Firaxis and 2K are committed to reversing the fortunes of Civilization 7 with an all-new update, much of which has been "influenced by the community." This month's "hefty" Update 1.2.2 brings a raft of long-awaited features like Large and Huge Maps, expanded Advanced Game Options, and a community favorite: Steam Workshop support. There's also new Town Specializations, City-State Bonuses, Beliefs, balance changes, UI improvements, and — best of all, of course — "a very pettable Scout dog." Players can also finish their current save under a previous version by using the legacy Steam beta branch. Backwards compatibility for existing saves is also available, although you should note that "some new abilities or effects may not appear until you start a new game or advance to the next Age in your current campaign." "For the best experience, we recommend starting a new game, or continuing your current game into the next Age," Firaxis said. Large and Huge map sizes — which I'm afraid aren't available on Switch, along with Standard — default to 10 players, but multiplayer campaigns max out at eight people, inclusive of AI companions. The team hopes to expand Huge to accommodate 12 players eventually, but right now it "needs a bit more time to make sure increased player counts won't compromise game stability or performance." That said, because of the size, these maps have been spruced up with Pantheons (and two new ones have been added to Antiquity), Religious Beliefs, Discoveries, and City-State bonuses to "ensure there’s enough content for all the players in a game." "One of the best things about Civilization is how many ways there are to play," the update added. "Some players are happy to peacefully build the biggest, best Cities while others want to ignore all that and go conquer the world ('Yes, your amazing City does look great in my empire'). With 1.2.2, we’ve added several new advanced game setup options to give you even more control over how you play." This means you can now decide whether to enable, disable (or turn off entirely) Legacy Paths per Page, specific Crises, as well as disable Score Victory. AI difficulty can be amended, too, and you can bypass Civ Unlocks On Age Transitions now. "We’ve had a lot of fun playing with different Legacy Paths on or off in each Age. While Legacy Paths that don’t lead to a Victory are always optional, sometimes it’s nice to just tune them out entirely and focus on playing into the unique strengths of your leader and civ," Firaxis added. "For a fun sandbox game we’ve been playing in the office, try turning off Legacy Paths for Antiquity and Exploration, and setting the game to Abbreviated Ages. If you want to lean into the sandbox feel even more, try turning off Legacy Paths in Modern and the Score Victory, too." Feedback from fans about Religion has necessitated changes, too, with the team now adding new Beliefs and updating existing ones to give bonus incentives for converting your own Settlements. There are "******* and bolder changes" also on the horizon for Religion, but we'll find out more about those at a later date. You can also expect Town focus bonuses to help them feel more "impactful." "Urban Centers in particular have received a glow-up, and now gain access to many of the Buildings that were otherwise only available in Cities (like Libraries and Monuments in Antiquity)," the update explained. "Fort Towns gain the ability to purchase multiple walls so they can really lock down strategic chokepoints. We also introduced a new type of Town Focus: the Resort Town. These relaxing scenic retreats gain extra Gold and Happiness on Rural tiles with Happiness and increased Yields on Natural Wonders. "Lastly, we felt massed Hub Towns were overshadowing some of the other options and gave them a slight nerf from +2 Influence per connected Settlement to +1 Influence. We’re going to keep our eye on them to see how they compare against the other newly buffed Towns." Players will also now be able to find and install mods from Steam Workshop. Oh, and there's even a new loading screen, with rewritten and re-recorded narration from Gwendoline Christie. There's also an absolute smorgasbord of tweaks and fixes, but if I wrote all those out here, we'd be here until Christmas. You can head on over to the official website to see it. Civilization 7 has had a rough launch on Steam — that much is clear. The strategy sequel has struggled for players on Valve’s platform ever since its launch in February. Despite a number of patches issued by developer Firaxis to reverse things, Civilization 7 finds itself in the unenviable situation of having fewer players on Steam than Civilization 6 and even the 15-year-old Civilization 5. According to Steam user reviews the game is 'mixed,' although the last 1,500 or so reviews has it falling to a 'mostly negative' rating. Update 1.2.2 is out now, although Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 players will have to wait a little longer as the team works "diligently to get these updates through the additional Switch submission requirements." Players still experiencing issues or bugs are encouraged to disable mods and make the team aware. We thought Civilization 7 was 'good,' awarding it a fitting 7/10, writing: "Civilization 7's improved warfare and added bits of narrative flair give me reasons to keep clicking one more turn late into the night, but the desire to streamline and simplify this legendary 4X series feels like it has also gone a bit too far, particularly when it comes to the interface." Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky. View the full article
I've been after a competitive game for a while for the Steam Deck and it certainly looks like REMATCH fits the bill. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article
Yep, that sound you can hear is the pounding footsteps of a certain Fallout 4 minutefellow. He's coming to tell you that another Oblivion Remastered settlement may soon need your help, as a modder's figured out how to let folks build stuff using the likes of rocks and beams as they play. It's not quite got all the bells and whistles of a full settlement building system yet, but its creator is hoping to find someone to collab with on putting together exactly that. Read more View the full article
Another free game release for you. Midnight Riff is a rhythm roguelike where you have to jam with the music to deal damage and win battles. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article
There are many different types of equipment you can use throughout your investigations in Phasmophobia. The Sound Recorder is by far one of the most unique, although it can also be decently tricky to use. Using this item is crucial if you want to conduct the best investigation possible. It's a fairly easy item to use once you understand how it functions, so here's how to use the Sound Recorder in Phasmophobia. Table of contentsWhat does the Sound Recorder do in Phasmophobia?How to record evidence with the Sound Recorder in PhasmophobiaHow to use Tier I Sound Recorder in PhasmophobiaHow to use Tier II Sound Recorder in PhasmophobiaHow to use Tier III Sound Recorder in PhasmophobiaWhich Sound Recorder is best in Phasmophobia?What does the Sound Recorder do in Phasmophobia? Screenshot by Destructoid The Sound Recorder can be used to capture audio evidence in Phasmophobia. It's the only tool that can catch this type of evidence, so if you're looking to earn lots of XP and cash, using it in every investigation is essential. Evidence captured using the Sound Recorder is listed in your journal so you can play it back and end the contract with the best evidence you find. You can have up to three pieces of audio evidence captured in each round, so you may need to delete some to make room for better options. How to record evidence with the Sound Recorder in Phasmophobia You can record evidence with the Sound Recorder by holding down the Primary Use button while this device is on in Phasmophobia. Although there are three different Tiers for this item, the recording process looks identical for each one, so once you know how to record on one, you're ready to use all of them. How to use Tier I Sound Recorder in Phasmophobia Screenshot by Destructoid Although the Tier I Sound Recorder is technically the "worst" version of this item, it's actually the easiest to use since you can simply follow the colored lights to get closer to the source of the noise. The more lights you see, the better and clearer the audio evidence is, so press record and use it as a compass to make the recorder spike up to green if possible. This version of the Sound Recorder works a bit like the Tier II EMF Reader. The more lights you see, the better the evidence is. There are no fancy screens or extra readings on this one, so you just need to focus on the colors to find what you're looking for. Red lights indicate slight noise, orange lights are medium noise, and green lights are for loud noise. How to use Tier II Sound Recorder in Phasmophobia Screenshot by Destructoid The Tier II version of the Sound Recorder has a small screen with a graph-like structure. You're essentially looking for peaks on this graph, so the higher the peak, the better the evidence. Sound appears as dark grey shading along the graph on the Tier II Sound Recorder. When there's no sound, the screen is mostly blank, so it's fairly easy to spot when the ghost starts making noise. The more dark grey shading you see, the more noise there is to capture. You're looking for lots of dark gey and tall mountain peaks with this version of the tool. How to use Tier III Sound Recorder in Phasmophobia Screenshot by Destructoid