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Late last week, the Esports World Cup – a known vehicle for Saudi government sportswashing – announced that popular location guessing game GeoGuessr will be participating in its upcoming Esports World Cup Festival tournament program, putting the game’s community in an uncomfortable position not unlike the pretzel fighting game players found themselves contorted into a couple months ago. Difference is, GeoGuessr might constitute one of the most geopolitically aware gaming communities on the planet as a result of what it’s, you know, about. Outcry was immediate, and now GeoGuessr map makers have taken their protest to the next level.

Today a conglomerate of map makers published a statement on the game’s official subreddit announcing a full-on blackout of many popular maps.

"We, the creators of a considerable share of GeoGuessr’s most popular maps, have decided to make our maps unplayable in protest of GeoGuessr AB’s decision to host a World Championship wildcard tourney at the Esports World Cup (EWC) in Riyadh,” reads the note, attributed to the GeoGuessr mapping community. “The GeoGuessr community is diverse and includes many members of groups that would be harshly persecuted were they to live in Saudi Arabia. In solidarity with those currently residing in Saudi Arabia while being subject to oppression, as well as members of the community who would feel and be unsafe attending the tournament in Riyadh, we have decided to black out our maps by replacing all their previous locations with random garbage locations, rendering them unplayable.”

The map makers went on to say that the blackout will continue until GeoGuessr’s developers take action: “Specifically, we demand that GeoGuessr cancels its wildcard event in Saudi Arabia and commits to not hosting any events there as long as it continues its oppressive regime.”

Game Information

Game Title: Deliver At All Costs

Platforms:

• PC (May 22, 2025)
• PlayStation 5 (May 22, 2025)
• Xbox Series X/S (May 22, 2025)

Trailer:

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 75 average - 54% recommended - 26 reviews

Critic Reviews

4News.it - Danilo Di Gennaro - Italian - 8 / 10

If you love titles that make originality and madness their hallmarks, we have no doubt that you will love Deliver At All Costs. The debut from Studio Far Out Games is an action title as fun as it is absurd, capable of combining unpredictable situations with a mysterious story, against the backdrop of a setting to be torn to shreds thanks to incredible interactivity. It is a product proudly different from the crowd, proving once again that the future of the industry should perhaps aim more at intriguing game design philosophies, as opposed to the bewitching and risky chants of big budgets.

Atarita - Eren Eroğlu - Turkish - 75 / 100

Deliver At All Costs excels at chaos and vehicular destruction, offering a solid gameplay foundation. However, mission design can falter at times, leading to frustrating pacing and occasional monotony. The story also suffers from noticeable slowdowns. If you're drawn to the game’s chaotic core, you'll likely have a blast—but those seeking a more complete and balanced experience might find it uneven. Still, it’s a unique and enjoyable ride overall.

CGMagazine - Jordan Biordi - 8.5 / 10

Deliver At All Costs is a wildly chaotic and immensely fun experience that channels classic GTA and almost makes it a parody of itself.

COGconnected - Alexander Thomas - 70 / 100

A few QOL missteps, like not being able to set waypoints and the restrictive camera, are minor annoyances to an otherwise very enjoyable experience. Deliver At All Costs simply delivers.

Console-Tribe - Luca Saati - Italian - 70 / 100

Deliver At All Costs stands out for its charming 1950s style and absurd humor, turning a simple delivery job into a wild and unexpected adventure. The story is fun and surprising, but the repetitive structure and underwhelming open world hold it back from reaching its full potential.

Digitale Anime - Mehdi Belhamra - Arabic - 7.5 / 10

"A distinctive style and a unique experience" Deliver At All Costs excels at delivering a bold indie experience that blends 1950s nostalgia with physics-based chaos in its own unique way. While it doesn't technically compete with the industry heavyweights, it makes up for it with a unique visual style, imaginative missions, and a fun, surprising gameplay.

Everyeye.it - Italian - 7.5 / 10

Thanks also to a convincing writing of the story and its characters, it is a title that, despite some limitations, deserves attention, especially considering the price at which it is proposed (we are talking about €29.99 on PC, Xbox and PlayStation). The only regret is for some naivety on the structural and content level that do not allow it to aspire to the qualitative heights it would have deserved.

