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Entries in indie (9)

Sunday
Jul242011

IndieCity Gaining Large Launch List

For those that don't know, IndieCity is seeking to become an Indie Only alternative to PC Distribution, essentially an Indie Steam.  It includes everything you would expect, including achievements, leaderboard, and etc. along with a very generous revenue share percentages.  While it is still in testing, they recently released an ad showing off some of the games that are planned to be on the service with its first months, the ad, along with an entire list at the bottom said ad can be found below.

What, does it say Altercation at the bottom of the page?  Is Altercation also the name of the indie game I'm making?  Why yes, it is >=)

Friday
Jun102011

Solar 2: Indie Game Trailer

Solar 2 is the sequel to the Xbox Indie Game hit "Solar", which was a simple Sandbox game, in which, you played a star.  Solar 2 brings much more to the table, including an actual story with missions, laser light shows, the ability to play as Asteroids and Planets (along with Stars and Black Holes like the original), more original music, and it's coming to PC!

Solar 2 is coming to Steam June 17th for $10, and to the Xbox Live Indie Marketplace not long afterwards for 400 MS Points.  Below is the Solar 2 release trailer.

Sunday
Apr102011

Googly-Eyed Splitters - Review

Googly-Eyed Splitters is basically a game....about Googly-Eyed Splitters.  Splitters being a pink ball of fur, which is able to split into two, different colored balls of fur.  The gameplay revolves around solving different puzzles with the goal of getting to the box, which is the end of the level.  

The catch is that many of the puzzles require you to split and use both "Splitters" to complete a level, sometimes controlling both of them at once.  The game does guide you where to go with certain gateways which only the red or blue splitter can go through.  But there are many other obstacles such as buttons, lava pits, moving platforms, bolders and etc.

The game boasts 40 different levels spanning across 4 different worlds.  Different worlds do offer different art styles and some different challenges but that's about it.  Beyond the 40 levels there isn't much replayability besides playing through the game a 2nd time.  The levels do increase in difficulty but not at a steady pace, one level may take me 20 minutes and then the next 2 so the difficulty curve is something like a squiggly line.

I think the main thing to focus on with this game is its physics, which I don't believe are being used nearly to their full potential.  The physics are pretty good for an indie game, stuff rolls, carries momentum, bounces, and etc. as you would expect them to in real life.  Though one thing which I found an annoyance is how the character is round.  In the game you have to roll across surfaces and roll ontop moving bolders, the first problem is that because you do carry momentum, you tend to slide across the ground which can easily lead to your death.  The other thing is rolling ontop a boulder, because you are playing a circle, it is very hard to stay ontop of another, larger, moving circle.  The best way to summarize this, is that there doesn't seem to be any form of friction within the physics.

Those aren't the only problems with the game.  First off, controlling two splitters at once does seem like an interesting concept, but it doesn't work all that well.  You control one of them with the left analog stick and trigger, and the other with the right stick and trigger.  Because the only difference between the splitters are color, it is very hard to keep track of which is controlled by which side, which can lead to confusion and death within the game.  Im not sure if I don't have the "Minimum IQ required to play this game" or something of the sort, but I found that it really just doesn't work well.  I have also encountered the occasional bug such as falling through the ground.

The levels are mostly made up of floating cubes infront of a background image.  The textures are mostly the same and are really repetitive, and usually have lines between each cube which are pretty easily noticed.  The different textures in different worlds does help with it not being too repetitive, but the difference just isn't enough.  The audio is mostly a few quirky sound effects along with a single looping music track.  The music track almost reminds me of one of the background songs from the MMO Flyff, it sounds pretty good, but because it is the only track played throughout the whole game, it gets boring after 10 minutes, and annoying after 20.

Overall it is a solid puzzle game with a cute and almost professional art style which just doesn't have the needed polish.  The gameplay is a good concept but poorly executed and the sound is nothing special.  If you are willing to spend an extra $2, I would recommend buying Breeze instead.  It is a very fun puzzle game with entertaining gameplay and 20 more levels than Googly-Eyed Splitters.  The art is much better and diverse, and it has a multiple background songs, one per season (or set of levels), along with much more replayablitiy with multiple levels of difficulty.  But if you want a cheap $1 puzzle game to pass a few hours (at most) then Googly-Eyed Splitters isn't the worse choice you could make.

