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[Gaspode_T]

Yeah hearing that even some of you guys are giving 3* to pretty decent games is cementing my belief that the ranking system for XBLIG is beyond repair. Which is unfortunate, but unless they add more categorization and genre based searching it's really not useful to look at Top Rated at all. There are way too many great games that don't appear there.

Devs need to rely upon word of mouth and other marketing techniques to get enough sales and ratings to overcome those issues, but the only types of games that do that are very specific types (zombies, guns, boobs, mining, etc). So kind of frustrating situation to say the least.

For achievements - if you believe the other threads on this forum the people who can make change are probably far too busy with other things to be able to do a bunch of work for the XBLIG platform right now. That's why I've been trying to think about changes that are simpler and small in scope.

Also, the place where Microsoft needs the most help from competitive standpoint is versus Apple/Google in mobile and tablet world, so even if they had resources to spare I don't know if they would put it on anything but trying to make Windows Phone and Windows 8 the best in gaming. If I was in charge I would literally probably rather the XBLIG devs released a bunch of games on WP7 instead, just go into the iOS gaming thread here and look at how vibrant and active it is...even Google and Sony are scrambling to prepare gaming stuff for mobile (Google is gunning for social games, Sony is going with PS Suite).

 

[HadesGigas]

I'm not sure how giving everything I like at all 5 stars makes any sense really. I want to "help" the games I like most more than the games I just like. Giving everything decent 5 stars doesn't seem like it would result in any better order.

 

[Gaspode_T]

It's just basically math works out that if a game has < 50 ratings a single rating will change the overall rating a lot. If a game only gets 30 ratings or so and they are mixed between 3 and 5 the game will end up something like #1000 on the top rated list The only way that games can get up and stay high on that list is if they have a huge amount of ratings and a large % of that are 5 star ratings. It's kind of like the games that don't receive many ratings that are the ones that get screwed over.

 

[HadesGigas]

It's just basically math works out that if a game has < 50 ratings a single rating will change the overall rating a lot. If a game only gets 30 ratings or so and they are mixed between 3 and 5 the game will end up something like #1000 on the top rated list The only way that games can get up and stay high on that list is if they have a huge amount of ratings and a large % of that are 5 star ratings. It's kind of like the games that don't receive many ratings that are the ones that get screwed over.

But the games I want on top are the ones I like best, the ones I give five stars. I don't want a game I give 3 or 4 stars on top because I think they're a 3 or 4 star game...

Everyone can't be on top, we're not all winners.

 

[Warm Machine]

While not xblig news, Orbitron is jumping to the PC. Screenshot in the OT.

 

[Gaspode_T]

But the games I want on top are the ones I like best, the ones I give five stars. I don't want a game I give 3 or 4 stars on top because I think they're a 3 or 4 star game...

Everyone can't be on top, we're not all winners.

yeah, I would kind of agree with you if it were a bit easier to dig down into genre and even things like sub-genres it would have been ideal. I would have loved to able to apply filter "Puzzle Games" them apply Bing Search "Match" to find Match Three games, and have those be sorted by rating... something like that is necessary to make them useful at all...otherwise like I said, you will be scrolling to the right a loooong time before you find the 4.0 and lower games

 

[Dark Octave]

An idea so crazy....it just might work? XBLIG devs, take a look at the App Hub:

http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/98996/589245.aspx#589245

A charity/petition game to have Achievements added to XBLIGs, could work. I'd be down to help out with something like this, provided I have the time.

While not xblig news, Orbitron is jumping to the PC. Screenshot in the OT.

Steam?

 

[Warm Machine]

Steam?

Distribution news coming in the next couple of weeks.

 

[SAB CA]

An idea so crazy....it just might work? XBLIG devs, take a look at the App Hub:

http://forums.create.msdn.com/forums/p/98996/589245.aspx#589245

There's only 2 ways I can really imagine that working...

