Platform Comes to the Canyon

Today Nadeo unveiled Platform mode for TrackMania 2: Canyon.  Platform existed in Canyon's predecessor, TrackMania United (and TrackMania United Forever.)

I'm super excited to see how they pulled it off, especially considering the way the Canyon car handles differently than the Island and Stadium cars from United.

To get it, do the following:

• Launch ManiaPlanet
• Download the update
• Restart ManiaPlanet
• Click on Canyon and download its client update.
• Restart ManiaPlanet one more time.
• Click an empty station (TV with clouds on it) and select the Platform title (see screenshot above)
• Click on the newly loaded Platform station and enjoy!

A new dedicated server will be released tonight or tomorrow to support the new mode.  It will be fun to see how it goes online!

Enjoy!

ShootMania Pre-Order Video

Epic.  Can't wait for the new blocks they're showing in the video.
Buy now to get instant access to ShootMania while they finish beta-testing.

Then come play it and TrackMania on the Friday Night Gamers' servers!

ShootMania Pre-Order Available Today! Discounted Price and Access to Beta

ShootMania Storm

The wait is over!  Nadeo's epic new game, ShootMania has gone into Open Beta.
Even better, they've discounted the price on pre-orders and allow purchasing 3 and 5 packs so you can get all your friends in on the action!

The game will retail for $19.99 USD, but you can pre-order now for the following prices:

1-license: $15.99
3-pack: $39.99 (3 for the price of 2!)
5-pack: $63.99 (5 for the price of 3+)

Those that know me know that I'm anti-FPS for the most part, but this game is a hoot.  It's like an epic game of freeze tag with a bunch of fun modes.  And with Nadeo's outstanding technology for custom content creation, this game will expand into an even more incredible game than it already is.

(And I REALLY REALLY REALLY hope that Nadeo will do something like this when the next TrackMania environment comes out... *nudge..nudge*)

Included in this release is the new and improved ManiaPlanet 2.0, Nadeo's one-stop-shop for all your Mania games, which allow quicker connection with your friends so you can spend more time playing than searching.

Quit reading already and come join the fun.  Get your copies of ShootMania ordered today while the price is discounted!

ManiaPlanet 2.0

ShootMania goes Beta; and FNG goes with it!

Near the end of last week, ShootMania went Beta.  Several Friday Night Gamers recevied keys thanks to the generosity of Nadeo, both in their beta signup and with those of us that played through the Alpha.

We spent last Friday's session playing together in the game and only had one beta key holder missing.  In attendance were:

ThatOneGuy

Mando/Scarfire

DungeonsMaster/d6Amefath3r

SpeedMonger/FragMonger

DirtyD

Ender

Joshterizermizer (which gracefully set up an alternate Mumble server for us so we could save That One Bandwidth for the ShootMania server.)

Thundr

Thundr Jr (played by Thundr)  *CACKLE!*

Atholon

DirtyD brought a friend, whose last part of his alias is "blase" but I can't remember the first (we were calling him by first name)... and ThatOneGuy, Mando and DungeonsMaster had a guest named "jared".

We hope they will join us again.

Those in attendance were scattered throughout the night, but our server was filled with the maximum 16 players for the majority of the night, and we all had a blast.

We took a short break from our server to join an Elite server and try that mode out.  It was fun, and I hope to set up our own private Elite server so we can give it another go with solely FNG to see how it plays out.

Our beta access is only good for a 7 days, so I hope all of you that have keys will join us as much as possible throughout the week, even if only for short sessions.

We might get an extension, but we're not sure how/when yet.

I will take some screenshots of us in there sometime this week.  We will give you a sneak peak of a couple of maps FragMonger made during the alpha, and are getting some nice attention from players around the world.

For those of you waiting for beta access, each week Nadeo will be giving new players beta keys, in chronological order of when they signed up on the site.  Sign-up is closed now, but those that made it in before closing should get a 7-day key before the open beta comes... so hang tight!

ShootMania E3 Tournament Prelims Stream

For those of you interested in getting a preview of the ShootMania Alpha test, Nadeo set up an invitational tournament that was broadcast online at Twitch TV to determine which teams would be invited to E3 next week to play in a Finals tournament live at the event.

They're playing in "Elite" mode, which will be explained when you watch the stream.  It's a fun concept and a fast/intense way to play for this tournament.

I can't wait to see Nadeo's ShootMania reveal at E3 (which I  imagine will happen during Ubisoft's big keynote, or whatever it is called, before the main expo begins; and where all their new games are revealed/demonstrated.)

Enjoy!

Watch live video from shootmaniastorm on TwitchTV

ShootMania Trailer Revealed

** Sign up for the beta of ShootMania: Storm! **

Yesterday, Nadeo and Ubisoft unveiled the trailer for the upcoming installment in the ManiaPlanet universe called "ShootMania".

