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If there's any constant with Baldur's Gate 3, it's that there's always more to discover, and even repeated playthroughs can often leave certain secrets or details unrevealed. The vast array of choices and possibilities is a large part of what's made the game so attractive, and many interesting outcomes can act as exciting little surprises whenever they're first triggered. On the other hand, it's also possible to encounter scenarios that are ultimately more unpleasant than anything, a natural consequence of telling a story in a fantasy world filled with ********* and treachery. View the full article

Genshin Impact 's version 4.7 will reportedly introduce at least four events that consist of challenges. Genshin Impact adds different types of events every month, allowing players to earn Primogems they can use to buy Intertwined Fates or purchase battle pass levels. These timed exclusive festivities offer storytelling, exploration, combat, and mini-games in which players take on waves of enemies. Some events in Genshin Impact, such as Vibro-Crystal, Misty Dungeon, and Windtrace, get their rerun once a year. View the full article

It's a wonderful time if transhuman existentialism in gaming is your bag. Stellar Blade dropped on PS5 to strong reviews last week, and many (myself included) have been keeping themselves busy dismantling Naytiba over the weekend. Well, if you've had your fill of Shift Up's maiden triple-A voyage, then let me (re)introduce you to Yoko Taro's incredible NieR Automata - and it's currently 60% off in the May PS Store *****. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Alien Rogue Incursion could be the most terrifying PSVR 2 game yet The best PS5 games to play in 2024 The best horror games on console 2024 View the full article

The Helldivers 2 ammo economy is undergoing a big change in developer Arrowhead's newest update, as it drops patch 01.000.300. While fully exhausting your magazines on the higher difficulties is something everyone should be aware of, exactly how we engage with our ammo counts is about to shift. On top of this change, you can now expect balancing adjustments to weapons, stratagems, and enemies across the board. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: Helldivers 2's stratagem gamble is one Arrowhead hopes will pay off New Helldivers 2 major order forces players to make a difficult choice Helldivers 2 players need to download this new AMD GPU update View the full article

To this day, when I think Viking games, I think Valheim. Iron Gate's survivalistic sword-and-shield adventure is the definitive videogame interpretation of Norse mythology, superior even to the sweeping narrative and exhaustive detail of *********'s Creed Valhalla. You take that, mix it with the horde slaying of Halls of Torment, and throw in a small nod to Skyrim, and you have a gorgeous new roguelike that is proving immensely popular on Steam just three days since its long-awaited 1.0 release. Read the rest of the story... View the full article

A fresh set of Genshin Impact 4.7 leaks are outlining a new endgame mode that may challenge players to the point that they need to farm for perfect Artifact pieces. At the moment, the action RPG by HoYoverse is in the early phase of Version 4.6. The patch was highly awaited due to its content, which includes an expansion to Fontaines southern borders with Sumeru, new Character Quests, events, and, most importantly, the addition of the playable version of Arlecchino in Genshin Impact, who had long been expected by players. Her arrival also brings forth a powerful new gameplay mechanic. View the full article

Albion Online the MMO from Sandbox Interactive has now formally opened the gates for Europe and MENA (Middle East and North *******) with their brand new server. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

Twitter user pl_evil has helpfully translated a recent letter to shareholders from Bloober Team, showing that their new game "Project C" will be revealed later this year. This will be the studio's next original game, after they wrapped up Layers Of ***** last year with, confusingly, Layers Of ***** (the natural progression for a series: Layers Of *****, Layers Of ***** 2, and then Layers Of ***** again, although it was going to be called Layers Of Fears at one point). Bloober Team are currently doing a lot of IP work for other people, with the Silent Hill 2 remake due out later this year, and a game codenamed "Project R" in concert with Skybound Entertainment. Skybound are The Walking ***** company, so I wouldn't give you long odds for a bet on what Project R is about. Neither would I be surprised if Project C is unveiled this summer by a man named Geoff with shiny shiny trainers. I'm interested to see what it is, and honestly I'm hoping it's a brand new standalone thing, rather than a forced sequel to Observer or 2021's The Medium (where I got the header). Read more View the full article

