The PCPP Interview
Once again I gaze into my crystal ball and bring you my 100% accurate predictions for PC gaming in the year ahead! Satire!
January: The first major update for Star Wars Battlefront II arrives. It includes a time attack mode where players can mow down wave after wave of Porgs™, replete with graphic laser scorching effects and tormented Porg™ screams. Sales exceed all projections.
Bohemia Interactive revises its strategy for releasing weekly patches for ArmA 3 that completely break all mods – they’re now twice-weekly. “It is not enough that modders suffer,” explains Bohemia CEO Marek Španel. “They must also be humiliated.”
February: Noting that prisons in Red China force inmates to play MMOs and mine for gold, Clifford ‘Cliffy B.’ Bleszinski negotiates with North Korea to get political prisoners playing LawBreakers to help populate the servers. Kim Jong Un declines the offer, describing the very idea as “cruel and unusual punishment, and entirely at odds with Juche Philosophy.”
March: Roberts Space Industries begins selling land in Star Citizen, just like in Second Life. Just like in Second Life, the space is rapidly occupied by Bronies and Furries, and used mostly for highly graphic erotic role-play.
Stocks in pharmaceutical companies soar due a misunderstanding resulting from the fact that the alien races in Star Citizen all sound like arthritis medications.
April: Noting how popular they became with gamers after adding Denuvo DRM protection on top of uPlay, Ubisoft moves to add a third layer of DRM: GuillemotPlay.
Ubisoft announces that as of July 1 their PC games will no longer load without a handwritten note from one of the five brothers who founded the company.
Having pushed the loot box economy as far as it can go, ActivisionBlizzard begins using game clients to ‘mine’ for crypto-currencies on a massive scale. They also create their own: Kotick Koin, emblazoned with the wealthy CEO’s unsettling visage.
May: After winding down support on LawBreakers, Cliffy B. instructs his studio Boss Key to make a game about the one thing he’s passionate about these days: using insider info and privileged investment access to make millions by funnelling venture capital into tech start-ups. Cliffy hires Rick & Morty co-creator Justin Roiland to perform the voice of the player’s ingame stockbroker.
June: E3. Following the success of the NES Mini, the SNES Mini, and the Commodore 64 Mini, yet another retro console is announced: the Gizmondo Mini.
Anthony Burch returns to Gearbox to write Borderlands 3. When he reveals that the villain is fan-favourite character Tiny Tina, disgruntled fans pursue him with pitchforks.
August: Flat Earth Games in association with 505 Games releases Objects in Space, a 2D space combat game, to some acclaim.
At GamesCom 2018 Chris Roberts announces a limited-time sale on a new type of Star Citizen ship: the “UK Taxpayer,” a colossal workhorse that can weather any indignity, capable of building entire planets. Prices begin at US$10,000 for the most basic package; the vessel sells out within hours. Subsequent forensic analysis of the promotional .jpg image reveals it to be a heavily photo-shopped edit of the Valley Forge from Silent Running.
September: Jack Dorsey moves to monetise Twitter more effectively by introducing loot crates. Costing $4.99, each crate has a 5% chance of containing a special single-use button that lets you actually edit a tweet. Twitter’s market capitalisation increases by 400% overnight.
A wave of dating sims aimed at cashing in on the success of Dream Daddy belatedly hits the market. One such game, Dream Democrat, is set in a high school populated by thinly-veiled parodies of Democrat primary contenders for the 2020 election, including Joe Biden, Chelsea Clinton, and Mark Zuckerberg. Critics describe Dream Democrat as ‘insulting.’
October: At Citizen Con, Chris Roberts reveals to stunned on-lookers a trailer incorporating visual tropes from the hottest sci-fi movies of the year.
Inspired by the success of such premium protein drinks as Soylent and Muscle Milk, Roberts then proceeds to launch his own brand of mealreplacement shake: Whale Milk. “Before you set sail, milk a whale!”
November: The organisers of Desert Bus For Hope launch a spin-off event where celebrity volunteers raise money for charity by playing through the ‘90s hentai games that the CIA found on Osama Bin Laden’s hard drive.
Citing low player numbers, Gearbox adds bots to its new ‘One Vs. One’ online shooter.
December: Roberts Space Industries hits a new landmark, attaining more shell companies than full-time staff.
Former ABC TV presenter Steven ‘Bajo’ O’Donnell reaches 10,000 subscribers on Twitch, and celebrates by attempting to consume his own body weight in KFC live on stream. He loses half his subscribers in the process.
somewhat disappointing to me how many of them have dropped the grid and instead rely on free 3D movement. We believe that tactical combat works just so much better on a grid where you can position your heroes exactly and easily determine ranges, blocked squares, and area of effects at a glance.”
The level design in Druidstone was originally roguelike in nature, but Juho told us how this concept evolved at they iterated. “As the game started take its shape and the story we wanted to tell was becoming clear, it made the procedural level generation more unfitting, so we’ve toned down the procedurality and pretty much dropped the roguelike side of the game. At the moment we have a system that randomises and joins premade areas. We’ll have to see how much authored and randomised content there’ll be in the end. We’ll keep adjusting the balance according to what makes the game most fun to play.”
Next Juho touched upon the flexible party-based RPG system. “Even though Leonhard the main character may start as a more combat-oriented character, he may learn to cast spells as the game progresses, though he may not be as powerful as a mage, but the possibility will be there. Of course Leonhard will not be travelling alone. He will be accompanied by other party members, who have unique skill sets. Currently we have four playable characters in the game: a druid, a dryad, a mage, and a wolf, each with different personalities and abilities. The druid and wolf are focused on combat, the mage is a more traditional spellcaster and the dryad is a healing/ supporting character, though she packs quite a punch.”
At this point Petri wanted to make clear that the RPG mechanics are still a work in progress. “At the moment we have a system that separates experience points (XP) and ability points (AP). Gaining XP allows you to go up in levels which will increase your health and unlock new abilities. We wanted to limit the effect of grinding, so advancing in levels will not gain you ability points. Instead APs are awarded when you progress in the game, and they can be used to buy new active and passive abilities and spells for your characters depending on their character class.”
Juho and Petri went to great pains to stress how thankful they are for all the support they’ve received from Legend of Grimrock fans over the years. Yet the recent glut of indie titles has not escaped their attention, and Juho admitted this trend is worrying. “It doesn’t help any more that you have a really great game when people can’t find the game. As games are nowadays technically pretty easy to make and publish, the sheer volume of mediocre or downright joke games drowns out the good ones. Honestly, we can’t say at the moment how to battle that problem.”
Petri noted that while making and publishing games is easier than ever, this is part of a natural progression as platforms get older. “As a new platform appears, for example when Steam or iPhone launched, there is an initial gold rush period when new titles fill the void. Because of their gate keepers, consoles seem to be the only platforms which are not overwhelmingly crowded at the moment. I think the big question is, what will be the next new platform? Perhaps AR could be it, but then again it could be a little bit too gimmicky to have mass appeal. As for the secret of survival? I simply don’t know. That’s why I’m making every game as if it’s my last.”
For more details, visit druidstone-game.com.