Valve’s Source Filmmaker Now Available

Open beta has begun for Valve’s Source Filmmaker, a new “storytelling tool” that allows anyone to create their own animated short films.

The tools available in the beta are the same tools Valve used to create the shorts, and downloads of the Source Filmmaker will include all assets from Team Fortress 2 along with assets from two of the Meet the Team videos. According to Valve, Source Filmmaker “condenses the production pipeline of an animation studio down onto a single gaming PC.”

The Source Filmmaker tools were announced alongside the release of Meet the Pyro, Valve’s final short in its long-running Meet the Team series. At the time, Valve designer Bay Raitt commented that "The goal of the SFM was to develop a story telling tool that allowed us to create computer animated movies more efficiently, and with greater creative freedom. Over the past five years, we've produced more than 50 animated shorts with the SFM. The Source Filmmaker will allow our community to create their own movies in Team Fortress 2 and in their own Source SDK-created mods."

The beta follows yesterday’s announcement of Steam Greenlight, which will allow the community to pick the next indie games to be released on Steam.

The Source Filmmaker can be downloaded on Valve’s official site. For a look at the highest rated videos produced so far, check out Valve’s Source Filmmaker community page.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Two New Dota 2 Heroes Added

Announced officially on the Dota 2 website, today's game update added the classic heroes Disruptor and Undying to Valve's take on the action-RTS / MOBA genre. Disruptor is an Intelligence hero that focuses on blasting away at his opponents with electricity, while Undying is a Strength-based hero who uses plagues and the undead to unleash hell upon his foes.

The update also fixed numerous bugs for specific heroes, including quite a few changes to wisps. Also updated are the ways that bots work, with some specific bots like Crystal Maiden being  made "even more timid." To get a full breakdown, check out the latest update's notes.

To learn more about Dota 2, you should check out our Wiki, as well as our numerous character profile videos. Rest assured we'll be covering the heck out of Dota 2 leading up to its 2012 release.

Source : ign[dot]com

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Release Date Announced

If you've been anxiously waiting for your chance to play Valve Software's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, then you'll be happy to learn that it comes out August 21st for PC, Mac, Xbox Live and PlayStation Network. Today's press release stats that it will be "approximately" $15 on all platforms, and will have new maps, modes and leader boards.

For our latest impressions on Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, as well as detailed breakdowns of how the maps have changed, check out our exhaustive coverage of the Beta.

 

Source : http://www.ign.com/articles/2012/06/04/counter-strike-global-offensive-release-date-announced

Dota 2 Microtransaction System Revealed

Though Valve’s Gabe Newell had previously said Dota 2 will be a free-to-play game, today we finally have specifics about exactly what kind of microtransaction system will be included. In a post on the Dota 2 blog, Valve states that it “will not be a pay-to-win game,” and that “all the items in the store are cosmetic, and don’t affect gameplay.”

Valve also will not sell individual heroes, which is a pretty big change from competitors in the genre like League of Legends. “We believe restricting player access to heroes could be destructive to game design, so it’s something we plan to avoid,” said the post.

In terms of what you can pay for, Valve will allow for visual customization of heroes and other gameplay elements like the courier. Better still, like with Team Fortress 2, Valve is opening up the a Steam Workshop for Dota 2 so fans can submit designs and, if approved by Valve, will be cut into the profits when the designs go live on the store.

A post on the official FAQ explained this decision in more detail. “We're acutely aware of the community's concerns around remaining true to the theme of the game, so much so that we think the community should be directly involved in the process of choosing what goes into it. The Steam Workshop allows you to submit your votes and thoughts on contributed items before we make any decision to put them into the game, so jump in and help us stay on the right track. We think the community at large is actually really good at making these kinds of decisions.”

Paying for new items won’t be the only way to get new stuff. As you compete online in matchmaking battles, you’ll also earn Battle Points and Battle Levels, which will result in item unlocks.

Now that Valve has detailed the microtransaction system, does that mean Dota 2 is pretty close to officially launching? In the FAQ, Valve states it doesn’t even really consider Dota 2 to be a beta test at this point, but “we've still got work to do before we can support the number of players who've shown interest in Dota 2. Right now we're working on expanding our server infrastructure, which is the primary bottleneck.”

In an official press release, Valve stated Dota 2 will be released this year, but gave no specific time frame. If you’d like to get into the closed beta test before launch, you can sign up on the Dota 2 site.



Source : http://www.ign.com