Nightingale, the steampunk victoriana survival game by Inflexion Games was released back in February 2024 and since day one, many players have been asking for one thing more than any other â€?Offline mode. Well, with the implementation of update ?0.3.0, they’ve got their wish. 

Offline mode is finally coming to Nightingale, which should mean an end to the server woes which plagued the game soon after release. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the original plan for the game to be online only, owing to the aspect of random generation within the Realms, but it did cause a lot of problems that I can personally attest to. 

Nightingale 0.3.0 update adds more than just offline mode

Offline mode is the star feature of 0.3.0, but it’s certainly not all that’s been updated with the patch. Also included with this update was the ability to build using items from storage, something which seems like it should have been included from the very beginning. Players can now also skip the tutorial, a glorious feature for those who want to have mul??tiple characters wit??hout seeing the same instructions repeatedly.

Another feature that was added with 0.3.0 is the first in-game event, the Spark of Hope. This event will be ??live until the implementation of 0.4.0, which is expect?ed in 'early July'. The Spark of Hope event sees a new trader within Abeyance Realms, ready to offer players unique wares in exchange for event currency. 

Along with these changes, there were other things updated?? with 0.3.0:

• New Bound variants
• New tiered variants of the following creatures which offer higher quality drops

  • Apex creatures
  • Eotens
  • Swamp Giants
  • Bound

• New player outfits, body types and professions available
• Players can now edit existing characters
• New POI encounters
• Tier 3 & 4 Throwing Knives and Grenades

This is far from everything that was included with 0.3.0, but you can find the full update notes over on the Nightingale Steam page.

The post Steampunk survival game Ni?ghtingale finally gets an offline m??ode with 0.3.0 update appeared first on Destructoid.

Wascally Weaponized Wabbit Weturns

[Update: According to Game Source Entertainment, (via Gematsu), the Nintendo Switch edition of F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch will launch in Japan July 14, suggesting that a w??estern release will n?ot be far behind.]

Publisher Microids has announced that it has signed a deal with bilibili to produce a physical edition of 2021's excellent but under-the-radar release F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch. In addition, it was announced that a Nintendo Switch port of F.I.S.T. is ??in the works, with a schedul?ed late-2022 release window.

Any Destructoid regular will know that yer boy Moyse is very much a proponent of F.I.S.T., which was one of, if not my actual favourite release in 2021. Set in a dystopian, steampunk, anthropomorphic world, F.I.S.T. sees an old war veteran don what remains of his well-worn battle armor to take the fight to the oppressors of Torch City’s slum-dwellers. What follows is a stellar metroidvania sporting impressive visuals, deep and satisfying combat, and an air-punching tale of anarchy a?nd redemption.

//youtu.be/ngNZBo8rpw8

"After the launch of F.I.S.T. Forged In Shadow Torch we’ve received many good reviews from players worldw??ide, and one of the frequently asked questions was about its physical release in Europe and America,�said TiGames CEO Zhang Tao. "Thankfully, with the help of bilibili and Microids, the question can finally be answered. We hope the physical versions will provide cha??llenge-hungry players with an enjoyable adventure in Torch City. Thank you as always for the warm support!"

While F.I.S.T. has previously received a physical release in Asia, the title has only been available in the west in digital form. Microids hopes to publish a localized physical edition on both PlayStation and Switch platforms in alignment with the release of the new Switch port. I have to admit that, despite how it might look in screenshots/trailers, F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch is a deceptively hefty release from a tec??h standpoint, so it will be interesting to see how the epic adventure is scaled down for ??Nintendo's hybrid platform.

F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow Torch is available now on PlayStation and PC. Check out our review right here.

The post (Update) F.I.S.T. Forged in Shadow To?rch coming to Switch in 2??022 appeared first on Destructoid.

Back in the USSR

Alternate timelines are a staple of the RPG genre, offering up worlds and situations that verge just on the precipice of believably. The latest example of such fiction can be found in Atomic Heart – a first-person action RPG curren??tly in development at Russian studio Mundfish.

Atomic Heart is the story of the rise of both Soviet Russia and the technological revolution. The country has amassed an army of robotic servants, holograms, and drones, successfully hitting the zenith ?of manufacture way?? ahead of its own timeline. Of course, as is often the case with such stories, something has seemingly gone very wrong with these impressive mechanical marvels, which spells trouble for our protagonist, a KGB officer currently locked down in one of the union's most prolific factories.

The video below offers a brief glimpse at Atomic Heart's steampunk-horror style. Produced in coordination with NVIDIA GeForce, the short preview shows off the visual effects that will bring Mundfish's world to life, spotlighting the title's ray-tracing and DLSS effects, as powered by the GeForce RTX card. It looks pretty snazzy, and with its intriguing setting and bleak storyline, Atomic Heart might prove a sleeper hit well w??orth keeping an eye on

The post Atomic Heart is a harsh tale of a Sovie??t robot revolution appeared first on Destructoid.

The Guillinburst Cometh...

Nintendo has lifted the lid on the newest expansion to its mobile battle title Fire Emblem Heroes. Book V, which launches this week, takes a side-step from the swords and sorcery of previous seasons, adding intricately engineered armor, powerful mech units, and a new steampunk aesthe?tic

The background story sees the realm of Nioavellir master the fusion of both science and magic, resulting in the creation of hi-tech weaponry and battle armor. The apex of this technology comes in the form of domineering battle mechs known ?as Gullinbursti, which will definitely make their presence felt among the dragon riders and archers of the free-to-play title. You can check out the style and aesthetic of Book V in the new trailer below.

Once Book V goes live in-game, players of any level can immediately jump into the new story at Chapter 1, which will automatically unlock new Mythic Hero Reginn, who reigns as the princess of Nioavellir. Additionally, a new castle designed n the style of Book V will be made available to all players, with both Orbs and Aether Stones on offer for players who complete the "Book V Begins" story arc. In the immediate future, Fire Emblem Heroes fans should also keep their eyes peeled for new variants of Sacred Stones' heroes Duesse??l, Caellach, Selena, Knoll, and Nata??sha.

For full details on Book V, Reginn, the Gullinbursti armor, the region of Nioavellir and much, much more, check out the newest episode of the FeH Channel. Fire Emblem Heroes is available now on iOS and Android devices.

The post ??Fire Emblem Heroes Book V reveals mech armor and exciting steampunk aesthetic appeared first on Destructoid.

These things tend to sell out fast

In today's contest, you can win a physical Switch copy of SteamWorld Heist from Super Rare Games!

