I am the last of the treasure hunters.
I've spent my whole life finding treasure: not boring ordinary treasure, real treasure, under mountains, in dark jungles, at the very ends of the earth. You'd think I'd be rich, but I'm not. It usually gets taken away. Museums get rich. I don't. I just keep going. It's all I really love.
Not long ago I got an unusual call. Most people don't know I exist, except government interferers and museum curators, and a few real die hards of treasure hunting who wish the good old days would come back. They won't. But I digress. I got a call from a man called Lord Fern, asking me to find a something for him. It's not something I ever do, find things for other people, but I've been getting bored and tired with my usual expeditions, and besides I haven't been on a usual expedition for over a year now. I'm beginning to fear that there isn't anything left for me to find.
So I accepted.
Of course, there's a lot more to Fern Island than is immediately apparent: there seems to be a ghost haunting the abandoned lighthouse, and Lord Fern and his house guests all act suspiciously like they're hiding something. Not to mention what I keep seeing in the mirror.
(http://discordants.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/front-door1.png?w=320&h=200)
Look! This place has a front door!
(http://discordants.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/library.png?w=320&h=200)
And there's a well-stocked library.
(http://discordants.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/cliff.png?w=320&h=200)
Weather's not so good, though.
This is the very first game I have ever released, so I'm eager to be lambasted for incompetence, i.e. criticism is appreciated. If you happen to like it, I won't complain about compliments either.
Download as follows: Click on the big blue "Download" button.
Download (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?xzzzzdzqyyh)
I wish to suggest from the very beginning to rename archive from Compiled.zip to something more appropriate, so it would be easy to distinguish from other AGS game archives people downloading.
"How They Found Silence.exe" should be named "organ grinder.exe"
Entered the cave and went back out to the start screen. Then the game crashed.
The error message:
In "room2.asc", line 25
Error: EndCutScene: not in a cutscene
Dangit, that doesn't look good, does it! My apologies. I'll fix this as soon as is humanly possible.
EDIT: Okay, I've updated the download link. Sorry about the instantaneous bug, hopefully there are no other major ones.
Just wanted to say that I love the title! Congrats on getting it done!
Although my syllable count hasn't touched yours yet :D
Game looks interesting... I'm going to try it out:) Like Vince said before me, I think the title is great! Good enough to capture one's attention!
Quote from: discordance on Mon 31/08/2009 03:16:12
Although my syllable count hasn't touched yours yet :D
Keep practicing! You'll get there! ;)
It's a nice game for a first game.
But I don't really like the swimming part in the pool in the cave.
And that's because I have totally no clue where to go or whatsoever.
I've been swimming around for some time but never ended up
somewhere then back at the surface to get some breath...
But apart from that it's pretty OK.
Quote from: [ Arj0n ] on Mon 31/08/2009 03:24:03
But I don't really like the swimming part in the pool in the cave.
Spoiler
You might not want to persevere at that for too long.
At first I thought the title is very romantic and sad in some way... after certain game events I found it rather creepy ;)
Had not much time to play this game, so not much comments now; but I keep playing.
Ah, yes, there's one thing which I thought is a bit strange, it is a discussion with sailor during intro cutscene. Author did not tell what year is it, but considering the clothes I could guess it is XIX century perhaps... if this guess is correct, I'd say a mere boatman mentioning archaeology sounds like anachronism.
Enjoying the game so far but have found a bug.
I have just...
Spoiler
solved the book case puzzle with the note from the drawer upstairs and got a "ker-chink" noise or something (couldn't work out what it opened though).
...Then I went down to the beach, the game crashed and I got this error
In "room2.asc", line 79
Error: FaceCharacter: characters are in different rooms
Oh, yes, and there was this bug: I fyou enter the cave just in the beginning, they music changes, then when you return and go to mansion music stays same as in the cave all the time until the end of the intro.
