12 East Productions presents:
How to be a Ninja (working title)
The Story:
Stan is a struggling artist trying hard to make a name for himself. His life takes a bizarre turn when he accidently comes into possession of a book. On the tattered cover is the title "How to be a Ninja"
Some screenshots:
(http://www.gnomesend.com/aubrey/htban/screen1.jpg)
(http://www.gnomesend.com/aubrey/htban/screen2.jpg)
Development Progress:
Story: 50%
Scripting: 8%
Graphics: 12%
Sound/Music: 0%
Expected completion date: June 2006
Development Diary:
Hey everyone. I have been looking for a nice, stable engine to develope a commercial game with. AGS fits the bill. I'm a medeocre coder and I was happy with how robust the AGS dev environment is so I decided a couple of weeks ago to stress test it and see how it worked. I was very impressed with what I was able to do with the engine and I look forward to developing my game in it over the next 6 or 7 months.
For the characters with a lot of animation I'm using 3ds Max to toon-render them and doing touch-up in Photoshop or After Effects later. I'll probably paint stationary characters and animate them in AE when I get to them.
The environments are done in Max rendered with Mental Ray using Final Gather, then painted over in PS. I may paint over photos for some of the future environments.
I know not everyone is going to be excited about another commercial title, but the expenses I have for software and hardware, not to mention the time this will take, make it so I have to charge for the final product.
I expect the hardware requirements to be somewhere around a 2.5 Ghz PC (and I hope to doÃ, Mac and Linix ports if I can figure out how)
Thanks everyone! This seems like a great community and I'm glad to be a part of it.
Wow. Those graphics are incredible. Anyway, sounds great!
I understand your financial struggle completly. I don't think that it is bad. On the contrary commercial releases prove that AGS is a powerfull engine that can provide to the world games nowdays! Why not?
The BGs look really good! And your lightning skills have managed to save your character from looking a little "ugly" in a picture BG. Maybe a little more info on the story? Just cause I'm curious!
Anyway looking forward...
This brings Runaway: A Road Adventure to my mind instantly! And that by all means is a good thing! :D
All in all it looks worth buying, just how much do you think it would cost? And yeah, I'm curious about the story too, so could you please share some more details about it? Thank you.
All the good luck with your project! :)
I hope the story will be as suitably campy as the title and story excerpt suggest. Specifically, will it involve pirates?
The picky side of me wants to treat this like the Critic's lounge and suggest more saturated colors for the BG renders. Every other bit of me screams, "Hell, yeah!" I dig the story's potential and it looks to be carried out with a great deal of skill. Best of luck with your endeavor and your optimistic release date.
I, for one, have no problem paying for a game if it's got a lot invested in it.
Quote from: YakSpit on Tue 06/12/2005 05:02:08
I, for one, have no problem paying for a game if it's got a lot invested in it.
That is so true.
and the cost is not out of this world.
TheBoldSlasher:
Ã, Thanks for the support!
Nikolas:
Ã, Ã, I totally agree. While I would like to do some 3D games in the future, I think people need to see that cool, nice looking, modern games can and will be done in 2D and that that is a good thing!
Pablo:
Ã, Ã, I hadn't seen that game before. The graphics in it are really nice! I think the last adventure game I played was The Longest Journey. I got stuck and I hate cheating. I haven't played video games seriously for about a year and a half. 12 hour workdays in front of a PC will do that to you. One of the things I like about the AGS games is that they are short. I played through Winter Rose and Al-Quest by Baron recently and enjoyed them both.
Ã, Ã, For the game, I'm not sure. If the playthough time is only a few hours I think I will charge maybe $9.99 USD, but if the game has replay value and takes around 8 hours to complete maybe as much as $19.99 USD (which is fairly standard for indie games from what I've seen).
Redwall:
Ã, I hate pirates! I would rather commit sebuku with a frisby than make a game with pirates in it. With all those Monkey Island games, you would think that adventure gamers had gotten enough pirates, but nooooo...
Ã, As for campy, I really want the story to be on the razor's edge between serious and silly. It will be unlike any game I have played before, and I've played a lot.
Ã, Ã,Â
YakSpit:
Ã, It is true that I am going for a kind of Metal Gear, undersaturated look. I still may bump it up a bit and see how I like it. It really does seem a bit different full screen, but I am always open to suggestions. I haven't made the perfect image yet, and I am still trying.
Ã, I am going to push hard for that date. I am optimizing my workflow and coming up with checklists to help with getting everything done. That and working all day every day.
