Thirty years before
The Blackwell Legacy comes...
(http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mayoco/project/media/BU_poster.jpg)
The year is 1973. The sound of a lone, ethereal saxophone drifts over the Roosevelt Island promenade, while a series of accidents plague a midtown construction site. The citizens of Manhattan take no notice of these events, let alone think they are connected.
Embittered medium Lauren Blackwell and her spirit guide Joey Mallone are the only ones who believe that there is anything strange going on, and they are the only ones who can stop an enigmatic killer from striking again… Features:
- An original score
- Full voice speech
- DVD-style commentary with Dave Gilbert and Erin Robinson
- Unlockable bonuses, such as bloopers and concept art
Screenshots:(http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mayoco/project/media/BU_screen3.png)
Yet another confused, lost spirit. What's a medium to do?
(http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mayoco/project/media/BU_screen2.png)
Lauren's reputation procedes her.
(http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mayoco/project/media/BU_screen4.png)
Lauren takes a smoking break.
(http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mayoco/project/media/BU_screen5.png)
Trolling the local businesses for information.
(http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mayoco/project/media/BU_screen6.png)
Once more, looking at photographs will provide clues.
Team:Writer/designer/coder: Dave Gilbert (http://www.wadjeteyegames.com)
Sprites/animation/Background: Erin Robinson (The Ivy) (http://www.livelyivy.com)
Music: Thomas Regin (http://www.thomas-regin.com/)
Poster art: Dan Lee
Price: $9.99 (digital)
$20.00 (CD-ROM, includes soundtrack)
You can download a demo HERE. (http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mayoco/project/media/Unbound_Demo.zip)
For more details on the game (like character info, concept sketches, and other goodies), please mosey over to the Wadjet Eye Games website. (http://www.wadjeteyegames.com)
I seem to be the first to buy it, yay! :D
weeee! downloading my pre-order now :P
i have been looking forward to this.
Purchased it just now, downloading.
Man, oodles of cash must be coming your way right about now ;)
And I'm sure I'm going to enjoy this game!
Ive been looking forward to this for so long! Can't wait to play it. :D
Congratulations! I'm sure this one will be as popular as the last! :=
I liked the last game, but it wasn't worth the price. I mean, it was good, but I've played games just as good or for better for free. It was too short, and I'm worried that if I pay to play this one, I'll be in for the same old disappointments.
(by the way, you are an amazing artist, and I love your cover art!)
This game is great. Incredibly atmospheric, brilliantly written, and superbly acted (although I may be biased on that one ;))
Lauren Blackwell is definitely my favorite AGS game character, maybe even my favorite character of any adventure game.
This looks great, although I don't have the money to buy it.
Are you getting paid by Marlboro or what? On every second screen I see Lauren smoking ^^
Quote from: nihilyst on Wed 05/09/2007 00:43:45
Are you getting paid by Marlboro or what? On every second screen I see Lauren smoking ^^
Damn. Why didn't I think of that?
So far there's been some weird things. Dunno if they're glitches or intended, but...
Spoiler
- When Lauren enters the appartment smoking, she throws the butt on the floor. This is dangerous behaviour ^_^;
- In the notes, talking to Joey as Lauren or vice-versa you get exactly the same responses about John Durkin as with Sam. Weird.
- There's hardly any reactions to most inventory item usage on things that aren't scripted.
Other than that, I'm intrigued though slightly frustrated with the part I'm at now. I have absolutely no clue how to progress :(
edit:
Spoiler
I just realized that I could look up characters from the cast list in the manual ahead of time. I looked up cecil sharpe that way, with no in-game reason to do it. Maybe an idea to remove the cast list from the manual?
really great job Dave, i've enjoyed playing it and am now going through it again with the commentary, and will probably play through a few more times (or atleast create more saves than i usually do) so i get to hear all the dialogue options :D
the musician has done a really great job, i especially love Lauren's apartment music, when she's standing on the balcony it totally reminds me of the blade runner game :)
Bought and downloaded it last night, though I didn't have much time to play it yet. But I love the music so far, far more to my taste than in the last game. Hope to find time to continue playing it this week.
Congratulations, Dave! I'm not planning on buying it but it looks great and I know a lot of hard work has gone into it. :)
Played for about an hour, am really enjoying it so far and the difficulty level seems about right to keep me busy awhile
I'm jealous!
