Adventure Game Studio

AGS Games => AGS Games in Production => Topic started by: RcG on Tue 29/11/2005 20:33:27

Title: The Quest of Life
Post by: RcG on Tue 29/11/2005 20:33:27
Ok, I have coughed up a bit of courage to post about my game, so here goes:

I made a game/interactive movie with my friends a few years back, called the Quest of Life. When I heard about AGS from a certain web page I decided to make a point and click version of that game.

The original story was about Jack, a very ordinary man with ordinary problems. And then one night when he is drowning his problems in a local pub with his favourite drink (Jack Daniels, of course) a mysterious man appears and tells him something even more mysterious. They both leave their own ways and something tragic happens to both of them...Something chases the mysterious man to his death, and Jack is knocked cold by something followed by a blinding flash.
For some reason Jack wakes up from his own bed with his shoes still on, thinking it was only a lifelike dream. But suddenly a strange glow goes past his window. Jack decides to go check the backyard of his house, but for some reason his front door throws him quite somewhere else than his own yard, Jack looks back and the door is no longer there...

The original version consisted of poor acting and poor dialog, so the new version is definetly going to have poor graphics and poor dialog too. I have toyed around with AGS for about a month now and have whipped up something to call an intro sequence. Graphics I have created with paint shop pro using my oh so awsome drawing skills.

You can download the intro from here  (http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/QoLDemo.exe) if you have any interest towards my game. It still looks quite unfinished, and I will probably do something about it later. You can toy around in the rather simple first room of the game, try different mousemodes on objects and stuff.

I have left the background colour of the characters magenta for a reason and I can't be bothered to change it.

So here is the main character Jack
(http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/jack.png)

This is the mysterious man, he has short sleeves in his leather jacket because in the original version he had short sleeves also.(I didn't find a better leather jacket that time from my home)
(http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/RuG.png)
By the way, he was my character in the original version.

This guy is called Real cool guy for some reason, he helps Jack along in his journey and is a playable character at some parts of the game(Not in the original version though)
(http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/RcG.png)

Of course every game has a bad guy, this is a henchman of the biggest boss.
(http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/HMN.png)

The final boss, the meanest guy there is, he has a quite descriptive name: The Boss (The actor of the boss was actually the worst actor of our team, but he was also the director so...)
(http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/boss.png)

This is new.


Jack finds himself at a crossroads.
(http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/forest2.png)

The fish actually swim around randomly!
(http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/river.png)

If you want to see why the characters look like they do check this link (http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/original).

Title: Re: The Quest of Life
Post by: Afflict on Tue 29/11/2005 20:43:24
Sounds kewl, and I like the characters, the background art could use some work.
However congrats you have started your game!

I am keeping an eye out for this one!
Title: Re: The Quest of Life
Post by: ManicMatt on Tue 29/11/2005 20:49:43
Yeah those characters look cool!

The main character (Was sephiroth an influence?) sports a dashing shirt.
Title: Re: The Quest of Life
Post by: RcG on Tue 29/11/2005 20:56:28
Well all the characters are based on friends of mine, maybe the drawing style has taken some influence from final fantasy. The forest though... well I just drew four trees and made a picture tube out of them, you go figure out the rest  ;)
Title: Re: The Quest of Life
Post by: Darth Mandarb on Tue 29/11/2005 22:21:47
Are those screenshots from the "intro" and not "in-game" as the rules state?

Also, they are differing resolutions ... what resolution is the game?
Title: Re: The Quest of Life
Post by: RcG on Wed 30/11/2005 06:08:47
Well, you are right, the shots are taken from the intro, the smaller one was a part of a flashback and was cropped down to serve this purpose better. I changed the picture back to its original resolution 640x480

I'll go shooting some more screenshots and post them here
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - In-game shots added
Post by: Ubel on Wed 30/11/2005 16:47:07
Yay, a new Finnish dude! :D Welcome to forums!

The game looks fine to me. I especially like all the characters. You have quite an original style too and I like it. I would suggest you to fix the double pixeling in the black outlines though if it's not too much trouble.

