Slashdot Mirror
The Indie Game Jam
Rich Carlson writes "The Indie Game Jam is a yearly game design
and programming event designed to encourage experimentation and innovation in the game industry."
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)
everything i needed to know about being a man i learned from batman by Seamus Heffernan There are a series of classic questions that plague all young men, boys who have emerged from their childhood but have not yet boarded the neon hormonal freight train known as puberty. We all argued about what the truly greatest chocolate bar experience was; we pondered over what was in the middle of golf balls and what made that rattle inside spray-paint cans; we agonized over what the best Star Wars movie was. And, of course, there was the tough question in my circle of friends, boys weaned on too many Saturday morning cartoons and late-night horror flicks, boys whose vision of the world was seen through the pop-culture goggles of good versus evil. We were ten-year-olds who thought comic books were literature, and the greatest Before We Discover Sex question of all was this: Who is your favourite super-hero? I always said Batman. Often, my friends scoffed at me, pointing out the foolish limitations of my choice. Batman could not fly. He was not bulletproof, super-fast, or blessed with the proportionate speed and strength of a spider (whatever that means). There was nothing particularly super about this hero, and yet he captivated my hyper-extended imagination as a child, and it went beyond the dark costume and the looming bat-ears. My interest has lasted into adulthood, and I assume that my friends now think that I keep a Batman action-figure on my desk as a claim to youthful charm. I may let them think that, but it runs far deeper. While other heroes were often imbued with an "aw-shucks" charm that was meant to re-enforce their humanity, quite often it left me with resentment for what I saw as their smug self-satisfaction. Bullets bouncing off their chests, their power-rings ablaze or their laser eye-beams blasting through the bad guys, they were always ready to clap one of us regular folk on the back, give that toothy the-world-is-just-bully-'cause-the-good-guys-alway s-win grin, and reassure us they would be back when we needed them.
Conversely, Batman was one of us "regular folk." Without powers, he was forced to rely on his skill and his wits. Oh sure, he was rich and had access to an incredible amount of gadgets and technological innovations, but lose the Batmobile and the well-stacked utility belt, and you were left with just flesh and blood. His humanity was a huge attraction to me, as I found it hard to relate to his super-powered brethren. Perhaps I equated them with the kids who were too good-looking, too smart, or too athletic, but in Batman I saw a guy succeed in life because he wanted to, and not because he caught a few breaks.
Of course, I was too young to articulate this at the time, and probably just said "Cool, man" and chugged some more cherry soda. But Batman has stayed with me when other icons of my pre-adolescence have slipped away.
First, there's a darkness to Batman that is quite appealing to the older comic book fan. Since Batman was distanced from the campy TV show and re-introduced to his darker roots (thanks mainly to Frank Miller's work in Batman: Year One and The Dark Knight Returns) he became perhaps the mot psychologically compelling character in comic books. Here was a guy who saw his parents get gunned down as a kid, and carried that with him for years. His whole life is about trying to fix that one wrong, and he can't. In real life, we'd probably pay a bunch of psychiatrists to anlayze his feeling and explain what was going on, and they'd tell us he was a control freak suffering from delusions of grandeur, driven by revenge fantasies. Thankfully, this isn't real-life, and in comics we're spared the Oprahfication of modern society. As a character, he's simply hard not to care about, because he cares so much himself.
It is this drive that separates him from the typical spandex-clad vigilante. Batman did not become a hero because some fluke accident - that seemed to invariably involve "radiation" - left him with strange abilities. He has his share of titles and accolades (world's greatest detective, world's best escape artist, world's best hand-to-hand combatant, etc.) but ultimately, he exists as an example of a man who pushes himself to greatness through discipline and an unshakeable confidence in what is right. His dark beginnings prove that he did not have heroics thrust upon him; he grabbed heroics by the throat and took them for himself.
As I have become increasingly individualistic as I've grown into adulthood, it is this quality of my childhood idol that sticks with me. Never once did you see him complain, or cry victim, or bray about a misplaced sense of entitlement. He was guided by an unwavering sense of justice and never compromised his principles in the face of convenience. Here was the "rugged individualism" of the classical liberal, leaping to four-colour life on the pages before my young eyes, a man whose "powers" could be emulated far easier in my day-to-day life than, say, Superman's.
