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Rocketcat goes deeper into the Mage Dungeon with Wayward
Kepa Auwae's Rocketcat Games is one of my favorite iOS developers: Auwae himself is full to the brim with creative ideas about gaming, and all of Rocketcat's releases, from Hook Champ to Mage Gauntlet to Punch Quest, are extremely polished and well-designed. I got to meet with Auwae in person last week at GDC, and he not only showed me what the company is working on next, but got my head spinning with all of the crazy ideas he's thinking about creating in the future. First up, Wayward is Rocketcat's next title. It's a free-to-play action RPG game, and they're "hoping May" for a release, says Auwae. Mage Gauntlet was a terrific game the company released last year, which featured a young sorceress hacking away through a series of linear dungeons armed with a variety of swords and spells. Wayward is a followup to that game that Auwae was calling "Mage Dungeon" for a long time, because it expands on the Mage Gauntlet gameplay, adding six other different characters to play with, each with their own spells and abilities. One will come with the game for free, and the others will be available via in-app purchase. Wayward also takes the hand-designed levels from Mage Gauntlet and replaces them with procedurally generated dungeons, which means there will be no end of content to play through. Each character will have their own cutscenes and story, and just like Blizzard's Diablo series, there will be various tilesets to play through in sequence, from a mine to a castle to catacombs and so on. But the dungeons are all put together every time you start up a game, which means that every time you go in, you'll play through a brand-new level. The gameplay is just as tight as Mage Gauntlet, though there is one big change. Each character can equip two spells at a time, and to use them, you just swipe left or right on the right side of the screen, left for one spell and right for another. This does give you instant access to your spells right away (in Mage Gauntlet, you had to first choose one and then target it), but it can be a little confusing to pick up, especially when you want to fire a fireball left but have to swipe right to cast it. Talking with Auwae about future plans can be confusing as well: The guy is so full of really good ideas that it's hard to tell what he's just thinking about doing and what he's actually working on putting together. I believe he is actually working on a "daily dungeon" idea for Wayward, where players will be able to jump in and play through a new specific dungeon every day, which will then have a leaderboard to compete on. And there should also be an endless mode, which will just be one long dungeon that you can try to get as far as possible with. After that, things are less clear. Auwae told me that Wayward is also a testing ground for another couple of games he wants to put together. One would be a more casual puzzle/action game, similar to the Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening title, that would emphasize dungeon exploration rather than the action-based combat. And he also said Wayward is a test for a much larger multiplayer game, where different players would go through a dungeon together, fighting both versus and co-op for XP and loot. That game, Auwae told me, would have up to 40 different classes to play with, and work much like League of Legends does, where each character class has its own abilities, strengths and weaknesses. It's hard to tell just how solid that idea is with Auwae, but the concept certainly sounds interesting. So Auwae has no shortage of ideas about what to do with Wayward and his other games for sure. In addition to an upcoming iOS release, Auwae is thinking about bringing the game to desktops as well, and maybe even trying to work with Steam on a release there, or taking it through the Greenlight program. The game was definitely a lot of fun to play -- it's similar to Mage Gauntlet, and that's definitely not a bad thing. We'll look for the iOS release later on next month.
Divekick takes a leap of faith on Steam Greenlight, due in summer
Divekick, the two-button fighting game from One True Game Studios, is trying its luck on Steam Greenlight with an updated launch window of summer 2013, pushed back from this spring.Divekick was the subject of a successful Kickstarter campaign in July, but Iron Galaxy canceled that fundraising drive once it secured a publishing deal with Street Fighter 3: Online Edition's Iron Galaxy. Perhaps One True Game is hoping to transfer all that unfinished mojo into a Steam launch.One True Game Studios and Iron Galaxy have plans to bring Divekick to PC, PS3 and Vita this summer. Divekick began as a parody but is now a rising name in the fighting game circuit; it'll be at PAX East in booth 899, if you're around and down for some serious kicking action.
