Ion Fury (previously Ion Maiden) is true example of how you really don’t need to push graphics ever closer to realism to achieve something ridiculously good.
Developed by Voidpoint and 3D Realms, using the Build game engine which powered some other classics like Duke Nukem 3D, Blood and Shadow Warrior it released recently with same-day Linux support showing others how it’s done. While it’s retro in many ways, there is of course a vast amount of modern touches like improved physics and map interactions, auto-saves, being able to actually do a headshot, higher resolution support and so on.
Here’s the thing, I grew up with games like Duke and I’ve seen gaming progress from the Amiga to where we are now. There came a point, where I grew massively tired of retro-inspired flashbacks and in some ways I am still tired of it. However, Ion Fury is a very different sort of brew. The best thing about Ion Fury is that it might seem like other classics but it has a different and refreshing feel to it.
Much like the inspirations it’s fast, in your face loud and explosive and a ride that just doesn’t stop at any moment to let you get off. Rushing through it probably isn’t a great idea though, Ion Fury does reward those who do a little exploration with more health, ammo, armour and some fun little secrets.
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The trouble is, while I just mentioned not to rush, it's damn hard not to just run around blasting everything in sight.
Each weapon feels like it actually has a purpose, unlike some shooters where you just constantly look for ammo for one particular piece. Get in close with the shotgun and do some serious in your face damage for a brute that requires it, use Loverboy’s alternative fire when faced with those pesky jumping spider-faces or toss a couple of grenades when you get them to group up to create a hilarious meat grinder. I'm completely torn on what weapon is my favourite! Although the double SMG is quite satisfying, especially when it sets enemies on fire.
It honestly has some of the most satisfying run and gun action I’ve seen for a long time. Despite the retro look, the weapons really do feel amazing. There's also some fantastic music, some amusing one-liners although they don't always work and enemies that will keep you on your toes.
As far as I am concerned, the game is fantastic. It’s so ridiculously entertaining it’s crazy. For a throwback, it's close to perfection in my eyes. If you’re a fan of first-person shooters, you need this. If we can get more developers making games like this again on Linux, I will be extremely happy.
What's really missing though is multiplayer, it would have been an incredibly fun addition to the game. It's planned but they're not giving out dates on when we can expect it to arrive.
You can pick it up on GOG and Steam.
However, it’s pretty unfortunate that I have to mention this and I feel I need to so you’re fully informed: Voidpoint have been embroiled in some controversy recently, after ResetEra dug up some old statements members of their team made in Discord, plus an issue in the game itself. I was sent the statement Voidpoint made, which I will quote in full below:
"Members of Voidpoint’s Ion Fury team have made sexist and transphobic comments, and included homophobic language in Ion Fury.
We recognize these statements are insensitive, unacceptable, and counterproductive to causes of equality. We unequivocally apologize both for these comments and language as well as for any pain they have caused the gaming community, particularly women and members of the LGBTQ community. We take full responsibility for any damage that has been done to the relationships we've worked so hard to build.
Moving forward, we at Voidpoint will institute a zero-tolerance policy for this type of language and all employees and contractors will undergo mandatory sensitivity training. As part of our efforts to contribute to the work that must be done to further support these communities, we are donating $10,000 from Ion Fury's release day proceeds to The Trevor Project. We are also patching Ion Fury ASAP to remove all unacceptable language."
Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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Quoting: GuestQuoting: NezchanIt does seem that fans of the game, outraged that trans people and others weren't pleased at the Discord comments have been dogpiling them with some pretty nasty stuff on social media. I did some looking around after this broke, and even people with mild "Oh, this nonsense again, I wish I didn't have to deal with this" reactions were getting accusations of censorship (and worse) and insults from scores of people.
Looking at Twitter right now, there seems to be far greater vitriol against the devs for apologizing, 3D Realms for not putting up with it, and especially trans people for not just shutting up and taking it in the first place. It's pretty nasty stuff, and honestly I don't recommend looking at it.
As to the game itself, I've only seen it played on Samsai's stream for a couple hours thus far, but it looks well crafted and a lot of fun if you're an FPS player. I especially like how colourful and varied the level designs are, a far cry from the brown, dull green, and gunmetal grey of a lot of shooters. The addition of things like fans to traverse areas adds even more dimension to the spaces, which is welcome.
Except that trans people actually came out in defense of the game and not as you stated.
NONE of the released screenshots shows anything even remotely "transphobic"
Nothin' a trans person liked better than being lectured about what isn't transphobic, lol.
