Days after PAX PRIME, I can finally say that “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth” is available for purchase on Desura.com!
This game features traditional animation, unique platforming, and a story with an emotional conclusion.
The game is available for Windows, Mac and Linux, and I’ve confirmed it should be able to run on all these systems (let me know if you have any issues).
Ok, then. It’s been about one week since my indie game in development, a hand-drawn 3d puzzle platformer called “Drew and the Floating Labyrinth,” was listed on Steam Greenlight (see that page here). I hesitate to write about it yet, since I’m sooooo close to reaching 1,000 “yes votes,” but the visitor count has slowed down to a crawl, so I won’t get there for at least a few more days.
Have you seen a hand-drawn character in a 3D game before?
What is IndiE3?
Most people already know what E3 is: one of the largest video game advertising outlets in the world. They show a variety of AAA and indie games, most of which from the biggest companies and publishers in the world. But what about the rest of the indie community? There are thousands desperately trying to find their place to shine, most of which actually deserve it with great games worth playing. But as expensive and limited in time as E3 is, it feels exclusive against these people.
And so, IndiE3 was born in 2014, days before E3 began, through a couple comments on Twitter. It blew up into a (somewhat) huge event, with hundreds of indie games on show, dozens of panels by fans and professionals on a variety of topics, and over a thousand people tuning in to the live streams. It was a revolution, and one indie gamers and devs have been waiting for a long time.
(update 2: I’m using all the restraint I have not to swear here. I just found out my demo had a element incomplete: a level where Drew is supposed to change eye color was only half done. The judges are unlikely to notice, the eyes were barely noticeable even when they were there, but still, that’s incredibly frustrating. It’s probably too late to update the demos on the site anyway. No doubt this won’t be the first time this happens… anyhow, the demo has been updated for the rest of you to try.)
(update: Mitchell Lum kindly filled devs in that over 150 entries were in the contest this year. Not nearly as many as I expected, makes me feel much better. I still have a slim chance of winning, but you never know until you try. And given how few entries there were, I’ll be sure to have as many people as possible I know to enter next year!)
So I finally put an indie game into a contest.
When you make a game, project, research contribution, etc., where do you show it? Typically, you take to online and submit it to contests, conventions, conferences, and other places hoping for recognition.
I’ve been to a couple research conferences before, and they tend to be small events with dozens of awkward researchers saying hi to each other, while getting to make a powerpoint presentation of something they’ve dedicated years of their life towards while hoping in vain that someone else in the room is as excited as they are. Typically, this is purely meant as a resume booster, and I feel similar events are the same: it’s good experience, but it won’t change your life as much as you hope. When it comes to game development however, press and exposure is important even if futile, your game will not be seen if you don’t at least try to put it out there, and people won’t flock to you to see it without exposure elsewhere. Also, game conventions also tend to be exciting and get thousands of interested attendees, so the energy is better. The various online contests for indie games probably won’t get you attention, but can sometimes get you money if you win a prize, and can lead to your game being showcased elsewhere, all the better for you.
