B-Game Competition: One Week Remaining!

By: Derek Yu

On: September 7th, 2007

A quick reminder: one week left in the B-Game Competition! Competitors, it’s time to start wrapping up your entries. And if you’ve wanted to enter but haven’t yet, NOW IS THE TIME! Get the lead out, people!

I’m hoping to see some dark horse entries pop up in the last few moments. The excitement is mounting!

(The screencap is from can-o-spam’s eagerly awaited entry, Hickbilly Bride!)

Hit the jump for all the new entries since a week ago:

GUNLIMB – Radnom

Omar Sharif’s Egyptian Escapades – Oddbob

Weißer Punkt in der Schwarzlücke – Movius

WRATH OF TRANSPERATOR – harem_lord

Super Human Cannonball

By: Derek Yu

On: September 6th, 2007

Some games you play, and you’re like “hey, this is pretty great!” But you’re also like “argh, it could be so much cooler!” Super Human Cannonball is one of those games, damn it.

Being shot from a cannon in order to complete a variety of tasks (popping balloons, going through hoops, bouncing off of trampolines, etc.) and attempting to land safely is great! Missing your targets and splattering against the side of a building in an explosion of cute blood particles is even greater. But ARGH, I’d give anything to see some more variety, and more options. And this game is begging for a level editor.

The other thing I’d like to see is a crowd! I love the little cannonball character. It’d be great to see other little people, watching from the rooftops… and running in panic when your gory little bits and bobs come raining down on them. Maybe in one level a visiting dignitary is catching your act, and you can splatter him for some extra points. You see what I mean? The potential is endless for this game.

And yes, it’s an old game. Old enough that the online scoreboards don’t work, so don’t even try!

Gamma 256

By: Derek Yu

On: September 5th, 2007

Kokoromi is a Québécois (“Quebec sauce?”) game developer collective, and they’re working with the Montreal International Game Summit and the Society for Arts and Technology to set up a “game jam” called gamma 256.

The theme is “low resolutions,” and the rules are as follows:

1. Your game’s resolution absolutely may not exceed 256×256 pixels maximum.

2. Your game must run on Windows XP and use an XBox 360 controller.

The submission period ends on November 1st. TIGForums is hosting the discussion for the competition, because we think it’s neat, okay? Head on over and make with the talkies.

Joe Gunn

By: Derek Yu

On: September 5th, 2007

Everyone loves tomb raiding, right? Dusty passageways, deadly traps, mysterious ruins, ancient treasures… snakes. It’s adventure and exploration and legend and all that good stuff. It’s Indiana Jones, man!

Well, there have been a lot of games set in the “Indyspace,” and some have been good and some have been bad. Joe Gunn, a newish C64 homebrew from George Rottensteiner, is definitely one of the good ones. What can I say? It’s old-fashioned platforming the way Ra intended, with 70 rooms, and plenty of items, puzzles, and secrets. And it nails the theme to the floor, right down to the great “Egyptian” music.

If you thought La Mulana was cool, but couldn’t get into it because it is so frickin’ difficult, give this one a try. It’s not easy, by any means, but it’s much more forgiving than NIGORO’s unholy beast.

Joe Gunn requires a C64 or a C64 emulator. Terry (who recommended the game, thanks!) recommends Vice. Don’t forget to configure Joystick II before you start.

See the extended for controls:

Walk – Left / Right

Climb Ladders – Up / Down

Jump – Hold Fire and press Left / Right (can be done on ladders)

Examine – Hold Fire and press Down

Use an Item – Hold Fire and press Up, then Up / Down to cycle items

At certain points in the game you will be able to climb ropes. Grab the ropes by pressing Up and press Down to let go. You can only grab onto a rope when you’re standing.

There’s no way to save in the game and it’s possible to get stuck, so be careful!

Bloxorz

By: Derek Yu

On: September 4th, 2007

Bloxorz has you flipping a block around – either along its long or short edge – to drop it in the hole. There are 33 levels of totally gnartacular block-flipping action.

(Thanks, Melly!)

Blogs of Fury

By: Derek Yu

On: September 4th, 2007

Hope all you American TIGSource readers had a great Labor Day weekend! I got to hang out with some old friends, which was great.

But enough about me, eh? I wanted to bring to your attention the blogs of two artists and game designers that I have severe mancrushes on. The first one is from Cryptic Sea, home of Alex Austin and Edmund McMillen, the creators of Gish. Now, I was already VERY excited about Gish 2. (From what I’ve heard, it’s going to be Gish, but bigger, better, yadda yadda.) But after seeing this teaser image, well… I’m at “pee pee pants” level of excitement. And that’s a very high level.