Everyone:
Ã, I don't want to give away too much of the story, especially since it is still may change a little as I work on it. I don't think the story will be for everyone, but it will be more cool than goofy. The game will have a number of features that will differentiate it from earlier adventure games. I want this to be an evolution of the old adventure game gameplay... I don't want to say too much. It will be months before it is done! How about this feature, you will be able to play through the game without getting stuck.
Ã, I think I will end up updating once every couple of weeks, but I will try to keep up with people who post to the thread.
WOW! that looks so awesome :) It looks better than lots of commercial games ;)
But it's a commercial game. :=
Looks awesome.
Ninjas, eh? Heh! grins Sounds like a fun little title.
make sure you finish it, looks great! :D
I'll be sure to keep tabs on this one.
Looks hot!
If this is commercial, will it have voices?
Looking good :D
I would be willing to support a good AGS game by paying some money for it, but you should maybe consider also releasing a demo-version of it.
Thanks everybody! I'm happy to see so many people interested.
I think the inter-character dialog will be voice acted. I have access to most of the recording equipment I'll need. I don't see the need to do voice acting for every bit of text though (like when the character is inspecting objects).
For the demo, what I'm thinking of doing is for people to be able to download the whole game, but offer a booklet that you can order that will have answers to copy protection questions. For example, at a certain point in the game you may be asked "Repeat ninja proverb #37 to me."
I don't know. I'm still thinking about it. I may just make a plain old demo.
You can do that, but remember.. that could always be cheated..
If I were you I would add a paypal system..
of course I will never be able to play the game because I live in Argentina, I would end up paying U$100 :P
screenies looks good.
have you a publisher, or how will you distribute you game.
over your webpage??
Ikari's right!
Customer: Ooh i got the booklet! let me just photocopy it for my mate..
About the demo, I was wondering if it would be a good idea to have some kind of small prequel (or even sequel, if it can be clever) of the game instead of a small portion of the game, as you usually do. This way you get to show off your graphics, your art, your gameplay, your game, but without giving away anything, and moreover when someone downloads your game he/she won't have to replay the first of the eight chapters, just because he played the demo.
Just a thought!
I really don't like game demos for that reason. I don't know. I like the idea of integrating the booklet (which would be designed to look like the 'How to be a Ninja' book in the game) with the gameplay.
Yeah, I can see problems with the booklet, but it is ultimately harder to photocopy the book than it is to download a key-gen. The other thing I think is intersting is that reproducing the book, or even quoting large portions of it, is against the law, while making a key-gen is completely legal. I think adventure game fans would enjoy the oldschool charm of looking stuff up in the book also.
The main problem I see is that some people may find it confusing. They may mistakingly think the game is free, and then feel ripped off because they have to buy a booklet, or they may want the whole game and think the download version is only a demo. Maybe if I use standard phrases it can be made to make more sense. "Order the manual and get codes to unlock the full game"
I'm really not worried about guys giving the game to their friends. I'm more worried about my game showing up in disks with other ripped games being sold on Ebay. Having to print out a mutli-page booklet would slow those guys down a lot more than just needing a code.
Utimately any copy protection system is going to fail, or else be a royal pain for the legit users, or both. I want to make it easy for people who buy the game to play it. One huge problem with commercial games is that they often are buggy, or won't work with people's computers. My game will run, even on an ultra low end PC, at 320x240, 15 FPS. I'm sick of playing games and having it not work because I don't have 3.0 pixel shaders or an $800 Gforce 9.
I may shop the game around once it is closer to being done, but I plan to retain the right to sell it online.
I like the sound of "How to be a Ninja" as an actual title, not just a working title. But hey it's your decision. ;)
This game looks pretty cool, I look forward to it.
What about:
The Path Of The Ninja
The Hidden Ninja Arts
Ninja Codes
The Way of The Ninja
;D
Playing around with player portraits. I like the look of this, though I may slim the black lines down for the final game.
(http://www.gnomesend.com/aubrey/htban/stan.jpg)
I think the game may indeed be called How to be a Ninja, but I wanted to leave it open in case I came up with an even better title later.
I like the futuristic-looking sporty clothing. It really suits a game like this. It's kinda like the parkour dudes in Yamakazi. Futuristic, cool and sporty. And also, the drawings are really good.
A mate of mine came round today and I showed him your screenshots as an example of another AGS game other than mine, and he was impressed, and then bored me about how you would have made the backgrounds!
Dude! You sure know how to draw people!! That character art is AMAZING!
Woooooooooooooooooooooooow!
