Shakedown: Hawaii, an open world action game coming to Nintendo Switch, 3DS, PS4, PS Vita and Steam this year, is looking mighty fine indeed.
If you had the luxury of playing indie title Retro City Rampage, you’ll know what to expect here. Although, the 16-bit sequel is upping the ante with a huge map (four times the size of Retro City Rampage), lots of mini-games, the ability to acquire properties and businesses in the city, and much more. You can check out the full reveal trailer below.
We got the chance to sit down and speak to game developer Daniel Sun from Sun-Studios. We discussed indie game development, the latest trends in the games industry, and much more. Enjoy.
Gamer Credentials
Melbourne developer Daniel Sun runs a one-man operation called Sun-Studios and is best known for his monochromatic hack ‘n slash series: Armed with Wings. The latest game in the series Armed with Wings: Rearmed spent 2 years in Steam Early Access before releasing completely on June 1st 2017. Daniel is also co-director and art lead at Dime Studios.
What inspired you to get into game development?
My passion for media is what drives me to create. I grew up playing tons of Nintendo and PlayStation, fostering my love for video games from an early age. Gaming aside, I’m also a huge fan of movies and animation. All these interests ultimately inspire the work I do. I’m most satisfied when I get to create things inspired by what I love, and I find video games to be the best form of media to do so as I take deep interests in all aspects of game development.
What games have you created and which is your favourite?
Besides the Armed with Wings titles – Zombie Mayhem is my favorite game developed by myself and a close friend. It’s a fast-paced, wave-based lane shooter available to play on Newgrounds.com.
Otherwise Armed with Wings: Rearmed is my favorite game I developed.
What advice would you offer for those just starting out?
Participate in lots of Game Jams! It’s a great way to meet people while gaining rapid experience.
What do you think is going to be a key trend in the games industry this year?
The overall indie game experience is getting better and better – at a rapid rate. The line between AAA and indies will become blurred as a flurry of super indie titles hit the market. The talent pool of independents is scarily good, and younger developers are more skilled than ever before.
What’s your favourite platform to sell games on?
Steam is both easy and worthwhile to sell your game on if you are professional. Itch.io is fantastic if you are just getting started – it’s even easier than Steam but has a smaller user base.
What are your favourite tools for game development?
I love using Flash/Animate CC and AS3 for desktop development. It’s essentially the same flash game technology that powered the web before the rise of HTML5 and WebGL. The advantage is being able to create graphics and animation directly into Flash, then using AS3 to program functionality for those assets quickly. There is rarely any need to transfer/parse any data from one program to another: graphics, animation and code all happen in Flash.
How do you stay motivated to achieve your goals?
As a developer, Early Access is a great way to keep you on your toes – you must deliver frequent updates or people will get bored. I think 2 years of Early Access has forced me into a working-habit.
Which events do you recommend indie developers showcase their game at?
I think PAX is usually a safe bet. I showcased Armed with Wings at PAX Australia and it was a very positive experience.
What do you think about VR?
I don’t know what to think about VR. On one hand, it is the potential future standard of gaming. On the other, it seems really cumbersome and impractical. As a consumer, VR isn’t interesting to me. However, I don’t want to entirely disregard anything that has demonstrated potential.
Games console of choice?
I love them all equally.
Thanks for your time Daniel
Thank you!
You can find our review of Armed with Wings: Rearmed right here – we liked the game quite a bit…
Vaccine is a survival horror indie title inspired by games from the ’90s – most significantly, the early Resident Evil games. What it aims to do is recreate that same feeling of dread with limited resources, malevolent creatures of the night, and fixed camera angles. There’s even some evil sciency stuff going on in the background. It’s not Umbrella this time, of course. And there’s no Wesker.
So is it any good? Well, it achieves the aforementioned: Vaccine can be unsettling to play at night with your headphones on. Being down to your last shotgun shell while faced with a horde of impending zombies can also be thrilling. Rainy Night Creations, a one-man team, adds some great ideas to the mix too. A randomly generated mansion layout ensures that no single run is ever the same – items and enemy placement change every time you try. What’s more, the game tells you that you only have 30 minutes to find a vaccine (surely it’s an antidote?) to save your friend, which intensifies matters.
