capy
Latest
Capy posts ideas from its internal game jam, and they all sound pretty good
Given the talent of the folks at Capy Software (who've made the excellent Critter Crunch, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, and most of the programming behind Sword and Sworcery), you'd expect them to prototype an interesting game in less time than it takes some to develop a full game. You're partially right -- they made seven.All seven games from Capy's internal game jam are now listed over on the company blog, and to a title they all sound pretty good. The Final Act has the player acting on stage to win a battle, Ferret Wings features Captain Farris the Ferret fighting against Adolph Hamster, and Jetman Adventures (above) is described as "a kind of touch screen Panzer Dragoon/Defender hybrid with Fruit Ninja influence." Yes please!Unfortunately, these are just prototypes developed over the two-day period of a game jam, so they're all unfinished (one turn-based tactical game, for example, didn't get any further than having just one unit), and most likely unplayable by the public. But one of these might plant a seed for Capy's next title, and when that flower blossoms we'll be happy to stick our noses right in it.
Find the time to check out Super T.I.M.E. Force
It's an IGF 2012 entry and, now that we've seen it in action, easily one of our most anticipated games. Super T.I.M.E. Force looks like distilled chaos, only in space. With guns. And giant explosions. Obviously this teaser piqued our interest, so we talked to Capybara Games president Nathan Vella for some more info. He wouldn't budge on platforms, but told us we shouldn't expect to see this on iOS platforms. He told us he hopes to see the game in "lots of places," but "until we have ink on paper" he can't say with any kind of certainty. Vella says the idea for the game originated at the Toronto Game Jam, where three of Capy's guys came up with the concept. It's been expanded since, though Vella says there isn't a rush to get this out the door. The studio is taking its time with it, so don't expect to get your hands on it anytime soon.
Make T.I.M.E. to go through the IGF 2012 entries
Want to browse through 568 of the best, most innovative, weirdest games you'll see this year? The Independent Game Festival has posted all of its entrants for the 2012 Main Competition, with screens, synopses and, in some cases, videos. We're staring at this list trying to figure out some way to sift through it. IGF chair Brandon Boyer, who had a headstart, has pointed out a new game by Sword & Sworcery/Clash of Heroes developer Capy, called Super T.I.M.E. Force, in which players "JUMP THROUGH TIME AND KILL STUFF THAT NEVER SHOULD'VE HAPPENED."
Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP updated for iOS 5
If you haven't peeked into the Megatome in a while, or if you're just now getting a new iOS device, it's time to check in with Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP. Developer Capy has just updated it for iOS 5, allowing you to sign in with the Twitter account now integrated into the OS. In addition, according to the App Store description, "the pixel artwork & visual designs that have helped define this game are now sharper than ever." We think making this one game better is a pretty significant bullet point in iOS 5's favor!
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes lines up on Steam
Developer Capybara Games has confirmed that Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes will be available for download on Steam today -- wait, scratch that. It's available for download right now! The Steam version of the game will set you back $14.99, only supports Windows (sorry, Mac users) and boasts full Steamworks integration, including achievements, leaderboards and cloud saves. If you've yet to hear about Capy's wonderful title, might we point you toward our review? In addition to the launch of the actual game on Steam, you can also snag the I Am the Boss DLC for $2.99. Great, now we've got that damn song stuck in our head again.
Sword & Sworcery EP and LP on swale today
To celebrate the equinox, the magical Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP and LP are on sale today. The regularly priced $4.99 iPad edition and $2.99 iPhone version of the EP video game are down to $1.99 and $0.99, respectively. The soundtrack, which is usually $7.99, is discounted to "pay what you can." What happens if you miss this sale today? We're going to bet the next major discount will occur during the solstice in three months. Call it a hunch.
Clash of Heroes HD takes a turn on PC this quarter
We already related some news about Clash of Heroes HD from Ubisoft's sales report today; it turns out there was even more squirreled away in its pages. A PC version of Capy's puzzle game is listed for release in the company's fiscal Q2, which spans the period from July through September. So if you prefer to play strategy games on the PC -- even when they're only kind-of strategy games -- you'll have the option within the next couple of months.
Sword and Sworcery devs talk with Adventure Time creator, for fun's sake
Two of the bombastic dudes behind the iOS gem Sword and Sworcery EP recently sat down with the creator of Cartoon Network's Adventure Time, Pendleton Ward, in an hour-long discussion with Juegos Rancheros, the independent video game collective in Austin, Texas. Kris Piotrowski of development studio Capy and Craig Adams of Superbrothers had a talk with Ward about the fine lines between cartooning and gaming, pitches for a possible Adventure Time video game and the superb soundtrack to Sword and Sworcery, composed by Jim Guthrie. Take an adventure into the entire video above, moderated by Canabalt creator Adam 'Atomic' Saltsman.
Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes HD review: Another round
For years I swore I didn't like drinking. Friends would try introducing me to various concoctions of juice and booze swearing I wouldn't be able to taste the alcohol, but never to any avail. It wasn't until recently I discovered the joy of "melon balls." Midori, pineapple juice, and vodka created the perfect mix of sweet delicious beverage that would still get me drunk (even if it can be embarrassing to order). Similarly, I've never been a fan of traditional turn-based RPGs. The slow pace, random encounters, and turn-based combat just bored me. So when the DS Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes was recommended to me by a number of friends in 2009, I was hesitant about the puzzle/strategy/RPG hybrid. Yes, even though they assured me "You'll never taste the RPG!" Now that I've played its HD upgrade I can safely say that they were dead on, for the most part. Clash of Heroes HD has some RPG trappings: towns, stores, leveling up, and a half-baked story about preventing a demon apocalypse, but all the guff that usually turns me off the genre has been eradicated or at the very least minimized. Random encounters? Completely avoidable. Grinding? Only a smidge. Losing an hour's progress due to not hitting a checkpoint? Never. Turn-based combat? Well, yes, but not in the traditional sense. %Gallery-96062%
Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP journeys to iPhone this week
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, the artsy, jokey, pretty adventure game from Capy, musician Jim Guthrie, and artist Superbrothers, is launching a two-pronged assault on iPhone this week. The iPad version of the game will receive a free update "shortly before Thursday, April 21st 2011" that makes it a Universal app compatible with iPhones and iPod Touches. At the same time, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Micro will be added to the App Store. It's "the same exact videogame," but in a version compatible only with iPhone-size devices (3G and newer, but not "super smooth on 3G.") "The S:S&S EP project began life on the smaller touchtronic machines," the announcement notes, "so many of the key art & design decisions were made with this very particular form factor in mind." The iPhone version is "definitely 'the way it was meant to be' - it's an entire little world you can slip into your pocket at any time."
Sword & Sworcery LP available in analog and digital forms April 5
The Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP record by Jim Guthrie, Sword & Sworcery LP: The Ballad of the Space Babies, will be available at midnight on Tuesday, April 5. As foretold by Capy (Critter Crunch n' Munch) prez Nathan Vella, the availability of the game's soundtrack comes two weeks after the title's iPad launch, which means the iPhone version should release two weeks after the record hits. The 12" 180g vinyl record, with limited edition print, will cost $30 and includes a downloadable version as well. The soundtrack will also be available with bonus songs through digital distribution outlets like Bandcamp for $7.99 and iTunes for $8.99. Also, just in case you don't know what a "vinyl record" is, we have this handy link to explain the artifact.
Sword and Sworcery LP coming out April 5, iPhone version in a few weeks
Sword & Sworcery is an unqualified hit for the iPad -- as I said when it released, we've been following this one for a while, and it's great to see such a solid indie effort recognized by critics and consumers alike. While the game is out for iPad, the property is far from over. A full LP based on the music of the game, written by musician Jim Guthrie, has been announced for release on April 5, next Tuesday. "The Ballad of the Space Babies" will be available as a vinyl record, or online as a digital download in iTunes or Bandcamp. There's also an iPhone version of the game on the way -- I talked to Nathan Vella of Capy about it, and he told me that work continues apace. The plan all along has been to release it around a month after the iPad release, and Capy is still on that schedule, so we should see an iPhone version (optimized for the smaller platform, of course) about three weeks from now.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP comes to iPad on Thursday
Developer Capy has been quite adamant that Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP would launch during the "vernal equinox" -- and now the developer has finally deciphered that gibberish, revealing a March 24 launch date. We're pretty sure "vernal" isn't a word, guys! This Thursday, pokers and prodders looking for something new to play on their iPads should be able to download the self-professed "crude videogame haiku about life, love & death." As previously reported, the soundtrack will launch two weeks after the iPad game and two weeks prior to the iPhone/iPod Touch version, which has a tentative April launch window right now. And if you're still feeling a bit lost, why not check out our thumbs-on preview of the game from back in early March?
