CGN Newsletter #82 – Mar. 17, 2023
History never repeats, but it often rhymes...
Is Em-8ER the Next Star Citizen?
After six years in development, Em-8ER is showing very little progress.
The brainchild of Blizzard veteran Mark Kern, and intended to be a spiritual successor to FireFall, Em-8ER (pronounced ‘Ember’) is a co-op mech suit vs kaiju action game.
As of this writing, only very simple builds of the game exist; in its current form Em-8ER is basically a proof of concept.
“Em-8ER is a NEW kind of MMO. It's a massive, multiplayer, open world, co-op shooter that pits players against a ruthless, shape-shifting, alien army called the Tsi-Hu. The game is a simulated war where massive battles ebb and flow across the planets surface. Hundreds of players will be fighting at any given time in skirmishes involving mechs, giant monsters, and military bases.
The heart of Em-8ER can be found in the grand invasions and counter-invasions that rage across the planet. Fought in huge Player-vs-Environment battles across large outdoor landscape; Em-8ER is a massive persistent battlefield. Zones must be captured, terraformed, and defended against a ruthless invading army of shapeshifting aliens and their massive Kaiju creatures.”
The official Em-8ER Twitter account hasn’t posted any updates since 2019, and the official YouTube channel hasn’t posted anything in almost a year.
There is one aspect of the game that does get regular updates, though: character skins. Kern commissions some of the world’s best cheesecake artists to create stylish skin-tight outfits that can be purchased by backers for very reasonable sums. Those skins will, eventually, be implemented in-game; but since your character spends most of the game wearing an armoured mech suit, you won’t really be able to see that much of them.
To address this issue, Crixa Labs recently added the ability to get out of your Omni-Frame (mech) and run around. This serves no real gameplay purpose, but it does supply a skerrick of sex appeal, the core marketing thrust Kern has been advancing. They’ve also been dabbling with base-building mechanics, but without a core gameplay loop in place such efforts appear to be a poor use of resources, especially when you consider that the studio only has two full-time staff.
A free character model viewer is available to download. For some reason this reminds me of the hanger in Star Citizen.
In Star Citizen you can buy .jpegs of space ships that haven’t been implemented in-game yet, ships that may not be implemented for years. In Em-8ER, you can buy .jpegs of pets and mounts that haven’t been implemented in-game either.
There’s no need to worry about this apparent lack of progress, however. Em-8ER has only been in development for six years. It’s still early days. If you lack faith in Mr. Kern’s ability to finish Em-8ER, well, maybe you just don’t understand game development.
Mark Kern posts a great deal on Twitter, and is quite on top of current events, freely supplying his opinions on all the hot-button issues, such as censoring female midriffs on cartoon characters:
A crowd-funded indie game with grand ambitions created by an iconoclastic, perfectionist auteur, a game in development for years and years, with no light at the end of the tunnel... This brief description could be attributed to Star Citizen or Yandere Simulator, but Em-8ER could be the new poster boy for the Platonic Ideal of Development Hell...
For a Deep Dive on Kern’s track record of project management, this video is a helpful guide:
Persistence Warps In To Star Citizen
Speaking of Star Citizen, Cloud Imperium has added a new core feature to the game: Persistence. Just as the determined Skyrim player could fill his virtual house with hundreds of wheels of stolen cheese, Star Citizen now supports similar antics for everyone with a virtual hoarding disorder.
“Cloud Imperium Games (CIG) today announced the release of the Star Citizen – Alpha 3.18: Lasting Legacies update. Available now, Lasting Legacies marks a giant technical leap forward on Star Citizen’s journey to deliver real, universal persistence with the addition of Persistent Entity Streaming (PES). With this new tech, all physical objects moved or placed by players will be dynamically tracked on the server they were moved on and remain in their new locations. Players can now leave their mark for other players to find or encounter the aftermath of other players’ actions when they log in, creating one of the most immersive and “lived-in” experiences ever seen in games. PES represents the largest significant technical update in the game’s history and is a critical addition in laying the foundation for full in-game persistence and Server Meshing that will unlock a new level of immersion in the ‘verse.”
It’s worth noting that Star Citizen is now on year 12 of what was initially planned to be a two-year dev cycle, and the game is still in an ‘Alpha’ state. Will your giant crate sculptures persist from Alpha, to Beta, to Version 1.0? Many such questions remain unanswered...
System Shock Remake to Launch on May 31
After a series of interminable delays, the long, long awaited remake of System Shock now has a concrete release date: May 31.
“The System Shock remake combines the cult gameplay of the iconic original game with all-new HD visuals, updated controls, an overhauled interface and all-new sounds and music. From never-before-seen enemies and quality of life gameplay tweaks to a revamped hacking system and visceral new combat options featuring a brutal dismemberment system, the System Shock remake welcomes players new and old back to Citadel Station and the arms of the delightfully villainous SHODAN.
Players use a combination of stealth, cunning and futuristic weaponry to make their way through Citadel Station's all-new areas; players will encounter traps, puzzles and secrets in their quest to try and save Earth from destruction.
The PC edition of System Shock is available to pre-order via Steam, GOG and the Epic Games Store - and includes a free copy of the upcoming System Shock 2: Enhanced Edition for all early buyers. The newly released Steam Next Fest playable demo can be found on the respective storefronts.
Console editions of System Shock will release on PlayStation 4|5 and Xbox One and Series S|X in due course.”
The press release stated that Nightdrive Studios had originally hoped to launch in late March; an ominous sign, as this is usually a calendar window where publishers extrude their buggiest and most problematic releases in a desperate attempt to get some profits on the books before the end of the U.S. Fiscal Year.
Self-Publishing Arrives on the Epic Games Store
Epic Games continues to close the gap with Valve by adding a powerful new feature to the Epic Games Store: Self-Publishing.
No need to wine and dine Tim Sweeney to get your game listed – Now anyone with a completed game to sell can simply pay a US$100 fee to get access to Epic’s fast-growing digital download platform.
This is the same fee that Steam charges, so don’t be surprised if this means that the Epic Games Store will soon be flooded with games like My Cute Succubus, Fuck Hitler, and Inglorious Waifu VS Nazi Zombies, to say nothing of the glut of asset flip games and other dross. Such is the nature of the free market.
This is democracy manifest.
Oh Yeah! Space Adventure Cobra Game Incoming
A video game adaptation of the classic retro sci-fi anime Space Adventure Cobra will soon be upon us!
“Microids and TMS are pleased to announce that Cobra, the video game, is currently in the pre-production stage. Adapted from the Japanese animation series produced by TMS Entertainment (based on illustrations and comic books created by Buichi Terasawa), the video game provides players the opportunity to step into Cobra’s shoes as the famous galactic bounty hunter, in a futuristic and colorful universe on consoles and PC.
Created in 1978, the cult manga Cobra has fascinated many generations of fans with its complex plot known for its many twists and turns. With his legendary Psycho Gun attached to his left arm, and his iconic partnership with Lady, the notorious space pirate Cobra has captivated audiences for decades.”
More details here.
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