Showing posts with label PAX. Show all posts
Showing posts with label PAX. Show all posts

This Week in Geekdom

Oh geez, how in the name of Zod is this month rocketing along at this pace? As you guys can probably guess, work has, once again, been absconding away with just about all of my free time as of late. Fortunately there was a enough of a break in the proverbial clouds this past weekend to take in a showing of Civil War, but it seems that such nerdery will likely continue to be of the guerrilla variety for the majority of this year. We'll get into the nitty-gritty of that in a future post but, for now, let's get down to the Week in Geekdom!

Games

On nothing less than Star Wars day Respawn Entertainment, makers of Titanfall, announced that they are in the midst of working on a (as yet untitled) third-person ARPG set in a galaxy far, far away.

Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare isn't even approaching mass release yet and already gamers are seething at Activision's forthcoming offering.

Escapist would have us believe that these are the 8 most influential RPGs of all time. Do you agree?

While we're in a listicle frame of mind, these are 7 recent turn-based titles that are worth giving a go.

Fallout 4 now has Oculus Rift support.


Science/Technology

It's a technology at the heart of the vast majority of science fiction, but here's why we won't ever see faster-than-light travel in reality.

Say you're a miniaturized superhero. Could you, say, safely travel on a human-launched projectile while in your insectile state? (Warning: link contains Civil War spoilers)

Think you can program in a quantum environment? IBM has just the place for you to try your hand.

Another day, another revving of the Large Hadron Collider, another potential discovery of a new particle.


Feats of Geekdom/General Awesomess

Meet the Finnish 10-year-old who discovered a colossal bug in Instagram.

All Nippon Airways put together this very detailed and highly appropriate tribute for Star Wars Day:


As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead!

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This Week in Geekdom

Happy Sunday everyone. Yep, I'm right back in the studying swing of things, but even the specter of another exam won't overshadow PAX East next weekend. Unsurprisingly, PAX crept up faster than I'd have preferred given everything else that's been going on this year, so it's not likely that there'll be any cosplaying from me this time around (unless I can whip one of my old costumes into shape in the next week or so). As this will be my only opportunity to cosplay in 2016 (more on this in a future post), it'd be great if I can make it happen. In the meantime, let's get down to the Week in Geekdom!

Comics

It was explicitly pointed out to us during the course of Episode VII, but we will learn exactly why C-3PO's arm was red in the film thanks to a new comic: Star Wars Special: C-3PO #1. 

Image credit
Games

If you are a fan of both My Little Pony and Kerbal Space Program, you now have a new cause to rejoice.

The World of Tanks finals at this year's WGL Grand were mind-bogglingly dramatic.

Behold, the new world record speed run of Super Mario Bros.


Movies/TV

Netflix has confirmed that it will offer its services in ultra-high-definition 4K resolution to its premium subscribers.

We're more more than a year and a half away from Episode VIII, but the rampant speculation concerning the plot of the next installment of Star Wars abounds, thanks in part to J.J. Abrams himself.

The promotional buildup for the forthcoming live-action release of Ghost in the Shell is off to an...ehm...less than excellent start.

We will officially Fear the Walking Dead for a third season.

Deadpool 2 will feature the exact same cast and creative team as its predecessor. It's almost like they saw how successful the first film was and wanted to replicate it. Their common sense is tingling!

February 10, 2017 will bring us John Wick 2.

Thank goodness DC can occasionally possess a lick of wherewithal. Batman: The Killing Joke, slated to make its debut at San Diego Comic Con in a few months, will be rated R. 

Ben Affleck can't get enough Batman. He's now slated to both star in and direct a standalone film about the caped crusader.

Science/Technology

Google is pushing forward with its crusade to bring self-driving cars to a road near you after filing these patents that will allow its autonomous autos to detect the turn signals of other vehicles.

How do you go about repairing a critical chip or component while travelling through space? Well, if NASA has anything to say about it, the solution may involve bugs that have been engineered to both eat and excrete metal.

