New Demos and Patches

A new patch for Awesomenauts was released today, which includes various tweaks, fixes, and a new Creeper Clunk skin with the cooperation of Mojang.

“The bane of Minecraft players everywhere, the Creeper, made his way into Awesomenauts! The Creeper is famous for terrorizing everyones’ beautiful blocky castles, villas, starships and pixel art of Minecraft, especially whenever you least expect it. And now you’ll have to watch your back in Awesomenauts as well!

Fittingly, he’s a skin for Awesomenauts’ own exploding horror: Clunk. But Creeper Clunk won’t be a skin you can just buy. The only way to grab the skin is to defeat another Creeper Clunk. The development team will be online with creeper clunks in the coming days, so bring it on!

For more details, check out the site here: https://www.awesomenauts.com/Creeperclunk/“

Nordic Games today announced that over the next few months three new DLC packs for SpellForce 2: Faith in Destiny will be released with a season pass option. Additionally, patch version 2.26 has been released, which contains the co-op/free game mode for LAN and multiplayer.

“The first enthralling DLC released today is Flink’s Secret Diary, exploring the thrilling and humorous story of thief Flink McWinter. Providing approximately four hours of additional gameplay, players will take on the role of the famous thief and scoundrel who has been set the seemingly impossible task of recovering Order Master Matricus’s stolen Fire Ledger. Set in a world full of orcs, barbarians and thieves, players will also meet Flink’s mother, drink wine, meet women and enjoy music.

Flink’s Secret Diary DLC is out now priced USD 3.99, EUR 3.99, and £3.49. The second and third DLC packages will be available to buy on January 18th, 2013 and February 15th, 2013 respectively and will also be priced individually at USD 3.99, EUR 3.99, and £3.49. However those who are looking for a Christmas bargain can purchase the DLC season pass to receive all three for just USD 9.99 EUR 9.99, and £8.99.

Each set before Faith in Destiny, the DLC delves further into the mysterious worlds past. For the first time these three DLCs will allow people to play as one of the non-playable characters from the original story, rather than as the hero himself for a new twist in the tale.”

Ronimo Games today announced the release of the version 1.5 patch for Awesomenauts, adding DLC skins for all characters.

“The characters of the multiplayer shooter Awesomenauts have always looked pretty fine, but as of today they can get totally fabulous! Because each of them now has access to a sweet alternative outfit.

You can grab the skin for your favorite character at ($2.49 / €2,49 / £1,74). But if you’re like us you probably have multiple favorites, so we made these handy bundles:

• Mean and Green ($5.99/ €5,99 / £4,49): Froggy G (Grandmaster Splash), Gnaw (Bumble Gnaw) and Derpl Zork (Hotrod Derpl)
• Blast from the Past ($5.99/ €5,99 / £4,49): Voltar (Disco Voltar), Leon Chameleon (Mousquetiere Leon) and Yuri (Kosmonaut Yuri)
• Tropical Thunder ($5.99/ €5,99 / £4,49): Lonestar (Officer Lonestar), Coco (Coco Hawaii) and Clunk (Replaceable Clunk)
• Costume Party ($14.99/ €14,99 / £11,99): All nine skins!

So suit up, it’s time to get Awesome!

For more information and updates, check out our website www.awesomenauts.com“

Bohemia Interactive today announced the release of update v1.06 for Take On Helicopters, which also includes a free DLC pack called Take On Helicopters: Rearmed.

“Aside a large number of fixes, improvements and optimizations to the core engine, the new Downtown update also implements a major new free DLC called Take On Helicopters: Rearmed. This DLC offers a convenient way for people owning titles suchs as Arma 2, Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead, Arma 2: Combined Operations to get that content into Take On Helicopters.

Take On Helicopters Project Lead Joris-Jan van ‘t Land about the Rearmed initiative:

“When we initially developed Take On Helicopters, its focus was on civilian flight. We still believe in this non-combat gameplay, but of course our studio’s origins lie in military gaming. By using some clever ways of merging installed products, without the player having to tweak manual settings, it is now possible to combine the two worlds. Take On Helicopters gets an incredible amount of new content, while many of the improvements are applied to it as well. I love flying a helicopter over Chernarus, bathed in improved lighting and covered by the beautiful clouds. Takistan is a more detailed part of South Asia and the ideal playground for combined arms desert operations.”

Additionally, a number of fixes and improvements to the core technology, which had recently been applied to other Bohemia Interactive games via the Operation Arrowhead beta patch program, have been ported across to Take On Helicopters – resulting in a significant performance boost when flying over densely populated areas such as Seattle Downtown, plus increased stability in the multiplayer code.

Last but not least, aspiring pilots might like to know that the price of Take On Helicopters, and the Take On Helicopters: Hinds DLC, has been significantly reduced. It means people can now start flying for up to 37% less than the original price.

