#Assassin's Creed Unity investigation

[damez1979]

Uncovering the Assassin's Secret | Assassin's Creed Unity - Meeting with Mirabeau

[doubleddenden]

More ZA talk, this time just talking about how a single city can work for a game.

I've seen a lot of poketubers talk about how they "have to" expand outside of Lumiose because it's so small, but- as the rare Pokemon player that's actually played a game BESIDES Pokemon (apparently we're a rare species)- I can assure you it is indeed possible to make an entire city work for a single game- Saints Row 3 and 4, GTAV, Infamous 1 and 2, Spider-Man PS4, *Detective Pikachu???* did we forgor that already? All of those take place in a city, and in some cases are bigger than Kanto, Galar, Hisui, and Paldea individually.

The entire game can take place in Lumiose- just probably not the SAME Lumiose from XY on the 3ds. Look at Hisui- that's old Sinnoh, but there's a lot of liberties taken in regards to certain area placements that wouldn't make sense (Obsidian Fieldlands is a good example, having Mesprit's lake to the northwest of what we assume to be future locations for Floaroma Town, as is the coast lands if we look at Giratina's location).

So, again, having played other games where you're basically in a big city, and having myself lived in a real city with more ground to cover than some entire Pokemon games, it can work, you just have to open your mind to the possibilities.

Yes, even in old Paris circa 1850s and especially modern Paris.

In fact, even though the game was shit for being a buggy and unfinished mess (not to mention a French ripoff of 2, imo), Assassin's Creed Unity takes place in Paris during the French Revolution- only a few decades older than the proposed 1850s setting- and AC games tend to be pretty thorough when it comes to historical accuracy of cities in their games (in fact, when the Cathedral of Notre Dame burned down, they gave data of the church to help in repairs since they mapped it out so well for their game). Bar some obvious inaccuracies, i point that out to give you some idea of the scope of an area size we could explore. It's a huge map with lots of ground to cover.

The main thing to understand is that it may be a different game than most expect. The first trailer for ZA talks about rebuilding Lumiose for city planning purposes- not quite the rugged, untamed wilderness (well, kinda tamed by the Diamond, Pearl, and Celestica clans, but mostly untouched) of Hisui.

So what kind of game could it be? That, I'm unsure of, but I'm sure there's plenty to work with in terms of exploration in a Pokemon game, just not the way you expect.

Here's what I'm picturing: streets, alleys, rivers, old buildings (inside, the roof, the walls, etc), factories, barns, the sky, sewer adjacent tunnels, ponds, rail road tracks and rail road tunnels, catacombs (and or an underground samctuary type place), and perhaps a reinvisioning of the 5 plazas for specific biomes.

Let's look at the map shown in the trailer

Idk about yall, but that's not the same Lumiose from the 3ds, and 3ds Lumiose is still the biggest city we've ever had. Take a look at all of those alleys and buildings and streets- assume this isn't like SV and we can actually go INSIDE places, and suddenly this place looks about 12 times bigger than imagined.

Now this is most likely a modern map of Lumiose, but you can still get an idea of the size of the area we have to work with. It's a big place- maybe we're not going to have a huge varied world to explore like usual, but imagine having missions and story that takes place in particular areas here. That's how many games work with singular cities- go to John Street to meet with Bert and do his bidding, go to the docks to meet with Hans to talk about shipments, go talk to Frank at his house on 123 Street, investigate the factories near city hall- it's not a usual Pokemon game, but it can work in that style of missions and progressions because many games DO work in that style.

Does that make sense? Open some minds here?

They're not gonna sell you a game you're gonna beat in 30 minutes or 2 hours- it's gotta tide you over til the next game, and Nintendo would absolutely rip John Game Freak's testicles out of their collective bodies through their goddamn kneecaps with TONGS if they had to refund games completed that quickly or because they made the audience that mad (i mean, theyve shown they can get away with selling unfinished games, but you know, at least they weren't short-). If it were really that small, they'd just tack it onto SV as DLC. They're not gonna try and make a city the size of Mezagoza City from Paldea into a game, make sense?

You'll probably have a hub or home base and explore the city, and portions of story take place in particular areas of the map- probably doled out to you by handlers, re go to 123 street to talk to Frank as mentioned above. Handlers being important to give an open sandbox and open progression system. Yes, you may be sort of all over the place, maybe coming back to areas you've been, being sent from one side of town to another- that can actually be fun if you have proper transport or modes of travel- something like Spider-Man or cars in some games, but in our case probably Pokemon (maybe a Kalosian Ariados evolution with web slinging lol). Remember, we're not here for badges, we're here for a specific purpose.

So what I'm picturing is that you get started and are told to go places for plot purposes with a minimap to guide you. You can find something like a Pidgey on a lamp post and throw a ball at it to catch it or start a fight with it in the street. Catch it, get on a Gogoat to run through the streets, go past an alleyway- whoa there's a shiny Gengar in there, go there and fight it and catch it- okay back to the objective.

In this sense, I think the trailer is actually a decent example of how Pokemon placement could work, not to mention city layout with multiple layers of urban exploration.

It's an "ambitious" game, like how Arceus was, so just go in with the expectation that it'll be very different compared to what we're used to. We likely won't hear anything about it for a while- I'll say August at the earliest for Worlds, then another drought. Maybe by then we can have a few eggs for this omelet.

[sebpfmpp2]

Research - Initial investigation; Games

Thief: The Dark Project (1998)

In "Thief: The Dark Project," players take on the role of Garrett, a master thief in a steampunk-inspired world. The game focuses on stealth and infiltration as Garrett navigates through a city filled with corrupt factions, supernatural elements, and political intrigue.

The game explores the consequences of greed, corruption, and the pursuit of power. Garrett's choices and actions have repercussions in the storyline, mirroring the theme of King Midas and the consequences of unchecked desire.

"Thief: The Dark Project" excels in exploring the consequences of greed and the pursuit of power. The narrative intricately weaves Garrett's choices into the storyline, offering players a thought-provoking experience. The stealth mechanics and atmospheric storytelling contribute significantly to the theme, making it a classic in portraying the moral ambiguity associated with unchecked desires.

Assassin's Creed: Unity (2014)

Set during the French Revolution, "Assassin's Creed: Unity" follows Arno Dorian, an assassin seeking redemption in a turbulent period of history. The game explores the power struggles between the aristocracy and the common people.

The game delves into themes of corruption, inequality, and the consequences of unchecked power. Arno's journey mirrors the repercussions of King Midas' desires, as he navigates a society torn apart by greed and political turmoil.

"Assassin's Creed: Unity" effectively integrates the theme of King Midas through its exploration of corruption and unchecked power during the French Revolution. Arno Dorian's journey reflects the consequences of desire and the impact of societal upheaval. The game successfully uses historical context to amplify the theme, making players question the morality of their actions within a complex narrative.

Dishonored (2012)

In "Dishonored," players assume the role of Corvo Attano, a bodyguard framed for murder in a steampunk-inspired world. Empowered with supernatural abilities, Corvo seeks revenge against those who betrayed him.

The game explores themes of betrayal, revenge, and the consequences of wielding unchecked power. Corvo's choices affect the narrative and reflect the theme of the moral implications of one's actions, akin to King Midas' desires.

"Dishonored" masterfully integrates themes of betrayal, revenge, and the consequences of unchecked power. Corvo's choices directly influence the narrative and echo the repercussions associated with King Midas' desires. The game's emphasis on player agency and the moral implications of their actions adds depth to the theme, contributing to a compelling and immersive experience.

Sly Cooper Series (2002-2013)

The Sly Cooper series follows the adventures of Sly, a raccoon master thief, and his gang as they execute heists and foil the plans of rival criminals. The games blend platforming, stealth, and humor.

The series explores the moral implications of theft and the consequences of pursuing a life of crime. Sly's character development and interactions with his friends highlight themes of loyalty, trust, and the impact of personal choices.

The Sly Cooper series stands out for its exploration of the moral implications of theft within a lighthearted, animated world. Sly's character development and interactions with his gang convey themes of loyalty and trust. While the approach is more family-friendly, the series effectively addresses the consequences of a life of crime, providing a unique perspective on the theme.

Thief Simulator (2018)

"Thief Simulator" is a simulation game where players take on the role of a petty thief, planning and executing various heists. The game emphasizes the realistic aspects of burglary, from gathering intel to avoiding detection.

The game directly explores the consequences of a life of crime, allowing players to experience the moral dilemmas associated with theft. It prompts reflection on the implications of unethical choices and the pursuit of material wealth.

"Thief Simulator" directly engages with the theme by allowing players to experience the moral dilemmas associated with theft. The game prompts reflection on the consequences of unethical choices and the pursuit of material wealth. While lacking some depth in gameplay aspects, its focus on the theme makes it an intriguing exploration of the repercussions tied to the desire for ill-gotten gains.

Each game effectively contributes to the exploration of the theme, offering unique perspectives on the consequences of unchecked desires, whether through stealth mechanics, historical context, player agency, or a lighthearted approach.

[piratekenway]

for day twenty-three: balance.

“It was a lot harder than it really had to be, finding a balance,” she says. “There were, and are, elements within the Assassins who had…very strenuous objections to my initiation.” Like Bellec, who’d quit when she’d gotten her very own hidden blade. As though it didn’t matter that Élise hadn’t even been properly inducted into the Templars, before she met an Assassin who pulled her off that path. “But…I suppose a part of it is just—remembering that we’re not so different, really. The Templars and the Assassins, at their best, just want the same thing: peace and unity, justice, a better world than the one we’re living in. We just disagree on how to get there.” “You sound like your father,” says Arno, and Élise looks down at her hands, her heart wrenching in her chest. Two years since his murder, and she is still no closer to finding out who did it. What few leads she was able to pick up have led to dead Templars and dead ends—much like Arno’s own investigation, she supposes. “He wanted the same thing, you know. A lasting peace between the Assassins and the Templars.” “And you?” Élise asks him. “What do you want out of all this? Why come here?” Arno takes a sip of his coffee, and says, “I want to find out who killed M. de la Serre, and I want to make up for—for the fact that I let him die.”

[iamvoid0]

Silent Hill Returns, The Sims 5 Announced, Razer targets Switch, new Mortal Kombat Game, Microsoft prepares to take on Google & Apple!

A whole week as Microsoft has indicated that they will be taking on Google Play Store and Apple's App store. The Sims 5 gets a new set of screenshots, Mortal Kombat goes Mobile, Razer has Nintendo in its sights, and Konami has a vast array of Silent Hill Projects!

🕹️ The Console War Rages On

Splinter Cell remake loses its director - The first mainline Splinter Cell game in a decade has lost its director. David Grivel, who worked for Ubisoft for eleven years, stated, "it was time for him to go on a new adventure". He has previously worked on Splinter Cell Blacklist, Assassin's Creed Unity, and Far Cry 4, 5 and 6. (Source)

PC accessory and computer manufacturer Razer has announced a new handheld gaming system - The announcement came in the form of a YouTube trailer. The system is based on an Android Tablet with a joy-con-like peripheral attached to the sides. It is powered by a Snapdragon G3x Gen 1 with a 144hz AMOLED display. The system is currently in pre-order mode. You will be required to "reserve" a unit. (Source)

The Sims next-generation game has been announced - The Sims "Project Rene" has been revealed. This new iteration of Sims will be cross-platform, which is easy to communicate, share and play across devices, with the game said to offer the same experience across different devices. It was noted that the game is still in very early development. (Source)

DualSense Edge wireless controller has been announced - Sony's answer to Microsoft's Xbox Elite controller. Pre-orders will launch 25th of October, 2022. The package will have multiple hardware and software customizations, with different keycaps, high dome, low dome, half dome caps, and a carrying case. The unit will retail for recommended retail price (RRP) of $199.99 USD/¥29,980 (including tax)/€239.99/£209.99. (Source)

Mortal Kombat Onslaught has been announced - Mortal Kombat Onslaught is a collection-based role-playing game launching in 2023 for the mobile platform. The game is being developed by NetherRealm Studios and will feature a "cinematic story experience". The game sees you collecting fighters and putting together a team in real-time group battles. The game is set for a 2023 release window. (Source)

Digimon World: Next Order for Japanese Switch release in 2023 - The game is set for release on the 22nd of February, 2023. This game is a port of the original game launched for the PS Vita on the 17th of March, 2017. The game will feature a new "beginner" and "run" mode for players. (Source)

Microsoft is working on the Xbox Store - During the CMA's investigation of the 68.7 billion USD acquisition of Activision-Blizzard by Microsoft, documentation has indicated that Microsoft is working on an Xbox Store for their Xbox Mobile Platform. The acquisition intends to use Activision-Blizzard properties to force users to use the Xbox Store rather than the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store. (Source)

Final Fantasy XVI has dropped a new trailer showcasing more of the FFXVI world - The trailer shows off more characters, eikons, and in-game battles. The game is still set for a Summer 2023 release. (Source)

✨ Going to Events Spiritually

Xbox Game Pass gets Persona 5 Royal, Gunfire Reborn, Phantom Abyss, and More.

