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The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Humans Must Answer
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. This week, former GSC developer and co-founder of Sumom Games, Eugeny Yatsuk, talks space chickens and shmups with Humans Must Answer. The babies are Yatsuk, co-founder Denis Matveenko and artist Olexa, by Olexa. What's your game called and what's it about?Humans Must Answer. It's a shmup, and one most will recognize as having an old-school vibe about it. You play as the pilot of a scout ship called The Golden Eagle, which is manned by chickens – they like to think they're a higher species of bird than they are.They're on the lookout for something (we're not saying quite yet) and discover it within the solar system that us humans inhabit. As it is set far into the future, humans have expanded to the other planets and set up a number of industries upon them. They also have a huge legion of robots operating for them around space. So the enemies you'll come across consist of robots and humans. Yes, humans are enemies – there are far too many plots about evil aliens when, in fact, humans are most likely more evil than anything we could fictionalize.The chickens attempt to contact them in a friendly manner but the humans respond by firing at them, which isn't particularly nice. They live to regret it though because we let you, the player, go on an explosive rampage against the aggressors. There is a purpose behind it other than mere carnage though, but that doesn't appear until later in the game's narrative.How does working on your own indie project compare to working on a larger series such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R.?Very different. Faster decisions and far fewer constraints. It's a very good feeling to be the author and be responsible for all aspects of the game, and not just some cogs as part of a big company.I know some guys who work on bigger projects and ownership of their creations boils down to things like, "I made that table and chair on Level 25." You start to fear for yourself when hearing this and want to avoid ever being in that situation. When I am 40 years old I'll look at what I have created in my life. I hope to be proud of it.%Gallery-170198%
Postal 2 Complete arrives on Steam via Greenlight
The third game to make it through the Steam Greenlight process is a game whose sequel was already on Steam. Postal 2 Complete, the compilation of the infamous, crude 2003 first-person shooter and its Apocalypse Weekend expansion, is now available on Steam after being voted in by the community.Through November 9, Postal 2 Complete is discounted ten percent, available for $13.49.
Next round of Steam Greenlight titles drop November 30
Valve has revealed it is targeting to announce the next set of Steam titles to earn "greenlit" status from its community-powered submission program on November 30. Since it was first announced, Steam Greenlight has navigated a bumpy road, most recently leading to the addition of a "concepts" category to help developers generate a following for their titles.The next wave for Greenlight will bring with it at least ten new offerings, the company says.At least five of those ten will also include the program's first Software (meaning non-game) graduates, a category that Valve added to Greenlight earlier this month. Valve says all of the titles chosen will be offered worldwide distribution agreements, so presuming everyone agrees, you'll be able to buy them right off of Steam no matter where you lay your head.
Kickstarting (and not Greenlighting) traditional RPGs
This is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity. The rise of indie gaming has been fantastic for platformers, good for adventures and strategy games, great for puzzlers, but not exactly a windfall for role-playing games. There are certainly some out there, but RPGs don't have the level of variety that the genres I listed above do.We can see how this manifests thanks to the rise of crowdsourced, publicized successes and failures. Two of these have garnered a great deal of attention so far this year: Kickstarter (and other similar ventures, like Indiegogo) and Steam's Greenlight. The former has had plenty of press, and this writer is certainly excited to see the end results of Wasteland 2 and Project Eternity, as well as Shaker (when it comes back) and the currently-campaigning pseudo-sequel to the Quest For Glory games, Hero U: Rogue To Redemption. But these high-profile funding campaigns are notable because of their profile – they're RPGs made by people with expertise and previous success in the genre. It's rare (but certainly not unheard of) to see this kind of single-player, epic, story-driven quest outside of blockbuster games.
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.
