The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Remake(RELEASED)

[Dualnames]

DN Games Presents:

Last Time Updated:27/4/10

STORY:
Arthur Dent, a typical human, wakes up on an ordinary day, just to find himself trying to stop the local state from demolishing his house for the construction by-pass. His friend Ford, however comes and informs that the world is about to end in 12 minutes, for the construction of an intergalactic expressway.


SCREENSHOTS:
-Animations:


-Backgrounds-
27/04/2010<()>

Digital Music Version:

A video with a 'sample' from a famous scene from book, where you can see where are we heading with the sound design and the music feel.Watch it here

Speech Version:

A list of samples from all the actors that have sent a line comes as follows:

LIST

• Narrator by Calin Leafshade
  
• Ford Prefect by Mr.Flibble
  
• Arthur Dent by DC
  
• Eddie by Babar
  
• Trillian by Vertiggoaddict
  
• Zaphod Beeblebrox by RenegadeImplementor Listen!
  
• Engineer Robot by Calin Leafshade Listen!
  
• Prosser by Cryxo Listen!
  
• Marvin by ShadeJackRabbit Listen!
  
• Vogon Guard by  Listen!
  

*


*Actors that don't have Listen! by their name, are currently working on the lines, and due to a webhost provider I used that crashed, I lost the sample files.



DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS:
27/4/10<()>
Story: 100%
Puzzles: 100%
Art: 100%
Music: 0%
Scripting: 90%
Speech: 30%
Total: 81%



ESTIMATED DAY OF RELEASE:
17/12/08<()>
I don't think we'll much the initial release. Pretty much sorry for that.



CREW/TEAM:
Dualnames: Art/Animation/Music/Scripting
Yukonhorror: Puzzles/Story/Dialogs
ptpt88: Music
Ben304: Sketching Some Cutscenes
Leon: Beta Tester (Bug Killer Species)
Jon: Beta Tester
Ghost: Beta Tester

ARCHIVE/NEWS:
I'm trying to finalize stuff, and it's glad for you, that I've become more picky..



MATERIAL:

• Our small site
  
• Demo Here
  
• Ben304 Cutscene!
  
• Teaser
  
• Official Promotion Trailer
  

Articles/Reviews:
31/1/09<()>
Well we made a 'making of' for the gnome's lair..so go here and see it:
6/5/09<()>
Well, I conducted an interview for the game on Captain's D gaming blog here and see it.
15/3/2010<()>
It was one of the most exciting parts of this whole making process. Mr Igor Hardy (also known as Ascovel), the man behind the Hardy Developers blog, is the one responsible for the insight view you'll get on the mechanisms of this game. So have a looky here
30/3/2010<()>
A reference to the whole game and especially the article I mentioned above at Adventure Game Developers.com
Have a look Here
13/4/2010<()>
A Russian Site has referenced and said some cool words on its small review.
Have a look Here  Use Babel Fish to translate for you.


GAME IS UP HERE
Download

[tube]

The only advice/request I have is that the game should be based mainly on the books, and the most important thing to get right is Adams' unique humour. The old text adventure is another good source of inspiration, if not story and dialogue. Personally I thought that the movie was bad enough to make Mr. Adams roll in his grave (even though he co-wrote the screenplay and stuff) so I'd skip it entirely, but this is just a personal opinion. Even the design of Marvin bugs me enough to prefer the old, cheap looking bbc version of him. But enough of this rant, looking forward for the game.

PS: I'd pick option b in your main theme poll. The first one is a bit overwhelming, "loud" and monotonous to work even as background music. No offense intended.

[CaptainBinky]

I agree with tube. I utterly love Hitch-hikers Guide, but to be honest a game that drives inspiration from the film rather than the TV show and/or book actually sends me a negative message, and turns me off.

I'll give the tech demo a go though

CB

edit: re music - you gotta use the proper TV / radio show theme

[Dualnames]

Responding to both of you, since I'm the fan of the books and stuff, the movie was good but worse than the books. Since however it's the only visual influence I have I'm making the characters as seen in the movie. However since for example in the original script Marvin instead of using the gun of the other point just did a trick with plugs(if I remember) well we'll keep it with the book. Like I said my influence on the script is very few, and since Yukonhorror is actually  prefering to be more close to the script from the books rather than the one in the story we;re heading that way. And I live in greece we didn;t get to see the TV show, or radio. But like I said we're keeping it to the books and not the movie concerning many things. I hate for example that Ford was mainly a watcher in the movie despite in the book he's more important.