Konami had their Silent Hill Showcase this week. It features remakes, new games, and a movie.

They announced a remake of Silent Hill 2. The remake will retell the second game's story with some team members from the original studio. The remake is set for the PS5 and is being developed by Bloober Team.

Silent Hill: Townfall is a new spinoff by No Code Studios and publisher Annapurna Interactive. It is said this will be a unique take on the franchise.

Silent Hill f is a new spinoff set in 1960s Japan. The game will be a narrative-driven experience written by the acclaimed Japanese writer, Ryukishi07. Best known for their visual novels like Higurashi.

Silent Hill: Ascension is an interactive project where participants worldwide will control the characters in a new Silent Hill Story. Silent Hill: Ascension is a collaboration between Genvid Entertainment, Bad Robot Games, Behaviour Interactive, and dj2 Entertainment.

Return to Silent Hill, the third movie in the film franchise, will see the return of Christophe Gans, the first movie's director. Konami has promised more information about the project at a later date.

🎮 Where's My Controller?

I picked up Megaman 11 last week since it was on sale, and this has to be one of the best modern Megaman games out there. I am pretty much nearing the end. But this has my renewed interest in more games. Honestly, the mechanics were so simply fluid and smooth. It just felt so fun to jump 'n shoot.

📝I don't know what a pen looks like.

I finally uploaded the video version of my Blue Reflection piece. The video is 16 minutes long, but if you haven't gotten time to read my Blue Reflection piece, check out the video review on YouTube.

I am having a bit of trouble finishing my other articles, but I'll see what I can get done over the next couple of weeks.

💖 Enjoy this newsletter?

Forward to a friend and let them know where they can subscribe (hint: it's here).

[autisticassassinbird]

More assassin's creed daemon au stuff.

Unity: The main things that change are relationships and the villain.

- Arno and Elise aren't dating or in love. They're step siblings. That's creepy. They never see each other as more than siblings or friends.

- Bellec is an assassin who, while strict, seemingly gives Arno good advice on targets who have to do with De la Serre's death. His daemon, Eugénie, a black tailed deer, tells him not to interact with Elise.

- Mirabeau helps Arno by giving him targets.

- Anne-Marie (Arno's daemon), a coral snake, is suspicious about Eugénie, claiming that the deer daemon seems to wander off without Bellec.

- After helping out revolutionaries, Arno and Elise find Mirabeau dead and inform the council. Bellec frames Arno, getting him kicked out.

- Meanwhile, Elise and her daemon, Paul, have been investigating Germain. She sees him meeting up with a man with a black tailed deer daemon. They mention "the Instruments" and "the Mother of Wisdom".

- Paul and Anne-Marie follow the deer daemon and Germain's daemon, a lioness, to a Vault underneath Paris, connected to the Catacombs. They find writings by Germain and Bellec and steal them.

- Arno and Elise pour over the letters and gather evidence to convict Bellec.

- In a confrontion in the Vault, Arno and Elise discover that Mirabeau and Francois de la Serre were killed by Bellec and Germain because they uncovered the Instruments of the First Will. The Assassins and Templars supported the revolution because they both realized they could use the opportunity to drive the Instruments out of hiding.

- Arno kills Bellec, stabbing him in the chest as Anne-Marie envenomates Eugénie with a bite to the leg. Bellec reveals that Germain brought him into the Instruments after the deaths of the colonial brotherhood by Shay Cormac. Bellec mentions he was tasked with looking for a Shroud of Eden, though his efforts proved fruitless.

- Elise kills Germain, grabbing the Sword of Eden from him and shocking him. After the dust clears, Paul tears open the lioness daemon's throat. Germain reveals he's the leader of the Instruments and a sage, lamenting that he couldn't do more to help his "Beloved".

- Arno and Elise vow to root out corruption in both orders and form a truce.

Origins: Nothing really changes here except for minor things.

- Bayek and Aya recgonize Flavius by his daemon being an aardwolf.

- Khemu's daemon is named Kais.

- Aya and Bayek both work together to take down Flavius. Ahmose (Aya's daemon) and Senu (Bayek's daemon) take down Flavius's daemon.

Valhalla: This has the most changes.

- Basim tells Hytham and Eivor about the sage of Loki thing around the time of Suthsexe, after his daemon urges him to do so.

- Hytham's daemon convinces him to participate in the field again and he joins the Oxenefordscire, Cent, and Suthsexe arcs.

- Eivor eventually tells Basim about how uncomfortable she is with how Sigurd is acting after Jorvik and asks him for help. Synin, her daemon, also tries to tell Basim's daemon, Isra, about the Asgard and Jotenheim visions. Basim starts to suspect that Eivor is Tyr...because he still thinks Sigurd is Havi. (Mainly because Sigurd acts nothing like Tyr, even after Fulke's torture)

- Hytham and Eivor eventually travel to Stonehenge and find an inscription by "Morrigan", which Basim and Isra react to. Isra is uncomfortable and fearful, Basim is intrigued.

- Isra starts talking less and less to Basim and more to Eivor and Hytham.

- Synin and Randvi's daemon, Hedda, try to talk to Sigurd's daemon, Gunda, who is frequently arguing with Sigurd and acting like she wants to avoid him.

- Sigurd and Gunda eventually fight when Sigurd wants to go to Yggdrasil. Gunda refuses to go.

- Basim also decides to go. Hytham and Eivor follow them to Norway.

- The first thing Eivor and Hytham notice in the simulation is the lack of daemons. They, understandably freak out, but Sigurd and Svala are completely fine.

- Loki confirms that Eivor is Havi, which he is mildly surprised by, remarking that they are nothing alike. He is reluctant to kill her though because she's a friend, but decides that his revenge is more important. Isra pleads with him not to, but he ignores her.

- Loki tries to kill Sigurd and Eivor, fighting Eivor and Hytham while Isra reluctantly fights Duha (Hytham's daemon) and Synin. He stabs Hytham and Eivor pushes him into the path of a Yggdrasil arm. Sigurd turns off the machine.

- All of them are upset and betrayed by what is seemingly a betrayal by a good friend and mentor.

- Basim awakens in the modern day thanks to Layla and Kassandra and their daemons, Nico (Kass's daemon) and Ali (Layla's daemon). Basim is rejuvenated by the staff.

- Basim promises Aletheia and Zoë (Alethia's daemon) to look for their kids, who in this are turned into sages.

- Layla's team in Odyssey, Origins, and Valhalla consists of Deanna Grey, Charlotte de la Cruz, Galina Voronina, Javier Mondragon, Owen Meyers, and Elijah Miles. Deanna is kidnapped by Sigma team. Javier kills Victoria because she is a Templar mole who led Sigma team to them.

- Elijah, Galina, and Charlotte were the ones who roped Deanna and Layla in, not William Miles. Javier and Owen saved Deanna from Otso Berg.

- Basim begins to suspect that either, Charlotte, Galina, Javier, or Elijah are the sages of Hel/Morrigan, Fenrir, and Jormungandr because their daemons are sort of similar to his children's daemons.

[athelari]

Playing Assassin's Creed Syndicate as a Fallen London veteran

(Why yes, this is indeed the opposite of my usual "playing X as an AC vet" posts, simply because I've played FL for years but only managed to purchase Syndicate recently. Ware spoilers.)

(Okay. Okay, time to remember the place names. It's different on the Surface. Keep your head straight, Ari.)

Halloa, Mr Huffam! Fancy running into you here!

Inspector Frederick Abberline!! Oh, I remember him, we had a good turn chasing Jack… wait, that wasn't in FL. I worked with Abberline as Sherlock Holmes. Gah. Unless he also happens to be the Knuckle-Scarred Inspector?

What, only one fast travel point in all of Spite?? Whatever happened to the multiple viewpoints like in Unity?

(Oh, dear me, I've already got my wires crossed. Spitalfields. Not Spite.)

*spends five minutes staring at the game map, trying to find every FL landmark, street, and region I can spot*

What, no Ladybones?? I mean, Marylebone? I can't go to Baker Street in this game? Aww.

We can, however, go to Southwark. Hm. I'd try finding the Cathedral, only I'm a bit worried the Bishop'll give me a solid thrashing if he catches me loitering…

In order to establish a hold on London, we must first raise Renown with the Constables and Urchins. Think Clara would like a Lucky Weasel?

Jacob's first priority, on the other hand, is to start a gang called the Rooks. Gang of Hoodlums? Gang of Hoodlums.

(Evie Frye, a Watchful and Shadowy Lady + Jacob Frye, a Dangerous and Persuasive Gentleman. I wonder what sobriquets they would've had in the Neath…)

We have our own train! So quickly, too! Say, does this line go to Hell?

Ooh, prize-fighting for rostygold! Or, well, normal pounds and shillings will do.

This is a very pretty church. Is—is this St Fiacre's?? Oh, my. Now I can see where my main and my alt got married. It's such a breathtaking place.

(Speaking of which, said alt has the Kenway surname and I honestly forgot I got it from the AC games until we had to visit the Kenway Mansion. Handsome Townhouse?)

Oh, this murder investigation is taking me to the University! But... no, not the University; a university. Such a small building! And here I was hoping for a stroll in the rotunda...

The Panopticon, ladies and gentlemen! Pity I had to go as Jacob; if I could go as Evie I'd make her wear purple.

And now I've advanced to Buckingham Palace. I say, should we be very quiet here? Different palace, yes, but still.

Jacob has a particularly Exceptional Hat: whenever he wants to put on his hood, he removes his hat and vanishes it into thin air. Are the Fingerkings involved, one wonders? Does he carry a mirror and stuff the hat through to Parabola?

Ooh, the Empress is offering me cake! Somehow I expected a letter. Ma’am, they’re going to get married! Do write them a letter when the happy occasion arrives.

And that’s the end of the main game. It seems to be a happy ending, but I have been advised to beware happy endings above all.

The only thing left? The Jack the Ripper DLC. (”A Jack!” Is it a Jack? She's gone, regardless—)

[ text  • 1  • 2 ]

[mediaeval-muse]

Video Game Review: Assassin’s Creed Unity (Ubisoft, 2014)

Genres: action-adventure, third person, open world

Premise: Blaming himself for the death of his adoptive father, Frenchman Arno Dorian joins the Assassins during the French Revolution in order to seek redemption. Learning that his adoptive father was a Templar Grandmaster looking to promote peace between the Templars and Assassins, and that his birth father was an Assassin (killed by Shay in Rogue), Arno must investigate the Grandmaster’s death and contend with a changing Templar Order, while also sorting out his romantic feelings for Elise, the Grandmaster’s daughter. In the present, the Assassins contact the unnamed Absergo employee and recruit them to their cause, using Arno’s memories to find the body of a sage, which may contain traces of First Civilization DNA.

