tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12300234581928801852024-02-20T08:27:41.373+01:00TameTick.comRoguelikes, game development and programming in general.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-36795156946542676532016-10-06T10:54:00.002+02:002016-10-06T10:54:58.510+02:00Slayaway Camp is coming to Steam!Wow, been a long time since I wrote something on this blog.<br />
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The past ~19 months have been busy: I've been working on <a href="http://slayawaycamp.com/">Slayaway Camp</a>. It's been quite a journey, but I'm super hyped at the result. We've tested the waters with <a href="https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2016/09/16/slayaway-camp-free-game/">a limited version on kongregate</a> & have gotten super positive reception.<br />
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The next milestone is <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cn07syMT8pI">steam release</a> on October 25th. Exciting times!<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-69618450019203649712013-09-06T19:19:00.001+02:002013-09-06T19:19:16.049+02:00Anyone wants to cooperate?I'm available for cooperation on a SMALL project. Hit me up on ido.yehieli at google's mail thingy.<br />
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In other news: Cardinal Quest 2 is pretty much feature complete, release imminent (mostly some performance/UI issues remain). Great job <a href="http://wootfu.com/">randomenine</a>! :DIdo Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-36873167716995504892013-04-23T10:15:00.000+02:002013-04-23T10:15:52.235+02:00Cardinal Quest 2 previews on youtubeSo,<br />
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Cardinal Quest 2 has been steadily progressing and is now slated for a (hopeful) August release :D</div>
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In the meanwhile, to compensate for the fact you can't play the game yet, erm...here are some videos of other people playing it! That makes it all better, right?</div>
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsqQOwTm6iw">First Impressions by RavenValor95</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqSr-FKBSlY">Hux plays Cardinal Quest 2 (in German)</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WerK9G4-Cuc">RPG Indie - Cardinal Quest 2, by ubulunikum</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cJWEgnFlKk">Cardinal Quest 2 Beta Game Play by billindge</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZBhxxpngxQ">NoobFeed plays the Paladin in Cardinal Quest 2</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1m-kkgLBsc">IndieRPGs.com Checks Out Cardinal Quest 2</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTjiFtGI-7w">Indie Games Galore trying out Cardinal Quest 2</a></li>
</ul>
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Please not that some of these reviews are of different beta versions of the game. If you also wish to review Cardinal Quest 2 just <a href="mailto:ido.yehieli@gmail.com">email me</a> and I'll set you up!</div>
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-Ido.</div>
Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-42212917324857814802013-03-30T20:00:00.002+01:002013-03-30T20:00:37.157+01:00Cardinal Quest 2: players needed for new beta versionThings have been going along pretty well on <a href="http://cardinalquest2.com/">Cardinal Quest 2</a>, and we now have a private preview version containing the whole first act of the game (the first act alone is about as long as the whole of <a href="http://cardinalquest.com/">Cardinal Quest 1</a>).<br />
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We need some fresh set of eyes on it, which is where you come in! If you're interested in playing the private preview build simply mail <a href="mailto:randomnine@wootfu.com">Ruari</a> or <a href="mailto:ido.yehieli@gmail.com">myself</a> and we'll hook you up with a build for windows or mac (linux version coming shortly thereafter).<br />
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Thanks,<br />
Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-10660921122770828752013-03-17T09:02:00.001+01:002013-03-17T09:03:47.647+01:007DRL 2013 Success: Fisticuffsmanship!Unfortunately I've had less time this year than usual for the annual <a href="http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php?title=Seven_Day_Roguelike_Challenge">7DRL challenge</a>, but I still managed to whip up something quick (with the assistant of the usual suspect <a href="http://eight2empire.blogspot.com/">Tom Whetnall</a>):<br />
