Return to Glorantha with King of Dragon Pass Successor Six Ages
By Matt Thrower21 Jun 2018
In the beginning was an egg, which hatched into an infinite dragon. From the dragon came first two gods, then a third, who spawned a bunch more lesser gods. They fell to fighting, as gods do, and then Chaos invaded, and the Cosmic Mountain exploded and the few humans who were around had a really miserable time of it.
Welcome to Glorantha, a fantasy world like no other. Invented in 1966 by a student seeking to deepen his appreciation of cultural mythology, it has spawned several tabletop games and a single videogame: 1999’s King of Dragon Pass. A bizarre mix of strategy and story-telling, it got a face-lift and a wave of adulation for a modern iOS release.
“It only scratched the surface of the wealth of stories you can tell in Glorantha,” the designer, David Dunham, admitted to me. “And people have been asking for a sequel for almost 20 years. It wasn’t until 2014 that I figured out what sort of game was a worthy successor.”
The answer is Six Ages: Ride like the Wind, due for release at the end of June. It takes place during the aforementioned God’s War, known as the Storm Age in Glorantha parlance. “It’s the mythic past compared to King of Dragon Pass” Dunham explained. “And you’re playing a barbarian clan from an entirely different culture.”
In spite of Dunham’s implication that it’s a different sort of game, fans of the original will quickly find themselves at home. The player is in charge of making decisions for their clan on a season by season basis. What Gods they should be sacrificing to, where they should be exploring, which other clans they trade with or raid in war. I asked Dunham what had changed.
“We tried to address some things that frustrated people,” he replied. “Combat is no longer as abstract, while we abstracted food production a bit more, still keeping it as a critical component. There’s also a lot of changes you can’t see directly. But it’s now much easier to add new interactive scenes, new treasures, maybe even new ventures.”
The interactive scenes he’s talking about are the other key component in the game’s appeal. Events, usually tied into Glorantha’s unique lore, often pop up, requiring you to choose between various options to resolve them. Children in your village, for example, might suddenly exhibit the ability to wield powerful fire magic they can’t control. Do you keep them? Ask a more magic-rich clan to train them? Cast them out before they burn down someone’s house?
Whatever you choose, the consequences often lead to further events later in the game, slowly building a clan saga in epic detail. And this, I sense, is where the bulk of the differences lie. “Some changes just reflect the fact that we’re telling a different story,” Dunham told me. “You’re in an unknown land, so the map starts blank. It’s also much larger, and you can choose what your party is looking for. You can deal with spirits, as well as gods.”
Glorantha is a very unusual setting and Six Ages is a very unusual game. The marriage of statistical management and story can clash as you’re rarely able to see exactly why your choices played out the way they did. But Dunham’s in no doubt which he thinks is more important to the experience. “If I have to pick, then it’s a narrative game,” he opined. “The strategy ties together the story. But if you haven’t figured out how to feed your clan, your story might not have a happy ending.”
Still, he’s made other changes to the game to help the player to understand what’s going on. “We still try to fully immerse you in the world, rather than leave you on the outside peering at game numbers,” he explains. “But we also tried to give more in-world feedback to explain why things happened. For example, if a hero quest fails, your quester will reflect on what went wrong.”
Hero quest isn’t a reference to the fondly-remembered board game of the 90’s, but another slice of Gloranthan pie. They’re ritual re-enactments of stories from a clan’s mythology which gain access to powerful rewards. You can undertake them in the game, but your clan starts out with only a piecemeal understanding of these myths. Patching them back together is an important goal of play, which also pushes the player deeper into Glorantha’s bizarre setting.
They were also a part of King of Dragon Pass. That game, though, originally came out on PC. With the advent of mobile, Dunham quickly realised the potential of a port. “The short interactive scenes are perfect for very short game sessions,” he enthused. “Your clan advisors help remind you of the context, and you can always refer back to the Saga for more specifics about what happened. I think being turn-based helps too, since you don’t have to set aside enough time for a complete Battle Royale match.”
