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increpare
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icon <3 DROD (+3)  
Tried playing a demo years ago, didn't get into it. Crappy finnicky bubblegum-coloured puzzle game.

Played through all the demos some time later after a friend's recommendations. Liked 'em a lot.

Found myself revisiting it a couple of months ago and purchasing TcB, which I loved. I didn't finish it (a lot of the puzzle games I like the most I haven't finished). I'm sad that I won't know what happened for the rest of the story, but happy that I was able enjoy as much as I did.

Playing both DROD and SpaceChem this year have probably meant that it's been the best puzzle year of my entire life.

I have so much respect for this community. All of you. You're all excellent. As a mostly solo independent game developer, it's scary and amazing to see what great and beautiful things a big group of thoughtful participants in a community like this have accomplished.

:thumbsup

[Last edited by increpare at 09-04-2011 12:27 AM]
09-04-2011 at 12:10 AM
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Syntax
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Great post and I definitely agree about the community being as amazing as it is!

Now that you have TCB, I'd suggest getting JtRH (which is playable within the TCB install as an SMS I believe). I prefer it to TCB as the restriction on elements make the lynchpins a lot "cleaner" in my opinion.

I'm sure you're aware you can also play any of 100+ (?) custom holds too for free.

Glad you're enjoying DROD and welcome :) (oh, and SpaceChem is in my top 10 too)
09-04-2011 at 05:20 AM
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Banjooie
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You're all excellent.
I don't think you've been paying /that/ much attention if you haven't noticed me. D:

Tell us more of this 'independent solo game developer' thing though.
09-04-2011 at 06:37 AM
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increpare
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Syntax wrote:
Great post and I definitely agree about the community being as amazing as it is!

Now that you have TCB, I'd suggest getting JtRH (which is playable within the TCB install as an SMS I believe). I prefer it to TCB as the restriction on elements make the lynchpins a lot "cleaner" in my opinion.
I think one DROD game a year is about the most I can enjoy in good conscience (unless the next big thing appears before then, obv :P ). But good to know that the other ones have different level design styles.

Tell us more of this 'independent solo game developer' thing though.
I make games, and live with some other people who also (mostly) make their own games. It's a fun setup. Money is a bit tight for me, but I get by. There're a bunch of other people making games who live nearby - we meet up every Tuesday in a cafe to work/talk about stuff. A very fortunate situation.

[ Given that I'm not really part of the community here (just wanted to pop in and express my appreciation), it'd be impolite for me to talk about my stuff. You can google my username if you want. ]
09-05-2011 at 10:52 AM
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Banjooie
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"It would be impolite of me to tell you about myself, so go through the effort of googling me and check out my website."

...I kind of like it. All the benefit of actually spewing out everything he's ever done, /and/ it's more effort on my part than his, /and/ it makes him look theoretically modest.

Can we get this guy to do Caravel's marketing?


09-05-2011 at 12:40 PM
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Tahnan
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increpare wrote:
[ Given that I'm not really part of the community here (just wanted to pop in and express my appreciation), it'd be impolite for me to talk about my stuff. You can google my username if you want. ]
I'm part of the community here, so I'll happily talk about his stuff. It's...strange. Offbeat. Occasionally kind of anti-games, maybe. But Untris is pure brilliance.
09-06-2011 at 02:50 AM
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Jatopian
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The main thing I find frustrating about Untris, having played it for fifteen minutes or so, is that I can't be sure you're guaranteed not to need the red lines.

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Make your pressure plates 3.0 style!
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09-06-2011 at 05:42 AM
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west.logan
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Okay, I tried Untris and it took me about two full minutes to actually figure out what was going on. Then I laughed. Clever, but very difficult. Perhaps I've played Tetris too much the down-way but my brain isn't working in reverse.

I couldn't figure out about whether red lines were necessary or not either.

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09-13-2011 at 02:51 AM
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Banjooie
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From what I understand, neither is the guy who actually made Untris.
09-13-2011 at 06:21 AM
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I just have to add that I'm hypnotized by the OP's work at www.increpare.com. I've been playing through his library for days. It looks like he's done several collaborations with a name I recognize - the VVVVVV guy, Terry Cavanagh.

His stuff is experimental and bizarre, often unsettling, and entirely fascinating. I think his site makes a great case for games as art. His works are mostly very short, and many leave you contemplating the gravity of what you just did. He uses the language of game mechanics as his medium, and through them subverts a gamer's learned expectations in a compelling way. The relative shortness of his work makes me feel like you could digest these in a gallery much in the same way one might experience physical art.

I feel inspired by his output. Independent game development is something I've always wanted to dabble in, but I've always shied at the prospect of beginning a large project. But if increpare can create - what? 200? - 200 games over a few years, why can't I churn out a couple? Why not be unafraid and experimental?

So there's that. Thanks.

(Sorry Increpare, I wasn't sure if this was a touch-and-go landing on your part, so I'm not sure if I'm having a conversation with you or about you.)