We've gotten somewhat adept at discovering planets that exist beyond the reaches of our solar system but that's apparently to be expected given that we've been doing so for nearly a century.

Feats of Nerdery/General Awesomeness

We've been big proponents of 3D printing these four years past, so it's only natural that we get a bit excited about the latest possibilities the technology presents: printable food.

Speaking of 3D printing, yes, your cat does need 3D printed battle armor. 

This is the arguably most love a medical frigate has gotten since The Empire Strikes Back.

As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead!

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Developer Dialogues: Moonquake Escape

It's been a spell since the last iteration of Developer Dialogues and we return to the series with a very special entry. MoonQuake Escape was the very first game to venture into our Playtesting Lab and we've been gleefully watching its development in the nearly two years since. We'd sit here gushing about the mechanics, the artwork, and that board all day, but it's assuredly better if we turn this over to Jeff, the mind behind MoonQuake Escape, and Michael, the man behind its distinctive art.


Tell us a little about yourself. What prompted you to want to become a developer?

HI, Kel! I’m Jeff Johnston (@PairOfJacksGame) and I’ve been designing games as a hobby for the last few years. I started shortly after a friend at work mentioned that writing a book was on his bucket list. It got me thinking about what I’d want to do and I started thinking about all the fun I’d had when younger playing games with friends and family.  I decided my goal was to see a game that I’d created on a store shelf. Within about six months I had a fun little game about toasting marshmallows, Toasted or Roasted, and about six years later I walked into an EMS store and said “Look what I made!” to anyone within earshot.

Once you decided to put on the developer’s hat, what made you choose this specific type of game? Why did you feel this style was a particularly good fit for your vision of MoonQuake Escape?

I really enjoy making games for families with younger children. Like a Disney film, something focused on the youngest but enjoyable by the whole family. My second game, Flashlights & Fireflies, is about playing flashlight freeze tag and catching fireflies. I mention F&F in particular because its core fun was a “hide and seek” mechanic (a la 3-Card Monte) with players traveling a straight four-step track. My son was taking an entrepreneurial course during his college studies and I suggested we develop a game together and KickStart it—not sure I’ve ever a heard a faster “No” in my life! But, my wheels were already turning. I thought it would be a lot of fun to take F&F and add a bluffing mechanic: what if each player could protect (or shield) one face down card—would they protect their one key card, or would they try to lure you away? I also thought it would be interesting to have a way to bring players together on the board unexpectedly for some interesting interaction and I started to picture a set of concentric circular boards to create those situations, and inspired the look of a planet. The space-aged theme on a prison was simply to aim at an older audience and keep it a competitive setting. And thus “Monsters & Moonbeams” was born! The name MoonQuake Escape came about six names later…

The game is touted as being extremely easy to learn, but a highly satisfying overall play experience. How long would you say it takes people to pick up Moonquake Escape and what demographics do you think would most enjoy the game?

I think I’d like to meet these touters! At first brush, MoonQuake Escape takes some explaining. You do have to convey an entire world—its dangers, how you move, how it moves, how its moon moves!—how you interact with the other players, and your goals in the race to the only remaining escape rocket.  Hard core gamers jump right in without issue, but lighter gamers are often initially skeptical about the level of complexity. But after a round or two, they start to get that there are only a few but rewardingly deep decisions to make in each round. I was challenged by my fellow game designers to make it as simple as possible and so I created a Basic rule set that feeds you a healthy portion of the MQE world before introducing the rest in Advanced rules.  Those extra rules aren’t hard or complex, just less to absorb in an initial sit down.

I’ve been playing MQE with people from all walks for more than two years now of many ages and demographics.  The box will say ages 10+ and its extremely engaging for families. I’ve had kids chasing down parents to join in a second or third demo game. But, I’ve been extremely pleased with how adults playing adults enjoy the game and the constant playful interaction each round creates.

The board game market is pretty competitive with both major publishers and indie developers in the field. What would you say makes MoonQuake Escape distinctive?

