Ok… so first off, I would like to say *please* don’t feel daunted by the amount I have written. If you have the patience to read my entire AGS-related story I think/hope you will enjoy it and find it quite unique.
So… Where to start…. It’s a bit complicated so please bare with me…
I guess I should introduce myself… My name is Stephen and I am from England and I have spent over 3 years working on a game that, chances are, you will never get to play…
Why?
Because I only made it for one person… my sister
Sally and I are incredibly close to each other… which is why I knew she would be devastated at the thought of me following my dream of travelling the world whilst she has to stay in school (I’m in Thailand as I write this). This is why, over three years before I started travelling, I came up with an idea to ease my absence… making a game just for her. Not just any game though…
I’ve always been a firm believer (like most of you) that a story is the most important part of an adventure game. My story came to me in a sudden flash of genius and ended up writing itself. The twist of my tale is that the story starts a long time before the game does…
After I left the UK and flew to Japan last July, some peculiar things started happening in real life to my sister. Firstly, For her birthday, she received a present from me containing a can of furniture polish, a sour sweet and a little book. I received a very confused email whilst I was in South Korea as to why I’d given her such a stupid birthday present…
Then she started receiving curious riddles as to objects that were hidden around the house. When I was in China for two months, I received a multitude of emails telling me that she couldn’t find the objects anywhere and that she was particularly upset that one of the riddles had her searching through the garbage bins…
Eventually a few weeks before Christmas, after a few more mysterious happenings she received the biggest clue yet… A hand-delivered letter addressed to her. It was from me telling her that I had decided to live in Australia and never ever come back. But by reading between the lines of the letter I knew she would figure out that it wasn’t my style of writing… the letter was written by someone trying to impersonate me…. it was clearly another evil plot made by Dr U-Turn.
But Dr U-Turn was just a villain I used to pretend to be when she was younger… He was just part of a game we used to play… He’d kidnap some of her teddy bears or make some other equally dastardly evil scheme and then she would foil his plans resulting in him vowing he will be back with a bigger plan. The last time we played the game was over 5 years ago... and the last time Dr U-Turn said he would be back with a bigger plan… he was making quite an understatement.
Whilst I was in Vietnam, I received the most confused email yet. She didn’t understand how Dr U-Turn, furniture polish, random riddles and so on were all linked together. I assured her that Christmas day would bring her the beginning of the answers she wanted to eagerly.
Soon after this, Chrismas day came, and my sister opened my present…. A computer game (packaged like a normal game… I even designed the box art!)
‘Dr U-Turn’s Revenge’
(Cliché yes… but it still felt like the perfect name for the game)
The game starts with a cut scene. With the help of a friend I made a video to introduce the game. The video shows the evil Milkman (One of Dr U-Turn’s’ henchmen from when we used to play years ago) walking up to my parents house and then posting the exact same letter that she received in real life. (Yes… that’s right… I dressed up as a milkman)
The gameplay then starts with my sister in her bedroom. She is bored because her brother has gone travelling and so she has nothing to do. All she has in her inventory is a can of furniture polish, a sour sweet, and a little book. She then has to go downstairs and find the letter, and then she has to solve all the riddles I had given her and find the objects in the game rather than in the actual house. Eventually, she discovers that I never actually went travelling at all. Instead, I was kidnapped by Dr U-Turn. The clues lead her to U-Turn Town where things get a bit more confusing and disturbing. She has to go to several locations to find me and talk to a lot of bizarre characters to find out where I am and what Dr U-Turn is up to. The strange thing is… that there is something weird about all of the inhabitants of U-Turn Town…. They all look like me!
(Yes…. Feel free to think I am completely crazy… but I dressed up as over twenty characters for the game)
Of course, this raises the question that if my sister didn’t know I was making her a game… how did I get the footage of her to make her character?? Well, this required a little sly cunning. I simply exploited that fact that she is a teenage girl and suggested we make a pop video…. And then just got her to do all the actions I needed for the game!
So… why can’t you play the game??
Well… I would love to share it with you all as I think you would enjoy it. However I have three problems…
First and foremost is that I made the game for my sister so all the jokes/puzzles/story revolves around her and things we have done together in real life… so a lot of it won’t make much sense to you. I would have to rewrite almost the entire game.
Secondly, because I never planned to release it over the internet, I have used various music/graphics etc which may or may not have copyrights and I haven’t kept track of what I got from where. Also, whilst I’ve coded most of the game myself, I’ve *borrowed* various coding/modules/etc from some of you and again, have not kept track from where. So I wouldn’t want to offend anyone if it looks like I have blatantly stolen something from you.
And my third (not so important) reason…. I’ve dressed up as some of the most ridiculous characters (including a witch!) and am slightly worried you might think I am crazy to have gone to some of the lengths I have gone to in order to make my sister laugh.
The reason I have decided to tell you all about this isn’t just because I hope you find it interesting.
The main reason I want to share this story with you is to say thank you. Whilst only posted once or twice, I have used the AGS forums SO many times to solve various coding issues and other problems with my game. So even though you don’t know it, many of you have helped me considerably to make the game…. So thank you.
