IGM had a chance to chat with Laurent Lavigne of Elefantopia on his hectic tower defense game, McDroid. McDroid is a gorgeous cel-shaded tower defense and 3rd person action adventure game where you collect strawberries. The game is currently still in Beta and available for PC, Mac and Linux.

When did you start developing games? What got you into programming and designing?
I started when I was 10, made a few rooms in a first person adventure game on my TI 97, then at 15, I completed the graphics for a game that was inspired by RTYPE, horizontal shooter with wave gun and modular weapon system in the back that doubled as a shield. Sold it to Thalamus, the company went under before the game became anything more than one level on the Amiga but it was a really fun level.

What game inspired you to make games?
RTYPE but MULE and Gauntlet are close second, what am I saying, Marble Madness and Buck Rogers, The Pawn, Tass Time… they all build such a rich canvas of feelings.

What is your favorite indie game right now that you are playing? Why?
I am not playing any indie game at the moment, the free time I have I dedicate to McDROID and the real world. But I did spend hours on FTL and loved it, it was scratching that grinding itch and showed me some really tight gameplay and subtle bindings I’ll re-use.

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Source: The Indie Game Magazine – ‘McDroid’ Interview with Laurent Lavigne of Elefantopia

It’s been common knowledge for quite some time that Valve’s approval system for indie developers wanting to release a game via Steam is an arcane, obscure process, possibly involving divinations using animal entrails and/or throwing darts at an annotated board. Over the years, we’ve seen a lot of high-profile games come, get rejected and go. Even Derek Yu’s IGF award-winner (and already solidly-selling) underwater Metroidvania Aquaria was flatly refused, and only upon repeated attempts did the game get an audience with the king, so to speak. The latest casualty of this seemingly random approach to distribution is Mutant Mudds, a massive critical hit on the 3DS (see that panel of scores above), but apparently not good enough for PC.

So, what can be done? Right now, Valve claim that they’re working of improving their approval process and how they interact with developers, but clearly there’s still some issues. According to Mutant Mudds developer Jools Watsham (via Twitter), the rejection was flat and simple. “Steam is not a good fit for distribution” for the game, allegedly. While there may be some issues in the game coming from a handheld, Mutant Mudds wouldn’t be the first retro-styled platformer on the service by any means, with Cave Story, Eversion, Tobe’s Vertical Adventure and many more sharing virtual shelf-space.

It has been said that getting some positive press for your game is a key part of getting Steam approval, but apparently that’s not enough in this case – the game is currently the 9th highest rated game on the 3DS, according to Metacritic. Admittedly that’s not the greatest praise ever levelled at a game (poor old 3DS), but it’s certainly not to be sniffed at either. Our man-with-many-hats Chris Priestman put together an article not long ago, covering a few key ways to get your game one of those lucrative Steam distribution deals, but it does still seem to be largely up to luck of the draw at the moment.

I’ve heard it suggested that the Steam approval process is largely one of quality control, although that’s a rather questionable statement when you consider that some spectacular shovelware has been approved in the past. One notable example being Bad Rats – an Incredible Machine clone with a non-deterministic physics engine so bad that even the developer’s own solution can fail a dozen times before working. More recently, the only reasonable explanation for the risible Revelations 2012 getting a Steam release is because it uses Valve’s own Source engine.

Award-winning. Undeniable quality. Initially rejected.

Of course, it goes without saying that Steam isn’t the be-all and end-all of indie distribution. Far from it. Other major digital distributors like Gamersgate are an option, and GOG.com is branching out more and more into indie gaming. The Humble Store seems to be a good storefront for self-distribution as well (and seems to have solid ties with Valve), and there’s plenty of other options besides. A Steam distribution deal does offer it’s own set of advantages, such as good long-term sales potential and access to promoted deals, which tend to spike sales for much longer than the discount is in play. It remains undeniable that it’s a very good place to be if you’re looking to sell big on a smaller game.

So, what can Mutant Mudds‘ developer do? If past stories are any indication, then persistence is key. Keep applying, and keep spreading the word of the game and the planned PC launch. Interacting with the indie press is always a good start, and trying to get blogs and magazines to cover the story. As for what the indie press can do to change this sad state of affairs, not just for this game but for others? Well, we can make noise, too. Spread the word of such seemingly arbitrary dismissals. Beat the drum and let Valve hear that they’ve still got work to do. I’ve heard it suggested that a possible solution would be hiring a panel of ‘Indie Tsars’, to help pick out the wheat from the almighty pile of chaff that is the weekly submissions. Either way, something clearly still needs to change, so we’ll keep beating this drum until it does.

