Topic: Magicka - Update: The Stars are Left DLC announced

[MysterD]

NEW - 10-27-2011:
Magicka: The Stars are Left DLC announced -- parody on Minecraft and Cthulhu mythos.

OLD:
Almost 800K sold for Magicka; Vietnam DLC is over a few 100K sold.
Magicka Soundtrack released for FREE download.
Shacknews -> Magicka sells 30,000 copies in one day.

[idolminds]

Somehow that completely went under my radar. Looks cool.

[MysterD]

There's a demo of this thing on Steam, BTW.

[Ghandi]

I saw a gameplay vid of this yesterday and it looks really neat. You have your different types of magic and different combinations of the types yield different magic abilities.

[Quemaqua]

That does look pretty sweet.

[MysterD]

It looks like Magicka might require Steam PERIOD - as it mentions on D2D it requires 3rd party DL.
It is currently $9.99 on Direct2Drive.
WETKITTY promo code on D2D will knock 20% off that above said price, BTW.

Buy now before Jan 31st, get FREE Survival Kit DLC when the DLC drops.
The DLC doesn't sound like much of anything, but here you go.

Purchase by January 31st and receive the "Wizard's Survival Kit" DLC including:
    * Wizard's Hat (item) - No wizard of note would ever be seen outdoors without one of these pointy hats.
    * Sharp Sword (item) - The instruction reads “stick them with the pointy end”. Good to have in a pinch.
    * Staff +1 (item) - Whack your foes over the head, use it to prod mucky waters or lean on it to look cool - the staff +1 let’s you do all of it in style.
    * Meteor Shower (new Magick) - Rain burning rocks down on your enemies. ‘Nuff said.

[MysterD]

Magicka Soundtrack released for FREE download from their offical website.

Enjoy, everybody!

[idolminds]

Magicka: Vietnam expansion.

Thats not a joke.

[Xessive]

Haha awesome

Announcement Trailer

Love the soundtrack

[idolminds]

Something interesting I sorta dug up.

If you buy Magicka right now, no matter where you buy it, it requires Steam (it uses Steamworks for multiplayer). After a little reading Ive discovered they still plan to release a non-Steam version!

Source

There will be 2 versions of the game:

1 Non-steam version that'll support LAN and IP connect.

1 Steam version that will support LAN, IP connect and a lobby with a game browser to find other games.

Later on in the thread they note that the Steam and non-Steam versions will be INCOMPATIBLE for multiplayer. Part of the reason for that is Steamworks. Since it handles all the MP in the Steam version, obviously a non-Steam version would not have access to that. That sucks.

Now the other interesting half to this is what they are going to do for multi in the non-Steam version. He mentioned using GameRanger for finding games, which works quite well. But I found this thread on Stardocks forum. Brad Wardell made some interesting posts:

Yea, right now it uses Steamworks for its multiplayer (maybe some former Demigod flamers can eat some crow right now but that's another story).  It appears we have to integrate Impulse::Reactor into it to take over that part.
---


Yea, we're pretty good friends with the Paradox guys (i.e. talk to them very regularly) and we're seeing what we can do to help them with Impulse::Reactor integration.

It would solve a lot of problems I suspect as IR doesn't require a client (i.e. no Steam or Impulse client required).

So its possible that the non-Steam version will end up using Impulse Reactor instead. And since it would be "vendor neutral" they could in theory update the Steam version to use Reactor and thus make all versions compatible in multiplayer.

[idolminds]

Non-Steam version canceled

We wanted to officially let the community know that development on the non-steam version of Magicka has been discontinued. While we remained optimistic for a long time, we have now decided it's the most appropriate way to go based on the following factors:

    Continuing development would have meant taking resources from the updating process.
    The non steam version had limited multiplayer functionality (no game browser)
    Incompatibility between multiplayer of the steam and non-steam version - we don't want to split the player base.


We know this will disappoint some of you but hopefully we’ll be able to get you excited again during the spring as we’ve got lots of fun stuff planned.

Unless your "fun stuff" doesn't require me to use Steam, I don't think you're going to get me very excited.

[MysterD]

@Idol

This is why games that want to go w/ more than one route for distribution - i.e. Steam and everybody else - should really use middleware like GameSpy or GameRanger instead of just flat-out Steam. Borderlands PC did this (with GameSpy) - so, gamers who want to buy Steam version, Retail version, or some other Digital version can play together.

Only think is...well, they gonna have to patch Steam versions and all other versions differently.

Seriously - WTH were the Magicka dev's thinking going w/ straight-up Steam, if they wanted to do other versions later? 

[MysterD]

Expect a Magicka sequel eventually.

[shock]

Does anyone play this?  I grabbed it during the summer sale.  OMG IT'S AWESOME. 

1) Hysterical.  Absolutely hysterical.  I don't think I've ever laughed this hard during a single player experience.  Tons of jokes about RPGs and tons of pop culture references.
2) There is tons of depth to the spells.  Instead of just casting frostbolt, you have 8 elements which you can combine (with some limitations).  There's so many different combinations and I'm just beginning to get the hang of it.  Elements are what you'd expect: fire, water, ice, rock, barrier, electricity, arcane, life, and maybe some I am forgetting.  The game lets you combine up to 5 elements at once, provided they are not opposites (IE fire and water).  From there, you have the option of casting it on yourself, AOE around you, or forward.  All have different effects.

It's strange at first, but you get used to it.  And then you start doing all kinds of crazy shit.  The game is also refreshingly unforgiving. I've killed myself TONs of times, but I laugh every time I do.

[Cobra951]

Hmm.  Scanning down the requirements list, no way for me, sadly.  (2 GB RAM & Geforce 8800 in particular.)

[Xessive]

This game is pretty awesome! It's all kinds of fun!

[shock]

Hmm. Strange that the requirements are high.  The spells are pretty, but it's your average overheard camera game.

[MysterD]

Almost 800K sold for Magicka; Vietnam DLC is over a few 100K sold.

[MysterD]

Magicka: The Stars are Left DLC announced -- parody on Minecraft and Cthulhu mythos.

NEW YORK — October 27, 2011 — Paradox Interactive and Arrowhead Studios have exciting news for Magicka fans, straight from the Inn’s Mouth: Everybody’s favorite magical multiplayer massacre is taking on an all-new adventure in Magicka: The Stars are Left. Designed for players who love to craft the hundreds of different spells available in Magicka, this new campaign will pit up to four wizards at once against a horror-mystery inspired by the popular Cthulhu Mythos. The Stars are Left will boast a much requested feature from the players – a new adventure campaign, including several terrifying new enemies, bosses awakened from the depths of insanity, and several other miscellaneous Miskatonic minions. Other spoofs ending in “-craft” may or may not also be included.

In an act described by industry colleagues as “more insane than a black goat with a thousand young,” Magicka: The Stars are Left will be available not only to players who purchase the expansion, but to all of their friends, as well. So long as the host player in a co-op group owns the content, every one of their co-wizards will be able to co-experience the mind-killing terror of the new expansion.

The Stars are Left includes:

• An all-new adventure, several levels long, allowing players to get lost in space and time
• 2 new challenge maps
• 2 new robes
• 2 new bosses
• 5 new achievements
• 7 new enemies
• Considerably more than 2 new items and Magicks
• Also, we make fun of Minecraft this time