Category: News

General game developing news and updates.

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Trendy Entertainment eyeing blockchain-based rewards for Dungeon Defenders II

Trendy Entertainment is partnering with Loot to bring the blockchain-based Loot protocol to its free to play game Dungeon Defenders II.

As blockchain-based tools continue to gain traction in tech fields, the system being adopted by Trendy aims to offer developers a way to monetize their games through the blockchain while also acting as a reward system for players based on their own progress and activity in a game. 

In the case of Dungeon Defenders II, adopting Loot will allow Trendy to generate cryptocurrency rewards that double as a sort of in-game experience system. The protocol works by generating cryptocurrency using an algorithm that leverages a player’s “relative skill, performance, and engagement in a game” rather than the more traditional route of using a computer’s hardware to mine the currency. 

Trendy Entertainment plans to introduce the protocol to Dungeon Defenders II in early 2019 and, if everything happens according to schedule, will be the first developer to do so. 

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Valve clarifies what games count as ‘straight up trolling,’ sort of

Following a fair bit of controversy about both the now-delisted game Active Shooter and warnings issued to visual novel makers about sexual content, Valve released a long but vague statement about exactly what it will allow on the Steam Store, in short noting that everything but games that are somehow illegal or “straight up trolling” are A-OK. 

Now, days after that blog post went live, Valve’s actions are shedding a bit more light on exactly what the company considers unscrupulous content. Speaking to VentureBeat, Valve communication head Doug Lombardi dove into specifics about the removal of both the Active Shooter game and its developer from Steam, explaining that games that intend only to offend fall under that trolling umbrella. 

“We rejected Active Shooter because it was a troll, designed to do nothing but generate outrage and cause conflict through its existence,” said Lombardi. “In addition, the developer had been involved in numerous misrepresentations, copyright violations, and customer abuses. There are no second chances for Active Shooter, or its developers. And to be explicit, while the developer behind it was also a troll, we’d reject Active Shooter if it had been submitted by any other developer.”

In a similar vein to the Active Shooter removal, Valve has removed four games from steam since the post went live, kicking the games AIDS Simulator, Asset Flip Simulator, ISIS Simulator, and Triggering Simulator off Steam in one fell swoop. 

While these games seem to have embodied the same ill-intentioned spirit as Active Shooter, the removal isn’t any sort of line in the sand for Valve’s new policy on controversial content. In the original statement, Valve noted that it didn’t plan to make an significant changes to what it allows on the store until new tools to help Steam users better filter the content they see on the store are in place, so it’s still best to keep an eye on what Steam allows and removes in the near future to get a feel for its policies. 

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Six Ages (finally) comes to iOS June 28th

After nearly 19 years, we’re finally going to be getting that successor to King of Dragon Pass. A-Sharp’s Six Ages: Ride like the Wind has been on our radar for a while, but progress has been slow going up. Finally, we can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

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A press release that dropped last night informed us that Six Ages will be launching on iOS on 28th June for $9.99. Pre-orders will be available from June 21st.

Six Ages: Ride Like the Wind takes the elements that made KoDP unique (the mythic setting where you can visit the gods, multiple-choice decisions with consequences, advisors with personality, a generation-spanning story, story elements that recombine for replayability) and remixes them. Play is both simpler and richer (for example, you’ll get to make more decisions in combat), and the UI was designed with attention to mobile devices (the menu puts more information at your fingertips, and all artwork is high resolution).

Your device will need to have iOS 9 or later running, and A-sharp mentioned that the game is being developed for “other platforms”, which will materialise later in the year.

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The Weekender: Physics Edition

Welcome to the Weekender, your weekly look at the best new games, sales, and updates. We’ve got a few games to check out, a whole bunch of sales, and a couple great updates heading into the weekend.

Out Now

7 Wonders: The Cities (iOS Universal and Android)

The digital adaptation of the 7 Wonders board game got its second expansion since release. The Cities expansion is $1.99 and introduces black cards, which represent city ruins, along with new leaders, 2 additional wonders, and 4 new guilds.

Space Leagues (iOS Universal) – Full review coming soon!

