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Go 'Deep Under the Sky' on Venus as a weird jellyfish
In Deep Under the Sky, you're an acrobatic jellyfish navigating the neon world of Venus, flying through fuzzy passageways to collect glowing orbs and stars, all while avoiding the dangerous native creatures. Deep Under the Sky comes from Incredipede creator Colin Northway and Pineapple Smash Crew creator Rich Edwards, so it's really no wonder this is a psychedelic platforming romp of a game. Deep Under the Sky is out now on iOS and Android for $3, and it's due to hit PC and Mac tomorrow, August 22.
Scale reward tiers just got bigger: $20 gets 5 extra indie games
Scale has raised $41,000 in three days on Kickstarter, almost half of its $87,000 goal, and its reward tiers keep growing. A new $20 tier called "Friends of Scale" offers a copy of Scale developer Steve Swink's LA Game Space project, Inputting, along with Steam keys for Incredipede, Osmos, Electronic Super Joy and Noitu Love 2. You'll also get Scale, of course. The new $15 tier includes a copy of Scale and Inputting. The Kickstarter updates for Scale each take place in-game and show off the mechanics, puzzles and strategies players can expect from the final build. The second update provides a look at Scale's resizing gun once it becomes outrageously powerful and can no longer hit individual objects – instead it shrinks and grows entire worlds. Plus this update shows a really embarrassing photo of Swink himself. Take a peek at more improv Scale gameplay in the first update below.
Humble Bundle with Android 7: Incredipede, Anodyne, Ticket to Ride
Humble Bundle with Android 7 includes six games (for now) and their soundtracks, available on PC, Mac, Linux and Android: Incredipede, Anodyne, Greed Corp, Ticket to Ride plus USA 1910 DLC, Worms Reloaded and The Bard's Tale. The first four titles are available for whatever price you want, while Worms Reloaded and The Bard's Tale are unlocked by paying more than the average. This strategy also unlocks any games that are added before the bundle's time is up in two weeks – and yes, there will be more games. Grab Steam keys for each title by paying $1 or more. Customers can allocate whatever amount they decide to pay among the developers, Humble itself or charity. It's going well so far – Incredipede developer Colin Northway notes that in the Humble Bundle's first 15 minutes, sales surpassed Incredipede's launch day numbers, and in 20 minutes it sold more than the game's first day on Steam.
Incredipede crawls onto mobile, 'feels wet and slimy'
Incredipede has wobbled its way to mobile, available now for $4 on the App Store and Google Play. The mobile version of Incredipede retains most of the pretty wood-cut art and graphics of the PC version, with only a few effects disabled, and it has a few improvements for touchscreens. The "what's under my fat finger window," as developer Colin Northway calls it, allows players to make detailed adjustments to Quozzle, the game's creature, even on tiny screens. "Building creatures in Incredipede is especially visceral on touchscreens," Northway says. "Pulling legs out of Quozzle with your finger feels wet and slimy. It adds a whole new dimension to the game and has made the sandbox my favorite mode." Colin Northway and his wife, Sarah Northway, famously travel the globe while developing their games, and Incredipede mobile is no different. They shipped this one from a tiny island in Panama, and they've also sent out games from Mexico, the Philippines and Costa Rica. See beautiful photos of the Northways' adventurous indie lives in their Flickr album.
Incredipede's Linux version goes free
The adorable picture above is letting you know that Incredipede on Linux is now absolutely free. Incredipede developer Colin Northway says he made the Linux version free "because Linux users are such strong supporters of indie games," and because he enjoys its open source philosophy. Incredipede is available for Linux right here, and though it will run fine out of the gate Northway includes a list of tweaks to make it extra pretty. Incredipede is also on sale on Steam for $5 through June 24. This is all part of an "Open Source Appreciation Week," and 50 percent of sales directly through Northway's Humble Store hub will benefit FlashDevelop and Box2D, two open source programs that he used to create Incredipede.
The Daily Grind: Does Steam influence your MMO habits?
A few weeks ago, our sister site Joystiq posted a story about Incredipede, an indie game whose slow sales over a four-month period were eclipsed by a single day's worth of sales on Steam. And when I looked back through our coverage of MMOs on Steam, I realized that the platform has quietly become a big deal for our genre, too; MMO publishers clearly believe Steam is a place they need to be. Final Fantasy XI's expansion landed there in recent memory, as did The War Z, Age of Conan, APB Reloaded, and dozens more. My own Steam account shows EVE Online, Champions Online, Lord of the Rings Online, and Spiral Knights, just to name a few. The convenience of Steam and the fact that my friends congregate there is the key draw for me, in spite of my lingering distrust for such services, so today, I'm wondering whether I'm alone. Are you guys more likely to download and try an MMO, F2P or otherwise, if it's on Steam? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Day-one Incredipede Steam sales eclipse previous four months
When Incredipede launched on Colin Northway's site in October 2012, "there were tears. There were all the stages of loss," Sarah Northway told Joystiq at GDC. Colin previously told us that Incredipede sales direct from his site were disappointing, in part because it wasn't yet on Steam.Incredipede launched on Steam on March 18, and in its first 24 hours, it sold more units than the previous four months of independent sales combined."It's really good," Colin said. "I mean, it wasn't good for the four months, but it was good for the one day. And now it's doing well. It didn't just drop off to nothing. It's not going to make us rich, but we're actually going to get paid for the work we did. We have enough money to make another game."Incredipede secured its Steam deal through an IGF nomination, another piece of advertisement that helped boost the game's sales. The Steam version is technically "1.5," featuring a bunch of updates that streamline the game's difficulty, adding 60 new levels and two more muscle groups that players can manipulate. Incredipede is on sale on Steam right now through March 29, for $10 on PC and Mac.
