PandaPedinte
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Indie Games 2015 [May] Now Voting - Post 348!
- Thread starter Toma
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Frozen Cortex just got an interesting update:
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qzQInkkET8&feature=youtu.be
Adding a manager mode out of the blue is slightly insane, but actually makes me interested in the game now. Curious to see how that plays.
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qzQInkkET8&feature=youtu.be
Adding a manager mode out of the blue is slightly insane, but actually makes me interested in the game now. Curious to see how that plays.
More_Badass
Member
Legend of Grimrock 1 is releasing on iPad today. And Door Kickers and This War of Mine are also likely releasing this month on IOS. Very cool
More_Badass
Member
Anyone check out Snakebird? New game from the devs of Nimbus
Snakebird - $6.99 (PC, Mac, Linux)
Snakebird - $6.99 (PC, Mac, Linux)
http://snakebird.noumenongames.com/
Do you like puzzles, fruit and the notion of crossing a snake with a bird for no good reason? If the answer to at least one of those questions is yes, then Snakebird might be the game for you. Solve your way through this headscratcher of a puzzle game and help the snakebirds sate their hunger.
That puzzle mechanic looks really interesting. Looking forward to trying it.
More_Badass
Member
The Human Gallery - ????
Volvox - PC, Mac, Linux
Ink - $3.99 (PC)
http://www.thehumangallery.net/
You take the role of a painter who ventures into the mind of a psychopath in search of inspiration.
Soon it becomes clear that you can't wake from the nightmare you are wound up in.
Your only hope for awakening is to venture deeper into his mind...
Volvox - PC, Mac, Linux
http://www.neotenia.org/Press/sheet.php?p=volvox
Volvox is a puzzle game based on a triangular grid. The characters, called Trimoebas, are triangular unicellular organisms undertaking the building of the first pluricellular beings, traveling through the evolution. The Trimoebas bear functional properties on their sides, such glue, explosive, insulating and hooks, but they are useful only if the Trimoebas are correctly rotated: you will have to move on the right path and make the Trimoebas overstep each other to complete the mission.
Ink - $3.99 (PC)
http://zackbellgames.itch.io/ink
INK is a fast-paced, abstract platformer about discovering the world around you, using paint.
More_Badass
Member
Somerville's animations and platforming are shaping up nicely
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Vampire of the Sands - $4.99 (PC, Mac, Linux)
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Vampire of the Sands - $4.99 (PC, Mac, Linux)
http://j.itch.io/vampire-of-the-sands
Vampire of the Sands is a punishing action dungeon-crawler with roguelike elements
Discover 58 items, every last one unique, with situational uses. Gain up to 41​ skill runes as you explore the dungeons, persistent between rounds.
No two monsters have the same AI. You cannot get far without figuring out their intricacies​.
One Foul Note
Member
I've played it, like it. It is a very weird mechanic to get your head around at first, you have to constantly be very aware of where you are currently and where you will be with every move. But once I got that I'm really liking what I am seeing, also the puzzle ramp up in difficulty super quick which I appreciate.
What's the name of this damn upcoming indie I'm thinking of? Saw promo shots a few months ago. I believe it was a pretty successful kickstarter pixel art adventure game w/ a bunch of crazy characters? Not Dropsy. Maybe takes place in a small town where you run errands? That's all I got, sorry.
More_Badass
Member
Perhaps it's Night in the Woods? Not pixel art, but sounds similar to what you mentioned
Looks very cool, but no. Definitely pixel art.
Guys... http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1041646 *whistles*
More_Badass
Member
More_Badass
Member
Congrats! I remember checking out the early alphas, it must feel awesome finally releasing the full game
Nah, damn. Thanks though.
Dog Problems
Banned
I'm curious to know what the game is. Is it a point-and-click adventure? How recent was the Kickstarter?
