Giga Geek Magazine was gifted with access to an early build of the game. All of the opinions in this article are for that early version, some things are subject to change as more is developed.
Independent developers never cease to amaze me. Some of my favorite games of all time have come from these smaller studios, which is refreshing in an age of micro-transactions, always online checks, and broken releases. Songbringer comes from humble folks—inspired by the top down days of Legend of Zelda—and is shaping up to be a memorable classic.
Weiss’ pixel skills are impressive. Check out the Nano Sword!
Songbringer is a procedurally generated adventure through mysterious locales, slashing baddies with a nano-sword or tossing a boomerang top hat. Created by a single man with ambition beyond mortals, Nathan Weis is crafting a science fiction love letter to Zelda. Not only is Weis making this one solo, after twenty years or so of being a developer, but he’s also been streaming daily on Twitch. Keeping it simple, Songbringer won’t have A-list actors doing voice overs, or music played by an orchestra; however, that gives it charm.
Primarily, there are two ways to play Songbringer: normal mode will let the hero die to respawn like a normal adventure game, and permanent death mode, which is exactly what it sounds like, turning the whole game into a rogue-like game similar to Binding of Isaac.
Playing around with the build sent to me by Weis, there is a lot to love already. Combat is simple and familiar, using items assigned to buttons and swinging a sword. While combat is essential to survive, there is a heavier focus on exploration. The system generates a fairly large overworld, with areas that require specific items before you can explore.
You can gain harder levitra best prices and fuller erection to participate in lovemaking and enjoy intimate moments with her. The heart is built of mystical black freesia, while levitra samples the base introduces sequoia wood accords, musk and amber. davidfraymusic.com india cheap cialis Garlic – Garlic is a common herb used in kitchens. They fit in order generic levitra the budget of a common man can afford. Dungeons also spawn throughout this strange planet. During my time with Songbringer, I saw the conquering of four dungeons. There weren’t any real puzzles to challenge the sword wielding hero, but there were plenty of enemy types to learn. Demons lower their head and charge with their wicked horns, and little bugs attack in large groups. There are some rooms that have way too many enemies in them, turning the challenge into mashing every item to try and survive.
One of the few criticisms I have for the game is the lack of music. Of course this is bound to come in later builds, but it made the world eerily silent. Overall the sound design is interesting with droning pulses and bit-crushed attack effects, but that lack of music made me realize just how important it is in games like this. Imagine Hyrule Field without that iconic score; it would feel wrong. Once again, the build I played was an early one, so music is probably in the works.
Songbringer is an incredibly ambitious project for a single creator. That alone, the game deserves a large amount of praise. As a game amidst a sea of others, Songbringer does stand out as more than a simple tribute. Its themes and style are excellent and the gameplay is familiar enough to understand in seconds, while building on that framework.
In short, there is a mass amount of potential for this project. I’ll be sure to keep an eye out for future builds and the inevitable release of Songbringer. Beyond that, Weis will be a developer to watch for his creativity and sheer willpower.
To see the game in action, check out my preview below.
Recently, Giga bore witness to the majesty that is Nintendo Quest, an excellent documentary detailing the story of one man seeking to collect every retail NES game. Rob McCallum and the gang will be working with the makers of another 80s pop-culture-fueled documentary, Turtle Power, a piece on the history and influence of the Ninja Turtles. Led by Randall Lobb, this influential team of film makers and fans seeks to bring the story behind He-Man, She-Ra and the rest of the Masters of the Universe in their newest project Power of Grayskull.
Power of Grayskull seeks to be the definitive source for the history of the iconic franchise including the vintage series, She-Ra, The New Adventures of He-Man, the 200x series and beyond. Not to mention everything that fans have created over the years, such as artwork, custom toys or viral internet sensations. He-Man and the Masters have been around since the 80s; there’s a ton of content out there to cover.
Wanting to find those behind the magic, the team seeks to learn from the top minds behind the franchise, those who brought the live action series to life and the former president of Mattel. An epic list of people set to help out in the film can be found on the project page on Kickstarter. Given the previous work in Nintendo Quest and Turtle Power, Power of Grayskull will dig deep into what makes He-Man special, with rare and exclusive content pulled into light whenever possible.
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As shown by the awesome teaser trailer, this is a documentary project filled to the brim with love for the Masters of the Universe. It’s filmed and produced by fans for the fans, and with the crowd funding model it can be a reality from fan support. Provided the film reaches it goals, which looks likely, release is anticipated for 2017.
There’s no doubt that Power of Grayskull will be the ultimate documentary for the Masters of the Universe. Now, the project is left in the hands of the fans. You have the power.
