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[Toma]

*SpaceChemtorio high-five*

..and since we just mentioned it, Factorio is fucking awesome and a good game for the top of the page recommendation:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=527028

If you dont know it yet, check out the thread linked above. There is a free demo which deserves a playthrough.

 

[Toma]

On a similar note, have I mentioned how fucking great Sentinel is?
Just played another level. Music still blows me away. I cant wait for him to release the demo, so that I can make a thread about it.

 

[Toma]

And 7 Grand Steps just released on Steam!

 

[Hofmann]

By that logic, then, Chess and Go are meaningless? Pacman and Tetris are meaningless? Clairvoyance is meaningless?

They're nothing more than a sport. Of course it has its purpose, I love playing Chess and I can think of a lot of reasons for doing other similar things, but in no way it can be compared to an art.

Well, that doesn't seem to be true, does it? You might as well say that Chess has no choices because all piece movements are determined by the rules.

I didn't mean it if you read between the paragraphs. I wrote it in response to Dascu, saying that interactions in KRZ are meaningless, which makes every action in any other game as meaningless, because the player is only able to do as much as a designer/system allows him to do, well, at least that's how it is in theory. And that's not the point of it. Every interaction should be considered as a part of a bigger picture, you can't just take them out of context. Playing chess is not only about moving pieces of wooden blocks from one place to another. The same can be applied to KRZ.

Again, this is falling into the trap of thinking that "storyless", or even abstract games, are meaningless.

What it has to do with what he wrote? Something having no clear relation to reality is unimportant here. What the author wants to achieve in his work is what matters. Want to make a game in that narrow understanding of a word, where mastering a system is a main goal - do it, but if you have something important to say or beautiful to show - level of abstractness doesn't matter - and for whatever reason you think videogames are best suited for your vision than try to avoid those game mechanics, because they usually only distract the player; use only the devices that communicate those thoughts or feelings. Simple as that.

 

[Hofmann]

And 7 Grand Steps just released on Steam!

Yeah, now I won't forget about it - adding to the list.

 

[PandaPedinte]

I finished Little Inferno, and I can say I wasn't expecting the end.

 

[Hofmann]

I finished Little Inferno, and I can say I wasn't expecting the end.

It's almost like they duct taped two games together.

 

[Toma]

Desura was on a roll in the last few days. Going to post a few new games that look interesting.

 

[Toma]

I have not played any of the below games, if you do let us know.

Spacemen Sparkles - 1,99€

http://www.desura.com/games/spaceman-sparkles-moon-edition

Bullet Twinstick shooter hell with minimal graphics. Apparently very challenging and rather inexpensive.

Trap Them - 4,99€

http://www.desura.com/games/trapthem/images/wardrobe

A game that I'll probably need to buy. It combines BoulderDash with Pacman. You need to trap and kill the enemies and use their movement patterns and falling stones to your advantage. The trailer offers a better explanation.

Survivor Squad - 6,99€

http://www.desura.com/games/survivor-squad

Top down squad based action game. How could I resist that? There is a demo I'll check out later.

Too many me - 1,99€

http://www.desura.com/games/too-many-me

Platforming game in the runner-genre with a few twists. You can create multiple copies of yourself (only one needs to survive) and have some more abilities (double jumps etc). The trailer looks intriguing.

Sang-Froid - 12€

http://www.desura.com/games/sang-froid-tales-of-werewolves
Werewolf action/slighty towerdefense game that we talked about in the first thread I think. It released in april on Steam, but I just noticed that we never covered it here. Reception was a bit lukewarm apparently, but maybe someone else here played it to share his opinion?

 

[Weltall Zero]

I know it's random and probably nothing that should particularly be posted here, but my hype for Starbound is reaching stratospheric levels. I hope they don't take so long to release that it falls back down too much (that's happened a lot before).

 

[Toma]

I know it's random and probably nothing that should particularly be posted here, but my hype for Starbound is reaching stratospheric levels. I hope they don't take so long to release that it falls back down too much (that's happened a lot before).

Yeah, looking forward to that as well. I just hope they manage to make it rewarding to play.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Yeah, looking forward to that as well. I just hope they manage to make it rewarding to play.

By rewarding, you mean fun? I'm guessing that'd be contingent on a) how varied exploration and construction is, and b) how much you like exploration and construction in the first place. It's looking pretty amazing so far, and more so each day, though.

 

[Toma]

By rewarding, you mean fun? I'm guessing that'd be contingent on a) how varied exploration and construction is, and b) how much you like exploration and construction in the first place. It's looking pretty amazing so far, and more so each day, though.

