appology

I wish to issue a formal apology to Nifflas. It seems that in the interview transcript I posted here I accidentally included his email address. And, well, it seems that the spam bots picked it up. So, I've removed the references, and I just wanted to say sorry, I'll be sure it will never happen again.

Such an amateur mistake, I've really got to be more careful. Sorry, man.

In other news anyButton is planning on re-opening and moving to a .com. More news will be available when we figure it out. We might be doing a podcast too!

That is all.
~23

Spewer, long version

not actually that much longer, but this one has spoilers:

Today, Edmund McMillen was kind enough to let me try the Spewer beta. Now not a lot of you probably know what Spewer is, seeing how one of it's only mentions was on Edmund's Blog a while back, but I think that will change once it gets released. Spewer was made by Eli Piilonen, the programmer, Edmund McMillen, the artists, and Danny B. for music, and Jordan Fehr for sound effects. Right now it's only in beta, but it should be released in about a week.

Spewer is about a cute little...animal(?) that, well, spews. It regurgitates and consumes his own vomit to solve puzzles on a course laid out for him by The Doctor. Each puzzle consists of somesort of combination of walls/platforms, switches, spikes, the exit, your little spewer, and the vile liquid which he pukes. So, why does this little thing puke so much? Well, it can help you jump further/higher, or fill up spike pits to swim over (that's it initially). You only have a limited amount to start with (represented by the puke bar at the bottom of the screen), but you can re-consume it throughout the level to use it elsewhere (in the same level, you get a different amount of spew each level). That about covers it for game play, eventually it gets a little more involved (after chapter 1).

As for the art, it's similar to a lot of other of Edmund's games, which personally, is a style I really like. To me, the basic premise of Edmund's style is this; cute, yet utterly disgusting (to most people). This game isn't as offensive as some of his other games, like the C word and Carious Weltling (a game about a bird who pukes massive amounts of blood), although it does still have the more subtle disturbing aspects of Meat Boy (a platformer who's main character is a little guy made of meat, who leaves a little bloody trail wherever he goes). The game makes me a little bit nauseous when I play, I mean the whole idea of this cute little organism recycling his own vomit is a little unsettling, but it remains very cute. The background consists of The Doctor, a comparatively large figure who looks like a mad scientist. He does experiments, paces, and watches you somewhat disapprovingly as you jump and puke around to complete his challenges. He seems to be the one who has made you and is creating the challenges, but seeing how there isn't much of an intro, and there's no ending yet it's hard to tell the storyline.

The game play is fun and original, providing the player with challenges that show them new skills and test those skills. To be good at the game you have to learn fast and be kinda lucky. Because of the fluid physics, which are somewhat reminiscent of Dan Ball's water toy, sometimes gameplay is inexact, which can get frustrating. Then again I kind of suck at these kind of games, and there's still a week until the release, so a lot can change. So, with a little polish, which it's getting, this game could really turn in to a stellar little flash game. For me the game lasted about 2 and a half hours, but I take long on beating games, so more realistically you can probably finish it in under 2 hours, which is a good size for a flash game, and they might add more before release. I played the game all at once, because I couldn't find a save feature, which I'm sure will be there in the final.

When this game is finally released try it out, you'll have some fun. The art style and physics are very neat, and you'll probably be compelled to play the whole thing. Besides the main campaign there's also the level editor, with all the pieces in game (there's a lot of different tiles) to add some game play.

Spoilers:

In the game, after every chapter you get a new ability. After ch. 1 there's the white spew, which kind of hang midair, ch. 2 there's red spew, it's just like the original green, but it pukes more strongly. ch. 3 is the black spew, which solidifies once it stops moving, and ch. 4 is the yellow spew, which makes you immune to acid as well as being able to spit it.

the best ad ever (for an indie game)

So, Edmund just posted the first ad for super meat boy on his sites, and I must say, it is very amazing. I figured it isn't big enough news to post on anybutton, so I'll just post it here, free advertising for meat boy, woohoo. It's so awesome, it can't even fit in one blog post (view image or open image in new tab to view whole, I'm too lazy to downscale it :P, plus that would ruin some of the awesomeness) Behold, the majesty of awesomeness:

hi

hi, special shout out for my 2 followers! hey 20cc and kevin! Anyway, i would post my good writing on here, but im afraid itll get stolen... then again no one reads this. So maybe i will later. Anyway expect an interview with Jesse Venbrux and the guy who makes sumotori dreams soon, I'll start all that again soon!

hey look, I've already got a parody site!

So, 20cc, also from anyButton has decided to do another spinoff blog! he, of course, will be staring as himself (probably because of the low budget), but expect to see some pretty funny cameos on the comments (who knows, maybe I'll show up!). but, in all seriousness 20cc has decided to start his own person blog, named 20cc of Abnormality, and honestly, it'll probablly be updated more frequently and overall better than this one. Expect to see some good stuff there if he decides to post some of his writings.

