Forager's Addictive Survival is Being Revived in Apogee's Vexlands

[@ScottMiller-sm9rn]

This demo is just showring the tip of the iceberg -- several new biomes coming, tons of underground areas, the world is fully randomly generated each time in terms of layout (although sequencing is generally the same as you need to find a pickaxe early on, etc). There will be gem merging, magic and combat, 1000 collectibles to find, including relics and artifacts that will explain the lore of this world. So we're shooting for something with a lot more depth than Forager. The demo will continue to be updated for the foreseeable future. And thanks for the video!

[@andyeban]

Hopefully its less than a grindfest that Forager became, and more like how it began

[@JayJayM57]

tried the demo, and it looks promising. you may want to add a little more range to the sword as it makes combat a little annoying.

[@RamesGamesLC]

your response was honestly way too kind and more than the coverage this video provided actually deserved. +respect for professionalism.

[@ScottMiller-sm9rn]

@@andyeban -- Yup this is def something we plan to keep adjusting. I don't want it to be too grindy, either.

[@andyeban]

@@ScottMiller-sm9rn I'll definitely buy it then. I loved Forager

[@Cyenthie]

Commander Keen, Blake Stone, man! Apogee was the man back in the 90's. Thanks for the review Splatt!

[@Hiznogood]

Rise of the Triad! It’s now a forgotten FPS, with both single and multiplay up to 11 players. We had sooo much fun playing it in LAN parties especially the “tag mode” when we all had the same skin so you couldn’t see who was “it”! Everyone was running around screaming like maniacs, of course a bit intoxicated too. Later on when Duke Nukem 3D came out I remember ordering it from the US (I live in Sweden) and got a mouse mat with the Duke on it. I still have it in my possession. Games was so much more fun at that time, of course there where a lot of crappy games too but, so many original ideas.

[@frankgoesdownstairs]

Wait, this is the same who made Commander Keen? Holy poop I loved those games! No wonder I ejoyed this demo!

[@franzbigT]

never heard about the Forager drama before. Sad news to me.

[@pjd418]

mostly hired devs to work for min wage they wanted alot more money he said no then the drama started

[@andrewgarrison7485]

Apogee is back??? Aw yeah baby let's go! Dude Forager was such a great little game. I had so much fun with it. 100% it with no bugs or issues, didn't even know it was considered "abandoned" or there was so much drama with the dev team. Damn. Thanks for showcasing this, it looks like it's going to be a banger. Downloading the demo now.

[@5minutemovies977]

Apogee has never been gone, it became 3D Realms. This is a new company. It's not the old Apogee Software, it's Apogee Entertainment, founded in 2008.

[@Bluhbear]

@@5minutemovies977 A bit more complicated than that, but yeah. Not the same company. It started out being called Apogee Software before eventually changing to Entertainment, and does have not only the name licensed, but also the entire Apogee library.

[@kareningram6093]

2:54 Holy crap. Talk about a blast from the past. I haven't thought about Commander Keen since I was a kid. I loved that game.

[@znx380]

wait....Forager was abandonned?! i actually played through the entire game and enjoyed it quite a bit. i'll go take a look at this one right away.

[@AronKoch30]

not even abandoned he took his money and run away

[@idontwantahandlethough]

yeah. Dude hired a bunch of people to work for minimum wage (while continuing to claim the game was made by a solo dev) and then threw them under the bus when the work wasn't as good as his liking (as one might expect when you pay people the literal bare minimum..). Was really silly of him.

[@zixelix]

@@idontwantahandlethough wow I had no idea about this, that's so shitty :/ ugh, I feel bad about enjoying the game as much as I did, but I guess nothing we can really do about it.

[@dawggydawgtown]

I mean all the shitty pay stuff aside, when a game is feature complete and not in early access a dev doesn't have to continue working on it. It isn't "abandoned" for a game to be finished

[@gotgunpowder]

@@dawggydawgtown my exact thoughts lmao. the game is very much finished. it was crappy of him to underpay a bunch of people like that (assuming that's even true) but it's not abandoned.