My favorite-est digital-to-physical release c??ompany, Super Rare Games, now has 35 games under its belt. Not bad for a company that literally just started out as one dude trying to put a ga??me on a cartridge!

This time around, they're doing a SteamWorld double pack, featuring Steamworld Heist and Steamworld Dig. We've got Heist&?nbsp;up for grabs to put a formerly digital-only game on your shel??f!

Use your eyes to read.

In SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate Edition, you command robot pirates in epic tactical shootouts. It's turn-based strategy with a twis??t: By manually aiming your weapons you'll pull off insane bullet-bouncin??g trick shots!

SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate Edition is fully optimised for Nintendo Switch. It comes with The Outsider campaign, including a mysterious ally and a shipload of weapons, upgrades, hats, and missions previously only ?available as DLC.

As the captain, you board, loot and shoot your way through enemy spa??ceships. Overcome the challenges of the vast frontier by upgrading your recruits with unique abilities, weapons -- and even stylish hats!

Use your heart to feel.

Super Rare Games' super awesome release of SteamWorld Heist comes with:

• Fully assembled Nintendo Switch game with cartridge
• Interior art
• Full-colour manual
• Exclusive sticker
• 3 card trading card pack

To enter to win, use the widget below to leave your name and email address. You can enter ??daily. For bonus entries, follow the instructions within.

??We have one physical Switch copy of the game to gi??ve out; our winner will be drawn (and quartered) Thursday, July 23. Since this is shipping from the SRG headquarters in London, international users can win!

Check out SteamWorld Heist, and all of their other awesome games, over at the Super Rare Games website. And head over to Nintendo Enthusiast for your chance to complete the double pack by winning SteamWorld Dig!

?Dtoid Contest: Win SteamWorld Heist (Switch) from Super Rare Games

The post Contest: W??in SteamWorld Heist (Switch) from Super Rare Gam?es appeared first on Destructoid.

Fight...with cards!

We've got a Switch copy of SteamWorld Quest from Super Rare Games to give away in today's contest!

What do I keep telling you guys about physical releases? I love them, that's what. I love it when a digital game gets put on a cart, disc, thumb drive, stamp, whatever, because then it ge?ts to sit on your shelf, free of the confines of digital distribution. It's a beautiful thing.

That's why I keep reaching out to folks like Super Rare Games, who totally understands where I'm coming from. They just put SteamWorld Quest on pre-order for ??Nintendo Switch, and want to give you? a free copy so you can feel the physical love. I mean, uh...

Our main man Chris did a review, but you can read some more about it, yourse?lf, if you're not quite convinced.

In this creative roleplaying card game you'll lead a party of aspiring heroes through a hand-drawn world and intense battles using only your wits and a handful of cards. Take on whatever threat comes your wa??y by crafting your own deck choosing from over 100 unique punch-cards!

What awaits you is a luscious treasure chest filled with gold, dragons, vivid worlds, magic, knights in shining armor as well as XP, turn-based battles and all that good RPG stuff! The game?'s humorous mix of traditional fantasy and steampunk robots makes for an unforgettable experience with lots of laughs.

Pl?us, you get an actu??al, real-life freaking copy of the game! That's awesome, y'all.

The Super Rare Games physical release of SteamWorld Quest comes with:

• Fully assembled Nintendo Switch game with cartridge
• Interior art
• Full-colour manual
• Exclusive sticker
• 3 card trading card pack

To win ??your copy, use the widget below to leave your name and email address. You can enter daily. For bonus entries, follow Dtoid and Super Rare Games on Twitter, and share our contest post with your ?friends!

While you're waiting, tell SRG what other games you want to see get a ph??ysical release! They probably read these. Probably. Definitely. Maybe.

We have one physical Switch copy of the game to give away; international shipping is available, so everyone can enter! Winner will be drawn Wednesday, November 13. Head over to Nintendo Enthusiast for more chances to score your copy.

SteamWorld Quest is available for pre-order now at Super Rare Games. Check out all the rest of their awesome stuff while y?ou'r?e there!

Dtoid Contest: Take home a physica?l Switch copy of SteamWorld Quest from Super Rare Games

The post Contest: Take home a physical Switch copy of St?eamWo?rld Quest from Super Rare Games appeared first on Destructoid.

A tower of monsters

I feel like grid-based dungeon crawlers are few and far between these days. With the exception of a wide array of Etrian Odyssey games available on the 3DS, it can be a particularly tough ??itch to scra??tch. 

Fatbot Games' Vaporum, however, is a very well-realized example of the genre. The maps are well designed, enemies are engaging and there's some surprisingly great voice acting for a little indie game. It's an excellent, crisp little package a??nd one that can pull you into its world pretty fast. 

Vaporum (PC, PS4 [reviewd], Xbox One, Switch)
Developer: Fatbot Games
Publisher: Merge Games
Released: April 9, 2019
MSRP: $24.99

Vaporum is a steampunk dungeon-crawler, as such you'll fight your way through hordes of mechanical spiders and steam-billowing mechs using swords, hammers, guns - whatever else you can get your hands on - and  all experienced from a first-person perspective. In the early moments of Vaporum, the player character finds themselves waking up in front of a mysterious tower in the middle of the sea. Rather than it leading down to a nightmare city as in Bioshock, we find ourselves fightin??g upwards through some clockwork monsters, searching for the secrets of what exactly happened here. 

Early on, you're given the choice of a few different exo-skeleton rigs to strap your character into. This initial ??choice can really?? dictate how you play going forward. You can pick a light, fast suit with minimal hit points, a beefy, slow one for crushing opponents with melee attacks; there are plenty of discrepancies. I went with the burly suit with a lot of health as I'm an unconfident fool. 

You'll gather a substance called Fumium for defeating enemies. Fumium acts as your experience and allows you to unlock circuits, which are essentially just skill points. You can use all of this to upgrade your damage with certain weapon types, gain new abilities through gadgets; there's a lot of customization to be found. As I learned rather quickly, you'll really want to focus into a specific type of gameplay, being an everyman isn't something that works out in the long haul for Vaporum. The skill tree gets a? bit more complicated the further down you go, and it's best to find a playstyle that suits you early on and build off of that.

Combat is fun with a big focus on timing. Using the control sticks to step back and dodge, then lunging forward once the cooldown on your attack has worn off feels satisfying. If you're looking for a pure strategy-based combat system, you can ??change your settings, so time is only active while you're moving, giving you all the time you need to plan that next attack. 