And now for something completely differeT!

1,1,2,3,5,8,13,21,34,55,89,144

1
11
121
1331
14641
15101051
1615201561

Oh, and expect a Jesse Venbrux and Sumotori Dreams interview soon on aB. Also, i should make those interviews prettier with pictures.

Transcript for Nifflas Interview

Nifflas interview

Before interview AIM chats:
First chat (2/10)

(6:39:03 PM) 23: Hi, it's Logan from anyButton
(6:39:36 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Hey!
(6:40:11 PM) 23: so, I know it's late there, is there any way we could do a review in the afternoon (your time) over the weekend or next week?
(6:40:53 PM) 23: That's the only time I'll be on at that time, plus I need to finish thinking up some questions for you, and reviewing your games
(6:42:02 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): That should work
(6:42:27 PM) 23: great! can't wait :)
(6:44:13 PM) 23: you're in CET, right? so it's like 12:44 AM there?
(6:44:47 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah
(6:44:54 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I'll actually be awake for an hour more
(6:44:58 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): in case you have any questions now :)
(6:45:31 PM) 23: alright, I've got to go now, but I'll be back in a few minutes, so if you're still here that'd be cool
(6:45:36 PM) 23: thanks, talk to you later
(6:45:44 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I will :)
(6:59:38 PM) 23: hey again
(7:01:55 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Hi!
(7:06:10 PM) 23: so, how are you doing?
(7:06:17 PM) 23: (sorry about the pause)
(7:25:36 PM) 23: hi, sorry about all that, are you still there?
(7:25:56 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I am
(7:26:02 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I'm doing great! You?
(7:26:14 PM) 23: I'm doing alright
(7:26:51 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I'm applying for ESTA so I can go to the US for a few weeks! I don't want to miss Independent Game Festival
(7:27:17 PM) 23: yea, should be cool
(7:27:31 PM) 23: what games have you been playing lately?
(7:29:46 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Hmmm, World of Goo and Crayon Physics of course :D
(7:29:51 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): and some Fallout 3
(7:30:24 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): (which could have been great if it had less focus on the FPS aspect)
(7:30:45 PM) 23: yea
(7:30:54 PM) 23: I'm assuming world of goo on the PC?
(7:31:00 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah :)
(7:31:22 PM) 23: fun stuff
(7:31:33 PM) 23: have you been working on any games of your own lately?
(7:32:02 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I have, most definitely!
(7:32:10 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I've spent a lot of time on Night Game
(7:32:21 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): and helped out a bit with the Wii port of Cave Story
(7:32:34 PM) 23: oh sweet
(7:32:41 PM) 23: Night game looked interesting
(7:32:45 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): :D
(7:33:19 PM) 23: and cave story I consider the best adventure game under, how big is the download, it's ridiculously small, isn't it?
(7:33:33 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I don't actually quite remember
(7:33:43 PM) 23: 9.4 mb
(7:33:50 PM) 23: on acid-play
(7:34:02 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It should be small though, considering Amaya used synthesizers for SFX and Music, rather than samples
(7:34:05 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): if I'm not mistaken that is
(7:34:30 PM) 23: yea, I remember being blown away by how much content there was inside such a small package
(7:34:34 PM) 23: same thing with your games too
(7:34:36 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): :)
(7:34:57 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Ah, Knytt Stories eats ~80-90MB or something with official expansions though
(7:35:04 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): 95% of the size must be the ogg music X)
(7:35:11 PM) 23: lol
(7:35:16 PM) 23: still
(7:35:19 PM) 23: all good games, worth the space
(7:35:25 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Thanks!
(7:37:17 PM) 23: what was your favorite game to make?
(7:37:44 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Either it's Night Game or Knytt
(7:38:08 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's hard to know, the Knytt atmosphere expresses me greatly, but Night Game contains the best gameplay I've been able to create
(7:38:35 PM) 23: cool
(7:38:49 PM) 23: can we expect any more from knytt or WaDF?
(7:39:01 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I hope so!
(7:39:20 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I won't update those games, but I might continue with new Knytt or WaDF games
(7:39:45 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's hard to say yet though, I have a few great ideas I'd like to try
(7:40:09 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): ...different projects, all which I'd love to create.... and I can only chose one at a time X)
(7:40:25 PM) 23: haha, yea
(7:40:28 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): so no creative block right now at least :)
(7:40:40 PM) 23: I don't think I've played any adventure games with quite the same atmosphere
(7:42:57 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's a mix of a lot of things, but I think that many of the places in my games reflects some kind of ideal world I'd like like to explore for real if it was possible X) The ambiance sounds are very important, since that's what I'd like to hear in real life.... not just the sound of cars driving around
(7:43:41 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): ...like a momentary escape from reality
(7:43:50 PM) 23: yea, it's nice
(7:44:03 PM) 23: have you seen Wolfire's design review of Knytt Stories?
(7:44:46 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I did! He mailed me about it! I'm really honoured that he wanted to do that!
(7:45:21 PM) 23: yeah, I think he did a pretty good job capturing the essence of it, I just did an interview with them, they're really friendly and open
(7:45:30 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): :)
(7:45:34 PM) 23: do you get a lot of chances to talk to your fans?
(7:45:43 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I do, mainly at my forum
(7:46:16 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I get a lot of mails from people who like my games too. I wish I had more time to respond :(
(7:46:42 PM) 23: yeah, time is always a problem
(7:47:18 PM) 23: do you feel that the fans have a favorite game?
(7:47:50 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): They usually tend to like the same type of games that I do, probably because those games have similarities to my own
(7:48:27 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): or my games before they have similarities to those other games
(7:48:34 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): depending on how you see it X)