Platform Played On: PC (Windows)

Rating: 3/5 stars

***Full review under the cut.***

I am evaluating this game based on four key aspects: story, characters, gameplay, and visuals. I will also be evaluating the Dead Kings DLC. 

Content Warnings: violence, blood, body horror

Story: Assassin’s Creed Unity primarily follows Arno Dorian, an Assassin operating during the French Revolution in 18th century Paris. Following the death of his biological father, Arno is adopted by Templar Grand Master de Laserre, who keeps Arno in the dark about the Templar-Assassin conflict. Thirteen years later, de Laserre is murdered following Arno’s failure to deliver a message in time. Arno joins the Assassins to seek redemption and learns that de Laserre was trying to make peace between the Assassins and Templars, but many did not share his vision. Arno must therefore track down de Laserre’s murderer with the help of his Assassin mentor, Pierre, and Elise, de Laserre’s daughter with whom Arno is in love.

There were several elements to the main story I liked: the idea of star-crossed lovers dropped in the middle of a murder mystery during the French Revolution was intriguing, and I liked that the crux of the conflict was a reigniting of the centuries-old Assassin-Templar conflict. However, none of the “crumbs” of the mystery felt particularly engaging; Arno would track down figures which were introduced then eliminated, and even the bigger characters (Robespierre, Germain, etc) didn’t have enough charisma to carry the plot forward. Given the premise, I would have liked to see more emphasis placed on Arno’s emotional journey, since his guilt and romantic turmoil seemed to be more fruitful areas to explore than the larger mystery. I would have liked to see more flashbacks to his memories with his adopted father (like Edward’s flashbacks in Black Flag) to make the mystery feel more personal, and I would have also liked to see more tension between Arno’s Assassin loyalties and Elise’s Templar leanings. The closest we got, in my opinion, to some satisfying interiority were some ghostly figures whenever Arno visited Versailles (good, but infrequent) and a really nice trippy sequence when Arno first joins the Assassins.

I also think this plot felt different from the previous Assassin’s Creed games because there wasn’t a lot of focus on the First Civilization. Arno encounters a Sage - a figure we were introduced to in Black Flag - but there isn’t a lot of focus on First Civilization artifacts or power. It’s not an unwelcome change, but it was different.

The French Revolution was a wonderful choice for a historical backdrop, though I wish Ubisoft had done more (narratively) to make Arno feel entangled with the world. As the game stands, the French Revolution feels more like a set piece - the background is there, and Arno interacts with some historical figures, but the plot itself doesn’t necessarily need to be set during the French Revolution. I would have liked to see the setting be integrated into the main plot more, perhaps by having the Assassins and Templars be more involved with historical events.

The present-day plot which usually serves as the frame in Assassins Creed games is almost non-existent, which made it feel like a distraction rather than an integral part of the story. Most of the modern stuff was just voice-over, with an anonymous Assassin guiding the faceless and voiceless “Initiate” to comb through Arno’s memories in search of a Sage. Periodically, the voice would alert the Initiate that Abstergo was onto them, and the player would have to take Arno through a series of rifts which featured anachronistic obstacles. Personally, I found these parts more annoying than anything, and they didn’t really come together to form a plot of their own, like in previous installments.

The Dead Kings plot was pretty basic. Arno was tasked with finding a manuscript in exchange for passage out of the city. Along the way, he discovers that Napoleon Bonaparte’s subordinate is trying to find an artifact of the First Civilization, which is hidden in a temple under the church. There wasn’t a lot to set this plot apart - it did the job, and I enjoyed myself, but it wasn’t particularly memorable.

Overall, I think Unity’s plot is mainly hurt by its open world setting. The world is so expansive and full of stuff that it detracts from the main narrative; because players can pick up or put down the mystery of de Laserre’s death, it’s easy to forget about it, making it feel less consequential (or, at least, not very urgent).

Characters: Arno Dorian, the PC character, is a charming protagonist with a lot of likeable qualities. He isn’t really a fan of how the Parisian Assassins are more like a cult than a brotherhood, and he’s witty and sassy while also holding onto admirable ideals. I wish Ubisoft had given him a better plot, though I did like that they didn’t overwhelm him with grief and guilt to the point where he was broody. He mostly had a light outlook on life without downplaying the seriousness of the conflicts around him, which made him a fun character to control.

Elise, Arno’s love interest, had a lot of potential. She was independent and highly competent, and I liked that Ubisoft didn’t make her into someone in need of saving. I wish she and Arno got to work more together and that they had had more scenes where they talked about their pasts, but I guess that would have been too sappy for the target audience. Without spoiling anything, I do have mixed feelings about how her story ended. On the one hand, I think it demonstrated a real character flaw that Elise struggled with throughout the game (I like characters to have actual flaws); on the other hand, she didn’t deserve that.

Other characters were a mixed bag. Pierre, Arno’s mentor, was pretty gruff and grumpy, and I didn’t get the sense that the two were particularly close. I wish more was done to cultivate that relationship, especially given Pierre’s arc. Other Assassins were too uptight to be interesting, and the bad guys weren’t charismatic enough to be intriguing. I did like the Marquis de Sade, but that’s because he’s Extra in fun ways. Leon, a child thief in Dead Kings, was also fun, mainly because he played off Arno well.

Gameplay: Unity differs a bit from its predecessors. While the core doesn’t change - players still need to use a combination of stealth and combat to navigate an open world and achieve goals - Unity introduces skill trees and upgradable weapons/equipment. To improve Arno’s abilities, weapons, and gear, players must collect money, earn “Creed points” (awarded for doing impressive things like ledge assassinations or perfect parries), and gain “sync points” (awarded for completing missions). In addition to collecting money from chests, Arno can upgrade his base at the Cafe Theatre to gain a steady income, though there aren’t any widespread economic mechanics, such as the forts/strongholds in Assassin’s Creed 2 or Black Flag/Rogue.

Unity also infamously introduces “helix credits,” a type of currency that players can acquire by paying real, out-of-game money for. Helix credits unlock abilities and upgrades faster (or else just access exclusive content from the online store). I hate this concept just based on principle, so I spent a lot of time exploring the map and unlocking every chest until I built up enough money to purchase legendary equipment.

Weapons themselves were easy to pick up and use, with familiar things such as the hidden blade, one-handed swords, two-handed weapons, pistols, berserk darts, smoke bombs, poison gas bombs, and the like. New weapons included the phantom blade (a silent projectile), the guillotine gun (a gun/blade hybrid gained in Dead Kings), and the introduction of long-arms (such as halberds). I found most of these weapons easy to use, though I did have to get used to the fact that the hidden blade is not selectable as a primary weapon - Arno uses it automatically when doing a stealth kill, but draws his sword or other weapon whenever the player engages in combat.

In terms of movement and stealth, I liked that Arno’s animations were more inspired by real parkour, but I did find it harder to move precisely in this game for whatever reason. I often got stuck on a ledge or wasn’t able to change direction very fast, all of which caused me to fail missions or get killed fairly quickly. I also didn’t like that Ubisoft removed the ability to whistle and draw enemies to a hiding spot; while there were haystacks and structures to hide behind or in, enemies wouldn’t walk by them very often, making them difficult to use for ambushes or stealth kills.

Side quests/activities included a range of things, from “Paris Stories” (quirky missions where Arno had to go kill someone or steal something), to Murder Mysteries (in which Arno had to search for clues and arrest the correct culprit to achieve unique weapons and armor), to “Nostradamus Enigmas” (riddles which led to different landmarks and rewarded Arno with keys to the legendary armor beneath his base). I personally found these fun, even if a lot of them weren’t memorable. They did their job and provided some entertaining little narratives, so I can’t complain too much.

Unity also introduces a lot of coop multiplayer missions, which can be completed with other players or on your own. Players can form or join “social clubs,” which are mainly just teams of gamers, or search the internet and complete missions with strangers. While I liked that the coop missions were able to be completed alone (they were harder, but not impossible) and I was able to play some missions with a friend, I did not like that most of them required players to replay them 3 times in order to get all collectibles and rewards. For a completist, the coop missions will be repetitive, and at times frustrating if there’s a locked door you can’t access without upgrading your skills.

In terms of collectibles, Unity primarily has money chests, cockades (which unlock color schemes for Arno’s outfits), newspapers, artifacts, and nomad points (which can be used in the companion app). Other than the money, I didn’t find the collectibles very rewarding - I didn’t have the companion app, and I didn’t much care for new color schemes or armor/equipment.

Dead Kings introduces tricorns as collectibles while also inserting a few “Franciade Stories,” Murder Mysteries, and “Suger Enigmas,” all of which resemble their counterparts in the base game. The enigmas in Dead Kings were a bit harder than those in the base game because the answers weren’t necessarily in or around landmarks; players have to really pay attention to the map instead of relying on the database for historical clues. I also found it annoying that players could get accidentally stuck in Dead Kings; if you start the DLC unintentionally, you can’t return to the base game until after you complete the first mission. It really sucks if you’re underpowered or just want to experience the narratives in order.

Visuals: Unity is a visually stunning game, with a lot of beautifully-rendered environments, character designs, and the like. The streets of Paris feel like they are inundated with chaos, with crowds of shouting people moving past walls papered with posters and defaced by graffiti, while the interiors are detailed according to the social class of the inhabitants. Arno can wander into a poor person’s home, empty save for the basics, or a rich person’s, decorated with gold and elegant paneling. I very much enjoyed exploring the world and seeing landmarks such as Notre Dame overlooking a rich, vibrant world.

I also really liked Arno’s outfits, all of which captured an 18th century aesthetic. Arno can wear a number of coats, hoods, pants, belts, and bracers, all of which feature a blue, white, and red color scheme by default. I liked that the color scheme wasn’t based around white, as in previous games, as it made Arno feel more part of his world.

In terms of animation, Unity is really buggy, even years after release. Characters would float in the air or get stuck in odd places, but even so, I didn’t find it difficult to complete the game. I did really like that Arno’s combat animations were inspired by fencing, and his kills were fluid and elegant, almost like a dance.

Final Verdict: Although Assassin’s Creed Unity attempts to bring a new kind of gameplay to the franchise and includes some charming protagonists, the difficult controls, lack of engaging plot, and introduction of microtransactions make it merely an average installment in the series.

[jurakan]

Assassin’s Creed: Unity Review

Did I ever post my Unity review? No? Well here’s my Unity review.

The game is bad.

I think that Assassin’s Creed: Unity is quite frankly the most infuriating game I’ve played in years.

When I’d gotten a PS4 I decided I was going to get one of the AC games that was on PS4 that wasn’t Odyssey (because I already had obtained it and loved it). And I got Unity because I’d heard the free-running was better, and that when played well it was quite good. And while traversing Paris is fun, this game also sometimes plays as garbage and I’m kind of baffled about some of the decisions they’ve made designing it.

You see, this is my experience in playing just about every Assassin’s Creed game: try to be sneaky around the guards, but when that inevitably fails I kill them all. I was starting down this path in Unity when the game stopped me.