Incredipede 1.5 swings onto Steam on March 18 with a sweet sale
Incredipede hits Steam for PC and Mac on Monday with a sale that knocks $5 off the final price, bringing that bad mama down to $10.Steam's Incredipede is what developer Colin Northway calls version 1.5, since it adds a plethora of new features: 60 new levels in "normal" difficulty, two new muscles controlled with the right hand (think QWOP with creatures), and real-world achievements that ask players to go outside and play with bugs. Yes, outside.Incredipede launched via Northway's site on October 25, and while many players enjoyed its wood-cut art style, the gameplay offered a special kind of challenge; the 60 new levels are designed to make the game more accessible. Incredipede has traveled a long, convoluted path to Steam, after Northway initially found fault in Greenlight. Incredipede was later nominated for an IGF award for Excellence in Visual Art, throwing the game on the fast track to Steam distribution. Delve into the details of Incredipede's journey in our recent interview.
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.
Surgeon Simulator 2013 passes through Steam's Greenlight program, shouldn't have passed med school (video)
One of ten new additions to come from Valve's Greenlight community platform, Surgeon Simulator 2013 was crafted in a mere 48 hours at Global Game Jam and puts you in the role of a clumsy surgeon, responsible for a patient who's unlikely to last the night. You should consult the video after the break to get an idea of the level of incompetence here, but let's just say your efforts are measured by Blood Level. You'll get access to scalpels, hammers and bone saws as you perform heart surgery and brain transplants -- in short, it's going to get messy. Other new additions include Anodyne, Distance, Receiver, and Huntsman: The Orphanage and all of 'em can be downloaded from Steam starting today.
Steam Greenlight fifth set is incisive: Surgeon Simulator 2013, Organ Trail
Steam Greenlight gave the go-ahead to 10 new games today, two of which are decidedly dicey – as in, they involve slicing people open and/or their exposed, internal goo. Surgeon Simulator 2013, the 2013 Global Game Jam phenomenon, is now ready for Steam distribution, along with Organ Trail: Director's Cut, the retro zombie survival game from The Men Who Wear Many Hats.Also on tap for a Steam launch is Hunstman: The Orphanage, a creepy survival-horror hit, along with Anodyne, Distance, Evoland, Kingdom Rush, Legends of Dawn, Receiver and War Thunder. Steam also Greenlit two software titles, a painting tool called Black Ink and PC management service Driver Fusion. Check out the details on all the Greenlit goodies here.
Project Awakened brings super powers to Steam Greenlight
Project Awakened, the super-powered action game that Phosphor Games resurrected on Kickstarter, now has a Steam Greenlight page, hoping to eventually sneak onto that service. As Phosphor told us earlier this month, Awakened is a PC, next-gen game heavy on customization and kicking dystopic booty with a myriad of interchangeable powers.Get a glimpse of some early super-human combinations in the demo video below, and if you're intrigued, check out Awakened on Kickstarter and Greenlight.
MANOS: The Hands of Fate attempts to please the Master on Greenlight
Torgo's bizarre undulations and wobbly-voiced predictions of the Master's disapproving nature might reach a much wider audience, as Mystery Science Theater 3000 homage MANOS: The Hands of Fate is seeking the communal go-ahead on Steam Greenlight.Based on the 1966 horror film of the same name, MANOS originally launched on iOS in June of last year, with a PC port arriving on Indievania last December. The Steam port will include a new "Play as Torgo" mode, assuming the game makes it onto the service. No word on Steam pricing as of yet, but the existing iOS and PC versions go for $1.99 and $5.99, respectively.
Vendetta Online aiming for Steam release
Guild Software is seeking to release it's long-running Vendetta Online MMO on Steam, and the space-based sandbox title needs your vote to clear Valve's Greenlight hurdle. Vendetta is one of a very few MMORPGs that natively supports Windows, Mac, and Linux platforms, and Guild founder John Bergman says that his team would "like to integrate some of Steam's community and achievement features." Vendetta features physics-based PvE and PvP combat, extensive trading and economic gameplay, and an active development team that has been iterating on the game since its 2002 release. The firm's Kickstarter project, which is designed to fund both an in-game expansion and an expansion to iOS platforms, has 19 days remaining. Head past the cut for a two-minute gameplay trailer.
