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August 18, 2022

Nine years after its initial reveal, Dead Island 2 will release on February 3, according to a listing for the PS4 version on Amazon. That's naturally subject to change and could just be placeholder—this being Dead Island 2, I wouldn't be surprised—but it does line up with recent hints by Embracer Group's CEO that the open world zombie game will be released in the company's 2023 fiscal year.

The Amazon listing reiterates some of the points we've known about the game during its long stint in development hell. It's set in a version of Los Angeles "stained with horror", which means you'll get to bludgeon zombies in "the verdant suburbia of Beverly Hills" and "the quirky promenade of Venice Beach". Combat is "visceral and gory", naturally, and there will be "dozens" of different kinds of zombie to eviscerate, all with an LA theme, of course.

It's been confirmed since 2014 that Dead Island 2 will have at least four playable characters, but the Amazon listing bumps that up to six. "You can fully customize the abilities of each Slayer, with our brand-new skill system allowing you to re-spec instantly and try out the craziest builds," reads the Amazon blurb.

On that note, here's the full product description: A deadly virus is spreading across Los Angeles, California, turning its inhabitants into ravenous zombies. The city is in quarantine and the military have retreated. Bitten, infected, but more than just immune, you learn to harness the zombie inside. Only you, and the handful of other swaggering fellows who happen to be resistant to the pathogen, holds the future of LA (and humanity), in the balance. As you uncover the truth behind the outbreak you’ll discover who – or what – you are. Survive, evolve, save the world – just another day in LA! The much-loved zombie saga is back with a unique formula of horror, dark humor and over the top zombie-slaying, spanning an epic pulp adventure. Dead Island 2 is a thrilling First-Person Action RPG that takes players across a brand-new playground. Stylish, vibrant and flooded with zombie infection, explore iconic, gore-drenched Los Angeles. Meet larger-than-life characters. Slay countless foes in exquisitely bloody detail. And evolve to become the ultimate Zombie Slayer. See you in HELL-A!

The listing is for the Day One edition, which comes with a bunch of cosmetics, a baseball bat (an in-game one, for violencing undead) and a weapon perk. Here are the screenshots attached to the listing:

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(Image credit: Deep Silver)

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(Image credit: Deep Silver)

…and here's the PS4 box art:

(Image credit: Deep Silver)

Dead Island 2 has already been confirmed as an Epic Store exclusive, and chances are the PC version won't even receive a physical boxed copy, so whether those Day One perks apply to us is hard to tell. The game is in development at Dambuster Studios, after changing hands from Yager and then Sumo Digital.

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August 18, 2022

Earlier this week, Twitch streamer and VTuber Shylily was banned for three days and given no clear reason why. Her story mirrors those of many other high-profile streamers who, due to Twitch's policy against explaining its reasons for issuing bans, are left guessing what they did wrong.

"I find it absolutely wild that you sign a contract with this company but they hold the right to basically throw you off their platform without needing to let you know why specifically," Shylily told me.

Shylily, who has about 20,000 subscribers and averages around 8,000 viewers per day, isn't sure what part of her most recent VRChat streams, or any of her streams from the last few months, could have provoked the ban. She received an email from Twitch that simply said she broke the terms of service on a live broadcast or a VOD.

According to Twitch's suspension policy, it will issue warnings to streamers depending on the type of violation, but it can also suspend anyone immediately, even mid-stream in some cases. Twitch uses a three-strike system for DMCA warnings, but Shylily says she has only received one before, so it seems unlikely that copyrighted material was the issue. I emailed Twitch about Shylily's ban and didn't receive a response before publishing this article.

Shylily's streams regularly include what she calls "bro" and "lewd" humor, and have shown suggestive fan art. She's also a VTuber, which means she exclusively represents herself as a 3D avatar. In its guidelines for nudity and sexual content, Twitch says that "augmented reality avatars" must abide by the same rules as everyone else. Shylily thinks her new VRChat model could be the problem.

Guessing game

Shylily's new VRChat model, which she says she paid around $8,000 for and "was gonna build future content based on it," lets her remove her outer layer of clothes and only show the tiny bikini underneath. It gives her a similar look to streamers who go live from their pools or hot tubs, but viewers suspect the revealing outfit and her suggestive antics on one of her most recent streams could have triggered the ban. The archive of the stream is unavailable, but Reddit user ReddishCat posted a clip where you can see her dancing in the outfit while on a beach.

Shylily said it's possible that it wasn't "blatantly obvious enough that we were at the beach despite the water and sand everywhere" and therefore "the bikini toggle might have been against [Twitch's terms of service]."

She told me it could also be a number of things she talked about on the stream, including a joke about pegging or referring to PornHub as "orange YouTube", which she says could make Twitch think she's promoting NSFW content. But it's still unclear if the violation was in her most recent stream or one of the many others.

"I'm always under the impression that, as long as you don’t make things sensual or straight up sexual without context and just have fun and laugh and enjoy your time, you’ll be fine," she said.

Streamers who make a living on the platform are frustrated with Twitch's lack of communication.

"IRL streamers are allowed to paint their full nude bodies with nothing but their nipples covered, take showers in string bikinis exposing their entire behinds, rub themselves with body wash and bath bubbles all over their body in a sensual manner with every sub on a 4K viewer count stream as they proceed to chat for hours sitting in a bathtub," she said in her defense.

Shylily used Twitch's ban appeal system, but was denied. She also opened a ticket, and that too was denied. "Not knowing what caused the ban makes it very difficult to avoid in the future," she said.

Twitch Partner "Shylily" has been banned! https://t.co/qBDCTvE73W#twitch #ban #firstban #partner #twitchpartner August 15, 2022

The three-day ban, while brief compared to some of Twitch's stronger punishments, has left Shylily locked out of her account, unable to view her Twitch Partner contract, and restricted from streaming on YouTube as an alternative (per her contract). She says the break will lose her the hundreds of subscriptions she expected to receive in that period, but that she'll be fine.

"But I can very well imagine streamers who barely make months end, without any savings to put aside, having a very tough and frustrating time!" she said.

Shylily and the many other streamers who make a living on the platform are frustrated with Twitch's lack of communication when it comes to abrupt suspensions. In May, the streaming site said it was looking into providing more context with the bans it sends out, but hasn't made any further announcements about implementing this policy. At the time, Twitch said it stood by the accuracy of 99% of its suspension decisions.

Communication problem

In 2020, Dr Disrespect was permanently banned for a reason that he says Twitch never explained to him. His lawsuit against the platform fizzled out in March when he posted a message to Twitter that read: "No party admits to any wrongdoing." That same month, controversial Just Chatting streamer Destiny was indefinitely banned and was also given no reason from Twitch. Although both streamers had offensive clips to point to, Twitch's refusal to communicate means it never has to defend its decisions.

Many see Twitch's silence as intentional obfuscation so that it can do whatever it wants.

Clara "Keffals" Sorrenti, a trans streamer who was recently banned from Twitch for 28 days, said she was mass reported by users for planning to show and discuss examples of the harassment she receives. Her ban appeal was rejected by Twitch and the company didn't respond.

Many see Twitch's silence as intentional obfuscation so it can do whatever it wants. As a result, bans to popular streamers, however short, spark debates over what the violation could have been and whether or not the platform has a double standard for different types of streams and streamers. Last year, a Twitch data breach revealed that it used to keep a 'do not ban' list of big streamers to prevent undue bans, so it's clear the company was willing to selectively deploy its rules when desired.

As the streaming juggernaut grows—Twitch says over 15 million new people went live in 2021—there's a lot of pressure for the platform to better support the users who put it on top and to prevent the spread of hate toward its marginalized community members.

Several of the biggest streamers, including LilyPichu, Myth, DrLupo and TimTheTatman, have left Twitch to sign exclusivity deals with YouTube. While their absence hasn't left much of a dent in Twitch's streaming dominance, its most successful streamers don't appear to be as committed to the platform as it would probably like.

Shylily will return to Twitch on Thursday, but will likely stay off VRChat. She posted a tweet with the hashtag "#FreeLily" and a video that jokingly promises a start to her "seiso," or pure, era while a series of raunchy clips play.

UNBAN ANNOUNCEMENTPlease come witness my seiso Era!https://t.co/Q3DH9CbWvq August 18th 4:29PM CESTBe there or be squarepeepeepoopoo#FreeLilywomp womp pic.twitter.com/24ly9jmrmHAugust 17, 2022

"I really do want Twitch to be a good place. Really," she said. "I enjoy Twitch culture a lot more than YouTube's," she said, but she also feels that YouTube is "a lot safer" than Twitch, and suggests that's why YouTube is able to lure big streamers away from the platform.

