Deadly consequences!

Slasher · Sat 30/08/2014 17:59:53

Deadly Consequences!

Introducing Charles Davenport: Investigator of the truth.

Set in Victorian London 1870.

In your office one morning you are looking through the day's mail when you come across an invitation issuing you a game of challenge.

You have not had a juicy case in over two weeks and this is just what you need to fill the empty void and give you mind stimulation.

The invitation instructs you to be at Blackthorn Manor 23rd September at 8:00pm.

Blackthorn Manor has been assumed to be empty for years.

Your hired coach driver stops a mile short of the Manor and refuses to go any further, due to what he has heard about Blackthorn Manor, and advises you to steer well clear!

Upon your arrival at Blackthorn Manor you are greeted by an unseen voice. It soon becomes apparent that this is no ordinary game of challenge, but a game of deadly consequence with the life of Queen Victoria in the balance!

You must solve door puzzles to get into the rooms beyond. This requires much thinking about. Find and obtain valuable items that will help win these challenges for you must collect ten Black Ravens.

This game has Modes for Un-Timed and Timed games.

Timed Modes:
You have been set a time limit afterwhich a poisonous gas will expel: killing you within minutes!

It is a race against time. Will you succeed and win this deadly game and save Queen Victoria from certain death?

Specs:
800 x 600 resolution
16 bit colour
DirectDraw 5
Primary control: Mouse

My thanks to all those that helped make this game possible.

Download Game

Gurok · Sat 30/08/2014 18:10:03

Great stuff, Slasher! We have been enjoying it thoroughly in IRC.

I love the way you voiced all of the characters.

Just a heads up, do not try to play this in DX9 mode like I did. I lost half my progress when I got up to an area that used the flashlight plugin (which is incompatible with DX9).

Other than that, really enjoying it so far. All of the puzzles that seemed insanely difficult (e.g. the steam train) have actually turned out to be quite reasonable. Just a matter of examining and thinking things through.

Really good work with some of the GUIs too. I like the Memory brain GUI.

Cassiebsg · Sat 30/08/2014 18:17:57

Congrats on the release.

Downloading now.

Mandle · Sat 30/08/2014 18:19:30

I am very proud to have been a small cog in the wheel of this game's final release.

I'm sure the community will relish this game and spread word of it far and wide.

Long live our gracious Queen Victoria!

Cassiebsg · Sat 30/08/2014 19:00:46

I've spotted a few minor problems.

Spoiler

In the main hall, you can get behind door 5 and 9. (Walk behind)

And the active spot on the hand to interact, does not seem to be the edge of the pointing finger. Had a bit of trouble getting to click on the candle.

Also, would be nice to have access to the control panel from the main screen, in case one wants to adjust the sound settings and or gamma before the game starts.

Is it possible to turn of the "what you need to do?" it's starting to annoy me.

Last time I played a game that keep telling me what to do, I gave up playing it.

[close]

Cassiebsg · Sat 30/08/2014 19:14:48

Quote from: Cassiebsg on Sat 30/08/2014 19:00:46
I've spotted a few minor problems.
Spoiler

In the main hall, you can get behind door 5 and 9... and several other doors (Walk behind)

And the active spot on the hand to interact, does not seem to be the edge of the pointing finger. Had a bit of trouble getting to click on the candle.

Also, would be nice to have access to the control panel from the main screen, in case one wants to adjust the sound settings and or gamma before the game starts.

Is it possible to turn of the "what you need to do?" it's starting to annoy me. Last time I played a game that keep telling me what to do, I gave up playing it.
[close]

Slasher · Sat 30/08/2014 19:54:56

Cassiebsg
Are you using DirectDraw?

ArgyBoi · Sat 30/08/2014 20:24:25

slasher, I think the game has a ~~major~~ bug (or I'm completely lost). I've collected all but one of the ravens...

Spoiler

Inside Room 6, I can walk through the pit, but when I try to pick the raven up, it says that "I can't do it from this side".

[close]

EDIT: Ok, the bug is not "major", I managed to advance in the game... The problem is that the bug misleads the puzzle solution...

selmiak · Sat 30/08/2014 20:43:00

I just walked along the hallway and reached the floor with doors 10 and up. I guess I should go back and solve some riddles but I can't, I'm stuck in the hallway. No clickable exit and way back or so.

Cassiebsg · Sat 30/08/2014 21:15:00

Uhm, seems I missed and edit there and ended making a double post.

Sorry about that.

Slasher, no I'm using Direct3D, since Gurok warned against DX9. Might add also, that I'm playing in windowed mode and no sound (will try turning the sound on later when the kid is in bed).

selmiak, you can walk back, it's just hard to click the right spot. :/

EDIT: Guess I miss understood Gurok, and it's D3D that crashes the game. :o I just got in the room using the candle and it crashed.

Slasher · Sat 30/08/2014 21:49:38

I think you guys are playing a different game.... None the less I will check out.

The game using the flashlight plugin... DIRECTDRAW only!

Cassiebsg · Sat 30/08/2014 22:32:50

Quote from: JuaniT on Sat 30/08/2014 20:24:25
slasher, I think the game has a major bug (or I'm completely lost). I've collected all but one of the ravens...

Yes, that looks like major bug! You not suppose to be on that side of the room...

Spoiler

You need make the path "visible" first... throw something at the pit.

[close]

Edit: Finished!

Overall, a nice game with some moderate easy puzzles (specially, once you find the answer).

