#need a release date or a playable demo like NOW

[pawborough]

Hello everyone! 

First off, apologies for the later update this month! 

The truth is that the software developers were on a slow bend this month. A majority of time was spent on theoretical economy balancing and item number crunching. While this is important work for the long term, there’s not much to show for it aside from spreadsheet numbers. We’re now back in full swing!

Originally, we wanted to wait to update the demo with Longhairs before releasing a check in. You all deserve some substantial content. 

However, the devs reported that they were not going to be able to do this until next week. Hearing this, we didn't want to continue the wait after that!

That all being said, Longhairs and Cheeks/Lollipop are coming this month, full promise! The art has all been ready, we just had some technical kinks to buff out!

Moontails are next up with the majority of their patterns done. The breed currently needs 3 more patterns illustrated. Moontail wing color-picking has also been a mighty task that is nearing completion! Check out a few wing color previews: 

We expect Moontails to be up soon after Longhairs. 

We have in the meantime begun concurrent production on illustrating Thumpers, with Fyrets and Bovines close behind. 

This update, we will majority talk about what concrete expectations you as a follower can have for our timeline! 

Let's look at some art first! 

New Fauna

Nautitum 

This aquatic fella saves snacks for later in his belly!

New Accessories

We have completed a backer accessory!

Firefly Chime

The illustration of the Firefly Chime was a great experiment for us, as we worked with a copy-past-able asset and still positioned it in unique ways. 

With these two, we were able to test our pipeline for different types of accessories. The Firefly Chime was finished in record time, and we believe that we can illustrate quite a few simple accessories. 

This is all very exciting for our catalog! 

Guild UI

With this screenshot, we see how roll for outcome scenarios are played out!

We want to talk about our expectations for the future! 

Our goal for a dedicated alpha is to have a test of about 100 concurrent users run for two weeks straight. This is to stress test the servers and weed out apparent bugs. We already have many playable states, but this test would mark a tangible transition to beta. 

After which, we will move to beta to test things like number balancing, item drop rates, and general mechanic feedback. Beta is planned to run for several months while we iron the kinks. 

So what should you expect? 

Our original plan was for alpha to remain strictly internal and invite only. We wanted testers to understand that this would be a rather laborious volunteer job with less fun, more QA. However, we have been shown by the sheer dedication and passion in our supporters that some of you would want nothing more! 

So, we're opening alpha applications! 

Alpha Applications

Alpha will be a two week long test with an average of 100 users. 

We must stress that this is a volunteer job with more expectations than beta. You will be given a checklist of functions to test and buttons to click daily, and be expected to report any bugs or lack thereof each time. All alpha testers will be compensated for their time and energy with an exclusive fauna. (As mentioned before, exclusive Fauna will not be counted for Faunapedia completion rewards.) 

Compatible volunteers will be chosen at random from our application. 

Sign up here! 

Applications will close upon announcement. We will make an announcement of a closure date one week before they officially close!

Timeline

We are planning to have alpha up and running within 30-60 days from now.

Closed beta will begin 3 weeks after alpha. 

From there, we plan to open our doors for people without beta keys during registration periods. This will be "open beta." 

Projection for this is August of 2024. 

This asset will be pinned to all our social media. 

While we've had general estimations before now based on different factors, this is our first promise of an established expectation. We had a lot of learning curves, personal setbacks, and growing pains as a team, but we've ironed out much of the kinks seen in our early development. August has been a consistent goal of ours for opening registrations from the beginning, and we're now finally comfortable enough to announce it. 

We are still hesitant to announce dates at this time, as frankly anything can happen and we're loath to have users wait months for a date only to be disappointed by a push to the next week, but this is what our team is expecting and projecting. 

Dates will be announced when they are within 2 weeks time! This will give us a tight enough window to accurately predict when the game will be ready, and ensure there aren’t last minute pushes. It will also give users time to prepare for grabbing early registrations. 

From open beta, we'll be working to transition into a formidable game. All our focus will be on readying content and making sure our mechanics are balanced. This ballpark is dependent on a number of factors, so we'll need to update as we transition into Phase 4! 

One more note for users to expect: Throughout alpha and beta, there may be placeholder assets for smaller things such as food icons or items. These will be visually indicated as placeholders. 

The intention for these game states will be to make sure our software runs as smoothly as possible, the economy is balanced, and the game is fun to play. Our program will not be "launched" until all assets are final, but it will speed our development to both test and produce at the same time! 

Our artists during this phase of development are all freelancers, and their availability is largely dependent on outside factors. We must remain vigilant to this fact while we plan out our timeline, and we appreciate everyone's support and patience!

We realize this update has less content than previous updates, but a large amount of our manpower at this moment is going towards monotonous things such as repeat pattern illustrations, repeat accessory illustrations, and refinement of mechanics already featured.

Thank you to all our supporters who have stuck by us while we continued development and faced new challenges! It's a huge step for us to be at this stage, and we're all very excited!

To Summarize: We showed a new fauna, new backer accessory, guild UI development, and opened applications for 2-week dedicated alpha testing. 

What to expect next month: Further asset and UI development, peaks into alpha gameplay and dedicated game loops. 

[manonamora-if]

The Interactive Fiction DataBase - IFDB

What is the IFDB?

The IFDB, or Interactive Fiction DataBase, is a game catalogue, recommendation engine, and a platform to play games requiring an interpreter (to run the code).

As a catalogue, the IFDB is meant as a place to create a bibliography of IF games created throughout the years (over 12 thousands!), to leave a trace that these existed. It is maintained by its members. Anyone can join and add a listing or fix a mistake. You can also find listing for past IF competitions!

As a recommendation engine, the IFDB provides not only lists of the best-rated entries, but will show you games that you may enjoy based on the ones you've played/rated or what other members have played/rated. Entries are also categorised by tags, which are all searchable. Members are also able to create lists to recommende games they've enjoyed! Or leave reviews of those games too!

Finally, some games may require an interpreting engine to run. Those interpreters can be sometimes difficult to track down or to set up, especially for new players. The IFDB has a system that will allow you to play those games directly in your browser by clicking the button : Play Online (only available if the game has been uploaded through the IF Archive).

Why is the IFDB important?

The internet is a rapidly changing place. Preserving information is not only important for future generations, but can help current generations find information about what is happening now. Archiving creates a historical record of what the IF landscape looked like.

Along with the IF Archive (which archives IF games), the IFDB makes viewing the history of IF much easier to browse.

However, the IFDB lacks in many aspects. Not every IF community is aware of the database, which means many projects do not appear in this catalogue. While the IFDB has currently over 12k listings, the VNDB (the Visual Novel DataBase) has over 40k! The IFDB is also lacking in entries in languages other than English...

The IFDB accepts any listing for games, made in any program, as long as said game is an Interactive Fiction game and has had a playable version available somewhere at some point (so it accepts WIPs with demo). /!\ Do not create a page for announced project without a release ! /!\

Why create an IFDB page for your game?

Aside from being part of preserving the history of IF (which is the big thing), and be able to share your work to a different part of the community, the IFDB is a great place to get and leave long-form reviews for entries.

If your project was coded in a program that requires an interpreter, it is a great place to host your game without worrying about newer players having to find and set up an interpreter.

If you have been part of an IF competition, or received accolades for your project, this is also a good way to showcase those achievements.

Finally, the IFDB is also a point of reference for IF Awards like the XYZZY and the IFDB Awards.

How do you create an IFDB page?

/!\ Please check that the game listing you want to add has not been added first! /!\

To create an IFDB page, you need to set up an account and be logged in.

Then click on Add a Game Listing, on the right menu in the main page. You will get the following page:

(You should read through the Guidelines the first time you add a listing, they are located at the top of the page)

Though it looks long, there are only very few information required to create a page:

The title

The name(s) of the author(s)

It is recommended to fill in the date of first publication, development system (program used to code), language, IFID (if available) description of the game, and genre.

As for being able to play the game, you have two (non-exclusive) options:

list the URL of the website where the game is hosted

list the download URL of the game (can be done through the IF Archive, only if you are the author of the game!)

Note sure what something is? A description (or a link towards explanations) of what is expected is included for almost all items. You can also include information that is not listed in the drop-down case (like the System or language).

When you are happy with it, click Save changes.

You can also fix, edit, or delete information at any moment. You just need to click on the link Edit This Page at the bottom of the game page.

How do you add Ratings, Reviews and Game Suggestions ?

Logged in with your account, you have the possibility of leaving ratings and reviews on a game page. You can also help the IFDB algorithm by suggesting similar games to an entry.

The process is fairly straight-forward (clicking on the stars for the rating, clicking Review it for the review, and clicking Suggest similar games, for the suggestions). Thought you can find further explanations here, if you follow what the website is asking, you should not have any difficulty to complete the task !

If you review enough games, your name can end up on the main page!

How do I create a Competition Page?

Have you participated or organised an IF competition? Or are you cataloguing previous editions?

You can create a separate page for a Competition by clicking on Add a Competition Page on the right menu of the main page. You will then get the following page:

Then it is a matter of filling the different relevant items.

The Competition Page allows for divisions within competitions (e.g. : the EctoComp had 2 categories, made under 4h and over 4h) and, if needs be, ranking.

Important Note: the competition entries need to already be listed in the IFDB to be added to a competition page.

What are Lists and Polls?

Lists and Polls are two other tools that interact with game entries.

Lists, also called Recommendation Lists, are lists a member will curate with games they are recommending to other members or viewers of the IFDB. Some are general (like best game ever) while others are more specific (like games with an AI that is nice). They are akin to public collections on Itch.io.

Polls are... polls.

