Get the game free from the AGS game database:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1170
After all this time Downfall is finally getting released!
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Watch the game's trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D0hj9jSW2R8&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fprawkonj.republika.pl%2Fharvest%2Fgames_downfall.html&feature=player_embedded
Download the demo here:
http://www.agsarchives.com/game-files/harvesterindiegames/downfall-demo.zip
The game's website: www.harvesterindiegames.com
Quiet Haven Hotel was supposed to be just a one night shelter for Joe and Lucy Davis. But things soon start to go wrong. Lucy's panic attacks get worse and soon she disappears. And in the morning hotel changes too. Nothing is what it seems anymore. Joe is left alone, trying to understand what is happening, trapped between reality and the nightmare. Then everything changes again and the world turns black and white. Only the colour of blood is still red... And it's all around him.
While the raging storm outside gets worse by the minute, it turns out the hotel isn't completely abandoned. There's a party on the third floor... but the birthday girl surrounded by her silent guests just keeps crying... The doctor in room 202 is hearing voices coming from the walls telling him to perform a certain experiment... And one girl who is asleep in her bedroom is dreaming a strange dream that soon turns into her worst nightmare...
Downfall is a point & click adventure game featuring:
- 70+ hand-drawn locations
- original soundtrack
- hundreds of lines of dialogue
- multiple playable characters
- mature storyline
- multiple endings
PLEASE NOTE: Game contains scenes of violence and gore, sexual content and strong language and it is suitable only for persons of 18 years and over.
Also, this is a commercial game. It wll be sold at a low price on D2D and associated websites. I hope you will try and enjoy it. I need your support now.
The game should officialy launch on Friday of May 15th. Here's the link to the D2D download site:
http://www.direct2drive.com/8021/product/Buy-Downfall-Download
Also, a game's demo is now available on FilePlanet:
http://www.fileplanet.com/200070/200000/fileinfo/Downfall-Demo
It's a different demo to that released few months ago and features a large portion of gameplay.
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The webiste doesn't load.
Could you say something about what kind of puzzles are in the game?
Quote from: Ascovel on Thu 14/05/2009 14:38:59
The webiste doesn't load.
Must be something with your connection... I can load the website.
Quote
Could you say something about what kind of puzzles are in the game?
Yeah, the demo doesn't show much in relation to puzzle-solving.
I was waiting for this! :D
The new demo will be up for download on the D2D website (bottom link)tommorow, when the game is on sale. It features some puzzle this time around. Last time I went for the Hideo Kojima aproach:)
The website loads fine for me.
Spread the news guys:)
This looks so awesome. I love the artwork for this. ;D
Can't wait for tomorrow, so I can buy it. :D
Arghh its the 15th here in Australia, I WANT IT NOW.. lol
Bought it, and downloading it now. Will post more after I have the chance to play it a bit. ;D
One question though. Why do I have to pay $1.49 tax for a download? ??? If it was hard copy (an actual cd), then fair enough, but why a download? :-\
So Downfall just went on sale. I'm sorry about the tax- I had no idea about it but this must be the way D2D works. I've never sold a game before:) This is all new to me...
I hope you'll enjoy the game. In my personal experience, when I play games made with AGS I often find myself trying to get into it's maker's head and figure out how they used the editor to put their story together. I'm sure most of us on this forum subconciously- or not- do that. That's why I'm hoping to get some interesting feedback from you guys.
Oh, and new demo can be downloaded here:
http://www.fileplanet.com/200070/200000/fileinfo/Downfall-Demo
NO WAY!
Christ, I've been looking forward for this forever, man!
I'll download it and get back to you Monday!
Congrats on finishing the game! I've been looking forward to Downfall since it was announced - the unique art style really appeals to me. But is there any chance you could upload the demo somewhere that doesn't require an account?
Quote from: GarageGothic on Sat 16/05/2009 13:21:56
But is there any chance you could upload the demo somewhere that doesn't require an account?
Yeah, Fileplanet sucks, can't understand why anyone would use it. But here (http://www.bugmenot.com/view/fileplanet.com) is a useful site to avoid making an account..
Thanks Mr. Matti, now I just have to wait 10 minutes for the download to start ::)
First Impressions :)
First of all, congrats on finishing the game. :D
Haven't played much yet, but I'm very impressed.
The story intrigues me, and it is well written.
I love the way she talks - reminds me of Dru from Buffy. :D
Backgrounds are beautiful - I love the art style you used.
Dining room is... unusual, hehe.
Impressive sound effects - footsteps, rain, clock etc.
The music is very haunting at times.
I'm a bit puzzled by
Spoiler
In the first post, you call her Lucy, but in the game she is called Ivy. Not sure if that's a mistake, or it will be explained later in the game. :-\
So far, it's a beautiful game. But (and I'm sorry about this) there seems to be a bug. :'(
I'm sending you PM about it.
EDIT: PM sent. :)
Played the demo and decided this game is well worth 10 bucks.
Oh my God... I hope this bug isn't too serious... Anyway, thanks for such a positive comments so far. I am so excited about this release!
The name confusion in the start will probably make some more sense later on in the game. I would upload the demo somewhere else, but the portal insisted it's on their website and I don't know where else I could do that- it's on megaupload as well, but I'm worried that if too many people download it at the same time it will clog up and die. Also they only store files for a limited period of time.
All I can say is that Downfall is one of those games that get better the further you are in the game. I have learnt a lot about using AGS and animation, and that's why the best scenes feature a bit later on.
Finished it, with a few peeks at the walkthrough.
I... I have mixed feelings about this, but in the end the experience, the visual feeling and the plot are way worth the time.
So let me shake your hand Grim (& brother) on a job well done!
Nice Porcupine Tree reference with the blender :)
I tried the game and it seems promising. However, I think the demo broke somewhere along the way:
Spoiler
When I fled the killer and entered the locker I stood in there for a while just waiting for something to happen. When I left I was sent underground walking around between 'Joe' and two corpses laying in their coffins. I then got two options but nothing happened when I clicked them.
I talked to GarageGothich who also tried the demo and he was sent to a completley different room upon entering the locker.
Yeah... There are few bugs in the game. This one's quite funny actually- you were so not meant to see that! lol
Looks promising, could you not host it somewhere else though file planet is a nightmare
The game just crashed due to a scripting error apparently as I tried to go to the waxworks
I bought the game, so far it's scaring the pants off of me. Lots of fun. However, I have an issue. Once in a while the inventory GUI will not let me select items. Is there a quick fix for this? Am I just doing something stupid?
EDIT: Sorry, sorry. I did the RIGHT thing and read the manual. Fixed it by clicking the right arrow in the inv.
In general this game is great, but I think it would have been a lot better if there was more beta testing for bugs. It's riddled with them and for a commercial game it should have been tested a lot more.
I am considering to purchasing this game, though the posts about BUGS are putting me in doubt.
Are the bugs only in the demo, or also in the commercial game? And if so, will you fix this any time soon? and re-release a version without bugs available to previous buyers?
Quote from: Minimi on Mon 18/05/2009 05:30:30
I am considering to purchasing this game, though the posts about BUGS are putting me in doubt.
Are the bugs only in the demo, or also in the commercial game? And if so, will you fix this any time soon? and re-release a version without bugs available to previous buyers?
Well, I've bought it and played through it. Bugs weren't a problem for me.
Here's my 2 cents on the game.
For me, personally, it was a bit much. It was clever, original, and interesting, but damn, just a bit too much. I don't mind gore and such but there were parts of this that made me frown.
Spoiler
The head in the blender, the cat, and Sophie, to name a few
It's hard to give a clear-cut opinion on the game when I've got such mixed feelings. From a point of view of a game, it's fantastic. The graphics are VERY well done, the sounds and music perfect, and the story and gameplay were great as well. But what the game actually entailed was just too much for me personally. I suppose all I mean to say is that if you're going to buy the game, make sure you'll be ready for how dark it is, I don't think the demo was clear enough on just how gruesome it would get.
Quote from: Domithan on Mon 18/05/2009 07:14:37
Quote from: Minimi on Mon 18/05/2009 05:30:30
I am considering to purchasing this game, though the posts about BUGS are putting me in doubt.
Are the bugs only in the demo, or also in the commercial game? And if so, will you fix this any time soon? and re-release a version without bugs available to previous buyers?
Well, I've bought it and played through it. Bugs weren't a problem for me.
Here's my 2 cents on the game.
For me, personally, it was a bit much. It was clever, original, and interesting, but damn, just a bit too much. I don't mind gore and such but there were parts of this that made me frown.
Spoiler
The head in the blender, the cat, and Sophie, to name a few
It's hard to give a clear-cut opinion on the game when I've got such mixed feelings. From a point of view of a game, it's fantastic. The graphics are VERY well done, the sounds and music perfect, and the story and gameplay were great as well. But what the game actually entailed was just too much for me personally. I suppose all I mean to say is that if you're going to buy the game, make sure you'll be ready for how dark it is, I don't think the demo was clear enough on just how gruesome it would get.
There were warnings on how gruesome the game was, you should have watched the trailer. That said it all.
Quote
There were warnings on how gruesome the game was, you should have watched the trailer. That said it all.
I didn't watch the trailer. Fair enough. Didn't know there was one, actually, but this is still my fault. In any case I'm just sharing my opinion.
Edit: Wow *smacks head* right on the first page...wonder how I missed it really >.>
Edit #2: Ya know, after thinking it over, I've actually grown more fond of the game. The story especially was incredible. I guess some of the parts
Spoiler
Sophie, even though I felt terrible for the child one in the game
weren't even that gore-y. The
Spoiler
head in the blender
was really all I've got to show for my previous "too much" statements. All in all I'm glad I bought it :P
It was my intention from the start to make a scary disturbing game. I love Monkey Island and such, but I felt that was never going to be right choice for me to make a comedy, even though I'd thrown in an occasional joke or two to release the tension. Stephen King's advice for wannabe writers is to write about things they know. Only then they can make the story believable for the audience. I'm not saying that I've cut people with chainsaws and spoke with the undead, but for years I worked in a mental health institution for elderly. There, I have witnessed the true meaning of madness. And after the sun went down it was one damn frightening place. It was notoriously haunted. Big parts of Downfall were made on the laptop during long nightshifts, when the patients were asleep and I had some spare time.
Also, as some of you have probably found out already, there are alternative solutions to some puzzles in the game. There are times when you can totally avoid bloodshed. You mentioned little Sophie- she's just a memory anyway. And she doesn't have to die in pain....
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Mon 18/05/2009 19:30:45
Also, as some of you have probably found out already, there are alternative solutions to some puzzles in the game. There are times when you can totally avoid bloodshed. You mentioned little Sophie- she's just a memory anyway. And she doesn't have to die in pain....
I'm giving it my second run right now. I'll be a total bastard this time to see what happens, I was a nice guy the first time around
Spoiler
I waited, turned down the receptionist, and turned myself in the first time. I also noticed when I used the blue chemical he said that he thought he had used the 'wrong' one. So I'll do red this time. I hope that's what you meant.
Just played the demo. Looks kinda nice, although the area where you can move is usually somewhat vague.
Anyway, when I tryed to move with the keyboard, I went from the area where that house with the locker is to the area on the left, I was pressing arrow on the keyboard and before I knew it, I just saw 6-7 lines of text just fastfoward and I couldn't stop in time and read them...kinda annoying.
I liked the atmosphere, although I had to fight the urge to pull levers and stuff since the character had more sense than me and didn't want to do something that wasn't normal or logical. ;D
And yeah that part in the trailer with the fat woman being chainsawed - props on going so gore. 8)
So far, it's an excellent game, with some truly terryfying moments. It's so atmospheric. ;D
I've not finished it yet, but just wanted to make a few comments. The game seems to crash randomingly, when you do something 'unexpected' - for example the first scene with Agnes and Vilde - but it's usually fine when you restore your game.
But I found another serious crash, that no amount of restoring will help.
Spoiler
Mr Harris died in gas explosion on the 3rd floor. Joe has to go for another lie down, then he returns to 3rd floor. If he goes left into the birthday room, he immediatly walks over to Crying Sophie, then the game crashes. :(
Apparantly its a scripting error in Room 23 script (line 48) ???
EDITWow! Finished the game, and... just wow! Congrats on making such an amazing game. Choices at the end are very shocking! I really enjoyed it. Song at the end is very beautiful, you have a wonderful voice. ;D
Now I have to play through again, and make different choices. :D
Had to comment on this:
Last night I had a nightmare that:
Spoiler
I was In the cellar and surrounded by the mysterious, very human-like, covered figures under the sheets. Believe it or not, this was what scared me most out of the entire game. My mind kept making up faces for each of them. For some reason, not knowing for sure what was under the sheets made me LITERALLY panic while played the game, and again in my nightmare.
Kudos for being able to give me a nightmare, they don't stop by very often.
Oh wow, I've been waiting for this forever. I'm buying it the moment I get home, bugs or no bugs. Though - if you fix the bugs, will early customers get a free bug-free version/patch? :)
Okay, I will make one more version of the game soon, with few bonus features . Everyone who bought Downfall and would like to receive bug-free version will be sent one ( on request). I'll let you know when it's ready. And of course I apologize for all the bugs once again ( avoiding them is kinda like another puzzle in the game:)
I feel so proud- I gave somebody a nightmare! How great is that?:)
Thanks again for all the feedback! I feel all these years spent making Downfall were not wasted:)
Could you please provide another demo link? When I download the folder from the FilePlanet, the downloader is unable to rename it to the proper format, and the game doesn't launch.
I'm uploading the demo on mediafire.com, so, if the author don't mind, I'll put a link in this post when it's finished.
I do this not only cause of the game but beacuse I hate fileplanet and all the problems it gives when I try to download something. Fight the power! 8)
EDIT: Here you go everybody: Downfall demo http://www.mediafire.com/?vzmtmzh55eh (http://www.mediafire.com/?vzmtmzh55eh)
@Grim Reaper: Just pm me if you want me to delete this for some reason.
I don't mind at all:) I think that's great that you made it easier for everyone! Thanks, man!
Thanks anian!!! The other link was really annoying.
Congrats Grim, I'm downloading right now.
After playing the demo, I am considering buying the game. Nice job Grim ;D!
I only have one question... What were you on when you designed it :D?!
Played the demo thanks to anian. Intriguing, but I think it would hook more people up if it was longer, or at least had some sort of revelation at the end. Overall, the atmosphere and visuals remind me a lot of the Darkseed series (which I like quite a bit).
I've just had a very interesting experience- my friend came over and played Downfall all through to the end with me sitting next to him. That of course took several hours during which he kept asking me not to help him with the puzzles, and at times of course I couldn't resist. The reason I'm telling you this, is because for me, as a developer ( I suppose I can call myself that now) it was a fantastic experience to watch someone who's never really played classic adventure games, like most of us here did, get into grips not only with a new genre but also fully understand what I was trying to achieve... He laughed at times ( the sound of bell in reception seemed like a funniest thing in the world to him and he couldn't resist to use it every time he passed that screen), but he also continuously thought about what he's supposed to do next.
You make a game, and things that seem obvious to you might not be so clear for the players if you didn't include enough hints in the dialogues or items description. And funnily enough the puzzles I thought people would struggle with, turned out to be the easiest for him, while he got stuck on the basic puzzles a bit....
I think it's his positive reaction and immersion in the game that was priceless. Maybe it's 'cos he's a friend? Or maybe the game's not so bad, if he sat there for hours enjoying it and then requested a Downfall poster for his wall?... That, ot the other, he made it easier for me to imagine what it's like to play Downfall, seeing it for the first time in your life. You kinda lose that sort of perspective after you've spent months and months working on the game and you know every little thing about it.
Then, about half-way through the game, I realized how very personal it is. It's a metaphore to my life and my relationship, and all the things that happened to me in those 5 last years. They're of course camouflaged under this gory nightmarish surface of storyline and graphics, but can be perceived as something completely different if you forget for a while about the whole horror background...
At least to me, it's a not a game about cutting people with chainsaws, but about anorexia, break-ups, temptation and trying to help someone but causing more damage instead.
Interesting, glad you got some good feedback man. How come you didn't use voice acting? I think that would have added massively to the whole feel of the game.
i am going to buy this, but before i buy, may i ask how long it roughly lasts and can you die in the game like old adventure games where it seems really random, and does the game have multiples paths or a linear structure but with multiple endings
sorry for the questions am buying this anyway, just wanted to know
Quote from: AbetheCop on Fri 22/05/2009 23:54:01
i am going to buy this, but before i buy, may i ask how long it roughly lasts and can you die in the game like old adventure games where it seems really random, and does the game have multiples paths or a linear structure but with multiple endings
It takes me 3-4 hours to finish the game myself, and that's skipping most dialogues and not examining anything, just following the quickest path to the end of the game. Yes, you can die in the game, but there is a limited number of times you can go back to the last checkpoint when it happens. There is one place in the game where you die forever, though...
The multiple paths... I would say so. Yes. Play it yourself and you'll know what I mean- it's not that obvious, but sometimes actions you've taken early in the game can affect what happens in the finale.
I'm planning to buy this as soon as I have time to play it, hopefully some of the reported bugs will also be fixed by then. I played the demo (and loved it!) and was wondering if there's any way to turn off the Save/Load/Quit icons as I think their constant presence detracts from the beautiful artwork?
I am going to fix those bugs very soon, but I've been so swamped with work I can hardly find time to do anything... Also a professor of English literature is correcting the script for me as we speak, so there will be no more typos in the version 1.3. I promise to send free updated version to everyone who had bought version 1.2, so you won't miss out on anything.
On the sales front things aren't looking too well. Not tragic either, but still not a lot of people heard about Downfall....I need to get more media attention somehow.
I just finished playing the game over the last 2-3 days and overall I really enjoyed it.
Things I liked in order of enjoyment:
-The humor. The writing was seriously funny in a way that not many good adventure games are these days. The main characters witty remarks were great and the post-plot twist 2nd half was really funny. As much as I enjoy the horror aspect, I think I'd be even happier playing a sequel that was a lighter comedy with this quality of humor writing. Some of the stuff was seriously old school Lucasarts worthy funny lines.
-The art design. Wonderful. Really enjoyed all the varied styles for setpieces. The backgrounds were fantastic and the character art was good. Animation could've been a little better, but was ok enough. I felt the game was a bit 'too' grotesque though, even as a horror fan. But that's just my personal taste.
-Item puzzles. Generally good and I'm always a fan of games with lots of items and places to use them. I did get stuck a few times and had to resort to the walkthrough, but the game still took me a good 5+ hours. In terms of difficulty I'd say for me this was a little harder than your average adventure game but not extremely hard.
-Music: Was fairly nice.
-Flashbacks/dream sequences: Thought they worked well and would've liked even more of them.
Things I didn't enjoy as much:
-As I said before I thought the gore was a little too extreme and grotesque.