Vaporum has a lot of setting for player preference that can drastically change gameplay. If just slowing down combat isn't enough for you, it's even possible to make it so the game won't automatically draw in the tower's map for you. This?? one seemed like a treat for the hardcore pen and paper cro??wd and was decidedly not for me. 

When you're not bashing steam-spewin?g robots with sledgehammers Vaporum has plenty of puzzle solving to do. Never anything too complicated, push a block here, press a button or turn a mechanism there. Logic puzzles just compli?cated enough to break up combat and keep you on your toes. 

While you move through the mysterious tower, you'll find that the best weapons and items are often tucked away in secret passages. These passages can only be accessed by finding hidden buttons on objects and walls; it's this design choice that ends up making the console controls feel incredibly strange at times.  When playing on PC, it's as simple as dragging your cursor over the buttons and clicking on them. On?? the PS4 you need to hold down the right trigger to make a cursor appear, then pull it over to the hidden button. 

This system works, but it's slow and makes it?? way ??easier to parse over the hidden loot. I'm sure I missed my fair share of it. 

On the narrative end, Vaporum is more than engaging enough. Surprisingly well-performed audio logs litter the halls, telling the story of o??ur clockwork tower. On the visual side, the halls are dimly lit and filled with clunking robots and steam spouting pipes. Nothing revolutionary, but it's a pretty good steampunk fantasy world.

As a full package, Vaporum is pretty great. A well polished and challenging dungeon crawler set within an exciting world. Although the controls can sometimes ??be a bit of a pain for the console editions, we see so few games in this genre today that t?he minor headaches are worth struggling through.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Vaporum appeared first on Destructoid.

She has been chosen by the clawww

It's safe to say every game developer working today has probably played and enjoyed a Legend of Zelda game at some point in their history. Nintendo's adventure series has been consistently popular for more than 30 years, and it's not hard to see the series' influences on games like Darksiders and Okami. More recently, indie creators have started borrowing ideas from the series, and we're starting to see some really great Zelda inspired games from smaller developers, titles like Tunic and Sparklite.

I got to try out the latter game at this year's PAX, and?? it's something I'm definitely going to be keeping an eye on in the future.

Sparklite is an RPG adventure game set in a colorful steampunk universe. The graphics remind me of the later days of the Super Nintendo, when pixel artists were at the? top of their game and everything had extra frames of animation just to show off.

You play as Ada, a young girl who??se airship has crash landed, stranding you in ??the region where Sparklite is mined. Even though she's an engineer she doesn't have the resources to repair it right away, so she has to start exploring and looking for parts. She receives a call from someone far away who wants to help, and sets out on her adventure.

Along the way she runs into some creatures that ha??ve been influenced by Sparklite, a massive orb of magical ore that keeps this world spinning. It's useful for a lot of quasi-magical purposes, so goblins and others have been mining chunks off of it?? for a long time. 

Unfortunately Sparklite mining is starting to cause problems on the surface, and Ada is concerned that harvesting too much of the mineral may have dire environmental consequences. Since she's stuck here anyway, she decides to investigate the problem, pitting her?? against the goblin workers and their overlord, a villain known only a??s The Baron.

Sparklite's gameplay is very heavily inspired by The Legend of Zelda, featuring a 3/4 top-down perspective and a focus on melee combat. There's an overworld and an underworld, and she'll have to explore the latter to find the game's more precious resources and items. One nod to more modern gaming trends is the addition of a stamina bar, allowing Ada to dash as long as she has the energy to do so. Defeating enemies will cause them to drop currency, and Ada can spend this at her home base to upgrade her life and stamina meters. If she manages to find a rare chunk of Sparklite, she can use it to upgrade the floating airship city that ??serves as the game's hub world. 

One of the most interesting things about Sparklite is the light procedural generation that's applied to the game map. Every time you return to the hub airship, the world below changes slightly as earthquakes caused by over-mining shift the landscape. Falling in battle automatically returns you to the airship (via a giant claw from a U.F.O. catcher), so? if you have a particular layout you like it's best to play cautiously to keep the world from changing on you.

I didn't get to play Sparklite for very long, but I was impressed by what I saw.  The world is beautiful, the gameplay was entertaining, and I look forward to trying it out again in the future. It felt like a game that's ready for release, but apparently there's still quite a bit of work to do. Sparklite is scheduled for release in the Fall of 2019 ?on PC, Mac, Switch, PS4 and Xbox One.

The post Sparklite is the steampunk roguelite Legend of Zelda I didn’t know I wanted appeared first on Destructoid.

Intense RPG slips from August launch

It looks like Nintendo Switch fans have a little longer to put together their bean-can grenades and cardboard body-armour, as post-apocalyptic RPG Wasteland 2: Director's Cut has been put back a couple of weeks.

Previously announced by inXile Entertainment, the heavy-duty adventure was supposed to launch this month, but will now appear on the Nintendo eShop on September 13. Already available on PS4, PC and Xbox One, Wasteland 2 is the sequel to the original 1988 title, featuring a band of custom-made survivors unde??rgoing missions and gathering resources in a desolate, mechanised Southwest A??merica.

Wasteland 2: Director's Cut launches on Nintendo Switch September 13.

#ICYMI - On Sept. 13th, the post-apocalyptic frontier awaits. Check out the latest #Wasteland2 #NintendoSwitch trailer!//t.co/GTpgjlu6xs

— InXile Entertainment (@Inxile_Ent) August 29, 2018

The post Wa??steland 2 for Nintendo ??Switch held back until September appeared first on Destructoid.

Cool deals for cool kids

It's a great week for fans of strategy games as a number of higher-profile titles release today including BattleTech and now Frostpunk. Both titles are sitting pretty on top of the Steam top-seller list, with the steampunk city builder Frostpunk presently at the #1 slot. Brought to you by the developers of This War of Mine, 1?1 bit studios' latest title is well r??eceived by both critics and player (though it appears if you're a Chinese gamer on a Chinese language Windows OS you may be in for some technical difficulties).

Priced at only $29.99, Frostpunk isn't going to be a huge commitment for early adopters - and it can be significantly cheaper thanks to the wonderful world of PC games digital retailer. We've spotted two solid deals on Frostpunk for release week.

Frostpunk Deals

• Frostpunk at GMG (Steam) — $22.49 (list price $30)
• Coupon: OUTNOW25 for 25% off

• Frostpunk at Fanatical (Steam) — $26.99  (list price $30)
• Use coupon code MAY10

Update: new 25% off deal listed above.