GAMES.CH - Benjamin Braun - German - 60%

The mission design also scores points for variety, but not with great gameplay diversity, but rather by piling up one absurdity after another. Whether the controls are intentionally poorly designed to produce as much chaos as possible remains to be seen. But it is so bad (in the car!) that it can easily become a fun-killer for some gamers in the long run.

Game Rant - Aaron McKinley - 8 / 10

Deliver At All Costs is a delightful blend of the familiar and the new, giving players a unique experience that goes far beyond its chaotic exterior.

Game8 - Charlene Sarmiento - 78 / 100

Deliver At All Costs is a chaotic action game that thrives on unfiltered insanity and destruction, letting you wreak havoc with little to no consequences—all in the name of delivering at all costs. The controls and the physics engine may not always be on your side, but Deliver At All Costs definitely delivers a solid gameplay experience.

GameGrin - Andrew Duncan - 7.5 / 10

It's a fun time crashing through buildings and fences, and an easy recommendation at a budget price.

GameSpew - Richard Seagrave - 7 / 10

An isometric action game set in a highly destructible world, Deliver At All Costs puts you in the shoes of a courier and tasks you with completing a range of chaotic and often challenging delivery missions. It's good fun, but it doesn't quite fulfil its potential, thanks to annoying loading screens and a range of other issues that spoil the experience to some degree.

Gamefa - Persian - 7.2 / 10

With its debut game, Far Out Games studio shows that it has great potential and creativity and can have a bright future. Deliver At All Costs is full of innovative and entertaining ideas that create exciting and enjoyable moments. However, it is not easy to ignore the flaws and shortcomings that we encounter throughout the experience; from narrative weaknesses and superficial treatment of some gameplay mechanisms to loading between different parts of the map.

Hobby Consolas - Alberto Lloret - Spanish - 82 / 100

Deliver At All Costs is one of those guilty pleasures we all have. It's a game that has some room for improvement (story, cinematics, loading times, etc.), but at the same time, its gameplay is so crazy and fun that it's hard to put down the controller: you'll want to keep running errands and exploring its world.

IGN - Tristan Ogilvie - 6 / 10

Deliver At All Costs features some uniquely fun deliveries and a satisfyingly smashable set of cities, but its slapdash story and limited tools for vehicular destruction mean it’s one shipment that’s far from the complete package.

IGN Italy - Francesco Destri - Italian - 7 / 10

Crazy, destructive, and full of absurd ideas, Deliver At All Costs is fun despite some flaws and repetitiveness.

IGN Spain - Mario Seijas - Spanish - 8 / 10

Deliver At All Costs teaches us that delivering the package on time is fundamental. If you have to destroy the whole city to do it... so be it. A funny, interesting and very enjoyable game. Another indie to remember.

Just Play it - Hadj Mhamed Si Djilani - Arabic - 8.5 / 10

We had a unique experience with Deliver At All Costs, embarking on an adventure filled with diverse ideas and thrilling challenges, featuring chaotic yet enjoyable driving in an interactive world brimming with obstacles and humorous moments. The exciting storyline added to the overall enthusiasm. Despite some flaws, it remains a bold attempt that pushes the boundaries of delivery and driving games.

Loot Level Chill - Lyle Pendle - 8 / 10

Deliver At All Costs is a joyous throwback to the dafter years of our great hobby, and is full of ridiculous missions and smashable buildings.

MonsterVine - Nick Mangiaracina - 4 / 5

Between the performance, gadget usage, and open world issues, Deliver At All Costs still manages to pull it out and make an incredibly satisfying game. Difficult in all the right places and fun the whole way through.

SECTOR.sk - Branislav Koh�t - Slovak - 6.5 / 10

Being a delivery boy and courier can be a real chore, but in this game it is also fun and humorous. At least it works well in the first few hours. Later it gets worse. The physics and destruction are exaggerated, but successful, while the story is a disaster.

