EVE: The Tesselationing

So, as you may or may not know, there's this thing called EVE Fest, where company CCP does this huge thing and brings together a buttload of gamers and does awesome things, most having to do with their very large and renown MMO "EVE Online", which you also may or may not have heard of.

During it, CCP’s CTO Halldor Fannar and Tony Tamasi from Nvidia (you know, them fellars with the graphics and the dealio), spoke about tesselation, a concept in games that makes it possible to add or substract triangles in models ingame, in real time, depending on your distance from it, forming an effective level of detail.

This is what they had to show for their experiment in EVE:

Before

After

Edit:

CCP put out this video, showing this exact thing in more depth and real-time. Enjoy.


Well, I know I'm excited for the future of EVE at least. How about a new subscription, perhaps?

More about the article here. 

Baldur's iPad

 

If you, like me, enjoy Baldur's Gate, may have noticed that it's getting an Enhanced Edition soon, both the original and the sequel. If you enjoy it and also own one of them fancy iPads, then the fellas over at Overhaul Games will please you by showing that they intend to release it as an app for the iPad, that will be avaliable this summer of 2012. Yet another reason to buy an iPad, as well.

Read more here.

The Siege of Markath

Quite some amazing things you can do with the Skyrim Creation Kit, as seen in this video.

Free Weekend to try SWTOR

Would not want to be this guy when I have to sneeze

So in an announcement from their makers, Star Wars: The Old Republic is gonna be offering a free weekend for anyone who hasn't tried it yet. This will probably be an ideal time to try it out, as they previously do not have such a free trial-like gameplay possibility (yet?). So if you're interested in trying out this MMO from Bioware, then you can do so between the dates March 22nd, and March 26th. So go ahead, go out there and swing your sword or blast your blastingthingamabobs. Have fun!

Cause I don't have a proper gaming rig available so I sure won't be having any fun with it.

Something a-brewing for Dark Souls

Hum. Rich Bantegui, the Namco Bandai Community Manager wrote this on his twitter.

"Check it out DARK SOULS fans - An announcement is coming......"

I am intrigued and will be watching this. Perhaps it's a DLC? Perhaps they finally decided on that PC port? Interesting times ahead...

Shoguns and Cowboys: Total War Shogun 2: Fall of the Samurai

Total War: Shogun 2 is getting a standalone expansion. Did you hear? Well if you're interested in Shogun 2 then you ought've heard already. The standalone expansion dubbed Fall of the Samurai, as opposed to the earlier DLC Rise of the Samurai, is due for release on Steam anyday now (the 23rd, to be specific).

The expansion will, as the title may hint at, focus on the era where the samurai class in Japan was on the decline, paving a way for a new and modern Japan, during a period called the Meiji era. As such, it will incorporate the most modern technology we've yet encounted in a Total War game, with revolvers, gatling guns and off-shore artillery. Quite neat, if I'd say so myself, even if those Samurai warriors don't really seem to stand a chance... Let's see how Creative Assembly handles the balance issues. I am sure it'll be sweet.

Anyway, being standalone, you don't really need the original game for it to run, but personally, I'd highly recommend buying it too, as it's a great game.

More information and purchase (or pre-purchase) avaliability here!

The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition

So it seems our Xbox friends is finally getting their own exclusive taste of the masterpiece game, The Witcher 2: Assassin of Kings, with all the delicious added content that the original first-copy owners on PC did not delight in. Of course, cry not, for us PC users are still getting in on the action, with the massive update known as Enhanced Edition, similar to the pack given to the original The Witcher. The fellas over at GoG likes this too, as shown here.

The update comes out the 17th of April, and anyone who owns it now will get it for free, so I suggest you saunter over there and purchase it straight away (or later, to support the company further, yayifications to our Polish friends!), so you can enjoy the goodie-goodie patch when it comes.

Enjoy your travels in the wild country, witcher.

Review: Mount & Blade: Warband

Name: Mount & Blade: Warband

Developers: TaleWorlds

Publishers: Paradox Interactive

Genre: RPG, Simulaton

Platforms: PC

So in a previous post I mentioned that you should get a severe punishment for not having played this game. I now realised I never really told you exactly why, so why don't I just go ahead and do that. So shut up and sit down and listen to me while I tell you why this has taken up more hours of my life than hitherto any other game.

