We had a chance to sit down and have a chat with Alex Poysky who is the lead PR rep and for Super Mal Parit (SMP) who are currently developing the city building/RTS Towns. We were privileged enough to then be joined by the rest of the development team and then all kinds of crazy antics went down! Read on for an exlusive look into the past, present and future of Towns!

IGM: So lets just start off with this, if someone had never heard of your game Towns before, how can you best describe it to them?

Alex: Towns is what you get when you mix dungeon keeper with Diablo and add Dwarf Fortress` extremely freeform system to it… I want to make an interjection and say that our game is nowhere as deep as Toady’s masterpiece, and that we have the utmost respect for his work. I will never claim to clone him, or even try and be him, he is the master at what he does and I am not ashamed to admit it.

IGM: Okay folks so please don’t accuse SMP here of cloning Toady’s ideas – as you can see they are very respectful of their elders! Towns is inspired from a few great games, but was it set up to be the game it is today from the start or are players getting to play a game much different from your original design ideas?

Alex: At first Xavi, the lead developer, was alone until he hired me as a scripter (which I was rather awful at), but I also brought in my own ideas. Shortly after, Ben Palgi (AKA Burningpet) was brought on board as an artist. He has proved INVALUABLE to the team, bringing a serene and clearheaded mind to an otherwise cluttered table.

Xavi and I bash heads over new ideas all the time and Ben is always there to help arrange the pieces. You could say that Towns is what it is because we each bring something different to the fray. We recently hired Sphaz (Artien Bel) to the mix, and he has taken charge of the scripting department.

So you could say things have been evolving. At first it was a city building sim then the dungeon got added, we saw the absurd potential for heroes and random loot as soon as it was in and decided to go for it. Shortly after, the auto production system and the 2.5D viewpoint came into play. We have a series of set goals for each large update and if we manage to make it in good time, we’ll add all sorts of goodies.

IGM: Awesome! Before I begin to pester you about the details on Towns and its future, I just want to get a question in about the small team you work with. From what you have said there are four of you on the team for Towns? Can you tell us about any troubles you have run into as an indie team that other people may want to plan ahead for when trying to make their own games? Anything that you could have changed or prepared for that would have made the creation of Towns any easier?

Alex: Well yes, I am actually well aware of all of the difficulties upon forming an indie team. It took me two years to get the chance to even be a part of a team. Things have changed now, but one can’t forget their humble beginnings. If anyone ever needs help with their game I can offer advice (@alexpoysky), I am more than willing.

People will trash your project, they will take your hard planned and thoughtful series of essays about gameplay ideas and rip it up on forums, do not be discouraged! These people don’t know what it takes to make a game. Find a cohesive team, find people you can trust, and fight; it’s worth it!

IGM: Sounds like solid advice to me, we all know how ruthless the internet can be these days. Towns has evolved from a city sim into a game where players can really forge their own adventure by starting from scratch and building their way up the social ladders until they are ready to seek treasures and fame in the wilderness. Have you guys ever thought about a multiplayer component to the game where players could visit their friends’ town or even create one together?

Alex: Don’t get giddy just yet, it’s still a ways off, but yes, there will be a multiplayer portion. We will have an update in which all we do is plan the multiplayer out properly and execute it accordingly. We will try and give the best multiplayer experience possible, ideally an overworld, or a meta-game of sorts. If the Hero system works as indicated, you might even be able to send heroes to other people’s towns.

Now this is still all very green territory, so please, please, PLEASE don’t judge us if things get a bit off in the end. But multiplayer will make an appearance.

IGM: So this won’t be some cheap addition that many games make just to add the “Multiplayer” tag to their game. You guys will have it all nice and fleshed out to actually be worth something! This is great news and I personally can’t wait. You guys recently released your new version along with a patch for Towns. Can you give us any information on what the team is currently working on, or something to get these hopeful players drooling over a future update?

Alex: Well the next updates will all be tied into the Hero system, it will be the largest chunk of content and may need a few months of work to be feature complete. Basically we will need a few things done before the hero system is 100 % done:

1: A shopping system for the heroes

2: A tavern system to attract external people and heroes, creating a wealth of new gameplay

3: Alchemy and potion system

4: Guild system

5: Quest system

6: MAKE DUNGEONS COOLER!

***Ben “Burningpet” Palgi joined the interview at this point ***

IGM: Now that we have you here too Ben, can we possibly get some details on the art side of the game too? What would you say is your inspiration for the design and can you tell us about anything new you have been working on for Towns?

