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The union, called ZOS United-CWA, has been recognised by parent company Microsoft and is made of 461 members, including "web developers, designers, engineers, and graphic artists," the announcement said.

A majority of the unionised workers are based in Maryland, but they are also located across the US in California, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin.

This is the latest union to be created via CWA's Campaign to Organize Digital Employees (CODE-CWA), which the organisation says has seen over 6,000 workers unionise since 2020.

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Additional info:

  • PC version will be available only on GOG (store page is up).
  • Remaster comes bundled with the original version.
  • Classic tank controls can be enabled.
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submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world

HD remaster of the first Croc title will be released for “all the current consoles and PC". There's no specific release date beyond "2024" at the moment.

Here's an article with additional info and screen shots. Main points:

  • HD graphics keeping the original art style
  • updated controls
  • digital museum containing development assets, design documents, concept art and more
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Planned Release Date: Q2 2025

Steam page

Some info:

  • Will release on Steam Early Access.
  • Full non-linear campaign.
  • Randomly generated scenarios.
  • Co-op and multiplayer modes.
  • User-generated content thanks to an in-game map and campaign editor.
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New additions:

  • Xbox Adaptive Joystick
  • 3D Printable Files for Adaptive Thumbstick Toppers
  • 8BitDo Lite SE 2.4G Wireless Controller
  • ByoWave Proteus Controller
  • New Toggle Hold Feature
  • Accessible Packaging for Xbox Adaptive Joystick and New Xbox Series X|S Console Options
[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 54 points 4 months ago

Sometimes I forget how unprofessional the game industry still is or how little respect people have for well being of others. I'd like to say I'm surprised but that would require having some expectations towards those companies.

I hope more VAs speak up about stuff like this so we can have some real changes.

[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 28 points 4 months ago

Are you looking specifically for a community for communities? If not there's also Lemmy Explorer.

[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 32 points 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago)

Short version: it's a campaign to force publishers to provide some way to play online only games after they decide to shut down the servers. That or letting us know, by law, that games can be killed without repercussion. It's not about forcing publishers to keep the servers alive forever if that's what you're wondering.

Long version: check out the official website for the Stop Killing Games campaign. It has FAQ with all the important info.

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The "Stop Killing Games" EU Petition is Live (citizens-initiative.europa.eu)
submitted 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) by Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world to c/games@lemmy.world

It's available as an official European Citizens' Initiative Proposal.

Deadline: 31/07/2025

Corresponding video by Ross

Edit: Swapped the links to direct straight to the initiative page.

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[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 53 points 6 months ago

TL;DW:

  • Patrick Breyer and Niklas Nienaß submitted questions to the European Commission on the topic of killing games (the latter in contact with Ross and two EU based lawyers).
  • EU won't commit to answering whether games are goods or services.
  • EULA are probably unfair due to imbalance of rights and obligations between the parties.
  • Such terminations should be analyzed on a case-by-case basis (preferably by countries rather than EU).
  • Existing laws don't seem to cover this issue.
  • Campaign in France seems to be gaining some traction. Case went to "the highest level where most commercial disputes submitted to DGCCRF never go".
  • UK petition was suppose to get a revised response after the initial one was found lacking. Due to upcoming elections all petitions were closed and it might have to be resubmitted.
  • Also in UK, there's a plan to report games killed in the last few years to the Competition and Markets Authority starting in August (CMA will get some additional power by then apparently).
  • No real news from Germany, Canada or Brazil.
  • Australian petition is over and waiting for a reply. Ross also hired a law firm to represent the issue.

This is a simplified version of simplified version, watch the video for more info.

[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 85 points 6 months ago

While I can't provide you with a proper scientific answer I can offer a basic explanation - it's effort.

Browsing through the never ending amount of content online requires no effort but provides you with a dopamine rush as if you actually managed to accomplish or do something with your time. Other stuff, like watching movies, playing games, reading books, etc. requires attention and active participation, the payoff on the other hand is largely delayed (especially compared to the lazy option).

As for hacks... I don't know any. The only ways I know how to deal with it is limiting your time scrolling through this stuff and forcing yourself to do other things - it can be rough early on but you'll eventually get used to the "normal" way of functioning.

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[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 49 points 7 months ago

They're going to replace them with an AI powered tool, aren't they? If they're going to replace them at all that is.

