The Hamlet

[Vel]

Here it is, though a bit late, the ATC game we made.

Story:
A middle-aged bachelor receives a letter from a friend of his living in a small hamlet saying that he would like him to come for a visit. Not having anything to worry about, the protagonist accepts and immediately drives off to the hamlet. However, upon arrival he senses that something is not at all right...

Features:
15 locations drawn in beautiful 320*200
Digital soundtrack featuring 7 haunting tracks
Story that will keep you playing till the very end
4 fully animated characters with close-ups

More info

Download

Credits:
Writing - Velislav Ivanov
Scripting - Grant Williams, Velislav Ivanov
Graphics - Indrek Plavutski, Iwan Vaughan, Petteri Aartolahti, "pixelcat"
Music - Petteri Aartolahti
Beta Testing - Erik Igelström, Lisa Taylor

Hope you enjoy it!

[Damien]

Just finished it, it was great.

Good work guys!

[[Cameron]]

Uhh... I'm having a hard time reading the text when he is speaking.

[Khris]

me too,

black font with black outline...like reading white chalk on paper.

Please correct that, Vel

[Vel]

Huh?
It's white font with black outline... O_o
At least for me it is...

[Khris]

proof:Ã, 



EDIT: It happens with fullscreen, too, I had to switch to windowed to get the screenshot

[Gilbert]

Strange, it's okay for me, did it still happen running full screen?

Can as well be some bug with Allegro/AGS/whatever.

Actually I'm stuck at the very beginning...

[Vel]

Dunno, I have no idea about that - that's supposed to be the thinking view of the character, and the colour I get is light green... Try setting something up or whatsoever...

[Damien]

The only thing I changed in the options is enabling the 'force leterbox mode', you could try that.

Gilbot:

Spoiler

Have you tried to do something with the inventory items?

[close]

[tvcooper2001]

I am totally lost in this game!

Spoiler

I have compare the letter & note, broken down the door to the house, searched the office and got a part of a letter, searched the tool shed and got a knife and axe, talked to the neighbor.Ã,  I checked out the barn and found nothing except that if you climb the ladder to the loft, you get stuck and can't get down.Ã,  What do I do next?

[close]

[Iwan]

Spoiler

If you go back to the first house, he will say that he better get some rest. Then go to the corridor and click on the right door.

[close]

[Minimi]

Very good game, and great story! I love playing this game. I'm not having much time, to play it all, but I like it very much!  :o

[tvcooper2001]

I tried that...but

Spoiler

he doesn't say that. Ã, I am now in the barn, have climbed the ladder and tried to do something with the bale of hay. Ã, Cannot climb back down the ladder (bug?), so I am stuck in the loft. Ã, While trying to climb down the ladder, he just says "not much of a loft"

[close]

[Iwan]

I think that must be a bug. Not sure because i didnt script it. If youve saved before then try playing from there.

[tvcooper2001]

alpha, fortunately I did save before climbing the ladder.  But.....I am still stuck

Spoiler

when I go back to the first house as you said before, he doesn't say anything about getting some rest?  Anything I missed?  thanks

[close]

[Iwan]

Spoiler

hmm...I think the only thing left for you to do is to talk to the busines man in the fourth house.

[close]

[Redwall]

Ach, yes, the barn thing is a bug... Vel has the source now, hopefully he'll fix it soon.

[Vel]

ARGH!
I'll try to fix that ASAP!

[lspace]

Uhh... I'm having a hard time reading the text when he is speaking.

I'm also having the same problem.  Has it been fixed yet?

[InCreator]

Ah, we should make a sequel to Hamlet.
A longer, deeper and bloodier one.

With loads of animations which I would gladly make.
And superdetailed BGs.
And Petteri's catchy tunes...
And...

[Vel]

The new version is uploaded now, same link.

