Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Supcom 2 - Patch Notes

Supreme Commander 2                            Image via WikipediaNew Features
  • Added AI Custom Options menu to allow fine control of each AI's Core Strategy, Build Speed, Resource Income, Veterancy, Intel, and Target preference.
  • The pre-order maps Emerald Crater, Iskellian Coast, QAI Prototype Facility, Seraphim VII Site, and Weddell Isle are now available to play for all players.
  • Added a Cybran Mass Convertor structure, unlocked via the research tree.
  • Added “No Artillery Structures” to game exclusions list.
  • Added "No Mass Conversion" to game exclusions list.
  • Added shield range ring indicators both during placement and on mouse-over.
  • Added factional shield coloring, and quicker impact effects to improve overall visibility and feedback.
  • Added a keybind to turn the UI and all associated in-game clutter on and off for screenshots and movies: Ctrl-U.
  • Updated the current ranked season to season 2
Balance
  • Increased Mass Convert cost to 2500e and income to 250m.
  • Increased Mass Convert cooldown to 10 seconds.
  • Killing enemy units will now generate 25% less Research.
  • Illuminate Rogue Nanites heal decreased to 5,000. Was 10,000.
  • Illuminate ACU Shield health decreased to 12,000. Was 15,000.
  • Illuminate ACU Teleport, Damage, Rogue Nanites and Personal Shield upgrades each increased by 1 RP.
  • Illuminate Rogue Nanite's range increased from 10 to 15.
  • Cybran Battleship range decreased to 90. Was 115.
  • Cybran Kraken health and damage increased by 50%. Weapons no longer prefer unique targets.
  • AI veterancy cheat buff is now an increased vet rate, rather than free levels.
  • Illuminate Point Defense cost increased to 200m/440e. Was 190m/420e.
  • UEF P-Shield health increased to 600. Was 400.
  • Nuke cost increased to 1000m/4000e for each projectile. Was 750m/3000e.
  • Mobile units that are hunkered will no longer be affected by the magnetron.
Fixes
  • Fix for being able to assist an engineer assisting a factory and bypassing the build speed reduction.
  • Fix for being able to have UEF Pgens assist an engineer assisting a factory and bypassing the build speed reduction.
  • Fix for being able to have UEF Pgens assist an engineer assisting a factory and bypassing the range check.
  • Fix for AI not sending early attacks.
  • Fix for Air units not accepting multiple destruction part meshes in their blueprints.
  • Fix for AI ACU going back and forth when there are enemies nearby.
  • Fix for AI not using the Noah Unit Cannon.
  • Fix for units getting strung out along cliffs.
  • Fix for units that have queued move orders pathing weird after using an ability.
  • Fix for beam weapons not turning off when units were loaded onto transports.
  • Fix for Hover units not triggering properly when killed.
  • Fix for UEF Long Range Artillery not being able to fire at their upgraded max range.
  • Fixed Sonar Radius buffs to work like Intel Radius buffs.
  • Units that are dropped from a transport will no longer infinitely loop their move ambient sound.
  • Fix for AI units trying to climb hills.
  • Fix for UI-based ACU duplication exploits.
  • Fix for replay files not closing properly under rare circumstances.
  • Fix for Platoon position being on unpathable terrain and screwing everything up for the AI.
  • Fix for units being teleported when dropped from a transport over invalid terrain.
  • Fix for the wrong leader being selected for Air units.
  • Fix for GPNav group leader selection. Agents are eligible to be the group leader only if they are close enough.
  • Fix for units that have queued move orders pathing weird after using an ability.
  • Fixed resources getting refunded for units that have completed building and are cancelled with the stop command.
  • Fix for units getting stuck against walls if they started out moving via steering only (no flow field).
  • Fix for naval units not receiving commands outside the playable rectangle.
  • Fix for some air units in a group slowing way down.
  • Fix for crash when issuing guard on the ground.
  • Fixed a version number crash when loading a saved skirmish game.
  • Fix for crash when loading a save game while a unit is jumping.
  • You can no longer send air units through an enemy Space temple beacon.
  • Improvements
  • When we buff a unit's max health we now set the units health percentage to the same as it was before the buff was applied.
  • Removed the visual effect on other units from the Bodaboom and Universal Colossus to improve performance.
  • Increased Bodaboom buff check time to 8 seconds and Universal Colossus to 6 seconds to improve performance.
  • Changed the Bodaboom range circle to match the Bodaboom's buff range.
  • Attempting to join a game when you have modified files and the host does not (or vice-versa) will fail with a warning message. This is true for joining through the game browser or by receiving an invite.
  • We now disable collisions on units while they are in a transport.
  • All Air to Ground and Ground to Air projectiles will no longer collide with each other.
