!.07-Xbox Wire

May Xbox Update Includes Quick Resume Improvements, Passthrough Audio, and More
Dungeon Defenders II Spring Cleaning Update Brings Big Changes to Etheria
Creating the Atmospheric In Rays of the Light

May Xbox Update Includes Quick Resume Improvements, Passthrough Audio, and More

Posted: 11 May 2021 08:30 AM PDT

Summary

Quick Resume is getting even better with improved reliability, faster load times, and a new group that organizes your Quick Resume games in one place.
Passthrough audio gives your media apps the best possible listening experience with your external sound system.
Starting this month, you can approve multiplayer games for your kids by specific title – directly from the console or when using the Xbox Family Settings app on iOS and Android.

Team Xbox is excited to continue bringing new ways to make Xbox better, including refining the experience and delivering brand new features, based on your feedback. This month's release includes new Quick Resume improvements, passthrough audio for media apps, and more.

New Quick Resume improvements

Quick Resume is a feature powered by the technical capabilities of the innovative Xbox Velocity Architecture in Xbox Series X|S. It lets you seamlessly switch between multiple games and resume gameplay instantly right from where you last left off. With this update, Quick Resume is getting even better, with improved reliability and faster load times.

We've also made it easier to identify and access games that support and are saved to Quick Resume. You'll be able to see if your current game supports Quick Resume with a new tag. Gamers on Xbox Series X|S can also take advantage of a new group that lists all the games currently saved in Quick Resume. You can use the group to see which games are ready launch from Quick Resume and launch from there. Like other groups, you can add it to Home for quicker access or customize your experience by removing a game from the Quick Resume state.

Passthrough audio for media apps

Try passthrough to make audio on your favorite Xbox media streaming apps like Disney+, the Apple TV app, Plex, Vudu, and more sound even better. Passthrough lets audio decoding from media apps on your compatible HDMI devices bypass the console for the highest quality listening experience with your external sound system. To start using it, see the new Allow Passthrough button on the Xbox audio settings screen. You’ll see an indicator in the guide when you use a compatible media app with passthrough audio enabled.

Watch game trailers with Xbox Game Pass

Discover your next favorite game on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One with faster and easy access to spotlight trailers for games in the Xbox Game Pass library. Now game titles featured in the spotlight on the Game Pass hub will play trailers when you focus on them. This means fewer clicks for you when previewing the latest and greatest additions to Game Pass. To play the trailers with audio, click on the tiles.

New dynamic background – Motes

For the launch of Xbox Series X|S, the team added dynamic backgrounds, a new feature letting you customize your Home screen with motion and color. This month, we're offering the new pattern– "Motes". You can find the new Motes dynamic background in Settings > General > Personalization > My background > Dynamic background

Ask a parent: Multiplayer by title

Last fall, we launched the Xbox Family Settings app for free on iOS and Android and continue to release feature updates to provide families with simple tools to help manage their kids' gaming. Starting this month, you can approve multiplayer games – where you can play and communicate with other gamers – by specific title, directly from your console or in the Xbox Family Settings app. If your child wants to play a specific game in multiplayer mode but they're blocked by family settings, they can send a request to unblock multiplayer for that game only. You'll get a notification through the Xbox Family Settings app with the option to learn more about the game and then decide whether to approve your kid's request. Any family organizer in your Family Group can remove the game from the approved list at any time from your phone or console.

Xbox app for Android and iOS keeps getting better

Last month we added leaderboards to the Xbox app on Android and iOS. This month, we're continuing to evolve the experience by releasing a few more updates. First, stay connected with a new push notification that lets you know when your favorite friends go online. We're also updating achievements game pages to add game stats, including ‘time played’. Lastly, reliability is incredibly important to us, and we’re happy to say we’ve made some changes that improve the performance on loading your chats tab and sending messages in the app.

Smart Glass app for PC

We'll be sunsetting the Xbox One SmartGlass app for PC starting this June. This means the SmartGlass app will be removed from the Microsoft Store and there will be no further updates for those who have the app already downloaded to their devices. You can continue to use the Xbox app for Windows 10 PCs to discover and download new games with Xbox Game Pass, see what your friends are playing, and chat with them across PC, mobile, and Xbox consoles.

Help shape the future of Xbox

Stay tuned to the Xbox Wire for future updates and all the latest and greatest Xbox related news. For support related to Xbox updates, visit support.xbox.com.

If you'd like to help create the future of Xbox and get access to early features, download the Xbox Insider Hub on your Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, or Windows 10 PC today. Let us know what you think – we're always listening!