Note: If a game is included in a poll and/or a list, these will appear on the game's page.

~~~~

TLDR: create an account, help preserve the IF landscape by recording its history, review games too :P

If I missed something, or something is unclear, let me know so I can edit it!

[megaman-r]

Hello! Welcome to my rather extended effort to make a classic-style-ish Mega Man game. My name's Nevi, my main is @afniel, and I'm here to be everyone's problem. I used to be tracking progress for this on Twitter, but we all know how that went, so now I'm here instead.

First, the top 3 questions I tend to get:

What is this?

A fan game, created in the NES style. Well. Eventually it will be. Making a game is not a quick or easy task.

What's it about?

When I was young, I always thought it was boring of Capcom to not give Roll her own game. I got older and I still think that, but I've also thought other things along the way, like, why do these games always raise such alarming existential questions and then completely forget they happened? How long would it take to learn a functional amount of music theory? Is it Metool, Mettaur, or Metall? Whatever they're called, why aren't there a lot more of these little guys in the games?

Basically, I'm giving Roll the game I always thought she deserved.

Can I play it?

Currently, there's really nothing to play. I've got the basic engine functioning quite well and a good chunk of the visual assets finished to a working degree, but refining everything, getting the gameplay as tight as it needs to be, and making sure nobody's AI breaks or sucks is a pretty big job.

That all said, my first real roadmap goal is to have a single-stage playable demo. While I don't have any notion of a release date for that, I am working steadily towards it, so please stay tuned!

The rest of the FAQ is long and maybe less interesting, so I'll stash it under a cut to save you a little scrolling.

The Game Itself

Is it going to be girly?

Probably not as girly as you're imagining, if you're asking that. After all, there's still explosions, boss fights, insta-death spikes, a ton of weapons to choose from, and quite a lot of shooting. Just because the main character is in a dress won't change the core feel of the game, nor will it be easier than other MM games.

Also, a thing being girly isn't bad anyway. It's just a style.

What makes this different from any other MM game/fangame?

Fair question! I'm going to be a little secretive about it though and just say 'choice.' It's a thing that the MM series isn't known for giving players, outside of what order you want to explode the robot masters. I think it could be more interesting than that.

That said, the mainline classic MM games don't have a whole lot to distinguish them from each other, and they're still fun and each one of them is someone's all-time fav game, so even if it just ends up being Another MM Game, that's still not a bad crowd to be in.

Are we fighting Dr. Wily? What's the plot?

:)

Some of that will come with the eventual demo release. The rest will be on full release. I don't want to spoil it up front, you know?

You will get to see some familiar faces for sure, I'll say that much.

Will this game be accessible?

I want it to be! I think games in general have a lot of work to do to become more accessible to disabled gamers, and as a disabled gamer, I want to try and do my due diligence in that.

It is playable on both keyboard (not comfortable) and controller (a lot more comfortable), and while the controls are fairly simple, there is already a fully-functional option to switch between classic MM style down+jump to slide, and MMX style dedicated single button slide.

Remapping buttons is somewhat beyond the scope of the engine I'm using, which is unfortunate, and all the more reason for me to learn something more flexible like Godot.

I'm trying to choose palettes for things that should be eyestrain-friendly. Flashing will be kept to a minimum in the default game mode, and I plan on having a sensory-friendly mode with no flashing whatsoever and certain other effects lessened/changed/removed. Of course, I can't guarantee that certain patterns won't affect sensitive people regardless, but I'm going to give it a good try.

Depending on how easy the game engine makes sensory-friendly mode, it may end up being a separate download version, but I hope not, that's just not as good.

Alternate difficulty modes are also something I want to do! I just haven't looked at implementation yet, but it should be pretty easy.

Game Development Stuff

What are you using to make MMR?

The engine itself is in Pixel Game Maker, which is kind of an underdog DIY game engine and if I'd really been thinking I'd probably have started it in Godot or something, but I'm already here and honestly, I like how it works, so I'm keeping it. The assets are entirely made in Aseprite, and the music is entirely Famitracker, with a little use of Audacity to make sure tracks loop properly and to get things into the right format.

Very few visual assets are taken from the games directly, mostly some enemies and most of the sound effects (because those are not something I want to try to recreate using only Famitracker—I only have so many hours in a day).

How NES-like are we talking, here?

I'm aiming for NES-like in the way that Sonic Mania aimed for Genesis/Master System-like: the style matches, the limitations are mostly observed, but certain limitations are disregarded when it would be extremely awesome to do so.

Some examples: I'm very fastidious about color palettes per tile and per minor enemy sprite; I'm less fastidious about color palettes onscreen at a time and color palettes per boss sprite. I'm not trying to replicate the sprites-per-scanline flicker. Number of frames per animation isn't something I'm really considering as long as it looks visually appropriate. I'm sticking with 2A03 music, except for where I mean business, and then I may whip out the VRC6 channels instead.

So no, this wouldn't run verbatim on an actual NES, even if you recoded it in 6503 Assembly, but you would be able to get quite close.

How did you learn to make pixel art?

Well, when I was a wee little neurodivergent child, one of my favorite hobbies was making tiles and characters in MS Paint and building big collages out of them. I made a lot of beehives, for some reason...

Then I became a medium-sized neurodivergent teenager, got really into RPG Maker 2000, and the sprites and tiles were not to my liking, so I started editing them and eventually making my own from scratch.

I'm now a fairly normal-sized neurodivergent adult, and making pictures out of little dots is still a lot of fun, especially with a harshly constrained palette. Doing NES-like graphics just kind of comes naturally after all that.

How did you learn to make music?

Honestly? I just began throwing myself at it. My first attempts were unabashedly bad. When things didn't make sense and I couldn't get them to sound right, which was all the time, I looked them up. Starting with general chord theory was what really made it begin to click. The first thing I composed and kept was the Lagoon Stage music, and not coincidentally it's been through the most refactors as well. Coming from an art background where I'm very used to the Ugly Painting Stage of any given piece has definitely helped with patience, too. The important thing is to just keep beating your head against it. It's frustrating, but you only learn to make music by making music.

Every track on the OST represents about two days of feverishly slamming notes together for four-six hours a day, preceded by one-four whole months of tapping and humming random things until one of them ignites something in my brain that goes, "Oh, I know how the rest of this should go!"

How did you learn to code?

Well, honestly, I didn't; PGM is a visual scripting engine, so everything pretty much looks like flowcharts, and the number of functions is kind of constrained. Every object in the game is a state machine, so that's pretty much the paradigm I understand. I could not code my way out of a paper sack in any actual language.

That being said, I do understand the core concepts of what programming is, and most of that I learned by watching Retro Game Mechanics Explained on YouTube until I suddenly understood what 6502 Assembly was all about and everything else just kind of made sense. I don't know either! It's a little weird. But it did work, so I can't complain.

Is this related to [Other Fan Project]?

Nope, it's not part of or related to any other fanworks. I'm a solo dev working on just this one project right now. (However, if you're making a classic or MMX-style game and need pixel art assets, I'm open to talk about that! Please note though that I do not work for free.)

Your robot master has the same name/concept as [Other Fan Character].

Sorry if that's the case! There are so many really stellar MM fan characters out there that a little name/concept-sharing is basically unavoidable. No infringement is intended, no profit will be made from this game, and I'm uninvolved enough with the general fandom at large that I can pretty confidently say I didn't even know about your character. Take it as a case of Great Minds Think Alike, if it happens.

Do you have anywhere else I can keep up with this?

I sure do! I've got a Discord specifically for it where I toss a lot of WIP sprites and such, and that's where eventual playtesting will happen too if you're into that sort of thing, and a Trello that I don't always remember to update, but it exists at least!

Mega Man R Secret Gamedev Clubhouse Discord

Trello Roadmap (when I remember to update it...)

What's the pixel art in your banner?

That was just me greebling at random for practice and funsies. The full image isn't used anywhere as-is, but I did end up using some parts of it in the tiles.

[deusvervemakesgames]

Project RBH Devlog 0003 – Locked and Loaded

We’re a week down, three to go. I have no idea if I’m still on target or not because there’s one rather sizeable part of this project that I can’t even begin to run a time estimate on, but more on that later. For now, let’s check in on my progress.

As a refresher, by Week 6 I hope to have a fully playable micro-demo of this game. To get that to happen, the following needs to get done:

1 ‘dungeon’

Hub Area

Menus

7 enemies COMPLETE

1 boss

The basic powerups COMPLETE

SE + Music

Art

As you can see, I’ve finished the last three enemies, who I’ll introduce shortly. I also made some adjustments to the enemies showcased previously, mostly by increasing the range of their attacks. I also made terrain block the shockwave attack, so that cover will cause it to break up and create gaps in the ring.

As for the new enemies, we can start with a basic turret that repeatedly fires missiles at the player before taking a few second of cooldown between volleys.

I’m quite happy with how the missiles slow to a stop before detonating. There’s currently a minor bug with the missiles and how they interact with the player’s mercy invincibility, but it’s an easy fix I can change with a few keystrokes, I just haven’t yet. It was a fix I had to implement because of a different enemy we’ll see later.

Next we’ve got another area denial enemy. This one’s pretty simple, they fire in a circle, rotating their fire to create something of a spiral. They aren’t even aiming at the player, but the volume of bullets could prove to be something of an issue.

Not exactly a threat alone but dangerous in swarms.

Finally we have another enemy that doesn’t actually use bullets to shoot at the player. They instead have a cone attack of floor spikes.

This is the reason I needed that one fix I mentioned earlier. My damage code would recognize the attack as dealing zero damage when the attack was charging up (that is to say, when the spikes are still in the ground), and trigger mercy invincibility even though no HP was lost. This wasn’t a hard fix; I just added an exit to the damage function if the damage equals zero. That missile issue I mentioned is that the missile does not do zero damage, so the player is invincible for the actual explosion.

Next up is a minor bugfix. Previously, if you died, you would keep all of your powerups. I overcomplicated fixing this at first by trying to make a second set of variables to set the player variables equal to, but manually resetting them all is way more efficient.

While I was fixing the damage thing, I realized I forgot a powerup last week, so I added that really quick. They’re not exactly difficult additions.

Next up was the addition of Hitstop and camera shake. These are tools to help emphasize feedback to player, to make it easier to understand that you have been hit and where. Now when the player takes damage, the game pauses for a fraction of a second followed by a shaking effect with the camera. This is technically a bug, actually, as they’re supposed to happen simultaneously. I think I know how to fix it but I haven’t gotten around to it yet.

