(http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/3856/title2q.png)
Elodie Major has been running a little indie radio station called Airwave Radio with her friend Zak for 5 years now, and they've manage to win a strong following amongst the people of the small town of Wave.
Recently, however, they've found themselves under pressure from mainstream record labels to play their music, and have resisted quite forcefully, but they haven't seen an end to this attempted interference just yet...
This is the first part in the ~airwave~ series of games.
(http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vx9Sh4X1_FY/TUf21Qo4sFI/AAAAAAAAAME/_kPUV82OTvM/s1600/Screenshot2.PNG)
As usual, I have a ton of people to thank:
Sebastian, David and Miranda, who made my strange little dream of having a full radio show in the game come true - and so much better than I expected it to be. When I envisioned doing a radio show for a game, I never thought it'd be anywhere *near* as good as this, and I am totally awestruck that I'm allowed to have such a cool thing in one of my games.
Sebastian once again, for putting up with my craziness and mood swings, for putting together and hosting a radio show despite being super busy with everything else, and for his input in the design and writing departments which was most valuable.
Calin Leaftummy for putting together sounds, testing, listening to me moan about basically everything and cuddles.
Ryan Timothy and Arj0n, for their bug finding efforts once again - I'm sure they're sick of me by now :P
Chris Jones once again, for his lovely engine.
And, of course, everyone who I annoyed whilst making this game, which was no doubt a whole bunch of you. Sorry ;D
You can get the game here! (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1400)
Oh! And I really fancied playing a proper adventure game today! Sometimes wishes just come true.... [downloading]
[EDIT] Hey, I'm first one to post! I have no doubt this will be a long thread... ;)
Second. Also great subtitle. GREAT REFERENCE TO A GREAT SONG.
Fantastic game again.... as usual.
Two things I noticed (I can start a list with all the great things I see and hear like voice acting, characters, music tracks, cursors, backgrounds, witty dialogs etc) that weren't quite right...
1: When you stop the radio at any spot, the track really stops... and continues where you stopped. When I turn the radio off at home, I miss half the show.. ;D
2: I found a typo (sorry) but won't bother you with it, unless you really want.
Spoiler
It's recommended, not reccommended)
;D
Downloaaaaading ;D
Thanks a lot ;D, I can hardly wait ;D ;D
GRATZ on releasing this one Ben!
Downloading it now, can't wait to see the character based on me :P
I just blasted through this thing (In the nude, actually. Come to think of it, I'm very cold, I should put clothing on my body.) and I gotta say, holy mother of monkeys what a wonderful setting you guys have put together. I was sucked in 100%.
Congratulations on the first release in what will clearly become an absolutely awesome series of games! :o
Grim: Hope it satisfies some of the adventure lust in you :=
Dual: Rock the Casbah bro :D
Leon: Thanks for the nice comments! As for the two issues - with the radio, I thought about it for ages but decided this would be the best way to go about turning it off, as for the other, I'm always interested in getting rid of typos.
Indie: ;D
Zenger: Hope you enjoy!
Arj0n: Thanks man, and thanks again for all your testing efforts! The game would be a lot buggier without your input!
Xenogia: Please don't get into a musical debate with your virtual self (besides you're less of a goth than I made you in the game, but I just had to stereotype it up a little :D)
Theo: Thanks bro! I really loved working in the world and filling it up with little details, so it's awesome to hear it paid off. I really pushed myself with these backgrounds, and am pushing even harder for the second part! (also, I do most AGS related things with little clothing on 8))
Just finished it, and it was great! The artwork is better than ever, late-night radio show and overall night ambience works wonderfully (escpecially since it's 4:30 AM here right now). All the details about the splendid game world are very welcome, and The Clash reference in the title made me smile.
The story itself is really sweet and oozes with indie kindness and warmth. The characters are also sweet, cool and very contemporary, which is always a plus in my book.
