Apart from a guard booth and a small shed in a field, most of what we've seen of Aperture Science has been carefully hidden underground. Perhaps if things hadn't gone so horribly wrong in their massive subterranean lab, Aperture eventually might have built a proper above-ground campus, like Google or Microsoft.

That's the premise of Above Aperture. You're on an excursion to Aperture City, a large above-ground compound littered with buildings and devious test-chambers. 

Yes, you're still as trapped as Chell ever was, but the open-air nature of most of the chambers and the little outdoor strolls you take between the challenges give it a different feel than the subterranean labyrinth we're used to. Aperture City, naturally, is abandoned and crumbling, and armed with only your wits (and a cool handheld device), you're trying to find your way out, or at least your way through

Above Aperture features some custom models and art, as well as a really nice piece of custom music. Not only are the maps lovely to look at, but they're pretty challenging as well. I spent a good deal of time in the very first level wondering just what the heck I was supposed to do. I could clearly see the spots I needed to get to, and I knew I had the tools to get there: my portal gun, a light bridge, and a faith plate. There were even clues in a few spots, little arrows painted on the concrete... anyway, it was a challenge, a nice twist on the standard game-play, and quite satisfying when I finally figured it out.

Light bridges are a big part of most of the puzzles, but there are other familiar elements: laser-beams and mirror cubes, a bit of gel, a few turrets here and there. The chambers are nice and big, and for me, they're the best kind: where you sort of wander around for a bit before you even try anything, peering at the walls and ceiling, trying to put the solution together in your head before you actually start firing the gun.

I really do like being above-ground, too. I know, it's just a skybox, and the maps may as well be underground anyway because you're trapped in them either way, but it still feels a bit more freeing being able to see the sky (though no moon, of course). It's also one step closer to my ultimate Portal dream: a huge GTA-style metropolis I can fling portals around in.

If you spot a radio during your travels, make sure to take it with you: there's a cool custom song hidden somewhere in the maps, and you won't want to miss it. (I definitely missed it my first time through.)

Above Aperture is in three parts which you can subscribe to here. I certainly hope there will be more of this adventure to come: the puzzles are pretty fiendish and the maps are very well designed, not just in how the puzzles function but in the overall atmosphere as well.

You can also check out more of the modder's Portal 2 workshop items here.

Tireless weekend reporter Tom Sykes alerts me to this: Flamberge, which he describes as "basically Fire Emblem meets Frozen Synapse." That, it seems, is more than enough to make me pay attention.

It's a turn-based tactical RPG that, like Frozen Synapse, features simultaneous turns. You'll be able to map out multiple moves for your party, which will play out at the same time as any enemy units. Winning is less about responding to your opponent, and more about anticipating their actions.

The Flamberge team were hoping to raise $1,500 on Kickstarter. They've already blown passed that, and are now just shy of $6,000. There's still three days left, if you're understandably interested. You can also download a demo here.

Following a bunch of screenshot leaks and a teaser trailer which confirmed the authenticity of said leaks, comes the arrival of Telltale's Game of Thrones on Steam. The first season, comprising six episodes, is available for US$29.99, but if you get it now you'll receive a 10 per cent discount. No specific release date is provided, though the predictably low-spec system requirements can be perused, as below:

OS: Windows XP Service Pack 3Processor: Core 2 Duo 2GHz or equivalentMemory: 3 GB RAMGraphics: ATI or NVIDIA card w/512 MB RAMDirectX: Version 9.0Hard Drive: 3 GB available spaceSound Card: Direct X 9.0c sound deviceAdditional Notes: Not Recommended for Intel integrated graphics

Here's the trailer again for your viewing pleasure.

Hi PC Gamer, I'm in the market for a new display, and I'm wondering what kind of cable I should go with. Is there a big difference between DVI, DisplayPort, and HDMI? Should I get an expensive one? Thanks. — Arne M.

Hi Arne. I recommend going with an HDMI or DisplayPort cable, essentially just for future-proofing as they both support 4K resolution. DVI is fine, but it's getting a bit dusty. And whichever cable you get, I definitely don't recommend getting an expensive one. Here's what makes them different:

HDMI

HDMI is the standard for HDTVs, and carries audio, so it's the least hassle if you're going to plug your PC into a TV at some point. If you're going 4K, the old HDMI 1.4 specification only supports 30Hz at that resolution (except with a bit of clever trickery which reduces color quality). But there's good news: HDMI 2.0 is here, and the GeForce GTX 900 series meets the specification.

