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With its simple gameplay and perfectly portable nature, independent studio Roll7 surprised a lot of people when it released the side-scrolling, skateboarding game-cum-reaction test OlliOlli; and the title quickly became one of the handheld’s best sellers. That success earned them a place at this year’s EGX London; where at 3pm today, the small team of indie developers announced what to expect next.
Currently in development, OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood is, as the name suggests, a sequel to the PS Vita hit, with much loftier targets in sight – not least emphasised by the franchise’s move from handhelds to the big screen. With the sequel hitting the Playstation 4, OlliOlli 2 features a complete visual overhaul to make it fresher and more HD-quality in order to be more appealing for TV and emphasise the fact that sequels always aim to be bigger and better. But it’s not just for show – the game now includes 7,000 more frames of animation making tricks look more realistic and fluid than ever.
The reason for the need to add detail to tricks is because, in OlliOlli 2, there’s going to be a lot more of them. In addition to all-new grinds and jumps to complement the existing set of tricks from the first OlliOlli, Roll7 has listened to player feedback and added the ability to perform manuals – lifting the board slightly and riding on two wheels, for the non-skaters – while on solid ground. An enhanced combo system makes it a lot easier to chain tricks together for higher points; plus there’s an extra incentive to the game’s overarching purpose of timing your landings to perfection: perform a perfect grind and you’ll be able to “switch” it, repositioning your board to perform another trick mid-grind and adding one more multiplier to your combo bar. Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater fans should be very familiar with this mechanic, though the controls are slightly different.
Levels and Worlds in OlliOlli 2 are also taking on a whole new shape – quite literally. Thanks to a whole new engine for which the sequel is being built from scratch, OlliOlli 2 sheds the straight-line nature of levels in the original game; to bring in curved terrain and even ramps for greater air time. If you wanted to speed all the way downhill and perform a massive jump off a ramp at the bottom, you’ll get to do it in OlliOlli 2. Levels also feature split paths, allowing multiple ways to trick through each location – you might find yourself choosing from a low grind or going up high for massive air time. The “Welcome to Olliwood” part of the title references part of the game’s new theme – levels will be split into “Worlds” based around popular film genres, with decals and obstacles to match; such as an Aztec world with vibes of Indiana Jones.
Roll7 explain that, like the old OlliOlli, the current plan is for the levels in OlliOlli 2 will be procedurally-generated. Obstacles, rails and ramps will be generated based on what you’ve already skated, rather than a fully randomised affair – allowing players who regularly bail at one part of a level to memorise the layout and prepare for it next time, such that players hopefully progress further with every run and ultimately overcome any roadblocks they experience. This plan is regularly debated within the team, with some feeling an infinite-scrolling layout to allow levels to continue randomly for as long as the player can survive would be better; while others like the current method for ensuring that players cannot get completely stuck during a run. It will be interesting to see which camp finally wins out.
Of course, if one tires of taking on the game’s challenges and story or simply trying to beat their best runs, there’s always the fun of competing against others. Roll7 admitted that, on realising that they missed an opportunity in the original PS Vita title to implement online leaderboards comparing your run to other players, “we still wake up in a sweat wondering why we didn’t”. OlliOlli 2, therefore, will be incorporating them from the very beginning, letting you know just how your skating and reaction times compare to other players. But that’s not the only concession to multiplayer being considered. OlliOlli 2 will also feature a local split-screen multiplayer mode called “Combo Rush”, allowing up to four players to compete simultaneously to achieve the highest scoring run in 60 seconds. Roll7 claim the new multiplayer mode is also being used as a basis to look into potential future additions, such as online multiplayer and other types of competition.
OlliOlli 2 is planned to hit the PS4 sometime in 2015.
Omega Mode is free DLC for Street Fighter IV takes all 44 characters and gives them different (I’m hard-pressed to say new) abilities making them feel bigger, better, or in some cases, like the old versions of themselves. Capcom had a little something to say about it on its blog:
“As the primary goal for this mode was fun, we placed more emphasis on making the characters feel new, than on their balance.”
The video above gives far more detail and pretty moving pictures, so watch it and let us know what you think in the comments. Then look for the Omega Mode DLC later this year.
