11 Temmuz 2012 Çarşamba
10 Temmuz 2012 Salı
9 Temmuz 2012 Pazartesi
The Way of the Chain Lightning
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Which way does Chain Lightning bounce?
The question that has plagued the curious since the dawn of Hero Academy. At first I thought it was deterministic, but the Chain Lightning started bouncing different ways depending on how I cast it. I finally decided it must be random within a single turn, with an RNG seed being passed along each turn.
But then a comment from sands got my attention. I was preparing to refute his point, and started doing some testing to support my case, but then quickly realized sands was right, the Chain Lightning is deterministic - and hours of data collection later, I present it here for you!
The way Chain Lightning bounces depends on the direction that you initially fire. Depending on which way you shoot first, you then get a "jump priority table". For every jump the lightning will start at the beginning of the list and look for targets. The first direction that presents a valid target is the direction the chain lightning will bounce.
If you shoot West: W, N, S, NW, SW, NE, SE, E
If you shoot East: E, N, S, NE, SE, NW, SW, W
If you shoot North: N, E, W, NE, NW, S, SE, SW,
If you shoot South: S, E, W, SE, SW, N, NE, NW
If you shoot NorthEast: N, E, W, S, NE, NW, SE, SW
If you shoot NorthWest: N, W, E, S, NW, NE, SW, SE
If you shoot SouthEast: E, S, N, W, SE, NE, SW, NW
If you shoot SouthWest: W, S, N, E, SW, NW, SE, NE
Realistically, the way Chain Lightning bounces is just something players fiddle with on the turn the opportunities present themselves. With the UNDO option available, it's usually just easiest to play around with casts from various angles until you get a result you like. That said, maybe somebody will find a time to make use of this - mostly likely when you're playing against a Wizard and you want to position one of your units to minimize the bounce damage it takes.
A few implications of this
The question that has plagued the curious since the dawn of Hero Academy. At first I thought it was deterministic, but the Chain Lightning started bouncing different ways depending on how I cast it. I finally decided it must be random within a single turn, with an RNG seed being passed along each turn.
But then a comment from sands got my attention. I was preparing to refute his point, and started doing some testing to support my case, but then quickly realized sands was right, the Chain Lightning is deterministic - and hours of data collection later, I present it here for you!
The way Chain Lightning bounces depends on the direction that you initially fire. Depending on which way you shoot first, you then get a "jump priority table". For every jump the lightning will start at the beginning of the list and look for targets. The first direction that presents a valid target is the direction the chain lightning will bounce.
If you shoot West: W, N, S, NW, SW, NE, SE, E
If you shoot East: E, N, S, NE, SE, NW, SW, W
If you shoot North: N, E, W, NE, NW, S, SE, SW,
If you shoot South: S, E, W, SE, SW, N, NE, NW
If you shoot NorthEast: N, E, W, S, NE, NW, SE, SW
If you shoot NorthWest: N, W, E, S, NW, NE, SW, SE
If you shoot SouthEast: E, S, N, W, SE, NE, SW, NW
If you shoot SouthWest: W, S, N, E, SW, NW, SE, NE
Realistically, the way Chain Lightning bounces is just something players fiddle with on the turn the opportunities present themselves. With the UNDO option available, it's usually just easiest to play around with casts from various angles until you get a result you like. That said, maybe somebody will find a time to make use of this - mostly likely when you're playing against a Wizard and you want to position one of your units to minimize the bounce damage it takes.
A few implications of this
- If you're not already, when you're shocking enemies into crispies with your Wizard, try shooting from different angles to see if you get more favorable results.
- The bias of lightning to bounce east rather than west makes me think there's a minuscule advantage for playing Council from the left side. I can't provide very good evidence for this, except to say that if you ever need your lightning to bounce to a third unit, it seems that bouncing towards your enemy's side has a more likely chance of finding that third target.
- If you don't like the way Chain Lightning is bouncing, and you can't get any angle to work, go with a different approach, because the situation is not going to change on a future turn. A bad bounce pattern now means a bad bounce pattern for as long as all the enemy units are in this shape.
- If you are playing against Council, once in a blue moon you can set your units in a position that makes it slightly more likely for the lightning to terminate at a spot to which it can not do a third jump. Your opponent will think they just hit some bad luck but you as the clever Council-Killer will know better. Truthfully though, such a situation rarely comes up.
- You are more likely to be able to set up a bounce-minimizing situation when assaulting from the second row from the top. Since lightning has a bias to bounce northward, you are slightly more likely to be presented with opportunities to lead lightning on your lead unit to a north-side soaker.
- Another way to use this knowledge to your advantage is to set up an East or North "lightning Rod" of units who can take it. If your units are targeted by lightning it will probably bounce down the line.
Twin Paladins
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The latest Tribes patch buffs Dwarves quite a bit. Today I'm going to present my favorite way to play the Dwarves: Pumped up Twin Paladins!
The goal is to reach a point where I have a pair of fully upgraded Paladins. They'll have Shield, Helm, Sword and be within range of each other to heal.
Fully upgraded paladins are fearsome.
To reach this point nowadays I play my Dwarves a little differently than what I've seen most people do. A lot of people I've seen have super upgraded Annihilators, Grenadiers with Swords standing on red squares, etc. To be sure, these approaches are super strong and win games and I will very often play my games this way if the opportunity presents itself. In the absence of a clear opportunity, early game I focus on dumping a lot of units out onto the board. If there are opportunities to gain an AP advantage then I'll take it. Gaining an AP advantage mostly consists of trading units, or finding ways to do more than 400 damage per action point through AOE and red swords.
Throughout this process though I try to avoid using any of my swords, shields or helms on anything but paladins. My first paladin is the most vulnerable, and I'll keep her in the back, load her with helm and shield early, and drink beer as necessary to keep her alive. The goal is to cycle as many cards as possible while keeping a reasonable AP efficiency against your opponents actions until you can get to your second paladin.
Here's a game that ended on the final units, but my upgraded paladins carried the day. Besides, what could be better than 2 Paladins? How about 3 Paladins? I hadn't saved any swords, but I guess when you have a scroll, who needs swords?
You can't cycle too fast, as you will definitely give up too much if you simply let your opponent use all 5 actions a turn stomping on your units or crystals, position so you're not a super attractive target, but make sure you're cycling through.
Much like the end game Wraith for the Dark Elves, end game Paladins are extremely difficult to stop without bursty damage.
Here's a game from before the Tribal Patch
Now with the Tribal patch, 1200 health with both 35% armor and 35% magic resist is 1846 effective health (1846 damage must be done to kill her). Keeping in mind a stomp, this means an enemy needs to do 1850 damage in 4 actions. Even an Archer with a sword (450 damage per attack) is only going to do 1800 in 4 actions
This strategy has proven to be ridiculously effective against Dark Elves.
This strategy is also effective against Humans and Dwarves. Dwarves can sometimes 'cause a problem depending on how you each use your scrolls and Pulverizers, but here's a game I played recently where my opponent did standard play with Annihilators, Sworded Grenadiers, etc. and I went as quickly as I could to triple upgraded Paladins
Double Paladins has been least successful for me vs. Tribe. The Tribe Grunts are the most effective killers of the pumped up Paladins, combined with burst damage from Bloodrage and/or meat they can often stomp even fully upgraded Paladins. In addition the Tribe Chain Heal is very effective in the early/mid game for counteracting any AOE moves the dwarves try to try and squeeze out a gradual AP advantage, so clogging the board with lots of units is not always working in your favor.
The goal is to reach a point where I have a pair of fully upgraded Paladins. They'll have Shield, Helm, Sword and be within range of each other to heal.
Fully upgraded paladins are fearsome.
- They have 1200 health
- Their aura buffs each other to 35% Armor and 35% magic resist
- Their mutual aura also buffs each other to 315 damage
- They heal for 600!
 |
| She's too sexy for this blog |
Throughout this process though I try to avoid using any of my swords, shields or helms on anything but paladins. My first paladin is the most vulnerable, and I'll keep her in the back, load her with helm and shield early, and drink beer as necessary to keep her alive. The goal is to cycle as many cards as possible while keeping a reasonable AP efficiency against your opponents actions until you can get to your second paladin.
Here's a game that ended on the final units, but my upgraded paladins carried the day. Besides, what could be better than 2 Paladins? How about 3 Paladins? I hadn't saved any swords, but I guess when you have a scroll, who needs swords?
 |
| No swords, but I have a scroll |
 |
| I'm sorry your necro is useless against 35% Magic Resist. No wait.... I'm not. |
 |
| Moar Paladins! |
Much like the end game Wraith for the Dark Elves, end game Paladins are extremely difficult to stop without bursty damage.
Here's a game from before the Tribal Patch
 |
| My crystal is lower but my twin paladins are in position |
 |
| And now I'm going to win.... |
Now with the Tribal patch, 1200 health with both 35% armor and 35% magic resist is 1846 effective health (1846 damage must be done to kill her). Keeping in mind a stomp, this means an enemy needs to do 1850 damage in 4 actions. Even an Archer with a sword (450 damage per attack) is only going to do 1800 in 4 actions
This strategy has proven to be ridiculously effective against Dark Elves.
- The Dark Elves have trouble doing much burst as their Impaler (300 damage) only has range 2
- Their "nuke" in the form of Soul Harvest is not really a damage dealer
- They do not have much physical armor, which makes them more vulnerable to the Paladin's swings
- The only unit which even comes close to posing a threat is a fully upgraded Wraith, which is easily disposed of with the assistance of your Pulverizers.
This strategy is also effective against Humans and Dwarves. Dwarves can sometimes 'cause a problem depending on how you each use your scrolls and Pulverizers, but here's a game I played recently where my opponent did standard play with Annihilators, Sworded Grenadiers, etc. and I went as quickly as I could to triple upgraded Paladins
Double Paladins has been least successful for me vs. Tribe. The Tribe Grunts are the most effective killers of the pumped up Paladins, combined with burst damage from Bloodrage and/or meat they can often stomp even fully upgraded Paladins. In addition the Tribe Chain Heal is very effective in the early/mid game for counteracting any AOE moves the dwarves try to try and squeeze out a gradual AP advantage, so clogging the board with lots of units is not always working in your favor.