I had some issues with the hitstop actually, since the bullets use some of Game Maker Studios physics handling, and therefore will continue to move even while running no code, but I sorted that out with an empty While loop.

Which leaves us now onto the next hurdle. And it’s the big one. If anything is going to cut my time a bit close to that release date goal, it’s this.

Procedural Generation.

I plan to use the simple method of gluing premade rooms together like The Binding of Isaac rather than something more like how Nuclear Throne creates a totally random space. This gives me quite a bit of control over the encounters the player can have, as well as the environment. This is a game based around RUN AND GUN, as you might recall, and a more randomized organic shape might result in environments that clash with that gameplay.

The problem with that is that I’m not exactly a programming genius. I’m a designer, I design the backend and work with programmers who bring my design to life. Doing it myself is something I have to do because I am a solo developer but we are well outside my typical wheelhouse.

(I should note that designers should know at least a little bit of how to program, both for ease of communications with developers and coders, and to help with testing design such as parameter changes. Doing everything alone is a bit different.)

Researching how to pull this off was a pain. I mentioned before the Nuclear Throne method, and that’s the method that about 90% of tutorials cover. The method I want to use is mostly reduced to theory instead of practical implementation. However, I found a promising lead so I think I’ll be able to pull this off.

With any luck, next week I’ll be showing off some kind of procedural generation. The faster I get it done, the more variation I can add to it.

Three weeks to go.

Until next Devlog!

-DeusVerve

Special thanks to my Tier 3 Patron Haelerin!

Support me on Patreon

[linuxgamenews]

TOTAL RELOAD Demo: Think Outside the Box with Wires

TOTAL RELOAD demo for the first person puzzle adventure game is coming to Linux with Windows PC. Thanks to the creative talents of developer TORSHOCK. Due to make its way onto Steam this month. Exciting news — there’s a brand-new first person puzzle adventure called TOTAL RELOAD, and the demo is now live on Steam. If you’re into games like Portal, this one is going to be right for you. Since it draws a lot of inspiration from that series. But here’s the twist: instead of “thinking with portals,” you’ll be “thinking with wires.” And its all due to arrive in a native port soon.

We plan to add a Linux version of the demo to Steam during October. We are developing Total Reload in Unity.

Here's the latest from TORSHOCK, and it's pretty straightforward: a native Linux build for the TOTAL RELOAD demo is on the way. No exact date yet, but it’s coming soon. The good news is that support will likely carry over to the full release too. As for Steam Deck support, they haven't shared any updates on that just yet.

TOTAL RELOAD Cinematic Trailer for the Demo

In TOTAL RELOAD, you’ll be working alongside an Artificial Intelligence named HAWKING, helping it activate a massive, universe-resetting mechanism. The puzzles are all about connecting different energy sources using Quantum Transporters, and it gets pretty tricky. You’ll have to power up things like moving platforms, sensor grids, and doors to solve each challenge. The mechanics are designed to be a fresh take on the classic puzzle formula, and the whole “wires” concept really sets it apart. The TOTAL RELOAD demo gives you access to 20% of the full title’s locations. It’s a great way to dive in and wrap your head around the core mechanics before the full release. The best part? You can carry over your progress to the full game, so no need to start from scratch when it launches. And speaking of launching, the full release will hit Steam on January 15, 2025, priced at $19.99 USD / £16.95 / 19,95€. In the demo, there’s even a DevConsole where you can activate special commands to mess around and have some extra fun. Oh, and one more thing! TOTAL RELOAD demo will be featured at Steam Next Fest in from October 14th - 21st. But you don’t have to wait until then to try it out. The Windows PC build is available right now, playable on Linux via Proton. Perfect for those of us who like solving spatial puzzles and messing with the laws of physics. With a native build on the way. Along with a day-one release for the full release. So if you're up for a challenge and ready to “think with wires,” give the first person puzzle adventure a shot. Also, keep an eye out for the full release next year!

[atrial-ofhorror-if]

Happy March everyone 👐🏿👐🏿!! I hope you guys have had a lovely week, its almost Saturdays and the weather (at least where I live) has been suspiciously nice!

I've got a couple of housekeeping updates followed by games updates, so stay tuned yay?

1) I'm changing my develog updates from monthly to bi-weekly. COVID cases have slowed down, so I no longer have to worry about drowning at work so thats a plus. HOWEVER, I got a new position at work so I'm having to learn the ropes of that and its honestly alot.

2) I've been feeling kinda off this week, (I finally went back to work this week and they REALLY worked me). I'm trying to push through to this demo drop so I can take a break, but its getting a bit cumbersome. Honestly, I think its my depression rearing its ugly head back into my life. I'm trying to do things that make me happy; drawing, playing video games, knitting, gardening. But I feel too tired to do that stuff sometimes 😕😕.

Sorry for the overload, I just wanted to let you guys know what was going on 😓😓.

But onto the game! So above all, I have some minor errors and grammatical mistakes that I need to fix, but the game is fully playable now, so yay!!

I'm predicting that the game will be released on March 20th, I'm aiming for that date because I want to add some ~fancy~ add-ons to it. Like audio and shit like that so we shall see how that comes out.

The week before the game comes out I'll make another post just for clarity in case anything changes (God, I hope not). Anyway, here's what I have planned for the next two weeks!

Whats Coming Up 👉🏿👉🏿

Add special effects to games

Work on polishing the game

Work on the itch.io page

Anyway, love you guys and see you in two weeks.🤎🤎🤎

[blazehedgehog]

What was the honest reaction to Sonic 06 back in 2006?

It was a long time ago, so I can only really speak to my own perspective.

Sonic 2006 was the time that Sega’s marketing department really started cranking the hype train really, really hard. Sonic 2006 was announced as a fresh start. A soft reboot. Sonic Team said they were treating it like “the first Sonic game on the Sega Genesis.” You still had Tails, and Knuckles, and Shadow, but it was the start of a new era. A new type of Sonic the Hedgehog. More serious, more realistic, more “epic.”

At this point, there was no reason to necessarily distrust any of that. Yes, Sonic games had been slipping in quality, and yes, Sega was still more or less pretending that everything was “okay.” But that was always in the typical, “we’re trying to sell a video game and not go bankrupt” sense. This felt like a tacit acknowledgement that things weren’t so great and they were going to start over and refocus. Set things right.

Early gameplay footage looked rough. I distinctly remember a Gametrailers hands-on where they were demoing the Mach Speed Zone in Kingdom Valley, and the Sega representative was very clear and upfront that the game wasn’t done yet, and all of the empty space Sonic was running through would be filled in later. (It wasn’t.) There was also the typical debate over the TGS 2006 “Bringing it Home” playable demo, where people argued then, too, that the game wasn’t done yet, and not to judge things too harshly. The final version will be better.

The final version also wasn’t done yet. So, y’know.

I had effectively bought an Xbox 360 for this game. I was broke as per usual, but I’d gotten lucky and won a Gametrailers video competition, which landed me $1000 in Gamestop gift cards. I bought a PS2, a Nintendo DS, and an Xbox 360, plus more than a dozen games between the three platforms. I knew there would be more Xbox 360 games besides Sonic 2006, and I’d even originally wanted a 360 primarily for Elder Scrolls Oblivion, but the simple fact is that once the money was in my hands and I spent it, Sonic 2006 was the only actual Xbox 360 game I owned.

Or was going to own, anyway. I think I’d won the contest in September or October of 2006, when Sonic came out in November. So I bought the 360 a few weeks early with some original Xbox games, and spent the interim with Spider-man 2, Ninja Gaiden Black, and the copy of Halo 2 I borrowed from my cousin.

Sonic 2006 was the first game I’d ever pre-ordered. The second game, pre-ordered on the same day, was The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for the Gamecube. I still have the tiny pre-order statue that came with Sonic. His gloves and socks, once white, have begun to yellow with age, and the skin tone on his face and body is turning an ashy gray.

Even 72 hours before launch, there was not a clear picture what Sonic 2006 actually was. Sega was deliberately obfuscating certain features; early in development they’d sworn up and down that there were only three playable characters in the game, something that blatantly wasn’t true. Perhaps it was miscommunication from Japan, but it meant they were now going out of their way to hide how many other playable characters were actually in the game. I naively distrusted most (if not all) professional reviewers back then, and the earliest scores for Sonic 2006 were all over the map.

As a Sonic fan, you kind of had to know how to read between the lines on the more negative reviews, because we were definitely in the era where it felt like critics were starting to dogpile on the Sonic franchise now that Sega was a third party developer. There weren’t a lot of professional reviews you could trust regarding Sonic games, or at least, that’s what it felt like. This was the rise of the podcast, and snarky hosts were taking whatever low hanging fruit they could get.

I remember waking up on launch day -- friends had gotten up early and picked theirs up in the morning, when I’d rolled out of bed somewhere closer to noon (or maybe even afternoon). I had plans to pick up my copy later that evening, after sunset. My friends did not sound happy, but again, there was always this vibe of “Wait and see.” They had only just started the game. First impressions were still too fresh to really call.

But I had this moment, this cold spot in the pit of my stomach, where I thought “Maybe I can cancel the pre-order and get Gears of War instead?” Reviews for Gears seemed pretty good. I’d probably be happy with it instead of Sonic.

I couldn’t let myself do that. I was a Sonic fan. This was the first big Sonic game of a new generation. A new start. I bought the console for this. First game I ever pre-ordered. The second Sonic game in the history of the franchise I’d bought on launch day. This was it. This was the event. No backing down. Besides, Sonic 2006 was a big 15th Anniversary celebration game. They wouldn’t make such a big deal about the anniversary without just cause, right? Sonic 2006 was going to be great. I just needed to calm down.

So we drove out to Gamestop -- and it was the sort of thing where I think we couldn’t do the pre-order at my local Gamestop for some reason, so this one was a town or two over. It was a journey. I was nervous the whole way there. Something told me I was making a mistake. But I had to do this.

I think it may have been starting to rain as we rolled up on the store. It was around 8pm, and people were starting to camp out on the sidewalk. Literally camp out, tents and all, because of the rain. Today was the launch date for Sonic 2006, but tomorrow was the launch of the Playstation 3. These guys were here for Gamestop’s “Midnight Madness” launch event. They were going to be some of the first to get a PS3. I was probably the last person to pick up a Sonic 2006 pre-order.

Sonic 2006 might have been the first Sonic game to ever make me angry. I’d had a lot of internet debates on how I felt about Sonic Adventure 2, but most of those amounted to splitting hairs about things that felt disappointing when compared to the original Sonic Adventure. I was not angry then, I was simply let down. I was similarly let down when I finally got a chance to play Sonic Heroes. But again, not angry. Baffled, maybe. A little sad. But not angry.

With Sonic 2006, I slammed head first in to all of my excitement and uncertainty at 200mph. This was a Sonic game unlike anything I’d ever played before, and in all of the worst possible ways. Enough has been said about the quality of the game that I don’t need to describe anything that’s wrong with it -- also because literally everything was wrong with it. Perhaps the first video game I’d ever played, ever, on any platform, that actually fought back against your efforts to play it. A disaster in every sense of the word. A broken nightmare. After finishing Sonic’s story, I was mad. How could they let this happen? What was wrong with them?

