The Indie Bundle Mega Thread

[BLOBERT]

SHIT WAHT COULD THE DUNGEON CRAWLER BE THEN!!!!!

 

[Metro]

Yeah I doubt it's Frayed Knights since that retails for $20+ and the guy was pretty lukewarm regarding Steam. I looked at the RPG on Desura to see what could qualify and, other than Frayed Knights the choices are: Pitman, Lost Labyrinth, Cardinal Quest, and Hack, Slash, Loot. From the wording it looks like it might be Cardinal Quest (which was actually available for free once) -- the developer is actually working on Cardinal Quest 2.

Since I already own Defense Grid and have no interest in the other games (probably Alien MegaDeath and Astro Tripper) I doubt I'll spend $4-5 on Cardinal Quest alone.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Hopefully it's not Cardinal Quest since I snagged that during the free event/sale/thing and wasn't impressed at all. I realize it's supposed to be light and casual but it just didn't really tickle my fancy compared to free roguelikes, or even compared to Dredmor.

Still, for bundle price and having a copy on Steam, ehhhhhh. Might be worth it. Plus that was some months ago IIRC, dude very well may have improved it. I'm not even sure the version I played was a full launch version or not. Depends on the other Steam games for me if it's Cardinal Quest, I guess.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

SHIT WAHT COULD THE DUNGEON CRAWLER BE THEN!!!!!

Grimoire

 

[Metro]

Hopefully it's not Cardinal Quest since I snagged that during the free event/sale/thing and wasn't impressed at all. I realize it's supposed to be light and casual but it just didn't really tickle my fancy compared to free roguelikes, or even compared to Dredmor.

Still, for bundle price and having a copy on Steam, ehhhhhh. Might be worth it. Plus that was some months ago IIRC, dude very well may have improved it. I'm not even sure the version I played was a full launch version or not. Depends on the other Steam games for me if it's Cardinal Quest, I guess.

Been really disappointed in the recent bundles... although I guess there isn't much I want in the indie circuit right now.

 

[Metro]

Some guy posted on Steam forums there was a bug with Desura that showed the games on his list so it's basically confirmed: Defense Grid, Alien Zombie MegaDeath, Astro Tripper, Hack, Slash, Loot, and Explodemon. Just going to wait for a single Steam sale on Hack Slash Loot.

 

[TripJack]

defense grid worth 4 dorrars?

 

[sgc_meltdown]

Kingdom Rush is better, unless you like 'make a maze with your towers' TD games

 

[Metro]

Defense Grid is a prototypical tower defense game with a good amount of polish. I can't really think of anything bad to say about it -- it is what it is. It's been as low as $2 during Steam sales so I guess it just depends on whether or not you'd think you want the other games.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Defense Grid is THE BEST TOWER DEFENSE GAME I'VE EVER PLAYED HAIL DEFENSE GRID. HAIL STEAM. HAIL GABEN.

I guess I'll probably pick up this bundle. 3 games I don't own for $4ish should be fine to fuck around with.

 

[Metro]

IMO, someone who doesn't want Hack, Slash, Loot buy the bundle and give it to me!

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Didn't bother grabbing the demo since I'll probably just buy the damn bundle, but Hack, Slash, Loot looks nicer than Cardinal Quest. Looked it up online. Certainly hope it ends up being HSL. Looks to execute "Fast casual popcorn roguelike" a lot better, though god only knows if it ends up being fun or not.

 

[Metro]

I tried the demo of H/S/L for about twenty minutes and have to agree with the Codex assessment when it was panned a couple of months ago on the News forum. It's probably worse than Cardinal Quest since in H/S/L there is no character progression at all, just gear progression. Unless they didn't put it in the demo you don't level, you don't gain abilities, you don't have an inventory aside from your paper doll, there's no crafting, etc. Also, near as I can tell, there are no healing potions or food. You just find scrolls that give you health and they don't drop very often. It's inferior to Dredmor and I imagine any other halfway decent rogue like in every way imaginable. Never mind the bundle I wouldn't even pay $2.50 for it on its own. It's basically a $0.99 cent Android app.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Played a few short games of HSL so far, and I kinda disagree with the panning. It's true there's no XP or character advancement beyond picking up equipment, and in large part (At least early on) your success depends almost entirely on luck, but despite that I'm getting a kick out of it. It's brutal enough for a roguelike (You die all the goddamn time (At least as a wizard, the first class I tried)) but simple enough you can zone out clicking on monsters and running around dungeons. This is after playing 20 minutes so it's entirely possible I'll change my tune after a while, but it gives me a good first impression at least.
And it does have potions Mr Metro, but I didn't see any scrolls. Could depend on the quest/adventure you select, since I heard each one gives you different enemies and dungeon styles and such. I was trying to stop some ogre from opening up a demon door, and was running around in a goblin and rat infested dungeon. Had some barrels I could knock open for potions, but like all items in the game you have to use them or leave them.

Although I will bitch about some of the execution of the game. Disappointing you can't run the game in a widescreen resolution, because if you have the combat log turned on (Which you kinda want since it'll tell you what happens when you use potions/scrolls) it takes up half the goddamn playing screen. The tiles seem kinda small too, which makes it easy to misjudge distances a bit. Still, for the roughly $1.70 I spent on it I'm not too bothered.