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August 18, 2022

Untamed Isles, a "monster-taming turn-based MMORPG" that found major success on Kickstarter, has been put "on hiatus" because of the crypto crash—Kickstarter backers are being told that there's no money left for refunds.

The 2021 Kickstarter campaign for Untamed Isles rang up a remarkable $527,000 in backing—more than four times its initial goal. It promised a fully open world with "unique areas for friends to gather, practice PVP, trade, breed monsters, clear dungeons, and play through the story of untamed isles socially with open voice proximity communications."

It also boasted a "play to earn" model in partnership with Direwolf, which would enable most of the items and all of the monsters in the game to be "tokenized" and bought, sold, or traded in various marketplaces or the in-game auction house. Unfortunately, the commitment to crypto is where it all went wrong.

"To work on this project we brought more than 70 staff members on board and we were working relentlessly for more than 2 years to build the game we all were dreaming about," developer Phat Loot Studios wrote on Steam. "The truth is that the cost of development is high and there were lots of bumps on our way to this moment. Since we started the journey in 2020, the economic landscape has changed dramatically both generally and specifically for cryptocurrency, and we are not confident in the current market. We ran out of financial resources and we can’t carry on the development at this moment."

Phat Loot said it "leaned into the crypto market and expanded rapidly off the back of the positive interest," which left it in an untenable position when the crash came. Untamed Isles is not primarily a crypto-based game, it added, but funding from crypto investors is necessary to get the game finished and launched.

"Unlike many of the projects that have floundered in the storm, we actually have a great game design that could stand on its own two feet," the studio said. "But until the crypto situation is resolved—and we're confident it will be at some stage—then we have to hibernate development on this project."

The "crypto situation" is an understated description of the market collapse that has sunk cryptocurrencies to their lowest values in years. External factors ranging from general global economic malaise to the Russian invasion of Ukraine have had an impact, but the bigger issue is the inherently risky and unstable nature of cryptocurrency. Millions of dollars have been lost in hacks that, as we said following the $200 million Nomad heist in July, are starting to feel like weekly events. Even when criminality isn't involved, the basic ethics of crypto are iffy at best: Last week, for instance, Riot Blockchain (unrelated to League of Legends studio Riot Games, for the record) was able to mine $7 million in Bitcoin effectively for free by taking advantage of state subsidies in Texas, despite the fact that Texas is in the midst of an ongoing energy crisis.

There's also a growing backlash against cryptocurrencies and NFTs among wider audiences: Free-to-play autobattler Storybook Brawl was review-bombed in March after the developer was bought by a cryptocurrency exchange, and in May Wikipedia announced that it will no longer accept cryptocurrency donations.

Phat Loot explained in a livestream last week that things started to go sideways when MMOByte posted a video in July apologizing for supporting Untamed Isles and disavowing crypto games in general: Host Stix said in the video that he is "very strongly against those specific types of games."

Another blow was suffered when 2016 Pokemon World Champion Wolfe Glick, who had been hired to help design the Untamed Isles combat system, appeared to speak out against the NFT aspect on Twitter.

Originally the game intended to implement NFTs, but after I spoke with the team (and some external factors) they decided to move away from it. There are no crypto or NFT features implemented into the game itself - the only remnant is an (optional) external marketplaceAugust 5, 2022

Phat Loot said those events triggered a cascade effect that caused other mainstream media companies to cancel planned coverage; influencers who had been lined up to push the game also started to pull out. Pre-sales fell well short of anticipated levels—just 50 presales were made, rather than the hoped-for 2,000-3,000.

The more significant long-term issue, though, was the impact of the crypto crash.

"We had some fantastic investors lined up to inject several more million dollars into the project through a variety of equity raising and selling of the Phat Loot Token which we were working on in the background," the studio said during the stream. "It was all going really really well. Then the crypto crash occurred and we lost that funding very very quickly. The investors pulled out as they watched the market crashing—and to be fair, they're right to do so because these are very uncertain times in the global economy."

Phat Loot had decided to launch Untamed Isles in a more bare-bones state in October, ahead of its original schedule, in order to get it out (and start generating revenue) as soon as possible. But the studio was burning through "close to NZ$100,000 ($62,700) per week" in wages and costs, and developers realized that they were "likely not going to be able to make the revenue from our launch to keep the lights on."

Unfortunately, while investors were able to dodge the bullet and people who pre-purchased the game and Phat Loot Tokens will be given refunds, individual backers on Kickstarter and Backerkit are out of luck. The Kickstarter campaign promised that full refunds would be issued to all backers if Untamed Isles failed to launch—and numerous backers have asked for one—but an FAQ at untamedisles.com says that refunds will not be available because, well, there's no money.

That's gone over about as well as you might expect (which is to say, not well at all) and there's also quite a few backers upset that the project was based on cryptocurrency in the first place.

"Why on earth would you invest in cryptocurrency?" one backer wrote. "It's fake money! It's all a scam! If I knew that was where you were leaning, I never would have joined. If refunds are happening, I want mine please. Ye gods, when will people realize crypto is a huge scam?"

"Refund ta. Didn't back this for my money to be involved with crypto," another wrote.

That confusion about Untamed Isle's reliance on cryptocurrency apparently arose from the fact that no mention is made of it until more than halfway through the Kickstarter campaign description—it's there, but minimized. Kickstarter backers aren't the only ones who complained about that lack of transparency. Stix of MMOByte made the same complaint in his video, saying that he wasn't aware of the crypto integration because "it isn't until you scroll about 60% down the page that they even mention 'play to earn.'"

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The presence of the game on Steam may also contribute to the confusion, because Valve banned all games incorporating NFTs or cryptocurrency from Steam last year. Its presence could be explained by the fact that the Steam listing makes absolutely no mention of the cryptocurrency integration: Hiding that aspect of the game doesn't seem great for its long-term future on the storefront, but gamers coming to the project through Steam would be given no indication of the presence of cryptocurrency integration.

In a statement released today, Phat Loot said that it did not invest money raised through crowdfunding and "traditional investment" into cryptocurrencies, but that it was forced to stop development because of the withdrawal of investors spooked by the crypto crash and "the negative sentiment associated with web3-integrated games." But to my thinking, that opens the door to questions about the timing of the announcement: We wrote about the cryptocurrency market "experiencing an unprecedented crash" back in May, yet Phat Loot launched the preorder campaign on August 1, just ten days before putting it all on hold, providing no indication that the game was in trouble.

Phat Loot founders said they are now "looking at ways to salvage both the core studio and the game so that it can be completed and released down the track along with other possible titles." There's no sign of when that might happen, however: The studio said in its most recent livestream that conventional publishers are put off by the crypto, while crypto investors aren't doing anything because of the crumbled state of the market.

Interestingly, Phat Loot said that it likely could have raised enough money to get Untamed Isles to launch—the problem is what happens after that. "We can't get the traction or following through marketing and there's no revenue in crypto right now," the team said. "How much money can you raise until you launch the game and it ends up burning a hole in our team, and we lose it?"

I've reached out to Phat Loot for more information on the state of Untamed Isles, and will update if I receive a reply.

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August 18, 2022

It looks like Death Stranding is coming to PC Game Pass.

The addition hasn't been announced officially, but the PC Game Pass account on Twitter changed its avatar to an image of a Death Stranding vista and posted a tweet that says "sometimes we just like a good landscape picture." Oh you guys.

There's some doubt in the tweet's replies as to whether the screenshot was from Death Stranding or another game, but then someone found the rock pictured in the PC Game Pass avatar and posted a screenshot of Norman Reedus pissing on it. So, yeah, I think Death Stranding is coming to PC Game Pass at some point.

A related but superfluous thought: Last year, Microsoft renamed the PC version of Game Pass, which used to be called "Xbox Game Pass for PC." The old name was bad, but now I'm wondering if this scenario was a consideration, too. Game Pass has always offered certain games on PC only, but Death Stranding is a special case: Microsoft can't offer it on the Xbox version of Game Pass because the console version was published by Sony exclusively for PlayStation consoles. (The PC version was published by 505 Games.)

Neither Sony nor Microsoft would benefit from causing confusion by putting the words "Death Stranding" next to "Xbox"—they'd both have to field questions about a non-existent Xbox version of Death Stranding. Hence the PC Game Pass name change, maybe?

