IndieGames.com - The Weblog

Trailer: Bezier (Philip Bak)

editors@indiegames.com (Michael Rose) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:34:01 +0000

Philip Bak is looking to take the 2D blaster and inject some story and 'a lot of heart' into it - enter Bezier. Set in a giant super computer, Philip's been working hard to give the game that special something. States his website:

"Powered by the BezierSynth, a bespoke 2D graphics engine which utilizes genetic algorithms to create a look based on evolving curves. This allows the visual look to change based on the character's actions, story parameters and spectral analysis of the 45 minute score."

The trailer looks rather ace! Bezier is coming soon to a PC near you.

Freeware Game Pick: Umbrella Adventure - The Castle of Cake (HiVE)

editors@indiegames.com (timw) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 03:08:05 +0000

Umbrella Adventure - The Castle of Cake is a monotone-coloured platformer created by the developer of the popular Game Maker RPG, Ark 22. The story is about a gopher who was rudely awakened by the smell of sulphur to find his stash of a hundred cakes stolen in the middle of a rainy night. Curious about the disappearance, he sets out on a quest to find his cakes, even if it means travelling all over the land to retrieve every single one of them.

There's an umbrella outside the house that you can use for a number of purposes, although you're restricted to utilizing it mainly for whacking enemies and blocking their attacks until new tricks are discovered. The game does take a while to beat, but a helpful save system is included so that players can keep track of their progress and resume the adventure later on.

Browser Game Pick: Super Sloth Bomber (Megadev)

editors@indiegames.com (timw) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 21:42:05 +0000

In Super Sloth Bomber, you are a sloth piloting an airship that can drop bombs at enemies on the ground to knock them out. Bombolia is under attack, and the king has sent you on a quest to drive back the invaders with your ship's ordnances. To progress you would have to clear an area of all enemies before time runs out, or defeat a boss if you are in the final area of a major location.

Players have a small supply of explosives to use per bombing run, although you can increase this limit and purchase other useful upgrades from the shop with the coins you've collected during your adventures.

Eurogamer Indie Game Arcade: Joe Danger (Hello Games)

editors@indiegames.com (Michael Rose) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:51:36 +0000

Ask anyone who visited the Indie Game Arcade at the Eurogamer Expo last week which games caught their eye the most, and more likely than not they'll mention Hello Games' Joe Danger. The game has been receiving a lot of attention on both indie gaming blogs and mainstream news sites alike, and with good reason.

At first glance, Joe Danger appears to be a more casual take on RedLynx's Trials series. Motorbiking along a single plane in a fixed straight line, players launch themselves off jumps, duck under obstacles and pull off outrageous stunts along the way. The controls are incredibly simple - you've got an accelerate trigger, brake, boost, duck and tricks button. Each level is no more than a minute or two long, but it's what you do during the run that counts.

After getting the basics down, realisation begins to sink in that there is a lot more to it if you're going to grab those high scores and bonuses. Where Trials is all about trying to get to the end of the course with bones still intact, Hello Games have taken a less frustrating approach to the idea, basing gameplay on bonuses and combo-scoring rather than tricky obstacles. It's easy as anything to reach the end of a track, but getting that gold trophy is going to take some Dangerous skills.

It's all about stringing together an almighty combo of tricks, flips and jumps to earn maximum points. In between jumps, pulling back on the stick will cause Joe to wheelie, keeping the combo going but potentially resulting in the loss of all the points as Joe topples backwards and ends up sprawled on the floor. Players also receive power to their boost bar as they pull off tricks, which can be used to make insane jumps and stay in the air just that little bit longer. It's technically possible to single combo each entire level if you can keep focused and keep Joe balanced.

Now and again there are also green markings on the floor which indicate that Joe can switch to one of the other tracks. As is evident from the screenshots, each track has three different paths to ride down, and finding the perfect route through each level is bound to become an obsession for many come release day. Some routes will have tons of potential for racking up serious points, but at the cost of being that little bit more difficult to master.

