PC Gaming News Message Board

Bethesda send word that they’re re-releasing Doom 3, with a few changes. It’ll release with the Doom 3 itself and expansion Resurrection of Evil, but there will be seven new levels – constituting “The Lost Mission” – and the feature we were all crying out for the first time around: “the new armour-mounted flashlight.” Now you’ll be able to illuminate stuff and shoot at the same time!

BFG Edition will arrive in the Autumn. Trailer below.(more…)

It is the year 2012. We have magic rectangles that contain our entire lives and an invisible web that connects all of humankind. And while I can’t claim to own a hoverboard, I’m still pretty OK with a future in which Divinity: Original Sin defies both Father Time and the shareholder mothership to exist. I mean, it’s an Ultima-inspired, turn-based RPG that’s doing its damndest to conjure fond memories of Cheeto-stained tabletop role-playing campaigns, and it looks damn impressive. I’m afraid that I’ll wake up any moment now, and it’ll actually be a modern FPS reboot set in a future where magic was given a swirly by Totally Rad Soldier Men – a swirly that killed it forever. Somehow, though, it is a thing with its very own trailer, and the elemental magic system paired with turn-based combat looks like it could actually make for some tantalizingly tactical co-op. Marvel at its implausibility after the break.

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Rezzed, the first PC and indie games show this 6th and 7th July, is adding more and more reasons to make sure you’re there. As if knowing that we’ll be there isn’t enough, last week we revealed that Borderlands 2 will be playable, along with a sweet demo of XCOM: Enemy Unknown to watch. And now we can tell you that Creative Assembly will be there to talk about the future of Total War.

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Belgium-based Larian Studios has announced that it will release a new title in the popular Divinity RPG series, called Divinity: Original Sin. Due out in the first quarter of 2013, Original Sin will serve as a prequel to Divine Divinity, feature two main playable characters in turn-based combat, and come with co-op multiplayer and an adventure building kit that players can use to create and share content online. The game will arrive on PC and Mac.

You can see more about the title on the official site, or browse through the gallery of screenshots below. Larian will be showing off Original Sin and Dragon Commander (another upcoming Divinity-based title) at E3 this year, so we'll see them up close in about a week.

The toughest boss in Diablo 3 continues to be the game's dreaded 'Error' codes, as Blizzard's Battle.net service has gone down for the count again this afternoon after being down all morning for scheduled maintenance due to the release of Patch 1.0.2. Blizzard says that it is aware of the issue, and is "currently investigating the cause."

"We're aware of an issue that is affecting our authentication servers, which result in failed or slow login attempts," a message in Diablo 3's 'Breaking News' module currently reads. Attempts to log into the game yield the message that servers are down for maintenance.

Blizzard is also working on the Auction House as well - commodities sales have been down since last week, and the Auction House itself was down for a few extra hours today, past the planned maintenance. The real-money auction house has been delayed indefinitely, but the in-game notification for the feature noted a new target date of June 12, since last night.

In the meantime, until the servers come back up, feel free to do exactly what a few select Joystiq editors are doing: Rocking back and forth in a corner, mumbling something about Belial being behind this treachery.

The effectiveness of a horror game often hinges on its ability to instill a sense of helplessness. Some do this by limiting the number of offensive options. Others do it by removing offensive options altogether. Among the Sleep, from Norwegian developer Krillbite Studio, ups the ante by putting players in control of a two-year-old.

Among the Sleep is played from a first-person perspective, presenting a world full of childlike imagination and terror, in which a child (accompanied only by his faithful teddy bear) must survive the nightmare happenings around him. We're not sure mysterious is exactly the right word, at least not judging by the spooky happenings in the trailer. Among the Sleep is slated to arrive next year on Mac and PC.

Be sure to check out the Krillbite blog to follow the game's development. We certainly will be.

Despite Diablo 3 taking hold of multiple Joystiq staff members, Blizzard's latest game has had a shaky launch. Server issues, auction house difficulties, and more have thrown a wrench into what our review feels is a must-play adventure.

In a blog post yesterday, Blizzard outlined its intentions with some of the game's upcoming fixes, and revealed a number of interesting statistics about the commercially explosive title.