Spaziogames - Italian - 7.5 / 10

Deliver At All Costs is one of those games that sticks with you-for better or worse. Its deliberately over-the-top nature, lighthearted tone, and constant drive to surprise make it a fresh and unconventional experience, capable of delivering moments of genuine fun.

The Games Machine - Claudio Magistrelli - Italian - 7.8 / 10

Deliver At All Costs seems to be aware of its limitations, and by virtue of that the guys at Studio Far Out Games decided to focus their attention on the most important elements, such as the quirky and original missions, or the layout of St. Monique City. However, not everything is at the same level: the animations of the humans are quite stiff and in general everything is poorly polished, but fun still abounds and that is what matters most.

Uagna - Matteo Filigheddu - Italian - 7 / 10

A nice blend of genres that makes environmental destruction its workhorse. The main story, although short, is enjoyable to play, but the gameplay struggles to achieve the depth necessary to go beyond a few hours of fun.

Video Chums - A.J. Maciejewski - 7.8 / 10

Deliver At All Costs is a very funny physics-based romp that features a great deal of variety and consistently entertaining gameplay. At the same time, I wish it wasn't solo-only and it can also be occasionally annoying to play. 📦

Worth Playing - Chris "Atom" DeAngelus - 8 / 10

Deliver at All Costs is a wild ride for a variety of reasons. The difference in tone between the story and the missions creates a strange, disconnected experience that makes the game more intriguing than off-putting. The gameplay is solid, with the mission forgiveness and leeway for creating mayhem being the real highlights. The extreme destructibility is simply an added bonus. The presentation may be a tad flawed in places, but it's still good enough to make this a pleasant experience, especially since the game doesn't last so long that the concept starts to feel stale. Deliver at All Costs is a fun game overall, and it's well worth checking out for those looking for something a bit quirky in their sandbox experiences.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/26297099

In terminal mode you can input various 8 character-long cheat codes: it launches a game with unique effects on top of it (but it also disables saving and achievements :c ).

Here are some that I found to be the most fun:

• Attactics: SLOW-DOWN, makes the game turn-based. Huge change, if you ask me.
• Devilition: EVIL-EYES, highlights tiles that will be affected by your explosives. Great if you want to play it for fun after completing the game.
• Bushido Ball: ZATO-1CHI, makes the ball completely invisible. They hate us.
• Campanella: BEAN-DRIP, lets you play through bonus levels.
• Warptank: SLIM-TANK, lets you play as a slime. No hub and you can't use checkpoints.
• Mortol 2: BENE-DIKT, removes the Scout and Gunner classes from the game. My playthrough was big on Scout so it's hard to imagine beating this game w/o them!
• Party House: MAKE-GLEE, lets you create your own scenario!
• Valbrace: 4RCH-M4GE, start with 15 WIS but 0 STR.
• Valbrace, again: BUGG-BODY, lets you play as a giant insect with powerful claws!
• Night Manor: OPEN-CAGE, releases a bloodthristy hamster to crush you!!!

The video game industry has made the jump to $80, first with Nintendo and Mario Kart World, then with Microsoft and its price hike announcement that will kick in this holiday season. Could Borderlands 4 follow suit?

Publisher 2K Games and parent company Take-Two have so-far remained vague on whether they will go to $80, and Randy Pitchford has insisted the decision is out of his control. But, responding to one concerned fan on social media, Pitchford set the cat among the pigeons by saying that if you’re a “real fan, you’ll find a way to make it happen.”

Here's the exchange:

"Randy, this game better not be 80 dollars. Don't take that risk, a lot of gamers aren't gonna pay 80 dollars and feed this notion of constant increase of the price tag. You are the CEO, you have some say with the price when it comes to your publisher."

And here's Randy Pitchford's response:

"A) Not my call. B) If you're a real fan, you'll find a way to make it happen. My local game store had Starflight for Sega Genesis for $80 in 1991 when I was just out of high school working minimum wage at an ice cream parlor in Pismo Beach and I found a way to make it happen."

As you’d expect, Pitchford’s comment has sparked a vociferous response.

