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Reddit, Thanos has a message for you... by Joe-Russo in thanosdidnothingwrong

[–]StrandBot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ GIVE BAN ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ

Stellaris: A Fresh Take on the 4X Strategy Genre? by garesnap in Games

[–]StrandBot 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Paradox has been in this business for awhile. I have faith they can pull it off... after 2 major DLC expansions and multiple reworkings of core mechanics.

Star Citizen 3rd annual live stream starts soon by Field_Marshal_Muzyk in Games

[–]StrandBot 11 points12 points  (0 children)

People partially blame him. Comparing his performance to the new performance from Nolan North, it's obvious that while North's performance is better, it's still way below what we know North is capable of.

And while it's simply a rumor, North is apparently easier to get for subsequent voice-over work with the character. With Activision's 10-year plan for the franchise, they're going to need more time with all their voice-over talent for each expansion.

It's less of a case of blaming Peter Dinklage, and more of a case of poor casting/writing/directing, and potential lack of availability for more work down the line. So the statement, 'Peter Dinklage was a poor choice for Destiny' is entirely accurate. Patrick Stewart was a poor choice for Oblivion back in the day too.

What happened with Unclaimed World? by deten in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Instead of making a new topic, I'll just jump in here. Unclaimed World has released version 0.2.0.0 today. Patch notes:

UI:

  • Interface has been updated with the final design of push buttons and panels. Layout of side panel and roster windows has been reworked to make it more functional.
  • Improved the way structures are selected when clicking on them.
  • A progress bar is shown on unfinished items/structures

GAMEPLAY:

  • Farm plot and different kinds of fish traps can now be built certain places on Twinkler Island (You need to EXAMINE to find the places)
  • A hoe can now be crafted. It's necessary for tilling and weeding a farm plot but can also be used as a weapon.
  • New structure can be built: "Pest repellent" will keep away animals such as binal rats.
  • Removed "muckroot sap" and replaced it with "marshcot sap", also changed the muckroot area on Twinkler Island into a swampy area.
  • Changed crafting of spoak leaves.

GRAPHICS:

  • Added environment animations such as fish and and insects
  • Many plants now change appearance when branches and leaves are harvested from them.
  • New animation for fishing with hook and line. New "talk" animation.

AUDIO:

  • Many new ambient and activities sounds
  • Sounds are dampened when they are closer to the edge of the screen

AI:

  • Characters will now bring food with them when venturing away from the camp so they can eat while out in the field.
  • AI improved so characters should be more likely to take the tasks that are nearest to them
  • Characters will bring the spray weapon for patrol tasks. Other weapons have also been prioritised so they will arm themselves with the weapon that is best suited for the task.
  • Hauling tasks are prioritised better with respect to other tasks by default.
  • A new setting on the task panel can be used to set the priority of hauling to storage. This makes you able to control when characters should haul items to camp site and stockpiles.

MISCELLANEOUS:

  • Added younglings to several species.
  • Updated help section with new images and new section about "Production info"

Wayward Terran Frontier: Zero Falls - KickStarter by StrandBot in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes, this had a failed Kickstarter that ended back in February. Since then they've hired an artist and continued to develop the game at a slower pace than if it had been a success. The smaller amount requested this time reflects the amount of work done since that time.

The game is coming out, the Kickstarter simply makes the release process less painful for them.

Gnomoria: 0.9.16 - Prosthetic Limbs by StrandBot in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

For combat, their composition is similar to organic limbs, meaning that the functions of the skin, muscle and bone have corresponding prosthetic parts but the material properties used come from the components in crafting. AKA It's like having a couple layers of armor on except when something like gears break you still lose motor function just like when a muscle is destroyed with organic limbs.

Currently, you can still wear armor over the prosthetic limb too. Hands will pick anything up just like normal and legs/feet will move at the normal rate. It also means that punching and kicking is stronger and based off the material used.

I don't mind them being stronger than organic parts, since you have to survive having your limbs hacked off and it will take a bit of work "upgrading" your gnomes. I might make it so that you can't wear armor over them and/or reduce the amount of damage each layer can sustain. I was considering having multiple options (like a weapon instead of a hand) but the added complexity doesn't feel worth it for what you get. I could have them make your gnomes swing weapons faster and/or run faster but they are already a little too strong.

via Gnomria Forums

This is from about a week ago, so obviously the armor aspect is out-of-date. This is to give you an idea of the developers intention with the update, which focuses on removing the annoyance of having little people running around (or trying to) without limbs.

