Technobabylon

Ilyich · Thu 21/10/2010 13:26:27

Just finished it - great stuff! Really good puzzles and setting, beautiful graphics and atmosphere.
I would've prefered a slightly more IDM-ish soundtrack, but it works fine as it is.

Loved the in-cyberspace bits, funny and creepy at the same time, especially the Yotsuba-like Cheffie.

Thanks for this nice little game, will be looking forward to part 2!

Technocrat · Thu 21/10/2010 13:32:09

Quote from: abstauber on Thu 21/10/2010 11:28:41
Very neat game you did there. I especially liked the cyberspace implementation.. so SystemShocking

Also quite challenging for such a small project - great work!

By the way, did you draw all ground tiles on your own or is there a special trick (like perspective tiling) ?

I was going to make it so the cyberspace looked more...cyberspacey. Kind of like the GUI on 1st drop, but the blocks wouldn't move while she was talking, so it seems kind of stilted. I'll give myself more time next episode to improve the effect.

For the tiles, I just did a whole lot of lines leading to the vanishing point, so I guess I did draw them myself? Apparently, the effect worked!

Quote from: Ilyich on Thu 21/10/2010 13:26:27
I would've prefered a slightly more IDM-ish soundtrack, but it works fine as it is.

Loved the in-cyberspace bits, funny and creepy at the same time, especially the Yotsuba-like Cheffie.

Thanks for this nice little game, will be looking forward to part 2!

I'm definitely looking to make an improvement on the soundtrack next time. Unfortunately, my musician seems to have vanished off the face of the earth!

Also,

Spoiler

Cheffie may return next time...

[close]

*Also* - game files have been updated.

Spoiler

Vending machine is now a lot clearer about what it wants

[close]

, and she'll now comment that the door is "still locked" rather than going through the whole surprised speech again. Turns out, I'd put half of a boolean "TriedTheDoorAlready" thing, just forgotten to set "true" at the end of the spiel. Oops!

Anian · Thu 21/10/2010 14:06:29

...good attempt. Still overall, the whole game seemed a bit too puzzleish (like things were there for the sake of complicating stuff), but the ideas were nice and it was fun. Plus, half the time I didn't know what actually happend after I did it...don't know how to solve that, might be my problem more than the game.

mode7 · Thu 21/10/2010 15:27:00

Great game! It's amazing how much atmosphere you created out of one room. The writing is what really made the whole world feel alive and the whole scenario is shockingly plausible which is always a sign of good sci-fi writing looking foward to see more of this.

tzachs · Fri 22/10/2010 19:38:45

This was definitely a cool game, great atmosphere, graphics and animations, and of course the cyberspace was awesome, supplied you with some nifty ideas for the puzzles.
The story shows promise and the world also seems interesting.
Some issues I did have (all of them I believe are related to the lack of testing):

Spoiler

- It seems you have a tendency to guess the order in which the user does stuff, which is not necessarily true. For instance, I looked at the drawers from right to left, and not from left to right, so the comments made less sense. Also, I first try to 'use' the disaster area before looking at it, and again the comments made less sense.
- There is something weird with the food machine (and I downloaded the version today). It wasn't at all clear about putting the metal objects in there, partly because it said the same thing whether you put it or not, also because sometimes it let you put the plastic plate, sometimes it didn't, sometimes it said it didn't allow you to put it in there although if you press the button it put the tray out anyway. It's hard to explain because I played with it a lot, but I'm pretty sure there's a bug in there...
- After I got the virus from the mail and put it in the memory card, I could go and read the mail again and the virus would appear again.
- Some missing interactions (using inventory on the grate & door).
- Sound effects would have added a lot IMO.

[close]

Overall great job, I'm also one of those looking forward to the next one.

cianty · Fri 22/10/2010 19:47:42

I second tzachs' comments regarding order of play. I made the exact same experience. It also seemed like the result of the machine was random with either A or B happening (displaying the ERROR or giving another tray).

kaputtnik · Fri 22/10/2010 20:08:24

I enjoyed the game a lot. I have a soft spot for cyberpunk, I must admit, and even though the intrinsic puzzle-told story itself didn't really motivate me to go on playing

Spoiler

What was I supposed to do again? Uhm...repair the...door?

[close]

, the universe behind all that made it worth the while, your writing is pretty neat.

