Conventions
Indie Racing Takes Off With Vector 36 – PAX Aus 2015
Vector 36 was a stand-out at PAX Australia’s indie floor. Not only was it different to anything else being shown, but it’s different to pretty much anything else on the market today. Vector 36 has players racing in hover ships, called ‘Skimmers,’ with a completely unique control system as well as vehicle customisation. It’s also designed for VR devices, so it attracted quite the crowd on the show floor. I spoke with Ryan Mckee, director at developer Red River Studio, about the game.
“I really wanted to do something that was kind of Gran Turismo-ey, but just different,” Mckee says. “It all kind of coagulated into the idea of having a simulation-based sci-fi game.”
Vector 36 takes place on the surface of Mars and bills itself as a “physics based racer.” It’s not the sort of game most people can pick up and easily play – the unique control system, combined with the fact that there aren’t a lot of other games out there about piloting hover ships, means there’s a steep learning curve. It’s a very different direction to many of the other indie developers featured at PAX, most of whom had focused on building games that anybody could pick up and instantly play.
“It’s a steep learning curve,” Mckee says. “It’s meant to be a simulation. It’s not an arcadey game, it’s not really meant to be taken up and immediately gotten into. It’s a bit like a flight simulator, where you have to know which buttons do what and what the dynamics behind it are. Especially when it comes to building your own ship, because you have to understand the physics behind it.”
But Mckee is working on making it easier for players to overcome the learning curve by providing places where people can find tutorials and demos about gameplay. “I’ll either use a wiki page or some Youtube videos,” he says.
Although Vector 36 was built to be used with an Occulus Rift, Mckee says you don’t need a VR headset to enjoy the game. “You can play the game without Occulus at all. It’s built for Occulus and with all the VR bits, but you can just play it like any other game.”
Vector 36 is Mckee’s first solo commercial game project. Before this, he’s built a lot of mods and worked on other indie teams. Mckee says developing for the Occulus has become much easier over the last few years. “Initially, it was very difficult because you had to have specific camera set-ups and optimisation issues. You had to basically rewrite a lot of the way the camera worked just to get it to work with the Occulus. But now with the latest runtimes for Occulus, you just hit a button and it works. You don’t have to mess with any cameras and it takes all the post-processing. If this had been made, maybe a year ago, it would have been a totally different game.”
Mckee says he chose to develop a game for the VR because he knew it would become something big. “I knew it was going to be something important for gaming. I knew it was a good opportunity, because if I was going to do a simulator, it’s going to be for Occulus. So it was good timing.”
While Vector 36 is essentially working as a single-player game, Mckee has yet to add multiplayer. “I’m going to do my best to get multiplayer out there, and I want to get full Steam VR. I want to have not just the headsets, but the handsets as well. You should be able to slam the hatch shut on your cockpit door, you should be able to hit the starter button, hit all these other buttons, and basically control everything with just your hand motions. So that’s the goal.” Mckee says all of that should be ready by the planned release date.
Vector 36 has been in Early Access for a couple of weeks and Mckee is aiming for a rough release date of February 2016, “give or take a month.” It’s going to be released on Windows and Mac, and Mckee is working on getting the game ready for Linux. He’s also working on securing an Xbox One and Playstation 4 release, but so far he can’t confirm that there will be a console release. “I want to get it on Steam, polished and ready to go first. And then I’ll port it over to others once that’s done.”
In exactly two weeks, an epic journey will start in the heart of Transylvania for all those who love comics, games, and movies. The Transylvania Comic Con starts on October 18 and invites all participants to enjoy a three-day event where they will get to unleash their imagination at the cosplay contest, meet their favorite actors at the photo ops and photographs sessions, or find out interesting things at the panels hosted by the event. Great fun is granted even for those who would just like to take a look at the ComicCon and do some shopping of really cool items or snap some pictures with famous props, such as the Iron Throne.
The Transylvania Comic Con will take place in the heart of Transylvania, at the BT Arena in Cluj-Napoca. The event starts on Friday, October 18 at 4 P.M and lasts until Sunday, October 20. The stage hosts’ roles will be filled by Maria Muller and Ken Huegel. Some of the celebrities invited to the event are ‘Vikings’ and ‘Hunger Games’ star Alexander Ludwig, Kevin McNally Pirate of the Caribbean, ‘Spartacus’, ‘Arrow’, and ‘Shanarra’ star Manu Bennet, Rick Cosnett, from ‘The Vampire Diaries’, ‘Stargate Atlantis’ star David Nykl, and Roger Ashton- Griffiths, who played Mace Tyrell in Game of Thrones. Cosplay enthusiasts will get to see Daisy Cosplay and Imriel Cosplay.
Transylvania Comic Con will also welcome three featured artists and a Cosplay Guest, who wasn’t announced yet. The schedule is not public yet, and the timetable is subject to change, however, on October 5 participants will get the first glimpse at the program, from where they will find out more about the guests of the event. What we already know is that Transylvania Comic Con will host cosplay competitions on Saturday and Sunday. The General Cosplay Competition hosted on Saturday targets solo cosplay enthusiasts only, while on Sunday groups will get the chance to show off their costumes. This is also the day of the qualifiers for the international cosplay competition Clara Cow Cosplay Cup.
