THIS GAME IS FINISHED, SO YOU ARE IN THE WRONG THREAD! FINISHED GAME THREAD IS HERE (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=35376.0)
In The Vacuum, you play as Leo Wallace, a student at Aberdeen University who is headed back home to Whitefall for summer with his girlfriend, Averie Piper. As a pair of poor, starving college students, they decide to book a cheap room on a cargo ship that has extra room for passengers on this particular trip. It’s a short jaunt - only a day and a half - and it seems as though it should be uneventful. But when a pair of explosions tear through the passenger compartment while the ship is still in the middle of deep space, Leo and Averie must determine exactly what happened, fix the problems, and discover what - or who - caused the explosions in the first place.
Leo must search high and low for information, pay attention to the clues that he finds, and carefully weigh every decision he makes. Based on his actions, his relationships will be altered, justice will be realized (or not), and lives will be saved or lost.
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Now, some of you may recall that I posted a thread about a game called "Escape From Aberdeen Station." After making it about a tenth of the way through that game's development, school started, and I came to two realizations:
1) The game just wasn't shaping up all that well.
2) Heading out to the pub with my friends was a lot more fun than making sprites.
Now that the school year is over and all of my friends have moved back to their respective hometowns for the summer, however, I decided to start that game over again from scratch, and ended up discarding almost everything that I'd made for it, including the storyline. This game is what I've come up with.
The gimmick for this game is that it's not just a simple inventory-based FedEx open-the-locked-door adventure game; it's designed so that the player will (hopefully) actually have to investigate the mystery and choose his actions carefully. Thusly, depending on how hard you look for clues, how much you explore, and what decisions you make, the player's relationships with other characters will change, justice will or will not be served, and the non-playable characters will live or die. (There will be no character death in this game, however. Depending on what the player does, his life might end up sucking considerably more than it does at the game's start, but it won't end.) I haven't actually calculated how many unique endings this game has, but there are at least 10 or 20. EDIT: Make that a grand total of 26!
RELEASE DATE: This time I deliberately waited until the game was almost finished to announce it, to prevent letting people down if I didn't end up finishing it. A side benefit of this is that if you want to play the game, you're not going to have to wait for very long! The Vacuum will be released (edit:) SOON!
Progress Meter:
GRAPHICS - 99.9%
STORY - 100%
SCRIPTING - 99%
TESTING - 95%
OTHER FEATURES:
-Simple, one-click interface
-Several enhanced usability features
-29 playable rooms, with 90 distinct areas crammed into them
-Branching storyline with I don't even know how many distinct endings
This is my first finished game, and I'll be frank - I'm pretty excited about it. I think it will be a good time. Enjoy some screenshots, and ask any questions you like!
(http://i28.tinypic.com/2mfbs.png)
It's a bedroom - IN SPACE!
(http://i31.tinypic.com/ori4x1.png)
You can't have a spaceship without circuit boards!
(http://i32.tinypic.com/pvzww.png)
In the future, VCRs with bunny ears will be left on the floor!
(http://i25.tinypic.com/30wmhzc.png)
Experience a dystopian future where this stupid poker fad still hasn't ended! (NOTE: THERE IS NO POKER IN THIS GAME, I WOULDN'T DO THAT TO YOU)
(http://i26.tinypic.com/1z6tvlf.png)
Horizontal stripes still haven't gone out of style in THE FUTURE!
(http://i30.tinypic.com/2ebb9e0.png)
This is the corner of a cargo bay, I hope you like it
(http://i27.tinypic.com/fyhl5u.png)
You can't have a game set on a spaceship if the player character doesn't put on a space suit at some point
NEW SCREENIES! (7/24)
(http://i33.tinypic.com/2vxiqkg.png)
(http://i33.tinypic.com/2irkwpd.png)
(http://i35.tinypic.com/6ps1ms.png)
Sounds interesting and looks (simple but ) nice.
Good to hear that it's almost finished too, I wanna give it a try.
remember me to much to 6 days a skeptic. I will try id so, is interesting.
Well, having grown up in Aberdeen, I understand why he'd want to leave.... ;)
Quote from: Alarconte on Mon 30/06/2008 03:06:22
remember me to much to 6 days a skeptic.
Heh, my daughter says "remember me" instead of "reminds me" too!
Excellent style - it's very remiscent of 6 Days a Sceptic but so what? The graphics are nice and simple. I often find that these are the most enjoyable games.
MP, this game sounds good. I love your graphics! I'll be looking out for this...
--Snake
Your game looks like fun :)
What is this 6 Days a Skeptic people keep talking about? ;)
This game does look excellent. I'm a fool for simple graphics so to me this looks really neat. :) I also like most sci-fi stuff.
VCRs with bunny heads and Poker? Might as well be mp3 lobsters and Snooker! This will be THE FUTURE? No way, I won't believe that until I have played it. Develop that fast, Makeout Patrol, I think this is going to be quite great!
