It's time for Good Game: Spawn Point.
And today we're exploring
the mysteries of outer space.
In videogames, at least.
Coming up on the show...
We build and battle mighty mechs
in BattleTech.
Plus, I see if I can start
a successful human colony
on another planet
in the PC game Surviving Mars.
And we're gonna check out
some futuristic tech -
augmented reality gaming.
Did you know you can fit 1 million
planet Earths inside the sun?
Amazing. I hear there's a volcano
on Mars
three times the size
of Mount Everest.
Space is big!
WOMAN: Commander, moving out!
(GRUNTS)
MAN: Moving into a safe distance.
I'm gonna set off a little surprise
I left behind for our Taurean friend.
MAN: Acknowledge.
Confirm.
BattleTech is a turn-based
strategy game set far in the future
where humans are now spread out
across space
and use giant robots to fight
each other in near constant wars.
DARREN: Did you know
the BattleTech franchise
was first created as a tabletop
strategy game in 1984
but has since been adapted
to many video games
and other forms of media, commonly
under the MechWarrior name.
This latest game aims to provide
the most faithful adaptation
of the original tabletop experience
to date,
with many of the original creators
and developers
on the development team.
Oh, some good facts there as always,
DARREN.
Pyew!
Now, early in the game
you find yourself on the losing side
of a military uprising,
narrowly escaping death.
But a passing mercenary crew
saves your hide
and after a few years
you're running the whole crew.
You'll lead your ragtag group
through the stars,
taking on contracts,
making ends meet,
all the while working towards getting
revenge on those who defeated you
all those years ago.
Yes, it's a classic tale of revenge
told through some
beautifully done animations.
And I loved how invested I felt
after making my character
and choosing my backstory.
And the freedom you have
to travel around
and take contracts or progress
a story at your own pace is great.
Now, this is quite literally
a game of two halves.
One half up in space,
managing your crew.
Meanwhile, the action is happening
down on the battlefield.
Time to get paid.
You send up to four mechs
into battle,
taking turns moving them
around and firing on enemies.
I copy.
These are powerful,
well-armoured machines,
but so are your opponents
This creates tense, long
back and forth battles
where salvos of rockets and lasers
tear chunks off each other's mechs.
It feels just like how I'd expect
giant robot battles of the future
to play out.
Yeah, and you really feel
some of those hits.
It's super satisfying taking out
a crucial component
for a rare, quick take-down.
Especially since these battles
can get hard quick.
A few unlucky hits
and you've lost a mech and a pilot.
It can seem like a lot
to get your head around
and, admittedly, there are a lot of
tiny details and tactics to uncover,
but the basics
are fairly straightforward.
The main things you'll need to
worry about
are simply deciding
what weapons and roles
you want each of your mechs to have,
and, of course,
making sure you position them
to make the most
out of each of their load-outs.
I like how each map throws up
interesting terrain
or unique features
that mix things up
during the battles,
like forests or dust storms for cover
or desert planets that make it super
important
to keep an eye on those thermals.
Shutting down.
Oh, nothing worse than overheating
and shutting down mid battle.
And you'll pay dearly
for those mistakes.
Damaged mechs can take weeks
or even months to repair.
Is yours still done yet?
No, mine's in the shop.
We are down a mech, Commander.
While injured pilots are knocked
out of action for just as long
or wiped out completely,
meanwhile those monthly
bills are still coming in
and you're struggling to put
together a basic fighting force.
It's tough going early in the game.
Yeah, for sure.
But that difficulty does make it
all the sweeter
when you do finally
get on top of everything.
Bit by bit, you'll upgrade your ship,
train your pilots,
and get your hands on even more
powerful mechs and weapons.
And soon you'll have a thriving
mercenary outfit
that can handle any job.
Yeah, but just be aware,
this is a very unforgiving game,
so don't feel bad about
saving often
or reloading if you find yourself
on a mission
that's gone horribly wrong.
Yeah, good advice, Gem.
