The Knobbly Crook: Chapter I - The Horse You Sailed In On

Bavolis · Fri 10/04/2015 04:55:02

The Knobbly Crook
Chapter I: The Horse You Sailed In On
Website: Gamejolt Link

The title screen.

The Paincutioner's Court

The Draft Horse

A Royal Guffaloon

Summary: The Knobbly Crook is a 1024x768 game, a talkie, and is set in a completely original fantasy world.

Story: O'Sirus is a simple paper farmer who aspires to be a Knobbcrookian royal guardâ€"a Guffaloon. Stories of their heroic battles against the fearsome Bogold empire echo throughout the Crook. Unfortunately, they're not currently recruiting simple paper farmers. He's going to have to use every dirty trick in his book to cheat his way to the top.

Three key elements factor into the core physics of the Knobbly Crook and surrounding areas. They have a looping hierarchy, with each element proving superior to one of the others and inferior to the third. By understanding this science, the Knobbcrookians have begun to craft powerful machines and build weaponry specific to felling their foes.

Scissors - Though scissors are the most focused of the blade elements (being two blades crossed), any blade or any forged metal will serve a similar role. Blades are the most important element of the Knobbcrookians because each one has elements of metal in their own bodies. This makes any Knobbcrookian a significant threat against creatures that are paper-based in nature and is why the they herd paper animals and harvest paper crop. This also makes them afraid of rock-based creatures such as Bogolds. Since rock is metal at a base form, it trumps any blade.

Rock - The Bogolds of the Gnarled Scar are almost entirely composed of rock, making them massive, intimidating enemies. Of course, rock is everywhere and entirely unavoidable, but inert rock does not frighten a Knobbcrookian as much as animated rock. The stone Bogolds are not invincible. They fear the bred paper animals of the Knobbly Crook as well as the feral paper-based races in the more savage, distant areas of the world. A Bogold will never near the paper sea as falling in would mean certain death. In this world, a rock cannot penetrate a wall of paper, not even a jagged shard.

Paper - The Knobbcrookians know that a paper net will quickly disable the largest bogold and they construct folded paper blades and fearsome whips to fight them. Paper-based races fear the metallic Knobbcrookians as well, but do not view the Bogolds as a real threat. Explorers have returned to the â€˜Crook with reports of vast paper forests beyond the paper sea, inhabited entirely by intricate folded paper beings. This new world has sparked the Knobbcrookians to build massive ships and form exploration parties, headed for lands rich with exploitable paper. The Bogold religion, however, describes these lands as a sort of living Hell.

Various images:

Our Hero
Tarsus Twotalk
The Paincutioner's Court
A Sea Prophet

Eric · Fri 10/04/2015 05:08:36

YESSSSSSS.

Stupot · Fri 10/04/2015 05:26:03

Oh Sweet. Is it Christmas today or something?
Congrats, Bavolis.

Lasca · Fri 10/04/2015 07:17:28

Oh yes!! Congrats on the release!

AprilSkies · Fri 10/04/2015 08:55:26

Congrats for the release!
Is it free? Oh wow!
Great job!

Mandle · Fri 10/04/2015 09:57:43

With The Visitor 3 AND this released today my Sunday is now DOUBLE-BOOKED!!!

Congratulations on what looks like one of the most gorgeous AGS games (or games: period) of all time!!!

I CAN'T WAIT TO PLAY!!!

CaptainD · Fri 10/04/2015 12:25:37

Congrats on the release! I have to say that your graphics style is one of the most striking I've ever seen (not just in AGS games... in ANY game).

Bavolis · Fri 10/04/2015 12:29:41

Thanks, everyone! I hope you enjoy

Fitz · Fri 10/04/2015 15:46:59

You guys have no mercy! The Visitor 3 (which I've been bugging Nick about for months) and AGS's most insanely awesome-looking game released on THE SAME DAY! ARRRGGHH!