7 Days a Skeptic certainly is somewhat of an influence, but I'm hoping this game will be sufficiently distinct. I really love simple graphic styles, because they remind me of the first adventure games I ever played (Space Quest III and Quest for Glory - both of which I still really love), but aside from the look of the game, the fact that it takes place on a space ship, and a couple of similarities in the storyline (spacewalk sequence, murders, etc.), I'm hoping that my game will be able to stand out somewhat.
Quote from: SSH on Mon 30/06/2008 11:41:34
Well, having grown up in Aberdeen, I understand why he'd want to leave.... ;)
Hahaha, it turns out that not only is Aberdeen an actual place, it's also already been used as a name for a planet in Firefly (as has the other planet name in this game, "Whitefall"). I like the names, though, so I guess they're staying.
Development update:Development is progressing well, and all of the programming right up to three of the end points is finished, but work on the game will slow down considerably over the next week as I write a 3000 words about whether or not the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms hates democracy. (Summer classes are pretty much the worst.) My August 1 date isn't in any way threatened by this. Also, thanks to AGS forums user "dunnoson," who has volunteered to help with beta testing and proofreading.
Well I do see a bit of 6 Days a Skeptic in this but it reminds me a bit more of Reactor 09 seeing as every decision you make can change the relationship you have with another character. Based on that, will there be possibilities for alternate endings?
Quote from: Makeout Patrol on Mon 30/06/2008 01:04:53
I haven't actually calculated how many unique endings this game has, but there are at least 10 or 20.
Wow that's a lot of possibilities!!
This had better be good, or I foresee review headlines reading "The Vacuum sucks" :P
(sorry, horrible joke, I know)
It does look a bit like 6 Days a Skeptic, but in a good way. It's a very simple, to-the-point style. Thumbs up.
The concept sounds really cool, and had you announced the game early on I would probably have considered it overly ambitions. But I'm thrilled to see how close this is to being finished. Kudos. I look very much forward to see how it plays. Best of luck with the project!
Looks funny...
Quote from: CosmoQueen aka Yoli on Wed 09/07/2008 16:26:32
Wow that's a lot of possibilities!!
Actually, I now have an exact number for you: this game has
26 possible endings. I have to admit that this statistic is a little misleading, as this reflects one binary possibility that comes along at the very end of the game, but even if you discount this possibility there are 13 endings, which I hope will lend the game some sort of replay value.
Quote from: GarageGothic on Wed 09/07/2008 18:14:15
This had better be good, or I foresee review headlines reading "The Vacuum sucks" :P
I think we may have found a tagline
Quote from: Essex on Thu 10/07/2008 18:25:58
Looks funny...
I should actually point out that the original post doesn't really reflect the seriousness/humor ratio of the game; it's a mixture along the lines of Beneath a Steel Sky. It's a mostly serious game, but I've tried to toss some humor into the dialogue and descriptions and such.
Even so, some of the endings are pretty dark. I didn't realize how dark one of them in particular was until I started programming it.
Anyhow, it's time for a
DEVELOPMENT UPDATE!!
My essay was extended, so naturally I have decided to leave it until the last minute again and work on my game. As a result, I now have finished programming ALL of the interactive parts of the game; all that's left is the final two cutscenes, a couple of animations, a couple of other small changes and additions, and the horrific task that is beta testing.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BETA-TEST THIS GAME, PLEASE SAY SO HERE OR PM ME!Development is pretty much wrapping up, and the game should be released in a week or so.
SO HERE OR PM ME!
Just kiddin ;-)
But without joking, I would.
Sent you a PM :)
Less than 24 hours after the last one, there is enough happening that I feel good about posting another DEVELOPMENT UPDATE!
-We now have a grand total of 7 beta testers! Thank you to dunnoson, kaputtnik, DazJ, neon, CosmoQueen aka Yoli, and Jon!
-EXTRA SPECIAL THANKS to kaputtnik, who sent me some music from a game that stalled in development, which just so happens to fit this game perfectly.
-I have ironed the hell out of the first beta and released a second one, which all of the testers should now have. Graphics are now 99% done (all that's left is fixing the colours on a couple of sprites, which were loused up by a bug in Pixen, the worst spriting tool in the world), there are a couple of changes to be made to sound and music, and I still need to script the very last cutscene, but overall this game is inches away from completion.
Thanks again to everyone who's helping out! If anyone else wants to lend a hand in the testing arena, again, post here or PM me and I will send you a copy as soon as I can.
Hey this is looking to shape up pretty sweet. I'd be interested to play it when it's finished.
As a beta-tester for this, I can confirm it REALLY is a great game. I'm sure this'll be an AGS hit.
Hey, thanks for the kind words, DazJ!
So, you'll all recall that I said that this thing would be released no later than August 1. I'm now thinking that this target may have been a tad optimistic. A couple of the beta testers have been wondering when the next beta will be finished, and it will be a little later than expected, too. If you happen to care why (and this is the Internet, so I don't see why you would), it's because I have a ridiculously long list of obligations and responsibilities this summer, and a bunch of them trump working on this game. This is going to get worse over the next week (because I have a big long research paper to write) and then better afterward (because I will be done with my summer classes).