Rapid Review of Books
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I've been a member of a game design book club for almost two years now. We read books at a relatively slow pace, since we're all busy working on game projects. That said, the book club has been one of the best sources of professional growth not just because of the book material, but the conversations they have inspired. Here is a review of books (some from my book club, some just personal reading) with an emphasis on evaluating strictly from a game design point of view.
The Art of Game Design: A Book of Lenses
Lots of good solid advice, and Jesse obviously has a lot of experience. If I were ever going to teach a game design course, I'd probably choose this as the textbook. Even if I'm not excited about every "lens" in the book, there's enough material to justify the price.
I have on more than one occasion considered buying a deck of cards with all the lenses, so when you're stuck on a problem you can pull out a lens to look at your design problem from a different perspective.
Freakonomics
This book holds lots of revelations on human behavior, but aside from all the interesting insights, the most enlightening lesson I got out of this book is the author's approach to data. The creativity demonstrated in finding ways to test theories that would be otherwise difficult or impossible to test is impressive and inspiring. Often as a game designer you have reams of data available but you need to ask the right questions to make sense of that data. This book cleverly illustrates how data can be used in the right hands.
Predictably Irrational
I absolutely love this book. If you watch TED.com at all, hopefully you have seen some of Dan Ariely's videos. If you haven't, go watch some right now.
The book expands on the concepts presented in the video. If the video was enough for you, great - but there's a decent amount of new material and depth compared to the video and it's an incredibly easy read. If a designer ever wonders why our players ever act so "crazy" sometimes, this helps put things into perspective.
The Design of Everyday Things
This is a classic. I read it back in one of my second year Engineering courses and it has significantly influenced the way I see the world. When somebody asks me "Do you have any book recommendations for becoming a Game Designer" this is pretty much the first book I recommend. My book club chose to read it, so I took the opportunity to re-read it. I was a bit discouraged by how dated some of the examples have become. Although the concepts are timeless, some of the examples aren't relatable to an 18-year-old because they haven't had personal experience with things like watches, phones with cords, or fax machines.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience
The fundamental premise of this book is critical for any game designer to know, but reading the whole book is not required. The lesson is so foundational, it is repeated in at least 3 other books on this list. Every game designer should familiarize themselves with the concept of Flow, but not everybody needs the gruesome detail this book offers.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Most of the lessons from this book can be extracted from videos on the internet based on the author either raw or there is also a great annotated versions. There is also a matching TED talk with similar content but is a lot funnier. Watch both and you won't need to read the book.
Awesome content? Yes. If you're intrigued and want to look further, I'd actually recommend Punished by Rewards instead. I am completely obsessed with extrinsic vs. intrinsic rewards as a result of these books. Chris Hecker gave an awesome talk at GDC in 2010 "Achievements Considered Harmful?" that drew some connections between Motivation and Game Design.
How We Decide
This was my favorite book of 2011. There are mountains of Game Design lessons in here. If Sid Meier is quoted as saying a game is a "Series of interesting choices", shouldn't we take the time to learn how humans go about making those decisions? What happens when I have to decide under pressure? How much does presentation matter? How about the user's mood? What happens when players have more choices? Fewer choices? No choices? Irrelevant options? How does information affect choices, social situations, context?
If you're not sure whether you want to invest the time, watch this video first, if it strikes your fancy - get the book - you won't regret it.
Mistakes Were Made
This book surprised me with it's relevance to game development. Though it contains no direct game design lessons, it contains the secrets to being a great game designer. Here are some qualities I look for in a great designer that are touched on in one form or another in this book:
The Art of Game Design: A Book of LensesLots of good solid advice, and Jesse obviously has a lot of experience. If I were ever going to teach a game design course, I'd probably choose this as the textbook. Even if I'm not excited about every "lens" in the book, there's enough material to justify the price.
I have on more than one occasion considered buying a deck of cards with all the lenses, so when you're stuck on a problem you can pull out a lens to look at your design problem from a different perspective.
FreakonomicsThis book holds lots of revelations on human behavior, but aside from all the interesting insights, the most enlightening lesson I got out of this book is the author's approach to data. The creativity demonstrated in finding ways to test theories that would be otherwise difficult or impossible to test is impressive and inspiring. Often as a game designer you have reams of data available but you need to ask the right questions to make sense of that data. This book cleverly illustrates how data can be used in the right hands.
Predictably IrrationalI absolutely love this book. If you watch TED.com at all, hopefully you have seen some of Dan Ariely's videos. If you haven't, go watch some right now.
The book expands on the concepts presented in the video. If the video was enough for you, great - but there's a decent amount of new material and depth compared to the video and it's an incredibly easy read. If a designer ever wonders why our players ever act so "crazy" sometimes, this helps put things into perspective.
The Design of Everyday ThingsThis is a classic. I read it back in one of my second year Engineering courses and it has significantly influenced the way I see the world. When somebody asks me "Do you have any book recommendations for becoming a Game Designer" this is pretty much the first book I recommend. My book club chose to read it, so I took the opportunity to re-read it. I was a bit discouraged by how dated some of the examples have become. Although the concepts are timeless, some of the examples aren't relatable to an 18-year-old because they haven't had personal experience with things like watches, phones with cords, or fax machines.
Flow: The Psychology of Optimal ExperienceThe fundamental premise of this book is critical for any game designer to know, but reading the whole book is not required. The lesson is so foundational, it is repeated in at least 3 other books on this list. Every game designer should familiarize themselves with the concept of Flow, but not everybody needs the gruesome detail this book offers.
Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates UsMost of the lessons from this book can be extracted from videos on the internet based on the author either raw or there is also a great annotated versions. There is also a matching TED talk with similar content but is a lot funnier. Watch both and you won't need to read the book.
Awesome content? Yes. If you're intrigued and want to look further, I'd actually recommend Punished by Rewards instead. I am completely obsessed with extrinsic vs. intrinsic rewards as a result of these books. Chris Hecker gave an awesome talk at GDC in 2010 "Achievements Considered Harmful?" that drew some connections between Motivation and Game Design.
How We DecideThis was my favorite book of 2011. There are mountains of Game Design lessons in here. If Sid Meier is quoted as saying a game is a "Series of interesting choices", shouldn't we take the time to learn how humans go about making those decisions? What happens when I have to decide under pressure? How much does presentation matter? How about the user's mood? What happens when players have more choices? Fewer choices? No choices? Irrelevant options? How does information affect choices, social situations, context?
If you're not sure whether you want to invest the time, watch this video first, if it strikes your fancy - get the book - you won't regret it.
Mistakes Were MadeThis book surprised me with it's relevance to game development. Though it contains no direct game design lessons, it contains the secrets to being a great game designer. Here are some qualities I look for in a great designer that are touched on in one form or another in this book:
- Willingness to take risks, a willingness to fail.
- Takes feedback well from other people
- Understands that not everybody thinks the same way as you, and being able to see things from another person's perspective
- Self-awareness of how our own biases affect our decision making. The worst of which is "confirmation bias", our natural tendency to selectively hold on to evidence that confirms our pre-existing notions and views rather than taking a genuinely objective view on problems.
- The humility to admit when you were wrong, with the ability to quickly refocus on constructive solutions - as well as the grace to let other people back down from positions they held.
Avengers as League of Legends Champions
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edit 5/13/2012. A revised version has been posted here
The Avengers is awesome. League of Legends is pretty awesome too. Just for fun, the Avengers as LoL Champions! (note: powers listed are based on the movie, not the comic book.).
SPOILER ALERT: Some of the abilities have light movie spoilers.
Cooldown timers are approximate to communicate intent.
The HulkPassive: Whenever the Hulk takes damage, his attack damage is increased by 5% of the damage sustained. This effect can build indefinitely, but resets when the Hulk has not taken damage for 5 seconds.Punch [Q]: On an enemy, deals 30 (+AD) damage and knock them back. When used on an ally Punch deals no damage but can still knock that ally back. 8 second cooldown.
Inspired by the great Ally Punch scene in the movie. In this context it can be used to punch an ally to safety, to catch up to an enemy, or to push your ally through a thin brush line, etc.Leap [W]: Leap to a location, dealing 60 (+AD) damage to enemies where he lands. 14 second cooldown.Mighty Roar [E]: Passive: The hulk regenerates 2 Life per second. Active: The Hulk lets out a mighty roar, removing all CC effects from himself and nearby allies. 25 second cooldown.
Melee range allies, mostly used for waking up allies who just fell from the sky after redirecting nuclear missilesAdopted God Flip Flop [R]: Grab an enemy and toss it back and forth dealing 40 (+AD) per slam. 90 second cooldown.
Works a bit like a Singed Toss, but with a Warwick/Skarner style CC to it as well as it lasts for a second or two.
Additional Commentary: I played around with some Bruce / Hulk transformation designs but didn't like the way it was working out. It started to have the Lee Sin / Nidalee complexity of 2 functions tied to every ability on top of requiring an enrage mechanic. So instead I chose to just go with a straight Hulk design that exaggerates my favorite moments from the movie instead. Finally, I had a lot of trouble coming up with a way to properly capture the "totally invincible juggernaut" fantasy, so I totally failed on that front.