It’s amazing the quality, variety and creativity in the market today.  That really means that your project has to have something special about it.  I didn’t really know where MQE would go—I just followed its lead.  It needed rotating rings and an orbiting & revolving Moon, and I was foolish enough to craft it.  In 2014 at PAX East, I accidentally “kidnapped” Shari Spiro (@AdMagic/@Breaking Games) and showed her an MQE prototype. At first sight, she immediately said “I want to make that!” and I knew MQE had the ally it needed to make it real.

The visual appeal of MQE on the table is amazing, but, it couldn’t be a gimmick. The game play on the board, with the cards, and between the cards and the board needed to be compelling all around.  Working through this was my key focus, even more so than the visual aspects of the game. I’ve developed a saying: “The board brings them to the table, the game brings them back.” OK, sometimes a Moon Pie brought them to the table.

The artwork and overall aesthetic of the game is very visually striking. What was your inspiration for the look and feel of the game?

After a great reception of the game at Boston Festival of Indie Games (@BostonFIG) in Sep 2014, I found Michael’s vector superhero art style and started collaborating with him on the art and design. I quickly realized what value he was bringing to the entire process and decided that partnering on this project would be the most rewarding. I think Michael can best speak to the overall art.  Michael?

Hello, I’m Michael Parla (@Michael_Parla) the art director for MQE and I’ll field this question. After working in the pharmaceutical industry as a graphic designer/art director for 15+ years, I felt called to scratch a creative itch I’ve been carrying since starting my career. This project seemed just the ticket!
When I was first introduced to MQE I felt it was an ambitious project offering a creative challenge. Initially Jeff was using an illustration for the cover that looked like something out of a Flash Gordon strip. Although the image fit the game’s genre, I didn’t feel it matched with the feel I got when Jeff would demo his games. Much like a 1950 serial film poster, MQE needed to feel loud and exciting, and that inspiration crystalized the art concept.  To capture the feel of these posters I found a bold display font for the main titles (thanks blambot.com) and a condensed secondary font similar to that of poster movie credits.
To me the cards were the most exciting to work on. I was able to display my illustration as a main focal point and add value to the gameplay. I saw early on that I could help clarify card type with colors (green = good, red=bad), making sure players could focus on enjoying the game play and not translating icons or inferring details from the text. Might not sound like much but in a game designed as complex as this it was a nice break.
Color was also missing from the board. In the early stages, Jeff wanted a stark prison world, so for that reason the colors of the board were a boring and drab color. It wasn’t until Shari Spiro (Ad Magic/Breaking Games) insisted that the surface include “MORE COLOR!” I wanted something that people could relate to as alien while contrasting off the dark blue background so it was pretty much set in stone that from here on Zartaclaton would be a bright orange planet. After that everything else fell into place.
What do you feel was the most enjoyable part of developing MoonQuake Escape and, conversely, what would you say was your biggest challenge?

The most enjoyable part was listening to the feedback from fellow designers, playtesters and observations, and then creatively solving the issues. For example, players were having trouble remembering whose turn it was—that was the problem that an orbiting moon component solves for the game!  Early in the process I discovered the Game Makers Guild here in the Boston area and it’s been an incredible resource—game design expertise, playing testing, and most importantly, honest frank feedback. I was confidently done with MQE at least three times before receiving that one additional comment that made me iron out one more crease. And, of course, sharing the game with hundreds of people the last year and a half at conventions across the country has been a blast.  We try to keep the interaction going—our fans are creating the backstories of our alien criminals on the MQE FaceBook page!

The biggest challenge: the rulebook, no doubt.  I must have tackled the approach to tell the whole MQE story in rule form five ways to Sunday with different reactions to each.  Some players wanting information in this order, others in that order.  But, I worked with some really sharp editors—Jim White (@twwombat) in particular—and many savvy play testers to iron out a rule book that tells the MQE story very well. A long process, but I’m very pleased with the final version (you can check it out on the MQE BGG page if you’re curious).

Let’s say MoonQuake Escape is received particularly well by the gaming community at large. Would you be open to continuing to develop it? Would you pursue any expansions or other additional content?

