Caesoose.com

Tag: Mac

Gaming Week 41: Fotonica (PC/Mac)
The simple graphics really work in Fotonica’s favour, giving a striking look to an otherwise familiar genre.

I stumbled upon Fotonica whilst browsing notonsteam.com, a website committed to popularising indie games that deserve recognition, but aren’t getting said recognition due to their inability to get on Steam. Fotonica stood out to me, with it’s sharp graphics and weird name, I decided to take the plunge and paid the developers the whole $2.99 they were asking for (It’s on sale at 50% off right now). All I can say is: I’m certainly glad I took the plunge.

Terrains are different for each level, giving variety in an otherwise unoriginal game. This level composes of bridges and landscapes that get generated as your run further and further.

The mechanics of Fotonica are simple enough, it’s an endless runner game that gives you the task of surviving for as long as possible by jumping over gaps between platforms. You’ll pick up the controls in no time, and from there on out its a case of learning the levels to make sure you get as many points as possible in your run up to the end of a level.

Each level is different and unique in style, from bridges to landscapes, the vector based graphics don’t let up, allowing for some variety in an otherwise simple and repetitive game. Graphics settings can be changed from the options, letting you choose from vector graphics or filled in graphics. (an example of filled in graphics can be seen below)

The arms/hands are a nice touch, giving you a sense of perspective as to where your character is and the speed they’re going as the arms flail faster and faster.

Fotonica has 4 individual levels, each with it’s own aesthetic, as well as a Endless mode. Each level tracks your highest score, and is posted to the games built in leaderboards. If Fotonica ever comes to Steam, this will improve dramatically with more stages, more endless modes, and a steam friends list integration. For the moment, achieving a high score doesn’t mean much, this is through no fault of the leaderboards though, and is more a reflection on how limited you are in the level designs. There are rarely more than 3 routes you could chose from, and it feels like once you’ve got one route nailed down, there’s no need to choose another. If the developer was to do a weekly challenge with different levels/objectives, this may make the game more competitive, allowing for great replayability – something the game seems to be lacking at the moment.

As you approach your fastest speed, the graphics change to gold, which gives you more score in the final tally of your points. It’s a nice visual change that ties closely to the mechanics of the game, allowing you to know when you’re doing the right thing without looking at some text.

Fotonica is currently waiting to be Steam Green-lit, and I feel it could definitely use your support. The gameplay is solid, and the visual aesthetic is fairly unique in this genre of games. Being green-lit would allow the developer to add the following extras to the game:
- 2 Completely New Levels! with new awesome electornica music and new scenery!
- 2 New Endless levels with different aesthetics and music and play styles
- 2 Difficulty settings to let you play an even faster version of Fotonica
- 4 new 2-player levels
- 10 New Achievements!
- New options to customize your soundtrack, the position of the camera and more.
Which in my book, sounds pretty awesome. Fotonica is already a fantastic concept in its own right, but with support from the community and a reason for the developers to work on it more, it could grow into something amazing.

4/5

p.s. My quick look of Fotonica can be found below:
11/10/2013
Gaming Week 8: Proteus (PC/Mac)
Proteus starts out how it means to go on, by giving you an island which is free to explore, and doesn’t tell you a thing. You make the story here, the game just merely gives you the tools to make it.

You start off Proteus in the middle of the sea, and what lies before you is a island. This island, we are told, is randomly generated, similar to Minecraft. But somethings different, note quite right. We’re told it’s random, but the island seems too perfect to be random. Statues appear on top of a mountain, as if they were placed there by an artist; paths and trees envelop the island, but it all seems to be laid out so right that it can’t be random, can it?

Turns out it is random. Multiple playthroughs show that the island is always different, always random, but the art assets are always placed in a way that makes the island look thought out, planned even. This isn’t a bad point to the game, if anything it just adds to the awe of how awesome the island is to explore. Each player will have a slightly different experience, and that’s always a good thing in my book.

This is Autumn, a very solemn season

The game progresses through seasons to tell a story, and you can activate a new season by doing certain things. (I shan’t spoil how you activate these, that’s for yourself to figure out) Each season has it’s own unique feel, along with plants and animals that only appear in each one.

Everything in the world makes noises, and through these noises you’ll make the music to Proteus. You feel like you’re actually affecting the world, and it’s just another way in which you make your own experience. Rush too fast, and the music is out of sync, out of touch with the environment around it, too slow and the music just doesn’t sound right. Move around the island just right, and everything seamlessly flows into an invigorating experience, pushing you on to find a penultimate conclusion.

Night time in Proteus is a lovely time

Pros:
- World is beautiful and unique, in an industry where pixel art is going out of fashion quick
- Music is fantastic
Cons:
- Expensive for how short the game is
- After a few playthroughs, you have no reason to come back to the game
- Can be seen as boring for some
Overall, I’d happily recommend this game to friends and family, as long as they got it on sale. It offers a very unique and different experience compared to most standard games, but I can see a lot of people crying afoul of this being classed as a “Game”.

3/5
22/02/2013
Gaming Week 6: FTL: Faster than Light (PC/Mac)
Having played FTL for over 15 hours, I’d say I’ve had my fill of this very charming and addictive game. I know the game can potentially be played a lot longer (I have some friends who have played it 40+ hours) but for me, I’ve completed it and will give myself a rest for a bit.

“Now what is this FTL?” I hear you all cry, and I shall deliver. FTL is a top down space flight simulator where you have to manage all of the ship and it’s staff, in a way you could think of this as a theme hospital. You control each aspect of the ship, delivering power to each system as and when it’s needed. Fighting a pirate ship? Push power into the shields and weapons. Fighting on board your ship? Provide power to your medic bay to make sure your staff can be healed as soon as the fightings over. It’s all up to you, and the game encourages you to be adventurous in order to overcome a hoard of obstacles all at once.

Firefights like these are very common, be prepared!

The objective of the game is to get through 7 sectors to tell the alliance (which you are a part of) about the rebels plans. Sounds easy enough, but only once in my 15 hours of playing have I completed the game successfully. Each sector is randomised, and ensures that you don’t always have the easiest route, making you plot your course to the best of your ability. Within each sector, you have to jump to the end warp gate to get to the next sector, with each jump coming across an encounter. It’s in these encounters where the real adventure unfolds. You’re usually always given a choice of what to do in any given situation, so if your ship is in bad shape, skip attacking some pirates. It all comes down to a risk/reward scenario, with each risk being rewarded with scrap/missiles/drones. These are all useful for keeping the ship going, buying products at store, or upgrading the ship itself.

Here is an encounter after just jumping. To be aggressive or passive, that’s the question.

You will die in this game (be warned, it’s a perma-death), and at times it can feel very unfair. Encounters are semi-randomised, so you may end up in a situation where you only have 2 life bars left and the next warp drive you do puts you into the same territory as pirates. As much as this can take some getting used to (and infuriating at first) it ends up being a advantage in my opinion, as it means you rarely get the same gaming experience as other players. Each person has their own story about what went down, and that is a remarkable thing to have in any game of this generation.

Pros:
- Extremely re-playable
- Brilliant strategy
- Lovely 8-bit graphics
Cons:
- Randomisation can get a little too much and unfair
- No end game in sight
Overall I would have gladly made FTL one of my top 10 of games last year. It’s fun, got a little bit of charm, and a hell of a lot of strategy to make this an exciting (albeit short) experience.

4/5
08/02/2013