We have thought about how to release “Nikki and the Robots” for a long time, and this is what we finally came up with… First, there is a fully playable version of “Nikki and the Robots” featuring various levels, a level editor, and online functions. This will be released as free software (under LGPL and Creative Commons), and you can download an alpha version of that right now. Later this year, we will also release our story mode, which will tell the adventure around Nikki, Dr. Lacroix and the robots.
It has a fun twist on traditional platforming: Nikki must utilize robots distributed throughout the level via access terminals to succeed:
Changes:
New Patrol Robots, which will make Nikki fail the level when touched
Jetpack Robots are more forgiving and easier to control
No more editor crashes when Nikki has not been added
Signature checks for updates (heightened updater security – not gameplay-relevant
A while back, Google released a free beta version of the immensely popular cross-platform game Angry Birds in their Chrome web store. In Chromium, only the SD version renders properly for me (WebGL vs. Canvas I assume but I haven’t had a chance to look all that deeply), but YMMV. It’s pretty nutty how addictive the game is; before I ever played it I was all “b-b-b-but it’s just crush the castle…”, and now look at me, huddled in a corner, flinging birds at pigs and that’s ALL THAT MATTERS.
Wildfire Games has announced the release of a sixth alpha version of 0 A.D., a free, open-source game of ancient warfare. Code-named Fortuna, new features include:
Unit stances.
250 new terrain textures.
43 new sound effects.
New art.
New maps.
Bugfixes.
Scenario editor.
Flight demo.
The project is also looking for 3D artists and web designers; if interested, you can read how to contribute in this forum thread.
Notch updated his Minecraft blog with info about the upcoming ADVENTURE MOOOOOOOOOODE:
Most of the basics of the game engine is in place, so it’s time to flesh this game out into something more gamey. More content, more exploration, more things to do, and interesting combat! Once this update is out, there will only some tweaks, optimizations and code cleanups left to the core game before we can call it a full release.
We’ve got a list of some 40+ things we want to add to the game, some small, some big. Some huge. We’ve finished a fair number of the items, but there’s still a significant amount of work left. While I can’t reveal the date yet for various reasons, we do have a release date for the Adventure Update in mind, and we’re hoping we’ll be able to hit it.
Jens and I are keeping the exact contents of the update secret, but we do leak some information every now and then to keep people interested and to stop us from going insane. For the most immediate spoilers, you can follow us on Twitter (@notch and @jeb_), or on Google+ (+Markus Persson and +Jens Bergensten).
Here are a few of the things we’ve revealed so far:
NPC villages
Randomly generated dungeons
New biome code
Fully working Creative Mode (and individual admins can enter Creative Mode on a Survival Mode server if they choose)
Critical hits
Sprinting
More farming options
As soon as I can reveal the release date we’re aiming for, I will!
Oh, and the modding support is happening, honest.
When I have played Minecraft of late (which unfortunately hasn’t been very often), I’ve been enforcing Iron Man rules: upon any death, the world is deleted and I have to start from scratch. It’s made my exploration very conservative, but it’s fun in a perverse way.
Now available to all Spiral Knights players, is the Ironclaw Munitions Factory, a new dungeon located “deep within the Clockworks”. There are a whole load of cryptic clues as to what you should expect from this new dungeon strewn all over the game’s twitter page, here.
Search and Rescue II 2.3.1 has been released, which includes an improved Guadarrama scenario and two new missions to explore it. Search and Rescue II is a rescue helicopter simulator for Linux. It features more than 20 missions in which the player pilots a helicopter in order to rescue people in distress. There are several scenarios and helicopter models. SaR II focuses on realistic physics and low graphics requirements.
Los Altos, CA; Paris, France — June 27, 2011. Days of Wonder today
announced Memoir ’44 Online, the long-awaited digital adaptation of its
award-winning historical board game. Available as a free download on
Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, Memoir ’44 Online lets players relive dozens
of the most famous battles of World War II while facing off against online
opponents or Johnny, the computer’s AI. The game’s turn-based nature and
card-driven format make for fun and lively skirmishes
lasting 20 to 40 minutes each.
Created by Richard Borg, Memoir ’44 was originally developed to
commemorate the 60th anniversary of the D-Day landings in
Normandy. The board game has become a historical phenomenon, selling over
100,000 copies at retail. Game play centers on hundreds of different WWII
battle scenarios, each mimicking the lay of the battlefield and the troop
placements and objectives of each army. Commanders deploy their troops
into action through the play of Command and Tactic cards that greatly
contribute to the game’s flavor and tactical challenges.
Memoir ’44 Online includes all the unique elements of the board game
(scenarios, cards, dice, little plastic soldiers and tanks), while
simplifying game setup. Johnny, the built-in AI player, serves as a
training partner to learn the game and as a worthy, always available
opponent. More experienced players can also revel in fighting against
thousands of real opponents online. The game already includes dozens of
scenarios on the Western, Eastern, Pacific and Mediterranean fronts,
granting special achievement Badges and Expert Awards to players as they
progress through the ranks.
Memoir ’44 Online is available as a free download, offering new players
hours of free play on the most famous battlefields of World War II.
Continued play is offered through an affordable, flexible pay-to-play
model based on Gold Ingots, the
in-game currency.
“Memoir ’44′s incredibly dedicated community of players and the last
decade’s dearth of great turn-based computer games convinced us to embark
on the multi-year development effort of
this computer adaptation,” explained Eric Hautemont, CEO of Days of
Wonder. “After an additional year of beta-testing, we are thrilled to
offer fans of the board game and those who discover Memoir ’44 Online for
the first time an unparalleled turn-based, multi-player experience on the
battlefields of World War II.”
Revenge of the Cats: Ethernet wants to be a fast-paced, teamwork-oriented, non-stop-action multiplayer PC FPS game that allows players to achieve a high degree of mastery.
Its main influences are Subspace/Continuum, Starsiege: Tribes and Tron.
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming. Thanks to Conoktra for pointing out the followin’:
Galactic Vice is a new, SciFi RTS game featuring two races at war. Vital mistakes made by a corrupt human empire lead to a catastrophic war against an alien race; one in which humanity is pushed to the brink of extinction.
Galactic Vice has recently reached a major development milestone, and the developers are looking to expand their team and get additional support. Although a FREE game, it is a commercially driven project. It has its roots in Linux, and runs on the most common variants (and Windows too).
