Indie Games

http://gnomoria.com/

This one had been eating my time, pre GW2.

A graphical version of Dwarf fortress.
Still a work in progress. very much an alpha. the author was doing quite well at sticking to updates.
Still a very long way from being Dwarf fortress however. Also the author does not intend to copy DF directly, he has his own ideas of what direction to go.

Fuse_sl said:

Havent played that one, but an FOHer made a very (very) similar game for iOS called Yeti Town that was addictive as hell. I downloaded it in the afternoon, sat on the couch and was in the dark when my battery died.

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Wasn't it more like he stole and ripped the whole idea (when Triple Town was almost ready) from a small dev without the means to legally fight for his original concept? Or at least not aggressively/quickly enough to stop Yeti Town from getting all the first release buzz. And then released just before Triple Town hit the market. IIRC the fucker who made Yeti Town actually was working with the TT devs on other projects and stole the concept through that relationship. It's a bit fuzzy but I remember PA wrote an article/news/comic on it. I remember buying Triple Town on my iPAD just because the asshole on fohguild.org was actually advertising his Yeti shit game on the boards while all this was going on.

The game itself is alright. Unless they beefed it up it's not really worth $10 though. It's a cute puzzle game, slightly addictive without too much depth.

Good indie game not yet mentioned:
Geneforge -http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/geneforge/index.html

Indie old-school RPG. I have played the other games from the same devs and they are very good. Currently playing Averum:EftP on my iPAD (I recommend it - it's very deep with all the stuff you expect from old school party-based RPGs and plays very well on the tablet). Geneforge is supposedly even better.

Caliane_sl said:

http://gnomoria.com/

This one had been eating my time, pre GW2.

A graphical version of Dwarf fortress.
Still a work in progress. very much an alpha. the author was doing quite well at sticking to updates.
Still a very long way from being Dwarf fortress however. Also the author does not intend to copy DF directly, he has his own ideas of what direction to go.

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Took some time to check back in on this.
Its come a good ways since I lasted played it a few months ago.

Still not DF yet, but its pretty far along the path now. its a pretty solid game in its own right atm. I would definitely recommend checking it out currently. A number of vids if you want to watch them on it. or just buy it outright on desura.

Might make a new thread for it itself.

If you ever played DF and thought, omg this game is amazing. But this ACSII graphics is meh. and omg this keyboard only interface is awful, then this one is for you.
Worth it, if only for the mouse driven interface.

Since the Steam sale is still going, I'll plug Hotline Miami and FTL: Faster Than Light. Both are under $10 (on sale) and fun. I bought both of them and couldn't put them down until I finished.

Hotline is a top-down, fast action game of violence. Think original GTA with strategy and a plot. The story is bizarre and doesn't make a lot of sense. The gameplay makes you plan ahead and really execute well to win. The music is extremely well done. Some replay potential is there, but not a ton.

FTL is a rogue-like space strategy game where you command all aspects of a ship. Sectors are procedurally generated, so each game is different and you have to adjust strategies based on the upgrades you find (or the ship you choose). There are tons of unlocks and different ways to play, so you could sink tons of time into this game. It's easy to get started and to understand how to play, but it is hard to play well. The devs really knocked this one out of the park IMO.

FTL is a roguelike? I dont think I understood that when I heard people talking about it.
Will definitely check that out.

What the fuck? So little Hotline Miami love? Shit is tits.

To echo though:

Hotline Miami
Deadlight
Mark of The Ninja
Binding of Isaac

I'm guess I'm going to be last on the boat for FTL. I just can't catch it on sale.

tried FTL, and Meh..

Would not call it a roguelike either.

Caliane_sl said:

tried FTL, and Meh..

Would not call it a roguelike either.

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How is it not? You choose your ship (character), the world is random, the events at each node are random, there are a wide variety of upgrades and strategies, you have to manage limited resources, death is permanent with no reloads. I'm not sure how it could be a more rogue-like game of space strategy. Every playthrough is different. They even put the words "rogue-like" in their game description on Steam.

Sorry to hear you didn't like it, though. =(

Random world doesn't make a rogue-like.
I mean, are those princess maker, or whatever they are called roguelikes? Those text adventure games, you know. (not entirely sure the genre name for those) Click on a location, get random encounter.
It has more in common with them. The fuel is effectively the time countdown those games have.

No point arguing in circles I guess. I have no idea what a princess maker is, and I'm not sure what text adventure you are referring to.

Fuel can be purchased and/or won as a battle reward, so it isn't that limiting. The chasing rebel fleet mechanic is much more of a finite countdown.

http://www.kongregate.com/games/unde...et-protector-2

"Raising sims" I guess. A variation on these, in concept. Although, obviously a tactical map, and loadout.

Tactical sim, I guess.