All the songs were fun to listen to and of surprisingly high quality, and they lasted me exactly through the whole game. Although I think it could've been even cooler if the songs were done by a larger variety of people, through some sort of contest or something like that.
I'm sure the episodic format will suit you perfectly, and we'll get a great adventure out of it. Best of luck with part 2 and thanks for such a lovely game!
Also, those tilde-thingies, that I assume represent airwaves, are quite cool.
Thanks for the great feedback, Ilyich.
With regards to the songs being done by a bigger variety of people, I see your point here, but I really love all the songs and wouldn't want it any other way, really! I feel they really manage to capture the essence of a broad range of modern music styles whilst still managing to poke a bit of fun at popular music in general.
Very nice little game. Great artwork (as usual) and very immersive. This world felt very "lived in" and yet still somewhat alien. Reminded me just a bit of the world of Full Throttle for some reason.
All in all, nicely done. Looking forward to the next one.
- Ponch
_______
(Also, don't most of us do all things AGS related while naked? Hell, I wear nothing but sunglasses when working on Barn Runner. And I always take off my pants before logging into the forums.)
Quote from: Ponch on Wed 16/02/2011 03:14:11
Very nice little game. Great artwork (as usual) and very immersive. This world felt very "lived in" and yet still somewhat alien. Reminded me just a bit of the world of Full Throttle for some reason.
All in all, nicely done. Looking forward to the next one.
- Ponch
_______
(Also, don't most of us do all things AGS related while naked? Hell, I wear nothing but sunglasses when working on Barn Runner. And I always take off my pants before logging into the forums.)
I try to look at the forum naked and upside down hanging from the rafters of the roof my house. I need to dangle it freeeee.
Ponch: Thanks! It was pretty important to us to make the world feel as full and alive as possible, so it's awesome to hear that this is noticeable. Full Throttle was a pretty big influence on the game's style - heck, the giant tower with a tank at the top is a direct homage to the fuel tower in FT :).
Xenogia: I know. I visited you at your house, remember. The memories keep me awake at night! :o
Games to go: 292291!!
YAY! I've got to say the music is awesome!! :D
I have to agree, it is awesome, and I've been listening to it for a few weeks now :D
And there I was, thinking that there is NOTHING that can get between me and Haruki Murakami's "1Q84, volume 2" tonight! ::)
Downloading the game as we speak :D Will comment later!
Been ages since I've had a new 304 game to enjoy...was starting to go into withdrawals!
One minor quibble is that a character mentions offhand that he catches rainwater because he doesn't want to distill it (I forget exactly what he said, played it before bed last night). Someone should tell him that rainwater is essentially distilled already...
cool, playing and swinging along right now and ;D
there is one thing I noticed though, the antenna tower in the first playable screen has a hotspot on top that doesn't have a name.... sooo back to listeni...playing :D
Oh, what have we here? If it isn't a lovely lovely thing! ;D I don't have enough time to really play it right now. I started it today and the graphics are grade-a, commercial level amazing. The animations I've seen are beautiful and fluid. The radio station idea is great. The music is great. And so on. Well, the only thing that I found difficult so far was the voices on the radio. Couldn't play when there was talking or singing because I am utterly multi-tasking retarded, so I had to turn the sound off. Excited to play more soon!
I'm embarrassed to confess I'm waiting for a walkthrough now.
The music, art, and atmosphere were more than worth being stuck for the entire program, but nevertheless I can't hang out in Wave forever.
Quote from: Ascovel on Thu 17/02/2011 01:40:41
I'm embarrassed to confess I'm waiting for a walkthrough now.
Are you stuck on the mixed drink puzzle? So was I.
Hint:
Spoiler
It's the only drink mentioned by name in the game.
Hope that helps.
No, I've already got the drink, but I don't know where to begin with doing something about the mayor. I talked to the Frying Man, but that wasn't enough for me to figure out what I need.
