#also if you try it and decide its not for you both Steam and GOG let you return it

[worm--dealer]

Watching random Pathologic video essays/reviews on YouTube while i draw and knit and stuff is one of my favorite things to do. But I've noticed something that bothers me so much. A lot of them talk about how much they love the game, and then they proceed to actively discourage people from actually playing the game.

Like, I get it to an extent. It definitely does feel a bit like a walking simulator and the gameplay can be a bit wonky, and I definitely get it if it's not for you. But like. If you watched one of these videos and are interested in the story, I highly recommend at least attempting to play it! It does have issues, but I feel like the story and the characters make up for it. And if you get stuck, you can look up a walk-through or something (I definitely looked up where to find the haruspex, bachelor, the sister, and her followers while playing the Changeling route because i had such a hard time finding them lol)

Many of them recommend only playing Pathologic 2 (and don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore that game and it is definitely better than the first game-play wise) but like, if you enjoy the torture simulator that is Pathologic 2 then I feel like you'd probably enjoy Classic as well.

[linuxgamenews]

Slay the Princess adventure is due to debut next month

Slay the Princess horror visual novel game has a release date for Linux, Steam Deck, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to Black Tabby Games for their amazing work and dedication. Due to make its way onto Steam and GOG. Slay the Princess is due to launch on Friday, October 20, 2023. Available on platforms like Linux, Mac, and Windows PC, and the Steam Deck. Plus, if you're already a fan of Black Tabby Games’ Scarlet Hollow, there will be a bundled discount. Offering a great deal for avid players. What's Slay the Princess all about? Well, step into a thrilling horror visual novel adventure where every choice matters. You start outside of a cabin, repeatedly. Each time you face a similar situation but with unexpected twists. You're handed a blade, with a choice to go into the cabin or simply walk away. Your main mission revolves around the princess, voiced by Nichole Goodnight. However, each time you encounter her, something seems... different. So it's up to you to piece together the mystery. Rest assured, it won’t be easy. Jonathan Sims, known from "The Magnus Archives," lends his voice to the elusive narrator. He also adds layers of suspense and intrigue, but it's clear he's not revealing everything. As a Slay the Princess player, you'll need to sift through the clues. Due to face the hauntingly beautiful hand penciled visuals crafted by Abby Howard. While you embark on a journey that will keep you sharp.

Slay the Princess Release Date Trailer

It's more than just a typical adventure, though. Slay the Princess offers multiple endings and paths, making every play unique. The story can warp and bend, depending on your choices. And here's where it gets good: the princess might not be who she appears to be. Is she a threat, or is she being framed? The story constantly keeps you guessing. While it's tempting to think of Slay the Princess as just a horror visual novel game. It also blends elements of comedy, unpredictability, and meta-storytelling. You're not just following a storyline; you're shaping it. It's an deep experience that challenges your understanding of storytelling. A few key points to remember:

The Slay the Princess artwork is one of a kind. Abby Howard's traditional pencil and paper style stands out and elevates the whole experience.

Expect the unexpected. The story might feel like it's looping, but each iteration brings new challenges.

Don’t get too attached or trust anyone too quickly, especially not the princess.

One word of caution: while it might sound fun to romance the princess, it's probably not the best idea. You can try out the Demo available on Steam and GOG. In essence, Slay the Princess promises an experience that's both challenging and entertaining. It's designed to be more than just a simple play through. It invites players to think, decide, and live with the outcomes of their actions. The release date also includes support for Linux, Steam Deck, Mac, and Windows PC. Due to make its way onto Steam and GOG, October 20th. Priced at $17.99 USD / 14.99 GBP / 17.99 EUR with a 10% launch discount. And a bundled discount with the Early Access title Scarlet Hollow.

[eemamminy-art]

For the gaming ask, how about 29 and 30?

29. Favorite boss fight music?

No way I can pick just one!! They’re probably going to all be Final Fantasy themes of various sorts... But let me do maybe my top 5? In no particular order!

- Who Brings Shadow Final Fantasy XIV: Shadowbringers (x) - The Extreme Final Fantasy VIII (x) - Heroes Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward (x) - Fight With Seymour Final Fantasy X (x) - Battle On The Bridge Final Fantasy Tactics (x)

These also all happen to fall in line as my favorite games in that particular series! I’ve been a big fan of Final Fantasy for a long time, and the music is definitely one of its strongest points!!

30. Favorite game aesthetic?

I’ll have to give multiple answers again because I can’t decide on one! I do really really love retro aesthetics a lot, the likes of Fallout and Bioshock. There is something about the juxtaposition of old jazz, the exaggerated manner of speech and body language from golden age Hollywood, combined with horrifically unethical places/people/organizations that works so well. I know old timey music paired with violence is a popular trope, but I feel like it goes particularly well with these series because there is also this underlying message that it is all very fucked up and that there are greater forces at play influencing things far beyond the player’s control.

Another sort of aesthetic I like is when two distinct styles combine in a way you wouldn’t expect. Two specific examples come to mind! Arcanum and Shadowrun Returns-- both are iso rpgs, though they were released something like 15 years apart and by different companies.

But anyway, to give an example of what I mean, Shadowrun is set in a world that is a futuristic cyberpunk sort of setting-- but people have been transformed into all manner of fantasy creatures. There are large class disparities and issues of race have been compounded now that there are literally trolls and elves and so forth to add to existing prejudices. There are grungey people below trying to get by, and soulless corporate businessmen stepping on those below, and those who would go outside the social structure to make their own way. It’s based on a table top game I believe? But the small series of PC games set in that world are top notch.

The other one I mentioned, Arcanum, is more traditional fantasy but it’s set in what is essentially Victorian europe. Similar issues arise here of class and race disparity and a very big focus on politics and religion and their impact on people. Also being a fantasy game, there is the clashing of magic and technology-- two forces directly opposed to one another to the point that they literally cannot function side by side. It’s my favorite game ever and I can’t recommend it enough! It’s on both steam and GOG for very cheap since it’s like 20 years old now lol. It is created by some of the creators of Fallout 1 and was my introduction into the Fallout series, because it plays very similarly!

That turned kind of into me plugging games I really like in the end huh, but really, I feel like that’s sort of the point of these kinds of ask games right? :D To share thoughts and things people might not know about otherwise!!

[sonofkhaz]

Musing: Pathologic 2

Pathologic 2 is what you get when Russian game developers down an entire bottle of Flintstone Vitamins with some Vodka while listening to Hardbass after being awake for 72 hours straight. It’s probably one of the best games I’ve played in terms of story-telling and themes. 

It’s a great game, despite some mechanical issues. A few years ago, I got the original game off of GOG and only got about halfway through before giving up out of frustration and a little bit of boredom. The sequel fixed a lot of the problems the first game had. For starters, there’s a lot less walking back and forth; rather than having to literally walk around the whole town to check up on your patients to see how they’re doing, it now tells you at the end of each day if they’re okay, in danger of infection, or infected. It’s easier to track your character’s thoughts, the map now has markers, and you can sprint instead of walking (sprinting is now a feature, yes). You can use a ferry system to fast-travel around town at the cost of a coin called a Fingernail, and you can hold down CTRL to highlight points of interest and characters you can speak to.

Despite being praised in Russia and having very positive reviews (91% at the time of writing this) on Steam, the game didn’t get much traction upon its release in the west, with “game journalists”, a term I still don’t fully understand, comparing its difficulty to Dark Souls (yeah, some people still use Dark Souls as the litmus test for game difficulty) and claiming that it has Skyrim-inspired RPG elements. It’s as if “game journalists” have never played anything outside of Bioware games, Skyrim, Dark Souls and Pokemon.

Yeah...despite the fact that comparing a game like Pathologic 2 to something like Dark Souls or Skyrim is completely obtuse and ignorant, I think I understand where the frustration comes from, which I’ll get to later.

The game takes place in Town-On-Gorkhon, an isolated town in the steppes built upon contradictions. From a glance, the town might just look like your average early 20th century Russian town, but it’s inhabited by two groups of people: the Townsfolk, who are just becoming industrialized, and the Kinfolk, a group of Steppe nomads who hold veneration for bulls because they believe that the town rests on the back of a giant auroch, Mother Boddha. In addition, the latter group has a species of humanoids called Worms who water the ground with blood to grow plants, women called Herb Brides who dance in the steppes to make the twyre bloom, and other practices. Despite the contrasts, the two are not at complete odds at each other; rather, both cultures have meshed together.

In the first game, there were 3 different playable characters, but for now you’re only able to play as Artemy Burakh, the Haruspex. His father was a Kin doctor and his mother was a Townsfolk. After six years of medical school, Artemy is called back home by an urgent letter from his father, only to find out that he’s been murdered. See, a haruspex was someone in history who could divine the future from entrails; since Artemy is technically a surgeon who just returned to a town where cutting arteries, attacking someone with a knife, and digging holes in the ground are all considered taboo, he’s the primary suspect, so everyone hates his guts. People will initially refuse to trade with you, shopkeepers won’t sell their goods, and some people will try to attack you in the street. In the wake of this, a mysterious plague referred to only as the Sand Pest hits the town.