Manor Lords’ huge Steam wishlists have translated into a bumper launch that saw over one million copies sold in just a day. Manor Lords launched on April 26 in Early Access form and soon rose through the player concurrents ranks on Valve’s platform. It hit a peak Steam concurrent player count of 173,178 — according to publisher Hooded Horse, that’s the highest ever for a city builder, and even other similar genres, such as GSG/4x/colony sims. That means Manor Lords has enjoyed a ******* Steam launch than the likes of Civilization and Cities: Skylines. Manor Lords is a medieval strategy game featuring in-depth city building, large-scale tactical battles, and complex economic and social simulations. It was developed by Slavic Magic, a one-person studio founded by Greg Styczeń. IGN’s Manor Lords Early Access review returned a 7/10. We said: “Manor Lords is a gorgeous medieval city-builder that kept me occupied for hours building my perfect, cozy hamlets, but it definitely feels very early in its Early Access development.” In a tweet, Styczeń outlined the main points for the planned next patch: Fix all the weird homeless bugs.Tune the archer damage.Tune the trade oversupply mechanics (it's too harsh and punishes regional specialization).Slow down the rate of the AI claiming territories.Improve the sawpit efficiency / storage. Manor Lords is the latest mid-priced game to see enormous success in early 2024 following the release of Pocket Pair's Palworld and Arrowhead's Helldivers 2. The trend comes at a time when some triple-A $70 games, such as Rocksteady's ******** Squad: ***** the Justice League and Ubisoft's Skull and Bones, have struggled. Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

Manor Lords isn't just restricted to being a fantastic medieval city builder and management sim, if you choose to do so, you can also partake in wars and skirmishes for land and resources... Read more.View the full article

Pokémon Go fans are rightfully upset yet again at Niantic’s Hatch Day formula. The latest Hatch Day was on April 28 and lasted from 2pm until 5pm local time. Within those three hours, trainers could find 2km Eggs that guaranteed a Cleffa hatch with a higher chance of the Pokémon being shiny. It is not a guaranteed shiny hatch, but the odds are good enough that it was worth trying your luck. View the full article

Manor Lords is currently another 2024 release smashing through the charts on Steam! Coming from developer Slavic Magic and publisher Hooded Horse, it's certainly impressive. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article

The GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is widely regarded as the GOAT. The 7-year-old GPU marks the last time a flagship gaming GPU was offered at a reasonable price, that plus its exceptional longevity. Read Entire Article View the full article

Working out how to upgrade burgage plots in Manor Lords is one of the most confusing steps in establishing your first medieval township. If you hadn't worked it out already, burgage plots are important; they not only provide shelter for your peasantry, but they give access to a variety of item-producing workshops—once you upgrade them, that is... Read more.View the full article

Fallout 4's next-gen update arrived late last week, and uh, a lot of folks weren't too impressed. While a lot of the initial backlash was due to technical issues or bugs, a lot of those on PC who've given the update a go now seem to be looking for ways to revert their game back to its pre-update state. Enter a couple of works that've quickly shot to the top of the game's Nexus Mods page. If you're just catching up on things, while a lot of the big complants folks have had about Fallout 4's next-gen update have involved problems that've either since been resolved or hopefully should be soon - such as PlayStation Plus users temporarily being unable to upgrade PS4 versions to PS5 without being charged. Meanwhile, on PC - as game updates often do - it's rendered a lot of key Fallout 4 mods unable to be used until they too have been updated, earning plenty of ire from those in the midst of modded playthroughs who hadn't made plans to stop their game from updating. So, this is how we've ended up with two mods specifically aimed at helping people who've installed the update get back to playing pre next-gen Fallout 4 rocketing right to the top of Nexus Mods' most downloaded Fallout 4 mods for the past week, despite only having arrived after the update did. Read more View the full article

Fade is an agent in VALORANT who excels in setting her team up for success, and she can also use her shadows to reveal the tree area on Lotus in a way that no one else can. On April 26, a player on VALORANT’s subreddit showcased a newly discovered Fade lineup on Lotus that makes her stronger than ever. To perform this useful, yet easy trick, you have to stand on top of a rock in A main, aim slightly above the door, and throw her Haunt ability. By doing so, you reveal the entire tree area, providing your team with a ton of information. View the full article

*****, it turns out, isn't always a bubbly pool of magma where like, devils prod you with forks. There is a second ***** in Helldivers 2, a ***** made up of wartorn planets and soldiers who ****** bile-spewing bugs and robots. And it is a ***** that is subject to patches. One such update has nerfed a bunch of weapons including the popular quasar cannon. It's also increased the number of ****** patrols based on player numbers and tweaked the game's level generation, with the former making life more difficult in *****, and the latter possibly making things more interesting. Read more View the full article

