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[JobLeonard]

So I'm currently "binging" the devlog from the start while writing my review (I was looking for the post where you talked about adding color blind support, ended up looking through all the gifs and seeing this game get more and more polished over the years). Going to bring up some forgotten things from the past .

Sorry for the long post (although you don't really have the right to complain about that), consider it compensation for not replying here for a while.

Make it a cheatcode - type in "Michael Bay" to blow up everything (including yourself)

I still want this as an Easter Egg. You know, like the "Armaggedon" button in Lemmings!

While I can very well imagine a game in the Cogmind style working well with VR, making it a reality (a virtual one, even ) is beyond my capabilities. Would be neat, though. In any case, it was interesting to see a different take on this classic ASCII item, which happens to be the very first one I took from concept sketch to full color.

Just apply some Tom7!




http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~tom7/zelda/

"Corruption resets to zero on reaching each new depth (because that's when you evolve)"

Is this secretly a sci fi Pinocchio story?

This is the first comment of mine after seventeen devlog pages that Kyzrati hasn't responded too. Also pretty much the last. Hmmm.... 

In some respects it looks cool, at least. I'm going to add it to the game as an easter egg... so now you know it's in there "somewhere"

Did anyone out there find it yet?


Intermission: It took six whole pages to decide on the pixel artist, and looking back at the first sprite sets that were sent in, it certainly needed that. To quote myself from that discussion: they all looked good, but none were "CogMindy" enough.

Sign me up for the grey Cogmind logo shirt.

I just realised I totally forgot to order a T-shirt because I was in the middle of emigrating from one country to another 

I still regret not getting that T-shirt . It looks gorgeous even if you don't know this game. Is there any way I can order it? Why not separately offer it for sale for fans on your website

Oh, and this weekend I got an email from GOG saying they want Cogmind, so should probably reply to that

I don't think I ever saw a follow-up to this, other than one mention of it. What happened to this?

Also, for those of you playing, some Recycler love fan art by RoboCicero :D

This still makes me laugh

[JobLeonard]

Finished my review. It's probably going to be lost in hundreds of other user reviews so I'll indulge myself and quote it here:

I've been closely following the development of Cogmind for almost four years (almost since the start, really). Don' be scared by the fact that it is early access: it already was an awesome game to play from the first alpha, and is has only gotten better since! And it is more polished and bug-free than many big-budget games are on their official release.

Cogmind can probably best be described as a turn-based scifi stealth-action modernised traditional roguelike. And no, "modernised traditional" is not an oxymoron in this context.

"Roguelike as in Spelunky?" Well... no... that's what the "traditional" signifies. Explaining what a traditional roguelike is takes too long here - search "Nethack" and do a wikipedia dive. The important bit is that the focus in these games is weaving intricate, interconnected game systems together. Gameplay consists of meaningful choices, where the world built out of these systems responds to us poking and prodding it, to create a rich experience in the process. Graphics often take a backseat to that, and you need to use your imagination to immerse yourself. The richness of the game system usually makes that quite easy!

The downside of all the complexity usually is that the interface also suffers, with I-don't-know how many special commands for input (imagine a fantasy game, like NetHack. In them, you can usually use, zap, drop, throw, break, give, and even (try to) eat a wand. Each of those actions has a separate key, and that's just the tip of the iceberg). But not with Cogmind! The interface of this game is streamlined and user-friendly - I am an interface designer by profession and training, and I LOVE this game's interface so incredibly much: it can be completely mouse-controlled, completely keyboard-controlled, or both, and everything about it is incredibly polished.

Same with the gameplay: from the player's perspective, this game is as complex as you want it to be. Instead of requiring you to read a huge manual before you can even get started, you can just start to move around, pick up some gear and equip it, and start shooting your way out, without knowing anything about the intricate systems that make the game tick.

However, to enjoy it to the most, you should be the type to like diving into the various game systems. But her too, Cogmind makes this as easy and frictionless as possible. The whole thing is set up to give elegant, in-game access to learning how the systems work. Hovering over anything gives you information pop-ups, right-clicking gives bigger pop-ups with EVEN MORE detailed information. Want to compare two items? Right click on one, then another, and it will also show the difference in stats for easier comparison! So pick apart the stats decide when to use wheels and when to use robo-legs. Or play it like a mindless coffee-break game, pick up the first weapons you see and shoot every hostile bot that comes your way, and see how far you get until you're inevitably overwhelmed, pew pew!

