Obscure games.

[Deleted]

May 15, 2017 20:16:55 GMT @speedos said:

Just thought I would throw in a little UPDATE for people interested in the ZNK games. 

If you own an android phone, it might be your lucky day, I still might have the (now taken down) semi-official port of ZNK 1 for android that was translated into english in a USB thats somewhere in my cupboard.
When I have the time, I will search for my old USB and upload it!

Okay here it is ladies and gentlemen! The android version of ZNK 1, fully in english!
puu.sh/vXXcm.apk

Some notes about this version:
-the original sound effects and graphics are preserved, some stuff was added, the translation is acceptable (you will understand what is going on but it is definitely off)
-the game tells you when you are about to lead yourself into an unwinnable state (where as the original would just keep on going)
-the person that ported the game added some crude graphics and pictures of the creator in his rapper pose as the game over screens
-the game has "achievements" (getting every death, every unwinnable state etc)
-has a menu, pretty cool

As a last remark, keep in mind that this game was originally created in 2 days, dont expect a gaming masterpiece! 

[jacques]

May 13, 2017 12:05:00 GMT @adam said:

May 12, 2017 7:15:08 GMT @speedos said:

Glad to see people interested in playing these cool games!

Me and Sainttimmy were actually looking into translating the games and found out that there IS a way to translate the original files, but it is a bit complicated (you basically have to change every one of the letters individually).

By that point, it could actually be easier to just re-write the game in a different game engine like game maker. It being in visual basic creates a lot of bugs on modern systems (ZNK1 and 2 couldnt start up for certain people on Win7, 6 and 7 couldnt be saved on certain computers, 5 wont start at all for me etc).

I love these games so I actually would get to work on an english version, just not sure:
What would you guys prefer, a translation of the original files or re-creating the game in a new engine?

I think translating them and then remaking them in other engine (Twine, Ren'py?) would be a better choice, plus you could make dual-language re-release, both in Czech and English. 

On the side, I would love to compile a list of cult violent games from each country, it seems each nation has such one title. In Poland it's Franko and Bij Drecha (a terrible, terrible attempt at target shooting game), in Czech it's ZNK it seems, in Finland it's Damage and Tapan Kaikki etc. I wonder what kids in Lithuania or Hungary were swapping on floppies during the school breaks...

I also upload forgotten games to archive.org! Recently I've uploaded 4-part series of violent, edgy MUGEN games from long-closed Portugal fighting games forum. 

Okay, now time to babble about some actual obscure games that I know.

Apocalypse Cow is one of those silly shareware MS-DOS games:



Battle of the Eras is a fighting game made by some kids using digitized fighters, rendered backgrounds and some really outlandish sci-fi plot. Apparently they sold 0 copies of it, so for many years only the demo release was avaiable, until some years later somebody from Super Fighter Team contacted one of the devs and got the full release. It's really wonderful:




www.oldergames.com/beras/

These kinds of graphics in Battle of Eras, particularly the 3D backgrounds, make me excited. and even the logo animations at the beginning too that must be a long process to do all those character animations, i mean it looks particularly good for being made by 14 years olds. the worm thing is cool as it has weird animations

[Deleted]

May 23, 2017 20:16:48 GMT @macabre said:

Hello again! Today I'm feeling a little naughty, so I'm going to tell you about a game that earned a good deal of infamy in several small communities... It's a simulation game, but it's not erotic. But it IS ecstatic, because it's the MJ growing simulator, HighGrow! Yeah maybe some of you know this program/game, the official site and forums were closed quite recently. What's it like? Hehehehe.... *puff* oh, man.... Yeah, it's a profound grower's guide, basically - you watch over the plants, you care about them, and receive the... ahem... fruits of your labour (only virtual, though, to the great despair...). You even get a certificate congratulating you on growing your giggling green girls, which you can print out and add to the list of your school/university awards and prizes! Awesome!! Yeah. Now, even if you're not interested in the naughty aspects of this program, it is one of the best examples of gardening simulation games - you really get to control many important things including seeds, photoperiod, fertilizers in soil, watering... You'll remember again what K, P, N, Ca and pH symbols mean, while having fun! It's way more interesting than keeping tamagochi!! And it's freeware, too. Rasta Robbie will help you on your quest for ultimate weed, and the help section contains some advice on real-life... ahem... matters. The latest (and last) version is 4.20, (remind you of anything?? ) but I also have version 3 with simpler graphics. There's also a built-in MIDI player with cool songs! And I heard there's an easter egg. I've never found it, but several dudes from the now-dead forum did. Maybe you'll be the lucky one? Or just screw it and have some smokes, man!

