First Look - Mythruna

February 24th, 2012

Out of all the upcoming indie games that I know of, Mythruna is the one I am most excited about. It combines two amazing genres, RPG and Voxel Crafting, into one game. And, it does it with a lot of skill.

Mythruna Screenshot

Mythruna is decribed on its website as "a game under development attempting to combine serious role playing elements with an endless, living, and completely modifiable randomly generated sandbox world. When completed, Mythruna will be a unique gaming experience."

Developed by developer Paul Speed (pspeed), who has recently taken on a position as an official developer of the engine Mythruna uses, jMonkeyEngine, started work on the game after becoming enamoured with Minecraft, much like the rest of us.

Mythruna Screenshot 2

Mythruna was 'born' on Sunday January 30th, 2011 when its first batch of code was checked in, and since then has been very actively developed (Mythruna's Twitter account being updated only 10 hours prior to writing this article).

The gameplay is sparse at the moment. It's essentially Minecraft Creative mode without flight. All of the basic blocks are there (cobblestone, grass, glass, etc.) including a couple of new ones such as White Marble and Black Marble.

Graphically, Mythruna is very impressive, especially for being such an early, Alpha release. The game uses shaders when underwater and up against bumpy surfaces. It all looks very pretty and reminds one quite a bit of a Minecraft-Oblivion mashup.

Mythruna Screenshot 3

No release date scheduled as of yet, but the game in its current form is a free download for Mac, Linux, and Windows.

Enjoy!

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Big List 'O Minecraft 1.2 Updates

February 23rd, 2012

The next version of Minecraft is going to be insane. So many new things are on the way for this update, I wanted to take a minute and get down as many as I can to try to make some sense of it all.

Here we go:

  1. Jungles
  2. Cats (Ocelots)
  3. Protector Mobs in NPC Villages
  4. Upside-down Steps
  5. Double-high Skies
  6. New Map Format
  7. Updated Skeleton AI
  8. Zombies Break Doors (Wood ones, anyway)

Here, eat some screens!

Minecraft Upside-down Steps

Minecraft Ocelot Mob

Zombie Defense Minecraft 1.2

There's only one thing missing: a release date. The Minecraft 1.2 update grows in size about 3 times per week but is not out yet! Freeze these updates and get 'em out the door, Mojang!

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A Chance To Get In On The Counter Strike: Global Offensive Closed Beta

February 23rd, 2012

And all you have to do is fill out this simple survey (link opens in Steam).

Entrants will be selected by Valve and notified of their acceptance. Of course, if that happens, he or she will squee with glee.

CS Source versus CS GO

CS: GO is looking like a solid remake to arguably the most successful competitive first person shooter of all time. The comparison screenshots between Counter Strike: Source and Counter Strike: Global Offensive help give an idea of the upgrade we'll be seeing.

I worry, though, that it's not due to graphics that have caused CS:S to get a little stale, but playing the same maps and rounds for > 10 years. I'm really hoping that Counter Strike: Global Offensive brings new gameplay to the table.

Still, as a huge fan of CS that's lost years or life to the blood pressure caused by it, this makes me tingle inside. Just a little.

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"^_^": A Charming Indie Adventure Title By Ben Chandler

February 21st, 2012

^_^ Adventure Game

Strange name, wonderful game.

^_^ came included as part of the Adventure Game Bake Sale offered a couple of weeks back. I have to say that, after completing the game just a few minutes ago, it's one of the most charming adventure game experiences I've had in a while.

The script is really well done, the characters are quite memorable (and likeable!), and it's just long enough that you can play it through in a single sitting. I think its developer, Ben Chandler, has hit upon something here that adventure games have missed for years: adventure games tend to be long, drawn out affairs and that doesn't fit well in today's market. ^_^ is deep, as adventure games tend to be, but it's also quick. Combine its quality with the fact that you can play it through in 30 minutes without it feeling rushed or unfinished really makes the adventure game genre accessible.

I heartily recommend downloading ^_^ no matter if you're an adventure game fan or not. If you've had troubles getting into an adventure game in the past, give this one a go. See if this single-frame, finish-in-a-single-sitting style adventure suits you.

Enjoy!

 

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