Supergirl - We don't need another hero

[runawayman]

Hi, guys.

Here's the lowdown on my game.

Title: Supergirl in We Don't Need Another Hero

URL (screenshots and download): http://runawayman.sitesled.com/Games/WDNAH.htm

Category: Comedy/adventure. More the former than the latter.

Rating: PG.

Difficulty: Easy. There's more emphasis on characterization, dialogues, and interactivity than puzzles.

Length: Medium. The puzzles won't even slow down a veteran player, but there's lots to read.

Story: Supergirl comes to a town where the local hero is, well, Supergirl, who somehow has managed to rid the city of all its crime. The real Supergirl must expose the fake one and discover what happened to the criminals in the city.

The characters were made with Poser. The backgrounds (except one) were made with 3dStudio Max though they aren't all that good. There are only three I'm reasonably proud of. The rest are kinda simplistic.

One question though – can I put this game in the games section at the main site? I remember reading something about not posting anything with copyrighted characters.

Ronn A. Mann

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

I think you can, but I'm not sure.

Indeed, Poser characters all look the same...

Apart from that, the game is short and sweet. Real sweet. Good work, and here's hoping we'll see more of Supergirl in more - and even better - episodes.

...

...not THAT kind of seeing more!



(pervert)

[Candle]

Looks like a nice game , going to play it now .

[Totoro]

Poser characters are not "copyrigh protected" anyway, so dont worry about this. Depending on wether you used freebies or paid for characters, clothing etc. it might affect your rights to use them commercially or not, but there is no copyright problem in general. Nice game by the way

[Gilbert]

Poser characters are not "copyrigh protected" anyway, so dont worry about this.

I think he meaned Supergirl, not the poser part.

Runawayman: well I think it's okay for you to put the game in the games section, as you may have seen already, that fan games and remakes of commercial games such KQVGA series, NOTH, etc. were there already, that rule is there just for official standards.

[Snarky]

Of course, if AGS gets shut down by DC Comics lawyers we'll blame YOU! 

[Kweepa]

I'm going to blame Phil Nihilist.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

[Phil] I reject your definition of "blame". [/Phil]

<Cap. Mostly's hysterical laughter is heard far off, mumbling something about how Tom will someday overthrow the great Yahtzee>

[brief instant of sanity] I gotta stop posting at this time in the morning. [/brief instant of sanity]

<braindeath>

[runawayman]

My greatest concern was never that DC comics would shut down AGS. They wouldn't. They'd merely ask to have the game removed.

My concern was that the AGS moderators would kick ME out of here for violating the rules. So unless one of them gives me the okay, I'm not posting the game.

Another thing. I'd love to think my game would entertain the player for at least 30 mins and thus qualify as a medium length game. But what do you guys think? Is it a short game or a medium game? I'm sure a veteran player can complete it in less than ten minutes. But what about an average player?

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

I'd rate it short, but that's just me.

[Totoro]

oooops sorry, I did not know "Supergirl" was copyright protected, I always considered it being a spin-off of superman which was somehow created by 10000 people at the same time and therefor propperty of the public

[Potch]

Ok, well, I know you said your game is really easy, so I must be stupid, because I'm stuck. 

Spoiler

I have the wrecking ball.  I stopped the tank.  Can't open the vault.  Can't get past the robot. I tried using the ball on the vault and the robot.  It didn't work.  HELP!

[close]

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Spoiler

Use the ball with yourself to exercise.

[close]

[Potch]

Thanks!  I wouldn't have thought of that.

[Dave Gilbert]

I was stuck in the same place.

As poser games go, this is very well done.  The backgrounds could use a little more detail, and Supergirl seems a bit eager to commit acts of violence, but I enjoyed it muchly.  I like how you incorporate different dialogs after you repeat certain actions. 

One thing that bothered me though...

Spoiler

The ending.  The fake supergirl says "It all began a few months ago..." and then it ENDS.  I was hoping for a nice tidy explaination, but oh well.

[close]

[Phemar]

Nice game, just finished.

The game was rather enjoyable, and I liked the character art. The backgrounds were just a bit empty and a let-down to be honest.

I loved the little animations and stuff

Still a nice little game! Good job.

[Barbarian]

Played through the game... Great Job!
I enjoyed it all.  Fairly good interface. Nice character art and animations (I especially like the exercising animation). I enjoyed the humor in the game too.  The scenes were a bit "bare / sparse", but still the game was fantastic.   

Keep up the good work. I look forwards to seeing more of your games.

