CHRISTMAS AGAIN

 WHERE DID ALL THE TIME GO?

Hello everyone!

Like every year, once again I want to wish you a Merry Christmas and extend my holiday greetings to you all!

I am really sorry you haven’t heard from me in a while but yeah… what can I say; we moved to another place, jobbed on and off, argued extensively with ministries and I am still trying to survive the paper chaos of our modern bureaucraZy without getting a brain tumor… but I guess the biggest change in my life recently was the birth of my son, who is now already eleven weeks old.

How the time flies! – Exactly, and between sleep deprivation, taking care of the baby, working on a few projects and so on, there really was no time left to put out reviews. I didn’t even manage to be on Twitter that much… which is… ridiculous. But seriously, seeing our small boy smile every day is worth it.

I don’t want to make any promises but I really hope to be back again next year with more and regular posts. There are still too many games on my list, to many reviews in edit and in general too many things to say. I hope you will remain and check by some time.

In the meantime have a great Christmas time and celebrate the New Year with a bang! It has to get better at some point, it just has to. Stick to what you love, support each other and it will work out sooner or later.

Play more! Celebrate more!

STREETJUSTICE

BECAUSE WE REALLY SHOULD

Dear readers and friends!

I am very proud to finally go public with the current project sIPXgames is working on: StreetJustice.
Over the course of the last year I was lucky to get to know some other indies from Austria who not only share a similar passion and understanding for games but who also wanted to work together on a mutual and for the first time commercial project. Coming from various backgrounds, we quickly formed a harmonic team and complemented each other's skills.

Although we might be considered as startup and the "best is yet to come", to put in the obligatory game quote, I think I speak for all if I say we are taking the production of this game absolutely seriously and we even aim to have a demo press-release ready by the end of this summer. At the moment we are 5+ people and we have covered all the key positions necessary to work according to our project plan and to our personal standards of quality, of course.

Besides production, design, 3D stuff and writing I will of course take care about trying to give you the most information, education and entertainment possible. Although I am not yet sure what that means... I am certain there will be all kinds of different contributions in form of blog posts, devlogs and/or vlogs, maybe even some live streaming or other fancy stuff.

In this post I will however stick to the (old-fashioned) pen&paper-approach and try to outline most the aspects of the game. I know already now that it will surely go beyond the scope but I would rather get done with the preliminaries so that we can get into detailing individual topics with posts along the road.

DRIVING IS WAR!

Before talking about the game in detail I why don't we take a look at the motivation behind the idea first?
I am a driver and I am not particularly proud of it. I am maybe proud to be a responsible driver, but if it was up to me *insert evil laughing cat* I would surely prohibit more than 50% of the cars currently driving around in Austria and rather improve the public transportation. Unfortunately though I am living in a time and a place where, despite the fact that it is getting better, public transportation is still either non-existing at all (especially outside of major cities) or if; unreliable, slow and way too expensive. - The latter of course getting worse every single year.

Most of the other developers on the team are drivers as well, and we think that there are some serious problems when it comes to driving in Austria: There are masses of irritatingly old sport bicycle drivers in spandex pants, annoying horse transporters, an almost infinite amount of tractors and trucks for example. There are drunken drivers, too young drivers and too old drivers... and somewhere between the occasional horse riding along the road and an annoyingly loud scooter of a rebelling teenager, few absent-minded even come up with the ideas for an illegal street races with their completely unnecessary cars. Individual cases, you think? - We don't.
We think driving a car is currently one of the most dangerous things to do. There are supposed to be rules; like that you have to stop your car for two seconds at stop sign no matter what, that you cannot overtake a car in a zone where it is clearly forbidden, that you should not drive too close to the car in front of you, and so on... Unfortunately, despite those being very reasonable rules, to us it seems nobody cares to follow them anymore and we also agree on that the situation is getting worse. It's not only that people are not following the rules anymore but also that they seem to be lacking any form of respect for other traffic participants or a general appreciation of life for that matter!

Yes, driving is war! And while the sounds of it can be heard everywhere outside, there seems to be less and less police on patrol and taking care that people behave. Well, while we kind of understand why we are almost back in the Wild West, we still don't have to like it and decided to take the law into our own hands and give you a police man with the rights and the means to clean up the mess. There will be no negotiations, no bribing, no escape,... if you break the rules you will be blown to pieces no matter if you are a regular person, a gang member or a trespassing deer.

Hopefully with that said it becomes clear that, although we will do our best to make fun of our small and proud home country, we don't want to push agendas here. We don't want to send subliminal messages and convince people of some greater and reasonable purpose or secretly point fingers. We are making a game! Yes, the game is based on real places and real impressions but there is simply too much material to be left alone and not made fun of. Naturally StreetJustice is going to be subject to interpretation but let's keep in mind that it remains entirely fictional and that it will be a game that is supposed to be funny and entertaining!

THE GAME

So, how will the game be? Above all other things StreetJustice will be a driving game. Despite us working with an abstract layer of the most realistic physics I have ever seen on an artificial car, the game will definitely feel more "arcady" and not like a realistic simulator. We want awesome handling, action, explosions, fast-pace driving and shooting on the one side but also adventures, exploration and tactical gameplay on the other. For us "patrolling the streets" means to take care, to learn and obey the rules yourself and to blend in. But if you spot a crime... BOOM! - Justice!
While every crime that you witness leads to more or less the same outcome (you blowing the culprit to pieces and cashing in) one of the most funny aspects of this game surely is what crimes we are coming up with... here are a few examples:

• Driving racing bicycles on main roads
• Birds sitting on the roads or flying too low
• Horse riders overtaking cars,
• Having the music turned on too loud within villages

GRAPHICS AND LOOK

As you can see in this first-ever (early) screeshot of the game, graphic-wise we are going with a fusion of cel-shading and low-poly 3D inspired by comic books with a perspective trying to convey the feeling of an old-school top-down game. Initially I really was not that much of a low-poly fan but I have to say that I am pretty happy by the results we are getting and how our art style is coming together.

In the end we strive to have a rather vast representation of Lower Austria for you to explore and have fun with.


We don't want to confine you to the streets, on the contrary: We want to encourage you to use farm tracks and scout the land to find more quests, crimes, resources or just magical places. We want you to feel as if you are really driving in Lower Austria: There will be rapeseed, pumpkin and wheat fields, wind wheels, purple cows and all that good stuff we see all the time.

GAMEPLAY AND STORY

As indicated before in StreetJustice you don't just drive around and shoot bad guys. Although we want the game to feel as energetic as an arcade shoot 'em up from time to time, we can't stress enough that you are supposed to be the "good" guy. You will play the role of Paul Frabitz, one of the last remaining police officers and head of Street Justice Department 3. That means you not only have to patrol the streets but you also have to manage and expand your home base and influence. You will need to hire and assign workers, deputies and scientists, research new tech and weapons, gather money and resources, build new parts to your base, discover and revitalize old abandoned police posts, and much more. Only with your equipment being constantly improved will you be able to complete the story campaign structured in simplified quests similar in style to any given open-world game. - Actually really classic and colorful rpgs might be an even better comparison.

OTHER FEATURES

Since we will be having lots of fantastic vehicles and playable characters, we are also working on a multiplayer mode for the game that supposed to be the cherry on top. Currently it will work only offline and locally but it is already supporting up to four players simultaneously. Maybe in the future, depending on how things go, we also consider making the multiplayer modes online. I honestly can't tell you too much about the multiplayer since that is just secondary process and not entirely thought through. For now we only have one mode and that is an arena/deathmatch type similar to games of the Super Mario Kart or Twisted Metal series that was originally developed to test out our weapon and driving physics.

