Atmosphere News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

A new demo invites you to glide through fluffy clouds and slide down rolling fields in indie adventure Europa. The game’s deceptively dour setup channels Journey and Fumito Ueda’s work, asking you to explore outsized ruins as the last child left alive, but just like those gems, everything in Europa is wrapped up in a gentle atmosphere.

In recent years, we have been bombarded with the devastating news of wildfires in various parts of the world. The impact that it brings is scary and affects tens of thousands of people, animals, vegetation and even our environment. They also destroy property worth billions of dollars. With global warming increasing, experts are concerned about increased heat waves, rising sea levels, ice melting, and more. We may not be experiencing the impact, yet but it's getting worse than ever.

Ever since we learned Alan Wake 2 would be a full-fledged survival horror game, we've expected some fairly significant tweaks to its design compared to the first game. Now, we're learning exactly what one of those changes is.

Yesterday it was announced that STALKER 2: Heart of Chornobyl has been delayed to early 2024, and while that’s disappointing, GSC Game World has dropped a new trailer to tide fans over. This is probably the largest chunk of real gameplay we’ve seen to date – no cutscenes or polished-up beauty shots, just guns a-blazing, freaky mutants, and dogs getting sucked into anomalies. You can check out the new STALKER 2 trailer for yourself, below.

I didn't have much hope for Homeworld: Deserts of Kharak. Homeworld is an epic, star-spanning tale of survival and triumph amidst the blackness and mystery of interstellar space; Deserts of Kharak, on the other hand, is locked into a single dusty world by the combined forces of gravity and insufficient technological advancement. How could that possibly compare?

Bethesda's mega RPG Starfield looms on the horizon, arriving planetside in September—and the excitement for some fans has reached a fever pitch. One such fan by the name of SWDennis on Youtube decided to try and contain this excitement by recreating the game's starter ship—the Frontier—in Kerbal Space Program (KSP) and, in typical KSP fashion, the poor thing cannot land to save its life.

After plenty of waiting, and presumably some twiddling of thumbs for many Warhammer 40k fans, Darktide finally has an Xbox Series X/S release date.

Alan Wake 2 promises to be a fairly different game from its predecessor, and that’s a good thing. While the atmosphere and setting of the original Alan Wake in 2010 was certainly ominous and surreal, it’s held back by a rather clunky combat system. Fortunately, the move to a more pure survival horror game with Alan Wake 2 ensures that this won’t be the case again, something developer Remedy confirms with PCGamesN at Gamescom 2023.

Yesterday, it was a proud moment for all Indians when Chandrayaan-3 landed on the moon. India has become the fourth country to land its spacecraft on the moon. The whole world celebrated it. The Chandrayaan-3 live stream on YouTube also made history as it has become the most viewed live stream in the world and looking at the numbers, it is not likely to get displaced by anyone anytime soon. Check out how the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) beat all the other previous ones with its Chandrayaan-3 mission.

Indian-born American astronaut Kalpana Chawla made history by traveling into space. Sadly, on February 1, 2003, she was on the Columbia Space Shuttle, which met with a tragic accident. The accident took the lives of her fellow astronauts including Rick Husband, David M. Brown, William C. McCool, Michael P. Anderson, Ilan Ramon, and Laurel Clark.

After much anticipation, Starfeild's release is a mere matter of weeks away. And, in a bid to keep the hype train running, Bethesda has shared an all new live-action trailer for its upcoming space extravaganza.

If there’s one thing Bethesda is known for, it’s those “step-out” moments. That first foray out in the unknown - whether it’s the opening of a long-sealed Fallout vault or a soaring Skyrim dragon welcoming you to a whole new world of danger and wonder. Starfield is no different, wasting no time in introducing you to the vast beauty of its world to great effect. But we’ll get to exactly how it does that just a little later. Here’s a rundown of exactly what happens in the opening minutes of Starfield’s first mission, fittingly titled One Small Step, after seeing it at gamescom 2023.

When Little Nightmares II launched in 2021, we praised its haunting atmosphere and clever puzzles. Now, two and a half years following the release of the last mainline entry, fans of the first two critically acclaimed games have something new to be excited for. Bandai Namco has announced that Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games is developing a new entry in the Little Nightmares universe. Not only that, but we got our first look at Little Nightmares III.

