FoY demo for all

m0ds · Fri 26/05/2006 00:57:47

It's not a completed game, merely an announcement.

The demo is out there!

QuoteThe much anticipated demo of Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth is finally available to download and try out for yourself! It's taken over two years to release but now it's ready for show, and should give you a tiny impression of just what is to come in the future.

The original demo, which almost surfaced in 2005 - had three programmers, and all was lost when the lead programmer dissapeared without ever uploading the game files for the team to continue working from. After this, a new programmer was recruited - and the demo you will play today has been entirely built from scratch by Jan Simon - a keen programmer who has worked extremely hard on pulling our work together, using only the compiled original version for reference and adding every single bit of detail back in himself.

Don't let this fool you though - more time means more ideas, new looks and better gameplay. The team have been able to implement things like the fight engine which was only really being concieved back in 2005. However, Jan has made it possible and in this demo you will get a taster of some of the action sequences in the game. Unlike the original demo, this version features all the correct dialogue written superbly by Lorn Conner.

The demo itself features an array of features that will be included in the full-game. Bear in mind, this is just a demo & so a lot of what we hope to include in the full game to really bring the atmosphere together - has been left out. The demo features a seperate storyline to the full-game but includes some structure that you can expect from the full game - including cut-scenes, inventory based puzzles, dialogue puzzles & action sequences. There's also over 25 minutes of original music especially composed for the demo, and over 15 unique interactive rooms to explore - all in beautiful 320x200 hand-drawn artwork by Misja van Laatum.

Did you know - we hope to release a talkie version of the demo in the near future! With your help, we can get Doug Lee on board as the voice of Indiana Jones! If you would like to hear him as Indy again in a brand new adventure, take a look at the donations page on our website.

http://www.barnettcollege.com/

It's time to finally see what we've been hiding all this time. You will find all the information and downloads you need below, on our demo page - which also includes technical information as there are still a couple of known bugs floating about in this version! (1.0).

So - sit back & hold on to your hats, it's time for your latest adventure!

http://www.barnettcollege.com/demo.htm

FoY is a freeware point & click by Screen 7, who are in no way affiliated with LucasArts, LucasFilm or George Lucas. Though, like most - we'd love it if we were!

PS - Yes, some minor bugs do still exist. Check out the readme to see what we are aware of, before sending us any reports! None the less - ENJOY!

Have fun. Time for bed & a celebration featuring beer :p

Renal Shutdown · Fri 26/05/2006 01:08:02

Hero promised me this a while back. He owes me a drink.

Chances are, I'll get that drink next year.

m0ds · Fri 26/05/2006 01:11:00

All I can say is... RUN HOT

Steel Drummer · Fri 26/05/2006 04:51:16

At last, after all these years... I'm stuck in it, by the way. What do I do after I get to Bimini? I have the sleeping pills but I don't know what to do now. Sorry if this is too "Hints and Tips Forum" ish, I just didn't want to bother posting there and taking extra time.

Huw Dawson · Fri 26/05/2006 10:05:37

All I can say is:

About ruddy time!

jetxl · Fri 26/05/2006 10:42:00

I think I speak for all if I say

YAY!
Now we only have to wait ten more years for the finished product...
YAY!

HillBilly · Fri 26/05/2006 11:05:46

Holy cow this is looking so, so good. Do you know how much money you need to get Doug Lee?

Is F7 some kind of hidden nazi button, or is it of practical use?

Take all the time you need on this, as long as it's finished some day. I'll be waiting.

Radiant · Fri 26/05/2006 11:10:24

What gives, I distinctly remember this game having keyboard controls the last time I played it. Imho Lucas GUIs are rather annoying without that, and it's like ten lines of code tops, so why did you take that out?

Nikolas · Fri 26/05/2006 11:15:28

Agree *(I) with Radiant, but still

A great Demo, and a great game, and a great production and a great... well...

Love it... (I)

SSH · Fri 26/05/2006 12:50:07

Quote from: Spleen on Fri 26/05/2006 01:08:02
Hero promised me this a while back.Ã,Â He owes me a drink.

Chances are, I'll get that drink next year.

Pfff... I said it would be ready BEFORE BRITTENS... and I was right. I think its your round...

In other news, apparently Beelzebub is having problems with icicles...

GarageGothic · Fri 26/05/2006 13:04:51

I just lost all my savegames by quitting the game using alt-F4 (I was at the carvings in the cliff and couldn't exit that screen whatever I did)

Aside from that, it's a nice looking demo.

Edit: Alright, I found that they were saves to the "Documents and Settings/Username" folder, but apparently the game didn't know to restore them from there after restarting the game. I had to move them to the game folder to do that. Either way, even if it worked, it's a mess saving there. Please save to "Documents and Settings/Username/My Documents/Fountain of Youth" or similar. I know that you're using a very recently implemented function in AGS so it's understandable that it's not working properly, but nevertheless it's very unfortunate.

Edit 2: So I finished the demo. And I must say the graphic style and the atmosphere is spot on. It truly feels like a LucasArts game from around the time of FoA. One thing I didn't enjoy was the puzzles which I found quite obscure with lots of pixel-hunting. But it should be said that I'm not much of a LucasArts fan and as for Indy games actually prefer TLC to FoA. The one puzzle I liked was the inscriptions at the end, but it did seem a bit derivative of the Gabriel Knight tomb writing.

Babar · Fri 26/05/2006 13:10:58

I had to Alt+F4 on the same thing. Didn't reload again to check. Uhoh.....

Also, the GUI disappeared after I talked to the fat guard. The empty talking GUI remained, but I could still walk around. I had to talk to him again to get the original GUI back.

veryweirdguy · Fri 26/05/2006 13:47:46

Just finished it, after moaning a lot on #ags of course.

