Indie zoe raider of lost news

After an incredible weekend at rAge, I think I’m still recovering. Maybe it was the habanero, or finally getting a hug from the guys, but I’m still a little light-headed and easily excitable. Also, there’s a bunch of cool indie news to get excited about!

First and foremost, there were some awesome indies at rAge this year. I was so impressed with what I saw, and I will continue to highlight some of the incredible games and developers who showcased their work there. For those who missed it, here is the round up of the indies at Rage, as well an in depth look at Pixel Boy. The good people from MakeGamesSA did a great job with their stand, and I think we can expect them to become regulars at rAge going forward.

Speaking of the MakeGamesSA guys, they have a movie! If you’re in Cape Town, go check out screenings and stuff. The film is called Us and the Game Industry and highlights the local indie scene. Also, if you are an aspiring game developer, you may want to check out their monthly get togethers – they hold them in Joburg and Cape Town, and everyone was really nice when I went on Tuesday evening. It seems like a nice community, and I’m excited about the variety of games coming out of the South African indies.

Moving to international news, PS4 architect Mark Cerny explained that the “good old days” of indies weren’t actually so great:

It is absolutely not like us back in those days. So Atari was one-person teams, or two-person teams. But because it was coin-operated games, there was dedicated hardware, and those cabinets cost $3,000.

[…]If you look at what we were doing at Sega, that was, in some sense, I hate to say it, shovelware. It was one programmer, one designer, three months, and you just shipped it. And the quality was low and they didn’t care. That is so far from what we call indie today, which is a labor of love and you never know when it will be done. It’ll be done when it’ll be done, when it achieves the creator’s vision.

Speaking of a creator’s vision, apparently Mount Your Friends’ penis physics was a mistake. Creator Daniel Steger may have gained acclaimed for this bizarre Xbox indie game, but that claim to fame was not intentional:

Meat-spin, as I like to call it, was a bug. […] It was spinning out of control to the point where I couldn’t control my character due to the ‘jitter’. When I saw the bug I collapsed. People started to gather around my screen to see what I was laughing at. When they began to join in I knew I’d hit on something special; I knew I was taking the game to Xbox.

That’s it, my day is no longer complete without hearing about meat spin. By the way, I would not suggest googling that at work.

Now here is a game that you should check out! Darkest Dungeon is a hard-core RPG that plays on the stresses of dungeon crawling. You aren’t just leading a bunch of smiling, happy heroes through some evil dungeons. No no, this indie RPG has an affliction system with cool descriptions such as:

Your Bard has seen one too many party members die in combat, and is prone to nihilistic rants, stressing the other party members! Do you send him carousing in town to blow off some steam, or consign him to the sanitarium to collect himself?

As they explain, characters’ stress levels respond to every occurrence in the dungeon, both positive and negative. However, different characters will respond to the same occurrence in different ways, just like in real life. Those effects can fuel determination and resolve, or lead to paranoia and panic. Honestly, this sounds awesome! The game should be releasing mid-to-end of next year, but I want it already! Check out their trailer:

Last Updated: October 10, 2013

1.1
was reviewed on PC

14 Comments

  1. Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

    October 10, 2013 at 12:36

    Ooooooh. Darkest dungeon looks awesome!

    Reply

  2. TiMsTeR1033

    October 10, 2013 at 12:37

    I have well not an Indie I don’t think, but Earths Special Forces! http://www.esforces.com/

    They been working on new one for awhile looks great! Played original few years back!

    Reply

    • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

      October 10, 2013 at 12:38

      Are they even still working on that mod?

      Reply

      • TiMsTeR1033

        October 10, 2013 at 12:40

        Apparently! Looks awesome! I hope soon will come out though. I still loved this playing on lan!

        Reply

        • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

          October 10, 2013 at 12:44

          Dude, they’ve been working on that Final 1.0 since 2008. Lol. Thought they’d be done by now

          Reply

    • ElimiNathan

      October 10, 2013 at 14:18

      Damn had some good LANs on ESF

      Reply

  3. Jim Lenoir (Banana Jim)

    October 10, 2013 at 12:48

    Wow! I like what I see, Darkest Dungeon is on my to play list.

    Reply

    • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

      October 10, 2013 at 12:49

      Yeah same. I think it will be a blast!

      Reply

  4. Umar ZoMg Reiner

    October 10, 2013 at 12:57

    Darkest Sungeon, Day One buy!!!!

    Reply

    • Sir Rants-a-Lot Llew

      October 10, 2013 at 13:39

      Darkest Dungeon! DAY 1! BESTEST!

      Reply

  5. Gavin Mannion

    October 10, 2013 at 13:06

    That trailer is so awesome

    Reply

    • Draco Lusus

      October 10, 2013 at 14:57

      Thanks for spreading the word! I can’t freaking wait for it…

      Reply

    • Seraphim

      October 10, 2013 at 15:00

      Now I have to add another game to my list.

      Thanks for letting us know, it looks interesting.

      Reply

    • Skyblue

      October 11, 2013 at 02:22

      It’s the voice acting/narration combo. Shit I want those dudes to do all the Game of Thrones audiobooks now!!!

      Reply

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