Breaking news: The Dark Mod 2.0 stand alone version out now!

I guess quite a few people were waiting for this to finally happen :)

Have a look at the release announcement here and the full change-log here.

They also did a nice introduction video a few months ago:



Haven't got the chance to try it myself yet, but this is high on my list of open-source games to play!

Blender Game Making Challenge starts on the 20th of this month

While not necessary only for FOSS games, all will be done with the Blender3D included game engine (BGE). Check out their website here and/watch the video below:



The overall theme will be announce on the 20th when the contest starts.

Valyria Tear 0.6.0 released

I have to admit that we are a bit slow on reporting the news on FOSS gaming projects with we actually host ourselves via the freegamedev.net forums. Valyria Tear is sadly no exception, and their new 0.6.0 release has been out a few days already. Sorry to all whom this may concern.

For those not in the loop, Valyria Tear is based on the engine of Hero of Allacrost and aims to be an all FOSS jRPG. To give you a better idea of the game-play, here is a (slightly older) cool video of it done by some Linux enthusiasts:



(Thanks also to Rootgamer who reminded me of this news).

If you like the new release, give them some praise on our forums!

Fundraiser: Fantasy Creature under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike

Free the Monsters! is a collaborative Indiegogo campaign to create and share five fantasy creature 3d models under CC-BY-SA 3.0

5 3d models and 10 works of concept art will be released if the goal of USD5000 is reached.

Perks include t-shirts and voting rights. Voting will be based on short creature descriptions. The top 10 will be turned into concept art and of those, the top 5 will be turned into 3d models.

Two additional creature concepts and models for each additional USD2000 will be produced.

Justin Nichol will be creating the concept art. You can find his past contributions to the free and open pool of game art on his OpenGameArt profile page.

Jonathan Williamson - partner at CG Cookie (aka Blender Cookie) - will be creating the 3d models.

Stephen Cameron: Space Nerds in Space Interview and Crew Gameplay Video

A 15 minutes long video profile of Stephen Cameron was published on YouTube by Jack Younger - hacker (presumed) at TX/RX Labs.

Stephen Cameron Video Profile

The video includes an interview of Cameron's about his latest project Space Nerds in Space including inspiration and actual authentic gameplay video footage of the crew (highlights at 08:30).

Video thumbnails

Some of Word War Vi's history also is covered in the video (4:00).

Do I need to spell it out? Press that like button if you can! :)

Source: Announcement on the FreeGameDev forums

Fundraising for GPL game Plee the Bear

This is a guest post by Julien Jorge, developer, artist and musician behind the open source indie games Plee the Bear and Andy's Super Great Park, here to present the fundraising campaign he launched for the former.

Some years ago, with the help of three of my friends and anonymous people on the web, I have created Plee the Bear, a great platformer in which you play an angry bear whose son has been kidnapped by god. Here is a guy hard to brave! You sure will jump in this amazing journey to find and rescue your son. Because you want to rescue him, don't you? Or to slap him? Maybe both….

The game was a spare time project for a long time, then we recently decided to create a real, full, complete, fun and original version out of the prototype. We have thus created our company, Stuffomatic, published a first game and now we are launching a fundraising campaign for Plee the Bear!

The prototypes of the game have always been released for Windows and Linux as free software, available under the terms of the GNU GPL and the CC by-sa licenses. The latest version contains three levels of the storyline and four mini-games; and has already generated very positive criticisms (e.g. on The Linux Game Tome). Players loved the fun, the graphics and the music; other indie developers were pleasantly surprised by the technical skills and the details of the game; and people in the free software movement appreciated the overall process and the quality of the resources, remarkable for a free game.

All these feedbacks motivated us to complete the game and to launch a fundraising campaign to help the development. The campaign is organized in order to implement the new contents of the game one after the other, each time with a new fundraiser. So, for the initial one, the feature you are welcome to support is a complete refresh of the existing work. You can see the details on the project's page on OpenFunding but let me show you how the game will look:

To be compared with the current release:

(The screen is larger in the new version, it's not just Plee who is smaller…) 

The animations will also be reworked. For example, here is a comparison of the changes in the animation of Plee walking. The old version is on the bright stripes, the new one is in the black stripes:

If you are a game developer, you may have already used some free resources from websites like OpenGameArt.org or Freesound.org. If you are a gamer, you may have played games using the resources of such websites. In both cases, you are certainly interested by our process consisting of releasing each part of the game under a free license. Actually, we have recently started to supply OpenGameArt.org with our assets.

So, if you like our project:

• give us some money for the next development steps,
• give us feedback about the process to help us improving it,
• share this announcement with your neighbors.

This way, we will all go toward a fun and good game :)

C. Kane

The Short

Pros
- It is the Citizen Kane of Gaming
- Finally proves that Games = Art
- If Roger Ebert were still alive, he would have given it a standing ovation and have finally loved video games as a medium
- Has perhaps the best gaming soundtrack of all time
- Jonathan Blow probably deleted all copies of Braid the moment this game came out because he couldn't compete
- Presented in Monochrome, which makes it better

Cons
- Ends eventually
- The moral choice might haunt you for weeks
- Could have used Unreal Bump Mapping like all the best games do
- Lack of Iron-sights ruins a bit of the immersion
- Doesn't include the soundtrack

The beginning of every great story ever told. 