Still, launching on mobile alone in the modern multi-platform market seems risky. It’s not what Dunham had originally planned. “I’d hoped to launch on more platforms,” he explains. “But a bunch of things didn’t work out. Luckily, I think the game is perfectly suited to iPad. Sitting back with a tablet is just like reading a great book, except you’re playing one.”
In the time I’ve spent with the preview, it’s hard to shake the feeling that I’ve been here before, in several senses. First, Six Ages plays a lot like a smoother, more refined version of the earlier game. Second, you’re back in charge of another bunch of barbarians, which Dunham refers to as the “movers and shakers of Glorantha”. But mostly, it’s familiar because we’re back in the rich and vivid world of Glorantha. I’ll take a little sameness in the game mechanics if that’s the price to explore this extraordinary place again.
Pixologic just released the first update for ZBrush 2018 bringing it to 2018.1. ZBrush is a popular 3D sculpting application that now includes Sculptris pro, a dynamic tessellation system that frees you from having to think about polygon counts. This is a free update for all ZBrush users, be careful when upgrading there are specific instructions depending on the version you are coming from.
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Doesn't Have Multiplayer
Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is the new game from Dark Souls and Bloodborne developer From Software. Many of the company's previous games--most notably those from the Soulsborne series--have some form of multiplayer gameplay. This usually manifests through either invading other players' worlds or by helping strangers beat tough areas of the game. Sekiro, however, will not follow suit.
"This title is designed, from the beginning, to be a single-player experience," From Software's Yasuhiro Kitao said as part of a roundtable interview attended by GameSpot. "As a part of that, one of the focuses of the game is, instead of having a choice between various classes from the beginning, you must play as a ninja. As a result, [the team] has really been able to focus in on what those mechanics are and make them as deep as possible."
When GameSpot asked if this means there is no multiplayer of any kind in Shadows Die Twice, Kitao was unequivocal in his answer. "Yes. No online components."
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-21-2018, 03:17 PM - Forum: Windows
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Visual Search from Bing now lets you search what you see
Today we’re launching new intelligent Visual Search capabilities that build upon the visual technology already in Bing so you can search the web using your camera. Now you can search, shop, and learn more about your world through the photos you take.
These new Visual Search capabilities are available today in the US on the Bing app for iOS and Android, and for Microsoft Launcher (Android only). They’ll also begin rolling out today for Microsoft Edge for Android, and will be coming soon to Microsoft Edge for iOS and Bing.com. Just click the camera button to get started:
For example, imagine you see a landmark or flower and want to learn more. Simply take a photo using one of the apps, or upload a picture from your camera roll. Bing will identify the object in question and give you more information by providing additional links to explore.
You can even shop from your photos for fashion and home furnishings. Let’s say you see a friend’s jacket you like, but don’t know its brand or where to purchase. Upload a pic into the app’s search box and Bing will return visually-similar jackets, prices, and details for where to purchase.
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We’ll be working hard over the coming months to add more capabilities to Visual Search, so your input on these features is greatly appreciated, as always. We hope you’re as excited by Visual Search as we are!
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-21-2018, 08:07 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Hitman 2 Release Date / Pre-Order Guide (For The US)
It's official: Hitman 2 is coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC on November 13, 2018. Developed by IO Interactive and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Hitman 2 follows the further bloody adventures of everyone's favorite bald, barcoded assassin, Agent 47.
This time around, the game will not be episodic like the previous entry. Instead, the full game will be available at launch, though two additional locations will be added as post-launch DLC. As before, the globetrotting murderer will land in exciting locations, including a rainforest and a Miami motorsport track during a big race. Your job will be to take out your targets in any way you see fit.
If you're ready to secure yourself a copy of Hitman 2, you'll probably want to know what comes in the various editions, where you can buy it, and how much it costs. Read on for all the information you need to pre-order Hitman 2.
Hitman 2 Pre-Order Bonuses
Pre-order any version of Hitman 2, and you'll receive instant access to Hitman: Sniper Assassin Mode. This new mode lets go solo or play with a friend to pull off sniper assassinations.
Pre-Order Hitman 2 Standard Edition
Pre-ordering the standard edition of Hitman 2 gets you the game, plus the bonus above. Here's where you can pre-order it now.
