Story
You play as Martin, a struggling sculptor. One evening he finds in his mail a strange white envelope, unmarked except for the number "1011" written in the top right corner. Inside is a photograph of a room with ropes hanging from the ceiling. He has barely registered that fact when he is struck unconscious, and later wakes to find himself in completely unfamiliar surroundings, with only a house nearby to offer any hope of help...
Screenshots (click to view larger versions)
(http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr002_thumb.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr002.jpg)
(http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr004_thumb.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr004.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr003_thumb.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr003.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/opening01_thumb.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/opening01.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr006_thumb.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr006.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr011_thumb.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr011.jpg)
Download the demo: 13.1MB zip file (version 2)
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=842
Download walkthrough (http://themarionette.game-host.org/downloads/demo_walkthrough.txt)
Development progress:
Story: 100%
Scripting: 100%
Graphics: 100%
Music: 100%
Sound: 100%
Puzzles: 100%
Cutscenes: 90%
Expected completion: End 2009
For more information, please visit http://themarionette.game-host.org .
Development Diary
02 November 2009
One week to go. Cutscenes complete, minor bugs hopefully fixed. Final round of refining art and interaction.
05 October 2009
First round of testing done. Major bugs fixed. Mostly cosmetic changes from here on, plus the cutscenes.
27 August 2009
Complete. Beta testing in progress. Bugs abound.
Fan-smegging-tastic!
Oh, and just to be on the safe side, I'll say that I hope you change the font before release!
Wow, looks very interesting. Nice to see so many new projects popping up in the community. I wish you the best of luck with the game. Nice work so far......
Thanks for the comments, ManicMatt and thewalrus!
ManicMatt, does the font really look that bad? I was actually planning on leaving it like that. *g* But I don't think it's a problem to find a better font, so yes, it will be changed before the demo is released. Thanks very much for the feedback :)
thewalrus, I'm glad you found it interesting - I hesitated to post at first because I was afraid I didn't have enough to generate interest yet. But I figured that I could at least get feedback based on the screenshots, so I went ahead. I'm happy that I did. :)
It reminds me of a game I once bought! Which is a huge compliment! :D
Your game has a feel to it that is more modern than the text implies. The font is that basic one that work's alright in lower resolution games, but looks blocky and ancient on a game like this!
Another thing. Does the game have visible hotspots? So you know your cursor is over something of interest? I often ask this question, but it really does affect the gameplay in a big way.
Thank you, Mr. Buckethead, it's indeed a huge compliment that the game looks like a commercial one!
ManicMatt, I guess you're right about the font. I'll start looking for a more suitable one. :)
As for visible hotspots, no, there aren't any. I wanted it to be like the old Sierra games where you could click on everything and anything for hours and discover cool stuff like Easter eggs (though I'm not planning on any Easter eggs as yet). It makes the game harder, though, because you're likely to miss important things. It can still work, though - should I have visible hotspots?
*Slow Whistle*
Man Im loving the story and the graphics. Looking forward to this one.
Hey! This is looking extra good! And after checking the website I found the info I was looking for: Tell your brother that his music rocks! :D
Another game to be waiting for...
Your graphics look amazing!.. And the story is very intriguing, I was wondering if the backgrounds were going to be static or if you were planning to make them animated.
It'll be a game mostly static?
Looking good!
And looks REALLY interesting!
Thanks, all of you, for the wonderfully encouraging comments :)
Nikolas, I've passed the message on to my brother and he's amazed that you actually checked the website to find out that he wrote the music! But he says thank you very much :)
ikari, yes, the backgrounds will be static too, unfortunately. I've tried my best to make it interesting despite the lack of animation, but we'll have to wait until the demo is released before we can tell if it can do without animation.
Anyway, I've added one more music clip and I've also changed the screenshots to reflect the new font I'm using in the game, following ManicMatt's feedback. It's Lucida Sans Unicode. I hope it suits the game better than the default font. :)
New font, looks much much better. Thanks for listening to Mat ;) It shows how much you care about your game, about teh result and about your "audience".
:)
:) I'd be very happy if my suggestions were included in a game in progress, so I will try to incorporate feedback as much as possible. It's why I made this thread. :)
WOWWWW! Double WOW auriond!! You are one talented game developer and artist! Are you an artist also, in the way of painting/drawing I mean? I am one too and this game REALLY appeals to me in so many senses. I can relate to the playing character, having done life drawing myself and trying to find funding for art projects (like your character was before he had to abandon the life drawing project then the girl went missing - yep I read your website!). I cant wait for the demo and for the actual game release. What I was also wanting to ask is, will this game be commercial, are you going to sell it? I hope so! I really believe this game is of commercial quality, infact I would say it exceeds commerical quality in terms of its graphics and storyline. I will be keeping my eye on this thread and your website :).
Wow right back at you, for reading the website in so much detail! :D Thanks so much.
I don't call myself an artist, just someone who draws for a hobby. :) I've never had any professional training so I hesitate to say I'm any good at it! But it's very therapeutic and I go crazy if I can't draw for more than a few weeks. ;D
The game won't be commercial, because I don't feel good selling the game engine written by CJ and all the mp3 engines too. But the music - that's a different matter... ;) I might be able to persuade my brother to produce a proper soundtrack CD that we can sell, to support the free distribution of the game.
But I don't want to get anyone's hopes up... looking at the rest of these forums, gameplay is as important as graphics or music or storyline, and I know I'm not too good at thinking of puzzles.
Ah you are a good artist from what I can see ;) even without formal training - I dont think we need to have formal training, though I have had formal training because being deaf I missed out on much of what was heard and said so I didnt quite know how to develop my concepts when I was younger, but I feel I have developed in that area thankfully :) with the help of Tafe (in australia we have a tertiary institution called Tafe which is like uni but more flexible and cheaper but gets the same qualifications and is more practical than theory). Anyway I better get back on topic again, sorry :D.
I have to say I can relate to you totally, I go insane when I cant get the time to paint or draw, or create! Thats why I am always making time for creating after work and at the weekends and at the moment it is drawing on the pc, loving it :).
I guess auriond that this would be your best start and I think later you should think about becoming commercial cos your work is great and I am sure you will develop on the puzzles part over time, and if you go on to play quite a few AGS games you can get ideas on how puzzles can be developed. I am sure CJ wont mind you making it into a commercial game. Infact I am sure he would be quite flattered and happy, and you put him in your credits most importantly, and I reckon a bit of a donation from your sales to him wouldn't go astray ;). Give yourself some more credit and go for it ;). Your brother's work is great - I just wish I could actually hear his works :(, being deaf I cant but I can tell from others' comments he has contributed well :) so again keep working at what you love most.
It's amazing, just the photo and the small note "ropes hanging from the ceiling"... make me recall some movies and games. Sends comfy cold shivers down my spine, and the setting looks very interesting and professional. I would give you thumbs up, only I can't since I press them right now- that you'll release that thing ;D
11th hour (game), Puppet Master (movie) and Flesh Doll(novel) all spring to mind, did I get a reference right?
gypsysnail, I'll think about it - thank you for the kind comments :) And you have my respect for being an artist!
