Defiance event infects San Francisco with mysterious plague, definitely not zombies g21

Clearly I'm not the person you want to count on in a future world of aliens, Arc Hunters and cross-media synergy. The new TV tie-in update for Defiance challenges players to eradicate an infection and develop a cure to send to the titular town of the TV series. To which my response would be, "nope". Surely it'd make for better telly? Whether you help or not, there's a new trailer explaining the zombie apocalypse. Er, I mean "Plague". "In the latest crossover event from Trion Worlds and Syfy, beginning on June 3rd," writes Defiance developer Trion Worlds, "players will be challenged to eradicate the infection that is afflicting San Francisco's residents and work through all new content to discover a cure in order to send it to the town of Defiance before the outbreak there gets any worse." That means a new game mode – The Plague Sieges – along with eight emergencies, two pursuits, a data recorder and mission series that will run June 10-17th. The infection will then crop up in a June 17th episode of the TV series, with what's sure to be an appropriately transmedia-ish plot-line. Is anyone still roaming the San Francisco apocalypse? Our review found a game that didn't offer enough reason to persist. I'm not sure a zombie event, even with Dramatic TV Integration, is going to make up the shortfall. The post Defiance event infects San Francisco with mysterious plague, definitely not zombies appeared first on PC Gamer.

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OpenRelativity: free toolkit from MIT Game Lab lets Unity developers play with time and space g21

"The world described by Einstein's theory of special relativity is one not explored by many game designers," says Steven Schirra of MIT Game Lab. Which is a pretty strong opener for an email. Not only is it true, but Schirra's pointing us in the direction of OpenRelativity, MIT's solution to this alarming design void. It's a new open-source Unity toolkit, designed to let developers easily integrate spacetime-bending madness into their games. "Designed for Unity3D, OpenRelativity allows game developers to transform any game in to a relativistic playground," Schirra writes, "accurately simulating the effects of Einstein's special relativity, such as Lorentz contraction, time dilation, Doppler shift and the searchlight effect." Here's a video of all that in action: To see how it works in-game, you can download last year's A Slower Speed of Light, which was made with the toolset. And then download the toolset itself, to implement relativistic mind-fucks in your own games. What games would you like to see incorporate light-bending, time-shifting, mind-warping elements of relativity? The post OpenRelativity: free toolkit from MIT Game Lab lets Unity developers play with time and space appeared first on PC Gamer.

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Path of Exile update 0.11.0 brings new leagues of Onslaught and Anarchy g21

One day, a more interesting patch naming format will be agreed upon. Until then, we'll have to make do with the current numerical Wild West of marking important development milestones with arbitrary numbers. Path of Exile is about to begin the second phase of its open beta, so naturally the free-to-play MMO ARPG is calling this major revision 0.11.0. Just rolls off the tongue. Whatever the patch is called, it will release this week, on June 5th, and introduce two new experimental leagues: Anarchy and Onslaught. They're due to run alongside the previous Standard and Hardcore leagues over the next four months. With the Anarchy League, Grinding Gear are adding encounters with special computer controlled NPCs that wield the power and skills of fellow players. "The corruption of Wraeclast has spread to the minds of many exiles, turning them against one another," they explain. "As you journey through the world, you will occasionally run into these exiles – deadly computer controlled enemies who use the skills and items available to player characters. If you manage to kill one, they drop a lot of items including a magic or above for each equippable slot." Onslaught, meanwhile, is designed for those who found the existing Hardcore league too easy: "We've increased the attack, cast and movement speed of monsters. It's like a lighter version of the Turbo race events that we run, only it lasts for four months. Note that just as the Anarchy league doesn't contain these difficulty increases, the Onslaught league doesn't have the rogue exiles. It's likely we'll try them out in hardcore leagues in the future." Both leagues are getting Challenges, extra difficult goals that can be completed over the next four months. While many of the eight requirements are cross-league, you'll need to play in both to collect them all. Do so, and hold them until October 8th, and you'll get a t-shirt. An actual, real life t-shirt. The rest of the patch applies to all leagues. It includes a "substantial" rebalance to many areas of the game, along with a one-off passive skill reset so players can redistribute their builds in response to tweaks. For a full rundown on 0.11.0, head to the Path of Exile update page. The post Path of Exile update 0.11.0 brings new leagues of Onslaught and Anarchy appeared first on PC Gamer.

