Prodigal version 1.0 released!

[Abisso]

Sorry for my harshness. 

Anyway I read the entire post. The fact that others made the same comment, is not a good reason for not making it myself. And the problem is that the chars are drawn in 2D. No other solution to make them fit the BGs, than to make them 3D!

[Peter Thomas]

I have to stress guys, these screenies aren't the best indication of how the sprites fit the backgrounds.

I'm a (I have no idea what my technical name is, so let's just say that I'm involved in the game), and I've seen some of the beta-versions of things.

The animation is outstanding and the sprites do work well. Actually seeing them interact with the bg's is a lot different to just seeing them glued in a screenie.

Now, I have to admit I've only played with a limited number of examples, so I can't defend every single background. But from what I've seen, this is definitely promising - and it works well! Assuming things follow on the same path, I think you're in for a very pleasant surprise

[Ozzie]

Sorry for my harshness. 

Anyway I read the entire post. The fact that others made the same comment, is not a good reason for not making it myself. And the problem is that the chars are drawn in 2D. No other solution to make them fit the BGs, than to make them 3D!

Actually, I take it back that it wouldn't fir the backgrounds when I think of that the characters would be shaded - haven't thought of that. So?

[Trisk]

---May 15th update---

Whew...haven't updated for a while...but that isn't because work has slowed any on the game. The entire middle portion of the game is finished now! Everything is starting to take shape beautifully. The game now has over 1600 frames of animation, over 60 sound effects, and 21 music tracks. I'm also over 100 rooms! Woohoo!

Bex has joined the team! She's helping with animation cells and some monster designs. The animation help is much appreciated! This project has expanded far beyond what I'd originally intended, and trying to do everything myself was beginning to get overwhelming...I'm going to have my hands full just rendering all the 3D locations for the final part of the game.

Edgar and I are working on the "revelations" cutscene number 1, where alot of the back story (at least, the back story that will actually be visible in this game) will be revealed. He's doing a fantastic job! He's really helping the far-reaching story of this game come to life! Peter Thomas is also working on spooky music for this part of the game, based on a concept midi file I sent him.

So what's next? Lots'n lots of complicated 3D rendering. Making the last part of the game rendered in the Doom 3 engine will make it look fantastic, but as anyone who's rendered graphics in Qradiant can tell you, Doom 3 is a complex, somewhat clunky engine to render in. All complex geometry must be rendered in patch meshes instead of brushes...very different from SeriousEd. Still, patch meshes look great once you're done, so onward I will go!

Finally, after alot of deliberation, I've officially named the game! As I stated before, Realm of Darkness was NEVER meant to be the final name of this game. I needed some kind of working title, and looking up at my games shelf, the first one my eyes rested on was "Realms of the Haunting", so I just whipped up a quick name based on that. So what have I decided on? It is called "Prodigal"! A name that fits the game in more ways than one, and will hopefully be memorable at the same time!

So there! I'll update as I get more into the 3D renders of the final moments of the game.

Trisk

[Trisk]

---June 15 update---

Lots has happened in the last month! First off is the release of Prodigal 0, and tangential minigame to the main game of Prodigal! If you wanna check out the what I've been working on for so many months, now you can get a sneak peek! And as an added bonus, those of you who play Prodigal 0 will understand several points of the main game better!

So go download today! Which brings forth another point, Prodigal now has a website! Thank you so much to [lgm] for taking the time to not only host my game(s), but whipping up a nice little website for them as well! Surf on over to

http://prodigal.lilgryphmaster.com

And check it out, as well as d/ling Prodigal 0! Yeah!

The game is growing rapidly still. I'm most deficient in animation cells, so I've had to take a time out from doing the main game and start trying to catch up on animation.

the game now has 80 sounds, 26 music tracks, 130 rooms, and over 2600 frames of animation! Everything is starting to take shape beautifully!

