Tag: video games

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Rassler Release 8 AKA Random Events Part II

Just pushed a new release of my free [retro pro wrestling RPG, Rassler][link]. This one contains some small updates and an interesting, complicated, unintended consequence:

>The last bullet point, explaining the changes to the activity system, is essentially a naive implementation of drug dependency. The player needs their health to be above 0 in order to work or go out. If the player has $40 they can buy some pain killers to get them through the next match, but pain killers only provide a +6 to short-term health (and a -6 to max health, affecting their future prospects and longevity) so it is not a sustainable solution. Either the player gets lucky, and their next several matches are relatively easy and they aren’t further injured, or something bad happens and they’re rendered immobile and bankrupt in the end.

[More in the Devlog][rel].

[rel]: https://philnelson.itch.io/rassler/devlog/10124/release-8-notes-random-events-in-matches-bug-fixes “Release 8 Notes: Random events in matches, and a note about drugs”
[link]: https://philnelson.itch.io/rassler “Rassler on itch.io”

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Takeshi no Chousenjo is being released for iOS and Android in Japan

The classic Famicom *kusoge* (literal translation: “shitty game”) [is coming to Japan][link], but likely not the US. I’ll have to be happy with my Famicom version.

Related: [This game was Arino-san’s very first challenge on Game Center CX][yt]!

[link]: http://tinycartridge.com/post/164215380587/beat-takeshis-nes-game-is-out-today-on-mobile “Beat Takeshi’s NES game is out today on mobile ⊟… – Tiny Cartridge 3DS – Nintendo Switch, 3DS, DS, Wii U, and PS Vita News, Media, & Retro Junk”
[yt]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMsv0Y7Ny1w “Game Center CX 01 Takeshi no Chousenjou”

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Wreddit loves Rassler

Yesterday [I posted my game, Rassler, to the pro wrestling subreddit /r/SquaredCircle][link]. They love it? It seems like they love it. I don’t know how to handle feedback this positive.

[link]: https://www.reddit.com/r/SquaredCircle/comments/6mvz9m/ive_been_working_on_this_8bit_pro_wrestling_rpg/ “/r/SquaredCircle thread”

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Duke Nukem’s Dystopian Fantasies

[Liz Ryerson for Jacobin magazine][1]:

[1]: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2017/04/duke-nukems-dystopian-fantasies/ “Duke Nukem’s Dystopian Fantasies – Jacobin”

It’s hard to think of a piece of media that understands itself less than Duke Nukem 3D.

Hard to argue with that.

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New Game: Duck Jumper

Rediscovered after being lost since 1987, and now available for download [on itch.io: Duck Jumper][1]. Jump on ducks! Keep doing it!

Name your own price, and yes, $0.00 is a price.

[1]: https://philnelson.itch.io/duck-jumper “Download Duck Jumper”

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Announcing Badlands, a little game

A sort of single screen microgod game that is roughly 10% complete but functional. Free download for macOS. Windows build coming soon. More on the itch.io page.

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From the Internet Archive: Every Issue of Nintendo Power

[Praise be to the gods.][1] Every issue, every cover. What a resource.

UPDATE 8/11/2016: Nintendo poured cold water all over this a few days later. Bummer.

[1]: https://archive.org/details/nintendopower “Nintendo Power”

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New Game: DIG_IT!

I just released the in-development version of my new game, DIG_IT!, which is a retro-inspired roguelike/dig-dug-like written in lua with love2d.

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Rassler

[Rassler][link] is a little 2D 1980s-inspired pro wrestling RPG that I’ve been developing in my spare time, using the Love2d engine. It’s free, I’ve been doing updates pretty regularly, and plan on continuing to do so. Currently only built for OS X, but Windows builds are coming soon.

[link]: http://philnelson.itch.io/rassler “Rassler”

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Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander

[A new game from Massive Damage:][link]

>A rogue-like sci-fi strategy survival game with base building, tactical combat, crew management and emergent storytelling.

