If you’re a game developer even working partially in the mobile market, you’re probably aware that even a light amount of in-app purchases are needed to help keep your game alive. But what happens when you and your indie-dev brother decide not to go that route? 

Earlier today, we were lucky enough to speak with the Trese (prounced Tray-see) Brothers, an indie dev duo behind the Star Trader games, a set of strategy RPGs that have found their home on mobile and PC platforms. Last week, they released Star Trader: Frontiers, a surprisingly deep and complex spacefaring RPG where you take on the role of a mercenary captain and rely on a lot of procedural data to build your own story. 

If you’re curious about how the brothers built such broad systems with a small team, you should waste no time and watch our conversation with them in the video above. 

And while you’re at it, be sure to follow the Gamasutra Twitch channel for more developer interviews & editor roundtables. 

In this GDC 2013 talk, artist Scott Campbell (of Psychonauts fame) shares his creative process for creating amazing and inspiring characters.

Campbell discusses how artists can create memorable and distinctive characters through describing his creative approach and showing past works.

He also presents a live demonstration where he develops a new character design, sharing his thoughts and providing tips during the process.

It wan informative talk that’s still 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.

In We Happy Few, you’ll play the tale of a plucky bunch of moderately terrible people trying to escape from a lifetime of cheerful denial in the city of Wellington Wells. In this alternative 1960s England, conformity is key. You’ll have to fight or blend in with the drug-addled inhabitants, most of whom don’t take kindly to people who won’t abide by their not-so-normal rules.

When discovering the retrofuturistic city’s dark history, you’ll play through the intertwined narratives of three quietly rebellious citizens of Wellington Wells. Each with their own strengths and weaknesses, you’ll discover their pasts, prepare for their future, and engage in activities that aren’t exactly status quo in the artificially-enthused society.

We Happy Few is just weeks from launch and it’s time to learn more about the games second playable character, Sally Boyle.

Wellington Wells’ fabulous “It Girl,” Sally, is sparkling and witty, and wears the grooviest fashions better than any Wellette in the Village.

A brilliant chemist, she keeps the rich and powerful supplied with powerful concoctions that no mere pharmacist can make.

“Early on, we knew we wanted Sally Boyle to be both a clever chemist and glamorous, fashionable socialite,” says Whitney Clayton, Art Director for We Happy Few. “Her dress is the epitome of mod. To give her a look that was both iconic and distinct, we designed her to be both classy and slightly futuristic. Her dress is made of simple, graphic shapes, and a mix of modern (for the time) materials like white felt and black vinyl. Her short hair and pixie features reference fashion icons from the 60s like Twiggy and Edie Sedgwick.”

But Sally’s fabulousness is a front. She’s a survivor, wounded by her past, and she has secrets that would get her killed if they ever got out.

Fortunately, she has other drugs that she can use, affording her the means to escape detection, evade capture, and take down even the toughest of enemies.

As you reveal Sally’s story and dangerous secrets, you’ll interact with the other two playable characters, Arthur and Ollie, who each have their own secrets, motivations, and special skills in the story of We Happy Few.

“You might see the same scene from several different perspectives” adds Alex Epstein, the Narrative Director at Compulsion Games. “The dialog might change. The location might change, depending on who’s remembering. But the second version isn’t necessarily the truth just because it comes second.”

We Happy Few is coming to the Xbox One family of devices and enhanced for Xbox One X on August 10, 2018. Pre-order now on the Microsoft Store and get $9 off plus the exclusive Jolly Brolly weapon at launch!

The latest Nintendo Download update for North America has arrived, and it’s bringing new games galore to the eShop in your region. As always, be sure to drop a vote in our poll and a comment down below with your potential picks for the week. Enjoy!

Nintendo Switch

State of Mind (Daedalic Entertainment, Wed 15th August, $39.99) The world is on the brink. Lack of resources, illnesses caused by polluted air and water, crime on the rise, war. Governments and companies promise remedies through technological progress. Drones and humanoid robots replace humans in the public sector, everything is interconnected, surveillance has become omnipresent.

Switch eShop

Okami HD (Capcom, Today, $19.99) Experience this acclaimed masterpiece with its renowned Sumi-e ink art style in breathtaking high resolution. Take the role of Amaterasu, the Japanese sun goddess who inhabits the form of a legendary white wolf Shiranui. Use magical abilities, attacks, and Celestial Brush techniques to restore the land of Nippon to its previous glory full of life and colour.  Read our Okami HD review.