To get the Major out of her coma:
Quote from: Laurence, the frying man
Course, you can thin it out with the
right fumes and then apply a note of
the correct resonant frequency to
shift it to the intestine.
[...]
Yeah, basically, you make it runny
with some strong fumes and then you
get a sound going that makes the fat
wobble and drop.
Take the hint from Ponch from here.
:( I still need a walkthrough.... :o
So I'm not the only one stuck at that particular point! Phew! ::)
Aaanyway... What I enjoy the most is how likeable and relatable the characters are in this game. Well, except that record company guy :P So many fun stories to tell (I especially liked the little reviews Elodie gave of each record) and great chemistry between people. The story itself is surprising and compelling. We have a character with what you could call a regular, down to earth (pun intended) job. And what a fun job, too! Reminds me how I'd always wanted to be a DJ, tooooo. Love rock music! Oh and the DJ banter in the beginning was awesome. Love it! That kind of thing is what makes me play the GTA games. I don't care about the missions, I just drive around listening to music and DJ's talking! It's so much fun to have a radio you can play in every location you visit. Although as someone noted above, it can be a little distracting with the DJ and the characters talking at the same time. And last but not least... The graphics are superb. Characters, animation, backgrounds... Everything! The mixture of yellow, greenish blue and purple does wonders for the atmosphere.
It's been a LONG time since your last game - but it was well worth the wait!
Fitz: Thanks for your comments. I really wanted to make it feel like Elodie really knew all these characters - setting the first game in her hometown really let me establish a nice circle of friends and helped me write her history a bit better, so I'm glad you found the characters fun and easy to relate to.
The radio stations in the GTA games are a big part of the attraction for me as well, and they're a big part of the reason why I wanted to have a radio station in the game - the other, of course, being that I love music and radio stations that play music beyond the regular billboard charting artists.
NemelChelovek: Few people have felt the length of time between releases as strongly as I have. My apologies if my science was inaccurate; it has been years since I studied chemistry - although, to be fair, the musical theories that Damon discusses are almost entirely inaccurate and unrealistic and written that way on purpose, so one accidental bungle doesn't concern me too much ;D
selmiak: Hope you enjoy it, Chris! Thanks for the catch there, I'll fix that!
Pressure Cookie: Many thanks for your kind words! People being unable to focus on the game because of the talking/singing was a major concern, hence the ability to turn the radio off at several places in the game world.
Ascovel: I'll be the first to concede that this is a slightly far fetched puzzle, but hopefully you'll solve it :)
SarahLiz: If you've got a specific question, we'll be happy to help out (unless a walkthrough gets written soon, of course).
There are a number of issues that have appeared since release, so when I get some free time (hopefully this weekend) I will address them and upload an updated version of the game.
For those of you still puzzled.... here you go. (http://gamesolutions.efzeven.nl/airwave-i-fought-the-law-and-the-law-one-walkthrough-ben-chandler2011/)
Quote from: Ben304 on Thu 17/02/2011 08:23:28
NemelChelovek: Few people have felt the length of time between releases as strongly as I have. My apologies if my science was inaccurate; it has been years since I studied chemistry - although, to be fair, the musical theories that Damon discusses are almost entirely inaccurate and unrealistic and written that way on purpose, so one accidental bungle doesn't concern me too much ;D
No worries, mate, I just learned it this past weekend, myself--I mostly only noticed it because I never figured the subject would ever come up again! But you can make it up to me by releasing more games :p
Downloading ;D!
How come this is not on www.agsarchives.com yet?? ::)
yes, I enjoyed it, but it's way too short! Cool music, ingenious dialogue and likable characters, what do you want more in a game? And I really would have loved to see Audrey and Rasputin perform. Both in animation with their 'fitting' instruments and in sound :)
And why did noone demand a soundtrack yet? release it now! :D
and a really cool thing would have been a short (half a second to not be too annoying everytime) animation of Elodie running between the locations when going there on the map. The map reminds me of DotT somehow...
