"Obscurity is a greater threat than piracy" - Tim O'Reilly. Is that a killer quote or what?

Gamasutra is currently running a feature entitled Building Buzz for Indie Games. The link has been spreading all over the Internet, and it only seems fair that we put it here too. Not least because the article references my very own Zero Budget Indie Marketing Guide in its reading list, and seems to have followed a similar path of research in some cases.

Okay, but enough with the self-backpatting crap: the Gama article is bloody good and deserves a read. And while you're at it, have a lookie in the direction of Frozen Synapse, the game that the author is currently working on.

-Nandrew

I feel really stupid for missing out on the announcement of Ludum Dare 15, but I'd like to try make up for it by pointing out the 144-strong list of entries around the subject of "caverns".

I've been randomly clicking around and checking a few of these buggers out, and some of them are actually pretty good. Amongst the bugs and incomplete projects, truly intriguing ideas such as Collapse have taken my fancy. Sure, it's a simple project (what with it being a 48-hour competition and all) but the concept is solid and I would love to see a full-blown game developed with the idea of a sinister and shifting landscape being your only enemy.

Try the game over here. What do you think?

-Nandrew

Right, so I'm aware that we haven't really shut up about these games since they hit the spotlight, but bear with me for a moment.

See, Zombie Cow Studios have decided to burst their banks and publish elsewhere. Not just any elsewhere, mind, but on the biggest elsewhere ever to make itself available to indies. Yes, that's right, Ben There, Dan That! and Time Gentlemen, Please! are both on Steam, for nothing more than five United States Monetary Units. Yeah, that's not really cheaper than its original price on their official site, but Steam is almost unanimously agreed (that's unanimous among my multitude of usually conflicting opinions) to be the simplest and easiest way to grab your indie games.

Good luck, Zombie Cow Studios. I hope this helps you make a killing so that you can keep on making good adventure games.

- Chippit

Over on the Game.Dev forum, contributor DukeOFprunes pointed out this really kickass list of readings and other linkage from Gaming Horror. It covers an impressive variety of topics: stuff related to business, indie communities, engines, tech, assets and ... well, go on and just have a look at the collection. There's a lot of stuff to peruse at your leisure, and the law of raw quantity (disclaimer: not an actual law) states that something there will pique your interest.

I was really happy to come across this: not only is it a fairly comprehensive list of information, but it spares me the chore of looking up my own news to post today. Taking advantage of other people's investigative journalism rocks!

News pic related. But only in an insider-joke kind of way.

-Nandrew

This one is a quickie because there's not much to be said that hasn't been said on the official Team Fortress 2 blog already:

(1) Valve are cool and stuff.

(2) Team Fortress 2 is cool and stuff.

(3) Valve are showing us how they make TF2 maps.

There's a few videos on the link that go into the process with some detail: anybody who is interested in learning a little more about level design (and that should be EVERYBODY, regardless of chosen gaming discipline) should check it out.

Hey, at least it's fun and colourful. Which is probably the real reason why I posted this. It's kinda like how Chippit gets me to write articles by dangling rainbow tinsel in front of my face and shouting "WHEEE!" every 30 seconds.

-Nandrew