I'm speculating. The console wars have gotten awfully complicated, though, eh? It used to be simple: Mario vs Sonic, Halo vs Killzone. Now the PC has become a weird central territory where the divisions between console factions are blurred. We've benefitted as PC gamers, but I'm a little nostalgic for an old-fashioned motion controller arms race.

Found it pic.twitter.com/xlHwrqz0qDAugust 16, 2022

Aside from the Death Stranding tease, Xbox recently announced the games coming to PC Game Pass this month, and the games leaving it. A highlight in the coming-soon category is Her Story creator Sam Barlow's new FMV game, Immortality. Some bad news is that Hades is leaving Game Pass at the end of August, along with some other well-liked games.

Here's the full list of August PC Game Pass arrivals and departures:

Games coming to Game Pass in August

Available now

Coffee Talk (PC, console, and cloud)

August 23

Midnight Fight Express (PC, console, and cloud)

August 25

Exapunks (PC)
Opus: Echo of Starsong – Full Bloom Edition (PC and console)

August 30

Commandos 3 HD Remaster (PC, console, and cloud)
Immortals Fenyx Rising (PC, console, and cloud)
Tinykin (PC and console)
Immortality (PC, Xbox Series X/S, and cloud)

????

Death Stranding (PC, not officially announced)

Games leaving Game Pass on August 31

Elite Dangerous (Console and cloud)
Hades (PC, console, and cloud)
Myst (PC, console, and cloud)
NBA 2K22 (Console and cloud)
Signs of the Sojourner (PC, console, and cloud)
Spiritfarer (PC, console, and cloud)
Twelve Minutes (PC, console, and cloud)
Two Point Hospital (PC, console, and cloud)
What Remains of Edith Finch (PC, console, and cloud)
World War Z (PC, console, and cloud)

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August 18, 2022

In MultiVersus' debut season, its meta is hardly set in stone. Player First Games is regularly deploying patches and hotfixes that shake up the power dynamic of its characters, including recent tweaks to Finn's cheesy backpack attack. We're sharing our tier list of its diverse 17-character roster, but expect these rankings to change regularly.

We're also getting four new characters throughout the season, including one half of the Rick and Morty duo arriving very soon. This list is written from the perspective of an average player, but high-level and professional play has been considered.

MultiVersus tier list Season 1

S-Tier

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Interactive)

Bugs Bunny
The king of cheese. Whether you're climbing the top 30 leaderboards or floating in the mid-ranks like me, encountering a Bugs in 2v2 is scary, but predictable. The snarky wabbit has proven to be the most popular pick among the best MultiVersus players because he can do it all: smash your face up close with a bat, send screen-filling ACME rockets across the stage, punt airborne foes to the depths of cartoon hell, and summon pies at will. He's the whole package, but probably not for long: his entire suite of air attacks got nerfed in the Season 1 patch, and at this rate, more tweaks could follow.

Finn
The crowned prince of cheese. Finn is a lot less cerebral than Bugs, but that's exactly what makes him dangerous. His sword gives his basic attacks longer reach than the numerous fist-punchers on the MultiVersus roster. He can also charge attacks while moving, useful for baiting out dodges from a nervous Superman no matter where he goes. And of course, spamming his high-priority, hard-hitting, easy-to-land backpack attack remains an easy technique.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Games)

A-Tier

Batman
I've yet to see players who are better at getting in my face and staying in my face than Batman mains. Played casually, he can land fun combos that apply Weaken to enemies. Get a little more serious, and he'll be grappling across the stage every few seconds to deliver a swift kick to the face. Despite his Batarang's increased cooldown, he excels at poking from range and closing the distance with decisive strikes.

Superman
You'd think Superman would derive his MultiVersus power from his super strength, rapid punches, or ice breath, but when it comes to the Man of Steel, it's all about that side-special grab. If you see a blue man in red underpants flying toward you, run for the hills: his grab will connect, and if you're anywhere near the edge of the stage, it's already over. Yes, it's a cheesy strat that rings a bit cheap to this casual platform fighter fan, but it's a reliable way to punish overaggressive players who miss the dodge.

Shaggy
EVO champion Nakat said it best when he dubbed Shaggy the "Mario of MultiVersus." He's an all-arounder: a dependable brawler at close-range with some seriously powerful moves (his neutral attack, down air, and side special are all easy finishers against even sub-100 damage enemies), and that's before he charges up his Ultra Instinct form, which boosts his attacks and applies a full stack of Weaken. In my book, he has the best ratio of fun to play and easy to win, but don't expect experienced players to get caught in his slower attacks.

(Image credit: Warner Bros. Interactive)

B-Tier

Velma
Velma's dominance at EVO spoke for itself, but at the middle tiers, her inherent difficulty as a ranged support character becomes clear. Her unique ability to shoot lock-on word bubbles from anywhere on the stage is notable (and annoying), but unless she's expertly supported by an aggressive teammate, her limited melee options make her easy to bully. Velma is hard to solo queue with, but gets stronger with a partner connected in voice chat.

Harley Quinn
Harley Quinn plays like the Assassin equivalent of Shaggy: simple to pick up with hard-hitting combos, but just simple enough to easily counter. It's a tough life for Assassin characters who aren't named Finn. The extra 14% damage received means there's less room for mistakes, and besides the fact that her confetti blaster and pop gun are super satisfying to land, there are more reliable, less squishy characters that hit just as hard.

Iron Giant
Speaking of easy to bully, Iron Giant is in a similar boat. Against a team that isn't tailoring its playstyle to counter him, the gentle giant gets to step all over the dueling duo with monster special attacks, craterous butt stomps, and a scrap ball projectile that doubles as melee. His size works against him as soon as enemies realize his massive hitbox is an all-access pass to hitstun him so often he can never land a meaningful blow.

(Image credit: Player First Games)

Jake
This stretchy doughball may just be the most versatile close-range brawler of the bunch, but you wouldn't know it because he's not as annoying as Finn. Jake's sweeping neutral attacks are slow and easy to dodge when he tries to charge them, but he also swings in a wide radius that makes him especially good at punishing both enemies at in a single blow (his neutral up, for example, is an axe shop that swings a full 180-degrees around him). And then there are his air moves: a stretchy air punch that crosses one-third of the screen and can be aimed, and his neutral-down skateboard that let's him literally style on foes desperate to leap up to safety. He has trouble against some characters higher on this list, but a good Jake can work around it.

LeBron James
I did not expect LeBron James, a guy who plays basketball, to sport one of the most diverse, difficult to master movesets in MultiVersus. His entire deal hinges on keeping hold of his basketball, and though it can be tempting to pass the rock to a buddy or bounce it off an enemy for a quick rebound, the punishment for becoming ball-less is huge. LeBron loses most of his might and has to land a hit with some of the slowest moves in the game to get it back. He's one of my favorites, but not who I pick when I'm itching to win.

Garnet
With her feet planted firmly on the ground, Garnet's punches can instill the fear of god. Similar to Iron Giant, you need a few things to go right to enjoy her in an average matche, and similar to Jake, she's slow. She struggles at chasing down popular characters like Finn or Bugs and has few options to close the distance.

(Image credit: Warner Brothers)

C-Tier

Tom & Jerry
The hardest character(s) to play in MultiVersus also happen to be the coolest. To seriously play Tom and Jerry is to always be thinking about future attack setups. A fully-charged tennis ball can snipe enemies into oblivion from across the map, but that can only happen once you've deployed Jerry, passed him a ball, and timed his return lob perfectly. Laying one of these elaborate mouse traps is satisfying, but not recommended for casual players who just want to punch dudes. T&J are one of the few characters with both a high skill floor and even higher skill ceiling. EVO co-champion Void made it work against the dominant Bugs/Velma combo.

Arya Stark
As a fellow Assassin, Arya has the same 14% health debuff as Harley with a harder moveset to get acquainted with. True to the character, Arya is a precise, pokey fighter who lives and dies by her ability to dodge and land backstabs for bonus damage. She has little to worry about in a 1v1, but her single-target attacks become a hindrance when she gets ganged up on. There's clearly a high skill ceiling here and the average player simply isn't there yet.

Wonder Woman
A Tank that truly delivers on the role, Wonder Woman relies on her teammate to bring the pain while she supplies the armor. Nakat made great use of her armor at EVO 2022, but without a solid team dynamic, there's not much going for MultiVersus' default free unlock. With no particularly flashy combos and weight class that makes her easy to ringout early, it's no wonder she's not popular.