  • Units that die while jump jetting will fall like air units.
  • Anti-Nukes will now show the proper Available/Max numbers when you hover over the build AntiNuke button.
  • Made path requests NOT immediately reset from cost stamp collisions.
  • If you lose and have a human ally that is still alive, you can no longer hear sounds from enemies under the Fog of War and can no longer see decals created under the Fog of War.
  • We no longer remove units from their group when issuing ability commands (except in special cases).
  • GPNav now allocates all the memory it will require for Integration Fields at the start of the game to improve performance.
  • Jump jetting units will now adjust their flying height to avoid colliding with terrain.
  • Reduced the effect ambient sounds have on the game's framerate.
  • Improved 'should dodge' logic so if your push class is less than, then you should dodge.
  • Improved 'pass through walls' handling so battleships don't get pushed onto the shore.
  • If a unit cannot move as fast as the group, then the unit's speed bonus max is 15% instead of 50%.
  • Fixed air units group speed calc, so its not just the leader speed.. its the speed vote, just like land units.
  • Illuminate Flare effect updated. Now less expensive, added an on ground impact effect.
  • UEF Disruptor Station Activation Effects. Bigger for better player feedback.
  • Illuminate Electroshock beam and impact adjustments.
  • Illuminate Radar Overdrive, added activation effect.
  • All faction scaffolding effect LOD adjustments. Better player feedback at further LOD range.
  • Tri-armor buff effect. Now better looking and less expensive.
  • Reclaim, Capture, Repair, Build effect LOD adjustment. Better player feedback at further LOD range.
  • All Faction Unit destroy LOD adjustments. Better player feedback at further LOD range.
  • Experimental Unit weapon effect LOD adjustments. Better player feedback at further LOD range.
  • LOD update on unit upgrade, build bonus, overcharge, mass convert and hunker. Better player feedback at further LOD range.
  • Changed text for shield restrictions to imply structures only.
AI
  • AI will now use path markers for attack and scouting.
  • AI will build additional radar away from its base.
  • Magnetron will now look for targets in a radius around itself, rather than the base it is assigned to.
  • AI will now build the Cybran Mass Convertor.
  • AI will build more than 1 mass convertor, if needed.
  • AI will now prioritize getting the Mass Convertor research if it has a high amount of energy stored.
  • AI will no longer mass convert when it has enough mass already.
  • AI will now build more Pgens when Mass Convertor is researched, rather than waiting for it to be built.
  • AI will use the buffer size to check for blocking terrain (via GPNav) before building a structure.
  • AI will try not to nuke its own units.
  • Improved AI research paths.
  • Removed Radar and Vision cheat buffs from the AI.
  • Added Naval Neural Net.
  • Updated the Neural Net data based on several hundred new simulation sets.
  • AI will wait until it has a mass convertor before going nuts with Pgens.
  • Land, Balanced, and Rush AIs will put a higher priority on getting an Air factory if they can't reach an enemy by land.
  • AI ACUs will no longer build Naval factories. This will be handled by Engineers.
  • The AI will once again use the Illuminate Space Temple.
  • Adjusted AI platoons to prevent the AI from stalling when hitting unit cap.
  • AI can now use Naval units to guard its base.
  • Guard base platoons will now guard a wider range.
  • AI will build more engineers per expansion base.
  • AI will only build up to 10 research facilities.
  • AI will take mass fabricators into account when looking at income/spending ratio.
  • AI will build Gantries in expansion bases more.
  • Improved AI Nuke/Anti-Nuke behavior.
  • AI platoons will no longer Jump Jet or Teleport unless at least 75% of the platoon can make the move.
  • Platoons that the AI wants to run away will now clear previous commands.
  • AI Neural Nets will now check to see if an enemy unit's shield is active when performing threat evaluation.
  • AI units will no longer run to deactivated bases.
  • AI will now use carriers appropriately again.
  • Added a new function to the Platoon class to get a platoons shortest attack range.
  • Micro distance is now based on the Platoon's shortest attack range.
  • AI will now do a quick pathable check when looking for places to build.
  • Engineers will no longer look for things to reclaim or units to repair while attached to another unit.
Known Issues
  • Replays from previous versions will not function with this version.
  • Skirmish Save games from previous versions will not function with this version.
  • Campaign Save games from previous versions will not function with this version. Campaign progress (unlocks) will still be preserved, however.
  • When exiting a multiplayer game or skirmish before victory conditions have been met, there is a 10-second window during which replays will not save. The temporary workaround is to wait 10 seconds before pressing the "save replay" button.

