Zigfrak - Space Fighter RPG

Nefaro · August 09, 2012, 10:32:39 PM

I just grabbed Zigfrak for seven bucks and it's about to go into Beta. Haven't delved in too far but I just finished the beginning tutorial part. Most of the interaction is flying, holding down your Fire All key and clicking on items in space (like loot after killing enemies, artifacts you find, etc) and in your inventory after you pick them up. It does seem to have some things that may throw you for a loop like trapped or dangerous loot that may hurt you if you don't detect & disarm them and other things to spice it up a bit. It may well have a truckload of open galaxy content in it and I'm seeing a lot of different mission offerings on different planets already, after the tutorial missions.

I'll let you guys know how it fares as I check in with it along beta.

http://www.desura.com/games/zigfrak

I also picked up Epilogue which is another Roguelike (but with a more mouse-friendly interface of couse). While I like what the guy has here, there isn't much to character customization other than choosing a class and then getting to pick a perk every couple level-ups, even though there are a somewhat large amount of classes to choose from. To be fair, it's probably got just as much or more than the old NetHack system does.. just not as much as Dungeon Crawl.

http://www.desura.com/games/epilogue

I think with some more details and character customization options, it could be a great roguelike. I'd like to see some kind of Spellbook finding-learning system added and other such of the great rogue-ish systems out there. Hell, I'd pay for a prettied up Dungeon Crawl with a mouse-friendly UI but I don't think that's gonna happen anytime soon.

I love digging through Desura's Indie projects. Most of them have Alpha and Beta participation included when you pre-order, but the good part is that the indies tend to put out more interesting games these days. It's the Golden Age of Indies mang!

You guys should probably check out Desura's freebies if you haven't - they've got a number of them there.

son_of_montfort · August 09, 2012, 10:57:09 PM

I keep thinking about grabbing Zigfrak, but chicken out. It is cheap enough and he seems pretty ambitious. But the problem with Desura alphas is that they never seem to progress (sort of like Dwarf Fortress or Minecraft - they get more stuff but never reach a finish line). For instance, Towns and Gnomoria are really fun and have great potential, but I don't see an endgame in sight. 3087 was also pretty neat of an idea, but he "finished" it and I would still say it is pretty rough. Still, for the prices you pay, you get some good entertainment.

Huw the Poo · August 10, 2012, 12:48:35 AM

Yeah, having played the demo of Zigfrak my finger often hovers over the 'buy' button too. I'd love to hear more impressions when you get the chance, Nefaro.

Nefaro · August 10, 2012, 01:49:16 AM

Quote from: son_of_montfort on August 09, 2012, 10:57:09 PM
I keep thinking about grabbing Zigfrak, but chicken out. It is cheap enough and he seems pretty ambitious. But the problem with Desura alphas is that they never seem to progress (sort of like Dwarf Fortress or Minecraft - they get more stuff but never reach a finish line). For instance, Towns and Gnomoria are really fun and have great potential, but I don't see an endgame in sight. 3087 was also pretty neat of an idea, but he "finished" it and I would still say it is pretty rough. Still, for the prices you pay, you get some good entertainment.

Thus far I haven't bought anything that's not in Beta, or that is far from being feature-complete. Well.. except Project Zomboid but I think that's the only zombie survival one that looks like it would be good after it's done - too many crappy ones out there.

There are a number of games that are still in mid or even early alpha that I've been tempted to check out but my reasoning tells me to wait, so I just put them on my Desura 'watch' list - I'll wait those out and see how they are when arriving at a Beta stage.

While Zigfrak is still technically Alpha (I think?), it seems like most everything is in feature-wise and a lot of content is in, so I allowed my Itchy Buy Button Finger the go-ahead, especially since it's pretty cheap right now.

Oh..!!!.. and I also see that the game 10 Min Space Strategy is FREE! now. Didn't someone say that was a fun beer & pretzels strategy game back at the Wargamer a year or two ago?

http://www.desura.com/games/10-min-space-strategy

Also saw some other freebies that were being charged for in the recent past, along with a classic or two.

tgb · August 10, 2012, 06:20:04 AM

Have you guys checked out Drox Operative? It sounds similar, but is currently in late beta. It's also a space-based ARPG, by the developer of Din's Curse. The graphics are nothing special, and the combat is little more than placing your cursor and going "pew pew" but there are lots of different ways to win.

Huw the Poo · August 10, 2012, 12:33:11 PM

Yeah there was a thread about Drox Operative around here somewhere. I'm kind of interested in it but I don't think it will scratch the same itch.

eyebiter · August 10, 2012, 12:37:48 PM

What is Desura some kind of client software?

Huw the Poo · August 10, 2012, 12:46:17 PM

Yeah, it does have a client. It's a gaming store run by the guys behind ModDB. Think Steam but for indie games. And a proper offline mode. ;)

Nefaro · August 10, 2012, 02:45:52 PM

Quote from: eyebiter on August 10, 2012, 12:37:48 PM
What is Desura some kind of client software?

Yeah, it's like Steam.. except you can generally download standalone game installers if you don't want to use their cleint i.e. you're not required to use it.

It has lots of indies, alpha/beta-funding stuff that includes a decent share of Linux and Mac compatible stuff. As I said, there are also some decent indie freebies on it, too. I was just eyeing the FREE Naev beta and it looks like some fun RPG space trader/top-down shooter stuff, for instance. http://www.desura.com/games/naev
It's easy to check the others out as most have demos and these indies take almost no time to download. There's a lot of good stuff in the pipes.

I wish this Dark Gates game had a mouse interface, instead of keyboard only; maybe they'll work the UI out in alpha. It's a tabletop Dungeon crawl Tile-based game. http://www.desura.com/games/dark-gates Demo is interesting but it still has a ways to go I think.

Nefaro · August 10, 2012, 02:50:13 PM

Quote from: Huw the Poo on August 10, 2012, 12:33:11 PM
Yeah there was a thread about Drox Operative around here somewhere. I'm kind of interested in it but I don't think it will scratch the same itch.

Thus far I've not gotten into Drox Operative much. It feels like Din's Curse .. iiiin spaaace! And, notably, a step backward in character options. I'd say it's much more like Depths of Peril but with even less character customization - that's nearly all based on what equipment 'modules' you find and install in your ship slots. The roaming enemy mobs are also more noticeably repetitive.

So I dunno if I'll be liking Drox much. Din's Curse just has lots more variety to it.

Nefaro · August 10, 2012, 04:47:02 PM

Oh.. and as for Desura, I'd also like to add that my first Customer Service experience with them has been superb.

I had originally tried purchasing these through my PayPal account, but the PayPal payment processing froze up and never finished. So I went back & purchased directly with a card. Naturally, Murphy struck twice and the PayPal bill went through anyway, later on, (no fault of Desura's of course) so I was billed twice.

I sent an email late last night, before bed, asking for a refund on the second charge and their CS report mentioned they try to get back to you within 48 hours. Hell.. I got up this morning and they had already got my refund in and done. Excellent! That was less than six hours and I didn't get repeated copy & paste replies in email tag, but action taken in the first go.