Batman is a permanent fixture of our culture, a name that enjoys almost universal recognition. He symbolizes something more than the cape and cowl. To his fans, he represents a darkness we have all faced, a question that we sometimes cannot push away: Will I have the courage to push myself, to not be a coward, to do the right thing? In that sense, this fictional character very much represents real life, and our own self-doubt. Batman never had one of those big, the-good-guys-always-win smiles. He knew better.
is it that bad seein a hot chick again? if i see a hot chick walkin down the hall i dont say "repost"
I just had sex with a vacuum cleaner. You should congratulate me.
It is designed to allow users to discuss topics of interest.
I have been pwned because my
Why not let me win JUST ONCE!!!
Is this truly the only Earth I can live on?
I mean I had an idea regarding slashdot moderation :
it is simple : from +3 onwards and from 0 downwards, it should cost 2 moderation points to respectively up and down mod a post
Smile, don't click...
more indiana jones games.
have you seen my panties? I seem to have misplaced them. Thanks!
you havent seen my panties have you? k thx :) huggggz!
Count Dooku cuts off Anakin's arm and escapes with death star plans!
Fuck you, lamer. Over on the other message board, this is what we do to spoiler fucks like you.
you didn't see my panties anywhere did you? I think this guy ate them LOL! thx! huggggz! :)
Let's see:
black shirt, blue jeans
black shirt, blue jeans
black shirt, blue jeans
black shirt, tan jeans
grey shirt, blue jeans
grey shirt, black shirt, white shirt
(that guy in the back has a red shirt--must be gay)
Angered by the US government's decision to rule out signing up to Kyoto for the next 10 years, the environment minister, Michael Meacher, writes in today's Guardian that the world is running out of time. "We do not have much time and we do not have any serious option. If we do not act quickly to minimise runaway feedback effects from global warming we run the risk of making this planet, our home, uninhabitable."
The minister's intervention came after Washington's chief climate negotiator, Harlan Watson, said in London earlier this week that an independent US initiative to cut emissions of greenhouse gases would not be assessed until 2012. "We are not going to be part of the Kyoto protocol for the foreseeable future," he announced.
Mr Watson's remarks prompted an outspoken attack on the US by Mr Meacher. "I am so disappointed that this week the US refused to reconsider coming back into the climate talks for 10 years. The need for action is urgent," he writes.
Tony Blair also admitted last night that Britain and the US were at odds over the Kyoto protocol, the international agreement drawn up to help slow, and mitigate the effects of, climate change.
In an interview on BBC2's Newsnight, the prime minister said: "On Kyoto, there is a difference of opinion. We have made that clear."
Mr Meacher takes a swipe at the US's apparent complacency when he warns that there are strong reasons for "doubting the comforting US picture that there's plenty of time to deal with the problem". The minister adds: "One reason is that climate change may be not steady but abrupt; the other is that the pressures we inflict on the climate may trigger wholly unexpected developments from feedback effects."
Latest scientific evidence suggests the impact of climate change on Britain could be "faster and sharper" than expected, says Mr Meacher. Almost two million homes in England and Wales are at risk from floods, and Britain will experience a 65% increase in river flooding if defences do not account for climate change.
"The UN intergovernmental panel on climate change ... has forecast that global average temperatures will rise by between 1.4 to 5.8 degrees Celsius by 2100.
"That may not sound much. But it is worth remembering that the last ice age, when much of the northern hemisphere was buried under an ice pack thousands of feet thick, was triggered by a fall in temperature of only some five degrees Celsius."
A rise in temperature of just 5.8C could melt glaciers and Greenland's ice sheet, causing a rise in sea water that could submerge island nations.
Mr Meacher's intervention comes after the deputy prime minister, John Prescott, said he would not attend an environmental summit at a Bali resort next month.
Mr Prescott was criticised for considering attending the summit, a preparatory meeting for the Earth Summit in Johannesburg this September. Amid reports that the trip would cost taxpayers 250,000, he said Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary, would be the only cabinet minister attending.
Speaking to the parliamentary Labour party, the deputy prime minister said: "I'm not going to Bali. But I live in hope."
Smile, don't click...
The Indie Game Jam is a yearly game design and programming event designed to encourage experimentation and innovation in the game industry...
:P Most of us 12:01am showing folks just got back from Episode II premiers. It's 4am, I saw it in digital with 11 close friends. Concensus reaction:
:)
:D
Whoop-tee-doo!
OH MY FUCKING GAWD.
(In a jaw-dropped, wide-eyed, wired-at-3am , good kind of way
The big surprise was that we somehow got the "Director's Cut," which according to the theater manager, was 11 minutes longer than the celluloid version. Which makes sense, since we were dispersing behind the 12:05 showing and right alongside the 12:10 showing, both of which were "non-digital" formal.
