Our next preview is a platformer called Chris Unarmed by Chris Hughes.  This guy doesn’t even try to fake a company name, which is a good thing, since I think half the XBLIG developers use non-existent company names.  So that’s one point for him.  In Chris Unarmed you “Journey through a world of powerful wind currents, levers, conveyor belts, keys and much more, on a quest to save the world.”  Graphics look fairly simplistic, but because of all the things like said wind currents, etc, it looks like it will have good variety in the levels.  Unfortunately in the video it looks a little “floaty” and I don’t mean when it’s in stuff like air or water, I mean when it’s on regular platforms.  So here’s the trailer without sound:

It does look interesting though, and I’m always happy to see more platformers being made.  While I haven’t looked at XBLIG’s catalog for a while I haven’t seen all that many platformers.  In any case here are some screens to go along with…

Name: Chris Unarmed

Developer: Chris Hughes

Price: Don’t know yet.

Where you can get it: Can’t yet.  Will be on XBox Live Indie Games, more info Here!

Okay so the next post from the progress of my game Hypno-Joe involves animation. I’m only posting one link today because even though it’s short enough, it’s fairly relevant. If you notice the earliest link I posted was in 2005, then the next two were in 2006, and now this 4th post is from 2007, quite a jump! At this point I was going to use RTSoft’s NovaShell (which I still plan on using for the 3 platforms after I get the xna version done). So without further ado:

http://old.gamesafoot.com/?p=119

Keith

I don’t think there are many flying (plane, jet, etc) games on XBox Live Indie Games, but then again, I guess I haven’t played all that many.  So when I heard about RC-Airsim I decided here was something I haven’t tried yet.  Actually that’s not what I thought, the creator was on twitter, so I heard about it through that, and decided to review it for my next XBLIG game.  However I hadn’t tried it yet, so I could have thought that.  But I didn’t.  But I could have.  I could go on forever like this.  Okay so I wasn’t expecting much with the title.  RC-Airsim meaning a simulation of radio controlled planes.  And I didn’t get all that much.  Now before I go on, I’m not trying to slam this, but it’s gotta be said.  This is not a game, it’s a simulation.  That was my first mistake, thinking of it like a game.  So let me give you my thoughts briefly before I get into the details of the review.  Unless you’re a radio-controlled plane enthusiast, you probably won’t care about this that much.  Like I’m not.  Watch the video to get an idea, and if that interests you, go ahead and read the rest of the review by clicking Read More below.

If you are into RC planes, this might be a good way to brush up your skills before doing the real thing.  Notice I said brush up your skills.  This isn’t for beginner RC airplane enthusiasts, it’s more for people who are at least intermediate. Okay, we’ll start with the graphics.  Graphics are ok for what they are.  Just 3d model planes, a simulated “yard”.  Nothing special about it, but they’re not bad either.  There is no music to speak of, and the sound effects are what you would expect.

There are no actual instructions, just the different control schemes you can change to, different planes, and the the actual take off option.  That said the control is not that hard itself.  Although flying and landing a plane is tough if you’re not into RC-planes.  I kept crashing no matter what I tried.  So there are 7 model planes starting with the Back 40 Trainer, Double Helix, Emerald Glider, Master EDF, Slowmowatt, F-15 Regal Eagle, and Super Dee.  I don’t know if you can tell what kind of planes they are from the names, because they seem to be fanciful to me.  In any case there are four different control schemes which I will outline next.

First we have the LS Throttle, which uses the left thumb-stick up and down for throttle, left and right for rudder.  The right thumb-stick serves for the Ailerons (left/right) and Elevator (up/down) – I don’t know if that’s a proper R/C plane term (Elevator) but it sort of makes it go up and down.  The next control scheme is Triggers Throttle, where you use the XBox 360 controller’s left and right triggers for down and up throttle respectively.  Rudder is with the left thumb-stick left and right, the right thumb-stick is like in the previous control scheme.  Next we have RS Throttle-Mode1, in this case things are a bit switched, Ailerons and throttle on the right thumb-stick, while Elevator and Rudder on the Left.  Finally we have LT/RT Throttle-Mde1, which is basically like the Triggers Throttle mode except now the Elevator control is on the left thumb-stick, along with the Rudder, and only the Ailerons are on the right stick.  I don’t know if these are all R/C accurate but I think the author got some positive comments from real R/C guys.  All control schemes use ‘A’ button to reset your plane on the runway, and the start button for the pause menu.

Other than that it’s just a take off.  Really this should have had tutorials and should have had mini-games to help you learn to control the planes.  This could have been taken farther, and perhaps had a wider audience.  I guess you could consider this a niche program (thanks Z-Man ;-) )  It’s not really fun at all since it’s a simulation, and since it only appeals to those who have flown R/C planes before.  This thing could have had flying contests, it could have had some sort of multiplayer.  Someone suggested different plane views as it’s hard to land.  I even haphazardly landed a plane, but do I get any sort of screen congratulating me or at least telling me I’ve landed.  Nope.  That said if you are an enthusiast (let’s see how many times I can say that), and you have flown R/C planes before you will probably want to use this to hone your skills for real life.  There is also a PC version.

Name: RC-AirSim

Developer: Some Call Me Tim

Price: 240 MSP (about 3 bucks US), the pc version is $8.95 USD

Where you can get it:  You can get it on XBox Live Market Place or on the Xbox 360, however I will just direct you to the home page here.

Okay so I was thinking that every free day I would do one old post dealing with my game Hypno-Joe. Only when I went to read the next 3 posts (after that first one I showed on Monday I believe) and it had nothing but “Okay I did this” Basically I had intended to use the “Scrolling Game Development Kit”. In any case I felt that each of the three posts singly didn’t really have any information to impart. So I decided to go ahead and post all 3. You may just decide to go ahead and skip these.

http://old.gamesafoot.com/?p=22
http://old.gamesafoot.com/?p=36
http://old.gamesafoot.com/?p=48

But just in case maybe it will help you understand my mindset. Then again you could consider this just filler.

Yes you read that correctly. I (Keith Weatherby II) am actually playing a Role Playing Game which I said I would never play ever.  Okay that’s not true, I said I never get into RPGs because of their pointless side quests and anime characters.  I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again, I hate anime/manga.  However the graphics in here are on point as we would say in the US or “spot on” as the English would say.  Before I get more in depth I gotta say I really dig this game.  The name of the game is Dawn’s Light by John Wizard games.  (The website has a nice easy to read layout with nice colors, but this isn’t a review about websites).  It started out with an easy tutorial.  The controls are simple.  And it does basic hand-holding in the beginning.  I don’t know if it changes later on because my Trial expired.  I feel that I got enough of an idea of the game with the trial, which makes me think you should try it then buy it.  Here’s a video of the game in action:

The in-depth review after the break.

The basic story goes something like this:  Boy is living on an island with his Grandpa and brother (or friend, I don’t remember).  Evil dude named Mordecai comes to take Boy because of something in his blood.  Grandpa hides Boy on another island.  Boy is rescuing some sheep for a neighbor when Mordecai comes and kills everyone in his village (except said neighbor, to tell him what happened).  Boy now a man, flees back to Grandpa’s island.  Grandpa reveals he’s not his grandfather after all, and that Mordecai killed his parents and Grandpa raised him.  Now Man (who used to be Boy) seeks revenge for his parents death.  That’s it.  Pretty standard RPG story fare I think.