Ben: Well, the first thing I wanted to do when I came on board was to convey the atmosphere of old-school role playing games, so I looked to various games from the SNES era. The biggest noticeable input of mine that you might see is how close the camera is to the game, unlike many other city building games. This is also done to get the player to be “near” the characters.

IGM: The camera being that much closer is something we really like, it makes the game feel more like a game and less of a sim. You can actually see what is happening and feel more involved too.

Alex: I actually want to applaud Ben’s work here, when he came on board, buildings were the same size as civilians, really… rustic…

IGM: So had Ben not showed up, we could be playing in some strange world where everyone was a giant?

Alex: Yes, exactly. I can’t draw stick figures, and Xavi.. well look at version 0.20. It was a MONUMENTAL task, and he has done a stellar job.

Ben: Another thing I wanted to convey was the townsfolk as a peaceful bunch; to contrast them with the horrors that awaits them in the future. Notice that many of them smile, it is almost like playing Farmville. In fact, some may even think, even for a second, that they are playing Farmville, until all the crops come to life, kill you and cook your liver…that’s kind of sharp contrast we’re going for too.

Alex: I actually get scared when a bunch of hobgoblins pour out of the dungeon entrance and maul my little hippy guys.

IGM: I like what you did there, can you tell us anything about what you are working on lately? Any new models or anything that might stand out?

Ben: What you see here is the same principle applied, a lovely pastoral-looking field. We also changed how maps generate. See how the trees are grouped as forests? This was done to help convey that “real RPG world” feel that we wanted.

So we now have trees gathered in forests, rather then just scattered and in the near future, we will also name those forests and mountains, so each mountain will have its unique randomly generated name (so does the forests). This will help, I believe, further convey that RPG world feel.

*** Xavi Canal joins the interview***

Alex: Quick interjection, Xavi Canal, the lead developer and THE man behind towns, just arrived.

Ben: We are not quite sure if he is really a man, we still believe he is an advanced AI that speaks in binary.

IGM: Hopefully his translator works well enough for interview purposes then…

Xavi: Sure, my translator is a bit broken but it will do the job.

IGM: So in that picture like you said, we’re going to be seeing forests with trees gathered as well as the names for locations. Will the names be seen on the minimap, or are there any plans to add markers to the minimap for easy navigation?

Ben: Oh, names on the minimap…well, we havent thought about the minimap. Good suggestion there, but we thought about having small wooden signs in the middle of the forest which, when you hover over them, you could see the name.

IGM: That sounds good enough! Xavi, can you comment on anything you have been working on recently that players should be looking forward to? Also, how would you all say Towns is going as far as general development schedule? Are you on track, behind, ahead, and do you have any idea or set amount of features you want in the game before you think about having the official release?

Xavi: Well, actually, we are working on a lot of mini-features. “Mini” is not a good word, because they are really good features! One example can be the task priority system: the players can prioritize some taks (ie. food tasks) over others. We also are planning to include some kind of path/roads.

About the final release… well, we really don’t know when it will be released, we have a lot of features to add, so, to say a date will put pressure over us.

IGM: Would these roads allow for faster travel or a safer way of getting around? Or are they just to make the town look less barbaric?

Xavi: Well, you said it! Nicer towns and fast walking. We have to tune it really well because citizens right now walk at “full” speed.

IGM: Will they be getting a speed reduction, or will the roads make them walk even faster?

Xavi: Yes, speed will be reduced on the roads. That’s why we have to tune it well. Right now you can spend 2 hours of gameplay just setting your town up. So, if we reduce the speed…well, you see what I am getting at…

IGM: …yeah – it would make things take even longer to get your town started presumably. Have you guys thought of horse mounts, or carriages to make transportation faster down the road?

Xavi: We thought about 3D Worms. Ben, please, explain the 3D Worms idea!

Ben: 3D worms is when everytime we make grand suggestions that are so hard to put in the game, Xavi jumps up and yells – “3D WORMS!”

When he doesnt understand anything, its “BLEEDING EYES”.

IGM: So you guys have your own little code system? That’s great! Would the carriages or transport fall into “3D Worms” then?

Xavi: Taking into account that we don’t have roads right now, it’s closer to the 3D Worms than the current build.

IGM: Also, just to let the readers fully understand…would it be possible for someone to give an example of a “BLEEDING EYES”?

Xavi: Well, Bleeding Eyes is when I make a nonsensical phrase like, “today went the garden to my with kids”.

Alex: BLEEDING EYES! We all scream it out, the first to scream it wins. We are a tight-knit group, even though Xavi can be an asshole…!

Ben: No, he is an advanced robot from the future…and someone just coded it in his program.