1: Make it a great, smart game, that parodies the concept, and works as a solid game, while raising the agenda's awareness (DLC quest style, just with a bonus mission statement)

2: Make it a software product that would actually give it's own personal achievement list, that somehow is backwards compatable with as many XBLIG as possible (maybe through reading their saves, and rewarding milestones). Get as many devs as one could to contribute, and have them pack this cheevo-giving game with unlockable art, interviews, stories, and maybe even something like bonus stages made for the games they have achievements for, concept art, early previews of future games, etc.

I'd love to see such an idea, especially if they tied it into the big sellers of XBLIG (the Craft gamesm Miner Dig Deep), and games of high quality (Magical Cube, Protect me Knight, CSTW, etc). It itself could be a big seller, and if the bonuses are good enough, it might motivate people to go back and buy the old games tied to the game, in order to unlock the new content.

 

[Gaspode_T]

I do know that some of the game tracker websites like raptr somehow are tracking indie games...

it might be possible to get Trueachievements or xbox360achievements to create sections/forums for indie games 'awardments' and then people post screenshots of games that support milestone/awardments/whatever idea/leaderboards.

 

[Gaspode_T]

Ok Ocean Drive Challenge *looks* awesome, I will have to try this one tonight: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/P...allenge/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550a61#

The world always needs more Outrun in it

 

[qupe1975]

Yeah hearing that even some of you guys are giving 3* to pretty decent games is cementing my belief that the ranking system for XBLIG is beyond repair. Which is unfortunate, but unless they add more categorization and genre based searching it's really not useful to look at Top Rated at all. There are way too many great games that don't appear there.

Devs need to rely upon word of mouth and other marketing techniques to get enough sales and ratings to overcome those issues, but the only types of games that do that are very specific types (zombies, guns, boobs, mining, etc). So kind of frustrating situation to say the least.

For achievements - if you believe the other threads on this forum the people who can make change are probably far too busy with other things to be able to do a bunch of work for the XBLIG platform right now. That's why I've been trying to think about changes that are simpler and small in scope.

Also, the place where Microsoft needs the most help from competitive standpoint is versus Apple/Google in mobile and tablet world, so even if they had resources to spare I don't know if they would put it on anything but trying to make Windows Phone and Windows 8 the best in gaming. If I was in charge I would literally probably rather the XBLIG devs released a bunch of games on WP7 instead, just go into the iOS gaming thread here and look at how vibrant and active it is...even Google and Sony are scrambling to prepare gaming stuff for mobile (Google is gunning for social games, Sony is going with PS Suite).

3* for Block Zombies is fine for that game in my opinion though. The game may look nice but the mechanics of the game are dull. Drain crystal, shoot some big zombies, drain crystal, shoot more big zombies....i just got bored of it. I am not going to give every game 5* If I think a game is very good it will get 4* and games I think are excellent will get 5*.

I like Codex (puzzle game) but it doesn't have a great rating yet is does what it sets out to really well. I think it's too hard for some players hence the rating.

People will purchase what they like. Techno Kitten Adventure has a really decent rating but the game is not for me. The same can be said of the minecraft games. Each to their own.


Warm Machine I think cross platform releases is a sensible way to go. PC maybe first and the option on XBLIG/XBLA too. Good luck with the PC release.

 

[Ranger X]

Ok Ocean Drive Challenge *looks* awesome, I will have to try this one tonight: http://marketplace.xbox.com/en-US/P...allenge/66acd000-77fe-1000-9115-d80258550a61#

The world always needs more Outrun in it

I downloaded it and as a Outrun fan i've been really disappointed. First it doesn't look that good but at least it's smooth. The problem is the feeling of the car anyways. You can't feel the turns and you have no idea when you're going to skip away or not. It feels really wierd. Will not buy.

 

[DaveVoyles]

There's only 2 ways I can really imagine that working...

