FTL: Faster Than Light is a roguelike video game developed by Subset Games. FTL was announced on February 27, 2012 via Kickstarter and released in September 14, 2012 for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.
Gameplay
In FTL, the player controls a spacecraft whose crew has
intercepted a data packet from a rebel fleet. The goal is to reach a
Federation fleet, waiting several sectors of space away, without being
destroyed or caught by the rebel fleet that is in pursuit.
At the start of each game, the player chooses a spacecraft which
houses a number of rooms devoted to specific systems, like piloting,
engines, weapons, and life support, as well as a crew. The game then
randomly generates a series of sectors ala roguelike games,
each sector containing about 20-some waypoints of interest. The player
must direct the ship to warp between these points, normally unaware of
what to expect at each point, making their way to a specific "exit"
point to move onto the next sector until they reach the Federation.
Players can revisit waypoints they have been at before, but each warp
jump causes the rebel fleet to occupy more of the space in each sector.
Waypoints may include stores where the player can upgrade the ship's
systems, purchase fuel and ammunition, and recruit new crewmembers using
in-game currency. Other waypoints may appear as calls of distress,
either from stranded ships needing help or traps set by the rebels or
other nefarious groups. Often, the player will encounter an unfriendly
ship that engages in combat. Here the game becomes a real-time space combat simulator, though the player can pause the game
to evaluate the situation. During combat, the player must manage which
ship's systems to activate considering the power draw on the ship,
ordering the crew to specific stations or rooms to repair damage, and
targeting and firing of weapons on the enemy. Damage to the ship can
include failure of specific systems until a crewman repairs them, hull
breeches that leak air to space, fires that can be either put out by the
crew or exposing the fire to the vacuum of space, and general damage to
the hull which can only be repaired at specific ports. Should the hull
fail, the ship is destroyed and the game is permadeath;
though the player can save games between playing sessions, the save
game is immediately overwritten upon relaunch, preventing the player
from restarting a game from a previous saved game. The player is
successful in combat either by destroying the enemy ship or damaging
enough to cause the ship to surrender; this provides resources that the
player can use in bartering or further combat.
September 14, 2012 (Chapters Black Mesa Inbound - Lambda Core)
Genre(s)
First-person shooter
Mode(s)
Single-player
Media/distribution
Download
Black Mesa (previously known as Black Mesa: Source) is a third-party total conversion modification for Valve Corporation's Source engine. The stated goal of the project is to recreate Valve's critically acclaimed 1998 video game Half-Life
using the more advanced capabilities of the Source engine. The
40-person volunteer development team says they hope to create a more
engrossing in-game world with more varied, complex environments and more
challenging, realistic gameplay.[citation needed]
During its eight years in development, Black Mesa has been
featured in several video game publications and received direct
attention from Valve. Due to its long development time the modification
has recently become notable for its delays, and dwindling updates on the
status of its completion. The delays led to Wired Magazine awarding Black Mesa high spots on their Vaporware Of The Year list in 2009, and again in 2010. The developers released the game as a free download when completed. On June 10, 2012 the Black Mesa development team announced that new "media" would be released once their Facebook page reached 20,000 likes.
This goal was reached on June 11, 2012 when 8 new screenshots were
released, along with an announcement of the start of a "social-media
campaign" towards their first release.
On September 2, 2012, project leader Carlos "cman2k" Montero announced
that the first Black Mesa release would take place on September 14,
2012.
Public voting saw the game approved for distribution on Steam's Greenlight program and will be released through Valve's own software, as well as a standalone download. The standalone download was released on September 14, 2012.