Take control of an 80s arcade with Arcadecraft, out now on XBLIG
Arcadecraft, the 80s arcade management sim from Firebase Industries, is available now on Xbox Live Indie Games for 240 MS Points ($3). In Arcadecraft, players must dig themselves out of debt with the latest craze in entrepreneurship, starting an arcade. As owner and manager, players purchase arcade machines, position them around the space, name their arcade, paint the walls, change the floors, and add graphics and neon wherever they deem necessary.Arcadecraft has almost 80 arcade machines of different design, each with adjustable difficulty and price settings, and some games will jam, break down and need servicing as customers use and abuse them.Firebase Industries, the team behind Orbitron: Revolution, has Arcadecraft on Steam Greenlight and is working on a touch-based Windows 8 version.
Cheap Steam Greenlight games up for grabs in Green Light Bundle
The Green Light Bundle from Stolen Couch Games offers nine indie games attempting to climb the Steam Greenlight charts, giving them some extra exposure and giving you some cheap entertainment, all for $5. Some of the best bundles do more than offer great games at tiny prices: Humble Indie Bundle, for example, has an option to donate to charity when you buy. Now we have another multitasker on our hands. The nine games in the next Green Light Bundle, launching on February 1, are the following: haunting sim Paranormal, tower-defense game Beware Planet Earth!, tile-dragging puzzler Hairy Tales, casual dungeon crawler Dwarf Quest, spearfishing sim Depth Hunter, 8-bit platformer Potatoman Seeks the Troof, beat-em-up Megabyte Punch, platformer Gear Jack, space strategy game Aeon Command. All of these games, except for Depth Hunter and Beware Planet Earth!, are on Mac as well as PC.If you buy, don't forget to vote for these games on Steam. It's your civic duty, after all.
Steam Greenlight adds skip, follow, share options, new dev stats
Steam Greenlight is still finding its place in this wild, mixed-up online world, and Valve is tweaking its systems based on community feedback, which is appropriate for a crowd-sourced service. Steam Greenlight now features an "Ask me again later" option next to the "Yes" and "No" voting buttons. Skipped items will disappear from users' queues for one month, before returning in a blaze of indecisive glory. Users can also view skipped titles in the new "Items to Revisit Later" menu.Adding to the "favorite" ability, Greenlighters can now "follow" games and receive notifications when the developer posts updates. All previously favorited items are automatically part of users' follow lists right now. It's possible to follow collections as well, and collection owners can post updates that are sent directly to those interested in their bundles.Developers get in on the action with this update, too, with a new set of detailed statistics showing how many people view their item and vote on it.
Cell: emergence version 1.1 reacts massively on XBLIG, PC
If you're going to play something on Xbox Live Indie Games that doesn't involve mining, it might as well be an organic, massively reactive, cellular strategy game from the principal writer of the original Deus Ex, Sheldon Pacotti. Cell: emergence takes place in the body of a sick child, where players inhabit a nanobot fighting the smart germs of futuristic biowarfare. It's beautiful, for a battlefield.Cell: emergence 1.1 drops on XBLIG today and is out for PC via Desura, both on sale for $1 through February 4. Version 1.1 addresses the weak tutorial and steep difficulty curve by throwing in visual tutorial screens."The difficulty curve remains steep, but for most players it should now be challenging rather than mystifying," Pacotti says. He also wants to see Cell: emergence break out on Steam, and today began a campaign to get it approved through Greenlight.If you're interested but not sold, check out the free demo on Indie DB.
PSA: No Time to Explain begins 25% off in Steam debut
No Time to Explain recently landed on Steam after its successful Kickstarter campaign and collective nod from the community in Steam's Greenlight program. What's more, developer tinyBuild Games knocked the price of the game down by 25 percent to $7.49 in a special promotion that ends February 1.Check out the announcement trailer for the game above, and read up on our recent Joystiq Indie Pitch if you're in the dark on the game. After all, there's no time to... elaborate on it here.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: No Time To Explain
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, the team at tinyBuild take the time to describe their rollercoaster of crowdfunding before it was cool and being Greenlit, with No Time To Explain. What's your game called and what's it about?It's called No Time To Explain and is about giant enemy crabs, time paradoxes and jetpack guns. We're fans of the whole wacky concept of time travel and wanted to make a game where we can get away with pretty much anything and make that funny.How did you find out about being Greenlit and how did you react?I was obsessively refreshing our Greenlight page for a couple of hours until finally the big green sign, "This game has been Greenlit," appeared. I had tears in my eyes at that point. We were losing hope to get onto Steam, and this felt like winning the lottery. You know the moment where you realize something great just happened and you don't entirely believe it? I called Tom, who apparently threw his dog out of happiness (the dog is fine).
