Support NeoGAF

[Toma]

Sony Deserves a fuckton of credit for stepping back and pursing the indie market. And while, I doubt they are going to get the breadth or depth of content that the PC has, a massive indie presence on the PS3/4 and VITA is good for everyone (except maybe MS/Nintendo).

I haven't been interested in Next Gen Consoles much, but sony is slowly winning me over.

I fully agree, Sony deserves major props for the attitude they are showing lately.

 

[Hofmann]

Absolutely, there's no other company out there, not only open to new and risky ideas, but actively supporting them with money and know-how.

 

[One Foul Note]

I agree. I was ready to write the PS4 and Vita off after their conference; especially considering the first 15 minutes of it were talking about personalized messages which is a cute way of talking about targeted advertising. But this sudden pull to open their platform up to smaller developers is a real positive step. They continue this investment then I might just be a ps4 owner next generation.

 

[Gbraga]

Can you post here again once its free? (and link it plus include a screenshot)

Sure!

 

[Weltall Zero]

Here's mine:

<Imp>Back to Bed; 2; Great visuals and interesting idea, but gameplay itself is subpar. Controls are really clumsy.µµµFactorio; 5; Tremendously addicting and brain-jolting construction game. There's pretty much nothing like it;SpaceChem is the game that comes closest but it's still really different.µµµGo Beryllium!; 2; Niy.µµµGorogoa; 5; Niy.µµµMaldita Castilla; 5; Niy.µµµPapers, please!; 5; Niy.µµµTower of the Gorillion; 4; Niy.µµµBroForce; 4; Simplistic but very funny;unlocking different movie stars lookalikes makes it more engaging than it should. µµµBloomfairy; 1; Impenetrable gameplay;instructions are severely lacking and don't even seem to correlate with what is going on.µµµCart Life; 5; Niy.µµµDungeon Hearts; 4; Addicting and deeper than it seems;it's also very reminiscent presentation-wise, particularly musically, to the golden age of Final Fantasy. Would benefit a LOT from any kind of progression, unlockables or metagame to make it more engaging. µµµFreedom Planet; 5; Sonic-alike that's simply better than Sonic itself by way of more balanced gameplay and design decisions. µµµIntrusion 2; 5; Niy.µµµSuper House of Dead Ninjas; 5; Niy.µµµThe Plan; 3; Niy.µµµTeleglitch; 3; Niy.µµµUnepic; 5; Niy.µµµWaking Mars; 4; Niy.µµµ2x0ng; 4; Interesting and to-the-point game, feels a bit like Tron, which is a plus. µµµBurn & Turn; 5; Niy.µµµDear Esther; 3; Visually impressive and beautiful but lacking in gameplay, not only in the sense that it's barely there, but in that traversal is frustrating in its inconsistence. µµµFrozen Synapse; 4; Niy.µµµFTL: Faster Than Light; 5; Niy.µµµLa-Mulana; 5; Niy.µµµSpaceChem; 5; Tremendously addicting and brain-jolting construction game. There's pretty much nothing like it;SpaceChem is the game that comes closest but it's still really different.</Imp>

 

[Toma]

Thanks for posting guys! And thanks to all the others for enduring the gibbered posts ;p I promise we wont post anymore more of those for now. On a positive note, the program is coming along at least. Readout from the posts worked, and it gives me a new file with the results from all readouts. Next step would be to implement a calculation of the average.

 

[Paz]

I got to play a bit of it yesterday, although GW2 is kind of eating most of my time now (I'm hilariously behind in testing indie games, something tells me I won't be able to vote this month). Still, it's very fun and playable, feels like a good arcade game. I normally have a lot of stuff for feedback/complain about, but I think I would not change anything here, it's very solid. I parlicularly liked how you can bounce shots off the armored ones' fronts into other enemies, felt pretty badass doing it.
In short; very good game; guys, do check it out.

Cheers mate! With that game we really tried to maximize the way we could use each element since we made it in just 48 hours, I'm actually really happy with how it came together

Assault Android Cactus is by the same guys (see first post this page). Definitely something to look forward to as well. Oh and yeah, I still need some testers for my program. Willing to try blowing up your PC?