Gameplay
Development
With the release of Half-Life 2 in 2004, Valve Corporation
re-released several of their previous titles, ported to their new Source
game engine, including the critically acclaimed 1998 game Half-Life named Half-Life: Source. The Source engine is graphically more advanced than the GoldSrc engine used for the original versions. Half-Life: Source features the Havok physics engine and improved effects for water and lighting. The level architecture, textures, and models of the game however, remained unchanged Half-Life: Source was met with mixed reviews. IGN
liked the new user interface and other technical features but noted
that it did not receive as many improvements as Valve's other Source
engine ports. GameSpy
said that while it was a "fun little bonus", it was "certainly not the
major graphical upgrade some people thought it might be." Valve CEO Gabe Newell is quoted as saying that a complete remake of Half-Life by fans of the game using Source was "not only possible…but inevitable."
The "Surface Tension" chapter as it appears in Half-Life
The same scene, as seen in a development version of Black Mesa
Black Mesa began as the combination of two independent volunteer projects, each aiming to do just that: completely recreate Half-Life using Source. The Leakfree modification was announced in September 2004. Half-Life: Source Overhaul Project
was announced one month later. After realizing their similar goals,
project leaders for both teams decided to combine efforts; they formed a
new 13-person team titled Black Mesa: Source.
The "Source" in the project's title was later dropped when Valve asked
the team to remove it in order to "stem confusion over whether or not
[it was] an endorsed or official product," which it is not.
The team now consists of 40 volunteer level designers, programmers, modelers, texture artists, animators, sound engineers, voice actors, and support staff. They have stated they want Black Mesa to be similar to Half-Life
in gameplay and story, but changes will be made to take advantage of
Source's more advanced features. Changes to the story will not divert
from, or alter, the overall storyline of the Half-Life series.
Level designers have shortened or modified some areas of the game that
"didn't make any sense," or were "tedious" in the original. Maps will
also be of a larger scale, for instance the hydro-electric dam, which is
now "twenty or thirty times" larger.
Originally based on the version of Source released with Counter-Strike: Source in 2004, the project now uses a more recent version released with Valve's The Orange Box in 2007. This new version includes more advanced particle effects, hardware-accelerated facial animation, and support for multi-core processor rendering among other improvements. The team has stated they do not plan on upgrading again to newer versions such as those used in Valve's Left 4 Dead (2008) or Portal 2 (2011) games.
In addition to the modification itself, the game's thematic score,
produced by sound designer Joel Nielsen, has been independently released
as a soundtrack. Black Mesa is distributed as a free download.
The developers released a teaser trailer in 2005, and a full-length
preview trailer in 2008. They also released images, videos, and concept
art during the project's development. Black Mesa was given an
official release date of "late 2009" in the spring of 2009, but this
date was changed to "when it's done", after the development team was
unable to fulfill this date. The first part of the game was released on September 14, 2012.
The team plans to release the Xen levels sometime later; with the
current content, they estimate that players will have eight to ten hours
of content to complete.
Reception
During its development, Black Mesa has received attention from several video game publications. It has been featured in articles from Computer Gaming World, PC PowerPlay, and PC Gamer UK magazines. Valve published a news update about the modification on their Steam digital distribution platform in 2007 saying that "We're as eager to play [Black Mesa] here as everyone else."
The project was awarded Top Unreleased Mod by video game modification website Mod DB in 2005 and 2006. Mod DB gave the project an honorable mention in their choice of Top Unreleased Mod in 2007.
After receiving a development version of Black Mesa in December 2009, PC PowerPlay
magazine said that the game's setting "looks, sounds, [and] plays
better than ever before." The "subtle" changes from the original Half-Life
were said to have a "substantial" overall impact. They also noted the
project's "frustrating" then-five-year development time, and current
lack of release date, but added that the developers were making
progress.
After the mod was released, early impressions of the game were very good.
Minimum System Requirements
Software : Windows XP, Vista, or 7
Processor : Pentium 4 3.0 GHz, or AMD processor.
RAM : 1GB (1024 MB)
Graphics Card : Shader Model 2.0 capable, ATI 9600, NVidia 6600 or better.
Sound : DirectX 8.1 compatible.
HDD : 8 GB (Not including the Free Source SDK, installed separately)
• Ideal System Requirements
Software : Windows XP, Vista, or 7
Processor : Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4GHz or AMD equivalent.
