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Roam free: A history of open-world gaming
Open-world video games bear the impossible promise — offering compelling, enjoyable open-endedness and freedom within the constraints of what is, by necessity of the medium, an extremely limited set of possible actions.
In spite of their many obvious failings or limitations, we've been losing ourselves within open worlds for some 30-odd years. Today, nearly every big release is set in an open world. We delight in their unspoken possibility and shrug at their quirks.
Those quirks, by the way, are not merely a consequence of current technology. The oddities of modern open-world games have origins in the games that came before. We're not talking about just the earlier Grand Theft Autos — even the first GTA built on the foundations set by more than a decade of prior open-world games.
The linked article below takes a 30 year journey back over time starting with some of the earliest games and runs through the various improvements we saw up to recent times.
See https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/03/youre-now-free-to-move-about-vice-city-a-history-of-open-world-gaming/
Open-world video games bear the impossible promise — offering compelling, enjoyable open-endedness and freedom within the constraints of what is, by necessity of the medium, an extremely limited set of possible actions.
In spite of their many obvious failings or limitations, we've been losing ourselves within open worlds for some 30-odd years. Today, nearly every big release is set in an open world. We delight in their unspoken possibility and shrug at their quirks.
Those quirks, by the way, are not merely a consequence of current technology. The oddities of modern open-world games have origins in the games that came before. We're not talking about just the earlier Grand Theft Autos — even the first GTA built on the foundations set by more than a decade of prior open-world games.
The linked article below takes a 30 year journey back over time starting with some of the earliest games and runs through the various improvements we saw up to recent times.
See https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/03/youre-now-free-to-move-about-vice-city-a-history-of-open-world-gaming/
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Dungeons & Dragons Gaming - Retro Gaming Still Alive and Well in South Africa
With all the high tech gaming going on there is a still a good following of "retro tech" board games in South Africa. Dungeons & Dragons has its following in Cape Town, Joburg and Durban, and probably many more places you look around.
For those looking to get into D&D I see that the manuals seem to be cheapest at Takealot. Wondering what D&D is about? Have a look at a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT3FRzEJDp8 which shows a sample playing of a game.
See https://www.meetup.com/topics/dnd/za/ for a list of scheduled meetups.
With all the high tech gaming going on there is a still a good following of "retro tech" board games in South Africa. Dungeons & Dragons has its following in Cape Town, Joburg and Durban, and probably many more places you look around.
For those looking to get into D&D I see that the manuals seem to be cheapest at Takealot. Wondering what D&D is about? Have a look at a video at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jT3FRzEJDp8 which shows a sample playing of a game.
See https://www.meetup.com/topics/dnd/za/ for a list of scheduled meetups.
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Space Releases Clothing Shader For High Quality Avatar Outfits Which Still Allow For High Avatar Concurrency
High performance avatar clothing is a new feature for developers working in "Space", the new Unity-based virtual world from Second Life/OpenSim veterans. "Tesselation" is a fancy way of saying it simulates cloth at high-resolutions (as pictured below). Or as Space lead developer Adam Frisby puts it: "This is good for things like fabrics, curtains, drapery - where doing the detail work is quite polygon expensive. You can make a flat mesh look like it's highly curved using tessellation without increasing the polycount costs."
This is pretty impressive and certainly adds even more reality to the experience. You can watch a short video tutorial on it at http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2017/03/space-virtual-world-sl-opensim-avatar-clothing.html
High performance avatar clothing is a new feature for developers working in "Space", the new Unity-based virtual world from Second Life/OpenSim veterans. "Tesselation" is a fancy way of saying it simulates cloth at high-resolutions (as pictured below). Or as Space lead developer Adam Frisby puts it: "This is good for things like fabrics, curtains, drapery - where doing the detail work is quite polygon expensive. You can make a flat mesh look like it's highly curved using tessellation without increasing the polycount costs."
This is pretty impressive and certainly adds even more reality to the experience. You can watch a short video tutorial on it at http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2017/03/space-virtual-world-sl-opensim-avatar-clothing.html
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Building a SteamOS gaming console – with South African pricing
Windows remains the favourite operating system among PC gamers and has access to more titles than any other platform. However, Windows is expensive – especially when compared to free operating systems such as Valve’s SteamOS. SteamOS is based on Steam’s Big Picture mode and can be installed on most PCs. There are currently over 2,200 titles which work with SteamOS.
If you are a gamer who prefers a streamlined experience – similar to gaming consoles – a SteamOS gaming machine is a great option. This approach is only recommended for dedicated gaming systems, as SteamOS does not have as much functionality as Windows or Linux systems (it is not a general desktop OS).
Everything you need to know about building your own SteamOS gaming console is outlined at the link below, including hardware selection, pricing, and available games.
See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/gaming/199686-building-a-steamos-gaming-console-south-african-pricing.html
Windows remains the favourite operating system among PC gamers and has access to more titles than any other platform. However, Windows is expensive – especially when compared to free operating systems such as Valve’s SteamOS. SteamOS is based on Steam’s Big Picture mode and can be installed on most PCs. There are currently over 2,200 titles which work with SteamOS.
If you are a gamer who prefers a streamlined experience – similar to gaming consoles – a SteamOS gaming machine is a great option. This approach is only recommended for dedicated gaming systems, as SteamOS does not have as much functionality as Windows or Linux systems (it is not a general desktop OS).
Everything you need to know about building your own SteamOS gaming console is outlined at the link below, including hardware selection, pricing, and available games.
See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/gaming/199686-building-a-steamos-gaming-console-south-african-pricing.html
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The end of Intel’s reign over PC gamers?
With the launch of its new Ryzen processors, AMD has threatened Intel’s position in the high-end desktop CPU market. Intel’s Broadwell-E processors might boast high-end multi-core performance, but this is reflected by their high price.
