Monthly Archives: April 2016

A “Gigantic” Leap Forward – End of CBT 5.0 Impressions

By Michael Sagoe (mikedot)

 

With the rising trend of action MOBAs and Hero Shooters being released one after another, the team at Motiga has been hard at work developing their very own title that promises to be larger than life.

Gigantic. Just from the name alone, it sounds like a game that’s going to be huge, and it certainly has the potential to be, given the amount of progress that Motiga has made on the game so far. Gigantic has been in a beta test phase for quite some time, and just recently they ended their CBT 5.0 24/7 testing in order to prepare for newer content and features to be added.

During their CBT 5.0 timeframe, a bunch of new additions have been added into the game, including a new map, two new heroes, hero balance changes, system changes and much more for players to enjoy and to give their feedback on. I was pretty excited for this title back when it was first announced, and I still am to this day, especially after seeing how much progress has been made on the game. CBT 5.0 lasted from February to April 2016, but the devs have been pretty nose to the grindstone, so most gamers I talk to aren’t even aware of the updates happening in-game. In this article, I’ll be briefly be discussing most of the changes and additions that have been added since then.

Gigantic

New Heroes: Beckett and Pakko

The two newest heroes to the roster, Beckett and Pakko, both offer some pretty significant themes and play styles when compared to the rest of the cast. Armed with a jetpack, grenades and firearms that can transform between a pair of pistols and a launcher cannon, Beckett can take to the skies while raining gunfire and explosions from above. On the opposite spectrum is Pakko, a cute looking Yeti-like hero who runs around with his arms wide open and a huge smile on his face, looking like he’s ready to give his foes the hug of a lifetime.

Gigantic-Beckett

Beckett’s set of dual pistols allow her to gun down crowds of foes, and while they do very little damage per hit, her damage output on single foes can rack up very quickly due to a very fast fire rate and the option to upgrade for more damage and ammo capacity. Her grenade skill is also pretty much what you would expect, a timed AOE explosion that can be lobbed off of walls to catch opponents around corners unaware. It can be upgraded for status effects such as poison. Her cannon weapon allows her to engage enemies from just short of sniping range, although the explosive power is a bit lacking. It’s a nice AoE poke to whittle foes down prior to a massive engagement, but her grande skill is there to cover real indirect fire damage anyway.

While most of her skills are very easy to understand for anyone that has ever touched a first or third person shooter before, learning to control her jetpack skill takes a bit of getting used to. You can activate it while on the ground or even falling in mid-air, making it a pretty versatile “oh shit” button. Beckett is able to gain the upper hand by getting the drop on enemies from unexpected angles, though she can only stay in the air for four seconds, so each second spent in the air must be used with care. Though four seconds of being spared the wrath of melee assassins like Tripp can feel like an eternity. Although, it is possible to upgrade her jetpack to last for six seconds, as well as the option to triple boost in the air, allowing for some insane height gain, you’ll end up missing out on some escaping potential such as speed boosting and enemy pushback when dealing with troublesome melees. Other than that, she’s pretty typical of what you would expect from a gun toting character: Just point, shoot and destroy whoever happens to walk into your crosshairs.

Her visual appearance is also very different from the rest of the cast, sporting a more steampunk-like design very reminiscent of superheroes like the Rocketeer. While no design ideas have been revealed as to what her premium skins may look like, I have a feeling that they may go with more space-aged themes, which I would totally see myself getting.

Gigantic-Pakko

Some time after Beckett was introduced, the lovable tank Pakko joined the roster. However, his cute appearance can be rather deceiving. Pakko focuses more on disrupting the flow of enemy teams with crowd control abilities while being able to sustain himself in battle. He can also slide around on his butt to engage or flee from foes, throw giant snowballs that explode and freeze enemies on impact, and use ice breath to slow foes down while speeding up his allies. Most of these abilities can be spec’d either to do extra damage, or allow Pakko to selfheal in the middle of battle.