Minit (Devolver Digital, Today, $9.99) Minit is a peculiar little adventure played sixty seconds at a time. Journey outside the comfort of your home to help unusual folk, uncover countless secrets, and overcome dangerous foes, all in hopes of lifting a rather unfortunate curse that ends each day after just one minute.  Read our Minit review.

2064: Read Only Memories Integral (Midboss, Thu 26th July, $20.64) Your life as a struggling journalist is interrupted by the world’s first sapient machine, a ROM (Relationship and Organizational Manager) named Turing. Together, you and the quirky robot will encounter a colorful cast of locals and overcome challenges as you uncover the city’s secrets behind the overlapping futures of technology and humanity.

ACA NEOGEO PREHISTORIC ISLE 2 (HAMSTER, Thu 2nd August, $7.99) “PREHISTORIC ISLE 2” is a shooting game released by SNK in 1999. Various types of dinosaurs which are large, small, or even have the wings emerged! Your mission is to eliminate these primaeval beasts from the city. Rescue and help all trapped citizens’ escape! 

BlobCat (BySamb, Today, $9.99) In BlobCat it’s your job to protect the DiceMice! Place arrows and guide the Dicemice to the Micehole! But beware, the naive BlobCats are rolling around (not quite at the speed of sound)! Solve over 90 different levels spanning over 5 worlds, each with a unique gameplay twist! Let the battle begin!

Catch ‘Em! Goldfish Scooping (D3Publisher, Thu 2nd August, $7.99) With four modes to enjoy with 2-4 players, you can have an intense battle with this party game. In addition to scooping goldfish for points, you can use items to your advantage and to mess with your opponents! Make this fun goldfish scooping party game your new tradition!

GREEN (Studio Green, Thu 2nd August, $2.99) Create a block yourself and use it to clear the stage Side scrolling 2D puzzle action game Because it uses only the jump and block buttons, it is a simple game that anyone can feel free to play. Please clear all 50 stages and save the lover’s pink.

Megaton Rainfall (Pentadimensional Games, Today, $15.99) Megaton Rainfall is a first-person superhero game. A global alien invasion is taking place and you must face it – alone. Chase massive destruction devices at supersonic speeds around an Earth that’s as large as the real thing and populated with semi-procedurally generated cities. Read our Megaton Rainfall review.

Nightmares from the Deep 2: The Siren’s Call (Artifex Mundi, Fri 10th August, $14.99) When Sarah Black, curator at the Caribbean Naval Museum, receives a package from a mysterious messenger, she is unwittingly drawn into an ancient conflict. Inside the package she finds an artifact, and instantly assailants descend on the museum to rob her.

Shut Eye (Forever Entertainment, Today, $3.99) Shut Eye on Nintendo Switch now with refreshed graphics and gameplay! Play as a young child, who is away from her parents. The girl has suffered from anxiety most of her life, which lead to confusion and an exuberant imagination.

SubaraCity (Flyhigh Works / CIRCLE, Today, $5.00) SubaraCity on Nintendo Switch offers a new twist for puzzle game fans, combining careful planning with relaxing gameplay. You’re not just matching blocks, but you’re city building at the same time!

Tetra’s Escape (Ratalaika Games, Fri 10th August, $4.99) Blocks named Tetras and it is down to the players to do all that they can, to save them and make the most out of their special ability. Via the means of shape-shifting, Tetras can turn into different Tetrominos and used to fill holes and master puzzles, in an attempt to reach the portal on the other side of the level.

The Amazing Shinsengumi: Heroes in Love (D3Publisher, Today, $11.99) A romance game for women where you fall in love with members of the famed Shinsengumi. Okita Soji, Saito Hajime, Nagakura Shinpachi, Harada Sanosuke, Todo Heisuke… Which of the rough and passionate Shinsengumi members will you fall for? Featuring character designs by popular artist for women’s media, Nagaoka.

Unexplored (Digerati, Today, $15.00) Descend into the depths of the Dungeon of Doom and complete your quest: steal the Amulet of Yendor from the fearsome dragon and make it out alive. Unexplored is the roguelite that feels like a roguelike. An accessible yet challenging action RPG that has won praise for its revolutionary level generation tech.

Nintendo Switch – Open Beta

Dragon Ball FighterZ (Bandai Namco) Open Beta – Go head to head in VS Online with no fewer than 23 characters and 13 stages. Don’t forget to also stop by the Battle Tutorial to sharpen your skills and master all kinds of devastating techniques. The Open Beta servers are scheduled to be on between 9 p.m. PT on Aug. 9 and 11:59 p.m. PT on Aug. 11.

Switch eShop – Demo

Nintendo eShop sales:

Great deals this week! Check out the full list of deals available this week here.

