Indie games
are games developed by small teams or even single programmers without any
financial support from publishers. Because of that they often cannot be created
as big as other games. That is why indie games often focus on innovation and
digital distributors as Humble Bundle or Steam platform. But coming back to
this innovation part.
http://ocdn.eu/images/pulscms/YmQ7MDQsMSwwLDNlNSwyMzE7MDYsMzIwLDFjMg__/33fe8ccdeb35db86afed18c0abf9885f.jpg
Indie games are created to have something unusual and innovative. Something that will make people want to buy and play it. One way to do that is to create a game around certain mechanic, which players will have to use in order to win the game. An example of such a game is Contrast. Contrast is a game in which we take control of a young detective, Dawn, who can flatten herself and become a 2D silhouette which can move in world of shadows.
Indie games are created to have something unusual and innovative. Something that will make people want to buy and play it. One way to do that is to create a game around certain mechanic, which players will have to use in order to win the game. An example of such a game is Contrast. Contrast is a game in which we take control of a young detective, Dawn, who can flatten herself and become a 2D silhouette which can move in world of shadows.
http://cdn.destructoid.com//ul/256353-contrast-01.jpg
Another feature that indie games expand is a story. This is a thing I usually hear from my friends. “This game has an amazing story”. One of those examples is a game called “To the moon”. To be honest I have never played it, because I don’t like the visual part of the game, but as I heard its story is as great as a good book.
Another feature that indie games expand is a story. This is a thing I usually hear from my friends. “This game has an amazing story”. One of those examples is a game called “To the moon”. To be honest I have never played it, because I don’t like the visual part of the game, but as I heard its story is as great as a good book.
One last example of indie game is Audiosurf. This is a simple arcade game where you pilot a small ship, catching blocks and scoring points, through a track made of the soundtrack. The idea is that every track you play on is generated from a given soundtrack. What is again amazing about this, is that you aren’t only limited to soundtracks provided by a game. You can also upload your own favourite music and play on track generated from it.
What about going back to the roots?
Nowadays
games are mostly made with a simple thought of having better graphics. This is
an issue when you look at i.e. shooting games. Apart from having small
differences in game mechanics the only real difference is graphical engine. In
old days, what really mattered were plot, mechanics or a simple thought
associated with the main hero. One of
such examples are Pokemon games. Graphics didn’t matter, we played it for a simple thought of having
our own pokemons.
- What do you prefer in games. Better graphics or mechanics?
- Do you think indie games can bring back what we loved in old games?
- Do you sometimes play old games?
Comments
I play old games like “The Settlers 2 ”, Baldur’s Gate 2” or “Planescape Tournament” from time to time and I really feel sorry that I won’t probably see games that brings such joy for a long, long time. Of course there are few exceptions like “Mass Effect” trilogy or “Civilization” series of my favorite “World of Tanks” that combine good graphics ( not an excellent graphical masterpiece but just very god looking) and just unlimited amount of fun, but those are only a few gems in whole sea of average games that looks very good but you finish then in about 4 hours ( for example “Call of duty”) and you don’t want to play them ever again. Few years back I hoped that this tendency will stop but now I gave up all hopes that that will change some day.
As for the indie games I think that they have their place on the market , they even give their creators significant amount of money, but they will never take place of games created by large companies. Those companies spend a lot of money on advertisement so they have a significant advantage over small companies, that very often create excellent games but don’t have the means to get through to large group of customers.
Sad thing is that many customers nowadays ( mainly young players) value graphics more that fun that the game brings. That’s the reason why indie games will only be some niche products not enjoyed by some significant part’s of gamers society.
2. I think yes. Primary indie games are set on the simple mechanic and usually have some of interesting and unique game story, which in today's games are slowly disappearing.
3. Yes, sometimes I like to refresh some older title. I usually return to: Heroes III, Medieval Total War, Diablo II, Neverwinter Nights, Medal of Honor and time – absorber Lineage II. Although, the old games don't have unusually graphic but they compensates in game-play and storyline. The old games, in my opinion can show us the spirit of places and different characters in games.