Pathologic 2 is like an adventure game and a “horror survival” tied into one. The imagery of the game goes from uncanny valley to flat out dark, with red pustules and moss-like substances growing on the buildings and streets of infected districts, infected townsfolk shuffling towards you to try and infect you, and plague clouds that manifest and chase you down the street. If you’re unfortunate to get infected with the plague, you hear voices in your head telling you, gently, to lay down and die so your suffering can cease. While you’re trying to find a cure and trying to save NPCs from the plague, you yourself are trying to survive.

Your overall survival is dependent on more than just your health bar. Sergei tries to shank you for your track suit and Semechki seeds, yeah, your health will go down if he manages to hit you. But then you have to factor in your hunger, exhaustion, immunity, and stamina/thirst. You’re hungry, so you eat some toast, but now your thirst meter is going up; while it’s not immediately detrimental, it affects the duration you’re able to sprint and fight. Your exhaustion meter is full, so you lay down to sleep for a few hours, but now your hunger is going back up and you’ve just spent precious hours that could have potentially have been used doing something else. Uh oh, you just got hit with a plague cloud and your immunity is dropping - do you use the immunity boosters/tinctures you were saving for patients to bring it back up, or are you going to take the risk and wait for it to slowly climb back to where it was?

Any time you die, your screen blacks out and you speak to Mark Immortell the Theatre Director, who gives you a tut-tut-tutting on dying and sends you back to your last save file with a penalty. Your maximum health/exhaustion meters are reduced, you get hungrier and more tired as time progresses, so on and so forth. These all stack, and they’re all permanent across all save files, so there’s no going back to scum save to prevent the penalties. If you die enough, you get visited by a friend who will offer to remove your current and future penalties forever...for a cost that you may not learn of until it’s too late to change your mind.

This ties back to my previous statement about how people were criticizing this game. A lot of survival games in modern gaming tend to be generous towards the player in terms of, well, survival - you have a meter that’s running low, or a supply that’s dwindling, so you stop whatever you’re doing to rectify the situation. Should you fail there’s usually an “out” by returning to a previous save. You can’t do this in Pathologic; one reason being mentioned in the previous paragraph. Another is the fact that time is always working against you - really, the only moment where time tends to stop moving is if you’re in a dream sequence or if you physically pause the game. The clock is always ticking so you need to frequently assess the efficiency of what you’re doing and if it will pay off in the long run. The game has a lot of choices, and not in Peter Molyneux’s Fable or Black and White perspectives of “choice”. The decisions can vary greatly. Let’s say that one of your friends needs a water barrel because they want to get water for the poor and impoverished in their district. Well meaning, but what if it infects the neighbors? The hospital needs the tinctures you need to boost the immunity of nameless patients; everyone will like you more if you carry the task out, and you’ll get paid the next day, but what if tomorrow means that half a dozen cast characters get infected and you don’t have the time to make more tinctures? 

Critics of Pathologic 2 have bemoaned the fact that you can’t just walk around, immune to virtually anything and everything, and talk to the NPCs while freely exploring the town to learn more about the Sand Pest and the overall story. The desire to know more about the story is a fair point, but here’s where I see the problem: There’s a genre of story-driven adventure style games, usually referred to as “Walking Simulators”, that are typically praised and lauded by the “video games are art” crowd. Games like Dear Esther, Firewatch, What Remains of Edith Finch, and Gone Home are usually put in this category.

The difference between Pathologic 2 and those games is that the latter group takes a more “hands-off” approach in their storytelling. You don’t have a lot of interactivity or mechanics that directly tie into the games. The named NPCs you speak with in Pathologic 2 are fleshed out; it’s personal because Artemy Burakh has history with them, and the decisions that you make, or don’t make, will ultimately decide their survival. Many of them have multiple outcomes; you speak with them, see their angles, see what information they may be willing to give out or abstain from initially giving, so on and so forth. The game pushes you towards investing them emotionally. Not only are you trying to save them from the plague, but you’re trying to save yourself. You’re also trying not to starve, you’re also trying not to get infected. Rather than watching a sinking ship, you’re part of the crew trying to bail the water out and plug the hole. 

Not all the mechanics are perfect. Guns and their ammo, while being extremely rare/expensive to find, have a tendency to jam up way too much and hitboxes can be choosy. Hand-to-hand combat can feel clunky, and the inventory can be a colossal pain in the ass to manage since the game does not auto-sort individual stacks and uses Diablo-style inventory management. However, I have very rarely seen things like these critiqued by the “video games are art” crowd; rather, they complain about the meter management. The problems of the town seem real because you’re in it as well. Without having to manage your meters, making sacrifices and decisions, it takes away the conditions that make moments in the game memorable.

Remember: Failure is a very real, understandable and relatable aspect of human life and society. There are times in life where you fail repeatedly before you see the light at the end of the tunnel and triumph. One of the marketing pitches of this game was, “You can’t save everybody”. For example, I spent three consecutive days treating Andrey Stamatin after he was afflicted with the Sand Pest, and it ultimately came to naught because he died anyway. Some of the game's most memorable moments and interesting dialogue come when you are unsuccessful, because the game knows that you’re going to fail at some points even when you try your best.

Overall, would I recommend Pathologic 2? Absolutely. Would I recommend it to someone who cares about story-driven games? Totally. Would I recommend it to people who have low frustration walls? No.

[pixelgrotto]

Calling Cthulhu, part one

In 2019, I began to get serious about delving into the world of H.P. Lovecraft. Thanks to pop culture I’d had a passing familiarity with his stories and the creations within them - in particular that octopus-faced star spawn named Cthulhu who now even has his own children’s books - but the deliciously unsettling appeal of the Mythos created by America’s first cosmic horror writer wasn’t truly apparent to me until I played my first game of the tabletop RPG Call of Cthulhu.

As someone primarily coming from a Dungeons & Dragons background, I found Call of Cthulhu to be a breath of fresh, eldritch air, sporting an elegant system that’s nearly as old as D&D and has, since 1981, reliably served as an excellent alternative for players who would prefer to solve mysteries rather than kill monsters. But while D&D’s had several video games translating its tabletop feel to a computer space, the specific “Call of Cthulhu” license has only had a handful of electronic efforts bearing its trademark, even though you can find the “Lovecraftian” label applied to dozens of games these days (many of which bear only passing references to the uncanny, otherworldly horrors hinted at by Howard Phillips Lovecraft). The handful of officially licensed CoC games that do exist are a mixed bag of janky oddness, which is perhaps appropriate considering that they’re all dealing with the idea of humans learning about ancient, insanity-provoking horrors. 

Since I love a deep dive into the jank, I’ve decided to play all of the licensed Call of Cthulhu games over the next few months to see how they fare. I’m skipping one - Call of Cthulhu: The Wasted Land - since it was originally a mobile game ported to the computer, and there’s no option to currently buy it on Steam. In its place, I’ll be checking out The Sinking City, a 2019 release which looks much better...and was almost a CoC game before the license got pulled away in the midst of development.

Kicking things off are Shadow of the Comet and Prisoner of Ice, two CoC point ‘n click adventures that were released by Infogrames in 1993 and 1995, respectively. Both games have fallen into the cracks of history, obscured by stronger adventures from those same years made by Sierra and LucasArts, and while I like to think that my tolerance for point ‘n click nonsense is higher than most peoples...I can see why. 

Shadow of the Comet, for one, has nice production values. The graphics are solid, though occasionally garish (the sky is a little too blue) and sometimes bordering on parody (the character portraits seem to be traced versions of famous actors, like Jack Nicholson). The music, while minimal and kind of tinny, could also be interpreted as dread-building, which is a good quality for a horror game to possess. But these positives fall before the big negative of the control scheme, which feels like it was created by developers who intentionally ignored the point ‘n click standards of the era, like the famous icon bar engine of Sierra or the SCUMM verb system of LucasArts, in favor of a clunky amalgamation of keyboard and mouse that makes navigating your character and item hunting about as much fun as having a Mi-go remove your brain. 

The plot for Shadow of the Comet is also a flabbergasting beast. It begins as an obvious riff off of Lovecraft’s famous The Shadow over Innsmouth story, with a reporter named Parker investigating a New England town named “Illsmouth.” Instead of uncovering a village full of Deep One hybrids, however, the game’s plot quickly diverges in an impressively scattershot manner that prompts some truly dumb puzzles. At one point, while trying to figure out why the locals worship Hailey’s Comet, which passed by Illsmouth years ago and is somehow connected to the Elder Gods who manipulate the place, Parker transforms into a bird and talks to a Native American who spouts mumbo jumbo that makes no sense. At the end of the game, Parker prevents the resurrection of...one of the Elder Gods (it’s all frightfully unclear, even if you have great familiarity with the Cthulhu Mythos) and in a decidedly un-Lovecraftian finale, the townspeople meet him at the docks, cheer his victory, and all yell out a THANK YOU PARKER chorus as if this is an episode of Scooby Doo. 