Immortal Technique
Member
Someone else already took up for Wings of Vi, but just let me add that it quickly becomes mechanically deeper as you progress (you pick up new moves/weapons)
Also, at least play to the first boss before final judgment because the bosses in this game are really something else. Some of the finest platforming bosses I've battled against.
Maybe three months ago? I remember the kickstarter page had a ton of over the top colorful graphics and promo shots. All pixel art. Really well done. Looked like you could just chill and walk around a residential town and walk into a 7/11 to buy a mountain dew. I know, not enough info.
More_Badass
Member
Weird. I did the Kickstarter thread last year, and doing the one for 2015, and nothing you're saying is ringing a bell. The closest I'd say is Crossing Souls due to it being an 80's style tone with a group of friends in a small town and pixel art, but you said that's not it.
PandaPedinte
Member
And now I'm also looking for a game that I posted past year, you arrive on a new city and walk around places goes to a cafe and talk to people. I remember it looking really good.
More_Badass
Member
So, still catching up on april games:
Automation:
Still, I love that this exists, but I cant really recommend anyone to buy it for 30$ unless you want to get down and dirty with car design.
Based on the posts in this thread, I gave Wings of Vi another try.
I played through the demo just now and this time defeated the boss (on normal or whatever it was) and I can totally see how people like the game in general, but I cant get over how many bigger and smaller problems I have with it (at least with the demo).
I'll try to make this shorter by keeping it down to bullet points:
Good:
Annoying:
Now it might not be fair to judge a game from a demo, but the game doesnt do much to convince me I would enjoy it any more in the full version. I really like challenging platformers (Meatboy variety for example) as I stated before, but this just doesnt seem to come together at all. Granted, going by the reception from others, a lot is probably based on taste and the boss design sure seems like a highlight from what I watched, but I still dont really see any point in playing this more as I dont think its well designed and I feel like I played 20-50 platformers (a lot of them Betas/Early Access admittedly) in the past year that played a lot better and had more interesting level design.
Edit: I just realized that a lot of my complaints are not that important in boss fights. I guess what I'd love to play in Wings of Vi are 100 boss fight levels without the cumbersome platforming interludes, which dont strike me as particularly fun filler content.
Automation:
Very, very cool concept, but incredibly hard to judge and/or recommend. This game allows you to build a car, but unlike most building games, doesnt allow you to drag and drop build it, but mostly controls it by menues and sliders, for example choosing the chassis from a list of cars in the class you chose, or changing a million variables of the engine (like air intake, fuel usage, which fuel to use, pressure chamber length etcetc). That is simultaneous a pretty cool thing, because it allows for a lot of depth and fine tuning in the mechanics/simulation aspects, while also making it a bit more educational than fun. Even if you understand how some of the aspects work together, what you'll do most of the time, is figure out which systems interact in certain ways (If I increase A, I cant more of D) and then watch numbers go up that are representing the progress in that level. As an educational tool, this is THE best reprentation of how motors and car design works...ever and I hugely applaud it for it. As a game however, even though it does include a variety of well thought out scenarios, its mechanics dont quite work in an engaging way and quite often lead more to trial and error than actual simulation/puzzle style thinking.
Still, I love that this exists, but I cant really recommend anyone to buy it for 30$ unless you want to get down and dirty with car design.
Based on the posts in this thread, I gave Wings of Vi another try.
I played through the demo just now and this time defeated the boss (on normal or whatever it was) and I can totally see how people like the game in general, but I cant get over how many bigger and smaller problems I have with it (at least with the demo).
I'll try to make this shorter by keeping it down to bullet points:
Good:
- Enemy design/animations
- Sound design
- Customization
- Upgrades
Annoying:
- Over reliance on fall-jumps, there simply is no point to make it the modus operandi for every jump.
- The slash animation overshadowing everything, you cant see enemies/surroundings beneath it, which is very annoying. It is also very broad and that plus enemy movement/placement encourages broad stroke mashing combat, instead of precise attacks.