Edit: Well shit. Just as I post that I fire up a game as a saracen and he looks way better than wizard initially. Start with 3 defense from plate armor, and have something like a 61% chance to hit in melee and do more damage than the wizard's magic missile. Also found a potion that increased my chance to hit in the very first room, and in the second room got an amulet that increased chance to hit and damage. I AM UNSTOPPABLE

Edit 2: And what the fuck is this! Found a goblin that's smart enough to skip turns, so if I want to kill it I have to move up and give him the first attack. Never had that with wizard since he was ranged, and didn't have that in my first battle with the saracen. Maybe because that was a group of enemies and this goblin's a loner? Might depend on the goblin's class/type too. This jerk's a raider, not sure what the others were.

 

[Metro]

Dunno, I just don't think it's a very good game. Pretty shocked it got on Steam when stuff like Frayed Knights doesn't.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Does seem weird how Valve arbitrarily accepts some games and denies others. You'd think there'd have to be some logic behind it, but damned if I can figure it out.
Deepest I've made it in HSL so far is dungeon level 2, where I was killed in short order by hobgoblins with better equipment than the goblins of the previous level. Even once you start getting some gear the game is 99% luck it seems. Definitely shitty if you expect any depth at all. I also wonder how the fuck you're supposed to unlock extra classes. I guess by finishing quests? Since I've barely made it to dungeon level 2 once in an hour of messing around I have no goddamn idea how long it's supposed to take to go from 3 available classes to 32.

Also WHAT IN ABSOLUTE FUCK. Out of mild curiosity I wandered back to the HSL webpage and looked at the dude's twittermafeed to see what he was doing now that it hit Steam and saw this mentioned by someone. "I am really into Hack, Slash, Loot. really great use of screen space and beepy boops." REALLY GREAT USE OF SCREEN SPACE!? COMPARED TO WHAT!? WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOUR (screen)SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE

Edit: Well fuck. Friendly lizards can use altars. Just had a lizard ninjaloot a permanent bonus from an altar.

 

[Metro]

Hack slash... poop. Amirite?!?!

 

[Turjan]

So, what do you guys think of the IndieFort Bundle?

It contains the Kenshi alpha, Cardinal Quest, Black Market, Wanderlust: Rebirth, Devil Whiskey, Steel Storm: Burning Retribution for 5.99 or more.

 

[Metro]

For $6 is a pretty decent price although I have to admit some of those games I'm unfamiliar with so they might be crap. At least it's a better genre assortment than most of the Indie Royale stuff which tends to be 75% bullet shooter/shmup/platformer. Kenshi is still in alpha.

Oh, also they're taking 'preorders' on the new Groupees bundle (no idea why they're doing preorders when they announced the games and the price doesn't rise). $4 min gets you Baconing, Madballs, Plain Sight, Beat Hazard, and Sol Survivor. $10 gets those and Killing Floor. I guess KF is worth the extra $6, although it's usually $5 or less at every major Steam sale. I definitely think the others are worth $4 (although lain Sight is crap).

 

[Turjan]

For $6 is a pretty decent price although I have to admit some of those games I'm unfamiliar with so they might be crap. At least it's a better genre assortment than most of the Indie Royale stuff which tends to be 75% bullet shooter/shmup/platformer. Kenshi is still in alpha.

So I bought this. Kenshi is not only an alpha version, but also an "evaluation version", basically crippleware (or demo of an alpha, if you feel generous). I don't get Devil Whiskey to run, so no idea how that is. The rest is a very mixed bag, but I didn't have time to look more closely at them, so I will see.

 

[Multi-headed Cow]

Some herping and derping on the HSL forum:
http://chat.hackslashloot.com/generalchat-6585-chat/What-a-terrible-game-33195.html

Summary: OP lists some of the things wrong with the game, such as being based entirely on luck. Cue "Yeah, well, that's like your opinion and not fact, man" and "WELL ROGUELIKE" as though that excuses the design.
Also look at that terrible forum. OP is always first, then the posts are listed in descending post date so the newest post is at the top and oldest is at the bottom. What the hell.

Still loading the game up here and there for a quick play but it really is pretty bad. Guy could've done so much better with it. It's a "Turn brian off and click a lot" roguelike instead of "Leave brian half functioning and go on a short adventure" roguelike, which is more along the lines of Doom RL which has some strategy, different builds, and different tactics.

 

[sgc_meltdown]

A dark turn of events! What could this mean for Cow? Will our multi headed hero swear off indie bundles at last? Will the Double Bovine break free of his gaming obsession? Tune in next time for more deals and more thrills

Also I was warming to devil whiskey until I heard how bad to the bone old school it was, without stats on the items screen and shitbunches of random encounters. I must shamefully withdraw my wallet from this engagement.

 

[Angthoron]

Hmm, dunno, if it's anything like Mordor or Demise I think I have to buy it. Quite enjoyed those two despite the obvious flaws they had.

 

[Metro]

Told you it was a shitty game. It's just way too simplistic to be entertaining past ten minutes. The problem with the mechanics is that... there are no mechanics. It's no better than a free-to-play flash/browser game. In fact, there are far better free-to-play flash/browser games.

 

[BLOBERT]

BROS WAIT IS DEVIL WHISKEY WORYTH ANYTHING!!!??