Two million Skyrim mods downloaded in three days
GTA IV iCEnhancer 2.0 mod upgrades visuals
MechWarrior Tactics announced, accepting callsign reservations
Giant robots are officially a trend in 2012. The publishers of free-to-play mech FPSim MechWarrior Online just powered up a new web page for a second, separate game: MechWarrior Tactics. Right now, the only thing on the page is a countdown clock set to expire on next Monday, February 20.
Mild detective work tells us that MechWarrior Tactics is probably a Facebook game. The studios credited at the bottom of the page are social game developers—Roadhouse Interactive and Acronym Games are also collaborating to create Family Guy Online. So it’s probably not a successor to the squad-based isometric wonder that was MechCommander, but who’d say no to more mech games? Look for more intel in a week.
Update: Stephanie Schopp, a PR representative for the game, has emailed to let us know that MW Tactics is “not a Facebook game.” Yee-haw!
Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon review
According to B-movies, our planet’s demise will be caused by one of two things: giant insects, or giant robots. Earth Defence Force asks an important question: what would happen if giant insects somehow teamed up with giant robots?
The answer, apparently, is that the world authorities would drop a team of marines into the midst of an infested city, equip them with the most advanced weaponry available, and then hire a woman with a longwave radio to tell them to go from street to street and eradicate the hideous menace.
We’re livestreaming the Mass Effect 3 demo
The demo for Mass Effect 3 released this morning on Origin, and we teaming up with our friends over at Games Radar to stream it live for all you poor gaming souls trapped at work today.
Within: watch the saved video to get a sneak peek into your future life as Shepard, the total jerk or merciful angel.
Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial – part 5
Making a mod for Skyrim actually isn’t that hard, and Bethesda are making it even easier with a series of 15 minute video tutorials. This is part 4 – if you’re just joining us, see part 1 of the Skyrim Creation Kit video tutorial first.
And in other PC gaming news…
“An activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others.” It’s odd. I don’t support a football, rugby or tennis team but I like it when games feel like sports. Strategy + dexterity + teamwork = my ideal game. My current game of choice, Tribes: Ascend, nails all three.
It think it’s why I find Starcraft II so draining: 40 per cent of my brain attempts to recall build orders while 50 per cent of it attempts to implement them. The remaining 10 per cent of my powers are dedicated to countering my opposition’s tactics and/or coordinating with my team. Then I panic and have a brainsplosion.
Tribes: Ascend gives me a similar feeling of camaraderie but without the brainspolosion. Over the past few weeks I’ve established my role as a Technician and dedicated time to getting good at it. Yes, sometimes I feel like an overpowered caretaker compared to the quarterback-esque, glory hunting, Pathfinders but they don’t get to casually chat with Tim on the flag stand as we lure dudes into a web of turrets, motion detectors and force fields.
Whoops! I just remembered that it’s Valentine’s Day, and that my intro isn’t the least bit romantic. Here’s some TF2 sweetness to compensate.
Click through for more PC gaming news.
Spend Valentine’s Day with PC Gamer in Rift
I’m starting to suspect that Valentine’s Day is more about seasonal MMO events than it is about intimacy or affection or spending time with a loved one. At least that’s what I keep telling myself.
As we reported last week, Rift are celebrating the gift card industry’s happiest day of the year with an attempt to break the Guiness world record for most in-game marriages in a day. We’ll be taking part: at 7.00pm GMT tonight on the European Icewatch server, Tom Senior and I will be tying the virtual knot. This is what we are actually doing with our Valentine’s evening. We’d like you to join us. Please?
Public alpha imminent for intriguing action-RPG, Krater
Krater is attempting to fuse the fast, bloody combat of Diablo with more thoughtful squad management. The devs are listing big names like X-Com and Syndicate as inspirations, and there will be a massive crafting system to back up the exploration and monster mincing. Your squad will change as members leave or die, and as every item in the game can be crafted, you’ll have complete control over your squad’s gear and set-up.
Krater is about to go into public pre-alpha testing, in which they’re aiming to get tons of feedback on an early build. If you’d like to get involved and see how Krater’s shaping up, you can follow the latest announcements on the Krater site and follow developers, Fatshark, on Twitter. Meanwhile, here are a few of the latest screenshots from the current build.
Skyrim mods are quite popular: two million downloads in three days
The Skyrim Creation Kit was released last Wednesday. Within hours, the Steam Workshop was stuffed with mods, including good ones, bad ones and downright scary ones. In case it wasn’t obvious already, Skyrim mods have proved extremely popular with players. Bethesda say that two million mods were downloaded within three days of the release of the Creation Kit.