Xavi: Yes I am a very advanced asshole ogre-robot.

IGM: Alex, with you being PR and all these days, how do you guys feel about the reception of Towns? Are you happy with the feedback you have received and the direction the game is taking? Is it getting more of a following than you initially had thought it would?

Alex: Yes to everything! We only wanted to make a game we wanted to play, it kind of went huge when we got the whole top 100 on Desura, and of course, the top 10 upcoming games in alpha article on IGM has helped a bunch as well!

We are quite content with how things are going Desura, Gamersgate, and other goodies, as well as the press! You guys rock, seriously, a round of applause for you and everyone on your team, it wouldn’t be possible without all of your hard work!

IGM: Thanks! None of us would be able to do the work, or at least enjoy it if we didn’t have developers like you lot to make it interesting! You guys are a riot, perhaps you should think about doing a developer’s video or audio blog sometimes – we’re sure many players would find it hilarious! Anyway, thanks for answering our questions.

Alex: Not at all! Thank you for taking an interest in us and our game Towns. It’s been a real pleasure.

Hopefully this brings you a bit closer to the people behind Towns and gives you the desire to check out the game and show these crazy developers some support!

Drop by the official Towns site to get more details on the game, or you could head on over to Desura to pick up your copy right now now!

Apparently “mainstream” gamers pay up to $60 for explosions, tanks and shootery fun…BWAHAHAHA! Don’t tell them but we have it for free over here in the form of Commmand and Conquer spin-off, Renegade X: Operation Black Dawn.

While not the full release of Renegade X (no multiplayer), Operation Black Dawn has been in the making for the last year and a half as a standalone single player campaign and it is now free for the taking. The game itself has quite the history behind it – it was first released in the form Unreal Tournament 3 mods, based in the Command and Conquer universe. The basics of the game is that it takes Command and Conquer to ground level in a tactical third and first person experience and even retains some of the RTS elements.

It looks pretty generic but of a pretty high quality and considering it’s free, well, who can complain? Oh hang on, was that some form of a Tesla Gun? Oh and a Minigun! Eek! Oh sorry I should probably share this with you – the trailer is below for your viewing and the download link is here – Windows only I am afraid folks.

More information on Renegade X: Operation Black Dawn can be found on the official website.

The latest blog from Sauropod Studios goes back to the very basics of their upcoming RTS Castle Story and explains why it is that voxels make such bad castles, hence why they are not using them in the game.

There’s a reason that you won’t find many castles made out of cubes outside of Minecraft. Have you ever had anyone or anything actually attack a castle in Minecraft? No you haven’t and if you had the structure would soon collapse as if the tower in a game of Jenga. Cubes don’t support each other is the message from Sauropod Studios, which is why they use 1×2 bricks in Castle Story.

As you can see in the picture above, once a single cube is taken away from the wall, the rest of the cubes above it simply fall away. What you would need for a stronger wall is a way for the components to support each other via overlapping. This is why Castle Story, a game in which you build a castle to defend your population for monster attack, uses bricks. You’ll see in the shot below that by having bricks rather than voxels makes your castle a hell of a lot stronger against attack. Of course, you’re bound to get a few idiots who forget to overlap each layer of brick…

You can see how this small design decision makes a big difference in Castle Story and it also goes to prove that while voxels are good for building things, they are awful when placed under more stressed scenarios, i.e. firing a cannon at them. This just in: voxels are not the best thing ever created. The best thing about this new blog post is how it displays the developers’ way of thinking to make this an RTS that is more than what a lot of people want to call it, “another Minecraft inspired game”. While there are resemblances to Minecraft in that you can build things in Castle Story and a lot of the land is build out of destructible voxels, that is about as far as it goes.

The whole blog post can be read on the official Sauropod Studios blog and more information about Castle Story can be found on the official website.

Cubemen, an RTS/tower-defence game has brought the good battle to Desura as it is now available to purchase and play in its alpha version for a discounted price.

Good versus evil, cowboys versus indians, red versus blue – it’s the classic, back-to-the-roots battle that you will find in Cubemen, a simple tower-defence title from 3 Sprockets. For some reason it has that Frozen Synapse meets Army Men vibe, which is of course not a bad thing. The apparent appeal of the game is its simplicity and fast based gameplay – stripping the tower defence genre down to its basics and allowing players to face computer or human in two-way battles.

Cubemen has just been permitted on to Desura amongst the other promising alphafunding titles and is available for a discount of the full release price. That discount currently stands at 50% off at £3.49.

So, if you want to try your hand at killing hordes of blue and/or red soldiers, head on over to the Desura page, you can find more information on the game’s official website.