Great news everyone! We now have the power to undelete a character in the upcoming Pre-patch for World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor (better known as Patch 6.0.2). There will be limitations, so before you get too excited, look what the recent blog post by Blizzard has to say:
>Characters under level 10 and Death Knights at level 55 are not eligible to be undeleted.
>Characters between level 10 and level 29 will no longer recoverable after 90 days.
>Characters between level 30 and 49 will no longer recoverable after 120 days.
>All other characters level 50 and above are eligible to be undeleted at any time.
>Please keep in mind you will only be able to use the undelete option once every 30 days.
Undeleting a character restores all of its enchantments, gems, and items fully intact.
Blizzard also included their policy on what happens with a deleted characters name:
We’ll be holding deleted character names for a limited time, and the original creator can reclaim it for use on a new character during that time. If you create a new character with the same name as one of your deleted characters (let’s say Flugur), the new character must be renamed, transferred, or deleted to complete the restoration of the original Flugur.
To help you get prepared for the upcoming Warlords of Draenor Patch 6.0.2 release, we’ve uploaded the patch data to the background downloader. By downloading the patch in advance, you’ll be ready to get in-game and start playing as soon as the expansion goes live!
If you have issues during this process, you can find help to resolve them on the support site here.
You can adjust your download settings within the Battle.net desktop app by clicking on the Battle.net symbol and selecting “Settings” from the menu. Under Game Install/Update you’ll be able to adjust your download options for each of your games and enable or disable the background download, adjust the rate for your download, or pause it if you have a restriction on daily downloads.
At the the same time, Fox takes ‘Assassin’s Creed‘ off the summer 2015 calendar, while shifting ‘The Fantastic Four’ and ‘Paper Towns’
Twentieth Century Fox and Marvel Comics’ are moving ahead with their long-gestating X-Men spinoff Deadpool.
On Thursday, the studio announced that the movie will hit theaters Feb. 12, 2016. Tim Miller is set to direct the film, with Ryan Reynolds long rumored to star, although no deal is set. Bets are that he will.
The beloved Marvel character Deadpool, a.k.a. Wade Wilson, is a talkative mercenary with a host of powers, including the ability to heal at a fast rate. Reynolds played Wilson in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, while Scott Adkins played the character of Deadpool after Wilson had transformed.
News of Deadpool’s release comes weeks after test footage of the project leaked briefly online. The sequence, featuring Reynolds, was shot several years ago, but nevertheless sparked intense conversation on social media.
In an recent interview, Reynolds commented on the leak, suggested it helped move the process along. “The movie has been in a state of limbo for a while. There was such an overpowering reaction to the footage, you sort of feel like, ‘Oh, so we weren’t crazy for our reasons for loving this character, for loving this role.’ It’s interesting to see the power of the Internet. It’s awe-inspiring, actually,” the actor told the Niagara Falls Review. “And it’s neat that Twitter and Facebook and Instagram can move mountains when used in the right way.”
Reynolds, whose turn as the superhero Green Lantern failed, has been linked to a potential Deadpool solo movie for years, even before he debuted as the character in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. His interest in the property dates back to 2003.
Fox made other key changes to its release slate, including taking New Regency’s Assassin’s Creed off the 2015 summer calendar.
The adaptation of the Ubisoft video game, starring Michael Fassbender, was set to open Aug. 7, but won’t be ready in time, according to insiders. The script has gone through several rewrites, while the production itself has grappled with scheduling issues. Fox insiders say Assassin’s Creed will now hit theaters in 2016.
As a result, The Fantastic Four reboot will move from June 19, 2015, to the Aug. 7 spot, while YA film adaptation Paper Towns — based on the book by John Green — will move up from July 31, 2015 to June 19, the same corridor Fox used to release YA blockbuster The Fault In Our Stars, also based on a Green novel.
Fox is taking a cue from Disney and Marvel in relocating Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four to August, where Guardians of the Galaxy prospered this summer. For years, August was considered a dumping ground. If anything, Guardians proved that August has the benefit of being less crowded when it comes to tentpoles.
