That’s why it’s so important to filter out the naysayers and appreciate those people, places, and resources who have not only been supportive, but have actually helped to make the job a little easier.

Ghost Mantis Games LLC wanted to take this time to say thanks to those forums and other such websites that have been such a support. For those of you who are working on your own stuff, or love indie games, these sites are must visits. They’re full of great advice, great artists, are staffed by great people, and offer a lot of exposure and all around positive vibes to us noobs and seasoned indie game companies alike.

So in no particular order our deepest gratitude to:

1) tigsource.com : Tigsource is a killer site. It’s well organized, has great forums, and offers all different kinds of insights into the world of indie gaming. From interviewing the creators of the latest and greatest, to exposing potential fans to work-in-progress games with tons of potential, this has become one of my mandatory daily visits. In fact all of the rest of the sites on this post have become a daily source of inspiration and good advice.

2) indiegamemag.com : Again, this is a killer site. These guys take indie gaming as seriously as the hard working people creating indie games. They genuinely seem interested in the indie gaming experience as well as offering guidance to those of us working on making our mark on the world. News, reviews, artwork, and the latest trailers await you here. Seriously, check out this great site. You won’t be disappointed.

3) indiedb.com : This site has a similar format to the above mentioned sites. It’s all things indie and always a good source for information. While not as user friendly as the other sites I’ve mentioned, it still manages to pack quite a punch and showcases some of the most awesome new projects coming down the pipeline. Definitely worth a click.

4) unity3d.com : Meridian Core Online is a browser based game that utilizes the awesome Unity3d engine. Where would we be without unity3d.com? Probably still scratching our heads trying to figure out coroutines or how to get networking implemented without our character jumping into outer space (true story. That was our first glitch). This site has been invaluable to our journey. There are plenty of experienced members in the forums that can get you out of a serious bind, or even just answer those not so serious questions that maybe won’t change the entire game, but dammit if not knowing the answer won’t ruin your day. For anyone developing a game in Unity, and we highly recommend Unity, their site is a much welcome and much needed resource.

5) deviantart.com : Ok Ok Ok, I know deviantart.com doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with video games without even getting into the indie scene, but as the concept artist on this project this place has proven itself time and time again as site that offers insight, community, and excellent feedback from a large community of users who have helped my art mature over the few short years that I’ve been a member of the site. They also serve as a great place to find inspiration as well as good photos to practice from. All you cosplay people are perfect for practicing my character design skills.

6) cghub.com : Ok this is another one of those sites that isn’t necessarily as valuable as the first few on this list, but again it’s a great place to go to find tips and tricks for all of the mostly used software packages out there and plenty of inspiration can be found by browsing the plethora of amazing images the artists of the site have contributed.

7) kotaku.com/ : Alright, Kotaku is a badass sight. It’s as simple as that. Not only do they manage to cover everything from gaming’s biggest  companies, the somehow manage to always make time for the little guy. This website has humor, drama, screenshots, dramatic screenshots, humorous screenshots, and a buttload of good art. This is another one of those sites that somehow always seems to find the next big thing before the people responsible for said next big thing were even aware themselves how much potential their product has. This site is a little less niche than the rest of the sites mentioned on this list in that it has a lot more pop culture content. It’s always nice to stop by Kotaku and see what’s what in the world of gaming.

8) imgur.com/ : Imgur is the ultimate time-wasting website. An offshoot of reddit that somehow manages to suck me in like facebook on crack. At first glance it might seem like nothing more than a place to waste your day away on, but after I became an active member of the imgur community a few years ago I was able to take advantage of the friendly environment it presents you with. The other members of the site have offered great feedback and advice for the concept pieces that I’ve posted there. It’s also nice to have access to a group of internetters who aren’t actually looking for indie games or other video game related content. They’re literally just your run of the mill web browsers and as such are valuable in that they’re the type of people someone making an indie game would hope to reach one day. At imgur.com they’re only one click away.

9) polycount.com : Last but certainly not least we have Polycount. This is another one of those sites that just has a library of information, inspiration, and an overall great user community. They do contests, interviews, and showcases that bring in the best talent from all over the web to create an environment that’s truly unique.

Well that’s it for now. Thanks again to the people who have all contributed to and made possible the continuing presence and relevance of the above mentioned sites. We might be able to get this game done without you, but it wouldn’t be nearly as fun or inspiring.

Keep on keepin’ on.