WHERE TO GO NEXT?

As mentioned before, the majority of the news and information about StreetJustice is going to be channeled through here. But we also already have a small website solely for the game. The whole website is subject to change and there will be massive upgrades beginning Q2 this year. Besides that we also already have all the social channels ready for you to give us your thoughts to the game. We are really looking forward to seeing you at:

www.streetjustice.at
@StreetJusticeAT
+StreeJustice Game
facebook

Play more! Respect more! 
 

CELEBRATING CHICKENS AT RADIUS FESTIVAL

Radius... what more can you say? Besides... that it is in VIENNA this year! - Actually this weekend, from Friday to Sunday. - Sorry for being late telling you but I guess you can still make it, right? The beautiful and spacy Museums Quartier is being prepped as you're reading these lines, tickets are selling like crazy, cocktail menus are studied and - believe it or not - even the chickens won't stop shooting explosive eggs because of sheer excitement!

Yes, I am very happy to (finally) announce that also my latest short game Supreme Chicken Showdown can be played there. - So, you lazy clucks, who didn't make it to the awesome Central European Games Conference in January, I expect you to get moving and be part of this next celebration of (indie) games culture & co! ;)


If you dare - Friday, as well as Sunday - you can even challenge me chicken a chicken... I am looking forward to it. If you win, you may pet the cat. We will all be sad if you can't make it to radius, that's for sure. However, don't forget that you can also watch and even (digitally) be part of the event, especially the everyday night show "full of entertainment and guests", live on twitch.tv Who knows, maybe you'll even see me there...

For more information I strongly suggest you check out www.radiusfestival.com and if you want to get updates during the event you can always follow me on twitter... naturally. I will, of course, also be there to cover the latest trends, indie games and scandals, so be prepared or the usual, in-depth wall of text, you have to read next week.

In the meantime, I have already taken a brief look at what games are on display and next to being really excited about all of them I am absolutely happy to again meet several indie friends from here and neighboring countries. Shout outs to SoapInteractive from Croatia and Doublequote Studio from Slovakia... boys, it's on!

Still, not sure whether to come or not? Ok, here's a short (and shhh, still secret) gameplay video of Supreme Chicken Showdown, maybe this will convince you:




See you this weekend in Vienna! And don't forget to bring your gaming skills.

Play more! Celebrate more!

SOMA (update)

EXTENDED GAMEPLAY TRAILER

Do you still remember Soma? - I wrote a post about this game more than a year ago. Since a few days there is now an extended gameplay trailer available on youtube and you should absolutely not miss it!




This game gets more and more promising and the robots make me wet my pants already! Shame that it won't launch for Xbox One... seems I have to stay several nights at a friend's place or play the PC version. Hmm... I don't know, I think wouldn't be able to play it alone anyway. And don't worry, as stated by the creators already some months ago (GamingBolt) a later release on Xbox One could happen after all

Play more! Fear more!

SUPREME CHICKEN SHOWDOWN

A SNEAK RELEASE

Hello my friends! It is a great pleasure to me and I am very excited to finally inform and surprise you with a small secret I've been keeping during the last months: I've made a small game for you! It is called Supreme Chicken Showdown and as off now it is available to download on itch.io (here's already a direct link while I am working on getting a widget up on this page)!

Please hold your horses because it really is just a very simple fast-pace, arcade-style, multiplayer game and I don't want you getting disappointed because you crazy people might expect the next Minecraft or something that come close to Phi. Trust me, chances are you might not even be able to play the game at all :) - Funny story: Seriously, not everybody can play this game... intentionally! But I will get to that later. Boy am I glad it's finally out!! I can't tell you how frustrating it was not to constantly tweet about this during the last weeks! I have no idea why I wanted to surprise you so badly and decided on keeping this a secret. So much for the "sneaky release".

BACKGROUND

Supreme Chicken Showdown started a few months ago as a rather primitive prototype I did in a couple of night sessions before I began the intensive model of Daniel for my main project Phi - Beyond Immortality. At that time I didn't think about making a complete game out of this, I just had this idea that I quickly wanted to prototype and try out. After a few tries with friends we thought that this idea has potential and I put a bit more effort into getting it documented and theorized. Then I concentrated on Daniel for some weeks and as soon as that was done, around the beginning of April, I was sure that I wanted to stray a bit and make SCS real for several reasons:


First and foremost because I had a lot of talks with other indies and industry people, and knowing that with me alone working on Phi it will take like years until it is really done, they all suggested to more or less "just release something". We talked a lot about being able to finish a project and the relevance of this versus working on the "real" or rather ambitious stuff. Personally I still don't fully agree - especially when it comes to skill and knowledge - that it is better to release small and simple games instead of... well "bigger" games. Because the stuff I do and learn on Phi goes far beyond anything I did in Supreme Chicken Showdown for example. However, I do understand the notion that there is a difference between finishing something and most likely endlessly working on something else. I agree even more on the fact that also we indie people need to live from something. If I'd work the next two years fulltime on Phi it would eventually be done, yes, but until then I have either perished from hunger or disease.

Secondly I really like the great indie community I am becoming part of more and more. So I really wanted to give something back especially to the indie guys. SCS is not a game for the masses - at least not as it is now. During theorizing, naturally the thought about making money from it came up and while there still are pages in my design document on implementing a single player mode, match-making services, getting this game online, on micro-transactions, customization options, or even on how to make this game possible on mobile platforms and utilizing advertisements and/or in-app purchases, I never really wanted to walk down this road. I wanted a game that can be done as quickly as possible and that fits both the old-school player as well as the actual indie developer audience more than any other. Something that doesn't take itself too seriously, that will just seem a bit crazy but has a very enjoyable and classic fast-pace feeling to it.

FREE BUT WITH A CATCH

So yeah, Supreme Chicken Showdown is free. Why? Because I especially want you developers to have something to play in your lunch and crunch breaks! I guess most of you are probably working alone, but for those who aren't and/or those who still see some friends from time to time, SCS can be quite a tricky, tactical and challenging multiplayer/versus experience ideal to relax and laugh in a short break from excruciating work. What's the catch? Well, you need two gamepads to play this game! As a serious developer I hope you have a lot of Xbox 360 controllers laying around... seriously guys: controller support is soo important and sometimes I still can't believe how the greatest indie titles (even predestined to be played with a gamepad) on Steam for example come out without it! In a way - as I said intentionally - SCS goes the other way and sets an exclamation mark by giving you a game that you can ONLY play with two controllers. Personally I also always liked to play games together the old-school way; meaning two controllers, one couch and at least one friend (irl!). This is something I miss a lot in our modern days of online gaming and crappy headset communication. So I guess even the non indie developer with lots of gamepads can play the game after all, right? Just invite a friend and tell him to bring his Xbox controller...

So please - in order to avoid any misunderstandings - let me tell it one more time: You need two gamepads to play this game! Actually even two Xbox 360 or Xbox One gamepads - and I recommend the wired ones, because I only have those and I honestly have no idea on how to connect those wireless or rather battery draining bastards. People that tested the game however told it is possible to connect the wireless ones as well. If you don't have the two controllers please don't even bother because the game will not work. One 360 pad and a PS3 controller for example? - Nope. Any combination of other gamepads? - Nope. The game most certainly will not work. I found this nice tutorial on how to hook a PS3 controller to your PC and even simulating it like an Xbox 360 controller seemingly without some other nasty software. - Looks promising but I haven't tried it and I won't because... yeah. There is also a program called MotioninJoy or something like that... Personally I don't need it and I don't want it, but if you get the game working that way, I would be glad to see some comments/tutorials for other people who might need it.

