Malevolence: The Sword of Ahkranox Goes The Crowdfunding Route

Posted on March 18, 2012 by geelw

One of my favorite in-progress indie projects is a “little” game being whipped up by a small team of programmers and artists based in Brisbane, Australia (with some assistance from talented folks around the globe). A old-school turn-based RPG using a modern graphics engine? Count me in! I was wondering if these guys and gals were going to go use Kickstarter, but as they’re outside the U.S. of A., they can’t use the popular crowdfunding site at all (boo). However, thanks to another (and more international) crowdfunding site, IndieGoGo, the team is all set up and ONLY needs a mere $8000 to complete their game. These days, I’m always broke, but it’s still my obligation as a fan of all things independent gaming to direct those of you who do have that disposable income to boogie on over and give these guys some support.

As you can see in the video above and through the posts on the development blog, what’s coming is going to be a total sock-knocker-offer (or a really fine game worth playing). The team is also offering up some nice premium items from physical copies to T-shirts to signed posters to even getting your name in the game credits. With hugely popular games such as Double Fine Adventure and now Wasteland 2 getting some massive cash injections from fans clamoring for classic PC games to make a comeback, Malevolence is looking like a more than worthy entry in the fan-funded gaming surge. Anyway, go check out the links above and spend a little cash if you like what you see!

Crowdfunding Goes Classic (Again!): Wasteland 2 Gets The Kickstarter Treatment

Posted on March 13, 2012 by geelw

Wasteland 2 Kickstarter

“I have waited a long time to make this game, and I now have my dream team put together to help make it a reality,” said Brian Fargo of inXile Entertainment. “I had the main storyline created by Jason Anderson, the co-creator of Fallout™. We have Mike Stackpole and Alan Pavlish aboard who were the main designers of the original Wasteland™. Mark Morgan is doing the music and he composed the score for Fallout™1 and 2. And we have the fantastic talent of Andree Wallin helping with the concept art.”

Excellent. Now, inXile is in on the Kickstarter funding bandwagon and this time, it’s the official sequel to one of the greatest RPGs ever created, so you know it’s going to get funded pretty quickly. With a million dollar budget (Brian Fargo says he’ll chip in that final100K if at least 900K gets pledged), the chance to score a big box copy of the game for a $50 and even get in the game (as anything from a NPC, Weapon, location or commemorative statue), this one’s as exciting as the Double Fine Adventure project that generated a record-shattering amount of pledges in a single day. Given the original Wasteland’s influence on the RPG genre (it inspired the Fallout series and many other post-apocalyptic games since) and the fine folks behind it, this one’s a clear winner in my book.

OK, you know what to do, folks.Give ’til it hurts (or just get someone else to if you’re broke from giving Double Fine all your money earlier). As for me, I need to have a Kickstarter project going just to help me pay for these games, grrrrr. Hmmm… it might be time to eBay a few old games again. Now, all someone needs to do is get an Anvil of Dawn PC reboot/remake going. I’d be all over that in a heartbeat, whether it was to create character or environment art or help plan out the storyline.

Double Fine Adventure Kickstarter Update: More, More, More (How Do You Like It, How Do You Like It?)

Posted on March 9, 2012 by geelw

Like the Energizer Bunny, the DFA project is still going strong at over 2.5 million dollars raised so far. But, there are only THREE days left to donate to the cause of great games (or at least great games from Tim Schafer, Ron Gilbert and company). Check out the new-ish video above and click on over to the official Kickstarter page to send some cents (well, a few hundred cents or more) to the team so that can make this the best Double Fine Adventure ever! NEW rewards have been added since I last posted such as a $100 pledge getting you a BOXED copy of the game (oooooh!), a DVD or Blu-Ray of the documentary and a super cool T-shirt. That all makes me say hey, I want to see Psychonauts get a sequel at some point and not just as a download-only title!

