In this GDC 2018 talk, Monolith Productions’ Chris Hoge describes philosophies and features implemented in the design of both Middle-earth: Shadow of War and its predecessor, Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor to give players an antagonistic relationship with their enemies.

Hoge discusses how Middle-earth: Shadow of War expanded on the the nemesis system, used to create long-term relationships between the player and procedurally created orc characters. The design intention was to create orcs that the player loved to hate, and orcs players hated to love.

He also highlights the techniques for making orcs more memorable, designing exceptional moments, and keeping the player-orc relationships going.

It’s an informative talk that’s definitely worth watching, so developers shouldn’t miss the opportunity to do so now that it’s freely available on the official GDC YouTube channel!

In addition to this presentation, the GDC Vault and its accompanying YouTube channel offers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

Those who purchased All Access passes to recent events like GDC or VRDC already have full access to GDC Vault, and interested parties can apply for the individual subscription via a GDC Vault subscription page. Group subscriptions are also available: game-related schools and development studios who sign up for GDC Vault Studio Subscriptions can receive access for their entire office or company by contacting staff via the GDC Vault group subscription page. Finally, current subscribers with access issues can contact GDC Vault technical support.

Gamasutra and GDC are sibling organizations under parent UBM Americas.

Facebook announced today that it is foregoing its 30 percent share of Instant Games in-app revenue on the Android platform.

In-app purchases became available on Android devices back in May, which allowed developers to build games and integrate ads with an initial rev/share model of 70 percent going to devs and 30 percent going back to Facebook.

However on Android devices, developers also had to share 30 percent of their revenue with Google. In the end, Google took 30 percent of the total, with Facebook taking 30 percent of what was left. That left developers only 49 percent of the total revenue on games they had made.

As explained in a post to the Instant Games Developer Facebook page, the company is removing its revenue share so developers only have to pay Google on Android.

As for the revenue share, Facebook will apply a new model retroactively, allowing developers to run user-acquisition campaigns beginning August 1.

For web versions of Instant Games that are accessed on Facebook.com, Facebook will still collect a 30 percent share on in-app purchases. In the user-acquisition campaigns, developers will pay Facebook for the advertisements, ensuring Facebook can still generate revenue from its platform. 

Warhammer 40,000 returns to Xbox One with Space Hulk: Tactics, an enhanced adaption of the classic turn-based strategy board game, coming October 9, and now available for pre-order on the Microsoft Store. In Space Hulk: Tactics, Marine Terminators face off against merciless alien Genestealers in the tight confines of a space hulk, an ancient amalgamation of starships, smashed together over eons to form a deadly maze and function as a breeding ground for aliens and worse. Traps, locked doors, malfunctioning turrets, and more bar the way.

It was vitally important to us to give you equal options on both sides of the fight in Space Hulk: Tactics. For example, both Terminators and Genestealers have unique, interconnected but separate single-player campaigns that take place on the Forsaken Doom space hulk which has been floating between the stars for years. Both allow you to decide the progress of your squad or swarm, customizing their capabilities and picking their path through the hulk, choosing which missions to undertake.

This was important too for gameplay. The baseline rules of the Space Hulk board game, beloved by us and you since the original release in 1989, were kept in place. Every successful attack is lethal, Terminators keeping Genestealers at bay with their ranged weapons, often doomed if they end up in close combat. We wanted to build upon these rules and see if we could add a few wrinkles to the formula.

We did this with the card system. You start each game with a deck based on which units you have chosen to field, and what you’ve equipped them with. Some elements are unlocked in the campaign as you progress, but everything is available in your first skirmish and multiplayer games. These cards can be played for their effect or converted for unique benefits depending on your side. Terminators get more Action Points, allowing them to move further and do more, while Genestealers can get extra units to spawn onto the field.