Another thing we really liked was the leveling up system. You acquire experience points as you put down the undead which can then be used to upgrade your health, determination, stamina, aiming and luck. The last one, and perhaps the most important, affects the randomization element of the game, meaning you will find better items, (hopefully a shotgun) to make your progress through the mansion a bit easier. It’s novel ideas such as this which show the best of Vaccine and its creativity.
Unfortunately, there are a number of problems which prevent the experience from becoming an essential one.
For starters, the balance of the game. Let’s say you’ve had an amazing run which is 23 minutes in, your character is levelled up and you’re feeling pretty good about things. Suddenly, a creature that very much resembles a Licker from the Resident Evil games, (without the long tongue) appears. This guy is tough, really tough. But it doesn’t matter, as you’re a powerhouse at this point, right? Wrong. Each claw attack of the pseudo Licker hits you so hard that it’s almost impossible to survive. On the rare occasion you do survive, and it does happen, you’re so utterly fatigued by the encounter that progressing any further becomes extremely challenging.
So that’s 23 minutes of your time pretty much gone. But at least your stats carry over to encourage you to keep going in the face of these type of scenarios, right? Nope. Everything gets reset. Now don’t get us wrong, we like a good challenge in our games (I’m about to platinum the Crash Bandicoot remaster myself, it’s damn hard to do), and at the core of a tense survival horror experience is a difficulty which keeps you very much on your toes, but here, we’re afraid to say, it’s just unfair.
Game balance aside, Vaccine is also let down by small issues that add up. For example, the menu to equip guns, use items and level up is cumbersome – which quickly becomes frustrating. We’ve also experienced the game completely freezing a few times in handheld mode during pivotal moments of battle, again, with everything being lost that we achieved. In terms of variety, there are only three weapons, a pistol, (a more powerful pistol if you get lucky) a shotgun, and a knife, and the enemy types seem lacking with just rats, crows, zombies, our favourite, the pseudo Licker, and a Tyrant-like enemy. The soundtrack also frequently repeats, even if it does provide a suitable menace to the whole thing.
It’s a shame because Vaccine features some really good ideas and we still had fun with it. The developer has also been brave enough to put out a ’90s inspired survival horror game in 2017 – which is commendable and enticing, certainly as they’re such a rarity now. That’s why we’re personally appealing for a sequel with a bit more polish, greater variety and better game balancing. If RNC did that, yet retained their innovative ideas, we’re confident that a future Vaccine would be a huge hit for the indie game world. That being said, if you’re craving an old school Resident Evil escapade, it’s probably worth the asking price.
We got the chance to sit down and speak to game developer Jose Pantrigo from Randomize Studios. We discussed indie game development, the latest trends in the games industry, and much more.
Gamer Credentials
Born in Sitges, Barcelona, Spain, 42 years ago. Jose has been a game ‘freak’ since he was a child. He doesn’t know which word came out of his mouth first: “Mario” or “Mom”. After several attempts at working in the games industry, he decided to go full indie on his own when smartphones became the ‘thing’. He has developed and published Meal on Wheels, Space Deactivator and Diary Of Zombie Apochalypse.
What inspired you to get into game development?
I have always loved videogames. I felt extremely curious when playing them, constantly questioning how things worked to get them moving. I would think: what kind of sorcery is that? So I started programming simple games with the Spectrum in Basic – that’s how I fell in love with the Randomize command…
What games have you created and which is your favourite?
I developed Meal on Wheels, Space Deactivator and Diary Of Zombie Apochalypse – all of them for iOS. Now I’m working hard on Beat Crisis Up for PC and Mac. I actually started working on it when I was a kid. It has been my ‘dream project’ for my entire life, and it has changed a lot, but it’s finally getting some shape. I can’t believe that the Beta is finally out. It’s easily my favourite game. Space Deactivator is in second place.
What advice would you offer for those just starting out?