Is Prisoner of Ice any better? Well...not exactly. The control scheme’s superior (or normal, I should say), but with chonky polygonal models replacing clean sprites for the characters, the game arguably sports a wonkier look than Shadow of the Comet’s clean pixel art. And the story once again goes nuts faster than a little kid reading the Necronomicon. The beginning’s strong, with a claustrophobic submarine setting that sees crew members falling victim to monsters unleashed from cold icebergs, but then the game straight up becomes Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, with the dull military protagonist Lt. Ryan traversing the globe (alongside a woman who seems suspiciously like Fate of Atlantis’ Sophia Hapgood) to keep the Nazis from unleashing eldritch forces upon the world. Then Parker from the first game shows up again, which I guess is sort of nice fan service, and a time travel sub-plot gets tossed into the mix at the eleventh hour, because Lt. Ryan is secretly a chosen child from the future who’s destined to save us from...I don’t know, Dagon mobs or something. It feels like a 90s comic combined with Cthulhu Tech, the mid-2000s tabletop system that mashed Cthulhu and anime mechs together, and I suppose if that kind of weirdness is your jam, you should...maybe give Prisoner of Ice a try?

And that’s really all I can say about these two early Call of Cthulhu efforts. They’re not great, but for hardcore Cthulhu heads, they might be worth the pocket change it takes to purchase them on Steam or GoG, if only to witness curios from another era. After Prisoner of Ice, the CoC license would remain unused for quite some time, even as games that have retroactively been labeled Lovecraftian, like Quake and Eternal Darkness, came and went. In fact, it wouldn’t be until 2005, a full decade after Prisoner of Ice’s release, that the Call of Cthulhu name would emerge once more for a little Bethesda-published effort entitled Dark Corners of the Earth...a game that would be a step up from these two experiments in the point ‘n click space, but still full of copious, maddening flaws. I’ll dig into that one next time.

[xseedgames]

Zwei: The Arges Adventure - Localization Blog #1

AAAAAAHHHHH IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING.

I’ve been working on this game for the better part of a year now, but have been unable to say anything about it for PR reasons – namely, that it wasn’t in a showable state, and we didn’t want to confuse prospective players by having two Zwei games announced but unreleased at the same time. Which is totally reasonable, but AAAAAAAHHHH I’VE BEEN WANTING TO TALK ABOUT THIS GAME SO BADLY YOU HAVE NO IDEA.

…Ahem. First off, I guess I should bring you all up to speed, in case you missed the announcement. Falcom’s 2001 PC classic Zwei!! is coming to the Western world via Steam, GOG, and The Humble Store in early 2018, under the name Zwei: The Arges Adventure. Why the name change? Well, because we already released its 2008 sequel, Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection (which was originally called Zwei II: Sky-High Great Adventure in Japan).

That’s right. Localization work wrapped on the sequel first, and now we’re finishing things up with the original.

What are we thinking?!, you must be asking yourselves. Why would we release the sequel first, then go back and release the original? Why wouldn’t we release the original game first? And since we’ve already released the more modern second entry in the series from seven years later, can this earlier effort really hold its own by comparison? 

Well, that’s why I’m so excited. Because Zwei: The Arges Adventure is good. REALLY good. In fact, I dare say it’s my favorite translation I’ve ever worked on to date – yes, even topping Return to PopoloCrois and Corpse Party. And if you’re at all familiar with me (this is Tom, BTW), that statement alone should tell you that Zwei: AA is something special, since PopoloCrois and Corpse Party are… shall we say, perennial favorites of mine. To put it very lightly.

So, yeah. Let’s address those hypothetical questions, shall we?

Why would we release the sequel before the original? Well, two reasons. One, because we can – these games each tell standalone stories, set on different floating continents with different casts of characters. Zwei: AA’s two protagonists, Pipiro and Pokkle, do make a few cameo appearances in Zwei: II, but this is done almost purely for the sake of fanservice (the literal kind, not the naughty kind). When all is said and done, these two games are completely standalone, taking place in the same world but telling very different stories with very different characters and a very different feel. Think of it kind of like the Ys series, but even more episodic (since, Ys Origin aside, Ys has the Adol-as-protagonist connection from one game to the next, whereas Zwei doesn’t even have that!).

The other reason is because of the nature of Zwei: AA’s code. The Japanese version of this game utilized DirectX 5, was formatted strictly for 4:3 resolution with no widescreen options whatsoever, offered a lovely FPS selection of 30 or 15 (seriously!), counted on players to play it with mouse and keyboard over gamepad (it supported gamepads, but… barely), and contained no fewer than six unlockable Windows desktop apps that were loosely tied to yet completely separate from the main game.

This is one of them. And that first screenshot at the beginning of this blog entry is another.

In other words… this is the kind of adaptive coding project that’s been known to give lesser programmers heart attacks. Getting a game like this to even run on a modern Windows machine at all – much less run WELL – was decidedly not a task for the meek. In fact, it’s because of the way this game is coded that we ultimately decided to translate the game in-house rather than working with any fan-translators as we did for Zwei: II, as no two programmers would handle this text the same way – and trying to convert a fan-translated script to a format that would work for us would’ve taken almost as long as translating the game from scratch.

So, yeah. Getting Zwei: II out first was pretty much just done because… erm… it was ready first. And it was always GOING to be ready first. Even with a lengthy QA process and a couple minor delays, it still inevitably got finished long before its predecessor was ready to make its debut.

Fortunately, we hired a veteran programmer to work with us on Zwei: AA… but you’ll never guess who! It wasn’t Sara, since she was busy getting Zwei: II ready at the time (and a fine job she did of it, with one of our smoothest PC launches ever!). But this wasn’t our first time working with the guy we worked with on this project, either. It was, however, our first time working with him to modernize someone else’s game – and he really did perform some miracles for us (and put up with my many, many demands for quality-of-life improvements and feature additions, to boot!).

The man in question? Matt Fielding, of Magnetic Realms. A.k.a. the guy who brought you the game Exile’s End. 

Pictured: Exile’s End. Which is also an awesome game you should play!

And thanks to his technical wizardry, you guys are going to have an astoundingly up-to-date version of Zwei!! on your hands at launch. We’re talking more than just widescreen support here – there’s full in-game integration of the Pet Monitor and other desktop apps, new control functionality for more natural gamepad support across the board, inclusion of the arranged soundtrack from the Japan-only PSP version of the game, additional art and text content not present in any previous version of the game, and much, much more (to be detailed in future blog entries!).

Moving on to the second question I asked, with Zwei: II already out, can Zwei: AA hold its own by comparison?

I think you know what my answer’s going to be, on that one. Zwei: The Arges Adventure is a freaking awesome game with a lot to offer, and differs from its own successor in enough key areas that it can very easily hold its own any day of the week. Hell, you might even like it better than Zwei: II – it’s certainly a very close call for me, but I’d say Zwei: AA gets the slight edge! 

Sure, they’re both dungeon-crawling action RPGs at their core, and they both use food to level-up, even sharing the same food exchange system to discourage grinding. And the two-character party (plus one pet), with one character taking the role of physical attacker while the other slings spells, takes center stage in both titles as well. Plus, both games are set on floating continents in the same world.

That’s a lot of similarities, but they’re all relatively superficial. You could say Zwei: AA is like the 2D answer to Zwei: II’s 3D world, but that would be discounting its snarkier and more tongue-in-cheek storyline (yes, even more than Zwei: II’s!), or the gorgeous and ludicrously colorful hand-drawn backgrounds, or the two games’ very different approaches to pets (you only get one pet in Zwei: AA as opposed to the veritable army of pets featured in Zwei: II, but that one dog or cat [or other?] has significantly more personality and gameplay involvement than its many Zwei: II counterparts), or the huge variety of minigames on offer (all of which have been adapted to play from within the game itself, despite formerly existing only as desktop apps)… and that’s just scratching the surface. In short, although the two games use the same basic template, they represent two very different approaches to game design within the confines of that template.

For me as Zwei: AA’s translator, though, I can’t help but laser-focus right on the game’s dialogue. Protagonist duo Pipiro and Pokkle are without a doubt the best pair to write that somebody like me could ever ask for. Pokkle constantly cracks bad puns (and I do mean constantly!), wears a tail for funsies, and is always hitting on women twice his age.

And Pipiro just has absolutely no filter whatsoever, and is full of so much snark that she’s fit to burst.

