For me, that'd be a multiplayer war sandbox. Take a big map, plop down resources, population centers and factories, spawn a lot of players who then have to organize to fight a war.

• To add espionage, you'd not hard-code a lot about the way teams organize(think removing the guild mechanics from WoW), so one could sign up with one side, then run to a different side (who do not know you already signed up with the first) and do ye olde double agent.
• Research could be modelled as being done by NPC civilians, which produces documents detailing the results. These documents must be on-site whenever the research is being used (i.e. present at factories), so it could be stolen.
• No need to go factorio on the production chains. Their purpose is mostly to enforce cooperation to reach better hardware for the guys in the field.

So, what's your crazy dream game that's never going to be built?

What mechanics are the most fun, innovative or immersive?

I'll start with my list.

Enemies reacting to your gameplay choices in MGS V

I still think that game is a masterpiece when it comes to stealth gameplay and generally reaxtive gameplay but I thought that the system of enemies adapting to your gameplay choices was particularly clever.

The parkour system in Dying Light

I don't think any other game has pulled this off that well. Combined with the stressful night sequences this made that game a sleeper hit for me.

The lack of weapons in Subnautica

This is what turned this into one of my favourites of this year. It really makes you feel vulnerable, especially in the beginning, making for some very atmospheric and creepy gameplay.

USgamer put this series of articles out over the last week. Here's links to the 3 parts:

1. Out of the Wild West: Inside the Evolution of Games Writing
2. Narrative Paramedics: Meet the Writers Called in to Patch Up Games
3. From The Witcher 3 to Queer Dating Sims: How Writers are Expanding the Boundaries of Video Game Storytelling

Which games had really well thought out and engaging leveling system?

Skyrim was a good baseline I believe, not perfect but engaging and not too punishing. Path of Exile seems convoluted to me, to many skills the dont make any real impact. Fable was effective but very simple. Oblivion tried hard for a deep leveling system but was basically broken. Witcher 3 was pretty run of the mill (I thought, despite the praise the game gets).

I'm trying to find something where there are several viable different playstyles. And it's always good when combat isn't the only way to proceed.

SSS is finally over and those sweet (although not as sweet as they used to be) deals are gone. What games have you gotten your hands on?

I didn't get too many games this time around. I actually found a bunch of games in my library that I didn't know I had, so I felt like I had enough to play for a while.

Games I bought:

• Stick Fight
• For the King
• Cuphead

Alex Bruce gave a pair of talks at GDC 2014 on the development process of Antichamber (trailer)

In the first talk he talked about the journey from Unreal mod to full game, presenting at game festivals, networking, the grueling work of getting the game to market, and the lessons he learned along the way:

Antichamber: An Overnight Success, Seven Years In The Making

In the second talk he went over the iterative design process, and how he tweaked things based on how people interacted with the game (spoilers):

Antichamber: Three Years of Hardcore Iteration

These have been fairly popular and I really like hearing from the community, so here's this week's thread.

I've been playing Golf Story for the Switch (got it on recent sale). I've found it relaxing and amusing, a good combo for evening wind-down. I'm not sure if I mastered the mechanics yet, putting is surprisingly hard when you can't see the slope in 3D. Story is fun, and the variety in courses is refreshing, highly recommended.

Just purchased Football Manager 2018. I'm not actually a football fan or anything, I just really like the RPG-like nature of assembling a good team and seeing my amateur tactics play out on the field. Games can be surprisingly tense and exciting. I wish I had a deeper understanding of the game, but it's fun enough regardless.

Hey ~ers, I'd like to keep a weekly discussion going on this topic (every Wednesday or so?). Let me know if this isn't something you want to see in the future, I always liked these, but maybe not everyone does? Last one got a lot of interesting posts, let's see how it goes this time!

I've been playing Grim Dawn quite a bit lately. I've kickstarted it back in the day, but never got around to really playing it after the early access period. I was burned out on Diablo clones at the time: Torchlight 2, Victor Vran, Van Helsing, etc. I think the break did me good, as playing it fresh is quite enjoyable. There's a good variety of classes and builds, fun abilities, and tons of gear number crunching (playing thunder smashing shaman now). Just the way I like it! I'm hoping to snag one of the DLCs once I reach a high enough level and play with my friends on one of the unlocked hardcore difficulties.

I got my hands on a copy of Rise of the Tomb Raider recently, and while playing I noticed that Lara would "helpfully" try to push me toward the correct solution to a puzzle, often while I was simply looking around to make sure I wasn't leaving any loot behind. Worse still, it could be literally every 10-20 seconds or so that she would repeat the same hint. It got infuriating after a while, and I was horrified (okay, I'm exaggerating, but whatever) to find that there wasn't a setting available to get her to shut the hell up.

I loved Tomb Raider games because you had to solve the puzzles yourself. Having the game hold your hand the entire way kind of defeats the point of that. It was really disappointing knowing that I couldn't play the game without either having a puzzle spoiled for me or having the obvious repeatedly pointed out to me. It was like having Navi from Ocarina of Time nagging me all over again, but worse, because at least I could ignore Navi and just deal with the occasional "Hey, listen!".

This sort of hand-holding seems to be getting increasingly more common, at least in my experience. The form often differs--e.g. in Skyrim you have quest markers that not only guide you all the way to a dungeon, but all the way through it--but it's there. I feel like the worst of it is that gamers don't get to actually play the game autonomously or at their own pace, and that this sort of thing violates a basic principle of "show, don't tell".