(7:48:41 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): (misunderstand me wrong)
(7:48:49 PM) 23: haha, alright
(7:49:27 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I'm mostly into very atmospheric games. I really wish there were more of those
(7:49:49 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): An "Ico" isn't released on a regular basis
(7:50:19 PM) 23: yea, defiantly, the only one I can think of like it are abstract puzzle games
(7:51:43 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Ah, those can be great
(7:52:55 PM) 23: they can, but it's defiantly a different feel, usually art games, I see yours as more... a mix between the art and fun games (for lack of better terms)
(7:52:58 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): heh, a bit like the Shellblast / Acidbomb games.... Basically a slightly more complex take on Minesweeper, but the atmosphere makes it so exciting
(7:53:16 PM) 23: yeah, definatly
(7:53:30 PM) 23: you mentioned "Ico" before, what is that?
(7:56:00 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's a PS2 game. I guess my fans are tired of hearing that whenever I'm asked to mention a favorite game, I mentions that. It's an adventure game that lacks almost everything a good game is supposed to have. It features minimal dialogue, almost no music, only 3 or 4 enemy types, almost no weapons, no stats or levels...
(7:56:31 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): so you pretty much explore a large castle, solve puzzles, and enjoy an awesome atmosphere
(7:56:47 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's still the game that have affected my own games most.
(7:57:06 PM) 23: cool, sounds neat
(7:57:10 PM) 23: I'll have to look it up
(7:57:41 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's neat, because they took almost everything away from what a game is expected to have, and still made something really beautiful
(7:58:21 PM) 23: I love when games can do that, also, what else do you consider your influences?
(7:58:42 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I take a lot of inspiration from places around where I live
(7:58:50 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): mostly the sounds, deep forests 'n stuff
(7:59:24 PM) 23: that defiantly explains the relaxing and isolated yet not lonely atmosphere
(7:59:32 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah :)
(8:00:23 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Personally, I think that if you get away from the city and either into the forest or to the ocean around where I live, either at early spring or fall, the atmosphere should be a bit similar to Knytt somehow :)
(8:01:23 PM) 23: yeah, I get what your saying, I live in a pretty isolated place surrounded by woods, so, yea, I know what you mean
(8:01:32 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Ah :D Where?
(8:01:40 PM) 23: and I must agree it is kinda like that
(8:01:45 PM) 23: in central New York
(8:02:00 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): :)
(8:02:04 PM) 23: so... probably a little different then where your based
(8:02:08 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): That's a place I've always wanted to see
(8:02:30 PM) 23: it's nice if you know where to look, but it's also dreadfully cold in the winter
(8:02:38 PM) 23: where do you live?
(8:02:46 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): northern Sweden :D
(8:03:04 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's basically -18 degrees celcius atm, so we got plenty of coldness too
(8:03:45 PM) 23: oh, wow, so you're probably used to the cold
(8:03:53 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): oh, wait, it's only -15
(8:03:57 PM) 23: alright, yeah, that's got us beat ussually
(8:03:58 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah :)
(8:04:52 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): but yeah, neither of New York / Umeå is like San Francisco where I'll be soon I guess :D
(8:04:57 PM) ***Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas) can't wait really
(8:05:36 PM) 23: awww, lucky
(8:06:04 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I wish it was for more than just a few weeks
(8:06:45 PM) 23: it seems like all the major gaming events, indie and mainstream are in california
(8:07:00 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah, I wonder how come
(8:08:54 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): ...and for you it's not quite Sweden, where you have to travel like 1500 kilometers to get to the other side
(8:09:25 PM) 23: very true
(8:10:37 PM) 23: you can always visit the Game Developer Choice Awards (http://www.gamechoiceawards.com/)
(8:10:59 PM) 23: I think that's going on around the same place at the same time
(8:11:07 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): :D
(8:11:23 PM) 23: oh, so, did you participate in the Global Game Jam?
(8:11:33 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I didn't! I've actually never heard about it!
(8:12:18 PM) 23: oh really? here, http://globalgamejam.org/
(8:12:49 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Seems to take place in lots of locations at once
(8:12:56 PM) 23: basically a whole bunch of indie developers get together for 48 hours around the world and each team makes a game
(8:13:04 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Oooooooh
(8:13:17 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Closest place seems to be Copenhagen in Denmark
(8:13:51 PM) 23: well, it was at the end of January, but it is supposed to be annual
(8:13:52 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I shouldn't miss this next year
(8:14:02 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): This sounds like way too much fun
(8:14:10 PM) 23: yea, it would be great to see you make one of those
(8:14:47 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): At "No More Sweden" we had a 28 hour game creation competition, and those games turned out great!
(8:15:08 PM) 23: oh, cool
(8:16:45 PM) 23: yeah, I think the global game jam was started with the Nordi Game Jam, http://www.nordicgamejam.org/
(8:17:01 PM) 23: which would be in copenhagen :P
(8:17:10 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah :)
(8:17:27 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's a good location
(8:17:39 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): easy to get to :)
(8:17:58 PM) 23: jeez, seems like all the good indies are either in San Fransisco or Copenhagen
(8:18:38 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): No More Sweden was quite neat though, a lot of people who's games I had played showed up
(8:19:20 PM) 23: do you know if they have an official web site?
(8:19:43 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Sorry, it doesn't atm :(
(8:20:16 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Anyway, it's late, so I better catch some sleep
(8:20:23 PM) 23: alright, good idea
(8:20:28 PM) 23: I'll talk to you later!
(8:20:35 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah! See you!