Yeah, the exploration in Terraria was good but eventually screeched to a halt because you knew everything the world had to offer after 15 hours or so.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Yeah, the exploration in Terraria was good but eventually screeched to a halt because you knew everything the world had to offer after 15 hours or so.

I think dungeons in this game have the potential of increasing play time considerably. It was a smart choice to have them unmodifiable until you complete them. Building stuff also seems to be more fun.

 

[Toma]

I think dungeons in this game have the potential of increasing play time considerably. It was a smart choice to have them unmodifiable until you complete them. Building stuff also seems to be more fun.

Yeah sure, I just hope it turns out as fun as they are making it out to be atm. *still bitter because of the Monaco disappointment*

 

[PandaPedinte]

It's almost like they duct taped two games together.

Exactly. Spoilers ahead:

Spoiler

I was expecting something to be revealed about the face on the Little Inferno, or about the spider and helicopter things with one eye, I thought the Little Inferno could be something like the telescreen from 1984 and a government was producing the objects to burn only to maintain the citizens under control.

The game let some questions unaswered, onw of them was about the snow, when I started the game I was sure the "snow" was just the ashes from the little infernos, the game don't answer it.

Talking about Sugar Plumps, I became sad whe she "died" and it's interesting because it's a character that you just see in photos, when she started to send lettlers again and talk I was relieved. Other thing nice is how the time pass, while I spent 4 hours playing, according to Steam, for the character it was his childhood, teens and start of adult life. It's showed to the kind of objects that are on the catalog to buy, I just noticed it when I finished the game and saw the last photo of Sugar Plumps, she had growed up.

 

[One Foul Note]

I know it's random and probably nothing that should particularly be posted here, but my hype for Starbound is reaching stratospheric levels. I hope they don't take so long to release that it falls back down too much (that's happened a lot before).

Me too. Well perhaps not stratospheric levels, but very high for sure. Big Terreria fan so being able to recreate that experience except having the avater be a robot knight sounds like an appealing game.

 

[Toma]

Random aside, we are on track to make this the biggest Indie Games thread so far. Progress!

 

[Hofmann]

What's the deal with those Steam Trading Cards. You get them while playing some games and then you can sell them?

 

[Toma]

What's the deal with those Steam Trading Cards. You get them while playing some games and then you can sell them?

Yes, or keep them and craft them into badges and wallpapers for your profile. You can sell most cards for 50 cents or something, so you can get a free 2$ for every game you on with cards.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

What's the deal with those Steam Trading Cards. You get them while playing some games and then you can sell them?

Just about. You get 50% of the available cards as a drop, rounded up. So for a game with 8 cards, you get 4 cards total before you have to trade or buy, a game with 7 cards will give you 5 cards, etc. You can get them with the purpose of completing a set for that game, earning a badge you can display on your profile, EXP to level up your profile, and a background or emoticon or coupon or some silly thing. Or you can just sell the cards asap before their price bombs, making free money for sweet sweet indie games.

Valve said they hope to have new games with cards available every tuesday and thursday, but we'll see how long that lasts.

 

[Hofmann]

Thanks guys, I just saw people saying they've earned $20-30 for some of them keeping games running in the background. Pretty cool.

 

[Hofmann]

Spoilers ahead:

Spoiler

Other thing nice is how the time pass, while I spent 4 hours playing, according to Steam, for the character it was his childhood, teens and start of adult life. It's showed to the kind of objects that are on the catalog to buy, I just noticed it when I finished the game and saw the last photo of Sugar Plumps, she had growed up.

Ha, didn't notice that she's older there. I can't believe I could have missed it.

 

[eot]

Tried out SpaceChem finally and it's quite addicting. Just got to the first defense mission though and it was really dumb. I hope there's not too many of them. Also, it's annoying how when you try to define your output for a reactor half the time the specification of that molecule is obscured by the popup window, and you can't move it.

 

[Toma]

Tried out SpaceChem finally and it's quite addicting. Just got to the first defense mission though and it was really dumb. I hope there's not too many of them. Also, it's annoying how when you try to define your output for a reactor half the time the specification of that molecule is obscured by the popup window, and you can't move it.

The defense missions are usually the boss missions if I remember correctly, so most levels are normal ones, but yeah, they require some rethinking and were my least favourite levels too.
But which popup are you referring to?

 

[Toma]

Wii U platformer Toki Tori 2+ gets Steam release date
Now with Workshop integration, a level editor and Achievements.

By Tom Phillips Published Friday, 31 May 2013

Indie platformer Toki Tori 2+ will finally see a Steam release on 2nd July, developer Two Tribes has announced. The game has been renamed with an added '+' to denote the features added since its Wii U release in April 2013. Included in the PC version are Steam Workshop integration and Achievements. Notably, it also includes a full level editor - a feature previously promised for the Wii U version and still (at some point) on the cards.

