Play The Independent Games Festival

The Seventh Annual Independent Games Festival doesn't start until tomorrow (indeed, the kiosks at the Moscone Center aren't even set up yet), but if you're interested in the contenders you can play many of them at Gamespot. While not all of the games have demos, the ones that do are definitely worth checking out.

Comments

not sure if it's at this IGF

[enrico_suave]

but GISH is a very cool indie game with a demo...

neato physics engine, quirky character adds another dimension (figuratively) as a cool platformer game.

IMHO anyways...

e.

Re:not sure if it's at this IGF

[Creepy Crawler]

Erm.. Gish eh. Looks nice but the "Minimum Requirements" seem high..

Minimum system requirements:
# Windows 98/ME/2000/XP, Linux or OSX 10.1+
# AMD,Intel or G3 1000+ Mhz processor
# OpenGL video card with 32 mb of memory
# 256MB of memory

Looks like a SNES/N64 game with the beef required for an Xbox.

Re:not sure if it's at this IGF

[Anonymous Coward]

It'd probably benefit greatly from a physics co-processor.

Re:not sure if it's at this IGF

[ikkonoishi]

Trust me. The effects that Gish uses are quite excellent. They are much higher quality than anything the SNES could do. You really have to play it to get the full effect.

Re:not sure if it's at this IGF

[88NoSoup4U88]

Alot of people told me about Gish, and how they liked it :

I played the demo, and somehow, being a blob in a SNES environment, wasn't too exciting.
Sometimes the slow crawling over the ceilings really got on my nerves.
Then again, alot of people praise it.

Bontago (www.bontago.com) all the way ! ;)

(Last year's winner)

Re:not sure if it's at this IGF

[Creepy Crawler]

Well, I gave it a chance..

Ive seen low-graphics games that were terribly fun like Dokutsu Monogatari, but this game just doesnt cut it.

I played up to something like 1-3 or so.. I spend more times just rolling around structures I stick to. Not terribly fun... Even the high-speed train ride was like that of Mega Man X, and yet MegaMax X was more fun on the high-speed tram ride.

Looks fun, but really isnt...

Great games

[gimpynerd]

Some really great independent games are made because a lot of times the programmers are more worried about making a sweet game than making money. It's festivals like these that give these games what they deserve: recognition. Kudos to the people that run it.

The specs are a wee high

[prurientknave]

From the screenshots on the site, it looks like a standard side scroller, how does it justify these requirements? Link

Re:The specs are a wee high

[ikkonoishi]

You'll note that in that SS gish is squished down and flowing up on the ledge.

Gish is a fluid mass, not a sprite graphic. Each object has its own mass and momentum, and you can actually pick-up and throw enemies and blocks.

Play the demo before you judge.

Re:The specs are a wee high

[Suddenly_Dead]

Have you tried the demo? It's 2D, yes, but Gish and the other things in the game stretch and squish, and everything is very well animated and visualized. Try it, they're at least partly justified.

The competition...

[AnamanFan]

Personally, I think the open category is between Alien Hominid and Gish.

Alien Hommid is the only non-PC (PS2 and Gamecube) game in competition, and has a very solid following via Newgrounds since the game started as a flash-based game.

Gish wins out in both looks and physics. Epically the physics. It also shares a fan base from Newgrounds as they advertised heavily on NG and post NG content.

Personally, I hope Alien Hommid wins. I have no real reason that it beats out the other. Both are very good games.

Now next year, I'm hoping Antidote sweeps the awards!

* Poster is the creator of Antidote.

Re:The competition...

[Creepy Crawler]

Bah. No screenshots, no links, no nothing. Just some crummy "Beta Test" that sounds like a spam-registry.

Second, lovely 2 inch by 4 inch "license box". Lets look at those lovely statements "possible beta testers" agree to.

---"In addition, Licensor may terminate this Agreement at any time, with or without cause, upon written notice to Recipient. Upon termination of this Agreement (or upon request by Licensor), Recipient promptly shall discontinue use of and uninstall the Product and return to Licensor, or certify destruction of, all full or partial copies of the Product in Recipient's possession or control."

Oops. We forgot to tell you we've cancelled your "license" but we didnt tell you! Too bad! Idiotic.