Actually, some may call it cheap,
but having to reload after a long
battle or a few poor decisions
is its own kind of punishment.
This is a slow game.
Waiting for turns to play out or your
ship to travel from system to system
can be quite tedious.
I mean, don't get me wrong, I did
enjoy that slower tactical pace,
but sometimes you just want it
to all hurry up.
Yeah, a few times having options
like being able to fast-forward
enemy turns or skip to a destination
would have been really handy.
I would've also liked if there was
a way to save mech load-outs.
It's annoying manually
reassigning weapons and gear
every time an arm gets blown off.
Eugh. Definitely!
Outside of the campaign,
there is a 1v1 skirmish mode,
where you can test your commanding
skills against a real opponent
or an AI adversary.
It's pretty bare bones with
only the one death match mode
and no progression systems,
but it does the job of adding
a multi-player component.
Gem, what did you think overall?
I had fun with this.
The battles are terrifically
tactical,
and the management system gives you
just enough to worry about
to make you really earn
every success.
Giant robots are fun. I'm giving it
four out of five rubber chickens.
Yeah, there's weight and consequence
to every fight in BattleTech,
and that sets it apart and makes it
a super solid strategy game.
I'm giving it four out of five rubber
chickens as well.
Check out my robot.
(BOTH MAKE SQUEAKING SOUNDS)
They put sound effects in in post,
right?
Er...
And script in three, two, one...
It's time for The Scoop!
We've been combing the galaxy for
the brightest stars of gaming news
ready to launch into
the spawnling sphere.
First up, the latest batch of games
that have reached new heights
of game fame
with their induction into
the video game hall of fame.
Inductees include 1962's Spacewar,
an early game featuring spaceships
firing torpedoes at each other
for the PDP-1 minicomputer,
and 1990's John Madden Football,
a pioneer for the yearly update
model for sports video games.
Other finalists in the annual
selection included Metroid, Minecraft
and Dance Dance Revolution.
The games were chosen
for their impact on the industry,
popular culture
and society in general.
Inductees will be permanently
available
at the Strong Museum of Play
in the United States.
It would have to be a pretty strong
museum to house all those cool games.
And next up, Pokemon Brick Bronze
has been taken down from Roblox
due to copyright issues.
One of the more popular Roblox
games out there,
Pokemon Brick Bronze was a free
fan-made Pokemon style game.
It had a solid following,
with the user group hitting
1 million members in March.
But apparently the Pokemon company
requested the game be discontinued
due to copyright infringement.
A cautionary tale for creators
of other fan-tribute games.
The copyright owners might end up
coming down on you like a Snorlax.
Meanwhile, in Minecraft news,
the upcoming Update Aquatic
will officially be the last update
for Xbox 360, PS3, Wii U
and beta editions of the game.
Microsoft announced that after this,
it will no longer update
the older console versions
as they only represent
5% of their active user base.
The update is set to release
within the next few months
and includes things like
new water physics, coral reefs,
bubble columns,
tridents and dolphins.
The older Xbox One
and Switch specific versions
won't receive the Update Aquatic.
Instead, users are encouraged
to upgrade
to the newer Bedrock Editions
instead.
So, make the most of that
Aquatic Update, old gen users.
After that you might be feeling
a bit high and dry.
And finally,
those robots have done it again.
14-year-old Jack McLinden,
who has been largely home-bound due
to a range of health conditions,
was able to experience
a Premier League match
featuring his favourite team
via the AV1 telepresence robot.
Designed to help kids with long-term
illness attend school from home,
the AV1 comes from a Norwegian
start-up called No Isolation.
It works like an avatar,
allowing Jack to experience
the match as a virtual mascot
and meet his heroes via
a tablet from home.
Ah, what a heart-warming story.
Even if robots
technically don't have hearts,
it's always nice to see technology
enabling good things.
My Bluetooth is burning.
Technology enabling good things,
you say, Goose?
Yeah...hey, DARREN, you know,
we've had a few robot stories
in The Scoop lately.