“Hang on a sec, you can’t do that,” the game said. “Why not?” I asked. “Because we’ve designed the combat to be utter garbage!” the game joyously exclaimed, laughing maniacally. And it wasn’t lying. The combat is utter garbage and I got killed pretty quickly. The parry is too clumsy for the careful timing it sometimes requires, you’re practically defenseless against guns, and counter kills have been removed. I get the point, of course: the game wants you to try more stealthy approaches, and so if you get detected you’ve got to retreat and rework your approach. But it was just completely at odds with how I played these games. I felt as if the previous games went out of their way to make you feel like a badass warrior and then Unity goes out of its way to make you feel as weak as possible. And for a game that makes you want to avoid combat like the plague, it keeps putting you in it. “But stealth!” the game and its fans reply. Which doesn’t work for me, because the Batman: Arkham games had amazing stealth sections that rely on not getting caught, but the combat isn’t utter crap. If there’s a part of the game you’re hoping people will avoid, maybe you should realize that it’s because that part of the game is terrible and need reworking, not that you’re clever for designing it so. “I actually really liked the combat,” says Unity fanboy #463 on Reddit. Alright, but you do know you are admitting to enjoying something deliberately designed to be unpleasant? It’s a bit like telling everyone you enjoy the smell in gas station restrooms. It isn’t something you should really brag about. Unity fanboy #149 scoffs haughtily. “Well I want my games to be challenging, unlike a casual gamer,” he says. Good for you. But that defense doesn’t work with this game because I’m not just being challenged by the game’s combat difficulty, which is aggravating by design, I’m being challenged by the fact that the game doesn’t work. What makes the stealth and combat so aggravating is how glitchy the game is. At one point in a story-scripted fight Arno wouldn’t attack, block, dodge or shoot, and the only actions he could perform were walking around and dropping smoke bombs. Sometimes Arno refuses to shoot when prompted, as if the targeted enemy was just too cool to die. Sometimes enemies aren’t hurt by being shot. Once Arno refused to start sneaking. I accidentally got into conflicts because I shot guards in the back of the head and instead of dying they turned around and saw me. Every so often, a civilian will walk in front of the barrel of your gun because he or she is suicidal I guess. I bumped into a guard on the other side of a wall. Guards spawned from nowhere to fight me and then when I hid they went back across the street on the other side of a wall. A guard with his back turned saw me on top of a rooftop. Sometimes when you’re detected you have to fight the one guy who saw you, and sometimes you have to fight all of his buddies who also apparently know where you are as they run from all over the block. And on some occasions the guards on the first floor won’t notice if you fire a gun on the second. At some points smoke bombs work to make your enemies lose track of you; at others they won’t. Frequently I’d aim to air assassinate a guard only for the game to switch which guard I was targeting as I’m pressing the button. In short, even if the stealth and combat were fun, the fact is that when you begin either you never know what exactly you’re signing up for because it doesn’t work. And not in a good way, like the game surprising you with extra fun; it’s exactly the wrong sort of way, where you think your mission is to defend an army officer against royalists and because you make too much noise fighting the royalists then the army soldiers decide to kill you too. [Also, you’re encouraged to use smoke bombs a lot. Which doesn’t really sound that stealthy, if you think about it, because a giant cloud of smoking spontaneously erupting around a group of guards is the exact opposite of stealthy.] I’m sure some fanboy will try to assure me it’s my fault that the game doesn’t play well, and that it’s actually pretty well designed. To that, I answer: Cherry Bombs. See, the game gives you this stealth tool called the ‘Cherry Bomb’ which is essentially a firecracker that acts as a noisemaker--you throw it somewhere, it’ll make sparks and noise, and the guards will be distracted and go investigate. This replaces the ‘whistle’ function the past two games had to draw guards over to where you are. What the game doesn’t tell you is that the Cherry Bomb has to be within a guard’s line of sight. Which means if you’re hiding  in a hallway and are trying to lure a guard from an adjacent room into the hallway, then the Cherry Bomb won’t work unless the guard can turn around and see it from his position. Otherwise, they may turn around in the direction of the noise, but won’t move towards it. It doesn’t matter if it’s right behind them, or right around the corner; if they can’t see the Cherry Bomb, it won’t work. Essentially, one of the key stealth tools you start out with is a noisemaker that only works if enemies can see it. A noisemaker that works by line of sight! No one can tell me that a competently-designed game would include that! What makes stealth and combat even more difficult is that the game has what it calls “Crowd Events,” which are things that happen in the streets of Paris that you can interfere with, like someone getting robbed, or mugged, or bullied, or whatever. But in crowded areas this happens every minute or so, and even if you don’t interfere in the Crowd Event then the surrounding guards might take notice of someone in the street getting run through, and then a fight will break out and your stealth will be ruined because if you go anywhere near it the guards will detect you and the game will act like it’s your fault for not being sneaky enough. During one stealth mission three or four Crowd Events occurred within seconds of each other, with two spawning at once. They’re optional yes, but call me a moron because I always try to help when someone’s getting gutted on the pavement, which often leads to me being gutted on the pavement. There are times when the game doesn’t tell you what to do in specific situations and then acts like you should have known it all along. In Assassin’s Creed III it gives you specific instructions on what to do in combat when someone points a gun at you. Unity gives you no such help. I didn’t learn until I looked up combat tips for the game that you’re supposed to hit the dodge button at just the right second. Sometimes the game doesn’t give you enough time to realize that someone is shooting at you. If Arno is not in combat mode and someone’s aiming at you, you’re just out of luck, as the dodge button isn’t an option there. There’s an eye that appears next to the minimap, I think to tell you that you’re in a guard’s line of sight, but the game never tells me, so that’s just a guess on my part. The boss fight with Bellec has him disappear with a smoke bomb, and then he will try to jump on you and stab you, which the game doesn’t give any hint as to what you’re supposed to do about and it sucks because if he hits you then you die in one hit. There are skills and abilities that you have to unlock that you really shouldn’t. Double assassination is an ability that takes much too long to unlock; wisely the following game made this unlockable in the tutorial section. Guns have to be unlocked with skill points, which is downright weird; no other game in the series gives that limit, except as being a point of story progression. That you have to spend skill points to use one of the game’s basic weapons is downright offensive. The most infuriating thing is the admittedly rare occasion when the game punishes you for being smart. When you go to assassinate Marie Levesque, for instance, it took me a couple of tries, but I managed to sneak into the palace and take out key guards, noting the escape routes as I went. Only when I actually performed the assassination, all the open windows had been closed and all the guards I took out had respawned. Essentially, I had carefully planned an escape route and the game slammed that door in my face, saying, “Nope! For all our talk of doing it your own way, you have to get out of this situation the way we say you do, okay?” What kind of game punishes you for doing your homework? What is that supposed to teach me?

Customization is cool, in theory, but it’s also a major hassle. Because I just wanted to look cool, but instead I’m constantly juggling a bunch of statistics on how to be stealthy but also carry enough ammunition and supplies. It’s not helpful that if you want to be stealthy, the way the game wants you to play, the outfit most suited to that is the stupidest-looking one of the bunch. I didn’t experience any of the horrifying glitches of people missing faces, the way a lot of people did at the game’s launch. However, NPC bystanders would often walk through cutscenes, including duels and chase scenes, leisurely waltzing right through running characters or in front of enemies as they’re getting shot. There were a couple of scenes where the camera is at an extremely odd angle of someone’s face, with the corner of someone else’s character model in the way. Traversal is far better than previous games; at least, in theory. Most of the time it works, but when it doesn’t, it does so in the most rage-inducing way possible. Often Arno will climb up when you tell him to climb down. It’s not uncommon for Arno to refuse to climb up for no reason at all. If you’re running and you happen to dash past something that would realistically bump him in the shoulder, Arno will start climbing up it and refuse to get down, hopping from table to barrel to chair, including chairs that there are already people sitting in. More than once I was perched on a ledge and then Arno would just fall, arms flailing as he descended into a horde of angry enemies. When sneaking sometimes he just refused to take cover where I tell him to, and will instead just sort of rock back and forth on his heels like a moron or stick to a surface further away from him than the one I told him to take cover behind. “Just wait ‘til you see what we did with Eagle Vision!” the game says, clapping like a madman. I am very tired at this point. “How did you screw up Eagle Vision, that one button that makes it easier to see enemies and detect important elements around you?” I ask. “It’s on a short timer!” Unity is cackling now as it practically explodes with malicious glee. “And it has a cooldown period!” Yes, that staple of the series, Eagle Vision, is now only meant to last a few seconds. Certain types of gear will enable it to last longer and give it more range (WHY WOULD CHANGING YOUR CLOTHES ENHANCE YOUR SIXTH SENSE?!?), but it’s still on a timer, so in order to know where everyone is, you have to keep switching it on. You can see enemies through walls though, which is new and actually good. Optional objectives are back, and aren’t quite as bad as they were in previous games; they don’t have ridiculous conditions in order to get full credit, usually just things like “Do two double assassinations” or “Stun three enemies.” They’re still not great, because again, any idea of freedom is limited in that you won’t get 100% on a mission unless you do it a certain way. The worse is always “Don’t get detected” because this is always followed by throwing you into large spaces filled with half a dozen guards and no cover. You’re better off ignoring them. Hey, did I mention that the game never shuts up? Notifications float up in your face on the right side of the screen, and there is no way to dismiss them; you must wait for them to go away. Black Flag had this too, but those were always small enough that they didn’t get in the way of gameplay, and you could check the past few messages in the pause menu. In this game they’re constantly popping up to tell you tips, location, and useless information, along with a quick sound that pings every time to make sure you stay pissed off. They’ll often pop up on top of each other, so if you’re working on one of the Murder Mysteries and you look at a clue, a notification will pop up on top of the clue information to tell you information you already know and you just have to wait for it to fade away. And when you break a lock in the lockpicking minigame, the popup will helpfully tell you that if you don’t want to break locks, press the button at the correct time. Or, in short, if you don’t want to mess up, then don’t mess up. Thanks, Unity. Speaking of lockpicking, who’s bright idea was it to make it so that of the treasure chests littered across the map, two-thirds of them are locked? I get that in theory it means that there are collectables that you can’t unlock until you’ve progressed, but what it means is that not only do you have to wait to a certain part of the game where you can buy that skill, you have to do an annoying little minigame every time you just want some treasure. It turns the task of collecting into even more of a chore. There are also collectables called “artifacts” which are coats of arms on the walls in random places. They’re not so bad, except in the Helix Rift sections, in which whether or not they show up in their place depends on the alignment of the stars or something. It makes it difficult to even care about trying to collect them all if the game sometimes refuses to let you do so. “So you hated this game?” you, the reader, asks me. That’s the thing though--I wanted very much to like it! There were parts I liked very much, in fact. When the game worked (and I must emphasize it wasn’t often), it was incredibly cool to feel like a stealth Assassin, taking out enemies and disappearing without a trace. This was utilized well in the missions that the game called Black Box missions. Basically, the developers realized that the assassination missions of the past games were too scripted, so they put in situations where you’re given a target and a location and you’re given much more freedom on how to take them out. The Murder Mysteries were, for the most part, excellent and allowed you to use your deduction skillz to put together the clues you’d been given and point out which person was the murderer. They were stressful, but not in a ‘wow-this-sux’ kind of way, more like the rewarding sort of way when you got it right. I liked them a lot. But they were frustrating when popups kept getting in the way of the clues. The Nostradamus Riddles were similarly excellent! They involved solving riddles by finding glyphs all over Paris, given clues that refer to the history of the places. The only criticism I had was that it would have been better if the in-game database had a search engine, sort of like the one in Carmen Sandiego: Treasure of Knowledge to make it easier to find what you’re looking for instead of scrolling through dozens of location entries. But yes, I think I hated it, at least a lot of the time I was playing it. I never thought I’d say that about an Assassin’s Creed game, but I cannot in good conscience tell someone that I liked this game or recommend it to anyone. It was not fun to play. The more time I spent with the game the less I liked it. Often enough I’d have fun, but that would soon be dashed by something stupid like being spotted by a guard through a building or Arno falling off a ledge. This should have been one of the greatest games in the series, and instead it’s undeniably the worst. Do not play this game, do not spend money on this game; every other game in the series is a more rewarding experience than Assassin’s Creed: Unity. Maybe some morbid curiosity is driving you to picking it up, but I urge you: do not listen! I had this whole section planned to talk about the story too! I had a thesis that Assassin’s Creed: Unity is trying to tell the story of France! I was going to talk about character models and history and all! But it doesn’t matter because nothing I say will change the simple fact that this game is not fun to play. Not even in a ‘If you like a challenge’ sort of way. This game is a broken mess that doesn’t work as intended. No. Don’t play it.