To apply the Downtown update (including the free Rearmed DLC), players can download the installer from the updates section on the game’s official website. The Steam version of Take On Helicopters will be updated automatically.”

Travis Ormandy, an Information Security Engineer at Google, recently discovered a security vulnerability with Ubisoft’s Uplay. While installing Assassin’s Creed Revelations Travis noticed the installation procedure created an insecure browser plug-in for the Uplay launcher.

“…while on vacation recently I bought a video game called “Assassin’s Creed Revelations”. I didn’t have much of a chance to play it, but it seems fun so far. However, I noticed the installation procedure creates a browser plugin for it’s accompanying uplay launcher, which grants unexpectedly (at least to me) wide access to websites.”

Ubisoft responded later today with Uplay version 2.0.4, which users should install without a web browser open. Additionally, the following statement was issued:

“Ubisoft takes security issues very seriously, and we will continue to monitor all reports of vulnerabilities within our software and take swift action to resolve such issues”

Bohemia Interactive today announced that patch version 1.62 for Arma 2, which brings several fixes to the game’s multipler and will make zombie hunts less prone to crashes.

The other highlights of version 1.62 are:

• Multiplayer optimizations, security and server improvements
• Overall stability was improved with numerous tweaks and fixes
• Added new video options (Post-Process Anti-Aliasing, Alpha To Coverage)
• Additional AI improvements and numerous bug fixes
• Resolved issues with several training missions
• Added a lot of new script commands for content makers

A demo for E.Y.E: Divine Cybermancy has been released on Steam and the game is 60% off during the Summer Sale.

“As a member of the strange secret society E.Y.E, you wake up after a fight in which your fellow teammates were killed. E.Y.E, an armed branch of the Secreta Secretorum is attempting a coup against the all-powerful Federation, a coalition of several worlds and planets that rule with an iron fist.

To complicate matters, E.Y.E itself is plagued with its own internal conflicts between the Jian faction and the Culter faction, to which you belong. Your loyalties are torn between Commander Rimanah, your superior and the chief of the Secreta who is a separatist with an unstoppable ambition, and the “Mentor” your friend and instructor. The “Mentor” tries at all costs to unite the two rival factions. In doing so, you are thrust into the middle of a fratricidal war frought with political conspiracies and quests for power in which different groups and megacorporations are implicated.

These troubles set the stage for an attack by an unknown force bent on destroying humankind.”

2K Games today released a demo for Spec Ops: The Line on Steam, giving players a chance to try out the upcoming third-person shooter that introduces a new storyline to the series.

“Experience Spec Ops: The Line as you play as Captain Martin Walker, and lead a Delta Force recon team, infiltrating Dubai six months after a cataclysmic sandstorm destroyed the city and left it buried in ruin. Their mission is to investigate a mysterious distress signal and locate any survivors. From there, chaos ensues as Delta is pulled into the middle of a civil war within an unpredictable combat zone. To make it out alive, Walker and his team will have to fight their way through the war-torn city to find the man at the heart of its madness – Colonel John Konrad.”

Positech Games today announced the released of a demo for Gratuitous Tank Battles, the recently released “spiritual successor” to Gratuitous Space Battles. The demo can be downloaded from Steam or the official site.

“Gratuitous Tank Battles is the spiritual successor to indie hit ‘Gratuitous Space Battles’, the ‘hands-off’ battle simulation set in a universe at perpetual war. GTB is set in an alternate earth history where World War I never ends, and Axis fights Allies across Europe in the year 2114 complete with a mix of Tanks, Infantry and futuristic mechs.”

The Rockstar Games blog has been updated with word of a new patch that will be issued tonight in response to community feedback.

“Issues fixed by tonight’s patch are below. Our goal is to get everyone up and running as smoothly as possible so be sure to hit https://support.rockstargames.com if you are having any specific issues.
 
Compatibility Issues

• Fixed reported issues with needing service packs, compatibility with incorrect OS.

Various Crashes

• Fixed a range of issues which could have led to crashes on startup and in-game.

Audio Crash

• Fixed reported issues of audio dropouts when no audio device was plugged in, or when the headphones/speakers disconnected while in game.

Mouse Sensitivity

• Fixed reported issues of mouse being sluggish, especially in prone and Shootdodgeâ„¢. Increased top end range of mouse sensitivity, but kept the slider from 1-10, allowing the user more range in their sensitivity setting.

Mouse Acceleration

• Fixed reported issues of mouse acceleration affecting aiming, included commandline option to disable mouse acceleration, -nomouseaccel (In a future update, this will be added as an option in the Mouse Controls menu).

