Enchantermon on 12/5/2010 at 01:31
Quote Posted by doctorfrog
I'm pretty sure that Penumbra (Overture or Trilogy) are yours forever also if you buy them, no activation, just a serial protection.
He's talking about the discount code for the Trilogy that you get when you install Overture. It only works during the Humble Indie Bundle promotion period.
EDIT: Looks like the promotion has been extended for three more days, as well.
doctorfrog on 12/5/2010 at 02:23
Quote Posted by reizak
Looks like they did raise over a million, and are indeed releasing the source codes.
Edit: a breakdown of the numbers (
http://www.wolfire.com/humble/stats) here.
Does this essentially mean that the games are all free as well? Or is this like how Freespace was: the engine is open source, the assets are still protected?
Enchantermon on 12/5/2010 at 03:39
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Thirith on 12/5/2010 at 07:27
Quote Posted by Avalon
I do have to repeat deathtoll's statement that you probably never spent any time in a hospital as a kid.
Staring at the ceiling in that hospital bed for 16 hours a day while doctors and nurses come poke you every 10 minutes is killer, especially when you're there for days or even a week at a time - I'd hate to have been one of the ones who was there for
months. I didn't get the super nintendo rolled into my room because there were only two for the entire department, but holy shit would I have been ecstatic.
It's not just the tedium that can so easily lead to depression (and no, that isn't just "feeling a bit down in the dumps" - I'm talking about real, clinical depression) in long-term patients: being distracted by something such as video games can play a real role in pain management. I'm afraid I can't access The Escapist from work, but I seem to remember an article not too long ago about the use of video games with people suffering from chronic pain. I don't know what things are like in the States, but at least where I live doctors don't administer heavy pain meds except for the first 1-2 days after an operation or with terminal cases. With patients such as these, video games have been shown to have a measurable impact on pain management, if I remember correctly.
Which, apart from being nice for the kids, leads to better results: faster recovery, fewer post-op complications. As people have mentioned above, looking after patients' psychological and emotional well-being (and relieving tedium and pain management are vital parts of this) raises success rates and saves money.
mothra on 12/5/2010 at 09:07
source code will include the game code, no art or assets, just what the .exe is made of. so the game itself won't be free and they will still sell it. but the engine alone is sweet enough. You could make practically anything out of it, a platformer for example.
d0om on 12/5/2010 at 14:55
On to the games! (Since I've started playing them.)
Gish: I played this for a bit, controls are a bit fiddly (getting stuck on the floor when you want to climb up a wall, getting him to jump more than an inch off the ground etc.) I played for a while, got to the 1-6 level (boss fight!) but then died repeatedly. I knew what I needed to do, I just couldn't make him do it :( Trying to jump to get height without falling off slightly to one side and being eaten was tricky. Nearly did it, but died. After loosing all your lives you start again at level 1-1.
Aquaria: Seems like an interesting game, didn't get that far (although it took a long time!) found your home, opened a magical door and learned the carry rock song. So far the only way I can hurt enemies is picking rocks up and dropping them on their heads. I assume I am missing something!
Icquaragua(The rabbit one): This seems like a lot of fun, although a bit tricky. I think it will take a while to get used to. Sometimes the fighting goes fine and I slaughter them, other times I just seem to die for no apparent reason. (possibly taking too much knife damage earlier in the level so one punch kills me?)
I haven't played the others yet, what do you think of them? Aquaria looks like the most promising so far.
mothra on 13/5/2010 at 13:17
world of goo and penumbra are excellent games, even classics. must-buys imo.
play penumbra in the dark and alone / world of goo - anywhere, anytime. it will put a smile on your face.
ps: samorost2 is like cake.
Nameless Voice on 17/5/2010 at 01:54
tl;dr
Come to think of it, people paying 1c are probably worse than people torrenting it or otherwise downloading it for free, because of the fees. If you pay 1c through PayPal, I think the recipient generally has to pay the fees, which will be more than 1c. So, in practice, such people are charging the developers for downloading their game.
I'm not 100% sure about this, but I do know of a case where a charity received a donation of 40c via PayPal (presumably mistakenly in place of a donation for €40) and the charity only got something like 4c after the fees had been deducted.
Chade on 17/5/2010 at 02:20
I've been meaning to write up a few first impressions for a while ... so:
Gish:
I've played this one quite a bit on the train, mainly because it seems the least atmospheric and requires no mouse. It's a really good game and I've been having a lot of fun with it. So far they have managed to vary the levels quite a lot. It's more challenging then I thought it would be too.
My main problem with the game is the absurd save system! Once you start a level, you have to complete it. There is no way to not complete that level and retain all your lives, unless the level has an extra life in it (and most levels don't). There is no way to die without losing a life. And once you lose all your lives you lose all your progress.
I can't for the life of my understand why they put it in Gish. Gish mechanics resolve quickly. I play for five minutes and get something worthwhile out of it. Except wait, no I can't! Because then I would lose a life. Gish is a playfull game. I can try all sorts of crazy thing. I can ride on monsters, hang upside down above pits of boiling lava, attempt crazy jumps off corners, do all sorts of fun stuff. But wait, not I can't! because then I would lose a life. And the penalty for losing a life grows without bound as the game progresses.
Once I start getting to the tougher stages, I start having a lot less fun then I should be. I'm still having fun, but there is all sorts of potential cool manouveres in later levels, and I don't do them because I'm shit scared of screwing up and losing a life.
Acquaria:
Acquaria is a funny game. It's enchanting, and fun, and huge. I get drawn along by the promise of lost treasures, forgotten legends, ancient civilisations, and so forth. I spend ages exploring every nook and cranny I can find. And then ... nothing.
Acquaria is really parsimonious game! Somehow, the game never quite seems to deliver the rewards it promised. It's frustrating.
I think I'm taking the wrong tack, actually. I suspect I'm spending a lot of time exploring before I have the tools to find the resulting treasures. Eventually I imagine I will be able to swim against strong currents, slip through cracks, explore the abyss, and open those iron balls. But right now, a lfind a lot of cool things that I can't do anything with.
Still, don't get me wrong. I'm thoroughly enchanted with this game. I think it's the best game in the bundle, and one of the best games I've played in a long time. I just wish I had a little more to show after the end of each play session ... I don't get as much time to play as I used to ...
World of Goo:
Fun! :joke:
I'm really impressed by how the guy manages to get so much diversity out of the basic game mechanics. Nothing is really wrong with this game. All I wish is that he'd picked a slightly more original game from the experimental gameplay project to run with. But World of Goo is still great.
Penumbra:
I've only played for five minutes. Seems appropriately atmospheric, tense, and cumbersome. I look forward to playing it more seriously.
Lugaru:
A couple of minutes with the game didn't rub off well. Controls feel very ... amateur? I'll give it a fairer look once I finish all the above.
