The Wolfire blog mentioned that David Rosen has produced a video design tour of Cogs, the steampunk puzzle game that’s part of the current Humble Indie Bundle:
The post also mentions that more design tours are slated.
S2 Games has announced in the latest Heroes of Newerth newsletter that the real-time fantasy-themed multiplayer tactical game is going free to play:
Time to get your free game HoN! Heroes of Newerth is now free-to-play, operating under a new model designed to expand the HoN community and enhance the gameplay for our existing fan base. In just over a year’s time we’ve grown to be a community of 540,000 players – a direct testament to our game’s quality. With the transition to free-to-play we’re opening HoN up to new audiences as you can now easily introduce the game to your friends. To learn more about HoN or to create an account and download the game, visit
http://www.heroesofnewerth.com/f2p_create.php
There’s also a FAQ, and a forum post aimed at existing players (after the jump):
They are fast, faster than you can believe…
Mojang’s Kizzycocoa has a blog post at IndieDB concerning the genesis of the Endermen, the mob slated for inclusion in a coming Minecraft update:
I wanted something a bit more psychological. So to really drive home the point of looking at them being bad, I made the Endermen freeze and turn towards you when you look at them. As long as you look straight at them, they stand perfectly still and look straight at you. As soon as you look away, they will run (very fast) towards you.
Keep looking at it! IT CAN’T MOVE IF YOU’RE LOOKING!
No, not member of Parliament.
Rock, Paper, Shotgun pointed out that Dune Legacy version 0.96.2 was released with multiplayer support (LAN and internet). Dune Legacy is fan-made engine remake (requires the original assets) of Dune II, the classic real-time strategy game set in Frank Herbert’s Dune universe.
Remember, you are the Kwisatz Haderach!
As with previous Humble Indie Bundles, the third edition of the game collection/charity drive has a post-launch bonus: purchasers can now play Minecraft for free (assuming they havne’t already purchased it) until August 14th.
edit: oh my god, the Endermen are like some horrible Weeping Angel/Silence hybrid (from Notch’s twitter):
The Endermen are peaceful. If you look straight at them, they freeze and look at you. When you look away again, they run fast. And teleport.
I’m really getting more stoked for Dungeons of Dredmor based on the Windows reviews; dammit, come out already! TAKE MY MONEEEEEY (from Ars):
Sir Clyde, heeding the call for a hero to save the kingdom, steps into the first level of the evil lich Dredmor’s domain. Before him are a series of vending machines for various food and drink, and three doors. Feeling brave, our hero kicks down the closest door, revealing at least a dozen bat creatures. He is dead within seconds, all before he could even get to the second room. Sir Clyde is dead, and never coming back.
The Linux Game Cast has a new episode!
On this, our eighteenth attempt at a Linux Game Cast. Sub-Reddit r_linuxgaming asks questions, Patrick Balleux appears in front of a flag, and Kiaran Ritchie talks about BEEP.
The Desura site’s blog has an update on the Linux client for the community-driven digital distribution service:
At initial release, Desura will simply be a small binary file to download from Desura, which may be compressed, or in some sort of signed package (yet to be decided). You place this binary anywhere on your system that you have write permissions, and when you run it, it will build the Desura folder around itself and download any remaining components.
Additional logistics regarding binary versions and game installation are elaborated on as well. You can view the breakdown of currently supported games here!
So, I’ve gotten a bit of a chance to play VVVVVV, one of the five games in the current Humble Indie Bundle.
This is the premiere of the Linux edition, although there’s a bit of history here, as a port was first attempted over a year ago. This time around, there’s new levels (including one by Notch) and a new level editor (tutorial)!
The game itself is a fun, twitch-action, platformer, with mechanics that remind me of Gravity Man, and a fun, irreverent sci-fi script. Once you beat it, there are additional user-made levels being posted in the forums. I can’t wait to put more time in with it; moreover, there are soundtracks available!
Finally, the version 2.01 patch was released with a 64-bit library fix.
_The human shouts!
Found an ancient bone altar of Kikubaaqudgha.
Miasma emanates from the human’s flesh.
_The human is engulfed in dark miasma. The human is poisoned.
_The human is engulfed in dark miasma. The human looks even sicker.
The human dies!
_The human rises from the dead!
You spend a moment contemplating the meaning of life.
There was this dude. In a dungeon room. In a translucent prison. Behind a stone altar. AND HE JUST UP AND DIES AND BECOMES A ZOMBIE.
