RANDOM VIDEO GAME NEWS

[Chilloutman]

And you got to see boobs.

Alien boobs, they still don't reach tentacle stuff tho, shame on them

[Mamoulian War]

No tentacles no sale...

[sorophx]

Dirt 3 is free for a limited period on Humble Bundle
https://www.humblebundle.com/store/dirt-3-complete-edition-free-game

[Gorgon]

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

Well that sucks.

[Fenixp]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ghpgGwz7nEQ

[Bartimaeus]

Yeah, I actually just finished Owlboy. The charm and atmosphere of Wind Waker, a combination of a bit of Donkey Kong Country and a bit of Zelda and...maybe something else for gameplay. It was pretty good, but it was not revolutionary whatsoever. Just a pretty solid game with great art.

[mkreku]

I would have bought pirated it if not for DENUVO.

 

Fixed that for you. Because, you see, Denuvo does **** all if you buy the game. Just internet neckbeards who blame every bug/problem/mental issue on Denuvo without ever backing up why Denuvo would be the root of the problem.

[Orogun01]

 

I would have bought pirated it if not for DENUVO.

 

Fixed that for you. Because, you see, Denuvo does **** all if you buy the game. Just internet neckbeards who blame every bug/problem/mental issue on Denuvo without ever backing up why Denuvo would be the root of the problem.

 

It does go back to the earlier iterations of Denuvo and Lords of the Fallen, it seem that the constant encrypting did ruin some SSD and cause performance problems. They're probably past that now, but considering how buggy AAA releases have been I would say that they're not even worth pirating.

[Malcador]

Some ME Andromeda stuff, mentioned in a Game Informer video

The Paragon and Renegade system is gone.

 

Classes are all different.

 

Montreal, Edmonton, and Austin offices are all working on Andromeda.

 

Jen Larson is the head of the Andromeda Initiative. She's an Entrepreneur who set up the project.

 

Dr. Lexi (sp?) is an Asari that is on the crew in the beginning.

 

Game starts with waking on the human ark (there is a separate one for each species apparently), then investigating a planet and things go wrong.

 

Liam is a male human companion who begins with you as well.

 

There are lots of ME1 references. There's a new Mako-like tank called the Nomad. Very ME1-inspired.

 

The skill system more like ME1 than ME2/ME3.

 

Devs: "We want the depth of ME1 with the combat system of ME3". Archetypes such as Soldier, Adept are gone. Those abilities are instead available to you in the game and you can mix and match in order to create unique classes rather than being constrained to a sole set of abilities.

 

The fictional reasons for this is that each Ark has a "Pathfinder", which is a person unique to each Ark with a special ability to configure their own abilities in some way. The original Pathfinder is Ryder (the player character)'s father. Something happens to him (which is unknown) and the role passes to the player character Ryder.

 

Ryder has a twin. The default names are Sarah Ryder and Scott Ryder. The customization of the appearance of your character affects your twin and father's appearance in-game.

 

The twin's storyline is important to the story. The twin doesn't just die in the first 5 minutes.

 

The difference between Ryder's genders is significantly larger than Shepard's gender differences in the Mass Effect trilogy.

 

The first impression according to GI is that Andromeda is very similar in general to Dragon Age Inquisition. Pseudo open-worlds with more things to do and places to explore than in prior Mass Effect games. Mining with the Nomad, squad loyalty missions (they don't affect the ending), side quests on other planets, etc.

 

The BioWare team consulted the Need For Speed team on controls for the Nomad. GI says it handles well compared to the Mako.

 

The Nomad is not driveable on every planet. Some are only small portions on foot.

 

The team has lots of banter when you're driving in the Nomad.

 

A sand planet called Eledin (sp?) is so hot that if you aren't in the shadows you take damage similar to the Tali recruitment level in ME2. Lots of planets have quirks like this. Acid pools, dangerous wildlife, etc. Sometimes there are aliens fighting wildlife. GI doesn't make it clear whether these are scripted events or emergent AI.

 

You can look out a window on the ship and see the planet you're orbiting. It's not as sterile as previous games. More immersive with little touches like this.

