Prodigal version 1.0 released!

[Trisk]

Download the completed game at
prodigal.lilgryphmaster.com

---March 06/05 first announcement---
Hello, everybody! This is my first post on this forum! So what an excellent time to let everybody know about the new game I'm working on! It currently doesn't have a name other than a working title which will NOT be its final name, so for now it is called "Realm of Darkness". I'm rendering the 3D graphics using the Serious Engine, then scaling down to 320x200x256 for input into AGS. Once scaled down, I'm cleaning up the image and adding extra effects using Adobe Photoshop. The end result is excellent looking graphics as you can see here:




(Hopefully the links will work! Never done that before. Thanks, Neole!)

I rendered the picture up to 640x400 so you can see it a little better, but that should give you a good idea of what the game looks like. The sprites are going to be in the grand tradition of Sierra games, and should be similar to King's Quest 6 or Quest for Glory 1 VGA. I've been working on it for around a month now, and have about 40% of the graphics, sound and "look" text in, less than 20% of the sprites, and less than 10% of the puzzles.

As for story, I'm working out what I think will be quite a unique horror/thriller story that will be a bit unlike anything else you've ever read/watched/played. Closest adventure game equivalent would be the first Gabriel Knight. It will have a huge twist ending in the grand tradition of movies like Sixth Sense.


Yours,
Ã,  Ã, Trisk

[Krazy]

Use [ img ] http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Darkness07.jpg [ / img ]

without the spaces to make it work. Looks good by the way.

[Trisk]

---March 11/05 update---
I've lined up a small group of people willing to help me work on Act 1 of the game. Thank you so much to those who were willing to take the time to offer support. I'm currently working with DragonRose to build up a clean, polished intro that will start the story off with a bang, and get its hooks into the player. Thanks so much, DragonRose, you've been a big help already! Here is an early render of the main character's appartment. There is alot of work to do...those walls are much too bare:

[Ubel]

Great work Trisk! The backgrounds look very good. Can't wait for the game.Ã, 

[Trisk]

---March 17/2005 Update---
Rendering work continues at a steady clip. Most locations have been completed at this point, which is half the battle for a game like this. Most of the remaining renders needed are for the intro cutscene and ending cutscene. Rendering work is probably around 80% complete. Here is a screenshot from about half way through the game:


Jacob, the main character, will have many puzzles to solve in this monolithic cliff dwelling. Many elements of the mystery will come to light here.

I've been cranking madly for over a week on completing a very polished introduction cutscene. I want it to get the story moving and the player excited about the game right away! This means I've spared no expense in trying to get as flashy an intro as I can. The intro itself is currently clocking in at over 5 megs uncompressed, which for a 256 color game with no speech is pretty massive! It's going to grow more before I'm done, too.

My brother and I have been working on polishing up various elements of the story, as well. DragonRose pointed out that the main character, Jacob, was pretty flat and lifeless. We have worked alot on fleshing out his personality, as well as his motivations for what he does in the game.

I just crossed 500 sprite frames! That feels like a milestone to me. :b However, I have many, MANY more sprites to do on the game, so expect this number to groooooOOOOWWW!!!

Finally, I'm trying to procure permission from a band to use their songs in the game soundtrack. I won't say which band unless they agree...we'll see how that pans out...if it fails, there is another band or two I will approach. Depends on how greedy they are, since I obviously can't pay them for it...but it would be a great way to advertise the band, which is what makes me hope they will agree. :b

[evilspacefart]

hey nice

[NiksterG]

HOLY COW! Those are amazing graphics! I am very impressed, since I personally can't make a background half as cool as that if my life depended on it. Maybe I'll try the Adobe Photoshop and Serious Engine programs...

[TomPel]

Yeah, amazing  :o! I like ALL of  those rooms! Nice Job

[Nine Toes]

Wow, those backgrounds look really nice, I'm diggin' it!

What type of music are you considering for the soundtrack?

[prowler]

the angles on those backgrounds are quite odd... are you sure the sprites look right in all positions?

good luck with your game

[Queen Kara]

Looks promising.
I like

http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/Darkness08.jpg

the most / best
The stonework is lovely.
Keep up the great work!

[big brother]

That latest screenshot reminds me of the prison structure in Grim Fandango. The lighting is very moody also. Good work so far! I'm curious what the characters will look like.

[Trisk]

---March 25, 2005 update---
The first act of the game is very nearly complete! All rooms are loaded, all puzzles are working and complete (though untested by anyone but me), and all sounds and music are complete. There are a few minor details that need cleaning up, but they are very small things like a couple of spelling errors and a few missing animations. 603 sprites is the final count for this part of the game! Expect this number to increase rapidly now, however. Act one features Jacob by himself most of the time...Act two will have many other characters he'll be dealing with, and act three will find him back to being by himself.