And thank you Toma, we're reaching out to any journalists who are interested now but yours was actually a world first preview You were the first person outside our team to ever get the build too!

I've been answering some of Toma's questions via PM but if anyone else has questions about the game or even developer process questions then I'm happy to answer them here.

 

[Dash Kappei]

I'd love to include more information eventually and those make also sense to know for Indies. But I think I need to disappoint for now since tracking that would mean creating the threads would take even more time than they do now (which was ~18 hours for the may thread, not including the time to play/test games). Also, IF we include that information, its likely going to be via the tool I am working on atm since I would want to avoid cluttering the thread even more (and I need the space).
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=56788272&postcount=152

Oh and random aside, "Tomato" reminds me of my first avatar I had on GAF:


(M being also the first letter of my name)

Yeah, a tad disappointing but it makes sense; I know how much time consuming these threads must be for you, really appreciate it! Maybe, you could add a snippet in the OP where you mention that players giving impressions of a game could, if they know it, mention gamepad/mouse only support. Or something like that.
But hey, it's your thread and they're coming along amazingly well, so you know better

LOL, "Tomato" XD
I def blame the iPad's autocorrect typing for that one!

 

[Toma]

Cheers mate! With that game we really tried to maximize the way we could use each element since we made it in just 48 hours, I'm actually really happy with how it came together



And thank you Toma, we're reaching out to any journalists who are interested now but yours was actually a world first preview You were the first person outside our team to ever get the build too!

I've been answering some of Toma's questions via PM but if anyone else has questions about the game or even developer process questions then I'm happy to answer them here.

Haha, np I enjoyed playing it, so the pleasure was all mine. I am sure most people will like the game when they actually get their hands on it. The genre is just a tad oversaturated so that people are a bit wary.

 

[Hofmann]

I suppose there are a lot of people here who love Clairvoyance. This is a new game being created by the same guys - else { Heart.break() }

This game is my main focus at the moment. It’s an interactive drama about love, youth and technology set in a city kind of similar to Gothenburg – the place where I live. It’s also a serious attempt to improve my understanding of how to tell personal stories through software.

I’m making the game together with four close friends (Niklas, Tobbe, Oscar and Johannes). I have been thinking about it for a long time so I’m very happy that it finally is coming together. I hope you will like it.

 

[Toma]

I suppose there are a lot of people here who love Clairvoyance. This is a new game being created by the same guys - else { Heart.break() }

Ah, right. I wanted to post about that too, but forgot. Looks like its still a bit off though.

 

[Hofmann]

Ah, right. I wanted to post about that too, but forgot. Looks like its still a bit off though.

It was included in IS most anticipated games of 2013, so it shouldn't be that faraway.

What Erik Svedang hints towards with else { Heart.break() } is exactly the kind of game experience we&#8217;ve been after since watching The Matrix back in 1999. Though this upcomer seems to brandish more style and is probably even more smarter while it&#8217;s at it too. First off the game&#8217;s cyberpunk world is one we&#8217;ll gladly jump into given what we&#8217;ve seen drawn up already. What&#8217;s more, it&#8217;s intended as a self-preserving world too, so that characters will go about their lives with or without your presence. Part of the game is immersing yourself within this space and having an &#8220;interactive drama&#8221;.

Beyond that, the game is really intended for the player to gradually learn how to code things into the world. Out of this puzzles will emerge, but in a way that hasn&#8217;t really been explored before. The idea is for there to be an open-endedness about the emerging of puzzles. As you learn more about how to manipulate the game&#8217;s world, you&#8217;ll become more powerful in a sense, and there&#8217;s even capacity for you to hack beyond the limits of what the designers have provided, so that you&#8217;ll have an experience that borders the metaphysical. We&#8217;re intrigued and hopeful to say the least, and loving that more and more games are based around coding &#8211; it seems to be a rising interest.

And here you can find some short vids.

 

[Toma]

It was included in IS Most anticipated games of 2013, so it shouldn't be that faraway.



And here you can find some short vids.

Well, technically Monaco was included in "most anticipated games" lists for 3 years in a row

Oh and on another note:

Average scores now work correctly as well. The average scores will currently NOT be updated if you update your own score and can only be updated via downloading a new database (which the program has a button for).

