Conference Call

GWJ Conference Call Episode 395

Sniper Elite Nazi Zombie Army, Child of Light, Sportsfriends, Dark Souls II, Steam In-Home Streaming, Heroes of The Storm, Wargame Red Dragon, Your Twitter Questions, Your Emails and more!

This week Shawn, Elysium, Rob Zancy and Karla tackle your Twitter questions, emails and more!

To contact us, email [email protected]! Send us your thoughts on the show, pressing issues you want to talk about or whatever else is on your mind. You can even send a 30 second audio question or comment (MP3 format please) if you're so inclined.

Chairman_Mao's Timestamps
00.03.27 Child of Light
00.08.00 Sniper Elite Nazi Zombie Army
00.15.00 Heroes of the Storm
00.24.05 Sportsfriends (Johan Sebastian Joust, Bara Bari Ball, Super Pole Rider)
00.30.23 Wargame Red Dragon
00.40.35 Steam In-Home Streaming
00.46.26 This week's topic: Your Twitter questions!
01.07.40 Your emails!

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Show credits

Music credits: 

Intro/Outtro Music - Ian Dorsch, Willowtree Audioworks

High School Snaps - Broke for Free - http://brokeforfree.com/ - 45:54

Covered In Oil - Broke for Free - http://brokeforfree.com/ - 1:07:05

Comments

Elite was a BBC Micro game originally, not an Amiga game, which is probably why it wasn't so well known outside Europe. I think a large part of the reverence it's given is because they managed to write that game on a computer with a 2MHz 6502 processor and 32KB of RAM.

Game in which a character drinks from a glass and the level of liquid changes: In dishonored, the Admiral in charge of the resistance takes a swig of his Guiness when you meet him for the first time in the game.

Zelos wrote:

Elite was a BBC Micro game originally, not an Amiga game, which is probably why it wasn't so well known outside Europe. I think a large part of the reverence it's given is because they managed to write that game on a computer with a 2MHz 6502 processor and 32KB of RAM.

They did eventually cobble together an NES port of Elite for PAL territories in 1991, but they were never able to find a publisher to release it stateside. If you dig around a bit, you can find the unpublished NTSC ROM for it, which is an interesting play; that version of Elite is one of the only NES games that used wireframe graphics.

Any episode that begins with human "medicine" testing is automatically one for the books

I love how folks butcher my name when I write in to a podcast. Although I do believe rabbit knows to how to pronounce it correctly.

About CCP, it sounds like they're moving to port all the players/data/etc over to the PC version from PS3 and slowly transition it out of existence. So all is not lost, but there definitely was a few days of PR kerfuffle where a bunch of DUST players were freaking out as CCP wasn't open about everything that they're doing. Plus I wonder what they're going to do with their Atlanta office now that World of Darkness is cancelled...

Thanks, Sean - now I'm actually going to sign up for the Heroes of the Storm beta

More inclusive, noobie friendly MOBA is a MOBA I'm much more likely to try out.

I'm not sure what game came up with it first, but the combat in Child of Light I think is inspired by the Grandia series. Grandia 2 on the Dreamcast was very memorable to me for the battle system.

Here is my dream game creation:

World design of Elder Scrolls
Writing and characters of The Witcher
Items and combat design of Dark Souls

Elder Souls: The Witcher

Game tailor made for me:

Telltale games + Joss Whedon team up and release episodic Firefly content. The original actors voice their characters. We forget about the movie and SPOILER is still alive.

Game tailored just for me:

Take the team that developed Hulk, Ultimate Destruction and team them with Ben Edlund to make The Tick. Voice acting by the original animated cast.

Open, clockwork, fully explorable The City with fully deformable buildings that you can also explore the insides of either through doors or by making holes in walls.

Your score in any given mission is calculated by subtracting the cost of the crime from the amount of collateral damage to The City.

Include the ability to switch between The Tick and Arthur like in the Lego games

Arbitrary collectible: Collect the bombs hidden by the Evil Midnight Bomber what Bombs at Midnight.

Somebody make this game and take my money!

It will never happen. My second choice is to bring back the Deadpool game on PC so I'll still be able to play it when my ps3 dies.

