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Square Enix and Microsoft Team for Awesome Tech Demo

This article is from April. I regret that I did not share it then. This is truly an awesome tech demo that is worth taking a look at. The PC running the demo is showcasing four Titan X GPUs and featuring DirectX 12.

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/square-enix-reveals-stunning-final-fantasy-pc-tech/1100-6427022/

Travis Admin wrote on 08/07/2015 at 02:23am

FOUR Titans.

It's really impressive, but this isn't something we're going to get any time soon.

Still, we're getting close to photorealistic games. What's next? Honestly once games achieve the best graphical quality possible, what's the Playstation 7 going to do, for instance?

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/07/2015 at 02:39am

Yeah, so that's a $4,000+ set up. It is very impressive. How long before this becomes mainstream or even obsolete? It might take a few years for those Titans to become obsolete. It's fascinating to think of what's in store for the future. What about this kind of quality (or better) for virtual reality? How long before those technologies and qualities meet and become mainstream? It might not be as far away as we think.

jdodson Admin wrote on 08/07/2015 at 05:49am

Wow. Cool to see this is where we are headed. I'm going to promote this to main so more people can see this.

Thanks for sharing Greg!

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 08/07/2015 at 10:17am

How'd I know that was coming, Jon? LOL

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Those Lovable Angry Birds Are Back With All New Self Directed Anger!

Angry Birds 2 dropped a few days ago and I happily downloaded it, because, who doesn't like Angry Birds? It might be a bit simple sure, but it's fun to fling birds at those pigs. Truth be told I was never a huge Angry Birds fan myself but I did play quite a bit of the original and Angry Birds Space(think Angry Birds meets Super Mario Galaxy). I also don't mind trying a mobile game if the price is right and in the case of Angry Birds 2, it's free.

First off, Angry Birds 2 starts out in the same way as the first game. The pigs steal the nests eggs and the birds want them back. Yup, same plot as before. I know Angry Birds isn't known for it's narrative but Rovio is... Read All Angry Birds 2 dropped a few days ago and I happily downloaded it, because, who doesn't like Angry Birds? It might be a bit simple sure, but it's fun to fling birds at those pigs. Truth be told I was never a huge Angry Birds fan myself but I did play quite a bit of the original and Angry Birds Space(think Angry Birds meets Super Mario Galaxy). I also don't mind trying a mobile game if the price is right and in the case of Angry Birds 2, it's free.

First off, Angry Birds 2 starts out in the same way as the first game. The pigs steal the nests eggs and the birds want them back. Yup, same plot as before. I know Angry Birds isn't known for it's narrative but Rovio is pulling a entry out of the Nintendo's tried and tested "absolutely do not change the narrative of any franchise" formula. So are you telling me that after the upset avians got the eggs back from the pigs that they learned absolutely nothing and let it happen again one dark and story night? Well yes, yes they are. Which is why I think I understand why the Angry Birds are so upset. The worst kind of anger can be directed at yourself and after seeing the pigs steal the eggs one more time the birds have to direct that rage at themselves. Fool me once? Angry Birds. Fool me twice? Angry Birds 2 - We Have Learned Nothing.

Besides the plot, which isn't that big of a deal in these kinds of games, is the gameplay. Rovio has turned the knob to 11 because they improve on the gameplay of the original Angry Birds in nearly every way. The destruction is more chaotic, the explosions are more fun and the sound effects and graphics are much more polished. The game feels like a triple A mobile effort and at every turn is very polished. I experienced no bugs playing it and found the user interface wasn't confusing or annoying. The massive effort that went into Angry Birds 2 shows, the gameplay is superb.

As I noted earlier, Angry Birds 2 is free. That said, Rovio still needs to pay to keep the lights on so they added a freemium system. You start out with 5 lives and they deplete as you fail to complete stages. Don't beat a stage with the birds you are given? Lose a life. This isn't a big deal in the starting zones but the difficulty ramps up and then you run out of lives. You can get more lives by waiting or by spending in game currency, which is in this case is gems. I felt this was a missed opportunity in that Rovio could have gone with pig bones as the in game currency. It seems much more fitting to spend the remains of the vanquished than gems as gems appear in nearly every mobile game and enemy parts have still yet to be used. The in game economy isn't bad if you don't mind waiting or shelling out money, but like many freemium mobile games you could be waiting a very long time. In the end the freemium nature of Angry Birds 2 didn't bother me as by the time my lives ran out I stopped playing(everbody wins). I am not sure how much i'll end of playing Angry Birds 2 but it's a solid effort and if you loved Angry Birds, you need to come back and get angry all over again.