Discordance:I'm enjoying your game quite a bit. It may not have the best graphics or many animations (the only animations I've seen are walking animations... you didn't even animate Rholand in the water! Heh), but I must say that it's kept me interested and I haven't lost interest in the least. There's just something about it. It funny, it's the last thing I thought about before going to sleep and the first thing I thought about when I woke up this morning... very strange. Out of all the attention that the XDays series has recieved, I never thought about it like I do yours. Or ANY AGS game for that matter. It's making me NEED to finish it.
Great job with keeping me playing!
\\--EDIT--\\
And yes, it is your title that drew me right in right away.
I think the title of a game plays almost just as big of a role as the story itself does.
I wouldn't have been as interested in it if you had named it
Fern Mansion, or
The Sea Stone or similar. I LOVE the title.
I agree with what Crimson Wizard had said about it as well:
QuoteAt first I thought the title is very romantic and sad in some way... after certain game events I found it rather creepy
Was a nice and interesting game, congratulations on this one.
But it crashed a few times when Kara and the main character changed the room. You should also
Spoiler
work on the puzzle with the books. If I touched a booked that belonged to the lock and later on tried to solve the puzzle, I got only this "ker-chunk" noise, even if I left the room and tried again. Had to reload the game from an earlier position, so I could finally finish it.
Wow, thanks for all the positive comments! I'm honoured! :)
And for all the people who mentioned having issues with the book case:
Spoiler
I think I figured out the problem. It seems to be an issue with the interface: if you click on a book and then move the mouse away, the wrong book may register as being clicked. The puzzle should work perfectly as long as you click on the book and then *don't* move the mouse until Rolande walks over and you see the "click" appear. If you solve it you should see an immediate and very obvious result in the library. Sorry, I'll try to get this fixed as soon as possible.
And thanks for bringing up that other bug, Intense, I'll try to get it fixed too.
As for the time period, the look is kinda 19th century, but I certainly didn't fix a time period and the game world can be considered entirely fictitious. I did absolutely no research whatsoever ;)
EDIT:
Also, thanks for giving the title some love, Snake! It's interesting you should mention that, because early on I was calling this game "The Fern House" . . . I guess it's a good thing I changed my mind.
ANOTHER EDIT:
Okay, I think that's the whole shebang fixed and the download link updated. Should be smooth sailing henceforth.
Oo, I should mention too that while in the library with Lord Fern, you probably shouldn't be able to mess around with the books. I was actually surprised that I could. This was in the very beginning. I mean, you don't get invited to find treasure for this guy and then start messing with his bookcase... at least not when he's in the room ;)
Nice game and puzzles.
I have given up at preparing the potion. It seems there are at least 5*2*4*4 possible combinations (too many) so I´ll wait for a hint from a charitative soul.
Cheers
I'm stuck with the potion-puzzle, too.
Spoiler
I have no idea, what colour the salamander blood has. I even tried to google it, but I couldn't find it out.
I suppose the dragon eye is the red one, the kalamancus powder should be the green one. I'm also not sure about the unicorn heart. The hints only say something about a unicorn horn.
blood is red ...
Spoiler
you can try with one or the other of the red liquids. Kara gives a hint about the colour of the powder. And if you grind a unicorns heart, you get (goolge) gold dust You are left with only a few choices...
If you read all the notes in the lab, you should be able to get the potion puzzle on the first try. Did anyone read the piece of paper tacked up near the shelf? It has some hints on it.
That note is somewhat misleading: it seems to discard the gold powder (goldenfrog) and the brilliant red (decay of smthg).
Ty for the help.
Dang, I just noticed that. The messages on the bowls were supposed to refer to the color of the *label*, not the powder within. How embarrassing.
Ive figured it out finally
Spoiler
blood is always red but there is another one red color besides that brightly red substance
dragon eye = obvious
kalamancus = hint from kara or what her name is
unicorn heart (overstriking horn) switched with golden frog = gold powder
and the last thing = sticks
and finished the interesting game ;D
thank you for that discordance
Okay, I've made the potion, but I need Lily to speak the magic words. When we go back up the stairs, I get attacked. I've tried every combination of replies to get this buy to stop, but nothing ever deters him.
