Posted by: xSicKxBot - 05-01-2019, 04:43 AM - Forum: Windows
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Join us May 6 at 8 a.m. PT to watch Build 2019 live
More than 6,000 people from around the world are joining us May 6-8 in Seattle for Microsoft Build, our premier developer conference. This year’s event is focused on empowering developers of all kinds, from experienced computer scientists to tech beginners with big ideas.
Join us here at 8 a.m. PT on Monday, May 6, to watch the World Championship of Imagine Cup, our global student technology competition. The Build keynote presentations will begin at 8:30 a.m. PT, when we’ll share the latest about Microsoft’s platforms and tools aimed at helping people build great things.
Zombies are a bit like Heinz, in that they come in a variety of different types (and generally go well with jacket potatoes-ED). There are the classic slow-moving shamblers made famous by George A Romero. The fast-moving ones from the 28 Days series of films, and the mutated abominations of Resident Evil fame. There’s also sometimes toxic ones and fat ones, who, I guess, have no self-control when it comes to eating brains.
Inside the Zombicide physical box is an impressive total of 70 miniatures, which represent the spectrum of zombiekind in addition to the unfortunate survivors themselves. It is enough to put the fear of God into any self-respecting gamer, especially if you plan on painting them all. Thankfully, we digital gamers do not have to concern ourselves with such issues, leaving us free to concentrate on the business in hand, namely hacking our way through wave after wave of the restless undead.
Zombicide: Tactics & Shotguns isn’t a direct conversion of the boardgame. It has evolved from the multiplayer cooperative set-up into a campaign-driven single-player experience. The basics, however, remain the same; a group of survivors travel across the devastated city completing objectives and polishing off a few zombies along the way. The game explains the basics by handing the player control of Doug, an SMG touting ex-office worker. Doug is hungry; unfortunately, the only food worth foraging appears to be canned dog food. The zombie apocalypse means that beggars can’t be choosers but at least Doug will be sure of a lovely glossy coat and a healthy wet nose.
On each turn, every survivor will have three action points to spend. It takes a single action point to move to an adjacent space or room. If zombies hem you in then your movement options will be further limited. Other actions include picking up a new weapon or breaking down a locked door but be prepared for the possibility of a nasty surprise. Combat also requires the expenditure of action points. The survivor’s abilities, alongside the characteristics of the weapon, will determine the range, the number of attacks, accuracy and amount of damage inflicted. Another thing to bear in mind is the amount of noise that the weapon makes. The sound of a shotgun blast is obviously going to alert any nearby zombies and get them heading in your direction.
Most zombies will only have a single action point, which means that any survivors will only come under attack if they end their turn in a space occupied by the enemy. Be careful though because the fast zombies have extra action points and the survivors’ health points are strictly limited. The big difference between melee and ranged combat is that in close combat the survivor gets to select individual targets. Ranged combat usually results in the survivor, firing into an area without a specific target in mind. The problem is that each miss has a chance of hitting any unfortunate survivors that may also be in the same space. Every time that you defeat an enemy you will be awarded additional tins of pet food and the danger level increases. This means that more or tougher zombies are likely to spawn into play. It also means that your survivors may be able to trigger their skills, this may make them more effective in combat, allow them to travel further or permit them to heal wounded team members.
It’s a nice simple system that works really well and still requires some thought. Zombies may be stupid and predictable but they definitely have numbers on their side. You will want to try and keep your party together and stay on the move, otherwise you face being overwhelmed by hoards of the undead. The threat of friendly fire and the range of different enemies add some much needed variety. It is just a pity that the sound-alerting mechanic isn’t used to its full potential. There isn’t that much point in sneaking around when a few blasts from a shotgun gets the job done. Indeed, alerting enemies often makes things easier by drawing more cannon fodder into your sights. The line of sight system is instinctive, although when battling a mass of zombies, targeting an individual enemy can be rather hit or miss.
At the end of each level, cans of dog food can be used to upgrade the survivors or their weapons. As they advance, their abilities improve and they may learn new skills. Get to level five and you will have the option to equip a weapon in each hand. This is especially fun when you kit out a pair of the same weapon as you can use both simultaneously. The site of a dual machete-wielding roller-skating waitress is sure to strike fear into the unbeating heart of any self-respecting zombie.
