Yay, our (my and Ben304's) very first fully-fledged AGS game is now ready to download!
It's an entry to the September 2007 MAGS competition.
TRANCE-PACIFIC
Vince is a stage hypnotist, and is close friends with Eve, a magician, and Nick, her assistant. They have just completed a long season and are now going on a long cruise to relax. They soon discover something underhand is going on aboard ship. It's not just the ocean that smells fishy, and the cruise is going to be anything but relaxing...
(http://www.freewebs.com/paoloags/screenshot_small.gif)
Featuring:
* Eight characters
* Five rooms
* Six customised GUIs, including an innovative one
* Puzzles that should take a while to crack
* Main non-player characters give hints when you speak to them
* Plenty of humour
* A peppering of authentic Australianisms (with a glossary in the README file)
* Sly references to classic adventure game situations
Download the game from:
http://www.freewebs.com/paoloags/Trance-Pacific_v1.02.zip (http://www.freewebs.com/paoloags/Trance-Pacific_v1.02.zip)
or:
http://www.victorygames.info/free/Trance-Pacific_v1.02.zip (http://www.victorygames.info/free/Trance-Pacific_v1.02.zip)
Don't forget to vote for the game on the MAGS website if you like it (go to http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/aclinks.htm (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/aclinks.htm), click on "MAGS" and then the "voting" button).
paolo ,
freewebs isn't friendly when it come to downloading as its know to limit bandwith.
I recommend using another file hosting.
To those who want download, do not click on link but simply position cursor on link and use "Save as" and it should download correctly.
Good during compition.
Cute game; liked it -especially because it it is Aussie made - just like vegemite :)
Anyway, I am stuck. After "M" the girl in the bar all menu items are gone, I can't save or access the inventory; though if I go back to Grace I can do...
Any hints? It is a bug, so it should be in this forum - a hint is needed - but I do not want to double post.
Cheers!
I'm in the same position as TassieDevil.
Otherwise I've enjoyed the game so far. I like the graphics a ton, and I like the Memo idea.
Very good!
One bug I found:
Spoiler
If you use the Memo on the steward after Grace has knocked him out, he stands up again says not to do that.
splat44:
Thanks for the pointer about freewebs. I like the way you can set up a website there. I've also stumped up some cash to increase the bandwith to several gigabytes a month - fingers crossed this is enough. I might look into transferring to a different server - do you have any recommendations?
TassieDevil:
Thanks. I think you have found a bug there that the beta-testers and I overlooked. I'll look into it. Are you closing the Memo GUI? If there is only one memory to choose, then after you have chosen it, it disappears. To proceed, you then have to click on "Go back to the main menu" and the "ON/OFF" button. Or is this not what the problem is?
EDIT: Now fixed - see kaputtnik's posting below and my reply to it.
pslim:
Thanks for the compliments! Thanks too for the bug report. Looks like that one is serious.
EDIT: See EDIT above.
ciborium:
Thanks for your bug report too. I had already fixed a bug where the steward would stand up if you spoke to him but overlooked you trying to use the Memo on while he is unconscious. You guys are good!
EDIT: I've fixed the bug you reported, ciborium, and uploaded the updated game. You won't need to download it again as the game will still work fine for you. Thanks again.
Thanks for all the tips and bug reports. Pslim - thanks for feedback on the graphics - it means a lot to me.
Nice game, lovely artwork and a vote from me :)
Quote from: Jon on Mon 24/09/2007 16:40:36
Nice game, lovely artwork and a vote from me :)
Thank you very much. I'm sure Ben304 will be very happy that you liked his artwork.
I've downloaded this game yesterday. I can't usemenu with memo, inventory and others in bar room. It doesn't work at all.
Maybe you should use key shortcuts to change cursor into walk, look, use, talk and memo?
