Adventure Game Studio

AGS Games => AGS Games in Production => Topic started by: Rik_Vargard on Tue 02/03/2004 03:02:54

Title: Everlight Forest DEMO v1.1 Released!
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Tue 02/03/2004 03:02:54
Well, here I go. I made the big step. The very first release of my very first game made with AGS, so things can only get better...  :)

Download HERE-> http://www.eoniria.net/download/SilverbowGames.zip (http://www.eoniria.net/download/SilverbowGames.zip)

You can play it in english or french.

You play Khargan, who lives in the forest with master Kinn, a student in history and magic of runes, the magic of "becoming" powers instead of casting them.
One day, his master receives a strange message from the Prince, ruler of the Forest.
Khargan has to go to the castle, and will have a lot of surprises and epic moments on his journey before he gets there...

DEMO v1.0: You need to take the boat and leave the place for the village of Hearn. You have past it when you get the "Well Done, to be continued..." screen. ;)

(http://www.eoniria.net/p17/b0085rp.jpg)

(http://www.eoniria.net/p17/b0084rp.jpg)

Any comments, questions, suggestions,whatever are welcome!  :)
Title: Re:Silverbow Games
Post by: James Kay on Tue 02/03/2004 04:04:14
Nice!

Show us some characters!!  :)
Title: Re:Silverbow Games
Post by: evilspacefart on Tue 02/03/2004 08:47:26
welcome and good luck on your game. 8)
Title: Re:Silverbow Games
Post by: Vel on Tue 02/03/2004 08:54:34
It looks great, I hope you finish this.
Title: Re:Silverbow Games
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Tue 02/03/2004 16:58:43
Aye! Thx a lot!  :)
Sure I plan to finish this  ;D ... I'm writing the story for the moment...

Quote from: James Kay on Tue 02/03/2004 04:04:14
Nice!

Show us some characters!!  :)

Aye, the tough part is of course animation, heh... I'm working on this, too...
Hmm I'm as curious as yuo are to see what it's going to look like lol ;D

Anyway, I'll post new tings as soon as I have them. :D
Title: Re:Silverbow Games
Post by: piraatlife4me on Wed 03/03/2004 17:21:51
Nice custom icons,
everything looks really good!
Post again when you get some sprites finished I am curious to see what they are going to look like.
Good luck!
Daniel
Winebarger
Title: Re:Silverbow Games
Post by: Migs on Wed 03/03/2004 18:14:41
This is a beautiful art style.  I wish you the best on completing your game.
Title: Re:Silverbow Games
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Wed 03/03/2004 19:58:10
Thanks a lot for your motivating words, people! ;D

Yeah... the hard part will be the animations... but right now I'm working on the story and the characters... :)

I'll post as soon as I have something decent to show  ;)
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: sergiocornaga on Fri 05/03/2004 05:15:37
Whoo. Cool. That is one awesome GUI, but I want more ingame shots!
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: Azure on Fri 05/03/2004 19:25:01
uummm pretty pics..more please ;3
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Fri 19/03/2004 21:07:47
Umm... I've been without computer for a while, now I'm back! :)
Well I have just started working again and have some minor stuff to show. But so you see I'm still working on it... ;D


Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: Gravity on Sun 21/03/2004 00:48:47
Message deleted.
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: piraatlife4me on Sun 21/03/2004 07:39:42
Ahh cool! You got some animation done. Everything looks good to me. I'm glad to hear that you're still working at it. Making a game takes a lot of hard work and dedication. That's something I just learned ;)


Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: Peter Thomas on Sun 21/03/2004 07:51:42
That Animation R0x0rs your B0x0rs.

It reminds me very much of a tv series that used to show on Australian ABC. It was like a mini re-make of moby-dick.

I don't think the animaiton style worked well for a tv show, but I kept thinking - that would work well in a game...

AND HERE IT IS!

I cannot wait to play it, my friend...

If you need assistance with music etc, feel free to pm me...

I look forward to seeing the finished result!
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: Vel on Sun 21/03/2004 09:34:27
 :o :o :o :o :o

/me drops dead
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Sun 21/03/2004 10:22:07
Lol .... heh  :P dunno what to say... THX a lot, guys! The is mostly encoureaging! Well, yeah, it's a lot more work than I though! lol In the beginning I wanted to do it all by myself but I have already my time full trying to understand the basics, heh... not to say scripting... the what?... scripting... uh?... erm yeah....
nevermind...

I'm also very honored that some people proposed me their help; I'll message you guys!  ;) Thx!

