You get a discount! You get a discount! You get a discount! Every one gets a discount!!!
So this is Christmas… and what have you done? Another year almost over but we’re not free of Mental scum.
That being said, it’s about time for all of you to jump back in and help Sam defeat those ugly bastards. What’s that? You’ve missed some of Sam’s adventures? No matter – they are all heavily discounted during the Steam Christmas Sale 2017.
If blowing stuff up is not your cup of tea, you can always spice your Christmas up with something philosophical. Oh, we don’t know… something like The Talos Principle that got the biggest price cut to date for both regular and VR versions.
Things just got more serious. Unleash Sam’s true potential and enhance his instincts with Tobii Eye Tracking. Now armed with several features, Aim at Gaze to target enemies by aiming with your sight. Features like Extended View and Clean UI make gameplay more immersive and allow you to seamlessly experience the spectacular landscapes – without modifying traditional controls. From invasions to battles, your gaze is your new weapon as you save the universe.
To celebrate this awesome partnership between Tobii and ourselves, we have decided to award one lucky player with a Tobii Eye Tracker 4C, along with one amazing game that supports it – Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE. For a chance to win simply retweet the message embedded below. The winners will be announced on Thursday, 6 PM CET. Good luck!
Serious Sam Fusion has recently been upgraded to support eye tracking by @tobiigaming and what better way to celebrate than to give away one tracker along with an amazing game that supports it? We can’t think of one, so RT for a chance to win a Tobii Eye Tracker 4C + SS3:BFE! 🙂 pic.twitter.com/Rj2dw9vHS2
Extra boost went in optimising rendering quality on higher-end devices (refraction effects, real reflection in waters/shiny floors, enabled FXAA antialiasing, enabled tree swaying, etc.)
Actually, you probably know already because It’s done and it works great. You can all check it out by downloading The Talos Principle from the iOS App Store. So much for the shock value, but the story on how Serious Engine was able to support Metal API and push the boundaries of iOS devices does make for a compelling read. Karlo Jež, one of Croteam’s senior programmers, tells the story.
“I was just about finished with my work on single pass and multi-GPU rendering optimizations for VR titles and getting ready to start working on the next project. Alen (Croteam’s CTO) walked into my office and asked me if I knew anything about Metal API. I said ‘Yes. I know it’s out there’.”
“Just one short month later, the first builds were successfully tested on multiple iOS devices using Metal API.”
The glorious action-packed throwback to the golden age of first-person shooters, Serious Sam 3: BFE, became a part of virtual reality as VR fans finally get a chance to experience a shooter where cover is for amateurs and pulling the trigger makes things go boom.
Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE is available on Steam for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift owners, playable on Windows PC and Linux. Thinking of jumping in? Do it now as there’s a week-long 10% launch discount. The additional automatic 10% loyalty discount is available to all existing owners of Serious Sam 3: BFE.
The Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE is a virtual reality action shooter serving as a prequel to the original Indie and Game of the Year sensation, Serious Sam: The First Encounter. The game takes place during an epic final struggle against Mental’s invading forces and lets you lay waste to an army of beasts and mercenaries from a whole new perspective.
Redesigned to fit virtual reality, Serious Sam 3 VR: BFE features room-scale support, with true locomotion including teleport, instant teleport, blink teleport or smooth movement presets, with or without comfort mode. Also included are Croteam’s advanced VR controls, meant for the hardcore VR gamer.
“Wishes of the VR community are always in the back of our minds, and we’re very excited to round out our virtual reality offerings in order to provide them with the full Serious Sam experience,” said Croteam VR lead and all-around nice guy, Davor Hunski. “Our goal was to deliver intuitive, thrilling and fun games and, hopefully, we made that happen.”
The time has come for us to announce the winners of our ‘The Talos Principle iOS Giveaway‘, but before we get to naming names please allow us to say thank you to everyone who participated and helped make it a success!
Special thanks and congratulations go to two of the luckiest winners, Christopher Elder and Yves Yernaux, who will soon be enjoying The Talos Principle iOS on their brand new iPhones 8!
The full list of winners is posted after the break.
Mario – a VR aficionado always ready to try out new accessories and technologies.
We’ve sat down with Mario Kotlar, Project Lead on The Talos Principle VR, a VR aficionado that has preordered every headset imaginable (except for one) and perhaps the main culprit for Croteam’s involvement in VR.
He’s been a vocal advocate of the VR tech on Reddit and forums but spends his days in the office silently working long hours just to create what he feels the VR space needs the most – great games. Although The Talos Principle VR is now available on Steam, Mario doesn’t look any less busy. Still, we felt there are some questions that only he could answer.
Mario, how do you feel about The Talos Principle VR now that the game is finally out?