Which designers haven’t already mentally built an expansion to their game?! Yes, we have some exciting ideas we’d like to add to MQE. More dangers on the planet’s surface. A new set of board rings that lets you play a “prequel”: you start in the center of the board deep under the surface in the high security dentention cells and have to make your way through the prison to the surface (the moon will be replaced by a security camera with a different game play effect). And, I think there’s a more card focused game that focuses on the final battle on the Launch Pad. And each of these add to the others allowing you to revisit with new options. But, let’s sell the first copy of MQE before I get too excited!

Is there anything else that you think potential players should know about MoonQuake Escape?

If it looks like I’m having fun telling you about MQE, it’s only because I know how much fun you’ll have playing it. Many moons ago I had to admit that this project is officially my mid-life crisis (of my possible choices, my wife has approved this one!). It’s been quite a ride and we hope you escape with us!
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Upcoming Awesomeness in 2016!

Happy New Year everyone! I hope that 2016 is already treating you well and that the year is off to a great start. Composing this post has become a fun tradition in itself both because it elicits a little nostalgia when I look over similar posts from previous years (speaking of, here are the entries for 2015, 2014, and 2013) and looking ahead to all the forthcoming awesome is always fun. So let's get to it, shall we?


New Site Stuff in 2016

It's no secret that the pacing of new posts has slowed in the past few months and that's something I think we can all agree isn't the best. The goal is to change that, but, not gonna lie guys, that's going to be tough to do in 2016. A good chunk of this upcoming year is going to be devoted to studying for (and taking) a handful of professional certification exams. If all goes well and I pass all the exams on the first try then this will be the only year that gets consumed in this not-so-fun way. Fingers crossed!
That's not to say that the Care and Feeding of Nerds is going on ice. Not at all! There will definitely be plenty of novel content and, hopefully, a few contests coming your way. It's just that there will likely be a bit less of both in 2016 when compared to previous years.

But there will be goodness! We'll be bringing you coverage from at least two conventions: PAX East 2016 and the Boston Festival of Indie Games. There's a very good chance that we may add a few conventions that have never been covered on the site before, which we're really excited about.

Comics

The past two years have seen some pretty massive upheavals in the comics world, but 2016 is shaping up to be a bit more tranquil as most major publishers appear to want to enjoy their new status quo. Here are 5 upcoming titles that we can look forward to in the very near future and a whole heap more spanning the comic, manga, and graphic novel realms.

TV

January/February are often rife with mid-season premieres and introductions of fun new programs. Here's what we can add to our viewing queues in the next few weeks (premiere dates and times may vary based on your location and cable provider). Ahhhh...X-Files....Venture Bros!!

The Shannara Chronicles: (MTV) January 5th 
Colony: (USA) January 14th
The Flash: (The CW) January 19th
Agent Carter: (ABC) January 19th
Arrow: (The CW) January 20th
Supernatural: (The CW) January 20th
DC's Legends of Tomorrow: (The CW) January 21st
The X-Files: (FOX) January 24th
The Venture Bros: (Cartoon Network) February 7th
The Walking Dead: (AMC) February 14th


Movies

As with most recent years, the trend in 2016 will be lots of reboots and sequels, with a bit of novel content tossed in here and there.

