ASCIIpOrtal

Posted by Derek Yu Thu, 24 Sep 2009 04:56:00 GMT

ASCIIpOrtal

Joe Larson has released ASCIIpOrtal, his ASCII demake of… Portal. I’ll be honest, I know that there are other demakes of Portal out there (at least two from our Demakes Competition), but I’m not very familiar with them. This one is well-made, however – seeing “through” the portals is a nifty visual effect and the puzzles are nice and challenging. The game comes with a level editor as an added bonus.

Just One More Game conducted an interview with Joe for the launch of the game.

TIGdb: Entry for ASCIIpOrtal

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lose/lose

Posted by Derek Yu Wed, 23 Sep 2009 05:03:00 GMT


Lose/Lose is a video-game with real life consequences. Each alien in the game is created based on a random file on the player’s computer. If the player kills the alien, the file it is based on is deleted. If the player’s ship is destroyed, the application itself is deleted.”

Created by Zach Gage. Nope, I haven’t tried it! (By the way, this is not one of the “great playable games” I mentioned in the last post.)

(Source: f00m@nB@r, via Sensible Erection [NSFW?])

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Previews: That Bloody Gushy Stuff

Posted by Derek Yu Tue, 22 Sep 2009 19:03:00 GMT

Some bloody good trailers:


Klei Entertainment (Eets) takes a step in a decidedly more brutal direction with its upcoming XBLA title Shank. I had a chance to try it at PAX, and it’s really fun. The controls are fluid and you can pull off some Desperado-like moves very easily.


Super Meat Boy was shown at a Nintendo press event in London recently, where it was met with acclaim. But honestly, you can’t say anything bad about two guys who look like this.


The cactusquid is having another fevered dream.

I realize there have been a lot of previews and trailers and expo stuff lately. But they are cool, no? Don’t worry, more great playable games are coming!

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Austin GDC Round-Up

Posted by Derek Yu Mon, 21 Sep 2009 18:51:00 GMT

Austin GDC
Alec Holowka, Ron Carmel, and Simon Carless in attendance (photo by Dan Tabar)


The Austin GDC just finished up. It sounded like a lot of fun, with many indies in attendance for the first IGS in Austin. Here are write-ups of the various talks that were given by independent creators last week:

Day One

How Fantastic Contraption Became A Fantastic Hit (Gamasutra) – “Fantastic Contraption creator Colin Northway explained how he created his Flash-based physics game with no pro game experience, and “made a boatload of money” along the way.”

NinjaBee’s Fox Gets Practically Indie (Gamasutra) – “NinjaBee’s Brent Fox discussed the history of the company, which was set up as a brand for original IP in 2001, and has made Xbox Live Arcade games such as Clonin’ Clyde, A Band Of Bugs and A Kingdom For Keflings, talking in human terms about creating a stable indie game company.”

Gaijin’s Roush on Bit.Trip’s Indie Construction (Gamasutra) – “The original concept of the first Bit.Trip title was ‘Pong with music,’ said Gaijin Games’ Mike Roush Roush—but ‘we all know a great game needs more than a concept.’”

Certain Affinity’s Bullard On Bootstrapping Your Indie Business (Gamasutra) – “In an intensely practical Indie Games Summit talk at GDC Austin, Certain Affinity (Age Of Booty) production manager Jennifer Bullard talked about the realities of game business for a mid-sized independent developer, spanning business to relationships and beyond.”

Wolfire On Making Indie Marketing Buzz (Gamasutra) – “Wolfire’s John Graham discussed how to get the word out about your independent game, based around successful tactics for upcoming PC action game Overgrowth.” Slides available here.

Day Two

2D Boy’s Carmel On ‘Beyond The Finish Line’ (Gamasutra) – “World Of Goo co-creator Ron Carmel from indie studio 2D Boy examined the world ‘beyond the finish line’, discussing what happens after your indie game is released and how to deal with it.”

Swink, Wegner On Blurst’s Rapid Prototyping Madness (Gamasutra) – “Flashbang Studios’ Matthew Wegner and Steve Swink explained how their rapid prototyping of web-based games like Off-Road Velociraptor Safari gave them larger life lessons.”

Lost Garden’s Cook On Why Premium Flash Games Rock (Gamasutra) – “Bunni co-creator and Lost Garden blogger Daniel Cook explained why he believes charging users for more complex Flash games is the wave of the future.”