RE: the article from yesterday about the Darth Vader AI in fortnite

cross-posted from: https://feddit.org/post/12713458

Disclaimer: I changed a little the layout and thanks for the contributions!

The Idea:

On my old Mastodon Profile i've made a list of Rebuilds/Fan Remakes/SourcePorts (when possible opensource, no commercial remakes) for old PC Games, and i want to share it here on Lemmy too, so people can easily find it.

Why?

I've played lot of these games, and i'm glad there a Fans who still working on these games, to make it accessible on modern systems and giving them some QoL improvments. In my opinion, that's a great way to preserve old games from being forgotten and keep playable for new players. Also these people need some recognition (at least) for their hard work.

I'm glad If you help to complete this list and contribute some games you know.

In the moment there are alphabetical sorted:

• 68 PC Games in total
• 53 Remakes, SourcePorts etc.

New additions will be marked with *

The List:

• Ambermoon - Ambermoon.net

• Arx Fatalis - Arx Libertatis

• Baldurs Gate (I, II, also Icewind Dale I and II) - GemRB

• Caesar III - Augustus (a fork of Julius)

• Caesar III - Julius

• Call to Power II - Apolyton Call to Power II Source Code Project *

• Civilization V - Unciv *

• Clonk - OpenClonk *

• Command and Conquer (+ Red Alert + Dune 2000) - openRA

• Descent (1, 2) - Descent Rebirth

• Descent 3 - Descent 3 *

• Diablo - DevilutionX

• Doom (I, II) - ZDoom

• Dune II - Dune Legacy

• Dungeon Keeper - KeeperFX

• Elite - Elite: The New Kind

• Fallout - Fallout Community Edition *

• Fallout 2 - Fallout 2 Community Edition *

• Final Fantasy IX - Memoria *

• Gothic (should work) and Gothic II - OpenGothic *

• Half Life - xash3d *

• Heroes of Might and Magic II - fheroes2

• Heroes of Might and Magic III - VCMI *

• Jazz Jackrabbit 2 - Jazz² *

• LEGO Rock Raiders - Manic Miners *

• Chris Sawyer’s Locomotion - OpenLoco *

• Marathon (1,2 and Infinity) - Aleph One

• Master of Orion - 1oom *

• Might and Magic VI (also VII and VIII is in work) - OpenEnroth

• Quake - Ironwail

• Quake III: Arena - ioquake3 *

• Savage : The Battle of Newerth - SavageXR *

• The Settlers - FreeSerf *

• The Settlers II - Return to the roots (RTTR)

• Stalker (Call of Pripyat and Call of Chernobyl) - OpenXRay*

• Star Control 2 - The Ur-Quan Masters

• Star Wars : Dark Forces - The Force Engine *

• Star Wars Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II - OpenJKDF2 *

• Star Wars Jedi Knight II : Jedi Outcast and Jedi Knight : Jedi Academy - OpenJK

• TES II : Daggerfall - Daggerfall Unity

• TES III: Morrowind - OpenMW

• Theme Hospital - CorsixTH

• Tomb Raider I and II - TRX *

• Transport Tycoon Deluxe - OpenTTD

• Ultima IV - xu4

• Ultima VII - Exult

• Ultima Underworld I (and II) - Underworld Exporter

• Rollercoaster Tycoon (I and II) - openRCT2

• Warzone 2100 - Warzone 2100 *

• WipeOut - WipeOut Phantom Edition

• Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory - ET: Legacy *

• X-COM: Enemy Unknown and Terror from the Deep - OpenXcom *

• X-COM Apocalypse - OpenApoc

There is also the List here https://osgameclones.com/, who did unknown to me the same.

Addendum SCUMMVM:

SCUMMVM is the first place for adventure games from Lucas Arts (Monkey Island etc.) or Sierra (Kings Quest etc) anf for the RPGs from Origin (Ultima VI), Westwood (Eye of the Beholder) and New World Compting (Might and Magic I, III and IV), but also many more. Here you can check the list of games out.

Addendum "Inspired Games"

I think that games divergence too much from the original games, but also should be mentioned.

• Age of Empires - 0.A.D.

