Posts by PaulH

  • Homefront: The Revolution

    So we carried on creating content for this game after release, and just released our third and final DLC pack. Thought it worth sharing as we did something a bit different with it, taking the action away from the Philly city streets and out into the rural countryside. Now we can draw a line under this project and move onto the next one :) Some of the art work below:


  • Nintendo Switch

    Quote from Beck

    1 hour ago, Beck said: I saw an advert for 1-2-Switch last night and the mini games didn't look great. Stuff like shaking the controller to fizz up a bottle of pop, shaving your face and shit like that. Looked really boring and wouldn't hold anyones attention for more than a couple of minutes. They need stuff like Wii Sports or Wario Ware if they want to make a party game to get everyone around a Switch.

    I'd love Zelda too. But I think I'll just wait until the Switch is cheaper or take the graphical hit and get it on my Wii-U.

    I've heard that actually the game is very similar on Wii U, if not a little bit nicer visually (?)

  • Sea of Thieves

    I just don't know about this game, what do you actually do in it, is there a story? Don't get me wrong, I'd love a good pirate simulator and for this to be that, but every video I've seen shows people simply messing about on their ship in co-op, playing instruments or fighting other ships. Did you get a sense of what else there might be to do in it at E3 Liam? Are there pirate towns to explore, things like that?

  • Deep Silver Dambuster Studios is hiring!

    Still hiring guys, specifically I'm looking for a level designer with an artistic nature, who'd be interested in working alongside the art team to create world areas for our new project. It's advertised as a regular position but I will consider hiring a junior also, if they have the right portfolio. If you think that's you, drop me a line. Cheers!

  • What are you playing now?

    I've been playing Steep, surprisingly enjoyable actually once you get into it. It's got that addictive 'one more go' quality to it, and some of the events remind me a bit of the old Skate games. The paragliding events are lame though, as the reviews mentioned, but the wingsuit challenges make up for it.

  • What have you watched recently?

    I had some horrible virus over the weekend so was off work today, binge watched the whole series of Netflix's 'The OA' - I don't think I've ever been so engrossed in a show only to have my perception of it pretty much spoilt by the final episode. Still, I enjoyed watching the first seven, it just left me with a bit of a sour taste in the end.

  • THQ... Next Crytek?

    Having been through this situation at Crytek UK it's really sad to see it happening again, but also not really surprising. Everything I've read about this latest incident seems to be exactly how it was for us, right down to the constant lies and false promises from the Yerlis. I feel bad for the employees, but kind of hope this is the end of Crytek, or at least the version of Crytek with those guys at the helm.

  • Dishonored II

    Quote from (HP)

    8 hours ago, (HP) said: And if you want to explore the environment, the Runes are a great incentive to do so, some of those fuckers are hidden really well, even with the heart they're really hard to find, resulting in a very rewarding feeling when you do find them. (I think I must have found 90% of all runes in the game)

    This is a good point, but it reminded me of one thing I didn't like about the game - I made it my aim to collect all of the runes and bone-charms but on the time travelling mansion level I killed the main bad guy and progressed things to the point where the layout of the house was permanently altered, before I'd finished collecting them. This meant that I was unable to go back into the house to collect the ones I missed and by the time I realised I had no save game to go back to. Considering that you can't load into certain chapters via the main menu to finish them off this was an annoyance, I carried on collecting the rest but it was frustrating to miss those ones.

    Quote from (HP)

    Every level has a black market shop so you can spend the coins you find throughout the game, the economy feels fair and I never really felt I had too many coins with me so I kept coming back to the shops as soon as I had money for specific upgrades I wanted.

    I enjoyed the fact that you could break into every shop and just rob all the stuff :)

  • Dishonored II

    I love how each mission feels like it's own unique world area and is so substantial that it takes about 2 hours to fully complete - the level design really is excellent, no doubt aided by the fact that there are so many abilities and mechanics that can be utilised throughout, which seem to keep evolving too - there's no rhythm with the missions that I seem to settle into every time and that's a good thing.

  • Dishonored II

    Quote from Sentura

    On 11/12/2016 at 11:22 PM, Sentura said: Fair enough, I guess that's different from the first. However I find it incredibly hard to believe that each encounter has been balanced both with and without powers. Either way that point may as well be moot since we've seemingly established that I'm no longer in the target demographic.

    I kind of agree with this - but it's only really especially noticeable at the start of the game. The first mission in Dunwall has you navigating the city without powers and it was frustrating in terms of it being quite trial and error based as to whether enemies spot you. You could sneak around a corner and a guard would be looking through a window, or try to cross a gap between cover sections (with no other route options available) and again have someone spot you from the street. I found the same thing on the third mission (The Good Doctor) - immediately after getting off the boat you have one main entry point with an opening either side of it, and trying to get inside that without getting spotted was a bit of a nightmare, as guards are on either side of the entrances, not very visible in amongst the scenery inside and you have no minimap to tell you which way they might be facing or where they are. I read up on this mission after I'd done it and read that you can possess a fish in the fountain to get inside, but I didn't have this power at that point.

    Anyway, later on this does become less of a problem, mostly because I now have some of those powers. I found the later levels to be well designed in terms of having multiple route options and I'm really enjoying collecting the bonecharms and runes as they're quite well hidden. The Clockwork Mansion mission was a highlight in that respect, particularly with the level sections that could be moved and rotated.

    I'm playing this on PS4 by the way and found that graphically it's nice overall with a few concessions, such as the low detail level backdrops - it seems it might have been tough to fit it onto consoles and maybe they could do with some engine upgrades. Interiors look generally nice, although there are some anti-aliasing and lighting issues, and some pop in. Framerate can be an issue but only at certain points and it's occasionally a bit buggy too - the first main character I had to kill fell into a wall and I had to loot his foot for the mission item as it was the only part of him I could still see. Either way none of these things make it a less than enjoyable experience - gameplay wise it's pretty great and I look forward to playing more.