bingoplus superace

Your Complete Guide to the PBA Schedule for the 2023-2024 Season

As a longtime fan of interactive narrative games, I was immediately intrigued when I first heard about Frank Stone's development. Having spent countless hours with Supermassive's titles since their breakthrough with Until Dawn back in 2015, I've developed a particular appreciation for this unique genre that blends cinematic storytelling with player agency. The upcoming Frank Stone appears to continue this tradition beautifully, offering what I'd describe as a director's chair experience where gameplay takes a backseat to emotional engagement and narrative consequences. What fascinates me most about these games isn't just the branching storylines, but how they manage to create genuine tension through seemingly simple mechanics.

I still remember my first playthrough of Until Dawn, where I accidentally got two characters killed because I failed a quick-time event during a crucial moment. That gut-wrenching feeling of permanent loss is something few games manage to replicate, and from what we've seen so far, Frank Stone seems poised to deliver similar emotional punches. The developers have hinted at approximately 87 different character relationship combinations that can significantly alter how scenes play out, which is substantially more than the 64 variations available in their previous title, The Quarry. This exponential growth in narrative complexity suggests we're looking at what could potentially be the most ambitious interactive drama to date. Personally, I find this evolution thrilling because it means our choices carry more weight than ever before.

What sets these games apart from traditional gaming experiences is how they prioritize emotional investment over mechanical skill. You're not just pressing buttons; you're shaping lives, building connections, and facing moral dilemmas that would challenge anyone. I've noticed that during my play sessions, I become completely absorbed in these digital lives, carefully considering every dialogue option and quick-time event as if real relationships hung in the balance. The genius of this format lies in how it makes you care about characters before putting them in perilous situations. Frank Stone appears to understand this dynamic perfectly, focusing on character development before introducing the life-or-death scenarios that define the genre.

From a technical perspective, the advancement in narrative branching since 2015 has been remarkable. Where Until Dawn offered around 8-10 hours of gameplay with roughly 40% of scenes affected by player decisions, industry insiders suggest Frank Stone will feature nearly 15 hours of core content with decision impacts affecting approximately 65% of scenes. This represents a significant leap in both scale and complexity. Having played through multiple Supermassive titles, I can attest that this increased density of meaningful choices dramatically enhances replay value. I typically complete these games three to four times to explore different narrative paths, and with Frank Stone's expanded scope, I'm anticipating even more reasons to return to its world.

The economic impact of this genre shouldn't be underestimated either. Until Dawn sold over 4 million copies worldwide, while The Quarry reached about 2.3 million units in its first year. These numbers demonstrate a growing appetite for narrative-driven experiences that prioritize story over traditional gameplay elements. As someone who analyzes gaming trends, I believe Frank Stone could potentially surpass these figures given the established fanbase and increased mainstream recognition of interactive dramas. The market for these experiences has expanded considerably since 2015, with streaming platforms like Twitch and YouTube introducing these narrative adventures to audiences who might not typically play games themselves.

What I find most compelling about Frank Stone's approach is how it seems to refine the formula rather than reinvent it. The familiar elements – quick-time events, relationship building, permanent character deaths – remain central to the experience, but early previews suggest more nuanced implementation. Character relationships appear to develop more organically, with subtle dialogue choices having cascading effects throughout the narrative. The quick-time events reportedly feature greater variety in both timing and consequence, moving beyond the simple success/failure binary of earlier titles. These refinements matter because they address some of the minor frustrations longtime fans like myself have noted while preserving the core experience that makes these games special.

Having followed Supermassive's evolution closely, I'm particularly excited about how Frank Stone might leverage next-generation hardware. The studio's visual fidelity has improved dramatically since Until Dawn, and early screenshots suggest this title will continue that upward trajectory. More importantly, technical improvements could enable more seamless transitions between cinematic sequences and interactive moments, further blurring the line between game and movie. This technical progression matters because immersion is everything in these experiences. When you believe in the world and characters, the emotional stakes feel genuine, and the consequences of your decisions carry appropriate weight.

As we approach Frank Stone's release, I'm anticipating another memorable journey filled with difficult choices and unexpected consequences. These games have consistently delivered some of my most memorable gaming moments precisely because they make me care, then challenge that emotional investment through brutal narrative twists. The permanent death mechanic remains one of the most effective tools in creating genuine tension, and I'm curious to see how Frank Stone implements this signature feature. If previous titles are any indication, we're in for another emotionally charged experience that will have us debating choices and outcomes for months after the credits roll. For fans of narrative-driven games, this represents not just another release, but the next evolution of a genre that continues to redefine how we experience interactive storytelling.

We are shifting fundamentally from historically being a take, make and dispose organisation to an avoid, reduce, reuse, and recycle organisation whilst regenerating to reduce our environmental impact.  We see significant potential in this space for our operations and for our industry, not only to reduce waste and improve resource use efficiency, but to transform our view of the finite resources in our care.

Looking to the Future

By 2022, we will establish a pilot for circularity at our Goonoo feedlot that builds on our current initiatives in water, manure and local sourcing.  We will extend these initiatives to reach our full circularity potential at Goonoo feedlot and then draw on this pilot to light a pathway to integrating circularity across our supply chain.

The quality of our product and ongoing health of our business is intrinsically linked to healthy and functioning ecosystems.  We recognise our potential to play our part in reversing the decline in biodiversity, building soil health and protecting key ecosystems in our care.  This theme extends on the core initiatives and practices already embedded in our business including our sustainable stocking strategy and our long-standing best practice Rangelands Management program, to a more a holistic approach to our landscape.

We are the custodians of a significant natural asset that extends across 6.4 million hectares in some of the most remote parts of Australia.  Building a strong foundation of condition assessment will be fundamental to mapping out a successful pathway to improving the health of the landscape and to drive growth in the value of our Natural Capital.

Our Commitment

We will work with Accounting for Nature to develop a scientifically robust and certifiable framework to measure and report on the condition of natural capital, including biodiversity, across AACo’s assets by 2023.  We will apply that framework to baseline priority assets by 2024.

Looking to the Future

By 2030 we will improve landscape and soil health by increasing the percentage of our estate achieving greater than 50% persistent groundcover with regional targets of:

– Savannah and Tropics – 90% of land achieving >50% cover

– Sub-tropics – 80% of land achieving >50% perennial cover

– Grasslands – 80% of land achieving >50% cover

– Desert country – 60% of land achieving >50% cover