Search results for "rpg"

SCMRPG! Nearly Turns Two. News at 10

By: Shapermc

On: April 12th, 2007

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Since returning from GDC this year I’ve seen just about one new article, column, or feature per week which has discussed, criticized, or highlighted SCMRPG!

Hit the extended for a short list of possibly the most talked about game from the independent community ever.

First up is the soapbox article by Patrick Dugan titled “Why You Owe the Columbine RPG.” As expected, this article covers many benefits of the game’s existence claiming that “SCMRPG! and the media surrounding it is affecting three positive trends for games, and in the long-term, the game industry:

-It’s challenging the mainstream and specialist gaming press to discuss games as an artistically potent medium.

-It’s introducing the notion of games as art to progressive non-gamers.

-It’s introducing game designers to new notions about what games can be.”

The article goes into a lot of depth discussing it’s effects on the media, non-gamers, and how it relates to game design. It is well written and worth a look, even for the skeptics.

Next, Jason Dobson reports on the <a href=http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13330 >“Columbine Controvery Examined at Serious Games Symposium” for Gamasutra. The article cover the panel discussion at Living Game Worlds Syposium relating to the controversial explosion from the game’s Slamdance reception. The panel included: “USC Interactive Media Program’s Tracey Fullerton and Georgia Institute of Technology assistant professor and Persuasive Games founding partner Ian Bogost, as well as Slamdance competition organizer Sam Roberts, all of whom seemed to agree that that the removal of Super Columbine Massacre RPG! for the event was ‘symbolic of a cultural misunderstanding of this medium.’” It reads more like a postmortem on the Festival itself, but an interesting article nonetheless.

Earlier this week, James Edwards wrote a new review of the game for “the pitchforkmedia.com of videogames” review site ActionButton.net. He gave the game a scathing 0 out of 4 stars (with 1 star being an average rating) and states that “Super Columbine Massacre RPG! is a game which evokes lank hair and scuffed combat boots with little or no effort. This owes less to the success of the author in evoking the twisted souls of Eric Harris and Daniel Kobold and more to the simple fact that only people with lank hair and scuffed combat boots make these kinda things sincerely. Long before Daniele ever paraded this kind of crap as sincere parody, Slipknot fans the world over were making shitty flash games just like it. Stickdeath.com was a horrible, crude and reactionary bag of filth, but it had the good grace to be sincere about what it intended – to make guileless balls of cheeto-dust and lard totally f***in’ snigger at their monitor, some bleary-eyed morning in their parents basement.” No mincing words here. James writes entertainingly enough that it’s worth a look if for no other reason that to figure out how to make a game he likes.

And today (the article which drove the nail in the coffin to get me to write this collection of articles) Sharon Sloane, President and CEO WILL Interactive, Inc., has an opinion piece about SCMRPG! up at Gamasutra. Her focus is on serious games in general, with the prevalent example of SCMRPG! as how real events can trigger very real emotional reactions from games. “Designing these games is part art, part science. Doing it well requires attention to many disciplines including psychology, screenwriting, learning and game design.” Those of you interested in covering more serious topics in games should definitely read this over as it contains very good food for though.

Could Super Columbine Massacre RPG! possibly be getting more attention in the media right now? Probably, but there certainly isn’t a shortage of it for a game that’s coming up on it’s two year anniversary next week. Hell, it will probably get more attention on the 20th of April because of the 8 year anniversary of the shooting.

Columbine RPG Slammed

By: Derek Yu

On: January 7th, 2007

Columbine Massacre RPG Slammed

“Slamdance finalist ”http://www.columbinegame.com/">Super Columbine Massacre RPG has been officially kicked from the festival due to mounting pressure from protesters and the loss of sponsorship, the game’s creator told Kotaku Thursday night.

This is the first time in the Slamdance Festival’s 13-year history that a game or film has been removed from the festival due to criticism or outside pressure." (Read More)

This rather mediocre (as a game, at least) RPG continues to stir up controversy. I won’t bother to discuss my own opinion of the situation. It’s easy to understand why every side is doing what they’re doing.

Of note is that Braid, the innovative time-altering game from last year’s IGF has dropped out of the competition in protest of Slamdance’s decision.

