Topic: Fez and Don't Starve coming to GOG

[idolminds]

Fez coming May 1st, Don't Starve coming April 23rd. That's this week!

Amazing news! I'm always worried about big name indie games going Steam only, and Don't Starve was some weird thing like the Chrome app store which I didn't feel like using. Having both on GOG is awesome.

[Quemaqua]

Fucking sweet-ass awesome sauce.

[sirean_syan]

Maybe Phil Fish is an okay guy after all.

[gpw11]

Maybe Phil Fish is an okay guy after all.

What's the deal with him, anyway?  Does he get all the hate because he comes off like a huge asshole, or is there more to it?

[Xessive]

He seems eccentric but I respect him for his work; I can't really speak for his character since I don't know him and I'd rather avoid hearsay.

[idolminds]

You can now preorder Fez for $9.

[sirean_syan]

It's mostly that he just comes off as an asshole with the way folks like to quote him. I guess there's a story about him not getting along with a partner in the development of Fez, but I don't know the story (you can get it in the Indie Game Movie I guess).

He actually seems alright though. After GDC Giantbomb included him in a roundtable discussion and he seemed fairly likable.

[PyroMenace]

He also once said that Japanese games suck, and people blew it way out of proportion. He seems like an okay guy to me also.

[idolminds]

You can also preorder Fez on Steam if you like. But why would you? Steam isn't giving away 20 real fez hats, GOG is!

[Quemaqua]

Totally sold. Preorder away!

[idolminds]

Don't Starve is out with a little discount for the first 2 weeks. $11.99 instead of the regular $14.99.

[idolminds]

Fez is out! Yay! If you didn't preorder, you can buy it direct using the Humble Store. You'll get it DRM-free plus a Steam key.

[Quemaqua]

EEEEEEEEEEEEE

EDIT - So, so good. Totally loving this.

[idolminds]

Yeah man, this is pretty awesome. Funny thing happened to me already. Near the beginning when they do the [spoiler]fake crash[/spoiler], not long after that [spoiler]my game crashed for real.[/spoiler] I had to laugh.

Gives my GPU a workout, the fan kicks into high gear pretty quick. Dunno if that should worry me or not. But boy its a pretty game. I dont know much about the game at all as I was careful to avoid spoilers, but of what I do know...everything I see I feel like I should be writing down.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah... I've heard the way to play is to just go through once and enjoy the experience, then go through again and figure out all the crazy little details.

[Cobra951]

Don't look up anything until you feel you've gone as far as you can on your own.  There is so much to discover.  Secrets within secrets.  Guaranteed to make your head hurt.

[idolminds]

Yeah I am not looking up anything at this point and just going to play it straight. Ive got 10 or so cubes and 2 anti-cubes so far. Its a lot of fun exploring.

Heads up for GOG buyers, they released a patch that fixes some issues. Be sure to grab it.

EDIT: Up to 22 or 23 cubes, 4 anti-cubes, and I found [spoiler]an artifact[/spoiler].

So, a word to the wise. If you don't have an app on your phone that can read QR codes, then you may want to look into changing that.

[Quemaqua]

Damn it. I don't have a phone or device that even has a camera that can read them. I'm just behind you, I guess... really love the game.

[idolminds]

On to New Game+, I guess. The new ability is really cool but I haven't figured out how it can help me yet. EDIt oh wait, I think I just thought of a spot. EDIT2 well that didnt turn out to be useful.

[idolminds]

Several symbol sets in this game and I've only figured out one. Which is ok for now, its helped me open up a bunch of new areas and collect more cubes. Still working on numbers and alphabet.

Its a good thing the game is really enjoyable because some of the technical issues would make me ragequit most other games. Ive had the game crash quite a number of times already. Luckily it seems to save every time you do damn near anything so progress loss is basically nonexistent, just still annoying. And platforms floating in liquid are kind of glitchy. I just did this [spoiler]lava tower[/spoiler] and it would glitch at the end when I went to make my jump to safety. The section you have to redo isn't hard its just kind of time consuming. And I had to do it like 10 times because of the stupid platform. Good thing I never have to do that again.

