Bestowers of Eternity

[Minimi]

Great game! I'd like some help though.

Spoiler

I've search the doctor's files and used the whistle on the dog but I don't know what to do when the artist walks towards the dog, or with what I've found in the files.

[close]

Spoiler

open your notebook, and click with the "2 to heaven" on the book. Now you can do something else when the artist shouts at the dog and the lady!

[close]

[minataure]

Thanks a lot for your help! I've finished it now. What a great game!!! I loved the story and I'm soooo curious to see the rest of it.

[Dave Gilbert]

I'm just surprised there isn't a florist in Manhattan  

Right.  If you see any inconsistancies like that, it was Joey's fault.  :p

Incidentally, does anyone recognize the lady with the dog?  She's a character from a famous movie about Manhatten...

[remixor]

Wooo, a new DG game!  I've been waiting for this one ever since its little preview thing in PotS.  Looking forward to playing...

[Toefur]

I love you Dave.

[Toefur]

Oh. And this game. I can't get enough of your style of graphics, either.

[ida]

Is the lady in the park with the dog supposed to be Diane Keaton's character "Annie Hall"?  

BTW, am I supposed to discuss something with her?

Spoiler

I've all ingredients, except the last one, for the recipe

[close]

[Dave Gilbert]

Well spotted!



You win the prize... a hint for your question!  :-)

Spoiler

I assume you need the flower?  You need to know what the flower looks like first.  Where can you research that?
[\hide]

[close]

[Timosity]

I'm really enjoying this Dave, It's keeping me really interested. love every aspect.

just a couple more Joey encounters: in the letter jan 3,1962 by Dr Donald Quentin, "couse" should be course

walkbehind issue: In the park you can stand infront of the Easel when you are behind it.

I'm stuck in day 2 atm, but I'll figure it out, But I have no idea what I'm supposed to do when the artist is talking to the lady, it's obvious I'm supposed to do something but I must have missed a clue or something cause it just seems odd.

The story is great, and those letters were really interesting, I can see you've put a lot of thought into the story, and I'm sure I'll be left hanging at the end of this part.

always a pleasure to play your games.

Edit: Ok, I finished it, Awesome, but now I wish I waited till all parts were released, but oh well.
I got a bit ahead of myself earlier, I did stuff before I new what I was actually doing, but it all became clear once I took the right paths.

And as I imagined, it did leave me hanging.

keep up the good work

~Tim

[GarageGothic]

Lovely game. Surely one of the, if not THE, best game stories for a long time. A bit annoyed that it's only part one, but I suppose that shows how much I enjoyed it.

The characters were great. I especially liked the Indian lady next door. But I think you need to establish the doctor/analyst better as a character in the next chapter unless you want him to become a stereotype. I assume that you keep visiting him throughout the game, and as such, he really needs some more personality.
The story was intriguing and I can't wait for the rest. The whole family history was really creepy - it could have been distributed over longer time though, as those letters made for a massive read, but I'm VERY anxious to learn more about this Joey character.

The interface was easy to use. But I'm not sure about the notebook - it worked well when researching in the library, but later I found it confusing that you could also use it to ask questions with. Is it ever necessary to use it for dialog to proceed? The doctor seemed to say pretty much the same thing when I used the  notebook topics as with the regular questions. I didn't check if they were exactly the same. For the next chapters, I think you should settle for a single dialog interface - either classic LA style or the LBII style notebook. Or maybe keep "research questions" to the notebook interface while keeping topics relevant to the situation (asking the doctor to hypnotise you, getting the doorman to let you in) in the ordinary interface.

This is one of those games where I'm not sure if it's supposed to be funny, scary or just, well, exciting and suspenseful. I don't really see this as a problem, but then, I don't know what you're going for. The music was at times very gloomy, as was the story. The plot is easily as dark as any of the Phantasmagorias. But the graphics and some of the puzzles were very cartoony and "cute" (the dog/artist puzzle comes to mind, as does the absurdity with the doorman).  Is Joey supposed to be scary or cute? I have no idea, but I certainly couldn't take him very seriously. When I first saw him in your RON game, I assumed that bestowers would be a comedy, which it obviously isn't, at least not in its pure form.

