Tactical turn-based future-sports football game Frozen Endzone (holy hyphen spam, Batman) is now available through Early Access on Steam.

By pitting teams of sinister looking robots against each other in a deadly game of ‘future football’ (Not the British kind, but the pretend football you see in America) Frozen Endzone hopes to score the same popularity that its predecessor – Frozen Synapse - received.

Launching alongside its Early Access release, Frozen Endzone will also get a number of updates to the current beta version of the game.

• Players can now have stats: strength, resilience, “burst” (a small burst of acceleration when getting the ball), evade, intercept radius, block radius
• “Handball” (now called “Full Match”) game mode enters beta.  This has been totally revamped to accommodate stats and is now the main game mode.  Lots of turnovers, interceptions, end-to-end action, and new points zones make this really exciting and strategic.
• Team Editor allows you to name your players and set their stats; upload your team to the server and use it in multiplayer or skirmish with it offline
• Completely revamped, much more intelligent AI and a selection of new AI skirmishes
• Easy-to-use tile-based Pitch Editor (alpha)
• Custom Game Mode creator (alpha)
• Commentary system (alpha): commentary makes use of player names; in single player, the AI calculations are also used to allow the commentators to analyse your play-style; in multiplayer, the commentators will discuss your previous history with your opponent
• New animations and some big improvements to camera code
• There is now in-game audio to go with the music!

And if that wasn’t enough, here’s a brand spanking new trailer with developer Paul talking us through some of the new features listed above.

© 2014, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

We’re in the last quarter, all the bases are loaded, and you’ve just scored a birdie on hole 9. By now you’ve probably guessed I know very little about sports other than the occasional buzzword. Fortunately, the upcoming turn-based future-sports title Frozen Endzone doesn’t care if you know anything about athletics so long as you can think tactically and enjoy watching robots clobber each other in the name of entertainment.

Frozen Endzone is best described as a mixture of chess and American Football, only set in the future and populated entirely by menacing looking robots who like to punch each other for fun. What strikes me the most about the game is how accessible it is to someone who couldn’t throw a ball to save his life. If you’ve played Frozen Synapse - the previous entry in this strategic series – you’ll find many of the gameplay mechanics to be similar if not the same. Multiplayer matches can be played without the need for both participants to be online at the same time, the player can simulate actions of all units on the playing field before committing to a specific play, and the overall control scheme and UI borrows from the previous entry.

New players need not worry about memorizing a long list of rules and regulations as the game is fairly straightforward and easily explained via the in-game tutorial. You spawn onto a grid with both teams players scattered across the various positions on the map. One team ‘attacks’ by attempting to move the ball down towards the end zone – a field that spans the bottom of the pitch – while the opposite team must intercept the ball before it can reach the goal. From this simple formula, both players must scheme and plot their way through each turn, making sure to have their units in the right place whilst simultaneously guessing what the enemy is planning.

In essence, the game is just as much about reading your opponent’s mind as it is about strategy. During one rather tense match versus an AI opponent, my situation looked so dire that the only option seemed to be to wait until my mechano-man got dog piled upon. I spent a good five minutes simulating a number of different moves, trying to find the right approach that would let me get out of this situation. I planned and I simulated again and again until it felt like I was simulating myself inside a simulation. Suddenly, a chance appeared, an opportunity that seemed so outlandish and drastic that it had to work, so I took a chance and committed my actions into the hands of fate. Unfortunately fate decided my ambitions of winning were much too high. As my loyal team member attempted to win the game in one heroic swoop like a glorious 90’s feel good movie, the crushing thud of an enemy player lands right into the poor guy’s face knocking him to the ground to lay in a pool of shame and motor oil.

