Dave: The ordinary spaceman

By: Xander

On: March 12th, 2009

Well, where the hell to go with this one? Dave: The ordinary spaceman is a competition entry from 2008 for the Gamedev portion of the Assembly 2008 compo. I think I have that right. Whatever this was, it was from that.

Anyway, ‘Dave’ is an action-platformer which melds 2D pixels and 3D effects to create a rather interesting stylised gameplay scenario. All the 2D action takes place on a TV, which actually exists within a 3D space. Which is rather clever, and leads to some interesting play with verisimilitude. For example, the main menu of the game actually revolves around a Teletext menu, so you navigate the on-screen pages by entering combinations of three numbers. Subsequently typing the numbers to enter the game will display the game screen on the TV, slowly zooming in to full-screen.

On top of this we have a 3D remote control which allows you to perform a number of television related effects, such as rewinding, pausing and record/play which act much like you would expect them from time-manipluation mechanics in other games. You can also press the space bar to turn the TV off. This has no purpose, and scores a quick laugh for its inclusion, though it does add somewhat to the diegesis.

The remote control is the source of your powers, meaning you have to collect batteries along your travels to power your remote. So long as it’s charged you have the power to control the world. If it’s out, then one hit can kill you… dead… for realz. All in all a fantastic game! If it was finished…

Sadly being a competition entry, the game features only three incredibly short levels. It’s also not the most polished game, where collision detection is iffy at best and controls never feel particularly well thought out. Still, as proof of concept it’s worth playing through if your rig can run it (It’s a demanding little beast), it just seems kind of a shame for so much effort to be put into the engine for there to be so little actual gameplay. Hopefully this isn’t it for Dave, but we’ll just have to wait and see!

(Kudos to AuthenticKaizen for spotting this one!)

Jumpman

By: Derek Yu

On: February 20th, 2009

For being a platformer called “”http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=4821.msg156004#msg156004">Jumpman," this is one of the freshest games I’ve played recently. The most obvious comparison is messhof’s Punishment series, but this feels much more multidimensional (in more ways than one). There are some really interesting ideas at play here, and some of the best ones are in the later stages.

To quote the author:

Jumpman makes me think that being a character in an Atari game is like being a character in the movie Cube. Disturbing!

TIGdb: Entry for Jumpman

Super Meat Boy Teaser

By: Derek Yu

On: February 19th, 2009

Makes me hungry! And here’s an interview with SMB manly men Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes, on Destructoid.

Where Is My Heart?

By: ithamore

On: February 15th, 2009

Where Is My Heart? is a platformer by Bernhard Schulenburg that presents its own unique style and challenges with charm and brevity. It was one of the winners of this year’s IGF Student Showcase, and it was part of Indiecade 2008. This quote from the WIMH’s description on its IGF Info page sums it nicely:

“Where is My Heart? is an engaging and touching exploration of familial relationships through the metaphors of exploration and collection.”

You can download the Demo Verion 0.3 from Schulenburg’s blog for either Mac or Windows platforms. It was the final version he submitted for the Student Showcase, and there are also two earlier versions available under his download label (both of which I must now begin playing).

Gang Garrison 2.0

By: Derek Yu

On: February 10th, 2009

The aftershocks of the demake compo are still being felt – FAUCET’s Gang Garrison has just reached a feature-packed 2.0. Quoth mrfredman:

All 9 classes from Team Fortress 2 are now represented. I had a go at them earlier this afternoon and they’re all very unique and fun to play. Joining a game was very painless, and while I did encounter some lag, it usually wasn’t too bad.

GG 2.0 has more of everything – more options, more maps, more communication, and more explosions. Talking about it makes me want to go play another few rounds. Good work, guys!

TIGdb: Entry for Gang Garrison 2

Cletus Clay Prototype Trailer

By: Derek Yu

On: February 6th, 2009

Here’s a rather awesome new trailer for Anthony Flack’s latest claymated masterpiece, Cletus Clay, which is nominated for an IGF Excellence in Visual Art award. The game is being developed for PC and XBLA.

Aside from the Tuna Snax blog, you can follow CC through this Twitter feed. And be sure to check out this interview on GameSetWatch with Anthony and a couple of the other developers. There’s also a two-page article in EDGE this month about the game and stop-motion animation, which is pretty great! Clay fever, baby.

Closure

By: Derek Yu

On: January 29th, 2009

You might recognize Tyler Glaiel as the programmer behind Edmund McMillen’s Aether. But Tyler’s designed a ton of games himself, of which Closure is his latest. The game’s primary mechanic focuses on light and darkness, and is probably best left experienced. It’s a cool concept. (Note: Make sure you have Flash 10 installed.)

TIGdb: Entry for Closure

Polytron Corporation Acquires Fez

By: Brandon McCartin (BMcC)

On: January 25th, 2009

Hurrah, the Polytron site is live! And I’ll be darned if it ain’t the slickest thing ever. More good news! Fez is planned for a 2009 release. Here’s the press release, direct from Polyplex One:

Montreal, Thursday the 22nd of January , 4:29pm, Montreal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Polytron Corporation is proudly excited to announce its friendly takeover of Fez!

The venerable multimedia multinational giant today announces it has taken control of the production of highly anticipated indie darling sensation Fez. The rights to the game were transferred from indie darling sensation collective Kokoromi, who demanded nothing in return but a dream, and a wish.

Winner of the 2008 IGF Excellence In Visual Arts Award, Fez also features 2008 IGF nominated design innovation.

Polytron is vibrating with glee at the prospect of bringing it’s much needed decades of experience in the field of computer entertainment to Fez, and its team.

Confident in its dedication to the project, Polytron projects a release in 2009.

More screenshots here. (Check out the new and also improved art style!)
More press after the jump.

About Polytron:

Worldwide leader in the field of polytronics, The Polytron Corporation is a name you can trust for all your electronic computer entertainment needs.

About Kokoromi Worldwide:

Worldwide game/art party leader Kokoromi an experimental game collective formed by a rare union of Montreal gamemakers and curators to promote games as an art form and expressive medium worldwide.

About Excellence In Visual Arts:

Fez won it.

About Fez:

We’re making it.

Nicalis Update

By: Derek Yu

On: January 23rd, 2009

Nicalis has updated their website. I like this new screenshot, posted on the blog, which shows off a lot of the new high-resolution sprites, including a close-up portrait of Toroko (the image above is cropped and blown up). It looks very cohesive.

Snapshot Teaser

By: Derek Yu

On: January 16th, 2009

Here’s a short teaser video for Kyle Pulver’s Snapshot, which has been nominated for Excellence in Design at this year’s IGF. Kyle is best known as the creative force behind Bonesaw, Verge, and Diamond Rider.