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AGS Games => Completed Game Announcements => Topic started by: Andail on Fri 18/04/2014 14:48:53

Title: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Andail on Fri 18/04/2014 14:48:53
Hello everyone, my game is now released for your playing pleasure.
(http://faravidinteractive.files.wordpress.com/2014/02/samaritanposter3.png)

[embed=640,400] <iframe width="640" height="400" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/WUoo2y-NIPA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> [/embed]

Get it here (will be updated with new links):
http://www.samaritanparadox.co.uk/
http://www.screen7.co.uk/
http://www.gog.com/game/the_samaritan_paradox
http://store.steampowered.com/app/283180
http://fireflowergames.com/shop/the-samaritan-paradox/
http://www.zodiac-store.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=811

and should be live on Desura later

YOU CAN USE DISCOUNT CODE CHRISJONESAGS FOR £1 OFF THE DRM-FREE (ON IT'S OWN) VERSION FROM THE OFFICIAL SITE OR SCREEN7.CO.UK

Those who pre-ordered, you can use the Steam/Desura code you got for £5 off the single DVD rom copy. Please remove the dashes from your code and it'll work.

Thanks AGS for all your support and encouragement! Seeing it finally announced here is a huge relief. I hope it will bring you joy and excitement, and a fair amount of puzzlement!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: selmiak on Fri 18/04/2014 14:54:55
Yay, congratulations on the release. And sorry I didn't give more beta feedback, there were lots of distractions but as you know I already liked how far I got and had no bugs to report.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: AprilSkies on Fri 18/04/2014 15:31:49
Congratz for the release!
I really want to play this game!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: SarahLiz on Fri 18/04/2014 15:36:49
I've been watching for this, downloading now!  Looks beautiful & very intriguing. 

Any plans for a walkthrough?  (Yep, I did just go there.)  ;)


SL
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: arj0n on Fri 18/04/2014 15:39:00
Congratz on this awesome release Petter (and Mods)!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Gribbler on Fri 18/04/2014 16:07:36
Well about time! :) I nearly broke my fingers refreshing GOG page at the beginning of the month. ;) Yay! Finally I can play my most anticipated adventure game of 2014 !!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Eric on Fri 18/04/2014 16:09:39
Congratulations! I anticipate much deserved celebration and fanfare as folks get their hands on this one. I'm looking forward to seeing how it's changed since the beta.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: kaput on Fri 18/04/2014 16:24:21
Congrats Petter on releasing a game with a great story, cool atmosphere and puzzles that'll make your brain go boom. Best wishes, fella!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: CaptainD on Fri 18/04/2014 16:38:50
Been waiting for this one.  Also, probably the best adventure game title of all time! :-D
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: AnasAbdin on Fri 18/04/2014 17:40:11
Congrats on the release :-D been waiting for this like a little child (laugh)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: abstauber on Fri 18/04/2014 18:07:18
Yeah - congratulations!
The waiting time is finally over. :-D
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: GarageGothic on Fri 18/04/2014 18:37:16
Congrats on the release. Just purchased it. After playing Moebius this is what I needed, I felt. A question: Does the Steam version have achievements and stuff, or is there no difference between the versions?
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Vince Twelve on Fri 18/04/2014 18:40:36
Woo!  Congrats Andail!  I'm definitely looking forward to seeing the finished product!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Fri 18/04/2014 19:01:26
Nice one Andail! Sorry it took a couple of months longer than you had expected ;)

GarageGothic - Thanks. Achievements and trading cards (cough cough choke) included :) And it's live on Steam right now!

