SpaceChem

SpaceChem is an intriguing and wickedly clever title that challenges you to create different designs for effectively converting raw materials to chemicals. It sounds straightforward but the actual process is full of potential since you can determine how different outputs are constructed, what the best ways to streamline production can be and everything else in between. It’s fairly complex and not the easiest to dive into for beginners but that moment where everything just clicks together for your own personal “Eureka!” moment is fantastic.

If you have been excited for Trine 3: The Artifacts of Power since its announcement earlier this month, and have wanted to play it ever since, well, you’re in luck. Although not in a final, release state, you will still be able to play Trine 3 come April 21, when it hits steam Early Access. What is more, because the game is on Early Access, you will also be able to provide feedback, and influence the development of the game in a very real way.

The game will be priced at £14.99 (meaning it should be $19.99 in the US); as with all Early Access games, it might be buggy, and you might routinely run into progress halting or wiping bugs, which makes sense because the game is in fact incomplete.

A full release of the game is planned later this year; obviously, that will be on PC, but it has also been teased for ‘consoles,’ though exactly what consoles, we don’t yet know. Given that Trine 2 was released on PS4 and Wii U, and was very successful on both of those, a release on those platforms might not be out of the question.

We will keep you posted.

Trine 2 was already a massively successful game, especially owing to its re-releases on Wii U and PlayStation 4 right as those two launched; a sequel was given, and indeed, it appears that we are getting a follow up to one of the most successful indie titles of this generation.

Trine 3 looks like it will be every bit the game that Trine 2 was; and if you don’t believe me, and won’t believe me till you get to see the game itself in action, well, we have you covered. You can check out the video above- it is 9 minutes of gameplay footage from Trine 3.

It looks every bit as compelling and charming as Trine 2 did.

Trine 3 is due out some time later this year. As of right now, it has only been announced for PC, though the website makes sure to note that other platforms may be announced at a later date. A  PS4 and Wii U version are almost certainly a given; hopefully Xbox One as well.

Frozenbyte’s Trine debuted in June 2009 for the PC but has gone to not only have a sequel but various expansion packs as well. The good news is that the innovativeness and fun factor of the franchise has rewarded the developer with great success. Frozenbyte has recently revealed that the franchise has sold 7 million copies since the original game’s release.

As a result, the studio is making the editor tools for both games on Steam. If you haven’t experienced either game yet, you can pick up both Trine: Enchanted Edition (a remake of the first game with improved visuals and online multiplayer) and Trine 2: Complete Story for free this weekend on Steam. You can also pick up several different platforms like PS3, PS4, Linux and Wii U as well.

Have you played either Trine game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below as well as whether you’ll be experimenting with the editor tools.

The original Trine has been enhanced with its ‘Enchanted Edition’ which essentially reworks the game into the Trine 2 engine (making it look that much prettier and magical in the process). This will offer the original game, alongside Trine 2 multiplayer.

The Enchanted Edition is still in beta, but in the modern market, when has a game being unfinished prevented anyone from playing it? It is currently on Steam, and anyone who owns the original game can play it for free right now.

To play the game, right click on Trine in your library, and select properties. Select ‘Beta’ and enter TrineEEBeta2014. Trine: Enhanced Edition is then enabled as a new option for you to boot up in the game’s launcher.

Check out the full interview below.

George Reith: What happened to the Magic Mayhem party mode mentioned for the Director’s Cut of Trine 2, and can we expect it in a future update?

Magic Mayhem was something we intended to do and still is a possibility, but not a likelyhood. The idea was to have small mini games that would really make use of the Wii U Gamepad.
In the end we had a lot of work with bringing the DLC up to the level of quality that we intended, so scrapping the Magic Mayhem for the launch window made sense.

George Reith: The Goblin Menace DLC was a great expansion. Any word on other DLC campaigns for Trine 2?

Goblin Menace took about a year to create, so quite a massive DLC in todays standards. We would really like to bring more DLC and maybe the Magic Mayhem later on, but currently we are contemplating if it would be better to put in another long development cycle to get out high quality DLC or if we should just turn our focus over to a third Trine game.

George Reith: Is there likely to be a Trine 3 in the future, or will Frozenbyte be moving onto another intellectual property or perhaps a next generation game?

We will be moving on to other IP as we feel this is the best way for us to grow as a company. 2013 will be quite a year for us and we aim to please with some cool announcements.
As for the Trine franchise, it is clearly our most succesful so far making a third installment a no brainer. Having said that, we don’t want it to feel like Trine 2.5, but rather a large leap and something even more awe insipiring. So that might take a while.

George Reith: Nintendo are apparently going out of their way to treat indie developers well through eShop distribution. Did you find this in your experience of distributing through the Wii U eShop?

They were treating us very nicely. This being our first launch title we guessed there would’ve been a lot more problems, but everything went quite well in the end. Not much can be said yet for the future of the indie scene on the Wii U, but according to our experience so far, it is the console to beat. Hopefully other indies gets similar vibes and next holiday season we will have a thriving community of the small guys on the Nintendo side.

