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[Guert]

True, Nifflas is too "popular" for what I was looking for in terms of developers... Tell ya what, forgot I mentionned his name and ask the guys at kokoromi.org about the gaming culture in Montreal...

Later!

[Alec]

games are games.

they were made to played.

the sound of water.

this post is art

[fish]

the wind.

[Alec]

touché, my friend.

touché.

the sound of water.

[Alec]

Anyways, I think most folks here are here cause they love games. Its generally not too complicated or dramatic. (depending on how many times they were beaten up in high school) Mostly just people that grew up inspired by games and are now trying to explore new avenues of the medium.

Seems like that's one part of the indie scene.

Then there's people that are in it to make money... we're not really sure why they're in indie/casual games and not something with more of a chance of making the big bucks. But there's a lot of talk on other forums about only doing what the "customer" "wants". (interesting discussion here-ish)

So there's some question over how much independent thinking factors into independent games in general, or if its more about small teams making games whether they're completely derivative or not.

Personally I'd like to believe it means small teams doing something they actually care about, and not just people out to make a buck.

But hey.

I'm cantankerous.

[littlefox]

But yeah, I'm dubious about what this article you're writing is going to be like if you're hitting people up for answers on a webforum.

Ouch! Trust me guys, this isn't the only place I'm going. I'm interviewing the creators of the games I'm featuring, and that is principally what the article will be about - specific games rather than zen koans about what art is. I just wanted to hear indie gamers' general thoughts on it before making any statement about "what indie gamers think."
It's still somewhat unfair to make those statements at all, because what do I know? ... but for an audience who has no idea what an "indie game" is, basic explanation is necessary, and I thought you guys might like a little say in how you're represented.  The tigsource forums will not be the focus of the article, nor will your opinions, but they are helpful to me nonetheless. There was always a possibility that someone would say something fitting, and I would ask if I could quote them. May still occur.

[Pacian]

I don't think there's anything wrong with casting your net wide.  You just need to realise you'll catch a few bitey fish as well.   

So, I want to talk about indie gamers themselves - you guys, your culture, what made you interested in indie gaming.

I wonder how many PC gamers get into indie gaming because mainstream PC games are constantly pushing the boundaries of what the (graphical) hardware can do to the extent that they're leaving much of their potential market behind.  My computer, for example, can download bytes, process words and message instants.  It cannot, however, transform lighting, and so although I could buy nice mainstream games to put in my DVD drive, they would not actually do anything except spin round lots of times.  The graphics card works fine.  In fact, I'm using it right now.  Do I really want to crack open my computer and replace it just so that I can play games where the characters have smooth edges and realistic shadows?  (Hint: the answer is no.)

There's a famous mainstream gaming bloke who claimed that Intel were killing PC gaming by putting crap video cards in everyone's PCs.  And a lot of other people said that maybe mainstream PC gaming is killing itself off by demanding the latest, most nuclear-powered graphics.  We have games that are starting to look almost photorealistic, but they still function exactly the same as the games of ten, even twenty years ago.  (Obviously there are exceptions, but this is the trend.)  Imagine if they took all the effort and processing power that they put into giving the lead man polygonal stubble and instead put it into, say, creating complicated NPCs that react to the player and pursue their own agendas.

That's not to say that indie games do anything like that (although a few interactive fiction games certainly try), but they don't have the resources of a mainstream game (or should I say 'studio game' or something?).  The point is that the effort on an indie game isn't so frequently directed at improving the graphics above all other considerations. For people like me this is win/win:  better content, and my computer can actually run it.

[the_dannobot]

So, I want to talk about indie gamers themselves - you guys, your culture, what made you interested in indie gaming.

I'm a software engineer, and I don't get to be very creative at work.  I have a bunch of ideas for games I'd like to play, so if I'm not at work and bored I'll work on a game.  It's just something I do in my free time instead of watching tv.

I'm pretty sure that most people in the indy gaming "scene" are also indy game developers, and got into the scene to share tips, promote projects, look for team members, etc.  There's an indy game group here in Austin that meets every now and then, and most of the meetings center around those topics.

[AdamAtomic]

a few bitey fish

This would be a great name for an article about indie games that might be hard to access but worth it once you do...

[ZombiePixel]

What the indie community reminds me of is back in the old days when a friend would stop by with a 5.25" disk in his sweaty hands saying "you gotta check this out!" and I'd boot up the C64 to see games like Fort Apocalypse, Impossible Mission, Project Firestart, Hero, Ghostbusters, etc.  The coolest thing was that with each game we had no idea what experience awaited us.

When I pick up Call of Duty 3, Command and Conquer 3, Final Fantasy 12, Halo 3, etc - I know exactly the game experience that awaits me.  In most cases I even know what the control layout will be.  But there was a time when there was always something new to be experienced - a game style or control scheme that I'd never played before.

That's the warm-fuzzies I get when I load up TIGsource and see "You gotta check this out".  The games aren't always fantastic but they're usually different enough to have that feeling of "newness".

[Ivan]

It reminds me of the same thing. I had a Sinclair Spectrum when i was a kid and i would buy these bootleg tapes (you had to load them from a tapedeck!) with dozens of games on each and stay up super late playing them one by one and you'd have no idea what insane experience awaited you from one to the next.

[ravuya]

The Pickford Bros did a nice article on Speccy loading screens.

[Ivan]

Ahh nice.

On that note, worldofspectrum.org is an endless source of fun.

http://www.worldofspectrum.org/randomseek.cgi

^^ takes you to a random game in their archive of thousands. i can spend the whole day pressing F5.

[ithamore]

So, littlefox, how did the article work out?

[Derek]

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Date Registered:  	August 09, 2007, 09:45:35 am
Last Active:            August 10, 2007, 11:07:10 am