The Silver Edition is digital only. It comes with the Executive Pack, which includes an additional pistol and briefcase, plus Expansion 1, which brings a new location, with new missions, sniper map, outfit, and weapons.
The Gold Edition comes with everything in the Silver Edition, plus four days of early access to the game (November 9), as well as Expansion 2, which will add a new location, with new missions, outfits, weapons, and a sniper map.
The Collector's Edition comes with everything in the Gold Edition, plus the Collector's Pack, which contains a concussive rubber duck and a new suit. It also includes physical goodies like a replica Agent 47 gun case, a bullet keyring, a rubber duck, and a signature coin.
Posted by: xSicKxBot - 06-21-2018, 02:03 AM - Forum: Lounge
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Madden 19 Release Date / Pre-Order Guide (For The US)
It may not be a surprise, but it's official: Madden NFL 19 is coming to PS4 and Xbox One on August 10. This year's installment features improvements to the graphics and animation, thanks to Real Player Motion Technology. Players will also have better tools for building their roster and new ways to train and develop the players. You can find more details here.
Whether you buy the new edition each year or you're looking to get into the franchise for the first time in 2018, you might be wondering what editions are available, how much they cost, and where to pre-order Madden NFL 19. We have you covered below.
Madden NFL 19 Standard Edition
Suggested retail price: $60
This is the standard version of the game. Pre-ordering it from Best Buy gets you a $10 reward certificate, but Newegg has it for $10 off. The cover athlete hasn't been revealed at the time of this writing.
Where to buy the Standard Edition:
Best Buy - PS4 / Xbox One: $60 ($10 reward certificate with pre-order)
The Hall of Fame Edition has 2018 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee, wide receiver, Terrell Owens on the cover. It costs $20 more than the standard edition, but it gets you the core game, plus a number of extras. It also lets you choose between Owens or four other NFL legends (Brian Urlacher, Rod Woodson, Dan Marino, and Terrell Davis) to add to your team. Additionally, you get 12 Gold Team Fantasy Packs, one Elite Madden 19 cover athlete (TBA), and two All-Madden Uniforms.
As above, pre-ordering from Best Buy gets you a $10 reward certificate redeemable at Best Buy, but Newegg gives you $10 off the price from the start. And if you pre-order it anywhere, you get access to the game three days early (August 7).
Where to buy the Hall of Fame Edition:
Best Buy - PS4 / Xbox One - $80 ($10 reward certificate with pre-order)
Aragami: Shadow Edition includes Aragami: Nightfall, a story campaign which takes place before the events of Aragami, and all content released so far for Aragami.
Call Of Duty: Black Ops 4 Pre-Order And Release Date Guide For The US
Activision has revealed this year's installment of the annual Call of Duty franchise. It's Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and it's coming to PS4, Xbox One, and PC on October 12. While it won't feature a traditional campaign like previous installments, it will come with single-player missions, plus loads of multiplayer content--including a battle royale-style mode--plus, of course, Zombies.
If you're ready to lock in your pre-order for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, you've come to the right place. Below, you'll find all the information you need about pre-order bonuses, what editions are available, and which retailers are offering per-orders for what prices.
Pre-Order Bonus
Pre-order Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 and you'll receive access to a beta Activision plans to run in August. That's all the info we have about the beta so far. Keep an eye out for details in the coming months.
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 Standard Edition
Activision hasn't announced any special editions for Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, so at least for now your only pre-order option is for the standard edition.
In the meantime, here's where you can pre-order the game and for how much. Note that Newegg is offering it for $10 less than everyone else (unless you're an Amazon Prime member). Also note that digital copies from Battle.net, Microsoft Store, and Sony Store all come with 1,100 Call of Duty Points.
Amazon -- $60 ($48 with Amazon Prime) -- PS4 | Xbox One | PC
This edition is exclusive to GameStop. It comes with the game, the Black Ops Pass (which may or may not include all DLC eventually released), Steelbook, Pop Socket, 10 Specialist Patches, 3 Zombies Inspired Collectible Art Cards, 1,100 Call of Duty Points, and a Call of Duty Endowment (C.O.D.E.) Calling Card.