In this way, combat is completely asymmetrical. Terminators start with five units and a variety of possible objectives, from simply escaping to activating specific consoles or destroying whole rooms with a flame weapon. The Genestealers are an endless swarm, using their cards to create radar blips that contain as many as three (or as few as zero) individual units, able to emerge whenever you like. Your strategies, tactics, and plans will have to be completely different depending on which side you choose to take on.

Jammed weapons and uncovered angles are deadly to the Terminators, but they are almost unstoppable when working as a full, cooperative squad. Units like the Librarian can use special powers to guarantee kills or make deadly area attacks, while heavy weapon bearers bring extreme firepower – which may explode if pushed too hard.

Cards gave us another opportunity to expand this and give the Genestealers their own special units, not present in the original board game. They have far different powers than the Terminators, to keep their unique identity intact as the more melee and swarm-focused of the two sides. Targeting blips of certain sizes will allow you replace their payload of normal Genestealers with one of these divergent strains – slower and hardier, or capable of passing through vents at frightening speeds, or even the mighty Broodlord which can spawn new Genestealers around it.

We’re very excited to see what players, those who have a history with Space Hulk and new fans, think of both sides when Space Hulk: Tactics arrives on Xbox One. Pre-order today to get ready to fight on October 9, 2018.

The Bard’s Tale Trilogy is Now Available on Steam!

The Bard’s Tale Trilogy is a complete remaster of the iconic series that helped define the RPG genre. Featuring updated graphics and optional quality of life gameplay features, this is the ideal way to experience the dungeon crawling challenge that made the original games beloved classics.

This week at Bungie, we witnessed a Gunslinger’s last stand.

Earlier today we showed you another glimpse of Cayde-6, surrounded by Barons, fighting off a barrage of enemies. Take a look.

You will be able to experience the full story of Cayde’s fate and claim your revenge when Forsaken launches on September 4.

That wasn’t the only thing we showed off on the Blizzard stage at gamescom—we also announced an upcoming 24-hour Gambit Trial that is free to all players of Destiny 2.

If you want to give Gambit a try before Forsaken, the competitive co-op activity will be on full display September 1. 

Gambit 24-Hour Trial

Begins: 10 AM PDT September 1

Ends: 10 AM PDT September 2

You will have to wait until after September 4 to start earning Gambit-specific rewards and ranking up your Infamy, but you will still see some Year 1 reward drops. Gambit stats will not be recorded during the 24-hour trial, but they will be available for tracking on bungie.net after September 4. 

About That Time

Many of you have been reaching out with questions about start times and dates. You want to know the exact time you will be able to start hunting down Uldren and his Barons, and then, when you can turn your might toward whatever horrors await you within the raid.

On September 4, there will be a day one patch that players will need to download before they can play Forsaken. Destiny 2 will be brought down for maintenance at 7 AM PDT, and we anticipate that the patch will become available to players on all platforms by 7:30 AM PDT. Maintenance will end at 10 AM PDT, and assuming you have completed your download, you can start playing Forsaken at that time. 

The next date we know you want to circle on your calendar is when the raid will open up and when the race for World First will begin. Here is Senior Designer Joe Blackburn to tell you more.

Joe: Forsaken is proof that the full Destiny 2 experience is just beginning when the campaign comes to a close. With so many new things to do and so much Power to gain, we knew that players would need more than just three days to prepare for the incredible challenges of Forsaken’s raid. That’s why “Last Wish,” the next chapter in Destiny’s raiding legacy, goes live on September 14 at 10 AM PDT, a week and a half after you’ll have first set foot on the Tangled Shore. Good luck, Guardians.

Mod Squad

There has been some confusion about the new mods coming on September 4. Many of you are asking what gear will take mods and what will happen to the old mods when the new hotness arrives. We brought in Design Lead Joe Shamrock to answer these questions.

Ham Slamrick: Hey everybody! I’m back on this beautiful “TWAB before ‘THE TWAB BEFORE’”—if you catch my meaning—to paint you a clearer picture regarding Year 2 mods…

The first thing we need to do is to properly set expectations for the acquisition of Year 2 mods. We want mods to be more meaningful customizations to your gear that allow you to make it your own. As you’ve likely seen from the combat stream, we’ve added several options that will let you adapt your arsenal to your style of play.

