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The XNA Indie Games Official Thread
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Prophet Steve
Member
Can somebody tell me if I can play Community games in the Netherlands? I have received a code for Newton vs the Horde from a Gaffer, but don't actually now if I can play it. Would be a waste of the code if I can't. Also can't try to download a trial since XNA connect won't work without a premium membership and I can't download from xbox.com since I have a child account.
Thanks in advanced.
Thanks in advanced.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
I thought the weapons were a neat mechanic, especially when combined with co-op. The quality with respect to the price makes JoyJoy easy to recommend.toythatkills said:
Prophet Steve
Member
Thanks for your help, not planning on creating a new account to play an indie game. But already planning to give it to somebody else if it's not possible on my own account.besiktas1 said:just create an alt accountif not give it to me
PepsimanVsJoe
Member
Matthew Doucette
Neo Member
ShapeGSX said:
Full disclosure - the author of this game used to work with me and he's an amazing designer.
With that out of the way, this is easily worth the money for anyone that enjoys twin stick shooters. Lots of different weapons / powerups and co-op. He's got a few more games coming out down the road as well, which I'm sure he'll end up talking about over on radiangames.com.
Seriously though, even if you don't have $1, download the demo if nothing else and try it.
So, Mamotte Knight's release got me into this XNA stuff, and I spent the last couple days playing dozens of demos and bought all the games I liked that could be afforded with 1600 points.
One of them is TiME K. I think I like it, despite the difficulty spiking insanely quickly. The game also gives you zero hints...which brings me to my question: just...what the hell are you supposed to do at the start of level 5? There aren't any other platforms I can reach...or so it seems.
One of them is TiME K. I think I like it, despite the difficulty spiking insanely quickly. The game also gives you zero hints...which brings me to my question: just...what the hell are you supposed to do at the start of level 5? There aren't any other platforms I can reach...or so it seems.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
What do you mean? Was the 1000th game just released?Kafel said:
HadesGigas
Member
Kafel said:
But there's been a lot of games pulled over time. xboxindies.com lists all that ever came out, and it's at 1021 compared to the 996 that are still up.
Counting by their list (and skipping over "updated" games), looks like radiangames JoyJoy was the 1000th released game. Unless I'm counting stupid.
toythatkills
Member
I'd love to help you, but I still haven't found a way past level 3 and 4. You're not wrong about the difficulty spiking! I'll get there eventually. Maybe.cress2000 said:
I played a shedload of indie games today, and I think I had more fun deleting them afterwards than I actually did playing most of them.
Paipa is an exception, it's a coolish game where you rotate the pipes to join the left and right walls to lower the water level. It looks excellent, and controls nicely. I was kinda bored long before the game ended though.
Bit Crunch I kinda liked. It's retro in a good way. You travel through rooms looking for keys, opening doors, etc. Not sure what the ultimate goal is but it's the one game I'll buy out of the lot of these.
LOL LOL Kitty Commando is just awful. Terrible. The platforming is terrible and floaty, the weapon takes so long to charge that you're dead by the time you've used it, and if you do hit something it just charges at you and kills you anyway. And then occassionally enemies will appear from nowhere, without warning, just to kill you. It's dire.
Uprising has this weird quirk whereby if you press A to advance the text, which is the natural reaction when the t e x t m o v e s t h a t s l o w l y then it just skips it. So I have no idea what was happening or if I'm playing it right. Assuming I was, it was a shit twin-stick. Again.
Allegory is an odd take on the top down shooter in that there's no shooting. You are a shield and you have to protect a craft that moves around from enemies. You can either go kill the enemies by ramming them, or hover over the craft to stop enemies getting to it. It's interesting. The difficulty comes from how terribly awkward and twitchy the shield is to control though, which feels a bit cheap.
Nova Lancer is a 2D space shoot-em-up with missions and stuff, but you're equipped with a pea shooter that's impossible to aim, with which you have to take out twenty enemies and their shields, and that mission probably takes about ten and a half hours, so fuck it.
Meltdown Moon is like, a match three (two) game, with a character. You float around pressing A when you hover over a set of two discs that are the same colour, and they vanish. Avoid asteroids which fly across occasionally. It's really easy for the entire trial, and a game will probably last until the world ends, or you die of old age. Whichever comes first.
Avatar Quizcall Africa is great if you like questions about football and countries which play football. Which I do! But the answer layout makes it hard to choose answers quickly because they're not positioned the same as the buttons on the controller. Also, typos. Ew. Where is Demark anyway?
