Gas Powered Games has announced that the release date for its upcoming Demigod video game has been delayed. Although the company had previously slated the game for a 2008 release, it changed projection to accomidate a “fully supported” beta this summer.

The good news is that Stardock is producing the game and plans to digitally distribute it sans on-disc copy protection.

“Forging our new partnership with Stardock is a big deal for all of us at GPG, and we couldn’t be more excited about it,” said Chris Taylor, founder and CEO of Gas Powered Games.

“Not only do we have a proven retail publisher, but we get to partner with a pioneer in the digital distribution space… A company that totally understands what kind of experience our customer wants and the quality game they demand. The whole proposition is truly refreshing.”

I’m all for waiting on a good game that has most of the bugs worked out, instead of putting up with a rushed released that still needs a lot of work.

Gaming Today has been following the developing details of Demigod as so far the game looks very promising. You can get more information on this real-time strategy with RPG leanings here. Also, check out the latest screenshots on FileFront.

via Eurogamer

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When I see screens as detailed and action-packed as the one above, I immediately think, Oh, this must be a new RPG or action title. So imagine my surprise to learn that this new batch of screens is actually for a real-time strategy game. The game, titled “Demigod,” is looking to shake up the RTS genre quite a bit with its infusion of RPG and action elements. It’s probably no wonder then that it’s being developer by Gas Powered Games, who were responsible for both Dungeon Keeper and Supreme Commander. To top it off, the game is being published by Stardock Entertainment, who recently released another ground-breaking RTS with Sins of a Solar Empire. The game will apparently have you controlling a demigod (i.e. one massive, powerful unit) who can also create other units to aid him. It sounds kind of like the Heroes in Warcraft III, but taken to the next level. All I know is it’s being made by a proven developer, released by a proven publisher, and already looks awesome; and that’s good enough to make me keep an eye on it.

You can check out the rest of the screens here.

As the release of the Windows Vista Service Pack 1 approaches, gamers are left wondering whether it’s worth all the trouble of a huge download and an anti-hack update when hotfixes can be manually downloaded from the Windows site. ExtremeTech has done some testing and found answers that might surprise you.

There is a marked difference in the efficiency of the SP1 media fixes as compared to the hotfixes. File operations tests show hardly any difference between the two. Company of Heroes and World in Conflict performance tests show a a performance gap between the hotfix and SP1. Supreme Commander and Crysis performance tests are more unclear and even surprising.
Get the full details and make an informed decision on whether to upgrade on ExtremeTech.

In a clear attempt to get his point across, Gas Power Games’ Chris Taylor declared, “PC gaming as we know it is dead… secure gaming is the future.” He said this at Dave Perry’s “Lunc with the Luminares,” where Peter Molyneux, Phil Harrison, Chris Taylor, Raph Koster and Neil Young got together to discuss the future of PC gaming.

Taylor’s comments echoed similar sentiments from Koster, who proclaimed, “the web is kicking the console industry’s ass.”

“I actually think Flash is the next-gen console in a lot of ways,” said Koster. “It’s pointing the way to the future more-so than the current generations of hardware, precisely because it is well on its way to becoming completely ubiquitous.”

“There are more Flash installs available in people’s homes and even on mobile devices than all of the sold consoles of the last two generations put together. It is everywhere.”

Koster explains that the major advantage that flash has is that it isn’t reliant on the platform it’s being run on. He said the iPhone is an excellent example of adapting to play a game that might not necessarily be designed with it in mind.

“Part of why the iPhone works is that you’re browsing the web and the web is assuming you’ve got a mouse, and yet on the iPhone it works beautifully with fingers. Somehow it translates.

“It’s interesting because we’re going to be seeing a lot of games that are not going to know what devices they are landing on, as we get more and more devices that are connected.”

I think Taylor’s statements are a bit preemptive. Phil Harrison spoke about digital distribution being the future, which is something I’ve agreed with for some time now, but I wouldn’t quite claim that the PC gaming scene that we know and love is dead.

via GamesIndustry.biz / Gamasutra

Chris Taylor from Gas Powered Games has reportedly stated that the team-based strategy PC title Demigod will probably end up on consoles after its initial release. When asked about the possibility of it being only a PC exclusive Taylor stated:

“That is actually up in the air. You could easily see that on the console. That’s got a very high likelihood of going to console.”

