Forge: Loom sequel (updated Dec 17th, 2013)

TheBitPriest · Mon 16/12/2013 16:06:46

Amazing work!

Construed · Mon 16/12/2013 19:28:03

Looking great! excellent shading on the art!

cacaro · Mon 16/12/2013 22:34:59

YES! Thanks so much!

Abisso · Mon 16/12/2013 22:54:31

Quote from: selmiak on Mon 16/12/2013 06:20:59
Since Abisso is probably sleeping or preparing a nice post to put in here or to update the first post I just want to post this in the meantime...

http://forgegame.com/?p=downloads

At the time you wrote this I was probably in Morpheus' realm, yeah! You did well in sharing the link in the meantime, but this board deserves a slightly more elaborate post (in addition to the update of the first one), for sure. So, here it is.

This community is where it all began. I wasn't even remotely aware of the project, when it started taking shape. To be 100% honest, I wasn't even aware of Loom: as a matter of fact, it was one of the few Lucas games I had never played. I still remember that one of my sister's friends used to play it at the time I was playing The Secret of Monkey Island. He gently offered to let me borrow his copy, but unfortunately my 286 PC didn't have a 3" 1/2 floppy drive at the time.
I was 6 or 7 years old, but I recall being fascinated by the blue tonalities of Loom's Island, the same ones that made me fall in love with MI. But we couldn't afford buying lots of games at the time, and I already had MI to play. Long story short, time passed and I forgot about Loom.

Then, almost 20 years later I stumble upon this AGS guy who wants help with a "project". He didn't share much info about it, and only wanted a generic support. I was coming from a long fast in terms of game-making and I thought helping a newcomer wrapping up is little game was the best way to get back on track. I offered him my help, and it turned out it was Forge. I rediscovered Loom, played it, loved it, played it again, loved it again, and so on. And then I imbued Forge with the same passion. Or so I tried.

It's ironic how coincidentally this all sounds: I didn't even know Loom, and I ended up becoming the coder, and then the project leader of its sequel. Chaos would be proud of this course of events!

Anyway, the AGS community has been very supportive, directly and indirectly, throughout the years. This is especially true considering how bad a promoter I am, and how little time I spent updating the threads and sharing progress.
It might sound cheesy, but I don't know if I would have made it so far without you people; and most certainly not without the game engine itself. But this demo is just a milestone and the road is still long and full of hazards. I need support and especially talented journey mates.
Please spread the word as best as you can, and if you have some free time and some creativity to share, consider joining our team.

But enough words, for now. I'll let the game speak for itself. Hope you enjoy.

CLICK HERE FOR THE DOWNLOAD PAGE

Construed · Tue 17/12/2013 00:42:56

I'm on a very slow connection or I would have downloaded it already, Is there any way you could add a link to a .ZIP or .RAR version?

selmiak · Tue 17/12/2013 15:06:01

the exe you download is, as far as I know, already a zipped selfextracting archive, so zipping it again will not make it smaller. But I have an idea, I'll have to talk with Abisso about it.

Corby · Tue 17/12/2013 18:11:11

Looking forward to playing through the first act! Looks amazing as always.

Abisso · Tue 17/12/2013 21:32:16

Quote from: Construed on Tue 17/12/2013 00:42:56
I'm on a very slow connection or I would have downloaded it already, Is there any way you could add a link to a .ZIP or .RAR version?

Well, not exactly, but there's a .TAR archive now! You can find it in the DOWNLOAD PAGE, right below the standard version.

Still, don't get too happy about that... the installer version already uses the very good LZMA compression, and it's 16 MiB bigger just because of the background image and the track used in the installer GUI.
Anyway, I had already planned to add an archive version for Linux users, as Wine seems to be quite annoyed by that installer, while it works flawlessly with the game itself.

Quote from: Corby on Tue 17/12/2013 18:11:11
Looking forward to playing through the first act! Looks amazing as always.

What are you waiting for?!?!? It's not like you have your own game to release in a few days... or is it?

kaput · Wed 18/12/2013 06:50:36

This is really good! It's like watching a very enjoyable movie

. A lotta' love has went in to this.

miguel · Wed 18/12/2013 16:07:48

Wow! Great stuff here! Just like playing a classic Lucas game! Congrats guys!
I'm stuck on the graves puzzle, though! I suck at puzzles!

