Post by: WHAM on 02 Sep 2015, 10:37
EDIT: Uploaded a new version on 8th of September, fixing a baseline issue which could cause a character sprite to be displayed incorrectly.
(http://img.itch.io/aW1hZ2UvMzU0NjcvMTUzNDA1LnBuZw==/original/jL6OI6.png)
A young girl and her father, struggling to make ends meet, are forced to seek their fortune amidst the treacherous rocks of the infamous Cold Hand Reef. But there is more to the reef than just mere rocks, and something evil awaits in the darkness.
I set myself an additional challenge of making a game that would never need a translator, and could work with players of all languages. As such there is no written or spoken english (or any other language) anywhere in the game. The game also sports a very simple one-button user interface, suited for even the Macintosh computer mouses of old. ;)
I hope you enjoy this short adventure. :)
Post by: Mandle on 02 Sep 2015, 10:39
I hope you enjoy this short adventure. :)
I know I did!!!
And I'm sooooo praying for a sequel already!
Maybe:
Post by: WHAM on 02 Sep 2015, 10:43
And I'm sooooo praying for a sequel already!
Maybe:
Hee hee hee, you are more right than you think.
Post by: Slasher on 02 Sep 2015, 14:33
Quote
I set myself an additional challenge of making a game that would never need a translator, and could work with players of all languages. As such there is no written or spoken english (or any other language) anywhere in the game.There's a novelty (laugh)
Lazy devil (laugh)
Looks good (nod)
Post by: kconan on 02 Sep 2015, 19:39
Post by: WHAM on 03 Sep 2015, 09:52
Lazy devil (laugh)
Looks great WHAM! The "universal language" deal is innovative; I'll check it out.
It was a surprising amount of work, actually, and made it extremely hard to keep track of in the code.
Where usually you'd use something like:
Code: Adventure Game Studio
- player.say("I love pie!");
Code: Adventure Game Studio
- Speakbubble(player.x, player,y, 2, 65, 68, 50);
- Speakbubble(player.x, player,y, 1, 77, 0, 40);
In hindsight, I could have planned this better...
Post by: Cassiebsg on 05 Sep 2015, 12:32
Post by: WHAM on 05 Sep 2015, 14:04
Argh... where's the save option? ???
The game lasts for 12 minutes. There is no save function.
Post by: Cassiebsg on 05 Sep 2015, 14:08
Post by: WHAM on 05 Sep 2015, 14:25
See what happens when the sun sets...
Post by: Creamy on 05 Sep 2015, 16:03
((http://creamy.r.c.f.unblog.fr/files/2015/09/bubbles.jpg)) but the game plays mostly fine and I'll relay it to the french forum.
I have a weird bug : on a few specific occasions, my cursor moves on its own up to the top of the screen. For instance, the first time I look at the back of the boat on the deck.
Post by: Cassiebsg on 05 Sep 2015, 16:58
Post by: WHAM on 05 Sep 2015, 17:20
Cassiebsg is correct. The mouse cursor moving up on its own is meant to indicate to the player that moving the mouse up can be used to see what tasks there are to be done.
Post by: Creamy on 05 Sep 2015, 19:27
Quote
Creamy, don't think it's a bug but a "feature", that we fight against, to show the tasks to do. (wtf)Sorry, it seems so obvious now :-[
About the symbols : I see what you mean now that you tell me, but the resolution is so low that it could be anything.
For instance, I thought the first symbol was "sparkles", and the second one "a spoon, a plate and a cup".
Post by: WHAM on 05 Sep 2015, 19:38
Post by: Creamy on 05 Sep 2015, 21:06
I have posted it on the french website (http://adventuregamestudio.fr-bb.com/t2569-cold-hand-reef-le-recif-de-la-main-froide#39524).
Post by: WHAM on 05 Sep 2015, 22:36
Yes. ;)
EDIT: ooh, and thanks for posting the game on the french site! I didn't understand much of the post, but I got the "anglo-allergy" -part. :D
Post by: Cassiebsg on 06 Sep 2015, 00:09
A couple things that I didn't like: The huge screen was annoying, as it filled my entire screen. I like only using about half of the screen. So this is a game more for those that like playing full screen.
And then the no "save" option. Even if it's a short game, I like having the option to stop and return to it later on. Specially since I was stuck in one of the puzzles. :P
Would be nice to polish the speech bubbles, they take quite some time before they disappear. Would be nice to be able to "cancel"/skip them by clicking the mouse, like when using text. This got a bit annoying in a couple parts...
But loved the art, story and ambiance in general. Very well done! Congrats (nod)(nod)(nod)
Post by: WHAM on 06 Sep 2015, 10:19
The game is designed at 640x480 resolution and I believe it defaults to scaling up 2x. You should be able to drop the scaling in the setup exe that comes with the game, although if you already beat the game, this is a bit of a moot point now. :)
The "no-saving" this is an idea I like to do with games that have time-based elements. I feel that if it is possible to just load back a couple of minutes, this allows people to practically ignore any time-based elements of the game, saving and loading to achieve game objectives in minimum time to ensure they have as much time left as possible. Then again, Cold Hand Reef was supposed to have a few more time-based actions that I had to cut due to the deadline, so...
Argh! Excuses, excuses! I could've done better, let's just leave it at that. :D
Lastly the speech bubbles: I had an idea about allowing you to skip individual speech bubbles with the mouse, but due to AGS restricting you from running a cutscene inside a cutscene, I decided against it. The idea came too late in the game's development and would have required me to go back to fiddle with code I had made at the very start of the project, and I dreaded doing that, fearing I might break something.
