WARNING: This thread opener is basically going to read like an advertisement for a game I've been playing on Steam for a while. I personally have derived great enjoyment from it, so I'm going to talk at length about it. However, that does NOT detract from the main purpose of the thread being to suggest indie games to other users.
Alright, with that out of the way, let's get down to the business of suggesting indie games to each other. If this thread is too narrow or shouldn't exist, well, fine. Feel free to shut it down.
So what am I talking about there in the bolded warning up top? Fractal Phase's arcade flier Sky Rogue. Let me give you the breakdown:
First and foremost, if you go into this expecting some serious flight simulator, you're dumb. The graphics hearken back to the early days of polygonal models, like Daytona USA or Virtua Racing and such, and the gameplay itself is full-on arcade blasting goodness. If you're a fan of the older Ace Combat games or Crimson Skies or the like, Sky Rogue will feel instantly familiar.
The controls are solid. I've only had to make minor changes from the standard default scheme. You've got everything you would expect if you're using a conventional dual-analog controller, and it should feel mostly natural if you've ever played Ace Combat. The one unique thing is the addition of various "Special" gadgets in addition to the weapons you can carry: flares, a speed boost system, a tail gun turret, a rear-fire missile, even the ability to launch allied drone fighters from your own plane. One thing all playable aircraft have is a built-in dodge system, which just simply makes the plane do a quick roll while shifting either left or right to evade enemy missiles.
As for actual weapons, you've got more than most would know what to do with: long-range two-stage air-to-air missiles, short-range all-aspect air-to-air missiles, multi-shot rear-aspect infrared missiles(these things in particular are freaking LETHAL; good thing the enemy never uses them), cluster bombs, iron bombs, guided bombs, multiple different sizes of unguided rockets, an array of different guns and auto-cannons, and lastly a selection of different kinds of multi-purpose "MicroMissiles".
As for the aircraft you get to fly, well, you've got twelve different birds in the base game. I'll get to mod support in a minute, but the planes the game comes with are already pretty diverse: Bombers for pounding ground targets into scrap, Fighters for taking on everything the enemy throws at you, and Interceptors for running down enemy aircraft with long-range missiles. Light aircraft are faster and more agile, but less durable and have less space for weapons; Medium aircraft have overall balanced abilities for their class; Swing-Wings are almost identical to Mediums, except they have highly variable handling and increased speed at the expense of a little toughness; and Heavies are more durable and carry more firepower but are slower and less agile. The game's Heavy Interceptor can dominate the skies with its wide array of air-to-air missiles; while the Heavy Bomber is a monstrous flying wing that lays waste to entire formations of enemy ground forces. And the Heavy Fighter is the ultimate multi-role aircraft perfect for handling any enemy, air or ground.
You get one life to live, one shot at glory. When you get shot down, the "Tech Points" you earned from taking down the enemy are used to research new planes and weapons. You start off with just a handful of items: the basic Rogue Medium Fighter, some standard MicroMissiles, the common 20mm Vulcan, some light Dirk Rockets and the ability to launch flares to distract enemy missiles. It won't be long before you get your hands on some real firepower, though, so stick with it, and don't get discouraged just because you got shot down: You're going to come back with a new plane and some new weapons, to show those bad guys who's boss.
Between missions, you can use "Money" you've earned from killing the enemy to upgrade your aircrafts and weapons to be able to take on the more dangerous enemies you encounter on later islands. Some weapons become able to fire more shots in a salvo, others reload their ammo faster, still others gain in range or just raw damage. Find what works for you, and you'll become able to dominate the enemy and tear through the skies destroying everything and leaving only ashes in your wake. With the broad variety of weapons and planes in the game, they're sure to be a style for everyone.
Oh, yeah, I mentioned mod support. I'm just going to barely scratch the surface because there are like 250 items on the game's Steam Workshop; but you'll find all kinds of new aircraft in there: various Star Wars starfighters, numerous old and modern military planes, a vast number of ships from scrolling shooters, there's even a multi-plane pack that has more than ten different models from the old SNES Star Fox games. Plus custom weapon and custom mission support have recently been added, and custom planes can use completely custom stats instead of being based on planes the game comes with. The sky's not even close to the limit of Sky Rogue's modding potential.
And lastly, the soundtrack was updated when the game moved from Alpha to Beta release. Check this out: [bandcamp=EmbeddedPlayer/album=2525474741]
So what are some good indie games the rest of you have found? Doesn't have to be Steam, either, can be anywhere, on any service or platform.
