Adventure Game Studio

Little more than two weeks ago I decided to make a game in AGS. I've wanted to do it for some time now but just had some trouble getting started and following through with my ideas. What I decided to do this time was to just come up with anything that could be an ags game, then two hours later, I had all the puzzles, setting and dialog mapped out. Now, the game is complete, I give you:

rein, to constrain or be guided by constraint, is a game about survival, escape and medical research! (mostly survival).

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Interview by Chris Evans on The Reticule (http://thereticule.com/2010/08/rein-an-interview-with-darius-poyer/)
Caution! May contain information regarding the future of things.

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Did you know rein reached beyond this forum and materialized in plastic? read on:

Rein recieved a strange amount of publicity. It was posted on two fairly major indie-gaming blogs (indiegames.com (http://indiegames.com/blog/) and jayisgames.com (http://jayisgames.com/)) however, I find that for the most part these blogs just try to keep the blogroll going by posting anything thats even remotely interesting, thats especially true about indiegaming.com, perhaps not so much when it comes to jayisgames since they decided that rein was one of four games you should be playing that week (http://jayisgames.com/archives/2010/06/weekend_download_140.php). While I don't take the publicity very seriously I cannot deny my interest, especially when the game somehow manages to become permanently imprinted on DVD's I didnt print myself.

PC GAMER and PC ZONE both come with a DVD each month and rein is included in both of them. Granted they are both published by the same company so lets count that as one DVD.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y246/otomosc/Untitled-2-4.png)

I'm writing this now because I just recived a copy of the september issue of PC GAMER UK from straydogstrut, or as I've come to know him, Dan. I can't thank you enough for sending me this DVD Dan.

I sincerely hope the publicity for rein stops here. It seems that once I get a new game out there I might actually need a personal website to act as common ground of strange attention like this.

(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y246/otomosc/Untitled-2-5.png) (http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/03/pc-gamer-uk-september-issue-dragon-age-2/)

You should all buy a copy of PC GAMER if you can and play rein, or perhaps just replay the DeFoe series (http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/games.htm) again.

Is this one room?
If not, the first screenshot needs to be in-game.

Quote from: Dataflashsabot on Sat 12/06/2010 16:47:54
Is this one room?
If not, the first screenshot needs to be in-game.

not on the completed games. Unless I'm mistaken this only goes for GIP.

Not for completed games threads, you can get away with one screenshot in here.

This looks cool, look forward to trying it out.

Just finished.
It was really short, but I'm still really impressed that you finished it in under two weeks. The animation and art was really great, and the puzzles were mostly pretty fair. I really appreciated the Continue screen instead of having to save. Can we look forward to a (perhaps  longer) sequel where

Spoiler

she must survive the desert?

[close]

EDIT: PS, that first animation was absolutely gruesome and I loved it.

EDIT2: I know words.

I love the art style for this - looks great! Downloading now... :)

EDIT:
Just finished and loved it, thanks! Really short and left me wanting more. The sound effects were really good, btw and gave the animations real force.

this is a really atmospheric little game 
reminds me The another world which I like
good job  :D

This short little game was astounding, a must-play.  I loved the opening sequence, and I'll leave it at that for the other players.  ;D  And I agree that it leaves things beautifully open for a sequel...  Good job!!


Sarah

Sequels, prequels, remakes, anything! Just as long as you make more. I really liked it, even though it was short, so I'd encourage you to keep going with this.

Lovely.
Depressing, but nicely made!
Thanks!

It's probably just me, I really respect you as a person, so please take this lightly. First I found the game really nice, and I found very few flaws, but nothing really spoiling it. The music on the other hand, really broke it for me. I didn't really like the renditions, with all the respect to both of you. Just something I thought it should be expressed. If the songs where in higher pitch or passed via some soundfont they would really sound greater for me. I'm not a music guy, and I just compose out of luck. Overall very short, want to see more. Sorry for being a dick.

Fantastic little game,  definitely had the whole Another World thing going for it which by no means is an easy task.  I want more, MORE.. MORE :)

Wonderful game, but very short. I can totally see the whole Another World thing going on:) I hope you are working on a sequel!

Enjoyable, the continue system is cool. One question though:

Spoiler

Is there any way to know which tiles fall off when you step on them in the hallway, or is it trial and error?

[close]

Let's Play'd. If interested.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iIfEvzE081A

Quote from: anian on Mon 14/06/2010 00:46:46
Enjoyable, the continue system is cool. One question though:

Spoiler

Is there any way to know which tiles fall off when you step on them in the hallway, or is it trial and error?

