100 Game Maker Games in 10 Minutes (Mon, 29 Sep 2008 20:51:37 +0000)
100 Game Maker Games in 10 Minutes from Paul Eres on Vimeo.
This is just a montage of a bunch of Game Maker games that I put together. There is a list of the games, with links to each and the time signatures, on the Vimeo page.
TIGJam 2008 Photos (Mon, 29 Sep 2008 19:12:13 +0000)
Previews (Mon, 29 Sep 2008 05:10:15 +0000)
Underside preview (note: strong language. source)
Zompocalypse (sidescrolling shooter)
Zeit2 (time travel shooter, web site)
Purity (abstract first person shooter, web site)
Caster (caution: loud music. web site)
concept art for Overgrowth (Lugaru sequel)
Browser Game Pick: Dogfight 2 (Rock Solid Arcade) (Sun, 28 Sep 2008 18:56:13 +0000)
Dogfight 2 is an action game which takes place in the skies, where players assume control of a fighter plane engaged in a series of missions for the German side during World War I.
Use the cursor keys to climb or dive, and press the space key to fire your guns. Hold the left shift or alternate key to drop bombs. There are also four different ace tactics which can be used once per mission to confuse your enemies momentarily. These range from flying into clouds for cover, hovering above the ground for a short while, or even executing evasive 360 degree loops near an enemy fighter plane.
The game has twenty-five missions in total, with a different objective revealed at the start of the level for each.
Name: Dogfight 2
Developer: Rock Solid Arcade
Category: Action
Type: Browser
Bytejacker Episode 9 (Thu, 25 Sep 2008 17:45:36 +0000)
This week on Bytejacker: Flashbang Studios' iSplume, Edmund McMillen/Tyler Glaiel's Aether and Ted Lauterbach's Visit 2. Daniel Remar's Iji takes the crown in Free Indie of the Week. (YouTube video)
Blurst Soft Launch (Thu, 25 Sep 2008 14:52:21 +0000)
Flashbang Studios' central hub for their Unity games launches today, with a collection of their older works already available to play on the site. Not too many features yet, but future releases can now be found on Blurst instead of having to type in a different domain name for each.
Preview: The Unfinished Swan (Ian Dallas) (Thu, 25 Sep 2008 02:03:22 +0000)
The Unfinished Swan is described as "a surreal maze game set in an entirely white world", and to find your way around you'll need to splatter paint all over the place.
This project was recently chosen as one of the finalists for Sense of Wonder Night 2008 and also Indiecade 2008. Joystiq is currently featuring five Indiecade finalists a day (out of a total of twenty-five), with the last ten to be mentioned tomorrow and the day after.
No playable build of The Unfinished Swan is available to the public currently, but there is a tech demo called Whitewash which bears more than a few similarities. (playable only on browsers with the Unity plugin installed, updated version)
Browser Game Pick: Marshmallow (Recruit) (Thu, 25 Sep 2008 01:21:50 +0000)
Note: video contains spoilers.
Marshmallow is a short action game which involves guiding the main character up into the sky while carefully navigating around other floating objects. Click anywhere on the protagonist's head and our genderless friend will move a little faster in the opposite direction. He or she (or it) will also knock any other creatures out of the sky when executing this action.
Name: Marshmallow
Developer: Recruit
Category: Action
Type: Browser
Similar game: FlyGuy
Browser Game Pick: Diver (Jeff Weber) (Wed, 24 Sep 2008 03:55:50 +0000)
Diver maps 2D character posture to mouse position and challenges you to perform thirty death defying dives. The game shines on two occasions: when your planned dive works out, and when it fails miserably, killing the diver Stair-Dismount-style.
Maximize your chances of success by regulating rotation speed (stretched is slow, crouched is fast) so you can land with your feet on the diving platform, and descend as vertical as you can into the blue. Be forewarned, the dives' increasing difficulty will send the faint of heart swimming in a sea of desperation.
Wish list: highscore table, aesthetic dive bonuses, achievements, replay function, level editor and a standalone executable.
Name: Diver
Developer: Jeff Weber
Category: Physics game
Type: Browser
Note: the game provides links to the required (and painless) installation of Microsoft's Silverlight.
Freeware Game Pick: Techno Sylph (KBZ) (Tue, 23 Sep 2008 17:50:04 +0000)
Techno-Slyph is a nice, laid back variety of shooter with a very well paced difficulty curve that should be easily picked up and playable by any fans of the genre. Shoot the bad guys and slowly evolve your ship into an ever more destructive war machine.
*edit: better controls explanation (Thanks Fish!)*
The left (blue) bar is your attack power, you can increase it by pressing 'A', but it eats up more energy.