I'm the first 20 to have boght the CD game (to get the soundtrack as well), and I'm still waiting!
DAMN! >:( Why wasn't I living in NY or something, to get the game straight away, instead of waiting for the damn Atlantic to open up? :'(
Anyways, I'm really looking forward Dave to the game, and from what I've heard to the music, I'll have to agree that it should work immensly with the game! ;)
Wah! can't wait can't wait! I can't wait for the announcement of the fanart contest winners! OwO
I hope I win, my parents don't let me buy stuff off the net... T_T
Well, almost finished it and so far there's certain... Annoyances...
Spoiler
Why is it that when as Joey you find the letter in the Seagram realty trailer, you canNOT talk to Lauren about this? Yet Lauren's the one who has to look up Harriet. There's a gap in logic here.
When you need to look at the sheet music, Lauren says "I can't just TAKE it... That would be rude.", implying to me that while I can't just take it, I do need it. Having Joey look at it be the solution made the earlier statement feel like it was misleading.
There wasn't much to be done with the notes but to combine 4 of them and talk about them endlessly. While Blackwell Legacy did this very well and forced you to think of combinations, causing new topics, it feels like a missed opportunity in Unbound, since it functions like only just a list of topics for discussions.
And like mentioned before, the lack of responses to 95% of inventory item interactions as well as the same response on the two Durkin notes
edit #1: Okay, finally managed to beat that pesky bug that kept happening, and I've now finished the game. It was well-done. The art was up to par with the previous game though I felt the animations were somewhat less fluid. What I really dug about it was the seperate cases which weren't seperate. I liked how it all worked together. Of course it's intrigueing to see Lauren in action knowing what happens with Rosangela in Legacy (and Convergence to come).
I've been fairly negative about it so far, but that doesn't mean I didn't like it. I don't regret spending the money to get the game, and it was entirely worth it.
It's official. I can't wait until Convergence is released.
Also, rock on, Ivy! Your art in Unbound is such a step above what you did for Spooks, and given that Spooks was far from ugly (and my eyes won't bleed due to it), that's meant as a compliment :)
edit #2: Also, I'm going to replay Legacy now ;)
All in all, I'll give it a 7.5/10 :)
(Where Legacy would get an 8/10, woulda given it a 9 if it hadn't been a remake ;))
Wow, this was some game. I played non-stop after downloading it, completed it at 5 in the morning, then when I got up around 11, the first thing I did was restart the game to listen to the commentary track. I'm honestly surprised that the price is only two-thirds of Legacy, seeing as this game had at least as much gameplay (in fact I think I spent longer on Unbound - but it could also be that Legacy had a lot of exposition before launching you into the investigation). Plus it has lots more bonus features - which were as funny and inspiring as always.
Spoiler
I even liked Lauren better than I liked Rosangela - perhaps because she's a more tragic character. I actually had tears in my eyes at the end of the game - which truly proves the quality of the story and dialog writing. The other characters were also great. My favorites are probably Isaac Brown and Joseph Mitchell (who I was actually surprised to find out you did the voice for, Dave. A great performance). Voiceacting was overall great, and The Countess genuinly freaked me out.
The narrative flow was much better this time around (the "Lauren has a cigarette on the balcony while Joey talks to her" scenes got a little repetitive, but they actually helped the by providing act breaks and allowing a moment of reflection on the themes of the game. As voh said, I also enjoyed the two cases coming
I loved the phone book and the puzzles that came from it. I have a very similar feature in my game, except there you use an online phone directory. To be honest - and not to say "my approach is better than yours" - I think interfaces like this, where the player has to input the solution themselves (also the textbox for the aparment number), is a lot more intuitive way of letting the player put together the clues than the notebook inventory-combinations.
All in all a great game - your best so far, if I may say so. And I hope to see Lauren and hear her raspy smoker's voice again soon.
Quote from: voh on Wed 05/09/2007 14:30:29
Also, rock on, Ivy! Your art in Unbound is such a step above what you did for Spooks, and given that Spooks was far from ugly (and my eyes won't bleed due to it), that's meant as a compliment :)
Aww, thanks Voh! :D Heh, I see you listened to my commentary. I guess everyone will tell you they don't like their old work, but thanks all the same. Now hopefully I can put these skills to good use and get some of my own games done... ;)
Good job, all. Wow I'm really thinking of buying this game. I was going to save some money for Bio-Shock, but when I saw this I said what the hell. And this one is cheaper than Bio-Shock. Good job all. Mostly Ivy. You still rock , girl.