 

[Hofmann]

Well, technically Monaco was included in "most anticipated games" lists for 3 years in a row

Game, set, match.

Oh and on another note:

Average scores now work correctly as well. The average scores will currently NOT be updated if you update your own score and can only be updated via downloading a new database (which the program has a button for).

Is there a new version to download?

Edit: Yup, it's working.

 

[platypotamus]

So, in my skimming of this thread, I have no idea what this thing is that Toma is posting. Some sort of indie game DB? Are you building it yourself?

 

[Wok]

Cross-posting from the Steam thread. The latest Indie Fund game will be available in June. Maybe we could add it to the next thread.

The Swapper will be on Steam in three weeks.

 

[Toma]

So, in my skimming of this thread, I have no idea what this thing is that Toma is posting. Some sort of indie game DB? Are you building it yourself?

Sort of, its supposed to be a tool to collect GAF ratings and impressions for games. The final idea would be to have it suggest you a game that others with similar tastes liked as well so that it gives some game recommendations.

Until the program is finished, I'll only use it for these Indies, so yeah, an Indie Database

Currently you can rate games, and get the average rating of all ratings for each game, collecting the data people posted here. There is a bit more to it, like a function to read out "proper" reviews and suggest which reviewing websites align the most with your tastes, but I'll continue that after the Gaf impressions project.

 

[BomberMouse]

Sort of, its supposed to be a tool to collect GAF ratings and impressions for games. The final idea would be to have it suggest you a game that others with similar tastes liked as well so that it gives some game recommendations.

Until the program is finished, I'll only use it for these Indies, so yeah, an Indie Database

Currently you can rate games, and get the average rating of all ratings for each game, collecting the data people posted here. There is a bit more to it, like a function to read out "proper" reviews and suggest which reviewing websites align the most with your tastes, but I'll continue that after the Gaf impressions project.

Wow, that sounds great. Why not make it web based if the emphasis is on the social side of things?

 

[Toma]

Wow, that sounds great. Why not make it web based if the emphasis is on the social side of things?

Because I have no clue about web programming and instead of complaining about others doing something, I'll just try it myself
And only using GAF, this program allows for actually only reading out GAF impressions instead of having everyone on the internet vote, for better or worse.

 

[One Foul Note]

Average scores now work correctly as well. The average scores will currently NOT be updated if you update your own score and can only be updated via downloading a new database (which the program has a button for).

Where is this button? I can't find a way to get average scores on my version.

 

[Toma]

Where is this button? I can't find a way to get average scores on my version.

I didnt send out the new version, because I didnt want to bother you guyswith beta testing again after bothering you to post the codes I'll send you the new version via PM.

 

[Ledsen]

Toma... I love you for these threads. So awesome.

 

[BomberMouse]

Because I have no clue about web programming and instead of complaining about others doing something, I'll just try it myself
And only using GAF, this program allows for actually only reading out GAF impressions instead of having everyone on the internet vote, for better or worse.

That sounds great, actually there are lots of things you can do on a program like this that you can't on a web based solution, so keep at it; it looks great.

I was asking because the barrier of entry for web stuff is lower than for this kind of application so I was curious.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Is there a new version to download?

Edit: Yup, it's working.

Mmm, seconded, I only see the old version in the dropbox folder. Does it already have support for that? I can't seem to be able to see the averages.

 

[Toma]

Mmm, seconded, I only see the old version in the dropbox folder. Does it already have support for that? I can't seem to be able to see the averages.

The program itself doesnt update automatically and the link changes with each update. Sent you a PM.

 

[Ledsen]

Which language are you doing the program in?

 

[Toma]

Which language are you doing the program in?

C#

 

[Ledsen]

That's pretty cool, I've been taking a Visual Studio C# course since january and it's tons of fun really Eventually hoping to make games using Monogame but for now I'd be satisfied doing a utility program such as yours to build up my skills. Those types of programs are mostly what we do in the course anyway.

 

[Toma]

That's pretty cool, I've been taking a Visual Studio C# course since january and it's tons of fun really Eventually hoping to make games using Monogame but for now I'd be satisfied doing a utility program such as yours to build up my skills. Those types of programs are mostly what we do in the course anyway.