In the past I was also frequently asked why there is no support for keyboard and mouse so that people would need only one additional gamepad. My answer: Because first of all it would be unfair and secondly because it kind of goes against my whole philosophy behind this game being played comfortably on a couch with a friend or as a quick party/drinking game. - Wait did I say that? Don't drink people. Drinking is bad! Pfui!

WHAT YOU GET

Naturally I am not going to review my own game, but I still want to tell you what you can expect from it. Like I already said, it's a (really) fast arcade style 2-Player versus game. You have to skillfully navigate between enemy projectiles and other hazards while trying to stay and conserve your playfield and trying to shoot your opponent thus destroying all of his playfield. The game features several items that can be picked up and increase your chances of survival as well as a few random events to make it more interesting.




Experience has shown that it often is not good to play too aggressive but to play smart; using items in certain situations, being patient and so on. Ultimately you would have to find your own tactic to be victorious and to get the most out of it. The game has three awesome stages to battle at and each stage's background theme music is better than the last, filled with great sound effects partially self-recorded or lend from a great free 8 Bit Retro Rampage sound effect package. - Many thanks to the guys behind Red Button Audio btw. this package is just remarkable!

WHAT I GET

:) Well, nothing they tell. But I hope you guys will be happy and have a bit of a laugh. That makes me feel good already. Something tells me it is quite unrealistic that I would get enough donations to be able to pay the next rent from it or to spend more cash on other indie titles, but you know maybe... I humbly estimate that Supreme Chicken Showdown will be downloaded at least 10 times worldwide and if only one of those players donates 6€ or two players each pay 3€ I would already be able to buy beer for myself and the guys who helped, which would clearly be a success in my world. So, many thx in advance and (also on behalf of the other contributors) I wish you a great time and many laughs with Supreme Chicken Showdown!

Play more! Cluck more! 
 

VIENNA GAME DEV

ARE WE GROWING OR WHAT?

Yesterday the Austrian indie scene got enriched by yet another event to strengthen and support the local indie developers: The Vienna Game Dev App - I don't know about the "app"... but that's what it said on the screen... :) - How about just "VGD"?

@asebist, the famous "orchestrator" behind Bloody Irony's debut game Shooting Stars (a game which you should totally check out btw. because it has a cat as a weapon!!) took the initiative and invited to this first meet-up including short talks and discussions, indie game presentations and the opportunity to comfortably hangout, socialize and play the games.

Initially anticipating about only a handful of participants everybody seemed quite happy the event attracted easily about 40 people from the vicinity. Applications to show games went through the roof and unfortunately only a few indies were able to present their ideas, prototypes or even final games. From CCTV Nation, an ambitious and promising augmented reality, massive online project, dealing with the crucial topic of surveillance and privacy (about to launch on kickstarter), over the apparently #1 genre for student developers - the puzzle platformer, represented by Introducing Sword and MADchen, to Bleed Off, FPS-Horror game, and even a crazy, seemingly self-soldered praying game about absolution, the evening featured quite some diversity and there surely was something for everybody.

Obviously the event needs a bit more structure but since this was the first time and nobody expected that much of a reception no harm was done. - On the contrary, as mentioned before, it's gatherings and initiatives like this, that really build and bring a community forward! So: Engines check positive, the board is green and Vienna Game Dev (.app) is cleared for departure... allegedly every first Tuesday of the month from now on at the Stockwerk (Peter-Schwartzgasse 11, Wien). Hope to see you there next time!

Play more! Gather more!
 

MERRY CHRISTMAS! - PHI GOING EXPO...

AT THE CEGC15

Unbelievable but true; I can really show the preproduction prototype of Phi at the Indie Expo for the CEGC15 (Central European Games Conference) 2015 in January in Vienna!

For that reason Phi is about to get even more exposure; For one, yesterday night I finally pulled up my sleeves and submitted the game to IndieDB where it is currently awaiting authorization, while I am awaiting all your friend requests. ;) Secondly I started to sketch out the stand-alone website for the game. That was supposed to come a lot later but alright, I think I can still make it happen and the page can go live in time before the Indie Expo. Yes, and lastly, as you have seen, I also finally finished the new logo for Phi. Maybe there will be minor changes along the way but basically I am happy with it. What do you think?

There are still a lot of open questions I have to ask myself - especially regarding the Indie Expo - but I will do my best to keep you updated during the holidays.


For now let me just express my thanks to the organizers of the conference and wish you all a Merry Christmas! I already got the best present ever and I hope you will also get what you wished for!

Stay tuned for some more posts during the holiday season.

Play more! Hope more!

THIMBLEWEED PARK

“THIS COULD BE DANGEROUS. IF ANYONE WANTS OUT…”

Can this really be happening?

The moment I’ve been waiting for such a long time… could it finally come true? When I was about a meter and a half height, it was the time of the Nintendo Entertainment System; almost everybody had one. We exchanged games, talked about them during the breaks between classes, we played a lot.

There was this one game only one guy in my class had. It was called Maniac Mansion. Already the cover art had me, and one day it was finally my turn to borrow and play it... Forever I will remember one of the best intro scenes, the music (especially Dave's theme) making me jump around like crazy in my room, puzzles, mystery, great characters and sheer endless fun.

I really was into this game! And after blowing the house up countless times because I ran out of time to turn back on the cooling to the nuclear reactor in the basement, one day I finished it, just to be blown away by the possibility of beating the game in so many different ways. To this day I still feel sad of  Ed’s hamster… but it was fun though, like the rest of the game. I wished I still had my drawings of those days… Similar to Zelda, I spent hours of drawing an almost exact map of the house so I could watch it at boring family visits and think about what to try next.

Great memories! But anyway… now (just about a week ago) Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick, the creators of Maniac Mansion - way back in 1987, went public with a kickstarter campaign for a “true successor” to Maniac Mansion. Well, if it really is a sequel, somewhat of a sequel like Day of the Tentacle, we will see. - The words were spoken through their pixilated selves and with all the sarcasm displayed in the trailer I somehow hesitate on trusting them too much. Then again…

Believe it or not, the campaign with $375.000 is already funded and - whatever we will get - we will get a really, really classic Point&Click adventure looking and feeling just like in the 80s and early 90s! - Can you imagine that? Oh, how I would love to see the faces of those so called “game specialists” that already many years ago declared Point&Click as a “dead” genre - as something nobody is ever going to play again. In your face! Point&Click games never were just a genre. They were and still are an art form by themselves, never to die and never to lose appeal! Maniac Mansion will forever reign amongst others like The Secret of Monkey Island, Indiana Jones, Leisure Suit Larry, Brokensword, Sam and Max, Discworld and many more. Without getting the hopes up too much, I think Thimbleweed Park has all it takes to get to Point&Click heaven as well… but let’s just wait and see.

If anything this is a clear statement to great games and a strong life sign of a genre that the modern industry wanted to keep locked away in some dusty coffins. That alone deserves applause and attention!

Play more! Anticipate more!

REBOOT INFOGAMER 2014

YES,... SOUTH-EAST EUROPE IS PLAYING TOO

First of all: I really had a great time and in the name of all visitors and exhibitors, let me express my sincere thanks to the people who organized this "rebooted" videogame convention in Zagreb. I am sure after seeing thousands of people attending this event there will be no more discussion about constantly making it the biggest annual event for videogames in South-East Europe!