NickyNyce · Fri 10/04/2015 16:22:39

Congrats Bavolis. Can't wait to play, it looks amazing. I feel like a giant skyscraper was just built next to my little house...lol

Bavolis · Fri 10/04/2015 23:21:48

Now that I've got it out of the way, I can catch up on some of these releases, too. Also, I feel more like I opened a Mexican restaurant next to your Italian restaurant and now people just have different menus for different days

Congrats on your release as well!

AnasAbdin · Sat 11/04/2015 07:17:46

Congrats Bavolis! Been waiting forever

Mandle · Sun 12/04/2015 13:23:00

I have started playing and I must just say that the mystery of the world you are suddenly plunged into is intense!!!

It is going to take me quite a bit of time to figure out this rock-paper-scissors based mythology...

But I can already see that there are a lot of hints in place within the game to help me...

I'm going to have to leave off for now, but I'm going to be thinking about this weird world's rules during my down-time I'm sure...

Bavolis · Sun 12/04/2015 14:58:12

It shouldn't take you too long to get used to it. Things to keep in mind:

Rock > Scissors
Scissors > Paper
Paper > Rock

Rock things: Bogolds, Gummerlungs, Fossils & Bones.
Paper things: Paper and creatures made out of paper.
Scissor things: Anything with crafted metal components, including Knobbcrookians, Blades, Pots & Pans.

Good luck!

ManicMatt · Sun 12/04/2015 22:29:27

Downloading it just to make sure I have it in my possession! (I have over 50 physically released games over various formats to play first.. it was over 90 a year ago.. it got out of hand..)

Spiffing that you have achieved your goal, releasing Chapter 1! By the time I get around to playing it you'll be making chapter 3 hoho!

Kasander · Mon 13/04/2015 00:03:16

Quote from: Eric on Fri 10/04/2015 05:08:36
YESSSSSSS.

My thoughts exactly. But let me reiterate.
Yes. YES. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

selmiak · Mon 13/04/2015 13:43:30

I haven't quite completed it, but the voice acting is scary and cool at the same time. And the art is very great! Now let's go bowling for gummerlungs

shaun9991 · Fri 17/04/2015 16:39:47

I've been keeping my eye on this one for ages, well done on the release!!! Looking forward to playing it. I always thought it would be a paid game - the art is INCREDIBLE

Bavolis · Sat 18/04/2015 03:06:24

Thanks! I make pay games during my 9-5. I use my downtime to give back to the genre that inspired me

DangerDanger · Wed 29/04/2015 23:17:44

Great game!

It looks like a cross over of Gobliiins (universe with its own rules paper/rock/metal) and the game from Jo99 (organic look / overhelming level of detail).

My only two complains would be:

Why the main character has to be so selfish?
(solving the puzzles is often done by hurting /stolen the other characters)

The cutscene with the thief was too short (I had to replay this part in order to catch /read all the speech text).

Bref!
Thanks for the game!

M.

PS: About patreon, did you think about alternative (patreon per chapters instaed on month or donate/paywhatyouwant instead)?

Bavolis · Wed 29/04/2015 23:43:56

Thanks! I can't say I was ever a Gobliins fan (had never played it until recently), but I too saw a big similarity in our world styles

I need to catch up on those games!

The main character is selfish by human standards, but not by Knobbcrookian standards. They are a chaotic new race struggling to survive and they haven't had any real social evolution yet. You'll find out more at the chapters progress--there is a reason for the way they are. In a way, they are still children.

By "thief," do you mean the Melodeen Bard Assassin? Were you playing with the voice pack or without? I can definitely take a look.

Thanks for playing and the kind words!

(on the Patreon thing - first I need to get people to actually play the first Chapter. I'm working on that still (GOG and Steam are my next steps). Once I have some fans, I can better evaluate how people can donate if they want. My main goal is still to provide a fun free game for people to play.)

