Updates: By the Numbers

By: Derek Yu

On: December 9th, 2011

Screenshot and texture pack by Leostereo of the Minecraft forums.

A number of alphas/betas I follow have had significant updates, so I thought I’d mention them together. Also, I’m updating the neglected “Dev Roll” on the sidebar to feature games that are in long-term development.

The first update is from Minecraft, which finally reached v1.0 last month, during the two-day Minecon that was held in Las Vegas. The update adds a proper ending and “hardcore mode” to the game, among other things (full changelog). After the release, Notch announced that he is relinquishing duties as lead developer to Jens Bergensten, who was originally hired to do back-end programming.

It’s worth noting that Minecraft made its public debut on TIGForums on May 17th, 2009. Check out the thread for a “Before They Were Stars”-style stroll down memory lane!

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Xenonauts at Eurogamer Expo

By: Derek Yu

On: October 4th, 2011

Goldhawk Interactive showed off their X-COM inspired strategy title Xenonauts at the Eurogamer Expo last week. Above is a short interview with TotalBiscuit and one of the developers as they play the game on the expo floor.

Preview: Xenonauts

By: Derek Yu

On: May 19th, 2011

Fans of Julian Gollop’s X-COM might be happy to hear about a project that’s heavily-inspired by the classic strategy game. Unlike the FPS reboot by 2K Marin (titled “XCOM”), Xenonauts follows the original closely in terms of design, and features Geoscape, base management, and air and ground combat. However, the creators are trying to improve on X-COM in a variety of ways – for example, by adding a directional cover system to the combat system. The game also takes place in the 1979, during the Cold War, and eschews futuristic human technology in favor of more recognizable weapons and vehicles.

Xenonauts has been in production for 18 months so far, and Goldhawk Interactive is taking pre-orders to aid the development – people who pre-order can help test various aspects of the game before release. For more information, check out this development blog on the PC Gamer website that highlights a lot of the new features. There’s also a two-page preview that should appear in the PCG magazine in July.

(Source: Rock, Paper, Shotgun)