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Dear Esther artist teases new 'Stalker-like' project

By Emily Gera on Oct 24, 2012 10.24.12

Dear Esther Artist Robert Briscoe is working on a new "Stalker-like" project, he announced during an interview on podcast Unlimited Hyperbole. Briscoe, who also previously worked as an environment designer on Mirror's Edge, states he will be developing the project alone, creating "something entirely of my own creation." "Dear Esther was a great project," he says. "[But] this time around? I've always had this idea in my head of this sort of open-world, Stalker-like game without weapons. With a horror aspect to it. I've never had the opportunity to it because the scope of it is so huge...I can't even believe I'm contemplating doing it! It's so unreal...but this is the whole thing with me: I want to see if it's possible for just one person to make a game on a scale that's probably never...

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'The Stanley Parable: HD Remix' is searching for Greenlight

By Dave Tach on Sep 13, 2012 09.13.12

The Stanley Parable: HD Remix, a Half-Life 2 mod that dabbles in insanity and may or may not be about something, has entered Steam Greenlight looking for votes. "The game is an experiment in video game storytelling, or the point of it might be that there's actually no story at all, or maybe the point is that there's no game. It's about choice and freedom, possibly, but actually it might be about something else," reads the game's description on Greenlight. "You will make a decision that means nothing, you will walk a path that goes nowhere, and if you REEEEEEEEALLY look hard enough, none of it will make sense." You can take a narrative trip through the game's screenshots and check out a trailer for The Stanley Parable: HD Remix below.

3 Comments

'Natural Selection 2' shows how RTS + FPS = dinosaurs and exosuits

By Dave Tach on Aug 30, 2012 08.30.12

Charlie Cleveland created the first Natural Selection because he was unhappy. The long hours and creative frustrations he endured at a Boston-based developer left him unfulfilled, so in his spare time he began to program and design a mod for Half-Life 2, inspired by mods like "Gloom" that had shown him that modding had potential to create something unique and atmospheric. As he worked on Empire Earth, Stainless Steel Studios' 2001 real-time strategy game, he began to notice a divergence in tastes. While his friends wanted to play Quake, he wanted to play Starcraft. Their differences were irreconcilable in retail games, so he decided to use his modding skills to change that. "I love real-time strategy games," Cleveland told Polygon. "But a lot of my friends only love shooters. "I love...

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Why Plastic Piranha's 'Rekoil' is a perfect fit for Steam Greenlight

By Samit Sarkar on Aug 29, 2012 08.29.12

Rekoil, a multiplayer first-person shooter, made a splash at E3, and developer Plastic Piranha felt that the positive buzz would be enough to get the game noticed. The studio was right — Valve came calling, giving Plastic Piranha the hope that Rekoil would be sold on Steam. But Valve had a slightly different idea. According to Kevin Dent, a business-development executive working to bring Rekoil to market, Valve requested that Plastic Piranha go through Steam Greenlight, its upcoming community-driven system for picking games to be distributed on Steam. "We were kinda perturbed initially," Dent told Polygon in a phone interview, saying that Plastic Piranha viewed the request as an indictment of Rekoil's quality, as if Valve didn't think it was good enough to make it onto Steam through...

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'Dishonored' teaches the freedom and dangers of world-building

By Griffin McElroy on Aug 13, 2012 08.13.12

The world of Dishonored is entirely and completely new. Nobody — not even the folks at Arkane who are developing the game — has fully explored its streets, alleyways, and jagged skyline. That's because when you're inventing a world, nobody ever tells you when you're done. According to co-creative director Harvey Smith, the evolution of Dishonored was a slow, but radical one. Sea changes from one motif to another were common, and often pretty drastic. "To be honest, it's not just that no one else knows what you're doing," Smith explained, "it's also we didn't know. Like, halfway through the project, we were still not using the word 'steampunk,' you know? At a certain point, halfway through the project, we still thought the game was set on Earth, instead of this alt-reality Empire of...

