jdodson | Cheerful Ghost

Cheerful Ghost at Gamestorm 2015

The folk that put on the local Portland game convention Gamestorm invited me this year. So if you are going to the event or are planning on being in the area, let me know so we can hangout for a bit. I am also bringing a limited amount of the new Cheerful Ghost stickers so make sure to let me know you want one and i'll make sure you get it. I'll be at the con Saturday(March 21st) walking around interviewing various people involved with the convention and playing a few games if I can.

Gamestorm is a great local con that focuses on board games, table top RPGs, LARPs, collectible card games & miniatures. It's a pretty popular con in Portland and I like it because it has such a warm community. If you are looking to sit down to play all manner of awesome board games and the like, Gamestorm is worth checking out.

http://www.gamestorm.org/

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/2423/new-cheerful-ghost-vinyl-sticker-prints-the-new-ghost

Heroes Of The Storm Beta Key Giveaway

http://www.loadthegame.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/heroes-of-the-storm.jpg

Blizzard sent me a few Heroes of the Storm beta keys and I have a few left and wanted to give them to anyone that wanted one. Drop your request in the comments and i'll send you a site message with the key.

**EDIT** All the keys have been sent out

dannytron wrote on 03/06/2015 at 02:52am

I would love a key. I've been looking forward to this game for a while.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/06/2015 at 02:54am

@dannytron: key sent.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/06/2015 at 06:41am

This is a pretty fun game. I've only played one match after the tutorial (still a practice match) and won pretty easily, but had a lot of fun doing it.

I'm not crazy about the Saturday morning cartoon-like banter in the tutorial, but other than that, this was a fun experience. I will be coming back to this game as I have time :)

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/06/2015 at 06:42am

Played as Malfurion

Alcyonneus wrote on 03/06/2015 at 02:03pm

I will be happy to have a key^^ if u have one. thx

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/06/2015 at 04:42pm

Sent

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/06/2015 at 08:18pm

You were right when you said the game is like Dota 2 and fun. I probably spent more time playing it than I have Dota 2. I thought the story was cool and interesting, that Blizzard characters were brought together in a realm to battle. This isn't exactly new (take a look at Smash Bros. and Dissidia Final Fantasy for instance), but it's still cool. I played through the tutorials and I played Practice mode with each available character. It was fun as each character has their own abilities, attributes, and phrases familiar with those that have played their games. There are a few Blizzard games I have not played, so I'm not familiar with all of them.

I noticed a few bugs that weren't really major. I noticed a visual bug, with a weird square tile perhaps not properly rendering. The only other bug I noticed was just kind of annoying. The game often said things that weren't correct. For instance, at times it told me I had died, when in fact I didn't. These were kind of minor and probably easy enough to fix.

I'll probably play the game again. I'd like to see what I can do as a solo gamer, as that's the kind of game I'm used to playing. I didn't really play the game any differently, pretty much going straight forward towards the enemy base. Many of the maps have their own "perks" to achieve, which I think I could spend more time to focus on. Although, I noticed my NPC teammates going for these things on their own. On many of these, you can unleash a beast that becomes your character for a period of time.

_305 wrote on 03/06/2015 at 10:48pm

please can u send me a key

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/06/2015 at 11:32pm

Sorry _305 all the keys have been sent out.

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New Unreal Tournament Video + Early Alpha Thoughts

Last year Epic announced it was creating a new Unreal Tournament game and they were going to be doing things a bit different. Instead of creating a retail copy like in past iterations, the new Unreal Tournament would be released for free and developed in the open with the community. Recently at GDC they showed off a build of Unreal Tournament running on SteamOS/Linux and after seeing how well it was running in 4K I decided to see how well it would run on my PC.

Come to find out, you can download and install the latest pre-alpha build of Unreal Tournament on Mac and Windows right now by heading over to the site and registering. Sign up is simple and one thing you will notice after you download the app is that Epic is building a games launcher similar to Steam or Battle.net. The launcher comes with the things you normally have like a friends list, list of games and news feed. The launcher worked well for me but seemed like it was missing some polish that other launchers have. I add the Epic Games Launcher to the list of game store/launchers I have beyond Steam, Battle.net, Uplay, Origin and now Epic.

The game ran pretty poorly on my Mac even at 720p. It ran at pretty low settings and it still wasn't great so I didn't spend much time playing the game there. I imagine they are nearly 100% focused on the Windows/PC market and as the game marches out of Alpha things on the Mac should get better.