- Not enough feedback in the combat system, basically how you cant even see what enemies are doing below the attack or how/whether they are pushed back by your attacks. -> Due to that, even decent to good players on YT take damage (1 hour playthrough of Mortal difficulty) from easy enemies because it is not possible to perfectly react in time/defend yourself in combat perfectly.
- Overreliance on memory pattern learning instead of reaction and combat mechanic learning, considering there barely is any actual combat mechanic to learn.
- Slow and unresponsive movement (Admittedly remedied by chaining together different actions like run, fall, flutter, jump, slide, jump, etc, which gives a lot more momentum to the game, but it still doesnt "feel" good to me).
- Boring and repetetive level design, platform, fall jump, small enemy, platform, fall jump small enemy, platform, fall, sidejump, big enemy, platform with extending enemy, fall-jump, platform with extending enemy, fall-jump, platform with extending enemy, fall-jump, platform with extending enemy, fall-jump, platform, small enemy.... all with the same palette and repeating platforms for long stretches. Some areas even have the same platforms plus the same enemies.... repeatedly. Sure platformers need to recycle elements, but I cant remember the last game where it was so obvious and annoying to me as here.
- Annoyingly few checkpoints for the above mentioned impreciseness issues. If you make a game hard and want the player to play without many checkpoints, at least get the controls right to give me 100% control and overview over the whole situation. A very good counter example that also relied on learning the level layout and combat mechanics was Oniken.
Now it might not be fair to judge a game from a demo, but the game doesnt do much to convince me I would enjoy it any more in the full version. I really like challenging platformers (Meatboy variety for example) as I stated before, but this just doesnt seem to come together at all. Granted, going by the reception from others, a lot is probably based on taste and the boss design sure seems like a highlight from what I watched, but I still dont really see any point in playing this more as I dont think its well designed and I feel like I played 20-50 platformers (a lot of them Betas/Early Access admittedly) in the past year that played a lot better and had more interesting level design.
Edit: I just realized that a lot of my complaints are not that important in boss fights. I guess what I'd love to play in Wings of Vi are 100 boss fight levels without the cumbersome platforming interludes, which dont strike me as particularly fun filler content.
More_Badass
Member
Found a channel a few month ago, had a series that analyzes level design. The video on Wings of Vi is what got me interested in the game:
http://youtu.be/VpHxfOWW9I0
http://youtu.be/VpHxfOWW9I0
Dog Problems
Banned
First of all, I really like the Youtuber, thanks for sharing.
Second: Did you play the demo? I basically agree with what the youtuber is making out to be the main points of the game, just that I dont consider it "positively unique". He mentioned level design that slowly teaches you a, then b, then c, then a+b, then a+c, then b+c, then a+b+c, which of course naturally feels like a lot of tedious repetition. How these elements are taught, is well thought out, like the first jump or the first race, but it just doesnt seem fun. 1001 Spikes? Fun. Oniken? Fun. Meatboy? Fun. Wanna be the guy? Fun. Wings of Vi? Dont get it.
I mean it must be a personal taste thing, otherwise I sorta understand how this is a very challenging game that will of course find its fanbase and players that learn the details to fight through, but it just seems unnecessarily cumbersome to me.I guess its one of those cases where I dont get the love for a popular Indie Game
Chambara
Pretty sweet. Cant actually play it with other people atm, but hope this gets a console release. The integrated "stealth" factor of you hiding into a certain color and the possibility to block your opponents views by closing your eyes, while you watch his movement is extremely intriguing. Would love to try that with some others.
Cities Skylines
Amazing city builder, probably the best I've ever played. A huge part of that is the mod flexibility and how fun working out the road setup is.
