Unique and quirky characters? Check and check.

Many of the features have already been covered in our initial preview (linked to above), so I’ll only be detailing a few that I wasn’t able to cover until actually playing the game. For those unfamiliar with Citizens of Earth, it’s constructed like an old-school Earthbound-style RPG but with modern sensibilities. Players take on the role of Vice President of the World who’s recently returned to his hometown only to find that things are amiss.  Exploration of the town and its surrounding areas lead to strange events and meeting a wide cast of quirky characters, many of whom the player will be trying to recruit to his/her team.

I was very impressed with the combat system. It was one of the question marks I had back when the game was announced. Battle takes place in a turn-based system once the player encounters enemies by running into them. While the team is technically made up of four characters at a time, the VP is only there as a commentator while his three companions do all of the dirty work. Each character has their own power meter with some abilities refilling that meter and others (typically more powerful) using up the power. It produces a nice balance of having to leverage different attacks at different times, and it keeps the player from ever being too overpowered. Getting the jump on enemies by basically hurling the party at them will give an immediate boost to each fighter’s meter, whereas getting ambushed produces an initial penalty.

Speaking of the enemies, the demo included a nice variety which quickly change depending on the locale of the party. Many of the enemy designs are even more bizarre than the human personalities the player meets during exploration. There are also a few bosses in the demo for good measure. While the individual enemy battles were not that difficult, I did find the bosses to be a good challenge in terms of having to balance attacks, buffs, and debuffs amongst the party.

Leveling up can increase nearly a half-dozen stats, and specific stat bonuses come into play when different characters are paired together. Party members can be swapped out at any time between fights allowing the player to experiment more liberally. New individual abilities are introduced every few levels which keeps the battling from getting stale, and it’s a nice touch that the abilities are tied to the character’s job or personality.

The stylish artwork may be the most defining aspect of CoE.

I grew up playing RPGs like Dragon Quest and to a lesser degree the more light-hearted Earthbound series. I’ve also played Zeboyd Games‘ modern takes on the genre like Breath of Death VII and Cthulhu Saves the World. While those newer titles would be the most apt comparisons to Citizens of Earth in terms of tone, what really separates this game is the visual style. There are no retro sprites to be found here. The artwork is sharp and well-defined, and it’s such a beautiful change from what I’m used to in this type of game. It might have left a more indelible mark than any other part of the experience playing through the demo.

Despite there being a few technical issues due to it being an early build, what I’ve been able to play so far has certainly whet my appetite for the full game to be released. The team is still deciding if and when to release a demo to the public. So if these impressions have you curious, unfortunately you’ll have to wait. Again, no release date has been officially announced so keep checking back here or on the CoE website for updates.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

The first area being tackled is in education. Eden Industries has taken on a mentorship role with a number of students from the British Columbia Institute of Technology in Vancouver. These students have the chance to channel their passion and interest in game development into a real environment. By taking the areas of game development these students are most interested in and finding areas within Eden Industries that are in line with those interests, it’s giving these students a chance to learn and create while building the skills and confidence that will help them succeed in the industry. In most cases, the work being done by these students actually makes it into the released product. The studio would like to branch out to other schools if the situation is right.

On a more professional level, the Garden of Indie initiative is helping development teams fill gaps in experience or abilities. A prime example can be found directly within Eden’s ranks. Lead level designer Robin Vincent has started his own project with his own team outside of Eden’s confines. While that project has the right people to handle level design, certain technical aspects need some outside help, and that’s where Garden of Indie steps in. Eden Industries has been able to to provide a custom-built game engine that Robin and team can build on.

Naturally there’s risk involved with focusing so much effort outside of the team’s own work, but Eden Industries founder Ryan Vandendyck  believes that these kinds of strategic partnerships can benefit all sides. Even if it’s not always a success from a financial standpoint, they can find value in the work completed. Exposure to new types of game genres or even the tech developed are potentially valuable resources for later projects. Will all future partnerships be as involved as the project with Robin Vincent? Not necessarily as Vandendyck says “it may look different from partnership to partnership”.