Activities

Calling All Nintendo Labo Fans! – In less than two weeks, the latest Nintendo Labo Creators Contest No. 2 ends! Have you started on your entry? A team of Nintendo Labo judges will select four winners in two categories: Best Toy-Con Musical Instrument and Best Gaming Experience using Toy-Con Garage. The contest ends at 10:59 a.m. PT on Aug. 20. You can also check out other submissions here – and don’t forget to give a “like” to your favorites! The prizes include a specially designed, collectible cardboard-inspired Nintendo Switch system, Nintendo Labo Creators jackets and more. For more info, please visit the official contest site here. 

So that’s your lot for this week’s North American Nintendo Download. Go on, be a sport and drop a vote in the poll above, and a comment below with your hot picks!

Save up to 90% on hundreds of Board Games as part of this week’s Weekend Deal*!

Titles include, Tabletop Simulator, Town of Salem, Hand of Fate 2, Scythe: Digital Edition, Blood Bowl II, The Jackbox Party Pack 4 and many more!

*Offer ends Monday at 10AM Pacific Time

Another week, another snapshot! Most of the team is still on vacation, but we’re still working hard to get a 1.13.1 out as soon as we can!

A full changelog for this snapshot can be found on Minecraft.net.

CHANGES IN 18W32A

• Added dead coral
• More performance optimizations
• More bug fixes
• Made the floor solid again

BUGS FIXED IN 18W32A

• MC-135431 – Scoreboard division is inconsistent with modulo
• MC-135423 – Can’t stand on top of boat anymore without glitching
• MC-135390 – Pistons react inconsistently to certain 4 gametick pulses
• MC-135387 – Chunks are not forced/unforced until a player loads it
• MC-135385 – Entities fall through the entire world when they are inside blocks
• MC-135381 – Conduits can not be placed outside of water
• MC-135126 – Bone meal on underwater grass blocks doesn’t spawn sea grass
• MC-135079 – Purpur stairs and slabs cannot be crafted using purpur pillars
• MC-135048 – Misplaced sandstone block on desert temple
• MC-134817 – Collision with shulkers is extremely glitched
• MC-134402 – Statistic for cleaning shulker boxes is missing
• MC-134392 – Spawers will spawn dolphins inside of solid blocks
• MC-133158 – Underwater waterlogged blocks still produce water dripping particles
• MC-132806 – You cannot grant/revoke specific advancement criteria because of a colon in its name
• MC-130724 – stat.damageDealt does not record damage to absorption health
• MC-119607 – Llamas, unlike horses, can be kept feeding hay bales even if in love mode
• MC-114246 – Item in offhand of armor stand with arms cannot be taken back
• MC-112533 – Dispenser can equip shield for armor stand without arms
• MC-88230 – When feeding a tamed horse or llama with a golden apple/carrot or hay bale, the cursor moves to the right
• MC-81237 – stat.damageTaken fails to increment when player has absorption.
• MC-73361 – Exiting a minecart / boat can put the player outside the border
• MC-4488 – Mobs don’t drop cooked meat if last damage is from fire, lava or fire charge
• MC-1489 – Dismounting a horse with a fence on the player’s right leaves the player on the wrong side of the fence

To get snapshots, open your launcher and go to the “launch options” tab. Check the box saying “Enable snapshots” and save. To switch between the snapshot and normal version, you can find a new dropdown menu next to the “Play” button. Back up your world first or run the game on in a different folder (In the “launch options” page).

Please report any and all bugs you find in Minecraft to bugs.mojang.com.

Snapshots can corrupt your world, please backup and/or run them in a different folder from your main worlds. 

Share your thoughts on how 1.13.1 is shaping up in the comments below!

This week at Bungie, we demonstrated the evolution of combat in the second year of Destiny 2.

During an action-packed livestream, we showed off the changes that all players can expect, including our new weapon slot system, random rolls, more meaningful weapon mods, and a decreased time to kill in the Crucible (crispy three taps and spicy Devils!). All Destiny 2 players can experience a preview of our sandbox updates on August 28.

One topic that we’ve seen a lot of questions about is how we’ll migrate from old weapon mods to new weapon mods. Starting on August 28, your current mods will be deprecated, and your inventory will tell you that you can safely discard them for materials and parts. On September 4, the Gunsmith’s inventory will be dedicated to new Forsaken mods.

