Forge: Loom sequel (updated Dec 17th, 2013)

[Abisso]

is proud to share the launch of the new Forge fan-game website and domain. Unfortunately "forge.com" wasn't available, but I think "forgegame.com" is simple and clear enough. This choice comes with some changes in the website: don't expect flying swans and interactive distaffs though. There's been a complete revision of the text and some invisible yet useful changes in the code.

For those who aren't familiar with the project, please visit the Story section in our website. There you will find a synopsis of Forge's mother-game, Loom, along with a brief explanation of what our fan-made sequel seeks to accomplish.

But since I've posted here, the least I can do is giving a brief explanation:

Forge is an adventure game in the style of early nineties LucasArts' games. It's a full-length game, which will require some hours to be completed. Following the steps of his predecessor, Forge will be less interactive than most of the adventure of those days, because there will be neither a text-parser nor a verb GUI as the main interface. All basic interactions will be done with a single-click, but a special GUI will be used to "draw schematics". Schematics are some sort of spells that can be cast by the main character thanks to his special gauntlets, allowing him to control reality and achieve wondrous effects.

But I think it's time to give you something to "nibble". Let's start with a couple of backgrounds:

Here you can see GUI and the home of Prof.Penumbra, that will help Rusty in his quest.


This is the Guild of Miners, in all its splendour.


And this one's a charming view of one of the caves.

You can find some more in the Gallery section of our website of course.

Some tech info:

Resolution: 320x200
Colour depth: 16 bit (there are rarely more than 256 colours on screen at the same time, though)
Music&SFX: ogg, 128kbps
Dubbed: complete, only English
Translations: multi-language
Engine: Adventure Game Studio

Current team members:

Abisso: game designer/coder/touch-ups
Selmiak: webmaster

A lot of other people have been outsourced in these years: graphic artists, animators, musicians.

We're in desperate need of:

-Spriters (pixel-art)
-Background artists (pixel-art)
-SFX technicians
-Public relations publicists / journalists

And we gladly accept also:
-English voice-actors
-Translators
-Beta-testers

I strongly encourage you to check our Tech Demo, visit our Forum and drop a message in the Project Assistance Sub-Board. Or just send me a PM or an email if you don't intend to sign in.

The plan is to release a demo this Spring: that will be the last demo before the full-game release and it will look exactly like it, except it will only be playable until the end of Chapter One.

I hope the demo will trigger a cycle of enthusiasm and help us fill the missing positions in our team. Even now any contribution is more than welcome, be that a Donation or an offer to volunteer your skills.

Donors will receive:

• CREDIT! It goes without saying that you'll receive credit for your generosity on our website / forum / completed game.
• CUSTOM REQUEST! Want to see something personal in Forge? You'll have the chance to ask our team to include something meaningful to you, be it a bit of dialogue, an item, a special animation, etc. We do have to keep this within reason ( e.g., no chickens with pumpkin heads ;p ), so conditions do apply; but we'll work with you to make it special.
• BRAG! You have the right to tell people: «Hey, I worked on that game!» wink.
• PERSONALIZED THANKS! I'm in no way a fan of standardized "thank you" messages written by bots, so you'll receive a heartfelt and personalized one. The answer will be sent to the email address linked to your paypal account. In case you didn't receive any reply, the email probably got lost in the web jungle, so feel free to contact us and claim it!
• PRIDE! Even without the perks above, you'll know you contributed to a project that means a lot to a group of Loom fanatics out there; and supporting art and creativity is something anyone can feel good about.

To donate, please click on the button below. Thanks for your kindness.



Here is the link to our website (new domain): http://forgegame.com/

Stay tuned for more information, and please visit us often!

*********
February 25th, 2013 - Update:
We're close to the ending of the first beta-testing stage. There will be at least another one, but as soon as all the bugs have been killed, Forge: Chapter One will be released publicly. This is the last demo-step before the release of the complete game, but it's a crucial one, as further development of the game will depend on the success of this demo. Not only we hope to see a huge crowd downloading and enjoying it, but we hope someone in that crowd will decide to join the team or at least allow us to outsource and pay an artist thanks to some donations. With the current money we can afford outsourcing only 4 backgrounds, which is about one fifth of what we need to complete the game; and then there are in-game sprites and animations.
Speaking of money, I'm proud to announce a new section of our Donations page that shows and explains how each cent has been (and will be) used. We also introduced a way to help us even for those who don't feel skilled enough to join the team and can't afford donating some money: since the team relies on Dropbox for backups and project related file-sharing, we offer the chance for you and us to increase our web-storage space by signing in (for free) to the same service.
Check our Donations page to know more about all these news.

Since the last update on these boards, the team has lost one of its members, Valecene, our proofreader. We're looking for a possible replacement but there already is a candidate. Though it's not official we can also announce that Jamison Alderson, the musician that has composed about 85% of the original soundtrack, expressed his interest in continuing to donate his skills to the project for the next Chapters. A good thing, since he's a great guy to work with and, most importantly, a really talented composer.

This is more or less everything. Stay tuned for more, but please don't forget to check our website at forgegame.com for frequent updates.

See you there,
-Gabriele "Abisso" Nannetti

*********
October 3rd, 2013 - Update:

Some good news: a talented artist has completely reworked one of the backgrounds for Chapter One, which only served the purpose of a short cutscene before. I had to paint it by myself previously, and the result was only decent. Now it's gorgeous, and the new design called for some extra features. Now there are really interesting elements of gameplay and some cool features which make that room different from the rest of the game and yet coherent with it.

Of course, all of this required time: not just for the extra design, coding and sfx creation, but also because when you start working with someone on such an important part of the game, you need to instruct him about the game's back story, the atmosphere, and the technicalities.
In the end it was worth it, I believe, especially if the guy will be available to work on Chapter 3-5 backgrounds. I'm still unsure if this is the case.

Another potentially interesting news is I'm working with a lively amateur film director, who's also interested in doing some PR work for the game. A position far more crucial than it might seem, as spreading the word seems to be our best chance to find more and more people to help us developing Forge. Art is still a huge issue, and what slows up development the most.
Still on the topic of news, I've been recently interviewed about Forge, but I'll tell you more about that in the next update.