The Tier III Sound Recorder is the most complex version of this equipment, but it's the most powerful. This Sound Recorder has a fancy screen with two bars, and you're looking for the bars to go up to track and record sound. The top bar, marked with "L," is for your left, while the bottom bar, marked with "R," is for your right. When the ghost makes noise, one or both of these bars will spike upwards. You can spin around and try to make the bar go up more to get closer to the ghost for clearer audio. There's also a circular, clock-like icon near the bottom right corner of the screen. This icon sometimes has a line appear on it to point you towards where the sound is heard, even if you're decently far away from it. It acts like a compass you can follow to get closer to the noise. The Tier III Sound Recorder has a lot going on, so it can be a bit overwhelming to use. Mastering this tool takes a lot of time, but it's incredibly useful for investigations once you get the hang of it. Which Sound Recorder is best in Phasmophobia? Although the Tier III Sound Recorder technical has the best abilities and usage overall, I've personally had a better time using the Tier I and Tier II versions. It really comes down to personal preference and gameplay style with this one, as you'll get the best use out of whichever one you're most comfortable with. If you want the overall most effective and powerful tool, stick with the Tier III version of this item. But if you find the fancier screen confusing, you might have an easier time with the simple Tier I version. The color system is super intuitive and a lot easier to keep an eye on while multitasking, so I generally opt for Tier I over Tier III in most investigations. Screenshot by Destructoid The Tier II version is a solid middle-ground option, too. It does have a slightly fancier system, but it's easy to get used to and isn't overly complex like the Tier III version sometimes feels. The Tier II variant does seem to take the longest to turn on, though, which can be a bit frustrating if you're trying to quickly capture evidence. There are pros and cons for each one, so I recommend testing all options out until you find the one that feels right for you. After mastering the Sound Recorder, you may want to test your skills by attempting the weekly challenge mode. You also might want to work on learning how to use the Music Box or review what we can expect when Horror 2.0 arrives. The post How to use the Sound Recorder in Phasmophobia appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Twitch Drops are a fun way to earn special prizes by getting involved in the community, and Phasmophobia has some epic rewards up for grabs using this system. To add them to your collection, you need to know how to earn Twitch Drops for Phasmophobia. Initially, this system only includes ID Cards and Badges, but when we get the player customization update in the future, it will be expanded to include cosmetics too. You don't want to miss out on these exclusive prizes, so here's how to get Twitch Drops in Phasmophobia. Table of contentsHow to link Twitch account to PhasmophobiaHow to earn Phasmophobia Twitch DropsHow to claim Phasmophobia Twitch DropsAll Phasmophobia Twitch Drops creatorsAll active Phasmophobia Twitch DropsHow to link Twitch account to Phasmophobia Screenshot by Destructoid To link your Twitch and Phasmophobia accounts, you need to input a special connection code from Phasmophobia on Twitch. This process is a lot trickier than the usual connection process for linking games, so here's a full breakdown of everything you need to do to get it done. Load Phasmophobia. The connection process requires you to have it open. Select the Twitch Drops icon. It's located near the bottom middle area of the screen.Select the Connect option. It appears near the bottom middle area after you open the Twitch Drops page. Copy the code. After you select the Connect option, a code will appear where it previously was. Click the copy button near the right side of the code to copy it. Head over to Twitch. Load the Twitch activation page for the next few steps, but don't close out of Phasmophobia when doing so. Enter your code. Paste the code you copied from Phasmophobia into the connection box. Select the Submit option. Finalize the process by submitting your code and officially linking your accounts. How to earn Phasmophobia Twitch Drops Once your account is linked, you simply need to head over to Twitch and watch Phasmophobia creators for the required amount of time. How long you need to tune in varies with specific rewards, so check on the prize you're trying to claim to see the watch requirements. How to claim Phasmophobia Twitch Drops After watching for the designated ******* to claim a read, visit the Drops Inventory to claim it. You can also check this page periodically