AQUARIA IS OUT!

By: Brandon McCartin (BMcC)

On: December 8th, 2007

The Final Teaser.

Aquaria has finally been released! I’ll have (much) more to say about the game later, but as the Bit Blot site is down, I’ll just provide you with some hot, hot links for now.

The links that really matter:
Buy the game here. (Do it.)
Download the demo here. (63 MB)

Enjoy.

Posted in Adventure, Highly Recommended, Windows | Tags: AlecHolowka, BitBlot, DerekYu

X_Sheep

Stogey – putting it in a .zip doesn’t help, it stays pretty much the same size.
oNyx

>I wonder how Naija cooks underwater?

With underwater fire (as seen in Spongebob). Oh and you can extinguish it with underwater water… obviously.

>Iâ€™m on 56K and I really want to try the
>demo. Could someone put it in a .zip file
>pretty please?

It’s a LZMA compressed installer. Slapping outdated Deflate compression on top would only add a few bytes.

They might be able to make it smaller by repacking the data and/or using lossy image formats (jpg/dxtn) tho. But even then the download time would be hardly acceptable with 56k.
Pixel Mort

Does the full version features MORE FREAKIN SAVE POINTS kthxbye

Anyway, the demo made a pretty big impression on me.
Turniper

Hmm, I never had problems with save points. I think they are okay.
Pyrrhon

Im very impressed by the Demo. Fluid controls, great art and atmosphere. Now i know what i will give myself for christmas!

Great job!
raelz

Gosh I’d love to buy this game.. but I am poor student :(
nullerator

Since I seem to be the only one who didn’t like the demo very much, I’ll just shut my mouth before the flames start flying. :-)
krizzl0r

*needs 16:9 resolutions*

i think it d be great on my tv because you only need one hand. and when im sitting on the sofa at least one hand needs to be youknowwhere.. :D
Pixel Mort

Speaking about flames, didn’t you stop before you get to actually attack enemies? The game gets pretty frantic once you find how to get rid of those angry mollusks crawling everywhere.
konjak

The download is painfully slow (full version) and on top of that, prone to fail some way into it.

Downloading the demo was a breeze…
Lurk

I did some backtracking(I got lost exploring and wound up in the kelp forest) and found my first costume! And I discovered I could use the attract song to harvest those suspicious looking leaves. It’s been a while since I had a game ‘grow’ on me like this, and I can play with one hand while sipping my morning coffee at that!

Gene G: I disagree. 30$ is’nt too much; maybe we’ve been spoiled over the years with high-quality indie titles that were totally free, and it’s about time the devs started getting something in return. We’ll just have to start ‘shopping’ again, and not be able to afford every game that comes out.
AmnEn

Pretty nice game really. I especially like the flow of the movement, feels kind of natural. Graphics and Sound is also very nice. The gameplay, well so far it is quite slow paced but that’s allright.

But I’m stuck in the Song Cave now. I tried for half an hour, then grabbed the Walkthrough and found out that the Walkthrough told me to do what I’ve been doing for atleast 7 times allready. Seems it doesn’t work for me for some reason. *shrugs* Just the Demo :)
Pixel Mort

Look at the bas relief again, especially the “circle” as there are two “notes” that look the same.
Keops

Congratulations! :)

I’m very happy for you guys, after all this hard work, it finally pays off! Thanks for giving us the pleasure of immersing ourselves in the world of Aquaria.

Ricardo
AmnEn

@Pixel Mort:
Yes, the similarity between the symbols was obvious. I tried both variations near the Door… it just did not trigger.
Si

nullerator; I don’t like it too much either. I think ED is a much more enjoyable game. More thrill to go exploring.

Music and art are lovely. Graphics overwhelming a bit too much at times and I don’t like the sudden cut off from rock>black background. Not happy with the pacing either. But I can see why people would like this.
Peter

price is pretty subjective. I mean, sure the production cost of this game is pretty nil compared to some of the commercial games out and there and it in that sense, 30 bucks is a total fucking ripoff assholes. But We’re not exactly paying with respect to production cost. The game is fun, and probably worth far more than 30 dollars of fun. I paid like 40 bucks for cubivore and that game was shit. The demo costing me FREE is worth more than cubivore was so I’d say 30 bucks is for the full version is a pretty good steal.

Anyways, I’m not sure if I will buy it. I agree that exploration can be fun but really for no more than 2-3 times. Sometimes, you need some obscure item in some obscure corner you missed and you end up having to go through the entire map again two or three times to find it and there is really no way to know exactly what you are looking for and whether it’s actually in the place you are looking.
rz.

um, okay peter. your opinion is completely invalidated by saying cubivore is shit. gtfogtfogtfoGTFO!
Mark-P

I’ve found it interesting to see the number of people on various sites who feel compelled to loudly announce that they don’t like Aquaria. These announcements are usually accompanied by a list of nitpicks which can be best responded to with: “-you don’t like this kind of game, congratulations go play something else” or “-oh for fucks sake…”
There’s a lot of whiny/bitter/jealous people out there. :/

IMHO – The game is fantastic. It’s gorgeous to look at, very recognisably Derek Yu. The presentation is excellent. Music and ambience is gorgeous. Movement is good, combat is fun and doesn’t make me want to break my keyboard like ED. The voice is appropriate. Exploring is not too dull and actually quite relaxing.
It’s bizarre that some people are immediately so hellbent on nitpicking inevitable impefections. Aquaria is a wonderful achievement.

