't know if this is normal nowadays.

[Humanoid]

The Sims 3 performed abysmally even on the best machines, so from those noises I don't think the situation has improved terribly much.

 

 

That said, that degree of customisation isn't something I've ever made use of personally. It's not oversimulation as such, in that it's optional, but there's a thing where when presented with too many options, I'll just mentally switch off and ignore all of them. It's like when I'm thrown into the middle of a massive shopping centre - there's an overwhelming amount of places to go stuff to check out that I'll just end up walking around for a couple of hours and buy nothing.

[HoonDing]

Dear backers, supporters & also everyone else,

 

When we first conceived of a sequel to Dreamfall, eight years ago, it was as an episodic game: divided into chapters, we named it…Dreamfall Chapters.

(We're nothing if not staggeringly inventive.)

 

Returning to the drawing board in October 2012, the first thing we did was abandon the episodic format — partly because we didn’t yet know the scope of what we were making, and partly because that's how we've always made games.

 

We did keep the 'Chapters' name: despite changes to the business model, the game’s structure and themes remained unchanged.

The creative process is unpredictable, however, and the story we’re telling has turned out to be bigger and more ambitious than first envisioned. We’re not on track to meet the release date we estimated a year and a half ago, and we've had to take a long, hard look at our schedule and budget.

 

After much internal debate and careful consideration, we’ve decided to return to the episodic format.

 

This autumn, Red Thread Games will release Dreamfall Chapters Book One: Reborn — the first of five episodes — on PC, Mac and Linux.

 

Kickstarter and PayPal backers will receive all five episodes free of charge as they're released. New customers will be able to purchase a season pass via Steam, GOG and the Humble Store.

 

Here’s why we’re taking the leap into episodic distribution with Dreamfall Chapters:

 

We could have made deep cuts, removed a lot of the characters, story-lines and locations — but we would have ended up with a different game than the one that's played inside our heads for the better part of a decade, a different game than the one we've promised our backers. We would have lost much of the magic and narrative depth. And we would've still had to delay our release into next year.

 

We’ve also realised that while, as a small studio, we are capable of producing a massively ambitious game like Dreamfall Chapters, we’re not satisfied with our ability to properly finish, polish and bug fix the whole game in one go. The amount of work that goes into every chapter of every book is enormous, and we do not want to compromise on the quality of our game and our story.

 

By releasing Book One this autumn, we hope to start generating income, all of which will go right back into improving the quality and scope of subsequent books. And by dividing our work into five standalone releases, we’re able to give each book the focus, polish and attention it needs.

 

This will benefit the game in terms of quality and stability, and it will benefit the team in terms of how many balls they need to juggle at once.

 

We initially debated splitting the game in two, like other recently Kickstarted adventure titles. This would have meant a much longer wait between halves, however. And since our story is already divided into five books, this felt like the natural way to break it up. The shorter wait between books will also, we hope, be easier to endure.

 

This is not going to change the game's story. The five Books will tell the story we always intended to tell; a story that concludes the Dreamer Cycle and Zoë Castillo’s role in The Longest Journey saga...but not the saga itself. (Yep, there's more to come.)

 

As a team, we believe we’re making the right choice — organisationally, financially and creatively. As writers, storytellers and artists we get to work in a format we love. And with every release, we will gather your feedback and improve on subsequent releases. In return, you’ll be getting a bigger, longer, more ambitious and more polished game.

 

Of course, we never like breaking promises or letting our supporters down. This is why we've debated this decision for several months, and why we’re informing you, our backers, first.

 

For those of you disappointed or skeptical: we understand and we apologise. We hope and trust you’ll be convinced — or at least considerably less skeptical! — once Book One releases this autumn.

 

We will announce the release date for Book Two soon after the release of Book One, and we will work very hard to keep the wait between books as brief as possible. Book Two is already in alpha, and Book Three isn’t far behind.

 

We know most of you have waited long enough for the conclusion of Zoë’s story — at least now we’re getting started on that conclusion sooner rather than later: Dreamfall Chapters Book One: Reborn will be coming out before our originally announced November date.

Thanks as always for your support, patience and patronage. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on this past year and a half — and in a few short months, we will!

 

Ragnar Tørnquist, Creative Director

 

[Azdeus]

Gah! Ninja'd this time!

 

The version 0.0.0.0.01 footage in the media section looks rough and is far from indicative of the final product, but if it goes the Planetside 2 route then I have high hopes for it.

 

Otherwise...coooome onnnnnn Harlequin class for the Eldar!

 

 

It does look rough, but as you say it's very early footage. I'm with you on the PS2 bit, that would be a most delightful game to copy as it has all the right ingredients. They'd mesh well.

 

I do like the faction choices they've presented, I wonder how they will represent the Tyranid hive mind...