Between now and the preload on August 28, use your Year 1 mods to lock in the elemental damage type you want for your Year 1 weapons. They will retain that damage type after the mod deprecation. On August 28, the old mod slot will go away, and you will no longer be able to insert any mods into Year 1 gear or change the elemental damage type. Some weapons will be moving to the Kinetic Slot and will not retain elemental damage regardless of what mod you had applied. The IKELOS Sniper Rifle and Shotgun will be locked to Solar. Here are the Legendary weapons that will be moving to Kinetic:

There is plenty that’s about to change. Right now is a good time for us to set your expectations about a lot of it. This is a big one. Let’s dig in.

Wide Awake and Dreaming

Far away from the Crucible, you’ll find the first dedicated endgame destination we’ve created, home to our largest endgame experience ever.

You’ll discover the Dreaming City in Destiny 2: Forsaken.

How to Become Legend in Year 2

Weapon tuning and systems aren’t the only things that are changing in Forsaken. When your next journey begins, you’ll also discover new ways to earn rewards and become more powerful. The Investment Team can give you a sense for what’s coming.

Investment Team: Here are our high-level goals for progression and economy in Season 4:

• We want to bring back the days when you are impressed when you see someone at max Power in the Tower.
• The experience of leveling and then powering up should be meaningful.
• Players should have a sense of discovery when earning rewards from different activities.
• When players accomplish something difficult, the rewards should be special or unique.
• Not all of the sources of Power in a week should be apparent on the Director.

Acquisition of Power

In Year 1, an activity such as the raid would have an absolute range of Power that it could generate. Rewards would grant only a small difference in Power level, even if you were overcoming the challenge while under-leveled. In Forsaken, we are scaling the Power production of all content by the difficulty of that content. If you manage to beat the raid while 40 Power under the recommended level, you should expect to receive more potent rewards.

When players earn powerful rewards, these items should never scale down to where they do not give an increase in Power. Even if your Power is 100 over an activity’s recommended level, it should still grant a reward at least one Power level above your current average. This means that players should still benefit when grouping with teammates who haven’t accomplished as much as they have.

We’ve also created multiple new sources of Power for powerful rewards that refresh on a different cadence than the weekly reset. The goal is to provide more to do for the players who want to play a variety of activities. That said, not every reward you find in the wild will be a powerful upgrade. We don’t want to spoil the entire journey to max Power, so we’ll be leaving it in the hands of the players to discover the best ways to reach endgame and beyond when Forsaken is released.

As a final note on Power, we’ve heard a lot of feedback concerning Exotics. To make these rewards feel more useful, whenever you receive an Exotic reward in Forsaken, it will always be at or above your Guardian’s Power.

Milestones

The Milestone tray has been revamped in Forsaken, and will now specifically show the most important, nonrepeatable quests for every player of Destiny 2. The campaign quests are a good example of this. Meanwhile, our world quests for destinations will now live in the Pursuits section of your character inventory. Many Milestones from Year 1 have been converted to activity challenges. These will continue to grant powerful rewards, but they will no longer be displayed in the Milestone tray. When you access the Director, you’ll see activity challenges in the tooltip of the associated activity.

Activities

The base strike playlist for Destiny 2: Forsaken players has been updated to feature difficulty selection and modifiers. Heroic strikes are being retired on August 28 with Destiny Update 2.0.

• Forsaken Players
• The strike playlist has three difficulties to select from:
• Power 300
• Power 400
• Power 500
• Once you’re 40 Power over a given playlist, it will no longer appear as an option for you to select.
• This ensures a healthy matchmaking pool when players reach endgame Power levels.
• The Power 500 playlist will always available.
• Strikes will have modifiers.
• Legacy Players
• The strike playlist matches the legacy playlist that is currently available in Year 1.
• Recommended Power 200.
• Strikes will have modifiers.

Between August 28 and September 4, modifiers will be unavailable for all strike playlists.

The Nightfall activity is also being revisited for Season 4. Prestige difficulty is being retired, but the base difficulty for the Nightfall activity will increase. Additionally, players will have the ability to choose one of three Nightfall strikes each week. If there’s a specific Nightfall Unique Reward that a given player is hunting for, this reduces the time they have to wait for the strike to be featured again. While having three options, players may only select the strikes for which they own the appropriate expansions. Legacy players will still be able to enable modifiers via their Challenge Card. Scoring will not be available for legacy players in the 270 Power Nightfall.

Meditations are being retired and replaced with a Heroic story playlist. New campaign missions will be featured at 500 Power, while old campaign missions will be set to a Power level relative to their release. This ensures legacy players can still enjoy story activities at their leisure.

Ikora Rey’s Vanguard Research reputation tokens will no longer be used as a currency after August 28 and will be removed from player inventories. The Legendary parade gear will also no longer be available, so if you want it, get it before August 28.

