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In a recent interview, Todd Howard explains how planet exploration in Starfield would have been a lot more punishing before the team decided to nerf "the hell out of it".

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"So the way the environmental damage works in the game, on planets, and your suit, you have resistances to certain types of atmosphere effects, whether that's radiation or thermal, etc., and that was a pretty complex system - actually, it was very punitive," Howard said on the podcast. "... And what we did at the end of the day, and it was a complicated system for players to understand, is we just nerfed the hell out of it. It matters only a little bit. It matters more in flavor. The affliction you get is more annoying knowing you have it."

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Howard's comment that Bethesda may address it "going forward" implies Starfield may receive a Hardcore or Survival mode-type difficulty level in the game. It would not be the first time Bethesda added a difficulty mode to one of its games post-release, as Fallout 4 received a Survival Mode a few months after launch. This added a set of features not found in the other difficulty levels, such as eliminating the option to autosave or save manually from the pause menu or stronger enemies spawning more frequently. Should such a mode be added to Starfield, the team could bring back the more punitive system for planet exploration.

 

Growing Light was first teased during the Letter from the Producer Live event at Fan Fest Las Vegas in July, confirming that Growing Light will be split across two major updates. The first will land in FF14’s patch 6.5 on October 3rd, ahead of the second part in patch 6.55 next January.

As detailed during producer Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida’s latest stream, patch 6.5 will add a host of new content to XIV, the headline additions being the next set of Main Scenario quests - referred to as Part 1 - that will lead up to Dawntrail and continue to advance the MMO in its post-Hydaelyn-Zodiark story arc following the finale of 2021 expansion Endwalker.

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Trailer

 

CD Projekt have formally commented on the presence of references to the Russia-Ukraine war in Cyberpunk 2077's recently added Ukrainian localisation, apologising for dialogue lines "that can be considered offensive by Russian gamers", while reiterating their support for Ukraine.

In case you missed it, the Ukrainian script and menu localisation currently includes a number of antagonistic references to Russians and to the on-going Russian invasion of Ukraine. One dialogue line refers to a particular bandit group as "rusnia", and there's photo mode menu text for a squatting character that translates as "like a Russian". There's also lore text that apparently riffs on Ukrainian government rhetoric during the war, and a piece of in-game wallart that alludes to the dispute between Ukraine and Russia over Crimea.

 

Those buying an Xbox Series X can get a free Starfield copy at select retailers, including Verizon and Target.

Starfield is a popular game, with the title reaching over 10 million players since its global launch this month. Of course, aside from being available digitally and at retailers, Bethesda's sci-fi RPG is also available on Game Pass. Those who haven't bought the game just yet or aren't subscribed to Microsoft's game subscription service can now get a free copy of the game when purchasing an Xbox Series X. Both Target and Verizon are bundling the game for free with Microsoft's Series X console for 'only' $499.99. Interestingly enough, Target's offer isn't limited to Starfield, but it also works with various Xbox Series X titles, including Madden NFL 24, the new Mortal Kombat 1, Hogwarts Legacy, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II, Star Wars: Jedi Survivor, and more.

As said, Verizon is currently offering a special limited-time Xbox Series X bundle with a free copy of Starfield for $499.99 (normally $569.98). This item is only available online, and those purchasing the bundle need to be at least 17 years old.

 

Star Wars' Ahsoka Tano is now a part of Epic Games' battle royale, Fortnite. She joined Fortnite Chapter 4 Season 4: Last Resort this morning and includes a battle pass, her white Jedi Training Lightsaber weapon, Force abilities, and more. Epic says Ahsoka, her lightsaber, and Force abilities will remain in Fortnite until the v26.30 update.

 

Sega's Endless Dungeon hits PlayStation, Xbox, and PC next month, and ahead of its release, we spoke with singer-songwriter Lera Lynn, who wrote new original songs that play during the game. Lynn is a musician who has also appeared in things like HBO's True Detective series, where she played an in-universe musician at a dive bar in the show's second season. She has experience working on music for TV, film, and now, thanks to Endless Dungeon, games.

We spoke with Lynn about the processes for creating music for these mediums, differences and similarities, the songs that appear in Endless Dungeon, and more. Enjoy our interview below!

