Support NeoGAF

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

Hacking. Dial tone. Cassette decks. Sabotage. Suitcase decks. Brainbox injectors.

Quadrilateral Cowboy is a single-player adventure in a cyberpunk world. Tread lightly through security systems with your hacking deck and grey-market equipment. When you have a top-of-the-line hacking deck armed with a 56.6k modem and a staggering 256k RAM, it means just one thing: you answer only to the highest bidder.

The Standard Edition includes:
- Quadrilateral Cowboy.
- Developer commentary.
- Reference manual.

The Deluxe Edition includes:
- Everything in the Standard Edition.
- The Quadrilateral Cowboy interactive art book.
- PDFs for box art, poster, and papercraft characters.

Is this game as short as Gravity Bone or Thirty Flights of Loving?
Quadrilateral Cowboy is significantly longer than Thirty Flights of Loving and Gravity Bone.

Do I need to know programming in order to play this game?
No. Quadrilateral Cowboy assumes you have zero knowledge in how to program.

Does Quadrilateral Cowboy support mods?
Yes. Quadrilateral Cowboy has full mod support, and features Steam Workshop support.

For more details on the interactive art book and other info, visit the FAQ here

Game Informer - 9.5/10

Quadrilateral Cowboy is a strange, fantastic journey that will likely charm and test you in equal measure. I expect to come back to it many times over the next few months despite having completed it, searching the environments for nuggets of the story hidden away in the corners of each level and striving to become the best thief this side of cyberspace.

Gamespot - 9/10

Quadrilateral Cowboy succeeds in astonishing ways: It makes you feel like an incredibly accomplished computer hacker and agent of espionage. It creates an eccentric, thorough world that feels good to exist in and creates characters you can empathise with, despite the lack of a clear plot thread. Quadrilateral Cowboy presents you with a spectrum of moments, and each moment makes you feel great.

Destructoid - 9/10

There are no other games like Quadrilateral Cowboy, and it will likely stay that way. Its a unique blend of computer science, puzzles, and beautiful storytelling that could only come from Blendo Games.

Polygon - 8/10

It's clear Blendo is hoping other players take these toys and run with them; there is, in fact, a large button that reads "Mods" right there on the main menu. But as it stands now, Quadrilateral Cowboy feels like a wonderfully designed class in a beautiful, fascinating school that stops just short of showing how much fun you can have after graduation.

PC Gamer - 80/100

A few technical issues aside, Quadrilateral Cowboy is a clever puzzle game bursting with personality.

Hardcore Gamer - 4/5

Despite a mind-boggling choice to switch things up drastically midway, Quadrilateral Cowboy is an innovative puzzler that plays with both the angles of hacking and heist films in a terrific way, making for something that those who enjoy brain-teasers with a bit of spice will enjoy. The wait for this one was indeed worth it in the end

The Sixth Axis - 8/10

Quadrilateral Cowboys a game that gets hacking right if you permit me calling it that with the command line interface brilliantly letting you manipulate the world and use the other tools of the cyberpunk heisting trade. Its effortlessly cool, from a slightly nerdy retro perspective, but hidden beneath that, theres a simple and very ordinary feeling tale of a trio of kickass women living outside the law and pulling off ever more outlandish heists.

Game Revolution - 4/5

I can easily recommend Quadrilateral Cowboy, one of my favorite indie games so far this year, to anyone looking for an adventure game that brings something that feels fresh and new to the table and leaves you feeling smart as you've become a hacking god, or in this case goddess.

epmode · Jul 25, 2016

Feels like I've been waiting forever for this one.

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

epmode said:
Feels like I've been waiting forever for this one.

I know, right? And now it's only 12 hours away

ScientificPizza · Jul 25, 2016

I'm pretty excited. Is there any word on a price yet?

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

ScientificPizza said:
I'm pretty excited. Is there any word on a price yet?

It's all in the OT.

$19.99 for Standard, $29.99 for Deluxe

ScientificPizza · Jul 25, 2016

More_Badass said:
It's all in the OT.

$19.99 for Standard, $29.99 for Deluxe

Oh, sorry! I just skimmed over it.

I'm excited to see the scope of this game compared to the other Blendo stuff

robotrock · Jul 25, 2016

I'm in.

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

I think I'm most excited for all the hands-on manually-operated gadgets. I love tactile mechanics like that. Kind of why I enjoy The Room and Monument Valley so much.

epmode · Jul 25, 2016

ScientificPizza said:
I'm excited to see the scope of this game compared to the other Blendo stuff

Ten times longer than Thirty Flights of Loving!

(I have no idea how long this is)

low-G · Jul 25, 2016

More_Badass said:
I think I'm most excited for all the hands-on manually-operated gadgets. I love tactile mechanics like that. Kind of why I enjoy The Room and Monument Valley so much.

Same, also Donkey Kong Crash Course..

But I also enjoy TIS-100 AND cyberpunk... and making my own hacking gadgets... so there's some potential for dream game here.

Timeaisis · Jul 25, 2016

I feel like I've been waiting for this game for like 3 years lol. Unfortunately, won't have time for it another week or so, but can't wait to dive into it.

