Travis4

Joined 01/23/2012

Web developer and all-around geek.
https://travisnewman.me

547 Posts

Hooooo boy. This is a doozy of an update.

This is a Terraria-level update. I don't know how to prioritize things, so here's a quick overview of the new hotness in the order in which Hello Games presented them.

First up, the graphics have been significantly overhauled, with better textures and lighting effects. The PS4 Pro can take advantage of new features and shinies.

Other players' bases can now be found and explored, and Steam Workshop will let you find them more easily.

YOU CAN NOW OWN MULTIPLE SHIPS OMG THANK YOU HELLO GAMES

Speaking of ships, each ship type has a clear specialization for combat, hauling freight, and exploration.

Multi-tools also have specializations, for mining, combat, and scanning.

Ships and weapons now have classes: A, B, C, or a rare S-Class.

You can now build ground vehicles called Exocraft for getting around on-planet. There are three classes of these for speed, hauling loot, or somewhere in the middle.

You can make Exocraft races and challenge others to beat your time!

There are new traders in space stations, some of which sell blueprints that you can buy with a new currency: nanite clusters.

Base-building now has way more options so you can pimp out your house in style!

Multi-tool and ship weapons have far more variety now, for close-, mid-, and long-range combat.

There's a new game mode: permadeath. If you were ever playing NMS and thought "I wish I could lose all this when I die," then this mode is for you.

There are five new trophies for claiming a base or freighter, building an exocraft, visiting another player's base, and reaching the center of the galaxy in Survival and Permadeath mode. Those last two should take a while.

There's now a dedicated photo mode so you can stop time and line up the perfect shot! You can choose the time of day and lighting effects and add photo filters.

The Discovery menu has gotten some significant updates; it's actually useful! You can find yourself and set waypoints to previous systems.

65daysofstatic has created 8 new soundscapes for that awesome procedurally generated soundtrack.

You can name your ships now.

You can skip those annoying black bar cutscenes.

NPCs are faster at getting to the point when you talk to them.

And various other improvements.

For the full list, check this post from Hello Games: http://no-mans-sky.com/pathfinder-update/


The folks at NightDive Studios have released a new pre-alpha trailer of their System Shock remake, and it looks beautiful! Successfully Kickstarted last year, the game is a full re-creation of the 1994 cult classic in a modern engine. They had previously decided to use the Unity engine but after wanting a little more out of what the engine could give them, they switched to Unreal.

I appreciate the way they went about it. They switched engines back in October but didn't say anything about it until they had something to show for it. An engine switch is a big prospect-- best to announce it when you can show that you're up to the task!

See the info about it on their Kickstarter news article: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/posts/1820162

And if you want a comparison of what could have been in Unity vs. what will come with Unreal, check the main video here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1598858095/system-shock/


If you've been around here for a while, you know we can't stop talking about Terraria. I think most of us got into it with 1.1, when hardmode was added. This trailer is from around the original release in 2011, so it was before our time in it.

Back then, molten armor was the strongest, Skeletron was the last boss. Based on the trailer, the physics were different in many ways, flails worked a bit differently, and tons of sprites and blocks were different (look at those smooth doors and shiny dungeons).

We're coming up on *six years* since the game released, if you can believe that, and updates are still coming. Here's a brief look at the game's history, discounting minor patches (though "minor" is getting hard to define with this game)...

1.1 came late the same year, with almost double the amount of stuff to do and build. Minor-ish changes rolled out, but a few months later Redigit said that development would be stopping on the game due to real-life issues.

BUT things change, and over a year later (September, 2013), 1.2 came giving us the crimson and beefing up what you could do in the jungle. Over 1.2's lifespan new events were added, and more and more items.

Then 1.3 in June 2015 (how has that been nearly two years?) brought us alien invaders, a new final boss, and expert mode, and extended the endgame even further. Tons of updates have come out in the 1.3 line, bringing new and refined mechanics, controller support, Mac and Linux support, new events based on other games, and more.