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Monday, August 30, 2010

AMD Kills ATI Brand

AMD Markham Canada                                   Image via WikipediaAMD is discontinuing the use of the ATI brand name in reference to its line of products. It has been speculated this move was motivated by AMD's move to fusion APU's which is a hybrid CPU/GPU chip. AMD bought ATI back in late 2006 for approximately $5.4 billion.
The branding on new products is expected to be implemented later this year.
     
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Sunday, August 29, 2010

Kings and Castles - Video Blog # 29

This week’s blog is simply Epic! Not only do we show off some neat new stuff, we also meet the Video Blog editor himself!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Kings and Castles - Video Blog # 28

Chris Taylor answers some more questions from the cracked out mailbag and experiments with teleporation technology.



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BRINK - The Dawn of S.M.A.R.T

This is a game to keep your eye on. It appears to take the mechanics of Mirrors Edge and fuse that with a first person shooter. This could very well be a game changer, a mechanic that all FPS's moving forward will integrate and capitalize on.
"It's not about moving or shooting.... it's about moving and shooting"


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Kings and Castles - Video Blog # 27

In Kings & Castles video blog number 27, Chris Taylor gives us a sneek peak at an internal multiplayer testing session while enlightening us with answers from the cracked out mail bag.

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Battlefield Bad Company 2 - VIP Map Pack 6 Available

VIP map pack 6 has been released for Battlefield: Bad Company 2.
  • Panama Canal - Squad  Deathmatch
  • Laguna Presa  - Squad Rush


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Crysis 2 - Multiplayer Footage

Crysis 2 multiplayer looks like it's shaping up nicely. Below is some in game multiplayer footage from Gamescon of the team instant action game mode.


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Medal of Honor - Gameplay Trailer

Below is a short Medal of Honor gameplay trailer from Gamescon.



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Bulletstorm - Gameplay Trailer

Below you can watch a Bulletstorm gameplay video from Gamescon. Extremely nice visuals. Lots of things going on in the environment as well.



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Thursday, August 12, 2010

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World - PS3

Scott Pilgrim has been released for the Playstation 3 for the low price of $9.99. If you were ever a fan of the NES classic, River City Ransom, than this game is for you. The game features 4 player local co-op, but unfortunately does not include internet play.



SCOTT PILGRIM IS ABOUT KISSES AND KOS. Scott Pilgrim is a lovable loser and the best fighter in the province. He is in love with Ramona Flowers. But she has baggage! To get the girl, Scott must defeat the League of Ramona’s evil exes. Be prepare for some serious action...

PLAY AS OR PLAY WITH YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTERS
  • Team-up with up to 3 of your friends as SCOTT, RAMONA, STEPHEN and KIM or as one surprise character, each with their own signature moves and attacks.
RELIVE SCOTT PILGRIM’S ADVENTURES IN AWESOME 8-BIT
  • 8-BIT animations by the world-famous Pixel Artist PAUL ROBERTSON.
  • More than 30 original music tracks by chiptune heroes ANAMANAGUCHI.
  • Tons of references to new and old cult games.
FIGHT, EXPLORE, UNLOCK SECRETS
  • Level-up and learn numerous deadly attacks.
  • Uncover secrets items and much more.
  • Unlock secret modes such as fighting waves of zombies, and more.
  • Collect up to 12 trophies and more than 300 points.

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Wednesday, August 11, 2010

BFBC2 MythBusters - Episode 2

Do you play Battlefield Bad Company 2? Have you ever wanted to know?
  • Can you destroy glass with the defibrilator?
  • Can an AT mine kill a person with direct impact?
  • Is it true you can't kill an enemy if you don't hit him with the wheels of the ATV?
  • Is it true if you fly under a tank with the UAV and then go straight up, you can flip a tank over?
  • Can you repair the black-hawk while sitting in it?
  • Is it true on kill cam enabled servers, that after you killed someone if you look down the enemy won't know where you are?
  • Do bullets deal less damage after going through objects?
  • Can you destroy an enemy heli with the repair tool?



