The Oracle - FINISHED!!!

[Eugene]

Maggie, I'm not sure what else to suggest.  Perhaps someone else reading this thread will have a suggestion.  According to RapidSharing, they support accelerators:  "You may use any of the major accelerators, a few popular ones are: Speedget, Download Accelerator Plus, GetRight, FlashGet and GoZilla."

[Maggie]

Eugene,   I'm using getright but when I get to the rapid share site there doesn't seem to be any active buttons to press for downloading.

[Eugene]

Eugene,Ã,  Ã, I'm using getright but when I get to the rapid share site there doesn't seem to be any active buttons to press for downloading.

Towards the bottom of the page, you need to enter the number/letter combination into the box and click submit.  That will take you to another page that will do a count-down and then a link that says "Download file" will show up.

It's certainly not the most user-friendly download site.  That's why I replaced it with the new links.

[maggie]

Eugene,  thanks for speedy reply. I feel such an idiot I wondered what the submit button was for.

[Jhumjhum]

I started downloading the game. It was 60% done...then my computer crashed due to heat.  ( I think I live in the hottest city of the world) and I lost everything. Then I saw that Rapidsharing won't let me complete my continue download!!!

Its impossible. I know it seems like too much to ask for as I'm the only one but if u could upload the file in a place with a fixed url I'll be really grateful.

The game has crossed 3000 downloads in such a short time which means how good it is and also means nobody is facing the problem I'm facing.
Looks like I'll be missing on this really great game and am very frustrated. :'(

[Eugene]

I started downloading the game. It was 60% done...then my computer crashed due to heat.Ã,  ( I think I live in the hottest city of the world) and I lost everything. Then I saw that Rapidsharing won't let me complete my continue download!!!

Its impossible. I know it seems like too much to ask for as I'm the only one but if you could upload the file in a place with a fixed url I'll be really grateful.

The game has crossed 3000 downloads in such a short time which means how good it is and also means nobody is facing the problem I'm facing.
Looks like I'll be missing on this really great game and am very frustrated. :'(

Sorry to hear you're having such a hard time downloading the game.Ã,  Unfortunately I don't have any personal webpage to host such a large file.Ã,  There is however a foreign site that has reviewed the game and is hosting the file there as well (it's not in English but the link is at the bottom):Ã, 

http://pc.hrej.cz/plne-hry/adventura/2d-adventura/the-oracle/

You can try that.Ã,  Good luck!

[Jhumjhum]

Thanks Eugene!

You are really helpful. I'm clicking that link rght now. If unsuccesful, I'll wait till I visit my mom's house (she has a lan conn) and download the game there. I'm not gonna miss playing this game.

[Nostradamus]

Eugene, kudos for a great game in an original style (for AGS).
Usually I don't like these first person style adventure games, but this one captured me with a very interesting story, with interesting puzzles and wonderfully taken photos. The photos were really good and had all the needed detail, it felt like taking a real tour of that area in portugal. The part with the machines was hard but innovative. The story was catching, I just hope the open end means a sequel. It's great that you did the Hints System, although at least in 3 points it left stuff unclear:

Spoiler

1. location of rubber stopper   2. how to find the beach under the wind generator   3. the radio in the elevator - it was really hard to notice that you could actually turn around in it, it seemed like it was just a cutscene to wait through

[close]

(no need to answer these, I already finished the game)


Btw, zooomer1990 - you really need a new fan!  the temperature of the room doesn't have much to di with the heat in your computer. An aevrage CPU
\motherboard\memory\power supplier need to be at max about 50-60 celsius to work properly. If it reaches 80 it restarts. Now you see no country is that hot to be 80 celsius and even in places where the temperature is below zero the above mentioned parts will still be that hot, the only cooling that matters is the one siiredctly on the components. Get aida32 and see where the temperature is too high then get a new fan for those parts.

[Eugene]

Thanks Nostradamus for all the great comments!  I'll admit that currently there is no sequel in the works, BUT I really enjoyed creating The Oracle and the comments & reviews have been so great that I am seriously considering creating another.  While the story has a conclusion in this game, a sequel has always been in the back of my mind and I purposly left the story open for that reason.  There's a lot more to the Oracle than meets the eye!