Ghost, I'm afraid I haven't experienced any of those references, although I have heard of 11th Hour and Puppet Master... heh. But the theme of the puppet is a very common one, especially in horror. My personal influences are more along the lines of Silent Hill and Gabriel Knight.
Good on yer, then. Those are brilliant references.
Minor update: I got bored with tweaking the game and decided the site lacks character art, so I did one of Martin, the protagonist.
http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/martin_full.jpg
Not that you see much of him in the game, since it's all in first person view.
Anyway the storyline is almost complete. That's a huge load off my back. :)
New screenshot:
(http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr006.jpg)
Do let me know if anything looks "off"... perspective is not one of my strong points.
I don't know anything about perspective but the background looks awesome to me. All of your bg's look great to me! Keep up the good work!!!
I think it looks very good!, very climatic.
I dont think much things can happen in such a small room though, and I would definetely make the text a lot smaller, and probably with another typography that goes more with the theme of the game.
Hehe, I don't know anything about perspective either. But thanks!
It is a small room indeed, but I planned for the player to notice a few things here.
Hmm, yes, the point about the smaller font did strike me, but so far I haven't enountered any problems with fitting the text into the black bar at the bottom so I left it as it was. But I could change it when I'm done with everything else.
Do you think the font is not suitable? What would be a more suitable font for the theme of the game? I'm having trouble deciding on a good readable font to replace the default.
Looking very nice. :)
I like the muted colours a lot, and the story seems spooky.
I look foward to the demo. :)
I'm looking forward to the demo too. :)
40-sec trailer posted - sorry that I didn't post it here earlier!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwiNFnISrdc
I'm hoping that the trailer will give you an idea of how the game's "cutscenes" and "movies" will work without animation.
Also, see the first post for a more detailed update.
Very neat. Love the look of it. Really dig it. Cant wait for the game to come out.
Added a new screenshot to the first post, as well as a link to download a track from the soundtrack.
The new screenshot shows actual interaction with a character. The characters are not animated, so yes - in effect you are talking to a static image.
Looking really good, Auriond!!! I'd like to wish you continued good luck on your project!!!
Again this is looking really good!!
I listened some of the tracks and I must say I love it! :P.
Looking forward to the demo!
Peder.
Thanks everyone :) I've been swamped with real-life work, and it should take about a couple weeks for me to clear the stuff coming my way before I can get back to seriously working on this. However I am trying to do a tiny little bit each day :)
This looks really good... one of the sleekest looking games I've seen on AGS so far... I can't wait to play it.
Thank you Stupot. I'm actually working on it right now as we speak.
My next update will be the demo, so until then I'll resist posting in here, and spend more time game-making. ;D
The demo, as promised.
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=842
It's very, very rough. The open doorway in the living room doesn't work in the demo.
Tip: Move your cursor to both sides of every room - sometimes you can turn around or exit the room.
Hmmm, could you choose one from these next two suggestions?
1) When text is displayed, hide mouse cursor OR use an "idle" pointer.
2) Make text behave more like the text in, say, LEC adventures, where text will disappear with time but you can still interact around.
I would find it a bit more appealing, especially 2).
Wow wee.Ã, Great Demo.
I didn't really notice a problem with what Rui said but one thing I did have trouble with was...
Spoiler
...reading Alice's diary.Ã, The text was very small, I think as well as having it in the inventory box, you should also have the text in the area at the bottom of the screen and the user can just click through the paragraphs.
I cannot wait for the full version... any idea when it'll be ready?
I was very impressed with the overall mood and atmosphere of the demo. Reminded me very much of the work of Cing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cing), as well as the Silent Hill series of games.
I like the sedate pace of exploring the house, and the music adds a lot. You've said that the demo is rough, and I'm sure some you're planning some technical tweaks so I won't comment much on that side of things.
Although I've learned that getting text to display the way you want it to in AGS can be a little cumbersome. ;)
One small problem, though. I didn't realise I could "look behind" me in the rooms until I clicked at the corner of the screen. Maybe having an arrow appear when the player moves the cursor to the edge of the screen would help.
Otherwise, really nice work. I'm looking foward to the finished game. :)
YAY!
Downloading!
My comments will appear here: FANTASTIC!!
This was really impressive!
This will for sure be one of my favourite games!
(one thing I noticed was that I managed to get over 10 points. last time I checked I had 14 and still had things left to do then!)
Spoiler
The door puzzle was fantastic!
With the "letter game" and how the mannequin? was giving you the numbers for the lock! fantastic!
I looking forward to the full game!
And this is just fantastic!!
Good luck!
- Peder
Thanks, all of you, for trying it out. :) This really is a very buggy version, but I thought in a way you could all be my beta testers and help me find all the problems in the game, which I can address all in one shot (or close to one shot).
Rui: Your first suggestion will be implemented in ver.2 of the demo if we can do it. However, I have no clue how to even start doing the second feature you mentioned... I'll ask the others if they know how to do it. It's our first AGS game and we're still learning the ropes. :)
Stupot:
Spoiler
Martin will read it out if you click the eye icon on the pages of the diary. At the end of it he will add in his opinion... this will happen throughout several other texts he will read, and I implemented points for it. How do you think I can make it more obvious/easier for people to realise they need to click the eye icon on the texts? Or should I make it totally easy for them and make the text appear automatically?
LimpingFish: I've got that same reaction from several people already - I'll be implementing the arrows in the final version of the game. In the meantime I mentioned everywhere where I put the game up for download, that you should always move your cursor to the edge of the room to check if you can turn around.
Peder Johnsen: Looking forward to your reaction :)
edit: Stupot asked when the finished game will be ready... I honestly don't know. However we can estimate somewhere around the end of this year or beginning of the next. It all depends on how busy I am and whether I can do the graphics fast enough, because I'm the only one doing that, whereas the scripting's done by several people.
edit2: made a games page for it: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=842
auriond, really nice looking demo here. The art and music are both excellent and I'm looking forward to see more of the story. I'm definitely feeling the Silent Hill influence and LimpingFish was spot on with the Cing comparison. It's looking very nice, and I can't wait to see the final product.
I had just a few concerns, but they're things that I think can be cleared up pretty easily. I studied and worked in useability, so some things always jump out to me about many games that might not be apparent to others that could easily be fixed and would greatly improve the user (player) experience. So, take this as constructive criticism.
1) I agree with Rui about the text. The issue is, if I have a look or interact cursor and I click, I expect that to look or interact, respectively. But if there's text on the screen and I click, it's clicking through the text, not looking or interacting. A simple change to an hourglass (or something) cursor would fix this. I don't think that his second suggestion would jive with this kind of game. But this is a very minor issue.
2) The foot cursor (for turning around and exiting) looks too much like the hand cursor. So much, in fact, that I didn't know that I could turn around in the rooms because I didn't notice the cursor change. If this changes to an arrow pointing left/right appropriately, this would be just a little more smooth, and would definitely help that situation.