La-Mulana, Leisure Suit Larry, more Greenlit on Steam
Twelve more games have made it through the Steam Greenlight voting process, and will be distributed through the store when they are ready. The games succeeding in this fourth round include Akaneiro: Demon Hunters, which is already aiming for a Jan. 24 release date, the remakes of La-Mulana and Leisure Suit Larry, along with Asylum, DLC Quest, Eador: Masters of the Broken World, MaK, The Age of Decadence, Unepic, and War for the Overworld.In addition, two non-game software titles, "game design tool" articy:draft and "modeling app" GroBroto, have been Greenlit.
Xsyon aiming for wider audience on Steam's Greenlight
Notorious Games needs your help to bring its Xsyon sandbox MMO to a wider audience. The title has a new Greenlight page on Valve's Steam digital download service and the post-apocalyptic survival MMO is seeking enough "yes" votes from the community to make it available to Steam's 40 million-plus users. Xsyon is "an entirely player driven online game with a living and changing environment." Gameplay involves the formation of tribes, the shaping of landscapes, and the construction of towns, not to mention variations on typical MMO questing, gathering, and hunting. [Source: Notorious press release]
Events 2012: Steam Greenlight
If 38 Studios was a gaming story for the mainstream audience and Kickstarter was the industry insider's dream, Steam Greenlight was the event for the rest of us. At least, that's how Valve presented it, as a fresh, innovative way to directly involve players in the selection of games, crowd-sourced style. In execution, however, it ran into a few problems.Any service launch has its issues, and online the audience is privy to every blemish and backtrack, including Steam Greenlight's. Greenlight lasted five days in its initial form, allowing anyone at any time to submit a game for crowd consideration, regardless of its validity or morality. Following a slew of Half-Life 3 scams and other games in ill taste, Valve initiated a $100 entrance fee for the program. Today Greenlight has a free Concepts option, hosts non-gaming software and has accepted 32 games, 12 of which have launched on Steam. There are plenty more to come, Valve promises.With a new system comes new problems – or, at least, a period of adjustment – and Greenlight saw a fair share of frustrations and unexpected legal issues from indie developers during its infancy in 2012. When indie developer Colin Northway expressed his annoyance with Greenlight on Twitter, he noted the main issues in transitioning from a professional game-selection process to a chaotic, public one. And then he told us his story. Faceless attempted to use the popular Slender Man lore, and despite being on top of the voting pile since Greenlight's launch, it's yet to do so because of legal issues. As more indie developers attempt to break onto Steam via Greenlight, it can alter the way they pitch their games and how they think about production.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Edge of Space
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, lead game designer at Handyman Studios, Jacob Crane, talks Edge of Space, his space shark exploration game in beta and on Greenlight now. What's your game called and what's it about?The game we are working on is Edge of Space, and it is a 2D sandbox exploration game. You, one of the ArkCo Recruits, have been dropped into an area where terraforming should never have been attempted. Stranded in an unknown region of space on a busted-up planet where early terraforming protocols have gone horribly wrong, it's now up to you and whoever else you can find to overcome the obstacles ahead.How is the beta going?The beta is going very well. It has kept our feet on the ground and really helped us identify issues in the core system early on. Whenever you are developing multiplayer, we think it is key you get it out into the "wild" as soon as you can. We wanted to experiment with a different kind of development style to match our small team. After alpha, we pulled out all but the basic features for beta, and then started adding them back in layers as we found things were stable and the necessary iteration was put in place.This is very much a bottom-up approach. To ensure our foundations are rock solid is paramount. Even though mod development is not being released right at release day, everything has already been made to support it when we do. This has served us very well. It does come with the drawback of not being able to show everything we want to, but it allows us make the code infinitely more stable.
Next Steam Greenlight batch incoming on January 15
Steam Greenlight is poised to announce the next round of games to make the community-chosen cut on January 15.So far Greenlight, which allows players to vote for games they think are worthy of being on Steam, has accepted 32 games and launched 12 of those, including Primordia, Postal 2 Complete, Waking Mars, AirBuccaneers and McPixel. Greenlight also has an arm for non-game software, which has Greenlit one batch of six programs, with one release.As they say, get out and vote.
