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Captain Red

Indie games thread!

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Hey! Ever played an awesome indie game and thought: "Hey my Dooming buddies, specifically, the ones on doomworld.com should know about this game! If only there was a thread I could tell everyone about it in!" Because I do. like, all the time. Then I made this thread. True story.

INDIE GAMES!
It's not all pretentious platformers now!

I don't know how into the indie game scene folks here are, but there's some cool stuff being made by bedroom game developers now that you might not know about, or want to share; Here's the happenin' place daddy-o.


Hotline-Miami


It's a top down sort of action-y sort of tactical... PCP simulator basically. You play jacket, a man who takes orders from his answering machine to kill a whole bunch of people in a psychedelic 80's wonderland. It's a pretty hard game, but not frustrating (except for one mission in the later part of the game) on account of death only sets you back a to the start of the floor you are on. You've probably heard of this one, and you've probably heard that it has an amazing soundtrack, so I'll just say that if you haven't played it yet, it's even more fun then it looks.

Receiver

GUNS GUNS GUNS GUNS This is the game that pretty much inspired me to start this thread. Sort of a mini FPS roguelike with ultra detailed gun micromanagement. you have to collect 11 tapes on a semi-randomly generated map filled with killer robots, and to do this, you are armed with one of three randomly picked pistols that you pretty much control every aspect of reloading your gun from ejecting the magazine, putting each bullet magazine, putting the magazine back it the gun, pulling the slider back to chamber a round, switching the safety off, pulling the hammer back forgetting if there's a round chambered, pulling the slider back to check and ejecting a perfectly good round, picking up the bullet, ejecting the magazine, dropping the magazine on the ground because you're retarded... If this sounds annoying and gun spergy it's just because it totally is, you will get tased/shot by a killdrone after furiously clicking at them on your first try, but after you get the hang of it you will feel like an utter badass. As fun as this game is, the nerdboner I get from the idea of a System Shock, STALKER or Dayz using Gun physics like this can be seen from space.

EDIT:
Wrack

Made by our very own Carnevil!

...

Ok, I haven't actually played it yet, but I swear on my childhood dog, that I'll get it as soon as it get's it's sweet ass all green lit up on steam. Which it will, because we've obviously all voted for it to help out our homie. But if, and I know this is just KA-RAZY, but if we'd somehow forgotten to jump on steam and vote for Carn's project, the link to it's green lite page is in the title, and here as well. But we've all done this already. Obviously.

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I remember there being an awesome top down GTA styled retro game (not Hotline Miami) that I wanted to post here... but completely forgot the name. If anyone knows what game I'm talking about please post it. :P

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I own Giana Sisters. Bought it on a GOG sale, but alas if its not on Steam I'll never remember that I own it.



FTL: FASTER THAN LIGHT >> Is pretty awesome starship simulator, because its fun, challenging, diverse and random. There are some real difficulty spikes that lead me to believe that its a dead end and impossible to beat that specific random challenge. But that's what random is. This is one of the only games that I sank time into and it was fun doing it.

You have a limited crew and your ship has areas that get damaged, so you send the crew to repair those areas. If your engines get taken out you can't move. If your oxygen room gets taken out everyone on your ship will die. Holes get punctured in your hull that you need to fix. Fires that start which you can either have your people extinguish them OR you can open up the exterior doors of your ship and suck out all the O2, but enemies can take out your door controls where you can't open your doors without having someone manually do it.

There is a lot of strategy with this game. Do you take out your enemy's engine, shields, weapons or robotic drones first? There are random events that make new challenges. Its a wonderful game worth $10.



WORLD OF GOO >> Is this game too big to be indie anymore? Good for a day or two. Physics based, get your goo balls from point A to point B by connecting them together to make bridges and stuff. Good challenge, but I can't really say I've ever gone back to play it again and again.



BRAID >> Overrated sidescrolling platformer. Just because its the first indie game doesn't make it fun. Its a difficult sidescrolling puzzle platformer that lets you reverse time to solve puzzles. Please take a pass.



TOWNS >> This is a medieval town simulator with a perspective reminiscent of Rollercoaster Tycoon. I've sank days worth of hours into Towns with LITTLE progress. You can waste an entire day having Towns on in the background and watching your Townie's work and they still don't get done the shit you want them to. It looks like a good game, but it isn't. Its just so boring and dull because you can't speed up time only slow it down. Ugg...

MINECRAFT >> I sank a lot of time into it. What more can be said about Minecraft that someone hasn't already said?



TERRARIA >> This is a randomly generated platforming game with elements of crafting and building like Minecraft but 2D. I don't get it, I really don't. I want to like the game, but I just can't. Its not fun. I don't get the sense of achievement that I got from building something in minecraft. The controls aren't the best. Especially since you have aim controls. This game made me learn not to buy games day 1. It looks like a game with a lot of depth with enemies, but I just can't get past the controls and how mundane the game is. I'd really prefer if it was a randomly generated Castlevania or Mario game.



