Notgames Forum

It is this time of year again.

www.igf.com

Please post any spotting of a good or interesting game here. There are probably several hundreds of games
in the contest. And the mainstream journalists usually do not cover the interesting games, but only the gamey-games.

Let's try to collect the interesting stuff here....

forgot to mention

BitSoccer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KA4twD2UtPA

This is a game made by a friend of mine (I helped a bit with programming, design).
(it will be at the IGF)...

I think the official entries will be announced next week after the deadline for submissions....

Cool! I never thought of applying the sort of turn-based real-time system in SteamBirds to a soccer game, but it makes so much sense! :D

thanks, SteamBirds.. whew, it is different enough... I had this BitSoccer idea at least 2 years ago...
I hope my friend will have some success with it.

The soccer game looks pretty interesting, will definitely give it a try!
Regarding steambird I think it's well over 2 years old, maybe even over 3 years old, also I've heard it's more or less based on some board game that have a similar structure.

For the IGF, we also have a teaser cooking, will post it in the upcoming week.

Finally we submitted to IGF and I thought I post our teaser video here. Hope you enjoy it!

PAVILION FIRST TEASER (https://vimeo.com/51218114)

and some more info. (http://inthepavilion.com)

Time to sleep!

brilliant. If you need a beta tester, I would submit myself ;)

We've submitted Bientôt l'été (http://tale-of-tales.com/bientotlete).
Here's a video (https://vimeo.com/51511646).

I'm secretly hoping it will be ignored by the jury. I don't feel comfortable in the IGF context. But submitted it anyway just for those few people who might be browsing the entries for something different (http://tale-of-tales.com/bientotlete/blog/a-noble-subversion/).

Thanks allot!
Yea when the time is right we'll definitely need beta testers and we certainly want the feedback from people at this forum. So I'll post about it when it's time for it.

I wished you could somehow reap the benefits of winning an award without having to win it. Most IGF awards have no prestige left in them, if they ever had it to begin with. Like indie games themselves, the entire initiative seems to be stagnating instead of trying to transcend its known comfort zones. When you begin to notice patterns, you know the system is merely running in circles and not in a forward thrust.

http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entries2013.php

589 entries... Your game should start with a number or special letter like () then it will be on top of the
list ;)

Audio Games: The Secret of the Talisman
http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=894

I have not tried it yet, but a game that has no graphics, only audio could be exciting
(depending what you will hear of course). There was an audio game on for the GameBoy Advanced
(dont't remember the name), but it was really great to play with your ears. You were exploring
a sound field... I hope this game is good, too!

So much clicking with that many entries.

It's hard to judge trailers beyond saying that its potentially interesting.  Anyone have an experience with these ones?
The Burrow (http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=778)
Panoramical (http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=897)
Remembering (http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=1013)
Leaving (http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=366)
Cradle (http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=767)

I've played these three before and think they're worth a look:
The Stanley Parable (http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=621)
Thirty Flights of Loving (http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=1029)
Fract (http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2011.php?id=553)

And two more:
Against the Wall (http://www.againstthewallgame.com/play/) is puzzle-y and tedious, but there were a couple moments of exploration that made me think that there is an opportunity for building a fantastical world full of weird life.
A Slower Speed of Light (http://gamelab.mit.edu/games/a-slower-speed-of-light/) broke upon loading, so I have no idea how it plays.  But light is weird and fascinating on its own.

I've been keeping an eye on Cradle for a while. It looks like it could be very interesting, but the description there has me worried that they could be focusing on the wrong things. Especially "-Combination of classic quest mechanics with dynamic arcade puzzles" and "-Hidden objects offering bonuses to the player".

I played cart life a bit.

http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=133

I think it has some depth. It is a retail shop simulator. Something
like a bigger version of lemonade stand.

You are doing mundane tasks, you are simulating day-to-day-life.

What I did not like at all was the 8-bit-chip music. It does
not add atmosphere, actually it is hurting the atmosphere of
the game. It is constantly running, it drives me crazy.
Check out the video... the music is too much!

I would have preferred street noises and sounds. City sounds.

What I was noticing again. Games are not made for easy consumption.
You always have to learn the mechanics and controls.

This is a big hurdle if you want to check out a few games.

It feels like work.

cheers

Indeed. And worse: work that doesn't yield anything. Unless you're one of those people who feels really great when winning a game, I guess. Maybe. What do I know?

The developer knew that but he thought it was the best way to portray the hardlife of the cartlife.

