Epic Games has announced at the Game Developers Conference that they are planning to make the popular next-generation version of their game engine, the Unreal Engine 4, available to the public in a subscription-based model that will involved a 5 percent royalty agreement in gross sales that come from games made using it.

AAA devs have had access to Unreal Engine for a while now but now Epic Games have decided to make it available for smaller developers to use too, with the subscription set to be around $19 a month. The agreement to take 5 percent gross sale royalties also applies to free-to-play games that include micro-transactions but not to games that are totally free and for fun. Previously larger devs would be in negotiations that took weeks or even months and involved many millions of dollars but Epic’s desire to make their engine more accessible to all has required them to draft the entirely new business model they have presented at the GDC.

“You get access to everything: the unreal editor, for PC and Mac, and on those platforms you can then deploy to iOS and Android. All those platforms stay and more are coming in the future,” Tim Sweeney, the founder of Epic Games said during the presentation.

The source code of the Unreal Engine 4 is also being released in the hopes that it will encourage tinkering and optimisation of the code by the gaming community to further improve the engine’s performance and use for better, smaller games made within it. Already it’s been demonstrated that changes to a game can be made in real-time either during test play or simulation mode.

It seems with the face of the gaming industry steadily becoming one where free-to-play, mobile and indie gaming is quickly becoming a very profitable and notable market, Epic’s bold move could be seen as their attempt to get a piece of the action through their simple but all-encompassing royalty agreement tied to the new public licensing of their engine. It is also their attempt to stay relevant in an industry where competitors such as Unity offer multi-platform engines that cover everything from HTML5 browser games all the way up to AAA titles.

Sweeney described the new business model as a “bold, new move” for Epic Games, and it’s certainly one that will get the attention and praise of many a small developer looking to make their ideas a reality.

So, the latest SimCity patch including offline play has dropped…   What do you think?

After reading this thread and trying out Update 10 please use the following links for feedback and additional questions:

 

Update 10 Feedback Thread – http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/0/10023457.page
Offline additional Questions – http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/0/10023459.page

 

Q: How do I play SimCity offline?
A: The new Single-Player Mode allows you to play SimCity anytime, anywhere, without the need of an active Internet connection. For the full details please read our blog post here – http://www.simcity.com/en_US/blog/article/simcity-…y-now-available-for-pc-and-mac.

 

Q: How do I download the Single-Player Mode for SimCity?
A: The Single-Player Mode will be included as part of Update 10 at no additional cost. This will be available to all current and future players on PC and Mac starting March 18, 2014.

 

Q: Will I still require an Internet connection to play?
A: An Internet connection is required to download Update 10 when it becomes available on March 18, 2014. You will not require an active Internet connection to play SimCity offline in the Single-Player Mode.

 

Q: Can I still play the game Online?
A: Yes, the Online game and all of its features are still intact. This includes Multiplayer, SimCity World and Online Save Games.

 

Q: Will my previous Downloadable Content (DLC) be playable in the Single-Player Mode?
A: Yes. All of your previous DLC is available for use in both the Single-Player Mode and Multiplayer Mode.

 

Q: Do I need an Origin Account to play?
A: Yes, you use Origin to download and launch SimCity. Once you’ve installed Update 10, you can put Origin into offline mode when you are playing Single-Player Mode.

 

Q: How do I put Origin into Offline Mode?
A: To put Origin in Offline mode, log in to the Origin client and select: Origin>Go Offline

 

Q: Do I need to login to Origin online in order to play the Single-Player Mode?
A: No. If you do not have an active internet connection, you can put Origin in the offline Mode and play SimCity offline in the Single-Player Mode.

 

Q: What features are available in Single-Player Mode?
A: Single-Player Mode allows for a multi-city Single-Player experience without requiring an internet connection. All region maps are available in Single-Player Mode. Since Single-Player Mode does not require a persistent internet connection, Leaderboards, Citylog, Achievements, Friends List, Player Profile, the Region Wall, and region invites are not available in Single-Player Mode. The Global Market will be available in Single-Player Mode, but prices will be fixed.