The following blog post, unless otherwise noted, was written by a member of Gamasutra’s community. The thoughts and opinions expressed are those of the writer and not Gamasutra or its parent company.
Prefabs are not a new topic to game developers. These will be referenced in future articles of mine, so here’s an overview to a concept for mastering massive content.
If you’ve ever had to deal with tons of objects across multiple scenes, you’ll inevitably wish you could group similar or exact copies together for quicker management. If you’ve added a desk lamp to 30 different office rooms in 15 different scenes, wouldn’t it be nice to turn up the that light’s intensity once instead of 450 times?
That’s the power of prefabs.
So, what exactly is a prefab? It’s a collection of game objects used in multiple places across the game. It’s a concept I’ve made sure to use across past projects like Six Days in Fallujah, Prey 2, and Mafia 3.
A Prefab should be a Scene. The only thing that should make a prefab different than a scene (a level, map, environment, etc.) is it exists inside a scene. A large city scene can have several small prefab neighborhoods and those in turn can have repeatable prefab houses inside of each.
Some game engines develop prefabs as a unique feature, separate from a scene’s format. By developing a prefab as an extension of a classic scene means they inherit all features and power scene editing has!
Any feature that exists for a scene should exist for a prefab:
A collection of models (a bench, a bus stop sign, a garbage can).
A building with AI navigation and interaction nodes.
An enemy with a unique change (BadGuy_Type_4 with dual pistols).
A complex script sequence (depending on project’s script file handling).
A skybox with all associated FX and animation.
A Security Door (a door model & logic, security palm switch & logic, emergency lighting & logic, surrounded by cover nodes & path volumes).
Advantages
Repeat occurrences only have to be created once. When the original prefab is modified, all instances are updated.
Multiple people can work on the same scene by partitioning the scene into prefabs. Each user works on their individual prefab, testing their work in the master scene.
Game Usage
Prefabs should be created in the editor as a new scene or from a selection within an existing scene. The most common type is a Static Prefab. They can be saved to the game library for reuse later. When the game is built and run, all static prefabs are ungrouped (sometimes called exploded). All parts should have their name prefixed to the prefab’s unique name for reference. All game logic now points to unique items maintaining unique scripting.
In the editor they can also be exploded into an existing scene to creating unique, free roaming objects, no longer connected to its source.
Aside from static prefabs, Dynamic Prefabs are another option. These are used to stream in content. If done right, prefabs can be the primary means all content is contained and streamed into the game.
With procedural systems like Houdini, you could even extend prefabs into becoming Smart Prefabs. These feature a set of rules to decide what, where, and when to place a variety objects at different times. This article is only about the core prefab concept though.
Every scene can be made with a number of prefabs. Take a look at the following diagram as an example:
Now let’s see how prefabs let several people work on the scene:
The Art Team works on the Ground Terrain A location:
Artist 1 models Building D with indoor lighting to be used in 2 locations.
Artist 2 models Building C to be used in 4 locations.
Artist 3 models Building B to be used in 3 locations.
Artist 4 models Building A with indoor lighting to be used in 4 locations.
Artist 5 is lighting the whole scene. Some lighting features on-off logic with Gameplay.
The Audio department is working on ambient Sound for the scene, mixed with Gameplay.
The Design Team is providing gameplay to the Ground Terrain B location:
Designer 3 is creating a generic prefab for assigning AI and stats for a Train Event.
Designer 2 is creating City Tower logic to be used in 4 separate places in Ground B.
And lastly, Designer 1 is providing gameplay for the overall scene in the Master Scene.
When any person is finished, they check their prefab into Source Control to share with the rest of the team. When the master scene is opened again, any existing prefab is updated with the latest changes. When new content ready, the user should be able to pick them from the Resource Browser to add to the scene without restarting the editor.
Example Scene
Let’s group areas in a scene into prefabs, allowing several people to work on each area:
A Designer takes a city block and creates a series of prefabs from it:
Each building is named appropriately and saved as a prefab.
A city block of prefabs is saved as one sector (optional).
The master scene is now a framework of roads, game logic, prefabs, and sectors.
Original Scene
Scene cut into 3 Game Sectors
Artists individually open each prefab building to edit it:
They can replace the stand-in model with a final version.