George Reith: Some developers have been critical of the Wii U’s slow CPU. Did you have any trouble porting Trine 2 to Wii U because of this?

None whatsoever. The whole architecture is running very well and we were able to ramp the T2 art to a higher degree than with the other consoles. So for porting no issues at all and there is a nice base for future original development too. Maybe some were looking for a larger leap in terms of pure power, but in the end I believe most developers will be quite comfortable with the system.

George Reith: The Trine games seem to take influence from a variety of genres. Are there any games or game genres in particular that you think have vastly influenced Trine and Trine 2?

We always get the “Lost Vikings” reference, but funny enough not primarily from the original designer of Trine. I believe there has been a lot of influence in each stage of development of the original Trine, meaning from the days when it was a one man project to the time when it was completed by a 20 man team. For the genres the clear directions come from puzzle and platforming. What made Trine quite unique compared to a lot of previous platformers was the free physics aspect in puzzle solving. Almost everything else can be attributed to a variety of games from the past and there are so many that it would not make sense to mention one or two in particular.
Still, other forms of art have had a huge effect on the Trine franchise, from the Tolkien books to all high-fantasy in general.

George Reith: The director’s cut of Trine 2 is meant to be the first title Frozenbyte have distributed themselves. How have you found this experience, and would you want to return to working with a publisher for future titles?

Actually we have always been self-publishing on Steam so this is not that new to us. The only exception being of course the other console versions (Atlus) and the PC/Mac retail space. Both of which was just simply impossible to get into without a partner. Our aim is to always be as independent as possible, not meaning that we don’t want to work with partners, but rather that we aim to work with companies that can provide us with things that we could never do ourselves.

Publishers have had a purpose in the past, but now with digital publishing we can do almost everything with ease. Marketing is becoming the biggest expenditure for some companies, sometimes even more costly than actual development. Our view on this is that as long as we are making great quality products, we will likely find very cost effective marketing methods to reach an audience.

George Reith: Some commentators remain cynical of some of the Wii U’s features. Do you share similar concerns that the Wii U is a console based on gimmicks?

The original Wii was called even more of a gimmick by some critics and that console was a huge hit. Taking risks and being a pioneer is something that can be easily criticised, but this is the kind of future for gaming that Frozenbyte can appreciate.

George Reith: You are one of the few developers this generation that have worked on almost every gaming platform out there. Do you think the Wii U has untapped potential compared to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360?

Absolutely, but again in a very different direction that Nintendo has always been known for. They create their own standards and have huge IPs to fall back on. As for untapping the hidden power of new consoles.. I think Nintendo personifies that in all of their first party titles, regardless of the actual CPU or GPU performance.

George Reith: Some have compared the Wii U’s launch window to the ill-fated mid-generation launch of the Dreamcast. Do you see this as problematic for Nintendo and the Wii U hardware?

If I could foresee this, I’d likely have done some stock market investments, but alas I just stick to predicting my own fate. 😉

George Reith: Having developed for so many consoles with Trine 2, do you have a favourite system to develop for?

I’m sure everyone here at Frozenbyte has a favorite system, ranging from Linux to the Wii U. Same going for the games we play, we’re a really varied bunch.

Bonus question: Which is your favourite video game franchise and why? (Other than Trine 2 ofcourse!)

I think the single thing we do have in common is that we all love playing and making games in general. But if you really want an answer, the last game I played way too much of was “FTL”. 🙂

George Reith: Thanks a ton for your time!

“None whatsoever,” they said, when asked whether Wii U’s slower clock speed had an effect on porting. “The whole architecture is running very well and we were able to ramp the Trine 2 art to a higher degree than with the other consoles.

“So for porting no issues at all and there is a nice base for future original development too. Maybe some were looking for a larger leap in terms of pure power, but in the end I believe most developers will be quite comfortable with the system.”

They also believe the Wii U has a lot of potential but they mentioned that Nintendo mostly designs a console based on what their first-party games offer, and have their own standards.

“Absolutely, but again in a very different direction that Nintendo has always been known for. They create their own standards and have huge IPs to fall back on. As for untapping the hidden power of new consoles.. I think Nintendo personifies that in all of their first party titles, regardless of the actual CPU or GPU performance.”

Trine 2 video.

Several developers have been pretty critical about the Wii U’s memory speed and some even called it horrible. We had also reported that the Wii U’s GPU clock speed is slower than the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. You can check that report over here. Our full interview will be posted soon. Let us know in the comments section below.

For those who haven’t played Trine before, you should know that it isn’t much of a story. Those who are put off on account of missing the first game shouldn’t be concerned as, whilst the game poses an intimidating roster of three playable heroes, their inclusion is more to do with gameplay than anything else.