Although the stream showcased a huge stockpile of mods, when you can’t give yourself an unlimited number of mods using a debug build, you’ll find these items are intentionally rare. Those of you who are Smaugly sitting atop a pile of mod components will be able to stock up on some Year 2 mods from the Gunsmith. The rest of us, however, will slowly mod our way to victory one hard-earned drop after another.

Specifically, Year 2 mods come from the following sources:

• All Exotic armor drops, regardless of year, have a chance to come equipped with a mod.
• Non-raid Year 2 Legendary weapons and armor drops have a small chance to come equipped with a mod.
• You are free to keep the weapon, should that particular weapon-and-mod combo suit your needs, or you may choose to dismantle the weapon to break out the mod for use elsewhere.
• You may pull mods out of gear for use in other gear by dismantling the original item they dropped in.
• Alternatively, should you want the item but not the mod, you can choose to slot in a new mod over the old one.
• Weapons and armor purchased from vendors do not come with mods.
• If you have the mod components and Glimmer necessary to feed your habit, you may choose to go straight to Banshee-44, the Gunsmith, who will have two mod packages available for purchase:
• Direct-buy Year 2 armor mod (updated daily)
• Direct-buy Year 2 weapon mod (updated daily)
• You may acquire mod components for trading with Banshee-44 by dismantling other loose mods:
• Armor:
• Year 2 armor mods always drop one mod component when dismantled.
• Year 1 Legendary armor mods always drop one mod component when dismantled.
• Year 1 Rare armor mods have a small chance of dropping one mod component when dismantled.
• Weapons:
• Year 2 weapon mods always drop one mod component and Legendary shards when dismantled.
• Year 1 Legendary weapon mods always drop one mod component and Gunsmith materials when dismantled.
• Year 1 Rare weapon mods have a small chance to drop one mod component and Gunsmith materials when dismantled.

Finally, this one goes out to the Year 2 armor mods and the Year 1 armor that loves them…

As of the launch of Forsaken on September 4:

• Year 1 armor mods in your inventory will cease to work but can be dismantled or traded for materials.
• Year 1 armor mods currently slotted into your Year 1 armor will cease to work but remain slotted into the armor (see below).

• Year 2 armor mods will be able to be slotted into both Year 1 and Year 2 armor mod slots.

And that’s the deal with mods.

—Ham “I’m gon’ be invading your Gambit games real, real quick like…” rick

Patch Notes Sneak Peek

Next Tuesday, a lot of changes go into effect. We have covered many of them in the combat stream and previous TWABs. But there are still a few more bullet points to fire out. Here is a look at a few more things changing in Update 2.0.0 on August 28.

Changes by Class

Hunter

• Marksman’s Dodge is now considered a reload; it can interact with Kill Clip, Rat King, etc.
• Exotic armor:
• Celestial Nighthawk
• Will grant 33% of your Super energy back if a target is killed by the Golden Gun shot
• Wormhusk Crown
• Will no longer start regeneration of health and shields
• Instead will grant a larger health and shield bump at the beginning of dodge instead of at the end

Warlock

• Increased Healing Rift effectiveness
• Empowering Rift now increases precision damage (previously, bonus damage was capped at the weapon’s precision damage in PvP)
• Exotic armor:
• Skull of Dire Ahamkara
• Increased Super energy gained from Nova Bomb kills
• Killing higher-ranked enemies will grant more Super energy
• Transversive Steps
• Enhanced mobility
• After you sprint for a short time, your currently equipped weapon will be automatically reloaded

Titan

• Rally Barricade no longer requires players to take cover to reload—it now feeds ammo to your magazine over time
• Exotic armor:
• Helm of Saint-14
• Now grants allies an overshield for a short duration when they’re passing through Ward of Dawn
• Mask of the Quiet One
• Increasing energy gain from incoming damage
• While critically wounded, health will be granted from kills