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

If you're curious what the gameplay is like, check out the dev walkthrough linked in the OT, does a good job at showing off the singleplayer co-op concept
This RPS demo from 2013 is a good one too; it shows the opening/tutorial. Which given the current screenshots, probably haven't changed much

Timeaisis said:
I feel like I've been waiting for this game for like 3 years lol. Unfortunately, won't have time for it another week or so, but can't wait to dive into it.

You have

It's been in development for four years.

Cave Johnson · Jul 25, 2016

Can't wait. One of my most highly anticipated games.

Sparrowhawk · Jul 25, 2016

Definitely thinking about picking this one up.

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

Ah ha, so the name for this concept is diegetic UI.

More_Badass said:
I think I'm most excited for all the hands-on manually-operated gadgets

Some Gamautra articles that discuss different examples in gaming
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Anth...1823/User_interface_design_in_video_games.php
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132674/game_ui_discoveries_what_players_.php

Diegetic UI is UI that exists in the game world for you and the character to interact with. Think of the map in Far Cry 2, Dead Space's holographic inventory, Metro's watch, etc.

aravuus · Jul 25, 2016

Literally the first time I've ever heard of this game, but the concept sounds really cool. Will definitely check it out if the impressions are positive.

Sparrowhawk · Jul 25, 2016

Do we know much about the story or the world? I just heard about this recently.
Also, the "Buy from Blendo" link in the first post is broken.

More_Badass said:
Ah ha, so the name for this concept is diegetic UI.

Some Gamautra articles that discuss different examples in gaming
http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/Anth...1823/User_interface_design_in_video_games.php
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/132674/game_ui_discoveries_what_players_.php

Diegetic UI is UI that exists in the game world for you and the character to interact with. Think of the map in Far Cry 2, Dead Space's holographic inventory, Metro's watch, etc.

So like the computers in Doom 3? I thought it was always so cool that you could interact with the PCs in-game.

More_Badass said:
Yeah, it's not live yet, but will be when the game is released. That's the link the dev has in the FAQ to buy directly

Ah, that makes sense, sorry.

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

Sparrowhawk said:
Do we know much about the story or the world? I just heard about this recently.
Also, the "Buy from Blendo" link in the first post is broken.

Yeah, it's not live yet, but will be when the game is released. That's the link the dev has in the FAQ to buy directly

Ozium · Jul 25, 2016

looks interesting and I have it wishlisted... will wait for reviews/impressions I think, as I still have a ton to play and Abzu is right around the corner

Barkley's Justice · Jul 25, 2016

Wait, this is just now coming out??

Sparrowhawk · Jul 25, 2016

Yep, 11 more hours to go.

Vintage · Jul 25, 2016

Shit, it actually released? That's a nice surprise.

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

Barkley's Justice said:
Wait, this is just now coming out??

Here's a good recent article where Chung talks about the game's development
https://www.engadget.com/2016/04/29/quadrilateral-cowboy/

Vintage said:
Shit, it actually released? That's a nice surprise.

Well in 11 hours

Inumbris · Jul 25, 2016

Yeeeeessssss! I can't wait to try this!

I haven't been waiting for this game as long as some people, but it's been on my radar for quite a while.

Spoo · Jul 25, 2016

Love the idea. I'll definitely get this!

Messofanego · Jul 25, 2016

Aww yeah

Mugen08 · Jul 25, 2016

Been looking forward to this so will buy on release.

Kyonashi · Jul 25, 2016

Man I love Blendo games but I'm a bit fearful I'm just not going to enjoy this style of gameplay. Think I'm going to wait for impressions to see what the split is like between story/gameplay because I've really enjoyed previous titles for the stories they tell.

Sloane · Jul 25, 2016

epmode said:
Feels like I've been waiting forever for this one.

Yeah, I had almost forgotten about it, until I saw the announcement that it would be released in 4 weeks or so, lol.

I don't really dig the art style (is that still the Quake II engine?) but the game itself looks very interesting.

Death Metalist · Jul 25, 2016

Can't wait, getting it as soon as it releases.

John Kowalski · Jul 25, 2016

fucking yes omg

kadotsu · Jul 25, 2016

As a planning/execution game, does this follow the more freeform puzzle genre (Spacechem, Hitman) or is it more rigit?

purseowner · Jul 25, 2016

Getting this over We Happy Few. Blendo Games' track record is unparalleled.

Messofanego · Jul 25, 2016

I can't throw money at this yet! C'mon Brendon!

Purkake4 · Jul 25, 2016

Glad to see the thread up.

Any reviews/impressions yet? I'd very much like to know the playtime.

Rob85Fr · Jul 25, 2016

Yesssss I didn't know it was releasing now !!

I've been totally captured by the game since the gameplay demo @ Horizon 2013 conference.
Instabuy.

(Oh, and I miss the Horizon press conference, that was a cool idea, I hope to see it coming back soon.)

DaBuddaDa · Jul 25, 2016

No review copies sent?

Aaron D. · Jul 25, 2016

Nice to see this game cross the finish line.