Tyops wrote:

Game tailor made for me:

Telltale games + Joss Whedon team up and release episodic Firefly content. The original actors voice their characters. We forget about the movie and SPOILER is still alive.

I'd Kickstart that, but only if SPOILER is also kept alive.

Just wanted to note I enjoyed hearing Karla on this week's discussion, and while she may not game as much as Shawn I hope to hear more of her as I really enjoyed her talk on Journey as well way back when.

I saw Dark Souls 2 in the show notes, got excited, listen to the show, was disappointed by lack of Dark Souls 2 talk.

Then I made it to the end and

Also, always enjoy hearing both Rob and Karla on the show. Good work, even with the Dark Souls 2 talk tease

I was interested in the steam streaming discussion...the comment was made that it was done on a really expensive laptop and not a cheap something or other.

I assumed that because you are streaming, it didn't really matter the power of the receiver, only the data pipe going into the machine. Since receiving unit is not doing any of the number crunching, just displaying the results, doesn't this turn your (whatever you are using) into a simple terminal?

Thank you, Zelos for jumping in, because as I listened in my car I was about to engage in all manner of pedantry to correct this grievous error. I mean Amiga...come on...

And YAY FREESPACE 2 MENTION! YAAAY! I'm replaying through the campaign right now (for maybe the 10th or so time? I've lost count over the years) because the game turns fifteen this year, and with all the stuff from the Source Code Project (which you can get easily by installing the Freespace Open Installer), it looks so, so pretty.

As for the Elite: Dangerous vs. Star Citizen thing, while it is in part a US vs. UK thing, there are also fundamental differences in how each project is progressing that is fueling concerns over Star Citizen. Cloud Imperium, to their credit, is putting up so many updates about SC it's silly, and while it's great to see how the sausage is made, it also sets up an expectation that is seen as becoming harder and harder to reach. Elite: Dangerous, on the other hand, is more conservative in their updates, with periodic newsletters and the like, but they also have a very playable alpha already that is, in my opinion, AMAZING, and going to be tough for SC to beat at this point, which causes even more concern over the fate of Star Citizen. It's going to be a long and fascinating journey to watch regardless, and who would've thought a few years ago we'd be arguing over which space game would reign supreme?

As for my tailor made game, it's simple: Open universe like Privateer or Frontier: Elite II with the flight/combat engine of Freespace 2, the ability to land on a planet and either run around on foot in a Skyrim-like environment, or jump in a vehicle like Uprising and command forces from your tank to complete missions, hold off invaders and that sort of stuff. So bring the teams behind Privateer, Frontier, Freespace 2, Skyrim and Uprising and I'll be set.

Wow, hope that wasn't too long, but y'all touched some nerves.

Man, I was wracking my brain today trying to think of the recent example of the exact same combat mechanic as Child of Light's time-action bar, with the ability to interrupt & delay an enemy if you hit them at just the right time... and it finally came to me: Penny Arcade's On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness, episodes 3 and 4. Gameplay video (the bar's at the top).

I got one more dream game for you:

Two(?) words: Lego A-Team

Great pull, but I don't think there's quite enough characters in the show to fill out a proper Lego game as they've been built to-date. What if there was more of a spin-off Lego game (in the vein of Starcraft: Ghost) with just you playing as a single character for the entire game, but it was DEEPLY narrative-focused... and the hero character was MacGyver.

Maybe it could be called "Lego Rad" and feature the A team, Knight Rider, Macguyver, the cast of Back to the Future, Rambo, Chuck Norris...

Wait, I think I just described Lego Broforce.

My dream game that I fantasize about is a Star Wars mega game that would combine KOTOR, X-Wing, and Jedi Knight.

A first person action style rpg game, with deep quest lines and old school adventure elements (real puzzles without handholding). Huge open "world" gameplay with starships that you can take off, leave orbit, and engage in space based missions and travel.

It doesn't even need to be based on Star Wars. It's just that it's easiest to describe based on the above games.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

Maybe it could be called "Lego Rad" and feature the A team, Knight Rider, Macguyver, the cast of Back to the Future, Rambo, Chuck Norris...

Wait, I think I just described Lego Broforce.

Or Lego The Expendables

Dream game: Get the original FFXII team with Matsuno at the helm and let them make a sequel focusing on the adventures of the sexiest sky pirate ever, Balthier.

