Video Games Thread

[Late]

New trailer for Batman: Arkham Knight

dealspwn

[harv]

FPS Creator Reloaded has now been renamed to GameGuru, and an Early Access version is being released on Steam for $19.99 on 27th February and they're having it 25% off to begin with too. Works out as £9.68 at the current currency conversion.

When it's first released on Steam, because the software is still being developed, the online multiplayer is using the Steam online infrastructure but at this early stage of development you can only host and join games if you actually own GameGuru. That's probably going to change sometime before the end of the year hopefully.

They've renamed it because they have plans for the not too distant future for it to be used to make not just FPS games but any genre of game that uses a 3D game engine, so things like TPS games, RPG games, driving games etc. Here are the system requirements:

Minimum:
        OS: XP, Vista, 7, 8
        Processor: Intel Dual-Core 2GHz or AMD Dual-Core 2GHz
        Memory: 2 GB RAM
        Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 400 series or AMD Radeon HD 6000 series, 1GB Video Card (Minimum Shader Model 2.0)
        DirectX: Version 9.0c
        Hard Drive: 4 GB available space
        Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers

 Recommended:
        OS: XP, Vista, 7, 8 - (64 Bit)
        Processor: Intel Quad-Core (i5 2300) or AMD Octo-Core (FX 8150)
        Memory: 4 GB RAM
        Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 660Ti or greater, AMD Radeon HD 7950 or greater, 2GB Video Card (Minimum Shader Model 2.0)
        DirectX: Version 9.0c
        Network: Broadband Internet connection
        Hard Drive: 8 GB available space
        Sound Card: DirectX Compatible Sound Card with latest drivers

Because I gave them 40-odd quid to help fund development a while back I'm a Gold Pledger and will have 4 serials to give away so that you can all have a mess around with it. Here's a few YouTube videos and a Facebook page so that you can see what people have been doing with it so far:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UglkGZtwJXU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfTjwnC6DEI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3oWZlPx83Cg

https://www.facebook.com/antinomy1

The first two YouTube videos have been done by some VERY talented people using their own models etc. The third YouTube video I think has been done entirely with models you get included with the software. If you're artistic/adventurous you can create 3D models in something like Maya/3DS Max/Milkshape/SketchUp/Blender and use them for your games. There's also a shop where you can sell or buy stuff too, both from the developers and from members of the forum.

The current multiplayer situation is a pain in the bum but this is an Early Access version, the software is still being developed so they have plans to sort that out.

Let me know if you want any serial numbers, I have 4 of them! Might be handy for those of you who have kids that are interested in getting into the industry I reckon.

[Late]

March Games With Gold on xbox:

XBOX ONE
Rayman: Legends - Available from March 1-31

XBOX 360
Tomb Raider - Available from March 1-15
BioShock Infinite - Available from March 16-31


Blimey, Microsoft have upped their game!
Three fantastic games, there.
On the down side, I already have all three so I'm actually better off when they give away crap stuff!
I'm not going to complain at Microsoft suddenly giving away great games instead of shit ones, though.


They've also announced that in April they'll be giving away double the number of games - so four free games on the 360 and two free games on the One.


xbox.com

[Late]

What is happening at Microsoft this week?

They've decided to give us Bioshock Infinite, Tomb Raider, and Rayman Legends for free, instead of the usual pish on GWG; they're giving us a Forza F&F game for free as a one-off promotion; they're making Fable Legends free to play; and they're giving away 6 games instead of the usual 3 in April's GWG.

Tis a good time to be an xbox owner!



(Forza game is a tie-in with Fast & Furious, to celebrate the release of Furious 7. The game will be free to download for a fortnight at the end of March and early April. They'll charge people to buy the game after that point. So long as you download in that fortnight you can continue to play for free though.)
(Fable Legends has been announced as F2P on xbox and on Windows 10. There will of course be premium options in the game, but apparently you can play the game from start to finish for free.)

[harv]

So do you two want one of these Steam keys each..?

[jman]

Not me thanks harv, I just wouldn't use it.

March GWG certainly upped in quality... but same boat.. have owned and completed them all... If they are doubling the quantity that's great news.. one better game and one downloadable game type quality would be awesome sauce.