Both retailers are selling the same Steam key of Frostpunk, though regional pricing may differ (translation: we didn't bother checking the price outside of North America). The Fanatical SUPER6 code only takes 6%? off but did not apply to this game previously as it excluded pre-order titles. For GMG's deal, the best discount of 25% off is hidden behind a login gate, but since you'll have to create an account to checkout anyways this probably isn't a huge barrier.

For those with technical difficulties (even if you're not a Chinese user) and Windows 7 or 8, make sure you install the latest Visual C package and everything should be kosher for Frostpunk.

The download size for Frostpunk is a modest 4.7GB, so even if you'r??e buying today you should be able to play soon - provided your Internet isn't stuck in a '90s speed limit.

Game deals from Dealzon. Sales help support Destructoid.

The post Frostpunk release-week deals as high as 25% off appeared first on Destructoid.

If I were lazy I'd say 'Auron meets Rocket Raccoon'

Details are starting to emerge from Stockholm, Sweden about THQ Nordic's new open-world, anthropomorphic RPG Biomutant, talked about in hushed whispers last week.

The adventure, set in a post-apocalyptic universe, has been described as a "Kung-fu fable" and promises a gamut of fascinating and bizarre creatures, populating weird and colourful worlds that can be traversed on land, sea ??and air. Seriously, you can ride jet-skis.

The player character themselves?? is totally adaptable,? to be changed and customised to fit the given situation. As the adventure progresses you can appropriate new abilities and appearances with the addition of limbs, weaponry, gear and prosthetics.

Biomutant, which will be playable at Gamescom and PAX West, is aiming for release in 2018 on the PS4, Xbox One and P?C.

The post THQ Nordic r?eveal details and trailer for Biomutant appeared first on Destructoid.

Win one of five copies!

Did you play SteamWorld Dig? No? Well, you damn well should have. Fantastic game. Don't make the same mistake with its sequel: SteamWorld Heist. Thankfully, the awesome folks at Image & Form have made it a little easier for you to do so. They were kind enough to shoot us five copies fo?r you folks to take a stab at winning.

What do you have to do to win? Simply leave a comment below to enter! It's that easy. I will say you should also give the fine folks @imageform a follow as well, and keep up on the awesome stuff they are doing. Entry deadline is 12/16/15 @ 11:59pm PST! Good luck!

The post Giveaway: SteamWorld Heist appeared first on Destructoid.

More inspired by Deus Ex and Thief

Way back in 2001, gone-but-not-forgotten developer Troika released Arcanum: Of Steamworks of Magick Obscura. It was an utterly fantastic (if buggy) RPG set in a vast, strange steampunk fantasy world where the long-established magical forces were being dampen?ed by the new industrial revolution.

This was long before steampunk became synonymous with simply whacking a few gears and some brass plating onto something and calling it done: Arcanum explored how Victorian social values would apply in a world where half-orcs and dwarves wander the streets. It also had realistic architecture and one of the greatest soundtracks of any game ever. The en?tire thing was fantastic, and if you haven’t played it yet you really, really should.

Unfortunately, Troika had to shut its doors a few years later due to the poor commercial performance of its games. It never released the sequel to Arcanum we were looking forward to. We’ve known that Journey to the Center of Arcanum was to be the title of it for a few years now, and we’ve also ?known that it was going to be a first-person RPG in the Source engine. What we didn’t know is where the game was to draw its influences from, what the story w?ould have been, or really anything else about it.

Fast forward 14 years and RPG Codex has managed to uncover a design document of what could have been Journey to the Center of Arcanum. It was to be a game more similar to the likes of Deus Ex and Ultima Underworld than the original:

In JTCA (Journey to the Center of Arcanum), we hope to incorporate the best aspects of the most popular first-person RPG’s on the market, as well as include a new direction, one that is inherently Troika’s. If Arcanum has proved anything, it is that we know how to craft a well-balanced RPG, with memorable characters, a compelling story, and a character-development system that is second to none. The dichotomy between magick and technology gave us a perfect game environment to create an almost infinite number of playing styles, and we hope to transla??te that same environment into a 3-D world.

We hope to achieve a similar gaming environment as was presented in Half-Life or Deus Ex. The complexity of the levels in Half-Life, as well as the obvious care that was put into their design, created a game that was both fun and challenging at all levels. The use of puzzles and the intelligent placement of enemies helped players learn the use of the items presented to them, as well increasing their skill in items they previously had. The puzzles in JTCA would make the best use ?of these items, offering multiple solutions for every puzzle…

… As thieving in Arcanum very important, we hope to incorporate the best game-play mechanics of games like Thief and Thief 2. By allowing the player to move in the shadows, and to move quietly among enemies, we hope to offer a different kind of playing style than the mage, warrior or technologist. Strategy and success will be rewarded with audio and visual cues. Story elements will also support this playing style, as the Thieves Underground did in Arcanum.

This design document was confirmed to be real by ex-Troika developer Tim Cain (also of Fallout fame). Previous parts of the document describe some of the changes to the world’s lore, including the introduction ??of new technology that allowed it and magic to co-exist, which apparently wasn’t something Cain liked the sound of:

Yes, Troika was working on a "Journey To The Center Of Arcanum" treatment, and yes, it was going to use ?the Source e?ngine.

[...] I have three or four treatments for JttCoA, and they are all different. One I remember writing, and it is full of game system ideas, for skills and attribute changes. Another is written from the basis of using the Tribes engine instead of Source. Neither of those went to publishers either. We just wrote them as a "what?? if?" scenario to toss around during design meetings. Drog's [the person who released the design document to RPG Codex] document looks like one of those.

[...] So to clear things up...yes, this is a Troika doc on one possible treatment of JttCoA. I didn't write it, but I think I know who did. I never liked the "new metal which combines magick and tech" idea, because I thought it undermined the main motif of Arcanum, but the writer liked the idea, so he wrote it up for a design meeting. The doc was never intended to be sent to a publisher, just for us to read for a meeting, but I sent it to show the fan some of the ideas we were consideri??ng.

Journey to the Center of Arcanum seems like it really could’ve been great had it ever actually happened, and now I need to go and be sad for the rest of the day that it never did. However, it’s also interesting to potentially see its influence on later games such as Troika’s Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines.

Seriously, Arcanum was great, and I would give any limbs required to have Journey to the Center of Arcanum happen.

Arcanum Underworld: Ultima Underworld-inspired pitch document for unmad?e Arcanum sequel [RPG Codex]

The post Design documents for a sequel to Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magick ??Obscura uncovered appeared first on Destructoid.