This raises the bar for all us indy developers and I think it’s scared some folks. >:) Good.
http://www.tscreative.net BMcC

The demo is just the intro ripped straight from the game. They were going to do a separate miniquest that showed more off, but didn’t have enough time.

Believe me when I say the game really picks up once you get out into Open Waters…
http://www.tscreative.net BMcC

Mark-P: You nailed it! You can smell their agendas a mile away. This game is shaking some (mediocre) people up.

I think they know they’re on their way out…
eobet

Well, the game didn’t seem to recognize my Xbox 360 joypad, and I have no idea how to configure it (the key config screen isn’t intuitive for gamepads).

Also, there was no 1280×1024 resolution or any of the more common larger widescreen resolutions.
eobet

Oh yeah, the game looks wonderful, btw. The 2d/3D animation is really nice to look at!
Dan MacDonald

To the guy who said that he started looking at indie games because they were cheap. I thought that was kind of funny, because a lot of game developers look to make indie games because they want to make good games. Not cheap games.

It’s always interesting to see what reasons people use to try and evaluate the value of something. Bit-Blot spent two years working hard on aquaria, but their only two guys. But spiderman 3 the game took 2 years with a team of 75 so obviously spiderman 3 is worth its $59 price tag, but aquaria has no right to charge $30.

It’s true, indie games may have less content or less labor intensive content then their retail counterparts, but I would argue that the potential enjoyment of a hand crafted game like Aquaria vastly exceeds what you could get from some licensed spin off sequel game that you buy at fred-meyer and therefor worth every penny of the $30.
Toom

>>I mean, sure the production cost of this game is pretty nil compared to some of the commercial games out and there and it in that sense, 30 bucks is a total fucking ripoff assholes.

Well, there’s the small matter of the, what, three or four years of Derek and Alec’s lives to consider…I haven’t bought a copy yet due to Reasons, but I fully intend to once my bank manager stops shitting on my face and chest, because this game is pure fucking quality.
Toom

(I know you’re not saying it’s not worth paying, Mark, I’m just talkin’ here.)
Chris

Comparing the labor involved is kind of silly for products that are made once and sold countless times. Sure, Spiderman cost way more to make, but they expect it to sell many more copies. After they cover the production costs, every sale is mostly gravy.

If you just look at production, the movie studios are getting ripped off. Movies cost a ton to make, but you can get a DVD for $10-20. Somehow they can still pay millions of dollars for big name actors, though.
Chris

(By the way, I was responding to the “$30 is too much” post, not Dan’s. When I read it again, it looked like I might be disagreeing with him. I’m not.)
Gene G.

Lurk: Yeah, it’s true…I am very spoiled when it comes to free indie games. And that’s a hard habit to break. :

Dan: Well, I’ve definitely considered buying the game. I mean, it grows on you. The cost is not something that’s hindering me buying it, it’s the AMOUNT of cost…I’ll gladly shell out $15-20 for a game that I know I’ll enjoy. But, $30 is a bit much for me. Especially for a game that doesn’t seem to have that much replay value.

It’s just a matter of opinion, really. I didn’t get into indie gaming JUST because it was cheap. I got into it because I love playing games that have heart and soul poured into them, instead of some brand-spanking new graphics engine. The fact that most indie games are free was just the incentive I needed.

And I usually don’t spend $50-60 on console games unless I KNOW they’re good.

I think the incentive I need to buy Aquaria is a nice boxed version of the game. *wink-wink, nudge-nudge*
pkt-zer0

Hah, BMcC couldn’t be any more of a shill even if he tried.

The game’s good, though. More like “20$ good” than “30$ good”, but still good.
Kenzya

@Nullerator

I’m in the same boat as you. I didn’t very much like the demo nor did I see the need for all the hype. Oh well.
PHeMoX

*With underwater fire (as seen in Spongebob). Oh and you can extinguish it with underwater waterâ€¦ obviously.*

Imagine the things kids get taught by brainless series like Spongebob. :p

Damn, I got stuck in the demo. I don’t want to spoil anything, but I can’t find a second one of something and it seems I’m in a closed area. That’s not a bug is it?
http://akktivecarbon.uw.hu !CE-9

“the difficulty ramps up nicely”? it’s fecking evil starting with the second boss. that’s where I died the first time, and that’s where I keep dying ever since.

Phemox: yes you are in a closed area (I mean you can’t go back), but that second something can be found (and well before finding it, seen). it’s a long way though. uh, is this making any sense?
http://akktivecarbon.uw.hu !CE-9

anyway, the game rocks harder than I could have imagined.

two things:
– it isn’t playable with a tablet (not with a Graphire at the very least)
– for some time it let the screensaver turn on when the time was up. (I left it on for testing, then about when I got to the first boss the glitch was gone)
PHeMoX

@: !CE actually I got that one first, hence why it confused me… I had expected the other one to be further away, a bit like the first one I found (the furthest away). But thanks anyways!