[@Brildawg]

5 minutes in, I already know I'm buying this. Thanks for showing it off Splat, hadn't heard of it before.

[@ImLucld]

i would love it if someone makes a full remake of the game, to fix the bugs, add more details, make modding much better, fix performance, add the multiplayer, and add more stuff, etc.

[@DawnChatman]

FYI. The demo is still downloadable today (Oct 22). I grew up with this company, Apogee, 3D Realms, ID Software... was just a great time for games.

[@DrakeFeatherwing]

Same, way back in the 3.x era, a lot of good games were made by Apogee.

[@Serkesh80]

Now if only someone made a copy of stone hearth in the same way they took inspiration from forager. Thanks for the video! I'll wishlist this

[@Spacecookie-]

I'm glad that I never jumped on the Forager bus when it was a trendy thing. Waiting for this has shown me my patience was well placed, and well earned.

[@rainbow_storm]

I loved forager so much and was so sad that I've never seen another game like it or updates to that game so this makes me so happy!

[@dakaodo]

Ha ha, great trip down memory lane with Apogee games. I grew up on many of them too!

[@Stray..]

I couldn’t agree more about the sounds of gaming. I’m playing one now that use a cow mooing as a deer call and it drives me crazy.

[@waterdrinker90]

Wow, this video flew by. Definitely one of those games that is just as entertaining to watch as it is to play.

[@jasonbolin151]

I really like the way this looks, I do believe I will add this into my fun rotation.

[@jasonstraathof2994]

"I'm gonna get wood here, live on camera." *Immediately cuts away* 😄

[@D-Lucypher]

Splat. I love your content. In fact you're my favorite content creator. Knack for communicating the thoughts I'm thinking. The big 1m is coming. 😮

[@RadcliffaGaming-wg1zx]

This game is a definite buy for me. I really enjoyed the demo and can't wait to dive into the whole game.

[@simapesiel]

Forager has movement that feels super good while Vexlands feels slightly better than a game maker RPG clone while moving. I hope they spend more time polishing that part, i yearn for a worthy successor to Forager

[@jmjoue]

Love the look of the game. Apogee has a special place in my heart cause the first games I played on a PC was from them and most of the games I loved back then was from them too. I was really happy when the company came back and I'm looking forward to the games they've got for us.

[@5minutemovies977]

Apogee has never been gone, it became 3D Realms. This is a new company. It's not the old Apogee Software, it's Apogee Entertainment, founded in 2008.

[@adomuir2239]

​@@5minutemovies977 you keep saying this. apogee and 3drealms were two brands owned by the same person. apogee entertainment is a new(ish) company, but it did a deal to aquire the name and some of the IP. 3drealms (at least duke nukem) was swallowed up by gearbox, and gearbox has been swalloed by embracer group. actually apogee entertainment owns someof the 3d realms IP as well. scott miller has nothing to do with either brand any more

[@badwolfgaming78]

this looks super fun, i can't wait to get into it. Something like this with multiplayer would be great.

[@Glonky1287]

My favorite Apogee games were Halloween Harry and Whacky Wheels, I played those so much.

[@wolfman71188]

My dad had the dos Duke Nukem 2 side scroller when I was a kid. You're a little bit older than me so I only vaguely remember playing it sadly.

[@foobar1735]

wow, can't believe that apogee still exists, I still remember playing commander keen... o.O

[@FPSSteel]

Demo seems to still be available Splattercat, thank you for covering this game, seems very well performance wise as well!

[@XXsupervisor]

That's a cool game. Would be cool if you can unlock a hired hand and assign them to specific resources

[@Nekoyashiki-san]

Thanks for showcasing! ^^

[@jeremiahdomer4657]

I wondered why the stuff they talked about adding never happened. Now I know. Forager was amazing

[@AkashSingh-jv5im]

Downloaded the demo after watching the video and played non-stop till the demo content ended. Game feels very similar to forager. Will be looking forward to the full release.

[@Wiedadde]

Don't forget wacky wheels from apogee. I played it so much with a friend...

