Downfall (2009) - now FREE

arj0n · Fri 09/10/2009 12:07:40

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

Let me know if you going to grab the full version.

Happy Downfalling

die_to_xxx · Fri 09/10/2009 12:18:45

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::

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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!!!!

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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::

arj0n · Fri 09/10/2009 12:43:05

I've PM-ed you because this seems to be going "off topic" which is not allowed...

die_to_xxx · Fri 09/10/2009 12:47:40

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

arj0n · Fri 09/10/2009 12:49:57

You wont regret, I'm sure of that.
And oh, check your inbox

die_to_xxx · Tue 13/10/2009 12:59:47

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!

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That was incredibly long, but I felt the game deserved a thorough review! xD

PuNKKoMmANDO77 · Tue 13/10/2009 13:22:31

what a wonderful game , simply fantastic

LRH · Wed 14/10/2009 06:07:27

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!"
[close]

That was me, who

Spoiler

had nightmares heh.

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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

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die_to_xxx · Thu 15/10/2009 13:01:17

Quote from: Domithan on Wed 14/10/2009 06:07:27
That was me, who
Spoiler
had nightmares heh.
[close]

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
[close]

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!

Grim · Fri 16/10/2009 01:16:10

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:)

Crimson Wizard · 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

Grim · Sun 27/12/2009 12:15:13

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:))

Crimson Wizard · Sun 27/12/2009 15:24:51

Do you know, are they going to leave english language there as an option?

Grim · Tue 29/12/2009 03:27:55

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.

Crimson Wizard · Tue 29/12/2009 14:59:54

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.

Grim · Tue 29/12/2009 18:58:17

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!

Crimson Wizard · 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

It's a quote from HardyDev.com review:
http://hardydev.com/2009/07/10/downfall-review/

Well, I guess you may know that

Grim · Thu 31/12/2009 11:57:48

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
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...)

RedTalon · 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

Igor Hardy · Fri 01/01/2010 20:21:23

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
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!