• Cataclysm - Cataclysm: Dark Days Ahead

• Civilization II and III - FreeCiv

• Colonization - FreeCol

• Escape Velocity - Endless Sky

• Elite II - Pioneer

• Lemmings - Pingus

• The Settlers II - Widelands

• Total Annihilation - Beyond all Reason

• Warlords II - LordsAWar!

Addendum Console Games:

If you are looking for Ports for Console Games to PC here is this list on GitHub

Also i would recommend the Open Source Port of the First two Jake and Daxter games

Addendum Source Ports for Android

moonpiedumplings made a list of Source Ports for Android on reddit

Game Information

Game Title: RoadCraft

Platforms:

• Xbox Series X/S (May 20, 2025)
• PlayStation 5 (May 20, 2025)
• PC (May 20, 2025)

Trailers:

• RoadCraft - Sandbox Memories Trailer
• RoadCraft - Co-op Trailer
• RoadCraft - Gameplay Overview Trailer

Developer: Saber Interactive

Publisher: Focus Entertainment

Review Aggregator:

OpenCritic - 84 average - 89% recommended - 28 reviews

Critic Reviews

ACG - Jeremy Penter - Buy

"A game not without its problems, Roadcraft is addicting as hell and does its own thing compared to the past titles."

Analog Stick Gaming - Jeff M Young - 9 / 10

Much like building a road, you lay the foundation to build upon what is there. This is true with how Mudrunner and Snowrunner have shaped where this series is going. Roadcraft is the culmination of those ideas, mechanics, and gameplay sections to a degree where that complexity and depth is wildly addictive. While Roadcraft is perfectly serviceable and enjoyable as a single-player experience, this might be one of the most enjoyable co-op games I’ve ever played. Roadcraft also does a great job at balancing the realistic and the need to simply be a videogame, and the results are vastly impressive.

Atarita - Alparslan Gürlek - Turkish - 85 / 100

RoadCraft introduces great new features to Saber's simulation series, while retaining the most loved content and systems from previous games in the series. An absolutely fantastic simulation experience.

CGMagazine - Andrew Wilson - 9 / 10

RoadCraft is everything I had previously enjoyed in Expeditions while building upon it with increased challenges and task that will test players each step of the way and require some clever thinking at times.

Cerealkillerz - Nick Erlenhof - German - 7.8 / 10

RoadCraft is an enormously fun playground for rebuilding something together, especially in co-op. Everyone has a task and drives one of the huge machines making coordination essential. But the frequent chaos also makes the game a lot of fun, even if the camera and long-term motivation take the wind out of the game's sails somewhat due to the repetitive activities.

Checkpoint Gaming - Erielle Sudario - 8 / 10

RoadCraft is a game that will require absolute patience if you want to get the job done, while adding some leeway to speed things up a bit. While game progression is slow, it is part of its charm as these are heavy work vehicles, and they're not made for speed, thus fitting its theme. The world is very well-detailed and eases you into its mechanics throughout your gameplay. While sometimes repetitive, it compensates with different strategies to complete the task. The beautiful landscapes of your work areas make it forgiving when your vehicle travels through the rough terrain. It's like you're doing actual work as seen in real life, thus creating a great simulation game.

Digitale Anime - Sami Belhamra - Arabic - 8.5 / 10

"A new standard for simulation fans" RoadCraft isn't just a traditional simulation game; it's a complete experience that combines challenge, construction, and strategic thinking in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. Its realistic design, complex mechanics, and humane message make it one of the best simulation games of its generation. Despite some minor technical issues, RoadCraft remains a solid, purposeful experience that gives players a real sense of accomplishment.

Digitec Magazine - Simon Balissat - German - 4 / 5

The mixture of off-road exploration, road building and logging makes “Roadcraft” a very relaxing and potentially addictive experience. I often found myself wanting to lay the foundations of a road “just for a moment”, only to have paved a complete road two hours later.

Everyeye.it - Italian - Unscored

RoadCraft is an interesting simulation compromise, which combines great attention to detail in models, times and settings, with the attempt to maximize the importance of the “task - completion - reward” mechanism.