[@VexMage]

Apogee Software founded in 1987 and became 3D Realms. Apogee Entertainment was founded 2008.

[@darkshadow19]

I remember playing Forager in the past and being angry at not getting the achievements. There wasn't much info online or i didn't look it up enough, but i simply gave up on trying it. It was a fun game until some end-game point, where you had to really grind for the final resolution. Probably gonna check out Vexlands in the future, when it gets some more love :3

[@ephemispriest8069]

Splat looking like a troll doll.

[@garcipat]

I like that the tiles are much smaller then in Forager. I hope it fixes the issues forager had.

[@sinephase]

I love that Apogee is back!

[@5minutemovies977]

Apogee has never been gone, it became 3D Realms. This is a new company. It's not the old Apogee Software, it's Apogee Entertainment, founded in 2008.

[@sinephase]

@@5minutemovies977 "Miller remained an advisor for the company until 2021, when he and Nagy acquired the Apogee brand and relaunched Apogee Software LLC as Apogee Entertainment, an independent games publisher"

[@Cuthawolf]

Man I have been looking for a fun little time-passer and this might just be it.

[@kovaridaniel2699]

Upgrading the market is really important. You double then tripple the money you get. Just click un the locks and you will see the upgrade materials.

[@DrBunnyMedicinal]

And so, of course, Splatty talks about unlocking the second slot at the market, but by the time he's actually got (or nearly got) the required resources, he's forgotten and just spends it all because he can have more clicks on the button underneath his cursor. Typical Splattercat!🤦🤦🤦

[@niallrussell7184]

yup. typical splatty!

[@XShrike0]

Stuff like this bothers me. When something you always or should always do, why make the player do it. It is like buffs in some older CRPGs. Before every fight the player would go through this whole routine of buffing the party. If they player always does this, some times even to the point that the developer expects them to do it, then why make the player do it?

[@niallrussell7184]

@@XShrike0 I tried this demo, and a similar thing is constantly swapping between axe and pick. It could just use the right tool if you have it in your inventory.

[@Nukestarmaster]

Gets a pickaxe, waits over two minutes to smash his first rock.

[@milanstevic8424]

Actually Commander Keen was developed by id Software and published by Apogee. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commander_Keen Wolfenstein 3D was still seen as a wild experiment, the success of which was the nail in the coffin for the planned Commander Keen trilogy. edit: As a sidenote Epic Pinball also has a wild history (same time period) en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_Pinball

[@liviuursegr]

"guess it would be good to unlock the next slot in the market and get more workers" 20 second later "Look at us selling stuff. Wooopyyy" 😂😂😂Splat, thanks for being your hilarious, goofy self

[@kernsanders3973]

I think the most surprising news is that Apogee is still around, would have expected them being bought over like all the other studios from those days like westwood, bullfrog etc. I always found it so strange if a dev struck gold like with forager and just up and vanish. Theres probably a reasonable explanation like the dev had health issues and had to step away.

[@tmoody1000]

The behind the bastards podcast mention at the end made me smile :)

[@evelyntelevision]

This looks great. I love your videos, I often watch just for your wit and charm even when I'm uninterested in a game, but I think I'll have to check this one out. Also, you endeared yourself to me even more when you mentioned Behind The Bastards. I love to put that on while playing grinding games. And the juxtaposition between that podcast and a cute game like this is amusing.

[@Xammblu_Games]

Demo was a blast! I was sad each time it ended. Day one purchase for me.

[@TP015657]

Commander Keen needs to be remade using the new indie style pixel games with more fluid animations and story

[@idontwantahandlethough]

Oh man lol, I haven't thought about _Commander Keen_ in YEARS

[@GoodspeedML]

Awww maaan! Coz of you I know feel the urge to play this game! Thanks Splat! -_-

[@silco5343]

Hey splat I found a really good game that no one plays for some reason. It's Lock's Quest. I think the game needs some love it's too good to be unknown

[@mitchfindergeneral]

This looks suuuuper promising. I'm definitely gonna play the demo.

