John Carmack has joined Oculus VR as its new CTO. Carmack explained on Twitter how his duties will be split from Oculus, iD and Armadillo Airspace:

"My time division is now Oculus over Id over Armadillo. Busy busy busy!"

This is great news for Oculus as they are getting an amazing CTO. As an iD fan I am not entirely sure what to make of this. On one hand, iD has a great set of tools and engines with iD tech 5 but many people have already left the company and as an iD fan, I am a bit concerned.

That said, Carmack mentioned Oculus in his recent QuakeCon Keynote and I imagine some of what he wanted to see the platform handle, they may now do. He also noted that the Oculus was the first step to the final destination of augmented reality.

Form the press release Carmack had this to say about his new gig:

“I have fond memories of the development work that led to a lot of great things in modern gaming – the intensity of the first person experience, LAN and internet play, game mods, and so on. Duct taping a strap and hot gluing sensors onto Palmer’s early prototype Rift and writing the code to drive it ranks right up there. Now is a special time. I believe that VR will have a huge impact in the coming years, but everyone working today is a pioneer. The paradigms that everyone will take for granted in the future are being figured out today; probably by people reading this message. It’s certainly not there yet. There is a lot more work to do, and there are problems we don’t even know about that will need to be solved, but I am eager to work on them. It’s going to be awesome!”

https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/statuses/365126783290445824
http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/john-carmack-joins-oculus-as-cto/

"EverQuest Next is a complete reimagining of the EverQuest Franchise.....

Everything in EverQuest Next can be destroyed. Crush the ground beneath an enemy's feet — or bury him under an avalanche you created. The world is your weapon.

The land of Norrath changes every day, based on the actions of all players… including you. Cities rise and fall, kings live and die, even the gods may change. You won't want to miss a moment of it!"

EverQuest was one of the first MMO's to start the current craze that is still the dominant game type in the MMO scene. Makes sense that Sony would look to pull in more modern game elements to make a much more fresh experience than the typical grind. What I am not look for? Another subscription based MMO grind fest with throw away quests. What I am looking for? An open game that allows me to make a mark on the world, such that I care about it and want to return.

So far, EverQuest Next looks like it incorporates some of those elements in a way that could be very fun. I am still wondering if people want a new entrant into the MMO space? It's something I want, but do players want more of the same or something that breaks many conventions we have come to expect for so long?

Oh right, and it will ship under the free to play model.

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/08/03/everquest-next-interview/
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/08/02/everquest-next-landmark-announced/
http://www.pcgamer.com/previews/everquest-next-preview/

"We want to create a game where you manage a sentai tv studio, hire actors, record episodes and use awesome special effects!

Chroma Squad: sentai heroes, manager, tactical turn-based, meta-game, pixel art fun! Everything you want in a fresh indie game! In this game you become responsible for managing and recording episodes for a sentai TV show.

So, what is Sentai? Our game is based on 90′s Tokusatsu TV series, like “Power Rangers”, “Changeman” or… “Captain Planet And The Planeteers”. Yep, any group of 3 or 5, each with different powers, whose union makes a special weapon appear to defeat their enemies. In this case, Captain Planet himself. =)"

It's a great thing that Indie Developers can explore awesome genres like this. I wouldn't expect a sim game where you control a TV studio making a Power Rangers like show to come from a big studio so it's great smaller scale developers can create them.

Behold Studios has already funded the project and is strongly moving to the stretch goals. If you want in on this Kickstarter, head over and check it out. While you are doing that vote for it on Steam Greenlight.

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=164906415

I haven't seen the Thor used a lot in the games i've played. A cool unit for sure but does anyone use this typically as Terran?

Keep your animal happy (and maximize production) like so:

• Pet once a day


• Make sure she has enough food


• Let her outside if the weather is warm


• Make sure she is secure at night


• Purchase a heater to counteract the unhappiness of being inside all winter

As always, the updates that keep coming to Stardew Valley look great. Very excited to jump in and try in what looks like to be the most involved farming sim RPG i've ever seen.

As always, when a release date drops you will be the first to know.

http://stardewvalley.net/dev-update-9/

If you are looking for a collection of the other dev updates, check the CG Stardew Valley page for easy viewing:

http://cheerfulghost.com/game/24035

Every year John Carmack gives a Quakecon keynote and I tune in. This year it streamed live over Twitch.tv and as luck would have it I watched the majority of it over 3G on my Phone. In this keynote Carmack gives no details about Doom 4(he was asked and said he couldn't say anything) and spartan details about any iD game specifics but does talk about game tech and the industry, graphics technology, the new consoles from Sony and Microsoft and Armadillo Airspace.

I found a seriously incredible Ocarina of Time Speedrun by Cosmo. In this Speedrun video he gives the Speedrunning history of Ocarina of time and how these particular glitches work so the game can be complete in 22 minutes.

If you are interested in checking out more of Cosmo's videos, check out his YouTube channel and prepare yourself.

http://www.youtube.com/user/CosmoSpeedruns

I wasn’t winning with the same strategy I used in real life. I figured even if I started out with a bad economic situation I could win on the merits of making the right moral choices alone. I was wrong. The way to win in Paul Vorvick’s newest game isn’t to save and be conservative, you need to swing high and stomp everyone else into the dirt.