Grenades

• Axion Bolt
• Increased base damage
• Increased the amount of time it takes for tracking strength to lessen
• Flashbang
• Increased base damage
• Incendiary Grenade
• Increased base damage
• Storm Grenade
• Increased base damage
• Scatter Grenade
• Re-tuned range and falloff ranges for the detonations for more reliable damage
• Magnetic, Fusion, and Flux Grenade
• Increased base damage
• Damage is now the same whether a target has been stuck or simply walked over grenade when detonating
• Magnetic Grenade now detonates a second time only if it’s attached to a target
• The second detonation no longer only occurs on the grenade itself and will now be applied to each individual target hit by the initial detonation
• Skip Grenade
• Increased impact damage of each Skip Drone impact for a higher total potential damage
• Void Wall
• Increased the damage of initial Void Wall wave

Misc QOL

• Swords will have the ability to accept shaders
• Adding a timer to the status effect for Healing Rift, Empowering Rift, and Rally Barricade to communicate the time remaining before they expire
• Wanted escapees from the Prison of Elders will roam the open world
• They will not drop rewards until September 4, 2018
• Increasing the difficulty of Lost Sectors
• Example: EDZ Lost Sectors will become 240 Power

Xûr

• His will is not his own
• Will no longer display a vendor icon on destination maps
• Will no longer be tied to Flashpoints
• He has a clear purpose but cannot explain it—forgive him
• Fated Engrams will grant only pre-Forsaken Exotics

Munitions Support

In the time between 2.0.0 going live and Forsaken launching, things might get a little weird. Player Support has the info you need to know.

Here is the full Player Support Report.

Destiny 2 Update 2.0.0

On Tuesday, August 28, Destiny 2 will receive Update 2.0.0. This update will introduce changes in preparation for the launch of Forsaken and will be the official conclusion to Solstice of Heroes. For the Update 2.0.0 deployment schedule, please see the times listed below.

On Tuesday, August 28:

• 9:30 AM PDT: Players will no longer be able to log into Destiny 2
• 9:45 AM PDT: Destiny 2 will be taken offline for maintenance, and all players will be returned to the title screen
• At this time, Solstice of Heroes will end, and Moments of Triumph will no longer be available
• 10 AM PDT: Destiny 2 Update 2.0.0 will begin rolling out across all platforms and regions
• 10 AM–2 PM PDT: Destiny 2 will remain offline for maintenance
• 2 PM PDT: Destiny 2 maintenance is expected to conclude

Players should be aware that at 9:45 AM PDT, they will no longer be able to access Destiny 2 or participate in Solstice of Heroes and Moments of Triumph. Players with lingering objectives and unclaimed rewards should act now to make sure nothing is missed when this maintenance begins.

For live updates during the maintenance window, players should follow @BungieHelp on Twitter or monitor our support feed on help.Bungie.net.

Update 2.0.0 System Changes

Players should be aware of the following changes to the game experience following Update 2.0.0 on 8/28:

