In the vast Brony fandom there are many fanfics, but none of them are as influential as Fallout:Equestria (unless one counts the abominaton that is Cupcakes). Given that it was based off of a video game, it was only a matter of time before somepony began the herculean effort of adapting it into its own game. For quite some time now Plaristote has been working on his game, and from the website it appears that he has made surprisingly good progress when you consider that he's doing most of the work by himself. He's even making an editor for the game, so adapting your favourite Fo:E fanfics such as Project Horizons and Pink Eyes should be fairly easy.

 Since the game is being made by one man, development has been relatively slow when compared to several other fangames. According to the recruitment page he could use a C++ programmer, some 3D modelers and an interface designer. If you feel like applying for a position, you can do so via their form.

Want some screenshots and a trailer? Of course, you could always compile it yourself and take a look at the actual game, but looking below the break is much easier.

  After MLP:Online was shut down last year most of us expected the developers to give up on fangame development altogether or move to commercial development, but apparently they've decided to make another fangame codenamed Project Cygnus. Unfortunately we don't know much about it other than the fact that it is an action game, but in the meantime they have decided to ease the weight by releasing MLP:Online's source code (stripped of all resources). They are no longer supporting it, but if you want to use it for your own fangame: go ahead! It should work quite well for any RPGs that you plan on making, and if you tinker around with it a bit you'll probably be able to compile your game for Mac OS X and Linux too.

What are you waiting for? Grab the source code from Bitbucket, and it'd probably be a good idea to pick up the tools as well.

 Usually I don't bother looking at Ponychan's /collab/ board, since most of it is just ponies asking for help on projects that never get past the planning stage. Given the recent lack of news I was feeling rather desperate, and I decided to browse the board to see if I could find any interesting fangames. I found several, and the first of which is a game simply titled Apples. As you may have probably guessed, it is about Applejack, and as with most games about her it is not a platformer.  Pretty much all the player has to do is collect apples and dodge barrels, and as the player collects more points the game moves at a faster pace.

 Is it worthy of a review? Not really, although it's kind of fun to waste a couple minutes on it. We'll have a couple more games to post today, which may be more or less substantial than this one.

Skullgirls Engine FAQ

Mane 6 released a FAQ about their new fighting game in the works, including some silhouettes of characters designed by none other than Lauren Faust herself. Although it's not directly pony related, we'll still follow this project, as it was born from pony, and features what appears to be a similar art aesthetic.

Update: Still have questions? Then visit Mane 6's Official FAQ, where they also have additional character teasers and whatnot.

 As of now Mane 6 is no longer producing My Little Pony fangames, but with Lauren Faust on the team they have a bright future; and if Lab Zero Games's Keep Skullgirls Growing IndieGoGo campaign reaches $750,000 their future will be brighter still. You see, Lab Zero Games has offered Mane 6 their Skullgirls engine for free if we can raise their campaign to $750,000, and this means that the spiritual successor to Fighting is Magic will be in full high-definition, run on consoles and have full Linux support. This would be a huge boost to fighting game enthusiasts everywhere, and even though the game doesn't include ponies I would still highly encourage you to donate to the campaign. I think I might even contribute a bit myself, although unfortunately I can't spare much...

 Will I post much on Mane 6's new game? It's a bit too early to say, but I will follow the development of their game whether it features ponies or not.

 Not long after Questria's developers decided to unponify their game it seems that the folks behind Pony Tactics: Salvation decided to do the same, and have renamed their project to Spectrum Tactics. To be honest I'm not really surprised with their decision, but hopefully most other fangame developers will keep their spirits up and continue working on their own projects. After all, so far Hasbro has only C&D'd fangames that either had My Little Pony in the title or whose developers contacted them for permission (such as the poor soul who created Equestria Tales).

The original announcement can be found here, in case you want to read it. Cheerio!

 Unsurprisingly, Mane 6's negotiations with Hasbro over the C&D of Fighting is Magic didn't go all that well, and as most folks have already heard about Lauren Faust's offering to design new characters for them it should come as no real shock that Mane 6 decided to take up the offer. This means that Fighting is Magic will no longer be a My Little Pony fangame, but take place in its own setting with unique characters and have pretty much the same stuff as Fighting is Magic (with the notable exception of colourful equines).

 Also, a while back the dev team behind Skullgirls, Lab Zero Games, offered their engine to Mane 6, but there has been no official response as of yet. I believe that Mane 6 should accept the offer, as this would give them the opportunity to publish their game to consoles and use high definition sprites instead of being limited to 480p. It would mean that they would have to rewrite most of the characters, yes, but they could potentially end up with a higher-quality product by taking this route...

Sick of my rambling on the Skullgirls engine? Then visit Mane 6's original blog post for some more detailed information on the situation, along with a quote from Lauren Faust (and not a single mention of Skullgirls to boot).

Welcome to Lyra's List, a great place for anyone interested in making a pony fangame who doesn't really know where to start. For instructions on how to submit, check out this page. The deadline for next Lyra's List is March 31, 2013. Check out this month's submissions after the break...