Good luck with your game, and keep us updated!
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - In-game shots added
Post by: RcG on Thu 01/12/2005 21:19:13
Oh yeah, One member of the original Quest of Life actor team has finally bought himself a computer.He was the actor of the Boss/ the director of the videoscenes. He was a big part in creating the original  story, maybe I can now get the project really running. He shares my enthusiasm and has promised to help me with the game. I don't expect any miracles though.
I have also finished the intro, maybe I will post it here once I've made a good title screen.
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - In-game shots added
Post by: on Thu 01/12/2005 21:23:09
Cool work :) keep it up.
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - In-game shots added
Post by: RcG on Fri 02/12/2005 10:36:18
I digged up the original version and snapped some screenshots from it. If you want to see why the characters look like they do check this link (http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/original).

I have tried to be faihful to the original as you can see from the photos, I wish my background drawing skills would be even close to my character drawing skills.
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - I have finally finished the intro
Post by: RcG on Fri 16/12/2005 10:34:24
Ok, as I promised here is the intro.

You can download the intro from here  (http://koti.phnet.fi/~jannema/qol/QoLDemo.exe) if you have any interest towards my game. It still looks quite unfinished, and I will probably do something about it later. You can toy around in the rather simple first room of the game, try different mousemodes on objects and stuff. I had to rip the music out, because it is copyrighted. I'll try to make an original score to the final release.
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - I have finally finished the intro
Post by: ManicMatt on Fri 16/12/2005 11:59:39
Looks promosing! The talk icon looks out of place compared to the other mouse icons. I suspect you didn't draw that?

Also, I hope you will have a  functioning status bar or animated cursors when hovered over a hotspot.

Keep up da good work!
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - I have finally finished the intro
Post by: RcG on Fri 16/12/2005 13:29:50
Quote from: ManicMatt on Fri 16/12/2005 11:59:39
Looks promosing! The talk icon looks out of place compared to the other mouse icons. I suspect you didn't draw that?

What makes you think that ;) Well you are right, I took the Monty Python Music's logo and recolored the tongue. I just found it difficult to draw good lips, I could try another alternative though.

Right now my main focus is on the game and story, and I will put more effort to miscellaneous graphics later.   I will of course make the hotspots and object easier to recognize, it just wouldn't seem right to leave them the way they are.
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - I have finally finished the intro
Post by: on Tue 20/12/2005 12:05:23
Wow, my first post on the forum, so here goes! I'm Orca, and I was the director and writer of the original Quest of Life, and also played the role of the main bad guy, The Boss  8).

Anyway, i've finally bought a computer, so i'll be joining the already massive development team of the new version of Quest of Life as writer and director. Right now my ideas for the game are a bit over the top, but i'm sure RcG and me will be able to get something done.

The finished game will be the first part of a three part story. The story, as RcG said, will be about an ordinary young man named Jack, who gets caught up in the eternal batlle between good and evil. The fate of three worlds, our earth being one of them, hangs in the balance, and Jack must go on a quest across worlds to stop the diabolical plans of The Boss (who we might even name properly eventually). I haven't finished writing the plot yet, but the first game will propably take place on earth, while the second an third part will take place on other worlds,  through dimensional gates or something. If you think the plot sounds like a really bad sci-fi/fantasy story, you are absolutely right. Humor will play a major part in our game, and although its unlikely we'll come up with anything to rival the likes of the Monkey Island series, we'll do our best to make the game as funny as possible.

We've just begun making the game, so its likely it won't be finished anytime soon. Hell, we might even get bored of the whole idea and never get it done ::). But right now we're both very ecited about the possibilities of AGS, and we'll keep you guys posted about future developments!
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - I have finally finished the intro
Post by: vict0r on Tue 20/12/2005 16:52:10
First of all... Welcome to the forums! :)

But... Enough chit chat! Lets get down to buisness!
The graphics look okay, but could need some work. Cool that you are many people who can keep eachothers motivations up! :) Good luck with your project!



