Guest article by Wing See Li.

Figure
1: The main game logo of Kewpie-Jazzy.

Do you want to know what’s the next thing
that want me to curse up a storm (in other words, swearing) besides Brexit?
It’s Kewpie-Jazzy. The mere mention of the game title makes me want to
resort to using profanity.

Ugh… this is Flappy Bird all over
again when it comes to unoriginality, the lack of original ideas and
creativity, the laziness (copying and pasting assets wise) and the obvious,
constant copyright infringement. Not to mention, me continuously ranting about
how much I loathe it with every fibre of my being. I can go on.

I’ve seen worse games in my lifetime but Kewpie-Jazzy
really takes the cake.

Another thing to hate about this horrid game aside from
the spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes that are giving me an eyesore is
the questionable lighting. The lights are so obnoxiously bright; they might possibly
cause seizures to gamers.
To make matters worse, Dokycamp couldn’t tell the difference between high
definition and the colours being unbearably bright. This is enough evidence for
the Kickstarter campaign and the game itself to raise red flags.

There’s nothing wrong with drawing inspiration from a
different game but there is a fine line between a game being influenced from a
different game and a game that’s being a rip-off or a cheap knock-off of
something else. Initially, I appreciate Dokycamp for attempting to revive the
3D platforming genre but not like this.

They must learn that lazily making illegal use of ideas
and pilfering assets from sources such as the Unreal Engine 4 Marketplace or
games (whether they are past, recent or upcoming games) will get them nowhere
in life, let alone in the video game industry. Thus, it’s considered to be a copyright
infringement and it’s against the law; they’ll land themselves in a court as
they’ll end up with a swarm of lawsuits on their tails or they’ll receive
criminal records. But it’s not like they care or do anything about any possible
consequences.

Take the developing team of Skylar &
Plux: Adventure on Clover Island by Right Nice Games, for instance; at
least they can design their own assets, backgrounds, characters etc from
scratch.

Figure
2: On the left side of Kewpie and Jazzy are Yooka-Laylee
assets stolen from the Unreal Engine 4 Marketplace.

The background of Dokycamp is just as sketchy
as the members of the game developing team themselves. There is little to no
information about them other than their previous works consist of exceedingly
obscure games and a fanmade game called Sonic Souls. All the more reason
for people to not fund their game.

Figure
3: Close your eyes and who do you see? Timon from Disney’s The
Lion King.

At first glance, the game looks promising but I soon
realised the layout of the Kickstarter campaign is almost an exact
duplicate of Yooka-Laylee’s Kickstarter campaign according to a post
uploaded by one of the members from the Yooka-Laylee Bat Ship Crazy Facebook
group and this is what sparked my deep hatred for Kewpie-Jazzy. Not only
that, but the pie chart and the backer rewards scheme are alike. The likeness
is uncanny. This is the kind of feeling I shouldn’t be experiencing when it
comes to my second favourite video game genre. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is
how you DON’T do a Kickstarter campaign.

Figure
4: The spelling, grammar and punctuation errors are a
desperate cry for help!

It is understandable that English isn’t the developing
team’s first language but this is no excuse for not finding a proof reader.
Hence this is one of the main reasons why it’s hard or impossible for me to
take their Kickstarter campaign seriously. Sometimes I wonder if they actually
can’t be bothered.

And please don’t get me started on Dokycamp possibly
nicking the animal-like running ability from Clive ‘N’ Wrench, according
to some of the gameplay videos. Heck, even Kewpie runs identically to Clive the
Rabbit from Clive ‘N’ Wrench. If that’s not uninspiring, I don’t know
what is.

Dokycamp may have claimed that having a female (feline)
character as the main protagonist will bring something new to the table but
Right Nice Games (the developing team behind Skylar & Plux: Adventure on
Clover Island) have already beaten them to the punch.

As a long-time fanatic of the 3D platforming genre
featuring mascots or buddy-duos since Super Mario 64 for the Nintendo 64
back in 1997, Kewpie-Jazzy really sickens me to the pit of my stomach
and it’s a complete disgrace to 3D platformers/collect-a-thons and platforming
fans everywhere.

The fact Dokycamp blocked me on Twitter goes to show they
can’t take constructive criticism and they’re clearly butthurt about my harsh,
negative comments. This led me to believe they are oversensitive and they get
upset over every little thing. That’s another vital thing to take heed of. They
need to grow up and learn to accept constructive criticism lest they desire to
never improve on their spelling, grammar and punctuation as well as their
technical, modelling, lighting, animation, editing etc abilities. At the
moment, their skills are amateur at best. If they can’t take constructive
criticism, they definitely can’t take pointers either. Therefore, they keep
denying they have a lot of things to improve on and they constantly never admit
what they’re doing wrong like for example when I told them to change the
lighting or tone down the brightness, they assumed said lighting is high
definition, which I beg to differ.

Concerning the storyline, the plot is extremely bare-bones
and similar to the gameplay, it isn’t groundbreaking. Kewpie is living
peacefully with her pirate parrot friend, Jazzy, on their home island. All is
right with the world and all is well, that is until the evil conjuror, Captain
Cutlass suddenly interrupted their calm and quiet lifestyles and stole
everything except the clothes on their backs. So, Kewpie and Jazzy take it upon
themselves to set out in order to collect all of the gold, recover the
citizens’ stolen belongings and take down the nefarious magician, Captain
Cutlass, once and for all. Together as one, they can save the world from
financial ruin.

Along the way, Kewpie and Jazzy will encounter new
playable sidekicks such as an octopus and a monkey, which let the players to
switch between them and players have the opportunity to unlock new outfits for
Kewpie to wear.

Figure
5: Characters from top to bottom – the pirate parrot, Jazzy,
and the main protagonist, Kewpie.

As depicted in the screenshot above, Kewpie
the pink-coloured cat and Jazzy the Parrot are noticeably crudely modelled.
They looked as if they are modelled for a PlayStation 2 or a Nintendo Gamecube
game. The same I would say about the supporting, minor characters such as
Poptopus the purple-hued or fuchsia-tinted Octopus and DJembe (the so-called,
Timon look-alike meerkat or should I say, Timon from Disney’s The Lion King?).
Heck, I’ve seen characters, levels, islands and worlds from other game
franchises that are better looking than the stuff I’ve witnessed in Kewpie-Jazzy.
And this is coming from someone who doesn’t care about the graphics and how the
levels, islands and worlds looked aesthetically, majority of the time.

I know I shouldn’t judge a game before its
release date or by its game trailer or I shouldn’t judge a game series by its
gameplay (in the Ratchet & Clank series’ case) but Kewpie-Jazzy
is an exception and it deserves to be harshly criticised in a pessimistic
way.

As it stands, I just don’t see this
pathetically pitiful, sad excuse of a “promising” platformer to be funded as
far as its current amount of money is concerned. In fact, I have a feeling it’s
doomed from the start. Therefore, its Kickstarter campaign went downhill before
it even started. I’m surprised Kickstarter haven’t taken it down from their
website yet.

In my opinion, Kewpie-Jazzy is more of
a rip-off, cash-in or a cash cow rather than a legit, glorified 3D platforming
game in an attempt to scam its audience, possible, future Kickstarter backers
and other people.

