Recently, Valve released a beta version of the SDK(Software Development Toolkit) for Left 4 Dead to the public. I’ve been extremely busy toying around with new ideas for campaigns and trying my level best to do a working level. It has to be noted that the SDK is part of the tools that were used in the making of Left 4 Dead but obviously the suite has been tailored for the modders and map makers.
The SDK includes the usual Source Engine stuff like the Hammer World Editor, Face Poser, Model Viewer, and a Left 4 Dead Tools mode that allows you to adjust many variables in game. As someone who has no real experience creating textures or skinning, the Hammer Editor is the most beginner friendly feature of the SDK. This is not to say that building a Left 4 Dead level will be plain sailing, as you will most probably have to learn a lot of concepts of the Source engine as well as things that are unique to Left 4 Dead.
I’ve had the idea of making a map based on a real world location, in particular KLCC which I thought would be cool. What a headache it has been and an eye opening lesson to level design. Due to the nature of a narrow corridored tower, I found that gameplay suffers as the special infected can’t surprise the survivors. Survivors always had the advantage of knowing where the infected will come from. Either in front or from behind.
Basically the process of building a map goes in this order:
1) Draft the entire level out in paper
2) Build the solid of the entire level in Hammer
3) Build the survivor starting positions and check point
4) Build the nav meshes so that the AI knows how to traverse the level
5) Play through the level to see what needs to be changed or added to make playing the level more fun
6)Repeat step 5 until you are happy with the gameplay of the level
7) Add textures and props to fill the world
8) Add lighting
9) Replay the level and adjust till satisfied
The real challenge is setting what is called as nav meshes. These are paths that the AI bots and infected use to know their environment. Generating nave meshes are pretty straight forward and it can be easily auto generated. However, I found there are instances that the AI bots can get confused if you have placed props that effect the navigation in a map.
In English, it is a little buggy and you will most probably have to build your map taking this into account. Build your map entirely out of solid geometry first. Building extensions out of rotated geometry is dodgy so try to avoid that. Only after that, make sure the generated nav meshes are usable. The entire SDK tool is not as easy to use as any of the stuff we see in games like Spore or Little Big Planet, but we are after all talking about the actual SDK used to build maps.
There is a significant learning curve in it, but once you get used to how levels are done, it gets a lot faster. Valve has released a very light documentation for the SDK which you can read here. I suggest the level making tutorial Valve has written as an important read. It got me quickly into designing maps.
I hope to get a custom made campaign out. But it will be quite a while before it is finished. It is a slow and long process.
Dawn of Discovery, also known as Anno 1404(European title) is the follow up to Anno 1701, a popular German developed(Related Designs) city building strategy game. Published by Ubisoft, the developers recently released a series of tutorial that takes the player through the game. The game should be released on 25th June(European date). Videos below:
We finally get a glimpse of actually in game screenshot of Chris Taylors Supreme Commander 2. Since unveiling the title, not a single screenshot or gameplay movie was released of it. This single screenshot seems to hint that Supreme Commander 2 has been made smaller. A lot more detail can be added to individual units. This is understandable since it is also being released for the XBOX360(as well as the PC) which has a memory limit. The game is set to be release on 2010. Screenshot & trailer below:
There’s a new Pre E3 Mafia II trailer out(thanks to T2 Asia) that is set during the winter of 1945. The new trailer exudes a very depressing and bleak overtone to it since World War II is still on going. This one is much closer to the beginning of the game. Mafia II has been given a tentative release of early 2010 for the PC, XBOX360 and PS3. Trailer and screenshots below:
We will possibly learn more about the game next week at E3.
OVERVIEW
Born the son of a poor immigrant, Vito is a beaten down Italian American who is trying to secure his piece of the American Dream. Looking to escape the life of poverty that consumed his childhood, Vito is soon swayed by the lure of power and wealth that a life of Organized Crime can bring.
A petty criminal his whole life, Vito, along with his childhood friend, Joe, will descend into the world of Organized Crime. Together, they will work to prove themselves to the Mob as they try to make their names on the streets of a cold and unforgiving city.