I was less angry after having finished Shadow’s story. Shadow had even buggier gameplay than Sonic, but it also felt more complex, more action-oriented. His story was better, too -- instead of the sappy Princess love story, Shadow’s story was about how the world was against him, and the crossroads that brought him to: rise above his past and strive to be a better person, or give in to the temptations of evil? It was still dumb as heck, but it was less dumb than Sonic’s story.

By the time the credits rolled, I had accepted the fact that this game was a mess. More of a mess than any Sonic game ever had been before. It was clearly a deeply unfinished game. Friends theorized maybe they could patch the game, because that was a thing games could get now. Sonic 2006 could still be saved. The PS3 version wouldn’t be out for another month, surely that means they’re working on a fix, right? Some were even theorizing over an achievement called “Nights of Kronos” -- it mentioned a “complete ending to the last hidden story.” Perhaps that meant there was going to be more? Maybe we got the bad ending, and a better, more finished ending was waiting for us on the disc somewhere?

There wasn’t. And no patch ever fixed the game. That was Sonic 2006 -- the kiss, the loading screens, the strange mannequin NPCs, the stiff controls, the glitchy physics, the empty overworlds, the bizarre dialog, the plotholes and time paradoxes, that’s just what the game was, and was always going to be, forever.

Before Sonic 2006, you could say that 3D Sonic games were bad, but there was always a place to defend them from. They had problems, but they were never irredeemable. Sonic Heroes may have had frustrating controls and repetitive level design, but it had great art direction, nice music, and fun concepts. They were always trying, dang it, and it was obvious to see that.

Sonic 2006 felt irredeemable. Offensively terrible. A failure on such a level that it was hard to comprehend. Beyond simply “a new low” for the franchise. This felt like rock bottom. It was the kind of bad that spread like a virus. Even good games, like Sonic 2 on the Sega Genesis, felt notably tarnished by the existence of Sonic 2006. It threatened to ruin the entire franchise by proximity alone. For some, it probably did. I definitely had a moment where I wondered if I would ever enjoy a Sonic game in the same way ever again. They were all tainted now. Infected by memories of Sonic 2006, the game that was supposed to save the franchise, but condemned it to the lowest pits of hell.

In isolation, that might have been the end for me. I might have continued to drift away, bit by bit, until I found greener hills outside of the Sonic franchise.

I’ve said this before, but what saved me was getting hired to write for TSSZ News. Now, suddenly, I was paid to play and write about Sonic games. It was a duty. And it helped that the first Sonic game I reviewed for TSSZ ended up being Sonic Unleashed, a game I continue to openly gush about to this day, more than a decade after its release.

But never forget that Sonic 2006 was such a disaster that it nearly made me give up Sonic the Hedgehog. It really was that bad.

[nighttimepixels]

Alright, this is possibly the biggest bummer of a thing I’ve had to admit to myself, but...

You Might Have a Type, the dating sim, is no longer in development. As in, further development is cancelled.

For those of you new here, a while back (almost two years, yikes!) I started playing around with developing a Dating Sim- in the end (via polls) it was decided the dateable options would be UT Sans, UF Sans, US Sans, and SF Sans.

tl;dr: I have to stop working on YMHaT due to technical, revision, and time struggles. BUT, there’s a browser-playable build of the intro up on Gamejolt! You can’t progress the game, but once the interactive intro is done, you can explore the game area (Grillby’s), talk to at least a few NPCs, and observe the back areas for multiple observation texts.

There’s no ending set, however, so just stop playing when you’re done looking around, and have a bit of patience as occasionally new talksprites take a moment to load.

More info about why I’ve had to let this project go below the cut:

I reworked the project from the ground up no less than three times (even switched entire game engines once) - and finished what should have been 95% of the art. However, I hit more and more problems in development - which I was doing alone. From realizing the ‘story’ wasn’t working, to needing to create much more art to ‘fix’ it (a year after I’d finished the majority of the art, creating style problems to say the least), to realizing the game was lagging upon export no matter what I tried to do to fix it... well, that is what I get for trying to manhandle RPGMaker MV into a different shape. The elements (used a bunch of plugins, along with other tactics) worked independently, and even running in my own environment, but they suffered as soon as I took that away.

In the end, I’ve been doing a lot of introspection and have to admit that having this unfinished project hanging over my head has been severely messing with my creative output. Guilt and worry, personal pressure (the longer I let it sit, the harder it’ll be to fix/copy the previous art style/etc), and just the mental real estate even a semi active project takes had a huge toll. This was supposed to be a fun, free fanproject, but my income is solely commission/art/freelance based- time spent desperately rehashing and working on a free fanproject is a worrying amount of time spent not making money to help make ends meet.

So, though it’s hard to accept I failed on this... I’ve got to throw in the towel. If I want to move forward and make new, cooler things, things that I’ve now got a lot more experience through the struggle of this game to make even better, I have to let this go. It’s obscenely sad, and don’t mind me I’m crying a bit, but! I want to continue having some time for other fanworks - fanart, fanfiction... and YMHaT was just the ball and chain I was only adding more weight onto this whole time.

That said, though I obviously was unable to release a finished version of the game- I have a workable intro, and have put up a browser-playable build! Like I mentioned above, there are those caveats - and seriously, once you’re done exploring, just exit out of the game tab. Nothing more will happen :C

I put a lot of work into this game (hundreds of hours...) so, upon the encouragement of the few friends I opened up to about this, I’m sharing at least this much. That way at the very least, some of the assets can be enjoyed, however briefly, and won’t go to absolute waste. TvT

I’ve certainly learned my lesson, and any future gamework I’ll probably stop trying to bend RPG Maker MV (a perfectly good game engine!) so out of shape to make it do things I should just suck it up and learn how to program in Unity, for example. But yeah, time is unfortunately money, especially for a freelancer, and we’ve all got to hustle, sigh. I just can’t justify sinking another hundred - or likely, two hundred plus - hours into a fanproject that’s already struggling and I can’t make any money off of. I know it sounds cynical, but y’know, thanks capitalism TvT

So, onwards, to new and better projects - I hope to still make a dating sim someday, but I’m afraid that unless I can find some crazy loopholes (or someone wants to drop several, several, several thousands of dollars on me) it probably won’t be a Sans-centric dating sim.

Hope you enjoy the unfinished demo - if you like anything, a comment left there or here would mean the world, so I’m not just chucking all that work completely down the drain ╥﹏╥ cheers to you all (esp those who read all this, wow!) and thanks for the support and interest you had in the project at all. I’m so sorry to let you guys down, but I thank you for the opportunity and damn if I didn’t learn a lot that’ll make me a better creator for the future.

[aion-rsa]

Every Cyberpunk 2077 Controversy So Far

https://ift.tt/2L1A5cF

Cyberpunk 2077 may be the most anticipated game of 2020 but its long road to release can be measured by numerous controversies that have often attracted the wrong kind of attention.

From delays to questionable tweets, Cyberpunk 2077 can easily be considered one of the most controversial games in recent memory, and it hasn’t even been released yet. While time will tell if Cyberpunk 2077 can “usurp” The Last of Us Part 2 and become 2020’s most divisive game, the project is already at the center of several heated debates that are causing fans to take sides.

If you’re wondering where you stand on the game’s most contested topics, here’s a rundown of every notable Cyberpunk 2077 controversy (so far):

The Numerous Delays and Long Development Time

Believe it or not, there have only been three official Cyberpunk 2077 delays so far and all of them have happened in 2020.

Cyberpunk 2077‘s first official release date was April 16, 2020. While developer CD Projekt Red noted early in the year that the game was “complete and playable,” the studio delayed the game to September 17 as part of an effort to better optimize its performance.

On June 18, the Cyberpunk 2077 team announced via Twitter that the game’s release had been delayed again and was now (at least at that time) scheduled to be released on November 19. Again, CD Projekt Red cited a “huge number of things to iron out” as the reason for the delay.

Finally, on October 27, CD Projekt Red announced that Cyberpunk 2077‘s final release date had been rescheduled for December 10. This time, the team cited not just bug fixes and optimization as the reason for the delay but the challenges presented by their desire to release the game across so many platforms.

Before we dive into some of the other delay related controversies, we should point out that much of the fan frustration regarding Cyberpunk 2077‘s delays are closely related to the fact the game was revealed via a teaser trailer released in 2013. While we don’t know what the status of the game was at that time, the popular perception is that Cyberpunk 2077 has been in development for seven years. That means that each one of the game’s 2020 delays has stung some fans harder than they otherwise may have.

The Crunch Schedule

You can’t talk about Cyberpunk 2077‘s delays without talking about the game’s controversial crunch development schedule.

We’ve covered this topic before in greater detail (you can read our full report on this subject here), but the gist of the situation is that developer CD Projekt Red had previously stated that they would not force the Cyberpunk 2077 team to work through a crunch schedule. In September, though, CD Projekt Red boss Adam Badowski confirmed reports that the studio asked employees to begin working additional hours. In exchange for the extra work, they would be compensated with overtime pay and additional funds offered by the company’s profit-sharing program.

That information triggered two additional debates. The first saw those who opposed the company’s crunch schedule battle those who claimed the company’s employees were being fairly compensated for their extra work. While it was generally agreed the company was compensating its employees for overtime more than other game developers have done in the past (and that some employees anonymously stated they were fine with the schedule), many argued that crunch development is an industry problem which needs to be addressed whenever it appears.

Finally, there’s the matter of the game’s delays. The latest Cyberpunk 2077 delay was confirmed after the report of the company’s crunch schedule had broke. If the insinuation was that the crunch schedule was implemented as a desperate measure intended to ensure the game was released on time, then could CD Projekt Red have skipped the crunch schedule and just delayed the game a little longer?

The PS4/Xbox One Controversy

When news broke that the most recent Cyberpunk 2077 delay was partially attributed to the struggles of launching the game across so many platforms, it didn’t take long for some fans to worry about the PS4 and Xbox One editions of the game.

Why? Well, some people expressed their concern that the previous-gen versions of Cyberpunk 2077 may hinder the day one quality of the next-gen editions. CD Projekt Red has stated that the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions of Cyberpunk 2077 will benefit from day one upgrades, but the “full” next-gen versions of each title will not be available until a later date.

Others had the opposite concern and worried that the next-gen editions of Cyberpunk 2077 would be the “real” versions of the game and that the PS4 and Xbox One versions would suffer from serious performance downgrades. There’s currently no evidence which strongly supports that claim, but it does ring loud at a time when it’s nearly impossible to find a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S.

The Gender Tweet