The Long

Even the most dirty casual knows that Games = Art. This is a stone cold, rock solid fact permanently ingrained in the heart and soul of anyone who has ever played but a single level of Angry Birds: Rio. But, unfortunately, critics of other mediums often don't see game that way. People who review things other than games for a living and have maybe once played Wii Sports aren't constantly praising the latest Call of Duty or Mario game for it's artistic integrity or massive contribution to gaming, and this is straight up catastrophic. Seeing as gaming requires vindication for its existence from people other than those educated to give an opinion on the medium, gamers are frequently trying to find that one game, that one perfect game that Roger Ebert or their parents would play and finally understand that gaming has matured. That we can provide the sort of complexity and maturity a film like Citizen Kane brought to film back whenever the hell it came out (can't be bothered to look it up). And, despite all their efforts, despite Braid existing, this still hasn't happened.

Until now. 

Pictured: Art. 

C. Kane is a classic retelling of a familiar story, reinvented for the world of video games. As gaming is an interactive medium, it offers levels of storytelling and emotional investment that past media forms such as movies, books, and other stuff cannot possibly hold a candle to. By recreating this classic tale of good against evil, the media against the man, a sentient beaver against a dark wizard, C. Kane pulls the best of the old and combines it with the newness of the medium, creating a game that must be experienced to understand.

But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. We still have a review to write. 

Pictured: Also Art. Think about it. 

C. Kane puts you in the shoes of the titular C. Kane, who is striving to become a media overlord from the scraps and dredges society put him in. Kicked out of his home at aged eighteen and without a father to provide patriarchal guidance, C. Kane is a man without direction, hope, or allies. Enlisting the aid of soldiers for hire, he realizes the only way he can truly expand the processes of Journalism and become the most important guy on earth is to overthrow the dark wizard Gettys, who is believed responsible for the destruction of the entire United States of America. Heavy stuff. 

The story is portrayed through simple text without voice acting, much like the classic silent movies of the time. It's a harrowing and riveting tale, filled with many moral choices along the way, including one that will haunt you and I will not spoil here, but you will not forget the sacrifice. 

Although we all know games don't really need stories to be good (which is why most game companies don't even hire actual writers to write their game stories [this is a true fact]), it's good to see C. Kane trying it's hand, and succeeding. With the sharp, often comical writing playing parody and contrast to the dark undertones of the story, you'll be laughing one moment and crying another. And when the end comes, the twist will make you want to replay the whole game over again, deciphering the secret codes scattered throughout the world and re-living the adventure in a whole new light. 

Truly a villain for our time. 

The game's styling are that of a JRPG, with a few twists. Charles, being a man of the pen, can fight with swords but prefers to let his words do the talking. By that I mean debuffs. He excels, mostly later on in the game, at stripping enemies of their dignity, pride, and (most importantly) their Magic Defense Stat. Other characters make up for C. Kane's lack of physical prowess: Marines fight for their country and for America, Leland the Beaver represents the woodland, and many other characters join the fray. Health and Magic are fully recovered after each battle, allowing the fights to be difficult but not overly challenging. Most enemies and bosses have (like real, breathing people like you and me) specific weaknesses and flaws to exploit, and finding these secrets makes battles much easier. 

There are also no random encounters: you simply punch a shark that appears to be living in Lake Michigan to fight him and get XP. Design progression at its finest: you choose the fights, when, where, and who. Masterfully done. 

From the mouths of babes. 

The game's graphics are presented in unadulterated, unsullied monochrome, ignoring the need to use color to convey emotion like some sort of crutch. I've only known one other game to do this as effectively as C. Kane, and this game lives up to all the expectations. 

But the soundtrack is the standout. Blending modern hip-hop themes with catchy lyrics about key events in the game, it's guaranteed to touch your heart and get stuck in your head. It's too bad that a soundtrack hasn't been released, but perhaps a Kickstarter would allow the creator to compile the songs and issue a public release. I'd imagine it would have to have a goal within tens of thousands of dollars to truly capture his genius and fulfill the price society owes in order for such greatness to be birthed into the world. 

Post Apocalyptic in all the right ways.

C. Kane is the Citizen Kane of gaming. Rarely have I experienced such a gem, filled to the brim with action, adventure, gripping dialogue, harrowing villains, riveting battles, unforgettable songs, and a story for the ages. If you are not some sort of gaming philistine, trapped in your fake gaming style of Madden 2013 and Call of Duty: Another One, then you owe it to yourself to experience this masterpiece for yourself. Put aside your expectations, your beliefs, your prejudices. Cast your soul away like the dirty rag it is, for you are about to be baptized in pure gaming light. Games have become art, and C. Kane is here to lead the way. 

I expect to hear the news about the movie industry shutting down within the next few weeks. Get this game for free at this handy address, or die like the swine you are.

Transcendental out of five stars. 

Is this a long-lost Monet painting? No, it's C. Kane. Games = Art.