FEATURES
• Gangster-Movie Experience: Through strong, authentic characterization and compelling narrative, the mature storyline will make you understand the pull and impossible escape of life in the Mob
• Action-Packed Gameplay: Take part in heart-stopping car-to-car gunfights, white-knuckled hand-to-hand combat and intense gunplay, all of which come together to form an intense and exciting experience
• All-New Engine Powers the Next Generation of Mob Videogames: 2K Czech’s next generation engine, allows gamers to travel from beautifully rendered outdoor environments to intricately designed interiors seamlessly without the need for loading times
• Authentic Script From the Writer of Mafia I: The writing team from Mafia I returns to deliver another powerhouse script that portrays a stunning tale of survival, camaraderie and the pitfalls of pursuing the American Dream
• Music as Environment: Players will be immersed in the Golden Era of America as Mafia II features tracks from some of the era’s most influential artists
E3 2009 is near. Held at the Los Angeles Convention Center on June 2-4th, the ESA is looking for a return of form for E3 this time round. The show will be bigger then last years muted affairs and will have a wider audience. As with all E3’s, this years one seems to have some pretty big surprises that publishers are still keeping close to their chest. Below are some of things I’m thinking we might here more about at E3:
David Perry’s Gaika
During the Games Developers Conference, Onlive revealed a new game distribution method that used a cloud computing philosophy of playing a game from a client PC whereby processing is done in a central server.
David Perry immediately fired back at Onlive’s plan and claim that the service he is working on will be better. So far nothing is known about this apart from it being called Gaika. This one I’m not very sure about but I’m guessing we could hear a bit about it.
Assasins Creed 2
Ubisoft got the gaming press all on the guessing game when they featured a new teaser site for Assasins Creed 2. Since then, it has been revealed that the protagonist is named Izio and the game will be set in 18th century Italy(with Venice and Florence as confirmed locations in game). Apparently you can swim this time and there are even hints of some flying action.
Crytek’s next game
Cevat Yerli had made a lot of noise about the success of Crysis on the PC. The whole debate about piracy has been played to death and I’m not going to continue that here. What was interesting was that Crytek demoed a modified Cry Engine 2 that worked on a console during Games Developers Conference.
In that demo there were some fantasy like setting images that some on the internet has speculated to be a new game in the works. Part of the speculation was started when Crytek trademarked three terms, Kingdoms, Carvatar and Gface.
Bioshock 2
Since announcing the sequel, 2K has said that Bioshock 2 will for the first time feature a multiplayer component. The core single player game is being developed by 2k Marin and the multiplayer component by Digital Extremes. In the multiplayer component, you play as a Plasmid test subject before the fall of Rapture.
The single player part, you will be playing the first Big Daddy and will face new adversaries. Bioshock 2 takes place 10 years after the events of the first game.
2K Boston’s next game(Ken Levine)
With Bioshock 2 in development at 2k Marin, it is believed that Ken Levine and his team at 2k Boston are working on a new game. Rumours have it as a completely new IP and that it will be very different.
Max Payne 3
Rockstar unveiled back in April that they will be making a Max Payne 3. All we know is that its tentative release date is Winter 2009.
Splinter Cell: Conviction
Sam Fishers next game was put on hold indefinitely by Ubisoft for over a year. Recently it was revealed that the game has been completely redesigned with a teaser site set up. The change in direction will be revealed at E3.
Alan Wake
Remedy still wants us to believe that this game still exists. Hints have been put out that we might here more about Alan Wake in this years E3 Microsoft press conference.
Hideo Kojima’s New Metal Gear
There's a new teaser site(very popular method pre E3) about Hideo Kojima’s next game that started with a count down that revealed lo and behold – another timer! The site has now been updated with an image of Big Boss. This at least confirmed it will be a Metal Gear game.
It has been rumoured earlier that Kojima san will reveal that Metal Gear Solid 4 will be ported to the XBOX360 and images from the internet has shown things like XBOX360’s in his office. This cannot be verified and now rumours seem to say that it will be a new Metal Gear Solid game.
