Review: Muffins.exe (Creepypasta)

muffins.exe

 Today I was sitting around, expecting a creepypasta to show up in our email inbox as they usually do during this time of year, and what do you know? Some "Anonymous" person submits this game titled muffins.exe, created in GameMaker Lite and featuring a gratuitous amount of screamers (thus rendering it very NSFW).

 If you intend on playing this, I'd advise that you do so before reading below the break, as the review contains spoilers.



 Upon opening muffins.exe I was presented with options to quit (obviously for the cowards among us), start a new game or see "extras". The latter was blanked out, so I have no idea what it does, and thus I proceeded to play it with my volume lowered somewhat and without headphones. I also ran the game via windowed mode in Wine, just to ensure that my screen wouldn't get stuck on some gory Derpy picture run through a red filter.

 The player, as Roseluck, is tasked with finding Derpy's muffins and returning them to her. As is to be expected from games of this genre, the graphical style is purposefully tacky and the physics feel rather awkward. After doing this, Derpy  says that she has to tell her something very important, and then disappears for several days. Figures. You then go looking for her in the field, and surprise surprise, everything gets all red and screwed up in a completely original manner that I've never seen in a game ever before.

Wow, I never expected this.

 As Roseluck plods on through the madness, she is repeatedly subjected to jumpscares and the nasty sight of body parts lying on the floor. After a while you'd expect her to get annoyed and start demanding that Derpy stop messing around and just kill her already, but nooo. She is one of those silent types, and even if she did say anything Derpy probably wouldn't listen, because antagonists in creepypastas aren't known for complying with their victim's wishes because they are evil and stuff. Rawr.

 So why did Derpy suddenly decide to turn on her best childhood friend, as the game describes her? Perhaps she is fed up with Roseluck's slow, silent ways, and sold her soul to that shifty-eyed janitor in exchange for reality-warping powers. Then again, Roseluck could just be on a bad trip or something; I wouldn't put it beneath her to cheap out on the LSD and purchase a bad batch. I'm not entirely sure, since I'm pretty sure that I ended up with an early ending by falling on some spikes like a pleb.


 So did I like muffins.exe? The constant jumpscares got a bit ridiculous after a while, but if you like that sort of thing than maybe you'll find Muffins.exe to be a fitting diversion for this night.

Hope you all enjoy the evening! I'll be sitting around, listening to Glenn Miller and watching cartoons to calm my paranoia.

Demo: The Underworld's Cello 2.0

The Underworld's Cello

(Demo 2.0 download)

Note: This game contains a few mature themes, as well as some crude gore.

 Are you enjoying Halloween so far? No? Let's do something about that. Octavia in The Underworld's Cello is a point-and-click adventure game made by Herooftime1000 wherein two ponies get lost in an old mansion. Within, you'll find puzzles, alchemy, and even a few card games. The content present is a lot of fun, and the game seems to take inspiration from old LucasArts point-and-clicks in every aspect of presentation.

 Though the game is unfinished, the current content is more than enough for a good evening of fun and jump scares, as long as you make sure to save often. The puzzles present are great fun, and the mechanics help to add a lot of depth to the gameplay, though occasionally an item seemed to vanish upon pickup with a full inventory.

Review: Moonstuck Part 2

Moonstuck Part 2

 So...Moonstuck. Quite possibly the fandom's most beloved webcomic, Moonstuck managed to win the hearts of many with its adorable main character and unique art style while it lasted. After it ended on November 4th in 2012, SylrePony decided to adapt the comic into a isometric fangame, the first part of which he released in March. Our reviewer Arctic Lux gave it an 8/10, and all seemed well and good, but now that the second part has been released and he's not around it seems that it is time for my take on the second entry.

Does this unofficial Moonstuck adaption live up to the charm of its namesake? Find out after the break.


 Now, it has always struck me as an extremely strange decision for SylrePony to adapt Moonstuck as a top-down game, given the puzzle-centric nature of the comic. Perhaps he was getting desperate for an excuse to make an isometric game in Flash, and this method would give him the most exposure out of all his available option, but regardless I'm still kind of weirded out.

 Moonstuck Part 2 begins with a dream sequence inside the observatory, in which the player can either go through a tutorial or a weird "dev" area. The inclusion of the latter is somewhat amusing, but probably not a very good idea since it means the player can skip the tutorial section and thus miss out on a very useful spell that will make your life much easier. After setting sail on an odd-looking boat, you wake up from your nap and things start go to downhill quite rapidly.

Dumb...rocks? Moon bubbles?

 You see, Moonstuck's gameplay consists mostly of wandering around rather bare environments with little idea as to where you are going or what is happening in relation to the plot. On rare occasions you are given a "break" from this monotony by tedious rock smashing and sphere-pushing sessions, which doesn't really help very much at all. Did I mention that in certain puzzles, messing up means walking a long ways back to the previous room, waiting for it to load, then going back and starting all over again? It transforms would-be simple problems into long, drawn-out affairs that quickly get on the player's nerves.