1 Likes, Who?
OMG, I could not find any transphobic thing in the screenshoted discords on knowyourmeme.
Is this transphobic: "yeah if you're trying to decide your child is trans at birth you have mental problems and probably shouldn't be a parent imo"
I think no! It is true, even if not polite.
parents who want to impose their way of life on their children are a danger to the well-being of their children.
That is true for trans people as well as for any other people. It contains the high risk to harm the children a lot.
As a parent you must always try to teach your kids everything they need to find their own way in life. You don't have the right to force your way of life to them.
If someone is trans and this is his way of life to be happy - fine! But this does not include the right, to force being trans on his/their children. The children have the right to decide this for themselves when they got old enough.
This is somewhat ironic (in a bitter way). If "hardcore catholic" parents decide for their children, they have to be like them - of course this is called biggotery by the LGBT people (and thats it). But the other way round it is ok?
This argument killing "outrage industrie" sometimes reminds me of the dark ages in germany.
And to be honest, a game is a game! It is fantasy/fiction, not the real world! Why should a character in a fantasy world not be anything, that the context of the fantasy story needs?
Would this kind of people have gotten that much power in the 90s, I would not have had this much fun with e.g. duke nukem 3d.
So let the freedom of gaming not be destroyed!
SHAKE IT BABY! YOU WANNA DANCE?
-Duke Nukem
Last edited by einherjar on 23 August 2019 at 4:33 pm UTC
Is this transphobic: "yeah if you're trying to decide your child is trans at birth you have mental problems and probably shouldn't be a parent imo"
I think no! It is true, even if not polite.
parents who want to impose their way of life on their children are a danger to the well-being of their children.
That is true for trans people as well as for any other people. It contains the high risk to harm the children a lot.
As a parent you must always try to teach your kids everything they need to find their own way in life. You don't have the right to force your way of life to them.
If someone is trans and this is his way of life to be happy - fine! But this does not include the right, to force being trans on his/their children. The children have the right to decide this for themselves when they got old enough.
This is somewhat ironic (in a bitter way). If "hardcore catholic" parents decide for their children, they have to be like them - of course this is called biggotery by the LGBT people (and thats it). But the other way round it is ok?
This argument killing "outrage industrie" sometimes reminds me of the dark ages in germany.
And to be honest, a game is a game! It is fantasy/fiction, not the real world! Why should a character in a fantasy world not be anything, that the context of the fantasy story needs?
Would this kind of people have gotten that much power in the 90s, I would not have had this much fun with e.g. duke nukem 3d.
So let the freedom of gaming not be destroyed!
SHAKE IT BABY! YOU WANNA DANCE?
-Duke Nukem
Last edited by einherjar on 23 August 2019 at 4:33 pm UTC
8 Likes, Who?
Quoting: NezchanNothin' a trans person liked better than being lectured about what isn't transphobic, lol.
Trans people don't have the monoply to decide, what one is allowed to say and what not. Also none trans people are allowed to have an opinion, different from the opinion of trans people (and vice versa). This is not the ending of the age.
Just because someone is outraged/offended, does not automatically mean, this person is right.
18 Likes, Who?
I know I shouldn't bother reading the comments section on articles on this, but first - please have some context as to where the accusations of transphobia from the devs came from (and yes, they're legitimate):
Resetera link to Discord screens
The couple texture changes for items in game were made because that stuff ticked off 3D Realms; they don't want their name associated with this kind of stuff, so presumably they really wanted the devs to scrub the game clean of anything remotely homo/transphobic. That's their right to ask - they're the publisher, and sure, it's 'censorship' - you can even argue it's self-censorship since, after all, this is also their baby, and they felt the need to state an updated policy on this stuff for future games. None of this is being forced by a government, or the ESRB, or anything like that.
Now, some of you are probably wondering... how did people get these screenshots? Why were they in a Discord server for this (relatively obscure/niche) game? And why would they then be upset over this stuff?
Well, having a number of transfeminine and transmasculine (and enby and pan and...) friends and acquaintances online, this one hurt pretty hard because up until that point they were all super excited for this game and recommending it to each other! There's a joke in transfeminine circles that if you search for thigh-high rainbow or trans pride coloured socks on Amazon, you'll get recommendations for books on programming and computer parts in the 'People also Bought' section - trans people were quick to adopt the online world to be able to reach out to each other across vast distances; trans people, especially transfeminine people, maybe stereotypically, maybe not, tend to skew towards the nerdy side.