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<a href="http://tametick.com/fisticuffs/">Fisticuffsmanship</a>!<br />
<div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: none; background-color: #eeeeee; color: #111111; text-align: left;">
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<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">YOUR POSITION MATTERS: pay attention to your defense value on the left, it’s better to have a wall at your back than an enemy.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">EVERY ACTION COUNTS: the way you move through the fight will affect your chances of victory. Check the message log to see what action bonuses your moves trigger.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">KNOW YOUR WEAPON: your weapon’s defense and attack value fluctuates based on usage – learn the pattern for each weapon to maximize the damage you deal.</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: inherit;"> </span></li>
</ul>
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-Ido.</div>
Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-32946996847621232292012-09-28T13:55:00.002+02:002012-09-28T13:57:44.030+02:00How much does it cost to start selling your indie games?Hello young developer! So you want to try your hand in the time honored tradition of making indie-games for dektops and mobiles, selling them to players and hopefully make a modest living?<br />
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No sweat! Microsoft, Apple & Google are here to help you! Just pay the following fees and you're good to go:<br />
<ul>
<li>$99/year for mac app store.</li>
<li>$99/year for ios app store.</li>
<li>$99 (for a certificate) + $99/year for the windows store.</li>
<li>$25 for google play market (what a steal!)</li>
</ul>
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For the low sum of $421 (most of it recurring yearly) you too can make commercial indie games! Isn't that exciting?</div>
Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-73661377409612829162012-09-18T23:37:00.002+02:002012-09-18T23:37:48.735+02:00Cardinal Quest 2!<a href="http://cardinalquest2.com/">Cardinal Quest 2</a> has now officially began it's crowd sourcing campaign on <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/cardinalquest2?a=240763">indiegogo</a>! Go ahead and give it a peek, there is a free beta for you <a href="http://www.indiegogo.com/cardinalquest2?a=240763">on the indiegogo page</a>!Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-2824008843047730822012-09-15T17:31:00.003+02:002012-09-15T17:31:53.865+02:00Pakkuman's Defense now on iOS!<a href="http://www.tametick.com/pd/">Pakkuman's Defense</a> has finally been approved by apple and up on the app store!<br />
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<a href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pakkumansdefense/id560453722">Get it while it's hot</a>! You can play the free flash version on its <a href="http://www.tametick.com/pd/">homepage</a>, where you can also find links to pakkuman's defense on the android, amazon and blackberry markets.<br />
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Have fun,<br />
Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-37653928818110413812012-08-30T19:59:00.004+02:002012-08-30T20:00:33.034+02:00Testing Greenlight with Cardinal Quest 2A lot of people asked me when Cardinal Quest is coming to Steam.<br />
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It seems like the answer to that is most likely "never", but feel free to vote for <a href="http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=92846471">Cardinal Quest 2 on greenlight</a> if you want to get that one instead!Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-15129291325724003622012-08-21T16:12:00.000+02:002012-08-21T16:12:02.652+02:00New Release - Pakkuman's Defense (Android+web)This is a significantly expanded and improved version of my Indie-Buskers game, <a href="http://tametick.com/pd/">Pakkuman's Defense</a>: an action packed mix between pacman and tower defense!<br />
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Eat pellets & fruits to earn enough money to buy towers, which shoot the ghosts that are chasing you. This version includes a bunch of power-ups that appear on the level randomly as you collect the pelletes & improve either your towers or yourself.<br />
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This also marks the first mobile release of the game, debuting on android & coming to ios in the future.<br />