Quoting from Yukonhorror's pm:

The style looks good, but I agree with the comments.  I would REALLY avoid making things similar to the movie.  I liked the movie, but some of the looks of the movie I didn't agree.  The way Marvin is is fine, but the president has to have two visible heads.  Otherwise the joke in the party scenario isn't funny (he's wearing a towel over his other head saying it's a birdcage).  And remember he has 3 arms too. 

[The Suitor]

I'm a fan of HGTTG, cant wait till this is finished! It should be interesting.

[Ghost]

Bless you for having a go at one of my favourite books! Best of luck, and should you succeed, an enternity of Pangalactic Gargleblasters for you, paid by me.

But pleeeeease, at least give Zaphod his "proper" two heads, yes? I can live with the movie-Marvin, but Zaphod just, well... needs two heads, both visible at the same time!

[Dualnames]

Ok, no trouble putting an extra head...He'll have two head mind you all.
And there's a recipe about gargle blasters in the wiki(terran recipes)... so have fun.

EDIT: I've put one head since I haven't read the script that yukonhorror had provided me with at the time I was creating this demo, and I 've forgot about that part with his two heads...

[Cyrus]

Awesome! Anyway, it can be better to change the GUI: you've already used that one in LC2. Something original can be more suitable.

[yukonhorror]

and remember all, pan galactic gargle blasters are included in the in-game guide, so be sure to look them up to see what Doug Adams has to say about them. 

Also, I want to make sure to state this game is a remake of the original Infocom game.  It isn't 100% original. So credit all humor to the original game makers.  We are just trying to bring the pure text-based game to the point-and-click environment we love. 

[Radiant]

You should check out the BBC mini-series for visuals. They're far more faithful to the books (and better written, and funnier) than that movie.

Note also how the movie is nearly incomprehensible to people who haven't read the books, so that's probably not what you should aim for.

[Dualnames]

You should check out the BBC mini-series for visuals. They're far more faithful to the books (and better written, and funnier) than that movie.

Note also how the movie is nearly incomprehensible to people who haven't read the books, so that's probably not what you should aim for.

We're not aiming for it. I changed Zaphod today adding his two heads..and yes the movie has many details that the normal I've-never-read-the-books-viewer  wouldn't notice despite seeing the film for a second time or more.

Not planning on changing Marv though.. sorry he'll stay as he is. Took a lot of effort to make him. I can change Ford as well.

[Galen]

I feel compelled to point to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/hitchhikers/game.shtml
Maybe that can help inspire you

[Misj']

You should check out the BBC mini-series for visuals. They're far more faithful to the books (and better written, and funnier) than that movie.

To quote an interview form Douglas Adams' the Salmon of Doubt.

Which version of Hitchhiker are you happiest with?

Douglas Adams: Not the TV version, that's for sure. In different moods, I will feel either the radio or the book, which are the two other versions left, so it's got to be one of those, hasn't it? I feel differently about each of them. On the one hand, the radio series was where it originated; that's where it grew; that's where the seed grew. Also, that's where I felt that myself and the other people working on it—the producer and the sound engineers and so on, and, of course, the actors—all created something that really felt ground breaking at the time. Or rather, it felt like we were completely mad at the time. I can remember sitting in the subterranean studio, auditioning the sound of a whale hitting the ground at three hundred miles an hour for hours on end, just trying to find ways of tweaking the sound. After hours of that, day after day, you do begin to doubt your sanity. Of course, you have no idea if anybody's going to listen to this stuff. But, you know, there was a real sense that nobody had done this before. And that was great; there's a great charge that comes with that. On the other hand, the appeal of the books to me is that that's just me. The great appeal of a book to any writer is that it is just them. That's it. There's nobody else involved. That's not quite true, of course, because the thing developed out of a radio series in the first place, and there is a sense in there of all the people who have contributed, in one way or another, to the radio show that it grew out of. But, nevertheless, there is a this-is-all-my-own-work feel about a book. And I'm pleased with the way it reads. I feel it flows nicely. It feels as if it were easy to write, and I know how difficult that was to achieve.

Considering that Adams didn't like the TV series, I wouldn't follow Radiant's or CaptainBinky's advise...I mean: why use something as a mould that is known to be considered utter and complete crap by it's creator (OK, that might be an exaggeration, but still, you get my point). And even though there are several parts where the movie failed, I personally liked the casting...and I really didn't mind that Zephod didn't have two heads all the time (I found the solution better than the terrible fake thing on top of the TV-series-shoulder).