Asteroids often make close approaches to Earth, but did you know that one of them hit the planet this year? NASA revealed that on February 15, a 1000-pound, 2 feet wide space rock turned into an atmospheric fireball and broke into pieces about 21 miles above Earth's surface and was found near McAllen, Texas. Law enforcement agencies in the McAllen region received several calls from residents who reported hearing a loud explosion. According to NASA, the space rock was travelling at about 43000 kilometers per hour and it had an energy of about 8 tons of TNT.

Back in 1993, developers Trilobyte made history when they released The 7th Guest, one of the first computer games to only be released on CD-ROM. An adventure game about navigating a haunted house and solving puzzles in order to solve a mystery, its use of full-motion video, 3D graphics, and its soundtrack by George “The Fat Man” Sanger helped it stand out and become a massive hit back in its day…even if by today’s standards, it can feel rather dated in certain areas. But now Vertigo Games are bringing back The 7th Guest, and to another revolutionary bit of gaming technology: VR. The 7th Guest VR was showcased at Gamescom Opening Night Live’s pre-show, and you can check out its trailer below.

During Gamescom, developer Supermassive Games revealed the next entry in the Little Nightmares franchise: Little Nightmares 3. We got a first look at the gameplay in the third dark atmospheric adventure title that will be released in 2024.

The infinite darkness of space is a canvas upon which humans frequently paint our fears. Aliens, monsters, gods all occupy space “up there” as we yearn to figure out our own sense of place “down here.” Fort Solis, a third-person linear narrative thriller, tries to tap into the tension that space is meant to evoke.

Skybound Games recently released a physical Cuphead Limited Edition, and we've partnered with them to give away one copy for the Nintendo Switch.

Ina special moment, NASA rover on Mars has captured remarkable video footage of its helicopter flying and landing. The Martian atmosphere is very thin, just around one percent of Earth's, which makes it hard for things to lift off. However, NASA's experimental helicopter called Ingenuity was built to lift off using its special rotor in these unusual conditions. The small robot, with its four-foot wingspan, has managed to fly more than 50 times, even though NASA initially thought it would only be able to fly five times.

We’re already halfway through August! How did that happen? What that means in terms of the gaming world is that it means Gamescom in Cologne is next week, and we’ll be at the conference to bring you coverage of as many games as possible (we’re seeing about 50 between us!). In the meantime I’ve been playing a lot of American football as the preseason of the NFL has started. That’s been lots of Legend Bowl, and then a heap of Madden 24 in the last two days. We’re not quite ready to put a score on it, but we’re impressed so far. Besides that I’m trying to get through Baldur’s Gate 3, and it is overwhelmingly big. It’s wonderful too.

Craig Newmark is a rare tech billionaire who doesn't see the value in status symbols like a Porsche or Rolex, a symptom of what he comfortably calls his "nerdly dysfunction."

Alan Wake 2 enthusiasts, we’ve a little bad news for you. The Alan Wake 2 release date has been delayed, with a new launch scribbled onto the calendar for Remedy’s atmospheric action horror game sequel. If you’ve been eagerly anticipating finding out what happened to the eponymous author following his brief sojourn into Control, you’ll have to hold on a little longer until you can play Alan Wake 2.

Baldur’s Gate 3 is a massive game with countless choices over its lengthy runtime, so you better believe you’ll be saving a lot. Luckily, there is a Quick Save function that will save you from having to mess around with the menus, which will get annoying every time you reload a missed 90% attack roll.

The farther a planet is from the Sun, the colder it should be. On Earth, our distance from the Sun has given us a pleasant temperature that can sustain humanity. However, things start to go from bad to worse as you keep going farther and farther away from the Sun. Both Uranus and Neptune are the farthest from the Sun and they are the coldest planets in the solar system. Studying both planets is challenging due to their huge distances involved.

It's a good day for PlayStation fans, as a handful of delightful PS1 classics just landed on PS5 for standalone purchase.