ONLY GAMES AND MUSIC CAN DO THAT

So, the show is over. I am certain the halls of Zagreb Fair are empty or probably already being prepared for another event. However, I am also sure if you close your eyes and concentrate you can still hear the sounds of explosions, laser guns and tires. If you focus you can hear zombies moaning, monkeys laughing and feel the sparks of excitement in the electrified air. It's really not that hard... you know the sounds and the feeling, because you are a gamer too, right?


Of course the Infogamer is no Gamescom or a PAX, same as the Gamescom is no Tokyo Game Show, but from my local perspective I have to admit that the Infogamer stands nowhere short next to Vienna's annual Gamecity - in fact it even felt bigger to me. And besides that, there were also a lot of big names represented on the event: Ubisoft, Oculus Rift, PS4, Advanced Warfare, Blizzard showing their newest World of Warcraft addon and many more. There was also a descent part dedicated to retro gaming as well as to tabletop games and... they even had a truly e-sport - by the way a word that in Austria almost nobody knows - worthy stage where for example Heartstone was played. Personally I missed Microsoft... Has nobody told them about this event, or is there no market for the Xbox One in Eastern Europe? - I mean, Sony was there with a lot of PS4s... Well, I don't know to be perfectly honest I could have also just missed it since my schedule did not work out quite as planned: My actual mission was not to play the new Call of Duty or the new Assassin's Creed but to check out the indie section of the show. I planned to be done with all the indie games by the middle of the second day, but to my surprise two hours before I had to leave on the third (and last day for me) I still hadn't checked out all the booths. - Talking about size... how many indie games were displayed on the last Gamecity?

VIRTUAL REALITY - JUST LIKE IN THE LATE 80s

Yes, I did try the Oculus Rift (finally) and on a short note: It was great! Admittedly the roller coaster ride was almost a bit too much for me - I also can’t stand roller coasters in real life - but the technology and the immersion, although only low resolution, is absolutely remarkable! I can’t wait to get this stuff in my living room. Are they still selling developer editions? ... I have to check that.

 

INDIE FOR PRESIDENT

Ah.. yes, the indie section… well, somehow as expected, I have met only nice, smart, open-minded and passionate people! Between the age of 16 and 40, with a background in the industry, a bit of a background, or none at all, either single developers or teams presented their current projects, ranging from simpler mobile games up to more complex 3D, cross-platform releases not short on ambition. I put a great deal of time into getting the most out of every game and afterwards talking with the developers about it in detail. I seriously can’t remember when I have enjoyed myself socializing that much for the last time. Be it the talks about the industry, the actual games, tech stuff, programming and design approaches or even private matters, I really felt a connection and judging from the nice compliments, comments and tweets I have received so far, friendship seems to actually describe it best.


While I was sitting and talking with the developers I witnessed countless kids passing the booths only focused on the screens with the big games. I still feel kind of sad that they didn’t seem to be interested in indie games, yet having their dreams probably all about making games for themselves when they are older. The saddest thing is that at such an event they actually have a chance to ask real developers about what it means to create games; what they’d need to do and to learn, how much of a struggle it is to be independent. At the beginning indie is all about dreaming and keeping up with a reality that unfortunately doesn’t allow for fantasy anymore. But the more you let this extraordinary philosophy of creation take a hold in your life, the more you realize that despite all the drawbacks, the things you need to pay with your own hard earned money and all the time you need to put into, you might actually already be part of the dream! There can be nothing but admiration for those pioneers of the true contemporary, cultural form of entertainment called videogames. And as I am sure that this is the case for the most part, support and awareness still has a lot of room to grow. For indie is already changing the face of videogames and there’s no end in sight, just remember: Indie is more than just chasing dreams, if you are indie, you’re living the dream! - Speaking in figures of my own project: After even the mightiest rivers lost ground and the sand has carved away also those faces of empires made for eternity, there will be nothing left but the realization that it is just one single corn of sand that makes the difference.

During my three days - mostly spent - at the indie corner of the show (btw. generously sponsored by Little Green Men Games), I've played about 14 indie games and had long talks with the developers. I am deeply sorry that I have still missed a few but given my time constraints it is anyway not possible to go into detail about each and every game anyway.

COMING UP NEXT:

Within the next couple of days I will put up (p)reviews about my personal Top 3 indie games of the show. Afterwards I will write one post dedicated and summarizing (hopefully) all the games showcased and give you all the available links and a short information about each. That way you can simply track the individual games and check them out for yourself, because trust me, it's really worth it. Since almost all of those games are scheduled to be released in 2015 anyway, I will naturally also keep track of them myself and certainly write something about one or the other at a later point.

For now let me end this post with some pictures of the show and by again thanking all of the people involved at this event and especially all the nice Eastern European indie developers. Thank you for being a great inspiration and motivation to all of us!

Play more! Host more!

1ST ANNIVERSARY

CELEBRATE AND PLAY, PLAY AND CELEBRATE!

So, in case you haven't noticed, sIPXgames had some branding design changes. Not only that the new flat&simple look is far more eye-catching - to me at least, this didn't happen without another good reason:

It's time to celebrate! - Actually, I missed it for more than a month, but let's pretend that didn't happen and now officially enjoy the first anniversary of sIPXgames together with the new logo and design stuff for g+ and twitter!

A lot has happened and I am really happy for going public, talking about games, rekindling the flame and starting my own project again and above all finding so many great people and friends. A year ago I would have probably bet my own cat that I won't be "sucked" into this social networking mambo-jambo and luckily I didn't. Because I am in now and actually I like it a lot. Google+, Twitter and others have become everyday companions and if I don't post at least I can read a lot of stuff that interests me.

Contrary to my believes (before starting to learn the network-tango) this didn't change my life or my habbits in any negative way. I don't feel forced to read or do anything. I don't see my friends less often than before. I don't spend all the time staring at my monitor or my phone... not particularly more than before, but now I really enjoy it. If anything this whole thing enriched my life.

So, without further delay, let me tell my gratitude to all of you nice, happy, nerdy, game-loving, game-making, posting and hosting, showing and sharing, interesting and great personalities that think I am worthy to be part of your circles, list and feeds!

Thank you soo much for your support, +1s, comments, reshares and epsecially for all the awesome, useful and inspiring stuff you post and do yourself!!

Play more! Celebrate more!

NEW HORIZONS

 AND THE CITY SMOG

Hello everyone! Thanks for sticking with me during the last couple of weeks... finally, it is done - objective "moving" accomplished! I don't know why but it was an awful lot more work than the last times. Anyway, it's done, boxes are empty, the bed is made, the desk shines from unprecedented tidiness, ice tea is cooling down to drinking temperature in the fridge and (al)most importantly the internet connection has been established and my PCs are set up!

Why did I leave a modern 150 m² loft on the countryside and move to a mediocre 42 m² suburban apartment? Well, sometimes I still question that myself and I somehow feel like a sardine in a can to be honest. But actually I know why... because I had to. It was one of those rational decisions of life - economical, if you want. Given extreme uncertainty but also great responsibility I had to find a place that is easier to afford. Furthermore the new place also had to be closer to work for me as well as for my fiancé. I am happy that regarding those two points the new apartment is perfect and I am sure after a while I will also get used to this tiny space. Thinking about my foreign exchange year in Tokyo, where I lived on approximately 12 m², that shouldn't be too hard. A more negative catch however is that I can't smoke here so much anymore... but yeah... is that really all that negative, you tell me.