After impressing players everywhere on PC and PSN, Omni Labs have announced that Eufloria will be coming to iPad in February and have celebrated the fact with a very fine trailer.

Eufloria has become one of the go-to games when showcasing the diversity and quality of indie games for the last couple of years. Essentially it is an ambient and more relaxing approach to the real-time strategy genre. You must command tiny seeds to plant themselves on planets but, as is often the case in the genre, an opposing side is fighting for the same turf. The game’s simple palette and minimalist design is what often ignites a fervor in players, especially those seeking art in games.

The developers will be bringing all of the updates and upgrades of the PSN version of the game to the iPad version, which includes new music, new content, new features and a new interface specific to the touchscreen. The developers say they don’t want to give too much away but additional content is on the way, one feature of which will be a new Ambient Mode, which focuses on more “nurturing and growing, relaxing and playing with the new terraforming mechanic.”

You can find out more information on Eufloria by visiting the game’s official website.

Sauropod Studio have revealed their debut title, Castle Story, an impressive RTS that lets you build your own castle block-by-block and then tasks you with defending it from other players and monsters.

Taking place on a series of floating islands, Castle Story utilizes voxels to ensure a dynamic terrain; but this is no Minecraft clone. Rather, Castle Story operates more like a traditional RTS as you give out orders to the Bricktrons to build castles, collect resources and fight off monsters.

At the moment the game is still in a very early alpha stage but the developers have been keen to share their progress in a gameplay video and have been met with a very good response from internet users. Even the famous Notch was impressed by the game tweeting “Holy bags, Castle Story is looking amazing! I wish I had made it, haha. :D <3"

From what we can gather, Castle Story will also contain multiplayer as the developer mentions that the castle should be defended against monsters and “other players”. They have confirmed via their Twitter account that the game is built in the Unity 3D Engine and will therefore be coming to Windows and Mac. Make sure to check out the whole video below which contains not only the game’s pretty cool construction mechanics, but the more exciting destruction part of the game!

Find out more information on Castle Story by going to the official Sauropod Studio website.

Make sure to follow them on Twitter as well if you wish to stay on top of the updates.

Cryptstone Games have released a trailer for their upcoming single player sci-fi RTS (with RPG elements), Star Prospector – a game in which you mine and survive.

Star Prospector seems to be nearing the end of development now but there is still no sign of a release date even a year after the game was announced. Cryptstone Games are adamant that they have found something unique within the RTS genre with Star Prospector, but it may take some convincing for the rest of us to believe that.

In the game, you take control of a prospector, explained to us as a one-person mining salvage and construction unit. Upon creating a new profile, a unique galaxy is randomly generated which leads to different missions each playthrough, of which there are 100 to complete. In these missions the player is transported to a unique planet and must build a base, gather resources and create units to complete the various objectives. Scanning and mining ore, building wells to collect fuel, and establishing a secure mining operation are keys to success, as you survive the hostile units on the planet.

To be honest it all sounds very familiar and the only element that Cryptstone point towards as being their unique selling point is the combination of the RTS and RPG elements. Hate to break it to you guys, but that has been done before. Many times before. Regardless, check out the trailer below and see what you think:

More information on Star Prospector can be found at the official website. There is no release date for the game as of yet but it will be available on Windows, no other platform is mentioned.

If you were one of the lucky people to be at MineCon last month or at PAX Prime earlier in the year you may have seen Carbon Games show off their fantastic shooter/RTS called AirMech. If you missed it, now is the time to catch up and sign up for the closed alpha!

Mechs are, more often than not, a big hit with gamers so you are more than likely going to be very excited about AirMech – a game in which you can change between a jet and a mech to blast down your foe. But it is more complex than a simple shooter as AirMech is more akin to an RTS. It’s the typical base building and unit managing that you have come to expect of the genre.

Now not only does AirMech look a lot like Herzog Zwei (the classic Mega Drive/Genesis RTS) it also stands up to one of its greatest features; multiplayer. This is in fact 2v2 multiplayer in which the players can take their own loadouts in to the match and customise from there on in. Obviously there are a plenty of upgrades to unlock and players reap the benefits of playing the game obsessively as we suspect may be the case.

People have been talking about the game for a couple of months now but it was not really until now that we were able to see a quality video displaying the game’s various aspects. As you can see below, this is now the case so feel free to take a look:

If you are excited as we are you may want to sign up for the closed alpha if you haven’t already. You can do so by heading over to this page and following the instructions.

AirMech will be available on Windows and Mac and Linux a little later on. Console ports are possible but will be even later. Carbon say that the game will more than likely be free to play too.

