I've got two hours in this game and am loving the hell out of it. Looking forward to seeing how development progresses.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

The auth errors I had when testing earlier (I backed this on Kickstarter with beta access) seemed intermittent and I was able to get past them eventually. I have had some input issues, but I think that that's my system rather than the game, and the other Linux users I know who've played haven't experienced that.

To me, it feels like a surprisingly solid deathmatch experience given how recently the crowdfunding campaign ended. While the game doesn't directly re-create the feeling of Descent 1, 2 or 3, it does carry some of the same charm. The maps that I played were really nicely made, with a good balance of corridors and open spaces.

With access to the game going from prototype backers to alpha backers to beta backers and early access within two weeks, it feels like the developers are keen to build a critical mass of players that can become a sustainable playing community throughout early access.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

For anybody who might be interested, I had the developer drop in on a stream I was doing on the weekend, and we had a big long chat about making games, creativity, building engines, the relationship between discoverability platforms and distribution platforms, and a whole stack of other stuff (there are some spoilers here).

The YouTube description has a detailed list of discussion topics and timestamp links.

View video on youtube.com

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Super glad to see this moving forward. Unfortunately, I don't know if I'll be able to work it into my schedule (October is a full month for me).

If anybody needs or wants any advice, I'm happy to share my experiences from working on games and participating in other game jams :)

Samsai, have you considered throwing this up on the itch.io list of jams [External Link], or are you keen to keep everything here on GOL?

View this comment - View article - View full comments

I'm very happy to be onboard with this one. I really hope Theo, Henrik and Mathias get the support they need :D

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: xyzzosTypo: "It simple and lacks music" -> "It's simple and lacks music".

Well spotted. Thanks :)

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: LinasGlad I stopped to watch the video, wow... Screenshots really do not do it justice.

I wanted to include some animated screenshots, but they're a little too big for GOL's image system and I was wary of hosting them elsewhere. The style of movement and animation in the game feels really nice when playing.

Quoting: flesk

Its slow pacing and thoughtfulness set it well apart from games like Super Hexagon that may superficially look similar.

I'm glad to hear that, since I think Expand looks very interesting, but I was afraid it was too much like Super Hexagon, which I don't enjoy playing at all.

Ha ha, I made note of that with you in mind :D

Like I said in the article, it never feels like it's reflex oriented or requires reactionary play - even when you have to move correctly, you have enough time to understand what those movements are, so the skill barriers never feel cognitive.

There is one part towards the end of the "Elude" set of locations where you need to get through a longish sequence of movements fairly quickly. It's not until you reach the end that you realise that your speed up to that point makes a difference, but it's all encapsulated within one checkpoint and once you have that realisation, it's not hard to find the optimal path.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: MGOidAnd the mouse pointer is visible when you are using a gamepad.

I mostly play with keyboard and mouse, but when I was testing the release build , the mouse cursor only showed up if I moved it, and it would disappear when starting a new level IIRC.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

Quoting: kshadeIt looks like it could be absolutely nauseating to play because of the constant screen turning. Any opinions on that from people who have played it?

It seems to be severe for some people and not for others. I know Flesk mentioned needing to turn off some of the effects to have a good experience. On the other handing, I've never found it problematic in the 5 or so months I'd been helping test it.

Grab the demo (mentioned at the bottom of the article) and have a try. You can adjust the responsiveness of the rotation rate, and configure a key to force rotation only when you want it, so you might be able to find an option that works for you even if the defaults are an issue.

View this comment - View article - View full comments

I helped test the Linux version of the game (if anybody spots me in the credits, have a virtual high five o/ ) and fell in love with it from the moment I started playing.

If anybody's interested, two of the developers gatecrashed a stream I was doing last month, and we talked about the game's inception, its development, some of the reception it'd had at that point and a bunch of other things (there's a full list of topics in the description). Unfortunately, I had audio issues during the stream that I didn't realise at the time, but the chat was too good to let go.

Warning: I'd been playing for a couple of hours before Dan and Dieter showed up, and I'd moved onto late game levels. There are some significant spoilers hiding in there ^_^

View video on youtube.com

View this comment - View article - View full comments