I closed and open the game. Now it works.
the download link from ags seems not working. ( I downloaded from your website )
Paolo, I saw in your profile that you translated a game to french, will you do so for trance pacific ?
if not, may I ? ;)
paolo:
I have encountered the same problem as TassieDevil has: After equipping the nice lady with a fashionable haircut, leaving the bar and then coming back in, the GUI doesn't work anymore. It simply stays disabled when you move the mouse to the upper part of the screen - did you by chance overlook at some point to turn it on or make it visible again?
Quote from: kaputtnik on Tue 25/09/2007 14:09:43
paolo:
I have encountered the same problem as TassieDevil has: After equipping the nice lady with a fashionable haircut, leaving the bar and then coming back in, the GUI doesn't work anymore. It simply stays disabled when you move the mouse to the upper part of the screen - did you by chance overlook at some point to turn it on or make it visible again?
Quite possibly - I'll look into this. Apologies for the inconvenience - please revert to an earlier saved game if you have one. Incidentally, you don't need to return to the bar after giving the woman a haircut, unless you
Spoiler
have not told her that you've done her hair before leaving, in which case Eve will call you back anyway.
But I had not tested that, so thank you for pointing it out. I'll fix it now.
EDIT: I've fixed this bug and uploaded the updated game (version 1.02).
Quote from: leshaussebons on Tue 25/09/2007 13:48:58
the download link from ags seems not working. ( I downloaded from your website )
Paolo, I saw in your profile that you translated a game to french, will you do so for trance pacific ?
if not, may I ? ;)
A toi! (Be my guest!)
Heres a mirror for the game.
http://www.vigilantec.com/files/Trance-Pacific_v1.02.zip
By far the best entry for the MAGS comp. definitely innovative enough to not seem too strange and still keep the player engrossed in a story. :)
Thanks, Brad, for the mirror and for the compliments on the game.
Nice game! The graphics were nicely done and I especially liked the character art.
I also loved how you managed to incorprate the characters better by having them hint you at each stage of the game for the puzzles. The memo was quite an interesting idea and created some fresh puzzles, except all I had to do was click on every option and I'd eventually get the right answer.
Ran into a couple bugs and typos, but I can't remember them all, sorry.
Spoiler
- After the bad guy appears in the closet, when talking to certain objects the main character still talks and sometimes the NPCs talk back, but that doesn't make any sense since the protagonist is trying to keep quiet.
I think the addition of music would be a nice idea, but I still enjoyed the game is it is.
Quote from: TheJBurger on Wed 26/09/2007 22:18:34
Nice game! The graphics were nicely done and I especially liked the character art.
I also loved how you managed to incorprate the characters better by having them hint you at each stage of the game for the puzzles. The memo was quite an interesting idea and created some fresh puzzles, except all I had to do was click on every option and I'd eventually get the right answer.
Ran into a couple bugs and typos, but I can't remember them all, sorry.
Spoiler
- After the bad guy appears in the closet, when talking to certain objects the main character still talks and sometimes the NPCs talk back, but that doesn't make any sense since the protagonist is trying to keep quiet.
I think the addition of music would be a nice idea, but I still enjoyed the game is it is.
Yeah, alternate endings, and death/failure sequences would really liven the game (Accidentally remove a memory will make them do something drastic or make a failure sequence), but if you do choose to elaborate on this game concept then you should know doubt include these features.
Thanks for the feedback and comments on the game.
TheJBurger
The bug where
Spoiler
Vince can talk to people even though he wants to be quiet
should be fixed in the latest version available for download (version 1.02).
TheJBurger and BradNewson
Yes, branches in the plot and choices that lead to bad or less favourable endings would be great. Of course we didn't have time as this was MAGS game, but if we revisit the game I'd certainly like to include this. As you say, TheJBurger, all you have to do is click on every option, but most of the wrong ones give an explanation so there is a little entertainment to be had by choosing the wrong options too.
If you find or remember any typos, please PM me and I'll be happy to correct them.
hey guys, really enjoying the game. great mags game, and very good character art. ;D
hope this is the 1st of many games!
I really enjoyed playing your game. I especially liked the "M" thing. The graphics were very nice, too. :)
Hey everyone!