Quote from: The Ivy on Thu 06/09/2007 00:04:35
Now hopefully I can put these skills to good use and get some of my own games done... ;)
*makes swooshy motions with his arms*
whooooo.... Send voh the screenshot of the spooks sequel.... whooo...
:P
The first review is up! Click! (http://yesterdayssalad.wordpress.com/2007/09/05/adventure-gaming-unbound)
That was fast.
Anyway, I'll just add my two cents to the "we love Ivy" bandwagon. Her work, dedication, and enthusiasm was above and beyond what I expected. Despite a six week stint in Europe, a week at Mittens, a PT job doing comics for a newspaper, and a hectic schedule of her own, she gave everything she had to the project and more so. Rarely a day went by when I didn't hear from her, whether it be with an update or with news or just to say hi. She was an absolute pleasure to work with, and it's a shame she's got all that school stuff to deal with or I'd snap her up again in a heartbeat. :)
I also have to mention Thomas Regin, since he's not a big poster of this forum and not very well known. Like Ivy, his dedication and enthusiasm surprised me. Every tune he sent me was brilliant, but he was never happy with them so he'd redo them even better. The guy juggled a wife, a baby, a day job, and band gigs and yet somehow managed to find the time to write the most amazing tunes I've ever heard for this game.
Both Erin and Thomas believed in the project so much that they kept me going when I was down and frustrated and dirt poor and ready to give the whole thing up. Things are going well now, but I couldn't have gotten here without the both of them. So any kudos they get are well deserved. Way to go, guys. :)
-Dave
Oh man, of course, the music.. Let's just say that the first time I started playing the game I couldn't believe you had someone compose this stuff for you. So kudos to Thomas as well.
Especially the duets (both the used and unused version) were beautiful..
I'm 10 minutes in and all ready a bit annoyed -- mainly with the phone book.
Spoiler
Why can I look up the name of the company using just it's first name, yet I can't look up Harriet Sherman by using just her last name (because I kept spelling her first name wrong! oops). Until I read someone elses spoiler block, I had disregarded that line of enquiry. Why? Because you but the name of that club in my notebook, with a vauge hint of using the phonebook. So I type whatever Ivory's into the phone book...no dice. Why didn't you put Harriet Sherman in the clue notbook? Also: why could I not look up the myself of Ellen Kaplan? If you go to the trouble of saying the company is out of town, couldn't you have gone to the trouble of saying Ellen Kaplan is unreachable or something?
Ps: I ended up randomly walking about hoping something scripted would happen because I didn't realise the Sax and the Player were two distinct things. Oops
I just feel that the first game was more rewarding/supportive about completely wrong leaps of faith, whereas this one just ignores you completely unless you're 100% spot on. I understand that there are time constraints and you can't record dialouge for everything, however. Anyway, I'll get on with the game. I am, after all, only 10 minutes into it.
Speaking of which, with regards to a new adventure game play I feel that the tutorial is more of a hinderence rather than a help, as I kept expecting it to walk me though things, instead it just pops up at useful (questionable) times. eg:
after "Look at the case list in your inventory" I expected to then get a further instruction, telling me to talk to Joey about it.
or, my favuorite so far is:
"YOU HAVE A NEW CLUE!! But guess what, you can't use it yet! So why did we tell you?"
Pod:
Spoiler
The phone book is used a lot, and in New York there are loads of people so of course you need the whole name for both people and businesses
Quote from: SSH on Fri 07/09/2007 13:53:40
Pod:
Spoiler
The phone book is used a lot, and in New York there are loads of people so of course you need the whole name for both people and businesses
Yes, but my point was, in the first game it felt like if you guessed at something, Dave G would go "almost, just a bit harder!" whereas in this one it just goes WHGAT>?!!>>!?.
Spoiler
Also, the fact you can look up the company just using one name, but not even got a "There's loads of Shermans" response is inconsistent.
