Everyone loves gravity wars on Xbox Live, it's about time PC guys got their shot at it. While grid wars isn't an identical copy, its very close. The game is infact so much like geometry wars, microsoft asked the creator to remove the game, however various mirrors still exist. For those of you without Xbox Live, the game involves an asteroid like experience but with challenging swarms of enemies and very exciting neon-esque graphics. The steady increase of pace will make the game challenging for newbs or pros. Check it out!
A great little vertical boss-run Shmup.
The developer has made quite a few cool little experimental games, this is my favourite. Everytime you defeat a boss, it analyses what tactics you used, then it makes the next boss less suceptable to these tactics, everytime you play you will end up with different bosses.
The bosses grow on every iteration, and eventually they fill the whole screen.
Very cool tron-esque graphics, and all completely free!
I hope that this thread survives since I could use some help with perusing indie games. I've been looking at Escape Velocity:Nova and the SpiderWeb Software games and I wouldn't mind hearing some thoughts about how they play and if it's worthing plunking down some cold hard cash for them?
Just came across this on the shmups.com forum and after playing through easy mode once, I had to tell you homps about it. Apparently it plays a lot like Ketsui (not that it really matters if you know of it or not) and it's awesome. Music is a bit weak, but I couldn't really even hear it most of the time.
There are 4 buttons:
- (Z) Regular Shot
- (X) Auto Shot
- (C) Bomb
- (A) Options
Apparently space and ESC do stuff but I didn't bother figuring out what.
I absolutely love my copy of Castle Shikigami 2 for the PS2. It was a budget title when it was released, but I think ebay would be your only chance now. It's a two player shump in which you don't control a ship to combat the invading alien hordes, you fly up there and do it yourself! You can choose from a dozen or so super-powered humans with various powers (all with flight of course) and personalities.
It's a pretty fun Shump, but what kicks it up into pure gold is the translation. Half the time you're not even sure if they had any intention of telling a story at all. When you play two player, the two characters will argue with each other in different ways depending on the combination. An of course the bosses have to get in on it too!
Here's an example in which you're playing as two male characters and fight the first boss (a woman in a frilly pink dress):
Boss: "Young men in love."
Guy 1: "I'm not!"
Guy 2: "I don't buy that. We both like girls."
Boss: "Is that so? How dull. Who wants to dance?"
Guy 2: "What kind of dance?"
Boss: "Dancing fist to fist!"
[After you beat her]
Boss: "Nice dance."
Guy 2: "I enjoyed it."
Guy 1: "I'm NOT LIKE THAT!"
Guy 2: "Ok, Ok."
Did I mention it takes place in the distant future of 2006? I've played played a ton of this game and still have no idea who the invaders are. Buy this one today!
Gunbird/Mobile Light Force, Gunbird 2, Castle Shikigami/Mobile Light Force 2, and Castle Shikigami 2 are all awesome. From CS2...the 'buds in the next life' quote is one of my favorites.
I think we mentioned it in another one of these threads, but the Chex cereal game, a Doom ripoff, was tons and tons of fun.
The PS1 games in the super generic series are all great too. They have names like Shooter, Puzzle, etc. with a subtitle that's the real name of the game.
help with perusing indie games. I've been looking at Escape Velocity:Nova and the SpiderWeb Software games and I wouldn't mind hearing some thoughts about how they play and if it's worthing plunking down some cold hard cash for them?
You can grab demos for every Spiderweb game from the official site.
Avernum plays like old school PC RPGs like Ultima. Geneforge is like a mix of Ultima and Fallout since it focuses more on one person and choosing sides.
Both series can be really fun but really unforgiving at times. Some areas become death traps in Geneforge if you don't have the right skills to get through, ie enough mechanics to deal with a minefield. Usually that's a sign that you should find another way to get to your destination.
And since you only have one main character in Geneforge (though potentially many, mutant underlings depending on your skills), you occasionally can hit a rough spot if a fight or area happens to involve a strategy that is your class weakpoint (ie, the strong magic classes typically do best alone due to low minion making skills and hence can get reamed if they go into a fight with enemies that can easily stun or slow you since you don't have someone to take up the slack).
Crimsonland is an excellent top down shooter. It's a pay title now but it's relatively cheap last time I looked and there is a freeware version still knocking about the internet.
Man, I've been playing games on consoles for so long that I've forgotten there are such things as freeware and shareware games. I only remember a Commodore 64 and some stuff on a 386.
Please hook me up with some games that can support this Thrustmaster Firestorm Digital 3. I've had this thing for years, sitting in a box, feeling neglected. If you can't get to the link, it's essentially a PS1 controller, no analog sticks.
