Argentina is a pretty exciting place to be right now in terms of video game development, with the number of developers and games growing exponentially. Buenos Aires has been the cultural capital of Latin America for at least the past 100 years, and now this thriving creativity has expanded into gaming and - most importantly for us at GOL - Linux gaming.
As part of the GOL World Tour, I wrote an article about developers in the country a few months back. In this article, I want to highlight three active Kickstarter projects, with some comments on why these developers are choosing to support Linux, as well as what they think about the OS. Here are those three projects (in alphabetical order), along with my personal thoughts on them:
H. P. Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - Senscape
Senscape’s Agustín Cordes - who brought us Scratches, Serena and Asylum - is now making a Lovecraftian adventure game set in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is based on Lovecraft’s novel of the same name and will be the first video game directly based on his literature. The game features an accurately re-created Providence in a 3d style similar to games like The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief, and it looks fantastic!
I really love Senscape’s work, not only for its quality, but also because they are one of those studios which has great respect for games as a medium and the gamers who play them. Serena is one such games that demonstrated this, by showing how games too can be sophisticated affairs with multifaceted stories and that gamers indeed enjoy the likes of Edgar Allan Poe or H.P. Lovecraft and do not simply seek instant gratification. The developers have said that they are focussing strictly on story and mood for this - so no doubt that it will not disappoint.
Senscape's Agustín Cordes had this to say about Linux:
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward has already been Greenlit on Steam and is looking for $250,000 on its Kickstarter campaign. With only five days left, the campaign will need a serious push to make its goal - but Agustín Cordes says he has a wildcard which he has yet to play, regardless of this, if you like the looks of the game then check out the Kickstarter page.
The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonça & Pizza Boy - OKAM STUDIO
This game looks like everything I would ever want from an adventure game - from the art style to the absurd humour. The game is based on a comic of the same name published by Dark Horse Comics, which was also in turn inspired by classic video games - particularly adventure games like Monkey Island.
Though many have tried to capture the mood of a certain era of adventure games (those from the late 1990s), none have quite pulled it off, but after playing the demo I can safely say that OKAM have - particularly in the detailed backgrounds which to me look even better than those in games like The Curse of Monkey Island or Discworld II thanks to modern technology.
The game is also made using their in-house open source (MIT license) Godot Engine released in January and upon the release of the first instalment of The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonça & Pizza Boy they have promised to release the set of tools used to make adventure games on the engine.
OKAM’s Ariel Manzur had this to say about Linux:
And about the open source engine:
OKAM is looking to raise $30,000 to finance the remaining 20% of the game’s development, but they’re just over 30% of the way there with less than half the time to go - so make sure to check out the Kickstarter page adventure fans.
Nubarron: The Adventure of an Unlucky Gnome - Nasty Cloud
Nubarron is a puzzle-platformer which features a pesky cloud which ensures the player is quick on his/her feet by throwing lightning bolts if Gnome stands still for too long, while at the same time aiding with certain puzzles. Inspired by the likes of Braid, LIMBO and Journey, the game features a rich colour palette and beautiful art style as well as a fairytale story and narrative.
The trouble with puzzle-platformers is often that the decrease in pace caused by the puzzles can often detract from the flow of the gameplay, but the game’s innovative mechanic of featuring the cloud companion returns the pace to levels similar to those found in classic platformers, whilst also adding the extra challenge of having to complete puzzles quickly.
Nastycloud co-founder Francisco Tufró had this to say about Linux:
Nubarron: The Adventure of an Unlucky Gnome is aiming to raise $50,000 on Kickstarter and has achieved over 30% of that in just three days. Don’t forget to check out their Kickstarter campaign and vote for them on Greenlight.
Conclusions
So those are the games, I have backed all three and hope they all make it - not just because they’re all very promising games and would buy all three of them if they were out today, but because the developers’ attitudes towards Linux are extraordinarily positive. If you like the games then buy all means support them or make some noise in other places - they will need some help to make their goals.
I will also be attending the Argentine Videogame Exposition next month, where I will hopefully be able to bring you more from these developers and others in a special edition of the GOL World Tour. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
As part of the GOL World Tour, I wrote an article about developers in the country a few months back. In this article, I want to highlight three active Kickstarter projects, with some comments on why these developers are choosing to support Linux, as well as what they think about the OS. Here are those three projects (in alphabetical order), along with my personal thoughts on them:
H. P. Lovecraft’s The Case of Charles Dexter Ward - Senscape
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Direct Link
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Senscape’s Agustín Cordes - who brought us Scratches, Serena and Asylum - is now making a Lovecraftian adventure game set in his hometown of Providence, Rhode Island. The Case of Charles Dexter Ward is based on Lovecraft’s novel of the same name and will be the first video game directly based on his literature. The game features an accurately re-created Providence in a 3d style similar to games like The Raven: Legacy of a Master Thief, and it looks fantastic!
I really love Senscape’s work, not only for its quality, but also because they are one of those studios which has great respect for games as a medium and the gamers who play them. Serena is one such games that demonstrated this, by showing how games too can be sophisticated affairs with multifaceted stories and that gamers indeed enjoy the likes of Edgar Allan Poe or H.P. Lovecraft and do not simply seek instant gratification. The developers have said that they are focussing strictly on story and mood for this - so no doubt that it will not disappoint.