One of the earlier Cyberpunk 2077 controversies involved this now-deleted tweet from the Cyberpunk 2077 Twitter account:

The tweet itself was sent in the midst of a greater debate over the use of that term and whether or not it had become a way to mock transgender people or those who sympathize with the struggles of transgender people. Basically, there was some concern that the Cyberpunk 2077 team’s use of that term was meant as an insult

CD Projekt Red deleted the tweet and issued the following statement regarding it:

“Sorry to all those offended by one of the responses sent out from our account earlier. Harming anyone was never our intention.”

As some noted at the time, this controversy was amplified by another incident in which GOG (a digital store owned by CD Projekt Red) tweeted a GIF of a Postal character urinating on a tombstone that read “Games Journalism” and “August 28th, 2014.” That date is believed to be a reference to GamerGate.

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

The Transgender Poster

Arguably the most infamous Cyberpunk 2077 controversy involved this in-game poster:

The poster showcases a transgender model advertising a soda with slogans could be interpreted as references to transgender people. Given that this poster was circulated shortly after the aforementioned tweets, some felt that this was another example of CD Projekt Red using transgender people as a punchline.

In an interview with Polygon, the CD Projekt Red artist who designed this poster, Kasia Redesiuk, explained her thought process behind it.

“Personally, for me, this person is sexy,” Redesiuk said. “I like how this person looks. However, this model is used — their beautiful body is used — for corporate reasons. They are displayed there just as a thing, and that’s the terrible part of it.”

Redesiuk also stated that she had no intentions of directly offending people but did note that she was aware the image was inherently provocative.

“I would say it was never the intention to offend anyone,” Redesiuk said. “However, with this image of an oversexualized person, we did want to show how over-sexualization of people is bad. And that’s it.

The Gender Choice Character Creator

Cyberpunk 2077 would once again find itself at the center of a gender-related controversy, but this one was a bit different than the others.

In an interview with Metro, Cyberpunk 2077 artist Marthe Jonkers explained that the game would not offer simple male and female gender options during the character creation process.

“You don’t choose, ‘I want to be a female or male character’ you now choose a body type,” Jonkers explained. “So you choose your body type and we have two voices, one that’s male sounding, one is female sounding. You can mix and match. You can just connect them any way you want. And then we have a lot of extra skin tones and tattoos and hairstyles. So we really want to give people the freedom to make their own character and play the way they want to play.”

While some felt that this was the company’s attempt to cover up for their previous actions, much of the blowback in this instance came from fans who saw this as an example of the Cyberpunk 2077 team “pandering” to critics. There is currently no information available that suggests the game’s character creation process was drastically altered in response to any such criticisms.

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The Animals and Voodoo Boys

The reveal of Cyberpunk 2077‘s gangs caused some to question whether or not the game was relying on racial stereotypes.

This debate focused on two gangs: The Animals and Voodoo Boys. Some fans felt that the “Animals” name was intended as an insult directed towards a gang that appeared to largely be comprised of people of color. As for the Voodoo Boys, there were concerns that the gang’s name, design, and background were designed to exploit racial and cultural stereotypes.

CD Projekt Red later stated that The Animals is actually a multi-racial gang and that that the initial portrayal of them as a gang that consisted entirely of people of color was based on the specific scenario of the gameplay demo they were showcased in. Cyberpunk 2020‘s creator also offered this response in regards to these controversies:

“As for the Animals–the WHOLE FREAKING POINT is that they think of themselves as POWERFUL, DANGEROUS, WILD ANIMALS. You’d have thought the Lady named ‘Sasquatch’ would have given them a clue…The original Voodoo Boys were a scathing commentary on cultural appropriation. I LOVE the idea that real practitioners of Voudon moved in and took back their turf. And they even got the Creole right…Who the (bleep) do YOU think you are to tell ME whether or not MY creation was done right or not?”

The Microtransactions

Earlier this year, CD Projekt Red’s Adam Kicinski caused a stir by implying that Cyberpunk 2077 would have microtransactions despite previous implications that the game would not.

“We’re never aggressive towards our fans!” Kicinski said during an earnings call. “We treat them fairly and we’re friendly. So of course not – we won’t be aggressive – but you can expect great things to be bought. The goal is to design monetization in a way that makes people happy to spend money. I’m not trying to be cynical or hide something; it’s about creating a feeling of value.”

The Cyberpunk team later clarified that statement somewhat with the following tweet:

Nothing changed. Cyberpunk 2077 is a single player game with zero microtransactions. One single purchase. No tricks. Don't believe the clickbait. https://t.co/qX0iZwsAf2

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) September 7, 2020

The issue of microtransactions is typically controversial in and of itself, but the debate was amplified in this instance by CD Project Red’s apparent “anti-microtransaction” culture and outward consumer-friendly image. Furthermore, Cyberpunk 2077‘s multiplayer has been its own source of controversy due to the mysterious nature of the concept and concerns its development has further delayed the release of the Cyberpunk 2077 campaign.

The First-Person Controversy

It feels so quaint now, but one of the earlier Cyberpunk 2077 controversies involved the game’s first-person perspective.

In 2019, the Cyberpunk 2077 team confirmed the game would largely take place in first-person with third-person angles being used for certain cutscenes and driving sequences. This upset some fans who were not only led to believe the game would be third-person based on early footage (and The Witcher 3) but were concerned by the implications of a first-person game. Namely, they worried that the game would end up being a first-person shooter and that first-person cutscenes would not be nearly as “immersive” as the third-person storytelling featured in The Witcher 3.

Some fans also felt that a first-person perspective would limit the impact of the game’s character customization options, but CD Projekt Red later clarified that you’ll be able to see your character in mirrors and on the inventory screen.

The post Every Cyberpunk 2077 Controversy So Far appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/3oeT0ia

[divinefutura]

DEV LOG UPDATE 1.5

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DEV LOG UPDATE 1.5

Welcome back, netrunner. 

Today marks an important milestone in our story. Today, we had our 10th Patron join us over on our Patreon page. These ten brave souls are paving the way for the future of Exposure Games with their generous donations. 

Making a AAA-quality title like this with an indie team is an expensive and time consuming task. We need software licenses and encrypted online storage so that our team members can share files with each other across the globe. We need to buy motion capture rigs to make sure our character animations look as good as possible. We need to hire voice talent to help bring our cast of characters to life.

And most importantly, we still need to add to our team. Right now, a very small handful of people are handling all the 3D modelling, texturing, and animation work. I’m coordinating the writing team, writing characters and dialogue, AND sharing marketing duties with a few other people at Exposure Games (and they all have their own massive task lists, too.) 

So, we need more help. But right now, we’re all doing this for free, and free is a hard pitch when you’re trying to hire talent. Those of us that are here on the dev team now are here because we believe in this project, but we can only devote so much time to Divine Futura while also balancing full-time jobs, university studies, and our families.

We are all here because we believe in Divine Futura, but also, because we all share a dream of working full-time in the gaming industry. Our first 10 Patrons are our first steps towards making that dream a reality. We still have a long way to go before any of us see a paycheck, but I want to take this moment to specifically thank these first ten Samurai of the Streets for laying the groundwork:

Stephen Moody

William Stapleton

Pendragon

Darren Huett

Yogurt Freedom

ChipsMan666

Ibuki Mioda

KayleeCake

lokiju

Avahe

One of these fine folks made a whopping $500 contribution, so we are making them into an NPC in the game, complete with custom augments and cyberware. If you’ve ever dreamed of being a character in a video game, you can make your dream a reality for a one-time contribution of $500, or you can join at the $100 level and stay on for five months to secure the same exclusive reward: being made into your own custom cyberpunk NPC in a AAA-quality RPG.

But you don’t have to spend that kind of money to help out. For as little as $5 a month, you’ll get access to exclusive behind the scenes images, video clips, and updates, plus access to our PLAYABLE DEMO when it releases (I can’t promise an exact date yet, but getting the demo completed is our current highest priority!) And the higher the Patreon Tiers you decide to climb, the better the rewards ;).

So head on over to https://www.patreon.com/DivineFutura and consider throwing a few bucks our way, if you can. You’ll be joining us on an incredible journey, as well as unlocking some slick rewards for yourself. And if your budget is a little tight right now, (Lord knows I understand) then you can still follow our progress and get lots of free stuff on our Patreon page.

To help us out for free, tell your friends about us. Talk us up on Reddit and Facebook. Use our hashtags #DivineFutura and #ExposureGames on Twitter. Share our Youtube videos (https://youtu.be/rBOdt-fzaqY) with your gaming buddies.

No matter what you choose to do, thanks for being along for the ride with us. Stay tuned here for more weekly Dev Log Updates and other behind-the-scenes bits and blurps.

From the streets of Spire City,

NexusSix, Narrative Designer, logging out.

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[imthepunchlord]

For all the new things, I kinda wished they showed all of this before SwSh was released, now it's a bit more pricey and I feel like it's kinda rushed. Also for the Mystery Dungeon, I'm excited for that bit I really hope that include all the starters and non starters as well in the final.

I wish they went ahead and pushed back SaS so it’d be released 2020, with this expansion back already included, and the new places we go to can be unlocked during our adventure or as postgame. I would’ve fine waiting and would’ve preferred it, especially to give them a chance to do more with the main story which is pretty weak and made little sense, and Rose was a very forced in villain. Also made no sense in the story climax. Watching playthroughs and seeing the climax of SaS I’m just... 

Its also frustrating that you get to hear about things happening and not actually witness or help. Like, its nice having adults acknowledge that you’re a kid, don’t worry about it we’ll handle it, but at the same time, that’s a chunk of story we have a right to see, and we’re kids in this game, we don’t always do what adults say we should follow and see what’s going on. That could’ve been something optional. Go to event to see what’s happening or skip it to go to the next gym. 

And this is turning into a rant so I’m going to put this below. For those that just want to read my comments on Mystery Dungeon, scroll down till you get to the Pikachu gif, I’ll talk about it below. 

Also there could’ve been improvements with the rivals. Marnie is suuuuper intriguing and I love her, Bede I also like though that’s more me missing mean rivals and man, he’s a brat and I say that with affection. But in the grand scheme of things, they felt pointless. More could’ve been done to include them. And Hop. God, Hop. I know people like him, but from what I’ve seen, he seems like the most annoying “friend rival” made to date. He does not know what personal space is. He waits for you in front of gyms. He waits for you on new routes. He has to comment on almost every move you make in your fights with him. 

