The House That Ate My Soul (MAGS October) (problem solved)

nihilyst · Sun 22/10/2006 16:09:14

Stormbell Entertainment
presents

Ben Hastings is a private investigator trying to find the testament of Simon Hunter's uncle in his house. As he proceeds, he uncovers the mystery of this creepy old mansion.

This game has many flaws and some animations and sounds missing, but should be beatable. It is recommended to read the readme, since the inventory controls are quite unusual.

It features:
- keyboard control
- 4 playable characters (including inventory trading)
- an original, but very short soundtrack

Download >The House That Ate My Soul< (version 1.0)
Download >Update to version 1.1< (just extract the .rar into your THTAMS folder)
Visit the game's page

In order to play the game properly, set your keyboard layout to German (IBM).

Bugfixes:
- problems with the save/load GUI should be fixed
- press F2 to increase the game speed to 70, press F1 to make it normal

cheers
nihilyst

thewalrus · Sun 22/10/2006 16:21:10

Congrats on finishing your October MAGS game! It looks awesome. I'm downloading now!

Buckethead · Sun 22/10/2006 17:49:23

I can't walk smooth, I have to press the movement button from every inch I want to walk. That's very anoing $:-\$

DoorKnobHandle · Sun 22/10/2006 17:52:09

Try pressing it once. The character will walk until you press it again.

The game looks and plays great, I can't wait to finish it once I have some time! I have a strong feeling your game will win this round!

CosmoQueen · Sun 22/10/2006 22:55:22

Downloading it now!!

R4L · Sun 22/10/2006 23:39:59

YES! This game looks awesome! Downloading....

ch33rio · Mon 23/10/2006 01:24:17

Wow. This is a really fun game, but it's taking me forever; the game crashes every time I save or load. I've had to replay most of the action several times... (it tells me it cannot display message with extended characters in SCI font.) I would love to see the end but this would make the fourth time I've made it about an hour into the game only to have it crash...

ManicMatt · Mon 23/10/2006 01:25:06

Okay, completed it!

Nice graphics, music, sounds and ideas. Fun to play and doesn't feel like most AGS adventure games!

As you said, bugged! I was stuck for ages thinking you couldn't combine two particular items even though that's the solution. Grr. (See the hints section to know what I'm on about)

Walking was a pain in the arse.

And the ending... the ending.... $:-\$

Did I do something wrong? Just checking.

jkohen · Mon 23/10/2006 01:33:52

This game is indeed awesome, but beware of some "interesting" bugs. There is a especially annoying issue that affects item combination: ofter the index of the items in the inventory doesn't correspond to the one you have to enter while pressing down the left shift. E.g., say you have the robot arm in the first slot in the inventory, the hand in slot #2 and the umbrella in the third. It may happen that you have to press LShift 1 3 to combine the arm and the hand. I'm not totally sure, but I even think that you may need to try with empty slots. So don't despair if item combination doesn't work at first, you start trying random combinations... yeah, it sucks, but the game is worth that effort.

Also, I seem to have hit a bug where saving a game breaks the game management menu, but so far it seems I'm the only one suffering it. However, here's the workaround in case you are in the same situation I am: just overwrite the sl.gui file with the one that came with the game. You will then be able to load all savegames you had, although their names will not show in the list. You'll have to repeat this everytime after saving the game, but hopefully you won't see this bug at all.

jkohen · Mon 23/10/2006 01:36:58

Quote from: ManicMatt on Mon 23/10/2006 01:25:06
Okay, completed it!

I'm stuck and I'm not sure whether it's because of this bug or that i'm missing something. Could you please follow this link to the hints section and give me a hand?

Peder 🚀 · Thu 26/10/2006 14:26:00

Awesome game nihilyst!

nihilyst · Fri 27/10/2006 13:05:14

Thanks for the replies and the kind words.

About the bugs:
1. item combination: As I said, I just didn't have the time to write responses for every combination you try to make. Therefore, only then thins happen, when the items are made for each other. But then it should work combining them both ways. I didn't have the problem, that I had to press other numbers than the slot's digits I wanted to combine.

2. save/load: That's a bug I also can't reproduce. ch33rio, it would be of great help, if you could send me your "damaged" sl.gui. I already have blashyrkh's, and I will try to find the problem.

I'll try to fix these bugs. Thanks for replying.

cheers
nihilyst

Buckethead · Fri 27/10/2006 13:19:45

why did you make it so hard for yourself anyway? You could of just used mouse and cursors.

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Fri 27/10/2006 13:34:33

Hush, let him be creative.

It's a lot more fun, and we can always stumble on the perfect interface that we'd never even thought of before.

nihilyst · Fri 27/10/2006 14:43:27

Okay, the save/load problem should be solved. Just download the update in the first post and extract it to your THTAMS folder.

Of course it would have been easier with mouse and cursors. But I always try to do thing I'm new to. That's why it usually doesn't work right. Unfortunately, I had to post my game until the 22nd of october, so I couldn't test it extensively. My next game won't be for MAGS, so I hope that one won't have that many bugs.

EDIT: It seems that I can't reproduce the item combinating bug. Everything works fine for me, but I'll still try to find the error. Until that, just try to hold down shift and then press some numbers until it works. There are still responses missing, so if you want to combine e.g. the key, you need to have all the parts.

cheers
nihilyst

Dennis Ploeger · Fri 27/10/2006 15:00:16

Hi!

I also like your game, nihilyst. I always love this creepy, mistery adventure. Reminds me alot of "7 Days a stranger" though.

But I'm also facing a bug, I think.

Spoiler

After giving the first gardener the whistle, I cannot exchange things with him anymore. When pressing one of the inventory numbers, I only get a "Not a good start."

[close]

Is this a bug?