A lot of things developed recently and actually the hills in front of me seem to flatten out. One of the more positive factors is that I am again a few more kilometers away from my family, which - as harsh as it may sound - makes me sleep a lot easier, secondly I will start to work in Vienna at a great place already this week and lastly it seems I have a good chance to get out of the shit company I have to call myself boss of. -Which really is the last corpse in my basement... I would be so happy to finally get out of this crap but unfortunately negotiations and discussions about selling or consolidating the company take a lot of time and energy, while - of course as always when it comes to business - no positive outcome is guaranteed.


Personally I am looking forward to my new job, by the way as clerk in a second hand videogame store (yeah!), much more than being head of a company. Don't get me wrong, if it was a company about videogames, I wouldn't have a problem with it, but unfortunately the company I have now, was founded out of necessity and basically does nothing I can even the slightest bit relate to. My new job pays almost nothing, but still enough to cover my rent, I work with videogames and only between two and three days a week, which is awesome because it gives me a lot of free time that I can put into the development of my own idea. Even during work I can use the internet, work on my private endeavors or just relax because I will mostly be alone in the store and allegedly there are a lot of days when just a handful of people show up!

So... how is the plan? Well, as announced before, from now on development of my own game and of course my blog will have a high priority in my life. So far things have played out well for me and after moving, finding a great part-time job and getting some more distance from negative influences, I would love to fully start public development of my game as soon as possible. Unfortunately there is still that company factor... and well... that I can't control. So while (for now) there will still remain a constant dark cloud above my head, that could every second drown me in a rain of problems - and therefore take me away and keep me from concentrating on my real task for an undefined time span - I think, I still need to get started. After all this company issue could still take several weeks until it will be resolved... one way or the other.

During the following week I want prepare some information about my game and after that get it out to you. - I know you have been waiting too long already. Please stay tuned and continue to stick with me. I can't do that alone.. that much I am certain of. Thanks again to all you friends and interested followers out there on the web. Special shoutouts to +Emberheart Games, +Blake Price and of course +Fangirl Review for the constant support and doing great inspiring stuff of their own!

Play more! Smoke more!

TITANFALL - HAMMOND ROBOTICS

WHICH TITAN IS IT GOING TO BE?

Soo much excitement since the beginning but now with the beta... WOW! Titanfall is really looking to be it! But, wasn't there so much talk about customization at the start? Yes, what we have seen during the last couple of days was just a beta, but honestly... did you think there was too much customization available in that game? Don't get me wrong, but just a few soldier type pictures, abilities like in a card game and now we know there will be "only" three Titan variants available at the start? - Regarding the Titans I even understood at the first announcements of the game, that we were able to completely build our own...

I really don't want to say that I am disappointed already - especially since so far no one can really tell how the full version of the game will be, but... no completely self-constructable Titans, no individually customizable pilots (at least with swappable parts like in Halo4),... Even if I understood everything absolutely wrong, was that too much to ask for basically "just" a multiplayer shooter? Admittedly, the game is so fast pace that probably nobody can tell the difference, but I don't like the thought too much that everybody might look the same. Undoubtedly there is going to ba a ton of additional content for this game but I seriously hope this is not turning into a pay-tripple-with-dlc-experience...

Anyway, I decided long ago that I will ride that train so there's no turning back now. If there are just three Titans (titanfall.com), then that's what we have to work with. I am thinking about the Stryder since I like maneuverability and even more speed. What's it going to be for you?

Play more! Build more!

I FACED IT ALL AND I STOOD TALL

HASTA LA VISTA, 20 SOMETHING!

Yep, there we go... hit the big 30... and from now on it's not going to get better, right? - At least I remember I read somewhere that in this age the body has used up all it's bonus regenerative potential and essentially nothing new will be build by default. So in other words the body only uses what is there until it's gone. Seems like a stupid masterplan, but who knows where I got that information from and even the doctors change their opinions like underpants. At least in my heart and my mind I still feel like 16. - That has to be enough!

Thanks for all the congratulations and birthday greetings and let me share with you some of my really awesome presents:

First up: An original Gameboy!! - Isn't that great? I've somehow lost mine years ago because I forgot it in the somewhere in the house and my father decided to give it to somebody! - Luckily he didn't get his hands on most of my games and even more lucky for me that I can now play those "lost" treasures like Solar Striker, Bionic Command and Terminator again. Next in line: Remember me for the Xbox 360. I have heard so many great things about this game and I am really looking forward to finally play it. Expect a review, of course. And now look at that great book to the right; I think it's a must for every Zelda fan. Unfortunately the first 60 pages or so are only about Skyward Sword, which up to this day I simply refuse to play just from the looks of it. But the rest is pure and utmost important The Legend of Zelda knowledge together with beautiful illustrations.

This pretty blue thing is called "RS-I" (I think) and I got it from my girlfriend. I have never heard about this handheld but I think it's awesome. It is a portable system featuring a lit color display and sound together with a library of about 180 NES games, fully illegal (I suppose) from - you guessed it: China. I don't care and I am very happy about such a great present! Coming up next: A Minecraft cube. Simply the best for my bedside table to keep the creepers away at night! And last but not least, I finally got my long overdue Start Trek uniform!!! "Make it so." - Do I really need to say more? From now on Halo gaming will take place on a whole different level...

Play more! Thank more!

SUBMIT YOUR WORK

AND MAKE A CAT SMILE

I just edited my blog pages and finally introduced a new section Submit. Since I love doing reviews as well as games in general, especially the "smaller" ones, I thought it'd be a good idea to implement the official option for all you great indie game developers out there to get your work reviewed here. Well, that and the fact that I can't yet get a sponsoring deal where I get AAA titles shipped to my doorsteps. - Haha! No, I am just kidding. I seriously love the indie scene and I simply find it sad that due to how the videogame industry works so many gamers still miss out on so many awesome, homebrewn titles.

By going social I've already seen several great indie games that are being developed by highly motivated and skilled individuals. I can relate a lot to what those poeple are doing and I think with blogging about it they can get at least some support and recognition.

It basically doesn't matter to me at what stage your project currently is. I don't need a running beta, or even a prototype. - Yes, that would be helpful since I could already test a lot of stuff and give you bug reports next to general feedback. Still, I will also gladly write about your ideas in general if you aren't that far along the road yet. I guess you should have at least some basic website and information for me to work with, but just contact me and we can talk about it.

Play more! Submit more!

ANNOUNCING DETERMINATION

Hello everyone!

I know I've been very quiet and rather busy during the last weeks, but I think it was totally worth it. With this post I think it is time to tell you something about me; As you might have guessed by now, I love videogames. More than that, I always wanted to make one. I remember those days back in school when I fooled around in Turbo Pascal and me and my friends were actually programming games on our TI-92 calculators as if it was yesterday. Ever since I continued trying and repeatedly failed badly. Yes, I learned a ton of stuff from reading, trying and basically doing it - most importantly, that making a game (and it really doesn't matter how simply you want it to be) is hard as hell.