Blizzard notes that players have an average of three created characters, with 80% of those characters falling between levels 1 and 30. Only 1.9 percent of players have unlocked Diablo 3's Inferno difficulty mode. Blizzard also revealed that 35 percent of "Hardcore" characters, which are no longer be available for use after death, have perished in Act I on Normal difficulty.

So yesterday I posted about Symon, a procedurally generated adventure game from a couple of years ago. And I suggested that the potential was there to do something on a much larger scale, but they’d need to figure out a way that didn’t involve the ‘cheat’ of using dream logic. Well, one of the creators at Gambit, Singapore-MIT GAMBIT Game Lab researcher Clara Fernández-Vara, got in touch to point out that’s exactly what they set out to do last year, with Stranded In Singapore.

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What contains stealth, scares, a rather unique first-person perspective and surreal dreamscapes colliding with recognisable realities? The answer is Among the Sleep, in development at Krillbite Studio in Norway. It could be the most interesting horror game of next year. Here’s why:

Among The Sleep invites you into the mind and body of a two year old child. After being put to bed one evening, mysterious things start to happen.

The trailer below, spotted at Edge, is also why.

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I reckon vertically inclined first-person adventure Against the Wall is one of the most interesting indie projects in development, not only because even in its alpha state its polished and playable, but simply because I’ve never played anything else quite like it. Tasked with climbing a wall upon the side of which entire settlements and ecosystems cling, the player is able to pull out sections of the wall by waving a sort of staff at them. In this way it’s possible to create steps and platforms. It’s a fascinating world with an immediately understandable path and means of progression. The latest version of the alpha adds a fair bit since I first took a look and future plans include randomly placed biomes.

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I can’t remember the last time I played a game challenging enough that it had me stop, sit back in my chair, and just think for a bit. That’s the rare pleasure the beta version of Gateways offers, as the fantastic puzzles start piling up. How can I, using my various tools such as changing size, portaling, and going back in time, reflect that laser onto that laser receiver, without my brain exploding? We can all find out answers to such questions now, as the beta version of the game is for sale for $10 from Smudged Cat Games. My thoughts on it are below.

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This is quite bad for me personally. Binding of Isaac, you see, unhinged one of its many grotesque orifices and devoured my life last year. The number of hours I sank into Edmund McMillen’s blood-sweat-tear-and-excrement-based roguelike could be described as substantial. Conversely, activities that failed to receive that designation during a similar timeframe include eating, sleeping, and not being presumed dead by most of my friends and family members. So, while you say hello to Binding of Isaac’s Wrath of the Lamb downloadable expansion, I say goodbye. Probably forever.

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It’s been an absolute joy to watch survival horror find new life (or un-life, I suppose) on PC. The games may be small, but the ideas that drive standouts like Lone Survivor and Amnesia lead to so many more shamefully high-pitched fear squeals than, er, evil Presidents. The Inflicted – A Battle For Sanity, then, takes that ball and flees in abject terror with it by designing an entire game around limitations. The whole production is done up in a simple isometric style that does an absolutely fantastic job of emphasizing how tightly enclosed your surroundings are. And while hallways are so claustrophobic as to sometimes felt like fingers slowly slithering their way around my neck, they’re visually minimal. As a result, I found myself focusing a lot more on sounds – jagged shards of shattered glass crinkling against the soles of my shoes, my character’s haggard breaths, a subtle background drone. I do, however, have a few bones to pick with this particular bone-chiller.

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I think The Other Brothers, soon to star in their own “family friendly adventure”, may be distant relatives of The Great Giana Sisters. I thought I’d written about the game before because I know for sure that I’ve watched the teaser trailer a few times and hoped that, despite the Mario connections, the game was going to be pointy and clicky rather than runny and jumpy. The footage just released to /The Indie Game Magazine suggests there will be no pointing or clicking at all, which makes me sad, but perhaps you enjoy having handsome lip furniture, and jumping up and down while being assaulted by giant rats in abandoned warehouses?

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I was recently pointed in the direction of Symon, a free experimental point and click adventure from Singapore-MIT’s game laboratory, Gambit. The idea behind it is to see if it’s possible to create a procedurally generated narrative adventure, with unique puzzles. Which is quite an ask. The results, they’re an interesting combination of cheats and potential.

