I am excited to announce my first game in Production
DERVISH LARSEN IN ALL THE SHINY THINGS
Story:
I know what you’re thinking,
“Oh great another Private Eye, another hero come to get the dame, save the day, and take no reward except the honor of being truthful, honorable and valiant…†Well, I ain’t none of those. All those stereotypes about hoodlums, well, stuff those into a crate, wrap it in a bag of flesh and bone, and that is me.
If some schmuck tries to tell you, “Oh, this guy is scum. Don’t worry the good guys will get him.†Bah, Let me set you straight, kid. Ain’t nobody good left in the world even the police will turn a blind eye if the price is right. Knights, Damsels, Slaying the Evil Dragon, all Fairy Tale stuff. There is only two kindsa people; you and the rest of the world…Who you gonna trust?
But enough about that…Hmmm…Me? You want to know who I am that I can make such sweeping generalities? I ain’t nobody, at least here in Darq City, I ain’t nobody. Back home, they call me Dervish Larsen, well except, Tommy ‘Two Teeth’ he calls me dead, which is why I decided to pick up stakes and try my luck in Darq City. Course if yous be needin' it in plain english... I am a thief, a grifter, anything laying around I 'll use the old 5 finger discount.
(Since there seems to be confusion about the actual plot of the game I will put it in plan english, and not just let dervish ramble on about nothing in particular. Dervish arrives in Darq City with no money becuase he is running away from a gangster back west. Now to even survive or to even just have a place to sleep, Dervish must steal, and it is your job to help him steal as much as possible.)
Screenshots:
Hey kid, I kinda like ya, why dontcha stick around for a while I share some of the pictures of my trip so far.
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Dervishnoir.png)
Meet interesting people in dark alleys!
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Sleepezy.png)
Spend the night in exotic locales!!
(http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Subwaydervish.png)
Explore the depths of the criminal underground!!!
Development Progress
Graphics: 91%
Story: 100%
Puzzle: 85%
Coding: 83%
*UPDATE*
March 6 2009
I did some major work on scripting today...which always seems to take me forever...not much of a programmer here so I have to always test and retest my code. Also created a new animation for the dervish character, and have edited the some of the backgrounds based on you guys suggestions. Thanks so much for the posts, it really helps to encourage me and push me closer to a final product.
May 15 2009
Ok Well I regret to inform you that I have done little work on the project... the grind of scripting stikes again but for those of you interested and those of you not, here is a demo I put together not sure if I will get in trouble for asking for comment on it so I suppose I will start a post in CNC forum.
http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/dervish-larsen-in-all-the-shiny-things/download/176/ (http://gamejolt.com/freeware/games/dervish-larsen-in-all-the-shiny-things/download/176/)
Here is the Critics Lounge Link if you want to comment
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=37775.0 (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=37775.0)
July 30 2009
Well as it seems to be my luck. My Computer CRASHED :( luckily most of the work I had perviously done was saved on my external hard drive, but all the new work I had put into it has vanished, which is disheartening but I shall prevail. I guess if you haven't tried it yet the demo is still availble.
October 14 2009
After taking a bit of a break I have decided to step away from this game. It was my first game I worked on and I think my goal was far to big for a first time. I still would like to develop it but I need to brush up on my coding and other things becuase I really like my idea and story and want to wait until I have more skills so I can better create my enitre vision for the game. I am currently working on some smaller games to get me more smarterer :)... Anyway I will leave up the demo, and if people really want me keep work on it post and let me know.
The graphics look nice, effective use of contrast, and I like the limited use of colour.
Story also sounds interesting. Just one minor point: the name Tommy "Two Teeth" is extremely reminiscent of Jimmy Two-Teeth from the Sam & Max games.
Not that I'm saying it's a bad name or that you can't use it. Just pointing it out in case you were unaware :).
Nice style..feels noirish and all, (reminds me I want to do that kind of music) good luck with it. Flips and flops.
I'm more of a critic so don't take any of the thing's I will say as insults but rather as information:
I'm not fond of the story, it just seems kinda of lame, but the way you wrote the story is very fitting for a private eye story. I think you should spice up the story a little but keep the way you describe it, make the character talk in monologues and such because even tough it seems typical it IS a private eye story, so not doing that would not have the kick needed.
As for the graphics, I really love the art direction you chose, the...mono-chrome colors and the design of the backgrounds and the main character. Also the GUI and the items look really well done.
Overall, I'm looking forward to playing this game. If you need a beta or alpha tester for free, you can count on me. Don't worry, any part of the story I learn while playing will remain a secret until the game is released. So if the game has plot twists (and it should) and you trust me as a tester, nobody will find out ANY information about the game. Keep working on it because me and some of my friends that are watching my reply and don't have accounts here, think that the game will be one of the few AGS games worth playing.
The graphics are nice but they need a LOT of polishing.
The story is ok allthough it's not entirely clear what the story actually is.
I'm looking forward to this.
Well I think the graphics look brilliant.
The art style and direction is great. The Film Noir, monochrome style is good and fits the story..
