Skull Craig UPDATED end of Jan 2010

Goldfish · Sat 16/01/2010 12:35:12

UPDATED 23 January

still being tested, correcting the inevitable little glitches and bugs, nothing horribly wrong so far, some people have solved it quickly and chosen the "run away" option, the testers going for the "escape, the maybe kill the tyrant" type options are still going.

***BACK FROM TESTING***

Doing new art for four rooms, changing sound and music levels in two other rooms and fixing a couple of poorly designed hotspots. When that is done, it will be released.

Room 2, the first actual room of the game.

A Throgg, encountered if Luck is against you.

- graphics 95%
- puzzles 100%
- scripting 100%
- music/sound 100%

BEING TESTED- testing by total newcomers to games of any kind, newcomers to adventure games and adventure game fans

Skull Craig is a puzzle / combat / quest Adventure Game. It is first person, with CGI art and characters.

Synopsis: you begin as a prisoner of Lord Rabtrutch, local despot. You have to escape your cell, and then decide whether to simply flee the whole Skull Craig area or linger in the region to take revenge on the tyrant. Along the way, there are quests and the usual scavenger hunt for items, although there are many different ways to solve problems given, and styles of play are possible- some things require a specific key for a specific lock, as in real life, but other things can be overcome, avoided or ignored.

Inventory features magic scrolls which are one-use magic spells. Also features money and character statistics such as Luck, Instinct and Health. They aren't obtrusive and are mentioned when relevant.

Game also features a day / night cycle, and behind that is a day / week / month / year etc. calendar. Currently somewhat under utilised, but it's all in there.

I have an ecology addon I can put in, but I am debating why to bother. It would allow seasons, monster population fluctuations, NPC events and all that. But since the game is quite narrowly focused, it seems pointless.

GUI is simply save / load / quit with a large inventory sheet alongside it.

Music is royalty free purchased or original composed.

Art same.

Escaping from the prison cell can be achieved in a variety of ways, to begin with some of those ways will almost certainly land you back in the cell but after a few items are collected things get easier quicker, although there is always the chance throughout the game that one of the tyrant's patrols will catch you and back you will go. However, even if this happens late in the game, you will be pretty confident of your ability to get back to where you were before disaster struck.

Death is possible, but far more likely is capture and temporary imprisonment. Death happens only after warning and is rare- doing a few things that are not only counter intuitive but pretty silly will get you killed- which triggers game restart.

There is a video introduction and a video finale. Other than that I haven't bothered with cut scenes although it is tempting to turn the whole game into video clips, I am just concerned at file size if I do that.

Anyway, SKULL CRAIG. There you go.

I will take some more screenshots and post them via an edit to this post.

Dualnames · Sat 16/01/2010 13:28:04

This looks incredibly stunning and beatiful! Good luck with it!

Goldfish · Sat 16/01/2010 13:47:17

Thanks! I get hypnotised with the art which is slowing me down. Taking stuff from blender through pshop and then to the screen is fun though. I keep getting tempted to make a 3D shoot em up version but it would be nowhere near the same as having puzzles.

Frodo · Sat 16/01/2010 17:47:28

The dragon is AWESOME! I love dragons!

Anian · Sat 16/01/2010 19:05:23

And this is almost done?! Great.
It looks awesome.

karja · Sat 16/01/2010 21:10:27

Wow!

That looks really good!

Defenitly gonna try this one :o

Timo. · Sun 17/01/2010 06:53:13

Quite a good gameplay concept.
Graphics also look good.
Only thing is, I am not sure if this will appeal to people who prefer classic point-and-click, collect-and-use style AGS creations which help in story development and finally lead to the end of the game.

Either way, good job. Looking forward to the release.

HyperAnimated · Sun 17/01/2010 11:04:11

Wow...top-notch graphics! Awesome stuff!

I just wanted to ask, does Skull Craig have a special meaning? My brain's stuck on it, wondering if you meant "Crag" instead.

Goldfish · Sun 17/01/2010 22:29:52

Quote from: PlayPretend on Sun 17/01/2010 11:04:11
Wow...top-notch graphics! Awesome stuff!

I just wanted to ask, does Skull Craig have a special meaning? My brain's stuck on it, wondering if you meant "Crag" instead.

Craig = Scots English. That's all. As in eg Ailsa Craig.

red randt · Thu 21/01/2010 07:12:26

Hey, a screenshot from Morrowind isn't really 'royalty free'. Do you plan on replacing that, or what-?

Goldfish · Thu 21/01/2010 08:53:16

all the artwork used is either bought and paid for royalty free, or public domain, or 100% original. Take your pick.

Artists actually resell art, including game art.

So no, since I have paid for the royalty free use for a FREE game (which this is) I won't be replacing it.

But hey.

Maybe in your parallel dimension of internet armchair expertise things work differently so not to worry.

And on the subject of actual ripped eg sprites, are you going to be policing everyone on this board? Or is this just a special peanut gallery effort for me?

Divon · Thu 21/01/2010 16:11:26

I'm in love with the artwork on this game. If the game itself is of the same calibur as the art, I'm sure its going to be fantastic.

joelphilippage · Fri 22/01/2010 01:25:15

I believe I used the same picture of the dungeon for my Tales of Chickenry Game

. Looks like fun.

red randt · Fri 22/01/2010 08:35:30

Quote from: Goldfish on Thu 21/01/2010 08:53:16
all the artwork used is either bought and paid for royalty free, or public domain, or 100% original. Take your pick.

Artists actually resell art, including game art.

So no, since I have paid for the royalty free use for a FREE game (which this is) I won't be replacing it.

But hey.

Maybe in your parallel dimension of internet armchair expertise things work differently so not to worry.

And on the subject of actual ripped eg sprites, are you going to be policing everyone on this board? Or is this just a special peanut gallery effort for me?

Tear me a new one why doncha!

A Morrowind screenshot is neither royalty free, public domain, or 100% original. I didn't know if you were aware of where it came from, used it in error or what, but you've made that muddier now, and thrown in some insults.

I don't plan on policing the board, sorry if you feel policed. I have had work of mine resold without my permission, wholly ignorantly, not maliciously. When I find graphics reused like that I am compelled to ask. It wasn't meant as an accusation, a condemnation of your lineage, or criticism of your after shave!

Would you like some art to replace the Morrowind screenshot? A view like that is easily done, at least in my parallel dimension of wierdo art and eldritch graphics.

Goldfish · Fri 22/01/2010 12:24:38

Go and bark somewhere else, little dog.

red randt · Sat 23/01/2010 09:33:22

Damn! my elaborate plan to destroy you with custom art has failed. you have triumphed! Woof woof!

Calin Leafshade · Sat 23/01/2010 15:22:10

Quote from: Goldfish on Fri 22/01/2010 12:24:38
Go and bark somewhere else, little dog.

Dont be rude. It's.. well rude.

Goldfish · Sun 24/01/2010 05:58:58

Thanks mommy. :

Calin Leafshade · Sun 24/01/2010 07:30:43

C U Next Tuesday.

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Sun 24/01/2010 22:50:54

Goldfish: If you can't handle comments as benign as these you should really question whether or not you're mature enough to actually be displaying your work. Also, the whole attitude thing isn't going to really work for you here so I'd recommend working on that. Just a tip from a friendly neighborhood moderator-man!

As far as your game goes, I look forward to seeing the complete version.