Spoiler
Thanks for the comments, Pod. I tried to make the phonebook take as much input as possible, but of course there are bound to be a few I (and the beta testers) didn't think of. For some reason, the two you mentioned never came up. And now that you mention it, I'm surprised nobody tried to look up "Ellen Kaplan" before. It was put in there as a throwaway line (and as a refernece to someone I know, who I promised would get a mention in the game!) but I can see why it would be confusing. I'll remove the name in the next release and that'll remove the confusion.
And "whgat" is an awesome word. I'm going to use it more often in conversation.
Parser interfaces like the phone book will always be criticised for their lack of depth because, quite simply, it would take hundreds of hours to fully flesh it out in such a way that anything remotely intelligent you type received a reply. This would, of course, take precious development time from actually making the rest of the game as good as it is now. The phone book is a bit specific, but most low-key parser type situations in games are exactly the same. I had no trouble with it, and Dave even threw in a few easter-eggs for people who know what to look for.
Quote from: ProgZmax on Sat 08/09/2007 01:05:36
Dave even threw in a few easter-eggs for people who know what to look for.
i.e. turned on the commentary ;)
Finished it today and then played through it again with the commentaries, which actually made me see a lot of things in the game differently. And it definitely made me yearn for more. The next Blackwell episode cannot come out quickly enough.
The story sucked me right in, very well written, I found the characters interesting and mostly well acted, so I could relate to them easily.
Also as I mentioned in a post before, I loved the music. Quite often I hesitated to continue playing, just because I liked the tunes so much and wanted to hear them again and again.
The graphics also need to be praised. When I first read Daves comments about graphics being a bit less complicated (don't remember the exact words though), I was a bit skeptical if the game could live up to Blackwell Legacy, but in no doubt I was proven wrong. Animations were very well done and the amount of detail of the backgrounds totally amazed me. To be honest, I liked the style even more than BLs.
Thank you all for your hard work. The game was fun and it was well worth the money. Hope to see more stuff from all of you in the future.
Hey all!
Thank you very much for the nice comments about my music!
I've wanted to "score" this type of game since my childhood when I played the old Sierra-games, so it's also a dream come true for me!
Dave and Erin's work is really amazing, and I had a lot of fun writing the music! I'm really glad that you enjoyed it! :D
/Tom
Whoa, I forgot to check up on this thread. Thank you voh, Dualnames, Cino, thomas, and everyone else who's said kind things about my art. :) This has certainly been one of my more rewarding summer jobs.
And Dave, you shameless flatterer you. We'll definitely hang out the next time I'm in New York. :)
Man, I definitely need to get me a game studio :=
I KNEW there was something familiar about that loading screen:
Edit: Never mind the confused guy.
Thanks everyone, for the feedback (both the praise and critiques)! I'm still new at this full-time developer thing, so that's always useful.
Ivy: Yes, I still owe you that sandwich.
Cino: In what way did the commentary make you see things differently? You can PM me the answer if you want, if it's spoilery. I didn't know my commentary had the power to do that. :)
GarageGothic: I feel like I'm missing a reference or that I'm totally dense. Or both. I so don't get that.
Just want to mention that I received the game today, and I played a little bit, only to be stunned by the level of quality.
Design, music, art, dialogues (and voice acting actually), is pretty much top stuff!
Once I've finished the game I will coment further, but for now, a big thanks to Dave for trying and keeping up creating games. I hope you get to make your dreams come true mate :)
Sorry for being obscure Dave. I just meant to say that only today, when I started up Blackwell Unbound for the third time, I realized that we're using the exact same font and message on our loading screens. (Though for you to recognize it from a game that won't be released for another half year would of course have been quite a feat :)).
I'm happy to see that at least you're not using the font anywhere in-game. Otherwise I might have to change all my menus.
Sorry to sound dense again, GG, but which font/message are you referring to? The game doesn't have a loading screen, so I'm a still a bit confused. :-D
How weird. I understand why you're confused then...
I'm assuming that I have a different version of my own loading screen in a folder somewhere, and apparently AGS shows that by default. Interesting "feature" :)
Edit: How embarassing, apparently I copied the preload.pcx to the Unbound folder when trying to make the Direct3D version of the engine work. Damn, and here I thought "great minds think alike" and all that... :)
Sorry for the confusion.