Trico, Team ICO’s next game
I was a huge fan of Shadow of The Colossus on the PS2 and when a leaked footage of a new Team Ico game blew up on the net, I was excited. The leaked footage seemed to hint that the new game will at least take place in the same world as their previous game like Shadow of the Collosus and Ico but will have a different gameplay mechanic.
R.U.S.E
Ubisoft announced R.U.S.E, a new real time strategy game that uses what they call Iriszoom. A sort of Supreme Commander like zooming in and out action. You can view the entire battlefield with a simple flick of the mouse wheel. Initial impression from the trailer seems to suggest the game will be light on strategic depth. Hope to learn more about it at E3.
Notable No shows:
On live
Taking GDC by storm, Onlive’s Mike McGarvey confirmed on their blog that they will not be at E3.
So, while retail has been the mainstay for distribution of top video game titles since the industry’s inception, OnLive is now breaking that mold. We will be delivering the same top video games titles exclusively through broadband Internet, in the same release window they are available in retail, but with significant economic, convenience and feature benefits to both publishers and gamers.
And, this is the main reason why OnLive won’t have a booth at E3 this year. More than anything, E3 is a retail-oriented conference, both for retail platforms and retail publishers, and OnLive is neither. You’ll hear and see plenty from us this year in the run up to our external Beta and launch, delivered directly to your home through your broadband connection.
StarCraft 2 and Blizzard
Blizzard has always ignored E3 for the past few years now. Being the industry leader, they really can demand the attention of the industry whenever they want. Blizzard has always used Blizzcon as their platform for press release of their games and this year isn’t much different.
Id Software and Rage
Like Blizzard, Id has always promoted their own QuakeCon to demo their game. It is unlikely that we hear anything about Rage in this years E3. However, Raven Software will be at E3 and more on Wolfenstein is confirmed(release date has been confirmed as 4th August 2009).
Eidos Thief 4 and Deus Ex
Eidos had fans of the Thief series and Deus Ex really excited when development for sequel for both these games were announced. However, in an interview with IGN, Eidos has confirmed that both these games will not be at E3.
Eidos Montreal General Manager, Stephane D’Astous said:
Does that mean Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony is planning to introduce a new console sooner rather than later? D'Astous wouldn't say anything further on the topic. But he did confirm that neither Thief 4 nor Deus Ex 3 would be on display at this year's E3 convention in Los Angeles. That leaves plenty of time for Eidos Montreal to get an earful from fans.
There is bound to be a flood of new information about games next week. Stay tuned.
EDIT: I forgot to mention Modern Warfare 2, potentially the biggest game at E3 and Valve's announcement of their next title.
2k has released two new screenshots of Borderlands. Borderlands has been given a fresh coat of paint as it has been revamped with a new art style. Personally I think it was a great decision and the new look is amazing. Screenshots below:
Borderlands™ combines the best in first-person action with player customisation and vehicular combat for incredible layers of gameplay depth. The game features a groundbreaking content generation system allowing for near-endless variety in weapons and item drops. Borderlands allows for multiple players to share the same game experience simultaneously online in co-op gameplay. Players can freely join or leave each other's games at anytime, or choose to play in the full single-player mode. These features, along with a rich and deep fiction that touches upon the mysteries buried beneath the surface of a danger-filled planet, combine to form a breakthrough experience that challenges the conventions of modern shooters.
Game Features
· Co-op Engineered Game Design: Borderlands is built from the ground-up to be an exciting and intuitive co-operative multiplayer experience that rewards players for investing in specific co-op skills
· FPS Action Meets RPG Character Progression: Players can choose from one of four distinct characters and earn experience and gain proficiency in a number of specialties as they do battle with enemies. Upgrades can be invested in a wide variety of special abilities, allowing players to create a fully customised character that is tailored to their playing style
· Intense Vehicular Combat: Get behind the wheel of and engage in intense vehicle-to-vehicle combat, complete with extensive damage modelling and spectacular explosions
· Radical New Art Style: Fresh and exciting new art style combines traditional rendering techniques with hand-drawn textures to paint a unique and eye-catching spin on the First Person Shooter genre
· Weaponry: Choose from an arsenal of hundreds of thousands of weapons, each with their unique manufacturers, specifications and advantages. A revolutionary new content generation system produces almost infinite tools of destruction
Yes this is the game that has infinite(well not quite infinite but surely a hell of a lot) number of weapons. Release date is Q4 2009 for XBOX360, PS3 and PC.