In Space Leagues you play as the General Manager of a team in a fantasy combat league. You hire players, set roles (tank, blaster, striker, and so on) and the roster, and watch your team win or lose in weekly combat. Your goal is to win and win a lot, thus climbing all the way up to the premier league. Your door is always open to your players, unfortunately, and they come to you with weekly drama. Your reaction could push them to a season-best game or make them utterly useless. It’s an interesting take on the sports simulation genre.

space leagues

Physics Box (iOS Universal)

More a sandbox builder than game, Physics Box lets you tinker with gravity, anti-gravity, thrust, and more. You can even build your own pinball game if so inclined.

Shuyan Saga (iOS Universal)

Shuyan Saga is a graphic novel and video game rolled into one. It’s set in a martial-arts infused fantasy universe and follows Shuyan, a princess with a passion for Kung Fu, as she defends her kingdom from the Guer horde. You follow the story, as you might read a graphic novel, with various pause points for you to make a decision or engage in combat. The art and music are both quite good and help set a good atmosphere for the tale. The story itself isn’t particularly original, but certainly akin to what you might find in a good comic. Combat is pretty simple, you pick high or low strikes and set up different combos, but there does seem to be some character progression and enemies seem to be scaling up. The individual books have been out for a while, but you can now unlock the full story for $3.99.

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Sales

Threes! (iOS Universal and Android): $2.99 on iOS

One of the most-popular mobile puzzle games, Threes!, is on sale for half off. Threes is one of the first games, and maybe the most successful, to use the slide to combine/grow mechanic. Check it out if you dig that type of game and don’t have it already.

D&D Lords of Waterdeep (iOS Universal and Android): $3.99 (Review)

Dungeons & Dragons based board game D&D Lords of Waterdeep is available for a solid discount on both the App and Google Play stores. You play as a masked Lord of the city and must out wrangle your opponents to recruit adventurers to complete quests and thus increase your political power.

Planescape: Torment (iOS Universal and Android): $5.99/$3.99 (Review)

Classic post-apocalyptic RPG Planescape Torment got this special “enhanced edition” about a year ago with remastered music, updated graphics, and a new user interface. It’s normally $10, but right now you can grab it for $6 on iOS and $4 on Android.

Antihero (iOS Universal and Android): $2.99 (Review)

Digital board game Antihero came out for mobile earlier this year and does a great job delivering engaging turn-based tactics in a Victorian style setting. It’s also on sale for the first time ever, other than the introductory price. You can grab it for 3 bucks, down from five.

Evoland 2 (iOS Universal): $3.99

Also on sale for the first time ever is video-game nostalgia simulator Evoland 2. RPG your way through video game history (again) for just $4.

2K Games Sale

2K Games most notable mobile games are on sale for a couple bucks off each.

Updates

Sir Questionnaire (iOS Universal and Android)

Brand new roguelike dungeon crawler Sir Questionnaire is getting an update sooner than expected due to the discovery of a rather nasty bug. It adds fire and water dragons and improved outfit options.

Minecraft (iOS Universal and Android)

Minecraft has added a bunch of new fish including pufferfish, tropical fish, cod and salmon. You can whip up a trident and go swimming and collect fish in your bucket. There are nine ocean biomes packed with kelp, icebergs, blue ice, coral, sea grass, sea pickles and more. Oh, and there are now swimming animations.

Seen anything else you liked? Played any of the above? Let us know in the comments! 

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Nintendo serves up the deliciously strategic Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido

Nintendo serves up the deliciously strategic Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido

You are the only one who can save the world’s sushi – by eating as much as you can! In the fast-paced action-puzzle-RPG Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido – now available for both the Nintendo Switch system and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems – you must vanquish the evil Empire by devouring delicious sushi and hurling the empty plates at your opponents.

“This wonderfully clever game is sure to work up an appetite for fans of frenetic action-puzzle games,” said Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “With a simultaneous launch on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS, fans can enjoy a veritable buffet of sushi anytime, anywhere.”

In the game, you play as the orphaned hero and budding Sushi Striker, Musashi. As you journey through the massive collection of more than 150 stages, you will get to better know your hero and a colorful cast of other characters through fully animated voiced cutscenes.

Each battle consists of two opponents, who both have access to three conveyor belts of constantly changing sushi – along with a seventh shared belt in the middle. By linking (and eating) sushi plates of the same color, you create stacks that can then be hurled at your opponent. The fun, sushi-eating action is coupled with significant tactical depth. You’ll encounter divine beings called Sushi Sprites that provide special skills that you can chain together for powerful combos. One Sprite might turn all of your plates the same color for a certain time, for example, while another will turn sushi into sweets that restore HP. You can equip up to three different Sushi Sprites in battle, and there are more than 50 Sushi Sprites to befriend, many of which can evolve into more powerful forms.

