next »

[greenexec]

Hello!  I'm Wolff. 

I've been in the game industry for a while now as an engineer and producer.  I see the indie game movement as something both brand new and also a return to its roots.

When people ask me what kinds of games I like, I always tell them I like anything that's good.  I like games that are deeper rather than shallower.  I love a great RPG---Spiderweb's Nethergate is one of my favorite indie games---but I also like games that are a complete idea fully-explored.  Portal, Cave Story, Nethack, Oasis---all full realizations of ideas without requiring your audience to have played everything in the genre up until that point.

I'm working on an independent game myself, Little Green Guys With Guns (http://lggwg.com).  It's an online social strategy game with little cute guys dying horribly.

I'm really excited to see what's going on here!

[StudioFortress]

I'm Joe and I'm a final year CS student in the UK and have always loved playing games. I got into programming learning to build games with Blitz Basic before going to university. During the last year I worked abroad in Hong Kong for a large international bank, and although it was a fantastic place to work I found myself designing games on the back of all my notes on Cash Equities, and reading about the games industry during my lunch times. That's why I've decided game development is where I want to work.

This is me playing WarGames whilst out in HK.

The first machine I ever played on was the Amiga 500. An awesome machine which always had the best ports of all the best games, like Monkey Island and SpeedBall 2. But I really adored RPGs when I was growing up. Phantasy Star 4, Terranigma, Shining Force 2 and Secret of Mana are a few of my favourites.

Around the same time as Final Fantasy 8 (which I also loved) I bought the Dreamcast. Up to that point I had always played on my odler brothers Mega Drive, Snes, Sega Saturn, PlayStation and so on. But this one was mine and that's what really got me into following games. It didn't have many titles, but they were all so original and creative, like Shenmue, Rez, PSO and Jet Set Radio. I still sometimes read through my old copies of the Official Dreamcast magazine.

Since the DC I've slowly moved into PC gaming, a platform I always looked down on as a niche of console haters and wannabies. These days I almost exclusively play strategy and FPS titles, but only when I have time. It's a shame that as I get more and more into game development I find myself having less and less time and opportunities to play games.

Finally I run my own portfolio of small games I've built in Java: StudioFortress.com. I hope you enjoy the games!

[starsrift]

Hey all,

Long time anonymous lurker, new named poster. I'm Matt, and I live in Canada. I grew up with computer games, from playing a C64 on my father's lap as a babe, to other systems from there.

I'm primarily interested in non-mainstream games, reintroducing old(read: 80's & early 90's) ideas, and experiments in game theory. The glut of platformer indie games(will that get me shot?) and FPS AAA games both bore the hell out of me about equally. Variety is the spice of life.

[dcco]

Heyall, I'm dcco, nicknamed ducko, Owen at the moment on the MMGF, but yeah. I have this nasty habit of being an awful member when I first join things, but I hope to become... better. I love hard HARD platforming games. Seriously.

[LazyWaffle]

I'm Matt, and I live in Canada.

Matt Thorson? 

[dcco]

Hmm then why would he dislike the large number of platformers? Unless maybe he only likes the good ones.

[starsrift]

Matt Thorson? 

No, I am a much better Matt than Thorson. 

[dcco]

But DIM!!!!!

[Matt Thorson]

Matt Thorson? 

No, I am a much better Matt than Thorson. 

Thems fightin' words.

[deathtotheweird]

I go by allen but my real name is robert, I usually idle in the tigirc.

I have two full games in development, one in flixel and other is my first game in python (which is on hold until i come up with some fun levels )

i have tons of prototypes (construct, unity and a few in game maker) but I think they are all garbage and unworthy of release.

i'm learning unity3d (indie version) but I have this awful habit of forgetting to save me project and unity (windows version) just loves to crash...I'm going to get better at 3d modeling before I attempt a real project instead of random prototype.

most of my prototypes are inspired by my favorite games such as deus ex, ico, and puzzle platformers. oh and arsty type games and "art game" by dragonmaw 

[dcco]

hello friend of Shawn Bernard Bouchard.

[Noc]

Um, hi. I'm Ragnorok, recently joined, although i have been casually viewing a few of these threads for a while. I'm 16, an indie gamer, and I've been trying to get around to programming, but i'm a bit busy with school. I'm half american, half new zealander, or "kiwi". I was introduced to games through a magical device commonly referred to as a "Nintendo 64". Since then, i have been an avid gamer, Nintendo in particular. However, I recently introduced myself to Halo, and since then have bought an XBox 360 to keep up with the series. Well, i can't think of that much else to say. see ya around.

[Ashkin]

Hiya everybody. I've been a lurker for a while here. I'm half American, and half NZ. I'm 14, am a gamer to the core, and have recently began developing with Game Maker. I'm currently working on a platformer game, my first one to date. Um... That's pretty much it.

See you soon,
Ashkin

P.S. I looked in the pixel art thread, and all I can say is  .

[torahhorse]

HERO TWIN: hi. i'm looking to learn from people who have similar interests.. and also to get feedback on my work. it looks like there's a real good thing going here!

[klabelkholosh]

Hello friends! I am a mysterious visitor from the perenially dark continent of South Africa. I love gaming in all its forms and shapes and frequently its tastes. I feel slightly embarrassed as I am a 27 year old faux-programmer who has a passion for playing games but has not yet produced a game despite attempting to introduce himself on a game developer's forum, besides my awesomely unscientific Klik-n-Play games I made when I was 12.

My first gaming memory is URogue on a SCO Unix system; I loved going to my dad's work so I could play this for as long as possible. Then our family got a PC, and the first game I played on that was ROTOX.