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09-13-2011 at 06:28 AM
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Jatopian
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Banjooie wrote:
From what I understand, neither is the guy who actually made Untris.
Well now I just kind of feel like I wasted some time. :(

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DROD has some really great music.
Make your pressure plates 3.0 style!
DROD architecture idea generator
09-13-2011 at 06:41 AM
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increpare
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Banjooie wrote:
From what I understand, neither is the guy who actually made Untris.
But I did make it! (unless somebody did something like that before that I don't know about, which is certainly possible. I did look, though...).

RoboBob3000 wrote
Independent game development is something I've always wanted to dabble in, but I've always shied at the prospect of beginning a large project.
Most independent games are pretty small in scope (though there're plenty of notable larger ones). Most people making games do it as part of a community of some sort. And there are lots of communities who hold game making events - Ludum Dare (48 hour), experimental gameplay project (1 week), and then tigsource (1 month, though nothing running right now), and I'm curating one myself somewhere at the moment (and will be hosting a miniLD this weekend as well), and there are many others. A lot of larger games have come of out events like this (World of Goo came from EGP, VVVVVV came, sorta, from a clik of the month). So, there're lots of supportive communities, especially if you want to work on something small-medium size. If you're in a bit of a rut, those are events that I would recommend participating in (ludum dare especially).

Big projects are scary.

[Last edited by increpare at 09-13-2011 12:46 PM]
09-13-2011 at 12:40 PM
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Banjooie
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STEPHEN LAVELLE wrote:
Woah. Good job. Any hints? I’m pretty crap at it…

That's sorta what I was getting at.
09-13-2011 at 09:22 PM
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Jatopian
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increpare wrote:
Banjooie wrote:
From what I understand, neither is the guy who actually made Untris.
But I did make it!
He's saying you don't know whether the red lines are actually necessary. I personally kinda wonder if you even beat the game.

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09-13-2011 at 10:43 PM
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increpare
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Oh, haha, totally misinterpreted that sentence.
09-13-2011 at 11:00 PM
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If you start with an odd number of blocks on the board it's impossible.
If you start with a number of blocks divisible by 4, it's theoretically possible to not need lines, although certain configurations of blocks will require them (eg a block in the lower corner with holes above and beside it)
If you start with an even number of blocks (indivisible by 4) then you will need at least one line.
09-13-2011 at 11:45 PM
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CuriousShyRabbit
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This game is making me feel like an idiot. I thought I understood, but I guess I don't.

Click here to view the secret text

09-15-2011 at 07:11 AM
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Banjooie
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Having gone through a lot of increpare's games, I'm going to say a lot of them are incredibly creepy.
09-15-2011 at 10:09 AM
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west.logan
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CuriousShyRabbit wrote:
This game is making me feel like an idiot. I thought I understood, but I guess I don't.

There were some situations like that which confused me too. I found a certain mysteriousness to it but mostly I found I ran into trouble when I placed a solid line. Could it possibly be a bug? I noticed a few "fixed" in the comments.

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09-15-2011 at 01:03 PM
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RoboBob3000
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west.logan wrote:
CuriousShyRabbit wrote:
This game is making me feel like an idiot. I thought I understood, but I guess I don't.

There were some situations like that which confused me too. I found a certain mysteriousness to it but mostly I found I ran into trouble when I placed a solid line. Could it possibly be a bug? I noticed a few "fixed" in the comments.
One thing to note is that if you have just added a line, your next move needs to be a play that would have completed that line(s).

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09-15-2011 at 04:06 PM
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increpare
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CuriousShyRabbit wrote:
This game is making me feel like an idiot. I thought I understood, but I guess I don't.

Click here to view the secret text
Huh. That looks fine to me. If it's as you say it is, it should work. Haven't tried entering in that exact grid, but tried something similar on a similar grid (remove L from right side with full top row) and it worked. Drat. :no

( Screenshot might help if something like this comes up in future - for this game the false bug report rate is about 10:1 , so I gotta be careful nothing's being overlooked ).

[Last edited by increpare at 09-15-2011 09:07 PM]
09-15-2011 at 08:59 PM
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Rheb
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increpare wrote:
Huh. That looks fine to me. If it's as you say it is, it should work. Haven't tried entering in that exact grid, but tried something similar on a similar grid (remove L from right side with full top row) and it worked. Drat. :no

( Screenshot might help if something like this comes up in future - for this game the false bug report rate is about 10:1 , so I gotta be careful nothing's being overlooked ).
That happens to me about every fifth time I press the restart button. Just restarting again usually solves it, and I've never encountered any problems while playing.

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09-15-2011 at 09:11 PM
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increpare
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Ah, just what I needed. Can't believe I didn't notice that before. Fixed, and thanks so much.
09-15-2011 at 10:23 PM
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Trickster wrote:
Trickster wrote:
CuriousShyRabbit wrote:
This game is making me feel like an idiot. I thought I understood, but I guess I don't.
Thanks a lot guys, I just wasted the rest of the night playing Untris. :P Stupid addicting non-DROD games, wasting all my DROD time...
Aaaaaaand so far 420 is as low as I can go. :( When will I get back to the beginning of this terrible ungame???

Argh.
Or as high, no?

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09-16-2011 at 06:15 AM
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