Peder 🚀 · Wed 18/12/2013 18:22:19

The game is looking awesome!

Though I'm also stuck at the same place as miguel.. :-/. I'd appreciate a hint in PM form

.

miguel · Wed 18/12/2013 19:47:27

+1

Abisso · Thu 19/12/2013 10:09:33

Heya guys!

First of all, thanks for the feedback! I have mixed feelings about the game being enjoyable as a film: though I discovered a long time ago that some players prefer that approach, some others want more interactivity. I tried to achieve a good mix, and though the first part of Ch.1 is very cutscenes-driven, the rest is better balanced.

As per the graveyard puzzle, here are some progressively less obscure hints for you guys. Please don't go straight to the solution, try to use as few hints as you can.

First hint

Spoiler

Only some of the verses in the riddle contain hints. 5 of them as you might have figured out since the tomb sequence gets reset after the 5th tomb clicked in sequence.

[close]

Second hint

Spoiler

There are some words in those verses that make a reference to the epitaphs of the other tombs. Check them all, both the names and the epitaph itself.

[close]

Third hint

Spoiler

The verses containing keywords are the 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th.

[close]

Solution

Spoiler

tomb sequence is (from left to right, including the one with the riddle): 3-6-4-1-8

[close]

One thing that's worth mentioning anyway, is that, unlike Loom, in Forge the Proficiency Mode influences the game a lot. This includes the difficulty of that puzzle and of many others, as well as other special content. All this precious info didn't make it in the game's reference card, but a manual is in the making, and I might include it in the next instalment of Ch.1 (if there will be one).

Cheers!

miguel · Thu 19/12/2013 11:33:16

Cheers Abisso, but selmiak gave me the answer last night!
It's a fantastic game so far, really good!

selmiak · Thu 19/12/2013 15:50:43

Construed · Thu 19/12/2013 15:58:01

Certainly one of the most wonderfully illustrated indie dev games I've played.
I especially like the musical incantation which is specially and professionally orchestrated!
Your doing a swell job and I see a bright future for you and Quill O Wisp!

Abisso · Fri 20/12/2013 02:02:09

Quote from: miguel on Thu 19/12/2013 11:33:16
Cheers Abisso, but selmiak gave me the answer last night!
It's a fantastic game so far, really good!

Lol... but did he tell you he had to ask me for the solution during the beta-testing?

Glad you like the game.

Quote from: Construed on Thu 19/12/2013 15:58:01
Certainly one of the most wonderfully illustrated indie dev games I've played.
I especially like the musical incantation which is specially and professionally orchestrated!
Your doing a swell job and I see a bright future for you and Quill O Wisp!

Oh yes... Jamison Alderson is an amazing composer. He's the main responsible for the game's soundtrack. And the especially good thing is he's the kind of artist who immediately grasps the requests, and thus his works rarely require touch-ups. I hope he'll keep working with us through the rest of the game. And let's not forget Jon Babb, aka Bosa, and Paride Semeraro. And also Ashley Alyse, who's gently allowed me to borrow a couple of her already existing tracks.
When I reflect upon the fact Ch.1 score is already made of about 25 unique tracks... it almost feels crazy!

And thanks for the kind words about QOTW and its future. I wish the same to your Grim Quest, and your team.

Construed · Fri 20/12/2013 06:29:13

Yes indeed Abisso, I'm sure anyone who plays this will agree and the graphics are about as good as it gets!
I'll surely play the chapter to its completion and let you know VIA PM If I find and bugs/glitches or have any suggestions but honestly this game seems pretty much perfect thus far, The musical code entry makes me want to sit and try a million combinations, I will have to come up with some similar puzzle for our game, It's outstanding!

Secret Fawful · Mon 23/12/2013 08:47:07

You guys deserve a medal for getting this gauntlet interface to work so flawlessly in AGS. I'm racking my brains trying to figure out how you coded it. It's great.

Bòógieman · Mon 23/12/2013 14:41:18

you guys did an amazing job!

I have spent already a few hours on chapter 1 and I really love it!!!

but now I am stuck without a clue and so I created a help thread for your game.

however, keep on the good work!