@Calmputer I think a lot of MMO players have a vague aspiration to be high or top-tier raiders. They just need better gear and a more supportive guild, and and and... (For some reason player skill tends to be ignored.) It's kind of like watching a professional sport player or entertainer and thinking "I could do that".
Whales in F2P games can actually do that, and be famous among the dozens of competitive people on their server. I recall one player who spent about $5000 super-enchanting a mostly useless item until it glowed impressively (it did look cool). Someone said "You could buy a motorcycle for that much money!" (this was awhile ago). The player-whale simply said "I have 3 motorcycles." I'm sure he spent a lot more on the gear that did matter in-game.
Fortunately I escaped World of Warcraft with only a few years of actual logged-in time. I loved playing as a healer, since players act much more unpredictably and often irrationally than monsters. There was nothing like being the real hero who saved the day against impossible odds. (I had better stop writing now before I resubscribe.)
I was going to say it looks fine, based on this article's header image. (There is a dog. You can pet the dog. 9/10 feature complete!) Unfortunately, that image is from a Sims 4 expansion, not Project Rene. (I was initially fooled--I don't keep up with newfangled 3D people-sims. My era was more ASCII Dwarf Fortress.)
@Doug Exeter You kids had better start behaving back there or I'm turning this website around and we won't visit IGN Live this year!(Graham may be tempted to have a sore throat for another few months.)
Even PC-only developers are going to be affected by the GTA 6 release date. First of all, because many players aren't PC-monogamous, but fool around with consoles. Secondly, because nearly every gaming publication is going to go wild with coverage of the new game. Even RPS won't be totally immune, with new articles speculating about a PC release and of course deals articles to let us know where to buy it.
@AdmiralFoxx Hmmm... then maybe it should be a roguelite deckbuilder turn-based MOBA! Play 30 minutes at a time with meta-progression and deck strategies! With all those keywords it is sure to be a hit!
Thanks Edwin for the write-up--I've wishlisted the game but will wait until late EA before trying it out. I'm sure there are others like me who disable enemies in games like Factorio and Dyson Sphere.
@SpacemanSpiff I switched from Chrome to Firefox so I could keep the full uBlock Origin. It only took me a few days to get used to the differences--Firefox has improved greatly over the past few years.
As a retired ex-CWA member (switch tech for a phone company) I welcome the news. While unions won't fix all the problems, they can be helpful in promoting cross-studio minimum standards. For example, one problem is that workers have little real idea if their "permanent" (yeah, right) job will last past the next release. One of my ideas is that long-term jobs should have generous severance plans, while contractors might get more hourly (and maybe even overtime pay).
@Hawke I'm a big fan of Early Access, and think a lot more games should take advantage of it. The industry is still trying to figure out when it is appropriate--I think Early Access is a great fit for "complex system" games, but not as great for story-centered games (where you may want to minimize spoilers).
Another factor is that the level of support will depend on income from the game, and it is better not to promise support that might not be possible. (Even with disclaimers people will gripe about "broken promises"). If Avowed had sold only 50,000 copies we would be reading about layoffs or studio closure (with maybe a "final patch"), not a year-long roadmap.
@Hytest Personally, I'd LOVE to see more artists experiment with changing their work after initial distribution. (I'd prefer to see version numbers attached, but I wouldn't demand it.) I think that as long as people are not maliciously deceived, artists should be free to improve their works.
This issue actually affected me recently--there was a song I really liked, largely because of the powerful drum performance. A few months after release, it was re-recorded with a more famous singer, but the drums were redone to be much quieter (not to overpower the singer?). I consider the new version to be inferior, but it has replaced the older version in my playlists. For a more famous example, consider Banksy's (attempted) self-shredding artwork.
With video games the release date is often a struggle between executives (who think of quarterly profits and their bonuses for releasing on time), marketing (which needs a lot of lead time), and the creative director (who would like to spend 5 years perfecting everything). Too often I think the creative side is forced to make early guesses about the time required to complete a game, then held to those estimates even when they are shown to be unreasonable.
@Eulrich Waking up early to play WoW...now that's love. (When I was first addicted to WoW I would drive home on my lunch break to get a few minutes more of guild chat. I was much younger then.)
@caff I bought Kinetic Canvas today--I waited until after the intro sale so you could get a few more pennies. ("What, me procrastinate?") My first time trying it I intended to just spend 1-2 minutes, but had to tear myself away after 10 minutes.
One suggestion: a lazy mode for lazy people like me who don't want to hold down the mouse button, but would rather bat the mouse around like a cat. Or maybe even a really lazy mode where it draws by itself (lines, curves, shapes?). If you do have an auto-draw mode, I hope you let people draw at the same time to play silly games like catching the line or drawing circles around it. Anyways, thanks for a fine toy!