Practically every line out of these two is an absolute gem – and that’s to say nothing of the many quirky NPCs surrounding them over the course of their rather lengthy quest (such as the endlessly self-delusional “libertine fatass” that’s funding your adventure, and his extremely no-nonsense maid who gave him that nickname).

I… really can’t stress enough how much fun it was to write for these characters, and how inspired I was to come up with the perfect phrasing for every line. I’m extremely appreciative that we chose to translate the game in-house, as it gave me an opportunity to work much more deeply with this script than I ever could’ve if we’d only been tasked with editing it. As time went on, I found myself revising my work on a daily basis, making small tweaks here and there as new bits of wordplay or better puns popped into my head (much to Matt’s chagrin, I’m sure!). The end result is something that I can stand behind as a faithful interpretation of the game’s mood and intent – an attempt to convey the same degree of lighthearted fun and irreverence present in every line of the Japanese script, but formatted to sound more natural in English, accounting for context, tone, atmosphere, and individual character quirks rather than just hammering out a word-for-word translation.

I’ve never laughed so hard while playing a JRPG before, and I truly hope that when you guys play this one in English, you’ll find its English interpretation just as hilarious as I found its original Japanese to be. That would mean I succeeded at what I set out to do, and would bring me great joy and pride as a localizer!

And please do keep an eye on this Tumblr, as I fully intend to give lots more info about Zwei: The Arges Adventure (and more screenshots showing off lines I’m particularly proud of) in the weeks to come!

Until then, I hope you’re all continuing to enjoy Zwei: The Ilvard Insurrection, and… well, I’mma go back to testin’ Zwei: The Arges Adventure now, ‘cause I want this game to be downright perfect when it’s released! And with translation and editing 100% complete, and coding probably somewhere in the 70-80% done range, that release date will be here before you know it…

[tf2artcomp]

Hahahaha I love how this trailer makes the game look like it isn’t 99% walking around in an isometric world!  Nice job, GOG.

This game is the Bonus because we know it’s relatively unknown, but also if you have the patience for older games, you should check it out*!  Here’s the history of the company that made it from Wikipedia:

“In 1997, Tim Cain, Leonard Boyarsky and Jason Anderson were working on the Fallout sequel at Interplay. Finishing the initial design for Fallout 2, they were unable to come to an agreement with Interplay about the future team structure. They decide to leave Interplay to form a company that felt more like the old Interplay, producing role-playing video games for PC in 1997. They formed their company on April 1, 1998, calling their new company Troika Games (a Russian word “Тройка” meaning “three of any kind”), since they were the three key Designers/Artists/Coders behind the critically acclaimed Fallout. They initially planned to do games exclusively for one publisher (Sierra Entertainment), but every game was published by a different company. After being unable to secure funding for future projects, they were forced to lay off their staff in late 2004 and later close their doors on February 24, 2005.”

Before this game, the only RPG I had ever played was Arx Fatalis, which is the game that gets pulled out and dusted off every time someone goes why don’t more games have a hunger mechanism?  It wasn’t a good choice to be someone’s first RPG, especially since I was coming out of Thief II at that time and was too used to engaging with enemies on my own terms.

Arcanum, being turn-based, turned out to be a much better fit.  My first time playing it I persisted until around level 25, which is about halfway through.  It was long-winded and I tended more towards sci-fi, so Red gently ushered me towards Fallout, which was convenient because they’re basically the same engine.  Although I liked Fallout, I quit it much sooner than Arcanum because I still didn’t know how to minmax to match the difficulty curve.

By the time I played it again and finished it I had changed computers and had to start over, only this time I was older and wiser and less likely to get frustrated with old mechanics I wasn’t familiar with.  I’m still picky about RPGs, but I’m still playing Fallout 4 and I’m excited about 5.

* Seriously, if this game seems interesting and you’d like to try it for the competition, hit us up and we’ll send you a gift code for GOG**.

** Yeah, this decision came about as a result of us writing this post and fangirling about how more people need to try this game.***

(This is the point where I asked Red, “By the way, why did you even recommend it to me back then?”  And thenceforth this post was hijacked.  More below the cut from Red!)

Red here!

Oh my God, I love this game so much. Arcanum was my official introduction to steampunk and gaslamp fantasy, both of which I adore, so this is a game you should definitely check out if you’re into Jules Verne or H. G. Wells or Girl Genius. It does have some standard Tolkien-fantasy aspects (elves vs. dwarves AGAIN, anyone?), but there’s plenty of food for thought (and plenty of shoot-'em-up/hack-and-slash action) too.

For its time, Arcanum delves into some pretty heavy treatment of race and class: player gender doesn’t really matter, but NPCs will react VERY differently to a half-ogre than to a human. Is your Intelligence low? You’ll be somewhat disliked (and pitied), you won’t be able to use much magic or tech, and there will be side quests that aren’t available to you. Is your Beauty high? NPCs will love you and you’ll get away with more. Want to be purely evil? You can do that and not break the game, but you may not like the outcome.

The roles of magic and technology are a huge part of the game’s plot. Balancing the two is possible --you can be a gun-toting wizard, for example-- but difficult, and there's a very real sense that the "old ways" represented by magic are being gradually pushed aside by science and industry. Politics (in the general sense-- no Democrats or Republicans here) plays a surprising role as well. Gnomish conspiracies! Oppression of half-ogres! (That side quest was really disturbing.) Orcs forming labor unions! Unjust imprisonment of dwarves! And you, lucky player, get to have a hand in all of that–and as with Fallout, your choices shape the game ending.

Arcanum isn’t without its faults: most notably it suffers from a big case of Humans Are White (and so is everyone else). Some high-level magic weapons aren’t available unless you’re lucky enough to stumble across their locations (they’re not related to quests), and there are schematics for high-tech weapons that can’t be built (there are plot reasons for this, but still). There’s a huge side-quest involving gods and altars that will literally kill you if you don’t perform the steps in a specific order (luckily walkthroughs exist for this). Most annoyingly, the sequel (Journey to the Center of Arcanum) never got made. Still, it’s dear to my heart, it inspired me to create my own steampunk fantasy universe, and for a game made in the 1990s, it’s got a huge replayability factor. In fact, I think it’s time I paid Arcanum another visit…

*** A disclaimer: This game is old as rocks, so on newer devices you might have to tinker a bit to get it to work.  Steam has added it, but the advantage with GOG is that they generally take care of the patching.  We’ve tried it on Windows 7 and 8.  Either way, totally worth it, especially if isometric turn-based steampunk RPGs are your aesthetic.

[linuxgamenews]

Build and Expand Your Gnome Village in EcoGnomix

EcoGnomix that's a mixed game of roguelite and city builder for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the brilliant minds at Irox Games. Due to make its way onto Steam and GOG. Irox Games and Untold Tales just announced a new title, EcoGnomix. This quirky roguelite and city builder hybrid is all about building a gnome village while exploring mystical caves. Let’s dive in. In EcoGnomix, you’ll send a team of specialist gnomes on rogue-lite runs into enchanted caves. These little guys will gather resources and bring them back to expand your village. The more you grow your gnome-topia, the deeper your gnomes can go into the caves.

EcoGnomix - Announcement Trailer

Choosing your team is crucial. You’ll also need to gather resources, collect supplies, and fight off enemies in strategic turn-based gameplay. But watch out! Each turn makes the cave more unstable, and bats will nibble away at your supplies. So, plan carefully and decide when it’s time to head back. The deeper you go, the more supplies you’ll need, so balance your resources wisely. Adapt your team as you explore different biomes, combine upgrades and units to create powerful synergies. And remember, even if a run doesn’t go as planned, you’ll always bring something back. Eager to try EcoGnomix out? There’s a free Steam demo available right now, playable on Linux via Proton.

Features:

Build Your Gnome Village Above the caves, you’ll build a bustling gnome village. Unlock new buildings for upgrades and abilities, set up production chains for valuable resources, and create a tiny economy to support your gnome adventurers.

Strategic Roguelite Runs Each EcoGnomix level requires strategic thinking. Pick from a variety of gnomes, each with their own specialties. Send them out to gather resources and supplies while battling foes. At the end of each turn, reposition your team, add more gnomes if needed, and gather again. But be careful! With each turn, the cave becomes more unstable, and supplies dwindle. Plan your moves and decide when it’s time to leave and move on.

A Unique Team for Every Expedition Every EcoGnomix run lets you change and upgrade your team, making each expedition unique. Adapt your playstyle to what you need for the run, swapping and mixing gnomes and upgrades to get the job done. Discover hidden abilities and game changing upgrades that combine in unexpected ways.

Progress with Every Run No matter how a run ends, you’ll always bring back resources. The deeper you go, the more valuable the loot, but even a short trip is worth it. Every expedition helps you grow stronger.