For those that aren’t too fond of fighting enemies head on, but still like to be in the thick of the action while focusing more on supporting teammates, then Pakko seems to fit your narrow niche perfectly.  But as much as I love how Pakko can sustain himself in battle, I do feel like his ability to self-heal makes him a tier above the existing tank of choice, The Margrave, with his armor stacking abilities.  Pakko is also considerably faster when it comes to his mobility and attacks, so he’s a lot easier to get a handle on compared to The Margrave. While Pakko’s damage output isn’t great, being able to disrupt and heal himself is more than enough to cause trouble during team fights. Throw in a dedicated healing from Vadasi or Uncle Sven and you got a tank that’s sure to make your foes throw their keyboard in a fit of rage.

In his current state, I really do like Pakko as an alternative to The Margrave due to his skill rewarding kit and cute appearance, but he has some way to go before he’s what I’d consider balanced.

 

Siren’s Strand

Set on a glacial island where ships and vessels have crashed and have been incased in snow and ice for many years, Siren’s Strand is the latest map added into the mix. Along with a ton icy blocks, caves with connecting paths and wreckage all over, this new map sets the stage for all sorts of close quarters and mid-range combat. Not to mention being one of the most complicated maps ever seen in a MOBA setting.

Gigantic

Compared to previous maps such as Sanctum Falls and Ghost Reef, getting used to the layout for Siren’s Strand took me a long while, because there’s so many caves, cliffs and lookout spots all over the map. It was difficult for me to find my way around it. Not only that, but the layout of the map changes itself to reveal more hidden paths and tunnels during the final clash! Once you get used to the layout, there’s plenty of opportunities for escapes and ambushes, but for anyone new, there’s simply too many ways to get lost. Personally, I feel that some of the paths and tunnels could be toned down just a little. Having plenty of paths to take is great, but I fear that faster, more agile characters could potentially abuse the hell out of this layout in its current state. Overall, though, while the visuals of Siren’s Strand are very pleasing, I wasn’t too fond of playing on it, as it simply didn’t compare to the openness of Ghost Reef, of the symmetric balance of Sanctum Falls.

Gigantic

Gameplay Balance

Over the months, Gigantic has gone through major gameplay tweaks in order to help with the flow of battles. The biggest and most noticeable change is how the stamina meter works. Now, stamina costs for sprinting and attack usage has been reduced, allowing players to sprint and battle much longer than before. This is a much need change to the game as stamina used to feel incredibly punishing before. Experienced players were forced into a very cautious playstyle while newer players handed themselves over on a silver platter as they rushed into battle with no energy left to defend themselves.  While playing cautiously is still more important here than most shooters, going in with guns blazing is also a viable strategy now, which fits in perfectly with the gameplay’s focus on mobility.

Characters have also been tweaked and rebalanced several times over, with the expectation of the new arrivals. Every class in the game has their roles in combat, and they all feel unique and distinct from each other. No ability feels too underpowered or overpowered, and it always feels that each skill upgrade that your hero builds towards is a real decision, as you recognize you are sacrificing something else just as valuable int he process. I honestly feel that almost all the heroes are in a very good place at the moment, and with just a few more tweaks, they could easily achieve near perfect balance among the current roster.

The guardians and creatures themselves have also been rebalanced. The guardians hit a lot harder than before, and can now spot and attack enemies at a much greater range. Power stealing from enemy guardians is way more difficult now, and unless you’re a skillful backcapper, bringing a teammate along to ambush a guardian is very much recommended.

Gigantic

Other Additions

In order to help players communicate better in random pick up group matches, a ping wheel has been added. By using the middle mouse button and shifting their mouse cursor around, players can ping their location as well as give out commands to teammates. With all honesty, I really can’t say that I like this system at all. The amount of commands you can give is limited, and selecting those commands in the first place feels incredibly clunky. All this system does for me is make me wish that they would just reintroduce good old fashion text chat instead. It also makes me wonder why text chat was even removed in the first place.