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Lynn: That's an interesting question. When you're in the thick of making it, you're like, "Yeah, this is so good." And then a couple of months go by, you're working on it, and you’re analyzing every single detail, and you reach a point where you're like, "Ahhh, I f***ing hate this." You put it to bed for a while, and you don't listen to it, and then come back maybe six months, or, you know, a year later, in this case, and I'm like, "This is actually pretty cool. I really do like this, I am proud of this work." But that is the cycle for me with all music. I think there's always hindsight. You always can hear areas where you would have done things differently because you're growing and learning and getting better at what you do, hopefully, so that's always in there. But I definitely feel like I'm very proud of this music and really excited for people to hear it.

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YouTube Endless Dungeon - Free again
YouTube Endless Dungeon - The Garden - live

 

We spoke with Mirage's artistic director about the decision to include this "nostalgic visual filter."

Assassin's Creed Mirage brings players to Baghdad in 861, during its Golden Age when it was the cultural and technological epicenter of the region. The city feels alive with merchants, townsfolk, guards, palaces, and more. It's vibrant, lively, and, well, looks and sounds like a city. It's painted with hues of desert orange and "Arabian Nights" blue skies, something intentional, according to artistic director Jean-Luc Sala.

Having lived in the region, Sala says he and his visual team infused many sights he remembers near the Tigris River to bring Baghdad to life. The result is beautiful, if my two hours of hands-on time is any indication. With Mirage meant to serve as an homage to the first Assassin's Creed that started the series in 2007, Sala and the rest of the team at Ubisoft Bordeaux added an option to make Baghdad look more like the Jerusalem Altair explored.

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"We know how excited our community is [and] we also have a nice surprise for our long-timers," Sala says in the video. "We implemented a nostalgic visual filter as an option for those who wish to explore the game with the desaturated blue-gray color palette from the very first Assassin's Creed game."

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Members of the major SAG-AFTRA acting union have overwhelmingly voted in favour of authorising a potential video game strike.

Ballots were cast by 34,687 members, with 98.32 percent in favour of strike authorisation on the Interactive Media Agreement that covers union members' work on video games.

While this does not guarantee the union will call a strike, the next bargaining session is this week, and this ratchets up the pressure. The leverage of this authorisation could compel movement on either side.

 

While we wait (and wait) for Ubisoft to show more of Beyond Good & Evil 2, early footage from the project has surfaced from back in 2008.

Yes, 2008. We've really been waiting a while.

This is the version of Beyond Good & Evil we've seen in other clips released or leaked over the years, and which Ubisoft released an early trailer for (showing main character Jade and Uncle Pey'j in a car out in the desert).

Video

 

Capcom's president and chief operating officer has said he thinks game prices should go up.

Haruhiro Tsujimoto made the comments at this year's Tokyo Game Show, Nikkei reported. TGS is sponsored by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association, a Japanese organisation which aims to support the Japanese industry, which Tsujimoto is currently the chairman of.

"Personally, I feel that game prices are too low," Tsujimoto said, citing increasing development costs and a need to increase wages.

 

El Paso, Elsewhere is beautifully simple. It's a third-person action game in which you fire guns and dive through windows, triggering bullet-time as you whittle down ranks of converging foes. Its levels are labyrinthine, its hunger for carnage is nearly endless. It's a thrilling challenge at the standard difficulty and thoroughly cathartic if you drop down the damage you receive, set the ammo to infinite, and just thrash away in the abyss. All of this, yes, but what's special about El Paso is how it's been dressed up.

It comes in layers. A noir hero in a trenchcoat enters a motel and rides the elevator down to hell, stopping at every level along the way. Twin pistols, blocky outlines, fizzing, flickering shadows: at first it feels like a Stranglehold PS1 demake. The character models have the odd silhouettes and triangle noses of early Tomb Raider, while muzzle-flashes are lovingly ragged and pixelated at the edges. Environments have walls and floor and - most often - no ceiling, revealing a twisting Llamasoft sky, while each stage has the twisty-turny relentlessness of a great Doom level.

Launch Trailer

 

Mobile game Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis is being developed for PC and will be available via Steam.

Square Enix made the announcement in a Japanese livestream dedicated to the game.

Data will be shared between the mobile and Steam versions, but no further information has been announced yet. It's currently unclear when the Steam version will be released.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

This only sorta works for today and if your friends never share images or videos online. The ever-increasing amount of people taking pictures and filming and posting them online means the day is quickly approaching where you could be identified and tracked through other people's content, security & surveillance cameras, etc.

