GDC Talk "Minimalist Game Design: Growing Osmos"
Another GDC has come and gone. (sigh.) I could go on about it, and how great it was to see friends new and old, but that’s what Facebook is for. ;-) So without further ado, here are the slides from our Independent Game Summit talk on minimalist game design and Osmos. For those of you […]
Osmos Soundtrack
Many fans have requested it, and here it is — brought to you by Peter Kirn, the man behind the most excellent Create Digital Music website. + It’s an extended, free soundtrack, featuring full tracks from Loscil, Gas 0095, Julien Neto, High Skies and more, running 50 minutes in total. The .m4a version also includes […]
The Indie Love Bundle
Dear Motes, Have we got a deal for you! This Valentine’s we’re banding together with five other independent developers to bring you a sweet bundle of Indie Love. It’s an $85 value for only $20!! The games are: And Yet It Moves, by Broken Rules Auditorium, by Cipher Prime Aztaka, by Citeremis Eufloria, by Omni […]
Osmos Rage, part 4: Roadside Assistance
Given the Achievement stats on Steam, it’s pretty clear that the last few Force levels are where people are really getting stuck. In particular, F3A-3 and F3C-3. (F3A-2 is a fair bit easier since version 1.6.0.) So let’s dive right in. (Now might be a good time to make a pot of tea.) F3A-3 Zen […]
Osmos Rage, part 3: The Perversity of Inanimate Objects
Welcome to part 3/4 of our “Osmos Rage” series. We introduced the topic in part 1, announced a video contest in part 2, and today we explain why the game gets “so bloody hard” in the end. Believe it or not, our primary motives were a) truth and b) respect. Truth: to the game concept […]
Osmos Rage, part 2: The Bait and Switch, and… Revenge!
The last few levels in Osmos get hard. They’ve induced rage in some gamers and in more than one reviewer. (See the previous post for the full introduction.) Before we offer explanations or further remedies, we want to harness that rage. Prior to our recent difficulty adjustments, user jnfenrir began a thread on the Steam […]
Osmos Rage, part 1: Welcome to Hell
Since we released Osmos in August, we’ve been getting mostly great feedback from players and reviewers alike. Mostly. There is however one complaint that we see regularly, and very vocally: Rage. “I’m done with Osmos. Done. F3A-3 is no fun.” -RSHabroptilus, Steam forums “… playing Osmos was like getting knocked out by a sharp kick […]
Awesome new album from High Skies, free for Hemisphere customers
Mat Jarvis just released an awesome new mini-album – Sounds of Earth – under his High Skies moniker; and he’s generously allowed us to distribute it free for the next while to people who purchase Osmos from us. (New and existing customers, just visit your game download page.) If you enjoy the music in Osmos, […]
Osmos PC Version 1.6.0 Released
The new version includes translations into four languages (French, German, Spanish and Italian), a decrease in the extreme difficulty of a few late leves, D3D support, sound engine improvements, and more. You can see all the details here.
Pretty good year
For Hemisphere Games – and for me – 2009 was a whirlwind year. New Years’ day found me skiing and relaxing with good friends in Revelstoke, British Columbia. Osmos still lay in the hands of the IGF judges, quietly unknown to the world beyond a few friends and some very thorough IGF followers. I had […]