Metro: Last Light

PlanetSide 2

Hawken

Cryostasis

Borderlands 2

Batman: Arkham City

Warframe

Alice: Madness Returns

Mirrors Edge

Mafia II

Dark Void

Star Trek Into Darkness

Ender’s Game

Elysium

Riddick

Pacific Rim

The World’s End

World War Z

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

So it looks like I will finally be getting something to put my GTX 680 to use. Well, one of them anyway.

I have been playing a lot of PlanetSide 2 lately, and went online to look up some weapon reviews to see what guns and upgrades I wanted to start unlocking. In the process of looking for those videos, I ran into this series called PlanetSide 2 War Correspondent. It is actually a pretty cool idea. The author of the videos plays the part of a news reporter and embeds himself with a real outfit of players on live servers. He follows them around and documents the fight as if it was a real war. With the HUD off and some solid camerawork, he manages to pull it off pretty convincingly. It certainly doesn’t hurt that PlanetSide 2 is absolutely massive in scale, providing endless footage for him to pick from. The game isn’t bad looking either. Take a look at two of the most recent videos below. I know I will be looking forward to future ones.

To celebrate, the game is also going to be 50% off on steam.

Changelog below:

Added

• Railgun Exosuit now available at Prototype Lab. Explodes things.
• Gorges may now spawn Babbler eggs, which hatch into Babblers!
• Gorges may now create Gorge Tunnels
• Bait Balls – Direct babblers by flinging it at enemies of friendlies
• New map: Descent
• New contextual help system, ‘TipVids.’
• Insight Spectator System Mk 2 – Redesign and interface overhaul.
• First Person Spectating
• Damage decals
• Reflections
• Refraction effects
• New alien cloaking effects
• New main menu background scene

Change

• Disabled wall walking on Command Stations.
• Added one second cool-down between Gorge structure drops
• Claw damage increased to 75.
• Claw range increased by 10%
• Rifles will now get destroyed when purchasing a new weapon at the armory to prevent a pile of Weapons in big games (manually dropping or picking weapons up is unchanged)
• Removed foresight from Alien Commander.
• Increased frequency of alert message when a base power node is under attack.
• Whips no longer hit multiple targets with their melee attack.
• Doors are no longer usable.
• Removed exo backwards speed scalar.
• Updated personal resource icon in Alien buy menu.
• Reduced phase gate rate from 0.5 to 0.2 seconds.
• Exosuit movement speed depends now on weapons weight (minigun heaviest, railgun lightest)
• Slightly increased Axe range to prevent situations where you could not hit an enemy below you even when crouching.
• Skulk movement adjustments – Movement code now makes them slightly less erratic when dancing in your sights.
• Cloaking system is now analog rather than binary – Allows for more nuanced use of cloaking trait
• Decreased the amount of time it takes for the game to start once both teams have a Commander.
• Doubled the rate that the “Game will not start until both teams have a Commander” banner message appears on the screen.
• Enemy players are now damaged while near the enemy Command Structure before the game starts.
• Bile bomb can now destroy dropped weapons.

Editor

• Added the ability for death triggers to do damage over time instead of instantly killing the entity.
• Max distance that initial Cyst spawn points can be from the Hive increased by 50%
• Changed the texture list in the Editor to “and” all of the search terms together by default (old “or” behavior can be reproduced by using ? in front of a search term)
• Changed the texture list box to allow selection of materials in any directory (not just the materials directory)

Feature

• Added ‘-logdir <path>’ command line option to let server admins override the location of log.txt.
• Added pagination to the mod browser in the dedicated server web admin.
• Added search capability to the mod page of the dedicated server web admin.
• Added resource graph in Insight (Press Q)
• Added commander research bars in Insight, replaces monolithic research block
• Added player energy/ammunition indicators in Insight

