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Hack 'n' Slash changes its IndieCade 2014's Grand Jury Award variable to True
Hack 'n' Slash, Brandon Dillon and Double Fine's adventure that pushes players to solve problems via hacking and tweaking variables, has penetrated IndieCade 2014's databases to grant itself the Grand Jury Award. Indie Game Reviewer's recollection of the ceremony's winners notes additional victories, including the Twitch chat-driven Choice Chamber, which won the Technology Award, and the comic book-style noir adventure Framed, which won the Visual Design Award. Alex Rigopulos, CEO of Rock Band series creator Harmonix, was also awarded the Indiecade Trailblazer Award, with N++ earning the Special Recognition Award. Hack 'n' Slash follows 2013's Grand Jury Award winner, Quadrilateral Cowboy, which beat out Towerfall, Nidhogg, Gone Home and Kentucky Route Zero (all of which still earned alternative recognition). [Image: Double Fine]
Double Fine to exit Early Access, release full version of Spacebase DF-9
Double Fine announced that it will abandon its Steam Early Access plans for Spacebase DF-9, revealing that a finished version of its galactic life sim will launch next month. Spacebase DF-9's dev plans now focus on adding tutorials and in-game goals as the project nears a final release. The announcement scales back Spacebase DF-9's once-ambitious scope, which previously called for dozens of in-depth features to be added over a period of several months via Early Access. RPS notes that a full source code release will accompany the game's upcoming launch, essentially putting future additions in the hands of its playerbase. Spacebase DF-9 was initially pitched during an internal game jam in December of 2012 before entering Early Access late last year. [Image: Double Fine]
Hack 'n' Slash descends on Steam in its full glory
Hack 'n' Slash, Double Fine's pretty puzzle-action game, is now out in its full form on Steam, after a few months in Early Access. Hack 'n' Slash is a product of Double Fine's Amnesia Fortnight game-jam-style initiative, and it was first pitched back in 2012. "The Early Access community has been a huge help to the game as well; you all provided fantastic feedback and found really clever ways to break the game," project lead Brandon Dillon writes. "This game wouldn't have been possible without all of you."
Costume Quest 2 goes trick-or-treating with bigger worlds, goofier costumes
Double Fine's catalog is defined by eclectic variety, with its previous efforts ranging from alternate-history tower defense games to RTS-infused brawlers. To date, however, none of the studio's games has seen a sequel. What, then, made the Halloween-themed RPG Costume Quest a standout candidate for a follow-up?
Burn, crush your jelly pals in Gang Beasts from Double Fine
Gang Beasts is a silly, brutal brawler starring four jelly-boned fighters in local co-op matches, and it's now getting publishing support from Double Fine. The game comes from three brothers at UK studio Boneloaf, and it combines ragdoll physics, environmental hazards and gummy-bear-style characters in four-player deathmatches. Gang Beasts is due out in a shiny new alpha version on Steam on August 29, Double Fine announced today. "The game is a local multiplayer brawler in the style of Streets of Rage or Double Dragon that allows you and your buddies to fight alongside each other and face off head to head," Double Fine said. "It's a jolly good time full of silly procedural animation and ragdoll physics that will no doubt insight giggles and guffaws." Gang Beasts tore up the Indie Megabooth at Gamescom last week, and next it's heading to PAX Prime (Double Fine booth No. 117) and Fantastic Arcade. [Image: Double Fine]
Grim Fandango remake also coming to PC, Mac and Linux
The remake of LucasArts' cult favorite adventure game Grim Fandango will also arrive on PC, Mac and Linux in addition to PS4 and Vita. Grim Fandango's resurgence was first revealed during Sony's E3 2014 press conference in June; the game is a console exclusive for the PlayStation platforms. Double Fine's remake came about thanks to some snooping on the behalf of Adam Boyes, PlayStation's VP of Publisher Relations. Boyes told Joystiq at E3 that Double Fine head Tim Schafer caught him nosing around the studio's older intellectual properties, which sparked a conversation between the two about bringing Grim Fandango back from the dead. [Image: Double Fine]
The best costume in Costume Quest 2 is also the most useless
Costume Quest 2 is Double Fine's first sequel, and the one that, according to Greg Rice, was "probably the most requested besides Psychonauts." What fans wanted was more of the same, and that's what they're getting, right down to Reynold's Candy Corn costume, which was how the whole mess got started in the first Costume Quest. It wasn't a usable costume then, but it is now. A completely useless, utterly awesome costume. The gimmick for the turn-based combat in Costume Quest 2 is that the trick-or-treating heroes can swap out Halloween costumes, thus granting themselves different attacks. The clown, for example, has a special move called Laughter Is the Best Medicine which heals the party, while the superhero costume comes with devastating uppercuts. The candy corn ... sits there. (It's just a big piece of candy corn, what did you really expect it to do?) It's a hilarious running gag in combat, noted each turn by phrases like "Candy corn is doing calculations" and "Candy corn chooses not to participate."