The Escape From Tarkov developers' efforts to escape from a DLC paywall quagmire of their own quagmiring continue with an update and apology from Battlestate chief operational officer Nikita Buyanov, who says he "did not foresee" the adverse reaction to selling a new PvE mode as part of a new special edition, after telling purchasers of a previous edition they'd get "all subsequent DLC" for free. Read more View the full article

Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler has made the always wise decision to frame No Rest for the Wicked as their own Lord of the Rings. The latest game from Ori and the ****** Forest developer Moon Studios, No Rest for the Wicked, launched into early access this week, with our Sherif saying it's made a ******* first impression, even if he's worried about all the crafting and survival guff. While the game's 1.0 is likely still a while away, Mahler has made it clear that once it does come out that there will be lots more to come after it. Writing on Twitter, the CEO wrote, "Judging by the questions I'm getting, it looks like some people think that we'll release 1.0 and then we're done? Folks, we're nowhere near done with No Rest for the Wicked. There is so much that we've already built that none of you even know about and we want to deliver this in a masterful way!" Mahler described the early access phase as "just the beginning for us" and that the studio already has plans for what comes after 1.0. "No Rest for the Wicked is like our Lord of the Rings. And to further use this analogy, what we've done so far is akin to doing a 'test screening' of the first bits. 1.0 will be our 'Fellowship of the Ring'. And as you all know, there's lots to come after that. So to be clear: We'll be working on No Rest for the Wicked for another 5-10 years. This is our Magnum Opus. We always had lofty ambitions and we said we're going to contribute in a huge way to the ARPG genre - and that is our intention." Read more View the full article

At the end of 2023, Nexon subsidiary, Embark Studios, released THE FINALS, and it was a smashing success. Reportedly, Nexon’s next project is a Game of Thrones MMORPG. According to Redanian Intelligence’s post from April 29, Nexon is working on a game set in Game of Thrones’ Westeros, mainly Winterfell and The Wall. The story should start around the fourth or fifth season of the popular fantasy TV series when Roose Bolton starts ruling the North as Warden. During this time, Jon Snow and Sam Tarly are still closely watching The Wall. View the full article

Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has released a significant patch for the game that makes big balance changes to weapons, stratagems, enemies, and missions. Patch 01.000.300 includes a much-needed tweak to burning damage, now reduced by 15%. Burning damage was causing chaos to friend and foe alike in the hugely popular PlayStation 5 and PC co-op shooter after a recent buff. Hopefully now planets such as Hellmire, which features ***** tornados, will be more manageable. Elsewhere, armors with an armor rating above 100 now also reduce damage on headshots, and victory poses will now only play for the extracted, which means, as Arrowhead put it in the patch notes: “no stolen valor on my ship.” As for weapons, it’s worth checking out the patch notes, below, for the details, but one highlight is a quickfire change to the recently released RL-77 Airburst Rocket Launcher, which was causing havoc. It will now no longer detonate when shot near stratagems (HMG turret, Sentries, Resupplies) and other Helldivers, and has a reduced proximity radius. On enemies, again, it’s worth checking out the patch notes, but players will welcome a change to Gunship spawners, which now have a much lower cap on how many gunships they can have active at the same time. Meanwhile, patrol spawning has been increased when there are fewer than four players. The fewer the players the ******* the change, Arrowhead said. For four-player missions there will be no change compared to before. The biggest noticeable change will be for solo players at higher difficulties, Arrowhead clarified. Welcome gameplay changes include the ability to disable automatic climbing and vaulting while sprinting, which will help with movement. There are some fun “democracy spreading” changes, too. For example, when readying up, Helldivers now salute “to ensure maximum democratic readiness.” And be warned: shots that ricochet from heavy armored enemies will now properly hit the Helldiver who fired them. “Trigger discipline is highly recommended,” Arrowhead said. If you’re looking for more on Helldivers 2, check out IGN’s feature on the Let Me Solo Her of Helldivers 2, a player who has answered over 100 **** Beacons as part of a mission to help others. Helldivers 2 has become one of the surprise hits of 2024 since launching in February, topping the charts on Steam and reportedly selling around three million copies. According to at least one analyst, it's still growing. Check out IGN's Helldivers 2 review to find out why it's going down so well. Helldivers 2 update 01.000.300 patch notes in full: Overview For this patch, we have made improvements and changes to the following areas: Balance changes to weapons, stratagems, and enemiesChange to the Spread Democracy mission Balancing General Armors with armor rating above 100 now also reduce damage on headshots.Victory poses will now only play for the extracted. (No stolen valor on my ship.)Burning damage reduced by 15% Primary, Secondary & Support WeaponsCB-9 Exploding Crossbow Slightly smaller **********Increased staggerDecreased number of maximum mags from 12 to 8Increased number of magazines received from resupply from 6 to 8Slight reduction in ergonomicsMuzzle velocity increased LAS-99 Quasar Cannon Increased recharge time by 5 seconds BR-14 Adjudicator Full auto is now the default ***** modeReduced recoilIncreased maximum mags from 6 to 8Increased number of magazines received from resupply from 6 to 8Now placed amongst ******** rifles LAS-98 Laser Cannon Slightly increased damageSlightly reduced damage versus large volume bodies SG-8P Punisher Plasma Decreased maximum mags from 12 to 8Increased amount of magazines received from resupply from 6 to 8Increased projectile speed, but will still keep a similar rangeDecreased damage falloff on the **********Now placed in the energy weapons category ARC-12 Blitzer Increased shots per minute from 30 to 45Now placed in the energy weapons category R-36 Eruptor Decreased number of maximum mags from 12 to 6********** damage drops off slightly faster LAS-16 Sickle Decreased amount of magazines from 6 down to 3 LAS-5 Scythe Increased damage from 300 to 350Decreased max number of mags from 6 down to 4 RS-422 Railgun Increased armor ************ in both safe mode and unsafe modeStagger force slightly reduced MG-101 Heavy Machine **** Third-person crosshair enabled 63CS Diligence Counter ******* Damage increased from 128 to 140Ergonomics improved R-63 Diligence Damage increased from 112 to 125 P-19 Redeemer Slight increase in recoil P-2 Peacemaker Increased damage from 60 to 75 P-8 Senator Increased damage from 150 to 175Speedloader added when reloading on an empty cylinder–speeds up reload on empty considerably LAS-7 Dagger Increased damage from 150 to 200 AR-19 Liberator Damage increased from 55 to 60 AR-23C Liberator Concussive Damage increased from 55 to 65 JAR-5 Dominator Damage decreased from 300 to 275 AX/AR-23 Guard Dog Decreased damage by 30% StratagemsA/MG-43 Machinegun Sentry Increased health to match other Sentries A/ARC-3 Tesla Tower Increased health by 33% FAF-14 Spear Added reload stage reload after the spent missile had been discarded RL-77 Airburst Rocket Launcher Airburst Rocket Launcher will no longer detonate when shot near stratagems (HMG turret, Sentries, Resupplies) and other Helldivers.Reduced proximity radius Enemies Bile Spewer and Nursing Spewers movespeed slightly reducedHulks: Force required for them to stagger slightly increasedHulk Scorcher direct flamethrower damage reduced by 20%Devastator ***** rate slightly increased (only the standard devastator)Gunships sideways movement slightly increasedScout strider Riders now less vulnerable to explosionsFog Generators health and armor increasedGunship spawners now have a much lower cap on how many gunships they can have active at the same time ****** Patrols Patrol spawning has been increased when there are fewer than 4 players. The fewer the players the ******* the change. For 4 player missions there will be no change compared to before.The biggest noticeable change will be for solo players at higher difficulties Gameplay Made minor level generation improvements to how we distribute locations throughout the mission map. This should improve variation in distance between objectives, and objectives will likely not spawn as far away from each other as