In the Nintendo 3DS version*, the action is split between the two screens, with the ability to use the stylus to control the action. Touch controls can also be used while playing in Handheld mode on Nintendo Switch. Both versions also allow for local or online multiplayer.** Two players who each own the game and a Nintendo 3DS family system can battle each other locally, while two people can each use a single Joy-Con controller to compete on the same screen when playing on Nintendo Switch. They can also battle each other locally if they each have their own game and Nintendo Switch system.

Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido is now available on Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS at suggested retail prices of $49.99 and $39.99, respectively. A free demo of the game can currently be downloaded in Nintendo eShop on Nintendo Switch. For more information about Sushi Striker: The Way of Sushido, visit https://sushistriker.nintendo.com/.

Remember that Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems feature parental controls that let adults manage the content their children can access. For more information about other features, visit https://www.nintendo.com/switch/ or https://www.nintendo.com/3ds/.

*The Nintendo 3DS version of the game is only playable in 2D.

**For the Nintendo Switch version, a Nintendo Switch Online membership will be required for online play when the paid service launches in September.


Mild Cartoon Violence
Mild Suggestive Themes

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Hero accessories and version 2.6.0 updates for Fire Emblem Heroes

Hero accessories and version 2.6.0 updates for Fire Emblem Heroes

Here are the changes you can expect:

Hero accessories

Accessories for Heroes’ mini units have been added! These accessories can be seen by other players in the Arena, so you can customize the look of your Heroes and show them off.

Accessories are planned to be available through events, quests, and more.
Note: Accessories will not alter a Hero’s stats or skills.

New Weapon Skills and options for the Weapon Refinery

Tiki: Dragon Scion, Tiki: Naga’s Voice”, Linde and Merric will be able to learn new unit-specific weapon skills at 5-star.

To learn weapon skills, tap Learn Skills in the Ally Growth menu.

Note: To access the Weapon Refinery, after clearing Book I, Chapter 13 in the main story, you must clear the second Intermission map, The Rite of Blades.

The Allies menu adjustment and expansion

Starting in version 2.6.0, each function in the Allies menu has been separated into related categories.

  • Menu options like Level Up, Learn Skills, and other options related to strengthening Heroes will be located in Ally Growth.
  • Menu options related to changing skills and accessories will be located in Change Equipment.
  • Ally Support and other options related to bonds with allies will be located in Interact with Allies.

Additionally, Catalog of Heroes and Hero Merit List, which were previously under Misc., will now be located in Interact with Allies.

An Auto-Learn function has been added and is located in Learn Skills. The function allows Heroes to use their accumulated SP to automatically learn available skills. If the Hero doesn’t have enough SP to learn all of the skills available to them, skills that fill empty slots will be learned first.

If a skill slot already has a skill equipped, a new skill for that slot will not be learned or equipped through Auto-Learn. To learn a new skill through Auto-Learn, any skill in the target slot must be unequipped in Equip Skills.

There are now eight types of favorite marks to use for your Heroes. In the top left of the menus where you select allies, if you tap the favorite mark (heart icon), you can reorder your Heroes based on the mark you choose. (Sorting simply by favorite will no longer be possible.) Heroes can now be sorted by accessory.

Arena Assault Scoring Changes

The way scoring works in Arena Assault is changing.

If Legendary Heroes or Heroes with blessings that match the season are deployed, the score will increase by 1 for each Hero.

Notes:

  • This change will take effect on 6/12/18 at 12:00 a.m. PT
  • This change will not affect the strength of enemy units in Arena Assault.
  • If Heroes are defeated during battle, the bonus from their blessing will still be counted.

To coincide with the change, the season starting on 6/12/18 at 12:00 a.m. PT will offer slightly more Hero Feathers for Rank Rewards.

Easier Shards and SP

To make strengthening your Heroes easier, the following changes have been made:

  • The amount of SP gained from leveling up has been increased.
  • The number of shards earned in the Training Tower has been increased.

Home Screen Labels

To make the function of each option clearer, labels have been added. This way the Home screen will be easier to understand for new players.