Day 2:

(10:31:34 AM) 23: hello
(10:31:56 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Hey!
(10:33:05 AM) 23: how are you doing?
(10:33:17 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Great! You?
(10:33:51 AM) 23: pretty good
(10:33:59 AM) 23: got some free time now?
(10:34:12 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Sure
(10:34:25 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Actually, in around 5 minutes
(10:34:29 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Can you wait?
(10:34:38 AM) 23: yeah, no problem
(10:34:54 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): ok, brb :)
(10:40:26 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Okey, now :D
(10:40:47 AM) 23: alright, good :)
(10:41:16 AM) 23: so, lets see, last time you said you were a part of the cave story project, right?
(10:44:47 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah
(10:44:52 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I can not actually reveal what I do at this point
(10:45:18 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I wasn't a part of the original Cave Story though, only the Wii port
(10:45:29 AM) 23: haha, alright, can I ask you some questions about it still?
(10:45:49 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I may not be able to answer, but sure
(10:46:07 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It depends on the question I guess :)
(10:46:17 AM) 23: alright, well, what, if anything, do you guys plan to change about it?
(10:46:42 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Well, obviously the music and graphics resolution will increase
(10:46:54 AM) 23: sweet, but still 8bit, right?
(10:47:10 AM) 23: er, kinda 8bit, you know what I mean?
(10:47:21 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Actually, Cave Story had more colours than an 8-bit palette
(10:47:28 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): There are some new screenshots of what it will look like here: http://nicalis.com/blog/
(10:47:50 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I think 16-bit comes closer :)
(10:48:20 AM) 23: ah, alright, it definitely does look better
(10:49:02 AM) 23: how are you guys gonna do the controls for wii? (any motion sensing stuff, or just plain D-pad and ab button)
(10:49:29 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I'm the wrong person to ask about that, sorry :)
(10:49:48 AM) 23: alright, I see
(10:49:56 AM) 23: ok, so on to your other project, Night game, right?
(10:50:04 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah
(10:50:09 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): (Still a temporary title)
(10:50:11 AM) 23: how's that coming along?
(10:50:28 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I've been making lots of progress :)
(10:50:43 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Right now it looks like things are going as planned
(10:50:51 AM) 23: that's good
(10:51:20 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): The game is more complicated than my previous creations, so logically it takes longer to finish
(10:52:18 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's the first time I've worked with physics simulation, but I still think I did a good job
(10:52:28 AM) 23: it definitely looks like it should be a full length game
(10:53:23 AM) 23: do you have any videos of it up yet?
(10:53:32 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Not yet, sorry
(10:53:45 AM) 23: it's alright :)
(10:53:56 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Some new images of it was just uploaded to nicalis.com though (the random background thing)
(10:54:39 AM) 23: yeah, the design definitely looks nice
(10:55:42 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Thanks
(10:55:49 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): (well, if you meant NG, I didn't do the website design)
(10:56:03 AM) 23: so, did I ask you yet how you got in to making games?
(10:56:37 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I don't know.... I've always been interested, as a child I used to make drawings that I pretended was video games
(10:57:06 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): At early school I learnt qbasic and attempted to create some ASCII games (all failures)
(10:57:17 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Later with Visual Basic (also failures)
(10:57:28 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Then my parents gave me Klik & Play
(10:57:53 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): and well, I failed for a series of years to create games with that too (I upgraded to The Games Factory and Multimedia Fusion 1 during this period)
(10:58:06 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I basically tried to create too large games, that I never had a chance to finish
(10:59:09 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): so I gave up completely, and started to create music instead until many years later when I decided to try creating small platformers instead of huge RPG's and adventure games X)
(10:59:38 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): ...and well, since then I've released games at a quite regular basis (although NG is taking a little longer than my previous games)
(11:00:29 AM) 23: yeah, I see some early works listed on your wikipedia page that I haven't heard of before, is there any way to play those?
(11:01:01 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): You can actually find them all here: http://niffpage.greywool.com/
(11:01:31 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Some of the old ones aren't bad, Operator Status can be really fun if you're into really hard games.
(11:02:03 AM) 23: alright, cool
(11:02:19 AM) 23: do you plan on putting a better GUI on this site? :P
(11:02:37 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): That's not actually my site, a friend is running it
(11:02:41 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): but he might do that :)
(11:02:46 AM) 23: alright, cool
(11:03:42 AM) 23: since I think I have seen this before, but I wasn't sure exactly which files were which type of games
(11:04:33 AM) 23: so, have you made music for anything other than your own games?
