Bay 12 Games Forum

MechCon happend and Piranha Games (the folks behind MechWarrior Online) announced that they are creating a single-player successor to MechWarrior 4. Details pretty scarce so far. Stay tuned!

Pre-Alpha Footage
PC Gamer article

If you happend to like MechCommander, are a fan of BattleTech / MechWarrior or turn-based strategy games in general or just love to smash / blow up stuff with huge stomping robots, then this might be something for you! Jordan Weisman (one of the creators of BattleTech) and his talented team at Harebrained Schemes have launched a Kickstarter campaign in order to create a new BattleTech turn-based strategy game. That's right folks, a new turn-based game made by the team responsible for the successful Shadowrun games. The Kickstarter campaign was a smashing success! Harebrained Schemes asked for 250.000 dollars, but the counter sounded off at 2.785.537 dollars!





I want to see more of the game!

Have a look below! Actual gamefootage is limited (and only viewable to backers). You can view some Dev Q&A livestreams. There is also the Death from Above videos, in which a group of 4 play a game of tabletop BattleTech.

After 11 years, Triumph Studios has returned to its roots: Age of Wonders! After eleven years, Age of Wonders 3 has been announced. You find more info on the official website here. Rock Paper Shotgun has a short blurb about it here. A trailer can be found here.

EDIT: Game will be released March 31st!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is it?

Threat Unknown is an After Action Report (or AAR) of the game XCOM: Enemy Unknown. Threat Unknown will be a story based upon a playhtrough of the XCOM game. You will be able to read about the exploits of brave soldiers and scientists against the alien menace. The struggle will be long and hard, but humanity will prevail! Hopefully …

The playthrough itself will be conducted on the Classic Ironman difficulty. Every mission and major event will be detailed extensively. The updates themselves will be in the written form, but the writing style itself will be varied. One update might feature a more general overview while the next is written from the perspective of one particular soldier. There will also be several 'extra episodes' that delve deeper into the relationships between the soldiers and how they behave themselves in the middle of an Alien invasion.

Can I be in it?

Since XCOM offers very extensive customization, it would be a shame not to use it! Therefore, you can have your own soldier in this playthrough. But before you submit your soldier, here are a few rules:

* You may submit one (1) soldier and one (1) non-combatant (researcher, engineer, pilot, etc...). You cannot take the role of key NPC's (Bradford, Dr. Vahlen, Dr. Shen, …). Soldiers take priority, unless you only want a non-combatant only.

* You decide how detailed your soldier is. If you submit a name and nothing else, that is okay. If you want to write up a very detailed backstory, that is cool. I will work with what I got. Keep in mind that XCOM is a very random game. Therefore, it might not be possible to make everything fit.

* Dead is dead. No exceptions. You cannot apply for another soldier in case he/she dies.

When can I read it?

As soon as possible. Once I can beat Classic difficulty, I'll start the playthrough. Updates will be done after every completed operation. Real-life doesn't allow me to have a regular updating schedule for the coming year. It will be better by the summer of 2013, but updates until then will be infrequent.

Being bored of learning public policy theories, I stumbled upon this. Seems to be some kind of "Paradox Dwarf Fortress". Freshly announced too. Copy pasted info below the mark.

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A Game of Dwarves

Can You Dig It

A dwarven prince on a quest to reclaim his people’s old country takes the player on a journey through a continent, uncovering the buried mysteries of the Great War. With a combination of strategy and management, the player rules their settlements of dwarves, having them explore the earth and utilize its resources.

Description

The gameplay consists of ordering the inhabitants of a dwarven settlement to dig, build and conduct research in order to strengthen the clan, whilst defending themselves from the terrible beasts from the depths into which they delve. The game generates a unique world each time a new level starts, making sure that the player needs to dynamically adapt their strategies and tactics during a session.

As the player advances, the dwarves will level up and gain new skills, progressing from weak dwarflings to near immortal warriors or master craftsmen. There are also rare resources to be found deeper in the earth that grant access to better buildings and equipment. However, the deeper you dig the more dangerous foes you might unleash…

Features

Explore – The randomly generated maps will always keep the content fresh and increase the sense of exploration when digging through the earth.
Build – The things that the player can build in-game are not only practical, but their designs are varied and pretty too! This allows the player to build the objects they personally think look great, while still gaining progress. Home is where the art is.
Command – With the order system the player can easily control oodles of dwarves simultaneously without the need for extensive micro management.

Screenshots to be found here.

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Don't know what to think of it just yet, but I'm keeping an eye on it.

I have been wondering if it is possible to have a true "militia"? I mean, is it possible to have dwarves train a few months a year and then go back to smelting / butchering / strangling the mayor?