Robots aren't the only threat now

Sir, You Are Being Hunted was my personal Game of the Year™ for 2014. With its fan??tastic British tweedpunk art style, some really neat AI and tense-as-hell stealth, it very quickly became a very special game to me. Now, I’ll be able to share the experience with someone else, as at long last the Multiplayer mode is on its way.

It’s currently in a very early form, meaning players will have to run a server for themselves and do a bit of technical wizardry to get it to work, and when it does there might be a lot of bugs not found in the normal game. But it’s there. It exists. I can wat?ch my friend be shot to shit by a robot on the back of a?? robo horse!

Currently, the multiplayer is a strange mix of co-op and competition. Only one player is able to escape from the island, so finding and hording fragment par??ts will become a legitimate strategy? later on.

A guide on how to set it all up is available on developer Big Robot’s website, and there is a video below should? you want to see it in action first.

The post Sir, Y??ou Are Being Hunted has released an early multiplayer build appeared first on Destructoid.

Brass clubs and copper pins

What happens when you get the developers of those old Nabisco mini-golf Flash games and have them make a new type of mini-golf title? Well evidently, you get something completely off-the-wall and ?bizarre, which feels more like a high-concept take on? mini-golf that somewhat borders on existentialism in the industrial-era before the dawn of the 20th century. This sounds a bit heavy, but I assure you it's not.

To go from Flash games on Nabisco.com to making a steampunk-style mini-golf game focusing on the trials of classism is a pretty awesome jump, I'd say. But don't think of this as an ultra-serious title. In Vertiginous Golf, you get to experience mini-golf in a more arcade style, over-the-top way. And that's?? certainly sa?ying a lot, as the purpose of mini-golf is take make things interesting for non-golfers.

After a year in Early Access, the developers have been steadily releasing updates to the game while listening to the community in preparation for their ?upcoming release. And it looks as though they've got a lot in store for its existentialist mini-golf title.

Vertiginous Golf (Linux, Mac, PC [previewed])
Developer: Lone Wolf Collective, Kinelco
Publisher: Surprise Attack
Release: May 6, 2015
MSRP: $14.99

Set in a world resembling Victorian-era London, Vertiginous Golf centers around the citizens of the city who look for escapism from the oppressive and gloomy nature of urban living. When the upper class and more fortunate citizens leave the city for comfortable living on floating islands in the sky, the lower class citizens have to settle for access to the "Vertig??inousphere," essentially steampunk virtual reality, to give th?em a vicarious taste of what life is like above the smog and clouds. And what better way to experience it than with a game of mini-golf? As you clear courses and unlock new challenges, you'll find audio diaries explaining the nature of the world, and its denizens. There seems to be a lot more going on with the Vertiginousphere and the lands above the clouds, than you may realize.

When you enter the Vertiginousphere, you gain access to a mini-golf course designed by some of the most ingenious, sadistic golfers ever. Partnered with a flying mechanical bird, you're able to get a thorough view of the course and its dangers in order to make to the hole. While some are pretty simple, with only a few dips and bumps to worry about -- there are others that feature major hazards, like air-tanks that push your golf-ball away from the hole, or moving platforms that shift at a moment's notice. During my first few g??ames, things got pretty hairy after only three holes. On one course, I had to take advantage of half-pipes and loops in order to make it to the end of the course. They're incredibly devious, and it'll be interesting to see how players make it through the stages efficiently.

It's quite clear that many liberties are take?n with the game of mini-golf in the Vertiginousphere. For instance, you're given an after-touch ability to move and shift the direction of your ball, only slightly, to give it a better position and angle. Moreover, given the fact that this isn't a real game of mini-golf, you're able to rewind your moves back a few seconds, in case you make a serious error.

Though the game has been in Early Access for over a year now, there have been steady updates to the game since then, which is still prepping for its release. The most recent update that came out was the inclusion of online multiplayer. Up to eight players can compete against each other i??n real time (no turns) on a courses. You can even use weapons and gadgets to slow down or debilitate your competition. With its release coming up, the developers took a lot of feedback from fans during its time on Early Access. This includes special courses that only allows the use of your clubs and no special abilities such as the after-touch and rewind. Moreover, the final release will feature the full story mode and level editor, which players will no doubt spend many hours in.

I think it's safe to say that Vertiginous Golf is one of the most unique mini-golf titles I've ever played, and its ?steampunk setting is the real capper to such an off-the-wall and rich concept. I'm quite fond of its approach to narrative within a mini-golf game. I'm definitely looking forward to seeing what this title has to reveal, as there's a surprisingly high level of mystery present.  Even though I only got a small taste of the story, what I experienced left me wanting to explore of what the Vertiginousphere had to offer. 

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Size Five Games' steampunk burglar sim is easy on the eyes

Size Five Games, previously known as Zombie Cow Studios (the studio behind the twin-stick edutainment STD shooter Privates and point-and-click adventure titles such as Time Gentleman, Please!), has released the debut trailer for its upcoming stealth-action game The Swindle.

Described as a "Steampunk Cybercrime Caper," Size Five's Dan Marshall says he likes to think of The Swindle as "a stea?lth game for the rest of us." The developer elaborates by adding:

"I suck at stealth games, I have neither the patience nor the disposition to creep slowly behind someone hoping they don’t turn around on an AI's whim. The Swindle is my answer to that – it's in your interest to remain undetected as long as possible on a heist, but being discovere??d and setting all the alarm bells ringing feels more like an inevitability tha??n a fail state. At that point, the game switches from being a sneaky-sneaky stealth game to an all-out-action race against the clock."

The gameplay hook centers around sneaking undetected into procedurally generated buildings, hacking t??heir?? systems to drain them of funds and then making a daring escape with all the loot. Your ill-gotten gains can then be used to upgrade your character to take on even bigger and more dangerous jobs.

Marshall's experience with the genre squares fairly well with my own. While I ??don't dislike stealth-based games, it's encouraging to see the developer acknowledge that the genre isn't a good fit for everybody, and is actively working to strike a balance between stealth and action that will hopefully keep impatien??t people like me invested in their game.

The Swindle will be going into closed beta in a few months, so, if this is something you'd be interested in taking part in, you're invited to follow @danthat on Twitter for more details.

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Nintendo of America is apparently to blame

SteamWorld Dig is hitting the Wii U on August 28th, and if you happen to live in the EU, AUS, or NZ regions, you'll g?et a 25% off discount for owning the 3DS version. But wait -- why isn't this cros?s-buy discount available in North America too?

According to the developer, "NOA (Nintendo of America) does not have this mechanism in place yet, so a cross-buy like this isn't available to o?ur American customers. We've tried hard, and it's taken some time to get to this place...half a victory at least!" 