Valley View Cinemark in Ohio RULES!
Favorite quote was some dude commenting to the media after the movie: "Yoda is like Bruce Lee, Mister Myogi, and Kermit the Frog all rolled into one!!"
:D
SlashSigTheorem: Humorous, Political, Critical, Constructive- If you have a
"...experimentation and innovation in the game industry"
Hey, now there's an idea. It's nice to see a game every once in a while that doesn't fit neatly into a specific genre. Helps keep things "fresh".
http://crummysocks.com
"The Indie Game Jam is a yearly game design and programming event designed to encourage experimentation and innovation in the game industry."
Here's some real innovation and experimentation:
Dani Bunten Berry
Pardon me while I feel nostalgiac...every game that comes out lately (esp. in the arcade) is either two guys beating the stuffing out of each other, or some sort of Exxxtreme Simulation, be it piloting a helicopter, shooting a gun, or pushing a shopping cart full of your worldly possesions down the street while being chased by cops and skinheads.
Okay, that last one doesn't really exist but WHAT THE HELL IS UP WITH ALL THE SIMULATIONS??? You wanna be Deer Avenger Mega XL? Why not actually go hunt a deer. There are millions of 'em out there. You want to drive real fast? Go to the local racetrack and ACTUALLY DO IT.
I miss the quality games like Rampart, which was extremely playable as a multiplayer or single player endeavor...must stop ranting...trying to stay on topic:
A lot of the games on that web page are very, very cool ideas, and I'm really glad to see the big vendors (read: Intel) getting behind the local community. I would love to play Dueling Machine, because it sounds totally cool, and many of the others seem utterly hilarious.
God, I miss the good games. I think everyone fell in love with the "rich story line" after Wing Commander II and forgot about playability and the intense PLEASURE that comes from battling it out with a game like Lemmings. I bet the current crop of mainstream game designers has watched a lot more TV and action adventure movies and spent a hell of a lot less time playing lunar lander, drag racer, and Adventure on the mainframe.
100,000 sprites? You had to do something crafty with interrupts to get more than 7 sprites on my old C64. And yet, I have a game of MULE scheduled for right after I hit the submit button...
I light a candle for Infocom
So, lets see. We go to Slashdot, and we find:
o A 1000-pixel wide banner advertising (gasp) SourceForge at the top.
o A top story that refers to a (gasp) SourceForge project!
o A link to an article that contains no less than two separate SourceForge logos..
o And mentions SourceForge in the article 5 separate times..
I have only two questions. First, do you guys really think we're so stupid that we cant recognize when VA tries to use its influence to run pro-SourceForge articles? Nice community-minded approach there, guys. So much for Savannah. Theyre getting in VA's way. Secondly, do I have VA's permission to go to the bathroom and wipe my ass with these poorly veiled [ advertisements | articles | adverticles ]?
Bowie J. Poag
who fucking cares about your sci-fi schissdreck ?!
you're a consumoron.
Smile, don't click...
The code is released under GPL, and is available on sourceforge for everyone to play with. I've always wanted to develop games, so looking at *actual* game code is really exciting. I know I can do that elsewhere too, but these are (supposed to be, anyway) top-of-the-line game developers doing their stuff. I'll be downloading the source for sure :-)
Black holes are where God divided by zero
this guy ate them
People seem to like it.
jacenggf:
The Scene when Anakin finds his mom, kills the tuskens, and talks to Padme` after are some of the most powerful scenes in ANY of the starwars movies. The rage in Anakin's eyes is amazing. He IS darth vader.
Petar:
Yes, it truly was a fitting addition to the Star Wars legacy. The Yoda-Dooku fight was a definite highlight, but so was the humour level, and the acting of Natalie Portman. She was just beautiful, on-screen.
The Jedi vs droids battle at the end, was absolutely excellent, and the movie also successfully gave the feeling that something foreboding is on it's way.
Line of the movie, was by Obi-Wan to Anakin. Something along the lines of: "You'll be the death of me, one day....."
Mjolnir VII:
When Yoda was fighting (at the end of the movie versing Tyrannus)
I was Laughing like mad, when I saw it! Old man MOves he seems so weak until he shows off the power.
The term innovation seems to becoming more and more overused. As much as I'm
sure that code will be created through this that will be very interesting to see
and see run, isn't innovation something rare enough to not be expected? What's so wrong nowadays with being proud to have simply made something of quality, even if it's not some earth shattering revelation.