to track your progress. A percentage bar is displayed beneath each available reward to highlight how close you are to redeeming the item you're after. All Phasmophobia Twitch Drops creators Screenshot by Destructoid To earn Twitch Drops for Phasmophobia, you can watch a variety of different creators, including the official dev team, various partners, and community streamers. Here's a breakdown of all creators you can watch to earn these prizes. The Phasmophobia devsKineticGamesDev on Twitch.Official Phasmophobia partnersAegis and PredaltruisticBepisLisasChillinChickyTVcrashdiet_05DreamWarriorEpicTightPantsFlashForceFudgesnapsGhostkaiHadronnaHasgarsonHydrasungimpulseSVInsymJOJOsaysbreeeKernelPanic8KimKatGamesLimitedChillzMaggstorMorganMrsBlobMrTibouteNicholeGoodnightNiubyyNukaDaveNyongJaOtterLadyPaisliePandaPsychoHypnoticsailorsugarplumShooshiesSkulltulahTechLiftsThe_BrotaterchipTomNK21VikTheViking85VooshWinchesterSisterCommunity streamersAnyone who streams in the Phasmophobia category on Twitch and signs up for Drops. Look for the "Watch to earn drops!" banner on chat to check whether or not a creator is participating. All active Phasmophobia Twitch Drops No Twitch Drops for Phasmophobia have been unveiled so far, but they're expected to be announced soon as an active reward ******* is scheduled to begin on June 24, according to the Twitch Drops page in the game. As rewards become available, we'll update all relevant details here. If you run into any issues with Twitch Drops, you may want to visit the official Trello or Discord to seek assistance. And if you're not sure what to do next, consider tackling the weekly challenge, learning about Horror 2.0, or mastering the Music Box. The post How to get Phasmophobia Twitch Drops appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
The fast food restaurant Taco Bell has announced its partnership with Tony Hawk to bring the skater’s custom meal to the menu for fans to try, and the collaboration also offers several exclusive in-game items for the upcoming Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4. Serving as a remake of the early 2000s' Pro Skater entries, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 is making a name for itself in Hawk’s skateboarding video game series, as, controversially, the installment will not feature the popular free-roam career mode from the original. View the full article
The highly-anticipated remaster from Nightdive Studios is still releasing on PC platforms this week, but the console versions are now targeting next month. View the full article
The 8Bitdo Retro R8 is a gaming mouse that looks like an old NES accessory, but it boasts high specs that'll help it pair perfectly with a punchy sleeper PC.View the full article
With two new characters, a map, a battle pass, and a boatload of fresh skins, Season 2: Hellfire Gala has been a treat. But things are only just heating up from here, as Marvel Rivals Season 3 is right around the corner, and the pace of new content is picking up dramatically from here onwards... Read more.View the full article
Appearing almost out of nowhere, the AOKZOE A1X is a brilliant Windows gaming handheld that has managed to shed all of the awkward quirks and bugs typically associated with the operating system, almost becoming a serious contender to the Steam Deck in the process, if not for its high price. The AOKZOE A1X is one of the best gaming handhelds when it comes to raw performance, but its overall value is questionable. If you're in the market for a Steam Deck replacement that can play everything from the latest triple-A games to indie classics, the A1X has you covered, while removing frustrating operating system issues that have plagued other Windows handhelds. Read the rest of the story... RELATED LINKS: The Steam Deck is finally under threat from a Windows gaming handheld This new Steam Deck rival is boasting some seriously impressive specs View the full article
It should be criminal for a game as good as Glass Cannon to see so few players and Steam reviews, because it's simply awesome. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article
Sid Meier's Civilization VII has received another big update, as the rather divisive 4X strategy game wrangles with a mostly negative user review consensus on Steam. The latest Civ 7 update adds large and huge maps, each with a default of 10 players in single player and eight (including AI) in multiplayer. Developers Firaxis are working on supporting 12 players for Huge maps, but need more time to ensure that this doesn't scuttle game stability and performance. As it is, they caution that "******* maps have ******* hardware demands" and that you might see "slower turn times or performance drops, especially on lower end hardware." Read more View the full article