So, grab your gnome squad and start building your dream village while exploring the depths of enchanted caves. EcoGnomix roguelite and city builder is due to take you on an epic adventure via Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Coming to both Steam and GOG. The release date is TBD.

[sjrresearch]

Historical PC Games: Post-Holiday Buying Guide

The holiday season may have ended, but that doesn’t mean that the festivities have to. Many of us have received gift cards to PC gaming marketplaces such as Steam, Epic Games Store, and GOG, and aren’t sure what games to spend them on. So, today, we’ll be taking a look at some of the best historical PC games on these platforms that are well worth spending your holiday cash.

Crusader Kings III

Considered by many as one of the best games of 2020, this PC-exclusive by Paradox Interactive is a worthy sequel to the 2012 smash-hit Crusader King II. The game is a dynasty simulator set during the Middle Ages, allowing the player to either start from the year 867 or 1066 and play until 1453. Through the game, the player chooses a dynasty to rule over and attempts to continue on their dynasty by governing over their respective kingdoms. Crusader Kings III was met with nearly universal acclaim from both critics and fans alike, and was even nominated for Best Simulation/Strategy Game at The Game Awards 2020.

While Crusader Kings II has superior mod support and a much larger community, Crusader Kings III features many improvements over its predecessor and will undoubtedly gain more support from the player community in the coming years. It’s a clear recommendation for fans of historical games with real-time-strategy gameplay. 

Currently, you can snag Crusader Kings III for $49.99 across all major PC gaming marketplaces.

Sid Meier’s Civilization VI

The Civilization series has been around for decades, with many considering it to be one of the very best real-time-strategy games of all time, let alone one of the best historical games in recent years. The most recent entry into the franchise, Sid Meier’s Civilization VI, is no different than its predecessors, expanding even further on the series. Through the game, players will take control of a civilization of their choice, leading it from the Stone Age to the Information Age through means of diplomacy, expansion, and war. Like many games, Civilization is fairly easy to learn but very difficult to master. With tons of features, including multiplayer, this game can provide hundreds of hours of gameplay - which sounds well-worth that gift card money.

While Civilization VI is also available on home consoles, it’s best enjoyed on PC. And with it releasing in 2016, you should be able to catch this game on sale quite often and for reasonably cheap. It’s available one most major PC game stores.

Mafia: Definitive Edition

Mafia: Definitive Edition is a full remake of the original Mafia that first released in 2002 for the PS2 and Xbox. As one might expect from typical HD remakes, this game is largely the same as the original but with various additions, such as expansions to the world map, expanded storylines, new voice acting, and of course, vast improvements to the game’s visuals.

Mafia: Definitive Edition thrusts players into the 1930s during the Great Depression in the role of Tommy Angelo, a young taxi driver who gets caught up in the crime world. The game features an excellent story and is a must-play for any fans of film noir or mafia films like Scarface and The Godfather. 

Just released in 2020, Mafia: Definitive Edition is one of the best open-world action-adventure games to release in recent years and can be found on most major PC game stores for $39.99.

Desperados III

Another real-time tactics title, Desperados III is set during the wild-west and features some of the best tactical gameplay of the genre, period. With five different playable characters that have their own unique abilities and weapons, the game offers many different potential playstyles. Players can play the game as a stealthy assassin, with guns blazing, or without killing any enemies at all. The gameplay featured in Desperados III is very deep and offers a great amount of challenge for RTS veterans.

The game was widely praised by critics and gamers, and is highly recommended for any fans of the RTS game genre, or for lovers of the Wild West. Just releasing earlier in 2020, Desperados III is available for $49.99 on all major PC game marketplaces.

Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla

As if it hasn’t already been talked about a hundred times already, Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla is one of the biggest games to release in 2020 and is most definitely worth your attention. Set during the Age of the Vikings, Valhalla throws the player into the role of Eivor, a Viking whose destiny is to lead their clan against the Anglo-Saxons during 9th century England. 

The latest Assassin’s Creed installment features a massive open-world and gameplay that may be familiar to longtime series veterans. It borrows much of the identity of the past two Assassin’s Creed titles, Origins and Odyssey, and is one of the biggest games of the year. Surely, it’s perfect for those wanting to get lost in a massive, immersive world.

It should be noted that Ubisoft has decided to release Valhalla on PC as an exclusive to the Epic Games Store, so those who primarily use Steam and are looking to buy titles with a Steam gift card are out of luck. With that said, Assassin’s Creed Origins and Odyssey come just as highly recommended as Valhalla and should be given a try if you have a Steam gift card.

If you still have unspent gift cards from Christmas, why not spend them on one of these five great historical games? If not, there are plenty of other great PC games out there that are well worth your cash. Keep up to date with SJR Research, where we’ll be discussing more great historical video games in future articles, through the New Year and beyond!

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At SJR Research, we specialize in creating compelling narratives and provide research to give your game the kind of details that engage your players and create a resonant world they want to spend time in. If you are interested in learning more about our gaming research services, you can browse SJR Research’s service on our site at SJR Research.

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(This article is credited to Ben Price. For as long as he can remember, Ben has always loved playing, discussing, and writing about video games. Since receiving his B.A. in English, he now writes about them for a living.)

[thomasroach]

Top RPG News Of The Week: May 5th (Elder Scrolls Online, Bloodstained, Immortal Unchained and More!)

The post Top RPG News Of The Week: May 5th (Elder Scrolls Online, Bloodstained, Immortal Unchained and More!) appeared first on Fextralife.

Happy weekend from Fextralife! If you’ve been too busy to keep up on the latest in the games we cover or are looking for a refresher we’ve got you covered! Here’s a bite-sized version of the Top RPG news of the week. Taste all the latest news across the Fextralife Wiki Network.

Check out the video above and read on for the text!

Kingdom Hearts 3

According to an article by IGN a Twitter user by the name of Yanilyn Gaming who attended the Kingdom Hearts concert held in Japan, shared that the director of Kingdom Hearts 3 Tetsuya Nomura announced that a paid DLC will be underway, known as ReMIND.

Not only will the DLC feature an additional scenario, but a new “limit episode plus boss” and “secret episode plus boss”. The paid DLC will also have an English voice acting option. But the tweet also outlines a new free keyblade and new form.

Supposedly according to the Twitter user more information will arrive in June, which is the same month that E3 2019 takes place. With Square Enix already confirming their spot for June 10th.

This isn’t the first time we have heard of more DLC coming to KH3 as previously Nomura has mentioned a free DLC would be added (which was the addition of Critical Mode) and a large paid DLC. So far there is no information about when and how much the DLC will cost.

To read more about the new find it here in Rumour: Kingdom Hearts 3 ReMIND DLC Announced.

Final Fantasy XIV

If you’ve been wanting to dive into Final Fantasy XIV, now is a great time as the Golden Week Sale is on with 50% off the complete edition.

You can purchase the Final Fantasy XIV complete edition now for $29.99 during this week until May 6th. The complete edition comes with A Realm Reborn as well as both expansions Heavensward and Stormblood. If you’re looking to pick up the Stormblood expansion separately, you can now buy it for $19.99.

You can purchase either on PC, Mac or for Playstation 4. You can also get the Stormblood Collector’s Edition for $29.99 which includes exclusive in-game items such as the Syldra Mount, Wind-up Bartz Minion and Chicken Knife.

The sale will end on May 6th at 11:59 PM PDT. Final Fantasy XIV is currently available to play on Playstation 4, PC or Mac.

To read more about the new find it here in Final Fantasy 14 Is Now 50% Off.

Elder Scrolls Online

Bethesda Softworks shares a new trailer that shows the ominous power of the Necromancer class. The new class will be joining the upcoming expansion Elsweyr in PC Early access on May 20th.

Latest trailer for The Elder Scrolls Online chapter Elsweyr highlights the new class joining ESO soon, which is the Necromancer. Not only showing off some of the skill set this new dark arts class brings, complete with flying skulls, summoning the undead and bringing to life your own colossal skeleton monstrosity.

If you’re interested to learn more about this class we highly recommend you check out our ESO Necromancer Preview video which walks through the abilities, as well as visiting our ESO wiki for all the written info on the Necromancer class.

Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr releases on PC on May 20th as well as Playstation 4 and Xbox One on June 4th. Don’t miss out on the pre-order Elsweyr bonuses which include pet, mount, outfit and more (depending on the edition).

To read more about the new find it here in Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr Trailer Features Necromancer Class.

Sekiro

Based on FromSoftware’s Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, a manga based on the character Hanbei will be released in Japanese for free digitally on Comic Walker in Japan.

The manga has been set in motion as a spin-off adaptation following the story of NPC Hanbei. The title of the manga is Sekiro Side Story: Hanbei the Undying. It is set to be available for free digitally on Comic Walker in Japan, with the first chapter being released on May 27th in Japanese.