Tough. If you plan to get a job at a big company, get a computer science degree. If you want to go full indie, don’t think you’ll make money straightaway – you won’t, plain and simple. You have to love and learn, and learn and love the craft, and do whatever it takes to make your games good. Really, really good. Don’t publish something average for the sake of it. Make it good!
What do you think is going to be a key trend in the games industry this year?
It’s going to be VR, and 4K too. I think that graphically we will see some absurdly good-looking games. The graphics cards these days are amazing!
What’s your favourite platform to sell games on?
PC and PS4. Personally I love the Switch, but I can’t see my latest game, in which you beat-up pixelated politicians and bankers to death, coming to a Nintendo console. Ha.
What are your favourite tools for game development?
I used Game Maker, Game Salad and now Unity. I’ll go with Unity, it’s quite flexible. I haven’t tried Unreal yet, but I’m tempted…maybe for my next game.
How do you stay motivated to achieve your goals?
Staying focused is all about having a clear vision. Making a game can be a daunting task and usually there are no rewards besides doing what you love. You have to stay focused.
Which events do you recommend indie developers showcase their game at?
At the beginning it’s your local events with an almost-finished game. In Beta form at least. Don’t go to E3 just with a title written on a piece of paper! You have to start from the bottom…
What do you think about VR?
It’s awesome, but it still has some hurdles to overcome to become the ‘thing’; dizziness…headaches…and also there’s still a lot of people who don’t like to move a lot when they’re playing games. VR has to convince people to get their butts out of the couch!
Games console of choice?
I’m a Nintendo guy, I love their franchises, especially Zelda and Metroid. Sony usually has a very strong library on their consoles too, so PlayStation 4 and Switch for me. I think Xbox One is largely awesome too…but I’m not keen on Microsoft exclusives.
Thanks for your time Jose
Thank you. It’s been a pleasure.
Beat Crisis Up, a 2D Metroidvania Beat ’em up, is coming to PC and Mac this Winter. The Beta for the game was released a few weeks ago. You can download and play it here.
There have been some great indie games released on Steam, here’s a few we selected for this week. You might discover a wonderful experience in this mix:
b
Be liberated and play as a bumble bee in this flight experience game. Grab a cuppa and unwind!
Equivoque
A charming visual novelette game with a unique art style. The story follows a young apprentice and two conflicting magicians. Just remember to question everything!
Flagsplosion
A ‘flag identifying quizzer’, guess and learn over 600 current flags from all over the globe. This game has many unlockable features and achievements too.
No70: Eye of Basir
Do you like mystery, intrigue and adventure? Yes. Well investigate from a first person perspective and find out about the No70 house then.
Gus Track Adventures VR
A ‘fun-for-all’ cute tracking adventure challenge on VR. Explore the many levels as Gus and figure out what is corrupting the world.
Planetbound
A snazzy, 2D rotary shoot ’em up – Jampacked with “intense action, space worms” and lots of pretty stars.
Humble Abode
A quirky mystery thriller. Your home becomes the playground of a sadistic intruder… Can you survive this nightmare?
1982
A fun, modern homage to 2D retro arcade shooters. Blast away with this game and test your strategy skills.
Why roll out one major company announcement when you’ve got two ready and raring to go? That’s seemingly the PR philosophy of Dino Patti, the ex-CEO of Inside developer Playdead who took the decision to explore industry pastures new earlier this year. Some months later, we’ve now learned both the name of Patti’s new UK-based development studio and their first full project in the space of a single week…
Takeaways:
No official release date has been set for Somerville what with the title presumably remaining in the early stages of production. That said, given how much of a seismic impact Patti’s previous efforts had on the industry – not to mention this writer, who’d gladly rank his Limbo and Inside playthroughs among the most entertaining in recent memory – expect this one to receive no shortage of attention between now and its eventual launch.
Until we know more, check out Somerville‘s promisingly stylish teaser trailer below…
Indie game developer, Ratalaika Games, has shown off The Count Lucanor in this creepy new trailer. The retro action-adventure game is coming to the Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS Vita and Xbox One this Autumn. And it’s looking pretty great, we have to say.