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Sunday, August 08, 2010

Kings and Castles - Video Blog # 26

Today we go deep into the advancements of Flowfield tech and possibly talk about herding cats….





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Saturday, August 07, 2010

LiquidPalooza 4.5

I finally got around to uploading the video from LiquidPalooza 4.5.

What's LiquidPalooza? It's a semi annual LAN Party hosted by TeamLQD of Tulsa, Oklahoma.



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Friday, August 06, 2010

Emulator for Traktor Pro, running on Töken multitouch device.

I can see this becoming the standard for trance/techno/electronica/etc concerts.



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StarCraft 2: Wings of Liberty - Patch Notes (1.0.2)

A group of Terran units attack a Protoss base.Image via Wikipedia
A small patch has been released for Starcraft 2 which addresses a couple single player issues:

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty — Patch 1.0.2
Bug Fixes
  • Fixed an issue where campaign mission victories would not always trigger properly.
  • Fixed an issue where some players were unable to access single player features.

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Thursday, August 05, 2010

Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War 2 - Patch Notes

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War IIImage via Wikipedia
Relic has released a rather large patch for Dawn of War II. Lot's of balance changes have been made.


New Features
  • Free for All and Team Free for All are now available game modes in Find a Game
  • The Player Stats screen has been updated to show FFA and Team FFA stats
  • Find a Game FFA and Team FFA matches will give rank points 
  • New map added for both FFA and Team FFA: (FFA) The White Walls of Calderis
  • Mods are now automatically loaded out of the mods folder
  • Users need to create Mods folder in their “\GameAssets” folder
  • Command line is no longer required
  • Map Preference Selection
  • Users can now select a number of maps they prefer in Find a Game 
  • Matchmaking will attempt to match users with similar map preferences but if searching takes too long, user will be matched regardless of their map preferences
  • Added a reverb setting to the audio options. Enabling this will improve sound quality, but may have a dramatic impact on performance with low to mid-range CPUs.


    General
  • Garrison & transport changes
  • Units should enter and exit buildings more quickly
  • When giving orders to a squad that is exiting a building, they will now execute that last order given once they are done unloading.
  • Units should now load into transports, webway gates & Ravener Alpha burrow tunnels in a more efficient manner
  • Units should unload from transports, webway gates & Ravener Alpha burrow tunnels in a more efficient manner
  • There is no longer a period of time where a unit is invulnerable when entering or exiting a building
  • Stun effects will now disable all abilities until the stun wears off

    Chaos
    Global
  • Improved the visibility of the Noxious Cloud effect
  • Units killed by Noxious Cloud will now grant favour
    Plague Champion
  • Shrines of Nurgle no longer can resurrect unconscious commanders
  • Icon of Nurgle now requires tier 2 instead of tier 3
  • Plague Bolter scatter radius reduced from 20 to 3
    Sorcerer
  • Consume radius increased from 5 to 8m
  • Dark flames will now telegraph when being cast
  • Dark flames initial delay increased from 0.1 to 2.1
  • Curse of Tzeentch knockback increased from 10 to 15m
  • Curse of Tzeentch area reduced from 10 to 7m
    Heretics
  • Sword damage increased from 20 to 24
  • Aspiring Champion upgrade reduced in cost from 100/25 to 80/25
    Chaos Space Marines
  • Bolter scatter radius reduced from 20 to 3
    Havoc
  • Heavy bolter setup time reduced from 4s to 3s
    Chaos Dreadnought
  • Added tracer fire to the Dreadnought’s torso guns
  • Can now melee garrisoned buildings while in a Blood Rage
    Plague Marines
  • Plague Bolter scatter radius reduced from 20 to 3
    Chaos Predator Tank
  • Weapon type changed from autocannon_pvp to autocannon_tank_pvp 
  • Rotation rate increased from 75 to 100
    Great Unclean One
  • Cost reduced from 1400/250 to 900/220
  • Health reduced from 8750 to 6125
  • Level increases multiply health by 10% instead of 15%
  • Plague sword damage decreased from 440 to 160
  • Special attack damage reduced from 175 to 120
  • Upkeep increased from 0.0765 to 0.0956 
  • XP points granted lowered from 2500 to 1000
  • Population cost increased from 18 to 21
  • Consume
    Range increased to 15 from 8
  • Swarm of Flies
    Cost increased from 50 to 80
  • Vomit
    Cost increased from 50 to 70

