Jeff Minter's Gridrunner Revolution (new game)

[stirrell]

Hello everyone,

 

I just saw a video for Jeff Minter's upcoming game, Gridrunner Revolution. One thing that I thought ST users would really get a kick of (I did) was the cursor used on the menu screens:

 

http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2009/09/indie_game_pick_gridrunner_and.html

 

You'll see it right at the beginning of the video. Look familiar? :-)

 

I actually have a hat with this icon on it and I always expect another ST user to say hello but, as of yet, it still has not happened.

[Kripto]

I see that Minter is still suffering from T.M.S.O.S.S (Too Much Sh*t On Screen Syndrome). I have a huge amount of respect for him as a graphics programmer but think he has a lack of understanding when it comes to providing good, sensible gameplay. Tempest 2000 worked because he was forced into the successful existing gameplay design of Tempest. Even then though, gameplay was sometimes obscured by visual effects.

[Warriorisabouttodie]

Hello everyone,

 

I just saw a video for Jeff Minter's upcoming game, Gridrunner Revolution. One thing that I thought ST users would really get a kick of (I did) was the cursor used on the menu screens:

 

http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2009/09/indie_game_pick_gridrunner_and.html

 

You'll see it right at the beginning of the video. Look familiar? :-)

 

I actually have a hat with this icon on it and I always expect another ST user to say hello but, as of yet, it still has not happened.

 

 

game looks like its fun unlike Space Giraffe, which despite being a huge fan of Minter and especially Tempest 2k and it's variants I just couldn't get into. He is the master of these types of games. It's a shame when I see games like the Bit Trip series on WiiWare that I know llamasoft could easily surpass. I would love to see Minter do a new Tempest for the consoles, but I doubt that will happen. I am happy with Tempest X and Typhoon 2001 for the Tempest fix these days, but I am rambling. Gridrunner Rev looks very impressive.

[jboypacman]

There is just way too much stuff going on screen i don't know how you could find this enjoyable but that is just me.

[+Stephen]

This is all subjective and 100% my opinion, but I'd ask you guys to at least try the FREE demo if your PC can handle it. I agree that it looks very overwhelming when watching the videos, but you can't judge Jeff's games by watching them. You have to play them, you have to experience them. It's a mixture of the audio clues as well as the visual clues that make his games work for me. Think of the end of Star Wars when Luke shuts off his radar and follows Ben's advice - "Use the force". That's the best way I can describe Jeff's latest stuff.

 

Again, not trying to sway anybody's opinion here but I think you'll find this game to be MUCH easier than Space giraffe was (finished it BTW and I have never finished a game in my life so it can't be that tough).

 

On a related note, my UltraSatan 2 should be here any day now so I will finally get to experience a full generation of Llamasoft titles I missed.

 

Stephen Anderson

Edited September 29, 2009 by Stephen

[stirrell]

This is all subjective and 100% my opinion, but I'd ask you guys to at least try the FREE demo if your PC can handle it. I agree that it looks very overwhelming when watching the videos, but you can't judge Jeff's games by watching them. You have to play them, you have to experience them. It's a mixture of the audio clues as well as the visual clues that make his games work for me. Think of the end of Star Wars when Luke shuts off his radar and follows Ben's advice - "Use the force". That's the best way I can describe Jeff's latest stuff.

 

Again, not trying to sway anybody's opinion here but I think you'll find this game to be MUCH easier than Space giraffe was (finished it BTW and I have never finished a game in my life so it can't be that tough).

 

On a related note, my UltraSatan 2 should be here any day now so I will finally get to experience a full generation of Llamasoft titles I missed.

 

Stephen Anderson

 

Llamatron is an incredible game, IMO. I also really dug a side-scroller that he made... I cannot think of the name. Just looked it up - Revenge of the Mutant Camels. Great games though I can definitely see them not being everyones' cup of tea. I also really like Llamazap for the Falcon. It is too bad it was on a machine that had such a limited audience. I have not tried Space Giraffe. The last Minter game I tried was T2K on the Jag. I didn't realize the SG was available for PC so I will try that and Gridrunner out on my Windows machine, for sure. Based on the videos, I think it is going to be too busy for me but I'm willing to give it a whirl. There are quite a few ST games of his that I never tried. Perhaps I will have to fire up an emulator and give it a try.