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[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 44 points 7 months ago

That's positively surprising, I expected them to leave it at that until petition reaches the second milestone (if that even happens). Let's see if anything new comes out of this.

284

Offer ends on May 23rd.

22

VCMI is an attempt to recreate engine for Heroes of Might and Magic 3 with fixes, new features and support for more platforms (Windows, Linux, MacOS, iOS and Android).

What's new in 1.5.0 release?

  • Online multiplayer support
  • Better random maps
  • AI optimizations
  • Most remaining campaign issues fixed
  • Basic game controllers support added
  • Easier installation of game files from gog.com
  • Artifact improvements
  • Configurable keyboard shortcuts
  • Many other features and fixes

Full changelog can be found here

[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 34 points 8 months ago

On the other hand they do have a history of protecting customers (weren't they the main reason behind Steams refund policy?) and that's what this is about.

[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 32 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

I've got some points about this one.

  • they pitch a "deck that could actually play Fortnite" - game from a company who's CEO actively hates linux for whatever reason (maybe it kicked his dog, I dunno)
  • they talk how games bought on stores other than Steam will be "first-class citizens" which... you can already do on Steam Deck
  • they promote being free of hackers/cheaters because of immutable file system... something Steam Deck also has (though they do mention some additional digital signatures)
  • they want to be not only on handhelds but everywhere (laptops, tablets, phones, TV, cars...) - pretty ambitious for a company that didn't deliver anything yet
  • it'll be running on an ARM processor - we'll see how this works out (has anyone tried making a handheld like this?)
  • already mentioned no desktop mode - why is this mentioned as a positive exactly?
  • they want help from linux power users (feature requests, contribute code) but they don't know how open-source they want to be
  • they stole Witcher 3 video from some dude on YouTube

I'd like to think these are just screw ups/growing pains but nothing I've seen so far gives me any good vibes about it. We definitely need more choice and competition - this however does not look like an honest attempt at that. Let's hope I'm wrong.

Edit: Ah, how could I forget! Kirt McMaster, CEO of Playtron and the man responsible for killing CyanogenMod. Sounds great...

[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 30 points 9 months ago

For those wondering about why such basic features are mentioned here it's because work on Squadron 42 (single player part of the project) moved to the polishing stage and everything created for it is being ported back to Star Citizen (multi player part).

Is it worth an article? It is if you're interested in the game, I guess?

Is SC a perfect project? Of course not, far from it. I do find it interesting however how... angry it makes people and how much they want it to fail. Yeah, I know $1000+ packages and so forth (not needed if you just want to play the game btw).

For those interested in actually checking for themselves whether it's a scam or not, there are free flight events multiple times a year - you get to see the current state of the game with everything good and bad it entails. Surprisingly enough, they tend to bring in more players every single time.

[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 61 points 11 months ago

Is this suppose to be an article? Or is posting tweets linked on a website a new fad?

I know SC is a game many people like to dunk on (sometimes for completely right reasons) but let's not pretend like there's absolutely nothing there and CIG somehow scammed millions of players.

If anyone is actually interested in the game, I'd like to stress that you can buy the cheapest package and have access to everything using in-game money. There are also free flight events, available multiple times a year, so you can try the game out and decide for yourself if you like what's there. So far, despite horrible technical difficulties that often happen due to stress on the servers during those times the number of players keeps growing. Take that as you wish...

As for the package... Is it ridiculous? Yes, absolutely. It's 100% worth dunking on.

[-] Essence_of_Meh@lemmy.world 28 points 1 year ago

Here's a list of accessibility features coming with 2.1.

Short version:

  • Colorblind modes: Protanopia, Deuteranopia, Tritanopia
  • Optional subtitles for: cinematics, radio, overhead
  • Resizable text and overhead text
  • Background opacity for cinematic subtitles
  • Aim assist: 3 separate settings for melee, vehicle and ranged combat
  • Snap to target
  • Reduced camera motion
  • Weapon sway toggle
  • Controller vibration
  • Center of screen dot overlay
  • UI haptic feedback
  • Large UI font
  • Remove time limit from hacking minigame
  • Large HUD elements
  • Remove HUD effects (ghosting)
  • Reduce HUD decorations
  • Remove HUD lens distortion
  • Toggle for cycling to arm cyberware when cycling through equipped weapons
  • Adaptive triggers and trigger effect intensity
view more: next ›

Essence_of_Meh

joined 1 year ago