I work QUICKLY through the talk-options and tell him the cave door is open and he should check for him self. He says he will after he kills me. I tell him to talk to Angela -- after all she is the only human he trusts -- and he tells me he will not listen to my lies. I've been through the this scene about thirty times and end up getting killed every time.
Any hints or suggestions?
On that note, should most of these comments be in the hint section?
try it once again
i am sure you can do it
it isnt that hard as it looks ;D
cogliostro
Spoiler
You can avoid getting killed by asking the right questions. I think I started with "why do you want to kill me?", then there are only to sensible answers in the next dialog
Hey, finally got a chance to finish this game. The potion puzzle was a toughie, but I enjoyed it and figured it out for myself. I quite enjoyed the dialogue puzzle at the end.
Nice little game. But I must admit that it leaves me wishing there was more to it. But, that all goes to the fact that it was in fact your first game (to be released) and likely due to you not having enough time to devote more time into the story.
I loved the music! I also loved the atmosphere at the beginning... especially after walking into Lily's room for the first time... Christ. Liked that a lot.
Good game and looking forward to your next. The ending hinted at a possible sequel... will there be?
Okay, I am back to this game, and I continue to note rough edges :)
I believe it is a design fault that when you exit Feurn Manor through main gate, on the next screen character is placed at the right room edge and not in the centre (where gates are located). For the first time this made me think that he came from the right, and that I am still somewhere behind the walls of the manor grounds.
Then I found this bug: if you exit through gates and appear on that mentioned screen (before manor gates), then click on the right-pointed green arrow, you will be transported to the next location, which lies to the right, but your character will appear standing at the right edge once again, instead of walking from the left.
Now, I found that rather unnatural
Spoiler
that you have to wait for day 3 to get some matches... I mean, what kind of the treasure hunter is this guy if he can't get himself matches and have to wait until other man will forget some on the table?
. . . maybe he left in a hurry. Or maybe it's an artificial way to force a carefully designed story progression. :)
Thanks for the notes, though. I guess this is why beta testers were invented.
Just finished the game and... heh
Spoiler
I wished there were some gruesome carnage with smiling living doll involved
just kidding ;D
Can you explain what this phrase about "they found silence" mean anyway, in the context of this story? I thought in the end I will understand for sure but I didn't. I have a guess, but have doubts as well.
The idea behind the title:
Spoiler
Everyone is trying to find something or accomplish something - Fern wants to preserve the status quo, Angela wants to feel fulfilled by helping people, Okotoko wants to save himself and his people, etc. But in the end, nobody really gets what they're looking for, they all end up dissatisfied. Even Okotoko dies just as what he's been hoping for comes about. So in the end, nobody really finds what they're looking for; all they find is silence.
I finished the game yesterday, and I really enjoyed it, especially the story.
However, I have a few (heh) questions:
Spoiler
What did the sad white doll signify? My guess is that it was meant to represent the plight of the sea people, seeing that it was sad when they were dying, but when they were restored, it was floating serenely in the ocean. Either that, or it was an avatar of Okotoko, since it seems to watch you in a sinister fashion after you leave the room.
Spoiler
Speaking of the doll, if the fairly tall Rolando can't reach it, how the hell did Lily get it up there? There don't seem to be any portable ladders or the like ANYWHERE on the island. :P
Spoiler
Also, if Kara wasn't of magical blood, how did she trap Malacastor in the ring? Or if I read the signs wrong, and she was of magical blood, why didn't she just speak the spell herself? What was the purpose/significance of the rope in the lighthouse? It seems Like Angela may have hung herself there, after she failed to save a loved one. Finally, what role, if any, did Malacastor play into the current events of the game? The fact that you give the ring to Lily, and that conversations preceding that seem to suggest that Malacastor has escaped, but nothing seems to come of it.
Overall, it seems like there are quite a few loose ends you could pick up if you decide to pursue a sequel ;D. The mythology of this world seems to be really thought out, which is something I always like in a story, even if only small chunks are revealed.