Reindog
One of MultiVersus' few true support characters, Reindog isn't usually a smart pick. He's all about keeping distance and supporting his ally with tractor beams and fireballs, but enemies in the know won't let him slip away. There simply isn't anywhere to run on MultiVersus' flat, featureless arenas, leaving Reindog on the backfoot by default. That said, he does hit hard (if slowly) and is particularly good at ringing out enemies who are already beat to a pulp.

Taz
I was one of the launch-week MultiVersus players calling for Taz's nerf, and I got my wish. He remains a fun and easy character to pick up, but without the pre-nerf bite of his tornado spin, the rest of his kit isn't impressive.

D-Tier

Steven Universe
Steven has similar struggles as Reindog. He's a lover-not-a-fighter who can't really avoid a fight. He also has these tiny, short-range punches that I find particularly hard to land compared to more experienced butt-kickers like Batman. The best that Steven can do right now is give both himself and his teammate an instant bubble shield (on cooldown), which can really turn a fight around in the hands of an expert. But in the hands of most players, Steven's a liability just asking to get four-stocked.

EVO 2022 Winners

What won at EVO 2022

First place:
Wonder Woman (Nakat) / Tom & Jerry (Void)

Second place:
Bugs Bunny (Mirrorman) / Velma (RoseJ)

Third place:
Batman (Synume) / Shaggy (Leviathan)

Fourth place:
Velma (T1FF4NY) / Superman (Stahly)

(Image credit: Player First Games)

Unreleased characters to be added to our MultiVersus tier list

We don't know where these new fighters will fit in, but Rick and Morty (separate characters, not a unified pair like Tom & Jerry) are the most imminent, with the latter arriving on August 23. Player First Games has been dropping hints here and there about Morty's moveset (apparently he's the first "Plumbus-wielding character"), but we imagine one of the duo will make use of the show's iconic portal gun, especially as it's visible in Rick's hand in promotional art released by the studio.

Rick
Morty
Black Adam (DC Comics)
Stripe (Gremlins)

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August 18, 2022

Religious buildings are a common feature of medieval-themed city builders. Games like Banished, Anno 1404, Patron, Foundation, and others include churches, chapels, monasteries, cathedrals (and in Anno's case, mosques), and other religious buildings which typically provide a happiness bonus or fulfill a 'faith need' for citizens and residences built nearby.

But you won't find religious buildings in Farthest Frontier, the new medieval-themed early access survival city builder from Crate Software, maker of Grim Dawn. In fact, there's no religion in the game at all. While it includes public amenities like theaters, markets, pubs, and hospitals, there are no churches or chapels to build and citizens have no faith requirements that need to be met. (There is a shrine, but more on that in a bit.)

Some players are curious about the absence of religious buildings, while others seem downright annoyed by the omission. "Where is the church?" is the title of a thread on the official forum, where the lack of a church is called "a shortcoming" (translated from French). "I totally agree that churches are a must have and could be a basic need of the settlers," says another commenter. Another player in the thread states that "churches are an absolute must" and expresses disbelief that the "dev's didn't realize this."

"Well mosques/temples/etc also existed in that era. I’m sure everyone shocked we didn’t add churches would be just as satisfied by the addition of those instead, right?" responded Zantai, a designer at Crate Software.

"We’ve intentionally left faith ambiguous in [Farthest Frontier] even if churches are a 'staple' of medieval Europe, which is another thing we’ve deliberately left vague," Zantai continued. "The setting for the game is inspired by certain time periods and places, but it is not set in those places. The player can decide whatever suits them."

This doesn't mean Crate Software is opposed to the idea of some sort of religion in the game, which is still in early access. It just doesn't want any actual religions represented.

"If we ever incorporate a faith system of some kind, I think it would be best if it was a customizable system where you name the faith and decide its bonuses/features. There’s way too much baggage and drama around real world religions," said Zantai.

Farthest Frontier isn't the first city builder to sidestep the potentially messy topic of religion. Cities: Skylines, the biggest city builder of the past decade, only has a single cathedral as a landmark but no churches or other religious buildings, something player-made mods have added for those who want them. Other city builders, like Ostriv, make religion a requirement: A church is necessary for a city to grow beyond a population of a few hundred. But Ostriv is specifically set in 18th century Ukraine, whereas Farthest Frontier isn't set in any particular time or place. (As one example, the game includes dire wolves, which went extinct roughly 10,000 years ago, long before the medieval period.)

The closest thing to a religious structure currently in Farthest Frontier is a shrine, which can be upgraded to an altar, but there's no specific religious designation for either of the structures. Shrines and altars provide "a desirability bonus to nearby residences," is all the flavor text says. Nothing else. (A house's desirability score, if high enough, will allow it to upgrade into a nicer building.)

(Image credit: Crate Entertainment)

Another commenter in the thread asked if the drama around religion kept churches out of the game, what about resource extraction or the very idea of colonization? Shouldn't those historically contentious elements be removed from the game, too? In other words, they were (rather unhelpfully) suggesting that the entire game shouldn't exist.

"I’ll happily draw the line at religion any day," Zantai said. "And I think that’s all the remains to be said on this subject."

Other players commenting in the thread are perfectly happy with a lack of religion, or with the potential inclusion of nonspecific religious structures.

"I’m an atheist so normally loathe to push for any kind of religious inclusion in games… but it does seem strangely odd there’s no 'temple' buildings in the game. I think something should be added: doesn’t have to be called a church. Could just be called an 'elders gathering place' or similar," one commenter said.

"I like how the shrine is vague but serves a purpose, I think it would be fitting to have a building that serves a similar purpose," another player added. "It could just be a building with smaller shrines that adds desirability and requires a worker for upkeep."

"Personally I’m glad that there’s no religion mechanic, but a generic temple or something to celebrate the dead would be cool," said another.

I think it's refreshing to rethink the norms of city builders (or any game genre for that matter), and just because something is traditional and expected doesn't mean it should automatically be a requirement. At the same time, I also wouldn't mind something nonspecific when it comes to religious buildings in the game. Not that my citizens have much time to visit a shrine or temple anyway. All those bees aren't going to farm themselves.

I've reached out to the Farthest Frontier development team for more details, and I'll update this story if I receive a response.

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August 17, 2022

There's no shortage of characters to romance in the Mass Effect trilogy. Depending on which version of Commander Shepard you're playing, you can enjoy deep relationships and clunky cutscene coitus with Ashley Williams, Liara T'Soni, Kaidan Whatsisname, Miranda, Jack, Garrus, Tali, Javik, that weird fish guy everyone stans, that non-fish guy everyone hates, and a handful of others.

But when you're horny in space, is that really enough? How about one more?

Thanks to The Hatboy Project mod, you can now add Jeff "Joker" Moreau to your seemingly endless list of intimate conquests in Mass Effect 3. The mod "creates an all-new romantic narrative for the player to explore" with the quick-witted and endearing pilot of the SSV Normandy. There are new branches of dialogue, custom-written romantic versions of conversations, new ambient voice lines, the option to go from flirting to a committed relationship, and yes, even a "romance scene that is in keeping with the other vanilla options." A traditionally awkward Mass Effect sex-cutscene, in other words.

How is this possible? According to modder SpaceD0lphin, the mod required lots of "patience, technology, duct-tape and prayers." You can see a bit of the mod in the launch trailer below, including new voice lines for Joker that seem to be a mixture of spliced existing dialogue and AI voice acting software (xVASynth is credited on the mod's page).

It's pretty convincing—that really does sound like Joker's voice actor Seth Green, and only occasionally is there a tiny bit of awkward inflection that doesn't quite land. Still, it's extremely impressive.

If you want to see more, there's tons of video clips at The Hatboy Project's YouTube Channel, and you can learn how the mod came together at the devblog here (a good place to start is with this deep-dive on some particularly tricky dialogue).

Joker isn't available to romance for both versions of Commander Shepard, unfortunately. "BroShep," as I'm just learning he's called, can't knock boots with Joker, only the Jennifer Hale "FemShep" version of Shepard. The mod is also only compatible with the original Mass Effect 3, though a Legendary Edition version is in the works. You can find it here at Nexus Mods.