Moonshine is Dope Wars but with alcohol in the prohibition era. It's got a sense of humour, I'll give it that, the newspaper reports are pretty funny. Unfortunately, it's pretty terrible to play. The layout and controls see to that. Not even slightly intuitive.
The MANLY Game for MANLY Men is about as good as most avatar games. Shit. I don't even know what the hell this was. You press A and either the screen goes white and you lose, or you float down a mountain for a fucking eternity with no control over anything.
3-in-1 Game Compilation is boring. There's a game where you have to avoid circles, which is easy. A game where you have to press the right colour button on a square, a bit like Whac-a-Mole. A game which is Simon Says. This is the year 2010.
Quarry might be fun in two player but the trial locks that. You have to collect orbs and can drop fake orbs which if another player collects, reduces their score. Thinking about it, it might actually have cost as many orbs to drop one as the player loses, which'd make it pointless, I'm probably remembering that wrong. Anyway. Highest score wins. Completely pointless against a computer which is super-good at the game. Not really the way to sell it.
Doppelganger is probably fun. It's like two space shoot-em-ups simultaneously, on the top and bottom of the screen. Way too easy to die though, there's often too much going on that you drop into the other half of the level to die instantly. Bullets are hard to see too. Reminds me of Big Bang Mini, in style. No idea how it was scoring it because the help screens are useless at explaining anything.
Get to the choppa!!1 because that Zombies game sold well so maybe if we go all meme-y we'll sell well too! It's not that bad, really. Auto-runner, press down to duck, A to jump, X to shoot. Fun enough, but really easy.
Quarantine is kinda like Qix. Nowt wrong with that, really. Different enemy types keep it interesting.
Zombie Estate has loads of weapons and stuff, and looks really cool, but that doesn't change the fact that shooting 100 zombies at a time is really really boring. There's lots to obtain, just no gameplay.
Rock4U is probably a good puzzle game, but the camera is stupid. It makes me want to be sick.
Zombie Sniper 3D :lol
Magic Gem is kinda quaint, in that it has an absolutely shocking translation. Check out the item description, that carries over into the game. It's weird. You press A to attack, and try to knock enemies into holes. It's basically RPG Billiards. There's some potential, in that hitting enemies into other enemies combos and reduces their hitpoints and stuff, but the game is far too fast to actually plan anything, and you just press A randomly to get the next bit of Engrish.
And that's it.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
That looks like a cross between Interstate 76 and Left 4 Dead.wwm0nkey said:
toythatkills
Member
This'll be up in the next few weeks for 80 points, and looks nice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fucrc7spYM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7fucrc7spYM
Diablohead
Member
#1 way to turn me away from a game, use a stupid high pitched voice over the entire video.toythatkills said:
toythatkills
Member
Hah, apologies, I watched it without sound so was completely unaware
HadesGigas
Member
Weird, theres an Xbox Indie game as one of the Deal of the Week options:
http://www.xbox.com/en-us/live/marketplace/dealoftheweek/
Avatar Wave Snowball Fight
For one week only, beginning May 24, Gold Members can get this Indie Games hit for only 80 points, 67% off.
http://www.xbox.com/en-us/live/marketplace/dealoftheweek/
Avatar Wave Snowball Fight
For one week only, beginning May 24, Gold Members can get this Indie Games hit for only 80 points, 67% off.
Dr. Zoidberg
Member
My last two purchases were Breath of Death and Gerbil Physics 2. Both are excellent values. I've tried many games but none of them struck me as particularly memorable. I played Protect Me Knight/Mamotte Knight and the game has a ton of polish and looks/sounds great. Unfortunately the gameplay just didn't do it for me and that's what it's all about so I gave it a pass at 240. If it ever drops to 80 I'll pick it up just for the music.
HadesGigas
Member
Contender for most unreadable boxart ever:
Ironic that it's for a game about spelling.
Ironic that it's for a game about spelling.
Dark Octave
Banned
Holy shit! ^
I thought I'd never find anything worse than:
I thought I'd never find anything worse than:
toythatkills
Member
:lolHadesGigas said:
I just about managed to read that but seriously, what were they thinking? It's Words of Wisdom, by the way, and it's kind of alright. It's a nice idea for a game anyway. I think it'd work better on iPhone though, where art is maybe less important, because it's definitely not the game's strongest aspect, it'd control easier too. It's Hangman dressed up in RPG clothes, really, then, I might have bought it if I didn't already own Simply Hangman. Worth trying though since you don't own Simply Hangman.