Thanks!
Heh, another one C(K)rimson guy here ;D
Quote from: Krimson on Sun 06/09/2009 23:32:17
Spoiler
Either that, or it was an avatar of Okotoko, since it seems to watch you in a sinister fashion after you leave the room.
Actually I had a guess that
Spoiler
Malacastor transferred his soul into that doll.
Don't know if this correct, but it would be cool and sinister.
Quote from: Krimson on Sun 06/09/2009 23:32:17
Spoiler
Speaking of the doll, if the fairly tall Rolando can't reach it, how the hell did Lily get it up there? There don't seem to be any portable ladders or the like ANYWHERE on the island. :P
Heh, that's a good one. Maybe... maybe...
Spoiler
Malacastor helped her? ;D
Quote from: Krimson on Sun 06/09/2009 23:32:17Spoiler
The fact that you give the ring to Lily, and that conversations preceding that seem to suggest that Malacastor has escaped, but nothing seems to come of it.
Overall, it seems like there are quite a few loose ends you could pick up if you decide to pursue a sequel
Yeah, yeah, a sequel about
Spoiler
SINISTER WHITE SMILING DOLL
;D
The more wizardly crimson guy is correct:
Spoiler
The doll is Malacastor. He escaped from the ring and possessed the doll.
Heck, not only are there no ladders, the manor is also completely lacking in kitchens, dining rooms, bathrooms, virtually all the basic amenities. Actually there are a lot of rooms in the manor that you can't get to because I'm too lazy to draw them all and they weren't important to the story.
I have a whole pile of ideas for a prequel, which will hopefully see the light of day sometime, and incidentally might try to patch over some of the more blatantly obvious plot holes ;D
Quote from: discordance on Mon 07/09/2009 00:11:39
The more wizardly crimson guy is correct:
Spoiler
The doll is Malacastor. He escaped from the ring and possessed the doll.
In retrospect, this makes perfect sense.
Spoiler
It was Malacastor's renewed power/influence (due to Lily) that angered the Sea People, and this, along with Kara revealing her secret, made Lord Fern decide that the Sea Stone had to be found fairly soonish. The reason that Okotoko never decided to off Lord Fern before is that because he didn't believe that Lord Fern had anything to do with the situation. When he sensed the return of Malacastor, he suddenly realised the two were connected, and decided that murder was the best solution. The fact that a long since gone sea person's 'essence' had reappeared, yet she was nowhere to be found, can't have helped the situation.
Good to know that you have plans for a prequel!
P.S. Crimson Wizard: I assure you that the similarities in our nick-names are purely coincidental, yet still pretty awesome. :D
Me and Nelly thoroughly enjoyed this game. It was like a Lovecraft short story in tone and length. Regarding the game's period, I took the game to be set in an approximation of the modern day because of the idiom the characters spoke in. Also, I got the crash mentioned above:
(ACI version 3.12.1074)
in "room2.asc", line 79
Error: FaceCharacter: characters are in different rooms
I have a couple of suggestions for future games in this vein. With regard to the graphics, they were a few occasions where they were less than functional - at one point I couldn't tell if I was looking at a painting or a window. Perhaps they would have benifited from using smaller characters and cramming more detail into the backgrounds - in the manner of Duty and Beyond. This wouldn't require a challenging graphical style, but it would have offered the player fewer uninteractible areas of flat colour.
The second suggestion I'd make would be to offer the character more of a challenge. Your preamble characterises him as a master adventurer, but the game doesn't give him the opportunity to excercise his special skills. Offerring a puzzle involving something like a grappling hook, lockpick or compass would have helped make the character feel a more active protagonist.
I hope that didn't sound too negative, good luck with the next one!
Just finished it, and I must say I liked it. Okay, the graphics are a bit on the weak side and he walked really slow, but it had a certain atmosphere that was appealing. The music was good, but there could have been a few more animations. But otherwise, a cool debut.