Glad you're enjoying the game, and thanks for helping us get rid of those little bugs.
To everyone who commented on the graphics - I love you guys :D!
Also glad that the Memo concept has gone down fairly well thus far - my biggest fear was that we would implement it incorrectly and that it would appear to be merely a gimmick. Hopefully this is not the case.
Cheers!
Little bug ( I guess )
Spoiler
When you come back to the bar ( and meet the lady there )
Nick asks to be hypnotized once more, and when vince refuses again "No nick how many times must I tell you ), it is Nick that is talking. ( his text color, his mouth moving, but it's Vince answer )
)
Enjoyable gameplay. Solidly written, with engaging characters. Clean, unfussy art and animation. Nice work. :)
Ok I ended it yesterday, the game is great.
I enjoyed the dialogs, very well built, and the backgrounds ( As I draw myself, I like to detail how others do, and you do good :) )
The only bad thing in this game is that it was too short, not too easy, but ok.
Bravo !
Sam : Don't say bravo Max ! ( highly cultural reference needed )
Just finished the game yesterday, and I liked it very much! Granted, it's a bit short, and the last puzzle was some guesswork, but still... you have my vote for this month's MAGS. :)
Thankyou for your encouragement.
Of course, the game probably seems a bit short as we had to limit ourselves ambition wise due to the short time a MAGS competition allows for development. I think we'd prefer to have half an hour of good gameplay to having 3 hours of poorly planned out, frustrating gameplay.
Admittedly some of the puzzles were a little bit of guesswork, but we made sure that we put hints in for basically everything - if you pay enough attention to cutscenes and conversations. It disappoints me that you found the last puzzle to be guesswork, Akatosh, but we did want to make sure that it was not too easy, and I think the hints are there. The last thing we wanted to do was give the player 18 items and 200 hotspots and turn the game into a boring guessfest.
I think also the small size room-wise of the game (ie not being able to walk around the whole thing at one time, not having 20 rooms) probably made the game seem short, as you aren't required to travel far in order to get resources you need for the puzzles. I think the whole point of the Memo innovation was to reward players for being creative... initially I hoped to do the game without any inventory items at all, but time constraints meant we tried to find a right balance between standard puzzles and Memo-type puzzles. Paolo did a good job of interpreting our ideas into puzzles - I think if one had more time the whole usage of the Memo could be expanded, but I am pleased with the end result.
Sorry for writing so much, and thankyou for playing our game. Akatosh - your vote is appreciated, my man.
Ben304,
I didn't found any of those puzzles as being guesswork at all, I'm not where Akatosh saw this.
You also got my vote for this game as well.
Good luck!
Thankyou for your vote, and for the luck you wish. This MAGS competition has seem some really cool entries - It's been an awesome one to take part in!
I am glad you didn't find guesswork - I am very concious of how quickly the genre can grow stale with obscure puzzles, and we tried hard to avoid the "get key for door" puzzles.
Quote from: Ben304 on Fri 28/09/2007 16:03:51
we tried hard to avoid the "get key for door" puzzles.
Not only that, but we make fun of some of the classic escape-the-room tricks (for example, try interacting with the vent after you've spoken to the steward outside the room).
Thanks everyone for your encouraging feedback and votes. Ben and I definitely appreciate it.
Played it, finished it, loved it. I look forward to more games from you in the future! Maybe even a possible sequel to this one? ??? ;D ;)
Thanks, CosmoQueen. I'm pleased you liked the game.
A sequel? No firm decisions yet on that. Maybe, maybe not. Remember from the epilogue that
Spoiler
Memos were withdrawn from sale and Vince's broke, so if we did do a sequel, it wouldn't have a Memo in it... but of course the bartender had one too, and we don't know what happened to that one... :)
QuoteSpoiler
but of course the bartender had one too, and we don't know what happened to that one...
Hmm interesting! ;D ;D ;D
Hi Ben304,
Congratulations for winning this month contest!
For your first game, it must feel great!