My dream game? A new Crusader game. Heck, remake the old two and Ill be in heaven.

Finishing up the Podcast now, two notes:

1) I played Stranger's Wrath and I loved that game. Really need to grab it again off PSN.

2) You were discussing Princess Bride and said "Fight to the death" instead of "to the pain"? Shameful, Shawn. So shameful. Son, I am disappoint.

EDIT:

As for dream games, I want Blizzard to let everyone they absorbed from Swingin' Ape Studios to finally go ahead and make Metal Arms 2, or for LucasArts to make a four-player co-op sequel to Republic Commando, both of which are pretty much impossible at this point.

doubtingthomas396 wrote:

I got one more dream game for you:

Two(?) words: Lego A-Team

Day 1 purchase.

Woo, Karla pronounced my twitter handle correctly!

My money is no object game would be a new version of Jet Set Radio, art and music intact, but with level design and control development by the Mario Galaxy team. And yes, I know about Hover. That's what's got it on my mind.

The one thing I think of when it comes to breaking immersion is that sound in BioShock Infinite that tells you combat is over. Being taught to rely on that sound to know when to relax just completely kicks me out of inhabiting that world and trying to survive.

"Now the question is are we going to get down to the point where we can do this with a $100-$200 device" - Certis

I think they already made that device, plus you can unplug it and play it in bed as well.

IMAGE(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/10/nvidia-shield-console-mode.jpg)

Granted if you don't have an Nvidia video card you might have to spend a bit more, but that said the Shield streaming is much better than the Steam beta.

Stric9 wrote:

"Now the question is are we going to get down to the point where we can do this with a $100-$200 device" - Certis

I think they already made that device, plus you can unplug it and play it in bed as well.

IMAGE(http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2013/10/nvidia-shield-console-mode.jpg)

Granted if you don't have an Nvidia video card you might have to spend a bit more, but that said the Shield streaming is much better than the Steam beta.

Huh. I just got one, so I'll have to try it out now.

Random Dream Game Thoughts:

First person open world RPG set in an urban fantasy version of the 1920's in which cthulhu-like eldritch horrors lurk just beyond the thin places of the world, as well as more mundane horrors (ghosts, vampires, etc).

-- Takes place entirely in one city (sort of a fictional Chicago or similar) and some of the surrounding rural areas.

-- Characters are randomly generated with you just picking gender and race. Career is also randomly generated and pulls from Lovecraft tropes (professor, journalist, private detective, doctor, etc).

-- Has a ZombiiU style death system whereby if you are killed, you roll a new random detective but can recover all your belongings from your corpse.

-- OR, have a mechanic whereby you can create a Will for a certain amount of cash, and on death, any belongings you have are delivered straight to the new character.

-- A mix of story investigations and procedurally generated mysteries focusing on investigation and exploration rather than combat. Death should come swift and often if you don't do enough research into your case before making your move.

-- Combat is a viable, but difficult, path to take.

-- Hooks for expanding into stand-alone set missions "abroad" (e.g: joining up with a special expedition to the south pole).

-- Parts of the city can be lost to the horrors if you screw up too many investigations in that area. Losing too much of the city is the only real game over state.

-- Also faeries are real and control most of the organised crime in the city.

Great episode. Wanted to say two things:

1. There were several 2004 games that went on to span sequels that I love, notably Rome Total War, Far Cry and Dawn of War. (I know Rome wasnt the first Total War but I think it was the first in the series to be a general hit). That being said, looking at the list of top releases, the only game I still play occassionally is World of Warcraft.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2004_in...

2. My dream game would be a Game of Thrones grand strategy/roleplaying game designed by several studios. Bioware and TellTale would work together on the main storyline, Bethesda would handle the open world encounters, Paradox would design the strategic AI, and Creative Assembly the massive tactical combat that your PC could personally lead.

Datyedyeguy wrote:

I love how folks butcher my name when I write in to a podcast. Although I do believe rabbit knows to how to pronounce it correctly.

I know your "correct" pronunciation, but I was thinking as I heard the other pronunciation on the podcast that the alternate pronunciation could be a thing for the show, like how Rabbit pronounces "Mario."

IMAGE(http://www.thegazoo.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/gif-jif.jpg)