1.3.5 is coming "soon" and marks the return of Redigit to the development team. More info on that can be found here, but so far that information is sparse: http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Upcoming_features

That's not bad for a game that ended development 5 years ago! The thing is, I loved the game we had at the end of 1.1's update chain. When I found out that no more updates would be released, I was content. But the game we have now makes 1.1 seem quaint!


This game keeps looking better. The end of next month can't come soon enough! I was a huge fan of the original trilogy and I'm stoked to get out into the new galaxy. The video above is the second in a series of Gameplay videos; this one shows off the character customization and it looks like a major extension to what we've had in the past.

A teaser at the end seems to indicate that the next video will be about planet exploration, one of my favorite and most frustrating parts about the series, so I'm hoping to see them really get it right with Andromeda.

The first one in the series is here, showing off weapons and skills: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrWgLMH8yRU

In other news, the system requirements are up on Origin now: https://www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/mass-effect/mass-effect-andromeda/deluxe-edition#requirements

Aaaaaand it's time for an upgrade. I'll have a new PC at my doorstep in a few days. This is the first game I've wanted to play that I don't think I can. My video card is more than enough but my AMD CPU is way behind. This PC has lasted me almost 5 years exactly, but I tend to get things that are already a generation or two behind to save money. This time I'm getting something more modern but not top-of-the-line. I'm going Intel over AMD because AMD tends to lag in some features. It has a new core i5 CPU (later upgradeable to an i7 if I need it but I won't for a long time, 16gb ram, a Geforce 1060 GPU, a 512gb solid state and a 1tb hard drive. No floppy drive :D


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We’re going through changes. The Cheerful Ghost Roundtable is entering its chrysalis, and when it emerges it will be Cheerful Ghost Radio, the new podcast by members of the Cheerful Ghost community.

What does this mean for you?

  • Better quality audio. Taking video out of the equation should improve the audio quality since it won’t be compressed like in Google Hangouts.

  • Better visuals. You no longer have to look at our ugly mugs.

  • More options. You are no longer tied to Youtube so you can listen whenever you want, wherever you want.


What does this mean for us?
  • We no longer have to put on clothes to record an episode!


We’d like to hear what you want from Cheerful Ghost Radio. What are your favorite parts of the roundtable that should stick around? What are some things you would like for the new show?

Join us on February 13 for the final episode of the Cheerful Ghost Roundtable where we’ll look back on our five years of history and look toward the next step.


https://data3.origin.com/live/content/dam/originx/web/app/games/mass-effect/mass-effect-2/mass-effect-2-standard-edition_pdp_3840x2160_en_WW.jpg
https://www.origin.com/gbr/en-us/store/mass-effect/mass-effect-2/standard-edition

One of the best games ever made is currently free. If you've never played this game, you owe it to yourself!


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In a ruling posted by the ASA, they found the advertising in compliance with their codes.

In brief:

"We understood that the screenshots and videos in the ad had been created using game footage, and acknowledged that in doing this the advertisers would aim to show the product in the best light. Taking into account the above points, we considered that the overall impression of the ad was consistent with gameplay and the footage provided, both in terms of that captured by Hello Games and by third parties, and that it did not exaggerate the expected player experience of the game. We therefore concluded that the ad did not breach the Code.

We investigated the ad under CAP Code (Edition 12) rules 3.1 and 3.3 (Misleading advertising), 3.7 (Substantiation) and 3.11 (Exaggeration), but did not find it in breach."


Because the ads were in compliance, no formal investigation was required. Their investigation seems to have consisted only of reviewing material and discussing the matter with Valve and Hello Games.

The full ruling can be read here: https://www.asa.org.uk/Rulings/Adjudications/2016/11/Valve-Corporation/SHP_ADJ_351045.aspx

(image credit: AgeTurnipseed on reddit)


The Foundation update, which Hello Games is presenting as the "foundation" for things to come, has been released.