Taylor also reiterated SEGA’s comments on the possibility of Space Siege coming to consoles versions, and all but refused to rule out the idea. Rumors of this have been circulating the Internet for almost a month now, and William informed us of said rumors earlier this month. Although Taylor stated that: “There’s been no official word. No definite there… Anything can happen of course, in the future”, the hemhawing around of developers in the past have proven to be admissions of truth, because usually if it is only a rumor without substantial proof, they are usually quick to kill it.

Chris Taylor also stated that while Gas Powered Games has some other projects currently in development, he was keeping his lip zipped until E3 2008 where at least one project will be revealed. Could this be the next Supreme Commander expansion? Possibly, because they do have something in the works, but refuse to discuss it.

So what all of the “yes”, “maybe” and “no comment” statements mean is that Demigod and Space Siege will more than likely grace consoles next year and we can expect a Supreme Commander “expansion”, “new title”, or “who knows what” in the future as well. Don’t you just love it when developers give vague answers? All it does is lead to more internet rumors which do nothing but annoy the masses.

Thanks: Videogaming247

Gas Powered Games is known for it’s titles like Dungeon Seige and Supreme Commander where plot and character development are an afterthought in these mechanized games played out on a large scale. GPG is ready to get personal with its new title Space Siege. The upcoming sci-fi action title promises to deliver a solid character and story with the addicting game play its known for. The studio has promised it won’t go overboard with too many words and verbose cut scenes. That’s a relief because although I appreciate a story, this is a dungeon hack in space… and if I wanted more of it I wouldn’t be playing this type of game.

Space Siege is the latest in the Gas Powered Siege series - this time instead of drab underground dungeons, players will take to space with a pet robot to fend off the typical invading space aliens. GPG has to evolve the game a bit, since Dungeon Siege and DS II were both very traditional 3D dungeon crawls while maintaining the addictive gameplay and item collection.

I spent a lot of time in the generic fantasy setting and I suspect I’ll do the same with the generic space setting. Though I’m worried they might make too many changes to the basic formula and thus move away from what I’ve come to think of as a “Siege” game.via Rock, Paper, Shotgun

Gas Powered Games have seen fit to released a patch for its critically acclaimed RTS Supreme Commander. This latest patch will install a small series of display updates and add compatibility for amBX support. Don’t know what amBX is?

amBX is shorthand for ambient experiences. It’s a new ‘experience’ technology currently being added to PC games and PC gaming peripherals. With amBX, games and peripherals providing surround lighting, sound, vibration, air movement and other effects work in harmony together. The result is an incredibly immersive experience.
 
Want to know more about amBX? Head on over to http://www.ambx.com/site/about

You can get the patch by logging into GPG.net from inside the game, thus allowing the patch process to automate itself. But if that’s not your thing, we’ve got the patch hosted here at FileFront.

Download Supreme Commander Patch v1.1.3280 @ FileFront [38 MB]

Note: All previous SupCom patches are located here.

Via GPG.net

Supreme Commander is an excellent benchmark for a PC. Although it pushes the CPU harder than the graphics card, it’s still a good test to see how a graphics card affects a CPU-limited game and a great benchmark for a CPU.

Gas Powered Games has made it easy for users by including a built-in benchmark that produces a SupComMark composite score as well as a large bunch of benchmark data, most importantly the average FPS. Just remember to update SupCom before you begin and make sure to download the latest video driver for your card from its manufacturer.

Get all the pertinent information from the benchmark article on Tech ARP.

Within the pages of the February ‘08 issue of Games for Windows: The Official Magazine (shown right) features an upcoming title I dare say many have heard little to none about until now. This latest issue of GfW is offering gamers a world exclusive first peek at Chris Taylor’s Gas Powered Games’ (Total Annihilation; Supreme Commander; Dungeon Siege) upcoming action/RPG/RTS hybrid title, Demigod.

Inspired partly by the popular WarCraft III mod Defense of the Ancients, Demigod pits players (or teams of players) at destroying each others bases. A somewhat unique aspect to the game revealed is that rather than managing units and gathering resources that you see in a typical RTS, players control a single hero unit with varied powers, leveling up as they kill the A.I. controlled units around the map.