Thanks for the walkthrough, Leon. The problem in my case was that I tried using
Spoiler
the drink on the mayor and taking a sample from the table
already before Lawrence appeared - both of which actions gave no results. So I figured out these are not among interactions that can work. Also,
Spoiler
very possible it's my English, but I would never think of a completely still liquid (and a only a few drops of it) as something that can produce "fumes". More like a vapor or a smell.
So I'm a bit frustrated about getting stuck on this puzzle. I'll finish the game today evening.
Leon: Thanks, as usual, for writing the walkthrough :)
NemelChelovek: I plan on it!
Peder: Umm... because you're the one that has to add it to there? I discussed this with you just last week :=
Selmiak: Too short? I thought it was perfect length for a short game 8). I originally planned to animate Audrey and Rasputin playing their show as the sequence after the end credits, but realized that I could add so much more to the story and characters with the end sequence I ended up using, so I stuck with that. An animation would have been a cute end to the game, but I think this one is the stronger finish overall.
As for the soundtrack - it's not mine to release! It's up to Sebastian and David if/how they wish to release the game's soundtrack, really.
Ascovel: I see your point, but Rasputin does quite clearly state (the first time, at least) that the concoction created fumes - also if you've done it right and look at it, she does mention the word fumes as well. I am going to slightly adjust what he says if you ask him the story again, so hopefully that will help clear up any more confusion there :)
So when can we expect the sequel? Tomorrow? Saturday? Next Thursday at the latest? :=
Very nice game. Loved the graphics, as usual, the animations and the atmosphere. My only- really- criticism, is that there is too much chatter right from the start. It might be a matter of personal taste, but I think I would've prefered it if the story was introduced in less words and more...erm, action? But apart from this- excellent, Ben. Thank you! ;D
oh lol. nice game. i can't wait the part two.
How much parts are planned ?
LEON!! Yes!!!! Thank you so much!!
As for the game Ben, your games are always lots of fun to play and have great graphics, and this one is no exception. I'll probably play it through tonight after the kids go down (dang--do I have to be a Mommy first? Bummer.), and I can't wait! I always enjoy your games so I know I won't be disappointed.
Cheers!!
Sarah 8)
This game is rubbish on account of not containing any overweight elephants.
Ponch: Haa haa. It's probably going to be a slightly bigger game, so it'll take me a bit longer to put together than this one, I think.
Grim: Thanks! I see your point about the chattyness, and even discussed with Sebastian how wordy the intro is, but really didn't want to cut any of it. I'll try to get to the action quicker next time!
frederic09: Depends on how much I cut/add to the storyline and how I split it all up, but I'm currently looking at between 5-7 parts. No definite figures though!
SarahLiz: Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it!
Calin: There is one actually but it's so big it is hiding behind the mountains because it is embarrassed at its fat tummy D:
D: poor heffalump!
(http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/9429/46719115.png)
Yay I discovered an easter egg! I managed to coax it out from hiding with pork chops.
Nice easter egg with the crow btw!
Atelier found an easter egg even I didn't know about! :O
Glad you liked the crow, it allowed me to sneakily reference two classic adventure games at once!
Cute game, nice interface. Backgrounds and animations were lovely as usual, and I enjoyed the more 'traditional' puzzles this time around. Music was hit or miss, mostly hit.
One thing I thought was a bit odd was the small width of the inventory when there was so much room along the top to support probably every inventory item comfortably with room to spare. Such are the nitpicks one developer bestows on another. Also, while I enjoy your short games, I'd really like to see you buckle down and focus on at least one full-length, full-feature game!
Stop taunting me with these game samplers, you beautiful bastard!
Finally finished it! Can't believe I got stuck in such a stupid way, either - I could've sworn I tried the right thing but to no avail. Or was I doing something wrong?
Aaaanyway...