-This is a personal thing, but honestly multiple paths that affect the finale really turn me off. I don't have a ton of time in my life and I'd rather play two games and enjoy two stories than replay one game twice. So I really prefer to get all the tale in one playthrough and it does leave this lingering feeling of incompleteness having finished it because I wonder what happens if you make other choices and yet I really don't have the time to replay the game even from a midway save where the choices are.
-Bugs: Only ran into a few. Most annoying was not being able to select any of the items in the item bar. I got one crash to the desktop, and the area of selection on an item was sometimes a little iffy.
Overall though I felt it was very much worth $10 and a nice adventure game I'm glad I played. Like I said, the writing was great and I thought the 2nd half was hilarious and very much improved the game until the humor kind of dropped away at the last 20%. The story was a little confusing in the end and I'm not 100% sure what everything meant, but I get the general gist and enjoyed it and will recommend it to others.
Hope you get some solid sales with this!
Thank you for your interesting feedback!
A bit of humour in the horror story is essential!:)
You mentioned 3 different endings have put you off- if you were so curious to see them all you should've saved your game when they were presented to you:) That way you could see them all. Well, not really. There's actually 5 different endings and 2 different epilogues, but you would've seen 3 at least.
By the way, which one did you choose?:)
Yeah, I actually did that. ;) So I saw 3. What put me off a little were the ones beyond those three affected by earlier choices that I wouldn't get to see.
I chose the red color, no to temptation, didn't confront the doctor (not sure if that mattered) after talking to the receptionist, and choose arms up. Then I tried the other two endings. I liked that the facegun ending gave more dialogue and information to understanding the plot.
I was wondering if anyone noticed hidden references to some other horror games in Downfall?... Doesn't Black Widow Film Studio ring any bells? The guard house, and how you enter it? The locker? The Waxworks? They all come from quite old games that many of the younger players might have never played... But I'm sure someone did. They used to be the favourite games of my childhood, and they scared the hell out of me....
One reference was purely accidental, though. Hotel in the game is called Quiet Haven. Someone pointed out on a forum somewhere that there is a hotel in Silent Hill called Silent Heaven. I instantly remembered then, but I never meant it to be that sort of wordplay...:)
All I noticed was the Porcupine Tree sample reference, which leads me to think are you allowed to use that sample. When you turn on the blender, if I am correct thats taken from a song called Open Car.
Shush, Xenogia:) It's just a few seconds sample, and it's been altered a bit. I'm surprised people listen to PT in Australia. Damn good band though.
I knew the game was cool, but for a reason it didn't felt (back then) so good to buy. Seeing the teaser however, I saw parts of the game, I wasn't aware they existed. I'm planning to buy this the next days for it looks really good man.
Just thought of sharing my thoughts.
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Sun 24/05/2009 04:28:03
I was wondering if anyone noticed hidden references to some other horror games in Downfall?... Doesn't Black Widow Film Studio ring any bells? The guard house, and how you enter it? The locker? The Waxworks? They all come from quite old games that many of the younger players might have never played... But I'm sure someone did. They used to be the favourite games of my childhood, and they scared the hell out of me....
Hah, I did think of Horrorsoft's Waxworks when I played the game but I always do when I hear the word. I didn't realise it was a reference. Waxworks and Elvira 1 are among my favourite horror games.
I think I'll get the game when the next update is out!
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Sun 24/05/2009 05:08:19
Shush, Xenogia:) It's just a few seconds sample, and it's been altered a bit. I'm surprised people listen to PT in Australia. Damn good band though.
I've seen em live and have all their albums.. lmao.. including the 5.1 albums :P.. anyway a bit off topic
Just bought Downfall to play on a camping trip.
I'll give feedback in a few days or so ;D
I am really looking forward to play this.
From playing the demo, it's definitely worth my £6.95 ;D
I want to buy it but I can't justify paying for it when it doesn't have voice acting. I'll probably buy it when 1.3 comes out though.
Quote from: J. Man on Mon 25/05/2009 19:29:21
I want to buy it but I can't justify paying for it when it doesn't have voice acting. I'll probably buy it when 1.3 comes out though.
The question is... at $11.49, can you justify
NOT buying it? ;D
Any of you know what could be causing the inventory bar problem? I'm working on the update and I'd really like to fix that for version 1.3. Clicking on the arrow makes inv items interactive again... But after loading the saved game the inv bar is unresponsive. Any ideas?
Not sure would have to look atthe code really?
Just to say; I found out that in the doctor's room, when you hover the cursor around the books, the Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy stands out as "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galax
It stops like that without the speech marks closed.
I know that it's not a biggy.
I'll continue to add details of bugs etc... if I encounter them.
Just to say, this game is absolutely awesome ;D
I love the atmospere. I do not want to play this at night... very scary.
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 26/05/2009 12:39:52
Any of you know what could be causing the inventory bar problem? I'm working on the update and I'd really like to fix that for version 1.3. Clicking on the arrow makes inv items interactive again... But after loading the saved game the inv bar is unresponsive. Any ideas?
Not really, but it should be an easy problem to solve once one can see the script beneat it.
I found this bug quite annoying while playing the game, so I'm glad if I can help: PM if you're interested!
Quote from: bicilotti on Tue 26/05/2009 18:49:08
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 26/05/2009 12:39:52
Any of you know what could be causing the inventory bar problem? I'm working on the update and I'd really like to fix that for version 1.3. Clicking on the arrow makes inv items interactive again... But after loading the saved game the inv bar is unresponsive. Any ideas?
Not really, but it should be an easy problem to solve once one can see the script beneat it.
I found this bug quite annoying while playing the game, so I'm glad if I can help.
I exported GUI, it's only 22 kb. Download it here and see if you can find what's causing this( I hope this is where the problem is hiding). Thanks!
http://www.sendspace.com/file/j80dsf
I have to say, congratulations on making this game.
It seems like you have had a pretty tough time, judging from the morals of the game...
I loved it a lot. For me, it was very provocative.
For those who are considering of buying Downfall, please do not let the reports of bugs put you off.
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Wed 27/05/2009 11:08:24
Quote from: bicilotti on Tue 26/05/2009 18:49:08
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 26/05/2009 12:39:52
Any of you know what could be causing the inventory bar problem? I'm working on the update and I'd really like to fix that for version 1.3. Clicking on the arrow makes inv items interactive again... But after loading the saved game the inv bar is unresponsive. Any ideas?
Not really, but it should be an easy problem to solve once one can see the script beneat it.
I found this bug quite annoying while playing the game, so I'm glad if I can help.
I exported GUI, it's only 22 kb. Download it here and see if you can find what's causing this( I hope this is where the problem is hiding). Thanks!
http://www.sendspace.com/file/j80dsf
Sorry, with the bare GUIs I wasn't even able to reproduce it.
1 GB memory?? So it won't play on my computer with 256 MB of RAM? (I have a 256 MB graphics card as well)
Quote from: chaosgodkarl on Sat 30/05/2009 05:33:57
1 GB memory?? So it won't play on my computer with 256 MB of RAM? (I have a 256 MB graphics card as well)
It most likely will work on your pc. Just some animations might be a bit slower- at times there are full screen animated sprites, as every cutscene is done in the in-game engine.
Right. The new version of Downfall is finished. Bugs eliminated (at least most of them), fonts changed and typos corrected. It's not up on D2D yet but I've uploaded it already to their server (they haven't updated it yet because I think they don't work over the weekend). If you see it says Downfall ver.1.4 on the bottom of D2D page it means it's done already.
All those who have bought Downfall already and would like to receive free version 1.4 please PM me.
Also I'd like to thank Randy Sluganski from JustAdventure+ for correcting the text.
I believe Remy could just as well announce it himself, but... for anybody interested in the game (I know I am!), we just published an interview about Downfall with Mr. Michalski over at our blog (http://www.slowdown.vg/2009/06/06/downfall-interview-with-remigiusz-michalski/).
He was so kind as to allow us to put up some exclusive pieces of artwork from the game's development, as well, so there's plenty of those available with the interview as well. It's definitely interesting to see how, in this case, a piece of concept art eventually becomes a full-fledged in-game background.
*Edit: Changed link - thanks for spotting that auriond! Really sorry about that.
The link is off by one day - the direct link to the interview is http://www.slowdown.vg/2009/06/06/downfall-interview-with-remigiusz-michalski/ :)
Very interesting, reading now.
An absolutely brilliant read!
Downfall is a unique, one of a kind game. I am looking forward to your next game ;D
Thanks guys!
One quick question though- should Downfall appear at the Games Main Page and if so, how do you post it there? I'm not sure if commercial games apply...
Only played the beginning of the complete game but so far:
Great game, really nice art work and it does have a great atmosphere!
I think Downfall should appear at the Games Main Page because I've been looking there already for the demo...
You can place your game there the way Kinanev's Cosmos Quest III: The Mines of Isagor (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1149) has been placed there.
I hope this does not sound like I'm beating Downfall to death (spamming the AGS forums in the process), but we finally got our review of the game published as well. It's available here (http://www.slowdown.vg/2009/06/10/downfall-review/).
Since this is a relatively new venture for us I'd be especially interested in hearing how players who already played and/or finished the game feel about our treatment of the game overall. :)
Grim,
I've got 2 questions:
1.:
While playing, is it possible to let the save/load/quit menu disappear and appear when I want so?
2.:
The tool tip for hotspots (like doors or whatever) at the most right part of the screen will only be partially readable, most of the tool tip's content continues "besides the screen".
So while looking at the hotspot "Room nr. X", only "Roo" will be readable.
It seems that the tooltip is aligned from left to right, which is normally, but at the right part of the screen it might be aligned from right to left in order to show the whole tool tip content.
Or is this solvable by changing a setting in the setup?
I now use 640x480 full screen, no graphics filter, 85 Hz display checked and smooth scaled sprites checked.
Thanx allready.
Grim,
InventoryBarBug still exists?:
When loading a saved game in v1.4, it happened that the inventory items where inactive.
After quiting the game and restarting it plus reloading the same saved game the problem was there again
So far I know, the only way to get those items selectable was by clicking on the arrow to the left or the right in the inventory bar, then the items became selective/active again.
The saved game location was in the 1st floor corridor.
This problem happened only once until now...
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second thing is the response you get after combining an inventory item on a hotspot:
For example: when I use my room 101 key on the kitchen door of the dining room, the response is:
"I can't use the room 101 key with the"
The second time I do that, the response is:
"I can't use the room 101 key with the kitchen door"
Then, after taking a few steps in the same room, and then select the key and use it again at the same door,
the response is again "I can't use the room 101 key with the".
But after using the key again (without doing something else) at the door the response is
"I can't use the room 101 key with the kitchen door".
This error occurs on almost any hotspot combined with an inventory item.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
typo's found (I think):
Spoiler
When getting the key from Doctor Z, he says: "take this is the key to the cellar"
Should that be something like: "take this, it's the key to the cellar"
Spoiler
When in the room "where she died", rightclicking on the diary says "this dairy belonged to Sophie".
After that you can start reading it. Halfway it says "dear dairy, I cut my wrists today".
Both times it should be diary in stead of dairy...
Spoiler
Looking at the dead Sophia sitting on the toilet gives as response:
"The pills she'd taken probably coused some painful daorhea"
that should be:
"The pills she'd taken probably coused some painful diarrhea" [American writing style]
or
"The pills she'd taken probably coused some painful diarrhoea" [British/Europe writing style]
Spoiler
when using something like for example the saw on the still living Sophie in de room where she died the response is a bit off: "can't use the saw with the sophie"
better should be something like: "can't use the saw on sophie"
Spoiler
In the room where she was rejected:
There is a dish and a jug on the table. When lifting the dish there's a head on the plate.
But the dish has been placed over the jug and for now I don't know if I need that jug later in the game.
Also, that's a mistake of labeling a hotspot I guess, when the dish is placed over the jug the dish is called human head in stead of dish...
Spoiler
After being buried above the two dead persons, I'm with Agnes in a room.
When clicking on the window
, seems to be a scripting error:
Crash info:
An error has occurred. please contact the game author for support, as this
is likely to be a scripting error and not a bug in AGS.
(ACI version 2.72.920)
in Global script (line 554)
Error: FollowCharacterEx: you cannot tell the player character to follow a character in another room
[OK]
Wow, ArjOn.... I don't know what to say to you. Maybe I'll answer your 2 questions first.
Quote from: [ Arj0n ] on Thu 11/06/2009 13:07:35
1.:
While playing, is it possible to let the save/load/quit menu disappear and appear when I want so?
2.:
The tool tip for hotspots (like doors or whatever) at the most right part of the screen will only be partially readable, most of the tool tip's content continues "besides the screen".
So while looking at the hotspot "Room nr. X", only "Roo" will be readable.
It seems that the tooltip is aligned from left to right, which is normally, but at the right part of the screen it might be aligned from right to left in order to show the whole tool tip content.
Or is this solvable by changing a setting in the setup?
I now use 640x480 full screen, no graphics filter, 85 Hz display checked and smooth scaled sprites checked.
1.
No.2.
No. I don't know why it bothers you so much, though, as there is only very few of these in the game and they don't do anything. I admit I should've solved that. I just didn't know how. As to other things you mention- thanks for finding them typos for me:) Even after the text correction some have still slipped through the net... There's just so much bleedin' text in this game!!! lol I promise to pay more attention to this problem in the future.
Yes, the Inventory Bug is still there. It's not much of a problem though. I hope.... Still, all it takes is to click on that arrow:)
That last bug you mention is most serious... I can't quite get why it happens. I tested and tested and tested and it didn't come up for me, but I had one more report of game crashing in Agnes' room. Apologize for that.
Overall, I hope that you also menaged to enjoy Downfall a tiny little bit and didn't get too frustrated with bugs? I'm not great with scripting, I must admit. But while technically Downfall is far from perfect, I hope you will appreciate it as a bigger picture and maybe you'd like to be a beta-tester for my next project? You seem to have a sharp eye for details, ArjOn.
Just to let you know: We made a review for the game, one week ago.
http://www.adventure-treff.de/artikel/tests.php?id=190
It's german, but maybe you might use an online translator.
70 % seems to be not very much, but don't forget, that it has to be compared with current full price games, so it isn't that bad.
Quote from: neon on Sun 14/06/2009 15:10:42
Just to let you know: We made a review for the game, one week ago.
http://www.adventure-treff.de/artikel/tests.php?id=190
It's german, but maybe you might use an online translator.
70 % seems to be not very much, but don't forget, that it has to be compared with current full price games, so it isn't that bad.
Thanks! I've seen it already, though. I think 70% is very good. I understand the bugs were your main concern, but version 1.4 has the worst ones fixed.
Is there a free download link, like a patch, that we can offer to our readers?
Grim,
About the tool tip 'problem': it's not that it really bothers me, but I've seen games who solved that tool tip outlining from right to left if I remember it properly...
I'm also used to report bugs/crashed and typo's. But the game value won't decrease by typo's.
And bugs and crashes can always happen, the can even slip through the testing process sometimes, somehow...
Overall, I DID menage to enjoy Downfall, and not a tiny little bit but BIG TIME.
And no, I didn't get too frustrated with the bugs...
Although the crash made me quit playing downfall for this day. But sure I will pick it up tomorrow.
You said that technically Downfall is far from perfect. Well it could have been worse, really.
I do appreciate it as a bigger picture, let's face it in short:
- your art work is truly amazing! It must have cost a great deal of time to create it. Love it!
- also boring the use of rain (plugin I think?) is awesome
- the soundfx and music are pretty perfect combined with the art. the thunder with lightning plus soundfx is truly awesome
- the puzzles (and clues) are logical enough to solve without a walkthrough
- the conversations are not boring or useless or whatever, in short: the story is well done!
Once again, the mentioned bugs or mistakes like the inventory or the cut off tool tips didn't hold me back playing Downfall. I just wanted to know you about these things for maybe a last final fix update... (yes, I'm a typical beta tester).
And yes, I definitely like to be a beta-tester for your next project. If you promise to keep using this artwork ;)
So Downfall is still a GREAT game, you only might have release a final patched version to fix those last technical issues if possible. That might even lift up the sale of this great game...
And I said it before: Why don't you place the demo in the AGS database?
Last thing to say: I still highly recommend everyone to buy Downfall, it's definitely worth the money
Quote from: neon on Sun 14/06/2009 15:36:22
Is there a free download link, like a patch, that we can offer to our readers?
Well, you can't really patch AGS made games. Also the save games are not compatible between different versions. That's why I didn't want to make more versions than necessary.
Version 1.4 has been on sale on D2D website for a while now, but those who bought Downfall before it was released can email me and get a free update. (mremigiu@aol.com).
Thanks for the info!
Quote from: [ Arj0n ] on Tue 09/06/2009 17:16:11
Only played the beginning of the complete game but so far:
Great game, really nice art work and it does have a great atmosphere!
I think Downfall should appear at the Games Main Page because I've been looking there already for the demo...
You can place your game there the way Kinanev's Cosmos Quest III: The Mines of Isagor (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1149) has been placed there.
I placed the demo in the Games section at this address (just in case anyone's still loooking for it:)):
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1170
Hope it won't get removed ;}
finally got this enjoying it so far, but i have a question, i am hard of hearing, is sound a major issue to this game, as i remember playing certain games like Clocktower where music would play tp announce danger of Scissorman, or will it only ruin the fact that i can't hear the music very well
Quote from: AbetheCop on Sat 20/06/2009 01:50:29
finally got this enjoying it so far, but i have a question, i am hard of hearing, is sound a major issue to this game, as i remember playing certain games like Clocktower where music would play tp announce danger of Scissorman, or will it only ruin the fact that i can't hear the music very well
The music and sound in Downfall do not really affect the gameplay- there's no sound-based puzzles or such. There's quite a lot of text, all of which without voiceovers. You should be okay.
just finished this game, absoulutly amazing, i loved every bit of it, a few questions, when in the grave if i decided to shoot would it affect the rest of the game, and are the three ending different or all pretty much end the same
If you click on the "Buy Now" Button on http://www.harvesterindiegames.com/ there will be an error message: "The current product you are looking for is currently not available. ".
Quote from: AbetheCop on Sun 21/06/2009 20:53:38
just finished this game, absoulutly amazing, i loved every bit of it, a few questions, when in the grave if i decided to shoot would it affect the rest of the game, and are the three ending different or all pretty much end the same
Can't tell too much... But it does change quite a bit. Agnes will get shot...and die.
Quote from: S-Made on Mon 22/06/2009 10:51:55
If you click on the "Buy Now" Button on http://www.harvesterindiegames.com/ there will be an error message: "The current product you are looking for is currently not available. ".
I'm working on it. The link is probably broken... but if you go to Indie Games section on D2D website it's there available for purchase.
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Mon 22/06/2009 16:11:11
I'm working on it. The link is probably broken... but if you go to Indie Games section on D2D website it's there available for purchase.
Yeah, i did notice that. Furthermore you can find your game using the site's search engine. Just wanted to let you know that there is a problem with your link.