3) When right-clicking to cycle through the cursor modes (which I usually do because I don't like to have to move my cursor all the way across the screen to change modes) I expect it to cycle in the same order as the cursors appear in the menu. Having it jump around out of order is really confusing and should definitely be changed.
4) The cursors for interact and pick-up are very similar and not very well defined. I got them confused a lot and had to cycle between them in a "whoops, not that one" fashion many times. In fact, I'm not sure why they are separate cursors. There's no real reason to have two separate cursors when they'll never have two separate meaningful effects on one item. If you "Interact" with your notebook in your car it says "I have to pick it up before I can use it." But clearly, I meant to take the thing. If I "pick up" the lock panel on the door, it says "I can't budge it." But really, I was just interpreting it as "click the hand cursor on it to use it." Plus, the "pick up" cursor is rarely used and results in lots of messages that kind of break the mood, like "Pick up the book case? ... Not."
Making the two even more interchangeable, you can use either interact or pick up to walk through a door...
Personally, I'd combine the two into one hand icon that interacts with things that are interactable, picks up things (with some "I think I'll take this" message) that are pick-uppable, and gives a "I should probably just leave that alone" kind of message when it can't do anything. It would go a long ways towards stream-lining the game's interactions and making the gameplay feel less separated from the player's intentions.
5) The way the inventory works is a great idea, but as it's implemented is a little flawed. When you open the inventory, it defaults to the arrow cursor to allow you to select an active inventory item. This is good. But one thing that always bothers me about this type of inventory system is that I've suddenly lost the ability to right-click to change cursor modes. Instead, right clicking has suddenly been redefined as look at. But in the interface framework of the rest of the game, this does not make sense. Even if I can now potentially look at something in one click in stead of two, consistency should be protected. Right clicking here should cycle between the eye and the arrow cursors.
Now, when I click with the eye cursor on an inventory, it brings up the larger inventory picture. Here, I can use the eye again to examine, or the hand to look at the other side (or, I presume, do other things with other inventory items). Still, here, right clicking should cycle between the eye and hand. It's a little strange, conceptually, to use the eye both here and on the main inventory but have it do different things, but I'm not terribly concerned about that.
I am concerned, however, that clicking the close button with the hand cursor, maintains the hand cursor when it switches back to the main inventory GUI. This cursor is meaningless here, and yet, it acts the same as the arrow cursor. When you switch between the main inventory and inventory close up GUIs, you need to constrain the cursor modes to only the proper modes: eye and arrow on inventory (or an inventory item cursor) and eye and hand on the inventory close up.
If you implement the inventory like this, I think you'll find that it's much more intuitive to use and navigate because it maintains consistency with the rest of the game.
6) There are no parts of the game in the demo where you have to use an inventory item (though it would be nice if Guiseppe would comment on the items if I try to give them to him) so it's not clear if this will be a big issue yet, but as you have it, it is not clear where the inventory item cursor's hotspot is. When my cursor is an inventory item, it might be nice to have a little arrow in the top left corner so that I know what I'm pointing at.
7) Also, still harping on inventory here, why is the close button on the inventory close-up GUI where it is? I think it would look a lot nicer if it were a nice button down on the bottom bar like the OK button on the main GUI.
8 ) When you click on something (not in the inventory, in a room) to get a close up, like the photo on the desk or the mannequin in the studio, you can back up by clicking on the edges of the screen where ever the foot cursor shows up, but I think that since, conceptually, backing away from looking at something up close is different from turning around this could use a different cursor, or even better, a button on the lower-right corner of the screen that says "back." However, if you change the turning cursors to arrows (as per my #2) and leave this one a foot, that could be ok. This is not a major issue.
9) (Thought of this one while typing the last one :P) To get a closeup of the photo on the shelf, you use the eye cursor or the interact cursor, while getting a closeup of the TV or mannequin requires the interact cursor. Conceptually, it seems that the eye cursor should work for the TV and mannequin as well. Once zoomed in, another click of the eye cursor would give a description. This would also work in line with how the inventory system works: one click of the eye gives a closeup, a second gives a description. Again, consistency makes your game play much more intuitively and will help the player be engrossed in the game without being distracted by the the interface.
OK, that's it. I hope it didn't sound too harsh, because I didn't mean it to be. I'm just pointing out a few little useability niggles that can hopefully be ironed out without too much trouble and will help the game feel very smooth to the player. The game already looks and feels really great. I think with just a few easy tweaks, it could play even better. I really can't wait to see the final product. Good luck!
Great demo, Auriond, it looks superb, and it gives an intriguing taste of what is to come :)
Vince raises some good points, but the one I'll bring up again is #4, because that is the one that bothered me a bit. One other thing: during the introduction I clicked to speed up the dialogue, but instead skipped the entire intro by mistake. It would be nice if clicking didn't do this, and to skip cutscenes "esc" (or something like that) was used instead.
Again, it looks like you have the makings of a great game here; good luck, and I look forward to seeing the finished product! :)
Fantastic demo.
Delightfully creapy. I have to agree with the others with the thing with two different hand cursors. A little on the confusing side.
Spoiler
The last puzzle with the contorted marionete was crazy clever took a while to register.
Oh my :o The story and the screenshots are fantastical!!! (Yes that is a word!)
I'm so anxious to play this! Please hurry! ;D
Thanks, all. :)
Vince Twelve, I am extremely honoured that you took the time to explain all of that. I read through everything you said very carefully, and I'll try to implement everything that I can, although combining the two hand icons would require an overhaul of the iconbar and cursors. But with time that can definitely be done.
So far I have gathered that the biggest issues are the hand icons and the foot icon; these will be addressed in demo #2.
I understand a little better about the text issue now, though I admit that I never saw that as a problem at all (and neither did my team, surprisingly). I don't think it would be a problem to implement the wait icon.
I'm sorry the bad interface distracted so much from the content! But well, we are newbies to game design, and all these wonderful suggestions are going to be a great help. :)
MashPotato: What I'll do for the cutscenes is that I'll add a little line saying "Click mouse button or press any key to skip". Hope that'll clear up the confusion!
Green Boy: Thanks, I'm glad you liked that part ;D
CosmoQueen: I'll hurry! Let's hope I can present the revised demo in a couple weeks' time at the most.
edit: oh and - there are two items that Giuseppe will comment on when you show them to him. I haven't coded the others, but I will probably add more things that he will comment on in the full version.
Just downloaded the demo late last night. It looks great. I will edit this post with comments when I get a chance to play, later on today..... Congrats, on getting the demo out.....
MAte, time to give me feedback.
First of all, I back up Vince all the way to the 9 points...
Now, to clarify a little and say something else (probably). The text when I tried 3 times the game, had 3 different sizes. The first time, I tried playing the game from the ziped folder, and it was tiny. Then I extracted it and it got big, normal very nice font, but after the first video it went tiny again. Third time they were medium size, but readable.
The icons are really small, and not easily distinguished and as mentioned before, it's not clear the two hands, and the foot actually. An arrow towards the end of the rooms would probably help a lot as well.