If you have a video card and 4K display which support HDMI 2.0, you should be able to get 4K/60Hz with full color quality over a standard high speed HDMI cable. Not that you probably are, as 4K is still a baby, but this is important to note in case anyone tries to sell you "HDMI 2.0 cables." Pure bullshit. The HDMI 2.0 specification is not a cable specification. HDMI Forum says so: "HDMI 2.0 does not define new cables or new connectors. Current High Speed cables (Category 2 cables) are capable of carrying the increased bandwidth."

So, make sure you get a "high speed" HDMI cable, but don't spend more than $15. Seriously. You will get the same digital picture as with a $100 cable. You want one good enough that it doesn't break, but don't get ripped off by jargon. If the cable is working, you'll get a picture, and it will be the same picture regardless of how much silver coating is involved.

DisplayPort

DisplayPort 1.2a is similar to HDMI, but better designed for computer displays (and you'll have a hard time finding a TV which takes it), which is why I recommend it over HDMI for PC gaming. It's capable of 3840x2160/60Hz, and the latest specification will be capable of driving 5K displays when it's implemented (displays which will support it are coming).

You can also drive multiple monitors with just one DisplayPort output. You can get hubs to do this, or use displays which support daisy chaining (meaning they have a DisplayPort input and output)—the Dell U2414H, for instance.

One of the coolest things about DisplayPort is that it can be adapted for VGA, HDMI, and DVI inputs. So, even though your TV probably doesn't have a DisplayPort input, a little HDMI adapter will fix that.

DisplayPort comes highly recommended from me. Just don't get a rare DisplayPort cable labeled "Reduced Bit Rate (RBR)," as they can only support 1080p. And again, you do want a well-made cable so that it doesn't fall apart, but a more expensive cable does not mean a better picture. Here's what DisplayPort has to say about that:

"While retailers may try to sell you a more expensive cable touting it will provide a better picture quality, we are here to debunk that myth. Contrary to what you may think, the more expensive cable will not give you a better picture quality. DisplayPort uses packetized data, similar to USB and Ethernet, to send digital display and audio data, therefore you either get all of the data or you don t. Unlike other older video interfaces, you don t get a 'better' picture or other incremental improvements with a more expensive cable."

DVI

Like VGA which came before, DVI is starting to fade into obsolescence. It's still on every card, and this isn't to say there's anything wrong with it; it's essentially carrying the same signal as an HDMI cable, sans the audio. The main reason I suggest going with HDMI or DisplayPort is that they will probably be the 4K standards. That said, Dual-Link DVI is fine and I use one for my 1080p display at home. I like the sturdiness of the connector, and, well, I just have tons of old DVI cables lying around. That's kind of a plus.

And thanks to Raven in the comments for reminding me to mention that if you want support for 144Hz displays, you should go with DisplayPort or DVI. When everything uses the HDMI 2.0 specification, all should be dandy on that front (something I've yet to test, though). My general recommendation is DVI (what'll probably come with your PC or card) or DisplayPort, which you can easily adapt for HDMI input if needed.

The big problem with downloadable content in multiplayer games is the split between the haves and the have-nots, with those who don't want to shell out more money for extra maps being left in the dust to a certain extent. That's not going to happen with Turtle Rock's Evolve, because all its DLC maps will be free for everyone. (Well, everyone who owns the game, but that was probably a given.) Creative director Phil Robb confirmed as much to IGN, stating that  We can t break the community up, so all of our maps will be free. We never want anyone to get booted off of a server because they haven t bought something".

While players will be getting the maps for free, they will have to hand over a wadge of their local currency in exchange for additional characters and monsters. The good news, however, is that you'll be able to play alongside these new hunters and creatures, even if you don't own them yourself. Here's Robb again explaining that.

"We'll have characters and monsters, and even if you don't buy them, if your buddy wants to buy the DLC, that's cool, and your game will be enhanced through his purchase. So, you won't be able to play as those characters, but you will certainly be able to play with those characters."

Which is an entirely sensible way to handle DLC in a multiplayer FPS. Evolve is out in February, and your PC will need to be this tall in order to play it.