After installing it on my PC the game ran like a dream. The game runs with a very high frame rate and was buttery smooth at 1080p. I maxed out the resolution on my monitor(2560x1600) and lost some frames but everything still looked good. The game started suffering when I increased my settings but I can always drop resolution to adjust.

The game feels like a refresh to the old Unreal Tournament we all love. Focusing on Deathmatch and Capture the Flag is essential for any Unreal Tournament game and those modes are done well. They are somewhat light on modifiers compared to the old games but those should come with time. The games art is also fairly light at the moment and lacks the rich textures of UT2004 and UTBlack but even with more simplified graphics, the game looks great.

I played a few bot & online matches and had fun. When I was playing there were 400 others playing too so it's a pretty active game for early alpha. I also got my ass handed to me so if you are looking for the challenge of the old Unreal Tournament this game has it.

Epic is a company like any other so one thing I was wondering about was how they are going to make money from the game releasing it for free. They have said they won't do micro transactions or the like so unless this game is charitable, some kind of money making plan is in order. In the Epic Games Launcher they have an Unreal market where players can create all manner of helmets & skins to sell. Epic takes a cut of the sale and this is how they plan to fund the game. It's a pretty solid model that works well for Valve & Blizzard and I hope Epic can make the game work with it.

If you are looking to test out the new Unreal Tournament early alpha you can head over to the site, register and download the launcher. As the game continues to advance I'll keep you all posted. I am happy to see Epic come back and give Unreal Tournament some love and hope this version lives up to the legacy of it's past.

http://www.unrealtournament.com/

Travis Admin wrote on 03/06/2015 at 04:50am

I didn't realize it was out either, and I was coming to post this myself earlier. I'm in the process of downloading it to Mac and PC as we speak. My Mac technically meets the system requirements but I bet the Intel graphics are going to make it unplayable. I'm going to try it, at least! Borderlands 2 does well, as do some other new games, so why not?

rettisawesome wrote on 03/06/2015 at 04:03pm

omg. UT is the best LAN party game ever. many hour of CtF and of course CAR BALL! (google it if you must)
this looks amazing. not sure if my comp is up to the task. but imma try anyways. good find!

Travis Admin wrote on 03/07/2015 at 05:38am

Your computer is up to the task, I'd almost bet on it.

I just played around with my Mac and PC, and my Mac has fairly meager specs for gaming, with Intel integrated graphics. It autodetects your hardware at first launch, and while it didn't look pretty, it was very smooth.

My gaming PC is much better, though. I could hike all the graphics settings to high (but not epic) and get smooth fps.

This feels just like the original UT with some polish. The controls handle beautifully, and my favorite weapon, the flak cannon, is still as satisfying and chaotic as ever. The bot AI is also still as dumb as ever. Maybe dumber. But this is an alpha, and that can change.

Overall it's definitely worth a look.

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This Is The New Steam Controller

The final design of the new Steam Controller has surfaced and it looks like the leaked design photos that came out last year. I love the design and fit and finish of it all. We know that it will retail for $50 and be for sale in November. I've heard rumors that it supports movement input and a few other things but there hasn't been an official Valve announcement yet.

When more information drops i'll update the post.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/04/2015 at 09:12pm

That looks great! I can't wait to try one out!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/04/2015 at 10:06pm

A few in person pictures.

https://steamdb.info/static/img/blog/57/dsc00482-1.jpg
https://steamdb.info/static/img/blog/57/dsc00501-1.jpg

Travis Admin wrote on 03/04/2015 at 10:22pm

I really want one now. After seeing it in action, even moreso.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/04/2015 at 10:47pm

I don't know. I'd have to feel it out. For the average, AAA FPS, it doesn't look like it would be even remotely competitive. It appears as if they may have sacrificed function over form. It's a neat idea - it looks hot, for sure - but I wonder if it will take.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/05/2015 at 12:22am

I might not be super great compared to other options OR a keyboard and mouse. That said, I think this is meant to be a middle ground to compliment those games not replace some super-twitch controls.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/05/2015 at 01:59am

Verge video hands on of the Steam Controller

http://youtu.be/pqXn5DNN21w

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/05/2015 at 03:09am

A "middle ground" controller is what I'm worried about. If it can play most games "decent/kinda-good", then that seems like a wasted effort in a Steam move to the living room. I understand that a primary point for them to hit is creating a controller which can efficiently and comfortably handle the demands of games that are almost exclusively made for keyboard and mouse. If the FPS genre games on Steam suffer under Steam Controller usage, then people simply won't be playing FPSs on Steam in the living room (with that controller. Which would beg the question: Will the Steam Link support the XBox 360 controller driver?).