Thanks for the advice! I basically live in the chilling outer wastelands of the Land of Skilled Artists, so my greatest ambition was just to hit "functional" graphics-wise. Maybe I'll improve eventually. Or maybe I'll just lower the resolution enough that it's impossible to tell. :)
I tried to download it but on the site it says that the file was invalid.
I got the same message: Invalid File. This error has been forwarded to MediaFire's development team.
I've mirrored it for now. (http://gamesolutions.efzeven.nl/downloads/How%20They%20Found%20Silence.zip)
Ah, okay, it looks like the link on this page still points to an outdated file. Sorry about that, folks. I've updated it now. Also the link on the games page (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1198) should still work.
I played your game for a while and I enjoyed it. Did not manage to finish it, though- that damn underground river got me well and truly stuck. I just swam and swam for ages and nothing happened, and that put me off a bit. It sort of reminded me of Super Mario game :) ( the underwater section I mean).
Very nice atmosphere. I enjoyed the different controls too.
What you could improve on, is more animation, definetely. The lack of it makes characters feel detached from the world. Also, some of them are a bit cliched ( little girl, I thought). I loved the hanging man in the mirror though!
Also, I think it would've been so much better if the main character wasn't a male version of Lara Croft but just a man washed ashore on the island, a sole survivor of some sea- catastrophe... But that's a minor criticism. Good game in general and I'd love to see more from you!
Damn, that stupid river thing just screwed everyone up. In retrospect I think I should have made it go straight down, so it was immediately obvious that you couldn't actually get anywhere.
Thanks for the compliments, though.
Loved the game! I'm all about story driven games, but there were some great puzzles in this one too (the bookcase and the potion making were my favorites; not too difficult but still complex enough to make me feel smart for cracking them ;).) The sad doll was my favorite character... that was one place where the simple design really succeeded... he was quite haunting.
I know this is pretty much a dead topic, but I'm really curious if the
Spoiler
rope and trapdoor in the lighthouse
had any significance, since I finished the game without using them-- did I miss something?
Looking forward to your next game, discordance!
Whoa the dead topic lives!
The rope has some extremely vague significance within the story that I never ended up explaining. The trapdoor, on the other hand, has no significance at all and is just there, for some reason. So no, you didn't miss anything. Also, glad you liked the game!
In an effort to kind of give the less insanely popular games in the AGS world a chance, here's a little review I wrote on it. Hopefully I'll be doing more of these.
http://domithan.com/?page_id=146
Hey I got a review! Sweet! I feel like an actual game maker person now!
I have to agree about the whole doll thing; I planned for him to play a much bigger role at the end but wasn't really happy with any of his insertions, so he ended up being pretty inscrutable. I swear he DOES have actual significance though. If I were making this game again the first thing I'd do is try to make him have more of an impact.
Played it and finished it. Liked it, too. The graphics are what I call "pixel work" more than "pixel art", but since I know how much pain doing artwork can be if you're not used to it, I simply let my imagination take over. Nice storytelling, although the hangman puppet left me somewhat puzzled, since its purpose is left unclear in the end.
Also, the underground lake didn't bother me that much. I simply left the cave after some unsuccessful tries to reach the bottom of the lake, figuring that sooner or later i'd get a hint on how to find the stone. ;)
I'd say the puzzles went all smooth, you just shouldn't stay extremely focused on one puzzle or location if the solution doesn't get to you right away.
Would love to see a sequel on that game.
I was still wondering if you'd consider releasing a "deluxed" version of the game, with better backgrounds / characters and animation ?
You game could be a "shadow of the comet" serious competitor ;)
Let me know ...
I'd love to, know anyone who can draw? ;)
I do :)
Maybe I could show you some of my art ...
PM me
I finished this game quite a while ago, and haven't got around to saying anything until now. So, here goes:
The graphics are an eyesore and I don't know how I managed to look at them for the entire game, but I did. And that, I think, is a testament to this game's brilliance.
