Frantic Franko (New SCREENSHOT, New release DATE)

Igor Hardy · Sat 25/04/2009 20:22:44

Hi there, everyone

Two months ago, after years of deliberations I finally started making my first adventure game - Frantic Franko: A Bergzwerg Gone Berserk.

The game tells of a hero's long journey, but it doesn't make an epic story out of it, focusing rather on the personages and puzzle solving. I'd compare the structure to the adventures of Leisure Suit Larry who would always jump around all females he accidentally meets on his way and solve their problems for them, but I should make it clear that Frantic Franko's interactions with other characters will not be about sex (sorry, folks), as a matter of fact they will be primarily about revenge...

The puzzles on the other hand may be a bit in the vein of the Gobliiins series, yet with lots of dialogue puzzles among them. And for the game interface I used the verbcoin, but there won't be any eyes, magnifying glasses or hands to choose from... So anyway, everything in the game should seem reasonably familiar and a demo should be out pretty soon.

1. The Story

The game is set in a fantasy world. The main hero of the story is a ferocious dwarven warrior called Frantic Franko. As the game begins he goes on a long journey to a far away land just to get to the guy from a rival clan who unforgivably insulted his own. And the challenge is considerable as the offender is none other than the notorious Kinky Koval. Yet it won't be easy for Franko to reach Koval in one piece. In fact it's during the journey that his real problems and the true story start while revenge becomes an even more important issue...

2. The Main Hero

...really isn't a nice person. Actually he is something of an egoistic, sadistic psycho. He has a mother complex, problems with verbal communication, a tendency to attack anything that moves with his axe, and other appropriate quirks.

Also, Franko is nearly blind (blinder even than most other dwarfs as he lost one of his eyes) so he catches the scents of things instead of looking at them. And what of an accute sense of smell he has indeed - ideal for examining hotspots in the game. Most importantly though, Franko is also equipped with a highly destructive nature in consequence of which he chooses swing his axe at things as the primary action when interacting with game objects.

High Res version of the concept art here

3. Game Features

- a short-sighted, foul-mouthed anti-hero with a strong revenge motif and who constantly smells his way either into or out of trouble

- hand-drawn third person adventure presented in stunning 16 bit SVGA graphix

- includes music composed by Łukasz Pawlik and performed by the jazz band Kattorna

- wacky puzzle solving focused gameplay

- Full Throttle/Curse of Monkey Island style "verbcoin" interface with some little, neat twists

- three completely different environments (the screennies despite contrasts are from the same one) - each with its own style, mood, pacing and ways of dealing with problems

- the innovative "a persuasive dwarf's bag of junk" conversation system - Franko's special equipment that helps him to manipulate conversations in exactly the way he desires, or at least makes him to appear as a complete fool, but allows to get the job done nevertheless

4. Progress

Download the DEMO here or here.

Here is the official game demo page.

The game should be ready before the end of the year 2011.

In the meantime you can follow entries in my development diary here.

some gameplay footage on YouTube (Beware as it contains solutions for solving the first few puzzles): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XuB0RPN_eQ

ThreeOhFour · Sun 26/04/2009 03:29:26

Haha this smells pretty interesting so far 8)

Cyrus · Sun 26/04/2009 17:38:07

You spoke about GUI (CMI/FT-style), plotline (Larry), puzzles (Gobliins) - but what will the general atmosphere of the game be like?

Matti · Sun 26/04/2009 17:57:25

Haha, sounds like fun. And the style definitely fits the weird story..

Igor Hardy · Sun 26/04/2009 18:09:29

Quote from: Cyrus on Sun 26/04/2009 17:38:07
You spoke about GUI (CMI/FT-style), plotline (Larry), puzzles (Gobliins) - but what will the general atmosphere of the game be like?

I was going to say "like Black Adder (especially the first series with the naive rendition of Edmund)", but to be honest I'm not basing the game's style on anything specific. I want the game to be quite unusual.

Storywise it will be first of all a character-driven comedy and the main character's obsessions and quirks will be setting up the tone. The locations and music will be one of the main sources of atmosphere and they will be very different for each of the game's three segments.

Cyrus · Mon 27/04/2009 06:47:23

Will the demo be released in the first or the second half of May?

Igor Hardy · Mon 27/04/2009 10:37:27

I'd like it to be the first, but looking realistically probably the second.