Great ending! There was suspense and there was melancholy. Has you waiting for the follow up - in the hope that everything will work out fine and that girl will come to her senses. Great, emotional story. You're right, setting the story in a place and around people the main character is familiar with let you create a deeper bond between both the characters themselves, and the players and characters as well. She knows them and it's kind of as if we knew, them too. So I guess the new game in the series will be even more anticipated than your games usually are (and you know that they are).
So while I wait, I can finally go read 1Q84! ;)
Also, I spent some more time just listening to the music and I really like most songs and truly love some of them. A soundtrack from the game would be nice! Indie stuff rocks, I remember the good old myspace days when I had friend requests from indie bands every day. Incidentally, a vast majority of them was Aussie musicians. And speaking of Aussie musicians... Just yesterday, after getting stuck in the game, thinking about my favorite obscure songs I remembered... this one (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPRukncgtjY)! Yes, that is HER. Back in 1998, when her carreer was in decline because she was trying to do something intelligent - and shortly before she gave up and the Golden Knickers Era began.
Quote from: Ben304 on Thu 17/02/2011 21:43:54
Ponch: Haa haa. It's probably going to be a slightly bigger game, so it'll take me a bit longer to put together than this one, I think.
So... Two weeks then? ;)
Arg, this isn't fair! :(
I've decided that I'll play the nominees, but that's it. :(
Damn my studies!
Oh boy, another wonderful game from Ben!
I love this unique style of the backgrounds and characters with individual charisma, the smooth animations and nice story-line. Also the idea about "presence" of the radiostation in every scene and the possibility of switching it on/off.
Thank you and all the others, who worked on this, for a new pearl (your already build a long chain) - great!
(http://www.web-smilie.de/smilies/schilder_smilies/danke.gif)
Finally finished.
Ben, I think your art work is already leaps and bounds beyond what you did in games like Faetherweight and Heed which already made everyone jealous. What makes the biggest difference is the amount of fine detail you put in the backgrounds. The overall look is superb.
Similarly amazing is the live radio show. I loved all the songs and their variety. And for some reason I'm a sucker for fictional shows, magazines and programs pretending to be an organic part of a fictional world. Great work there, Sebastian and David!
The characters are all cool and interesting (except that 1-dimensional evil corporation henchman perhaps) and the theme of large scale indieness is a lot of fun. The game being only the first episode it's difficult to say what the plot is about yet.
Overall, I think it's one of the best and most atmospheric worlds you constructed.
Now, the one thing I didn't entirely like is the puzzles. First of all, listening to the radio songs and talks while reading lengthy conversations jam-packed with strange band names and musical theories creates great ambiance and style, but in terms of puzzle-solving and following clues it's an amazing amount of noise for the player to make his way through. Combined with the fact that most puzzles rely on attempting the required interaction at just the proper moment in time it makes them more tiresome than fun, and occasionally frustrating. Also, IMO the game sometimes doesn't give sufficient clues of the type "NOW is the time to DO that thing that was impossible earlier!"
That is quite a pixel hunt with that cable too.
ProgZmax: Thanks for the feedback! With regards to the inventory, it was more a choice related to symmetry of guis than anything, though I see your point. I haven't made a game with lots of inventory items for ages, so the amount of items kinda snuck up on me! As for longer games, hopefully doing the episodic thing will help me tell a fuller length story, broken up into more manageable chunks.
Fitz: Glad you enjoyed the ending and story, I was quite pleased once I had designed it all and checked how it all flowed for this first part. I feel it's one of my strongest pieces of game writing to date. As for the music, I agree, I really love some of the songs very, very much. As for the Kylie song, wow, I'd never even heard of that until now. This is preferable to golden knickers :)
Ponch: Sure, if you don't mind a one room, one puzzle installment ;D
Wonkyth: Not sure if I understand you fully, but studies are a good thing!
Tabata: Thank you for the lovely comments, they are very much appreciated.