Keeping up with the various Steam sales and GOG sales and Humble Bundles and Bundlestars and Groupees and so on is becoming a full-time hobby, if not a particularly expensive one. New PC games haven't been this cheap since the days of buying Amstrad tapes from Hendersons for 1.50, and yes, yes I am incredibly old. Continuing this trend, there is going to be a Steam Autumn Sale, and it is probably going to start on November 26th. Based on previous years, this likely could have been surmised even without PayPal's help, but the online payment method has helpfully leaked the sale's start and end dates, to give us time to shore up the necessary cash.

According to PayPal (and to VG247, who noticed it), the Steam Autumn/Fall Sale will begin on November 26th (that's a Wednesday), and end on December 1st (AKA 'Cyber Monday'). Those dates encompass the dread day known as Black Friday, when shoppers everywhere stampede and push and stab each other in stores in order to buy luxury goods at slightly more affordable prices. PayPal's part in all this is flogging Steam Wallet cash, and while Valve hasn't announced the Fall Sale dates to the wider world yet, it does seem highly likely that they'd share this sensitive information with companies acting as secondary payment methods.

For this week's roundup, I threw my electrified free games net into the bountiful waters of the Procedural Generation Jam and 7DFPS, both of which, in a brilliant quirk of fate, were going on at around the same time. Many developers chose to tackle both jams at once; you'll find a couple of such games below, along with some wonderfully inventive adventures and an even bastard-harder take on Hotline Miami. Once you've procedurally generated the beverage of your choice, we can begin.

The Inquisitor by DragonX

A common theme I see in game jams is the murder mystery: typically you'll be given a crime and a few clues pertaining to various suspects, before being asked to finger them, so to speak. The Inquisitor plays out like that, but it's probably the most robust and detailed murder mystery I've come across, procedurally generated a crime, evidence, and a bunch of suspects for you to question it's like a single-player version of Cluedo. The link above, if you scroll down a bit, reveals the depth of the simulation, which is hugely impressive for something whipped up in seven days (even if the keyboard-only controls are a bit frustrating).

Where's Tango? by David Pittman

David Pittman (he what made Eldritch) has created a game of observation and assassination, which tasks you with protecting a party-goer from a murderer determined to do them in. The party-goer, and the similarly party-going murderer, are randomly generated each time you play: you're given a huge list of distinguishing features to help identify your charge, and a much smaller list to help you pick out their potential assassin. Finding, and keeping track of, the potential victim is tricky enough, but it's even trickier identifying the assassin, who will sometimes mingle with the pre-deceased, or may just be strolling elsewhere, making small talk about wine or football with one of the other guests.

You have one shot. Hit the wrong person and the game will end, and you'll have slaughtered an innocent bunch of polygons. There isn't quite enough tension in Where's Tango? as it stands now: a time limit might have helped with that, and it does seem a bit weird that the assassin never does any actual assassinating. Even so, this is a lovely, lovely game, and one of the few to really test your skills of observation.

JET/LAG by Jake Cataford

Developer Jake Cataford describes JET/LAG as a Hyper Minimal Rogue-like-like-like that features unforgiving tactical gameplay in the noisiest environment possible , which is to say that it's a bit like Hotline Miami, only with a more caterwauly soundtrack and a mouse-based control scheme that holds no quarter. Click on enemies to bash and kill them, or be bashed and killed instantly in return. Die, restart, try again. Die, restart, try again. Absorbing, reflex-testing arcade action with absolutely no messing about.

Infini-Quest by Second Dimension Games

I love what Infini-Quest is doing. It's a text adventure of sorts that randomly generates, well, everything, from the hero's name to the thing that they're seeking, to the objects, places and creatures you'll encounter in each location. You interact by dragging key words from your repertoire onto locational stuff on the right side of the screen; sometimes this will result in a new ability or item, or see an ability or item you already have be taken away. Often nothing will happen, but you'll get to read a fantastic piece of randomly pieced-together gobbledygook anyway. Here's one:

None of these items or commands really do anything to help you achieve your goal, but I had so much fun showing my violin to a suspicious duck, attempting to lie to a high priestess, or trying to flog my guitar to an angry dwarf. We have procedural generation to thank for these interactions (well, and Second Dimension Games), so, cheers procedural generation, you done good.

Forska by Todd Furmanski

I would dearly love to physically walk around the beautiful procedurally generated worlds of Todd Furmanski's Forska, but exploring them via Myst-style mouse-clicks is almost as good. That's a little unfair to Forska, actually: unlike in Myst, you can trammel all over every inch of these stylised environments, and in fact you're free to travel between mountains, across rivers and through trees instantly and at the click of a button. Forska's omniscient exploration evokes a giddy and powerful feeling, supported by a day-night cycle and mysterious portals that allow you to travel to other worlds.