Most stories try to get the audience to relate to the protagonist. A likable main character is an easy sell, it’s hard to get people to look into the uncomfortably warped reality of villains. Stories about villains do exist, but they are rare. In this 200-page graphic anthology, VERTOSCOPEadds more entries to that niche. I was recently given the privilege of interviewing the project head, Nechama Frier, to talk about VERTOSCOPE and her own experiences in the crazy world of comics.
Page from “Witchweed” by Ama.
What advice do you have for writers seeking artists?
Save up enough money to pay one artist a fair rate, for a short story about 20-30 pages. Once that’s complete, that will be your physical evidence of your work, so you can use it to show people what your writing style is. And it doesn’t hurt to do stick figures while you are looking for an artist, there’s a lot of comics out there that get by on their writing despite stick figure art.
Page from “Taming You” by Grace Park.
How did you get into creating comics for a living?
I wouldn’t say at this moment I can call myself someone who creates comics for a living, I can say I create art for a living. My main income comes from illustrations and stand-alone products, such as cute earrings or scarfs, and projects such as this are stuff I save up for in order to make what I’m really passionate about happen.
Page from “Bear My Teeth” by FATE.
Why the title VERTOSCOPE?
Ten and I, my co-editor, wanted to try our best to make up a word that was sightly strange and isoteric, that kinda en-capsuled what we were trying to go for. To give a lens to view the world from a warped view, to get the point across that this is something not quite right.
Page from “Coping Mechanism” by Jenn Doyle and Ursula Wood.
What inspired the creation of this anthology? Why Villains?
Because Ten and I just love villains. We also spend a lot of time on social media, and we see a lot of discourse between fans of works, who seem confused about the boundaries of fiction. A good example is Game of Thrones, where so much of what’s happening is horrible, and many people say “What this character did is horrible, and you cannot watch this show anymore.” Me and Ten are here to say that, no you can enjoy these things, reality and fiction can be kept separate.
Page from “The House of the Immaculate” by Sey Vee.
Obviously, with a concept of exploring the psyche of less than noble individuals, shock typically becomes a component of that. What place does shock value have in this project, if any?
It definitely has it’s place, but I was interested to find out that because of the particular stories me and Ten are interested in, and the writers we hired, shock and gore doesn’t play a large role in the stories. It’s still there, but it’s there to emphasize moments where our characters step over those moral boundaries. One of our stories is just about children playing soccer, nothing of real shock occurs, but one character takes it a little further than his peers, so shock is relevant to the specific situation at hand. The shock value always makes sense to the context of the individual story, but none of our authors used it as a cheap gimmick to horrify and disgust viewers, because that’s really not the point.
Page from “Striker” by Stowell/Stober/Shazzbaa.
Who is your favorite villain in fiction, and why?
This question is so tough, because we have so many. Someone once asked me which villain in comics I’d like to write for, and my answer was Lobo for DC Comics. I would go with the Greek God Apollo, who is not normally seen as a villain, but unquestionably is based on his actions. My view of him as a child was this nice sweet god of the sun, none of which is true. He is not nice, he’s not the god of the sun. A great example of his villainous nature is when he wins a rigged music contest against the Satyr Marcyas. He chooses as his prize to skin Marcyas and let his blood flow into the river, he did name the river after Marcyas though, so good job. I find him particularly fascinating, because his God-like status allows him to get away with stuff like this, no one ever calls him out on it.
Page from “The Devil’s Pupil” by Ashley McCammon.
I noticed on the project description that you mention creators being pressured to create likable protagonists, is this from personal experience by you or any member for your group?
I think that was a reference to both the industry and to what I mentioned earlier with this discourse of social media. There’s been a long issue in the industry between underground comics and mainstream comics, about having complete creative freedom and having self-published stories, without fear of censorship. It’s not that we are creating something new, just that we are creating our own versions of everything. People get stuck on the word new, I can enjoy the same basic structure multiple times, because every author has their own unique take on it.
Page from “The Wonderful World of Wasps” by H. Preece and A. Lee
What do you feel are the benefits to an anthology format over others?
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I think that the format is ideal for any artist that is starting out, or has lower visibility. Not only are short stories less of a time commitment, but also a combination of veteran creators along with new talent is beneficial to everyone. A publisher can be more willing to take a risk on someone who is relatively unknown. The same benefit applies to consumers, they can pick up an anthology by a veteran author they know, and find a bunch of new talent along with that.
Page from “Tincture” by One of Two.
If the project is successful, will this be something you revisit, such as with a new anthology or stand-alone series based on the stories?
I would really love to, I know a number of creators already have further plans for their short stories. I’ve taken a portion of what could be a longer story for my submission, and if we have a Vol 2. I would love to include new stories, both completely new, and some having the same artist revisit their stories from Vol 1. I would also love to include a section for prose in a future installment.
Page from “The Devil’s Dentist” by Mady G.
How did you get together your team of writers and artists for this project?