Congrats for finishing! 8)
I bought the game and I'm downloading it now. Then I'll wait untill it is dark and play it... ;D
Yarooze
PS. I must say this: D2D - sucks!! >:( It flashs like "free" pr0no site, is slow like somewhat and looks like "you'll buy this stuff and then have to pay much more for somethig" for me... this design.. :-\
Instead of buying your game last week, I did it only today. May be this is a good site, but they made everything, they could to show me, they are not... :(
For this I hate web 2.0!!!! >:(
have now seen four endings to this game, i can't work out the fifth
so far i decided to shoot at the grave, resisted the girl and got the three endings and different ending with Agnes
then i waited, kissed the girl and got another three endings but one was different so far four endings, what playthrough do i have to do to obtain the fifth
Quote from: AbetheCop on Wed 24/06/2009 11:27:26
have now seen four endings to this game, i can't work out the fifth
so far i decided to shoot at the grave, resisted the girl and got the three endings and different ending with Agnes
then i waited, kissed the girl and got another three endings but one was different so far four endings, what playthrough do i have to do to obtain the fifth
I think you've seen it all then- 4 endings and 2 epliogues, depending on the decision in the grave. Hey, that's actually 6 altogether!
Quote from: yarooze on Tue 23/06/2009 16:26:39
Congrats for finishing! 8)
I must say this: D2D - sucks!! >:( It flashs like "free" pr0no site, is slow like somewhat and looks like "you'll buy this stuff and then have to pay much more for somethig" for me... this design.. :-\
Instead of buying your game last week, I did it only today. May be this is a good site, but they made everything, they could to show me, they are not... :(
For this I hate web 2.0!!!! >:(
I get this a lot, and I don't quite know what to say... They might be flashy and cheap-looking, but they were absolutely brilliant in teaching me how to launch a game and explaining everything step by step... If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have ever released Downfall and for that I owe them forever. Especially that it wasn't at all about a great business opportunity but giving a chance to somebody who was rejected by almost everyone in this cruel industry and making his dream come true. If you look at it this way, it's easier to accept their crappy website because actually what they do is often to promote new developers regardless of how much money they'll make on them... and it's not much at all. Still, I'm glad you decided to give it a go. I think you won't regret it:)
Downfall's review on Adventure Gamers is up! Well, it has been for a week now:) If anyone would like to take a look you can find it here:
http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,1027
It only scored 3 stars... but apparently so did Still Life 2, so I'm not complaining!:)
Quote from: Grim Reaper link topic=37767.msg500817#msg500817 date=1245922831
I get this a lot, and I don't quite know what to say... They might be flashy and cheap-looking, but they were absolutely brilliant in teaching me how to launch a game and explaining everything step by step... If it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have ever released Downfall and for that I owe them forever. Especially that it wasn't at all about a great business opportunity but giving a chance to somebody who was rejected by almost everyone in this cruel industry and making his dream come true. If you look at it this way, it's easier to accept their crappy website because actually what they do is often to promote new developers regardless of how much money they'll make on them... and it's not much at all. Still, I'm glad you decided to give it a go. I think you won't regret it:)
This is not only the problem of this page. Many pages become about useless, 'cause their webmasters put everything they have on every page. New technologies allow to put new content constantly on the page, even you don't need it. The pages where I hosted my game had similar problems. :(
I played the game. ;D It took two evenings and I enjoyed them. That was creepy. Thanx! ;D
Quote from: yarooze on Thu 25/06/2009 16:05:41
[
I played the game. ;D It took two evenings and I enjoyed them. That was creepy. Thanx! ;D
Thanks:) I'm almost ready to start my new project. I shall post in games in production thread soon, with first graphics and character art. One thing I can say, it will be "a bit different":)
I was thinking...
I copied this game onto cd rom, so I'll always have a 'ggod' copy (a copy with no saved games) available. :)
But are there any cd covers availably? I would love to have a nice cover for the game. ;D
Quote from: Frodo on Thu 02/07/2009 23:41:44
I was thinking...
I copied this game onto cd rom, so I'll always have a 'ggod' copy (a copy with no saved games) available. :)
But are there any cd covers availably? I would love to have a nice cover for the game. ;D
I'll try to get you something as soon as I fix my Paint Shop Pro X (bloody thing says my copy has been damaged or illegally modified, but I actually paid a lot of money for it). Maybe the picture from the 1st page of this thread would be suitable? You'd just need to resize it to the right format, I guess.
I finished this game the other week and overall my feelings are quite mixed.
Graphically the game is a real mixed bag. The backgrounds are stunning, not just in pure drawing skill but in composition and framing too. Each shot is perfectly chosen and shaded and a real eiree atmosphere is created. However this is shattered but the awful walking animations (the special animations are generally better and sometimes quite good) and shoddy character designs. I don't want to sound harsh but I expected a little more from a commercial AGS game, especially since a siginificant amount of the free AGS games are far superior in this department. My suggestion is to get someone else to do the character sprites next time so that your gorgeous backgrounds can really work their magic.
The story was intially intriguing but quickly descended into cliche and potentially interesting themes and developments were not given the focus they deserved. The game felt more like a explotative horror film rather than frightening story with deep issues. Some of the writing was overly versbose in particular the
Psycho-esque (which actually puts you in very good company ;)) pyscho-analysis between the
Spoiler
two cops at the change over point. That cops about-face for some of the endings was completely and utterly ridiculous too.
I will say however that the character of Agnes was an absolute masterstroke and she was a charming companion. The way she was used to provide comic relief in a serious story was brilliant and felt very natural and unforced.
The puzzles were uniformly bland and sometimes terrible, I cannot believe the old 'newspaper/key/under door' puzzle was used without even a trace of irony, and were merely obstacles rather than being part of the fun too. Music was generally good, if nothing spectacular, although there were some odd choices here and there (I remember one part sounded vaguely like 'porn music' and I'm not sure what was going on with that Porcupine Tree sample, which was actually 'Shallow' not 'Open Car').
I know some of these criticisms may sound harsh but I believe in being honest. Despite my overall luke-warm response to the game I am still very interested in seeing what you do next. You certainly have talent and I know it's hard work doing a game all on your own so it would be great if you could get another team member or two for your next game.
If I had the computer or the money i'd dl it. I love scary games. The pics look awesome. Cant wait to eventually be abler to afford it
Quote from: Angel Dust on Thu 09/07/2009 11:51:51
I finished this game the other week and overall my feelings are quite mixed.
Graphically the game is a real mixed bag. The backgrounds are stunning, not just in pure drawing skill but in composition and framing too. Each shot is perfectly chosen and shaded and a real eiree atmosphere is created. However this is shattered but the awful walking animations (the special animations are generally better and sometimes quite good) and shoddy character designs. I don't want to sound harsh but I expected a little more from a commercial AGS game, especially since a siginificant amount of the free AGS games are far superior in this department. My suggestion is to get someone else to do the character sprites next time so that your gorgeous backgrounds can really work their magic.
The story was intially intriguing but quickly descended into cliche and potentially interesting themes and developments were not given the focus they deserved. The game felt more like a explotative horror film rather than frightening story with deep issues. Some of the writing was overly versbose in particular the Psycho-esque (which actually puts you in very good company ;)) pyscho-analysis between the Spoiler
two cops at the change over point. That cops about-face for some of the endings was completely and utterly ridiculous too.
The puzzles were uniformly bland and sometimes terrible, I cannot believe the old 'newspaper/key/under door' puzzle was used without even a trace of irony, and were merely obstacles rather than being part of the fun too. Music was generally good, if nothing spectacular, although there were some odd choices here and there (I remember one part sounded vaguely like 'porn music' and I'm not sure what was going on with that Porcupine Tree sample, which was actually 'Shallow' not 'Open Car').
I know some of these criticisms may sound harsh but I believe in being honest. Despite my overall luke-warm response to the game I am still very interested in seeing what you do next. You certainly have talent and I know it's hard work doing a game all on your own so it would be great if you could get another team member or two for your next game.
Hmmm... I don't quite know what to say. I suppose I could've done some of the things you mention a bit better, but I'm still learning and I can only promise that my new project will be better:) Still, I've not done that bad, have I?
I can't understand this porn music comment, though. This is the second time someone's said it. Is all smooth jazz music a porn music? If so, Dave Gilbert's Blackwell games must be an endless orgy of explicit eroticisim:) And of course you're right about "Shallow".
And yes, I could've explored some of the themes a bit more, but remember that this is still quite a novelty to touch these topics in games. How often do you see anorexia being discussed in this medium, presented in its four stages of development as four different stages of a person's life?
I appreciate your honest feedback and will keep it in mind, especially now that I'm starting work on my new game:)
Grim, shhh...you promised!! :D
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 14/07/2009 23:04:31
Hmmm... I don't quite know what to say. I suppose I could've done some of the things you mention a bit better, but I'm still learning and I can only promise that my new project will be better:) Still, I've not done that bad, have I?
I can't understand this porn music comment, though. This is the second time someone's said it. Is all smooth jazz music a porn music? If so, Dave Gilbert's Blackwell games must be an endless orgy of explicit eroticisim:) And of course you're right about "Shallow".
And yes, I could've explored some of the themes a bit more, but remember that this is still quite a novelty to touch these topics in games. How often do you see anorexia being discussed in this medium, presented in its four stages of development as four different stages of a person's life?
I appreciate your honest feedback and will keep it in mind, especially now that I'm starting work on my new game:)
The problem was the lack of depth meant that these topics remained a novelty. Of course I give you kudos for trying to explore different issues but I'm still going to say that I felt you were not successful in the execution.
I think my main issues all stem from the fact that was a commercial AGS game, albiet one that only cost $10, and I didn't expect to encounter some of the issues that I did. Perhaps it would have been better to have gotten a few free games under your belt before doing a commercial one. I am forgiving of first time games but less so if the maker has deemed it worthy of $10.
I know how hard it is to create something and put it out there, I'm an aspiring musician, and have people pass judgement on it but try not to let my opinion bring you down. Remember I am interested in what you do next! :)
Quote from: Angel Dust on Thu 16/07/2009 12:16:05
I think my main issues all stem from the fact that was a commercial AGS game, albiet one that only cost $10, and I didn't expect to encounter some of the issues that I did. Perhaps it would have been better to have gotten a few free games under your belt before doing a commercial one. I am forgiving of first time games but less so if the maker has deemed it worthy of $10.
In what sense it is better to have a few free games under one's belt before doing a commercial one? It's only natural for a client to always have gripes about a product no matter how good (or bad) it is. In this case you have a demo and reviews to judge by if this game is worth spending 10$ for you - that's as fair as it ever gets.
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 14/07/2009 23:04:31
I can't understand this porn music comment, though. This is the second time someone's said it. Is all smooth jazz music a porn music? If so, Dave Gilbert's Blackwell games must be an endless orgy of explicit eroticisim:)
Dude! Just because you're a beta tester doesn't mean you can give away plot elements of Blackwell Convergence! ;)
Quote from: Ascovel on Thu 16/07/2009 12:55:35
In what sense it is better to have a few free games under one's belt before doing a commercial one? It's only natural for a client to always have gripes about a product no matter how good (or bad) it is. In this case you have a demo and reviews to judge by if this game is worth spending 10$ for you - that's as fair as it ever gets.
Making a game is a skill and like every other skill , practice makes perfect. Many things could have better, notably the puzzle design, if he had gotten feedback on smaller projects first. I played the very first demo, I gave feedback on it here, but I did not want to play the newer one so I could encounter the game fresh and most of my problems with the game would not have come through in a demo any way. There are also not many reviews and most are done by adventure game focused sites and as such, like most of the feedback here, are understandably biased and more forgiving of adventure games. I am not saying I was unfairly 'tricked' into buying the game in any way, because that's just stupid, but I am going to talk about what I thought about the game and the fact it cost $10 is a factor in how I approach my criticism.
Let us not drag this any further. I was simply giving feedback on what I thought of the game and unfortunately it wasn't all good but I would think that Grim Reaper, as an aspiring developer, what want to know what people think, good or bad, and remember it's only one man's opinion :)
Quote from: Dave Gilbert on Fri 17/07/2009 00:30:17
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 14/07/2009 23:04:31
I can't understand this porn music comment, though. This is the second time someone's said it. Is all smooth jazz music a porn music? If so, Dave Gilbert's Blackwell games must be an endless orgy of explicit eroticisim:)
Dude! Just because you're a beta tester doesn't mean you can give away plot elements of Blackwell Convergence! ;)
I wasn't even a very good one- I could not find a single bug in Convergence ( and I really tried!):) Maybe I just enjoyed it too much?
I appreciate your feedback Angel Dust and I'm aware the areas you mention are the ones I need to improve on, and I'm in no way claiming that Downfall is a perfect game. But saying that it had warm reception by game blogs and forums only would do my game injustice- it had actually scored 8 out of 10 both in French and Russian game magazines ( this particular one sells 80.000 copies monthly). The demo is out on Total PC Gaming magazine in UK this month. Also, almost daily I receive emails from gamers across the world saying that they enjoyed playing Downfall. But let the game itself be the testimony of its quality and it would be silly of us to argue here:) From the moment I started making Downfall I knew it wouldn't be to everyone's taste... And I wasn't too bothered about it. Just made a game I wanted to make. End of.
That's cool but, I assume you are talking about the subject matter/violence etc here, I would like to make it clear that my problems with Downfall were not due to it not being to my taste. I do not want my critcisms to be marginalised in this way.
Anyway to reiterate what I said earlier: I'm goin' to be keepin' an eye on you and your future projects :)
And you lucky bastard, getting to play Convergence early!
Awww..... The Russian company Akella is interested in translating Downfall into Russian and distributing it on the territory of their country on a bloody DISK! That'd be amazing! Anyone know if you can import Russian alphabet into AGS?
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Mon 20/07/2009 11:25:35
Awww..... The Russian company Akella is interested in translating Downfall into Russian and distributing it on the territory of their country on a bloody DISK! That'd be amazing! Anyone know if you can import Russian alphabet into AGS?
There's a topic around the forums somewhere I recall an image of roger speaking Russian..
I finally got around to finish the game, great game, I liked how
Spoiler
in the end, most of the weird events that happened in the hotel actually made sense. A thing that bother me in those horror stories where things suddently get weird and you start to wonder if it's an hallucination or a nightmare is when all the weird scares and stuff are completly random and make no sense at all, like in that 1408 movie. Your game didn't fall into this trap and I liked that.
The atmosphere was great, I found myself hiding under blankets most of the game and for the first time in my life, I found myself more nervous than happy everytime I was no longer stuck on a puzzle, in fear of what would happen next.
What could have been better:
Spoiler
When Dr Nazi ask you to find the receptionist, it was pure luck if I found her, the room she was waiting in had absolutly nothing interesting so I kinda marked that room as useless, it's only after being stuck for a long time that I entered that room again only to find the receptionist in it. Having the receptionist waiting at her desk or having a note there saying she would be in room 401 would have been better, IMO.
One of the scare's timing was off, when you fall down from the roof and witness the doctor getting killed by his frankenstein killer, the timing between the lightning was too long, I had already guessed that something horrible would look at me from the window by the time the second lightning arrived which ruined the moment.
What I didn't like:
I don't know if it's the game or my computer, but everytime I launch or quit the game, I have to go through these super long delay, nearly a whole minute, before the game launch or shut down, I've never had this sort of problem with other AGS games, only this one. It's even worst when you want to watch the multiple endings since you got to go through the very long credits sequence and relaunch the game after each endings.
Also,
Spoiler
The blender scene. The game already had lot of gore but that scene was just pointless over the top, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that music.
I encountered only one bug (I played the old version, I don't know if it has been corrected in the more recent versions):
Spoiler
After you explode the second Sophie, if you go straight to the broken mirror room rather than the room where the second Sophie was, there will be a cutscene showing the mirror breaking and when you will regain control, you'll be stuck in a wall in the previous room and you won't be able to move anymore. Loading the last savegame is the only way out of this situation.
That's pretty much it, I'll play the game a second time to try different choices and see the remaining endings, I'll email you in the following days to get the latest version.
Quote from: blueskirt on Sat 01/08/2009 08:36:32
I finally got around to finish the game, great game, I liked how
Spoiler
in the end, most of the weird events that happened in the hotel actually made sense. A thing that bother me in those horror stories where things suddently get weird and you start to wonder if it's an hallucination or a nightmare is when all the weird scares and stuff are completly random and make no sense at all, like in that 1408 movie. Your game didn't fall into this trap and I liked that.
What could have been better:
Spoiler
When Dr Nazi ask you to find the receptionist, it was pure luck if I found her, the room she was waiting in had absolutly nothing interesting so I kinda marked that room as useless, it's only after being stuck for a long time that I entered that room again only to find the receptionist in it. Having the receptionist waiting at her desk or having a note there saying she would be in room 401 would have been better, IMO.
One of the scare's timing was off, when you fall down from the roof and witness the doctor getting killed by his frankenstein killer, the timing between the lightning was too long, I had already guessed that something horrible would look at me from the window by the time the second lightning arrived which ruined the moment.
I don't know if it's the game or my computer, but everytime I launch or quit the game, I have to go through these super long delay, nearly a whole minute, before the game launch or shut down, I've never had this sort of problem with other AGS games, only this one. It's even worst when you want to watch the multiple endings since you got to go through the very long credits sequence and relaunch the game after each endings.
Also,Spoiler
The blender scene. The game already had lot of gore but that scene was just pointless over the top, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that music.
Spoiler
After you explode the second Sophie, if you go straight to the broken mirror room rather than the room where the second Sophie was, there will be a cutscene showing the mirror breaking and when you will regain control, you'll be stuck in a wall in the previous room and you won't be able to move anymore. Loading the last savegame is the only way out of this situation.
Thanks for the feedback! As to things you mention,
Spoiler
you're right about the receptionist; she was hiding rather well, wasn't she?:) A thought of leaving a note at the desk has actually crossed my mind at some point but against my better judgement I decided to make her stay in that room. It's funny that while a lot of people got a bit stuck there, there was some players who instantly knew she'd be in that very room, a hanging body resembling her being a clue. Ghosts ( if she was a ghost, that is) seem to hang out near their bodies for some reason and so was the case here.
The lightning scene... Yeah, you are absolutely right. I just didn't think they'd be able to move that quickly towards the window, that's it. Made a mistake there trying to make it realistic, while Downfall for the bigger part of the game throws realistic out of the window completely, so I guess that could've been avoided. I had so much fun making that scene, though!
And, of course, the blender scene... :) Gratuitous violence aside ( although I don't quite believe in such thing) the music is what it is, but it's barely a 2 seconds long guitar riff... I hope S. Wilson won't hold it against me ( although I've seen his videos on Youtube smashing iPods so I guess he must be pretty hot on copywriting...)My only explanation for this is that as a big fan of the band I had been really inspired by their music while making the game. I still am to this day. Without their weird morbid poetry there would not be Downfall! I nearly changed it a million times... but then thought- fuck it, I'm gonna keep it. It's a little thing that will make everyone who likes their music smile and think for a second.