Even with the horrid graphics, I got immersed in the game. I was compelled to finish it, and I was moved by it at some moments. Even now, months later, I can remember the pivotal story moments clearly. This game was an experience.
I especially liked the name (as many others have) and the potion puzzle (got it first time without a walkthrough). Keep up the awesome work - I hope to play something like this again in the future!
PS: On some level, I think the graphics made it what it is. It was kinda like playing a child's drawing. I'm not sure how well it would've worked if it'd been masterfully illustrated.
PPS: I just went into the game's folder and all the files have somehow deleted themselves (or I did something weird). Does this game really exist, or was it just some surreal dream?
@F1ak3r:
I think you are an ass. The graphics are not "horrid". The fact that you would even say they are "horrid" is wrong - even if you used that word to convey how much they didn't matter compared to the game itself.
Even though they could be remade to be more immersive for the story, they do NOT deserve to be classified under "horrid".
You might as well spit in discordance's face.
On the contrary I think he's perfectly welcome to describe the graphics however he pleases.
reviewers said some things about McCarthy were "dreadful" which is just as bad as horrid.
I disagree with his opinion but I don't think he's an ass for having that opinion or expressing it.
Snake's point is a good one, and one I've championed in the completed games forum for ages now. This is not, contrary to popular opinion, the Critics Lounge. If you have an overwhelmingly negative opinion then go write a review somewhere and be a jerk there, you don't have to be a jerk here. That goes for excessive dickheadery in other completed games posts, too. The author is ultimately the one who decides what is and is not offensive to their efforts, though, and some authors don't let harsh comments get to them (and they're better for it). That is not to say that if you are upset that you don't have a right to be, which is why I think there should be a limit to how much shit throwing is allowed in this forum at people offering free games.
not meaning to be too offtopic, what is this forum for?
Simply announcements with no comment and criticism?
The forum rules state: "Release threads are for comments and criticism only."
So i don't understand...
Woah. Okay, I'm sorry to offend. I used the word "horrid" because I really didn't much like them - I suppose the word was a little strong, but it was hyperbole for an effect.
The effect being that my thoughts about the game were really quite positive overall, despite my dislike of the graphics.
In general I do find some people go too far with criticising said games that are free. If it was a commercial product that is a different story considering you're paying for it.
Quote from: discordance on Mon 14/06/2010 22:15:38
I'd love to, know anyone who can draw? ;)
Hey, I had the exact same thought about the Deluxe version. I really liked the game.
I can draw.
Also, I swear to the Gods of Paintover that I won't change the style AND I won't change the perspective of the rooms, they're the trademark of the game.
Quote from: Snake on Mon 21/06/2010 00:26:22
@F1ak3r:
I think you are an ass. The graphics are not "horrid".
Frankly I also think they're horrid :) I thought the comment was pretty positive. Like the bit where he suggests that I keep up the awesome work, that was my favorite part.
@Freak : Thanks for bumping the thread - otherwise I'll have tottally miss this one.
Nice game and good plot, a lil' more tweaking will have been appreciated, but I really did enjoyed it. Keep on the good work, and produce some more.
I started playing this game almost a year ago, and got stuck on that last last puzzle towards the end. Just finished it this morning. It's always a strange feeling, being prompted to reflect on one's own mortality. This was well written and I'm glad I decided to come back and finish it. Thanks for another addition to the list of AGS classics!
Well since it got bumped anyway, I'll use this oportunity to say that I love this game, it's lovely, it has beautiful music, and everyone should play it.
Still because it's bumped: ...Well, then wait for the remake ;-)
I didn't even realise this thread had been bumped out of the bowels of hell, but since it already has been I'll post with impunity. I just played this game and I thought it was pretty neat. The art style has a particular charm for some reason, even though it is quite simple. And there were several parts I actually did find a little creepy.
Actually, graphically it reminds me of Pleurghberg, which is no bad thing.
For the love of Troica, every time I see this thread bumped up on the forums main page, it tricks me in to thinking there's a sequel!
PS
Can there be a sequel please?
Seconded.
Please Discordance, please!