Iron ManPassive: Iron Man's suit uses energy to bolster his defenses. Iron Man gains 5% of his AP as Armor and Magic Resist.Laser Torch [Q]: Fire a Laser Beam that deals 120 (+AP) damage to the first target in its path and mark it with Guidance System for 3 seconds. Laser Torch deals 50% more damage if the target is also suffering from Missile Barrage. 8 second cooldownMissile Barrage [W]: Launch 3 missiles at nearby targets for 80 (+AP) damage over 3 seconds. If there is an enemy with Guidance System on it, all 3 missiles will launch to it. 8 second cooldownBillionaire Philanthropist [E]: Passive. Gain an additional 1/2/4/6 gold every 10 secondsOrbital Unibeam Targeting Array [R]: Lasers from overhead satellites instantly damage all enemy heroes for 50 (+AP) damage, places the Guidance System debuff on them and reveals their location on the map for 3 seconds. 120 second cooldown.Additional Commentary: Ranged AP Nuker. Probably could have been built as a melee hero from a lore standpoint and also how he's depicted in the movie, but the other champions turned out so melee oriented I figured I'd design Iron Man ranged. The damage on his ultimate is deliberately on the low side, I feel bad because it overlaps Karthas' ult a lot, which made me not want to do it. The Ultimate started as simply a full map reveal, but that didn't feel sexy enough, which is what led to adding damage and Guidance System. Not entirely happy with this one.
ThorPassive: Thor wields the mighty Mjolnir. While wielding Mjolnir, 15% of Thor's Ability Power is added to his Attack DamageMjolnir Throw / Mjolnir Return [Q]: Throw your hammer dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path. The hammer will remain at it's ending location until you cast Mjolnir Return, which brings the hammer back to you dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path.. 6 second cooldown.
Mjolnir will sit on the map indefinitely. The hammer is a visible object in the world, but players may not interact with it. Mjolnir Throw has a standard medium-range skill shot range, but Mjolnir Return has infinite range (it returns to wherever Thor is at the time he casts it). Slight variant to Orianna's ball. Thor has a small sight radius around Mjolnir.Control of Lightning [W]: Toggled. Melee attacks discharge a chain lightning dealing 40(+AP) damage to 3 targets. 8 mana cost per swing. Dimensional Portal [E]: If you are wielding Mjolnir, drops Mjolnir on the ground. If you are not wielding Mjolnir, instantly teleports you to Mjolnir and you pick it up. 25 second cooldown.Mjolnir Smite [R]: Only usable if Thor is wielding Mjolnir, Mjolnir falls from the sky and smashes target Champion for 300 (+AP) damage. Usable anywhere on the map. 90 second cooldown.
Additional Commentary: Melee AP brawler with ranged abilities. I knew I wanted to do the hammer return, because they play that up in the movie a lot, but it was really hard to make hammer return work in terms of 4 abilities on a LoL champion. In the comic book Lore, Thor could spin his hammer to create a dimensional portal to travel. I wasn't sure how to make that work, but I could see Thor vanishing in a flash of lightning from a departure location and then a bolt of lightning comes down from the sky and allows Thor to materialize at his destination. I think the final kit came out so-so on both the mechanics and aesthetic front. Basically trying to do the Hammer Return that had value to a Hammer out in the world still feels a bit forced, but maybe it's 'cause I've been staring at the design all day.
Captain AmericaPassive: Enemy Champion ranged basic attacks that pass through Captain America hit Captain America instead.Shield Throw [Q]: Throw your shield at an enemy for 60 (+AD) damage. The shield will bounce at up to 2 additional enemies before returning back to you. 10 second cooldown.Vibranium Dissipation [W]: Captain America can no longer move or attack but becomes immune to all damage and spells in front of him. Lasts until Captain America attempts to move. 8 second cooldown.
The spell is activated like a short-range skill-shot nuke, which is done primarily to help determine the facing of Captain America. He puts his shield up and faces the direction cast. All damage originating in a 180 degree angle from that direction is negated. Shield Slash [E]: Slash an enemy with your shield for 30 (+AD) damage and silence that enemy for 2 seconds. 9/7/5/3 second cooldown.Personal Sacrifice [R]: All damage done to nearby friendly champions is redirected to Captain America instead for 2 seconds. 120 second cooldown.Additional Commentary: He's got a shield, he likes to protect people, so he's gotta be a tank.
The Avengers is awesome. League of Legends is pretty awesome too. Just for fun, the Avengers as LoL Champions! (note: powers listed are based on the movie, not the comic book.).
SPOILER ALERT: Some of the abilities have light movie spoilers.
Cooldown timers are approximate to communicate intent.
The HulkPassive: Whenever the Hulk takes damage, his attack damage is increased by 5% of the damage sustained. This effect can build indefinitely, but resets when the Hulk has not taken damage for 5 seconds.Punch [Q]: On an enemy, deals 30 (+AD) damage and knock them back. When used on an ally Punch deals no damage but can still knock that ally back. 8 second cooldown.Inspired by the great Ally Punch scene in the movie. In this context it can be used to punch an ally to safety, to catch up to an enemy, or to push your ally through a thin brush line, etc.Leap [W]: Leap to a location, dealing 60 (+AD) damage to enemies where he lands. 14 second cooldown.Mighty Roar [E]: Passive: The hulk regenerates 2 Life per second. Active: The Hulk lets out a mighty roar, removing all CC effects from himself and nearby allies. 25 second cooldown.
Melee range allies, mostly used for waking up allies who just fell from the sky after redirecting nuclear missilesAdopted God Flip Flop [R]: Grab an enemy and toss it back and forth dealing 40 (+AD) per slam. 90 second cooldown.
Works a bit like a Singed Toss, but with a Warwick/Skarner style CC to it as well as it lasts for a second or two.
Additional Commentary: I played around with some Bruce / Hulk transformation designs but didn't like the way it was working out. It started to have the Lee Sin / Nidalee complexity of 2 functions tied to every ability on top of requiring an enrage mechanic. So instead I chose to just go with a straight Hulk design that exaggerates my favorite moments from the movie instead. Finally, I had a lot of trouble coming up with a way to properly capture the "totally invincible juggernaut" fantasy, so I totally failed on that front.
Iron ManPassive: Iron Man's suit uses energy to bolster his defenses. Iron Man gains 5% of his AP as Armor and Magic Resist.Laser Torch [Q]: Fire a Laser Beam that deals 120 (+AP) damage to the first target in its path and mark it with Guidance System for 3 seconds. Laser Torch deals 50% more damage if the target is also suffering from Missile Barrage. 8 second cooldownMissile Barrage [W]: Launch 3 missiles at nearby targets for 80 (+AP) damage over 3 seconds. If there is an enemy with Guidance System on it, all 3 missiles will launch to it. 8 second cooldownBillionaire Philanthropist [E]: Passive. Gain an additional 1/2/4/6 gold every 10 secondsOrbital Unibeam Targeting Array [R]: Lasers from overhead satellites instantly damage all enemy heroes for 50 (+AP) damage, places the Guidance System debuff on them and reveals their location on the map for 3 seconds. 120 second cooldown.Additional Commentary: Ranged AP Nuker. Probably could have been built as a melee hero from a lore standpoint and also how he's depicted in the movie, but the other champions turned out so melee oriented I figured I'd design Iron Man ranged. The damage on his ultimate is deliberately on the low side, I feel bad because it overlaps Karthas' ult a lot, which made me not want to do it. The Ultimate started as simply a full map reveal, but that didn't feel sexy enough, which is what led to adding damage and Guidance System. Not entirely happy with this one.ThorPassive: Thor wields the mighty Mjolnir. While wielding Mjolnir, 15% of Thor's Ability Power is added to his Attack DamageMjolnir Throw / Mjolnir Return [Q]: Throw your hammer dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path. The hammer will remain at it's ending location until you cast Mjolnir Return, which brings the hammer back to you dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path.. 6 second cooldown.Mjolnir will sit on the map indefinitely. The hammer is a visible object in the world, but players may not interact with it. Mjolnir Throw has a standard medium-range skill shot range, but Mjolnir Return has infinite range (it returns to wherever Thor is at the time he casts it). Slight variant to Orianna's ball. Thor has a small sight radius around Mjolnir.Control of Lightning [W]: Toggled. Melee attacks discharge a chain lightning dealing 40(+AP) damage to 3 targets. 8 mana cost per swing. Dimensional Portal [E]: If you are wielding Mjolnir, drops Mjolnir on the ground. If you are not wielding Mjolnir, instantly teleports you to Mjolnir and you pick it up. 25 second cooldown.Mjolnir Smite [R]: Only usable if Thor is wielding Mjolnir, Mjolnir falls from the sky and smashes target Champion for 300 (+AP) damage. Usable anywhere on the map. 90 second cooldown.
Additional Commentary: Melee AP brawler with ranged abilities. I knew I wanted to do the hammer return, because they play that up in the movie a lot, but it was really hard to make hammer return work in terms of 4 abilities on a LoL champion. In the comic book Lore, Thor could spin his hammer to create a dimensional portal to travel. I wasn't sure how to make that work, but I could see Thor vanishing in a flash of lightning from a departure location and then a bolt of lightning comes down from the sky and allows Thor to materialize at his destination. I think the final kit came out so-so on both the mechanics and aesthetic front. Basically trying to do the Hammer Return that had value to a Hammer out in the world still feels a bit forced, but maybe it's 'cause I've been staring at the design all day.
Captain AmericaPassive: Enemy Champion ranged basic attacks that pass through Captain America hit Captain America instead.Shield Throw [Q]: Throw your shield at an enemy for 60 (+AD) damage. The shield will bounce at up to 2 additional enemies before returning back to you. 10 second cooldown.Vibranium Dissipation [W]: Captain America can no longer move or attack but becomes immune to all damage and spells in front of him. Lasts until Captain America attempts to move. 8 second cooldown.The spell is activated like a short-range skill-shot nuke, which is done primarily to help determine the facing of Captain America. He puts his shield up and faces the direction cast. All damage originating in a 180 degree angle from that direction is negated. Shield Slash [E]: Slash an enemy with your shield for 30 (+AD) damage and silence that enemy for 2 seconds. 9/7/5/3 second cooldown.Personal Sacrifice [R]: All damage done to nearby friendly champions is redirected to Captain America instead for 2 seconds. 120 second cooldown.Additional Commentary: He's got a shield, he likes to protect people, so he's gotta be a tank.
