Most of you probably play video games, or at the very least know what they are so I decided to talk about indie games. I rarely play big budget productions like Fallout, Battlefront or Mass Effect, but I tend to really enjoy smaller projects like Botanicula, Limbo, Don't Starve or Machinarium - usually, because of their beautiful aesthetics.
Botanicula - Trailer
Botanicula - Trailer
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Indie games, as the name would suggest are games released by the game development studio without outside funding (although crowd funded games still are considered independent), at least in theory but what in my opinion really lies in the heart of indie games is lack of corporate structure and more artistic freedom than in big games developed by huge studios. Some indie games do get help from publishers but still maintain full control of the creative process.
While for many people it may seem that creating those games is easy - the reality is far from that. Developers usually have to spend a lot of time on their projects, time they can't spend working on other things, this often makes creating their games a really long process if they have a day job too, or require a lot of sacrifice without the guarantee of success or even return of the development costs. A good example of such a case could be Phil Fish, a guy who spent years on his game Fez. While Fez was a success and a great, recognized game, its creator was really bad with people and in the end decided to quit video game design essentially because of the controversy and negativity he himself created around his person (there's even a movie in big part about Fez's development - Indie Game: The Movie). Maybe that's one of the most challenging parts of independent game making - the developer is not only making a game, he is also building a brand, managing social media, creating interest in his product, something that would be handled by whole separate departments in big companies.
My question is - do you know and like other indie games? Or maybe you would like to work on one yourself? Would you prefer to make games with full artistic freedom and express yourself through them without compromises or would you rather be a part of a bigger project?
Comments
that seem to fill requirements for indie game. For sure it
must be challenging to create game on your own, time, money, motivation, lot of factors you may run out of. I believe that people must love it and I would rather compare it to artistic work than casual game development.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHMNeNapL1E
I don't have the ambition to create a game, but I could work at some large production.
Of course, not everyone has to have a need to create something personal. I think that large teams are always looking for people specialising in something.
One thing I like about those games is that most of the time they have quite unusual graphics. They leave the photorealistic trend behind and look original.
I don't think I will ever become a fan of indie productions but if such a game proves itself "worthy" ;) I'll probably check it out sooner or later.
Indie market in comparsion is getting bigger and thanks to early access, steam greenlight and crowdfunding it is also getting better, with bigger possibilities for creating a better quality products.
Right now I'm playing ARK Survival Evolved (http://www.gry-online.pl/S016.asp?ID=27579) and this is a good example of indie game (the only problem is optimization).
But the reason I practically left mainstream games was the community. Once upon a time, in some random indie game I discovered that not all of the Internet is populated with douche-bags. And this was such a good discovery. Suddenly my interaction with people was not limited to shooting them in the face or being T-bagged. I talked to them, and they talked back, like normal, sane people! Unimaginable.
Recently I discovered a cute little game called "Lovers in a dangerous spacetime". I don't think it got much attention and it has a bit girly stylistics but it's really hard to beat and I think it's a cool concept. Two players drive a circular ship and take places around different "stations" in the ship - engine/4 battle cannons on every side/shield/ultimate move and they can upgrade all of them in different ways.
Here is a short video:
Lovers in a dangerous spacetime
I watched the "Indie game movie" and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in the genre. It's a really well made movie and if you like a game Meat Boy or Fez, you can really see the creative processes behind them. I loved the game Meat boy, even though it was insanely hard and I enjoyed the Binding of Isaac even more.
Videos:
Binding of Isaac gameplay
Binding of Isaac intro
Meat Boy trailer
After watching the movie what was your impression of Phil Fish (creator of Fez)?
However, I know some of the titles you've mentioned, like Limbo and Machinarium; I think they're really, really beautiful from the aesthetical point of view.
If someone is into game-making, I think that making plug-ins and mods is also a good way to start. I know it sounds silly, regarding that most of plug-ins are utilities or graphic packs, but not always! Some time ago I've heard about a project I'm very excited to see: Skywind, a re-creation of Morrowind on the Skyrim engine. I think it's really a great and totally creative project, as people not only convert things from one engine to another, but actually record the music and the voices all over again, make their own 3D models, etc. I only regret Steam has disabled paid Workshop plug-ins - the creators won't have the money for their work, now.
But talking about games - my boyfriend was playing The Witcher recently (I know it's not indie at all) and I must say that I fell in love with this game. I was watching it as if it was a movie and I was admiring every little detail. Everything in this game is brought to perfection - no wonder it won (and is still winning) so many different awards all over the world.
Secondly, omg - 'Lovers in a dangerous spacetime' looks fantastic, I have to play it later, thanks for showing me the trailer.
Judging by the movie and what happened after Phil released Fez, he seems like a really misunderstood guy. I think he should have concentrated on other projects instead of fighting people online after releasing Fez.
As for the Elder Scrolls I only played Skyrim - I think most of the time I spent with the game was in the character creator :) Sadly it's scope overwhelmed me later into the game.
It's exactly why I like indie games - they often explore concepts that big companies would consider too risky.