Messages

Well, isn't that just cute.



Minus one cool point for me.

Minus several for me for writing more than a few lines!

~Josiah

I used to listen to a lot of metal... almost exclusively belonged to the genre for awhile. Not so much anymore, but Strapping Young Lad are one of the few metal bands I can still listen to and really get into. Their album "City" is unparalleled, there is literally nothing else like it. There's so much going on that linking to a youtube audio vid isn't really the best idea for a good impression of how incredible the mix is, but I'm gonna do it anyway:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pFB40IA5ws&feature=related

The band's often called death metal but they really aren't... there are elements here and there like the opening blastbeat in that song, but sit through that and there is a ton of beautiful (vocal) melody raging alongside the craziness. Quite hard to classify that band while they were around...

Anyway, I'm not really all that in touch with the metal happenings of the world anymore, but I figured I'd drop that name in case they're your thing (they blew my face off when I first heard them but you may not be into it).

~Josiah

Totally digging this! 

Whoops, totally missed this-- So glad to hear it!

~Josiah

Terry, I really liked this one, even though the goal was very simple and stripped-down (well I mean, one day, c'mon now )-- the sound design was, indeed, very Myst. This is the second time I've been reminded of it by your work-- the first was the music in Don't Look back, extremely Robyn Miller-esque. Seeing as Myst is my absolute favorite game/experience/creative result/whatever, that's definitely a good thing.

Of course, because of Myst I have a total weakness for anything involving the sound of waves and out-of-place electronic/mechanical noises, but really, some of the stuff you put out (like this and DLB) are among my favorite indie game experiences. Hope to work with you again sometime (y'know, like the old days before you sold out and got all super famous!  )

~Josiah

Excellent! Let's see if I can help answer a few of these

1. Is Viridian male? All the other characters are referred to as "he" or "she" in the dialog, but I can't find any explicit reference to Viridian's gender. When Verdigris confesses to Viridian that he like Violet he does it in a way that to me implies they are both male, but this the best indication I can see.

Actually, I deliberately didn't specify that anywhere in the game.

I really like this! I think I noticed the lack of gender reference in the game, but it was very subtle. Nicely done, Terry! I always like that kind of ambiguity, whatever the reason, when I see it.

~Josiah

Wow-- the opening track "Bait Thief" was apparently played on The Nerdy Show recently accompanied by some very, very kind words of praise from the hosts!

Listen to a crop of the segment here!

~Josiah

Oh wow, I just saw this-- looks fantastic! I haven't played it yet but I just watched the videos. Definitely has the VVVVVV feel, etc., but it really seems like its own thing too. Nicely done!

~Josiah

Terry: Ah, I'm sorry-- I definitely hadn't meant to insult with my post, or anything of the sort (if it helps, I tend to overuse 'pretentious' in general, perhaps in the wrong contexts ).

I think perhaps I just react badly when something receives universal praise but I just can't even comprehend what makes it compelling it no matter what angle I look at it from (this is a little different from something I don't entirely understand but love anyway, for example a game like Killer7 or somesuch). Though really, this was a small 'jam' game with only one person commenting on it, so I really have no excuse for my rant up there-- my apologies! I think I had just been reminded of the thread for Mirror Stage-- that was the game I mentioned, by the way-- and got a little carried away. No hard feelings, I hope?

I am curious, though, what you mean by a game making you feel something other than entertained-- could you possibly give an example? I always kind of saw 'entertained' as a kind of umbrella for a variety of different emotions when it comes to games.

~Josiah

EDIT: Now I'm really worried I've offended you deeply, Terry. I'm quite sorry, it was out of line for me to go off like that in my first post in the first place.

I eventually just gave up and decided to enjoy the rest of the game. I'm sure if I made an image like that it'd have a lot more blue and red in it!

~Josiah

It's out! Grab it in the first post!

~Josiah

Huh. Yep, I don't get it

~Josiah

I haven't played this, but I agree with what you said regarding the pretentious/artsy/"you-tell-me-what-it-means" sort of indie games. I've tried and tried to understand and appreciate them but in the end they always just make me feel stupid, or left out of some wonderful joke I can't comprehend, which really is not a good thing for a game to make you feel (I believe).

There was one game posted on TIGsource awhile back that had a huge multi-page barrage of positive reactions, but when I tried it all it really was to me was a boring, vaguely nonsensical adventure of a vertical line wandering around a world of strangely mutating/mirroring vectors or polygons or something. Perhaps I didn't understand the brilliance because I'm not a genius math student or gifted programmer? I don't know.

I love surreality and abstract concepts a lot of the time, but it seems like they're often being taken way too far in these arstier-than-artsy indie games to the point where I just swear most of the positive comments are from people who judge its quality by how little sense it makes.

Just adding my rant to yours.

~Josiah

Ooo!  Chip metal! 

Hehe, I wouldn't really call it that. The comment in the teaser was just referring to the majority of Norrin Radd's work, seeing as he appears on one track.

(There are some metally parts though!)

~Josiah

Hah! Cheers man. (I just bought PPPPPP the other day, by the way, been a regular on my iPod since)

~Josiah

Thanks! Hope you enjoy it.

~Josiah