• Year 2 Weapon Slots will be live for all players
• During this transition, weapons that overflow players’ inventories will be sent to the Postmaster
• Year 1 slots equipped with weapons that are moved during this update will remain empty until players equip another weapon
• The following Year 1 Power weapons will become Kinetic in Year 2
• Alone as a God
• Baligant
• The Frigid Jackal
• Hawthorne’s Field-Forged Shotgun
• Perfect Paradox
• Shepherd’s Watch
• Silicon Neuroma
• The following Year 1 Power weapons will have their elemental attribute changed and locked to Solar for Year 2
• IKELOS_SG_V1.0.1
• IKELOS_SR_v1.0.1
• The following Year 1 Exotic Power weapons will remain in the Power slot, as exceptions to Year 2 weapon slot changes
• D.A.R.C.I.
• Legend of Acrius
• Tractor Cannon
• Whisper of the Worm
• All other Year 1 Energy and Power weapons will have their elemental attribute locked for Year 2
• New ammo economy will be live to support Year 2 weapon slots
• Exotic weapons, armor, and emblem collections will become unavailable until 9/4
• Players should grab their desired items before 8/28
• Updated collections will return on 9/4
• Some tooltips may not reflect actual item behavior during the 8/28–9/4 transition, examples include:
• The perk description for Thin the Herd on Fighting Lion will incorrectly list old behavior of dropping Energy ammo
• The perk description for Bring the Heat on Ashen Wake will erroneously list non-existent perk functionality mentioning recharging grenade energy
• The perk description for Triple Tap will incorrectly describe old behavior of pulling ammo from reserves
• Exotic weapons will lose their +5 Power mods in preparation for 9/4
• All remaining Legendary and Exotic gear will lose their +5 Power starting on 9/4
• Year 1 armor mods will be deprecated entirely starting on 9/4
• Nightfalls will not feature strike scoring until 9/4

For the full Destiny 2 Update 2.0.0 patch notes on 8/28, players should keep an eye on our Updates page or follow @Bungie on Twitter for live announcements.

Trials of the Nine

Following the weekend of August 24, Trials of the Nine will be on hiatus and the Trophy/Achievement “Lest Ye Be Judged” will not be available to players who have not yet unlocked it.

Players who wish to unlock this Trophy/Achievement before Trials of the Nine goes on hiatus will need to win 1 Trials of the Nine match this upcoming weekend of August 24 and meet the Emissary of the Nine at the Third Spire before the start of maintenance on Tuesday 8/28.

Solstice Armor

Last week, we confirmed that players will be able to Masterwork their Legendary Solstice Armor (Resplendent) after Solstice of Heroes ends on August 28. This week, we are going over some known issues that players may encounter trying to Masterwork this armor set after Solstice of Heroes ends.

• Players will not be able to complete the Prestige Nightfall objective between 8/28 and 9/4 due to strike scoring being unavailable
• After 9/4, the Heroic Strikes playlist is being retired for a single, adjustable strike hopper. Players will need to complete strikes in this new playlist with at least one clanmate to unlock this Masterwork objective.
• Valor ranks reset at the conclusion of Season 3 on 9/4. If players do not unlock their Masterwork for achieving Legend in their Valor ranking by the end of Season 3, their Valor rank will reset, and they will have to begin anew in Season 4.
• As a reminder, to complete this Masterwork objective, players must max out their Valor ranking with a Valor score of 2,000, then complete one more match.

Players can expect more information about changes leading up to the launch of Destiny 2: Forsaken in next week’s Player Support Report.

Popcorn.gif

On to the movies.

Movie of the Week: Ultimate Teamtage

Honorable Mention: Cayde-6 Time-Lapse Drawing

Before we go, here are last week’s top Nightfall scores. Remember, Nightfall scoring will be disabled next week.

We’re close now. Next week, everyone gets to experience some of the major system and sandbox changes coming to Destiny 2. Forsaken comes in hot off the heels of that release, and you will have a little more breathing room to get raid ready for September 14.

I’m looking forward to playing some Gambit with the community during our 24-hour trial. Keep an eye on bungie.net next week, and I will post a sign-up sheet if you want a chance to play in my fireteam. No invasion experience needed.

We will also be at PAX next week! If you are attending, swing by our booth. We are going to do some signing and Gambit will be playable. The Bungie store will also be there with Destiny themed merchandise. We’ll see you there! 

<3 Cozmo

There are seemingly countless Linux distributions on the market, each one hoping to carve out its own little niche and enjoy a growing user base. Some of those distributions have some pretty nifty tricks up their sleeves, while others are gorgeous works of art on the desktop. Still, others go to great lengths to simply be a desktop distribution capable of making Linux a simple experience, with a hint of elegance.