The survivors themselves fall into one of four classes, each with their own preferred weapons and unique skills. Butchers inflict minor damage but hit a lot of targets; in contrast, assassins cause a lot of damage to only a few targets. Hunters have great long-range accuracy; finally, scouts are fearsome wielders of melee weapons. Some fellow survivors soon join Doug in his quest and there is also the option to use cash to purchase new members for your team. Although by no means essential, it is going to cost over double the price of the game itself to acquire them all which feels like a bit of a cynical cash grab.
The day-glo comic book graphics and raucous guitar-led backing track do a grand job of evoking 1980’s horror films. There are eight different zones, each of which has five stages. This means that in spite of the low difficulty curve, getting through to the end is still going to take a considerable amount of effort. It is a pity that a lot of environments just reuse the same graphics. It reinforces the repetitiveness of the missions, which usually require the player to reach specific points on the map or destroy a set number of zombies. Another minor niggle is the monotonous comments that the characters make; Yes, Doug, I know you need new shoes; you’ve told me one hundred times already.
The developers get a thumbs-up for producing a game that isn’t just a straight conversion of the board game. They have instead created a solo campaign that is a much better fit for mobile platforms. It is just a shame that the constraints of the board game appear to have prevented them from going even further by way of adding a little more variety to proceedings.
When Cocos Creator 2 was released, a major new feature was the new 3D renderer under the hood. The 2.1.1 release starts to take advantage of that new functionality with a new 3D scene editor, a game preview panel, new lighting and 3d primitive support and more. If you are interested in learning Cocos Creator, be sure to check out our tutorial series available here.
Since the release of Cocos Creator 2.1.0, we have received a lot of valuable suggestions from users. Based on previously announced plans, we will continue to speed up the iteration of the v2.1 series to implement user suggestions as quickly as possible. At the same time, in order to prevent these changes from affecting the stability of old projects, we only recommend upgrading projects with 3D requirements to v2.1. Other projects can continue to use v2.0, and wait until v2.2 is released before upgrading. This v2.1.1 upgrade mainly supports 3D scene editing, camera preview, lighting system, and also incorporates the latest 2.0.x changes.
What’s New
Support 3D scene editing
The Scene Editor allows you to switch to 3D editing mode with one click, making it easy to edit 3D objects, cameras, and lights. See the 3D Scenes document 4 for details.
Add game preview panel
A separate preview panel has been added to visually preview the images seen by the camera during scene editing. Panel Open: Main Menu → Panel → Game Preview, the preview panel can be placed in a separate window or dragged into the main editor window.
A Light component has been added to lay out lights in the scene, and a shadow effect can be set in conjunction with MeshRenderer. See the Light Source Component Reference 2 documentation.
Now, developers can set the Text Label, Placeholder Label and Background nodes separately, making them more flexible, simple, and more in line with the component development. See the EditBox Component Reference documentation.
Add text shadow rendering component
A new LabelShadow component has been added to add a shadow effect to the Label component, similar to the LabelOutline usage. See the Label Component Reference documentation.
Support for dynamically creating 3D Primitive models
Added cc.primitive module to dynamically create 3D models at runtime, including: box, cone, cylinder, plane, etc. See the Basic 3D Objects documentation.
Integrated Material System (Beta)
Added support for material systems, allowing users to create Material and Effect (Shader) resource types. It should be noted that the current material system is mainly provided to the internal use of the engine and is only for developer preview. We plan to upgrade the material system in v2.1.2, however it will not be back-ported to this version.
Improved features
Editor improvements
Added shortcut Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + F to align the currently selected node to the perspective of the scene editor.
When you click in the scene editor, you can hold down Ctrl/Cmd for multiple selections at the same time.
Improve fault tolerance processing for custom engines to avoid editor startup failure
Improve the search performance of the resource manager under very large projects
Add menu File -> Open project in new window to support simultaneous opening of multiple projects on Mac
Hide the component’s enabled checkbox when the component does not define the enabled associated lifecycle function
Upgrade the TypeScript version to 3.3.3333
Engine improvements
Make cc.Vec3 compatible with related APIs of cc.Vec2
Improved Label positioning accuracy in the editor and on different browsers (thanks to “Dacheng Xiaopeng” for advice)
Optimization 3D skeletal animation performance and volume
The cc.macro.CLEANUP_IMAGE_CACHE flag is enabled by default on the native platform to reduce texture memory usage
Native platform automatically verifies the maximum supported texture size of the current device
Add WeChat Mini gameXMLHttpRequest support for timeout event [#87]
Added cc.sys.HUAWEI_GAME enumeration to determine if it is currently Huawei’s fast game platform
Removed the creation entry for the CoffeeScript script. CoffeeScript scripts can still be created manually, and we plan to remove full support for CoffeeScript in v3.0.
