LEVEL #327 – Finally a good Star Wars

SILICA – A NEW HYBRID IS BORN IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC

In the field of the Czech game scene, it was not possible to hear a loud bang recently, which was caused by the revival of Bohemia Incubator activity, a project of Bohemia Interactive, whose task is to support developers through know-how and a strong brand behind it. The Silica project itself, a hybrid between real-time strategy and FPS action, caused a similar stir. Kuba Kovář visited the online presentation, played the game, and you can read his impressions in this issue.

PIT OF HELL – AUTONOMOUS AI NPC

Dan Vávra’s Nová Jáma Pekel is a hell of a good read. InWorld AI, a tool that most screenwriters will consider a dream come true, has become a central motif. Not because he will do all the work for them, they are well aware of that. But thanks to InWorld AI, creators should get the opportunity to prepare characters with all their characteristics, background and history, and let the AI ​​conduct dialogues with the player. Like Dan’s article, we recommend trying the software itself.

INTERVIEW – BLAY WHITBY

Concepts like morality and ethics are often very loose in the digital age and are thrown around all the time. But they are rarely inflected in the context of artificial intelligence. Researcher and academic Blay Whitby and Jonáš Kříž ventured into the uncharted waters of robotics ethics at the Croatian Reboot conference and left no thread of this issue dry. From transferring human responsibility to artificial intelligence to questions of whether Isaac Asimov really created the meaningful laws of robotics, or if it was actually something else.

CRIME BOSS: ROCKAY CITY – GAMES IN THE LAND OF FLOWERS

We couldn’t miss a trip to sun-drenched Miami, even though Honza Hrbáč’s review does not give the best of the new product from Brno’s INGAME Studios. But one of the main attractions of the new game is Rockay City itself, strongly inspired by the eighties and the events in Florida during that period. In the accompanying essay, you will therefore read more about what made then Florida and Miami so attractive to countless cartels and mafia bosses, and what pop culture pieces were created as a result not only in the field of video games.

STAR WARS JEDI: SURVIVOR – GLORY TO THE DROIDS

Cal Kestis, Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Revan. Pick almost any Jedi Knight throughout history and you’ll find that there’s not a woman standing by his side, but a droid. Droids of all shapes, sizes and personality quirks are an integral part of the entire Star Wars phenomenon to the point that the word Droid de facto belongs to Lucas. Pavel Dobrovský elaborated on the importance and history of beeping sidekicks, who also added a review of the latest trip to a galaxy far, far away.

THIS IS THE WAY – HOW WILL IT PLAY?

In a series of four texts, Honza Horčík, Tomáš Enderle, Ondřej Koch and Ondřej Novotný decided to look at what gaming will look like in the coming years and analyzed some frequently discussed phenomena such as the metaverse, but did not forget to look at the areas that are making more progress than our virtual existence. In this way, you will read about the gradual linking of the world of sports and e-sports, about collaborative gaming, and the most interesting of all is the chapter dedicated to game suits that will take gaming in virtual reality to a whole new level.

WORKSHOP – CZECH TRAINS AND PANELS IN OPENTTD

The Czech Republic cannot brag much about its railways, despite the fact that we have the densest rail network in the entire European Union. It is therefore not surprising that the enthusiasm for trains is great among players. This is also the case with Miroslav Štefek and others who have joined him over the years. All of them started to gradually remake and modify the phenomenal OpenTTD train simulation into 32-bit graphics, into which they also try to transfer Czech realities. Honza Horčík writes about how ungrateful and demanding similar work is for free for one’s own pleasure.

ENOUGH SIMS – STILL WAITING FOR A REAL COMPETITOR

The Sims have ruled the world of relationship simulators for over two decades. During the long journey, every now and then someone tried to stand in their way, but mostly it ended in a complete rollover and early retirement from the game. Just say how many games like The Sims you know from memory. But like any organism, The Sims needs serious competition to maintain long-term quality, and luckily, it’s coming. Kateřina Kovandová writes about all this.

MINES, SOLITATOR AND DONKEY – GAMES INTEGRATED INTO OPERATING SYSTEMS

It may not be such a phenomenon anymore, but there was a time when you couldn’t imagine a working day without a quick game of Minesweeper or Solitaire. Or the weekend. Or the night. Or actually life. What was a bit of an accident helped establish the mouse as a control tool for home computer users, among other things, and also caused a lot of sleepless nights at Microsoft. Martin Žemlička remembers these times.

MAKING OF – VIETCONG

It has been twenty years since the Czech jewel – Vietcong – was published. Jarek Kolář, one of its main authors, published a commemorative video on his YouTube channel on that occasion, and it was only a matter of time before Pavel Dobrovský also took a look at the history of development. A fascinating insight into development begins with a flirtation with a Rambo license, a trip to Vietnam, and ends with a revolution in the field of aim in action games. Happy birthday Steve Hawkins.

In this issue you will find Age of Wonders 4 and Dead Island 2 themes on the posters. The posters are automatically received by subscribers and are also available in JRC stores.

LEVEL IS ALSO OUT IN AN ELECTRONIC VERSION

In addition to paper, LEVEL is also available in electronic version for 99 crowns – so it is fifty crowns cheaper than at the stands. You can find all essential information on how to get an electronic Level in of this article. Through applications Floowie a O2 Library you can also read the e-version of Level on the web or on iOS or Android devices. All you need to do is have ONE account, and therefore ONE purchased magazine.

Detailed content LEVEL 327 study it on the website level.czwhere you will also find all the necessary information about by subscription, about the authors and the Level editorial team in general. You can reach us with your observations on the Level account at [email protected] or at Level’s Facebook page.

Attention! If you want to buy a level without having to go to the store in person, order an individual number at www.level.cz/chci-level – the magazine comes straight to your inbox and you pay for it the same as at the stand (postage is free!)

LEVEL 328 is released on June 22, 2023