Other Changes

  • When logging in, the speed at which the Notifications are displayed has been increased.
  • If the results of an event have not been viewed, there will be a “!” icon displayed on the corresponding event.
  • Future Grand Conquests will indicate the points earned for an area after battle.
  • The weapon-type icon will be displayed for bonus allies in the Arena and Tempest Trials.
  • For summoning events that begin after the update, the colors of the featured Heroes’ summoning stones will be displayed.
  • A problem with the skill Spd Feint has been fixed. Heroes with Feint-type skills equipped can now use Rally skills on Heroes that have already had their stats boosted by other skills. Additionally, Heroes with Feint-type skills can have Rally skills used on them even if their stats have already been boosted. (Stat boosts from Rally skills will not stack, and each stat will have a limit on how much it can be boosted.)

For more information about Fire Emblem Heroes, visit the official site.


Fantasy Violence
Suggestive Themes
Partial Nudity
Digital Purchases

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With Tencent’s help, J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot opens new game studio

J.J. Abrams’ film and TV production company Bad Robot Productions announced this week that it’s opening a new game-making division, Bad Robot Games, in partnership with Chinese megacorp Tencent (as well as a minority investment from Warner Bros. Interactive).

Notably, Bad Robot Games is being pitched (to The Hollywood Reporter, at least) as an outfit that will “partner with established developers” to create games for mobile, PC and consoles, with assistance from Bad Robot’s retinue of creatives (artists, writers, animators, etc.)

Veteran indie dev Tim Keenan (Duskers) has been tapped to be Bad Robot Games’ new creative director, with longtime Bad Robot Interactive chief Dave Baronoff now serving as Bad Robot Games division chief. 

This seems like a significant push into the game industry for Bad Robot, but it’s not a new idea; the company’s Interactive division has worked on mobile games and apps for years, and Abrams has occasionally popped up in the pages of game industry news. 

In 2013 he announced he was interested in making games, and then in 2015 he said he and Bad Robot were working with Epic’s Chair Entertainment on the (as yet unreleased) espionage game Spyjinx. 

“I just enjoy the experience of making various things. And games are something as a player, I’ve loved and appreciated for years,” Abrams told Gamasutra in 2013. “The idea of going deeper… I think we already took the first step into the pool with the [Action Movie FX] app, and we’re ready now to dive into interactive. Dave Baronoff, who runs Bad Robot Interactive, is leading the charge in that regard. And we’re excited about the opportunities there.”

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Video: How Bungie’s technical designers helped animate Destiny

In this GDC 2015 session, Bungie’s Jami Jeffcoat goes over what technical designers in animation mean to Bungie, discussing how the position is utilized to build a bridge across the animation, animation engineering, and design teams.

Jeffcoat also explains the role of a technical designer which can encompass everything from implementing run-time code, building tools, and rapid bug fixing.

Using the development of Destiny as an example, Jeffcoat provides information for developers who might want to help implement or evolve this kind of position at their own studios.

Devs interested in how Bungie utilizes technical designers in animation may appreciate that they can now watch the talk for free over on the official GDC YouTube channel!

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its new YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC, GDC Europe, and GDC Next already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas

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Battletech designer resigns after sexual harassment accusations

Harebrained Schemes, the studio behind Battletech, released a statement earlier today about misconduct after one of its designers was accused of sexual abuse and harassment by at least six women who spoke publicly about their experiences on Twitter. 

As reported by Waypoint the designer, Tyler Carpenter, implores the dev community to believe every accusation. “I don’t recall each one, and some I have a different recollection of, but obviously the sheer mass of shared experiences means that I’m the one who’s got a faulty memory, not them.”

The studio has already dismissed Carpenter from the company with immediate effect, writing in its statement that “the moment this situation came to our attention, we placed the employee on immediate leave while we conducted a full investigation.”

“We determined the best course of action was that Harebrained Schemes would part ways with the employee, and that action was taken immediately,” the statement continues. 

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Free Weekend – Forts, 40% Off

Play Forts Multiplayer for FREE starting now through Sunday at 1PM Pacific Time. You can also pick up the game at 40% off the regular price!*

If you already have Steam installed, click here to install or play Forts. If you don’t have Steam, you can download it here.

Forts is a physics-based RTS where foes design and build custom bases, arm them to the teeth and blast their opponent’s creations to rubble.

Build an armoured fort in real-time and arm it to the teeth. Collect resources, develop your tech-tree, unlock advanced weapons to target your opponent’s weak points, and feel the satisfaction as their fort comes crashing down.

*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time