I guess some of you can relate to that pretty good. - Ever heard those common platitudes like "Don't underestimate the work", "Start simple", "Actual development time = your best guess * pi" and so on? Seriously, I tried really hard and above all I always prepared everything as good as possible. But let me tell you something: For me all those "useful hints" are bullshit. They don't help you if you want to do something like a game, because no matter what at some point it will grow bigger and the effort (either time or money you need to put into) will be multiplied. Furthermore developing something on your own is always constraint by a lot of factors and is effected greatly by your real life. You see,... there are ups but more frequently there are downs, there's probably that voice in your head that is always thriving for the maximum and that will not be satisfied with the average, there are weeks when you crunch through and get only a couple of hours to rest, there are expectations and there's pressure, constantly. Beyond that, as I mentioned before, there is that thing called reality - or rather life; events you can't influence but that in turn can destroy the most ambitious plans over night.

One of the most frustrating things about single-handedly making a game is that you can so easily be overwhelmed by the effort you need to put into it and sometimes not even the best game design document and project plan can protect you from that. If you are dedicated you can pull yourself out from the dark hole you find yourself in more than one time, but everything is limited and at some point (maybe when something else in your life happens) you can't anymore. My last attempt of creating a game had so bad physical as well as social repercussions, that I really tried to put that idea behind me. I told myself that it is useless and that it is impossible for me to develop something on my own. As I said, lowering expectations might be a good start, but for me - although I agree that "simple is good" - simple is also just not enough.

"I FIND YOUR LACK OF FAITH DISTURBING"

So what has changed? Well, first of all I couldn't do it... I was still doing concepts of games in my head and on paper. I was playing with that tool, thinking about creating a Point&Click adventure, programming on this end and trying to make that fancy puzzle game I always wanted to create, and so on. Somehow I can't. I can't put the thought of making a game behind me. So the thing that has changed is the realization that I am tied to videogames and that I just can't put them behind me and be happy with something else in my life. What didn't change however is my attitude towards making a game completely by myself. I simply know that this is impossible because although my life got a lot better it still remains complicated. You remember this dark hole I talked about before? All that struggles of development could be possible to overcome if there was somebody with you in on the same project; somebody who finds the bug in your code at a glance instead of several days later - be it by coincidence or due to knowledge, somebody to tell you that you need to take a break, to drag you out of that dark hole of frustration, someone to exchange ideas with, someone you can count on to be as motivated as you are. I told myself I will not attempt to create a game on my own until I find at least one person like this... Truth be told I haven't, yet... but - and this is probably the most important part that has changed and that made me think intensely over the turn of the year: Before, I always tried to be as closed as possible about the games I was developing. Be it from paranoia or whatnot, but I couldn't stand the idea to make anything public regarding my development. Now, since I took the leap and started to blog and use social networking services I think quite differently. I found a lot of like-minded and nice people on G+ and Twitter. All day long I see ambitious and motivated people developing their games because they believe in them. I know it maybe sounds stupid but now I don't feel that alone anymore, I feel sympathy. Like I said, I don't have a partner on this, but I feel like that it may be possible that someone notices my project and that probably someone wants to get in on it. The least that can happen is that I will get some motivational comments or feedback in general which in turn will help me a lot. I have decided to give it another shot. This time with the support of social networks. I might have to start solo on this but I think everything is possible with a bit of networked exposure.

So, let me close this announcement by assuring you that I will of course not stop doing reviews of games. I know too damn well that I will never stop playing and having to say something about the game I played on the one side, and also that I can't put all of my energy into this new project on the other side. Yes, dedication is the foundation but again - especially working solo - you need something else to put your mind on as well. Putting 100% in it at the current stage will most likely lead to obsession, health problems and probably even insanity - trust me, I've been there.

I know you all want to know something about the game I will be doing, but I don't want to let the cat out of the bag just yet. For now I am in a big planning phase (including blog page changes, and so on) but in one of my next posts you will be hearing more. Thanks for the support in advance. - Naturally, I encourage you to leave comments already. :)

Play more! Develop more!

MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND HAPPY HOLIDAYS

Hello dear friends, readers and followers!

Since I can't tell how Christams itself will turn and most of you are scattered around the globe anyway, let me take the chance and extend my best wishes and holiday greetings to all of you already now. This is the real cat btw. ... also famous during Christmas time as Santa Jesster!

Actually this year wasn't that bad and especially the last quarter, since I started blogging, was a very exciting time for me. I am happy and thankful I found that many followers and friends already and I am positive the next year will bring even more surprises and exciting developments... who knows, maybe I will even get some sponsoring deals going and can review even more stuff for you. :)

Until then, keep up the spirit and stay true to gaming and yourselves. I hope you'll also have some quiet time and you'll be able to relax probably with some nice games.


- On that note: I also need to wish you a great new year's eve now, because I will be on holidays in the east of Europe without internet access, so... I guess I will really see you just next year then. No, wait a second I can hopefully twitter you a happy new year... :D nice!

Play more! Relax more!

REAPER OF SOULS...

 ... AND WALLETS

Sorry for being absent for a while there but currently I am busy as hell in the Diablo 3 and/or Reaper of Souls forums and testing the PTR version myself. - So much going on there. I will give you some more details on the expansion at a later point, but for now and just in case you missed it:

Reaper of Souls will be released on 25.03.2014 !!!!

I am just too excited about this expansion... unfortunately it will not come cheap at 40$/40€!

Given the amount of actual new content versus the stuff that can only be considered as fix for Diablo 3 as well as the price of the original game, this price seems a bit over the top.


You wouldn't believe how intense the discussion are about that in the forums right now... we will see if Blizzard will give us some more incentive because I am not too sure if it will do them any good not to get a lot of players back into the game.

Play more! Pay more!

REAPER OF SOULS

FRIENDS & FAMILY

Not too long ago Blizzard started their friends & family beta for Reaper of Souls. - Unfortunately I am neither friend nor family so I couldn't test it myself... BUT as a big fan of the Diablo franchise since ever, naturally I am keeping a close look this great and also absolutely necessary addon/expansion. Diablo 3 was (when it came out) a rather bad game as soon as you reached endgame, everybody knows that. Completely misbalanced and faulty in several aspects. - The auction house being one of the major mistakes. Fortunately Blizzard saw their mistakes and listened to the community which over time made the game better with each single patch. For a while it got quiet in D3 and hardly anybody is playing right now, because since a few month we are all just waiting on the addon Reaper of Souls, which will knowingly render most of our current efforts useless. Now, thanks to some streamers who got into the f&f beta, we can already see the delicious meal that this addon will put on our tables in the near future (RoS release still TBA but expected in spring 2014). With this - rather extensive - post, I would like to give you an updated and complete overview about Reaper of Souls. Because I know you will probably want to see it with your own eyes, the last section of this post will include several links to some excellent sources with tons of (spoiler-free) footage and coverage!


Most Diablo players rightfully suspect that this expansion will turn the tides and make Diablo 3 finally to what it was supposed to be from the start, similar to what happened when the expansion Lord of Destruction for Diablo 2 came out. I don't want promise too much, and while it must be clear that anything mentioned here or on linked content is subject to all sorts of changes until the full release of the expansion, it seems that it is really going to hold up to all its promises and expectations!

NO-ONE CAN STOP DEATH

Due to spoiler issues I will not go into the story of the addon too much and just want to sum it up according to the little information I have unwillingly got so far: One angel - or former angel, we'll see - has enough of this never ending fight between good and evil and decides to basically destroy everything. - Kind of a radical approach but a possible solution nonetheless. Of course, nobody would benefit from that, so the Nephalem needs to stop the diabloesque depiction of the grim reaper. He/she will do that in a new act with a decent playtime in a much darker and death-related setting, and with the help of a new character class: The Crusader. Although there were rumors before that the expansion might feature two new classes, so far it seems more than definitive that the Crusader will be the only one. However, never say never when it comes to Blizzard... It's still a while until the addon hits and they might have something up their sleeves that they are keeping from the public for as long as possible.

