Kickstarting Stuff

I've been on a huge Kickstarter... kick... recently and I'm finding it extremely fun.  I've had a chance to support indie games and movies, which is fun in itself, but rewards come with support as well.  I usually pledge enough money so that I'll get a copy of the final product (game or movie) and maybe some beta access.  So far this policy has served me well.

I'm getting semi-addicted to checking for new projects, but for now I just wanted to share some of the projects I've backed.

FTL is a sweet rogue-like crisis management game in space.  You command your ship's crew and have to manage crisis after crisis while fleeing from an enemy armada.  I've heard nothing but good impressions from people who've tried the game and I could really go for a tactical space game right now, so backing it was a no-brainer.  FTL just surpassed 1000% (not a typo) funding and still has about 15 days of pledge time left.  Apparently, other people are impressed by it too.

The very first project I backed was Indie Game the Movie.  I've written about it before, but it's gaining more attention now and it's making the rounds at the festivals.  It won an award for editing at Sundance and had showings at SXSW.  I can't wait to get my copy!

A spiritual successor to Jedi Knight 2 by the name of Blade Symphony caught my eye a while ago.  The creators are making a multiplayer sword fighting game in the source engine and it looks sweet.  This one has been fun to track as game development continues.

Last, but definitely not least, is Legacy: Gears of Time.  Legacy is a time traveling strategy board game.  That concept alone almost won me over.  Once I saw how far along the game was and the level of care and polish that had already been put into it I was sold.  As a kicker, I later found out that the creator lives in the Twin Cities, so I was supporting a local artist without even realizing it!  I always like supporting art in my city.

Readers, do you know of any other Kickstarter projects I should look into?  Is there anything out there that made you put your money where your mouth is?

Top 5 Most Fun FPS Weapons of All Time

Over the course of FPS history, developers have created many, many weapons. They come in all shapes and sizes; ranging from the realistic, e.g. Counter-Strike and Modern Warfare, to the fantastical, e.g. Unreal Tournament and Team Fortress 2. As time has passed, some of these weapons have stood above the rest.

Whatever it is about these few special weapons, they're just more interesting, more intriguing, and more fun to play with. I'm sure everyone has their own set of favorite FPS weapons from the games they've played, but here's my top 5 picks for most fun FPS weapons.

The MMO I Want

I'm tired of MMOs all feeling the same.  Guild Wars 2 looks to be doing some things different and moving in a positive direction, but it's still a hotbar MMO with classes in a fantasy setting.  I want a departure from the norm.  I want to be a dragon.

Now here me out.  Every MMO I've played has made me play as a humanoid.  I don't know if there are MMOs that let you play as anything else at all, unless you count playing as a ship in EVE Online or STO.  But I want to be something more.

Let me be the dangerous predator in the night.  Let me soar above humans, breathing fire and striking fear into their hearts.  Let me swoop down and snap a humanoid in two with my jaws.  Let them form raids in a pathetic attempt to destroy me.  Let them try to unseat me from my hard earned pile of treasure.  Let me be the terror at the end of the dungeon.

The idea of switching around the roles of Player Characters and NPCs is simply fascinating to me.  There's a lot of untapped potential in different roles yet to be explored.  I hope someone decides to explore it.

Dota 2 and a Look at Past Dota Games

In a recent article, which can be read here, Game Informer announced that Valve is creating Dota 2. Creating a Dota 2 is a very interesting move by Valve. For years now, Valve has been a FPS developer. That's what they were, that's what they are, and that's their forte. Meaning, Dota is a very interesting choice for a project, and a huge retooling of their source engine will have to take place, or has already has taken place, to turn the FPS engine into an RTS engine.

Not only is it a huge technical project, it's a dangerous one. They're essentially taking something that's free right now, and trying to turn it around into a retail product. This means, that to some extent, they're going to have to improve the product to make it worth paying for, all while not screwing over the well established gameplay. Those are some big shoes to fill.

Bored Gaming and Board Gaming

I haven't been posting much lately because I haven't been playing new video games.  I'm still killing some time with Starcraft 2, League of Legends, and Tribes: Ascension but my play sessions have been few and far between.  There's nothing that I'm excited to play every night once my 18 month old is sleeping, and that's weird for me.  I love video games, but nothing new looks interesting or exciting.  Mass Effect 3 is a few weeks away but it's just about the only thing on my radar.

Indie games still have a huge appeal.  I've been investigating them as much as possible.  Between downloading trials, reading development blogs, and contributing to a few Kickstarter projects I've gotten more and more appreciation and anticipation for indie games on the market.

Instead of video games I've actually been devoting a lot of time to board games. Since my co-workers started showing me the world of modern board games I can't get enough of them.  We've played about 8 different games as a group since we started playing board games last month.  They all have their own style, mechanics, and feel.  The best part is that these co-workers of mine have a big backlog of games they want to play, so they keep bringing in new games all the time.

I haven't just been playing other people's games either, I went out and bought Citadels, which is the best board game out of the bunch we've played.  It's actually a card game with some lightweight tokens to represent a few "board game" elements, but there's no actual board.  Since buying it, I've already converted about 6 other people to the game.  It always goes over fantastically.  I'll probably write a post about it soon.

Besides that, we've dabbled in deck building games like Ascension, Rune Age, and Dominion.  We've played what are called Living Card Games(LCGs), which is like a self contained Collectible Card Game(CCG).  In CCGs, like Magic: The Gathering, you constantly have to buy booster packs and invest hundreds of dollars to make decks.  In these LCGs you buy one boxed set which has everything you and your opponents need to play a game.  LCGs like Lord of the Rings the Card Game and A Game of Thrones have been fun.  Dice games aren't usually my favorite, but I had a blast with To Court The King and I went out and bought Zombie Dice which my wife and I are having fun with nightly.

The most important thing I've learned is that modern board games are NOTHING like those old "classics".  Monopoly pales in comparison to the games out on the market right now.

I can't get enough board games at the moment.  A couple of my favorite sites for browsing are Boxed Up Fun, Fantasy Flight Games, and Shut Up and Sit Down.  Side note: Sorry this post has been so link heavy, but I really want to share all these awesome games with you readers.

Here's the most important paragraph of this post.  Readers, do you have any board game recommendations for me to try?  Please tell me you do.  Tell me what they are.  I want to know!  There's a comments section.  You know what to do.

The Battle Rifle: One of the Worst Weapons Ever Added to a Game

Halo is one of the best selling and most played franchises in all of gaming. I've been on board the franchise since the original, and have beaten all the campaigns on at least heroic and a fair chunk on legendary. I never got that hardcore with the multiplayer, but I have played countless hours as a casual player. Like everyone else I have given it well deserved praise. However, one red mark stands out starkly in my mind. The battle rifle.

Project Gorgon

Eric over at Elder Game has sent out the call for testers for his indie MMO.  All of his posts about designing his MMO from the ground up have been interesting to read.  It's awesome to watch ideas get planted and then grow over time into a full product.

If any of you are interested in helping out an indie developer by testing his MMO answer the call over on his blog.  I'm sure he would appreciate it.