Looks amazing and I'm excited to give it a go.

bloodyroarxx · Jul 25, 2016

DaBuddaDa said:
No review copies sent?

Yea it was sent to to some at least, Austin Walker has been playing it based on his Twitter.

DocSeuss · Jul 25, 2016

Messofanego said:
Aww yeah

HEY, IT'S HER, THE WOMAN WHO KILLED ME

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

The Steam page for the interactive art book is up as well:
http://store.steampowered.com/app/489490/

Paz · Jul 25, 2016

So excited to read about other peoples experiences. GAME IS SO GOOD.

I am weirdly social with single player games haha.

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

Paz said:
So excited to read about other peoples experiences. GAME IS SO GOOD.

I am weirdly social with single player games haha.

I got to know Paz, is this something I can take my time with and savor for a few days, or is it more Portal/Oxenfree/Inside length?

Stoze · Jul 25, 2016

Sloane said:
I don't really dig the art style (is that still the Quake II engine?) but the game itself looks very interesting.

It's idtech 4/Doom 3 engine. I like the environmental assets and lighting, not a fan of the same box people he's been using for a while now. Looks good to me overall.

More_Badass said:
I got to know Paz, is this something I can take my time with and savor for a few days, or is it more Portal/Oxenfree/Inside length?

I am curious about the length as well, since it could be an hour long and still be considered significantly longer than Gravity Bone and Thirty Flights. The game looks like it has a lot going on in terms of cool mechanics and design so I hope I don't feel cut off by the end.

Paz · Jul 25, 2016

More_Badass said:
I got to know Paz, is this something I can take my time with and savor for a few days, or is it more Portal/Oxenfree/Inside length?

Hmm a lot depends on how quick you are with its core concepts and how you approach the problems it presents, It's probably a bit longer than those games? I finished it across two nights with decent length sessions.

If the game gets a decent community around it and does stuff with its open nature I can imagine there being a lot of fun stuff to check out in the future too.

I don't really rate things out of 10 but It is my current GOTY for whatever that's worth.

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

Postmortem Q&A on the game's development
http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/...hackercyberpunk_game_Quadrilateral_Cowboy.php

Some interesting gameplay related answers

I read that Thief was one of your inspirations. Can you tell me a bit about that?

Thief changed how I looked at games in a lot of ways. Prior to that the stuff I'd played was like you are the hero of the universe. You are the person that carries a billion guns and is indestructible. And in Thief there was this really huge change where you are a tiny, scrawny thief person and guards will destroy you if they look at you the wrong way. It was really refreshing to be put in this new role and kind of roleplay as a character who is very fragile. Instead of brute forcing everywhere you have to learn how the system works and then subvert it to your own purposes.

So for Quadrilateral Cowboy I tried to riff off of that. To make you a person that has to use these tools in interesting ways to get through these buildings.

If you get something wrong, I've seen in some of the videos you can set off alarms. How do you go about giving players that useful feedback to allow them to recover from their error?

The game tries to give you ways out of the problem, so that if something does happen where an alarm goes off or something goes wrong the mission is not over. It's largely inspired by how Thief does the failure spectrum if a guard sees you and alerts the entire castle, the mission does not end--it keeps on going. Instead of it being instant failure, the mission parameters just change. And so similar in Quadrilateral Cowboy, if you hit an alarm there are different routes you can then take to keep on going. You can find the box that turns off the alarm or brute force your way through crashing through windows and dodging the dangerous bits that the alarm activates. It tries to keep things going.

Have any IT people gone and done some stuff that's broken the game?

I don't remember the details, but at one of the PAX expos we had some computer people playing it and they spent half an hour optimizing this one chunk to make it perfectly timed and figure out all the optimizations in it. It was amazing to watch them do that. There's something really satisfying and compelling about creating this little perfect piece of code. We see that in games like Infinifactory does that really well. It's all about building this perfect machine. There's something really satisfying about "oh this one part is not as good as it can be. Let me spend 10 minutes making it better."

You don't have to do that, but for people who want to do that it's incredibly satisfying.

MThanded · Jul 25, 2016

I'm ready

Deputy Dangle · Jul 25, 2016

To help satiate my excitement for this, I tried to finally play through Gravity Bone and Thirty Flights of Loving this past weekend. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out a way to get either to stop crashing on startup, even after hours of fiddling with launch workarounds and sifting through Chung's own FAQ for Thirty Flights. I'm grateful that he finally upgraded to the Quake 4 engine for this, but man I'm still bummed that I might not get the chance to play those two games.

Deleted member 22576 · Jul 25, 2016

Oh man this out?! It's my day off.

More_Badass · Jul 25, 2016

Jtwo said:
Oh man this out?! It's my day off.

In about 2.5 hours

Support NeoGAF

Quadrilateral Cowboy |OT| Twentieth-century cyberpunk

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Member

Banned

Member

Banned

Banned

Member

Banned

Banned

Neo Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

I Was There! Official L Receiver 2/12/2016

Member

Deleted member 22576

Unconfirmed Member

Member

Similar threads