The Crusader is some sort of special unit among the Paladins - sort holy knights. In the previous games the Paladin was always a standard character class, built around shielding, tanking and buffing other players with close- or rather sword combat related weaponry. The same goes basically for the Crusader, but since it is a special kind Paladin the Crusader's characteristic weapon is a flail and he can also use his shields for attacking. New class = a whole new set of skills = lots and lots of thing to try out. - For a detailed overview of all the cursader's abilities I recommend you check out diablofans. - Unfortunately DiabloWiki (at the time of this post) and other pages still need to update their content with the new info revealed from the f&f beta.

CHANGES FROM VANILLA TO ROS IN A NUTSHELL

• NEW AND CHANGED SKILLS FOR ALL CLASSES

Besides new and changed skills you will have one additional passive skill slot.

• PARAGON 2.0

Paragon levels will be summed up throughout all your characters to one general paragon level. Each level does basically what it did before - give you bonus points. In the new system the advantages will not manifest only in main stats, gold and magic find, but instead you can choose yourself from several categories (including for example Strength, Movement Speed or Pick-Up Radius) and put the points into what you prefer most. Each of your characters will have the full pool of paragon points to put individually. The game will save each character they way you spent your points and all paragon points - for example when you found a new item and you want to change your character - can be reset at any time without cost.

•  + 10 Levels

Level 70 is now the new maximum before your characters continue to earn paragon points. The new levels themselves offer new skills among all character classes.

• Infinite Paragon Levels

There is no more cap and you can get as high as you want. The level progression currently looks continuous compared to the old exponential progression. Advancing in paragon levels will stay tedious nevertheless since it starts about where you left of when you leveled from paragon 99 to 100!

• LOOT 2.0 WITH "SMART DROPS"

• Less Drops

No more screens full with item names. Drops will be drastically decreased.

• Better Drops

The items that drop have been improved to an unprecedented level. Even white items allegedly become worth picking up, at least due to collecting crafting materials from them. Numbers suggest an overall stat increase (damage, HP, etc.) due to new items of 300% within the first hours of playing and advancing above the old level 60 cap!

• Smart Drops

Items will be dropped with the new smart drop algorithm. That basically means if your current character is a Wizard to a certain degree you will no longer constantly find for example useless bows or fist weapons, but wands and Wizard gear instead. Smart drops also influence the stats that the items role; why should a Wizard's wand have a strength property instead of intelligence? - The new algorithm takes care of that... to a certain degree, of course.

• More/All Legendaries

This is a rather vague topic unfortunately. I am keeping my eyes on this expansion for quite a while now, so basically sometimes it is hard to distinct rumors from facts. With this one, to be honest I am not really sure now and I didn't get any answer from the official sides so far. However, a few months ago I understood the following: Reaper of Souls will not only give us a ton of new legendaries, but it will also remove the level range restrictions from all legendaries in the game! In the old Diablo 3 items (also legendaries) were designed to drop between specific levels. The legendary Axe Genzaniku for example was designed as a iLevel 12 item. This meant that after your character surpassed level 16 or 17 it was no longer possible for you to ever get this legendary dropped! Not that it wouldn't have been completely pointless to find this weapon and equip it to a let's say level 30 character, but people agreed pretty fast that it is a shame that from all the probably more than 200 legendaries people would miss out 90% (check out the Diablo 3 - Game Guide and see for yourself how many legendaries there actually were that you probably have never heard of before). These never-to-drop legendaries were actually good... Genzaniku for example could have been a nice and fun to play Axe, given the Chance to summon a ghostly Fallen Champion attribute. At endgame - as soon as characters hit level 60 - they could only find a handful of legendaries: Only legendaries between iLevel 59 and 63, if I remember correctly. Now, in RoS we are maybe able to have the chance to find any legendary that was made for the game when we get to the maximum level. And furthermore those legendaries, when they role their attributes, are supposed to be adapted to the level of the character. That means if you are on the level maximum of 70, you could now be lucky and find a iLevel 70 Genzaniku (with DPS 1300-1800, 650-950 Minimum Damage, and so on). Like I said, I am not 100% sure about this change, but I will do my best to clear that and give you confirmation as soon as I can.

• New Affixes for Legendaries

Since now, a lot more legendaries are available they have all been revisited. Furthermore legendaries feature special, unique attributes that make them outstanding and truly build-shaping! All stats on all items are now also divided into primary and secondary by the way, which makes them easier to comprehend and to plan builds accordingly.

• Almost every Legendary offers and induces to create new Builds

As seen and heard from all kind of beta sources by now, and also as declared goal of Blizzard, each legendary should now be special for you. Together with all the other customization options (paragon points, the mystic, and so on) a legendary drop is supposed to be something you feel happy about and that opens all kind of new build- and playstyle options for you.

• THE MYSTIC

Planned from the beginning of D3, then removed, the third Artisan - the Mystic - will finally be available with Reaper of Souls. She will give you even more customization options as well as battle upgrades via Enchantments.

• Transmogrification

Although personally I really hate that word and I think it doesn't really fit into the Diablo universe, this is something many players are looking forward the most. With this you will be able to change the optical appearance of any item. Meaning... you hated for example how the Vile Vard shoulders looked like? Just change them to some Journeyman Shoulder Guards for example. Just a bit cash and the Mystic will do that for you. Finally not every class will look the same anymore!

• Enchanting

If you still are not satisfied with your new items and their smart-dropped abilities, the Mystic will give you the option to re-role any attribute of any weapon! Not satisfied with 400 Strength on your new awesome legendary bow as Demon Hunter? - All you need is some cash, crafting materials and a bit of luck and you will get 400 Dexterity in no time!

• GEM UPGRADES

The maximum gem level has been raised significantly! Currently we can see three more tiers after Marquise: Imperial, Flawless Imperial and Royal. Furthermore Flawless level gems will no longer be the maximum level gems that can drop for you. If you have a maxed character (level 70) even Imperial level gems will drop on a regular basis!

• The Diamond Gem

Finally the diamond is back... Need some extra All Resist or Cool Down Reduction?

• NEPHALEM RIFTS

Nephalem Rifts are completely randomized dungeons that you can visit at any game mode (Story or Adventure) provided you find a Rift Stone. These special dungeons, filled with new extremely powerful Shrines, consist of up to 10 levels and one or more bosses during or at the end. There is a lot of testing going on with the rifts and it is hard to tell how they will really play at the end of the day. Currently it is for example still unclear whether the rifts will be accessible more often and be therefore be not that rewarding, or if they will be not so frequent but on the other hand more rewarding in terms of loot.

• ADVENTURE MODE

Is a new mode to play specially designed for farming/endgame. In this mode you can travel via the new advanced map/portal layout seamlessly between the locations of all five acts and farm whatever you want. There will be no more annoying dialogues and cutscenes to skip, just the pure looting!

• Bounties

Additionally to just farming, each "run" - so to say - in the Adventure Mode will offer you random bounties from now on. For example: Find and kill this certain enemy in that certain area, or clean this certain area completely from monsters, and so on. Bounties will reward you with Loot Bags that drop - I guess depending on difficulty - somewhat from 5 to 15 items, which of course can include legendaries. Furthermore Bounties reward you with Shards that you can exchange for even more Loot Bags or directly use for Gambling on certain items (similar to gambling in Diablo 2).