To be continued...
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Thu 25/03/2004 19:56:40
Just some more little pics  ;)
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: Vel on Thu 25/03/2004 20:01:45
Great, as ever.
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: piraatlife4me on Thu 25/03/2004 20:51:12
Nice  :)
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: Kinoko on Fri 26/03/2004 15:30:27
Absolutely goooorgeous! This looks like one of the most beautiful games I've seen since Kyrandia. Did you do the art yourself or did you just tweak existing art?
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Fri 26/03/2004 16:22:47
Aye! It's me who did this... :) Thanks to my drawing studies, PhotoImpact XL, a lot of textures and aftereffects... ;)
Title: Looks great
Post by: on Thu 01/04/2004 01:09:53
The game looks great, really, it's has the best graphics I've ever seen in an amateur game. How do you do it? Have you study something to draw like that? It's really amazing. Good luck with your first game, if you need some help with the story, all I can say is this:
1) I can see the game is medieval. Don't go too Tolkien with the story, it has been made millions of times.
2) Don't do the classic "Good guy kills bad guy to save beatifull princess"
3) Put some magical elements on the story, but make it look like something normal
4) Make the player enter in the game in the middle of the plot, that way you can go straight to action.
5) To explain the story, don't put some old guy to tell it all at once, if you do it a bit at a time, you'll have a longer and funnier game
6) For puzzles, don't make the classic "find key and use it on door to pass to next episode", there are other ways to do that, even better ones
7) The main character must evolve through the game, it's way of thinking and seeing life must gradually change through the game

If you want to, I can add more tips. Just say it.
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: on Thu 01/04/2004 21:07:37
Hey, thanks for your kind words and the interesting points you put there! :)

Well... to be honest, the really very funny thing is that you can put "ok" for every point you submitted because that's kind of  the way I'm working on the game. Yup. :)
And if there are other points you consider like having a high importance for it, don't hesitate to drop them!
 ;D
Title: Re:Silverbow Games presents: Everlight Forest
Post by: on Thu 01/04/2004 21:11:50
I'll Edit here(login problems):

Forgot one point, sorry. Well yeah, I did art school. And I have a really cool soft called PhotoImpact XL for finishing stuff (effects, lights, textures...). But the base thing is always drawed on paper then scanned, resized, reworked and so on...

Voilà !  :D
Title: Re:Everlight Forest !! 5 TESTERS NEEDED!
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Mon 05/04/2004 01:56:47
Hi, I reached a point I think we already can test almost the whole first puzzle. Well, there's not much more than 5-15 minutes of playing. Untill now, I worked most of the time on the story, the intro and the music. :P

Ok, now I don't know if there's some kind of AGS-tradition/way to recruit testers other than asking, so I see it like this since It's my first nooby release experience :-[
The 5 first to respond are in.... 8)
Well yeah ;)

Of course, you'll have your place in the credits... ;)

Before submitting, read this:

=The game is in 640 x 480 resolution at 16bits=
=!!The file is 18Mb big!!=

But if you want, I can compress and divide it in more little .rar files.

SCREENSHOTS
(http://www.eoniria.net/p17/b0013rp.jpg)
(http://www.eoniria.net/p17/b0015rp.jpg)
Other notes:

-The character animation isn't done (you'll notice it fast). He has to be remade from total scratch! I made just a quick thing to walk around and play.
-There is no FX sound yet.
-The whole intro-scene is finished( like 3 minutes long )
-Three songs finished (Two during the intro and one ambient song while playing ( need a 4th one, too ))
-You can play the puzzle from the beginning untill a certain point. (After you can't do much more than just stand & walk there)
-I'll make a "new room" for when you open chests and boxes and stuff to be opened, with contents so you can see all the stuff in the "chests" and choose them by a click.
-A little more practical details will be sent by mail to the testers with the link for the download.

who's in?  ;D
Title: Re:Everlight Forest
Post by: piraatlife4me on Mon 05/04/2004 02:01:53

I'm down to test your game.
Just pm me the link to download!

Title: Re:Everlight Forest ( 5 Testers needed )
Post by: AtakeeR on Mon 05/04/2004 12:36:43
Count me in - PM link to me and I'll test it
Title: Re:Everlight Forest Tester ?
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Mon 05/04/2004 15:34:48
Aye aye! Right now it's uploading....

