The Journey Down: Over the Edge

[Baron]

  I thought the spelling slang added atmosphere, but I could see how it might be hard to discern a Chinese stereotypical accent in written form if you weren't a native English speaker. 

I was specifically thinking of the knife-throwing chef mixing his Rs for Ls when I wrote that (since that's what I had the most trouble following myself).

[theo]

kconan: thanks for the heads up! Wish I could see it with my own eyes somehow...

selmiak: Glad you enjoyed it!

LeftHandMatt: Thanks for the kind words and loving critique. I'm hoping to have all text in shape once I actually get the voice acting in there, I'm confident it will read a lot better then.

Baron: Yes, the slang/grammar/spelling thing is something many people have commented on. Hopefully this won't be an issue once voice acting comes in and clarifies things. Thank you!

-

I'm currently putting together a full voice cast for chapter one of the Journey Down. If you are interested in auditioning for one or more of the roles, please check out the auditioning thread over at VA: http://voiceactingalliance.com/board/showthread.php?63492-Point-n-click-adventure-looking-for-voice-actors

Follow the polishing of chapter one over at: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=42693.0

Thank you!

[kconan]

kconan: thanks for the heads up! Wish I could see it with my own eyes somehow...

Just be sure to use your own; no borrowing eyes from anyone else.

http://www.boltactiongame.com/PCFormat.png

[theo]

Thanks, man! Fun to see the game being spread to such freaky places as Real Life too.

Here are a couple of new interviews. Check out the latter one for some more fun behind-the-scenes type imagery!

Indie game pitch on Joystiq

Interview on Alternative Magazine Online

[Chicky]

Just did my daily check of joystiq and was so chuffed when i saw the interview! Great job!

[WHAM]

Also spotted this on joystiq just now and had to come check this thread out again.

Great job, man! This just goes to show that there is yet another developer in the AGS community, who has done great enough job to be recognized far and wide outside the AGS community.

Well done!

[theo]

Thanks guys! Glad to see you actually saw the stuff on joystiq.com without me having to direct you there! I've been lucky to catch a lot of coverage on all sorts of sites, feels very good seeing it spread so nicely. Make no mistake though, getting coverage is all about hard work contacting and sucking up to different sites. There's no magic involved.

If you're Swedish speaking, here's a new podcast interview on level7:  L7 Radio 12: Samtal med skaparen av The Journey Down

[Tarmstorm]

Hey I speak swedish!
That was actually a really interesting interview, if not a bit short.

[Kristof]

Really nice backgrounds! Awesome use of lights/shadows.

[theo]

Thanks Tarmstorm! Here's another spankin' new Swedish Journey Down interview if you're curious.

Also:

AMO just finished a delicious interview with Simon D'souza, the games' musician! Don't miss this! It's a good read.

I'll also take this chance to thank everyone for your support during the AGS Awards! I figured JD would win a couple of awards, I had no idea however, that it would win so many.  :o

[sampler]

WOW! Just finished and I must say I really enjoyed this adventure. It's one of my favorites and eadily the best I played this year. It would be very cool if the text were spoken and the graphics were high definition. I think the music, puzzles, art work and controls are exactly right. Puzzles were challenging without being so complex I needed to be a MENSA. A longer version would be so much fun. Your work is on par and might I suggest better than many comercial games. You've done "ADVENTURE" gaming right! I couldn't decide which I liked more, the art work, music, or animations. So I'm giving my vote for best feature to the story line. Good story and consistent plot. What fun!

[coldwater]

This game was so amazing. The graphics were great, the music fit perfectly in every location, the characters were interesting, the puzzles were fun (albeit a bit easy at points), but still this game was one of the funnest ags games I've ever played. I'll be downloading chapter 2 within seconds of its release. can't wait!

[Bebe LaStrange]

I haven't gotten far into the game yet but so far am liking it. Nice graphics, backgrounds, etc. Love the Point and Click games. Congrats on releasing it.

[Barbarian]

Just been playing this game for over an hour now. Quite fun and addictive!
I wanted to say thanks for an excellent game and for sharing with us.

The quality of the game shows that you put a lot of time and work into it.  It's a neat art style, story is interesting, great characters, nice music, good humor, puzzles are good, easy-to-use controls. Overall, congrats on a job well done! You've got some real adventure-game-makin-skillz there!

*Edit: So, I've just finished this great little game. I think it took me perhaps a little over 2 hours to complete. Kudos! I eagerly await the next chapter (that is if you're not totally burned out now and still plan on making another chapter). The ending cinematics were quite well done too, but of course left me wanting more.  Cheers! 

[MYKAYEL]

I'm sure this will sound stupid but I have no choice but ask:
Where is the download link?

[CaptainD]

I'm sure this will sound stupid but I have no choice but ask:
Where is the download link?

Not really a stupid question, I also failed to find it in this thread, checked on the game page though and found it:

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=download&game=1344

[Chicky]

dfgdfgggdfgd dfghdbdh sg!!!1111!@!

I thought the HD version was out

[MYKAYEL]

I'm sure this will sound stupid but I have no choice but ask:
Where is the download link?

Not really a stupid question, I also failed to find it in this thread, checked on the game page though and found it:

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=download&game=1344

Thank you.

[jiro]

I decided however to keep the "dialect misspelling" on Sabo, since he really didn't have very much dialog, and that certain trope (R->L) is so well known, I figured no one would stumble on it.

[...]

If Sabo ever were to return to the series though, I can assure you, his accent will remain. It is, simply put, the way he talks.

I think that hits the nail on the head. If that's the way he talks, it's the way he talks. If other characters had been pointing out his accent or goading him to say words with lots of Rs in them just so they could laugh at him, that would have been a different story. If Bwana and Kito can have Jamaican characteristics to their speech (like "mon" for "man", which the reviewer points out) without it being made an issue, then why can't Sabo be made to sound Japanese? These nuances add to the authenticity of the game, in my view.

Sorry for reviving this old thread, but I have to respond to that. Firstly, I'm very grateful to Snarky for bringing it up (and explaining why it doesn't work). Secondly, about what you said there: true, characters didn't make fun of Sabo, but The Journey Down's game-makers themselves did. Why else did they put the 'r/l' cliché there in the first place? It was obviously designed to make players chuckle. And no, it's not a good nuance. It's a seriously overused and badly understood cliché. Pure and simple.

It's also so abused that most English-speaking people of Japanese ancestry can't stand it. I mean there's always a jerk speaking "like a Jap" to you, like "Hey, Jilo, courd you pass me that papel?" As if you'd never heard the joke before. When in fact you hear it almost every day, even though you're a native English speaker. We get it all the time. That and 'ching chong' and 'me love you long time'. Seriously, people? couldn't you be more creative? :/ So unless you understand Japanese and English, don't even go there with the 'r/l' cliché. It's just not clever or cool.

Thanks for hearing me out. Great game, btw.