Some key features of the game include:
You can check out the new trailer below.
There have been some great indie games released on Steam, here’s a few we selected for this week. You might discover a wonderful experience in this mix:
You Shall Not Jump: PC Master Race Edition
A roguelike ‘good old tower climber’ with RPG elements. Jump, shoot and challenge yourself, but don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s an easy game.
de Blob 2
A nostalgic blast from the past (de Blob and de Blob 2 were originally on the Wii) now on PC! Join Blob and bring the Prism City back to life with colour in this charming action adventure game.
Escape Together
A lovely puzzle adventure strategy game where you need to control two different character Smileyes, Grit and Meili. Enjoy the energetic soundtrack as you escape from the angry Smileye Dretos and the cave of obstacles.
Gravity Quest
A meditative 3D maze game with soothing music – it’s definitely a good stress reliever!
Super Sports Surgery
If you like an injection of dark humour while performing surgery with ketchup in one hand and a sausage in the other – then you’ll love this!
A Bloody Night
Fast, ferocious and bloody. Enjoy this action revenge game with pixelated blood and an old school arcade vibe.
Space Panic VR
Set onboard a futuristic space station, this VR Escape Room will feel realistic. Rack your brain cells to solve puzzles in order to escape.
Mega Maze
Challenge your ‘spacial awareness capabilities’ to find the exit and unlock the path in the virtual labyrinths of Mega Maze. Just don’t get lost…
Chimpology
Yes, that’s right, you’re a chimp from 1998 typing out pictures bit by bit (not much change for those that work online!). Can you keep the internet going, collect bananas and not get fired? This is quirky…
3..2..1..Grenades!
Imagine a snowball fight with grenades. Save the day or battle it out with bots or 4 buddies. If you love first person shooters then you’ll enjoy this retro N64-esque style game.
Die Young, developed by IndieGala, is one of those rare titles that manages to hit all the right notes, creating an exciting symphony of survival, adventure, and mystery. You take on the role of an affluent and adventurous young woman who sets out with her friends for what she thinks will be a new thrill and a good time on an island in the Mediterranean sea. She then awakens at the bottom of a well, bruised and bloodied, with no memory of how she arrived there, and with no clues aside from a map lying on the floor in front of her. You emerge from the well onto a picturesque island and it is then up to you to discover what happened to your friends and why you were seemingly left for dead.
I was able to try the alpha build of the game, and I knew as soon as I opened the start menu that Die Young was going to be something different than your average survival title. I was greeted by the sounds of a steel guitar contrasted against an image of what appeared to be a quaint landscape, complete with country roads hedged with old wooden fences. After I escaped from the well using the game’s climbing mechanic (more on that in a bit), I was struck with just how gorgeous the game is, particularly when crossing the countryside. I was surrounded by rolling hills covered in flowers, green grasses, and fields of golden wheat that waved gracefully in the wind. Stunning beams of bright sunlight will stream through breaks in the trees or rocks, or through windows and cracks in the buildings and ruins you will explore. Even the dilapidated structures you discover have a silent magnificence.
Many of the plants littering the island have medicinal properties and can be gathered for crafting into various healing balms and medicines. The crafting system is simple to learn, and expands during the game as you locate more materials (such as wood, cloth, and metal) and other recipes. The menu is simple to maneuver with a list of crafting materials on the right, and a grid full of possible recipes or items you can create in the center. You can easily switch between crafting menus by type, select the item you would like to craft, see if you have the necessary components, and then simply hold down “E” (if you are playing with a keyboard) to create the item (which will include medicines, wound care items, weapons, and so forth). This makes it simple to not only create what you need, but to plan out which components you must gather.
The finely tuned crafting system is not only a fun component of the game, but a welcomed one because you will need all the help you can get to make it off the island alive. The tranquility of the blue sky and surrounding water is enough to lull you into a false sense of serenity, but a little exploration will shatter any sense of comfort fairly quickly. Enemies are always stalking around the island, some more easily avoidable than others. As I was going about the pleasant business of gathering herbs (I needed to create a salve), I heard a disgruntled growl and a bark and turned to see a feral hound travelling my way at a great speed. I had no weapons and so all I could do was run, hoping the beast would relent. Thankfully, I was able to avoid death by outrunning him, but only just.
