Minecraft Documentary: The Story of Mojang

By: Derek Yu

On: March 8th, 2011

2PlayerProductions, a small film studio from Portland, Oregon, is working on a full-length feature film about Mojang and the popularity of Minecraft. This is a 20-minute treatment of the movie. The studio is currently using Kickstarter to fund the final film.

See also: Indie Game: The Movie

2011 IGF Award Winners

By: Brandon McCartin (BMcC)

On: March 2nd, 2011

Tonight, onstage alongside the esteemed Game Developers Choice Awards, the winners of the 2011 Independent Games Festival were announced. This lucky thirteenth year’s festivities were kicked off by now-veteran IGF Chairman Brandon “Real Brandon” Boyer, who you may know from Offworld, once one of the finest and most indie-friendly blogs around. (And source of countless aped posts back on TIGSource That Was.)

The ceremony proper was helmed by another Indie Apostle, Anthony Carboni of Bytejacker, perhaps the first host to date with actual hosting experience (nothing personal, Andy). And he did quite the bang up job! Of course, it just wouldn’t be the IGF Awards if the live feed‘s audio wasn’t mixed by a partially deaf clown. Despite Anthony’s every breath being the only thing audible, inside sources have confirmed that, yes, people did in fact laugh at his jokes.
There were quite a few memorable moments peppered throughout the show, some of which I’ve listed at the end of this post. And, while I didn’t stick around to watch, word on the street is Limbo and Minecraft grabbed a number of GDC awards as well. Yet another landmark year in the growing History of Indie Games! But enough prevaricating about the bush.

Indicated by pink superlatives, The 13th Annual IGF Award Winners are…

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More Good Knytt Stories

By: Derek Yu

On: February 21st, 2011

[This is a guest post by ortoslon.]

Since my first Knytt Stories post, I’ve discovered five more good levels. Like last time, download the latest version of the game (1.2.1) to play these.

1. The Other Side by The Red Snifit. After being knocked out by a strange light, Juni wakes up into a barren, synthetic environment and sets out to explore it. The farther she goes, the harder challenges she faces. This is by far the largest level on this list. Playthrough.

2. Antsy by dessgeega puts you on a small uninhabited island. This playground level (you can’t win) plays a lot like the original Knytt.

3. Enemy Mine by Dave Germain is an obstacle course inspired by dessgeega’s Oubliette. Playthroughs of both.

4. Race to the Pumpkin Patch by Healy demands both speed and precision. If you think this level is too easy, try B-Man’s Monocromatica Grotta. Playthroughs of both.

5. Pestilence by Yohji is what you’d get if you put a nice level on a warm wet spot and left it to rot for a month. Playthrough.

AGS Awards 2010

By: ithamore

On: February 20th, 2011

The nominees for the AGS Awards for 2010 have been up for a while, and now you can vote for them on the forums, which requires registration. Voting will close on March 4th at 23:30 GMT, so there is plenty of time to try all the games if you haven’t played any of them yet and are planning to vote. Otherwise, you could simply enjoy the nominees of last years best AGS games.

If you usually don’t play adventure games, I would recommend the games nominated as the Best Short Games, since they are small enough to give good, quick examples of what AGS games are like. I’m currently working through the Best Games of the Year (pictured above: Eternally Us, Journey Down: Over the Edge, Snakes of Avalon, and Technobabylon – Part I and Part II), since I’ve only finish 3 of them so far.

(A special thanks to Frank00 for informing us about the awards.)

Big Changes for Marian

By: Derek Yu

On: February 16th, 2011

Alec Holowka, whom I worked with on Aquaria, has written an article about the new direction of Marian, his current project, including his decision to switch from 3d models to 2d sprite art. Alec, as always, is very honest about the challenges he’s faced as a game creator, and explains in depth what has happened with Marian these past two years. It’s a heart-wrenching and inspiring read.

TIGCompo: Versus

By: Derek Yu

On: January 18th, 2011

At long last, a new TIGCompo approaches…

Many of the participants of last year’s TIGJam were treated to some late-night brawls between eager combatants in Paul Hubans’ MADHOUSE and Mark Essen’s NIDHOGG (as well as sporadic skirmishes in Street Fighter III: Third Strike and Super Street Fighter IV). At GAMMA IV, we engaged in the tragicomical four-player mayhem that is B.U.T.T.O.N. Truly, these battles instilled in us not only the warrior spirit and the joy of friendly competition, but also the sadistic pleasure that comes from watching other people pit themselves in mortal kcombat.

For the TIGSource Versus Compo, the rules are simple: make a game that pits at least one human player versus another human player. The rest is up to you!

Deadline: February 27th, Midnight

Top Indie Games of 2010 (According to the TIGSource Forums)

By: Paul Eres

On: December 31st, 2010

I asked people what their personal favorite indie game releases of 2010 were in the forums; this is a compiled list. Each mention got one vote per person. There were a lot of ties, which is why the numbering is a bit wonky. Minecraft isn’t officially a 2010 game (it hasn’t been released yet and was first put on sale in 2009) but was included because it gained its popularity and most of its content in 2010.

1. Super Meat Boy

2. VVVVVV

3. Hero Core

4. Minecraft

4. Super Crate Box

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TIGJAM UK 4

By: Terry

On: December 31st, 2010

[This is a guest post by increpare.]

A weekend of making games. Everyone’s welcome to come and make games, regardless of experience or background :)

Get tickets here: http://tigjamuk4.eventbrite.com

£5 each, which will go towards goodies!

Official forum thread
See CB2 here: http://www.cb2bistro.com/
You’ll be expected to buy food and drink at the venue.

Accommodation:
This hostel is super convenient! £16.50 per night if you organise a group room on the forum.
http://www.yha.org.uk/find-accommodation/east-of-england/hostels/cambridge/index.aspx

Transport:
The event is within walking distance from Cambridge Train Station.
It’s easy to get to Cambridge from Stansted airport, and you can travel up from London Kings Cross or London Liverpool St rail station.

Pass the word around, and register now!

The Humble Indie Bundle #2

By: ithamore

On: December 15th, 2010

There’s a new Humble Indie Bundle available. Braid, Cortex Command, Machinarium, Osmos, and Revenge of the Titans all in one bundle that is free of DRM and playable on Linux, Mac, and Windows. Best of all, you get to name your own price, and you get to choose what percentage goes to the developers, charities (EFF and Child’s Play), and Humble Bundle, Inc.

There are only 5 and a half days left, so hurry to buy one for yourself and to finish up your Christmas shopping early.

Indie Games! The Big Video Project

By: ithamore

On: November 21st, 2010

In an act of altruism for the indie community, Pixel Prospector has been running a contest to promote commercial indie games, called Indie Games! The Big Video Project, to help spread some love beyond the freeware, WIP-demo core of the site. The contest simply requires players to submit a 6 second clip of a commercial indie game for potential inclusion in a compilation video. Multiple entries for different games are allow per person, and the deadline is December 12^th for submissions.

For the best videos among those selected, there are 185 prizes available: 15 copies of 4 versions of video recording software and 170 copies of 34 games. More details on the contest and its rules and prizes are available at Pixel Prospector’s announcement for the contest.