Finally, the bugs. There is no excuse, I know. I'm glad you've only encountered one, but then again it was a biggie. In your new version that I've sent you this should be fixed ( hopefully). I apologize for this; the only explanation being that I made this game so damn complicated in terms of choices and timed events that sometimes what happens in the hotel seems to take a life of its own and refuses to be controlled. Even by me.
If you'd like to read some more about the game and its genesis here's the link to the interview with me on Adventure Classic Gaming, which also contains some previously unpublished artwork:
http://www.adventureclassicgaming.com/index.php/site/interviews/510/
Hey everyone! Just thought I'd chime in to announce that this game is also available on the Wadjet Eye Games store (http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/recommended.html?1251161776). Why should Direct 2 Drive have all the fun?
Go and nab it HERE. (http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/recommended.html?1251161776)
A new interview with Grim is up at HardyDev (http://hardydev.com/2009/08/28/downfall-interview-with-remigiusz-michalski/) and it's better (and different) than all the others! I especially like the part about presenting the player with choices and the more in-depth explanations of what thing went into building the storyline. There is some exclusive art as well.
I haven't seen the demo but just by seeing the screenies and the description, I'm sold! I'm totally buying this the first chance I get!
Just got this the other day from the labour day sale over at Wadjet Eye. I don't want any spoilers from the game, but can anyone tell me if I'm safe to place this on my laptop (ie theres no awkward/silly death points or time challenges), or would I be better on my main rig, with a mouse?
Owww... a bloody horror ::) Just something to play during lone nights...
A pity I missed this game before, thanks for the guy(s) who bumped the topic up.
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Mon 20/07/2009 11:25:35
Awww..... The Russian company Akella is interested in translating Downfall into Russian and distributing it on the territory of their country on a bloody DISK
Ha! So did they actually released it?
I'm downloading demo now, let's see if its worth buying ;)
Quote from: Stee on Mon 07/09/2009 21:17:04
Just got this the other day from the labour day sale over at Wadjet Eye. I don't want any spoilers from the game, but can anyone tell me if I'm safe to place this on my laptop (ie theres no awkward/silly death points or time challenges), or would I be better on my main rig, with a mouse?
I'd say you'd be better off pluging mouse to your laptop. There is one moment that does require speed and unless you're really good with the touchpad you might find you will die... There's a Continue option though, so not all would be lost, but still... Just thought I should warn you. :)
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Mon 07/09/2009 21:50:14
Owww... a bloody horror ::) Just something to play during lone nights...
A pity I missed this game before, thanks for the guy(s) who bumped the topic up.
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Mon 20/07/2009 11:25:35
Awww..... The Russian company Akella is interested in translating Downfall into Russian and distributing it on the territory of their country on a bloody DISK
Ha! So did they actually released it?
I'm downloading demo now, let's see if its worth buying ;)
Yeah. It's a horror game and it's bloody. Some have said the violence is gratuitous, but I managed to explain why it's not in the Hardy's interview, I hope:)
As for a Russian version of Downfall I still struggle with Cyrillic and can't get it done... I'm about to send the whole build of the game to them to see if their technical team can figure out how to do it.
Cheers. I'll get cracking on it tomorrow. The idea was to play on the laptop from bed (I'm lazy), but I'm too knackered now to start it up.
PS: The violence thing. I think it was just a gratuitous criticism ;)
You can never have enough blood,guts,gore, axe murderers, ninjas etc. As long as its done well
Quote from: Stee on Mon 07/09/2009 23:15:17
Cheers. I'll get cracking on it tomorrow. The idea was to play on the laptop from bed (I'm lazy), but I'm too knackered now to start it up.
PS: The violence thing. I think it was just a gratuitous criticism ;)
You can never have enough blood,guts,gore, axe murderers, ninjas etc. As long as its done well
Ninjas? I knew something was missing! :)
Just finished this game in one morning, in one sitting. :) I was that hooked!
Great work on the plot. It was really well-paced, and it was nice to see the pieces of the story fall together. I was blown away by how non-linear the game is. I was playing this with a friend over MSN, and as we compared notes we were amazed to find how different our routes were. It's really mind boggling how you managed to do all that by yourself. Also, I haven't played through a second time yet but I will, in order to better appreciate the nuances that I suspect are littered across the game (something you only see on hindsight).
Graphics-wise, the contrast between the sketchy backgrounds and the solidly-coloured characters was a little grating at first but it quickly grew on me. Objects also tended to get lost in the background but the labels really helped a lot. I loved the atmosphere, though. Very fitting.
Sound-wise, it was overall very good for setting the tone except for one or two pieces (I forgot if they were mentioned here).
Puzzle-wise, I generally agree with the AdventureGamers review but I would like to add one more thing: there are no hints for why you are able to pick up some things. For example you can pick up a fish, but you have no idea why you just picked up a fish. As a result you just go around picking up everything you can find. Joe's response is subsequently almost comical at times: "No, that's gross, I don't want to pick that up... but hey, I will." :D Giving in a little quickly there Joe?
Also, the order in which you use items is very rigid, something I wouldn't have expected in such a non-linear game. For example (spoiler for puzzle solution)
Spoiler
the part where you have to get down the hole in the cellar. I had the plank and I tried to put it down the hole. No dice. There was not even a hint in Joe's response to guide me in the right direction - simply "I can't use the plank with the hole" or something. Later, after I had gotten the rope, I tried to use it on the hole. Again with the "can't use rope on hole". I knew I had to tie the rope to something to get down the hole, but because I had already had the notion that the plank doesn't work with the hole, it didn't occur to me to use the rope with the plank FIRST before putting the whole thing down the hole. My logic worked the other way: put the plank in place first, then tie the rope to it, but I was misled by the idea that the plank was not meant for this purpose.
The ending was supremely satisfying. :) I don't care that it was a little cliched, I loved it. In a way I was almost relieved to see an ending like that after the events of the hotel. This game can make you feel a little insane. And that is an awesome thing. :)
The Russian publisher has cracked the code and they are positive they can translate Downfall!!!! They should be writing cotract as we speak... so there might be a boxed copy of Downfall after all! Russia, here I come! Yeah!!!!
Finally I finished a demo (I downloaded it a some time ago, but had to put it aside for a while)... unfortunately it was so short, I couldn't yet make a decision. The story feels absurdic in some way (a girl dreaming of Scandinavian rock musician ghost, huh).
From the description of complete game I could guess that this demo features "And one girl who is asleep in her bedroom is dreaming a strange dream that soon turns into her worst nightmare...". Am I right?
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Tue 29/09/2009 23:46:03
Finally I finished a demo (I downloaded it a some time ago, but had to put it aside for a while)... unfortunately it was so short, I couldn't yet make a decision. The story feels absurdic in some way (a girl dreaming of Scandinavian rock musician ghost, huh).
From the description of complete game I could guess that this demo features "And one girl who is asleep in her bedroom is dreaming a strange dream that soon turns into her worst nightmare...". Am I right?
Yeah, this is the part described there, but Agnes does feature in the game a bit more.... I think the semo gives you a run through quite a few locations and being almost like a short separate sub-story it doesn't confuse you with things you wouldn't know without playing the full version. Picking out a demo section is a difficult task- you don't want to give away too much, but in the same time there's got to be enough to capture players' interest. In this case, the Agnes episode gains so much more if you know when and why it happens, and it would be impossible to put that much in the demo:)
I got an award!
How strange, though...
(http://games.softpedia.com/base_img/softpedia_clean_award_f.gif)
Haha! Congratulations :) You could share your award with CJ, since he made it possible!
I think I must be the only person having this problem as I haven't seen it mentioned, but thought I'd ask anyway!
Maybe I'm missing something that's easy to fix!
I downloaded the demo (the 1st one I think) for Downfall a while ago and it didn't work on my laptop (Windows XP, a few years old and crappy to say the least!) so I just gave up. I'd totally forgotten about the game until I re-discovered it today, I'm sure with infinitely more screenshot and such up now since when I found it the first time as suddenly I was VERY EXCITED ABOUT IT!
I didn't even realize I'd downloaded the demo before until the menu screen popped up!
Anyway, on my laptop, (Windows XP, not so great) the menu screen will load but as soon as I press NEW GAME I just get a black screen with the music playing. This happens with BOTH demos.
Now, I assumed this was the fault of my crappy laptop so moved to my desktop (which I hate to do as my desktop is well, on a desk, whereas my laptop is IN BED WITH ME! xD) and downloaded both demos again. Desktop was bought in the last year, is a super fast gaming system, running Vista Ultimate.
Tried one of them, not sure which (the one called downfall-demo) and this time I didn't even get the menu screen. I just got BLACK.
After clicking the mouse button I got music, but still black.
So I figured I'd try it again, this time in a window so I didn't have to both with getting out of it fullscreen if it crashed, and this time the demo worked fine (albeit VERY TINY).
So, I wonder, why can I only get this demo to work in a window not fullscreen? It's ridiculously tiny in a window, especially on my huge desktop monitor, so really needs to be fullscreen!
I was honestly considering buying this game if the demo appealed to me (which is a big deal for me as I'm a poor student, have no credit card, and have to use the measly funds I can cram into my paypal account through selling things overseas - I live in Japan) but now I can't even test it out, and even if I DO buy it, I assume I'll have the same problems!
This has to be an easy fix I'm sure, and as it's happening on 2 completely different computers, seems like something I'm doing wrong!
Thanks!!
@ die_to_xxx
I'm able to run it 1280x960 windowed without any problem.
Do you have a proper codec pack installed? I use the K-lite codec pack (http://www.free-codecs.com/download/K_lite_codec_pack.htm).
I'm not sure if this is the solution but maybe you can check this out?
Will go take a look and let you know! Thanks!
So, is it common for this game to refuse to run in fullscreen then? It's not just me? xD
Right now it runs fine windowed, just the window is TINY!
Quote from: die_to_xxx on Fri 09/10/2009 11:26:57
So, is it common for this game to refuse to run in fullscreen then? It's not just me? xD
Right now it runs fine windowed, just the window is TINY!
It runs perfect in fullscreen at my desktop pc, so no, it's seems not to be common...
I'm also able to run the game at 1280x960 full screen...
Let me know if the codec pack solve anything... ;)
I'm running my pc at 1280x1024 using a simple nvidia graphics card
Ok got the standard codec pack, installed (this is on my much nicer desktop).
The demo will now open in fullscreen and give me the menu.
I click NEW GAME, and get music and a screen of black, which was what was happening on my laptop.
If I move the mouse to the top of the screen, I can see little red arrows (the inventory arrows) but everything else is black.
Having seen the demo work fine in a tiny window, I know that's not normal!
Will go try all this on my laptop now too just in case, but I suspect the game will run much better on my desktop.
Edit :: Oh and if I click the arrows, it tells me where are no more items to the left/right.. so clearly the inventory is working fine, just nothing else is!
You can also try run it as:
windowed, 1280x960, 2x nearest-neighbour filter, or
windowed, 960x720, 3x nearest-neighbour filter, or
windowed, 640x480, 2x nearest-neighbour filter.
The 1st option above is the best.
what's the screen resolution you are using on your pc [not the game]?
Ok that worked!
windowed, 1280x960, 2x nearest-neighbour filter
Going to go try it now on my laptop just out of curiosity!
After all this, let's hope I love the demo enough to buy the game! ::laughs::
I'm 1680 by 1050 pixels on the desktop by the way.
Thankyou so much for all your help!
Quote from: die_to_xxx on Fri 09/10/2009 11:44:17
I'm 1680 by 1050 pixels on the desktop by the way.
Thankyou so much for all your help!
I think that's the problem.
Try change it to 1280x1024 and i guess you will be able to run fullscreen....1680x1050 is a bit high according to the resolution of the gamesetting you want to use....
And your welcome ;)
Quote from: die_to_xxx on Fri 09/10/2009 11:44:17
After all this, let's hope I love the demo enough to buy the game! ::laughs::
I've played the full game, it AWESOME.
I definitely can recommend you this game.
But check the demo and you will see for yourself ;) ;D
Yeah, that could have been the problem on my desktop for sure!
The game keeps forcing Vista to change it's colour scheme, which I've never seen it do before (Vista hurts my brain on the best of days), but it seems to be working fine now!
Still no idea what was wrong with my laptop, but that thing is half dead and I'm sure the game will look SO much nicer on this system, so I'm going to leave my beautiful comfy bed and play this one at my desk (with my 3 ferrets running around in the background scaring the crap out of me! At least my bedroom there's just the 2 cats to worry about!). Not going to bother trying to get it to work on the laptop as it's working so nicely here!
Well, I have enough in my paypal account right now to buy it (it was meant to be going towards something else but well, it's a Friday night and I could do with a good game!) so if this demo impresses me, I'll be buying it immediately!
Will be sure to post back and let you know if I do!!
Good to see it works on your desktop now!
Laptops are always a bit tougher to solve when there's a problem.
And while playing this creepy gamedemo while having 3 ferets running crazy scaring the crap out of ya is still better then playing this on your bed with just 2 cats ;) :P
Let me know if you going to grab the full version.
Happy Downfalling ;D
Yeah instead I have 3 ferrets and 2 cats to keep me company/scare me with sudden noises! xDD
Anyway demo is over!
Can I just say!!!
Spoiler
I hate being chased I hate being chased I hate being chased!!!!!!!!!!!!! ::laughs::
The only negative comment I have, and it's something that has been mentioned before, is those save/load icons permanently stuck to the side of the screen. I understand the full version is like this too?
They just ruin the beautiful artwork and would be better if they popped in and out like the inventory does.
Apart from this minor gripe, the rest looks fabulous! Except for what I said above!!! xD
This is the main reason I've always failed at games like Silent Hill. I loved the storyline but hated having to fight (you can tell I've grown up with point and clicks xD) and of course
Spoiler
being chased!!!!
Seems like I'll have to give this game a try though!
I'm always complaining (to myself as I have no friends into ags) that there aren't nearly enough mature games made.
Not that I didn't really enjoy games like Monkey Island and stuff when I was young, but my favourite games were always the more mature themed ones (often cyberpunk!) with dry humour (Beneath a Steal Sky = my favourite game of all time) and now I'm older (MUCH older x_x), my craving for these types of games is even stronger!
If I don't support the few games that actually are my style, then I really have no right to complain when casual funny games keep being made! ::laughs::
I've PM-ed you because this seems to be going "off topic" which is not allowed... ;)
Haha sorry about that!
No matter where I go, I always have this habit of going offtopic! I talk too much xD
Just a final post to say I bought the game and it just finished downloading!
Will be sure to post my thoughts when it's over - if I survive! xD
You wont regret, I'm sure of that.
And oh, check your inbox :)
As I promised I'd come back and write my thoughts once I'd finished the game, here I am!
I'm going to hide all of this as lots is spoiler!
Spoiler
All in all, I really enjoyed this game.
I do have some comments about it, but generally I feel it was totally worth the $10!
The biggest comment I have was just that it was way too short!
It was over in no time, and I felt really let down and disappointed when I suddenly found the climax upon me.
I'd have preferred a more supernatural reasoning or at least something that made you think more for the conclusion, but I still think it was a good conclusion and my preference for something else is simply my own personal taste!
HOWEVER, because of the overall shortness of the game, I felt that the story wasn't anywhere near as fleshed out as it could have been.
It was like this huge story was touched on, but nothing was ever fully developed.
I mean, SO much more could have been done with Agnes. As it stands, she feels like she's there just to be a plot device rather than an actual character.
I had a loud groan when I realized the doctor was a neo nazi after a bad experience with a different very disappointing game, but thankfully that was just a plot device to justify Joe, and us as the player, feeling nothing about his death, as well as creating the puzzle with the mannequin.
The biggest flaw for me to be honest was that I thought the point where we realize Joe's crazy should have been the HALF WAY point of the game.
At that point I thought to myself "Ok, oooh.. getting into this now". Then suddenly it was OVER!!
It really did feel like the story was completely cut short in the middle and had so much left to tell.
A great story, unfulfilled.
I LOVED the artwork. It was truly beautiful and while many complain about the character animations, they didn't bother me in the slightest.
I prefer that over the blocky cartoon-esque graphics we see so often these days.
I also really liked the music, and didn't think it was porn music at all! ::laughs::
It's not my own personal taste and at first I was confused by it, but once I got into the world of the game, I found it fit perfectly.
It worked very much in the same way Silent Hill's more melodic track works, I felt.
Puzzles were overall pretty easy, but I don't mind that so much cause running around stuck for hours is not so much fun!
The only times I got stuck were opening the mirror with the necklace (trial and error opened it in the end) and gutting the cat to get the key out, simply because it NEVER IN A MILLION YEARS occurred to me to hack the cat open!!
I'll admit that it took the walkthrough to tell me that was what I had to do! ::laughs::
Which leads me on to my next point.
The only gruesome part I thought the game had was killing the cat, perhaps cause I'm a cat lover! (I have 2.. and 3 ferrets xD)
I was quite disturbed by that and expecting a LOT of gruesome scenes after it, but then nothing really came that bothered me from that point on.
To go against what is often said, I thought the level of violence was absolutely perfect for this type of game and not over the top gruesome at all.
Overall it wasn't a scary game, but had really great atmosphere that had me glued to it until I'd finished!
I was expecting it to be much scarier after reading this entire thread and a few reviews.
Supposedly something really scary happens in the cellar that gave someone nightmares, but I'm not exactly sure what that was supposed to be cause nothing really scary happened down there?
Some blood writing on the wall but I'd assumed that body was going to jump up and attack me or something so a bit of blood was, to be honest, a welcome relief! ::laughs::
As I said at the beginning, this game was definitely worth the $10!
Full of bugs (like characters standing on the ceiling, vanishing and reappearing and so on) and many spelling errors, but they didn't really bother me as the game still ran smoothly from beginning to end.
I'm looking forward to seeing more and will definitely buy the next game!
That was incredibly long, but I felt the game deserved a thorough review! xD
what a wonderful game , simply fantastic
Quote from: die_to_xxx on Tue 13/10/2009 12:59:47
Spoiler
"...but I'm not exactly sure what that was supposed to be cause nothing really scary happened down there?
Some blood writing on the wall but I'd assumed that body was going to jump up and attack me or something so a bit of blood was, to be honest, a welcome relief!"
That was me, who
Spoiler
had nightmares heh.
This should explain things for you:
Spoiler
I actually had a nightmare about being in the same cellar, I never said anything happens in the game, but I could see why you would think something would...
Anyways, The only reason I found it so disturbing was, taking a harder look at the scene and seeing the sheets looked as if they had people underneath them, I experienced a huge level of fear in that dream, a level which I have not experienced years before or since in a dream! I'm not sure why, but the art had a huge effect on me right there. I'm not upset about it, I actually think it's brilliant :D
Quote from: Domithan on Wed 14/10/2009 06:07:27
That was me, who Spoiler
had nightmares heh.
This should explain things for you:
Spoiler
I actually had a nightmare about being in the same cellar, I never said anything happens in the game, but I could see why you would think something would...