---"UPDATES AND DOWNLOADS. Solely for the purpose of patching and updating the Product and/or the Software, you hereby grant us permission to: (i) upload Product file information from your computer; and (ii) download Product files to you. You acknowledge that any and all character data is stored and is resident on our servers, and any and all communications that you make within the Product (including, but not limited to, messages solely directed at another player or group of players) traverse through our servers, may or may not be monitored by us or our agents, you have no expectation of privacy in any such communications and expressly consent to such monitoring of communications you send and receive."

Wow. You agree that we have the right to do whatever with your computer, and there's no privacy. We also now own the alligned ferrite bits that make up the 1's and 0's of this game. Bawahahaha

---"CONFIDENTIALITY. The Product, including its existence and features, and related information are proprietary and confidential information to Licensor and its suppliers. Recipient agrees not to disclose or provide the Product, documentation or any related information (including the Product features or the results of use, testing or benchmarks of the Product) to any third party without the express prior written consent of Licensor."

Our game sucks, its full of spyware, and it slows your net connection down cause it uploads/downloads whenever, but HOW DARE YOU TELL ANYBODY THAT!!!!

---"All bug reports, test results, suggestions and other feedback provided to Licensor by Recipient shall be the property of Licensor and may be used by Licensor for any purpose, at Licensor's sole discretion, and entirely without obligation of any kind to Recipient."

ROFL. I publish only under Creative Commons or Public Domain.

---"DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. THE PRODUCT IS DEEMED ACCEPTED BY RECIPIENT. RECIPIENT ACKNOWLEDGES AND UNDERSTANDS THAT IT IS USING A PRE-RELEASE VERSION OF THE PRODUCT THAT COULD CAUSE FAILURES OR LOSS OF DATA, MAY BE INCOMPLETE OR CONTAIN INACCURACIES AND MAY BE CHANGED SUBSTANTIALLY BEFORE COMMERCIAL RELEASE. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, LICENSOR AND ITS SUPPLIERS PROVIDE THE PRODUCT AND ANY (IF ANY) SUPPORT RELATED TO THE PRODUCT "AS IS" AND WITH ALL FAULTS, AND HEREBY DISCLAIM WITH RESPECT TO THE PRODUCT AND SUPPORT ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY (IF ANY) WARRANTIES, DUTIES OR CONDITIONS OF OR RELATED TO: MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, LACK OF VIRUSES, COMPATIBILITY, ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF RESPONSES, RESULTS, WORKMANLIKE EFFORT AND LACK OF NEGLIGENCE. ALSO, THERE IS NO WARRANTY, DUTY OR CONDITION OF TITLE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, QUIET POSSESSION, CORRESPONDENCE TO DESCRIPTION OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY, OR ARISING OUT OF THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE PRODUCT AND ANY SUPPORT (INCLUDING ANY DECISIONS MADE OR ACTIONS TAKEN BASED ON INFORMATION OBTAINED USING THE PRODUCT), REMAINS WITH RECIPIENT. LICENSOR AND ITS SUPPLIERS DO NOT WARRANT THE OPERATION OF THE PRODUCT TO BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE."

Wow, they "Own Your Ass" but they have ABSOLUTELY NO LIABILITY in return. How thoughtful.

SO..

Re:The competition...

[AnamanFan]

I started to write a response to this point-by-point, but quickly I realized how ill your perception is. Not to mention your previous posts.

The statements in the agreement only apply to being a beta tester. The license for the final project will be extremely different from this closed beta test. This license will be available on the website for public viewing; A practice not common in the industry.

The reason for these statements are to protect me from being sued. I am doing everything I can to make it work the first time. However, things happen. Even with the three computers I have to test the game, no one has the same exact computers I own. That's what beta testing is for.

Also, I need to protect the assets such as video and sound. The personal I have working on the project have not agreed to a creative commons license or GPL work. Release in such a manor would be breach of contract to these individuals. I am currently working on other projects under the CC and GPL, but Antidote is not one of them.

This statements do not include malware. After working for two years at an IT Help Desk, I would not be going right to creating such programs. Hell, I wouldn't have the time anyway!

I may be a undergrad at Emerson College, but I know that license agreements are there for a reason. I'm sorry you don't agree to the license, but that's why you didn't apply and others did tonight.

Re:The competition...

[Creepy Crawler]

---I started to write a response to this point-by-point, but quickly I realized how ill your perception is. Not to mention your previous posts.

Yeah, sometimes its far-off, but sometimes I strike the heart of the matter. Course with 50 karma and geting mod points every 2-3 days, slashdot thinks Im an ok poster.