Now, I'm not normally an advocate of First-Person Shooters, but those that know me understand that I'm a HUGE (understatement) fan of TrackMania and everything cool that Nadeo has built into that community-driven racing series.  That is obviously reason #1 that I would look into ShootMania, but there a couple of things I find very exciting about this title:

• Nadeo has taken the exiting ManiaPlanet/TrackMania engine and all content creation tools, etc. and enhanced them to function as an FPS.  The software developer geek side of me loves this, as it is a prime example of good software architecture.  But more importantly, fans of TrackMania will already be familiar with many of the game's look and feel, including the menus and tools.
• Even more importantly (to me) -- Nadeo's big push is to keep ShootMania a family-friendly game, not focused on hard-core gratuitous violence like many I've seen lately.  ShootMania: Storm looks more like a massive game of "Freeze Tag" in a way (watch the trailer and you'll see what I mean.)  The players seem to freeze, then disappear and respawn to get back in the action.

In TrackMania, Nadeo changed the way that we play racing games.  They completely removed the element of player collision and pit you against the tracks.  It is still competitve because players test their skill in completing the tracks against the other players.  ShootMania isn't any different.  Nadeo has pulled it back to the basics.  From the trailer and some other articles I've read, ShootMania: Storm will be released with 2 simple weapons, and they will leave it up to the community to go crazy and create more; and to leave them free to let their imagination run wild in creating elaborate maps to play in.  The simple play will draw both children, casual gamers and hard-core gamers alike.

This doesn't mean Nadeo hasn't thought about others.  In a video interview with Edouard Beauchemin, product manager at Nadeo, he mentions that they came up with several different weapons, but they really want this to be a community-powered content game like TrackMania is... so they're leaving it at the basics for us to make what we will.

I wouldn't be surprised, after what I've seen the community do with TrackMania, if we don't see a new genre of FPS created within ShootMania within 6 months to a year (if not sooner) of the games release this fall.

As I mentioned before, TrackMania fans will pick this game up very easily, especially those that build maps... the map editor is the same as in TrackMania, but with blocks and scripting appropriate to the ShootMania world.

The trailer is pretty exciting, especially the part where the blue team makes their epic jump over the trees to fly into a red capture point. The end is pretty awesome also.

The game is in its "alpha" stage this month, with plans to go "beta" in June.  You can sign-up to be a part of the beta at the official ShootMania website.

So enjoy the trailer, then sign up for the beta, and welcome in another great product from Nadeo!  I hope they'll be making a big reveal at E3 in a couple of weeks!

Good news for Steam lovers and DRM haters

The Big List of 3rd Party DRM on Steam

I found this today while looking up some information about the Steam versions of Thief Gold and Thief II: The Metal Age.  I want to send a shout out and a huge thank you to those that maintain and contribute to this list.  It will greatly assist those of us who despise and oppose DRM in making well-educated purchases (or in many cases, deciding against purchasing.)

For the record, which I expected, there was no DRM for these two games on the Steam version either.  Someone had posted a forum thread requesting Steam remove it, but was corrected by other players.

I hope you find this useful.  I know I will.  Especially in the rare cases when Steam omits the DRM information from the game's page.

And, as always, you can always purchase Thief Gold on GOG.com as well as Thief II on GOG.com and be guaranteed DRM-free.

Prepare for the Portal 2 Content Explosion

Valve announced today on Steam that the "Portal 2 Perpetual Testing Initiative starts now."

This means that players can create custom Portal 2 levels in a simplified editor without leaving the game.  It also allows players to upload them to the Steam Workshop which will allow other players to find/rate/download puzzles to their hearts content.

Mind you, custom content has been around for a long time for both Portal and Portal 2, but you had to know where to get it, and sometimes jump through hoops to get them working in your game.  I still want to send a shout out to sites like thinkingwithportals.com, portal2maps.net and MyApertureLabs for providing custom content until now.  They've all worked hard to make extending our Portal experience awesome; and have done a great job.

This new effort should make it much easier for all to create, find and enjoy new custom Portal 2 content, and I'm really excited to see how it works out.

So go check it out, and remember, the cake is still a lie... and potatoes are good for us all.

Dungeon Defenders: Aquanos Update Not Working (SOLVED)

Many gamers that love Dungeon Defenders were disappointed the other day after Steam downloaded the Aquanos update.  Many would try to launch the Aquanos map from their Tavern, see the game trying to load the map, then get kicked back out to the Multiplayer list screen that would allow them to select a game to join.

I found a fix on Steam's forums that worked for me, and have blogged detailed instructions at That One Tech Support Site.

The fix involves closing Steam, renaming the ClientRegistry.blob file in the Steam installation directory, relaunching Steam (forcing a recreation of the ClientRegistry.blob file and a download of the latest Steam Client Update.  You then verify the integrity of the game's cache files ... close and relaunch Steam again, then test your issue to see if it is fixed.

I hope it works for you like it did me.

This fix may work for other games you have issues with after updates as well.

Fallout - FREE for 48 hours on GOG.COM NOW!

For all Fallout fans!

Get it while it's hot!  (deal ends 07 April 2012 -- probably around 12:00pm Mountain Time)
GOG FTW!  DRM Free goodness.

Not kidding!