All of this is based on speculation, granted. It could perform wonderfully. I want it to perform wonderfully. I suppose I won't be a believer until I can get my hands on it ;).

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/05/2015 at 03:11am

Sure.

My Mac can pass through my XBox 360 controller through to my PC when I am doing in home streaming so I hope the Link can too. I imagine it's a little Linux PC and Linux handles the 360 controller well.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/05/2015 at 03:56am

The Steam Link would almost have to support 360 and PS3 controllers, because otherwise they'd be selling a $50 brick that's basically useless without another $50 controller.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/05/2015 at 04:03am

I suppose buying alternate-system controllers isn't the worst thing, should the need arise.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/05/2015 at 04:25am

By default I wouldn't even buy the one with the Steam controller because I don't need it.

At least at the time of the first announcement, the Steam controller was all about finding ways around the need for a keyboard and mouse. For example, games without controller support would be able to be mapped to it and you could download specs for it. I hope that the strange layout of the controller is due to that, and that we'll see some great benefit from it. Otherwise it's just a standard controller with weird touchpads instead of joysticks. They may just work amazingly though. I guess time will tell.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/05/2015 at 04:28am

Like the video Jon posted, playing SS2 with a joystick, when the game doesn't support it.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/05/2015 at 05:17pm

IGN's take: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdMe4mHUH2c

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/05/2015 at 05:25pm

At the very least, I wish they would concave, to some degree, the top of that analog stick.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/05/2015 at 05:35pm

Switching from the right trackpad to the buttons is going to be crazy awkward until it gets into my muscle memory.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/05/2015 at 05:48pm

I look at this controller as something I can use to play games that might not have otherwise been able to be played without a keyboard and mouse on the couch.

I just dropped some coin on two new 360 PC wireless controllers so i'll have those plus the new Steam Controller. Not sure which i'll use more but I am glad to have options.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/05/2015 at 05:50pm

Hopefully there's a left and right trigger that you can map to left and right click, so when using the right track pad as a mouse you won't constantly have to be taking your thumb off it.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/05/2015 at 07:44pm

Adam, I'm pretty sure you can map them however you want, but I'd assume left and right trigger would be the defaults for mouse buttons, since that's what FPS controls use.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/05/2015 at 07:45pm

That was a dumb way to say that. What I mean is, on PCs you use left and right click for fire and alt-fire, and on controllers you use the triggers for those, so I assume the default would be to have those triggers mapped to the mouse buttons.

JaBo wrote on 03/05/2015 at 11:16pm

Perfect, I was just coming here to get some discussion about steam machines and the controller (more the machine). What's everyone's thoughts on the steam machines coming? My PC is in need of an overhaul and I have a PS3. So I'm behind the curve everywhere! What's beneficial about a steam machine compared to just using a computer? Can't you hook up either to a TV or monitor and run the same stuff?

Travis Admin wrote on 03/06/2015 at 03:35am

You can. Steam Machines are literally PCs, the hardware is all the same. It's all about the OS. SteamOS is a custom linux distribution that provides a more console-like interface. So, you could take your current PC, install SteamOS on it, and boom! Steam Machine. Basically, good luck controlling your current PC from the couch with a game controller. But SteamOS handles all that so it acts as more an appliance/console.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/06/2015 at 04:43pm

Which is one of the thoughts I have. Should I build my own or nab a prebuilt? So many choices. Good thing I have till November to decide

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Double Fine Adventure Documentary Is Free To Stream

Double Fine successfully Kickstarted a then titled project called "Double Fine Adventure" that became the game Broken Age. They released the first half of Broken Age last year and will be releasing the second half this year. As part of the project Double Fine hired 2 Player Productions to create a series of documentaries. So far they have released 18 videos to backers(myself included) and plan on wrapping up the series soon with a final few episodes. Up till now you had to back Double Fine Adventure to watch it but as of today they will slowly release each episode one at a time.