On the positive sides of the game:
It is an amazing game!
Even though the screens are still, there is a lot of video sequencing (will you keep this up for hte whole game, ending up with 20 videos?) which more thna make up for the lack of further animation.
Graphics are great
Mood is brilliant!
Music is also very nice so tell your (borther?) musicians that he's doing a great job! piano sounds ultra cool with all that ;)
The story is very good (I wish I could still open discussions with that guy guisepe, I think? I mean in all adventures you get a 4-5 choices in dialogues, and then it's all over, nothing to say again... A pity I couldn't just sit there with the hours and talk to him again and again), and kept me on screen for quite a long time. Took long to solve the hangman (I'm not native speaker), and never found the keys to the door from the marionette thing...
Generally a game I'm very much anticipaiting really! Keep it up!
BTW, the size? Compaired to the demo? Just wondering...
Thank you all - Peder too, I just saw your edit :) I'm very glad you liked that part so much, I really hope the rest of the game will live up to the expectations set by that part!
Nikolas: I'm not sure why you were getting the strange font sizes as it hasn't happened to any of us testing it. Anybody knows what causes this?
Icons are definitely on the to-do list :) as for icon sizes... I'll see about putting visible hotspots on all the icons, and making them bigger.
Yes, I'm planning to keep up the little cutscenes that break the boredom of static backgrounds. However I'm worried about the final game size... But I am so, so, so glad that you found the videos good enough to make up for the lack of animation elsewhere.
My brother's music does seem to be a saving grace for the game ^^ I'll let him know that someone who has very impressive music credentials (you) liked it a lot :)
The dialogue with Giuseppe was a kind of experiment. I tried to plan it so that you will end up with the same amount of information no matter what options you choose - but different options will give you a different number of points, and in the final game it will determine the ending that you get. I will probably get him to talk some more in the full game.
For the door:
Spoiler
after you solve the hangman puzzle, click the eye icon on the mannequin for a hint. You're not looking for a physical key... but there's a numberpad on the door...
The size of the final game compared to the demo... um, the demo zip was about 13MB, so the final game might be anywhere from 30-60MB (or possibly even more). I know it's very big, because of the graphics and music.
edit: I forgot to address the part about points - I just noticed that I forgot to change the total number of points that you can get. The total's not 10, it's 26. Here's a list of all the things you can do to get full points in the demo.
Spoiler
After opening cutscene
---------------------------
- Interact with car
Car interior (Total for this area: 3)
--------------------------------------------
- Pick up sketchbook - (1)
- Read sketchbook till the end (click the eye icon on the last page) - Martin will note the missing pages.(1)
- Look at envelope in your inventory, flip it over and look at it again - Martin will note the number in the corner. (1)
- Look at steering wheel - Martin will note the missing keys
- Exit car
House exterior
------------------
- Interact with front door of the house
House interior (Total for this area: 5)
----------------------------------------------
- Interact with TV
- Look at TV (click eye icon on screen in closeup) - (1)
- Look at sofa
- Pick up scrap on sofa - (1)
- Interact with TV cabinet
- Open TV cabinet
- Look at doll in the TV cabinet - (2)
- Exit the cabinet view. Move your cursor to the right or left and turn around.
- Pick up key from the wall next to the front door - (1)
- Turn around again and open the door directly in front of you.
Alice's room 1 (Total for this area: 3)
---------------------------------------------
- Interact with photo on the cabinet
- Look at photo (click eye icon on it in closeup) - (1)
- Interact with the red thing behind the pink teddy bear
- Interact with book cover
- Pick up diary - (1)
- Go to diary in inventory and examine it
- Read diary (click eye icon on last page) - (1)
- Talk to Giuseppe
Giuseppe dialogue (Total for this area: 11)
----------------------------------------------------
"How do you know my name?" + "Sculpting is an art" - (3)
"I saw my car" + "Who is this "her"? - (4)
Show Giuseppe the photo - (2)
Show Giuseppe the envelope - (2)
- Move cursor to right or left of the screen and turn around
Alice's room 2 (Total for this area: 4)
-------------------------------------------------
- Interact with mannequin
- Interact with mannequin again
- Examine mannequin (click eye icon on the 'M' in the second closeup) - (1)
- Go back to the view of the bed - look at brown rectangle on the door on the right. It's a hangman puzzle which will give you the clue to the number pad that unlocks the door.
- Interact with the letters to fill in the phrase. The answer for the hangman puzzle is "The mannequin is key". - (2)
- In the main view of the bed again, examine the mannequin. Click the eye icon on it if you need to.
- You should have 25 points at this time. The answer to the number pad (grey rectangle below the brown one on the door) is 54, which is the number that the mannequin is miming. Enter it to get 1 more point and end the game!
Total: 25 points
I'm glad you're taking all the feedback to heart! About combining the two hand icons into one, I know it will require a little work to fix the icon bar, but I really think that would go a long way to making the interface intuitive and comfortable.
And Mash Potato had a great point about the cutscenes. Rather than adding a text to the bottom, I agree with her suggestion of changing it so that you can only skip it with the ESC button, or at most any keyboard button. It's a very fast fix. In the code:
PlayVideo (string filename, int skip, int flags)
You've probably got 3 for the skip argument. Just change it to 1 or 2.
And I really liked the way Guiseppe's dialogue branched. It felt natural like a real conversation and I realize that all the branches lead to the same place, but it still felt like I had some impact on the conversation. Some adventure gamers will be thrown by this though because they're used to exhausting all conversation branches methodically to make sure they don't miss anything. I like this better, personally.
But I agree that if I talked to him later, it would be nice if he had something more to say other than "Don't forget what I've told you." At the least, it would be nice if he reminded me of what he told me. Or maybe had a couple more responses so it wasn't so clear that he's just a pre-scripted character in a computer game!
Oh, also, I forgot to say how awesome the music was!
All right then, I'll make the change to the video skip. :) Should I go ahead and add the "press esc to skip" part as well?
I understand about gamers that make a habit of clicking through everything in a dialogue - I'm one of them! :) But in this game, I want the player to help mould Martin's personality. Although he's by nature a blunt, sarcastic person, it's up to the player to choose exactly how abrasive he can be.
I'll remember that about Giuseppe's dialogue! I hadn't thought of it, but if the dialogue has made him seem more real, I wouldn't want to break that by having him repeat the same responses afterwards.
And my brother is very encouraged by all the positive responses towards his music - so encouraged that he's inspired to revive his music site :)
Absolutely fantastic work! :o
This is definitely at the top of my games to play list. Kind of reminds me of games like Blackstone chronicles and Scratches in terms of the eerie atmosphere.
Loved the demo!
I really loved your demo and I look forward to the final game.
It reminds me of the old Icom adventures, "Shadowgate", "Deja Vu", and "Uninvited".... I loved those games. Along with Tass Times in Tone Town, I think they ate up all my Apple IIgs time.