Anyways, The only reason I found it so disturbing was, taking a harder look at the scene and seeing the sheets looked as if they had people underneath them, I experienced a huge level of fear in that dream, a level which I have not experienced years before or since in a dream! I'm not sure why, but the art had a huge effect on me right there. I'm not upset about it, I actually think it's brilliant :D
That totally makes sense now!
I remember looking at that bit and going ARGHH then realizing it was nothing! Hehe.
I too think that for a piece of artwork to have that much of a reaction and a lasting effect on a person, like you said, is brilliant!
I really adored the artwork in this game!
die_to_xxx : maybe it could've been longer, I don't know... I think it would've ruined the open ending a bit, because it all ties up nicely in the end. But I'd say that since I'm the author of the game!:) Thanks for your feedback and I'm glad you liked the artwork:) The cat comment is one that I get frequently- I've lost count of emails I got from people who found it too cruel... But for me, that was the point. And I love cats too.
Couldn't really do more with the Agnes character because the REAL Agnes was angry enough already for stealing her personality and using it in the game... I will never understand why. She has threatened to sue- and she's my bloody girlfriend! :)
Think of it like this- all women in Downfall are one. They are just many different versions of the same person, like broken pieces of the mirror. Agnes would be the last remnant of Ivy's sanity, the girl Joe fell in love with, and yet doesn't even recognize anymore...
Oh, just for you, there will be key-eating ferrets in my next game... maybe that'll scare you at last! :) :) :)
PuNKKoMmANDO77 : Thanks!
[ Arj0n ] : Thanks for your continuous support! Much appreciated:)
Yay, Grim Reaper, so it was true! :)
http://ru.akella.com/News.aspx?id=2257
http://ru.akella.com/Game.aspx?id=2315
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Sat 26/12/2009 01:17:26
Yay, Grim Reaper, so it was true! :)
http://ru.akella.com/News.aspx?id=2257
http://ru.akella.com/Game.aspx?id=2315
Oh yes....
Coming soon, to a town near you ( soon every citizen of Russia will own a copy Downfall:))
Do you know, are they going to leave english language there as an option?
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Sun 27/12/2009 15:24:51
Do you know, are they going to leave english language there as an option?
Got no idea. I'm too busy working on my new game to go into details to be honest.
Found this thread on Indie Game Developers forum about my Russian publisher and they got really slagged off for not keeping up with the payments. I was worried they wouldn't pay me. But, to their credit, they haven't let me down so far and even designed cover art. Also, it seems to me they made the game install to hard drive instead of.. what we usually do with our games.
I'm being told that release is planned for mid-January.
Honestly, I am still considering buying original english version online instead :)
A friend of mine used PayPal few times, he told me what kind of card I should make myself to be able to use that service.
It's up to you mate.
English original virgin version VS CD boxed supercute-cover with extra splashes of blood here and there Russian version (+installer)...
I can't tell you if the translation's any good 'cos I can't speak Russian, but these guys seem professional and they've done some good work on adventure games before.
I can't believe they put " Stephen King would be proud" on the cover! :) :) :) :) :)
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 29/12/2009 18:58:17I can't tell you if the translation's any good 'cos I can't speak Russian, but these guys seem professional and they've done some good work on adventure games before.
Mayhap, I've seen couple of games they released; however I usually prefer to play with original language, if I understand it well enough.
And also frankly I don't like the pic they put on cover. Too repulsive, IMO; I liked your game title screen more.
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 29/12/2009 18:58:17
I can't believe they put " Stephen King would be proud" on the cover! :) :) :) :) :)
Anything to increase sales ;D
It's a quote from HardyDev.com review:
http://hardydev.com/2009/07/10/downfall-review/
Well, I guess you may know that :)
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Tue 29/12/2009 19:43:58
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 29/12/2009 18:58:17I can't tell you if the translation's any good 'cos I can't speak Russian, but these guys seem professional and they've done some good work on adventure games before.
Mayhap, I've seen couple of games they released; however I usually prefer to play with original language, if I understand it well enough.
And also frankly I don't like the pic they put on cover. Too repulsive, IMO; I liked your game title screen more.
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 29/12/2009 18:58:17
I can't believe they put " Stephen King would be proud" on the cover! :) :) :) :) :)
Anything to increase sales ;D
It's a quote from HardyDev.com review:
http://hardydev.com/2009/07/10/downfall-review/
Well, I guess you may know that :)
Yeah, I realize that. I always thought though that they were being incredibly generous when they said that, though. It was something an indie journalist would say to indie developer in terms of supporting each other. It might blow in my face when put on thousands of boxes... Still, if anything, I would love to be remembered as a Stephen King of gaming:) Wouldn't that be great, eh? :) ( I wonder what S.K. would say about that...)
Just started to play this, and I have to say - Wow! Creepy and atmospheric. Well done.
Have you ever considered a version with voice acting?
Have you thought of submitting review copies to horror related sites? Fangoria, etc.
I think having made this game, you would now qualify for membership at the Horror Writers Association - if that kind of thing interests you.
Regards,
RT
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Tue 29/12/2009 19:43:58
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Tue 29/12/2009 18:58:17
I can't believe they put " Stephen King would be proud" on the cover! :) :) :) :) :)
Anything to increase sales ;D
It's a quote from HardyDev.com review:
http://hardydev.com/2009/07/10/downfall-review/
Well, I guess you may know that :)
Holy Cow! I must tell this to Martin (the reviewer).
And big congrats about the box release, Grim!
Quote from: RedTalon on Fri 01/01/2010 19:09:06
Just started to play this, and I have to say - Wow! Creepy and atmospheric. Well done.
Have you ever considered a version with voice acting?
Have you thought of submitting review copies to horror related sites? Fangoria, etc.
I think having made this game, you would now qualify for membership at the Horror Writers Association - if that kind of thing interests you.
Regards,
RT
Yeah I feel it would have been 100 times better with voice acting, it would have really added to the creepy atmosphere.
I think the cover is pretty nice. I'm glad it is still possible to sell games like this.
Hmm, I was interested in buying this game since its release and I think I will finally cave in now and get it. After I've completed "Ghost Pirates of Voju Island" that is.
After all I love horror adventures and supporting indie-developers. And any excuse is good to stall working on my thesis (or on my own game, for that matter). ;)
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Sun 24/05/2009 04:28:03
I was wondering if anyone noticed hidden references to some other horror games in Downfall?... Doesn't Black Widow Film Studio ring any bells? The guard house, and how you enter it? The locker? The Waxworks? They all come from quite old games that many of the younger players might have never played... But I'm sure someone did. They used to be the favourite games of my childhood, and they scared the hell out of me....
One reference was purely accidental, though. Hotel in the game is called Quiet Haven. Someone pointed out on a forum somewhere that there is a hotel in Silent Hill called Silent Heaven. I instantly remembered then, but I never meant it to be that sort of wordplay...:)
Are there any Lucas or Sierra references?
Quote from: Cyrus on Tue 05/01/2010 18:37:02
Are there any Lucas or Sierra references?
Now that's a good question! Unfortunately I'm gonna have to say no... The games I had in mind are Elvira 2: Jaws Of Cerberus (locker, Black Widow film studio), Waxworks (well, Waxworks), Darkseed (few hotspot descriptions). There's a reference to HalfLife's Gordon Freeman at one point { but I'm not particularly proud of that one:)}
I guess I'm just a huge fan of Horrorsoft. Whatever happened to those guys... I will miss them.
Wesray- "Ghost Pirates" are out already? I was looking forward to that one!
RedTaloni- Horror Writers Association? You reckon they'd be interested? Might give it a shot:) Although I just found a review of Downfall on the net that says the writing in the game is terrible:)( I can't find the bloody thing now, will post link if I do)
ALPHA2T- Yeah, it's possible. In Russia, apparently. :)
JJ- I guess I never really believed it would get released... and then bam, I found the publisher and it was a bit too late to do voiceover. Will try to do it for The Cat Lady!
Damn! Speaking of pirates everywhere I look there are illegal versions of Downfall ready to download!!!! Look at this one: http://www.akhareshe.info/games/23081-downfall-a-horror-adventure-game-2009.html
Cheeky bastards even posted screenshots and made it look nice and inviting! Any ideas on how to fight this thing?
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Fri 08/01/2010 04:09:36
Quote from: Cyrus on Tue 05/01/2010 18:37:02
Are there any Lucas or Sierra references?
Now that's a good question! Unfortunately I'm gonna have to say no... The games I had in mind are Elvira 2: Jaws Of Cerberus (locker, Black Widow film studio), Waxworks (well, Waxworks), Darkseed (few hotspot descriptions). There's a reference to HalfLife's Gordon Freeman at one point { but I'm not particularly proud of that one:)}
I guess I'm just a huge fan of Horrorsoft. Whatever happened to those guys... I will miss them.
Wesray- "Ghost Pirates" are out already? I was looking forward to that one!
RedTaloni- Horror Writers Association? You reckon they'd be interested? Might give it a shot:) Although I just found a review of Downfall on the net that says the writing in the game is terrible:)( I can't find the bloody thing now, will post link if I do)
ALPHA2T- Yeah, it's possible. In Russia, apparently. :)
JJ- I guess I never really believed it would get released... and then bam, I found the publisher and it was a bit too late to do voiceover. Will try to do it for The Cat Lady!
Damn! Speaking of pirates everywhere I look there are illegal versions of Downfall ready to download!!!! Look at this one: http://www.akhareshe.info/games/23081-downfall-a-horror-adventure-game-2009.html
Cheeky bastards even posted screenshots and made it look nice and inviting! Any ideas on how to fight this thing?
You should contact hotfiles (yes, I created an account to see if there are indeed working links), rapidshare, and inform them that due to copyright material being distributed without your permission you would like the removal of these links.
http://hotfile.com/reportabuse.html
http://letitbit.net/page/feedback.php
http://rapidshare.com/abuse.html
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Fri 08/01/2010 04:09:36
JJ- I guess I never really believed it would get released... and then bam, I found the publisher and it was a bit too late to do voiceover. Will try to do it for The Cat Lady!
If you do end up making voices for your next game, it would be good to give players an option on whether they want the voice or not. I've seen plenty of games have their atmosphere ruined because of bad acting.
Quote from: TheCheese33 on Sat 09/01/2010 13:04:59
If you do end up making voices for your next game, it would be good to give players an option on whether they want the voice or not.
This option is included in winsetup.exe for
every AGS game.
Hehe, Grim Reaper, you're now tempting me with the free download :P but no. I am patiently waiting when my credit card is ready (yeah, I think I'll be buying english version).
I wonder if this sort of game could be on other digital distribution services, like Steam. I forget the name of it now (sorry to the creator!) but I'm sure another game from this website has made it there.
Quote from: Peanut Monkey on Mon 11/01/2010 00:25:45
I wonder if this sort of game could be on other digital distribution services, like Steam. I forget the name of it now (sorry to the creator!) but I'm sure another game from this website has made it there.
Yeah... Steam didn't like it. I'd like to try again now that it's proven quite succesful but it means uploading the bloody thing all night again...:) Maybe I'm just too lazy?
I do like how Steam works though, even when it is similiar in a way to a Trojan virus, like someone said, somewhere... I bought a couple of games there, including the remake of Monkey Island. And then some dirty bastard stole my account and I couldn't play it no more!... So maybe I shouldn't like them anymore? Still, it's fast and effort-free. Just have to be careful when opening links from strangers...
Uh, have to edit my post.
I bought the game from Wadjet Eye website, and downloaded it.
However, when I run installation program, it installs about 2/3 of a game, then halts completely, and I have to reboot computer to get rid of hanging setup application.
I tried to install both on C and D patitions; then I downloaded it for second time thinking that something went wrong during first download. Still it doesn't work.
Any ideas :(
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Wed 20/01/2010 21:19:05
Uh, have to edit my post.
I bought the game from Wadjet Eye website, and downloaded it.
However, when I run installation program, it installs about 2/3 of a game, then halts completely, and I have to reboot computer to get rid of hanging setup application.
I tried to install both on C and D patitions; then I downloaded it for second time thinking that something went wrong during first download. Still it doesn't work.
Any ideas :(
Hmmm... I think we should get in touch with Dave. To me it seems like a broken download or installer and not the game itself. Can you email him?
You mean Dave Gilbert, right? Okay, I'll send him a letter.
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Thu 21/01/2010 00:29:54
You mean Dave Gilbert, right? Okay, I'll send him a letter.
I emailed him for you.
LOL, stupid antivirus caused all this... a day lost just because of that :P
Anyway, now it works and I can play the game.
Allright, I played a little, I want to mention few negative things that caught my eye (heh, I can't stop noticing those everywhere); I believe some may be already mentioned, yet -
There are three points in game design, that stand out at first hand.
- Character animations, especially walking (also, Ivy did walk backwards couple of times when following main character).
- Three menu buttons stuck on the screen; I think it would be better if they appear only when you move mouse their way or even better hit some button: there are some objects under them in certain rooms; but most importantly, they remind me it is only a game ;)
- Standart save/load dialogs; not only they look a bit out there, but black game font looks very bad on them.
Also, I may give just couple of advices, since you are making next game already ("Cat Lady"), I hope they will be useful.
1. Pay more attention to inventory slot sizes. I noticed some of the item images overlap. Perhaps, increasing item slot width could fix this.
2. There's a bug that I also noticed in Dave Gilbert's "Shivah", related to overhotspot hint. If an object/hotspot is located close to right screen border, the hint goes offscreen and may be difficult to read (or rather impossible to read, and you have to guess what it sais). This issue may be easily solved by writing small script which gets location name manually, calculates its width and repositions Gui with hint label accordingly to make it fit the screen.
Well, apart from that, I saw few glitched, but I guess it is a bit late to mention them, unless you are going to release next version of the game someday. For example, in the "Twilight Lounge" (a 1st floor lounge with "Devil passed through here" writing on the wall) mouse clicks do not make character walk sometimes, and I had to use keyboard to move him.
EDIT: ah, now I realize there's a thin path you have to click on, I usually clicked a bit lower.
EDIT2: It is ofcourse a question of personal preference, but I really hate when items dissapear after you used them. Makes me wonder weren't there another place I could use them instead... besides it's just a cheap way to make player's life easier ;)
Oh, and I just loved
Spoiler
how he said that he cant carry ice from the fridge "like that" while carrying human head and pig's brain, lol
EDIT3: I have a question:
Spoiler
When I examine red chemical in the cellar, guy sais like "is it the one I should put in Ivy's veins"; shouldn't he say "Sofie's veins" or it is some kind of senseful "slip of the tongue"?
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Fri 22/01/2010 16:13:32
I have a question:
Spoiler
When I examine red chemical in the cellar, guy sais like "is it the one I should put in Ivy's veins"; shouldn't he say "Sofie's veins" or it is some kind of senseful "slip of the tongue"?
Spoiler
It's one of those meaningless mistakes I made that somehow make sense in the light of the story as a whole and actually become meaningFULL. To me, and to Joe, Ivy and Sophie are the same person.
So I've started playing it, and after a while onto the story, I just already want it to end. Which is a good thing!! I've had this feeling back with Silent Hill 3 and 2. :D
EDIT: And damn!! The game crashed. Move Character: character is not in room.
And to think I was just saying yesterday to Grim that there's surely a bug lying underneath... :D
Spoiler
When you enter the room that is between the staircase and the Twilight lounge, with Ivy on your shoulders I got that error msg.
And searching a walkthrough to see I've got it all correct, I am at that point.
Spoiler
Back in the lounge you’ll find that Ivy is dead. There’s only one way to bring her back to life â€" you’ll have to use Doctor’s equipment in room 201.
And damn I'm only having a very tiny bit of the game to finish. If anyone is having a savegame near or just a little behind that point, I'd love to have it, I'm not really into replaying this game. It gives me the chills..
Dualnames seem to be way ahead of me :), but I skipped a day not playing.
I actually wonder, what are "roadforks" in the game's plot? I heard there are 5 endings. I was trying to remember moments which looked like important choices in the game. I think I found 2 so far, one is terribly obvious, another gives me doubts:
Spoiler
1. Choosing chemical to kill first part of Sophie with. It makes difference in what happens (I saved and tried both), but I am not sure it affects the future in any way.
2. Choosing your action when you are lying in the grave. That was the first minute I felt sorry for playing Demo, because it spoiled all the anticipation :) I knew what was going to happen, so I knew what to choose. Although I can't be completely sure letting Agnes live is a correct path (for she may play some evil role in the future), this game point is surely an important roadfork.
I also wish to mention what I think is the worst designer's mistake of the game seen so far.
Spoiler
It is the moment when Agnes leaves Waxworks Museum thru the back door. Even though I played demo before, I seem to have forgotten some details; so, when game changed to museum front, I just couldn't realize where Agnes is. She appears in some corner, she wears white dress which makes her barely noticable on white/grey background. Also, in this game you have to click precisely on walkable areas to make character move. I was clicking somewhere above walkable areas, and seeing no character movement, couldn't understand where exactly she is.
@Crimson
there are more to come to decide what your fate is going to be ;D
Quote from: david on Sun 24/01/2010 15:41:38
@Crimson
there are more to come to decide what your fate is going to be ;D
Some include..eh..
HUGY SPOILER DON'T SEE IT CRIMSON!!!!
Spoiler
SEX..
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Sun 24/01/2010 15:05:46
Dualnames seem to be way ahead of me :)
He is terribly slow considering he helped program some bits of the game. I'm pretty sure he left some back-doors in the code and is currently cheating his way through the game.
Quote from: Ascovel on Sun 24/01/2010 17:40:46
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Sun 24/01/2010 15:05:46
Dualnames seem to be way ahead of me :)
He is terribly slow considering he helped program some bits of the game. I'm pretty sure he left some back-doors in the code and is currently cheating his way through the game.
The only complete part of the game I know how it's coded is the
Spoiler
boss fight..(on which i also noticed a bug, I got two shotguns! (one empty, one reloaded)
So at first I thought it looked pretty uninteresting. The way it was sold seemed to sell heavily a gore-factor which I'm not so interested in unless it can be backed up with a good narrative that justifies it. However the game seems to have got a lot of praise so I figured I would at least try out the demo, which is quite big (I would consider at 70+MB.) The first thing to note now that I have downloaded the demo, for anybody else considering trying it. The size of the game does not relate to any amount of length. The demo is short. Secondly I came to my first turnoff at this point.
Why an installer? For a demo even too. This is a big turnoff for me on something that I might not want to keep installed. I like being able to run the game straight from the archive and decide then whether or not I want to keep it or not. I don't want to have to commit it to my system before I even know if it's any good. Secondly this presented me with another issue in that it booted the game straight into fullscreen mode which I don't think many people use these days. I then couldn't find a way to get it into windowed mode so I figured I would try pressing the F buttons, F1, F2 etc. The game crashed out with an error at F2. Deciding to give up on that I figured I would hunt down the .cfg file or a readme and only then did I find the setup file buried deep in my program files folder.
I haven't even started the game at this point.