This is the second developer to confirm the situation, as The Game Bakers' Squid's Odyssey also had a s?imilar promotion for the EU and not for NA players. If you want a Cross-Buy solution in North America, be vocal about it to NOA.

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Best of both worlds

This isn’t the first rodeo for SteamWorld Dig -- the cute mining adventure game first arrived last year on the 3DS eshop, followed by a Steam release. Now it’s making a comeback to the W??ii U thi?s week on August 28, along the way managing to keep all of its charm, graphics, and more.

SteamWorld Dig for the Wii U combines the best of both worlds from the PC and 3DS versions. The game runs beautifully with cute, crystal-clear graphics and also makes excellent use of the map and inventory on the GamePad. Players can also use a Pro con?troller for a more “traditional” feel, although the map along with the inventory are squished onto the main screen. Off-TV play on the GamePad is also an option for people who need to give up the TV to someone else, or just prefer a more hands-on (get it?) experience.

After feeling out my gameplay options, I spent most of my time with my map and gem inventory on the GamePad and the full game on the television screen. I found the gameplay to ??be much easier this way as it allowed for more real estate on the TV and an overall better interface. For example, instead of having to sort through my gems on the TV screen I could just easily discard them by pressing them on the touchpad. The GamePad also offered a more zoomed-in map which made it easy to view and navigate cave entrances, teleporters, and tunnels. Once I got the mineral map upgrade, gems were much easier to spot on the map as well.

Although I enjoyed using the GamePad, it could have benefited from more features. I would have also liked to see weapons and items available on the GamePad for “quick picking” vs cycling using the triggers. I also wish the map could have been touch-friendly, allowing me to move or zoom in at will -- it would have came in handy towards the end of the game, ?when I found myself wanting the larger? map that displays on the TV.

It’s also worth mentioning that the Wii U port holds a secret that you can’t find in any other edition. If you look hard enough, you’ll find a cute little easter egg hidden in one of the levels. I won’t spoil wh?at it is, but I will say it’s a fun call back to a familiar NES title.

Overall I found SteamWorld Dig for the Wii U to be a super fun experience. If you don’t already have it, I would recommend buying it for this system specifically as it combines the beauty of the PC port with the functionality of the original 3DS release. However, if you already own the game it’s probably not worth the extra cash unless you’re really itching to discover the easter egg. Or if you really just love SteamWorld Dig. In which case, I completely relate.

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Who needs tactics when you have robots with swords?

There is something about turn-based battles on a square grid that always seems to captivate me. Taking that idea out of the generic fantasy setting garners bonus points for me too. Granted, Acaratus is described?? to take place in a medieval setting, but it also has customizable steampunk robots with giant? swords, so there's that too.

One of the other neat things that Acaratus does is to include collectible card game elements with the robot bu??ilding process. It also intends t??o employ episodic content when it comes out. Sadly, the game is still in early development, with no word on a release window. Hopefully this moves along quickly enough for us to make robots fight each other soon.

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Community site opened, promises transparent development

Here's a game I can get behind. Vertiginous Golf  is, "a first-person exploratory mini-golf" title, set in a dystopian steampunk world. I'm?? sure that world is interesting, but it's the mini-golf I'm excited about. Those holes look like a lot of fun to navigate, and it appears that they're working on a rather feature-rich title, with local and online multiplayer, a course editor and Occulus Rift support.

It's arrived today on Steam in Early Access, where it's priced at $14.99, and Surprise Attack Games has opened a new community site where it's promised that players will be able to weigh in on many aspects of the title's ongoing development. Updates to the title are expected every couple of ??weeks until the game's final?? release this Fall.

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Updated, but not a full-blown remake

My first reaction to this annoyingly teaserish trailer for The Chaos Engine was, "Holy eff! They're remaking The Chaos Engine!" That is not quite what's happening here -- this is a "restoration" of the classic top-down co-op title (also known as Soldiers of Fortune), reports Digital Spy -- but that's not a name you hear frequently mentioned and I'm still?? excited nonetheless.

"We've seen dozens of terrible remakes of classic games," explained producer Neil McKenna at Rezzed. "When we sat d?own and look??ed at it, it didn't even need that. The gameplay, even though it is old-fashioned, it just works really well. You just need to add anything in."

The Chaos Engine is already up for pre-order on Get Games Go. The site lists it as having a $9.99 Steam?? release?? (Windows, Mac, and Linux) planned for August of this year. Talk about completely unexpected, awesome news.

The Chaos Engine is?? "rest??oration" of original, could come to consoles [Digital Spy]

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Steampunk monster killers

Ready at Dawn Studios showed off a trailer for a new IP for the PlayStation 4, called The Order: 1866. While the trailer didn't show a lot, it did show enough to get me excited. It's a Victorian-era setting with lots of awesome sideburns and long coats, but?? it also has a lot of random technology going on like radio communication and crazy guns. It?? might not be fully steampunk, but it looks like it could be very close.

The soldiers in the trailer were riding along in a coach, then got out to shoot some? monsters that climb on things and look scary. Steampunk monster killers. I can't wait.

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'We'll make something in that world sooner or later'

Will there be another Just Cause? Probably. I mean, if there's any justice, yes. But those recent pictures Avalanche Studios founder Christofer Sundberg put out on Twitter aren't it. When Edge pressed him on the matter, he came right out and said the images were from a "steampunk-style game" that's cu??rrently on hold.

"I really love that art style, and to combine it with sandbox gameplay is a dream of mine," Sundberg stated. "Fortuna??tely, being an independent developer I can control my own destiny and we'll make so?mething in that world sooner or later."

He wouldn't comment on rumors that Avalanche has a Mad Max project in the works, but says the studio's next games ?-- a mix of current- and next-gen -- will have "plenty of 'hol?y f***ing sh**s' to go around for everyone."

According to Sundberg, "We've never had any ambition to go ?very deep with our narrative and focused more on explosive fun. It's entertainment! I have no ambitions to make players cry or have any deeper feelings. A great laugh and a big smile as players pull off a completely over the top stunt is all I can ask for."

Avalanche Studios’ Christofer Sundberg on pacifism, Steampunk and games as platfo?r?ms [Edge]

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Puzzle platforming at 532 nm on the electromagnetic spectrum

Just last week, we first learned about Teslagrad in its debut trailer. T??he video piqued Jordan's interest with its steampunk world, hand-drawn art, and magnetism-based puzzle platforming.

If you also liked what you saw, you can vote for Teslagrad on Steam Greenlight currently, and we may potentially see it up on Steam if a su?fficient number ?of people are attracted to it. I can't imagine there will be much resistance to the idea of bringing this game to the field.