View the full article

August 17, 2022

Sometimes, a whole game sprouts from a tiny seed of an idea. In the case of Dungeon Munchies, it's a simple, jokey premise: you're an unpaid zombie intern. A necromancer-chef named Simmer raises you as part of her plan to unleash a new generation of magical cuisine on the world. Why? How? You're not being paid enough to ask those questions, because you're not being paid at all. So off you go, searching the dungeon for ingredients. Don't worry about dying: endless, inescapable revival is part of your employee benefits package.

This concept dovetails neatly into a mechanical foundation. You explore an (almost completely linear) side-scrolling world, marching along, avoiding traps and fighting monsters. Then you harvest ingredients from those monsters and cook magical dishes that visibly mutate your body, Binding of Isaac-style.

That would be a fine little game by itself—maybe some sort of roguelite. But that's not what we've got here. During the three years Dungeon Munchies spent in Early Access before its full release, it grew into something far stranger. From what I've played and seen (about half completed myself, half watching a friend stream the tail-end) Taiwan-based three-man indie studio maJAJa let their ideas get away from them in the best possible way.

I'm an idiot sandwich

Dungeon Munchies takes its silly scribbled-on-a-napkin concept and expands it into a character-led, story-driven adventure. Its cast of screwball weirdos, mostly undead or talking vegetables, somehow develop into a deep well of pathos as the story explores just how strange the world would be if guava fruits were carnivorous and corn was philosophical. (All this while somehow sneaking in a side-plot about a canceled manga series called Captain DUI, which is about a man who fights crime with the power of drunk-driving.)

The jokes come thick and fast. The fast-travel 'teleport' shrines you use to backtrack just slice you into chunks, which are then ferried to another station by skeletons to be reassembled. You discover some deeply questionable 'alternative' recipes involving poppy seeds and cocoa plants, and you get your air-dash ability via installing a jet-turbine sphincter.

While not every joke finds its mark, there's enough deeply silly bits of dialogue, item descriptions and wacky monster designs to make exploring this weird dungeon world a joy—even when the story takes darker, more serious turns. Dungeon Munchies is carried by its narrative and its characters, as well as a genuine sense of adventure as the stakes (and steaks) keep rising. It's a world built on jokes, but taken surprisingly seriously. Anyone who watched the entirety of Adventure Time will feel right at home.

(Image credit: maJAJa)

Not to say that the combat in Dungeon Munchies isn't interesting—it is—but it's also scrappy. There's an excitedly amateur feel to it, like that other bizarre indie gem, Vampire Survivors. Movement is simple and a bit stiff, with not especially satisfying jumping physics, while combat is fundamentally just about holding down your attack buttons and positioning yourself so enemies run out of health before you do. But, like the premise, what looks one-note has surprising flavor and depth.

While movement and combat gradually get more complex as your zombie body is given more upgrades through surgery, most of the subtlety comes from character-building. You don't level up in Dungeon Munchies, but you are what you eat. Your stomach can hold seven dishes at once, some giving simple stat boosts like increased HP and others giving complex powers like accelerating consecutive melee hits at the cost of slightly decreased damage.

(Image credit: maJAJa)

Between these food-based powers and separate weapons equipped in your left and right hands, a savvy number-cruncher can turn their shambling sous-chef into a magical Magimix, albeit sometimes at the cost of visibility. When a half-dozen effects are going off with every hit, combat can feel like two angry balls of particle effects smacking into each other. This is probably why many boss fights have phases where you can't do any damage and have to just focus on evasion.

Soul food

Thanks to the limited contents of your stomach and the linear nature of the game constantly introducing you to new recipes and equipment, you'll be switching up your character build constantly. It's messy, but oddly compelling and I can see myself getting into deep theorycrafting territory after the credits roll—there's a New Game+ mode awaiting me there.

(Image credit: maJAJa)

Dungeon Munchies is a game with a lot of heart, and that's especially clear in how much bespoke art there is. Enemy sprites (bosses in particular) are large, distinct and playfully animated. There's also a shocking amount of incidental art used in dialogue. Even if combat sometimes devolves into a hard-to-parse ball of pixels, it's easy to see there's real passion behind this game. It's an infectious kind of energy.

Much like a crew of talented yet casually amateur chefs, maJAJa brings a lot of tasty ideas to the table with Dungeon Munchies. Even if the individual ingredients aren't the freshest and the presentation won't be winning any Michelin stars, there's something special about it. Warming and home-made—it's almost pointedly indie. It'd be a bit of a cliché to say the special ingredient is love, but this isn't a game that's shy about well-worn tropes.

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August 17, 2022

I don't want to start this post by personally attacking Mark Zuckerberg's eyes, which have in years past been described as "two weird lil black marbles" and "vacant, black shark eyes." Who wouldn't look utterly bereft of a soul after trying to explain the internet to the United States Senate? I also don't need to suggest Mark Zuckerberg may in fact be a robot, since there's an entire meme community devoted to that joke. I am avoiding these easy, obvious dunks on ol' Zuck because his latest "metaverse" selfie looks so bad, he's already owned himself harder than I possibly could.

Zuckerberg posted a screenshot from Meta's Horizon Worlds on Facebook earlier this week, saying that he's "looking forward to seeing people explore and build immersive worlds" in the VR "metaverse." The screenshot is not just bad: it is exquisitely bad. It is ironic clipart bad. It is stock-cratering, anyone-other-than-a-billionaire-CEO-would-immediately-be-fired-for-this bad. Meta spent $10 billion on developing whatever the hell it's doing with the metaverse last year, and all it's got to show for it is a baby doll-faced Zuckerberg hovering in front of a miniature Eiffel Tower.

As writer technollama highlighted on Twitter, a side-by-side comparison of 2007's Second Life and 2022's Horizon Worlds does not do Zuck any favors.

Second Life 2007. Metaverse 2022. pic.twitter.com/2JByEzk5eLAugust 17, 2022

Nor does the unfavorable comparison to 1996 PlayStation vehicular combat game Twisted Metal:

This is the Eiffel Tower in Twisted Metal 2, which came out in 1996. pic.twitter.com/nkhG7d2ijMAugust 17, 2022

If I was the billionaire founder of one of the richest companies in the world, I would personally not advertise my revolutionary new software with a picture that looks embarrassing next to something that beat me to the punch 15 years ago. Second Life already has furries, early aughts goth haircuts and the 2007 Scion xB; who the hell would pass all that up to look at a 10-foot-tall Eiffel Tower?

Perhaps the master plan here is to set expectations so low with dead-eyed virtual selfies that when Meta does actually show something substantial from that $10 billion investment, mediocrity looks like a massive improvement. I am not convinced this is a good plan. While virtual Zuckerberg is stuck trying to express one single human emotion, Fortnite is over here just casually being the pop culture metaverse people actually want. You didn't need to spend billions of dollars, Zuck. You just needed Goku.

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August 17, 2022

Wing Commander 4 was a cutting-edge blend of FMV and space-sim action when it debuted in 1996, but—like most graphically-intensive videogames from that era—it hasn't aged particularly well. But a fan-made project aims to give it a much-needed facelift, with a new engine, assets, and upscaled cutscenes.

"Gaming has moved on significantly over the last few decades and, while hugely impressive at the time, the game engine has perhaps not aged quite as gracefully," the Wing Commander 4: The Price of Freedom – Remastered website explains. "This project is a fan attempt to allow owners of Wing Commander IV: The Price of Freedom to enjoy a more modern experience by loading the files from the original game into a new engine, complete with specially created, high definition assets."

To my eyes, though, the real magic is in the FMV scenes. Generally speaking, mid-'90s FMV looks terrible these days, and that's definitely the case with the Wing Commander games. But higher-quality Wing Commander cutscenes have actually been available for quite some time now, thanks to a largely-unknown DVD edition of the game. Those videos have been "further enhanced by AI upscaling," and while it's still not exactly an IMAX experience, it is pretty impressive.

The video quality, that is: The quality of the dialog, direction, and acting is another matter entirely, and while I would never willfully disrespect Mark Hamill or Malcolm McDowell, I don't think anyone would argue that this is their best work. (Personally, I would argue that it is better than the work of Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard in the actual Wing Commander film from 1999, but that may be because I'm still bitter at having paid actual money to see it.)

(Image credit: Omega)

Anyway, back to the point: While Chris Roberts' directorial ambitions have always fallen a little short, Wing Commander 4 itself is unquestionably a groundbreaking space combat sim, and if you want to experience it now I think this would definitely be the way to do it. And, fortunately, you can: A "very early" demo of the Wing Commander 4 remaster is now available for download. It's dependent on the original Wing Commander 4 to operate—you can pick that up for a fiver from GOG or Origin.

