I appreciate that some people are anxious to join BYOND Volunteers. I don't know what Android Data is planning for resources, but perhaps those wishing to help review games for featured status should read through my long What I Expect From Reviewers post.
Essentially, I would like to read someone's game submissions/critiques, check the games myself, compare notes and then assign that someone a rank to avoid redundancy. In other words, those that perform the duties will get the job to cut down on the work for the rest of us. ("Us" being just me at the moment.)
Thank you to those who have been helping me test various multiplayer games. I'm not sure what game I'll be aiming for this week, but it would be nice to have something new. =)Within BYOND
Forum_account's digging platformer A Miner Adventure is now featured! The game has received many updates with a new title screen, menu, tutorial, medals and more. There's a minor bug or two, but they'll be fixed and they don't break the game. We might even get a redesign of the scaffolding system without the permanent kit loss. =)
Silk Games offered a message for new NEStalgia players along with a glimpse of what's to come for the MORPG. Character creation shall be faster, low population servers might be combined, servers may gain moderators, savefile transfers are on the way and it looks like the Black Sanctum expansion could be available next Friday.
Oh, and it's featured again. Even if I kept killing the red slimes I was supposed to capture. I mean, it's one of GamePro's 37 Best Free PC Games. And that's a list on the internet!
SuperAntx and friends have once again updated their team-based shooter Decadence. The sniper rifle, grenades and the Subway Station map were rebalanced. Meanwhile, the help file was rewritten and a button was added to toggle the armory menu. Check the post for more.
Rumors that my winning a match has anything to do with the game's return to feature status are completely unfounded. But I pwned.
Falacy updated Gold Guardians: Tales of a King. Log into the treasure defense sequel for the details. Highlights include new bosses, enemies and troop types along with medals, hub scores and spectators.
Magicbeast20's Quarantine has been updated with a variety of fixes and tweaks. The most useful addition to the wave-based zombie shooter appears to be the ability for teammates to revive each other. I say this as someone who has been eaten.
Efforts to make the game messages distinguishable from the chat have been made and are appreciated. I suggest toning down the amount of spam though. For instance, the "no ammo" and zombie losses could probably be removed.
Mechanos7 updated two games. His plant-puzzle Floramancer received multiple bug fixes and the ability to stretch the screen to view an enlarged map (if not the button text). His wave-based shooter Defend received multiple interface changes, medals and hub scores. I suggest hiding the extra windows now that handy display buttons are available.
Eksadus has been working with F0lak on Hazordhu II. The recent update includes multiple bug fixes and a lot of new content. Aggressive content. Southern Grawls, Shomps, Agriners, Kaws, Northern Grawls and Ramars. Oh my!
DivineTraveller released a playable demo of Mantra last week. There's no hub entry. If you want to customize any spells in the RPG-to-be, download the zip file directly and click away. AI, interface changes and more have been added since the tech demo.
Fantasie Productions welcomed their new artist Batlorder as they announced the recent progress on their self-titled MORPG. Along with AI formations, a variety of NPC Meos have been created. Pictured are a school of aggressive Feefish. A beastiary is being kept on Terulia.
Recently restarting from scratch, 
Darker Emerald posted details of the survival horror RPG Dead World. Zombie hordes are attracted by sight, sound and the smell of blood while players raid houses, malls, small shops and gas stations for items and money. There is currently one mission with plans for more and the possibility of a story to connect them.
TH-Productions have offered three different previews of their MORPG Twilight Herald. The most interesting bit appears to be that the game will offer a single-player mode with NPC bosses as party members and a unique ending. Details of the setting and efforts towards immersion are also revealed. If you'd like to help, the team is looking for both a musical and a graphical artist.
As promised, I created a small library for procedural map generation. There's not much to it other than an abstract datum and a proc to generate a maze using Prim's algorithm. I'll likely keep building on it while it's tested in whatever the frell my action adventure project turns out to be. The library will handle the connections between rooms, but I still need to figure out how to design the rooms themselves. (The picture is a room mockup. Because it's pretty.)
Beyond BYOND
- I mentioned this last week, but the 7DRL Challenge begins Saturday. It tasks entrants with creating a Roguelike in 7 days. Check out John Harris' @Play column for pointers.
- Submissions to IndieCade opened March 1st. IndieCade was established to create festivals and showcases. Interactive media, including work in progress, can be submitted for awards and display at further events.
- Gamespot has made the 2011 Independent Games Festival Awards available for streaming. I hope Anthony Carboni wasn't sick because I heard him breathing all over me.
- For the losers, Kris Graft suggests learning from failure... Actually, that's an unrelated talk that happened at the same Game Developers Conference. It just sounded delightfully mean. Besides, I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one who really wanted 2D Boy to finish Robot and the Cities that Built Him.
- Also at GDC, indie developers from Haunted Temple, Spry Fox and Dejobaan Games offered their advice on marketing, passion and inspiration.
- Inspired by Tiny Wings and its predecessor Wavespark, Anthony "FreakyZoid" Gowland suggests that the way to keep others from cloning your game is to give it character. I don't know. That might help you build your own IP, but it's not going to stop others from applying their own to the same mechanics.
- Simon Parkin's The Difficulty With Difficulty brings up Williams during the release of Defender. That's not the point of the article. I just want you to smile as you play Wrangle, Warp And Weep. ;)
Silk Games' NEStalgia got mentioned on Destructoid. Check around nine minutes in. =)
Don't settle for a brief mention of activity. Get games featured!