Some bad news about voice-acting: several unexpected issues and some of the suggestions of the beta-testers required some dialogues to be added, and some to be reworked from scratch. Some people didn't do what they were supposed to, and so I had to do some scouting for new voices. That meant a lot of selective work, with extra bad surprises from some of the contacted people. Not many choices are left now, but some good ones with professional equipment, and the lines that have to be recorded are not that many, so I think everything will work out fine, in the end.
I still haven't contacted the new guys because I have to be totally sure there won't be extra lines to be recorded.


Bugs: I think I've fixed all the ones spotted during the 2nd beta-stage, but I definitely need another beta-stage because of all the extras and to check the fixes. I'm totally positive that this is going to be faster and smoother than the previous tests, to the point that I'm finally going to make the long awaited announcement:

Forge's release date has been set to the first half of December!

And I'm talking about 2013, so this should be great news for all of you weavers. Or so I hope.


I'm not sure I'll manage this beta-stage as the previous ones, with open subscriptions. Somehow that didn't turn out that well, so I'll probably come up with a different approach. I'll let you know in the next few days, and anyway I intend to begin the testing in the third week of October.

Stay tuned and please visit our official boards for further info and updates.

May the Forge be with you,
-Gabriele "Abisso" Nannetti

*********
December 16th, 2013 - Update:

Chapter One has finally been released! Download it NOW before it's too late!

CLICK HERE FOR THE DOWNLOAD PAGE

Dec 17th, 2013 quick edit: in case you have trouble with the installer version, I've added a simple archive just below the standard download.

*********



P.S. The previous thread has been abandoned because the first post wasn't mine and so I couldn't change the topic's title. The old messages are still there though, but the topic is locked: link to the old AGS topic about the game

[fózi]

Fantastic job! Looking forward to it.

[Kaelem Gaen]

Nice! I was almost worried it disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Glad to see it's still being Worked on, any plans to also do a Little Radio Play to fill in Gaps?  (There was a Loom audio drama apparently with only a few of the collectors versions of the game.)

Maybe extra background prior to the start of the game?

[Abisso]

Fantastic job! Looking forward to it.

Thanks fózi!

Nice! I was almost worried it disappeared into a puff of smoke.

Glad to see it's still being Worked on, any plans to also do a Little Radio Play to fill in Gaps?  (There was a Loom audio drama apparently with only a few of the collectors versions of the game.)

Maybe extra background prior to the start of the game?

Actually there is more than a plan to do an entire Forge Audio Drama: it's currently being written and I'm already in contact with a possible voice actor as well.

Moreover, some Loom gaps (especially those involving Rusty) will be filled in Forge and some of them will be fully playable (not simple cutscenes).

[DCS78]

I am a voice actor (and learning AGS coding). If you need help I'd be glad to lend my voice.

[Abisso]

Thanks for the kind offer. You've got a private message.

[fózi]

Hey! I checked your demo, brilliant work! I sincerely hope you can get this done in full quality.

For good pixel artists I suggest you look in www.pixeljoint.com

And for SFX/music needs I suggest www.modarchive.org

Regards

[wisnoskij]

Looks completely amazing.

[Abisso]

Thanks to all of you. I wish I could work on it more and have a stable team, but sadly it's not like that. Progress is slow but constant and that's the only thing I can guarantee.

February 25, 2013 Update: check the first post of this thread to know more about it.

[Tramponline]

Good to hear you guys are still keeping busy in the background.
Was almost convinced the project was in hiatus since there were no new posts.

Sounds like I was wrong (fortunately!) and you guys made some massive progress in the meanwhile.
Best of luck!

[Abisso]

Hello Tramponline, and thanks for your interest.

I owe a lot to AGS and this board, so I apologize for not keeping it updated. Sadly the little free time I have must be directed fully towards coding (bug-fixing at the moment) and minor pixel jobs. I have lots of threads spread throughout the Web, but truth is I never update any of them. On the other hand I try to post monthly updates on forgegame.com, so I encourage anyone who's interested to check it out often. You don't even have to sign in if you're not interested in being part of the community, as you can read the summaries on our homepage.

As someone might have noticed, anyway, I'm now looking for a public relations publicist / journalist for the exact purpose of keeping contact with fans and updating thread on all the boards and blogs. I understand the importance of spreading the word and keeping the interest high, but I'm hardly the best person to do such a thing, as I'm a very reserved guy in real life as well.
I think as Forge is my beloved child though, and I intend to do all it takes to keep it healthy and thriving. So, yes, I'm taking care of it, don't worry.

Hope to see you and the other fellow weavers on our boards.

Sincerely,
-Gabriele "Abisso"

[DazJ]

This is looking absolutely great guys! Really captures the feel of the original

[Corby]

Good luck!

[Abisso]

If both Dick Larenzo and a Northlands' Heroine show interest in Forge, all I can say is I'm flattered!

Seriously guys, thanks.

@DazJ: though I'm still waiting for a complete Dick Larenzo's game (demo was really funny), I wish you the best with Calm Waters DazJ.
@Corby: good luck with Heroine's Quest, and thanks for your help with Forge.

[Autocyclist]

I'm hoping this is still in development. If so, I'd be happy to donate to the cause.
One thing I'd like to mention, based on the demo: Show, don't tell. I know it's easier said than done, but reading screeds of text in one scene isn't the most fun.

[Darth Mandarb]

Autocyclist - Would you also be happy to read the forum rules before posting??

Abisso - let me know if you need/want to post an update and I'll unlock it!

[Abisso]

Hello weavers!

There is an important update about the game: release date for the demo (which includes the complete Chapter One) has been set to the first half of December.

Check the first post in this topic for details.

Thanks to everyone for the patience and support.
-Gabriele "Abisso" Nannetti

[KodiakBehr]

Wow.  This looks fantastic!

[Abisso]

Wow.  This looks fantastic!