You have a stamina meter that appears on the lower left corner of the screen that lowers with exertion such as running or climbing. If the meter runs out, you will slow down to a walk or, if you are holding on to a handhold, you will lose your grip (an event that lead to my death more than once). I soon found out that if I squatted, I could avoid being detected by these hounds if I was in tall grass or weeds. In fact, one area I explored on the farm/villa required me to maneuver from one grouping of plants to another, like a ninja, in order to avoid the ravenous vengeance of these rather angry canines.
Other enemies that were a bit more difficult to avoid were rats and snakes. Often, I was forced to risk certain injury in order to make it through a room full of the hateful rodents, but thankfully their bites didn’t do major damage. This did mean I needed to make certain I stay stocked up on medicinal components, if I was planning on entering a structure that I might not easily be able to leave if I ran out of healing items. It is important to listen carefully because sometimes enemies will approach quietly. I once noticed a faint rustling sound only to realize I was being chased by a snake moving though the grass like an Olympic swimmer. It is possible to be poisoned in the game (and to craft items that will help counteract it), but thankfully I noticed the sinister serpent in time to run away poison-free.
Of course, antagonistic animals aren’t your only concern. You will notice while exploring that something has gone terribly wrong on the island, and something or someone far more sinister is still stalking about, (as if awakening at the bottom of a well with a map wasn’t enough to clue you in). In fact, at one point I heard footsteps behind me. I ran until I was no longer being chased, only to turn around and see in the distance a distinctly human enemy, who I immediately realized I didn’t want to run into again if I could help it. Strange goat-like images can be found draped across structures. Notes from former habitants or visitors are scattered throughout the buildings and ruins, describing how things went south. Gruesome discoveries serve as a warning and evidence that some sort of violent event occurred on the Island, disrupting what appears to at one time have been a peaceful experiment.
What exactly happened, though, must be pieced together bit-by-bit. The game does give you tasks to accomplish such as locating water or exploring certain structures around the island, but the game is non-linear which gives you the freedom to take on tasks as you see fit and put together the story at your own pace. This adds an intriguing element to your exploration that makes you want to dig deeper, especially the further down the rabbit hole you go (and you have no choice but to follow it through because, after all, your life depends on it).
Exploration is a blast, not only because you clearly have an ever-broadening mystery to solve, but because maneuvering through the various locations requires platforming puzzles that are just as well designed as the crafting system. Jumping and climbing are as simple as aiming in the right direction and hitting the jump button. However, you have limited stamina, so climbing takes not only skill, but planning. The only issue I had with jumping wasn’t mechanical, but rather that I often felt the distance between ledges seemed rather far for any human (even a virtual one) to make. However, once I got used to the fact I was Wonder Woman (or, rather, I had a seemingly superhuman jumping ability) it became one of my favorite parts of the game, as well as one of the most challenging.
Die Young is only in it’s beginning stages with just a portion of the Island currently available and it is already a well-oiled machine. Lovers of survival, adventure, and intriguing thrillers will all find something to keep them interested. The welcoming and simple to learn crafting system, the refined jumping and climbing elements, and the picturesque beauty of the environment will pull you in and beckon you back for more. The developers have promised extra enemies, more missions, death machines (seriously) and other additions. After playing the alpha, however, I would simply be happy just to spend more time on the island delving into it’s mysteries. The death machines do sound interesting, though, and I can’t wait to see what terror and intrigue the full game will entail.
The alpha build of Die Young, developed and published by IndieGala, is currently available on Steam Early Access.
There have been some great indie games released on Steam, here’s a few we selected for this week. You might discover a wonderful experience in this mix:
Flood of Light
A lovely hand-drawn 2D RPG adventure game with a beautiful soundtrack. Play as a mysterious girl in a raincoat – stop the rain, save the city with the power of light and discover her story.
