Saying goodbye is, when speaking in terms of someone you care about, probably the most difficult emotional interaction two human beings can share. It isn't so much the idea that you're never going to see this person again, because chances are that's not true. What hurts is knowing that someone who has been a staple of your life for years will no longer be there in a communal sense, that the companionship you've grown so accustomed to will be missing. When you care about someone, either romantically or platonically, you give them a piece of yourself, a piece they take with them when they leave.
Sometimes though, we get lucky, and our goodbyes are formed out of hope and optimism rather than loss and grief. Chris Grant, Justin McElroy, Griffin McElroy and Arthur Gies are walking into a brighter future for themselves and their loved ones; we know this because these are men who truly adore what they do, and the only thing that could pry them away from Joystiq's embrace is the promise of an even better tomorrow, which we hope they find as soon as humanly possible.
This is the transition between Joel and Mike, or Jason and Tommy. It's scary, but everything is going to be okay. We promise.
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Alex Ayars discusses (a few of) the potential downsides of an alien invasion with his space-based RPG, Zigfrak.
What's your game called and what's it about?
Zigfrak is a game of deep-space conflict and discovery. Players begin in the midst of a human civil war, complicated by the invasion of technologically superior aliens.
Is the Zigfrak story inspired by any real-life events? How pivotal is the story to the gameplay?
The underlying story draws inspiration from historical and modern day events. Ronald Reagan gave an address to the UN in the '80s, at one point positing that the conflicts between human nations might dissolve if we were to be confronted by a truly alien threat. A big angle of Zigfrak's story is that his statement probably wasn't true -- that humans would continue on with their petty squabbles, even when faced with annihilation by a superior alien adversary.
The backstory is also inspired by the American Revolution and the contemporary debate surrounding the security theater. I try to present this nonpolitically, leaving the door open for players to interpret events however they are most comfortable with.
Zigfrak's story helps to prop things up, but is auxiliary to the many approaches one might take when playing. Each hub of content is a platform for telling a self-contained and lighthearted short story, with the player taking on a pivotal role.
Perhaps "remade" isn't the best word to describe what the team at Infamous Adventures has done to Sierra's 1987 classic Space Quest II: Vohaul's Revenge. "Lovingly rebuilt," perhaps, or "delicately hand-milled," if such a term can be considered applicable in a programming sense. (We've decided it can.)
Infamous Adventures' reproduction features "hand-drawn backgrounds, hand animated characters, a full voice pack featuring over 4,000 recorded lines and a whole lot of extras," according to the group's official website. We don't know what's more touching, the fact that a small group of people completely rejiggered a classic out of love for the original, or the fact that the fruits of their labor can be downloaded for free.
Watch those system requirements though, the PC version requires a whole meg of RAM.
Myst 3D is coming to the 3DS in March, and a video from publisher Maximum Family Games offers a glimpse into all of its dimensions -- and they're falling flat. Joystiqer Tom P. points out that the main action shown in the demo video takes place on the lower, non-3D screen. There is some discovery gameplay on the upper, 3D screen, but since Maximum Family Games is billing Myst 3D as a game with "sharp 3D environments," we were expecting a game with sharp 3D environments.
As the friendly warning at the beginning of the demonstration states, we aren't able to see the true 3D effects in the video, and it's possible that the Myst holding screen on the 3D panel looks utterly outstanding. We'll keep both eyes out for more Myst 3D gameplay videos -- mostly because you can't see 3D graphics with just one eye.
Originally discussed back in August, talk of a remade/remixed version of Adeline Software International's Little Big Adventure (known stateside as Relentless: Twinsen's Adventure) has resurfaced during an interview between GoG.com and the creative minds behind the series, Didier Chanfray, Frédérick Raynal and Sébastien Viannay.
Other than confirmation that a rerelease of the original Little Big Adventure is in the works, the team also hinted at the possibility of an eventual Little Big Adventure 3: "We obviously have a lot of ideas for a third part, our best fans already know some of them, but before telling you more we need to test some of them with the remake. Games are different nowadays and we don't want to be stuck in 90's." If only every developer could be so self-aware.
Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is saying goodbye
01.01.2012 4:30 
5 views 
0 comments