Haha, yeah. I tried some game programming with C# but noticed that I was at least able to make a few programs that serve a purpose instead of games I cant seem to finish programming

 

[platypotamus]

App sounds awesome

 

[BomberMouse]

Haha, yeah. I tried some game programming with C# but noticed that I was at least able to make a few programs that serve a purpose instead of games I cant seem to finish programming

If you could add the option to download and install the free games directly from your application it would be a godsend (and make it multiplat since I don't have a windows machine).

 

[Toma]

If you could add the option to download and install the free games directly from your application it would be a godsend (and make it multiplat since I don't have a windows machine).

Most of them need to be downloaded via Desura, so that seems unlikely since it doesnt seem too useful. Havent looked into the Mono development yet, but I'll definitely will take care of making it work at all at first

 

[Toma]

Further progress (let me know when you guys are fed up with me posting about it):

I added basic filter functionalities on top of just name and platform. You can now also filter for average rating (or no rating) and genre. In the screenshot, its filtered by Simulation games on Mac with an average rating between 2 and 5 that include the letter "o".

I also included a button that shows how many ratings and impressions a game has, doesnt do anything beyond that atm though.

 

[electricpirate]

Most of them need to be downloaded via Desura, so that seems unlikely since it doesnt seem too useful. Havent looked into the Mono development yet, but I'll definitely will take care of making it work at all at first

Desura and Steam are driven by custom URLs, you could use something like this to go straight to the download page. Just change up the protocal to mimic Desura.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/58024/open-a-url-from-windows-forms

example, Desura links look like this, desura://install/games/boredom/4236 You might have to filter on free games, and just go to the desura page in that case

I work in .net as a web dev (well, for 4 more months before I quit and start an MFA in game design here ), so if you want any help on the coding side, or if you'd like some help setting up a SQL DB let me know.

 

[Toma]

Desura and Steam are driven by custom URLs, you could use something like this to go straight to the download page. Just change up the protocal to mimic Desura.

http://stackoverflow.com/questions/58024/open-a-url-from-windows-forms

I work in .net as a web dev (well, for 4 more months before I quit and start an MFA in game design here ), so if you want any help on the coding side, or if you'd like some help setting up a SQL DB let me know.

Thanks, I might look into that later if its possible, but for now I want to focus on the analysis part. Adding the download functionality would give me whole lot more issues as well, like I'd need to implement a download tracker etc.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Impressions for the game review analyzer


Dungeon Hearts; 2; Niy.µµµFreedom Planet; 1; Niy.µµµIntrusion 2; 2

Wow, I didn't imagine I would encounter someone with tastes so diametrally opposite to mine.

 

[One Foul Note]

Wow, I didn't imagine I would encounter someone with tastes so diametrally opposite to mine.

Ahh yeah, I looked over your reviews and I fear we are even more opposite, I'm not really a fan of FTL and Waking Mars alongside the games you listed. Although we share a love of Factorio, Spacechem and La-Mulana so perhaps this won't end up with fisticuffs in the back alley.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Ahh yeah, I looked over your reviews and I fear we are even more opposite, I'm not really a fan of FTL and Waking Mars alongside the games you listed. Although we share a love of Factorio, Spacechem and La-Mulana so perhaps this won't end up with fisticuffs in the back alley.

Conversely, I haven't even tried Cesure as I just know it's going to be one of those artsy non-games like Dear Esther that leave me cold. But hey, we can use each other's recommendations as a list of games to avoid!

 

[Toma]

Posting games again for once!

Voxel Runner - Bit Trip Runner knockoff. Mechanics seem decent and its cheap, might try that.

http://www.desura.com/games/voxel-runner

The Perfidious Petrol Station - A shortish (3 hours) adventure game tha people apparently seem to like. Havent played it either though.

http://www.desura.com/games/the-perfidious-petrol-station

Oh, and Entropy is currently 30% off (see OP) and that is definitely worth a look (and purchase):

http://www.desura.com/games/entropy2

 

[One Foul Note]

I think I might give Entropy a download. I do rather enjoy my first person puzzlers and I wathced the video review the creator linked to on the Desura page and like 3 minutes in the reviewer mentioned that the game didn't tell you much and expected you to discover everything for yourself. I immediately closed the video and brought the game.