The game is currently in an early beta state, but there’s plenty to do in the current version. Single player currently offers a Vs. AI mode which will have you facing off against a computer opponent in either one or three-round matches. There are also six challenge scenarios to play through. Multiplayer currently offers the follow four game modes:

• Endzone – Randomly generated playing fields where one player is attacking and one defending. Once the first round is over the positions are swapped and the team with the highest score at the end wins the game. This mode is very quick-fire and recommended for shorter matches.
• One Play – Similar to Endzone, except the teams do not swap after the first round ends. Once the ball reaches the goal or it becomes intercepted by the defenders, the match is over.
• Handball – This mode is less restricted than Endzone, with multiple tackles and changes of possession without the match ending. Both teams must get the ball to their end zone, so in many ways this could be considered the most comparable to a real game of football.
• Handball Easy – A variation of Handball in which most of the restrictive rules have been removed (ball throw limit etc…)

Future plans for Frozen Endzone include variable stats for individual players, allowing you to build up a more in-depth team of strengths and weaknesses. There will also be an expansion to the single player experience that will consist of a story mode, a single player “roguelike” season mode, and a long-form season mode. Multiplayer will also see additions in the future with the promise of more modes and the ability to create multiplayer leagues with your friends. The visuals are also set to receive more work with new animations, more stadiums and team armours, and a whole host of customization options for players to add a personal touch to their robot squads.

Today marks the launch of Frozen Endzone’s beta, and those looking to grab a copy can do so via the official website. The first tier, sitting at $25 (which is about £15 or €18.50) nets two keys for the beta, with optional Steam keys and access to the full version on release. Higher tiers come with a number of luxury extras including the game’s soundtrack, in-game cosmetic items, and animations for your team. Every purchase also comes with a 30% off voucher for Speedball 2 HD on Steam if you feel like going on a future sports binge.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

When it comes to gaming, there are a multitude of different genres out there ranging from your standard FPS fare to obscure mash-ups of sub-genres. Many games tend to the specific needs many players seek out. My interests in particular lean towards the niche genre of gaming known as survival simulation. With that, I introduce to you Renewal, an upcoming zombie survival RPG game.

Unfortunately, they didn’t have my luxurious mane available for the hairstyles. A bowl cut will do.

Renewal is a 2D top-down RPG with heavy emphasis on player survival in a randomly-generated world. You create your own character and you must ensure the survival of yourself, as well as attempting to rebuild in a world devastated by zombies. Yes, zombies. I can already hear some of you readers groaning.

Yeah zombies are a bit overdone, but I among others welcome more contributions to the classic monster. Renewal has plenty of them roaming around for you to encounter and vanquish, all while you scavenge around looking for supplies and weapons. Go out into the world beyond the safety of your town walls in order to find better items for yourself and for the citizens. Use your wits and your newfound items to craft more weapons as you get stronger and bolder.

The game has been in development for about a year, and from what I’ve seen while playing the public beta, it looks to be promising. There really isn’t much to look at in terms of art, but the gameplay is the main focus here and so far everything seems interesting. That is, while the game was playable. I continuously ran into some game-stopping bugs, but seeing as this is still in beta this is to be expected.

Thrust headfirst into the undead nightmare.

More features and gameplay are planned for the future, but so far I like what I see. The beta and its planned goals hold some good promise, and it caters to the survival aspect nicely with its randomly-generated world and loot.

If you like RPGs, survival games, or zombies, I would keep an eye on this one. If you wish to contribute to its development, there is an Indiegogo campaign created by its sole developer, available here. The beta is also available for download there so give it a go if you wish. Give a helping monetary hand or even some encouraging words if you like what you hear.

It is always nice seeing new entries into a specific niche corner of gaming, I for one welcome it.

Watch the Renewal trailer.
Visit the game’s Indiegogo page.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

If you haven’t heard of Candella Software before then maybe you have heard of what they helped create. In the previous years, the company worked on several games for the PC and consoles including Juiced (PlayStation 2, PC), Stubbs the Zombie (PC, Xbox) and The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (PlayStation 2, PSP). The company also recently published Pyroblaze (PC), Kraze (PC), Cargasm(iOS) and Alien Avenger (iOS).

