Yearly Archives: 2018
Bethesda Details Fallout 76 Perk System
Changes and new additions to the perk system in Fallout 76 were detailed at a Bethesda panel at QuakeCon.
The SPECIAL system returns and allows players to assign points across seven main attributes that enhance your character, but this time it also uses a new card system. As you level up, cards are unlocked and each one comes with a point value that is used to increase one of the SPECIAL attributes. Each card features a new ability and can be leveled up. Duplicate cards can be merged to level up a card but this will also increase the point value.
Here's an early look at tons of new screenshots and Perk cards:
Hundreds of cards exist in Fallout 76 and each perk can be shared among your teammates. Every SPECIAL attribute has a limit of 15 points and you'll stop earning points at level 50. Cards, however, will continue to unlock with each character level up and you can swap out existing cards any time to mix up your style.
Fallout 76 Will Have Private Servers and Mod Support
Speaking at QuakeCon 2018, Bethesda Game Studios director Todd Howard confirmed that Fallout 76 will have private servers that allow custom mods.
Howard said “it’s a complicated problem, but one that we are 100% committed to solving." He explained that he knows that modding is an important part of the current Fallout games, and that they want to make sure that experience is still available in Fallout 76.
Howard also acknowledged that this isn't an easy technical challenge in an online game, but that they will work to make sure it happens. How extensive the mod support will be was not explained, and it seems likely you will need to be in one of these private servers to mod at all.
Here’s Why Hulu Is Down $357 Million
Hulu’s losses have doubled in Q2 2018, equaling $357 million, as the video-streaming company continues its push in investing in content and technology to reach and obtain new subscribers.
Variety reports that in Q2 2017, Hulu’s loss was “about $173 million,” and were “primarily due to higher programming and marketing cost.”
As of May 2018, Hulu has around 20 million paying subscribers and about 800,000 of those have paid for their live TV service. This is a jump of about “18% from the end of 2017.”
With the ever continuing mission to increase that 20 million subscriber count, “Hulu’s parents – Disney, Comcast/NBC Universal, 21st Century Fox and Time Warner – have been pumping more money into the venture, with regulatory disclosures indicating they’re collectively putting in $1.5 billion this year."
Prey: Mooncrash’s Randomized Levels Were Almost Part of the Base Game
Prey’s Mooncrash DLC randomizes its rooms and item placements to turn Prey into a roguelike experience, but developer Arkane Studios tells us some of that procedural generation was almost in the base game as well.
Speaking with IGN at QuakeCon 2018, Prey Senior Game Designer Ricardo Bare said that Mooncrash’s randomized room conditions were initially designed to be part of Prey’s campaign. They would have made it so different rooms along your path would have random states, like being on fire or out of oxygen.
Bare said it was ultimately scrapped before release because most players don’t even finish single-player games, so “it didn’t work quite well for a very longform game.”
Find out Where to Preorder World of Warcraft: Battle for Azeroth Here
Rage 2 Will Have Flying Vehicles
Rage 2 won’t just have cars to drive, it will also have flying vehicles, developer Avalanche Studios told IGN at QuakeCon 2018.
In fact, it turns out we already saw an extremely brief glimpse of one of these flying vehicles back in Rage 2’s E3 extended gameplay trailer. Here is that moment looped, barely a second long:
Click the play button in the video above to watch the whole thing.
I asked Rage 2 game director Magnus Nedfors if the vehicle was “properly flying” or more like a hoverbike, and he said it’s likely somewhere in between. “It’s not a jet plane, it’s a little thing that you fly around. But yeah, it’s proper flying,” he explained.
Grant Gustin Reveals Official Look at The Flash Season 5 Suit
Grant Gustin has shared the first look at his new costume for The Flash Season 5.
This official look, via Instagram, comes after a photo of Gustin wearing a prototype of the costume recently leaked online. The cowl seems to have no chin strap now and the outfit now sports a smaller Flash emblem.
The Flash Season 5 costume, via Instagram.
Star Trek 4’s Future in Doubt as Talks With Pine, Hemsworth Fall Through
It appears Chris Pine and Chris Hemsworth may not star in the upcoming Star Trek film after talks with Paramount Pictures and Skydance Media have reportedly fallen through.
According to sources close to The Hollywood Reporter, Pine and Hemsworth were in negotiations to reprise their roles as James and George Kirk, but were unable to come to an agreement on compensation.
Pine and Hemsworth reportedly asked the studios to honor their existing deals, which have been in place for several years, while Paramount wanted the actors to take pay cuts in light of the poor performance of Star Trek Beyond.
Rage 2 Is Primarily Being Developed by Avalanche Studios, Not Id
Speaking to IGN at QuakeCon 2018, developer Avalanche Studios explained that they were the primary developer on Rage 2, the sequel developed in collaboration with id Software.
“We at Avalanche are making the game,” said Avalanche game Director Magnus Nedfors. He told me that id has been working closely with them on the creative level “since day one,” but that “we have written the code, we have made the art and that stuff -- that part of development is made in Stockholm by Avalanche.”
“It’s a close collaboration still with the people at id, learning from them when it comes to the shooting and so on,” Nedfors said. That influence is clear, as the guns and the pace of Rage 2 feel very similar to Doom. “They’ve taught us a lot about the id-style of combat,” he explained, saying id studio director Tim Willits wanted to make sure that Rage 2’s shooting still felt like an id game.
Shadowverse’s Mini-Expansion Is Coming – We Reveal a New Legendary!
Popular anime-infused CCG Shadowverse is doing things a little differently these days. In addition to releasing a new large set of cards every three months, the game also plays host to a smaller injection of new cards in-between to keep the meta changing. That time is almost upon us again, with 17 new cards coming into the game to follow on from the main Brigade of the Sky release at the end of June. Each of the eight classes receives one new gold and one new legendary card, with one new neutral gold card rounding things out.
Cygames has been kind enough to give IGN one of the new mini-expansion cards to reveal – the Bloodcraft legendary Thunder Behemoth. Check it out!