View the full article

August 17, 2022

Get more out of Sims 4

(Image credit: EA)

Sims 4 mods: Play your way
Sims 4 CC: Custom content
Sims 4 expansions: Worth it?

Hunting for Sims 4 cheats to liven up your game? There is no more classic combo than cheats and Sims, whether you simply want a little extra cash, a free house, or want to bring a family member back from the dead. With cheats you can forget trivial concerns like money or mortality and instead focus on playing around and having fun.

This Sims 4 cheats guide features codes for all of the expansions and stuff packs. Most of the expansions and packs for The Sims 4 have their own group of cheats for the jobs, deaths, and traits that are unique to that expansion. With the High School Years expansion pack now out, you can find all the cheats you need below for getting through school or getting promoted in the new side hustle careers.

We've ordered the page so you can find tables for all the skills, careers, and traits you might want to max out your Sim's level in. You can also Ctrl+F this page for the name of the expansion or pack you're using to find the cheats you need in each section. There are also instructions about how to activate cheats in-game.

How to turn cheats on in Sims 4

To enable Sims 4 cheats, press Ctrl + Shift + C while in game to open the cheat console. Type your chosen cheat codes into the text field that opens and press enter.

For cheats marked as "shift click," you'll first need to type "testingCheats [true/false]" into the cheat menu. With testing cheats on, you can unlock some new Shift-Click menu options on Sims, objects, or the ground.

With testingCheats active, you'll be able to move Sims between families, fill up their needs and happiness bars, dirty or clean up objects, and teleport Sims anywhere you like, among a few others detailed below.

Sims 4 Money cheat

(Image credit: EA, The Sims Studio)

Spending all your money on groceries and bills is too much like real life. Why make your Sims start at the bottom when it's way more fun to start at the top? Enter any of these Sims 4 money cheat keywords into the cheat console to instantly gain stacks of cash.

kaching: get 1,000 simoleons
rosebud: get 1,000 simoleons (for The Sims veterans who remember it)
motherlode: get 50,000 simoleons
Money [#]: change household simoleons to an exact number
FreeRealEstate [on/off]: enter this in neighborhood or world view to make all lots free
household.autopay_bills [true/false]: Turn household bills on and off.

Sims 4 UI cheats

Use these handy UI cheats for The Sims 4 to remove game elements from your view or add extra utilities:

headlineeffects [on/off]: Enables or disables headline effects like plumbobs and speech bubbles
hovereffects [on/off]: Disable hover effect when you mouseover a Sim
fullscreenToggle: Makes the game fullscreen/windowed
fps [on/off]: Display the fps on screen

Sims 4 build cheats

modebb.moveobjects: the Sims 4 move objects cheat is a vital one for builders, which allows you to ignore placement rules for objects
bb.showhiddenobjects: buy hidden objects
bb.enablefreebuild: build anywhere, even on locked lots
bb.ignoregameplayunlocksentitlement: buy items locked by careers

With an object selected you can also press Shift + [ or Shift + ] to make an object smaller or larger.

Sims 4 Live Cheats

(Image credit: EA)

Sims 4 Live Mode cheats

Things have a way of going entirely sideways in The Sims 4 when you lose track of time. Here are some cheats to get you out of (or into, if that's your thing) sticky situations:

resetsim [firstname lastname]: Resets a stuck Sim.
sims.give_satisfaction_points [#]: Gives a Sim an amount of satisfaction points.
fillmotive motive_[motive]: Fills the specified motive, valid for: Bladder, Energy, Fun, Hunger, Hygiene, Social.
sims.fill_all_commodities: Fills the motives for all Sims in the household.
aspirations.complete_current_milestone: Completes a Sim's current aspiration goal and awards the matching points.

Sims 4 Highschool Years cheats

Get your teen Sims through (or kicked out of) school with these cheats for graduating and getting expelled. These are all handled through the trait system, so you'll use the cheat traits.equip_trait [trait] with the following, which all do exactly what they suggest:

trait_hsexit_graduate_early
trait_hsexit_graduate_honors
trait_hsexit_graduate_valedictorian
trait_hsexit_expelled
trait_hsexit_dropout

Like other traits, you can use traits.remove_trait to get rid of each as well. You can find more Highschool Years cheats for careers, skills, and personality traits in the tables below.

Sims 4 Werewolf cheats

Cheats for the werewolf pack are mostly related to traits. To immediately transform a Sim into a werewolf in the Sims 4: Werewolves pack, use traits.equip_trait trait_occultwerewolf to add the Werewolf trait. Similarly, to immediately remove the Werewolf trait, use traits.remove_trait trait_occultwerewolf instead. Find more werewolf traits in the tables below.

The Werewolves pack also added a series of cheats to add Temperaments to your werewolves, which are normally unlocked through gameplay and affect the rates at which your werewolves gain fury and go into rampages. To add a Temperament to your werewolf, use the cheat traits.equip_trait trait_OccultWerewolf_Temperaments_[temperament], replacing the bracketed section with one of the following temperaments:

AntiCapitalistCanine - Adds the 'Anti-Capitalist Canine' temperament
BigBadWolf - Adds the 'Big Bad Wolf' temperament
Carnivore - Adds the 'Carnivore' temperament
EasilyExcitable - Adds the 'Easily Excitable' temperament
FeelsOutcasted - Adds the 'Feels Outcasted' temperament
Frisky - Adds the 'Frisky' temperament
GrumpyWolf - Adds the 'Grumpy Wolf' temperament
HatesBeingWet - Adds the 'Hates Being Wet' temperament
HungryLikeTheWolf - Adds the 'Hungry Like the Wolf' temperament
Lunar_ForestMark - Adds the 'Mark of the Forest' temperament
Lunar_HuntMark - Adds the 'Mark of the Hunt' temperament
Lunar_NightMark - Adds the 'Mark of the Night' temperament
Lunar_WolfMark - Adds the 'Mark of the Wolf' temperament
MustBeClean - Adds the 'Must Be Clean' temperament
NightWolf - Adds the 'Night Wolf' temperament
Prideful - Adds the 'Prideful' temperament
RestlessAnimal - Adds the 'Restless Animal' temperament
SensitiveHearing - Adds the 'Sensitive Hearing' temperament
SurvivalInstincts - Adds the 'Survival Instincts' temperament
Territorial - Adds the 'Territorial' temperament
WolfBrain - Adds the 'Wolf Brain' temperament
WrackedWithGuilt - Adds the 'Wracked With Guilt' temperament

(Image credit: Electronic Arts)

Sims 4: Seasons cheats

You can't change the season at will after creating a new world, so you'll have to use a cheat instead. Or, you know, live through each season in Live Mode but that would take way too long.

Use seasons.set_season [#] to change it at will. Each season is represented by a number:

Summer: 0
Fall: 1
Winter: 2
Spring: 3

You can also use seasons.advance_season to go forward in time by just one season.

Sims 4: Get Famous cheats

If you want to climb the fame ladder, you can use the super simple famepoints [#] which will add the number of fame points to your currently selected Sim.

Sims 4: Eco Lifystyle cheats

One of the first things you might be compelled to do with Eco Lifestyle cheats is change your neighborhood's Eco Footprint. If you just can't stand starting out with an industrial neighborhood, use eco_footprint.set_eco_footprint_state [#] with one of these numbers:

0 - Green Eco Footprint
1 - Neutral Eco Footprint
2 - Industrial Eco Footprint

Sims 4 Batuu cheats

If you want an unlimited supply of Galactic Credits, what you'll need to punch into the console.

bucks.update_bucks_by_amount 512011000

Note that the "1000" at the end is the amount of Galactic Credits that you're giving your Sim. You can change that number to whatever, so go crazy with it.

The following clothing cheat will unlock the full catalog of Journey to Batuu items, but know that you'll have to punch it in either in Create A Sim or the Dwelling in Batuu.

cas.unlockbytag GP09

Sims 4 decorator clothing cheat

If you'd like to unlock the clothing items that are gated behind career progress, use cas.unlockbytagGP10

Sims 4 Island Living cheats

On a lot with the "Volcanic Activity" trait, use volcanic_eruption [small/large] to make lava bombs rain from the sky onto your lot.

