While I’m on the subject, in case you missed it on the forums, I’ve updated Squish since the release – it’s now got a level editor, a couple of new game elements, and best of all, a new eight level stage! Check it out if you haven’t already! Here’s what I posted over at TIGS:
I’m really happy with how the new levels came out, though I should warn you that they’re quite a bit harder than the ones in the original release… Here’s a screenshot of one of my favorite new additions! 😀
I know that chances are slim that anybody’ll be interested in making new levels, but I thought it was worth the work to implement the editor anyway, just in case I’m wrong 🙂 I think the core mechanic of the game is really interesting, and I’m sure there’s a lot to explore with the concept; particularly now with the added depth that the two new elements offer. I’m sure there are a lot of aspects that I haven’t considered at all that could make for some really interesting puzzles! 🙂
Anyway, please check it out and let me know how you get on with the new levels! And thanks again to everyone who’s tried it out already and left comments, I really appreciate the feedback!
And on the subject of the contest: I don’t think I’ll have time to do a proper writeup this time (certainly not one as detailed as the Procedural Generation Competition one anyway, yikes), but I’ve written TIGSource contest writeups for almost all the other contests, so I’ll at least share my favourites! This time we got to vote for the eight we liked best – here are the ones I went for:
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Macarena Of The Missing – Noyb
[Limbo of the Lost]
For me, this is the best game of the contest. It’s a brilliant parody of Limbo of the Lost (and indeed, a lot of adventure games) that features some excellent puzzles, great writing and full voice acting that’s frankly better than it has any right to be, considering all 10 or so characters are voiced by the creator. |
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House Globe – Oxeye Games
[Homeworld]
Oxeye clearly have a knack for strategy games. I haven’t played the original, unfortunately, but I had a lot of fun playing this. It works so well as a simple 2D strategy game that I have to wonder what the extra dimension in Homeworld really adds to it. |
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Little Girl in Underland – The Ivy
[American McGee’s Alice]
One of the interesting things about this contest is that there’s no obvious winner. It really could go to any of about a dozen different games and I wouldn’t be surprised. If I had to guess, though, I think Little Girl in Underland has the best shot at winning: it may not get as many first place votes as some of the others, but I have a feeling it’s going to be in everybody’s top eight list somewhere. And with good reason! It’s short, polished, funny, smart, and a little bizarre: a fantastic combination when it comes to standing out against 68 other games.
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Soundless Mountain II – Superflat
[Silent Hill 2]
DISCLAIMER: I consider Silent Hill 2 the best game ever made.
Silent Hill 2 tends to be a fairly polarising game: you either love it to bits, or you don’t “get” it. Soundless Mountain II is so faithful to the original that I expect it had the same effect on people who tried it out – personally? I loved it to bits. I don’t think you could possibly pick a harder game to demake, so I’m astonished at just how good a shot at it Superflat managed. |
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Aquarium – Oracle
[Aquaria]
This is actually one of the first games in the contest I played, but I knew right away that I’d be voting for it. It’s aesthetically perfect, boasting gorgeous graphics and a great 8-bit take on Alec’s music. Unfortunately it cuts out before it really gets going… 😥 |
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Freefall Brass – Pacian
Fantastic! I only wish it was longer! Freefall Brass starts out really well, and just keeps getting better until suddenly the demo just… ends. Agh! I think Freefall Brass has the most potential out of all the entries for the contest, particularly since it’s a demake of a genre rather than of a specific game. I can’t wait to see how it develops. |
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Lady Boy Love Collection – Increpare
[Mega Man, Biocosm, Zorn’s Lemma, Sick Panda]
There were two aspects to this contest – “Bootleg”, and “Demake”. Almost everyone went the “Demake” route. LBLC, on the other hand, took the bootleg theme and handled it better than any other game in the contest. It even went as far as to create a bootleg system to emulate, the “Lady Boy”! A very funny game that really should be getting more attention than it is. |
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Smaze – ChrisFranklin, nfreakct and Jayson Napolitano
[Haze]
A really solid entry that I enjoyed a lot, once I got a hang of the controls. I haven’t played the original, but I loved this! It starts a little slow, and it’s a little tough at the start, but by the time you get to the second stage you’ll be hooked. |
That’s that! They’re far from the only good games in the contest, of course – even choosing as many as eight meant making some hard choices 😥 I tried to name some “other” games from the contest that I really liked and wanted to recommend until I realised that I was basically naming almost everything in the competition. So I’ll just do that instead – check out everything! Do so as soon as you can! I have a feeling that people will be talking about this contest for some time to come 😀
Terry