Travis Admin wrote on 08/04/2015 at 03:48am

Oh no, pay gates? Do you get an option to buy the game and not have them, or are they all microtransaction based? If it's the latter, this is an instant pass for me. I don't want to reward that behavior with a download counter increase on their stats. I don't mind if there's an option to get out of it by buying the game outright, which a few games have done, but that's just Candy Crushville all over again.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/04/2015 at 04:03am

I noticed this elsewhere and read about it. I have all, or almost all, of the Angry Birds games on my Kindle. I bought some, but others are the free versions. One of the last times I played through and made it to the Halloween stuff, which was awesome. Then my Kindle died and was promptly stolen due to my accidentally leaving it setting at a dental office. I bought another, much better HDX later.

Anyway, thanks for your review. I may get it installed. I was afraid of how they changed the game play, but from what you said, it sounds much better. The lives thing kind of sucks, but I guess that makes it a game you can play for a bit and then wait a while before playing again (to replenish lives).

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/04/2015 at 05:36am

Travis: there is no buy out option, just crystals.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/04/2015 at 06:15am

It doesn't seem like it's out for the Kindle yet...

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/04/2015 at 02:36pm

Travis: they have the option for you to watch a 30 second video for another life. As annoying as that is. I guess they must make a ton more money on the freemium game than a for pay one.

Travis Admin wrote on 08/04/2015 at 03:37pm

Yeah, still. They weren't exactly losing money with the old model, where you could play for free with ads or buy it outright without them, and even providing tons of free updates for years on all their various games.

And many companies have had super success with selling cosmetic things or even helpful things that aren't necessary. Currency doublers, or hats, or any number of things people would really want to buy, without limiting your access to play the game. Halfbrick made tons of money on Jetpack Joyride from all those costumes. TF2 is the poster child of selling cosmetic items to keep income coming in. Guild Wars 2, while you have to pay for the game up-front, doesn't have a subscription because people refer to it as Fashion Wars 2 a lot. People will shell out to make their characters look nice, or buy access to convenience items that help but are by no means necessary.

Freemium doesn't have to be an evil model.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/04/2015 at 11:40pm

Not sure i'd call it evil. Annoying perhaps, but not evil. Not sure true evil is as easily vanquished as simply deleting an app

Travis Admin wrote on 08/05/2015 at 12:51am

It was hyperbole :)

But more accurately: bad for the industry and players.

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Andrew Spinks on Terraria's Future

Andrew Spinks did an interview with PC Gamer recently and details what's to come for our favorite terrarium simulator. Even though he won't be directly involved from this point forward, as he's moving onto a new project and eventually Terraria 2, the future looks exciting.

First up, he shared that updates would come more frequently, and in smaller chunks, possibly including new mechanics and alternate biomes. This could be good or bad, depending on your preference, but it will keep the community more active for sure and add tons of replay value (as if there isn't already infinite replay value).

In addition, he said that in the future they'd like to add mod support and... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/03/2015 at 03:05am

Awesome interview! Wow, more for Terraria?! That's truly exciting! I recently thought of something I'd like to see in the game, but cannot currently remember what that was.

My son keeps asking if "creative mode" was coming to Terraria, especially in 1.3. I told him there isn't a "creative mode," the game is in "creative mode." Perhaps there is more to it, as in being able to build without any mobs. That makes sense.

As for mods, that brings me to something I was thinking about recently. I don't think I'll include those thoughts here, though. Again, my son mentioned mods for Terraria, which I haven't tried and I really don't have any desire to do so at this point. However, that's only true if you do not count TShock as a mod, although perhaps it is. Still, it could be interesting to see what modders come up with, perhaps it could lead to further things being included in the game.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 08/03/2015 at 03:18am

Yeah that's what creative mode in Minecraft is, isn't it? Just building without enemies, etc?

TShock is a mod, but a different one from usual. It's a mod of the server instead of the client. If mod support opens for both server and client, TShock's development would be much smoother, and could be way more modular.

One thing I'd love to see came up in a discussion on the Terraria subreddit. Once you've done everything, beaten the moon lord, vanquished all the foes, the Dryad then gives you quests to clean up the world. She already tells you the corruption percent as it is, so she could give you markers to patches you may not know about. Once you completely clean the corruption/crimson (and maybe hallow) out of your world, a new NPC moves in: The Mayor.