[mags_don]

tried your newer version and now when try to climb the ladder it says. "i dont think thats a good idea right now"

[Vel]

Yes indeed - maybe you do not need to climb the ladder at that time...

[lspace]

I also tried the new version and I still have the same problem with the unreadable black font.  Was this supposed to be corrected in this version?

[Vel]

I have absolutely no idea what causes that, so no.

[Pet Terry]

I guess I should post in this thread since I was a part of the team.

First of all, I hope you people enjoy playing the game, I had fun whilst working on it. At the time I had a "composer's block" of sort and looking back now I'm very satisfied how well the music turned out.

I also remember when I was polishing the background art, it was right after the winners were announced and we thought we'd polish the game before releasing it to public. I was working on those backgrounds 'til something like 3:00 at night and still didn't get all of the backgrounds finished. But I wanted the game to be released as soon as possible. And then some of our team members got busy with real life (tm).

Overall I'm happy with the finished product, it was fun working with you guys. Good job everyone, let's keep it up.

[lspace]

I have absolutely no idea what causes that, so no.

Is it essential to game play to be able to read this black text?  If not, I will give it a go as the game sounds quite interesting and looks good too.

[Pod]

Yes indeed - maybe you do not need to climb the ladder at that time...

What's to prevent the Ego climbing the ladder BEFORE he needs to? is there anything in the game to prevent him, or just some mysterious urge?

[splat44]

The new version is uploaded now, same link.

So Far, I've I got torn piece of note, the knife and ax. I also spoke with man from last house.

I am using your latest version especially when trying climbing on ladder and I still cannot do so yet. I try using few items on hanging bail and also try to push it. I do get message "cannot reach it" or something like that.

What else I need to do?

[Ieremiou]

Interesting game. Feels short to me what with how the introduction was done. Still feels rushed but that's okay it had good music atmosphere and the talking picture graphics were great looking. Those parts were great. Some of the other stuff felt iffy...

[Pod]

I can't read the text

[martin]

well i enjoyed it but i kep getting shot so i dont see how to finish the game.!!!!!! 

[lakerz]

Heh, very nice effort for everyone involved in "The Hamlet."  I liked the graphics, the way the houses looked a bit tattered and abandoned.  Sure, the game is short, but it has a lot of atmosphere. 

martin, at the end of the game:

Spoiler

try hiding in the barn.  Look for an object that you can hide yourself with.  Also, notice where the man is standing. 

[close]

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Heh, sorry but I have to say this...

Mis-quote - "You back up and rush at the door, leaving you with a bruised shoulder."

But the animation and the verb is of him KICKING down the door...

Sorry, but it kinda sticks out like a sore thumb. I kept wondering WHERE was his shoulder. In his ankle?

[GarageGothic]

Wow, very atmospheric game - although I was expecting more from the plot with that wonderful setup. I really loved the dialog pics. They remind me of the old Horrorsoft games (Elvira, Waxworks etc.). The rest of the graphics didn't quite match the style, but it would be impossible to keep that near-photographic quality in everything.

Nice puzzles as well - the comparison of the two letters isn't something I've seen before, and the final "chase" reminded me of Dagger of Amon Ra.

Great work guys!

[Vel]

Actually, there was a comparison in handwritings in one of the police quests, can't remember which, though. It seemed like something that is pretty natural to do, something you'd do in real life. As for the ending puzzle, I haven't played Dagger of Amon Ra, so I can't say I copied it from somewhere else.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

That'd be PQ2.

[Vel]

Yes indeed.

[ggp]

I'm stuck. Same place as splat, but his question wasn't answered. Ive got;

Spoiler

Torn paper, axe, knife, have spoken to new neighbour and tryed to climb the barn ladder but it wont let me. What do i do next please ?!

[close]

[Iwan]

Spoiler

Have you spoken to both neighbors or just the business man? I you havn't then examine the window of the house before and then knock it. Then the man inside will come out.