Bt
Wow. I haven't read all the way through this thread, so I'm probably saying what everyone else has said before me, but this looks absolutely fantastic. I have this thing about not downloading demos... I don't want to ruin the game experience (I learned my lesson with BJ4), but I went to YouTube and watched the trailer. Not only does this just look brilliant, with a fantastic atmosphere, but it just looks like it's going to be plain fun. Also, I thought you'd be glad to know you've been an influence on my own game in production: I don't know how you do your graphics, but they look hand-drawn, and I've decided to forget using my mouse... it's hand-drawn and scanned-in from now on for me.
Once again, lovely, lovely game. Eagerly awaiting.
Quote from: Maverick on Sun 21/01/2007 17:33:09
Kind of reminds me of games like Blackstone chronicles and Scratches in terms of the eerie atmosphere.
Thanks Maverick! I haven't heard of Scratches though... can I have a link to check it out?
Quote from: Blackthorne on Mon 22/01/2007 00:03:06
It reminds me of the old Icom adventures, "Shadowgate", "Deja Vu", and "Uninvited".... I loved those games.Ã, Along with Tass Times in Tone Town, I think they ate up all my Apple IIgs time.
Although I have not played any of those games (I think my ignorance is showing through very badly...) I looked them up, and they look absolutely gorgeous. I didn't even know graphics like that were possible! And yes, I see the resemblance to The Marionette... makes me want to play those games so badly now.
Quote from: esper on Mon 22/01/2007 00:38:29
Wow. I haven't read all the way through this thread, so I'm probably saying what everyone else has said before me, but this looks absolutely fantastic.
That was said before people downloaded and played the demo; after that the general reaction was more moderate, but I'm a-workin' on it. :)
QuoteAlso, I thought you'd be glad to know you've been an influence on my own game in production: I don't know how you do your graphics, but they look hand-drawn, and I've decided to forget using my mouse... it's hand-drawn and scanned-in from now on for me.
I'm very honoured to hear that, both that my graphics have influenced you and that they look hand-drawn :) My backgrounds are a combination of being drawn in Photoshop using a tablet, and manipulated photographs. The people are entirely drawn on Photoshop with the tablet.
Quote from: auriond on Mon 22/01/2007 05:29:56
Although I have not played any of those games (I think my ignorance is showing through very badly...) I looked them up, and they look absolutely gorgeous. I didn't even know graphics like that were possible!
Are you being sarcastic, or did they remake those games and I didn't hear about it? If so, link me up, because those were some of my favorite games... But they were on Nintendo, Commodore 64, Apple IIe and Amiga, so... I can't possibly imagine them having good graphics!
I'm not being sarcastic in the least, and I'm referring to the screenshots of the games that I saw on Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shadowgate
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uninvited_(game)
etc.
I've never used Apple and my first encounter with any PC game was King's Quest V and Willy Beamish. So I'm not of the generation that would have played games like those, and those kinds of graphics are really new to me. I really do think they are gorgeous. Maybe you don't think so because you're used to them, but for me they look like serious works of art.
By today's standards, yeah, they're not amazing graphics... but when I played them on the IIgs... they were so atmospheric and immersive. If you can, I reccomend you get a IIgs emulator and find those games.
Bt
I'm sure I would have loved them too if I had known of them back then. I'll see if I can find both the games and the emulator - thanks, Blackthorne.
And I beg to differ - they are amazing graphics by any standards. I know no one believes me because I use Photoshop and everything, but I have a soft spot for simpler graphics, and these are simply beautiful. My respect for them is even greater because I can't create them.
I just had to announce this, I couldn't contain my excitement any longer!
The Marionette will feature a song by one of my favourite artistes, the guitar great Justin King. He's given his permission to use one of his songs for a cutscene later in the game. I still can't get over it!
http://www.justinking.com , go check it out!
And if you're afraid the songs on that website won't suit the mood of the game - well, those aren't the songs that will be on it. :)
Quote from: auriond on Mon 22/01/2007 06:35:26
I'm sure I would have loved them too if I had known of them back then. I'll see if I can find both the games and the emulator - thanks, Blackthorne.
And I beg to differ - they are amazing graphics by any standards. I know no one believes me because I use Photoshop and everything, but I have a soft spot for simpler graphics, and these are simply beautiful. My respect for them is even greater because I can't create them.
Hi Auriond, I agree totally with you, those old games from the 1980's Sierra era had gorgeous graphics, I used to always feel excited about coming from from school just to play one of those games and looking at the graphics made the games more exciting. I still love them today, they not only hold great memories but also there is just something about them that still draw me to them, I cant put my finger on it but I know my eyes love them :). You should have a try at playing the old Kings Quest 3 game with the old graphics, that was a beautiful game. I'd say I like Colonel's Bequest's graphics too :). Now your game Marionette is just AMAZING!! I enjoyed the demo but really cant wait to play the actual game like I have mentioned in earlier posts, this game appeals to me :). How are you going with drawing, have you been able to do any more lately? I am trying to work on a series of pieces that relate to the weather/environmental and global warming issues that are around at the moment. An exciting project, and working with mixed media. P.S. congrats on getting the music of your favourite artist, thats an achievement too :). While I can't hear music clearly being fully deaf, my best friend has been working with me to help me hear music by touch until we get my 2nd implant and new upgrade done. Very excited! :)
I just played through the demo and I have to say I was extremely impressed! Although I do agree with some of the points brought up by Vince, I don't think any of them really hindered the gameplay. I thought the graphics were amazing, the music was lovely, the atmosphere was fantastic and the cutscenes really added a wonderful touch. One thing that I did not notice was that there was a place that was keeping points, where was that located? Congrats on an awesome demo and I am really looking forward to playing the finished product (btw, how is that coming???).
Thank you, gypsysnail and thewalrus. :)
thewalrus: You can find the points you've earned at the options screen (the rectangle with the list, in between the load and quit icons). Ignore the total points though, I completely forgot to change that on the version that you've downloaded. Total possible points are 25.
The finished product is slow in the making as we're still ironing out all the things that were brought up in this thread. We'll release a version 2 of the demo, then when people are sure the interface is okay, we'll continue to work on the rest of the game.
This looks like an amazing game. I really loved your comic (readers, look it up on his website. It's worth it), and I can't wait to play an adventure game made by you.
Thanks very much for the rec, TheCheese. :) Glad you enjoyed it!
Anyway, I've just uploaded version 2 of the demo, as promised. Here's a list of the changes I've made:
- Changed iconbar - combined pickup and interact
- Changed total number of points
- Implemented wait icon for text
- Added red arrow for foot cursor icon
- Made sure cursors cycle in the same sequence as on the iconbar
- Made cursors bigger and added visible hotspots
- Made movies skippable only by pressing any key
- Fixed inventory cursor bug
- Made Giuseppe's responses random
- Make dialogue skip only after click or key press
Items that were on my to-do list but which I didn't implement:
- change close button on the inventory zoom window
Rui had suggested that I change it to an "OK" button like the main inventory window. However, the reason why I had made a different close button was that I wanted to differentiate the "zoom" view from the main inventory window.