I'm not complaining about the graphics, which were actually very nice for a game this size. But it strikes me that most AGS games which TRY to have an element of horror often detract from the mood with their graphics. Pleurghburg being the most obvious example of this counterpoint between story and visuals, but 5 Days a Stranger and the Revenants demo also share it to certain degrees. My issue isn't really with the "quality" or "realism" of the graphics as it is with their style or lack thereof, or maybe rather, the style's incongruity with the atmosphere. The bright colors in these games absolutely SCREAM "happy", "cartoony", "fun" etc. and it kills the mood. I'm not saying that everything should be black and white (although monochrome color schemes tend to work well for dark stories), but it's a good idea to compose a palette of colors for the entire game, and only digress where it's absolutely necessary for the realism of the location.

Another idea is to connect every color to a certain mood and in expressionist manner let those colors dominate in locations where you want to convey that emotion (remember the red light in the brothel of the Lust-murder in Se7en?). In fact, I think this is why I like the green interior of the bar in Songo so much, because it has this strange atmosphere, like something out of The Absinthe Drinkers.
The same way, when using muted color schemes, it's a classic technique to let one single bright color pop up in a symbolic manner (the color red is very popular, like the raincoat in Don't Look Now or different objects, all connected to the supernatural, in The Sixth Sense).

Sorry that this turned into an essay on symbolic use of color. I'm not saying that you should change anything really - I just felt it was a good time to share some things that I've observed lately.  But maybe you could consider it, if you have some truly spooky scenes later on in the game, that haven't been drawn yet.

One bug I encountered, which may be an engine bug rather than a scripting error: I had saved my game after mixing the recipe. But when I later tried to restore it, the game quit,  and I got an error message about an item not being in the inventory.

Looking forward to part 2. (How many parts are there? Are you going to combine them into one game when finished, or will they be separate game files like Book of Spells?)

[Dave Gilbert]

EXCELLENT point about the graphics.  It was a concern of mine, but I was more concerned with story and character than the graphics.  The cartoony graphics/serious story thing worked for "Broken Sword," so I didn't worry about it too much.  The story gets a bit darker later (yes, even darker than it is now) so experimenting with colors is good advice.

And yes, this section was kind of short.  I'm sorry about that.  There will only be two parts to the game, but the second part will be MUCH longer than the first part I released.  This section was more of a character study, where you learn a bit about Rosa and her past before all hell breaks loose.  The second part will be more open-ended and non-linear.

I aimed for the game to be serious, but with some humor thrown in.  Not a lot.  Think of the humor in Gabriel Knight.  I guess since this section is so short, it seems a bit inconsistant.  Good point.

As for Joey, he's a balancing act.  He can easily turn into the "zany sidekick" if I'm not careful, and I hope to avoid that.  He says funny things, but it's more of a front.  He's not very happy about what's happened to him, so he diffuses his misery with humor.  There's kind of a nasty bitterness to the jokes he makes.

Garage: Did you read the "notes of interest" file?  That "absurdity with the doorman" actually happened!  Sort of.  The artist/dog owner puzzle was also based in reality - I witnessed a similar argument in Central Park last year - but yeah I agree it's a bit "out there."  

Thanks for the feedback, everyone.  I'm so glad that you all are enjoying it.

-Dave

[GarageGothic]

Dave, I'm happy that I didn't upset you with my thoughts on the graphics. Often when I get critical about something it's because I really care about it and want it to be even better.

There will only be two parts to the game, but the second part will be MUCH longer than the first part I released.

Thank god, I'm not sure I would have been able to wait for 4 or 5 episodes, all ending with a "to be continued", without going insane I thought the length of the first chapter was perfect for setting up the characters and getting us REALLY excited about what's to come.

He says funny things, but it's more of a front. He's not very happy about what's happened to him, so he diffuses his misery with humor. There's kind of a nasty bitterness to the jokes he makes.

Yeah exactly, I thought of him as the ghost of some old film noir anti-hero - that's sort-of his tone. I've got great hopes for this character.