1: Make it a great, smart game, that parodies the concept, and works as a solid game, while raising the agenda's awareness (DLC quest style, just with a bonus mission statement)

2: Make it a software product that would actually give it's own personal achievement list, that somehow is backwards compatable with as many XBLIG as possible (maybe through reading their saves, and rewarding milestones). Get as many devs as one could to contribute, and have them pack this cheevo-giving game with unlockable art, interviews, stories, and maybe even something like bonus stages made for the games they have achievements for, concept art, early previews of future games, etc.

I'd love to see such an idea, especially if they tied it into the big sellers of XBLIG (the Craft gamesm Miner Dig Deep), and games of high quality (Magical Cube, Protect me Knight, CSTW, etc). It itself could be a big seller, and if the bonuses are good enough, it might motivate people to go back and buy the old games tied to the game, in order to unlock the new content.

HMmm.... you raise a very good point with #2. I specifically like: "Get as many devs as one could to contribute, and have them pack this cheevo-giving game with unlockable art, interviews, stories, and maybe even something like bonus stages made for the games they have achievements for, concept art, early previews of future games, etc. "

 

[FunInfusedGames]

Sorry to blow holes in some of this, but it's impossible for one XBLIG game to read save data from any others. Also impossible for two different games to communicate with each other online.

Also you can't even use the term Achievement in XBLIG in the context of Achievements, it's against the rules. So you could make it an Achievement game but you'd have to call it something else (this is why I use Awardments in my games).

You're pretty much looking at a self-contained game that cannot mention Achievements directly.

 

[FunInfusedGames]

The new Hypership is, so far, very much the same game. It's just streamlined with an additional level. Keep in mind this is coming from a very big fan of Hypership. I'm not disappointed, but I knew what it was going into it. People hoping for a sequel may have been letdown by this.

There will be a full blown Hypership sequel but I doubt it will be for XBLIG. Most likely PC and iOS (not necessarily in that order).

There is 1 new wave in HSSOOC and every other wave has some updates too... how many updates vary. The first wave has a lot of new stuff, the third wave has very little. It's not a sequel, it's really Hypership 1.5. I doubt that has as much to do with low sales as it does the XBLIG market not being composed of gamers looking for this style of game (same for the low ratings). I would have put the time into a true sequel if I expected much from XBLIG but I don't.

I still want to finish Nastier and my new Trivia or Die game but I'm working on neither at this time. For the first time in years really I'm not working on any XBLIG titles. I'm officially focusing on PC and iOS development going forward. February will hopefully see Volchaos released on PC and a new update to Hypership iOS. I'll have some new stuff in the works after that.

 

[OnPoint]

It's disheartening to read that, given how much I enjoy your products, but I guess I'll be playing them on my PC from now on.

In more positive news, I've started running a feature this week that focuses on Homework -- the project formerly known as Proj5 -- by developer Iamrece (Chalked, Dot Error).

I got a bunch of thoughts from the dev, a massive amount of screens, a preview track, some video... I'll be putting it up all week. Here's what I've put up so far.

- Day 1: Character and enemy models

- Day 2: Soundtrack preview

 

[FunInfusedGames]

Be happy, we'll be able to do better games on the PC. For instance Volchaos on PC is going to have a level editor plus website for sharing levels and online top speeds for each level. Those are features we couldn't do (well) on XBLIG. So it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing.

 

[OnPoint]

Be happy, we'll be able to do better games on the PC. For instance Volchaos on PC is going to have a level editor plus website for sharing levels and online top speeds for each level. Those are features we couldn't do (well) on XBLIG. So it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing.

It's only disheartening because I love XBLIG and I hate to see the service crumbling away, developer by good developer.

I really need to invest in a wired 360 pad, because I hate keyboard controls and more and more PC games are ending up on my radar.

 

[FunInfusedGames]

It's only disheartening because I love XBLIG and I hate to see the service crumbling away, developer by good developer.