Bavolis · Thu 30/04/2015 02:06:55

The Knobbly Crook is now on Steam Greenlight. If anyone would like to see it there - please send a vote my way. Thanks!

http://t.co/NiOjqNhTZU

Bavolis · Sun 10/05/2015 18:04:38

Last spam about this, I promise - but the Knobbly Crook has completely flatlined on Steam Greenlight, which is surprising for a high-quality and 100% FREE AGS game. I've been getting (and deleting) feedback along the lines of "NO! Steam doesn't need more low budget games!" which is a pretty crappy thing to say when the Indie community has been rocking it lately. So, if you have friends who may be interested or you haven't voted yet and want to see more point & click exposure, please help me get a little more publicity. I'm stuck at 37% and no new votes are coming in.

Thanks in advance!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=434453999

Kasander · Sun 10/05/2015 21:45:52

Come on people, if you have Steam account, dig up your passwords and show this game some love. You know it deserves it!

I already did my Knobbly duty, now it's your turn!

(and how can some people write things like this bit you've mentioned, it's completely beyond my understanding...

)

Darth Mandarb · Mon 11/05/2015 18:18:24

I just checked... thought I'd already voted for it but, apparently, not! I have now!

RetroJay · Mon 11/05/2015 20:00:03

Hi Bavolis.

You have my vote, a big fat YES!!

I love the look of your game so much that I have also just downloaded it from GameJolt.
Can't wait to play it.

Yours.
Jay.

Bavolis · Tue 12/05/2015 00:10:15

Thanks, everybody! It's very appreciated!

Michael2968 · Tue 12/05/2015 14:48:38

I voted for your game on steam. I hope it helps.

Michael

Snarky · Tue 12/05/2015 21:24:04

Watched a bit of the video on Steam, and absolutely love the voice acting! The way the made-up language varies between (I presume) pure gibberish and something close to English is inspired. I'm impressed you could pull it off so consistently!

Bavolis · Tue 12/05/2015 23:33:06

Thanks, both of you! I spent a full week with the taste of blood in my throat trying to power through all that gibberish. The main thing I was trying to do is match at least the rhythm of English so it would be easy to read. Some places work very well, others are a bit more chaotic. But! As beings of pure chaos ... it's a perfectly logical illogical language.

CaptainD · Wed 13/05/2015 12:30:57

I've done a post on IndieGameNews.com - I hope it sends a few more voters your way. If ever a game deserved to be Greenlit, it's this one!

Bavolis · Wed 13/05/2015 12:49:00

Thanks, it's very appreciated!

Also - I've received a couple of friendly emails pointing out that my "trailer" needs some serious work, and I agree! I'm currently playing around with Premiere to see what I can do. I love how the AGS community supports its own, in fact whenever I stall on production, you people inspire me to start working on it again

Frikker · Wed 13/05/2015 23:28:29

That is exactly why I want to build my upcoming game in AGS, I Was considering unity because of its tablet and phone porting capabilities but after lurking on here for over a year while i write the story , Ive seen fist hand how great the community is and how everybody tries very hard to help eachother. That too me is like gold dust.

Bavolis · Sat 30/05/2015 21:42:25

And here it is! A proper trailer! (The Knobbly Crook is sitting around 70% on Steam. Thanks for the boost, voters!)

https://youtu.be/01AHYg27DuQ

homelightgames · Sun 31/05/2015 06:53:09

I love the detail, the animations (especially the background stuff) and the updated trailer. Voted.

Good luck.

visionmind

Bavolis · Tue 09/06/2015 23:37:12

For those of you who like to have all your stuff in Steam - The Knobbly Crook is now available (FREE, of course) on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/378300?beta=0

Chapter 2 is well underway and I should be putting up a thread very soon.

Frikker · Wed 10/06/2015 23:21:39

much yay

cat · Thu 30/07/2015 11:59:16

I started a Hints & Tips thread here: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=52492.0