And that's just the interface! Cogmind pushes traditional roguelikes into new ground on so many different fronts: the UI, the ASCII art animations, the sound design, the game mechanics themselves. I could go on for hours praising this game!

This is all the brain-child of one man: Josh Ge, a.k.a. Kyzrati. He is very reliable and open to user-feedback. When I replied to one of his blog-entries that I am color-blind and had some trouble with the colour scheme at times, he immediately started working on ways to avoid that: adding other non-color ways of communicating status, a mod-friendly system for the color palette, and so on. How amazing is that?

Carl Sagan once said "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe." I think he was making a philosophical point, but Josh must have mistaken it for a dare. Cogmind is the product of a person who loves a genre of games so much that he broke it down, obsessively deconstructing absolutely everything about it: evaluating, re-evaluating and re-re-evaluating every design decision, every convention, basically every aspect you can think of, again and again, to get to the essence of what a roguelike is. And in the process, from the ground up, he meticulously crafted this game.

If you have read his (highly recommended) devlog, I'm sure you agree with me that he has worked on this with an almost disturbing level of devotion for four years. This is a Herculean labour of love. And for what purpose? To drag traditional roguelikes kicking and screaming into modernity, so that everyone else will see what it is that he loves so much about them. In my opinion, that makes it a work of art. And luckily for of us, a damn good game.

[Kyzrati]

Ha, going through years of thread again...

Many thanks for the excellent review!

Just apply some Tom7!

Yeah but this requires 3D knowledge xD. There's a reason I've never done anything in 3D, and can't even get Cogmind, a "simple" 2D game, working on the GPU...

Did anyone out there find it yet?

Yup! And they've rather enjoyed it, too. (Note: I even added more variants of it.)

And that's a really cool gif. Completely forgot I posted that

Sign me up for the grey Cogmind logo shirt.

I just realised I totally forgot to order a T-shirt because I was in the middle of emigrating from one country to another 

I still regret not getting that T-shirt . It looks gorgeous even if you don't know this game. Is there any way I can order it? Why not separately offer it for sale for fans on your website

It's a lot cheaper for everyone if I just order them in a big batch (I don't actually do it for any kind of profit). I'll be doing another one at some point, and have been adding to a list of names of people to notify when that happens

Oh, and this weekend I got an email from GOG saying they want Cogmind, so should probably reply to that

I don't think I ever saw a follow-up to this, other than one mention of it. What happened to this?

GOG is bad at communication. I tried to get in touch with them via several means later and no replies. Gave up.

There's always this (although I completely forgot about it until someone reminded me today, so I've never actually sent anyone that way, in which case it would've had a lot more votes...)

[io3 creations]

Oh, and this weekend I got an email from GOG saying they want Cogmind, so should probably reply to that

I don't think I ever saw a follow-up to this, other than one mention of it. What happened to this?

GOG is bad at communication. I tried to get in touch with them via several means later and no replies. Gave up.

There's always this (although I completely forgot about it until someone reminded me today, so I've never actually sent anyone that way, in which case it would've had a lot more votes...)

Maybe you could contact them when game is about to be released and mention the very (or overwhelmingly  ) positive reviews.  That may change help.

[JobLeonard]

Ha, going through years of thread again...

It did feel a bit like a marathon in the end!

It's a lot cheaper for everyone if I just order them in a big batch (I don't actually do it for any kind of profit). I'll be doing another one at some point, and have been adding to a list of names of people to notify when that happens

Thanks!

There's always this (although I completely forgot about it until someone reminded me today, so I've never actually sent anyone that way, in which case it would've had a lot more votes...

Now is as good a time to start as any!

[Kyzrati]

Now is as good a time to start as any!

Yep, put it on my list this morning!

(or overwhelmingly  )

Hehe, once can hope!

[Zireael]

To drag traditional roguelikes kicking and screaming into modernity, so that everyone else will see what it is that he loves so much about them.