Not convinced with Forza F&F.. its an expansion... it'll play like a glorified demo of Forza Horizon 2 I reckon.. and I stopped watching the F&F films when they started to lose originality and get silly... (the 2nd one  ).  Same with Fable Legends... Freemium gaming.. it sucks because it usually contains a lot of grinding aspects.. tbh I've never been a big fan of Fable anyway - as an RPG it has never quite hit the spot.


Edit : Has anyone pre-ordered Dying Light - it looks almost exactly the same as Dead Island.. which was a game with its faults.. but it had some good gameplay elements to it.. Dying Light looks like a slightly more serious Dead Island.  Reviews aren't great, but could be worth a punt until Dead Island 2 drops.

[Late]

No thanks Harv - wouldn't get used here either. My PC struggles with ms office these days, and wouldn't manage anything remotely close to 3d graphics.

[harv]

Okay, no probs. I know a few people that will be interested but thought I'd give you guys first refusal.

[jman]

I know you liked the Lego Marvel game late..

..personally I think its one of the crappiest lego games along with Lego Batman.

Loads too it.. but there's too many boring fetch quests and I'm not a fan of the story levels.. it feels like there's too many characters with too many abilities, plus boss fights are boring.. every level has one!!  I finished the main story at the weekend and finished a few city quests... but I feel most of the time that the puzzles are more about just swapping the right characters in and out... which can be problematic in itself.. two different iron-man suits that look the same but that have different abilities for example - that's just fucking annoying.

[harv]

Lego City Undercover has spoilt my enjoyment of Lego games now because it's too good. None of the others come close to being as good.

I'm still hoping that they're going to get together with Rockstar and do a proper Lego GTA, it would be amazing.

[Late]

If you have an xbox 360 (and a gold account) but don't have an xbox one you've probably already been adding the xbox one games to your account via xbox.com, so they're ready to download for free if/when you get the console.

Apparently they've now made it possible to add xbox one games to your account from your xbox 360's dashboard, if you prefer. Just click the "games with gold" banner on the dash and it'll show you what's available on the 360 but also show what's available this month on the One. Just click it and it's yours - ready to download and play if you get the console at a future date.

[Late]

Unreal Engine 4 development tools have today been made free.
I haven't had chance to have a proper read up of it all, but it seems clever creative folks can make their own games for free (and pay a small royalty if they make a game that starts making serious money).

Info at: unrealengine.com

[Late]

PS+ games this month:

Oddworld: New ‘n’ Tasty (PS4)
Valiant Hearts (PS4)
Papo and Yo (PS3)
Sherlock Holmes: Crimes and Punishments (PS3)
OlliOlli 2: Welcome to Olliwood (PS4/PS Vita)
CounterSpy (PS4/PS3/PS Vita)

Not bad at all. Trumped by Microsoft this month, of course, but I already have their offerings whereas I don't have Sony's.
I loved the Oddworld games back in the day. Downloaded one of those old ones last year and couldn't really get into it (and the kids thought it was naff) but I'm still semi-tempted by the new one.
Downloaded Valiant Hearts to my xbox in December but haven't gotten around to playing it yet.


If you haven't already added last month's games make sure you get them before they switch, this afternoon. Titles include: Apotheon, Transistor, Thief, Yakuza 4, Rogue Legacy and Kick and Fennick

[harv]

Unreal Engine 4 development tools have today been made free.
I haven't had chance to have a proper read up of it all, but it seems clever creative folks can make their own games for free (and pay a small royalty if they make a game that starts making serious money).

Info at: unrealengine.com

Not sure about a 'small' royalty, it used to be 50%...although I expect they've reduced that now unless they've gone mental. It's looking like they're feeling the pressure that Unity is giving them. Mind you, a lot of developers out there can't stand working with the Unreal engine because they're a nightmare (the people, not the engine itself) to work with apparently. That was true up until a year or so ago anyway, if I remember correctly it was to do with the quality of support you used to get and the attitude of the support staff.

[Late]

It's 5%. And only if you're bringing in over $3k per quarter.
Can't begrudge them that!