Biggest fear: managing a large empire becomes burdensome because of so many features and options. Biggest hope: that the venerable beta testers will help Stardock get everything into tip-top shape before release. Also epic 64-bit maps.
[quote]This does bring up a good issue, though: One reason to go PC is because you're using a PC anyways, and it's often cheaper to upgrade it with a cheap video card than to buy a console.[/quote] PC games are cheaper than console games and usually depreciate in price at a faster rate. So if you buy lots of newer games -- and have a bit of patience -- you can save big bucks by purchasing them on the PC. This makes up for the fact that a good gaming rig will usually cost more than a c
That's how all the headlines looked when I read Blue's earlier. When I saw Stardock listed, I thought they were laying off people, too. A second later I realized that's not the case. EA posted record revenue but still had a net loss. How is that possible? The CEO should be the one out of a job, not the coders and designers.
Which one is not like the others? THQ to Cut 600 Mythic Layoffs More EA layoffs New Stardock Studio and Game Plans Cuts at Disney Interactive Studios (via Blue's News headlines from recent days) Congrats, Stardock. It says something about SD's business acrumen if they're expanding during a recession and making more games for a dead platform ( [e digicons];P[/e] ) I look forward to more great games from SD and its partners (GPG,
[quote who="GeneralEtrius" reply="3" id="2046230"]Why is it that the PC version of most games is always delayed?! Why do they do that?! It's stupid, unfair, and annoying.[/quote] I can think of two reasons: fear that piracy will cannibalize sales (unfounded or not, it is a perception) and desire to protect the consoles from PC competition. Microsoft is guilty of the latter. Here's what Microsoft Game Studios European business director Peter Zetterberg <a href="http://www
The only reason I owned consoles was for party games, but my friends and I don't play them much these days. I've been building PCs and playing games on them since 1993 or so. To this day, it's my favorite hobby. Thankfully, there are still some studios out there that understand what makes PC gaming great. (Looking at you, Stardock.) Despite being portrayed as graphics whores, PC gamers, I think, really appreciate the oldies but goodies. Lots of active communities for Fallout 1&
GalCiv2's biggest problem is the naming scheme which, as far as big problems go, is pretty minor :D
Yeah, I hope they drop the price on Impulse. I'd rather my $40 go directly to Stardock.
TF2, CS, DoD, BF2, etc. etc. all have highly competitive leagues and clans, but they’re distinctly separate from the pub severs you find in the server-browser list. FPS pub games go much better than RTS pub games, at least in my experience. This has more to do with the number of players in a given game; with 15 vs. 15 (or more), you usually get a nice distribution of skill levels. The other reason FPS online games are so popular (again, I think most people DON'T extensively p
I had so much fun with TA back in the day. I don't see any news of the shutdown on their website...
[quote who="goodgimp" reply="21" id="2041429"]Yea, I hear you Serik. I love RTS games, but RTS games generally consist of my friends and I playing, doing coop against ridiculous amounts of AIs or whatever.[/quote] RTS comp-stomps are the greatest form of co-op gaming :D [quote who="-Ue_Carbon" reply="7" id="2041817"]NONE of us here are TRUE RTS Competivite players. While you argue for and justify the current RTS competitive world, none of us want to be involve
I play FPS games online all the time. I play MMOs every now and then. But I rarely play RTS games online. When I do, it's with friends. The only RTS (more of a RTT) that's come close to online FPS-style accessability is World in Conflict. 8 vs. 8, four different "classes" (air, tank, infantry, support), and relatively short matches. Rage quitters won't ruin the game because you still have 6 other teammates. When I used to play Empire Earth online, I
That picture is awesome. If Denryu's easter egg doesn't quite work out, at least give the game a one in 100,000 chance of generating that island. Someone would get it at some point :D
Heh, I'd try to find away around it. Have a bank account in WY and pay through a proxy? :D WA state residents already pay taxes on Steam since Valve is located there.
Yeah, GFWL is a huge piece of crap. Trying to get the latest DLC (console land, ahoy!) for Fallout 3 via GFWL is a real pain in the rear. Just use Steam and/or Impulse and forget MS's attempt to force console-style B.S. on PC users.
No game should ever use GFWL for any reason.
"Only" sold 5 million copies at retail (on PC and 360); Valve has yet to reveal Steam sales numbers. And since Valve makes way more money from copies sold on Steam, it's safe to say that the Orange Box's revenue was quite impressive.
If you're interested in dialog-heavy olde-fashioned CRPGs, check out Age of Decadence . The game's creator is pretty intent on putting the "R" in RPG; you can complete quests and stuff in multiple ways depending on the role you wish to play.
[quote who="Tamren" reply="11" id="2032863"]Will Dawn of War 2 be Steam dependant for patching and multiplayer and the like? In essense just like all of Valves games.[/quote] hehe it uses GFWL for matchmaking and patches. So the game is tied into Steam and GFWL...
[quote who="Annatar11" reply="3" id="2032543"] Within 10 years, I don't see retail being the driving force in the videogame industry. Look forward to the inevitable liquidation sales at Gamecrap. Unfortunately, if you look at Gamestop's end of the year numbers, they made a gigantic profit thanks largely in part to used console game sales. Even if they stop bothering with PC games completely, they make enough revenue on console games to come out pretty far on top.[/quote]
lol @ 5:50 in the top left corner. It looks like an orc is flying around the screen for about 10 seconds after being blown up (in CoH:OF I've seen tanks fly like 60 feet in the air due to random glitches)
I read that Gamestop pulled DoW II because of Steam, but they're still selling Empire TW which, AFAIK, uses Steamworks. Considering Gamestop hardly sells PC games these days, I say screw 'em, but it is a shot across the bow. I'd hate for retailers to strong-arm publishers away from convenient systems like Steam and Impulse. Ignoring digital sales really worked for the music industry during the early 2000s. Within 10 years, I don't see retail being the driving force in the videogame
The most important sentence in the article: The lesson seems simple, but it's often overlooked in our NPD-obsessed industry: return on investment is a lot more important than units sold, especially as budgets continue to balloon dangerously. I'd rather make 20 games for $20 million than one game for the same price. If even half had the same return as Sins , I'd be loaded! Interestingly,
[quote who="Nights Edge" reply="9" id="2023481"]I did read something about Linux computers being sold with the terminal/command line disabled. If it is now feasible for Linux to be used without learning commands, then it's well on its way to a broader audience..[/quote] This is almost as bad as the "you need a $5,000 computer to play games" misconception. Ubuntu Linux (and a dozen other distros) can be used without touching the command line. As you play around with Linux, y
Yes, provided diseases aren't "feature creepy." I like the idea of diseases [not in real life, mind!], even something simple like "City X loses Y% of population per turn," but I don't want to manage a highly-complex and involved disease model in addition to everything else. The good news is that disease models are fairly intuitive, so players could probably figure them out without too much hassle. Basically, diseases can keep things interesting and offer different strategi