Thanks monkey_05_06 for your help with the Steam side of things.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Stee on Fri 18/04/2014 21:53:07
Uh oh:

Got this:

Quote
---------------------------
Adventure Game Studio
---------------------------
An error has occurred. Please contact the game author for support, as this is likely to be a scripting error and not a bug in AGS.
(ACI version 3.3.0.1162)

in "GlobalScript.asc", line 193

Error: SetActiveInventory: character doesn't have any of that inventory

---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

when

Spoiler
clicking around the stars on the telescope
[close]

Turns out it happens

Spoiler
because some of the inventory bar is visible in the telescope view and I accidentally clicked the calendar
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Mati256 on Fri 18/04/2014 22:55:24
Congratulations Andail, I will try the finished product as soon as I can.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Stupot on Fri 18/04/2014 23:20:13
Yay. It's finally out!
Best adventure news of the year so far. Congratulations Andail on a fabulous adventure game and Mods for bringing it to the adoring masses. X
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: arj0n on Fri 18/04/2014 23:50:51
gamecrash:

in "GlobalScript.asc", line 3797
Error: ObjectOff: invalid object specified

repro:
Spoiler

place horse on the pedestral, walk to the left and the leave room without taking the horse back. In the next room the gui (that is shown when placing the horse on the pedestral) is still shown. Now click the 'pick up horse' icon. Crash.
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Grundislav on Fri 18/04/2014 23:58:16
Congratulations on the release! I'm really looking forward to playing this one in its entirety now.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: nihilyst on Sat 19/04/2014 00:03:11
Purchased! :D
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: shaun9991 on Sat 19/04/2014 00:16:46
Wow, this game looks great. I've added it to my payday purchase list :)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Sat 19/04/2014 02:34:41
Aww! Thanks for the error reports, do let us know. An update can be sorted easily enough (laugh)

Lots of people checked this game. But Arj0n, personally... you know who I'm going to blame for not testing this game..........!!!!!!!!! ;) :=
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: ThreeOhFour on Sat 19/04/2014 07:04:02
I've been really curious to see how this one would turn out, and having just finished it, I can say I enjoyed it a lot!

Some tricky puzzles here and there (Grundislav and I had to swap a hint with each other at one point) but otherwise I thought it played nicely. You did a nice job of mixing the classic adventure game feel with a slightly more modern design sensibility. The bits where there are danger never feel unfair, very well done on that count.

I liked the graphic style, very readable for low res and some lovely colour choices. I was initially worried from screenshots that the book world ones would stand out a lot from the real world ones, but once in-game I honestly didn't notice. Very impressive that one guy did so much work - and there's one scene right near the end (you know the one) which I recognized from years ago, and it made for not just a nice part of the ending, but a part that made me personally nostalgic.

Interesting writing, the mix between the two worlds, and the range of characters, and a twist that genuinely had me saying "Hahahaha Jesus Christ, Andail" which was, happily, immediately followed by Ord expressing the exact same sentiment. It seems there are multiple endings - and I am pretty happy with the one I got, but there's one element I may do differently for a replay.

Voice acting and music were both very nice, sound was a little sparse but it didn't detract from the experience too much.

But hey, you finished your game, and I enjoyed it, so well done. I've been interested to play this since I first saw it, and I was not disappointed. Know that if you're planning to make more games, I'm definitely a return customer.

Congrats to Mark at Screen7 for getting another game under his publishing belt, too. It felt lovely to be able to buy the game from whichever was my favorite place to buy games!

Thanks guys, good work, and give yourselves a pat on the back. Thumbs up from me! :cheesy:
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Lasca on Sat 19/04/2014 07:52:31
Congrats on the release! Hooray for Sweden as setting for games!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Grundislav on Sat 19/04/2014 08:39:44
I have also just finished it.  Congratulations again on getting this game finished and released!

I enjoyed it quite a bit.  I had a tough time with some puzzles, but once I figured them out they all had a good "aha" moment, especially the walking cane/bunker puzzle.  You sneaky, sneaky man, you.

Liked that there were little things you could do to affect the outcome, touches like that are always appreciated.