(11:04:53 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Not much, I've composed a lot of music earlier that wasn't for any games that is available on the same website
(11:05:10 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I composed a song for Hempuli's game "Once in Space" though.
(11:05:32 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's the background music in this game: http://hempuli.com/OiS/
(11:06:14 AM) 23: ah, yes, I just happened to stumple upon his stuff a few days ago
(11:06:20 AM) 23: *stumble
(11:06:47 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I love his games. They're a tad too hard for my taste, but always really creative
(11:11:38 AM) 23: hm, yea, it definitely is unique
(11:11:52 AM) 23: it's pretty tricky for such a simple design
(11:13:00 AM) 23: makes you think, I like that
(11:14:05 AM) 23: so, what game systems do you own?
(11:14:19 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): The PS2, the XBox360 and the DS
(11:14:22 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): and a PC
(11:14:51 AM) 23: yet you're developing cave story for the wii? lol
(11:15:20 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah X)
(11:16:47 AM) 23: do you plan on porting any of your games over to consoles?
(11:17:56 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Hmmmm, tricky question. I'd love to see all my games on consoles, but some would be tricky to sell, since I got help from so many creating them.
(11:18:27 AM) 23: oh, so, what other game developers have you worked with?
(11:19:11 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Not many I'm afraid, but I've tried my best to help out whenever someone in the Multimedia Fusion community needs help
(11:20:31 AM) 23: alright,
(11:21:31 AM) 23: so, where'd the name Nifflas come from?
(11:22:07 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Well, I once sat in a car with my uncle and his girlfriend, and a debate started between me and my uncle about how to spell my name
(11:22:43 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): As everyone knows, I spell it Nicklas, but on the paper it's actually Niklas
(11:23:01 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): so my Uncle doesn't fully agree about that extra c, thinking it makes it sound like "Nisklas" or something
(11:23:17 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): So my uncle's girlfriend got tired of our debate and told us to spell it with f
(11:23:31 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): and well, it was nailed pretty instantly
(11:23:38 AM) 23: haha, that's pretty funny
(11:24:33 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): :)
(11:25:36 AM) 23: alright, so, I'm starting to run out of questions, so sorry if I start to jump around to unrelated topics (err, even more unrelated than before)
(11:25:43 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): np :D
(11:26:22 AM) 23: so, how would you describe your games? (or at least knytt)
(11:26:41 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): The main focal point of my games so far have been atmosphere
(11:26:57 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Hmmm
(11:27:10 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Basically, I want the games to feel more like a place than a challenge
(11:27:32 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): if that makes sense :)
(11:27:37 AM) 23: hmm, yeah, alright, it definitely feels that way
(11:28:51 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): So far my games have been non-violent and have a rather cute and helpless (but brave) character exploring a large world.
(11:28:58 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I don't know why, but that express me best
(11:30:07 AM) 23: it's definitely unlike most other games, but it fits with the artistic style very well
(11:30:46 AM) 23: I couldn't really see something with the same style as knytt with weapons
(11:30:46 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): :)
(11:31:22 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): The atmosphere of Knytt couldn't be the same if weapons did exist
(11:31:56 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It would be weird to crash on another planet, being completely lost and exploring the world to find a way back home.... and starting to shoot violently at everything
(11:32:35 AM) 23: haha, well, that's what a lot of video games' premises are like, unfortunately
(11:32:44 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah!
(11:33:32 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I wish Fallout 3 had not ended up that way. The atmosphere was so awesome, and although I liked the FPS/Shooter elements of it, there was just way too much of it
(11:33:49 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's quite common :(
(11:33:57 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Games are assumed to need action everywhere
(11:34:20 AM) 23: yes, I find a lot of mainstream games are required to stick to that rule
(11:34:32 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah.... I mean, not all movies are action movies
(11:34:37 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): so why does most games need to be?
(11:34:45 AM) 23: very true
(11:36:12 AM) 23: so, do you use your IRC and forum a lot?
(11:36:37 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Not as much as I'd like to, I need to spend the most time developing games
(11:37:12 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): but I still try to be in touch with the forum regulars :)
(11:37:36 AM) 23: alright, cool, I noticed your forum's down today, so I'll have to check it out later
(11:37:54 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah, something happened. I have no idea what
(11:38:24 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): but LPChip who administrates the forum decided to make a new installation of the forum software and upgrade everything (including the forum layout)
(11:38:34 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): The result will be a lot better than the previous forum was
(11:38:38 AM) 23: cool
(11:41:07 AM) 23: haha, I'm on the IRC right now, they want to know where you got the inspiration for night game and how much it'll cost
(11:42:05 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I don't know how much it will cost, but it's very inspired by Marble Madness