Hi,
I just start a thread:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=32369.0 (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=32369.0)
I hope someone can help
purrrrrrrr...... I'm still waiting for Dave to tell me how to get my prize.... $-_-?
Finally!
My copy of the game arrived today!!
And I played it through from beginning to end with nearly no pause and no help at all!
But first, two questions: First, why are the pictures still locked after the game (but I get sent to them after the credits!?)
Second, where can I enter the code which I get at the end?
Okay, those two things were probably the only things that annoyed and confused me.
The rest was exceptionally well done. I think the last time I was so moved by a game was with Syberia. And this is saying a lot since this was a very emotional experience which moved some people to tears.
[edit]I think much of the emotional impact comes from the music. You definately should hire this guy again! Thomas is great!![/edit]
It is MUCH better than Legacy. I liked that one, it was nicely made, but not a game I would play again. Somehow, it didn't seem very special. Maybe because it was the start of the series, maybe because the case wasn't so interesting and the ending a bit....weird. Or because the relationship between Rosangela and Joey wasn't so full of tension like with Lauren. It's a classical love-hate thing.
And of course, Lauren's character itself seemed, mhm, much more "real" than Angela. The two ashtrays for the kitchen alone made her feel like a real character. She just follows her destination, but isn't enthusiastic about it.
I could go on and on with the praise. The wonderful music, which was also well implemented. I liked it when the piano player suddenly hit the keys hard and dissonant and wanted you to leave.
Also, wonderful end track.
There are some bugs I noticed. I'm not sure if they were reported already. If you use the lighter on the cigarettes while Lauren is already smoking the following line will appear:"878 I'm already smoking one." No voice file is played with it.
Another thing: When you ask "C" about the C-Sharps he will say "Positive" at one point.
The weird thing is that the text appears not over his head but somewhere more right and to the bottom. No voice file is played either.
[edit]Also, sometimes the voice actors blow a bit in the micro. It's rarer than in Legacy, though.[/edit]
Oh and I have to thank you that you implemented an autosave feature. At one point I minimized the game to look up a word I didn't know. Sadly, AGS doesn't react well to it. First it skips ultra-fast through the dialogue and then it just hangs itself in an endless wait loop.
Thanks to autosave I didn't have to waste a minute with replaying!
Ozzie,
You just made my day!! :D
Thank you very much for your kind words about my music! I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I feel that the music has been slightly overlooked (luckily with some exceptions) in various reviews so far, so I'm very happy to see/hear the feedback from you guys who've played the game! This was my first soundtrack for a PC-game, so I have been very anxious to see how it was accepted!
Again, thank you for enjoying the music! :)
/Tom.
Not in my review it hasn't been overlooked!
http://agsezine.wordpress.com/2007/09/07/blackwell-unbound-preview-2/
Hi Vel,
You made my entire year with that review!! Yours was the first one I read and it completely blew me away!! That's why I said "with some exceptions". ;D
I didn't know that it was you who wrote it, so thank you very, very much!!
/Tom
You are welcome Thomas, you deserve it.
But now I feel really stupid. How do I unlock the extras? I have the code, but where can I enter it!?
Quote from: Ozzie on Fri 14/09/2007 00:29:04
You are welcome Thomas, you deserve it.
But now I feel really stupid. How do I unlock the extras? I have the code, but where can I enter it!?
If you completed the game, simply click on photo from photo album and code should be automatically entered. If you exit game, simply click on phote album and enter it.
By the dave excellent game!
If you planning an sequel, it will be to enter game's mishaps in bonus area! This will be very funny to watch!
Excellent game as always, Dave! :D
Two thumbs up for Ivy and Thomas for creating this marvellous atmosphere which, when I wasn't taking long pause to enjoy the backgrounds' and musics' details, kept me under the security blankets, feeling uneasy at what could happen next. I also liked the easter eggs with the phone book and how The Shivah and the Blackwell series are slowly turning into one big universe.
I found a few glitches:
Spoiler
When Joey appears on the main menu screen, the bottom of the letters "UND" in the title disappear just above Joey's head.
When you listen at the dictation machine, there's no "click" sound played before the entry begining with "I'm in a huge house".
Mavis can be heard talking in the construction site, even when the speech is turned off.
In the bar, there are sprites resizing and walk behind glitches with Joey when you click on the music sheets while Joey's is in the back of the room.
