Microsoft has officially announced that Rare's multiplayer pirate action game Sea of Thieves will feature cross-play between Xbox One and PC. The announcement came during today's Xbox Gamescom livestream, which included some new trailers, a few announcements, and concluded with the launch of Xbox One X pre-orders. But cross-play for Sea of Thieves could be the biggest surprise, with the game's closed technical alpha implementing the feature, effective immediat
Not every highly-anticipated Xbox exclusive is a triple-A title. One game that has caught the attention of many gamers is Cuphead , the platform indie title coming this year from Studio MDHR. In fact, Cuphead will be the first title from the developer, so a lot is riding on this game for creators Chad and Jared Moldenha
Then there’s the workings and actual programming side of the ocean itself, particularly the many ways in which the waves crash and tumble against your ship. The textures and dynamics, the way they sway to and fro, sending a once calm voyage into potentially risky affairs; I’ve plenty to say on this feature alone, so I’ll leave it at that for the time being. In terms of gameplay, wherein (least in the beta build) you can decide to go it alone, team up with another or join a party of four, Sea of Thieves is a hands-on, labor-focused experience, stripping away all hereditary comforts with the interface such as a mini-map or objective indicators alike in favor of more communicative and team-based, working together.
The relative lack of gameplay shown compared to ways players can interact in basic ways was intentional, however. Rare would later state that the game is still mid-development on many gameplay systems, but that the team is so excited to show the game that everyone wants to show what's reasonable. For example the island adventuring, the customization features, and most important perhaps -- the loot, are still in-development systems. Those features will be shown as soon as they're ready, as Rare intends to be as transparent as can be going forw
"When we talk about visual effects in games, we normally mean particles. That's what we're using to create all of the cannon effects for example, like the different explosions. You want to give the player strong feelings when they're playing the game... You should just feel like you're really part of this beautiful wor
Below will challenge players with a mysterious, randomly-generated island where exploration, discovery, and survival are at the forefront of the experience. The game is said to offer a Dark Souls level of danger and intrigue with its combat, which by itself will continue to garner incredible attention until the game’s release later this y
What do you think about Sea of Thieves not being free-to-play? Is it fair for developers to still take this approach to multiplayer content, or has the era of paid multiplayer business models started to fade away? Let us know in the comments be
Specific examples of visual effects cited within Sea of Thieves ' trailer include cannon explosions and how cannon balls crash into ship hulls, as well as the spray of water as a ship parts the sea of thieves Beginner guide. Andreas Oberg, the VFX Lead at Rare, describes these effects in detail regarding how they're used to create a more visceral and engaging experience for players. Andreas describes it thusly within the trai
This isn't the first time that Rare has talked about cross-play for Sea of Thieves , however. Earlier this year, when Rare first activated the closed alpha on PC, the team decided to try out cross-play just to see how it felt. Executive Producer Joe Neate called the experience "magical," explaining that it led him to question why any game would split player bases. But questions about balance and fairness prevented Rare from making it official straight away, however the more the studio considered cross-play, the more it realized there was no good reason not to include
"We've done a lot of thinking around the business model...one thing I can tell you is it's not free-to-play. We didn't say anything last year and then some people made stuff up, y'know, 'it looks free to play!' But we can clear that up - we will not be free-to-pl
For now, though, Rare will continue with the development of Sea of Thieves in preparation for its forthcoming launch. There's plenty to do, and Rare seems like they're adding new ideas as fast as they can come up with them. The studio just revealed how players can now get sick and vomit into a bucket, then use the bucket as a weapon against friends (or alli