[BruceVC]

 

Dear backers, supporters & also everyone else,

 

When we first conceived of a sequel to Dreamfall, eight years ago, it was as an episodic game: divided into chapters, we named it…Dreamfall Chapters.

(We're nothing if not staggeringly inventive.)

 

Returning to the drawing board in October 2012, the first thing we did was abandon the episodic format — partly because we didn’t yet know the scope of what we were making, and partly because that's how we've always made games.

 

We did keep the 'Chapters' name: despite changes to the business model, the game’s structure and themes remained unchanged.

The creative process is unpredictable, however, and the story we’re telling has turned out to be bigger and more ambitious than first envisioned. We’re not on track to meet the release date we estimated a year and a half ago, and we've had to take a long, hard look at our schedule and budget.

 

After much internal debate and careful consideration, we’ve decided to return to the episodic format.

 

This autumn, Red Thread Games will release Dreamfall Chapters Book One: Reborn — the first of five episodes — on PC, Mac and Linux.

 

Kickstarter and PayPal backers will receive all five episodes free of charge as they're released. New customers will be able to purchase a season pass via Steam, GOG and the Humble Store.

 

Here’s why we’re taking the leap into episodic distribution with Dreamfall Chapters:

 

We could have made deep cuts, removed a lot of the characters, story-lines and locations — but we would have ended up with a different game than the one that's played inside our heads for the better part of a decade, a different game than the one we've promised our backers. We would have lost much of the magic and narrative depth. And we would've still had to delay our release into next year.

 

We’ve also realised that while, as a small studio, we are capable of producing a massively ambitious game like Dreamfall Chapters, we’re not satisfied with our ability to properly finish, polish and bug fix the whole game in one go. The amount of work that goes into every chapter of every book is enormous, and we do not want to compromise on the quality of our game and our story.

 

By releasing Book One this autumn, we hope to start generating income, all of which will go right back into improving the quality and scope of subsequent books. And by dividing our work into five standalone releases, we’re able to give each book the focus, polish and attention it needs.

 

This will benefit the game in terms of quality and stability, and it will benefit the team in terms of how many balls they need to juggle at once.

 

We initially debated splitting the game in two, like other recently Kickstarted adventure titles. This would have meant a much longer wait between halves, however. And since our story is already divided into five books, this felt like the natural way to break it up. The shorter wait between books will also, we hope, be easier to endure.

 

This is not going to change the game's story. The five Books will tell the story we always intended to tell; a story that concludes the Dreamer Cycle and Zoë Castillo’s role in The Longest Journey saga...but not the saga itself. (Yep, there's more to come.)

 

As a team, we believe we’re making the right choice — organisationally, financially and creatively. As writers, storytellers and artists we get to work in a format we love. And with every release, we will gather your feedback and improve on subsequent releases. In return, you’ll be getting a bigger, longer, more ambitious and more polished game.

 

Of course, we never like breaking promises or letting our supporters down. This is why we've debated this decision for several months, and why we’re informing you, our backers, first.

 

For those of you disappointed or skeptical: we understand and we apologise. We hope and trust you’ll be convinced — or at least considerably less skeptical! — once Book One releases this autumn.

 

We will announce the release date for Book Two soon after the release of Book One, and we will work very hard to keep the wait between books as brief as possible. Book Two is already in alpha, and Book Three isn’t far behind.

 

We know most of you have waited long enough for the conclusion of Zoë’s story — at least now we’re getting started on that conclusion sooner rather than later: Dreamfall Chapters Book One: Reborn will be coming out before our originally announced November date.

Thanks as always for your support, patience and patronage. We can’t wait to show you what we’ve been working on this past year and a half — and in a few short months, we will!

 

Ragnar Tørnquist, Creative Director

 

 

 

Not sure why you find this funny? My take on this is simple, they are changing Dreamfall from one game into 5 small games and releasing them sequentially. They are doing this as the larger game was taking too long and now they can focus on the each small game individually. But original backers still all 5 games for free.

 

Where is the joke I'm missing?

[Humanoid]

Adventure games are short enough as it is, cutting them up into pieces has in my experience compromised the final product: narrative continuity is lost, and puzzles tend to get compartmentalised. And that's from having just two episodes, not five.

 

It's a cost reason, I get that, and the alternative might not be getting a full game at all. But it has an inevitably reduced potential because of that. I mean, I'm disappointed that after all these years and relative success, Telltale have not been able to migrate to 'full-fat' games, or perhaps it's just them being stuck in the comfort zone of their old ways.

[BruceVC]

Adventure games are short enough as it is, cutting them up into pieces has in my experience compromised the final product: narrative continuity is lost, and puzzles tend to get compartmentalised. And that's from having just two episodes, not five.

 

It's a cost reason, I get that, and the alternative might not be getting a full game at all. But it has an inevitably reduced potential because of that. I mean, I'm disappointed that after all these years and relative success, Telltale have not been able to migrate to 'full-fat' games, or perhaps it's just them being stuck in the comfort zone of their old ways.