They can even add new objects like doors, windows, lamps, lights, etc.
They can open the sector to understand relations between each building prefab.
When a Designer re-opens the scene, all prefabs are updated with changes the Artists have made.
Artist 2 works on an Apartment
within Game Sector 1
Artist 3 working on individual Motel Prefab
How do you set up scenes to use sectors? How do you work on them? How should logic be arranged in them? Before we talk about sectors, we need to understand how the scene played in the game (the Master, Main, or Persistent scene) is organized. Each scene consists of four basic components:
Applying this concept to sectors, we can create a framework for maximum flexibility to add (or remove) parts of the master scene without impacting the master scene itself. Each component can become a prefab for each sector.
Some prefabs don’t have to be exclusive to a sector; they can span several sectors. This allows one person to check out a prefab to have access to the whole scene. The disadvantage is when sectors are move around in the master scene requiring contents to be moved manually to their new position.
Editing Prefabs
Two methods of prefab editing should exist:
Edit the prefab in a new scene.
Edit the prefab in the current scene.
Editing prefab “A” in a new scene isolated from original scene.
Editing prefab “A” within the scene for instant feedback how it affects the scene.
(The fences will need to be modified.)
By editing the prefab within the current scene, it removes switching back and forth between scenes to see your changes.
By their nature, prefabs placed in scenes are instances of the original prefab. If changes are made to the prefab, those changes propagate to all copies in every scene. This can be helpful for example, if you want to change a texture or a light across a hundred copies. You might however only want one small change. You need a way to remember those individual changes, instead of creating a new prefab for each change, exponentially increasing the number in the game library.
This can be solved by tagging any differences and re-applying those differences after changes to the original is made. Technically speaking, values unique to any type of object are stored in the parent prefab or scene file to override its original values. When a change to the original is made, all copies reflect that change unless the value has been overridden on the instance.
An “Allow Deltas” action provides a way to maintain these overrides. With a prefab selected and “Allow Deltas” on (set to true), unique values will be accepted and maintained. If “Allow Deltas” is turned off, all values are reset to their default.
Without Deltas, editing one prefab edits all of them.
With Deltas, unique edits remain while
any unchanged values inherit changes.
To prevent the need to open prefabs, another option is enabling Child-picking. This ignores prefab containers and directly picks any object in view, no matter how deep they’re nested. Normal editing of prefabs should be outlined in red to indicate changing this one instance will change all instances of it. With Deltas on, objects inside prefabs should be outlined in cyan, letting you know any changes will only be applied to the selected object.
Today’s games involve thousands, if not millions, of objects. Managing all that content, making quick changes, and sharing team efforts, becomes a massive burden without a prefab system in place. If you want to spend more time discovering what’s exciting about your game and less time playing 52,000 card pickup, then take the time to invest in a proper prefab feature.
Is single-player dead? Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick ‘doesn’t buy it’
Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has scoffed at the notion that single-player titles are dead in the water.
In a recent interview with VentureBeat, the chief exec was quizzed about the state of Red Dead Redemption 2 (Take-Two being the publisher behind Rockstar’s open-world western), and was asked what he makes of the perceived shift away from story-driven, single-player efforts.
His response was decidedly candid, and while Zelnick admitted there are some who believe multiplayer, free-to-play titles are the only sensible way forward, he claims they are very, very wrong.
“There are people [today] saying that a game won’t work if it’s not a free-to-play battle royale. People really are saying that, and not even tongue-in-cheek. I don’t buy that,” explained Zelnick.
“Single-player, in my opinion, is not dead, not even close. Companies that feel like they’ll just avoid the hard work of building a story and characters and go right to where the money is in multiplayer, I don’t think that’s going to work. I’d be surprised.”
Although Take-Two and Rockstar have experienced long-term success with Grant Theft Auto Online, the online multiplayer portion of Grand Theft Auto V, Zelnick says there’s “no evidence” to suggest people don’t want a single-player experience.
In fact, he agrees with the assertion that players only became so invested in GTA Online after buying into the single-player offering, and believes those narrative-driven, lone wolf experiences aren’t going anywhere.