"The collaboration between 2 Player Productions and Double Fine Productions that launched a historic Kickstarter campaign is nearing its conclusion! In anticipation of the release of Act 2 of “Broken Age”, episodes of the Double Fine Adventure will be released to Youtube every Tuesday and Thursday starting March 3rd."

Steam Link, Steam Machines & New Valve Controller Launch Nov

Valve made an announcement today that may make quite a few gamers happy.

"Steam Machines, Windows PCs, Macs, and Linux PCs will be able to take advantage of a new product announced at GDC called Steam Link. Designed to extend your Steam experience to any room in the house, Steam Link allows you to stream all your Steam content from any PC or Steam Machine on the same home network. Supporting 1080p at 60Hz with low latency, Steam Link will be available this November for $49.99, and available with a Steam Controller for an additional $49.99 in the US (worldwide pricing to be released closer to launch).

Steam Machines from partners Alienware and Falcon Northwest are being shown, with Machines from a dozen other partners slated to release this November. Steam Machines will start at the same price point as game consoles, with higher performance. Customers interested in the best possible gaming experience can choose whichever components meet their needs. Epic will give a demonstration of the newly announced Unreal Tournament running on a 4K monitor driven by the Falcon Northwest Steam Machine. "We love this platform," said Tim Sweeney, founder of Epic Games. "Whether you're running incredibly detailed scenes at 4K or running 1080p at 120 FPS for an intense shooter experience, this brings world-class gaming and graphics to televisions with an open platform true to Valve's PC gaming roots.""

The whole Steam living room mix will launch this November. I find the announcement of a little $50 streaming box to be very interesting. Because of the price I think this will convince a few Steam users that are on the fence about playing games in the living room to give it a go. It's a nice price point too because you can get the new Steam controller and Steam Link for $100 which can stream your entire Steam library to.

So what do you think, are you going for a Steam Machine or does the Steam Link seem more interesting to you or are you going to hold off on buying either?

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/steam_machines

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/04/2015 at 05:19am

Since you asked....hehehe. My interested in a "Steam Machine" hasn't really changed since we last talked about it. However, this Steam Link seems like a neat idea. For me, it could mean that I could hook a Steam Link up to my 50" Plasma, instead of my 20+" monitor. The Steam controller would then come in handy. Sure, I could probably hook my PC up to my TV, just like I had done with my old PC, but I only used it for outputting video, which I now do with my PS3 and PS3 Media Server. If I were to do that idea now, I'd probably want a wireless keyboard and mouse, because I've been enjoying the keyboard and mouse game configurations. Although, that hasn't been the case with every Steam game that I have (Risk of Rain, I'm talking about you). I have been wishing I had a bigger monitor lately. It could be interesting to see and try out, perhaps. Anyway, I've kind of rambled a bit. All in all, I think it could be a way for my son to use his Steam account since his PC stopped functioning.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/04/2015 at 06:32pm

If the Link performs as well as they claim (and pending many tests on that "low latency"), I'd much rather have that, which would support my existing system, than a completely new computer. Eventually, I'd go full SteamOS, when I could afford to have multiple high-end computers in the house. Until then, Steam Link sounds like a nice option.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/04/2015 at 07:23pm

Yeah, this is the cost effective way to go. I still want a Steam Machine, but that $50 box may do all I need. Especially if it has support for streaming media of all kinds from my other PCs. There are still some games that don't stream well, but that may be that they're poorly optimized or my rig can't handle the encoding on top of playing it.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/04/2015 at 08:38pm

Here is the new Steam Controller.

https://steamdb.info/static/img/blog/57/IMG_20150304_100101.jpg

I'll create a new post when a better image surfaces.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/04/2015 at 10:07pm

Someone playing the new UT in 4K on a Steam Machine -w the new Steam Controller.

https://twitter.com/WesPhillips/status/573193120390623233

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/04/2015 at 10:09pm

Engadget has a video showing off the new Steam hardware.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/03/04/steam-machines-are-coming-this-fall/

Travis Admin wrote on 03/04/2015 at 10:21pm

Wow, the new UT looks amazing.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/05/2015 at 12:20am

Yeah, it does. A modern cross platform UT game will be great. Can't wait.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/05/2015 at 01:53am

Found some new UT screenshot http://m.imgur.com/a/Vo9J1

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/05/2015 at 06:08pm

Valve has a list of all the Machines on Steam.