Stretched Image / Wrong Aspect Ratio

• Fixed reported issues of game locked in incorrect aspect ratio, or alt-entering and having incorrect aspect ratio. Added commandline option for locked aspect ratio as commandline option -aspectratio width:height  (ie. -aspectratio 4:3 / -aspectratio 16:9) In a future update, this will be added as an option in the Graphics menu.

Video Memory Reporting as 0MB

• Fixed reported issues of the video card reporting having 0MB of video memory available.  Users unable to adjust Graphics options because of this (Also helps fix stuttering on some video cards).

We are aware of a few outstanding issues including multiplayer cheaters and hackers. Rest assured this will be dealt with in a forthcoming patch.”

Paradox Interactive today announced the release of an extensive patch for Crusader Kings II, which adds new content and improves various components.

“The key new content includes:

CRUSADES

• New Crusade System – The Pope declares the war and other rulers can join the attacking alliance with the ruler contributing the most gaining the targeted kingdom
• Coalition Armies – Armies can now be ‘attached’ to each other after which they will follow the lead army

EVENTS & PLOTS

• Two New Plots – Plot to revoke your vassal’s title, plot to cut a more powerful fellow vassal down to size
• More than 100 new events (Friendship & Rivalries, Regencies and others)

DYNAMIC KINGDOMS

• Six New Kingdoms – Added the kingdoms of Frisia, Lotharingia, Bavaria, Pomerania, Aquitaine and Brittany

GAMEPLAY & FLAVOR

• New diplomatic options – offer to Join War, Matrilineal Betrothal)
• Causes of Death – See what characters have died of to determine whether they were murdered or not
• War Contribution Score – Participants in wars now get a contribution score which determines how much prestige and piety they get when the war ends
• Culture uncoupled from ethnicity

Complete patch notes: https://bit.ly/HR8h3I

In addition to patch 1.05, several DLC:s have also released today. The Crusader Kings II Ruler Designer DLC introduces a range of creative options for players including character creation when starting a new game, portrait customization, Dynasty naming, designing Coats of Arms, assignation of skill points & traits, creating a spouse & children and replacing a historical character with your own.”

Hi-Rez Studios today announced the released of another major update to the Open Beta of Tribes: Ascend.

Updates include:

• Added Sunstar, a new Capture the Flag map.
• Temple Ruins, a Capture the Flag map, has been revised based on community feedback and returns to the Quick Play rotation.
• Additional European servers added.  Region selection includes Europe – London and Europe – Amsterdam.
• Additional Asian servers added.  Region selection includes Asia – Japan, and Asia – Singapore
• Server performance optimizations.
• More polished reticules and HUD icons.  Also, users may now disable unwanted HUD elements using SETTINGS menu.
• User settings now stored server-side.  Setting may be reset with this patch but settings should be preserved upon future patches.

The full list can be found in the patch notes.

For more information and to sign-up for the beta visit: https://www.tribesascend.com.

Paradox Interactive and Deep Silver today released a demo for Defenders of Ardania, the recently released tower defense game by Most Wanted Entertainment.

“Defenders of Ardania presents a deep, immersive game world to play in, featuring three unique races and the themed environments they inhabit. The strategic tower defense gameplay will challenge players to make use of 24 different upgradeable towers to stop the invading foes, along with 24 varied units to send out for counterattacks. With an interactive environment, an arsenal of magic spells, and multiplayer battles included, Defenders of Ardania has more than enough to intrigue the most seasoned defenders of towers everywhere.”

The PC demo can be downloaded via Steam.

A demo for  J.U.L.I.A. has been released, giving players a chance to try out the upcoming space adventure game by CBE Software.

“J.U.L.I.A. is an innovative narrative driven PC game. The story centers on Rachel Manners, a 35 year old astrobiologist. She is a member of an elite group of scientists, chosen to embark on one of the most critical missions ever conceived on Earth. Now Rachel is alone, orbiting an unknown planet. Her only companions are J.U.L.I.A., the space probe’s artificial intelligence and Mobot, a huge reconnaissance robot. Together, this unlikely trio will explore the mysteries of this solar system. But are they prepared for what they will find?”

Download mirrors are listed on the official site.

Paradox Interactive today announced the release of a demo for Victoria II: A House Divided, the recently released expansion in the strategy series. In addition, an “After Action Report” contest has been launched giving players a chance to win one of two Paradox Complete bundles on Steam.

“The demo for the game that focuses on the American Civil War era allows players to:

• Play from 1836 to 1860
• Play as Prussia with the chance to form Germany through warfare or diplomacy
• Play as Japan to westernize your country while fighting back reactionary forces.

The devs have cooked up something for those already playing the game as well. Join the After Action Report contest on the forums. Winners stand to pick up a big chunk of the Paradox catalogue. “

A list of download mirrors can be found on the official site.