It sounds like Eden Industries is pushing forward with a new method of collaboration within the gaming industry. It will be interesting to see whether there are some growing pains as the studio expands beyond this first round of partnerships. I know I’ll be watching to see whether Garden of Indie picks up steam within the community and whether it can spur other developers to take on these same kind of roles.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Each character recruited by the player not only has their own unique abilities to lend in battle, but they also hold day jobs. And the more the character is used in battle, the better he or she is going to get at their craft. For example, some of the game’s player classes will run shops during the day and can eventually provide unique items. Some classes can unlock new functionality like zooming in and out to uncover secrets. Other abilities unlocked make things easier on the player by allowing vehicles or buying items remotely. So not only is leveling up a concern, but the potential to open up new abilities is something to factor in when choosing the current entourage.

If you’re like me, when you play an RPG you tend to find a group of characters that you like and stick with them. It’s simply easier to go with what you know instead of being burdened with keeping alternate characters equipped with the best items. Eden Industries is trying to encourage players to swap characters in and out by including not only the day job system, but also by promising that those alternate characters are ready to play “out of the box”. Equipment does not have the same impact, meaning trying out a new player won’t have the same high detriment to your success as in many RPGs.

Combat allows the player to bring up to three additional party members as they fend off the quirky townsfolk and experiments gone wrong. If the battle starts going south, players can restart at any time and swap out their combatants. The aforementioned vehicles can also be used to take out enemies. Best of all? Despite the throwback inspiration, there are no random encounters. Getting a jump on the enemy can give the player an advantage, but it also works the other way around.

Unlike some modern RPGs, the developers are focused on keeping the adventure short, but broad. A lot of the content included in the game will be optional, but likely well worth exploring. Drawing comparisons to the oft-revered Earthbound series, Citizens of Earth uses a modern theme but introduces a wide variety of bizarre characters and locales to comedic effect. It’s impossible at this point to tell just how humorous the game will end up, but the premise and character design alone are good signs.

Eden Industries is going for humor with the game’s settings and characters

Although Eden Industries is going old school with a 2D isometric view, they’re also promising a lot of razzle dazzle in the visual effects department. Included are hand-painted artwork, bloom lighting, real-time shadows, a day/night cycle, and the distortion effect previously seen in Waveform. Having talked with Eden Industries off and on since the release of Waveform, it’s obvious the studio has a focus on tech in their development, and I think it’ll come through in a big way here.

Eden Industries is promising a lot of interesting ideas in Citizens of Earth. While details have been plentiful, the game isn’t far enough along that they’re willing to share more than a handful of pieces of character art and screenshots. Although the studio has a lot to prove now, it’s certainly whet my appetite for a modern spin on the classic RPG. No official release date has been announced yet, but keep checking back at The Indie Mine for the latest news.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

The first big announcement is support for additional platforms. Ports for both iOS and Android are currently being developed. No official release date has been provided, but mobile gaming fans can look forward to saving the universe on their touch-based devices later this year.

The other announcement is apparently another one of the most-requested features: music import. Eden Industries is adding a mode that will allow players to import their own music to the game. Waveform will automatically create a level based on the song’s characteristics.

Exciting times are ahead for fans of Waveform and Eden Industries. Stay tuned to The Indie Mine for future announcements including release dates.

© 2013, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Features included and other announcements regarding the Eris DLC:

• Explore the dwarf planet Eris in 7 brand new levels featuring a new object, the Pulsar, and a new bonus mode, Reverse
• Embark on a new Deep Space Mode in Eris that utilizes the Reverse effect to challenge you to think backwards!
• DLC will be free all next week as a thank you to early supporters of Waveform
• During the free DLC week, we’ll also be hosting our third Leaderboard Challenge. It’ will utilize Eris’ Deep Space Mode and the prize that week will be the indie game Auditorium

The Eris DLC introduces the all-new Reverse Mode

This is the first of many planned “Planet Packs” that we intend to release as DLC. This one opens up the dwarf planet Eris to players where they can experience the powerful light of the Pulsars. The light from a Pulsar is so strong that it’’ll create a temporary Distortion field, mimicking the fan favourite Distortion bonus level effect. Its light will also reveal nearby hidden objects, however, so although it creates a trippy experience it’s one that works in your favour!