My only real critique is
Spoiler
the ending feels a bit...abrupt?  There's the reveal of the twist, and then a couple of things happen and the game just...ends.  I chose to edit the story, and it felt like the whole theme of Sara being abused as a child was just sort of swept under the rug.  It was a shame, considering you chose to have a very mature theme in the game, that it was just sort of passed off as an "aw, shucks" sort of thing rather than explored further.
[close]

Again, I enjoyed it and look forward to seeing what you do next.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Andail on Sat 19/04/2014 08:49:58
Thanks everyone for your kind words! It means everything.
Ben, seems you (and grundislav) were the first to beat it (outside of testers) :)

Will note bugs for future fixing, cheers.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: ThreeOhFour on Sat 19/04/2014 10:35:04
My commitment to solving mysteries triumphs once more! :grin:
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Snarky on Sat 19/04/2014 16:02:30
Congratulations, Andail! When you've played a part of it in an earlier version, it's always interesting to see how the final game compares. I'll see if I can dig up my Screen 7 gift cert, otherwise I guess I'll have to pay for it like a common pleb. (laugh)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Nikolas on Sat 19/04/2014 18:34:01
Well..

Already paid, already bought, already playing and already stuck! But I will carry on playing, because the premise seems very interesting to say the least!

I won't offer my critique until I'm actually done with the game... ;)

Congratulations Petter and Mark! You are both awesome!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: arj0n on Sun 20/04/2014 19:59:47
Bug:
This happened after
Spoiler
the 'escaping the dragon's lair tower' cutscene.

(http://tdepaus.home.xs4all.nl/arj0n/AGSBG/after%20escape%20%27dragon%20tower%20cutscene%27.png)
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Sun 20/04/2014 22:27:57
Get down from there Ord! Sorry about that. There was a single other mention of this phenomena in the last few months but we couldn't reproduce it or find the cause. I wonder how your parameters differ to other players.. ???
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: dactylopus on Mon 21/04/2014 03:31:14
Congratulations on the release, Andail!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: frenzykitty on Mon 21/04/2014 10:11:52
Just bought on Steam :)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: JSH on Mon 21/04/2014 18:19:27
Huge grats on the release Andail, the game turned out fantastic! :)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: piperhcombs on Tue 22/04/2014 20:06:03
That ending. :shocked:

I do agree with Grundislav about it being a bit abrupt though.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Sslaxx on Wed 23/04/2014 00:34:36
Is it just me, or are there problems with some of the soundtrack files on the GOG release (gaps in some of the songs)?
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: SarahLiz on Wed 23/04/2014 03:57:16
(Edit:  whoops!  I accidentally entered this into the Completed Games folder instead of the Hints folder.  Please delete...sorry about that Darth!  I know the rules...;))
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Wed 23/04/2014 05:21:27
Quote from: Sslaxx on Wed 23/04/2014 00:34:36
Is it just me, or are there problems with some of the soundtrack files on the GOG release (gaps in some of the songs)?

Odd! Or...OGG ;) The OGG Flac version should be fine, I made it for them and have listened to it various times all the way through and didn't hear any problems. Could it be your OGG codec? Additionally, from what I saw they included an MP3 version? I did not make them an MP3 version, there was another version in OGG Vorbis format (original format that comes with the Screen 7 copy). If they've created their own MP3 version then there may be some issue? There's an even higher quality version available from Lannie at http://merlandese.bandcamp.com/

Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Gribbler on Wed 23/04/2014 10:55:37
Quote from: SslaxxIs it just me, or are there problems with some of the soundtrack files on the GOG release (gaps in some of the songs)?
I also bought the game on GOG and both versions of the soundtrack work perfectly fine.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Sslaxx on Wed 23/04/2014 11:06:20
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/67740160/BrokenMP3s.png)
This is what I'm talking about (notice the gap at about 0.43 seconds in). This also occurs in (usually) the first few seconds of most of the other tracks too.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Andail on Wed 23/04/2014 14:09:09
Hehe, thanks everyone for your... bug reports!
And also some kind words :)

Grundislav:
(This contains massive spoilers, so only read if you've finished the game)
Spoiler

Thanks, your c&c about the ending is very valid. Lots of people have reacted on it, with mixed feelings. The current ending is the result of some compromising, so it might come across as a bit unconventional.

Initially, I wanted the ending to be even more abrupt, with Ord either dying, or simply going back to his previous life with nothing altered; no closure, no changes at all.

