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Mike Bithell took to the stage at EGX Rezzed earlier today to demonstrate his new indie game, a stealth-based little number called Volume.
Volume is going to be a simple game. The point of the levels is to sneak around each one, collecting all the gems to make the exit open up without getting spotted and caught by the patrolling guards (as the demo levels let us see that game over doesn’t trigger upon being simply spotted). To do this your character can press themselves against wall to take cover (ala Splinter Cell), disable forcefields that the guard NPCs can pass through but the player cannot, slide under some walls, whistle and use a number of items to aid their passage around without getting caught. Bithell has said that because he wanted it to be a true stealth game, none of the ‘gadgets’ you can find will kill, only distract and in the case of the blackjack render the enemy unconscious for about 5 seconds. This forces players to think of ways to use what they have to continuously avoid the guards who could be static or patrolling. And although the demo levels played during the presentation only showed one enemy type, Bithell confirmed that there will be at least 5 in the game when it’s finished.
Volume is to be a game that will both have an overarching story (although we only got a few hints on it – Volume is a military training tool and you are someone stealing from the rich then broadcasting it to the poor to watch) and thanks to the level editor Bithall hopes that the community will build for the game, manifesting in ‘community challenge’ levels being widely distributed and shared online to keep the game interesting for much longer than a single playthrough could do.
In the Q and A afterwards Bithell said that he felt indie was the better way for stealth games, as stealth he felt was a more ‘niche’ genre that AAA studios might have trouble handling because of their need to appeal to more people to make their money back on a game. Indie games with their smaller budgets could overcome this hurdle and sell it to the smaller number who are really interested in the game and the stealth mechanic of the game.
It’ll be interesting to see how this game develops and what it’ll look like closer to completion with the finished product containing the other enemy types as well as whatever else the game has that wasn’t shown off today.
For all things EGX 2014, stay tuned to Sanitarium.FM!
Keiji Inafune’s spiritual Mega Man successor game, Mighty No. 9, has rode the hype train rather conservatively since its phenomenally successful Kickstarter campaign, with leaks of new info perfectly timed for just when people may have forgotten about the project while its development continues apace; and until now, not very much is known about the game at all. Today however, as part of a talk given at GDC this year, Keiji Inafune revealed a short gameplay trailer for Mighty No. 9 which fleshes out the game’s details a reasonable amount.
After previous screenshots showed hero Beck redesigned in a 2.5D graphical style and standing on a 3D stage, the latest trailer reveals that the entire game is now being developed in a 2.5D viewpoint not unlike the Classic Sonic stages in Sonic Generations. Also seen in the trailer is some new Action mechanics including what looks to be some combo attack possibilities; as well as some more platforming action. We’ve even got some new animations being shown off – the “hanging from a ledge” animation at 1:28 is particularly adorable. But perhaps the biggest news is we’ve got concept art and basic biographies for all of the other eight “Mighty” robots Beck will encounter in the game; and even hints towards a rudimentary storyline:
Virtual Reality has been a thing for years now. Unfortunately, it either hasn’t been very good, or expensive, or more commonly both. That has seemed poised to change in recent years with the slow but steady development of the Oculus Rift, a head mounted VR display being developed for PC use. Unfortunately, the inventor of the Rift has long said that it will not be coming to consoles as they aren’t powerful enough to handle the technology.
Sony seems to disagree. yesterday at GDC 2014, the console giant unveiled what it calls Project Morpheus, a head mounted VR display for the Playstation 4. During the reveal, PlayStation head Shuhei Yoshida said that virtual reality “may well shape the future of games”. Citing the increasing immersion that comes with a VR headset, he then moved on to show the early prototypes of the headset, including a Playstation Move duct taped to one. He continued on to say “”We believe Morpheus will further enhance the world of PlayStation 4 with seamless integration with PlayStation Camera, DualShock 4, and PS Move.”
The Morpheus protoype includes a 1080p display, full 360 degree positional tracking and low latency. Sony has also apparently placed an emphasis on ergonomic design and says that Morpheus will allow the use of wireless audio headsets. As might be expected, software was a bit limited with Sony showing off an undersea demo titled “The Deep” as well as announcing compatibility for Thief and EVE Valkyrie. Interestingly, Sony stated that they were treating VR “as a medium, not a peripheral.”
Even more interesting, perhaps, is the fact that Sony is apparently working on a virtual space walk on the surface of Mars in partnership with NASA. It was also revealed that the ttacking for Morpheus can be handled not only by PlayStation Move technology, but also the PlayStation Camera. It will also take advantage of the DualShock 4’s sensors.
All in all, it was an interesting showing, but it remains to be seen what the final price point will be for Morpheus, or how much traction it will gain among gamers who already see, to be weary of gimmicky peripherals.
An update is coming soon for Battlefield 4, and by the sounds of it, it should be a well received one. There will finally be a way for friends to group up before entering the server as opposed to having to waste time trying to meet up before the action can begin.
DICE seemed to have no plans to ever add private lobbies to the game even a few months ago despite it being part of the previous game Battlefield 3, saying that the feature hadn’t offered quality on par with what they felt the players should be offered; but it seems that player demand and complaints about the system BF4 did have has won out once again and gotten the private lobby system, named ‘Platoons’ added to the game. Platoons will soon enter into a Closed Beta stage with a selected number of people being allowed to test-drive it for a short while and potentially give feedback to catch any bugs before it will be released to the masses, allowing matches to run a little more organised from the get-go.
At least… as organised as FPS games can ever be when you’re running around trying to kill without being killed…
A recent patch has also removed one persistent source of the game freezing; the (as DICE put it) ‘so called sound loop bug’ as well as a glitch that sometimes stopped people in a gunner position on some vehicles from actually shooting and better integrated the game with AMD’s Mantle card.
Gearbox are bringing a lawsuit for violating the Duke Nukem IP against 3D Realms, the original developers of Duke Nukem and another studio, Interceptor. Gearbox bought the IP off of 3D Realms back in 2010, but allege that 3D Realms has been telling other companies that they still own the IP and are free to develop new Duke Nukem games. Oh, and there’s the small matter of the Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction game that Interceptor is due to release in a few days.
Duke Nukem: Mass Destruction is set to release on the Playstation 4 and PC on February 25th, yet communications between all three companies have apparently been open since the 13th of the month, when Gearbox sent a cease and desist letter to 3D Realms asking it to “halt all unauthorized exploitations of Gearbox’s Duke Nukem intellectual property.” Even though 3D Realms replied 3 days later apologising for any violation of the rights, acknowledged that they no longer had the rights to develop new games for the Duke Nukem, that the right now belonged solely to Gearbox to do so and that 3D Realms would ‘refrain from any acts that use of violate the Duke IP’ the game’s release doesn’t seem to have been stopped or even slowed down, which has resulted in Gearbox’s lawsuit.
The suit, which was filed on February 21st, is against both companies although Gearbox seem to be placing most of the blame squarely on the shoulders of the former owner of Duke Nukem’s IP.
“After selling its Duke Nukem IP rights to Gearbox in 2010, 3DR sought to privately convince others that the sale never happened.
Unfortunately for Interceptor.. the 3DR Declaration makes it clear: 3DR no longer owns the unrestricted rights to Duke Nukem IP,and 3DR has no right or ability to make any agreements in violation of Gearbox’s exclusive rights.
The 3DR-Interceptor manoeuvre has left Gearbox with little choice but to bring these claims.”
As I said, it’s an unusual case. Everyone seems pretty sure of who owns the IP and who is in the wrong yet… the game is still being released? Certainly something we’ll be keeping an eye on, especially from Tuesday when the game is released.