Tickets for the Transylvania Comic Con are still available for purchase, except for the VIP 3 Days Tickets, which are all sold out. The rules for participants and the tickets can all be found on the event’s homepage, here. It will definitely be an epic event, so we hope to see you there!
The countdown has begun. There are less than three weeks until Transylvania ComicCon kicks off. The three-day event will take place in the heart of Transylvania, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, between 18 October and 20 October at the BT Arena. Those who will attend the event will get to meet some really cool guests and can participate in numerous activities, all of which are going to be amazingly fun. The schedule of the event won’t be available for another couple of days, however, the majority of guests are known.
Transylvania ComicCon will welcome some beloved actors, such as Alexander Ludwig, Kevin McNally, Manu Bennett, Rick Cosnett, David Nykl, and Roger Ashton- Griffiths. The event will be hosted by Maria Muller and Ken Huegel, and the YouTubers/ streamers of the Transylvania ComicCon will be Cluj-Napoca’s own Creative Monkeyz. It is not yet clear who the featured artists will be, but this should become known on October 5th, when the event’s schedule will become available on the website.
Besides having photo ops and autograph sessions with the aforementioned guests, participants will also be able to show off their imagination and skills at the cosplay contests. The solo General Cosplay Competition starts on October 19 from 13:00. The group competition starts on Sunday, also at 13:00. At the same time, the qualifiers for the international cosplay competition Clara Cow Cosplay Cup will start. Other activities participants can attend at the Transylvania ComicCon include panels, and props& booths. Naturally, there will be an artists’ alley, a gaming area, and a shopping area too.
The entry fee for the Transylvania ComicCon is really affordable. Those who want to have a photo op and get the autograph of Kevin McNally or Roger Ashton-Griffiths have to pay less than 15 Euros for the treat. The VIP three-day tickets cost less than 100 Euros, while one-day entry fees are as low as 10 Euros. These prices may be incredibly low but the level of fun will go incredibly high at the Transylvania ComicCon. Check out the event and all it has to offer here.
Let’s travel back to 2000s. Can you remember the time when MMORPG genre popped up out of nowhere? Early genre games such as Everquest, World of Warcraft or Guild Wars were considered to be the prophets of the new age of PC gaming. MMORPGs or Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Games have been considered the most gratifying, rewarding, immersive, and time-soaking games out there. However, as time went by, only a handful of MMORPGs managed to secure their communities and stay a little while longer.
So today we’re talking some time (and internet space), introducing the very best games of the MMORPG genre. Some of these games are old and can brag about their long history while some of them are fairly fresh inviting fans of the genre to explore seemingly unending content. Most importantly – all of these games are alive and will grant you hundreds of hours of joy.
- The Elder Scrolls Online
We begin our list with the youngest of the bunch. ZeniMax Online Studios creation, The Elder Scrolls Online is set in the magical continent of Tamriel which will be familiar to the fans of TES franchise. The game’s storyline is indirectly related to other games of the franchise; however, the game is set way far back before the events of Oblivion, or Skyrim. Currently the game has two expansions: The Morrowind and the Summerset, however, the developers have promised a third expansion The Elder Scrolls Online: Elsweyr which is coming out on June 4, 2019.
- Final Fantasy XIV
Final Fantasy XIV is developed and published by Square Enix. First released back in 2013 the game quickly became a hit among many MMORPG genre fans across PC and PlayStation communities. It has tons of great content which is keep on coming even to this day. Recently Square Enix has announced yet another game expansion titled Shadowbringers which will bring a variety of new dungeons and include yet another playable race: the rabbit-like Viera, already known to the fans of Final Fantasy XII. The game will also increase its level cap from 70 to 80 and introduce a number of new zones to explore.
- Guild Wars 2
This ArenaNet MMORPG game certainly deserves a spotlight in our list. Guild Wars 2 is an attractive piece because of its ever-living world structure which captivates players with multiple quests, continuing storyline, and rewarding gameplay mechanics. The game is also considered among the best MMORPGs because of its freedom and versatility when it comes to personalization. You can literally create, augment, and specialize your character in such a way that it would be exceptionally unique to your preferred playstyle.
- RuneScape
RuneScape is the oldest game on our list, however, it carries the very same explorer’s spirit within. It’s safe to assume that if you’re interested in MMORPG genre you’ve tried this game already at a certain point in time. We can still remember the wood chopping, fire making, and fishing activities which required hours upon hours of discipline, and we also remember how much joy did that provide. And it still does if you’re patient enough. That’s why it secured a spot on our list!
- World of Warcraft
No MMORPG games list would be complete without the king of the genre. It has been over 14 years since Blizzard released World of Warcraft. The game was a phenomenal success and became one of the most iconic titles of all time. World of Warcraft is even included in the video game Hall of Fame and there are plenty of reasons why. Even today the game is huge and has millions of players logging in to play it every month. Throughout its history World of Warcraft has seen 7 major game expansions with tons of great content to explore. Furthermore, Blizzard is planning to release a Classic version of the game sometime this summer which means that the king of MMORPGs can be entering its second lifecycle. If you’ve never played – we do recommend you give it a try.
While some of these games can be played for free, some will require you to purchase certain expansions (or game time). On Eneba Marketplace you’ll find everything you need in order to start your new MMORPG adventure!
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