Brass Tacks - alpha-testers aren't required, but would be nice

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Sat 17/02/2007 00:37:42

"Every great mistake has a halfway moment, a split second when it can be recalled and perhaps remedied" Pearl Buck (1892 - 1973)

It couldn't get any worse. You're in the house of an ex-partner who was blackmailing you before he... *ahem* fell down the stairs and broke his neck. All you have to do is get out, and you can simply leave by the front door, but you know it won't be long before the cops call on you as the prime suspect - and not just the cops...

"Brass Tacks" is not a standard, story-oriented or even puzzle-oriented or character-oriented adventure game. It's a simple scenario - you have to make sure you won't come out of this looking like the guilty party. Maybe you'll make it look like a robbery, or some vendetta, or maybe even a crime of passion. Expect plenty of surprises before you can leave the house safely...

"Brass Tacks" is being brough to you by Beware the LadyBeatle.

"Brass Tacks" is to be an 800x600 32bit game - in which full use of this resolution and colour depth is made. It plays as a typical 1st-person "slide-show" game (Myst, Shivers, etc), and as the programmer of this project (which, incidently, is my only contribution to it), I'm personally ensuring that it avoids, as much as possible, the two worst pitfalls of this genre: lacks of interactions, and a navigational system that doesn't actually make sense. That's a personal goal of mine.

Graphics - 75% (still need most animations)
Music and Sound Effects - 60%
Story - 95%
Coding -
Ã,Â Ã,Â Ã,Â Global code, engine code - 100%
Ã,Â Ã,Â Ã,Â Everything else - not sure, exactly. 50+% for sure.

He's dead, Jim.

You've always liked piano music.

Fancy a game?

Every seasoned adventurer loves screens like this!

I'd release a demo, if I could get one made that didn't reveal too much of the game. That's impossible, sadly. However, I could use some alpha-testers. I dunno if the term even exists, but I need them. The testers' goal would be to roam around the house that has been built and see if everything makes sense, see if the navigation is intuitive, see if there's anything out of the ordinary - this sort of thing should get settled really early on, so the sooner I could make sure that the geography of the place is correct, the better.

ShadeJackrabbit · Sat 17/02/2007 01:09:59

Interesting. Pretty good graphics. I do hope it will be interesting. Is it going to be freeware? Or an indi game to buy?

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Sat 17/02/2007 01:11:16

Absolutely free, my dear fellow. Free as they come, free as the raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Free games are a few of my favourite things.

auriond · Sat 17/02/2007 01:15:12

It looks absolutely gorgeous, and the premise sounds intriguing - covering up your tracks instead of proving your innocence. Definitely looking forward to this!

strattford · Sat 17/02/2007 02:42:21

Awesome game! You guys are genious!

thewalrus · Sat 17/02/2007 03:34:33

Wow, Rui, this does look awesome. The concept sounds really fun and the graphics already look amazing. Good luck with the project!!! I will definitly be highly anticipating this one.

CosmoQueen · Sat 17/02/2007 07:38:15

I love the story and the graphics. Sounds like it'll be a blast

.

Ubel · Sat 17/02/2007 11:08:35

Whee! A Rui-Pires-Game! \o/

This looks awesome! Just change that font, please.

I like the general idea of this game and am looking forward to playing it. Hope you can finish it soon!

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Sat 17/02/2007 11:28:23

Ayuh, the font is just a stand-in. Completion may sound very close when you look at the stats, and in a way it is - basically all we need, besides animations, is scripting the whole game... heh. The engine is ready, many rooms are ready, it's just a matter of finishing the layout of the house and then get cracking on game stuff.

And Pablo, I really appreciate that \o/, but it's not really a Rui Pires game.

Just want to be absolutely clear on this point, I'm just the programmer here, the AGSer. The creative force behind this all is LadyBeetle's Bruno Cavalcanti. I'm just putting all of it together... and it's a mere background detail that we plan on making LadeBeatle the company that'll put Portuguese adventure games (available in English too, of course) on the map... :

ManicMatt · Sat 17/02/2007 19:33:44

Looks like my kinda game! Carry on!

Vlad · Sat 17/02/2007 23:48:27

Looking good!

Did you model that dead guy yourself or is it a Poser character? (Just curious, not a Poser hater)

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Fri 16/03/2007 12:01:55

Sorry for the delay in response, Vlad - Cavalcanti didn't answer me in so many words, but I believe it's a Poser character.

BUMP to announce the project ain't stopped or anything (just because it's fallen to the 3rd page of the board) - it's just that I'm a lousy updater. Since last post, news include a couple of visual revisions (such as new fonts), a sucessful beginning of sound and music implementation, a rewrite of game text, the full completion of the house's skeleton, a small overhaul to the engine as suggested by Pablo, and many small little things.

I'd release a demo, if I could get one made that didn't reveal too much of the game. That's impossible, sadly. However, I could use some alpha-testers. I dunno if the term even exists, but I need them. The testers' goal would be to roam around the house that has been built and see if everything makes sense, see if the navigation is intuitive, see if there's anything out of the ordinary - this sort of thing should get settled really early on, so the sooner I could make sure that the geography of the place is correct, the better.

BTW, the game is now 156mb that compressess to 70mb. All rooms are built, and y'all know that the bulk of these 156mb are the 800x600 32bit rooms, so most of the space that's still to come will involve videos and music. I expect the game to be a "mere" 200mb that compress to +-100mb.

splat44 · Fri 16/03/2007 16:49:47

Alpha-testers?

Ok, I suppose, I can help out.

Check You PM for more information.

strattford · Wed 02/05/2007 21:25:55

The game concept and story are 100% as well as the graphics, animations, sounds and videos. The voiceovers are on the line too and the programming were going softly until mr. Rui "Trovatore" Pires disappeared... Well, not really, I still can send emails and meet him online on MSN sometimes, but he simply don't answer me. It makes me think it's another case of UFO abduction, substitution or body incorporation.

In general, most of the people who became excited and offered their help for the project just give up too early. Trovatore was an exception, in fact he was the only who keep on it for long enough 'til the game was almost complete.

I have the source code and it looks like it's 90% finished, with all rooms, sound and graphics nicely fited. But I have no clue of what to do with that (I don't know how to programming AGS). I realise that in order to have this game complete I also have to became the programer, and it's something I won't do.

It's sadly, but I have to consider the project over. I feel lackluster just to think about start all over again, posting "need help - programming ags" after months of hard job.

For who cares about the scattered rubbish of Brass Tacks, here's two beta-videos.
pre-game intro: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JOzVwKHD3kg
game prologue: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nba5eQNOyDI

Thank you for everyone who showed interest in this game!...
Bruno Cavalcanti

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Wed 02/05/2007 22:05:09

Like I said to strattford, I simply haven't got the time to continue on the project. Anyone who wants to pick up on it, drop me a line if help is needed in deciphering the code I used.

Darth Mandarb · Wed 02/05/2007 22:33:03

So ... is this dead? Does this need to be locked?

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires · Wed 02/05/2007 23:01:21

Maybe it would be for the best - until strattford finds himself a new programmer it'll certainly be on hold, and when he does get one I'm sure he'd much prefer to have his own "Brass Tacks" thread.

strattford · Wed 02/05/2007 23:14:58

Quote from: Darth Mandarb on Wed 02/05/2007 22:33:03
So ... is this dead? Does this need to be locked?

Yes it is, please lock it