---The statements in the agreement only apply to being a beta tester. The license for the final project will be extremely different from this closed beta test. This license will be available on the website for public viewing; A practice not common in the industry.

You know what I do with software that misleads or hides the license? I call up Visa, explain that I was not aware what restrictions the maker had on my rights to install, and then proceed with a Charge Back.

Ive sure not got a "Usage License" on my CPU, my headphones, my chair, why this software? Copyright already legally prevents me from making multiple copies.. So, why more restrictive?

---The reason for these statements are to protect me from being sued. I am doing everything I can to make it work the first time. However, things happen. Even with the three computers I have to test the game, no one has the same exact computers I own. That's what beta testing is for.

Oh, come on. Unless the program is mathematically Proved, it's guaranteed to have errors. Anybody who runs any software accepts that. Even ol "big friend" GPL has the same no_warranty bit.

---Also, I need to protect the assets such as video and sound. The personal I have working on the project have not agreed to a creative commons license or GPL work. Release in such a manor would be breach of contract to these individuals. I am currently working on other projects under the CC and GPL, but Antidote is not one of them.

Of course. All works made automatically have Copyright attributed to them. As long as you attribute in the program that they OWN it and you use it with their permission, thats all the "legal liability" you need.

---This statements do not include malware. After working for two years at an IT Help Desk, I would not be going right to creating such programs. Hell, I wouldn't have the time anyway!

Well, the way you pharased how all data resides on external server, user ALLOWS all upload/download.. That reallly sounds like a spyware user-agreement. And I dont know what your ethics and where you worked.

---I may be a undergrad at Emerson College, but I know that license agreements are there for a reason. I'm sorry you don't agree to the license, but that's why you didn't apply and others did tonight.

Thats my point. Copyright is the only big license, and anything else accepted past that is unneeded and undue restrictions. Im not asking for "PUBLIC DOMAIN" or "GPL" or "BSD!!". And, of course, some people think Im a troll.. I just read.

RockStation.

[Creepy Crawler]

Dont play if you.. erm.. like sound.

[03/09/05 03:46:06] Error in .\Sound\SoundBuffer3D.cpp #100 - g_Sound.GetDS( )->CreateSoundBuffer( &dsbd, &(pDSB_temp), NULL ) hr=2147500037
[03/09/05 03:46:06] Unable to intialize object from: Scripts\Sound3Ds.txt of type class CSound3D

2 different computers, both sound blasters (of 2 different types Live and SB64) and similar crash.

You've GOTTA check out this game!

[SimianOverlord]

There's a fantastic game from the London Games Festival you absolutely must play, it's unbelievable. It's pretty difficult to describe without having played it, but I'll take a shot.

Ok, it's a text based multiplayer online game played by people around world, but mainly US based players. You register your details, choose a nick and start playing. The gamesmaster, Charles, posts the most outrageously biased and nonsensical daily talking points he possibly can multiple times every day. The aim of the game is to respond with the absolutely most extreme, fascistic and downright frightening rightwing opinion you can, judged against the contributions of other players. The winner is patted on the back by the other players, socially féted, and if you persevere, given an endorsement by Charles himself.

It's difficult to pick up to begin with, they have their own set of strange jargon that the most successful posters use, but you soon get the hang of it and it's loads of fun to be mean spirited, distasteful and horrid about the deaths of just about any victim of US soldiers or the Israel Army, the death of foreign kids, old people, Iraqis, and so on.

Anyway, to play the game just go to the website of the London Games Festival. The Register link is on the left hand side. Enjoy!

Re:You've GOTTA check out this game!

[EnglishTim]

Hilarious!

Oh, for mod points.

Kiss

[jackbird]

Anyone else playing Kiss in the open category? I keep becoming an eskimo pariah, hated by all, and wondering if anyone's been more successful.

I LOL'ed

[the_mad_poster]

IAWTP

It's a fun game, but I think it might be encouraging the wrong behavior in the youth.

Re:I LOL'ed

[Anonymous Coward]

IAWTP

does that mean I 'Ave Wet The Pants?

Not taking the piss - if you'll pardon the pun - just a question...

Re:I LOL'ed

[Anonymous Coward]

I Am With The Poster.

Re:I LOL'ed

[the_mad_poster]

Also

I Agree With This Post

Star Chamber

[dommer2029]

My sig is on-topic for once! I've been playing Star Chamber for about 6 months now, and I think I'm starting to get it. Low system requirements, solid gameplay, and a lot of gamespace to explore. Check it out.