January
The 5th Wave - The Earth is devastated by successive waves of alien attacks. One girl asserts herself and bands with fellow survivors to reclaim the planet.
Ip Man 3 - Donnie Yen returns to the title role and takes a stand against a band of crooked property managers and cruel gangsters.
Synchronicity - A physicist invents a time machine only to have his work fall into the hands of a femme fatale.
February
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies - The film treatment of the wildly popular adaptation of the Jane Austen classic.
Deadpool -  The Merc with a Mouth gets to incite havoc on the big screen.
March
Allegiant - The cinematic version of the Divergent young adult novel series continues with this third installment. The content of the book bearing the name of the movie will be divided into two films, akin to what we saw with the Hunger Games.
Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice - The Man of Steel and Gotham's Knight square off first against one another, then against a novel Earth-threatening foe.
April
Gods of Egypt - An ordinary thief finds himself drawn into a divine conflict.
The Jungle Book - The classic Rudyard Kipling tale will be the latest of Disney's animated films to get the live-action treatment.
The Huntsman Winter's War - Chris Hemsworth returns to the role of the Huntsman and faces the wrath of not one, but two evil sorceress queens.
Ratchet and Clank - The beloved title characters leap from the console to the big screen as they race to save the galaxy.  
May
Captain America: Civil War - The tension wrought from the developments seen in Age of Ultron boils over into open conflict and threatens to tear the Avengers apart.
X-Men: Apocalypse - The world's first mutant, Apocalypse, intends to obliterate all life on Earth; the X-Men band together an an attempt to stop him.
June
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows - The heroes on a half shell are back to defend New York City from a new threat.
Warcraft - The monolithic video game franchise expands to a new medium.
Independence Day: Resurgence - The extraterrestrials that first threatened humanity 20 years ago have spent the past two decades preparing for and plotting for their shot at vengeance.
July
The BFG - Roald Dahl's beloved tale is brought once more to the big screen.
Ghostbusters - This revisiting of the 80s franchise features a mostly female cast.
Star Trek Beyond -  The next installment of the rebooted movie series has JJ Abrams' thumbprint all over it.
August
Suicide Squad - Some of Gotham's most notorious criminals are recruited to undertake black ops-esque missions in exchange for clemency.
Pete's Dragon - A remake of the 1977 original in which an orphan flees from his abusive adoptive parents to the company of his pet dragon.
Spectral - Supernatural beings have taken over New York City and a very special team of operatives are brought in to restore order.
September
Patient Zero - After humanity is decimated by a horrific pandemic that renders most of humanity into violent rage monsters, a lone survivor finds he's able to communicate with them.
October
Gambit -  Not to be outdone by Deadpool, the Ragin' Cajun will get his own movie.
November
Doctor Strange - Benedict Cumberbatch assumes the title role as a ruined surgeon whose life is forever changed after encountering a sorcerer.
Moana -  The only daughter of a chief of a South Seas tribe sets off to explore the wilds of the Pacific.
December
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story - The first of the Star Wars spinoff films focuses on a group of Rebels seeking to steal the structural plans of the Death Star.
Passengers - A spacecraft careens through the depths of space on a journey to distant planet when one of its stasis chambers malfunctions, causing a passenger to wake 60 years too early.
Assassin's Creed - Michael Fassbender stars in this movie adaptation of the wildly popular video game series.

Board Games/RPGs

As mentioned in a couple of our round-up posts, most board game developers, even the largest ones, operate on a quarterly schedule for their forecasts and releases with the latter generally coinciding with major conventions. However, if all goes well we should see several of the games we got a chance to try during Gen Con 2015. Also, the always-excellent folks at BoardGameGeek have put together this compendium of what's slated to hit our tables in 2016.

Video Games

Video game releases tend to be a bit more precise than their tabletop brethren in terms of their release scheduling, but the volume of titles that will be available for PCs and consoles is gargantuan. Game Informer did a commendable job of gathering up all those dates into this comprehensive list.


It's already shaping up to be an excellent year! Here's to a very happy and healthy 2016!
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GiR by GIR: Jotun

After a brief Q&A with the developers, I felt it was time for a more formal review. Let me begin by stating that Jotun by Thunder Lotus Games is clearly a labor of love. An action-exploration hybrid, Jotun first caught my eye at PAX East and did not disappoint upon release. With a truly wonderful hand drawn art style reminiscent of The Banner Saga, the player is immediately and deeply immersed in a legendary journey through Norse mythology.   