I don’t even own the games but just from the playthroughs I’ve watched I’m just... go away. Leave the lead alone. Everywhere you turn, he’s there, waiting for you. It also feels like he only got endorsed because he’s Leon’s younger brother. There’s nothing about him that I like. And, I don’t know why he gets the other wolf legendary? What makes him worthy?What makes him want to be a Professor in the future? That’s out of nowhere. 

Something more could’ve been done with Hop, maybe an arc of him resenting you a little because every match you beat him, and he’s the Champion’s younger brother and you just seem to stay ahead. Maybe let us have more scene of him talking with Sonia since he’s going to be her future assistant. If he’s going to be constantly stalking us and waiting for us, then yeah, let’s at least better build up where his character will go. 

Then there’s the issue of pokemon. With it pretty much confirmed they just reused models from gen 7, yeah, there’s no reason to not include more pokemon. If not the National Dex, which wouldn’t bother me too much, then go ahead and add about half. At most, I’d love pokemon included that would make the most sense. Like, lion is a big symbol throughout all of Europe. There should be a lion in Galar, either Litleo or Shinx returning if not a new lion pokemon. And with the expansion packs, yeah, they’re already adding 200 each pack. 

And a lot of this dlc should already be in the game. If 400 pokemon are going to be added in, they should already be there. The new Giga forms should already be there and we should’ve seen the Giga Venusaur and Blastoise the same time as Charizard. 

I’m also salty that there’s no going to Kalos. Maybe it’ll be a future expansion, and that’s a dlc I wouldn’t mind, but those are two very linked countries they’re based on. And Galar truly isn’t a big region. The Wild Area isn’t as big as it could be. Like, it doesn’t have to be BotW big, but it could’ve been bigger than what we got. And if not expanding the Wild Area, we could’ve had Kalos as a new region to go to, and more gyms for us to do. 

ALSO.

I am not a fan of you refacing the gyms and having them act as your “Elite Four”. 

They’ve already been fought. Aside from the first two, you’ve already fought all the star Giga forms they have. Its a really lazy decision. At least, you can have the two first gym leaders come in since you didn’t fight their star Giga forms, and include the other two version exclusive gym leaders as the other two. Just for some freshness in this final challenge. 

I know they’re not big on voice acting, but, they should’ve put some form of VA into these games. Its a little awkward to get animated cutscenes and there’s no voices coming forth. And its at its worst when you get to Piers and you see him singing away, I presume loudly, into his mic and its just awkward cause there’s no voice and you can hear him tapping his foot to the music and its just so off putting to watch cause something is missing: a voice! And you know what’s the kicker? Pokemon has included voice acting before. 

There is no reason to not do something similar, at least for Piers’ intro so its not so awkward to watch. 

And then post game... the official post game... I, I honestly can’t say what is even going on? Those two blonde bimbos, those designs, who agreed to pass them? For sword guy, I don’t know whether I should be laughing or uncomfortable. Its like, an in between especially when his hair flops around. Also, their reasoning, they’re causing chaos in Galar because they didn’t like a book Sonia wrote??? 

The villains in these games are just so dumb.

Like, Rose had a good motive but, he is still forced in. And he activates the climax for no reason. He was promised by Leon that he would help with Eternatus, all he had to do was wait through one match. One match that would’ve been 30 minutes at most, roughly. Yet he couldn’t wait for one match and went ahead and woke up Eternatus, does a video asking for help, and when you arrive, stops you for a battle that doesn’t make sense to have cause he asked for help why is he holding you up with a battle?? 

And Team Yell. Supposed to be like, a 2nd Team Skull and these guys could dream to live up to Team Skull. They can’t. They’re not funny or enjoyable at all. And my friend brought up a good point on the issue of having Team Yell based on punks when they’re supposed to be the “villainous” team. Punks, historically, were rebelling against an unfair system, they were progressive and revolutionary. They stood up for LBGT rights, they stood for having individual freedom, and just wanted to break the restrictions society wanted to place on people, let people express themselves and be who they want to be. 

If you want Team Yell to be a 2nd Skull and play around with punks as their theme, then they should’ve been set up to be red herrings as well. Be wary at first and then later find that they have hearts of gold, and mean well, even if they can be a tad extreme sometimes. And maybe they can help build up the danger of Rose, who in turn wants to paint them in with a bad image since they’re going against him and what’s normal in society. 

Anyway... Sword and Shield honestly should’ve been pushed back. They should’ve been saved for 2020, or even 2021, or however how much time they need. I would’ve been fine waiting. A lot of fans would be. But what we got wasn’t worth the $60 it was being sold at, and definitely not worth the $90 its being sold at with the expansion packs, and as far as I know, these are very, very small areas to explore. Cause as we’ve seen with SaS, they built it up to be big and grand and, well, the Wild Area was smaller than expected and the whole was far shorter than expected. You could beat it in 20 hours roughly. 

I even have mixed feelings on there being no enhanced version, cause these games do have potential, they just needed more time and polish, and then it could’ve worth the $60 price. But also thankful that there’s not another 2nd version and we may be getting a few expansion packs instead. 

Though I do think a lot they’re bringing in should already be in the game. 

Anyway, enough ranting about Sas, onto Mystery Dungeon!

Demo I think could’ve been a little longer, they stop you before you go on the Skarmory mission, I think it could’ve been a better placement to end after the Skarmory mission. 

Anyway, I like the changes so far. I love you can choose a different pokemon if you don’t like what you got from the test. I love that you have an updated move pool, though I feel kinda OP but you also kinda need it for these games cause I remember them being so hard and as a starter that can’t evolve till like, post game, yeah you’re going to need that help. I love that you get to wear a little scarf. Design wise, a little weird at first but it grew on me. Kinda reminds me of Okami. 

By trailer, for sure they’re adding more pokemon in. Lucario is seen in the team, when before, you only saw Lucario as a statue in Red Blue, I believe? Its been a long time. But they only had Gen 1-3 in RB, and Lucario is there so I would think they’d add in a lot more pokemon. 

For starters, I’m hopeful that beating the game, if you replay, you’ll get more options for the starters to play as and have as your partner. I’d loooove to have a chance to play as Popplio. Mega Evolution is confirmed, I wonder if regional forms would also be playable, like if we could evolve into Alolan Marowak or be one of the other two regional Meowths. Otherwise, everyone you could be in the old game is there, with no gender restriction! You can be a female Cubone! A male Eevee! A female Cyndaquil! I’m so happy about that since as a kid, I wanted to play Cyndaquil but never got it in the test and had to look it up and was bummed that it was male only and I wanted to be a girl. 

My biggest hope though is that with this, we’ll have a chance to play two player, since you have a team of two usually, and your friend or sibling or SO can play your partner. 

I am pleasantly surprised with it so far, though I will be holding off when its released in a few months, just going to listen to all reviews once they beat the game and if its very positive, cause SaS had a strong start and then went down hill with Gamefreak rushing it and cutting corners. I’m hopeful for this remake but cautious still. 

[demifiendrsa]

Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls, and Detroit: Become Human will be coming to Steam on June 18, 2020. Demos for all three titles are available now.

Overview

Heavy Rain (Steam)

About

How far will you go to save someone you love?

Experience a gripping psychological thriller filled with innumerable twists and turns. Spanning four days of mystery and suspense, the hunt is on for a murderer known only as the Origami Killer – named after his macabre calling card of leaving behind folded paper shapes at crime scenes. Four characters, each following their own leads and with their own motives, must take part in a desperate attempt to prevent the killer from claiming a new victim.

You need to think fast and act even faster, as every choice and move you make can result in dramatic, game-changing consequences—and even determine who lives… and who dies.

How this story ends is entirely up to you.

Key Features

Four Characters, Four Perspectives – The award-winning storyline puts you in control of four distinct characters who are each following their own leads in a desperate search for a missing person.

Accssible and Intuitive Controls – Not limited by gaming conventions, the uncomplicated HUD keeps you deeply immersed in the storytelling and features controls for both gamepad and keyboard/mouse players.

Fully Optimized for PC – The classic title is brought to PC with stunning visuals including 4K resolution and 60 frames per second framerate.

Beyond: Two Souls (Steam)

About

Triple-A talent and storytelling brings you a video game experience like you’ve never had before.

Live an extraordinary life: one life, two souls.

A unique psychological action thriller delivered by A-list Hollywood performances by Ellen Page and Willem Dafoe, Beyond: Two Souls takes you on a thrilling journey across the globe as you play out the remarkable life of Jodie Holmes.

Born with a connection to a mysterious entity with incredible powers, Jodie is different.

Your actions will determine Jodie’s fate as she faces extraordinary challenges, danger, and heart-wrenching loss on a journey to discover the truth of who she is.

Create an action-packed story through your choices and actions as you live her life – a girl born with a link to a supernatural entity called Aiden.

By playing as both Jodie and Aiden, you will face spectacular physical and psychological challenges to understand what truly lies… beyond.

Key Features

Test Your Skills with “Advanced Experiments” – The original downloadable content mission from the PlayStation releases is included in the full PC game. The entire game is playable in two difficulty modes, and in Solo or Duo mode.

Play the Story the Way You Want – Cinematic or chronological order? Select the way you want to experience the story, and even play in local co-op mode using two different controllers for each player – one to play as Jodie and the other to play as Aiden. Play the way you want to play.

Fully Optimized for PC – Beyond: Two Souls is brought to PC with stunning visuals including 4K resolution, widescreen 21:9 compatibility, and 60 frames per second framerate.

Detroit: Become Human (Steam)

About

Detroit: Become Human, the award-winning video game production from Quantic Dream, is finally available on Steam! Featuring world-renowned actors including Jesse Williams (Grey’s Anatomy), Clancy Brown (Carnivale), Lance Henriksen (Aliens), Bryan Dechart (True Blood) and Valorie Curry (Twilight).

What makes us human?

Detroit 2038. Technology has evolved to a point where human like androids are everywhere. They speak, move and behave like human beings, but they are only machines serving humans.

Play three distinct androids and see a world at the brink of chaos—perhaps our future—through their eyes. Your very decisions will dramatically alter how the game’s intense, branching narrative plays out.

You will face moral dilemmas and decide who lives or dies. With thousands of choices and dozens of possible endings, how will you affect the future of Detroit and humanity’s destiny?

Key Features

Play Your Part in a Gripping Narrative – Enter a world where moral dilemmas and difficult decisions can turn android slaves into world-changing revolutionaries. Discover what it means to be human from the perspective of an outsider – and see the world through the eyes of a machine.

Their Lives, Your Choices – Shape an ambitious branching narrative, where your decisions not only determine the fate of the three main characters, but that of the entire city of Detroit. How you control Kara, Connor and Markus can mean life or death – and if one of them pays the ultimate price, the story still continues…

Countless Paths, Countless Endings – Every decision you make, no matter how minute, affects the outcome of the story. No playthrough will be exactly the same: replay again and again to discover a totally different conclusion.