Yes, I know, this game is not pretty. It isn't. Some mods make it a bit prettier, but it's basically just dressing up a pig, really. The core experience of this game is the gameplay, which we will get to later in the review. The feeling of having a true sandbox game in a medieval setting is, at least to me, a truly freeing experience. You can ride around doing just about anything. You like being the merchant type, trading things back and forth between cities? Go ahead, mate. You prefer to make them yourself in shops you buy and set up, and then sell them? Go the fuck ahead. Or are you the type or person who'd rather take up arms and go and kick some ass as a mercenary? That's possible. Or you might just want to go further and make your own kingdom, because hey, guess what, you can do that too. There is a multitude of places to go, factions to join, people to stab, and things to buy. Let's get into some of the depth of it shall we?

STALKER 2, still alive

EDIT: The Tweet is gone, but the fact remains.

The GSC team developing STALKER 2 hit a snag some months ago and there was rumors circulating the web that they were going to die away and that STALKER 2 would be cancelled. However, it seems now that from this tweet confirms that they are still going strong. Let's hope they continue on the right track and all continues to go well, and we might be returning to the Zone sooner than later.

Good doggie!

Happy hunting, Stalker.

Review: Warhammer 40,000 Dawn of War 2: Retribution

Name: Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 - Retribution

Developers: Relic Entertainment

Publishers: THQ

Genre: RTS

Release Dates: March 2011, Out now!

Platforms: PC


Dawn of War 2 – Retribution is the standalone expansion and follow-up to the plot of Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War, as well as included expansions and sequel. The story of Retribution picks up after the ending of the expansion Chaos Rising which follows the plot of the Blood Ravens, a Space Marine chapter who carry the title of protagonists in both Dawn of War 1, as well as 2. Retribution however offers a new variety of protagonists, as the new campaign features a total of six playable factions with their own agendas and story, although it is all based on more or less the same identical maps, with different views on the fields depending on what faction you play. Sadly only one of the playthroughs count as official canon, but I would still suggest playing through them all, as each campaign features its own interesting way of play and characters, as well as interesting and/or hilarious dialogues between the cast.

Mechwarrior Online, neat looking

Looking forward to this, while I'm not the biggest Mechwarrior fan (I've seen the fan community, I'm a novice at best), but who doesn't love giant stomping mechs to blast other people in?

Time to stock up on PPC's and an Atlas, and a fuckload of heat sinks... Mmmyes.

Baldur's Gate I & II Enhanced Edition coming

Holy freaking bananaskids covered in oil and golden tusks, we're getting an enhanced edition of the old gem Baldur's Gate, the traditional RPG from Back In The Days(tm). Personally, I'm fucking stoked, the original game is great.

More information on their new site here.

Review: Dark Souls

Name: Dark Souls

Developers: From Software

Publishers: From Software, Namco Bandai Games

Genre: RPG

Release Dates: Out now!

Platforms: Xbox 360, Playstation 3

OK, imagine yourself this. You played From Software's ruthless game Demon's Souls, and you played it well. Hell, you might even have finished it, who knows, but the thing is, you finished it somehow, and the nightmare was over. You put the controller down, and that was it. You were done. Those enemies, those bosses (you know the ones I mean), will never come back to get you. You are safe. Well, think again asshole, you're in for another world of pain with From Software spiritual successor Dark Souls. Pick up that controller again, son, we're going back to tears and blood, though perhaps not in that order. And don't forget the lube this time.

Now for the ones of you who's never played Demon's Souls, you can read a review about it here, and get some more knowledge about it. Dark Souls is, as mentioned, a spiritual successor and while some resemblances in the storyline and some things may be discussed to be so, it is not a direct sequel and From has never stated that it is so. There are some similarities, but no official ones, so to speak. Yep. Anyway, let's get this show on the road and just let me tell you how much better Dark Souls is. Yes, I will be comparing it a lot to Demon's Souls, and if you do not like the way I roll then switch to your porn tab now.