Sekiro Side Story: Hanbei the Undying narrative will be in collaboration with FromSoftware who will oversee the story. Artist Shin Yamamoto will be drawing the art, he also worked on Monster Hunter: Flash Hunter a manga adaptation.

Yen Press the US based graphic novel publisher have already announced they have the license of the manga for the US release, but no news as of yet when the launch will be.

This will be a great addition for collectors or even those who wish to learn more about the story behind the character Hanbei The Undying who seems to be cursed. In Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, players meet this NPC at the Dilapidated Temple who fast becomes a sparring partner to test out moves.

To read more about this news find it here in Sekiro Manga Adaptation Featuring Hanbei Will Be Available Free In Japanese.

Immortal Unchained

Toadman Interactive’s upcoming expansion for Immortal Unchained Storm Breaker brings new unstoppable masses of the undead, challenging boss encounters and brand new weapons.

The first expansion for Immortal Unchained titled Storm Breaker takes place at the fall of Apexion. New waves of the Undead are ready to breach the outpost Storm Break, carrying on the invasion. Toadman have shared a little more on what this story will entail in their update post.

The expansion sets to introduce some new locations, more deadly enemies, new boss fights, a range of new weapons and much more. One of the new weapons called Brightreaver has some devastating effects, tearing your opponent to shreds making it “one of the most powerful weapons in all of the Cosmos”.

Immortal Unchained: Storm Breaker releases on PS4, PC and Xbox One on May 7th. If you’re currently playing this dark sci-fi RPG be sure to visit our Immortal Unchained wiki for help.

To read more about this news find it here in Immortal Unchained Expansion Storm Breaker Releases May 7th.

Blizzard

Deciding to opt out of Gamescom 2019 which takes place in Cologne, Germany later this year, Blizzard explain in their latest post why they won’t be attending. This is the first time they will not have attended Gamescom since 2009, which was the very first time it took place. Their reason is to concentrate on “renewed” game development according to their statement.

By not attending the convention means we won’t be hearing any major announcements or updates about anything Diablo related probably until Blizzcon 2019, which takes place on November 1st to November 2nd at the Anaheim Convention Center.

Blizzard have already shared their dates for Blizzcon 2019, which celebrates its 25 years of the original Warcraft game. This is likely where they will concentrate their efforts for announcements this year.

To read more about this news find it here in Blizzard Opts Out Of Gamescom 2019.

Borderlands 3

Gaining the first look at Borderlands 3’s gameplay, Gearbox Software and 2K Games decided to share some extended footage from the upcoming action title, which previews some of the additional mechanics, loot changes as well as hub location.

Over on Borderlands Twitch channel, Gearbox shared a demo that features some different areas in Borderlands 3. The gameplay started with some of the game’s tutorial, which showed one of the most iconic characters from the franchise, Claptrap.

The tutorial also highlighted some new features such as the ability to slide along the ground and vault up ledges. There are also added alternate firing modes for weapons, brand new to Borderlands 3.

The upcoming title also brings a new loot spawn system, now spawning loot for players depending on the different levels that are playing together. We also got to see some new boss fights as well as the new ship which will act as the hub for the game.

Borderlands 3 will release on September 13th for PS4, Xbox One and PC.

To read more about this news find it here in Borderlands 3’S Gameplay Unveiled Showing New Mechanics, Loot Changes And More.

Bloodstained Ritual of the Night

In the latest trailer released by 505 Games and ArtPlay, we finally get the release date for Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night bringing Igavania back this June.

Its been a few years since Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night was successfully crowdfunded on Kickstarter back in 2015, putting the action side-scrolling RPG into motion under the Castlevania director Koji Igarashi.

The latest trailer reveals the process that the title has gone through, even showing comparisons since its inception compared with what it will look like upon release. The game was met with some negative feedback initially, which motivated the developers to rethink their game style visually, striving to do better.

While other developers could have simply ignored the feedback and put out the game, it seems the developers are using this as a highlight for their comical release trailer. We even see a comparison between the old and new Vepar boss.

Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is releasing on PC via Steam and GOG, PS4, and Xbox One on June 18th, while the Switch version arriving a few days later on June 25th.

To read more about this news find it here in Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night Gets Release Date.

ESO Plus

To get a taste of ESO Plus you can now try out the free trial that runs until May 6th at 10:00 AM EDT. Currently the 5 Year Anniversary Event is moving into the last week of festivities, so it comes at a great time to enjoy the benefits which includes access to all DLCs, meaning you can pick up each of the daily quests needed to earn yourself those Anniversary Jubilee Gift Boxes.

While ESO Plus isn’t mandatory for players to enjoy the game, it can be super helpful with a Craft Bag to store all your mats, increased experience, access to all DLCs and more. You can test out all these different features with the free trial.

To get the most out of your free trial be sure to pick up the daily quests which can be found in such DLC zones as Murkmire, Clockwork City or Orsinium, if you’re missing any of those from your collection you can go pick up the dailies from these zones. You can also take on the DLC dungeons by picking up the Undaunted Pledges, these even include the latest Wrathstone: Frostvault and Depths of Malatar.

If you’re taking on some of the DLC dungeons be sure to check out the latest guides in our Frostvault Dungeon Guide and Depths Of Malatar Dungeon Guide.

To read more about this news find it here in Elder Scrolls Online Plus Free Trial.

Well, that’s it for the Week in Wikis. Please join us next week for yet another great week of gaming! Remember to check out our VIP program for some exclusive supporter benefits, and budding writers should take advantage of our Become an Author initiative! Thanks again for being a part of this great community. Keep checking in with us for news, reviews, YouTube streams and vids, and general wiki goodness!

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The post Top RPG News Of The Week: May 5th (Elder Scrolls Online, Bloodstained, Immortal Unchained and More!) appeared first on Fextralife.

Top RPG News Of The Week: May 5th (Elder Scrolls Online, Bloodstained, Immortal Unchained and More!) published first on https://juanaframi.tumblr.com/

[kayawagner]

Happy New Year–Plans for 2019 and A Look Back

After taking an extensive break over the holidays I am back at work. This is also a good opportunity to give you an update what I have been up to lately. Without further ado, let’s get started…

Forbidden Lands and Shipping Woes In December Fria Ligan’s latest roleplaying game called Forbidden Lands was finally ready for shipping. It’s a sandbox fantasy roleplaying game which I backed on Kickstarter in 2017. When the game finally was done it was already a bit delayed but that’s something you get used to when you regularly support projects on Kickstarter.

Sometimes things don’t work as planned. Unfortunately, the shipping of the Forbidden Lands boxed sets quickly turned into a total disaster. Backers started to get grumpy when it turned out that the books and boxed sets were already done, but the distributor had to delay shipping because of another Kickstarter fulfilment.

When finally shipping started everyone was excited and a few people quickly got their packages but then things went downhill pretty fast. A lot of backers didn’t get any shipping information even though the distributor claimed they shipped everything. When Fria Ligan support contacted the distributor they got told that the packages have been sent out without tracking – which is a terrible idea considering some people were waiting for stuff worth up to hundreds of Euros. Then the same people suddenly got shipping confirmation emails with conflicting information. Quickly accusations were thrown around and it seemed as if the distributor was lying to both Fria Ligan and the backers.

At this point I decided to write an email to Fria Ligan support, the distributor as well the CEO of Fria Ligan and voice my concerns and displeasure with the whole situation. I usually don’t use my status as an “influencer” but this time I thought it might be wise to throw my weight around. And lo and behold the management director of the distributor reached out to me and they even posted an update to the Kickstarter explaining what went wrong. And only a day or two later packages which have been stuck in some warehouse for ages started to move again.

The whole kerfuffle was caused by the initial shipping delay. Shipment of hundreds of boxed sets coincided with a lot of traffic caused by both the Black Friday sales and pre-holiday online shopping. The distributor’s logistics partner was extremely overwhelmed. Even though they had hired additional help, some shipments stuck for up to two weeks in sorting hubs all over Europe. Bad communication between the distributor, Fria Ligan, and the backers caused a lot of bad blood, but luckily things calmed down after people finally received what they’ve paid for. And oh boy, Forbidden Lands is a beautiful product. The long wait was definitely worth it. I’ll probably write more about it in the future.

Hacking, Alchemy, and animated GIFs As you probably know I am not only interested in roleplaying games, but I am also a great fan of video games. I also dabbled in software development (which is probably a too big a word for what I’ve been doing) since my teens. So it’s no surprise that I enjoy many of the games released by Zachtronics. Most of their games consist of puzzles which are solved by programming. During the Steam Winter Sale I added both Exapunks and Opus Magnum to my collection. In Exapunks  you play a hacker living in an alternative version of 1990s who has to work for a mysterious AI in order to pay for medicine they need to survive. To do your job you use EXAs (which are small software constructs) which you program with a programming language comparable to Assembly language.