Dualnames · Mon 27/04/2009 11:05:30

This sounds nice, especially the sadist psycho the hero is..

mkennedy · Tue 28/04/2009 19:25:09

He kind of looks like a leprechaun with the orange hair and green coat! Bet he finds it annoying when people ask him for his pot of gold!

Igor Hardy · Tue 28/04/2009 21:24:57

Now that I think about it the coat may have originated from an image of a leprechaun imposing on my poor subconscious mind while I tried really hard to be creative and achieve a striking look for the hero. Hopefully, I won't be sued because of this resemblance.

LRH · Wed 29/04/2009 01:18:52

Graphics look really cool!
I think I'll like this.

Vince Twelve · Wed 29/04/2009 22:13:58

I love these groovy graphics. Good luck with this!

Igor Hardy · Thu 07/05/2009 12:02:12

If anyone is interested, you can follow entries in my development diary for the game here. I keep them rather vague for now, since I don't won't to reveal too much before the release of the demo.

Once there, don't be afraid to leave comments about how exciting and informative the diary is. Even nasty ones.

Igor Hardy · Sun 24/05/2009 21:41:44

A small update

I added a new screenshot showcasing the game's "verbcoin" and the hero's front pose (see first post in the thread).

Also, I wanted to say that I was recently allowed to put in a superb composition from a jazz band called Kattorna which I had the great pleasure of hearing live. I hope this music piece will add to the experience. It certainly surpasses the quality of everything else in the game.

I'm a little bit behind the schedule with the demo. I should finish a fully playable version this week (unless I encounter some unexpected problems), but I wish to do some more testing before I release it for everyone. If anyone is interested in taking a part in this, please PM me - I'll be glad to have more testers.

Currently, the demo release is planned for early June, so keep an eye out.

Cyrus · Mon 25/05/2009 16:13:37

Quote from: Ascovel on Sun 24/05/2009 21:41:44
Also, I wanted to say that I was recently allowed to put in a superb composition from a jazz band called Kattorna which I had the great pleasure of hearing live. I hope this music piece will add to the experience. It certainly surpasses the quality of everything else in the game.

I would be interested to see how you combine jazz with the fantasy-world setting.

Igor Hardy · Mon 25/05/2009 22:03:36

Quote from: Cyrus on Mon 25/05/2009 16:13:37
Quote from: Ascovel on Sun 24/05/2009 21:41:44
Also, I wanted to say that I was recently allowed to put in a superb composition from a jazz band called Kattorna which I had the great pleasure of hearing live. I hope this music piece will add to the experience. It certainly surpasses the quality of everything else in the game.
I would be interested to see how you combine jazz with the fantasy-world setting.

It's not such a terribly traditional fantasy-world setting. Still, there will be those players who will find that the music creates an interesting atmosphere for the place, and there will be those that would rather... run away

.

Grim · Mon 01/06/2009 10:13:11

Smashing stuff!:) I see you've used somewhat similiar style as mine for backgrounds, but with a nice touch of watercolour. So far the best thing about this game is the main character- I can't explain why, but he really appeals to me:) Maybe it's the half-blind thing that makes him so different from ussual perfect game heroes?

Keep up the good work!

Igor Hardy · Mon 01/06/2009 23:04:25

Thanks, Grim.

Franko is the key to the whole game. Basically it all revolves around the main hero's personality, quirks and personal problems rather than some great Quest. Even if in the end it is a comedy and not a psychological drama.

Does this sound like fun?

Igor Hardy · Sat 13/06/2009 00:38:21

Finally, I reached the testing stage. Not of the whole game though, but of the segment used for the demo (approximately 33% of the entire game). I hope to release it some time before everyone goes crazy over Tales of Monkey Island and won't remember my game.

Make copies of the current screenshots, everyone, because they are about to change a bit upon the release. Changes will include: Franko's palette getting darker, fire getting animated (I mean, sprite'ay looking). and there will appear a mysterious spot on the ground. But you'll have to just take my word for it... or... Become a tester for the game and see it live right now!

Igor Hardy · Thu 18/06/2009 23:19:23

New development diary entry: http://hardydev.com/2009/06/18/frantic-franko-a-bergzwerg-gone-berserk-crazy/

I write these things quickly to not waste time I could use on perfecting the game, but I hope they're still interesting.

There's also a new screenshot in there - same location, new verbcoin (the old one wasn't popular).