First day at PAX is always the most mind and foot numbing. I usually don't hang out in large auditoriums filled with massive art pieces, loud music and large seizure educing lights so the first day of PAX takes a while to acclimate to. @scrypt is at PAX this year so we have been co-ordinating a bit to see most of the show together and so far its worked out pretty well.

Today we decided to hit up the expo halls and check out the games developers are showing. I didn't have a huge list of games I came in wanting to play because most of the games I know about, i've played. All told, I found some awesome new stuff I hadn't heard of before and played some games that haven't been released yet... But enough of all that, lets get to it.

nekro

Nekro is an upcoming fantasy game where you summon demonic forces to fight for you. The Nekro team was one of many developers taking part in the Indie Mega Booth. The Indie Mega Booth got some space on the main PAX floor and filled it to the brim with games. It was PACKED with people the entire time I was there and to offer a bit of comparison, the 2K area showcasing WWE 2K was not. But back to Nekro...

Nekro is a game that just went to the top of my radar for a few reasons. First off the art for the game is both stunning and lush. The game world feels like an actual place and the way the Nekro moves around in it is awesome. The game is fairly easy to understand and the gameplay and is well polished. I asked about a possible release time and they have a few options on the table, the earliest getting the game out by December. Very excited to try this out and I hope I can score beta access at some point.

http://darkforgegames.com/

wolfenstein: new order

Wolfenstein: The New Order is the only triple A game I am interested in and after I got my hands on it at PAX doubly so. Getting a special lanyard/button and pin set for playing the game didn't hurt either. After waiting in line for about 10 minutes at the Bethesda booth I was playing the game. The demo was on the XBox 360 and it seemed to be a mission or so into the game. That or I missed an intro cut scene, because when the dialog started they referenced some stuff they hadn't set up in the game yet. That said, BJ only had a knife to start things out and I was pretty happy about that.

You start in an area that looks like it was recently shelled. After killing your first Nazi you gain your first handgun and continue on. After killing a few more SS you get a machine gun and then immediately hit your first mini boss fight. You come to a mech and with some strafing and ducking I took it down. As you continue on past the desolation you enter a Nazi bunker that contains more Nazi you must kill. I dashed across an area, up some stairs and started shooting people with a turret. Wolfenstein allows you to unmount the turret and carry around the massive gun. The bonus is you get a huge gun that will blow holes in Nazis as well as walls but it makes you walk slower and you can't run. I thought that was a fair trade for the bit of the level I played with it.

The gameplay is what you would expect for a triple A shooter in that its very polished and everything feels right. I really loved the variety of guns in game and liked how you could play things safe and stealthy or run and gun. Plus, the game is challenging. From the outset the Bethesda people running the game said the game was hard so not to up the difficulty much. Based on that recommendation I made the game mode as easy as possible and the game was so hard, I died quite a few times. I hope they keep the games challenge as it would be a nice change of pace for some of the shooters i've played recently.

The game looked amazing on the XBox 360 so I can imagine how beautiful the game will look on PC. Getting it when it launches, no question.

legend of dungeon

Had fun talking to Alix and Calvin, the amazing Indie Duo making Legend of Dungeon. Nabbed a cool game poster, a few buttons and @scrypt and I played the game on a large screen with 2 other people. The game is really awesome with four players and I will have to make more of a point to play this game with my friends when they come over. I have really only played it by myself, but the game is loads of fun with 4 people on the screen at once.

Asked Alix how long it took her to get to the bottom of the Dungeon and escape. She said neither of them had beaten the game so I told her I didn't feel so bad not having beaten it. :D I told them I appreciated a recent patch that made your default movement faster from the start. Being able to be a bit faster from the get go is nice because it allows your game to go a bit quicker and thats a pretty nice thing for a game that can be played in a few minutes to a few hours.

http://www.robotloveskitty.com/LoD/

even the ocean

Headed by the Analgesic booth to talk to Jon and Sean about Anodyne and try out the early build of Even The Ocean. The game feels very metroid-ish and I loved the overall feel of the game while I was playing it. They put together a few levels for PAX and they had some interesting game mechanics to show off. One unique aspect of the game is the shield you have. You can use it block projectiles as well as use it to catch wind gusts. Its interesting to in one moment use the shield to block a projectile then use it to catch a wind gust to make it to a higher area in the game.

We talked a bit about game platforms and so far Windows is planned and they will port it to Mac and Linux if possible. I nabbed a beautiful Anodyne poster and am really excited to play Even The Ocean when it hits beta.

delvers drop

Delver's Drop is one of the games I have backed on Kickstarter and after checking out the game build at the PAX booth my excitement for this game has been kicked up a few notches. They were showcasing two classes and much more gameplay than I had seen with the current Kickstarter backer build I have. They mentioned that the PAX build will be updated for Kickstarter backers in a few weeks and I am very interested to play it.

They are planning on a formal release of the game in December.

I have taken a bunch of pictures of PAX so far and will post them in the next few days as well as some other games I saw that were awesome.