Dungeon Defenders II Spring Cleaning Update Brings Big Changes to Etheria

Posted: 11 May 2021 08:00 AM PDT

Hey Everyone,

Recently we rebooted work on our free-to-play game, Dungeon Defenders II (DD2). We're now committed to giving it a quality-of-life boost, with regular updates and additions based on feedback from our community. While Dungeon Defenders: Awakened continues to be the studio's primary focus, we felt the franchise's popular sequel could benefit from some much-deserved attention. To kick off DD2's new era, we released the Spring Cleaning Update in April, which was packed full of all sorts of requested fixes, important quality-of-life additions, and balance changes. We'll talk more about that in a bit, but first we want to spread the news on an exciting game update that was just released…

Dungeon Defenders II will now run at 60 FPS on Xbox Series X|S! You read that correctly. Defenders can now customize heroes, build towers, engage in combat, and so many other actions at 60 FPS. Thanks to Microsoft's backwards compatibility, the FPS Boost feature will bring smoother and more immersive experiences to Etheria, allowing Defenders to focus more on the battle at hand.

Following a recent update from Xbox, another awesome change to DD2 was to the online multiplayer system. Now all Defenders can team up to defend Etheria together online for free! An Xbox Live Gold subscription is no longer needed to join online multiplayer sessions.

Last, but certainly not least, we recently brought what we're calling the Spring Cleaning Update to DD2 at the beginning of April. This update includes new Daily Login Rewards from our dear Ol' Peepers (featured in the pic below), new shards, a new pet, new bundles, and some much-needed meta changes!

Since the launch of DD2, Defenders have been asking for cost-saving options on purchases including multiple (or even all) heroes at once. Well, we were listening, and we have finally made that dream a reality! For a limited time, you can unlock all heroes (along with any additional hero we release in the future) for $30 USD. That's 75% cheaper than if you bought all the heroes individually, and the savings only increase with every additional hero released! If you already own all the heroes, why not grab a fresh new look for your favorite defender? New skins will be a regular part of content updates moving forward.

We've had a blast revisiting DD2, and it's clear the community has too. After receiving such a positive response, we've decided that DD2 will receive regular content updates moving forward. Etheria needs its defenders, and we want to make sure it's a place worth defending, with lots of new skins, maps, and challenges to keep you coming back!

We love to share teasers and reveals with our community on social media in the lead up to our big content announcements. So, make sure to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and Twitch. There you'll catch all of the upcoming news on Dungeon Defenders II, and our latest game release, Dungeon Defenders: Awakened (which will also see some big changes in the next few months). See you in Etheria!

Creating the Atmospheric In Rays of the Light

Posted: 10 May 2021 01:00 PM PDT

In Rays of the Light is a remake and reimagining of the original 2012 indie game The Light. The initial project was a "test of the pen," which marked the beginning of my journey in the world of game development. The game contained a general moral concept associated with the danger and harmful consequences of human activity: with endless wars and political struggle, the desire for enrichment, with technical progress, which has a strong effect on our lives, both in a positive and in a negative way. The final message of the story was that Mother Nature will breathe a sigh of relief when humanity as a species disappears from the face of the Earth.

The original game was a small sketch with 15-20 minutes of gameplay. The reference for the location was the real-life territory of the Moscow Humanitarian University, in particular, one of its educational buildings. During my student years, I spent a lot of time in this building, which has always impressed me with its seemingly simple but strict monumental design. It was the majestic image of this building that originally inspired the creation of the project.

In 2019, it was decided to re-release the project with a complete revision of the visual and gameplay parts. The game was practically recreated from scratch. A lot of interactive objects, kerosene lamps, a game machine, a puzzle with an electrical panel, plot text notes were added. Some variability was also introduced – now, depending on the style of passage, you can get one of two different endings. In this case, the very concept of “light” has a great sacred meaning.

The main film shown to the player in the lecture hall has been completely redesigned. For the video, many fragments from military chronicles, filming of disasters and emergencies were used. We also used our own materials filmed in abandoned territories, as well as images of fairly well-known objects in Russia. For example, in one of the scenes there are shots of the ancient Dormition Church in the city of Kondopoga, Republic of Karelia. Unfortunately, in 2018 the church was set on fire and completely burned down.

The remake of the game also got a more formalized storyline, which, with the help of notes and details of the environment, tells us about the latest events that took place in this God-forsaken place. Unlike the original version of The Light, the player becomes more clear about what happened many years ago and who the main character is.

This project has become for me something more than just a game. This is a statement that once again calls for thinking about what is important and what should not be forgotten.

In rays of the Light

Sometimes You

☆☆☆☆☆ 31

★★★★★

$7.99

Get it now

New game from the developer of "7th Sector" Sergey Noskov. There is only you, the abandoned remains of a former life and the flourishing nature that feels great in the absence of man. This world is both gloomy and empty, but so incredibly beautiful. "In rays of the Light" is an atmospheric author's parable about our place in this world, life and death. Explore a mysterious territory filled with a variety of details that reveal the story. Solve logic puzzles and study text messages along the way. Features: – First-person meditative quest – A metaphorical philosophical story revealed in the study of details and surroundings – Beautiful visuals and melodic soundtrack (composed by Dmitry Nikolaev) – Two endings – Remake of "The Light" (2012) game

!.07-Xbox Wire

!.07-Xbox Wire

Summary

In rays of the Light

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