 

Q: What are the requirements to play in Multiplayer mode?
A: The requirements to play Multiplayer have not changed. An Internet connection is required to play Multiplayer mode, Origin must be running in online mode and SimCity must be updated to the latest version.

 

Q: Can I transfer my regions between modes?
A: No. Single-Player and Multiplayer are separate modes and regions cannot be transferred between modes.

 

Q: Where are Single-Player regions saved?
A: Single-Player regions are saved locally, not on the server.
You can find your regions on PC here: \Documents\SimCity\Games\~ID NUMBER~\
You can find your regions on Mac here: Go->Documents->SimCity -> Games -> ~ID NUMBER~

 

Q: If I uninstall or change machines, can I transfer my Single-Player Mode regions to the new install or Machine?
A: If you uninstall SimCity, your saved games will still be available. However if you change machines, you will need to manually move your game files to the games file location on your new machine.

 

Q: Can I move my Single-Player Mode saved game from my PC to Mac and vice versa?
A: Yes, you can transfer your Single-Player Mode saved games between PC and Mac.

 

Q: How many regions can I have?
A: There is no limit to the number of saved regions a player can have in Single-Player Mode. The file size of your regions will vary depending on density and population of your cities.

 

Q: How do saves work in Single-Player Mode?
A: Autosave is on by default and saves your region every ten minutes. Your region is also automatically saved if you quit your region or switch to another city in the region. To disable Autosave, go to the Options menu > Settings > Gameplay tab and uncheck “Enable Autosave in Single-Player Mode”. Disabling Autosave will allow you to save at points you want to save at. If Autosave is disabled, you will be asked if you would like to save your region when you quit or switch to another city in the region.

 

You can manually save your region at any time by pressing “Save Game” from the options menu.

 

Q: How do I rollback my regions? How do I make a copy of my region?
A: If Autosave is disabled, you can save your region at a certain point and then experiment with your region. If you wish to go back to a previous save point, you can choose not to save your region when exiting the game. If you load that region from the main menu or resume page, it will load from the last saved point.
If you would like to make a copy of your region, press “Save As…” from the options menu. You will be prompted to name the copy of your region. This gives you the control to come up with a naming convention that works for you for your copied version. Once you submit that name, you will load the copy of the region. The original region will remain at the last saved point. You can access the original or the copy from the Main Menu in the Play tab.

 

Q: What cheats are available in Single-Player Mode?
A: Existing live cheats are available in Sandbox regions while playing Single-Player Mode. The following cheats are available in Single-Player Mode in non-Sandbox games.
Add §10,000 to City budget. Windows: CTRL + ALT + W OS X: CTRL + ALT + W
Add §5,000 per hour to City budget. Windows: CTRL + ALT + S OS X: CTRL + ALT + S
Add §100,000 per hour to City budget. Windows: ALT + W OS X: ALT + S
Disasters are unlocked in Single-Player Mode.

Remember we also have an active SimCity region you can join, just add Lonesamurai as a friend on Origin for an invite

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.

If you’re a serious gamer, you’ve undoubtedly heard of DirectX. With a rich history spanning over 20 years, Microsoft’s home-grown graphics controller and drivers are still used in many games today – particularly those targeted at consoles and Windows PCs – to enable visual splendour, capable 3D graphics and more. But while it may remain a popular technology, the last version of DirectX officially launched by Microsoft, 11.1, was last updated in 2009. Five years later, with devices becoming more powerful and capable, the technology’s age has begun to shine through, leading many developers to ask Microsoft to supply the tools to take DirectX further and extract the most out of any hardware the games end up on.

According to Microsoft’s DirectX Developer’s site, the company is finally set to deliver on that promise. In a sponsored session at this year’s GDC, entitled “DirectX: Evolving Microsoft’s Graphics Platform”, Microsoft’s development manager for graphics at Microsoft – Anuj Gosalia – is set to reveal the company’s plans for DirectX12. The official GDC website offers the following description of that talk:

For nearly 20 years, DirectX has been the platform used by game developers to create the fastest, most visually impressive games on the planet. However, you asked us to do more. You asked us to bring you even closer to the metal and to do so on an unparalleled assortment of hardware. You also asked us for better tools so that you can squeeze every last drop of performance out of your PC, tablet, phone and console. Come learn our plans to deliver.