On a related note, Dokycamp have recently
released a trailer for their forthcoming Kickstarter game, Evolution.
Judging by the trailer, it looks like it’s crudely and unprofessionally done
and the game itself is a blatant rip-off of Spore. Seriously, how
unoriginal can they be? I know I shouldn’t jump to conclusions but do you blame
me? It’s difficult or rather… impossible to trust the same developer behind Kewpie-Jazzy
with my money. If Evolution eventually launches on Kickstarter, here’s
an advice for you: Never, EVER pledge money to that obvious plagiarised
game. Both of these games developed by Dokycamp are raising more red flags just
as much as they’re raising more questions.

If you want to play TRUE labours of love in terms
of upcoming 2D and 3D retro-inspired, indie platformers/collect-a-thons then
look no further. I highly recommend you Yooka-Laylee, Shantae: Half
Genie Hero, Skylar & Plux: Adventure on Clover Island, Clive
‘N’ Wrench, Rad Rodgers, A Hat In Time, Lobodestroyoyo,
Beard Blade and Fox ‘N’ Forests, to name a few. I’d recommend Griff
the Winged Lion too but it’s unfortunately sharing the same fate as Kewpie-Jazzy,
sans the apparent plagiarising.

All I ask of you is avoid Kewpie-Jazzy and Evolution
like the plague just like your life depends on it and heaven forbid, DON’T
pledge money to them on Kickstarter whatsoever under no circumstances! You can
thank me later.

By Wing See Li.

Follow Wing See Li:

• Twitter
• Fanfiction.net
• FictionPress
• Archive of Our Own Profile
• YouTube
• Google Plus
• Tumblr
• Sketchfab
• Miiverse
• PaigeeWorld
• LinkedIn

The post A Recipe For Kickstarter Disaster: Kewpie-Jazzy appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

Guest article by Wing See Li.

For the first time ever, it brings me great pleasure to present the readers of the Tomb Of Ash my first, unexpected interview with
the creator of Computer Virus Simulator, D. Jagielski (thedarkhog on Twitter).
At the moment, he is responsible for almost everything for the upcoming indie
3D platforming/collectathon game ranging from character and asset modelling to
level design except for the music (as stated in the interview).

How did this come about? While I’m minding my own
business surfing the internet and flicking through the web pages of Facebook
and Twitter, I suddenly received a tweet from D. Jagielski (also known as
thedarkhog) while I’m scrolling up and down the notifications list. It’s
not every day a random stranger abruptly asks me to do an interview with
him/her so I immediately accepted his request. Besides, I might as well snag
the opportunity while I still can! And the rest is history!

Now with further ado, here is my first interview with
D. Jagielski!

What games inspired your Virus Computer Simulator game?

D. Jagielski:
Mainly early 3D games such as Alpha Waves/Continuum released by infogrames back
in either 90 or 91, not sure right now – one of the first if not the first 3D
platformers, way before Super Mario 64. Also, demoscene. And it’s Computer
Virus Simulator.

What inspired you to use a computer virus as a character?

D. Jagielski:
Originality. To my knowledge it has never been done before and I needed
something to stand out since I’ve knew full well I won’t be only 3D platformer
in town by the time of release. Also this gives me free reign to do as many
obscure computer jokes as I please.

Can you tell me a summary of the story of the Computer Virus Simulator game?

D. Jagielski:
For now story is still in flux. I think I’ll do it with loosely connected story
arcs, similar to what some web comics do. This will make possible to extend the
game’s story as long as it is vialable commercially and as long as I have ideas
to do so. Each “arc” will be 5-10 levels long, with demo having its
own arc.

Is there a main antagonist? Can you describe to me what he/she looks like or show
me a picture of him/her?

D. Jagielski:
The Creator, who is, well, creator of The Virus has a rival and there will be
few clashes between the two, but he’s not the same “main antagonist”
in the sense that Neo Cortex is for Crash or Gruntilda for Banjo.

Does the Computer Virus have its own moveset?

D. Jagielski:
Yes. While it’s not final, for now it consists of dash, acting both as mobility
ability as well as attack, ground pound, gliding, jumping and wall jumping.

You can also pick up upgrades that allow you to shoot.

What does your game development team compose of? Or is it just you developing the
game, composing music, programming, testing the game etc?

D. Jagielski: I
am doing most of development, including levels, coding graphics and all the
sounds within the game. For music I rely on CC and outright public domain
chiptunes. I wish I could hire musician for the projects, but the game has
basically $0 budget.

Are you planning on launching a Kickstarter campaign for this game?

D. Jagielski: I
am from one of those countries where you can’t launch Kickstarter, but
IndieGoGo is pretty much in the cards once demo is ready.

Speaking of launching this game, do you have an estimated release date? What platforms
are you planning on releasing this game on?

D. Jagielski: I
don’t know when I will be able to finish the demo and this is prerequisite for
the IGG campaign as I think that in the current crowdfunding climate it is
important to give potential funders something more than just a nice video to
base their decisions on, especially on IndieGoGo.

But I’ll try to do this before this year is over,
hopefully.

Will there be a hub world in your game? A lot of 3D platformers have hub worlds.

D. Jagielski:
Actually, the whole main menu itself is playable and has an area where you can
select level you want to play. You will be able to play the levels in any order
you want to, but of course preferably you’d play them in order. From the main
menu you can also get to the level editor.

Is your game open-world? Or is it in the vein of Crash Bandicoot, Super Mario 3D
Land, Super Mario 3D World etc?

D. Jagielski:
Some levels will be linear while others will be more open. It all depends on
needs of the specific area. The level editor contained within the game, same
one that I’m using to create levels for the game and which will be available to
the players as well allows for both kinds to be made.

How many levels and worlds will there be in total? Do they each have names?

D. Jagielski:
The target point at which game will be considered finished is 100 levels. They
will all have names.

What are the names of the levels? Can you name a few examples of the levels for me?

D. Jagielski:
The level currently in development is called “Datacolumns”.

Will the game have bosses, mini-bosses and a final boss? If so, what are the names of
them?

D. Jagielski:
Yes, it certainly will have bosses, but at this point I don’t know what kind of
bosses they will be as I’ve simply not this far in the development to have to
create one.

Due to me working on this alone I have to concentrate on
one thing at a time, for now it is level design.

How long have you been working on this game for?

D. Jagielski: I
have been working on the Computer Virus Simulator since 2014.

What are the programmes you use to develop your game?

D. Jagielski:
I’m developing the game using Unity3D and Blender for artwork.

What is the software you use to compose your music?

D. Jagielski: I
don’t compose the music. Music in the game as of right now is Creative Commons
and Public Domain chiptunes.

Are they placeholder music?

D. Jagielski:
Not sure at this point. Whether I’ll use it in the final product depends on how
successful my IndieGoGo campaign will be (planning to launch it in flexible
funding so at least I’ll get some money for development). Although I really
like the tune that is currently being used for the main menu area.

Are you planning on adding vehicle and turret sections in your game? Or are you not
following the trend of most old platformers? Old platformers mostly have turret
and vehicle sections.

D. Jagielski: I
don’t know at this point whether this would be done.

I guess this will depend on Early Access feedback on it
and whether people will want me to do it.

Will there be any power-ups or abilities?

D. Jagielski:
Yes, there will be. One such ability that I’ve forgot to mention is the ability
to create a checkpoint anywhere in the level so if you die, you’ll respawn in
the place where you set the checkpoint instead of having to start the entire
level over.