..which I thought was awesome because the guy had baked beans for brains! Plus his teeth were really messed up which always confused me, unless they built a cyborg from a hobo or a sweet snack enthusiast.

In the late 80's/early 90's in South Africa we didn't have any official Nintendo presence (quite possibly because of economic sanctions) and as such were a prime market for NES clones from China. The myriad NES clones were known colloquially as 'TV GAMES', and one childhood friend would invite me around to play Super Mario, Ultra Super Mario (like Mario but, um, faster) and Adventure Island on his 100-on-1 cartridge.

Then the inevitable Wolfenstein/Doom/Doom2 progression which blew my tiny mind. It was only later on that I got into emulators and I experienced the whole Link to the Past thing 8 years after it came out. Since then I am product evangelizing in my local community for indie games and have successfully got a few friends playing Cave Story who were previously big titles only. I also tried creating a website for reviewing indie games but I have not updated it for a while as I am scared of it and its implausibly professional font and whenever I go to it it stares at me and is all like 'what you want' and I mumble and leave. Also I constantly worry if I read the posting rules here correctly.

So that's pretty much me. Love games, love playing them, would love to make them one day. LOVE!

[michaelplzno]

Hi, I'm pretty new to the whole forum thing but I've been looking for a community to talk about game making and it seems like this is the place so I'm going to jump right in. My name is Michael and I'm a designer/coder who did "Kid the World Saver" with a small team for the last IGF's Student Showcase.

Promo video:



Anyway, I love indie games and the whole community but didn't realize there was a place where indies get together and chat online till now. My favorite mainstream games are the ones I grew up on like Super Mario World, Zelda, Monkey Island, The Incredible Machine, and Star Craft. My favorite indie games are Braid, Dwarf Fortress, and Katamari.

In terms of my game making history, I started making games in middle school when they gave us those TI calculators. Then in high school I took some coding classes and majored in comp sci and math in college. More recently I've been at USC's game design program but am not too happy there 

I guess that's it, I'm pretty passionate about all ends of the game making process though I always will have a soft spot for hardcore coding and I'm looking forward to talking about what I love here!

[edykajang]

Hello guys. My name is Edy Kajang, an indie game developer from Malaysia. Since I bought my computer around 1997 when studying at university, I've become a hardcore player spending a lot of times playing computer games. The first game that got me interested is Diablo which uses isometric view. I've tried many types of games but later I get accustomed to playing lots of isometric games such as Fallout, Jagged Alliance 2 and many others including a disturbing adventure game called Sanitarium.

And then in 2000, I was playing Planescape Torment game. It's the rare game that gives emotional impact to me that inspire me to get involved in game development scene. Its then than I realized that game can become a form of expression. A game can transcend beyond its stereotype limitation to have an impact on human soul just like a good novel or movie does.

When did I start my first game project?

That's why I started a game project in February 2001 called Dreazth (taken from the word dread) which basically a true blue role playing game on 2D isometric perspective. OK, to cut the story short after spending a gruesome 8 years fighting with lots of problems and technical limitations, the game is finally been released as Blade Thrust Tactics. If you are curious about the painful process of creating the game, I've written an extended article about it. It's all in the game website.

Did I regret spending that 8 years on this game project? I have no regret spending that 8 years. I learn so many things that the skills I gain can be used in many upcoming games. Since I already have the first hand experience of how painful it is to create a complex game, I gain a valuable insight on developing a complex game.

What I do now?

Right now, I'm focusing my effort on creating a less hardcore game that serve entirely different market than the market for Blade Thrust Tactics. It's a text based character simulation game called Chronicles of My Life. I love pushing the limit of what I can do in term of game design and creating a game that try to simulate the nuts and bolts of human life just fascinates me.

No, I won't spend another 8 years developing this game. OK, that's all about me right now.

So Derek, if you read this, does Blade Thrust Tactics is good enough to be included in TIGDB Indie Game List? If the game is not good enough, can you tell me how to improve it? 

[JRevor]

Hello there.

My name is John R., and I'm a Computer Science III student from Spain. I've been a hardcore gamer since my parents first bought me a NES.  I started making games much later, at the age of 15, and same goes for music composing. I have worked on 20+ small game projects , but nothing too serious, until now.

Nowadays, I'm really interested in the indie game making field. I'm studying graphic techniques as much as I can, and creating script-based visual effects and in-game-physics.

Why I'm here? I'm looking for a partner, a graphic artist, to create a game with. Let's hope i can find the right forum to post the thread 

[Ben Kuhn]

Hello.

I'm Ben and I'm currently a high school student in the US. My interest in independent games was sparked (like that of many others I'm sure) by Cave Story, and searching around the Internets for something related (I'm not sure exactly what) I stumbled upon Tigsource. I had at that point tried my hand at making a few games with Game Maker, but I wasn't really aware that a wider community existed for that kind of thing. I'm here now because I have a long school break coming up and my mission is to actually vomit up something both interactive and finished by the end, just to get a feel for actually finishing a game.

So yeah, I'll probably just fade back into obscurity after this post, but at least now I've Obligatorily Introduced Myself.

[bsherman]

Man, I've been reading this forum for years, but only now that I have something to contribute have I gotten around to introducing myself.

Hello!  My name is Benjamin Sherman and I am an indie game developer.  The only thing people would know me from would be the trailer for the game flOw http://bentropy.com/2009/04/14/324/ though that isn't really game design so much as game related.

I'm a big fan of geographic puzzles; things like Metroid and Zelda come to mind.  Twitch doesn't often pay off for me with quite the emotional resonance the way it does for other players.  If I'd have to pick a desert island game... probably have to go with Shadow of the Colossus.  Or, if I bend the rules a bit, I'd pick something like WoW so that I could keep in contact with those not on my island