That last puzzle was pretty cool. I was so frustrated while I was trying to get it, but then when I did, it was a forehead slapping "of course" moment - those are usually the most satisfying of puzzles.

The fight system seemed a little odd though - I tried fighting the guy 3 times and all 3 times I lost. HOWEVER, I then figured out a way to get past him without fighting him - the problem is, I did it slightly wrong:

Spoiler

I accidently used the wrong name

[close]

so I had to fight him a fourth time. Somewhat oddly, I won this itme.

Graphics are very pretty and all, but hey, we've all known that for months....er....years, rather.

A minor niggle I had is choosing which option to use at certain points - but that is partly a criticism of the Lucasarts GUI than this game specifically. For example:

Spoiler

I knew i had to get the needle out of the compass, so I tried everything I could for ages until someone told me simple to "push" it.

Similarily, I had to help someone who did not know it was as simple as "use wires" in the car.

[close]

Not a major thing, just a little frustration. But I guess that's a problem with any adventure game puzzle to some people!

Good luck with the rest of the project! I'll be keeping an eye on this.

Steel Drummer · Fri 26/05/2006 15:00:45

Keep in mind that these puzzles aren't going to be used the real game. And btw- who the heck is Doug Lee?!

Vel · Fri 26/05/2006 15:02:24

My oh my, this day actually came! Congratulations on the belated release on the demo, it rocks! I hope we will see the full game before the end of the decade.

Privateer Puddin' · Fri 26/05/2006 15:26:21

Quote from: yodaman11111 on Fri 26/05/2006 15:00:45
Keep in mind that these puzzles aren't going to be used the real game. And btw- who the heck is Doug Lee?!

Doug Lee did the voice of Indiana Jones in FOA

Steel Drummer · Fri 26/05/2006 15:34:27

Oh. Sweet! Too bad you couldn't get ol' Harrison himself, eh?

Hammerite · Fri 26/05/2006 16:10:23

if lucas arts couldnt then these guys cant.
will doonlood latar.

m0ds · Fri 26/05/2006 16:13:41

This post contains some spoilers, about the fight sequence mostly...

Firstly - Doug is affordable, Harrison is not!!!!

Thanks for all your comments. I understand there are quite a few buggy parts, but to be honest - don't fret. There are better versions of the demo coming out, 1.1 will have all the mentioned bugs fixed & a whole lot more descriptions when actions are taken etc.

You have to remember with this demo, not one person designed the puzzles, we all did, not one person designed the storyline, we all did - whereas the full game will have much more consistency.

I'm glad you liked the panel puzzle (that was MY puzzle I might add! :p) - there will be more taxing puzzles like that in the full game, so beware!

Regarding some of the issues here:

QuoteIs F7 some kind of hidden nazi button, or is it of practical use?

Must be a hidden Nazi button, I didn't know about it!

QuoteDocuments and Settings/Username" folder, but apparently the game didn't know to restore them from there after restarting the game. I had to move them to the game folder to do that. Either way, even if it worked, it's a mess saving there. Please save to "Documents and Settings/Username/My Documents/Fountain of Youth" or similar.

Games are being saved all over the place and I don't know why, I don't think Jan is on top of that one yet either - but it will be sorted in the next version. The save-games features are what we had the most trouble with (and what has delayed the demo over the last few weeks) - but we gave in, and thought bugger it, release it.

QuoteOne thing I didn't enjoy was the puzzles which I found quite obscure with lots of pixel-hunting.

Which pixel hunting puzzles are those? The wires? I'm sure that's all there is...

QuoteThe one puzzle I liked was the inscriptions at the end, but it did seem a bit derivative of the Gabriel Knight tomb writing.

Fair play - I've never played any of the Gabrial Knight games and it was I that designed that puzzle, so thats just co-incidence.

QuoteAlso, the GUI disappeared after I talked to the fat guard. The empty talking GUI remained, but I could still walk around. I had to talk to him again to get the original GUI back.

I heard this was a problem, sorry about that. It'll be fixed for v1.1.

QuoteThe fight system seemed a little odd though - I tried fighting the guy 3 times and all 3 times I lost. HOWEVER, I then figured out a way to get past him without fighting him - the problem is, I did it slightly wrong:

Yep - the fight can be tricky. You'll find in the full game that, if you do choose to fight, different methods will win. Just punching too and fro won't. The trick here is to double-punch when your energy is high. There's always the cheap-trick option, though

QuoteWhat gives, I distinctly remember this game having keyboard controls the last time I played it. Imho Lucas GUIs are rather annoying without that, and it's like ten lines of code tops, so why did you take that out?

I've pressured every programmer to include mouse options but no-one would care to implement it, until Jan. That is the primary fighting method I used when playing FoA and wanted to keep that true to FoY. You'll be able to use the keypad in the full-game.

Anyway - thanks again and thanks for all your support

PS - Doug has given us a quote, we're 10% there to getting him voice the demo.

Radiant · Fri 26/05/2006 16:42:25

Quote from: m0ds on Fri 26/05/2006 16:13:41
QuoteWhat gives, I distinctly remember this game having keyboard controls the last time I played it. Imho Lucas GUIs are rather annoying without that, and it's like ten lines of code tops, so why did you take that out?
I've pressured every programmer to include mouse options but no-one would care to implement it, until Jan. That is the primary fighting method I used when playing FoA and wanted to keep that true to FoY. You'll be able to use the keypad in the full-game.

No, you got it backwards. I want to be able to use the keyboard to select verbs and inventory items, like in every LucasArts game.