Indie Cred: When All Else Fails, Flash Somebody
Lean in close, I have something to tell you:
Flash games are awesome.
So back in 1996 a company named Macromedia released this program called Flash. It changed the way we looked at the internet. It became a way for creators to push content onto machines without having to install custom software every time. It made it easy to disseminate media of all types to people and places all over he world over a simple internet connection. It made Youtube, Newgrounds, and Ebaumsworld possible.
And by it's great magnanimity, we have BioGems.
BioGems is a match-three RPG not unlike Puzzle Quest and other games of that legacy. It's a great, quick play that can be enjoyed at length or in short spurts. Mochigames is a great host here too because they do a great job of keeping your progress recorded, even without an account.
It's also got a fair amount of depth (mostly in the form of upgrades). The match-three paradigm isn't challenged much, but who cares, man. It's match-three. Stop being so picky
And you thought I was done
But I'm not. I've got this huge treasure chest full of crap from back in the 90s that I haven't even talked about yet, and, by jove, it's been so long that the things in there are actually being remade so I have to go back into my little trove now and then sort out the crap that is obsolete so as to make room for the new fan version that works on my machine natively instead of having to run in some kind of resource-hungry DOS-Box and still looks like it was drawn with the large square brush in paint.
And then there are some games that just...stay that way.
Some of you may know what this game is. To be honest, I'm not one of those people. Utopia is actually a 1981 Intellivision title, which featured local competitive multiplay as its driving feature. This remake keeps all of that greatness intact, and then throws in a devmode for fun just so you fool about however you want.
Don't say it "hasn't aged well" because it hasn't aged a bit, you dunce. This is a pure remake, keeping with the both the gameplay and the visual style. It's simplicity is great because its meant to be played competitively, and I can imagine things getting rather tense as you send your PT boat to smash your friends fishing boat which is attempting to worm its way over to a school a fish while being chased by pirates who are trying to escape a hurricane, all while your friend is planting rebels on your island to destroy your factory so he can reduce your income and stop you from building more farms. It's good fun.
Just a thought, though
Not everything I put up here is a guaranteed hit with everybody. I mean, I TRY to have it be that way but the nature of things is as such. I really just don't know what everyone is thinking most of the time and I just...try to do my best. But once in awhile I'll do something REALLY populist and post about things you've probably seen and heard a million other times on the internet if you read any gaming blogs at all.
This is not one of those times.
Ever since UDK was released to the public as open source, we've seen some cool projects. We've also seen absolutely nothing. I mean, UDK 3 is super powerful, so I've always been curious about why more games haven't been utilizing it as a base, but instead continue to use UT3 as a foundation for games and are content being mods of another game. Vestige kind of sits a bit between both.
There are some similarities to The Ball, this title being a puzzle game and all. But it's got a distinct sense of style and a rather cool premise. I do love Roman architecture.
I haven't been able to get any footage as of yet, but here's a trailer for those of you too skeptical (or stingy) to download an ~800MB file without some more information (not that I blame you!).
Flash games are awesome.
And by it's great magnanimity, we have BioGems.
And you thought I was done
But I'm not. I've got this huge treasure chest full of crap from back in the 90s that I haven't even talked about yet, and, by jove, it's been so long that the things in there are actually being remade so I have to go back into my little trove now and then sort out the crap that is obsolete so as to make room for the new fan version that works on my machine natively instead of having to run in some kind of resource-hungry DOS-Box and still looks like it was drawn with the large square brush in paint.
And then there are some games that just...stay that way.
Just a thought, though
Not everything I put up here is a guaranteed hit with everybody. I mean, I TRY to have it be that way but the nature of things is as such. I really just don't know what everyone is thinking most of the time and I just...try to do my best. But once in awhile I'll do something REALLY populist and post about things you've probably seen and heard a million other times on the internet if you read any gaming blogs at all.
This is not one of those times.
I am such a tease
So moving forward with this whole Indie game thing, I begin to see a lot more unfinished projects than finished ones and, as a great man once said, "Dad says that the anticipation of having something is often better than the thing itself. I think he's crazy." Me too. Me too.
Owlboy
The future is in good hands. Have a good week, everybody.