I did buy Scribble Defense though. It's tower defence, as the title implies. Reminds me most of geoDefense on iPhone. Anyway, you can place towers and in a nice touch, if you put your cursor nearby, it takes on the abilities of that tower, so you can attack too. Didn't see any option to upgrade towers, making it quite a nice arcadey tower defence game. Saying that, the option could be there! It's good, this.
Avatar Penalty Kick is everything you'd expect it to be. Penalties as in Association Football. Press a direction and A to shoot or save. It's alright, really, for a very simple game, but it's veeery slow. Loading, and in game. Pretty easy to score, too. There's nothing as complex as a power bar, your guy is 100% accurate, you'll only miss if the keeper guesses right (or you hold the analogue stick all the way in one direction, in which case you'll shoot wide/over).
Dossun Island is a platformer which would feel much more normal if grass had the same properties as ice. For some reason, the game is very slippery. There's really not much to it and it looks pretty poor, there are better platformers on XBLIG than this.
Dr Zhivago
Member
Some more impressions:
Uprising Yet another twin-sticker, but I kind-of liked it. The level set on the PC desktop was nice.
Orbitroid Looks lovely, but utterly incomprehensible. I had no idea what I was meant to be doing.
Uprising Yet another twin-sticker, but I kind-of liked it. The level set on the PC desktop was nice.
Orbitroid Looks lovely, but utterly incomprehensible. I had no idea what I was meant to be doing.
BlazeHedgehog
Member
Woof, good thing I did not pay for Newton vs. the Horde. I only wish I had played the demo before I cashed in my free purchase code, because then I could have given it away in the "Free to a Good Home" thread.
That's not to say it's a bad game, because I'm sure there are those out there who probably like it, but it is definitely not for me.
That's not to say it's a bad game, because I'm sure there are those out there who probably like it, but it is definitely not for me.
toythatkills
Member
Is that your game? Is it too late for a title change?
Until I clicked and watched the Youtube I though you were, for some bizarre reason, trying to draw attention to Zombie Sniper 3D. The titles are ridiculously similar.
Until I clicked and watched the Youtube I though you were, for some bizarre reason, trying to draw attention to Zombie Sniper 3D. The titles are ridiculously similar.
Princess Skittles
Prince's's 'Skittle's
What a strange change.
It is interestingly close. Of course Zombie Sniper HD was entered as a Dream Build Play 2010 contestant and there is no evidence that I've seen that Zombie Sniper 3D was in existence before then.
Yes it's too late. However, we like to think that ZSHD is the superior title. It's in review now.
toythatkills
Member
I haven't played HD, but I'm already 100% sure that this is the caseJoshery said:
HadesGigas
Member
Interesting platformer out now for a buck, Apple Jack.
Not sure why the enemies are pandas and washing machines, or why you have an apple for a head, or why the levels are named after real places, but it's basically SMB2-style how you can ride and throw enemies, with the goal being to kill them all. Trailer here.
Not sure why the enemies are pandas and washing machines, or why you have an apple for a head, or why the levels are named after real places, but it's basically SMB2-style how you can ride and throw enemies, with the goal being to kill them all. Trailer here.
toythatkills
Member
Okay, Apple Jack is phenomenal. It's just tremendous value for money, I can't believe this only costs 80 points. Honestly, if you don't buy this, you don't deserve an Xbox 360.
Your goal is to kill every enemy in the level, and you do this by throwing them at other enemies, which destroys them both. Later, enemies are coloured and you'll have to throw red enemies at red enemies to kill them, etc. It's equal parts platformer and puzzle game, and there are times even in the first ten levels where you'll be stumped, and there are 100 levels to beat! There's a neat combo system, if you kill enemies in quick succession they spew out tons more money, which acts as your score. It doubles though, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x, so do it well and soon you'll be earning mad coin.
It has a lovely sense of humour, it looks great, the game itself is brilliant, and it's a bloody dollar. I'm convinced it's a mistake, it's too good for that price.
Solar Hoops is good too, though not quite as good! In this one, you have to turn stars on or off to bounce a ball which drops from the top, into a basket at the bottom. So physics, puzzles, bouncing. I actually found it difficult to stop playing when I got into it, it's a slight worry that it doesn't say how many puzzles there are, as I'd be loathe to pay a dollar to find there are only 15 levels or something, but if the content's there, it's a pretty decent game.