Faster Than Light is a great game, and it's definitely similar to a roguelike but obviously it's not completely traditional. I believe they call it a "roguelike-like" on the website. It has most of the aspects you'd expect from a roguelike, with an added element of strategy, and it's in space.

I read a blog post a while back that explained its problems, and I wish I could find it again. In summation, the game feels really difficult when you start playing it and the brutal difficulty feels like a true roguelike. The difference is that there's a strategy element, so you can most of the time beat out bad luck with skill, which doesn't really suit roguelikes. The problem is that once you beat the final boss and get good enough at the game, it gets a little boring. I could probably pick any ship and win on Normal 60% or more of the time now, and so I don't really play it nearly as much as I did when I first got it. There is a popular mod that removes the final boss and allows you to essentially play forever with increasing difficulty, I've been meaning to try that out sometime.

Considering the game hinges so much around strategy and different types of "ship builds" I think some sort of multiplayer aspect of the game would make it one of the best. I'm thinking something like an "FFA sector" where x amount of people join and fly around trying to find events and upgrades just like the single player game, except sometimes you can run into a real human player and will have to fight them. Add in the ability to completely customize your ship and I may never need to play another game ever again. Think: Eve - The RTS.

Gnomoria is also excellent for idiots/lazy people like me who have tried to get into Dwarf Fortress but can't. I highly recommend both of these games.

Is Gnomoria not on Steam or am I being dense?

It's approved through Greenlight but not yet released on Steam.

Don't Starve -http://www.dontstarvegame.com/blog/about/also looks kinda fun. Seems like a survival/crafting/resource management kinda game. Explore, fight shit, scavenge, craft etc... Anyone play that?

A very solid indie puzzle game isEnglish Country Tune. As you play it feels like the game mutates as new rules come into effect, new problems arise, old problems are suddenly seen through a different lens. Very carefully and cleverly done and very challenging.http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/english-country-tune

Also available on steam I believe.

Azziane_sl said:

Don't Starve -http://www.dontstarvegame.com/blog/about/also looks kinda fun. Seems like a survival/crafting/resource management kinda game. Explore, fight shit, scavenge, craft etc... Anyone play that?

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I've been playing for a couple weeks and enjoy it quite a bit. They release updates every 10 days or so with tweaks and additional content. And yeah, it plays almost exactly as you would expect it to. Build a stockpile of food and a static camp, then go exploring and collecting during the day. You can set traps for animals then harvest them for meat, then share the meat with the wild Pigmen and have them follow you around and help you battle/cut down trees/etc. There are multiple characters to unloock, but I only have two at the moment. I'd say it's worth a try, even if you feel like waiting for the full release.

Just started FTL. Without spoiling strategies (I want to figure them out myself) can someone give me some tips on what to spend my first scraps on? I tend to make it out of the first sector and restart just to test things out. So far I've been focusing on getting 2 extra crew (I want 1 pilot, 1 gunner, 1 engine mech and 1 on shields with a 5th floating for fires/repairs/counter-boarding). They're about 50-60 credits (Scraps?) each though. I want to try and upgrade my shields next but I don't get what the upgrade does. The first upgrade seems to do nothing. The 2nd says "2 shield bars". Does that double my shield's power?

My thinking is that I seem to do just fine in any fight if I focus fire on the enemy's gun room. The problem is getting hit during the time it takes to destroy their guns. I often lose a few hull points which builds up over the course of exploring a sector. If one shield bar means it takes one more laser hit to take my shields down then it's awesome - especially against those little drones that hover over my ship just harassing my shields.

Also wondering - is it possible to fully explore a sector before the rebels catch up? Is there always a "perfect route"?

Teddite_sl said:

I've been playing for a couple weeks and enjoy it quite a bit. They release updates every 10 days or so with tweaks and additional content. And yeah, it plays almost exactly as you would expect it to. Build a stockpile of food and a static camp, then go exploring and collecting during the day. You can set traps for animals then harvest them for meat, then share the meat with the wild Pigmen and have them follow you around and help you battle/cut down trees/etc. There are multiple characters to unloock, but I only have two at the moment. I'd say it's worth a try, even if you feel like waiting for the full release.

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How long does a typical game last?

Azziane_sl said:

FTL questions

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What to spend on first depends on the stores you encounter (or don't encounter). There's no perfect first upgrade since 1) stores are random and 2) strategies vary. Most (all?) builds use shields, so that one is a safe bet if you don't find a store with something you need.

It takes 2 shield upgrades to get another "shield point". So you have to buy two shield upgrade levels, then power it with two reactor points to get another shield point.

I'm nearly positive you can't explore every node in a sector before the fleet closes in, so you just want to hit as many nodes as possible. Getting the Long Range Scanner mod can help you make decisions on which nodes are most promising.

Deponia is a fantastic game, btw. If you like the old Lucasarts style adventure games like Monkey Island I highly recommend getting it off Steam. The first one is currently $6.79 (was $5 at its lowest on there).