[RELEASED] Donna: Avenger of Blood - PHASE 2 (nudity warning!)

[Goldmund]

The below information and screenshots are a bit outdated. For newest screenshots and info about the development, check this post:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=9792.msg350058#msg350058



I've decided to make a promotional thread about the game I've been working on for almost two years.
I've no time to update the website, and I hope it will be much less a hassle to announce updates, search for beta-testers etc. in this thread.
Those who've been to my website won't find much new stuff here today apart from some screenshots...



presents:



DONNA: Avenger of blood
Is a first project by TERMINUS games. The backgrounds are made of edited photographs, realistic-looking characters are drawn and scanned. The entire game is in grayscale, which, along with mp3-quality music, aims at creating an atmosphere unique among amateur games.The serious storyline and at times explicit graphics along with crude language make this game a product suitable rather for adults.



story
A nameless country, somewhere in Europe, is deep in financial depression. The sentiments arousing among people allow national and extreme-right-wing politicians to come into power. To a metropolis capital of the country come two foreigners: Christian and Donna. They both keep to themselves and are seen only at night. Their stay at the Eldorado Hotel is interrupted one night by mysterious visitors who break into their room and shoot Christian. One bullet hits Donna, who falls to the street below and finds herself naked in the middle of the hostile, unkown city; what's more, the dawn is coming and let's say that her skin isn't prepared for meeting the sunrays.
The player controls Donna, who, after securing her life, goes on a quest of vengeance to find killers of Christian, meets mad inhabitants of the metropolis, gets into a love affair with a female journalist, and discovers the true reason behind Christian coming to this country.



soundtrack
Two tracks available to download, made by yours truly.
This Whole City - a general outdoors theme
Subway Blues - the tune playing when Donna travels by underground

downloads
An AVI trailer is available for download, but it's slightly outdated - most of the backgrounds are animated now.
DOWNLOAD TRAILER
(Thanks to Fuzzpilz for allowing me to abuse his server)



team
Goldmund (Blazej Dzikowski),
Dominika Dzikowska

[Goldmund]

8 february 2004

Much faster? Bwahahahhaha! Hahaha! Ha!
Since the last update I've done only 10 rooms, so now I have 80...
But this stress on number of rooms starts getting absurd, the number is - in truth - irrelevant.
The biggest accomplishment was in fact much more important than the number of rooms: I got out of a terrible deadlock.
The whole story of the deadlock is embarassingly trivial.
I just couldn't decide whether I want to make a scene in a hotel pool, or not. I carefully weighed the pros and cons, sighed in despair for days, until I finally sat down and made the scene in a pool, out of the blue, if I may say so. In this way I surprised my mind full of doubts. There was nothing to wonder about anymore, since the scene was finished. The rest of the hotel chase was made in a glimpse, along with my favourite scene on the roof.
Now, it seems that I've gotten into another impasse: whether to include the "night vision" skill (just for the sake of one room?... it would be similar to the "push" command in Indy FOA... anyway, I also have similar problems with the "hit" command which seems highly redundant...) and whether to include the spirit in an antique shop.
The problem is that if I include one more spirit, the apparitions from the other world might get too ordinary for the players... maybe I'll just make it and start to worry once the game is finished?
Those problems seem to be caused by the fact that I had a very undetailed outline of the story back when I was beginning the work.
I'm improvising, but as Garage Gothic told me that it was what David Lynch was doing as well, my spirits are raised.

Oh, and please - NEVER make the protagonist have any supernatural skills. Most of the time you'd spend thinking of why he couldn't just use one of the skills to overcome an obstacle!

I've been also wondering about the actual position of Donna: Avenger of Blood in the "history of Adventure Games".
I'd hate to disapoint those who put their faith in my work, but at times I think what I have here is a very classical Point&Click... only with a storyline (and maybe depth of characters) that is very literary... This may be caused by the fact that it's my first game.

I've also made several new tracks, along with the Main Tune which somehow never fails to give me strength and dedication. So when I'm tired and weary I watch Donna's intro.

18 november 2003

Donna statistics of the day:

Rooms - ca. 70, including cutscenes
Sprites - 751
Views - 73
Characters - 34
Dialog topics - 36
Dialog messages - 845
Inventory items - 53
Mp3 tracks - 10

Which constitutes around 60% of the game.
The remaining 40% will be done much faster, as I've more free time now and the foundations are already there.

[Totoro]

Looks exciting  :o Are those photos or do you use some 3D-Graphic Software?

Edit: Ooops, you wrote you used photos in your first post. I need glasses  8)

[scotch]

Love the art style, and the trailer, and everything about this game.  As promising as anything else shown at mittens, I thought.