Double Fine has laid off 12 staff members after an unannounced project was unexpectedly cancelled by its publisher. Tim Schafer relayed the sad news to GamesIndustry.biz, while noting that the company's previously announced, and in development, games—Broken Age Act 2, Massive Chalice, and Grim Fandango Remastered—will all be unaffected by the departures.

Here's Tim saying pretty much the exact same thing, in his own words:

"One of our unannounced projects was unexpectedly cancelled by its publisher, forcing us to reduce our staff by 12 people. Our remaining projects--Broken Age, Massive Chalice, and Grim Fandango Remastered, were unaffected."

Double Fine haven't revealed anything about the game in question, but it's a relief to hear that Broken Age's belated second act, Massive Chalice, and the Grim Fandango re-release are still on track. Emanuel Maiberg recently got his hands on the second one—you can read his thoughts about it here.

Best of luck to those affected by this news.

'Chivalry' is a word which here means 'hitting men with swords until their arms fall off and their legs fall off and maybe they don't have a head'. It's sad that modern warfare has lost this sort of gallant behaviour, but at least it's alive and well in Torn Banner's multiplayer men-hitting action game. Chivalry: Medieval Warfare has had a few free Steam weekends before now, and now it has another one. Look at it there, all temporarily free to play for the next two-ish days. As is the custom, the game is also 75% cheaper if you'd like to keep it after your sworded time is up.

Our Chivalry review doesn't appear to be online, but I'm reliably informed that we gave it 81%. That's quite a bit higher than the score Andy Chalk doled out to its Deadliest Warrior DLC, which "has neither the depth nor the polish to stay in the fight for long".

The word 'hero' gets thrown around a lot, but it's a rare game that manages to actually convey the sentiment. To many games, it's simply another word for 'protagonist', in the sense that the character is the hero of his own story. A very few make it something more, either in terms of making you earn the title in the first place, or properly conveying its importance once you've got it. In the classic Quest For Glory adventure series for instance, it's a multilevelled thing. To beat up a few brigands and save a kidnapped baron's daughter is enough to have people call you a hero, but you don't truly earn your title until the fourth game, Shadows of Darkness, where it's genuine compassion and an innate belief that the world can be a better place that lets you truly make it so.

The advantage of so many games being bad at it though that those that even make a token effort can be incredibly effective at it. I was reminded of this while playing the excellent World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor this past week or so. Amongst its many cool changes and additions, one of the simplest yet most effective is having the characters regularly acknowledge that at this point, you're an official hero of Azeroth in your own right... as are about ten million of your closest friends, but that's fine, it's easy enough to suspend disbelief. You're probably not a mage either. Or whatever flavour of fantasy you prefer, up to and including being Alliance scum.

In previous expansion packs this tended (not exclusively, but often) to be ignored or hand-waved by the characters so that some random person in a nothing outpost could still pile you up with crapwork even when you had Illidan Stormrage's blood on your sword or were toting around the Lich King's own gear. This time though, Blizzard goes entirely the other way. Both in your Garrison and in the open world, characters respond to you with a new level of respect. In the Horde capital of Warspear for instance, you'll hear lines like "There goes Seneschal! They say she's the greatest mage who ever lived!" Approaching an Outpost, the guards will bitch each other out for not saluting you, declare a proud "Lok'tar ogar!" In missions, while functionally you're doing the same thing as the last few expansions, there's just enough power in being told that you're being sent somewhere primarily to boost their morale to, just for a moment, ignore the artifice of it and enjoy the sentiment.

This is a trick that usually only a long-running franchise can pull off - one that requires both investment in the world and story, and in the main character's career. Wing Commander for instance told a multi-year tale of a rookie pilot becoming the Hero of the Confederation, with the growing respect and friendships and rivalries becoming more meaningful than they maybe deserved. With a little flair though, it can be done in a single game too, and none have ever done it better than City of Heroes.

It's easy to forget just how ambitious that game was, especially now that it's gone. The travel powers alone were a breath of fresh air, allowing for super-speed, flight and all kinds of other things while the competitors were still clunking around at ground level, to say nothing of the combat powers that turned the whole screen into a pyrotechnic display. By far my favourite part of it though was the civilian population. They served a couple of really important purposes - the first being to reinforce that not everyone is a spandex-wearing crimefighter and the majority of the city really does have something to fear from even the most basic muggers, and to reflect your success in a visible, engaging, yet still easy to tune out form.