...There isn't much more to say, really, because there isn't much to praise or criticize Moonstuck part 2 for. It's just dull monotony for the entire ride, like taking a road trip during a drought in Saskatchewan, with nothing but dry, flat ground for hundreds of miles. The project's only saving grace is the engine, which looks fairly promising and doubtless could be used for far more interesting projects.

 To be honest, I feel kind of bad for SylrePony. He's a pretty talented person, but everybody slips up once in a while. Perhaps he'll fix up the game's issues in a future update, and then it should be well-worth revisiting.

Ponyvania Intro

Ponyvania

 So it seems that Ponyvania game we posted a while back also has a pretty sweet animated intro, probably the best we'll ever see in a fangame. Shame it'll probably add a lot to the game's filesize and hurt those of us with slower internet connections, so if I were the developers I'd probably release a version of the game with the intro stripped out. Still, I've seen far worse examples of pointless filesize inflation in a particular game I reviewed on this site a while back...you probably know of what I speak.

 And yes, I'm still working on that Moonstuck part 2 review, so be patient. Reviews take time, especially when you possibly have two of them to write in one day.

 Imagine if this intro was actually rendered in-game instead of just being a pre-rendered cinematic. It'd probably be quite hard to code, sure, but it'd be really impressive from a technical perspective. Plus, yay for drastically reduced filesizes!

Voting is live in the 24 hour RPG challenge

Voting in the RPGgeek.com 24 Hour RPG Contest is open. I encourage all of you to take part.

This was my first ever time entering this contest and really the first time I've tried to write an RPG since I was about 13 years old. It was a very eye opening experience and I strongly suggest everyone give this a try at some point in their life. No matter how the voting goes in this contest I will be glad to have taken part and now have something to be proud of, a role playing game I wrote myself.

My entry is The Diminutive RPG which features a unique system I called The Diminishing Dice Pool System. The game attempts to re-create the feel of books and movies like" The Borrowers, Tom Thumb, The Secret World of Arrietty, The Littles, or any other setting where small heroes do big things. The system is designed with this theme in mind where smaller is always better, A D4 is better than a D8 and you want to make your dice pool smaller and smaller. You strive to triumph over complications by getting rid of them, removing complication dice from your dice pool. Proper planning, traits and backgrounds help you triumph while hindrances make your life more complicated. Gather too many conditions and your life can become over-complicated.

Check it out and don't forget to vote:

http://rpggeek.com/thread/877644/2015-rpg-geek-24-hour-contest-voting-begins

D&D Encounters: The War of Everlasting Darkness - Session 1

Great session of Dungeons and Dragons Encounters this morning.

Had four players show up. One of which had never played an RPG before and one who hadn't played D&D since AD&D.

Got a ton done. Characters met up in a hunting lodge where they overheard rumors of ghost sightings in the town. After calming down the locals somewhat and getting some leads they decided to wait for the ghost to appear and follow it. Rumors were that it was travelling from the town to the ruins of Methergist every night.

The rumors appeared to be true as they followed the ghostly paladin through the woods. The group took a side track when the overheard voices in the woods. Investigating they found orcs from two rival tribes meeting with a Drow emissary. After stealthily listening in to hear about an impending attack on a nearby town they group ambushed the orcs. As the drow disappeared into the darkness the orcs were quickly dispatched and the group hurried to catch up to the ghost.

Arriving at the ruins of Methergist the party found that a rival group was already here. Figuring them to be tomb robbers the party ambushed the group. The fight was quick with two human hirelings taken out quickly and the more capable looking Dwarf and Elf taken hostage. After a lot of rather amusing roleplay it was decided the Dwarf and Elf would join the group in exploring the ruins for a 25% cut of any treasure found.

The ruins proved to be a small dungeon. Traps were found, the rival party was abused and left the dungeon (players tried to use them as hirelings from AD&D and use them as meat shields and trap finders and they would have none of it, aka some more good roleplay moments). A statue was found, the Tears of Helm were found, some Infernal Braziers were extinguished and the group banished an Imp by guessing what it was and what it's name was.

Then a rift opened in the ground and webs of darkness shot into the sky. The adventure ended with the group staring upwards as first the moon was blotted out then all the starts. The War of Eternal Darkness has begun.

The most impressive part to me was the fact we did all of this in 4th edition Dungeons and Dragons in about an hour and a half. That's unprecedented for Encounters. Their goal to try out the feel and some of the rules for D&D Next seems to be really paying off.

My Little Game Jam: Winners Announced!

My Little Game Jam is over, and the winners have been announced! It's great to see some of the games I've had the pleasure of covering and playing on the list. Check them out after the break!

