Adventure Game Studio

'Astroloco: Worst Contact' is my latest endeavour into the world of point & click adventure games. This time, a love letter to my favourite genre of all - science fiction. As with my previous games, which you may be familiar with (subAtomic (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=45898) and Plan M (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=46730)), I have my buddy Dave along to help me with development.
He's mostly been busy poking pixels into small spaces to make the character art. This time around, however, we're also bringing to bear the full force of our new development house 'Hungry Planet Games'.

Synopsis:
In the far future, humans explore and colonise space using ridiculously deadly, moon-sized trains - the titular 'Astro Locomotives'. They are operated by enormous, competing railroad companies and train vs. train combat is expensively common.

You play as two characters, both trying to uncover a galactic conspiracy and keep their jobs.
* Ronald, the dependable mechanic: Responsible for keeping Gilbert station running smoothly.
* Arianne, the roguish pilot: Driver of The Comet, and the best train driver in the company (if she could only stay out of trouble).

Lies Features:
* Trains. In space. That's worth the entry price, right there.
* More of my writing. That might be a positive or a negative, depending on how much you enjoy laughing until you dribble.
* Fully voiced! You'll also be able to turn the voice-over off, since I know some of you like to do that. Just know that every time someone ticks that particular box in the game settings, we'll execute one of our voice actors.
* Fully music-ed(?)! You won't be able to turn the music off. In fact, the volume slider starts at 100% and it only goes up from there.
* The 'unique' graphical style of subAtomic and Plan M!
* Interesting puzzles and minigames! I know a lot of you adventure gamers out there like to actually have some challenge in your games. For everyone else, just hold down your Escape key and hope it ends soon.
* An entirely reasonable retail price!

Pretty Pictures:
(Click 'em for full sized goodness)

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The full game will be coming out this winter. We'll be appearing on Steam Greenlight shortly, and are also in talks with other online distribution platforms.

Keep updated by following me on Twitter @GameDevIdeas (https://twitter.com/gamedevideas), Hungry Planet Games @HungryPlanetGS (https://twitter.com/HungryPlanetGS), and also liking our page on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/HungryPlanetGames)!

We're also going to be at Adventure X 2012 (http://www.screen7.co.uk/adventurex/) this year, so come and say "hi" if you're going to be there! We promise we aren't all insane.

That last screenshot sold me.  Always wanted to punch a giant hole in a plant.

Quote from: Revae on Mon 29/10/2012 22:59:57
That last screenshot sold me.  Always wanted to punch a giant hole in a plant.

Well hey, the storyline revolves around punching a giant hole through a planet!

I like that the hammer is selected to plug in the Gary Gamebox :D
looking very great already!

Quote from: selmiak on Tue 30/10/2012 01:06:02
I like that the hammer is selected to plug in the Gary Gamebox :D
looking very great already!

I think this might be the first game I've made where a hammer isn't used for fire suppression.

Looking forward to seeing this at Adventure-X!  8-)

Quote from: CaptainD on Tue 30/10/2012 10:43:39
Looking forward to seeing this at Adventure-X!  8-)

Thanks! I actually felt bad seeing the impending release of Captain Disaster - I was worried you might think we decided to jump onto a sci-fi point & click bandwagon. Then I realised Captain Disaster doesn't have trains in, and I felt okay again.

Great looking game, by the way - the demo was awesome. Definitely a must-buy! But it doesn't have trains in it. Unless that's going to be a secret reveal at Adventure-X.

I hope not.

Quote from: MurrayL on Tue 30/10/2012 11:19:06
Unless that's going to be a secret reveal at Adventure-X.

Well.,.. not now.  :P

I will play the trousers off of this game.

Quote from: ThreeOhFour on Tue 30/10/2012 17:55:16
I will play the trousers off of this game.

Now that's the kind of borderline-creepy enthusiasm I like to hear!

I'll keep the thread updated as we move closer to release. Not sure about the demo content yet, but it'd be crazy not to have one.

Good luck with the game, see you (and it) at the event!