Palia is a bucolic life simulator that focuses on players hanging out with their neighbors, growing crops, and building the perfect home. Most of the time, Palia offers up good vibes and a cozy atmosphere. But there’s one part of the game that leaves me cold and strips away the illusion of a community: the cash shop.

Many of us horror fans are giddy about the fact that Silent Hill is making a comeback. However, the loss of P.T. (the SH project that was being developed by Hideo Kojima and Pan’s Labyrinth director Guillermo del Toro) will always be a sore point. Not just for fans, either, as even those involved still feel the pain.

Capcom sure isn't making a new Dino Crisis game, so one fan went ahead and built a new one in Doom 2.

We're revisiting ArtStation Magazine's Diablo 4 Art Blast with a focus this time on Senior Environment Artist Nicholas Murano. The piece featured many pieces of art that the Artists on the Diablo 4 team worked on.

The 90s American mystery drama series, Twin Peaks, is getting an all-new PS1-style video game thanks to a pair of fans, Jean Manzoni and Lucas Guibert (who together form Blue Rose Team).

Throughout Earth's history, our planet has experienced numerous instances of asteroids colliding with it, either making impact on the surface or exploding in the atmosphere. These asteroid strikes, much like volcanoes, are natural processes that have played a role in shaping the Earth's surface. While most of these asteroid impacts involved small objects, there are some that are terrifyingly big. One such big asteroid crate was the Chicxulub asteroid crater, which is estimated to be 180 km in diameter. This asteroid strike killed off all the dinosaurs. Shockingly, a new study has found an even bigger asteroid strike crater.

Bramble The Mountain King is, for my money, one of 2023’s most gorgeous and striking indie games. This atmospheric action platformer inspired by dark Nordic fables comes from Sweden-based Dimfrost Studio, and it’s quite the achievement for just the team’s second outing. Scored by a fantastic soundtrack that ranges from the haunting to the bombastic, Bramble The Mountain King has stuck vividly in my memory – and now thanks to a Steam sale you can grab it at a huge discount, so move fast.

THQ Nordic and Mirage Game Studios have released a fresh trailer and look at their alien property development game, Space for Sale. We had a slightly more in depth look at this game, taking in the quirky atmosphere and tone to this frankly adorable new construction game.

Titan Quest 2 has just been announced by THQ Nordic and sees the series get a sequel nearly 20 years after the first game. The game has been revealed as part of the THQ Nordic 2023 Showcase today (August 11).

THQ Nordic and Mirage Game Studios have released a fresh trailer and look at their alien property development game, Space for Sale. We had a slightly more in depth look at this game, taking in the quirky atmosphere and tone to this frankly adorable new construction game.

Have you ever witnessed a meteor shower? Well, you can witness one now, and that too the best one of them all! Called the Perseid meteor shower. It will be at its brightest on August 12. According to NASA, a meteor is a space rock that comes into Earth's atmosphere. As it falls, the air makes it really hot because of the friction. The bright streak we see is not the rock itself, but the hot air around it. When many space rocks hit the atmosphere over Earth together, we call it a meteor shower. These meteors are small, fast and bright, leaving trails of light and color behind them as they move through the Earth's atmosphere and get burned up.

The most recent example of a solar storm that caused damage to Earth's infrastructure was in February 2022 when some of the Starlink satellites launched by SpaceX were trapped in the drag caused by the energized particles in the upper atmosphere, and crashed. However, it is nothing in comparison to the storm that struck the Earth in March 1940. This solar storm was so powerful that it made metal wires crackle due to excessive static electricity and disrupted phone lines and telegraph services for 5 hours. The New York Times called it a ‘Sunspot tornado', and it remains as an example of what can happen when a solar storm really shows its wrath. Let us take a look. 

The most popular time of the year for skywatchers has arrived as we get to experience the peak of the Perseids Meteor shower this weekend. Such celestial events should not be missed because they only happen once a year, and if you are lucky enough to discover a clear black sky, you won't be able to forget the sight. This weekend you will get to experience the best and brightest sight of the shooting stars. Excited? Check out when, where, and how to catch the meteor shower.

Russia is set to return to the moon after nearly 50 years by sending an uncrewed lander toward the lunar south pole, joining a race with NASA and other space agencies.