Toki Tori 2's PC version was first announced in October 2011 for launch the following spring.

"Because of the long delays, we strongly feel that we owe the Steam community big time," Two Tribes wrote in a statement passed to Eurogamer. "The game won't be simply a Steam rendition of the Wii U version. Instead we've improved the game play and presentation throughout."

The original Toki Tori recieved an 8/10 from Eurogamer back upon its release in 2002. "[It's] a cutesy platform puzzler with an evil learning curve," Eurogamer's Martin Taylor wrote at the time.

Here is a small video review of Toki Tori 2 which actually looks WAY better than the first one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkILPGqDuWc

Might pick it up on WiiU or Steam on release.

 

[eot]

The defense missions are usually the boss missions if I remember correctly, so most levels are normal ones, but yeah, they require some rethinking and were my least favourite levels too.
But which popup are you referring to?

I mean when you click on an output in the "overworld" and drag&drop atoms to set the molecule you want to make.

It's probably been said a thousand times, but the game really feels like programming. From the process of actually solving a puzzle, to the satisfaction of seeing it work. Hell, the game even mentions debugging in one of the tooltips.

 

[Toma]

I mean when you click on an output in the "overworld" and drag&drop atoms to set the molecule you want to make.

It's probably been said a thousand times, but the game really feels like programming. From the process of actually solving a puzzle, to the satisfaction of seeing it work. Hell, the game even mentions debugging in one of the tooltips.

Hm, yeah. That is a bit unwieldy.

And it certainly feels like programming. I played it for 50 hours now, and still havent played the last 2 worlds. How far are you in atm?

 

[Toma]

Random screenshot from Sentinel:

... which, just in case I didnt mention it, is SO GOOD. Biggest surprise this month for me, I sorta knew Gunpoint would be good, but this game caught me off guard.

 

[Noogy]

Hi all, quote this message for one of three Steam keys for Dust:AET. Also, cool pic taken by Hazaro.

 

[PandaPedinte]

Hi all, quote this message for one of three Steam keys for Dust:AET. Also, cool pic taken by Hazaro.

Thanks, got the last one.

 

[Toma]

Hi all, quote this message for one of three Steam keys for Dust:AET. Also, cool pic taken by Hazaro.

Which reminds me that I still need to check this out this month

...once I can push myself away from Sentinel.

 

[PandaPedinte]

Here is a small video review of Toki Tori 2 which actually looks WAY better than the first one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkILPGqDuWc

Might pick it up on WiiU or Steam on release.

Yeah, I'm really excited for Toki Tori 2+.

 

[BomberMouse]

Hi all, quote this message for one of three Steam keys for Dust:AET. Also, cool pic taken by Hazaro.

Thanks, took the second one.

 

[eot]

Hi all, quote this message for one of three Steam keys for Dust:AET. Also, cool pic taken by Hazaro.

Got the top one.
Thanks noogy if I like it I'll be sure to gift someone a copy

 

[Noogy]

Awesome, and thank you for letting me know you got one

 

[The Illiterati]

Ooooh! Missed it by THAT much!

 

[Markoff_Chaney]

Sentinel does look quite nice. I read on RPS through the comments section that the developer will be releasing a demo in a couple days, so I'll hold off on taking the plunge until I can get some hands on. I can't believe how much of my gaming budget I've already gone through this month, and it's only the 8th...

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

Boss as hell, Noogy.

Reminds me, I should move Dust up next in the backlog once I finish off The Swapper. Got a feeling i'm coming close.

 

[A Sentient Keyboard]

About SpaceChem, I'm a bit over halfway but have run into a brick wall regarding difficulty. I can usually get the individual factories working, but the overarching game of getting the molecules where you want, when you want gets very tough for me to figure out.

Is it common to find the game to difficult, or am I just exceptionally stupid? I kind of want to jump in again because it was fun while it lasted and the story intrigued me, but I have trouble seeing myself get through it all if the difficulty keeps climbing.

Also Noogy, I finished Dust:AET a few weeks ago on XBLA and really enjoyed it, so thanks!

 

[Toma]

Sentinel does look quite nice. I read on RPS through the comments section that the developer will be releasing a demo in a couple days, so I'll hold off on taking the plunge until I can get some hands on. I can't believe how much of my gaming budget I've already gone through this month, and it's only the 8th...

Yeah, I'll create a thread for the game once the demo hits and I'll make sure to let you know in this thread as well.

About SpaceChem, I'm a bit over halfway but have run into a brick wall regarding difficulty. I can usually get the individual factories working, but the overarching game of getting the molecules where you want, when you want gets very tough for me to figure out.