Garage: Did you read the "notes of interest" file? That "absurdity with the doorman" actually happened! Sort of. The artist/dog owner puzzle was also based in reality - I witnessed a similar argument in Central Park last year

I did read the file, even before playing, so I was aware of it. As they say, truth is stranger than fiction. What I meant was that they seemed like a different genre, not that they weren't plausible.

[Quickstrike]

OOH!  YAY!  This game rocks!  I got the Max Griff reference.

EDIT:  WOW!  I can't wait for the next segment!  That was superb!

[fidodido]

Just finished, and I must say it's the most atmospheric game I've played a LONG time! I don't remember the last time I got so involved in an adventure. The story is simply awesome! It's creepy, mysterious and very well written. Every time I revealed a new piece of info, I was so eager to find out what will happen next.

I was really sad to see the "to be continued" screen, out of the blue. When it happened, I just stared at the screen for a few minutes, shocked. I think it shows how great the game is, and I can't wait till you release the second part.

I think what got me so deep into the game are the letters to Lauren. I read them in one breath, and I just couldn't stop! It reminded me of reading the diary in 'Syberia'. I hope there will be more letters in part 2.

The only problem is, that when the second part will be released I will lose the atmosphere that this part achieved, and it will take some time to get into it again. Maybe when it's released I'll play part 1 again.

Regarding the interface, I think it's simple and great, but one thing that bothered me is that when I use an item on something/someone and it's a no-go, Rosa just goes to where I clicked and doesn't say anything. I think it would be better if she says something in the style of "that doesn't work". On the other hand, I think the notebook idea is fantastic, and adds depth to the interface.

All in all, this game is a MUST PLAY for everyone. It's one of the best games of the year.

Keep up the excellent work, Dave!

[remixor]

Dave, this friggin rules.  I'm only on day two, but this game is awesome.  Your writing is excellent.  I smell an AGS award.  The intro was excellent, and the whole psychiatrist scene was great.  The music gets a bit repetitive but on the whole I think it suits the game really well.  I'm also stuck in the park after getting the painter to leave his thing, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.  Keep up the great work.

[Nostradamus]

Excellent game. I love the story and the way it advances. The letters were very interesting to read. IT really got me in into the game. Great GUI, especially the notebook with the notes clickable on other items. That's a great original thing to do. I can't wait for the second part, there wasn't even a warning that it's not the complete game, that leaves me with so much suspense... but that was the whole point right?  To make us really anticipate part 2!   Well it succeeded..
So any approximate release date for part 2?
Oh and the teddy reminded me... what about the Max Griff game?

P.S. a little something that bothers me... when you look at the woman with the dog, Rosa says she must be a tourist. Which tourist takes their dog with them?

[Dave Gilbert]

Howdy Nostradamus,

It says in the readme file that it's a "part one," but you're right about it not being incredibly obvious.  My intention wasn't to shock and frustrate players, but it looks like I did.  But as I wrote earlier in this thread, Part 2 will be much longer and will complete the story.  Unless I decide to do a sequel.  Which is a possibility.

And while I appreciate your comments about the notebook, I have to confess that it's not an original idea.  It was taken directly from "Discworld Noir," one of my all-time favorite adventure games.

As for the Max Griff game...  hey! Look over there!

* Dave Gilbert runs and hides.

-Dave

[Nostradamus]

Well Dave I don't think anyone is frustrated. I think the suspense & anticipation this created is a good thing. I hate waiting for stuff but it will be worth it.
As for the notebook, hey at least it's the first time anyone uses it in AGS!

I don't know why but for some reason I think you are avoiding answering my question about Max Griff, isn't that weird?

[remixor]

Yeah, I noticed that you ripped the notebook from Discworld Noir, but I felt your game justified it and it's not like the concept is a cliche or anything.  I thought it was quite cool.

[jason]

Great game, Dave! It was very well-done and the story/dialogue are superb. The letters were a great means of engrossing the player in the game.

I have one suggestion: instead of clicking on a name in the journal and then having to click on the X button, I think it would be nicer if you first click on the name and then move the cursor outside of the journal window to close it.

Can't wait for the next installment!