Indie RPG News Roundup – Sepember 21, 2010

Posted by Rampant Coyote on September 21, 2010

Back in the early 90’s, I was a poor struggling college student, and felt overwhelmed by the sheer quantity and quality of computer RPGs coming out at the time.  This was just on the PC (and, to a lesser degree, on friends’ Macs and Amigas). I really had no clue what the console world offered. Frankly, I couldn’t keep up with all the cool stuff coming out of the industry to feed my desire for some dungeon-crawling, role-playing action. I was delighted by choice, but really couldn’t keep up.

I’m kinda feeling that way again, with some really cool (if over-processed, by some tastes) big-budget mainstream titles out now, and some great indie titles competing for my time, attention, and money. As a gamer, it’s the right kind of problem to have, at least. I spent way too much time last night playing the delightfully weird indie RPG-and-shop-simulation Recettear, and the beta of Darklight Dungeon (mentioned below).

I think it’s a pretty good time to be a CRPG fan. (Even better if we get GOG.COM back… ) Where the mainstream game studios are leaving off, the indies are picking up – with a vengeance.  Anyway, here are  some tidbits on some indie computer RPGs that you might be interested in:

Dead State (Formerly Zombie RPG)

Game Banshee has interviewed Brian Mitsdoda of Doublebear. It’s a great read. In addition, Brian and Annie are sponsoring a Q&A with fans from now until Monday. So if you have questions about their upcoming – and eminently awesome-sounding – indie RPG, go over to their forums and ask away.

Telepath RPG

Work continues in this highly tactical RPG with a distinctive setting. Craig interviews a voice actress about her character in the game. Yes, it’s got voice acting, apparently. I’m really looking forward to this one, but the full version of the game is still quite a ways off (mid-2011 is the current estimate).

Darklight Dungeon

I’m a latecomer to hearing about this one. This is a very old-school dungeon crawler that mixes “real” 3D graphics with old school cardinal-direction exploration and turn-based combat. The beta download is now available! Please try it out and provide feedback to the developer, Jesse Zoeller. It’s got potential.

Cyclopean

Another Iron Tower Studio production, this H. P. Lovecraft-inspired indie RPG has been – at least for now – canceled. As a possible bright spot, Scott has suggested that he’s going to pursue a smaller, easier project in the immediate future, and Vince has suggested that once Age of Decadence is shipped and complete, they may shift resources to resurrect the project. I sure hope so.

Grimoire Chronicles

Freshman indie RPG & Adventure studio Gongoria has released their first RPG, Grimoire Chronicles. It is a JRPG-style game focusing on the adventure of Myra, a young witch, to save a friend. It features ten playable characters, and looks pretty cute.

Nehrim: At Fate’s Edge

I don’t normally cover mods, but since I had people email me about this one, I thought I’d mention it here. Nehrim: At Fate’s Edge is a fan-made major, super-extensive conversion of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and has finally been completely translated into English. If you have Oblivion, this free download will essentially give you an all-new game to play. Enjoy!

Eschalon Book 2: The Secret of Fathamurk

I just realized that I totally dropped the ball on passing along this announcement.  Well, it may be (two-week) old news, but Basilisk Games has announced an add-on to their hit indie RPG, Eschalon: Book 2. Entitled The Secret of Fathamurk, it should add an additional 5-10 hours of high-level play to the original game independent of the main storyline. It will require you to own the original game to play. However, it is also going to be a FREE expansion, automatically included in an upcoming expansion. As if you actually needed ANOTHER reason to pick up this game…

Din’s Curse

Speaking of expansions, Steven Peeler has been tweeting about his work on an upcoming expansion for Din’s Curse. No title yet that I’ve found, and nothing is set in stone, but he has been working on a lot of world modifiers (with names like Gigantism, Berserk, Poor Town, and Temporal Flux), anti-magic areas, advanced character modes and options, new monsters, and new classes. No word yet on the expected release date or price, but this sounds like it has been packed with a lot of playability.

Filed Under: Indie Evangelism, News - Comments: 2 Comments to Read



top