Six or so years on from an announcement trailer that made it clear people had an appetite for their game's Minecrafty building and survival shenanigans (it's got 61 million views to date), Hypixel Studios have announced that Hytale has been cancelled. On top of that, the studio themselves are gearing up for closure. Hytale's development kicked off all the way back in 2015, with its devs being the folks behind the huge Hypixel Minecraft server. League of Legends publisher Riot Games bought the studio in 2020, not long after we learned that Hytale would have undead chickens, and not long before the game's target release year started being pushed back. Read more View the full article
The head of Sonic Team has promised that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds won’t have items designed to let players “win all the time” from a losing position. The recently released Mario Kart World, like previous games in the series, has a number of high-powered items which are given to players near the back of the pack, such as Bullet Bills, Stars and the infamous Blue Shell. However, in an interview with GamesRadar, Takashi Iizuka said the upcoming CrossWorlds – while still designed with fair and balanced racing in mind – won’t have such items. Read More... View the full article
If you like Dandy's World you'll love this game and the same goes for the Climbers/Characters so let's analyze each one. The best Climber in Anchored depends on their roles like doing panels, distracting monsters, or team support. Here's my Anchored Climber tier list and guide for each one. Table of contentsBest Climbers in Anchored RankedS-Tier ClimbersA-Tier ClimbersB-Tier ClimbersC-Tier ClimbersD-Tier ClimbersBest Climbers in Anchored Ranked Image by Destructoid I'll rank the best Climbers in Anchored according to their stats (A>B>C>D>E), ability, and overall role in a party. Some Climbers are better for doing panels, some for distracting monsters, and some for supporting the team. This tier list will focus on all roles and the most useful Climbers overall. Note that you can pick whichever Climber you want and have fun, I just wanted to outline the most mechanically optimal ones for a team composition if you like playing what's best. Below you'll find all climbers ranked with reasons and tips. S-Tier ClimbersClimberNotesAbility & StatsUnlock Requirements FlippyMain Role: Panels Flippy is the best panel Climber in Anchored both because of her ability and the highest hacking in the game. Zero Breach basically reduces the number of panels you have to do per floor by 1. Just make sure you have a Sparks or other distractors watching your back.• Zero Breach: Instantly complete your first panel each floor if less than half of the panels are done. • Health: C • Stamina: C • Speed: D • Hacking: A • Stealth: D• 200 Lumens • Hack 10 Panels RemedyMain Role: Support Remedy is similar to Patches in that they're both healers and healers are the best supports in Anchored. Remedy will prolong your team's run just by standing near everyone so pick the lowest HP teammate or your team's enemy distractor like Sparks. You're quite fast and have decent Stamina and HP so stay out of trouble since you can't heal in any way. Don't do Panels though since you're bad at Hacking.• Unbroken Light: Heal nearby allies over time but you can't be healed by any means. • Health: B • Stamina: B • Speed: C • Hacking: E • Stealth: C• 500 Lumens • Unlock Spirit and complete all of their Luminary challenges SparksMain Role: Distract Sparks is one of the best enemy distractors in the game. You can bait enemies to chase you, away from your allies doing panels, and then activate EMP to stun them all. You have great Stamina and Health so even if you do get hit it's not as big of a deal. Just make sure you have a Patches or Remedy who can heal you and you'll be carrying games. Let your team handle panels since your Hacking sucks.• EMP Powerstick: Stun all Sentinels and Drones for 5 seconds. • Health: A • Stamina: B • Speed: D • Hacking: E • Stealth: C• 300 Lumens • Unlock Solar and complete all of their Luminary challenges PatchesMain Role: Support Patches is one of the best supports in the game because he can buy healing items and drop them for his team (Hold Backspace and Press Item Number). Dropping items isn't possible in Dandy's World so Anchored's twist with droppable items makes Patches arguably a better healer than Remedy. You can sustain your team and even distract enemies with your amazing Stamina and good Speed.