- right-click to cycle through cursors in the inventory views
I tried to implement this one, I really did. However, I have two inventory windows, which both behave differently. The coding proved to be too difficult for me, and my lead programmer happened to be unavailable over the weekend. So I'm going to leave it as it is... anyone who's really bugged and who knows how to fix this is welcome to PM me with the solution. :)
Hope the new version is smoother and more enjoyable... I'll be continuing with this interface for the rest of the game.
Well, seeing as people have completed the demo before, I don't think I've left out anything (besides that room that the doorway in the living room is supposed to go to).
Look again at the mannequin... look really hard. Use the eye icon on it if you need a hint.
And if you really don't see it...
Spoiler
... the secret's in the pose of the mannequin. The upper body is in the shape of a 5, the lower in the shape of a 4.
edit: thanks Maverick - the games look really cool, I'm going to download the demo and check out Scratches. Pity adventure games were never really that available where I live even at the height of their popularity.
Quote from: auriond on Tue 30/01/2007 12:39:37
Well, seeing as people have completed the demo before, I don't think I've left out anything (besides that room that the doorway in the living room is supposed to go to).
Look again at the mannequin... look really hard. Use the eye icon on it if you need a hint.
And if you really don't see it...
Spoiler
... the secret's in the pose of the mannequin. The upper body is in the shape of a 5, the lower in the shape of a 4.
edit: thanks Maverick - the games look really cool, I'm going to download the demo and check out Scratches. Pity adventure games were never really that available where I live even at the height of their popularity.
Thank you auriond,
You've said in your original post demo will or may be finshed in February 2007?
At the end screen, I recommend removing "ALT+F4", by replacing with "F9" to finshed. It will easier for newbies.
You're welcome! The demo is finished for now, and I'm not working any more on it. I'm going on to finish the rest of the game, hopefully by the end of this year.
auriond, I think the game is much more playable now. (Not that it was unplayable before, just that it flows much better now) It's really looking great. Nice work. The one thing that I noticed this time that seems a little off is the number of inventory items showing at once. After picking everything up, my inventory had gone onto a second row, but the second row doesn't show unless I scroll down. But it looks like there's plenty of room to show a second and third row without scrolling.
Keep up the good work. I'm looking forward to the finished product!
Thanks Vince! I've fixed the inventory problem (it was a problem with the size of the inventory items - for some reason I'd left the item heights too tall) but I'm not releasing another demo version. I don't want to be stuck on the demo, I want to move on in the game.
Speaking of which, one of the programmers has become too busy to help with the game, so if you're good at AGS and you're interested in helping out, drop me a PM.
Hi there!
I'm just playing your demo - absolutely great. I always thought that I didn't care for a first person view in an adventure game. Playing "The Marionette" I don't know where I got that idea from. ;) The looks, the music ... everything just sucked me into the story. What else is there to say?
Godd luck with this one!
Thanks very much, Das Plans! It's nice to hear that The Marionette has brought a good perspective (no pun intended) to first-person adventure games :) I personally prefer third-person games myself too, but my animation skills are too bad!
Anyway, here's a little concept drawing for a scene later in the game. It's Martin and Eshana:
(http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs13/300W/f/2007/034/6/7/The_dance_by_auriond.jpg) (http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/thedance.jpg)
And I've also put up a mini soundtrack for sale - details in the first post.
edit: Still looking for programmers, too.
This game is gonna be freeware right? :-S because I don't have a credit card, and in Romania we can't even make such credit cards as PAY PAL unless we pay about 40$ for the transport alone :( So there is no way I can buy this. :( Alto I would LOVE to play the game since it is a little Silent Hill-ish and I am a big SH fan. I also dig the graphics and all the work you put into it, so normally I would pay to buy your game, but it is impossible to do that no matter how low the prince is :(
It will definitely be freeware. I've been long enough without a credit card to know the frustration of not being able to buy online. Only the soundtrack is for sale.
Anyway, new screenshot. This is what's behind the hangman door from the demo:
(http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr012.jpg)
The foot is to let you know that you can move forwards to explore another area further in front of you.
The "monstrosity" in the middle is deliberate :) I hope it looks suitably monstrous.
Hey Auriond, it looks beautiful!!! The sculpture looks huge and really formed well :) love how u ve placed everything in the gallery. Well done! Cant wait to see it in the game.
Please...
No more teasers...
I want to see the rest in the game, not here. Please... Please...
(Personal opinion of course)
Looks lovely though!
Gypsysnail: thank you! ^^
I forgot to mention that the paintings on the wall of the gallery in this latest screenshot are courtesy of the very talented Gypsy. :) They are her paintings which she very kindly allowed me to use in the game.
Nikolas: I'm sorry! I thought I'd just post a screen to show that I'm still working on the game... but no more screenies here till the game's complete, I promise! Anyway, I don't want to give too much away either, or no one will want to play the game :)
:) I do feel proud to be part of this beautiful game.
I think this game is just brilliant - I've just completed the demo and I want more!
It reminds me a lot of Silent Hill, especially the living room with the TV; it gave me that creepy chill, I love it! Have you ever played Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly? Some places inside of the house remind me of that game as well, maybe it's the dark color scheme? I don't know, but you sure have a fan over here!
I can't wait to play your awesome game, Wenhui! Keep up the excellent work!! ;D
Thanks Audrey! Your encouragement is greatly appreciated :)
Since I had so little to offer in the Release Something activity, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to offer a little background information about one of the more unknown characters in this game.
Many of you who've played the demo have asked me who Giuseppe is. Some of you even picked up on the fact that Giuseppe isn't his real name. You're right, it's not. In fact Giuseppe has no name. He's one of the faery folk, and his real shape is a dog. His human form is an European man who is a photographer. The other faery folk - Eshana, the sad clown I posted in Release Something, is one of them - are hunting him down to kill him.
How all this ties in with Martin and the little girl whose house you visit in the demo, I don't want to say yet. But at least you have some background about Giuseppe now. Here's one of the earliest pics I drew of him, with his dog form, back before I named him Giuseppe:
(http://tn3-1.deviantart.com/fs11/300W/i/2006/244/6/3/Nameless_by_auriond.jpg)
Another thing is that people keep classifying this game as "horror" or "thriller" or "mystery". I personally wouldn't call it that, because I'm a big wuss and I can't stand horror games too well. I'd call it "fantasy", and Giuseppe's background explains this. So, sorry to disappoint any horror fans out there, but it's really not horror (seriously, was the demo scary at all?)
And lastly - someone suggested making this game donateware. As I understand it, this means having the player donate something before being able to download the game. It's not really going commercial, is it? I was faced with a whopping 5GB of transfer on my website when I released the demo, and the demo was only 13MB - about 1/10th of the final game size. I shudder to think of the resources needed to support the finished game's release. So the way I see it, donateware really isn't a bad idea.
What do you think? I have to admit I'm tempted. I've got the whole game planned out in my mind even though the actual progress is slow, and where the game goes from here really depends on what I'm planning to do when it's released.
So a clown is after this human/dog ???
This is still sounds like a horror game to me. Anything involving a clown is true horror!
