My Burden to Keep - A novella-length adventure game [Still alive!]

[SuperDre]

You've got to be kidding... this looks so good.. looks really old school indy style...

[CoffeeBob]

Thanks so much for the comments, guys! Sorry about the lack of updates recently. Just wrapped up the last course for this term just a couple of weeks ago, been working a bit to make some extra money to afford my bills during the summer too.

The game hasn't been left entirely untouched during this time though, I've been tinkering a bit here and there with the dialogue, extending some lines, shortening some, making some more choices. Overall, the lines and the pacing in the dialogue has been further improved. Now I'm just gonna get my tablet over here as soon as I can, so I can draw some animations.

I'd like to ask you guys, if you'd be interested in seeing/hearing this project fully voiced? Would it be worth the extra wait, and would anyone here be willing to try out for the roles?
I'm thinking a full talkie pack would do a whole lot for the game, and it wouldn't take all that much extra time since the game is fairly short in length. So, what do you guys think?

[Snake]

I've been keeping an eye on this one Besides audio, it looks like it's near completion... Keep up the good work!

[SuperDre]

Well, I think it would be worth the extra wait, just try to polish your game as YOU want it to be and the fact you are thinking of voicing make me think you actually want to try to add it, so go for it.. Ofcourse don't go the Duke Nukem route in trying to get your game to be as good as you think you can make it, hehe..

Why stop and release if you aren't satisfied yourself if it comes without audio, it's your baby and people will wait for it anyway..

[CoffeeBob]

Snake: Thanks man! Well, it all depends, I think I'm going for full voiceovers as well, and remaking the backgrounds/improving them, so it will take some few months before it's released. Hopefully, it'll be worth the wait, though.

SuperDre: You've got some very good points there. I don't have any publisher looking over my shoulder constantly, so I don't need to worry about getting the game finished at some set time.
I'll make what improvements I feel are necessary for the game/worth the extra time, improving the backgrounds and getting some voiceover for it too.

Although progress is a bit slow due to work right now, I have some good news to report. Our forum pal Shiver has joined forces with me, he'll be composing the music for the game, which I believe will greatly enhance the mood.

I've had the time to remodel the first scene of the game during the less hectic moments at work, here's a peek at how it looks so far (more or less finished.)

[cianty]

That's such a fascinating technique - with stunning results too. Love it!

[CaptainD]

I love the lighting in that scene!  You've somehow managed to make modern-retro graphics.  8)

[Zenger]

WOW  :o, This looks fantastic  Zach ... I mean  .. CoffeeBob  .

Looking forward to seeing more  , great work!!

[CoffeeBob]

cianty: Thanks man! Took a good fifteen minutes to render that tiny scene, it sure was worth it.

CaptainD: Thank you, I'm glad you like it! It took a lot of tinkering to get it all to 'feel right'.

Zenger: *puts fingers to ear* Hear that, Zach? They seem to like what we've got so far.. Thanks man!

[cianty]

cianty: Thanks man! Took a good fifteen minutes to render that tiny scene, it sure was worth it.

Ha ha, 15 minutes? Awesome.  :o It definately was worth it!

[CoffeeBob]

cianty: Thanks man! Took a good fifteen minutes to render that tiny scene, it sure was worth it.

Ha ha, 15 minutes? Awesome.  :o It definately was worth it!

Looks like I was mistaken, it was the higher res render that took 15 minutes. The pictured render 'only' took six minutes.

[cianty]

Well, then it was double worth it. Near triple-worth-it. Congratulations! 

[CoffeeBob]

Cianty: Heh, indeed it was.

Here's another little visual update. I finished up the new version of the interrogation room and adjusted the apartment scene some (just a few subtle changes like ambient occlusion and some discrete glow around the lights.)

The interrogation room might look a bit less complex than the apartment scene, but it took a whole 4 and a half hours to render (lots of reflections, increased filtering to make the bricks less blurred, etc.)
Not a lot else to add. I'll work on touching up the rest of the scenes as I get home from work during the week. The game is making progress, slowly but steadily.

[SuperDre]

The screens look great, but I wonder if the characters which are shown on the screenshots in the first post will match these backgrounds or if they will stick like a fly to a wall. Or are you also redoing the characters?

[cianty]

I thought the same as SuperDre after seeing the second screenshot (interrogation room). The scene looks very 3Dish/realistic now which makes it hard to imagine it with the characters. I don't mean to turn this into the critics corner, just thinking out loud... and saying: I'd love some screenshots with characters in them.

[Sughly]

This is looking really amazing! Looking forward to playing

[CoffeeBob]

SuperDre: Thanks a lot, dude! I'll take that into consideration. So far they've been blending in pretty well with the environment, I'll try to post some proper screenshots soon with the new backgrounds so that you guys can judge for yourselves.

cianty: I see what you mean. I might skip the ambient occlusion for the indoor scenes, since it almost adds too much depth for the scenes, when combined with the simpler character sprites.
Like I mentioned above, I'll try to get some screenshots up on the boards to let you guys see how it all looks together, perhaps in the critic's lounge so that I can get some general feedback on the bg's too.

Sughly: Thank you very much, dude!

No visual update just yet, but I've finished up another two backgrounds for the game. They might need some additional polishing, but they're both pretty close to final. Look out for some proper screenshots, hopefully soon... -ish.

[CoffeeBob]

Hello duders (and dudettes)!

I bringeth you, dear AGS community, proper screenshots!


Still work in progress, but at least some progress has been made. Hooray!

Also, I wrote a little blog post on my website today, in which I explain a bit about the process behind making the background art for this game. Check it out if you're interested (and comment on it, if you like.)
You can find it here; click me!

[cianty]

Niceeee! Like it with the characters in there.

[Armageddon]

I like it! Yellow brick and lighting was better in the first room imho.