koitsu wrote:
TL;DR version: keep up the good work + never lose focus! I donated US$25.
Long version:
Probably some insight into how koitsu's brain and ethics work:
I loathe games like this so much. The instant I heard "Super Meat Boy" and "I Wanna Be The Guy" I practically started shitting blood and wanted to shove both my fists through my monitor. Meaning I will never, *ever* play this game.
However -- and despite being unemployed (meaning no income) for over a year now -- I donated US$25 to you guys simply because I always appreciate folks staying true to what gaming is supposed to be about (read: not fancy graphics, sticking strictly to 2D, no pretentious plot lines, being straight forward and not open-ended-to-the-point-of-having-no-idea-what-you-did-yesterday-or-where-you-left-off). Just because I don't like a particular style of gameplay doesn't make me right/wrong -- a lot of the time life is about helping + doing Good Things(tm).
I think guys like you (us? we? Maybe it's an age/generation thing) are somewhat of a dying breed, and that's sad to me. It gets worse when you consider awful titles like Dungeons of Dredmor (and many others -- there are just so many like this now, they're a dime a dozen, and all awful in the same regards), which claim to try to be like "roguelikes" and other whatnots, except become very obvious (within seconds of seeing the gameplay) that the authors were probably not even alive during the era of roguelikes (I actually started with rogue and moved on to nethack -- that was in 1989 or so), and they *completely* do not understand what makes games like nethack actually clever/unique/fun. There are so many impersonations, spin-offs, all claiming fame to "the original gaming/2D spirit" yet are so far from the truth that it's sickening.
Back to my cave...
P.S. -- Joust cab: I approve. I used to help maintain our Tempest cab at my old job (pictures if you're interested:
http://jdc.koitsu.org/eye-candy/best_in ... /gameroom/).
You know, it's funny you say this - when we started making this game, I had never played Super Meat Boy. I was told I should play it, mostly to avoid accidentally making the game like it, so I did. I'm not saying it's a bad game, but I did
not enjoy it in the slightest. For whatever reason I didn't find it particularly challenging, and the floaty physics were really off-putting for me. I think the graphics are not very appealing, being focused on being "gross", so not much really drew me to play it a second time. As for IWBTG, I've seen the game played, and my roommate / other guy making our game has played it, but I have yet to actually do so. I went to a lot of effort to make our game feel NOTHING like SMB. A lot of people saw the game and drew the comparison, but when you play it you will find it is a very different game. Eh.
I know what you mean about the fake-old-game thing. Probably the most irksome to me is when people do "pixel art" and then it isn't actually aligned to any pixel grid, so you have things stuck between pixel boundaries and the effect is completely ruined. I guess my tastes are eclectic and I'm anal about this kind of thing, but I see it as an important factor. For our game, we set restrictions and stuck to them all the way - 2-bit graphic tiles, one button and movement, all music made on Nintendo systems with no post-production work (famitracker and LSDJ). I hope that it has given it somewhat more of a feel of authenticity.
The demo comes out tomorrow, and while it's
really hacked together to get it presentable enough to give people (the code for the temporary title screen and level select is offensive), it's at least playable. Six levels are available, I encourage you guys to try it out; it'll support the
Virtual Boy Rift as well.
Also, awesome Tempest, gotta love those vector monitors! I can't even handle the Puyo Puyo Tsu candy cab.
tl;dr i wasn't much of a fan of super meat boyi'm not shitting on it just saying it's not the type of game I enjoy