Heroic adventures are being added to all destinations. When that destination is the Flashpoint, one adventure will be selected to be Heroic per day, with the exceptions of Mercury and Mars. Those two destinations will function as they currently do, but they will gain an additional adventure per day when they’re the featured Flashpoint. Players will no longer be able to purchase normal adventure tokens from vendors on destinations other than Mercury and Mars.

Activity modifiers will be shared across Heroic adventures, Heroic story missions, and strikes. This ensures that each day you know what to expect from the PvE content that you play as a ritual, and that when we balance and tune modifiers it’s happening across the game. This will include one weekly singe, one daily buff, and one daily debuff.

The Brawler and Grenadier modifiers will have their recharge times adjusted to ensure they’re noticeable. Adjusting your equipment for either also has a rather significant impact. We’ve seen some pretty crazy plays by the new Solar Hunter in our playtest. Some experienced players out there may be reminded of the feelings found when they equipped Nothing Manacles in the past.

Economy Updates

For the last few weeks, we’ve seen a lot of players asking about items and currencies available in Year 1 and whether they’ll continue to be available in Year 2 or not. Expect the following changes on August 28, when Destiny Update 2.0 becomes available:

• Destination materials will become your main source of reputation on their respective destinations.
• Destination materials will be a part of the cost to infuse different weapons and armor across your arsenal.
• Year 1 challenges that granted reputation tokens are being retired, but will be replaced by bounties offered on each destination that provide destination materials.
• Destination tokens and Rare destination materials are no longer awarded, but you can still redeem them for reputation if you have them in your inventory.
• Anything that previously granted destination tokens or Rare materials will reward Common destination materials moving forward.

The Gunsmith will also be updated in Season 4. In Year 1, this vendor required 40 Gunsmith Materials for one reputation package. This will increase to 100 Gunsmith Materials.

Iron Banner, Vanguard, and Crucible tokens earned in Season 3 may be redeemed at their respective vendors in Season 4. Trials of the Nine will be on hiatus during Season 4, and its reputation tokens will not be redeemable. At this time, we have not yet determined whether its currency will be used when it returns.

It’s Lit Fam

Lord Saladin makes his final appearance in Season 3 next week. This will be your last chance to earn your Season 3 rewards.

Begins: Tuesday, August 14

Ends: Tuesday, August 21

The game, as always, is Control!

There are a few changes to the Iron Banner Control you know and love. Iron Temple fire pits have replaced the usual Control flags. There is also a new Power Play rule where capturing all three zones will lock them down for 20 seconds. At the end of the Power Play, all the zones are reset to neutral and must be recaptured.

Power Enabled

Starting in Season 4, Iron Banner will be updated to enable Power level advantages, like in the days of old. All players of Destiny 2, regardless of expansion ownership, can participate in Iron Banner events. Year 2 rewards, featuring random rolls and compatibility with Year 2 modifications, will also be available to all players. Players who acquire new Power during their adventures in Forsaken will have an advantage, but we don’t want to exclude anyone who wants to compete in Iron Banner and reap the rewards. Iron Banner rewards will be capped for legacy players at their maximum Power available.

Trials of the Nine will be unavailable for the duration of Season 4. The design team is putting it back on the workbench to make it a fitting challenge for the hardcore warrior. When the weekly activity returns, it will feature updated rewards, Power advantages, and other gameplay changes. The final weekend of Season 3 Trials of the Nine will take place on the weekend of August 24.

We’ll tell you more about our goals and our progress during Season 4.

Faction Farewell

In Season 3, we introduced some changes, notably the Renown mechanic, to Faction Rallies. The community responded with a lot of great feedback about how we could continue to improve the experience. The feedback ranged in topic from experience to rewards, but many of you expressed the following:

We plan to take that feedback and use it to improve activities and events in the future. When Season 4 begins, Faction Rallies will be on hiatus. This will give us a good opportunity to focus on some other areas of the game that need attention and reevaluate some of the fundamental aspects of the event.

While the Faction Rallies event is on hiatus, faction tokens will not be redeemable. We’ll tell you more about their fate in the future.

For players who were unable to acquire specific Exotic weapon catalysts during previous Faction Rallies, we are working on new ways for you to earn them. They will not be available at the beginning of Season 4, but we will provide more information on where to find these rewards when they do become available.

Eververse

As a new season begins with the launch of Forsaken, Eververse also gets a refresh.