Sims 4 Shift+Click cheats

After typing testingCheats true in the cheat console, Shift+Click on Sims and objects for the following effects:

Sims 4 Shift+Click cheats
Game Pack	Target	Path	Effect
Base Game	Sim	Cheat need > Make happy	Sets all your Sim's motives to full and mood to Happy
Base Game	Sim	Cheat need > Disable need decay	Allows or stops Sims from Need changes
Base Game	Sim / Object	Reset object	Works on Sims and objects to reset their status
Base Game	Sim	Add to family	Adds a Sim to your currently played family.
Base Game	Sim	Modify in CAS	Modify the Sim in Create-a-Sim aside from name and inherited traits
Base Game	Object	Make clean/dirty	Use on an object to make it dirty or clean
Base Game	Ground	Teleport Sim	Shift+Click on the ground to teleport a Sim to that point.
Base Game	Object	Make head	Use on an object to stick it on top of your Sim's neck like a horrible chimera
Base Game	Mailbox	Utilities	Change the power and water consumption or production on the lot.
Base Game	Mailbox	Alter needs	Turn off needs for the world or household or fill all needs.
Pets	Animal	Give quirk	Give a fear or love TV quirk to an animal.
Pets	Food bowl	Fill	Refill your pet's food for free.
Discover University	Robotics Table	Spawn crafting supplies	Gives you 50 of everything in the current Sim's inventory.
Eco Lifestyle	Voting Board/Mailbox	Enact/Repeal NAP	Instantly enact or repeal a Neighborhood Action Plan.
Eco Lifestyle	Voting Board/Mailbox	Give Sim Influence	Gain Influence needed for Neighborhood activities.
Eco Lifestyle	Sim/Fabrication Machine	Give bucks > Bits/Pieces	Get 500 Bits of Pieces currency
Batuu	Sim	Batuu Cheats > Give Batuu Items	Get Batuu items for free
Batuu	Sim	Batuu Cheats / Batuu Reputation	Set your allegiance with the First Order or Resistance.
Batuu	Sim	Batuu Cheats > Faction World States	Set world state to First Order or Resistance.
Batuu	Rey / Kylo Ren	Add to family	Like other Sims, you ccan add Rey or Kyle Ren to your family.
Cottage Living	Animal	Cheat relationship > Set max friendship	Become besties with your animals.
Cottage Living	Animal	Get all Animal Clothes	Unlocks all outfits for your animal.
Cottage Living	Ground	Create animal	Spawn in a rabbit, chick, hen, or rooster.
Cottage Living	Chicken coop / Rabbit home	Spawn rabbit/chicken/egg	Spawn in any of those mentioned.
Cottage Living	Fridge	Animal treats	Unlock animal treat recipes.

Sims 4 relationship cheats

(Image credit: EA)

Need More Cheat Sheets?

(Image credit: Rockstar Games)

Fallout 4 cheats: Nuclear codes
Minecraft commands: Unblocked
RDR2 cheats: Most wanted
GTA 5 cheats: Phone it in
The Sims 4 cheats: Life hacks
Ark cheats: Expedited evolution

If your Sims have the same problem making friends that I have in real life, the cheat console code relationship.introduce_sim_to_all_others will instantly introduce your Sim to all their neighbors.

For an even easier icebreaker, relationships.create_friends_for_sim will spawn a new Sim on the lot already already friends with yours.

If you need more specific friendship (and romance) control, use the following to add and subtract from relationships between two Sims:

modifyrelationship [YourSimFirstName] [YourSimLastName] [TargetSimFirstName] [TargetSimLastName] 100 LTR_Friendship_Main

Substitute "Friendship" for "Romance" to change romantic relationship values. Positive values will increase a relationship, while using a negative value (ex: -100) will decrease it.

Sims 4 death cheats

(Image credit: EA)

Kill and un-kill your sims

To save your Sims from death entirely, use death.toggle [true/false]

sims.add_buff Ghostly will turn your sim into a ghost for 4 in-game hours.

In the Sims 4 Vampire expansion, you can kill your fanged sims with stats.set_stat commodity_Vampire_SunExposure -100.

For all your other deadly designs, use the following trait codes to turn your Sim into a ghost who has been died in the respective manner with the code:

traits.equip_trait [trait]

traits.equip_trait [trait]
Game Pack	Death Type	Trait Code
Seasons	Overheated	Ghost_Overheat
Seasons	Freezing	Ghost_Frozen
Seasons	Lightning strike	Ghost_Lightning
Jungle Adventure	Poisoned	Poison
Paranormal Stuff	Become a ghost summoned by Seance	trait_Ghost_SeanceTable
Paranormal Stuff	Become Guidry the ghost	trait_Guidry
Paranormal Stuff	Become Temperance the ghost	trait_HauntedHouse_Temperance
Vampires	Killed by sun	traits.equip_trait Vampire_Sun

Killing and un-killing your pets

traits.equip_trait Ghost_OldAge [Pet ID] will turn your pet into a ghost if you are either an absolute monster or (spoiler alert) attempting an elaborate Sim version of John Wick. To get your pet's ID (you monster), use sims.get_sim_id_by_name [PetFirstName] [PetLastName]

You should also be able to resurrect your pets with traits.remove_trait Ghost_OldAge [Pet ID].

Sims 4 skill cheats

(Image credit: EA)

If you want to max out your Sim's skills or set them to any particular skill level of your choosing, you can use this list of skill codes.

Use stats.set_skill_level [skill code] [#] to set your Sim's skill to any level you want. Substitute in the skill code and the skill level you want, which should look something like: "stats.set_skill_level Major_Writing 10"

For your child Sims, substitute with Skill_Child_[Creativity/Mental/Motor/Social] all of which also max out at 10.

stats.set_skill_level [skill code] [#]
Game Pack	Skill	Skill Code	Max Level
Base Game	Cooking	Major_HomestyleCooking	10
Base Game	Gourmet Cooking	Major_GourmetCooking	10
Base Game	Bartending	Major_Bartending	10
Base Game	Charisma	Major_Charisma	10
Base Game	Comedy	Major_Comedy	10
Base Game	Fishing	Major_Fishing	10
Base Game	Fitness	Skill_Fitness	10
Base Game	Gardening	Major_Gardening	10
Base Game	Guitar	Major_Guitar	10
Base Game	Piano	Major_Piano	10
Base Game	Violin	Major_Violin	10
Base Game	Handiness	Major_Handiness	10
Base Game	Mischief	Major_Mischief	10
Base Game	Painting	Major_Painting	10
Base Game	Photography	Major_Photography	10
Base Game	Programming	Major_Programming	10
Base Game	Rocket Science	Major_RocketScience	10
Base Game	Video Gaming	Major_VideoGaming	10
Base Game	Writing	Major_Writing	10
Cats & Dogs	Veterinary	Major_Vet	10
Cats & Dogs	Pet Training	skill_Dog	5
Seasons	Flower Arranging	statistic_skill_AdultMajor_FlowerArranging	10
Seasons	Skating	Hidden_Skating	5
Get Famous	Acting	Major_Acting	10
Get Famous	Media Production	Minor_Media	5
Discover University	Robotics	Major_Robotics	10
Discover University	Debate	Major_ResearchDebate	10
Eco Lifestyle	Fabrication	AdultMajor_Fabrication	10
Eco Lifestyle	Juice Fizzing	AdultMinor_JuiceFizzing	5
Journey to Batuu	Lightsaber skills	Skill_Fitness	10
Snowy Escape	Rock Climbing	Major_RockClimbing	10
Snowy Escape	Skiing	Major_Skiing	10
Snowy Escape	Snowboarding	Major_Snowboarding	10
Paranormal	Medium	Minor_Medium	5
Cottage Living	Cross stitch	Skill_CrossStitch	5
Highschool Years	Entrepreneur	adultminor_entrepreneur	5

Sims 4 career cheats

(Image credit: Maxis)

After your Sims are all skilled up, you can also give them free promotions or add new careers.