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Brand
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, Guillaume Boucher-Vidal, founder and CEO of Nine Dots Studio, talks the craft of customization, XBLIG sales and launching near Diablo 3, with Brand. What's your game called and what's it about?The game is called Brand and it's about building a sword fit for a king. The game is in 3D, but the gameplay is in 2D. It features three large explorable levels, in a somewhat similar fashion to games of the Metroidvania genre, although a little simpler.How do you support yourselves, working full-time at Nine Dots with no salary? Is it worth it?I had saved up about $25,000 before starting the business, and I started doing a few consulting jobs to fill in my pockets a little whenever I can. Some guys work on the side, while others get support from their parents. It's not an ideal situation for anyone, but we try to make the most of it.We're all young and it's the right time to make these sacrifices. I think it's definitely worth it. The experience is unique, and even if Nine Dots was to fail, we'd still have a very strong portfolio piece, a unique background and we'd be of the very few developers who could proudly say: "We made the game we wanted to make, the way we wanted to do it." Some people have been in the industry for 15 years and can't say that.%Gallery-169115%
Tossing fireballs and bashing shields: Hands-on with the Forge Beta
Dark Vale's upcoming PvP-centric title, Forge, is an MMO like no other. The game has no PvE content to speak of, instead demanding that players earn their progress by killing one another in timed arena-style deathmatches or objective-based games. It's built in the Unreal Engine, features an over-the-shoulder third-person perspective, and depends heavily on strategy and reflexes as opposed to gear and level. There are no quests to complete, no mobs to grind, and no resources to gather. When Dark Vale says Forge is "Pure PvP," that's exactly what it means. While some may be skeptical of the appeal of a PvP-only MMO, others will note that there is vast potential here to fill a niche for gamers craving MMO-style combat without all the extra muss and fuss of grinding, gearing, and socializing. The only question is whether Forge will strike a chord with that pocket of players or will be just another "also-ran" in a sea of experimental MMOs. I took a peek at the Forge beta over the weekend, and what I found was an intense title with a lot of promise, but one that clearly has a lot of ground to cover before being ready for mass consumption.%Gallery-162207%
PSA: Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams now available, is Greenlight's second release
It's always a welcome relief to see a Kickstarter project transition into being an actual, released product, especially when it's as nice to look at as Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams. Developer Black Forest Games has released the world-shifting platformer on PC through GOG, Gamersgate, and Steam – where it is only the second Greenlight pick ever to make it to release.Through October 30, all three retailers are offering 10 percent off the $14.99 purchase price, so there's an incentive to check it out soon even if you didn't already buy into it via Kickstarter.
Steam Greenlight 'Concepts': Post your game without the $100 fee
"Concepts," a new section on Steam Greenlight, allows developers to post their games without paying the $100 fee normally required – the catch? Games can't be Greenlit through Concepts. Concepts is a hub for developers to gauge interest in their games and build a community, even if the developer doesn't have the resources to take its chances on Greenlight."This section is intended for items looking to gather feedback from the potential customers and begin building a community," the Concepts description reads. "If you like projects here, feel free to rate them, favorite them, and leave feedback for the developer. The voting here serves only to give the developer data and reactions and doesn't work toward getting the game distributed on Steam."Concepts offers a compromise between the completely open system that Greenlight launched with (and quickly amended), and the $100 fee now required for hosting a game on Greenlight. It allows developers to see if their games have a chance, to generate a following and resources, before taking them to Greenlight or elsewhere.Concepts joins the "Software" tab recently added to Greenlight. As of publishing, there are only 15 games on Concepts, so if you have a potential indie hit, maybe get it up there now, while the getting's good.
Steam Greenlight adds non-gaming category for your consideration
Indie game makers have been lobbing titles over Gabe Newell's fence for a short while, but now his company is inviting everyone else to join in as well. Valve has widened Steam Greenlight's crowdsourced approval process to include non-gaming software, with the community voting the most popular and useful apps onto Steam's virtual shelves. We're thinking of submitting a program ourselves, that calculates the time required for three quantities of a decaying substance to fall to half their value, just so we can see everyone's faces when Half-Life Three appears on the list.
Non-gaming software category added to Steam Greenlight
Steam's crowd-sourced Greenlight approval process has now begun accepting applications for non-gaming software, which the platform began featuring recently. The submission, voting and approval process for software is identical to that of the existing system for games, which is to say that approval comes by way of popular vote.So! If you've been sitting on an alpha build of a program to track your cat's sleeping patterns, now might be a good time to dig it up and start debugging.
Steam Greenlight gives go-ahead to 21 more games
Greenlight has curated its second batch of indie games worthy of launching on Steam, and instead of the 10 we expected, this round sees 21 new titles. Greenlit games include AirBuccaneers, Forge, Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams, Octodad: Dadliest Catch and The Stanley Parable: HD Remix."This second wave of titles was originally targeted to include at least 10 titles," Valve writes. "Given the number and quality of games submitted, and the ship date of many of the top-ranking titles, the decision was made to increase the size of this group."These 21 games join the 10 previously greenlit titles; of those, only McPixel has launched on Steam so far. In September, Steam had more than 2,000 games to sort through on Greenlight, with 800 live for public voting. The Greenlight system is far from perfect for some indie developers, but Steam may still be refining its system, if the increased number of greenlit games is any indication.Check out the complete list of freshly minted games on Steam Greenlight below:
The Joystiq Indie Pitch: Cloudbuilt
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, Johannes, Anders, Martin, Poi and the Coilworks team discuss going Greenlight and modern-retro challenges with Cloudbuilt. What's your game called and what's it about?Our game is called Cloudbuilt, and at its core it is all about challenging high-speed action and platforming. We are borrowing inspiration from old-school games, combining it with modern elements and adding some unique twists. We really think that we have brought booster powers to a whole new level with this game.So what will Cloudbuilt bring in terms of challenge?We want there to be plenty of room for the player to improve. We don't want to make Cloudbuilt challenging in the sense of simply killing the player. Sure, there are parts of the game where people tend to die a lot, but we make sure it's not because of unfair design. Our goal is to make you feel in control, thus should you fail, it would be due to your own fault. That makes it truly rewarding and when you clear a level, you'll feel like you've improved and mastered something.Doing several easy tasks at once quickly becomes challenging. Wall-running on its own is not that hard, but wall-running while dodging mines and shooting at enemies, all while preparing to jump onto a new wall, is a little bit harder.Because we are giving the player access to all abilities from the start, we will be focusing on the player's development instead of a character's. There is no difference in what a player can do in the beginning compared with the end. But there will most likely be a big difference in play style and the player's way of thinking.%Gallery-167845%
(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."