Fully Optimized for PC – Detroit: Become Human is brought to PC with stunning graphics, 4K resolution, 60 frames per second framerate and full integration of both mouse/keyboard and gamepad controls for the most complete Detroit: Become Human experience to date.

[majornelson]

Inside Xbox gamescom News Recap

Today, on a special gamescom episode of Inside Xbox broadcast live from Cologne, Germany, we gave fans a closer look at some of the year’s biggest upcoming games, revealed new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass, showed off some new enhancements to Age of Empires II DE, pulled the curtain back on new accessories, and much more. For a full recap, read on below or watch the replay of Inside Xbox episode above.

Gears 5

We revealed the all-new Gears 5 Horde mode, which adds new gameplay features and the Ultimate abilities to this signature mode. Every Horde character will have a unique Ultimate ability; this extends to cross-over characters like Sarah Connor from “Terminator Dark Fate,” and Kat and Emile from the newly announced Halo: Reach Character Pack (included in Gears 5 Ultimate Edition). Additionally, we’re extending our collaboration with AAPE, so if you missed the tease that dropped at E3, you’ll have another chance on August 30. Lastly, we confirmed the Gears 5 is now available for pre-purchase on Steam and will launch on all platforms at the same time.

More Great Games Coming to Xbox Game Pass

gamescom 2019 marked a huge day for Xbox Game Pass, with eight new games announced, including three huge titles that will be available today! Devil May Cry 5 and Stellaris: Console Edition join Xbox Game Pass for console and Age of Empires: Definitive Edition joins Xbox Game Pass for PC.

August 19

Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)

Devil May Cry 5 (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)

Stellaris (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass for PC)

August 22

Ape Out (Xbox Game Pass PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)

Kingdom Come: Deliverance (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)

August 27 

Bard’s Tale IV (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)

August 30

Blair Witch Project (Xbox Game Pass for Console, Xbox Game Pass for PC, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate)

For more details on all the Xbox Game Pass news this gamescom, check out the full blog post here.

X019

At E3 we announced X019, our global celebration of all things Xbox, will be coming to London this November and here at gamescom, Xbox’s Aaron Greenberg revealed that X019 will take place November 14-16 at the Copper Box Arena in London, UK with a special episode of Inside Xbox kicking off all the incredible news, world-premieres and reveals on November 14, followed immediately by Xbox FanFest.

On November 15 and 16, X019 will include never-before-seen playable demos, developer panels, Xbox gear, and incredible experiences we can’t wait to reveal later this year. Tickets will go on sale Tuesday, September 24. Tickets will be priced at £19 per session with all proceeds going to charity. For more info on how you can attend X019, read the full recap of our news here.

Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Gets a Release Date

Helping to kick off our X019 celebration, Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will launch November 14, 2019. You can pre-order right now for $19.99 and it will also be available for Xbox Game Pass for PC which includes the 4K remaster, complete with a brand-new campaign, and all the expansions and content from the original release.

The team also announced that Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition will be released on Steam as well, and even better, it will support cross-network play between Steam and the Microsoft Store, so you can play with anyone, regardless of what platform you or they own the game on. For fullt details, check out our full news post here.

GearsPOP!

GearsPOP!, the free-to-play, real-time multiplayer mobile entry in the Gears franchise will be available on Android, iOS, and Windows 10 in just three days on August 22. The team also confirmed that cross-saves will be enabled across all three platforms, so you can move from one device to another and maintain all your progress. You can pre-register today, so you’re all set when the game releases on August 22

Hardware/Accessories Announcement

Controller reveals are something of a tradition on Inside Xbox, and at gamescom we brought two brand-new entries to show off to the world. The aptly named Night-Ops Camo Special Edition brings a rugged look to the fore with a black, grey, and metallic gold camouflage pattern, as well as etched trigger grips to help your fingers stay on point in even the tensest encounters.

The team also unveiled the Xbox Wireless Controller – Sport Blue Special Edition, which leaps off the shelf with a vibrant blue design with metallic accents and a rubberized diamond grip. Read our full announcement here.

PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds Season 4 News

Xbox’s Chris Charla was joined by Console Producer Koo Sung Jeong and Console Community Lead Ray Kim, from the PUBG Corporation to debut the Season 4 update for PUBG.

One of the biggest changes in Season 4 is a massive, stunning visual update to the original PUBG map, Erangel. Many of the famous landmarks, such as Military Base and Mylta Power have seen upgrades and beyond the new look and feel, fans can expect newly balanced weapons and vehicles. And keep a sharp eye out, as secret clues have been added that help develop the lore of Erangel and give fans a sense of what happened on this dangerous island.

We also announced a much-requested feature, cross-platform play for console! This will allow Xbox players to join matches and compete against PlayStation players, enabling matchmaking to draw from a larger pool globally and offer more competition for players. The PUBG team is aiming to have the cross-platform play feature on the Pubic Test Server (PTS, a free download from the Microsoft Store) in late September and release to live servers in October

Season 4 also introduces Survivor Pass: Aftermath, which allows players to unlock over 100 rewards, as well as brand new cooperative missions, which allow the community to work together to accomplish special milestones to unlock new rewards.

PUBG Season 4 will launch on Xbox One on August 27. For more, read our full announcement here.

Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint PVP Reveal

Leading off the show was the reveal of Ghost War, the intense, tactical 4v4 competitive multiplayer mode that will launch with Ghost Recon: Breakpoint on October 4. Ghost War, which will take place on dedicated servers, rewards communication and cooperation within teams amongst the open and diverse maps on offer. The Shared Progression system also ensures that whether you’re playing PVE or PVP your character is always evolving and progressing.

Wasteland 3 New Gameplay Trailer

Wasteland 3 also debuted a trailer chock full of brand new gameplay, including the first look at the mysterious Patriarch, who lures your Desert Ranger from the post-nuclear wastes of Arizona with a promise of aid if you can help rescue his land from the grips of his three bloodthirsy children. The new trailer also showcased the first footage of the Kodiak, an upgradeable battle-truck that will play a key role in the game. We also saw the new precision strike system, where players will be granted a first-person view, allowing them to target enemy weak points, adding an additional tactical layer to a series known for its strategic approach to combat.

Empire of Sin Reveal

At E3 Romero Games and Paradox Interactive gave us a glimpse at the noir stylings of 1920s Chicago in their upcoming title, Empire of Sin, but at gamescom we were treated to an interview with both Brenda and John Romero, who provided a first in-depth look at the gameplay that will drive your experience through the criminal underworld.

Metro Exodus: The Two Colonels

Metro Exodus debuted its first major story expansion, The Two Colonels, which harkens back to the series’ roots with a tense, claustrophobic journey through Novosibirsk. As the name suggests, you’ll take control of two brand-new protagonists, Colonel Khlebnikov, who you’ll journey with in the last days of his life, and Colonel Miller, who will investigate what befell his fallen comrade.

The Two Colonels will also offer a brand-new tool for exploration and eradication: the flamethrower! Like the classic Tikhar, you’ll need to pump up the flamethrower to maintain its power and effectiveness. This first expansion is the first or two promised new storylines, with the even larger Sam’s Story set to release in early 2020.

Destiny 2

The upcoming Shadowkeep expansion for Destiny 2 returns players to the moon, and Bungie Game Director Ben Wommack was on hand to not only discuss the mischief Eris Morn is getting into, but also reveal a definitive look at the final Finishers that Guardians will wield when the expansion drops on October 1. Likewise, we got a better look at how fans will be able to increase their personal challenge level to create their elite Guardian.

Trailers Galore!

Our special gamescom edition of Inside Xbox was also home to a series of incredible new trailers for some of this year’s most anticipated games, including a terrifying new look at the Blair Witch Project, available on Xbox Game Pass on August 30, a fresh look at the always popular MyCareer mode for NBA 2K20, an in-depth overview of the world of The Surge 2, and a full breakdown of the factions and diplomacy that drive the drama and action in the much anticipated action RPG Greedfall. For a look at all the incredible new trailers coming out of gamescom, be sure to check out youtube.com/xbox.

Thanks for tuning in earlier today to watch this special gamescom episode of Inside Xbox live from Cologne, Germany. Stay tuned to Xbox Wire throughout the show for even more Xbox gaming news.

via Xbox Live's Major Nelson https://ift.tt/2TUrUiJ

[kaialone]

Catching up on Yo-kai Watch 4 News

After a bit of a break, I’ll summarize and translate the news regarding Yo-kai Watch 4 that have come out this month.

Head under the cut for more, beware of potential minor spoilers!

--

Alright, before we get into the actual content, I want to give a small apology about being slow with news this month.

Outside of the holidays, I was also pretty sick for a while, so I didn’t really have the time and energy to do much.

As a result, the news I am about to go over might not all be news to you, unless you only ever check out my stuff.

Also, if you are wondering about this month’s CoroCoro issue, I’ve decided to skip it. It had no truly major news that are notable at this point, in my opinion that is.

If you happen to be curious about a specific part from it, feel free to ask me though.

--

So, the news I am about to translate is mostly taken from the official website of Yo-kai Watch 4.

You can find the link to it in the source of this post.

--

First the freshest, and arguably biggest current news?

Near the top of Yo-kai Watch 4's official website, you will see a banner with this label in its top left corner:

"次世代ワールドホビーフェア'19 Winter",

and clicking it will take you to another page.

This page talks about the "Next Generation World Hobby Fair" .

It's basically a huge convention that shows off the latest hobby merchandise and games of the companies attending, as far as I can tell.

-

The Next Generation World Hobby Fair for Winter 2019 will take place from January 19th-20th (in Nagoya), January 26th-27th (in Tokyo), and February 17th (in Osaka).

Level-5 will be attending too, this time showing off Inazuma Eleven Ares and Yo-kai Watch 4.

From what I can gather from Level-5's page here, there will be a playable demo of Yo-kai Watch 4 there, but I'm not 100% certain.

If there is a playable demo it would be interesting to see how it has changed since the last demo. (Which you can find a translation of on my blog, hint hint)

My biggest hope is that we will get a release date, but I don’t think it’s guaranteed.

-

Another thing is their booth will give out a certain "super luxury present". This includes a secret "word card" that will allow one to get a stronger version fo Jibanyan Liú Bèi in Kunitori Wars:

And it will also include a little case on a keychain for keeping a Switch cartridge:

Nintendo has been releasing a few of these keychains for various games.

And since they usually look exactly like the real boxart, one can only assume that this is the currently planned boxart for Yo-kai Watch 4:

-

There will also be a "visitor present" consisting of postcards, but their design has not been shown yet. From what I can tell, these will seemingly also enable you to download one or multiple special items in the game, once it's released.

The site doesn't seem to specify if there is a certain difference between how you get these presents.

The latter being called "visitor present" seems to imply that the "super luxury present" isn't something you can get just by being there. But they don't explain anything about either.