It was completely open submission. We put a call out on Twitter and Tumblr, asking for people to turn in their portfolios, a summary of what their stories would be about, and an estimated page count. We got about 150 submissions, and me and Ten went through each to decide what fit best, and offered contracts to those who made it. Those who didn’t make it were still offered a personal response about why the submission wasn’t accepted. Because Ten and I have both been through that process of getting rejections, we felt it was more constructive to offer people with feedback. There’s never a personal reason why people are rejected but mainly budget reasons. We’d love to accept twice as many creators in the future if possible.
Page from “The Bear and the Jester” by ENOCH.
This is the first kickstarter you have put together, but it’s not the first group-funding project you’ve done, can you explain your past experiences?
Just last year I put together a 12 month calendar featuring 12 different artists, and it was funded through pre-orders, to make sure I had the funding to print it and to pay the illustrators. I’ve been a pro illustrator for 10 years already, and I have always delivered, whether it’s an order from my shop, or a commission. I think the reason we have been doing so well, is because we have built that level of trust with the consumer to produce a quality product and on time.
Page from “Tails” by Emilee McGlory.
A large component of your stretch goals is bonuses for members of your project, what made you choose to advertise that?
Because I think that the largest part of running a kickstarter is making sure our artists get the reward they deserve. Ten and I made sure we could pay our artists no matter what. The bonuses are built into the kickstarter, but we made sure we could at least pay the artists $50 a page. Artists don’t get paid enough in the first place, and we want to make sure the book is printed, and the artists get paid enough for their work.
In terms of the commissions that are available for backers of $125 or more, what can potential backers expect from commission requests? Does the $1,000 Comics Royalty tier also include a commission from the $125 tier in addition to a 5 page commission from yourself?
Yes, in essence it does, the $1000 tier includes a water color cover for the 5-page commission. What I have done, is to have any commission backers connected via email to the person they request the commission from. After I connect them, I check in via email, and make sure everything went well for both the commissioner and the artist.
Can you tell me a little about your contribution, “C-259”?
It is a sci-fi story, basically set where humanity has lost Earth. It is set in colony 259, one of the last known bubbles of humanity in the universe. Things are going fairly well for them, they are surviving, but then aliens show up, and basically everything gets fucked. The actual story takes place in that colony, and focuses on the choices the main character, Filip Sawicki, chooses to make, given the situation.
VERTOSCOPE has so far made about half of it’s kickstarter goal. There is also a $2,000 dollar Associate Publisher and $5,000 publisher tier, with the latter granting the backer 50 softcover copies of the anthology, a publisher credit, a special bookplate signed by all the creators 15 page comic commission (drawn and colored by Nechama), along with a digitally designed and colored cover.
After talking with Nechama about my personal experiences as a writer hoping to get into comics without currently having an artist, she provided a helpful post by VERTOSCOPE contributor Ursula Wood, to assist others in a similar situation with advice.
Nechama Frier was also kind enough to give a full preview of one of the stories included in the anthology, “Breakfast in Bed”
Credit for “Breakfast in Bed” images goes to http://swinsea.tumblr.com/post/132566833355/its-camodadcomics-birthday-to-celebrate-you
Early Access titles seem to be what all the cool kids are doing in the game designing world for better, but more often for worse. From the excellent uses of the system found in Starbound to the terrible lack of attention that destroyed The Stomping Land, Early Access as a term comes with a bit of mixed perception. As a whole, I’m a big advocate of Early Access games, but when the system is abused or the games that lack any sort of coherency get onto the Steam Marketplace, it’s more than frustrating as a gamer and as a writer. It’s hard to find games on the Steam Marketplace as is, so throwing in tons of Early Access titles with questionable quality just makes things asinine.
That’s where Levl Up Bros, a monthly subscription-based platform for Early Access titles, seeks to stand out with its service. Players will be able to play an unlimited amount of games and be given the option to pre-order games when they are eventually published. There are some interesting indie games and rom hacks to check out, but more games should start showing up as the platform develops. So how does Levl Up Bros seek to enhance the gaming experience for both developers and gamers?
Even seasoned designers often find publication disconcerting. The percentage a development team should make is usually slashed down by larger publishing companies, limiting profits, but adding marketing solutions. Levl Up Bros seeks to give developers a broader range of publishing options, as well as a system that allows popular content to be shown prominently.
The entire platform focuses on levels in the traditional, RPG sense. Players will be able to gain levels from completing quests, which can be as simple as leaving a comment on a game’s page or pre-ordering a title. This way, feedback is encouraged. The levl up system also wants to reward its players by giving them free memberships, as well as full-game downloads as they level up their account.
Games will also have levels, gaining experience points based on comments, time played and much more. This way, the best gaming experiences is featured by the system. The Levl Up Bros will not only give attention to these games on their client, but also on their various blogs and outlets, such as their Twitch or YouTube channels.