• Quick Patch: You can trade 100 Ciphers at any time and place for a Bandage. The cost and cooldown increases the more Patches are in the game. • Health: D • Stamina: A • Speed: C • Hacking: D • Stealth: C• 350 Lumens • Unlock Doppy and complete all of their Luminary challengesA-Tier ClimbersClimberNotesStatsUnlock Requirements SpiritMain Roles: Distract & Support Spirit can be a lifesaver in clutch moments when someone (or you) is running from an enemy and is out of stamina or he can generally just speed up his team globally with more Stamina. He's a highly flexible character that can even distract enemies well with amazing Speed and Stamina. I put him in A because without voice comms Second Wind can be wasted but if you're talking to your team via voice Spirit is S-Tier for sure.• Second Wind: Restore full stamina to all players. Cooldown increases for each Spirit in the game. • Health: D • Stamina: B • Speed: A • Hacking: E • Stealth: C• 300 Lumens • Unlock Delta and complete all of their Luminary challenges SolarMain Role: Distract Solar is an excellent enemy distractor and plays similar to Sparks though he's A-Tier because his ability only works on himself whereas Sparks' can help teammates globally. Just bait a monster to chase you away from someone doing panels and you can either lead the enemy away with your great Speed and Stamina or pop Eclipse and lose all aggro to escape.• Eclipse: Go invisible to all Sentinels and Drones for 5 seconds. • Health: E • Stamina: C • Speed: B • Hacking: D • Stealth: A• 200 Lumens • Hack 20 PanelsB-Tier ClimbersClimberNotesStatsUnlock Requirements DeltaMain Role: Panels I might have low-balled Delta and he might be A-Tier but I'm sticking with B for now since you can usually have a great overview of enemies and panels once you get used to the game. Still, Delta is a great hacker and his ability helps greatly when there's low visibility.• Spectral Lens: Reveal all enemies and panels on the floor for 5 seconds. • Health: D • Stamina: C • Speed: C • Hacking: B • Stealth: C• 200 Lumens • Hack 10 Panels DoppyMain Role: Distract Unlike Delta who's between A and B, Doppy is a certified B because his ability is random. Doppy's hacking is great but being unable to choose where you teleport keeps him in B. If he was able to choose which teammate to teleport to so he can do nearby panels he would be S.• Warp: Teleport to a random teammate or near the elevator if solo. • Health: D • Stamina: B • Speed: C • Hacking: B • Stealth: D• 350 Lumens • Hack 10 PanelsC-Tier ClimbersClimberNotesStatsUnlock Requirements LumoMain Role: Progression & Panels Lumo is similar to Rodger from Dandy's World and my rankings are the same. He's mid for runs since his ability doesn't contribute anything to the team but he's SSS-Tier for progression if you want to unlock Climbers quickly. That said, his hacking is A so he's great at doing panels.• Golden Stream: Gain 50% more Ciphers and Lumens during runs. • Health: D • Stamina: D • Speed: C • Hacking: A • Stealth: C• 350 Lumens • Unlock Flippy and complete all of their Luminary challenges RuffleMain Role: Distract Ruffle is in a weird spot because his hacking is bad and his stamina isn't good either. His ability can be helpful but isn't anything amazingly useful. You can distract decently well with him though by baiting monsters and outrunning them with his B Speed. That said, he's not the best character overall.• Treasure Sense: Highlight all Items, Ciphers, Documents, and Discs on every floor. • Health: C • Stamina: D • Speed: B • Hacking: D • Stealth: B• 350 Lumens • Collect 200 Items PuffyMain Role: Flexibile/Distract Your possible starting character and the definition of mid. Nothing special here. You might get more Stamina which is pretty nice in a large team but otherwise isn't anything special. Being in a large team makes you good at distracting since you can sprint for days and Puffy is better than Rocky so C-Tier is perfect.• Snowbond: Get +5 max Stamina for every other player in the game. • Health: C • Stamina: C • Speed: C • Hacking: C • Stealth: C• Starting climber or buy for 250 Lumens if you chose RockyD-Tier ClimbersClimberNotesStatsUnlock RequirementsMain Role: Distract The worst Climber in the game since you don't have an ability unless you get hit which you want to avoid. At least you can distract a bit but it's not worth losing health to activate the ability. Overall, I don't recommend playing Rocky nor is he that fun to play either.• Rock Shock: When hit by an enemy, gain 20 Stamina and Speed A for 5 seconds. • Health: C • Stamina: C • Speed: C • Hacking: C • Stealth: C• Starting climber or buy for 250 Lumens if you chose Puffy That's it for my Anchored Climber tier list and guide for all characters. Check out our Climber codes to get free goodies and our Roblox guides for more. The post Roblox Anchored Climber Tier List and Guide appeared first on Destructoid. View the full article
Maze Mice is getting ready to leave Early Access - that was fast. A major update for this survivor game that blends time-stopping Pac-Man features is out now. Read the full article here: [Hidden Content] View the full article
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