It’s that latter form in which DuZeru OS lives. This take on Linux is developed in Brazil and is based on the Debian stable branch. The default desktop (out of the box) is xfce 4.12.1, which helps to make DuZeru a serious contender in the lightweight Linux distribution arena.
You won’t find much information about DuZeru OS, because it’s relatively new. Nor will you find much in the way of documentation. Fortunately, that’s okay, as DuZeru OS is as straightforward a Linux distribution as you will find. The added bonus is that the developers have created a desktop that is incredibly easy on the eyes and just as easy on the mind. It’s not a challenge to install or to use. It just is.

That, in and of itself, makes reviewing such a distribution a challenge, as it doesn’t really go too far out of its way to differentiate itself from others. However, that also makes it a great contender for the average user.

Why?

Simple: Users prefer the familiar. Instead of looking to a desktop operating system which will challenge their knowledge of how their daily workflow should be, they want to hop on board and instantly know how to work. That’s where DuZeru OS shines. It’s familiar. It’s simple. Anyone could sit down with this desktop and immediately know how it works.

Let me give you a quick tour.

Installation

We’ve reached the point where the installation of most Linux distributions has become as easy as installing an app. DuZeru OS is no exception. The installation is handled in eight screens:

1. Welcome — greetings from the developers.

2. Location — choose your location.

3. Keyboard — select your desired keyboard.

4. Partitions (Figure 1) — partition your device.

5. Users — create a user account.

6. Summary — view the installation summary and OK the install.

7. Install — view the installation as it occurs.

8. Finish — you’re done. Reboot.

Once installed, reboot the machine and you’ll be greeted by the DuZeru OS login (Figure 2).

One really nice touch added to the login screen is the ability to configure it. Click on the menu button in the upper right corner to reveal a sidebar that allows you to set a few options for the login screen (Figure 3).

The Desktop

Once you login, you’ll be greeted by a window that includes three helpful tabs (Figure 4):

• ABOUT — An introduction to DuZeru OS.

• TIPS — A few handy tips regarding installation, kernel installation (more on this in a bit), customizing the appearance, system settings, and system information.

• CONTACT — How to contact the developers.

Click on the desktop menu button and you’ll find a bare minimum of applications. In fact, your first reaction will probably be that DuZeru OS is seriously lacking in default apps. You’ll find:

And that’s it.

Fortunately, DuZeru OS includes a Software Manager that should be instantly familiar to anyone. Open the tool (Figure 5), search for the software you want, and install.

Kernel Installer

This is the one area where DuZeru OS ventures away from the average user. From the desktop menu, type kernel and then click on DuZeru Kernel Install. After typing your administrative password, you will be greeted with a window explaining the different types of kernels you can download and install (Figure 6).

Click on the button in the bottom-right corner and you’ll see a new window (Figure 7), which allows you to select from the available kernel types (such as GENERIC and LOW LATENCY) and then install the version of that kernel type you want.

Click the slider for the kernel you want, OK the installation, and wait for the installation to complete. When the process finishes, reboot and select the newly installed kernel.

Control Center

Open the desktop menu and click on the gear icon directly to the right of the search bar. This will open up the DuZeru Control Center, where you can configure every aspect of the operating system and even get a quick glance at system information (Figure 8).

From both the desktop menu and the Control Center, you can start the Stacer application. Stacer is an amazing tool that allows you to optimize your system in numerous ways (which further expands the capability of the Control Center). Within Stacer (Figure 9), you can:

• Get a glimpse of system information

• Manage startup applications

• Run a system cleaner

• Configure/manage services

• Manage processes

• Uninstall packages

• View system resource usage

• Manage apt repositories

• Configure Stacer

Solid and simple Linux

DuZeru isn’t going to blow your mind — it’s not that kind of distribution. What it does do is prove that simplicity on the desktop can go a long, long way to winning over new users. So if you’re looking for a solid and simple Linux distribution, that’s perfectly suited for new users, you should certainly consider this flavor of Linux.