Our live radio broadcasts are currently on hiatus while we work on improvements to Sanitarium.FM's core services. For further information, visit our Discord.
It’s time for your weekly little update on the world of gaming Kickstarters, and we’ll start as always by summing up briefly the news with previously covered projects.
We’ll get the bad news out of the way first. Both Tunnels & Traps and Apocalypse Hotel finished their campaigns short of their target goals this week. The people behind Tunnels are alright with the failure saying that the point of the campaign was “never about funding the creation of the game” and they still plan to have the game released in Q2 of 2016. Apocalypse Hotel has had no update as to further plans.
As well The Odds Game, Bellus Mortem, Poltergus and Game Over Remix are all still short of their targets with less than 10 days to go, although the gap varies between projects. If you want to help get a game funded, do go give these ones another check.
In better news though, one of the games I covered last week, Smiling Bear: Attack has met its goal. It was a game co-designed by the dev’s children so it’s nice to see that their game will become a bigger thing, it’s a lovely thought. Blacksea Odyssey has also finished its campaign this week, having reached its target. Casting Call is not yet at its goal, but with plenty of time left its not far off either. Expect to see it finish with a met goal.
We’ll start this week with the weekly card/board/tabletop game, and this time it’s a 3-5 player bluffing game that’s designed to be family friendly. It’s actually already met target but I thought it interesting enough to still include.
Dungeon Busters sees the use of cards and gems and all players are playing cards face down in an attempt to fight off monster cards with a certain total. The sum of all the played cards must beat the monster, and any cards that are duplicates get ignored. If the players get defeated, then the player who contributed the lowest value card loses all their gems of a certain colour; but if the monster if defeated then the lowest cost contributor will be the best rewarded in the encounter.
Dungeon Busters has 19 days to go and has a target of $5,000 which it has already reached.
Next up is an open-world survivor with a low target and pixel graphics.
Set in a world where an illness has wiped out 87% of life, you play as a human trying to survive in a world that could throw anything at you. The game itself is not linear and asks one question – what would you do to survive?
With a target of $1,000 INDEF has made $149 and has 24 days to go.
This is a zombie game with a difference – you are the zombie and have to work to grow bigger.
Starting as a newly ‘born’ zombie, you have to feed on other smaller zombies and humans to grow larger. Humans are faster but are worth more, and as you grow you will develop abilities to help you. Of course, other zombies will also be trying to eat you and some humans will be able to fight back against you. The developer is also looking to the community of backers to get feedback on what abilities they’d like to see in game.
Zombie Fest has made nothing of its $50,000 goal yet, but has 27 days to go.
Lastly we have a 10 player online multiplayer game with cute little pixel graphics and a retro feel to it.
Super Micro Heroes challenges you to be the player at the end of the round with the most coins, however it won’t be easy with levels, traps and the other 9 players all trying to stop you. It sounds a bit like the Mario Kart balloon stages and little madcap games with simple goals like that in mind are always popular if well made.
Super Micro Heroes has 24 days to go and has made €1,170 of its €7,000 goal.
There’s finally a sequel to Independence Day coming, and we’ve just gotten out first look at it in this new trailer.
Besides the trailer though, we only know that the film is due to release on 24th June 2016. That and its movie synopsis:
We always knew they were coming back. After INDEPENDENCE DAY redefined the event movie genre, the next epic chapter delivers global spectacle on an unimaginable scale. Using recovered alien technology, the nations of Earth have collaborated on an immense defense program to protect the planet. But nothing can prepare us for the aliens’ advanced and unprecedented force. Only the ingenuity of a few brave men and women can bring our world back from the brink of extinction.from the brink of extinction.
If you were looking round for a job in game development, you might have a chance to work with a big name soon. At least, they used to be a big name, but they dropped the name. Still technically a big studio though.
The studio that was once known as Irrational is hiring, looking for people to come work on games that will probably involve the things that Bioshock once contained. We’re not sure though about what sort of game, although the info under the listing of Gameplay Systems Designer and Tuner give us some ideas. It’s said that for the role some with “experience in a semi-open (e.g. Borderlands/Shadows of Mordor) or open world game” is required. Ooh.
That’s all we’ve got to go on right now though as far as the game goes, and the studio itself is yet to take on a new name. So it might be a while yet before we know anything more about this game. Suppose all we can do is wait and see.
And apply for the job if you think you fit the bill, of course.
After two years of waiting, MechWarrior Online – a game that launched in 2013 – is due to finally see release over on Steam.
“Launching the game on Steam gives us the ability to introduce the unique and deep gameplay experience of MechWarrior to entirely new audiences,” says Russ Bullock, Piranha Games president.
The game is a free-to-play and has had a somewhat troubled history in the past, with the studio Piranha Games at times being at odds with the game’s community thanks to some decisions, but as of now the release of the game onto one of the biggest digital distributors as well as some major updates to the game with promises of more to come in the near future means that overall things are looking a little bit brighter for MechWarrior Online.
The launch will also bring four premium DLC packs, which are all discounted for 20% in a launch sale until December 20th. Each of the DLC packs contain different classes of mech to be unlocked in-game. Existing players have also been provided with an FAQ by Piranha Games about the Steam Launch.
“It’s been a long road to today’s update with a lot of challenges that we’ve overcome with the support of the MechWarrior community,” Bullock says, “and we’re looking forward to meeting the new pilots on the battlefield as we continue to expand MechWarrior Online.”
DayZ is still in the stages of development, but it’s slowly becoming quite the realistic survival game. If you don’t count the fact it’s full of zombies of course.
Joining the ranks of disease, exposure, hunger, thirst and other players who can also murder you if the zombies don’t are AI predator animals that Bohemia are beginning to add. The first examples are the old favourite – packs of hungry wolves. They can hunt and bring down their prey quite shockingly easy. Check out the trailer:
The footage is still work-in-progress so probably the wolves that make it to the final game will be a little bit tweaked. That besides, they look fast and fierce. A real threat to your survivors, armed or not. Have to wonder if they’ll go for zombies as well though.
Either way, the zombie infested wilds just got a little bit more dangerous.