Have you been tinkering
with the Scoop algorithm
to give us more robot news?
I can neither confirm nor deny
those claims.
Aha! Got to go.
Mm-hm.
And now for this week's final
frontier, or final fun-tier,
the Extra Scoop.
This week
we take a squiz at Stuff in Space.
That's the name of a website
featuring a real-time 3D map
of objects in Earth's orbit.
Using the website, you can see
what satellites, rocket bodies
and space junk are in orbit
right now,
and even possibly track
pieces of orbiting debris.
Actually, I should probably start
by tracking the debris at my place.
It's a bit of a mess.
Well, that's The Scoop for this week.
If you have something you think would
make a good Extra Scoop,
then you can let us know here.
Alright, who wants to give me
a hand cleaning up my place.
Anyone? Guys?
Oh...
There's an exciting piece of
technology
I've noticed more and more game devs
moving towards these days,
and that's the world of AR,
augmented reality.
Unlike virtual reality that
completely replaces your vision,
augmented and mixed reality devices
alter and enhance our view
of the real world,
more like an illusion.
You see, AR uses cameras to scan
the environment you're looking at,
and it maps out solid objects
to create a virtual space.
It then adapts computer generated
objects
to fit within this virtual space,
matching things like lighting,
scale and movement.
Finally, these CG images are laid
over the top
of the camera's original view,
merging the virtual world
with the real one,
or augmenting our reality.
AR has actually existed
since the early '90s,
and it's been utilised
in gaming with mixed results
through devices like the
Xbox Kinect, PlayStation Eye
and even the Nintendo 3DS.
But now this tech has found
a new home on our smart phones,
powerful little pocket devices
that are perfectly suited for AR
with their high-def screens,
gyro controls
and, of course, a camera.
So I'm catching up
with some game devs in Melbourne
who successfully ported their mobile
game into augmented reality.
Robot Circus are the developers of
the multi-award winning game
Ticket to Earth.
So, the big question is, with so much
success from their game already,
why add in an augmented reality
feature?
Nick, you're the creative
director at Roblox Circus.
Tell me, why did you guys first
adapt your game to AR?
I have been waiting for someone to
ask me that question.
I mean, it's a game about exploring
an imaginary science fiction world
and AR gives us finally
the opportunity
to step inside that landscape
and explore it for real.
We've been playing around with
a lot of AR solutions for a while.
I guess we're interested in
that sort of process
of how we can extend games
into the real world
and make them feel more tactile
and more engaging.
So how long did it take you guys
to get your head around
this new technology?
Honestly, not as long as we thought.
Like, took us maybe about a month.
Like, there was initially the
technology work
just trying to figure out
how to get everything to scale,
then there was a whole bunch
of art we had to do
because our game
kind of has a camera
fixed from a certain angle
initially.
Now with AR, you can
look around all 360 degrees
so you could see where buildings
didn't have backs
and those kinds of things,
so we had to map everything out.
What kind of challenges did you guys
face with this new tech?
I guess the funny things we had
was I was coming into work
and just testing
the game on the train
and, um, lo and behold
we spawn the game
and then the game just,
like, rolled away
because the technology uses the GPS
positioning to track where it is,
so as the train moved off,
the game stayed behind.
Did you find the game in the end?
Um, no, I never found it.
Looking forward,
there's virtual reality,
mixed reality and augmented reality.
Is there a reason you guys chose AR
over those other technologies?
I think AR is extremely accessible,
right,
so if you have a phone,
you can generally sort of start
to experience AR,
and I think we want to see
what the opportunities are for us
both from a business perspective
but also from
a creative perspective.
AR looks cool
and is really accessible,
but what does it add to the gameplay
that makes it more than just
a passing fad?
It was really interesting how
people kind of took to the feature.
Like, we had a few people
tweet pictures of them
playing it on their kitchen tables
and that kind of stuff,
and it was kind of cool to see
people actually used it.