What I have described up to this point is but one gameplay mode available to budding daredevils - the game also features a range of brilliant gameplay types to keep you on your toes. There's a race mode, in which players battle to claim first place against AI-controlled opponents (it's all about maximizing the boost!). Then there's the puzzle mode, where the key is to leave Joe at the starting line, check out the level ahead, then grab and shift all the pieces of the track around in order to allow Joe to collect the letters of the word DANGER. Pieces include the likes of ramps, springs and conveyor belts, which will either be useful or a hinderance, depending on where you place them!

But the mode in which bikers may find themselves spending many an hour is the sandbox-style option. Given a blank track, players can spawn a range of objects and potentially create their own levels, or simply just have a bit of a mess around. Want to see how many buses you can jump? Stick down a ramp, spam the track with buses and see Joe fly. If you've ever wanted to create your own Evil Knievel style stunts, this is where you want to be.

All this wouldn't matter a jolt, however, if the look and feel of Joe Danger's world wasn't much cop, right? No worries there - it all controls wonderfully and so smoothly. I was easily able to pick it up and bag some seriously high scores within minutes of play (on the easier tracks, of course!) and it wasn't at all fiddly like you'd expect a game of this genre to be. It looks and sounds great too - I didn't believe I'd ever think 'Best Sound Effect Ever!' whilst playing a game, but just wait until you hear the noise that emanates when Joe grabs one of the DANGER letters. Classic.

Hello Games are still mysteriously sitting on the fence when it comes to which digital download service you'll be grabbing it from early next year - their site says 'most likely one of XBLA/PSN/PC', but I reckon it felt like an Xbox Live Arcade game, and would definitely fit in with the other titles on offer from that service.

Weekend Watch: IGF Edition

editors@indiegames.com (timw) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:36:51 +0000

Swimming Under Clouds by Yacine Salmi and Orioto (preview)

Tale of Tales had compiled a list of videos submitted by entrants for the IGF 2010 competition which you can watch here and here. Lewie Procter of SavyGamer is also in the process of compiling links to IGF entries with playable builds online to download or play, although you might have to wait a bit for the rest of the alphabetical links to appear on his site.

More notable videos (IGF and non-IGF) can be watched in the extended.

development video for Revenge of the Titans, by Puppygames (due Christmas '09)

Frobots by Fugazo, Inc. (playable demo available)

Algodoo (previously called Phun)

ASCIIpOrtal introduction (playable build available)

Puzzle Bots demonstration

pitch for Muzikaze, by Pow Studios

trailer for Zero Gear, by NimbleBit

trailer for Ciro, by SpinVector

trailer for the Time Pilot-inspired Nanovoid, by Lazycow

teaser for Driftmoon, by Ville Mönkkönen (of the highly-rated Notrium)

Round-Up: Gamasutra Network Jobs, Week Of November 6

editors@indiegames.com (Simon Carless) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 11:45:50 +0000

In our latest employment-specific round-up, we highlight some of the notable jobs posted in big sister site Gamasutra's industry-leading game jobs section this week, including positions from 5th Cell, Insomniac and more.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, including positions from Sega of America, 2K Marin and more.

Each position posted by employers will appear on the main Gamasutra job board, and appear in the site's daily and weekly newsletters, reaching our readers directly.

It will also be cross-posted for free across its network of submarket sites, which includes content sites focused on online worlds, cellphone games, 'serious games', independent games and more.

Some of the notable jobs posted this week include:

Rainbow Studios: Senior Producer
"Rainbow Studios, a subsidiary of THQ, is one of the largest video game developers in the Southwest and develops premier original and licensed titles for current and next generation console systems. Rainbow’s video game history includes the critically acclaimed Motocross Madness PC series, the award-winning ATV Offroad Fury, top-selling Splashdown, the highly praised MX franchise, the blockbuster Disney-Pixar Cars titles, and the critically acclaimed Wii title Deadly Creatures, along with the soon-to-be-released MX vs. ATV Reflex."

Relic Entertainment: Environment Artist
"Your friends will call in the middle of the night, cursing you. When you see them, they’ll wear sunglasses to conceal their bloodshot eyes, and they’ll be alone, because their romantic interests left them without even texting goodbye. They won’t be able to stop playing. It’s a terrible fate, but I’m afraid it’s what we want. And we need your help."