Player’s control Thora, a fierce Viking who’s lost at sea and must prove her strength and courage to the Gods to claim her place in Valhalla. While some may find the pacing to be on the slow side, as Thora traverses gorgeous and varied elemental levels in search of Jotuns to defeat, I couldn’t imagine not taking the time to absorb and appreciate the majestic vistas. Aside from aesthetic reasons, it is definitely worth exploring every inch of a level to find the Norse Deity Shrines to grant Thora boons. For example, Thor's power increases Thora’s heavy-attack damage, Freya grants boosts of speed, Heimdall allows the use of a protective shield, and Frigg provides apples to extend her life bar; all of which players will assuredly need because Jotuns are seriously tough.  

Combat may be generously spaced, but each fight is an epic struggle in the vein of Shadows of the Colossus or Titan Souls. Thora, who is little more than a mosquito to the hulking Jotuns, must memorize an increasingly complex set of boss attack patterns to learn when and how best to capitalize on the few openings that exist. As vast and slow as exploration feels, combat is fast, frantic, and lethal. The environment itself can also often be as dangerous as the Jotun themselves.
 
While I was slightly put off by some of the puzzles I stumbled across during the exploration phases, I realize that is a bit of personal bias; like Thor I prefer to solve my puzzles by hitting them as hard as I can with a hammer until the pieces fit together. Unlike other games where puzzle sections can cause a disconnect and bring a player out of an experience, I can assure you that is not the case here. Like with all other aspects of Jotun, Thunder Lotus has gone to great lengths to forge the very essence of Norse mythology into the puzzles themselves to make sure the immersion and theme remains intact. The best of these moments to me was using lightning to recreate constellations. 

Jotun is a somewhat short game that can wrapped up in about 10 hours, but I felt was an appropriate length. It was just long enough to satisfy me but also keep me wanting more. Thora’s journey was a stoic and difficult, but worthwhile one and I’m glad I had the opportunity to accompany her on it. 
Jotun released last month and is available on Steam for $14.99. If you like 2D artistic games heavy on the atmosphere and a strong Norse theme I strongly recommend checking it out.


Full Disclosure: This review was written based off a review copy for the Steam version of the game provided by Thunder Lotus Games.   
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Q & A With the Creators of Jotun; Thunder Lotus Games

Odin knows it's been far too long since I've managed to post a review, but I promise one for the recently released Jotun is forthcoming. Recently I had a chance to exchange a few words with William Dubéon, one of the developers at Thunder Lotus Games responsible for this inspired title. If you'd like to hear a bit about the motivations behind the game or what future additions to expect read on!


GIR: How has the full release of Jotun been treating you so far? 

Will: The release has been great! We’re super happy with the reception so far. Fans and press are loving the game!

GIR: What led you to choose Vikings and Norse Mythology as the theme of your game?  I could easily see this concept working just as well with say the Egyptian Or Greek mythos (which you cited your Team also had a fascination with).

Will: I’ve always been fascinated with old stories like Beowulf and The Divine Comedy. When I started reading Norse mythology, I knew we had to make a game in this setting.

GIR: Personally one of the things I enjoy most in Jotun is the hand-drawn art style which reminded me of The Banner Saga a great deal. What made you choose to take things in that direction artistically?

Will: The first and greatest reason was that I knew some amazing 2D artists! I was lucky to be surrounded by such talent.



GIR: While the exploration aspect of game play is influenced by games like Journey combat, as you have indicated in the past, is obviously inspired by games like Shadow of the Colossus, or Dark Souls boss fights. Was it difficult finding the balance between the heavy atmosphere and slow pacing of exploring with the often frantic challenge of combat?

Will: The difference in pacing was one of the biggest development challenges for Jotun. Even now, some players still find the exploration levels too slow for their taste. However, a lot of gamers really love this pacing so it’s definitely a recurring point of debate. Ultimately, I’m happy we stuck with our initial creative vision.

GIR: Your Kickstarter fully funded on back in August 2014, but you kept the option for donations and funding open through other methods such as Paypal, etc. Did enough additional contributions/funding come in to allow you to include some of the Stretch Goals you didn't hit during the original Kickstarter?