Is it common to find the game to difficult, or am I just exceptionally stupid? I kind of want to jump in again because it was fun while it lasted and the story intrigued me, but I have trouble seeing myself get through it all if the difficulty keeps climbing.

Also Noogy, I finished Dust:AET a few weeks ago on XBLA and really enjoyed it, so thanks!

SpaceChem is one of the hardest, if not the hardest puzzle game I've ever played. I dont think its even "possible" for more than 1% of all players to make it to the end without looking up any solution. I usually take weeks between each level now because a level easily take up a whole weekend

 

[A Sentient Keyboard]

Oh good, it's not just me.

Speaking of only 1% of players making it through the end, according to steam achievement stats only 0.9% of players finished Frozen Synapse. It's easy to see why, though, the singleplayer is hard and lengthy, and the game is a multiplayer game first and foremost.

There's one pretty awesome mission near the end though

Spoiler

were you first defend an objective against attackers, and the following mission has you play from the opponents perspective and has you play against your own moves from the previous mission

. Also the story goes to some pretty weird places.

 

[Ferulci]

Ok, you sold me the game.

 

[Hofmann]

Screenshot Saturday - E3 is just around the corner, but that doesn't mean that smaller titles should be eclipsed completely by this event.


#1


Gods Will Be Watching – Sequel to an acclaimed Ludum Dare Survival Sim. Jam entry version can be played here: http://www.deconstructeam.com/games/gods-will-be-watching/.

MALEBOLGIA – For relaxing times, make it Inferno time.

Bewilder House - Puzzle game set in a funhouse that toys with player's perception. If you are afraid of clowns - do not look forward to this game, seriously.

One Way Trip - Action-RPG by the guy who made Demon Chick.

Businessman - First look at the character from close-up.

Energy Hook - It looks like a Spider-Man mixed with Tony Hawk games, actually it's being made by the creator of Spider-Man 2 - the well-received one, he worked on Tony Hawk series as well Oh, and there's a jetpack.

 

[Hazaro]

Ok, you sold me the game.

That's at least 3 now

 

[Wok]

Here is a small video review of Toki Tori 2 which actually looks WAY better than the first one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkILPGqDuWc

Might pick it up on WiiU or Steam on release.

Toki Tori 2 is radically different from the first game: it is not a puzzle game with small levels anymore, the levels are big and the game plays a lot more like an exploration/platformer with interesting mechanics (bubbles, whistles, etc.) which you discover progressively.

 

[Toma]

Toki Tori 2 is radically different from the first game: it is not a puzzle game with small levels anymore, the levels are big and the game plays a lot more like an exploration/platformer with interesting mechanics (bubbles, whistles, etc.) which you discover progressively.

Yeah, didn't know that until now. I really didn't like the first one too much.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Noogy, you the man. People, Dust is amazing, buy it.

I'm also really looking forward to the demo of The Sentinel, because I love how it looks aesthetically speaking.

Energy Hook - It looks like a Spider-Man mixed with Tony Hawk games, actually it's being made by the creator of Spider-Man 2 - the well-received one, he worked on Tony Hawk series as well Oh, and there's a jetpack.

Heh, that's funny, because way back when Spiderman 2 was released, my then-boss told me he had heard it described as "a Spiderman Grand Theft Auto", which is not entirely off the mark, but I told him "it actually feels more like a Spiderman Tony Hawk". Now I see why. Since no Spiderman game after it ever gave me the same feeling, I really need to check Energy Hook.

 

[McSpidey]

I realize e3 is a press only event but I have an idea. The lines are so long and everyone is essentially looking for a way to pass the time.
It would be bad form for indies to directly hijack these idle victims and most devs can't afford to get there anyway..but what if they recruited some gaffers already going to act as virtual ambassadors of their favorite indie games to spread the love while queued or otherwise idle?

Actually this virtual ambassador idea is resonating with me on its own as a tool to defeat the tyranny of distance for indies. Hmmm.

 

[TrickRoom]

I realize e3 is a press only event but I have an idea. The lines are so long and everyone is essentially looking for a way to pass the time.
It would be bad form for indies to directly hijack these idle victims and most devs can't afford to get there anyway..but what if they recruited some gaffers already going to act as virtual ambassadors of their favorite indie games to spread the love while queued or otherwise idle?

Actually this virtual ambassador idea is resonating with me on its own as a tool to defeat the tyranny of distance for indies. Hmmm.

When you say that, the first thing that comes to my mind is a band of gaffers/indies/indie supporters coming along the lines and giving out QR codes to mobile demos. It made me smile a bit, really (granted, a great portion of indie games are on PC, but still...).