    Space Marines
    Orbital Bombardment
  • Outer ring damage of Orbital bombardment has been increased from 150 to 185
    Force Commander
  • Fixed an issue that allowed the Force Commander to have 2 melee weapons equipped
    Apothecary
  • Fixed an issue that caused the Apothecary to sometimes stop shooting after using Full Auto
  • Master-Crafted Bolter scatter radius reduced from 20 to 3
    Techmarine
  • Bolter scatter radius reduced from 20 to 3
  • Master crafted bolter scatter radius reduced from 20 to 3
  • Concsecrated bolter scatter radius reduced from 20 to 3
    Scout Marines
  • Bolter scatter radius reduced from 20 to 3
    Tactical Marines
  • Bolter scatter radius reduced from 20 to 3
    Heavy Bolter Devastators
  • Will now reset their weapons to a set-up state after upgrading to a lascannon
    Assault Marines
  • Energy cost for jump lowered from 70 to 50
  • Jump now has a minimum range of 15m
  • Incoming ranged damage will be reduced by 90% while jumping
  • Now are immune to suppression for the full duration of a jump
    Razorback
  • Rotation rate increased from 75 to 100
    Librarian
  • Attacks from the power sword will no longer grant energy to the Apothecary
  • Now heals at the HQ at the same rate as a commander
    Predator Tank
  • Rotation rate increased from 75 to 100
    Terminators
  • Terminators and Assault Terminators now share the same cooldown timer
  • Terminators cost changed from 650/350z to 650/100/350z
    Assault Terminators 
  • Equipping lightning claws will now reduce the health of assault terminators by 300 per entity
  • Assault Terminators cost changed from 650/350z to 650/100/350z 
  • Fixed an issue that caused the maximum health of the squad to drop when an individual Assault Terminator was killed
    Venerable Dreadnought
  • Damage increased from 150 to 175
  • Health increased from 1600 to 1750
  • Cost decreased from 700/400z to 600/300z
  • New passive ability: Stoicism
  • When the Venerable Dreadnought has been dealt his killing blow he continues to fight on for 10 seconds. While Stoicism is active the Venerable Dreadnought cannot be slowed or disabled and will continuously inspire allies around him. After Stoicism expires the Dreadnought is destroyed.

    Eldar
    Global
  • Fleet of Foot will no longer refund energy and cooldown when retreat is used while it is active
  • Garrisoned Farseer webway gates are now correctly revealed by enemy detector units
    Farseer
  • Levitation no longer effects units that are retreating
    Warlock
  • Improved the Providence ability visual effects
    Falcon
  • Rotation rate increased from 75 to 100
    Fire Prism
  • Pass_type changed from medium_crusher to heavy_crusher
  • Acceleration increased from 6 to 7
  • Rotation rate increased from 75 to 100
    Avatar
  • Cost decreased from 1000/230 to 800/180
  • Health decreased from 7000 to 5600
  • Sword damage reduced from 340 to 205
  • Avatar no long randomly knocks back units on attack
  • XP points granted lowered from 2200 to 1000
  • Upkeep increased from 0.04 to 0.0956 
  • Population cost increased from 18 to 21

    Orks
    Warboss
  • Now I’m Angry ability changed.
  • This ability no longer requires the Warboss to take damage
  • Now has a cooldown of 40s and requires 50 energy
  • Increases the damage of the speed of the Warboss. The Warboss will also periodically stomp the ground while running, creating a crater of light cover.
    Kommando Nob
  • Health granted by Extra Equipment lowered from 200 to 100
  • Explosive shot knockback has been changed from ability to weapon, making it ineffective against retreating units
  • Shoota scatter radius reduced from 20 to 5
    Mek
  • Shoota scatter radius reduced from 20 to 5
    Sluggas
  • Slugga Nob leader weapon type changed from pvp_melee to melee_heavy
  • Nob leader upkeep lowered from 0.02125 to 0.01275
    Shootas
  • Nob leader upkeep lowered from 0.02125 to 0.01275
  • Shoota scatter radius reduced from 20 to 8
  • Shoota Nob shoota scatter radius reduced from 20 to 8
    Lootas
  • Population cost decreased from 5 to 4
  • Upkeep reduced from 0.02125 to 0.017
    Stormboys
  • Stormboy Nob leader weapon type changed from pvp_melee to melee_heavy
  • Incoming ranged damage will be reduced by 90% while jumping
  • Now are immune to suppression for the full duration of a jump
  • Jump cooldown decreased from 60s to 15s
  • Jump now has a minimum range of 15m
  • Nob leader upkeep lowered from 0.02125 to 0.01275
  • Stormboys equipped with a Nob leader will now briefly stun enemies when jumped on
    Wartrukk 
  • Rotation rate increased from 75 to 100
  • Health decreased from 500 to 350
  • Cost reduced from 300/40 to 180/20
  • Damage lowered from 45 to 20
  • Upkeep lowered from 0.0425 to 0.02125
    Weirdboy
  • Now heals at the HQ at the same rate as a commander
  • Fixed an issue that would cause Zzap to persist longer than intended
    Kommandos
  • Kommando Nob leader has upgraded his hammer to a rokkit launcha
  • Kommando Nob leader upgrade now requires tier 3
    Nobs
  • Huge Choppa weapon type changed from sword_pvp to melee_heavy
  • Size_override set to 1, allowing Nobs to path around each other easier
  • XP granted reduced from 250 to 200
  • Hammers no longer have a probability of knocking back units on a regular attack
  • Hammers damage increased from 100 to 110
  • Hammers now increase the Nobs damage output by 8% every time they attack stacking up to 4 times
  • Hammers cost increased from 50/50 to 100/70
    Looted Tank
  • Rotation rate increased from 75 to 100