The last bit of content introduced recently was the new crown boosts and fortune cards. In Gigantic, crowns and rubies are a type of in-game currency that players can use to spend on new heroes, creatures and cosmetic items for the game, with crowns being obtainable through gameplay and rubies being obtainable with real money. The new fortune card system allows players to take on a handpicked set of challenges such as a set number of kill streaks or a set number of assists while playing as a specific hero. If a player completes a challenge, they’ll be rewarded with extra prestige points, as well as extra crowns to use in the store. Players will be given one set of cards each day, but can also use rubies to draw more fortune cards.

Gigantic

While this is a fine way to keep players occupied with the game, one issue that some may have with the system is the hero challenge cards. These cards are generally the most rewarding but may require a hero that the player doesn’t have. For those that aren’t willing to unlock specific heroes (or wait for specific heroes to be available on a free rotation), they may be disappointed that they’ll have to either pass up on the card or draw another set of cards in the hopes that they’ll get another decent rewarding card that they can complete with the heroes they have.

All in all, CBT 5.0 for Gigantic shows just how much love and dedication Motiga has for this promising title. While I still have no clue when they plan to finish development on Gigantic, it becomes clearer that they’re steadily reaching that finish line. With three maps, a handful of heroes that fit tons of different play styles and a fully functional cash shop and progression system, I’d like to say that the game is more than ready to be launched, but time will tell. Perhaps these tweaks being done right now are the final additions before open beta?

Camelot Unchained Surpasses Roleplay Stretch Goal

It’s been a few weeks since we’ve followed up on CityState Games progress on developing the Realm v Realm sandbox MMORPG on everyone’s mind, Camelot Unchained. Over the past multiple weeks the company has been in some serious crunch overtime pushing to get all the moving parts in place for the long awaited (and many times delayed) closed beta test.

Camelot Unchained Roleplay Stretch Goal

The good news is that all said moving parts are in place now, and are just being fine tuned to be functional before open beta can begin. And seemingly this hard work didn’t go unnoticed as the team has yet again passed a seemingly impossible stretch goal, raising $4,025,000 to meet the Roleplay tier!

According to the website, this money will be spent to outsource animation design to a third party company who will implement roleplay friendly animations into the game like dancing, racial idles, taunts, and other forms of merriment that Mark Jacobs hates. Since of course these animations don’t involve killing things. The passive boon to this is that should the CityState team find time to work on animations themselves, they can instead focus on perfecting animations that DO kill things. So really a win win no matter your tastes.

We’ll be keeping an eye out on news as Camelot Unchained should be making some pretty big announcements about beta in the near future. If you want to stay in the know, their Twitch channel has never been more active lately, so be sure to follow them there.

Uncharted Waters Online Episode Atlantis Coming in May

 Uncharted Waters Online Episode Atlantis Coming in May

Similar to the previous four-chapter long major expansion, Gran Atlas, released throughout 2015 – 2016, the new major expansion, Episode Atlantis is a three-chapter long expansion to be released for the game in 2016. The first of the three chapters, King Minos, will arrive on May 12th, 2016.
The following new features will be added to the game in this chapter:

  • Land Region Investigation: Using the Triangulation method to survey land areas and complete their maps.
  • Atlantis Treasure Hunt: Follow clues to discover ancient advanced technology and the legends about the fall of Atlantis.
  • Endless Dungeon: Explore the Labyrinth on the island Crete to fight increasingly difficult enemies and loot valuable treasures. The legendary Minotaur can be encountered as a boss.
  • Auto Navigation: Set your destination port and let the ship auto sail.
  • New Astronomical Object Discovery: Discover unknown comets, asteroids, and nebulas and name them after your character.
  • Three New Ships:
    Soleil Royal – The most beautiful French navy flagship.
    HMS Endeavour – British research vessel commanded by James Cook.
    Prins Willem – It was the largest Dutch East India Company trading ship.

