Dec 25, 2013
Braid - Naysayer
The beta has been updated. Fixes since the last beta include:

Mouse handling robustness improved; mouse drift on puzzle screen should be gone.
More-robust selection of fullscreen display modes. Fall back to windowed mode if a fullscreen mode cannot be found.
In windowed mode, the window can be resized.
(Note: -width and -height arguments will not currently affect fullscreen mode; they only affect windowed mode).
Hopefully runs on Windows XP again (not yet tested locally, but if someone out there could try it, that would be great).
Dec 25, 2013
Braid - Naysayer
The beta has been updated. Fixes since the last beta include:

Mouse handling robustness improved; mouse drift on puzzle screen should be gone.
More-robust selection of fullscreen display modes. Fall back to windowed mode if a fullscreen mode cannot be found.
In windowed mode, the window can be resized.
(Note: -width and -height arguments will not currently affect fullscreen mode; they only affect windowed mode).
Hopefully runs on Windows XP again (not yet tested locally, but if someone out there could try it, that would be great).
Dec 25, 2013
Braid - Naysayer
The new update solved some problems for some people, but apparently it created new problems for other people. So I am rolling back the main version of Braid to the old one until all problems are solved.

Among the problems introduced in the new update:

* The game no longer worked on Windows XP (this was caused by the updating of the game to the new Visual Studio 2013 compiler; Visual Studio now breaks XP compatibility by default).
* The mouse got stuck on the puzzle screen for some players, making puzzles unplayable.
* The game sometimes cannot find a good display mode for some players, whereas it found one before.

I apologize for the inconvenience. It's very hard to know what a Windows game is going to do when released to a large number of people, these days. Developing for Windows now is basically a giant disaster (Windows has become very complicated). The strategy with new versions going forward will be to minimize the amount of Windows functionality that they rely on for the game to be playable (for example, the next release will no longer attempt to go into a fullscreen display mode; it will just render to an offscreen buffer and then stretchblit that to a fullscreen window). Also, I'll test the next update much more thoroughly before releasing it as the main version.

The new update is still live on the beta branch and the password has been taken off the beta branch to make it easy for everyone to get at. New updates will be published on the beta branch until such time as they are determined to be working very well.

Expected features for next update:

* Fix XP compatibility for new version
* Render 'fullscreen' without attempting to switch display modes
* Change the way the game interfaces with the mouse, to minimize problems

Thanks for your patience and again I apologize for any inconvenience.

If the old version of the game doesn't work for you, you might want to try the beta in the meantime and see if that works better.

Dec 25, 2013
Braid - Naysayer
The new update solved some problems for some people, but apparently it created new problems for other people. So I am rolling back the main version of Braid to the old one until all problems are solved.

Among the problems introduced in the new update:

* The game no longer worked on Windows XP (this was caused by the updating of the game to the new Visual Studio 2013 compiler; Visual Studio now breaks XP compatibility by default).
* The mouse got stuck on the puzzle screen for some players, making puzzles unplayable.
* The game sometimes cannot find a good display mode for some players, whereas it found one before.

I apologize for the inconvenience. It's very hard to know what a Windows game is going to do when released to a large number of people, these days. Developing for Windows now is basically a giant disaster (Windows has become very complicated). The strategy with new versions going forward will be to minimize the amount of Windows functionality that they rely on for the game to be playable (for example, the next release will no longer attempt to go into a fullscreen display mode; it will just render to an offscreen buffer and then stretchblit that to a fullscreen window). Also, I'll test the next update much more thoroughly before releasing it as the main version.

The new update is still live on the beta branch and the password has been taken off the beta branch to make it easy for everyone to get at. New updates will be published on the beta branch until such time as they are determined to be working very well.

Expected features for next update:

* Fix XP compatibility for new version
* Render 'fullscreen' without attempting to switch display modes
* Change the way the game interfaces with the mouse, to minimize problems

Thanks for your patience and again I apologize for any inconvenience.

If the old version of the game doesn't work for you, you might want to try the beta in the meantime and see if that works better.