    Tyranids
    Lictor Alpha
  • Flesh hook damage reduced from 180 to 140
  • Flesh hook flight distance lowered from 30m to 20m
    Ravener Alpha
  • Devourer scatter radius reduced from 20 to 8
    Raveners
  • Devourer scatter radius reduced from 20 to 8
    Genestealers
  • Removed the unused energy bar from Genestealer broods
    Lictor
  • Now heals at the HQ at the same rate as a commander
  • Scything Talons damage type changed from power_melee to melee_heavy
  • Lowered cost from 500/50 to 350/50
    Tyrant Guard
  • Now affected by Lascannon snare effect
  • Now affected by haywire grenades
  • Added a visual effect when the haywire grenade hits a Tyrant Guard
    Zoanthrope
  • Focused Warp Blast energy cost reduced from 65 to 30
    Carnifex
  • Added a visual effect when the haywire grenade hits a Carnifex

    Bug Fixes
  • Added all retailer exclusive wargear to the wargear drop tables in single player
  • Fixed an issue that would sometimes make squads unable to fire after being suppressed
  • Fixed an issue that caused setup weapon squads to chase a unit after being given an attack order
  • Fixed an issue that caused single members of a squad to pursue a target after being given an attack command
  • Stances are no longer reset to their defaults when upgrading a unit
  • Fixed an issue that was causing Khorne shrines to spawn bloodletters faster than normal when attacked by certain units
  • Fixed an issue that caused extra bloodletters to spawn when heretics stopped worshipping at a Khorne shrine.
  • Fixed an issue that caused infantry to automatically change stances from melee to ranged when garrisoning a building
  • Fixed an issue that prevented Heroes from cancelling a wargear upgrade while retreating another upgrading unit
  • Squad selection hotkeys will now always be assigned to the first available hotkey when a squad is created
  • Fixed a targeting priority issue that affected setup weapon squads and other weapons, extending their range beyond their maximum
  • Fixed an issue that would cause the cursor to become stuck as the directional indicator when issuing a right click facing order over a decorator
  • Fixed an issue that would cause the cursor to become stuck as the attack icon when rapidly building power generators
  • Fixed an issue that caused the health of the Chaos Sorcerer to be improperly displayed when the Sorcerer unlocked the Narcissistic trait in The Last Stand
  • Fixed an issue that caused users to only have randomized starting location on one map side
  • Fixed an issue that caused the output language to be incorrect when using a non-english keyboard
  • Added an on/off toggle for convolution reverb to the audio options
  • Fixed an issue that was preventing the sound effect for mini map pings
  • Added a sound effect when a chat message is received
  • We now require a certain amount of gameplay to occur before awarding rank points to a user to prevent user’s who were constantly conceding in order to rank up
  • Fixed a number of missing audio effects


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Wednesday, August 04, 2010

Keyboard Throwing Contest

What could possibly go wrong?