Number of these checkpoints is limited though (at the
start of the level it’s just 2 checkpoints), but you can collect checkpoint
orbs to add more. Usually checkpoints orbs are given away before any harder
parts of the level.

Will there be any save states?

D. Jagielski:
You won’t be able to save mid-level. The only way to preserve that progress is
through placing checkpoints in a smart manner. All other data such as level
high score, how many times you’ve completed specific level and so on will be
preserved automatically. The game won’t feature lives system.

Will there be DLC, season passes, microtransactions etc in the future?

D. Jagielski:
Definitely no microtransactions or season passes, but there may be DLCs (as in,
proper expansion packs) if game proves to be popular enough.

Will there be any NPCs to talk to and help?

D. Jagielski:
Not sure about that yet.

What are the main objectives in the game?

D. Jagielski:
Every level has its own goal you need to complete in order to finish it (and
unlock level exit plate). Sometimes you’ll have to collect certain amount of
data stored in datagrams; sometimes you’ll have to kill certain amount of
enemies, sometimes other things, sometimes a mix of any of the above.

Is the computer virus is the only character you can play as or there is more than
one character to play as?

D. Jagielski:
The Virus is the only one. You don’t need more than him.

What or who inspired the Computer Virus character?

D. Jagielski: I
see, I see… Well, he’s just a Computer Virus, that’s all. As for what he looks
like, it was based on old 8×8 pixel art thing of mine that then I’ve replicated
in Blender using Grid object which then I’ve extruded to make The Virus
actually 3D.

Will the characters, levels and worlds be colourful and vibrant? Where do you get
inspired from for level and character design?

D. Jagielski:
Yes, they will be colourful. As for inspiration many of level concepts are
based in part on various demoscene demos and early 3D games. Other sources of
inspiration include nature and architecture.

What are the collectibles in the game, including the main collectibles?

D. Jagielski: At
this point there’s a gun pickup, datagram pickup (datagrams can also be
destroyed by careless shooting, so be careful where you shoot when you have to
collect datagrams), checkpoint orb pickup. The game isn’t a collectathon by any
means (it’s more close to Super Mario 64 and Crash in terms how pickups are
used), but there will be many different items that just add score.

What or where is the gun gameplay inspired from?

D. Jagielski:
Take any 3D platformer that has user-created projectiles and you’d be mostly
correct. The projectiles travel a short distance then disappear (or disappear
after collision with a solid surface, whichever comes first). The projectiles
are real objects as well, since we’re way past the point where hitscans were
necessary for performance reasons.

How many guns and weapons are in the game?

D. Jagielski:
For now there’s only destructive gun.

Why did you include gun gameplay in your game?

D. Jagielski: Because it makes gameplay more interesting
and are especially useful while dealing with high hp enemies. Also some of the
enemies such as Bad Pointers are immune to the Virus’ dash and ground pound
ability so using gun is the only way to actually harm them.

What or where are the guns and weapon designs inspired from?

D. Jagielski: I
don’t want to discuss this at this point.

What is the main currency in the game?

D. Jagielski:
There is none.

Will there be any gameplay mechanics or mini-games to add diversity to your game?

D. Jagielski:
Yes, there will be minigames, however you’ll have to be smart to unlock them.

Are there any upgrades to the guns, weapons, abilities etc?

D. Jagielski:
Yes.

After getting a game over, do players start from the last time they saved or they
start from the previous level/world they visited?

D. Jagielski:
There’s no game over, because there’s no lives mechanic. You can create a
checkpoint mid-level to be respawned at that point, however there’s limited
number of checkpoints and if you die without setting one, you’ll have to start
level over.

Does your Computer Virus character have idle animations?

D. Jagielski:

At the moment just one.

Can you describe the idle animation without revealing any spoilers?

D. Jagielski:
No.

Is there going to be fall damage if the Computer Virus falls from a high platform,
ledge, cliff etc?

D. Jagielski:
Fall damage? In a platformer? Don’t be ridiculous.

What engine (e.g. Unreal Engine 4, Unity) do you use to develop your game?

D. Jagielski:
I’m using Unity.

Why did you choose not to include fall damage in your game?

D. Jagielski:
Because only crazy people would enjoy such a thing in a platformer of any kind.
I am firmly against fall damage, even in genres where it makes more sense to
have it such as first person shooters, open world games, RPGs, and so on. Fall
damage simply punishes you for exploring.

What if you don’t make that jump and the ground is
several hundred meters below you? Having to get back up there for another
attempt is punishing enough, you don’t have to kill player over it.

Will there be any vehicles or a method of transportation to travel from one level or
world to another?

D. Jagielski:
You’ll be able to play levels in any order from a list in the playable main
menu.

Will there be any trophies, skill points or achievements?

D. Jagielski:
There will be, although available only in campaign levels to avoid someone
making an achievement farm and putting it on the workshop.

Will there be online multiplayer or split-screen local multiplayer?

D. Jagielski:
There will be no multiplayer. Computer Virus Simulator is a single-player
experience.

Will there be a co-op mode?

D. Jagielski:
No.

Will there be any cutscenes? Will there be any loading screens featuring characters or the main character doing an animation?

D. Jagielski: I
don’t think there will be any cutscenes, as I don’t want to take away control
from the players. But there’s dialogue system implemented that shows up at the
bottom of the screen where the player can stop and read what the characters are
saying or continue on with the level.

There’s going to be in-game conversations with subtitles at the bottom of the screen?

D. Jagielski:
For the loading times, game’s so fast when it comes to loading new level that
no load screen is necessary. Put one just in case, but it only blinks and
doesn’t consist of much other than the “Loading…” text.  There will be conversations at the bottom of the screen using text boxes. Think SNES JRPG games or what Yooka-Laylee/Banjo had only it doesn’t take control out from you and you are free to ignore it and carry on if you like.

If the game ever comes out on consoles, will it be released on a disc or a cartridge?

I don’t know if I will go physical with the console
players at this moment.

Only digital at the moment?

D. Jagielski:

At the moment, yes. Plan to release to Windows/Linux/Mac then if the game is
successful enough (it will be) I’ll port it to consoles. However whether it
will be physical or digital at this point is unknown to me as I have first make
the thing before thinking of porting it to the different platforms.

Are you thinking of hiring more people to help you with game development?

D. Jagielski:
Once I have money to do so, yes.

If people are willing to help you for free, will you hire them?

D. Jagielski:
There are some serious legal issues with that if I want to do business, so no.

Do you ever get creative block? If you do, how do you get over it?

D. Jagielski:
Rarely do, however I’ve found that if you force yourself to do for few minutes,
the block subsidies.

Do you listen to music to help you concentrate? If you do,
what music and songs do you listen to?

D. Jagielski: https://play.spotify.com/user/1181262013/playlist/17PBXT1lem0dRwA4VZZGUN?play=true&utm_source=open.spotify.com&utm_medium=open

Does the music and songs you listen to inspire your game?

D. Jagielski:
Not really.

If your game ever becomes successful, are you planning on
developing a sequel?

D. Jagielski:
There will be no Computer Virus Simulator 2.

Will there be merchandise if the game becomes successful?

D. Jagielski:
Yes, there will be merchandise when the game becomes a success.

Will there be a series? Or you’re going to work on a new IP?

D. Jagielski:
After Computer Virus Simulator I’ll be working on a racing title.

What will the racing game be called?