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OFF could be this year’s Space Funeral, except that it wasn’t released this year. It’s an RPGMaker 2003 game made by a group going by the name Unproductive Fun Time and everybody at all interested in the wonderfully weird world of bizarre and creepy SNES-style RPGs should have played it already. The only barrier to entry was the Frenchness of it all, which isn’t a way of referring to a certain Gallic oddness, but rather the fact that it was written by French people in the French language. A heroic group have now finished their translation so it is surely time to play. Listen to the battle music below and then see if you can resist downloading.

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Carmageddon Reincarnation has been successfully funded! Which could have been a headline over a year ago, as the bally project was happening anyway, but having just reached its Kickstarter goal that means it’s double-funded. Stainless’ driving and murder simulator currently sits on top of a $425,000 cash-throne with nine days left on the Kick-clock.

I’d be very surprised if it didn’t reach half a mill before closing, and if there wasn’t some sort of concerted push (new rewards etc) to make that happen. They’ve already claimed Mac and Linux versions will be on the cards if $600,000 is dinged. So, yeah. Hopefully this hugely increases the odds of Reincarnation being a great Carmageddon game rather than merely an adequate one. Well done, chaps, and best of luck. We’ll see you at Rezzed.

Below: lots of developers saying thank you, and some com-ed-dee outtakes from their initial KS pitch vid.(more…)

It’s Monday morning and the British summer continues to be nothing at all like a British summer by the very act of continuing. It’s hotter than the devil’s trouser press out there and after two days of waltzing about in the great outdoors, I’m about ready to sit in a dark room and write about PC games. First up is Legends of Dawn, an RPG that “liberates from class restrictions unlike real life”. That’s official. In real life, if you excel in mathematics at school you’re locked in until the end of your days. You’re a Mathemancer and there’s no way to change that. Apart from a lack of class restrictions, Legends of Dawn also offers a wide open world to wander in, with deviation from the main storyline an option for all. Let this trailer enter your mind.

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Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We believe they deserve a wider audience with the Joystiq Indie Pitch: This week, Ballin developer Derek Gallant describes his epiphanies relating to gravity and gaming.


What's your game called and what's it about?

Ballin is a challenging, charming physics-puzzle game. The main character, the ball, is trapped in Block World, and must escape. You advance through the game by reaching the portal keys in each stage, but you can't control the ball directly. You must move around the stage by altering the pull of gravity itself.

Why develop independently, rather than work for an established company?

For me it was more of a circumstance than a personal decision. As I am currently in my final year at college, working for an established company really wasn't an option at the time. That being said, regardless of where I end up after graduation, I always want to work independently in some regard, whether that be as my full-time job or on personal projects away from work. The freedom of independent development is really attractive to me; it allows developers to really think outside the box and come up with something really unique and fun. I hope independent development is always a part of my career in some aspect.

Sundays are for sitting inside, avoiding the boiling sun. You’ll probably want to shut the curtains so that you can concentrate on important writings about videogames, like the ones below.

• This is kind of breath-taking: “For Superlevel, I went on a quest to test all 1.402 games of the Ludum Dare #23 – yes, every single one. I’d like to give you an overview over particularly innovative gameplay, wonderful ideas and exquisite digital entertainment. Have fun!”

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And now it is a regular. Below you’ll find the latest on the PC Kickstarters that have caught our eye over the last week, including many that people have contacted us about. Want to let me know about your/a vital Kickstarter? There’s no promise of being included at all, but send an email via the link in my name above, and it’ll go in the pot. I think the theme that really comes out this week is just how much money half a million dollars is. When Schafer pitched at $400,000, he thought he was being crazy. That he made $3.5m I think made it look too easy. A few aren’t going to make it, because the numbers are simply too high for the accompanying interest. On the other hand, smaller indies looking for more modest targets are reaching their totals this week. Which opens up the next question of whether these modest targets are unrealistically low… I think there are going to be a lot of interesting tales told in six to eight months time. So as usual, please understand that our listing games here doesn’t mean we endorse them, or think they’re definitely worth your money – it’s your gamble to back anything.