Pastywhite

Since the release of our game (for beta testing) is still at least a year away I thought it would be cool to compile a list of the top games that I’ll be playing or at least anticipating to get me through this phase of the process. Don’t get me wrong, I’m busting serious tail here, but we all need a little downtime and here are the titles I’ll be getting my fix on until our first project is complete.

They appear on the list in no particular order, but I of course had to start with……dun dun dunnnnn………

1) Grand Theft Auto 5: Ok so you don’t need me to tell you anything about this game because you don’t live under a rock, but just in case you haven’t had a chance to pic it up yet I recommend it on scale alone. This game is HUUUUUGE and the amount of attention paid to detail is astonishing. I would say it’s easily the most ambitious game project to date and it certainly shows. And here’s a fun little tip for you. If you happen to find the Ten Cent Theater don’t just pass it by. You can actually go in there and watch a rather impressive animation called The Loneliest Robot.

2) Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm: Ok I know what you’re thinking, games based off of anime are terrible. The Dragon Ball games totally sucked (except for that one) and you’ve all but given up hope on a good anime based game. The Pokemon games were great but they don’t count. Why? Because fuck you that’s why.

This Naruto game is top notch. The animation is fantastic. It actually looks like a traditionally animated game. The fighting engine is very simple yet still engaging, and the heavy story is enough to keep you emotionally addicted to it to the very end. Also, getting to play as a hundred trillion different characters doesn’t hurt either. It stops the game from ever getting redundant. Play this game. Fo real.

3) The Last of Us: Sure the Zombie genre is so played out it probably won’t ever make another retro return again for the rest of the history of the universe, but this game is actually amazing. While slightly reminiscent of Eco this game maintains true to the roots it gets it’s inspirations from (zombies) and can be pretty damn intense.

4) League of Legends: I’m honestly not sure I need to even say anything about this. You’ve already been playing it for months anyways. So instead of putting the game trailer on this post I thought I’ve spice it up a little and post some of their completely awesome artist spotlight trailers. I honestly think Riot Games is cool as hell for doing this. Will I ever be this good in Photoshop? Sigh……

There are many more artist spotlights from this series if you’re interested. THey’re all over youtube.

5) Since it would be hypocritical of me to not post at least ONE indie game I had to post this next title.

Castle Crashers: This game deserves it. I’m not gonna lie, the guys over at Behemoth are my heroes. They wanted to make games……and they made games. THey might not have started with more than a few pennies to their names and had a team that could be counted on less than all of the fingers of one hand, but they made it happen dammit! But that’s not why this title deserves it’s shoutout. It deserves it because it’s actually a really great game. It’s funny, has kickass animation, and the gameplay is really fun. The ending is also quite superb.

6) Diablo 3: Reaper of Souls: “But this demonic game isn’t out yet so how can you” “Shhhhhh……..you don’t need to say anything more. You had me at ‘demonic’”. Maybe that’s a shallow reason to be highly anticipating this title but what can I say? I like demons. Also there’s this amazing trailer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cb7QJwQ58T0

7) Powerstone 2: One of the best party games of all time. I still love my Dreamcast. Guess I’m nostalgic.

8) Bastion: This game is so gorgeous it makes it on the list for art quality alone.

9) Titanfall: Ok so this isn’t out yet either, but I could watch the trailers and gameplay videos of this all day. It’s amazing.

10) Astro Boy: The Omega Factor: I don’t care what anyone says, this Gameboy Advance game is making the list. This is easily my favorite platformer of all time. Brought to you by the team that did the amazing Guardian Heroes game for Sega Saturn (which they later butchered by changing everything about the game for the sequels. That’s a different story altogether though.) this game packs some serious punch. With RPG elements mixed in with traditional platformer pacing and colorful graphics. The fighting engine is awesome. Oh and did I mention you can constantly power up your brutality loving robot child boy hero and by the time the game’s over for the second time, yes they make you play it through twice but you’re not angry because you love it, he’s an ass-kicking rabid lover of destruction god like deathbot? Yeah….it’s fucking great.

And just to add to the nostalgia factor here’s the Toonami review of the game from back when it should have been the number one selling game on the shelves.

11) Tomb Raider: For all intents and purposes I had considered this a dead franchise for quite some time. Which is actually sad considering it started out as a completely ground breaking title with one of the coolest heroes we’d seen in a long time. This version finally shows Lara back at her best, and I love every second of it. THe attention to detail is stunning, the landscapes are perilous, the action is white knuckle, and the tombs are very tomby. Glad to see ya back Ms. Croft.