When I began this game, it was specifically designed to be like the classic Sierra games, using 256 color graphics and such...however, today I decided I was doing it at the detrement of the game. there are alot of special effects I'd like to be able to do that simply aren't possible, or are at least 10 times more difficult, using 256 color graphics. So I began the process of converting the game over to high-color.

Several of the rooms that looked especially dithered were reinserted in high color, but for the most part, I will be keeping the 256 color rooms for consistencies sake. Then there is the fact that the game is already over 30 megabytes...converting EVERYTHING to high color would make it over 60.

The conversion helps the game's graphics in several other key areas as well. First, I can tint sprites to better match room colors. So if everything is lit by an oily yellow candle, I can reflect that on the characters. Second, this game uses tons of light and shadow to create its otherworldly environments. (See Prodigal 0 for an example of this.) With 256 colors, the game was always struggling to find an appropriate color for the light level. Now that I'm in high color, everything stays smooth and consistent. Nice!

Next up: tons and tons more spritework!

[Trisk]

---July 25 Update---

After slowdown for a few weeks due to RL conflicts, Prodigal has resumed production! We are entering the home stretch to an alpha build! With only one area left to render in the game, things are coming together! I also took a time out and went back and inserted all the cutscenes that I hadn't done yet, and added some game logic to places that didn't have it yet.

So what is left? Well, I need to render the final room, then put it into the game, add all the sprites for it (with the help of the incredibly tallented Edgar), render the end cutscene, and put in the credits! Not much left at all!

The game now stands at:

Over 3100 sprites
Around 150 rooms
Around 100 sounds
27 Music tracks

The compile is over 60 megabytes of gaming goodness! Yeeha!

I probably won't update again till we hit alpha...which shouldn't be longer than a couple of weeks!

[Trisk]

---September 09 Update---

Prodigal has hit the Alpha stage of developement! The entire game is complete from beginning to end! Version .1 has been posted to a secret web page for the beta testers to begin working on it!

So far, only two of my beta testers have completed the game, but they both really enjoyed it.

I've since fixed over 20 bugs and issues, and have added several spooky elements to the game, as well as beginning to rework several of the early cutscenes to make them higher quality. I want to make the game so polished it shines!

The game is standing now at

4300 sprites
Around 180 rooms
Over 100 sounds
Over 30 music tracks

The compile is now over 100 megabytes! Thank goodness for .zip compression!

If you think you might be interested in Beta testing Prodigal, AND have previous experience beta testing games, send me an email at

real_trisk at yahoo dot com

be sure to include what project you did Beta work on!

laters,
Trisk

[Ozzie]

Cool! It's nice to see that it comes to an end. Whoa, and it seems to got quite huge! There must have been much work involved, and much enthusiasm needed. 
I played the Prodigal Teaser just a week ago and I asked myself how the game is doing. I'm really anticipating this!!!

[Iv4n]

Woah! Pretty neat! Looks awesome and so proffesional! When will be the release date then?

[esper]

No, seriously, I have to agree. The sprites look great, and the backgrounds look great. They just don't look great together, and light levels will only lessen the not-looking-so-great-togetherness thereof. Believe me, you have some beautiful backgrounds. So did I, but I chose to go with crappier looking 2D backgrounds for the sole reason that I can't render people. I knew this would be a problem from the first post, when you showed your beautiful backgrounds and said you had VGA sprites lined up. Don't jump down people's throats... Yes, he was a little rude, but even top-notch game professionals require criticism. In a less-rude manner, let me second what these others have said.

On a different note, the Serious Sam engine rendered these? These bg's look way better than even what the HalfLife Hammer engine can do. I use the free version of Caligari TrueSpace, but it's a bitticks to work with.

[Ozzie]

It actually doesn't look TOO bad. The playable Teaser proves it. The lightning actually matters quite a lot. Prodigal 0

[Trisk]

Have you actually played Prodigal 0, Esper? ANYONE who has played the game has no problem with the sprites. That includes my Beta team. I'm removing those %#@$ pictures from the post to stop this really pointless arguement. As I said before, it is those pictures that look weird, not the game. Go read Peter Thomas' post on this thread. He has played the game, he can back me up. (And thank YOU for backing me up too, Ozzie!)

