next »

[skaldicpoet9]

This has to be the best kept secret in gaming....I have been downloading and playing indie games for about 2 or 3 weeks now and I have to tell you there is some great stuff out there that tons of people are missing out on....I can't wait to really get involved in the indie community...( I am currently working on my own RPG project...well RPG in the loosest sense of the genre convention) My question is: Is there any other games/sites related to indie gaming I should know about? Thanks!

[PoV]

Uhh, GameTunnel?  Tim?

[skaldicpoet9]

Thanks for those! Appreciate it

[Alex May]

Welcome

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

Welcome! I think the reason nobody told you about indie games as that (almost by arguable definition) that's the point, indie games are the games nobody tells you about, but which are great anyway.

[Inane]

Welcome! I think the reason nobody told you about indie games as that (almost by arguable definition) that's the point, indie games are the games nobody tells you about, but which are great anyway.

That'd be pretty arrogant.
I tell lots of people, they just don't seem to care. :D

[ஒழுக்கின்மை (Paul Eres)]

I was actually one of those people who didn't care, once. Orchard-L (who makes games with me) was always telling me about games like Cave Story and such, and I was like 'blah, who cares' until I started trying them out to appease him after he kept asking  for 10 months running. After I tried a few I began to like them, but up until then I didn't really pay attention.

[sega]

Knytt was the turning point for me.  I played indie games here and there (including Cave Story), and liked them ok, but Knytt pushed me over the edge into wanting to bathe in indie games.  Despite buying many, I never really played the console games I bought.  I still have a few in shrinkwrap.  But then I found myself playing all the way through all kinds of indie games.

It was then that my desire for a 360 dwindled.  I just realized I was enjoying videogames more in this scene than I had in years, with the occasional exception, like Shadow of the Colossus and Katamari.  Anyway, I decided to keep those shrinkwrapped games shrinkwrapped, and not to add any more to that list for a while at least.  I may end up happier with my hobby, and with extra money in the bank.

Here's a major reason why I have shrinkwrapped console games, and completed save files on several indie games; the added "value" of tons of gameplay hours does not add value to me.  I want concise games.  I don't want to do tons of bullshit just so your bullet point on the back of the box can look more impressive.  When I know I have 30 hours ahead of me, it makes me not even want to start.  It feels like so much wasted time.  Now, give me a 6 hour game, without fluff, and I'm in heaven.  I feel like that gaming time is much much more valuable than 30-40 hours of fluff and chores. 

Commercial console/PC games are under pressure to add that "value".  They're piling so much money into art assets and the engine, they want to spread it out as much as they can.  Indie games are more likely to have a point to communicate.  Whether that point is in a story, in interactivity, in music, the developers usually don't try to stretch it out like console developers do.  They say what they have to say, and that's that (in general).  Of course there are exceptions, and this is mostly speaking in relative levels, but it's how I feel.

It's also very nice that the people that make these games are accessible in general.  We can share ideas and opinions, influence each other's designs.  It's awesome.  And indie games have more freedom to try a new idea.  Taking the marketing and publishing people out of the equation frees up a lot of wiggle room.

So yeah, I try to tell all my gaming friends about this stuff.  People hardly ever take interest.  Some don't even know there's a valid non-Japanese indie game development scene.  I'm surprised the phrase "dude, it's free" doesn't hold more weight.

[Xander]

As cliche' as it is, Cave Story was the game to push me into indie gaming. It's not that I'm an absolute indie gamer, and I have absolutely zero in the way of talents to help the community, but to not get too sentimental... they've found their way into the joypad configuration of my heart.

Weird, also I lied appparently. Space Tripper was the first indie game I played, back when it came on a PC Gamer demo disk I think. Although at the time I never knew who PomPom where, and heck I don't think I even knew there was a scene for those kinds of games and developers. I remember playing Shareware games and Freeware games on Cover Discs, but not really thinking anything of who made them. I was a youngling. Space Tripper was -awesome-. Mutant Storm was pretty great too, and where the heck is the new MS? Wasn't that coming to the XBLA soon? Hurry up, I'm craving some games now!