We've tried two developer-driven Uprisings to gain support to moderate success (more media attention than actual sales success). Perhaps it is time for a fan driven initiative. I love developing for XBLIG but ultimately there are limitations that prevent me from making the best games I can (for my style of games, I really could use some kind of peer to peer leaderboards) but more than anything the sales just aren't there. For good developers to stay on the service, there needs to be more support from fans like you. And there certainly are a lot more gamers out there than developers, perhaps a large upswell of support / desire for some of the features we've been asking for (achievements, leaderboards, etc) would go further than a small group of disgruntled developers can get.

 

[Stumpokapow]

Be happy, we'll be able to do better games on the PC. For instance Volchaos on PC is going to have a level editor plus website for sharing levels and online top speeds for each level. Those are features we couldn't do (well) on XBLIG. So it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing.

Good luck. As someone who owns every platform, I don't really care if XBLIG dies just as long as it dies for something better for developers and consumers. PC can be tricky too, because there are distribution challenges and it's difficult to get attention if you don't get on Steam or in a bundle, but if you break through, you can really break through, as Feep will be sure to tell you.

 

[Gaspode_T]

I just saw the Take Arms dev tweet that Take Arms is selling 50 to 60 copies per day on weekdays, 120 or so a day on weekends. I do know that some games are successful but some adjustment to the Xbox gamer mentality seems to be necessary to ensure sales...

It's really a shame that games that I personally love struggle on XBLIG. It frustrates me. It also frustrates me that many, many XBLA games struggle with sales - the break even point on XBLA is probably more like 50,000 sold for a lower budget game whereas XBLIG is more like 1,000 to 5,000 in most cases, just go through Rlan's threads and look at how many XBLA games aren't hitting 50,000. Those games won't get sequels, the dev might struggle to get published again, etc.

So in any case for XBLA the problem is it's a struggle to even get your foot in the door and XBLIG has its own host of problems but the biggest being that the average Xbox gamer tastes are dominating what's selling and top rated lists, so it smothers the potential to expand the indie storefront to things like the Kinect audience or casual parents.

I keep seeing devs tweet that iOS or Android is some sort of surefire way of going, but I know so many pro game devs that quit their job and are currently gunning for mobile that I would be very cautious and realistic that you are entering a sort of different boxing ring and the level of competition is super, super high there. Just imagine if there were 100 games the level of quality of something like Orbitron or Wizorb...being released every month. That is what is literally happening in mobile and it's becoming more and more mature/dominated by the big boys every month. EA, Gameloft, Zynga, Microsoft, Sony, basically everyone is working for mobile sales except for Nintendo.

 

[Ranger X]

I just saw the Take Arms dev tweet that Take Arms is selling 50 to 60 copies per day on weekdays, 120 or so a day on weekends. I do know that some games are successful but some adjustment to the Xbox gamer mentality seems to be necessary to ensure sales...

It's really a shame that games that I personally love struggle on XBLIG. It frustrates me. It also frustrates me that many, many XBLA games struggle with sales - the break even point on XBLA is probably more like 50,000 sold for a lower budget game whereas XBLIG is more like 1,000 to 5,000 in most cases, just go through Rlan's threads and look at how many XBLA games aren't hitting 50,000. Those games won't get sequels, the dev might struggle to get published again, etc.

So in any case for XBLA the problem is it's a struggle to even get your foot in the door and XBLIG has its own host of problems but the biggest being that the average Xbox gamer tastes are dominating what's selling and top rated lists, so it smothers the potential to expand the indie storefront to things like the Kinect audience or casual parents.

I keep seeing devs tweet that iOS or Android is some sort of surefire way of going, but I know so many pro game devs that quit their job and are currently gunning for mobile that I would be very cautious and realistic that you are entering a sort of different boxing ring and the level of competition is super, super high there. Just imagine if there were 100 games the level of quality of something like Orbitron or Wizorb...being released every month. That is what is literally happening in mobile and it's becoming more and more mature/dominated by the big boys every month. EA, Gameloft, Zynga, Microsoft, Sony, basically everyone is working for mobile sales except for Nintendo.