[avenger09]

Assassins Creed Origins Rewritten

Didn’t really like the game, maybe because AC seems more focused on the settings for the last few game and making the story more mainstream by dumping down the conflict to “Good Vs Evil” instead of the morally complex fight between ideologies that the first ones set the bar for. (I think Rogue Black Flag and Unity where the last ones do that kind of take) So I rewrite it a bit, it’s rough but I hope somebody likes it. 

Aya is the protagonist. When the Abstego agent Layla and her team investigates the Egyptian Assassins she does so already knowing Aya is Amunet , and is looking for information on circumstances on why she changed her name and how she went form loyal agent of Cleopatra to her killer, using an experimental portable Animus.

As she peers back in time she sees Aya had a husband Bayek a member of the Pharaohs protectors the Mejet, and a Son Khemut. The family is content in the village of Siwa despite the despite over the Throne between Cleopatra and her brother. While Aya is a supporter of the Queen her husband wants only to keep their village safe. The next day a masked priest arrives seeking aid with opening a hidden temple, he approaches Bayek saying that only his bloodline is able to open it. He refuses despite being told it could help stabilize Egypt leading to a falling out between the couple, days later they begin to make up but discover their son has disappeared. Tracking him to the hidden temple they see him alongside the masked one with a strange artifact in his hands they rush to stop him but it's too late. Khemut places the object in the door the power surges through him and kills the boy because his DNA is not as potent as his fathers . The grieving couple begin beating the Priest demanding to know who they work for and why they did this. He reveals little as he knows little, apart from his masters hide their identities with masks and code-names and that they wish Egypt to be stable no matter the cost. They knew there was a chance the boy could die in the attempt if the Bayek disagreed. Killing him, the duo bury their son and set out to avenge him. They kill many on their quest even those unaware of whom they served, eventually getting wrapped up in politics of Egypt when Pompey is killed and Caesar arrives. The couple find themselves identifying with Caesar's and Cleopatra's belief that the ends justify the means for a better Rome and Egypt. However as their list of enemies grows they begin and are told of figure known only as "The Father of Understanding"  the consequences of their killings and lack of care who would replace them begin to pile up. It becomes clear that the Order they hunt are not evil, just ruthless, like themselves they share the same belief as they do, that no matter who has to suffer or die so long as the end goal is noble their justified. Worse many the people they've killed have been replaced by less enlightened men and the people suffer under their rule. The ultimate breaking point comes when they spy on a meeting of the Order and see the "Father of Understanding" himself arrive to the shock of the Order unaware he was in Egypt. That's when Aya realizes the Order is much bigger then they realized, but should they kill this "Father" then they at least should cripple them However when their blades strike him, he just gets back up and comments that he as not seen Hidden Blades since Darius. "Madness!" Bayek cries out. "Darius lived centuries ago." To which the "Father" calmly retorts "As did I. Who do you think taught him the design?" Throwing back his assailants he founder reveals his name: Cain. Last of the original Humans and Founder of the Order of Ancients. He goes on to admonish them for rampage across Egypt telling them of the good work those they killed did, how they prevented bandits and corruption from harming the citizens. Citizen's now at the mercy of these evils because of them. For the life of one child they have destroyed hundreds more. Beaten back they are shaken by this and coming to question their moral certainty the two begin to argue eventually realizing that their actions have been selfish, that soon they too might kill children to pursue their end goal. Back in the present Layla is in trouble, knowledge of Cain is something the Templars do not want just anyone to know not even an employee. She barely survives an ambush from Abstergo but looses the rest of her team. Determined the screw them over she contacts the Assassins and offers them her tech and what she learned. In the Animus, the couple realize how Cleopatra and Caesar have already fallen down the rabbit hole they narrowly avoided, and are now being influenced by the Order. Despite their efforts to let go of their quest, they agree that the Order still needs to be stopped. Changing their mission from revenge to protection, they take greater care ally with those who will not abuse their authority and work to undue the damage they've caused. Aya beings a correspondence with Brutus warning him of Caesar's corruption. When they face Cain again is not as vengeful parents but noble protectors. Something that actually impresses the Immortal, but during their talk, Cain, begins to act strangely talking of, how he feels someone is watching them, someone not yet born. Before finally looking at the camera and directly addressing Layla.  "There you are."

[damez1979]

Assassin's Creed Unity Walkthrough - The Silversmith | Arno Investigates François-Thomas Germain

[rugeon]

Learning to butterfly the videogame chicken breast

New year new potential projects. For final year project 2018-2019. Might as well start with the new ‘ideation document.

Ideation Document

Contexts:

Systemic gameplay - systemic narrative, and otherwise

Gamefeel/ Player Satisfaction/ Juicing

Strong unusual sense of place and people

Unique methods of interactive media storytelling (NITW Text boxes)

Coziness in games

Non traditional methods of mechanical interaction ie. traditional control methods, with more unique player expression

Having an Interesting failure spectrum (Tom Francis thoughts on why MGSV is a fun stealth game, due to its wide array of failure states)

Analogue/varied means of  expression within one mechanic or activity (jumping in mario, building a snowman in NITW prologue game, Lost Constellation)

Ethos of messy fast prototyping iterartion and production (inspired by Jenny Jiao Hsia talk about prototyping)

Affecting audio  

Techniques 

Interaction Design

Branching Narratives + Dialogue

Games AI

Procedural Generation

Advanced Audio and Visual Processing

Inspiring Works 

Heat Signature - Suspicious Developments, Tom Francis

Roguelike, top down action/ stealth/ heist game where you play as different intergalactic heist/bounty hunter people that breaks into spaceships. Extremely systemic game that encourages players to find interesting solutions to problems by providing a wide variety of interesting sci-fi tools to the player. Systemic gameplay+ systemic player narratives as told through gameplay plans  being made and then changing/going awry as well as conditions constraining players to be creative.

Hotline Miami - Dennaton Games, Jonatan Söderström. Dennis Wedin

Surreal, hyperviolent top down action game about the trancelike sprees that a masked killer enacts, that strongly highlights the violent obsession of videogames and culture. Has several factors that contribute to a sense of good gamefeel, and making what should be a frustrating experience instead induce a flow state.

Sid Meier's Covert Action - MPS Labs, MicroProse

Interesting systemic narrative that the player experiencing by foiling and interacting with various agents and stages of a spy plot. Systemic narrative that is expressed by the gameplay systems. Feeling of the ai acting irrespective to the player. Narrative experience of player feels quite systemic.

Night in the Woods (NITW) - Infinite Fall, Scott Benson, Alec Holowka, Bethany Hockenberry + Finji Adam Saltsman, Rebekah Saltsman, Em Halberstadt

Anthropomorphic animal narrative, platforming, adventrue game that tells the story of a 20 year old that comes back to her home town and and friends after leaving college. Tells an emotive story unconventional by games standards in a very playful way that has some traditional gameplay elements (platforming) but also makes interactive more unusual verbs (a pizza eating section, and pretzel stealing microgame). Creates an extremely strong, cozy sense of place. Expressive within the limits of its digital medium+storytelling (wide variety of personality conveyed through text box animation).

Minit - Vlambeer, Jan Willem Nijman, Kitty Calis, Jukio Kallio, Dominik Johann

Small, short adventure game where you die and every minute and respawn at the same space, learning about the world, optimising your route and changing the world slightly with each successive run. Very polished game with superb gamefeel (all vlambeer games have great gamefeel+juice)

Kentucky Route Zero - Cardboard Computer- Jake Elliott, Tamas Kemenczy, Ben Babbitt

The great american novel in game form. A magical realist story about debt to the past. Extremely important and affective narrative game. ‘The Entertainment’ - Interlude, elucidates relationship and interplay between player and developers that creates the game experience. Creates a powerful atmosphere + utilises branching narrative

I also wrote down a bunch of other stuff I’ve been thinking about in a big jumbled list for help during ideation process. This is just junk floating around, mood board of my head.

Yakuza, Moby Dick, Dark Souls/Absolver, Atom Zombie Smasher+Brendon Chung, Papers Please+Return of Obra Dinn, FTL+Into The Breach, Hylics, High Hell, devolver, Hyper Light Drifter, Flinthook, Jalopy, Jet-Set Radio, Mark of the Ninja, MGS V, Luftrausers, Shadow of Mordor, The Norwood Suite, Small radios, big televisions, The Endless Express, Alan Wake+remedy games, Assassins Creed 1, Banner Saga, F.E.A.R. ,  Helldivers, invisible inc. , Monaco, Westerado,  spectacle fighters dmc, thomas was alone, reigns, evil dead, sorcerer, valhalla rising, a field in england, hard to be a god, stalker, man with a movie camera, bomb city, taking of pelham 123, assault on precinct 13,  escape from new york, fruitvale station, playtime, drive, thief, collateral, taxi driver, lost in translation, tekkonkinkreet, ki-ki delivery service+ghibli, REDLINE, cagliostro, 2049, che, motorcycle diaries, man with movie camera, koyaanisqatsi,VVitch,Sacco e Vanzeti, nocturnal animal, die hard, ghost in the shell, atlanta, twin peaks, fear and loathing,only god forgives,donnie darko, mad max, satoshi kon films, eyes wide shut, dog day afternoon, seventh seal, whiplash, brazil, t2 trainspotting, hellboy comic, fargo, rocky horror, gozu, juno, clerks, slacker, daria, almost famous, lady bird, frances ha, fury, wes anderson colour+ framing, NOIR + lighting, there will be blood, no country for old men, unforgiven, dollars trilogy, run lola run, phone booth, die hard, dr strangelove, apocalypse now/heart of darkness, the wire, adult swim+space ghost stuff, home movies+squigglevision, hannibal, bojack, flcl, true detective, desert punk, QOTSA, them crooked vultures, grunge, idles, talking heads, wu, green kingdom, lizard gizzard, acoustic wizard, tobacco, diiv, mbv, spooky+ over the garden wall, bowie, clash

Initial Ideas

A game where you play as a witch exploring a modern magical realist city at night. Should have an interesting traversal mechanic. All about traversal, dancing and screaming in a city at night, strong sense of place + atmosphere: inspired by films such as playtime, thief, drive, collateral, fruitvale station, lost in translation as well as games like NITW. Thought about more in this doc: one pager section on 2nd page: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O3NC8HqwmERq57Dcqqc2d2Ih34ZVO4-vEQPnVTKRyOk/edit?usp=sharing

Some kind of game themed around the desert/stoner rock music genre which includes acts like Red Fang, Kyuss and Sleep. Make use of AAVP to have a dynamic soundtrack responding to gameplay that impacts the visuals. The game’s mechanics should be directly inspired by the theming, and common features of the genre, could be action oriented, with rhythm game influences. One game that would probably be worth looking at in relation to this is the recently released Tetris Effect, while I would not be as interested in a game as abstracted as tetris, how they achieve a flow state, and have music and visuals informed by gameplay would be worth looking in to. I feel this game is more likely to involve rapid prototyping.

Create a languid game about chilling out on a ship with crew and passengers. Setting could be sci-fi or more historic - chatting on computer to far flung galactic friends and doing menial space jobs/ tasks aboard ship. The setting and experience of the place can draw from ideas about coziness in games + make use of Branching Narrative/Dialogue. Potentially also think about how procedural narrative could be a factor. Inspired by Moby Dick, NITW and Purgatory

Hotline Miami/Goap/Diehard - ‘Create a systemic top-down stealth action game where the player is asked to foil a developing plot/heist by a group of AI agents whose plan and activities respond to the players attempts to derail it. The focus should be on the player feeling like they are responding to the AI’s adaptations to the player interrupting their plot. Each level would be one plot/ situation the player is thrust into. The project is inspired by the evolving plots of covert action, the setting/circumstances of Die-Hard and the gameplay/perspective of hotline miami. This project will involve development of a complex AI system that could be implemented via a GOAP method.