I wanted there to be a tangible difference between the dramatic showdown ending of the fairy-tale, and how the real world works - mundane and anti-climactic. My very first idea was that Ord should die, but live on in the book world, in the way literary characters become immortalized in the text (referencing Shakespeare and the sonnet Shall I compare thou[...]). But then the game became gradually more oriented toward guilt and sin, and less about mortality, so that ending wouldn't make sense.

However, testers didn't want a sad/non-climax ending, so I had to put something good there. At least now Ord gets to sacrifice himself, preventing Sara from learning the truth. And we get a glimpse of a better future - going away with Sara, the rain stopping...

A realistic ending is one where there isn't a perfect closure - you don't always get all questions answered. That's why I deliberately threw in plot elements that never get addressed properly, like Magnus and his dinner date, and what's in the cellar, and if Jonatan would have killed himself anyway, and is suppressing childhood memories really the way to deal with your past, will Sara even feel better for it?

At one point Ord says "I feel like I'm just being given more questions", when he's supposed to attain some sort of clarity.

I wanted to foreshadow the ending a bit by repeatedly have Sara ask if Ord found anything weird about the book, and she even said she was afraid of what it might contain. I know the revelation is still so abrupt it borders on the absurd (soap opera-ish, even), but hey, that's how well I managed to write it into the story :) It turned out harder than I thought, handling such delicate and mature themes...

[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: ThreeOhFour on Wed 23/04/2014 16:21:05
A bit of plot feedback, if you're at all curious:

Spoiler
I was initially extremely uncomfortable at the dishonesty of Ord's chosen course of action at the very end, and it seemed like a terrible solution to the problem. What saved it from becoming a tasteless, paper thin fairytale ending, for me, was the fact that Sara teases Ord for his writing. That little moment immediately set me at ease a bit - that the story was ending with Sara having some idea of what transpired, and the fact that Ord was keeping the truth from her because he believed he was protecting her was, if not obvious, then suggested to her. Nice touch, that, you saved it from becoming an ending that I didn't like at all, and turned it into something I felt was quite fitting for the story.
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: StillInThe90s on Thu 24/04/2014 18:05:39
Congrats on the release!
Will make a purchase in the near future.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: frenzykitty on Thu 24/04/2014 18:26:00
Unfortunately my Inventory bar at the bottom is always visible :/ and when I hover over it it slides up well over the screen? Anyone know how to fix this?
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Andail on Thu 24/04/2014 19:07:07
Quote from: frenzykitty on Thu 24/04/2014 18:26:00
Unfortunately my Inventory bar at the bottom is always visible :/ and when I hover over it it slides up well over the screen? Anyone know how to fix this?

Never got this reported to me and never experienced it either, so I have no idea I'm afraid. Simply restarting the game won't help? Otherwise you'll just have to toy around with settings and drivers and stuff. But I'll note it down for further bug fixing, thanks!

Ben:
Spoiler

You're quite right that Sara probably knew darn well what the book was all about, but that she hoped there'd be a reward in there as well. She wouldn't be so hesitant to read it otherwise, and she would have questioned Ord's decision to rewrite it. Now they just agreed that Jonatan's own ending sucked, without going into specifics.
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: frenzykitty on Sat 26/04/2014 07:47:22
I havent finished it yet, but gahd damn I am loving it :D Gabriel Knight meets The Ninth Gate
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: AprilSkies on Sat 26/04/2014 11:27:10
I'm playing it right now.
Great Game! REALLY good work!
I really appreciate that it was localized in several languages †‹†‹from the very first release. I'm really loving the story.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Snarky on Sat 26/04/2014 19:46:52
Just played through the intro. It's so cool to see how you responded to some of the feedback on the demo; having some idea of who Ord is and how he got involved in this affair motivates me a lot more as a player. (Plus the sings of depression and a picture torn down with force hint at interesting things in his backstory.) Looking forward to seeing how it continues!

Bug report:
Spoiler
during the opening conversation with Sara in the Bergwall home, there would be a blip of music any time there was an animation between the dialogue, and then immediate silence while people were speaking.
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Snarky on Sun 27/04/2014 23:00:12
OK, just finished it. Congratulations on the release, Andail! It's very impressive work, particularly for a one-person project. I definitely hope to see more from you in the future. (I had to go look in the db to see that you'd even done any AGS games before -- apparently they were mostly before my time.)