Acid Wizard Studios — the developer behind 2017's stupendous top-down survival horror Darkwood — has announced an indefinite, years-long hiatus, just months after unveiling its first new game in half a decade, Soccer Kids.

After the monumental success of From Software's Dark Souls in 2010, many games sought to follow along with the growing popularity of challenging and stoically designed action RPGs—they came to be known as "soulslikes." One of the earliest soulslikes was 2014's Lords of the Fallen from developer Deck 13. Following a successful launch, publisher CI Games announced a sequel—though that game would take some time to see the light of day.

This week was filled with high-intensity solar activity. The week began with an X-class solar flare eruption that released two separate coronal mass ejections (CME), which eventually gave way for the cannibal CME that missed the Earth narrowly. Beyond this, there were several M-class and X-class solar flare eruptions on the Sun this week, all of which have released solar particles directed towards the Earth. This excess of solar particles has slowly made its way to our planet and has sparked a solar storm event that may last between 24 to 48 hours. We have not seen a long-term solar storm like this in years. So, what kind of impact it may have on us? Let us take a look.

In recent developments, Earth has managed to dodge a potentially calamitous encounter with a "cannibal" solar flare, although the planet has been struck by a formidable solar storm capable of causing disruptions to communication systems.

The annual Perseid meteor shower reaches its peak this weekend, sending bright trails of light streaking across the night sky.

Sun's activity has increased over these past few weeks and it has generated numerous strong solar storms. Currently, Sun is in its 11-year solar cycle and it will reach its maximum next year, which will make these solar storms even more intense in terms of being a potential threat to satellites, power grids, the internet infrastructure and more. On Monday, a powerful solar flare was spewed out by the Sun that caused a radio and navigation signals blackout in North America as the energetic particles reached Earth.

The X1.6-class solar flare that released two powerful coronal mass ejections (CME) on August 5, has just become even more terrifying. According to a new NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) model, the two CME clouds have merged, with the second, faster one, overtaking and cannibalizing the first. The result is that the merged entity has become even more powerful. Even a glancing blow from such a cloud can spark a vicious solar storm. The latest forecast says the storm will hit the Earth later today, August 8, and can produce G3-class storms.

EA has revealed the changes coming to EA SPORTS FC 24, the new soccer game that will featured licensed teams and leagues from around the world. While it dropped the FIFA partnership, the series will aim to keep everything that has made the previous titles stellar. The Matchday Experience will make the menus more immersive and go into more detail during each match. This will include more stats and cut scenes to bring the full immersion of major soccer matches to life. HyperMotionV Insight Overlays will bring in Intelligent Broadcast Augmented Reality to help with insights to better understand opponents.

The original Tomb Raider is a rather old game whose visuals haven't aged particularly well, but even its early 3D polygonal graphics can look incredible with path tracing.

In recent months, co-operative industrial nightmare Warhammer 40,000: Darktide has added Chaos Spawn and new missions, as well as crossplay between the Steam and MS Store versions. In the next patch, which should be out mid-August, developer Fatshark is promising quality-of-life changes including additions to the mission board and crafting, as well as sharing the game's currencies between all of your characters.

Yesterday, we reported that a coronal mass ejection (CME) was headed for the Earth, and NASA models revealed that it could spark a minor solar storm event. However, things took a turn for the worse when the CME made an impact after midnight, and the initial jolt was measured to be around 22 nT (nanotesla, the unit of magnetic field in the centimeter-gram-second system). The energy released pushed the solar storm from minor to moderate levels, meaning it will have a stronger impact on the upper atmosphere. The storm is currently ongoing, and researchers are tracking the damage it caused.

Somerville is bringing its mysterious alien invasion to PlayStation consoles on August 31. The game comes from Jumpship, a studio formed by former Playdead (Limbo, Inside) CEO Dino Patti.

FFXIV Moonfire Faire 2023 takes your Final Fantasy XIV fashion game in a rather unexpected, but undoubtedly awesome, direction. The upcoming summer event has some typically gorgeous outfits for you to unlock, but the beloved MMORPG has skipped sexy swimwear this time around in favor of something a lot more robust, protective, and dare we say…stylish.