RAM : 1 GB (1024 MB)
Graphics Card : Shader Model 3.0 capable, ATI X1600, NVidia 7600 or better.
Sound : DirectX 9.0c compatible.
HDD : 8 GB (Not including the Free Source SDK, installed separately)
Fun Fact: the Xbox360 controller is supported for this game – use it! Video
NHL 13 is an ice hockey video game developed by EA Canada published by EA Sports. It is the 22nd installment of the NHL series and was released between September 11–13, 2012, in North America, Europe as well as Australia and New Zealand. The game was released on the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360, featuring Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux on the cover. The game was featured at the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2012 (E3 2012), which took place between June 5–7, 2012. The demo of the game was released on August 21–22, 2012, at the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store.This is the first game in the series since NHL 2005 to not receive a 16 rating in Europe.
There was a vote deciding which player would be on the NHL 13
cover. Anybody could vote on the player(s) they wished to see on the
cover of the game. The vote started on March 29, 2012 with 60 NHL
players in a single-elimination voting with two players in each
match-up, and was closed on June 4, receiving over 25 million votes
worldwide. On June 20, Claude Giroux was named the winner, over Pekka Rinne at the 2012 NHL Awards in Las Vegas.
An exclusive "Stanley Cup Collector's Edition" will also be released, apart from the actual NHL 13 game. The Collector's Edition includes five random Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) player packs from the two 2012 Stanley Cup Finals teams; a Gold Jumbo HUT pack including legend Wayne Gretzky; and a boost pack featuring the CCM RBZ stick.
Just like in NHL 12, Gary Thorne (play-by-play) and Bill Clement (color) provide commentary for NHL 13.
This year, for the first time, two playable female characters, Hayley Wickenheiser and Angela Ruggiero have been added. In NHL 12, users could create female characters, but there were no real-life players.
Cover
Claude Giroux, forward and alternate captain of the Philadelphia Flyers, was named the official cover athlete of NHL 13 on June 20, 2012. The cover athlete was announced after a public vote which had been going on for over two months on the Internet. The cover image is still being tweaked, but will be finished when the game is released in September 2012.
As alternate captain, Giroux played 78 games for the Flyers in the 2011–12 NHL season, scoring 28 goals and a total of 93 points. He finished third overall in scoring, closely after Steven Stamkos who had 97 points. In the playoffs
he continued to produce, scoring 8 goals and 17 points in 10 games.
With this, he finished fourth overall in scoring, despite only playing
10 games (the Flyers were eliminated in the Eastern Conference
Semifinals in five games).
Giroux became the first Philadelphia Flyer to appear on an EA Sports NHL video game cover since Eric Lindros in NHL 99, as well as the first Philadelphia Flyer to appear on any ice hockey video game cover since Jeremy Roenick on ESPN NHL Hockey in 2003. With this the Philadelphia Flyers have more cover athletes than any other team.
Features
All modes and features from NHL 12 remain in NHL 13. The following new features are included:
EA Sports Hockey IQ (AI):
Makes CPU-controlled players and teammates smarter by reacting to
everything on the ice, not just what they see in front of them. Skaters
will be more easily able to prevent scoring opportunities. For goaltenders,
Hockey IQ opens up for a lot of new different types of desperation
saves as they are better able to identify "potential" scoring threats.
As part of Hockey IQ, there are over five times as many strategy options
in NHL 13 compared to previous titles of the current generation of the NHL series to replicate the real-life plays in the National Hockey League
(NHL). Also, players can now develop their own plays and implement them
for the computer AI in gameplay. According to Dean Richards, general manager of the NHL series, the development team spent more time on the AI development in NHL 13 than in the past three years combined.
True Performance Skating, a new skating engine based on
physics, makes the player skating more dynamic and realistic with over
1,000 new animations created using motion capture.