The Mayor gives you certain quests like getting resources, etc, and as you complete more of his quests, new NPCs move in that may be just normal people, may sell things (choosing from the pool of the other NPCs), some may be builders. You can set certain areas to be construction zones and your town will grow and more people will move in.

Since anything you could possibly do after getting all the Moon Lord drops would be creative/completionist, why not give something to go along with that? At this point there's no real endgame, and this would add onto it.

I doubt it's within the scope of Terraria. As Andrew said, the engine is reaching its limit. But it would be nice for Terraria 2.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/03/2015 at 05:33am

Oh that would be sweet!

Still, if it's reaching it's limit, I wonder how much more can be added or done. It seems like enough (as he said) to provide some updates ever 1-3 months, but for how long? Also, could the engine be upgraded? Maybe that's Terraria 2. I'm still wondering about Otherworld and how that will be, but I'm sure I'll jump on it when it's ready.

I'm glad he created the game and that he decided to "finish" it. I've been loving the updates I've seen and I look forward to more. I like that he's still working on things and planning on continuing with the game as a series.

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Starship Rubicon Review

Azurephile gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Azurephile gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale

This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.

Review

Recommended :1:

Fun, retro-looking, good controls, similar to Asteroids

Pros: Fun, retro, great control scheme (and in-game reminders of how to control your ship).

Cons: I can't really think of any. The game's difficulty could go here, but it's not horrible. Many improvements have been made over the course of development to ease the game's difficulty.

Tips: Collect as many blue orbs as you can, they are currency. Repair ship in-between battles

Synopsis: Starship Rubicon is a fun and challenging game, which was inspired by Asteroids. This takes many players back to their childhood playing classic games, something that's missing from many modern day games. However,... Read All

Steam Postmortem

(Note: Valve has asked us to not share our exact sales numbers. I feel like that takes a bit of the teeth out of a postmortem, but there are still plenty of lessons to be shared)

STEAM POSTMORTEM

I was going to write a standard postmortem -- explain what we tried, show some stats, and pull out some lessons. I'll do some of that later, but I think I'm starting to realize that any specific tips I can share is less important than something else I learned.

Steam traffic is a gigantic morass -- having my game on the front page that first morning felt like timidly standing in the empty floor of the stock exchange moments before it opens. Suddenly, before I can take a breath,... Read All

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/31/2015 at 08:01pm

I appreciate you writing all this up. It's been very interesting watching the process develop and I hope you the best on Rubicon Tactics! Congrats on even making it to Steam! I hope eventual Bundles and Steam Sales continues to spread the Rubicon galaxy :)

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 07/31/2015 at 11:08pm

What an excellent post, Wick! I knew about this post yesterday, thanks to the spoiler you gave me in our email conversation. I'm really glad to hear your story and I think it's very exciting, especially since it's so close to us here at Cheerful Ghost. I'm looking forward to seeing what lies in store for the game and Wickworks. You may find some of your biggest fans and support right here. That's what that CG logo on your game means, I think. =)

I do need to post a review, as I've already mentioned to you. My suggestions for the game are actually directed towards players, in the form of tips, instead of you or the game. The game can be challenging, yes, but I think with the right tips, the difficulty level isn't too bad. Since I have a few different versions of the game, I've noticed things that have been added over time to make the game a bit easier.

Please keep us updated here and thanks for a cool game!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 08/01/2015 at 07:09am

I've had some more thoughts that I'd like to share. First of all, even if Starship Rubicon doesn't turn out to be a blockbuster like Minecraft, you've still managed to get it on Steam, which I think is huge. I'm looking forward to seeing what you may have in store for the future of the game and other projects.

In this post, it seemed like you were kicking around a few ideas to try to get some more people playing the game, such as additions to make. I was thinking about a conversation I recently had with Travis about what mainstream gamers seem to insatiably desire in games today. They want FPS, zombies, and PVP, it seems. While Starship Rubicon isn't an FPS, I can imagine it containing the other two things. Because of the humorous nature of the game's story and dialogue, I can imagine zombies appearing some where, for some reason. Of course, they would have to be slaughtered.

But there's still one thing the game is missing that could make it more fun, that is multiplayer mode. This game does have a bit of difficulty, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, and one of the things that could ease that would be a multiplayer option. Imagine going through the game with a friend in co-op. I think that would be cool. Still, you could have some PVP in there, too.

My favorite YouTuber has an Indie Game Test Drive channel and is a curator on Steam. He has a discussion thread where you can suggest an indie game for him to try out. I guess if he likes it, he'll create at least one video for it showcasing the game. I think he is older than us and would perhaps enjoy this game, even though it doesn't seem to necessarily fit the type of games he plays. However, if he should pick it up and review it, that could create an explosion of attention for the game. So, I included a link to the Starship Rubicon store page on the channel and asked that he give it a try.

