Monday 27 August 2012

Horror Mod "Inquietude" Looks All Kinds of Amazing


I don't usually get all giddy when I see a horror mod on ModDB. You really need to capture my attention, and give me something that looks brilliant and feels brilliant all at the same time. Inquietude does just that. Now, the mod hasn't been released and won't be until Q2 in 2013, so it's still a ways away from getting into our grubby hands. But, I remain excited.

Sadly, I don't know too much about the mod other than the fact that it looks straight up horrifying, and from what's been shown I can probably say it'll be one of the best experiences we'll have next year.


It definitely feels like it's going to do things right, and I definitely feel like I'm gonna get scared playing this mod. As I've mentioned I don't usually get this excited about a mod, but this one just looks like the horror perfection I've wanted for such a long time. Especially since I was kinda disappointed with Grey, and Cry Of Fear. It seems like Inquietude is going to rectify all of that, and make me one happy horror fan.


Mod Of The Year material? I think so. It looks like mods will have a little competition next year over on MODDB. Inquietude looks like all kinds of fantastic. I eagerly away the release date.



Saturday 25 August 2012

Meet The Victims - The Characters Of Slender: Source






Making characters for a video game is probably my favorite part of the development process. Getting the entire team together and coming up with ideas of what the people/creatures you meet will look like. Definitely an interesting process, and even though some ideas get shot down, I still enjoy it.

So, as some of you may know we have a total of 4 characters planned for Slender: Source. Each with their own personality, looks, etc. The cool thing is that we have given them each a back-story and past, and it helps explain why Slenderman is following them, and killing them. He likes to track down the 'fucked-up' people so to speak, and each of our characters is fucked up in their own little way.

We've only finished the model for one of them, but here's the characters we'll be having in Slender: Source upon release. We may have more playable characters in the future, but who knows.


(This is Richard. Please ignore the silly moves he's doing. It was testing out his rigging)

Richard () - The all around, normal dude of the group. Richard is a pretty nice guy and doesn't
try getting in on anyone's issues. However, driving home one night he got into a car accident which
killed his younger sister, and he had to watch her pass on. So, sometimes he'll suffer from incidents/nightmares where he believes she still talks to him.

Adam () - Adam is the brains of the group, and the nervous guy. He suffers from a severe case of anxiety. He's the youngest of the group at the ripe age of 15. Adam is from the United Kingdom,but was transferred over to the United States for some special high-school program.

Nathan () - Nathan is the jock/asshole of the group. He treats most of the group like crap, and thinks of himself as a bad-ass. He was negelected from his parents, and was abandoned at the age of 6. However, he was adopted by a hardcore Christian family and rebeled. He swears a lot, and is just an all around jack-ass. He's 21 and still in school because he keeps being held back.

Amy () - Amy is pretty much the school's bicycle. She is called a "whore" and doesn't have the best reputation, and was a victim of rape which she became pregnant. She aborted the child, and now
constantly does cocaine to forget all of her woes, but has OD'd on multiple occasions to the point of almost dying.
---
So, as you can see each character has their own share of woes and horrible events from their past. It's been a fun process writing their backgrounds, and developing each of them as a character. There's nothing like seeing one of your creations come to life.


Friday 24 August 2012

The New Slenderman - Slender: Source Take On The Slenderman






Everytime we put something new into Slender: Source my hands get shaky, and I constantly worry if people will take it well, and enjoy it once the release comes around. It's pretty tough making a mod, and I've been told by countless people that making a game for commercial sale is a little bit easier and that gives me hope for when we finish Slender: Source.

Anyways, let's talk about the Slenderman for a second and my issues with how he was portrayed in Slender by Parsec Productions.




This doesn't exactly shout fear at me. He just looks like a kid
molded a bunch of clay together. Makes me sad, the Unity engine has made some gorgeous looking
models and games. I found it impossible to be scared of him after a few
play-throughs.

I might get some shit for it, but I'm not the only one with a little dislike for how Slenderman looked in Slender. And we've taken those people's opinions and we've made him look quite interesting for Slender: Source. I've got the concept art, and an early screenshot of his model below. Enjoy guys, because this is our take on the Slenderman, and what he'll look like in Slender: Source.

We hope you guys enjoy Slender: Source, and we hope this model appeals to you all. Again, it's currently a WIP and still has some work to be done to it. Just showing off what our Slenderman is gonna look like.



 

Tuesday 14 August 2012

Dead Space 3: Gamescom Preview






So, Visceral just showed off some stuff at Gamescom about Dead Space 3, and I'm not entirely sure why people are throwing it all under the bus already. We only got about 3 minutes of footage, and it honestly doesn't shout "This game sucks" out at me, but let's talk about what was shown.