While he can have a point, in the game there are some strategies to make the game easier (but pretty much not a single clue), and the feeling of always being loosing, or that I'm doing everything wrong turned me off.

Some people got the "poetry" of making it that hard, I didn't, just a matter of perception and opinion I guess.

I don't have a problem with cart life (except the music ;) ) ...

my point was that (in general) the consumption of any game requires you to jump some hurdles (mechanics, controls, installation etc). That make games a hard sell to the "masses". There must be a really good reason for me to start a new game...

These look interesting

Kairo
http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=600

Lone Survivor
http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=547

Molto Vivace
http://www.igf.com/php-bin/entry2013.php?id=1047

I think I will try at least the demos ...

Please do say any recommendations. I have been going over the list a few times but I can miss things :)

Not too charmed by the amount of games which I would actually care to play, sadly, but then, 'twas ever thus. A handful games worth voting for, this year, but I miss that tingling sensation of 'this is new!' Of course that is my own fault by having played quite a few of my favourites already, some in previous form.

 :-*

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/12/06/valve-to-offer-igf-finalists-steam-distribution/#more-134557

At first, it sounded good that IGF Finalists could get distributed with the help of Steam/Valve...
But if I think of it, I am not convinced at all that it is a good idea.

Since I make my games without a buisness model in mind, they can get very off-mainstream and are really not
suitable for a steam distribution. Steam is gamers land!

How does that decission influence the judges? They might think, hm, that stuff is not suitable for steam,
it should not become a finalist?

Am I exaggerating here? Maybe...

I liked Valve much better when they just curated Steam.

Whether the games will or will not be published on Steam literally has no influence on me.

I also preferred them to curate Steam or to have Greenlight as a 2nd option if the game is not selected. Though to be fair I suspect Dinner Date only got on Steam because of the IGF to begin with.

Greenlight is yet another way to make popular things more popular. Which is the exact opposite of what civilization needs.

Even random curation would be better than letting the masses decide on everything.

I played Kairo until the very end, although I can't quite vouch for it being anything other than a competent, atmospheric procession of puzzles whose combined meaning eludes me still. Last I heard, and given the turn taken in the discussion here, the developer was also struggling to have his game on Steam using that bulwark of democracy they call Greenlight. I'm fairly certain that he hasn't yet. Somehow I'm convinced that a few years ago, and with the old system, Perrin would have made the cut.

I think so too.
I hope Valve soon sees the error they have made and cancels Greenlight.
Otherwise we need an alternative.

At first, Steam educated their clientele on the specifics of a certain philosophy of game playing/consuming which showed them the threshold of what was considered acceptable to that platform. By transferring the power of choice to users, after presenting them with a foolproof example, they have no doubt smoothed the crude edges of their discernment, the same weaknesses - from a corporative viewpoint that is - that enabled certain games, however unusual or unsuccessful in the end, to rub shoulders there with the best-sellers and games-of-the-year. In one fell swoop, the option to create a user-sustainable system alleviated the company itself from any form of risk taking, which so far was an integral part of any form of business, except for the contemporary banking practices; and made it more appealing to users who, unwillingly, began giving away for free the best form of market probing and research there exists, meaning the system itself establishes which products are sought-after the most in order to, again, lower the risk factor and expenses to a record minimum.

As such, throwing developers into the lion's den - which at times may not seem that wild an analogy if one cares to look further - is deemed acceptable for the sake of elevating and perfecting their profit turning mechanism. Greenlight or no Greenlight, the necessity for an alternative seems as urgent today as it did before: not necessarily one of proportionate size or growth rate, but one that can ensure stability for both ends, meaning developers and online retailers, to reach a juster agreement.

That is a truly remarkable point, Bruno!

Arguably the reason Steam takes a share of the profits is more than just the maintenance costs; it is because it is a curator of sorts and it takes risks on games as well as taking time and effort to select them. But they are now here, as with the Team Fortress hats, becoming a 'marketplace' which takes a heavy cut for providing rather than managing. I am all but certain they themselves see this as a great positive.

Curating the list would be important but is difficult with the wild-growth of games. It would befall small authors (such as your good self) to advice; but the audience to be reached with that is microscopic next to being in the featured box on Steam. Audience wisdom of the field could also help but is a pipe dream.

To be fair we regularly discuss this. I think a 'notSteam' and a 'notAudience' are like a chicken and egg scenario where we have chicken nor egg to begin with.