Massive Chalice runneth over onto Xbox One
Massive Chalice, Double Fine's turn-based strategy game, is coming to Xbox One as a console exclusive in early 2015. The added Xbox One launch will not impact the game's scheduled PC release – for Kickstarter backers first. "We thought we'd kick out a quick update to clear up any confusion that this might cause," Double Fine writes in a Kickstarter update. "Nothing has changed with our plans to bring Massive Chalice to the PC and to make it available for our backers first. YEAH! During this time we'll be porting the game to the Xbox One."
Costume Quest 2 knocking on current-gen, last-gen doors
Double Fine released the first screenshots of Costume Quest 2 this week, and the studio also revealed the platforms it's questing on. The sweet-toothed sequel is officially coming to PS4, Xbox One, Wii U, Xbox 360, PS3, Windows PC, Mac and Linux "in time for Halloween." Costume Quest 2 features the return of twins Wren and Reynold trick-or-treating through a suburb - albeit a very different-looking one this time around - and doing battle once more in fantastical RPG fights. That means there'll be more costumes to power up the combat, which Double Fine founder Tim Schafer told IGN will be "deeper and juicier" in the sequel. [Image: Double Fine]
Double Fine's Broken Age now on Ouya
Double Fine's adventure game Broken Age is now available on the Ouya microconsole, bringing two of Kickstarter's highest-earning gaming projects together at last in holy crowdfunded union. Broken Age earned over $3.3 million when it turned to Kickstarter's crowdfunding platform for support, later expanding its scope for a split release. The Ouya met with similar success, earning more than $8.5 million by the end of its Kickstarter campaign. Broken Age backers who pledged $15 or more toward the project will receive a free code for the Ouya version via the Humble Store. [Image: Double Fine]
Last Life's first episode, voice acting funded on Kickstarter
Now that sci-fi noir adventure Last Life is funded on Kickstarter, players will be able to investigate the murder of protagonist Jack Parker on PC, Mac and Linux sometime next year. Yes, Jack is still the protagonist despite being murdered - using a freshly 3D-printed body initially made for an annual Dead Man's Party, he'll slink through the streets of MarsTopia in a point-and-click-style search for his killer. Thanks to backers helping developer Rocket Science clear one of Last Life's stretch goals, players also won't have to imagine what Jack would sound like - voice acting for "all speaking characters" will be added, along with interactive flashbacks to when Earth was still inhabitable. Did we mention that, in Last Life's universe, all life on Earth was ended 11 years ago? It's worth noting that the $103,058 gathered on Kickstarter will only fund the development of Last Life's first episode, with Rocket Science planning on three episodes total. Anyone that chipped in $15 or more will receive a DRM-free digital copy of the first episode, though they'll also have the option of swapping it for a Steam key. [Image: Rocket Science]
Double Fine COO wants to keep indies premium with consistent pricing
Double Fine chief operating officer Justin Bailey expressed a desire to maintain premium status for indie-developed games in a recent interview with USgamer, explaining that a continued "race to the bottom" in terms of pricing could prove disastrous for the developing marketplace. "I think what indies really need to watch out for is not becoming the new casual games," Bailey said, referencing a looming indie bubble and casual gaming's free-to-play shift. "I don't think that's a problem from the development side. Indies are approaching it as an artform and they're trying to be innovative, but what's happening in the marketplace is indies are being pushed more and more to have a lower price or have a bunch of games bundled together." In an effort to stave off marketplace dilution, Bailey says that Double Fine will encourage its publishing partners to maintain consistent pricing without spurring sales through bundles or deep discounts. "Double Fine wants to keep indies premium," Bailey stated. "You see that in our own games and how we're