[Laemeur]

Personally, I love Minter's stimulate-all-the-neurons-at-once approach. I read about Gridrunner Rev. a few months ago and am happy that: 1) the demo is out, and 2) my PC can actually run it!

 

Fun, but the demo's too slow-paced. My frame-rate looks fine, so I don't think it's my computer, but the pace on Rev seems slothful next to GR++.

[nonner242]

I like all his games so far...SG was hard but I still love it.

Im sure I'll like this as well.

[oky2000]

Two things I've always noticed about Mr Minter.

 

1. After the A8/C64 era his games were both technically amateurish and simple in game design compared to the competition/to his C64/Atari masterpieces.

2. A lot of his games are rip-offs of other games (Empire Strikes Back/Centipede/Tempest etc)

3. His latest efforts for PC/Xbox360 are quite bad, the kind of thing you might see in the 99 cents store.

 

I've played Space Giraffe which I didn't like at all(badly designed Tempest-em-up), and Gridrunner Revolution plays worse than the original VIC-20 version. I'm really not sure why he bothers any more, his time has passed and his output is just embarrassing (bit like the moderation of the forum dedicated to him then haha).

 

On the flip side we have people from the golden era of mid 80s C64 coding working on beautiful games like Burnout or Battlefield 2 for the Xbox360 and who also have written great Playstation or PC games along the way...hell even a decent Amiga game that doesn't look like a 99 cents PD catalogue release. Saddening to see.

 

Perhaps if he gave up on devoting his life to that mediocre visualizer he might have made some decent games...but sadly he didn't and so hasn't

Edited October 20, 2009 by oky2000

[+sgrddy]

 

I actually have a hat with this icon on it and I always expect another ST user to say hello but, as of yet, it still has not happened.

 

That's awesome! Where did you get the hat?

This game is pretty cool.

[Sky7]

I see that Minter is still suffering from T.M.S.O.S.S (Too Much Sh*t On Screen Syndrome). I have a huge amount of respect for him as a graphics programmer but think he has a lack of understanding when it comes to providing good, sensible gameplay. Tempest 2000 worked because he was forced into the successful existing gameplay design of Tempest. Even then though, gameplay was sometimes obscured by visual effects.

 

I have the same feelings. I have a huge amount of respect for Minter but good grief, I couldn't even tell what the hell was going on in that video. Defender 2000 on the Jag suffers the same problems.

 

Regards,

Sky7

[+Stephen]

I see that Minter is still suffering from T.M.S.O.S.S (Too Much Sh*t On Screen Syndrome). I have a huge amount of respect for him as a graphics programmer but think he has a lack of understanding when it comes to providing good, sensible gameplay. Tempest 2000 worked because he was forced into the successful existing gameplay design of Tempest. Even then though, gameplay was sometimes obscured by visual effects.

 

I have the same feelings. I have a huge amount of respect for Minter but good grief, I couldn't even tell what the hell was going on in that video. Defender 2000 on the Jag suffers the same problems.

 

Regards,

Sky7

To be fair though, you really have to play these games. Screen-shots and videos do not do them justice. A great deal of the play mechanics in his later titles rely on audio clues in addition to subtle visual clues. All subjective though.

 

One thing I have definitely noticed about Jeff's games is there is really no middle ground. People either love them or hate them. I suppose that counts for something?

 

Stephen Anderson

[atarian63]

Looks great to me! I liked Space Giraffe!

[oky2000]

I see that Minter is still suffering from T.M.S.O.S.S (Too Much Sh*t On Screen Syndrome). I have a huge amount of respect for him as a graphics programmer but think he has a lack of understanding when it comes to providing good, sensible gameplay. Tempest 2000 worked because he was forced into the successful existing gameplay design of Tempest. Even then though, gameplay was sometimes obscured by visual effects.

 

I have the same feelings. I have a huge amount of respect for Minter but good grief, I couldn't even tell what the hell was going on in that video. Defender 2000 on the Jag suffers the same problems.

 

Regards,

Sky7

To be fair though, you really have to play these games. Screen-shots and videos do not do them justice. A great deal of the play mechanics in his later titles rely on audio clues in addition to subtle visual clues. All subjective though.