2k confirmed the release date for Bioshock 2 as 30th October on The Cult of Rapture page. It has also been confirmed that Bioshock 2 will be released on the PC, XBOX360 and PS3 simultaneously.
Are you ready to start counting down the days until BioShock 2 hits store shelves? You can start now! BioShock 2 will be arriving on October 30th internationally and November 3rd in North America for the Xbox 360®, PLAYSTATION® 3 system, and PC.
2K’s Bioshock 2 webpage ‘there is something in the sea’ now has been updated and has the image of a room. The room is the office of a character named Mark Melzer who is a big conspiracy theorist who’s daughter is missing and is trying to unravel the secrets around Rapture and the Big Sister.
This website chronicles a mysterious man’s mission to track a series of phenomena, including sightings of weird lights in the ocean and the peculiar abductions of small girls around the world. Flyers were posted on telephone poles in some major American city’s in search of these missing girls.
All these teasing is making me go bonkers. Will we finally be given an explanation to what caused Rapture to crumble? What are the sea slugs in the little sisters? An extra terrestrial connection to the story? Or is Mark Melzer just a kook?
It sounds like Rapture was not all that secluded from land and that certain characters in Rapture seem to be ‘visiting’ often. The disappearance of little girls I think has to be attributed to the creation of the little sisters. There is also some info given by a certain someone simply named Inman in some of the classified documents about these Unidentified Maritime Objects.
From the same classified documents, it would also seem that the government was on to something as it identified the disappearance of Andrew Ryan with the event as something that warranted ‘further investigation’. Could Rapture have been sabotaged by someone in the government?
After two gameplay teaser trailers, Infinity Ward finally revealed the full gameplay trailer today for the upcoming Modern Warfare 2. It looks like the speculations are correct and there seems to be a snow mobile sequence that is actually in game. Release is set for 10th November 2009. Trailer and new screenshots below:
Gamasutra has featured a rather exhaustive interview with Riot Games director of system design, Tom Cadwell and community relations manager, Steve Mescon on their upcoming game, League of Legend: Clash of Fates. For the uninitiated, League of Legends is being developed by Riot Games that was founded by DoTa co developer, Steve 'Guinsoo' Feak and is designed to elevate the gameplay that was introduced in DoTA and rectify its flaws.
What mentality have you taken in developing this game? You're building on the legacy of Defense of the Ancients [which the team created a postmortem of for Gamasutra recently], its existing dynamic and fan base, but how are you rethinking it?
Tom Cadwell: We're trying to find out, "How do we keep the core experience of DOTA and enhance it, broadening it so more people can experience and enjoy it?" There are a couple aspects to that. One is just removing the obvious pain points and trying to make it go better -- adding matchmaking so you can find a competitive match that's going to be against people in the same skill level as you. We're improving the user interface... instead of using the Warcraft III interface, which wasn't really suitable for DOTA. It's really designed for a single character rather than multiple characters as with RTS controls. There are a lot of little enhancements like that. We're polishing a lot of the things the DOTA audience just lives with. We also thought that adding a persistent gameplay element that allows you to progress over time would add a lot of value to the gameplay. It just makes it a lot more fun. We're trying to pick mechanics and characters that follow principles of simple but deep design.
Riot Games plans to do a lot of post launch content and features. They see it as a service rather than a single product. You can expect a lot of changes to the game after release just like DoTA.
That's definitely the direction PC games are going these days. Valve talks about it all the time, of course. It seems like in the last few years, it's become an increasingly feasible -- arguably even necessary -- route for PC developers to take.