Okay so I finally get the game started and greeted with this obscure, atmosphere breaking music that doesn't seem to blend well with the game at all and I work my way through the first scene which seems to be a fairly simple item combine puzzle. The game doesn't really present any storyline at this point, I wouldn't expect a dream sequence to have one but the game doesn't really set you up with any kind of motivation to continue other than the expectancy that at some point a storyline might start.
So I wander around and click on anything that's highlightable and look at everything that is a hotspot until I stumble into the area I am supposed to be. At which point I think something interesting might be happening but still don't know what that is as the lack of narrative is still there and the writing up until this point has been fairly bland and uninteresting. I would also like to mention that the hotspot dialogues seem rushed and are fairly pointless.
"No I don't need to interact with that."
"You are stupid. Why would you even click on that ashtray."
"Don't be a moron. There is no reason for me to at all interact with this calendar."
Then I wander around every available area of the game that I have found so far THREE TIMES looking for something to do and then realise that I didn't hover my mouse over a small portion of one of the screens and therefore missed an entire other location and then the demo ends with no cliffhanger or anything and I am left with no feelings that I want to continue playing this game.
OKAY. I am sorry about that. I wanted to get all the negativity out of the way first so by the time you finish reading the post you might have forgotten about it, because it's not to say that the whole thing is bad. It's just if the writing continues in the way the demo suggested, then the only thing I have to look forward to is what I expected in the first place. Some level of gore/depravity.
I would like to compliment the artwork. That at least is well done and definitely helps portray the atmosphere. In fact it is possibly responsible for the entirety of the atmosphere and holds together very well considering the points I mentioned earlier. Each scene in the demo looks great and from what I've seen of the other screenshots it will continue and get better. However I am not convinced that it's for me to buy and continue to play.
Dual,
Spoiler
I guess two shotguns are better than one, yeah?:)
is stole your car: Fair comment. A game deep in narrative is difficult to extract a piece of and use it as a demo to represent the product. Using any other part of Downfall as a demo would be exteremly confusing and totally out of context because everything relates to something that happened earlier. Also, the events that lead up to the demo put it in a very different light... But you're right that it doesn't quite work. I guess I will be making a better demo next time, eh?:) The installer comment is what I can't really understand... That's the part my publisher is responsible for but I don't really see it as a massive problem, maybe because I install lots of crap on my pc all the time myself and if I don't like it I just get rid of it:)
Also, are these really in game comments: "You are stupid. Why would you even click on that ashtray."
"Don't be a moron. There is no reason for me to at all interact with this calendar."? If they are, there's something I don't know about my game... :o
But fair enough, I'm taking all your comments in and can only promise to improve on that with my next project WHICH WILL TOTALLY ROCK!:)
PS. Sweet Jesus, was there at least one person who liked introductory Agnes music?:) :) :) (apart from me?)
No those were not real in game hotspot descriptions. I was just trying to sum up the redundancy of those objects. Anyway seeing as this is a game that you believe is worth money, I felt it was important to give honest criticism. In regards to the installer, possibly an issue of my own personal bias but I have plenty of times refused to install a small independant game using an installer unless it is necessary.
Ok...:) I thought they weren't:)
Anyway, I really like your avatar! :)
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Sun 24/01/2010 22:44:22
PS. Sweet Jesus, was there at least one person who liked introductory Agnes music?:) :) :) (apart from me?)
I loved all the game music :) especially title one, and the one played in Twilight Lounge.
As for Agnes one, I think it may sound a bit out there especially if it's the first thing you hear in game (when playing demo version), but it has some peculiar taste. Sorry, I am bad in explaining my thoughts about the music ;) let's simply say, I liked it.
i stole your car, that's funny, but your thoughts are similar to mine, I too was not really sure if I want to buy this game after finished the demo, the demo part was rather confusing. However I bought it, and do not regret this... yet (lol).
In fact, I find this game not "usual" horror. No silly trash monsters around.. well, except for that axeman shown in demo, heh, but that's rather an exception.
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Mon 25/01/2010 01:47:10
In fact, I find this game not "usual" horror. No silly trash monsters around.. well, except for that axeman shown in demo, heh, but that's rather an exception.
I like to think of it as a psychological horror. For example somebody on the forums had experienced nightmares because of the basement and the sheets.
I feel that's the real way to terrify people. And that's why I loved Downfall ;D
By the way, if I was making something like that basement, I'd do a small random animation which moved a sheet, say, few pixels... and never repeats, so player will be keep guessing have he really seen that?
What do you think about this idea, Grim Reaper? ;D
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Mon 25/01/2010 17:51:37
By the way, if I was making something like that basement, I'd do a small random animation which moved a sheet, say, few pixels... and never repeats, so player will be keep guessing have he really seen that?
What do you think about this idea, Grim Reaper? ;D
Very good idea, I'll keep that in mind for The Cat Lady game. Playing with the player's mind is certainly a great trick and having tested that in Downfall I now have hundreds of ideas on how to expand it in the future. The only problem is that realization of each takes on average 2 hours on the graphic editors to make it look decent:)
I'm still waiting for a savegame people!!
On topic, most of the game's problems relate to Mr Grim Reaper's lack of excellent programming skills, that explains the size of the demo. Like I've said to him I'd really love to fix most of the bugs and enhance this game because it totally scores well in most of the sectors (btw, I loved Agnes introductory music and overall all the pieces), problem is as you guys have probably figured it out, that well, many people have bought the game and it's hard sending the game back to them again or informing them.
Quote from: Dualnames on Mon 25/01/2010 19:07:33
I'm still waiting for a savegame people!!
On topic, most of the game's problems relate to Mr Grim Reaper's lack of excellent programming skills, that explains the size of the demo. Like I've said to him I'd really love to fix most of the bugs and enhance this game because it totally scores well in most of the sectors (btw, I loved Agnes introductory music and overall all the pieces), problem is as you guys have probably figured it out, that well, many people have bought the game and it's hard sending the game back to them again or informing them.
Hopefully this will be avoided in the future thanks to excellent technical support provided by Mr Dualnames:) Seriously, this guy is a scripting machine!:)
Dualnames, I will give you savegame just as I reach that point myself.
I hope though same error won't happen to me :-\
EDIT: Heh, I stuck for a while, until I realized I foolishly missed an important action.
Spoiler
Didn't realise I should talk to mr. Harris a bit longer which leads to certain "personal quest" afterwards. I find this rather strange, but for some mysterious reason I thought him just a useless piece of background, so I did not even bothered talking to him much
Also, can somebody tell me
Spoiler
should I get an axe from the dead axeman? I shot one with a shotgun, and saw no axe lying nearby. That's a bit cheap, actually :P, for with axe I could try crushing some locked doors
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Mon 25/01/2010 19:34:47
Also, can somebody tell me
Spoiler
should I get an axe from the dead axeman? I shot one with a shotgun, and saw no axe lying nearby. That's a bit cheap, actually :P, for with axe I could try crushing some locked doors
Spoiler
The axe was damaged when you shot him :):):)
Keep in mind that the world of Downfall is more like a surreal dream than cold reality!:)
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Mon 25/01/2010 19:34:47
Dualnames, I will give you savegame just as I reach that point myself.
I hope though same error won't happen to me :-\
You do that mate. I can't play the game again. Grim gave me a savegame, but the game gives me the chills too much.
Dual... I quickly played to that point and saved the game.. (http://gamesolutions.efzeven.nl/files/Downfall-save.zip)
Here's some really weird one.
Spoiler
So I was making a "food" for birthday Sophie. I put head, then I was wondering where I should get alcohol from, since I already gave beer to Harris; while thinking about that I used recipe paper on bowl, and character said "here goes alcohol"....
After that I could add other ingridients, and finish the production.
Seriously, I don't get it.
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Mon 25/01/2010 21:35:18
Here's some really weird one.
Spoiler
So I was making a "food" for birthday Sophie. I put head, then I was wondering where I should get alcohol from, since I already gave beer to Harris; while thinking about that I used recipe paper on bowl, and character said "here goes alcohol"....
After that I could add other ingridients, and finish the production.
That's a really easy and noticeable thing. At least for me. Game allows you to grab said item again if you have it, and allows you to miss chance to get said person.
Quote from: Dualnames on Mon 25/01/2010 22:08:05
Game allows you to grab said item again if you have it, and allows you to miss chance to get said person.
Umm... what? :) Sorry, now I don't understand this too.
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Mon 25/01/2010 22:23:28
Quote from: Dualnames on Mon 25/01/2010 22:08:05
Game allows you to grab said item again if you have it, and allows you to miss chance to get said person.
Umm... what? :) Sorry, now I don't understand this too.
Spoiler
You can pick up beer as amny times a s you want as long you're not carrying one. It's very noticable if a) you try and pick one from the fridge when you first pick it, b)you don't 'take' care of Mr Harris.
What Crimson meant was that
Spoiler
you can use the recipe itself instead of the beer with the blender and still get the result as if you had a beer.
Heh, I finally fought the boss.
I am sorry to say that, but it looks rather ridiculous ;) After all that atmosperic game, a dumb shooting and boss health bar display.. omg.
There's also one funny bug; when this.. thing... shoots my shotgun drops, after I take it and reload, two shotguns appear in my inventory: empty one and reloaded one :)
And that's what DualNames already said:
Quote from: Dualnames on Sun 24/01/2010 17:47:54
The only complete part of the game I know how it's coded is the
Spoiler
boss fight..(on which i also noticed a bug, I got two shotguns! (one empty, one reloaded)
;D
Quote from: Leon on Mon 25/01/2010 23:38:52
And that's what DualNames already said:
Quote from: Dualnames on Sun 24/01/2010 17:47:54
The only complete part of the game I know how it's coded is the
Spoiler
boss fight..(on which i also noticed a bug, I got two shotguns! (one empty, one reloaded)
;D
And I said to that, and will say it again:
Spoiler
two shotguns are always better than one:) :) :)
But seriously, this is some new species of a bug, never reported before... Maybe bugs in games mutate too?...
Aw, the ending... I somehow suspected everything will turn out like that... I had slightly different vision though.
And also, there are two inventory items I never used:
Spoiler
toast and fish
Are they dummy items? Or there's some episode I skipped? Well, I'll replay game some time later, and see what happen if I choose different options.
By the way, I had to use Leon's walkthrough once
Spoiler
to find out how to push down a key from room 402. I could swear I tried using another key there, maybe I just did not click on right hotspot?
Okay, so my complete opinion on the game follows:
Spoiler
I'd rate the game 8.5 to 10, due to it's really disturbing nature. I am a fan of Silent Hill games, and they always did disturb me so badly, I wouldn't replay them. Same happened with this game! The immersion is really excellent and the music and sound effects are properly placed and well-done. I find the ending not to reach the equal crescento built throughout the game, though I really liked Agnes popping up in the end.
The rooms on their side have all these faces that keep you on the edge, always waiting for something to pop up. I'd love it if the game would be messing more with you than it did. I also got more fear from anticipating something, than actually facing it.
To add: Man, the only part I've had my name on it, and it's a disgrace to my AGS programming skills..(Though everybody loved the two shotguns!)
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=32160.msg431381#msg431381
Btw, Thanks for that!!! (See link)
Yeah, right, it's quite disturbing. But my weak point was different... While spooky enviroments may please me,
Spoiler
that "smoothie" recipe alone made me feel uneasy, and using it on practice made me a bit sick :-X
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Wed 27/01/2010 21:42:29
Yeah, right, it's quite disturbing. But my weak point was different... While spooky enviroments may please me,
Spoiler
that "smoothie" recipe alone made me feel uneasy, and using it on practice made me a bit sick :-X
Spoiler
And that was exactly the point! I really appreciate your feedback though I think you over-analyze a little. All those things didn't really happen. This is just Joe's weird take on the essence of eating disorders in all its stages. Vomiting or making yourself sick is a part of it. Sure, there's a twist, and a gross one at that, but it's all just a metaphor. The game isn't meant to educate. It's meant to put you through a very strange experience and emotions you experienced are part of it.
So, think of each Sophie as a stage of Ivy's illness:
1)brainwashing in childhood
2)rejection in late teens
3)giving up & suicide attempts,
4)anger & insanity
Because after all, Sophie IS Ivy.
Also, the fish and the toast are secret items. I have never told anyone and never will what they're for. I know, it's a bit selfish, but I've sworn to myself that I won't...:)
And I apologize for the shotguns again!!!!!!!!:) :) :)
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Wed 27/01/2010 22:35:47
Spoiler
Also, the fish and the toast are secret items. I have never told anyone and never will what they're for. I know, it's a bit selfish, but I've sworn to myself that I won't...:)
And I apologize for the shotguns again!!!!!!!!:) :) :)
Spoiler
I know what they're for!
The fish and toast are the ammo for the second shotgun. :)
I just got this from my Russian publisher:
(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/kurwakurwakurwa/downfallinshops.jpg)
How great is that?:) Downfall on shelves of all Russian game shops!!!
I should get my 5 free copies any day now!:)
bug bug bug.
Spoiler
I picked up the saw a while ago and then got to the part where i need to slice sophie open with it.. but now the saw isnt in my inventory anymore
:(
That looks exciting, Grim! Congratulations :D
Quote from: Calin Leafshade on Mon 01/02/2010 18:28:15
bug bug bug.
Spoiler
I picked up the saw a while ago and then got to the part where i need to slice sophie open with it.. but now the saw isnt in my inventory anymore
Spoiler
Is it saw from 3rd floor corridor (that you used to slice the pig in the freezer)or a chainsaw from the secret lab you're talking about? The first one disappears after use, and it doesn't work on Sophie anyway. The second is harder to find as it requires you to solve the mannequin puzzle first. Is it possible you got them two mixed up:)
Congratulations! Although I am slightly worried to see Simon the Sorceror on a nearby shelf- that shop may be adjacent to a hellmouth or a temporal-spatial anomaly... :)
Congratulations mate, awesome stuff. :)
Quote from: Goldfish on Mon 01/02/2010 23:43:56
Although I am slightly worried to see Simon the Sorceror on a nearby shelf- that shop may be adjacent to a hellmouth or a temporal-spatial anomaly... :)
I checked info about that, it's "Simon the Sorcerer: Who'd Even Want Contact?!", released in Germany on march 2009, Russia october 2009.
But I may take a walk into nearest PC related stores and double check they have Downfall there ;D
Hello!I'm a Chinese player.I just finish this game and have many questions.My English is not good....
In the end,I haven't use the fish and toast
A friend above says "The fish and toast are the ammo for the second shotgun."
I don't have a fit save file.My gun has been loaded.I try to use the fish and toast to reload my shotgun.The system shows nothing,but using other things,it shows wrong.
Maybe "The fish and toast are the ammo for the second shotgun."That's right!!!
Quote from: subzero on Thu 04/02/2010 12:51:59
Hello!I'm a Chinese player.I just finish this game and have many questions.My English is not good....
In the end,I haven't use the fish and toast
A friend above says "The fish and toast are the ammo for the second shotgun."
I don't have a fit save file.My gun has been loaded.I try to use the fish and toast to reload my shotgun.The system shows nothing,but using other things,it shows wrong.
Maybe "The fish and toast are the ammo for the second shotgun."That's right!!!
Finally someone has worked it out!
EDIT: This Subzero guy has sent me a pm saying he got an illegal version of the game and it's okay to do that in China. I feel like if someone did a shit on my doormat and then knocked on my door to ask for a toilet roll....
Well, either subzero is not a real person, but someone's idea of a joke, or this guy doesn't know English well enough to appreciate the game anyway.
Wondering, is that really true? Is the fish and toast ammo for the second shotgun?
I don't think he's real... just someone's strange alter-ego messing around...
If you wanna know about the shotgun, you will have to try and load it with the fish yourself 'cos my lips are sealed:)
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Thu 04/02/2010 18:06:17
I don't think he's real... just someone's strange alter-ego messing around...
If you wanna know about the shotgun, you will have to try and load it with the fish yourself 'cos my lips are sealed:)
Hey, dman I'm stupid! I have the downfall source code!! And the fish and toast are used for .. :-X
No, unfortunately it really does seem to be ok to do that in China.
the fish and toast are used for ..
Maybe this is a bug.I don't know if someone meet this.
When I kill four Sophie,I want to go into the mirror.On my way,I meet the faxman.
I don't shoot him.I run into the mirror.
When I fight against the BOSS Sophie.The faxman is always beside me.But he don't hurt me.
I finish the BOSS and find Lvy is lieing on the ground,The faxman is still beside .
I can't leave this game scene whatever I do.
I can shoot at the faxman and he die.But when I go into the door ,the system tell that
"The charactar is not in the right scene"
Confusing.....
The story is wonderful.I always keep thinking the real order of the story,even sleeping.8)
Grim,can we talk the story here? :)
I'm confused what role Agnes has player..... ???
I think I've also found a dead end in the game.
Spoiler
I've killed three Sophies, the only one alive is in room 402. Then I've killed Agness. Now I can't kill the last Sophie as I don't have neither chainsaw (studio is still closed and the mannequin head is there), nor rifle shells (Agness died). Agness can't reappear because I can't have nightmares any more.
I can mail a save if you need to investigate the problem, but it is a Russian retail version by Akella so don't know if savegames will be compatible. BTW, the glitch described above in this forum:
QuoteAfter you explode the second Sophie, if you go straight to the broken mirror room rather than the room where the second Sophie was, there will be a cutscene showing the mirror breaking and when you will regain control, you'll be stuck in a wall in the previous room and you won't be able to move anymore. Loading the last savegame is the only way out of this situation.
is also present in the Russian version of the game. I left clicked on the left exit from the mirror room and my protagonists just teleported to that room being able to walk etc so I didn't have to reload the last savegame.
So, the question basically is,
Spoiler
how can you open the studio gates without Agnes.
I wanted to try that path too, but I did not found time to replay the game yet.
(Besides you really should be in "horror" mood to play this game ;))
Quote from: Alex_ASPI can mail a save if you need to investigate the problem, but it is a Russian retail version by Akella so don't know if savegames will be compatible.
Grim Reaper said that he should get 5 copies from Akella, so I guess he may actually try using one to check.
Akella has a downloadable review version (at least mine is) so there's a quicker way than to wait post delivery. :-) In fact I've completed the game and was playing through it again writing a walkthrough trying to minimize walking in the hotel and in the town when encountered this (possible) dead end. The review is also on its way.
HAHA.....A big joke in this century, isn't it?Congratulations!Grim@@!!!! :P :P :P :P
Quote from: subzero on Sat 06/02/2010 14:50:18
HAHA.....A big joke in this century, isn't it?Congratulations!Grim@@!!!! :P :P :P :P
Oh, man, I am sorry to say this, but you make no sense... :-\
Quote from: subzero on Sat 06/02/2010 14:50:18
HAHA.....A big joke in this century, isn't it?Congratulations!Grim@@!!!! :P :P :P :P
What's he on about?...
Joking about how old-fashioned physical delivery is?
Pirated russian version downloads detected.... now, Grim Reaper, you are truly becoming popular :P
Just as an aside - despite not winning anything at the Aggies :'( , I did vote for Downfall in multiple categories (story, setting, best indie game, and a couple of others).