Dec 24, 2013
Braid - Naysayer
People are wondering about the update; so far it is some bug fixes for Windows:

Fixed: Mouse creep on puzzle screens on some systems.
Fixed: December savegames said (null) instead of the month name.
Fixed: Crash due to out-of-bounds access when loading shaders, sometimes.
Took out "How to Play" menu, renamed Help & Options to be just Options.
Dec 24, 2013
Braid - Naysayer
People are wondering about the update; so far it is some bug fixes for Windows:

Fixed: Mouse creep on puzzle screens on some systems.
Fixed: December savegames said (null) instead of the month name.
Fixed: Crash due to out-of-bounds access when loading shaders, sometimes.
Took out "How to Play" menu, renamed Help & Options to be just Options.
Braid
vr1


Jonathan Blow, the outspoken developer behind indie hit Braid and upcoming puzzle game The Witness, has posted a pair of pictures hinting that virtual reality support may be coming to the Myst-alike. The images feature the unmistakable double-vision familiar from every Oculus Rift game demo, and as pointed out by an eagle-eyed commenter on Blow s site, the images are titled VR1 and VR2.



For all of the excitement around the Oculus Rift, including John Carmack s recent full-time devotion to the project, programming Rift support into games is still fairly rare. According to Road to VR, barely two dozen games have been developed with in-house Rift support.Luckily for VR enthusiasts, third-party drivers have added support to dozens more including Skyrim, Arma 2 and Mirror s Edge.



Getting to explore the lush island of The Witness with built-in VR support will be a treat, but there is a snag in this fantasy: The Witness will hit the PS4 before it comes to PC, and Sony is rumored to be launching a VR headset for its console. Still, once the work of building to VR headsets has been done, it should translate easily.
AudioSurf - Valve
Audiosurf 2 is Now Available via Early Access on Steam!

Ride your music - Audiosurf 2 is a customizable music game that works with any song!

Choose a song, choose a mod, choose a skin - choose to earn the top score! The highlight of Audiosurf 2 (so far) is wakeboarding mode, but there's also classic modes, Audiosprint (party mode), and more to come as both official modes and Workshop mods.

AudioSurf
Audiosurf 2


It's been over five years since the release of the first Audiosurf, and in that time, I have managed to retain my throne as Elite Champion of Half Man Half Biscuit's Took Problem Chimp To Ideal Home Show. Sure, I appear to be the only one to have played it on the game's highest difficulty mode, but that hardly matters. With the release of Audiosurf 2, I feel we should spiritually declare a lockdown of the original's leaderboards, thus crowning me undefeated.

That release is due later today when the game will appear on Steam Early Access, as confirmed by creator Dylan Fitterer.

As with its predecessor, Audiosurf 2 will generate its levels from the bumpin' and grindin' of your music collection. Along with the return of various classic modes, this release will also include wakeboarding, in which you must anticipate each track as you're pulled along by two boats. Other modes will be added at a later date, both officially and through the Steam Workshop support.

When it goes live, Audiosurf 2 will be available through Steam.
AudioSurf
Audiosurf 2


The trippy, swirling, laser light show that was Audiosurf might have eaten several hundred hours of your time in the five years since its release; I know I've conducted a fair few experiments to try and determine which of my favorite bands produced the noodliest driving tracks. Still, we mastered all the Elite vehicles long ago and have slammed, teeth-first, into enough grey blocks that we're beginning to tire of the original PC rhythm-racer. Cue Audiosurf 2, which releases—sorta—next month.

According to the official website, Audiosurf 2 will rev into Steam via its Early Access Program in September. A trailer was revealed earlier this year for the series' next entry (which was going by the name Audiosurf Air back then), revealing that dangerous bubbles would be joining redesigned blocks in an explosion of color, blinding lights, and mysterious audience whoopage.

There are no details on pricing just yet. I only have one plea, should the Audiosurf Gods (that'd be single developer Dylan Fritterer) be listening—Spotify integration. I'm guessing few people still store gigabytes of music on their hard drives, and being able to stream virtually any song known to the civilized world would make Audiosurf 2 an absolute insta-purchase.
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