Comments on: Indie Games round up 23rd October

By: Emuholic

Emuholic — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:05:15 +0000

I will keep an eye over at the forums when I get a chance and see how it pans out. It should be an interesting discussion.

By: Emuholic

Emuholic — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 12:05:00 +0000

I will keep an eye over at the forums when I get a chance and see how it pans out. It should be an interesting discussion.

By: Duncan Blair

Duncan Blair — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:27:01 +0000

Yeah I couldn’t agree with you more. We’re planning on raising our concerns over the forced 8 minute restrictions with Microsoft, and hopefully if enough other Indie devs do the same they’ll remove that requirement. Given the service is peer reviewed it could just be left to the reviewers’ discretion whether the trial is acceptable or not – giving the whole game away for free being a fail restriction. I’ve a feeling that ain’t gonna happen though

By: Duncan Blair

Duncan Blair — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 13:27:00 +0000

By: Emuholic

Emuholic — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:05:35 +0000

No problem Duncan, I hope it drums up some interest. The trial time limit is sometimes bad for games as it does not allow the player to see the game in its full glory and instead it can be spent reading tutorials/game instruction or learning the controller layout.

Puzzle games do seem to be the most affected from my experience of only trying the games for the allowed 8 minutes for my impressions. I would like to see a developer set time limit of say 8 minutes to 15 minutes. Players can of course just reload the trial but there is a chance they are not grabbed and will not do this.

By: Emuholic

Emuholic — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 10:05:00 +0000

By: Duncan Blair

Duncan Blair — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:46:51 +0000

Hey, I’m Duncan from Haiku Interactive. Just wanted to say thanks for the write up on Crate Expectations, good of you to take the time to look over it! Really pleased you enjoyed it. As you expected it really does get competitive in multiplayer games. It’s at it’s best when sat on a sofa with some mates. You soon become enemies

As you mentioned its a real shame about the forced 8 minute restriction on Indie Games, as most matches do take a little more than that. If we had our way we’d have as long as required and instead limited the level set or something. If anyone does give it a shot I suggest you setup a wee 2 player match against 1 AI on one of the smaller levels, as that should let you squeeze a whole match in before you’re booted out. Be sure to have a quick look over the How To Play screen too – we’re regretting not making it more prominent, as some people have given feedback that the objective is a little unclear on jumping right in.

Thanks again for the review!

By: Duncan Blair

Duncan Blair — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 01:46:00 +0000

Thanks again for the review!

By: Robert Boyd

Robert Boyd — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:30:07 +0000

Thanks for mentioning my game, Epiphany in Spaaace! Your feedback is appreciated – I’m already planning on making the next game (and its trial) longer & I’ll probably throw in a few pictures in the next game as well to spice things up a bit (you’re not the only one who has asked for some visuals interspersed with the text).

Here’s a free copy of the game to whoever is fast enough to get it: F4C9Q-QBXKK-3KG9V-2CKW6-CMD43

By: Robert Boyd

Robert Boyd — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 20:30:00 +0000

Here’s a free copy of the game to whoever is fast enough to get it: F4C9Q-QBXKK-3KG9V-2CKW6-CMD43