The other game I picked up is Opus Magnum which is set into world where Alchemy works. Your job is to design transmutation engines to – for example – turn lead into gold. It reminded me a lot of Zachtronics’ older title SpaceChem, but is much more polished in every way.

You’re probably wondering why I mentioned animated GIFs earlier. This is easily explained. Most new Zachtronics games allow you to export your solutions to the puzzles in the form of animated GIFs! I’ve included one of my solutions to a Exapunks puzzle below.

Demons, Bomb Disposal, and Nausea Traditionally my wife and I spend New Year’s Eve with friends. Usually I run a roleplaying one-shot, but this time I just didn’t feel like it. So our hosts offered we play Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes instead. It’s a party game developed for VR headsets in which one player has to disarm a bomb only they can see, while the other players have access to a manual with disarming instructions. It’s a fun game where precise communication is key. This has actually been the first time I experienced VR on a Playstation 4 and I was surprised how well it worked.

Last time I had the chance to try out a virtual reality headset was when a friend lent me his Oculus Rift Developers Kit 2. My PC at the time was barely VR-ready and most of the games weren’t really optimized yet. When it worked it was pretty impressive, but also extremely nausea-inducing. Surprisingly the PS4 VR headset didn’t cause any of these problems, even though movement in VR still felt a bit weird.

After playing Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes for a while I also had the opportunity to try out DOOM VFR which was totally awesome! If you ever have the chance to play this game, you definitely should do so. There’s also a video of me playing this game which doesn’t look as silly as I feared, which I might upload to YouTube eventually.

Retro PC Gaming and Thin Clients The older I get the more I enjoy playing old computer games from the MS DOS and early Windows era. Some of these games just have a certain charm that modern titles lack. Tools like DOSBOX and online shops like GOG have made it much easier to play old games on modern machines, but there are advantages to running games on actual hardware. While browsing YouTube I stumbled upon various videos in which retro gaming enthusiasts talked about using thin clients for retro gaming.

A thin client is basically a stripped down computer basically not much more than a terminal used to access a remote server. Most of these machines use outdated hardware and are available for just a few bucks on eBay. After doing some research I found out that a good choice for a retro-gaming machine was the HP T5720 thin client. The CPU is not too fast and can be further slowed down by reducing it’s speed multiplayer and disabling its cache. This can even be done by software while the computer is running. This is perfect if you intend to play old DOS games.

Quickly I found an HP T5720 on Amazon Marketplace for less than 20€. Unfortunately the seller supplied the wrong AC adapter. Luckily he immediately sent me the correct one, but alas the thin client still didn’t work. This time replacing the CMOS battery did the trick. While opening the machine I also found out that the seller sent me the HP T5730 by mistake. For a moment I considered returning it, but then decided to keep it for some other future project.

A few days later I found an offer for a HP T5720 on eBay. After the auction was done it turned out I was the highest bidder and for less than €20 including shipping it was mine! This time I got the correct machine including the original packaging, all documentation, a USB keyboard and a PS2 mouse. Yay!

It took me a while until I figured out how to install Windows 98 using an USB drive, but after a couple of hours my retro-gaming PC was working fine. The sound chip included on the mainboard is unfortunately not 100% DOS compatible, but works fine under Windows. I own a couple of games intended for Windows 95 and 98 which are almost impossible to play on modern machines, which should work fine on the thin client. If you’re interested in reading more about this project, please let me know.

Roleplaying game plans for 2019 Over the holidays I also had the opportunity to think about how my roleplaying activities went last year and what my plans for the future are. When it comes to Kickstarter projects 2018 was for me dominated by Fria Ligan projects – and not just on Kickstarter. I have probably played Mutant Year Zero, Genlab Alpha and Mechatron more often than any other roleplaying game this year. I also own Tales from the Loop and have backed their successor Things from the Flood which I am very excited about. I have considered running the games for a while now, I just couldn’t commit myself to preparing anything yet.

Other games I would love to run in 2019 are John Harper’s World of Dungeons Turbo: Breakers, which uses a very cool and extremely streamlined variant of the popular PbtA mechanics (it’s also free!), Everywhen, a multi-genre implementation of Barbarians of Lemuria, Advanced Fighting Fantasy or its scifi variant Stellar Adventures, and – last but not least – D&D using the Rules Cyclopedia.

My last few years as a DM have been dominated by failures and even though I feel the itch to run a roleplaying game from time to time, I haven’t been able to commit to anything yet. I also know that I’ll have to make some unpopular decisions in the future. The group I regularly play with is just too big, so I have to make up my mind who I want to invite to a new game. Regardless of who I pick, scheduling will probably an issue, and this had lead to some serious burn-out in the past. I don’t know why scheduling issues are such a huge problem for me, but it drives me totally bonkers.

I also would love to write more in general and definitely more regularly for the blog, but my lack of writing is directly tied to my lack of DMing. It’s much easier to come up with interesting topics to write about if you run a weekly game. I haven’t run anything in quite some time, and I am not sure if it’s wise to bore you with stories of my failed attempts to get a new campaign running. Heck, I am already boring myself just thinking about it…

So what have you folks been up to lately? What are your plans for 2019? Please share your comments below!

Related posts:

Kickstarter: Forbidden Lands

Happy Holidays and a Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year–Plans for 2019 and A Look Back published first on https://supergalaxyrom.tumblr.com

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Zynga Poker Hack Competence Is Your own property By Using These Recommendations

From your four year aged exercising their alphabet to some Marine sharpening his shooting expertise, online games are an important and beneficial part of our society nowadays. Anything you are making use of video games for, the next write-up will help you kick it a level and maximum benefit bang for your game playing buck.

Before buying them, attempt booking Zynga Poker Hack . It is hard to determine if you are going to such as a label or perhaps not. As a result, visit a retail store that rents movies and video games. On the whole, you can rent a game title for a few dollars, as well as the cash is generally definitely worth it. If your game is a superb obtain or otherwise not, you can determine.

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Taking part in video gaming is the best way to unwind after a difficult day at work or in school. Don't enable a tricky degree over a Zynga Poker Hack Android detract from this calming exercise. The most experienced players a while require a cheat computer code to assist cope with a remarkably hard stage. On the web, there are several excellent sites which provide cheat codes and technique guides for a variety of games.

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Make certain Zynga Poker Free Coins aren't your only pastime. If you enjoy for hours on end, your health can fall. You will need to actually get involved in alternative activities at the same time. Video games can bring you in and you will drop tabs on time before very long take note of the length of time you spend about them.

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Oaken will be releasing in its 1.0 version

Oaken turn-based tactical roguelike game's full release is coming to Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. All of this epic creativity springs from the imaginative minds at Laki Studios. Available on Steam, GOG, and Humble Store with 81% Very Positive reviews. Oaken is all about tactics and mystical vibes. It's also the creation of Laki Studios, a crew from Poland, and brought to life by Goblinz Publishing, a group from France. It's been in early access for a year. But on July 20th, the game is getting a full version. At its core, Oaken is all about strategy and choice. You'll guide your hero through a world teeming with spirits, kinda like a mystical adventure that feels both Celtic and tribal. Also, a mythical place, existing in a not easily defined space and time. Its inhabitants are spirits that listen to the same voice, called the Oak Song. The turn-based tactical roguelike game world is different every time you step into it. You'll never know what's waiting — it could be a boss or a unique event that can change your whole strategy. In Oaken, battles take place on a hexagonal grid. The key to winning isn't just about choosing the right moves, but also placing your characters in the right spots and even rotating them correctly. Due to power up your spells and spirits however you like, lets you really make your play style your own. And whether you're just looking for some relaxed fun or a real challenge, there's something for everyone.

Oaken - Full Release Announcement Trailer

Now, when the full version of Oaken comes out, they're adding a ton of new features. There's a new area to explore, and a guide to help you out. Plus, they're going to smooth out any rough edges to make sure everything works perfectly. Entering a mystical realm where you can uncover countless new areas, tackle scary bosses, and improve your abilities. For those of you who've already been playing Oaken on Linux, there's an update you can try out, the Roots Update 1.0.1. It has a brand new area you can find in the third part of the journey. Also a secret guide, a better intro, smarter AI, and an improved "undo" function. Even an end scene if you find the bonus ending. Plus, they've made lots of small upgrades to visuals and play. The turn-based tactical roguelike has more achievements and it's even playable in Japanese. And for Linux players who already own Oaken you can check the games update in the Open-Beta branch: the Roots Update 1.0.1 Oaken is set in a unique, mythical world, tucked away within the branches of a gigantic tree called the Great Oak. Everyone in this world hears a voice called the Oak Song. But when this voice goes silent, a chain of events begins that could save or destroy the Great Oak. So now it's your job to step in and decide the fate of this world. The full release is due to arrive on July 20th. Oaken is available on Steam with a 25% discount, priced at $14.99 USD / £13.49 / 14,99€. Also on GOG and Humble Store . Along with support for Linux, Mac, and Windows PC.