 

Your ship is called the Tempest. It's a smaller, more intimate environment. There are no loading screens or elevators on the ship. You can drop to the planet's surface from orbit, where you can access the garage and drive the Nomad out onto the planet. GI says there are very few loading screens; the team wishes to streamline the process, make it seamless, to give you a greater sense of immersion.

 

There's a new alien race called the Ket (sp?).

 

More GI Andromeda info coming this month: http://www.gameinformer.com/andromeda Apparently GI has some kind of exclusive deal to roll out Andromeda info within the next month.

[Fenixp]

Because, you see, Denuvo does **** all if you buy the game. Just internet neckbeards who blame every bug/problem/mental issue on Denuvo without ever backing up why Denuvo would be the root of the problem.

It prevents running games which would otherwise be perfectly playable via Wine on Linux for starters. I know you have a weird hard-on for piracy, but there's no DRM which doesn't hit legitimate buyers in one way or another. Edited November 14, 2016 by Fenixp

[Zoraptor]

 

It does go back to the earlier iterations of Denuvo and Lords of the Fallen, it seem that the constant encrypting did ruin some SSD and cause performance problems. They're probably past that now..

 

They'll never be past the performance problems. Encrypting/ decrypting uses CPU cycles and system resources, no two ways about it. The SecuROM on TWitcher2 was a fully mature product yet if you replaced it with the DRM free GOG executable you got an instant performance increase for free (up to 20%, so not insignificant). OTOH SSD problems were unlikely to be caused by Denovo anyway.

[mkreku]

 

 

I would have bought pirated it if not for DENUVO.

 

Fixed that for you. Because, you see, Denuvo does **** all if you buy the game. Just internet neckbeards who blame every bug/problem/mental issue on Denuvo without ever backing up why Denuvo would be the root of the problem.

It does go back to the earlier iterations of Denuvo and Lords of the Fallen, it seem that the constant encrypting did ruin some SSD and cause performance problems. They're probably past that now, but considering how buggy AAA releases have been I would say that they're not even worth pirating.

 

 

It does go back to the earlier iterations of Denuvo and Lords of the Fallen, it seem that the constant encrypting did ruin some SSD and cause performance problems. They're probably past that now..

 

They'll never be past the performance problems. Encrypting/ decrypting uses CPU cycles and system resources, no two ways about it. The SecuROM on TWitcher2 was a fully mature product yet if you replaced it with the DRM free GOG executable you got an instant performance increase for free (up to 20%, so not insignificant). OTOH SSD problems were unlikely to be caused by Denovo anyway.

 

And as usual the sheep keep bleating without thinking...

 

Regarding SSD:s, there are a lot of articles pointing to this myth being false. Here's one:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qX379zScuZE

 

Regarding performance impact, you obviously don't understand that Denuvo is not encrypting anything in real time. It's not even a DRM! Here's what Digital Foundry/Eurogamer found:

 

"In fact we have no negative impact on the game's performance at all and don't put the hardware under more strain. This is one of the most important requirements from our clients, the game developers and publishers. The paying consumer is not affected by the Anti-Tamper at all - we just prevent/delay piracy."

 

Digital Foundry's Dragon Age: Inquisition Face-Off backs that statement up. "We also didn't run into any issues suggesting that the game's DRM scheme degrades performance," the article said.

 

Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-12-19-denuvo-anti-tamper-drm

 

Check out what the developer's themselves say about Denuvo regarding performance. Total War devs (for example) have stated it does not have any impact on performance.

 

But feel free to link to a Reddit post/Kotaku forums/[insert random pirate rant here] to prove your point. The only legitimate point is that Linux users are screwed and that sucks.

[Malcador]

Shame they can't get someone from the inside to help break it open.

[Fenixp]

Yeah, the performance complaints are mostly bollocks, but the issues you see with Linux configurations are just a start of a much larger problem with compatibility on unsupported systems. It's not that much of a problem right now as most active gamers will run supported configurations, but will the next iteration of Windows be supported? And what happens if it isn't?

 

The original Fallout had no anti-tampering protection and I'm still playing it to this day from the original CD thanks to this - people were able to reverse engineer game's executables and ensure compatibility with modern systems. They won't be able to do anything of the sort with DOOM 4 in 2034.

