Hello All
I have just added my first game to the completed games list and hope that some of you will try it out. It's called ONCE UPON A TIME and is a point and click adventure. It is a long game and took me over three yeas to complete, and is a rather large download (67.2MB) But I think you might find it worth trying if you have boadband.
At least, have a look at the web site I have set up, where you can download the game if you wish:
www.freewebs.com/oncetimegame
I am not used to posting on forums and suchlike, and I seem to have messed up a bit when adding my game. I forgot to add a password (it did'nt make it mandatory!) and now I can't edit the entry to add a link to a screenshot! If anyone knows a way around this, I would be grateful for help.
I welcome all constructive criticism and comments.
Elen (elentgirl)
elen.
This looks STUNNING! (from the screenshots that is).
I will take a few screenshots to help you out once I download the game! :)
More comments to come :)
Beautiful game, elent, congratulations!
Original style. The menu and design reminds me of a medieval story book, kinda like the Sword in the Stone.
Downloading...
I've just booted it up, checked out the first 3 rooms, and left, because I don't have much time and just wanted to take a quick look.
As a result of that quick look, I'd just like to say you've done a great job visually, it's very refreshing, and I just wish the character movement was a bit faster.
I'll definitely be playing more when I have the time. This looks indeed like a great game.
Played it for some time and think it's a very interesting aproach on the genre, it sure makes me want to play more. Congrats.
Nice art and the starting music is very good.
Hope to finish it when I have more time.
Hi!
I just taken the time to register to let you know that I downloaded your game and played it for maybe 1 hour so far.
It's a beautiful game and I really like the feel of the game (it's really give you this impression that you are in a fairy tale).
Good work!
OH MY LORD! This game is gorgeous! :D
Nice job elent!
Aaaaargh! I was really getting into this game and I finally collected all the tiles, but when I put the tiles in place the character say something like "Nothing happen. I wonder if the tiles are in the right order". So, OK I pick all the tiles without taking the time to put each tile each time back in the inventory. Result : all the tiles have disappear!!! They are no longer in my inventory and around the door frame! :-[
Beautiful! I really like it.
About the disappearing inventory items: it happened also to me. Fortunately, I saved the game just before worked on the frame. I'm close to finishing the second level...
Hello All
I must applogoise for the disappearing tiles. I had an email from CodeJunkie yesterday telling me about this problem. I have managed to fix it, but it was a bit late last night to post (and my partner needed her dinner etc).
I have now uploaded a revised version of the game to the web site - Version 1a. But those of you who don't want the bother of downloading it again, the exsting version is okay if you only remove one tile at a time from the door surround and put it somewhere else before picking up another one. Sorry!
If you prefer to download the new version but don't want to lose any saved games, if you copy the saved game file(s) - agssave.000, etc - and paste them into the new folder once you have extracted the files, this should work (it does for me!)
I hope that you are all enjoying the game apart from my little oversight with the tiles (in all my test plays it never occurred to me to try to pick up more than one tile at a time!). Thank you all for you lovely comments.
Elen
1st - it's not recommended practice to use previous saved games with new versions, and I'd just like to point out that anyone who does that, does it at his own risk.
2nd - you might want to check out Clickteam's free PatchMaker, for a game as big as yours. Redownloading the game is 60mbs, a patch will probably be less than 2mbs.
In fact, if the modified part is just a room file and nothing global was changed, you may distribute the modified .crm file which, when placed in the game's folder, will update the game automatically, no need to use patches. :P
Great game. I just finished the first chapter. Nice graphics. Good story. I can see what took the three years..
A few remarks though:
It would be nice to be able to page back and forth in the intro-book. Once turned a page, there's no way back.
You can only look at things once. I personally like to re-explore things to see what I've missed. I think that will increase the replay value as well.
Sometimes corridors appear as 'chimneys' in the room (if you know what I mean). They lack perspective. But other than that, well done!
Thank you Rui for your suggestion about using PachMaker. I have downloaded the sofware from Clickteam and will try it out.