Nothing is yet known about what Microsoft plan to reveal – besides the increased power alluded to in the above description – but the talk appears as one of a number of DirectX-related talks planned to be hosted by Microsoft this year, which also apparently includes a talk on the future of Direct3D; and eight talks related to the current DirectX 11.

Stay tuned for more news as we hear it.

Four years ago, a new service called OnLive debuted, offering a whole new way to play and get games using online streaming. Rather than downloading games or buying them from stores, you streamed them from online servers and paid for the access rights – meaning low-cost, no-storage-required gaming that just required a solid internet connection and which promise to revolutionise the way we played games. The reality, however, was far less rosy. By marketing itself as its own platform – alienating both publishers who worried about game sales cannibalising those on established platforms, and players who were forced to decide whether to buy their games traditionally, via OnLive, or both; selling some games itself – cutting it off from retailers; and giving developers an extra step in the development process to support the platform, OnLive made an enemy of practically everyone; and in 2012, the company folded, its assets sold off and all the staff laid off.

Now though, OnLive is back and learning from its mistakes, thanks to a relaunch in the hands of the buyer, a new (legally-speaking) company also called OnLive. After 18 months out of the limelight, OnLive has returned under new management and carrying two new business models.

The key to the new OnLive is a brand new offering called Cloudlift. Thanks to a partnership with Valve, OnLive now has access to the full library of Steam games, bringing thousands of games of all different kinds to the platform. OnLive will now let you buy Steam games and add them to your Steam account through the service, solving the platform separation by potentially allowing the same game to run on multiple devices through both OnLive and Steam itself. The magic comes with OnLive’s streaming abilities. Once again, when playing a Steam game through OnLive, you won’t actually be downloading and playing the game locally – instead, the game is streamed to you over an internet connection from super-fast, super-capable servers hosted by OnLive, meaning no storage is required. In a genius touch however, slam in your Steam account details and as long as you’re using Steam’s Cloud Save feature, Cloudlift will grab your online save for each game as you load them up, so you’ll be able to continue the same game you have on your traditional Steam-enabled device. If you have a solid internet connection (2mb/sec minimum, 5mb recommended download speed), you may never notice the difference.

As Cloudlift is available as a smartphone app and as software for PC and Mac, the service potentially will allow Ouya and other Android-based consoles to get the full range of Steam apps and play them with high performance, instantly increasing their usefulness and the size of the game libraries; and also potentially means a game you start on your PC can be later played on the Mac at work, with little change in performance even if the power of all the devices is completely in different leagues – all you need is a compatible controller. Cloudlift comes with a heavy price tag, however, at $14.99 and £9.99 per month; and with only Steam games on offer at the moment, the choice is limited to your already-purchased and future-purchased Steam Games; you don’t get a whole range of games included in the price like with movies on Netflix. Along with this is the problem that not all Steam games come with cloud sync, meaning they can still be streamed but won’t allow players to pick up where they left off.

Luckily, OnLive are not resting on their laurels, as they have two additional plans in the works to increase the game library as they come along. First, the original OnLive game library will soon be relaunched, meaning the company will once again start sellings its own games too. While this will remain a separate service to Cloudlift for now, any games bought from OnLive will also come with seven days’ access to the same game on Cloudlift – whether this feature will remain or be enhanced in future however is yet to be seen, as the company are not committing heavily to the OnLive market to prevent it repeating its past mistakes. OnLive is also allowing games publishers to partner directly with them and deliver demos of their games to stream through the services, which will be a white-label service – so the publishers are free to credit the games however they like (expect names like “Sega Go” or “EA Live” to crop up, for example). Gaijin Games are one of the partners named to be on board.

Will the new strategy allow OnLive to succeed where it once failed? And will full online streaming become the future of, or a strong alternative to, both digitally stored and physical media gaming? Time will soon tell.