In terms of feedback... (There might be some very general spoilers here)

Praise:
-The graphics are very attractive, particularly the atmospheric backgrounds. There's a wide variety of scenes, and they're all convincingly depicted.
-Lots of solid puzzles, well balanced to be neither too easy nor too difficult. I only got really frustrated a couple of times. You've also come up with a story where some of the more preposterous adventure game logic makes sense (or close enough).
-I think the story is for the most part well told, and you've managed to mix in the different elements surprisingly well (e.g. the conspiracy/thriller component).
-As I mentioned in the post above, I really like how you introduce Ord. I think with the gradually revealed but tastefully backgrounded backstory, how he relates to others (giving him a friend to call just to chat was a great design decision) and how his character is written in general, he's very easy to like. I also like that he knows his own limitations and is happy to hand off certain tasks to others more qualified.
-I also love it in general when NPCs actually behave as people with their own agenda and intelligence, not just passive hotspots waiting for you to click on them. So it was cool that Sara was getting on with selling the estate and packing things up while you were investigating, showing up in different places and rooms. (Though it did seem a bit odd of her to try to have both things done at the same time.)
-The hide-and-seek sequence was properly tense and hard-boiled PI stuff. That felt to me like the climax of the game.
-Sweden! I like when a game is grounded in a real place and a real environment. Even thematically it felt "Swedish" in many ways. I would have enjoyed even more distinctive Gothenburgian details like the trams etc.

Criticism:
-The game didn't feel quite as polished as I think a commercial title ought to aim for. Nothing really big (that I came across), just a lot of small things that felt a bit off: a few glitchy walkbehinds, some awkwardness with the UI (for example, it's possible to have multiple inventory-item closeups on top of each other), missing responses to quite a lot of actions (e.g. if you click/rightclick on Ord, you get some boilerplate response, but if you click/rightclick on Freyja, nothing), hotspots awkwardly placed (sometimes so that the label was off-screen and therefore not visible, more often just too close to the inventory), that thing with music playing for a split second in the middle of conversations (which turned out to be a problem throughout the game), backgrounds that are just a bit larger than full-screen and therefore scroll slightly, as well as scrolling backgrounds with black bars that scroll as part of the screen, a few misspellings ("abbandoned" in one place), different voice actors pronouncing the same names differently (very noticeable with "Ithyn" in the finale), etc. etc.
-The ending was abrupt, yes. In my case, so abrupt that I wonder if there's a bug and I missed something:
Spoiler
After finishing Ch. 3 and not knowing what to do next, I decided to go look for Sara the last place I saw her: the cabin. There I run into Veronika, and out of nowhere accuse her of having murdered Jonatan, referring to photos I have absolutely no knowledge of. (I still don't know who "Max" is or what actually happened when Jonatan was killed.) Then shooting, and the game is over. Huh. There must be something missing, right?
[close]
-I question your color theory. Green + red = brown, dammit! (As a more general objection, how do you suppose the mixture gets lighter by adding more dye?)
-Oh yes. Swearing. So difficult to do right (both for the writer and the actors) so that it doesn't sound forced and artificial. I think you would have been better off omitting it, because IMO it doesn't quite work here.
-The voice acting was pretty variable, with a lot of good ones and a number that were... not so good. I hesitate to single out individual actors, but the guy playing the shopowner seemed to be in a completely different genre of game from most of the other voices. (I also found myself wondering why the inhabitants of a closed-off village all had different accents.)
-When all is said and done, I don't quite understand the point of Jonatan's secret book, what he was trying to express or why he was so keen on Sara reading it. It's not just that the ending is WTF-y, but that it doesn't seem to fit with the preceding narrative. This guy was a successful author, after all, and I would expect some internal logic to it. Some more/clearer symbolic or autobiographical links to his experiences and interests would also have helped make it seem like something this guy would actually write. As it stands, it feels more like you're just switching to a fantasy game world for a bit, Longest Journey-style.