I think Im going to like this game a lot. I always liked ninja's, but with this game my liking bacame a lot bigger al of a sudden... :P
Can't wait to see the demo! ^^
Looking Superb! Keep it up. The art direction is amazing, very nice style.
Hey, this stuff looks really good. I noticed that you have none of the music or sound done - do you need help with that? I'm a professional composer/audio designer and would be happy to help. I've never written for a computer game (I mostly work for theatre and radio commercials), but I used to love Sierra games as a kid and got an urge to get involved in something.
I like the work you've posted - I'm imaginging a blend of traditional koto and/or shakuhachi with ambient trip hop to mirror your near-future, urban tone. I might even add some glitch electronica elements since you've kind of got a gray, gritty thing going on.
In any case, let me know - I'd be happy to help out.
isaac
www.isaaceverett.com
simply awesome. great backgrounds. i 1st thought i was looking at photos.
lighting is really superb.
hey man, keep up the splendid work, your graphics rule! Ninjas rule.
I have been really sick with the flu... I have only made a little progress. I'll also be out of town for Christmas and New Years. Until then Here is a little something.
(http://www.gnomesend.com/aubrey/htban/whtNinja.jpg)
WOW. That looks just so damn cool.
Quote from: ildu on Thu 15/12/2005 06:46:40
WOW. That looks just so damn cool.
Here, here!
If this game has a Linux version too, I'll buy it!
Geez that's good.
Aren't his arms a bit short? ???
anyway, great piece of art, what I like the most is the position of his right hand =)
Am I going to be able to buy it from Argentina?..(If it gets good critics =PPP)
Ikari, I think I'll end up doing a full spanish language translation (w/ voices) and I will make an effort to sell it. I have my degree in economics and I am aware of the huge differences caused by currency valuation. I hope to sell the spanish language version at a fair price for the majority of people likely to buy it.
As for his arms, I would say it is just perspective, but you could be right, especially on the character's left arm.
Thanks everybody. I'm trying my best to recover so that I can get back to work on this.
I would buy it in english, the voices in english for some reason are always far better..
Another thing about spanish is that is very different in every country, I would hate to hear spanish voices from Spain, is EXTREMELY different than my spanish (although we understand perfectly each other), another accent, other expressions, etc etc etc....
I can't stand watching a Spain movie, or a Mexican movie..I don't know why =/
I don't know what USA people think about english accent or canadian accent..
But I'm talking too much, what I wanted to say is that it would be MUCH better if you leave the voices in english and the text in spanish (optional), we are VERY used to that here because most of the movies are like that..and it will be much more better for you because most of the people who speak spanish thinks like me..(and less work too).....trust me.
And I'm glad you know about the current devaluation..
I agree on the Engish voices. Though I like the official voices always best (e.g. in Japanese games or Anime) I would rather hear English voices.
I just read the game is only buyable. How much will it cost? Myself, I'm always short of money, that's why I ask.
This is super (http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/smile20.png) Keep up great work ninja monÃ, (http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/smile32.png)
The main reason to do spanish lanuguage voices with the spanish translated version is so that english speakers won't simply buy the cheaper spanish language version. Really, I wanted a chance to sell games in a market that doesn't have a lot of games made for it, at a price latin americans can afford.
The spanish language version will be as standard as I can make it. I live with three university educated Mexicans, and I was going to enlist thier help. Obviously though, you guys understand english just fine, so if you really want that version you can still get it.
I'm living like a monk while a make the game, and the goal on this is to make enough money so that I can keep living at this (far below the poverty line) level while I make a more imerssive 3D game.
Check this out: http://www.blitzmax.com/Community/posts.php?topic=54218
While not AGS-related, it might be able to help with expectations in the Shareware/online marketplace.
When I first saw the first background it felt kind of innovative in a Grim Fandangish way. I would put it in the category of adventures with a different style from the average. You could really make a hit if you put the story in the non-usual adventures lane.
Great stuff.
The gameplay is going to be a complete evolution of the adventure game formula. I expect that adventure game fans will feel like they are playing an adventure game, but the actualy gameplay and presentation will be very different.
I don't really know how to explain it. I want my character dialog to play out more like a cut scene, in the style of Ninja Gaiden on the NES. It seems like 3D isn't the right direction for adventure games to me. You get something like an interactive movie when you switch to 3D, which is fine but seems too different to me. I want my game sprites to be in the style of Street Fighter 3 or Guilty Gear.
You're wasting time answering our pitiful questions =P!
Get on with the game! I demand it XD.