FinalBoss - 8 / 10

RoadCraft is the rare sim that had me laughing out loud, whether flipping my loaded truck moments from delivery or meticulously crafting roads through dirt and chaos. It's not quite SnowRunner, but the sheer sandbox freedom and hilarious mishaps make it impossible to put down."

GAMES.CH - Joel Kogler - German - 83%

Although the game doesn't stand out graphically, it's also a technical achievement. The in-house engine, which has been refined over several games and is already specialized for driving through various types of terrain, reaches a new peak here. We're also curious to see how "RoadCraft" develops after its release – after all, there will be extensive support, including mods, on PC and console.

Gaming Nexus - Jason Dailey - 8.5 / 10

RoadCraft is a must-play for fans of construction simulators. There is a coziness in the laborious nature of its gameplay that is hard to resist, and with a huge amount of content, you'll be busy cleaning up natural disasters for dozens of hours.

Hinsusta - Patricia Arentzen - German - 9 / 10

To summarise, RoadCraft is an exciting and thematically interesting title with a clear focus on the simulation of reconstruction after natural disasters. The combination of driving and operating over 40 different vehicles and the strategic elements of reconstruction is a refreshing approach. The advanced physics and detailed environments add to the immersion of the game, even if the lack of NPCs makes the world feel a little sterile to me. The cross-play feature is a great advantage and promises hours of fun together with friends on different platforms.

Insider Gaming - Buy

The bottom line is that if you enjoyed Snowrunner, you will enjoy Roadcraft. It’s a rewarding game that offers plenty to dig your teeth into, but don’t expect major changes from its predecessor.

Just Play it - Adel Abdelhak - Arabic - 9 / 10

RoadCraft delivered a unique experience, especially for fans of simulation and construction games. It successfully blends various gameplay elements within a cohesive framework that balances realism and enjoyment. Thanks to its diverse missions, detailed visuals, high-quality sound design, and stable technical performance, the game manages to leave a distinct impression and offers an enjoyable experience we highly recommend.

Loot Level Chill - Kieran Singh - 8 / 10

While Roadcraft can slow to a crawl at times and has moments of frustration because of it, it’s still a lot of fun bringing civilisation back to these battered biomes.

PCGamesN - Ed Smith - 9 / 10

Easily better than Snowrunner or Expeditions, Roadcraft is one of 2025's best, and a convincing argument that even the most esoteric subject matter can be translated into compelling videogames.

Push Square - PJ O'Reilly - 8 / 10

RoadCraft takes the intricate off-road fun of MudRunner and SnowRunner, and melds it with involving micro-management and building aspects, resulting in a fantastic experience that's the dev's best vehicle sim to date. With eight big maps full of ruined environs and treacherous conditions to contend with, a huge array of complex vehicles to master, and co-op play to maximise the fun of it all, this is a big old blast of a thing, a huge sandbox that's got excitement, depth, and challenge in spades.

SECTOR.sk - Peter Dragula - Slovak - 8 / 10

Roadcraft is surprisingly deep and well-made. While different from MudRunner or SnowRunner, it can still appeal to their fans as well as newcomers interested in construction and heavy machinery. The dynamic mud system remains fun, and the visuals and technical scenarios impress. Some tasks do get repetitive over time, and a bit more automation could help'but overall, it's a solid construction sim in tough terrain.

Saving Content - Scott Ellison II - 3 / 5

Ultimately, the challenge just isn’t there for RoadCraft, and it’s just a shame as the series deviates from what made it so special. The activities and missions you do are by far the best in the series, to just make this game worth it. Longtime fans will find this to be a game that’s too much work, especially for how fiddly everything is. RoadCraft is a construction and restoration sim that makes it hard to find the fun.

Shacknews - Jan Ole Peek - 8 / 10

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a bulldozer stuck in the mud that needs rescuing.

SteamDeckHQ - Oliver Stogden - 3 / 5

Is RoadCraft a bad game? Not necessarily, I could see how some people might enjoy it. For me, the game doesn't have the feeling of "survival" that SnowRunner has, where you are constantly trying to plan your own route and trying to protect your vehicle and preserve fuel, and because of the frustrating traversal and nature of the tasks at times, it isn't relaxing like American/Euro Truck Simulator. The game just feels rather... shallow, with similar objectives that take an age to complete, that you have to do over and over.

