A Tale Of Two Kingdoms (Deluxe Edition)

Started by Radiant, Mon 16/07/2007 00:55:56

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Leonard LePage

Quote from: Tuomas on Wed 08/08/2007 22:56:40
I'm sorry but I can't help saying this wasn't a bt of a disappointment regarding graphics since I've seen a lot of the work before, also I've been working on this game myself spritewise, ones that were unused. But nevertheles, I'll play this game through and see what it makes, as a game, you know. I just thought that I'd make a remark regarding the first impresion it gave me.

I think you did well with your team Radiant. But I can't help thinking you could have done better.

Sounds like someone's just miffed that their sprites weren't used. I say this because I thought the graphics were spectacular! Right up there with some of the best graphics I've ever seen in a freeware game.

nihilyst

Quote from: Leonard LePage on Thu 09/08/2007 02:13:22
I say this because I thought the graphics were spectacular! Right up there with some of the best graphics I've ever seen in a freeware game.

Seconded, although the quality of the backgrounds alters. But nevertheless: the bgs are beautiful and well animated, the character portraits are marvellous. Great job!

Tuomas

Quote from: Leonard LePage on Thu 09/08/2007 02:13:22
Sounds like someone's just miffed that their sprites weren't used. I say this because I thought the graphics were spectacular! Right up there with some of the best graphics I've ever seen in a freeware game.

Seriously though, mine weren't that good, I agree this one has better. I'm just pointing out, that the prospects were higher when I was following the making of this game. I suppose I expected too much, probably the screenshots were the best ones from the game, at least it appears so imo.

P S

Whatchoo talk' bout dogg?

ATOTK hella rocks!

Jhumjhum

Thanks a million Radiant for making this fantastic game!

It was exceptionally wonderful and wonderfully exceptional.

After a long time I got to play a full length fantasy adventure.

I wish you had made all the quests compulsory and tied it to the main storyline. I finished the game and realized I hadn't done so many things and played again (looking at the er.. walkthru this time :-[) to see where I'd gone wrong.

I was hoping
Spoiler
We would somehow see Maeuldun getting married to the princess. I know there was the lady Branwyn, but the main character getting the princess seems more romantic to me somehow.

Also I could have sworn that the goody goody Lord paradur was the culprit and the ending of the game would involve throwing him and the snob jeweller to the gallows.
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Loved the characters, especially the pooka and the scarecrow. The music was divine. A screenshot of Thena na Oge is my current desktop wallpaper.

Waiting to see more of your games in the future.

PS: I also loved playing Warthogs.


Radiant

By popular request we have made part of the ATOTK soundtrack available for download as MP3. Enjoy!

http://crystalshard.net/atotk.php?page=down

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires

Escuse me, but are you planning on releasing a 1.2 version to fix that annoying little bug in chapter one? I'm waiting for the fix in order to play the game. Maybe just a patch, if that's the only fix?
Reach for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Kneel. Now.

Never throw chicken at a Leprechaun.

Radiant

Quote from: Rui "Trovatore" Pires on Sun 19/08/2007 19:12:12
Escuse me, but are you planning on releasing a 1.2 version to fix that annoying little bug in chapter one? I'm waiting for the fix in order to play the game. Maybe just a patch, if that's the only fix?

Yes, I am. Hopefully within a week. It took so long because there's other things to fix as well; most of them minor, though.

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires

Reach for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Kneel. Now.

Never throw chicken at a Leprechaun.

farvardin

congratulation for the game "A tale of two kingdoms", Radiant, I've tested it on linux Debian, it's working well, except I couldn't have any music, but it doesn't matter (AGS doesn't seem to support Alsa). Thank you for having checked it could work for linux users (by not having windows only extensions).
I haven't played much of the game, but the graphics are gorgeous !

jkohen

Quote from: farvardin on Tue 21/08/2007 12:33:33
Radiant, I've tested it on linux Debian, it's working well, except I couldn't have any music, but it doesn't matter (AGS doesn't seem to support Alsa).

