Starshattered goes open source

I ran a post on my old forums about this fantastic space simulator game. Sadly a few years back they stopped working on it.

Today I discovered that it is now free to download and open source. You can download it from:

http://www.starshattermods.com/

You just have to register first before you can download it.

40k MMO canned ?

Rumor has it that the Warhammer 40k MMO has been canceled and THQ might be up for sale.

This will be sad as I like THQ as a publisher and the 40k MMO had my interest.

But in saying that the screenshots I have seen of the 40k MMO makes it look like a warcraft clone which just wouldn't work.

I also fear what will happen to Relic. Hopefully someone decent picks them up and the Warhammer IP licence as well. I'll post more news if its confirmed.

Mass Defect 3

Mass Effect 3 is only on EA Origin. I won't start my rant on Origin again but this is why I won't ever get Mass Effect 3.

EA Claim it to be this:

Will ME3 be available on Steam?
During initial release Mass Effect 3 will be available on Origin and a number of other 3rd party digital retailers, but not on Steam at this time. Steam has adopted a set of restrictive terms of service which limit how developers interact with customers to deliver patches and other downloadable content. We are intent on providing Mass Effect to players with the best possible experience no matter where they purchase or play their game, and are happy to partner with any download service that does not restrict our ability to connect directly with our consumers.

  Strange way of spinning that they can't have there own 3rd party store and must use steam for DLC.

The funny thing is, I am more likely to buy DLC via steam than any other system. This is due to the fact that I already buy items via steam.

After the utter disaster that was Dragon Age 2 and Mass effect 2. I won't be buying another Bioware game. This is another rant in itself =p

Minecraft 1.1

Minecraft 1.1 is out, this does mean waiting for Ponycraft to be updated and the texture mods:

New Features:

• Bow Enchantments
• Golden Apple recipe
• New language translations.
• Slightly smoothed color transitions between biomes
• Reduced brewing time to 20 seconds
• Added spawn eggs to creative (the colors of the eggs even look like the mobs)
• Added world type options (currently only super-flat and default)
• Removed collision box from ladders
• Sheep eat grass and regain their wool

Not a huge amount of new features but still intresting.

New Xcom Remake

Sure there is the lame fps com coming but today Fraxis ( civ5 )  announced a real remake of the classic with real time geomap and turn based combat.
I have a feeling it is going to be a budget title as it is coming to PC and consoles. I just hope it doesn't have some wacky art style.

X Bonus tune

This is from the X Superbox trailer:

http://www.egosoft.com/download/superbox/bonus_en.php?download=549

And the trailer itself:


The only game I don't own in this seriers is X-Tension. Due to not seeing it here in the shops.

The reasion I am linking this is I really like the X music. And you can get more from here:

http://zakharovmusic.com/

X - Rebirth Details

I recently got X3-Albion Prelude and have really been enjoying it. So I decided to check out some Rebirth details and see whats been released.

What I discovered has gotten me hyped. First the bad news:

You only fly one ship & no longer fly capital ships.

The good news is you still can own fleets and can also remote control your fleet. The reason for the new ship is it now has 'Rooms' and crew on board. I also has a flight deck. No details how these 'Rooms' Will work. If you can FPS walk around them or if they are hotpoint static screens.

Next up is this about cap ship changes:

You can in fact even land on these beasts and get out of your playership to meet NPCs while watching the large ship move around in space FROM the deck of the ship!

You won't be sitting in the cockpit and steer such a capital ship from the first person perspective anymore simply because that is boring. Steering huge and slowly-turning ships manually just doesnt make sense. It would force us to make them turn and move unrealistically quick and even then they would be impossible to maneuver near our huge and complex shaped stations.

Instead the steering is done by NPCs who work for you but closely follow your orders. You can control capital ships who work for you in many new ways.

I really hope it sounds as good as they describe it. If it is, X will launch to the top of my scifi best game list. Here are some new screenshots. First one featuring the players ship.