I’ve just seen the ‘End of the Demo’ message, this really is an awesome game… (It took me about 2 hours or so, if that’s by any means representative for the full game, it’ll be lots of value!!). First thing next month will be Aquaria! (Yeah, I should have know better not to buy several expensive things at once this month :shame on me: ). At least I’ve got something nice to look forward to. ;)
http://www.d3s.net Companda

Amazing.
Downloaded demo, 2 hours + later bought the game.
Been playing ever since.

Only comment I have is it would be awesome if we could post comments/pins on the map since a lot of stuff I run across I need to come back to later and would love to be able to easily remember where that is.

The game is spectacular, and simply amazing.
The cost is completely reasonable. I don’t think people realize the amount of effort put into this game. And, yes, it’s an indie game, but it’s not a short ass piece of shit either. Compare it to hours of play time. So far, I’m happy.

Good job Alec on all the music too. I wish I, a programmer, had that talent =).

Thanks again for this amazing game.
Edmundo

Can’t wait to at least try the demo! Sadly my personal computer that works right now is a Mac, so I have to wait until I get a hold of something running Windows. :'(
Xagarath

I am pretty impressed with the demo. Not perfect, but a damn fine effort.
I’ll be buying the full thing soon, I think.
Not Sure

Yay, paid for it, now I just have to wait for damn paypal to clear. ( I really need to get around to getting a CC)
Joshua

eh, color me unimpressed. Now, don’t get me wrong, the graphics are really pretty, but the animations were a little funky, and the gameplay wasn’t really all that interesting. Its definitely an impressive game, and I salute the developers, but I just couldn’t find enough to like to justify plunking down 30 bucks.
captain_duck

Played the demo through by now and loved it. Bought the game and i’m downloading the full version now :)

Anyway my only real complaint is well, that i’d like some sort of hint system. Maybe a bit like Metroid Prime’s. I know its weak but we’ve all been so spoiled by games in the last few years that it sucks when you have no idea where to go, which leads to long times of sometimes boring exploration, and a hint system would help against that.
Chris

I also think a way to add comments to the map would be nice. I can see “unexplored” areas on the map, but I have no way to tell why I couldn’t (or didn’t) proceed. As soon as I get a new ability, I’ll have to backtrack a lot to figure out which ones were opened up. It’s by no means a big deal, though.
Anthony Flack

I don’t think it’s fair (or probably healthy) to imagine that anyone who doesn’t go for this game is jealous. Cogratulations are due to all involved, and I wouldn’t want to do anything to diminish the all-too-short feeling of elation at the end of a long project – but let’s not all go collectively pissing our pants.

I subjected my MacBook to a Windows boot in order to give the demo a try, and I thought that the level of polish and completeness was very nice. One thing that stands out is that the game has all the stuff you expect to find in a “proper” modern game, and it’s all treated with the same amount of care and attention throughout. And although the demo starts out slow – perhaps even painfully slow – I definitely get the feeling that this is a big game with a lot of guts to it when it gets going.

But I gotta say I found the theme extremely off-putting. I think the guys may have spent too long huffing the incense at the healing crystal counter of the local new-age store. And it’s all treated with such seriousness! I think if you want to successfully pull off the “touching and poetic” vibe, you need a lighter touch.

Anyway, that’s all by-the-by now. It is what it is. Good luck with the selling!
ulix

@Gene G.:

You can’t really complain about wether the game has replay value or not.
Because the developers are publishing their tools with the game.
Which means in a few weeks or months from now we’ll have tons of fan-made mods and levels to explore.

Have I said, that I love the game?
Although I would have liked it, if you were tossed into the action a bit faster in the beginning.

Took me a while to finally get the beast-form.
http://josephkingworks.blogspot.com Joseph

Has anyone done a speedrun yet :P
Del_Duio

Just imagine the gobs of money they’ve on this made already..

Hell yeah I’m jealous, and I hope one day to have a big successful game too. The fact that they’ve done this should be inspiration for all of us here, guys.

Great work!
Nizzate

Awesome game, Best 30 dollars i ever spent. I feel much better spending money on an indie game than giving money to a corporate machine. Great work on the graphics derek and some of the programmed graphics blew my mind, good going alec. The music is especially great and pulls the whole game together. Great work guys.
Twisted Rabbit

I really want wide screen aspect ratios before i spend 30$ on it. does anyone have any idea when it will get em?
crukid

3 hours in, the game is spectacular!
Del_Duio

I finally downloaded the demo.

Very, very polished for sure. Derek proves that he can animate as well as draw (well, no duh about that).

It’s not really my type of game so far, but I can clearly see what a masterpiece Aquaria is and why so many people dig it. Just because I don’t like Pearl Jam doesn’t mean they’re not excellent musicians (or something like that). I’ll have to give it another go later on.