The newest beta includes a number of major changes, and several minor changes that took a ridiculously long time to put together (basically, maps). I'm still in the process of overhauling the last act of the game, which included several bugs and logical impossiblities that were thankfully caught by the beta testers. I still have a day or two's worth of work on that front, but it's the last change I need to make before releasing the newest (and hopefully last) beta. I'm kind of disappointed that this is pushing back the release, but it's better to catch all of these issues before the game gets distributed, right?
In order to try to generate some interest, here is a brief, non-exhaustive list of recent changes:
-There are now 34 distinct endings, or 17 if you don't count the binary possibility at the end.
-The game will include maps of every area, ensuring that they are easy to navigate
-A WHOLE ENTIRE ROOM has been added
-The look of the interface has been changed to give the game a more unified, distinct visual feel
Additionally, I've posted not one, not four, but THREE new screenshots in the OP, so you should probably look at them if you are into that sort of thing.
FURTHERMORE: If you are bilingual, I SURE WOULD LIKE some translators to take a crack at this! German is covered (thanks, neon!) but other languages are WIDE OPEN.
Thanks for your interest, everybody! Assuming that there aren't any more difficult bugs, complicated additions to the game, or additional trips to the hospital, the game will be in your hands in a week or two!
new screens aren't showing up :(
I actually put them in the OP, but I'll put them here, too, I guess:
(http://i33.tinypic.com/2vxiqkg.png)
(http://i33.tinypic.com/2irkwpd.png)
(http://i35.tinypic.com/6ps1ms.png)
hey! where is the game? I can't wait... ;D
Anyway, the game seems fantastic, good work! :)
Actually, unless something horrendous rears its head, I think we're ready for release within a couple of days. The translations will take a bit longer, but I don't see why we can't release the English version first...
EDIT: Nothing horrendous has reared its head but at the last moment I've decided to redo a bunch of the GUIs so all you jerks have to keep waiting, nyah-nyah
Thanks for the informations! :=
Quote from: Makeout Patrol on Tue 05/08/2008 01:18:09
EDIT: Nothing horrendous has reared its head but at the last moment I've decided to redo a bunch of the GUIs so all you jerks have to keep waiting, nyah-nyah
You are so evil ;D
i'm just kidding, btw when the final game will be out? ::)
Rockets are burning, I guess. ;-)
Can't be long.
Looks nice.
I think this will be a good one
Love that simple graphics :)
The main reason for the delay is, that Makeout Patrol is working very hard to make this game as perfect as it can be. But I think he can see the light at the end of the tunnel now.
Well from what I've already seen, it's pretty darn perfect already. So I'm anxious to see what else he's gonna do with it.
I really hate to give so much away here, but I see you folks are really dying of anticipation.
He implemented the real time strategy fight against the loudmouthed space goblins and the fun ride through the halls of the space ship on your space unicycle (with various nice mp3s such as "Born to be wild" and "On the good ship lollipop" playing in random order). These were my suggestions, but in the end I suppose they will be taken out again. Sorry for causing this delay, I just thought those were good ideas. Maybe we'll at least release the unicycle ride as a module.
Getting rid of that unicycle ride was a tough decision, but in the end I think it was the right choice to make - it just didn't suit the "feel" of the game. Maybe I'll implement it in another game in the future.
In other news, this should be done and released within the next three days at the very longest, and perhaps as early as later tonight.
Sorry to disapoint you, but the native inca translation will not be finished in time.
The travel guide who was send out to find the correct word for 'dish washer' is lost in the jungle, so I booked a ticket to bolivia, but I hope to be back in three months. It would be a shame to release the game without that important feature. I'm sure that you guys don't want to have the game without it.
Another little problem is, that DazJ fell through a hole in the engine room while beta testing two weeks ago and until now we were not able to find him. We can hear him yellin', but it's very tricky to get him out. We've thrown a notebook down there, so he can keep on working on Fallen Legend, but the game shouldn't be released with DazJ inside, it would cause too much traffic on the download server.
Quote from: DazJ on Thu 24/07/2008 01:11:25
As a beta-tester for this, I can confirm it REALLY is a great game. I'm sure this'll be an AGS hit.
I hope you won't change your opinion after all this...
Quote from: Makeout Patrol on Tue 12/08/2008 00:59:47
...
In other news, this should be done and released within the next three days at the very longest, and perhaps as early as later tonight.
i'm waiting here :=
and (again) excellent work Mr. Makeout Patrol ;D
Quote from: neon on Tue 12/08/2008 06:23:49Another little problem is, that DazJ fell through a hole in the engine room while beta testing two weeks ago and until now we were not able to find him. We can hear him yellin', but it's very tricky to get him out. We've thrown a notebook down there, so he can keep on working on Fallen Legend, but the game shouldn't be released with DazJ inside, it would cause too much traffic on the download server.
Quote from: DazJ on Thu 24/07/2008 01:11:25
As a beta-tester for this, I can confirm it REALLY is a great game. I'm sure this'll be an AGS hit.
I hope you won't change your opinion after all this...
I'm intrigued and confused at the same time...I don't get what you're saying? lol