Works great here using ALSA with OSS emulation. You can always try "aoss ags" if the engine complains about not having enough free channels/voices.

Radiant

#111
Now available: update v1.2

This fixes (to my knowledge) every bug and issue reported in these threads, in particular teleporting from your bedroom to Thierna na Oge, being unable to pick up the pigeon in one room, and being unable to cross the bridge in rabbit form. I wish to thank everybody for their feedback.

Download full game

Nostradamus

Great, now I can finally start over and play the game to the end. Thanks for the update.



InCreator

#113
Little issue:
When rabbit is leaving the castle, in the (outside!) room with castle entrance and balcony(Room 17?), "entry cannot be found" error appears. I don't know how it happened, but it just appeared when room faded in.
Nothing bad though, clicked message away and game continued as usual.

Queen Kara

Probably not bugs but....(since they're possible spoilers I thought it would be a good to put them in spoiler box or whatever)
Spoiler
When I went to play the game in chapter 1, I couldn't find any pieces to put on the board and since you're not allowed to move pieces alreadyon the board I couldn't really play the game so I never got anywhere with that. I kept looking at the "hints" and trying but I gave up because no matter what I tried it seemed like there wasn't really a way to do anything other than have a closeup of the board and quit or stuff....maybe I missed something so I will go back later and look at the drawer that I just got an idea about but I would be surprised if that changes anything. Then, when trying to fool the captain so I can get the rope, he never comes up fast enough...I go to the balcony and he doesn't come so because he's always so slow or missing I try to go down but that's when I get caught. Minor issue but if you get to a certain spot of the balcony it looks like you're standing in midair right in front of the edge or whatever instead of being _inside" the balcony. I guess I keep going too far to the edge there....thankfully it doesn't impede movement but it's an odd little thing that I kept noticing when trying to fool that guy.
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Otherwise the game is very enjoyable so far.
Lovely graphics.
I'm jealous of the artists because I wish I could make backgrounds like that .....I'd love to make games that remind people of King's Quest and other games in art quality but I will probably never be that good.
Klaatu Verata Niktu?

Radiant

For the Dampiry game, simply click on the board.

Spoiler

The balcony is optional, and you're not supposed to wait for him, nor to use the stairs.
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Rui 'Trovatore' Pires

#116
Apparently, in the beggining of Chapter 4,

Spoiler
if I enter the orchard via the village, instead of via the path, the girl does not appear, and it doesn't seem to appear when I later enter the orchard either.
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Also, in chapter 3, I seem to have misplaced the coin I found

Spoiler
by the waterfall. I have not given it to the guy on the bridge, or made a wish (I toyed with both of these, but then restored). Branwyn doesn't have it either. I was in my inventory, and then it wasn't. :P I noticed it when I got to the jeweller's and tried to sell the conch. Is it a bug, or can I have misplaced it somewhere, or gotten stolen, or what? And if it IS a bug, will I need that coin?

EDIT - Nevermind, it was probably payment for the sword. But did the game say it was? I DID wonder how I was going to pay for it, but since the game just let me, I didn't bother overmuch. One ducat, then, was it? I'm pretty sure the game didn't tell me about it...
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And by the way, when you drink in the pond, your reflection doesn't drink with you.

One last thing - with more than one inventory page, at times I'm at the TOP of the page (as it were) and I still get the arrow pointing UP. It disappears when I click on it. Little thing, I know...

IMPORTANT - The game will freeze if you open your inventory and USE the holey stone when in the fairy ring.

EDIT - I finished the game. I loved most of it - music, graphics, animations, all brilliant. What I disliked was some puzzles and/or the presentation of some items and/or how to GET those items, and knowing I was stupidly missing out on stuff eventually made me resort to the walkthrough.

Spoiler
The black hair - the king's just been stabbed, and his killer's fleeing, and there's no clue as to why I should LOOK at the door!

The rope - I didn't even *see* the rope until I read it in the walkthrough and cranked up my Gamma settings. With so much care for shortcuts, why not also a gamma slider?

Getting the rope - Jumping out of the balcony? Being a guest in the palace? No one even reacts? Maeldun is there as a diplomat, why should he even consider jumping over the balcony like that?