Avengers as League Champions REVISED 2.0
To contact us Click HERE
So I wasn't going to make a whole other post about my LoL Avengers Champions, but I went to see the movie a second time! I figure hey - if I can see the movie a second time, doesn't that mean I can do a design pass on my Champions too? Besides, design is about iteration - we'll consider my first pass a piece of garbage, and we'll call this one cleaned up garbage.
For convenience I did strikeout over deleted sections and posted new things in revision purple.
The HulkPassive: Whenever the Hulk takes damage, his attack damage is increased by 5% of the damage sustained. This effect can build indefinitely, but resets when the Hulk has not taken damage for 5 seconds. The hulk gains 2 Armor and 2 Magic Resistance every second while dealing or receiving damage. This effect can build indefinitely and resets when the Hulk has not dealt or taken damage for 3 seconds.Punch Smash![Q]: On an enemy, deals 30 (+AD) damage and knock them back. When used on an ally Punch deals no damage but can still knock that ally back. 8 second cooldown.
Inspired by the great Ally Punch scene in the movie. In this context it can be used to punch an ally to safety, to catch up to an enemy, or to push your ally through a thin brush line, etc.Leap! [W]: Leap to a location, dealing 60 (+AD) damage to enemies where he lands. 14 second cooldown.Mighty Roar! [E]: Passive: The hulk regenerates 2 Life per second. Active: The Hulk lets out a mighty roar, removing all CC effects from himself and nearby allies. 25 second cooldown.
Melee range allies, mostly used for waking up allies who just fell from the sky after redirecting nuclear missilesAdopted God Flip Flop [R]: Grab an enemy and toss it back and forth dealing 40 (+AD) per slam. 90 second cooldown.
Works a bit like a Singed Toss, but with a Warwick/Skarner style CC to it as well as it lasts for a second or two.
Iron ManPassive: Iron Man's suit uses energy to bolster his defenses. Iron Man gains 5% of his AP as Armor and Magic Resist. Intelligence Gathering. Iron Man has superior tracking and sensors. Iron Man gains vision of enemies affected by Laser Torch or Missile Barrage for 3 seconds.Laser Torch [Q]: Fire a Laser Beam that deals 120 (+AP) damage to the first target in its path and mark it with Guidance System for 3 seconds. Laser Torch deals 50% more damage if the target is also suffering from Missile Barrage. 8 second cooldown 15 second cooldownMissile Barrage [W]: Launch 3 missiles at nearby targets for 80 (+AP) damage over 3 seconds. If there is an enemy with Guidance System on it, all 3 missiles will launch to it. 8 second cooldownBillionaire Philanthropist [E]: Passive. Gain an additional 1/2/4/6 2/3/4/5 gold every 10 seconds. Does not work while Active portion is on cooldown. Active. Drop a Sight Ward. Cooldown 180/150/120/90 seconds.Orbital Unibeam Targeting Array [R]: Lasers from overhead satellites instantly damage all enemy heroes for 50 (+AP) damage, places the Guidance System debuff on them and reveals their location on the map for
3 seconds. 120 second cooldown.
Rocket Jet Boots [R]: Take flight for 5 seconds increasing movement speed by 20% and allowing you to ignore collision. 120 second cooldown.Feedback that his ult was too much like Karthas I think was totally valid, and I think it's more interesting to try and play out some targeted missiles mechanic. He doesn't have any mobility yet, and while watching the movie I realized Iron Man was the only human that can "fly". I'm not sure how the LoL engine handles collision with trees, since no other hero can currently fly over trees I'm assuming there are issues? If you lose flight while over trees I'd search the closest open landing spot and land there.
ThorPassive: Thor wields the mighty Mjolnir. While wielding Mjolnir, 15% of Thor's Ability Power is added to his Attack DamageMjolnir Throw / Mjolnir Return [Q]: Throw your hammer dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path. The hammer will remain at it's ending location until you cast Mjolnir Return, which brings the hammer back to you dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path.. 6 second cooldown.
Mjolnir will sit on the map indefinitely. The hammer is a visible object in the world, but players may not interact with it. Mjolnir Throw has a standard medium-range skill shot range, but Mjolnir Return has infinite range (it returns to wherever Thor is at the time he casts it). Slight variant to Orianna's ball. Thor has a small sight radius around Mjolnir.Control of Lightning Lightning Burst [W]: Toggled. Melee attacks discharge a chain lightning dealing 40(+AP) damage to 3 targets. 8 mana cost per swing. Let out a burst of lightning that electrocutes all enemies for 40 (+AP) in a cone in front of you.Dimensional Portal [E]: If you are wielding Mjolnir, drops Mjolnir on the ground. If you are not wielding Mjolnir, instantly teleports you to Mjolnir and you pick it up. 25 second cooldown.Mjolnir Smite [R]: Only usable if Thor is wielding Mjolnir, Mjolnir falls from the sky and smashes target Champion for 300 (+AP) damage and stunning the target for 2 seconds.. Usable anywhere on the map. 90 90/75/60 second cooldown.
I realized that the "usable anywhere on the map" doesn't actually add anything. A simple ranged stun move, combined with the rest of the kit, is plenty.
Captain AmericaPassive: Enemy Champion ranged basic attacks that pass through Captain America hit Captain America instead.Shield Throw [Q]: Throw your shield at an enemy for 60 (+AD) damage. The shield will bounce at up to 2 additional enemies before returning back to you. All targets struck will be silenced slowed for 2 seconds. 10 15 second cooldown.Vibranium Dissipation [W]: Captain America can no longer move or attack but becomes immune to all damage and spells in front of him for 1 second. 18 second cooldown Lasts until Captain America attempts to move. 8 second cooldown.
The spell is activated like a short-range skill-shot nuke, which is done primarily to help determine the facing of Captain America. He puts his shield up and faces the direction cast. All damage originating in a 180 degree angle from that direction is negated.Shield Slash [E]: Slash an enemy with your shield for 30 (+AD) damage and silence that enemy for 2 seconds. 9/7/5/3 second cooldown.
Defensive Roll [E]: Roll to target location. Any enemy at the target location is pushed back and slowed for 3 seconds. 8 second cooldown.
Most of the kit is built on his passive, which blocks ranged basics. To really make use of this Captain America benefits from a skill that lets him get in between enemies and his teammates, as well as a way to create a distance to help peel enemies off his friends. The small knockback on enemies at the target location is intended to be extremely small, probably just the width of Captain America himself (like if a melee hero is on an ally, he can just inserts himself in between them)Personal Sacrifice [R]: All damage done to nearby friendly champions is redirected to Captain America instead for 2 seconds. 120 second cooldown.
Beacon of Hope [R]: Captain America inspires his team, decreasing all damage taken by 15% for 5 seconds. 20 second cooldown.I'm still not happy with this Ultimate. Needs more work still.
So I wasn't going to make a whole other post about my LoL Avengers Champions, but I went to see the movie a second time! I figure hey - if I can see the movie a second time, doesn't that mean I can do a design pass on my Champions too? Besides, design is about iteration - we'll consider my first pass a piece of garbage, and we'll call this one cleaned up garbage.
For convenience I did strikeout over deleted sections and posted new things in revision purple.
The HulkPassive: Inspired by the great Ally Punch scene in the movie. In this context it can be used to punch an ally to safety, to catch up to an enemy, or to push your ally through a thin brush line, etc.Leap! [W]: Leap to a location, dealing 60 (+AD) damage to enemies where he lands. 14 second cooldown.
Melee range allies, mostly used for waking up allies who just fell from the sky after redirecting nuclear missilesAdopted God Flip Flop [R]: Grab an enemy and toss it back and forth dealing 40 (+AD) per slam. 90 second cooldown.
Works a bit like a Singed Toss, but with a Warwick/Skarner style CC to it as well as it lasts for a second or two.
Iron ManPassive: Rocket Jet Boots [R]: Take flight for 5 seconds increasing movement speed by 20% and allowing you to ignore collision. 120 second cooldown.Feedback that his ult was too much like Karthas I think was totally valid, and I think it's more interesting to try and play out some targeted missiles mechanic. He doesn't have any mobility yet, and while watching the movie I realized Iron Man was the only human that can "fly". I'm not sure how the LoL engine handles collision with trees, since no other hero can currently fly over trees I'm assuming there are issues? If you lose flight while over trees I'd search the closest open landing spot and land there.
ThorPassive: Thor wields the mighty Mjolnir. While wielding Mjolnir, 15% of Thor's Ability Power is added to his Attack DamageMjolnir Throw / Mjolnir Return [Q]: Throw your hammer dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path. The hammer will remain at it's ending location until you cast Mjolnir Return, which brings the hammer back to you dealing 70 (+AP) damage to all enemies along the path.. 6 second cooldown.Mjolnir will sit on the map indefinitely. The hammer is a visible object in the world, but players may not interact with it. Mjolnir Throw has a standard medium-range skill shot range, but Mjolnir Return has infinite range (it returns to wherever Thor is at the time he casts it). Slight variant to Orianna's ball. Thor has a small sight radius around Mjolnir.
I realized that the "usable anywhere on the map" doesn't actually add anything. A simple ranged stun move, combined with the rest of the kit, is plenty.
Captain AmericaPassive: Enemy Champion ranged basic attacks that pass through Captain America hit Captain America instead.Shield Throw [Q]: Throw your shield at an enemy for 60 (+AD) damage. The shield will bounce at up to 2 additional enemies before returning back to you. All targets struck will be The spell is activated like a short-range skill-shot nuke, which is done primarily to help determine the facing of Captain America. He puts his shield up and faces the direction cast. All damage originating in a 180 degree angle from that direction is negated.
Defensive Roll [E]: Roll to target location. Any enemy at the target location is pushed back and slowed for 3 seconds. 8 second cooldown.