Ascovel: Thanks for the feedback! I've really been pushing myself (particularly with so many amazing artists around the forums these days) graphically now that I've found a comfortable style , it's nice to know this is paying off. I agree about the radio show, when I came up with the idea, I had no clue that it would turn out as good as it did!
As for the characters, hopefully by the time the corporate guy's story has been fleshed out fully he will seem a little less one-dimensional. Glad you found the others interesting!
Interesting thoughts on the puzzles - the frustrations with radio whilst speaking is one reason I gave the option to turn the radios off, and I'm going to do some adjusting at some point which will hopefully fix a few of your concerns. I agree that the conversations didn't fully hint at the puzzle solutions, but adjusted whichever puzzles the testers got stuck on to be clearer, and will be making at least one slightly better hinted at as well. As for the pixel hunt - I did my best to eliminate the worst of them (hence the fact that there are 2 sets of pliers in 2 different rooms).
Don't take the unpleasant things I said about the corporate guy too seriously though - it was my way of saying he perfectly embodies the characteristic of an evil corporate drone, which was probably the idea.
Oh, I didn't take it the wrong way, that's how I intended him to appear! But there's more to him than meets the eye, you just don't get to see it yet :)
Nice little game.
I needed the walkthrough though :(
The music was really cool! but I could have done without Zak's little monologues. They kept distracting me from reading the conversations properly.
Glad you liked it Stu. When I get a chance, I'm going to add an option to the game to allow you to set the speech to be skipped manually only, so that players can wait until after Zak has finished speaking then read the dialogue.
Hopefully this fixes the problem a little!
Yes! In fact, that's exactly what I wished I could do when I was playing.
Game finished ;D. Excellent work Ben ;D
Ah, great work. The whole drinks puzzle really confused me though so I looked up a walkthrough. Nothing in the dialogue seems to indicate what fits the bill unless I missed something.
Talking to Rasputin makes it a bit clearer. But I must admit that it's not very clear how his stories and the coma of the mayor are related. I found the cocktail by brute force and noticed the hint later.. :-\
Thanks Galen and Zenger!
I'll see if I can tweak the dialogue a bit to make that puzzle a little clearer.
Thank you everybody who said they enjoyed the radio show! Finally I had the chance of using all the stuff that had been stored away on my hard drive for years and never put to good use, hah. By the way, Zak's radio announcements and comments are all first takes, I really wanted to create an improvised live atmosphere, and it seems to have worked! Oh, and I am surprised nobody commented on my slightly jarring accent until now, I suppose this must be one of the advantages of globalization.
About the radio show and text confusion: I agree, listening to (narrating) text while reading text that is normally spoken is just too confusing. I've been thinking maybe I shouldn't have put it all together in one track, but rather in separate files, so there could have been an easy way to simply turn off speech? A radio with jabber filter, actually pretty useful if you ask me! And Zak could probably invent it quite easily.
About the drink mixing puzzle: I am starting to think that I am kind of a counterintuitive sort of puzzle solver, I mean, even Leon had problems solving this (!), and I solved the puzzle like 1-2-3, without even thinking. I talked to Rasputin, heard about the drink, noticed that you could mix drinks inside the bar - done. And then I got stuck forever on every single one of the following puzzles, haha.
I am not sure yet if and how we will release a soundtrack for the game, and I am not sure if it should be free, donation based or if it should cost a little money (I'm thinking $5 here) - I have no experience whatsoever with charging money for downloads, I have never in my life filled in a tax form, and I would have to ask my former band mates for two or three tunes if they are okay with me releasing the songs and maybe charging a little for it (all of my songs are band recordings, while David mostly recorded whole songs on his own, the only exception being the Kosmonaut Gonzalez tune - the only band we ever played in together).
Ben, I have a question.
When will you propose to Calin?!
Quote from: Atelier on Mon 21/02/2011 22:09:15
Ben, I have a question.