Pros

 

  • Good Physics
  • Looks Professional
  • Different Worlds 
  • Introduces you with new obstacles as you play

 

Cons

 

  • Single Music Track
  • Controls get confusing
  • Not much replayability
  • Some Bugs
  • No "Fricition"

 

 

Monday
Jan032011

Independent Games Festival 2011 Finalists Announced

The 13th Annual Independent Games Festival finalists for 2011 have been announced. These are the creme of the crop of indie games, Minecraft is up for 3 awards including the "Seumas McNally Grand Prize." As is the terrifying Amnesia: The Dark Descent.


Other finalists include Supergiant Games' Bastion, Gaijin Games' Bit.Trip Runner, and Messhof's Nidhogg. Those attending the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco will be able to check out all of these games on the show floor starting February 28, 2011. Check out all the nominees below, the IGF awards will be held March 2nd.

Seumas McNally Grand Prize:

  • Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games)
  • SpyParty (Chris Hecker)
  • Desktop Dungeons (QCF Design)
  • Minecraft (Mojang)
  • Nidhogg (Messhof)

Honorable mentions: Neptune's Pride (Iron Helmet Games); Super Crate Box (Vlambeer); Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (Carpe Fulgur); Bit.Trip Runner (Gaijin Games); Retro City Rampage (Vblank Entertainment).

Excellence In Visual Art

  • Bastion (Supergiant Games)
  • The Dream Machine (Cockroach)
  • Cave Story (2010 Edition) (Nicalis)
  • Bit.Trip Runner (Gaijin Games)
  • Hohokum (Honeyslug & Richard Hogg)

Honorable mentions: Retro City Rampage (Vblank Entertainment); Cobalt (Oxeye Game Studio); Faraway (Steph Thirion); Helsing's Fire (Ratloop); Flotilla (Blendo Games).

Technical Excellence

  • Minecraft (Mojang)
  • Confetti Carnival (SpikySnail Games)
  • Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games)
  • Neverdaunt:8Bit (Robot Loves Kitty)
  • Miegakure (Marc Ten Bosch)

Honorable mentions: Cobalt (Oxeye Game Studio); Achron (Hazardous Software); Hazard: The Journey Of Life (Demruth); Overgrowth (Wolfire Games); Swimming Under Clouds (Piece Of Pie Studios)

Excellence In Design

  • Desktop Dungeons (QCF Design)
  • Super Crate Box (Vlambeer)
  • Nidhogg (Messhof)
  • Faraway (Steph Thirion)
  • Minecraft (Mojang)

Honorable mentions: Helsing's Fire (Ratloop); Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale (Carpe Fulgur); Flotilla (Blendo Games); Bo (Mahdi Bahrami); Brutally Unfair Tactics Totally OK Now [B.U.T.T.O.N.] (Copenhagen Game Collective)

Excellence In Audio

  • Bastion (Supergiant Games)
  • Retro City Rampage (Vblank Entertainment)
  • Amnesia: The Dark Descent (Frictional Games)
  • Bit.Trip Beat (Gaijin Games)
  • Cobalt (Oxeye Game Studio)

Honorable mentions: Bit.Trip Runner (Gaijin Games); Cave Story (2010 Edition) (Nicalis); Jamestown (Final Form Games); NightSky (Nicalis); Planck (Shadegrown Games)

Best Mobile Game

  • Shot Shot Shoot (Erik Svedang)
  • Colorbind (Nonverbal)
  • Helsing's Fire (Ratloop)
  • Solipskier (Mikengreg)
  • Halcyon (Stfj)

Honorable mentions: Flick Kick Football (PikPok); Shibuya (Nevercenter); Spirits (Spaces Of Play); Tentacles (Press Play); Trainyard (Matt Rix)

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