Will: We ended the external crowdfunding shortly after Kickstarter, so it did not have a big impact on getting us additional development resources.

GIR: Can people expect to see some of those game elements in the future via updates or DLC?  

Will: Steam Achievements, Trading Cards and Cloud Saves are already in our pipeline, as well as New Game+. We’ll also start console development this fall, so our plates are quite full!

GIR: On your Kickstarter you specifically noted: "We chose Kickstarter because we want to involve you in the development process," can you share what you felt the best idea/improvement to come from the backers was? 

Will: Being able to test the game during alpha and beta was one of the best things that came out of Kickstarter. We could test how players’ expectations were aligning with what we were actually developing. We made a lot of adjustments to the game during these periods.

GIR: Do you plan on using this approach(Kickstarter) for future projects?

Will: We would absolutely go to Kickstarter again.


GIR: Were there any aspects of the game you were forced to scale back/compromise/cut from your original vision? Do you regret having to do so?

Will: Very early in development we realized certain features promised during Kickstarter were over-scoped. For example, we quickly realized that have randomly generated levels would not be worth the effort. Being open and having good communication channels with our backers really helped us here, as they were very understanding of these changes. We have absolutely no regrets, as we were able to ship the game in the time-frame we had set on Kickstarter, a rare feat.

GIR: Is Thunder Lotus already looking forward to the next project on the horizon now that Jotun has been released? Or is a vacation in order?

Will: The team is taking some well-deserved time off right now, but we’ll be hard at work this fall working on Steam Achievements/Trading Cards/Cloud Saves, New Game+ and console ports!

GIR: When you do start your next project are you committed to producing games in a similar genre(thematically and/or mechanically)? Or do you think you'll want to explore in new directions?  

Will: Only the Norns know!

GIR: Congrats on a great launch and thank you again for your time!

Will: Thank you!

Jotun was released on September 29th.  You can get it on Steam for $14.99 USD.
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This Week in Geekdom

Hey there everyone! Hope you're all having great weekends thus far, especially if you're one of the lucky nerds attending PAX Prime (if you're befuddled by our conflating 'lucky' and any incarnation of PAX, check out our stance on that particular family of conventions here). If you are at PAX Prime, pleasepleaseplease take one of these and tell us what it's like. In any case, let's get down to the Week in Geekdom, shall we?

Books

The Shepherd's Crown, the 41st and final installment of Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld series was released in the UK this past Wednesday. It will be available in the US on September 1st.

Comics

Who's up for some vintage DC goodness? You can now view the entirety of the 1982 official DC style guide online.

Movies/TV

Amazon will be taking up the movie-to-TV-series trend with their episodic spin on Galaxy Quest.

Vin Diesel is officially confirmed to return as the voice of Groot for Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2. The film is slated to hit theaters in May of 2017.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D will be getting the Lash treatment.

The minds behind Adventure Time are working on an animated series based on Castlevania III.

Are you planning on following along with Fear the Walking Dead? If so, you may want to keep an eye on AMC's website. The network is planning to develop a half-hour special covering the infamous zombie outbreak as it unfolds on a plane. This zombies on a plane bit will introduce new characters and content that will factor into the rest of Fear the Walking Dead.  This content will air only online and AMC has not specified a release date, so keep an eye out.

Science/Technology

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...wait. It's really an FAA-approved paper airplane?

It's officially been over a month now since Microsoft released Windows 10 upon the PC-using populace. How have things been going since then? Here are the results so far.

Ever wonder why the Earth doesn't feature nifty rings around it like some of our solar-system siblings have? Here comes the science.

Earlier this week, the Hubble telescope brought us these images of a 'butterfly effect' within the Twin Jets Nebula and the results are absolutely stunning.

It's a public health issue that plagues researchers every year: selecting the strains of the flu virus that will be the most likely to crop up during the winter and using those strains to create the annual flu vaccine. On Monday, immunologists from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases announced that they are considerably closer to the proverbial holy grail: a universal flu vaccine.

On Friday, NASA launched what will be its longest isolation simulation for those individuals who are aiming to be the first humans on Mars.