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Is it sunny where you are today? It’s a gorgeous day here at Savy Towers, with a bright blue sky and beaming hot sun. What better weather could there be to stay inside and play some cheap computer games. None, says I. None whatsoever. If you’re in the mood for buying some new slices of digital fun, here’s your handy weekly guide to the very best offers available this weekend. I’m off to find some cider and sit in the sun, but you can find my regular gaming bargain hunting exploits chronicled over here, if you like. (more…)

Civilization 5 is free to play on Steam this weekend and is only $7.50 ($12.50 for the Game of the Year edition) if you decide to invest in your future's lost time. Fans of the previous installment knock the game for not being as deep, but some of those rebels may be silenced by the upcoming Gods and Kings expansion on June 19.

What's everyone playing this weekend?

Who's in the mood for a career change but, like, doesn't want to completely change their life? We have an easier solution for you aspiring soldiers of war, city planners and mob bosses out there.

For this weekend, GOG is knocking half off the price of twelve different games. Highlights include Guilty Gear X2 #Reload, Soulbringer and entries in the Commandos series - all games aside from the Commandos 2 + 3 bundle will set you back a pittance of $2.99.

This sale ends on Monday.

While it’s still at the ‘sign-up for info’ stage, Fallen London creators Failbetter Games are getting ready to launch a cool sounding set of tools that could let you beat them at their own game. It’s called StoryNexus, and with it anyone will (eventually) be able to create their own card/text based adventures. There’s also going to be a new game based on the technology, described with the company’s ever-erudite panache as “kind of a musketeer noir thing”.

I’m really looking forward to seeing this in the flesh, for a number of reasons…

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The best part of Flare Path’s day? Probably dawn. That’s the time he goes out and checks all his Simulation & Wargame News traps. This morning in the treadle cage by the old pig-sties he found 400 words on a rather promising FSX add-on. The snares in the plantation were empty, but saucer-eyed and struggling in the one in the Chalk Lane culvert was the prettiest little HistWar: Les Grognards snippet you ever saw. Even without the Over Flanders Fields communiqué almost bitten in half by the 7” gin under the Cottonworth bridge, it would have been a good bag. (more…)

Gnoblins is called Gnoblins and that’s pretty much all I needed to know to convince me that downloading the freely available alpha version might be a very good idea indeed. That it turns out to be a first person RPG, with roguelike features such as random levels, lots of items to equip and mysterious dangers to discover. The Gnoblins themselves are minions, to be added in a future release, that will apparently provide an RTS element to the game and there’s even mention of developing areas of the dungeon for your own use. Dungeon Keeper plus roguelike plus Ultima Underworld? Let’s hope so. It’s tremendously exciting, even if the early version is obviously missing lots of planned features and content. Try the alpha and if your name is Richard Cobbett, click more.

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Blisteringly fast gamers are currently racing their way through top games in front of a live audience to raise money for autism research. It’s the Speed Demos Archive Summer Games Done Quick event, running from the 24th to the 28th, and you can watch it live. There are prizes to be won, games to be played, and large generous donations to be made.

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The Providence Journal sat neatly presented on the counter at the Dunkin Donuts across the street from 38 Studios in Rhode Island, its headline clear as day: "Loan-guarantee fallout costs EDC chief his job." Further down the right column of the page was the other harbinger headline: "Too little cash to cover the check."

This was last Friday, May 18, the day after the head of the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, the quasi-government group responsible for co-signing the $75 million loan to 38 Studios, was fired. It was also the day after the state couldn't deposit a $1.12 million check the studio delivered as a payment because the company's chief financial officer called to say there were insufficient funds.

A man walked up to the counter for his morning caffeine fix. I guessed he worked at 38 Studios because he had 'the look.' The lady working the counter confirmed my egregious profiling by asking, "How are things going over there?"

I recently got to see Ron Gilbert’s latest slice of adventure platformer mania, The Cave, in action. It was pretty great. I mean, characters walked and jumped and moved - as though propelled ever onward by the invisible hand of fate or the very visible hand of someone holding a controller. You should’ve been there. But since you weren’t, I desperately struggled to find a way to best relay that experience back to you. At first, my preview was a bunch of screenshot cut-outs glued to popsicle sticks, and then I fiddled with tiny felt finger puppets. Alas, however, it just wasn’t the same. But then Double Fine released this trailer. Madness, I thought. How could a mere video beat the fully 3D, impossibly high-def and immersive experience of a finger puppet? But you know what? It sort of works. Given time, these things might even catch on.

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