Dyson posts

We've followed the game Dyson all the way from its origins as an entry in the TIGsource procedural generation competition. It stole our hearts, and later went on to make itself into a freeware game with some added features. Finally, a year later, it has been released under the new title Eufloria. While the title has changed and the gameplay has been tweaked, this is still the Dyson we know and love from so long ago. It's just received a facelift and the trappings of commercial, retail release. While it may appear to be a strategy game on the surface, it's actually something much different, and sets itself apart through its liberal use of procedural generation and an incredibly unique atmosphere.

This is the playable demo for Eufloria (aka Dyson). System requirements are shown after the jump.

"Eufloria is an ambient game of space exploration and conquest that employs surprising themes of plant growth and bio mechanical evolution.

The game allows the player to explore a beautifully realized universe rendered in a style that is both unique and compelling. Gameplay revolves around conquering asteroids in space and using their resources to literally grow and nurture new semi-organic plants and creatures to do the player's bidding."

Download Eufloria Demo (22 MB)

The acclaimed indie strategy game Dyson needed a new name when its developers decided to turn it from a free game to a commercial title. They decided to hold a contest to let fans renamed the game and today, after 400 entries, they revealed the winning title: Eufloria.

Why than name? According to a post on the game's official web site, "We love the name as it nicely sums up the general mood of the game, and ties it in with the "flora" theme that sets our game apart from many other titles." The newly recristiened Eufloria will go on sale via download sites on October 20 with Direct2Drive offering a 25 percent pre-order discount.

One of the most acclaimed indie game titles of recent memory has been Dyson, the strategy title that was once the subject of our Freeware Friday columns. Now the developers of Dyson are planning to release a full commercial version of the game but there's one catch; they are going to change the title.

Apparently the developers of the original game feel the current title (inspired by the famous physicist Freeman Dyson) is no longer appropriate for a full commercial release. So they are holding a contest to give their fans a chance to submit ideas for Dyson's new name with the winner getting a free copy of the renamed game. The full version of " The Game Formerly Known as Dyson" will be released on October 20. Direct2Drive currently has a pre-order offer for the game that takes off 25 percent from the game's price.

It appears that one of BigDownload's most featured indie games has been delayed. Dyson, that serene, minimalist strategy game that emerged from the TIGSource Procedural Generation Competition, has been delayed from its original date of late July to sometime in October. While it may be sad that the game is not releasing on schedule, it does allow the developers to add more to the game. More features, within reason of course, is always a good thing.

One of the new things that is being added, and the most important, is base-level Lua scripting so that modders can edit the game to add new graphics and gameplay with ease. This also sets up the developers to add more play modes and gameplay goals within the game proper with the extra time they have. Finally, over the next few months, more details about the new Dyson will be revealed, such as the aforementioned new play modes. Excellent!

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge! It's our one year anniversary! Here's to many more years of talking about the best freeware games out there!

It's been one full year since Freeware Friday debuted on BigDownload. There has been many freeware games featured, and there are many that are waiting to be found. In memoriam of the past year, we'd like to present to you my personal favorites of all the games we took a look at over that past year. These are the games that were enjoyable and memorable above all else. The games that really define the independent and freeware communities as being truly classic and entertaining.

With the IGF finalists announced, game makers only have a short while longer to find out the best of the best in indie games from last year. From the best overall game to the one with the most impressive art, there's several different categories for indie game designers to aspire to be the top of. This week we're going to take a look at a few of the games that have made it to the finals.

Well, we've seen all the other categories that the IGF has to offer, so it's time for the biggest and baddest category of them all: the Seamus McNally Grand Prize finalists. All of these games of the best that the IGF has to offer, so we've decided to replace the Indie Showcase this week with the final edition of the IGF Finalist Showcase. Now take a look at some of the games that you will probably be drolling over buying in the next year!

Welcome to the Indie Showcase, a semi-regular column on Big Download that takes a look at games we haven't covered on the site that we really think you should play.

Wow. 2008 sure was a whirlwind year for independent games on PC and console alike. Games like World of Goo, Braid, and Everyday Shooter have defied our expectations and brought forth a sort of indie gaming renaissance. So let's take a look back at all those indie games released or significantly updated in 2008. There's a lot that can be learned from the independent and the auteur, after all. These games will be in no particular order, because I don't want to taint this list with trying to name a best, second best, and so on. They are all great games.

Click on the image above to continue reading about the best indie games of 2008

Welcome to Freeware Friday, a weekly column showcasing excellent games that you can play free of charge!

It's been about half a year since TIGSource's Procedural Generation Competition, and most of the entries have long since faded into obscurity. There are a few, though, that transcended their roots as a quickly written game into something new, innovative, and complete. The most intriguing of these games is the procedural real-time strategy game Dyson. With its simplicity, ease of play, soothing atmosphere, and high degree of polish, it's no wonder the original developers decided to refine it into a full-fledged title. This title will be making a showing at the Independent Games Festival, and the team has released their IGF build for free to all who wish to play. So let's revisit an old classic.

Independent Minds aims to take various aspects of indie gaming and present them to you each week. From game round-ups to design elements to interviews with prominent members of the scene, it's an exploration of what makes indie gaming great as well as what makes someone an indie.

It's a phenomenon normally only seen in amateur communities, among people that do not have the drudgery of a nine-to-five job in their field. The freelancers and visionaries, the next great creators of the future. From writing, to art, to movie-making, competitions are not so much the realm of professional-level creation but rather for those that can crank out a prototype, an early draft, or a short movie in a single weekend. For these competitions, none seems to be as interesting as those created by the independent game development company.