As for charging to play, I agree, you should be rewarded for all your troubles. How about $15? Sounds very reasonable. I'm all for it, how about you all folks?
I think you should have the game be donateware. With all the games going commercial, it sounds like a good idea. Glad to know this is going to be a fantasy game, and the shape shifting element sounds intriguing.
Just a small info about donationware (I hope you mean the same by saying donateware...): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donationware
Donationware is not "forcing" anyone to give you any money. It is more simmilar to shareware than freeware, as, if the "customer" is satisfied, then he should give a compensation to the creator (you).
That said, any recomandation on the price would be invalide, under the notion of donation/shareware form. Note that in a donationware there is no ownership. So the "customer" (thus the " ") is not buying anything, just donating for the nice job (obviously it already shows!) that the creator auriond has done.
I won't go into details furthermore. Just say that the art is lovely and the dog even lovelier...
I will PM you for further discussion.
Is it DARK and IMAGINATIVE fantasy though?
I don't really want to play through ANOTHER game that's definition of fantasy is just some overused Tolkien-template.
From the sounds of it, it isn't a cookie-cutter fantasy story, so keep on working!
Good Luck!!! :D
Thanks for the comments everybody. :) It's very interesting to see the variety of responses.
Sorry for the weird update. It was prompted by a couple of the members on this forum, who were dying to have something weird happen on the 1st of April. Unfortunately I suck at pranking so I just came on here and posted a bunch of half-truths. But thanks you two for solidly backing me up. :)
So here's the rest of the truths:
1. Giuseppe - that backstory is indeed his and goes with the picture I posted. The character started with a dream that I had with that exact backstory (minus Eshana the clown). However he's since changed, and he serves a different function in the game. So, nope, he's not a faery and he's not a dog anymore in the game. But I still had that picture I drew after having that dream, and it seemed such a shame not to post it here, so I did, along with his old story. :)
2. Fantasy is how I would classify this game, but Tolkien it's not. Although it's true that I'm a wuss so don't expect things to jump out of dark corners either. I have no idea how this game should be classified though. :P
3. Here we come to the interesting part. I figured if my "joke" fell flat on its face (as it's doing now), at least it would generate a discussion on donateware or donationware or whatever it's called.
The model I was suggesting was that people have to donate any amount they want in order to download the game, which is different somewhat from the model that Nikolas linked to. It's a very tempting idea... people actually paying to play the game, without me feeling guilty that it's gone commercial. XD haha. I wish.
Thanks Nikolas for the info both in your post and in your PM. I've learned something today so my nonsense didn't go to waste. I'll reply to your PM in more detail when I have a little more time.
But bottom line is: The Marionette is free, with no obligation to make a donation or any kind of payment. Unless you're buying the soundtrack, of course... that's another matter altogether. :P But so far no one has, so I'm not too worried about that.
Now, all I need to do is finish the game. :) *goes to update status on first post*
I just downloaed and played the game for a bit. I usually don't download demos, especially when they go over 6MB, but I figured I give it a shot since I had nothing to search online. I'm not much into first person Adventure games, but I actually enjoyed it very much. The art is fantastic and the setting gives off this eerie feeling which draws me in. Music also fits the mood. A very promising game to look forward to. I DEMAND MORE! ;D
Thanks Fleshtalker! It's very encouraging that I've gotten several positive responses from people who don't like first person games. :)
Update on the first post, and I offer a screenshot just for the fun of it:
(http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr017.jpg)
Haha 'H. Townshend" that was SOOO on purpose!
This looks cool, can't wait ill it's done! OwO
Auriond, I've just played through the demo - this looks INCREDIBLE. How goes the progress?
El Townshendo was indeed slipped in on purpose :)
Tsolaelia: The progress is slow, but at least it's there. Still 40% complete as of now, although I'm entering another busy phase so I'm not sure when I can work on it again.
One new screenshot just to show I'm working on it, though I don't really have much of significance to report. Except that I'm probably not going to be able to finish the game this year (predictably so).
(http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr018.jpg)
Is there a walking chacacter in the game?
No, it's all in first person.
Since the demo doesn't start on my pc (dunno why :'(), it is definitely another one game, that I'm waiting for...
I need more scary games! :o
;)
Glad to see that you are back at the drawing board!
I suppose that between the wedding plans, work and other projects we won't have the final product real soon?
Good luck and keep it coming.
I hope you finish this game sometime. But as a poet used to say it's not the destination that is important but the trip. You 've put a lot of effort I'm sure and even if it doesn't pay off for the rest of the world it wil play off for you for sure. Carry on, laddie.
Quote from: yarooze on Tue 28/08/2007 23:08:08
Since the demo doesn't start on my pc (dunno why :'(), it is definitely another one game, that I'm waiting for...
I'm worried that it doesn't work on your PC, can you PM me with any error messages that it gives you?
Quote from: Maverick on Sat 01/09/2007 21:28:53
I suppose that between the wedding plans, work and other projects we won't have the final product real soon?
You're partly right, in that I really have a lot to keep up with and I may not have it done this year like I planned to, but when I do get free time I have bursts of productive periods. So it's hard to say. :) I will definitely not drag it on beyond January or February next year, because I really want to get this out there.
Dualnames: Thanks, and I promise it will be finished.
As I mentioned elsewhere in the forum, I haven't been updating this because I didn't want to raise hopes again (see previous post promising an early 2008 release... gee, is it September already?? ::) ) So I've been contenting myself with updating only the first post of this thread.
But recently I have been having a nice little burst of productivity that's just generally making me very excited, and I just had to share this excitement with you. I've added a journal function, which helps in making sense of the plot. At the end of every section, depending on your actions, the journal will be updated with Martin's thoughts. If all goes well and I manage to wrestle the desired results out of my limited scripting skills, these thoughts also act as an indicator of which ending you're likely to be headed towards.
To counter the fact that I've put in the new features, I've had to take out some things as well. You know the puzzle from the demo that involved you picking up scraps of your drawings from all over the place? Well, that's been scrapped (pardon the pun). Also, that room that you couldn't enter in the demo is now permanently unenterable.
So as it stands now, the demo, which used to be about 30% of the planned game, is now about 20% of the planned game. That's the bad news. The good news is that this planned version is likely to be the final one, since the storyline and puzzles are very firmly in place now. I don't intend to add or subtract any more. I just want to finish the game. After that, I'll think about other things like animation and voice acting. Voice acting in particular is driving me crazy, because I can hear the characters saying things in my head, and I can't seem to translate the nuances into text alone! Oh, well.
And, of course, the very good news is that I'm finally over the halfway mark. Not quite yet the home stretch, though. When that happens I'll be asking for beta testers.
Here is a portrait of teenaged Alice, as painted by another character.
(http://themarionette.game-host.org/images/alice.jpg)
Ok, last screenshot, I promise. No more after this one until the game is complete.
(http://themarionette.game-host.org/images/scr23.jpg)
This is not just a game
It's an interactive work of art :)
looks awsome!!
Looks promising!
