Innovative Indie, Freeware & Web Games

[Crazyjayde]

Hey people, do you ever feel like you've became somewhat apathetic to the current gaming industry, resenting every other major titles? Or do you often find yourself jaded about video games, struggling to find a new compelling experience? Well fear not, I've got a project I'd like to undertake that could probably answer your biggest concerns.

So for the longest time I've been having a close relationship with freeware/retro games, often not having the funds needed to acquire the next big console. Playing obsoleted flash or NES games even after the usual player would have deemed it too hard or boring. It was until only late-puberty that I had gotten my hands on a Xbox 360. However, to my surprise, it's a few years later that I was popping back a beloved Final Fantasy I cartridge in the slot of my forgotten NES, with my view on modern games having become lusterless from all the usual conventions being tossed around. It is only recently that I made peace with the recent industry, however, I had unearthed the truth of my love for gaming, and had been cherishing it all along.

For the past years, I've been looking for the next best ingenious/fascinating adventure. Shoveling through an unidentifiable mess of varied platforms or mediums, with a spotlight aimed on F2P games. To my pleasure, with the recent rise of independant developers, an astonishing quantity of creative concepts have surfaced through cloudy waters.

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Thus, it's with pleasure that I'd like to share a string of innovative free (or cheap) games in the form of articles.
My goal would be to publish two games every other week, with both being of different lenghts, or requiring you varying degrees of engagement. I might be posting a model article to give this project a jumping-off point.

I'm currently rushing through my list of games to play, and would like to have some input before I start undertaking this, because I believe I am not alone with this kind of interest in gaming.

[Untimely Friction]

Re: Innovative Indie, Freeware & Web Games

Edit Im dum

[popsicle_3000]

Re: Innovative Indie, Freeware & Web Games

where's tass?

[Crazyjayde]

Re: Innovative Indie, Freeware & Web Games

Quickie #1

Zork I: The Great Underground Empire
January 20th edition

>look around

You are in front of a computer screen, some of the elements displayed are familiar to you. "Zork", you read. Yes, you know that game. The late 1970 cult classic that we all wonder if it has become public domain by now. One of the earliest works of interactive fiction that, for some, served as the first entry point into the world of video gaming. Playing Zork is an essential step into understanding how entertainment value can be achieved within simpler forms of games. And since its lore has painted the walls of following generations, it's always nice to enrich your knowledge of geek culture.

>info

In Zork, you play as an avid adventurer in search of wealth and... um... adventure. Upon acces to the world, a mailbox and a white house are visible. As you first search around in the periphery of your location, you'll start uncovering curious entrances, one even located in the living room of the house. Unbeknownst to the player, it is his duty to enter those passages leading to the Great Underground Empire and collect a sum of twenty treasures scattered around the world. And like any self-respecting quest, this one requires you to showcase your prowesses in challenging trials and confrontations with fictive creatures, including trolls, cyclops or grues.

>what is a grue

Within minutes you'll realize that one of Zork's most famous feature relies on avoiding darkness. Once or twice, you may need to step in bleak surroundings. In those moments, remember to clasp firmly to your lantern
...that is if you have any.



>open brown sack

You slide the cords tightening the sack. Its insides reveals a long sword.

>use sword

I don't understand that

>use long sword

I don't understand that

>swing long sword

You must supply an indirect object.

>hit table with long sword

I can't see one here

>fuck off

You see, Zork is also renowned to be a fighting game, as you'll constantly be thrown into fights with the text parser. And more often that not, you'll have the feeling it has become sentient. But fear not, as the text-based adventure game actually has quite an advanced system for identifying strings of words. Just don't forget to use the correct prepositions. If you ever feel yourself at lost, remember that you can consult a quick summary of commands by typing "help".

>where do I play?

Ah! Here's the interesting part. For quite a while now, the game has been transcribed to PHP on an online tech community as part of a 404 page. Meaning you can get your nerd fix just about anywhere, particularly in places where FFR doesn't work (perfect at work). Hence why it qualifies as a quickie.