The creatures of the night are soon to be roaming the, and they’ll be thirsting for human victims in Sang-Froid, Artifice Studio’s forthcoming werewolf-infested role-playing game.

The game employs a heavy strategic emphasis in terms of its gameplay mechanics, encouraging players to lay traps and bait in order to lure in the invading werewolf horde, sent by the Devil to attack their cabins at night. Players made also use such environmental factors as wind direction as a strategic base on which to forge their counter-attacking plans, bringing a potentially game-changing wildcard into proceedings as players seek to use the landscape to their tactical advantage.

If past success in the fantasy genre is any indication of the game’s prospects, Sang-Froid‘s story ought to be in good hands. That’s because it’s being penned, at least partically, by acclaimed author Bryan Perro, writer of such literary hits as Amos Daragon and Wariwulf. The game is set in 19th-century Canada, where the woods are populated by savage werewolves and supernatural beings exhibiting monstrous acts of fancy trickery. Such menacing surroundings would be problematic for even the most rational of organic beings, but it’s another matter entirely for the protagonists, two feuding siblings who struggle just to get along with each other, let alone pool together to avoid becoming the latest répas du jour.

Look out for Sand-Froid‘s launch on PC, tentatively slated for July. More information is available on its official website.

Cockroach has released a new trailer for their marvellous clay and cardboard point and click adventure, The Dream Machine, in order to commemorate its impending release on Steam. Regardless of your opinion of the genre in which it lies, The Dream Machine‘s aesthetics make it a an absolute triumph alone. Claymation is notoriously laborious but that doesn’t deter these developers, not one bit.

The game has been around for a little while now as it has been release episodically, but only now with Steam’s push for more indie games has it been picked up by the digital distributor. It’s good news all around too – a deserved game gets more publicity, those with an odd attachment to Steam are happy and we’re happy to watch more deserved developers get a chance in the spotlight.

If you can’t wait until May 11th for The Dream Machine to become available on Steam then you can catch up by playing the first episode on the official website, better yet you can buy the other episodes from the official store while you’re there.

More information on The Dream Machine can be found on the game’s official website.

Gaslamp Games have announced the date upon which all of you Dungeons of Dredmor lovers can get hold of the upcoming free DLC which also adds Steam Workshop support.

What a difference a few days make, eh? Gaslamp got us all excited about just the other day about some free DLC which was apparently on the way soon for their stellar dungeon crawler, Dungeons of Dredmor. Now we return once again with a parchment in one hand and a bell in the other shouting “HEAR YE!” at the top of our lungs. The reason for such a commotion is that we now know just how soon that FREE DLC is arriving in indie town.

Well, it was via this humble blog post that the news was deliver – June 5th – that’s the date you should mark in those make believe calendars of yours as that is when the “You Have To Name The Expansion Pack” will be delivered. Though there is a lot of goodness to be had in this DLC, the best part is that Dungeons of Dredmor will be supported by the Steam Workshop which means, yes you guessed it, all mods will be integrated with Steam for ease. How exciting!

Let’s remind ourselves of those glorious and lovely features of said DLC, shall we? Quite:

• Steam Workshop; mod integration with Steam! We’re turning it on! It’s Steamy!
• Battle Geology, a wizard-like warrior skill with earth-shattering consequences by the terribly mysterious Null (how mysterious? terribly.)
• Clockwork Knight and Rogue Scientist, a pair of crafty steampunk skill lines by the too-clever-by-half Ruigi
• Warlockery, the wizard skill for wizards who would rather by warriors, by the utterly mad Essence — he wrote over 500 lines of xml for one spell.
• A mess of twisty little rooms, all different, created by the deranged architect our mortal speech renders “Bergstrom“; The geometry is all wrong.
• And to inhabit the renovated Dungeons of Dredmor we’ve summoned a pack of new monster variations dug up by one FaxCelestis, from the existentially troubling Poorly Cloned Hero to the lofty Diggle Rocketeer.
• Naturally there are some new items and other such nonsense happening which you’ll have to discover on your own.

More information on Dungeons of Dredmor can be found on the game’s official website.