Walkie talky/radio gameplay mechanic to solicit/disseminate information

Research into the effectiveness of procedural vs authored content in games, as large games increasingly find themselves trying to use procedural generation to meet the demands of growing content demand they are finding it difficult to reconcile this with a desire to create quality, curated content, narrative or otherwise. I propose research into the various ways procedural vs authored content has been divvied up in games, the amount of people working in each area, how much curated work is required for procedural work to be effective and the reception/perception of these two methods to create content for games. The means by which this could be investigated is perhaps by creating some data sets of very simple different possible mechanical games in Unity or more narrative ones in twine, that are sorted into different groups of procedural / authored games. We would then measure the level of player engagement over the course of their time with the games and within the context of how long it took to make the given games. Context + techniques: procedural generation + branching narratives

[zydrateacademy]

Review - Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey

Some of my readers may recall that I found Origins to be lackluster, or at least my review gave off that impression. I believe one of my quotes was, “An extra year of work and this is all they could come up with?” I’m going to be honest, while I did have a good couple dozen hours on Origins I feel that kind of opinion was premature. I actually found Origins to be quite fun, and I would go on to play and beat it up to three times, including a full playthrough on my YouTube channel. Origins was fine and the combat was fun. Odyssey comes to us with a lot of the same ‘feel’. The combat is largely the same but with some tweaks, and I’ll get onto that shortly. I do have some vague gripes but I’ll attempt to salvage what little I know of the game’s story to start people off with.

Also, there will be spoilers in this review. We return to Layla Hassan, the vaguely ‘rogue’ Abstergo employee that found Bayek and Aya in the previous game. Apparently there was a bit of a timeskip or there’s even more lore I’ve lost out on not reading the comics, because there’s some implication that she went full on rogue and is in hiding from Abstergo, now. I’m not even really sure what her motivations are anymore other than a more classic artifact hunt, from the precursor race that has haunted the series. She finds the spear of Leonidas which has the DNA of two siblings, which she can use to hunt through their memories due to an upgraded Animus, as opposed to digging through one’s own ancestors. I still find it a bit odd. In the first couple of AC games, it was implied that the precursor race and their technology was a mostly recent find and the two secret societies were practically scrambling just to get their hands on one. Here in Odyssey, we’re practically tripping over them. The main antagonists have one that is some kind of mind-reader. The spear of Leonidas turns out to be one. There’s a series of mini quests where you find a half-dozen “Apples of Eden”. Remember that? From The first three games? The entire plot centered around one, and now we get several!  So we’re put in the bodies of one of two protagonists, Kassandra or Alexios. Most sources I spoke to have chosen Kassandra, and there’s some consensus that her voice acting is stronger. I admit my choice is a bit more personal. I, like many people, are starved for proper female protagonists. Evie in Syndicate was plenty of fun but the game still forced Jacob gameplay on you from time to time. Playing as Aya in Origins was mostly a gimmick, only in naval combat (a precursor to Odyssey’s current style) and during some of the finale segments. She wasn’t customizeable, couldn’t change her gear or anything so again, mostly a gimmick. Yikes, this is a lot of negative for what is really a good game! Maybe I’m getting it out of the way? I did say there are several improvements, so let’s get down to the mechanics of the game. There’s a lot of them, now.

The combat is a lot more fluid and reminds me of the days in Unity where you actually had to think about how you fought. In Origins, I basically dodged everything and used the heavy attacks exclusively. That’s been tweaked here, as I feel Kassandra’s dodge is a bit shorter range and the full on dodge puts her much further away from the enemy that is desirable so you must decide what kind of dodge to use and when, but mostly it forces you to learn how to actually parry. Parrying has been in pretty much every AC game but this time it actually opens enemies up for combo attacks, wherein you can mix and match light and heavy attacks, and there’s eventually a perk to pick up to give you bonus damage if you do exactly that.

You have three kinds of damage trees you can actively focus on this time around. Between Hunter, Warrior, and Assassin, which are all self explanatory. Rather than keeping them all even, you can actually choose to focus on one style over another. I am personally trying to keep my Assassin and Warrior lines fairly even. Stealth is, as in Origins, incredibly powerful but you won’t be able to one-shot enemies anymore if you are under geared or have been neglecting your spear (which is your blade in the absence of the hidden one). Open combat is however, extremely common so I can’t imagine going full Assassin and being able to get much done. Maybe by better gamers than I.  Moving on, the world is... extremely large. I’m not sure how much larger than previous games they’ve claimed but it’s probably true. Adding to that fact is Fast Travel is only linked to Synchronization points rather than any and every city or major outpost. With a further lack of those, you’re forced to run or mount your way through the world and I’m here to tell you... you’re going to actually want to. Most of the world’s various points are in fact, relevant to something. Ancient ruins have tablets as loot that you’ll need to upgrade your ship. Alpha animal dens typically have high amounts of leather, mines have metals. Many points even have clues against cultists (which I’ll get into later), legendary gear or just fighting will lower the power level of the region which unlocks Conquests, a fun full-battle gimmick which again, I’ll describe shortly. Basically, there’s almost always a reason to actually explore a majority of question marks on your map as you’ll walk away with something that’s worth your time. Browsing my map just now, I can see I’ve skipped a few but I imagine something will take me to them in the future.

This game has a couple of new features that mixes things up. We’re in the Peloponnesian War, which reflects as an actual game mechanic. Every region is controlled by either Athens or Sparta. Your character is a mercenary and can choose to fight for either side at any time without any consequence, and you’ll be forced to after a certain point. I picked up a contract (which are constantly spawning quests, so there’ll never be anything to not do) that required me to kill three Athenian region leaders. Unfortunately, I had been favoring Sparta up to that point and all the regions within my level at the time were all controlled by Sparta. I had to kill and weaken my own favored people in order to shift the control so I could do it all over again against a different faction for epic gear and rewards. Doing all of this unlocks conquests, where are full on battles where you fight hordes of your chosen enemy faction while dealing with captains, bosses, and mercenaries that like to pop up during them. It’s probably the more fun of the new mechanics but I can already see it as just ‘going through the motions’ at a certain point, but they’re worth doing due to the amount of experience they offer.

Speaking of Mercenaries, the game has a bounty and “Wanted” system, reminiscent of earlier games. In games like AC2, your wanted meter affected how quickly Ezio got caught by patrolling guards. In Odyssey, you get hunted by enemy mercenaries which you can choose to kill or knock out and recruit them to your ship’s crew. There’s even an entire tier system as your character earns their way up a “tier” listing and eventually become the top dog. It’s all very similar to Shadow of Mordor’s orc hierarchies but it’s a less complex variant. They all have their unique names, backstories, and weaknesses but there are no over-bosses and nothing you can really do to manipulate their flow. You can only really control your bounty meter, which you can pay it off or kill the sponsor who hosted the contract against you. Beyond that, it lends to some interesting encounters. One merc helped me against a legendary animal quest, but more often than not they’ll come swarming when I’m trying to stealth or fight through an enemy fort, usually resulting me in fleeing. When they show up, it almost always complicates matters so unless you’re actively hunting for the gear they carry, it’s best to keep your bounty as low as possible.

Also having the same ‘feel’ as Shadow of Mordor’s orc mechanic is the Cult of Kosmos. I only found this story arc, maybe an entire fifteen hours into the game but that’s because I spent several doing nothing but exploring the map as my level allowed. Still, it’s a very interesting idea. Once you discover their existence you’re given an entire menu to hunt them down, and doing so is necessary to power up Leonidas’ Spear, alongside several very powerful legendary sets of armor. The idea is that you don’t have all of their identities unlocked and cannot track them all immediately (though it does give you a handful of freebies to get you started). Instead, you have to explore the world or actively investigate some of the clues they give you. This one is fairly straightforward;

However I once had one that said he was in a “Wolf’s Den” in a certain region, so I had to do some actual footwork. Another was near Athens and just told me to “help people nearby”, which turns out that I just had to do several side quests before their identity was revealed. So some of them are locked behind the story, you won’t get them all right away. It’s a very interesting way to go about it. As I said earlier about the world, you might just trip over some clues as you’re out exploring. While some cultists might be locked behind story, there WILL be some just actively wandering the world and you might not know you��re killing one until the “confirm cultist kill” message pops up. Next we have the naval combat, which I have mixed feelings towards. Black Flag is the series golden boy in terms of naval combat, and is one of the best games in the series if you can stomach the more lackluster main story missions (though the story was great overall and I liked Edward’s arc). While there’s certainly some complexity to be had in Odyssey’s ship combat, I still find it a bit more flighty and fast paced, but not in the best way. In BF, the ships felt... meatier. While not being slow, they were big and they hit the waves in a convincing manner. In Odyssey and even Origin’s own special segments, everything just hauls ass and cuts through water like it’s not even there. Even ramming is considered a major part of ship combat and frankly, I’d prefer the balancing flow of firing volleys and bracing against their own shots at the right time. You even get extra rewards if you manage to cleave a ship in two when you’re finishing them off.

I’d rather just shoot stuff, honestly. It still retains its enjoy-ability and I don’t at all ever hate going out to sea, I just don’t like more extended fights and I’m still not sure which of the three actions nets the most rewards; Cleaving, Boarding, or Shoot N’ Loot? I’ll figure it out eventually. So there’s a couple more of points of contention before I summarize.

It can be glitchy at times. I did a Spartan Kick againt an alpha lion for him to clip into the rocks. The game lacks the movement control Unity once had, so holding shift while trying to run away has Kassandra mount every brazier, stick or overhang which can lead to me losing more health than I’d like when fighting stronger enemies. There are some reports of people not getting legendary items (which only ever drop the once). You have to manually save, because right now it’s all cloud saved so if that gets lost or corrupted, you could lose dozens of hours of progress and that kind of thing causes gamers to quit. It’s not nearly as bad as Unity’s release but there are the occasional game breakers which I’ve yet to experience, thankfully. Finally, I’m a bit iffy on the leveling speed. Using very simple math based on my level and hours placed, I net around one level per hour. There was plenty of exploration within that but I was still actively doing stuff, clearing forts and the like. The world is massive and there’s plenty to do in general, I just feel like there’s a lot of footwork to get anything done. Since enemies scale with you (at 50, all regions will be at least 46, where the rewards cap out), I feel the level locked regions are a bit pointless. This ties into a current bout of controversy, so let’s dive into that before I summarize. 

Microtransactions are still a thing. People are exhausted but we expect it from Ubisoft. While it’s mostly cosmetic, there are sets of gear you can buy that have their own stats and bonuses as legendary sets have their own boost when you wear all five pieces. They aren’t any more powerful than other gear, though having a full legendary set right off the bat will certainly give you an edge. The main debate is that the scaling for endgame becomes a bit skewed and I’ve heard from some players that the last few levels are a hell of a marathon to level through. The story offers a permanent 50% experience and money boost (including a variety of cheaper, more temporary ones) which some reviewers have stated does actually make the game better. I imagine such a boost probably makes questing a better incentive and thus leveling quicker. One reviewer made mention of “Pay to play the game less” I find incredibly inaccurate and they probably haven’t actually played (because of course!). As an actual player, I will say the game is massive. The story is long, the regions are large, and you can’t exactly just sprint through the main story and ignore everything else. Especially when several of those “everything else” can be a lot of fun! Even at level cap, you’re probably still hunting those last few cultists, switching some regions to your favored faction, ekeing out those ship upgrades, getting money to fully upgrade your legendary set, or even finding a full legendary set that suits your playstyle the most if you haven’t already. There’s a lot to do and while offering a permanent boost for 20$ is certainly a bit scummy, the “pay to play less” is a horrendous misunderstanding of the game. The game is good! It’s an improvement on Origins in several ways and for once I actually enjoy exploring the variety of question marks that litter my map. I’m only halfway through the world, there’s so much I want to do, armor sets that I wish to acquire to suit my more stealthy playstyle. The world is gorgeous and photo mode has returned to accentuate that fact. There’s no assassin order nor are there Templars, just a cult you’re set out to destroy for some personal slights. You’re a mercenary and the world is yours. Odyssey will also be receiving some support and attention as they won’t be releasing one in 2019, so for a game we’ll be ‘stuck’ with for a couple of years, we’re in good hands.

