Video Game News and Miscellany



I can already tell there's going to be a deluge of Might No 9 comparisons.

Not a huge fan of 2.5D in sidescrollers, sprite based sidescrollers always control better.
 


I can already tell there's going to be a deluge of Might No 9 comparisons.

Not a huge fan of 2.5D in sidescrollers, sprite based sidescrollers always control better.
I hope this doesn't make me cry like an anime fan on prom night.

(That's not a "Nick's prom night" joke, by the way.)
 
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I imagine Ford and Reiche are crusty as fuck based on the years of them getting fucked on Star Control rights to begin with.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Star Control followup stuff.

https://www.bluesnews.com/s/186071/star-control-rights-follow-up

I'm not sure who to believe. Stardock's usually good dudes, and it kinda sounds like Paul and Fred are coming off as kinda douchey, but in the realm of IP law, douchey doesn't necessarily mean wrong.
That, and given the story behind the original creation of Star Control 2 (that was described in the manual addendum text file that came with the game), they've never exactly been dependable, professional, or diligent.
 
Divinity: Original Sin 2 has received another patch. Like the last patch, this one fixes a bunch of stuff and adds a bunch of quality-of-life improvements, but also like the last patch it breaks almost as many things as it fixes. The DoS subreddit is full of reports of new bugs.

Also I don't see any mention of my bug of being unable to talk to spirits being fixed, so I'm not jumping back in yet.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Divinity: Original Sin 2 has received another patch. Like the last patch, this one fixes a bunch of stuff and adds a bunch of quality-of-life improvements, but also like the last patch it breaks almost as many things as it fixes. The DoS subreddit is full of reports of new bugs.

Also I don't see any mention of my bug of being unable to talk to spirits being fixed, so I'm not jumping back in yet.
This baffles me.. I mean, I played through the game twice - once with Terrik, Dei and Snuffles, and once on my own - and didn't run into any truly gamebreaking bugs. I mean, sure, there were some broken quests and such we didn't get to finish because the NPC just never showed up, and once or twice the game carried on as if we had done choice X when we did choice Y, but at least the game was playable and finishable!
 
This baffles me.. I mean, I played through the game twice - once with Terrik, Dei and Snuffles, and once on my own - and didn't run into any truly gamebreaking bugs. I mean, sure, there were some broken quests and such we didn't get to finish because the NPC just never showed up, and once or twice the game carried on as if we had done choice X when we did choice Y, but at least the game was playable and finishable!
Except for that one time that we couldn't let Terrik get the spirit eating ability because it made the game get stuck, or the time we had to reload an old save because if you didn't do certain things in a precise order the game assumed you didn't do it at all, and I only found out about it because it happened to my single player game first.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Except for that one time that we couldn't let Terrik get the spirit eating ability because it made the game get stuck, or the time we had to reload an old save because if you didn't do certain things in a precise order the game assumed you didn't do it at all, and I only found out about it because it happened to my single player game first.
Well, the first thing was because terrik wasn't logged into the game, and so technically he wasn't a godwoken anymore. Besides, there was a workaround for that - the thingy in the academy that taught it to him later.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Aaand the continuing drama of the Star Control brouhaha.

https://www.bluesnews.com/s/186090/the-battle-for-star-control-continues

A post on GOG.com by Stardock's Brad Wardell adds a twist to the Star Control brouhaha which recently bubbled up (thanks Rollory). Stardock and Fred Ford and Paul Reiche III are engaged in a dispute over what aspects of the series are actually owned by which entity. Stardock purchased the game's name (at the very least) in 2013 as part of an Atari fire sale, but Reiche and Ford claimed they possessed the rights to sell the original two DOS Star Control games they co-developed. This morning we reported that Paul and Fred (aka Toys for Bob) claimed they removed the sci-fi action/strategy series from GOG.com of their own volition (no wait, that was a different fire sale) as a maneuver in this battle. Now Wardell says Stardock actually instigated the removal of the Star Control games so they could sell them there themselves, and in a later post the Stardock CEO says the games are now back on GOG.com being sold by Stardock, which lends credibility to his side of the story. Here's the post that preceded the reappearance of the series:

Paul and Fred have provided no documentation whatsoever, not even an email, to back up their claim regarding Atari. If they had, we wouldn't be having this discussion.

However, upon learning that Paul and Fred were the ones who set up the agreement with GOG, we informed them that they needed to take it down as they do not, and have never had the right, to sell or distribute Accolade (and now Stardock) Star Control games. We informed GOG of this change last week.

We have a great deal of respect for Paul and Fred as the designers of Star Control I and II. However, until they can back up their claims that the IP they licensed for Star Control I and II has actually expired with some sort of documentation we are not inclined to discontinue their sale and distribution as long as the fan community supports this.

With any luck, the Star Control titles will be transferred to the existing Stardock GOG distribution agreement and sales will continue. Paul and Fred will continue to receive royalties, as they have for the past several years, for the sales and distribution of the classic Star Control games.

For those not interested in the original DOS experience, there is the amazing Ur-Quan Masters project which is free.​
 
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I copied it from bluesnews, which makes their quotations bright yellow. I forgot there are crazy people out there who don't use a Blackend theme :p
Since when has it ever been right to NOT account for people who still use the default?
You'll never get a job designing Overwatch skins with that attitude!

--Patrick
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Since when has it ever been right to NOT account for people who still use the default?
You'll never get a job designing Overwatch skins with that attitude!

--Patrick
Pfft, white-background themes are universally retina-searing. I am highly suspicious of anyone who doesn't flee screaming for the nearest dark theme.
 
I don't trust people who think bright yellow on black isn't also retina searing. Also, for me, white on black is kind of blurry. :p
 
Pfft, white-background themes are universally retina-searing. I am highly suspicious of anyone who doesn't flee screaming for the nearest dark theme.
They're also usually the most compatible. Why you gotta be so overly photosensitive about it?
...I mean, I know it all just comes from a deep-seated need to change the world around you to fit YOUR vision of how things should look, but still.

--Patrick
 
I use a white background and just have contrast and color on my screen turned all the way down so it's dark grey on light grey. :awesome:
 
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