I felt it deserved it.
Yeah...Pirated versions are really starting to bug me...
RedTalon- thanks for voting for me! I guess I'll be more lucky next time! :)
Few days ago I received my 5 copies of Russian Downfall! They look like music CD's in Russia, it turns out. I prefer english DVD size cases but hey, it's still all right! Anyway, I can't help feeling proud, so I thought I'd post a photo here.
(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/kurwakurwakurwa/IMG_7441.jpg)
(http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o27/kurwakurwakurwa/IMG_7442.jpg)
That really is cool :) I love the box art on the back... I hope more great AGS games get this treatment in the future!
It is a shame it didn't make it onto the awards... I voted for it too...
Anyways, how is the cat lady going? ;D
Quote from: Cryxo on Sat 20/02/2010 20:45:48
Anyways, how is the cat lady going? ;D
More importantly, is her cat (still) alright at this point?
Quote from: Ascovel on Sat 20/02/2010 21:33:58
Quote from: Cryxo on Sat 20/02/2010 20:45:48
Anyways, how is the cat lady going? ;D
More importantly, is her cat (still) alright at this point?
The cat's fine, I think from the brief part of the game I checked this game has to do with
Spoiler
A Sexy Lady!
Although photo quality sucks ::) I tried to read and translate what's written on the back side of the DVD (or is it CD? I have no idea) case:
"You definitely love pets...
But what if you'll have to slice one belly open?"
"Old people have such funny oddities...
But what if a granny will shoot her brains just in your sight?"
"Many married people tenderly love each other...
So that feed beloved one to death!"
"Ofcourse, you are real horror fan...
But are you ready to the REAL terror?"
"PS. Save often, bla bla bla"
markbilly- actually, the picture on the back of the cover is re-worked painted-over screen from the game!:) (when Joe reads a letter from his wife) It's funny, I remember drawing that one long time ago using my left hand for reference(then I just mirrored it so it would look like his right hand). I never thought at that point that it would appear on thousands of boxes:)
Cryxo- oh, nevermind:) I am very happy with the success of the game anyway and I hope one day I'll win something. I've won the Softpedia Award! :) But hey, Agnes features in Best Supporting( or is it Non-Playable?) Character category, so there's still a chance!
Ascovel- if you look closely, there's your website's name on the front of the box. And a quote ( I think it's the S.King would be proud thing:))
Surprisingly, there are no cats in Cat Lady yet. So far there's a deer and some birds.
They all die.
Crimson Wizard- I was wondering what all that meant actually! Thanks for the translation! I like it, despite of it being slightly silly:)
Dual-She's not exactly Lara Croft...but I'm glad you find her sexy. You pervert.........:)
:o that text on the back seems to be chock full of spoilers!
Yeah, it's a shame that Downfall didn't get more AGS Award nominations, I was really expecting it to feature in several categories. Similarly I'm surprised that tolworthy's Enter the Story games didn't get a single nomination.
Obviously there will be less people who have played the commercial games to vote for them (I think it's quite telling that Downfall is nominated for an NPCs whose almost entire role is played out in the demo). Time Gentlemen Please did get multiple nominations, but the game is dirt-cheap compared to Downfall and Enter the Story (of course being a sequel to a popular free game, and really, really good helps too).
Perhaps there should be a "Best Commercial AGS Game" category in the awards, voted on by a panel to whom commercial developers can submit review copies of the game.
Quote from: Ascovel on Sat 20/02/2010 21:33:58
Quote from: Cryxo on Sat 20/02/2010 20:45:48
Anyways, how is the cat lady going? ;D
More importantly, is her cat (still) alright at this point?
Quite!
Edit: Actually I can't talk. Look at the cat on my avatar :o
I like the idea of the Best Commercial AGS Game, GarageGothic. It's understandable that the community will favour free games because...they are free and everyone can try them:) I wouldn't have a problem with giving a free copy to the panel, whoever that is. Wait, aren't their identity supposed to be... secret? Won't I... find out who they are when... sending them a link to the game? Either that or I'm just talking rubbish again:)
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Sun 21/02/2010 16:26:57Won't I... find out who they are when... sending them a link to the game? Either that or I'm just talking rubbish again:)
Well, I imagined simply submitting the download links to the coordinator of the awards who could then distribute them to the anonymous panel.
Quote from: GarageGothic on Sun 21/02/2010 17:15:32
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Sun 21/02/2010 16:26:57Won't I... find out who they are when... sending them a link to the game? Either that or I'm just talking rubbish again:)
Well, I imagined simply submitting the download links to the coordinator of the awards who could then distribute them to the anonymous panel.
Sounds about right. But it's too late now, I wish we'd thought of that earlier... Must do that next year! Maybe Cat Lady will be out by then and will win me an award?:)
PS.Who's the coordinator? Is it Bici-something fella?
Yeah, bicilotti is the host/coordinator this year, but for the next awards it may be someone else. Not sure if SSH intends to return to the position. In any case, just mention the idea in the pre-awards discussion next year and let's see if anyone else thinks it's a good suggestion.
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Sat 20/02/2010 23:53:35
Ascovel- if you look closely, there's your website's name on the front of the box. And a quote ( I think it's the S.King would be proud thing:))
Yep, I reacted enthusiastically to this already a couple of pages ago (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=37767.msg523051#msg523051).
This might sound strange, but Downfall brings me luck.
Quote from: Ascovel on Sun 21/02/2010 19:23:16
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Sat 20/02/2010 23:53:35
Ascovel- if you look closely, there's your website's name on the front of the box. And a quote ( I think it's the S.King would be proud thing:))
Yep, I reacted enthusiastically to this already a couple of pages ago (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=37767.msg523051#msg523051).
This might sound strange, but Downfall brings me luck.
Oh yeah, I forgot I mentioned that:) It was one phrase worth a million:)
How does it bring you luck by the way? In what way?
Nothing supernatural, just brought a lot of attention to my site. This quote on the retail edition's box is a cherry on top.
Quote from: Michalski on Sun 21/02/2010 20:03:57
Quote from: Ascovel on Sun 21/02/2010 19:23:16
Quote from: Grim Reaper on Sat 20/02/2010 23:53:35
Ascovel- if you look closely, there's your website's name on the front of the box. And a quote ( I think it's the S.King would be proud thing:))
Yep, I reacted enthusiastically to this already a couple of pages ago (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=37767.msg523051#msg523051).
This might sound strange, but Downfall brings me luck.
Oh yeah, I forgot I mentioned that:) It was one phrase worth a million:)
How does it bring you luck by the way? In what way?
He says that you've met in personal in real life, and that helps him with the ladies... ;)
Dual, I said it once, I'll say it again. You perv...:) Is it because you've only just reached puberty that you've got ladies on your mind all the time!? :) :) :)
And of course, you're right. Only we haven't met in person. :)
We did do a podcast once though! Does that count?
EDIT: Igor, that was a sweet review though:) I honestly couldn't believe someone someone felt like that about Downfall.:)
Ok, I finally finished it.
Thoughts follow:
Spoiler
Thought 1: You're fucked up. :P
Thought 2: You're fucked up. :P
On a serious note I really liked it. It had a similar kind of feel to Hitchcock's Psycho. Especially in the delivery of the ending.
I liked the music for the most part although some pieces seemed a little bizarre.
I found the art to be hit and miss.. Some aspects were suitably creepy and some struck me as out of place (especially some walking animations).
The character art seemed to jump from hard edged pixel art to a kinda anti aliased resized thingy. I assume you did some of your animations using the rotate tool with some bilinear filtering or something? although i might be wrong.
The major issue I had with the game though was the scripting. It is very very rough. The character doesn't always face things he interacts with, some interactions are missing, some of the room change regions are oddly placed, the inventory system is a complete mess plus a few other things which escape me right now.
So to summarise: An excellent and compelling narrative marred by some peculiar scripting behaviour.
If I had a set of ten stars I would probably give you seven and a half of them to sew onto your blood-stained cub scout uniform.
Thanks Colin:) I see what you mean by the scripting issues... I won't pretend I don't realise there are technical flaws all over the game. This is one lesson I've learnt- faulty interface can really badly damage the whole gameplay. That's why I'm relying on other people's help now while making my new game (Dualnames:))and making sure it's top notch. This is one thing about this community though,you can always find people willing to give you advice(Dualnames:) x2) because it's rather impossible to shine in all areas of game making. I admit, while I learn a lot every day, my scripting still sucks...
If I could do it again, I'd change a lot. But then again, it's probably the raw nature of the first game that many people find attractive. When I make games I include things that serious game designers wouldn't agree are acceptable. But I always thought...why the fuck not?:) It's my game, after all. :P
Interesting, being compared to Hitchcock... I actually thought I'd love to be perceived as a Hitchcock of gaming. But then I started hesitating and thought I might be actually more of a.. Rob Zombie of gaming?:) Either would be really cool:) I like them both. Anyway, one great day,maybe sooner or later?, I will really make Stephen King so proud, he'l knock on my door with a bottle of scotch and weep like a child. :P
I'm not giving any advice here! I'm making the bloody interface!! Credit me!! :D
Seriously, it was exactly what bugged me most too Cal. I think it's very obvious to someone that has used AGS before.
Oh, yes, if you ever need beta tester for your future games, I will find so many bugs you will be fixing them as long as you were making the game. And I can work for only free copy of game ;D
Finished the game yesterday...
Spoiler
1. I completely believe you with you say you worked the graveyard shift at a mental hospital. You definitely are using "source material" that most of us are mercifully ignorant of. [Yes, I try to get into the developers head too.]
2. I get it that Ivy/Sophie/Agnes are all the same. I would have included Reception Girl too, but I just can't see Joe being part of the psychological makeup as well. The delusion seems to be about Joe and his wife's mental breakdown. Ergo, every woman Joe meets in the delusion should be Ivy/Sophie/Agnes, but Joe should always be himself.
3. Endings -- I never tried SURRENDER with PASSION and I'm assuming that will go badly, but the SURRENDER with LOYALTY combo seems weaker than the others. Do you have trouble believing there is any redemption for Joe? Why didn't that get a followup scene?
4. BUGS - I encountered some of the same bugs as everyone else. The only thing new I have to contribute is that during the BOSS FIGHT, reloading the shotgun caused the game play (but not the music) to freeze for 10 seconds, which doesn't sound like much but kinda killed the dramatic moment.
5. I never once considered listening to the laughing corpses and shooting Agnes, but WOW was that scene disturbed.
6. Music for the blender... that really broke the mood. Which I thought was extremely bad, but the atmosphere of the game is so critical.
7. IF you need a voice actor or a beta tester for THE CAT LADY, I've volunteering!!!
Out of curiostiy, was anything about DOWNLFALL influenced by DARK FALL. The name is close and both of them are set in a hotel with horrific guests/ghosts?
- Cogliostro
Wow nice artwork Grim, I'll be giving this a download and a play! :)
Quote from: Cogliostro on Fri 16/04/2010 18:06:24
Finished the game yesterday...
Spoiler
1. I completely believe you with you say you worked the graveyard shift at a mental hospital. You definitely are using "source material" that most of us are mercifully ignorant of. [Yes, I try to get into the developers head too.]
2. I get it that Ivy/Sophie/Agnes are all the same. I would have included Reception Girl too, but I just can't see Joe being part of the psychological makeup as well. The delusion seems to be about Joe and his wife's mental breakdown. Ergo, every woman Joe meets in the delusion should be Ivy/Sophie/Agnes, but Joe should always be himself.
3. Endings -- I never tried SURRENDER with PASSION and I'm assuming that will go badly, but the SURRENDER with LOYALTY combo seems weaker than the others. Do you have trouble believing there is any redemption for Joe? Why didn't that get a followup scene?
4. BUGS - I encountered some of the same bugs as everyone else. The only thing new I have to contribute is that during the BOSS FIGHT, reloading the shotgun caused the game play (but not the music) to freeze for 10 seconds, which doesn't sound like much but kinda killed the dramatic moment.
5. I never once considered listening to the laughing corpses and shooting Agnes, but WOW was that scene disturbed.
6. Music for the blender... that really broke the mood. Which I thought was extremely bad, but the atmosphere of the game is so critical.
7. IF you need a voice actor or a beta tester for THE CAT LADY, I've volunteering!!!
Out of curiostiy, was anything about DOWNLFALL influenced by DARK FALL. The name is close and both of them are set in a hotel with horrific guests/ghosts?
- Cogliostro
Spoiler
1.Well, it was a nursing home really. Still, a lot of horrible stuff happens in those places too. I'm working in the hospital now so expect plenty of that in my next game:)
2.Ivy/Sophie/Agnes situation is quite complex really... Ivy is the outside part of her personality, the part Joe tries to save because she is clearly very ill. Sophie is the monster that lives inside her, her illness. Joe seems to believe that by defeating her he will rid of all the problems she suffers from, naive little man:) Agnes, on the other hand, is the part of her that Joe fell in love with- funny and adventurous, and a bit stroppy but never too much. She has been lost for a long time and Joe doesn't seem to recognize her anymore...
The receptionist on the other hand symbolizes his temptation to give up and forget about his ill wife and all the problems she has poisoned his life with.
4.Never had the bug you mention happen to me during the boss fight... Clearly I needed to test it more:)
5.You should never listen to laughing corpses.
6.Let's hope Steven Wilson doesn't ever find this thread....EVER!:)
7. I will need testers, of course. I'm putting you on my future list of testers ( in my head) next to Arjon. We will kill all the bugs without mercy!:)
And I never played Dark Fall, although I've heard it's good. I think the maker of Dark Fall played Downfal though; he sent me an email a while ago.... But I'm not sure if it was him....;)
Just wondering, will the game ever appear on other downloadable services? Like Steam, or Impulse?
Quote from: Gamer_V on Sun 18/04/2010 16:11:10
Just wondering, will the game ever appear on other downloadable services? Like Steam, or Impulse?
It's also also available from Wadjet Eye Games website. And I'm in the middle of negotiations with Impulse:)
Just Adventure now has a glowing review up. Check it out:
http://www.justadventure.com/reviews/Downfall/Downfall.shtm
...
I think a year and a month is a new record for JA+!
Still, great review. Happy to see this is still getting love.
Oh, nice!!!:)
I wonder if it's got something to do with Downfall's recent release on GAMERSGATE (http://www.gamersgate.co.uk/DD-DF/downfall)?:)
EDIT: I nearly forgot to mention- GamersGate now sells version 2.0 of Downfall, "Dualnames" Edition. Dual, being a good friend that he is, offered to fix some major technical issues that plagued the game. Now, the save-load-quit icons no longer appear on the right side of the screen during the game, but are instead built-in into top inventory bar. Inventory bar has also been fixed and works much better. Also, save-load GUIs received a makeover:)
A number of bugs have been fixed too. No more multiplying shotguns and characters refusing to follow. Some animations have been updated too ( knocking on room 102 door etc). Also, text is displayed now in bigger clearer fonts.
Thanks Dualnames!!!
The game should also make an appearance on Impulse portal any day now.
Oh, one last thing. Downfall has taken Russia by storm and has now sold nearly 10.000 copies over there! :)
Despite already owning an older version, I will probably pick up the 2.0 version. I've mentioned this before, but I'll give it another shot: Any chance later on for a version that has voice acting? I'd gladly own a third copy at a higher price, for that.
Quote from: Grim on Fri 04/06/2010 18:14:01
Oh, one last thing. Downfall has taken Russia by storm and has now sold nearly 10.000 copies over there! :)
Woah! Big congrats! I would be already happy if such was the number of downloads I would get for my freeware games.
Quote from: RedTalon on Fri 04/06/2010 20:14:19
Despite already owning an older version, I will probably pick up the 2.0 version. I've mentioned this before, but I'll give it another shot: Any chance later on for a version that has voice acting? I'd gladly own a third copy at a higher price, for that.
I'm not fully aware of the stuff that Grim has put after I fixed and arranged some things on the technical side, but I think the game is now more fluent and enjoyable than it was. ;)
As for "Dualnames edition",god , I'm bloody flattered. :D
The Past
You know, I've been an avid gamer for almost 30 years having started at the age of 15. I started gaming on the Sinclair ZX81 and later moved to the console scene, working my way through 8 bit to 32 bit as the technology progressed.
Back then bedroom programmers or Indie game developers (as they're now known) came up with the likes of, Elite for the BBC B Micro Computer, a space trading game which surpassed all expectations for its time. However, it wasn't long before the big corporations came along and stifled the idea of what it actually meant to be a bedroom programmer. Gone were any forms of artistic creativity and in came greed, misplaced management and a World Wide video game content rating system.
The Present
Over the years I've noticed the spiraling cost of game development to the actual shop floor price and although it seems to have stabilized somewhat I've found these prices too steep to keep up with my gaming addiction. It's for this reason and having since returned to the PC some 10 years ago I've found myself downloading game after game after game etc via the use of torrents and file sharing hosts. I've basically funded my addiction for free, the only thing I've had to maintain is an ISP and upgraded Hardware costs.
Just the other day I was looking for something new, a horror type point & click adventure. Having already downloaded and played for free the recently released Darkness Within 2: The Dark Lineage, I subsequently dismissed it 1/4 of the way through due to its poorly implemented voice overs (they really are very, very bad with a capital B, take note above poster) I then stumbled across, Downfall: A Horror Adventure Game on a file sharing host which looked promising.
What can I say, within an hour of play I knew this was exactly the kind of game I was looking for and for some strange reason felt the urge to support the developer.
I've now come to realise the strange reason I felt had nothing to do with morals but purely appreciation for his work, which incidentally shouldn't go unpaid for.
Here's my receipt.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/PulpFact/Downfall_Order1.jpg)
The Future
Here's wishing Downfall: A Horror Adventure Game every success.
And my anticipation for, The Cat Lady runs high. A game which I'll no doubt be keeping an eye on and one which I'll pay for up front before resorting to getting for nothing!
**Edit
Decided to edit out the Order id: guess it shouldn't of been left.
The game's going great, I for one love the dark, morbid graphic details and view them as light hearted entertainment and not too shocking overall. It just plays on your conscious!
Wow, Gwizz.... I think this is the biggest compliment a bedroom game developer can get. Thank you.
I feel the same about today's gaming industry. It has become this soul-less cold machine only trying to produce what some rich bastards in black suits think will sell, never really considering people like us, who were brought up playing games when they were still a work of passion. Games used to be something very different, really.... You never knew what to expect.
I am nearly 30 too. I started playing games when I was about 9. I remember my dad bringing home this big sack with Commodore 64 in it and a load of tapes....:) I hardly ever feel this happy playing modern triple A blockbusters, although I still play them, maybe out of habit?
It makes me feel quite proud now that my game persuaded you to buy a legal copy even after you've played it:) And, of course, that you signed up to this forum to share your thoughts- I hope you will stick around and get to know this great community of people. Maybe you will even have a go at making a game yourself?:)
Thanks again:) You made me day. Honestly:)
Quote from: Grim on Fri 04/06/2010 18:14:01
Oh, one last thing. Downfall has taken Russia by storm and has now sold nearly 10.000 copies over there! :)
Does this mean you've made $100,000 in Russia alone? Wow!