If stores start adopting the tracking used at Walmart and the Amazon biometric data, social media will be the last of your worries.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 years ago

Tire spikes are the only option.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

who tf subscribes to this?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago

I'd bet mastodon saw an increase, but i haven't seen the numbers.

It's also hard to get a good count since it's not centralized. So whatever numbers we do see, could be wildly underreported.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 2 years ago (1 children)

The named email says Abbott's teams are working to "verify and confirm compatibility", so it's unclear if this is an actual issue or just a precaution over what they think could be an issue.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 2 years ago (1 children)

I understand a lot more about this than you’re assuming.

I’ve seen this Linus video, plus I’ve seen projects like these work and have a good grasp on the cost. The Linus video can’t explain any of that, And he’s pretty clueless in general.

There’s a reason google and other companies use wireless and cell for this exact reason. Building ands maintenance is cheaper than satellites.

Your estimates assume totally new infrastructure, but that’s not the case for most rural communities. They have existing infrastructure that can be upgraded. You’re also wrongly assuming they’re going to put up towers across this distance. They would only put them where needed.

More importantly this is in comparison to satellites, which are even more expensive and this particular low orbit has a short lifespan.

It’s not a solution for the cabin in the top of Mount Everest or the middle of the ocean, but as i said in my original reply they are best for the vast majority of people.

There is a need for satellite communication comms, but we have it already today. I’m just not convinced this particular project is worth the cost.

Again most importantly, there’s not a ton of evidence that people living in remote areas want broadband.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 2 years ago (3 children)

I get your point, but I suspect there's more here than just lifespan. I don't think we know the reason but the article says this:

As a comparison, only 248 satellites had burned up at the start of this year, so the number destroyed during the last two months is higher than the figure for the first seven months of the year.

If 200 over the span of 2 months is "normal" then I have questions about the financial viability of the project.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (6 children)

First, no one is talking about standard home-grade routers, though there is technology to make those work at longer distances. We're talking about say a cellular network, which is considered broadband in most of the US and has an existing infrastructure. Many of these areas are already going to have cellular access, and upgrades to existing networks are significantly cheaper and easier to maintain. There are long-range wifi solutions, and those work too, but most require line-of-sight, so as i stated, aren't suited for say mountanous area.

Name one community that is stretched out over 1000k. That's not community, that's a fucking state or territory. Seriously, that's more than 10x the width or height of Rhode Island.

Again, as I said, it's questionable whether those people even want high-speed internet in the first place. You're probably not living remotely to be on-the-grid.

Governments generally fund the buildout for this, so it's rarely on citizens anyway.

The LMG video is irrelevant. Linus is far from an expert.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

There's a really interesting discussion in here link (~34:59) around native 4k raster performance and beauty versus AI generated data. Here's a snippet:

yeah it's super interesting it's almost like a paradigm shift and it goes a bit into that discussion about fake frames but what are fake frames is is are all frames fake in a way because they have to be rendered

I would say that cyberpunk frames using dlss including frame generation are much realer than traditional Graphics frames. You know, if you think about all of the graphics tricks like you know like all the different kinds of occlusion, shadows, fake Reflections screen space effects...
Raster in general is just a a bag of fakeness. So like we get to throw that out and start doing path tracing and like actually get real shadows and real reflections and the only way that we do that is by synthesizing a lot of pixels with AI because you know it would just be far too computationally intensive to to do you know rendering without tricks.
So we're we're changing the kinds of tricks we're using and I think at the end of the day we're getting more real pixels with dlss than without it's weird to say.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago (8 children)

Terrestrial includes wireless solutions, which are better suited for many last-leg hookups in situations like these.

Sure, there's a lot of places where these won't work (eg. mountainous areas), but there are also questions about whether people living that remotely even want broadband or wireless.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago)

I don't know what's been tried in a real retail market, but I remember Walmart or perhaps just designers trying all sorts of ideas from carts that scanned them to people using their phones. It starts to get really complicated when people want to remove things or you have multiple people putting stuff in carts (eg. children sneaking items in)

I'm sure it's solvable, it's just a question of whether it's worth the cost for shoppers and the stores.

There's another challenge that the self-checkout poses where people cover the UPCs with UPCs for cheaper items (either self printed, or by taking off stickers from cheaper items). Most of these RFID things are also stickers so that also becomes a problem.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 2 years ago

Sadly, not a surprise.

Somewhat recently, there was a drunk driver who hit and killed a cyclist and fled the scene and got 20 months. According to this, that's at the upper end of what state law allows.

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