Also Que, don't worry about the QR codes. Apparently they are optional and there are regular world puzzles to do to collect the cubes if you don't have a scanner.

I'm at 31 cubes, 17 anti-cubes, and I have all the treasure maps. Just need to figure out the number system so I can solve the last couple treasures.

[Quemaqua]

Awesome! I figured out one of the treasure maps last night. Haven't figured out any of the symbol sets. Game only crashed on me once in about 6 hours, so no complaints there.

[Xessive]

Fez is pretty! It's an awesome game.  It has crashed on me quite a few times but it's not too bad co spidering the frequent auto saves.

I love the QR code integration

[idolminds]

This isn't a spoiler, but I just had a weird thing happen. I'm in a room with a puzzle. Markings on a tablet...not wordsm just shapes. And I have some blocks to use. I'm standing there trying to figure out what its trying to tell me and I'm rotating the scene sort of randomly and...TA-DA! I made an anti-cube appear. I don't know what I did and that wasn't the puzzle solution since the room still isn't gold on the map. It was just really strange.

I've got most of the map in gold now, just going to the various rooms with secrets and trying to figure out what I'm missing. I obviously need to figure out the alphabet to do some of these but I haven't hit on the place thats supposed to teach it to me. I picked up the [spoiler]tome[/spoiler] but no idea what to make of it. I did solve a couple number based puzzles, though so I think I have an ok-ish grasp of it.

[Quemaqua]

That happened to me too on an outdoor map, Jay. Not sure what the deal is with that either. Didn't appear to be anything special about the spot I was standing or anything.

[idolminds]

Ok, so at least I'm not just crazy.

So I spent some time in the classroom that teaches numbers and I've got it all worked out now. Hooray! Alphabet is still throwing me for a loop, though. Need a Rosetta stone all up in here.

I'll link this here because its nice. Spoiler free guide. It does a really good job of just giving you a little nudge in the right direction. Anything close to really spoilery is written backwards so you have to really want it to read it. At the end of the guide it looks like they do spoil things directly but it gives fair warning when it gets to that point.

[Cobra951]

Ok, so at least I'm not just crazy.

So I spent some time in the classroom that teaches numbers and I've got it all worked out now. Hooray! Alphabet is still throwing me for a loop, though. Need a Rosetta stone all up in here.

I'll link this here because its nice. Spoiler free guide. It does a really good job of just giving you a little nudge in the right direction. Anything close to really spoilery is written backwards so you have to really want it to read it. At the end of the guide it looks like they do spoil things directly but it gives fair warning when it gets to that point.

Indeed you do.  

Actually, that guide flat out tells you the alphabet key, and not inverted either.  So it is not spoiler-free.

Edit:  Oh, but the section is toward the end and labeled as spoilers, and you're warned to go back up.  So never mind.

[idolminds]

Heh, I found the stone. I'll admit, I looked at a hint to where it was. Since it was gold on my map I probably wouldn't have gone back there on my own. Really cute clue, when you know what you're looking at.

Would have been nice if they included a puzzle to complete to prove you figured out the alphabet and then gives you the option to show everything already translated. Its cool to translate stuff but after a while it gets really tiresome. I'm translating everything because who knows what sort of clues they might be, but then you translate the 15th guy saying basically nothing and...ugh.

EDIT: Though I did translate what the big cube at the very beginning of the game says. That was sorta fun and after a bit you can almost read it straight. Almost.

[Cobra951]

When I saw the clue initially, I wondered what the heck I was looking at.  Never did figure it out.  Some time later, I read up on it somewhere.  D'oh!

[Quemaqua]

Well, I found a [spoiler]cubey writing artifact thingy?[/spoiler]. Dunno what the hell to do with it, but I'll ponder that a bit. Really loving the game still. It's such a refreshing change of pace.