Capy's 'Zombie Tactics' on hold, studio too busy
Capy President Nathan Vella told us at PAX East that the prematurely exposed Zombie Tactics is "on hold." "It's not on hold because it sucks," Vella explained. "It's on hold because we have other stuff first." Capy is currently prepping for the iOS launches of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP and the release of Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes HD on XBLA and PSN in mid-April. The studio is also working on other "unannounced projects." Vella believes the prototype for Zombie Tactics, which he told us has hints of Valkyria Chronicles gameplay peppered in, is great. However, he feels the zombie genre is just a tad saturated at the moment. %Gallery-76627%
Sword and Sworcery launch plans detailed
Capy's iOS title Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP has maintained its approximate iPad release date of "vernal equinox" (March 21) and now we have further audio and iPhone launch details. Capy's Nathan Vella told us at PAX East that two weeks after the iPad launch that the company will release a vinyl LP of the game's music (at Bandcamp). Don't worry if the words "vinyl LP" don't mean a thing to you, the music will also be available at iTunes. The iPhone version will launch "a month" after the iPad version (or two weeks after the LP, depending on how you want to tell time). The only difference between the iPad and iPhone versions will be the resolution and a couple dollars in price.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP preview: Swo engrossing
Deep immersion into games is pretty hard to achieve even in the best of circumstances. You'd never expect to experience it when playing on a portable device ... in a hotel lobby ... with the guys who made the game surrounding you. Yet it was so easy to become fully engrossed in Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, the new action-adventure title from Clash of Heroes developer Capy, artist Craig "Superbrothers" Adams and musician Jim Guthrie. The game manages to combine very disparate elements to create something special -- epic fantasy imagery with goofy humor, point-and-click gameplay with Punch-Out and, yes, immersion with an iPhone.
Prepare to find out you're already prepared for Superbrothers Sword & Sworcery EP
Even if you haven't seen Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, the collaboration between Capy, musician Jim Guthrie, and artist Craig "Superbrothers" Adams, it's likely you've acquired the method to receive it. The trailer after the break purports that, no matter why you thought you were purchasing that iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad -- "internet?" -- you were actually implicitly preparing to welcome the indie action-adventure game into your life. After actually seeing it, you might even decide to buy it! Consciously -- volitionally! The trailer hints at a release around the vernal equinox, which is March 20 for those of you not as attuned to nature as we are.
Preview: Clash of Heroes HD (multiplayer)
Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes on PSN and XBLA is pretty much what it sounds like: last year's DS game in high definition on consoles. For me, that alone is enough to ensure a purchase, because I'd make a hobby out of purchasing that delightful game if I could. Similarly, the new online (or offline) multiplayer component in Capy's remake of the DS puzzle RPG is, precisely, the Clash of Heroes gameplay, adapted for more players. Which is enough. %Gallery-96062%
Assassin's Creed 2, Dragon Age: Origins win Canadian game awards
We like to playfully rip on Canada every now and then (America's hat!), but we must admit that The Great White North knows how to make some quality games, evidenced by the winners at the inaugural Canadian Videogame Awards ceremony. While Game of the Year went to Bioware's Dragon Age: Origins, Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 2 made out with the most awards, winning Best Console Game, Best Visual Arts, and Best Game Design, and sharing the award for Best Technology with Radical Entertainment's Prototype. That's not to say all of the awards went to the triple-A titles, as Toronto's own darling, Capybara Games, received nods for two of its titles: Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, which won Best Handheld Game, and Critter Crunch, which secured victory as the Best Downloadable Game. Maybe now that cute little guy will stop crying so much! [Thanks, Alan Strangis]
GDC 2010: Hands-on with Superbrothers' Sword and Sorcery
"Superbrothers" is the alias of Craig Adams, a Toronto-based artist who specializes in pixel-based artwork and cinema. He's a big fan of musician Jim Guthrie, and after the two met a while ago (and discovered they were actually fans of each other), he was inspired to create a few music videos of the songs that he heard. Then, a little while back, Adams ran into a few guys from Capy, a game developer (they've made some great puzzle titles like Clash of Heroes for the DS and Critter Crunch for PSN) also from Toronto, and he decided to team up with them to make his first game, and release it on the iPhone. I got to play the game for the first time at GDC, and what I found was an interesting mix of art, music, and gameplay that shows just how amazing a platform like the iPhone can be, both for independent developers and for artists who just want to express themselves (or music they like) in an interactive format. Read on to find out what the game is like, and how it uses the iPhone's assets and Superbrothers' creativity to create a singular experience.