Category Winners:

Pinkie Pie (Fun) Category: Order of Twilight [Maurice]

Applejack (Balance) Category: Chaos in Ponyville [Waffle]

Rarity (Graphics) Category: Daring Do and the Scepter of Harmony [Pix3m]

Fluttershy (Ease of Play) Category: End of Chaos [ToCoool]

Twilight Sparkle (Performance): Sugar Boom! [sparklepeep]

Rainbow Dash (Chaos): Chaos in Ponyville [Waffle]

Overall Winners:

3rd Place: Corruption [Oddwarg]

2nd Place: Order of Twilight [Maurice]

1st Place: Chaos In Ponyville [Waffle]

Congratulations to the winners! You can find all of the entries here. 

Review: Innocent Luna Game

                                                     Download Link

First of all, happy Halloween/Nightmare Night everypony!

If you follow this site, I’m sure you at least know of the Luna games.  For those of you living under a rock, this series of creepypasta platform titles has become a viral sensation for its nightmare-inducing scares.  Much like Luna herself in the recent episode Luna Eclipsed, fan developer Dialgabrite wanted to prove that a good game featuring Luna doesn’t have to be terrifying with his project Innocent Luna Game.  Was he able to do it?  Let’s find out after the break. 

The game’s plot makes it clear from the start that this is a lighthearted romp.  As Luna, you’re thrust into different worlds where you must aid a diverse selection of characters, from assisting Whale Wars’ Paul Watson in taking down Japanese hunters to knocking sense into rogue Pokemon and Digimon bent on dominating Equestria.  The game is divided into numerous chapters, each consisting of a Sonic-esque act and a boss battle.

To advance, you jump around as in any typical platformer, attacking enemies with lunar bolts and collecting… Yu-Gi-Oh cards?  Sure, let’s go with that.  While these three things(collectibles, precise jumps, and attacks) are all crucial parts of the platforming experience that the developer has down, there are some issues to be found in this aspect.  First of all, your weapon only shoots in one direction: forward and diagonally down.  It would have been a lot simpler and more efficient if these projectiles had gone just straight forward a la Mega Man.  And there are no power ups or cumulative upgrades that allow you to make it stronger or change its direction.  Because of this, you must resort to jumping in order to successfully damage most enemies. 

                                                           We're whalers on the moon...

And that’s where the second problem comes in.  Unlike games such as Super Mario Bros. where the height of your jump is affected by how long you press down its respective button, Luna’s rather high jump goes the same height regardless.  This means that you’ll be moon jumping(no pun intended) everywhere you go, which can be irritating when attempting to make some jumps or avoiding enemy fire.  This is not the worst thing in the world, but it could definitely use improvement. 

Finally, the items you collect are practically worthless, as you have unlimited lives.  That said, this as well as the save feature are useful considering the lengthiness of this adventure.  It took me a good few hours to complete the game- something I can’t say for any other pony game I’ve played yet.  Sometimes the formula is changed up a bit, but not always for the better.  There are a few scrolling levels, a rail shooter level, and levels in which you transform into another character.  While I thought that last one sounded really cool, these other characters(Nightmare Moon and Princess Celestia, to be specific) do nothing unique.  Their attacks have the same size, power, and function as Luna’s, not to mention they are slower than the protagonist.  This means the only thing that stands out about the two is a larger hurtbox- something especially noticeable in the battle against Leomon.  You must fight the boss while a barrage of meteors come at you from the sky, with your only defense being a single platform, which Celestia can barely fit under.  If Leomon is under the platform, receiving damage is practically inescapable. 

This is very hit or miss in the presentation department.  On the plus side, worlds are colorful and Luna is animated very nicely.  The music selection is fun and eclectic, ranging from MLP remixes to J-Rock.  However, none of these assets are original.  The enemies are almost entirely static images, and all the pony sprites are ripped from that batch that everypony and their mother use (some are even in our current banner).  That said, it’s clear that the developer was very ambitious and had all the right intentions. 

As such, I really want to go easy on this game.  I love a good platformer, and the fandom has sorely been lacking a traditional platformer of a sizeable length.  Unfortunately, it has a number of shortcomings I can’t ignore.  With that, I’ll give this game a:

 

If you do enjoy this and are interested in checking out more of Dialgabrite’s stuff, which he’s set up Facebook pages for here:

http://www.facebook.com/#!/PokemonKindnessVersion

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Minor-Details-the-homebrew-maze-game-Contains-Ponies/152336548181312

Guess Who's Livestreaming This Weekend?

 If you've been following Equestria Gaming over the past couple months/years, this banner should probably tell you all you need to know, but if you haven't figured it out yet Legends of Equestria is holding yet another 24 hour livestream, in which they will be extra productive in order to please the general public and hold several panels which may or may not interest you. The event will run from the 2nd of November at 12 noon EDT for a full 24 hours until the 3rd at 12 noon. And before you ask, the stream will be held at http://www.livestream.com/legends_of_equestria.

You can find a full schedule below the break.