positioning them. We fight the urge to just completely drop the price. That's one of the things we want to encourage in this program. Getting people to stick to a premium price point and to the platforms that allow you to do that." Double Fine recently kicked off its indie publishing initiative with Escape Goat 2, providing creator Ian Stocker with "promotional assistance and distribution" at launch. "Our biggest interest is to have a vibrant indie ecosystem," Bailey said. "Our thought is the best people to provide that are going to be the indies. We'd like to help make other indies successful, keep them independent, and have a place where they can go and in turn, help out other indies. That makes the ecosystem stronger." [Image: Double Fine]
Broken Age on sale for 33% off, game contains 15 minutes of credits [Update: Sale over]
The first act of Double Fine's Kickstarted adventure game, Broken Age, is currently on sale for its lowest price ever on Steam. For $16.74 you can get the game, or for $20.09, you can snag the game as well as a copy of the soundtrack. Hurry though, because at the time of posting, you've only got two and a half hours to take advantage of the deal. The release of Act 1 existed partly to fund the development of Act 2, so the back half of the game isn't ready to go just yet. Those who purchase ahead of Act 2's release will be given the conclusion as a free update, according to Double Fine. Double Fine also announced a slew of statistics regarding Broken Age's production, in case you're the type who was ever curious about just how many lines of code go into creating a game like this. (Hint: it's a lot.) It's also been a time-consuming project: over the course of 22 months (or 339 man-months), the team has created 1,181 cutscenes, recorded 4,417 lines of voice, and consumed more than 680 gallons of coffee. Broken Age also takes 15 minutes (at a resolution of 1024x768) to show off 12,846 name strings during the credits. Broken Age: it's kind of a big deal. Update: The sale for Broken Age has come to its conclusion. The game is $24.99 once more. [Image: Double Fine]
Schafer: Broken Age split release a success, second half now funded
Broken Age, the Double Fine adventure game too big for its $3.3 million Kickstarter campaign, released its first half last month. Now, studio founder Tim Schafer tells GamesIndustry International that the release has been a success, and that part two has been successfully funded. "We've made enough that we can make the second half of the game for sure," Schafer told GamesIndustry, before noting that he believes the first half isn't quite done yet, since it has yet to release on iPad like the studio promised it would. Still, Schafer seemed upbeat. "We've shipped enough that people can see we weren't kidding, and that's a big relief. Because I think there's a lot of pressure on Kickstarter projects, especially the really big Kickstarter projects, to just not screw it up for everybody else. It's such a great, positive thing for us, and being able to be funded by our fans opens so many doors for us to do original, creative things that we just wanted to live up to [expectations]." The decision to break Broken Age into two parts was not one met with overwhelming enthusiasm by some backers (just take a look at the comments). It would seem that the wallet speaks louder though, and the wallets want a conclusion to Broken Age. [Image: Double Fine]
Chris Remo leaves Double Fine to join startup dev Campo Santo
The Cave co-writer Chris Remo is no longer working at Double Fine, having teamed up with Idle Thumbs co-stars and Walking Dead designers Jake Rodkin and Sean Vanaman at the recently formed Campo Santo studio. Remo was formerly editor-in-chief at Gamasutra and a community manager at BioShock studio Irrational Games before he joined Double Fine in 2012, where he also prototyped the upcoming Spacebase DF-9. He also recently served as a freelance composer on Joystiq Top 10 of 2013 entry Gone Home. Remo joins the growing line-up of talented developers at Campo Santo, including Mark of the Ninja lead Nels Anderson and industry artist Olly Moss. Campo's first game is in the works with the backing and collaborative efforts of Portland-based app Dev Panic. Inc.
