Woodlands - Updated (2008-01-23)

[fovmester]

I'm taking a break from Frank the Farmhand. Instead I'm doing a more fable-like game called Woodlands. Here's a short introduction:




In a distant corner of the world, where no man has ever gone, lies an old and great forest. It is a magical place tended to by nirils;.the forest spirits. The nirils are ruled by Nergal, the most beautiful and powerful of the spirits. It is because of Nergal that the woodlands are free of the nasty creatures that roam the rest of the world. It is because of Nergal the creatures of the forest can lead their lives in peace, unknowing and happy. Until now that is.

Because Nergal has suddenly disappeared. And without the blessed powers of the spirit, evil is seeping into the forest. The inhabitants are starting to argue, plot against eachother and steal. And a man has appeared in the woodlands. A short man with nasty creatures in tow. And he is threatening the woodlanders demanding gold and other valuables in return for his protection.

You are Tom, a solitary creature who lives in the outskirts of the forest. When the mysterious man comes to demand payment, Tom refuses and the man responds by burning Tom's house to the ground. Furious, Tom swears to rid the woodlands of the intruder and get his revenge...


Downlad the demo here!! --> http://www.fovmester.se

And here are some screenshots:









Updates:
2008-01-23: Life sign

2007-11-01: Progress report

2007-07-10: Progress report

2007-03-04: New screenshot

2007-02-25: Progress report.

2006-09-20: Progress report and new screenshot.

2006-08-02: Progress report and new screenshot.

2006-06-16: Progress report.

2006-05-23: Progress report and new screenshot.

2006-04-12: Progress report and new screenshot.

2006-03-04: Progress report and new screenshot.

2006-02-12: Progress report.

2005-12-08: New Screenshots and progress report.

2005-09-29: Progress report.

2005-09-06: New character-graphics in a reply

2005-08-18: New screenshot in a reply




Progress:

Story: 99 %

Graphics: 90 %

   1. Backgrounds: 4 left
   2. Cut-scenes: 2 left

Sound and Music: 80 %

Animation: 80 %



More info and status reports can be found on my homepage.

http://www.fovmester.se

[hedgefield]

Wow, that's looking really good! I love those backgrounds, and the characters are great. It's always nice do do something else entirely, and it sounds like fun to me.

[Pod]

Wow. I saw the first image, smiled and though "whoa!". The expression on his face is great. Reminds me a bit of Max from Sam 'n' Max.

By the way, the dancer's legs don't look too atanomically correct :O

[ildu]

I love it. The colours of the bgs just stand out so great. What resolution is this in?

[Ozzie]

Whoa!
I just realized that you're graphical skills are so much better now. It's a huge difference of quality when I compare them with backgrounds of Frank The Farmhand 1 and even 2!
I'm excited about this game, I hope it will grab me more than Frank!

[Mats Berglinn]

Very nice and interesting. I think I'm going to look foward for this one. Keep on going!

[fovmester]

Thank you everyone!! It's so nice to hear there are others that are interested in what I'm doing!

Whoa!
I just realized that you're graphical skills are so much better now. It's a huge difference of quality when I compare them with backgrounds of Frank The Farmhand 1 and even 2!
I'm excited about this game, I hope it will grab me more than Frank!

Thanks very much! I've worked a lot with both the story and the puzzles so I hope it'll pay off.

I love it. The colours of the bgs just stand out so great. What resolution is this in?

It's in 640 x 480 pixels. 32 bit of course. I figured most people have good enough computers nowadays to make the game look as nice as I can make it. Which will hopefully mean lots of details and transparency effects

By the way, the dancer's legs don't look too atanomically correct :O

I agree, but trust me it looks better when in motion.

[What a loser.]

Yeah, your graphic skills have improved, just one thing I'd like to point out is the bright 'solid' colour of the lamps look a bit iffy, you should try and shade the lambs to it suits the whole background.  Other than that little thing,  you're art is fab! 

[fovmester]

I guess I shouldn't get into this kind of discussion here, but I'll do it anyway and hope I get away with it:

I agree that the lamps look sort of out of place. But to shade them? They're supposed to be made of really thin coloured paper that light can shine through, so I'm not sure there would BE any shadows in reality. Does anyone have an idea how to make the lamps fit in more but still look like they shine?