These people run Linux. They run FreeBSD. They reminisce about systems that were sometimes before their time. The designer of the ARM architecture was trans. They like to game, but are constantly being shut out by this cloud of toxicity that surrounds a lot of modern gaming, so they make their own, supporting each other in the process and getting onto platforms like itch.io.
They were fans of games like Duke3D when it came out. Some younger people discovered it on recommendation of the older folks. It's silly, over the top, fun, and yeah - a little sexist - but it was the '90s, and part of the pastiche. Think of the modern day band Steel Panther, and people 'get it' - it's all in good fun. At least, when it's acknowledged that's not how you actually treat people these days.
They game on Linux (and BSD!), and more than one have I pointed to this very site as an example of great reporting (<3 you, Liam and others!).
...but I have to remind them, 'just... don't read the comments', and they have to begrudgingly accept that. Like every other site, these days.
I don't expect things to change, but I hope for some of you this adds some more context as to why this was such a big deal. Having someone important that worked on something you were genuinely super excited for turn around and shit on your existence as a human being is not a great feeling.
Resetera link to Discord screens
The couple texture changes for items in game were made because that stuff ticked off 3D Realms; they don't want their name associated with this kind of stuff, so presumably they really wanted the devs to scrub the game clean of anything remotely homo/transphobic. That's their right to ask - they're the publisher, and sure, it's 'censorship' - you can even argue it's self-censorship since, after all, this is also their baby, and they felt the need to state an updated policy on this stuff for future games. None of this is being forced by a government, or the ESRB, or anything like that.
Now, some of you are probably wondering... how did people get these screenshots? Why were they in a Discord server for this (relatively obscure/niche) game? And why would they then be upset over this stuff?
Well, having a number of transfeminine and transmasculine (and enby and pan and...) friends and acquaintances online, this one hurt pretty hard because up until that point they were all super excited for this game and recommending it to each other! There's a joke in transfeminine circles that if you search for thigh-high rainbow or trans pride coloured socks on Amazon, you'll get recommendations for books on programming and computer parts in the 'People also Bought' section - trans people were quick to adopt the online world to be able to reach out to each other across vast distances; trans people, especially transfeminine people, maybe stereotypically, maybe not, tend to skew towards the nerdy side.
These people run Linux. They run FreeBSD. They reminisce about systems that were sometimes before their time. The designer of the ARM architecture was trans. They like to game, but are constantly being shut out by this cloud of toxicity that surrounds a lot of modern gaming, so they make their own, supporting each other in the process and getting onto platforms like itch.io.
They were fans of games like Duke3D when it came out. Some younger people discovered it on recommendation of the older folks. It's silly, over the top, fun, and yeah - a little sexist - but it was the '90s, and part of the pastiche. Think of the modern day band Steel Panther, and people 'get it' - it's all in good fun. At least, when it's acknowledged that's not how you actually treat people these days.
They game on Linux (and BSD!), and more than one have I pointed to this very site as an example of great reporting (<3 you, Liam and others!).
...but I have to remind them, 'just... don't read the comments', and they have to begrudgingly accept that. Like every other site, these days.
I don't expect things to change, but I hope for some of you this adds some more context as to why this was such a big deal. Having someone important that worked on something you were genuinely super excited for turn around and shit on your existence as a human being is not a great feeling.
8 Likes, Who?
Quoting: einherjarQuoting: NezchanNothin' a trans person liked better than being lectured about what isn't transphobic, lol.
Trans people don't have the monoply to decide, what one is allowed to say and what not. Also none trans people are allowed to have an opinion, different from the opinion of trans people (and vice versa). This is not the ending of the age.
Just because someone is outraged/offended, does not automatically mean, this person is right.
The corollary of that is that trans people (and other minority groups) have a hell of a lot more experience encountering this stuff and will thusly be a lot better at identifying it than people who don't, by virtue of them encountering it all the damn time.
Just because you lable someone's concerns as "just offended over nothing" doesn't mean you're right.
6 Likes, Who?
Quoting: KithopI know I shouldn't bother reading the comments section on articles on this, but first - please have some context as to where the accusations of transphobia from the devs came from (and yes, they're legitimate):
Resetera link to Discord screens
The couple texture changes for items in game were made because that stuff ticked off 3D Realms; they don't want their name associated with this kind of stuff, so presumably they really wanted the devs to scrub the game clean of anything remotely homo/transphobic. That's their right to ask - they're the publisher, and sure, it's 'censorship' - you can even argue it's self-censorship since, after all, this is also their baby, and they felt the need to state an updated policy on this stuff for future games. None of this is being forced by a government, or the ESRB, or anything like that.