Overall, definitely a game worth playing. Thanks for having made it!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Andail on Mon 28/04/2014 06:31:30
Hi Snarky, and thanks for your c&c!

Regarding the ending:
Spoiler

Yes, there seems to be a bug that permits the player to end the investigation prematurely, and still trigger the ending sequence. I'm working to fix this already.
I assume you have at least been presented the idea that Jonatan was murdered, since you've spoken to the detective (she's the only one who swears, afaik), and if you follow this up (by bringing it up with the shop owner, to start with) Ord will eventually find out who did it.
At least this will make the ending comprehensible :)
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Ilyich on Mon 28/04/2014 06:44:30
Finished the game a few days ago and really liked it! Lots of good-to-great puzzles - challenging, but not to the point of being frustrating or plain silly, and quite varied. Charming graphics, especially the stylish, yet grounded in reality Gothenburg locations are a pleasure to explore, and the dramatic multi-threaded plot, although not without its problems, kept things interesting and moving throughout the game and was generally pretty well constructed and, ehm, I don't want to use the word "fun", but yeah, fun. :)

All in all - an enjoyable and very decently-sized adventure of code-craking and accidental gonzo journalism, thanks and congratulations on the release! Hope to see more from you in the future! :) 

Quote from: Snarky on Sun 27/04/2014 23:00:12
-The ending was abrupt, yes. In my case, so abrupt that I wonder if there's a bug and I missed something:
Spoiler
After finishing Ch. 3 and not knowing what to do next, I decided to go look for Sara the last place I saw her: the cabin. There I run into Veronika, and out of nowhere accuse her of having murdered Jonatan, referring to photos I have absolutely no knowledge of. (I still don't know who "Max" is or what actually happened when Jonatan was killed.) Then shooting, and the game is over. Huh. There must be something missing, right?
[close]
That is most definitely a bug, yeah - the ending is much less abrupt and awkward in its actual form. :) Also,
Spoiler
Sara's cautious questions about weird things in the book softened the "twist" in the end for me a fair bit, since it was pretty much what I was expecting. And I mean it in a good way, since it didn't feel quite as random as it might've been otherwise. Didn't expect it to be delivered as a plot-twist, though.
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: AprilSkies on Mon 28/04/2014 14:00:25
Quote from: Arj0n on Sun 20/04/2014 19:59:47
Bug:
This happened after
Spoiler
the 'escaping the dragon's lair tower' cutscene.

(http://tdepaus.home.xs4all.nl/arj0n/AGSBG/after%20escape%20%27dragon%20tower%20cutscene%27.png)
[close]

Quote from: Mods on Sun 20/04/2014 22:27:57
Get down from there Ord! Sorry about that. There was a single other mention of this phenomena in the last few months but we couldn't reproduce it or find the cause. I wonder how your parameters differ to other players.. ???

I found a way to reproduce it:
Spoiler

When Freja is in the Dragon's cave: go on the Platform. When Freja is out, don't do nothing and go out from the book. Enter again the book.
You'll find Freja out of the cave. Click entrance. When Freja is inside the cave, don't do nothing and go again out from the book.
You'll find Ord in the air.
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Blackthorne on Mon 28/04/2014 14:09:54
Congratulations on the game and your release! I just purchased my copy, and will probably be getting to it soon... my games queue is large, but my time to play them is so limited these days! Haha!  Anyway, I'm always, always glad to see fellow AGSers making high quality games and taking the leap and risk to selling them!  Looking forward to it.


Bt
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Mon 05/05/2014 17:41:59
Feel free to update your copy to v1.1 and you won't run into an early win-game bug anymore:
http://www.samaritanparadox.co.uk/updates/TheSamaritanParadox_UpdateTo1.1.exe

(Above file is for the DRM-free version. Steam update already made, Desura pending)

Save games are not affected, but also not necessarily effective to see the fix in effect. Loading a version 1.0 save game may still produce the error. Playing from the start will ensure you do not run into it.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Ali on Mon 05/05/2014 23:09:20
Enjoying the game, but a couple of issues to report:

Spoiler
After escaping the prison and talking to the guy in the nearby cottage, the game hangs if I press Escape. A missing Endcutscene?