(11:42:12 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): and games like Ballance or Hamster Ball
(11:42:27 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I've always wanted to create a similar game
(11:42:39 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): but well, I wanted to try it in a 2D universe
(11:43:00 AM) 23: ooo, I loved marble madness for the NES
(11:43:33 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Yeah :D
(11:44:56 AM) 23: do you plan on it being difficult?
(11:45:39 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): A lot of the WaDF players requested me to create a game with the same kind of difficulty again.... Still, WaDF is probably too hard for most causal gamers
(11:45:43 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): so it will have two difficulty modes
(11:46:04 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): The difficulty of the Hard mode is quite similar to in WaDF
(11:46:35 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): (Within a Deep Forest) that is
(11:46:50 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): That way, I hope everyone gets happy
(11:47:18 AM) 23: yea, that seems pretty win-win
(11:49:03 AM) 23: so, where do you get the names for these games?
(11:50:20 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): That's always problematic. I'm really horrible with names, but it have still always worked out somehow.
(11:50:46 AM) 23: haha, alright, I think they fit pretty well
(11:50:59 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): My ex-girlfriend designed the Knytt characters, and named them Knytt from Tove Jansson's children's books.
(11:51:14 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): so I didn't name Knytt
(11:51:30 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): and it took me months to figure out that I could call the second one "Knytt Stories"
(11:51:45 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): if I don't remember wrong that is
(11:51:57 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Perhaps it was someone who suggested it
(11:52:46 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It usually turns out nice in the end, but most names are probably taken from somewhere, or from someone else's suggestion
(11:52:57 AM) 23: alright, I see
(11:53:15 AM) 23: so, what do you do outside of being an indie developer, if you don't mind me asking
(11:53:44 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): "Outside" as in other kind of game development or regular life?
(11:53:59 AM) 23: regular life
(11:54:41 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I mostly either work, or hang around with friends
(11:54:55 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): which is great of course
(11:55:04 AM) 23: yeah
(11:55:32 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I got a whole lot of lovely friends in Umeå, and except air, food, and sleep, I guess that's what a human needs to survive
(11:56:00 AM) 23: for sure :P
(11:56:03 AM) 23: err :)
(11:56:36 AM) 23: so, why did you decide to keep your games free?
(11:56:49 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): It's so complicated to sell stuff and enter profits
(11:57:00 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): and it was more a hobby anyway
(11:57:28 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I intended to sell a Knytt Stories expansion, but all the bureaucracy makes it so hard
(11:57:54 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): but now that I got the chance to work with Nicalis, I had to take that :)
(11:58:16 AM) 23: alright, cool
(11:59:21 AM) 23: so, you mentioned that your ex designed some of the knytt characters, did she design all of them?
(11:59:47 AM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): She designed around half of the characters in Within a Deep Forest
(12:00:06 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): And those from WaDF that I used in Knytt were hers
(12:00:28 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): She didn't draw any characters specifically for Knytt, but she did the patterns for the Knytt startup screen and credits screen
(12:00:38 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): both with are lovely :)
(12:00:48 PM) 23: yea, who designed the rest?
(12:01:20 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I designed most of the game, but I also asked at the forum for help with character designing. In the game credits list, a few people are mentioned who created extra characters.
(12:01:52 PM) 23: cool, it's a nice and unique design
(12:01:59 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Evil-Ville, TheoX and Mr.Monkey
(12:02:15 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): regulars of either my forums or music communities I've been into
(12:03:39 PM) 23: oh, yes, Mr. Monkey is on the IRC now
(12:04:47 PM) 23: alright, so, can I be expecting a beta for night game eventually?
(12:05:44 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I don't yet know
(12:06:02 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): The game might not have open beta testing
(12:06:21 PM) 23: alright, and do you have any plans on what you want to do after your current projects?
(12:06:36 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I have, at this moment it's all pretty secret
(12:06:50 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): but I sure have :D
(12:06:57 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): (and it's game related)
(12:07:01 PM) 23: alright, that's good
(12:07:17 PM) 23: I think we would all like to see more games from you in the future
(12:07:36 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): :)
(12:08:25 PM) 23: alright, well, I think that pretty much covers it
(12:08:44 PM) 23: do you have anything else to say?
(12:09:03 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Not that I can think about, but it was great doing the interview! Thanks :D
(12:09:14 PM) 23: yea, thank you
(12:09:22 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): no problem :)
(12:09:28 PM) 23: I'll post a short version up soon as well as access to the whole thing
(12:09:35 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): Okey
(12:09:41 PM) 23: great