Most of the kit is built on his passive, which blocks ranged basics. To really make use of this Captain America benefits from a skill that lets him get in between enemies and his teammates, as well as a way to create a distance to help peel enemies off his friends. The small knockback on enemies at the target location is intended to be extremely small, probably just the width of Captain America himself (like if a melee hero is on an ally, he can just inserts himself in between them)
Beacon of Hope [R]: Captain America inspires his team, decreasing all damage taken by 15% for 5 seconds. 20 second cooldown.I'm still not happy with this Ultimate. Needs more work still.
8 Temmuz 2012 Pazar
AirMech
To contact us Click HERE
AirMech is an interesting little F2P title from Carbon Games.
You fly Mechs, these Mechs range from bombers to choppers and even saucers.
In the main PvP mode, the objective is to roflstomp all over the enemy base, to do this however, one must protect his own base while capturing other facilities on the map.
Other facilities provide you with resources for you to keep building up your army.
Now while this game is tactical and strategic, it is not a RTS and the way you go about controlling units is quite interesting. You build units by tapping one of the hotkeys (1-8) and the corresponding unit will then be sent to the build que. Once done (a few seconds) you can pick up that unit and physically drop them anywhere on the map.
You are generally limited to carrying only three smaller units or one larger one, say a tank.
This allows for fairly tactical gameplay, you need four infantry to capture a base, so you can just fly on by and drop a few units behind enemy lines and cut of support from their main base, of course they will not survive long, but if you do capture a base between the enemy's main base and his front line, consider his reinforcements null.
There is the all out rush that most people seem to prefer, spam tanks and units in your base and slowly build them up as they roll towards the enemy in an unstoppable spear right to their base, just because theres too many to take down. Lastly, the dirty play, most pilots leave their base undefended or with only one or two turrets, confident their front lines will hold. Using this flaw in their plan, you can simply fly in and drop a turret or a few tanks behind the base and simply attack their main base directly from there.
Dirty? Yes
But all is fair in love and war.
You can issue orders to units that your holding, patrol, attack, defend and capture but most of these are moot. Simply dropping units will leave them stationary, patrol takes too much time with little outcome beneficial enough and normal units bar infantry cannot capture, not to mention the hotkeys are very awkwardly placed on the keyboard.
The game is fun and what blew my mind the most? It is only 75MB.
That and its F2P and still in beta.
Looks very solid so far.
----------------------
Register: https://carbongames.com/signup.html?id=ND1Razor
Referral Code: 62Y2-M354-QCNV-3R4S (redeem in the store or after you register)
(Can someone let me know what the referral code gives you as it does not specify)
AirMech is an interesting little F2P title from Carbon Games.
You fly Mechs, these Mechs range from bombers to choppers and even saucers.
In the main PvP mode, the objective is to roflstomp all over the enemy base, to do this however, one must protect his own base while capturing other facilities on the map.
Other facilities provide you with resources for you to keep building up your army.
Now while this game is tactical and strategic, it is not a RTS and the way you go about controlling units is quite interesting. You build units by tapping one of the hotkeys (1-8) and the corresponding unit will then be sent to the build que. Once done (a few seconds) you can pick up that unit and physically drop them anywhere on the map.
You are generally limited to carrying only three smaller units or one larger one, say a tank.
This allows for fairly tactical gameplay, you need four infantry to capture a base, so you can just fly on by and drop a few units behind enemy lines and cut of support from their main base, of course they will not survive long, but if you do capture a base between the enemy's main base and his front line, consider his reinforcements null.
There is the all out rush that most people seem to prefer, spam tanks and units in your base and slowly build them up as they roll towards the enemy in an unstoppable spear right to their base, just because theres too many to take down. Lastly, the dirty play, most pilots leave their base undefended or with only one or two turrets, confident their front lines will hold. Using this flaw in their plan, you can simply fly in and drop a turret or a few tanks behind the base and simply attack their main base directly from there.
Dirty? Yes
But all is fair in love and war.
You can issue orders to units that your holding, patrol, attack, defend and capture but most of these are moot. Simply dropping units will leave them stationary, patrol takes too much time with little outcome beneficial enough and normal units bar infantry cannot capture, not to mention the hotkeys are very awkwardly placed on the keyboard.
The game is fun and what blew my mind the most? It is only 75MB.
That and its F2P and still in beta.
Looks very solid so far.
----------------------
Register: https://carbongames.com/signup.html?id=ND1Razor
Referral Code: 62Y2-M354-QCNV-3R4S (redeem in the store or after you register)
(Can someone let me know what the referral code gives you as it does not specify)
PHP and Apache: How to fix the "missing php5apache2_2.dll"
To contact us Click HERE
So you got PHP and Apache and you are missing "php5apache2_2.dll".
The solution is simple, you downloaded the wrong PHP version and this is why you are missing "php5apache2_2.dll" .
according to http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.manual.php, the "non thread safe" version doesn't have "php5apache2_2.dll".
Therefor you need to download the "thread safe" version and you will have "php5apache2_2.dll".
You can download it from http://windows.php.net/download/ (windows).
The solution is simple, you downloaded the wrong PHP version and this is why you are missing "php5apache2_2.dll" .
according to http://www.php.net/manual/en/install.windows.manual.php, the "non thread safe" version doesn't have "php5apache2_2.dll".
Therefor you need to download the "thread safe" version and you will have "php5apache2_2.dll".
You can download it from http://windows.php.net/download/ (windows).
Half-Life 2: Deathmatch and Half-Life 2: Lost Coast for FREE!
To contact us Click HERE
For limited time (already lasting for few years), Steam offers ATI and Nvidia users who will register new free account the games "Half-Life 2: Deathmatch" and "Half-Life 2: Lost Coast" for free!
This will also let you download third party mods like "Insurgency", which is even better then HL2:DM in my opinion, and "Dystopia", which require you to have source engine game installed. (haven't checked it)
Even if you already got Steam account with these games, I would recommend registering new account to take the offer. Later you will be able to give this account to your friends who doesn't have these games to play together.
Here are the links to the offers:
Nvidia offer
ATI offer
And here's a video of Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
For limited time (already lasting for few years), Steam offers ATI and Nvidia users who will register new free account the games "Half-Life 2: Deathmatch" and "Half-Life 2: Lost Coast" for free!This will also let you download third party mods like "Insurgency", which is even better then HL2:DM in my opinion, and "Dystopia", which require you to have source engine game installed. (haven't checked it)
Even if you already got Steam account with these games, I would recommend registering new account to take the offer. Later you will be able to give this account to your friends who doesn't have these games to play together.
Here are the links to the offers:
Nvidia offer
ATI offer
And here's a video of Half-Life 2: Deathmatch
Amulets and Armor Character Editor v0.1
To contact us Click HERE
v0.2 Released!
*THIS IS THE VERY FIRST VERSION AND IT DOESN'T WORK WELL! TRY NEWER VERSION INSTEAD!*
It's been a while science I released any program.
I made a character save editor for the game "Amulets and Armor".
I did it mainly for learning to use windows forms, and refresh my knowledge with file editing.
v0.1 includes:
Edit name
Edit password
Edit money on you character
Edit money in your bank
your saved files found in:
...\Amulets and Armor\S0000000\
Download
I hope you'll enjoy it!
*THIS IS THE VERY FIRST VERSION AND IT DOESN'T WORK WELL! TRY NEWER VERSION INSTEAD!*
It's been a while science I released any program.
I made a character save editor for the game "Amulets and Armor".
I did it mainly for learning to use windows forms, and refresh my knowledge with file editing.
v0.1 includes:
Edit name
Edit password
Edit money on you character
Edit money in your bank
your saved files found in:
...\Amulets and Armor\S0000000\
I hope you'll enjoy it!
Duke Nukem Forever - First Look
To contact us Click HERE
First of all I must say I'm disappointed.
After I viewed the 2001 trailer and the recent trailer I was expecting fast paced hardcore action game.
Well, by videos I've seen on YouTube it isn't. it is far, far away from being such a thing.
First of all is the health system, it's a god mode.
Your EGO (health) regenerates after a short while, and when it runs empty you go on a red bar that seems to never end, and it regenerates too.
I've seen players on youtube getting raped and not dying, being blasted by bosses, being shot by multiple enemies and simply regenerate.
Back when I played Duke Nukem 3D it was enough to meet a pigman after you carelessly jump into a corner to make you look for medkit.
This also bring another issue I have with this game, the AI.
It seems way to easy to fight. I was expecting some badass enemies that are capable to rip you to pieces unless you have the guts to charge at them. They are stationary targets. This is not the challenge I was hoping for.
And what's with the babes bullshit? they took it way too far then what it was meant to be by making it the main idea.
They targeted some 13 years old kids? I was expecting strippers and hookers but not "Hey! These are my babes!". Come on it's an immature joke.
Also in Duken Nukem Forever, Duke's punchlines sucks, seriously.
Also do not mistake, the original Duke Nukem games were made by 3D Realms. 3D Realms staff was fired back in 2007 for taking their time on Duke Nukem Forever.
Although this game carries the Duke Nukem's title, it wasn't made with the same spirit.
The original goal of 3D Realms was to make games for adults, do what they want to see in their games as adults.
When Gearbox (the developers of Duke Nukem Forever) tried to understand what it means they got it wrong.
It isn't about "saving babes" like they did. If you look back in Duke Nukem 3D it was about paying strippers to show their boobs, and then blowing them up for the lulz.
The only thing that is good about this game is the graphics, and graphics without good gameplay is worthless.
This game is almost casual by my terms, it's noob friendly with this god mode regeneration thing, this is not Duke Nukem.
If you want to play a real Duke Nukem game get Duke Nukem 3D.
And for compression here's a video of the 2001 trailer, looks fantastically awesome.