[close]

Spoiler

The ones with the worst cracks fall.

[close]

I want to say thank you. The response had been great so far to say the least and I really appreciate it. Well, then... allot of you want some more and so... naturally I will have to fill that void somehow. What I can say about that right now is that it will definitely be a longer game, medium or so I hope.

The falling tiles puzzle is driven by some subtle logic, that's then broken to ensure that you will fall down at least once.

Spoiler

The rules for the first 4 rows are that tiles with crossed cracks will fall. at row 5 however, its more random, not that its reversed.

[close]

I really enjoyed the let's play Domithan. It's very interesting to see someone play that game, to see if you guided them right and gauge the difference between what I tried to guide you towards and what you where naturally guided towards.
For instance, the other dead guy in the second room, christened Henry, is something a few people might miss because he doesn't really scream for attention. All you see before you speak to him is him breathing heavily, still he is one of the more interesting parts of the game I think, at least to me. So if you haven't , play it again and see what he has to say.

Also, don't worry about it Dualnames it all good. I can see where your coming from regarding the music and when the next game reaches the music stage, I think even Macay would like to create something better.

Great game. I like the animations and the way things have to be solved. The time pressure at first is an added value... I agree with Dual, the music is a bit less but doesn't spoil the fun.

What I didn't like is that, because of the detailed story and graphics, things disappear without explanation: the hammer, the key... gone, just like that. Why not keep them in your inventory?

Quote from: Leon on Mon 14/06/2010 12:42:48
What I didn't like is that, because of the detailed story and graphics, things disappear without explanation: the hammer, the key... gone, just like that. Why not keep them in your inventory?

If I remember right they are in your inventory stored, look at the top of the screen to the right. Or did you ask anything else?  :)

When you pick them up, they are indeed. But after you've used them, they disappear.

Another strange thing: In the green hub looking at the door on the left it says: open door. But when you walk through, the door opens. So it wasn't open, it was unlocked. But how could you know from such a distance... Nevermind... it's the action that shows in the statusbar, not the object. Confusing at times. :-\
To make things even worse.... how come an emergency exit is locked with a padlock... So much for emergencies.. It already says it has been locked for some reason.... :)

Found a few typos:
in the maintenance room looking at the device: used by manitenace --> maintenance
in the maintenance room looking at the hammer: to open the accecss --> access

Spoiler

after removing the padlock: I broke thorugh --> through

[close]

And debug mode is still on.

I am cracking up, Domithan...I don't usually enjoy watching walkthrough-type stuff on utube but yours was so funny (especially at the intro)...  It was really fun to watch someone else's reactions and opinions of the gameplay, and a LOT of your thoughts echoed my own while I was playing.

Keep making 'em!  Good stuff, I enjoyed it.   ;D



Sarah

Quote from: Dualnames on Sun 13/06/2010 01:40:00
It's probably just me, I really respect you as a person, so please take this lightly. First I found the game really nice, and I found very few flaws, but nothing really spoiling it. The music on the other hand, really broke it for me. I didn't really like the renditions, with all the respect to both of you. Just something I thought it should be expressed. If the songs where in higher pitch or passed via some soundfont they would really sound greater for me. I'm not a music guy, and I just compose out of luck. Overall very short, want to see more. Sorry for being a dick.

The music was put together in JazzWare, as such there where certain limitations to the renditions. For instance, JazzWare does not handle chords very well or even multiple notes being played at the same time. This and other limitations did however create a distinct and dissonant sound, a desolate sort of tune came out that sounded like it was being played on a broken piano, or such was the opinion. It seemed fitting at the time and I can't say I imagined it would break the experience for anyone, partly due to having ambient over music once in-game.

They are by no stretch of the imagination good renditions, anyone who's heard The Swan or the first Nocturne in Chopins' Nocturne Op.27 would agree on that. The issue with the rendition is that as I am sure you know, the piano has the characteristic of being able to play a note both soft and hard, piano and forte if you will. The Larghetto section of said Nocturne is what you hear in the opening, not only is it being played legato but it is also played pianissimo, meaning very soft. A song that is played soft tends to be far more expressive and more demanding of the human element, listen to Nocturne Op. 27 in C-sharp Minor and you'll realize that it cannot be replicated in any sort of computer program.

Yet the hard dissonance seemed fitting and what I am trying to get across is that no small measure of thought was put through the decision. It doesn't sound right and that is a reasonable judgement to make but the question is if the musics dissonance bothered you to much for you to take it for what it was or if you simply found it ill befit for the atmosphere of the game.