"Before dragonriding, we were very hesitant even to touch the movement system, because movement is something that is so core to a video game, right?"
This reminds me of a time long, long ago when Blizzard was first experimenting with motion prediction (for ordinary movement). The patch looked good at first--a small improvement most of the time.
Then an odd sensation that I hadn't felt since Wolfenstein 3D days... "No, it can't be!" I muttered as I slowly became motion sick. Within an hour I couldn't stand to play any more. To Blizzard's credit the patch was reverted within days, not weeks.
@fuzzyfuzzyfungus I suspect AI was involved: "Give me a list of 17 ideas for new mouse products, plausible but unusual enough to attract press attention."
@batstek I partially agree--I think it is best if one can win without meta progression which makes the game easier on later runs. On the other hand, I'm pretty lazy and generally like easier games, but I'm often too proud to manually lower difficulty.
Meta progression in roguelikes is universally good
I like the term "roguelite" for games structured around runs with meta progression. The original rogue family only got easier with player knowledge. This is a hill I am willing to suffer mild discomfort on!
I sometimes wonder if, say, male-aggression is on its way out, as a useful trait for ensuring reproductive survival.
Heck, considering history and the state of the world, I sometimes wonder if MALES are on their way out as a useful feature. ("Oh yes, we tried them. Didn't work out.")
@poliovaccine Interesting ideas about migration. I think a lot of migrations can be explained by three simple ideas. First, some impulse to migrate in a certain direction relative to the magnetic field. Second, some impulse to stop when the field has changed enough. Third, staying with a flock and moving by consensus signalling. The flock can average out individual errors in direction or duration of migration. (Those that deviate too far won't find mates.)
It's not too hard to come up with evolutionary scenarios for migration given even a primitive directional/magnetic sense. Unfortunately, evolution also tends to drop or minimize senses that aren't actively improving reproduction chances.
@rustic For the Stellaris DLC situation, maybe a 1-month DLC subscription would help? For $10 you could try all the DLCs, before becoming overwhelmed and giving up the game completely. (Also, the upcoming 4.0 patch for Stellaris will reset the game anyways.)
@Calmputer I think a lot of MMO players have a vague aspiration to be high or top-tier raiders. They just need better gear and a more supportive guild, and and and... (For some reason player skill tends to be ignored.) It's kind of like watching a professional sport player or entertainer and thinking "I could do that".
Whales in F2P games can actually do that, and be famous among the dozens of competitive people on their server. I recall one player who spent about $5000 super-enchanting a mostly useless item until it glowed impressively (it did look cool). Someone said "You could buy a motorcycle for that much money!" (this was awhile ago). The player-whale simply said "I have 3 motorcycles." I'm sure he spent a lot more on the gear that did matter in-game.
Fortunately I escaped World of Warcraft with only a few years of actual logged-in time. I loved playing as a healer, since players act much more unpredictably and often irrationally than monsters. There was nothing like being the real hero who saved the day against impossible odds. (I had better stop writing now before I resubscribe.)
I was going to say it looks fine, based on this article's header image. (There is a dog. You can pet the dog. 9/10 feature complete!) Unfortunately, that image is from a Sims 4 expansion, not Project Rene. (I was initially fooled--I don't keep up with newfangled 3D people-sims. My era was more ASCII Dwarf Fortress.)
@Mungrul
I'm sure a regular shotgun would be even MORE satisfying, but I suppose the neighbors might complain.
@Doug Exeter You kids had better start behaving back there or I'm turning this website around and we won't visit IGN Live this year! (Graham may be tempted to have a sore throat for another few months.)
@Uttan Lurze Somebody needs to do a collection of biographies of dedicated biographers now ...
Even PC-only developers are going to be affected by the GTA 6 release date. First of all, because many players aren't PC-monogamous, but fool around with consoles. Secondly, because nearly every gaming publication is going to go wild with coverage of the new game. Even RPS won't be totally immune, with new articles speculating about a PC release and of course deals articles to let us know where to buy it.
@AdmiralFoxx Hmmm... then maybe it should be a roguelite deckbuilder turn-based MOBA! Play 30 minutes at a time with meta-progression and deck strategies! With all those keywords it is sure to be a hit!
Thanks Edwin for the write-up--I've wishlisted the game but will wait until late EA before trying it out. I'm sure there are others like me who disable enemies in games like Factorio and Dyson Sphere.
@treelo
You enter a small room. There is a dark tunnel to the west, and a door to the north. A small spider is crawling across the floor.
Spider-Man enters the room from the door to the north.
You shoot a small spider that wasn't harming anyone. YOU MONSTER!
Do you mean the character Spider-Man (tm)?
Then why didn't you say so? He has already left the room via the dark tunnel to the west.
It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
I think the box will be for a surprise turn-based mode! Either that or a text-based interface.