[close]

[wyr3x]

i`m downloading it right now... (and because of the screenshots) i really really  liked the graphics !!!!!. 

[Remco]

I played it and i must say it was great. The graphics where really beatiful.

The only thing i didnt liked was that is was a little bit on the short side, but see that as a compliment that i would liked to play it longer . Nice work.

[landslidepurist]

Just downloaded this. I've got a flat-screen lcd monitor and the top of the screen has disappeared off the top. I can't alter the monitor enough to get it in, so is there anything I can do to get it full-screen? It's not as good windowed.

[landslidepurist]

i went ahead and played in windowed mode. Just finished.

It was great - please make another! 

[Damien]

landslidepurist: I have the same problem with my LCD monitor,  run winsetup.exe from game's directory and turn on "Force letterbox mode" that way the game will always be forced to use 320x240 or 640x480 mode.

[landslidepurist]

hey thanks, that solved it. 

[Nexic]

Black text for me too...

[sunshinegold]

I have absolutely no idea what causes that, so no.

Vel please fix the 'black' text.  Cannot read your text so it takes the fun away from playing your game.  From what I have read so far, it does seem like a good game. 

Please fix it.  I don't understand that you do not see the 'black' text when we do

[Vel]

I really don't know why it happens, and Im afraid that if I dont know the reason, I cannot fix it... sorry.

[sunshinegold]

I really don't know why it happens, and Im afraid that if I dont know the reason, I cannot fix it... sorry.

Hi Vel and thank you for answering my post so fast.

I went back to the game, tried the 'forced letterbox' but that did not help.Ã,  Ã, What I don't understand is that the text in the 'critics' is great, black with white trimming but when we get to the 'Hamlet/house/barn' the text is all black no white trimming which makes it impossible to read.

YOU don't seem to have the same problem:

From your post on page 1 Huh?
It's white font with black outline... O_o
At least for me it is...

and yet Khrismuck as shown you the proof (still on page 1 right below your post.)

Please help.

[Pet Terry]

Hello, I was also a team member in Creative Minds when we were working on The Hamlet. Apparently we have no idea what could be causing the text being black because noone in the team encountered that bug (there was 5 of us + 2 beta testers). So there's not much we can do about it. I guess the best bet would be ask CJ about this matter, maybe he has some ideas what could be causing this.

[Julie]

Great game!- Anyone know what to do after the scream? I looked in the one guys house...

[Julie]

still cant go up the ladder... but what do I do after the screams?

[stuh505]

sigh.  i am so bad at adventure games...could anyone give me a hint how to get the first door open?

[Julie]

You must go to your inventory and compare the two notes first......

[EKM]

Just finished this...

Cool game, too short though...I liked the graphics, the gameplay and the whole mystery. The low percentage of characters in the game also helped to build up the "spook."

[RyRayer]

Very nice. I expected a little bit longer game, but that's not a problem. "Quality not quantity". Some places were quite spooky.

[Zargaist]

For this black text with black outline, instead of trying to turn to white the text inside the black outline, you could try to remove the black outline and put the narrative and discussion text in a box, this way, it would be readable.

But you probably tried that before.

[Phemar]

Here are a few bugs I found:

1. You left debug mode on.
2. The barn is filled with bugs!
    - All the walk behinds are buggy, especially with the hanging bale.
    - Roger should have been standing lower for the bale to fall on him.
3. When he kicks down the door, the text says he gets a bruised shoulder.
4. The plot should have been thicker.
5. I'd expect at least a little reaction to the bodies in the freezer.
6. What was that green thing in front of the freezer?

EDIT: Why did his friend invite him over though?

[Vel]

Spoiler

Maybe because he was really lonely, and would enjoy his company. Or maybe not...

[close]

PS: InCreator, is The Hamlet v2 going anywhere?

[deadsuperhero]

Great game, but I keep getting shot every time I try to leave this one screen just after you leave when you discover the dead bodies in that one guys house. Hmmm...