Team Fortress 2 Getting New Environments

If you’re an avid TF2 player, you should be one of the thousands that have gotten tired of TF2’s same old “dust/industrial” setting. Worry not, VALVe is cooking up new enviroments for Team Fortress 2:

One of the things we’re looking at for the next update is the creation of a new type of environment for our levels to be built in. We’re pretty happy with the way our environments have turned out so far, but as we create more and more maps with these achievement packs, we want our level designers to have more to work with in terms of giving their settings a unique look.

The challenging part of this type of design process is in finding types of terrain and structures that provide an understandable, interesting set of visuals and at the same time staying within the constraints of what we want to do with gameplay. In addition to this, we want to be able to stay within the strengths of the engine that TF is built around.

They’ve also released some concept to get your engines going:

Team Fortress 2 Blog Available

 

After all the community requests, Valve has finally given in and created a blog for Team Fortress 2.

Now that we’ve settled into regular releases of content, we’ve found ourselves wanting a better way to talk directly to the TF2 community about the state of the game and some of the reasoning behind the choices we’re making. Our hope is that this blog will accomplish that, and give everyone some better insight into our development process as well.

Our hope is that we’ll be providing you with a variety of interesting things to read, whether you’re a hardcore TF2 player or whether you’ve just started. We’ll be going into the details behind some of the gameplay, posting a bunch of the concept art we haven’t released before, and showcasing the great content the community is creating.

Download Alone in the Dark PC version, Get Bonus Content

European pre-orders for the downloadable PC version of highly anticipated action survival game Alone in the Dark are open now at www.atari-store.com.

Buy the game for €49.99 and get free bonus content of two music tracks from the game’s official soundtrack composed by Olivier Deriviere, and parts 1 and 2 of the making of documentary feature in which the team at Eden Games reveal the secrets behind this landmark videogame production.

Fans who pre-order will be able to pre-load the game 24 hours before the official release date, and will receive the activation key shortly after midnight on the day of launch making them among the first to be able to play Alone in the Dark.

Featuring a gripping story, design inspired by contemporary TV action dramas, and original gameplay based on real world rules physics, the action survival opus Alone in the Dark will launch across Europe on 20 June for Xbox 360, PC, Wii and PlayStation 2, with the PLAYSTATION 3 version following later in 2008. For more information on Alone in the Dark visit www.CentralDark.com.

2K Games Announces Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization

Sid Meier’s Classic title Colonization is getting a remake as a stand-alone title. Developed by Firaxis Games, Colonization will take advantage of Civilization IV game engine. The game is scheduled to ship in Fall 2008, exclusively on PCs.

Press Release:

2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., announced today that Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization, the next offering in the award-winning Civilization IV universe, is currently in development at 2K’s world-renowned Firaxis Games development studio. Conceived from the ground up to take advantage of the Civilization IV engine, Colonization will be available fall 2008 exclusively for Games for Windows.

Full press release, 3 screenshots and a fact sheet after the jump.

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Splinter Cell: Conviction development still on track, says Ubisoft

Amidst all the confusion, Ubisoft has announced their next Splinter Cell title is shaping up nicely and “still on track”. The developer team posted the announcement on the official Ubisoft forums:

 It’s been a while since our last message but we’re happy to say that development of Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction is continuing well and the game is shaping up nicely. The team here is very dedicated and focused to making sure that Conviction turns into an amazing experience of Splinter Cell.

There are lots of rumours flying around right now about Conviction’s development status and we can tell you that the gameplay has evolved, similar to what happens in every game’s development process, and you won’t be disappointed. We take your feedback from these forums very seriously and, although we can’t respond to each and every thing people say, we do take these posts into consideration when making the game.

Unfortunately we’re not able to make Ubidays this year but in the forthcoming months we’ll be back in touch to begin showing you this new installment of the Splinter Cell series.

The free roller MMORPG Street Gears unveils its races

Press Release:

Announced on the 8th of May, Street Gears, the upcoming free roller MMORPG of the gPotato Europe portal, unveils itself to the public. Gala Networks Europe unveils the functioning of the races and their different mods. Street Gears is still scheduled in open beta on the second half of June 2008.

The races are an important part of the gameplay of Street Gears. From the persistent city of Park Town, the players can go into exciting races on the different tracks available. Eight tracks will be available at the release of the game but frequent content addition will be made by the development team during the month after. The tracks are classified by difficulty in order to allow the less experienced riders to have as much fun as the most famous roller stars, and different game mods are available on each track. Read more

Now On Steam - Gumboy Tournament

Gumboy Tournament, the latest in the critically acclaimed arcade gaming series, is now available via Steam. Gumboy Tournament adds new levels, bonuses, and multiplayer modes to the gameplay that earned its predecessor, Gumboy: Crazy Adventures, numerous honors including Gametunnel’s Game of the Year Award in 1996. Buy it now for 10% off its regular price of $19.99 during its first week on Steam

Press Release:

Cinemax is proud to announce that Gumboy Tournament is finished and waiting for you on Steam! Get ready to test your lighting reflexes in this fast-paced, addictive, action game! If you can roll a ball, you can play Gumboy Tournament. Read more

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction delayed till 2009/2010? [Updated]

According to the Xbox World 360 magazine, Ubisoft Montreal’s upcoming stealth-action title has supposedly gone “back to the drawing board”.

The reason behind it is Ubisoft’s own Assassin’s Creed title; since the company feels the design & gameplay of Assassin’s Creed outdate Splinter Cell: Conviction’s design. Read more

Salvation - New QnA, New Screenshots

Official Salvation website has posted a new QnA. Check out the QnA and 3 new screenshots below.

After a long period of silence we introduce you a new portion of screenshots that shows the current progress of Salvation. Also check the short Q&A which answers most frequently asked questions we received since the last update.

Q: In what direction do you plan to enhance the current version of the game?

A: After we get the stable prototype, we plan to go through a few stages of level detailing, finish the first main character’s mechanics developing and show the final quality of graphics on this location. Next, we will introduce the second character. At the same time we’re creating more game content including bosses, preliminary level design of other locations and preparations for the cut-scenes production.

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Now on Steam - Savage 2: A Tortured Soul

S2 games’ RPG Savage 2: A Tortured Soul is now available on Steam.

Independent game developer S2 Games brings their cross-genre sequel Savage 2: A Tortured Soul to Steam. Savage enabled players to opt for either the fast-paced, run-and-gun action of a first-person shooter game – playing as a Warrior – or the more cerebral and tactical planning of a real-time strategy game – playing as a Commander – working together as a team to defeat the enemy. Savage 2: A Tortured Soul builds upon the addicting, fast-paced gameplay of the original with additional squad-based features and enhanced role-playing game elements which enable players to build their character level and abilities throughout the game.

To celebrate the launch, S2 Games will be offering a five dollar discount on the download and purchase of a Savage 2 from now until May 12, 2008. Pick it up today for just $24.99.

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