Thanks Kodiak, and good luck with Conspirocracy. It's a shame you haven't managed to fund it fully, but I'm glad the game will see the light of day all the same.


And now, fellow weavers, I'm proud to invite you to our betatesting. CLICK HERE to know more!

[selmiak]

Since Abisso is probably sleeping or preparing a nice post to put in here or to update the first post I just want to post this in the meantime...

http://forgegame.com/?p=downloads

[TheBitPriest]

Amazing work!

[Construed]

Looking great! excellent shading on the art!

[cacaro]

YES! Thanks so much!

[Abisso]

Since Abisso is probably sleeping or preparing a nice post to put in here or to update the first post I just want to post this in the meantime...

http://forgegame.com/?p=downloads

At the time you wrote this I was probably in Morpheus' realm, yeah! You did well in sharing the link in the meantime, but this board deserves a slightly more elaborate post (in addition to the update of the first one), for sure. So, here it is.



This community is where it all began. I wasn't even remotely aware of the project, when it started taking shape. To be 100% honest, I wasn't even aware of Loom: as a matter of fact, it was one of the few Lucas games I had never played. I still remember that one of my sister's friends used to play it at the time I was playing The Secret of Monkey Island. He gently offered to let me borrow his copy, but unfortunately my 286 PC didn't have a 3" 1/2 floppy drive at the time.
I was 6 or 7 years old, but I recall being fascinated by the blue tonalities of Loom's Island, the same ones that made me fall in love with MI. But we couldn't afford buying lots of games at the time, and I already had MI to play. Long story short, time passed and I forgot about Loom.

Then, almost 20 years later I stumble upon this AGS guy who wants help with a "project". He didn't share much info about it, and only wanted a generic support. I was coming from a long fast in terms of game-making and I thought helping a newcomer wrapping up is little game was the best way to get back on track. I offered him my help, and it turned out it was Forge. I rediscovered Loom, played it, loved it, played it again, loved it again, and so on. And then I imbued Forge with the same passion. Or so I tried.

It's ironic how coincidentally this all sounds: I didn't even know Loom, and I ended up becoming the coder, and then the project leader of its sequel. Chaos would be proud of this course of events!

Anyway, the AGS community has been very supportive, directly and indirectly, throughout the years. This is especially true considering how bad a promoter I am, and how little time I spent updating the threads and sharing progress.
It might sound cheesy, but I don't know if I would have made it so far without you people; and most certainly not without the game engine itself. But this demo is just a milestone and the road is still long and full of hazards. I need support and especially talented journey mates.
Please spread the word as best as you can, and if you have some free time and some creativity to share, consider joining our team.

But enough words, for now. I'll let the game speak for itself. Hope you enjoy.

CLICK HERE FOR THE DOWNLOAD PAGE

[Construed]

I'm on a very slow connection or I would have downloaded it already, Is there any way you could add a link to a .ZIP or .RAR version?

[selmiak]

the exe you download is, as far as I know, already a zipped selfextracting archive, so zipping it again will not make it smaller. But I have an idea, I'll have to talk with Abisso about it.

[Corby]

Looking forward to playing through the first act! Looks amazing as always.

[Abisso]

I'm on a very slow connection or I would have downloaded it already, Is there any way you could add a link to a .ZIP or .RAR version?

Well, not exactly, but there's a .TAR archive now! You can find it in the DOWNLOAD PAGE, right below the standard version.

Still, don't get too happy about that... the installer version already uses the very good LZMA compression, and it's 16 MiB bigger just because of the background image and the track used in the installer GUI.
Anyway, I had already planned to add an archive version for Linux users, as Wine seems to be quite annoyed by that installer, while it works flawlessly with the game itself.

Looking forward to playing through the first act! Looks amazing as always.

What are you waiting for?!?!? It's not like you have your own game to release in a few days... or is it?

[kaput]

This is really good! It's like watching a very enjoyable movie . A lotta' love has went in to this.

[miguel]

Wow! Great stuff here! Just like playing a classic Lucas game! Congrats guys!
I'm stuck on the graves puzzle, though! I suck at puzzles!

[Peder 🚀]

The game is looking awesome!

Though I'm also stuck at the same place as miguel.. :-/. I'd appreciate a hint in PM form .

[miguel]

+1

[Abisso]

Heya guys!

First of all, thanks for the feedback! I have mixed feelings about the game being enjoyable as a film: though I discovered a long time ago that some players prefer that approach, some others want more interactivity. I tried to achieve a good mix, and though the first part of Ch.1 is very cutscenes-driven, the rest is better balanced.

As per the graveyard puzzle, here are some progressively less obscure hints for you guys. Please don't go straight to the solution, try to use as few hints as you can.

First hint

Spoiler

Only some of the verses in the riddle contain hints. 5 of them as you might have figured out since the tomb sequence gets reset after the 5th tomb clicked in sequence.

[close]

Second hint

Spoiler

There are some words in those verses that make a reference to the epitaphs of the other tombs. Check them all, both the names and the epitaph itself.

[close]

Third hint

Spoiler

The verses containing keywords are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th.

[close]

Solution

Spoiler

tomb sequence is (from left to right, including the one with the riddle): 3-6-4-1-8

[close]

One thing that's worth mentioning anyway, is that, unlike Loom, in Forge the Proficiency Mode influences the game a lot. This includes the difficulty of that puzzle and of many others, as well as other special content. All this precious info didn't make it in the game's reference card, but a manual is in the making, and I might include it in the next instalment of Ch.1 (if there will be one).

Cheers!

[miguel]

Cheers Abisso, but selmiak gave me the answer last night!
It's a fantastic game so far, really good!

[selmiak]

[Construed]

Certainly one of the most wonderfully illustrated indie dev games I've played.
I especially like the musical incantation which is specially and professionally orchestrated!
Your doing a swell job and I see a bright future for you and Quill O Wisp!

[Abisso]

Cheers Abisso, but selmiak gave me the answer last night!
It's a fantastic game so far, really good!

Lol... but did he tell you he had to ask me for the solution during the beta-testing?
Glad you like the game.