[scriptsclever842]

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[go-redgirl]

Peaceful Floyd Protesters Form Human Barricade to Protect White House Police

As protesters across the United States express their anger over the death of George Floyd, in many cases devolving into rioting and looting, one group of protesters in Washington DC locked hands and stood before White House police forming a human barricade to protect the officers.

In video footage from protests in Washington DC, protesters locked hands and formed a human barricade before White House police officers, protecting them from angry protesters who in turn criticized them for standing with the police.

Two women can be seen in the video, one wearing a red t-shirt that states “Make Racism Wrong Again,” the other woman’s shirt reads “BLACK – WHITE – HUMAN,” appearing to promote a message of unity. As the women, along with other protestors, lock hands and stand with their backs to the police, other protesters angered by their actions begin to question their motivation.

“This is good,” says one woman referring to the protests, “but y’all got other ways to do it too, y’all can write to Congress…” another woman cuts her off shouting “it don’t work, we all did that, it don’t work, I signed people up for that, it don’t work.”

In the video, one man shouts at the woman in the red t-shirt “we here to make a point to show that this shit is not ok!” The woman replies “it’s not going to bring George Floyd back,” before later adding “this is not the answer,” referring to the violent protests.

READ MORE STORIES ABOUT:

Clips Crime Politics George Floyd Police Riots Washington DC White House

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INDIVIDUALS/COMMENTS/POSTS:

Fight Against the Tyrants BLOG 17 hours ago

Im impressed. They joined hands and faced down violent racists. They deserve high praise for their gutsy actions.

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J.Moore citizenfreepress.com

Fight Against the Tyrants BLOG•17 hours ago• edited

And that, people, is how you gain the respect of the people you are addressing. I said it before - conservatives do not mind joining a righteous protest against government overreach and abuse of power. But these things have been monopolized by politicians and race baiters eager for power, wealth and attention for decades. We ain't playing that game.

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Crusty J.Moore citizenfreepress.com 

•17 hours ago • edited

Yup. And that's why the civil rights protests MLK led in Alabama were successful and inspired people: The marchers walked down streets where Jim Crow supporters with rifles looked-on, but although they were in danger, they carried no weapons or sticks, and refused to harm any property or people.

When you are willing to put your own safety and life on the line to stand for something, it draws a lot more respect that when you go bust, burn, brutalize, and then take home some looted liquor and video games.

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Santiago Matamoros Crusty • 17 hours ago • edited

it draws a lot more respect

The rioters, looters, and other criminals are not protesting.

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realityanvil Santiago Matamoros • 17 hours ago • edited

Half of them are bored white Antifa rich kids from the 'burbs, anarchists to the core. They don't give two hoots for some guy named George Floyd. They think he had a sister named "Pink".

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Phonecard Mike realityanvil • 16 hours ago

Very true! I am impressed by the peaceful blockade, very refreshing.

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realityanvil Phonecard Mike • 16 hours ago

Of the two protesting factions, it's easy to see which one is interested in justice for George Floyd and bettering the cause of minorities, and which is only interested in destruction and anarchy. They grew up as privileged kids but they're at war with reason and civility. To them it's just another video game, just on a larger stage and with better graphics.

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Mike Brafford realityanvil • 15 hours ago

Any human being can see what happened to George was wrong. Cuff him put him in the car and take him down to the station. Nothing else was required.

People are right to be angry - not white or black - people of all sorts. This is like the FBI attacking a 33 year veteran general. Wrong is wrong and the abuse of power must stop.

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Brat_bart Mike Brafford • 14 hours ago

Smells like a setup. A cop kneeling on the neck of a guy he worked with for years and didn’t try to prevent people from filming him doing it? Knowing it would go viral?

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GMBurns Brat_bart • 14 hours ago

It got weirder when I read on a Minneapolis News station page that Chauvin and Floyd both worked security at a some dance club (at the same time).The owner though says she doesn't know if they knew each other because they had a lot of security people.

I hope this is well investigated. There may be more to it than is on video.

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pepebob3 GM Burns•6 hours ago

Some whispering going on that both Floyd And Chauvin were in on the counterfeit scam. Some even saying that the other 3 officers, who did Nothing to help Mr. Floyd, are also involved which is the real reason he was killed. Not sure I believe that, but at this point, who knows. One thing I am sure of is the fact that these riots are too well put together to be happenstance.

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GMBurns pepebob3 • 5 hours agoI just checked around. Forbes has an interesting article:

Chauvin was there for 1r 17 years, but Floyd only worked there about twelve times during ONE year (2019) while Chauvin was. Chauvin, outside, while Floyd was inside, and apparently it is a big building Oooops WAS a big building...it burned down Thursday night - I just saw that.https://www.forbes.com/site...Here is the burned out club:

https://ruptly.tv/es/videos...

This is getting deep. I would say it is possible they didn't really know each other...BUT there were people who knew both of them well enough, like the owner of the restaurant, a Ms. Maya Santamaria. The fire started in the restaurant.

I really hope that Minneapolis police aren't as messy as the FBI, to be polite. However, don't be too sure about riots being pre-planned. That would mean letting too many people know something. They can put riots together fast when the news is hot.No conclusions for me, but lots and lots of loose ends.

No conclusions for me, but lots and lots of loose ends.

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pepebob3 GMBurns • 3 hours agoI suspect we will never learn the truth. 

So many times horrible things happen, such as the Vegas shootings, Epstein murder, Hillary-Everything she has done, etc. get quickly taken off the front pages. 

They are still hiding the JFK assassination details 50+ years later! If the powers that be want it covered up it will be. Initial starting of the riots were probably home grown, but Sourass and Obama, and his ilk, have been known to support financially, give out pre-made signs, and buses people in when it suits their agenda. 

A racial civil war is something that the never Trumpers desperately want. To the globalists chaos is the best way to affect the change they want. Sadly our country seems to have an over abundance of people willing to help them. Add incompetent and corrupt mayors, governors, and Congress and it's a combination for disaster. 

The only good thing that will come out of all this will be the many new citizens who realize their need to buy a gun and learn how to use it. Without the right to defend ourselves and loved ones we will become like Venezuela who banned private gun ownership in 2012-now look at it. The only ones with guns are the criminals and the government, frequently one and the same.

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GMBurns pepebob3 • 6 hours ago

Wow, I hadn't thought of that angle. I see that a Minneapolis dance club says both Chauvin and Floyd worked security at there. One other source said they were both there during two years.And I saw no sign from either that they knew each other. If I were writing a Game of Thrones script, it would have it that Mr. Floyd thought his scene had a different ending.This is crazy of course, but I hope they definitely check everything thoroughly. If any part of any of these angles has anything to them, it could mean that...oh yeah, maybe Mr Chauvin has a surprise coming too.That would be easier to explain than Chauvin just looking straight at the camera, knowing it's a camera, as he kills the guy, which was very, very strange.

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Jessie Brader Brat_bart • 7 hours ago

I was thinking of that a lot actually...I think there's two factors there:

1. I don't think it was necessarily a race issue and I'm going to continue thinking that until hard evidence to the contrary. In my experience true actual racism/hate/bigotry is not something you miss or feel uncertain of it's occurence. No I think chauvin was simply a cold, hard person who could gave been just as easily been kneeling on a stoop let alone another human being. He had no emotion in that video save maybe annoyance. His face makes it clear he has no respect or reverence for human life, regardless of sex, Creed, race etc.

2. With those 18 disciplinary on his jacket...it would stand to reason he had a sense of being untouchable, at least to a degree. He may have been disciplined or suspended in the past but never outright fired until now obviously. So I'd think pure arrogance could explain his lack of concern over the video. 

Especially considering his original report which was such a blatant misrepresentation it leaves me with the conclusion that this guy felt he'd gotten away with stuff before, he will again, worst case scenario he might get suspension etc. Plus anyone with that made incidence throughout their career, it's fairly likely there were many more instances of misconduct we DONT know about. Reading his initial report...well let's just say without the video he very well may hace gotten away with it. They didn't even seem to question his or his fellow officers accounts as suspect until the video that civilian put out there.

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OPINION:  That’s great news to hear!  Everyone Police Offer is by far,  not bad at all.  Thousands of people in this country can count their blessings that we do have great Policy Officers in this country.  If not, many would have lost their lives to  ‘thugs’ in the streets that have the same skin color and doing bodily harm to some in their own neighborhoods.

People need to stop and think about different situations before you jump on board of all the ‘bad actors’ that’s causing more problems in this country.

You better think first before you react!

A word of wisdom and advise!

[tak4hir0]

