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[Aklyon]

So, instead of just an art revamp and some changes, Arcen have made this, which has incorporated the new art, and the original AVWW will continue to be as it is right now. The two are a pack (similar to Breath of Death VII/Cthulu Saves the World), and the license key from one will work in the other. Without the license key, you get demo mode.

It is available on Steam, their website, and likely other places I haven't checked.

Basically, this:
The first game, it has sandbox. Yay, sandbox! But art complaints. Boo. complaints.
It also tries to be directed. It got confused with itself a bit and the design drifted.

The second game, it is much more directed. Less point and shoot with resource grinding, more metroidvania and actraiser similarities. You have an objective to push towards, and sub-objectives in the form of certain world map areas.
Also, new art by heavy cat studios. Looks quite nice.
Thats quite heavily simplfied, but theres the general difference between the two.

[Ozyton]

Arcen have made this

What?

[Aklyon]

Sorry, got links mixed up.

http://www.arcengames.com/forums/index.php/topic,11725.msg122271.html

[freeformschooler]

I don't understand but it makes me happy.

[Levi]

Um, great I guess!

To be honest I wasn't a fan of the current one, so I have no idea if I'll like their new one.  But a free game is a free game, I'll give it a shot!

Edit:

Hrm, they actually make it sound so good.    And controller support!  That will make it a lot nicer to play.

[Aklyon]

Basically, this:
The first game, it has sandbox. Yay, sandbox! But art complaints. Boo. complaints.
It also tries to be directed. It got confused with itself a bit and the design drifted.

The second game, it is much more directed. Less point and shoot with resource grinding, more metroidvania and actraiser similarities.
Also, the new art by heavy cat studios. Shouldn't bring the art complaints back. Looks quite nice from the WIP pics they've posted on the arcen forums.

Thats quite heavily simplfied, but theres the general difference between the two.

[Microcline]

This is good to hear.  The original had a few good ideas but was overall a poorly executed unfinished mess.

Basically, this:
The first game, it has sandbox. Yay, sandbox! But art complaints. Boo. complaints.
It also tries to be directed. It got confused with itself a bit and the design drifted.

The second game, it is much more directed. Less point and shoot with resource grinding, more metroidvania and actraiser similarities.
Also, the new art by heavy cat studios. Shouldn't bring the art complaints back. Looks quite nice from the WIP pics they've posted on the arcen forums.

Thats quite heavily simplfied, but theres the general difference between the two.

In this case it's certainly a good thing.  To call the graphics of the original an incomprehensible clusterfuck would be an understatement and the large number of game mechanics never went anywhere.  Judging by his posts, it seems he's linked together the good mechanics of the original systems.

He also made the right choice in making it free to anyone who bought the original, and it really raises my opinion of him.

[Levi]

He also made the right choice in making it free to anyone who bought the original, and it really raises my opinion of him.

Yeah, that is a really nice thing to do, regardless of how the game turns out.

[Volatar]

Chris Park is the chilliest guy. You have no idea.

[Microcline]

Chris Park is the chilliest guy. You have no idea.

I got the impression from playing the game that he was a pretty chill guy who just wanted to make a game with all of the things he likes.  What elevated my opinion of him is that he's humble enough to acknowledge that not everything worked out in the original, and there's a good deal of iterating left before he has something really worthwhile.

[Aklyon]

Arcen has probably the most iteration (and the most public yet interesting release notes) I know about. AI War is nearing version 6 for pete's sake, I can't think of any other game that would even have an actual v6.00 release in the near future.
AVWW had some months of beta, the rest of a year in release, and then Chris and Keith flip it on its head and rebuild the game better from all the iterating and feedback. And the newest mentioned game, Shattered Haven, is pretty much an anciet project brought back to life because he wanted to finish it this time. The only reason that I know of that the aren't updating tidalis is that it couldn't sell enough to support it.

[Tilla]

It's neat that they can admit their mistakes and try something new with it, and do it for free to everyone who put their trust in them. A+ in my books.

[Sinistar]

Whoa. That took me by surprise. Granted, I never frequented Arcen's forums much and all I knew what's happening with AVWW was from blog posts but this...

Well, I liked the old game. I still do. Maybe I do not play it currently as much as I used to (it's on-off relationship, as with most of the games I play) and yeah, the game got changed quite from what it was in early beta. I believe I'll still play it when the new one comes around, since that one will be so different so it's a win-win situation for me.

In this case it's certainly a good thing.  To call the graphics of the original an incomprehensible clusterfuck would be an understatement and the large number of game mechanics never went anywhere.  Judging by his posts, it seems he's linked together the good mechanics of the original systems.

He also made the right choice in making it free to anyone who bought the original, and it really raises my opinion of him.

I for one liked the old graphics! So much even, that I was actually quite disappointed with the new look, when first pictures were shown few months ago. I still hope we will be able to somehow keep the old graphics in AVWW 1 or that this whole "new look" arc is now directed only at AVWW 2. But I'm sure this was or will eventually be answered somewhere on Arcen's forums.

And yeah, guys at Arcen are really, REALLY cool. The amount of sincerity they show (and I only follow blog posts!) is just outstanding, they are not afraid to take one step back and say "ok, we fucked that up", so even when they humbly and politely tell you that something did not work out and they need community's help, you would believe and gladly help them (as happend with Tidalis, which is also a good game).

Or, ya know, they could be really good manipulators, but let us not have such dark thoughts.

[burningpet]

This is probably just my personal opinion and perhaps not a popular one, but to me, AVWW 1 had bigger problems even beyond the whole graphics stuff. The very basic nature of how it platformed felt wrong. the jump "animation", the landing, the running, how the monsters behaved. it was like taking a car for a test drive, and while it has all the right specs, driving it just feels clunky, everything is perfect about it, just that the braking and acceleration puddles are slightly too sensitive to the point where a ride in an urban area stuffed with traffic jams can never feel smooth.

In a game so focused on platforming, those little issues of control feedback can make or brake a game for me.

[The Darkling Wolf]

And I get this for free if I already have the first game?
Yeah.  Basically everyone will be getting both games whenever they buy either one.  Kind of like what Zeboyd Games does with Breath of Death 7 and C Saves the World.  You get both for the price of one.

Well that's remarkably cool.