Torchlight 2 - Spring 2011

TorchlightImage via Wikipedia

Torchlight II ignites the franchise created and developed by Runic Games in this exciting sequel to the award-winning Action RPG Torchlight. Runic Games, located in Seattle, is a veteran team composed of the designers and leads of projects like Diablo, Diablo II, Mythos, Fate, and Torchlight, which won the Game Developer’s Choice Award for Best Debut of 2009.
Torchlight II is richly textured with our unique art style, drawing from traditional animation influences and expanding on the whimsical and quirky world captured in the original Torchlight. We aim for that broad appeal that's appropriate for older kids, but is really intended for the kid in every adult.
Co-Op Action
The most exciting new feature of Torchlight II is the multiplayer element. Play with your friends, and use the free peer-to-peer matchmaking service to meet new players of a similar level and interest. Together players will discover expansive randomized outdoor areas and deep ominous caverns; random instanced and persistent dungeons, a huge variety of all new monsters and villains, endless variations of loot to find, and quests to complete. Players journey through the perilous Overworld, enjoying all new weather features, time of day events, and a rich and cunning story to drive gameplay.
Backstory
Beyond the town of Torchlight lies a world shrouded in adventure and mystery. Guardian-warrior Syl appears in a prophetic dream, summoning the player to the Estherian Steppes. There, you meet with the Destroyer and soon venture across the continent of Vilderan, an exotic frontier besieged by forces of evil. A discovery unfolds, that the Alchemist, following his conquest of dark ember, disappeared on his quest to defeat the unknown corrupted force responsible for destroying the mystical race of Estherians. Aided by Syl, the remaining Estherian Guardians, and clues left behind by the missing Alchemist, you will find yourself battling a powerful enemy that threatens to unravel the elements of the entire world.
Features
  • Multi-player – Play with your friends over a local area network, or over the Internet. A free matchmaking peer-to-peer service lets you make new friends for exciting co-op play.
  • Customizable Characters – Players create and customize a character from one of four classes available and choose an animal companion. Through cosmetic, class, and gender choices, skill path decisions, and the treasures they acquire, each character can be custom-tailored to each player’s needs.
  • Moddability – Torchlight II will release with an updated version of TorchEd, the Torchlight editor. Players have the option to create their own mods, adding even more content to the world. You and your friends can download the same mod and play together!
  • New User Interface – Torchlight II boasts an entirely new, improved user interface, designed to be easier than ever for new players to pick up and play. Thanks to this intuitive interface, players have immediate access to a rich and varied world, with little experience necessary.
  • Overworld Areas – Torchlight II has large randomized overworld areas to explore with weather, time of day cycles, and random events that provide players with even more content to experience.
  • Random Dungeons – Delve into randomly generated dungeons within the game at any time for extra experience and rare loot. Dungeons in Torchlight II have even more branching paths to explore with friends filled with random events, rewards and dangers.
  • Retirement System – Once characters are sufficiently leveled up, they can “retire” and bestow specific benefits and perks onto new characters.
  • Pets – Players choose a pet to accompany them. Pets level up along with the player, and help in battle, learn spells, carry items, and perform a variety of support services.
  • Fishing – Fishing returns in the sequel! Players can take a break from the high-energy pace of adventuring to relax by one of the many fishing holes and see what they can catch. Fish have unique benefits for the player and pet, while a number of other rewards can also be discovered.


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Tuesday, August 03, 2010

Uncharted 2 - Audio Settings Explained

Uncharted 2: Among ThievesImage via Wikipedia
This is straight from Jonathan Lanier, Senior Programmer at Naughty Dog.