[idolminds]

So that [spoiler]writing artifact[/spoiler] you found...might want to hang around in that room and think about whats happening there.

Its a great game. I like that there are no enemies so you're free to just explore the place.

[Quemaqua]

Yeah, I figured that out. It's so funny how I totally missed it the first time because my brain had already trained itself to ignore all the little creatures running around. As soon as I went back, it became entirely obvious. [spoiler]I can translate everything in the game without even checking the sheet I made, now. Went back to Zu and talked to everyone, then to Nu Zu and the Industrial District to read all the signage and stuff. I'm so so curious about the story behind all this now.[/spoiler]

[Quemaqua]

I was fairly drunk when this happened.

Subject: Hello from future Fez contest winner.

Dear GOG,

The primary reason that I believe I should win one of your mystical fancypants Fez hats is that I saw myself win one in a dream. And not just any dream, but a revelation that showed how this unassuming little hat would allow me to save the world from a threat unlike any it has known before.

The year will be 2033, the evening of October 17th. I'll be drinking heavily from a case of Red Bull, feverishly anticipating the midnight release of Fez 7: The Red Felt Fiasco at the new brick-and-mortar GOG store that just opened in my area. I'll be in line, waiting to pick up my preorder of the Digital Extreme Deluxe Limited Leather-Embossed Download Edition of the game, and I'll be very excited, because it comes with a neural jack for the instant transfer of credits to Phil Fish as you download all of Fez 7's DLC directly to your cerebral cortex, a huge electric billboard (with angel wings of blue energy) that follows your onscreen persona in the game and reads "PAID IN ADVANCE!" while playing an audible fanfare, plus a voucher to download the OST from the US government (Jeremy Soule is now the president, and DirectSong is a shadowy organization rumored to operate under the Department of Defense). I'll be wearing the special hat that I won in a contest 20 years prior; when Fez, the original game, first appeared at GOG.com. Because that's just how big a fan I am.

By this time, Phil Fish will have assimilated the collective Japanese gaming industry in his bid to control the world, realizing that their true strength has always lied in their ability to design and field giant robots faster than those of other nations. We'll all be horrified to learn that he's actually using the release of Fez 7 as a distraction tactic to invade, and soon, death will rain from the skies.

It is during the aforementioned death-rain that the fez will speak to me, and tell me that I am the savior spoken of in The Prophecy™ (?). When I face Phil Fish in a final contest for the powers of the fez, I will defeat him not merely by rotating the camera—while pressing X furiously—but BY ROTATING THE VERY SECOND DIMENSION ITSELF.

So for the good of all mankind, I humbly request that you bestow upon me the magical, mystical fez (and please, not one of the 19 decoys). I promise to use its powers only for good, and never to create a bizarre Japanese game show that involves rotating the world to expose people in compromising private circumstances to public humiliation.

Sincerely,
MJR

I was informed today that I won a hat.

[Xessive]

Dude, that is frickin awesome!

[Cobra951]

Haha!  Man, great imagination.  I would have given you a hat too.  Congrats.

[idolminds]

haha, congrats.

[Quemaqua]

I promise I won't subject you guys to an endless photo stream of my wearing it and giggling like a schoolgirl.

[idolminds]

I'm not saying I'm going to murder you and take it for myself but I am sorta saying that.

[gpw11]

I have a weird feeling that I should be enjoying this game more than I am.  Am I just supposed to collect these cubes? Don't get me wrong, I'm all about that, just wondering if I missed something.

[Cobra951]

It's more than that.  Or to look it another way, it's exactly that, but how to get them all gets increasingly weirder and harder on the brain.  How long have you played?

[gpw11]

A couple of hours in?  I think I've just been rounding up most of the obvious cubes and bits - I probably have 10 and 2 anti-cubes.

Now that I'm done with some other games and my goddamn PS3 and DS were stolen by dirty burgers, I'll have some more time to put into it in extended sessions.  I think the thing is I've been playing in short bursts and can't figure out this damn map.