[Cain]

Really what stands out in the game is the dialogue and all the text written... the fact that you get a different response for every object in the game is way cool.

And most of the dialogue is witty and fun ("I cannot see through my suit, It's got lead in it... just in case Superman gets curious"...ROFTL) , I enjoyed this little game much more than some "puzzle fests" that simply don't give you any reason for your actions.

Sprites... I think the black outline makes  too  much contrast with the backgrounds, you should try removing it next time, or better, exaggerate it, making the charcters more "cartoony" (after all is based on a comic series, right ? )

What bothered me more about the backgrounds was not their emptiness, but the fact that the colors were too much photorealistic, and made too much contrast (again) with sprites... maybe you could enhance saturation and contrast ?

Anyway, I enjoyed it very much, keep up the good work.

[DCillusion]

I wouldn't worry too much about the backgrounds.  It's a good game.  In the future, you could enlist in some background artists.  there are plenty out there, but most are afraid they'll be making the ENTIRE game, or that the designer won't follow through.  You've proven you can handle, & finish, your side.  I'll bet you could sway some great talent

....Nice Work

[Khris]

Nice game.

I found a dead end, though.

Spoiler

After changing to civilian clothes in the apartment with the wrecking ball in your inventory, it is gone. If Supergirl didn't exercise, the game can't be solved anymore.

[close]

[runawayman]

First off, thanks for the comments about the game. I really enjoyed making it, and I'm already working on another Supergirl game, though it's going to be a while before I finish it. The next game should be much longer, have decent backgrounds and QFG-style fight sequences. (And the nerd from the university will make an appearance there too.)

To Dave Gilbert:

I'm surprised by your comment that Supergirl seems too eager to commit acts of violence. Is that the way it comes out? I intended it the other way around. She certainly talks aggressively, but refuses to attack the robot or the fake Supergirl or to break into the industrial complex without evidence, and when she uses her muscles it's either to save someone or to attack the villains. (She's not Batman, you know .) She's certainly more prone to violence that the average AGS character, I suppose.

In regard to the comment in the spoiler text, you're supposed to talk to the fake Supergirl every time you meet her. The game's plot is revealed through the dialogues. I thought that repeating it in the epilogue would be redundant, though it probably isn't.
                                 
To Cain and others:

I know the backgrounds are by far the weakest part of the game. It isn't so much that I'm bad at them (which I am), it's that being 3d-rendered means that every little prop has to be a 3d model. And things like a bookcase, a picture frame or a potted plant which are relatively simple to draw, are a pain in the butt to model in 3d.

The black outline is there because Poser anti-aliases against a black background. If I use 32-bit color sprites with the alpha channel, they look stunning, but at 16-bit color, I get a black outline. I tried to get rid of it manually, but it made the borders of the sprites look blocky. I'll try to find a way to get rid of it for my next game.

To Khrismuc:

I don't know how to do spoiler text yet, so I'll just say it normally. (No much of a spoiler anyway.)

Before she changes into civilian clothes, she drops the wrecking ball in the room. She won't pick it up again until she changes back to Supergirl, but the ball should stay in the room. If it's not there, then that's a bug of a different sort.

[Phemar]

I dunno... That didn't happen to me. Maybe you changed behind the rack thing, so the object is behind it and can't be picked up again?

Runawayman maybe you should change it so that there's a blank hotspot on the floor by the changing place thing, and when you change it checks to see if you are on that hotspot and if you are then it moves you out?

[Candle]

You can change the background color in poser to anything you like .I use 255,0,255

[Nostradamus]

Very nice game. BUt I hope you do a longer one next time.
I need a little help:

Spoiler

I beat up the robot and opened the vault. Can't enter the mall\get an autograph or enter the industrial area gate. What do I do next? [\hide]

[close]

[Dan]

Nice, enjoyable game with some quite tricky puzzles. I'm looking forward to the next one

@Nostradamus

Spoiler

A change of appearance may help.

Change into normal clothes (either at home or in the alley with the trashcan) and then talk to the woman from the bank - she should be in the queue for the mall.

[close]

Cheers,
Dan.

[Nostradamus]

Dan:

Spoiler

But I can't fly in normal clothes. How do I do get to the mall with normal clothes?

[close]

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Nostradamus, read the parenthesis in Dan's post.

[Joacim Andersson]

I'm stuck.

Spoiler

How do you beat up the robot? I've worked out and opened the vault but nothing much happens when I try to beat up the robot.