I really loved Edmund’s previous work, but it’s obvious that he’s getting better and better! He’s a hilarious dude, too, and incredibly genuine. I wish the best for him.

Which brings me to Niklas Jansson, the artist for Cortex Command. He’s a talented technical artist, to be sure, but what I love about Niklas is his broad understanding of game design. Whereas any artist can take an old design and “modernize” it by making it dark, overwrought, and angry (cough Bomberman: Act Zero cough), Niklas stays true to the original essence of the old school. If only the games that he designed made it beyond the conceptual stage!

In his new blog, which supplements his portfolio site, Niklas shares his artwork and his thoughts on games, old and new. It’s fascinating stuff, so check it out!

Furry 2

By: Shabadage

On: September 2nd, 2007

Dustin Gunn recently posted this trailer for the upcoming game Furry 2, a sequel to Furry which was made a number of years back by Hamish McLeod (now of Moonpod fame). If you’re a fan of old school DOS style action platformers, giant green enemies wielding chainsaws, or Tequila; you should give this trailer a watch. No word on a release date yet, but we’ll keep you informed once we get one.

Raspberry the Prototype, blow by blow! By Blow…

By: Xander

On: September 2nd, 2007

In fact, the very Raspberry that you would’ve seen in the video below, and thanks go to Xagarath for the tip in the comment section. I’ll keep this brief because obviously it’s mentioned in some detail in the video.

There’s also an included tutorial, which like most Jonathan Blow explanations is both in-depth and interesting throughout, as it chronicles the entire prototype itself rather than the simple mechanics of how to play the game, in a sense that echoes the earlier interactive flash videos we had a while back on Understanding Gaming. It also features four modes of play, which seem roughly to be the prototype at different stages of complexity, with the first being the simplest and the last being the full prototype with music working alongside the gameplay and the SFX produced from either doing well or sucking completely.

It’s not uncommon to be able to play Works-in-progress, but to play around on a prototype with such indepth documentation is something not to be missed really. Be sure to check out the ‘Readme’ file for a some impressions of the prototype from various playtesters (usually responded to by Blow aswell), which includes a response from Mr. Mak of Everyday Shooter fame!

…considering how famous that game is now, you’d have thought we would’ve gotten a chance to play it. Oh well, enjoy!

J. Blow on Prototyping f. Braid Gameplay Footage!

By: ARelativelyHotGirl

On: September 1st, 2007

Another IGS (the Independent Games Summit of the GDC) video has been posted. This one features Jonathon Blow explaining prototyping for Braid.

The really cool part, is that we get to see Braid in action and hints on how the game actually plays. Impressive stuff!

Note: There’s also a higher res MP4 version.

(Source: Gamasutra)

B-Game Competition: Two Weeks Left!

By: Derek Yu

On: August 31st, 2007

The B-Game Competition has been a resounding success so far. All the entries look amazing and we’re having “tons o’ fun” on the forums. (Yes, I’m trying to make you feel silly for not having signed up yet! Why haven’t you!)

One thing I’ve been really happy about is how differently people have interpreted the theme and yet they’re still staying true to the basic concept behind “B-Games.” The entries run the gamut, from action games, to text adventures, to… Petri Purho’s word processing simulator which requires the use of a microphone?!

So you know how in Dead Rising, when you take photos, it tells you the genre? EROTICA! DRAMA! BRUTALITY! OUTTAKES! Yeah, we got ALL that, baby.

Even jazzuo, who’s amazing Sexy Hiking inspired the competition, is now getting in on the act (see the above video)!

This is your official reminder that there are exactly two weeks left to submit your game. I also wanted to let you guys know that I putting up an awesome “Making Of Grindhouse” book and a CD version of MDickie’s latest masterpiece, Reach, as the prizes for first place!

Hit the extended for a list of all the current entries:

ACCELEMATRIX – Ulognep

Bloody Landlord! – Woodwolf

Brain Drain: Attack of the Mutant Brains – skaldicpoet9

Brave Karma Warriors – cactus

Burnham Striker and the End of Civilization – Lurk

Cottage of Doom – haowan

Dump Jumper! – Average Higgins

.flesh. – Alec

Hermies: the Game – jazzuo

Hick-a-Billy Bride – can-o-spam

Johnny Ferguson’s Albino Tae-Bo Fighter – guillermo

Poizoned Mind: A Texty B-Game for the Thinking Man Person – Pacian

Rap Attack: 2pacalypse Now – Farmergnome

Save the President! – jwaap

SM Word – Petri Purho

Technojam Dance 34,000 – Melly

Toadzilla – hamster

Untitled – Terry