See the new 3D functionality in action in the video below.
Join Brian Pasternack on his first day at one of the world?s largest companies, Sintracorp. Uncertain, unprepared, and massively unqualified, will Pasternack have what it takes to shine in Sintracorp?s hierarchy? It all depends on how he performs on his first assignment? and whether he survives it.
This is the most authentic simulation of the sport ever created, with TV-style presentation and commentary, true-to-life physics and advanced artificial intelligence. Choose from offline and online modes, from quick play online match-making to global online tournaments that link in real-time with the live World Snooker calendar.
Fade to Silence is a Survival-RPG set in the cold and deadly world of a post-apocalyptic winter. You assume the role of Ash, a natural but tormented leader, exploring a post-apocalyptic frozen wasteland, gathering the resources necessary to establish a refuge for survival. With dwindling supplies, simple tasks like upgrading equipment and collecting materials require an immediate expedition to scavenge the necessary items. In the search for survival materials, players must navigate a vast territory, in which they will encounter Eldritch monsters and an even greater foe; the unrelenting winter. While freezing temperatures constantly take their toll on Ash, the deadliest event is a constant threat ? a blizzard. If caught by surprise, it takes every ounce of skill, determination and luck to survive.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 05-01-2019, 01:42 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Citing arbitration clauses, Riot Games moves to block employee lawsuits
Riot Games has filed motions that aim to force two employees involved in an ongoing lawsuit against the company into private arbitration, a move the company’s attorney tells Kotaku is in line with clauses in the employees’ employment contracts.
The motions spotted by Kotaku are the latest development in a duo of lawsuits filed against Riot Games within the past six months by past and current employees that accused the company of facilitating gender-based discrimination.
The lawsuits themselves followed a Kotaku story from last year on what several developers from the studio called a toxic workplace environment that resulted in female employees enduring discrimination and harassment.
The attorney representing Riot Games says that the two employees being targeted by the private arbitration motions both agreed to arbitration clauses in their employment contracts. According to the attorney, those clauses dictate that employees must take complaints like the ones raised in the existing lawsuits into private arbitration rather than to a trial.
The lawyer representing the employees meanwhile said in a press release that those motions “only serve to silence the voices of individuals who speak out against such misconduct.”
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 05-01-2019, 01:42 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Get a job: Pixar Animation Studios, FoxNext Games, are more are hiring now!
Whether you’re just starting out, looking for something new, or just seeing what’s out there, the Gamasutra Job Board is the place where game developers move ahead in their careers.
Gamasutra’s Job Board is the most diverse, most active, and most established board of its kind in the video game industry, serving companies of all sizes, from indie to triple-A.
Here are just some of the many, many positions being advertised right now. If you’re a recruiter looking for talent, you can also post jobs here.
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Housemarque is seeking highly motivated Senior Level Designer to join our studio. You are passionate about games and the craft of Level Design. You take initiative and find creative solutions to complex problems. You are creative, team-spirited and result oriented.
Location: Bellevue, Washington
Camouflaj, the studio behind the episodic series RÉPUBLIQUE is looking for a QA tester for a contract position lasting 4+ months working on our ambitious VR-based action game project, Marvel’s IRON MAN VR.
QA performs a vital role as the first audience for any game, reporting on performance, usability, playability, and identifying aspects which could be improved. Testers are responsible for reviewing the quality bar for internal tools and for finding flaws before a project is submitted to our publishing partners. Our dev team-facing testing efforts work with the internal staff to provide detailed feedback to all the stakeholders, and represents the “voice of the consumer” in production/design meetings, and serve as the final gatekeeper before builds are shared externally from the studio. We are a small, focused, and driven team, and this role is an example of that need for both excellence and personal efficiency.