When will you propose to Calin?!
So that was what the game's plot was really about!? :o
Quote from: Ascovel on Mon 21/02/2011 22:30:22
So that was what the game's plot was really about!? :o
My God! It all makes sense now! I'm speechless! :-X
You guys are just jealous that he wants to touch my penis and not yours.
..I assume he realises that i have a penis...
Actually I vaguely remember proposing to him last week, and I'm sure he said "I do".
(this isn't actually a joke, I really do remember it occurring)
Goodness! I haven't seen this much man love since the last Oceanspirit Dennis game! ;)
I was going to wait until I finished the game but since I suck at it and haven't had the time to get past where I am, I thought I'd duck in and pass on my congratulations on another fine game. It really is a great setting and atmosphere, as always. Loving the whole radio concept! I'll add something a little more insightful when I'm done 8)
Ponch: There's more homo-eroticism in the average conversation between Calin and I than in the last OSD game! ;)
Sughly: Thanks, glad you're enjoying it thus far!
Not much to say really, except congrats on another masterpiece. My favorite thing you've done I think, and the fact that it's the tip of the iceberg is really exciting!
Strangely, I didn't get as stuck as others have on here, and I'm usually one of those who has to have a walkthrough at the ready at all times. I was actually worried I would finish the game before hearing all of the songs and dj portions, but it was timed almost perfectly. It had just started to loop as I went in for the last cutscene.
Yeah, I loved the really laid back, on the spot style of the narration, good job kaputtnik. I did detect an accent :) But I think it added a lot to the flavor.
One thing that kind of bothered me at first, was the fact that we could hear their voices on the radio, and then when the game actually starts, they talk so silently. But with the sound mixing problems I don't know if there's a good solution to that, and of course doing full voice is a lot more work than just the few lines that there were.
Great job everyone, looking forward to the next part!
Wonderful little game. My only problem was that I didn't know what to do with the wrong drink I mixed up and sometimes it was hard to find the map.
Super game neverless. :)
And yes, another great game by Ben and his great sound/musicsupport'team'.. Loved the graphix as always, loved the sound and music.. Looking forward to more games with the same characters...
Nice game, I have to say I didn't have any problems with the puzzles here. They may have been illogical or strange, but the hints in several dialogs made them pretty clear for me.
I also thought at one point that the radio moderation interfering the dialog was a bit distracting, but I just paused the dialog for a moment and listened to the radio show first, so it wasn't much of an issue for me. And the radio show gave a lot to the atmosphere, especially in this nightly setting.
Lastly, I actually wanted to congratulate you on choosing a title that puts the game in the top position of any alphabetical list, but now I found out it's in fact the last entry in the game database (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=digest&sortby=0&sortdir=0&startfrom=1200) :=
Looking forward to the second part!
Quote from: TomatosInTheHead on Mon 07/03/2011 21:58:00
Lastly, I actually wanted to congratulate you on choosing a title that puts the game in the top position of any alphabetical list, but now I found out it's in fact the last entry in the game database (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=digest&sortby=0&sortdir=0&startfrom=1200) :=
Ben, you sly fox, now you have the database cornered from both sides! :o
Saluk: Thanks! It's easily one of my favourite projects to date, and the finished first chapter really makes me proud and hopeful of what we can end up turning the series into. Glad you enjoyed the game and the musical/DJ portion, hope you enjoy the next episode whenever we get around to building it :)
BlueAngel: Yeah, the drink puzzle seems to have had a few people stumped, and I was aware that the exit hotspots weren't as clear as they perhaps could have been (but did do my best to make them reasonably obvious. Thanks for the comment, glad you had fun!
SuperDre: Thanks! I look forward to furthering Elodie's (and a few other character's) story!