Certainly one of the most wonderfully illustrated indie dev games I've played.
I especially like the musical incantation which is specially and professionally orchestrated!
Your doing a swell job and I see a bright future for you and Quill O Wisp!

Oh yes... Jamison Alderson is an amazing composer. He's the main responsible for the game's soundtrack. And the especially good thing is he's the kind of artist who immediately grasps the requests, and thus his works rarely require touch-ups. I hope he'll keep working with us through the rest of the game. And let's not forget Jon Babb, aka Bosa, and Paride Semeraro. And also Ashley Alyse, who's gently allowed me to borrow a couple of her already existing tracks.
When I reflect upon the fact Ch.1 score is already made of about 25 unique tracks... it almost feels crazy!

And thanks for the kind words about QOTW and its future. I wish the same to your Grim Quest, and your team.

[Construed]

Yes indeed Abisso, I'm sure anyone who plays this will agree and the graphics are about as good as it gets!
I'll surely play the chapter to its completion and let you know VIA PM If I find and bugs/glitches or have any suggestions but honestly this game seems pretty much perfect thus far, The musical code entry makes me want to sit and try a million combinations, I will have to come up with some similar puzzle for our game, It's outstanding!

[Secret Fawful]

You guys deserve a medal for getting this gauntlet interface to work so flawlessly in AGS. I'm racking my brains trying to figure out how you coded it. It's great.

[Bòógieman]

you guys did an amazing job! 
I have spent already a few hours on chapter 1 and I really love it!!! 
but now I am stuck without a clue and so I created a help thread for your game.

however, keep on the good work!

[Abisso]

You guys deserve a medal for getting this gauntlet interface to work so flawlessly in AGS. I'm racking my brains trying to figure out how you coded it. It's great.

Wow, this is the best comment a programmer can receive. I'm flattered...
But, to be honest, there's a whole lot of amazing AGS games from the scripting standpoint. Quoting them all would make a long, long list, really.

Still

you guys did an amazing job! 
I have spent already a few hours on chapter 1 and I really love it!!! 
but now I am stuck without a clue and so I created a help thread for your game.

however, keep on the good work!

A few hours, you say? Hrmm... one thing I never took the time to calculate, nor ask to the testers is the length of the game, but it's very interesting to know it's already in that range. I'm positive the full game will be longer than Loom (which is not hard to achieve, since it was quite short).
Glad you're enjoying it so far and you managed to solve that puzzle, in a way or another!

[Secret Fawful]

Oh man, you even added in something special for playing on Christmas Day? That attention to detail: WOW.

[Abisso]

Knowing someone dedicated some minutes of his time to play during Christmas is "WOW", actually!

And I also appreciate the nice comment, of course.

P.S. You should update the link on your signature's banner! I clicked hoping to discover a "A Night at Camp Ravenwood: Chapter One" and instead it brought me to the old forums' address.
P.P.S. I have high hopes for your game, so please post an update! I have things to tell / ask about it, but I don't want to dig an old thread unnecessarily. You've got a PM.

[Secret Fawful]

Thanks for pointing out the link error in my signature! I've been so focused on the game itself I never even thought about it.

[Monsieur OUXX]

A small critics: please, PLEASE make it possible for the main character to walk faster. It made me give up on the graves puzzles just because I was going crazy walking to each grave several times to read the clues.

(But don't let that spoil the happiness: that's a great, great game with an amazing level of quality)

[Abisso]

A small critics: please, PLEASE make it possible for the main character to walk faster. It made me give up on the graves puzzles just because I was going crazy walking to each grave several times to read the clues.

(But don't let that spoil the happiness: that's a great, great game with an amazing level of quality)

Eheheh... I can't even imagine what your reaction would have been if you had tested the first beta then! The character used to walk even slower.

I usually dislike inhuman speed in characters just for the sake of the player's comfort. I believe a universe needs some realism to appear coherent and keep the immersion in the game constant. I especially dislike teleportation, for instance, while I think maps are a great way to reduce the need to walk. But I do agree that, especially in some Sierra games, the need to cover long distances again and again by walking was a bad design choice. Is this really the case in Forge?
Anyway, if this fix will be requested by many, I'll surely apply it so I'm really happy that you brought this point up. I think I'll open up a poll in our Forums in the next few days, as I did with the testers during the beta.

[Radiant]

This looks very good! So how many chapters are you planning on?

Small request: could you please make a right-click on a hotspot act as two left-clicks, so that I don't have to double-click everywhere just to look at things?

[Abisso]

This looks very good! So how many chapters are you planning on?

Small request: could you please make a right-click on a hotspot act as two left-clicks, so that I don't have to double-click everywhere just to look at things?

The game has 5 Chapters, but their length varies greatly. The 1st one is about 1/3 of the entire game, for example. Anyway this whole "chapters" thing is somewhat misleading, as I'm not releasing the game in chapters. There won't be a Forge: Chapter Two, for example. I want to release the full game as the next (and last) step. I didn't know how to call the current demo, and "demo" would have been misleading as well, since this is exactly how the first part will look in the complete game. My bad for all this confusion.

The main reason for the double-click system is faithfulness to Loom; I was looking for a useful function to assign to the right-click, though, and this seems a possibility to take into account. The other one is having r-click clear the currently selected hotspot, instead.

Thanks for the feedback!

[Marquillin]

I made an account at the Forge forums, but then I thought it'd be better to post feedback here where the discussion seems hotter.

All in all I really love the fruit of your loom - er, I mean efforts - it pretty much feels like the old classic game just continued it's story!  And as this is a story I've loved for a long while, I'm very grateful to see it continue at last.  And I do believe it was a bug free experience.  Well done.

So let's talk about story/design/presentation instead.  Mostly little things.

- First off I feel that the Tombstone puzzle is, if not broken, very bent.  I love the basic design as you gradually figure out what is wanted, but there are a lot of words on both the poem and epitaphs that weren't a part of the solution, nor had they an obvious reason to be disregarded.