Regarding Leon's comments about paging back on the intro texts and "chimneys" -
Chapter 1 is the only chapter with more than a single page of intro text, and you can easily go back to it by loading the chapter again, which is saved auomatically at the start of each chapter. My stylised graphics (a hybrid plan/elevation view) may not be to everyone's taste, and reflect the game's origins. When I said it has taken over 3 years to make, that refers only to this incarnation of it. It started life as a maze/adventure game that I programmed for my son on a Sinclair QL in the late 1980s, and it still retains something of that feel. So it's probably even more retro in some respects than the Sierra clones that some of you make!
I hope you all enjoy it.
Elen
Elen, you've done an amazing job with this game. I'm only still in chapter one, but I've been loving every minute of it.
I love every aspect of this game, from the music, the sfx, the art and the interface.
The whole thing is just so classic. This is truely shaping up to be one of my new favorites.
Heh, every time a ghost comes out it startles me!
I have a question:
Spoiler
I have 10/11 tiles right now (plus the lantern). Do I have to place the tiles in the wall? I can't seem to put them up there if that's what I'm supposed to do... If not, then I guess I'll just have to wait ;)
Thank you for this great game!
--Snake
Thank you Snake for your lovely comments!
In answer to your question, if you are in the main hall with the panelled frieze of pictures above the door and wall panels, then NO - they don't go there. You will find where they go soon enough. But if you downloaded Version 1, before I fixed a bug yesterday, read my posts above, otherwise you could lose your tiles!
If you have any further queries, I'm happy to try to help. If you don't want to spoil things for others, you can always send me a personal message and I will reply to that.
Carry on gaming!
Elen
Yes, great game.
Snake, this should go to the hint and tips, anyway
Spoiler
there is a "cure" against the ghosts, in the library. Read the section about the apparitions SLOWLY, until Jack begins to laugh. It is even possible to finish chapter 1 with all beans white.
Haha, yes, I've read the book. I was saying that they really do jump me when they pop out of nowhere :)
Thanks for the help and next time I will remember to post in the hints and tips,
--Snake
Hello All
A number of you appear to be having problems with Chapter 3, so I have modified the code to make it a little easier, as well as giving an extra hint about what you need to do. I plan to add the revised version (1b) to my web site in a day or so, but for now, if any of you want to update your ealier version, there are two patches available, one to update Version 1, the other for Version 1a.
The patch for Version 1 can be downloaded from: http://www.box.net/shared/static/subaamvsc8.exe
The patch for Version 1a can be downloaded from: http://www.box.net/shared/static/g43oqcwwgo.exe
Once you have updated your program you will need to go back to the end of Chapter 2 and re-play the end of that Chapter. Later saves will not work properly.
For those of you who don't want to patch your game, it is possible to complete the chapter without the patch (at least it was for me) but more difficult.
I hope this helps
Elen
I'd just like to ask for some clarification - I need to know two things if I'm going to keep playing the game. I'm loving it, but if it includes one or more of the following I think I'll stop now, because in conjunction with the long maze-ish corridors it just doesn't make the game a fun experience for me -
1 - Are there pixel-hunts?, such as finding the key in Chapter 2. That makes one. Are there any more?
2 - The Hints and Tips thread talks about a walking dead. Now, is this true? I would very much like to know about it, so I can just stop playing the game now without further aggravation. Nothing against your wonderful-looking and very-well-scripted game, I just hate walking deads, especially in games where a rather slow character speed is combined with long treks down empty, maze-ish corridors. What can I say, it's not my idea of fun.
Quote from: Rui 'Trovatore' Pires on Fri 29/02/2008 10:50:03
I'd just like to ask for some clarification - I need to know two things if I'm going to keep playing the game.
I'm sorry that you are finding aspects of my game annoying. I know the feeling, with some of the games I have played, but I also know that others enjoy games that I hated. It is a matter of taste, so I will try to give you an idea of my type of game, because I have made Once Upon A Time in the mold of those games I enjoy (as much as my ability allows!).