Oh yeah, +10 if you got the Andrea True Connection reference…

Arcane Worlds Will Make You Kill Too Much Time (And It’s Only A Tech Demo)…

Posted on February 23, 2012 by geelw

So, Ranmantaru Games (that would be Alexey Volynskov) is working on something really cool called Arcane Worlds. It’s going to be an homage to the classic 1994 PC game from Bullfrog, Magic Carpet. The actual “game” is a ways off, but the tech demo is available to play around with. Once you download it (it’s a mere 1.4MB file) and get to fooling around, you’ll find yourself forgetting to do other important stuff like working on articles you should be working on and maybe getting an extra two hours of sleep. I “created” the images above with a few keyboard presses and mouse clicks (instant wallpaper!), but I had to stop at only two before I ended up staying awake all night making worlds, eroding terrain and dropping water all over everything before changing the sun’s position (which changes the world from day to night). I’m not sure when Alexey will be finished with his game, but I say keep an eye on it. I’d keep both eyes on it, but I need to finish all that writing I’ve started…

Also, the LEVEL UP! demo is priceless (well, the demo is free, but definitely pay the five bucks for the Alpha version!). It’s super early, but pure fun to blast through those voxel walls and the idea is brilliant stuff. Enjoy!

The Driftmoon Demo Is Officially Live. You NEED To Play It. Now.

Posted on February 11, 2012 by geelw

Last year, Spiderweb Software’s Jeff Vogel (a maker of fantastic games in his own right) called Finland’s Ville and Anne Mönkkönen “two seriously attractive game developers” on his blog and I got a big laugh out of that because I’d been playing Ville’s games on and off for years without ever giving a thought as to what he looked like. The man’s got talent to spare and a unique vision that’s kept him around making a handful of fun independent games at his own pace. Driftmoon, the newest project (done in collaboration with his wife, Anne) is his most polished project to date and also the first game he’s actually looking to make a profit from. With a little assistance from people like you, of course. The official demo for the RPG has just dropped at the Instant Kingdom website and yes, I urge you to try it out and see what pretty much everyone who’s seen the game in development (and played the super early builds) already knows. You DO have a new tab open and are downloading away, right? OK, great – enjoy the demo!

Note: For you modern RPG fans out there – don’t overly obsess over the top-down viewpoint at all. Play the game for about five minutes and it’ll feel just right.

Torchlight II Website Relaunched (Diablo III Feels A Slight Chill)…

Posted on February 9, 2012 by geelw

Nice new look? Check! Awesome new screens and wallpapers? Check! Updates about some pretty cool happenings in the busy community? Check! All I need now is a copy of the game and I’m all set to not be heard from for a while as I delve into those dungeons. Hopefully, we’ll see a console release at some point as well, as a ton of gamers got to play the first game when it appeared on consoles and got hooked in. I still go back to the first game from time to time, but I need to set an alarm so I can be jolted into getting away from those dungeons. After an hour or so, it’s impossible to stop playing!

EVENT: Babycastles Brings Indie Games To The Hayden Planetarium

Posted on January 20, 2012 by geelw

Babycastles is doing it AGAIN, bringing indie gaming to the masses in a unique public setting with food and drink – check the invite below for details:

THURSDAY JANUARY 26 2012

RSVP

Continue reading →

Dear Esther Update: Official Trailer/Steam Store Link

Posted on January 18, 2012 by geelw

It’s too damn bad that a game as great as Dear Esther is going to be limited to being a download-only game when it launches on February 14. This is exactly the sort of game project that needs as wide an exposure as possible so as many people can play it without any restrictions on how they can get it. I’m not at all for ANY sort of piracy, mind you – I’m talking about a disc version with the game plus some sort of in-depth feature on how this beautiful yet haunting mod remake was put together, perhaps with the original mod as a bonus. Oh well, Steam is huge and popular, and it costs too much to get packaged games into shops these days, so that’s that, I guess. Unless someone ponies up the bucks for a retail version perhaps distributed exclusively through a few online stores or something…

UNepic Answers The Eternal RPG Question: “WTF Happened To My Stuff?!”

Posted on December 29, 2011 by geelw

My full review of this downloadable PC gem (and one of the best indie games I’ve played this year) will be up in a few days, but here’s a quick video from they guy behind the game that answers a burning question some players are having that happens to be the bane of a few other RPG’s past and present.

Tiny & Big Update: Levels, We Got Levels!

Posted on December 18, 2011 by geelw

I was wondering about how Black Pants Games Studios was going to structure its upcoming game, Tiny & Big: Grandpa’s Leftovers, and thanks to their latest video, now I know (and so do you!). Check out the new trailer for the game and see the different places you’ll go as you try and nab those underpants from that pest, Big and deal with his shenanigans as he does all he can to thwart your efforts. Now, all that needs to happen is the team getting dev kits for assorted consoles at some point so ports can be made, as this game SCREAMS for motion control or touch-screen elements on a few platforms…