I think when some say polish.. you should look at the rendering on some things in your backgrounds.. In some areas there is a stark contrast between the light and dark points.. but then in other pieces, like the moon, and the back of the subway wall.. theres gradations of gray.. I would go back over those and clean them into black and white..
Also the line work is varied in conflicting manners.. you have a scene with drafted straight lines, and in others they are very freehanded.. both methods are fine.. but not together..
Lookin forward to future updates.
Thanks everyone for the comments. Wayne I agree with you but find it difficult to show that that foreground building has a rounded corner without the lines. The game started out as something so much bigger but one of my firends convinced me to just get something done, so when I do release it let me know what ya'll think and it could turn into something much bigger. Also not sure if I did a bigger version if I would use the b&W style as it can get straining on the old eyeballs. Keep posting becuase each post that is made an angel gets its wings or something like that. (Well it helps encourage me to get this thing finished)
I'm a fan of the art style as well, though not that crazy about the typed signs. The characterisation is nicely done. Looking forward to this :)
Quote from: ALPHA2TThe graphics are nice but they need a LOT of polishing.
Speaking as somebody with limited technical skill when it comes to making graphics, I find comments like this quite offensive. These are projects people make in their spare time and there's a lot of programming and writing going into this as well - people make these for fun, there shouldn't be any standards on them.
Need a lot of polishing?
Do you mind? I work almost entirely out of MSPaint and I plan to keep that way, bar the odd effect in PaintShop Pro because it's easy and it gets the job done to my satisfaction and I don't expect to see ridiculous, spurious standards applied like this out of the blue. But I've noticed it's becoming very common in the AGS community...
Funny, it used to be almost all programmers, now the bulk seem to be photoshop wizards throwing their two bob around like Scrooge McDuck having a temper tantrum. It's almost enough to put you off the program altogether.
@Dervish: looks like a very interesting game and I'll be sure to play it when it comes out. Love the art style.
Speaking as somebody with industry experience in art, citing that something needs a polish pass isn't rude.. in fact just saying something needs polish is the opposite of negative.. something in need of polish has already gone through several stages of development, and now its ready to be fine tuned.. Even if all these projects are just our private passions we work on at home.. I feel its still ok to critique and advise like this was a developer environment..
I'm not meaning to argue, Jared, but professionally..I've had WAY worse said about my work.. and personally.. I would rather have people nit pick my work, and give me honest critique any time.
Quote from: Jared on Mon 23/02/2009 08:55:20
Speaking as somebody with limited technical skill when it comes to making graphics, I find comments like this quite offensive. These are projects people make in their spare time and there's a lot of programming and writing going into this as well - people make these for fun, there shouldn't be any standards on them.
I love the graphics, but I do agree that they can be improved. That doesn't mean they suck however. It means that it's good enough that people wish they could see it elevated to
perfection, or something as close to it as possible, given the constraints of a free game developed in someone's free time. To say that there shouldn't be standards on free games or that the forum is overrun by "photoshop wizards" is a bit much, I think. Feedback given on games in the AGS forums is meant to help the game makers to improve their games. Wayne gave some good examples of where the graphics could use some polishing, and I tried to give one too. But in the end Dervish is free to say "hey, that's the best I can do for now, I have other priorities" - and that's absolutely fine.
Oh, I don't think Jared is irritated with someone suggesting that it need polishing, but that his words were:
Quote from: Jared on Mon 23/02/2009 08:55:20
Quote from: ALPHA2TThe graphics are nice but they need a LOT of polishing.
That "a LOT" suggests that the project isn't ready to be fine-tuned yet, perhaps it's not what ALPHA2T meant, but it carries the connotation that Dervish's work is far from ready to be released. I think it's just that little addition that Jared is reacting to.
I personally like the style and can't wait for it to be released.
Please excuse for speaking as though I am a moderator, going offtopic and for possibly coming across as rude, but...
As someone who has no industry experience in art and who just draws for fun, I say that whilst critique is useful, even essential to improving, sometimes you just gotta release a game with whatever art you're capable of at the moment. It's pretty much general knowledge that you're gonna improve if you want to and spend the time doing it, but considering the game is freeware - the graphics are just fine :). Wearing the writing, design, scripting and graphics hats is a lot of work for one person, and it is unrealistic to expect perfection when you're not paying a dime.
If this is the style Dervish chooses to use, this is fine. If he wants to improve the graphics and wants advice, then this ain't the place to discuss it.
(Sorry Darth :-[)
(oh, auriond beat me, and I agree with her as well :P)
Quote from: Wayne AdamsSpeaking as somebody with industry experience in art, citing that something needs a polish pass isn't rude..
Well, this isn't the art industry, is it? This is a freeware games community.
QuoteI'm not meaning to argue, Jared, but professionally..I've had WAY worse said about my work.. and personally.. I would rather have people nit pick my work, and give me honest critique any time.
Yeah, but there's a forum for just that reason. Given that the OP lists Graphics as 91% and HASN'T posted this stuff in there I think it's logical to assume he isn't looking for somebody to tell him his graphics are short of the mark.
Quote from: auriondTo say that there shouldn't be standards on free games or that the forum is overrun by "photoshop wizards" is a bit much, I think.