[ness]

Wow. That was so cool. The machines were really tricky. I'm amazed that they obviously actually exist. What happens with them in real life? What are they for?

[Eugene]

Thanks Ness    I was wondering when someone was going to ask about those machines!  They are actually part of the Portugal Expo '98 in an area appropriately called the "Water Gardens" (Jardins da Agua).  The theme of the expo was The Oceans and all the "machines" in the garden manipulate water in one way or another.  It's actually a very pleasant walk and the game only shows a small portion of the gardens.  I couldn't help but incorporate it into The Oracle!

[ness]

I feel like I've just visited Portugal. I hope you do another game. If I only knew how to make games I could do one with cool New Zealand scenery. Maybe a Lord of the Rings game? 

[nihilyst]

Great game! The photos are well taken and really get me into the scenery. Atmosphere and story are intriguing. Good job!

[Eugene]

Version 1.1 has now been released, which includes more in-game hints and several bug fixes.

Enjoy! 

The Oracle
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=735

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

After a long break from AGS, I got back to playing AGS games. And what a surprise it was to find one that was set in Portugal! I never really thought we'd have material for any of these occult stories thingies. If you ever care to return here, though, I think I can point you to some other interesting places (Quinta da Regaleira was once property of followers of the Templars, as I understand it... need I say more?).

First things first: the presentation is wonderful. Truly wonderful. It's a pity that so many screens are so static, especially the outdoor screens - I realize it's hard to animate "photos", but it would have added so much, made it so alive. At any rate, it's still very impressive. The interface is very nice and more than adequate.

Navigation was a problem at first, but then, it always is in these 1st person games. You get to see images, and it takes a while to form them into a coherent game world. All the same, I'd really prefer to have seen arrows, you know - the cursor turning into an arrow pointing the way you can go. Just a preference o' mine.

Another thing I wasn't crazy about was the way the story unfolded... but I'm very picky, and mind you, I'm still on the lighthouse, having gotten in and found the note (yep, people, this sentence is pretty much spoiler-free). I just thought the introducing of the "oracle" and all happened too fast - the player character (who, despite your interesting attempts, is NOT the player - it actually is a character) seemed to be very, very accepting of all that. Hey, oracles and stuff, what the hey, all in a day's work, sort of thing. But like I said, I'm a bit picky, and the story seems to be developing well. I would have just preferred it to be told in a slightly different fashion at times.

Like I said, I'm still playing it. I'm not falling in love with it or anything, but it's certainly a great game. I just wish it had more animations. I think that IS my biggest gripe - I know that when I go back to it I'll go back to a "slide-show world". It even discourages me from getting into the story too much, actually.

Anyway, all in all, a wonderful job. It has room to improve, but then again, what doesn't?

PS - "Bom tarde" doesn't exist, it'd be "Boa tarde". The portuguese characters' broken English is very nice. And "Nada" isn't exactly right - I understand some people can "eat" the first word, but I've never heard anyone say "nada", it being "De nada". Just some picky picky pickiness.

[Mordalles]

thanks, eugene, i really enjoyed the game. some of the lighting effects you added were great!

[Eugene]

Rui, thanks for the comments.Ã,  When I booked my three week vacation to Portugal, I decided I just had to use the beautiful scenery in Portugal for a game.Ã,  It also posed a problem because I couldn't just go back to take more photos etc. if I forgot something.Ã,  Nonetheless, it turned out better than I had imagined.Ã,  Also thanks for pointing out the portuguese grammer!Ã,  They have been fixed in the new version 1.1 -- I can't believe I messed up on "Boa Tarde".Ã,  I really have to use my Portuguese more!Ã, 

[Eugene]

thanks, eugene, i really enjoyed the game. some of the lighting effects you added were great!

Thanks Mordalles!  They certainly added a nice mystical/fantasy feeling. What would I do without Adobe Photoshop... 

[Winter_Stardust]

Excellent game, I was really hooked into it!

But I must admit the ending felt a tad rushed. Is there maybe going to be a sequel? *hint hint*

[Shell]

Hi, quick question, I've downloaded the game and now it's asking for a password...have I missed this somewhere?

Thanks.