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Arkane Studios has pulled the curtain back once again on Dishonored through an always welcome developer diary, this time talking about immersion in the game. It starts out with the title's Visual Design Director, Viktor Antonov, where he explains his specialty in Industrial Design and how it relates to this project. From there, it gets even more interesting.

The architecture design, characters, weather patterns, evolution of the city (and its history), and even Arkane's strive to make Dishonored not a "typical" videogame are all discussed and explained by the title's developers. Even if you aren't excited for the game, it's at least a peek at how and what it takes to design a title like Dishonored. It's really som?ething you don't see enough of nowadays, so for tha??t alone it's absolutely worth watching.

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You know, I'm getting quite tired of all these exclusive pre-orders at every single retailer for every new game that comes out. It becomes a hassle if you pick a crappy one, because then you have to wait a couple months to purchase the rest. Having said that, I have to admit that the pre-order options for Dishonored look pre?tty awesome. A couple of them come with an exclusive digital bonu??s and a unique physical bonus. Check out the list to see all of them:

• GameStop: Arcane Assassin Downloadable Upgrade Pack & Dishonored Tarot cards
• Best Buy: Shadow Rat Downloadable Upgrade Pack & Whale Oil USB Lamp
• Amazon: Backstreet Butcher Downloadable Upgrade Pack
• Walmart: Acrobatic Killer Downloadable Upgrade Pack
• Target: Smart Phone Dishonored Decal

There's a couple clunkers in there like the Target bonus that only comes with a smart phone decal, or the Walmart and Amazon bonuses that only include the digital counterpart. But Best Buy and GameStop have the best pre-order bonus it seems; you can either get Tarot cards or a Whale Oil USB Lamp. Read that again: a Whale Oil USB Lamp. When are you going to ever be able to say you have the option of getting one of those again, and just by simply putting down an advance $5 for Dishonored?

Pre-order items for Dishonored announced [Bethesda Blog via Game Informer]

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Locked up for a crime you did not commit, and accused of killing the empress you swore to protect, you are left to rot in prison for your unjust?? conviction. Your o??nly saving grace is an amoral mystical being who endows you with special powers, allowing you to make your escape.

Upon emerging from the hel??lhole you've been caged in, you find the world outside enslaved by the totalitarian government t?hat has seized power, and to make matters worse, there is a deadly plague spreading around your once beloved city. Yeah, I'd be pissed too.

Such is the plight of Corvo, a bodyguard-turned-supernatural assassin in Dishonored. Coming from the minds at Arkane Studios, there is a lot of talent behind this project. Key players from the development of such classics as Deus Ex, Thief: Deadly Shadows, and Half-Life 2 are just some of the hands on deck. Yo??u don't have to be the greatest gaming buff to respect the pedigree bro?ught to the table.

Dishonored (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC)
Developer: Arkane Studios
Publisher: Bethesda Softworks
Release: 2012

At its core, Dishonored is a first-person action game in the same vein as Thief and Deus Ex. ??There are a number of ways to approach given situations, leaving it up to the player's imagination and creativity on how exactly to complete them. Sure, Corvo is a supernatural assassin, but ??if you prefer a pacifistic approach, the game is tailored to allow for that.

From the grunts to the story crit?ical targets, Arkane claims to provide non-lethal options for dealing with all of them. To demonstrate this, the developers demoed the same mi??ssion twice from two extreme approaches. The first was very stealthy and quiet, while the second was balls-out loud and aggressive.

In our demo, Corvo has two members of parliament on his hit list, a pair of twins ca??lled the Pendleton brothers. The mission begins with Corvo on the roof of a building near his target's location; this starting positi?on for the mission isn't random.

Outside of the main story, players will have plenty of opportunities to take on side missions and other peripheral activities. Depending on how many you complete, further options for how to approach your next story mission are unlocked. In this -- and all missions -- ?you can gain access to different starting points depending on your play style.

As Corvo makes his way down into the building (a brothel called The Golden Cat), we come across one of many runes. Runes are mystical objects that act as currency for upgrading powers. Though the world of Dishonored is very much steampunk, magic plays a huge role. There is a whole metaphysical and su??pernatural component present in the city of Dunwall,?? mostly personified by the Outsider.

An amoral being, the Outsider is neither a god nor devil character, just a being who recognizes important people in history and grants them a portion of his power to see what they will do with it. Having been visited by the Outsider while in prison, Corvo has supe?rnatural ab?ilities that allow him to teleport, freeze time, and posses living creatures. Apart from runes, you can also spec out Corvo with bone charms.

Bone charms are applied buffs that grant bonuses from extra weapon damage to incr??eased effectiveness with certain powers. ?There are about 50 variations of bone charms, and though players can only initially equip two at once, towards the end of the game you can equip upwards of eight.

Being careful not to be seen, Corvo eavesdrops on a conversation between a few of the working girls. Apparently the younger Pendleton is in the steam room, located in the lower levels of the brothel. Through a nearby balcony, Corvo blinks down to a nearby river surrounding the bu??ilding. Spotting a narrow entrance via a sewer system, Corvo posses a nearby fish, and swims into the compound.

Blink is essentially a teleport that allows Corvo to move across distances silently. Possession is just what it sounds like: you possess people and animals but only for a limited amount of time. Possession in Dishonored is full bodied as well, so your entire self goes into the target. You don't leave your body behind when you take control of another. It's a bit weird to think about, especia??lly when you see a full-grown man basically implant himself in a fish, but hey, ma??gic is just crazy like that.

Also note that you can't abuse these powers for an easy victory. Powers in Dishonored are governed by a traditional mana system; although some of it will always regenerate so you have enough to blink once, you will have to carry a stock of potions and elixirs to keep your mana up for poss?essions and other higher-tier abilities.

Both abilities have great uses for stealth, but also work well in combat situations. Since the mission areas have a lot of verticality to them, Blink is particularly useful for navigation and in combat is a great way to make an escape or flank enemies. Possession perhaps leans much more to the stealth side as we didn't really see it demonstrated in combat scenar?ios. While you can posses an animal at any time, human targets must be unaware of your presence if you want to take control of them. Furthermore, if a body that you are poss?essing dies, you go with it.

After swimming for a bit through the sewers, Corvo finds a clearing and leaves the fish's body to continue on. Finally, we find the steam room where the first Pendleton brother is. There are just two guards standing in the way. Both are actually set up pretty well, so if we want t??o remain hidden, they both have to be taken out at the same time. It's here we are introduced to the spring razor, a mine that sends razors, shrapnel, and other sharp objects flying when tripped.

