BYOND & Within #3 & 4

My future BYOND contributions are in question, but the community is keeping the activity coming.  Each of the past two columns ran just as long as the previous.  In half the time.  Fortunately I was able to trim it down.

Unfortunately, some projects tend to offer more solid news than others.  That often leaves me with the same games in new wrappers.  I suppose it can't be helped.

Smile!

This edited version of BYOND and Within comes to you from a game/development portal and software engine called BYOND.  The column focuses on recent developer activity as seen by an unpaid volunteer.  For play suggestions...  Well, those are kind of in flux.

Within BYOND

New maps are on the way for the team-based action of Decadence.  Following the poll of themes offered in the last update, a call went out for testers.  Free Decadence subscriptions of undetermined length have been offered, but the positions appear to be filled.  If so, the new content should still give players something to look forward to.

In preparation for their long-awaited marketing campaign, Silk Games have announced Facebook features and a trailer for their retro MORPG NEStalgia.  The former grants sneak peaks to those users who click the Like button on the game's Facebook page.  This currently includes screenshots and descriptions of the upcoming Black Sanctum expansion.  Check out SilkWizard's promotion ideals as you wait.

Developers interested the interfaces provided in Silk Games' creations might also want to review their recent free demo.  Requests for features in a pay version are welcome.

Gakumersara's Terulia systems lack a specific game to to tie in, but they're still of note.  Terulia Forum Service offers unified forums and BYOND-key based messaging.  Terulia Relay Chat allows players to communicate between games and receive alerts from said forums.  Both allow users to log in through BYOND for security without additional registration.

Gakumerasara is holding a promotional contest with computers awarded to the winner(s).  The conditions are a mix of BYOND Membership and Terulia usage.  There is no time limit.

Acebloke made some minor updates to his military/economic sim, Wargames, and graphical MUD, Dreamland Universe.

But bug fixes aren't exciting.  For fun, check out Tetsuya's weekly Wargames tournaments.  Winners will be awarded subscriptions.

There's few details other than a recent test server, but I figured I'd mention that Darker Emerald has resumed work (with others) on the survival horror RPG Dead World.  I don't blame people for being sick of zombies.  However, I've downloaded so many music tracks from Darker Emerald's blog that I'm just happy there's a game licensed to use them. =)

I've barely touched my racing combat board game, StarScurrier.  Apparently I fixed a balance issue, forgot to update the related card and ended up wasting time trying to derive which was correct.  Oops.

Meanwhile, I've been reading various procedural generation articles in preparation for some form of action adventure game.  Granted, I've been designing variants for ages.  I just think I finally found the proper mix of mechanical inspiration and personal skill level.

Beyond BYOND

Check out Matt Chat for old school videogame reviews and interviews and Press Heart To Continue for multi-sourced news vlogs.  (Pretend there are embedded videos here.)