Teleglitch

[Wrestlevania]

Yep, I keep doing exactly the same thing.

It's those pipes full of swarms that get me, even with a detector.

[Sno]

I've gotten a fair bit further into the game, six or seven levels in.

I felt like i could have shit my pants when a giant screeching, machine-gunning robot death worm started chasing me through the level.

I died, of course.

[Wrestlevania]

Oh cool, not seen a baddie like that yet! There was a terrifying octopus robot thing in one of the early gameplay trailers, not looking forward to disturbing one of those... 

 

Best monster experience I've had so far was pressing a big red button in a warehouse space I'd wandered into, which instantly shut the doors and released two massive, dual minigun-wielding robots. I also died, of course. 

 

I take it you know how to spot secrets and then blow them open with explosives? So much to discover in this game!

 

NB: You seem to get slightly smoother graphics if you go into 'Options' and change the 'Distortion' setting to vertex (assuming you haven't already).

[Sno]

You don't have to waste explosives on those breakable walls, you can crack them open with just a couple shots from any gun.

Also, if you don't already go for them, armor and personal teleporters should be your highest crafting priority.

The armor is made from two metal plates, which in turn are made from... i think six empty cans? (Both crafting items can be found loose in the environment, but canned meat leaves behind empty cans too.)
The personal teleporter is crafted from two microchips and either two 25hp med packs or one 50hp med pack. (It's an item that gives you a one-time respawn on death!)

 

Speaking of canned meat, it can push you over the 100hp limit up to 150hp.
 

The damage-dealing capability of certain weapons also just drops off dramatically after a point, you definitely have to cycle some of them out of use or you'll just get overwhelmed.

[Wrestlevania]

I had no idea you could break into spaces using gunfire! Good to know.

 

And yep, the armo(u)r is essential. It's only 4 cans per plate, which isn't too bad. But I didn't know scoffing canned meat could push your health over 100! Excellent tip. I'd forgotten about the personal teleporter though, even though I've used one once a long time ago.

 

I think some of the weapons are a dead loss to begin with, to be honest, and not worth crafting in the first instance. The autopistol, for example, seems to just chew through ammo without being particularly effective or accurate. You're better off looking around for an assault rifle, as it packs a heavier punch and is more accurate over distance. If you need a short range rapid fire weapon, the basic nailgun seems to be a good choice--it's easy to make, reasonably accurate, and nails seem to be fairly common from game to game.

 

Need to get crafting...

[Sno]

If you build it in the first couple levels and use it then, the nailgun seems like a good way to save up on other, better ammo for the mid-game levels.

[Sno]

I defeated the robot death worm, killed a giant tentacle monster, and was then electrocuted to death by a swarm of nearly indestructable robots.

 

This game is amazing, people should play it.

 

The first parts of the game have you running around like it's a bit of an arcade shooter, it's a bit misleading about what it is. By the later levels, you're just creeping around with a gun drawn constantly, always checking your corners when you enter a room, playing it like it's a survival horror game. Then you happen upon a room with supplies and a narrow and easily defended entrace, you sit your ass in the corner and open up your crafting inventory and start making things, hoping that a roaming group of enemies doesn't wander in while you're preoccupied. There's so much tension and caution and planning for when these massive explosions of violence inevitably happen, where dozens of enemies, each deadly on their own, start swarming after you through the hallways of these randomly generated levels. You're not elegantly circle-strafing around these mobs of enemies, you're scrambling around desperately.

Oh man, i love it. I love this game. What a great surprise this thing was.

[juv3nal]

FYI it's on sale on steam right now for any cheapskates like me who were waiting for a sale.

[osmosisch]

While I love this game, I'm not good enough at it to get to the parts that sound interesting(nor likely to invest the time to become so). Basically as soon as shooty enemies show up I die horribly almost immediately, even with armour.

[Sno]

According to Steam achievements, i am part of less than 1% of people who have both purchased and finished Teleglitch.

I love this game though, love it.

This was the starter advice i gave to Osmosisch.

[sclpls]

Despite how lo-fi the graphics are, I appreciate the basic comprehensibility of the world here. In my mind, that makes it quite a bit better than something like Monaco which was kind of a pain in the ass to look at.

[Laco]

God, this game is just incredible. Having been away from any kind of gaming machine for months, I only got a chance to start playing last Friday. Last night I finally reached the end of level 4 (unlocking the option to start new games from level 3, hurrah!), and somehow actually ended up making it all the way to level 6. Killing the main bosses in level 5 was basically a reflex action, I was so tense by then that as soon as the doors shut I fired off all 16 rounds from my double-barrelled rifle without even having a chance to think about it.

 

According to the Steam achievements list, almost as many people have completed the game (0.8%) as have defeated the giant robotic worm that killed me in level 6 (0.9%). Does this mean I was almost at the end of the game? Beating level 7 is actually rarer (0.7%) than beating the game, so I don't know how that works yet. But I've kind of intentionally avoided looking up any advice, Teleglitch feels like a game I'd like to learn gradually and organically through play, like Dark Souls.