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Check it out, there is a web and an android version: <a href="http://tametick.com/pd/">Pakkuman's Defense</a>.<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-59465717036783851482012-08-02T22:41:00.004+02:002012-08-03T08:25:47.447+02:00Why I will no longer buy games on steam or bundlesSince 140 characters aren't enough to fully explain the reasoning behind my <a href="https://twitter.com/tametick/status/231120916363505664">recent tweet</a>, here it is:<br />
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The idea of being independent is to not depend on publishers, and in the pc indie-games market Steam and Humble Bundle are slowly starting to wield the same powers that publishers do in the AAA world.<br />
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Basically, they are seen by many developers as a "get out of jail free" card - just get on Steam or HIB and you'll be swimming in the river of money in no time! Their powers are getting to the point where I think many developers consider "getting on steam" and "getting in a bundle" as a crucial part of their financial strategy.<br />
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That situation is just not good for keeping indie games independent. You just switch one devil for another. Instead of making games that you think you can get a publisher behind, you make games that you think will get on Steam or a bundle.<br />
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I must say that I believe they have not yet wielded their powers for evil. Nevertheless, I don't like the fact that they have these powers at all and could (ab)use them any moment if they wanted to. Who knows if they won't at some point get under financial (or other) pressure that might change their morals?<br />
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Personally, I don't want to bet on the good guys remaining good indefinitely when presented with great power.<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-24287363155233901072012-08-01T16:33:00.000+02:002012-08-03T08:30:41.060+02:00About success, failure, and repeating the sins of our ancestors<b>Edit:</b> upon rereading this article there is actually nothing here about success. Sorry! <i>-Ido.</i><br />
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TeeGee of MoaCube recently wrote a very interesting article labeled <a href="http://moacube.com/blog/failure-study-rune-masters/">Failure study: Rune Masters</a>. Read it now, it's worth your time. In it he is analyzing the release of a game called <a href="http://www.desura.com/games/rune-masters">Rune Masters</a> by first time indie developer CodeDaemons that has suffered through some less-than-stellar sales.<br />
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I've been thinking of that article as I was getting ready to play a couple of games that have been on my backlog for a while. Two of these that I ended up actually playing were <a href="http://teknopants.com/games/shootfirst/">Shoot First</a>, a shooter-roguelike (much more fitting of that label than its more famous evolutionary-cousin The Binding of Isaac), and the Lovecraft-themed horror-roguelike <a href="http://infraarcana.wikispaces.com/">Infra Arcana</a>.<br />
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I was much more interested in <i>Infra Arcana</i>, being a bit of a fan of the setting and the genre and somewhat averse to shooters. But even tho I was really eager to sink my teeth into it, I ended up playing a lot more of <i>Shoot First</i> instead. I think the reasons are mostly due to what I consider classic "roguelike sins", which <i>Infra </i>commits with much vigor and enthusiasm while <i>Shoot </i>mostly (but not entirely) avoids.<br />
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The first thing that <i>Infra </i>actually does quite well are the graphics, at least in-game graphics. The Lovecraft setting is a bit hard to get right graphically, since it mostly contains indescribable horrors, so how do you describe or show them? <i>Infra </i>very nicely utilizes minimalistic abstract graphics, a bit like classic-roguelike ascii-graphics in the resulting style but actually consisting of simple figures and objects rather than letters and symbols. It looks good and keeps plenty of room for your imagination to fill up with the unimaginable.<br />