More information on AirMech and Carbon Games can be found over at the official website. Follow the developers on Twitter to keep up to date: @CarbonGames

The videogame industry is currently becoming saturated with my least favorite paying method: micro-transactions. I have simply refused to buy a game that requires me to pay regularly to enjoy the game. One of the major reasons I purchased a PS3 over the Xbox 360 was because I don’t want to pay for online access.

This post is just as much of a review for a specific game as much as it is praise for the way this game handles monetary transactions.

Battleforge, a title in EA’s ‘Play4Free’ micro-transaction plan, was released in 2009 but has a evolved and addressed many mistakes since its original release and has become the best micro-transaction game of all time.

In Battleforge you purchase cards that serve as your in-game units in a way that can be best compared to Magic: The Gathering. Cards require monuments that you build in one of four types: Frost, Fire, Nature and Shadow and a certain amount of resources that Power Wells generate autonomously until they are emptied.

Those who enjoy a deep set of base building tools like those featured in Battle for Middle Earth II won’t find anything of the sort here: in Battleforge the best defense is a good offense.

Micromanagement of troops and resources play a tremendous role in the outcome of the battle in-game but the greatest strategy lies in the deck building.

A recent feature added into Battleforge is the ability to earn one BF (Battleforge) point by playing a game for at least fifteen minutes, redeemable once per day. While most booster packs are close to 300 BF points, you can now purchase 1 random card with that 1 point so you could potentially have a completely new deck if you played for fifteen minutes each day for twenty days.

On top of all of that it’s just a good, solid rts game. In fact, it’s my favorite real-time-strategy game of all time.

With several different campaigns for single-player, two-player and four-player plus randomly generated single-player and co-op maps there’s no lack of content and no reason you shouldn’t check this excellent game out right now.

-E

World of Keflings is a charming downloadable title from NinjaBee that vastly improves on the first game.  World of Keflings is still very much a casual game; there’s no way to fail and you won’t be dying and restarting any levels. The game has a deliberate and relaxing pace making it perfect for quick pick up and play sessions – but somewhat dull if you plan on playing for hours on end.  World of Keflings is a typical sequel.  It expands and improves on nearly every annoyance in the first game, but doesn’t mess with the core gameplay formula.  If you found Kingdom for Keflings enjoyable, you will love World of Keflings.

All of my major gripes from the first game have been fixed in World of Keflings.  It was really tedious to trek back and forth in order to pick up building components and place them.  World solves this by introducing extra burly builder Keflings that follow you around and carry all your building pieces for you. It really helps reduce the monotony of the game.  Kingdom’s forest kingdom got really stale after a few hours of gameplay; World of Keflings introduces two new kingdoms (Desert and Ice) to build and travel between.  This is an excellent game design decision and helps to keep things fresh all the way through.  Multiplayer is still here, but there’s local multiplayer now too.  The final noteworthy improvement is the ability to call all the Keflings who need a job assignment to your giant.  This is a huge help in managing your kingdom and resources.

World of Keflings still has its flaws though.  It can be very hard to pick-up exactly the right thing.  It’s really frustrating when you grab a hardworking Kefling by mistake when you really want something else.  I even found that sometimes my interference resulted in the Kefling piling up resource in an empty field. In a casual game about organization and resource management – cleaning up these types of messes is very frustrating.  If NinjaBee is listening, I would also like to plead for some sort of threat or challenge to befall your kingdom.  Remember the random natural disasters in SimCity?  Something similar would really spice up the Kefling series… you could even make them optional.

The story plays a much more prominent role in World of Keflings and has some really cool cut scenes.  I don’t know how to describe them, but it’s basically a 3D picture that you move through.  Everything is frozen, but the camera moves around the 3D objects.  I’ve never seen it before and I am definitely a fan.  It made me pay attention to the cute story about a King and his bratty daughter.

The same great catchy music returns to World of Keflings and the dialog is still delivered in a humorous gibberish.  The art direction has stayed the same, but the graphics have definitely improved and everything has greater detail and is a lot less blocky.  The new kingdoms, builder keflings, and resources all add some much needed variety as well.

World of Keflings is a great sequel.  It improves on the first game, but stays true to what the game is all about.  If you hated Kingdom for Keflings, World of Keflings isn’t going to sway you.  But if you found Kingdom, fun but flawed I think that you’ll be thrilled with the improvements that NinjaBee has made.  At $15, World of Keflings would have been overpriced so I am glad to see NinjaBee abate the 1200MSP XBLA trend and price their game at 800MSP.  You can’t help but recommend the game at $10.