DLC Quest modestly proposes new content in Greenlight bid
DLC Quest, the satirical platformer that has players pay (with in-game currency) for necessary assets such as moving to the left, has a fresh batch of DLC coming its way, titled "Live Freemium or Die." This content brings a new campaign, world and enemies, along with buckets of new DLC to purchase, set to launch in Q4 2012 for PC, Mac and Xbox 360.DLC Quest is on Steam Greenlight, hanging in at number 23. Developer Going Loud Studios would like to see DLC Quest in the top 10, and Live Freemium or Die will be included in the Steam version in an attempt to sweeten that deal. Check out DLC Quest in our Indie Pitch, interview with creator Ben Kane, or directly on Greenlight.
Reverb forced to clarify 'homeless kittens' press release
Reverb Publishing was forced this morning to clarify a press release which implied the company would only donate $5000 towards care for homeless cats if Edge of Space was approved on Steam Greenlight. The press release, while jovial in language, clearly said the money would only be donated to The Humane Society, an animal protection organization, if the game was approved by October 15 for release on Steam. The press release quickly dominated the comments on the game's Greenlight page, with views swinging both against and in defense of the publisher. This led Reverb to issue a clarification: "Hey everyone! There has been a misunderstanding on the marketing side of Edge of Space. We do not support guilt voting in any way and our sincere apologies go out to anyone who felt that way. This was meant in fun, if anything, Reverb's intent was to add a bonus; if we can make it to the top 10 by the 15th, we will help out a worthy cause. Understand that there is some dark humor in the game and they wanted to play off of that. We love CATS!!! That's why we have them in our game to begin with! We have sugar bears too!!! So we like exotics."In the Greenlight page's comments section, Reverb's VP of business development Doug Kennedy claimed that "even before the promotion was approved" his company had agreed to make the donation to The Humane Society.Whichever side you fall on, this is by far not the first time a game's controversial PR campaign didn't go as planned, and certainly not the first one involving animals. We're, of course, talking about the debacle surrounding Sony and the dead goat at the God of War II event. Then there are the things that sound cool on paper when they're dangerous or awkwardly unethical. The inarguable good side of this story is some homeless kittens will be getting much needed care.
McPixel is the first Greenlight game available on Steam
As a pioneer of the Steam Greenlight program, there couldn't have been a more random choice than McPixel. The hilarious, absurd adventure game-meets-WarioWare exercise in preventing explosions is the first Greenlight game to make it to Steam, where it's available now for $4.99.McPixel is a series of 100 scenarios in which the player has 20 seconds to "prevent stuff from blowing up using available tools." It was recently featured in one of the custom arcade cabinets at Fantastic Arcade, where it benefited from an even more context-free presentation and could thus confuse people who didn't know what they were playing at all.
Steam Greenlight by the numbers
During a panel pitching Steam and Greenlight to indies at Fantastic Arcade, Valve presented some numbers representing the usage of the service.According to the slide, 949,156 users have participated, casting 9,998,476 votes toward getting games onto Steam. 3,195 games have been posted to Greenlight for consideration, of which 1,110 got banned so far, for various reasons ranging from content considered inappropriate to just being a joke.Finally, there are around 800 "Legitimate, Publicly Visible Items" on the service. And of those, of course, ten have been officially "greenlit."
Steam Greenlight approving ten new games on Oct. 15
Valve will add at least ten more games to the "Greenlit" section of Steam Greenlight on October 15, according to a community update issued today. Ten games were already picked by the community for distribution on the Steam platform earlier this week. Additionally, Valve has improved conversation sections and tweaked the ranking system for the service, allowing developers to see their numerical ranking and progress to being approved.According to a tweet by indie dev Going Loud Studios, DLC Quest is currently ranked at #18 on Steam Greenlight, though voters aren't able to view games by their rankings.
Black Mesa, McPixel, eight more revealed as first Greenlight graduates
Just under two weeks after the start of the service, ten games have made it through the gauntlet of fan opinion in Steam Greenlight, and have accordingly been picked up by the service for digital distribution worldwide.The first ten Greenlit games include Black Mesa, Cry of Fear, Dream, Heroes & Generals, Kenshi, McPixel, No More Room in Hell, Project Zomboid, Routine, and Towns. The games will be "released independently in the months ahead (as they are varying stages of completion)," Valve said.