Location: Plymouth, Michigan
Stardock is committed to making visually compelling games. We are currently seeking a full-time Art Director at our Plymouth, MI studio. We work with bleeding edge technology and need an experienced veteran to guide and blend our amazing engineering capabilities with our talented art team. The Art Director not only sets the visual style of the game but provides specific guidance, both artistic and technical, on how to achieve those goals.
Location: Emeryville, California
Work alongside Pixar animators and engineers to design and implement new features within the Presto Animation System to help create the next generation of Pixar films. Presto is Pixar’s industry leading animation production software suite, built from the ground up with a modern architecture and a well-designed code base. You will be challenged by our production teams to enable Pixar to continue to raise the high bar for what can be achieved in the art of digital animation.
Location: San Jose, California
FoxNext Games is looking for a Senior Narrative Designer to translate the vision of the creative director into in-game story and playable events, develop fresh and innovative stories, settings, and characters in the Aliens science fiction universe, lead collaboration with other writers and designers, and more as a part of its team.
Snooker 19 is now available on Xbox One, marking the start of a new era for fans after almost a decade without an officially licensed snooker game. — we’re incredibly excited to share the official World Snooker videogame with players across the world. Jump in now, just in time for the start of the Betfred World Championships, and you’ll be able to play along in real-time online for the duration of the tournament.
As you can see in the new Snooker 19 trailer, the teams here at Ripstone and Lab42 have been working extremely hard alongside World Snooker to bring the game to life with incredible detail, featuring all the players and all the drama of the pro tour and a wide array of game modes for online and offline play.
Over and above all of that though, we believe that the most important factor in bringing to life an authentic snooker game lies within the gameplay itself. This is why we’ve engineered an extremely sophisticated physics engine, built from the ground up for snooker, to ensure that we capture every little detail of the sport to create the ultimate true-to-life simulation.
It turns out that the best way to test the physics of a snooker game is to put it in the hands of professional players, so we went ahead and did just that throughout the course of development. Top ranked players Kyren Wilson and Shaun Murphy both spent time with us in the studio for the ultimate test of our physics simulation and AI difficulty. They were both impressed by the level of control and the precision captured within the game and just how close it is to the real thing.
Applying spin realistically impacts the way balls rebound from the cushion, and to ensure perfect positioning to build a big break you’ll need to carefully control your shot pace and power, just like the pros do. AI opponents play just like they do in the real world, with their strengths and weaknesses in the game directly reflecting their actual play style, meaning that going up against Ronnie O’Sullivan in Snooker 19 will feel like it would if you got to play against him in real life. To make things a little fairer, we’ve added a selection of aiming aids to level the playing field and provide both amateur players and pro players with a selection of tools to help improve their skills.
The launch of the game today is just the start for Snooker 19 and we’re looking forward to supporting the game and the community throughout the 2019/20 World Snooker season. We hope to see you online in one of the many upcoming live tournaments and you can stay in touch with us over on Twitter at @snooker19game.
Snooker 19 is available now on Xbox One via the Microsoft Store. Click here for purchase details.
George R.R. Martin Will Host Q&A With Stars Of New Tolkien Movie
George R.R. Martin has often cited J.R.R. Tolkien as an inspiration for his own A Song of Ice and Fire series. So it's exciting news that Martin has been announced as the moderator for a discussion and Q&A about the new movie, Tolkien.
Martin will moderate and discussion and Q&A with the movie's stars, including Nicholas Hoult, Lily Collins, and director Dome Karukoski. The event is taking place on May 8 at the Regency Westwood Village where the film is premiering in Los Angeles.
"Modern fantasy would not exist without J.R.R. Tolkien and Lord of the Rings… and that most definitely includes my own A Song of Ice and Fire," Martin said in a blog post. "Tolkien's work redefined fantasy, and all of us who have followed in his footsteps owe him a profound debt.
"But who was the man behind the Shire, the Hobbits, and the One Ring? Tolkien, the new motion picture about JRRT’s early life, aspires to answer that question."
Last week, the Tolkien Estate disavowed the movie Tolkien. The Estate said it was not involved in and does not approve of the new film, which stars Hoult as Tolkien and Collins as Edith Bratt. In response, film company Fox Searchlight said it is proud of the movie, adding that it has the "utmost respect and admiration for Mr. Tolkien and his phenomenal contribution to literature."