A Room Beyond
A fresh artsy take on point and click games with a mosaic pixel art, 2.5D graphics and a philosophical story full of twists and turns. If you like Poe-esque and Victorian inspired horror fiction, this game is definitely for you!
Delay
Manipulate time and cheat death in this fast-paced, jam-packed action shooter platformer. Choose from 4 unique weapons, 7 enemy types, basically adapt to your surroundings quickly or it’s game over…
Kindergarten
Let’s go to a dark, cutesy pixelated classroom where you learn, share, grow and survive. Alter your choices for different outcomes and plotlines – Kill or be killed in this colourful puzzle adventure game.
Gorescript
A old-school, classic first person shooter full of energy and frantic action gameplay. Inspired by Doom and Quake – there’s lots of fun to be had!
Kreedz Climbing
Surf, jump, bunnyhop, (there are many disciplines to master) in this jump and run puzzle-platformer hybrid. Play against the clock with other players or play how you want in this free indie game!
Chromaestro
A charming musical puzzle game starring Chromie the cat. Customise your kitty and unlock accessories, game modes and six songs (more on the way too!).
Little Miss Lonely
A unique, hand-drawn on paper style side-scrolling narrative-driven game. Play as a nine-year old girl named Robin and explore childhood, fear and relationships in this short, yet beautiful experience.
Lazer Cops
An 80’s inspired retro bullet-hell with a twist, players are connected by a ‘Lazer Tether’. The best way to destroy enemies is to wrap your ‘Lazer Tether’ around them, then watch them explode into pieces. Very satisfying. Play with up to 4 buddies on co-op or go solo.
Colony Survival
A sharp-looking, first-person, voxel real-time strategy game. Micromanage, multitask, command, build and defend your colony against the monsters that come at night. Oooh… and there is also multiplayer and co-op modes.
There have been some great indie games released on Steam, here’s a few we selected for this week. You might discover a wonderful experience in this mix:
Zzzz-Zzzz-Zzzz
A psychological puzzle platformer with nods to Metroid and Castlevania – immerse yourself in this beautiful dreamscape.
Lines
A unique ‘abstract zen experience’. Place or remove the dots to initiate a race where the dominant colour wins. Lines also features endless hours where you can create your own levels with the Steam Workshop!
Conarium
Run, hide and lose your mind in a chilling Lovecraftian game and challenge the ‘absolute’ limits of nature – soak up the atmosphere with your headphones at night.
Passpartout: The Starving Artist
See the world through the eyes of a French artist: create art and battle against the stuffy self-proclaimed art critics, survive your wine and baguette addiction and settle your debt.
World of One
Delve into a dark, depressing Poe-esque puzzle platformer with planet-based physics and mystery.
The Artifact
You are woken up from hypersleep in the future with a mysterious alien artifact – can you unlock the secrets of this short puzzle game?
Sentience: The Android’s Tale
A complex, choice-based narrative adventure game: see the world through the eyes of an android and encounter relevant questions about the future of AI and the human condition.
Wonder Boy: The Dragon’s Trap
Sumptuous hand-drawn animation and a re-orchestrated soundtrack make this worth your time – a high quality remake, now available on Steam – check out the trailer here!
Randall
In a dystopian world that doesn’t seem like such a departure from our own future, people are content living under constant surveillance and are happily enslaved – break the chains of tyranny and mind control as Randall in this attractive platformer.
Monolith
A top down, rogue-like, NES/SNES shoot ’em up with procedurally generated elements and a cracking chiptune soundtrack.
Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition is now coming to the Switch (awesome!), alongside the Wii U, PS4 and Vita versions.
The Axiom Verge: Multiverse Edition will include the following:
Developer Thomas Happ had this to say:
People often asked me about the early days of Axiom Verge – about how I was able to make a game completely on my own over the course of 5 years of evenings and weekends while holding down a full-time job. The long form documentary format really made it possible for me to take the time and explain that process as well as go into some detail about the difficulties of balancing work and family responsibilities.
You can watch the trailer below – which console will you be buying the game for? For me it has to be the Switch. Let us know in the comments below!
