Armless Octocast Episode 55: E3′d Octocast

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Dave Voyles in Podcast | Leave a comment

Somehow Erron manages to get the conference plague, despite not attending E3. Let’s hope listeners don’t catch it too. Be sure to listen closely towards the end as well, as we have do our best to figure out what Dave’s eating this time. As always, we offer our XBLIG roundup of the week. We drown our sorrows for not attending the conference by confiding in one another as well. Don’t waste any time – get to downloading!

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Hosts: Mike Wall, Taylor Bliss, Dave Voyles, Erron Kelly

Music: Paul Weinstein - Chipocrite

Twitter: @TaylorBliss, @Skrattybones, @MikeJWall, @DaveVoyles

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Postmortem: Astro Cluster – Scott LGames

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Dave Voyles in Features, Interviews, xblig | Leave a comment

In this Armless Octopus postmortem, Scott Lowther discuss the development process of his first XBLIG release, Astro Cluster, which was recently released on the Xbox Live Marketplace, and currently holds a four star rating.

How did you get into indie game development, and where did you get the idea for your game?

This may seem like an illogical progression, but I recently left a career in retail games to pursue indie game development. Before starting Astro Cluster, I was employed for quite a few years as a programmer at The Creative Assembly studio in Brisbane (now Sega Studios Australia). I was lucky enough to work on the Total War franchise (PC), Stormrise (PC, 360, PS3), the recently announced Olympics 2012 and a few other unnanounced projects.

Working at The Creative Assembly was very rewarding and I loved the experience. Where else could I hang out with a bunch of awesome, talented and creative people and talk about games all day! Despite this, I wanted to expand my understanding of other areas of game development, particularly art and audio creation, and turn some of my own ideas into real games. I also had a long commute to the office and needed to spend more time with my family, so I felt it was a good time to take the leap into indie game development.

Perkunas’ Dragon flips out in new trailer

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Mike Wall in News, xblig, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

Ninjas have always been known to flip out and go crazy at a moment’s notice, but the new trailer for Perkunas’ Dragon proves that dragons are prone to outbursts of extreme flippage as well. Zithira the Dragoness has been sent by the gods to help a starving town deal with its famine, but apparently the fledgling dragoness took a wrong turn at Albuquerque. Now you have to guide the beast to the starving town, presumably to aid it in the harvest and not to feast on a bunch of emaciated villagers.

Throughout the shmup-rpg hybrid, Zithira will fight various creatures from Slavonic mythology. She’ll learn 15 spells along her journey to help make her a more effective killing machine, and each spell can be upgraded with experience gained from slaughtering those foolish enough to stand between a dragon and those poor delicious villagers. Perkunas’ Dragon will be available this July on Xbox Live Indie Games.

Microsoft unveils Summer of Arcade lineup

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Taylor Bliss in News, XBLA, XBLA News | 1 Comment

Some of the big news coming out of E3 is this summer’s lineup for Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade. The promo will feature a few games already covered by Armless Octopus and others that are new to the scene. The stylized action-RPG Bastion and art-driven, Metroidvania-style Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet are the most familiar titles, which we’ve covered with previews. Two others, Toy Soldiers: Cold War – a MOBA/FPS combo – and the terraforming From Dust, were on the radar. Last up, Fruit Ninja Kinect, which is fresh from E3, will be there for all your fruit-dissecting needs.

The whole event kicks off on July 20, but the specifics for which game comes out when and for how much is still a mystery. Check back with Armless Octopus often as we keep the XBLA news from E3 coming.

Source: Xbox.com

The best new XBLIG: May 29 – June 4

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Mike Wall in Features, xblig | Leave a comment

It’s Monday again, which means that the nine-to-fivers are back to the office, and we’re back with the latest batch of Xbox Live Indie Games new releases. This week’s crop includes some Avatar games, a Silver Dollar Games release and a few totally off-beat games; in other words, it’s a perfectly normal week for XBLIG. Read on to find out what’s worth playing and what will make your Avatar curse the day you molded it in your image.

Game of the Week - Tacticolor – Mike

Tacticolor is a lot like a game of Risk except everyone plays their pieces and attacks simultaneously. That might sound like madness to those who prefer their global conquest to be a patient, methodical exercise, but for the multitasking generation, it’s a welcome change of pace. The maps are randomly generated hubs of linked squares, and the initial settlement has more of a ‘land rush’ feel than its brethren’s lackadaisical selection model. It was stressful to jump back and forth between fronts as I was attacked on one while invading another, but it was the good kind of stress, and it’s the chaos that makes this game intense and exciting. There are plenty of game modes and online & local multiplayer, so ignore its rather modest appearance and give this one a shot.

Postmortem: Ophidian Wars: Opac’s Journey – Small Cave Games

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Dave Voyles in Features, Interviews, xblig | Leave a comment

Starting a new feature can be a nerve-racking experience for any writer. Will people enjoy it? Will others offer feedback? Am I wasting my time? This anxiety and these questions are shared by developers as well with each title they release. What better way to release some stress than by sharing their woes, trials, and tribulations?

Carl Van Ostrand of Small Cave Games has offered to share his development experience with 2010’s XBLIG Ophidian Wars: Opac’s Journey, in what will be our first of (hopefully) many postmortems to grace the pages of Armless Octopus.

Deadlines loom for IndieCade game submissions and PAX Prime & PAX Dev speaker applications

Posted on June 3, 2011 by Taylor Bliss in News, PC News, XBLIG News | Leave a comment

Konami just finished their pre-E3 conference and E3 itself looms right around the corner, but being the forethinking people you are, PAX Prime is the only thing on your mind, right? No? Well over the next two weeks, maybe you should find some time for it. The deadlines to apply to be a speaker at PAX Prime & PAX Dev, as well as the deadline for game submissions for IndieCade are but a fortnight away: June 14th for PAX Prime and the 15th for the latter two.

Many are well aware of the colossal PAX conventions, but IndieCade might be a new one for a few people. Started in 2005 by Creative Media Collaborative, IndieCade is aiming to revitalize the videogame industry as a whole by supporting one of the driving forces of innovation: independently developed games. The 2011 festival will take place in several venues throughout downtown Culver City, California. You can submit your game now with the hope of bringing it into the public eye. Although you’ll have to pay the higher late-processing fee, if your game has the chops, it could be well worth the toll.

Check back at Armless Octopus for all the latest indie news debuting at all of the aforementioned events and more.

Armless Octocast Episode 54: Pack Your Bags Octocast

Posted on June 2, 2011 by Taylor Bliss in Podcast | 1 Comment

Dave’s out and Dylan’s in (sometimes), so Mike, Erron and Taylor have to hold down the fort. Everyone’s been playing their share of indie’s so stay tuned to get the latest on what’s going on in the indie scene. We’ll also fill you in on what’s coming to Windows Phone 7.