I put an installer on it and as an .exe it's better compressed than .rar or .zip exe files... ::) Well just 2 Mb, but heh, that what it takes :-\
Title: Re:Everlight Forest tester?
Post by: Jockstrap on Mon 05/04/2004 16:01:50
I'll do it.
Title: Re:Everlight Forest tester?
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Mon 05/04/2004 17:22:49
All right!  :) :) I send you a PM!  8)
Title: Re:Everlight Forest tester?
Post by: Sinister on Mon 05/04/2004 19:35:15
I'll take the deed of testing your game!!!...i promise i'll be gentle ;).
Just pm me the link to download.
Title: Re:Everlight Forest
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Mon 05/04/2004 21:10:27
You mean you take the risk...?!  ;D
It's a honor, sir! 8)
Title: Re:Everlight Forest DEMO v1.0 Released!
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Fri 16/04/2004 18:10:19
Check out the first post of this topic for more info and the download link! ;D
Title: Re:Everlight Forest DEMO v1.1 Released!
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Sat 17/04/2004 16:52:20
Well, I just made the French translation, for those who... well... want to play in French... 8)
Title: Re:Everlight Forest DEMO v1.1 Released!
Post by: deltamatrix on Mon 19/04/2004 11:30:35
I just tried out the demo. I didn't complete it but its lookin good.

I'd like to suggest something. Your GUI buttons weren't very clear to me.
It would help if you made them more obvious to their function by colour code or mousetext.
Title: Re:Everlight Forest DEMO v1.1 Released!
Post by: piraatlife4me on Mon 19/04/2004 15:32:18
Alright Rik!
It's out now! Now I gotta download the new version  ;D
Alright! Got it! Now waiting for the FULL game!
Good luck with the masterpiece.
Title: Re:Everlight Forest DEMO v1.1 Released!
Post by: on Mon 19/04/2004 16:42:05
Should I have two hooks and the iron bar in inventory?  I have already used the iron bar.  This happened when I searched the cabinet for a second time after starting from a saved game.       I am stuck on this game.....  can't find what is needed to sharpen the axe.
Title: Re:Everlight Forest DEMO v1.1 Released!
Post by: Migs on Tue 20/04/2004 00:32:47
Rik,

This is a very beautiful game.  I have a few comments:

The brevity of the descriptions is a rather undesirable feature.  For example, what's the point in reading "A door" when I click the Look command on a door?  I can see it's a door.  I know it's a door.  I'd like to hear something I don't necessarily know about the door, like it's made of hand-carved oak, or has some unusual scratches on it, or something.

More descriptive global messages and/or more global messages would be useful.  Just seeing "Nothing interesting here" is a real turn off, especially when it's on something typically interesting like a chest.  WHY isn't the chest interesting?  Is it just filled with old clothes?  If so, you should let the player know.  And I got rather tired clicking on everything that I thought would be interesting or further the game somehow but not getting a message for it.  In my opinion, adding better description to the messages would be useful, since the puzzles are slightly unintuitive.

When picking up an object, it would be fruitful to tell the player what is being picked up, so he doesn't have to check his inventory to see what was added.  This is especially important if the player has a large inventory, so he doesn't have to hunt through his inventory to notice what's different.

The art style is very interesting and refreshingly beautiful.  I kind of wish the main character had a small shadow underneath his body or something, since in all the scenes he looks somewhat out of place.  His walk animation is a little crude, too.

You should know that I'm intentionally being nit-picky, because I feel this game has enormous, enormous potential.  Overall, it's remarkably captivating, the music is excellent, and I think by fixing a few minor details, it could really become a resounding success.
Title: Re:Everlight Forest DEMO v1.1 Released!
Post by: Rik_Vargard on Tue 20/04/2004 12:15:23
Aye aye!
I like to thank everyone who took his time to try out the demo. Im really honored and motivated by it.  :)
Well, like I like to say, it's my first game and everything can only become better with time.
But now, I know it will be even better thanks to all the very interesting feedback I'm getting from you people. I'm learning every day.
Here or by mail, short or more detailed, they all have a positive and constructive impact...  :D

Know that I copy/paste all critics, suggestions, whatever... in my "Critics&Suggestions&Whatever" file, and every little detail will be given a serious though for sure. ;)

Thanks! :)
Title: Re:Everlight Forest DEMO v1.1 Released!
Post by: Potch on Tue 20/04/2004 18:25:43
Hi.  I've been playing your demo, and I really like it.  I can't seem to get anywhere, but that's just because I'm retarded when it comes it adventure games, and I can never seem to figure out the obvious solutions! :-)  

Anyway, the only suggestion that I have for the game, is it seems that the background is a little too busy.  It's really difficult to see objects on the screen with all of the detail in the background.  Maybe make the objects that you need to use stand out a little more.  Or, have the cursor blink when there's something you can use.  Or, some games have words appear on the screen when you pass over something clickable.

Other than that, so far it's pretty cool.  I'm anxiously awaiting the full version!!
Title: Re: Everlight Forest DEMO v1.1 Released!
Post by: Pet Terry on Sun 02/05/2004 14:38:20
Very interesting and unique game. Great atmosphere you've got there, keep it up.