The engine is divided into three parts: explosiveness, top-end speed,
and momentum. Explosiveness refers to how quickly a player can
accelerate when gliding, being in a stationary state or how far a player
can skate quickly. Top-end speed means that the players can skate as
quickly as in real-life in their top speeds. Momentum is part of the
physics; for example, a player skating at top speed may not turn around
as quickly when carrying the puck as compared to when skating at normal
speed or just gliding. Also, a player skating at top speed has his
shooting and passing accuracies decreased. Momentum also means that
players have a harder time recovering from mistakes. The new animations,
combined with the Skill Stick features, allow for a lot of new plays
and dekes that can be pulled off. True Performance Skating is taglined "Every Stride Matters".
Improved rating system: In NHL 12, each player's overall rating is based on that player's role in the team (playmaker, enforcer, defensive defenceman etc). In NHL 13,
however, the player's overall rating is based on that player's skill in
their position (i.e. forward, defenceman, or goaltender). For example,
in NHL 12, George Parros (at that time playing for the Anaheim Ducks) was rated 81 overall (out of 99) based on his role as an enforcer. In NHL 13, Parros' overall rating has been lowered down to 69 as determined by his skill as a forward. EA Sports stated that this was "a fan-requested change". Based on their attribute values, the players are now also given 5-star ratings
for these six categories: shooting, puck skills, senses, skating,
physical, and defense. Further, the teams' overall ratings for offense,
defense and goaltending are now also 5-star based ratings instead of
out-of-100 ones.
Team First Presentation aims to make the in-game experience
more authentic than previously. Team-specific presentations for the NHL
teams have been added, and it's also possible to manually customize the
experience.
GM Connected: Allows players to play in online Be a GM
leagues with human-controlled teams. Players can keep track of what's
happening in their league with a mobile app.
NHL Moments Live: taglined "Can you recreate history?", this mode allows players to re-play and re-live great moments from the 2011–12 NHL season. In addition, new moments will be uploaded as the 2012–13 NHL season progresses.
Hockey Ultimate Team: The design of HUT has been revamped,
the reward system improved and a new playoff format for HUT has been
added. New features for player-card collections have been added to make
it easier to create a HUT team.
All new GM Brain: Revamped Trade logic between AI GMs and users.
EA Sports Hockey League remains in the game and features like club captains and improved matchmaking have been added.
Be a Pro: Players are now able to demand a trade from their
teams. Once the user demands a trade, their GM will evaluate the
player's preformance and place the user on the trading block. Players
can also choose to retire at any given point at their career.
Refined goalie controls: In previous games of the current NHL generation, the right stick was used to make a manual save. In NHL 13 the right stick is now used to anticipate a save instead of actually attempting to make a save.
Leagues and teams
NHL 13 will include seven professional leagues: the National Hockey League (NHL), American Hockey League (AHL), Czech Extraliga (ELH), SM-liiga, Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), Elitserien (SEL), and National League A (NLA). The Canadian Hockey League is also included, which comprises the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Western Hockey League (WHL). This year's game won't have any new leagues.
As part of the NHL, Team Chara and Team Alfredsson from the 2012 All-Star Game
will be included. New legends have also been added to the "Legends"
team, which consists of several former NHL star players as well as
current ones. "Team White" and "Team Red" from the 2012 CHL Top Prospects Game will be included as well.
No license for the International Ice Hockey Federation
(IIHF) means that the international teams' jerseys aren't of official
design, nor are there any official IIHF tournaments such as the World Championships.
Rögle BK will replace Djurgårdens IF in the SEL, due to the 2012 Kvalserien. Piráti Chomutov will replace BK Mladá Boleslav in the Czech ELH, due to the "Baráž o Extraligu 2012". The Mississauga St. Michael's Majors of the OHL have been renamed the Mississauga Steelheads. The QMJHL welcomes the Sherbrooke Phoenix, one year after disbanding the Lewiston Maineiacs.
Players can now play in the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic in Philadelphia, PA. The Winter Classic jerseys for both teams will now be available for use in any game.