Now, some of you are probably wondering... how did people get these screenshots? Why were they in a Discord server for this (relatively obscure/niche) game? And why would they then be upset over this stuff?
Well, having a number of transfeminine and transmasculine (and enby and pan and...) friends and acquaintances online, this one hurt pretty hard because up until that point they were all super excited for this game and recommending it to each other! There's a joke in transfeminine circles that if you search for thigh-high rainbow or trans pride coloured socks on Amazon, you'll get recommendations for books on programming and computer parts in the 'People also Bought' section - trans people were quick to adopt the online world to be able to reach out to each other across vast distances; trans people, especially transfeminine people, maybe stereotypically, maybe not, tend to skew towards the nerdy side.
These people run Linux. They run FreeBSD. They reminisce about systems that were sometimes before their time. The designer of the ARM architecture was trans. They like to game, but are constantly being shut out by this cloud of toxicity that surrounds a lot of modern gaming, so they make their own, supporting each other in the process and getting onto platforms like itch.io.
They were fans of games like Duke3D when it came out. Some younger people discovered it on recommendation of the older folks. It's silly, over the top, fun, and yeah - a little sexist - but it was the '90s, and part of the pastiche. Think of the modern day band Steel Panther, and people 'get it' - it's all in good fun. At least, when it's acknowledged that's not how you actually treat people these days.
They game on Linux (and BSD!), and more than one have I pointed to this very site as an example of great reporting (<3 you, Liam and others!).
...but I have to remind them, 'just... don't read the comments', and they have to begrudgingly accept that. Like every other site, these days.
I don't expect things to change, but I hope for some of you this adds some more context as to why this was such a big deal. Having someone important that worked on something you were genuinely super excited for turn around and shit on your existence as a human being is not a great feeling.
There used to be a joke in the community that radiation from CRT monitors turned people trans because so many were involved in programming, video games, and technology in general. Hell, go all the way back to Lynn Conway, who helped develop the technology that made the internet possible in the first place.
And yeah, a lot of us run Linux, BSD, and all the rest.
4 Likes, Who?
Quoting: scaineThere's a big difference between censorship and basic respect for fellow human beings. This issue is about the latter.I'm not sure the difference is so big. Some censorship is censorship in the service of respect for fellow human beings, and there is something a bit ethically tricky about that; I think there's a genuine conflict of principles that shouldn't be shrugged off. Other censorship is censorship in the service of less pleasant stuff, and there is nothing ethically tricky about that at all--shouldn't happen.
Frankly though, in my view hardly any of the people who complain about SJWs and so forth actually care about censorship. So for instance, the very same people are often fine with passing actual laws banning people from boycotting or saying negative things about Israel, or with strong, fairly violent "law and order" measures to shut down left wing or environmental protestors. So these arguments are often only masquerading as being about respect or not for free speech, when they are actually about which views people want it to be considered OK to express. And I have little respect for the concept that the specific views which should be OK are ones which are sexist, homophobic, transphobic, racist etc.
6 Likes, Who?
Quoting: GuestQuoting: NezchanIt does seem that fans of the game, outraged that trans people and others weren't pleased at the Discord comments have been dogpiling them with some pretty nasty stuff on social media. I did some looking around after this broke, and even people with mild "Oh, this nonsense again, I wish I didn't have to deal with this" reactions were getting accusations of censorship (and worse) and insults from scores of people.
Looking at Twitter right now, there seems to be far greater vitriol against the devs for apologizing, 3D Realms for not putting up with it, and especially trans people for not just shutting up and taking it in the first place. It's pretty nasty stuff, and honestly I don't recommend looking at it.
As to the game itself, I've only seen it played on Samsai's stream for a couple hours thus far, but it looks well crafted and a lot of fun if you're an FPS player. I especially like how colourful and varied the level designs are, a far cry from the brown, dull green, and gunmetal grey of a lot of shooters. The addition of things like fans to traverse areas adds even more dimension to the spaces, which is welcome.
Except that trans people actually came out in defense of the game and not as you stated.
NONE of the released screenshots shows anything even remotely "transphobic"
That ain't the gotcha you seem to think it is, mate.