They contain a substance called alpha-androstetenol that mirrors viagra prices pheromones (which is the thing that pulls in truffle chasing hogs). levitra vs viagra This has increased the demand for anti ED medicine in the minds of people. It may include feelings of sadness, anxiety, emptiness, hopelessness, worthlessness, guilt, on line viagra irritability, or restlessness. Erection is the major cause which ruins men’s tadalafil price mood and not allow men to have intercourse. Levl Up Bros seeks to provide a space for game designers to stay focused on making their games. The platform takes care of marketing and distribution, as most gaming clients such as Steam seek to do, but also rewards developers and players for engaging in their service. Where Levl Up Bros currently focuses on computer gaming, it also seeks to branch out into console gaming, giving players a chance to truly shape the way games are designed by giving feedback to developers.
Many games and studios have already agreed to be featured in the early era of the Levl Up Bros client. Disciples of the Storm, an ambitious attempt to recreate a classic PC game—a game we’ve featured before here on Giga—is on that list. Other than that, the other titles are unfamiliar, but that’s exactly what this client needs: unknown titles utilizing the system to further their goals.
If Levl Up Bros succeeds in its Kickstarter campaign, a test client should be available in the Spring of 2016, with more features slated to roll out by the Summer. Users can take a look at the Levl Up Bros website for an idea of the sort of aesthetic the creators are going for.
Unfortunately, as of now, there is no prototype available for use. All of the designs proposed in the campaign, as well as the visuals behind the assets used gives a really solid first impression; however, there is no way of knowing how the platform will fair until its available for testing, at the very least. There’s also a lack of editing apparent on the campaign and its website, hopefully it will be rectified in the future.
Either way, it would be interesting to see a new outlet for Early Access. Some games would truly benefit from this system. Until Levl Up Bros rolls out for testing, I’ll continue picking through the mountains of Early Access titles on Steam, searching for gems.
I didn’t know what to expect when I first read the unique concept of Pulse:
Journey as Eva, a young girl who [h]as lost her sight at an early age, and has since developed the unique capability to see the world around her through sound.
This first-person adventure allows players see what Eva “sees”: a semi-transparent world full of vibrant colors and polygon shapes. The transparency mixed with the shapes reminds me of an abstract C4D (Cinema 4D) effect. Sound obviously plays a very important role in Pulse. Rain drops, walking, wind, birds fluttering, and running water can all help get a glimpse of the dark world surrounding you. Jumping in place also helps if you don’t have room to walk.
There are these little, white animals called Moko that you can throw, which creates a sound when they land. Mokos are also used to get through obstacles throughout the game. Sometimes you have to throw them into little barrels they have to run in or sacrifice them to open the next level. They follow you around, waiting for you to need them—so cute, with their cute little faces. At first, I didn’t want to throw them and lose them. Throw them. Throw them everywhere. It really helps.
Each Moko has its own facial expression: angry, questioning, happy, scared.
Pixel Pi does a great job of making players feel like they are blind too, which makes the game tough to play. With no map, the transparent world is deceiving and makes traveling a confusing trek. What you think is a clear path to a far away cliff in the back, is actually a wall that doesn’t fully appear until you’re against it. I got lost, a lot. Eva does leave glowing footprints for you to trace your steps, which was a little helpful. Whenever the world shakes or turns red, you’ll know you’re going the right way. I still had to stop and take breaks to make sure I didn’t become completely discouraged. Also, stay out of the water and try not to stumble into the unknown.
I saw this screen a lot.
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The story is vague—on purpose—for most of the game. Eva is on a pilgrimage her in which village didn’t want her to go, and the world and her village are in danger of collapsing. An obscure bird appears throughout your journey to give you cryptic messages about the events leading up to now. These hints help you to piece together what has/is happening to the world. I wasn’t really attached to the story; it felt like something was missing. Maybe a cutscene or something to show a little more background leading up to the beginning of Eva’s pilgrimage. A little something extra to make me care more. The scene could have still been through Eva’s eyes—or maybe jumbled pieces that the bird could remember—allowing players to have a better connection with her perseverance through the obstacles ahead of her. I was more interested in the obstacles Eva had to face and discovering more of this unique world.
The game is short, about an hour, possibly longer if you take the time to get all of the achievements. It can be completed in 30 minutes if you speedrun. There’s even an achievement for completing it in 30 minutes or less.
I wanted to love this game. I really wanted to and I really tried. The concept is great and the world has a lot of secrets I would like to discover, but I don’t think I’ll be playing Pulse again. The world is beautiful, but the thought of having to go through the trouble of seeing it just deters me. However, I would recommend trying it for the different experience. It’s not like any other game I’ve ever played, and I don’t regret playing.
I definitely want to see more from Pixel Pi. They are a talented group with a lot of creativity and imagination. There is definitely more worlds and stories they are holding onto. I hope this is only the beginning for them.