Grass is always greener on the neighbour's lawn.
Most of those devs or any devs that complain about X platform and then change for another will suffer the same fate on the new platform they try. The harsh reality of mobile is that while there's a game that sells millions like Angry Birds, millions of games actually die. The crude logic of life.

 

[SAB CA]

HMmm.... you raise a very good point with #2. I specifically like: "Get as many devs as one could to contribute, and have them pack this cheevo-giving game with unlockable art, interviews, stories, and maybe even something like bonus stages made for the games they have achievements for, concept art, early previews of future games, etc. "

Sorry to blow holes in some of this, but it's impossible for one XBLIG game to read save data from any others. Also impossible for two different games to communicate with each other online.

Also you can't even use the term Achievement in XBLIG in the context of Achievements, it's against the rules. So you could make it an Achievement game but you'd have to call it something else (this is why I use Awardments in my games).

You're pretty much looking at a self-contained game that cannot mention Achievements directly.

If this kind of thing isn't possible now, maybe it's the first of many things to eke at Microsoft about? The recent update to more games per Creator club account means that they realize that one person will stick with the service, and release potentially more games than before.

It'd be great if they continue to recognize that, by allowing devs to add support to old titles through new purchases.

I really wish they'd let one search for indies by developer, too. Make it easier for devs to work by promoting their name, and also force more accountability for what's put onto the service.

Also, going with the new Larger game file policies, could one update an old indie, and give away a demo of their NEXT game through that update, possibly? I know things like Battle High and Twin Blades made BIG game changes through updates, could this not be used as a way to a draw loyalty to old products, and keep customers "in the know" about future endevors?

Maybe even make it so those bonuses only show up to someone who beat THAT game, or got a certain score, or something. Your own indirect "reward" for giving a full game a chance.

SO.. yeah! Hope something can be figured out some way or another.

 

[FunInfusedGames]

Grass is always greener on the neighbour's lawn.
Most of those devs or any devs that complain about X platform and then change for another will suffer the same fate on the new platform they try. The harsh reality of mobile is that while there's a game that sells millions like Angry Birds, millions of games actually die. The crude logic of life.

By no means does a new platform equal success. But different platforms have different makeups and some games are more suited for other platforms. Ultimately I think what XBLIG has become isn't a marketplace that wants the kind of games I want to make. To make this a successful business I'm really left with the option of making different kinds of games (which I don't want to do) or trying another platform.

My personal experience on iOS so far as been good. Hypership iOS is my top selling game (it surpassed Trivia or Die this month) and has outsold the XBLIG version more than twice over in significantly less time. Hypership iOS is the best version of the game, controls are great and it has real online leaderboards

 

[qupe1975]

By no means does a new platform equal success. But different platforms have different makeups and some games are more suited for other platforms. Ultimately I think what XBLIG has become isn't a marketplace that wants the kind of games I want to make. To make this a successful business I'm really left with the option of making different kinds of games (which I don't want to do) or trying another platform.

My personal experience on iOS so far as been good. Hypership iOS is my top selling game (it surpassed Trivia or Die this month) and has outsold the XBLIG version more than twice over in significantly less time. Hypership iOS is the best version of the game, controls are great and it has real online leaderboards

Would it not be worth you making a game for the pc with a port for XBLIG or whatever for extra rewards. The XBLIG being like a bonus.

The PC market is miles bigger than the Xbox, especially the amount of people that use XBLIG.

I know a lot of people who will not touch XBLIG because you have to have a live connection to play the game.

I wonder, and if Microsoft supported it, a DVD with a collection of some of the best XBLIG would be a good, but then the Live connection issues arise. The limitations imposed on the service do hamper it. Even if the service was for initially for developers to showcase their talents.