Update: A bunch more games have bowed out and an official letter of protest has been issued. And other crap you can read about here. (Thanks, Shih Tzu!)

vertical & rrrrrpg

By: dessgeega

On: September 25th, 2006

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always up to no good, alan gordon (who you may remember as the author of zi) has just released a pair of old projects onto the internets.

vertical is technically unfinished – there are no enemies or encounters. what remains is the architecture of the game, a randomly-generated tower of infinite height that the player scales with wall-jumps and a grappling hook which bears comparison to umihara kawase or turrican, depending on your background. once one becomes comfortable with the controls, the game becomes a meditative experience.

rrrrrpg, on the other hand, is a complete game. unofficially standing for “really really really random role-playing game”, but officially for nothing, rrrrrpg is a jrpg without content. all that’s left is a trio of abstract shapes roaming the countryside, fighting enemies for experience and money, and wandering back to town to buy better weapons and armor. it is the purest distillation of the jrpg.

check professor gordon’s blog for information on the upcoming zombie city survivors, as well as the zombie city games it is based on (now available for mac).

update: vertical now has a speedrun mode, accessible by pressing R.

An honest to god RPG.

By: Mr. Hollow

On: July 6th, 2006

eschalon_beta

I’m a bit of an old-school CRPG hag (which is plain to see from the sour look on my face when the subject of real-time combat comes up.)

That’s why the announcement of Basilisk Games’ upcoming first release, Eschelon: Book One has me all hot and bothered. This promises to be a real, honest to god, turn-based, single player CRPG. (And indie at that.) Not that I don’t love Spiderweb Software games, but it’s about time for some new kids on this block.

The original release was scheduled for sometime this summer, but has been pushed back indefinitely:

“It is also impossible to accurately determine when we will be finished with it, so we have decided not to toss out another release date until we know we can adhere to it.”

Here’s hoping that extra development time pays off in the form of a juicy new time sink.

Source: rpgcodex.com

Trailer: LISA

By: Derek Yu

On: October 26th, 2014

A game about survival, sacrifice, and perverts…

Lisa is a quirky side-scrolling RPG set in a post apocalyptic wasteland. Beneath the charming and funny exterior is a world full of disgust and moral destruction. Players will learn what kind of person they are by being FORCED to make choices. These choices permanently effect the game play. If you want to save a party member from death, you will have to sacrifice the strength of your character. Whether it’s taking a beating for them, or losing limbs in a Yakuza style apology, or some other inhuman way. You will learn that in this world being selfish and heartless is the only way to survive…

LISA was successfully funded on Kickstarter on December 14, 2013.

Steam Greenlight: LISA

Kickstart This: Creepy Castle

By: Alehkhs

On: September 30th, 2014

Indie studio Dopterra has just three days to reach the modest goal of $6000 for its colorful 8-bit title, Creepy Castle. Promising a mix of 2D platform-based exploration and turn-based RPG combat, the game follows the adventure of Moth (note: an actual moth) within the halls of the titular Creepy Castle in an effort to uncover and thwart a looming threat. Dopterra has also teased several other protagonists, playable in an assortment of scenarios that intertwine with Moth’s story.

With a graphical style inspired by the Sinclair ZX Spectrum and a catchy chiptune soundtrack, Creepy Castle certainly aims to present a fantastically old-school experience – but its six-person dev team is not afraid to pay homage to the modern indie game scene as well: It’s been revealed that characters from recent indie titles such as Shovel Knight and Super Meat Boy will appear in-game, possibly even in the form of playable characters.

With only three days to go in its Kickstarter campaign, Creepy Castle is tantalizingly close to reaching its goal of just $6000. Whether you’ve long dreamt of fluttering your way as a moth through a labyrinthine castle – drawn not to a flame, but to your awaiting destiny – or you simply enjoy old-school graphics and gameplay, Creepy Castle might just be the game for you: Head on over to the Creepy Castle Kickstarter page to learn more and pledge. You can also vote for Creepy Castle right now on its Steam Greenlight page. Finally, if you simply want to watch the game as it develops, be sure to check out the Creepy Castle DevLog on TIGForums.

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Kickstart This: Darkest Dungeon

By: Alehkhs

On: February 10th, 2014

Darkest Dungeon 01

Red Hook Studios’s gorgeously gothic RPG Darkest Dungeon went live on Kickstarter just nine hours ago, and is already looking ready to slay its goal of $75,000. Boasting the traditional roguelike staples of procedurally-generated levels, permadeath, and turn-based combat, Darkest Dungeon also promises an “uncompromising, unforgiving, and unconventional” approach to the classic dungeon crawler. Drawing influence from the creeping terror of H.P. Lovecraft’s literary works, Red Hook Studios hopes to implement an “Affliction System,” forcing the player to contend with “paranoia, abusiveness, fear, irrationality, and a host of gameplay-meaningful quirks” as they lead a team of heroes ever deeper into the dungeon.

