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STEAM announcements & updates 2012 Thread 3 -

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T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
MRORANGE said:
Valve really need to make a mobile version of steam for iPad, the iPhone version looks terrible on my iPad

KlIXo.jpg
Click to expand...

lol, HEY! Now everyone knows what I am playing!

:p
 
Wok

Wok

Member
Gintoki said:
Heh. :p

Also this month will have two more greenlit games released: Fly'n and Miasmata
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I feel Miasmata would look be a bit disappointing. It is the kind of game which looks good on the paper, and which is usually not as good as expected.

From what I have read, this is the case for Lucius for instance. You feel you will be able to do whatever you want when you look at the screenshots, and in the end, you face a linear game and are not able to experience the freedom you can have in GTA, Elder Scrolls or even Deus Ex or Hitman.

About Fly'n, I fear the levels are going to be too simple to please gamers experienced in platformers: with the graphics of Rayman, without the difficulty of Rayman.

Only time will tell.
 
M

_machine

Member
Speevy said:
Write at least one paragraph (or more) about this. You have around one hour.

Go.
Click to expand...
Use the start of the level to introduce and show a new mechanic, for example a combat move, but don't reveal all it's uses and force it to the player, and give the mood and basic goal of the level. Let the player learn the mechanic by trying ways to use it, reward using it in conjuction with the environment or certain enemy types or combos with visual and sound clues. Don't make it always necessary for progress, but a way to give the player options as to give a sense of everything is possible, but your actions don't always result positively, but always make sense.
 
M

Miker

Member
Speevy said:
Free Steam copy of

to the best entry of the following contest. Contest ends in one hour.


If you were going to design the perfect level/mission for challenging a player without making them quit with frustration, what would this level have in it?

It can be any genre.

For example, you might think of the kinds of things one finds in a challenging game/mission, such as hordes of enemies, booby traps, big bosses, stealth, guard/protect/rescue something, security to deactivate, archers, snipers, demons, dragons platforms, spikes, puzzles, whatever you want.

Remember, you have to find a balance between what's challenging and what's rewarding.

Write at least one paragraph (or more) about this. You have around one hour.

Go.
Click to expand...

Massive post incoming!

I've been on an action binge lately, having just played God Hand, Viewtiful Joe, DMC1, and just started DMC3. I loved all of them, but I particularly liked a few levels in each - the giant crane in God Hand, the upside down sub in Viewtiful Joe, and the nightmare boss fight in DMC1 (hitting the wheels to keep the light on).

I think the environment would be dynamic (like the sub), have an interactive centerpiece (like the crane), and keep players on their feet by requiring regular navigation around its different parts (like Nightmare).

I have a lot of ideas swimming around my head right now, but i think my mission - a giant boss fight, really - would start on the surface of the earth somewhere, in a circular coliseum. The boss is some sort of giant mechanical drill, and it can only be damaged in its cockpit, which is vulnerable to attacks from the top. In order to damage it, the player has to jump up to a higher platform in the arena, then jump down to the cockpit and bash the crap out of it. A set number of cannon fodder enemies spawn as both distractions and to serve as potential health drops.

Then, the boss would learn from its mistake, and somehow prevent attacks on its cockpit from the top. Following that, it's revealed that the ground is weak (shocking), and a stronger, more durable minion spawns. The player's goal is then to lure the drill to attack different patches of ground around the arena, while fighting/avoiding the stronger minion. The stronger minion, when defeated, drops a bigger than usual health drop to ease the player into the second phase of the fight.

When the attack pierces the ground, the entire arena crumbles underground in spectacular fashion. In the commotion, the boss has lost his cockpit shield, and is again vulnerable for attack from above. Naturally, architecture from the arena is conveniently embedded in the walls to serve as platforms that allow the player to attack the cockpit from above.

This pattern happens one more time (weak patches of ground, minions, etc.), and the boss fight takes place in a third layer of earth. For this third layer, the platforms embedded in the walls would be various parts and plates from the drill itself, showing that you're just about to beat the boss.

In the third and final level, there is no weak patch of ground. When the player bashes on the cockpit, for the last blow, it goes to a cutscene. This being a Japanese action game, the player punches the drill so goddamn hard it falls through the ground, but it turns out that they were already so deep in the earth's crust that the drill is punched into the core of the earth where it melts into a blaze of glory and/or violence.

I don't think it's the most creative boss fight ever, but it has a simple pattern, it keeps the player on his toes, doesn't require a tiny player to punch massive limbs (*cough*AngraGodHand*cough*). There are tons of ways to be visually creative with showing the interior of the earth, like having assorted joke items embedded in the more superficial layer (like in the Simpsons - dinosaur bones, refrigerators, etc), and for the deep layer, it would give rise to magma flowing in the walls.