The giant puzzle - even as I squished the apples and did the rest of the puzzle, I thought, "those are obviously not rocks! Shouldn't I have disguised them in some way?" I'd have never thought the giant was THAT stupid.

The holy water - this is what definitely put me on the walkthrough. I first got the cider, then I got the holy water, then I got regular water to get the comb - I got them as I saw them. Then, ONE CHAPTER LATER, I go for some more holy water - there isn't any. I had NO IDEA I could only have taken it once, if I did I wouldn't have wasted it like I did. There was nothing to indicate that there was only enough water for once, or that the fount was now empty, and in fact all other interactions lead me to believe there's still water in it.

The golden apple - just tell me, is there anyone who can tell me, or anywhere I can find out, that the apple's enchantment is a sleep enchantment? If not, it's pretty much guesswork.

The "you can rest here" puzzle - boy, I sure am glad I had the walkthrough for this one. It's common courtesy to at least hint the player that he shouldn't rest - usually via some narrator messages that go "You feel all your worries ebbing away. All your toils, all your troubles, dissolve into nothingness. Soon you almost forget you and your own were ever wanted men."

The horseshoe - You did give a subtle hint. Nevertheless, a slight visual hint would have come in handy as well. But this is a point I won't press.

The acorns - you do realize that oak tree had little to distinguish it from all the other trees in the game and that after having interacted with so many the player usually feels no desire to interact with what seems to be yet another one that doesn't even have an unusual "look" message, right?

The raknovisk, or whatever - in my playthough, the grass was around the fairy ring. Boy, what a pixel-hunt until I actually found the right place to click in that bloody ring. :P Made me wonder several times if it WAS the fairy ring.

I realize most of these things are, in one way or another, optional. I don't mind optional when it's because of something I can't figure out. But when it's because of my Gamma setting or because of that holy water issue, I just give up.
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Otherwise, the game was great.

EDIT 2 - One more thing:

Spoiler
What are the clues that the Blacksmith did it? Not game-wise - how are we supposed to figure it out? What's supposed to clue us in? One of the big clues doesn't even point in his direction - the black, perfumed hair.
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Reach for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Kneel. Now.

Never throw chicken at a Leprechaun.

Fizzii

Rui-

About the coin:
Spoiler
Yes, the blacksmith does charge one ducat for having the sword sharpened... he mentions 'For me regular fee o'course', then takes the coin. If you didn't have the money then he would've asked how you were going to pay for it, or something.
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Regarding inventory items:
Spoiler
Black hair - you don't need it at all; it's a red herring. You don't get any points for getting it, and it's obviously Rhiannon's given that it's long, black and scented with flowers.

Can't answer about gamma slider to check the rope brightness, but I do have to say that all the graphics I did appeared fine on my monitor, but it seems that if one's monitor isn't calibrated properly, a lot of thing appear too dark.

Anyway, a rope is always useful to have in case one gets into a sticky situation ;); but said puzzle is entirely optional.

Giant puzzle - is based on a fairytale story (Brave Little Tailor?). In which the protagonist defeats a troll/giant by cheese or similar method. Let's just say the giant has very poor eyesight and/or is colourblind :)

Holy water - fortunately, there is another object that can be used in place of it, so you don't neccessarily need it if you have that other object.

Golden apple - if you ask the monk to look through books, one of the descriptions will yield dialogue about Snow White and a golden apple.

Staying trapped in Thierna na Oge - Taliesen hints in his dialogue that the lure of the Fae is strong and one has to be careful not to get enchanted by them. Also, in between chapters, after defeating Rashakk, there is dialogue between the two fae, in which the unseelie tells the seelie queen that she shall not keep 'it' (Maeldun) as her pet (or something to that extent).

Oaktree - you can see the acorns in it though ;)

Grass - I suppose the hotspot could be changed, but I believe you click on the mushrooms rather than the centre of the ring. Before ATOTK was released, the actual puzzle involved finding a certain type of mushroom, but that was changed to grass after it was pointed out that the mushroom names and appearance weren't scientifically correct.