Also, in honour if it popping up on Greenlight, I finally gave Edge of Space a proper look. I did say I was gonna give an impression of it in what I believe the first of these indie threads so I can finally do that hopefully soon.

 

[Toma]

I think I might give Entropy a download. I do rather enjoy my first person puzzlers and I wathced the video review the creator linked to on the Desura page and like 3 minutes in the reviewer mentioned that the game didn't tell you much and expected you to discover everything for yourself. I immediately closed the video and brought the game.

Also, in honour if it popping up on Greenlight, I finally gave Edge of Space a proper look. I did say I was gonna give an impression of it in what I believe the first of these indie threads so I can finally do that hopefully soon.

Edge of Space is really funky and more intricate than Terraria, but needs a lot of time to get the hang of. I recommend watching a gameplay video to get an understanding of the basic concepts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=StaMZ2L50JY

 

[Hofmann]

Posted in iOS thread, but maybe someone here would be interested as well.

Aliceffekt (Hiversaires among many others) is working on a new game called Melady Antres - it should be released on july 1st.

In this new textless adventure, I would like to play with time and pace the game on the actual time of day. And so Melady Antres, will require you to synchronize yourself with the game NPCs schedules, and to be up at different time of the day to complete different tasks. This new textless experimental game is about growing strange flowers on the ocean surface. Everyday new things will have grown that you can use to progress on this small planet.

 

[electricpirate]

Didn't see that Entropy was discounted, looks fun.

I've been playing some more of Mayhem Triple, it's really nicely done little action shooter platformer, with nicely silly weapons. Great for for free (Just wish it had controller support!)

 

[electricpirate]

Cross-posting from the Steam thread. The latest Indie Fund game will be available in June. Maybe we could add it to the next thread.

The indie fund hasn't picked a loser yet.

 

[Toma]

7 Grand Steps was a fabulous game for me to play first this month Onto 18 Cadence next.

 

[Hofmann]

7 Grand Steps was a fabulous game for me to play first this month Onto 18 Cadence next.

I tried Xing, but it didn't grab me that much. Probably because of motion sickness I experienced while playing the game. Don't know what caused it, usually I have no problem with it.

 

[Toma]

My creation, woo:

18 Cadence is basically a premade story with the set items in place ,where you can take the story fragments and items to elaborate on stories or build your own.

The idea of this is actually a great concept and linguistically surprisingly well thought out regarding the combining of elements. I like it actually, and it wouldnt work if it didnt have the basic story framework around which you create stories, but somehow.. its still too limiting. People should be able to take single words, although not being able to do that leads to some rather poetic wording. Since that isnt possible, it really feels a bit tedious to find the word phrases you are looking for. I think the best experience I had with this was flipping through other peoples stories to see what they came up with, but I dont think I'll actually create something along these lines myself.

 

[Hofmann]

My creation, woo:

18 Cadence is basically a premade story with the set items in place ,where you can take the story fragments and items to elaborate on stories or build your own.

The idea of this is actually a great concept and linguistically surprisingly well thought out regarding the combining of elements. I like it actually, and it wouldnt work if it didnt have the basic story framework around which you create stories, but somehow.. its still too limiting. People should be able to take single words, although not being able to do that leads to some rather poetic wording. Since that isnt possible, it really feels a bit tedious to find the word phrases you are looking for. I think the best experience I had with this was flipping through other peoples stories to see what they came up with, but I dont think I'll actually create something along these lines myself.

Taking out single words wouldn't be a good idea - it would result in a completely unrelated scenarios and that's not the point of it.

 

[Toma]

Taking out single words wouldn't be a good idea - it would result in a completely unrelated scenarios and that's not the point of it.

Yeah, I know thats not the point here, but it still feels so restrictive and cumbersome. At least they should have included a search bar that returns all items with a specific word.

 

[Hofmann]

Yeah, I know thats not the point here, but it still feels so restrictive and cumbersome. At least they should have included a search bar that returns all items with a specific word.

It's more about you, how those small bits of other people's lives resonate with you. It shouldn't be too deliberate, pick the phrases, objects or whatever that you feel are close to you. From the one you've created it seems that you are obsessed with games;p