I enjoyed the Dink Smallwood freeware game on this site. The appeal is in all the mods floating around on the internet. Also, try the demo for the lawnmower game.
So, in my quest to learn how I can use the controller I mentioned in my previous post, I learned about something called JoyToKey. Being able to take keyboard controls and apply them to a controller sounds like the perfect solution to me.
How reliable/safe is it? Because if this works as awesomely as it sounds, then it would seem I'm going to enjoy some SHMUP action in the near future.
Fuck yes! Thank you, Alien, for mentioning Castle Shikigami 2. Definitely an excellent shmup for PS2, and only $10 at EBStop.
OK, so my second favorite "budget title" would be:
Serious Sam: Next Encounter
It's definitely a budget title, and wasn't even made by Croteam:
It still captures the craziness of the SS games, but it is very weak graphically (like Dreamcast or early PS2-era). However, the framerate is rock solid.
If you can stomach the graphics, and enjoy Serious Sam, I'd recommend it. It should be $10 or $15 at most places.
So, in my quest to learn how I can use the controller I mentioned in my previous post, I learned about something called JoyToKey. Being able to take keyboard controls and apply them to a controller sounds like the perfect solution to me.
How reliable/safe is it? Because if this works as awesomely as it sounds, then it would seem I'm going to enjoy some SHMUP action in the near future.
Anyone?
The controller in question, if it matters, is this one. Thrustmastser Firestorm Digital 3.
On Gamehippo there's a crazy Roguelike by the name of I.V.A.N. which is an acronym for the Latin words for a long hard road to death. Crazy monsters, bleeding out of crotches, and landmines all feature heavily in this game. Well worth that eight meg download.
Also my favorite budget game of late has been the insanely awesome Survival Crisis Z. Former shareware game turned freeware where it's essentially an action RPG with zombies. Can be found here http://skasoftware.com/files/scz.exe. I heartily recommend a download also I think Zombie Smashers X, a River City Ransom clone, recently went freeware as well. Check their main page though, at http://blog.skasoftware.com, for more details on that.
BornToHula on
Origin is the exact same as my Steam, in case you're needing a Support or Assault in BF3.
Maybe they were going backwards and the "1" is the ultimate?
Anyway, someone tell me all about JoyToKey, please.
Joy2key will allow you to take any gamepad and assign any keyboard keystroke to any button press on the pad.
That's all I know about it. I know that it's straightforward and simple and effective, though.
I don't know how it maps the directional pad though, but I assume in the same manner as it maps the rest of the buttons.
Well, I figured that much. No fuss, no muss, no interfering/interference with other programs?
From what I recall, it simply runs in the taskbar with low resources. The only way it might interfere with other programs is if the other programs need to use the gamepad in some manner, which is doubtful.
It really is just about the most straightforward little program there is. Install, set some keys, and you're good to go. It does what it does, nothing more, nothing less.
I don't know why, but my comp's going slow when it comes to YouTube.
What is Ray-Hound? All I can see from the description is that it's made by the same guy that made Warning Forever.
It's a game set up as a 360 shooter of sorts, but you have to capture bullets shot at you then use them on stationary enemies. I couldn't get into it at all.
Posts
And that's more "indie game" than "budget game".
However, I'm all for a "discover new non-megabudget games" thread.
A great little vertical boss-run Shmup.
The developer has made quite a few cool little experimental games, this is my favourite. Everytime you defeat a boss, it analyses what tactics you used, then it makes the next boss less suceptable to these tactics, everytime you play you will end up with different bosses.
The bosses grow on every iteration, and eventually they fill the whole screen.
Very cool tron-esque graphics, and all completely free!
I have lost hours to it.
Wii: 5024 6786 2934 2806 | Steam/XBL: Arcibi | FFXI: Arcibi / Bahamut
There, un-steaming turdified your post.
A nice little verticle scroller bullet hell game. I guarantee you'll die horribly in the first level on your first play through.
----
Gunroar - freeware
Another great verticle scroller. The interesting graphics are a nice bonus.
----
Mucade - freeware
Something like geometry wars meets smash brothers. You try to use your attacks to knock enemies off the stage while staying on yourself. Loads of fun.
Blue Wish Resurrection
http://www004.upp.so-net.ne.jp/x_xgameroom/bw_re_link/bw_re_main.htm
Just came across this on the shmups.com forum and after playing through easy mode once, I had to tell you homps about it. Apparently it plays a lot like Ketsui (not that it really matters if you know of it or not) and it's awesome. Music is a bit weak, but I couldn't really even hear it most of the time.