As is yours, my good friend. Perhaps there is a reason why we return to this tired question over and over. Even if we're to meet some form of resolution to this predicament in times to come, that doesn't seem to be of much reassurance to those who could do with some help at the moment. In this business, for the lack of a better word, the time is always now.

Realigning myself with the topic at hand, I hoped to find mention of Cheongsam at IGF this year, although I realize it must still be too soon for a working prototype to be delivered. I trust all is moving swiftly through the course?

Cart Life won the grand prize. Gratulation!

http://igf.com/2013/03/gdc_2013_cart_.html

Oh well... it figures. Cart Life is right up that sort of crowd's alley. At least they got the nominations right for the most part this year, so I can't complain. And good old Kentucky earned some deserved recognition.

The question remains: who won the "Best Narrative" award?

Walking Dead. Kentucky came out this year, didn't it?

Well, it figures (part two). Yes, it did, ACT 1 was released in January. I thoroughly recommend it.

I read the Walking Deads books way before it became big through the TV Show and the game...
I played 2 episodes and I lost a bit interest. It gave me the same mood, feeling, that the
books did. So it was more of the same... it was not different enough, even with interactivity...
So I am fine with the books... the game is replicating the books

I found Kentucky Route Zero enchanting.

It's interesting that as the authors were developing it they gradually abandoned gamey elements (mainly platforming and old style adventure puzzles) until there practically wasn't any one left.
To see how detrimental they would have been you just have to watch the kickstarter trailer where the characters were jumping over chasms...

As a project backer I played such early demos, and indeed the game has evolved a great deal since its initial kickstarter phase presentation. It alludes to videogames and videogame history, no doubt, but there's no discernible game element to be found there: no difficulty, no puzzles, no wrong choices, nothing. It bears the resemblance of a point and click adventure and the text has an IF gist to it, but the experience itself is irrespective of those genres. If we're to be technical, it's more a notgame than many so-called notgames. Perhaps I could invite Jake Elliot to be a part of this community?

I am very torn over Cart Life. I am not certain whether I am unfairly negative about it. It just does not grab me, nor does explanation of its virtues grab me. Quite the opposite. Perhaps it does everything I dislike. But then, I feel I might be unfair to this type of expression and thus the rift in my thinking :)

(EDIT: In a way I need to know what you all think about it to know whether my thoughts are just whimsy or rational.)

I was not very happy with this year's IGF. I am happy Little Inferno got an award but in a category which does not encompass what I thought what was special about it... and the Narrative going to Cart Life... perhaps fair, perhaps not. I think the idea of the narrative award is a wobbly one and I do not understand what exactly it is meant to honour.

It is nice to see FTL present - it is out of 'our area' of games but I happen to rather like it :)

That's true also of its "spin off" Limits and Demonstrations (http://kentuckyroutezero.com/limits-and-demonstrations/).

Both, I suggest. As a video game, its mindset is held captive by daydreams and fantasies from 1980's computer game simulations of the quotidian life in the city. I'm not saying it's a game I don't appreciate for one or the other reason, I'm sure, but were it an underdog, I'd be more compelled to explore it. There is prejudice in my appreciation, I realize, given that the words of praise that have inflated it reputation among players come from voices whose assessment I find poor - at best. Perhaps it's most unfair to the game, I'm well aware, but bearing in mind that the first hour of interaction didn't present me with any additional arguments that could revert my opinion in favor of it, I'd say it's reasonable to say what you say.

Yes indeed. What a remarkable way to enhance the by granting it depth beyond request or expectation. The Man and Horse sculpture were in fact present in the basement of the opening chapter, this in the Beta version, and not the ramblers' board game scene. There it stood against the lamplight, in the foreground, like a shadow play. As you switched the lamp on and off it would tell a small story and then set you free. It had nearly the same close-up magnetism in my humble perception as did the television screen delusion.

There's value to this ability to be poetic without being lyrical, much like the great American literature of the modern and contemporary age. If we're to evolve as a culture, us computer users I mean, I'm fairly certain that we'll look back at Kentucky Route Zero one day with longing and breathless admiration. Players' fast pace motion, hopping between high speed trend trains every seven days, makes it impossible to appreciate the slow paced splendor of Conway's Homeric odyssey.

I think it would be really interesting if he joined the conversation!

It touched an interesting spot between playful joy and guilt  :)

Many themes started crossing my mind only while I was not actually playing.
I find that they dealt with the hypnotic power of the "fire frenzy" in a very effective way.

I'm fairly sure he is a member, but just hasn't posted for a long time.