Something Novel

Seb · Mon 08/08/2011 10:43:15

J. Stanson is a multi award winning horror novelist, known around the globe for his prowess in weaving tales of misery and woe. But one fateful evening his role is transformed from narrator of the terrifying, to subject of it, as he and his fellow authors are thrust into a nightmare situation of their very own. Will you survive the night to tell the tale, or is this the end of Stanson's story?

Explore the Roivas estate

Solve fiendish puzzles

But most importantly, survive the night!

Download now! http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1459

I hope you all enjoy playing the game as much as I have enjoyed creating it. I look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Thanks!

arj0n · Mon 08/08/2011 11:25:56

Had a quick play at my work. Looks really cool so far!
definitely gonna play more when back home.

Gepard · Mon 08/08/2011 11:31:27

Graphics are simple but fit into the atmosphere. I am now stuck in the basement, but won't give up. Nice game so far.

LRH · Mon 08/08/2011 14:57:46

Damn. Why am I seeing this 30 minutes before I have to leave for work? I'll have to give this a shot when I get home...

Update:

Finished it and loved it!!! Definitely going to have to let's play this one.

A few little bugs I found before I talk about what I liked:

Spoiler

*Sometimes if you try to use something while walking, you end up using the hotspot next to it, even if what you were using was properly labeled as what you were trying to use.

*If you accidentally click the floor where the paper pieces were in the library with the book after you have made the complete book, it makes a new piece of paper. From this point on, the game can not be completed.

*If you just "use" the fruit painting when you have the apple instead of using the apple on it, you can enter the secret passage, but once you leave it, you can't go back in. This also makes it impossible to finish the game.

[close]

Very small bugs indeed, mind you, just thought I should point them out. Anyway!

Spoiler

This game legitimately scared me at points, which was fantastic!

Horror games are my favorite, if you didn't know.

Anyway: the good stuff!

When I was first trapped in the leaky-pipe room hanging from the ceiling, I didn't even try to escape at first. I was so drawn into the game that I forgot that I was supposed to be interacting with it. I was just listening to the footstep sounds with a nervous smile on my face anticipating whatever would happen when the masked man caught up with me.

Also, the scene in which our hero is hallucinating the body coming toward him is perfect. You don't expect to leave the bookshelf area to find a dead body with blood everywhere. Perfect. You've shocked me. Second, you knew that any naturally curious person would try to inspect the room, and you made the character's response shocked as equally as the player's, which did wonders for immersion. Finally, you hadn't revealed that this was all an illusion too early. The character thinks that the body following him is real, and so did I. I thought this game had suddenly turned into a supernatural horror, and I began to panic as well.

Gah, just so well done IMHO.

One thing that upset me was that we were never able to see what happens in his second hallucination. It just cuts to post-hallucination on the rooftop. I think it would have been great to go through another vision of his.

[close]

Anyway, great job. I definitely loved it and I'm going to have fun working on the let's play.

srnickolas · Tue 09/08/2011 10:16:19

Very cool game,simple and fun.It anchieves what it wants without extra info that could ruin the atmosphere,just straightforward telling an intersting story,which doesn't let you to stop playing till the end.Reminds me of defoe series.Also the "real time" sequences are interesting , refreshing and not tiresome to the player,granding an even greater climax to the shenario and atmosphere.A sequel would be nice,maybe a prequel explaining some background on the killer and protagonist.Finishing the game couldn't stop feeling some holes in the shenario about the past of the characters...Looking forward for other cool adventures,thank you!

Seb · Tue 09/08/2011 10:22:57

Hey guys really pleased with the reactions to the game so far! I'm glad you'd like to do a let's play of the game Domithan

Thanks for spotting those bugs, I've sorted them out now I think, will just double check they are working as intended later and I'll reupload the game.

LRH · Tue 09/08/2011 23:31:06

Here's the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz6NDQB5y-k (part 1, parts 2 and 3 are up as well though

)

Seb · Wed 10/08/2011 01:15:19

thanks very much for uploading that let's play, it was pretty fascinating to watch someone run through the game with commentary! kudos for taking the time to do it

Khris · Wed 10/08/2011 11:29:25

Cool game, and really creepy at times; I also like how the mansion feels alive due to the people who keep popping up.

I'm stuck at the part that's missing in Domithan's great LP in between parts 2&3 but I'll keep going

NickyNyce · Wed 10/08/2011 14:21:55

I'm stuck at the same part as Khris

Very cool game, Good job

LRH · Wed 10/08/2011 15:25:59

Quote from: Khris on Wed 10/08/2011 11:29:25
Cool game, and really creepy at times; I also like how the mansion feels alive due to the people who keep popping up.

I'm stuck at the part that's missing in Domithan's great LP in between parts 2&3 but I'll keep going

Yeah, sorry about that. I accidentally sabotaged my own let's play

Part uh... 2.5: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMaBiChy8ss

Khris · Thu 11/08/2011 17:56:35

I've noticed a bug in scrolling rooms:
If you click something while the screen scrolls, the hotspot's name will correctly appear in the interaction GUI, but often the buttons no longer work. I assume you're calling process click using stored mouse/screen coordinates, but due to the scrolling they are no longer over the hotspot at the time you click a button.
At the time of the click, store mouse.x/y + GetViewportX/Y() (i.e. the room coordinates), then call ProcessClick with the stored values minus GetViewPortX/Y. This removes the scrolling offset.

And a quick note about the interface:
After I click a hotspot, then click Inv, then an inv item, either a) close the GUI or b) close the GUI and execute "use inv on hotspot" immediately. The other actions buttons cause an immediate reaction and I expected the same from the inv items, especially after playing 7DaS et al.
It's not that important, but I'd at least close the GUI after an inv item has been selected or if the mouse is moved outside it.

Seb · Thu 11/08/2011 19:13:42

Thanks for letting me know about the dodgy co-ordinate thing, I will try to fix it tomorrow & re-upload the game. Also, cheers for the feedback about the GUI, I'll make sure I take it into consideration for the next game I make