TomatosInTheHead: Well, it's nice to hear you understood the puzzles! I already had a game on the top of the list, this was my sneaky move to have one down the bottom as well := Glad to hear you enjoyed the atmosphere, creating a strong sense of ambiance was a big priority for me in this game.
Acovel: Heh, I wondered how long it would take before somebody noticed my sneaky plan (yes, I am absolutely shameless) ;D
I enjoyed parts of the game, and other parts less so...
Liked:
* The live radio concept was awesome. Also of course, the songs were brilliant. My best part about this game without a doubt.
* The graphics and animations here were stunning as always with your games, and perhaps even more so in this one.
* The setting of the game (saving the bar/radio station) is original and really refreshing for an adventure game.
* Some little touches really helped bringing the world to life. Especially the part of people talking to you with new things to say almost every time you re-enter their screen.
* Interesting choice of characters, like the little girl that plays bass in a rock band, and the lesbian bartender that's in love with Elodie, you don't get to see this in games...
Disliked:
* How should I put this? Too much text to my taste, but it's more than that, since I have played games with lots of text in the past and loved it.
It's that I found most of the text not the most interesting. To me, I found Elodie itself to be one dimensional, it seemed that her sole characteristic was her love to indie music and that's all she talked about (that wasn't related to the actual story), and she talked and talked some more, and I grew tired of it, it was overwhelming.
And if that wasn't enough, most of the other characters also were only interested in music and that's all they talked about (and I'm a hobbyist musician myself, but it was just too much).
I ended up skipping some of the dialogues, and that's probably the reason that I missed the hint about the drinking puzzle and had to resort to the walkthrough.
* There was a second time that I had to resort to a walkthrough, but it wasn't because I was stuck. Here's what happened:
Spoiler
I saved and exited the game after the part where the band told me they needed the string and tambourine. I opened the game again a few days later, and didn't remember what they needed. I tried to talk to them but they didn't repeat it, so there was no way for me to know what my goal is now, so I had to read the walkthrough just to know that.
This one can easily be fixed.
Me and the missus just finished this (you make games too fast for me to keep up).
I think the world you create is great (as always) and I like the fact that you're happy to leave things unresolved... but I'm still looking forward to a continuation of the game. I'm hoping for a sequel cleverly incorporating the word 'two' into a well known song title...
Nelly thinks your girls are too skinny from the side, but she loves everything else about the game. Particularly the natural character interactions and the way the outcome isn't obvious from the start.
In conclusion: Fun!
tzachs: Missed your feedback, but appreciate it! I agree that I went a little overboard in spots with the band things, and will focus a bit more on other stuff in the next episode :). Thanks for playing and commenting!
Ali: I agree, I recently went back and tried to improve my anatomy skills and the first thing I realized was how skinny I make people from side on! I've definitely changed this since learning that. There is a second episode (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=43177.0) most definitely in the works (awful well known song pun title included!) but I'm currently without my game making amigo kaputtnik, and so am focusing on other things until he can find the free time to work on AGS stuff again - at which point the SPIRIT of ROCK (or THE spirit OF rock) will most definitely be continued :)
Thanks for the comments!
Congratulations to Ben on his #indievisibility award!
http://www.sizefivegames.com/2011/12/11/indievisibilty-end-of-year-awards-results/#more-1438
(And commiserations on Simon Byron's Australian-accented reading of Ben's acceptance speech that morphed into Cockney halfway through.)
Congrats, Ben. Now you have no excuse not to finish part two. 8)
Quote from: Ponch on Sun 11/12/2011 16:06:36
Congrats, Ben. Now you have no excuse not to finish part two. 8)
Hah. While you typed that, he's probably already made Part 3! ;D
Congrats, Ben! You really've come a long way!
Oh man if I had known someone was going to try and do an Australian accent I would've put a bunch of "g'days" and "crikeys" in the acceptance speech! Pity I couldn't be there, it sounded like an amazing night!
As for an excuse for not finishing part two, my current excuse is "Bake Sale". :=