Rock, Paper, Shotgun

The release of the Carrier Command remake from Bohemia is almost upon us! (September 27th!) That means last-minute fancy trailers showing the game’s mix of strategy and action are now inevitable, as you can see below. I’ve played a bunch of this already, and I am keen to get my hands on the finished thing and really get stuck in. While being somewhat nostalgic, this is something of a departure for Bohemia, with them making a game that seems to put spectacle before action, while at the same time delivering strategic depth and tough tactical challenges. It’s going to be an interesting balancing act: keeping Bohemia’s wish to be faithful to the original 1980s game with modern spangles.
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Update: We’ve just had it confirmed from Bohemia that the pair have been accused of “espionage”, and according to Greek investigators, “they had in their possession materials that may endanger the national security of Greece.”

Original: It seems that much has been invented when it comes to the news about Bohemia‘s employees arrested in Limnos, Greece. For one, the studio is saying the two were absolutely not in the country researching the game. In a statement intended to clear up a lot of the miscommunication that abounds, the Czech developers of the ArmA series make it abundantly clear that the arrested pair were only in the country as tourists.

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Update: RPS has received a brief status update from the Czech Embassy in Greece. Here it is: “On behalf of the Embassy of the Czech Republic, we can confirm that we are closely following the case. The detainees have their defence lawyer. To avoid any further misunderstanding, the Embassy prefers not to publish any statements at the given moment.” We’re still waiting to hear back from other sources, but we’ll let you know as soon as we do.

Original: Laws. They are – in spite of pocket change lawyer fees and the fact that all law books clock in at well under seven billion pages and consist mainly of pictures – really, really complicated. For instance, in the state of Pennsylvania, doing that cartoon thing where you tie a dollar to a string and pull it away when someone tries to pick it up is actually illegal. And, more pertinently, you absolutely cannot take pictures of Greek-military-related objects. That, apparently, constitutes espionage. In 2001, British plane-spotters discovered Greece was a no-fly zone for that kind of thing, and now two ArmA III devs are learning a similar lesson the hard way.

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I had long discussions with several people about Day Z at Rezzed and most were were surprised, mid-talk, to learn I still haven’t played the ARMA 2 mod. Turns out I’m very good at borrowing Jim’s opinions and absorbing experiences vicariously through Youtube. The infectious growth of the mod was a story in itself but the possibility of a standalone version, perhaps as early as September, could mean significant changes are coming. Here’s what we know.

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Well, maybe not quite all, but ARMA III‘s debuted three rather sizable portions of its E3 demo, and – while I’m a bit unsettled by the sudden and ominous proliferation of threes in my life – I’m definitely impressed. Nighttime combat, underwater features, and vehicles are all given lengthy turns in the spotlight here – though sadly, the fascinating character of “suicidal goat” is only briefly explored in one of them. And of course, each is exceedingly gorgeous, but – as the old saying goes – staring at gloriously rendered mountains and going “ooooooooooo pretty” is only half the battle.

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As the slow dribble of behind-closed-doors E3 videos begin – rendering that whole “behind-closed-doors” bit a little farcical as it does every year – I suggest saving them all up and watching them all in three days, ideally in rooms about half a mile apart, with five minutes to get back and forth between them. Have those rooms be un-airconditioned, sealed off heat traps with the volume three times louder than the human ear can stand. Capture the experience. One very worthy addition to your schedule is Carrier Command‘s 11 minute presentation, giving you an in-depth idea of how it will play. It’s below.

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What would a celebration of all things wonderful in PC and indie gaming be without the sensational Day Z mod? Lacking, that’s what it would be. The story of Day Z and its effect on Arma II’s sales is a fascinating one and the experience of playing creates more tension than Alfred Hitchcock juggling chainsaws on a unicycle. Brighton-based Rezzed, powered by Eurogamer and our good selves, shall host Dean “Rocket” Hall and Matt Lightfoot who will run a developer session on Saturday (7th) at 2pm and the game will also be playable on the show floor. Click for tickets and more details.

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Update: a post from developer Dean “Rocket” Hall explains more.

I don’t know whether to growl or sigh so I guess I’ll just groan, or maybe even grigh. Jim’s new favourite playground and horrorshow, DayZ, was the victim of a security breach, carrying the risk that the game’s servers could become a botnet. Thankfully the person responsible has been identified, a statement has been released and legal action is being pursued. The official advice is as follows:

…if you are a user who has downloaded the .exe called dayz_auto_updater.exe from the US Mirror…scan against viruses and read the description by ThreatExpert on where to locate this if your Virus detector does not pick it up.

Additionally, server hosts who supplied RDP details to the DayZ team are also compromised and “need to thoroughly scan their server for the same type of processes and to change their servers RDP details and to NOT ever give the RDP details out to anyone *Including DayZ* from now on”. More below.

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