Alright, with that out of the way, let's get down to the business of suggesting indie games to each other. If this thread is too narrow or shouldn't exist, well, fine. Feel free to shut it down.
So what am I talking about there in the bolded warning up top? Fractal Phase's arcade flier Sky Rogue. Let me give you the breakdown:
First and foremost, if you go into this expecting some serious flight simulator, you're dumb. The graphics hearken back to the early days of polygonal models, like Daytona USA or Virtua Racing and such, and the gameplay itself is full-on arcade blasting goodness. If you're a fan of the older Ace Combat games or Crimson Skies or the like, Sky Rogue will feel instantly familiar.
The controls are solid. I've only had to make minor changes from the standard default scheme. You've got everything you would expect if you're using a conventional dual-analog controller, and it should feel mostly natural if you've ever played Ace Combat. The one unique thing is the addition of various "Special" gadgets in addition to the weapons you can carry: flares, a speed boost system, a tail gun turret, a rear-fire missile, even the ability to launch allied drone fighters from your own plane. One thing all playable aircraft have is a built-in dodge system, which just simply makes the plane do a quick roll while shifting either left or right to evade enemy missiles.
As for actual weapons, you've got more than most would know what to do with: long-range two-stage air-to-air missiles, short-range all-aspect air-to-air missiles, multi-shot rear-aspect infrared missiles(these things in particular are freaking LETHAL; good thing the enemy never uses them), cluster bombs, iron bombs, guided bombs, multiple different sizes of unguided rockets, an array of different guns and auto-cannons, and lastly a selection of different kinds of multi-purpose "MicroMissiles".
As for the aircraft you get to fly, well, you've got twelve different birds in the base game. I'll get to mod support in a minute, but the planes the game comes with are already pretty diverse: Bombers for pounding ground targets into scrap, Fighters for taking on everything the enemy throws at you, and Interceptors for running down enemy aircraft with long-range missiles. Light aircraft are faster and more agile, but less durable and have less space for weapons; Medium aircraft have overall balanced abilities for their class; Swing-Wings are almost identical to Mediums, except they have highly variable handling and increased speed at the expense of a little toughness; and Heavies are more durable and carry more firepower but are slower and less agile. The game's Heavy Interceptor can dominate the skies with its wide array of air-to-air missiles; while the Heavy Bomber is a monstrous flying wing that lays waste to entire formations of enemy ground forces. And the Heavy Fighter is the ultimate multi-role aircraft perfect for handling any enemy, air or ground.
You get one life to live, one shot at glory. When you get shot down, the "Tech Points" you earned from taking down the enemy are used to research new planes and weapons. You start off with just a handful of items: the basic Rogue Medium Fighter, some standard MicroMissiles, the common 20mm Vulcan, some light Dirk Rockets and the ability to launch flares to distract enemy missiles. It won't be long before you get your hands on some real firepower, though, so stick with it, and don't get discouraged just because you got shot down: You're going to come back with a new plane and some new weapons, to show those bad guys who's boss.
Between missions, you can use "Money" you've earned from killing the enemy to upgrade your aircrafts and weapons to be able to take on the more dangerous enemies you encounter on later islands. Some weapons become able to fire more shots in a salvo, others reload their ammo faster, still others gain in range or just raw damage. Find what works for you, and you'll become able to dominate the enemy and tear through the skies destroying everything and leaving only ashes in your wake. With the broad variety of weapons and planes in the game, they're sure to be a style for everyone.
Oh, yeah, I mentioned mod support. I'm just going to barely scratch the surface because there are like 250 items on the game's Steam Workshop; but you'll find all kinds of new aircraft in there: various Star Wars starfighters, numerous old and modern military planes, a vast number of ships from scrolling shooters, there's even a multi-plane pack that has more than ten different models from the old SNES Star Fox games. Plus custom weapon and custom mission support have recently been added, and custom planes can use completely custom stats instead of being based on planes the game comes with. The sky's not even close to the limit of Sky Rogue's modding potential.
And lastly, the soundtrack was updated when the game moved from Alpha to Beta release. Check this out: [bandcamp=EmbeddedPlayer/album=2525474741]
So what are some good indie games the rest of you have found? Doesn't have to be Steam, either, can be anywhere, on any service or platform.
