4 ms·

I know exactly how you feel. For the past year, my main gaming rig has been on another continent and I've been making do with what I could play on a cruddy lit

I know exactly how you feel. For the past year, my main gaming rig has been on another continent and I've been making do with what I could play on a cruddy little netbook running Linux. It's probably been my best year of gaming ever. I've been an old west robot prospector. I've seen a man have sex with a giant goldfish. I've tried to get a mouse to wear a hat. I've consoled a grieving child. After all that was done, I got a small amount of my hardware back and I killed some zombies. That was awesome, too. In fact, it was more awesome than it had been in a long time, since the variety had removed a great deal of the staleness. It's the same with comics. I want to read a comic about a gay college student coming out to his parents. I want to read a comic about a goat that's also a political prisoner. I want to read a comic about a child learning to cope with the death of a parent. I still want to read a comic about a preternaturally buxom woman throwing a bus, but I want to read other things, too.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
po 12y ago
Great point. Indie games are good for helping you realize how much hard work goes into triple-A games and can really help you appreciate them again with fresh eyes (and totally more affordable on the hardware front! :-)
detaro 12y ago
The indie game equivalent are web comics. There are really well made and interesting ones out there, although finding them isn't always easy. For some, printed versions are also available.
- alphadevx 12y ago
  Also there is Image, Oni Press and Vertigo.
  - j_s 12y ago
    Humble Comics Bundle 2, 'Image firsts' is currently running a good deal for anyone wanting to check out Image: https://www.humblebundle.com/books https://www.humblebundle.com/books
  - danielweber 12y ago
    Image doesn't really work for daughters. http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/savage-dragon/18-1.jpg http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/savage-dragon/18-1.jpg I saw that cover in a comic store in my 20s, and it made me do a "what am I doing with my life?" reaction.
    - alphadevx 12y ago
      Well, that's something of an edge case given that Erik Larsen originally came from DC & Marvel, so he has that over-the-top exaggerated anatomy style, but yeah it's indefensible. Most of the newer Image stuff is really mature and has some fantastic female role models, see for example Lazarus, Shutter, or Copperhead, all have strong female leads.
    - the_af 12y ago
      I'm not familiar with Image anymore, but I remember Jim Lee's Wildcats and it was generally "supersexy females with ridiculous breast implants". And they had a couple more superhero teams, whose names I can't remember, which were similar to Wildcats in this regard.
      - danielweber 12y ago
        Gen13. It's possible that it was meant as irony in just how far you can take cheesecake. (Jim Lee got bought out by DC, so those characters are all part of DC continuity now.)
- GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
  Also there are lots and lots of small press publishers out there. Just off the top of my head there are: * First Second * Drawn and Quarterly * Fantagraphics * Koyama Press * Top Shelf * NBM
- angersock 12y ago
  Going to have to second this. There's a whole range of comics catering to those more esoteric (and often quite boring, frankly) storylines, and a good many of them have books for sale. Check out Something Positive (terrible people), Stand Still, Stay Silent (kid friendly but a little dark, beautiful art), Dumbing of Age (ugh, but some people like it), Vattu (kid friendly, nice art, coming-of-age), Schlock Mercenary (goofy, sometimes a little mature but kid friendly), Gunnerkrigg Court (female protagonists), or any of several other dozens. All of those have books out, I believe, except for maybe SSSS. EDIT: Something Positive is probably the best-written webcomic out there today, with the best characters and dialog and plot--it's only flaw is that it might be a bit raw and inaccessible to people younger than teenagers (the first strip being a mean abortion joke probably doesn't help).
  - jff 12y ago
    Something Positive is a wall-of-text comic which, unfortunately also has very bad writing in its walls of text. I'm embarrassed to say I read the entire thing in high school in 2004, but in my defense I was starved for content and didn't know any better.
    - angersock 12y ago
      So, there's been 11 years of plot since then. But hey, that's cool, to each their own.
  - saraid216 12y ago
    I think Dumbing of Age is targeted at people who are post-college, not kids. A lot of the humor and depth is most manifest to people who have gone through similar crap and can look back on it nostalgically.
  - fernly 12y ago
    SSSS book 1 was funded by an indiegogo campaign[1] in October 2014, which pulled 500% of the target. Book should be available fairly soon. [1] https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stand-still-stay-silent-book-1 https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stand-still-stay-silent-b...
zyxley 12y ago
> I've tried to get a mouse to wear a hat. ...What game is that?
- ForestC 12y ago
  I'm interested in the games he listed as well. I know the first one (robot prospector) is probably SteamWorld Dig. Not certain about the others.
- rprospero 12y ago
  The four games I mentioned were: - SteamWorld Dig: old west robot prospector (ForestC was right!) - Coming Out On Top: a man have sex with a giant goldfish, a gay college student coming out to his parents - Escape Goat: get a mouse to wear a hat, a goat that's also a political prisoner. It's more about the goat than the mouse, but I was afraid that "Play as a Goat" would make people think of Goat Simulator. Plus, I found the magic hat to be adorable. - Long Live the Queen: consoled a grieving child, cope with the death of a parent
ZeroGravitas 12y ago
There's a graphic novel called "Fun Home" that ticks off 2 out of your 4 wish list items. edit: and I just realised the author invented the Bechdel test, which is appropriate.
eli_gottlieb 12y ago
> I want to read a comic about a goat that's also a political prisoner. Have you tried reading Sluggy Freelance? I don't think they had a goat who was a political prisoner, but many things of equivalent weirdness have definitely been in Sluggy, like a lop-eared rabbit who's also a mobster who's also a time-traveling space pirate.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