Goals and Philosophies

Eververse Bounties

Similar to how other bounties work, Tess will start offering bounties that reward Bright Dust to players. Here’s how they work:

Prismatic Matrix

The Prismatic Matrix returns in Season 4. We received a lot of feedback that players enjoyed this feature and would have preferred if it had stayed active for all of Season 3. This time, we plan to keep the Prismatic Matrix live all through Season 4. The free weekly Prismatic Facet will be obtained from a special Tier 1 Eververse bounty. This bounty does not require a bounty note and will cost 250 Glimmer. Players will still be able to hold three Prismatic Facets at one time. 

Bright Dust

Continuing with the theme of giving players more control over their Bright Dust balance, Bright Dust gained from dismantling Eververse items will be granted at a fixed rate. Players can now reliably dismantle items for specific gains.

Collections and Eververse Items

Eververse items will be retrieved from the Collections interface like all other items. An exception is Year 2 Eververse Armor, which (like all other armor with random rolls) cannot be reacquired from the Collections. The ways in which players acquire and interact with emotes and weapon/armor ornaments have not changed. All other items can be retrieved for an expense of Bright Dust.

Current season Eververse items which have not been acquired will display in the Collections interface until the end of the season. Past season Eververse items which have not been acquired will not display in the Collections interface. This prevents players from having incomplete Collections that cannot be completed.

Bright Engram Updates

New Legendary weapon ornaments have been added to the Bright Engram. These are unlocked account-wide like all other ornaments in the game. A new Ghost Projections category will also be added to Bright Engrams. This account-unlockable item permits players to put a holographic projection badge above their Ghost. This badge is only visible when the player has their Ghost deployed for Navigation Mode. Weapon and armor mods will no longer be dropping from the Bright Engram. In their place, players will now receive bounty notes.

Eververse Armor and Perks

With the addition of Random Perk Rolls on armor, we have made some changes to how perks are applied to Eververse Armor. Eververse Armor acquired from Bright Engrams will have random perks when rewarded. Eververse Armor acquired from sources like the Prismatic Matrix or the Bright Dust Storefront will have fixed perks.

Eververse Leveling Rewards in Forsaken

Like the Red War campaign in Destiny 2, in Forsaken, Bright Engrams will not be earned until you hit the level cap. As players complete pre-Forsaken campaigns they will be rewarded with an Eververse gift package tailored to each experience, which will also include Bright Engrams. Once players reach their level cap, based on what Expansions they own, Bright Engrams will once again be awarded each time a player levels up.

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More Labs

Our last experiment in Crucible Labs went well. It’s time to put on your safety goggles and get back in there. Senior Designer Andrew Weldon has the details about what mode will be played in the next Crucible Labs. 

Andrew: Hello again!

Hopefully you’re all having an excellent Solstice of Heroes! I’ve been going scorched-Earth with my Dawnblade in my quest for yet another Destiny 2 t-shirt for the collection.

But, even in the midst of the celebration, The Science™ must continue!

Thank you to all of you who played Lockdown in Labs! We saw a very positive feedback trend for the mode overall, but we also received some good feedback on areas to explore for improvement. We’ll be examining that feedback as we continue to close down Forsaken, and we’ll provide updates in the future as we have them.

Speaking of updates… in our first TWAB post discussing the Crucible Labs debut, I spoke about how we started fairly simple with the mode Showdown. We met our goals for the rollout, but as noted, the reception of Showdown itself was fairly mixed. Iteration is a critical phase of development, and we’ve taken some time to iterate a bit on Showdown based on notes we gathered both internally and externally from all of you. Here’s the set of changes we’ve made for this next iteration:

• The round time limit has been reduced to 90 seconds
• Rounds now have a score limit of 10
• Revives are now enabled
• Reviving a teammate before they respawn will take the point back from your opponents

Whether you played Showdown in the first Labs or this will be your first time in the playlist, we hope you’ll drop in for a few matches and let us know what you think. Hit up the feedback forum with your thoughts after you’ve played!

As with Lockdown, Labs will continue to drop standard Crucible rewards and contribute to your Valor rating, so your time spent here will also count if you’re working through your ranks for the Triumphs and armor. And, of course—you can play the new Showdown right now.

Valor for All

If you’ve been working on your Solstice armor, you may notice a few objectives tied to the Crucible. Once you reach Legendary-tiered armor, your final Crucible objective is to have your Valor rank reset at some point since Crucible Ranks were implemented.

Leading up to the beginning of Year 2, you’ll see multiple opportunities to earn Valor points at an accelerated rate including a special triple Valor Iron Banner weekend. Mark your calendars appropriately:

Double Valor Week

Start: 10 AM PDT on August 10, 2018

End: 10 AM PDT on August 17, 2018

Triple Valor Weekend

Start: 10 AM PDT on August 17, 2018

End: 10 AM PDT on August 21, 2018

Final Double Valor Weekend

Start: 10 AM PDT on August 24, 2018

End: 10 AM PDT on August 28, 2018

Happy hunting, and we hope to see you out there.