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Indie Royale’s Hammerhead Bundle includes Primordia, Forge, no visible sharks g21

The Indie Royale game bundle returns with its most cryptically mysterious name since the last time it had a cryptically mysterious name. Called the Hammerhead Bundle, it features five games. Some of them are about robots, some of them are about vehicular combat, some of them are about fantasy brawling, none of them appear to be about angry fish. As always, there's a trailer round up of the included games. See how many sharks you can spot. Here's what you get: Primordia Pressure Forge Richard & Alice Gas Guzzlers: Combat Carnage Perhaps not the best line-up when placed next to the fantastic, and still available, Humble Indie Bundle 8, but nonetheless a good range of interesting titles for the price. That price, as is Indie Royale's quirk, will rise over time. Currently it's a £3.62 minimum, with higher-than-average purchases dropping the minimum price for everyone. The post Indie Royale's Hammerhead Bundle includes Primordia, Forge, no visible sharks appeared first on PC Gamer.

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Wargaming.net announce Weekend at War, a four day festival of classic World War 2 films g21

World of Tanks developer Wargaming.net are branching out into war-watching with the Weekend at War, a four day back-to-back screening of some of the greatest films about World War 2. Taking place at the Stratford Cinema London and running from July 4th – 7th, the 10 film screening includes classics such as The Great Escape, The Bridge on the River Kwai, The Dam Busters, and The Dirty Dozen. The full schedule includes: The Great Escape: Thursday 4 July, 7.00 "A stellar cast of British and American actors head up this film based on the true story of the biggest Allied escape from a German POW camp, creating some of the most iconic moments in cinema along the way." The Dirty Dozen: Friday 5 July, 6.00 "A group of army convicts, led by Lee Marvin's down-and-out major, are recruited for a suicide mission. In other words: a dirty job for a dirty dozen." Kelly's Heroes: Friday 5 July, 9.00 "World War Two gets a counter-cultural '70s treatment in this dark comedy, starring Donald Sutherland as a 'hippie' tank commander and Clint Eastwood as recently demoted Lieutenant Kelly, out to grab some Nazi gold." Rommel, Desert Fox: Saturday 6 July, 1.00 "Starring the great James Mason as the Desert Fox himself, and featuring some astonishingly realistic war scenes using genuine war footage, this film caused controversy on its release for its depiction the great German field marshal as a heroic figure." The Guns of Navarone: Saturday 6 July, 3.30 "Fast-paced action, espionage, double-crosses, close calls and good old-fashioned derring-do. All that and a cast to die for! It may not be based on real events, but THE GUNS OF NAVARONE still ranks in many war movie fans' top tens." Ice Cold in Alex: Saturday 6 July, 6.30 "Tense and claustrophobic, this film is a true classic and a study of the human spirit and compassion." Tora! Tora! Tora!: Saturday 6 July, 9.00 "The bombing of Pearl Harbor from both sides of the story, featuring a sprawling cast of American and Japanese actors, and of course the incredibly filmed climax." Battle of Britain: Sunday 7 July, 1.30 "An all-star cast head this retelling of the events of 1940, as outnumbered RAF pilots take to the skies." The Bridge on the River Kwai: Sunday 7 July, 4.30 "Alec Guinness gives perhaps his finest performance as the deluded but noble Colonel Nicholson in this critically acclaimed POW drama." The Dam Busters: Sunday 7 July, 7.15 "The true story of a small but crucial mission in World War Two, and a fine example of the the British 'stiff upper lip' in the face of all odds." Tickets will cost £8.50 for individual screenings, and £55 for an all-movie pass. Member discounts are available. For booking details, visit the Stratford Cinema London site. The post Wargaming.net announce Weekend at War, a four day festival of classic World War 2 films appeared first on PC Gamer.

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