I once vowed to play every game where there is a fuel station in the desert with a loo next to it. (Long story) Since not even Borderlands 2 delivered, you are my last hope, Murray! Looks great so far!

Quote from: Ghost on Wed 07/11/2012 15:44:25
I once vowed to play every game where there is a fuel station in the desert with a loo next to it. (Long story) Since not even Borderlands 2 delivered, you are my last hope, Murray! Looks great so far!

I'm both intrigued and a little scared about the long story that created that vow, but I'm glad we can help!

Update: I'm busying myself putting together the last few scenes of the game before we move on to some full testing sessions next week. We're also still sorting out the sounds and music, but it's getting close!

Does anyone have any particular 'favourite' places to buy downloadable games? I want to make sure we're getting in touch with everywhere we can.

Quote from: MurrayL on Fri 09/11/2012 12:04:54
Does anyone have any particular 'favourite' places to buy downloadable games? I want to make sure we're getting in touch with everywhere we can.

I'm happy with any of the following:  Steam, Desura, Beamdog, Stardock, plus of course WEG and Screen7!

I dont know about favourites since I only use the following 2: GOG.COM and Steam, but Desura seems nice(I also try to buy every indie bundle I can)

You might also want to consider IndieGameStand, Little Indie, IndieVania, MyGameIQ, IndieCity.

I can't vouch for any of them, although I believe IndieVania in particular gives indie publishers a very good deal  I haven't had any dealings with these beyond posting their PR information in the past.

Thanks for the replies! I'll check 'em all out.

As a reward, here's the top half of one of our characters enjoying a spinny-office-chair.

(http://i.imgur.com/rX7wE.gif)

It's best not to ask where his legs went.

About selling via net, I must be the most careful and paranoid guy in that respect. I simply hate the idea to type my credit card's number into the interwebs. And I don't even have a credit card. Steam is pretty much the only platform I know where I can purchase online but pay offline (via SteamPoints), so that is a strong argument for Steam in my book.
Maybe worth considering, depending on your target audience.

Quote from: MurrayL on Fri 09/11/2012 16:17:33
It's best not to ask where his legs went.

Where did his legs went?

That's some mighty fine pixel art you got there.

Didn't this guy appear in LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean?

Quote from: Revae on Sat 10/11/2012 03:29:51
That's some mighty fine pixel art you got there.

Thanks! As you may know from subAtomic and Plan M, we love it so much that we scale it by up to 800% on-screen. Just so you can really appreciate those pixels.

I mean what's the point of spending an hour putting a pixel in the right place if you aren't going to have it be 3 inches across on-screen?

Quote from: CaptainD on Sat 10/11/2012 13:07:43
Didn't this guy appear in LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean?

I've been told by our lawyers to say "absolutely not" and then wink.

Woo! New pictures!

(http://i.imgur.com/jJSOX.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/UtoPn.png)

There's a trailer coming soon - we're just waiting for some boring administrative stuff before we release it!

I really like the style of this game!
The characters look almost South Park-ish.

What? What's that? A trailer you say?!

OH, YES.

>> Watch it on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubX7MBA1_wg) <<

Thanks to IndieGames.com for posting about Astroloco on their blog (http://indiegames.com/2012/11/trailer_astroloco_-_worst_cont.html)!

Speech is being recorded, sounds are being added... release is getting closer every day!

Adventure Game Release... truly, the Final Frontier!

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/465416_498973593476007_1609706359_o.png) (https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/465416_498973593476007_1609706359_o.png)

Arr! 'Tis a good day to die!

We've got some snazzy custom promotional cards done up, all fancy like, for Adventure X 2012!

(https://fbcdn-sphotos-a-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/486386_502711853102181_286668915_n.png)

If you're going, make sure to stop by and pick one up!

Groovy!  Resistance really is useless.

Hey, it'd be SUPER COOL of you guys if you could go and help Astroloco get onto Steam via Greenlight!

Here's a link to our Greenlight Page (http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=113074281)!

It's not up on our Greenlight page yet, but here's a top-secret super-sneaky look at some of the voices you'll become acquainted with during the game!