this is amazing
funnily enough, one of the first project before the ZNK series was an (unfinished) drug growing sim that had some really similar mechanics (will post screenshots later)

[HarneyBarnes]

I'm not too sure if it counts as obscure (w/ occasional viral searches&hits ^{(but by that logic Vengance of the Sunfish wouldn't count?)} ), but some of games by GZ Storm have some weird elements to them. I'm sure that the majority of people know him working with Vidiot Game, or The 4th Wall, or the Barkley RPG game. ^{eugh, maybe i shouldn't use italics here, feels too formal even for me}

As for the (lack of a better word) drama spat thing above, I just hope everybody has a good rest of their day. Life gets quite stressful, and I've already got enough dirt flying in my own house. Just my two cents as a "bystander".

[beanstalk]

I preordered The Path way back when and was rather disappointed by it, mostly because you crash into trees within seconds whenever you start running. Also I expected it to be less linear and more creative on the gameplay side.

My favorite girl is Ruby, damn I wish I had an emo girlfriend.

[Jinxtengu]

I don't understand what was going on in this thread, too many acronyms. Who hates who? What's the dealyo? I've never played undertale.

[Jinxtengu]

Oh yeah I saw the asholians game. Love that they tried, but they sort of miss the point in that with rotsf I was actually trying to make a good game, it just seems amaturish because I wasn't very good at it, also its to do with the limitations of the software I used. Most of the misspellings I didn't realise because I'm a terrible speller, so stuff like that was unintended. With the asholians game it's like their tying to be bad, which is different. I think that's the mistake the designer makes, but its still interesting to see what they did.

[jacques]

I like crypt worlds it's fun good graphics too, my rig can handle the gfx cos they're not too posh for an old 2016 rig. Also I yes goblet grotto is awe inspiring. the first time i played I was baffled and didn't like it, same with cryp worlds, but now having had more experience of strange games I really like these two, the character drawings are nice too. Crypt Worlds is comforting; the way characters just accept the pain of being in this miserable world makes me so excited i feel like im about to fall off my chair

I wouldn't consider playing worlds.com, i would feel like i was in primary school again playing moon base asking what 'lol' means, but the gameplays on youtube are very enjoyable to watch

[beanstalk]

[Deleted]

Jul 30, 2017 16:58:58 GMT @jeb said:

(allegedly, but with pretty damning evidence.) 

what did he do

[Deleted]

Wow, fuckin what
did he get arrested for that?

[Deleted]

that sucks

[Deleted]

I played some of gingiva or middens (I forget which one), but I sort of played it a bit and forgot about it.
I think at the time I didn't quite understand what I was getting myself into, and was thoroughly confused, but even playing a game like the elder scrolls can be disorienting if you aren't in the right state of mind, so I think I will remind myself to go back and play then when I have time to properly immerse myself.

[jacques]

that happened to me too when I first played them, and also with crypt worlds. I also felt a bit intimidated by those games but then once I became more familiar with weird stuff I realized they're actually things I really like and not scary. altho I still sort of cant be bothered playing middens again

[donnaken15]

Mar 15, 2017 6:16:06 GMT Jinxtengu said:

A few years ago I played Eastern mind the secrets of tong nou, and I thought it was a brilliant game. I'd played LSD prior to that, which is by the same author (Osamu Sato), but i think Eastern mind is actually a far more playable and overall more interesting game. It's definitely one of my favorite games. I'm quite interested in such unique, and to mainstream people seemingly weird games.

Another oddball game that I've come across is the Adventures of ninja nanny and Sherlock sheltie. This isn't quite on the same level as Eastern mind, but i did find it moderately interesting. It's quite verbose and not particularly well written, but it has quite a light natured tone, and is very windows 95 esqe, which i kindof appreciate.


Anyway, has anyone else come across any other unusual games which they'd like to share?

I See You, it's a 3D FPS horror game where you go in this hospital, and then there's this random 1 eyed person shaped thing that jumps at you after a second you see him, this happens like 3 times in the game. I also recently tried to make 2D plane images of the maps.