Fix

• Fixed bug causing Skulk hitbox and worldmodel to be misaligned on some vertical surfaces (Makes the buggers easier to hit).
• Fixed bug where emissive only surfaces would not be properly bloomed (caused cloaked Alien structures to be somewhat visible)
• Fixed issue where enabling double or triple buffering while in fullscreen windowed mode would cause the display to not update
• Fixed swipe not triggering effects / draining energy when quickly tapping primary attack button.
• Fixed script error when firing a Rifle that had been previously fired and dropped on the ground.
• Fixed holo Marine model being visible for a few frames for the already respawned Marine.
• The unban button now works in the server web interface.
• Fixed health bars showing up in ready room.
• Fixed bug where caps lock couldn’t be bound in the input settings.
• Fixed bug where tapping primary attack key with Skulk bite selected wont deduct energy / trigger sound.
• Fixed clogs appearing for one frame at world origin.
• Fixed bug where Marine Commander could select cloaked Alien units.
• Fixed bug where the “retry” console command would not attempt to reconnect to the last server joined using the “connect” console command.
• Fixed health/armor not being properly predicted for growing Alien structures.
• Fixed bug where tech point remains smashed after the Hive got replaced by a Command Station.
• Fixed camera hitch when crouch jumping as Onos.
• Fixed sentry battery destruction effects.
• Fixed unsocketed power nodes not considering LOS properly.
• Fixed bug where units recloak when Marine who touched them is still in close proximity.
• Text chat now displays above the “Fade to black” death screen.
• Fixed Alien structures playing metallic sound when attacked by Skulks.
• Ghost structures disappear now immediately when killed.
• Commander no longer triggers a ping during entering a chat message.
• Fixed Aliens losing abilities when a Hive gets destroyed and they evolve an upgrade without changing life form.
• Fixed issue where chat text would sometimes be displayed escaped in the web server admin console.
• Players can now damage each other after the round ends.
• Changed behavior of Gorge build menu: You no longer need to re-select things to build more of them.
• Fixed bug where hitting alt-enter would not cause the options menu to be updated based on the current windowed/fullscreen status.
• Fixed bug where the microphone would be stuck on if the server changed maps while a player was recording.
• Fixed infestation decal not showing up for Hydras.
• Fixed bilebomb effect not showing up on MAC model.
• When a team surrenders, everyone will be notified.
• Fixed prediction error when jumping in rapid succession.
• Fixed clogs blocking phase gates.
• Fixed bug where Aliens could barely see cloaked units when dark vision is enabled.
• Fixed welder ignoring the deploy animation.
• Fixed bug where Commanders could drop structures when help mode is enabled.
• Fixed Marine structures showing Alien blood when hit by flame throwers.
• Fixed adrenaline / camouflage banner not being displayed.
• All team members will be notified when someone votes to concede or to eject the Commander.
• Robotics Factory can’t cancel research.
• Fixed bug which gave Aliens abilities which are not researched.
• Fixed Editor bug that would occasionally cause a vertex to be created a large distance away from its intended location.
• Fixed issue where a change to a shader template file would not necessarily trigger shaders to be rebuilt.
• Fixed hitch when first encountering Infestation after the shaders have been updated.
• Fixed issue where dynamic props wouldn’t be animated on the dedicated server due to missing animation graphs.
• Spectator Mouse Hover no longer misses.
• Recycled/Refunded structures are no longer added to total team resource gathered.
• Fixed exploit in server web admin (Thanks confused!)
• Fixed issue where mods that specified a specific version build was required would not mount the file system in the proper order.
• Fixed bug causing pre-placed Cysts to sometimes die at the start of the round.
• Fixed bug where HTTP requests did not follow 301 redirects (fixes the mods list in the web admin)
• Fixed bug where Aliens were able to evolve both upgrades from one Hive type.
• Fixed exploit where selecting multiple shifts allowed it to bypass the global cool down for hatch ability.

Improvement

• Exos display now the thruster duration / cooldown in their HUD.
• Added smoke effect for Spike attacks.
• Added missing minimap icons for shift, shell, spur, veil.
• Insight text now much more legible

Optimization

• Reduced the number of bits used for network fields.
• Optimized determination of  whether or not Orders should be relevant to a client (improves server performance)
• Optimized querying the world for entities.
• Infestation blob coordinates are now saved after being generated once (Thanks Mats!)
• Sped up the compiling shaders process.
• Reduced memory usage by compressing animations – also reduces load times.
• Tweaked texture streaming – reduces load times.

Docking

• Cafe is now now a random marine spawn again
• Lockers is now a random spawn for both aliens and marines
• Redesigned how Cafe connects to Bar
• Redesigned Central Access so it now connects to cafe
• Redesigned Back Alley
• Moved Bar further west to prevent sieging of Lockers
• Moved Cafe RT to the lower level to prevent LOS issues
• Some changes to courtyard to fit the Central Access changes
• Some cosmetic changes to Ball Court
• Some cosmetic changes to Bar
• Reflection Probes added

Refinery

• Made Smelting a marine spawn.
• Removed route from Smelting to Conduit.
• Added new route from Smelting to Routing.
• Bug fixes including building placement and power grid issues.

Summit

• Improved Atrium RT location (less claustrophobic)
• Added more cover and flanking options for aliens in Flight Control
• Added missing lights in Crevice vent

SDK

• Moved all processing of input into script.
• Fixed visualization of the emissive map in the Viewer.
• Added the ability to make an external cinematic loop in the Cinematic Editor.
• Improved error reporting when a material as assigned in a model with an absolute path.
• Increased the timeout for HTTP requests.
• Fixed issue where defining a class on the server but not on the client would cause crashes and other bugs.
• Added the ability to materials layered on models to inherit parameter values from the underlying material.
• Fixed bug where the Ok/Cancel buttons in “Create Mod” window of Launch Pad would not be visible if the Window’s font size was set to large.
• Added animatable shader parameters for objects in the Cinematic Editor.
• Added support for vertex colors in .model files.
• Fixed bug where specifying a float2, float3 or float4 value for a surface shader input would corrupt the value.
• Added the ability specify float2, float3 and float4 parameters in a .material file.
• Added support for optional commas in SJSON files.
• Added “LocalPlayerChanged” engine event when the local player on the Client changes.
• Added ServerClient:GetSpectatingPlayer() and ServerClient:GetPlayer() methods.
• Added Client.VoiceRecordStart and Client.VoiceRecordStop functions.