Players have had plenty to choose from. According to Bethesda “more than 2,500 mods have been published by the gaming community.” It’s an almost overwhelming selection that ranges from new armour and upgraded textures to new combat moves and devastating magic. Thankfully, the Steam Workshop now has a much needed search bar, making it easier to find mods your friends have recommended. Speaking of which, here’s our round up of some of the best Steam Workshop mods so far.
Dwarf Fortress update adds “secret vampire dwarves” and werewolf invasions
Remarkable indie adventure generator, Dwarf Fortress has just received a great big update. Version 0.34.01 is now free to download from the official site, adding fresh new ways for your Dwarves to die horribly. Vampire dwarves can infiltrate your settlements and full moons bring the added threat of werewolf invasion. More unpleasantly, “Ingested syndromes are now possible” in adventure mode, so you’ll have to watch what you eat when exploring the new cities present in the latest update.
There are some gems in the bug fix list as well. “Demons masquerading as gods will try a little harder” and the devs have “restricted mandates so they’ll be more reasonable.” Thank heavens for that! Find the rest of the patch notes below. For more Dwartress, check out our Dwarf Fortress diary, a tale of seven drunk dwarves and their quest to reach hell.
Star Wars: The Old Republic Q&A reveals plans for Legacy races and dual spec support in 1.2
Bioware have held the first of a new series of weekly Q&A sessions with Star Wars: The Old Republic players, with some more information on what we can expect from the upcoming 1.2 patch.
The Legacy system offers a shared level that exists across all TOR alts, but while it’s currently possible to gain Legacy levels, there are no rewards attached to them. Lead writer Daniel Erickson confirms that 1.2 will give players with Legacy levels access to a greater selection of races when creating new characters.
“The species that will be unlocked in Game Update 1.2 are species currently in the game that will become available to classes and factions where you haven’t seen them before,” says Erickson. “New species are in consideration for the future but we don’t have any details to share right now.” Jawa Jedi, anyone?
Total War: Shogun 2 – Fall of the Samurai trailer talks torpedo boats and off-field artillery
Total War’s biggest expansion will also feature their most modern setting to date. That doesn’t mean that we’ll lose out on cavalry charges and mass infantry melee, though. Japan’s traditionalist forces will put the art of war to the test against new threats like long-range artillery, gatling guns and well-drilled ranks of gunmen. Each of the six new factions will be fighting for or against the Shogunate. Your role as the leader of one of those factions will be to push Japan in one direction or the other, ideally by creating an army that consists entirely of horses and rampaging them from one end of the country to the other, trampling the enemy underhoof. Horses FTW.
Fall of the Samurai is a standalone expansion, so you won’t need a copy of Shogun 2 to play it. The expansion is due out on March 23. Which side will you take?
Total War: Shogun 2 Fall of the Samurai preview
Through shallows of waving grass they come, hundreds of them, spears gripped, armour glittering, flags aflutter in the scented spring breeze. So many gaudy uniforms and ludicrous hats! So much splendour and misguided confidence.
The gaily coloured attackers are converging on my anvil – four formations of nervous Kiheitai riflemen. My hammers – twelve units of Sharpshooters and White Bear infantry – are waiting in nearby woodland for the perfect moment to strike.
Grand Theft Auto IV video shows iCEnhancer 2.0 visual mod in action
Version 2.0 of the superb iCEnhancer mod for Grand Theft Auto IV is now freely available on creator Hayssam Keilany’s site. Providing your PC can run it at more than a handful of frames per second, it’ll turn Liberty City into the almost photorealistic version of pseudo-New York shown in the trailer above. The mod’s creator is planning to release a “Natural” version soon, which could provide the more muted tones we’ve seen from previous versions of iCEnhancer. If you like the look of this, Keilany’s also made a version of iCEnhancer for Skyrim. What do you think, time to install GTA IV again?
Tim Schafer talks Double Fine’s uphill battle to publish games on PC
Is there any bigger darling on the internet than Tim Schafer and Double Fine right now? After all, you guys forked over north of a million bucks just to see the man revisit the point-and-click adventure genre, a wonderful little gaming niche where bigwig publishers fear to tread.
Related to that, late last year our very own Logan Decker sat down with Tim (and Double Fine’s mysterious millionaire/heroic partner, Steven Dengler) to talk about the uphill battle involved in simply porting games like Costume Quest and Psychonauts. Have a watch.
Guild Wars’ Winds of Change concludes on a high note
Like a turbulent gust blowing off the Jade Sea, the latest installment of Guild Wars’ Winds of Change clears away the heavy fog that has been hanging over players since learning of the Ministry of Purity’s duplicity. With the Ministry not as innocent as it once seemed, the Kurzicks and the Luxons at it again, and Cantha in peril, heroes are needed. Who will answer this call? Why the players of course!
With the nine new quests available, as well as new rewards both in game and in the store, players will have plenty of fat lootz to entice them back to the adventure in Winds of Change.
