I had the beta ready to go (though it’s not as complete as I wanted it), but when I put together the package some release-only bugs popped up – and I mean “only happens in release mode when you’re not running in the debugger” bugs. So I will be delaying the release of the Planitia beta until Monday night. Sorry about that.
Quick Planitia Update
Okay, I said there would be a demo by the end of January and now it’s February 1st. Events have conspired (like they always do when I set a release date) to make it more difficult to work on Planitia that usual.
The demo will be out on Sunday, February 3. Just give me this weekend and you’ll finally get to play it.
The Sims Castaway Stories
All right! It shipped, so I can finally talk about it!
The Sims Castaway Stories is the third in the Life Stories series of games we here at Aspyr have done based on the Sims 2 engine. The Life Stories series fuses traditional Sims 2 gameplay with some more directed story elements to great effect. Castaway Stories takes this even further – it’s actually an adventure game (you remember those, right?) done in the Sims 2 engine.
Reasons why you should buy Castaway Stories:
0. I worked on it. That’s reason enough, right?
1. It’s got a story-driven mode, so if you were never turned on by the completely free-form gameplay of the original Sims 2 we’ve got you covered. Explore dangerous jungles! Collect resources so you can make things! Make animal friends! Make native friends! Find your true love! Solve an ancient mystery! Visit a ruined temple! Appease the volcano god! Use lots of exclamation points!
2. On the other hand, if you’re a Sims 2 fan but you’re not that interested in the story mode you should still buy Castaway Stories because it gives you some things Sims 2 fans have been asking for for years but no other Sims 2 game has given them. In particular, big lots! That’s right, not only do we have lots that are double the size of the largest available lot in Sims 2, we’ve also removed the roads so that the entire lot is buildable! Plus, tons of new objects, all done with a jungle theme!
3. It is, in my opinion, the prettiest game ever made on the Sims 2 engine. I mean, just look at this:
4. See great scripted cinematics, more complex than anything done in the Sims 2 engine before!
5. It’s currently at #4 on Amazon’s top PC game list, which means lots of people are already buying it! You don’t want to be left out, do you? Can’t you just feel the peer pressure?
I personally worked on making the larger lots and creating the scripted camera system that allowed the designers to make all those neat cutscenes. I’m actually pretty proud of this game and I’m glad it’s getting a bit of recognition.
Viridian’s Video Blog – Syndicate Wars
And here’s a new video blog!
I always liked the look and feel of this game. Syndicate Wars was the first Syndicate game I played, so I didn’t suffer from “It’s not as good as the original!” syndrome.
Of course when I saw it, my first thought was, “Bullfrog needs to make an RPG with this engine!”
Iffen you can’t stand the YouTube, here’s a downloadable version.
Name That Game 35!
Yet another RPG set in the Final Frontier. Where do I keep finding them?
This was actually a good game, and as designed it was intended to be a sequel to a well-known space RPG series, but the developer could not get the rights to the name.
Name and developer, please! Bonus points if you can also tell me what name this game was supposed to have.
Time to Panic
Oh, no! God NO! IT’S RISEN FROM THE DEAD AND IT WANTS MY SOUL!
Atanua
Proving yet again that he is cooler than I will ever be, Jari Komppa has released a new software thingie called Atanua. It’s a toybox filled with logic circuits, switches and LEDs and allows you to string these pieces together to make virtual electronics. You could even build a computer inside your computer!
This was Jari’s final project for school and is damn impressive if I may say so. If you try it out, be sure to send him feedback and bug reports, since this is the initial release.
Collector – A One-Page Game
Bwahaha! The One-Page Game meme grows!
Casey Dunham has now written a one-page game called Collector. Collector is based on a famous arcade game just like my game Sandworm was. Which one? I’ll let you find out yourself 🙂
Casey said that he likes the one-page game format because he’s so busy as a student that he doesn’t really have time for anything more involved. Well done, Casey!
Let’s Play Planitia!
With apologies to DeceasedCrab 🙂
As always, you can download a higher-quality version of the video here.
Name That Game 34!
And we’re back to the RPGs! Only this time, the RPG is in SPAAAACE!
That’s kind of an obscure screenshot, but the game’s main screen has the title logo on it. I guess the developers just didn’t need the expansive amount of space that 320×200 provided so they could waste some on always reminding you what game you were playing…
Name and developer, please. If you’re the first one to get it right, I’ll let you into my zombie-proof bunker when the zombie apocalypse breaks out. You’ll have to prove that you’re not infected first, of course. I’m not going to fall for that one!