There’s a new rumor that there could be a new Lego Harry Potter game on the horizon.

After the lucky escape from a coronal mass ejection (CME) earlier this week, now another solar storm threat is facing us. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), a US agency tracking space weather, multiple CMEs can hit the Earth in the next two days between August 4 and 5. These were hurled by an M-class solar flare that exploded on the Earth-facing side of the Sun on August 1. This was part of a major instability event of the active sunspot AR3380. Now, as the CMEs approach, there are fears that it can spark an intense solar storm event, damaging satellites, shortwave radio communication, and more. Check the details.

You take the scares, oppressive atmosphere, and keen resource management of Resident Evil. Mix all that with Slay the Spire’s in-depth card and deck systems, and the wonderfully crunchy turn-based combat of Darkest Dungeon. While you’re at it, throw in some terrifying Eldritch-style body horror and the unnerving, lo-fi visuals of indie hits like Lone Survivor and Signalis. Congratulations. You’ve just cooked up Draft of Darkness, a petrifying roguelike deckbuilder and card game that’s about to hit full launch on Steam. And I hope you’re happy, because the bizarre flesh monsters that prowl Draft of Darkness’s world are coming to kill us all.

The Room is truly an unforgettable puzzle game experience, from its intricate atmosphere to its stunning presentation of enigmas. With The Room and its subsequent titles, Fireproof Games flipped the mystery genre into a more immersive one. To celebrate the game’s tenth anniversary, the indie developers have decided to host a big Steam sale on the entire series. If you haven’t yet experienced the puzzling, whimsical charm The Room has to offer, then this is your perfect opportunity to do so.

NintendoEverything has shared some interesting quotes from a recent interview with MercurySteam CEO Enric Álvarez.

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Disney’s 2023 movie Haunted Mansion is packed to the brim with ghosts lifted directly from the theme park ride. The notorious Hatbox Ghost, played by Jared Leto in the film, has a huge role, as does psychic-in-a-crystal-ball Madame Leota (Jamie Lee Curtis). But other, subtler ride appearances include the portraits on the walls and the ghosts dangling from the dining room’s chandelier. Some of the ghosts are allies for protagonists Ben (LaKeith Stanfield) and Gabbie (Rosario Dawson) and their friends. Others are genuine threats. Most, though, are just there for the #vibes.

Do you think asteroids will ever hit the Earth? After all, there are many instances of asteroids smashing into Earth, or exploding in its atmosphere, a long time ago in the past and very much so recently too - just recall the recent Chelyabinsk asteroid.

The European satellite Aeolus is heading towards Earth and will crash soon. The spacecraft's mission is coming to an end, and as planned, it will hit Earth's atmosphere and descend naturally to its fiery death.

Baldur's Gate 3 is, wait, let me check… 144 hours away, and Larian has just formally introduced the third and final villain of the game's «unholy triumvirate» of bad guys. Orin the Red is a nefarious knife-loving lady voiced by Maggie Robertson—of RE8's Lady Dimitrescu fame—and I think she's going to do a lot of deeply undesirable things to me and the people I love.

There’s only two types of people in the world. Those who couldn't imagine growing up without being aware of Tove Jansson’s Moomin series, among the very best of children's literature, and those who have no idea who Tove Jansson even is.

It appears that yesterday's solar storm was not the end of troubles for the planet, as another coronal mass ejection (CME) cloud is expected to strike the Earth later today, July 27. The CME was part of the released mass that escaped the Sun during the solar flare eruption on July 23. Researchers have been tracking the CME, but yesterday, another CME made an impact unexpectedly. It is believed to be another smaller CME that came from a blind spot. The real threat is still yet to hit, as the incoming CME is much larger and can spark an intense solar storm.

Scientists at the Royal Observatory of Belgium (ROB) and KU Leuven have achieved a momentous breakthrough, potentially resolving one of the most enigmatic puzzles of our solar system: why is the Sun's corona hotter than its surface?

Superconductors that can operate under normal ambient temperature and pressure have long been considered the holy grail of physics, replete with promises of revolutionizing everything from electricity transmission and transportation to electronics and nuclear fusion, all due to the miracle material’s property of offering virtually no resistance to the passage of electric current.

