Update 3: Now Humble Bundle #3 has hit 1.5 millions dollars and there are over 1/4 of a million purchases.  Also given for free is Atom Zombie Smasher.  If you pay more than the average of $US5.45 you also get all the games in Humble Bundle #2.  That’s a lot of games altogether.  There’s 4 days left.

Update 2: Not only has humble bundle hit 1 million bucks it has added another game Steel Storm Burning Retribution!  Those who bought the bundle get the game automatically.

Update: The humble bundle 3 also allows access to play Minecraft for free until August the 14th 2011.

Humble Indie Bundle 3 is out.

Humble Bundle is where you pay what you like for a bundle of games and charities. This time we have platform-puzzle games.  There’s 13 days left.

Crayon Physics Deluxe – Imaginative puzzle game based around drawing your solutions
COGS – Nifty 3D slider puzzle game based around things like gears and pipes
VVVVVV – Platform game based around the ability to change gravity but not jump
Hammerfight – Physics-based platform game centred around swinging a flying hammer
And Yet it Moves – Physics-based platform game with titling of the world.

The charities are EFF and Child’s Play.

All games are cross platform working natively on Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows. All are DRM free and can be redeemed on Steam and Desura. Several of these games are having their Mac and/or Linux debut.

Danny Day who works on the Desktop Dungeons project at QCF Design just sent in some details about the future of Desktop Dungeons. Recently I reviewed Desktop Dungeons version 0.151 which is fully featured and a worthwhile play for spare 10 minute time-slots.

However, that’s just a prototype. A very good one I might add so it will be interesting to see the final version. QCF Design are working hard on that full version of Desktop Dungeons. Danny Day put the difference between the two versions like this:

The full version is an incredibly expanded game, think Star Control 2 vs the original Star Control.

The game is rewitten in Unity (previously game maker) so now it looks better and has more possibilities in gameplay.

Danny goes on to say:

I’m really excited to see how players react to the Kingdom and the expanded metagame, if we’ve done it right, everyone will have slightly different upgrades and unlocking patterns.

I’m looking forward to it myself. I already liked how the 10 minute sessions were linked together even though it was simply done. There is a lot of scope for more and will be nice to see what QCF come up with.

I asked about multiplayer for Desktop Dungeons as it seemed to me small group coop multiplayer could be quite fun in such a setting.

We’ve thrown the idea back and forth, as we’re all avid multiplayer gamers, but for now we’re focusing on making Desktop Dungeons as good a game as it can be for just the one player. I think it’d be an interesting design exercise to figure out how to make co-op work, but that’s beyond our scope right now, so unfortunately no multiplayer in the near future.

I also asked about the leaderboard which is broken in version 0.151. The full version will have a completely reworked leaderboard which is well validated.  I leave you with a look at some of the halfling concept art.  Artist did a nice job on giving them some character.

Ok I’ve had enough.

Antivirus programs are well known to struggle with ensuring they catch as many threats as possible. Most leading antivirus products seem to achieve a good level but none of them are perfect.

A much lesser known issue are false positives where the product flags a file as a threat but is not a threat.

It has been happening again and again with Norton 360. Darkfall was the first in recent memory and a particular slap in the face as it is a moderately popular mainstream game. However, ever since researching indy games there have been a flurry of these presumably false positives.

There was the Space Chem Demo, Desktop Dungeons, the Sense of Connectedness, Ace of Spades and just now Jaques Roque, just to name a few. Either the installer gets flagged as a threat, or the actual executable. Sometimes Norton 360′s Insight blocks it, sometimes it’s flagged as the WS.Reputation.1 virus. In both cases Norton dutifully locks away the file. When you drill into which virus that is, it merely means the file literally lacks reputation.

So there I am with an antivirus product which cries wolf so often that the product is essentially worthless as a proper warning system. If I overide these endless false positives one day I will let in a real threat. What’s worse is I have paid for this service. I went to Norton 360′s so called One Click (meaning around 40 clicks, a form to fill in and a refresh) support system and discovered Norton 360 doesn’t have any real solution. Their solution was to suggest I run Norton Power Eraser.

Check out this lovely list of indy software Norton’s Power Eraser the support says is bad and should go.

I really need better antivirus software that can determine threat from non-threat accurately and I lack the budget to fork out more for it.

For the indy gaming industry this could be a severe problem. Getting the word out is pretty hard as it is without having antivirus products blocking the way and scaremongering their software.

All dungeoned in 10 minutes

Release Date: 16^th October 2009

Developer: QCF Design

Genre: RPG

Mode: Single Player

Desktop Dungeons is pretty much what it says, a quick dungeon play. If you’ve ever played a roguelike Role Playing Game(RPG) you’ll know they are amazing time sinks. Indeed, most RPGs are time sinks. Desktop Dungeons takes the basics of RPGs and condenses them into one screen full of adventure. These maps take very little time to complete. Yet they are full of the usual RPG elements. Potions, gold, shops, stat bonuses, gods, monsters and level ups. Your goal in each fixed dungeon is to kill one or two level 10 boss monsters.

You could ask why this is a positive game? After all fantasy RPGs are a dime a dozen. That much is true enough but few RPGs are this short and sweet. Each dungeon is a nicely digested package not taking too much of your valuable time. Beyond this are the many key choices you make coupled with the game difficulty.

Difficulty in Desktop Dungeons is one of the highlights. Each map and element provides a serious challenge to get to the end result of killing the level 10 boss monster. It is not at all uncommon to fail. You have to balance exploration so much so that it can feel like minesweeper. You have to make hard choices on which god to join if any because they are powerfully supporting but come with serious drawbacks. You you have to strategise the battles to make sure you get the best outcome. All in all, it feels like your choices actually matter. That makes the dungeons memorable and fun.

Another nice thing about Desktop Dungeons is the way it ties the dungeons together. As you complete the basic dungeons you unlock new dungeon types, new classes and new races. Gold also carries over from previous dungeons. As you defeat boss monsters new items and monsters become available.

The graphical side of Desktop Dungeons is retro simple. It gives the whole 8 bit impression and is text and icon heavy. No animation, no glitz, no glamour. It does the job well though.

Sound in Desktop Dungeons is simple though the swing of the weapon is kind of satisfying. There is no music.

The online leaderboard appears to be broken.

Desktop Dungeons runs on Windows and Mac. This is an early release (version 0.151) and there are indications there will be a better release later. Desktop Dungeons available at the main site is free to play.

Game: 4/5     Positive:

I’ve been busy trawling a lot of indy releases of various types and qualities. It’s a lot of fun too because many of them offer something interesting or even <gasp> innovative. Here’s a few I will probably not be reviewing but offer something small at least and are worth checking out.

48 Hour War by fancy logo and another fancy logo. Er I mean QCF Design. 48 hour war is a teeny bit bugged and a bit of an everyone looses type game. Reminds me of the game Nuclear War actually.

Youdunit by QCF Design. A reverse cleudo of a sort. You are the killer and have to spin a web of deception.

The Last Fleet by QCF Design. Nice little game about a space ship escaping a cloud of death like a bad episode of Star Trek.

Space Funeral by the catamites. A standard RPG with very non standard setting.

Doppelganger. Excellent concept by agj. Uses video cam. I think it needs more depth in communication.

Fish Fish Bang Bang by Robert D. Fearon. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game with more bling. Demo only at the moment.

Digital: A love story by Christine Love. Very retro (BBS retro) which is an adventure run from a Amiga-like Amie Workbench.

The Age of Decadence by Iron Tower Studio. A fine though standard RPG. There’s a combat demo, looks like the final game will be gritty, attractive and fun to play.