Not All Heroes Wear Capes

Player Support is hard at work tracking known issues with the Solstice of Heroes event. If you are blocked, they have the info you need to get back to upgrading your armor. 

This is their report.

Destiny 2 Hotfix 1.2.3.2

To resolve issues blocking some players from upgrading their Solstice armor at the Statue of Heroes, we will be deploying Destiny 2 Hotfix 1.2.3.2 on Monday, August 13.

Players who were in this blocked state prior to Hotfix 1.2.3.2 will be able to resolve their issue by interacting with the Statue of Heroes in the Tower once this hotfix has been installed. Please be aware that this hotfix will cause the “Solstice of Heroes” milestone to linger for previously affected players, even after their Solstice Armor is upgraded completely. No rewards will be missed, and this message will disappear when Solstice of Heroes concludes on August 28.

To see the Hotfix 1.2.3.2 deployment schedule when it’s available, players should follow @BungieHelp on Twitter or monitor our support feed on help.bungie.net.

Solstice Armor Vital Information

Leading into the second week of Solstice of Heroes, Destiny Player Support began receiving reports from players encountering issues upgrading their Solstice Armor. To speak directly to these concerns, we have listed vital information that players should be aware of when upgrading their armor for Solstice of Heroes:

• Solstice Armor can only be upgraded during the Solstice of Heroes event, which ends at the weekly reset on August 28.
• Once players unlock their legendary Solstice armor, they will be presented with the Masterwork upgrade requirement, “Achieve the Legend rank in the Valor Crucible rankings.” To accomplish this, players must max out their Valor ranking with a Valor score of 2,000, then complete one more match.
• Players who achieved maximum Valor ranking before the start of Solstice of Heroes and/or have previously reset their Valor ranking and whose Legend requirement is not already marked as complete may also need to complete an additional match.
• Objective percentages on Solstice Armor may round up to the nearest whole digit. If players see that their Solstice Armor displays 100% progress, but is not marked as complete, they should continue performing its listed objective.

Solstice of Heroes and Moments of Triumph Known Issues

Listed below are the latest known issues that players should be aware of during Solstice of Heroes and Moments of Triumph:

• Some players who achieve 250 Triumph points or more may encounter the bungie.net error “input parameters are invalid” when receiving their Solstice of Heroes T-Shirt code from their bungie.net profile. Players who encounter this error should try accessing their code through the Destiny Companion app. The official Destiny Companion app is available via the iOS App Store and the Google Play Store.
• On some mobile devices, players may be unable to see their Solstice of Heroes T-Shirt code when viewing the Destiny Companion app in portrait mode. Affected players should rotate their device into landscape mode to view their code.
• Players on PC have reported that Redux mission statues in the Tower may sometimes not be interactable when approached, even with a full Solstice Armor set equipped. According to player reports, launching into another activity then returning to the Tower may be a potential workaround.
• Players on console may encounter an issue in Redux missions Payback and 1AU where the Drake tank does not steer left or right. Players encountering this issue should try clearing their console cache.

Wide Angle

Here are this week’s winners.

Movie of the Week: Faction Rallies Dance Off

Honorable Mention: Bouncing Friend

It’s been another exciting week. Solstice of Heroes is still in full swing. Iron Banner is starting back up again next week. Fewer than three weeks until the start of Year 2 on August 28, where you will all get your hands on the Sandbox changes to combat we showed off on stream. I’m sure many of you will be able to rock triple shotgun far more effectively than I did. 

This TWAB contained a lot of info. We’re sure you still have more questions. We’ll answer some of them in the next few weeks. Others will remain a mystery until you start playing Forsaken on September 4 and finally visit the Dreaming city for yourself. 

<3 Cozmo

We started our renewable energy journey in earnest with our first power purchase agreement in 2013 – Keechi wind farm, a 110 MW project in a quiet, rural county west of Dallas. Already wind energy was a growing force in Texas, with 12,000 MW online in 2013.

In the past five years, Texas has nearly doubled that generation, growing to 22,000MW of wind generation capacity, fueled in no small part by corporate demand from companies like Microsoft. We, too, have grown – from 110 MW in 2013, we now have a global portfolio of more than 1.2 gigawatts of renewable energy, and more than half of that is from wind.

This American Wind Week, we are celebrating the progress that’s been made across the nation in the past several years. This is a win-win-win story, as new wind projects generate clean power and new jobs and economic growth in communities from coast to coast, and every state in between, all while lowering the carbon footprint of the U.S. But there’s still much to be done. While some forecasts indicate that renewable energy could power 80% of the U.S. by 2050, as of today only 17% of the U.S.’s energy needs are currently met by renewables.