The wizard can conjure boxes and levitate objects with his magic, the knight is capable of shielding himself and attacking enemies directly, and the thief’s bow and grappling rope are equally useful in combat and platforming sections respectively.

The majority of Trine 2 is a simple case of going from A to B, but the puzzles that block your path are intricate and creative, requiring the use of all three heroes to proceed. The complex physics engine lends itself to creating some pretty fiendish puzzles. Some are more clichéd than others, but it’s genuinely a joy to truly master a section of the game. Level ups can also be achieved by collecting orbs in the levels, a twofold mechanic that offers you extra additional challenges during each gameplay section and also gives you cool new abilities for each of the heroes as the game progresses.

The game makes a pretty seamless port to Wii U, and the addition of the Goblin Menace DLC into the download makes it an even meatier package than on Xbox 360, PS3 or PC. The price is slightly higher than other versions as a result of this, which is a shame, but the cost remains competitive for a DLC title on the Wii U eShop. Developer Frozenbyte had promised a totally new game mode specifically designed for Wii U, but it seems strangely absent at the time of writing. The campaigns themselves are long enough to tide you over in the meantime though and, with local and online co-op for up to three players, you can always find new people to tackle the masterful puzzles of Trine with.

The controls are one of the major obvious differences between the Director’s Cut and earlier versions of Trine, with the Wii U Gamepad as the centrepiece. Conventional control schemes are usable with the dual analogue setup of the Gamepad, but you can also get the touch screen involved for a bit of extra control. It works marvellously with the Thief’s grappling hook and for conjuring boxes as Amadeus the wizard, but it’s best to stick to normal controls for when you bring the knight in for melee combat.

It’s great having these different control options, but the controllers supported by Trine 2 are perplexing at best. You can use Wii remotes in multiplayer and, whilst the pointing controls don’t always lend themselves to the hectic pace of combat in Trine 2, the wiimote works well overall. You can plug a classic controller into your remote if you want a more traditional setup, but you can’t use the new Wii U Pro Controller. This was a major sticking point for me as, not only is the Pro Controller a really nice pad to use, but it also doesn’t make sense that a Wii U specific controller has no support in a game so based on local co-op.

On the plus side, online servers are available if you can’t get your mates around for a local multiplayer session. The online side of things is easy to set up and use and, whilst it’s tricky to properly coordinate with total strangers on the more complex puzzles, it’s a welcome extra. Servers seemed to suffer from regular lag during testing, but this is hopefully a hiccup of early adoption that will be phased out as time moves on.

Though the online consistency and controller support might be somewhat off with other versions of Trine, the graphics are definitely at their best on Wii U. Though other ports have struggled with the odd CPU speed of the Wii U, Trine 2 has adapted amicably, looking even better than most AAA launch titles for the system. The often obnoxious blur that accompanied the 360 and PS3 versions of the game is now gone, allowing you to appreciate Trine 2’s excellent backdrops and environments. The colours look slightly more washed out than the PC version of the game, but the Wii U shares the enhanced physics of the PC version, improving the quality and scope of destructible objects in the game.

Things look exceptionally good on the Gamepad as well, with the touch screen permanently recreating what’s on your TV. It means the whole single player experience can be enjoyed on the Gamepad when your TV is being used for something else. The framerate takes a bit of a hit when playing on the Gamepad, but Trine 2 is still hugely playable in this format, looking almost as good as it does on the big screen.

Overall, despite a mild price increase over other versions, Trine 2: Director’s Cut is certainly the definitive version of the game. Its slow pace may put off some, but clever puzzles and fantastic visuals make it one of the stand out launch titles for the Wii U. The fact that it is so easy to access on the Wii U’s eShop is also a credit to Nintendo’s efforts in this field and the respectful manner in which they are treating independent developers. It’s a win win situation.

This game was reviewed on the Wii U.

It’s a launch game for the system so it will be available on November 30th in the EU and is already out in the US. It also has all the DLC released so far and the pricing is uncertain at this point but something tells me it will be $15 just like the PS3, 360 and PC versions.

You can read our Trine 2 review here. Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

This contest is now closed. Winners will be contacted via email.

It’s time for another fantastic contest at GamingBolt, and we have some brilliant games for you to win, provided you meet some conditions of course. Oh, don’t worry, these are simple things.

All you have to do is comment below and also leave your email address below in this format: abc (at) abc.com. It’s so that we can contact you easily!

Rainbow Moon is a terrific RPG for PSN, which gives the gamer old-school turn based gameplay and features a solid story as well. You can read our review here. Trine 2 is one of the most good looking games ever made, and you can read the review of that over here!

Torchlight 2 review is under progress at GamingBolt, and you can be sure of the fact that this is going to one of the best action RPGs ever made.

There are 2 codes of Rainbow Moon to be won, 4 codes of Rainbow Moon soundtrack; one code for Torchlight 2, and two codes for Trine 2.

So what are you waiting for? Want to win these games? Comment away!