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The Roman senate will weep for Crassipes. They'll talk proudly of how the great general threw himself against the walls of Massalia. They'll talk of how he burned the gates and took the central square, and how a dozen Averni javelins ended his illustrious command of Legio I Italica there. But will they talk of the fleet barely a mile away that sat still and watched the great man lemming his way into the history books? Do they realise that the patriot they adored was sent intentionally to his death? I wonder what that would do if they knew that the fate of Crassipes and all the armies and settlements of Rome were not beholden to the gods, but to one bearded games journalist moving them like pawns on a vast playing board. What a beautiful board it is – an intricate papier mache caricature of Europe, decorated with landmarks, rivers and exaggerated topography. Total War has come a long way from the papery maps of Shogun, but its form is the same. You must guide your chosen nation to glory by managing cities, conducting diplomacy, plotting espionage and moving armies to conquer new settlements. When your armies meet resistance, you dive into a real-time battle and command the troops personally. In contrast with the focused, shorter campaigns of Napoleon and Shogun 2, Rome 2 hauls Total War back onto the global stage for a huge and varied campaign. It's 272 BC, and nine playable nations and dozens of others, from Britannia to the northern tip of Africa, to Syria and the eastern tribes are elbowing for space. Rome sets its wardogs against Celtic berserkers in the west, Greece flexes its cultural muscle to gain support in the central territories. In the east, Egypt enslaves nations with its chariots and raging war elephants. This is grand strategy at its most ambitious, not least because Rome 2 is committed to giving the pawns you're sacrificing faces, voices and personalities of their own.
That's why I felt a twinge of guilt about poor Crassipes. Generals are vital resources in Rome 2. Previously, you could raise tiny armies of a couple of troops and a leader would be picked from their ranks. Now troops cannot move at all unless they have a general, and the number of generals you can have is limited by the size of your empire. The legions they command are also persistent entities that can gain stat-buffing 'military tradition' affixes over time. It's a significant shift that affects everything from how armies are constructed to how territories operate on the strategic map. Territories are now grouped into 'provinces' which can be boosted by production-boosting edicts if you own them entirely (useful for swift social engineering in the face of food shortage), and your cities' buildings now have province-wide effects. Construct a high-grade military training building in Rome and the troops you unlock can be recruited from anywhere within the Italia region. New units are now recruited by generals in the field, sparing them the long walk from their barracks to the battlefield. These changes are designed to reduce the number of moving parts on the board without diluting Total War's logistical complexity. For the same reason, farms, mines and other supporting buildings now sit within city borders where formerly they were scattered across the campaign map like chickenfeed for tiny enemy warbands to peck at. The army limit and condensed targets encourage grander strategic gestures. Where in Shogun 2 I might spend time using small forces to devastate a region's resources before amassing them again to take the territory, in Rome 2 I'll build a huge army and march it up to the doors of their huge city, and then we'll have a huge fight to decide who gets to keep it.
Armies are also more flexible thanks to a variety of stances, which can let them move extremely quickly with 'forced march', create a wooden outpost at their location with 'fortify', or lay an ambush on the strategic map. The map has been designed with these stances in mind, so you can dominate large regions with clever use of choke points. Alliances are now extremely worthwhile as well. Allied and client states (who will sit quietly and pay you a tithe every turn in exchange for their lives) contribute to your settlement count for victory conditions, and you can poke your pro-active pals in the right direction with a new diplomacy option that lets you target settlements you want taken. These are excellent changes for two reasons. Firstly, the new interface condenses all of your building work into neat boxes that let you see exactly what needs upgrading where, making building management far faster and easier that previous Total Wars. Secondly, the battles I've had in Rome 2 have been bigger and more dramatic than any I've fought in a previous Total War game – in any game, ever, in fact. When two army avatars meet, they square off on the map and you're given a choice to auto-resolve the battle, fight, or flee. If there's another army within reinforcement range, they'll join in. This is how I took forty units of Rome's finest into a contest with joint Averni and Helvetii forces at the Gallic fort of Bibracte in 190 BC. Thousands died in the drizzle. The Celts charged my lines shirtless, facing my Velites' flaming javelins with remarkable zest, faltering only when they encountered my veteran legionaries. Romans, as they were in life, are a bit OP.