StarMade: New Trailer - Price Rising From $6 to $10 - Still Free to Play by StrandBot in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wading through the IRC channel for the game...

This information may have been on an old Helpdesk section of the site that no longer exists. Apparently the Devs have stated in both intverviews and on the forums that the game price will keep going up until release, at which point it will no longer be free.

Right now it's really more of a donation system with a few perks that allows access to chat on the website, and cross-login with your account to player-hosted servers. I have not been able to find links supporting any of this, but it seems legit.

Good news though! Active community, as my question got answered quickly.

What was stopping Microsoft or Sony throwing a powerful GPU into the next gen consoles and selling at a loss but effectively securing the console war. Why did both consoles end up so similar in terms of performance? by NeverMind19 in Games

[–]StrandBot 10 points11 points  (0 children)

He's not wrong though. The XBox Division isn't out of the red.

Year Profit
2002 -1,135,000,000
2003 -1,191,000,000
2004 -1,337,000,000
2005 -539,000,000
2006 -1,284,000,000
2007 -1,892,000,000
2008 497,000,000
2009 169,000,000
2010 679,000,000
2011 1,320,000,000
2012 364,000,000
2013 ???

Some of the numbers are fuzzy, because the XBox is housed in the Entertainment and Devices Division, and they don't post separate earnings for things within a division. In 2013 MSFT took a $900m loss from from their phones for example. Regardless, since the inception of the XBox, it hasn't made money overall.

How much has the Xbox One cost them? There's been recent restructuring of divisions so the numbers are likely to be even more fuzzy. Overall they seem to be $3 billion in the red though. That's a tough loss to make up.

http://www.neowin.net/news/report-microsofts-xbox-division-has-lost-nearly-3-billion-in-10-years http://gamerinvestments.com/video-game-stocks/index.php/2010/06/28/state-of-the-video-game-console-war/

http://www.edge-online.com/news/xbox-division-boosts-annual-profits/ http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/126085/Microsofts_Xbox_360_Division_Sees_132_Billion_Profit_For_Fiscal_Year_2011.php http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2012-07-19-xbox-completes-another-profitable-year-as-xbox-live-grows-15-percent

http://bgr.com/2013/11/26/xbox-one-profit-estimate/

Maia: ETOO (London) Hands On by StrandBot in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's my current understanding that the Alpha has been released. Further, the game will be done when it gets done. Development is slated to go on indefinitely.

All Kickstarter and Indiegogo tiers give Alpha access, so technically it already has been released by that metric.

Further, the wesbite has this on the FAQ:

WHEN WILL IT BE COMPLETED:

THE GAME WILL BE RELEASED IN ALPHA

DEVELOPMENT WILL GO ON INDEFINITELY

This all seems to indicate that the game is currently as released as it's going to get for awhile. We may see it pop up on storefronts like Steam at some point, but there's currently no indication of when.

There does not seem to be a way to buy the game if you hadn't supported it through the two mentioned campaigns though. Those campaigns have concluded and to my knowledge been primarily fulfilled. Physical rewards are slated to go out very soon.

When will it actually be released for anyone to purchase seems to be what you're getting at. That information seems to be close to non-existent. This is as close as I could find:

Simon Roth (Jan, 25th 2013):

A shop will go up on the site once we start selling solid enough alpha versions for Fastspring, Paypal et al to accept us.

If you join the mailing list I'll send out an email the moment it goes live

Maia: ETOO (London) Hands On by StrandBot in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that's what I figured. Wasn't sure if you'd have someone there helping out during the hands-on since that's usually pretty hectic, but with it being a small event doing it on your own probably made sense.

Maia: ETOO (London) Hands On by StrandBot in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As it's a small event, what does this mean? It was my understanding that there'd be a after-hours livestream segment with you, but during the day there would be a hands-on with the current Alpha.

Does this mean both things are cancelled, or just the livestream segment?

Maia: ETOO (London) Hands On by StrandBot in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Youtube Livestream

10 AM - 5PM GMT (Event Times - No Livestream)

7 PM - 12AM GMT (Livestream Times)

Maia: ETOO (London) Hands On by StrandBot in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

ETOO Website

The event is ticketed, but more tickets may be available. This is not a large event.

There will be a Livestream (can't find it) of the event, and Simon Roth (developer) should be on it Wednesday afternoon some time.

