Adventure Game Studio

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The Story

Jim McDaniels treated his family like trash.  He cheated on his wife, beat his children unmercifully and spent the family's money on methamphetamine.  His wife, Marcia, worked two menial jobs just to support them.

Following an all night drug and alchohol binge, Jim came home to find his wife in hysterics, having received numerous phone calls from her husband's girlfriend Roxy.  A vicious argument ensued.  Marcia McDaniels was never seen again.

Jim told the police that Marcia packed up her bags and left town.  No one believed him, but evidence of foul play could not be found.  The local sheriff and his deputies searched the house and surrounding land, but found nothing suspicious.

Unknown to the sheriff, Jim's son saw it all.  Henry was sitting at the top of the stairs when Jim came home.  He witnessed the entire incident through the pockmarked wooden railings.  Fortunately for Jim McDaniels, Henry was born a damaged boy.  He couldn't speak.  He couldn't think.  His mind was so damaged and its wires so twisted that rational thought escaped him.  As he witnessed that night's events in gruesome detail, the images came in but that was about it.  When police asked him what he knew, he couldn't answer.

Jim's girlfriend Roxy moved into the McDaniels' ramshackle house less than a day after the sheriff completed his investigation.  Neighbors took notice, and rumors abounded.  Everyone assumed Jim and his girlfriend killed Marcia. 

But only Henry knew for sure.

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The Game

You play as Henry, a mentally damaged boy who knows the secrets of his mother's disappearance.  You are given the task of unlocking his memories, and piecing together the broken images that fill his head.

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Screenshots

(http://www.blendslowlyforarichthicksauce.com/proom.png)


(http://www.blendslowlyforarichthicksauce.com/lounge_scr.png)


(http://www.blendslowlyforarichthicksauce.com/diningroom_scr.png)

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Progress

Backgrounds: 98%
Sprites: 35%
Story: 100%
Puzzles: 25%
Scripting: 5%

Update Oct 27, 2006: I've scaled down the project slightly, and plan on drawing only two or three more backgrounds before moving on to sprites and programming.  I don't think this will change the quality of the game at all, just might push forward the completion date to sometime this millennium.

Update Jan 2, 2006: Unfortunately this game has taken way longer than I thought it would, but that's the way AGS goes.  The good news is that all of the backgrounds are done, and most of the character sprite views are drawn for the five main characters.  I've gotten over a really big drawing hump and things are going really well again.  Also, i've brightened up the backgrounds so that people will actually be able to see them!  I'll repost them when i get them all loaded.

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WOWOWOWOWOWOW

This looks SO NEAT! So great!

Anarcho your previous game was great and this one sounds even better!
OMG looking sooooo forward...

(How's that for encouragment?)

Great! The story seems really really great!

Thank you for being a part of AGS community!

Your artwork has got even better!

I loved the sick sense of humour in Emily Enough, does this game carry that over?

(Sorry I'm too tired/lazy to read the plot explanation)

Thanks for the encouragement!  I'm afraid there won't be much humour in this one, but it should still be fun.

I'm simply in awe :D. Great stuff.

Looks great!
Just one question... who is Marcia?

Sorry, typo there.  Marcia is Henry's mom.

I can't wait for this game to be released. The backgrounds are really wonderful---the whole interface just looks mildewed and peeling and perfectly in tune with what you've described for the story. I know in the CL some people were suggesting that you desaturate them but I think the saturation really works. I have relatives from South Carolina and I feel very much that I've been in this house.

Love the title and the synopsis and can't wait to see how you execute it.

This looks great, it has a really 'twin peaks' feel to the graphics.

I'm looking forward to this, good luck!

You are so fucking awesome.

Best Compliment Ever!

Story seems delightfully depressing.
Artwork so far sets the mood nicely and is excellently done.

Remembering what your "Emily" game was like, then I'm sure this game will be fantastic as well.  You seem to have a gift for setting a dark "mood / feel" with your games, but at the same time making it interesting and fun to explore.

Good luck with your project. Keep us updated sometimes.

Where's the damn demo??  >:(

btw, great game. I love the art style.

Really, really, cool idea for a game!

Good luck!

Holy crap.

Can you get killed in this game? If that's sensitive information you'd rather not tell, ignore this question. At any rate, this looks awesome and I hope to get around to play it when it's done.

Yeah, looks absolutely breathtaking. I love your stories, and this time the art looks even better! I can't wait to play this one.

Oh, and your rooms do kinda remind of '5 Days A Stranger', don't know why exactly (it's not the art style obviously, more the architecture of the house) -- anyways, that looks and sounds great, good luck with completing it!

EDIT: This (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Phelps) might be further inspiration for you to create the character design of the father, if you need it...

Wow, looks like one scary dude.  I was kinda going more for the backwoods trucker type, but there's something creepy about a religiuos zealot in black.

