baconian

This is great. thanks Eric. I'm going to try plugging some of these into my parallax mapped terrain thingy and see what it looks like.

I kickstarted this and it's probably the happiest kickstart for me I gotta say, even though I did kick some nice starts including DFA. http://crossingsoulsthegame.com/ It plays like Zelda Link to the Past, mixed with a bunch of other 80s/90s classics, with a story like Stranger Things and some sweet hand drawn animation too. All of it hits the marks.

Some places, you never get everything done, and in case you do ever want to come back (the weather really was quite good a month ago...); http://megalithicireland.com/ - go looking for any of these places, and you'll probably find some helpful locals. And some amazing donegal beaches worth a visit; https://www.google.ie/search?q=donegal+beaches&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=aND7U-WvK6qg7AaMloGABw&ved=0CCgQsAQ&biw=1423&bih=1083 That you may have missed. Hope you had a good time!

I started working for Zynga last year, so naturally I started to consider the remote possibility that free-to-play games are not inherently evil. Jon Blow made the point that the limitation of free-to-play mechanics on games was akin to the limitations imposed on 80's sitcoms, it's a great talk you should see; http://the-witness.net/news/2013/11/a-speech-about-free-to-play-game-design/ But it started me thinking that actually as a kid, I did really enjoy the A-team, and is the A-team evil??? Maybe it's only free-to-play games that can never be art - and the sort of cynical consumerist attitude of the games industry as a whole can sort of migrate to that space and let the more traditional pay-to-play games develop and flourish as an art form. Anyone here have any mad opinions on this that will get me re-thinking my life? That's always welcome.

Actually I'm going to fix this, one reason I replied to this thread is that Minecraft displaced Mario for me in my top 3. Not unlike the O.P., somewhere between my lava moated Ice Fortress with attendant tentacles of exploratory mining leading to The Extended Nether Adventures, and exploring Stevan's museum on idle thumbs world 2 or 3 (?), Minecraft blew enough fuses in my head to topple even Mario.

Monkey Island 2: Le Chuck's Revenge would have to take the cake. It's just impossibly before its time. There still does not exist as good a combination of hilarious and thoughtful storytelling, difficult but satisfying and original puzzles, sweet ass tunes and incredible 2D art. Also, Thief: The Dark Project and Super Mario 64.

This is a great Idea, do this. I want to do this now too. I only finished Loom out of those, do not skip Loom, it's wonderful. The feeling you get after each of the later games up to escape is that of sadness of never being able to experience them for the first time again. Lucky you. =)

Thanks Twig, tegan, Rodi and Nappi! I had a chat with my mother about it, initially she wanted me to go ahead but after a bit more talk I understood that she simply wanted the best for me, and she accepted my issues. I've decided to respectfully bow out. Seems like it wasn't as big a deal as I thought, my dad would understand, you guys are right.

Kind of a very different situation to Tegan. My father died on Saturday 5th April last. I'm not posting this for sympathy though. I have an important moral life decision to make and for some reason I think you guys might be able to give me some help. The day before my dad died, I had my last conversation with him, it ended with me agreeing to start working with him in his new company. This was to be the third computer company my dad started up. I had been unsure about joining him in this venture for the previous month or so but the funding had just come through and I had to give him a straight answer. I had been worried about joining because I thought it possible that the software we would be working on would have military applications. In our last conversation, dad assured me that he had looked into this and it was possible that someone might use it for this purpose, however it was not the intended purpose. This was good enough for me so I agreed. My father has always been a great role model, kind, gentle, never abusing anyone in the family, always supportive. He never complained and died suddenly leaving my mother without any financial problems. I want to emphasise how great he was - it always takes me a while to accept when people hate their fathers, some of my friends have serious problems with this and I always initially try and suggest reconciliation. This is usually followed up by said friend's litany of patriarchal sins that I am always shocked at, given what I see as my own more or less idyllic family life thanks to such a great dad (and mum). I have been unemployed for a year working on my own, admittedly self-indulgent, video game and art projects in a kind of half ass way. I now need cash to pay the rent so I had thought that working with dad's new company would be good for me, especially after he alleviated my previously mentioned concerns. Now here's the rub; after the funeral, at which I confirmed to dad's business associates that I would honour my father's memory and my commitment to him, I went through the available info I could find on the new venture. I found mentions of intended military usages and the fact that the software would quite possibly be a tool in creating missile control programs. I find myself in a raw emotional state with the prospect of either going back on my word, betraying my father's last request of me that I confirmed to his friends and colleagues on the one hand, and betraying my own most deeply held principles about personal responsibility and non-violence. I remember my father telling me multiple stories about choosing not to work on military applications during his career, and find myself in the position of not being able to do the same in future; I plan to start a family with my partner soon enough. It's possible that my father had not discovered the info that I have, that has my head so wrecked right now. I am not really religious but although I am fascinated with religion, morality and spirituality, this decision is weighing hard on me. Any advice?

I would like to add that Thunderpeel was not entirely at the centre of some of the Feminist discussion threads, I noted that relative newcomer Luftmensch along with a couple of other new users would not let certain controversial issues drop that should have been dropped quickly, thereby goading our more unsuspecting members into raising their genuine issues, and seeming to take a lot of undue flak. MY 2c, get well soon, Thunderpeel!

Ok, Luftmensch, I'll bite seeing as everyone around here is too nice. You are on these forums. Also, did I see something in your blog about how hitler was really a misunderstood nice guy? Hmm.

Just to not repeat what's been said, I'll leave out lots of what I agree with above, and mention a game no-one seems to know about: Cursed mountain. It seems a bit clunky and drab at first but in fact is atmospheric, beautiful, and has an interesting and genuine-feeling take on aspects of buddhism. And as it was designed for the Wii late in the cycle it has some nice motion control aspects including a thing like Okami's brilliant drawing mechanic. Okami for the Wii, yes. I know it was a PS2 game first but only because Sony nabbed it with a cash advance. Perfect use of the Wiimote. Playing NES donkey kong was cool too. And Mega Man 9! I liked the Wii. Also I seem to remember this too.

I'd guess that there is currently a huge hump in the number of indie games being made and the guys at Valve are just trying to figure out a way of handing off a chunk of the evaluation work to the community. The worst thing for indie games in general I would have to say has been minecraft, even though I'm a huge fan of it, there seems to be a ton of people now assuming they can make whatever shit they want and call it a game...

How are you doing now Rusalka? Could it be something to do with your work environment? The air or water there???

Just to let peeps know about this great new Adam Smith article, spending a lot of time dwelling on Looking Glass's Thief series' 'The City' and relating this awesome atmospheric setting to strands of thought ranging through Dickens and GTA to literary tropes about decay and curiosity... It reminds me of a Will Wright talk in its coherence and free intuitive association. http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/03/13/outside-influences-of-crime-and-the-city/ This sort of thing is why I check RPS most days... EDIT: HUGE Thief spoilers!