During the ending sequence, once you lured the spooky old lady on the balcony with Joey, Lauren's sprite completly disappears for a moment before she stands up after being choked.
Oh, and if it could be done, I would greatly appreciate if you could add subtitles for the audio commentary, Dave.
Quote from: splat44 on Fri 14/09/2007 20:57:56
Quote from: Ozzie on Fri 14/09/2007 00:29:04
You are welcome Thomas, you deserve it.
But now I feel really stupid. How do I unlock the extras? I have the code, but where can I enter it!?
If you completed the game, simply click on photo from photo album and code should be automatically entered. If you exit game, simply click on phote album and enter it.
By the dave excellent game!
If you planning an sequel, it will be to enter game's mishaps in bonus area! This will be very funny to watch!
Also, you need to use Lauren's camera to photograph characters throughout the game. Click "photo album" on the main interface to access the photos you've taken. Each photo gives you access to a bonus feature - once you've entered in the code. :-D
An extremely solid game, with a few very sharp puzzles. I liked the character writing and acting more in this one, but the puzzles slightly less - although the
Spoiler
"phoning" Joey
bit was clever. My only real complaint would be that examining
Spoiler
the music sheet as Joey with a right-click gives a very misleading 'nothing important' message, even though it's game-critical. Cluing that puzzle more might have been nice, possibly with responses from Lauren.
Well worth the money, in my opinion.
Where is my copy Dave? :(
You ordered the digital version, Ped. :) Log onto the store and you'll get your download link. If you have trouble finding it, PM me.
-Dave
Just finished the game and found it quite enjoyable. Good work!
Your games keep getting more and more professional as you release more. I really enjoyed the interface and feel of this one.
I look forward to further releases...
Ahh, I just played this at a friend's house. :) Yes, I'll get the game as soon as I can.
Hmmm... most of what I'd noticed has already been said in the above replies.
About the dictaphone and the recorded dreams:
There aren't arrow keys or some other method for cycling through the recorded messages. And given there're quite a few of them, it can be a bit tricky when looking for a specific message.
Btw, about the recorded dreams: I understand they were meant to give a glimpse of a larger world. However, it was kinda odd 'cos apart from Laura's comment at the beginning of the game, there didn't seem to be any other mentions about dreams. Perhaps next time, you can have a few papers or newspaper clippings, etc. about whatever subject is bothering him/her.
Also, about the reporter, it might've been better if he didn't quit giving the same kinda denial twice: like, saying he destroyed the evidence.
And I kinda like Laura even more than Rosa. I guess it's 'cos Rosa had her wit but I didn't get to see enough about her character: her hobbies, her thoughts, etc.
Thanks Lucifiel! The dream diary was mainly a way to foreshadow future events, as well as a way to justify Lauren having a dictophone in her possession. There weren't many portable recording devices back in 1973! That said, you're right. I'm glad you liked the game regardless.
As for everyone else: a demo of the game is finally available! You can nab the demo HERE. (http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mayoco/project/media/Unbound_Demo.zip)
Also, Manifesto Games is having a promotion for the Blackwell series. Send them a ghost story and you could win both games! Details are on the Manifesto site HERE (http://www.manifestogames.com/node/4169).
This'll be easy, my sister and me have had a few encounters (my sis especially, somehow she gets it worse)
Quote from: Dave Gilbert on Thu 25/10/2007 14:17:12
Thanks Lucifiel! The dream diary was mainly a way to foreshadow future events, as well as a way to justify Lauren having a dictophone in her possession. There weren't many portable recording devices back in 1973! That said, you're right. I'm glad you liked the game regardless.
Aw no problem. ;)
Yeah, such technology wasn't very widespread in the 1970s. It must have cost her quite a penny too.
Hmmm... how well IS Blackwell(the series) selling anyway? I'm seeing it being mentioned at many places from AdventureGamers to PlayFirst to tons of online game sites(JA) and even various online game stores.
P.S. Btw, you really should sell some goodies like posters or something.
I can't give out the specific sales figures, but I do manage to squeak out enough sales to pay my mortgage every month. The deal with Playfirst has helped a LOT in terms of exposure, but I won't know until next month how well the game has sold on that site. It takes time to build up any type of business, and this is no exception. :)
As for posters and things, I'm in the process of doing exactly that. I'm not sure what the market is for that kind of thing, but it can't hurt to have one.