The original Duke Nukem theme, the original development team (3D Realms), the real stuff:
The Duke Nukem Forever 2011 trailer, looks good:
And Duke Nukem Forever gameplay video, dude getting raped several times, boring gameplay. After all, it's harder to die then getting killed so there is no thrill in the battles:
After I viewed the 2001 trailer and the recent trailer I was expecting fast paced hardcore action game.
Well, by videos I've seen on YouTube it isn't. it is far, far away from being such a thing.
First of all is the health system, it's a god mode.
Your EGO (health) regenerates after a short while, and when it runs empty you go on a red bar that seems to never end, and it regenerates too.
I've seen players on youtube getting raped and not dying, being blasted by bosses, being shot by multiple enemies and simply regenerate.
Back when I played Duke Nukem 3D it was enough to meet a pigman after you carelessly jump into a corner to make you look for medkit.
This also bring another issue I have with this game, the AI.
It seems way to easy to fight. I was expecting some badass enemies that are capable to rip you to pieces unless you have the guts to charge at them. They are stationary targets. This is not the challenge I was hoping for.
And what's with the babes bullshit? they took it way too far then what it was meant to be by making it the main idea.
They targeted some 13 years old kids? I was expecting strippers and hookers but not "Hey! These are my babes!". Come on it's an immature joke.
Also in Duken Nukem Forever, Duke's punchlines sucks, seriously.
Also do not mistake, the original Duke Nukem games were made by 3D Realms. 3D Realms staff was fired back in 2007 for taking their time on Duke Nukem Forever.
Although this game carries the Duke Nukem's title, it wasn't made with the same spirit.
The original goal of 3D Realms was to make games for adults, do what they want to see in their games as adults.
When Gearbox (the developers of Duke Nukem Forever) tried to understand what it means they got it wrong.
It isn't about "saving babes" like they did. If you look back in Duke Nukem 3D it was about paying strippers to show their boobs, and then blowing them up for the lulz.
The only thing that is good about this game is the graphics, and graphics without good gameplay is worthless.
This game is almost casual by my terms, it's noob friendly with this god mode regeneration thing, this is not Duke Nukem.
If you want to play a real Duke Nukem game get Duke Nukem 3D.
And for compression here's a video of the 2001 trailer, looks fantastically awesome.
The original Duke Nukem theme, the original development team (3D Realms), the real stuff:
The Duke Nukem Forever 2011 trailer, looks good:
And Duke Nukem Forever gameplay video, dude getting raped several times, boring gameplay. After all, it's harder to die then getting killed so there is no thrill in the battles:
7 Temmuz 2012 Cumartesi
Team Fortress 2 - Free To Play
To contact us Click HERE
Today Valve released Team Fortess 2 as a free to play game!
Anyone can get Steam and download the game for free.
For more information check this link:
http://www.teamfortress.com/freetoplay/
If you ask me why...
I think it's because Electronic Arts starting a new service called "Origin" which will compete with Steam.
Steam tries to improve their reputation in order to keep people using their service.
Anyone can get Steam and download the game for free.
For more information check this link:
http://www.teamfortress.com/freetoplay/
If you ask me why...
I think it's because Electronic Arts starting a new service called "Origin" which will compete with Steam.
Steam tries to improve their reputation in order to keep people using their service.
League of Legends - Connection lost to HTTP server
To contact us Click HERE
If you tried to play recently League of Legends you may have got the next error:
"Connection lost to HTTP server. Please check that your Internet connection is stable, and that HTTP connections are not being blocked by a firewall."
If you I found a solution on League of Legends forum. (here)
Member named "MADO123" posted a download for "rads_user_kernel.exe" file.
http://l3cdn.riotgames.com/releases/live/system/rads_user_kernel.exe
Once you use it to replace your old file at:
"League of Legends\rads\system"
The game should work.
If you tried to play recently League of Legends you may have got the next error:"Connection lost to HTTP server. Please check that your Internet connection is stable, and that HTTP connections are not being blocked by a firewall."
If you I found a solution on League of Legends forum. (here)
Member named "MADO123" posted a download for "rads_user_kernel.exe" file.
http://l3cdn.riotgames.com/releases/live/system/rads_user_kernel.exe
Once you use it to replace your old file at:
"League of Legends\rads\system"
The game should work.
Battlefield Heroes: Failed to download config file
To contact us Click HERE
After several months that I didn't play Battlefield Heroes, I tried to play it again.
But a message box popped saying:
I tried to look up for a solution but didn't find anything that works.
I tried to uninstall the game but it didn't help.
Eventually I deleted the Battlefield Heroes extension from my browser and it solved the problem!
Using Chrome as my browser, I opened the menu -> Tools -> Extensions
and deleted the Battlefield Heroes extension, and restarted the browser.
And now when I hit the "PLAY NOW!" button I don't get this error anymore!
I hope this will help you too!
But a message box popped saying:
I tried to look up for a solution but didn't find anything that works.
I tried to uninstall the game but it didn't help.
Eventually I deleted the Battlefield Heroes extension from my browser and it solved the problem!
Using Chrome as my browser, I opened the menu -> Tools -> Extensions
and deleted the Battlefield Heroes extension, and restarted the browser.
And now when I hit the "PLAY NOW!" button I don't get this error anymore!
I hope this will help you too!
Aliens Vs. Predator 2 - How To Play Multiplayer Using "Project Savior"
To contact us Click HERE
After Sierra shut down master servers for some games, including AVP2, player could no longer browse for servers on the internet.
Then a mod called "Project Savior" was released, which offers an alternative master server. Using this mod, players can once again browse for servers on the internet.
Here I'll explain where to get it and how to install it properly to avoid a bug with the auto updater.
Please be kind and use the Adfly links as a gratitude.
Step 1
Update AVP 2 to the latest version, which is "1.0.9.6" .
You can download the update from here:
http://aliensvspredator2.filefront.com/file/AvP2_Update_1096;8730 (Adfly link)
Step 2
Download the Project Savior mod from here (Master Server patch):
http://www.moddb.com/mods/avp2-project-savior/downloads (Adfly link)
Step 3
Install Project Savior. If you are using Windows 7 or Vista, remember to run it as administrator.
You will have to uncheck the "Easy update" option when installing the mod. Otherwise the game won't let you play unless you update the game, and the updater won't work and will give you this error:
"I/O Error 123."We already updated the game in step 1, so don't worry about updating.
Step 4Enter the game, and select "MULTIPLAYER INTERNET". The game will ask you to update the game, press OK. There will be no update and you will be able to host or find internet games!
That's it!Now you can play Aliens Vs. Predator 2 multiplayer over the internet!
After Sierra shut down master servers for some games, including AVP2, player could no longer browse for servers on the internet.Then a mod called "Project Savior" was released, which offers an alternative master server. Using this mod, players can once again browse for servers on the internet.
Here I'll explain where to get it and how to install it properly to avoid a bug with the auto updater.
Please be kind and use the Adfly links as a gratitude.
Step 1
Update AVP 2 to the latest version, which is "1.0.9.6" .
You can download the update from here:
http://aliensvspredator2.filefront.com/file/AvP2_Update_1096;8730 (Adfly link)
Step 2
Download the Project Savior mod from here (Master Server patch):
http://www.moddb.com/mods/avp2-project-savior/downloads (Adfly link)
Step 3
Install Project Savior. If you are using Windows 7 or Vista, remember to run it as administrator.
You will have to uncheck the "Easy update" option when installing the mod. Otherwise the game won't let you play unless you update the game, and the updater won't work and will give you this error:
"I/O Error 123."We already updated the game in step 1, so don't worry about updating.Step 4Enter the game, and select "MULTIPLAYER INTERNET". The game will ask you to update the game, press OK. There will be no update and you will be able to host or find internet games!
That's it!Now you can play Aliens Vs. Predator 2 multiplayer over the internet!
Amulets and Armor Character Editor v0.3
To contact us Click HERE
Version 0.3 is here and it let you the ability to edit all of your character's stats.
Requirements:
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 (Adfly link)
your saved files found in:
...\Amulets and Armor\S0000000\
Download (Adfly link)
Change log:
v0.3:
Edit strength, speed, magic, accuracy, stealth and constitution.
Edit health, max health, mana and max mana.
Edit level and experience.
Edit character class.
Added max input value limit to avoid bad input.
Fixed few bugs.
v0.2:
Fix for a critical bug
v0.1:
Edit name
Edit password
Edit money on you character
Edit money in your bank
Version 0.3 is here and it let you the ability to edit all of your character's stats.Requirements:
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.0 (Adfly link)
your saved files found in:
...\Amulets and Armor\S0000000\
Download (Adfly link)
Change log:
v0.3:
Edit strength, speed, magic, accuracy, stealth and constitution.
Edit health, max health, mana and max mana.
Edit level and experience.
Edit character class.
Added max input value limit to avoid bad input.
Fixed few bugs.
v0.2:
Fix for a critical bug
v0.1:
Edit name
Edit password
Edit money on you character
Edit money in your bank
4 Temmuz 2012 Çarşamba
Uninstalling AdFree from Android smartphones
To contact us Click HERE
AdFree is a service that blocks ads from being displayed.
First of all I personally think it's wrong to use such a service, because ads are monetizing method that doesn't require the users to pay. Blocking ads decrease the profitability of this method, and hypothetically if everyone would use ad blocking service, we will have to start to pay money to visit sites.
AdFree uses the "hosts" file to redirect advertisement sites addresses back to your device, and this way blocking the communication to the advertisement site server.
AdFree have a problem when uninstalling it - it doesn't undo the changes it did to the "hosts" file.
Because of this even after uninstalling the application advertisement sites are still blocked.
In order to undo these changes you have to edit the "hosts" file.
To do this you need a rooted Android smartphone (you probably have one because it's required in order to use AdFree), and a text editor program that can edit the file.
I recommend using ES File Explorer. (Adfly link)
Setting ES File Explorer
First you need to setup ES File Explorer to be able to access root file and edit them.