 

It's entirely possible that games using Denuvo will see official support for decades to come, but somehow I doubt it. Best case scenario is that in 5 years or so, the most popular Denuvo games will see re-releases on PC, ideally free of charge for people owning the original games - but we'll probably have to pay again like console folk do for games basically receiving HD treatment. Worst case scenario is that these games just get irreversibly lost, which is a tragedy for any work of art, and completely avoidable in this day and age.

 

Personally, I don't mind Denuvo too much right now, but I'd generally be quite glad if it quite simply got patched out when crucial period of a title's sales ends - like a year or 6 months down the line, while it's still actively supported. That's not going to happen tho.

[the_dog_days]

Regarding ME4: mining with the Mako = foraging for elfroot. Dragon Effect: Andromeda Inquisition.

[Nonek]

Some ME Andromeda stuff, mentioned in a Game Informer video

 

-snip-

 

Have they given any reason for trying to explore the next galaxy when in ME they'd only explored 1% of the Milky Way? With potentially a hundred billion planets to explore here this seems rather illogical, it's like Edmund Hilary deciding to climb Olympus Mons and skipping Everest and earths mountains. Mind you typical Bioware idiocy.

Edited November 14, 2016 by Nonek

[Fenixp]

People didn't even explore entire Solar System yet they're attempting to glimpse the rest of the Milky Way. That's what's happening right now. I'm also pretty sure Edmund Hillary didn't scale more than 1% of Earth's mountains before proceeding to Mount Everest.

[Nonek]

Looking is different from travelling to and colonising obviously, and we've looked well beyond the Milky Way. All of the mountains Mr Hilary climbed were still on Earth, not on Mars or a similarly stupid destination. It's called progression.

[Fenixp]

I'm willing to bet he'd absolutely go to climb a mountain in any stupid destination if he could and the climb proved more challenging and prestigious. He couldn't tho, so Mount Everest it is. I'm also not entirely sure how do you consider him facing up to a challenge and wanting to be the first to do a possibly deadly climb logical as opposed to human colonists facing up to a challenge and wanting to be the first to colonize a different galaxy - I can pretty much guarantee you that if we had the means to travel to another galaxy, we would.

 

Human curiosity is logical by its nature, but the way we sate this curiosity isn't. Throughout history, people have made many illogical steps in the name of curiosity, often even losing their own lives in the process. Not to mention that such a feat is quite logical even as far as Mass Effect universe goes - the logical reason why, right now, we need to try and start colonizing Solar System or Milky Way at large is for long-term survival of our species. It's the same when it comes to Mass Effect universe and lore, especially since all life in Milky Way galaxy was in danger when the mission was said to be started.

 

Besides, there are dozens upon dozens issues with Mass Effect storytelling - I'm not entirely sure why the one thing that's actually quite believable (people wanting to try and do something noone has ever done before just for the sake of it now that they can) is the thing you take issue with.

[Raithe]

I suppose, if you were to reach for a bit...

 

This fabulously wealthy entrepreneur (possibly encouraged by Anderson and/or the Illusive Man) takes Shepherds warnings seriously after Sovereigns attack on the Citadel. Following Shepherds death, they form this up as an idea to not have all the eggs in one basket and establish colonies outside of the galaxy and thus potentially safe from any Reapers or what have you. They use the two years following Shepherds death to start this all, and around the time that someone is assaulting the Collector's base (or shortly thereafter) they head out and go extra-galactic...

 

It might be reaching for the fluff, but its a possible reasoning for it all.

[Oner]

Well, sending the people to Andromeda takes time, as does establishing the colonies and communication with Milky Way. While the peeps home are waiting for all that to happen, they'll have ample time to continue exploring the Milky Way.

[Nonek]

I'm willing to bet he'd absolutely go to climb a mountain in any stupid destination if he could and the climb proved more challenging and prestigious. He couldn't tho, so Mount Everest it is. I'm also not entirely sure how do you consider him facing up to a challenge and wanting to be the first to do a possibly deadly climb logical as opposed to human colonists facing up to a challenge and wanting to be the first to colonize a different galaxy - I can pretty much guarantee you that if we had the means to travel to another galaxy, we would.