There are 4 buttons:
- (Z) Regular Shot
- (X) Auto Shot
- (C) Bomb
- (A) Options
Apparently space and ESC do stuff but I didn't bother figuring out what.
Download (~56 megs)
http://my.vector.co.jp/servlet/System.FileDownload/download/http/0/413558/pack/winnt/game/shoot/BWR1.02.lzh
Screens
It's a pretty fun Shump, but what kicks it up into pure gold is the translation. Half the time you're not even sure if they had any intention of telling a story at all. When you play two player, the two characters will argue with each other in different ways depending on the combination. An of course the bosses have to get in on it too!
Here's an example in which you're playing as two male characters and fight the first boss (a woman in a frilly pink dress):
Boss: "Young men in love."
Guy 1: "I'm not!"
Guy 2: "I don't buy that. We both like girls."
Boss: "Is that so? How dull. Who wants to dance?"
Guy 2: "What kind of dance?"
Boss: "Dancing fist to fist!"
[After you beat her]
Boss: "Nice dance."
Guy 2: "I enjoyed it."
Guy 1: "I'm NOT LIKE THAT!"
Guy 2: "Ok, Ok."
Did I mention it takes place in the distant future of 2006? I've played played a ton of this game and still have no idea who the invaders are. Buy this one today!
I think we mentioned it in another one of these threads, but the Chex cereal game, a Doom ripoff, was tons and tons of fun.
The PS1 games in the super generic series are all great too. They have names like Shooter, Puzzle, etc. with a subtitle that's the real name of the game.
Downloading that when I get home. That just looks damn sexy.
You can grab demos for every Spiderweb game from the official site.
Avernum plays like old school PC RPGs like Ultima. Geneforge is like a mix of Ultima and Fallout since it focuses more on one person and choosing sides.
Both series can be really fun but really unforgiving at times. Some areas become death traps in Geneforge if you don't have the right skills to get through, ie enough mechanics to deal with a minefield. Usually that's a sign that you should find another way to get to your destination.
And since you only have one main character in Geneforge (though potentially many, mutant underlings depending on your skills), you occasionally can hit a rough spot if a fight or area happens to involve a strategy that is your class weakpoint (ie, the strong magic classes typically do best alone due to low minion making skills and hence can get reamed if they go into a fight with enemies that can easily stun or slow you since you don't have someone to take up the slack).
Steam Profile
3DS: 3454-0268-5595 Battle.net: SteelAngel#1772
Where Madness and the Fantasical Come to Play
Please hook me up with some games that can support this Thrustmaster Firestorm Digital 3. I've had this thing for years, sitting in a box, feeling neglected. If you can't get to the link, it's essentially a PS1 controller, no analog sticks.
Can any of the above shumps work with it?
I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
Spoiler contains Friend Codes. Won't you be my friend?
More Friend Codes!
Mario Kart Wii: 3136-6982-0286 Tetris Party: 2364 1569 4310
Guitar Hero: Metallica: 1032 7229 7191
TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM: 1935-2070-9123
Nintendo DS:
Worms: Open Warfare 2: 1418-7870-1606 Space Bust-a-Move: 017398 403043
Scribblenauts: 1290-7509-5558
"Hey guyz free awesome games, look! Fuck you, find it yourself!"
http://www.rtsoft.com/
I'm stuck typing my CV.
How reliable/safe is it? Because if this works as awesomely as it sounds, then it would seem I'm going to enjoy some SHMUP action in the near future.
I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
Spoiler contains Friend Codes. Won't you be my friend?
More Friend Codes!
Mario Kart Wii: 3136-6982-0286 Tetris Party: 2364 1569 4310
Guitar Hero: Metallica: 1032 7229 7191
TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM: 1935-2070-9123
Nintendo DS:
Worms: Open Warfare 2: 1418-7870-1606 Space Bust-a-Move: 017398 403043
Scribblenauts: 1290-7509-5558
OK, so my second favorite "budget title" would be:
Serious Sam: Next Encounter
It's definitely a budget title, and wasn't even made by Croteam:
It still captures the craziness of the SS games, but it is very weak graphically (like Dreamcast or early PS2-era). However, the framerate is rock solid.
If you can stomach the graphics, and enjoy Serious Sam, I'd recommend it. It should be $10 or $15 at most places.
For PS2 and GCN.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Linked for H-scroll rape:
http://www.wesnoth.org/images/sshots/wesnoth-1.2-c.jpg
Didn't even realize... Let me take roughly thirty seconds with google to do that for you.
edit:
Cho Ren Sha
http://www2.tky.3web.ne.jp/~yosshin/my_works/index.html
Gunroar
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/windows/gr_e.html
Mucade
http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~cs8k-cyu/windows/mcd_e.html
Whew! Worked up a sweat there!