The most powerful Ryzen processor is the Ryzen 7 1800X, which AMD said is the fastest eight-core processor in the world. Despite its impressive performance, it is priced at R8,199 – less than half the price of the Intel Core i7 6900K (R18,591).
This price difference makes the Ryzen line-up a great choice for high-end desktop users looking for a powerful and affordable eight-core CPU with relatively low power consumption.
Another important feature of Ryzen 7 processors is that all chips are unlocked, unlike Intel’s Core processors.
My comment: Which is another good reason why we must protect having healthy competition in the IT market. Dominance by a single player and lock-in is not in theindustry's interests.
See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/hardware/200966-the-end-of-intels-reign-over-pc-gamers.html
With the launch of its new Ryzen processors, AMD has threatened Intel’s position in the high-end desktop CPU market. Intel’s Broadwell-E processors might boast high-end multi-core performance, but this is reflected by their high price.
The most powerful Ryzen processor is the Ryzen 7 1800X, which AMD said is the fastest eight-core processor in the world. Despite its impressive performance, it is priced at R8,199 – less than half the price of the Intel Core i7 6900K (R18,591).
This price difference makes the Ryzen line-up a great choice for high-end desktop users looking for a powerful and affordable eight-core CPU with relatively low power consumption.
Another important feature of Ryzen 7 processors is that all chips are unlocked, unlike Intel’s Core processors.
My comment: Which is another good reason why we must protect having healthy competition in the IT market. Dominance by a single player and lock-in is not in theindustry's interests.
See https://mybroadband.co.za/news/hardware/200966-the-end-of-intels-reign-over-pc-gamers.html
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Battlefield 1 gaming servers now in South Africa
DICE has added additional server support for Battlefield 1, launching servers in South Africa, Hong Kong, and Dubai.
Battlefield 1 servers in Johannesburg will launch on 21 February 2017 between 10:00 and 15:00.
See details at
http://bit.ly/2lANcTi
DICE has added additional server support for Battlefield 1, launching servers in South Africa, Hong Kong, and Dubai.
Battlefield 1 servers in Johannesburg will launch on 21 February 2017 between 10:00 and 15:00.
See details at
http://bit.ly/2lANcTi
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HITMAN ‘The Complete First Season’ Out Now for Linux
“Become the Master Assassin in this intense spy-thriller story. As Agent 47 you perform contract hits on powerful, high-profile targets in exotic locations around the world. Gameplay focuses on taking out targets in huge and intricate sandbox levels with complete freedom of approach,” say Feral Interactive, the team behind the Linux port.
All six episodes, each set in a different country, are available on for Linux, and can be purchased through Steam or bought from the Feral Store.
See http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/02/hitman-steam-linux-released or watch a walkthrough of the Beta to get an idea how the game works at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZXTAhpPKBc
“Become the Master Assassin in this intense spy-thriller story. As Agent 47 you perform contract hits on powerful, high-profile targets in exotic locations around the world. Gameplay focuses on taking out targets in huge and intricate sandbox levels with complete freedom of approach,” say Feral Interactive, the team behind the Linux port.
All six episodes, each set in a different country, are available on for Linux, and can be purchased through Steam or bought from the Feral Store.
See http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2017/02/hitman-steam-linux-released or watch a walkthrough of the Beta to get an idea how the game works at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ZXTAhpPKBc
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Go Inside an Intensely Detailed 'Minecraft' Version of Downtown Chicago
The project, posted on Imgur, took three and a half years to complete. Redditor Koodoo25 slowly built up the virtual city using data and images from Google Maps, Emporis, and Skyscraper Page, along with models from SketchUp 3D Warehouse to make the model accurate down to the details on the buildings’ facades. “There may be a few tiny details or dimensions a little bit off, but everything down to the placement of street lights and trees was done to recreate what I saw in Google Maps StreetView as accurately as I could,” the creator writes on Reddit. You can download it and explore yourself via Planet Minecraft.
See http://mentalfloss.com/article/92258/go-inside-intensely-detailed-minecraft-version-downtown-chicago
The project, posted on Imgur, took three and a half years to complete. Redditor Koodoo25 slowly built up the virtual city using data and images from Google Maps, Emporis, and Skyscraper Page, along with models from SketchUp 3D Warehouse to make the model accurate down to the details on the buildings’ facades. “There may be a few tiny details or dimensions a little bit off, but everything down to the placement of street lights and trees was done to recreate what I saw in Google Maps StreetView as accurately as I could,” the creator writes on Reddit. You can download it and explore yourself via Planet Minecraft.
See http://mentalfloss.com/article/92258/go-inside-intensely-detailed-minecraft-version-downtown-chicago
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Activision makes layoffs, says it will take 'Call of Duty' back to its roots
"Activision will take Call of Duty back to its roots and traditional combat will once again take centerstage," Activision CFO Thomas Tippl said in the call.
Which is why gamers who loved this genre bought Call of Duty. Maybe its a good idea to actually listen to what your customers want. Rather improve the game play and gaming experience.
See http://mashable.com/2017/02/10/call-of-duty-roots/
"Activision will take Call of Duty back to its roots and traditional combat will once again take centerstage," Activision CFO Thomas Tippl said in the call.
Which is why gamers who loved this genre bought Call of Duty. Maybe its a good idea to actually listen to what your customers want. Rather improve the game play and gaming experience.
See http://mashable.com/2017/02/10/call-of-duty-roots/
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Hilarious Review of the game Same Day Delivery by Ozzie Man Reviews
He's certainly got a wilder approach versus the one I take in games like Euro Trucker. Watch it for a good laugh and enjoy the closing music.
He's certainly got a wilder approach versus the one I take in games like Euro Trucker. Watch it for a good laugh and enjoy the closing music.
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