Spoiler

There's the word "heart" on the forth tomb.  "Fire(wood)" and "Bright(ly)" are on the third and seventh tomb (though these aren't used at all).  Soul is on the eighth tomb (which makes one wonder wither to use a stone twice).  Another issue is the forth and first stanza introduces not seeing a noun/verb represented, but instead translating the meaning, which I thought was also possible with paring the seventh line with the sixth stone as well as the last line with the second stone.  Lastly the second line has two words to find, which is also possible on the third and fifth line. 

It might be alright to have red herring words, if there was some way to see that those lines were less important then the ones to follow, like if they were actions rather then descriptions, but I can't see any.

[close]

I am the sort who tries not to turn to a walk-through, especially if I'm loving the game, but I did after hours of trying and I'm glad I did as I felt like I did everything that made sense (even tried to pick up that firewood as a way to physically strike the emblem of the anvil) and I didn't say "ah, of course" when I saw the whole solution - I just felt glad I didn't keep guessing a semi-random combo.

- Pressing space to pause is great, but it would be better if it didn't cancel out the line being spoken at the time of the pressing.

- Regarding the schematics:  I love the concept, similar enough to the original Drafts but based on visual memory rather then auditory.  Surprisingly my memory for these seem better then it was for Loom, even though I'm generally an auditory learner).  Perhaps, for more of a challenge, the reversed schematics should be backwards and upside down, possibly just on the Expert setting?  Maybe this would be harder then I know if it conflicts with patterns you've already designed.

- Hephestus tells Rusty to step aside, and they both take a small step forward, but it's not evident that he was in the way of him or the appearing statues.

- Chaos promises to restore consciousness to the dead?  Don't they already have that, seeing as how they are conversing fine?  Well maybe not that first ghost you meet, but the one who explains it all could.

- Since you obviously care about fidelity, I will question the main voice actor.  He does sound like a professional (they all sound good actually), but didn't Rusty have an Irish accent originally?  Of course he seemed to be the only blacksmith with one (even his father was English!) so I can understand the reason for the change - I prefer to play the non talkie version of loom anyway.

- Dialogue portraits harken to the original nicely, even if they aren't full screen.  It be really effective if they still changed with their temper though, if that's not asking too much of the pixel artists .

The main reason for the double-click system is faithfulness to Loom; I was looking for a useful function to assign to the right-click, though, and this seems a possibility to take into account. The other one is having r-click clear the currently selected hotspot, instead.

I'm not a scripter, but maybe it can be both?  If not then I'd choose the former and make the latter be the middle mouse button as it seem least important if people have a 2 button mouse.

Thanks again.

Spoiler

P.S. I've attained Upright, Guesser, Message, Swan Dance, Clumsy (oh god, and I really thought that would work!), Seeker and Blacksmith.  Think I should keep looking through in this demo?

[close]

[Abisso]

Hello Marquillin. Thanks for the detailed account of your gaming experience! I appreciate this kind of reviews the most.

About the Tomb Puzzle: it seems improvable, that's for sure, and most of what you say makes sense. Red herrings have to be reduced to a minimum. I'd like to keep it a fairly difficult puzzle anyway, at least at Expert proficiency mode; as a matter of fact, it's much easier at Practice Mode at the moment, but identically difficult at Standard and Expert.
First thing to do will be remove some of the most evidently "wrong" red herrings for all Modes.
Then I think I could evidence the important lines in the riddle visually, at least for the Standard / Practice Modes.

On the other hand, though, I need to point out that the majority of the testers didn't get stuck with that puzzle. At the time there was no walkthrough, so I'm fairly sure they did it by reasoning and a bit of trial and error. By going randomly, the puzzle is close to impossible to solve, but if you exclude some combinations, it's still solvable even if you don't know the exact sequence. But this is not the intended way to solve it, anyway: I want a player to be unsure between at most 3-4 combinations, not 20. So thanks for your detailed list of flaws, which will help me greatly in fixing the puzzle.

Pause clearing dialogue lines: I'll see if that issue can be addressed.

Schematics: as you already suspected, the way the grid upgrades are designed makes it impossible to do what you suggested with reversed schematics. Anyway, rest assured: your memory will be stressed a bit more as the game progresses, because there will be more schematics, and their shape will be more complicated. Just as a reminder, there will be diagonal grid-bridges very soon.

Step aside: lol, nice spotted. It's one of those things that most people doesn't notice. And one of those that seeing hundreds of times makes it look correct even if it isn't (this is my case).

Dead Ones' consciousness: actually that DeadOne's consciousness has already been restored. He has chosen to serve Chaos, and so he did receive that in exchange.

Rusty's voice-actor: for as much as I care about fidelity (and I do a lot) I don't think this has to be taken too literally. Some games even go as far as contacting the original actors; but I think it's excessive. And to be honest, as you pointed out, I've always found it weird that Rusty had that accent, being the son of the Foreman. I didn't recognize it as Irish (not an easy task for an Italian guy like me!) but it sounded weird, for sure.
Moreover, Dylan Jones is a great actor in my honest opinion. He offered voluntarily and for free and he already provided about 900 unique speech-lines, which is already more than what an average complete game has. He's also an awesome guy, a passionate fan of Loom, and I couldn't ask anything better for the game.
I'm not implying the other actors are cheaper, of course and I'm sure it's quite evident for those who played the game.

Portraits: you know, originally the former project manager planned to have fullscreen portraits like in Loom (no-CD or FM-Towns version). He even had some of then done, but, to be honest, the efforts required to have those would have been enormous. Since there is a lot of mandatory art to be done, and since those portraits would require a very talented pixel-artist, it would have been a suicide to carry on with that plan. Moreover, the smaller portraits can't be simply downscaled versions of the bigger ones (very low res requires adjustments) and since those were definitely mandatory, it would have been an additional waste of time.
Funny thing is our current pixel-artist, Master Pixelmold, who's the main responsible for the current mini-portraits, misinterpreted one of the requests, and painted an awesome (yet unfinished) fullscreen portrait of Brix. I guess I'll show it:



Isn't it gorgeous? It almost made me reconsider the possibility to have some fullscreen dialogues. But this will only be done, if at all, when the game is complete. There are more pressing matters to be taken care of at the moment, like backgrounds and sprites.