D. Jagielski: I
have not decided yet.

Do you have a link to your Computer Virus Simulator Indiegogo campaign?

D. Jagielski:
Campaign will launch once the demo is complete which it isn’t at the moment.

What are the links to your social media and your website if people want to keep up to date with your game?

Follow me on Twitter (@thedarkhog) or read the devlog on
tigsource

Are there other links too? I’ve heard the computer virus have his own Twitter account.

D. Jagielski:
Yes. It’s @VirusSimulator *hopes his drive won’t be formatted overnight*

Are you on Instagram and Facebook? It’s a shame your Facebook page of your game is deleted.

D. Jagielski:
Not on Instagram, no, and Facebook I’ve made only for few games there which I
don’t play anymore.

Couldn’t keep it up and found better to concentrate on
Twitter and my tigsource devlog. Maybe when I’ll be able to hire someone to
support it for me.

If it’s possible, will you be releasing this game to handheld consoles and smartphones?

D. Jagielski:
Handhelds maybe. But it would be nightmare to play on a smartphone or even a
tablet. This game needs a physical controller, be it mouse and keyboard (which
is preferred) or gamepad.

Would the price of the game vary from port to port/version to version?

D. Jagielski:
No, I don’t think so. As for Early access there will be three tier pricing:
When the game is launched as an EA title, when it is halfway done and when it
launches officially, lower the less of the game is complete.

Does the Computer Virus have a signature ability or a signature weapon?

D. Jagielski:
Haven’t thought about it yet, but in future he’ll be able to take over other
processes and make them do his bidding. Maybe this could be it?

Is the computer virus a hero, villain or an anti-hero?

D. Jagielski: I
prefer to not reveal that information yet.

What are the features and aspects that make your game stand out from other 3D platformers?

D. Jagielski: I
think the level editor is the biggest one. Because this is the same editor I am
using to create levels for the game and I will continue to do so, you’ll have
as much power to create your own unique levels as I do. No other 3D platformer
that I know of allows for that sort of thing.

It’s been a distinct pleasure doing an interview with you and especially, my first interview at that! Hopefully, we should do this again
sometime.

D. Jagielski:
Hopefully. Have a good night.

By Wing See Li for Tomb of Ash

Follow Wing See Li:

• Twitter
• Fanfiction.net
• FictionPress
• Archive of Our Own Profile
• YouTube
• Google Plus
• Tumblr
• Sketchfab
• Miiverse
• PaigeeWorld
• LinkedIn

Keep Up To Date with D. Jagielski and Computer Virus:

• TIGForums:

• Twitter: https://twitter.com/thedarkhog
  and https://twitter.com/virussimulator

• YouTube

The post Computer Virus Simulator Creator Interview appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

Today we are proud and excited to announce the launch of the ARK Sponsored Mod Program. ARK has always viewed modding and the ARK Dev Kit as a very important aspect of our game. We want to look into ways to help our modders take their projects to the next step, be it through more robust capabilities in the Dev Kit, hosting competitions with large prize-pools, incorporating them into the game, or just generally working and partnering up with modders and their projects. 

So there you go, Wildcard, will now be selecting 15 modders and paying them  $4000 per month (each) for their work. Wildcard not only considers their fans as consumers but also business partners to some level. After all the fans will know the best what they enjoy the most and as such they can create some fantastic content. 

We used to host a server for ARK which we called South Pacific Islands. I am definitely considering in launching it once again as so much of the new content was released very recently.

Hats off to Wildcard <3

The post Ark: Survival Evolved Creators now paying modders for their content appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

Guest article by Wing See Li.

Another Day, Another Pirate Infestation

Figure
1: The title screen is accompanied with its theme and the
theme song, “Dance Through The Danger”.

There’s nothing like a pirate attack to start the day.
That’s a day in the life for the belly-dancing, hair-whipping half-genie,
half-human Shantae.

One night, Shantae suddenly wakes up from her deep sleep
by a peculiar, blinding bright light shining through the bedroom window of her
lighthouse. Curious to know where it’s originated from, she climbs out of the
comfort of her bed and exits her home. After running along the long wooden
bridge to her uncle’s home, she discovers Uncle Mimic snoring even as he sits
in an upright position and the same blinding light emitting from an open
trapdoor. She then jumped down, entering a subterranean cavern. While running
through the cavern whilst avoiding the bats that were attempting to assault
her, an odd voice lures her through it until she finally arrives at the source
of the light and the voice. Demanding the voice to reveal itself, it
materialises in a form of a white floating sparkle hovering above the
mysterious, crystal clear water and it reveal itself as the messenger from the
fabled Genie Realm. Before she manages to receive answers from it about her
mum, the genies, the Genie Realm and her origins, everything is abruptly
enveloped in a white colour, transporting Shantae to the real world. She
suddenly sits upright in her bed, taking in everything that happened in her
dream. Is there more to the dream than meets the eye or is it a vision
foreshadowing the events that are yet to come?

The storyline itself isn’t substantial as per se, Shantae
and the Pirate’s Curse, but the gripping, suspenseful, dire and
bone-chilling moments, plot twists, in-game jokes, innuendos, adult undertones
and the outlandish, hilariously humorous script and dialogue make up for the
lack of a deep plot as the story develop. To sum it all up, the game didn’t take
itself too seriously. However, the fourth wall-breaking humour and the game
taking the mickey out of itself, memes, pop culture references and the internet
got in the way of the burning desire to know more about the lore of Shantae’s
mum and dad, the genies and the Genie Realm. The aforesaid story is episodic
where each level (and character) is comprised of their own mini or sub-plots.

It’s difficult to tell whether Shantae: Half-Genie Hero
serves as the fourth instalment of the Shantae series or it’s a reboot/soft
reboot. It’s probably both seeing as it’s not a relaunch, a remaster or a
remake. It’s released for PlayStation 4, Nintendo Wii U, Xbox One, Steam etc,
on both physical and digital versions. Unfortunately, the Risky Beats Edition
is only released in America, which leads to my next nitpick that will be
explained in the review later. Strange enough, this game comes out on the
PlayStation Vita instead of the Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 3DS this time.
Later on after the initial release, a Risky Beats edition launched for these
consoles, which comes with a physical CD soundtrack.  

Figure
2: Just like the previous installments, this game does what it
does best: break the fourth wall.

Unlike the previous Shantae video games, Shantae:
Half-Genie Hero is the first Shantae game to be crowd-funded. According to
its Kickstarter campaign webpage, $776,084 is pledged to the game and have far
exceeded the $400,000 goal thanks to 18,558 backers. Sadly, only $800k is
reached, in terms of the stretch goals.

Figure
3: Risky Boots, the bodacious buccaneer, returns as the main
antagonist of the Shantae series.

Figure
4: Sky and Wrench (the large bird) acts as the transportation
for Shantae.

Sequin Land is divided into seven islands or rather…
levels which are known as Scuttle Town Square, Scuttle Town Main Street,
Mermaid Falls, Tassle Town, Cape Crustacean, Hypno Baron’s Castle and last but
not least, Risky’s Hideout. In this game, Wrench (Sky’s massive bird) acts as
an aerial transportation for Shantae and a means for travelling from one island
to another.