If I run the game in DX9 with 3x nearest neighbour filter, the game window appears unscaled on a black screen, and I can see Ord's sprite standing outside of the viewport during the Screen 7 logo.
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Tue 06/05/2014 13:04:57
Thanks for the notes Ali! Where will Ord appear unscheduled today?  (laugh)

(http://i62.tinypic.com/30tm0ew.png)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: IndieRetroNews on Wed 07/05/2014 15:51:04
Featured! http://www.indieretronews.com/2014/05/the-samaritan-paradox-point-and-click.html
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: StillInThe90s on Tue 13/05/2014 01:20:10
Finished it and really enjoyed it. Great work Andail!

Couple of issues:
Spoiler
Small one: While zoomed in on Ords bookshelf (Day 1), looking at the book in the inventory does not show it until you exit the shelf.

Reproduced crash/freeze: Opening the save gui (F5) while having the crane button gui open (in the warehouse), will freeze the game if you try to close the save gui again.
The game stops on line 4243 in global.asc.
[close]
Edit: I'm having snarkys' audio problem every  time speech plays, i.e. music goes silent. I thought it was a feature...:)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Andail on Tue 13/05/2014 08:40:09
Thanks, SITN :)
The audio goes completely silent during dialogues if you have lowered the volume to a certain level. AGS lowers the volume during speech in percentage points - i.e. not in percent - so if the volume has already been reduced enough it will reach zero. And that's not very pretty.

Next time I will definitely make sure that all the speech files are loud enough to be played without reducing the music volume at all. You live and learn.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: cat on Tue 13/05/2014 12:18:48
I'm enjoying the game so far, although there are several technical issues:

About the early win-game bug - how do I know if I (or my savegames respectively) am affected by it?
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Andail on Tue 13/05/2014 12:39:57
Cat, your resolution issues sound very strange. Are you sure it isn't running with directdraw or something? I mean, this game is using standard 320x200 32bit graphics without any plugins or fancy tricks whatsoever, so I don't know why it would be any different to 99% of all AGS games. I don't think there's anything I can do or could have done about this, I'm afraid.

The win-early bug shouldn't be a problem anymore, but just to be safe:
Spoiler

When you learn about Jonatan's murder, try to follow up this lead until you've identified the murderer, before you start reading the 3rd chapter.
[close]

As I wrote in the post above, the music should only turn completely off if you've already reduced the volume to below 30-40% or something.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Snarky on Tue 13/05/2014 13:57:39
I always turn down the music volume a bit, since I find game makers consistently mix it too loud for my taste, but I really don't think I put it below 60% at a minimum. I'll check when I get to that computer (if the game is still installed).

BTW:

Quote from: Andail on Mon 28/04/2014 06:31:30
Spoiler
the detective (she's the only one who swears, afaik)
[close]

Spoiler
No, at least one, and I think both, of the two Wyvern guys (Sara's brother and beardy) as well. And maybe the guy who has you locked up when playing as Freyja?
[close]
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Wed 14/05/2014 16:00:30
It's definitely only happening in the below 35% region (slider starts in the 50% position), that's the amount of volume reduction set for when voice clips play, about 35%. So yes when your slider is set to 30% and AGS then tries to dip it by 35% the obvious ensues (wtf) No idea how to tell AGS to always leave a bit of music volume?

Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Snarky on Wed 14/05/2014 16:30:54
You can use Multimedia.SetAudioTypeSpeechVolumeDrop() to adjust the amount of audio ducking according to the current music volume (i.e. calculate it as a fixed percent of the current volume, every time the player adjusts the volume slider).
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: shaun9991 on Fri 16/05/2014 12:56:24
Finished the game a few days ago. Great work, really enjoyed it!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Sat 24/05/2014 15:28:42
Hi folks, don't suppose anyone ran into this problem at all please?

Spoiler

Comments: In Chapter 2 of the book each time the girl speaks to the man in the cottage after she has escaped from the prison cell  my screen freezes. Sometimes this happens when she tries to enter the cottage.  I cannot solve this problem and  would be grateful for your help.