Total War: Warhammer Chaos Warriors DLC Now Free Week One

 Total War: Warhammer Chaos Warriors DLC Now Free Week One

Creative Assembly today announced that the Chaos Warriors Race Pack will now also be offered free to players who purchase Total War: WARHAMMER in the first week of sale.

 

“The Chaos Warriors have proven to be hugely popular” said Creative Director, Mike Simpson “and, by extending the deadline for getting them for free by a week, we can ensure loyal fans who don’t feel like pre-ordering  don’t miss out, while still rewarding early adopters whose support is really valuable to us.”

 

“We’re really confident in the game and with the community backing us so strongly this should be the biggest launch for Total War ever.”

 

Retailers who are currently supporting the pre-order will continue offering the DLC for free into the first week, with the free period coming to an end at 10:00 AM PDT/18:00 BST on May 31, 2016.

Move or Die Viewers vs Streamers Content Update Now Available

Move or Die Viewers vs Streamers Content Update Now Available

The expression “the more, the merrier” has never been more apropos as indie game developers Those Awesome Guys announced today that the Move or Die “Viewers vs Streamers” free content update is available today. Packed full of goodness including the new Heavy Bullets game mode, Teleport Mutator, and playable characters like renowned indie game hero Shovel Knight, the update also adds the highly anticipated Twitch Mode, enabling – for the first time – Twitch viewers to play with livestreamers in Move or Die.

“Today is an exciting day, as now Twitch viewers can now influence and interact directly with their favorite livestreaming hosts in Move or Die,” states Nicolae Berbece, founder and lead developer of Those Awesome Guys. “With the new Viewers vs Streamers update, we included game modes only available in Twitch Mode that allow the Twitch audience to vote on different lasers firing, bombs dropping on specific areas, balancing platforms, deciding who is the most handsome player, and much more. We basically allow the Twitch chat members to decide which livestreamers live and die in Move or Die – and it’s going to be glorious!”
“Because our Game Developer Success initiative centers on working with developers who are interested in leveraging Twitch for their products, Move or Die’s integration of a dedicated Twitch mode is perfectly aligned with our vision for the industry,” said Marcus ‘djWHEAT’ Graham, Director of Programing, Twitch. “After seeing the positive reception to their Twitch mode at our recent PJSaltan of Stream tournament, it illustrates how keeping the Twitch community in mind should be a core part of game design.”

QWERTY Bombs is one of the unique Twitch Mode special events that viewers can control!

Move or Die “Viewers vs Streamers” free content update features:

  • Twitch Mode –When this mode is enabled, viewers will be able to vote for the game modes played, choose Mutator options, and directly influence gameplay in the following Twitch mode special game events:
    • Balance – Players spawn on a platform above a floor made out of death tiles, and chat members control the direction the platform is tipped, causing the players to slide off of it and die.
    • DropKill – Each player spawns on their own platform that is slowly descending into death tiles and viewers vote to raise a specific platform for each player delaying death.
    • Lasers – The top of the room is armed with huge lasers that are triggered by Twitch chat room votes. When enough votes are tallied, LASERS WILL FIRE!
    • QWERTY Bombs – A keyboard layout is mapped on the screen and the viewers can type any letter to launch a bomb that explodes in-game.
  • Heavy Bullets – New game mode where each player gets an empty gun and two bullets are randomly spawned. Collect the bullet in order to fire the gun, but watch out as the bullets have a “heavy” short-range trajectory and missing will allow the bullet to be picked up by an opponent!
  • Teleporter Mutator – The new Mutator enables a player to teleport a brief distance forward while in mid-air – even through doors and walls!
  • Added Playable Characters – Seven new characters including Glitch from Twitch, Tankman from NewGrounds, and Shovel Knight!
  • New Game Announcer – The melodious voice of Arin (EgoRaptor) from Game Grumps joins Move or Die Announcers list! Hi mom!