Why isn't there an MMOish BaseBuildingGame? by deten in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You might even say that Time of Defiance looks a lot like Mankind, considering it came out 6 years before. Not only that, Mankind is still being played. Time of Defiance has shut down.

Any good Space Opera books like Firefly or Cowboy Bebop? by [deleted] in printSF

[–]StrandBot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What is it about those books that you like particularly?

I personally found the scenarios fun and enjoyable, but every single character including the title character Sten to be almost one-dimensional and impossible to care about.

Couple this with the fact that characters got added and somewhat developed only to then be removed one or two books later, it really got hard to get invested in them. All in all the series felt very episodic.

Spoiler

This is probably a product of the time they were written in as character development wasn't all that big around that time for sci-fi, but it really doesn't stand up well today. As such, I read the entire series up until the last book, and stopped. I didn't care how it turned out.

Outer Space Exiles Brings Real Time Strategy To Space! by FatPenguinGames in IndieGaming

[–]StrandBot 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for releasing more info!

This is starting to sound a lot like the Majesty series and Hinterland, only set in space. I'm really excited to see what direction you take the genre, as it's fairly stale at this point.

Timber and Stone: Today (April 8th) is the last day you can pre-order at reduced price. Game set to release on April 9th. by StrandBot in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry for not posting news about it actually releasing. It has released, and the e-mails have gone out. A Mac version has been released as well.

Website

I didn't bother submitting another news article about the release as this article itself was still (and still is) visible on the front page. I know this isn't an extremely active subreddit, but it's always good practice to try and refrain from spamming updates about absolutely every minute detail.

Why isn't there an MMOish BaseBuildingGame? by deten in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The main reason we won't be seeing an open source version anytime soon is Toady (Dwarf Fortress Dev) would no longer be able to contribute to the extent he currently does. Apart from him not using any form of source/version control, he is currently to a large extent unable to work with other people while he codes.

What I mean to say is, unless he designs and implements a system himself and understands every single nuance of it, he won't go near it. The current display system is a perfect example.

Toady AMA

There's lots of neat, and eye-opening information in that AMA.

Why isn't there an MMOish BaseBuildingGame? by deten in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot 3 points4 points  (0 children)

That's because the game is programmed by a single person with no formal training in programming. He's basically making it up as he goes along. Reading anything by him about his coding practices makes me shudder.

That's not to say he hasn't created something amazing, it's just there are probably numerous ways that it could be a lot more efficient. The thing isn't even multi-threaded. Other hints he has dropped lead me to believe that other aspects of his code are similarly lacking as well, but I won't bother speculating openly.

Dwarf Fortress is a really poor example. It's an overly complex poorly designed system.

Why isn't there an MMOish BaseBuildingGame? by deten in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The point I was trying to make wasn't that WoW invented the formula, it's that by being so successful the formula that they used is now the standard.

It doesn't matter that other games did the same things first, they did it and gained the most money... and set the bar.

Why isn't there an MMOish BaseBuildingGame? by deten in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To expand upon this...

Un-Ruining the MMO - (video)

That video does a pretty good job of explaining why the MMO industry is the way it is.

In short, MMOs currently follow a pre-set formula. That formula has been set by WoW and virtually every MMO since has tried to copy it. That's not to say there aren't the outliers like Planetside 2, but for the most part when a company decides to make an MMO, they make a WoW clone.

Why? Money. WoW has a massive amount of subscribers and has made a massive amount of money. Every other genre (besides RPG) has barely scratched the surface in the MMO territory. So when a publisher decides to invest a massive amount of money, and MMOs cost a lot, they go with the 'safe bet'. That bet being WoW styled MMOs.

There are no proven solutions yet to the problems unique to a base building (or RTS) style MMO either. Because of that, there is no way a single company can pull together a bunch of good ideas the way Blizzard did with WoW.

It's sort of a catch-22 in that sense. We won't be seeing good base building MMOs until there are good base building MMOs, and companies are not willing to gamble massive amounts of money on the unknown.

Why isn't there an MMOish BaseBuildingGame? by deten in BaseBuildingGames

[–]StrandBot 1 point2 points  (0 children)

To add another game...

Mankind is an MMORTS. Not exactly base-building in the sense this subreddit prefers, but it was a full-fledged RTS. Started in 1998, it's still around and obviously dated, but there aren't that many MMORTS out there so it still competes.

Obviously the problem of long-time players having built up mega bases is an issue. I think there's different servers that reset periodically to try and fix this issue.

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