With the game set to meet its funding goal within the first day, and with a long list of stretch goals promising ever more content and polish, Darkest Dungeon is a project I will certainly be keeping my eye on. To learn more, jump on over to the game’s site, or head straight to the game’s Kickstarter page to get on board.

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Path of Exile 1.0

By: Derek Yu

On: October 30th, 2013

Path of Exile, by Grinding Gear Games

After nearly a year of open beta, Path of Exile has finally reached version 1.0. The release will conclude this chapter’s story and bring with it a slew of new features, including a prestige class, the Scion, which is unlockable by beating the game in Normal Difficulty. It’s also available on Steam for the first time.

Path of Exile’s itemization and passive skill tree impressed me when the open beta first began, and since then it seems like Grinding Gear Games has made good on their promise to continue making improvements and expanding their ambitious multiplayer modes. And it’s free-to-play still, so if you’re a fan of ARPGs, there’s no reason not to try it out – PoE is supported entirely by the purchase of cosmetic effects and account improvements (extra character slots and stash tabs).

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Mercenary Kings

By: Derek Yu

On: July 29th, 2013

[This is a guest post by phubans.]

Here’s a guest review for Mercenary Kings. I even made a video to go with it!

Mercenary Kings is simply amazing. You can always tell when you like a game – you start playing it and spend the next 8~ hours continuing to play it. It’s that good. When I started out, I did the online co-op with a few friends over a Skype call, playing on my TV with a gamepad for the full experience. Co-op was great, but I kept playing for hours after everyone else left, completely immersed in the level of depth the game had to offer.

Let me just say that this game seems to have ticked all the right boxes. It goes without saying that a game featuring the awesome art and animation of Paul Robertson is going to look great, but beyond that it even feels great; the feedback couldn’t be better. The music is also one of the game’s strong points, with driving, energetic tunes that will have you humming along. But as great as it looks, sounds, and plays, I think the most compelling feature of the game is the weapon crafting system.

As you play the game, enemies and chests will drop common, uncommon, and rare materials. Back at base camp you can use these to craft weapons, armor, and accessory upgrades. But it isn’t as simple as upgrading your gun to level 2. Perhaps the greatest aspect of Mercenary Kings is that every part of your gun is customizable – the receiver, the barrel, the stock, the magazine, etc. Using this system you can mix and match to create one of thousands of unique possible combinations.

The game also features a rank system where you’ll rank up by completing various missions, including scenarios like hostage rescue, scavenger hunts for materials, and simply neutralizing or capturing enemies and bosses. Completing some missions will unlock new NPCs to interact with as well new missions, areas, and weapon parts to craft.

If RPG elements aren’t enough to sell a Metal Slug-type game for you, then it’s probably not your cup of tea, but as far as games in this genre go, this one is pretty great and easily one of the best games I’ve played so far in 2013. For fans of the Contra and Metal Slug series who also enjoy high-level weapon customization and RPG elements, this game is most certainly a must buy.

Kickstart This: TinyKeep

By: Alehkhs

On: May 26th, 2013

TinyKeep is an indie 3D Action RPG title, drawing inspiration from both roguelikes and dungeon-crawler RPGs such as Ultima IV. The player is tasked with escaping the titular keep in which they have been imprisoned by exploring procedurally-generated dungeons and fighting various monsters as they progress. To increase the challenge and create a world that feels alive, the game’s sole programmer, Phi Dinh, has placed heavy focus on the project’s AI system. Dungeon inhabitants and monsters each have needs and desires, and will move about independent of player interaction in an attempt to fulfill those goals – feeding, sleeping, and interacting with each other in interesting ways. Along with the roguelike staple of procedurally-generated dungeons, Dinh hopes that these AI systems will lead to more emergent story opportunities and unique experiences for the player.

TinyKeep is currently on Kickstarter, and hoping to achieve its funding goal of only £22,162. Although it is currently more than halfway there, there are only 4 days left to achieve its goal – but with luck, we will all get the opportunity to explore and escape TinyKeep!