[@themochaman]

This was really fun. Thanks

[@TowerSavant]

the Tree-Chopping video game genre

[@DezXereanas]

Completed the demo. The only thing I'm mad at is that the game actively locks previously purchasable land once you buy a set amount of tiles. S

[@jasonbolin151]

Fun looking title,thanks for the demo.

[@BrokenSoul79x]

OG Duke Nukem a true man of class. lmao

[@BrokenSoul79x]

Also the OG Wolfenstein 3D

[@BartholomewHunt87]

This looks really fun. I look forward to playing when it releases.

[@cesar9058]

I played forager recently and got all 103 achievements with no problem, never had any problems with the game, first time I hear there was any drama with the game. It's sad though, because I would like to get some sequels.

[@krevetka9744]

Wishlisted it two days ago and now Splat makes a video about it. Hm, might as well watch it just to verify my tastes.

[@MardaxGames]

The game looks lovely, and it's hard to not like it a lot. The good idea is that you can unlock new areas and more stuff so there is progress all the time, at least this is what I've in mind.

[@calinyx]

this freaking dude is the reason I spend 90% of my money on Steam. I probably buy 40% of every game he talks about.

[@eyskyaldi6126]

For "games which picked up Forager ideas" you can try Nova Lands. Splat make a video about this game about year ago. Now it's released and it's pretty descent. Short, not so much content, but for a week playing worth it.

[@renealbrechtsen9743]

This looks awesome :)

[@lazylonewolf]

I kinda lold when I saw the game start properly and then notice that you actually have to buy the next couple of tiles before you can even progress. That's a bit more extreme than Forager 🤣 Wait a minute, Apogee is an ooooold name in the video game industry...

[@jasam01]

...I never expected to hear the phrase "commander keen" ever again. Love those games, I'm gonna chekc this out jsut for that, ty~

[@jffish5149]

This looks cute. Thank you.

[@Reoh0z]

If the Audio Design is right, few will notice... but when its wrong everyone will.

[@manilowgamer]

I 100% Forager and will 100% this when it comes out.

[@amberghylles]

Just to confirm, the demo is still up post NextFest.

[@ahrengroesch8774]

Finally someone who recognizes how integral good audio design is to a game. If the sounds don't match up to the visuals and my input, the whole game is a bust for me. I will not play it. And when it's done right even the simplest of games can be incredibly satisfying.

[@ATZag135]

Thank you SirSplatt

[@besilly6239]

When i saw the Apogee logo (playin Below the Stone) again i just had to smile. Like you it reminded me of all the cool games from Apogee back in the good old days. Commander Keen and Duke Nukem are game gems and will always be ;)

[@rosaschlupfer635]

Its been a hot minute since I've heard somebody talking about Commander Keen.

[@lavitabella1988]

I've done a couple playthroughs of forager on switch and haven't had any issues.

[@SamGarcia]

First time I've heard of the Forager drama

[@newnamepending7084]

I hope Vexlands gets a mobile port. I normally stay away from mobile titles, but atm it's the only platform I have. Verlands would make an awesome mobile title so long as Apogee can ignore Tencent.

[@5minutemovies977]

I love what you do, but please, after playing video games for so long, you should now how things work. 1) Apogee Software didn't make Commander Keen, the game was developped by iD Software 2) Apogee Software became 3D Realms, and it has nothing to do with the current Apogee Entertainment

[@thecaveofthedead]

In twenty years time you'll hear the word 'viscosity' and you'll think 'resistance to flow' and you probably won't even remember where you heard it.

[@Nukestarmaster]

Is viscosity really that obscure a word that people have never heard it before this video?

[@thecaveofthedead]

Who said it was obscure? But I've never heard that excellent, concise technical definition before - and neither will 90+% of people watching this, I'd guess.@@Nukestarmaster

[@niallrussell7184]

Reminds me how much I'm missing Terraria/Starbound genre.

[@doughoback5226]

Got the demo, fun little game so far

[@jordov9398]

If you like this incremental-lite kind of game, Outpath just released and is absolutely worth checking out. Really good stuff.