Twisted Pixel Talks ‘Splosion Man Postmortem (Gamasutra) – “Mike Henry and Sean Riley from Austin-based indie Twisted Pixel used their Independent Games Summit talk to postmortem the six-month XBLA project ‘Splosion Man, a significant indie success in the ‘Summer Of Arcade’ for Microsoft’s Xbox 360.”

Storytelling Through Independent Games (Destructoid) – “Alec Holowka, formerly one half of Bit Blot (Aquaria) and currently the head of Infinite Ammo (Paper Moon), was the last speaker to go on at the Independent Games Summit of GDC Austin.”

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Flixel Workshop

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Thu, 17 Sep 2009 21:10:00 GMT

UPDATE: Above is Adam “Atomic” Saltsman’s Flixel workshop, recorded live today. It was helpful and useful. (Nice job, Adam!)

Adam “Atomic” Saltsman is giving his Flixel workshop live, RIGHT NOW.

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Marian Teaser

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:29:00 GMT

I am excited about this! Aquaria co-creator Alec Holowka, now of Infinite Ammo fame, has released the first teaser for his upcoming adventure/exploration game Marian. (Which was first announced a while ago.) As he’s said before, Alec is all about crafting a deep, personal experience for the player. And I wouldn’t pick anyone else for the job. I am sure his style of holistic game design will result in something truly special.

This is quite an ambitious endeavor, and one that Alec cares more about “than any other project” he’s worked on. If you’re interested in supporting him, head over to the Infinite Ammo site. Godspeed, Alec!

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Time Fuck

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Thu, 17 Sep 2009 00:04:00 GMT

It’s time to get fcuked! Time Fcuk, the puzzle-platformer from Edmund McMillen, William Good, and Justin Karpel (previously teased here), is out now on Newgrounds. I don’t want to spoil too much, so I’ll just say this: It’s very good! It’s got a slightly unsettling vibe to it, and a surprising amount of atmosphere, but the real treat is the gameplay. Throughout the game more and more ways to manipulate each screen are introduced, and by the end your brain will be tied in a knot. There’s quite a nice balance between logic and action here. Do give it a try!

Play Time Fcuk here.

EDIT: Oh! I should also mention there’s a built-in editor and database for creating, sharing, and rating levels. Pretty cool!

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Eurogamer Expo 2009

Posted by Xander Wed, 16 Sep 2009 17:52:00 GMT

Eurogamer

Eurogamer will be holding another Expo this year after the mild success of 08’s offering, and returning once again will be the Indie Games Arcade which will also be present throughout the event emitting rays of awesome from whatever part of the convention it will have landed in.

Among those exhibiting as part of the event will be the works of Tunatech, Introversion, Robert Fearon (Oddbob), Hayden Scott-Baron (Dock) as well as Rudolf Kremers and Alex May. I realise I used the same link for both of them, but that’s just how rad Dyson is. See, had to do it again.

EGExpo 2009 tickets are available now for £6 and will be open for four days. It starts at The Royal Armouries on the 27th and 28th October in Leeds, before moving to London at Old Billingsgate on the 30th and 31st October. I’ll be around on the 31st so I’ll be sure to take some photos and post up some impressions, especially for Cletus Clay, but hopefully it’ll be redundant if you’re a UK TIGer as you’ll be dropping in to show your support. Right?

Looking forward to seeing anyone who heads out there!

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Ludum Dare 15: Results

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:37:00 GMT

Daring!

The 15th Ludum Dare “48 hour solo game development competition” has ended. The theme this time around was “Caverns,” and there were over 143 (i.e., 144) games submitted—all of which you can find here. (With screen shots!)

The top honors this time went to ChevyRay’s Beacon (shown above) and YMM’s Broken Cave Robot, which are both excellent. But there are many other gems! I advise scrolling through the voting results and trying everything.

Ludum Dare 16 will begin in December. Prepare thyself!

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Attract Mode Shop Opens

Posted by Brandon "BMcC" McCartin Wed, 16 Sep 2009 13:14:00 GMT

The Ultimate Gaming Culture Shop

In case anyone’s wondering what to get me for Christmas, Adam Robezzoli’s Attract Mode videogame culture shop has at long last opened its doors. (You may know Adam from the equally excellent ARTXGAME/Giant Robot shows.)

Currently featured are some excellent shirts, a number of chiptune records, Tetris ice cube trays (!), some super cool pins from the likes of Auntie Pixelante and Cactus, as well as gigantic prints from Mr. Craig D. “superbrothers” Adams. (Who you should check out if you haven’t—he’s great!) Tell your moms friends!

If you missed the link: You can find the Attract Mode shop here.

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