How do we close the gap between potential and production? This is a question we’ve been increasingly focused on as our portfolio has grown. Microsoft is a large energy consumer, a result of our growing cloud business and the increasingly digitized, connected world that relies on it. As a result, we’ve set corporate commitments to grow the percentage of renewable energy powering those operations. We’re well on our way to reaching our 60 percent target ahead of the 2020 goal.

This progress is important – but insufficient. Even as we and other large technology companies march towards 100 percent targets, our energy loads are still only less than one percent of total energy consumption in the world.

That means we need to do more than just buy renewable energy to get from potential to production. That is why our goal is larger than transforming our operations. We’re focused on how we can help transform energy markets and green the grids. That means where we buy matters. Our first deal was in Texas, a booming wind market. Since then, we’ve expanded both wind and solar purchases into less likely markets, like Ireland and Virginia. We have operations there, which gives us a seat at the table and a stake in the future greening of the market. It also means how we buy matters. We’ve created new deal structures that lower risk and/or lower costs for others to participate in the market. Finally, it means that we care deeply about energy transformation beyond procurement. We use our R&D, technology and operations to test new solutions, like integrated energy storage batteries in wind turbines, grid-integrated batteries and software and AI-enabled autonomous grids for utilities serving more renewable loads.

This regionalized strategy, focused on opening access to markets and enabling a transformation of grids, is where the future lies, for our business, sustainability and the economy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, wind turbine technicians and solar panel installers are the nation’s two fastest growing jobs in 2017. There are over 105,000 Americans working in wind power, and as wind becomes a more ubiquitous source of power it is expected to grow past its current bench marker of supplying over 6% of the U.S.’s electricity. The clean air benefits and the industry jobs make wind power an $8 billion dollar industry, and it has nowhere to go but up from here. Since 2009, there has been a 65% reduction in the cost of wind power, giving businesses added financial incentive to invest in wind power and setting the industry up to continue to grow.

We’re excited about the future of wind in the U.S. and around the globe. Learn more about our five-year journey in Illinois, Kansas, Wyoming, Ireland and the Netherlands, and stay tuned for updates on where the wind is blowing us next here at the Green Blog.

Epic have just launched sign-ups for Fortnite on Android. Tim Sweeney made the announcement during Samsung Unpacked, and now you can go to the official website and drop your name (or more precisely, your email) into the hat.

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Seems like Samsung have some kind of semi-exclusive on the beta – initial invites will roll out to anyone sporting a Galaxy S7 or newer, Note 8/9 and Tab S3/S4. According to Pocket Gamer, owners of the Samsung Galaxy S9 or Galaxy Tab S4 will get access to a new outfit.

After Samsung’s turn today, invites will start being emailed out to other users provided you have one of these devices:

• Google: Pixel / Pixel XL, Pixel 2 / Pixel 2 XL
• Asus: ROG Phone, Zenfone 4 Pro, 5Z, V
• Essential: PH-1
• Huawei: Honor 10, Honor Play, Mate 10 / Pro, Mate RS, Nova 3, P20 / Pro, V10
• LG: G5, G6, G7 ThinQ, V20, V30 / V30+
• Nokia: 8
• OnePlus: 5 / 5T, 6
• Razer: Phone
• Xiaomi: Blackshark, Mi 5 / 5S / 5S Plus, 6 / 6 Plus, Mi 8 / 8 Explorer / 8SE, Mi Mix, Mi Mix 2, Mi Mix 2S, Mi Note 2
• ZTE: Axon 7 / 7s, Axon M, Nubia / Z17 / Z17s, Nubia Z11

The following devices are currently unsupported, but Epic are working on fixes:

• HTC: 10, U Ultra, U11 / U11+, U12+
• Lenovo: Moto Z / Z Droid, Moto Z2 Force
• Sony: Xperia: XZ/ XZs, XZ1, XZ2

The final bit of advice Epic has regarding device compatibility is that provided your phone/tablet meets the following specs, the game might work anyway:

OS: 64 bit Android, 5.0 or higher
RAM: 3GB or higher
GPU: Adreno 530 or higher, Mali-G71 MP20, Mali-G72 MP12 or higher

Whether you’ll receive a beta invite if it’s not a supported device is another matter – you can always try. Signing up for the beta requires you to have an Epic Games account.

Remember because the devs are by-passing the Google Play Store, you will need to install the beta via an ‘Unknown Source’ install.