I also tip my hat to you for

Spoiler

- Inbox full of spam emails
- Retrofuturistic cyberspace
- Synthetic food & cutlery

[close]

By the way, I also subscribe to tzachs' spoiler list, mainly because

Spoiler

The food processor behaved in such a strange way that I had to start the game over again to be able to finish it. I guess I broke it when I stuffed in the trophy first, synthesized a new plastic tray, activated the virus and then put the iron grille in - or something like that. Anyway, after what I did all the metal I had put in was lost forever.

[close]

Great little game, and I hope to see more of your shocking endeavours in using AGS for building non-non-adventure games!

Technocrat · Sat 23/10/2010 05:15:52

Moral of the story - more testing next time!

(...or testing full stop...)

CaptainD · Sat 23/10/2010 11:51:09

Looks cool, I'll hopefully have time to play it soon. Putting down a new floor at the moment... a real pain!

:o

Anian · Sat 23/10/2010 14:12:49

Quote from: Technocrat on Sat 23/10/2010 05:15:52
Moral of the story - more testing next time!

(...or testing full stop...)

meh, testing is overrated, look at Obsidian, they do no testing and everybody only blames the publishers.

CaptainD · Sat 23/10/2010 16:06:45

Nice game. I liked the use of the virtual world so that even in a one-room game, it felt like there was quite a lot of scope to try different things.

Looking forward to episode 2...

Emperor Justin · Sat 23/10/2010 18:33:40

This looks pretty cool! And you say it took you 9 days? That's pretty slick dude. I'll give it a shot.

Tarmstorm · Sun 24/10/2010 11:49:46

Great game, but wasn't the main character a little short?

Technocrat · Sun 31/10/2010 10:58:24

Look what I just found lurking on the interweb! What's that you say, Technocrat? PC Gamer magazine's best free pc games of October? Hmm...

*head swells*

Guess I've got to make episode 2, now! Shouldn't be too hard, I'm already about half-done with the graphics for part 2 anyway!

cianty · Sun 31/10/2010 11:30:56

Congrats! Well deserved coverage!

Tramponline · Sun 31/10/2010 22:12:36

Finally came around to try your game Technocrat. I can only say WOW!
I'm really impressed how well you integrated those mood enhancing textual passages and subtle comments
hinting at the dystopian background of your minimalist setting.
At no point during this short game I felt forced upon by useless information, or
patronized by unnecessaryly obvious clues. Rather every bit of observation/interaction in Technobabylon added up to a surprisingly coherent image of it's world (despite it's length!).

Brilliant atmosphere, very, very well implemented puzzles, great graphic - I enjoyed every second of it!

The only minor detail really tzachs has already mentioned:

Spoiler

...the reappearance of those e-mails even after 'harvesting' the virus.

[close]

PS: This is what you do "in between" to get your mind off Operation: Forklift??? I mean, JESUS F*** CHRIST!! MORE!!! MOOORE!!!

Igor Hardy · Sun 31/10/2010 22:26:52

Congrats! And I'm adding my vote to the "We want more!" crowd.

Matti · Sun 31/10/2010 23:52:06

Well, I got stuck at some point and couldn't save, but I'll finish it the next days.. and I really like it so far. As others mentioned, the atmosphere is great and the virtual-real-world change gives a lot of depth to this one-room game. The music is quite cool too.

Keep up the good work, Technocrat.

Btw, you misspelled "babylon" in the thread title

Technocrat · Mon 01/11/2010 00:27:05

Well, I'm glad everyone's being so positive! Once I've done the first three parts, I plan on stitching them together into one longer game, so *then* the first part will have a functional save/load, and a lot of other things I intend to improve it with.

Quote from: Matti on Sun 31/10/2010 23:52:06
Btw, you misspelled "babylon" in the thread title

You'd think that'd be the kind of thing I'd have noticed two weeks ago, wouldn't you?

theo · Mon 01/11/2010 07:42:49

Quote from: Technocrat on Mon 01/11/2010 00:27:05
Once I've done the first three parts, I plan on stitching them together into one longer game, so *then* the first part will have a functional save/load, and a lot of other things I intend to improve it with.

That's a good idea! I've considered doing the same for the Journey Down but I have now realized that the different chapters will, technically, be so completely different that for me this would never work out. Hopefully this won't be an issue for you.

Good job anyhow! Keep it up!