Before starting the first level, Scuttle Town Main Street,
Sky hands Shantae a whistle to summon Wrench whenever she needs to. The fact
that the whistle can be used whenever and wherever you want (even in areas for
instance, the Tinkerbat Factory) surpasses the Pirate Flare from Shantae and
the Pirate’s Curse since the aforesaid Pirate Flare can only be utilised
outdoors and it’s not allowed to be used in the dungeons.

Figure
5: Pressing the Touchpad brings up the Subscreen (as mentioned
by Sky and the other non-playable characters).

The gameplay at its core plays like a traditional
old-school platformer: a 2D side-scrolling platformer with precision in terms
of platforming and it’s jam packed with secret collectibles that are hidden
from view, which encourages the player to search for them in every nook and
cranny at your own pace. Hopping from one platform to another without grabbing
on to platform ledges requires accuracy, concentration, eye-coordination and
timing. Failure to do so will result in you falling to your death and you
losing a tiny fragment of one of your hearts, which resembles your health.

Occasionally, the gameplay change depends on where you are
in Sequin Land. The ever-changing gameplay can range from a 2D side-scrolling
shooter before arriving at the Tinkerbat Factory to sliding down the diagonal
slides outside of the factory in Mermaid Falls and escaping Risky’s Hideout.

Here are the game controls:  

·        
Touchpad – Subscreen/Pause Screen

·        
Left control stick – Move, choose options or
decide on a transformation dance from any set included in the dance menu

·        
D-Pad – Move, pick options or select a
transformation dance from any set included in the dance menu

·        
Right control stick – Unused

·        
Square button – Elephant Dash/Charge

·        
X button and Down – Elephant Stomp

·        
X button – jump, press the X button twice to
double jump in the spider form to stick to underneath the platforms using her
spider web, confirm options or fly in the harpy form

·        
Circle button/R2 – Use weapon/magic/item or
transformation capability and cancel option

·        
L1 or R2 – Cycle through weapons/magic/items

·        
L2 – Backdash

·        
Square button – Hairwhip, use transformation
ability or speak to non-playable characters

·        
Down D-Pad/direction – Crouch

·        
Down D-Pad and Control stick – Crawl

·        
Options button – Unused

·        
Share button – Upload video, video clip or
screenshot

·        
PlayStation Logo button – Return to home screen

·        
Triangle button – Cycle through transformation
modes or cancel transformation

Aside from Shantae’s monster whipper (her signature
attack), her attacks are utilising magic that are named as Fireball, Triple
Fireball and Flamethrower and weapons which are known as Scimitar (a pirate
sword that first appeared in Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse), Pike Ball,
Super Pike Ball, Storm Puff, Mega Puff and Super Mega Puff. Not to mention, her
dancing in order to transform into an array of animals ranging from a monkey to
a harpy, each with their own abilities, skills, strengths and weaknesses. In
addition to her possessing a large number of animal dance transformations which
she’ll take full advantage of at her disposal, there are other novelty dance
transformations such as the Blobfish Dance, Gemjug Dance, Dryad Dance, Revive
Dance, Super Revive Dance, Obliterate and Warp Dance, some are more useful than
others. The Blobfish Dance, Gemjug Dance, Dryad Dance, Revive Dance, Super
Revive Dance, Obliterate and Warp Dance are available to buy from a female
snake merchant called Tuki who hides in a little purple pot or container.

Speaking of items, if you explore and uncover enough as
the game progresses and the story unfolds, you’ll eventually come across the
game-breaking collectibles such as the Magical Tiara and the Invincibility
bubble. With those combined, practically no one and nothing will touch you (not
even lasers) with the exception of bottomless pits, deadly lava and one-hit
kill spikes and these aforementioned items will render the game to an easy
difficulty.

During the adventure you stumble across relics such as
Shampoo, Super Shampoo, Mega Shampoo, Silky Cream, Super Silky Cream, Mega
Silky Cream, Red Stone, Green Stone, Magic Bracelet, Bikini Armour, Metronome,
Attract, Super Attract, Max Attract, Backdash, Monkey Bullet, Elephant Stomp,
Crab Claw, Mouse Bite, Harpy Talon, Bat Sonar, Waterfall Relic, Spider Venom,
Mermaid Bubble and so on which can either upgrade your hair and moveset, boost
your defence or help you to advance. Thankfully, you can toggle on and off
these relics at your own free will if you presume the game is deprived of a
sense of challenge.

Besides the relics, you also come upon the whistle, Mega
Potion, Roast, Orange, Gator Steak and Monster Egg which make up your
inventory. Nearly all of these items are used to replenish your health and your
adversaries drop them if you char them to a crisp or make use of a different
attack. The quantity of these items you can carry with you is nine at maximum.
If I’m short on oranges, I’m inclined to transform into Dryad form to harvest
them without having to repetitively revisit Mermaid Falls to ride down the
slide.

Along the way you happen upon Heart Holders you can
uncover from treasure chests located in the secret areas, through the portals
and a female, tall, but blonde, non-playable character you encounter in Scuttle
Town Main Square who you have to take on a fetch quest for. Every time you
obtain a Heart Holder, your health will increase by one heart. Think of these
as Heart Containers from The Legend of Zelda series. If you want a real
challenge, refrain yourself from collecting them.

On the subject of dance transformations, these can be
acquired after defeating a boss, uncovering them in hidden locations via
portals or searching for them in secret areas. Sometimes, animal abilities are
found in these locations and just like the transformations, they are locked in
treasure chests. Every animal have only one ability and these skills will help
Shantae enter areas she couldn’t gain access to previously because she didn’t
have the right transformation.  

Another shortcoming this game had is there are certain
transformation dances that I don’t use frequently. WayForward should’ve gone
for the “less is more” approach given that the Crab Dance, Spider Dance, Mouse
Dance, Bat Dance, Blobfish Dance, Gemjug Dance and Dryad Dance are redundant.
They are either pointless, useless, I almost never bring them into play, a
complete waste of my time or they’re cluttering up my dance menu. I appreciate
the game developing company for introducing new things or being a tad bit
ambitious but I just wish it didn’t bother, otherwise these aforementioned new
aptitudes end up unused.  

If you’re not exploring, most of the time you’re fighting.
The combat is simple and not complicated for novices and veterans alike, in
addition to tight and responsive controls. If you mess up, it’s not the game’s
fault but it’s rather your fault.

Although, this is not the case when the game throws a few
curve balls at me, in terms of the difficulty. There are times when the
difficulty catches me off guard and bite me in the rear like for example, when
I’m scaling up the Tassle Tower while running for my life from the
screen-filling, memory-consuming worm, Wilbur. I ran like my life depended on
it! Good gravy… who knows how many times I kept dying which results in me
resorting to using profanity. Luckily for me, there are no lives to lose.

Animation and presentation wise, for the first time
Shantae, her friends, her enemies and the other non-playable characters are in
HD, hand-drawn art. It took me a while to get used to the new art style since
I’m used to seeing them in pixels which WayForward is known for but the new art
style instantly grew on me. The animation is fluid, streamlined and smooth and
how well detailed the animations and the artwork were such as the way Shantae
swayed her body and arms on the spot in rhythm to the music if she’s left idle
for a while to her feeling exhausted when she’s low on health. It’s the
littlest of things such as this makes me appreciate the animation more. It felt
like watching a Flash animation, a Saturday morning cartoon or an anime. The
old style marries with the modern style incredibly well as both the 2D
background and 3D foreground blends beautifully with each other. But if I have
to be honest with myself, I actually miss the pixelated art style.