This game has many original ideas if the concept isn’t original enough for you. Some of the more interesting announced features are:

• Two players per chariot multiplayer modes for co-op teamwork
• Play as a charioteer or warrior in multiplayer and you can switch roles amidst combat to experience both
• Choose from among ten different charioteers, both men and women
• Race amidst the landscape of the empire of Ancient Rome through exciting race tracks which plunge from soaring snowbound mountains in Gaul to verdant meadows in Britannia and meander through the deserts of Ancient Egypt.

You can pick up this beta for $20 for digital download or $30 for PC DVD but it wont become available until quarter 3 of this year. Although it is rare to have to pay for a beta I would suggest buying it as you get access to some content now and a high discount on the full game on release. If you’re looking to pick Chariot Wars up for iOS and Android, the beta for those platforms will start next month. More information will be given when the beta is available to us and we can give a more in-depth look into Chariot Wars so stay tuned.

© 2012 – 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Sprocket Junkie is based off of a similar game released in the mid-90′s called Rocket Jockey. It’s a vehicular combat game set within various arena structures. You choose a player, hop on a rocket, and begin taking out the other competitors, all of whom are live players. Rockets are fairly customizable within the game’s garage and players are rewarded for accomplishing certain goals with new parts that open up. Although they’re purely cosmetic changes, they can help to give your character some flair and differentiate opponents out on the battlefield.

You take out those opponents by using the dual grappling hook launchers that flank each side of the rocket. Each can be controlled individually to perform a variety of functions. In terms of mobility, they can be used to hook onto poles to quickly swing around and change direction.  If you hit two parallel poles at the same time with each of your grappling hooks, you can create a tripline for knocking other riders off their rockets. This is important as it leaves the player more vulnerable for you to drag them to their doom. In terms of general combat, you can grab onto either the opponent’s rocket or better yet the opponent themselves and yank them off the rocket. You can then drag them towards environmental hazards that will deplete their health. There’s already a wide variety of mechanics, and it’ll be interesting to see what gets added or tweaked as development continues up until release.

Hop on a rocket and strap in for some arena-based vehicular combat

It can take a little bit to get used to the game’s controls which support either keyboard/mouse or gamepad. In our case, we spent most of the time using an Xbox 360 controller which seemed to feel better, but that may have been due to the fact I play more 360 than any other platform. I was fairly happy with the default button assignments, and eventually the ability to customize controls will make it into the build. The beta tutorial teaches you the basics, but some of the more advanced techniques we had to learn straight from the developers. We’ve been assured that the instructions will be beefed up soon which should give players extra incentive to keep playing once they realize everything they’re capable of doing within the game.

Although I was repeatedly dominated by both the staff and some local friends from NerdMentality who were also attending, it was still a really fun experience playing the game. Competitive multiplayer games like this tend to bring out that passion for screwing over friends that’s really a lot of fun. Grappling a bomb and lobbing it at a passerby was thoroughly enjoyable. The game could use some balancing in terms of damage done to opponents. Health pickups can too easily negate a great bit of work done in hurting another player. The game could also use more of a structure. The mechanics are the strength of Sprocket Junkie right now and I think they’ve done a really fine job with that aspect. It would be great to see more in terms of character leveling or story or presentation rather than just dumping you into an arena.

Sprocket Junkie is being built using the Unreal Development Kit and the environments kept getting more and more aesthetically impressive as the playsession went on. We started off on a couple of the basic maps that are in the current beta build. These weren’t bad by any stretch, but you could definitely see the evolution of the development team by the effort put into the artwork and design of the maps that haven’t been released yet to the public. The Conduit, shown below, is visually striking compared to some of the earlier environments. Another unreleased map, Crossfire, brought back many, many fond memories of the Double Deck stage from Mario Kart 64. A big thanks to Six Shooter for showing these off to us prior to the game’s release.