[Matt Goble]

DONNA!

Does it still feature the neked lady???

Glad to hear this is still on the go goldmund.

[evilspacefart]

Goldmund, this is totally cool. it's very different. I like the idea of the skills abilities and skill/cost points. I also like naked girls. 8)

[Vel]

Interesting style, Goldmund. I hope you finish it (soon).

[Rincewind]

Hey, this looks really, really cool - I get a creepy vibe just by looking at those screenshots... Hehe... Good luck with it, man - I'm looking forward to playing it!

I also dig the greyscale style, btw. It reminds of Film Noir, and Film Noir is good. Ayup.

[Bionic Bill]

Quite glad to see this hasn't been scrapped. Can't wait for it. Sign me up for beta testing.

[Goldmund]

Thanks to all for their uplifting comments.
I'm making this game for so long I'm actually afraid to finish it!

Bionic Bill - with great pleasure and gratitude.  Most probably I'll need around 5 beta-testers, 1-2 native English speakers among them to correct the language, but it's still a matter of three-four months

[Timosity]

Looks like it's coming along nicely Goldmund, I remember watching the trailer a while ago.

The B&W is cool, and the semi naked chicks is always good, as long as you can invite them in for coffee.

keep it up, and I look forward to it.

[Squinky]

This game has always looked cool...

[juncmodule]

I remember this. You mentioned it when I said something about Critical Theory I believe.

Didn't you mention Derrida or Boudreaux in the trailer? I can't remember and I have a poopy internet connection.

I don't remember seeing screenshots that looked that great though.

I love the concept from just an artistic point of view. I have found that adventure games have taken all of my previous artistic endeavors, writing, drawing, and music and fused them together in a very odd medium. I rarely am pulled out of what I am doing on these forums and with AGS long enough to look at it from societies point of view. If you could peel away the "dork" stigma that is placed on making adventure games you would in effect have the ultimate artistic media. Better than film because it is interactive. Forcing a single artist to focus all of his/her talents into one single piece. Its just too bad that's a bunch of pretentious piss and wind. I think I will stop ranting in your thread now.

Looking forward to your game.

later,
-junc

[piraatlife4me]

I am really, really, really diggin on the look and atmosphere of your game. It has a very original unique design to it.  It has the whole Artsy black and white magazine cutt-out 1977 Crass style seditionary look with a creepy modern edge to it Its very nice.  Lets just say I definitely would pay money for it if I saw it on display in a retail store.  Can't wait to see more

Daniel
Winebarger

[Igor]

You have no idea how much i'm looking forward to this. Looks great!

[Goldmund]

I'm very happy you like it!

Juncmodule: tyeah, pretentious -- well, the truth is, an adventure game has the potential of being a Gesammtkunstwerk plus interactivity to top it off -- and whereas it's pretentious or not depends on a) your stance and b) level of description. B), because for some morons books are pretentious as well, so it depends where you stand, and A), because I have to say that some pretentious amateur games already appeared and they had this feeling of trying too much to be artistic. I'm sure my game doesn't go there, but yeah, it all depends on the level of description, so for all I know most of the "regular" players may take me for an artsy beret-lover.

Piraatelife-4me: I love your description of the design, we had some cut-out films in Poland long ago and I know what you mean. And let's just say that I definitely would make you pay for my game in a retail store, but Erin O'Connor's + Franka Potente's  lawyers and hundreds of pissed-off photographers dragging me to courts isn't my idea of having a great time.

[Nacho]

Oh! I must really come often to the games in production forum! The game looks very nice, with all that naked giRRRls jumping out from the screen to your view... Please Blazej, make me know as soon as you have something playable, that "Emmanuel RPG" style seems to be something to remember.  

[Goldmund]

Ha ha, you silly Nacho "Is This a Penis?" Farlander!  
I will release a special porn version for you. Or maybe not.
I will release a special non-nudity version for you, because you have to be punished for living in Benidorm when it's so cold in Polandia.

[Pet Terry]

Looks awesome, very original. Yet another game worth to wait

[Nacho]

Ha ha, you silly Nacho "Is This a Penis?" Farlander!  
I will release a special porn version for you. Or maybe not.
I will release a special non-nudity version for you, because you have to be punished for living in Benidorm when it's so cold in Polandia.

Eeer... I don't remember the "Is this a Penis?" quote, but surely I told it in Sweden, between loads of some other extremely funny and imaginative quotes, such as "Pirulí" and "Is there any naked giRRRls?"  

Could you help me to recall what did I confuse with a penis?