Well this post turned into me just defending my poorer design choises, so let me distract you with this picture of a lemur:
(https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/65381625/Pics/lemur2.jpg)
Post by: Cassiebsg on 06 Sep 2015, 10:39
I did remove the scaling in winsetup at first, but that made everything so small that was unplayable (for me anyway). Mostly the problem is all that black on top and under. Still is makes for a lovely scene when above... (nod)
But am not here to complain about design choices, just cause I don't appreciate them, doesn't mean they should not be there, in the end it's your choice. (nod) But then you most also wonder who your making your games for. (roll)
Post by: WHAM on 06 Sep 2015, 10:50
But then you most also wonder who your making your games for. (roll)
I've always been a firm believer in the "make games with features you would like to play" -school of game design. :)
Post by: AprilSkies on 06 Sep 2015, 11:00
I enjoyed it a lot!
And the bubbles thingie is brilliant!!
I appreciated it a lot as not native english speaker ;-D
Post by: WHAM on 06 Sep 2015, 11:54
Nice one WHAM! Really nice one!
I enjoyed it a lot!
And the bubbles thingie is brilliant!!
I appreciated it a lot as not native english speaker ;-D
Happy to hear you enjoyed the game. Did you get the good ending or the bad one? ;)
Post by: Cassiebsg on 06 Sep 2015, 15:19
Post by: WHAM on 06 Sep 2015, 15:57
About the ending:
You're correct.
Post by: AprilSkies on 06 Sep 2015, 18:33
I mean:
Post by: WHAM on 06 Sep 2015, 22:25
Post by: vertigoaddict on 07 Sep 2015, 08:34
Post by: WHAM on 07 Sep 2015, 09:08
I just got around to playing the game, it was awesome, the subtlety of the language spoke volumes. :grin:
Happy to hear you liked it!
I haven't had a chance to play the other MAGS games yet, but intend to do so as soon as I can. :)
Post by: WHAM on 08 Sep 2015, 11:58
Post by: Shadow1000 on 09 Sep 2015, 03:53
I don't really get what happened.
I'd try playing again to see if I get a different ending but there is no way to save, as people pointed out, so I'd have to start from the beginning again.
SHADOW
Post by: WHAM on 09 Sep 2015, 09:19
The arrow buttons remaining visible is a bug, they should disappear when night falls and the bad ending cutscene is triggered. I'll fix hat one and upload a new version today.
Other than that, here's a little info about the sail:
Post by: Stupot on 10 Sep 2015, 07:17
Post by: vertigoaddict on 10 Sep 2015, 10:58
Post by: WHAM on 10 Sep 2015, 12:53
Sorry, I can't really help you out here. :(
Post by: Shadow1000 on 10 Sep 2015, 14:57
Shadow:
The arrow buttons remaining visible is a bug, they should disappear when night falls and the bad ending cutscene is triggered. I'll fix hat one and upload a new version today.
So the reason I got that ending was because night fell and nothing I did to trigger it? Is there a way to prevent it from happening?
SHADOW
Post by: WHAM on 10 Sep 2015, 15:54
Shadow:
The arrow buttons remaining visible is a bug, they should disappear when night falls and the bad ending cutscene is triggered. I'll fix hat one and upload a new version today.
So the reason I got that ending was because night fell and nothing I did to trigger it? Is there a way to prevent it from happening?
SHADOW
No, I'm afraid there is no way to stop the sun from setting, but you CAN escape the reef and sail away before that happens. ;)
Post by: Shadow1000 on 10 Sep 2015, 16:08
No, I'm afraid there is no way to stop the sun from setting, but you CAN escape the reef and sail away before that happens. ;)
Ok so it's a timed puzzle but no obvious counter or way to know that time is running out and once it runs out, the game is over with no way to restore from a save point and no obvious way to know WHY the game is over (I had naturally assumed that I did something to trigger it without knowing what)?
SHADOW
Post by: WHAM on 10 Sep 2015, 16:36
Ok so it's a timed puzzle but no obvious counter or way to know that time is running out and once it runs out, the game is over with no way to restore from a save point and no obvious way to know WHY the game is over?
Yup! :)
Post by: Mandle on 11 Sep 2015, 00:18
If used with kids I would talk with them afterwards though about how:
MASSIVE SPOILERS:
This is also just what I personally got from the story after a few playthroughs. Game author can confirm or deny?
Post by: MiteWiseacreLives! on 11 Sep 2015, 04:55
Hey wait a minute!Shadow:
The arrow buttons remaining visible is a bug, they should disappear when night falls and the bad ending cutscene is triggered. I'll fix hat one and upload a new version today.
So the reason I got that ending was because night fell and nothing I did to trigger it? Is there a way to prevent it from happening?
SHADOW
No, I'm afraid there is no way to stop the sun from setting, but you CAN escape the reef and sail away before that happens. ;)
There must be way more to this game than I thought..
Post by: Mandle on 11 Sep 2015, 06:15
Yes...quite a bit more:
Post by: WHAM on 11 Sep 2015, 07:07
MASSIVE SPOILERS:
This is also just what I personally got from the story after a few playthroughs. Game author can confirm or deny?
You have just, pretty much verbatim, laid out the story I had written out for the game in the design doc.
It seems that I did manage to create a somewhat coherent story, despite the limitations in the tools with which to convey then.
Very good! :)
Post by: Cassiebsg on 11 Sep 2015, 17:46
Post by: Mandle on 11 Sep 2015, 23:22
@Mandle
Yup,
Post by: Cassiebsg on 12 Sep 2015, 07:19