often as before.Added setting in the options menu gameplay section to disable automatic climbing and vaulting while sprinting.The Spread Democracy mission otherwise known as “raise the flag” can now be enjoyed on higher difficulties for maximum freedom spreading.When readying up, Helldivers now salute to ensure maximum democratic readiness.Added ambience to the Tremor planetary hazard to underline the severity so Helldivers can react accordinglyShots that ricochet from heavy armored enemies will now properly hit the Helldiver who fired them. Trigger discipline is highly recommended. Fixes****** fixes Fixed ****** that could occur when host abandoned mission with squad.Fixed ****** that could occur if a player tried to enter an occupied EXO-45 Patriot Suit.Fixed ****** that could occur for all players after or during mission results screen.Fixed ****** that could occur after ********* from the EXO-45 Patriot Suit’s rocket launcher.Fixed ****** that could occur for all players apart from the one that rejoined the ongoing mission with different armor and got reinforced.Fixed Superior Packing Methodology ship module not working properly.Fixed Blast Absorption ship module so that it correctly increases sentries’ resistance to explosions.Fixed issue where players could not navigate to the search results in the Social Menu.Fixed some issues where items equipped in a Warbond were not actually equipped.Fixed an exploit that allowed overly eager Helldivers to use grenades excessively.Fixed issue where ****** from orbital barrage did not progress Indirect ***** Exercise order.Fixed issue that allowed traitors to try to sabotage the extraction shuttle by deploying sentry stratagems below it.Fixed issue where ion storms incorrectly prevented extraction beacon from deploying.Fixed some stratagem beams using incorrect ******-coding.Fixed issue where the left stick on a controller could not be used to navigate the Social menu.Fixed some issues where various UI elements were cut off, off-centered or too close to the edge of the screen on ultrawide displays.Fixed Anti-Materiel Rifle facing away from the Helldiver after deploying it.Fixed bug where player could duplicate rounds by canceling the reload of Anti-Materiel Rifle at a specific time.Fixed bug where Anti-Materiel Rifle would consume an extra magazine after a canceled reload.Fixed bug where Recoilless Rifle would consume an extra shell from the backpack if the reload was canceled just after a shell was inserted, but before the reload was completed.Fixed issue where the Sickle and Quasar Cannon could not ****** through foliage.Fixed several issues where ******* thumbnails would disappear when scrolling through Armory.Fixed issues where Automaton Gunships sometimes could not see the player.Fixed incorrect collision being left over after destroying Automaton bunkers or detector towers with hellbombs.Fixed issue where Hellbombs would not deploy on certain missionsFixed certain issues that resulted in Helldivers drowning in deep water upon landing.Fixed issue where Hellpod Space Optimization made ammo go above capacity.Fixed issue where Stalkers became very visible in fogMines are now pingable for better coordination with your team.Receiving friend requests now gives the player a pop up.Improved readability of prompts and hints displayed in the tutorial and onboarding.Total experience is now visible in the career tab.Added better support for ultrawide monitors by fixing the aspect ratio of menus to 16:9 and adding a setting to control the width of the HUD.Keybinds bound to numpad will no longer reset upon restart.Fixed inconsistent audio when headphones are plugged into the Dual Sense controller while playing on PC.Playing Rock, Paper, Scissors in front of the ship no longer causes player to fall out into space.APW-1 Anti-Material Rifle and MG-206 Heavy Machine **** now trigger hitmarkers while scoped in.Secondary ******* no longer ******** in the Ballistic Shield ADS position after using a stim with the Ballistic Shield Backpack equipped."Open Text Chat" is now rebindable.Explosive weapons such as R-36 Eruptor, CB-9 Exploding Crossbow. GP-31 Grenade ******* no longer pulls players inward from the blast.Disabled the squad invites during the tutorial which caused an overlap in the UI.Fixed Primary and Secondary weapons overlapping on the character model in the armory.Fixed UI elements during first boot are cut off on a 21:9 aspect ratio monitor.Report and block player is now visible in the squad menu.***** Scavengers now stop screaming for help if ******* while calling in reinforcements.Fixed Anti Air cannons showing up as "Stratagem Scramblers" in danger warnings. Known Issues Various issues involving friend invites and cross-play Friend Request cannot be accepted when the requesting player changed their username before the request was accepted.Cross-platform friend invites might not show up in the Friend Requests tab.Players cannot unfriend players befriended via friend code.Players cannot unblock players that were not in their Friends list beforehand. Damage-over-time effects may only apply when dealt by the host. We expect to have this fixed in the next patch.Reinforcement may not be available for some players who join a game in progress.Helldiver may be unable to stand up from crouching when surrounded by enemies.Game may ****** if the host leaves while ***** and rejoins the same play session.Game may ****** if the player changes the text language while on a mission.Players may experience delays in Medals and Super Credits payouts.Enemies that bleed out do not progress Personal Orders and Eradicate missions.Scopes on some weapons such as the Anti-Materiel Rifle are slightly misaligned.Arc weapons sometimes behave inconsistently and sometimes misfire.Spear’s targeting is inconsistent, making it hard to lock-on to larger enemies.Stratagem beam might attach itself to an ****** but it will deploy to its original location.Explosions do not break your limbs (except for when you fly into a rock).Area around Automaton Detector Tower makes blue stratagems such as the Hellbomb bounce and be repelled when trying to call them down close to the tower.Planet liberation reaches 100% at the end of every Defend mission. Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article For verified travel tips and real support, visit: [Hidden Content]

