The Binding of Isaac

[arry_g]

The game is a rogue-like inspired by The Legend of Zelda - A Link to the Past's dungeons. It's set in a basement which has all kinds of disgusting abominations and has religious themes with a twist.

The first game was spawned from a gamejam and was turned around in mere months and was coded in language of flash. It had DLC to make the game bigger as Edmund McMillend didn't expect it to sell so well. Due to it being developed in flash, it had severe technical limitations so that prompted this remake in collaboration with Nicalis.

A game built from scratch in C++. It's got the original game, the DLC and much more all in one and after 25 hours of play, you shouldn't really be playing the original. Rebirth is exactly that, a rebirth of the game. Starting all over again, much like a roguelike!

Interesting, I'd love to know what visual and sound libraries they used if they coded in C++ - maybe I'll do some research later as it is very pretty.

Ok, so essentially it is the definitive version. I guess I'll delete the original and make time and space for this. Thank you for letting me know.

[Alex79]

Perfect! Also, it's awesome.

[dezm0nd]

I got to the Cathedral for the first time today in Rebirth. Got so close to beating the boss but I panicked. I died.

[Alex79]

There's a cathedral!? I've only managed to finish it twice, the first time I fluked it with remote bombs and the second was skill haha.

It's such a perfect game though, frustrating and brilliant. So many times I've had a wicked build of Isaac and thought yes this is it, this is definitely going to be a winner, only to be torn apart just before the end. Last run through I had 7 hearts, 3 soul hearts, a little demon on my shoulder firing laser beams, huge flat penny shaped tears, which were a shielded and a combination of purple, red, green and white, I had some scapegoat thing following me round, and a load of flies, and something circling round my body zapping everything that moved. I got slammed by some stupid boss though one floor from the end.

>_<

But I had another go....

I need more sleep.....

Double >_<

[dezm0nd]

Agh! Apologies for spoilers. I forget that could very well be someone's first time. But yes. It goes deep.

[RoboticMonk3y]

When you finish a level, and you have the little cut scene between levels, what does the little timer mean that's sometimes on the floors?

When i started playing the game on the vita, I found it a little jarring how pixelated the game looked. I don't even notice that now, and it's just how the game looks. I was listening to a podcast, and they said that they found the look of rebirth really nasty compared to the original. Is there *really* that much of a difference?

I've had so many messages say that something has appeared in the basement, but I don't know where or how I find them.

I'm learning what some of the pickups do, the real unknown quantity seems to be pills. sometimes it say what they do, sometimes it doesn't.

This game confuses the crap out of me, but I can't seem to stop playing it.

[Alex79]

I'm only guessing (which seems silly as plenty on here will know the actual answer, but I think if you beat the game ahead of the timer you access a better ending maybe.

Yeah the pills are frustrating as you just never know what you'll get but that adds to the game I think.

I think when it says something has appeared in the basement it just means that a new enemy will now appear when playing the game. Could be wrong.

[arry_g]

A quick question as I'm going to be spending some time with Issac this weekend (Spelunky too) - any tips for beginners? In fact if you have any for Spelunky as well, I'd love to hear them on the appropriate thread(s).

[Todinho]

Dont let a bad run get you down they happen but it's reason enough for you to start again
Taking risks usually pays off dont go with that mentality of reaching the next level as fast as possible or you'll end too weak.
Reflexes and reaction time are key in this game also pay attention to the smaller enemies(especially those that shoot projectiles)they can get you by surprise especially when things get hectic.
Not every item is worth it.

On a unrelated note,is it just me or the game is easier?Dont know why but I`ve been doing alot better in Rebirth then I ever did in vanilla.

[dezm0nd]

The game naturally becomes harder after beatings Moms Heart five times. It'll popup and tell you so, but yeah, from the get-go, it's an easier, yet not easy experience.

Not letting a bad run get you down is the most key element to success. Take something away from every run, be it control skills, item use and how they act. All these minor details of knowledge culminate in bolstering you the player alongside you unlocking new items in the basement.

[AndyKurosaki]

Not completely sure what's going on in this. But I enjoy playing it, so it must be doing something right.

[dezm0nd]

It's a prime podcast game! Those hours just zoom by when listening to them.

[James]

I'll finally get on Rebirth this week. It took me 20 hours of the original to defeat Mom, hopefully it won't be another 20 before I reach that point again!

[RoboticMonk3y]

So, I booted up my PS4, becasue I heard that the sync save thing has now been patched, and true enough, it has!
on the PS4, when you hit sync, it now asks you if you want to sync from the cloud, or to the cloud., so I downloaded, and now my PS4 is updated to my last vits sync.
I have been playing a shed load of this on the vita, and have been playing *loads* of this on the vita, and after hearing people's worries about syncing saves, I turned off my vita wifi, just to be on the safe side. I've unlocked tons of stuff, extra charachters and whatnot.
So I turn wifi on my vita back on and start up the game, wait until the game has booted (which takes ages on the vita), then try to re-sync on my ps4... no update with the week or so of extra progress, so I try again. Nothing...
Odd. maybe if I play a game on the vita, it will update my cloud save, then I can update on the PS4, so I play a quick vita game, and try syncing the PS4 again, still nothing.

Well, when I was on the PS4, it gave me a neat option to choose if I wanted to sync up to the cloud, or down from the cloud, maybe I need to do that. I pick up the vita, hit sync, aaaaaand..... it rolled back my save by about a week
feeling like a sad panda, I play a game, unlocked cain, then went on to get all the way to Mom's heart.

Rough with the smooth I guess.

Word of caution to Vita owners though, sync on the PS4 is great and it works, but not yet on the vita...

I was thinking of streaming myself playing some isaac and shouting at the tv!

[arry_g]

Played for the first time at the weekend. Of my three attempts I could not get further than three floors down (is that the correct terminology). So far I like it, but I am a little rubbish.

[RoboticMonk3y]

Played for the first time at the weekend. Of my three attempts I could not get further than three floors down (is that the correct terminology). So far I like it, but I am a little rubbish.

Don't worry so much about how far you get, just focus on exploring and picking everything up.
You'll find that over time, getting to the end kinda happens on it's own if you get good at clearing each floor out, I'm sure our resident expert, Mr. Dezm0nd would agree with that

[dezm0nd]

Yeah, learning each enemy types habits took me well over 20+ hours to scramble my way to the floor which gets you the first ending. It's a game of both skill and luck and either can drastically change your destiny!

Get to know which items work for you but most importantly, remember (or jot down) the items which will debuff you. It's probably the most important tip for those struggling!

Keep going arry_g. It's wonderful to see people discovering this game with fresh eyes, it very much reminds me of myself with the original.

[Alex79]

When you get the pills, is it random or is there a way of telling what you've got?

[Todinho]

Totally random

[RoboticMonk3y]

you can buy a PHD in the shop which tells you what each pill does.
You can also pick up the "lucky foot" and you're more likely to get the good version of each pill.

got past Mom's heart last night.
I got to a room with a giant dice on the floor, and it randomised my isaac, I had an insanely overpowered skill set and steamrollered the entire last 2 levels, went from just 2 heart containers to a completely full panel of soul hearts. mental! I thought the run was done for!