 

One thing I have definitely noticed about Jeff's games is there is really no middle ground. People either love them or hate them. I suppose that counts for something?

 

Stephen Anderson

 

Yes his forgiving fans love them faults and all, everyone else doesn't like them enough to buy them

 

Hate is a strong word, I think it's just a simple case of they're budget quality games that some people simply don't care for....quite a few in fact.

[Shawn]

Wow, Minter needs to remember we are not kids anymore and acid trips are a time long past for the most of us. The game looks like it would be alot of fun if it wasn't for the screen being totally LSD color shit slammed every 5th of a second.

[carmel_andrews]

Sounds an interesting game...Llamatron was bloody ace (best robotron clone ever)...only Minter game i would love to see again is the unreleased 'defender' clone for the unreleased Konix M/S he was working on (it sounded like the best game he'd written going by his column he had in ST format)

[Goochman]

I think Jeff has hit the wall - I dont believe you can pack any more stuff on a 2-D shooter and still actually see anything. Achieving this milestone will hopefully allow him to move on to bigger and better things.

[SuperSparky]

It's hard to play any game when it's vomiting rainbows on your screen every 3 seconds.

 

Jeff is the kind of programmer that is very very talented, but is in dire need of direction. Anyone that has worked on video games will tell you the most important member is the director, as he keeps the talent in check so the game is fun and playable.

 

It reminds me of someone who has discovered how to make web pages via their WYSIWYG web page editor, and decides to use every special effect it has available in its library. All this does is make one very annoying web page.

 

Jeff Minter can still have his signature games, but he must take into consideration playability over special effects. Just because you can have a bunch of unicorns vomiting a rainbow of colors all over the screen, doesn't mean you should.

[atarian63]

Hello everyone,

 

I just saw a video for Jeff Minter's upcoming game, Gridrunner Revolution. One thing that I thought ST users would really get a kick of (I did) was the cursor used on the menu screens:

 

http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2009/09/indie_game_pick_gridrunner_and.html

 

You'll see it right at the beginning of the video. Look familiar? :-)

 

I actually have a hat with this icon on it and I always expect another ST user to say hello but, as of yet, it still has not happened.

Looks great, I need to get it!

[atarian63]

I see that Minter is still suffering from T.M.S.O.S.S (Too Much Sh*t On Screen Syndrome). I have a huge amount of respect for him as a graphics programmer but think he has a lack of understanding when it comes to providing good, sensible gameplay. Tempest 2000 worked because he was forced into the successful existing gameplay design of Tempest. Even then though, gameplay was sometimes obscured by visual effects.

 

I have the same feelings. I have a huge amount of respect for Minter but good grief, I couldn't even tell what the hell was going on in that video. Defender 2000 on the Jag suffers the same problems.

 

Regards,

Sky7

To be fair though, you really have to play these games. Screen-shots and videos do not do them justice. A great deal of the play mechanics in his later titles rely on audio clues in addition to subtle visual clues. All subjective though.

 

One thing I have definitely noticed about Jeff's games is there is really no middle ground. People either love them or hate them. I suppose that counts for something?

 

Stephen Anderson

 

Yes his forgiving fans love them faults and all, everyone else doesn't like them enough to buy them

 

Hate is a strong word, I think it's just a simple case of they're budget quality games that some people simply don't care for....quite a few in fact.

Hardly looks like a budget game, it looks like high commercial quality. Similar game on the Wii sold at $34 (geometry wars)

[Loafer]

I'm probably recalling wrong but didn't Space Giraffe on the PC have an "acid trip-less" option so that the graphics explosion were toned down a bit? I thought this was put into the PC version, in response to the ugly reception on the x360 version. Anyway, if yes, and I hope it was, that's an acknowledgment to have an option so everyone's happy, so here's hoping he's done so on this new Gridrunner Revolution. That way, everyone's happy.

[oky2000]

 

Hardly looks like a budget game, it looks like high commercial quality. Similar game on the Wii sold at $34 (geometry wars)

 

Vastly inferior to Galaga Legions which costs a few bucks in Xbox Live Arcade, plus the fact people who liked Galaga will instantly like the identical play mechanics of that game, Gridrunner Revolution isn't even that true to the original Vic/Atari/C64 game IMO.