Extra stuff:

(12:30:14 PM) 23: would you call knytt, KS, and WaDF adventure games?
(12:31:48 PM) Nicklas Nygren (Nifflas): I'm not sure, but perhaps exploration platformers
(12:32:03 PM) 23: ah, great


If any other questions arise I will post it and the answer here

It was bound to happen eventually

so, yea, I'm gonna write some emo poetry now, comment if u want, or just skip it.

In your world

In a world of
Hypocrisy
In this plan of
Bureaucracy
They killed the
Democracy
They think it’s
Theocracy
But it never was
And it never will be

It’s all just a lie
Only the naive
Think it’s true
Only perceive
What they’re told
They feel relief
When it’s you

Who am I to talk?
One man
No army
Who am I to talk?
About you


They’ll always win in the end


My puzzle
The puzzle's not complete
Without the missing piece
I will always face defeat
Without you at my feet
My meaning's never found
without your tender sound

This puzzle i dont fit

my puzzle will never be complete
without you and your love
but your puzzle is done
without me around

and fuck i dont feel like rhyming any more
seriously, it sounds immature
this is prose
this is freestyle
this is whats from my heart and head
and what im just trying to say
is that i dont feel like i fit here
i dont feel like i ever will
and there might be somewhere i belong
but i have yet to find it
e

expect more of this stuff later... who am i talking to? seriously, this is for me.

so ah wuz liek...

so ah figa dat da intawebs needs a combonation ah lolspeek and da typa language used en dat book, their eyes were watching god, but Zora Hurston. sa, anyways, ah liek muhdkeeps. so, ya, uh, i'ze syent summah dem qweshons ta Cryptic Sea fuh uh intraview, but dey hayz yeat ta rezpond. ahso Hampa from Nabisoft sayz dat heh beh otay wit meh sendin suhm qweshons hehs weh.

Anyway I'll have those interviews up as soon as I receive them. Also expect some interviews of paid indie games once i get the ability to buy them, but till then I'll have to stick with the free ones. Meanwhile I hate homework and am pretty sure I'll be lonely and dateless for valentines day. Oh, also, we received some coverage by one of toribash's forum robots and we actually got some comments on the thread and 77 views! (by we I mean anybutton, and this is for the toribash review, while somehow some of the other stuff is there too.) anyway search "anybutton: 23" in google and it should come up! Hopefully we can get some interviews and readers then we can become famous and then, well, the idk, maybe we sell out and live like rich bastards HAHAHAHAHA, errr, i mean continue the pursuit of spreading the word of indie games to the public! Also, i want a Meggy Jr. (and no, that's not as perverted as you think it sounds, google it.). .).).).). (lol!)!

53|210|_|5|_'/, |-|0\/\/ 4|23 '/0|_| |234|)1|\|6 7|-|15? '/0|_| 4|23 0|3\/10|_|5|_'/ 4\/\/350|\/|3!

anyway sorry for the lag, but expect me to...

trial off unexpectedly. also expect infrequent, speratic, and very unpolished posts :D

ow, my teeth really hurt

So, i posted the interview with wolfire on anyButton and submitted it to digg, reddit, and /., which i hope will raise popularity of wolfire, and anyButton. Anyway my teeth really hurt for no reason, the orthodontist couldn't figure it out, no one is responding online for a good conversation (jk Kevin) and, well, i dont want to be a winey emo kid, but real life kinda comparatively sucks right now. Anyway I'm mad psyched about the wolfire interview, and i already sent out my questions to cryptic sea, which i hope Alex and Edmund will answer and get back soon. Anyway I dont got much indie news, i found out about Leeni, a pretty cool 8-bit music maker, plus she's a chick. Also one of my friend's games got reported on by someone other then me, joystiq in fact, which is cool. Anyway life sucks and then you die.