@SpacemanSpiff I switched from Chrome to Firefox so I could keep the full uBlock Origin. It only took me a few days to get used to the differences--Firefox has improved greatly over the past few years.
@Fachewachewa
It's still coming out in 2023! Just not in 2023 AD.
As a retired ex-CWA member (switch tech for a phone company) I welcome the news. While unions won't fix all the problems, they can be helpful in promoting cross-studio minimum standards. For example, one problem is that workers have little real idea if their "permanent" (yeah, right) job will last past the next release. One of my ideas is that long-term jobs should have generous severance plans, while contractors might get more hourly (and maybe even overtime pay).
Bad chatbot! No reward reinforcement for you! Rewrite this article to be more human sounding in the style of Edwin.
@Hawke I'm a big fan of Early Access, and think a lot more games should take advantage of it. The industry is still trying to figure out when it is appropriate--I think Early Access is a great fit for "complex system" games, but not as great for story-centered games (where you may want to minimize spoilers).
Another factor is that the level of support will depend on income from the game, and it is better not to promise support that might not be possible. (Even with disclaimers people will gripe about "broken promises"). If Avowed had sold only 50,000 copies we would be reading about layoffs or studio closure (with maybe a "final patch"), not a year-long roadmap.
@Hytest Personally, I'd LOVE to see more artists experiment with changing their work after initial distribution. (I'd prefer to see version numbers attached, but I wouldn't demand it.) I think that as long as people are not maliciously deceived, artists should be free to improve their works.
This issue actually affected me recently--there was a song I really liked, largely because of the powerful drum performance. A few months after release, it was re-recorded with a more famous singer, but the drums were redone to be much quieter (not to overpower the singer?). I consider the new version to be inferior, but it has replaced the older version in my playlists. For a more famous example, consider Banksy's (attempted) self-shredding artwork.
With video games the release date is often a struggle between executives (who think of quarterly profits and their bonuses for releasing on time), marketing (which needs a lot of lead time), and the creative director (who would like to spend 5 years perfecting everything). Too often I think the creative side is forced to make early guesses about the time required to complete a game, then held to those estimates even when they are shown to be unreasonable.
@Eulrich Waking up early to play WoW...now that's love. (When I was first addicted to WoW I would drive home on my lunch break to get a few minutes more of guild chat. I was much younger then.)
@caff I bought Kinetic Canvas today--I waited until after the intro sale so you could get a few more pennies. ("What, me procrastinate?") My first time trying it I intended to just spend 1-2 minutes, but had to tear myself away after 10 minutes.
One suggestion: a lazy mode for lazy people like me who don't want to hold down the mouse button, but would rather bat the mouse around like a cat. Or maybe even a really lazy mode where it draws by itself (lines, curves, shapes?). If you do have an auto-draw mode, I hope you let people draw at the same time to play silly games like catching the line or drawing circles around it. Anyways, thanks for a fine toy!
@Shacklestein Future history books will be written by AI of course, with text carefully crafted to attract AI search engines. No need for people!
This reminds me of a time long, long ago when Blizzard was first experimenting with motion prediction (for ordinary movement). The patch looked good at first--a small improvement most of the time.
Then an odd sensation that I hadn't felt since Wolfenstein 3D days... "No, it can't be!" I muttered as I slowly became motion sick. Within an hour I couldn't stand to play any more. To Blizzard's credit the patch was reverted within days, not weeks.
@fuzzyfuzzyfungus I suspect AI was involved: "Give me a list of 17 ideas for new mouse products, plausible but unusual enough to attract press attention."
@batstek I partially agree--I think it is best if one can win without meta progression which makes the game easier on later runs. On the other hand, I'm pretty lazy and generally like easier games, but I'm often too proud to manually lower difficulty.
I like the term "roguelite" for games structured around runs with meta progression. The original rogue family only got easier with player knowledge. This is a hill I am willing to suffer mild discomfort on!
@poliovaccine
Heck, considering history and the state of the world, I sometimes wonder if MALES are on their way out as a useful feature. ("Oh yes, we tried them. Didn't work out.")
@poliovaccine Interesting ideas about migration. I think a lot of migrations can be explained by three simple ideas. First, some impulse to migrate in a certain direction relative to the magnetic field. Second, some impulse to stop when the field has changed enough. Third, staying with a flock and moving by consensus signalling. The flock can average out individual errors in direction or duration of migration. (Those that deviate too far won't find mates.)
It's not too hard to come up with evolutionary scenarios for migration given even a primitive directional/magnetic sense. Unfortunately, evolution also tends to drop or minimize senses that aren't actively improving reproduction chances.
@rustic For the Stellaris DLC situation, maybe a 1-month DLC subscription would help? For $10 you could try all the DLCs, before becoming overwhelmed and giving up the game completely. (Also, the upcoming 4.0 patch for Stellaris will reset the game anyways.)