Rome 2′s battles are stunning. Great attention has been lavished on making troops more responsive. If a unit is under fire they'll lift up their shields, and the incoming projectiles will turn them into wooden porcupines. They'll erupt into rowdy celebration when they rout a unit, and you'll see the exhaustion of the fleeing enemies in their gait. A cinematic battle-cam puts you right into the melee, where you'll hear men yelling to each other and see differences in the way units fight. Praetorians use their huge shields to haul barbarians over and behind them to be stabbed by supporting ranks. Attack dogs, released from their handlers, tear into a fight with terrifying speed and drag down opponents with a flying bite to the arm. If you encounter an exotic unit you like, you might be able to recruit them as mercenaries for a high ongoing cost. Mercenaries are the only troops you can hire in enemy territory, but Romans can construct auxiliary barracks that will let you recruit other factions' units properly. This reflects how the Roman army historically used foreign troops and encouraging a sort of military tourism. I'm still on a quest to unite elephants and Celtic skirmishers in the same army. Battlefields are better, too. They vary hugely depending on weather conditions and location, and are enhanced by the new line of sight system. If your troops can't see an enemy, nor can you, which means every undulation can hide an enemy unit if you don't scout a little. The resulting guessing game keeps the marching portion of the fight interesting and makes fights feel faster. The new engine also allows for proper cities. Major capitals like Rome and Carthage have their own spectacular custom-made maps, and there are variations in the wider world for land and coastal towns, which also vary completely in style and structure depending on their cultural origin. Celtic hill-forts are tiered, earthy formations contained by wooden walls. Romans prefer sheets of white stone and traditional tower fortifications. One settlement in each province will be fortified with walls and require a siege to break, which you can do with equipment like ladders and tortoises built at the siege location. The post Total War: Rome 2 review appeared first on PC Gamer. 
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luni, 2 septembrie 2013
Total War: Rome 2 review g21
Mew-Genics trailer shows the catastrophic consequences of cat breeding g21
| It's been a while since anyone has tried to educate me about the often gross mechanisms of nature; but even with my limited biological knowledge, I'm pretty sure cats don't work in the way described by this intro cut-scene for Team Meat's Mew-Genics. Released for the Penny Arcade Expo this last weekend, it shows an undeniably catchy spin on genetics, questionable interpretation aside. As for the game this intro is introducing, it's still a bit of a mystery. With a 2014 release planned, we're yet to see the "Cat Lady Sim" in action. Team Meat explained some of the core concepts in a blog post back in February, but later revealed that, "aside from the fact that Mew-genics has become a much larger game than we expect, its also changed a great deal since we started." The post Mew-Genics trailer shows the catastrophic consequences of cat breeding appeared first on PC Gamer. 
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Hardware: Shipbreakers partners with Gearbox to use Homeworld licence, gets new name g21
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Well this makes things easier. Between free-to-play revivals and Kickstarter, we spend a lot of time saying things like "from the makers of…" and "a spiritual successor to…" Basically, everything short of "look, they're remaking that game you liked, only they're not allowed to call it that because of law." For upcoming free-to-play RTS Hardware: Shipbreakers, it was the spectre of Homeworld that we were awkwardly dancing around. Not any more: Gearbox, the new owners of the Homeworld IP, have partnered with developer Blackbird Interactive to allow them official use of the licence. As part of the deal, the game will now be titled Homeworld: Shipbreakers, and receive financial and production support from Gearbox. "These guys have been funded by private equity, but it's clear it was going to take many millions of dollars more," Gearbox CEO Randy Pitchford told Polygon. "We're giving them the brand and the resources to make this happen. Now, these guys are cooking and with the money they have now, they can grow the team. "Gearbox is not in the best spot to make a sci-fi RTS successor," Pitchford continued, referring to the studio's FPS focus. "We've become expert at production and that's where we can help. I mean, we shipped Duke Nukem Forever, we didn't build it but we made sure it came out. And that's a fucking miracle." I'm not sure that's a helpful comparison, given the final quality of DNF, but judging from the small snippet of game footage previously provided, Homeworld: Shipbreakers definitely shows promise. Gearbox are also planning to create HD remakes of the previous two Homeworld games. As for Homeworld nee Hardware: Shipbreakers, you can find more information through Richard Cobbett's recent preview. The post Hardware: Shipbreakers partners with Gearbox to use Homeworld licence, gets new name appeared first on PC Gamer. 