While there is no crafting or weapon-building system in Dishonored, players can collect ??components that can be crafted for them in between missions. As soon as the first guard sets the spring razor off, we blink behind the second and stealth kill him. With nobody left betw??een us and the target, we asses our options.

As previously stated, there are a number of ways to take out each contract. In this instance, we could simply walk in the steam room and shoot Pendleton, possess the brothel girl he's with, and frame her -- ?leaving her to deal with the consequences -- or set up the scene to look like a murder suicide. For the less violent player though, there is the option to erase Pendleton's identity and send him to work in the silver mine he has enslaved so many others in.

To take this moral high road, you will have had to come into this mission fully prepared, with all the related side quests done, and all of this mission's alternate objectives completed. Ra?ther than go for all those elaborate schemes, Corvo simply locks the door to the steam room, and blasts the steam way up, roasting both Pendleton and the brothel worker. Brutal, to say the least, but damned effective.

And with that, the stealth portion of our demo was up. We did get a look at the same mission, but with a much more aggressive play style. Even then, however, you will still have to slow yourself down at least long enough to learn your target's location. These change dynamically with each playthrough of Dishonored, so it won't do you much good to?? go on a rampage from the beginning.

Also, it seems that all the useful information you get from the game is gleamed from conversations you eavesdrop on. Maybe it's just this mission, but if there is one fear I do have early on, it's that eavesdropping will be as prevalent -- and often boring -- as it has been in the past action games. Anyone remember the first Assassins Creed?

While the first, stealth-heavy portion of Dishonored looked really cool, the totally aggressive nature of the second was considerably less interesting. While it is neat to see Corvo blink around enemies, gett?ing quick kills and easy headshots, it had that same feeling of past stealth games, like the situati?on had devolved rather than evolved into something exciting. The whole demo was hands off, though, so we have yet to see how a brute force approach really plays out.

All told, there's no denying that Dishonored is something to be excited for. This quick look at the game already has me anticipating a hands-on demo (please be at E3!), and it's sitting high up with the likes of Borderlands 2 and Assassins Creed III for my most anticipated g??ames of this year. With the talent b?ehind the game, you'd do well to keep your eye on it too.

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Thief: Deadly Shadows is the third game in the Thief series. You sneak around in the shadows to steal things, but did you know that this game also has zombies in it? Did you know that there are open-world areas with side-quests? Did you?? know that this game can be a major pain in the ass to play, but it's still really fun?

Stealth games these days tend to be fast-paced affairs like Batman: Arkham Asylum where you sneak around on ceilings and take out thugs while quickly disappearing afterward. Getting caught or even seen isn't always the end, and escape is usually an option. Thief requires a bit more patience. You'll have to watch guards to learn their patterns and strike at the most opportune moment. If you do reveal your presence to enemies, you might as well just reload the game instead of trying ??to escape.

Garrett, the deep-voiced protagonist, sneaks around in an effort to try and steal valuable artifacts while also uncovering a conspiracy. Light and sound determine whether Garratt can be detected by enemies. Hiding in darkness, moving slowly, extinguishing torches,?? learning guard patterns, and avoiding loud floor surfaces are all key to surviving and completing the missions.

This is truly a game of patien??ce. I tried playing a couple of levels by just running towards my objective, and I met a cru??el and fast death without fail every single time.

Another interesting aspect of this game is the lack of a mini-map. To figure out where to go, you'll have to look at the mission text and at a static ?map you have in your inventory, and then use a compass to find your way around. Not having a mini-map or a glowing orb telling you where to go makes players more aware of their surroundings and the environment, which helps immerse them in the game. It can also be a real pain for modern gamers who aren't used to figuring things out on their own.

Deadly Shadows isn't the easiest game for me to recommend, since a lot of the gameplay feels dated. If you are a fan of stealth games and you want to see how things used to be, however, you should definitely play it. I have a soft spot because I remember playing the demo over and over again when I was in school. If waiting a lot, moving slowly, and trying to figure out where you are by staring at a map and quest text don't turn you off, you really ought to check out Thief: Deadly Shadows.

Trivia:

• Thief: Deadly Shadows uses the same engine as Deus Ex: Invisible War.
• It wasn't called Thief III because it was the first Thief game on consoles.
• Some of the paintings in the game are portraits of the developers.
• Warren Spector, the founder of Ion Storm, also created Deus Ex and System Shock. He was an associate producer on Ultima VI and Wing Commander. These are all awesome games and, as such, he won a Lifetime Achievement award from the Game Developers Choice Awards. The last game he worked on was Epic Mickey.

Time: One hour
Difficulty: Moderate
What you need: Thief: Deadly Shadows

1. Back up t3main.exe before you start, just in case things don't go according to plan. This way if you do make a mistake, you won't have to reinstall the whole game to fix it. You'll find it in Thief's system folder.

2. Download and extract the Thief 3 tweakers into your Thief 3/system/ folder. Run t3_widescreen.exe. Select any of the current resoluti?ons to change it to match your monitor's native resolution. I picked 1280x1024 and changed it to 1920x1080. Run the crash fixer too, then press q to quit?? once you're done. Run T3FovPatch.exe and select your monitor's aspect ratio.

3. Install t3teak-1.2.exe into your Thief 3 folder. Run it and turn off ?opening movies, remove the background fog, and remove purple lighting. This will make the game start quicker, and it will remove the dated-looking purple crap that is all over the place. Click Save and then Exit.

4. Download this texture pack. Run th??e installer and select "NPCs," "Menu and Gameplay Specific," and "Environment." "Garret faces" and "Garret" have multiple choices that aren't compatible with each other, so you'll have to pick which on?es you like. I went with "Large scar," "Equipment and weapons," and "Bare arms."

Good luck, and save often!

The post The Weekend Modder’s Guide: Thief: Deadly Shadows appeared first on Destructoid.

We've seen some very pretty screenshots of Bethesda's Dishonored, but so far, nothing in motion. Those hoping for gameplay footage will be disappointed, since this is a CG trailer, but it's still pretty excitin??g ??stuff. Check it out!

The video certainly justifies the "steampunk" and "dystopia" descriptions that will follow this game to the grave, and there are already more than a few comparisons to Assassin's Creed floati??ng around. Most importantly, ?however, is the prevalence of Stilt Police, which I am still completely in love with. It's police! On stilts! What's not to love?

Dishonored will be available on PC, Xbox 360,?? and PS3, with a vague "2012" release window.

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