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And what complements such graphics perfectly in a horror game? Creepy, instrumental music! Just enter "lovecraft" into last.fm and you'll come up with a huge list of perfectly suitable music for that theme. Naturally, <i>Infra </i>has <i>no music</i>. And <i>no sound effects</i>. And <i>no effects of any other kinds</i> either. Why would you forgo collecting the lowest hanging fruits in enhancing the atmosphere of such a gloomy game like <i>Infra</i>? They're not even low hanging, they've dropped straight at the developer's lap and they just shrug them away.<br />
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Onwards to the next classic roguelike sin - interface! This is what the menu screen looks like in <i>Infra</i>:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLegDS88vYilK1fXCrunYBCTGLuQ9l_YY1x1iaNzgo8L-Y67NUfRK7ZGv8JiZ0FE07LoNrjB5Vv3q9DB7oVs-UdLjqZ9bmqGTnWMIG-INOly3teqt5fyf58Re6tQ6Ilu2r514Nd0W3EEHd/s1600/1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLegDS88vYilK1fXCrunYBCTGLuQ9l_YY1x1iaNzgo8L-Y67NUfRK7ZGv8JiZ0FE07LoNrjB5Vv3q9DB7oVs-UdLjqZ9bmqGTnWMIG-INOly3teqt5fyf58Re6tQ6Ilu2r514Nd0W3EEHd/s1600/1.png" /></a></div>
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If it's a bit hard to figure out at that size, rest assured you're not missing anything. It's red text on a black screen in some fixed-width variation of Arial or some other equally plain font. The current selection is marked by being rendered as white text. And you can't select the menu options by clicking them (you can however press 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd' or 'e').<br />
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Oh, and none of these allow you to change settings such as full-screen/windowed mode. To do that you have to <i>edit config.txt and restart the game</i> (of course!).<br />
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Here is an in-game screenshot:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinpTEl4hgMiscc3yKL7iTX-nxCS7Cc5VfnjktKg7NdQrGTl1s_sC8KHCEm4hsT0KTYc149w6DJ9hgf71NVGEpkqEOl2iFcq-2lwSOWJp69CN4w2IIvHLc2m3Eg7-E6MUGRsTyn2JrY2LE-/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEinpTEl4hgMiscc3yKL7iTX-nxCS7Cc5VfnjktKg7NdQrGTl1s_sC8KHCEm4hsT0KTYc149w6DJ9hgf71NVGEpkqEOl2iFcq-2lwSOWJp69CN4w2IIvHLc2m3Eg7-E6MUGRsTyn2JrY2LE-/s1600/2.png" /></a></div>
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It's a bit hard to see the actually really awesome tiles and sprites (no sarcasm), but check out the HUD at the bottom: here is that fixed-width Arial font again in radiant green, red & teal on plain black background. Nice, right? Nothing makes you think Lovecraft more than teal, fixed-width, Arial. It goes without saying that there is no tweening or any other such graphical effects used in the game, everything snaps silently into position (which is actually alright with the tiny graphics).<br />
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How about input you ask? The game's maual (another txt file) lists 32 keyboard command in addition to the 8 movement keys (some of these are different cases of the same letter, e.g. <i>r</i> to reload wielded firearm and <i>R</i> to study texts). Needless to say the only way to access commands like save or exit is via such keys, as there is no in-game menu.<br />
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These are all pretty superficial complaints, but honestly it's not that hard to get them right and most players first impression will be harshly impacted by such seemingly trivial details.<br />
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At the same time despite its flaws, <i>Shooter</i> gets most of these right (even tho some keyboard controls in the menus are a bit strange and/or buggy) and that's probably almost enough by itself to make me much more likely to play it than <i>Infra. </i>It just feels much more like a game that had a lot of love & care put into it.<br />
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Anyway, this is all barley scraping the surface and goes into fewer details than I first planned, but this post is probably already the longest I have on this blog so I'll stop now. If you want to hear more about the subject of <i>polish</i> and <i>feel</i> I suggest you give the two following videos a watch:<br />
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<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fy0aCDmgnxg">Juice it or lose it</a></li>
<li><a href="http://vimeo.com/14125649">Adam Atomic Talks Canabalt</a></li>
</ul>
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<i>-Ido.</i></div>Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-59140725210708277482012-06-10T08:45:00.000+02:002012-07-12T12:38:00.633+02:00Cardinal Quest mobile is now out!Cardinal Quest is finally out for<b> iPhone, iTouch and iPad</b>!