Quote from: LocutusofBored on Sun 06/06/2010 04:55:33
Quote from: Grim on Fri 04/06/2010 18:14:01
Oh, one last thing. Downfall has taken Russia by storm and has now sold nearly 10.000 copies over there! :)
Does this mean you've made $100,000 in Russia alone? Wow!
Nah, I wish. It doesn't work like this, unfortunately. Developer only gets a percentage of the price. And in Russia games come really cheap ( compared to the rest of the world). If I sold that many units in UK or USA I would be rich now.... but here I am, still in my day job and on overdraft by the end of each month.
This is most unprofessional to discuss these things, I know. But for all of you who are planning to have a go at a commercial release you should know the market is tough and the middleman always takes his share, usually more than they should.
Quote from: Grim on Sun 06/06/2010 05:11:01
Quote from: LocutusofBored on Sun 06/06/2010 04:55:33
Quote from: Grim on Fri 04/06/2010 18:14:01
Oh, one last thing. Downfall has taken Russia by storm and has now sold nearly 10.000 copies over there! :)
Does this mean you've made $100,000 in Russia alone? Wow!
Nah, I wish. It doesn't work like this, unfortunately. Developer only gets a percentage of the price. And in Russia games come really cheap ( compared to the rest of the world).
Well, I see on Akella's website, that game disc costs 315 roubles, which is right about $10. So, Akella DID make $100,000 after all, minus the share they paid to you (whatever it was) ;)
Sweet Jesus.... I wish you hadn't told me that. :o I feel like I've been raped by an intergalactic buldozer....
I'm learning some very important lessons for the future here ( while imagining Akella's management driving their brand new BMWs).
Jesus!!!.... :( :o :'( Intelectual property is worth fucking nothing these days...
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Sun 06/06/2010 16:31:22
Well, I see on Akella's website, that game disc costs 315 roubles, which is right about $10. So, Akella DID make $100,000 after all, minus the share they paid to you (whatever it was) ;)
Let's not forget the shops take their share and probably it isn't that small either. Also, there are the costs of making the CDs and packaging (probably around 1$ per box, but still).
A shame that I have to buy the game again Grim just to get an updated version.
Quote from: Xenogia on Sun 06/06/2010 22:29:04
A shame that I have to buy the game again Grim just to get an updated version.
You don't really:) I'm happy to send a new version to those who have bought version 1.4 in the past. PM me.
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Sun 06/06/2010 16:31:22
Well, I see on Akella's website, that game disc costs 315 roubles, which is right about $10.
Keep in mind this is a retail version sent by a third party mail order company. If you check publishers prices you'll see that recommended price is 237 roubles, about $7.5, Akella sells it to distributors for 158-163 roubles, about $5. Subtract a $1 for packaging and printing.
Downloadable version cost 180 roubles - i.e. $6. As downloadable service is held by Akella itself (as far as i know), you can assume they don't pay 30% for placing a game there.
As for 10 000 copies... Well, I think our publishers always plan to sell not less then 10K. Just keep in mind, Russia has about 150M people. Though it was a bit risky with an indy game, I must admit.
Well... Thanks Alex_ASP, I suppose that makes me feel a bit better:) I guess I overreacted. Anyway, I am very happy that a lot of people got to play my game and it's all good for the future business.:)
Quote from: Grim on Thu 04/02/2010 17:06:12
Quote from: subzero on Thu 04/02/2010 12:51:59
Hello!I'm a Chinese player.I just finish this game and have many questions.My English is not good....
In the end,I haven't use the fish and toast
A friend above says "The fish and toast are the ammo for the second shotgun."
I don't have a fit save file.My gun has been loaded.I try to use the fish and toast to reload my shotgun.The system shows nothing,but using other things,it shows wrong.
Maybe "The fish and toast are the ammo for the second shotgun."That's right!!!
Finally someone has worked it out!
EDIT: This Subzero guy has sent me a pm saying he got an illegal version of the game and it's okay to do that in China. I feel like if someone did a shit on my doormat and then knocked on my door to ask for a toilet roll....
Grim,
I just realized the absolute easiest way to prevent it from
being okay to illegally download a game in China:
use China's extensive internet censorship. Add a few files to the game folder like:
Tiananmen_Square_protests_of 1989.txt
Tibetan_independence.pdf
Taiwan_independence.doc
Uyghur_Independence.rtf
These file can be empty or not, but any file with a name like that going through a Chinese router will be killed instantly.
That only thing that can stop China from violating copyright laws... is China.Not going to help you this go around, but for the next commercial game, it just might help. And besides, it costs nothing to do.
- Cogliostro
Cogliostro, with all due respect, but... few days after doing this you'll see the game on torrents with these files removed. :P
That is an excellent idea :P
you just need to make the game check for the existence of the files. ;D
Quote from: Calin Leafshade on Sat 26/06/2010 08:45:32
you just need to make the game check for the existence of the files. ;D
Hmm..... you have a point there ;)
But... there's yet a workaround. Delete files from the archive and recreate them after installing the game )
Mr. Michalski will agree that he lost more money from the legal deal he had with Akella than pirated versions of the game. Plus its hard to keep track of pirated versions of your game/s. Look at Spore (they said it had the best protection system), it won most pirated game of the year award.
Don't get me wrong, there's no such thing as a game that cannot be pirated. Technical and legal solutions fail immediately or just quickly.
However, this is not a technical/software solution. If American/Candian/British/etc hackers encounter no protection on the game, they'll assume there is none. In some sense they'll be blind to the censorship problem. A technical obstacle would be defeated inside of a week, but take a look at the what's going on in China, and tell me how many hackers will be able to figure out what files need to be renamed:
Censorship in China (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China)
Press Freedom Index (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Press_Freedom_Index)
So, you name the actual game file FREE_TIBET.EXE and VIOLA the game simply doesn't exist for China's hackers. The rest of the planet obviously won't be effected, but the idea of using China's censorship to stop piracy amuses me, and honestly, for that reason alone I'm presenting this idea.
No, it's not foolproof, but there cannot be an easier or cheaper way to subvert some hackers.
- Cogliostro
How do the paying customers in china get a copy if it has the "banned content" in it.
If you ship a "clean" version for the paying customer, it will end up pirated aswell....
But clever idea and I did like the cleverness of using china to do the work of keeping your own stuff of the pirate boards ;)
Thanks for an idea Coligostro, but I think I'm gonna let it go- if the bigger guys can't manage to prevent the problem I don't believe I could. Piracy has always been a problem and... I guess this is something developers have to accept.
But- on the bright side- here's Downfall again, out on Impulse this time!
Check it out: H E R E (http://www.impulsedriven.com/downfall)
Just found something...hmm... interesting I think you should see:):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E_zTXeK0Uec&feature=related
And then I found this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb2G5O-bgco
...and I started laughing too, but I'm not sure why....;)
I should not let the kids get their hands on this one.
It defenitely looks promising.
I may give it a try.
Quote from: Grim on Wed 15/09/2010 03:35:14
Just found something...hmm... interesting I think you should see:):
Ehhh... yes that was quite a funny experience.
Does that eradicate my question about the game having full voice-over?
Quote from: Cogliostro on Sun 27/06/2010 03:21:44
So, you name the actual game file FREE_TIBET.EXE and VIOLA the game simply doesn't exist for China's hackers. The rest of the planet obviously won't be effected, but the idea of using China's censorship to stop piracy amuses me, and honestly, for that reason alone I'm presenting this idea.
Wow, your suggestion is above frightening.
Chinese prisons are not comparable to ours.
Back to the topic,
no you can not do a thing against piracy,
it's tilting at windmills.
If there is enough demand (which a developer surely likes to have for his project)
then there is an equal amount of demand for piracy.
Take the so-called "unpiratable" STEAM system for instance.
You have to validate the authenticity of even the single-player games online (which is quite embarassing...) before you can play them.
It took less than half a year or so for the first pirate version of the STEAM system to appear and since then various groups have made their own "Underground STEAM" including the most recent titles.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not issueing a call for piracy,
but the fact is that even the most sophisticated anti-piracy mechanisms are overcome as time goes by.
So the advantage of having such a system in place lasts only a few months,
if at all.
For indie developers this means they should evaluate the cost-benefit equation of developing such a system in the first place.
I think if the price is ok, people will prefer a legit copy over a pirated one anytime.
Quote from: Cogliostro
Grim,
I just realized the absolute easiest way to prevent it from being okay to illegally download a game in China: use China's extensive internet censorship. Add a few files to the game folder like:
Tiananmen_Square_protests_of 1989.txt
Tibetan_independence.pdf
Taiwan_independence.doc
Uyghur_Independence.rtf
These file can be empty or not, but any file with a name like that going through a Chinese router will be killed instantly.
That only thing that can stop China from violating copyright laws... is China.
Not going to help you this go around, but for the next commercial game, it just might help. And besides, it costs nothing to do.
- Cogliostro
Do you really think that would do the trick?
The "pirating" scene is internationally organized,
if these files are not needed by the game, even the most stupid group out there will get rid of them.
(In fact i would assume that any group which leaves these zombie files in their release would be sneered at by the scene...)
Grim, this is actually the 1st game I've downloaded created with AGS and quite simply, I'm impressed. The artwork style of the game, all the hand drawn environments with their sketchy kinda look, adds a more psychological-horror look to the game which pulled off this feeling of fear and horror. Awesome work.
I'll say I've only played a small bit of the demo and wasn't expecting the game to be this fearful and awesome. In fact I made a pretty good horror game out of modding Wolf3d but this, I really wasn't expecting that kind of fear being able to be done with AGS (Still playng around with i and figuring it out). Well done!
If I had the money, rest assured I'd buy this... But I don't, though I'm not gonna pirate it either. :)
Yes the visual style of the game is something special! 8)
Just played the demo a bit and was put off. The writing seems so broken, like someone wrote it who doesn't have the best grasp of the English language, it didn't appear correct or natural to me.
Hrm, I seem to be the only person so far who has this reaction, so I wonder if I'm just imagining things. Maybe it's because English isn't my mother tongue anyway. ;)
Downfall is now free, you can get the "5-cup" game DRM-free from the game database page (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1170/). Download includes the OST.
Thank you of course to Rem for allowing this. As there is a remake in development at much higher quality, and we hope you'll buy it when it's ready ;) we agreed that the original may as well be freeware to entice you to try the new version (early-ish next year).
Hope you enjoy, thanks all those who bought it from me in particular (Screen 7) you will be given a discount on the new version. As for other distributors, not so sure yet - but am negotiating with them :) Can't say for sure if they'll stop selling it at this point either. But at least you can get it for free from the AGS site for now :)
It'll appear as free at the official website, which will be updated with info about the remake very soon:
www.quiethavenhotel.co.uk
PS. It's a stable version, it can be completed, but you may still run into a bug or two - so don't forget to save! We're not offering tech assistance for this game anymore, please don't ask!! Our answer is: Wait for the new version (which will have technical assistance ;)) - another big reason we made this freeware. Downfall 2009 can't be fixed and the answer to most questions about it can probably be found using a quick google search := Thanks for understanding!
This looks awesome...I'll grab it now and play it next month around Halloween!
You don't say no to a free game. Downloading...! :cheesy:
Such an excellent game! :grin:
Thankyou for making it freeware. And I'm looking forward to the remake next year. :cheesy:
Awesome, thanks! I played the demo years ago but never got the full game. Bought The Cat Lady recently and loved it, so looking forward to playing this one :)
This is perfect timing. I recently played the cat lady and have been wanting to try this. Thanks :)
I hope you have fun with it;)
The NEW Downfall is evolving into a very different game - all dialogues are being re-written from scratch, all puzzles re-designed etc. This is the only way I could make it work with (upgraded) TCL interface. A proper GIP thread will appear at some point too ( I want it to have a video trailer and that takes time to do).
So since the remake will be more of a reboot, there should still be plenty to see there for those who played the old Downfall. It's not just HD version ;) It's more like a completely new game loosely based on the original. Does that make any sense?;) Anyway, you'll know when you see it;)
Thanks
-Rem
Quote from: Grim on Sat 13/09/2014 05:49:24
The NEW Downfall is evolving into a very different game - all dialogues are being re-written from scratch, all puzzles re-designed etc. This is the only way I could make it work with (upgraded) TCL interface. A proper GIP thread will appear at some point too ( I want it to have a video trailer and that takes time to do).
This is interesting, I will be looking out for this :).
I'm enjoying this game but I have one real problem that no one else seems to have reported.
Sometimes the dialogue will just flash on the screen and flash right off before it can be read. This leads to my not knowing what is being said or what's going on in the game and I often have to restore to read the dialogue and sometimes restart the game to rectify this.
Has anyone else experienced this or know what causes it or what I can do to solve it?
SHADOW
Quote from: Shadow1000 on Sun 14/09/2014 17:16:05
Sometimes the dialogue will just flash on the screen and flash right off before it can be read. This leads to my not knowing what is being said or what's going on in the game and I often have to restore to read the dialogue and sometimes restart the game to rectify this.
Has anyone else experienced this or know what causes it or what I can do to solve it?
Hmm, this sounds like the common problem in older AGS games, when the skipping dialog by key or click also made next line be skipped.
If this is the case, I know how to solve this in game script, but for the player, I can only recommend to skip carefully :)
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Sun 14/09/2014 17:44:09
Quote from: Shadow1000 on Sun 14/09/2014 17:16:05
Sometimes the dialogue will just flash on the screen and flash right off before it can be read. This leads to my not knowing what is being said or what's going on in the game and I often have to restore to read the dialogue and sometimes restart the game to rectify this.
Has anyone else experienced this or know what causes it or what I can do to solve it?
Hmm, this sounds like the common problem in older AGS games, when the skipping dialog by key or click also made next line be skipped.
If this is the case, I know how to solve this in game script, but for the player, I can only recommend to skip carefully :)
Well, let me try to not skip any dialogue and see what happens. It seems that once it starts skipping then it won't stop unless I either reload the game (sometimes helps) or quit and restart.
Oh, and another thing that drives me crazy is that sometimes I simply cannot select items from inventory. It seems that scrolling through the inventory (even if I don't have items to the right or left) sometimes corrects this but that might be coincidence.
Thank you for the insight.
SHADOW
Quote from: Shadow1000 on Sun 14/09/2014 17:48:17
Well, let me try to not skip any dialogue and see what happens. It seems that once it starts skipping then it won't stop unless I either reload the game (sometimes helps) or quit and restart.
Hmm, maybe it happens after you Alt+Tab? I recall this bug.
Quote from: Shadow1000 on Sun 14/09/2014 17:48:17
Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Sun 14/09/2014 17:44:09
Quote from: Shadow1000 on Sun 14/09/2014 17:16:05
Sometimes the dialogue will just flash on the screen and flash right off before it can be read. This leads to my not knowing what is being said or what's going on in the game and I often have to restore to read the dialogue and sometimes restart the game to rectify this.
Has anyone else experienced this or know what causes it or what I can do to solve it?
Hmm, this sounds like the common problem in older AGS games, when the skipping dialog by key or click also made next line be skipped.
If this is the case, I know how to solve this in game script, but for the player, I can only recommend to skip carefully :)
Well, let me try to not skip any dialogue and see what happens. It seems that once it starts skipping then it won't stop unless I either reload the game (sometimes helps) or quit and restart.
Oh, and another thing that drives me crazy is that sometimes I simply cannot select items from inventory. It seems that scrolling through the inventory (even if I don't have items to the right or left) sometimes corrects this but that might be coincidence.
Thank you for the insight.
SHADOW
It's the first time I hear about the dialogue skipping, but the inventory bug is something that's plagued the game from day one... After restoring your saved game you have to click on one of the inventory arrows to unlock it. Pretty embarrassing, I know... This is one of the reasons Downfall is getting remade (other than the graphics, the typos, some cliched puzzled etc): back then I didn't have mOds to tell me that it's NOT okay to release such an unpolished game!;) I also didn't think it would get me anywhere... but it did;) And for that reason I will always be fond of it.
I spent a large portion of the day playing through this game and loved every minute of it! The love put into it shows in the extra little details, so a couple of little code hiccups and typos are easy to ignore. There aren't enough creepy point and click games out there (Dark Seed was my favorite), and this one hit the spot just right. I'll probably pick up and play through the Cat Lady next weekend.
Very curious to see what you're doing with the reboot!
Quote from: Grim on Sun 14/09/2014 20:01:18
... the inventory bug is something that's plagued the game from day one... After restoring your saved game you have to click on one of the inventory arrows to unlock it. Pretty embarrassing, I know...
Why don't we just view using inventory as another puzzle that has to be solved? ;)
SHADOW
I hope there are voices & the famous room 666 in the new Downfall, it would be great:grin:
Please let us use the mouse and not the keyboard as the TCL done because it's painful.
It's gonna be keyboard.
Sorry... ;)
And yes, the voices, the room 666, the cat - they're all in there. You're gonna love, Herve;)
Please, don't kill a ritual Mephisto black cat but instead a bunch of puppies - I prefer cats than dogs ;)
Room 666: don't play it an easy way, hide the key somewhere nobody finds out & then put a meeting with the Devil himself that discusses with you but with no good choices to do as a dead end or a bad dream, you can even kill Joe if you want with a gruesome death it would be fantastic ;) Tell Micamic to make a Devil's meeting catchy tune.
Argh, return of the keyboard. Please create a mouse patch! Keyboard is too boring, you play an adventure game not a stupid FPS ;)
Quote from: Surdy on Sun 28/09/2014 17:33:13
Argh, return of the keyboard. Please create a mouse patch! Keyboard is too boring, you play an adventure game not a stupid FPS ;)
This may be a matter of personal choice, but surprisingly I found TCL keyboard controls perfect for the game, because IMO they added to immersion, making you feel more tied to main character. :)
On other hand I guess alternate mouse option is not that difficult to add. Not me to decide, of course.
Quote from: Mods on Fri 12/09/2014 15:05:32
It'll appear as free at the official website, which will be updated with info about the remake very soon:
www.quiethavenhotel.co.uk
Um, this still isn't showing as free on the official website. It still has the links to buy it, but when I click on the links, it says 'Out Of Stock'.
Is it something I'm missing? :confused:
Mm, no update to the site yet sorry. Use the db link for now :)
Okay, thanks :smiley:
Forgot to leave this here :wink:
http://www.reloaded.org/download/Downfall/531/
What a great surprise!
It looks like a really spectacular game!
Eager to know this madness ...
Congratulations, Grim!
A little late, it is true ...
But anxiously sincere!
Thanks for such a great review;)
I actually want to remake that ending song as well (though I've long accepted that I'm pretty much tone deaf and shouldn't sing ever again). Maybe make a slower piano+vocals version;)
Hi,
I see this game is full of blood and gore...
It seems popular enough, must be gore fans around (laugh)
Love the trailer (nod)