Shovel Knight - A groundbreaking love letter to 8 bits!

No offence, but there are so many love letters to 8 and 16 bits from the Indie community that all other games are getting jealous. ;)

15k for linux/mac, I can understand that as it will require more development, just a shame its at the 130k mark, which is still a long way to go.

Quoting: HamishNo offence, but there are so many love letters to 8 and 16 bits from the Indie community that all other games are getting jealous. ;)

Indeed am I the only one getting a bit sick of "omg retro!" graphics and gameplay?

a few things come to mind.

the 8 & 16 bit eras are arguably the golden-age of gaming, so it's understandable that those of us who grew up on the classics would continue to esteem that artistic style, users and devs alike.

furthermore, the previews for this game are excellent and it received a lot of accolades coming out of PAX East.  made by a talented team of ex-devs from WayForward, it's a team that knows what made classic gaming great without taking itself too seriously.  it's not just "riding the retro train" to cash in, so i think it'd be unfair to judge it harshly based on graphics alone.  rather, a game should be judged for its complete package.

finally, let's not forget that we're on Linux.  even a year ago we were lucky to get any game attention at all.  as far as i'm concerned, any game news for Linux is good news.

if it's not your style of game, that's fine. but can we not play the hipster "retro is so over" card? ;)  i'd like to think we're better than that. ;)

I will never play a "retro is over card" because I think all types of graphical styles will stay relevant forever. What I am fed-up with is 90% of indie's go for puzzle games and platformers...they are to me getting tiresome.

as someone who loves platformers, i'm in bliss. =)  for me, new platformers + Linux = a happy user. =)

there's also the possible issue of talent and team size.  indie development can't really be expected to be at the same level of AAAs, so perhaps many go for a simpler graphic style because it allows them to actually realize the game at all.

though there were some great looking indie titles at PAX this year.  some dungeon rogue-likes, a racer-vs-time, some bit-builders ala Terraria, classic adventure games, and of course, platformers and puzzlers. it was a great year for indies, and i think it'll be a breakout year for Linux gaming. =)

here's a comprehensive list of the indie games showcased at PAX East.

while not all are guaranteed for Linux (or even on the radar) many are. 

and from talking with many of the Devs, with the advent of Kickstarter, the success of HIB, and the arrival of Unity4, Linux development is more and more being talked about, and slowly beginning to be seen as an important touchstone for an indie dev team to meet.

it further sets them apart from the AAAs while also allowing them to reach a starved market.  and most of them just want to make sure to get their game out to as many prospective buyers as possible.

I do not think you need to be so defensive about it there Nicodemus, as no one was really attacking this game or even any game developer in particular. And yes, I get the appeal of retro graphics as I did grow up playing some classic 16-bit games, many of them platformers, and yes, I understand the constraints that are placed on independent game developers, and yes, any game coming to Linux should still be highly valued.

However, for me what the problem stems from is the fact that the Indie community recently seems to have stuck itself in a bit of a rut. To me they were passed the torch from the old Shareware game industry of yore (the real golden age if you ask me), and maybe I am missing something, but in many ways they are failing to push past much of what was already achieved by their forebears in terms of innovation and original ideas, even though they have similar budgets and team sizes as those classic teams did. Something that should be a bastion of creativity is beginning to seem as repetitive as the AAA industry that many of them deride.

That is not to say there are no gems or exceptions to this, or even that there is anything wrong with platformers or going out and making a new platformer even with the old tried and true ideas, but it would be nice if some people realize that Braid and Cave Story were already released quite awhile ago and that many of us now want something a bit more fresh, or at the very least different, from the industry that is so often self-proclaimed to be the home of creative minds.

sorry if i came off strong! hard to hear emotional context on the internet. =)  sometimes i can be very "matter-of-fact" in my dialogue, but i assure you there are no hard feelings on my end. =)  those are just my thoughts in response to the matter raised.

though i totally appreciate a more elaborate post that let's me see more of where you're coming than a quick one-liner.  i don't disagree with your position, i'd just hate to see decent games get overlooked amidst the general critique.

Personally I have to say I don't like the sound of these guys:

QuoteWant to play Shovel Knight on your weirdo computer? Many folks have asked for Linux and Mac versions. We hope to support Mac and Linux either way, but this goal makes it happen for sure, and in a more timely fashion (hopefully in 2013!).

We are weirdo's apparently, may be a joke but it's not a great way to win our hearts to pay them money now is it?