2 Likes, Who?
They targeted gamers.
Gamers.
We're a group of people who will sit for hours, days, even weeks on end performing some of the hardest, most mentally demanding tasks. Over, and over, and over all for nothing more than a little digital token saying we did.
We'll punish our selfs doing things others would consider torture, because we think it's fun.
We'll spend most if not all of our free time min maxing the stats of a fictional character all to draw out a single extra point of damage per second.
Many of us have made careers out of doing just these things: slogging through the grind, all day, the same quests over and over, hundreds of times to the point where we know evety little detail such that some have attained such gamer nirvana that they can literally play these games blindfolded.
Do these people have any idea how many controllers have been smashed, systems over heated, disks and carts destroyed 8n frustration? All to latter be referred to as bragging rights?
These people honestly think this is a battle they can win? They take our media? We're already building a new one without them. They take our devs? Gamers aren't shy about throwing their money else where, or even making the games our selves. They think calling us racist, mysoginistic, rape apologists is going to change us? We've been called worse things by prepubescent 10 year olds with a shitty head set. They picked a fight against a group that's already grown desensitized to their strategies and methods. Who enjoy the battle of attrition they've threatened us with. Who take it as a challange when they tell us we no longer matter. Our obsession with proving we can after being told we can't is so deeply ingrained from years of dealing with big brothers/sisters and friends laughing at how pathetic we used to be that proving you people wrong has become a very real need; a honed reflex.
Gamers are competative, hard core, by nature. We love a challange. The worst thing you did in all of this was to challange us. You're not special, you're not original, you're not the first; this is just another boss fight.
edit: this is a copypasta and i am posting this ironically. if you agree with this then you are the problem with gaming
Last edited by Lonsfor on 23 August 2019 at 5:37 pm UTC
Gamers.
We're a group of people who will sit for hours, days, even weeks on end performing some of the hardest, most mentally demanding tasks. Over, and over, and over all for nothing more than a little digital token saying we did.
We'll punish our selfs doing things others would consider torture, because we think it's fun.
We'll spend most if not all of our free time min maxing the stats of a fictional character all to draw out a single extra point of damage per second.
Many of us have made careers out of doing just these things: slogging through the grind, all day, the same quests over and over, hundreds of times to the point where we know evety little detail such that some have attained such gamer nirvana that they can literally play these games blindfolded.
Do these people have any idea how many controllers have been smashed, systems over heated, disks and carts destroyed 8n frustration? All to latter be referred to as bragging rights?
These people honestly think this is a battle they can win? They take our media? We're already building a new one without them. They take our devs? Gamers aren't shy about throwing their money else where, or even making the games our selves. They think calling us racist, mysoginistic, rape apologists is going to change us? We've been called worse things by prepubescent 10 year olds with a shitty head set. They picked a fight against a group that's already grown desensitized to their strategies and methods. Who enjoy the battle of attrition they've threatened us with. Who take it as a challange when they tell us we no longer matter. Our obsession with proving we can after being told we can't is so deeply ingrained from years of dealing with big brothers/sisters and friends laughing at how pathetic we used to be that proving you people wrong has become a very real need; a honed reflex.
Gamers are competative, hard core, by nature. We love a challange. The worst thing you did in all of this was to challange us. You're not special, you're not original, you're not the first; this is just another boss fight.
edit: this is a copypasta and i am posting this ironically. if you agree with this then you are the problem with gaming
Last edited by Lonsfor on 23 August 2019 at 5:37 pm UTC
5 Likes, Who?
Quoting: Comandante ÑoñardoIt's a mostly US expression, an acronym for "Social Justice Warrior" used by American (and, ugh, some Canadian) right wingers to refer to people who believe in and are vocal about equal rights for, for instance, women, gays, trans, people of different religions etc.Quoting: ageresQuoting: Comandante ÑoñardoI played the DEMO and I didn't see anything controversial in the game...SJWs can find controversy in a brick wall.
I'm from Argentina, I don't know the meaning of the word SJW.
It is intended as an epithet, which strikes me as kind of pathetic given that there is clearly plenty of social injustice in the United States, less of it would be good, and so fighting for social justice strikes me intuitively as a Good Thing. So like who makes their basic mental framework one of hating justice? But the current US zeitgeist apparently makes that seem normal.
Mind you, I personally think that if it was more possible to talk and do things about economic injustice, there would be less need to lean so hard on the social stuff, on either side.
5 Likes, Who?
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