Oh boy. Remember the AI-voiced Darth Vader NPC Epic recently added to Fortnite? The one that very quickly had to patched because it wouldn't stop saying bad words, and has since become the subject of action from the SAG-AFTRA union? Well, it'll be getting some AI NPC siblings later this year, with Epic planning to give creators the tools to create their own.
Last week, I questioned whether MindsEye was a real game or not. This week, that question lingers. Why, you ask? Well, as spotted by our good friends over at Eurogamer, two executives at the studio behind the game, Build a Rocket Boy, have now departed the company. Let me just check when MindsEye is coming out… oh, that's right, literally one week from today. Surely this is only good news!
Good news, people who've been struggling to form the perfect Elden Ring Nightreign trifecta and don't fancy taking on the task of battering Nightlords solo. FromSoft have now confirmed that duo expeditions will be coming to the game later this year, as part of post-launch plans which also include "enhanced" fights against existing bosses.
Having never designed an FPS before, there's a good chance the following grand theory of combat design I'm about to propose is reeking globnonsense, but here goes: I figure you've basically got two approaches. You can either keep it simple but chunky, and use this to lure the player in right away by making them feel powerful and capable. Then, you can keep your relatively pithy verb list interesting by riffing on things like encounter and enemy design.
Then, there's the Texnoplazm method (Steam demo here) which is to slap you across the chops with a phone book of gun fu possibilities straight from the off, offer a taste of stylishness just piquant enough to convince you that mastering this toolkit seems like a fun and worthwhile idea, and let you loose. It's the "I suck at this, but I will not suck eventually, and then my enemies will be sorry and also impressed at how cool I look" approach. This method also ends up with you feeling much more capable than the first guy, even though they got to have more fun earlier.
That was a lot of words to say "game good, if a little overwhelming initially". Here's a trailer. It may contain the following verbs: punch. Punch but big. Slide. Slam. Dodge. Throw weapon. Grab weapon in midair. Kick. Wall run. Block. Parry. Have impeccable android butt.
You know how it is: you rush to the bus stop because you think you're going to miss it, then it arrives 12 years late. Typical. The makers of Euro Truck Simulator 2 have shown off a short trailer with a big shiny European coach in it. It confirms that the sim will add driveable buses in some form soon, fulfilling a long-forgotten tease that was first made by the developers back in the cloudy days of 2013.
This week is the week of Summer Game Fest and its entourage of accompanying showcases. As such, the feeling right now is of preparing for an avalanche. Join me as I play out the next few days in my head.
Hello reader who is also a reader, and welcome back to Booked For The Week - our regular Sunday chat with a selection of cool industry folks about books! Did you know that adopting language altered the position of the human larynx, making us more susceptible to choking on food? I learned this because I've finished Blood Meridian, and was reading McCarthy's musings on the evolution of language as a chaser. Proof, then, that the only truly fitting way to leave this world is to die choking on a book. Perhaps this week's guest can recommend a good one?