P.S.
Quote from: Orca on Tue 20/12/2005 12:05:23

...who gets caught up in the eternal batlle between good and evil. The fate of three worlds, our earth being one of them, hangs in the balance, and Jack must go on a quest across worlds to stop the diabolical plans...

*cough*constantine*cough*Ã,  Ã,  Ã, Wha? Me? I didnt say nothin' ::) ;D
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - I have finally finished the intro
Post by: mwahahaha on Wed 21/12/2005 02:50:17
I like you textures, they look pretty good.  Is it gonna have fighting in it or something?  You seem to mention bosses like they appear in action games/shooter/ect (i.e. you have to fight them). And, if so, how would combat work?
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - I have finally finished the intro
Post by: RcG on Wed 21/12/2005 10:17:57
Maybe Orca should have mentioned me about his rather...ehm.. massive plans before posting them here.I will do my best to finish this game, but I'm not so sure about the sequels.

And about the fighting, the original had fighting but it wasn't interactive and it's probably quite difficult to make interactive with AGS, I was thinking about changing the player character when the other one fights and perform his actions where ever he might be. Of course I will make some fighting animations to show off with.

PS. I added the functioning status bar. It never even crossed my mind before Matt mentioned it ::)
Title: Re: The Quest of Life
Post by: SSH on Thu 22/12/2005 12:31:08
For example: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=23264.0
Title: Re: The Quest of Life
Post by: RcG on Thu 22/12/2005 20:28:37
OK, You have convinced me to make the fighting interactive, I will keep the fighting simple (Rock-paper- scissors maybe) because I want to make an adventure game, not a fighting game. Thanks for the hint though SSH.

Right now there is ways to go before the first fighting scene will occur, so I won't pain myself with it yet. There is still so much drawing to do, and Orca isn't very helpful.(Years with playstation doesn't really make you good at drawing...)
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - I have finally finished the intro
Post by: ManicMatt on Thu 22/12/2005 23:00:12
Quote from: RcG on Wed 21/12/2005 10:17:57


PS. I added the functioning status bar. It never even crossed my mind before Matt mentioned it ::)


No problem!
Title: Re: The Quest of Life
Post by: RcG on Sun 25/12/2005 17:22:44

I need:

-Help with drawing animations.

-Some voice actors later perhaps.

-I also need SFX and music.


I will be drawing graphics myself to preserve the style.

You can PM or MSN me if you want to help, we can then get into the details.

Thanks
Title: Re: The Quest of Life - New Screenshots
Post by: RcG on Wed 04/01/2006 17:54:00
I have actually managed to make some progress with the game :D.My drawing skills are getting ever better and Orca is actually bursting with good ideas. I have agreed with him to try to make the game as massive as he has planned. My original plan was to remake the original quest of life with AGS, but now with Orcas help I can do so much more.

I have finished drawing and scripting of some new scenes. You can see the screens in the first post.  And the double-pixeling is also fixed in the not-yet-imported PSP images :P.

I probably would have never reached this far without the positive feedback I've got here.Thanks to you all for that.

Title: Re: The Quest of Life - New Screenshots
Post by: on Wed 01/02/2006 18:32:50
It's been almost a month, so I quess it's time for a small update.

I have to say that at first I was actually quite skeptical of wether we would have the enthusiasm neccessary to make something out of this project. That's why I'm happy to say that the production of the first episode of the Quest of Life is still going strong!

Thanks to the holidays I've finally gotten some more important matters out of the way (completed both Fallout and Fallout 2 in record time - for feference, obviously  ::) ), so I can now put all my focus on our game. Despite my lack of any musical skill I've started to compose some tunes for the game, and the plot is also coming along nicely. RcG has also been busy creating some surprisingly good backgrounds.

But the fact is that Quest is still far from completion. I dare say that RcG might have been a tad hasty in announcing the project with so little to show for it, but if we're lucky we might get episode one finished before the end of the year.

One last thing. I know that RcG is gonna give me hell for this, but I hereby promise that we will have a fully playable demo for you all in a few months time, so watch this space!