Hello Readers! Phil, a resident of my home state, recently predicted an early spring, according to the traditional German groundhog legend. That prediction was followed by a weekend where the temperature hit a beautiful high of 54 F. Unfortunately, this week I'll be seeing a foot and a half of snow and what I think are the first negative temperatures of the season for my area. Meanwhile listening to senior citizens talk about the ''old days'' where snow fell continuously from Halloween to Easter with only two days of sunshine in between. Perhaps global warming isn't such a disaster after all.
NNAAAAHH is currently polling interest in a Game in a Week challenge with the possibility of cash prizes. While specifics are still in flux, give him a shout if you're interested in the possibility of such a contest.
Following suite of last year, Within BYOND will once again feature a special ''BYOND Vision 2016'' section, which is an opportunity for developers to share their reflections of 2015, and their insights and goals for 2016 in 250 words or less. Check out last year's submissions and email your Vision to jam[REMOVE][email protected] by February 23rd for approval!
BYOND
Lummox JR has been busy fixing up bugs with the latest beta version of BYOND, releasing three minor builds in recent weeks. Bringing the Webclient up to par on the new PLANE settings has been the focus as well. His feature creep radar is filling quickly, with a new urgency on big icon visibility, web client performance, and proc and var lookup speeds. And while BYOND 510 is already looking up to be a game changer, he's still working up ways to make the software even better in 511.
BYOND Games
Solstice Entertainment has shown some skin of the in-development RPG Sword and Soul Online. The group covers the basic idea and concept of the game, and outlines the basic systems that have been completed in the week prior. They have deemed the game in Alpha, as the largest two components of the game have not yet been deeply fleshed out, which happen to be the combat, and the environment.
Inutaishos has posted the cumulative two month update log for Azusa: Battle of Gods on the game's website. Their feature presentation this time is new hair styles to admire, new clothing that could benefit from some fabric softener, and a large new land to embrace. The addition of two dangerous armors and information about the status of their role-playing focused server can be found within as well. You can stalk the game on Facebook as well.
Edit Nero sent a note to about Eden, a fantasy action game who's development is being nurtured. The note offers brief information about the core gameplay along with a few screenshots of abilities that have been implemented.
Yutput spent some time recording his adventures though the world of Epoch, explaining story line elements as he goes. The game went free-to-play a few months ago, so if you haven't given it a go, grab a significant other and team up!
Rabbit Doubt is a multiplayer bunny chase recently released by YURIRAMOS. One player is selected to be the wolf, and the rest remain as rabbits. To win, the wolf needs to use its special powers to catch all of the rabbits, or the rabbits need to take out the wolf using carrots.
Kumorii has been cutting though the black tape with the declassification of completed progress on [Redacted]. While details are relatively scarce, the information provided is beginning to clear the air. Dynamic lighting has a variety of colors, there is a slew of new weapons, status effects now affect, and a quite a bit more. See if you can piece together the mystery game. Ter13 claims it to be about horses, but hey, the Broncos really are winners.
The developers of Land of Fire, a Ninja action and RPG game, have had a love/hate relationship with computers over the past two weeks. The love is shown in Dev log #8 thanks to the release of BYOND 510, with the game seeing some unexpected frame rate improvements, and some expected graphical improvements, such as continuous shadowing and parallax backgrounds. The hate moves in as we near Valentine's day, with a power outage resulting in some lost work. SulLight fills us in on the progress however, with a display of weapons, turfs, and creatures, and ends with a combat demonstration.
The Pixelated Planet of Yuri Online by YURIRAMOS is a new contender to the trading card scene. Players are first rewarded a random playing card every minute, and depending on what card is rewarded, the card can be used to cast a spell, or create buildings and objects. With over 130 cards to play with, the game is sweeter than a box of chocolates.
BYOND Resources
- Flick has recently upgraded Particons, enabling tinkerers to create some groovy effects.
- Who needs scrapbooks? PopLava created a Slide Show app for the webclient, useful for showing your favorite photos to friends and family.
- Nadrew has been playing with the latest additions of BYOND 510 in his Lighting Test.
An all out race war.