I do agree with CaptainBinky that you should use the Hitchhiker's theme, but just for the record, it's also the theme for the guide in the movie. It is - however - not the easiest song to find as a somewhat proper midi. The best version I found so far is  this one. But it's nowhere near the original song by the Eagles...it's a great song, that extends far beyond the H2G2-theme.

So in short: either re-invent the whole thing starting from the source material (either the radio- or the book-version), and try to ignore both the TV-series and the movie, or just use the looks from whichever version you prefer. It was impossible to write the book into a movie, but to me at least they managed to get the right look (lacked in humour, lacked in story, but I liked the casting, I liked the look, and I even thought the Dolphin song was somewhat fun). And as long as your version completely contradicts any other version currently in existence, I think Douglas Adams would be proud (because as he wrote himself in the introduction to his Ultimate Hitchhicker's Guide all versions contradict each other).

Oh...and please add some of those 'pretty' animations within the guide

[lemmy101]

You should check out the BBC mini-series for visuals. They're far more faithful to the books (and better written, and funnier) than that movie.

Considering that Adams didn't like the TV series, I wouldn't follow Radiant's or CaptainBinky's advise...

I think if Douglas would have lived to see the film he might have different thoughts on it (or rather, the film might not ever have come out). I think the point is that the series was a LOT more faithful to the original material than the movie which pissed on and watered down various of the funniest scenes, cut others, and added poor subplots to the story... and for that to be the source material for the game would concern me that the game would be as upsetting to me as the movie.

All that aside looks fun,  and will definitely be giving it a go. Knowing the text is from the book / radio show and not from the movie then I can only imagine it will be top notch and look forward to it.

[CaptainBinky]

I'm not advocating making it exactly like the TV show. If he made up the look for all the characters and environment then cool - I'd dig that.

All I'm saying is that driving inspiration directly from the film (which is considered awful by a lot of people who love that book) sends me the wrong message about the game.

[robotsquid]

i've been a fan of hitchhikers since i was a kid, my dad recorded the tv show and i pretty much grew up with it.  i'd much rather see a game get its visual inspiration from the tv show but there was little wrong with the way the film looked.  and to be fair i think everybody played their roles well, it just didn't gel as a movie.  all this is a little off topic i know but what i'm trying to say is i'll play this with an open mind.  hitchhiker is such a rich universe to draw on if this is done well it could be something special.  best of luck with your project.

[Misj']

Oh no...now I've upset the Lemmi&Binky-entity

Anyway, I'm not saying that the movie was the best thing ever created for public viewing. But even though it failed in many key areas (like story and humour), it also succeeded in others. And I believe casting and looks were two of those areas. So if someone decides to combine the best elements from each version then please do use the movie also.

Besides...many of the poor sub-plots (including Humma Kavula) were created by Douglas Adams himself. And maybe they didn't work out the way he invented it in his mind...so what? - It was still - largely - Adams' reinvention of the existing story.

And yes, I'm one of the few people who loved the book (and actually didn't mind the TV-series either), who also liked the movie...in it's own right (even though it can't measure up to the book on whichever level). Even though I fully understand why most fans would quote Marvin while (and after) watching that movie: "This is So depressing!"

[OneDollar]

What I'd like to see would be a game graphically based (based, not exactly) on the look of the TV series, content of the book (several extra details that aren't mentioned in the radio series, though obviously much of the content is the same) and maybe the odd nod towards the text game (though most of the puzzles are too illogical and wouldn't work graphically). I'd completely ignore the movie, and if that's your primary source material I suggest you get reading the books. Then again, I haven't seen the movie so maybe I shouldn't put it down, but it is a version that Adams didn't oversee.

[robotsquid]

haha, yes onedollar.  putting the movie down without having watched it seems a little pointless.

[Dualnames]

Ok, since yukonhorror did answer all this fuss, I have to clarify things again.
First, me myself as an artist of this game I have to get inspiration from somewhere. For the visual part.
Secondly the writer of the story(yukonhorror) took all of his inspiration from the books and the game hhgtg(1985) by infocom. I clarify that Adams had himself scripted/supervised that game, unlike the movie(he was pretty dead at the point).
The shows look awesome but ok he couldn't afford/want to put so many money at that time so it's normal that Zaphod looks ok not so good. Still the story is awesome. I'd rather have visual problems with this game that don't affect the fans or the typical my first time checking Hitch rather than have perfect visual that fit with the story but with a story that sucks. Hope I didn;t put off anyone. Yukonhorror has posted his ideas some posts ago, and I agree and will follow those. I will try and put more stuff if it;s possible but it will be like playing the text adventure but this time way more interactions and visuals so that you can dive in... The answer to all your posts is ....

Spoiler

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