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Finally, (note that this has a lot of storyline spoilers, and I hope I explained this clearly):

Spoiler
There are a number of hints to the player as to who the assassin is, mostly through eliminating who can't have done it by reading dialogue in cutscenes and working out what they were up to. There are three pieces of 'real' evidence: dagger, parchment from bird, black cloth. The fact that the dagger had Branwyn's crest implies that either someone had an existing dagger (or it was one of Branwyn/Taliesen), or that someone had crafted a dagger to lay the blame on the merceneries.

Now, the people in the castle at the time of the murder were: Chancellor, Geraint, Iseult, Ruadh, Midir, Rhiannon, and you, that Maeldun knows of. Branwyn, Finegas and Amairgen left the castle, and since they said they'd travel together, you know none of them could've remained in the castle. That doesn't mean to say that none of them could've gone back to murder the king, but it's much less likely.

- Ashe was never allowed in the castle, Changeling was too afraid of leaving Thierna na Oge, and Niameh is too old and probably at home at the time of the murder. Also, the sorceror's apprentice probably wouldn't kill the king since she was bound by the Pact, and if she did, she would probably use magic instead.

- There is no evidence pointing to Finegas or Amairgen, and in fact both are rather helpful to you. Both don't possess means of magic or stealth to re-enter the castle after having left it, therefore they are unlikely candidates.

- Branwyn and Taliesen both did not like Vortigern due to past conflict but both have each other as an alibi. Also, Branwyn is a warrior, not an assassin, and though Taliesen knows some magic, he mentions that doesn't know enough to do something complicated, say, for instance, teleport into the castle. Therefore they are ruled out.

From the cutscenes and dialogue, these are more hints you get:

- Chancellor/Geraint: Geraint mentions that the chancellor was doing something dishonourable, implying that he knew where the chancellor was at the time of the murder.

- Chancellor/Midir: Chancellor mentions that Midir's behaviour was disgraceful, and Midir tells you he was having a drink with 'a friend' and got drunk. Note, if you show the black cloth to Midir, he will tell you that someone bought a cloak from him recently. Also note that Midir and Cailte are friends from the cutscene between the two. Midir is an unlikely candidate for a murder given that he was snoring fast asleep during the whole event.

- Jeweller/Ruadh: Discuss 'a deal'. You know that the girdle is in the jeweller's shop, implying that she somehow stole your belt... most likely, Ruadh had stolen it, which he later admits to. (If you befriend Ruadh, he'll mention offhand that the Jeweller and Paradur are lovers - this is what Geraint was referring to as 'disgraceful' behaviour by the chancellor. This was subtle, but note that the two were quite friendly to each other in the library, that Iseult stuck up for the chancellor by admonishing Rhiannon in the dinner scene, and that she's later seen visiting at the castle). This effectively rules out Iseult, Ruadh, and Paradur from commiting the crime.

This leaves three people left: Rhiannon, Cailte, Geraint.

- Rhiannon is not the murderer primarily because she was already in the throneroom by the time the guards took you there. The assassin wouldn't have been able to get into the throneroom without being seen, therefore the assassin can't be Rhiannon (also because it's highly unlikely that she'd murder her own father at such a time like this)

- I suspect that most players might've thought that Geraint was the murderer (or Paradur). Geraint isn't the murderer mainly because evidence doesn't truly suggest that he is, only suggestions by characters such as Taliesen. Also note that the guard at the gate castle says that Geraint stays with the soldiers in the barracks each evening, effectively giving him an alibi. Character-wise, Geraint is too loyal and honourable to murder his own king.

This leaves Cailte.

- Talking to townspeople about the king's death: All of them will acknowledge that the king was murdered except Cailte. Also, Cailte seems quite intent on having Geraint as king, and calls King Vortigern weak and feeble. If you show him Branwyn's dagger, he will mention that it's not interesting, and that he could craft one easily within a week. Cailte seems in denial about the whole situation. In a cutscene between him and the sorceror's apprentice, he insists she find out where Maeldun the murderer is - this may throw some people off from thinking it's Cailte, but note that Cailte insists that Maeldun is the murderer - his intention is to see whether the apprentice can discern the truth, but more the fact that he wants Maeldun scapegoated so there's less chance evidence will pop up against him.