What sick bastard traps someone in a prison so that they become a zombie when the first person comes along? Kikubaaqudgha is the easy answer I suppose. Still, weird.
If you’ve been curious about the multitude of Minecraft mods out there, but haven’t had the opportunity to sort through them all, an enterprising team has compiled a package+installer dubbed Yogbox. The biggest change is what Millénaire brings: NPC villages you can interact with (which are really bizarre to first encounter given the single player game’s usual mindless denizens).
Notch also posted a preview screenshot of a creepy mob coming to the game (seriously, it looks like a Slenderman).
Unigine’s naval real-time strategy game OilRush had a delay announced last month:
The release is planned for autumn 2011. We can’t state the exact date right now because it also depends on our distibution partners: we are working on placing the game into the most popular digital distribution channels to make the delivery comfortable for you.
Why?
We know that it is not the first delay of Oil Rush, but we are putting extra efforts to deliver a polished, well-made game instead of a rushed-out-the-door title. Each day it becomes better as we invest more time, money and striving in the project.
In the meantime, a new gameplayer trailer was created, showing a single player mission walkthrough:
Also, builds continue to be released for those that have pre-ordered.
The Indie Stone released a public alpha demo, version 0.1.4c, for their real-time tactical zombie apocalypse game Project Zomboid. While the base release is a Windows package, it is a Java-based game and a forum user helpfully put together a package to make running it on Linux more straightforward.
The demo is (appropriately) relentlessly bleak. I didn’t read any manuals/wiki pages so I wandered around in the rain and the dark, looking for food and weapons. Found food, couldn’t bring myself to eat it (as in, clicking the food mindlessly in my inventory did nothing). No weapons apparent. Saw a zombie. Ran into a neighbor’s house and slept on their couch.
Download (Linux Demo): [ github.com ]
A third Humble Indie Bundle has appeared (thanks Fooka!) with five more Linux-compatible, DRM-free games that will cost you exactly what you want.
This time around we have:
Besides supporting the developers, as before, your donation also can be split between the EFF and Child’s Play charity. Linux users are traditionally the most generous customers of the bundles, so have at it!
Also, the bundle offer ends in two weeks.
Joyride Laboratories has released version 0.3.3 of Nikki and the Robots, which includes 30 levels from their first level design contest:
The winners:
Congratulations to everyone who participated!
Big Fat Alien has released a Linux demo for BEEP.
The full version can be purchased for $9.99 US from Gameolith.com or the Ubuntu Software Center.
Dwarf Fortress Basics is a class for beginner to intermediate players. I will be covering all aspects of the Fortress Mode from world generation, to more advanced topics such as military and nobles.
Version 1.3.25 of Wine has been announced. Changes in this release include
Download: [ Wine 1.3.25 ]
From this morning’s brief Dungeon Crawl Stone Soup session
There is a sparkling altar of Nemelex Xobeh here.
You see here a legendary deck of cards.
_k – a legendary deck of cards
Things that are here:
an orcish dagger; a goblin corpse
_Found 10 gold pieces.
_You open the door.
_k – a legendary deck of cards (in hand)
_You now have 61 gold pieces.
_Found a stone staircase leading down.
_You open the door.
_There is an escape hatch in the ceiling here.
A mysterious force pulls you upwards. The hatch slams shut behind you.
_A giant gecko comes into view.
You draw a card… It is Damnation.
_The giant gecko is devoured by a tear in reality.
The New York Times took an extensive look at Dwarf Fortress, the real-time dwarf colony simulation:
A normal person looks at ♠§dg and sees gibberish, but the Dwarf Fortress initiate sees a tense tableau: a dog leashed to a tree, about to be mauled by a goblin.
This bare-bones aesthetic allows Tarn to focus resources not on graphics but on mechanics, which he values much more. Many simulation games offer players a bag of building blocks, but few dangle a bag as deep, or blocks as small and intricately interlocking, as Dwarf Fortress. Beneath the game’s rudimentary facade is a dizzying array of moving parts, algorithms that model everything from dwarves’ personalities (some are depressive; many appreciate art) to the climate and economic patterns of the simulated world.
The article goes on to discuss the game’s origin and appeal; I’ve been meaning to give it a serious go for some time now, and this finally pushed me to do it. Let’s hope my dwarves don’t all starve in the first week!