 

Wow dude, I wasn't expecting such honest negativity. I have just bought the first 2 games in this series and I was looking forward to playing them but now you have almost put me right off. I shouldn't have asked, my bad

[Oner]

 

Gah! Ninja'd this time!

 

The version 0.0.0.0.01 footage in the media section looks rough and is far from indicative of the final product, but if it goes the Planetside 2 route then I have high hopes for it.

 

Otherwise...coooome onnnnnn Harlequin class for the Eldar!

 

 

It does look rough, but as you say it's very early footage. I'm with you on the PS2 bit, that would be a most delightful game to copy as it has all the right ingredients. They'd mesh well.

 

I do like the faction choices they've presented, I wonder how they will represent the Tyranid hive mind...

 

Tyranids are PvE enemies, IIRC.

Also, no Tau. Meh. >.>

 

In other, old news, Riot has released an album for the in-universe heavy metal band PENTAKILL for LoL. And it's sweeeeeeet.

[Monte Carlo]

Sometimes I forget just how right-wing Monte is.

 

I'm a socially liberal quasi-libertarian pagan / lapsed Jew with a fundamentally Hobbesian perspective on international relations. I occasionally find anarcho-capitalism especially appealing.

 

I hope that clears it up for you.

[ManifestedISO]

I don't know any of those words, but I do know the opening scenes in that Falling Down movie reflect my exact disposition every damn day. 

[Orogun01]

 

Sometimes I forget just how right-wing Monte is.

 

I'm a socially liberal quasi-libertarian pagan / lapsed Jew with a fundamentally Hobbesian perspective on international relations. I occasionally find anarcho-capitalism especially appealing.

 

I hope that clears it up for you.

 

Mazel Tov.

[Keyrock]

Some Bayonetta 2 screenshots:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/rubs hands together

 

Oh yeah, October I'll be getting my sexy librarian witch on. 

Edited June 30, 2014 by Keyrock

[Agiel]

Maybe I'll actually find her attractive now that she doesn't remind me of Sarah Palin as much anymore with that haircut.

[Monte Carlo]

I can't begin to describe how awful, to me, that game looks.

[Lexx]

Isn't this the game where you only have to mash one button to win?

[Azdeus]

The first screenshot actually shows a X and an A, so obviously they've upgraded the games mechanics.

[Majek]

Isn't this the game where you only have to mash one button to win?

At least even that is fun, Unlike other games on very very easy difficulty.

[Lexx]

While we are at it, I think this is a painful review: http://superlevel.de/spiele/review-sniper-elite-3/

[BruceVC]

While we are at it, I think this is a painful review: http://superlevel.de/spiele/review-sniper-elite-3/

 

Ouch, that does look painful...

[WorstUsernameEver]

Isn't this the game where you only have to mash one button to win?

Pretty much all these action games have difficulty levels that are ridiculously automated. It's not really indicative of the actual mechanics, though.

[Keyrock]

Isn't this the game where you only have to mash one button to win?

You could, but you'd be missing the point.  It's the same criticism that was leveled by some at Sleeping Dogs (a very different type of game, mind you).  Sure, you could get through the game just mashing X (and Y to counter occasionally) and win the fights, but it's way more fun to pull off impressive looking combos utilizing all the different buttons.  By the same token, you could win most fights in Bayonetta just mashing one or two buttons, on the easier difficulty levels, at least, but the whole point of these Devil May Cry types of brawlers is to pull off various cool looking combos to defeat your enemies as stylishly as possible.  Bayonetta has a very robust combo system utilizing most of the buttons on a gamepad.

Edited June 30, 2014 by Keyrock

[nipsen]

I don't know any of those words, but I do know the opening scenes in that Falling Down movie reflect my exact disposition every damn day. 

..I think he said he's favoring an angry conviviality of groups ruled by an absolute authority (i.e., a dictatorship), as long as opportunism is encouraged. But not actually allowed without strict limitations, so that things will happen properly for the right people (as they justly deserve).

 

*spit* *hhaaarrrrkkkk* 

 

Anyway.

 

No Man's Sky. Good preview. Sort of. Game about exploring space. Just the seamless flight between the planet's atmosphere and interstellar travel is impressive enough (allowed by the way the engine draws planets and detail based on visibility, not existence in the 3d space). But looking forward to hearing more about ways to tie clusters of planets together, and making your way towards populated space-systems, mapping the new ones you've found into the galaxy maps, that sort of thing.

 

..Apparently the goal of the game is to travel to the center of the galaxy. Which seems weird. I want to get as far out on the fringes as humanly possible.

[sorophx]

Sniper Elite V2 is a piece of ****, so I am not surprised part III is getting destroyed by journos