 

[Feep]

Grass is always greener on the neighbour's lawn.
Most of those devs or any devs that complain about X platform and then change for another will suffer the same fate on the new platform they try. The harsh reality of mobile is that while there's a game that sells millions like Angry Birds, millions of games actually die. The crude logic of life.

Yeah, this isn't actually true.

 

[FunInfusedGames]

Would it not be worth you making a game for the pc with a port for XBLIG or whatever for extra rewards. The XBLIG being like a bonus.

Considering the sales of Hypership Still Out of Control and Volchaos, no, it would not be worth it. It might not seem like it, but there are often a number of UI changes that need to be made and the Xbox itself isn't nearly as powerful as my PC, so there are a number of performance tweaks that need to be made as well. I'd estimate a month to port one of my titles between platforms.

The Live connection to play XBLIGs (Internet connection really) is a stupid move. I hope MS removes that requirement some day. I heard it initially had something to do with online games being able to be unrated but my understanding is that right now, this is no longer required. Seems like this would be a pretty easy requirement to drop that no one would complain about.

 

[chaosoftgames]

Wow, 6 months after I initially registered for an account here I have finally been approved to post

I just wanted to drop in and say Hello to all the NEOGaf XBLIG fans, so...Hello!

I also want to thank anyone that has checked out EvilQuest. We put out a very small update that cut down on the length of the intro a few days ago and added some more in game instructions to help clear up some of the game mechanics. We also have a major update planned for sometime in early February and plan to do a PC release later in that month as well.

I'm very sorry to see FunInfusedGames leave the service, but I'm glad you've chosen to make the types of games that YOU want to make, rather than churn out a series of soulless cash grabs.

As far as ratings abuse goes, I'm fully convinced it took place on the evening of Jan 21st and the following afternoon. I've also looked at data from the wonderfully useful xboxindies.com and can see very clearly where this happened several other times during the past 6 months. I'm not going to try and convince anyone here, but the data is all there to draw your own conclusions from.

So, that's a very brief summary of some of the things I've been thinking while reading this thread the last few weeks. I look forward to chatting with you all.

 

[Gaspode_T]

Yeah, this isn't actually true.

Yeah, speaking as one with access to some sort of predictive market data for iOS game sales at least I can say lots and lots of them do pretty okay, but market saturation is getting pretty crazy there. It's hard for me to keep up with new games and I am pretty checking iOS marketplace every day. If someone asked me for recommendations I would be thrown for a loop of where to even start.

Also some games like Llamasoft games sell much worse than you would imagine (pretty decent % of people on the leaderboards have pirated the games), and the people who make the most raw $ are still those doing the IAP/social game/etc stuff.

I really know mobile will get crazier and crazier in the coming two years, it would almost make more sense to me to gun for XBL achievements or PS Suite or something like that where you can distance yourself from other games.

 

[OnPoint]

Wow, 6 months after I initially registered for an account here I have finally been approved to post

I just wanted to drop in and say Hello to all the NEOGaf XBLIG fans, so...Hello!

I also want to thank anyone that has checked out EvilQuest. We put out a very small update that cut down on the length of the intro a few days ago and added some more in game instructions to help clear up some of the game mechanics. We also have a major update planned for sometime in early February and plan to do a PC release later in that month as well.

I'm very sorry to see FunInfusedGames leave the service, but I'm glad you've chosen to make the types of games that YOU want to make, rather than churn out a series of soulless cash grabs.

As far as ratings abuse goes, I'm fully convinced it took place on the evening of Jan 21st and the following afternoon. I've also looked at data from the wonderfully useful xboxindies.com and can see very clearly where this happened several other times during the past 6 months. I'm not going to try and convince anyone here, but the data is all there to draw your own conclusions from.

So, that's a very brief summary of some of the things I've been thinking while reading this thread the last few weeks. I look forward to chatting with you all.

Welcome to the fold. You already read my thoughts on EvilQuest. Hope the game is selling well.