I often see people saying how Talos is just the perfect game for VR. That it must have been designed with VR in mind, and such. One would think adapting it for VR would be a breeze. I wish I could show you how long our list of bugs and necessary new features was. And this was after the engine already had fully functional VR support from a technical standpoint, which was worked on for over two years now, mostly throughout the development of Serious Sam The Last Hope.
As many of you know, to celebrate the launch of The Talos Principle iOS we are giving away two iPhones 8, but that’s not all. In our Gleam giveaway we are looking for new owners for 10 exclusive The Talos Principle Deluxe Edition soundtracks on vinyl, as well as 10 amazing T-Shirts designed by Tom J Manning.
Secure your entry now! The winners will be announced on Monday, Oct 23, 2017.
Another week, another release! That’s just how we roll. 🙂
We are glad to let you know that The Talos Principle has finally the reality it was always supposed to be a part of, as we have released the eagerly awaited virtual reality reimagining on Steam for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
The Talos Principle VR is priced at $39.99 with automatic 25% off available for all existing owners of The Talos Principle. Along with the content available in the base game, the VR adaptation features the full Road to Gehenna expansion free of charge.
Redesigned from the ground up to provide virtual reality fans with the experience they have come to expect from Croteam, The Talos Principle VR introduces a fresh take to the contradictory world of ancient ruins and advanced technology. With roomscale support, four different movement presets and advanced VR controls, the game is perfectly suited for casual virtual reality gamers and enthusiasts alike.
“The VR reimagining truly is a homecoming moment for The Talos Principle. We have always felt this game was a perfect fit for virtual reality, and it turned out to be true. I can’t wait for everyone to jump in and, hopefully, enjoy playing the game as much as we’ve enjoyed making it,” said Croteam’s TTPVR project lead and VR enthusiast Mario Kotlar.
Croteam’s award-winning philosophical puzzler The Talos Principle has landed on iOS via the App Store for $4.99. The launch is followed by the release of a beautiful limited edition two-disc vinyl soundtrack set by the composer extraordinaire Damjan Mravunac, available via the Laced Records website (US, Global).
With the innovative tap-and-swipe control system that immediately feels natural – optional gamepad emulation and MFi gamepad supported – an engaging story and cleverly designed challenging puzzles The Talos Principle is a full-fledged game with over 20 hours of content and entertainment, be it a short challenge for the brain or an entire afternoon filled with exploration and excitement.
To round the experience out – the combination of Metal API and the cutting-edge Serious Engine ensures jaw-dropping graphics and amazing performance on iOS devices (iPhone 5S and up) without compromise.
Coinciding with the iOS launch of The Talos Principle is the teaming up Laced Records and Croteam to release Damjan Mravunac’s beautiful soundtrack on vinyl. The deluxe double album is a tranquil collection of 28 tracks drifting between ambient, melodic and dramatic moments, spread across two heavyweight 180g LPs and collected in a deluxe gatefold sleeve featuring original artwork designed by Tom J Manning.
Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope was released just two weeks ago on Steam and Oculus store and quickly became one of the must-have VR titles. While everybody at Croteam VR is thrilled with the reception and continues to work on updates, Davor Hunski remembers there was a time in the development of the game that felt somewhat… less rewarding.
Back in April, Croteam VR was making great progress. Planets Shaanti and Valtos were already released, each with four different levels and a unique boss fight, and the team just started the work on Arcadia Minor that would bring the total number of planets in the game to five. It was at Reboot Develop conference that the team suffered its greatest setback.
As many times before, we made a thing with the folks from Devolver Digital. It was several months in the making, but it’s finally here. Don’t waste a moment – check a look at the “Behind the Schemes” video, and get to know the faces behind some of our most successful games!
“It was love at first sight,” Hunski says, describing the first time he tried on a VR headset. “I knew I wanted to make a VR game right there and then. Of course, the rest of the team needed convincing and that wasn’t a small task. The technology was new, the install base almost non-existent and it was obvious right from the start that we won’t be making any money from VR games anytime soon.”
Luckily for Hunski (and more importantly, for an ever-growing legion of VR enthusiasts) it never was about money at Croteam. It was about creating awesome games, having fun in the process and doing what we love. So the decision was made and Croteam VR was formed. A small studio inside a studio, staffed with VR aficionados and led by Hunski, went about sending Sam on a planet-hopping, gun-totting adventure that became SSVR: The Last Hope.
“I can’t wait for people to try the finished game next week! It was our first Early Access title and we’re so proud of our small baby duckling turning into a beautiful, giant, bloody, armed-to-the-teeth swan with flaming eyes!” Hunski says, “And our community had no small part in this, it was truly amazing having this kind of positive energy and feedback to help us push on.”
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