Prison Architect is a prison simulator from Introversion Software, the creators of Uplink and Darwinia. In the recent video for Alpha 13, producer Mike Morris and designer Chris Delay show off the new prisoner escape tunnel mechanic. The video illustrates how your prisoners can appear to be asleep but can actually be creating tunnels to escape. The game even allows the prisoners to build off each others tunnels to escape. Currently, you can detect a tunnel by searching each cell but they plan on adding search dogs to detect break out attempts as well as prisoner contraband.

Alpha 13 brings another interesting feature in that you can set your prisons policy. You can set up what happens when a prisoner complains, attacks another prisoner, murders someone or is caught with weapons, tools or drugs. Introversion wants people to be able to design a prison that is a liberal paradise or right wing hell hole and this policy addition allows you to do that.

The game looks incredible and is currently marked down on Steam to $17.99, so why not pick it up?

http://store.steampowered.com/app/233450/

In a new interview with PC Gamer, Diablo 3 Lead Content Designer Kevin Martens spoke about some reaper of souls game changes for loot drops and the auction house. When asked about loot drops and the auction house, he said that much of Diablo 3 fun revolved around the auction house...

"That’s not what we intend, and we do want to address that, so the loot system and the enchanting and crafting systems are both intended to cut the legs out from the auction house; to make it unnecessary to go on it to some degree, where the most fun way to play the game becomes the best way to play the game.”

‘Loot 2.0′ will add “smart drop” items, which are tuned to your character. More legendaries are also planned, with extra effects, such as a staff that can spawn hydras from dead bodies. A new artisan, the Mystic, will be introduced, letting players transmute items – transferring the stats of one over to another. In addition, the new Loot Run mode will randomly generate a new 15-20 minute dungeon, letting you go treasure hunting without repeating the same locations."

If Blizzard is able to pull this off, this is a welcomed change. Diablo 3 is loads of fun, but it has always been easiest to grind for gold and head to the auction house for gear. Beyond a certain level the majority of loot drops are nearly worthless, yellows and browns included. Kind of sad to get a legendary item and think "oh well it prob sucks more than a blue I have." I hope Blizzard can change things so the dropped gear is awesome and I am really looking forward to the new "loot run" mode.

What do you think, are these changes to the auction house and loot drops something you are excited about?

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/08/29/diablo-3-reaper-of-souls-loot-system-designed-to-cut-the-legs-out-from-the-auction-house/

**UPDATE**

It also seems that Diablo 3 will be seeing a huge 2.0 update getting much of the content around Reaper of Souls release.

"You’re going to get all the loot, you’re going to get all the new item types, you’re going to get all the new legendary affixes, you’re going to get our new gem type – which is the diamond – and you’re going to get all the changes to the rules, the smart drop system, the targeted drop system, probably you’ll get loot runs – we haven’t figured that one out yet – probably you’ll get paragon, etc, etc."

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/08/29/diablo-3-to-get-free-update-alongside-reaper-of-souls-expansion/

PBS just dropped a new web series called "PBS Game/Show" on YouTube and it is well worth your time. The first episode is about classic game characters and how long they will be with us. The host Jamin Warren discusses Mario, Sonic and Link and compares them to other more modern characters to see whom will have a longer appeal. He also talks a bit about myths and stories.

I really enjoyed the the first episode and hope they keep this going. One of the reasons I started the Cheerful Ghost Roundtable was to get a pretty even discussion going about gaming that didn't contain long winded video game rants, 90's style shock jock potty humor and horribly negative discussions. Happy to see PBS enter the gaming discussion.

If you are looking to add some video game magic to your lego collection you may get your wish. Looks like the FTL guys put a Kestrel design up on the Lego site and it is listed as "Supporters Achieved." I can only imagine that means that the design is moving along and we may very well see an official Lego Kestrel ship for purchase.

Would you pick a lego Kestrel if it came out?

http://lego.cuusoo.com/ideas/view/35223

http://www.ftlgame.com/?p=580

Yep. Borderlands 2: Game of the Year Edition is coming and it will include a few things:

• Borderlands 2 Main Game


• Captain Scarlett and her Pirate’s Booty


• Mr. Torgue’s Campaign of Carnage


• Sir Hammerlock’s Big Game Hunt


• Tiny Tina’s Assault on Dragon Keep


• Creature Slaughter Dome


• Gaige, the Mechromancer Character Class


• Gearbox Gun Pack


• Golden Key


• Vault Hunter's Relic


• Krieg, the Psycho Character Class


• Collector’s Edition Heads and Skins


• Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 1

I have been waiting on getting the DLC until I could pick it up in one bundle and this is it. Borderlands 2 GoTY will launch on all platforms in North America on October 8, 2013 and internationally on October 11, 2013.

http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/community/articles/1078/borderlands-2-game-of-the-year-edition-announced

@WhiteboySlim and I took part in a FTL pairing session last night and recorded it over Google Hangout. We decided to roll with a new strategy to us both in building our ship around drones using the Engi Cruiser. It is a very lucky run for this build and we had to cut it short to head to bed.