I figure this one was a winner!
CosmoQueen - I think we've considered a sequel, but are not 100% on our next focus as yet. Know that the plan is to continue making games.
Splat44 - Thankyou for your kind comments. It is very nice to have won the competition, especially seeing how many other people spent their time on entries. Also thanks to Paolo - this is as much his game as it is mine, and he has been great to work with.
Well whatever your next focus is, I'm sure it'll be awesome! I look forward to it ;)
*** UPDATE ***
Thanks to Pierre Hopquin of http://regne.net, the game now has a French translation.
I've also noticed that the text scales fine if you play full-screen - for some strange reason, it didn't the first time I tried it. So go ahead and play the game full-screen if you prefer.
Btw, be warned. This is kinda long.
Graphics are kinda cool though they could do with a wider color palette or better contrast? Because they do look kinda dull or muted.
The perspective is cool although it also makes clicking on an area or item rather difficult, at times. My suggestion is to have a closer view of a room, instead, with either a zoomed-in view or a view from another angle.
For the other characters, I think the hotspot(is that what you call it? The area where you can click on an item/object/etc.) needed to be larger or something, so that it doesn't turn into a pixel hunt.
Furthermore, having some red herrings is fine but it can be kinda frustrating when you're not really allowed to use the items with the puzzle.
Spoiler
For example: C-505. I desperately wanted to use the step ladder so that I could check out the light bulb myself but... man, the game wouldn't let me. And the idea of the character not being able to push an empty box/carton aside was a little... My suggestion would be to isolate the puzzle so you don't have to worry about creating any possible solutions that haven't been programmed into the game.
Oh and the usage of a memory-tampering device as a plot and puzzle device was awesome and very clever yet at the same time, there could have been more focus on puzzles orientated around other items. That's because if you allow the player to pick up random items throughout the game, said player will end up with tons of items that they don't need and personally, I've always preferred being forced to solve the puzzle with wit and some thinking rather than applying an item/action to everything in the room. :p
Wow, Lucifiel, thanks for the comments. I'll try and reply to everything as I see it:
Graphics were kinda rushed as they were a product of me trying to get used to a new way of doing backgrounds and putting lighting etc in, so I sometimes had more shadow than highlight and therefore not enough contrast. Thanks for noticing it anyway.
The perspective was also me experimenting with a two point perspective as I was totally sick of limiting myself to the one point cube rooms I'd seen everywhere. The plan is to hopefully eliminate the black edgy bits eventually.
About smallness of hotspots.... which bits exactly did you find a pixel hunt? We tried to ensure we avoided all annoying little "omg I can click on the rabbit!?" moments...
The way I saw it, we only really had two red herrings:
Spoiler
The pen, obviously, and the ladder/light/switch hint to frustrate people a bit ;)
We didn't think those were over the top... just enough to add a little bit more difficulty into the game. We were worried people would finish the game in like 10 minutes.
Finally, well... I had originally hoped to make the game without any items whatsoever, and just use the memory device but it was more sensible to have some items. I didn't think 6 items was really too many and had hoped that the main point of the game would be the memo... I worried that if we had heaps of object puzzles and one or 2 memory puzzles that the memo would get passed of as a useless gimmick. Feedback seems to indicate people wished we'd used it more than we did... are you saying you wanted more object based puzzles, or less of them?
Thanks for playing!
Edit - Thanks CosmoQueen ;)....
Wrong tags Ben! It's "hide" not "spoiler" :)
Thanks for your comments, Lucifel. It's interesting to see another point of view.
I don't want to repeat what Ben has said, but it's worth pointing out that this was a MAGS game, and the first time either of us had ever written a game using AGS, so there were bound to be one or two things that weren't quite as good as they could have been.
Some of the hotpoints (such as light switches) are small, but it's always clear where they are. They all cover the full extent of the relevant objects.
Regarding the red herrings... sometimes the obvious answer doesn't work, and you have to find another, just like in real life.