[close]

If so how did you resolve it? Or were you not able. many thanks!

(sussed for now: possibly an issue with EndCutscene)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Snake on Sun 25/05/2014 00:48:14
So this was just a side project to keep all of us happy while you work on a new Tulles World, yes?

;)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Duztie on Wed 28/05/2014 21:27:44
Received the game today and have been playing all day.
Just a couple of minutes ago I completed the game and must say that I really enjoyed it all the way through. I can highly reccomend this!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox - 30% off on Steam
Post by: on Fri 20/06/2014 14:07:28
Steam Summer sale! Just to let you know The Samaritan Paradox is on sale for the first time, discounted 30% at Steam for the duration of their summer sale: http://store.steampowered.com/app/283180

I'm sure it's not the only AGS game on sale there right now too :-D
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Fri 15/08/2014 21:22:01
Just a quick one for AGS collectors to say you can get both The Samaritan Paradox on DVD-rom and The Cat Lady on DVD-rom (plus the digital elements of both games) for £10 (with free worldwide shipping) until late August. The offer pops up when you visit www.Screen7.co.uk

There won't be a discount like it for a while ;) The Samaritan Paradox is also available as part of the additional digital deal if you don't want hard copies.

Oh, and please remember to doublecheck your address, you only get a few hours to amend it once the order is processed. It takes about 7 days to reach USA and up to 3 weeks elsewhere (sorry, due to US rates - an express delivery option would be about £20 on top of that, grr!) Regards!
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Zeeg on Sat 30/08/2014 23:33:30
It looks great, hope I get my copy soon.
Btw, the faces on dialogue look like Clock Tower: The First Fear. :smiley:
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Babar on Wed 19/11/2014 15:39:04
I haven't gotten this far yet (heck, I haven't even gotten past the first screen of the game yet, as the sound seems a bit messed up for me in Linux), but Cracked mentioned The Samaritan Paradox:
5 Video Game Puzzles Clearly Designed by Hateful People (http://www.cracked.com/article_21764_5-video-game-puzzles-clearly-designed-by-hateful-people.html)

Not sure how it reflects on Andail :D.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Andail on Wed 19/11/2014 21:12:43
He he, I can totally take it! I bow my head and apologise :) Besides, it's in good company - I remember how games like the longest journey have been featured in an identical article before. The massive exposure probably makes up for the accusation of being hateful ;)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Mon 22/12/2014 21:43:09
70% off on Steam for the next week :)

http://store.steampowered.com/app/283180

Or get a DRM free copy + Steam + Desura key for just £1.99 from the official website (Deal 1)

http://www.samaritanparadox.co.uk
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox - 70% off at Steam
Post by: The Fool on Thu 25/12/2014 14:59:37
Just bought it. Really look forward to play it :)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox - 70% off at Steam
Post by: on Sun 28/12/2014 10:56:38
Thanks The Fool - you are not one for doing so! 8-)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Snarky on Thu 12/01/2017 09:08:32
Just got an email from Humble Bundle telling me my Samaritan Paradox order is ready. Finally! ... Though I could've sworn I played this game like two years ago. :-D ;)
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: Crimson Wizard on Thu 12/01/2017 09:35:45
Quote from: Snarky on Thu 12/01/2017 09:08:32
Just got an email from Humble Bundle telling me my Samaritan Paradox order is ready. Finally! ... Though I could've sworn I played this game like two years ago. :-D ;)
Same o.o.
Title: Re: The Samaritan Paradox
Post by: on Sun 15/01/2017 10:04:25
You would've bought it thru ejunkie (via PayPal) but if you went back to that system any longer to try and grab the link, it would presumably show nothing as I've stopped using it. So I sent one to all old customers via Humble which is recent, relevant and working (regardless of product type). That said, you can't actually customize the email or very much at all, but there is a note at bottom of humble page when you click the link through the email. Same to be done for all Cat Lady copies bought via ejunkie v. soon too. If you don't want it, forward the mail to a friend :)