This "foundation" provides a lot of content. Most people that I had seen discussing it weren't expecting anywhere near this much, and I definitely wasn't. A Foundation sounds like something that allows them to add more content in the future, but this is a game-changer. In fact, in terms of things to actually do in the game while planet hopping, this update adds more content than the game even started with. No Man's Sky was a wife and vast galaxy that was unfortunately a bit shallow, but this looks like the start to some major depth.

In brief:
* new creative and survival modes
* build your own bases
* buy freighters
* summon your freighter from anywhere
* travel to your base planet from any space station
* leave messages for other players with beacons
* massive fleets in space
* better planet scanning
* new items and tech
* like hundreds of tweaks and fixes

I was going to post the full patch notes but there's no way the site will let me. There are just that many changes. So check those out here: http://www.no-mans-sky.com/foundation-update/


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Ubisoft is giving away a free gift every day for the next thirty days! Just sign in and reap the rewards. Today's is Rayman Classic on mobile.

Thanks to some people digging in the source, we know what's coming up as well.

Day 1 (Today - 24/11) : Rayman Classic on Mobile: Android - iOS
Day 2 (25/11) : 30% off Ubisoft Games
Day 3 (26/11) : Exclusive Collection of E3 2016 Cards
Day 4 (27/11) : Ubi30 Exclusive GIF
Day 5 (28/11) : For Honor GIFs
Day 6 (29/11) : Ubi30 360 Image
Day 7 (30/11) : Just Dance Greeting Card
Day 8 (01/12) : Ubisoft DIY Advent Calendar
Day 9 (02/12) : Steep Wallpaper
Day 10 (03/12) : Exclusive Digital Posters from E3 2016
Day 11 (04/12) : Rabbids Holiday Goodies
Day 12 (05/12) : WWW Wallpaper
Day 13 (06/12) : Ubisoft Cocktail recipes
Day 14 (07/12) : Free Assassin's Creed 3 on PC
Day 15 (08/12) : Ubisoft Wrapping Paper
Day 16 (09/12) : 300 games Giveaway: 300 copies of 3 of the latest Ubisoft titles (1 game per person, first come first serve)
Day 17 (10/12) : Watch_Dogs 2 Wallpaper
Day 18 (11/12) : Ubisoft gift tags
Day 19 (12/12) : Ubisoft Dessert recipes
Day 20 (13/12) : Ghost Recon GIFs
Day 21 (14/12) : Wallpaper for mobile
Day 22 (15/12) : Free Prince of Persia on PC
Day 23 (16/12) : Free Rayman Legends on PC​​
Day 24 (17/12) : Free Splinter Cell on PC​
Day 25 (18/12) : Free The Crew on PC​
Day 26 (19/12) : Rayman GIF
Day 27 (20/12) : Steep GIF
Day 28 (21/12) : Exclusive 2017 Digital Holiday Cards
Day 29 (22/12) : Ubi30 Wallpaper
Day 30 (23/12) : Ubisoft Holiday decorations

Go here to get the free stuff:
https://30days.ubi.com/Promotion/Calendar/

Gift list source:
https://www.reddit.com/r/GameDeals/comments/5eneuh/ubisoftuplay_30_days_of_gifts/


I normally keep up with these but I missed this one. Jon's post about the new Ocarina world record made me jump down this rabbit hole, and I discovered that, about a month ago, darbian broke the world record for the fastest Super Mario Bros. run at just under 4:56:878. He's the first human to get into the 4:56 range.

The fastest human-capable time is thought to be 4:55.96, if you're able to pull off every trick at the right spot. The fastest tool-assisted speedrun is currently 4:54.03, if you use the same timing methods as the human runs (TAS runs start the clock when the game powers on). Tool-assisted speedruns can make use of glitches that require pixel-perfect accuracy.

Either way, it looks like we're getting very close to the fastest possible run.

A note about the timer in the video-- that's controlled by the streamer, so some human error is involved. After finishing it up, software checks the video frame-by-frame to get the official time. The clock in the video says 4:57.02, even though the official time is 4:56.878.