Senscape's Agustín Cordes had this to say about Linux:
QuoteI'm not a Linux user myself but we have a solid fan base in its community. Even if that weren't the case, I'd still support the platform no matter what because I'm a strong advocate of open source and its culture. I believe that everybody should have the right to own free software, and Linux makes that possible.
The Case of Charles Dexter Ward has already been Greenlit on Steam and is looking for $250,000 on its Kickstarter campaign. With only five days left, the campaign will need a serious push to make its goal - but Agustín Cordes says he has a wildcard which he has yet to play, regardless of this, if you like the looks of the game then check out the Kickstarter page.
The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonça & Pizza Boy - OKAM STUDIO
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Direct Link
Direct Link
This game looks like everything I would ever want from an adventure game - from the art style to the absurd humour. The game is based on a comic of the same name published by Dark Horse Comics, which was also in turn inspired by classic video games - particularly adventure games like Monkey Island.
Though many have tried to capture the mood of a certain era of adventure games (those from the late 1990s), none have quite pulled it off, but after playing the demo I can safely say that OKAM have - particularly in the detailed backgrounds which to me look even better than those in games like The Curse of Monkey Island or Discworld II thanks to modern technology.
The game is also made using their in-house open source (MIT license) Godot Engine released in January and upon the release of the first instalment of The Interactive Adventures of Dog Mendonça & Pizza Boy they have promised to release the set of tools used to make adventure games on the engine.
OKAM’s Ariel Manzur had this to say about Linux:
QuoteThe main reason why we support Linux is because we love games, and we run Linux on our computers :-). Linux and open source in general are very important in our Studio's culture, we try to use open tools when we can, all of our programmers use Linux, and it's the main platform where we develop and test our engine.
And about the open source engine:
QuoteOn the other side of that is our engine, Godot. We released it to give back to the community that gave us so many great tools, but also because we noticed that there was no open option with features similar to ours: a fully featured engine, used by real-world commercial studios, to make games for modern platforms. While there are other great engines and libraries out there (not trying to start a flamewar here ;-) we thought we could add a unique voice.
OKAM is looking to raise $30,000 to finance the remaining 20% of the game’s development, but they’re just over 30% of the way there with less than half the time to go - so make sure to check out the Kickstarter page adventure fans.
Nubarron: The Adventure of an Unlucky Gnome - Nasty Cloud
YouTube videos require cookies, you must accept their cookies to view. View cookie preferences.
Direct Link
Direct Link
Nubarron is a puzzle-platformer which features a pesky cloud which ensures the player is quick on his/her feet by throwing lightning bolts if Gnome stands still for too long, while at the same time aiding with certain puzzles. Inspired by the likes of Braid, LIMBO and Journey, the game features a rich colour palette and beautiful art style as well as a fairytale story and narrative.
The trouble with puzzle-platformers is often that the decrease in pace caused by the puzzles can often detract from the flow of the gameplay, but the game’s innovative mechanic of featuring the cloud companion returns the pace to levels similar to those found in classic platformers, whilst also adding the extra challenge of having to complete puzzles quickly.
Nastycloud co-founder Francisco Tufró had this to say about Linux:
QuoteLinux is how operating systems should be, open. I'm an old time Linux user and developer, so it's natural for me to support it. I've been fighting for years against the lack of games on Linux, that's why I got really good on Tux Racer and Frozen Bubble. haha. I've supported several open source projects, among them Moai SDK, CLAM and TuxPaint.
Nubarron: The Adventure of an Unlucky Gnome is aiming to raise $50,000 on Kickstarter and has achieved over 30% of that in just three days. Don’t forget to check out their Kickstarter campaign and vote for them on Greenlight.
Conclusions
So those are the games, I have backed all three and hope they all make it - not just because they’re all very promising games and would buy all three of them if they were out today, but because the developers’ attitudes towards Linux are extraordinarily positive. If you like the games then buy all means support them or make some noise in other places - they will need some help to make their goals.
I will also be attending the Argentine Videogame Exposition next month, where I will hopefully be able to bring you more from these developers and others in a special edition of the GOL World Tour. Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
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From a development point of view, it makes sense to start things before you've finished others so that there aren't idle hands. I can't really comment on Asylum in particular though because I never followed the project until recently.
EDIT: It's worth pointing out that the Linux demo for Dog Mendonca & Pizzaboy is actually included in the "Windows" download, as is a lot (all?) of the source files. I've opened them up in Godot, and while the project won't run as-is due to some changes in the engine, it is interesting to see and possible to learn from.
I am aware of that possibility, but considering how many deadlines they have slipped and how many other ventures they have been playing with during all of this, it does come across as showing a lack of focus, at least from the outside. I also can not help but feel it to be bad form to ask the public for even more money when you have yet to deliver on what you had already promised before.
I've been on the fence regarding Charles Dexter Ward since I'm a bit sceptical towards horror in adventure games. I like going at those at my own pace without an added element of stress but if it plays out anything like The Cat Lady or Serena I should be ok with it. Added my pledge now since it's struggling to reach funding.
Not so sure about the last one though since it looks like both the platforming and puzzle elements might be sacrificed in favor of pacing? Reminds me of Spate, which I did mostly enjoy, but more because of the atmosphere and visual style than because of those elements. Would have been nice to see a demo of it.
Also great to hear that all three are so Linux friendly. And thanks for another great article.