SM: Interestingly enough, I think we're seeing a lot of similar models like this outside of the game industry as well. We're seeing a lot of products and services -- products that are really being offered now as a service. For example, you see music services now where you can listen to music but you don't need to necessarily buy a song. A lot the same concepts are spilling over when you're talking about operating a game as a service. It's just becoming a point of familiarity with people. TC: Yeah, I think you could talk about the economics of those sort of things, but what I really think is important is just that players like having games as a service. They like to have a game that's patched frequently. That's more fun. I think as a game developer, that's your first priority. If you can give players something that's more fun, you're going to be rewarded for that.
Infinity Ward released a second gameplay teaser trailer that shows new scenes not shown in the first gameplay teaser trailer. This one has something that looks like a police SWAT team in an urban environment. The full gameplay trailer will be revealed on 24th May. Teaser trailer below:
Valve revealed what could be the final unlockable in the upcoming double update of the Sniper and the Spy. The Jarate was teased earlier as an April Fools joke has been realised as an actual grenade like projectile weapon.
Jarate is a thrown jar that splashes upon impact. When splashed on enemies, they take 35% more damage for a period of time. Jumping in water will wash off Jarate. Jarate is also able to short out Spies’ cloaking devices. When used on teammates, Jarate will extinguish any fire effects.
* Jarate is neither affiliated with, nor a substitute for, Karate.
The update should go live tomorrow. Valve has also announced it will be doing a free play weekend, so for those that don’t own Team Fortress 2 for some reason or the other, this is your chance to try it out.
While the screenshots were leaked to the internet earlier, SEGA has now released them to the press officially to confirm the new Aliens VS Predator game. SEGA has also released a teaser trailer for the game that will be fully revealed at E3. Aliens VS Predator will be arriving early 2010 for PC, PS3 and XBOX360.
This game is being developed by Rebellion, who did the classic 1999 Aliens vs. Predators game.
You can play as the Alien, Predator, or Colonial Marine. Each species has its own story-driven single player campaign that interweaves with the other species’ campaign modes.
3-way online multiplayer, so you can pit the species against each other.
Releasing on X360, PS3 and PC in early 2010.
Storyline
On planet BG-386 a colonist mining group discovers an ancient pyramid containing a dark and horrible secret. Across the stars a race of warriors is alerted to the discovery of their pyramid and a hunting party is dispatched to ensure that it remains sealed at all costs, whilst deep inside the ruined pyramid a malevolent intelligence awakes from centuries of dormancy.
Colonial Marine point of view
The Marine’s story is an incredible fight against the odds, and the horrors lurking in the dark. Beset on all sides yet armed to the teeth, the Colonial Marine represents humanity’s last stand with the firepower to fight back.
Alien point of view
As the Alien, players will discover what it’s like to be the most murderous and lethal creature in the universe, with the ability to traverse any surface with awesome agility in order to get close enough to unleash its deadly teeth and claws.
Predator point of view
A master of the hunt, the Predator grants the player a suite of exotic weaponry and equipment with which to stalk its unknowing prey. Earn the greatest honor by ambushing prey up-close and butchering them for a gory trophy kill.
Valve unveiled a new unlockable weapon for the Spy. The Ambassador is an extremely powerful and accurate revolver that has a cool down and the likeness of your enemies mother.
There are two sorts of men in this world: the sort with blood pouring out of a hole in their heads, and the sort holding the Ambassador. It has the ammo count of a revolver and the pinpoint accuracy of a sniper rifle, even at long range. (But remember, a gun that packs this much heat needs to cool off between shots, so make every shot count.) With its rosewood grip and likeness of your enemy’s mother (please send photo) engraved on the barrel, the Ambassador is eight motherloving pounds of steel your enemies won’t want to negotiate with.
GSC Game World launched the official site to the upcoming sequel to Shadow of Chernobyl. Call of Pripyat is said to be planned for an autumn 2009 release and is supposed to take place after the events of the first S.TA.L.K.E.R game. Minimum requirement bellow:
With the previous released info about the sniper updated(the razorback), there was some speculation that the Spy would also get an update. This was based on the image of a decloaking spy, with a dead spy on the ground. Rock Paper Shotgun did a write up on this and they were right. Valve announced today that the Spy will also get unlockables new items.