Chronoclysm
Wow, I NEED to try this game with a friend once I have one around. Its one of those local MP focussed games (think Towerfall, despite actually having some SP challenges), but with a very, very intriguing twist. Every time a round ends by either you or your opponent dying, your moves are recorded and then played during the next turn. Think bomberman where you also play with the ghost of the actions you did last round. That bomb you put down last session? Will still be there to annoy your opponent. That mage you put on position X to shoot fireballs down the whole lane? Yep, still will be there next session. What happens then is marvellous: your opponent will start using his next characters based on the actions you did, by for example putting a knight in front of your mage and shielding his fireballs, which in turn gives enough leeway for his following characters to do other actions.
This still needs a lot of polish regarding menues especially, but this has a ton of potential to be extremely fun. And its free.
Pretty sweet. Cant actually play it with other people atm, but hope this gets a console release. The integrated "stealth" factor of you hiding into a certain color and the possibility to block your opponents views by closing your eyes, while you watch his movement is extremely intriguing. Would love to try that with some others.
Cities Skylines
Amazing city builder, probably the best I've ever played. A huge part of that is the mod flexibility and how fun working out the road setup is.
Chronoclysm
Wow, I NEED to try this game with a friend once I have one around. Its one of those local MP focussed games (think Towerfall, despite actually having some SP challenges), but with a very, very intriguing twist. Every time a round ends by either you or your opponent dying, your moves are recorded and then played during the next turn. Think bomberman where you also play with the ghost of the actions you did last round. That bomb you put down last session? Will still be there to annoy your opponent. That mage you put on position X to shoot fireballs down the whole lane? Yep, still will be there next session. What happens then is marvellous: your opponent will start using his next characters based on the actions you did, by for example putting a knight in front of your mage and shielding his fireballs, which in turn gives enough leeway for his following characters to do other actions.
This still needs a lot of polish regarding menues especially, but this has a ton of potential to be extremely fun. And its free.
More_Badass
Member
So Chronoclysm is essentially the Super Time Force of local MP games?
Yeah, I think that description would work as well. I will meet some buddies on sunday, maybe I can get them to try this via beamer on the wall with me.
PandaPedinte
Member
Dog Problems
Banned
Do you remember any other details?
PandaPedinte
Member
It was not 2D and it was colorful. Tomorrow I will search for it on the previous indie threads.
Chainsawkitten
Member
else Heart.Break() ?
Can I recommend an indie spanish game currently on kickstarter?
The Intergalactic Trashman
The Intergalactic Trashman blends 2D platforming with space exploration. We want to achieve a ‘sandbox’ vibe in a 2D game, a sensation of continuity, cohesion and hugeness.
You play as Kepler, the main character, who is always accompanied by his loyal partner Xana, a personal assistant who helps him to communicate with everyone. They have a spaceship which will let them navigate through space, collect trash, explore planets... and all of this while they are dealing with enemies and solving puzzles.
On some planets, they will find entrances to 2D platform stages. In those stages Kepler will need to use his agility to deal with dangers, and his weapons to get rid of his enemies.
Screens & GIFs
Here the KS: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glovecat/the-intergalactic-trashman
Here a playable tech demo: http://www.indiedb.com/games/the-intergalactic-trashman/downloads
The Intergalactic Trashman
The Intergalactic Trashman blends 2D platforming with space exploration. We want to achieve a ‘sandbox’ vibe in a 2D game, a sensation of continuity, cohesion and hugeness.
You play as Kepler, the main character, who is always accompanied by his loyal partner Xana, a personal assistant who helps him to communicate with everyone. They have a spaceship which will let them navigate through space, collect trash, explore planets... and all of this while they are dealing with enemies and solving puzzles.
On some planets, they will find entrances to 2D platform stages. In those stages Kepler will need to use his agility to deal with dangers, and his weapons to get rid of his enemies.
Screens & GIFs
Here the KS: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/glovecat/the-intergalactic-trashman
Here a playable tech demo: http://www.indiedb.com/games/the-intergalactic-trashman/downloads
PandaPedinte
Member
Yes!