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/steam_machines

Travis Admin wrote on 03/05/2015 at 07:46pm

I was coming here to post that. I'm officially priced out. Hello Steam Link!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/05/2015 at 07:49pm

Wow, so many of them! The Alienware one costs much less than I expected. I expected it to cost about as much as some of the others in the $1-2k range.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/05/2015 at 08:36pm

The pricing makes sense to me, essentially the gamut of PC level pricing... because they are PC's.

I am thinking about Alienware, but I need to look closer at the other ones. I love the wide array of choices and prices.(I won't buy them all but I appreciate having options.)

JaBo wrote on 03/05/2015 at 11:25pm

Oh, I just posted my steam machine question in the other controller thread before seeing this. So this little device essentially is supposed to have a better quality stream? I've used my laptop to stream a game to my TV from my desktop and it's definitely hit or miss on the game and quality.

Man, what about the Falcon Tiki "Storage: Up to 8 TB of SSD" Amazeballs!

Travis Admin wrote on 03/06/2015 at 03:33am

It isn't quite the gamut of PC pricing. There are lower priced models that could still push out current gen quality, which is what I was hoping for. BUT it is totally reasonable pricing, just not for me personally.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/06/2015 at 03:36am

I'm not sure about "better quality" stream, but it handles Streaming without having to use a separate PC/Mac. And yeah, I've had hit or miss quality as well. I think it's when rendering the game is topping out your gaming rig, so encoding the stream is choppy.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/06/2015 at 03:59am

Travis: Yeah, I agree. After spending more time looking at the Machines themselves and the specs, you are right. The high covers things well, but the low end isn't (specs wise) impressive. I want something that is on par with a PS4 and some machines have some of those specs but not in terms of CPU or RAM. I think the reason why the lower end(I just mean cheaper options not quality) suffers some is because they need to fit the goods in a lower form factor case and make some profit. Seems like for something fairly decent I may have to spend $600 which is more than I thought i'd have to spend.

That said the Alienware is cool but the first version is 4G RAM with a dual core intel chip. Not sure how well that would perform compared to a PS4 with double the memory and 6 more cores.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/06/2015 at 04:37am

That's one spot where console makers have an advantage. The PS4 might have launched with $700-$800 worth of hardware in it. Console makers always take a major loss at first, but then it starts printing money after a couple of years when their costs go down but the hardware stays the same.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/13/2015 at 03:45pm

Interesting hands on with the new Steam Link. After thinking about it, I am unsure if I am going Steam Link of Steam Machine.

http://www.pcgamer.com/steam-link-hands-on-valves-best-shot-at-the-living-room-costs-50/

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Terraria 1.3 Music Spoiler + Scott Lloyd Shelly Minterview

News recently dropped that the upcoming Terraria 1.3 update will include some new music from composer Scott Lloyd Shelly. Re-Logic created a new trailer to show off part of a new song you need to check out. One of the coolest parts about the Terraria 1.2 update was the new music and I am very excited to hear we are getting more(amongst other things). I decided to reach out to Scott and ask him a few questions about how the music for 1.3 is progressing and he was nice enough to get back to me.

Scott recommended that we checkout the Terraria GDC blog as they will drop more Re-Logic and Terraria news over the week.

http://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/re-logic-game-developers-conference-blog.12848/

jdodson: I just listened to the new music spoiler from the 1.3 update and I am really happy to hear the update is including more music. How long have you been working on the new music and have you written all of it yet?

Scott Lloyd Shelly: I'm counting 9 tracks right now; I get a request every month or so for a new one. Don't know if they'll be wanting or needing more than that at this point, but I'm always into doing more music for Terraria - totally fun for me.

jdodson: What track in the 1.3 update stands out to you as some you are especially proud of?

Scott Lloyd Shelly: The track that Re-Logic released with the 1.3 music spoiler on YouTube recently is one of my faves - love the DJ!

jdodson: When the Terraria 1.2 update hit we got the Terraria Soundtrack Volume 2. Are we going to get a Terraria Soundtrack Volume 3 when the 1.3 update launches?

Scott Lloyd Shelly: The previous 2 OSTs included 13 tracks each; if we take the 9 from 1.3 and add a few from the Xbox/Playstation ports, we could have a third OST:) (If we all ask 'em really nicely.)

jdodson: Last time we talked you mentioned some of your favorite game scores and composers. Have you heard anything since you really enjoyed? I'd have to put my chips on the Reaper of Souls and Risk of Rain recent scores.

