Well…
Terraria Online: “My Fellow Terrarians” (forum post)
Sadly, the week had barely begun before bad news rolled in: Redigit, the last remaining dev on the Terraria team, told everyone it was time for him to move on from working on the game (entire thread can be found here). While this was quite a shock to fans, including myself, at least he wasn’t simply abandoning a sinking ship or a half-baked cake – the game has received more service, support and free content since launch than almost any indie title out there, and has come a long way since the initial release, including the massive 1.06 patch and borderline crazy 1.1 update; that’s quite a lot of new free content!
While that doesn’t mean fans won’t be left hungry for more, as it will always be the case with a title like this, considering the pricetag ($10 and often discounted), I’d say we got our money’s worth and then some. Heck, I have yet to even break into hardmode or go crazy with the construction aspect; a thing that a lot seem to enjoy, and as such have become a weekly feature in the Creation Compendium on the official forums. This week it was all about Treehouses (past creations can be found in the News & Features sub-forum).
I guess there’s always modding and texture packs to keep the game somewhat new and fresh, but only time will tell just how much is going to happen in that area. For the time being, let’s just give the developers a huge thank you and see what the future holds for each and every one of them; somehow I doubt they’re entirely done making games..
Thoughts On Post-1.0 AVWW In The Wake Of Terraria’s Development Halt (blog post)
The founder of Arcen Games, Christopher M. Park, decided to share some details on the whole Terraria thing and the future of their two titles, AI War and A Valley Without Wind seeing how they (Arcen Games) are approaching that unique version 1.0 milestone with A Valley Without Wind. Basically, he states that they won’t be leaving it or AI War behind, far as further development goes, “unless something changes to make this financially viable for us to continue” (source). That’s one indie dev’s thoughts on the topic, anyone else?
TPG Command Performance: Gunpoint Preview (preview)
To those who have been following my Weekly Indie Update posts, it’s no secret that I’m extremely hyped about this one. Gunpoint is easily one of my two favorite upcoming indies, and it just got previewed (note: a preview is not based on a finalized build) at True PC Gaming (source). Though one has to wonder: Does that mean it’s close to being done? They do mention some issues, so maybe it’s a good thing that the developer has not even revealed a “maybe” release date, in order to squash those bugs prior to launch – at which point I’ll definitely be picking up a copy! Patches can fix a lot of things these days, after all.
Legend of Grimrock: Weekly Update from the Chamber of Pits (dev update)
Earlier today I noticed my Facebook feed had some Rebecca Black links again. It could only mean two things: first, the current state of pop music is appalling, and second, it’s Friday and therefore it’s time for another weekly update!
Nice! But while I agree 100%, my taste in music is not what you’re here to read about, so.. let’s quickly move onto the Legend of Grimrock dev blog update. This time, it’s all about tweaks and.. something.. about a very strange language full of x’s and y’s(?!). Big(ger) plates, picking up items from the dirty floor and even a first-world problem also got some time in the spotlight (source).
A Valley Without Wind and AI War (patches)
These guys have been quite busy in the past week: Not only was A Valley Without Wind patched four times (0.579 0.580 0.581 0.582), but AI War also saw an update (5.027). As if that wasn’t enough, both AI War and Tidalis got a permanent price drop – no better time than the present to pick either up, I think!
Those feeling a bit lost and/or confused by A Valley Without Wind‘s gameplay, are going to like this next bit: The wiki, FAQ and a few other documents were updated recently (source), making for an easier introduction. Starting to wonder if I’ll ever find the time to really get into the demo.. well, if not sooner, then at least once 1.0 is out!
Defender’s Quest (patch)
I did claim that the tower defence genre is currently a bit oversaturated, last week; but just like Unstoppable Gorg, this one manages to stand out (which is no small feat, given the competition!) as something that’s definitely worthwhile. Normally, this would be where I plug my review of said title.. but I have yet to write one (d’oh!), so you’ll have to make do with my personal recommendation for now. Oh and the dev post on 0.8.9, of course.
Before we wrap this one up, I just want to send a big “thank you” to OGR for providing “a community blog about geek culture” (his words, not mine), where people can either spread the word about posts on their own blog (such as this) or simply blog on the site itself, so I recommend checking it out!
Alright, list time..
- GamingUnion: Interview With Dear Esther’s Dr. Dan Pinchbeck and Robert Briscoe
- Gnome’s Lair: Discover Incursion with the help of an interview
- IGM: ‘Merchant’ Interview – Strictly Business (And A Few Other Things)
- Video Game Saga: Interview with Retro City Rampage Creator Brian Provinciano
- IGM: Amp, Watts & Circuit (PC/Mac)
- GameCola: Out There Somewhere (PC)