14 Comments

Valve files unmask upcoming next-gen Source 2 engine

By Emily Gera on Aug 06, 2012 08.06.12

Files spotted in Valve's Source Filmmaker software hint at a next-gen engine called Source 2 developed by the company, according to one investigator on the ValveTime forum. Lines of script found in the Source Filmmaker code reference Source 2 over 60 times, as well as "Hybrid" which is believed to be the base that Source 2 is being built on top of. In addition, it is believed that Source 2 will keep the .BSP level format of its predecessor Source. "Return an str with the current engine version. If key doesn't doesn't exist, assume 'Source', otherwise invalid - assume next-gen 'Source 2'," reads one line. The first Source engine was initially introduced through Counter-Strike: Source and Half-Life 2 in 2004, and has received various improvements in the years since. Source Filmmaker...

835 Comments

Valve's Gabe Newell: Windows 8 a 'catastrophe,' wristband input could be the future of gaming

By adirobertson on Jul 25, 2012 07.25.12

Valve has frequently been at the forefront of both gaming and software distribution, and co-founder Gabe Newell has given a rare interview on the future of gaming platforms, input methods, and digital distribution. AllThingsD has published selections of the talk between Newell and former Microsoft game publishing vice president Ed Fries. The PC-focused company isn't currently planning any groundbreaking input products, but Newell speculated about "post-touch" systems that could use hand or even tongue motions and long outlast current touch interfaces, which he sees as "short-term." "I don’t think tongue input will happen, but I do think we will have bands on our wrists, and you’ll be doing something with your hands, which are really expressive." Valve's own wearable computer,...

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Video: The evolution of PC games

By Polygon Staff on Jul 17, 2012 07.17.12

From the earliest text-based adventures to the latest modern shooters, Reverse Enginears has created a stunning musical composition featuring only sounds and music from PC games. Reverse Enginears is a digital creative agency that specializes in A/V re-sequencing. AKA "remixes." Their remixes have been featured in advertising campaigns for Disney, Marvel and GM, and have been watched millions of times on YouTube and elsewhere. You may also enjoy A brief history of video games. Complete list of games referenced: ZorkMULEDam BustersFlight SimulatorKings Quest: Quest For The CrownDOS NinjaHard Hat MackChessDonkeyLode RunnerSid Meier's PiratesBurger TimeGalactixWhere In The World Is Carmen San DiegoAlley CatPool of RadianceWizardryOregon TrailLeisure Suit Larry in The Land of The...

21 Comments

'Dishonored' is a story built on morality, chaos and whales

By Emily Gera on Jun 06, 2012 06.06.12

Dishonored is the story of morality's greyer shades, of freedom of choice - and of whales, according to the game's lead designer Ricardo Bare. Arkane Studios, the development team behind the upcoming steampunk-like saga of protagonist Corvo Atano, built a city from the ground up featuring its own lore, history, plagues, religion, and spin on the industrial revolution. Their Dunwall has gone through a revolution in technology. It's a coastal town whose entire technological infrastructure and economy is based on a whaling industry in which huge ships go out to sea to capture the animals, kill them, and harvest their oil to power technology throughout the city. This is just one aspect of the world which the team developed to provide the background of their latest title. "We've kind of...

5 Comments

'Dishonored' shows steampunk-styled murders in first gameplay trailer

By Emily Gera on Jun 01, 2012 06.01.12

The first gameplay trailer for upcoming Arkane Studios' project Dishonored released today and offers a closer look at the steampunk-styled setting and numerous enemy take-downs. As shown in the trailer, players will take on a first-person perspective and kill human and bipedal robotic enemies using knives, magic abilities, bombs, crossbows and swords to bloody effect. The game, which features the work of Half-life 2's Viktor Antonov and Thief: Deadly Shadows' Harvey Smith, will include supernatural, sci-fi and dark fantasy elements to tell the story of a former bodyguard framed for the murder of an Empress. Set in a neo-Victorian world, Dishonored will be part action title, part stealth title. Dishonored is scheduled to release October 9, 2012 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.