Demiurge Studios: Senior Game Designer
"Demiurge Studios is seeking a talented, experienced Senior Designer to help lead our internal design team. A focus on communication, organization, iteration and polish are all critical attributes for our ideal candidate. Prior experience leading a team of designers and a demonstrable portfolio of game/level design across different genres are requirements for this position. If you can deconstruct reflex; if you can engineer adrenaline; if you can architect fun - we want to speak with you."

Sega of America: Senior Online Interactive Developer
"The Senior Online Interactive Developer will design and develop interactive online content including web sites, banners, promotions, games and other applications for the Sega family of web sites and other initiatives. The Senior Online Interactive Developer will be a part of the Online and Community teams as well as collaborate closely with cross-functional teams within the organization. This person will also manage staff and resources as necessary."

2K Marin: Engine Programmer
"2K Games seeks the talents of a seasoned and passionate programmer who enjoys a collaborative and creative work environment and is looking to work with like minded professionals to create a truly amazing game. Improve, maintain, and optimize the engine. Contribute to the design of a wide variety of enhancements to the Unreal Engine."

To browse hundreds of similar jobs, and for more information on searching, responding to, or posting game industry-relevant jobs to the top source for jobs in the business, please visit Gamasutra's job board now.

Freeware Game Pick: Kabloom‏ (The Death of Games)

editors@indiegames.com (Michael Rose) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 15:02:58 +0000

The Death of Games are a team of five from DigiPen, and Kabloom is a project they developed over eight months. It's a short game in which an elephant living on a floating set of islands attempts to breathe life into her dying habitat by planting trees and nurturing them to health.

A very sandbox experience, players can suck in water and seeds (amongst other things) with their trunk, then spit them back out. You'll also need to stomp the ground, readying it for planting. Each tree successfully grown will spout fruit, and once all 6 fruit are collected, the game pans out to display your creation. There is no way to die - it's simply a slow and calm playtoy.

A word of warning: the download is 80MB in size, so this isn't one to play at work! Grab it from the DigiPen site. The trailer is below the cut.

Epic Offers Free Unreal Engine 3 For Non-Commercial Use

editors@indiegames.com (timw) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:26:40 +0000

Big (epic?) news today. Epic Games has just launched a free edition of its Unreal Engine 3, one of the best (if not the best) game engine around to use when developing 3D games. Called the Unreal Development Kit (UDK), the toolset is also distributed with support resources and technical documentation which are all available to download from the official site.

No charge will be imposed for noncommercial and educational use of UDK, although you will still need to obtain an official licensing agreement (Epic receives twenty-five percent of revenue after the first $5,000 is made) to develop a commercial product using UE3.

The UDK site is already hosting two standalone games that runs on the new UDK framework, meaning that you won't need to have Unreal Tournament 3 installed to play them. The Ball deserves a bit of a special mention though, because it was originally developed as a mod for UT3 (hence the need for the full game to play it), but has since then been turned into a standalone version using UDK to showcase the versatility of the engine.

Epic Offers Free UE3 For Non-Commercial Use (Gamasutra)
UDK Version 1.0 - beta release mirrors (Epic Games Forums)

Freeware Game Pick: Gravmari (Hubris Arts)

editors@indiegames.com (timw) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:36:55 +0000

In Gravmari you control the Playertoid, a sphere that has to absorb asteroids and small planets to grow and fuel itself. There are only grey space rocks to collect at first, but soon you'll be able to absorb moons and orbiting planets after playing for a couple of minutes. The Playertoid can also eject mass at the press of a button to propel itself in the direction of your choosing.

Windows only.

Freeware Game Pick: Olu (Red Button Games)

editors@indiegames.com (timw) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:28:02 +0000

Olu is a rail shooter game inspired by Q Entertainment's Rez, where players use a reticule to target enemies and destroy them for points. At the end of each area is a red cube that you must shoot in order to progress to the next section.

Both the Xbox 360 controller and keyboard controls are supported, although you will need the latest version of DirectX 9.0c, .NET Framework 2.0 and XNA Framework 2.0 to get the game working on your PC.