2. Well... I think 'old games' were mostly about interesting idea and story, and since indie games developers obviously cannot focus on some marketing features like pretty graphics etc, they need to put all their effort into making a game look interesting, not pretty. Thus, my answer would be yes, they can bring us more interesting, fun games, not more pretty ones. I think people still can appreciate the art of simplicity expressed in those games.
3. I'm not really a gamer myself, but I still enjoy playing Heroes of Might&Magic. Interestingly, newer versions like IV or V with more advanced graphics and more features never seemed attractive to me - I always prefered even older versions (HoMM3 or 2). And I love Sonic the Hedgehog - pretty old one too, but I don't have many occasions to play it.
2. Well... I think 'old games' were mostly about interesting idea and story, and since indie games developers obviously cannot focus on some marketing features like pretty graphics etc, they need to put all their effort into making a game look interesting, not pretty. Thus, my answer would be yes, they can bring us more interesting, fun games, not more pretty ones. I think people still can appreciate the art of simplicity expressed in those games.
3. I'm not really a gamer myself, but I still enjoy playing Heroes of Might&Magic. Interestingly, newer versions like IV or V with more advanced graphics and more features never seemed attractive to me - I always prefered even older versions (HoMM3 or 2). And I love Sonic the Hedgehog - pretty old one too, but I don't have many occasions to play it.
Indie games remind me of old, classic titles released many years ago. Most of them were 2D and so are most of the new Indie titles. The games released today by independent developers have one thing that makes them unique among all other games, including those released by large companies. They're extraordinarily innovative. Two that I can recall on the spot are: http://dukope.com/, http://hotlinemiami.com/.
I think that the main scope of indie games is to promote good ideas for video games, indifferently of how big of a budget the developers have. Of course indie games often go back to the roots of gaming (which for me is a great thing) and therefore often bring back old mechanics and concepts. However, as I mentioned, I don't think that is the main scope of indie games.
"Do you sometimes play old games?" - Do I! I play old video games very, very often. To be perfectly honest I find myself playing the same game over and over again, rather than playing new games. I have a set of games to which I come back once in a while and I am talking of games which I first many years ago. If a game is really good, it never gets old, that's my opinion.
2. I wouldn't say that indie game could bring back what we loved in old games, because we aren't same people like ten years ago- we have changed and along with us our experience and expectations. I think that indie games can give us an opportunity to play something different at many levels.
3. What do you mean by old? How "old" is old enought for you? I'm asking because I know that some gamers call an old game The Heros 3 and others only something like the Super Mario. :)
I think mechanics is much more important than graphics. But it doesn't mean that good graphics isn't welcomed.
Do you think indie games can bring back what we loved in old games?
I don't think that we lost anything. I appreciate creativity of indie developers though.
Do you sometimes play old games?
Only sometimes, recently I mainly play PS3 games.
Indie games? I think that producers are trying hard but for me that isn’t enough.
It depends Usually I want to play good game which should contain: mechanics , general gameplay and scenario. If game doesn't contain any of these I put it into garbage to play last.
Do you think indie games can bring back what we loved in old games?
No. They are another way for less creative graphic designers to release crappy-looking game and call it indie. It has become trend : if something looks bad it's 'old-school' or 'indie'. I like to play indie games IF the IDEA is good.
Do you sometimes play old games?
YES I DO. I am big fan of old games and I buy lots of old games on polish CD PROJEKT's site gog.com ( good old games ) and I play many of abandonware productions using DosBox or ScummVM.
Mechanics.... and graphics. TBH both are important. and don't get me started on Minecraft - don't get it. Indie games can be fun and are fun (Binding of Isaac)
Do you think indie games can bring back what we loved in old games?
I wouldn't say that indie can bring back what we loved in old games, because we aren't the same players as we were back in old days. technology is newer, let's just go with the flow and not get stuck in XX century ;)
Do you sometimes play old games?
All the freakin time. Fallout2 FTW