Indie RPG News!
by Jay Barnson · 10/25/2007 (10:19 am) · 10 comments
I have been running a slightly-regular feature on indie RPG news for the last several months. What's coming down the pipe, what's been updated, and just general cool stuff about indie RPG titles. It's my own miniscule effort to try and publicize the extremely diverse, fractured indie RPG scene.
Here are the last couple of 'em:
Indie RPG News Roundup, October 25th
Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest, Scars of War, The Broken Hourglass, Cute Knight Deluxe, and Depths of Peril.
Indie RPG News Roundup, October 10th
Eschalon: Book 1, Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest, Heart Forth, Alicia, The Broken Hourglass, Age of Decadence, and Esenthel
Enjoy! (And yes, there are a couple of Torque-based games in those lists...)
Now here's a request:
I'd like to do them once a week, if time and actual quantity news items permit, but I figured I needed to publicize them a bit more *AND* ask for some help from the game development community to keep me informed so I have news to post. I you are on a team that is currently developing an RPG, please keep me informed. You can reach me via contact information here at my GarageGames contact info, or at jayb ---- at ---- rampantgames.com, or at the site in the community area. If you also hear scuttebutt about something going on in the indie RPG scene from a reliable source, please let me know about that as well!
My criteria for what games to include are kinda vague, but I'm looking for the following:
* With 98% (or more) of indie projects never actually getting released, I'm nervous about talking about any game unless it seems "likely" to be released. This means it should either be really close to release (playable late-alpha) or by an established team that already has a history of released games (well, at least one released game).
* No remakes of mainstream games.
* The games should run on modern platforms... I'm hesitant to mention games that require the use of an emulator.
* I'm also hesitant to talk about mods of commercial games. I'm much more interested in stand-alone indie titles, whether freeware or commercial.
And all of these guidelines may be bent if you can convince me otherwise... :)
Here are the last couple of 'em:
Indie RPG News Roundup, October 25thAveyond 2: Ean's Quest, Scars of War, The Broken Hourglass, Cute Knight Deluxe, and Depths of Peril.
Indie RPG News Roundup, October 10th
Eschalon: Book 1, Aveyond 2: Ean's Quest, Heart Forth, Alicia, The Broken Hourglass, Age of Decadence, and Esenthel
Enjoy! (And yes, there are a couple of Torque-based games in those lists...)
Now here's a request:
I'd like to do them once a week, if time and actual quantity news items permit, but I figured I needed to publicize them a bit more *AND* ask for some help from the game development community to keep me informed so I have news to post. I you are on a team that is currently developing an RPG, please keep me informed. You can reach me via contact information here at my GarageGames contact info, or at jayb ---- at ---- rampantgames.com, or at the site in the community area. If you also hear scuttebutt about something going on in the indie RPG scene from a reliable source, please let me know about that as well!
My criteria for what games to include are kinda vague, but I'm looking for the following:
* With 98% (or more) of indie projects never actually getting released, I'm nervous about talking about any game unless it seems "likely" to be released. This means it should either be really close to release (playable late-alpha) or by an established team that already has a history of released games (well, at least one released game).
* No remakes of mainstream games.
* The games should run on modern platforms... I'm hesitant to mention games that require the use of an emulator.
* I'm also hesitant to talk about mods of commercial games. I'm much more interested in stand-alone indie titles, whether freeware or commercial.
And all of these guidelines may be bent if you can convince me otherwise... :)
About the author
Jay has been a mainstream and indie game developer for a... uh, long time. His professional start came in 1994 developing titles for the then-unknown and upcoming Sony Playstation. He runs Rampant Games and blogs at Tales of the Rampant Coyote.
#2
Edit: My message got partially eaten... grrr.
10/25/2007 (12:30 pm)
@Jay: what about indie released games with a continued development (Darkwind: War On Wheels, hint, hint, hint...) Sam Redfern has scheduled 12 months of upgrades to bring the game the vision he had, and I got caught in the time trap myself! ;-)Edit: My message got partially eaten... grrr.
#3
i think, some mods are really good, and should be metioned
anyway, cool idea, i like rpg's :)
10/25/2007 (1:33 pm)
why not mods?i think, some mods are really good, and should be metioned
anyway, cool idea, i like rpg's :)
#4
Florian: The thing is, they do get covered by the gaming sites for the mainstream games themselves; they tend to piggy-back on "big-budget" content and thus are kind of in a different category from truly indie games; and I'd be worried about the "true" indie games getting buried under a deluge of mods for, say, Neverwinter Nights 2. But if a mod was truly exceptional and contained a big portion of all-original content, I could be talked into an exception.
Tom: I talk about other indie games on the blog, too, just not as part of the "indie RPG news." I'm developing a niche focus towards indie RPGs and adventure games --- but it's not even close to an exclusive focus, just an emphasis.
10/25/2007 (1:50 pm)
Stephan: Yes, absolutely. I want to post all about updates!Florian: The thing is, they do get covered by the gaming sites for the mainstream games themselves; they tend to piggy-back on "big-budget" content and thus are kind of in a different category from truly indie games; and I'd be worried about the "true" indie games getting buried under a deluge of mods for, say, Neverwinter Nights 2. But if a mod was truly exceptional and contained a big portion of all-original content, I could be talked into an exception.
Tom: I talk about other indie games on the blog, too, just not as part of the "indie RPG news." I'm developing a niche focus towards indie RPGs and adventure games --- but it's not even close to an exclusive focus, just an emphasis.
#5
10/25/2007 (10:46 pm)
So Aveyond 2 is still using RPG Maker? Didn't the developer switch over to TGB recently? (some Hatchery game)
#6
10/25/2007 (10:55 pm)
She used TGB for Grimm's Hatchery, yes. But that was a different kind of game - a casual game that she wanted to do in-between big RPG projects. The last time I checked she was sticking with RPG Maker for RPGs. 
#7
10/26/2007 (9:31 am)
Yup. She sees TGB and RGP Maker XP as two tools to achieve different ends, and uses the one that has its strengths to the ends she wants to accomplish.
#8
(Like... uh... remember my experiment last year using Ultima 7 graphics...?)
But it'd be a lot of work to build it into an RPG engine. Amanda's got development with RPGMaker down to a science. She started development on Aveyond 2 back in... when was it... March? And she's theoretically entering beta next week. That's pretty rapid development with a very familiar and mature product.
I expect that once you have a solid base to work with, you could do the same with TGB modded up for a more western-RPG style of experience. Of course, that's why everyone keeps harping on indies to GET A GAME DONE and out the door! The first time is always the hardest.
10/26/2007 (10:25 am)
I personally feel TGB *could* be used to make a totally kick-butt RPG that could shatter some of the limitations of RPGMaker...(Like... uh... remember my experiment last year using Ultima 7 graphics...?)
But it'd be a lot of work to build it into an RPG engine. Amanda's got development with RPGMaker down to a science. She started development on Aveyond 2 back in... when was it... March? And she's theoretically entering beta next week. That's pretty rapid development with a very familiar and mature product.
I expect that once you have a solid base to work with, you could do the same with TGB modded up for a more western-RPG style of experience. Of course, that's why everyone keeps harping on indies to GET A GAME DONE and out the door! The first time is always the hardest.
#9
10/26/2007 (2:18 pm)
I loved that experiment. It made me want to play Ultima VII again. I love that game. I want to play it again now.
#10
10/29/2007 (9:41 am)
I really loved it too. Probably my favorite RPG ever. And I think it still holds up pretty well today, aside from the 320 x 200 resolution (not such a problem in Exult). 
Torque 3D Owner Tom Feni
But sounds fun either way.. :)
need more games publicized :)