Broken Age Act 1 Review: To Part
Financed by a Kickstarter army of fund-it pundits to the tune of over $3 million, Broken Age is a bespoke graphic adventure like no other. And yet the point of this old-school clique, of course, was to guarantee a game that was just like all those others – old adventures in the grand LucasArts legacy. It should have been nostalgia, made on-demand by Double Fine, but there's more to it; a modern personality. The delta between what should have been – and what is – lies right in the middle of Broken Age, a sincere story of a boy and a girl breaking free of expectation and tradition. Shay and Vella exist in separated worlds, but you can visit either at any point, funneling your curiosity into the regular point-and-click mold: relaxed exploring, conversing with the locals, and collecting odd inventory objects that are sure to have some weirdly sensible use later. These are the old, uncluttered ways, paired with truly new-feeling art and an irresistible optimism that simply can't be found elsewhere, today or yesterday.
Peter McConnell's Broken Age score available Jan. 28
Peter McConnell's original orchestral soundtrack for Double Fine's Broken Age will be available for download next week. McConnell's previous work can be heard in Double Fine's Brutal Legend and Psychonauts, as well as in classic LucasArts adventure games Grim Fandango and Monkey Island. The full soundtrack will be available for download on Bandcamp when the game's first act officially launches on January 28. Samples of select tracks can be heard right now over on McConnell's Soundcloud page. Broken Age is an adventure game about two teenagers, Vella Tartine and Shay Volta, living separate lives in their own distinct worlds. The two are linked by their coming-of-age predicaments, and players can switch between each teen at any time. We streamed a good chunk of the game yesterday, so feel free to give our archived video a peek.
Broken Age goes public on January 28, taking pre-orders now
The first act of Double Fine's graphic adventure game Broken Age will be available to the public on January 28 for PC, Mac and Linux. The game will launch two weeks after being made available to Kickstarter backers today. Broken Age is available for pre-order on Steam at a 10 percent discount ($22.49) until it launches. Double Fine earned over $3.3 million on Kickstarter in March 2012 for its "Double Fine Adventure" crowdfunding campaign, which was given the name Broken Age one year later. A backers-only update on the game's Kickstarter page revealed that the game will skip Steam's Early Access program and launch in full on Steam with season pass support. While Broken Age will land on iOS, Android and Ouya at an undisclosed date, the concluding second act of the game will launch as a free update to owners later this year.
Broken Age skips Early Access, hits Steam with season pass
Broken Age is no longer launching as an Early Access game on Steam, instead hitting as a full release with a season pass that includes parts one and two. "You may recall that at one point Broken Age was planned for release under the Steam Early Access program," Double Fine wrote in a backers-only update on Kickstarter. "This is no longer the case. For various logistical reasons, and because we believe Act 1 is a polished and satisfying piece of content in its own right, Broken Age will be a standard Steam release that includes a 'Season Pass' granting access to Act 2 once it is complete. Anyone who has Act 1 – either by being a backer, or by buying the game separately – will receive Act 2 as a free update when it's ready." Double Fine announced in July that it would launch Act 1 on Early Access, intending to raise enough money to complete and release Act 2, but a season pass launch can achieve the same end. Backers of the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter have access to Broken Age Act 1 today, distributed via Steam keys on the Humble Store. Act 1 requires Steam to download, though once Act 2 launches, a DRM-free version will hit Humble.
Double Fine's Broken Age part 1 hits Kickstarter backers on Jan. 14
Broken Age part one is due out on Tuesday, January 14 for backers of the game's Kickstarter (yes, all 87,142 of them), Double Fine confirmed to Joystiq. Broken Age is the result of the Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter campaign, which raised $3.3 million in March 2012, after asking for just $400,000. That campaign historically kicked off the level of attention gaming Kickstarters enjoy today. "Haven't shipped a game of my own in 4.5 years, an adventure game in 16, a point-n-click in almost 20. Next Tuesday is going to be exciting!" Double Fine founder Tim Schafer tweeted. In July 2013, Double Fine announced that it needed more money to complete Broken Age, and it would split the game into two parts, the first of which would land on Steam Early Access in January. Sales from the first half of Broken Age and other Double Fine games are intended to sustain production of the second half.