The best parts of the game are watching your AI Trucks use the path you built/cleared, and the off-road terrain physics and deformation remain as good as ever. Sadly, the terrain deformation is losing its luster after 5 games, and the rest of the mechanics RoadCraft introduces aren't robust enough to support the game.

RoadCraft is also currently unplayable on the Steam Deck; for whatever reason, the game crashes when compiling shaders, regardless of the Proton version I attempted using.

The Games Machine - Marco Bortoluzzi - Italian - 8.5 / 10

RoadCraft aims for a specific target – that is, people who find heavy machinery unbelievably cool – and hit it straight in the middle, granting dozens of hours of playtime spent paving roads and using cranes. It could use some work on the interface, though.

The Nerd Stash - Julio La Pine - 7.5 / 10

RoadCraft is one of the most niche games out there. It offers an unmatched sandbox building experience with an emphasis on realistic driving, but it suffers from many glitches and bugs, and is also one of the least solo-friendly games in the series.

Thumb Culture - 5 / 5

I said it at the beginning that RoadCraft was a banger. From the minute I started reviewing this one, I absolutely loved it. From the incredibly nostalgic experience that the trailer brings, to the fist bump when you get the flood wall finished. Every job you finish is a great achievement.

Saber Interactive have delivered another amazing game that is an absolute joy to play. From start to finish, I loved my entire time with RoadCraft.

RoadCraft receives a Thumb Culture Platinum Award.

VG247 - 4 / 5

Overall, RoadCraft offers a unique enough twist on the established Spintires formula, if a streamlined one, to be worth giving a go.

XboxEra - Jesse Norris - 8.3 / 10

RoadCraft is a ton of fun. It smartly evolves the MudRunner series, taking one of my favorite physics-based puzzle games and adding in some deliciously creative chaos.'

Zoomg - Ali Goodarzi - Persian - 9 / 10

RoadCraft is a high-quality simulator focused on road construction. Its wide variety of levels and machinery—along with the fun of controlling them—and of course, the environmental and mechanical challenges involved in operating the vehicles and completing tasks, all come together to make it a standout simulator. Despite some technical issues and a clunky user interface, I definitely recommend it to fans of this genre.

Video description:

In this video, we'll talk about NVIDIA's last several months of pressure to talk about DLSS more frequently in reviews, plus MFG 4X pressure from the company. NVIDIA has repeatedly made comments to GN that interviews, technical discussion, and access to engineers unrelated to MFG 4X and DLSS are made possible by talking about MFG 4X and DLSS. NVIDIA has explicitly stated that this type of content is made "possible" by benchmarking MFG 4X in reviews specifically, despite us separately and independently covering it in other videos, and has made repeated attempts to get multiplied framerate numbers into its benchmark charts. We will not play those games. In the time since, NVIDIA has offered certain unqualified media outlets access to drivers which actual qualified reviewers do not have access to, but allegedly only under the premise of publishing "previews" of the RTX 5060 in advance of its launch. Some outlets were given access to drivers specifically to publish what we believe are puff pieces and marketing while reviewers were blocked.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Giving Access, Then Threatening It
04:29 - Quid Pro Quo
08:28 - Social Manipulation
09:44 - It's Never Good Enough for NVIDIA
12:08 - NVIDIA is Vindictive
14:28 - Stevescrimination
17:38 - Not The First Time
19:00 - Gamers Are Entitled

It feels to me like the closer we get to the Nintendo Switch 2's June launch and the, apparently, $80 games associated with it, the more people are fighting with themselves over what is and isn't worth it. But at least Sony veteran and previous head of PlayStation Indies Shuhei Yoshida is free from inner turmoil – he thinks relatively expensive, high quality video games are unequivocally necessary.

"I don't believe that every game has to be priced the same," Yoshida continues. "Each game has different value it provides, or the size of budget. I totally believe it's up to the publisher – or developers self-publishing – decision to price their product to the value that they believe they are bringing in.