90% of the words in that sentence make me so happy. Feels like equal parts X-Com, Civilization, and FTL. It *looks* great, too. The visual aesthetic is this kind of atemporal “18-bit” style that never really existed. The whole thing is really well done. I can’t wait.

[link]: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kenseto/halcyon-6-starbase-commander “Halcyon 6: Starbase Commander by Massive Damage, Inc. — Kickstarter”

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Jocks .vs. Nerds

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Playing With My Son

[“What happens when a 21st-century kid plays through video game history in chronological order?”][link] An experiment in forced nostalgia and questionable parenting by Andy Baio.

[link]: https://medium.com/message/playing-with-my-son-e5226ff0a7c3 “Playing With My Son — The Message — Medium”

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Fix for Team Fortress 2 being stuck in windowed mode on OS X

After trying out TF2 with the Oculus Rift DK2, I couldn’t get the game to go back to fullscreen mode. [This fixed it for me][link].

[link]: http://steamcommunity.com/app/440/discussions/2/558746089763527788/ “TF2 forum post”

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Five Critical Moments in Platform Game History

[USgamer is putting out some great games journalism lately.][link]

[link]: http://www.usgamer.net/articles/five-critical-moments-in-platform-game-history “Five Critical Moments in Platform Game History | USgamer”

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The Rise of Nintendo: A Story in 8 Bits

[A long excerpt from Blake J. Harris’ new book, Console Wars, which I am very much looking forward to.][link]

[link]: http://grantland.com/features/the-rise-of-nintendo-video-games-history/ “The Rise of Nintendo: A Story in 8 Bits”

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Make Weird Stuff in Unity Tutorial

[They’re speaking my language][link]:

>This tutorial is about empowering people who feel constrained about their lack of abilities. For example, programmers who feel like they need artists to make cool things, or artists who think they need programmers to make cool things, or even people who are neither of those who want to make cool things.
>
>The tutorial is written for folks who have no experience with Unity or 3D modelling.

Definitely going to spend some time with this on a weekend.

[link]: http://workshops.ko-opmode.com/ “Make Weird Stuff in Unity Tutorial”

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Phaser

[Another HTML5 2D game framework][link], built mobile-first. Supports TypeScript and JavaScript. Looks pretty fast / simple, and it’s used on the awesome [Game Mechanic Explorer][gme] site.

[link]: http://phaser.io/ “Phaser – Desktop and Mobile HTML5 game framework”
[gme]: http://gamemechanicexplorer.com “Game Mechanic Explorer”

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Blur and Bleed: Running Games on a TV

[Mattias Gustavsson is working on a hell of a good CRT filter][link]:

>Don’t think it is your mind playing tricks on you. In some ways, things DID look better back in the days. When hooked up to old worn-down TV’s with yesteryears technology, usually by means of a coaxial cable, the video output of the old home computers was severely degraded. Today, we wouldn’t find that image quality anywhere near acceptable, but back then it was the norm. And the weird thing is, in some ways it made the graphics look better than it really was.

The example images in the link above give me some serious, dizzy, nostalgia.

[link]: http://mattiasgustavsson.com/Blog/blur-and-bleed-running-games-on-a-tv/ “Blur and Bleed: Running Games on a TV”

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MK-ULTRA Games, Inc.

The latest [awesome games studio][link] to come out of the Toronto indie scene is headed by my old friend, and publisher of [exp. Magazine][exp], Mathew Kumar. I am *dead chuffed*.

See also: [Kotaku’s coverage of their first (forthcoming) game, Knight and Damsel.][knight]

[link]: http://mkultragames.com/ “MK-ULTRA Games, Inc.”
[exp]: http://expdot.com/ “Exp. Zine”
[knight]: http://kotaku.com/a-game-where-the-princess-doesnt-want-to-be-rescued-497326072 “Knight and Damsel”

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The Open Bundle

[CC-licensed art and music for videos games from independent creators.][link] If they reach their funding goal they’re making all of the assets public domain.

I absolutely love this idea. Get paid for your work and then move on to something else, leaving it for anyone who wants it.

[link]: http://open.commonly.cc/ “The Open Bundle”