Octavia in the Underworld's Cello

The Underworld's Cello (fixed)

 So I knew that I was going to be posting about at least one adventure game today, but to be quite honest with you I was rather surprised when I opened up my deviantART notifications and found a demo for a first-person point & click adventure game right before my eyes. It stars Octavia (duh) and Vinyl, as they venture into a dilapidated mansion after following some poorly-written directions to a Nightmare Night party, and yes, it does run splendidly in Wine once you install dsound. Thing is, it is quite a bit darker than your average pony adventure game, although the fact that it's being released so close to Halloween probably explains that.

Heh heh heh...

...this should be fun to review once it comes out.

Moonstuck the Game Part 2

Moonstuck the Game Part 2

 Two days ago SylrePony finally released a sequel to his Moonstuck game project from March 2013. It probably look so long because he's been working on Drifter alongside several other folks, but now that it's been released he probably has more time to make games and whatnot, which is kind of nice because as we've mentioned before, there's been a severe lack of My Little Pony fangames this year. Ah well, at least things seem to be picking up a little bit again, right?

Dun worry, I'll review this tomorrow after I've had some sleep. Goodnight!

Released: Never Heard From Ever Again

Never Heard From Ever Again

 Back in August we posted about Never Heard From Ever Again, a weird little first person horror game with the nastiest lolipop-related jumpscare you'll ever see. The full thing was released today on Desura, marking the first time a pony game made it onto the service, but it's $1.99, also giving it the unprestigious "honour" of being the first My Little Pony fangame for the PC platform that is neither free in freedom nor free beer. Mind you, that's not a lot of money, but there are still plenty of people who will probably find this choice in distribution objectionable.

Meanwhile, guess who's too cheap to buy a copy?

There's a new Dungeons and Dragons Next playtest pack out

I was checking my hotmail during lunch at work and I found out that there's a new Dungeons and Dragons Next playtest packet out. These things seem to be coming out more and more frequently. The last time I actually got a chance to run the playtest we were still playing around in the Caves of Chaos. 

I had a great time running the two games I got in back then as did all of the players. Even though it only went up to level 3 and we were stuck playing pre-generated characters. I think everyone at the table was excited for the new edition of D&D at the time and we all were looking forward to playing again.

Then another packet came out. This had character creation rules and went to level five and had a new module. I found this one hard to sell to my groups. Mainly because they wanted to continue the old game with the old characters playing through the old dungeon and really I don't blame them. I meant to re-pitch the event and have everyone just re-make their characters at level 2 and continue to run the caves.  Then reality happened.

Now it's only a couple of weeks later an there's yet another packet out. I haven't actually read this one yet but from the buzz online it seems you can go up to 10th level. I know there was a mini packet sent out at one point too with rules for magic items.  Seems I'm falling way behind here.

You can grab the latest and greatest files here: http://www.wizards.com/dnd/DnDNext.aspx

What has been your experience with the playtest material so far?

Board Games at the Green Bean November 9th

The Windsor Gaming Resource returns to the Green Bean Coffee Co. on Friday November 9th

The Green Bean is an independent coffee shop that provides a wide variety of coffees, teas, lattes and more. They have a full menu that includes fresh made soup, paninis and some really tempting deserts. There's the option for a bottomless cup of coffee and they have free WiFi. For us gamers they have a wide variety of tables and a well lit stage.

This is an open non-competitive gaming event that anyone is welcome to a

ttend. Any form of games are welcome, board, card, rpg, miniatures, whatever you want to bring we are willing to have you. We aren't rule lawyers. You are welcome to bring your own games or share in some of ours. Everything we bring we are willing to teach and no experience is necessary. The goal is to get as many local gamers out as possible to enjoy some good food, some good company and some good games!

Games we've played at events like this in the past include: Settlers of Catan, Dominion, Scrabble, Ca$h and Gun$, Bohnanzha, Magic The Gathering, Carcasonne, Race for the Galaxy, Puerto Rico, Agricola, Chess and more.

An important note: we are not a private club. Anyone and everyone is welcome to come out and join in the games. If you see someone playing a game and it looks interesting, ask about it. If you see a game on a table and you want to try it out, ask around and see if someone will teach it.

The Green Bean is located near the University of Windsor at:
2320 Wyandotte St. W (Lower). Windsor, ON.
It's in the basement of the Church with the big sign that says "God Loves Students" on the side of it, next to Harvey's 

Note: The Windsor Gaming Resource has no political or religious ties to the Green Bean or the Church it is located in. It just happens to be an awesome place to play some games and meet other gamers.

You can find The Green Bean on Facebook here:
https://www.facebook.com/greenbeancoffee

You can find The Green Bean on the web here:
http://www.greenbeancoffee.info/

The Windsor Gaming Resource on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/windsorgamingresource/

The Windsor Gaming Resource on G+:
https://plus.google.com/b/114520579551583540642/

The Windsor Gaming Resource on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/WindsorGaming/

MLP: Rise of the Clockwork Stallions Demo

Rise of the Clockwork Stallions Demo

This morning, Dark Era studios released a demo version of their latest title, My Little Pony: Rise of the Clockwork Stallions! I've had a chance to play through the first few levels, and the polish at this early stage is frankly quite impressive. It's not a tiny demo, either - a significant portion of the full game is available to play.