Check it out on the <a href="http://itunes.apple.com/app/cardinal-quest/id532050659">App Store</a>!<br />
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<b>EDIT</b>: it's now also out for <b>Android </b>on the Google <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=air.com.tametick.cardinalquest">Play Market</a>!<br />
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Josh (who is responsible for the mobile port) is watching responses closely and preparing to address player feedback - for example, he is a big chunk of the way through the iPad movement update already.<br />
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So if you or anyone you know has an iThing, go ahead and give it a go - we'd love to hear your feedback!Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-71829549162586747712012-05-31T00:19:00.001+02:002012-05-31T00:19:55.544+02:00Auro Kickstarter is online!As you might know, I've been working on a new game called <a href="http://www.dinofarmgames.com/auro/">Auro</a> with Keith & Blake from <a href="http://www.dinofarmgames.com/">Dinofarm games</a>.
There is now a <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dinofarmgames/auro">Kickstarter</a> up for it, so if you feel like it's an interesting and worthwhile project to support, just go <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dinofarmgames/auro">over and give it a look</a>!
Thanks,
Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-20548184038593634212012-03-18T23:49:00.000+01:002012-03-18T23:49:36.284+01:00New Game: FuelWithout further ado, here is my <a href="http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php/Seven_Day_Roguelike_Challenge">7drl 2012</a> entry - <a href="http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php/Fuel">Fuel</a>!<br />
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Fuel is an experiment in making a turn based side scroller. I think it turned out really well and am really proud of it :)<br />
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It was also made in only 7 days. <a href="http://roguebasin.roguelikedevelopment.org/index.php/Fuel">Give it a try</a> and tell me what you think!<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-21873535463526696362012-01-23T14:52:00.003+01:002012-01-23T15:02:13.836+01:00What Have I Been Up ToAs some of you know, for the past couple of months I've been working with Keith and Blake of <a href="http://www.dinofarmgames.com/">Dinofarm Games</a> on a new strategy game called Auro:<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i.imgur.com/t0pfV.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://i.imgur.com/t0pfV.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Although it sounds like a cliché, Auro is a strategy game that's easy to learn but hard to master. You only have three basic actions, and two of them share the same controls:<br />
<ol><li>Move Auro.</li>
<li>Attack an enemy (by moving Auro into it).</li>
<li>Use one of your skills.</li>
</ol><div>The game's depth comes from the last point - skills. You start the game picking one skill, and each time you finish a level (there is no incentive to "clear" a level in Auro, you only need to get to the end) you get to choose another skill out of five disciplines (Ice, Elude, Guard, Impulse & Fire). Each skill also has a cool-down, meaning you can only use it once every few turns</div><div><br />
</div><div>Since each play session is comprised of ten random levels and each discipline has five skills, your "skill kit" is made of ten out of twenty-five skills (<a href="http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Probability/Combinatorics#Combinations">with n=25 and k=10</a>, that gives us 25!/(10! * 15!) = <b><i>3,268,760 possible combinations</i></b>).</div><div><br />
</div><div>The monsters also have their own skills, and although they sometimes differ from each other in some other minor ways, most importantly each monster type has different skills. Since Auro's normal attack is weak and the monsters outnumber him greatly, you can only win by picking and using the right skills against the current bestiary you're facing.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Since different combination of monsters require a different combination of skills to defeat, there is no obvious "best skill set" in Auro - a skill that might be helpful against an early mob of rats and spiders could be totally useless against a combination of slimes and throwgres.</div><div><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l81vkmbH321qcnimro1_500.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="247" src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l81vkmbH321qcnimro1_500.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>"Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" - </i>Spock finds Auro <i><b>fascinating</b></i>.</div><div><br />
Auro is meant to be <i><b>fast and to the point</b></i> - it doesn't waste your time with filler material and fluff. Every step counts, you are constantly making meaningful and interesting decisions, and if you're not careful Auro will end up <b><i>dead</i> </b>and you will be the one who <i><b>killed him</b></i>.<br />