Eris comes with 7 brand new levels that not only feature the Pulsar as a new object, but also include a new bonus mode: Reverse. In this mode, which is also featured in Eris’ Deep Space Mode, you’ll travel from right to left instead of left to right. Although a simple change, it turns the gameplay on its head to create a very fresh experience!

So with a new Deep Space Mode and 7 new levels featuring a new object and a new bonus level, you’d think the good news would stop there – but no! The best part of all is that this DLC is free for a limited time! As a thank-you to the Waveform community and our supportive fans, we’re releasing this DLC free for anyone that has purchased Waveform so far or purchases it anytime next week as a reward for being an early supporter of the game.

To celebrate the release of the DLC, we’ll also be hosting our third Leaderboard Challenge next week. This one will take place on Eris and challenge players to survive in Eris’ Deep Space Mode while the Reverse effect is active. The top 5 finishers on the leaderboard will receive a free Steam copy of the indie game Auditorium, which is a very special giveaway for us since Auditorium is one of the games that inspired me to make Waveform.

You may be interested to know that the development of the content for Eris was inspired by Nintendo. The Pulsar was created as an homage to the Touch Fuzzy, Get Dizzy level in Yoshi’’s Island in which the screen became a trippy, distorted mess after touching a fuzz ball. Interestingly, the Pulsar was added into Waveform a long time ago, but somehow never made it into the game. The Distortion effect it causes did appear as a bonus level though, but the Pulsar itself remained absent. So we wanted to rectify that through the release of this DLC. The Reverse effect was also inspired by Nintendo, although this time through my professional relationship with them. While working on Luigi’’s Mansion 2, Miyamoto would often tell us to reward players for “going left”, a reference to the number of bonus items he included in Mario 3 that were accessible only by heading left from a level’s starting point, an action he wanted to reward due to not being able to do this in the original Super Mario Bros. Since in the base game of Waveform it’s also impossible to go left, I decided to theme a bonus level around Miyamoto’’s advice. And so the Reverse mode, and indeed the entirety of Eris’ Deep Space Mode, was born!

- Ryan Vandendyck, Eden Industries

The addition of the Pulsar creates distortion fields affecting gameplay

Awesome news for fans of the game, and it’s always great to see developers giving back to the supportive community in the form of giveaways or in this case free DLC. If you’re not already on the bandwagon, Waveform is currently available on Steam.

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

In our site’s very first audio interview, Joseph talks with Ryan Vandendyck, founder of indie game development studio Eden Industries. Ryan recently released his game Waveform on Steam and the response so far has been very positive. Check out the full interview below and be sure to subscribe to our YouTube feed to check out all future audio and video content from The Indie Mine.

Waveform is currently a 2012 Independent Propeller Awards finalist, and for good reason. In our interview, Joe and Ryan talk about what it took to bring the game to its high level of polish and professional execution. The game is currently available on Steam.

© 2012, The Indie Mine. All rights reserved.

Gamers and mathematicians alike, rejoice! Vancouver-based indie developers Eden Industries have released a new trailer for their upcoming game Waveform.

Waveform by Eden Industries

Waveform is a unique action game in which you control the wavelength and amplitude of a wave of light in order to avoid obstacles and complete objectives. Your ultimate goal is to save a dying galaxy from being consumed by a singularity. Over time the game will throw twists at you in the way that the environment affects your wave. All of this is set within a gaming experience that combines colorful graphics and a “retro-symphonic” soundtrack.

The developers have released a couple of other interesting videos. The first shows the game in its various stages of development.   It’s a really well put-together explanation of the origin of the game, and the video itself is well done as developer Ryan Vandendyck narrates the game’s history while the visual progress is shown in the background.

The second video shows off a level editor that may make its way into the game as downloadable content.

Waveform has been in beta testing, but is expected to be available through Steam in early March. Having now seen a trailer for the game in action, we’re really excited for its launch. Stay tuned over the next few weeks for a release announcement. You can also follow Eden Industries on Twitter @EdenIndustries for more updates on the game.

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