A New Dawn: Moved to Independently-Speaking.com

3 02 2009

newdawn

Independently Speaking has moved! Well… kinda.

While Independently-Speaking.com used to redirect wuh-wuh-wuh surfers to the WordPress blog of the same name, Independently-Speaking.com is now the main site itself, with all site material available straight from there.

Have no fear! All links aimed at the WordPress blog will still get to their destinations un-harmed, while the RSS feed still works perfectly fine too! (even though I predicted that it wouldn’t)

So hail to the new, slicker site setup! But don’t you go worrying your little tooties there, mister – it’s still the exact same site, just with a cooler address.

Did I seriously just say ‘tooties’…


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Moving Over to Independently-Speaking.com Tomorrow

2 02 2009

is_logo.jpg

You may have noticed that, while the actual address for this site is independentlyspeaking.wordpress.com, the link www.independently-speaking.com will redirect you here also.

Sometime tomorrow, however, there’s going to be a bit of a change. A swap, if you will. www.independently-speaking.com will become the main site and independentlyspeaking.wordpress.com will begin redirecting there. I decided that Independently Speaking needs a proper site address and so, from tomorrow, it will!

Of course, moving the whole site is going to cause problems – RSS feed will probably stop working, previous links from other sites will become dead… but I’d rather get the move done sooner rather than later.

So don’t forget to add the new site address to your favourites/sign up to the new RSS feed!

You may also note that this is my 100th post since IS began. Hurrah!


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Best of Global Game Jam 09: Part 6

2 02 2009

entropy

Entropy
The Entropy Team
Boston, MA, USA

Brilliant painting excellence. Set land into a rotating planet and float clouds in the sky – then after 1 rotation, the view zooms out so you can admire your handiwork. You’ll spend the first minute in awe of the brilliance, then the last 2 minutes etching words, faces and god knows what into the sea.

lostcolorsLost Colors
Lighthouse
Ankara, Turkey

Choatic 2-player madness. Playing as two balls, your mission is to escort the third red ball to his destination – however you’re being pelted with good and bad spheres. Catch the good, dodge the bad, make it to the end. Oh and don’t touch each other either – it’s baaad, mmkay?

browncloud

Brown Cloud
The Kranzky Bros.
Perth, Australia

Another extremely odd one. Playing as the ‘King of Winds’, the objective is to fly around, suck in the brown clouds, spit them out as one big cloud… and repeat. Graphically it’s got some very nice effects going on – it’s just the brains of the Kranzky Bros then you have to wonder about…

And that ends the ‘Best Of’ series for Global Game Jam 2009! We’ve got a fantastically mixed bag, with some ingenious, some beautiful, some sinister and some downright ridiculous.

See you again next year, eh?


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Categories : freeware, Indie Game

Escape From Hollywood: Run Elephant Run

2 02 2009

runelephantrun

I found this just too endearing not to post. John of Armor Games has posted the threequel to the Elephant Series which includes Elephant Rave and, of course, the awesome Achievement Unlocked.

Run Elephant Run is the story of our dear little elephant and his escape from fame, on a mission back to his sweetheart in Africa. As completely silly as it is, it’s extremely well made and is a lot of fun – plus the technobeat which runs throughout just fits the game perfectly.

It’s Armor Games’ unofficial Global Game Jam game, with John finishing it in under 48 hours:

“I started on Thursday morning and wrapped up Friday night before leaving on a small mini-vacation to the coast.”

Give it a go now over on the Armor Games site.


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Best of Global Game Jam 09: Part 5

2 02 2009

custodyCustody
Akrasia
Santa Cruz, CA, USA

Possibly the most meaningfully-developed idea of the bunch. Based around the view of a 12 year old whose parents have split and now run separate lives, the child is stuck in between both parents’ lives and every movement of the child shapes the territories of the parents. Wow.

bobandbob

The Ex-Chipendales Bob & Bob in: Together in the Dark, Raiders of Lua Temple
TeamBob
Paris, France

I’m usually against really long, tedious, pointless names, but this one I can stand, mainly because the game provides lots of 2-player fun. Enter the temple, find treasure and work together to get it out of there in one piece. Good, solid co-op fun.

farmerMove Mouse to Fulfill Destiny
Fast Farmer
Boston, MA, USA

I really like this one a lot. As the seasons pass, you must plant the crops, let them grow, then bring them in as food for your friends to eat, while all the while building up your infrastructure. It’s the little things about this which are also so great – quoted from their GGJ page: “In your youth, time seems to pass more slowly and you may not know exactly what you’re doing, but as you age, you’ll find your footing and perhaps a partner to share the journey. What will remain when you’re gone?”. Remarkable.

You’re nearly there! Head on over to the final part of this epic saga.


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Best of Global Game Jam 09: Part 4

1 02 2009

consume

Consume
Sardinemen
Angouleme, France

Touching little collect-em-up with a bit of a sinister side. Collect the sparks which fly from the logfire and put them back to build the fire up and reveal the entire scene. Fail to grab a spark in time and it will burn a hole in the image. Pretty imaginative.

sunbun

Sunbun in the Sky With Diamonds
Backslash
Hamar, Norway

I’ll admit, I nearly was put off playing this due to the atrocious name, but I’m glad I did – it’s brilliant fun. Dodge the enemies’ bullets and destroy the baddies to make Sunbun grow bigger and bigger. Gets absolutely crazy with bullets and enemies all over the place.

gardenanticsGarden Antics
TeamSIX
Madrid, Spain

The sheer oddness of this gardening bonanza drew me to share it with you. The animations are pretty bad and the collision detection definitely needs some work… but come on, the dog poos green! GREEN! That’s gotta be worth something.

See what else was shaking at the Jam in Part 5 of our guide.


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Best of Global Game Jam 09: Part 3

1 02 2009

pulse

Pulse
Team 4lfa
Utrecht, Netherlands

Another artsy one which also sounds awesome too. Two players work together to try and keep a beat going. The better the timing, the better the beat sounds, the more full the music gets and the faster the sparks fly on screen. While it didn’t exactly keep my attention for a great amount of time, it definitely did wonders to my senses.

lemmings

The Lemming Condemning
Quicksand
Hamar, Norway

A gloriously silly setup – stop the lemmings from falling off the tittering rock by firing cacti at them. It’s simple, it’s ridiculous and it put a smile on my face.

gamejamgame

The Global Game Jam Game Jam Game!
Team 4!
Newport, Wales

Both the silliest name AND the silliest game I’ve come across so far. Rush around slapping the Global Jam developers to make sure they don’t fall asleep on the job. It’s an extremely simple game with terrible graphics, but I couldn’t help liking it. They may have possibly appealed to my love for needless violence, who knows.

Head over to part 4 of the ‘Best of’ guide for even more free delights.


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