The game originated in a simpler version I made a good few years ago on a Sinclair QL, when all you could really do was run around a 2D maze avoiding monsters and picking up things left lying around! The current incarnation probably shows its origins to some extent (I enjoy mazes!) and for any maze haters, I will warn you that the last chapter is titled The Triple Maze! (enough said - I don't want to spoil it for others).
Once Upon A Time is far more than a maze game. I have tried to construct a fantasy world, with a history and geography, a place for players to explore for themselves. During those explorations you will come across things that might be useful to you, and problems that demand a bit of thinking to work out a solution. But not all avenues lead to discoveries - that would surely be unrealistic.
I have tried to include clues (often in Jack's comments) as to what he may need to do, and I have tried to put things in a fairly logical place (eg. if you dicover that Jack needs a key to get out of the dungeon, where is the logical place to look for it?). I have not made hotspots being active contingent upon reaching a certain stage in the game, as some games do; you can often find things before you need them if you look around you carefully as you go. Is that not part of the gaming experience, to explore everywhere fairly thoroughly as you go? And I have put a lot of useful guidance in the various books.
If you decide that Once Upon A Time is not for you I shall be sad to have disappointed another adventure game player, but if you do not enjoy the kind of game I have tried to make, then there is no point in your suffering further frustration.
Elen
Well, my biggest concern is the walking dead... is there one, or more?, or did some player misunderstand a puzzle?
Wouldn't be the first time I put my misgivings aside and turned out to love a game, but this sort of mechanics I feel I have to know beforehand, because they'll change my gaming experience, just as it changes whenever I play a Sierra or a Lucasarts game.
This game is different than many other point-and-click games, and I enjoy it a lot. It is a matter of taste, as you said before, elentgirl
I really like the game. I am glad that it is challenging. The graphics are beautiful. Faster walking would be nice, but I am glad that I can point to a space and he walks there rather than having to keep clicking. If I ever get out of the garden, I am sure it will be wonderful. Good work.
Hello All
Various of you have pointed out errors in my game, which I have tried to fix as quickly as I can. Thank you to all those who have contributed in this way, and I am sorry if the bugs have spoiled your enjoyment.
The latest version of the game (V1c) is now available on the web site, and there are patches available to update from versions 1a and 1b. Details of what has been fixed are in the version log in the game file.
The patch to update Version 1a to 1c is at: http://www.box.net/shared/static/ri6vaibs44.exe
The patch to update Version 1b to 1c is at: http://www.box.net/shared/static/6566117sog.exe
The bugs fixed can be got round in other ways, but they are still irritating and diconcerting. I hope that you all continue to enjoy my game.
Elen
This looks like a game with potential, looks like you made an effort to make a long story but unfortunately it starts really really bad. You DO NOT start a game with a long maze with almost no interaction. A big turn off. There's just a big maze, the graphics look rich (though a little weird) but there's nothing to do in the screens. There's barely any spots to interact with and the little interactions available result with short uninteresting unsatisfiying comments. Walking around in a big barely interactive maze picking up random items that I don't even know why I pick up (what are those tiles supposed to be?) is boring and does not give me any motivation to do anything. This game has a well built skeleton but no meat on it so to speak. If you made more interaction with spots and items, people to talk with it and more info on what the hell I'm doing and what my goals are this could be good. But like this it's just not interesting and not motivating to go on. Sorry but take it as constructive criticism, to help you make a game better.
Hello All
I have made a few more modifications to Once Upon A Time to reflect some of the comments received from you guys playing it. I have released these as Version 2, because one of them (increasing Jack's walking spped) affects the whole game, and there are quite a few others as well. You can either download the new version complete, or there is a patch to update Vesrion 1c. You will still need to play the game form the start again to get the full value of this update. Sorry!
If you want to download the patch, it's at: http://www.box.net/shared/static/ulqt7jcco0.exe
Good gaming.
Elen
Of course, I have to ask this -
Is(are) the walking dead(s) still there?