I just completed the game and I really enjoyed it. I'm looking forward to exploring the extras and the commentary.
The game works well (in a way that Legacy and BOE worked less well) because Lauren has such low expectations. Even though we only get a slice of the Blackwell story, it's still satisfying.
I do feel that the puzzles could have been a little harder. This game could have posed more of a challenge in terms of detecting and investigation. I would have liked to have combined more clues, read more documents and to have used Joey more in interactions with the living.
That said, it was very enjoyable and I look forward to the third game.
I just finished The Blackwell Legacy and will probably get this next. It looks good although I'm a bit disappointed that you didn't have sierra style talking again. I enjoy seeing the characters expressions and faces close up. Anyway, I look forward to seeing more.
Mystery Manor recently interviewed me, and are having a little contest/giveaway. You can read the interview and get more details here:
http://www.mysterymanor.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5799
Quote from: Dave Gilbert on Thu 25/10/2007 14:17:12
Thanks Lucifiel! The dream diary was mainly a way to foreshadow future events, as well as a way to justify Lauren having a dictophone in her possession. There weren't many portable recording devices back in 1973! That said, you're right. I'm glad you liked the game regardless.
As for everyone else: a demo of the game is finally available! You can nab the demo HERE. (http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mayoco/project/media/Unbound_Demo.zip)
Also, Manifesto Games is having a promotion for the Blackwell series. Send them a ghost story and you could win both games! Details are on the Manifesto site HERE (http://www.manifestogames.com/node/4169).
I won the contest at 2nd place, I can get blackwell unbound for free, but I'm afraid that it'd be sent to my home in a box. Is it possible to download the whole game? Is it a download? It doesn't say.
Oh, neat! Congratulations! I'm afraid I wouldn't know. You'd have to write the manifesto folks and ask them. The general support email is: customerservice@manifestogames.com. If you don't get a reply, let me know.
-Dave
I recently got both games and I must say they were quite a treat to play.
The games were really well "polished" and very entertaining, also solving the puzzles had me tied down for a bit.
I think Blackwell Unbound was the more challenging title, but they both were equally enjoyable, and getting to know Joey is pretty funny.
Very nicely done Thanks Dave!
Here's another chance to win a free copy of the game!
I was asked to sponser a trivia quiz over at Gamecafe (http://gamecafe.biz), with a free copy of Blackwell Unbound as the prize.
The quiz will consist of 30 questions from The Blackwell Legacy and the Blackwell Unbound demo, and will take place in a live chat room. After the quiz there will be a Q & A session with me where I'll talk about the game and my experiences with the casual game market.
This contest is being sponsered by a lady known as The Game Fairy, and you can get all the details on her site. (http://gamefairy.blogspot.com/2007/11/special-trivia-contest-news.html)
Remind me to buy Blackwell Legacy..
Anyway I played a game.. you might have heard it..
Bestowers of Eternity..
Not bad.. Really liked it. And the connection with Blackwell Legacy (at least for the demo) is great... I'm gonna buy those games... so open up your wallet.. 8)
Here's another chance to win some free games. On CD, no less!
Check the main site (http://www.wadjeteyegames.com) for details, but it's basically a dialog-writing contest. To enter, email me (admin AT wadjeteyegames.com) and write a line or two of conversation dialog for Rosangela Blackwell, Joey Mallone, or both!
The main prize is a CD version of both Unbound and Legacy, or if you already own the games, you can choose a print of the Blackwell Legacy poster!
In addition to the prizes, I will attempt to place the winners' dialogs within the next game. :)
The contest will end on Dec 19th.
-Dave
This might be slightly off topic, but i read your QA on another forum regarding the different ways you are distributing your excellent games.
Have you tried STEAM by valve software? You know , they of Half-life fame? They have casual games on their distribution platform and last time I checked, STEAM is quite popular.
Anyways thats my 2 pence worth, only trying to increase your wealth so that you can carry on making those great games.... and so that more people can experience your genius story-telling... etc etc... (I'll stop the blatant @$$ kissing cos i know it doesnt warrant a free copy of Convergence... If it does, dont be shy, feel free to E-mail me a copy when its out) :P ;D 'nuff sed!!