New SiN Episodes details

[Varsity]

Now that the PCGamer article breaking the story is officially on store shelves, Valve have made a press release containing some more snippets on the upcoming SiN Episodes (the proper title for SiN 2) including the name of the first episode and some of the characters:

"Combining the incredible power of the Source engine with episodic content delivery via Steam has empowered us to raise the bar on key features of the SiN universe, interactivity, character driven gameplay, and emergent AI," said Tom Mustaine, cofounder and Director of Development for Ritual.

...

SiN Episodes expands on the role of Colonel John R. Blade, a battle worn hero in charge of HardCorps, an elite strike force with a long history of conflict with SinTEK, a powerful multibillion dollar empire headed up by Elexis Sinclaire, a beautiful, brilliant, and ruthless scientist who is out to remake humanity according to her own twisted vision. Joining Blade on his mission are JC, a HardCorps hacker with a secret to keep, and Jessica Cannon, a fiery rookie who can find her way into any secure facility.

SiN Episodes: Emergence features never before seen weapons, characters and environments along with a host of interactive options, paying homage to its predecessors, SiN and its expansion pack, Wages of SiN, which set a new bar for interactivity. Additional information and purchasing options will be announced on www.sinepisodes.com or www.steampowered.com at a later date.Read the full press release. (http://www.steampowered.com/index.php?area=news&id=427)

Go to the teaser site. (http://www.sinepisodes.com/)

[TrackZero]

I thought JC died in the SiN anime, only to be quickly replaced by his female cousin, also called JC (I'm assuming in Jessica Cannon)?

[Varsity]

http://www.ritual.com/sineps/

[Varsity]

It's interesting that Valve is just as prominently displayed on the wallpapers and site as Ritual. I'd like to think they are co-developing, but let's face it it's more likely to be a bit of opportunistic advertising on their part.

[Jacob Singer]

"HardCorps"?

"Colonel Blade"?

"Jessica Cannon"?

Sheesh.

[Varsity]

Just wait till you see the website. They might be breaking the distribution mould, but it looks like the usual in-game cliches are still in full force.

[Royal Fool]

The website isn't working for me.. either heavy strain right now or something else.

[Varsity]

Fine here, are you going to http://www.sinepisodes.com/?

[Az Syndicate]

Does NE 1 else find it Ironic that SIN2 is working with Valve when they were once supposed to be Valve's main competition? If they could have had 4-6 more months to fix bugs/polish the game.... SIN2 would have had much better results I guess. After patches, it was a very good game.

[Varsity]

I've never seen someone start of in AOL speak and then move into real language before. It's usually the other way round.

[Az Syndicate]

After 4 years of working with the Motorola 2-Way pagers it has become of way of communication within Motorla and now Freescale. There was a 255 character limit on some models.
Now with SMS and Text messaging I would guess that it will only become more accepted.

[Draft]

Should be interesting to see someone make use of Source's emergent AI. Yes, it has got it.So what does that mean? If I don't shoot a mutant, it's going to do what? Go shopping at a mutant grocery store? Decide to treat itself to a day at the mutant spa?

[mister_slim]

So what does that mean? If I don't shoot a mutant, it's going to do what? Go shopping at a mutant grocery store? Decide to treat itself to a day at the mutant spa?
Indulge in angsty superheroics.

[saneman]

So what does that mean? If I don't shoot a mutant, it's going to do what? Go shopping at a mutant grocery store? Decide to treat itself to a day at the mutant spa?

It's going to shift paradigms, and quite possibly synergise with anything that moves.

"Emergent" indeed.

Oh, and this does mark the beginning of Valve as Publisher, doesn't it (not counting self-publishing)? Perhaps a different kind of publisher to the draconian entity that is propped up for Steam to "demolish" - I doubt Valve had any say as to content in Sin2 - but a publisher nonetheless. They own a distribution channel (Steam) and obviously Ritual are paying (if only through part of the sale going to Valve) to use it.

[Varsity]

So what does that mean? If I don't shoot a mutant, it's going to do what? Go shopping at a mutant grocery store? Decide to treat itself to a day at the mutant spa?
At first I thought it meant unscripted, but it turns out to mean when AI starts out with no knowledge or sense and learns it all as the simulation plays out (like with that NERO game). So I don't know what's going on there.

[Bubby]

I've never seen someone start of in AOL speak and then move into real language before. It's usually the other way round.

On the other hand its very common to see people take shots at other peoples grammar & typing while screwing up their own.

[Varsity]

On the other hand its very common to see people take shots at other peoples grammar & typing while screwing up their own.
Likewise to see people that think it matters.

[Bubby]

Clever. Grow the hell up.