[close]

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Spoiler

Has HE beaten you up yet? And do you KNOW - have proof - that you have to get by him and into that place?

[close]

[Joacim Andersson]

Spoiler

Yes he has beaten me up several times. I also have proof that I need to get in there, which I got after giving the action figure to the guy at the university. But he stills just beat me up.

[close]

[runawayman]

Spoiler

Check your strength. It should be over 75000 for you to beat the robot. If it's not, then you need to do other stuff first. If it is over 75000, just use strength on the robot. If you merely walk to the gate, you'll get beaten up no matter your strength.

[close]

Ronn A. Mann

[Joacim Andersson]

OK, thanks I've finished the game. Pretty funny, even though I thought the ending was a little weak. But all in all a good job, congratulations.

[Pumaman]

My concern was that the AGS moderators would kick ME out of here for violating the rules. So unless one of them gives me the okay, I'm not posting the game.

Just to confirm, this is fine. There are other potentially infringing games such as Garfield and King's Quest VGA on the site. If worst came to worst, we'd simply have to remove it from the AGS Games page.

[Darcness]

Runawayman, the best way to use Poser figures as game sprites is to turn anti-aliasing of in poser's render options. Believe me, it works wonders.

And I thoroughly enjoyed your game, by the way. Well done!

[runawayman]

Just in case you care, version 1.5 of the game is ready and waiting for your download at my website (http://runawayman.sitesled.com).

Improvements include:

- I redid most of the sprites, getting rid of the black outline, without turning off anti-aliasing. (That's tricky.) So they look much better without having to turn off anti-aliasing (they look blocky without it). I also redid Supergirl's outfit.

- I re-rendered all the backgrounds. They don't look much better, but now they're more compressible so the game is a 2.6MB download instead of 4.8MB.

- I added props to some rooms. The police station and the university look much better now.

- I added 4 rooms and 4 puzzles at the end of the game. Hopefully that'll improve the game and officially make it a "medium-length" game (if only because reading all the dialogues I added will take about half an hour  ).

- I added different responses to the Pick Up command, so you don't get the generic "There's only one thing I can pick up in this game and this isn't it."

- I Fixed the wrecking ball bug (thanks to Khrismuc and Zor).

Just to confirm, this is fine. There are other potentially infringing games such as Garfield and King's Quest VGA on the site. If worst came to worst, we'd simply have to remove it from the AGS Games page.

Well, it's good to know that. I'll post the game there next week (after I do some more testing).

Ronn A. Mann

[Queen Kara]

Thanks very much for making this great game.
When I found out a certain thing via searching the forums , I had an "Oh , duh! Why hadn't I thought of that in the first place?" moment but other than that it was easy.

[lakerz]

Any hints on how to pass the maze of doorways near the end?  I've been running through them and backtracking, etc. etc. for awhile now.  Can't do anything to the walls either.

[runawayman]

Any hints on how to pass the maze of doorways near the end?  I've been running through them and backtracking, etc. etc. for awhile now.  Can't do anything to the walls either.

The maze is supposed to be the trickiest puzzle in the game

Spoiler

Listen To each of the walls until Supergirl says she can hear something, then use Strength on that wall.

[close]

[lakerz]

Thanks Runawayman!  Enjoyed playing through your game! 

[Queen Kara]

Ok , downloaded and played both versions.
Thanks so much for the improvements in the new version!
The old version is good but it's always nice to see people go the extra mile to make things even better when they know that it could be better.
I liked how you added some extra humor about the fake supergirl too instead of having the real one just repeat jokes for each time she's talking about the fake's hair color.

[desimaui]

Spoiler

Check your strength. It should be over 75000 for you to beat the robot. If it's not, then you need to do other stuff first. If it is over 75000, just use strength on the robot. If you merely walk to the gate, you'll get beaten up no matter your strength.

[close]

Ronn A. Mann

Cool game but how do I get proof to get into the door at the fatory. I talked to the guy at the university thinking he would know but didn't get anywhere with that. Something about an action figure. Where is that?

[desimaui]

Spoiler

Check your strength. It should be over 75000 for you to beat the robot. If it's not, then you need to do other stuff first. If it is over 75000, just use strength on the robot. If you merely walk to the gate, you'll get beaten up no matter your strength.

[close]

Ronn A. Mann

Cool game but how do I get proof to get into the door at the fatory. I talked to the guy at the university thinking he would know but didn't get anywhere with that. Something about an action figure. Where is that?

Okay I got into the door and now I can't get past the little robot.Help please