In light of character development, it’s somewhat lacking
on account of how some of the characters are portrayed. For instance, Risky
Boots is depicted as a stereotypical villain who is heartless, ruthless and
selfish as well as completely void of any emotions, remorse and regret and she
doesn’t care who she hurts as long as she gets what she wants, even if it means
causing mass destruction and ruining people’s lives in the process. Not to
mention, she didn’t acknowledge the events that ensued in Shantae and the
Pirate’s Curse. It’s like as if she isn’t human. In the third Shantae game,
at first she’s unwilling to cooperate with Shantae but as you progress through
the game, she begins to open herself up to the former half-genie and enlightens
her with her account of her past and spoilers alert! She, Twitch and Vinegar
assists Shantae in dealing out the final blows to the Pirate Master during the
final showdown.

One of the minor issues I’ve come across is while I’m
playing the game, the framerate takes a dive or it stutters sometimes.
Normally, it’s not noticeable because I’m so immersed in the game but it
occasionally dips whenever lots of things are going on at the same time, all on
one screen. Take the side-scrolling shooting section prior to infiltrating the
Tinkerbat Factory for instance, while I’m repeatedly launching my Mermaid
bubbles at the underwater enemies, sending them to their graves, shooting at
the breakable blocks which are obstructing my pathway and temporarily
recruiting more starfish creatures to my “swim team”, wave after wave of foes
kept entering my line of vision and this is when things start to become
frantically crazy. As a result, the framerate decreases as the game couldn’t
take any more.

But in between levels, you’re constantly backtracking
which is to be expected in a Shantae or a platforming game and you’re embarking
on countless fetch quests more than you can shake your belly and bum at.
They’re mandatory since you need these items to progress. For example, you come
across Twitch and Vinegar (the two girls who work for the Ammo Baron and first
appeared in Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse) at Scuttle Town Square and
they ask you to revisit the factory in Mermaid Falls to reduce the gators to
smouldering ashes before you give the gator steaks to them. In return, they
hand you a red-coloured race ticket. It’s kind of like doing a chore unless you
don’t mind retracing your steps to the same levels over and over. It’s tricky
to estimate the amount of fetch quests you have to undertake but the total
might be roughly the same as the total of fetch quests there are in Jak 2:
Renegade and Jak 3.

Throughout the game, I’ve noticed this game ditches the
dungeons to make way for a linear structure that I find jarring. Thereby,
eliminating the Metroidvania genre this game is supposed to be attached to. In
nearly every level, you’re going from point A to point B that I’ve seen a lot
in modern, bog-standard Mario games. To be honest, it can get very old quickly
and this is coming from a person who hates change with a burning passion. At
least, Scuttle Town Square serves as the main hub area. At the end of each
level there is a boss, which put your platforming and manoeuvring skills to the
test in contrast to the repetitive modern Mario games. Each boss have their own
weaknesses and weak spots and every battle can be just like puzzles as you
figure out how to inflict damage to them.

Similar to the past instalments of the series, Scuttle
Town function as the main hub place which contains Uncle Mimic’s workshop,
Sky’s Hatchery, a shop, a Bath House, the Art Gallery etc along with the
green-hued save guy who this time around doesn’t have his own room or building.
Instead, he is spotted at the far left side of the town near the workshop. The
workshop is where Mimic lives and work on his groundbreaking inventions and
technological devices, Sky’s Hatchery is where Shantae can hitch a ride on
Sky’s bird, Wrench, to distant locales, the shop is where the half-genie
protagonist can purchase important essentials for her escapade, a Bath House is
where she can relax to recover her health and ask the bath house lady for hints
and advice, an Art Gallery is where the main heroine can observe a lot of the
artwork and concept art that goes into creating the game as well as fanart from
the loyal fanbase and the backers of the aforementioned game’s Kickstarter
campaign. Conversely, some of the fanart aren’t professionally done and are up
to an amateur standard at best but most of them are the cream of the crop. In
my opinion, the art gallery reminds me of the Insomniac Museum from the Ratchet
& Clank series.  

The other differences I’ve spotted are there are slide
segments that kind of remind me of the slides from Super Mario 64 (sans
the enemies, hazards and obstacles), the options menu is bare-bones in terms of
how much content there are to toggle with and the save system is different. The
save guy who seems to be fatter than usual tends to appear whenever I enter a
new level, after I finish the level, before I confront a boss and after I emerged
victorious from a boss fight. Basically, I’ve been prompted every five minutes
if I want to save my progress or not which can get annoying and bothersome.
It’s like as if the aforesaid save guy is holding my hand. I prefer the old
save system from Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse and Shantae: Risky’s
Revenge where I can find him in the numerous save rooms in Scuttle Town,
the levels and the dungeons. In this day and age, I still find it strange none
of the Shantae games feature an auto-save system.

Aside from the savepoints are checkpoints that are
littered all over the place in each level in random spots. You’ll know if a
spot is a checkpoint if you accidentally freefall into bottomless pits or if
you touched one hit-kill spikes and you’ll instantly respawn at the previous
checkpoint you went past.    

Another nitpick I’d point out is the lack of a map.
Without a map, there is little to no direction of where to go or what to do
next. When I’m not exploring the levels, the majority of the time I find myself
wondering what to do and figuring out where to travel to next which caused me
to read the guides on the GameFAQs website, which is something I normally
wouldn’t do when I’m playing a Shantae game or a platformer. If you end up
reading a guide, then there’s something wrong.

On the subject of the map, whenever you’re at the level
selection screen, said map shows which collectibles and animal transformation
abilities are in your possession or what you’re missing underneath the name of
the chosen area. This is extremely helpful for backtracking to previous levels,
fetch quests and completing the game 100%.

It’s hard to believe this video game originated from the
Kickstarter website and how far WayForward have come, from the cartoon tie-in
games such as American Dragon: Jake Long – Rise of the Huntsclan which
is released on Game Boy Advance and American Dragon: Jake Long – Attack of
the Dark Dragon which have come out on Nintendo DS to recent video games
such as Ducktales Remastered and Shantae: Half-Genie Hero, to
name a few. This is definitely a Kickstarter game done right. The game may be
successfully funded but it’s a shame not all of the stretch goals were
met.  

Just like the Ratchet & Clank (2016) and Ratchet
& Clank Movie soundtracks, I have mixed feelings with the Shantae:
Half-Genie Hero soundtrack. Once again, Jake Kaufman reprises his role as
the composer and he really knocked it out of the park! With a soundtrack like
this, he could do no wrong! This time around he gives the aforementioned soundtrack
a modernized touch in terms of the heart-pounding bass of the beats and how the
music sounds overall which keeps me pumped up and motivated to complete the
levels or handing the bosses humiliating defeats. Don’t get me wrong, I love
listening to the soundtrack but most of it is unmemorable, the majority of the
music tracks are nothing to write home about and it falls short compared to the
previous Shantae soundtracks such as Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse and Shantae:
Risky’s Revenge to be honest. At the end of the day, will you remember the
soundtrack of Shantae: Half-Genie Hero in many years to come? Will you
be able to hum all or most of the music tracks? In my opinion, I feel this is
the game’s lowest point. The reason why I feel this is the weakest soundtrack
is most likely Jake have set the bar so high. But that doesn’t mean I don’t
have favourite music tracks. Some of my favourites from said soundtrack are, “Dance
Through The Danger”, “A Mysterious Fountain”, “Scuttle Town”,
“Neo Burning Town”, “Mermaid Falls”, “Tassle Town”, “The
Sky Bridge”, “Cape Crustacean” and “Tinkerbat Factory” in no
particular order. On the other hand, I still reckon some or most of the music
tracks don’t match well with their respective locations. Take the “Tassle
Town” music for example, it doesn’t complement well with Tassle Town itself
due to the jazziness and funkiness of the music, which are music I normally
don’t associate with video game desert locales.