First off, we're given this little hint at how players will be able to customize their own weapons.  Seems pretty cool, and I have nothing against this at all. People complaining that a chaingun with a grenade launcher attachment will take away from the horror, I don't see how. A weapon shouldn't change the experience at all. We still got some pretty large, bad-ass weapons in Dead Space before and the tension, and fright factor was still there. I'm not too worried about this, I still think they'll be able to toss out a good game. Dead Space, and Dead Space 2 were both very successful games in my opinion.

Then, we have one hell of an opening sequence which seems to show Isaac Clarke in an exploding space ship, leaping from his ship to grab his helmet in space. More people complaining about how this isn't realistic. Since when were space zombies, and exploding alien babies realistic? Honestly, I think Dead Space 3 will be fine, it may not be as amazing as Dead Space 2 but I'm sure it'll be a fine game. It is my most anticipated game of 2013, and I have high hopes for it.

Bring on the Necromorphs.

Friday 10 August 2012

The Source Engine: Plagued With Undead






The Source Engine, one of the most versatile game engines on the internet today. People have made some amazing experiences using that. For example, mods/games like Portal 2, Team Fortress 2, Counter Strike Source, No More Room In Hell, etc. There's a ton of good ideas but one thing that really bothers me about the engine is the over saturation of zombie mods/games. Sure, there's a couple gems in the bunch but it's when people start tossing these mods out, and not focusing on making them different/unique which really grinds my gears. There's a ton of potential with the Source Engine and people releasing the exact same "wave survival" mod about zombies is really...sad.

No More Room In Hell: The best zombie mod

Above we have No More Room In Hell, which is pretty much the best zombie mod you can experience on the Source Engine. For me, in past experiences everything else fails in comparison to this mod. It's not boring, and usually each play-through/round is different. Unlike your typical formula in most zombie mods, but I won't be naming any. Or at-least I don't think I will, but it is nice to tell people "Don't waste your time!"

Then, there's other mods that are really, really poor. The main reason for this is not adding anything new to the zombie genre, and using the same recycled mechanics we've seen with other wave based survival crap. For example, Situation Outbreak. That mod had a ton of potential, but their survival system felt weak, even though the idea of the in-game store worked, and was actually pretty cool. However, everything else didn't really jive with me since it was essentially the same mechanics we've seen in other "survival" modes, and really didn't do much to spice it up. I think the lack of servers is what killed this mod.


Situation Outbreak: It looked pretty, but didn't appeal.
 
Then, we have the mods that are just down-right terrible and feel like someone copied the entire code for another game, and re-released it as a textural update, and what-not. I really can't describe this next one, but it's by far the worst use of zombies I have ever seen in a mod, and totally shat on one of my favorite Source Mods of all time. Welcome to, Zombie Master: Black Edition. A mod designed by some kids that were fans of Zombie Master? I really don't know.
All I know is that Black Edition had the inclusion of blobs as enemies. Yes, blobs in a zombie game. They didn't fit, and felt completely useless. For me, it feels like they wanted to make a unique enemy but nobody knew how to develop 3D models and thus a blob was born. Plus, all enemies had a one hit kill which I think was meant for realism, but ended up just being tacky and frustrating.
 
Zombie Master Black Edition: Blobs...yeaaaah.
 
So, what do you guys think about how many zombie mods are being pushed out onto the Source Engine lately? Just now while writing this article I've came across three or four, I don't really remember. I'd really love to hear what others think, and I don't want to be the only guy shitting on this kind of thing.
 



Thursday 9 August 2012

Transformers: FoC - Demo Thoughts -






So, I've just got done playing the Transformers: FoC demo that is up on Xbox Live, and I think PSN. I'm not too sure, but I just spent about two hours playing the demo, which included playing both of the missions and the multiplayer component, and I've decided to do a little write-up about it.

So, for the missions you play as Bumblebee and Vortex. Each have their own play-styles, weapons and means of combat which is pretty cool. Bumblebee can turn into a car, and Vortex turns into a helicopter but can also turn into a jet to fly faster, so that's pretty cool. The game felt solid, and from what I played the story was really engaging, and drew me back into the days of when I'd watch Transformers G1. That's a good thing.

Then, I dipped into the multiplayer and was quite honestly blown away. The main thing that got me happy was the customization and the ability to create your own Autobots, and Decepitcons which I think every kid wanted to do when Transformers G1 was in production (The Michael Bay stuff doesn't exist). So, I dabbled with that a bit and created my own Transformer who is like a pink color and in my head I named him "Canadiatron". The combat is also pretty damn flawless, and I enjoyed that quite a lot too and my god does it feel amazing to start blowing up the other team with rockets, transform into your vehicle form, fly towards them and smash them to pieces.

It's pure bliss, and I'll be buying this game on day one. Such a solid experience. If anyone is on the fence, please download the demo. It's so good.