This worked in a couple of ways. The first and simplest is what Warlords of Draenor does on a slightly more controlled level. Occasionally a random passerby would shout out something like "Rhetoric is the coolest!", where Rhetoric would be a hero currently in the zone. Far more effective though were the barks that would pick up on a previous mission that you'd done, and get more specific. "Did you hear Rhetoric beat up the Freakshow yesterday?" "Rhetoric saved my little sister at that party!" Just for a moment, that randomly generated mission had just a spark more life to it. So did some of the big moments inside them, when the criminals would be happily going about their business until- oh shit, not you! What more could a hero want?

It sounds simple. It totally is. But the sense that a world is paying attention is a powerful one, even knowing that it doesn't really care. The Walking Dead for instance managed to encapsulate just about every possible mix of fear, pride, victory and defeat in this into just four iconic words: "Clementine will remember that." More recently, Dreamfall Chapters ended its first part by not simply displaying choices at the end of the game, but hinting at both how soon and how severely they were going to pay off. That's relatively easy to do when it's the aftermath of getting right into a local gangster's face in front of his men. Red Thread's artistry however is the ability to do the same thing about your choice of what to buy your boyfriend for lunch.

Cheese soup or sausages? Dum-dum-duuuuuuum...

In the right context, anything can be effective.

It is however possible to go too far with this. Guild Wars 2 in particular stands out to me as an attempt that tried and failed to make the player feel like the hero. On the global scale, as anyone who played the campaign knows, your role as saviour starts out pretty strong and then is unceremoniously taken by a boring tree man called Trehearne, and you spend the rest of the campaign simply being his number two. More specific to what we're looking at this week though was its attempt to do smaller moments of gratitude like City of Heroes barks and Warlords of Draenor's saluting, with its approach taking the form of letters from grateful quest-givers after you'd done the thing. In theory, great idea. In practice, not so much.

There's a couple of reasons why it didn't work. The first was that they were constant, and immediate. You'd do a couple of things and immediately, ping, a thank you letter appeared. Every time. Every. Single. Time. That quickly changed them from being a genuine mark of appreciation on behalf of a grateful NPC into simply A Thing That Guild Wars 2 Does - a pain in the arse for the quest-writers no doubt, and a pain to deal with, even if it was just getting rid of them and collecting the change on the end. It became boring, not least because it was so damn fake. Who writes a letter to a wandering hero to thank them for picking apples or whatever? The gratitude grated, wearing away the suspension of disbelief with every insincere claim.

World of Warcraft meanwhile keeps its letters from NPCs to a bare minimum, so that when they come in, they're something of... calling them an event is too much, but certainly an occasion. A letter from Draka at the end of the Horde Draenor campaign for instance, or from Archmage Khadgar laying out the next steps that have to be taken, or in older campaigns, being pointed towards the fact that it's finally time to get your flying mount. It's also more careful than it might initially seem about the ego-boosting barks from guards and so on; characters showing respect, but not constantly kissing your ass. It's done where relevant, like when you go into a camp from outside - guards posted outside or by the flight point being in charge of the "Throm-ka, commander," greetings and the people inside typically silent unless there's a plot point. Likewise, the story tries to justify your involvement where possible with specifics. Having helped the orcs of Frostfire Ridge for instance, it makes absolute sense that people needing their help would invite you along to make the introductions - especially as they won't trust humans. Except the undead kind, of course.

The result is a system that, like much of World of Warcraft, is designed to let you take it as you will. If you find it a suitable reward for 90 levels of questing and fighting and taking on the greatest threats that Azeroth has ever faced, then that's great. If not, it's easily ignored and won't get in your way. It's also only part of how the expansion seeks to build your sense of importance, putting its mechanics where its mouth is with the Garrisons, giving you Followers who can be both assigned quests and bodyguard duty, and offering an active benefit of your station by giving you access to weapons like artillery strikes and tanks that you can take out into the field - all of which conveys that while you may not be on the level of a Thrall (and as long as Chris Metzen draws breath, never will be), you're now really only one tier down.

It'll be interesting to see how Blizzard evolves this in the next expansion, when respect is no longer something that stands out, but the quests still need to be completed. Somehow though, I suspect they have a few ideas.