 

The chunky, wobbly pixels are beautiful, but I especially adore the sound design. I can see why they decided against having any music play during the game. The silence interspersed with random machinery sounds from different rooms certainly increases the tension, and it's vital to learn to recognise, for example, the stomping footsteps of gun-wielding enemies starting from level 3 or 4. My favourite, though, is the sound of a monster being sucked into the anomaly. It's such a minor, understated "gloop" noise, so powerful because you're dispatching enemies without wasting precious resources, but always so risky because you're, you know, standing and dodging them right next to a wall of instant death.

 

Definitely my GOTY.cx. (It would probably have been Spelunky, but I'm on a Mac and won't have access to a Windows machine until next year, so this is giving me my fix until then.)

[osmosisch]

i recommend trying out Nuclear throne if this game floats your boat.

[Laco]

Oh, cool. I have the original Wasteland Kings build from the Mojam 2 bundle, but haven't checked it out because there's waay too many released games that I'd like to play rather than "waste" time on alphas. I'll definitely get into Nuclear Throne when it's finished, though. I've enjoyed all of Vlambeer's stuff so far (well, maybe not Serious Sam), and this seems like the most substantial thing yet.

 

I love that this has basically become the year (era?) of the roguelike-like. New Binding of Isaac soonish, and I can't wait for 868-HACK to be released on IBM-compatible Personal Computers.

[Sno]

According to the Steam achievements list, almost as many people have completed the game (0.8%) as have defeated the giant robotic worm that killed me in level 6 (0.9%). Does this mean I was almost at the end of the game?

Not counting the alternate paths in the total level count, there are ten levels to play through in the game. So rather than being close to the end of the game, you were actually just getting to the hard part. Formerly difficult bosses will start showing up as regular enemies and they will actually be the least of your concerns.

[sclpls]

i recommend trying out Nuclear throne if this game floats your boat.

 

Screenshots of the game made me interested in it, but lots of comparisons to Smash TV made me less interested in it. Can you talk more about your experience with the game?

[Sno]

GB just posted a Quick Look for it today, it looks cool.

[osmosisch]

Screenshots of the game made me interested in it, but lots of comparisons to Smash TV made me less interested in it. Can you talk more about your experience with the game?

it controls exactly like teleglitch, the main difference is the visuals and that it takes much shorter to get going. There's no crafting though.

 

The quicklook is pretty accurate!

[darthbator]

Nuclear Throne was my favorite game I played at IndieCade this year. I've played a ton of it since it came onto early access. It's like the arcade game I always wanted to exist as a kid. I absolutely love it.

 

Teleglitch is also awesome. I think both games do an absolutely incredible job of conveying the "power" of shooting a weapon in that "overhead" perspective extremely well. Teleglitch has that amazing color distortion effect and some screen shake and nuclear throne has screen shaking and amazing sound. I also feel like both games nailed a really good projectile speed that feels realistic while still being slow enough for the player to track and then base subsequent shots on. 

[Sno]

I feel like it's probably worth throwing out a heads-up that Teleglitch has been updated with a bunch of different things over the last little while, like a dynamic lighting model and more flexible level generation, as well as the start of the game being a bit easier and the end-game being a bit harder.

[Wrestlevania]

Those sound like small but really good gameplay additions...

 

I'm going to have to pony up for the Die More Edition on Steam aren't I?

 

Scratch that, it's just popped up via Savy Gamer on a 48hr "75% off" discount!

[Sno]

I'd like to suggest the ambient soundtrack for the first Quake as the perfect accompaniment for the spooky new lighting system in the game.

I quite enjoy the changes the developer has made, especially the more flexible level generation, but even the balance tweaks. It gives you a chance to build up a bit of momentum and feel like you're accomplishing something before it just totally descends upon you and kicks your ass.

I've only replayed the first few levels so far, but the idea that the end game is now actually harder than before is kind of an uncomfortable thought, i just barely scraped through to the end of the game as it was when i first played it.

[Bjorn]

Scratch that, it's just popped up via Savy Gamer on a 48hr "75% off" discount!

 

It's also part of this week's new Humble Bundle. 

[Wrestlevania]

I quite enjoy the changes the developer has made, especially the more flexible level generation, but even the balance tweaks.

 

I feel a bit mixed about the updates to be honest.

 

The new lighting model is definitely prettier, but it seems to make spotting secrets much, much harder. I liked the stream of light through a crack in the wall in the previous version; now you get almost no perceptible indication by comparison. I'm also not in love with the changes that have been made to the camera's behaviour either. It doesn't feel quite as unique as the original release did, somehow seeming less isolating for your character.

 

I've only played about an hour of the update though, so I might just be being curmudgeonly and need to settle in properly. I do like playing with a controller now, weirdly enough. I'm much more accurate with sticks than I am wildly flailing with my mouse in all directions. I don't like how far the aim range extends, though. Moving the right stick from centre just a moderate amount seems to leap the reticule halfway across the screen—it seems much too far. I'm going to see if I can hack this down in a config file somewhere, or at least lower the sensitivity and/or dead zone.

[Sno]

Wait, what's different about the camera? I haven't noticed anything change, unless it's something that happened for the game's release on Steam. Additionally, there's a few gamepad options in the menus, those might be what you need. I'm not playing on a pad though, so i can't confirm what they do. "Aim radius" sounds like the kind of thing you're looking for though. I also haven't had any issue with the lighting system obscuring secrets to any significant degree, that might come down to monitor settings though.