 

Human curiosity is logical by its nature, but the way we sate this curiosity isn't. Throughout history, people have made many illogical steps in the name of curiosity, often even losing their own lives in the process. Not to mention that such a feat is quite logical even as far as Mass Effect universe goes - the logical reason why, right now, we need to try and start colonizing Solar System or Milky Way at large is for long-term survival of our species. It's the same when it comes to Mass Effect universe and lore, especially since all life in Milky Way galaxy was in danger when the mission was said to be started.

 

Besides, there are dozens upon dozens issues with Mass Effect storytelling - I'm not entirely sure why the one thing that's actually quite believable (people wanting to try and do something noone has ever done before just for the sake of it now that they can) is the thing you take issue with.

 

Well if we're making silly guarantees, I can guarantee you that first Mr Hilary would have climbed Earths mountains as he did, and that if we had the means to go to another galaxy we'd have first explored more than a fraction of the Milky Way. It's a logical progression, though I realise thats an unwanted thing for games these days.

 

Exploration has always been logical, new lands, new opportunities and a slow steady expansion, this is the rule. We spread from Africa in predictable patterns, we didn't go straight to Mars or Triton, as this is just as stupid as this Andromeda silliness when only a miniscule fraction of the Milky Way has been explored and only a tiny bit is endangered by the space big bads who stick to their tiny relay network. You have after all a hundred billion planets and more than twice that in suns to explore and colonise after all, which any explorer worth his salt would want to investigate first.

 

Taking issue with none of the Milky Ways species exploring even a little bit of their home is hardly illogical, it's a valid concern of the narrative and undermines the very raison d'etre of the game. Only a blinkered fanboy could excuse such poor plotting and lack of logical progression.

Edited November 14, 2016 by Nonek

[Blodhemn]

Andromeda is basically a tagline. They just needed something a little fresh in name, while reaching back to ME1 for gameplay, apparently. New name, recycled game.

[Nonek]

No doubt, they could at least make their primary motivation at least coherent though. They could have simply set the game beyond the relay network and explored space, and the distance would still serve to insulate the new game from anything done in ME3, while making a lick of sense.

 

Though I realise asking for sense or coherence in one the three Big B games is pointless.

Edited November 14, 2016 by Nonek

[Fenixp]

I can guarantee you that first Mr Hilary would have climbed Earths mountains

He didn't tho, did He? Before Mount Everest, the highest mountain He has climbed was Mount Cook in New Zeland, nowhere near the second highest mountain in the world. By your logic, before attempting to climb Mount Everest, He should have first focused on other mountains which were not scaled to date, and there was quite a few. Because that's logical progression. So why didn't He? Why did He instead make the illogical step of attempting for the highest one? I can pretty much guarantee you 'logic' wasn't part of the equation. Challenge, curiosity, prestige - those most certainly were. In fact, this is an excerpt from interview with the man himself:

We really didn't know whether it was humanly possible to reach the top of Mt. Everest. And even using oxygen as we were, if we did get to the top, we weren't at all sure whether we wouldn't drop dead or something of that nature. All the physiologists had warned us that the altitude at the summit of Everest was a very marginal altitude and might be extremely dangerous. So, one had this feeling in your mind all the time that maybe you were pushing things a bit beyond what humans were meant to do and you couldn't ignore that feeling. But, because of strong motivation, you keep plugging on and you seem to be going okay and nothing seems to be going wrong, so you persist. And we persisted, of course, and ultimately, set foot on the summit.

Source

 

So we're back to my original question, aren't we? What exactly was logical about being the first man to climb highest mountain in the world that isn't logical about attempting to be the first man to do just about anything?

 

As for the more in-narrative reasoning, and this is a bit of a spoiler, Reapers proved to be more than capable of scaling extragalactic distances after the events of the original Mass Effect.

 

Only a blinkered fanboy could excuse such poor plotting and lack of logical progression.

... aaand we're back to ad hominems. Stay classy, Nonek. By the way, I don't really like Mass Effect series all that much.

 

Andromeda is basically a tagline. They just needed something a little fresh in name, while reaching back to ME1 for gameplay, apparently. New name, recycled game.

Of course it primarily exists to sell more copies, just as pretty much everything in Mass Effect. There's a reason why they chose one of the most tired sci-fi clichés for their main plotline.