We had a few items in the game to give some variety. If every puzzle could be solved by hypnotising someone, it would have made it too easy and a bit boring, I think.
I think all the puzzles require wit to solve, and all of them are logical, I believe. If you're finding you're using every item on every hotspot, then it's likely you've overlooked something that's happened or been said. It's worth remembering that there are a lot of spoken clues in this game.
Thanks again for the feedback. It will help us make our next game even better!
Congrats on being the pick of the month for November!
It's a really good game! Nice graphics! Good work Paolo.
Just started playing.
Love the Memo feature. Excellent idea.
Thanks, guys. Ben304 did the graphics - if I'd done them the game would have looked terrible ;D
It's an honour to be Pick of the Month. Whew, there have been about 250 downloads in the past couple of days - I hope the server can take it!
It would be nice if you could vote on the game when you've finished playing it and maybe write a short review to let us know what you thought of it.
Quote from: Ben304 on Tue 30/10/2007 13:30:26
Wow, Lucifiel, thanks for the comments. I'll try and reply to everything as I see it:
Graphics were kinda rushed as they were a product of me trying to get used to a new way of doing backgrounds and putting lighting etc in, so I sometimes had more shadow than highlight and therefore not enough contrast. Thanks for noticing it anyway.
Ooh well, given that time was a limiting factor, it's definite that you'd be rushing. I just recalled that it was an MAGS game and thus, had a deadline.
Quote
The perspective was also me experimenting with a two point perspective as I was totally sick of limiting myself to the one point cube rooms I'd seen everywhere. The plan is to hopefully eliminate the black edgy bits eventually.
Hmm? What's "one point cube"?
Well, cool! May you succeed at doing away with the black edgy bits. I assume they refer to the "black areas" surrounding the pictures?
QuoteAbout smallness of hotspots.... which bits exactly did you find a pixel hunt? We tried to ensure we avoided all annoying little "omg I can click on the rabbit!?" moments...
Hmm, I think it's more 'cos the objects were really small and I seemed to have problems finding the right spot so I could click on them. :p
Quote
The way I saw it, we only really had two red herrings:
Spoiler
The pen, obviously, and the ladder/light/switch hint to frustrate people a bit ;)
Aha, I see. :p
Quote
We didn't think those were over the top... just enough to add a little bit more difficulty into the game. We were worried people would finish the game in like 10 minutes.
Hmmm... I guess I haven't played adventure games in a while, so my skills must be sore.
Quote
Finally, well... I had originally hoped to make the game without any items whatsoever, and just use the memory device but it was more sensible to have some items. I didn't think 6 items was really too many and had hoped that the main point of the game would be the memo... I worried that if we had heaps of object puzzles and one or 2 memory puzzles that the memo would get passed of as a useless gimmick. Feedback seems to indicate people wished we'd used it more than we did... are you saying you wanted more object based puzzles, or less of them?
Hmmm... just using the memory device, huh? That'd mean the device might need a few more functions and capabilities as well as technical restrictions. :p
Yeah, I can see why you'd think the memo would be dismissed, although, I wished it had more airtime.
Ah well, at the time I wrote that post, I was thinking more of a balanced sorta thing: equal amount of puzzles based on the memory device and object puzzles and other objects. But then again, come to think of it, fitting the puzzles into the game and balancing the game design are just as important too.
Quote
Thanks for playing!
Edit - Thanks CosmoQueen ;)....
Yeah, sure thing. :)
Quote from: paolo on Thu 01/11/2007 06:50:16
Thanks for your comments, Lucifel. It's interesting to see another point of view.
I don't want to repeat what Ben has said, but it's worth pointing out that this was a MAGS game, and the first time either of us had ever written a game using AGS, so there were bound to be one or two things that weren't quite as good as they could have been.
Ah well, you always improve with time, so just keep up the good work! :)
Quote
Some of the hotpoints (such as light switches) are small, but it's always clear where they are. They all cover the full extent of the relevant objects.
Oh, I knew that, though, I think that 'cos they're kinda small, it can be difficult to locate the hotspot.