 

[AcceptableGhost]

Guess I might as well add my sales here: (most are approximates because of the time cutoff on sales)

Mostly these games were just learning exercises (I had never made a game before Block Puzzle's Revenge and I had been learned programming probably only a month or two prior (java)) and I basically just put them on the XBLIG because it seemed like a good place to do it. Block Puzzle's Revenge and RRJS are super rough and not great at all (although the scanned in paper for BPR is kind of cool).

Null Divide and Mute Crimson are pretty cool, to me atleast. ND released when the dashboard had a change and the indie section changed. My sales/trial counter for that game was near 0 for like a week. By the time people knew where XBLIG was on the Dashboard, ND was pretty much off the list. People who discover it usually have nice things to say. The music is pretty mediocre though, it was basically just me messing around with REAPER and some VST's.

Mute Crimson got some attention. Classic Game Room Undertow did a review on it (which got most of the sales I think) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_pPAkaHQeqs. It was also on the "Kotaku's weekly best" or whatever. I have a C++ port of Mute Crimson sitting around (like 98% done) that I will probably release as freeware sometime. I am waiting on SFML 2.0 final and then I will fix whatever bugs were in the C++ version.

In order by time:

Block Puzzle's Revenge ~110ish

Run Rectangle! Jump! Shoot! - ~70ish

Null Divide ~100ish

Mute Crimson ~350ish

Edit: To make it clear this is not a complaining post or anything. These were pretty much the sales I expected. I put fairly minimal effort into the aesthetics for the games and was not expecting tons of sales or anything.

 

[Gaspode_T]

I really liked Mute Crimson, I'm one of those sales...I remember posting about it here back then. If you are going to release it as freeware why not just put it up on indiecity?

I also remember seeing some Japanese hardcore gamers post positive things about it too so you have some fans.

 

[qupe1975]

Little Racers Street - I am interested in this. Milkstone do have some good stuff I like.

 

[HadesGigas]

Little Racers Street - I am interested in this. Milkstone do have some good stuff I like.

Looks promising. Didn't really like the original Little Racers much so hopefully this controls more to my liking.

Though wish it would have came out like a year or two ago when the XBLA racers that were similar to this turned out to be all crap. Soon it'll have Bang Bang Racing to contend with.

 

[qupe1975]

Looks promising. Didn't really like the original Little Racers much so hopefully this controls more to my liking.

Though wish it would have came out like a year or two ago when the XBLA racers that were similar to this turned out to be all crap. Soon it'll have Bang Bang Racing to contend with.

Showing on the Apphub for 80pts. I'll give this a go when I get home.

 

[Gaspode_T]

Wow that looks awesome, as long as it controls well looks like a keeper

 

[Dark Octave]

Looks promising. Didn't really like the original Little Racers much so hopefully this controls more to my liking.

Though wish it would have came out like a year or two ago when the XBLA racers that were similar to this turned out to be all crap. Soon it'll have Bang Bang Racing to contend with.

This game is 80msp? So people will be expecting this level of content from XBLIG for one dollar from here on out.

 

[OnPoint]

All five days of Homework coverage are now live. There's a ton of information and screens (especially days 1 and 5) at the following links.

It's one of the most ambitious XBLIG projects I've ever seen.

Day 1: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-1-character-and-enemy-models/
Day 2: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-2-soft-theme-soundtrack-preview/
Day 3: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-3-colored-shots-of-the-hero/
Day 4: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-4-character-model-videos/
Day 5: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-5-environments-sketches-and-other-art/

 

[Warm Machine]

That game does look pretty great.

 

[Dark Octave]

All five days of Homework coverage are now live. There's a ton of information and screens (especially days 1 and 5) at the following links.

It's one of the most ambitious XBLIG projects I've ever seen.