• NEW ENEMIES

Of course the new Fifth Act brings a lot of new monsters.

• New Affixes for Enemies

Monster affixes have been revisited and changed. There will also be completely new Affixes!

• Enemies scale with your Level

I am not too sure about that one, but since you hear it frequently I can't neglect to mention it. As I understand it, the monsters stats will no longer be determined by the difficult alone but scale with the level of your character. This sounds a lot like Diablo 2 and can be challenging as well as unfair at the same time since at some point your gear will no longer get better - even in RoS. Like I said, I don't know too much about that yet, but it seems to be part of the new endgame-orientated balancing and if done correctly will be a great game prolonging feature in the future.

• NEW CRAFTING RECIPES

Self explanatory... new Gems, new Weapons, new Armors,...

• New Crafting Materials

Crafting materials have also been revisited. Even white items are now supposed to be worth collecting and salvaging. I recommend you check out some footage of what is worth saving from Vanilla.

• Stack Sizes

Stack Sizes of crafting materials have been increased and won't take too many sperate slots in your chest anymore. So far it looks like all materials stack up to 1000 units in one slot!

• NEW DIFFICULTY SYSTEM

Together with the "monsters scale with you" approach this is the one point that is still very unclear to me. Since first reveals of the addon, it was said that Monster Power - your personal difficulty adjustment option for endgame farming - will no longer be capped to level 10. Now it is not only gone completely but also the other "standard" difficulties (Normal - Nightmare - Hell - Inferno) have been removed. Instead we now have: Normal - Hard - Expert - Master and Torment 1  to 6. So... with Torment 6 there will again be a cap for the monsters and they will not get stronger, even if you reach paragon 1200??

• NO MORE AUCTION HOUSES

Probably the best change of all! Yes, the downside is that trading will take place in kind of "unsafe" environments, but actually that is nothing new. I find myself asking the question: "Why would anyone want to trade at all, given Loot 2.0, awesome customization, and so on?", all the time. Also the game will on purpose make any item you change account bound and therefore render it untradeable. So yeah, the game is finally what it should have been, the loot you find, your loot and no ridiculous, completely beyond any reason auction house prices!

• CHAT AND CHANNEL-SYSTEM UPGRADES

In-Game chat and channel options have been pretty bad in D3. Something the community criticized from the start. RoS has a completely overhauled chat system featuring new options especially for clan/group management.

• LADDERS

Ladders (a competitive or rather comparative aspect of Diablo 3) are still not officially confirmed by Blizzard. Neverthells everybody is already anticipating a ladder system for sure. Since PvP will definitely still not be part of Reaper of Souls and similar to Diablo 2 a ladder might be the only system that could prolong the game almost indefinitely, I also presume that Blizzard will add it. - Probably not with the release of Reaper of Souls, but I am sure in one of the following patches. Presonally I don't care too much about a ladder, because I don't really want to play Diablo 3 competitive, but I can understand very well why a lot of player would want one. The best thing a ladder would do to me is shutting up the few real hardcore players and giving them something to be constantly busy with, while the rest of us could continue to enjoy the game without hearing about complaints that it is "too easy" all the time!

OTHER CHANGES / THE SMALL BUT INTERESTING THINGS

• Life Steal removed (or rather rendered completely ineffective for higher difficulties)

Lots of skills and other abilities seem compensate quite well for that.

• No more stacks of Nephalem Valor

Loot 2.0, Paragon 2.0, Itemization and new items in general are supposed to compensate for that. So far the droprates and items seem to work even with lower Magic Find, but basically it must be clear that your 300% Magic Find from a level 100 paragon character plus the bonus of 75% from Nephalem Valor, giving you a guaranteed Magic Find bonus of 375% is history! If you manage to transition with paragon level 100 to Reaper of Souls, you can - as it looks now - get only a maximum of 50% bonus Magic Find, provided you spend all 25 point on this paragon attribute! - The maximum Magic Find you can get with the new paragon system is +100% by the way.

! Due to changes since the last test server wipe, it seems Blizzard has still not decided to allow Magic Find as a paragon attribute at all. - Currently (PTR) the Magic Find slot has been replaced and it is no longer possible to put point into that attribute at all !

• Several "Upgrades of comfort"

For example: If you equip a stronger spell on your secondary attack and you run out of the resource to cast it, the game will now automatically cast your primary skill instead.

• Elemental Immunity

Certain items now seem to give you complete immunity (and even healing) against one element!

• Crushing Blow

An attribute that deals 25% of a white enemy's health instantly according to a proc- coefficient. Crushing Blow will be tied to other skills or rather effects, like for example spawn a health globe when crushing and enemy. - This seems quite fun and useful!

• Splash Damage

New attribute that deals damage to multiple enemies within a certain radius of the character.

• Toughness

Is the new defensive value calculated and handled differently than the old Defense stat! Thoughness also includes your overall Life!

• Nephalem Trials

Unfortunately didn't make it into the expansion. They were supposed to be a competitive aspect next to the also announced Loot Runs which turned into the Nephalem Rifts.

• Nephalem Glory

Similar to health potions, these balls are dropped from time to time, stack up to three and enhance your offensive capabilities for a short time.

• Standard Shrine Changes

Also all shrines have been overhauled and changed mostly to the better

• Auto-Potion-PickUp

Something very useful that doesn't require you to manually pick up the potions anymore. The will be now picked up by you character automatically.

• Respawn at Body

If you die you now have the option to respawn directly at your corpse and not just at the last Checkpoint!

• Diverse Champion Packs

Champion Packs no longer consist of multiple enemies of the same type. There will now be a leader (the champion) and his minions can be completely different monsters from the game.

COVERAGE

So, if the above wasn't enough for you and you still want to see everything with your own eyes, I would like to recommend you the following videos to get the best idea possible of Reaper of Souls:

1. ZIGGYD (YouTube, Web). He is one of my favorite public players covering Diablo 3 content. He knows a lot, is always friendly, never arrogant or blowing his own horn. And as a matter of fact I think he is currently the one streamer giving the best and most coverage of the Reaper of Souls beta. To prevent you from any spoilers and to get the best ideas of some of the new content I recommend the following videos in particular:







2. MOLDRAN (YouTube, Twitch) is another one of my favorite streamers and Diablo 3 players. Not only that we come from the same country, he is a particularly smart guy. If you ever wondered why Excel is such a useful program and how it can help you to understand Diablo and efficiency better, you should check out his videos! He is currently on his way back from studying abroad, but be sure when he's back he'll cover lots of Reaper of Soul calculations and give you the most efficient strategies way before the expansion launches! You should definitely drop by his stream and/or check his YouTube channel including those videos about RoS:







3. ARCHON the Wizard (YouTube, Twitch). Basically he was the streamer who introduced Diablo 3 streaming to me... I always liked him as well as his stream. He is a very natural and friendly guy being respected far beyond Diablo streaming. I didn't watch his stream lately because D3 got kind of boring before the RoS closed beta and also he switched to other games, but since he is back online with D3 and the new expansion there are already some must see videos from him:







That's it. I hope I didn't forget something, but even if I did... that'd be nothing more than another prove of the expansion's extent and what great things are coming! As soon as there are any other news and important developments, be sure to get an update here. - Maybe I will be picked and also get a key to the closed beta (which started a few days ago) and I will be able to give you some unique perspectives next time. So far I can only play the new PTR-Version which unfortunately doesn't include the major RoS content that unfortunately necessary to do real testing... anyway,..

Play more! Expect more!