You can see it now
when you play the game in AR
that there is this very funky feel
of a game coming to life
in front of you,
and I think it is that promise
of the future
that AR really holds out
to developers.
What excites you
the most about this new tech
and where this can offer gameplay
experiences?
I think it's creating brand-new
experiences that people haven't had.
I think, like, nowadays,
there's a lot of games where
it's about better graphics,
better experience,
but there's not a lot of new
mechanics and new things.
I think these kind of technologies
like AR and VR
can give us brand-new
types of games,
and I'm kind of excited
to see what comes out of that.
While the concept of merging the
digital world with the real one
does sound amazing,
could the development of augmented
reality eventually lead us
to a future where we're chased
by giant digital billboards
or, even worse, we can't get away
from pop-up ads in real life?
Argh!
As it gets more
integrated into our lives,
and, you know, if we have
AR glasses on all the time,
I can see a lot of benefits in being
able to look up information
or play games wherever you are,
but, you know, if there's
a lot of advertising or spam things
in your field of view all the time,
I could see that becoming
quite a nuisance.
Obviously there are caveats
with anything,
but I think as long
as we're building things
that are purely for entertainment,
how can we go wrong?
Alright-a-rooney,
we've been searching
through some questions
and I must say we've rustled up some
great nuggets of question goodness.
Oh, I do love
nuggets of question goodness,
and nuggets in general.
Let's nug in.
First up - oh,
would you look at that?
It's one from the Galactic
Chicken Nugget in Goose's Lunch.
He's got nuggets
and he's been keeping them from us?
Goose!
(READS QUESTION)
(BOTH MAKE FUNNY NOISES)
Oh, thanks, Galactic Chicken Nugget,
and glad you're enjoying
our online livestreams.
Hey, I hear that Galactic Chicken
Nuggets are out of this world.
Galactically good.
Goose does sometimes
have them in his lunch,
although then he has to have them
intergalactically shipped
from the Nugget Planet.
Then when they get here, they're
covered in all this dusty stuff.
Space dust, maybe?
Or space flavouring. Yum!
Anyway, to your first question
about whether there will be
a Super Mario Galaxy 3.
We haven't heard any plans
on a third game in that series,
and I guess with the release
of Super Mario Odyssey
on the Switch last year,
it seems a bit unlikely,
I would actually think a Super Mario
Odyssey 2 for the Switch
is more likely.
Oh, that would be so good.
As for Mario Kart 9, again,
we haven't heard any official updates
but I'd say it's probable there will
be another Mario Kart game
at some point down the track.
The question is when?
It would certainly be great to see
another Mario Kart for the Switch,
considering that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
was more or less just
an update of the Wii U version.
I agree.
Now to your question about
whether there'll be a Portal 3.
Again, nothing official
on that front,
but, hey, reboots seem to be
a popular thing at the moment,
so who knows?
It's worth mentioning that bridge
constructor Portal
was released earlier this year,
which is a different style of game,
but still set in the world
of Aperture Science.
Mmm! Lots of speculation there
for you, Galactic Chicken Nugget.
But don't forget to take it all
with a little bit of a smattering of
salt for your chicken nuggetyness.
(GASPS) Galactic salt, perhaps!
I wish we had a crystal gaming ball
or a portal we could peer into
so we could see into the future
and see what actually happens.
Yeah, but sadly we don't.
At least, I don't think we do.
Where's that hand that passes us
things sometimes.
Oh, hey! How's it going? How are you?
Um, do you happen to have,
like, a gaming crystal ball somewhere
that can look into the future
or something like that?
Oh, a spoon. It's a spoon.
Um, OK. Let's move on and dig
into a video question from Alex.
Hey, GGSP.
I have been wondering how to
download mods
on Minecraft Xbox One edition
new version.
Oh, thanks, Alex.
If by the Xbox One edition
new version
you mean the Bedrock Version,
which has the Better Together update
and is now just called Minecraft,
well, for now there
aren't technically mods
in the same way
that we would consider mods
for the Java Edition on PC.