Sometimes it just seems to me Microsoft's proclamations of their so called
'innovations' have lowered the bar considerably. I'm about to go make a bowl of
ramen noodles, and I'll be throwing in some pieces of broccoli. By todays
standards would that be considered an innovation in the world of everyday
nutrition?
Everything will be taken away from you.
Here is an excellent example of indie gaming.
2. Store jar in secret hiding place with all the others
Well, the concept behind the indiegamejam seems to be very interesting, but what are the games actually like? I would like to download some of them and give them a go, and see what you can actually do over a 4 day period.
/. discussion in a comments on AOTC news item rather than posting all over the place.
The sreen shots don't give that much away. Just 100000s of people everywhere to kill. How complete was the base sourcecode they were working from?
--
I guess everyones attention is on AOTC, so perhaps it would be wise to have a
Saying your OS is the best because more people use it is like saying MacDonalds make the best food
Hmm, sounds familiar. Is it similar to the way patents & trademarks are designed to encourage innovation?
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Score:0 Offtopic.
Offtopic it may be, this is why the Slashdot System is so brilliant. You don't post anything that might criticize your humble and goodwilling intentions. And when someone mentions that your articles are crap and only serve your own needs, then it is naturally off-topic, because it wasn't posted under the thread "Slashdot, News for Nerds, Stuff that VAtters".
Face it. Slashdot is turning into a propaganda tool for VA, which is whole lot of smaller community than "the Nerds" which used to be your community, or atleast I thought so.
By the looks of it, the first iteration of this event was a success. It will be great when we can download the games and see for ourselves.
later,
Jess
I am programmed for etiquette, not destruction!
Because it looks very much like a demoscene party.
Gotta love how geeks wonder why the mainstream never gets interested in anything they do when they use "funny" programming in-jokes like this.
"We do not tremble, we are not sentimental..we are a furious wind tearing the dirty linens of clouds and prayers"- Tzara
You *have* to see "Dr. Web".
http://www.cs.trinity.edu/~thicks/Win9598NT/Window s9598NT.html
A quote:
'DOS is an old (early 80's) command line operating system which requires the user to memorize and enter all commands from a command prompt.
Windows 3.1 (late 80's) was Microsoft's first attempt at a Macintosh-like Graphical User Interface (GUI); this interface allowed (1) programs to be launched by double-clicking icons with a mouse, (2) files to be copied by drag and drop, and (3) much easier copy & paste. The Windows 3.1 operating system was a 16 bit operating system.
Windows 95, Windows 98, and Windows NT (4.0) are the current state-of-the-art 32 bit operating systems. They have greatly enhanced the GUI and have proven to be both significantly more powerful and significantly more reliable than the Windows 3.1 operating system.
OS2 is began as a joint venture between IBM and Microsoft. IBM finished and marketed this operating system. It is not used extensively today. There are a few business applications still running on this operating system.
Linux is a freely distributed UNIX operating system for the Intel architecture. Linux has all of the utilities to provide printer service, ftp service, network file service, web page service, mail service, and internet service to a host of computers. The current version of Linux is Red Hat Linux. '
I'd love to see a game where i can be a person who walks around with big guns and shoots things.. like pain in the but moderators for examples.. or just bad guys too :)
I'm about to go make a bowl of ramen noodles, and I'll be throwing in some pieces of broccoli.
You'd better not. I've patented that.
When you put broccoli in your ramen, that's called *synthesizing*.
The ramen noodles are the *framework*. Nutrition is a *functional requirement*. Dumping leftover veggies into your kibble *adds value* and *lowers your TCO*.
I could keep going except I agree with you too much. Innovation is dead, or at least becoming increasingly more stultified as we approach the "McCultural singularity"
Democracy is a registered trademark of the America Corporation.
This took place in March.. how come we hear it just now?
not only are white shirts cooler, you can also wash them at a temperature which kills bacteria rather than just giving them a warm bath.
BTW I am wearing an olive shirt and bright blue cotton trousers (since they are thin and it is hot today). My white shirts are all drying :-)
unmodified human stem cells are innovations.
The European patent office at least requires them to be modified in some way before being patented (also it lets the process of obtaining them be patented).
A story gets submitted in that lame-ass fashion and gets put up unedited and without at least the moderator providing some more details?
What the fsck is slashdot coming to?
Ooooh...it's an ad for SourceForge!!!
-marc
Slashdot is some kind of charge for no charge of GPL licenses. I mean, Slashdot doesn't want your money - save the subscriptions - or your mind, Slashdot.org wants just your soul, not literally.
Please understand and agree or decline the contract now.