Use careers.add_career [career] to add careers with their career code in the list below.

careers.promote [career] and careers.remove [career] work in the same way to get a promotion or remove your Sim's job. You can also use careers.retire [career] to quit your job and collect a weekly pension.

careers.add_career [career]
Game Pack	Career	Career Code
Highschool Years	Adult streamer	parttime_streamersidehustle
Highschool Years	Teen streamer	teen_streamersidehustle
Highschool Years	Adult simsfluencer	parttime_simsfluencersidehustle
Highschool Years	Teen simsfluencer	teen_simsfluencersidehustle
Cats & Dogs	Veterinarian	Vet
Seasons	Botanist/FLorist	Adult_Gardener
Seasons	Scout (for teens)	Scout
Get Famous	Acting	Actor
Get Famous	Drama club (for kids)	DramaClub
Island Living	Conservation	Conservationist
Island Living	Diver	PartTime_Diver
Island Living	Fishing	PartTime_Fisherman
Island Living	Lifeguarding	PartTime_Lifeguard
Island Living	Teen Lifeguard	Teen_Lifeguard
Discover University	Teacher/Professor	Education
Discover University	Mechanical/Computer Engineer	Engineering
Discover University	Judge/Private Attorney	Law
Eco Lifestyle	Civil Designer	careers_Adult_CivilDesigner
Eco Lifestyle	Freelance Maker	careers_Adult_Freelancer_Agency_Maker
Paranormal	Become a Paranormal Investigator	trait_Freelancer_Career_ParanormalInvestigator_License
Paranormal	Promote your Paranormal Investigator	Paranormalinvestigator
Dream Home Decorator	Interior Decorator	Interior
Dream Home Decorator	Interior Decoraton	Deco

Sims 4 trait cheats

(Image credit: EA, The Sims Studio)

You can pick certain traits for your Sims during the Create-A-Sim process that control some of their preferences, habits, and how they react to other Sims. One way to cheat your Sims into having certain traits, especially those in the base game, is to use the Shift+Click cheats above to edit them in the CAS (Create-A-Sim) menu.

If you want more fine control, or your're trying to add and remove other properties, here is your list of traits from game packs and expansions that you may want to give your Sims. A Sim's Lifestyles, which reflect the habits they've developed as you play them, are also added and removed as traits.

After using the base cheat "testingCheats true" you can use the following cheats to add and remove all of the cheats on this list with their respective Trait code.

traits.equip_trait [trait]

traits.remove_trait [trait]

traits.[equip/remove]_trait [trait]
Game Pack	Trait Code	Trait Effect
Highschool Years	SociallyAwkward	Build Charisma skill more slowly and struggle with social situations.
Highschool Years	PartyAnimal	Enjoy parties and perform party tricks.
Highschool Years	Overachiever	Raise skills faster but are harder to get along with as friends.
Werewolves	trait_WerewolfPack_FriendB	Become a friend of the Wildfangs pack
Werewolves	trait_WerewolfPack_FriendA	Become a friend of the Moonwood Collective pack
Werewolves	trait_OccultWerewolf_InitiationBonusTrait	Initial relationship boost when introduced to werewolves.
Werewolves	trait_OccultWerewolf_GreaterWolfBlood	Enhances werewolf growth.
Werewolves	trait_OccultWerewolf_DormantWolf	Adds the Dormant Wolf trait
Werewolves	trait_occultwerewolf	Become (or unbecome) a Werewolf
Cats & Dogs	Attraction	Relationships with animals begin higher
Seasons	Stormchaser	Your Sim loves terrifying weather!
Seasons	Waterproof	Your sim won't get wet, even in the rain
Seasons	IceMan	Iceproof Sims are not negatively affected by cold
Seasons	BurningMan	Burn proof Sims love the heat
Seasons	HeatAcclimation	Sim is less affected by hot conditions
Seasons	ColdAcclimation	Sim is less affected by cold conditions
Seasons	ScoutingAptitude	Earn Scouting experience faster
Seasons	FatherWinterBaby	Your Sim is...Santa's baby?
Get Famous	WorldRenownedActor	Never fail at an Acting action
Get Famous	UnstoppableFame	Never experience Fame decay
Island Living	trait_BeachBum_LaidBack	Never become Tense
Island Living	trait_Hidden_IslandAncestor_Elemental	Increase the quality of plants and summon volcanic bombs
Island Living	trait_NaturalSpeaker	Great at enthusing other Sims
Island Living	trait_FriendOfTheSea	Become friends with dolphins and merpeople easier
Island Living	trait_OccultMermaid	Become a merperson
Island Living	trait_OccultMermaid_MermaidForm	Toggle a mer tail on land
Eco Lifestyle	trait_ChampionOfThePeople	Gain Satisfaction when you gain Influence
Eco Lifestyle	trait_EcoEngineer	Create Eco-Updates faster
Eco Lifestyle	trait_MasterMaker	Fabricate items at reduced cost
Eco Lifestyle	trait_Nature_InfluentialIndividual	Other Sims will be more Influenced by this Sim
Eco Lifestyle	trait_eco_master	Inspire other Sims to become Eco-conscious
Eco Lifestyle	trait_entrepreneur	These Sims like taking chaces on investments
Eco Lifestyle	trait_Fizzyhead	Become focused while using the juice Fizzer
Eco Lifestyle	trait_makerNPC	Inspire fabrication recipes for other Sims
Snowy Escape	Trait_Adventurous
Snowy Escape	Trait_Proper
Snowy Escape	Trait_Excursion_Mountaineer_Rank[1/2/3]
Snowy Escape	Trait_CorporateWorker_CharismaticCrooner
Snowy Escape	Trait_CorporateWorker_LegendaryStamina
Snowy Escape	Trait_SurvivalInstinct
Snowy Escape	Trait_WorldlyKnowledge
Snowy Escape	Trait_TownMascot
Snowy Escape	Trait_Hidden_RockClimbingGear_HasGear
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_AdrenalineSeeker	Seeks thrills and avoids being bored
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_CloseKnit	Keeps good friends longer but struggles with lower relationship levels.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_CoffeeFanatic	Extra benefits from drinking coffee.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_Energetic	Prefers high-energy activities and careers.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_FrequentTraveler	Gets bored without travelling and increased skill gain while on vacation.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_HealthFoodNut	Benefits from eating healthy, increased weight loss and fitness gain.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_HungryForLove	Benefits while in a relationship and prefers romantic behaviors.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_Indoorsy	Benefits from indoor activities and careers.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_JunkFoodDevourer	Loves junk food and can add sugar or bacon to meals.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_Networker	People person who keeps low level friendhsips easily but struggles to keep good friends.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_NoNeedForRomance	Benefits while single and tense when in relationships.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_Outdoorsy	Benefits from outdoor activities and careers.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_Sedentary	Prefers low-energy activities and careers.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_Techie	Benefits in tech careers, actions, and skills.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_Technophobe	Avoids using technology and benefits from Off The Grid lots.
Snowy Escape	Trait_Lifestyles_Workaholic	Performs better at work and is tense when unemployed
Cottage Living	trait_Nature_Country	Nature Conservationist
Cottage Living	trait_AnimalEnthusiast	Animal Enthusiast
Cottage Living	trait_LactoseIntolerant	Lactose Intolerant

On a lot with the "Volcanic Activity" trait, use volcanic_eruption [small/large] to make lava bombs rain from the sky onto your lot.

View the full article

August 17, 2022

Set in 1989 Germany during an imagined Warsaw Pact invasion, Regiments puts you in command of extended real-time fights between Cold War forces. It's a hybrid of RTS and tactical wargame that breaks from the traditions of both genres by being singleplayer only. Regiments puts a particular emphasis on dynamic, multi-day battles that let you reactively call for reinforcements.

I looked at Regiments last year, when it was in open beta, but it launched this week—and developer Bird's Eye Games and publisher MicroProse have brought it a long way since then.

Regiments is laser focused on an interesting and unique singleplayer experience. These kinds of realistic-conflict, high fidelity RTS games more often try to be everything: Balancing singleplayer scenarios, multiplayer, and even campaign-length mechanics. Regiments knows it just wants to be a good, well-balanced singleplayer wargame.

It has a plotline-driven campaign with four large and three smaller missions, all multi-stage battles. Then there are four skirmish game modes, each playable on one of 19 maps. That might not sound like a lot, and I have a feeling that first impressions are going to make Regiments end up criminally underplayed among strategy enthusiasts parroting a refrain for "more content." The trick is that single "battles" in Regiments are historically-informed, multi-day affairs divided into active and passive phases.

As you progress through each day of a fight in real time, you're pressed to take as many strategic and tactical objectives as possible before night (or before the enemy forces you to take a moment and regroup). During that lull in the fight you, as commander, have to manage what limited resources your regiment has and call in specialized detachments from other regiments to fill the gaps you need. You might call in more infantry as an armor regiment that needs to hold ground, for example. It's a rhythm that should resonate with any military history enthusiast.

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