Wick Post Author wrote on 08/02/2015 at 02:41am

@GregoPeck
Adding zombies would get a little too close to SPaZ, and I'd like to think that I can be a little more original than adding stuff just to pander towards mainstream trends (unless I was subverting them somehow -- are there any games where you play as the zombies?).

Multiplayer has been on the todo list for a long time. Technically, it works (http://bit.ly/1LXCzzH) but it'd have taken a month or more of fulltime work to get it smooth enough to ship. My plan is if the game takes off and I can justify the development time, I'll do it. More incentive to help spread the word, I guess. :p Thanks for submitting it to IGTD, the more lets plays the better.

JaBo wrote on 08/06/2015 at 05:06pm

I, too, appreciate the time you spent typing out your experience. I do enjoy getting new perspectives such as this.

I have not yet purchased the game, but it's probably one I'd try later, I already have a 100 games I have never played that I purchased - just hard to lock in time, especially for a new game that I have to learn to play.

Something I can add to your thoughts about a store page in general (without me looking at your store page) is that for me, screen shots are probably my first hook. I will browse through screenshots to see if I see something that sparks my interest. If something does, I'll delve deeper, maybe watch the trailer if there is one. I'll read reviews, check the game's tags, check if there's a metacritic score/feedback, etc.

However, even then, if I have spent however long reading up about everything, sometimes I will be into the game, but still not purchase the game. Maybe I add it to my wishlist to follow for a sale, maybe I just like window shopping. So, I don't know if the steam stats tell you about wishlisting or following, but that's something to consider too.

I think getting out there and getting people to play a game you created is great, no matter the current numbers.

pilot_knows wrote on 07/15/2016 at 04:36pm

Thank you for sharing!

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All The Changes To Star Wars Comparison Series

Star Wars happened so long ago and so far away that it's strange we can't stop talking about it. Star Wars Episode VII is coming out this December and I have been seeing more Star Wars buzz and fan videos than I have in quite some time. It's as if the Internet exploded in fan glee and ... wasn't silenced. When George Lucas mentioned that he was going to re-release the special editions of Star Wars in the 90's I was excited. I watched each new version in theaters and really enjoyed the new cuts of the films. The extra stuff was great and, at the time, I really enjoyed the higher detailed effects and new scenes. That said, what I didn't know was that the original... Read All

Starship Rubicon Interview -w Wick & Beatscribe

I sat down with the people involved with the creation of Starship Rubicon, Wick and Beatscribe for a fun roundtable discussion. Cheerful Ghost published Starship Rubicon so it seemed like a good fit for us to talk about the game together.

Interview Notes:

www.starshiprubicon.com

Chesslike OST - https://beatscribe.bandcamp.com/album/chesslike-ost

The Story About My Uncle - http://gonenorthgames.com/games/a-story-about-my-uncle/

www.beatscribe.com

http://wickworks.tumblr.com/

Starcraft 2 Turns 5 - Celebrate For Aiur!

http://media.blizzard.com/sc2/media/wallpapers/wall061/wall061-2048x1536-standard.jpg

It feels like Starcraft 2 released 5 years ago and because of that, I can't wait to wrap up the trilogy with the upcoming final protoss installment, Legacy of the Void. Blizzard is marking the launch of Starcraft 2 with a free in game portrait drop by simply opening the game from now till August 3rd. So you know, grab that portrait... for Aiur!

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/19831343

Upcoming Patch 2.3.0 Adds New Zone & Horadric Cube

Blizzard is preparing a hefty update to Reaper of Souls and aims to bring back something we all loved from Diablo 2, the Horadric Cube. You can find the new cube, Kanai's Cube in the new zone Blizzard is adding called "Ruins of Sescheron." The new zone was cut from the shipped version of Reaper of Souls and will be added back in the upcoming 2.3.0 update. I am looking forward to checking this out when it ships as one thing that always impressed me about the game is how beautiful and inventive the zones are. It also looks like it features some awesome new monsters as well, which should give high level players something fun to do.

What do you all think of these additions... Read All

Classic PopCop Game Zuma's Revenge Free On Origin

EA is giving away the classic PopCap "frog shoots ball from mouth to match colored balls game" Zuma's Revenge on Origin. If you haven't played any version of Zuma you should pick it up and give it a try. Zuma's Revenge on Origin works on PC & Mac.