I presume it's finished soon then?
Looks... *what's another word for 'good'*
... rad-tastic!
Thanks guys :)
Hammerite: let's just say this time I'm definitely well on track. ;D No promises, but the end is in sight!
Woo-hoo!
Haven't heard much from this project (heheh look who's talking...) I'm glad that the end is near.
I can't wait for this. ;D
Wow, Auriond, I've been wondering about this game - I thought about it not too long ago.
Nice screenie, too. 2009's looking pretty good! Keep up the good work.
There's always December 2009 you all know! :P
Now, between you and me the game not only looks good but sounds great and plays brilliantly as well (and it reads blossomly nice!) :D
Singed, a big big fan!
A little update here. Been working like crazy and I'm glad to announce that the actual game itself (minus the cutscenes) is 75% complete. It seems like a good time to be asking for beta testers.
I need 2 testers: at least one of these should preferably be pretty knowledgeable about scripting in AGS, partly so that he/she can help me solve any bugs that pop up and partly so that I can have some help with scripting on the final section of the game. So yeah, this person would be doubling as a scriptor too. Consider me to be begging here. :P
As I did most of the scripting and all of the sound editing, drawing etc. on my own, I'm expecting all kinds of bugs, so I'm hoping these two people will be willing to go through the game countless times to erase every last bug. If you have the time and inclination to help out, just drop me a PM. :) Thanks in advance!
Edit: found one to test story and characters (thanks kaputtnik). Now I need one more tester, who is good at AGS scripting.
Edit2: SSH has kindly volunteered to take the remaining spot, so we're set to go!
I'm glad to see this is chugging along :D Good luck with that last 25%, Auriond, I'm looking forward to it!
Sweetness. Been looking forward. Good to hear it nearing completion :=
I've been looking forward to this since the demo, which was just evil in its teasingness. Thrilled to see you're making progress toward putting us all out of the misery of anticipation! :=
And since you're keeping track, I also am not generally a fan of first person adventure games.
QuoteAnd since you're keeping track, I also am not generally a fan of first person adventure games.
I might as well say that I'm not either. I usually don't bother with them - but there's something
here, man.
I like first persons.
I really enjoyed the Dark Fall games and Barrow Hill... The recent Rhiannon: Curse of the Four Branches I wouldn't mind playing... although it looks like a bit of a clone of the others.
DAMN YOU SSH!!! ;D
I still want to help testing this one, but well you've got SSH.
Great demo. I really enjoyed the demo and cant wait for the full finished product. Keep up the awesome work.
After many missed deadlines, the game is finally pretty much complete. I'm just waiting for some tweaks to the final rooms now. In the meantime I only have the five endings to draw. Then the final testing, and then it'll be released.
GREAT News! ;D.
Been waiting for this game! :P.
Looking forward to the release, its looking great so far! :).
Quote from: auriond on Tue 23/06/2009 13:32:32
After many missed deadlines, the game is finally pretty much complete. I'm just waiting for some tweaks to the final rooms now. In the meantime I only have the five endings to draw. Then the final testing, and then it'll be released.
I'm the one who's stalling this..right? ;)
Looks like more testing was needed than I anticipated. So what else is new? :P The first round of testing is complete, my scriptor came back and zapped a whole bunch of bugs (wish I could show you guys the bugtracker so you could see how diligently we've been working!)
So now we're tweaking a few things before sending it out for a second round of testing. Meanwhile I'm racing against time to finish up the cutscenes. If you look at the first post of this thread you'll see that everything else is complete. Actually it's pretty much playable the way it is, except for two cutscenes which are currently just sketched outlines. So I'M the one holding things up. :P
Why racing against time? Because I'm hoping against hope that we can make November 9 the release date. Yes, I know I've promised many release dates and they've all zoomed past me. But this time so much is complete and we have so many people working on it at the same time and we all are actually working towards this date. I just haven't announced it since I was afraid that it would pass me by like so many other promised releases.
Anyway, what have you got to look forward to? Well, for one, the game as it currently stands is a whopping 174MB big. Not sure if that's something to look forward to, but it does tell you how much we've put into it.
The GUI has been updated, so no more pixelly cursors :D
The game itself is basically a series of escape-the-rooms, much like the room in the demo. There are 8 main areas. It's very linear, but intentionally so. Still, your actions can influence the ending you get.
How long is it? Well, it can be completed in 5 minutes or 2-3 hours, depending on how you decide to play it. 5 minutes if you skip everything. 2-3 hours if you take the time to explore, and I've tried to make exploring more rewarding in terms of storyline.
So yeah, it's complete but we've already worked on this for 3+ years, we don't want to release it if it's not up to our standards. I'll try to polish it up as much as I can before the Nov 9 deadline, but the deadline is also there for a reason - I've dragged it out for so long partly due to feature creep, and I want to avoid that now. So Nov 9 it is. 10th at the most. :D
HOORAY!
Best of luck with the run up to release, Auriond, and Team Effigy.
This has been among my most anticipated AGS games since I've been on these boards.
:)
When I run the demo, I get black screen and game seem to freeze. It does not even react on Alt+X combination. Any ideas?
(I am running Win Vista 32 bit)
Thanks Stu. You've always been very encouraging :)
edit: Crimson Wizard, your ffdshow is probably causing it. You can change the setting to have it not play WMA's (which The Marionette uses). Or if you don't really need ffdshow you can delete it.
Quote from: auriond on Mon 05/10/2009 14:36:03
edit: Crimson Wizard, your ffdshow is probably causing it. You can change the setting to have it not play WMA's (which The Marionette uses). Or if you don't really need ffdshow you can delete it.
Disabling ffdshow worked! I still have one question: should any sound play during logo video? Because I don't hear any.
The game from what I've played is really immersing and mindblowing. Trust me on that!
Finished.
Very good graphics, and I loved the mannequine puzzle :).
One question though, I think that the house is slightly sloped to the left. Is it an optical illusion , or intension, or mistake?
Thanks Dual :)
Crimson: There's no sound in the intro logo. As for the house, I never noticed that it was sloped! So I suppose you could put it down to a mistake, but I think I'll probably leave it at that.
Well. I thought I'd bump this thread! :)
I am looking forward to this one. It seems that I've stopped noticing too many new games in development, but auriond and this game are coming from a long time in the past (by all means, this doesn't mean it took too long in development :=) and it feels like a link in the past.
I am waiting very eagerly to play this game.
One more week to go! Final round of refining art and interactions. One screenshot to show the new iconbar and cursors.
(http://themarionette.game-host.org/gallery/images/scr26.jpg)
Oh great, it's always cool to see long term projects come to fruition (and the fact that it is so pretty helps as well of course ;D)
Best wishes for the final round of polishing, I look forward to playing this!
I've been waiting for this. I loved the demo I played a while back. It's great to hear the game is nearing completion!
Yay ;D.
Looking forward to finally get this game in my hands! ^^
Cool... been revising like hell (or pretending to) for an exam on Tuesday, So this game can be my reward when that's over and done with.
All the best for the release.