Check out their trailer video here, and download the demo via the link above!

Canterlot Siege 2

Canterlot Siege 2

 Last year's Canterlot Siege was extremely popular amongst the My Little Pony fan community in general, although I wasn't all that fond of it myself due to my not being a real tower defence person. Since I am really not suited to reviewing this sort of thing I'll just wait for Arctic Lux or Enigma Sage to do it later, but needless to say most of you who liked the first entry will probably end up enjoying this one. Also, playing strategy games in general with a pounding headache is a terrible idea, and will probably make anything but the biggest pushover feel like a horrible nightmare.

In other news, my screenshot utility is working properly now that I uninstalled the proprietary Radeon drivers. Huzzah! Now, if only the open source drivers did a better job at controlling the fan speed...

Game Maker Compilation Post #3

Guess what time it is! Filly Twilight knows... Anyhow, I'm not feeling particularly verbose today, so I'll get right down to it. 

From projects bordering on professional to amateur fan games put together in basements late at night, the Game Maker comp has it all! Four today, hit 'em up after the break!

Project Dash Demo

Okamikurainya's Project Dash is a promising Rainbow Dash platformer that might just soon outgrow the confines of this post. Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge your way through a couple of neatly styled levels at the beginning of what will eventually become a much larger world map. Collecting gems fills the meter at the top of the screen, giving you the power to fly and eventually perform a sonic rainboom. The most recent project update occurred earlier today, so head over and be one of the first to try out the newest release!

Bonus: hitting the insert key on the world map screen and typing "MLP8BIT" allows you to replay levels from Adventure Ponies!

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End of Chaos

Chocolate rain, Dali's bunnies, and Twilight Sparkle blasting things with lasers. I really don't think I have to do much more than that to pitch this one. ToCoool's End of Chaos is one of the most reviewed games to come out of My Little Game Jam - play and comment on it via the link above!

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Key of Darkness - the Toothblade

Ooooh, Game Maker Studio. Fancy stuff, this. Created with custom resources of all sorts, influxWishdream's My Little Game Jam submission is artistically quite a feat for 48 hours. With your trusty toothblade at your side, venture forth to the gates of Tartarus as Colgate!

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Legacy of the Pony

Noon Anna has unfortunately ceased development on Legacy of the Pony, a black and white Legend of Zelda-themed dungeon crawler. However, what remains is still an impressive example of what can be accomplished in Game Maker. There's plenty of game here, and it's certainly worth downloading if you're a fan of the retro style.

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Want to see a game featured in the next Game Maker comp? Email me directly, or hit it up our submission page. Happy gaming!

November 1st Brimstone Board Game Night

Hot on the heels of our amazing 2014 Extra Life Event, the Windsor Gaming Resource returns to Brimstone Games on Saturday November 1st as part of their twice monthly boardgame night which hits on the 1st and 3rd Saturday of every month. These events run from 5pm to 10pm and are open to all ages.

Brimstone is working to become Windsor's premier board game shop. They've got a great selection of the hottest games and tons of gaming space to play them. Not only that but all board games are currently 30% off!

You can win a board game! 

Every Board Game Night at 8pm the store will draw 1 ticket and the winner will receive a free board game!

Players earn 1 ticket for playing games, limit of 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for purchasing a snack or drink, limit 1 ticket per night. Earn 1 ticket for bringing 1 or more board games for people to play. Earn 5 tickets for purchasing a game. First time players will receive 5 additional tickets.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Rd. Parking is available on the south side of the building and on the street around back. Note that Brimstone used to be located in McGregor. This is no longer the case, they moved into Windsor just over a year ago.

Theme: Sports Games

Who says gamers don't like sports? What about Formula D, Thunder Road, Red Tide (the table-tennis card game) or Strat-O-Matic Baseball?

The theme this event is sports games! Any kind of sport. Bring along what ever sport games you own.

In fitting with the theme the game you can win this night is: Blood Bowl Team Manager from Fantasy Flight games. An awesome card version of the classic Games Workshop Fantasy Football miniature game.

This is a fantastic card game for 2-4 players that does an awesome job of capturing the Blood Bowl feel.

Updated: MFA II Pre-Preview

Pre-Preview

 It seems that Mark, after stealthily releasing his last pre-preview on MLPchan back in September, took the feedback he received and whipped up another one for his followers to enjoy. It features an expanded world, more visually impressive bossfights (yay!), and the miraculous ability to summon money from thin air. Good thing the latter won't be present in the final game though; imagine what could happen if you could "bribe" particular bosses to leave you alone. You'd probably end up with some kind of weird joke ending where all the big bads go on an expensive holiday in their private yacht, only to have their fortunes taken away by the Equestrian Revenue Service.