If only there was some kind of website where once could enter in a string of words and it would give you the best results...
...I'll use Google and find one.
Speaking of which, I think I know where to find the old Crimsonland, brb...
http://gamehippo.com/download2/download2_1467.shtml
Yep! Gamehippo is a pretty great site if you've never been by there. Good one to bookmark. Updates have been coming slowly recently though.
I found cave story by myself
Anyone?
The controller in question, if it matters, is this one. Thrustmastser Firestorm Digital 3.
I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
Spoiler contains Friend Codes. Won't you be my friend?
More Friend Codes!
Mario Kart Wii: 3136-6982-0286 Tetris Party: 2364 1569 4310
Guitar Hero: Metallica: 1032 7229 7191
TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM: 1935-2070-9123
Nintendo DS:
Worms: Open Warfare 2: 1418-7870-1606 Space Bust-a-Move: 017398 403043
Scribblenauts: 1290-7509-5558
Anyway, someone tell me all about JoyToKey, please.
I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
Spoiler contains Friend Codes. Won't you be my friend?
More Friend Codes!
Mario Kart Wii: 3136-6982-0286 Tetris Party: 2364 1569 4310
Guitar Hero: Metallica: 1032 7229 7191
TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM: 1935-2070-9123
Nintendo DS:
Worms: Open Warfare 2: 1418-7870-1606 Space Bust-a-Move: 017398 403043
Scribblenauts: 1290-7509-5558
Also my favorite budget game of late has been the insanely awesome Survival Crisis Z. Former shareware game turned freeware where it's essentially an action RPG with zombies. Can be found here http://skasoftware.com/files/scz.exe. I heartily recommend a download also I think Zombie Smashers X, a River City Ransom clone, recently went freeware as well. Check their main page though, at http://blog.skasoftware.com, for more details on that.
Origin is the exact same as my Steam, in case you're needing a Support or Assault in BF3.
Joy2key will allow you to take any gamepad and assign any keyboard keystroke to any button press on the pad.
That's all I know about it. I know that it's straightforward and simple and effective, though.
I don't know how it maps the directional pad though, but I assume in the same manner as it maps the rest of the buttons.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
Well, I figured that much. No fuss, no muss, no interfering/interference with other programs?
I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
Spoiler contains Friend Codes. Won't you be my friend?
More Friend Codes!
Mario Kart Wii: 3136-6982-0286 Tetris Party: 2364 1569 4310
Guitar Hero: Metallica: 1032 7229 7191
TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM: 1935-2070-9123
Nintendo DS:
Worms: Open Warfare 2: 1418-7870-1606 Space Bust-a-Move: 017398 403043
Scribblenauts: 1290-7509-5558
From what I recall, it simply runs in the taskbar with low resources. The only way it might interfere with other programs is if the other programs need to use the gamepad in some manner, which is doubtful.
It really is just about the most straightforward little program there is. Install, set some keys, and you're good to go. It does what it does, nothing more, nothing less.
Steam ID: slashx000______Twitter: @bill_at_zeboyd______ Facebook: Zeboyd Games
I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
Spoiler contains Friend Codes. Won't you be my friend?
More Friend Codes!
Mario Kart Wii: 3136-6982-0286 Tetris Party: 2364 1569 4310
Guitar Hero: Metallica: 1032 7229 7191
TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM: 1935-2070-9123
Nintendo DS:
Worms: Open Warfare 2: 1418-7870-1606 Space Bust-a-Move: 017398 403043
Scribblenauts: 1290-7509-5558
love the sprite work in CRS and the evolving bosses in WF.
Infinity>Infinity Returns> Infinity Hell> Infinity OMG IM GONNA RAPE YOU
wacky naming.
What is Ray-Hound? All I can see from the description is that it's made by the same guy that made Warning Forever.
I WILL NOT BE DOING 3DS FOR NWC THREAD. SOMEONE ELSE WILL HAVE TO TAKE OVER.
Spoiler contains Friend Codes. Won't you be my friend?
More Friend Codes!
Mario Kart Wii: 3136-6982-0286 Tetris Party: 2364 1569 4310
Guitar Hero: Metallica: 1032 7229 7191
TATSUNOKO VS CAPCOM: 1935-2070-9123
Nintendo DS:
Worms: Open Warfare 2: 1418-7870-1606 Space Bust-a-Move: 017398 403043
Scribblenauts: 1290-7509-5558
It's a game set up as a 360 shooter of sorts, but you have to capture bullets shot at you then use them on stationary enemies. I couldn't get into it at all.