Wednesday 8 August 2012

A Scam Artist In Our Midsts


I got a very useful message this morning by a guy who will remain nameless, but he hosts video-game streams. He brought about this guy named "Justin" which is my name, posing as me in these streams saying he created Slender: Source and he's trying to get money for donations towards the game.

Funny thing is, we have not asked for donations yet and have only sold shirts as a form of in-come so we can afford server fees when the mod releases. He also states that this guy is from the UK when I clearly am from Canada.

So, if you see a guy named Justin from the UK asking you to donate money to him for Slender: Source, please ignore it. You'll lose that money, and it won't be put towards anything. It's a scam, and what-not.

I'm really glad this was brought to my attention, I don't want anything happening to our loyal fans.

Friday 3 August 2012

I'm So Very Nervous






If the picture above isn't enough of a spoiler about this topic, then I'll be blunt & honest. I'm nervous as shit, and my nerves are very shot at the current point in time (the playing of Cry Of Fear hasn't helped).

We've finally released a deadline for when the closed beta for Slender: Source will sent out to certain people, and press. December 2012, is the month and it's closer than I thought. We still have quite a bit of work to do but I'm positive we can have a solid, beta product by then and hopefully push out our initial public release sometime in March or February of 2013. I've really never been this nervous about producing something before because my reputation as a developer is staked on this, and possibly my future as a developer.

If this mod fails, or is received negatively by the community I'll be heart-broken. The entire development team at Ethereal Entertainment has been hard at work developing the mod, and the scares that some members of the team have been getting are hopeful, and making the whole nervous episode of mine less of an issue, and just more of me being a paranoid kind of guy. The amount of support behind this mod is giving us a ton of inspiration to finish this mod, and hopefully provide one of the scariest multiplayer experiences imaginable for players.

A lot of people are worried that we won't be able to scare them with their friends leaping about, and all I ask is have faith. We have a ton of ideas to scare the pants off of you guys, and we're positive we have a solid idea on how to do it. As I type this, I realize I still have a hefty amount of work to do today on the mod, and that I should get cracking on it. December isn't that far away, and I want to provide a solid experience for everyone who's going to be in the closed beta.

Especially the press people who've been covering our mod. I'll leave with one little bit of information, something that should be of some relief to people doubting us, or the people having a ton of faith in us with this mod. Slendy has his base code finished, and he's made our Lead Programmer, and myself both shit ourselves almost. He's terrifying.

Thursday 2 August 2012

Saga Of Pandoria - Help Them Achieve A Dream


I'm not one for pimping out games that you need to check out, and I'm definitely not the kind of guy to advertise a game and beg people to fund it. However, there was something about this game that caught my eye, and struck me at home. It's hard to get into the game development industry, especially when you don't have the funds to do so.

Saga Of Pandoria is a Fantasy-RPG being developed by Team Monkey on the Source Engine, and they're trying to raise $33,000 so they can afford to license the Source Engine and distribute their game as a stand-alone project, and make their dreams come true. Something that hits me right at home, and right in the heart. Everything the team is trying to do with this game is brilliant, and I for one want to see it succeed and not die off like other promising mods/games. But, how about a little detail about this game?

42 Years have past. Long enough for the world to heal. Long enough to forget the horrors of the war that almost claimed not only our lives, but that of our entire world. From the east came the Empire, their mecha and weapons soon overwhelmed the defenders of the Allied Kingdoms but, they were beaten.
Three warrior from the Kingdom Domen stood against the tide of chaos when no one else could. Wielding the powers of the eight great elements of mana, the heroes beat back the empire. However, the aftermath of what we today call the Second Imperial War was high indeed. The Empire lies in ruins, the allied kingdoms threaten to break apart from within, and Mana, the source of all magic, has vanished.
42 years have past, to the east the Empire stirs, the forests of Domen have turned dangerous, fought with monsters and bandits. Now a new generation takes to the defense of the world for now is the time for the Return to Mana.
Inspired by SNES classics, Team Monkey announces a brand new fantasy adventure/RPG for PC. In Saga of Pandoria - Legacy of the eight elements, brings an innovative fresh setting to the PC platform and a full 3 player cooperative playing experience. Fight together with 2 friends to prevent the Empire from rising again and restore peace to the world of Mana.

I can't even begin to explain how badly I want to see this get funded, and how badly I want this in my hands on release. It feels like an RPG I've been waiting for and the fact that it's inspired by SNES classics makes me happy. Not to mention there isn't a huge influx of PC only RPG's and this one seems to really be the one we all want, and deserve. The people at Team Monkey deserve to have their dreams come true, and deserve to have their game release and funded.

Anyways, enough of that rambling. Here's some screenshots, trailer and the link to their IndieGogo page.