But there are add-ons
and resource packs,
and you can download these
from the Minecraft online store
known as the Marketplace.
That's right. Add-ons include things
like different skins or textures,
custom worlds or mash-ups,
so they're similar to mods
though not strictly the same.
Yes, and it is worth noting that you
generally need to purchase add-ons
with Minecraft coins,
which you buy using real world money.
So definitely run that
one by the grown-ups first.
The G-ups. The Groanies.
The GU diddums.
Sure. OK.
Well, let's crack into
another question.
This one is from Brianna,
Sonc the Hedgehog's Lord.
(READS QUESTION)
Thanks, Brianna.
I think we should straight up call
DARREN about your first question
about Eggman, though.
I love eggs.
Good eggs.
Protein.
Hello, DARREN speaking.
Hey, DARREN.
Rad and Gem here with a question
for you
about why Eggman from the Sonic
games is called Eggman
if he's not
associated with eggs.
Well, there's a rather interesting
story
behind this infamous Sonic villain.
When the game was originally
developed in Japan,
the character was given the name
Eggman, or Dr Eggman.
For some reason,
when the debut Sonic the Hedgehog
game was localised for the West,
his name appeared
as Dr Ivo Robotnik.
The idea there was that Eggman
was more of a nickname
and Ivo Robotnik
was his actual name.
But after
the Sonic Adventure Series in 1999,
the decision was made to honour
the original name
and refer to him once again
officially as Eggman.
Yes, but, DARREN,
what about the original question?
Why Eggman when no eggs?
Well, perhaps the most logical
explanation
is because he looks a bit eggy,
a bit Humpty Dumpty-esque,
sort of round and egg-shaped.
It's 'cause he's bald.
That makes sense, I guess.
Thanks for the egg-splanation there,
DARREN.
Oi!
Aha! Goodbye.
# I am the Eggman
I am the walrus... #
Wait,
did he just say he's the Eggman?
Dr Robotnik, is that you?
Ah, thanks, hand.
Wait, I'm not really sure
what I'm gonna do with this.
Oh, hey! I have a spoon.
We can have an egg and spoon race.
We could, but first to Brianna's
next question
about when the next MINECON
would be.
We heard the next MINECON
would be livestreamed
on September 29 this year.
It'll be the second year that
MINECON
will be a digital event only,
which means you can only catch
it online.
MINECONline.
Now to your last question about when
the next Sonic game is coming out.
Earlier this year we got a glimpse
of what looks like
an upcoming Sonic racing game,
but we're not sure exactly
when that's due for release.
So we'll just have to wait
and see for further news on that,
or any other Sonic games.
And that's all
we have time for this week.
If you've got a question,
why not make a video of you
asking that question
and send it to us here.
Hey, I wonder if Goose has any more
galactic chicken nuggets in his lunch
with the delicious space flavouring,
and if he'll share them with us.
Sounds like a plan. Come on!
Come on, hand.
Breaking news just in!
The Spawn Point Space Agency
Mission to Mars is landing today
in the world's first attempt
to live on another planet.
Captain Rad will be the sole human
on the initial set-up trip,
building facilities for the
colonists that'll follow.
The landing went smoothly.
So far, so good.
I've got drones to help me build
stuff, a robot to explore with,
a rocket ship full of supplies
and a transport unit
to help move stuff around.
Welcome to Mars.
My first solar panels have gone up
to give me power,
and water and oxygen are on the way.
I've started with a good
stockpile of resources
and I'm even harvesting some
concrete we found on Mars.
This space colonising stuff is easy.
Although, um,
the interface is not the best.
Every time I try to build something
or command a rover,
I'm clicking left and right
and it's all too easy to
accidentally cancel and order.
Plus, it doesn't show me whether
a planned building
is connected to a planned
power cable or not.
It only works
when one is already built.
I've wasted ages scrapping buildings
and trying to get things to connect.
Surviving Mars is hard enough
without the controls
getting in the way,
not to mention I've barely been
taught what to do here.