The reason I'm asking is because I'm a bit confused as to when a dwarf is considered a soldier or not. For instance, when they get "drafted", they get a negative thought. But when are they drafted? Once they get military schedules (alerts?)? How would one avoid those negative thoughts? And how would I make sure that dwarves go back and forth between training and civilian jobs? Would skill rust even make it a viable plan to have a "militia"?

I did check the Wiki, but I'm just a bit too green with the DF2010 military to fully understand it. And search gave me some clues, but I still can't paint the full picture.

Normally, I wouldn't post the following wall of text. Normally, I would take that swipe that Fate tends to deal us from time to time and sit behind my desk, bottle of beer next to me, loud music in my ears and some game to keep my mind from delving in that vast reservoir of dark thoughts that dwells inside me. Normally ... But this time, I need to vent and ask you, members of Bay12, advice. The topic title already reveals what I'm going to tell, so, step back if you think that you can't take another of those "love hurts, life sucks, waaah" threads.

I'm single for almost 3 years now. That isn't a problem, I know. Everyone is single at one point or the other in their lives. But I'm that guy who has everything (roof, food, car, pc, great family) yet still feels that one crucial piece is missing. Even more, I think that love is fundemental part of my life and I can handle anything if I just had that one special girl / woman. I have had a couple relationships, but those ended rather quickly. The last one had me convinced that she was "the" one. You know, the grass seemed greener, colours were brighter, life was good. It wasn't meant to be. But I disgress.

A former classmate of mine had a rough breakup. She was seeing someone for 10 years straight. Not bad for us 24 year old folks, ey? Nonetheless, the relationship ended. It didn't go gradually. There was a decline in communication because of some issues (which I won't go into) and in the end, the guy broke it off. But instead of just accepting it, she just isn't going to give up just yet. 10 years mean something and you don't throw that out of the window.

I knew her from back in high school. We had lost touch though, but there still was Facebook. Yeah, that thing kept us in touch. A single wall post a year to wish a happy b-day. That's keeping in touch. But a few weeks back, I noticed that she posted something about how "luck had deserted her". And she suddenly was single. I was surprised and since I'm one of those "save the damsel in distress" suckers, I asked her if we could meet. A drink, a talk. She agreed. First I thought she wouldn't. "I'm busy right now, but I'll let you know". In my book, that was synonimous to "Thanks, but no thanks". But she came through and we met.

A long talk (4,5 hours to be exact) was the result. A talk about her problems, a few of mine and social philosophy and psychologie.It was good to see her. And the talk showed me that the two of us have quite a lot in common. A whole lot. The talk ended with promises of her inviting me and some other folks to her new place. She's moving to an appartment. A new chapter in her life. A cool "date", but I knew she was still grieving for the other guy. And actively trying to get back together. So, like a valiant knight, I yielded and kept any "feelings" whatsoever locked in a box.

Past weekend, she calls me out of the blue. She asks if I want to come see her new flat. I bought a small present and tonight, went over to her place. I was a bit anxious because the idea was that myself and two others would come over. But I alone was invited. Something fidgeted in that box filled with "feelings", but I kept it closed. She was friendly and all. She almost immediatly asked if I wanted to see a movie. No problemo. With "Brothers Grimm" loading in the player, she showed me the place. And her new young cat. Damn, that thing was playful. But sweet at the same time. After the tour, we watched the movie. As Heath Ledger and Matt Damon rolled across the screen, my mind was somehow racing. No talk. I had to pry for information. She didn't ask how I was doing or anything. Just a few remarks and chuckles during the movie. And after that, another movie. Big Fish. Not bad, but once again, nothing more. She was tired though. Might explain a lot.

The evening ended with another "date" proposal. There is this 10 day festival coming up and although she isn't a fan of "going out", she did say I had to contact her when I wanted to go and she would try to come along. I left, walked through the deserted streets to my car (1 am on a weeknight? Not much chance to see anyone then), drove off. The radio blurted out "new divide" by Linkin Park, which made me feel drained somehow. I drove home, all the time feeling as if I was about to snap and breakdown. I came home, parked the car, went to the fridge and got a beer. Downed it in one gulp. I had the sense to leave the other beers untouched. And now I'm here.

I had to throw this out. The past couple of weeks have felt like torture. I was trying desperatly to keep my feelings and hormones in check. I have a horrible trackrecord of falling in love with girls that never quite seemed to return those feelings. A girl that just came out of a 10 year relationship just screams "DON'T DO IT!". But it's happening. It happend. And now I'm feeling miserable because of it. I feel like a teenager again and I hate it. Why won't it just go easy and obvious for once? Bloody love...

So, here I am, wondering what to do. Suppress the feelings and move on? "Date" her again and see what happens? Jump off a cliff? It could very well be that I'm dramatizing the whole thing, but this time, I don't feel that I can cope. As if everytime I fall in love, it only ends in a broken heart and a broken dream. And this time, I don't feel like I'm actually recharging my batteries in order to have another go with another girl at a different point in the future. And it is all driving me insane.