And of course, if CJ is reading this then I owe a huge thank you to you too. You’ve all helped to put a huge smile on my little sister’s face and this means there is a huge smile on my face too.
Anyway, I have posted a few pictures of the game in case you are interested.
If you have read all this then I am very impressed!
Thank you for your time!!
Steve
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Uturn1.png)
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Uturn02.png)
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Uturn03.png)
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Uturn04.png)
Wow, that's a brilliant story! Really well done. The game looks really cute too. You're a much better older brother than I am! Thanks for sharing! Seriously!
Absolutely awesome.
A very, very cool idea - your sister is lucky to be involved in a real life adventure game!!!
Thankyou very much for taking the time to share this story.
That is very very cool :=
I'd dig it if it had happened to me!
QuoteAnd my third (not so important) reason… I’ve dressed up as some of the most ridiculous characters (including a witch!) and am slightly worried you might think I am crazy to have gone to some of the lengths I have gone to in order to make my sister laugh.
We've all been there mate. No need to feel embarrased.
(http://koti.mbnet.fi/paapeli/pablobear.jpg)
Thank you very much for sharing this story with us. It was very interesting to read and you had some very clever ideas there.
Thanks for sharing, Steve - that was pretty awesome :)
(That is an adorable costume, Pablo!)
Quote from: Steve84 on Fri 07/03/2008 06:16:02
I've dressed up as some of the most ridiculous characters (including a witch!) and am slightly worried you might think I am crazy to have gone to some of the lengths I have gone to in order to make my sister laugh.
Keep in mind, you're talking to people who spend ridiculous amounts of their free time designing little and completely free games which pretend the 90s never ended and of which nobody outside this idle little community
ever hears of, and unsure of whether it will achieve any fame even
within the community. And we do so despite knowing this. And you're worried WE might think YOU'd be crazy? :=
Apart from that, what Vince said. ;)
Thats a very lovely and sweet story.
Sheer brilliance. A game maker with a heart, and a tale to tell. Luck on yer sister for having such a brother.
Wow, what a story! Brilliant! Talking of pre-production. Must have been taken a while.
Crazy? Yes! But aren't we all?
And you showed us: Life is an adventure!
Thanks for sharing!
Dude, you are awesome!! :D
** tips hat **
What I want to know is: what was the furniture polish for!?
Most impressive.
Wow, thank you all for your compliments and reassurance that I am amongst other crazy people ;D
Quote from: ProgZmax on Sat 08/03/2008 07:05:54
What I want to know is: what was the furniture polish for!?
The furniture polish is used at my sister's favourite part of the game... in the nightclub.
Actually, you have just given me an idea. It would take me forever to rewrite the game but when I get back to the UK next month I think I will whip up a demo of the game for you all to play.
Quote from: Pablo on Fri 07/03/2008 12:36:00
We've all been there mate. No need to feel embarrassed.
(http://koti.mbnet.fi/paapeli/pablobear.jpg)
Hmm... I'm intrigued Pablo... is this from an AGS game??
Really nice. Having a younger sister myself, I was very touched by your project :)
Wow, you're like, a master-of-disguise. Each character actually looks very different.
Quote from: Steve84 on Sat 08/03/2008 08:57:28
Hmm... I'm intrigued Pablo... is this from an AGS game??
Heh, no, I'm just a very weird person.
Great story, and the game looks hilarious!
BUT! You never told us how she reacted. What did she think of the game?
I guess if it was me I'd check with your sister before posting the game for everyone to download, to make sure that she's OK with it. It is her game, after all.
That is a really lovely idea! I particularly like the way parts of the game happened in reality. It makes me wish my little sister didn't find adventure games boring.
I'm sure a demo would be well recieved. If you had the time, you could always add things like diary entries / letters which would allow other players to understand the backstory and injokes a little better.
That's a really nice story, it's always good to see AGS being used in personal situations like this :)
This goes to show about dedication and love... :)
In addition it goes to show what a creative mind can do. Since the game was for a single person, the real life gifts, packages, etc, worked! Imagine that in a commercial project of 100,000 sales figures! Royal mail would be dead pleased! ;D
But really, this is quite lovely. Thank you for sharing and when the demo comes up, sign me up please!
Good stuff Steve.
You should get a job designing ARGs for the makers of LOST etc.
Even if we never get to see the game I hope you make a new one for us all to enjoy.
Thanks again for everyones compliments ;D
Quote from: Snarky on Sat 08/03/2008 15:28:38
Great story, and the game looks hilarious!
BUT! You never told us how she reacted. What did she think of the game?
I guess if it was me I'd check with your sister before posting the game for everyone to download, to make sure that she's OK with it. It is her game, after all.
Yes she loves the game and has completed it now. She especially liked the (obligatory) big twist at the end of the game ;D
Yes, I will check with her before I make a demo but I know she will be happy to share it with you all.
Quote from: Ali on Sat 08/03/2008 15:53:54
I'm sure a demo would be well recieved. If you had the time, you could always add things like diary entries / letters which would allow other players to understand the backstory and injokes a little better.
Yes, I had thought of making a diary to make everything make sense but I think it would take just as long to do that as it would to rewrite the whole game into something more aimed towards the AGS community. For now though, I think I will just stick with making a demo.