Middle and Right clicks: surely it could be both, and the suggestion about the middle click to act as the least important "action" is very good as well. However, after thinking about it a while, allowing a single-click to act as a quick way to "walk to + interact" would be a pain in the a$$ (to use an euphemism). This is mainly due to the possibility to change your idea, which is something I usually appreciate in games (and it's not that frequent). As you can see, in Forge you can always change your idea after you clicked on something: you simply click on something else and Rusty goes there instead. Allowing "walk to + interact" with a single-click, while keeping the possibility to change your mind would be a pain, though absolutely possible.
I don't know if it's worth it, anyway, so I should probably open a poll and ask other players as well.


Thanks for all the useful input! And whether you already did that or not, spread the word! Pixelmold doesn't have the necessary time to do everything by himself and we need an additional pixel-artist if we want to speed-up the creation process.

[fózi]

What a fantastic game you have produced there. The art, attention to detail, voice acting seem really excellent! Professional quality.

I only had time to play the very beginning so far, unfortunately at the moment I don't have much spare time to play, but I'm looking forward to it, it's #1 in my playlist.

Thanks and congratulations for all your hardwork and making this happen.

Best regards
Fózi

[splat44]

Hi,

Is there something wrong with those files?
I've tried downloading installer and archive and I get the followings:

1) installer 'appears to malicious'1)
2) Archive 'archive content is an unknown file extension in which I'm not sure what to do with it!

Please review those files!

Edited
The problems is resolved! I simply need to right-click on download links and no problems!
Again, it best not clickinf on links for downloading, otherwise it will cause problems specified above!

Now still right-clicking on zip download link, the 2nd finding above still remains!

[Abisso]

What a fantastic game you have produced there. The art, attention to detail, voice acting seem really excellent! Professional quality.

I only had time to play the very beginning so far, unfortunately at the moment I don't have much spare time to play, but I'm looking forward to it, it's #1 in my playlist.

Thanks and congratulations for all your hardwork and making this happen.

Best regards
Fózi

Thanks to you for playing and for taking the time to express your appreciation. It means a lot, really.

Hi,

Is there something wrong with those files?
I've tried downloading installer and archive and I get the followings:

1) installer 'appears to malicious'1)
2) Archive 'archive content is an unknown file extension in which I'm not sure what to do with it!

Please review those files!

Edited
The problems is resolved! I simply need to right-click on download links and no problems!
Again, it best not clickinf on links for downloading, otherwise it will cause problems specified above!

Now still right-clicking on zip download link, the 2nd finding above still remains!

Hello!

Installer: just DON'T believe what your browser / antivirus / operating system tells you! Especially if it's a Wi(n)dows system. I guarantee 100% that the file is secure.
Archive: as I've written right before the link

"Don't get scared by the extension: ".tar" is actually a very common archive type, and 99% of the uncompressing utilities are able to open it. 7 ZIP is one of those (and it's free!)."

May I know which Operating System and browser are you using at the moment, anyway? And please let me know if you manage to play the game, in the end.

Thanks for getting in touch and for pointing out those potential issues.

Sincerely,
-Gabriele

[Dervish]

I started playing it and overall my experience has been great, however since you have said your intention is to next release the whole game and that this chapter is about equal to a third of the game,  I don't really want to finish this because I don't want to have to download it again and redo the puzzles that I have already done. So I guess I will wait patiently for you to finish the rest.  I liked the little achievements which can be unlocked, it is that attention to detail and added bonus content that seperates you and gives the game a real professional feel.  I am in agreement with many of the people I hope the rest of the game the story is more based on the players actions rather than going from exposition dump to info dump with a puzzle here and there.  One other more just a comment,  part of what I enjoyed about the original Loom was how it played off of Tchaikovsky composition.  Maybe introduce another composer might I recommend Holst Mars Theme?  Seems very fitting for coming tides of war and Rusty interturmoil... again Just a thought.  I love Loom and I think you have honored it well with what you are doing. Congrats on getting this far and please continue the hard work to its completion.  I would also love to help work on it, but coming in so late to the project might be difficult. 

[Marquillin]

Hello Marquillin. Thanks for the detailed account of your gaming experience! I appreciate this kind of reviews the most.

My pleasure.

On the other hand, though, I need to point out that the majority of the testers didn't get stuck with that puzzle. At the time there was no walkthrough, so I'm fairly sure they did it by reasoning and a bit of trial and error.

Well, it may be I'm not wholly smart enough for the Expert level, though I do prefer the challenge of it.  It felt like I covered all the possibilities multiple times, so I'd be interested to know the thought process of your play-testers - if they saw a pattern I didn't - and you might want to know if they came up with the same leads you expected as the designer.

Dead Ones' consciousness: actually that DeadOne's consciousness has already been restored. He has chosen to serve Chaos, and so he did receive that in exchange.

In that case I'm confused by the concept, because Rusty seems to still have consciousness though he has made no pact with Chaos.  Is consciousness something the dead gradually loose, maybe after the have passed into their respective afterlife?  If so, I suppose they don't need it in order to know they want to make a deal with ChaoS (as in a more emotional, subconscious decision, and it's their Ego they are reclaiming)?  It's a rather metaphysical area and could use more explanation (or perhaps earlier explanation if the rest of the game goes into it.)

Moreover, Dylan Jones is a great actor in my honest opinion.

Yeah, he is great.  I am satisfied and was only curious.

Isn't it gorgeous? It almost made me reconsider the possibility to have some fullscreen dialogues. But this will only be done, if at all, when the game is complete.

That is very classic loom, maybe just a few fullscreens at dramatic moments.  But the best part about them was, though they had no lip flapping, their expression would change to show their emotions front and center, and that could be done just as well with the small portraits.  It's actually nice having both sprite animation and the portrait on at the same time so that the eye can wonder where it likes.

I've noticed some other things to mention since my last post.:

- Once the mole breaks free, the music maybe should stay with that one intense piece no matter where you go so that the urgency stays in the players mind.