 Kind of a shame that Mark probably probably won't be able to release the game in time for Halloween, but ah well. At least the final game should be well worth the wait, if these previews and his previous projects are anything to go by.

 Sorry to the anon whose screencap I "borrowed" for the post header, but Linux Mint's screenshot utility isn't working and installing other ones doesn't help. Also, booting into Windows 8.1 won't do anything to help in the long run because it breaks my boot setup, and arrrgh-

Screw this, I almost feel like switching to Slackware now, or at least some distro that has a stable screencap utility.

Review: Doomsday Ascending Part 1

Doomsday Ascending Part 1 (NSFW!)

Warning: the game contains Rule 34 imagery, although viewing them is optional.

 Videogame adaptions of fan fiction is quite rare, and for a good reason. As can be discovered by simply picking up a story at random from FIMFiction the vast majority of them are quite lousy, and Doomsday Ascending was no exception. It has no redeeming qualities, and unfortunately falls more on the mediocre side of the scale which means that it isn't quite as amusing to read as, say Winnie the Pooh Assimilated by the Borg. The author, Jerry "Bhaalspawn" Peet, was apparently so full of himself that he decided to create an RPG based off of his cliche storm of a fanfic, and claimed that it used a "heavily modified" version of the RPG Maker VX Ace engine.

  If you have been paying attention you've probably realized by now that this game is going to suck, but just how bad is Doomsday Ascending? The only way to find out other then playing it is to read our review, and you can do so by continuing on after the break.


  In Doomsday Ascending the player will switch between controlling two main characters: Twilight Sparkle and the original character Ascentia Kortai who is a humanoid alien that destroys worlds. Apparently the twin Princesses have gained their power by draining Equestria's magic dry, and Ascentia figures that the most convenient way to solve this is by mucking about and killing everypony. Basically the entire game is just wandering around aimlessly, talking to ponies and deciding whether to "embody" (spare) them or "break" them, the latter of which involves either mind-controlling them or destroying them utterly and unlocking some Rule 34 of that character. In my opinion the only part of Doomsday Ascending that can remotely be called "gameplay" is the two turn-based combat sequences, but both instances were just as uninspired and dull as the rest of the game.

"Hey guise look at me I'm defeating goddesses lol"

  While the graphics and music are not the most important parts of the game they still do play a part, and by the looks of it Bhaalspawn didn't really put much work into it at all, instead choosing to rip all his assets from other games/artists without even bothering to credit them in the files. The tileset is one of the default RPG Maker VX Ace tilesets included in the box, as are all of the non-pony character sprites. He even somehow managed to end up giving his main character a portrait that looks nothing at all like her field sprite! As the MST3K cast would say, "They just didn't care!". The game is filled with stuff like this. Backtracking in certain areas can cause cutscenes to loop, towns are filled with inaccessible buildings with open doors, unclear quests, human clothes in pony shops, etc. The list goes on and on, and if I pointed out every little detail where the team messed up this review would be longer then In the Beginning was the Command Line.

  This game was bad enough already, but adding pony porn was the last straw. This is yet another sad example of the mentality that "mature stuff is better" where people throw in adult content in hopes of somehow magically making their product better and attracting more players. There are other, more potent ways of rewarding evil deeds ingame, but just slapping Celestia's butt on the screen after the player kills her just makes the creator of this trainwreck look childish and immature. Besides, how would Ascentia even access the R34 anyhow? It's not like Applejack carries around smutty images of herself...right?

"KILL HER AND STEAL HER PORN!!!"

 In conclusion, Doomsday Ascending was a terrible, boring mess of a game and I do not recommend playing it. Bhaalspawn claims he "takes weird or unrealistic ideas, blow them entirely out of proportion, and demand that fun times be had without any thought towards sense". Unfortunately for him neither his stories or his games are remotely enjoyable, and he writes characters that are flatter then a board. My advice to him? Turn off his computer and find something else to do that doesn't involve wasting other people's time, like getting a job. At least his game could have been so bad that it became a fun experience, but he flunked again there too and created what is without the doubt the dullest and least interesting fangame I have ever found.

What's that? He made another fangame too? It can't possible be worse then this...right?

Megamare X Seeking Level Designers

 SaltyJustice, a prominent developer from Starlight Studios, decided that Megamare X could really use a new level designer and submitted a post on Ponychan's /collab/ board asking for help. Problem is, he apparently hasn't realized that /collab/ is (among other things) dead and very unproductive. Since I can safely assume that all of us want to see the project reach completion in the near future, I decided to take the liberty of reposting his thread in hopes that he would have more luck finding someone here.

A copypasta of the full post, along with details on how to apply, can be found below the break.

Hello everypony!
Starlight Studios is developing a game called Megamare-X, and we're looking for at least one level designer to help us make it a reality.