Scott Lloyd Shelly: I'm looking forward to binge-listening to a whole stack of soundtracks; Braid, Freedom Planet, Tomb Raider Anniversary, RetroCity Rampage, Portal 2, Skyrim (4 cds - go Jeremy Soule), but I'm going to take your suggestions and follow up on Reaper of Souls and Risk of Rain. My favourite just for enjoyable listening right now is probably Alessandro Coronas' work on Where Is My Heart.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/03/2015 at 04:26am

There are console-exclusive songs? I had no idea.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/03/2015 at 04:32am

A bit more about it on one of the Terraria wikis. Search for "exclusive" on the page.

http://terraria.gamepedia.com/Music

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/03/2015 at 05:20am

Awesome! I love this piece of music they released!!!! I found out about this spoiler from the Terraria forums (http://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/sampling-the-sounds-of-1-3.13064/). Someone also posted a link to the soundtrack (https://re-logic.bandcamp.com/album/terraria-soundtrack). It is cool that we can listen to the soundtrack and buy both volumes. I think Terraria has a great soundtrack!

Jason_Diaz wrote on 05/25/2015 at 05:52pm

Terraria's music is seriously some of my absolute favorite game music. It's right up there with my list of faves such as pretty much everything early Squaresoft days (16 and 32 bit era) and CSoTN soundtrack.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 05/27/2015 at 01:15am

I totally agree Jason, the Terraria one of the best i've heard in the last 5 years. That said recently i've been binging on the Double Find Adventure videos featuring music by Lifeformed and I have really been impressed with that lately.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 05/28/2015 at 05:23pm

A new, small video was released today, which comes with something very special at the end. =)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXam7gSObek

Travis Admin wrote on 05/28/2015 at 05:42pm

Niiiiiiiice!

Confirmation!

Travis Admin wrote on 05/28/2015 at 11:05pm

Since you haven't posted it, I'm going to! :)

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Valve Partnering with HTC To Build VR Headset

HTC has announced that it is partnering with Valve to produce a VR headset they are calling the RE Vive. It differs from the Oculus rift in that it uses sensors to detect where you head it pointed at in the room. Apparently this change makes the VR experience more seamless and as a result people tend to not get sick as much. The Valve/HTC hardware will also support a 90 hz refresh rate and two 1200 x 1080 displays.

This wasn't the news I was expecting out of GDC but it's pretty damn incredible. If any other news about this breaks, i'll update this post as it happens.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/03/2015 at 03:00am

Wow! I wonder how you physically interact with it and how it looks. I mean, is it just like attaching a small screen in front of your face? I also wonder how much it will cost, my guess is at least $1,000. It'd be cool to at least try it out. I'm only familiar with the Oculus Rift by name, but I know nothing of the OR and VR experience. It's pretty cool how some of our technology has caught up with Star Trek, but we have a long way to go still. One of my most favorite pieces of Star Trek technology is the Holodeck. If we can some how create that technology, or if these VR devices simulate it, well that would be pretty awesome!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/03/2015 at 04:29am

A price point like 1K might put it a bit too far out of the reach of most people. I think a few hundred is a good price, but I really don't know what the consumer version price will be.

I've played an Oculus VR game and the input was me moving around my head. It was a simple Game Jam game but it was such a uniquely beautiful experience, it was like playing Super Mario Brothers for the first time. The game was pretty simple, you moved your head to look at what was in your virtual persons hand and then looked at the right shape it would fit into. After doing that 15 times fireworks streaked across the sky and colors started dancing across the screen. It was a really beautiful and simple puzzle game.

That said, you could port games like Minecraft and Half-life to use VR. So you can move around your head to see things and you can control the game with the typical keyboard/mouse or controller. That said, if Valves VR expects you to walk around you'd need some kind of wireless controller or some other cord free input.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/03/2015 at 04:30am

I never considered that something like this might get us REALLY close to Star Trek Holodeck technology but it really does. Even with the developer Oculus Rift it felt like I was in a different place experiencing something totally unique.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/03/2015 at 05:14am

That's cool. I knew Minecraft had an Oculus Rift option. You're right about my price guess. I may be off and yeah that would be kind of steep. I'm just assuming the hardware would be expensive, but you make a great point that at that price tag, it wouldn't really be affordable to many consumers. Maybe, also, they would have had to wait for the technology not only to be able to create such a thing, but also so that it would be affordable. Maybe since the PS4 is about $400, this technology will be similarly priced.