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To find out about the first two discipline trees in Auro, check out Keith's article on the <a href="http://www.dinofarmgames.com/?p=724">Dinofarm Games blog</a><br />
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-Ido.</div>Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-36174202452486274232012-01-23T08:58:00.000+01:002012-01-23T08:58:24.671+01:00Indie Game: The Movie - Mixed FeelingsAs the title says, I'm having some mixed feelings about the new <a href="http://www.indiegamethemovie.com">Indie Game: The Movie</a>. <br />
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On the one hand I'm looking forward to seeing it & am happy for the opportunity to see a glimpse into the lives and creative process of the interviewed indies, but on the other we have an almost two hour film about indie games that focuses on three extremely successful teams and their games: <br />
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Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes with Super Meat Boy, Phil Fish with FEZ and Jonathan Blow with Braid (was Notch not available?).<br />
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I admire all of these people (and had a blast <a href="http://roguelikeradio.blogspot.com/2011/11/episode-11-binding-of-isaac.html">talking to Edmund on Roguelike Radio</a>) but the indie games movement is about more than just a handful of "super indies" and it seems (I haven't watched the movie yet as it hasn't shown in Vienna) that two hours would be long enough to cover a bit more ground than just the (rightfully!) really famous ones.<br />
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That said, I'm still happy this movie was made & will go out to see it as soon as I can.<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-26406035812980110612012-01-16T14:53:00.002+01:002012-01-16T14:57:39.328+01:00Can't Play an EA/Activision/Ubisoft game due to DRM? Play Cardinal Quest instead!In yet another report of <a href="http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/01/16/ubisofts-activations-monitor-hardware-changes/">rabid DRM</a>, Ubisoft is once more preventing countless of their customers from playing the games they bought.<br />
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However, there is still hope for those afflicted! <br />
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<a href="http://twitter.com/tametick">Give me a shout</a> today with the name of a game by one of the three big publishers (EA/Activision/Ubisoft) that you couldn't play due to draconian DRM and I'll give you a desura key for Cardinal Quest <b><i>for free</i></b>!<br />
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Needless to say, Cardinal Quest has no DRM on it whatsoever :)<br />
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Oh, and if you're not following me on twitter (I can only send private messages to followers) make sure you give me a way to contact you (e.g. email) so I could send you your key!<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-4555484488563491652012-01-11T12:32:00.000+01:002012-01-11T12:32:02.174+01:00Cardinal Quest 2 - Now With 100% More Dogs!Check out the exciting news about your future canine companions in Cardinal Quest 2 on <a href="http://wootfu.com/2012/01/dog/">randomnine's blog</a>!<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-2003535492226029682011-12-25T14:45:00.000+01:002011-12-25T14:45:25.009+01:00Only 1 Day Left to Vote for Roguelike of the Year 2011!So if you haven't already head over to <a href="http://roguelikedeveloper.blogspot.com/2011/12/request-for-votes-ascii-dreams.html">ASCII-Dreams</a> and vote for Cardinal Quest now ;)<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-38402221870052839852011-12-17T22:41:00.000+01:002011-12-17T22:41:00.484+01:00Ask me about game developmentIf you've ever wanted to ask me something about making indie games, <a href="http://www.formspring.me/tametick">now is your chance :)</a>Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-71596722592406224982011-12-08T15:48:00.002+01:002011-12-09T19:28:34.780+01:00Cardinal Quest 1.2 and What's NextHeya! I'm Ruari O'Sullivan (<a href="http://wootfu.com/">randomnine</a>), another games developer with a few small games of my own out there (<a href="http://wootfu.com/beacon/">Beacon</a> and <a href="http://wootfu.com/vigilance/">Fear is Vigilance</a>). I've been working with Ido and Joshua Day for the past few months to make Cardinal Quest bigger and better. We've just released Cardinal Quest 1.2. The free version is, as ever, <a href="http://www.kongregate.com/games/idoyehi/cardinal-quest">up on Kongregate</a>! If you've paid for CQ then you should receive an email shortly with update info.<br />
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Here's what's new and cool in 1.2:<br />