The middle bar is your energy (yellow is max energy, red is current) - it charges over time and by pickups. If you destroy those engine-ish things (shown in the picture), a drop with a ring around it appears which increases max energy.
The right bar (purple), think of it like a Gradius system. It corresponds with the powerups shown on the bottom right screen, and can be changed by pressing 'S'.
Upgrading works when you 'select' something on your upgrade bar, and you have enough current energy at that level (ie: upgrade bar at lvl 2 for Flash, you have the red energy at lvl 2). If you press 'X' (homing laser), and have enough power, you get the upgrade and your max energy decreases. Unfortunately I *think* that you have to fill the blue vertical bars up all the way to actually use it.
Name: Techno-Slyph
Developer: KBZ
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 1.11MB
Direct Download: Click here
Browser Game Pick: Zerosum (Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:58:09 +0000)
Zerosum is a puzzle game that is easy to learn but difficult to master, where players attempt to remove as many tiles as they can before their chances run out by matching at least three blocks with the same number in a column or row.
Click on a block to select it, then select an adjoining tile to move it over to the new spot. This block will then change to a number which is the sum of the previous two tiles, with numbers going above nine starting the count from zero again. One tile will then be taken from your stock to replace the blank spot vacated by the original block, as indicated in the next tile indicator on the right side of the screen.
As the level counter increases, more chains and matches are needed to fulfil the extend quota, which then increases your stock count by one. When burst mode is activated, tiles do not have to be in a straight line to be considered a valid match. Metallic tiles have numbers which cannot be changed, blocks encased in ice has to be freed by removing a tile next to it, and numbers in rounded tiles are increased by one after every turn.
There is a short advertisement to sit through before the game will load.
Name: Zerosum
Category: Puzzle
Type: Browser
Similar games: Blocksum
Samorost in Classrooms (Tue, 23 Sep 2008 12:54:19 +0000)
An example of games used in classrooms to teach students the importance of learning puzzle-solving skill sets.
Freeware Game Pick: Cavern of Doom (Ignotech) (Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:53:29 +0000)
Cavern of Doom is a full-length RPG release with original graphics and tilesets, where players take control of Mo the Great who is known across the land for his legendary feats of heroism. No task seems impossible to him, as he attempts to save the once-peaceful town of Quetharc by driving back the monsters hiding in nearby caves and earning the respect of the king and locals in the process.
Use the X key to access your inventory, and press the Z or space key to execute a default action. Switch between full screen and windowed mode with the F4 function key, or hold the left alternate and enter key for a similar effect.
Weapons, scrolls, potions, spells and armor are readily available for purchase from shops around the city, taverns are safe havens for battered warriors looking for a place to rest, while unused equipment can be sold at the pawn shop in exchange for gold. Note that your character stats can only be increased by returning to the city after engaging a couple of enemies in combat and using the free training facilities provided by the townsfolk.
The game also features four difficulty settings, side quests and hidden endings.
Name: Cavern of Doom
Developer: Ignotech
Category: RPG
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Freeware Game Pick: Glitch (Team Glitch) (Tue, 23 Sep 2008 04:35:37 +0000)
Glitch is a first person shooter created by a group of DigiPen students, freely available for download from DigiPen's gallery page. Your given objective is to survive twenty-five waves of enemies whilst trapped inside a room with high ceilings and rising platforms.
Only one weapon can be in use at any time, and will remain in effect until ammunition runs out or when you collect another item. Rocket launchers, cannons, spread shots and claw guns are some of the basic equipment which you can gather, but the game does have a couple of unorthodox weapons such as the vacuum and column gun to acquire as well. Enemy locations can be spotted by looking for coloured spots on the ceiling.
There are a couple of faults to be found in Glitch. No checkpoint feature is included, so players would have to start playing from wave one every single time. Enemies also have a tendency to stay high above the air or teleport themselves far too frequently. (source: bigbossSNK)
Name: Glitch
Developer: Team Glitch
Category: FPS
Type: Freeware
Size: 20MB
Freeware Game Pick: Armed Generator Doom Machine (Mon, 22 Sep 2008 11:01:01 +0000)
Just like Fraxy and Warning Forever, every boss encounter in Armed Generator Doom Machine has been procedurally generated to ensure a small percentage of randomness. Hold the Z key down to shoot, press the X key to launch a missile, and use the C key to activate your shields. Power-ups are granted every few levels, and the choice of upgrade is left entirely to the player to decide on.
The game features built-in joystick support, stereo sound, a boss editor, online high scores and a two-player hotseat mode. (high quality video)
Name: Armed Generator Doom Machine
Developer: Beau Blyth
Category: Shooter
Type: Freeware
Size: 2MB
Direct download link: Click here