Day 1: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-1-character-and-enemy-models/
Day 2: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-2-soft-theme-soundtrack-preview/
Day 3: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-3-colored-shots-of-the-hero/
Day 4: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-4-character-model-videos/
Day 5: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-5-environments-sketches-and-other-art/

I'll be honest, the character models look great, but I have no idea what's going on with the music in the "Day 2" segment.

 

[SAB CA]

I'll be honest, the character models look great, but I have no idea what's going on with the music in the "Day 2" segment.

I have to agree here. The music sounds very nice at first, but when it starts adding in instruments, they all seem to be too strong, and kinda irregular in rythm, as if they're CLOSE, but just not there.

And then, on top of that, they sound more like a "Hit all the cool instruments in SNES music that made them cool!" medley, but without coherence.

I appreciate the attempt to try and make the theme have fresh elements every few seconds, to make it hard to detect "the loop", I'd assume, but it comes off as "trying too hard", to me.

Character models look great, however. YAY fo no obvious "T" rigging poses! There's a STYLE to the models, which is something that doesn't usually come out very strongly in many independent projects. I hope the texture work does them justice, too; It'd be a shame to see the modeling brought down by sub-par textures, or poor lighting / color choices.

 

[OnPoint]

I have to agree here. The music sounds very nice at first, but when it starts adding in instruments, they all seem to be too strong, and kinda irregular in rythm, as if they're CLOSE, but just not there.

And then, on top of that, they sound more like a "Hit all the cool instruments in SNES music that made them cool!" medley, but without coherence.

I appreciate the attempt to try and make the theme have fresh elements every few seconds, to make it hard to detect "the loop", I'd assume, but it comes off as "trying too hard", to me.

Character models look great, however. YAY fo no obvious "T" rigging poses! There's a STYLE to the models, which is something that doesn't usually come out very strongly in many independent projects. I hope the texture work does them justice, too; It'd be a shame to see the modeling brought down by sub-par textures, or poor lighting / color choices.

It's definitely the weakest element right now. Hopefully things will improve on that front, as everything else seems to be shaping up nicely.

 

[Ranger X]

All five days of Homework coverage are now live. There's a ton of information and screens (especially days 1 and 5) at the following links.

It's one of the most ambitious XBLIG projects I've ever seen.

Day 1: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-1-character-and-enemy-models/
Day 2: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-2-soft-theme-soundtrack-preview/
Day 3: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-3-colored-shots-of-the-hero/
Day 4: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-4-character-model-videos/
Day 5: http://www.extraguy.com/2012/01/homework-day-5-environments-sketches-and-other-art/

Ambitious yes! Now I hope for them it will be fun

 

[HadesGigas]

Activision logo on Xbox Indie Game box, weird stuff:

 

[Warm Machine]

This is going to be fun to watch. I'm curious if mainstream media is going to pay attention to it and I'm interested if the 400 point price will work on the service.

 

[Dark Octave]

Activision logo on Xbox Indie Game box, weird stuff:

This should be against some kind of rules. If you have a publisher, how are you an indie?

Also XBLIG is a space dedicated to zombies and craft clones. Big publishers like Activision, EA, Gameloft and Ubi have unlimited options. Can the little guy keep something for himself?

 

[OnPoint]

This should be against some kind of rules. If you have a publisher, how are you an indie?

Also XBLIG is a space dedicated to zombies and craft clones. Big publishers like Activision, EA, Gameloft and Ubi have unlimited options. Can the little guy keep something for himself?

This is a double edged sword. Big publishers could bring new people in, but they could also steal all the attention.

Honestly, I dont see this becoming a regular occurrence

 

[SAB CA]

Gameloft already tried to release something on indies:



Didn't seem to matter much.

-----

I wonder if all the info on the Official Site for Dark Reign holds true for this XBLIG release?

Anyone here ever play the 15-year-old original PC release?

 

[Tashi]

Took about 5 minutes to find Indie Games Channel on XBL but I made it! lol. I just bought Orbitron Revolution. Let's see how it is