Quote
Regarding the red herrings... sometimes the obvious answer doesn't work, and you have to find another, just like in real life.
Yep, figured that out far too late.
Quote
We had a few items in the game to give some variety. If every puzzle could be solved by hypnotising someone, it would have made it too easy and a bit boring, I think.
That's totally true. :)
Quote
I think all the puzzles require wit to solve, and all of them are logical, I believe. If you're finding you're using every item on every hotspot, then it's likely you've overlooked something that's happened or been said. It's worth remembering that there are a lot of spoken clues in this game.
Ya know, now that you mentioned "clues", I think some of them might have flown over my head. :p Ah well, it'd been quite some time since I played an adventure game before touching this game. Guess my skills are kinda lacking in practise.
Quote
Thanks again for the feedback. It will help us make our next game even better!
Aww, sure. ^^;; Though, I wonder if my feedback was even any useful. :p
Enjoyable game, I hope you guys do a game not limiting you to anything, so you can spend more time on the animations etc. All in all I enjoyed it :)
Glad you enjoyed it. Next game will (of course) be bigger better and shinier.
Thanks for playing!
Still haven't checked it...
Little error in the dialogs.
Missing word : "We don't anyone to know about, especially not the Aboriginal community"
--> "We don't WANT anyone to know about, especially not the Aboriginal community" ?
Ah!
Thankyou for that. And we thought we did so well. ;)
Quote from: Monsieur OUXX on Mon 03/12/2007 22:25:55
Little error in the dialogs.
Missing word : "We don't anyone to know about, especially not the Aboriginal community"
--> "We don't WANT anyone to know about, especially not the Aboriginal community" ?
If one was to be really pedantic they could also add:
"We don't WANT anyone to know about 'IT', especially not the Aboriginal community"
But we all know what is meant.
I can't even get past the first room all i have is the pen someone help
Hey Smiffy,
First of all, please make sure you ask these questions here (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=32487.0) in future, but to help you with your problem make sure you've done the following
Spoiler
- Talked to both doors in the right order
- Talked to your friends at every step of the way - this is essential throughout the game
- Used the memo on one of the people you've talked to
Cheers
Ben
Quote from: Stupot on Tue 04/12/2007 13:29:17
Quote from: Monsieur OUXX on Mon 03/12/2007 22:25:55
Little error in the dialogs.
Missing word : "We don't anyone to know about, especially not the Aboriginal community"
--> "We don't WANT anyone to know about, especially not the Aboriginal community" ?
If one was to be really pedantic they could also add:
"We don't WANT anyone to know about 'IT', especially not the Aboriginal community"
But we all know what is meant.
Yes, you're right, it was meant to be "We don't want anyone to know about it, ..." Well spotted, and thanks for pointing it out.
OK, for anyone who might be interested, there is now an Italian translation of the game (version 1.06).
Oh, and the typo that Monsieur OUXX found should now be fixed too.
G'day,
Playing the game as I write. Crikey what a ripper game mates!
Must have been some hard yakka given the amount of (development)time. Love the interaction between the three main chars.
If 1.06 is the most current I think there's a bung sentence: When visiting Grace the second time she replies:
There's certainly there's some funny business going on.
Or is this also Also aussie-talk and am I going berko?
Can't wait to play the next one.
Hooroo
Another few things I noticed:
Spoiler
- While looking at the boxes, looking at the one below the black box produces a text that's very briefly visible. Then I see: No nothing. Trying it again will tell you that you've already looked.
and
Spoiler
- After hypnotising Nick in the same location, trying to talk to him first produces the text: What do you think we should do now, then he replies: So, did you find out.....?
Seems to me the first line shouldn't be there?
For the ones interested: I've made a walkthrough here (http://gamesolutions.efzeven.nl/trance-pacific-walkthrough-ben-chandler-paul-giaccone2007/)
I played a little, i notice it's translated in Italian too...
a professional product!
Very Nice Game, congrats!