Believe it or not, this is Hawaii
Does a single Earth day cause ripples in the fabric of space-time?

We tend to lend a heaping helping of love to those individuals developing applications for virtual reality devices and today's going to be no exception. Meet James Blaha. If he has his way, he'll give us a way to use the Oculus Rift headset as a way to correct certain vision problems.

As always, best wishes for an excellent week ahead!
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GiR by GIR: Lost Orbit


Even with a 3-Day badge to PAX East it’s impossible to see everything and sometimes games will slip past your radar. This week I’m here to talk about one such game, Lost Orbit, an interesting indie title developed and published by PixelNAUTS. It's difficult to pin a genre label on Lost Orbit, as it's a neat little blend of rich atmospheric storytelling, speed runner, lite-rpg, and has been referred to elsewhere as a "dodge ‘em up". Players take on the role of Harrison, a lowly satellite repair man who finds himself stranded in deep space and desperate to return home after his ship is destroyed.


Thematically, Lost Orbit is a gorgeous game with an amazing soundtrack that captures the beauty of both open space and alien worlds (the game boasts 40 levels set across 4 unique solar systems), as well as the tragedy of being lost and alone in such surroundings. Well, not quite alone, as Harrison befriends a satellite who serves as a narrator to the player’s journey. I was immediately charmed by this and was reminded strongly of both Bastion and Transistor. Unlike those games, Lost Orbit’s narration may not be procedural or dynamic, but that doesn’t stop it from being just as witty, tense, or melancholy. 

It’s almost a shame because, mechanically speaking, the main gameplay loop discourages you from enjoying most of the previously mentioned elements I enjoy so much. For starters let’s look at the rpg-lite system. Players can improve Harrison with various upgrades to existing abilities or get whole new ones such as a barrel roll, bombs, or a hyper boost. Upgrades are bought using a material called Obtainium the player collects along the path of each level and bonus amounts are awarded based on the speed they finish as well as the number of lives it took them to do so.

There is a Timed Trial mode as well as global leaderboards for bragging rights. I understand that Lost Orbit is marketing itself as a fast-paced dash through a deadly obstacle course where players will strive to get the best time while still collecting every scrap of Obtainum en route to the end, but personally I felt a strange disconnect for being given a minimal award and bronze rank for trying to take time to enjoy and appreciate what PixelNAUTS had crafted. I had gotten invested in Harrison’s story but felt as if the game was telling me if I wanted to be able to improve my skills and advance, I was going to have to start ignoring it in favor boosting through the level to get a better time and better rewards to ensure my survival. 


That last bit, the whole surviving thing, is trickier than it sounds. Harrison is fragile with no way to improve his actual durability. At the speeds the game expects you to travel, more often than not I got to experience what a bug must before slamming into a car’s windshield on the freeway. Thankfully there is a checkpoint system which seemed pretty well laid out and, while I died frequently, I was never set so far back that the resulting feelings of frustration overwhelmed me. While I DO have a pretty high tolerance for that sort of thing (Hotline Miami trained me well) I’m terrible at twitch based reflex games and started to struggle once Lost Orbit started throwing more complex elements like wormholes, intelligent enemies, and the ability to wrap around the edge of the screen at me. That said, it meant that clearing levels or having a particularly good run was always immensely satisfying.


While eventually I had to put the controller down and walk away because I could no longer stand the sound of poor Harrison hitting another obstacle like so much jam on a radar dish, I want to stress I don’t blame the game here but, rather my own incompetence at avoiding the hazards of space.  PixelNAUTS have developed an addictive and compelling gameplay loop for Lost Orbit, combined with a forgiving checkpoint system to allow even the clumsiest of players enjoy the experience. I hope that one day I’ll master the intricacies of piloting Harrison and his suit well enough I can get him all the way home. Lost Orbit will be out for PC on Steam and PS4 on May 12th

Full Disclosure: This review was written based off a review copy for the Steam version of the game provided by VIM Global Consulting.
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