Actually, the dynamic range menu option in U2 isn't *exactly* the same as a processor's DRC, but it is similar in many respects. You are correct that it's really all about how much difference exists between the loudest and softest sounds. In U2, the dynamic range game audio setting breaks down as follows.
Default: The game picks what it thinks is the most appropriate compression based on your output format. This will be 'Wide' if you have 'Stereo Headphones' selected, 'Normal' if any discrete multichannel output 5.1 or better is selected, or 'Narrow' if 'Stereo' or 'Dolby PLII' is selected. Note that 'Maximum' and 'Midnight' are not in this list; those have to be set explicitly.
Maximum: No dynamic range compression applied at all.
Wide: A small amount of dynamic range compression is applied; threshold for volume maximization is -4.0dB.
Normal: A medium amount of dynamic range compression is applied; threshold for volume maximization is -8.0dB.
Narrow: A large amount of dynamic range compression is applied; threshold for volume maximization is -10.0dB. This really squashes the dynamic range, but makes quiet sounds perceptible on poor fidelity systems. Like, your average TV set.
Midnight: A very large amount of dynamic range compression is applied; threshold for volume maximization is -16.0dB, and the volume is also scaled back quite a bit. The end result, is almost everything sounds the same volume. Also, the LFE channel is disabled in this mode. Meant for playing the game at very low volume levels late at night.
If you ask me, the amount of dynamic range you want is going to be based on more about whether or not you like what you hear. 'Maximum' is the way the game was mixed, with reference monitors. However, unless you are listening in a room that has very good acoustic treatment, the quiet bits might be a tad too quiet with all compression disabled. The default dynamic range will pick 'Normal' on any 5.1/7.1 setup, which should hopefully not sound too squashed. I'd be keen to hear feedback from audiophiles about what they think about the fidelity of these different modes.
I cringe when I see forum posts where people suggest setting the option to 'Midnight' to make anything louder. I'm quite sure they aren't aware they're ruining the fidelity (and losing their sub!) with that option. A true shame none of this information was printed in the instruction manual. Oh well...
And while I'm on the topic of U2 audio options, note that the center channel size defaults to 'small', and for good reason. It isn't just about having a full-range center, though if you don't, I CERTAINLY wouldn't pick 'large' unless you have good bass management. What it is really for is to manage whether or not FX pan across the center or not. Dialog always pans across center, but in movies, most FX generally don't. In games, since much of the action happens up front, even with full-range centers, putting all of the volume in one speaker for all the dialog *and* FX happening directly in front of you generally doesn't sound as good as spreading the power for the FX around to the front mains. It also can make the sound field feel a bit narrower. Movies don't generally spread FX across center for the same reason, so I don't see why games should. However, if you've got a 5.1/7.1 setup where all 3 front speakers are identical, and you like the way it sounds spreading the effects across center, then by all means go for it. The reason this option even exists, is because unlike a movie, the game mixes its dialog and effects on-the-fly, so there is no reason to force the user to have (or not have) 'phantom center' for FX.
The LPCM options will always sound better than DD or DTS options, because the audio doesn't have to be transcoded into another compressed format. The game internally stores audio in a variety of compressed formats (VAG, MP3), decompresses it as sounds are synthesized and mixed, and then has to recompress the final result if DD or DTS is selected. If LPCM is selected, that last lossy recompresssion step doesn't have to happen.
If you don't have HDMI, LPCM output is limited to 2 channels over the optical output, so you're better off sticking with DTS and DD, in that order (DTS is less lossy than DD). In fact, if you leave the output format setting on 'default', the game will do this for you; the best mode possible is always selected automatically based on the audio settings you've enabled in the PS3 OS XMB.
Overriding the default is most useful when you are using an output format the game can't detect, such as headphones (uses a completely different panning algorithm) or stereo (default 2-channel output is Dolby PLII, which doesn't sound good when played on a device without a surround decoder, like a TV). Or if you just want to do A/B comparisons of the different modes. But if you do that, bear in mind you're not A/B'ng game audio assets or the codecs themselves; you're comparing the PS3's internal realtime compression modes for those formats (DD, DTS), which due to their realtime nature are never as optimal as content that is compressed offline.

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Android 2.2 (Froyo) In the Wild

The popular Google mobile OS, ANDROID 2.2 (code name: FROYO) update has been released. Below are a few of the highlights.


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Monday, August 02, 2010

Kings and Castles - Video Blog # 25

Everybody’s weekly crazy is back! This week we have map making! Mod info? New Unit! Meetings! Trunks! All that and more in Kings and Castles video blog number 25!



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Heroes of Newerth - Free Play Week

S2 Games logoImage via Wikipedia

You can now play Heroes of Newerth for FREE starting Monday, August 2nd at 1:00 PM EST and ending on Monday, August 9th at 1:00 PM EST. Set up your free account and download the client here. It's fast and easy to do. You'll be playing HoN again in just minutes! And, for FREE.

Come see what you've been missing. You will have access to the full game and all 68 heroes, including the newest hero, Doctor Repulsor. You will be able to see all game replays, but no cumulative stats will be available for F2P accounts.

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Gamers Defend Against Gamer Cafe Invasion

A gamer cafe in Hawaii was recently the target of a "home style invasion" by a group of local thugs. The suspects  became violent and assaulted the owner before the patrons knew what was happening. The thugs quickly moved from assault to robbery as they began demanding money and belongings from the occupants.

That... was their mistake. They demanded a customer's DS who was not willing to part with it... and with that the tides turned.

Watch the video below to see what was caught on security camera.



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