I can't say I found you to exhibit any dickish behaviour, criticism or downright negativity is quite a jolly thing in my book, and I will most definitely be looking into different music software if a future comes around so if you or anyone else have any to recommend I would appreciate the PM.

really nice and promising short game.

I hope you could release another one very soon.

Animation, backgrounds and sounds are great. So was the immersion.

Of all the games I played, this one was certainly the shortest game with the loudest bang, like many mentioned before, I hope we'll see some sequels someday. You could pull an Half-Life jig there, where sequels take place in the same event but from different points of view and each new pieces slowly reveal the big picture. Keep up the good work!

Ha, I loved this game. It's very short but totally worth it.

The backgrounds were great and the animations were superb. The opening caught me completely by surprise. Brutal.

The timed sections were fine, though i'm glad they weren't in every room as I wanted to look around. It was fair and so were the puzzles. I would just have liked to see more of them.

I didn't have any problem with the music myself, it was a little unsettling but I thought it set the mood well. However i'm not that musically inclined so Dualnames critique is probably more relevant. I really liked the ambient sounds as they suggested what was going on elsewhere in the building, and overall the sound effects themselves married well with the animations.

Domithan's Let's Play cracked me up, lol. My own playthrough was similar but I spoke to Henry. It was one of the highlights for me, though I felt the protagonist's dialogue was a bit heartless, lol. It would've been nice to see more of the characters' personalities, maybe a bit more interaction in the last room. Also, I agree that it was a bit strange that items disappeared after you used them (I mean the ones which you should still be holding).

Great little game, this made my day=) Oh and make a prequel/sequel!

I't recently came to my attention that IndieGames.com did a small write-up on rein. It's a very thorough little article except for the fact that they wrote 'Fraxtor' instead of Fraxto as the name of the facility. I find it interesting that the few subtle things I wanted to convey about the facility and characters where quite clear to the players.

It's very odd though. it seems that because IndieGames.com posted it I found that allot of other blogs picked it up as well. I also found some obscure French site that offers it to be downloaded for some reason.

publicity is a very strange and frightening thing.

IndieGames.com
http://www.indiegames.com/blog/2010/06/freeware_game_pick_rein_darius.html

Other blogs
http://occplayer.wordpress.com/2010/06/14/the-operative-word-is-extreme/
http://thereticule.com/2010/06/rein/
http://funeffect.com/wp/2010/06/freeware-game-pick-rein-darius-poyer/
http://nerdfilter.net/freeware-game-pick-rein-darius-poyer

Obscure French Website
http://www.relite.org/fr/game-153-Rein.html

Also a walkthrough for some odd reason
http://gamesolutions.efzeven.nl/rein-walkthrough-darius-poyer2010/

The fact of the matter is that just about everyone agrees that you should make more.
So... um, get on that. With haste.

Quote from: Darius Poyer on Wed 16/06/2010 05:09:09
Also a walkthrough for some odd reason
http://gamesolutions.efzeven.nl/rein-walkthrough-darius-poyer2010/

It's not really odd. I make one for every game (still 149 to go) that has at least some interaction. There are even shorter ones (http://gamesolutions.efzeven.nl/a-christmas-blunder-walkthrough-moonbeam-games2007/).

But it's also a database for myself. I now have the game in my archive, I have a screenshot of it and I know what the game was about. And other people sometimes stumble upon the index, see the screenshot and might want to play as well. At least you found it ;-)

The game has received a minor update fixing the spelling issues brought up my Leon.

Thoroughly enjoyed this game, looks good and plays well.

Short, but a lot of effort has obviously gone into graphics and animation etc. Well done!

EDIT: I need spelling lessons.

Just finished it.

The animations were nice and the whole thing had a distinct 1213 feel to it.

blood looks so much creepier in 320x200

The animations were definitely a high point in this game!  Hopefully you'll consider expanding on this idea more since it is so short.  Just as it was over I wanted more :).

I did the piece on The Reticule about Rein Darius, really impressed :) I want more though, really gripped by it from the off.

Nice little first game. Plays really well, hooks you right from the start and the possibility of dying makes it quite intense.

Graphics and sounds are stylish and atmospheric, puzzles make sense both logically and contextually, everything fits together.
Would've worked great as an action sequence in a bigger game, although doesn't seem to stand well enough on it's own for me.

That said, I'm really looking forward to your next projects. Good luck! :)

looks great will try it soon....