[ildu]

Make 'em lighter in colour and less saturated. Also, you could make them just a tad transparent.

Why must they all be from the same sprite. It would look much better if there was some variation.

[Mats Berglinn]

I wonder, what kind of interface will you be using for this one since there are no visible interface apart from the mouse cursor. It doesn't seem to be the SCUMM Verb Box Interface you used for Frank the Farmhand, so what interface are you going to use?

[Gilbert]

I wonder, what kind of interface will you be using for this one since there are no visible interface apart from the mouse cursor. It doesn't seem to be the SCUMM Verb Box Interface you used for Frank the Farmhand, so what interface are you going to use?

Maybe it's Sierra like right click-change-mode thingy?

[PsychicHeart]

i thought i'd hand this over to my sister:


cutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecute


and, now for what i have to say:
excellent game. looks really good.

[fovmester]

I wonder, what kind of interface will you be using for this one since there are no visible interface apart from the mouse cursor. It doesn't seem to be the SCUMM Verb Box Interface you used for Frank the Farmhand, so what interface are you going to use?

Maybe it's Sierra like right click-change-mode thingy?

Right you are! But I still have the verb displayed next to the cursor. I will have four modes: Look at, Interact, Pick up and Talk to. The verb that is displayed will be different for different kinds of things but these are the default verbs.

Ex. A door which you can open. If you choose the "Use"-cursor and hold the mouse over the door the the cursor text will read "Open door" not "Use door".

Ex2: There's a lollipop in your inventory and you want to eat it. Choose the "Talk to"-cursor and hold the mouse over the lollipop. The cursor text will read "Lick lollipop".

So it's a bit more adaptive than the regular verb box interface. Which will hopefully also make it easier.

i thought i'd hand this over to my sister:


cutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecute cutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecute cutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecute cutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecute cutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecutecute cute


and, now for what i have to say:
excellent game. looks really good.

Thanks a lot!  I'm glad you think the creatures are cute (because I meant them to be). But for all of you who are afraid that this will be a children's-game or something, don't fret because not all creatures in the woodlands will be cute... I say no more (right now).

[ildu]

That sounds like a marvelous interface system.

[fovmester]

That sounds like a marvelous interface system.

Thank you!

[Mats Berglinn]

Well, the interface seem a bit okay for me but what if you want to try different kind of stuff, like trying to open a chest but it doesn't work and you want to push and/or pull it instead? When you got four commands (hand, feet, mouth and eye) the amount of actions are very limited unlike the Verb Boxes Interface were you can use different kinds of actions on things. The more possiblities there are, the more things you can do. I mean it's different giving a goon a ming vase than use it to smash it on his head (Give and Use for the Verb Boxes and either on them on the inventory use command). In other words, I don't personalitly think that the interface system is "marvelous". But it's your game, not mine.

Of course it's better with "lick lollipop" than "talk to lollipop" or "eat sandswich" than "talk to sandwhich".

[ildu]

I, myself, never liked the Lucasarts verbbox. It always felt like it was too specific. And it was eternally irritating when trying everything possible to pass some spot you're stuck at.

[fovmester]

Well, the interface seem a bit okay for me but what if you want to try different kind of stuff, like trying to open a chest but it doesn't work and you want to push and/or pull it instead? When you got four commands (hand, feet, mouth and eye) the amount of actions are very limited unlike the Verb Boxes Interface were you can use different kinds of actions on things. The more possiblities there are, the more things you can do. I mean it's different giving a goon a ming vase than use it to smash it on his head (Give and Use for the Verb Boxes and either on them on the inventory use command). In other words, I don't personalitly think that the interface system is "marvelous". But it's your game, not mine.

Of course it's better with "lick lollipop" than "talk to lollipop" or "eat sandswich" than "talk to sandwhich".

You've got a point there. Hmm. But still I think I'm sticking to this interface for now. I'll think about it, though.

[Erenan]

In my opinion, four interface options are plenty. It's a well tested interface that works just fine.