Stay tuned for the thrilling part 2 conclusion of our FTL session coming soon!

Watch the session and let us know if you have any suggestions for our build and strat for the remaining sectors and boss fight!

I contacted Tiny Build Games and asked them for some copies of "No Time To Explain" and they were nice enough to share some love. I have 3 copies of the game to give away, so if you are interested hit up the comments to enter. I will be picking 3 people from http://www.random.org/ in order you enter and will send out keys to the winners next week on 9/2/2013 @ 1P PST.

What are you waiting for, you should enter, THERE IS NOT TIME LEFT TO EXPLAIN!

http://tinybuild.com/

Really interesting homebrew project recreating Portal on the DS. Does anyone with a homebrew DS want to try this out and report back? Totally love to hear about how this plays.

"This game is an adaptation of the portal games for the nintendo DS. It includes most of the mechanics found in the original. The code was written entirely by smealum and the graphics were all made by Lobo.

This version is the first public release. It is very buggy and incomplete, but it is mostly playable. It includes 14 levels made by smealum, loganino and tenteran. It also features a full-fledged on-board level editor inspired by portal 2′s own perpetual testing initiative."

http://smealum.net/ASDS/

I wanted to talk about some of the new things we are doing on the site as well as a bit about some of the technology we use to make Cheerful Ghost. I put the finishing touches on a new private message system this weekend and am pretty happy with the result. A week or so ago CapnCurry asked me how he could distribute Card Hunter beta keys to people on the site and I didn't have a good recommendation for him. He suggested a simple message system and the gears in my head turned a bit. I spent a week thinking about how to build things and spend a few days hacking on it.

how private messages work

If you want to send a private message to anyone on the site you can do that in a few ways. If you are in a comment chain and want to send someone a message there is a message icon you can click to send. If you are viewing someones profile there is also a message icon you can click to send a message. The message system is very simple and I borrowed heavily from how text messages work. To manage all the messages you have, in the drop down there is a private messages inbox with each private message thread available to read. Want to start a new thread? Send a new private message or continue where you left off.

the cheerful ghost roundtable

The Cheerful Ghost Roundtable is a new YouTube video cast by members of the Cheerful Ghost community about awesome stuff in gaming. We film each new episode of the Roundtable every two weeks live over Google Hangout. Right now the show is published to the main page but as we continue with it, you will be able to subscribe to it in iTunes and any other Podcast program you use. I will also put a link to each episode in a new "Roundtable" navigation area page in the next month or so.

We just finished up Episode 3 last night and I am very happy with how that turned out. I want the Cheerful Ghost Roundtable to be something really special and if you have any suggestions or ideas on how to do that, let me know. If you have a topic suggestion, let me know.

If you haven't watched them yet, why not start with episode one?

Episode 1 - "The Indie Revolution": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vy_D1tdNXv4
Episode 2 - "The Internet Hate Factory": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h-IwC9j1U8g
Episode 3 - "CONSOLES!": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjAcMDGJcHI

responsive design & why it matters

I started Cheerful Ghost with some pretty awesome goals. One of those goals was that the site had to work the same on mobile, tablets and desktop browsers. I set that as a goal because as a software engineer I have worked for many companies that don't do that and I wanted to be able to ship something that works the way I think it should. I decided from the starting code I wrote, the site would keep this in mind.

I started with a pretty basic "responsive design" framework when the site first launched. I was pretty new to design and the front end so the first design of Cheerful Ghost was pretty rough. The site worked the same on phones, tablets and desktops but it lacked polish and the shine the site has now.

Cheerful Ghost received a pretty awesome overhaul a year after launch and the fruits of that you see now. Since then the site has evolved but the core tenant of keeping the site working the same on phones, tablets and desktops hasn't changed.

In fact, one fun way to test how that works is by dragging the edge of your browser around. In most browsers you can see the site "respond" to its new width and adapt. Many sites on the Internet don't do that and this is one really cool feature of Cheerful Ghost I love. It responds to the browser it lives in.

One technology we use to make this happen is the Open Source responsive design framework, Bootstrap 2.3.2. Recently Bootstrap 3.0 was released and after PAX I am going to spend time to upgrade the site to Bootstrap 3.0. Bootstrap 3.0 is a great new release that was built from the ground up to consider mobile first. What this means is that certain elements it provides that were not awesome on mobile, will now be. It also changes a few elements visually and drops support for some older web browsers.

As Cheerful Ghost improves we can't keep compatibility with everything. As such we are going to drop support for Internet Explorer 7 and Firefox 3.6. I don't think this will impact too many people because according to our logs Internet Explorer is our 5th used browser and only one person came to the site last month in IE 7. That said over the next year we will drop support for IE 8 and that browser isn't widely used on the site either. I'd love to keep support for everything, but as as a lone developer I can only do so much. :D

http://getbootstrap.com/2.3.2/
http://blog.getbootstrap.com/2013/08/19/bootstrap-3-released/

Thanks for making Cheerful Ghost the coolest gaming community on the net and I hope to see you in the upcoming months!