I am mildly thinking about releasting act one as a demo...I'll see what my testers think after they have played it.

Work has stalled for a few days while I play with my brand new PSP...so fun! :b But I'll be back at it again by Monday for certain. I began running a few coding tests to see how I can make NPCs walk around and use scripted movement routines...looks excellent so far. AGS is an incredibly well designed engine, as if you needed to be told that.

Niksterg- you can buy Serious Sam Gold at Walmart and other places for $10. (Plus, it has my levels on it!) You need to learn how to render in it though...it takes a while and I've been doing it for 4 years now. If you've ever rendered in 3D, it would be easy to figure out, however. I'd be glad to offer a few pointers for you if you want...

Mr. Hyde- The soundtrack is probably closest to Doom3 or Silent Hill. Not so much music as it is "Aural sounds". Groans, screams, whispers, and unearthly sounding tones are all a part of the soundtrack. There will be a couple of old blues songs throughout the game, in reference to movies like Evil Dead, and Stephen King's fascination with this kind of music. The main character, Jacob, is very fond ofÃ,  these old songs...and as an added bonus, they are public domain!:D Because sound plays such an INCREDIBLY important role in horror, all of it will be .mp3. The vox file will be included right along with the game, as it would kinda...well...stink without music. :b

Prowler- Yes, the sprites look fine. I keep the camera angles low enough that perspective doesn't become a problem.

Queen Kara- Thanks! It's great to hear that all my hard work is paying off.

Big Brother- I will see about getting some screenshots from the actual game. I modeled the sprites specifically after the style Sierra used in Quest for Glory VGA...but made them my own creations. I'm fairly proud of how they are turning out, as I've never animated before.

Well, that about does it for this time! Keep the questions coming! I'll try and get an actual in-game screenshot or two for next time, instead of just the finished backgrounds.
Trisk

[Trisk]

---April 1st update---
I'm deep into working on act 2 of the game! Act 2 will be the hardest part to complete, so I expect to be cranking on it for quite a while. I have nearly all of the 3D rendering completed for it, however, so alot of the work is just plugging the graphics in...that and coding. :b

EDIT:

I'm changing these controversial screenshots to stop this weird trend of bashing the game's sprites. I can guarantee that you won't have a problem with how they look in motion once you see the game. I've showed the game to literally DOZENS of people at this point and NOT ONE has said anything other than that they sprites and animation looks great. The screenshots I had up here were poor because I hadn't rendered light in those shots yet, and were therefore a stupid representation of the final game.

If you want to see how the sprites look, go play Prodigal 0!!! it can be downloaded from

prodigal.lilgryphmaster.com




This is an early concept drawing I sketched out on my Prodigal Notebook (TM) representing one of the game's final areas. I'm no real life artist, but this shows a fairly accurate representation of the tusks surrounding cliffs that make up some of the end of the game.


Get used to seeing this symbol alot! Figuring out artistic styling to go along with the peoples and story we wrote was very hard, but the Aegis sort of popped into my mind just as it appears here. I like its design because it has a plethora of hidden meanings relating to the story of the game, as sharp players may notice...yet they are never pointed out by the game. You can just draw parallels from it if you think about it. Or maybe I'm the only one that'll see the connections. Awe, who cares? I like it anyway! ;b

My brother and I are still thinking up cool new elements for the story! The result, however, is that I have to IMPLEMENT all those cool elements into the game, which means more rendering, more animating, and more coding. Still, I think the end result will be worth it.

One of my friends, who is a very talented musician, as well as the most sought after violist in Minnesota, is doing some music for me! As I stated before, this game won't have alot of music per se, but there are times when I need tribal drums or a very nervous kind of rhythmic sound...stuff that is beyond my ability to do as a guitar player and foley artist. That is where he comes in! I may put up a couple of audio tracks in the critics lounge, if I can figure out a place to put 'em that I can hotlink to them.

Finally, I suddenly realize I hadn't yacked about the story yet! So here is a synopsis of the introduction:

-------------------
Jacob, the main character, gets a call from his brother. They haven't talking in years...in fact, they haven't talked since their parents died. Jacob had been out of the country researching a book, and Mike took all the inheritance and ran off with it.

So when Mike calls, and what's more sounds scared, Jacob is more than a little stunned. Mike asks to meet with him, and hangs up suddenly. Jacob is unsure, as he is still very angry with Mike, but he also loves his little brother and decides to go.

Mike is somewhat incoherent at the meeting, talking about a religious order that he's become involved with. He makes Jacob promise to come looking for him if he should dissappear, then hands him a golden amulet of some sort. Jacob gets upset at Mike's continued evasions to his questions, and storms off.