SUPER MARIO BROS X >> Fucking awesome Mario maker from the guy that made Terarria. You make levels and play them. Download other level packs / worlds. It is amazingly designed old school Super Mario game with some new gameplay depth that brings new school to the old. Things like ice balls, propeller blocks for jumping and even holdable bullet bills to use as rapid fire guns. Oh and clown cars you can fly in!



THE BINDING OF ISSAC >> OMG one of the greatest indie games there will ever be. It is a 3/4ths top down Zelda 1 labrynth-ish Smash TV sort of game that is randomly generated. The gameplay is simple and smooth. You can fire your (gun) tears in 4 directions, north, south, east, west. You get extra items to use and there are dozens if not hundreds of items. The art style is amazing and turns horrificly ugly things into a charmingly simple art style. There are dozens of enemies with stronger versions of them. There is nothing but replay value here. Unlockable characters, challenges and everything else. Bosses and enemies are memorable and I'd be willing to pay $50 for how much time I put into this game. You can buy it for $1 - $2.50 on sale. Otherwise well worth the $10.



CASTLE CRASHERS >> Is a hilarious beat em up with a good simple, clean art style. Play with friends up to 4 people or don't and still have the same amount of fun and hilarity. There is a lot of charm, style and craziness with this game. Let me explain it to you like this.... you'll ride a shark upstream in a river while being attacked by a giant cat headed fish boss. This is a highly entertaining game.



BASTION >> Is a 3/4ths top down diagonal perspective that would fit in with Super Nintendo. You go around beating things up, unlocking things. Its really been done before, but what makes the game stand out is the narrator that narrates everything you do. While this is a good game yes and I like it... I feel like I can't invest enough time. I'm not addicted to it, it doesn't feel like as much fun as other games are.



BEAT HAZARD >> Is a surprisingly good single screen, new school version of the old Asteroids game.... oh and it goes to the beat of whatever MP3 you're playing. There's just one catch you can't just listen to music, you need to play it in the game. And when the song ends, the game ends. Its a lot of fun, but I have a feeling this is one of those games that you need to hear good music to make it fun. Your bullets speed according to the BPM of the song, waves of enemies randomly generate after you. This would be great in arcades if you had a song to pick and play for the song.



BIT TRIP RUNNER >> is a side scrolling rhythem game that I can't recommend. You don't control the speed of your character, just the jump, slide and kick. It's very one dimensional. You just run along collecting 3 objects to beat the level. If you don't collect the objects, then the level just loops. Its not fun, its just a pattern / reflex game. Maybe the 2nd one is better.


>>> well that's a lot of indie games. I'll post more laterz.

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Perhaps relevant to some Doomworlders: there's a bundle right now, starting at $1, with Paranautical Activity, which describes itself as a roguelike with Doom/Quake gameplay.

Personally, I couldn't disagree more with this description and I feel the game is terrible, but for one buck, if you are even remotely interested in the concept it's worth making up your own mind.

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Jodwin said:

Giana Sisters Twisted Dreams is, gameplay-wise, the best platformer released in the last few years by a country mile.

What's so great about it? Played through a few levels, sure the visuals are pretty and all but I didn't notice anything special about the gameplay tbh. Typical simplistic platformer action, just with two new moves. And the "switching between realities" thing is used only for very simplistic puzzles. For a more interesting realization of this gimmick check out Eversion, it has a stage where you have to switch between like 10 worlds. I dunno, maybe Giana Sisters gets more complicated in the next levels but so far it's quite a simple game I think.

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[Giana Sisters] sure the visuals are pretty and all but I didn't notice anything special about the gameplay tbh.


As far as I'm concerned, that's the draw. Instead of trying to do something special, it does something very basic and does it well, with gorgeous environments and great music. The difficulty raises gradually, but never to the point it gets frustrating, and the game only tests your twitch skill, not your ability to solve puzzles.

This is exactly what I want from a platformer, personally. I want to grab my gamepad, sit back and relax, like I'm ten years old playing super mario bros again. Just about every other platformer these days tries to be meaningful or complicated, so I'm thankful games like this still exist.

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Memfis said:

I dunno, maybe Giana Sisters gets more complicated in the next levels but so far it's quite a simple game I think.

It does, and the level design is really good: Long (10-25 minutes), tricky and with lots of secrets for perfectionists. The different worlds mechanic is more used for twitch action; for example the squid boss in the trailer has half the platforms available in the cutesy world and other half in dark world. So it isn't enough to just dodge the boss's attacks, but while doing so you also have to switch between the worlds to avoid falling off and dying. It's not really a puzzle mechanic, and thank god for that.

In the end, I suppose it depends on what you want from your platformer. Giana Sisters is more in line with SMBs, Sonics, Jazz Jackrabbit and Claw, rather than being either a puzzle platformer or a Super Meatboy clone. And as a classic-style platformer it's a damn good one.

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SUPER MEAT BOY! It's a platformer from the author of the Binding of Isaac. Total retro feeling with the style, the gameplay, the insane difficulty, and the music!

So retro that even has a retro-style commercial.



BTW, thanks for this thread, Cpt. Red!

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Brogue.
Forum.