In the latest blog post about the update, Valve reveals two new unloackables for the Spy called The Cloak And Dagger and The Dead Ringer.
The Dead Ringer cloaks you for 8 seconds when you take a non lethal hit and creates a fake dead spy. This allows you to sneak up on the gloating enemy as he watches the decoy dead body.
The Cloak And Dagger allows Spies to remain constantly invisible. You drain the power when you move and only recharge by standing still.
Capcom announced the minimum and recommended system specification for Street Fighter IV. PC gamers wont have anything to worry about as the system specs needed are very moderate. System Requirements below:
Minimum OS: Windows XP CPU: Intel Pentium4 2.0GHz or higher RAM: 1GB or higher HDD: 10GB of free space or more Video Card: DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 or higher compatible, NVIDIA GeForce6600 series, ATI Radeon(TM) X1600 or higher or higher, VRAM ：256MB or higher Sound: DirectSound compatible, DirectX 9.0c (or higher) compatible Input Devices: Mouse, Keyboard
Maximum OS: Windows Vista CPU: Intel Core2Duo 2.0GHz or higher RAM: 2GB or higher HDD: 10GB of free space or more Video Card: DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 or higher compatible, NVIDIA GeForce8600 series or higher, ATI Radeon(TM) X 1900 or higher, VRAM ：512MB or higher Sound: DirectSound compatible, DirectX 9.0c (or higher) compatible Input Devices: Gamepad ：Xbox360 Controller for Windows
New details emerge about a new Sniper unlock called the Razorback. A new shield like weapons that shocks any Spy that tries to backstab the sniper.
The Razorback is a beautiful hand-carved tribal shield, built using indigenous techniques passed from father to son since before recorded time. Sometimes the old ways really are the best ways. And after using the Razorback in the field, we quickly discovered this was not one of those times.
All the tribal craftsmanship in the world, it turns out, cannot stop a modern butter knife. So we taped a car battery to it. Sure, the added weight of the redesigned Razorback’ll slow you down a little. But any poor sap dumb enough to backstab you while you’re sporting one is getting a surprise to the tune of 10,000 volts. Plus, if they want to stab you again, they’ll have to wait until their knife cools down. Which is lucky for you, since the Razorback collapses into a million finely crafted pieces after a single stab.
Via bigdownload, Kalypso published Tropico 3 will be released in the US on September 2009. Tropico 3 is a tongue in cheek banana republic(not Cuba) management game. Development duties now fall to Haemimont Games after the original developer, PopTop Software closed down. No release date confirmed for other regions.
This is the full video demo from an earlier press released trailer. The demo last for 9 minutes and it has to be noted that it will not be one of the levels in the game. It is merely a demonstration of what they are aiming to achieve in Bioshock 2. The demo is narrated by Jordan Thomas, Creative Director. Video demo below:
Another day and another new info about the goodies in the upcoming sniper update. Valve posted on the official blog that they will be adding two new Arena mode maps with new assets. Apart from these, a new game mode called Payload Race will be introduce whereby Red and Blu start side by side and must race to push their own cart to the final destination.
Sawmill
Set in a stormy mountain sawmill, this arena map has its cap point in a large structure atop a hill in the center of the map; beneath which lies a hidden underground spytech base; and above which, pouring down on everything we just mentioned, is rain—the first weather effect to appear in a TF map. If that previous sentence wasn’t long enough for you, replace the period with a comma and add this next part: players must ALSO watch out for the two deadly saw blades near the cap, which were left on when the previous occupants abandoned it for a less deadly, hilly, rain-swamped sawmill not built on a spybase.
Nucleus
A diabolical doomsday device is the foundation of this circular arena map, which features long sightlines and a bottomless radioactive pit underneath most of the game area. The cap, located in the center of the arena, is only accessible by catwalks suspended over a chasm, which open after the timer has run down
A new video diary is available for Paradox’s empire building strategy game, East India Company. You will need to manage colonies and trade routes and fight to protect them. I’ve always found this game to be intriguing since it sounds similar to another game I love.