As for the renders, yes, that is Serious Engine. I can hardly wait for Serious Engine 2 to come out in October. Then I'll REALLY be able to do good stuff! WHEE!!! The end of the game was rendered in Doom 3, due to its superior ability to render animated lighting. I don't think I have any shots of that up here, though. There is at least one on the website.

Iv4n, the release date is "When it's done". I'm still estimating a fall release of the game, and I don't see any reason currently why that won't happen. There are some things in the wings though... ...look here or on the webpage for more updates if anything should happen.

prodigal.lilgryphmaster.com

laters,
Trisk

[En garde!]

I am sort of part of the team, so I guess there goes my objetivity, but, seriously... the problem is that the backgrounds look too good? That's ridiculous: the game is the sum of all its parts, from the music to the dialogues, and, in its totallity, it works. The sprites are "alive" as much as original Gabriel Knight was, through the storytelling.

[Mordalles]

wow, so far the backgrounds look really great! i wont say anything about sprites before i download the prodigal 0, so dont worry trisk. hehe.

like the lighting.

how big will the game be in zip format, since I'm still on dial-up. and would really like to play this game.

combined by darth - please folks, lets stop the double posting!

Have you actually played Prodigal 0, Esper? ANYONE who has played the game has no problem with the sprites.

i aggree with esper, after playing the prodigal 0. the sprites doesn't really fit in with the backgrounds.

its a bit bright. even with the shadows and stuff. if you put a bit more detail in your sprites, and make the colours a bit less bright, it would fit in much better.

however, the game looks really impressive. and i wouldn't worry about it.

i really love the way you did the gui. looks amazing.

[Trisk]

Anybody out there willing to beta test Prodigal? Send me an email! I need beta testers who are willing to work through the game and COMMUNICATE!! The only thing holding this game from release is lack of testing!

email me at:

real_trisk(at)yahoo(dot)com

get your name in the credits!

-Trisk

[splat44]

Hi Trisk,

Yes, I am interested and post you a PM

Check your Private message (PM).

[TheCheese33]

I am definately interested. I have e-mailed you. Please respond with a yes or a no.

[Trisk]

---October 25 Update---

Prodigal is in the final phase of testing! With any luck, we'll have version 1.0 in the next couple of weeks! A few scraps to clean up, and then add the names of those who helped beta test (and remove the names of those who were no help whatsoever.)

When I hit release, I'll be announcing it from the mountain tops! It looks like the final build will clock in at just over 50mb. I'm sorry to those of you who have modems (I have one too, so I feel your pain.)

This game features a ton of digital sound, music, and FMV. I've done everything I can to compress it as much as is possible, using Kzip to shave off another 2 megs over what any other compression program can do. When you see and hear the world, I think you'll think it is worth it.

Expect the final release announcement soon, both here and anywhere else I can find to put it up!

Trisk

[Kweepa]

using Kzip to shave off another 2 megs over what any other compression program can do.

Completely off topic: does Kzip do 2 megs better than Rar? Rar can get 10-20% better than Zip for AGS games, and Ken Silverman's (the author, unless we're talking about a different Kzip) web page suggests that Kzip is only "one or two percent" better than Zip. I'm not skeptical, just curious. I suppose I should just check it out, but I'm not at a usable PC right now.

Looking forward to the release...

[Mordalles]

hey, trisk, im looking forward to the release.

im a bit stuck with prodigal 0, and i wanna finish it before you release the game.

so, can you help me? 

Spoiler

i have the flint and combined it with the screwdriver, but he says he needs tinder before he can use it with the portal.
what must i do? please!

[close]

thx, and its A REALLY COOL trailer you have when you walk far right. i like it!