The best roguelike. No races, no classes, no leveling, no grinding, no gods or alignments and no other bloated bullshit. It's just your brain versus the dungeon. There's no need for spoilers either - everything you need to know is presented in the game itself. Mouse over an enemy the first time you see it and you know exactly what it can do, and what your weapons and items can do to it. It's one hundred percent gameplay and its simple mechanics create surprisingly complex interactions. I may be biased as in about a year of weekly contests (where everyone competes to earn the best score in the same dungeon) only two people have posted a near-maximum score, and I'm one of them.

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Katamori said:

Total retro feeling with the style, the gameplay, the insane difficulty, and the music!

Except that it isn't retro at all. Super Meat Boy is incredibly far away from old school platformers and design-wise it's more similar to Nikujin and IWTBTG. Retro platformers were more about "traversing the level at your own pace" while these precision platformers are about "executing a calculated and precise set of moves to pass a series of insta-death obstacles." It's a completely different gaming philosophy.

Since Creaphis raised the rogue card, I'll have to mention Dungeons of Dredmor. If that splash screen doesn't make you want to play it, you need to revoke your Doom fan license.

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Jodwin said:

Except that it isn't retro at all. Super Meat Boy is incredibly far away from old school platformers and design-wise it's more similar to Nikujin and IWTBTG. Retro platformers were more about "traversing the level at your own pace" while these precision platformers are about "executing a calculated and precise set of moves to pass a series of insta-death obstacles." It's a completely different gaming philosophy.


Of course, the mechanics isn't retro, but the layout, the used textures is not the kind of small-detailed ones. There wouldn't be hard to pixelate them, and some of them is already pixelated in the secret levels.

I always feel like if Super Meat Boy would be the remake of an old platformer. But this is just opinion, not necessary to agree or approve. =)

j4rio said:

I liked vvvvvv. Dunno if it's indie. I suppose yes.


It is. ;)

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I've played a lot of FTL and Bastion. The former is pretty addictive and has way more depth than I initially believed. The latter has some frustrating controls, but the narration and design are both fabulously done and make it more than worth the time to play. Binding of Isaac has some promise, though I've hardly touched it thus far. Should get on that.

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I feel like I've already beaten FTL. I've won with most of the stock and "Type B" ship layouts on normal and now, even when I play with mods to add challenge or to spice things up, I usually feel like I've got a handle on my build and a guaranteed win by sector 3 or 4. Then I quit since there's no point in playing the rest of the game.

I should also take the opportunity to mention Papers, Please. Someone linked to it in the Ivory Tower and I found it to be the most compelling "spot the difference" game you could possibly imagine.

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You Have To Win The Game



Programmed by Gearbox Software's own J. Kyle Pittman in his own spare time, it comes across as Jet Set Willy meets Metroid. I played the shit out of it last year when it came out.

I generally love indie platformers with a retro (or even retreaux) aesthetic. Makes me moist in my intimate places.

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ComicMischief said:

You Have To Win The Game


Looks like vvvvvv clone. And I never used term 'game clone' ever before.

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ComicMischief said:

You Have To Win The Game

Oh fuck you that vid has 'I broke Far Cry 3' in related and I just lost 2 hours watching their vids :P

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Thanks for mentioning Wrack! I'm honored! :D The final product should be much better than what's shown there in that trailer, so if you guys aren't particularly jazzed up about it now... just wait.

Also, you guys (specifically Jodwin and Phml) have convinced me to pick up Giana Sisters. I always thought it looked like a great game, but between being poor and busy trying to make Wrack not suck, I never got around to getting it. I'll give it a try, though. (EDIT: Enjoying this quite a bit so far!)

I'd also like to point out that I thought Super Meat Boy, Orcs Must Die (is that an indie?), A.R.E.S., and The Binding of Isaac were all pretty rad. ("Rad" is still a word people use, right? No? Damn.)

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On my phone so I can't post a link, but DiabloRL is quite fun. If you like DoomRL you'll probably like this, too.

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DWARF FORTRESS

I tried to get a forum succession game going but it sort of fell flat.

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Zeno Clash is some strong shit, not only it's the best beat-em-up I've played in years, it's also got its certaion style and absolutely unique stoned atmosphere. First one was way too short though, took a couple of hours to beat, but it was an excellent excersise in brawling. Damn, never thought that punching bizarre creatures all the way along could be so funny.



And the recent second one is better on all accounts, large open world and even more surreal environments that would make you go "wtf???", but - I hate to admit that - battle system is on the poor note here. The way it responses to player's actions is just horrible, so making effective combos may be real pain in the ass, especially when you're surrounded. But it's still very interesting to explore at least while trying to figure out what's going on (it's easier than it seems actually, I've heard some bitchings about storyline's obscurity and I disagree on that). I also have to mention the awesome music which gives me goosebumps (one of my fav tracks plays in the following trailer btw).



Anyway, I strongly recommend to give it a go. Both games provide unique experience despite their flaws.

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Bucket said:

DWARF FORTRESS

I tried to get a forum succession game going but it sort of fell flat.

Most awesome game ever. And succession games can make it even more awesome. If folks don't know about Boatmurdered, they know nothing about fun...

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