Ah, this is another reason I wish I lived over there on the West Coast. If I did, I might actually be able to go to one of those events and try this cool stuff out. Maybe GameStop will have the Steam VR and have a "demo" console that gamers could try out before buying (like they do with some consoles).

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New Cheerful Ghost Vinyl Sticker Prints & The New Ghost

I wanted to show off the new Cheerful Ghost Vinyl Sticker Prints because they are so damn pretty. Cheerful Ghost has been a great video game community for more than 3 years now and it's been obvious to me for some time that we could improve some of our art. Last year a fantastic local game artist Hagen Deloss talked to me about remaking our sticker. We talked over a few weeks, had a few video chats and started tossing around ideas about how we could re-imagine the Ghost.

Firstly the Ghost needs to be happy. One choice I made early on with Cheerful Ghost is to design the site to appeal to people of a pleasing temperament. One part of gaming I dislike is how negative and cynical it is. I want to build a community of likeminded people that were more interested in talking about the things they loved as friends than tear each other apart. I don't mind debate or disagreement it's just served better if all parties are more than civil. My thought was from the color choices of the site to it's mascot we could attract a different kind of gamer. One other requirement was that the new Ghost must be at home and familiar with the old design.

I really appreciate how Hagen interpreted the old Ghost and how that was brought to the final design on this sticker. When people try and convey gaming to a wider audience often times you have the art not reflective of what it's trying to portray. In the case of our new sticker design, Hagen combined a few unique elements I don't often see in video game stickers, branding or advertising. Most notably that the Ghost is having fun talking on a headset playing on a PC. I've seen game site art that may look good but doesn't reflect the site or community. Cheerful Ghost is a community of people that have a deep love for gaming and most notably on the PC. Not to say we didn't all grow up on Nintendo and other consoles, it's just that Cheerful Ghost is mostly a site of PC* lovers.

I encourage everyone local to Portland to reach out and grab one of the new sticker prints from me. Wick and I will be showing Starship Rubicon this summer at a few events and i'll be handing them out there too. At 5" this sticker is ready for your laptop and it's Vinyl construction makes it great for the bumper of your car. As the site marches forward I am going to continue to work with Hagen on integrating the new Ghost design into the site as well. No ETA on when that will happen but it will be in 2015.

If you are interested in checking out more of Hagens work check out his website or talk to him at any PIGSquad event.

http://hagendeloss.tumblr.com/

Bonus image for reading to the end(I snapped that immediately after I opened the package).

http://i.imgur.com/uhu9tRF.jpg

* When I say PC I mean Linux, Mac and Windows.

The State of Linux Gaming in the SteamOS Era

I found this Ars Technica article on the state of Linux Gaming worth recommending. It notes the sad state of Linux gaming not too long ago and how there are a ton of choices now that Valve has entered the market.

As someone that was Linux only back in the day I can say that running the few native games was fun, yet extremely limiting. I had success running some games in Wine but it was never great and I couldn't get the full power out of my hardware. Things are much better now, even if the article outlines how imperfect Linux gaming is.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/02/the-state-of-linux-gaming-in-the-steamos-era/

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/04/2015 at 07:04pm

Although I haven't used Linux in a long time and therefore don't pay attention to the gaming news for it, I found a link in my email I thought I'd share with you.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2363780/linux-gaming-rising-7-big-name-pc-games-that-now-call-linux-home.html#tk.nl_today

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/04/2015 at 09:00pm

Yep, those are there for sure and Valve just dropped a SteamOS/Linux sale today bringing many games to SteamOS/Linux.

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/steamos_sale

Crazy to see games like Batman, Payday 2 and Saints Row make it to Linux.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/04/2015 at 10:26pm

Wow, that's pretty awesome!

Travis Admin wrote on 03/12/2015 at 02:45am

And BORDERLANDS. That's a huge series, and now they have their two big games right now on Linux. I never thought I'd see the day where some of the few games I want on Linux that *aren't* there already are from id Software, and major publishers were supporting it. Come on id! You were the chosen one!

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jdodson1

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