Yearly Archives: 2015

Descent: Underground Pre-Alpha Released To Backers

Descent: Underground Pre-Alpha Released To Backers news header

Descendent Studios, the Austin, Texas-based game developer, today announced the first public release of its reboot of the classic 1990s FPS, Descent. The pre-alpha version of Descent: Underground is now available to some backers of the successful Kickstarter project. The release comes one week after the game had a successful public debut at the Rooster Teeth Expo (RTX) in Austin.

An officially-licensed prequel to the enormously successful Descent series of games, Descent: Underground combines first-person shooter action with six degrees of freedom vehicular movement. Players take on the role of pilots commanding space-combat drones in high-stakes battles for control of warren-like asteroid mines.

Descent: Underground successfully completed a Kickstarter crowd funding campaign on April 10, 2015. In less than four months, Descendent Studios was able to deliver its first playable version at RTX. With its AAA graphics and unique gameplay, Descent: Underground attracted long lines at the expo as backers and fans waited anxiously to play the game on screens and in virtual reality using Oculus Rift headsets.

“Many people kept coming back, bringing their friends and in many cases, their parents,” said Descendent Studios CEO Eric ’Wingman’ Peterson. “We had about a thousand play-throughs last weekend and not one person gave the game a thumbs-down.”

Today, Descendent Studios is releasing a playable version of the game to a group of especially-dedicated backers known as the “Advisory Board.” Members of the Board have already assisted the developers with a number of important tasks, among them, verifying the flight model for the game’s spacecraft matched that of the original Descent game.

In the next few weeks, the Descent: Underground pre-alpha will be made available to backers who pledged for “Proving Grounds” pre-alpha access and members of “The Underground,” a club that gets insider access to learn more about the studio’s game development process. More information is available on the company’s website at www.descendentstudios.com.

Descent: Underground is scheduled for release in March of 2016 on PC, Mac, and Linux.

ARK: Survival Evolved Unlocks Dev Kit Alongside Mammoth Mod Contest

ARK: Survival Evolved Unlocks Dev Kit Alongside Mammoth Mod Contest news header

OMG – so much news from Studio Wildcard today: the launch of the ARK Dev Kit directly within the Epic Games Launcher, massive Alienware mod contest, and the release of the badass ‘Survival of the Fittest’ tournament battle mode. To celebrate the news, ARK: Survival Evolved is now available on the Amazon Store, at an introductory, 25% off limited quantity sale!

Studio Wildcard today released the ARK Dev Kit, a streamlined version of the UE4 Editor to simplify the creation and sharing process of mods for ARK: Survival Evolved. It is available to download now for free via the Epic Games Launcher HERE. Creative souls can easily generate their own ARK items, weapons, creatures, maps and game modes to share with fellow survivors online.

Got mad modding skills? The “ARK: Survival Evolved Modding Contest” also kicks off today, sponsored by Alienware and is a massive competition to celebrate the best of the best in the modding community. The contest objective is to use the Unreal Engine 4 ARK Dev Kit to create a new “Mod” that best exemplifies the judging criteria. Players can submit diverse island maps, underground environments, game modes, new structures and items for a chance to win over $25,000 in cash and prizes. The more creative the better! To enter the contest and find details on rules and regulations, go HERE.

●      Grand Prize (1st Place): $15,000 USD, Alienware Area-51 Desktop, and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Graphics Card

●      2nd Place: $5,000 USD, Alienware X51 Desktop, and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 Graphics Card

●      3rd Place: $2,500 USD and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 Graphics Card

To showcase the depth of the ARK Dev Kit, the Studio Wildcard team created the competitive ‘Survival of the Fittest’ (SoTF) total conversion mod, which is now available to download via Steam Workshop. Each SotF battle takes place on a modified version of the ARK island, with the objective being to eliminate all other survivors before they eliminate you! The map is surrounded by a dome-shaped force field that shrinks as the match progresses, and leveling, gathering, taming and building happen at a quicker rate. As the contestants enter this arena, not only do they need to look out for the dangers from the creatures and the other survivors, but also randomized ‘Evolution Events.’ These events take place every 30 minutes and have major impact on the gameplay, from freak weather occurrences, to dinosaurs dropping from the sky, extra supply drops, day-to-night shifts, player location reveals, and more. Best of all, the full source content for the ‘Survival of the Fittest’ mode is available within the ARK Dev Kit, so aspiring mod creators can see how this game-changing “Total Conversion” has been put together, and build on it or make their own!

Gloria Victis Implements Passive Abilities & Structure Upgrades

Gloria Victis Implements Passive Abilities & Structure Upgrades news header

Gloria Victis players can enjoy two important new changes in the game: passive abilities and structure upgrading.

Passive abilities let players customize their characters further to suit their playstyle, with skills like weapon and armor efficiency. Players can also now upgrade gates, fortification defenses, and hire stronger guards for their structures.

Forward looking, Gloria Victis will be adding siege machines, a new inventory system, and an expanded world. You can read more about these updates in this blog post.