:D
<3 that shady guy in the shadows!

I didn't get to investigate your game nor chat to you chaps properly but I've just voted on Greenlight and was impressed to see all the interest in it at the event. Thanks for participating!

I got the chance to have a chat with the crew and muddle my way through the first bit, looks really fun!  Murray's writing is quite similar to my own in some ways (I know, that's a horrible thing to say about anyone...)  There's a mini-game early on in the game which it's now my mission in life to complete. :)

I love the dialogs in this game. Great job on that. It also fits the artwork perfectly in my opinion.
For the short part I played in the demo I really had lot of fun with the characters. I can't wait for the release.

We've hit 20% on Steam Greenlight so far! What a great Christmas present :)

If you've not popped by to lend us a hand, please consider giving us your 'Yes' vote at HungryPlanetGames.com/Greenlight (http://www.hungryplanetgames.com/greenlight)!

If you didn't get a chance to play Astroloco at Adventure X, you may be pleased to hear that the official demo should be coming out over the weekend. It features all of Act 1, and forms a great introduction to the characters and plot of the full game.
On the other hand, if you did play at the event, there's still an incentive to try the demo - the full complement of voice acting and sound effects is in place (along with a handful of minor tweaks to the gameplay based on feedback)!

I'll be posting an update with download locations when the demo drops - if all goes according to plan, it'll be available from our newly minted IndieDB/Desura page and the official website.

The demo is now available from the website (http://hungryplanetgames.com/) - Download Link (http://hungryplanetgames.com/games/astroloco_demo.zip), and from the AGS database here (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1637/).

Please let me know what you think, and don't forget to pop by our Steam Greenlight page if you enjoy the demo!

That was one hell of a demo! Very funny and exquisite voice acting, good job!

Hi MurrayL,
I have just played the demo. The game is very good!(well from what I've experienced from the demo)
I really like the voice acting, and I think it is a very important element of this game as it makes the dialogues better.
Keep up the good work!

Myth confirmed: The full game will have achievements!

20 of the time-sucking little bastards, in fact. For those of you who need more challenge to your adventuring.

(http://i.imgur.com/lAhoj.png) (http://i.imgur.com/lAhoj.png)

(http://i.imgur.com/gLIjS.png) (http://i.imgur.com/gLIjS.png)

They're not stored anywhere, by the way, since I didn't want to start fiddling around with writing files. The challenge is to see how many you can get in one playthrough. If we manage to get onto Steam, we can hook into their API for persistence.

Coming soon on my website... a potentially interesting interview with the guys making AstroLoco!  Possibly even before the game gets released!  It's all you ever wanted and more! 


(Don't you just hate it when people post stuff and put an exclamation mark at the end of every sentence?)

Amazing work, I love your style and this is so polished and funny, simply great.

One minor thing: the credits are those of the full game I assume, and it's kinda spoiling it a bit if you can read all the character's names already.

Interview posted! (http://www.pcgamereviewsandnews.com/2013/01/interview-with-murray-lewis-of-hungry.html)

Looks great, and very funny, just steamlit my little part. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the interview - it was a pleasure (once I got around to it)!

I noticed that BrutalGamer.com has published what may well be the very first review of Astroloco: Worst Contact (http://brutalgamer.com/2013/01/31/astroloco-worst-contact-pc-review/)!

It's been a long road, but the game is finally uploading to our super top secret HQ server for distribution to press and storefronts!

As soon as you can actually pay money and get the game into your grubby mitts, I'll make a new Completed Game Announcementâ,,¢. If you're one of the few who helped us out with VO, expect an email from me to say an extra special thanks (in the form of a free download code)!

It's mentioned in the game Readme, but thanks again to everyone here on the forums who've helped me along the way to my first commercial AGS game (no matter how successful or unsuccessful it may turn out to be). I have a habit of breaking the engine in my own special way, and I often don't think things through before I post, but you've all tolerated it and I'm very grateful for the help you've offered! Astroloco wouldn't exist today without you all. *sniff*

Hey, good to hear - I thought I'd jinxed you by doing that interview before the game's release!