Hugs and kisses,
23

Global Game Jam

so the global game jam ended today. That means there are now hundreds of brand spanking new indie games for me to play and tell u about. So first, let me explain. The first anual global game jam is an event taking place in many locations around the world. Bassicly, as I understand it, a bunch of people get together and each team makes a game in 48 hours or less. These games are then posted online (today) for everyone to play and rate. Not all of these games will be outstanding, or even good, but some of the best indie games originally came from concepts in a demo built in a few hours/days. Audiosurf, tower of goo, and I think even crayon physics got their start as one of these quickly made concept games. I'm looking forward to finding a few jewels and posting them here. I know Edmund McMillen made a game, so I'll have to check that one out first. Anyway go find the website, check it out, and be sure to watch Kyle Gabler, the maker of world of goo, 's keynote speach. Anyway sorry for the lack of links, and I'll slowly be going through these new games, but school might slow me down. I'll be back tomorrow!

work work work, like a good worker bee

So, today i realized how behind in my school work i was. my parents yelled at me, and i did what was needed to be done. So, right now, I don't feel too great, and I feel kinda overwhelmed, lets hope the second semester proves to be better. Oh, also, my mom suggested i go to a shrink to get shrunk. I'll probably go to the school one and the diagnosis will be that I'm lazy. Anyway I got to try out Trivium for some beta testing for Cryptic Sea's new game No Quarter ( I would link but I'm too tired/lazy). It was pretty fun, but it crashes my crappy PC, so hopefully I'll get my laptop, Nixie, back by the time they release the full game. Anyway I'll probably have longer updates over the weekend. Till then.

Snow day

So, today was a snow day. I ended up spending most of it browsing the web and researching Wolfire. I wrote a review of Lugaru on anyButton, and sent Wolfire some interview questions. Their PR guy, John, is very helpful, and I'm surprised they let me send over questions, they are a very open and good developer. Earlier today i finished the "interactive fiction" i mentioned before named blueful, it was actually pretty interesting, you followed links to different services around the web which told the story line by line and gave u more links to follow, i suggest checking it out, I wish someone would make a story that was told through those services, but through proper use of them, like some fake kid's live journal, on which you could read multiple entries, which then linked to his last FM account, etc, to get a sense of a person and their story, i think that'd be pretty cool. Anyway i finished off another comic archive, Mordant Orange it had some decent funnies but nothing as good as like xkcd, which, by the way, updated their blog with a neat post. Also I emailed Edmund about beta testing for No Quarter (cause they were asking for some) and an interview, hopefully I'll get at least one if not both of them. I also caught up on House and Fringe, two very good shows. Alright, well, that's my day, this is more for me for possibly future reference, so, if your reading this future me: "hi, hope your happier". oh, also, well, nevermind.

flying toast

So, lets start with yesterday. I was home, cause I was sick, so I had some time to do some "indie research", this basically meant i spent some time digging up cryptic sea vids on youtube and getting dirt on Edmund McMillen who I really want to get an interview with eventually (sorry, Edmund [haha, like he'll ever read this], I was bored). So, I really look forward to Bridge Builder 2, Triachnid 2, Gish 2, Guppy, and No Quarter. But that was pretty much everything interesting yesterday.

Today... not that much more exciting. As for personal stuff, it looks like a lot of my friends will have valentines (except me), and college application will be very confusing and frustrating (lets hope they're looking for an indie game blogger), the only upside is that I'm feeling better. As for my other blog, anyButton, I posted a review of Toblo, as well as some news in indie gaming, neat stuff, you should check it out (then again you probably already have if you're reading this), also I plan on posting a review of Lugaru soon as well as maybe an interview... Ok, so, on the indie games front, just check out my news on anyButton. On the internet front I mostly got stuff from escapist: making breakfast cool, another indie interview, and an interesting looking "interactive fiction". Thanks Escapist! The breakfast stuff looks cool, actually being able to have a toaster that shot out your toast would be Awesome, the indie game interview looks not so exciting, while i still advise looking at it, and the "interactive fiction" I'm not sure about, but the title is Blueful You have always been different, which sounds cool.

Ok, on to some cool science headlines. ScienceDaily gives us articles on thinking too much, next gen cloaking devices (a few days old), Genetics of popularity, and dancing babies. Also robots.net gives us an article and a vid on autonomous transportation, and while the vid doesn't look too cool, remember, there's no driver.

Anyway that's it for today, be sure to stay in contact cause i plan on updating a few times a week. Also look out for my Lugaru review and interview coming up on anyButton.

~23

bluGrey: 23's personal blog

Here's where I'll be posting stuff that I feel like posting. Expect to see interesting news, indie game updates, and favorite webcomics, as well as whatever existentialist thoughts are breezing through my mind at the time. Anyway I'm not trying to impress anyone with this blog, so, read on if you wish, if not I don't blame you.