Capcom has finally fully revealed Street Fighter 6’s long-awaited DLC character Akuma, confirming a release date and showing off gameplay. The famously overpowered Street Fighter fan-favorite launches on May 22, Capcom said. Owners of the Deluxe and Ultimate Edition or the Year 1 Character Pass and Ultimate Pass for Street Fighter 6 get Akuma immediately when he releases. Year 1 Ultimate Pass owners also receive the new stage, Enma's Hollow. The gameplay reveal, below, shows off Street Fighter 6’s version of Akuma, older than previous incarnations but complete with his famous moveset. Akuma has his air fireball, ***** kick, and his teleport move. Capcom saved the best for last: Akuma’s iconic Raging ****** *******. It very much looks like poor Ryu ***** one thousand deaths. Alongside the Akuma update comes a major balance patch where all characters will receive changes, Capcom signaled. The Year 1 DLC characters for Street Fighter 6 are Rashid, Akuma, Ed, and A.K.I. Akuma rounds out the list nearly a year after Street Fighter 6 launched in June 2023. The fighting game has sold three million copies so far, and enjoyed critical acclaim. IGN’s Street Fighter 6 review returned a 9/10. We said: “Street Fighter 6 is the most feature-rich a Street Fighter has ever been at launch, but even beyond that, it's roster of 18 characters is excellent, the new mechanics revitalize the one-on-one fighting formula, and it absolutely nails all of the little things that make for a stellar fighting game.” Wesley is the *** News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at [email protected] or confidentially at *****@*****.tld. View the full article