That is an excellent summary of Cogmind's design goals

[Kyzrati]

It is a beautifully written review, and that line is great. Needs to be published as an article on some review site

[io3 creations]

It is a beautifully written review, and that line is great. Needs to be published as an article on some review site

Is that the one that starts with g and ends with amasutra?   

[Kyzrati]

Haha, they don't even do reviews. They do have a sister site that does news+reviews, but looks like they were interested in Cogmind

(I was thinking of freelance writers who get articles published on indie-friendly sites like RPS and other mid-sized outlets.)

[JobLeonard]

Unsurprisingly, my reviews have a few "not helpful" votes on Steam already

I think that's fair actualy - if you're on the fence whether this is a game you want to play my review isn't really helpful. It's more of an art criticism, giving the game some context within its genre and its development process, to help people appreciate it outside of the immediate joy of playing it.

But you know, I'm biased when it comes to "games as art" discussions

[io3 creations]

Unsurprisingly, my reviews have a few "not helpful" votes on Steam already

I think that's fair actualy - if you're on the fence whether this is a game you want to play my review isn't really helpful. It's more of an art criticism, giving the game some context within its genre and its development process, to help people appreciate it outside of the immediate joy of playing it.

But you know, I'm biased when it comes to "games as art" discussions

Or it might have something to do with:

### products in account
1 review

1 review
1 review
1 review
I would wonder about that. 

[io3 creations]

It is a beautifully written review, and that line is great. Needs to be published as an article on some review site

I agree, it almost to get the game now.  (Keyword: now). 
Will get it latter ... just have to finish a few other things first.  Then I can focus better on both playing and studying the game (gameplay and ASCII art).

Haha, they don't even do reviews. They do have a sister site that does news+reviews, but looks like they were interested in Cogmind

(I was thinking of freelance writers who get articles published on indie-friendly sites like RPS and other mid-sized outlets.)

Oh, I see.  Come to think of it, I was actually thinking of the posts where gamedevs write something about their game or development experience on gamasutra.

Regarding GOG, wouldn't they prefer "finished" vs early access games?

[Kyzrati]

Oh, I see.  Come to think of it, I was actually thinking of the posts where gamedevs write something about their game or development experience on gamasutra.

Yeah I've written some over there. A subset of the same stuff you've seen here, just the bigger articles that might appeal to a wider gamedev audience.

Regarding GOG, wouldn't they prefer "finished" vs early access games?

Quite true, though they have an EA system now too and welcome promising games. I would say Cogmind clearly counts by their standards because they contacted me about it (I know devs of other EA games not nearly as far along as Cogmind which are over there, too.)

[JobLeonard]

Or it might have something to do with:

### products in account
1 review

1 review
1 review
1 review
I would wonder about that. 

True. But then again, I announce my bias pretty clearly from the start

[io3 creations]

Oh, I see.  Come to think of it, I was actually thinking of the posts where gamedevs write something about their game or development experience on gamasutra.

Yeah I've written some over there. A subset of the same stuff you've seen here, just the bigger articles that might appeal to a wider gamedev audience.

Regarding GOG, wouldn't they prefer "finished" vs early access games?

Quite true, though they have an EA system now too and welcome promising games. I would say Cogmind clearly counts by their standards because they contacted me about it (I know devs of other EA games not nearly as far along as Cogmind which are over there, too.)

That's good to know.

When I first saw the comment regarding GOG contacting you, I wondered if perhaps you haven't heard back from them because they "realized" that your game may take a while to leave the EA phase. 

[io3 creations]

Or it might have something to do with:

### products in account
1 review

1 review
1 review
1 review
I would wonder about that. 

True. But then again, I announce my bias pretty clearly from the start

Yep.  Some people don't like bias.

[JobLeonard]

Those people are probably idiots thinking they are unbiased themselves

[io3 creations]

Those people are probably idiots thinking they are unbiased themselves

Yeah they have their selective blinders on. 

I can be biased, but you can't

[Kyzrati]

When I first saw the comment regarding GOG contacting you, I wondered if perhaps you haven't heard back from them because they "realized" that your game may take a while to leave the EA phase. 

Heh, they were aware, since I told them, but it was actually me who thought it best to not be on GOG for a while. It was when I wanted to get in touch with them a little while later about business details for further consideration that I couldn't get replies through any of multiple channels, even my contact