I agree
I decline
This is what I want for Myth IV, Mr. Jason Jones. Billyuns and Billyuns of sprites.
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
"innovation" and "game industry"
-= This is a self-referential sig =-
No kidding.
Its just so sad to watch, sometimes.. The whole Linux movement started off being so kind, and generous, and genuinely altruistic....then turned into a steaming pile of bullshit. And disingenuine bullshit, at that. I fought, and fought, and fought to try to get people to realize what was happening, because back then, I still cared. I walked out in disgust, issued a very public fuck-you to VA and the horse they rode in on, and encouraged others to do the same. Nobody listened. Infact, the opposite happened. I got ridiculed and made a pariah for doing so. I'm seriously beginning to think there is no real Linux community left. The people who were there pre-VA, pre-Andover, they've all moved on, and away from this sort of carpetbagging crap.. Myself included.. It seems the only ones left are the people who cant bare to admit its over.
Makes you wonder what the "next big thing" will be. QNX? BSD? Hurd?...OS X? Sure as hell wont be Linux, unfortunately. As much as we all tried, we're in a situation now where VA has monopolized such a massive amount of mindshare that VA's imminent bankruptcy will drag the Linux movement down the tubes with it. VA is irrevocably linked with the Linux movement. Their demise translates to "See? Linux failed." in the minds of everyone outside the Linux community.
So.. Doesn't matter if you had dreams. Doesn't matter if you gave everything you had and did everything you could to help. You're an obstacle sitting firmly between Company X and the mean green.
Welcome to the Golden age of Adverticles, kids.
Cheers,
Bowie J. Poag
I think the premise of "innovative" is that all possible games and ways to play games haven't been discovered, and that they want to try to find some of them.
So, they provide a new gimmick (100,000 sprites), and ask the developers to try to discover new games for the gimmick. The gimmick exists to help kick the developers out of any rut they may be in -- to be the impetus for them to exploit their creativity.
Quality is something we all want. And there are plenty of groups producing games of quality.
But innovation, while perhaps hard to force, also isn't something that just falls from the sky. You have to keep at it and keep at it, and hopefully finally out of the 100's and 1000's of tries, something is actually new and interesting.
Or maybe we should be working toward a top quality abacus, nevermind all those new-fangled tran-sis-tors. Translation: if they try hard enough, they may eventually find something that changes everything, that becomes the foundation for everything else. A lofty goal, for certain; but, they've got to start somewhere, and they may develop lots of other cool stuff along the way.
I'm still missing a multiplayer game where participants could create free-form 'creatures' and let them fight or do another things. Of course there were attempts, like TechnoSphere, some others but usually they are limited to some narrow set of rules, are not developed or not addictive.
Wouldn't it be nice to have a game where you could design your characted in a let's say modern 3D package, give it physical properties and let it 'live' together with others in a virtual environment. It sounds maybe dull, but look how popular Sims are - and not - Sims is also one of those 'limited' kind of games. Pity.
/Diolas
1 of 5 people are assholes at any given time. Often it's the same people. Get more people together you'll notice more of them since they stand out and make themselves known.
A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
Fuck, that's just excellent. Angry God Bowling. I think that just may have to be one of the best concepts for a video game I've seen in a long time ... sorta B&W'ish.
What I think these folks should do is take all 12 games that were made, and combine them into one big mega-one - you can't get to the next map until you win the existing one.
Package 'em up, slap 'em in a box called "Angry God Bowling" and sell.
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Another Independent game festival and a pretty addictive java based browser based game insaniquarium
(it starts off slow, is a simple game, and carpal tunnel inducing, but stick with it, it gets better)
e.
Build Your Own PVR/HTPC news, reviews, &
What's so wrong nowadays with being proud to have simply made something of quality, even if it's not some earth shattering revelation.
Yes, true. The trouble is that most game developers set out from day one to write a game "like popular game X." So they follow all the cliches that are laid out before them, and they write a game effectively by the numbers. And that's exactly what people hate in music: bands that are obviously trying to sound like some other band. But when it comes to games, people just accept this--even game critics--and revel in the cliches.
Whoa, cool... anyone have a link to the demo?
"I am a cipher, a cipher, wrapped in an enigma, smothered in secret sauce" -Jimmy James
Highly acclaimed Black & White allows you, as a god, to Sims-style take care of your own "creature" and take him to fights against other creatures, on single player and multiplayer campaigns.
Of course, that's not exactly the game's main idea.
Bill Gates Has No Penis.
Strange you never see anyone walking around these game shows with a replica phaser do you?
Video Game cheats, hints a