Your goal is to kill every enemy in the level, and you do this by throwing them at other enemies, which destroys them both. Later, enemies are coloured and you'll have to throw red enemies at red enemies to kill them, etc. It's equal parts platformer and puzzle game, and there are times even in the first ten levels where you'll be stumped, and there are 100 levels to beat! There's a neat combo system, if you kill enemies in quick succession they spew out tons more money, which acts as your score. It doubles though, 2x, 4x, 8x, 16x, 32x, so do it well and soon you'll be earning mad coin.
It has a lovely sense of humour, it looks great, the game itself is brilliant, and it's a bloody dollar. I'm convinced it's a mistake, it's too good for that price.
Solar Hoops is good too, though not quite as good! In this one, you have to turn stars on or off to bounce a ball which drops from the top, into a basket at the bottom. So physics, puzzles, bouncing. I actually found it difficult to stop playing when I got into it, it's a slight worry that it doesn't say how many puzzles there are, as I'd be loathe to pay a dollar to find there are only 15 levels or something, but if the content's there, it's a pretty decent game.
Dark Octave
Banned
Is that an SNES Super Scope?Joshery said:
toythatkills
Member
It doesn't look good. But start a UK tag, and you can at least trial stuff. UK points aren't hard to get hold of either if you have to buy something, like Apple Jack, which you have to buy!Rad- said:
It's bizarre that it isn't just available everywhere though. Has there ever been a reason given for it? Maybe you could pressure your country's Microsoft/Xbox person, or whatever.
Trumpets
Member
toythatkills said:
Blimey! I'm glad you like it! I was torn between selling it fo 80 or 240 points and ultimately plumped for the former since it would probably give me a better rating and more sales, keeping the game visible on the dashboard for longer. If I could have charged 160 MSP I would.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
I'll definitely check out Apple Jack then, and maybe Solar Hoops.toythatkills said:
Have you considered making an XNA Indie blog, toythatkills?
toythatkills
Member
S'yours? Congrats on a great game. Honestly, must be the easiest five-star rating I've ever given!Trumpets said:
Interesting about the price, I mean, at 80 points it's the easiest sell in the world to any casual browsers, whereas at 240 I guess you're losing a few impulse buyers. Though I would like to think that everyone would have enough sense to buy it even at that... I hope it does very well for you, I really can't imagine anyone that trials it thinking it's not worth 80 points unless there's something seriously wrong with them!
I have, but I figure if I'm going to enter into something like that, I'd want to do it better than what's available now, and there are a lot of XBLIG blogs. I'd really like to start a decent XBLIG website though, something that can carry news, features, reviews, previews and everything, and be more pleasant to use than something in a blog format where once something's five posts old, it's gone.SapientWolf said:
toythatkills
Member
Wooooah HALT. I just rebooted Apple Jack and all my saved progress is gone. I have auto-save on, and I'd saved and exited before leaving, but now the continue option is greyed out. It wasn't before I left the game, but exiting the game and coming back later has killed it. That needs sorting veeeery quickly.
So I played Penkin Ball Dodge instead. That was something of a mistake, its two-star rating really is somewhere between one and two stars too many. You control some weird thing in a ball at the bottom and move it left and right, and avoid balls that move around the screen at speeds which occasionally are faster than the human eye can comprehend, and then you get hit and you lose. In the other mode, you have to move your weird thing to protect two smaller weird things, same problems apply, twice as much. Pretty shocking, this.
So I played Penkin Ball Dodge instead. That was something of a mistake, its two-star rating really is somewhere between one and two stars too many. You control some weird thing in a ball at the bottom and move it left and right, and avoid balls that move around the screen at speeds which occasionally are faster than the human eye can comprehend, and then you get hit and you lose. In the other mode, you have to move your weird thing to protect two smaller weird things, same problems apply, twice as much. Pretty shocking, this.
RelentlessRolento
Member
I'm surprised GAFers havent lent some of their talent for box covers... why are they so horrible 90% of the time?!?!?
toythatkills
Member
The HDDTrumpets said:
It isn't that GAFfers haven't been lending, it's that devs haven't been asking. Trust me, there is a small group of us trying to improve that area, and I personally think it's helped.RelentlessRolento said:
But I agree... if only some more artists got involved, everything would be better. I heartily recommend any GAF artists (or coders) to get involved with the XNA community. It's an incredibly fulfilling experience.
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