The expected gameplay mechanics of Demigod are best described by 1UP:

“In Demigod, you control one of many ‘demigod’ heroes — some of which survive solely on the strength of their own powers, others of which thrive on building smaller units and structures of their own for support. The guy on the left in the screenshot below is one such hero, ‘The Rook,’ a former king whose spirit now animates an anthropomorphic castle. Demigod is, as you’d expect, a multiplayer game at heart, with an emphasis on co-op play. There’s a single-player mode, too, though Gas Powered Games says it will serve mainly as a ‘training ground’ for the multiplayer.”

Sounds like a cross between Black & White and Overlord. I can’t emphasize enough how pleased I am to see co-op being given a 1st rung feature. I hope this game ends up as awesome as it sounds.

You will find tons more details (interviews, screens, etc.) regarding Demigod in the upcoming issue of Game for Windows: The Official Magazine (which should be in stores soon).

GfW Via 1UP

Next year, Xbox 360 owners will be treated to Gas Power Games’ tremendously overwhelming real-time strategy game, Supreme Commander. Aspyr Media will publish the port, which is being co-developed by both Gas Powered Games and Hellbent Games.

Lead designer Chris Taylor had mentioned previously that an Xbox 360 version of the game was certainly a possibility, so this is by no means a surprise. There’s currently no word on a PlayStation 3 version of the game, or if the soon-to-be-released Forged Alliance expansion pack will make its way to the 360.

I’m interested, more than anything, to see how the controls work. In the brief time I’ve spent playing Supreme Commander on PC, I’ve found myself tremendously overwhelmed because there’s just so much to manage. And when a game recommends that you have more than one monitor, it doesn’t seem like a natural fit for consoles.

Gas Powered Games have just released a new patch to their highly acclaimed grand scale RTS, Supreme Commander. You can get the patch by logging in to GPGNet or by direct download link below.

For now, here are the release notes:

Supreme Commander patch version 3269 is now live.
It includes 3 new units, 1 per faction.
It also includes balance changes, including an adjustment to the Aeon Mercy.

For your convenience, here are the three new units:

Download Supreme Commander 3260 to 3269 Update

If you have one of those fancy schmancy IGN Founders’ Club memberships you can signup for the Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance beta over at FilePlanet right now. The signup page indicates the selection will be small.

Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance is Gas Powered Games’ standalone follow-up to the highly acclaimed Supreme Commander real-time strategy game that offers a seemingly unique way to zoom in and out of the battlefield as well as its ability to field mass amounts of units. Just in case you missed it, above is the latest Forged Alliance game trailer. Those familiar (or not familiar) with Supreme Commander might also read the Forged Alliance Knowledge Base to get an idea of what the upcoming expansion offers.

Not a Founders’ Club member but play SupCom tourneys via GPGnet? There might be hope still. Taken straight from GPG’s forums:

The Forged Alliance Open Beta has begun!

Tournaments with beta key access will be on till the beta ends.
Simply check the Tournament Schedule in the GAME > menu on GPGnet.

So there you go. More teasing and less pleasing for the majority of us.

Today, Sega unveiled a slew of new titles. Not only is there an XBox Live title, but there’s a follow-up to Condemned, and an original RPG to be developed in collaboration with Gas Powered Games.

In what most PC fans will term good news, the collaboration with GPG will be a role-playing game for the PC, based on an original IP. Chris Taylor of Gas Powered Games said, “New IP is king.” With the success GPG has enjoyed in recent years, it’s safe to say this one will be closely watched.

Read the full article

As if sucking in ridiculous numbers of players with Supreme Commander on PC wasn’t enough, Gas Powered Games has announced that they are working on an as-yet undisclosed next-gen console title. In a recent job advertisement, Gas Powered said, “Projects include PC titles within the Supreme Commander franchise, PC titles with original IP and something new – an original IP that is the company’s first next-generation console project.” They’ve also said that the new title is “sure to surprise fans” of GPG’s previous titles, including role playing and strategy. Hmmm…….how about…..Robots from Supreme Commander build a time travel device and go back to change history in the Dungeon Siege world? Maybe? No?