The game is a jump-and-run-and-shoot platformer modelled after Megaman-X. More information is available upon request, but the important point is that our level designer must be able to analyze and understand how a Megaman-X level works and is constructed.

Much of the public information on the project can be found at http://www.mlponline.net/threads/megamare-x-clarifications.2048/ 

What we are not looking for is simple level layouts. We are also not specifically looking for someone to do art (tiles, backgrounds) for these levels, though that skill is handy if you have it. What we are looking for is someone who understands (or is not averse to learning) what makes a level fun, what features can be added, how the enemies and their positioning contributes to the level, and how a level is meant to teach a player over time.

If you're really interested, we also require that you be online and attentive. We use skype to communicate with one another, and have team meetings often throughout the week, and you are required to be present at least once a week (more is better!). We do our best to keep times flexible, but being present and communicating often is vital!

If you have previous level-design experience, by all means, apply! If you don't, but think you have the guts, you may as well take a stab at it. We work hard and we're at it all the time - this is a fan project, but it's also our passion, and we hope to make another game after Megamare-X that will be commercial. If you're good at your job, we might have a place for you.



This recruiting drive will last a finite amount of time, so don't delay. I will reply to this thread once we close it. If you have additional questions, post them here. What is expected of you will be detailed after we receive your reply, serious applicants only.

To apply: Email me directly. saltyjustice AT starlightstudios DAWT org Make sure to leave some method of contacting you.

Skype is preferred, but email will do as well.

Story of the Blanks Level Editor

Editor Tutorial

 While we wait around for that Story of the Blanks reimagining (which is apparently still under development, if we take their word for it), some anon on /mlp/ suggested that we post about the game's built-in level editor, which has been around since its release during the Creepypasta contest. To access it, the player has to open the game's SFW file, make the browser window much larger vertically than horizontally, click Play and then press Home+End. If you read the guide and figure out the editor, more power to you I guess. Still, it's not like this is really an appropriate tool for creating an entirely new game unless you're really crazy.

 Also, the comments for our Creepypasta contest reveal that apparently there were two entries, but Story of the Blanks was the only one that was posted. I wonder what happened to that other one...

So little to post these days...I'm only really putting this article up because there isn't much else, if anything at all. Also, upgrading to Windows 8.1 broke my dual-boot setup, so there's that as well.

Gameloft's Welcome to Ponyville Gameplay Footage

Update: the title for the game has been revealed: Welcome to Ponyville. I get the impression that Filly Gamez won't be too happy about this...

Apparently Gameloft has been developing an official My Little Pony mobile game for a while now, and yesterday one of the developers released a video preview that showcased the game. I must admit that overall it does look rather pretty, but it seems that this game is yet another example of how ponies really don't look that great in 3D (PonyKart managed to get around this with some fancy shading, but it would probably drain cellphone batteries to have that). This game should make an interesting review to say the least, although that reviewer won't be me since I do not currently own any working mobile devices.

What do you think of this preview, eh?

My Little Game Dev + Creepypasta Contest!

  Sometimes I have found myself wishing that there was a forum for My Little Pony fangame developers, but a couple days ago some folks from My Little Game Jam started discussing this idea amongst themselves. Usually this kind of talk doesn't get anywhere, but a bloke going by the username Wishdream took it upon himself to create the My Little Game Dev forums: a place where developers could come together, share their knowledge and just hang out. Sounds fun? Then join via this link.

  In other news the site's founder has set up a creepypasta contest for the users to participate in, and there's a little over 2 days left. The prizes? Free art from Wishdream and exKira, along with a position on the devteam of a super secret fangame. It's not much, but at least it's a good excuse for some more creepypasta, eh?

Luna Vs. Fun

                 
                                                      Play it Here!

"Huzzah!  How many points do I receive?"  If you watched the most recent episode of Season 2, then you most likely remember the scene where Luna plays a traditional Nightmare Night spider-throwing game that she mistakenly calls "the fun."  A Brony dream team consisting of Deviantart legend Egophiliac, popular remixer NotACleverPony, and game designer Texel has come together to create a short flash game based on this scene.   You have to download an application called Unityplayer off of the link to play it, but the file is small and painless.   The gameplay is simple: by holding down the mouse, you change how far you throw a spider.  There's not enough to say about this to constitute a review, but I will say it's a fun little diversion.  Also, look close and you may see a cameo or two in the spiders....

MLP: Rise of the Clockwork Stallions Demo Trailer

MLP: Rise of the Clockwork Stallions

The team behind My Little Pony: Magic Shards, Darkera Studios, is well into the development of their next project - and frankly, it looks pretty cool. My Little Pony: Rise of the Clockwork Stallions is slated to feature more than 30 playable characters, 8 locations, 16 bosses, and a whopping 48 levels. Check out the trailer, and visit the project's development website via the link above!

