Recent content by Jdb

The guys making this fantastic looking game are finally far enough to have a full stage 100% complete and ready to show off. A public testing version is scheduled for release sometime this year (hopefully.) But at this rate, I believe it will definitely happen.

Patents for game mechanics are a real thing. http://www.google.com/patents/US6935954 Ever wondered why modern video games seem so stale? No, it's not because of mass marketed AAA dudebro games. It's because large developers have a stranglehold on all but the most broad game mechanics...

You can monitor the volcano's activity here. http://baering.github.io/ Seismic activity is picking up and almost all tremors are now at least 2 magnitude. The volcano is still a threat, but a several hundred meter thick glacier is so far containing it. However, the volcano could breach...

Whelp, it's blowing. http://news.nationalpost.com/2014/08/23/bardarbunga-volcano-in-iceland-starts-apparent-subglacial-lava-eruption/ Only time will tell how big the eruption actually is. Though this volcano is on par with Krakatoa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1883_eruption_of_Krakatoa...

Not sure about the "no grind" part. The slower game play pace created by a grind is what lets communities form and put the "MM" in "MMORPG". Not many people like grinding, but there are ways to fix it other than completely removing it like every modern "MM"O tries to do.

It's not a knee jerk reaction when you're familiar with both sides of the equation. This is a huge loss that will set back virtual reality for a long time. The original Oculus Rift was open source. Open source is a big deal with a high potential for unexpected innovation and technological...

As cool as seeing the entire Internet being mad is, I doubt it will change anything. There are just too many people who don't realize what was lost. They either never knew about it, or they think video games was the OR's only use. This is the biggest technological loss to humanity since the...

The Oculus Rift was open source virtual reality. 'Virtual reality' was never the revolutionary part of the Rift. It was 'open source'. When is the last time you heard 'open source' and 'virtual reality' put together before the Rift? Never! Open source VR is world changing technology limited...

Renegade X is a free, standalone, multiplayer FPS/RTS hybrid set in the Command & Conquer universe. The objective of the game is to destroy the enemy base while protecting your own. Renegade X releases tomorrow, 26 February.

Here's a video of the destructible environments in action. Destructible environments and a support class might fix Hawken's biggest problem - Balance. Currently, the game is dominated by classes with big burst damage that rely on cover, such as the Scout, Raider, and Sharpshooter. Every...

Destructible environments always seem to fascinate everyone. Now, mech FPS 'Hawken' is working on adding its own version of total chaos. There are no planned dates for adding destructible environments into the game, but it looks like it will happen. What do you think of this? As...

Command & Conquer 4 doesn't answer anything and adds more questions. I don't think the story will ever officially resolve. However, Westwood wanted the final game to be a merging of the Tiberium and Red Alert timelines. It would've been a three way end-all war between Einstein's GDI/Allied...

Some people think no fast travel is a flaw. However, there is fast travel. It's just something you upgrade over time, like everything else in the game. Use spoiler one to get to your destination, then spoiler two to return to town. Combining these methods cuts travel time by up to 75%!

Hawken. The Hawken now is nothing like the Hawken in the original videos. Hawken then was a fast mech-flavored arena shooter. Hawken now is slow. Really slow. Baby's first FPS slow. To compensate, the developers want a huge amount of customization options to mix up encounters. However, this...

It's not pay to win. The starting mech is arguably the best mech in the game. But there are a lot of balance and content issues. Enough for me to decide to stop playing until they're fixed. You see, the individual skill ceiling in Hawken is low due to the game's slow speed and simple map...