- Small art quibble; Lord Magnate's cloak looks like it is behind the arm of the throne rather then draped over.  I suppose the chair could be designed that way, but it does nag my mind as a bit weird.

- Rusty and the other sprites seem to be the size of the buildings on the overview of the city.  I suppose this may be necessary to see the sprites well, but you might try just two pixels if you haven't already.  Another (harder) way would be to make the buildings larger as they are already dwarfed by the garden's dome, though that has the drawback of making the cavern seem smaller.

- Did anyone else think that the schematic learned from the old woman was referring to the rocking of the chair?  Even though brittle is a more black-smithy kind of thing then rocking - maybe it just didn't occur to to me that the gloves could effect from organic things (I guess our bodies are just machines after all ).

part of what I enjoyed about the original Loom was how it played off of Tchaikovsky composition.  Maybe introduce another composer might I recommend Holst Mars Theme?  Seems very fitting for coming tides of war and Rusty interturmoil... again Just a thought.

I thought the same thing meself (without knowing which composer would be best (there were some interesting suggestions on the Forge forums if I recall)).  Though at the same time the composer that was chosen pulls off the tone of Loom very snugly, I wouldn't want to loose that.  Maybe there's room to reference parts of a public domain classical composer in with the new soundtrack.

[Construed]

Yea, I've played the game and I can tell you its 100% secure and 100% pro

[Abisso]

I started playing it and overall my experience has been great, however since you have said your intention is to next release the whole game and that this chapter is about equal to a third of the game,  I don't really want to finish this because I don't want to have to download it again and redo the puzzles that I have already done. So I guess I will wait patiently for you to finish the rest.  I liked the little achievements which can be unlocked, it is that attention to detail and added bonus content that seperates you and gives the game a real professional feel.  I am in agreement with many of the people I hope the rest of the game the story is more based on the players actions rather than going from exposition dump to info dump with a puzzle here and there.  One other more just a comment,  part of what I enjoyed about the original Loom was how it played off of Tchaikovsky composition.  Maybe introduce another composer might I recommend Holst Mars Theme?  Seems very fitting for coming tides of war and Rusty interturmoil... again Just a thought.  I love Loom and I think you have honored it well with what you are doing. Congrats on getting this far and please continue the hard work to its completion.  I would also love to help work on it, but coming in so late to the project might be difficult. 

Heya. I understand your decision of postponing the play, if it's mostly to have a complete and uninterrupted experience; but if it's just because you don't want to be forced to play the first part again, it's a non issue. The game is linear, which means however you reach the end of Ch.1 you are in the same exact condition of any other player. For this reason, when the game is ready, I can easily share a savegame that takes players just before the end of Ch.1.
The only difference could be unlocked Rewards (I'm glad you like them!): but they are stored on separate files and the system has already been developed to be compatible with the future instalments of the game. You just have to keep the files r.dat, g.dat and s.dat that are stored in the main game folder. They are not uninstalled by default, so you can even use the integrated uninstaller and get rid of everything else but them.

Well, it may be I'm not wholly smart enough for the Expert level, though I do prefer the challenge of it.  It felt like I covered all the possibilities multiple times, so I'd be interested to know the thought process of your play-testers - if they saw a pattern I didn't - and you might want to know if they came up with the same leads you expected as the designer.

No, no, wait a minute. This is unacceptable for me to hear and totally distant from what I wanted to imply. Your review and suggestions show you're exactly the opposite of what you said: you're definitely attentive, reasoning, precise; and thus smart. You noticed and organized all the flaws in the puzzle like no one else before you and they all look reasonable points. It's true that most testers seemed to solve the riddle, but I also received complaints from a few of them, and from other players. I absolutely need to improve that part of the game, and you made the task easier.

In that case I'm confused by the concept, because Rusty seems to still have consciousness though he has made no pact with Chaos.  Is consciousness something the dead gradually loose, maybe after the have passed into their respective afterlife?  If so, I suppose they don't need it in order to know they want to make a deal with ChaoS (as in a more emotional, subconscious decision, and it's their Ego they are reclaiming)?  It's a rather metaphysical area and could use more explanation (or perhaps earlier explanation if the rest of the game goes into it.)

You see, this is another example of fine use of the brain. You found a bit of a paradox, and you even sorted out how effectively things are supposed to be. You see, people retain their consciousness for some time when they die. This is necessary for them to reach their Guilds' Havens. As soon as they are in the safety of the Havens, they remain forever like the Transcended Ones: fully conscious and with a physical shape that's reminiscent of their Guild's qualities. Some souls are rejected by their Guilds, though, and thus they wander the Outside, which is hollow, endless and solitary enough to drive anyone nuts and make the residual conscience fade away. One example of this condition is the first Dead One.
The 2nd one, as I said, already accepted Chaos' offer and had his consciousness restored. I never actually thought about the apparent paradox implied: how can the Dead One understand the bargain, unless he already has his consciousness?
But it's an easily solvable paradox. Chaos can give, Chaos can take, and it's VERY powerful. It's enough for Chaos to restore the consciousness to a Dead One, ask him obedience in exchange for the chance to KEEP that conscience, or else it will be taken away once again.
Does this seem reasonable to you?

Of course, not all of this is perfectly explained in the game, so far. There will be a more deep understanding of Chaos and its minions in the rest of the game (this has already been planned and 100% sure). Not everything should be explained, however: what's most important is that it makes sense in some way.

That is very classic loom, maybe just a few fullscreens at dramatic moments.  But the best part about them was, though they had no lip flapping, their expression would change to show their emotions front and center, and that could be done just as well with the small portraits.  It's actually nice having both sprite animation and the portrait on at the same time so that the eye can wonder where it likes.

I'll see what I can do. Maybe a couple of very important dialogues could use those, or I could simply integrate the facial expressions in the small portraits (it's already like it, to some small extent: check the Old Lady).

I've noticed some other things to mention since my last post.:

- Once the mole breaks free, the music maybe should stay with that one intense piece no matter where you go so that the urgency stays in the players mind.