[linuxgamenews]

Warhammer 40000: Shootas Blood & Teef will not see support but maybe Proton

Warhammer 40000: Shootas Blood & Teef game will not be ported to Linux, just Mac, and Windows PC. Due to further details from developer Rogueside. Due to release on Steam, GOG, and Humble Store. Rogueside and Games Workshop announced the upcoming run & gun platformer Warhammer 40000: Shootas Blood & Teef. Due to launch on October 20, 2022 for Mac and Windows PC. But what about Linux support?

We will not be porting the game specifically for Linux. But we did notice some people are able to play the current demo on Linux.

Thanks to the Linux comment on the Discussions post, no port. But if you played the Demo, you know the game engine is Unity 3D. So this still offers some hope for Proton support going forward. You can try out the new and improved Warhammer 40000: Shootas Blood & Teef demo for yourself. Which is available via Steam as part of the Warhammer SKULLS 2022 event. The enhanced demo adds a new level that unlocks the Weirdboy character class. That joins the previously available Flash Git class. While adding up to four-player local and online co-op. Due to featuring a never before seen introductory cutscene. Results may vary on Linux via Proton. An explosive new trailer showcases the bombastic hand-drawn game in action. Complete with da boyz getting their mitts on loadz of shiny gubbinz, and massive Ummie Knights. There is also a taste of the face melting heavy metal soundtrack. Thanks to the efforts of Deon van Heerden.

Warhammer 40000: Shootas Blood & Teef | Release Date Trailer

This is a hand-drawn 2D run and gun adventure taking you on a wild ride of dakka, gore, and explosions! Krump your way through the hive city of Luteus Prime. Whle you battle Humans, Orks and Genestealer cultists. Then ultimately recover your luscious hair squig from the hands of the Warboss Gutrekka!

Full Game Features:

Classic 2D side-scrolling goodness, filled with intense action, funny one-liners, screaming deaths, and comical dialogues!

Choose your class, picking between four distinct characters, each with their own unique toolkit true to the Warhammer 40000: Shootas Blood & Teef lore.

Inflict chaos with an arsenal of weapons at your fingertips. Expand your armory with up to twenty different weapons. There’s no such thing as having too much dakka!

Unleash your Waaagh! at the right time! Wreak carnage and rain destruction on those puny ‘umies.

Challenge the mightiest empire in the Warhammer 40000: Shootas Blood & Teef universe. Become victorious, bring the planet to its knees and lead your very own Waaagh!

Earn hats by destroying compelling bosses, completing milestones or exchanging Teef at the Mekboy shop. Teef are collected by tearing through the story.

Beautiful hand-drawn scenery gives an incredible sense of depth to a side-on world.

Break up the action, and immerse yourselves in engaging cinematics.

Set foot on Luteus Prime in single-player mode, or get a party together of up to four Ork Boyz and have some fun together! Multiplayer is available both online and in local co-op.

Brawl it out against your rivals in an all-out epic battle to decide who is the baddest Ork in the Warband! Up to four boyz can scrap it out in the arena, both online and in local PvP.

Get your socks rocked off with an amazing heavy metal soundtrack, composed by Deon van Heerden.

Yes, there will be explosions. Like, a lot of them!

Warhammer 40000: Shootas Blood & Teef will launch on October 20, 2022. Due to release on Steam, GOG, and Humble Store. But only on Mac and Windows PC, Linux support via Proton, hopefully.

[linuxgamenews]

Wasteland 3 one last mission DLC coming this fall

Cult of the Holy Detonation game DLC is due to release for Wasteland 3 on Linux, Mac, and Windows PC. Thanks to the ongoing efforts of developer inXile Entertainment. Due to make its way onto Steam, GOG, and Humble Store this fall. With gamescom and the one year anniversary of Wasteland 3 just around the corner. Now inXile Entertainment and Prime Matter are proud to announce not only the second and final DLC expansion. The "Cult of the Holy Detonation" but also the release of the "Colorado Collection", both of which will be released on October 5th, 2021. Wasteland 3: Cult of the Holy Detonation follows a nuclear detonation stuck in time. A holy war between mutant cults and the Desert Rangers in the thick of it. Deep inside the Cheyenne Mountain military complex. This where mutant cults worship an ancient deity they call the sacred detonation. A nuclear explosion that is held to a halt. Whether it was a god, a science experiment, or an unintended miracle. Now the energy of detonation could power Colorado Springs for hundreds of years. But could also razor it to the ground in an instant. In Cult of the Holy Detonation, the warring cults have different opinions. Since they are trying to decide who should be allowed to honor their god. Therefore, you will have to fight your way to the altar. It's one last mission for the Colorado Rangers. As a result, it's sure to be explosive - whatever the outcome. A teaser trailer giving players a first look at the new DLC.

Wasteland 3: Cult of the Holy Detonation - DLC Announce Teaser

> Cult of the Holy Detonation expands the Wasteland 3 experience. While giving access to the Cheyenne Mountain complex. This is full of new characters, enemies, and challenging combat encounters. There is also powerful new weapons and armor. The goal based encounters, which add a creative touch to the already highly tactical turn based combat. They will put your squad of rangers to the test like never before. The rangers are facing an almost impossible task and have to shut down reactors. Due to clean ventilation systems and initiate defensive countermeasures. All in order to face an endless flood of dangerous mutants and machines inside the dilapidated military bunker. Cult of the Holy Detonation is the second and final expansion for Wasteland 3. Due to be available for $6.99 USD on Steam, GOG, and Humble Store. Xbox and PlayStation or as part of the Wasteland 3 Colorado Collection for $59.99 USD. This includes Wasteland 3, The Battle of Steeltown, Cult of the Holy Detonation and Colorado Survival Gear. If you own the base game, you could purchase the $19.99 Expansion Pass. Available on Steam, GOG, and Humble Store.

[linuxgamenews]

Colony Ship post Earth role playing game slated for Linux

Colony Ship turn-based party-based to get support for Linux and Mac beside Windows PC. Thanks to developer Iron Tower Studio. Which is now available via Steam Early Access and on GOG. Releasing with 90% Positive Reviews. The Early Access release of Colony Ship: A Post Earth Role Playing Game is now live. Available on Windows PC but the FAQ also includes plans for Linux and Mac support.

Yes. The engine (Unreal 4) supports both platforms, so I don't expect any problems there. However, we won't know until we try, so it's not a promise but a goal.

Colony Ship is a turn-based, party-based RPG aboard a generation ship. Launching to Proxima Centauri. The game features a detailed skill based character system and multiple ways to handle quests. While including choices and outcomes, and branching dialogue trees. Gameplay starts in the Year of Our Lord 2754. You will never feel the sun’s warmth under a blue sky. Never hear the wind in the branches of a tree, and never swim in the ocean. All due to the misfortune of being born on the Ship. Bound to a fate you didn’t choose. You have never seen Earth and you’ll never see Proxima Centauri either. Since you are doomed to live and die on the Ship in the name of the Mission. Like your father before you, and his father before him.

Colony Ship - Early Access Trailer

Since the Ship is old. She had already been in service for twenty years, then being rechristened Starfarer. Which is also a nice name for a retrofitted interplanetary freighter. No one is certain the Ship will actually reach its goal. Plus nobody really cares, since no one alive now will live to see it. Might as well get on with your life and try to make the best of it. Colony Ship is an isometric RPG inspired by Heinlein’s Orphans of the Sky. Therefore, your character's world is a “generation ship.” A massive spacecraft on a centuries long voyage to colonize a distant planet. The Ship's original government has been disbanded following a violent mutiny. So you must work through a dangerous path among your fellow passengers. And the contentious factions striving to dominate the Ship. Your choices alone will decide who your friends and enemies are.

Features:

Skill-based character system, with feats and implants.

Tactical turn-based combat. Features standard, aimed, and weapon specific attacks.

Multiple quest solutions, mutually exclusive questlines, and a branching main storyline.

10 recruitable party members with different personalities, agendas, and beliefs. Also only 3 available in the first Colony Ship chapter.

3 main factions and a score of lesser factions and groups

A large arsenal including melee weapons, firearms, energy pistols, grenades, and futuristic gadgets like the Energy Shield, Reality Distortion Generator, and Cloaking Field.

Different environments to explore, from the Engine Room and Hydroponics to the dystopian cities of the Habitat and the Mission Control ruins (only the Pit, Armory, and Hydroponics are available in the first chapter)

Colony Ship: A Post Earth Role Playing Game releases today on Windows PC. Available on both Steam Early Access and GOG for $24.99 USD. But will eventually make its way onto Linux and Mac. Colony Ship turn-based party-based v1.0 is due to launch in 2022 for $39.99 USD.