More_Badass
Member
Dex is out of Early Access
http://store.steampowered.com/app/269650/
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A cool recent GIF of Heat Signature showing off the galactic zoom
http://store.steampowered.com/app/269650/
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A cool recent GIF of Heat Signature showing off the galactic zoom
More April stuff:
Cylne
Supposedly Myst style adventure, but I didnt play it for long as the graphical filters were highly annoying and the gameplay elements are in no way interesting, just random walking around and triggering the elements to progress to the next level.
Deadbolt
As others said, a lot of potential here. I am definitely in the market for more games similar to Gunpoint. They have some interesting level design ideas here already, looking forward to more.
Dyscourse
Cylne
Supposedly Myst style adventure, but I didnt play it for long as the graphical filters were highly annoying and the gameplay elements are in no way interesting, just random walking around and triggering the elements to progress to the next level.
Deadbolt
As others said, a lot of potential here. I am definitely in the market for more games similar to Gunpoint. They have some interesting level design ideas here already, looking forward to more.
Dyscourse
That was a pretty cool game. Basically like a full game with the Gods will be watching gameplay. Island with 5 other people and you deciding how to spend the days and see how you can get most people to survive by deciding what to scavenge, which risks to take and even... which party members might be dispensible. I enjoyed playing this a lot, if it gets cheaper at one point you definitely should give this a look. It might seem a bit expensive, but there are a lot of different paths and decisions to try to get more people to survive. Its unlikely you'll make the best decisions on the first try, so there is a good amount of replayability.
Glad you posted that - gave it a quick go when i was short of time and never had a real change to try it - mp mechanics sound really interesting and will have to try to get a game with others!!!!!
If you like the idea of interesting local MP games, definitely try out Chronoclysm. I imagine that game to be tons of fun in MP.
April stuff:
Gerty
Still early alpha/Beta top down shooter. Very basic, but I like the urgency through the destroyable environments. Not really very enjoyable in its basic state for now though.
Malleus Goblinficarium
Pretty interesting combat system, but its a bit slow and one sided and doesnt quite come together perfectly. For how random it still is, it takes quite a bit to plan out the moves and the UI is not very accomodating either. Interesting concept, but needs more time in the oven.
More_Badass
Member
Bemuse - IOS, Android
http://www.fluttermind.com/
Think 'Hello Kitty meets The Exorcist' or 'Dark Souls with bunnies'.
It is a single-player game designed to be played in short bursts, and revolves around finding the ritual elements necessary to banish a single Demon in a four day period. Night is more dangerous than day, as Ghosts wander around the environments draining your life if you end a turn on one of their locations.
During the game, the main Demon 'Stirs' (i.e. kind of tosses and turns in his sleep), which causes a whole heap of unpleasant effects in the world
More_Badass
Member
Genemon - Free (Browser)
http://pietro-ferrantelli.itch.io/genemon
Embody a Bio-hacker owning an High-Tech Genegun able to give rise to Genemons, some genetically modified creatures built up to struggle against some others and capable to fuse into new ones to fight into explosive underground arena battles.
That looks a lot like Ironclad Tactics.
One Foul Note
Member
I can confirm, it is worth trying for sure. It is kinda hard to play well and competitively, but if you just like odd chaos it is that and lots of it.
Just a tip though, if you play as the knight, don't swing your sword while standing in the spawning area cos you are gonna end up wiping out future versions of your team and generally be a massive nightmare.
Did you manage to play with friends? I assume its tons of stupid fun and laughing
One Foul Note
Member
Did you manage to play with friends? I assume its tons of stupid fun and laughing
Pretty much. I only managed a 1v1 but even with them numbers the battlefield fills up super quickly with clones of yourself. Given how hazardous the map was only after about 3-4 lives with 2 players I can't imagine playing it with the max 4 players. It would be total carnage, I would be very tempted to turn off friendly fire to at least give you the chance to live beyond the first 3 seconds.