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Star Citizen raises $17 million, launches cosmetic store for hangar module g21
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Sandbox space sim Star Citizen is raising money at such a steady rate that we'll soon be able to use its funding total as a replacement for calendars. Christmas will now be scheduled for $24.7 million, the new year for $24.9, and Half-Life 3′s release date is projected somewhere in the billions. Today's date, for those who need to adjust to the new system, is $17 million. This, despite the fact that the only part of the game in players' hands is a hangar module, which acts as a museum for their purchased ships. Millions of crowdfunded dollars aside, that museum now has an microtransaction store tied to it. Voyager Direct offers players in-game items for UEC – the game's currency, which is currently only available as a real-money purchase. It has prompted controversy among the game's community, with criticism over the pricing of items. For instance: a buggy that players can drive around the hangar costs 20,000 UEC – the equivalent of $20. Community manager Ben Lesnick responded to the discussion, saying, "The VD store ended up coming across pretty much exactly the opposite way we wanted. We're working out a plan right now to make this right and I will have more for you as soon as possible." To which my main response is: you're going to call it The VD Store? Seriously? Chris Roberts touched on the issue towards the end of the $17 million funding announcement, saying, "The intention of creating Voyager Direct right now was the very opposite of what a lot of people are upset about. It is not supposed to be a cash shop! It's meant to be the very opposite!" "I felt that it was important that we should make clear what are in-game items, earnable via game play," he writes. "This was the whole reason of segregating these new items into the Voyager Direct store rather than the pledge store. We intend for players to be earning UEC in a limited fashion as early as the dogfighting module (say for fighting so many test battles, or winning a team battle competition) and felt Voyager Direct would be the first step in getting the basic systems in place." Ultimately, what's described is a fairly benign system, giving players the option to pay for in-game content that would otherwise be unlockable through playing the game. The issue seems to be more through timing. Releasing the store before the team had implemented a way for players to earn UEC makes the value of what is available impossible for the community to judge. It's hard to see it as the opposite of a cash-shop when it's made available before it can be anything else. The developers are now working to address the community's feedback, and promising a free 5,000 UEC to every player. The post Star Citizen raises $17 million, launches cosmetic store for hangar module appeared first on PC Gamer. 
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duminică, 1 septembrie 2013
Mod of the Week: Undeath, for Skyrim g21
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Necromancy has a bad rap in Skyrim, which is a little weird. With the mountains of corpses the Dragonborn leaves in his wake, you'd think bringing a few of them back from the dead wouldn't be such a big deal. Undeath, created by modder Antioch08, tasks you with snuffing out a teeming cabal of necromancers… but it also gives you the option of continuing their evil work, learning their dark secrets, and performing a ritual to transform yourself into a powerful Lich capable of commanding an army of the undead. Which path did I choose? Here's a hint. That image above? That's me. (A couple notes up front: your character needs to be level thirty or above to play this mod, and it uses assets from the official Dawnguard and Dragonborn DLC, so you'll need both of those. You're also going to need your enchanting skill maxed out, and you should have almost 300 Magicka to really enjoy the fruits of this mod.)  Slaughtering a bunch of innocents? But… that's MY trademark move. The mod begins with a request to investigate a missing (dead) convoy of Vigilants of Stendarr (those goodie-goodies who stroll around in robes looking for evil-doers). After searching bodies at the scene of the ambush, I discover one of the attackers was kind enough to carry his orders with him, nicely written down on paper, just as you'd expect from a super-secret cabal determined to hide their existence from the world at large. This clue leads me to a secluded tower, where one particular necromancer has left a few journals detailing his plans to unlock a dark ritual that will allow him to become a powerful Lich. He's also sent some followers on several missions across Skyrim to collect important objects he'll need to complete the ritual.  