the-ball posts

Of all of the games that were involved in the Portal 2 ARG promotion, the one that most resembled Valve's puzzle shooter series is The Ball from developer Teotl Studios. This weekend The Ball dev team posted up its own behind-the-scenes account on making the original Portal 2 content that was put into its own puzzle-shooter.

After putting in a couple of obscure content items in the game, the big new addition is a new challenge level where players navigate the Ball through a series of Portal-related test chambers. The level took about a month to complete. The article also gives clues to some hidden items in the game's terminal screens.

Valve's big Portal 2 ARG, also known as the Potato Sack, continues to expand. Today more updates for some of the indie games involved in the sale-ARG went live today. One of them was The Ball, the puzzle-action game that has some comparisons to the Portal series.

The new update added a new level to The Ball, Aperture, that adds about an hour of extra gameplay. More than that, the new level has you combating Portal turrets. Another Portal-themed level has been added to the zombie shooter Killing Floor. It's by far the most blatant cross over between the Portal series and the Potato Sack indie games yet. By the way all of those games are still on sale. We wonder why.

Update: Audiosurf's update today included some Portal themed levels and artwork. Yes, Audiosurf. You can check out an image from the game after the jump:

We were wondering what was going on at Valve this week when it didn't have any major sales on the Steam download service but late today Steam finally showed its hand. The service has cut the price of 13 indie games under the new Potato Sack bundle.

This new bundle has the following games on sale for 50 percent off their already low prices:

1... 2... 3... KICK IT!
AaAaAA!!! - A Reckless Disregard for Gravity
Amnesia: The Dark Descent
AudioSurf
BIT.TRIP BEAT
Cogs
Defense Grid: The Awakening
Killing Floor
RUSH
Super Meat Boy
The Ball
The Wonderful End of the World
Toki Tori

If you buy all 13 games at once you will be able to get them all for just $38.72, a 75 percent price cut from their normal prices if sold separately. There's no word on when this sale will end.

The Steam PC game download site continues to willingly give out some huge one-day price cuts on top of the sales that are already in place as part of its annual holiday sales event. Here's the latest list of games with price cuts that will last until 1 pm Eastern time on Thursday:

Dead Space - $6.80
Plants Vs Zombies Game of the Year Edition - $4
Swords and Soldiers - $2.50
Kane and Lynch 2 - $4.99
Brothers In Arms series - Save 50 percent off all games in series
Hearts of Iron III Complete Pack (game plus all DLC) - $14.10
City of Heroes Going Rogue Complete Collection - $10
Greed Corp - $2.50
The Quake Collection (all games in series except Quake IV and Enemy Territory: Quake Wars) - $10.20
Sniper Ghost Warrior - $7.50
The Ball - $4.99
Amnesia The Dark Descent - $6.80 or $4.80 if you own any game in the Penumbra series.

The big holiday one day sales over on Steam continue today. Here's what's on sale for the next 23 hours over at the PC game download site:

One day only game sales

Mount and Blade Warband - $7.50
Splinter Cell Conviction - $20.09
The Ball - $9.99
Street Fighter IV - $10.20
World of Goo - $2.50
Patrician IV - $10
The Orange Box (Half-Life 2; Half-Life 2 Episodes 1 and 2, Team Fortress 2 and Portal) - $7.50
Bit.Trip.Beat - $4.99

One day game gift pack sales

Osmos - $19.99 for 12 copies
Splinter Cell Conviction - $89.99 for six copies
Just Cause 2 - $59.99 for eight copies

Tripwire is rapidly becoming known as a publisher of former mods, and their latest release falls straight in line with that perception. The Ball, a former Unreal Tournament 3 mod that was a finalist in Make Something Unreal, has finally be released on Steam as a stand-alone project. While it's a fun, visually stunning, and relaxing game, it suffers from a number of problems that keep it from rising above its mod roots. Make no mistake: this is a fantastic indie game that many can enjoy. There's just a number of issues that keep it from achieving the heights that it aspires to.

This demo for the action puzzle game, The Ball, includes levels from the full game along with some Survival Mode maps. System requirements are shown after the jump.

"The Ball is a first person action-adventure game featuring a full single-player experience built on Epic's Unreal Engine 3 technology. As a swashbuckling archaeologist working on the slopes of a dormant volcano somewhere in Mexico, you get stuck in a cavern. It doesn't take long before you realize this is more than just a cave. You reveal ancient ruins that have been hidden from outsiders for centuries and discover a mysterious artifact, a gold and metal shelled Ball. As you progress towards solving the mystery of this amazing place you must unlock the secrets of the Ball and learn to control this ancient artifact. Venturing deeper into the volcano, you reveal some of mankind's greatest secrets and you will start to encounter not just puzzles and traps, but also various strange creatures – the guardians of this mystery. These creatures have to be overcome, using only the Ball to defend you."

Download The Ball Demo (491 MB)
Check out all The Ball downloads

Katie bar the door! The last week of October is a witness to a flood of new PC games, most of which are downloadable only titles. In addition to the games listed below, the first official DLC for Civilization V is scheduled for release via Steam later this week.

Star Wars The Force Unleashed II - LucasArts is releasing the PC port of their action game sequel at the same time as the console versions this time out. Darth Vader's apprentice Starkiller is now out of his master's control as he uses his augmented Force powers to do a lot of damage.

One would be only half-right in comparing The Ball to other first person puzzle games like Portal. Sure, there's the puzzle element where you manipulate the ball to work through environmental obstacles, but there's also plenty of enemies to crush, set on fire, and otherwise maim. If you're fine with brutalizing the remains of dead Mayans and violating important archaeological digs, then The Ball will probably be the game for you. If you pre-purchase the game before next Tuesday, you'll get a free character to play in Tripwire's Killing Floor.

Download HD The Ball Launch Trailer
Check out all The Ball downloads

The Ball is close to rolling its way to hard drive. This week publisher Tripwire Interactive announced that the first person puzzle-action game from developer Teotl Studios will be released on October 26. It's the first commercial PC game that will be released that was developed via Epic Games' Unreal Development Kit, the "free" version of Unreal Engine 3.

Pre-orders for the $19.99 game will begin on October 18 via Steam. People who pre-order The Ball and also own Tripwire's zombie shooter Killing Floor will be rewarded with a nice extra. The hero from The Ball will get to also be a playable character in Killing Floor.