The Conduit is a newer map not available until launch, but we managed to score a playthrough

The game is far from done and a number of decisions remain to be made. Details concerning pricing or even the monetization structure have yet to be decided. No calls have been made regarding distribution methods either. The studio right now is heavily-focused on getting as many players as possible into the beta. They are seeking feedback from players and have even included a survey on their site which includes a variety of questions aimed at improving and adding to the game. Unlike a lot of betas that are simply used to weed out bugs, Sprocket Junkie is early enough in the development process that this feedback can help shape the game no matter how big or small the suggestion. I encourage everyone to not only try the game, but to give honest and constructive suggestions. Six Shooter Games has given us all indications that that feedback will be looked at for potential game changes.

Overall it was an interesting experience getting to visit the studio. It’s obvious these guys have a passion for what they’re doing and it’s neat to see how they’ve grown as developers since starting on the project via examples like the level design. Thanks to Six Shooter Games for opening their doors to us after what we would consider normal business hours, although they were still there hard at work. There’s still a lot to be done and decisions to be made, so stay tuned to The Indie Mine for future updates on Sprocket Junkie. In the meantime, go give the beta a try and check out their Facebook page or Twitter account for news on upcoming events.

© 2012 – 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Indie developers now have a new avenue to look forward to for getting their games out to the public.  Sony has announced that their PlayStation SDK, which has been in closed beta since late last year, will go to an open beta starting in April.  This will allow indie developers to create games for all devices in the PlayStation Suite including the PS Vita and certain Android tablets and phones.

In what seems to be an effort to stay competitive with Microsoft’s indie program, the official SDK will debut later this year at a price of $99, the same price for Microsoft’s XNA Creator’s Club license.  To get the full story, check out Sony’s press release below.

Sony Computer Entertainment to Expand PlayStation®Suite by Further Strengthening Support for Content Development

Open Beta Version of SDK to be Released in April, Official Version to be Released Later This Year

TOKYO, March 7, 2012 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. (SCE) today announced that it will release the open beta version of PlayStation®Suite SDK*(1) to content developers in April 2012 and the official version later this year. Through the introduction of these SDKs, SCE will offer a more streamlined content development environment for content developers – from large game development companies to small, independent shops – and further expand the world of PlayStation® to open operating system based portable devices.

In November 2011, SCE released the closed beta version of PlayStation®Suite SDK to limited content developers in Japan, United States and the United Kingdom. The upcoming open beta version incorporates their feedback and will dramatically enhance convenience and efficiency of the content development environment. The phased rollout of the open beta version will start in April 2012 free of charge and expand target countries beyond Japan, United States and the United Kingdom. Developers will also be able to conduct performance verification of their content developed with the open beta version on PlayStation®Vita.

SCE will also release the official version of PlayStation®Suite SDK at $99 US annually later this year, allowing content developers to have their content distributed through the PlayStation®Store*(2) on a commercial basis. Through the official version, content developers will also be able to seamlessly continue to develop content which was created with the open beta or the closed beta versions.

Furthermore, SCE will be adding content for PlayStation®Suite in Japan, United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, and Australia. The phased rollout of the update will start later this year. The phased rollout will include improving the PlayStation®Suite presence on PlayStation®Store for users who want to enjoy a variety of content with ease and convenience on their PlayStation™Certified devices. SCE will also deliver content created through the official version of PlayStation®Suite SDK after the necessary procedure is completed.

As of March 7, 2012, the line-up of PlayStation™Certified devices includes Xperia™ arc, Xperia™ acro, Xperia™ PLAY, Xperia™ acro HD, Xperia™ S, Xperia™ ion*(3) from Sony Mobile Communications AB, and “Sony Tablet” S and “Sony Tablet” P from Sony Corporation. SCE will continue to further accelerate the expansion of PlayStation™Certified devices.

Through PlayStation®Suite, SCE will deploy various measures to support content developers in their business, and expand the PlayStation® entertainment experience on an open operating system.

*(1) Software Development Kit is a set of development tools and software libraries. Developers are able to obtain this SDK by signing a license agreement with SCE.
*(2) Users can download vast digital content including games through PlayStation Store for PS3, PSP, PS Vita and PS Certified devices.
*(3) Model name may vary by region.

© 2012 – 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.