Anyways, good game. Keep up.

Regards,
deep

jkohen · Fri 27/10/2006 15:58:16

Quote from: deepgames on Fri 27/10/2006 15:00:16
Spoiler
After giving the first gardener the whistle, I cannot exchange things with him anymore. When pressing one of the inventory numbers, I only get a "Not a good start."
[close]

Is this a bug?

Confusing, but not a bug. You don't need him anymore.

ch33rio · Sat 28/10/2006 01:34:52

I replaced the corrupted/bugged sl.gui with the one from the downloaded file (as per blashyrkh's brilliant suggestion) and it never gave me trouble after that.
So... I don't think my sl.gui is corrupted anymore. I'm sorry I couldn't help you with it...
But, bugs and persistent Lshift tapping aside, I just LOVED this game. Loved it. I especially loved the idea of interacting with the... other sentient beings in the house (don't want to give too much away...) But I truly enjoyed this game and I really look forward to your next (bug free!) endeavor! Nice work!

nihilyst · Sat 28/10/2006 02:34:13

Thanks for the kind words. And I hereby promise, that my next game will be carefully tested and checked for bugs ^^

Dennis Ploeger · Sat 28/10/2006 09:03:06

Quote from: blashyrkh on Fri 27/10/2006 15:58:16
Confusing, but not a bug. You don't need him anymore.

I don't? Than I'm really confused!

Spoiler

Don't I need him to wake up his neighbor and don't I need the whistle back?

[close]

Regards,
deep

sthomannch · Sat 28/10/2006 14:26:54

Good atmosphere, nice graphics and I really like the puzzles. However, the game crashes even after the update, and when I restart and load, it often happens that the hotspots are not visible anymore and no action is possible. Also combining items in the inventory is still a big problem. I think that even trying every combination does not work (I mean, every slot with every slot, whether it has an item or not), and if I go to another room, sometimes I can combine items. Because of a crash I restored the game but now I definitely cannot combine items in the inventory, but before the game crashed, I could do it at the very same position (that is, after the last save operation, I could combine them, went to another room, crash, restore, now the inventory is locked). I hope that you can fix the game and give us another patch.

jetxl · Sat 28/10/2006 18:59:25

The setup file is missing, and my computer doesn't support the standard resolution.
Could you include the setup as well?
Or could someone once remind me how I change any ags setup to work with this game. I can't seem to find it.

nihilyst · Sat 28/10/2006 20:21:39

@jet: The setup file is included. You just first have to install version 1.0 and then overwrite the gamefile with the exe file from the update, since the setupfile is only included in the 1.0 rar file.

@sthomannch: That's unusual. It could be, that a savegame you saved in version 1.0 causes problems, when you try to load it with version 1.1. I, however, had no problems saving and loading with the new version, and neither had I problems with hotspots and actions. Combining items still is a problem, and since I didn't have any problems with combining items, it may take some time until I found the bug. Many others beat the game, so it's not impossible. Maybe you should try to "reinstall" THTAMS and it's update.

EDIT: Okay, I spent the evening with testing THTAMS. I saved and loaded on all slot very often, I looked and used everything, combined the items, if they were made for another or not, I tried to use every item on every hotspot there was ... and encountered not a single problem. Everything works. The items you can combine are combined by pressing the numbers of the slots, in which they lie, whilst pressing left shift.

You could encounter problems, when you have your CAPS LOCKED or are using the keypad to manage your inventory. Be sure, that caps lock is off and you are using the numbers above the letter field.

If you still encounter those problems ... could it be, that this game acts different on different machines? Is that possible? I do know some others, who didn't have any problems either. Another solution could be, that there is one single action you can do, that ruins the game's controls. However, I didn't find it, but I'll try to keep track.

sthomannch · Sat 28/10/2006 22:32:30

nihilist, I think it is not easy to find the problem. Caps lock and things are no problem, I checked on this. Different machines? I don't think so, but it could well be that certain actions triggered an unexpected behavior later in the gameplay.

I'll wipe my savegames and try again.

I like the interface (as long as it works), so don't change the appearance.

nihilyst · Sun 29/10/2006 00:18:49

Okay, I think I found the problem, why item combination doesn't work for some users. Setting your keyboard layout to German (IBM) should do the trick. That should work until I've found a solution, that makes playing possible for all layouts.

sthomannch · Sun 29/10/2006 01:37:35

Hey! I hope you really found it. BTW, you work nightshifts? Thanks a lot.

sthomannch · Sun 29/10/2006 09:06:37

nihilyst, I tried it again with the german keyboard layout and now the inventory items can be combined. Finished it, and I enjoyed it a lot. Excellent game!

Afflict · Sun 05/11/2006 12:53:34

So how do i make the keyboard german

I tried giving it some beer but now its not working at all!

nihilyst · Sun 05/11/2006 13:07:31

If you have windows, open the control panel. Open the keyboard settings. There you can change the keyboard layout to that of other states: choose german (IBM). I don't know the termini of the english version of windows, I hope that was comprehensible enough.

blueskirt · Sun 05/11/2006 20:48:56

I just finished your game after changing the keyboard options to german. Really awesome game, keep up the good work.

thewalrus · Mon 06/11/2006 00:45:15

I really enjoy the game as well. But have also had problems with inventory items. I can't seem to give anything to the guy in the painting. So I can't wake up the other gardener guy...... So I got frustrated and didn't finish the game. I did download the update, just haven't unzipped it yet. I will, cause like I said, I really like the game. Great job!!!

Afflict · Mon 06/11/2006 13:24:44

Ok, well ALl I got was a speed and hardware tab. Under the hardware tab there is troubleshoot and settings.

Under setting there was only driver information and no where, where I can change the layout.