To do so you need to:
1. Open ES File Explorer.
2. Press the menu button and select "Settings".
3. In the "Root settings" section check "Root Explorer" and "Mount File System".
Editing the hosts file
After you done setting ES File Explorer, you can edit the "hosts" file and remove AdFree's blocking.
1. Navigate to the hosts file and open it. The hosts file located at:
/system/etc/hosts
(Press the "up button to go to the root folder - "/")
2. Delete everything.
3. Added the line "127.0.0.1 localhost"
Optional: Add anything else you want. (if you know what you are doing)
Last step is to restart the smartphone and AdFree blockage is removed!
AdFree is a service that blocks ads from being displayed.First of all I personally think it's wrong to use such a service, because ads are monetizing method that doesn't require the users to pay. Blocking ads decrease the profitability of this method, and hypothetically if everyone would use ad blocking service, we will have to start to pay money to visit sites.
AdFree uses the "hosts" file to redirect advertisement sites addresses back to your device, and this way blocking the communication to the advertisement site server.
AdFree have a problem when uninstalling it - it doesn't undo the changes it did to the "hosts" file.
Because of this even after uninstalling the application advertisement sites are still blocked.
In order to undo these changes you have to edit the "hosts" file.
To do this you need a rooted Android smartphone (you probably have one because it's required in order to use AdFree), and a text editor program that can edit the file.
I recommend using ES File Explorer. (Adfly link)
Setting ES File Explorer
First you need to setup ES File Explorer to be able to access root file and edit them.
To do so you need to:
1. Open ES File Explorer.
2. Press the menu button and select "Settings".
3. In the "Root settings" section check "Root Explorer" and "Mount File System".
Editing the hosts file
After you done setting ES File Explorer, you can edit the "hosts" file and remove AdFree's blocking.
1. Navigate to the hosts file and open it. The hosts file located at:
/system/etc/hosts
(Press the "up button to go to the root folder - "/")
2. Delete everything.
3. Added the line "127.0.0.1 localhost"
Optional: Add anything else you want. (if you know what you are doing)
Last step is to restart the smartphone and AdFree blockage is removed!
Blogger Protips
To contact us Click HERE
Here are some protips to make your blog more professional.
Removing the navigation bar
Blogger by default shows a navigation bar at the top of your blog.
Staying with the navigation bar makes it looks like you didn't put effort into making your blog look good, and make you look unprofessional.
To remove it follow these steps:
1. Select the blog you want.
2. Go to template and choose "Edit HTML". A pop up will show up, select Proceed.
3. Search for "/* Variable definitions" (without quotes), and insert the next code just above it:
#navbar-iframe {
display: none !important;
}
It should look like this:
Use standard link colorsSome of the templates on Blogger use different color for the standard colors used for links which are blue for a link and purple for a visited link.
Avoid using different colors to not confuse your visitors.
Add images to your posts
I consider it a must to add at least one photo to every post which is related to it.
It will make your post more lively and will give the reader a quick hint about what the post is about.
Make your visitors stay
Adding things like "Popular Posts", or list of labels to your blog will expose your visitors to other content you created. It may interest some of the visitors and will make them stay and read another post.
Give them the ability to follow you so they'll have a way to find out about new content you created that might interest them. Things like Twitter, Facebook, and Google are great popular tools to do it.
Let people know you are there!
This is perhaps the most important tip I can give you. Let people know about your blog!
If you won't do so it is most likely people won't find your blog, and you will get very low traffic.
A good example about how to do this is to go to some forum which is related to your post, make there a thread with a short explanation about what your post is about and give a link to it.
Here are some protips to make your blog more professional.Removing the navigation bar
Blogger by default shows a navigation bar at the top of your blog.
Staying with the navigation bar makes it looks like you didn't put effort into making your blog look good, and make you look unprofessional.
To remove it follow these steps:
1. Select the blog you want.
2. Go to template and choose "Edit HTML". A pop up will show up, select Proceed.
3. Search for "/* Variable definitions" (without quotes), and insert the next code just above it:
#navbar-iframe {
display: none !important;
}
It should look like this:
Use standard link colorsSome of the templates on Blogger use different color for the standard colors used for links which are blue for a link and purple for a visited link.
Avoid using different colors to not confuse your visitors.
Add images to your posts
I consider it a must to add at least one photo to every post which is related to it.
It will make your post more lively and will give the reader a quick hint about what the post is about.
Make your visitors stay
Adding things like "Popular Posts", or list of labels to your blog will expose your visitors to other content you created. It may interest some of the visitors and will make them stay and read another post.
Give them the ability to follow you so they'll have a way to find out about new content you created that might interest them. Things like Twitter, Facebook, and Google are great popular tools to do it.
Let people know you are there!
This is perhaps the most important tip I can give you. Let people know about your blog!
If you won't do so it is most likely people won't find your blog, and you will get very low traffic.
A good example about how to do this is to go to some forum which is related to your post, make there a thread with a short explanation about what your post is about and give a link to it.
Torn City Marriage Proposal Bug Fix
To contact us Click HERE
There is a bug in torn city that some players can't propose marriage to other players.
When they try the game says they already proposed to someone and must first cancel their pending proposals.
But when they try to cancel their pending proposals the game says they don't have any, and they still can't propose.
It goes like this:
Are you very sure you want to propose to [username] using your [ring]?
> Yes, propose to [username] > No, do not propose to [username]
You are already proposing to someone. You must wait until they accept or decline, otherwise you can withdraw it.
> Cancel your pending proposals.
You currently have no proposal pending to marry another player.
In order to fix this problem you need to contact a staff member and ask him to fix your problem of not being able to propose.
You can find a list of staff members here:
http://www.torn.com/staff.php
They will help you as soon as they can and you will be able to propose marriage again.
There is a bug in torn city that some players can't propose marriage to other players.When they try the game says they already proposed to someone and must first cancel their pending proposals.
But when they try to cancel their pending proposals the game says they don't have any, and they still can't propose.
It goes like this:
Are you very sure you want to propose to [username] using your [ring]?
> Yes, propose to [username] > No, do not propose to [username]
You are already proposing to someone. You must wait until they accept or decline, otherwise you can withdraw it.
> Cancel your pending proposals.
You currently have no proposal pending to marry another player.
In order to fix this problem you need to contact a staff member and ask him to fix your problem of not being able to propose.
You can find a list of staff members here:
http://www.torn.com/staff.php
They will help you as soon as they can and you will be able to propose marriage again.
Path of Exile Review (Closed Beta)
To contact us Click HERE
When I saw for the first time this games I was shocked.
What I've seen was what I expected that Diablo 2's sequel will look like. After the big disappointment I had when I saw Diablo 3, this was like a miracle.
Path of Exile is an action RPG developed by Grinding Gear Games.
It is very similar to Diablo 2, and inspired by it. It got same map display, random level and item generation, portals, identifying items, towns, acts and so on.
What I really liked about Path of Exile is that it preserved the gameplay from Diablo 2, while improving and adding other features.
Improvements over Diablo 2
The first improvement I noticed was the stash size. While Diablo 2 had a very small stash size(which at some point led me to download a mod to increase the space in my stash, to practically infinite), Path of Exile offers much bigger stash.
Another improvement is the ability to press Z to toggle the option to show items on the floor, instead of holding down the Alt key. When I played Diablo 2 most of the time I pressed Alt to show items, and occasionally I opened the map by pressing Tab, which led me to Alt+Tab and minimize the game. In single-player the game would pause, but most of the time I played online, which means that the game didn't pause and I could get in trouble and die.
You have more skill sluts. While in Diablo 2 you could only equip two skills at the same time(and switch skills using the F keys), in Path of Exile you could equip up to 8 skills at the same time.
Story
You are an criminal who got exiled to an continent called Wraeclast.
There is a story, background behind bosses and characters, though I didn't really follow it.
Personally I don't want to read a lot of text when I go on a quest, but I certainly would like to hear it, like in Diablo 2. Currently Path of Exile doesn't have voice acting, but the developers working on adding voice acting so it's going to be just fine.
Cooperation with other players
The game encourages players to cooperate and party. Like in Diablo 2 when you play with other players the game difficulty raise and so those the rewards. For example the final boss of act one, Medveil, is very difficult to defeat alone at the normal level you reach her ( about 16). Players must party in order to defeat her and continue to act 2. I occasionally saw players in the chat looking for parties to defeat her.
Enemies and AI
The enemies in Path of Exile are varied and unique.
Some of them have specical abilities, like resurrecting monsters and using skills.
Some of them will come to attack you from different places, like zombies that will emerge from the ground, sand spitters that hide in the sand and reveal themselves once you get close, spiders that will emerge from the depths of the dungeon, and more.
The AI will do more then just spot and attack you. For example some enemies will call nearby enemies to aid them, and ranged enemies will try to keep distance from you.
Spiders emerging from the depths of the dungeon to eat me.
Graphics
The graphics are beautiful.
When you are in closed areas like dungeons and caves, the environment is dark. Light comes from above your character, casting shadows behind objects like pillars and enemies.
Effects like when you freeze, ignite, shock, and poison enemies looks good.
Another thing that I really liked is that when you shoot arrows at enemies, they stick in them, which I find a very fun eye candy.
The game mostly have dark, grim atmosphere, yet some areas are green and bright which add veraity and a break from the grimness.
Sound
The sounds in the game are fitting.
After a short time of playing the game I could recognize which items are dropped by their dropping sounds, if it was a ring or an armor.
The music is memorizable. The menu theme music always catches my ear at about 1:35 and give me a gloomy feeling, moving me.
Classes and Skill Tree
If offers great flexibility with building your character.
Every character can use any kind of gear, as long as they meet the requirements.
The main difference between the classes is their starting point in the skill tree.
Path of Exile have an unique skill tree. The tree composed from many little passive skills.
Each skill needs another skill which is linked to it to be assigned in order to unlock
In the skill tree.