[skaldicpoet9]

Yeah, not to be too cheesy but this is exactly the way that I felt when I discovered indie-rock for the first time (no, and not "indie rock" like they play on the radio like the Killers and that crap lol...I mean real independently produced music) it is the same thing though....a small community of people who love what they do and want to make it better. Indie-rock made me want to start a band, now indie-gaming gets me to want to make a game lol. I think the great thing is...like someone said before me...that people who make indie games are not motivated for money....they are motivated for love of the games and that enables them to try new and innovative things in games that you couldn't try with a mainstream audience which makes for some really great games. Anyways, thanks for the welcome everyone and rest assured I'll see you all around the forums.

[Swabbleflange]

I have the same problem convincing people to even try out some of this stuff. To me, Cave Story is every bit as polished and playable as anything from the SNES era, yet people who claim Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Super Metroid and the like as favourites can't be persuaded to give it a go. I've burned CDs full of indie games for people and they just haven't been used at all.

Thrust Extreme, Typhoon 2001, Within A Deep Forest, Lyle In Cube Sector, La-Mulana and countless Roguelikes are among the best games I've ever played, and they didn't cost me a penny. Meanwhile I've got friends shelling out £40-50 a time for the next version of a game they bought last year, or yet another bloated RPG, FPS or racing game.

I'm not suggesting there aren't great commercial games out there, but I do think that to get something genuinely innovative and simply fun these days you have to look beyond the commercial considerations of the high street games market. My consoles barely get touched these days, there's so much to play about with on the PC. Remakes, homebrew, indie... I've got enough great gaming to last me a lifetime and it's all free, put together by people doing it purely for the love of creating something.

[Kon-Tiki]

Another site for you to find top-quality freeware games.

I think that the main reason behind people not knowing about indie games is that there's no marketing machine behind them. It's just people who make it in their spare time, then put it online and tell a couple of other people about it. There're no ad campaigns, press hyping, noticing the game in the stores or any such thing.

[fish]

i must confess, i am much more interested in making indie game than playing them.

[dbest]

I've just made one game, and its kinda cool.

Played a few indie games, but indie gaming in my opinion is kinda huge.

[Bezzy]

i must confess, i am much more interested in making indie game than playing them.

I get where you're coming from. 90% of everything is crap, so on the whole, I wait for games which make a buzz within the scene before trying them (or anything else which gets blogged about and takes my fancy). Otherwise there's too much crap to filter.

[fish]

ever since i started working in games, i barely play them anymore.
i've become this giant snob who poo-poos everything and only plays the really, really fucking good ones and then raves about them for years to come.

or im too busy.

whichever's fine.

[Russell Fincher]

I want concise games.  I don't want to do tons of bullshit just so your bullet point on the back of the box can look more impressive...  Now, give me a 6 hour game, without fluff, and I'm in heaven.

I agree with you 100%, sega.  These days I just want a concise game with with clear goals and themes.  Something of quality to distract me for a few hours, not drag me away from my life for a week with a dizzying amount of flashy content.

[skaldicpoet9]

I want concise games.  I don't want to do tons of bullshit just so your bullet point on the back of the box can look more impressive...  Now, give me a 6 hour game, without fluff, and I'm in heaven.

I agree with you 100%, sega.  These days I just want a concise game with with clear goals and themes.  Something of quality to distract me for a few hours, not drag me away from my life for a week with a dizzying amount of flashy content.

Yeah, I have been gravitating toward more "casual" type game of late. I want something that will stimulate my brain synapses for a limited amount of time, something that I don't have to get too involved in...

[Chris Whitman]

I find the opposite, in my case!

It seems that, as I have less time due to work and school, I look more for games which will genuinely engage me and which feel like a productive use of my time. Unfortunately, those sorts of games are few and far between, even amongst independant games.

[fish]

ive been watching lots of old star trek episodes.