Hillbilly...I was considering the possibilities of dying in certain scenes, but only with the option of going back to the beginning of the scene if you "die".  There's nothing i hate more than playing old sierra games and falling off cliffs.

That sounds really interesting, Anarcho!
I do have some questions though - how i shte player going to control a mentally disabled character? I mean, his mind is abnormal, there must be something different in controlling him than controlling a normal character. Take Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury", for example - the first part was narrated by an imbecile and used the stream of consciousness style, which, while greatly confusing, believably recreated what was happening in his mind.
And by the way, who's doing the music? I hope it'll be at least as good as the graphics!
Good luck on finishing it.

Well, I was thinking of having a narrator tell the story and guide the player along, or write it in second person point of view.  I haven't decided yet---I've mostly been focusing on artwork.  One thing is for certain though...this game will not depend heavily on dialogue puzzles...as Henry cannot speak.  People will certainly speak to him, and the player will have to learn to communicate without words...so that in and of itself will be different and potentially interesting.

I was either going to write the music myself, and/or ask some friends/bands that I know if I can use their music.  But most likely I'll just do it myself.

 :o

YES YES YES!!   I love it!!!

;D  Can't wait till its done!!!   GOOD JOB!!!

I couldnt believe it when I saw...

Anarcho!

Wow I knew instantly what the graphics look like from the crits lounge awhile back!

Cant wait !!!

excellent shading in those images !!!! take it to another level baby!

*gasps* :o OMG!!!! This game sounds so awesome!!! That the graphics are astounding!!!

PLEASE HURRY!!!

Indeed, the graphics of this game look fantastic, and the low-contrast, grayish colors convey the depressing atmosphere very well. This will be one hell of a game, no doubt about that!

Just one thing: In some rooms the ceiling appears to be very high, and the upper part of the screens (mostly back walls) are too empty. It would greatly benefit from some decorations (paintings, mirrors, etc.)

Wow those are some great Screenshots!very good work..

Hi there.

I just wanted to let anyone who's interested know that I've been chiseling away on Square John.  I've pretty much got the GUI up and running, little bit of the programming done, and all the interior screens done.  With that said, I went through a big dry period while trying to draw outdoor scenes and sprites.  I just couldn't get anything to look the way i wanted it to.  I've been doing better and now I think everything is back on track.

I wanted to share a little drawing a made...it's a new design for the house.  I'm almost done with the drawover...I'll post that when I'm done for comparison.

(http://www.geocities.com/princebusterlw/house.png)

Edit:  And here's the (pretty much) final version. 

(http://www.geocities.com/princebusterlw/housefrontfinal.png)

You have this way of making your graphics look 3D, goodluck, Emily Enough is one of the best AGS games yet.

     Very nice looking house..... I like the style...... I also am a big fan of Emily Enough!!! Keep working Anarcho..... Good luck!!!!

Thewalrus

Goo, goo, ga, joob!!!!!!

thanks guys.

but who says they're not 3d.  Did YOU look at them with 3d glasses?  You might want to.

VERY interesting premise, and I can imagine it leading to some very original puzzles and gameplay. The graphics are all cool. Probably the game in production I'm looking forward to most! :D keep us posted!

wow the premise of this one is really cool! so original! nice gfx too! good luck!!! :D

Hi there everyone,

I've been really absent from the community for the past few months, and for that I'm sorry.  Christmas arrived with Playstation 2, a new graphics card and super-distracting games for my pc.  Then my computer died.  And now I'm in the middle of buying a house.  Needless to say, I was making excellent progress on Square John Boy then everything went to hell.  I did make an update in the first post a while back without bumping the thread, but to sum things up--all the backgrounds are done and now i'm doing animations.  I hope to get back to work at this and finish it.

I wanted to show some character art to prove to you that I have in fact been working on this.  Here are my main characters:





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     I was wondering what the hell happened to you!?! I can't wait for this game.... I was hoping it wasn't dead.....  ;D

Lots of personality coming through those sprites. Congrats.

I am really intrigued as to how you're going to implement that "can't talk/can barely think straight" feature for the main char. It's something I can't wait to see.

From Emily Enough to Square John Boy, all the stuff I've seen from you is quite creative. Besides, I like this new graphical style better. I wish you the best of luck with this project.

There certainly is a lot of soul in those characters. The father looks a bit stiff (and probably partly because you only posted a front view), but all the others convey a lot with their posture. Great work, really some of the best I've seen in any AGS game. Take your time and polish everything to perfection. Please don't abandon the project! This one definitely deserves a proper release.

I would argue that he looks stiff because he IS stiff!

A wound up aggressive nasty man that I hope gets his come-uppance in the game!

Looking good buddy.

Looks great !!! Can't wait to play !

It does look awesome.
Can't wait to actually play it ;D

This game looks amazing, not only because of the great graphics, which seem quite consistent, but the story as well. Thanks for making a game not about pirates or detectives! Can't wait to play it when it's finished.