A few weeks later, the police contact Jacob and tell him they found Mike's car abandoned on a remote section of road near a thick forest. There are no clues whatsoever reguarding the reason for it being there, or Mike's whereabouts. Jacob remembers what Mike told him, about needing Jacob to come after him if anything should happen. A bit nervous himself, Jacob heads to the place where the police found the car.

At first, he finds nothing, just as the police found nothing. But as night falls, he can make out a light twinkling through the trees. Somehow, he knows this must have something to do with what happened to Mike...it is just strange that the police didn't mention it didn't they know about it? Jacob strikes off into the forest and the game begins...

---------------

So there ya have it! I'm gonna post this in the critics forum, so be sure to give me your opinion over there!

That's it for this update! Laters, all!
Trisk

[Ozzie]

That's strange, I expected that the sprites would be rendered models. So, they do not look bad, but they don't fit really good with the backgrounds.
It's not terrible, but other way would have been a better decision, I think.

Great backgrounds, I haven't said it yet. I'm amazed of the quality, the many details, it looks professional, really.
That's a problem when many amateurs try 3D art, it looks so amateurish, everything so bare, so liveless. This here is totally different.

[.]

I think that sprites wont fit in too the bgs are very good and sprites umm are good too but they dont fit in

[Trisk]

---April 12th update---

Several posts ago I mentioned I was trying to line up a band to get some professional music into my game. I'm pleased at last to make the formal announcement:

The Australian band "ShadowPlay" has given me permission to use several of their tracks in the game! When I approached them, I figured I only had a snowball's chance in hell of getting their permission. They are SUCH good musicians. It turns out they are a really nice bunch and gave me the go-ahead to use their music! They even offered to help in any way they could!

Now trust me, folks...if you haven't heard ShadowPlay, you NEED to. They have the most hauntingly beautiful goth metal sound I've ever heard. The melodies stick in your head forever once you've heard them. Go right now to their website at http://www.theshadowplay.com. Go on...I'll wait for you here.

As for the game, progress continues to be made. I'm doing lots of code heavy things right now, as well as going back and getting images and sounds I've been meaning to. I'm racing to get the first part of the game up to alpha-quality level. There are now 45 sound effects, and 13 music tracks in the game. This number will continue to grow.

Peter Thomas has agreed to join the team! Welcome, Peter! His insite has been invaluable.

Now:

Kristjan and Ozzie-
The sprites look just fine in the game. The reason Jacob appears to stick out like a bright blue sore thumb is because I hadn't yet rendered light levels in that room yet. I chose to take the screenshot there so that he would be clearly visible...but I can see it also makes him appear pasted on. This was a bad decision on my part, I guess. Trust me on this: nobody I've shown the game has had any problem with the sprites, and I'm confident that when you play the game you won't either.

[Trisk]

---April 20th update---

Work continues at a brisk pace! The middle portion on the game is quickly taking shape. This means adding TONS of dialog trees. The middle portion of the story has all the character interactions in it, which means lots and lots of coding.

I've also spent the last week going back to the first part and adding all the incidental animations and ambient sound I've been meaning to add. Bugs flitting around lights, shadows moving in doorways, fire crackling in the fireplace...

All of which brings the current sprite tally up to 1383! And there is still so much to do.

Edgar Rocha signed on to draw some character closups for the game! Thank you so much Edgar! He submitted the first two to me, and they look absolutely fantastic! He captured the classic Sierra style of character art PERFECTLY! They look much better than I ever could have hoped to achieve, and will lend vast amounts of glitter to the game! Thanks so much, Edgar!

I also finally went out and bought myself some decent sound recording equipment, and have spent the last several weeks driving and walking all around the area recording sounds to go in the game. You get some pretty weird looks from people when you are standing in the middle of a swamp with your arm outstretched holding a microphone, believe me. :b

Originally, I had mock-up sounds inserted from Serious Sam, but I'm very proud of my new stuff. Not only does it fit the locations better, but now I can say I've made 100% of the sound in the game myself...well, almost. 95%, at least.

Finally, I decided the look of the game is solid enough in my mind to start working on my GUI art. It will remain close to the AGS original in functionality, as I am making a Sierra-style game, but the graphics will be all my own. I'm still going back and forth in my mind about if I should use a Sierra-style options menu, or if I should leave it the more simple AGS bar. There is something to be said for simplicity...Anyway, I'll have a screenshot ready for next week's update...

Laters,
Trisk

[Abisso]

Wow! It's simply....AMAZING. I mean, the fact that you thought those characters fitted in the backgrounds! In fact, they're totally out of place. This is a problem of using 3D mixed with 2D of course. I suggest switching to 3D, even for the chars, even if I prefer 2D (seen how are the 2d graphics!)

[Trisk]

Read the entire thread before you make off-hand, insulting comments please, Abisso. Some people already made this comment, and I responded to it.