- The third piece of evidence - the note: Implies there's political intrigue going on. Cailte isn't particularly in a position of power, but the wizard is powerful, and can convince Cailte to his cause and get him to do his bidding.

So in summary, while Iseult and Paradur were spending time together, Ruadh was stealing Maeldun's girdle, and Geraint spending time with his guards, Cailte got Midir drunk, then carried out the murder. He had made a dagger beforehand to ensure the blame was laid on the mercenaries, and had bought a cloak from Midir to ensure that he was not easily recognised. He had enough motive, despising Vortigern for losing to Whiteblade years ago, and he certainly had opportunity to carry out the crime.
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Rui 'Trovatore' Pires

Re coin:

Spoiler
Arr, I noticed the "regular fee". I thought, "damn, I probably won't be able to afford it. But let's wait until he says how much it is." But then he just took the sword, and I thought, "Oh. Maybe I'll only have to pay when the job's done." And later on I noticed the missing coin...
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Regarding inventory items:

Spoiler
Black hair - A red herring that has some relevance, as it immediately throws suspicion on someone. At any rate, it's explained, I guess - but honestly, you didn't expect anyone to find it on a regular playthrough, did you?

"Anyway, a rope is always useful to have in case one gets into a sticky situation ; but said puzzle is entirely optional." --> Ayuh, but it's one thing not to do an optional puzzle because I don't get it. It's another thing, much more frustrating, if I can't do it because the game was a tad too dark, for my monitor, in the room where the rope was.

Giant puzzle - If I'd known his eyesight was poor and he was colourblind, I might have gotten it. ;) Never heard of the fairytale you mentioned - which is always something to consider. Not everyone knows the same stories.

Holy water - Yes, there's another object, which I'd already used to dispose of the first Berghest. Thus leaving me with no way to save the princess on the last chapter. :P A situation which wouldn't have happened if I had had some way of knowing, or even noticing right after the deed, that the holy water was only good once.

Golden apple - Sure I did, but again - fairytale stories. I saw the references, I skimmed through it. And in my mind, Snow White's apple is bright red, it's always been a juicy red apple. So the "golden" didn't register. Not everyone has the same story references... and seeing Snow White, my brain just didn't register the "golden" bit.

Staying trapped in Thierna na Oge - You know, you're right. That probably is warning enough.

Oaktree - Those were acorns? They didn't look like much of anything. :P

Grass - I wasn't trying to click the center, I was clicking *around* the ring. Around the stones, actually - how was I to know the mushrooms made the ring, rather than the stones? Anyway, I didn't want to pick up a mushroom, so it seemed fairly obvious I shouldn't click on the mushrooms...
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Re storyline - So it's strickly for the Sherlock Holmes' out there. :P Not my cup of tea, waaaaaaay too dense without any actual response in-game (in-game I'm trying to figure out the goblin thing, mostly), way too many things to happen inside my head. But I guess some people will enjoy it... maybe. You've certainly put a lot of thought into it. Me, if I want a mystery like that I play Laura Bow or something, I certainly wasn't ready to do all those mental gymnastics in a fantasy game.
Reach for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Kneel. Now.

Never throw chicken at a Leprechaun.

Radiant

Spoiler
Black hair - yes, I expected some (but few) people to find it, and turns out they did :) some players compulsively look at everything.

The problem with Snow White's apple is that in several renditions of the fairy tale, it has a different color. In some tales it is white-and-red, for instance, and in some it is bright green. The reason it's gold is to attract attention, and to distinguish it from the regular apples (that are red, in the orchard).

Aside from that, several people hint at it being enchanted, and you can show it to the faeries to learn more.
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Sherlocking isn't everybody's cup(pit) of tea, but you can get a lot of mileage out of the game without doing that. I think in many adventure games there's groups of people that just want to get to the end, and others that want the full score.

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