Once again, Cristina Vee made a comeback to provide her voice
for Shantae and Risky Boots for the fourth time. Originally, the game would
have full English voice acting but alas, it isn’t meant to be when the stretch
goal isn’t reached. In spite of this, the game containing some voice work is
better than nothing.

I can’t stress this enough (constantly in my mind) but the
Shantae series have many things such as a colourful cast of characters
and personalities, exciting, exotic locales and rich environments to explore
which are exploding with various cultures and well-written, laugh-out-loud
dialogues and scripts that the modern Paper Mario games (Paper Mario:
Sticker Star and Paper Mario: Colour Splash) clearly lacked these
days. Therefore, I jumped ship. In other words, for the first time ever I
bought a PlayStation console first before any other video game console. In the
past, naturally I buy a Nintendo console first before any other video game
console. As sad as it is to say, Nintendo isn’t “wowing” me last year due to
the lack of variety when it comes to 2D and 3D platforming games. It’s all well
and good to play as Mario or Kirby but what I really want is to play as other
platforming mascots. The Shantae series might as well replace the Paper
Mario series the way things are going.

Similar to the previous three Shantae games, there are
good and bad endings. Your actions determine which kind of ending you’ll
unlock. If you strived for 100% completion, you’re most likely obtain the good
ending. For example, spoilers alert! If you go out of your way to embark on fetch
quests for the previous bosses (Techno Baron, Ammo Baron, Squid Baron and Hypno
Baron) you engaged in battle, they’ll each hand over a piece of Risky’s
belongings (there are four altogether) in return for the items they requested.
When you give Uncle Mimic all of the clues when you return to his workshop, he
hands over the Magical Polarizer to you.  

By the time I knew about the Shantae series, I’m
too late to back the game on Kickstarter. If only I knew about the series
earlier, I would’ve backed the abovementioned game in a heartbeat! I still
regret not backing this game to this day.

Along with the main storyline mode/campaign is the Shantae
Hero Mode where you start the game at the beginning from scratch but your dance
transformations remains intact and the level designs, structures and layouts
are varied. It’s also usually reserved for speedruns. There isn’t much known
about the Risky Boots mode and the other character modes other than Rottytops,
Bolo, Sky etc have their own stories, abilities and endings and these aforesaid
modes might be paid downloadable content. However, the Risky Boots mode will or
might coincide with the main storyline mode and Shantae Hero Mode. Sure, I
loathe speedruns but this aforementioned mode and the character modes provide
the game with replayability and replay value.

Most arguably my biggest issue or gripe with this game is
the fact the physical version of the PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Wii U,
Xbox One etc ports are released only in America is inexcusable, unforgivable
and a sin. I can’t justify myself importing the game at an expensive price;
despite it comes with the soundtrack. There’s more to the world than bloomin’
America, you know. Although the digital version of the PlayStation 4 and
PlayStation Vita ports cost £15.99 in the PlayStation Store but that’s nothing
compared to how much it costs on the Amazon and Ebay websites. The Risky Beats
edition costs £39.95 on the UK Amazon website and £25.90 (and £14.64 postage)
on the UK Ebay website for instance. It depends on which price you’re looking
at. To make matters worse, if there are downloadable content, I have no choice
but to set up another PlayStation Store account on the US PlayStation Store if
I imported the Risky Beats edition of the abovementioned game. I hope there
will be a UK physical version of the console ports in the future. I still find
it exasperatingly irritating I have to resort to importing games from other
countries outside of the UK.  

As much as I enjoyed playing the game immensely, it didn’t
have what it takes to win the coveted “Game of 2016” title or trophy. In fact,
my pessimistic criticisms prevented it from topping Ratchet & Clank
(2016) as “My Game of 2016”.

As it stands, Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is inferior
to Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse (which is deemed to be the best of the
series) due to the criticisms I outlined earlier. Regarding the series as a
whole, I’d reckon Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse tops the list, followed
by Shantae: Half-Genie Hero in second place. As for third place, it’s
either Shantae: Risky’s Revenge or Shantae. Concerning the
soundtracks, it’s Shantae and the Pirate’s Curse, Shantae: Half-Genie
Hero, Shantae: Risky’s Revenge and finally, Shantae, in
ascending order.

Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is a retro-inspired
platforming wish come true and a hidden gem among the ever-increasing line-up
of platforming video games filled to the brim with nearly everything a
platforming game fan ever wanted and it’s a breath of fresh air from the samey
Mario and Kirby platforming antics. It introduced newcomers and a new
generation of Shantae fans to the series while at the same time it stayed true
to its nearly perfected gameplay and formula of what made the Shantae games
insanely addictive, bundles and oodles of fun and extremely entertaining in the
first place whilst the characters returned to form only to be let down by the
slightly underwhelming, forgettable soundtrack, the short length of the game,
fairly easy difficulty, the small dips in framerate whenever things become
frantic and a ton of action takes up a lot of the screen, the absence of
physical PlayStation 4, PlayStation Vita, Xbox One and Wii U copies and the
physical Risky Beats edition soundtrack being released in my country and
Europe, the price of the game which is £15.99 in the PlayStation Store, the
incorrect localisation (British English should’ve been used instead of American
English), typos and spelling and grammar mistakes, the lack of a map that
result in little to no direction of where to go and what to do next, the
non-existence of dungeons, the game-breaking items and the list goes on.
Despite the negative criticisms, this game is worth every penny and I never
regretted purchasing it from the PlayStation store. Unlike Intelligent Systems,
Nintendo, Activision and Toys For Bob, WayForward didn’t stray away from the
phrase, “If it’s not broke, don’t fix it”. To end this review on a positive
note, I’m delighted to say Shantae: Half-Genie Hero is one of the few
reboots that’s not abysmal and doesn’t deter both sides of the Shantae fanbase.
Intelligent Systems, Nintendo, Activision, Toys For Bob etc should take notes
from WayForward of how not to screw up a winning formula and to stick to the
status quo.

By Wing See Li for Tomb of Ash

Follow Wing See Li:

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Media:

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This, however, is not the only reason why I
find ARK interesting. You see, for my dissertation I had to write a chapter on
how videogame developers engage with the community, particularly content
creators. I have thus decided to investigate how ARK’s developer, Studio
Wildcard, addresses its community and utilise my findings as a case study. I
was actually pleasantly surprised with how much of time and effort they
dedicate considering that they are a small independent company.  Its flagship game was in the “Early Access”
state.

Of course, there are many impatient users
who cannot bear the bugs that every major update brings.  We for example had to start over a number of
times; losing all our buildings, dinosaurs and characters. With the latest DLC
being released the other day ARK’s forums and discussion boards were flooded
with outraged users who experienced bugs and generally found it unfair that
they had to pay money for a DLC. Let me just clarify, that even though I did
purchase that DLC, I hardly had a chance to enjoy it yet as my server admin
team still did not implement cross-ARK transfer and the update actually bugged
my server quite a bit. I however still find Studio Wildcard quite unique and
believe that they deserve kudos.