XBL Indie Game Pick: Carcophony (Green Light Projects)

editors@indiegames.com (Michael Rose) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:21:58 +0000

A traffic management game? What tomfoolery is this! Carcophony is indeed such a thing, but while I've not exactly loved such titles in the past (see Armor Games I Love Traffic, which was incredibly boring), Green Light Projects' take on the idea quickly warmed to me.

Everything about this game makes me think of a horrible commute to work. The plodding music, the constant traffic jams, the slow-going - yet watching from above, it makes for quite a hectic experience. It all starts off slow and steady, and easy to keep organised. Traffic lights need to be switched to let cars through, and at the end of each wave an ambulance comes powering through and needs to make it from one side of the screen to the other before time runs out. If you have a queue, he's going to find that difficult!

As time goes by, more and more cars fill the screen, and if a jam gets too big, you've had it. There's also a multiplayer mode in which you handle traffic jams versus another player - makes for a lot of shouting and cursing. Right now Carcophony is priced at 400 MS Points ($5) which is possibly a little too much to ask for an arcade traffic sim, but there is of course a demo you can check out that should give you more to go on.

Remake Game Pick: COBEX (TCKSOFT)

editors@indiegames.com (timw) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:47:31 +0000

COBEX – Cruising on Broadway Extra is TCK's remake of the ZX Spectrum game Cruising on Broadway, created with the permission and feedback from the original author of the software. The game involves colouring grids in each stage by moving over them while trying to avoid colliding with enemy ships called chasers.

You can press the space key to break lines and prevent chasers from following your ship, and there is also a combo system that rewards players with bonus points for continuously changing the colour of lines. Windows only.

Symantec Flag Lose/Lose Game As a 'Trojan Horse'

editors@indiegames.com (Michael Rose) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:15:38 +0000

A couple of months ago you may have noticed an indie game doing the rounds called 'Lose/Lose'. In said game, players took part in a space invaders clone with a twist - each alien represented a file on their computer, and destroying a baddie would actually delete the file.

The idea that Zach Gage was exploring was the player's assumption that they are MEANT to destroy things. The game never technically asks you to shoot at anything, and Zach asks 'Is the player supposed to be an aggressor? Or merely an observer, traversing through a dangerous land?'

Whatever the case, the Anti-Virus 'Security Experts' definitely didn't see what Zach was supposedly getting at, and yesterday Symantec Software sent out a 'Security Response' video (above) warning Mac users of 'a new threat cleverly disguised as a classic video game'. In a Symantec blog post, Ben Nahorney states:

"There’s nothing stopping someone with more malicious intentions from modifying it slightly and then passing it on to unsuspecting users, causing significant damage to a computer. As a result, we’re detecting this threat as OSX.Loosemaque."

It's either good or bad timing (depending on how you look at it!) for Zach, as he just recently entered the game into the IGF contest. So what do we think of this 'security threat'? Can what is meant to be an artistic game be considered a virus? Zach clearly states both on his site and in the game that files WILL be deleted if you play the game, but at the same time you can definitely see it from Symantec's point of view.

Browser Game Pick: Pyroblossom (Ali Maunder)

editors@indiegames.com (timw) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:47:00 +0000

In Pyroblossom you play as an ace pilot named Red Rage, who undertakes mercenary missions to satiate his captain's greed for money. Bullets come thick and fast, but you do have a special psycho mode in your arsenal that can be used to turn your heli invincible for a couple of seconds. Additional copters can also be purchased at the end of each level, while weapon upgrades are granted automatically after you've destroyed enough enemy planes and increased your ship's level counter.

There are a total of six stages to blast through. (Newgrounds mirror)

Trailer: Mon & Bot (Imwill Games)

editors@indiegames.com (Michael Rose) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:42:37 +0000

Trawling my way through the list of IGF entries for this year (seriously, there's a lot!) I came across Mon & Bot, a "physics based ambient platformer game" from South Korean developer Imwill. The above gameplay footage shows the work in progress. Apparently a beta will be available next week. That'll be nice!