I think its time to let TotalBiscuit and Jim Sterling explain why you shouldn’t pre-order games anymore:

I also decided that if I am getting a 2nd 680 it would be nice to actually be able to see it. So I went ahead and ordered a new side panel for my 600T that has a window. Of course, if you are going with a windowed case you need some sort of lighting. I am not a fan of the old school Cold Cathodes, so I decided to go with the NZXT Hue. It is a pretty nice LED controller that allows you to change colors, lighting modes, and brightness. The mesh front goes pretty well with my case, so that was also a nice plus.

With the additional GTX 680 also comes an additional power draw. My older UPS just was not going to cut it, providing me very short battery run times. I had been looking at the APC BR1500G and decided to just go ahead and buy it now. The software it comes with is infinitely better then the terrible software that came with my TrippLite UPS. I don’t think I will be buying any more TrippLite products from now on.

My current specs:

Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-3570K CPU @ 4.3GHz
CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 w/ two Air Series SP120 Quiet Edition High Static Pressure 120mm Fans in a push-pull configuration
Memory: 16GB Corsair Vengeance
Primary Hard Drive: 120GB OCZ Agility 3 SSD
Other Drives: Over 3TB of storage across 3 HDD
Optical Drive: LG Black 14X BD-R 2X BD-RE 16X DVD+R 5X DVD-RAM 12X BD-ROM 4MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner,3D Play Back
Video Card: 2x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 in SLI
Monitor: Asus VG236H 120Hz 3D Monitor
Speakers/Headphones: Corsair Vengeance 2000 Wireless 7.1 Gaming Headset & Logitech X-540 5.1 Speakers
Keyboard: Corsair Vengeance K90 Performance MMO Mechanical Gaming Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech G500
Mouse Surface: Razer eXactMat
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3
Computer Case: Corsair Graphite Series 600T
Power Supply: Corsair HX Series HX750

Tribes: Ascend, the extremely popular free to play game has released another massive update including 6 new maps and the return of the Shocklance from Tribes 2. It also marks the return of shielded base turrets, something the game has been needing since release. The update also comes with a patch that fixes a lot of issues.

With the release of the new content comes the Single Purchase option. This package will unlock all classes, all weapons, and all perks in the current game. If you are counting, that’s over 100 weapons and all 21 perks. It hit Steam for a “discount price” of $29.99, so expect it to go back up to $39.99 later on. If you’re already a VIP, you can grab it for $19.99.

The update’s available now.

The unthinkable has happened. Somehow the licensing issues for my favorite game of all time have been sorted out by the amazingly dedicated folks over at Good Old Games, and they have convinced the parties involved to allow them to re-release the game on their website DRM free. I would like to say that this came out of absolutely nowhere, but I cant help but wonder if the random patch we had a few months back was somehow related. It might not be, but either way I have been an extremely happy fan these past couple of months.

Expect to see a lot of happy gamers tomorrow

I can’t even begin to express how excited I am that this game is available again for people to experience. I know there are a lot of people out there besides myself that have been wanting this to happen, as the game has been on the top of the GOG Community’s most wanted list for years. If you have never played the game, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy tomorrow. You can think of the game as a more in-depth sci-fi horror RPG version of Bioshock. In fact, I even compared the two a bit before Bioshock came out. Of course its not surprising that the two games are so similar. The same company, with many of the same employees, developed both games. Bioshock was Irrational Games’ spiritual successor to System Shock since the license for that game was unavailable to them (and EA didn’t seem to care about it).

So how was this able to happen? GOG managing director Guillaume Rambourg explained to RPS:

We have contacted lots of publishers, developers and lawyers over the past 4-5 years – mostly industry veterans actually – to better understand the big legal puzzle behind this game and identify who owns the trademark, the IP, the code, distribution rights and so forth. We got lots of answers, sometimes aiming at the same direction, sometimes pointing in conflicting ones. You know the drill: one step forward, two steps back. It was a real investigation a la Tex Murphy. A very tough case, definitely, but we never lost hope.

Whether you are experiencing System Shock 2 for the first time or playing it again for the 20th time, don’t forget that there are a lot of great mods out there that can get your game looking great. If this release is like others from GOG, there shouldn’t be any compatibility problems with the existing mod content. It also should work great “out of the box”, so hopefully no worries about getting it running in the first place. We will all know more tomorrow. I am  hoping that this is a solid release.

System Shock 2 will be available at GOG.com tomorrow from 11:00 AM GMT, for $9.99.