I'm figuring things out as I go.
And you might say,
"Hey, Rad, that's the job.
"You signed up for it.
You wanted to be a space pioneer."
But I've run cities before and they
always at least have a handbook.
Remember when I was El Presidente
of Tropico?
Now, that was a city that knew
how to get things done.
But, you know, it's cool.
Hey,
do you want to see something cool?
It's science.
I can research all this stuff
to get new buildings
and different perks,
and I love me some perks.
Pretty cool, right?
Hey, guess what?
We have a dome.
This is where colonists are gonna
live and work
and hopefully give birth
to the first Martians.
And it looks cool, man.
Of course, we have limited space
to build in here
and there's no way that I can fit
housing, production and social spaces
in the same dome,
but that's life, baby,
on Mars.
Exciting times, space fans.
The first humans are arriving to
live in the home I've built for them.
Milestone achieved.
So they sent the colonists here
with 10 sols worth of food.
To keep people alive and thriving,
I need to grow more food
on a planet where nothing grows.
Luckily I've got a botanist.
Botanists, of course,
are plant scientists,
so there's no-one better
to be growing our food.
In fact, there's a production bonus
when people with specialised skills
work in their specific fields.
And we're going to need to
be as productive as possible
because resources are starting to
get a little scarce.
So, er, we've hit a small hiccup.
Dust covers everything,
which means you have to repair it,
but repairing it costs resources.
Even with
millions of dollars in funding,
I'm quickly running
out of the materials
I need to keep this place running.
Luckily, I can order a cargo rocket
to bring me all sorts of goodies
from earth,
like new buildings
or precious resources.
But we've sprung
a leak in the life support
and we're rapidly losing oxygen
and water.
I can't seem to command
the drones to fix it directly
so I just have to wait until
their automatic programming kicks in.
But I can't find the metal
I need to fix it
even though my stock list
says I have it here somewhere,
so I can't bring it to the right area
so the drones can't start fixing.
It's so frustrating.
Things are bad.
Half my base doesn't have power,
I've run out of almost
every resource
and I don't have enough left to
start producing or fixing anything.
In the face of overwhelming odds,
I'm left with only one option.
I'm gonna have to science
the socks off this.
I need to research 40 technologies
by sol 100,
which means I need to get cracking.
Resources are low.
Sol 92.
Each dome is hanging by a thread.
I've had two rovers malfunction,
I have zero money for a cargo rocket
and there's no resources
left on Mars.
My only hope for any kind of victory
is this research goal.
Research complete.
I did it!
I researched 40 technologies
by sol 100.
Science, baby!
But life on Mars keeps trucking on
and there's not really
a reward for reaching that goal.
I like how challenging it's been
to build a sustainable city
on the Red Planet,
even if the controls kept
getting in my way.
There's mystery, cool technology
and a huge map to conquer.
I just wish it was more satisfying
to achieve those milestones
rather than just endlessly
surviving Mars.
I'm gonna give this experience
three out of five rubber chickens.
DARREN:
Congratulations, Captain Rad.
Wait, were you here this whole time,
DARREN?
You could've helped me.
(GIGGLES)
Guys, I really hope
we get to actually see humans
walk on Mars in our lifetime.
It still spins me out
we have a robot up there
sending us back pictures.
Oh, space is the coolest.
And if you want to see it
with your own two eyes,
then you'll definitely want to
check out Stargazing Live
all across the ABC next week.
It's an awe-inspiring event
and not to be missed.
And just like the augmented reality
I showed you earlier this episode,
there's even an ABC AR Space
Discovery app to download.
You can explore the planets,
shoot space junk and heaps more.
Make sure to check it out.
It's really impressive.
Next week on GGSP...
We sign up for the hectic
action of the Laser League.
And don't forget
to check us out online.
We've got livestreams, Let's Plays
and heaps more exclusive
stuff on our channel.
Come join the crew.
Until then, Goose out.
Rad out.
Gem out.
Captions by Red Bee Media
Copyright
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