I'm not sure how so. Graphics seems to be a big topic on these boards and how can you apply standards to free games made with free software by amateur artists? All I can think of is commonsense stuff like not featuring any obscenities that break the law in Western countries. I don't think anyone's promised any sort of 'value-for-bandwidth' equation for people downloading games and these games don't come with any sort of guarantees..
Good to see that Ben gets why that annoyed me, especially considering that he's behind some of the best graphics I've seen on this forum.
(Anybody in this thread played a Captain Mostly game, for the record?)
EDIT: Oh, and mass apologies to Dervish for inadvertently hi-jacking this thread.
Okay okay ... I'm stepping in now :)
Let's get back on topic!
Dervish - if you need/want advice on the graphics please utilize the Critics Lounge for that!
As for the rest of you, let's get back on target and leave the discussion about graphics out of here! General comments on the graphics are, of course, fine... but let's not continue the debating (in here I mean ... feel free to post in the Adventure Related or GenGen) :)
Cheers.
This looks pretty sweet.
I love the moon.
Thanks to everybody for the support.
I have done a little work on some of the backgrounds but won't post them right now.
Again thanks for those who have been interested I posted a demo of the game at the top so...go download it already
One single and first piece of advice, no offense: Please don't call your zip archive "Compiled.zip", I have "Compiled.zip" 1 through 9 in my download folder and can't seem to find anything anymore. And now I will play it and tell you if the rest of your game is better than the file name of the zip archive.
edit:
Alright now, I played some. It is not bad, some typos here and there, and it does not very polished, yet (obviously because it is a demo), but I think it definitely shows some potential. The story is a little bit on the weak side. I liked the introduction, despite being very wordy and all, but then to be dropped near some random house and having to burgle was, well, I felt a bit let down by the game - building up tension and telling about knights and fairies and how this does not apply to him, and then just going east to invade some random guy's home - well...
About the graphics: I liked the style very much when I first saw it, but it gets in the way when playing the game - If you only have black and white, you leave the player hotspot hunting in some situations. I liked how you used the style very effectively with the desk lamp, though.
About the characters: They work, I guess. I liked the clerk in a way, and in a way I even liked the bum, although it was a pretty cheap way of undermining the "bum" stereotype. Larsen could use some fine tuning, though - is he tough for toughness' sake? Why does he know about tiger lillies? You know, that sort of things...
About the music: Quite nice. Jazz always works with black/white and crime and does not tire your ears all too soon. I was surprised you picked a tune with a drum solo, but all the better, it still worked well.
Enjoyed it,
Spoiler
especially the Scabb island map. Is it an easter egg, or a plot element?
I like the game, it has a good atmosphere and the graphics are very original.
Found a bug:
Spoiler
After I moved the garbage can to the ladder and looked at it again, the game still says 'if I could get it away from the bum, I might just be able to use it to get to the fire escape.'[/hide}
Kaputtnik, cyrus and neon Thanks for giving the demo a try. I am glad you all enjoyed. Thanks for the very extensive critque Kaputnik I can see man of your points and probably agree with most unfortunately as a one man team my full fledge idea for this game can't really be reached, but you always have to make some sacrifices. and cyrus no that really isn't a spoiler I used a template for the scumm engine and that was one of the rooms included in the template which I have not erased yet. Neon thanks for the bug report working on fixing it now again thanks and I encourage anyone else to give it a try and post your thoughts
Quote from: Dervish on Mon 18/05/2009 06:45:35
I used a template for the scumm engine and that was one of the rooms included in the template which I have not erased yet.
And maybe you shouldn't ;) What do the others think?
Computer crashed...lost most of my new work :(
We're sorry :'( Will the project be revived?
That's sad and the worst thing that I can image to happen when developing a game... :-\
[sorry_to_ask] Didn't backup your stuff? [/sorry_to_ask]
I am in love with this style of graphics. The black and white with a lil bit of color here and there is just brilliant! And the main character is really interesting. I don't think I've ever played a game before where the guy is a thief and the object of the game is just to steal stuff LOL. I'm really looking forward to this one whenever you get it done since your computer crashed.
QuoteI don't think I've ever played a game before where the guy is a thief and the object of the game is just to steal stuff LOL.
Then you've never played an adventure game! :P Stealing IS the whole purpose of the game. ;)
Dervish, shame you had computer problems. The game and playable character looked very interesting.
ArjOn - I did have it backed up to the point where the demo is right now so all that stuff exists thankfully, but... I had done quite a bit of work after the demo and that stuff has been lost
Cosmo- I really glad you enjoyed playing and of course there will be a plot to it beside stealing things but I am glad you liked the theiving parts to it.
Ryan - Thank you and I agree with you when you think about it many adventure game "heroes" are moralilly reprehensible. They feel like oh this isn't mine but it will help me out...I am sure this person won't mind if I "aquire" this.
Update 10/14/09
Since you are not working on the game any more (IE it's not "in production") I'm going to lock this thread. Feel free to send Dervish a PM if you feel like trying to convince him to keep working on the game (as requested in his first post).