When I heard that local game designer Paul Vorvick was showing “Privilege: The Game of Economic Inequality” at the New York at the Games for Change Festival I was very interested in checking it out. When he came back to Portland I contacted him and we met at a local pub so he could show me the game and talk about it. As we chatted about his trip to New York to show the game, we played a few rounds and talked about life, the universe and fiscal policy.

jdodson: You recently showed Privilege in New York at the Games for Change Festival. How did your time at the festival go? Compared to the other games at the festival, how did Privilege fit in?

Paul Vorvick: Privilege was one of very few games there that had a metaphoric theme. Most of the social good games attempt to present a problem and solution simultaneously, and often lose subtlety in doing so. Privilege didn't suggest a solution, which bothered some of the attendees. Privilege was also the only analog game ever presented at that festival, and therefore caused a bit of a stir that way. The festival contained some really amazing games, and its great to see we are all approaching the concept of social good from different angles. I hope to see more games like Privilege appearing there in following years.

jdodson: After you have seen people’s reactions to playing Privilege did anything surprise you about how people responded to it?

Paul Vorvick: It surprised me how often players were looking at Privilege without drawing parallels to real life. Often, players would confront me about some aspect of the game's design, telling me that it was flawed. My response was usually to point out that the design was accurate and it was our real-life economics that were flawed! But the process of connecting real-world experience to the abstraction of a game is very natural for me, and isn't where everyone immediately goes. I think next time I'll put in some mechanisms for making those comparisons easier and more obvious.

jdodson: At what point in the design process do you start considering the art and how the visuals will interact with the mechanics?

Paul Vorvick: Visuals are almost always the last step in my design process. I have an excellent illustrator, Cassi Boggio, who is quite happy to work with me in an already-established game. Once the game mechanics have been established, the visuals can fit into it. Often the visuals that I have planned change in order to fit with the game, but the game's design and theme is paramount.

jdodson: Do you have any Privilege expansions in the works?

Paul Vorvick: Privilege should be receiving two expansions before too long: Inheritance and Welfare. Inheritance will confront our ideas about leaving a better world for our children, and how exactly that's expressed in our society. Welfare will confront the ideas behind why we have a social safety net, when it's good and when it's bad.

jdodson: Could give us some information as to the next game you are working on?

Paul Vorvick: I've just released Pressure: The Game of Bullying on my website vorvick.net and on my Patreon page. I'm still running Beyond the Aether, a live theater game that is meant to provoke conversations about extremism. And I have several different ideas for what game to work on during August. Ultimately my patrons will have the most input on where I go next.

jdodson: I wonder what you wanted to accomplish when you were designing Privilege? Now that the game is in the hands of players do you feel successful in that?

Paul Vorvick: My goal with Privilege was to spark discussion and debate about our economic system and how it treats "winners" and "losers." I feel that the design of Privilege works quite well, when players are prepared to engage with it. Players who are already thinking in a critical mindset will get quite a lot out of examining the game and how it is played. It's already caused a lot of strong feelings in some players, which means I'm definitely touching on something powerful.

jdodson: I want to thank you for taking the time to talk with me Paul. Before we wrap things up, is there anything you want to leave us with?

Paul Vorvick: Thanks for your time, Jon! It's been a pleasure.

Privilege: The Game of Economic Inequality is available under a free license to print yourself and you can buy it too.

http://privilegethegame.com/

While you are feeling frisky, you can also peep Paul’s Kickstarter and more:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vorvick/beyond-the-aethers-labor-day-game-aug-30-sept-2
http://www.patreon.com/vorvick

"This is the third installment in our three part mini-series exploring the Damsel in Distress trope in video games. In this episode we examine the rare Dude in Distress role reversal and then take a look at the use of "ironic sexism" in retro inspired indie and mobile games. We conclude with an investigation of some titles that attempt to subvert or deconstruct the traditional damsel narrative."

The next installment from the Anita Sarkeesian "Tropes vs Women in Video Games" series has dropped and you can check it out embedded above. Let me know what you think of it in the comments below!

"Long forgotten is the legend of Gaurodan, the bird of thunder, and his fight with Guayota, the fire beast. But now mankind has discovered the egg of Guayota within Mount Teide, and it is only a matter of time until Guarodan returns from the sky to fight the beast and punish us for awakening his ancient enemy.

Fly around the Canary Islands as Gaurodan, and destroy cities, armies and colossal creatures in your path throught this frantic shmup, created for the lovers of classic games that require mastering."

Gaurodan is a very fun retro 2D pixel shooter where you play as a very large "bird of thunder" as you bring your brand of chaos to the world. Gaurodan starts as you emerge from a volcano as an egg and smash everything in your path until you hatch. From there you lay waste to as many buildings, helicopters and tanks you can in the time allotted.

Gaurodan is a totally free Windows & Linux download (Mac is in development) from Locomalito games. Locomalito games releases all its game for free and provides donation links if you feel inspired. They also provide some pretty awesome download options for each game in that you can download the game poster, DVD cover, user manual, trailer and soundtrack as well.

For the price, Gaurodan is well worth the install and if you feel so inclined, donate as well.

http://www.locomalito.com/gaurodan.php