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The
Secret World is slowly
becoming less and less of a secret. Ten Ton
Hammer got a closer look at the story surrounding the New England port
of Kingsmouth at GDC 2011, but this tribute to the legendary
novelist’s ruminations on dysfunctional small town Maine was
just the tip of Funcom’s offerings at GDC 2011. Senior
Producer Ragnar Tørnquist
and Lead Designers Martin
Bruusgaard and Joel Bylos lead us further past the veil, showing us
character progression and the skill wheel (for the first time ever) and
an exclusive glimpse at three storied locations that will be used for
PvP matches.
Video
Sat, Mar 12, 2011
Ethec
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A
chance meeting with Petroglyph Co-Founder Mike Legg made me feel a
lot better about liking what I saw of Mytheon
at GDC 2011. More than any other developer I’ve ever met,
Mike personifies absolute, unwavering enthusiasm – like some
happy marriage between a first-rate development mind, a smiley face,
and an espresso bean.
That’s part of the reason we were, subjectively speaking, so
entirely galled when True
Games Interactive sued Petroglyph
to regain development rights to Mytheon
just weeks before release. Since I’d played
Mytheon
months before the ugliness and found it (to my admittedly
para-professional eye) far more stable and bug-free than most other
games in a similar state of development, it appeared to me that this
was publisher villainy of the ugliest kind… like corporate
thieves using a loose contract as a tommy gun and threatened legal
action as the getaway car.
Previews
Fri, Mar 11, 2011
Ethec
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Victor Kislyi, CEO of Wargaming.net, is the kind of guy who, when the
other kids were playing with Matchbox cars, probably waged the Battle of El Alamein with the green army men-scale tanks. I was too,
steeped on the stories about my tank gunner grandpa who served in WW2
in II Corps under the command of the Magnificent Bastard’s
antithesis, George S. Patton. Victor tensed when I made the connection,
obviously concerned that I’d get all historical-realistic on
him. If a Buddhist were to glean a mantra from themes repeated during
the interview, it was that World of Tanks
is selectively
realistic.
Features, Previews
Thu, Mar 10, 2011
Ethec
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Ten Ton Hammer met up with Global Agenda
Executive Producer Todd Harris at Game Developers Conference, and while
he and the Hi Rez team have big things pla
Previews
Thu, Mar 10, 2011
Ethec
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With Jumpgate
Evolution seemingly down for
the count, it’s tempting to think that Black Prophecy
is a worthy stand-in. To view BP
in that light – just as a second-rate space shooter
substitute – is to vastly underrate the time and care that
Gamigo is putting into this project. From top-notch cutscenes that mask
zone loading, to high quality, fully localized voiceovers (the game
will launch in German and English), to a fully orchestral soundtrack, Black Prophecy
is unmistakably top tier.
And it plays well too. Unlike pew-pew space sims, Black Prophecy
is skill-based and will require you to be good on the stick.
Don’t expect to pilot massive dreadnoughts crewed by
thousands of faceless minions; in BP
it’s just you, your single seater, a small assortment of
tactics (or combo abilities – short keystroke based in-flight
maneuvers a la Snoopy Fighter Ace),
and pure skill.
Previews
Wed, Mar 09, 2011
Ethec
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Pets.
We all love them, there’s no getting around it. Even
the most hardcore of us wouldn’t turn down a free mini-pet in
their favorite MMO. We like pets in all their varied forms: fighting
pets, cutesy companions, even mounts. But no game has sought to take
advantage of our love affair with these faithful followers quite like
NED:
The New Era of Fantasy.
Features, Previews
Tue, Mar 08, 2011
Ethec
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Darkspore Skar
In December 2008, Spore
sold over a million units in its first month. While it was an
over-the-top commercial success, Spore
hardly pleased the critics or turned into the kind of IP Electronic
Arts hoped it could mine for success. That is, until now. Darkspore,
Spore’s
unlikely spin-off – an action RPG set in a sci-fi universe
with hefty co-op and PvP elements. Darkspore
brings what Spore so desperately needed, a tighter, lighter context,
and one apart from the sideshow of penis-shaped monsters.
Features, Previews
Tue, Mar 08, 2011
Ethec
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At
GDC 2011, the En Masse crew reiterated their claim that
they’re bringing the most action-packed MMO experience to the
west in TERA.
They even brought talking points that, they promised, would be self
evident in the level 20 dungeon instance laid out like a buffet of
gaming goodness on the 4 desktops before us. Advanced AI, a clean
interface, combos, and “big ass monsters” were on
the menu, but was the proof in the pudding? We journeyed into
Smuggler’s Hideout to see for ourselves.
Features, Previews
Fri, Mar 04, 2011
Ethec
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The Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) market has opened up over
the past year, and games like League of Legends,
Heroes
of Newerth, and Realm of the Titans
have rushed into the market established by a Warcraft III
mod - Defense of the Ancients
(DotA)
– which brought persistent champions into RTS games for the
first time. All of these games have focused almost exclusively on
competitive gameplay, following in DotA’s
PvP-fixated footsteps.
Features, Previews
Thu, Mar 03, 2011
Ethec
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Sim racers and their fans has always inhabited a niche category.
Reviews
Sat, Feb 26, 2011
Ethec
So it's a digitally repackaged WoW TCG - ( http://wowtcg.cryptozoic.com/ ) Microtransactions without the thrill of opening the pack - taking your money and giving you less. More sparkle ponies anyone?
I'm sure folks will flock to it for the tchotchkes it opens up in game.
I will publicly offer my credit card number on this comment thread to buy you a GW2 branded tutu IF i get a picture of you and/or Phil in it.
Please wear something underneath the tutu, that's not the purpose of this request.
Fossil fuel industry amounts to big money too, especially in the early game. Having a city in the region dedicated to mining and drilling (and later smelting and refining), buying in with bond issues (get the finance department to enable $100k bonds), and attaching these industries to a road and rail network via a trade depot or trade port can easily rake in hundreds of thousands of Simoleans a day. You can then gift that money to your or your friends' other mean, lean, and green cities in the region, or simply use those resources to build great works sites that benefit everyone.
Yes, there's environmental impact with this approach, but upgrade your locally supplied fossil fuel power plant and water plants with filtration, keep ground polluting industries away from the water table, and be careful of what's downwind of your air polluters, and you'll minimize the impact.
Great guide, btw.
We get stuck cookies with Firefox users in particular during high volume giveaways sometimes. You can clear cookies manually and you should be fine, but the faster path for most users is to simply try a different browser.
Almost 2500 keys have been handed out at the time of this message, so keys are getting through. Still, we apologize for the difficulty some of you are experiencing.
I co-reviewed this game with Gunky, and this bit of misinfo was actually my fault. I did play a chunk of D3, and upon logging into D3 again, you guys are right, the same mechanic is in the Diablo series. My apologies.
What I meant to say is that there's something about D3 that deadens my hand, and whatever doesn't seem to be present in T2. I can play T2 for hours on end, but can only take about 15 minutes of D3 at a shot. I think it might be that the pace of gameplay is slower at comparable difficulty settings, and holding down the mouse button while standing in one place might be a a recipe for numbness. Or it could be slumpy posture or any of a number of things, I don't know. All I can tell you is that this is my experience, and your mileage may well vary.
Anyway, I'll make an edit in the review, and since this isn't a score-changing issue, I hope we can leave it at that. Thanks for your comments!