How indie creature feature Incredipede stumbled onto Steam
In October, Incredipede developer Colin Northway introduced us to the Offspring Fling process of submitting an indie game to Steam:"Apply to Steam, be rejected, release without it, get popular, be noticed by Valve, release on Steam."Steam has since overhauled its submission process with Greenlight, a crowd-sourced method of voting games onto the service. Now from a developer's perspective, the indie submission system needs a related makeover and a new name. We suggest the Incredipede process:"Post on Greenlight, be rejected, release without it, get popular, be noticed by the IGF and through an award nomination get a deal to release on Steam without Greenlight at all, haters."It's a little more complicated and relies on a smidgen more luck, but the Incredipede process is one of many new ways to get an indie game on Steam. No matter the system, the goal remains the same – a Steam launch can propel an indie game from "hobby" to "day job," or change a sales outlook from "disappointing" to "happy.""More and more Steam is the place to be for indie games," Northway tells me. "If I had $15 for every time I heard the comment, 'I would buy this if it was on Steam,' then I'd be much happier with the sales. Which is why I'm really looking forward to the Steam release."Through its own convoluted yet successful process, Incredipede is coming to Steam for PC and Mac on March 18.
Documenting the faux-wood-cut art style of Incredipede
Thomas Shahan takes close-up photos of bugs, makes intricate wood-cut prints and is the art director on Colin Northway's Incredipede. After watching the above video chronicling Shahan's process, it's obvious he mashed his passions together to create the creature and environments of Incredipede.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Incredipede
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We believe they deserve a wider audience with the Joystiq Indie Pitch: This week, Colin Northway describes how indie life in Honduras created Quozzle, the creature in his PC game Incredipede. What's your game called and what's it about?Incredipede is a game about playing with nature and life. Quozzle is a creature that can change her shape by growing new bones and muscles wherever she wants so you can build any kind of animal you like. After you build your creature, you control it to overcome obstacles and rescue Quozzle's kidnapped sisters.It's also a very beautiful game. Thomas Shahan and I worked hard to make the visuals unique and he did a truly amazing job.What inspired you to make Incredipede?Incredipede was inspired by the jungles of Honduras. My wife, Sarah, and I made the game over two years while also traveling the world. When we were in Honduras we lived in a little house slung out over the water at the end of a terrible dirt road. We climbed in the mangrove trees and snorkeled on the reef. Crabs scuttled and fish swam under the house, ants invaded the kitchen, birds ate our fruit and lizards and boa constrictors hid in the trees. Life was everywhere. I have always loved the creativity and variety of life and had to make a game about it.
PSA: Incredipede stretches its limbs today, play the free web demo
Incredipede, the customizable crawling creature game from Colin Northway, is available now for purchase, running $15. If the above launch trailer doesn't totally convince you, Incredipede also has a free in-browser demo.People who pre-ordered the game had access to a beta build, and they constructed some pretty outstanding (and out-creeping, out-stretching, out-rolling) creatures, such as the Tractor, Jumper, Upsitube, Snake, and Northway's own creation, the Spider. If you need more help crafting your own Incredipede monster, Northway has a series of tips videos on the main website."Incredipede definitely rewards continued play," Northway says. "The first hour is going to be a different experience from the fourth hour." The fourteenth hour's experience, we assume, is a blur of joints, protrusions and green skin. See for yourself on Incredipede's main site.
Incredipede launching October 25 (just not on Steam)
Colin Northway's Incredipede will launch on October 25, the developer announced today via the twitters. The game won't be available on Steam at launch, so obtaining a copy will require a direct purchase at the Incredipede site.If you'd like to purchase the game through Steam, Incredipede is currently making its way through the Greenlight system, dealing with all that comes with it. Go vote for it if you'd like to see it on Valve's digital distribution platform.
(Not) Getting noticed on Steam Greenlight: Incredipede's story
In the indie world of secret handshakes and underground brunch meetings, there's a specific phrase for the following complex process, as described by developer Colin Northway: "Apply to Steam, be rejected, release without it, get popular, be noticed by Valve, release on Steam."This is widely accepted as the "Offspring Fling" submission process. It takes the name of Kyle Pulver's retro platformer, which launched on Steam in May, months after not launching on Steam, despite Pulver's attempts. Northway shares this rejection jargon with us in terms of his own puzzle game, Incredipede, and Steam Greenlight:"This is the path Offspring Fling took before Greenlight and it's the path Incredipede will take after Greenlight. It's kind of sad because I thought the point of Greenlight is to specifically avoid the 'Offspring Fling' situation."