The skill tree offers great flexibility and let you choose in which way you want to play with your character, if it's with swords or axes, fire or ice, light or heavy armor and so on.
The skill tree... well, part of it.
Skill gems and Support Gems
In Path of Exile you get your active skills from skill gems, which can level up and become stronger.
There is also Support gems which you can use to add bonuses to skill gems, and they also can level up.
Items have sockets for placing support gem. Each gem have a related color to the attribute it belongs to - red for strength, green for dexterity, and blue for wisdom.
Gems gain experience when they are worn, which is 10% of the experience you earn.
Support gems in to be placed on a socket which is linked to another socket with a skill gem in it in order to give it it's bonus.
On the left side a skill gem, on the right side support gem, linked to each other.
Items
The item randomization in the game is very similar to Diablo 2. There is normal items, magic items, rare items, and unique items. Path of Exile refreshes the system by adding some new kids of bonuses to the items.
Items also have quality bonus. Quality bonus improves the items basic stat, like defense for armor, and damage for weapons.
Some items also got sockets for skill and support gems, which can also be linked to each other.
Each socket got an attribute color, red, green, and blue, and only gems with the same color as the socket can be place in it.
I found myself sometimes waiving using a stronger items because they don't have the sockets I need for my gems. This consideration makes selecting which gear to use more interesting, because it's not about using the strongest gear, but using the gear which fits you the most.
Currency System
Path of Exile uses a unique currency system, It uses orbs. In the game you can find various kinds of orbs, each with it's own rarity and use. In general orbs are mainly used to improve items, but some have other uses.
Items can still be sold at the store for fragments and shards of three specific orbs.
This system is useful against farming since high and low level items sold at the store for the same items, and most of the orbs can be only found. The system encourages players to trade and interact with each other, making the game more lively. You will often see players in the chat posting trade offers for items they want to buy and sell.
Potion System
Path of Exile uses a special potion system.
It uses flasks which refill as you kill enemies.
Flasks can be magic items and add special bonuses, and can have improved quality like other items.
There are some special flasks. For exmaple flasks that greatly increase your resistance to a specific element for a short duration, or recover both your mana and life, which are more rare then mana and life flasks.
The potion system is great, first of all you don't need to worry about restocking potions, second you can't "potion spam" and can't relay on potions to keep your health full all the time, while not being restricted with delay between uses, and third the flasks are improvable items and part of your gear.
Leagues
Path of Exile have leagues. Each league have different rules.
Currently the closed beta have to kind of leagues - default league and hardcore league.
While that in the default league you respawn when you die, in the hardcore league your character dies a permanent death, and then moved to the default league.
There are more planned kinds of leagues, and I found one of them to be very interesting.
It's called cut-throat league. In that league all the areas are public, with PvP enabled, and Characters that die drop all of their items.
Free to Play
The game is free to play. Currently not everyone can enter the close beta, but once the open beta will start anyone will be able to play.
The game is planned to be funded by ethical microtransactions.
It means that buying items from the games store won't give the player advantage over other players.
Conclusion
Path of Exile is very unique, refined and enjoyable game.
As I mentioned before it's still in closed beta stage, and there are many more features that are planned to be added in the future, and perhaps some changes to the current features.
I highly recommend it to people who played and loved Diablo 2, you'll probably love this game too.
When I saw for the first time this games I was shocked.
What I've seen was what I expected that Diablo 2's sequel will look like. After the big disappointment I had when I saw Diablo 3, this was like a miracle.
Path of Exile is an action RPG developed by Grinding Gear Games.
It is very similar to Diablo 2, and inspired by it. It got same map display, random level and item generation, portals, identifying items, towns, acts and so on.
What I really liked about Path of Exile is that it preserved the gameplay from Diablo 2, while improving and adding other features.
Improvements over Diablo 2
The first improvement I noticed was the stash size. While Diablo 2 had a very small stash size(which at some point led me to download a mod to increase the space in my stash, to practically infinite), Path of Exile offers much bigger stash.
Another improvement is the ability to press Z to toggle the option to show items on the floor, instead of holding down the Alt key. When I played Diablo 2 most of the time I pressed Alt to show items, and occasionally I opened the map by pressing Tab, which led me to Alt+Tab and minimize the game. In single-player the game would pause, but most of the time I played online, which means that the game didn't pause and I could get in trouble and die.
You have more skill sluts. While in Diablo 2 you could only equip two skills at the same time(and switch skills using the F keys), in Path of Exile you could equip up to 8 skills at the same time.
Story
You are an criminal who got exiled to an continent called Wraeclast.
There is a story, background behind bosses and characters, though I didn't really follow it.
Personally I don't want to read a lot of text when I go on a quest, but I certainly would like to hear it, like in Diablo 2. Currently Path of Exile doesn't have voice acting, but the developers working on adding voice acting so it's going to be just fine.
Cooperation with other players
The game encourages players to cooperate and party. Like in Diablo 2 when you play with other players the game difficulty raise and so those the rewards. For example the final boss of act one, Medveil, is very difficult to defeat alone at the normal level you reach her ( about 16). Players must party in order to defeat her and continue to act 2. I occasionally saw players in the chat looking for parties to defeat her.
Enemies and AI
The enemies in Path of Exile are varied and unique.
Some of them have specical abilities, like resurrecting monsters and using skills.
Some of them will come to attack you from different places, like zombies that will emerge from the ground, sand spitters that hide in the sand and reveal themselves once you get close, spiders that will emerge from the depths of the dungeon, and more.
The AI will do more then just spot and attack you. For example some enemies will call nearby enemies to aid them, and ranged enemies will try to keep distance from you.
Spiders emerging from the depths of the dungeon to eat me.Graphics
The graphics are beautiful.
When you are in closed areas like dungeons and caves, the environment is dark. Light comes from above your character, casting shadows behind objects like pillars and enemies.
Effects like when you freeze, ignite, shock, and poison enemies looks good.
Another thing that I really liked is that when you shoot arrows at enemies, they stick in them, which I find a very fun eye candy.
The game mostly have dark, grim atmosphere, yet some areas are green and bright which add veraity and a break from the grimness.
Sound
The sounds in the game are fitting.
After a short time of playing the game I could recognize which items are dropped by their dropping sounds, if it was a ring or an armor.
The music is memorizable. The menu theme music always catches my ear at about 1:35 and give me a gloomy feeling, moving me.
Classes and Skill Tree
If offers great flexibility with building your character.
Every character can use any kind of gear, as long as they meet the requirements.
The main difference between the classes is their starting point in the skill tree.
Path of Exile have an unique skill tree. The tree composed from many little passive skills.
Each skill needs another skill which is linked to it to be assigned in order to unlock
In the skill tree.
The skill tree offers great flexibility and let you choose in which way you want to play with your character, if it's with swords or axes, fire or ice, light or heavy armor and so on.
The skill tree... well, part of it.Skill gems and Support Gems
In Path of Exile you get your active skills from skill gems, which can level up and become stronger.
There is also Support gems which you can use to add bonuses to skill gems, and they also can level up.
Items have sockets for placing support gem. Each gem have a related color to the attribute it belongs to - red for strength, green for dexterity, and blue for wisdom.
Gems gain experience when they are worn, which is 10% of the experience you earn.
Support gems in to be placed on a socket which is linked to another socket with a skill gem in it in order to give it it's bonus.
On the left side a skill gem, on the right side support gem, linked to each other.Items
The item randomization in the game is very similar to Diablo 2. There is normal items, magic items, rare items, and unique items. Path of Exile refreshes the system by adding some new kids of bonuses to the items.
Items also have quality bonus. Quality bonus improves the items basic stat, like defense for armor, and damage for weapons.
Some items also got sockets for skill and support gems, which can also be linked to each other.
Each socket got an attribute color, red, green, and blue, and only gems with the same color as the socket can be place in it.
I found myself sometimes waiving using a stronger items because they don't have the sockets I need for my gems. This consideration makes selecting which gear to use more interesting, because it's not about using the strongest gear, but using the gear which fits you the most.
Currency System
Path of Exile uses a unique currency system, It uses orbs. In the game you can find various kinds of orbs, each with it's own rarity and use. In general orbs are mainly used to improve items, but some have other uses.
Items can still be sold at the store for fragments and shards of three specific orbs.
This system is useful against farming since high and low level items sold at the store for the same items, and most of the orbs can be only found. The system encourages players to trade and interact with each other, making the game more lively. You will often see players in the chat posting trade offers for items they want to buy and sell.
Potion System
Path of Exile uses a special potion system.It uses flasks which refill as you kill enemies.
Flasks can be magic items and add special bonuses, and can have improved quality like other items.
There are some special flasks. For exmaple flasks that greatly increase your resistance to a specific element for a short duration, or recover both your mana and life, which are more rare then mana and life flasks.
The potion system is great, first of all you don't need to worry about restocking potions, second you can't "potion spam" and can't relay on potions to keep your health full all the time, while not being restricted with delay between uses, and third the flasks are improvable items and part of your gear.
Leagues
Path of Exile have leagues. Each league have different rules.
Currently the closed beta have to kind of leagues - default league and hardcore league.
While that in the default league you respawn when you die, in the hardcore league your character dies a permanent death, and then moved to the default league.
There are more planned kinds of leagues, and I found one of them to be very interesting.
It's called cut-throat league. In that league all the areas are public, with PvP enabled, and Characters that die drop all of their items.
Free to Play
The game is free to play. Currently not everyone can enter the close beta, but once the open beta will start anyone will be able to play.
The game is planned to be funded by ethical microtransactions.
It means that buying items from the games store won't give the player advantage over other players.
Conclusion
Path of Exile is very unique, refined and enjoyable game.
As I mentioned before it's still in closed beta stage, and there are many more features that are planned to be added in the future, and perhaps some changes to the current features.
I highly recommend it to people who played and loved Diablo 2, you'll probably love this game too.
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