CUSTOM GAME ENGINES: A Small Study A couple of weeks ago I played (and finished) A Plague Tale, a game by Asobo Studio. I was really captivated by the game, not only by the beautiful graphics but also by the story and the locations in the game. I decided to investigate a bit about the game tech and I was surprised to see it was developed with a custom engine by a relatively small studio. I know there are some companies using custom engines but it's very difficult to find a detailed market study with that kind of information curated and updated. So this article. Nowadays lots of companies choose engines like Unreal or Unity for their games (or that's what lot of people think) because developing a custom AAA-level engine requires lots of resources, so, I decided to list here some of the most popular custom engines with the team-sizes and notable titles released with those engines. Most of the engines listed here have been developed along the years with multiple iterations and multiple videogames, those engines have gone through several versions or even complete (or semi-complete) rewrites from scratch, with a consequent engine name change. Also, important to note, most of those engines use numerous middleware for specific functionalities (Platform, Physics, Network, Vegetation, UI, Rendering, Audio...). *NOTE: I tried to be as much accurate as possible with the information about the employees count (I checked the companies websites, Wikipedia or company LinkedIn) but take it with a grain of salt (some employees numbers could not be up to date). The BIG Companies *From left to right: Assassin's Creed Odyssey, Final Fantasy XV, Red Dead Redemption 2 Below list is for very big corporations, sometimes with complex corporate structures with several divisions (not only focused on videogames) and various studios/subsidiaries developing games. Some of them work with multiple engines, not only custom ones but also licensed ones. Company Employees Studios Engine(s) Notable Games Activision/Blizzard ~9200 ~9 custom engine(s) Call of Duty series, Overwatch, Starcraft II Electronic Arts ~9300 ~36 Frostbite 3 Star Wars Battlefront II, Anthem, Battlefield 1/V, FIFA 20, Need for Speed series Ubisoft ~16000 ~54 AnvilNext 2.0 Assassin's Creed series Disrupt engine Watch Dogs series UbiArt Framework Rayman Legends, Child of Light, Valiant Hearts Snowdrop Tom Clancy's The Division 2, The Settlers Dunia (CryEngine-based) FarCry series Silex (Anvil-based) Ghost Recon Wildlands LEAD engine Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell series Dunia-based The Crew Capcom +2800 ~15 MT Framework Monster Hunter: World RE Engine Resident Evil 7, Devil May Cry 5, RE2:Remake, RE3:Remake Konami +10000 ~30 Fox Engine Pro Evolution Soccer series, Metal Gear Solid V Square Enix +4600 ~18 Luminous Studio Final Fantasy XV Nintendo +6100 ~8 custom engine(s) Zelda: BOTW, Mario Odyssey Riot Games ~2500 ~3 custom engine League of Legends Rockstar +2000 ~9 RAGE engine GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2 CD Projekt +1100 ~4 REDEngine 3 The Witcher 3 Epic +1000 ~11 Unreal Engine 4 Fortnite Usually those companies invest in custom engines to have full control over the technology and also avoid the revenue cut imposed by the licensed engines. Despite that fact, there are some big companies that in the latest years have chosen Unreal Engine for their productions, the most notable cases are: Capcom is using Unreal for the new Street Fighter IV/V titles. Bandai Namco latest big hits are using Unreal: Jump Force, Dragon Ball Fighter Z, Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Tales of Arise. Square Enix also moved to Unreal for several new titles: Dragon Quest XI, Kingdom Hearts III, Final Fantasy VII Remake It's interesting to see that those big three are Japanesse companies, I wonder if that's maybe a market trend for Japan. Also to note, the chinesse holding Tencent owns 40% of Epic Games, I bet it has some influence in the Asian market. Middle-size Studios *From left to right: Rise of the Tomb Raider, Uncharted 4, A Plague Tale Here we have the medium-small companies that decided to create their custom technology for their titles. The number of employees could be a nice reference to consider because a custom game engine is usually developed in-house (I mean, not outsourced) but note that some of those companies could have a big number of people due to in-house artist/audio teams, while other companies out-source those parts of the development. It would be really nice to know how many engineers are working on the engine division for each company, I'm sure there would be some big surprises, probably by the low number of engineers working in the engine and tools! Also interesting to know more info about the tooling included with those engines, it's really difficult to have access to that kind of information. Engines tooling is usually a hidden-secret (beside some GDC presentations or some quick showcase videos). *From left to right: Horizon Zero Dawn, God of War, Death Stranding Company Employees Engine Notable Games Creative Assembly +650 Warscape Engine Total War series Bungie ~600 Tiger Engine Destiny series Infinity Ward +500 IW 7.0 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Eidos-Montréal ~500 Dawn Engine (Glacier2-based) Deus Ex: Mankind Divided Paradox Interactive +400 Clausewitz Engine Imperator: Rome Bethesda ~400 Creation Engine Skyrim, Fallout 4, Fallout 76 Valve Corp. ~360 Source 2 Dota 2, Half-Life: Alyx Crystal Dynamics ~350 Foundation Engine Rise/Shadow of the Tomb Raider Avalanche Studios ~320 Apex engine Just Cause series, Renegade Ops, Mad Max, RAGE 2 Naughty Dog +300 Naughty Dog Game Engine Uncharted series, Last of Us Rebellion Developments ~300 Asura engine Alien vs. Predator series, Sniper Elite series Techland ~300 Chrome Engine 6 Dying Light Crytek ~290 CryEngine V The Climb, Hunt:Showdown From Software +280 Dark Souls engine Bloodborne, Dark Souls III, Sekiro Remedy +250 Northlight Engine Quantum Break, Control Guerrilla Games +250 Decima Killzone Shadow Fall, Until Dawn, Horizon Zero Dawn Platinum Games ~250 Platinum Engine NieR Automata, Bayonetta, Vanquish Santa Monica Studio +200 custom engine God Of War series id Software +200 idTech 6/7 Doom, Doom Eternal, Wolfenstein series Sucker Punch +200 custom engine Infamous Second Son, Ghost of Tsushima? Insomniac Games ~180 Insomniac Engine Rachet&Clank series, Marvel's Spider-Man Quantic Dreams ~180 custom engine Detroit: Become Human IO Interactive ~170 Glacier2 Hitman series Asobo Studio +140 Zouna A Plague Tale Ready At Dawn ~120 custom engine The Order: 1886, Lone Echo Mercury Steam ~110 custom engine Spacelords, Castlevania:Lords of Shadow series Monolith Productions +100 LithTech F.E.A.R. series, Condemned series, Shadow of Mordor/War 11 Bit Studios ~100 Liquid Engine Frostpunk Frozenbyte ~100 Storm3D Trine series, Shadowgrounds Kylotonn ~100 KtEngine WRC series, TT Isle of Man series, V-Rally 4 TaleWorlds Entertainment ~100 custom engine Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord Daedalic Entertainment ~90 Visionaire Studio The Whispered World, Deponia series Media Molecule ~80 Bubblebath Engine Dreams Deck13 ~70 Fledge Lords of the Fallen, The Surge, The Surge 2 Nihon Falcom ~60 Yamaneko Engine Ys VII, Ys VIII, Ys IX Croteam +40 Serious Engine The Talos Principle, Serious Sam series Some observations from this list: Rise of the Tomb Raider lists only 10 programmers working on Foundation engine in the credits, probably a good reference number to get an idea of the people working on the core engine. Kojima Productions use Decima engine, developed by Guerrilla Games, for Death Stranding, previously they used Fox Engine for Metal Gear Solid V. Media Molecule latest game/engine (Dreams) seems to have been developed by only ~15 coders, amazing! Companies targeting one single platform, usually have less restrictions and can push the limits of that platform. Unfortunately, that's a luxury that most companies can not afford. Asobo Studio, the company that originated this market study is not that small... but, like other companies, they seem to work in multiple titles in parallel. Very nice to see that some of the engines have entries in the Wikipedia with some details and titles released, it should be a must. Small-size Studios (Indie Studios) *From left to right: The Witness, No Man's Sky, X-Morph Defense Here we have some really small studios that also choose to develop a custom engine for their games. Note that most of those engines rely on other libraries/frameworks for certain parts of the game, the common choices we find are SDL (cross-platform graphics/input), OGRE (rendering engine), MonoGame (cross-platform game framework, also relyes on SDL, SharpDX, OpenTK, OpenAL-Soft...). One question many people could ask is, what parts of the engine are actually coded by the developers? Well, it depends, but usually coders take care of the screen-manager, entities-manager and content-manager as well as the wrappers/interfaces to the external libraries. Second question, what parts of the engine usually rely on external libraries/middleware? It also depends on the company resources but usually audio-system, physics, rendering, networking, ui-system, terrain-system, vegetation-system and some other pieces. *From left to right: Factorio, Thimbleweed Park, Owlboy On the following list (and the next one below) I added the publishing date (only +2012) and the link to Steam for all the games... there are not many games with custom engine from small studios out there and I think they deserve to be recognized and supported. Company Employees Engine Notable Games Shiro Games ~30 Heaps.io Northgard (2018), Evoland (2013), Evoland II (2015) Hello Games ~25 No Man's Sky Engine No Man's Sky (2016) Frictional Games ~25 HPL engine SOMA (2015), Amnesia series DrinkBox Studios ~25 custom engine Guacamelee (2013), Guacamelee! 2 (2018), Severed (2016) Supergiant Games ~20 MonoGame-based Hades (2019), Pyre (2017), Transistor (2014) Wube Software ~20 Allegro/SDL-based Factorio (2019) Chucklefish ~20 Halley Engine Wargroove (2019), Starbound (2016) Ronimo Games ~17 RoniTech Engine (SDL) Awesomenauts (2017) Runic Games ~17 OGRE-based Hob (2017), Tochlight II (2012) Lab Zero Games ~17 Z-Engine Indivisible (2019), Skullgirls (2013) Introversion Software ~14 SystemIV (SDL) Prison Architect (2015) Exor Studios ~14 OGRE-based Schmetterling The Riftbreaker (2020), X-Morph: Defense (2017) Tribute Games ~11 MonoGame-based Flinthook (2017), Mercenary Kings (2014) Thekla Inc. (Jonathan Blow) ~10 custom engine The Witness (2016) Terrible Toybox (Ron Gilbert) 9 custom engine (SDL) Thimbleweed Park (2017) Matt Makes Games (Matt Thorson) ~7 MonoGame-based Celeste (2018), TowerFall Ascension (2014) Coilworks ~7 custom engine Super Cloudbuilt (2017), Cloudbuilt (2014) Lo-fi Games (Chris Hunt) 6 OGRE-based Kenshi (2018) D-Pad Studio 6 MonoGame-based Owlboy (2016) BitKid, Inc. 6 MonoGame-based CHASM (2020) Double Damage Games 5 OGRE-based Rebel Galaxy Outlaw (2019), Rebel Galaxy (2015) Almost Human Games 4 custom engine Legend of Grimrock (2012), Legend of Grimrock 2 (2014) Wolfire Games 4 Phoenix Engine Overgrowth (2017) Some observations from this list: Nicolas Cannasse, co-founder of Shiro Games, is the the developer of Haxe programming language and Heaps engine, used by Motion Twin for Dead Cells (2017). Hello Games is a very small studio considering the size of No Man's Sky and that they use a custom engine. Really impressive! Runic Games was dissolved in November 2017, the founders created Double Damage, now they are working on Echtra Games on Torchlight III. Rodrigo Braz Monteiro, Chucklefish CTO, is the person in charge of Halley engine, actually the engine is open-source! In most of those studios the people in charge of creating the game engine it's only 1-3 persons! Lo-fi Games was a one-man team (Chris Hunt) for more than 6 years! Some of the games in this list took +5 years of development! Not many games... a couple of hits per year... One-man custom engines *From left to right: Stardew Valley, ScourgeBringer, Eagle Island Finally, the list of the heroes. Games developed by 1-2 people with custom game engines, engines mostly coded by one person! Respect. Creating an engine and a game from scratch to the point of publishing it is an extraordinary accomplishment, not many people in the world is ready for that. Almost all of them are 2D games, usually with very small budgets and developed along multiple years. Congratulations to the developers! *From left to right: Axiom Verge, Ghost 1.0, Remnants of Naezith Some observations from this list: Some of those teams are formed by 1-2 people but probably grew at some point and/or outsourced some parts of the development (art, audio...). Usually the publisher also helps with some resources (localization, marketing...). Omar Cornut from Lizardcube is the main programmer for Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap engine and also the developer of Dear ImGui, a free and open-source immediate-mode gui library used by lots of AAA custom engines. Ben Fiquet from Lizardcube is also the main artist for Streets of Rage 4, the custom engine of Guard Crush Games is written by Cyrille Lagarigue. Marc Flury programmed Thumper game engine rejecting the OOP paradigm in favor of a procedural programming approach. Christian Whitehead is the creator of Star Engine used in Sonic Mania but Headcannon (Simon Thomley) and PagodaWest Games (Jared Kasl and Tom Fry) were also involved in the development of the game. Some of the games in this list took +5 years of development! Not many games... a couple of hits per year... There are some other remarkable games using custom engines (usually XNA/MonoGame) that worth mentioning: Minecraft (2011), Braid (2009), Super Meat Boy (2010), Terraria (2011), Dustforce (2012), Sword and Sorcery EP (2012), FEZ (2013), Dust: An Elysian Tail (2013), Rogue Legacy (2013), Dyad (2012), SpaceChem (2013). Conclusions I'll start saying I'm biased, I'm really passionate about videogames-making technologies and I admire custom engines and game-making tools. I also contributed to custom engines ecosystem with my grain of salt: raylib and several game-making tools. I prefer a custom engine over a licensed one, I consider that the extra amount of effort put into the product usually translates into some specific great mechanic or some amazing in-game details. Said that, I must admit that creating a custom engine is a big endeavour and not many people are ready for that. I recognize Unity (and Unreal to less extend) have really democratized videogames development, lots of small-medium size companies can use Unity today to develop games quicly and put them on the market, sometimes with very low budgets... But, still, lots of big companies prefer to rely on their own custom technologies. From my gamedev-teacher perspective, I think students must learn how engines work internally with as much detail as possible. Relying only on engines like Unity/Unreal for education to allow students develop eye-candy project in short-time is not the way to go. At the end of the day, someone has to write the engine and the tools! NOTE: Feedback and improvements are welcome! :)