-

But that's about it for that fair.

The website does note that all these things could potentially change on short notice, that the gift articles are limited in number, and that you may need to get a numbered ticket on location in order to attend the event.

--

Now, onto the news that are actually from Yo-kai Watch 4's official website itself.

First of all, note that some of the older sections I have translated previously have been slightly rewritten and look different now, but they don't really say anything new.

So, I will only focus on news I truly haven't translated before. But even they recycle some older info, just so you know.

-

First is this section:

Yo-kai Watch's New Battles

In Yo-kai Watch 4's battles, players will fight on the field and attack alongside their yokai friends as "Watchers"! Since the enemies ranged attacks are marked, avoid taking lots of damage by dodging them!

What is a "Watcher"?

Characters who make full use of the Yokai Watch's abilities and join the battles are called "Watchers"!

-

Next is this:

Kēta (Nate) joins the battle as a "Watcher"!

The yokai we're familiar with will appear too!

Kēta (Nate), as a "Watcher", fights together with yokai in the field, letting you experience a sense of realism almost like an anime! You'll surely enjoy his unique battle style!

Kēta’s moves in the screencap shown here seem to include moves that were already seen on Touma’s moveset, in case you’re wondering.

Those being the Yōki Shot and the Yōki Absorbtion.

But there’s also room for potential other moves. He has a green move that seems new, but I can’t make out its name.

Also, here’s what Whisper has to say:

“So, Himo-jī (Hungramps) was behind it after all! Let's get those offerings back!”

I also want to point out Kēta’s artwork here:

All in-game screencaps and footage portray him as wearing his outfit from 3, but in this artwork he wears his outfit from 1 and 2.

He also wears his old Yokai Watch from those games, whereas in-game footage showed him with a Yokai Watch Elda.

It’s possible that we will briefly see him with this look in 4, or that this look was chosen for the artwork because it’s iconic, and thus shows how the style has progressed.

Or maybe it’s a remnant of an earlier point in development where this look was considered for him in 4.

-

And finally, this:

Travelling with the bike also got speedier!

Sakura New Town's (Springdale's) graphics have gotten a huge level up! The landscape around the shrine at Ōmori Mountain (Mt. Wildwood), the appearance of Yoroz Mart (Everyday Mart), all has gotten more realistic!

The quest objective in this screencap says the following:

Go check the back alley behind the convenience store!

Also, take note of the mini map:

You can clearly make out places like Triangle Park, the Yoroz Mart and its surroundings, and the residences of the Amano (Adams) and Kodama (Forrester) families.

The structure seems pretty much identical to the old games, so it seems that outside of graphics, the locations of the town won’t be changed.

Which makes sense, considering it always felt like this town was designed fairly carefully, and many intentional details.

-

One last thing.

This really is old news, but I hadn't gotten over it before, personally:

This little guy here is ジャー坊/Jā-bō, the regional mascot of Omuta, from the Fukuoka Prefecture in Japan. (He is supposed to be a snake/dragon creature.)

Since he was actually designed by Level-5, he will get to appear in Yo-kai Watch 4 as a yokai.

The site doesn't seem to specify if he will be befriendable though.

Back in 2, Kumamon was not befriendable, only his official bootleg Kemamon (Harry Barry), but since Jā-bō was literally designed by Level-5, maybe there's a higher chance here.

--

And that’s it for all the Yo-kai Watch 4 news from this month that I hadn’t gotten over yet.

As always, I hope you found this interesting and/or helpful!

--

[m39]

Doom WADs’ Roulette (2003): RTC-3057 demo

#8: RTC-3057 (demo)

Main author(s): Team Future (lead by Jacob Kruse)

Release date: January 20th, 2003 (demo), July 27th, 2004 (Blue Hub 1 version)

Version(s) played: Demo from 2003

Required port compatibility: ZDoom

Levels: 1 (MAP01 replacement (future MAP04))

Looks like we have another demo to check out after 2001’s Phobia. And, like then, it’s made out of one map. Say hello to RTC-3057.

RTC-3057 has an interesting story behind its development. Originally started as two separate projects, The RTC Corporation (by Jacob Kruse (Shaviro)) and Doom 3057 (by Team Future (then led by someone called X-Blade)). Both of these released previews of themselves around the year 2000. In 2001, these two projects merged into one being titled (of course) RTC-3057. A year later Jacob replaced X-Blade as a team lead of Team Future. He also became the WAD’s main level designer, wanting to create a multi-episode WAD based on ZDoom’s Hub system.

There are at this moment two previews of this WAD. The first one, released in 2003, is a demo that has only the first playable map. The second one, released 1.5 years later, is made out of one hub. Today, we will be taking a look at the demo version since this was the version that was placed in Doomworld’s Top 100 WADs of All Time.

Now with that out of the way, let’s take a look at what this map has to offer.

The story behind RTC is kind of complicated. It’s far from being a rambling mess from Helpyourselfish but it still might give you a small headache. The story is split into two parts – the backstory written in the textfile, and the actual plot that is told to you in the demo itself.

The backstory is where it gets convoluted. It talks stuff about the Federal Commonwealth of Earth (which was created from the United Nations), UAC being refounded, you being a titular cyborg sergeant, and that it takes around a year after the events of Doom II. At least that’s what I understood.

As for what happens in the demo itself, you are awakened on an FCE’s enforcer. You are ordered to abandon the ship because it’s under attack by demons.

From what I’ve seen, this map looks really good. There is something familiar about it but at the same time, it’s all completely different. And I really liked the blue parts of the deck you explore. It kind of feels flat when compared to other source port WADs from 2003 but on its own, this demo does a good job.

There isn’t really any actual music around the map. The only time it appears is in the last section with the puzzle room. And I guess it’s fine but I feel like it’s not enough for me to make a proper opinion about it.

Probably all sound effects related to picking stuff up are changed. And it’s mostly good. The only one that I hate is this obnoxious picking up gun one that I’ve heard already in some of the previous WADs and I hated it everytime it appeared.

As for the rest, I really like how there is a different sound for every type of item. And I’d recognize the Serious Sam one from a mile away. It’s so good!

This map focuses more on puzzles than the typical WAD stuff. You might have to spend at least a few minutes on most of the puzzle roadblocks before you figure out what to do. And that’s only one map. I don’t want to imagine what the entire Blue Hub 1 has to offer.

To help you with this demo if you end up stuck: The first roadblock requires that you shoot two heaters near the door, the second one needs two switches to be pressed (one near the prison cells area and the second one inside of it). The last room needs you to make a pattern that you can find in the generator area. Take a photo of it if you can’t remember the first time playing this map (like me).

Also, that last puzzle with a pattern to recreate? This is the one that one of the red area puzzles in Void was based on/inspired by.

And by the way, it was probably a good thing to add objectives in the upper left corner of the screen. I don’t think it adds much, but it is a nice touch.

In terms of ZDoom cutscenes, only one forces you to stop, so it’s not really that bad. The one at the start of the demo doesn’t count (even though it takes some time to actually end).

This demo is not really hard asides from the beginning, where you have to fight demons with barely no ammo and next to no health pick-ups. But once you grab the shotgun (with that awful picking-up cacophony), it’s nothing but a breeze. The toughest monster asides from hitscanners are Pinkies. There are even less than 100 enemies on this map. It’s that easy.

One annoying thing about fighting demons in the demo is door-fighting with the doors that need to be open with the code panel. I feel like the time it stays open and the time it takes to open are the same. These doors should’ve stayed open for a longer period in my opinion.

There is one bug that might make playing this demo (and the second preview) unplayable. The problem is that you can’t pick up your pistol from the starting location. It’s due to the ZDoom 2.1.0 onwards ignoring things/code written in lowercase in the DECORATE lump. In order to fix the issue you need the Slade program (or something similar), enter the mentioned lump, and add this line:

_rtc

to this:

pickup pistol

{

And voila! The problem is solved.

What’s funny is that this is the second time I had to shove my hands into the WAD’s guts to make it work properly. The first time it happened was with Doom Resurrection from 2001, where I couldn’t even launch that WAD.

The RTC-3057 demo has problems, mostly connected to ZDoom stuff, but I would be lying to myself if I said that I didn’t find any enjoyment while playing this map. If the rest of the Blue Hub 1 will stay on the same level as this map alone when I’ll start covering WADs from Cacowards 2004, then I might say that yes, this WAD is worth trying out.

However, I will not count this map to Revenant Awards because, much like Phobia, it’s only a demo, and demos tend to miss some features that the full versions have.

There is only one map from the 2003 roster to check out, and the last map/WAD from Doomworld’s Top 100 list to finally review (well, third-to last to be exact if I think about it).

See you all next time.

Bye!

[linuxgamenews]

Get Ready for Windblown Action on Steam Early Access

Windblown action roguelite game is already Verified for Steam Deck and Linux via Windows PC, due to release a Demo. Thanks to Motion Twin's ongoing creativity. Due to make its way onto Steam Early Access soon. Motion Twin is bringing some big news for all of us rogue-lite fans with their new action game Windblown. And they're also not holding back for La Motion Week! The legendary Dead Cells is getting a 50% off on Steam right now. But the real excitement is for Motion Twin’s next big hit. The release date for all this action is locked in — Windblown is flying into Early Access on Steam starting October 24, 2024. And there's more — before the full release, we get a shot at the action with a free demo during Steam Neo Fest from October 14 to 21. The demo, playable on Linux and Steam Deck via Proton, will give us a taste of the first few levels. What’s also great, that progress in the demo will carry over to the Early Access version when it's out. So, what's Windblown action roguelite all about? Think of it as another ultra-fast-paced rogue-lite, but this time you’re fluttering across floating islands, battling Sentinels. These are the Vortex’s pesky minions that are threatening your homeland. Whether you play solo or team up with two buddies online, you're gonna need to combine quick reflexes with smart synergy-building. Your job is to find the best combinations from dozens of evolving weapons, Trinkets, Gifts, and yes—Fish (!)—to take down enemies and survive the ever-changing islands.

Windblown action roguelite Release Date Trailer

The game’s world is full of variety. You'll also find different biomes to explore, secrets to uncover, and some seriously tough enemies to keep you on your toes. You’ll be building your Voltigeur with a mix of all the great stuff you collect to create the ultimate run. But like in any great rogue-lite action title, dying isn’t the end in Windblown.. Each death gives you a new shot to learn from your mistakes, and expand your arsenal. Due to dive right back in for "just one more run." As a bonus for trying out the demo, you’ll unlock the exclusive Guinea Pig skin when Early Access launches. That’s right — if you jump into the action in this demo, you’ll get a fun reward. All due to show off your dedication to helping shape Windblown. And if you're curious to see the game in action, the Motion Twin team will be live-streaming their own attempts to survive in the Vortex. Check out their official YouTube channel to catch them playing, with stream details coming soon on social media. Expect plenty of laughs, some epic fails, and maybe a few survival tips along the way. So mark your calendars, sharpen those reflexes, and get ready for action when Windblown hits Early Access on October 24th. Due to be playable on Linux and Steam Deck via Proton with Windows PC on Steam Early Access.