Rainbow Dash Pony Disaster Playground Demo

Rainbow Dash Pony Disaster

 The wonderful folks that brought you Waiting is Magic and TWALAGHT SPARKUHLZ REVEHNGSHE are currently working on a game titled Rainbow Dash Pony Disaster, and after surprisingly little ado decided to release a tech demo for their project. I'm quite impressed with the game so far, although the combat needs quite a bit of work and adding a little shading to the vectors would work wonders for the overall look. We'll be sure to review this for you when it comes out, but in the meantime why don't you give it a try, eh?

On a somewhat related note apparently our author Enigma is providing vectors for Penta Studios and is listed as a team member on their website. This isn't the first time he's worked on a fangame (his only released one being Click the Twilight Sparkle so far), but it's nice to see that he's contributing to the project.

Colors Of Time

Colors of Time

Hang on, Discord's stopped time. That's rarely, if ever, a good thing. Right now, JCity's Colors of Time is a fairly short, basic platformer - however, its mechanics are nicely polished and the art very pretty for a 48-hour game jam. He's hinted that he may continue the project in the future - I, for one, would love to see it blossom into something unique. Link to the MLGJ page above!

Corruption

Corruption

You guys never cease to amaze me. Complete with custom animation, creepy musical styling, and some slightly mind-bending visuals, The Oddwarg's Corruption is certainly one of the most colorful games to come out of My Little Game Jam. It's a little shorter than what I'd normally review, and borders on creepypasta, so I held off from grading it. Find the rundown after the break!

To be honest, the level styling of Corruption reminds me a lot of the Luna Games, which I'm a huge fan of. Using keyboard controls to move while controlling a magically levitated lantern with the mouse, the player attempts to guide Twilight through a shadowy underground maze. 

The unique art style and enveloping nature of the game mask the fact that there's not a lot of discernible story. There are a few clues - Discord smirks at you before the game launches, and Celestia greets you with Smarty Pants after the game's conclusion, but overall, the plot is indecipherable. 

However, I can't really fault a chaos-themed game for confusing me. I won't spoil the penultimate scene with a screenshot - rather, I'll leave you with the knowledge that I found it awesome and that it borders on creepypasta. 

Lots of insanity, and then... this. Well, that was anti-climactic - perhaps there's a secret ending?

The game might have begun to bore me had it dragged on longer - however, it was short enough that the mechanics remained fun. Aside from using your lantern to prevent Twilight from falling into numerous pits, variety was found in moving glowing balls and platforms to solve puzzles within the cave.

Overall, I think this game could go far if expanded - there's certainly a lot of unique potential here. Or maybe I'm just a sucker for creepypasta. Either way, it's quick and certainly worth playing!

Xtux's note: despite the author's claims you can run this game on Mac OS X by downloading the latest version of Java from http://java.com/en/download/mac_download.jsp and not through the Software Update utility.

Sunset Defender

Sunset Defender

Man, four whole days without a post? This needs to be remedied, stat! Fortunately, Amethyst Air has just the thing. This little game was created for My Little Game Jam, but missed the deadline by a couple of hours. Help Cadence and Shining Armor defend Equestria from changeling missiles, chain reaction-style! 

Letting a couple of locations be destroyed at the beginning proves to be the most effective strategy, as you can then focus your fire on the last remaining area. Waiting to click until the missiles are close to impact is a quick way to clear the board, but a little risky - if you miss, you're doomed. I couldn't get past level 13... if you beat me, feel free to disparage my skills in the comments!

October 25th - Gaming auction in support of Extra Life

As part of the Windsor Gaming Resource contribution to Extra Life this year, we will be hosting a live geeky gaming auction. Anyone is welcome to attend and take part. You don't have to be a previous WGR member or be taking part in the 24 hour game-a-thon.

The auction is scheduled for October 25th at 8:00pm and will be held along side our 24 hour gaming event, at Brimstone Games.

You can find Brimstone at 3298 Walker Road in Windsor Ontario Canada.

Extra Life is an awesome worldwide 24 hour gaming event raising money for the Children's Miracle Network of Hospitals.

This our second year participating and we've upped our target to $2000! 100% of the proceeds from this auction go towards meeting (and hopefully beating) that target.

The auction items will be a mix of new and used games and some other cool geeky items. Our big ticket item is a sealed copy of the Ticket To Ride 10th Anniversary Edition. There will also be some awesome dice bags from Mercantile 519. Sealed copies of Little Devils, Crazy Creatures of Dr. Gloom, Alhambra, Smash Up, Oddball Aeronauts. A Hardcover edition of the awesome D6 steampunk Westward RPG and Azamar a D6 fantasy RPG. As well as many other items graciously donated by WGR members and some kick ass game publishers.

If you have something you would like to donate to the auction, that would be awesome. You can either bring it to the event or contact Moe Tousignant some time before the 25th.

If you are interested in supporting us in some other way, perhaps joining us for 24 hours of gaming or making a donation to the cause, check out this post for everything we are doing for Extra Life.