You see, ARK runs on Unreal Engine and as
the result Studio Wildcard allowed its users to create various mods for the
game. I always found it a good appreciative gesture from the developer when
they release modding tools for the game.
ARK is different.

A couple of months ago Studio Wildcard
announced that they have paid the creators of the map “The Center” and a total
conversion mod “Primitive+” a several month salary for their content.
Additionally, those modders were hired by the company to continue work on their
content. Those mods became official yet free DLCs.  This means that players on Xbox One (and PS4
version coming soon) can also enjoy the new map and mod.

Speaking
to Kotaku, lead
designer Jeremy Stiglitz said that they are prepared to pay, “a
considerable amount of money,” for content developed by modders.

“Going
forward, we intend to continue to regularly select what we consider to be the
most polished mods from among the many thousands available on Steam Workshop –
often identified through open-entry cash-prize mod Contests, such as the one
we’re currently running, which we use to gauge community enthusiasm,”
Stiglitz said. “And then when we determine what we think are the standout
exemplars, we’ll make more offers.”

Additionally, Studio Wildcard featured a
fan-made creature called the DodoRex as part of the ARK: Fear Evolved Halloween
event in 2015. The giant thing would spawn from time to time with an army of
Zomdodos. Dodorex then appeared during various community events in the game.

I honestly never
seen such appreciation of the modding community by the developer in a while. Particularly
if that developer is a small, independent company founded only TWO years ago.

Additionally,
Wildcard has yearly battle tournaments where teams of players compete for their
survival in the “Survival of the Fittest” game mode, which essentially is a
virtual Hunger Games. The last tribe standing received a grand prize of $20K in
2015, the prize DOUBLED this year.

In fact, Studio
Wildcard invited 70 Let’s Players for their 2015 tournament to compete a week
after the launch of “Survival of the Fittest” game mode. This way they not only
successfully promoted own product but shown appreciation to their Let’s Play
community. Here’s one of my favourite streams from the event:

Lastly, Jen, the
community manager and QA analyst for Studio Wildcard, spends her entire day
tweeting and troubleshooting the users, collecting bug reports and organising
various community events at major expos. I honestly have no idea if she ever
sleeps, because she replies to nearly all of my questions within hours! Give
her a follow btw, she’s awesome.

I was playing ARK
for more than a year now and I enjoyed seeing it evolving into an amazing game
and I cannot wait for a full release later this year.  Until then I will carry on taking care of my
Trex called Fluffy.

PS. CHECK OUT
THEIR TREX AT PAX WEST!!!

#PAXRex line going strong today. She is stealing the show as per usual. #scorchedark pic.twitter.com/XfNc8jucIT

— Jen @ PAX West (@bubblywums) September 2, 2016

The post Studio Wildcard and its Community Engagement appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

ARK just received a massive update and a brand new DLC: Scorched Earth.

In case you never played ARK do check our REVIEW and consider playing on our dedicated SERVER

Official press release:

Stranded naked, dehydrated & starving in a vast desert, even the most seasoned ARK survivors must quickly find water, hunt for food, harvest, craft items, and build shelter to have any chance for survival. Use skills honed on ARK’s faraway Island to kill, tame, breed, and ride the fantastical new creatures that have evolved to survive the Desert’s ultra harsh conditions, including… DRAGONS! Travel back and forth between the Island and the Desert to team up with hundreds of players across both worlds or play locally!

EXPLORE A NEW WORLD

Scorched Earth takes ARK players to an entirely new land, composed of six unique, desert themed biomes – dunes, high desert, mountains, canyons, badlands and oasis – each with their own aesthetic and ecosystem. Littered with ruins, geysers, and intricate ancient cave systems, survivors will find a whole new frontier to explore and master.

TAME NEW CREATURES

The biomes of Scorched Earth are filled with dangerous new creatures, and the intrepid survivor will find that many of them can be tamed. Among others, lead a caravan of the camel-like Morellatops, or rain fire down upon your enemies from the back of an elemental Wyvern. Just mind your step, or you might attract a Death Worm!

CRAFT OVER 50 NEW ITEMS

Using what resources they can scrounge together, survivors can craft distinct new outfits and structures to beat the heat, and new tools to help them survive in this desolate environment. Players can use whips, boomerangs, flamethrowers, chainsaws, and much more to defend themselves, or such things as tents, wells, wind turbines, and oil refineries to provide their bases with resources. When used creatively, these tools can open up whole new strategies for survival, self defense or epic tribal warfare.

CONQUER NEW CHALLENGES

Prepare yourself for dangerous electrical storms, blinding sand storms, befuddling heat stroke, and unleash the power of the mysterious Obelisks to come face-to-face with the ARK’s deadliest boss creature to date – the ferocious Manticore! Does it protect a powerful weapon, a precious relic, or the mysteries of the ARK itself? Only survivors who posses the courage to confront this fearsome beast will learn the truth.

TRAVEL BETWEEN ARKS

Survivors can take their character, favorite creatures and items between the Island and the new Desert ARKs, making their Island-dwelling friends jealous with all of the amazing new items, structures, creatures and secrets they find in the Desert.

The post appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

The post appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

In YouTubers Life you take on the role of a YouTuber who creates gaming (cooking, fashion etc coming soon) videos. You start in a tiny room with a basic computer, but as the game progresses you can rent better spaces to live in and better hardware, which you use to create better videos.

To create gaming videos, you must choose your reaction to specific game moments and then edit the video together and apply post process effects. You then decide whether to upload the video or retire it. Once uploaded, you get to read people’s comments, see ratings and promote it.

At later stages you can do collaboration videos with friends and/or even hire collaborators who will be doing videos for you, as long as they like you and as long as you can afford them of course.

As with every real professional gamer, you will be invited to a variety of events and game presentations where you can meet fellow YouTubers, record Vlogs and pose for the press. You also have an opportunity to show in a variety of online shops for games, peripherals, furniture, food and clothing.

Even though the game is in early access it still is very enjoyable. Although I don’t really produce many YouTube videos in real life, I still found this game interesting and it inspired me for some projects that I may do in the future.

If you’re looking for a game that is like The Sims but much less complicated and which revolves around gaming culture, you should definitely give this game a go!

Special thanks: A. Rowles.

The post [Review] Youtubers Life appeared first on Tomb of Ash.

Allow me to share my recently re-emerged favourite.

I’ve been playing Tilted Mill’s “Immortal Cities: Children
of the Nile” quite a few years back and a couple of weeks ago I got myself
addicted to it yet again.

In this game you need to build your own Egyptian city alike
in old Pharaoh/Pharaoh & Cleopatra but in real 3D environment.

Tilted Mill brought in bags of personality for this game,
for example unlike other city-builders there is no actual currency, instead the
barter system is used. The player is also limited with the amount of Priests and
other high-class employees; you can only get more if you’re “prestigious”
enough so make sure to build all those monuments and a tomb of yourself!

Tilted Mill also released an add-on game called “Alexandria”,
which adds a special campaign, the Great Library and the Lighthouse.

If you like city-building games and Ancient Egypt get this
game off Steam or GOG. It’s really worth it.

Screenshots are my own

?

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