[@liviuursegr]

08:00 that wagon convoy, tabaco chewing and spitting, banjo playing voice had me😂😂😂

[@phineasfaber5159]

I think a control group system could be better than click and drag but I'm two hundred percent behind the merchant upgrade mechanic. If they had like a secret blacksmith you could learn recipes from but you had to help her reestablish the forge. Turns out she's the end game boss and you can defeat her and gain the forge or let her live and...

[@MalTramp]

Checked out the demo; it was fun!

[@quazimortal]

I only just learned about how terrible the head developer was for Forager. I never learned about any of this till now, wish I didn't buy the game now...

[@XxNickSlaterxX]

what happened with forager? i never knew there was drama about it

[@JayJayM57]

@@XxNickSlaterxX This is a second-hand source so I don`t know if it is true but apparently, he hired a bunch of staff for minimum wage and claimed to solo develop it. he got mad his minimum wage staff was putting in high-grade work, as it happens with minimum wage. you put minimum wage, you get minimum work.

[@AndragonLea]

@@JayJayM57 Always funny when employers get their first taste of "you get what you paid for". Due should have tried to remember his own experience of minimum wage or below market rate work and how that made him feel about the job.

[@JayJayM57]

@@AndragonLea crazy thing the game is not bad. a couple of bugs and needs a little design cleaning but it is a good game. So underpaid workers didn`t go 200% but they did their job competently enough where you can enjoy the game.

[@AndragonLea]

@@JayJayM57 Sad to see a promising game go down like that.

[@Corlinguer]

The game is so chill but the commentary is like a guy high on cocaine trying to blend in lol

[@NoOne-fe3gc]

Upvote if you were today years old when you found out Apogee was still alive and kicking

[@5minutemovies977]

Apogee has never been gone, it became 3D Realms. This is a new company. It's not the old Apogee Software, it's Apogee Entertainment, founded in 2008.

[@NoOne-fe3gc]

@@5minutemovies977 ahh, thanks!

[@Emanemoston]

Thanks for the video.

[@T_Rez97]

Demo still available. Love the videos.

[@msolomonii9825]

Commander Keen!, DAMN, now that is CLASSIC! - wood on camera... oh-no Splatty has fallen to onlyfans... I suppose it was just a matter of time sigh...

[@liamsmith1490]

yes you can see clear forager inspiration's but truthfully even if forager wasn't abandoned there is nothing wrong with taking direction from someone else. this game is a demo so room to grow it looks clean and different enough from forager ill probably play it.

[@cougarm8421]

I've never played forager but coincidentally there is another game released that seems to be partially inspired by forager, but in a first person perspective called Outpath. I think you might be right in that there will be more games released due to the state of forager, and perhaps this will become a sort of genre in itself?

[@spoogs]

Novalands is also a xcellent

[@fullelement4886]

I missed it, but please tell me he remembered to ask everyone the meaning of viscosity on the thursday of that week

[@ItsGroundhogDay]

Wanted to try this, but I can't play a game like this without controller support. I imagine they'll add it eventually.

[@ScottMiller-sm9rn]

It'll have it soon.

[@Reoh0z]

I've got black hair, but my beard has an element of ginger/brown in it. People think its dyed, it's not... my genetics are just weird.

[@BrokenSoul79x]

Apogee had some truly GREAT games back in the day. VERY stoked to see they're back in the game :)

[@EmpatheticOne]

Awwww but it seamed so short of a video!

[@Mitch_Feral]

Ugh, another extremely cool game that isnt on macos. Bums me out! This looks great.

[@quantumperception]

I have to say, I kind of hate when you make videos about games that are not out yet like this, because you will get me all excited to go buy the game, only to be disappointed when I have to wishlist it and wait for it. Plus, by the time those games actually come out, I have forgotten about them and the video, which is how I have 290 something games on my wishlist, lol. I love your videos, but part of me wishes you would only review games that are currently available, because you make me want to play them too, and it sucks when I can't. But this is a perfect example: I want to buy this game now!

[@ratsy1302]

What day is the quiz on? And what's going to be on it?