I just read a lovely write-up on rein. http://wisnoskij.blogspot.com/2010/07/rein.html

Kind of makes me want to make games some more... or does it!?!

Also to congratulate Calin's now in charge of the picks of the month, and rein is now this month's pick!!

Quote from: Darius Poyer on Wed 16/06/2010 05:09:09
Obscure French Website http://www.relite.org/fr/game-153-Rein.html

On their home page they claim to be an independant magazine of video-games-related news.

Never heard of them, though (that probably comes with the "independant" label :D).
Well, I suppose it's good advertisement for you, except for the fact that they mirror the game without asking! :(

Judging by the titles they cover, I think the label translate as magazine of independent video-games-related news, not independent magazine of video-games-related news. The video games are indies, not the magazine.

Rein is featured in the "Indie" section of PC Gamer's (UK edition) cover-mounted DVD this month. :)

EDIT: And the "Freeware" section of PC Zone's cover-mounted DVD.

Quote from: LimpingFish on Sat 07/08/2010 01:01:45
Rein is featured in the "Indie" section of PC Gamer's (UK edition) cover-mounted DVD this month. :)

EDIT: And the "Freeware" section of PC Zone's cover-mounted DVD.

still haven't had the time to try it, but congratulations as I gather that if it would suck it surely wouldn't be on the DVD.. So now I'm only more eager to try it.. if only I had some time.. still 3 weeks away from vacation.. LOL..

Quote from: LimpingFish on Sat 07/08/2010 01:01:45
Rein is featured in the "Indie" section of PC Gamer's (UK edition) cover-mounted DVD this month. :)

EDIT: And the "Freeware" section of PC Zone's cover-mounted DVD.

are you sure? I'm finding it hard to verify this... but if it is true, id love a copy of that DVD.
Is this the one? http://www.pcgamer.com/2010/08/03/pc-gamer-uk-september-issue-dragon-age-2/
If so, I'd really like to order one.

This is cool - quite short, but worth it. Nice animations, nice clean graphics and some action (expecially the very beginning).

I'm looking forward to your next project - maybe a sequel (or prequel)? This really felt like an intro to something bigger.

I can confirm it is indeed on the disc of that issue of PC Gamer (September issue). Can't see any coverage in the magazine itself though, which is disappointing. I've picked up a second copy that i'd be happy to send you if you want to pm me your details.

EDIT: Screenie of the disc menu: http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/4690/reinpcgamer.png

Quote from: straydogstrut on Thu 12/08/2010 15:57:00
I can confirm it is indeed on the disc of that issue of PC Gamer (September issue). Can't see any coverage in the magazine itself though, which is disappointing.

Yes, just on the DVD, I'm afraid. The PC Zone version is basically the same content (also with no coverage inside the actual magazine), since both magazines are published by the same company.

PC Zone is folding after the next issue, so there will be one less opportunity for print glory in the UK. :(

Finally got around to playing the game. I really enjoyed the... 10 minutes. It definately makes you want for more. The character animation is way too nice to not use it more. :)

Fantastic little game you made. Any chance for a sequel? I wondering what happens to the girl in the desert :)

Nice one for getting on those Cover discs Darius.
That's actually petty fricken awesome.

The primary post has be updated, read it now and get the scoop on current events.

Yep, that was an anticlimactic ending alright. ;)
And I'm not sure if I'm fond of the trial and error that's necessary to get through the room with the bottom plates. Otherwise, just great. Okay, the piano tunes really didn't work so well. It just sounded like a terrible performance, not broken enough even. But gladly we only heard those during the intro and outro and not during the play time.

nice clean style! I just played through it and liked it a lot. It reminded me of "another world" in its brutal "act now or die" type interaction. You could easily just cram more rooms in there. They have no visual connection whatsoever so you'll get away with it bigtime I'm sure.

Just popping in to say that I did an interview with Darius on The Reticule - http://thereticule.com/2010/08/rein-an-interview-with-darius-poyer/

Quite short but great and neat little game.
Cheers Darius!

Those are some very nice images actually.

So short :( but fun :). It looks promising, so please continue the story.

Finally got around to playing it.. I loved the graphix, but I hated the gameplay.. I'm sorry but the 'You're dead' parts were very boring/annoying, and IMHO lack imagination on creating some real puzzles.. So for a continuation of this story I would suggest: keep the graphix as they really rock, but create real puzzles instead of 'bang now you're dead' crap..

Loved it. Really loved it. Excellent game. Please make more such games.