Since they already dug him up… couldn't hurt to open the coffin for a little peek. Right? After tracking down one of these groups, who are digging up a dead priest with the intent on cutting out his heart, the mod gives me a choice. I can rebury the priest and go on with my mission to extinguish this evil plot, which seems like the sensible thing to do. OR. I can, y'know, finish digging up the priest and cut out his heart and stick it in my pocket, thus completing the necromancers mission, only without the necromancers, because I just killed them. I take the heart. Why not? The hard work is already done, and the guy is already dead, and I've been meaning to dabble in necromancy anyway.  A human skull in the pot, throw in a couple mushrooms… baby, you've got a stew goin'! After tracking down and killing another group of acolytes, I find that they were brewing a weird potion up top of a hill. They've done most of the work already, and the recipe is nearby as well. Again, I'm given the option to dump their cauldron on the ground, putting an end to this evil business! But, I hate to see a meal go to waste, and most of the ingredients are close by… what the heck! Soup's on!  The commute is a bitch, but the necromancers must pay very little rent out here. Eventually, I've killed all the necromancer dweebs and completed their tasks for them, because they're all to busy being killed by me to do it themselves. Now that I've got all their leader's precious belongings, it only stands to reckon that I hunt him down and kill him too, thus ending his evil plot. And beginning mine.  Did I come at a bad time? I find the leader deep underground in a massive network of ruins and tunnels, and mow my way through his remaining assistants and skeletons before hacking him to death. If I were interested in putting an end to his plans, I guess the mod would be over right then and there. However, I'm not looking to just kill a bunch of hooded weirdoes for the fun of it. Imma be a Lich! Becoming a Lich is not exactly easy, however. The head necromancer is dead, but I need to figure out exactly what he was doing before I can continue his work. I read his notes and scour the massive dungeon, eventually locating some hidden items and placing them in the right spots. Then, after finding a massive Black Book, I'm whisked away to the weird library dimension of Apocrypha.  This is not a toilet. I won't go into details, but the library dimension kind of sucks (it kind of sucked in the Dragonborn DLC as well). You have to run around with a torch (the darkness physically hurts you) getting attacked by the same monster over and over and looking for switches to open gates so you can collect a bunch of items to place in the right spots. This takes roughly forever, but eventually, I've completed the quest and I'm whisked back to the real world.  Starting to think necromancy might be a little evil or something. Once I'm back in Tamriel, there's more work to be done before I can Lich-out all over everyone. I require a few more items and a secluded spot to perform the forbidden ritual. As it happens, a shadowy merchant called The Broker has been watching me hack my way to the top of the necromancy ladder, and sends me a note, via courier, inviting me to check out her ghoulish shop, where I can purchase most of what I need, including the deed to a nice underground lair where I can transform with some privacy. More work follows, of the gathering kind, then the crafting kind, then the enchanting kind, and finally, after closely following the intricate instructions, I glug an evil potion of my own making and drop stone dead on the floor. Whoops! Missed a step.  A side-effect of becoming undead is becoming dead. I reread everything, try again, and this time it pays off. I'm a Lich!  Houston, we have Lich-Off. Returning to the surface in human form, I step into Solitude, ready to unleash my powerful evil upon the city. I transform into a Lich, hovering above the ground, bathed in eldritch magic. All will tremble at my hideous shade! All will die at my bony hand! All will be raised as my willing zombie servants! And then a courier walks up and tells me he's got a delivery for me.  Dude. DUDE. C'mon. Tryin' to be an evil skeleton ghost monster and you're FUCKING RUINING IT. Well. Not quite the dramatic display of unspeakable evil I spent the last four or five hours unlocking. Still, after the courier wanders off, completely nonplussed at delivering a telegram to a TERRIFYING HOVERING LICH, I'm free to (somewhat sheepishly) cast spells, terrorize the locals, blast them with magic, and raise those who have fallen to fight for me. Except for the damn Apocrypha level, this mod is pretty great (and quite challenging). There's also apparently a ton of extra content I didn't even get to. It's also the most reading-intensive mod I've played, and knowing what to do and how to do it is dependent on the careful reading of journals and books. Pick up all the new books and journals you find! Read them! Take them with you! It's the only way you'll become a Lich like me. Installation: Download the mod here. I used the Nexus Mod Manager to install it, and you should too, because while there's a manual download, I don't see any manual installation instructions anywhere. This mod also doesn't really hold your hand except in the early quests, so if you get stuck, read the FAQ contained on this page. The post Mod of the Week: Undeath, for Skyrim appeared first on PC Gamer. 
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