Spoiler

There are a few bugs (did you got some game testers?) I mean, being drawn behind a closed door, walking on walls... and walking from one room to the other, can be a challenge in it's self. I spotted some english phrases that just sound wrong to me (like the "Good job I have this candle!" What? Don't you mean "Good thing I have this candle!"?
Did not like the inventory GUI fadeout though. It just takes way too much time to try stuff, that gets frustrating.
The hidden areas, were well hidden! I was stuck on those for a while!

But I also kept going down to the cellar, as I thought the crack on the wall was a secret passage, that I needed to use the balloon on and then inflate it to break the wall and get to the other side... or use a metal rod, or something... :p

[close]

Thanks for a nice game though! You kept me on my seat playing and wanting to open the next door and get the raven...

ArgyBoi · Sat 30/08/2014 22:59:07

Luckily it was not a "breaking game" bug, but it was difficult to solve the puzzle because of that... It really should be fixed.

I've finished the game. Overall, it's enjoyable, some puzzles were clever, some were a bit off and anticlimactic (the "guess were the coin is" one). The voices were a nice touch, but the sound quality was a bit poor and IMHO affected the immersion. Maybe slasher could release a more "polished" version (i.e. fixing the missing hotspots, walkable areas and walk-behinds).
Overall, it's a very enjoyable game. Congratulations slasher!

Slasher · Sun 31/08/2014 06:06:18

Hi Guys,

It's funny how people come across stuff that you can't seem to repeat. However, I will endeavor to put things right as it is a shame to mar an otherwise good game.

I will upload revised games as I progress.

cheers guys

AprilSkies · Sun 31/08/2014 09:53:31

Slasher , I'm playing and loving it so far.
I'm enjoying the atmosphere and the puzzles.
It's not what I expected, it's not the usual adventure game but it's soo fun. The concept is really interesting.
I also like music and the way you voiced (yes maybe the quality it's not high, but it sounds good to me)

Oh.. and You made a great job with GUIs!

God Save the Queen.

Mandle · Sun 31/08/2014 10:15:21

Quote from: Cassiebsg on Sat 30/08/2014 22:32:50
Spoiler

There are a few bugs (did you got some game testers?) I mean, being drawn behind a closed door, walking on walls... and walking from one room to the other, can be a challenge in it's self. I spotted some english phrases that just sound wrong to me (like the "Good job I have this candle!" What? Don't you mean "Good thing I have this candle!"?
[close]

I was a playtester, to answer one of your issues. And yeah, it looks like we didn't catch every issue yet, but we caught over 90% of issues before game release I'd say. Sometimes you need a lot more eyes on the game to find everything and first releases do that job well I'd say.

The term "Good job I have this..." is perfectly acceptable in British English...They say it all the time (as do we Australians as well)

Cheers!

Cassiebsg · Sun 31/08/2014 13:50:03

Okay, I'm not a native english speaker, and I see more american english tv than british/australian. Don't think I ever heard that sentence before, and thus just sounds like a "very bad google translation" in my hears.

There were other sentences that I thought sounded odd, but I figured that maybe they were "old english" to be historical correct.

Mandle · Sun 31/08/2014 14:12:41

Quote from: Cassiebsg on Sun 31/08/2014 13:50:03
Okay, I'm not a native english speaker, and I see more american english tv than british/australian. Don't think I ever heard that sentence before, and thus just sounds like a "very bad google translation" in my hears. There were other sentences that I thought sounded odd, but I figured that maybe they were "old english" to be historical correct.

I believe Slasher lives in Kent, and they have daylight saving there, which means when it's 2014 in the rest of the UK, it's 1850 in Kent

Slasher · Sun 31/08/2014 16:06:33

There are many many sayings and expressive phrases that may not reach a 'how to speak English' book. Believe me, I know.

Go around speaking 'Hamlet' and people would say you need to learn to speak English...

London also implements 'Cockney'. Now, that would mess with you head if you don't know it

If it is not found on Google don't assume it's not a valid word of use.... it is to those that know...

I will excuse ignorance, especially foreigners

Anyhow.... a lot of stuff has been fixed and the game is ready (again) to download...

Kitty Trouble · Mon 01/09/2014 08:21:32

I just finished your game. I thought it was a good game. The end left me really frustrated and giving up on playing until I could get an answer on the hints, but I did manage to figure it out and completed the game. I liked the graphics, I liked the voice acting, The story was an interesting concept but I thought the ending could use some work. I'll go ahead and list a few things in the spoiler below:

Spoiler

-It is possible to finish the game without ever meeting Rebecca. If you never get the music box, the ending doesn't reflect it. The ending dialogue still mentions thinking about Rebecca and Moriarty talking about Rebecca.

-I think that this game is one where multiple endings could have played a factor. The "normal ending" where you put the ravens in the box and escape, and a "good ending" where you manage to find moriarty and actually beat him somewhat instead of just being a pawn in his little game. To me the ending was just a disappointment in that you just put the ravens in and leave and that's it. There should have been more.

-Minor control issue, when going "down" sometimes the character doesn't trigger to the next screen, making me move up and back down again. Same issue with some of the doors. There's a walk-behind possible in the right side of the balloon room. It's also possible to trigger somehow walking across the gap without the nuts. I do know that I walked out and back in at least once before that was possible though. Someone already reported that bug.

-Last, not sure how I feel about Rebecca. At first I thought that she might have just been an illusion too. But I am not so sure now after seeing the ending. When I think of this I think of Sherlock Holmes, and I believe that Holmes didn't believe much into the supernatural thing. I thought there would have been a trick behind it.

[close]

Anyways just some thoughts after playing the game. Like I said, good graphics and voice acting, concept was good. Look forward to seeing sequels.