Frantic Franko (New SCREENSHOT, New release DATE)

[Find Therma]

The new verbcoin looks much cleaner and clearer. A big improvement over the old one in my opinion.

[Igor Hardy]

Finally I've finished the demo. It seems to me I've put in plenty of content, even though there are 3 locations in it. Hope you find it interesting and will have fun with the bag of junk.

All puzzles have proper hints and there are also alternative solutions to some. It's all quite non-linear, but don't be overwhelmed by the amount of stuff that one can try and enjoy the freedom to do some really crazy things (some cool ones are completely optional).

Download it here or here.

And here is the official game demo page.

[arj0n]

Nice demo but a "warnings.log" file was created while playing the demo.
It contains the following 2 lines:

(in room 1): Character.RemoveTint called but character was not tinted
(in room 1): Warning: FollowCharacter called but the sheep is currently animating looped. It may never start to follow.

After about 10 minutes of playing a 3,000 kb log file was created containing 40652 lines of text as mentioned above.
The only location I visited in the game was where the game starts, being in the wood with the camp fire and the floating balloon guy (aka room1)

[Igor Hardy]

Hmm...

I forgot to disable debug mode for the public version. I will upload a new version shortly.

thanks for the info, Arj0n

EDIT: OK. Fixed and exchanged the old link with one to a new version. So no huge warning files are created anymore while you play. Not even small ones.

[Cyrus]

Spoiler

"We'll make a Psychonaut out of you" - is it a reference to Tim Schafer's game?

[close]

By the way, the saving-loading option doesn't work.

[Igor Hardy]

By the way, the saving-loading option doesn't work.

It works on my system. Anyone else is having this problem? And what happens exactly when you try using it?

Spoiler

"We'll make a Psychonaut out of you" - is it a reference to Tim Schafer's game?

[close]

Doesn't have to be (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychonaut), but I have played Psychonauts so in a way it must be.

[Matti]

By the way, the saving-loading option doesn't work.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that, I do have the same problem.

It works on my system. Anyone else is having this problem? And what happens exactly when you try using it?

Exactly nothing happens when I click on Save. I doesn't matter if I type something in the savegame listbox, nothing happens when I press save.

[Igor Hardy]

So what happens when you hit the restore button in the restore saved game window (F7)?

[MoodyBlues]

This looks like a fun game.  I'm adding it to my list of games to play.

[Igor Hardy]

This looks like a fun game.  I'm adding it to my list of games to play.

Thanks. How high up on your list is it?

I can tell you Atapi is already being played here. With no other games standing in its way.

[Cyrus]

So what happens when you hit the restore button in the restore saved game window (F7)?

The slot is empty, and there's no saved game.

[Igor Hardy]

This worries me a lot as I didn't modify the save feature in any way from its default state. Also, it works perfectly on my system and none of the beta-testers complained either.

I've uploaded a new build where I changed some basic saved games options. It would be great if someone who has this kind of problems tried it and told me if saving/loading started working. You can find it here.

[Cyrus]

Again, the same problem  :'(

[Igor Hardy]

Again, the same problem  :'(

Could you tell me how does the path to the saved games folder look like? AGS has problems with reading letters that are not found in English.

EDIT: Nah. That can't be it or no other AGS game would have their save feature working as well.

If anyone has any suggestions what could be causing this problem on some systems I would be grateful.

[Ishmael]

What are you people's operating systems? Running Vista with UAC turned on might prevent AGS from creating the save files under the game's directory if that's where AGS tries to put it.

[Igor Hardy]

Not sure if it will be worth anything to anyone, but I've put some gameplay footage on YouTube. It's the very beginning of the demo after the introduction. Beware as it contains solutions for solving the first few puzzles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XuB0RPN_eQ

[Igor Hardy]

I've fixed some issues people told me about and updated the demo.



changes:

- fixed the very first puzzle. It got some people frustrated. The original version requiered the player wanting to explore a bit how the game works and paying attention to a seemingly not important response of the main hero. But now

Spoiler

I have included pointers to the fact that you have to somehow force Franko reveal how to open the bag. Of course it's not exactly what happens, but the player receives a much better direction to the solution

[close]

- fixed the problems with Bloons not flying around when he ought to in the first location. Now Bloons keeps moving if The Head is not there and keeps in place if The Head is present - just like I originally intended.

- added additional comments from the main hero as some actions triggered only silence (there still may be a couple of those)



You can download the new version from the game's page. This will be the only update for a long time, but keep the suggestions coming.

[Wesray]

Ascovel, I just gave you feedback on the demo in the other threat! But I see you already resolved some of the issues I noticed; the first puzzle was the most frustrating one for me too.

[Igor Hardy]

Status update and question.

I'm removing the current demo files. The reason is that pretty soon I'll replace them with much improved versions.

The additions and changes will include: all text proof-read by Snarky, a start menu, modified interface (no more "keep mouse button pressed" acrobatics), a RPG-like journal with "to-do" and "not-to-do" lists, finally the biggest addition... character voiceovers.

I'm still thinking if I should change the contents of the demo to include the beginning of the game instead of the woods section which is quite complex right from the start. However, maybe it's better to not show any more of the game before the full version release. Any advice which is the better choice?

[Grim]

Hi matey,

I must admit I played through Franko demo twice or even three times, each time I get gripped and pulled in by fascinating characters and wicked world... and each time I get stuck on a ridiculously complicated interface! But let me explain what I mean exactly.

Let's start with Franko. Cheeky, rude, funny and straight to the point, he instantly comes across as an original and very different than your usual "let's save the world and marry the princess" kind of hero. It's a lot of fun playing a character who actually doesn't give a damn about anyone and anything and yet does it in such an adorable fashion. Franko himself is spot on. You're on to something here, definetely. I can see him becoming another icon of adventure gaming.

The floating guy gave me some laughs as well. The contrast between them two creates some  interesting interaction possibilities and the dialogue is hilarious.

What I don't understand, though, is the interface. So you've got a verbcoin, fine, great. Some interesting options there add to the flavour and encourage out-of-the-box thinking. But what on earth happens with all those other options you get after untying the bag? I could not understand what I was supposed to do. I was too much too soon! Sure, there is an instruction manual franko's mother wrote for him, but learning controls in a game like this is no fun!  It would be just so much better if you could introduce all those things gradually, as you go along. Start with something simple, and then add to it, one by one, and it'll be a great great game.

But even with the walkthough, I struggled to get things done. I felt I was close.... but always missed what I was meant to do. That, my friend, is something I will continue to nag you about, not because I'm mean, but because I believe Frantic Franko has some great potential and I feel this needs to be addressed in order to make the game better. My suggestion is- simplify, and let Franko himself carry this game forward. He's a kind of guy I'd be, if I was a dwarf barbarian, and I'll bloody enjoy every single minute of playing as him, when the game is out. SIMPLIFY.