In terms of balance, the drill would rotate at a moderately slow speed - not so slow as to make it a joke, but slow enough for the player to be able to outrun (outrotate?) the drill and be able to fight minions without having to worry about the drill's attacks. Minions are there to provide health drops - cannon fodder drops small health, and as said earlier, the tough minion drops more health to start the player off with more health for the second phase of the fight.

I think this combines the best parts of the levels that I mentioned earlier, and I hope that it sounds fun to the rest of you!
 
T

Tomodachi

Member
Mr. Poolman said:
Is any of those Tomb Raider games worth a try?

Last one I played was TR2 back on PS1.
Click to expand...

Get them all, they're awesome.

Start with Anniversary, an awesome re-imaging of the very first Tomb Raider. Then Legend (oldest and weakest one of the lot, but still good), then Underworld (its direct sequel).

Or you could just get Anniversary and wait for another sale to get the others, they're on sale very often.

Not a big fan of Guardian of Light but if you have a friend you can play with it's a nice coop experience I guess.
 
S

Speevy

Banned
I have been reading your entries as you were making them, and I like a lot of your ideas.

I particularly like the idea about a level similar to Bit.Trip Runner, since I loved that game.

There were many entries that briefly described good creative mechanics, and whole game systems that would make for compelling experiences.

I didn't ask for a giant text wall. However, I have to pick one of the two posters who gave me a comprehensive description of a level. Picking between these two was torture, because I really liked both of them.

Ultimately, the specificity in Miker's post pushed me over the edge. Dice was very close though.

So our winner is Miker

Give me your Steam ID Miker.
 
Dice

Dice

Pokémon Parentage Conspiracy Theorist
I ain't even mad. After reading his, I feel like we should make a game together.

Dat
lost glory of
Capcom love.
 
M

Metalmurphy

Member
Metal Gear?! said:
Why did you kick me from the Steam group?
Click to expand...

What's ur Steam profile page? I've been cleaning up the group so it's possible you were kicked by mistake.


Visualante2 said:
Why is casual racism acceptable in the GAF group but not on the boards? It's a mystery!
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Depends on what you mean by casual racism, also:

Twinduct said:
The Gaf group on steam is more a collection of Steamgaf members than an official extension of neogaf.
Click to expand...
 
M

Miker

Member
Speevy said:
I have been reading your entries as you were making them, and I like a lot of your ideas.

I particularly like the idea about a level similar to Bit.Trip Runner, since I loved that game.

There were many entries that briefly described good creative mechanics, and whole game systems that would make for compelling experiences.

I didn't ask for a giant text wall. However, I have pick one of the two posters who gave me a comprehensive description of a level. Picking between these two was torture, because I really liked both of them.

Ultimately, the specificity in Miker's post pushed me over the edge. Dice was very close though.

So our winner is Miker

Give me your Steam ID Miker.
Click to expand...

Holy shit, thank you based Speevy! ID is steamcommunity.com/id/mikerrrrr
 
G

Gintoki

Member
Wok said:
About Fly'n, I fear the levels are going to be too simple to please gamers experienced in platformers: with the graphics of Rayman, without the difficulty of Rayman.

Only time will tell.
Click to expand...

Yea thats what I'm afraid of. It looks gorgeous though, so I'll bite.
 
T

Toma

Let me show you through these halls, my friend, where treasures of indie gaming await...
Mikor said:
My head is about to explode
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lol, I know that feeling. That confusing feeling always appears when I see the user named "Tomat". Talking to him feels like breaking rules of time travel :p
 
L

Lizardus

Member
Holy shit this Steam Beta update is horrible. Steam freezes up when I start it and I have to shut it down with Task Manager. BPM ain't worth this shit.
 
S

SteveWinwood

Member
Lizardus said:
Holy shit this Steam Beta update is horrible. Steam freezes up when I start it and I have to shut it down with Task Manager. BPM ain't worth this shit.
Click to expand...

Pretty sure you don't need to be in the beta to access BPM anymore. Just opt out if you're having trouble. That's why it's a beta.
 
E

Echoplx

Member
Having huge issues with memory leaks on Windows 8. My computer was at 90% memory usage and after closing Steam dropped down to 30% even though task manager showed Steam was using less than 100mb of memory :s This has happened a few times now so it's not just a one off thing.
 
D

Dog Problems

Banned
I love over-the-top sports game like NBA Jam. If I could go out, jump fifty feet into the air with a flaming basketball and shatter the goal from a crazy dunk then I would.
 
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