po 12y ago

Great point. Indie games are good for helping you realize how much hard work goes into triple-A games and can really help you appreciate them again with fresh eyes (and totally more affordable on the hardware front! :-)

detaro 12y ago

The indie game equivalent are web comics. There are really well made and interesting ones out there, although finding them isn't always easy. For some, printed versions are also available.

alphadevx 12y ago
Also there is Image, Oni Press and Vertigo.
- j_s 12y ago
  Humble Comics Bundle 2, 'Image firsts' is currently running a good deal for anyone wanting to check out Image: https://www.humblebundle.com/books https://www.humblebundle.com/books
- danielweber 12y ago
  Image doesn't really work for daughters. http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/savage-dragon/18-1.jpg http://www.coverbrowser.com/image/savage-dragon/18-1.jpg I saw that cover in a comic store in my 20s, and it made me do a "what am I doing with my life?" reaction.
  - alphadevx 12y ago
    Well, that's something of an edge case given that Erik Larsen originally came from DC & Marvel, so he has that over-the-top exaggerated anatomy style, but yeah it's indefensible. Most of the newer Image stuff is really mature and has some fantastic female role models, see for example Lazarus, Shutter, or Copperhead, all have strong female leads.
  - the_af 12y ago
    I'm not familiar with Image anymore, but I remember Jim Lee's Wildcats and it was generally "supersexy females with ridiculous breast implants". And they had a couple more superhero teams, whose names I can't remember, which were similar to Wildcats in this regard.
    - danielweber 12y ago
      Gen13. It's possible that it was meant as irony in just how far you can take cheesecake. (Jim Lee got bought out by DC, so those characters are all part of DC continuity now.)
GFK_of_xmaspast 12y ago
Also there are lots and lots of small press publishers out there. Just off the top of my head there are: * First Second * Drawn and Quarterly * Fantagraphics * Koyama Press * Top Shelf * NBM
angersock 12y ago
Going to have to second this. There's a whole range of comics catering to those more esoteric (and often quite boring, frankly) storylines, and a good many of them have books for sale. Check out Something Positive (terrible people), Stand Still, Stay Silent (kid friendly but a little dark, beautiful art), Dumbing of Age (ugh, but some people like it), Vattu (kid friendly, nice art, coming-of-age), Schlock Mercenary (goofy, sometimes a little mature but kid friendly), Gunnerkrigg Court (female protagonists), or any of several other dozens. All of those have books out, I believe, except for maybe SSSS. EDIT: Something Positive is probably the best-written webcomic out there today, with the best characters and dialog and plot--it's only flaw is that it might be a bit raw and inaccessible to people younger than teenagers (the first strip being a mean abortion joke probably doesn't help).
- jff 12y ago
  Something Positive is a wall-of-text comic which, unfortunately also has very bad writing in its walls of text. I'm embarrassed to say I read the entire thing in high school in 2004, but in my defense I was starved for content and didn't know any better.
  - angersock 12y ago
    So, there's been 11 years of plot since then. But hey, that's cool, to each their own.
- saraid216 12y ago
  I think Dumbing of Age is targeted at people who are post-college, not kids. A lot of the humor and depth is most manifest to people who have gone through similar crap and can look back on it nostalgically.
- fernly 12y ago
  SSSS book 1 was funded by an indiegogo campaign[1] in October 2014, which pulled 500% of the target. Book should be available fairly soon. [1] https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stand-still-stay-silent-book-1 https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/stand-still-stay-silent-b...

zyxley 12y ago

> I've tried to get a mouse to wear a hat. ...What game is that?

ForestC 12y ago
I'm interested in the games he listed as well. I know the first one (robot prospector) is probably SteamWorld Dig. Not certain about the others.
rprospero 12y ago
The four games I mentioned were: - SteamWorld Dig: old west robot prospector (ForestC was right!) - Coming Out On Top: a man have sex with a giant goldfish, a gay college student coming out to his parents - Escape Goat: get a mouse to wear a hat, a goat that's also a political prisoner. It's more about the goat than the mouse, but I was afraid that "Play as a Goat" would make people think of Goat Simulator. Plus, I found the magic hat to be adorable. - Long Live the Queen: consoled a grieving child, cope with the death of a parent

ZeroGravitas 12y ago

There's a graphic novel called "Fun Home" that ticks off 2 out of your 4 wish list items. edit: and I just realised the author invented the Bechdel test, which is appropriate.

eli_gottlieb 12y ago

> I want to read a comic about a goat that's also a political prisoner. Have you tried reading Sluggy Freelance? I don't think they had a goat who was a political prisoner, but many things of equivalent weirdness have definitely been in Sluggy, like a lop-eared rabbit who's also a mobster who's also a time-traveling space pirate.