Yoshida continues to say that, "In terms of actual price of $70 or $80, for really great games, I think it will still be a steal in terms of the amount of entertainment that the top games, top quality games bring to people compared to other form of entertainment."

"As long as people choose carefully how they spend their money," he continues, "I don't think they should be complaining."

At DICE and GDC this year I heard talk of a trend in game development that sent a chill down my spine: "deprofessionalization." As A16z marketing partner Ryan K. Rigney defines it, deprofessionalization is a phenomenon driven by the overperformance of older titles (particularly free-to-play live service games), large studios struggling to drive sales, and the outsized success of some solo developers and small teams.

These three forces, he argues, will combine to "drive career professionals from the traditional, professionalized side of the games industry."

"Some of these people will decide to go indie," he continues. "Others will leave gaming altogether. And in between there’s a vast spectrum of irregular working arrangements available."

Deprofessionalization is built on the back of devaluing labor

Rigney offered some extra nuance on his "deprofessionalization" theory in an email exchange we had before PAX. He predicted that marketing roles at studios would be "the first" on the chopping block, followed by "roles that seem replaceable to management (even if they're not)."

"The winners will be the creative renegades. I'm talking about the people making work that would have never gotten greenlit at one of these bigger publishers in the first place. Some of these creatives will start their own studio, or dabble in side projects...This is the only creative industry on the planet where one person can make $100 million making something by themselves."

That held up in my survey of the games boothing at PAX. The developers of Mycopunk and Cat Secretary had some of the larger teams on the floor of about 5-6 people. Indie publisher Playism was showing off a number of excellent-looking games like Mind Diver and Break Arts III. Executive producer Shunji Mizutani told me the average team size the company is looking to back is around 1-3 developers (though he said it's not a hard and fast rule).

[...]his key example of a post-deprofessionalization game developer is veteran developer Aaron Rutledge, a former lead designer on League of Legends, Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, and Apex Legends. After leaving Respawn Entertainment in 2024 he founded a consultancy firm Area Denial, acting as a "gun for hire" for studios.

Rutledge deserves his success, and the life of a traveling creative called on by other studios sounds romantic. But as a foundation for game development, it's a framework that celebrates the few over the many. It narrows which roles are considered "essential" for making great games (often designers or programmers) and treats other positions as somehow less essential. You could see someone like Wehle hiring someone like Rutledge to bring some of that triple-A experience to a small game.

But that feels like the polar ends of who can benefit in the deprofessionalized world—developers with the stability to swing big for big-shot ideas, and programmers or designers with deep career experience that can be called in like a group of noble mercenaries. People in between will be left out.

The Last of Us Part III: Joel of the Dead

Premise: Joel’s body was never recovered. Turns out… the infection took, but it didn’t take over. He’s half-human, half-clicker, and 100% pissed. • Still rocks a flannel. • Grunts like a zombie, but can still play guitar. • Has just enough brain function to hate Abby and protect Ellie, even though she doesn’t want him anymore. • Mutters “I’m a dad…” between hissing fits.

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New Mechanics: • Echo Vision: Detect memories of those he killed, relive trauma, and scream it into the void. • Feral Dad Rage: Temporary invincibility when Ellie is in danger. • Guitar Hero: Fungus Mode: Controls spores by playing post-apocalyptic Johnny Cash covers.

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Tagline:

“He died saving a girl. He came back to save the world.” JOEL OF THE DEAD.

The combined computing power of **every ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 ever sold — over 22 million machines — is still 47,000 times weaker than a single NVIDIA RTX 5090 GPU.

Those iconic 8-bit legends that shaped the childhoods (and careers) of millions delivered about 0.0022 TFLOPS of raw compute power — together. Meanwhile, the RTX 5090, built for today's AI and graphics workloads, pushes 104.8 TFLOPS on its own.

What a time to be alive.

#TechEvolution #AI #GPUs #ZXSpectrum #Commodore64 #NVIDIA #RTX5090 #ComputingHistory #ExponentialGrowth

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.wtf/post/21381138