Idle Thumbs 233: World of Blanks

[Jake]

Idle Thumbs 233:

World of Blanks

When walking through a place you've walked many times before, you see a small hole in the ground, decide to climb in, and now you're falling forever and ever and ever, unable to stop, unable to return to the life you had before you found the hole. This is the video game Downwell and this is Chris Remo's life after finding the video game Downwell. Elsewhere, Nick Breckon has gained control of an aircraft carrier.

Games Discussed: Downwell, Star Wars Battlefront, Spelunky, Daddy Long Legs, World of Tanks, World of Warships, World of Warplanes

• Listen on the Episode Page
• Listen on Soundcloud
• Listen in iTunes

[plasticflesh]

On the discussion of QWOP-a-like ancestry, I offer the 1982 Microsoft DOS game "Olympic Decathalon" as a link in the chain. Not obvious from this video is the frantic alternating key inputs required to do the sprinting and racing segments.

 

https://www.youtube.com/embed/hUwYFKF7wZY

[SuperBiasedMan]

Good "games discussed" list this week.

[dbgdbgdbg]

I feel like QWOP-like bullet hell would basically be Super Hexagon.

[Dr Mario Kart]

First you're mini-boss.

Then you're final boss.

Then you're Mahmoud Abbas

[Johnny Driggs]

Why this episode isn't called Cliffy B's Boss Key I'll never know. 

[Jake]

Why this episode isn't called Cliffy B's Boss Key I'll never know.

Because that's just the name of his game company. :\

[Professor Video Games]

Good "games discussed" list this week.

 

They left out Far Cry: Instincts

[Nappi]

I just checked out their website and my first thought was that someone should make a free-to-play multiplayer game where Cliffy B's Boss Key and J Allard's 529 Garage battle it out capture-the-flag style, only instead of flags they fight over bikes.

 

What is wrong with me?

[melmer]

ghostbusters-II-a-like

[elmuerte]

Because that's just the name of his game company. :\

Yeah, you wouldn't want to be slapped with a copyright or trademark lawsuit.

[Bjorn]

I'm assuming this must have been the Macho Man mod that came up:

[Vasari]

This is my favourite version

 

 

I guess Nick was confused and had combined that in his head with this mod that turns all the spiders into Spiderman

 

[Cbirdsong]

I always enjoyed this Skyrim mod non-sequitur: 

 

[Korax]

The thing I think is the most interesting about Downwell's development is how Devolver got involved. The dev was posting in-progress gifs on Twitter, Devolver saw them and thought the game looked cool, and then reached out to offer a publishing deal.

[Henroid]

Yeah, you wouldn't want to be slapped with a copyright or trademark lawsuit.

Can't blame the confusion about the company name though. It does sound absurd and joke-like.

[Henroid]

I prefer Randy Savage for Skyrim non-sequiturs.

 

[Dualhammers]

Downwell, like Spelunky, is a chimera I keep chasing. I've never been good at games that require intense focus on a moment by moment basis and I am attempting to use Downwell as a tool to rewire my brain for the better. Hopefully it can improve my focus without requiring some sort of stimulant drug.

[Ben X]

I had a similar thing to Chris with knowing a lot more about video games than my experience allowed for, simply by reading PC Zone every month (and watching friends play). I had it even moreso with films - I'd read loads about films even when I was far too young to see most of them. I still haven't seen Un Chien Andalou, but at age 14 when I first heard Debaser by The Pixies, I immediately got the reference.

[Salacious Snake]

I had a similar thing to Chris with knowing a lot more about video games than my experience allowed for, simply by reading PC Zone every month (and watching friends play). 

I have a specifically strong mental connection with that weird second-hand knowledge thing and CD-ROM games like Titanic: Adventure out of Time, because all those pre-rendered FMV confestabaloos looked so amazing in small, printed screenshots, so my imaginary version would be this fully interactive, 3D, shaded and texture mapped thing.

 

Those screens did not show how juddery, blocky and slow the whole thing really was.

 

Nothing against Titanic here, but CD-ROMS, man.

[Mawd]

Like Chris and the previous two posters I ended up building up weird second hand knowledge. Mine was over graphics cards before I even owned/had access to a windows computer just from being really into the hardware section of PC Powerplay as a kid. Aside from the themed columns and the occasional big review that hardware section just ended up being my staple, must always read section.

Oh and Downwell, where did all my time go?

[Chris]

Like Chris and the previous two posters I ended up building up weird second hand knowledge. Mine was over graphics cards before I even owned/had access to a windows computer just from being really into the hardware section of PC Powerplay as a kid. Aside from the themed columns and the occasional big review that hardware section just ended up being my staple, must always read section.

I was like this with both PC gaming and hardware, and cars. In high school I knew basically everything about all cars, mainly fast and expensive ones. Pretty much entirely useless knowledge, haha. Now I don't even own a car!

[CaptainFish]

I'm glad you guys talked about Downwell, I apprecaite hearing the Spelunky fanatic angle. I never got into Spelunky but I love Nuclear Throne, and this game feels a lot like that(obviously from a visual standpoint) but also from the the way I gravitate towards specific weapons and perks, rather than feeling like I have to grasp everything. There's also some Luftrausers in the use of wacky 3 colour schemes (Pastel and Vivid are particularly great! Grandma a close 3rd).

 

The combo stuff is really cool, but I'm not sure how I feel about how it's presented. I wonder how many people play a little bit and bounce off before they figure out the fun of chaining a bunch of bounces, or before they get to try Levitate which really makes combos a lot easier to do. The Levitate perk only changing the physics of your character without changing any other balance makes me wonder if high level players would stop using it. World 3 does introduce a time-based mechanic, but I haven't gotten there enough to know if dropping faster would make that easier or tougher.

As a weird aside, I play most of my 2d games on an arcade stick, as long as I can get the buttons to work out. It feels particularly great with Downwell, since it's uses 3 digital inputs. It also has a very arcade style presentation with a very narrow vertical field of play, reminiscent of a lot of early arcade vertical shooters. I might try that vertical monitor trick if I can figure out how to do it later.

[Chris]

I'm glad you guys talked about Downwell, I apprecaite hearing the Spelunky fanatic angle. I never got into Spelunky but I love Nuclear Throne, and this game feels a lot like that(obviously from a visual standpoint) but also from the the way I gravitate towards specific weapons and perks, rather than feeling like I have to grasp everything. There's also some Luftrausers in the use of wacky 3 colour schemes (Pastel and Vivid are particularly great! Grandma a close 3rd).

 

The combo stuff is really cool, but I'm not sure how I feel about how it's presented. I wonder how many people play a little bit and bounce off before they figure out the fun of chaining a bunch of bounces, or before they get to try Levitate which really makes combos a lot easier to do. The Levitate perk only changing the physics of your character without changing any other balance makes me wonder if high level players would stop using it. World 3 does introduce a time-based mechanic, but I haven't gotten there enough to know if dropping faster would make that easier or tougher.

As a weird aside, I play most of my 2d games on an arcade stick, as long as I can get the buttons to work out. It feels particularly great with Downwell, since it's uses 3 digital inputs. It also has a very arcade style presentation with a very narrow vertical field of play, reminiscent of a lot of early arcade vertical shooters. I might try that vertical monitor trick if I can figure out how to do it later.

You should send these comments into [email protected]!

[CaptainFish]

Done! With a bonus thing I noticed.