- Small art quibble; Lord Magnate's cloak looks like it is behind the arm of the throne rather then draped over.  I suppose the chair could be designed that way, but it does nag my mind as a bit weird.

- Rusty and the other sprites seem to be the size of the buildings on the overview of the city.  I suppose this may be necessary to see the sprites well, but you might try just two pixels if you haven't already.  Another (harder) way would be to make the buildings larger as they are already dwarfed by the garden's dome, though that has the drawback of making the cavern seem smaller.

- Did anyone else think that the schematic learned from the old woman was referring to the rocking of the chair?  Even though brittle is a more black-smithy kind of thing then rocking - maybe it just didn't occur to to me that the gloves could effect from organic things (I guess our bodies are just machines after all ).

I'll see what I can do with the first three, though this time you're really the 1st one to point those things out. The mole thing seems the most interesting to me. And oh wow, I never thought "Embrittle" could be mistaken for "Rocking". Now that you mention it, it's not so weird, but the dialogue right before the apparition of the schematic is supposed to make things clear. This will become less relevant in the full game, as it will be bundled with the Plates of Schematics (equivalent of Book of Patterns in Loom). You'll know the Schematic names, their origins and effects. I was unsure if I should add it to this release as well, but in the end I thought it would have been wasted for the few Schematics of Ch.1.

part of what I enjoyed about the original Loom was how it played off of Tchaikovsky composition.  Maybe introduce another composer might I recommend Holst Mars Theme?  Seems very fitting for coming tides of war and Rusty interturmoil... again Just a thought.

I thought the same thing meself (without knowing which composer would be best (there were some interesting suggestions on the Forge forums if I recall)).  Though at the same time the composer that was chosen pulls off the tone of Loom very snugly, I wouldn't want to loose that.  Maybe there's room to reference parts of a public domain classical composer in with the new soundtrack.

Nice, nice! Cause it's already been planned that way!
I cannot guarantee that this will become reality, but during the development of Ch.1 when all the music for that part was ready, I asked our musician to check a certain Composition of a certain Composer and see if he could take some parts and use them in the following Chapters. I don't want to spoil everything, and I'm not sure this will fit in the end, but it's definitely something I'd like to as well.
As a matter of fact I also have clearly in mind what I'd like to use as score in Fold, though this might seem "a bit" premature!

Yea, I've played the game and I can tell you its 100% secure and 100% pro

You're too kind good sir!

I would also love to help work on it, but coming in so late to the project might be difficult. 

It's never too late to have fun and be creative! Why don't you drop a message in the Project Assistance section of our Boards and tell us what are your fields of expertise, past experiences with game-making, and such? I've been trying to repeat over and over again that I'm looking for new team-members, after all! You could be one of them.


As always, thanks a lot to all of you guys.

[splat44]

Well, I am using windows 7 and browser is google chrome! So far I'm able playing the game. In term *.tar usually winrar is usually pretty good extracting tar file but I guest it isn't good as I thought! Again, not an issue any more!

[Abisso]

Well, I am using windows 7 and browser is google chrome! So far I'm able playing the game. In term *.tar usually winrar is usually pretty good extracting tar file but I guest it isn't good as I thought! Again, not an issue any more!

I'm glad you've managed to play the game in the end. Let me know your opinion about it as soon as you complete it!

[Janos Biro]

I've completed the first chapter and I'm absolutely amazed! This game is fantastic! Every detail about it is in the right place. Loom is one of my favorite games ever, and so far this is the most awesome AGS project I saw. It's a shame it still didn't got all the attention it deserves.

At first, I thought about writing you to say that it's "too much like Loom". Loom is unique, there can be no sequel worth of Brian Moriarty genius. But then I realized that you are making your own game after all. A new unique game, with a new unique design and game mechanic. I believe you can do it, because it looks very promising. I'm willing to help in any way I can. Thanks for this marvelous initiative.

[Abisso]

I realize only now that there is a new post here. I apologize for that, though I'm not sure if you wrote this before or after getting in touch with me on our Forge boards.

For the benefit of potential other readers, anyway, I'll add one thing. Indeed I'm trying to create a (hopefully balanced) mixture of a unique, original game and a tribute. This is my mission, and though this sometimes seems to displease both hardcore fans and people who only care for originality, I still think it's the best approach to fangame-making.
I'm glad you took some time to reflect and especially that you ended up appreciating this conduct and its results.

As a little generic note on development, several reasons (including a certain need to keep distance from game-making itself) prevented me to work on Forge as much as I should have, in the last couple of months. I still managed to do a bit of promotion, and start both organizing the next tasks (translations included) and addressing the really few bugs found. But nothing decisive, I'm afraid. I believe a more steady pace will be very possible from March and on.

Thanks to all the people that supported the project, be it verbally, financially, or by offering any other form of support. You have my utmost gratitude.

[Kitty Trouble]

Just played the demo. I love the concepts here, I think the graphics and such are amazing. I can only hope the entire game would be the same quality, it's impressive. I do have just a bit of criticism in that I'm using a laptop touchpad, and yes I know you have a keyboard control, but just if you had the thing less sensitive to moving outside of your square. It's annoying trying to "bend" something only to have it cancelled one circle before completion. Maybe only if it actually touches another circle should it register instead of moving out of the box in general..not sure how it's setup.

[ZapZap]

Loved the first chapter. Even more, it made me want to play Loom, which amazed me. Keep up the good work!

[Ubel]

I started playing the first chapter and I'm more impressed by this game than I ever hoped to be! It's amazingly well done! I actually feel like I'm in the Loom universe, which is a huge accomplishment! I salute you.

[Damian]

I have never heard of this… why not publicise it more or get funding to increase awareness?

[selmiak]

This thread is quite old, but since only a demo was released there never was a completed game's thread and there is not even a database entry. I had great fun replaying this incredible game made with AGS. If you have some time over the holidays left, play this gem! In case you are stuck... watch this longplay of Forge - chapter 1. It is almost 3h long, but still I want more!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wegs-1tqvRY