There isn’t another game series more loaded with pop culture references than Goat Simulator. Pilgor, the crazy, ragdoll-tossed, licking protagonist of the series has been getting up to endlessly ******* hijinks for 10 years, and what started as a daft premise built from a game jam idea has now spawned a decade of insanity, spoofing almost every major video game along the way such as Skyrim, ***** Island and even P.T. But not every crazy Goat Simulator idea makes the cut, and concepts based on the Hitman series and L.A. Noire never made it past early development. We spoke to developers Coffee Stain North about how these ideas came about and why they never made it to the finish line. We have one rule. It [needs] a goat. Everything else is open. “We started with very broad themes for all of the [game] jams.” explains lead producer, Sebastian Zethraeus. “[The themes were] Under the Sea, Mythology, and Dev's Choice, which is what turned into the Hitman one.” Since Goat Simulators' inception in 2014, Coffee Stain Studios has regularly run game jams with their teams and these small, freeform creation events give developers the freedom to create any idea, despite how ludicrous, from scratch. “We have one rule.” shares art director, William Birgersson. “It [needs] a goat. Everything else is open.” To come up with DLC for Goat Simulator 3, Coffee Stain North let its staff run wild, which resulted in ideas not only inspired by other popular games like Hitman and L.A. Noire, but allowed the associated genres to dictate the gameplay. “What can we do that breaks the mould?” says Birgersson. “What if we place Pilgor in a single-player, noir detective story? How do we implement the Goat Simulator jankiness and weirdness? How do we make it not too silly, but also very silly? It's a super weird balancing [act] you have to do. How can we make this special? That's where we found the key is changing the gameplay essentially.” Most references from Goat Simulator 3 are visual jokes and tend not to stray too far from the run, jump, lick and headbutt gameplay. But for the DLC, Coffee Stain North was looking for an idea that not only referenced a popular series but also significantly altered the gameplay, and the game jams allowed them to go crazy with those concepts. I loved the Hitman idea. I want it to become a full game so much. “It's super low effort [when you only make] something for a week.” says Zethraeus. “You can go all the way with a very, very implausible theme and if it's thrown away, that's not an issue. Before we showed [IGN] we didn't think [the ideas] would amount to anything, and that's okay because that's part of the creative process. Finding what sticks.” One of those discard ideas was ‘Goat55’, which was based on IO’s much-loved ********* series Hitman. During its development Coffee Stain ran with the concept of implementing Hitman’s social stealth mechanics in the world of Pilgor, allowing players to *****, hide bodies, change outfits and infiltrate to reach their target. It was Hitman for all intents and purposes, but with a goat instead of a bald *********. And in classic, whacky Goat Simulator fashion, there was also a reference to another great of the stealth genre, with a familiar-looking cardboard box triggering a giant Metal Gear Rex to rise from the sea. “I had forgotten all about that!” exclaims Birgersson. “The social stealth part of Hitman was [what] enticed us, but Metal Gear Solid’s stealth would be awesome as well. An actual stealth experience with goats… That would be pretty great.” Coffee Stain North tried out a handful of different gameplay ideas during the game jam and another popular stand-out was Detective Pilgor, a *******-mystery detective story that bared more than a striking resemblance to Rockstar Game’s 2011 hit, L.A. Noire. “Writing a who-done-it mystery story was super, super fun. We [even] did an entire interrogation sequence where you could actually doubt.” shares Birgersson, referencing L.A. Noire’s lauded interrogation scenes, which infamously often resulted in the characters pulling insane-looking facial expressions. ”I don't think it made it in but the idea was to go for [those] facial expressions. Like their eyes sticking out, mouths opening up. Yeah, we could have had a lot of fun with that thing.” “I want to make Detective Pilgor so bad,” Birgersson continues. “A story mode is something that we've always talked about [for Goat Simulator] and we would like to try it out. Having one be the main part of the game is super interesting I think.” Surprisingly, Goat55 and Detective Pilgor look surprisingly complete, despite them being very much unfinished following the small amount of time they were in production. Additionally, there was also a rhythm game that made it a reasonable distance during the game jam, as well as a familiar-looking mythology idea. After learning about all these amazing ideas it was time to address the elephant (or goat?) in the room: Why did they never get completed? “We found something better.” admits Zethraeus. “We found something that was even more enticing I think. I loved the hitman idea. I want it to become a full game so much, but when you try to finalize a product and make it into a complete package somewhere along the line, we tend to go a bit big.” It's going to be super interesting to see the audience's reaction to this. “It's always that balancing between what's fun for the player and how much content the player wants (or needs) for this to be fun.” continues Birgersson. “It's going to be super interesting to see the audience's reaction to this and what they’re interested in.” Coffee Stain North was quick to state that nothing is definitive though, and should there be enough player demand, perhaps one day it would revisit these ideas. One thing is for certain though, the Goat Simulator series has been built on the foundation of game jams and the opportunity for improvisation they provide. “Essentially all the best ideas are ******* ideas that someone comes up with on the spot.” laughs Birgersson. “It's such a perfect game for ideas to come alive. I wouldn't dream about making a rhythm-based dance game with goats, but trying that was super fun.” Since 2014 Coffee Stain has been putting Pilgor in increasingly crazy scenarios and that’s not slowing down anytime soon. And in such a po-faced industry, a decade of successful, silly goat games isn’t anything anyone expected, including the developers. “Dedicating my life to goats wasn't something I was prepared for.” admits Birgersson. “My mother asks me weekly if it’s still relevant? And I'm like, ‘yeah’.” “There's so much variety in it, so much creativity, and it's just a framework.” says Zethraeus. “You have the same base – everyone's love for goats and what the goats will do when released on society and you can go crazy with it. That's what's so beautiful about it. It's so creative we can do whatever we want.” Dale Driver is IGN's Executive Producer of Video Programming and kindly requested Coffee Stain North seriously consider a Metal Gear Solid Goat Simulator parody. You're welcome. Follow him on Twitter. View the full article

Button mashing is advised against in fighting games if you want to climb the ranks. But those of us who've been destroyed by unpredictable little brothers going ham on a joystick know a secret. Sometimes spamming works. One Tekken 8 player is proving this point. They have programmed a **** of Eddy Gordo, the whirling Capoeira fighter, to slap the same button repeatedly, and nothing else, while broadcasting its performance against real players on Twitch. The **** is doing surprisingly well. Read more View the full article

Here we go again, I am about to be suckered into yet another survivor-like game. You love all of these as well right? Vampire Survivors, Deep Rock Galactic Survivor and more can move over and make room for Pest Apocalypse. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article