I'm playing and reviewing a lot of AGS games lately and yours caught my attention. To be honest, the whole Pc-gamer stuff, positive reviews and enthusiastic comments probably raised my expectations excessively, but I'm a bit disappointed. I don't regret the 10 minutes I spent on it, cause I had fun, but I don't know if I would have spent time to do such a game if I were you, unless this was some kind of preview of a future game or scripting exercise.

The plot is quite ordinary and both it and characters are not well portrayed... you could have gone deeper probably, by using a longer intro or some flashbacks.
Graphic is good enough for the purpose. Animations are good as well. Puzzles are very easy, and the only relevant thing is that floor-tiles part, which was unexpected. Thumbs up for the death at the end of the intro too, reminded me a lot of Liu Kang's fatality in MKII (or III?) and caught me by surprise. Intro "in medias res" are always a good choice and this one was well done, creating tension and hurriedness in the player.
Soundtrack is not that spot on though.

In conclusion: thank you for making this game, but I suggest you focus your energy and skill into something longer and more refined next time. I'd love to play another of your games if you keep the pros of Rein and correct its cons.

P.S. I'm no one and I didn't want to sound arrogant. Games I've made this far are absolutely awful compared to yours but I do believe that constructive criticism is 10 times better than pointless congratulations. I didn't mean any offence with my review.

Considering this was Darius' first AGS game (as far as i'm aware) and it was made in just two weeks, I think it's a lot better than you give him credit for. As a learning process, as the telling of a story (however brief), as the attempt to just get an idea out of his head and onto the screen, I definitely think it was worthwhile creating.

I do agree with some of your points, and I think I picked up on these myself previously: I would've liked to see a longer game and more involved puzzles, and I too found the characters lacking a bit of substance, but this made the game no less enjoyable. I think the art style really works for the game and the animations are one of the high-points for me personally. Short but sweet was never more relevant. Your feedback is constructive though.

Nice to see this come up again, thanks, i'll have to give it another playthrough=)

I don't want to demolish his work. He has the potential to do very interesting games in the future, and I hope my critiques will help him reach this goal. I even dared to necrobump the thread for this purpose, and I'm sure he won't be disappointed since this could draw even more attention on his game. ;)

No worries ;)

Quote from: Abisso on Sat 15/10/2011 14:31:59
I don't regret the 10 minutes I spent on it, cause I had fun, but I don't know if I would have spent time to do such a game if I were you, unless this was some kind of preview of a future game or scripting exercise.

Quote
In conclusion: thank you for making this game, but I suggest you focus your energy and skill into something longer and more refined next time.

Quote from: straydogstrut on Sat 15/10/2011 14:57:31
Considering this was Darius' first AGS game (as far as i'm aware) and it was made in just two weeks, I think it's a lot better than you give him credit for. As a learning process, as the telling of a story (however brief), as the attempt to just get an idea out of his head and onto the screen, I definitely think it was worthwhile creating.

I'm sure you two had the best intentions, but I find that it reflects very badly on a game when one says something like: "It's not very enjoyable, but... if you take in consideration it was made in a limited time, it's not terribly awful, it's the authors first game etc. then it's actually an impressive effort. So don't worry, *game author's name here*, just make at least 10 times as big and complex and interesting game the next time."

Especially when you're talking about a small, but considerably polished game like rein. It's not something whipped out in a few hours while the author was playing around with the AGS Editor.

Quote from: Ascovel on Sat 15/10/2011 20:57:22
I find that it reflects very badly on a game when one says something like: "It's not very enjoyable, but... if you take in consideration it was made in a limited time, it's not terribly awful, it's the authors first game etc. then it's actually an impressive effort. So don't worry, *game author's name here*, just make at least 10 times as big and complex and interesting game the next time."

I didn't say that, or at least that's not what I intended to say. I apologise to Darius if that's how it came across. I think my post was a little on the defensive side!

I do agree that rein is a polished product - and i'm sure that came across in my original feedback - but I don't feel *some* of Abisso's criticisms are unjustified. There's always room for improvement :)

Anyway, still waiting patiently for the prequel/sequel  ;)

This a small but very polished gem. Loved it when it came out and still loving it.

Quote from: Abisso on Sat 15/10/2011 15:06:34
I even dared to necrobump the thread for this purpose, and I'm sure he won't be disappointed since this could draw even more attention on his game. ;)

"There is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about".

Oscar Wilde, The picture of Dorian Gray  ;D

Bump made me play your game Darius, i really like it! The death element really added something to it, like others i think the plausibility of the puzzles made it. Moar  :=