The Exchange Student Episode 1 RELEASED!!

[dimidimidimi]

The first episode of the new adventure game serie The Exchange Student was released today. It is called First Day in Sweden and you can download the trial version of episode 1 for free and the instructions' manual  HERE. The full version costs 10 Euros ($12) and can be bought within the game by a Credit Card or a Paypal Account.

The Exchange Student is an interactive sitcom featuring backgrounds from ex-Lucasarts & ex-Sierra artist Bill Eaken (Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis, Leisure Suit Larry 3, The Dig, The Secret of Monkey Island, Curse of Monkey Island, Star Wars: X-Wing Alliance) and animations by Dave Rigley (24 and a Half webcomic www.24andahalf.com). It is a point and click adventure game that will appeal to those who enjoy TV cartoon shows like Johnny Bravo, games like Leisure Suit Larry and Curse of Monkey Island and TV sitcoms like Friends, That 70s Show and Married with Children.

You control Emilio Carboni, a 22 y.o. Italian student who has never had a girlfriend in his entire life. His friend Vincenzo just came back from an exchange program in Sweden. Vincenzo was really satisfied with the program since he met many attractive ladies during his stay in Sweden. Emilio decides to follow his friend's path. He travels to Sweden to spend a semester there, studying in a city of Sweden called Västerås. Fate however is not that kind with our 'hero'.

In the first episode of The Exchange Student, our Italian Casanova is tired of being neglected by the Italian girls and so he decides to go on an exchange studying program to Sweden. His parents are not happy with his choice but Emilio is determined that at the age of 22 he is now ready to take his first big step towards adventure and love!

Episode 2: The Point Game is coming out in October 2006. For more information visit the official website.

[ildu]

Just awesome. It was 10x more enjoyable than I expected it to be. And the trial version ended at such a great time that I think I have no other option than to buy the first episode .

Anyways, great voice acting, great stereotyping (exaggurated, but not too much), awesome humor (this surprised me the most), magnificent animations and, above all, very likeable and quaint. Very few games have captured this since the old days and it really reminded me of Larry 7. A complete positive surprise. Congrats, really .

One bug I believe: When you have the inventory roll-up open and you move to the 'ints and tips icon, the inventory jumps one pixel downwards. Also, the 'resume game' option was a bit difficult to distinguish at first, since it's somewhere in the middle of the main menu options.

How long is the rest of the first episode compared to the part in the trial version? The characters all looked really crisp clear, so are you using some kind of vector engine or what?

[Vel]

It's done in flash, as far as I can make out...
IMO, the trial version is decent, but nothing more - just as an adventure game felt like, 10 years ago, maybe more. Well with better graphics, maybe.
Been there, done that.

[marlamoe]

I decided to purchase the game.  Will never do that again.  All you do is talk to people.  There are only two puzzles that I can think of and they are too simple.  When it is time for the guy to go to bed the game is over.  What a waste of $13.71.  It was like watching a 15 minute cartoon which I can do for free by turning on my television.  Unless the rest of the episodes are included in the initial price which I don't think they are, I advise against purchasing this.

[dimidimidimi]

@ildu

Thank you for your kind comments. To answer your question:

How long is the rest of the first episode compared to the part in the trial version? The characters all looked really crisp clear, so are you using some kind of vector engine or what?

According to what we have heard so far experienced adventurers have finished the game in min. 1 hour and max. 2 hours. For casual gamers who haven't played adventure games before it has taken even longer. The game is made in flash.

@ marlamoe

I am really sorry that you feel this way. Yes it is true that the first episode is not as long as we would like it to be. This is one aspect of the game we plan to improve for future episodes. (The plan is that the second episode will take an experienced adventure gamer 3 to 4 hours of gameplay and episode 3 and onwards 5 to 6 hours). We also plan to make future episodes more challenging than the first one . The price will remain 10 euros for all future episodes (which according to xe.com is $12.8 ). But this was our first project, we had to pay lots of money to hire professional artists and professional voice actors, we had to create a new engine and our initial budget was quite tight. Thus we could not make the first episode as long as the next episodes are going to be. Also bear in mind that our game is not sold in stores, therefore our audience is more limited than the games that are published in stores. We are just trying to make a new effort, to bring back 2D cartoon adventure games with professional graphics, music and voice overs. And I promise you that we will pay very close attention to the criticism made on the first title and we will try our best to make future episodes even better. I am very sorry again if you were disappointed by the game.