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<ul>
<li>We've rebalanced the difficulty spikes in the game, so it's tougher <i>and</i> fairer.</li>
<li>Potions are now more powerful, including the new Mana Potion which recharges all your spells.</li>
<li>The "Heal" spell now only recharges when you gain XP, so you can't just wait out damage once you've found it.</li>
<li>There's a new special weapon late in the game just to help out wizards.</li>
<li>We've made a whole bunch<i> </i>of bugfixes. All the weirdness with spells? Fixed!</li>
</ul>
This is the definitive version of Cardinal Quest. There's never been a better time to get stuck in and kill everything, so get cracking! :D<br />
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So now that's out of the way, what's next?<br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large;">Cardinal Quest II</span><br />
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As you may know, Ido's been hard at work with the other guys at <a href="http://www.dinofarmgames.com/">Dinofarm Games</a> on <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/dinofarmgames/auro-the-golden-prince">Auro: The Golden Prince</a>, a turn-based, dungeon crawling strategy game. While he gets that moving, he's handed day-to-day development of Cardinal Quest over to Joshua and me - and we have big plans. An expanded "Deluxe" version would be cool, but we're going one better: we're making a sequel.<br />
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Cardinal Quest II will have everything we had planned for Deluxe and more. It'll have three new classes, an epic story spanning three chapters (each individually as large as Cardinal Quest Classic), more spells, more items, more monsters, and cool new features like shops and high score tables to record your best runs. Best of all, if you paid for Cardinal Quest <b>before today</b> then you'll get Cardinal Quest II when it comes out <b>for free</b>.<br />
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We'll be announcing pricing and taking pre-orders for Cardinal Quest II soon, and I'll be bringing you regular updates right here as the game comes together. For now, get honing your skills on CQ Classic. CQ II's going to be even tougher!randomninehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15570168524543451955noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-78723399138759640722011-11-24T12:54:00.000+01:002011-11-24T12:54:47.079+01:00Why Bundles and Steam Sales Aren’t Good for Most IndiesCheck out my first post on the Dinofarm-Games blog and tell me what you think: <br />
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<a href="http://www.dinofarmgames.com/?p=561">Why Bundles and Steam Sales Aren’t Good for Most Indies</a>.<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-14453204481469812732011-11-19T10:49:00.004+01:002011-11-19T20:46:52.004+01:00Auro: The Golden PrinceFor the last couple of weeks I've been working with Keith & Blake from <a href="http://www.dinofarmgames.com/">DinofarmGames</a> on a new game- Auro: The Golden Prince.<br />
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<a href="http://www.dinofarmgames.com/?p=95">Auro</a> is the result of deconstructing the roguelike genre to its base components and trying to reassemble it in a unique way, optimized for fast & furious game-play that is easy to learn but difficult to master.<br />
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The result however, is that Auro is <b>not</b> a roguelike - but rather a new approach using the base principles behind what we believe makes roguelikes good.<br />
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Please check it out on <a href="http://kck.st/rzMm6N">Kickstarter</a>, where you can find out more about what Auro is all about and tell your friends about it! <br />
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We need all the help we can get to make this happen!<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1230023458192880185.post-41365657427022276602011-11-15T10:23:00.003+01:002011-11-15T14:01:24.730+01:00Prediction for the new yearI know it's a bit early for new-year predictions, but here is mine:<br />
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This time next year Angband and Nethack will become obsolete - there will be no reason to not play <a href="http://te4.org/">ToME4</a> or <a href="http://crawl.develz.org">DCSS</a> respectively instead.<br />
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EDIT: one game Brian mentioned in the comments that I completely forgot about: <a href="https://sites.google.com/site/broguegame/">Brogue</a>.<br />
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With that in mind I would restate my argument that I think the future "major" roguelikes are going to be DCSS, ToME4 & Brogue (and with some hope JADE eventually too).<br />
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-Ido.Ido Yehielihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10937270886537958563noreply@blogger.com18