For the past five years, a the Aeolus satellite has been gracefully orbiting the Earth, hovering at an altitude of 200 miles. However, its fuel reserves now are nearly depleted, and a combination of solar activity and the Earth's atmosphere is now pulling the massive space object towards our planet at a steady rate of approximately 0.6 miles (1 km) per day, according to The Sun report.

Cillian Murphy's screen test for Christopher Nolan's Batman Begins is making the rounds on the Internet again – all thanks to Oppenheimer, of course.

People are mad about J. Robert Oppenheimer. It’s not because of his work as director of the Manhattan Project, or even his leftist politics and ties to the Communist Party. This time, it’s because of Oppenheimer, the new biopic from Christopher Nolan — specifically the sex scene between Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) and his real-life partner Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh).

Yesterday, it was reported that a solar storm will strike the Earth tomorrow, on July 27, after a coronal mass ejection (CME) was seen moving towards Earth. However, the planet has been struck with a solar storm today itself, leading to many researchers being perplexed. Some believe that it is the same CME that somehow accelerated and struck ahead of time, while others believe there might have been another CME that was overlooked by the satellites and hit us from a blind spot. Either way, the solar storm today has created further complications for Earth, as any incoming CMEs will now amplify the overall intensity of the storm.

Last month, Bethesda provided their deepest look yet at their upcoming sci-fi RPG, Starfield, as a dedicated presentation that immediately followed the Xbox Games Showcase.

Star Wars Outlaws creative director Julian Gerighty reveals that the game will allow players to control their ship as it takes-off and pushes through the atmosphere.

Top news publishers to sue AI firms; China's e-commerce platforms to introduce AI hosts for sales; AI utilised for forecasting solar events; Kerala Police's AI face recognition system identifies suspect- this and more in our daily AI roundup. Let us take a look.

Do you think any crewed spacecraft could ever reach anywhere close to Sun? Well, Nasa's Parker Solar Probe successfully traversed through the Sun's upper atmosphere, known as the corona, and collected valuable samples of particles and magnetic fields in that region. This was the historic moment for humankind. However, even for it, reaching close to the Sun has its own challenges.

With the demon lord Leinad and his army poised to wreak havoc on the world once again, the seal of their dark and ancient maze broken, a party of adventurers gathers to stop the reincarnation.

Behold Janus, a celestial enigma that defies conventional norms! Unlike the figurative phrase denoting two-facedness, this white dwarf star embodies the very essence of duality, quite literally. Drawing inspiration from the ancient Roman god, Janus, with one face gazing forward and the other backward, symbolizing transitions, this peculiar stellar remnant has earned its fitting moniker. Scientists have been captivated by the unique composition of Janus, as it bears an extraordinary feature - hydrogen dominates one side, while helium graces the other.

Calling Armored Core 6: Fires Of Rubicon’s latest snippet of video a ‘story trailer’ is maybe a bit generous on FromSoftware’s part. There are dashes of story setup here in enigmatic dialogue between a mysterious Handler Walter and their even more mysterious anonymous boss. But let’s be real: you’re here for mechs rendered in gloriously gritty CG. On that front at least, Fires of Rubicon’s latest look doesn’t disappoint.

Yesterday, it was reported that two separate coronal mass ejections (CME) are set to strike the Earth between July 20-22, and the double solar storm produced as an effect could reach a high intensity. The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has confirmed that the first of the two CME clouds has struck our planet. As the solar storm rages on, the second CME is also expected to hit within a few hours.

Yet again the time has come when we get to experience the fascinatingly illuminated sky as the Perseid meteor shower will be seen in August. The meteor shower happens every year from mid-July to August and it is one of the amazing views that everyone should look forward to

The Dread X Collection is a series of unsettling little horror games that every indie fan should know about. The games are a product of the coming together of various indie developers, like the creators behind Faith and Dusk. In turn, each entry to the Dread X Collection is unique and genuinely bone-chilling in its own way. If you haven’t had the chance to play through the bundle’s gems yet, then this is your perfect opportunity to do so as you can get all of its 50+ games for just $5 during this deal.