One last piece of advice is to save just about everywhere. Zork's death penalty scatters your inventory and removes points to your score. Plus, you have a limited number of lives. Don't forget that this is the golden age of gaming after all, and death awaits you at the slightest of mistakes.

Start your quest here

[Crazyjayde]

Re: Innovative Indie, Freeware & Web Games

It's the same one. This first article is more of an example on how each game will be discussed, I wanted something I had no need to introduct. It's a reminder for people who still need to try this, and moreso a chance for pardon to those who pretend they did. Expect much less popular games in future updates.

[Crazyjayde]

Re: Innovative Indie, Freeware & Web Games

Time spender #1

Merlin's Revenge Series
January 23rd edition

Have you ever read Lord of the Rings and wondered why Gandalf didn't just blast his way through the entire book? Well, here's your chance to put things right...
(Merlin's Revenge 1 tagline)

The Merlin's Revenge installments are a set of charismatic adventures in which you incarnate Merlin the great wizard in a quest to overthrow corrupt magicians, rescue his colorful fellows and defeat a myriad of nonsensical minions. The series are emulated in a dual-joystick fashion, similar to the likes of Smash TV or the more recent Realm of the Mad God, and is developed solely by Steve Riddett, whose work has been showcased under the pseudonym The Metal Box.

The gameplay is fairly simple. With the help of your brother Berlin, you venture in a world divided by a grid, and as you blast your way (literally) through each screen, following ones will unlock. With some directions blocked by hordes of relentless, respawning enemies, complete with the fast-paced nature of the game, it'll come to no surprise that rushing through the map will drive you into a bullet hell predicament. However, for the sake of the player's mental health, the game requires you to make detours and backtracks to open the path further by the means of upgrades and spells.

It is as you progressively become more akin to a murder machine than an innocent prophet that you'll truely discover the charm of this game. Part of the pleasure resides in the way that you are able to slowly and steadily turn the tables around, ultimately making the difference between falling to the hands of a puny skeleton and nuking the entire screen with heavy fire. Nevertheless, who has never dreamt of transforming into a badass machine-gun wielding wizard?

In this screen: a player struggles to take a screenshot while trying to look good.

Both Merlin's Revenge 1 & 2 have been released circa 2002, while Merlin's Revenge 3 follows it by a span of five years. The foremost episode can be regarded as a prototype for the subsequent games since it does not feature key design elements like save storage, alternate keyboard layouts or an appropriate difficulty curve, hence why it is strongly suggested to play the later games before attempting their predecessor (not that most gamers wouldn't see it as a fair challenge, but rather because it does not encapsulate adequately the value of the game). Fortunately, the story is loose and does not require much insight of prior events. Feel free to play the last installment if you prefer a more substantial experience, although I'd still recommend playing both the second and third episodes for maximum enjoyment.

One piece of advice before I leave you is to remember to change the keyboard layout on the title screen, and that you can access the popup menu anytime by pressing Escape.

Kick sorcerous butts in Merlin's Revenge 2 or in Merlin's Revenge 3

[noname219]

Re: Innovative Indie, Freeware & Web Games

That game does bring back memories!
The only thing missing in Merlin's Revenge is a multiplayer mode. Also, there's a secret way to kill all the enemies on the screen in Merlin's Revenge 2, so I went back and finished the game in 15 minutes.

[Crazyjayde]

Re: Innovative Indie, Freeware & Web Games

Haha, they're pretty dumb to figure out too. Of course they're totally game breaking.
It's reminiscent of Siege of Avalon where you would press D for invincibility.

[noname219]

Re: Innovative Indie, Freeware & Web Games

There's a patch for that.

Also, make sure to change the key layout to qwerty, unless you have a weird keyboard, or use your mouse with your left hand.

[Crazyjayde]

Re: Innovative Indie, Freeware & Web Games

There's a patch for that.

Oh. You sir, are a gentleman and a scholar.