Am I just really unfortunate with the games I've been playing lately, or is this really as common as it seems? What examples of hand-holding have you run into that you found disappointing?

After watching NakeyJakey (YouTube hot boii) do a series on games he thinks should bang (two games that should combine their best elements to create an entirely new game). I was wondering what two games do you think should bang.

My two are Dark Souls and World of Warcraft

I'd kill for a game with the scale, community, and lore of World of Warcraft combined with the combat and difficulty of Dark Souls. - but not something like Monster Hunter

Imagine Dark Souls type combat with full raiding parties filled with clerics, casters, rangers, tanks, barbarians, etc... fighting against a legion of the undead. Or doing dungeons, etc...

That's just my dream

What two games do you think should bang?

(I really liked the weekly /r/games stickies, would be nice to have similar discussions here)

Prey (2017) - Spiritual successor to System Shock 2. An FPS-Survival Horror game with RPG elements. As a huge fan of the original system shock series, this was quite a treat. I've kept reading that this was the underrated game of that year, and after playing it for a dozen hours, I agree. Bioshock games didn't quite scratch that itch for me: exploration felt very 2-D and linear, environments didn't feel like the spaces they represented (living quarters, public squares, etc.), sometimes too much exposition, and it eschewed the detailed interface for a simpler menu. It's a blast to explore all the hidden nooks and crannies in Prey, sometimes getting more story bits, or just extra ammo; it's tense and and rewarding. Story so far is compelling and the twist at the start was 10/10. Here's hoping the rest of the game holds up.

Anything from the newly introduced games at E3 to older games that you're rediscovering.

I personally have come back to Kerbal Space Program after several years of it sitting in my Steam library. I used to try to go too quickly through the career mode, but now that I've slowed down I have the chance to actually learn how orbits and transfers work! It's so satisfying to design something with just enough fuel to get there and back again, and achieve MAXIMUM EFFICIENCY.

Trailers

• Battlefield 5 Official Multiplayer Trailer

• FIFA 19 Official Reveal Trailer with UEFA Champions League

• Origin Access Premier: Official Reveal Trailer

• Unravel Two Official Reveal trailer

• Sea of Solitude: Official Teaser Trailer

• NBA LIVE 19 Official Reveal Trailer

• Madden NFL 19 - Official Reveal Trailer

• Command and Conquer: Rivals - Official Reveal Trailer

• Anthem Official Cinematic Trailer

• 4 Minutes of Anthem Open World Co-Op Exploration Gameplay - E3 2018

Thoughts?

So, it seems bingo cards of hype or disappointment have become all the rage nowadays, and with E3 coming up in a few days I was wondering is Tildes wanted to make their own hype/disappointment bingo card. Feel free to chime in with suggestions.

Here's a few:

"Microsoft does something actually cool." - wishful thinking, but I love my xbox and just want to see it flourish.

"Video Game movie announcement that doesn't look like shit" - how hard can this be?

"Sony gets exclusive content" - this is just me being bitter about the exclusive dlc in PS4 Destiny.

"God of War sequel" - I know it's guaranteed to happen at some point, but it would be hype if they dropped some sort of teaser or something even though it's incredibly early.

"0 charisma presenters" - why can't these studios just hire someone to hype them up?

"Awful fucking 'gamer' dialogue" - you know what I'm talking about. Just look up E3 last year with Anthem.

"Over-focusing on a lack of microtransactions" - this point is gonna be over sold so hard because of Battlefront.

What video games that are coming out soon do you have your eye on?

There's a co-op game for the Switch coming out next year called Rite of Ilk that I think would be fun. I don't have a Switch yet but I'll probably be getting one in a couple months.

Also, still waiting patiently for Miegakure like it was Godot.

My friends and I just finished our first run through EDF 4.1, and we had a blast. We each accumulated about 60 hours in the game doing so. Some of that was probably spent goofing around on other classes or strengthening up a bit for the three or four missions we got stuck on. All in all though, I'm amazed that it took us that long to get through.

Actually, I'd say that's my response to this game in general. For something I had never really heard of, it was surprisingly good. The game was ridiculous at the start with the giant bugs but as it went it somehow just got crazier and crazier. The scale of the game was just fantastic in terms of enemy variety and size. The hilarity of the B movie writing paired with the outrageous gameplay made it an uproar between the four of us.

The progression system was decent and probably the weakest point. The sheer amount of equipment was a big plus, since it's always exciting to see something new at the end of a mission and find out if it's any good or not, but it was pretty easy to identify an optimal strategy for each mission. There were some classes of weapons (for ranger at least) that were outright useless in a practical sense, which is disappointing. The variety in weapon design is great, but it's unfortunate that it couldn't be more balanced.

Are there any other games that really scratch this itch? I can think of a lot of four-player co-op games that don't really fill that void. EDF is too fast-paced, has too many good "wtf moments", and has too enjoyable a progression system. For those of y'all on ~ who have played it: what other games did you enjoy that were sort of alike to EDF 4.1?

Can one or two of these combined make up deficiency of another? If a game plays really well and has an immersive story, but looks like shit, can you still play it? How about if it plays well and looks good, but the story is a jumbled mess? What if it looks nice and has a nice story, but plays like shit?

What makes a game a deal breaker to you, and which of these aspects can be a savior to an otherwise deal breaker?