Death Wore Endless Feathers - New Screenshots (10/3/2015)

[Scavenger]

DEATH WORE ENDLESS FEATHERS






It was about eleven o'clock in the evening, mid October, with the sun not showing its face and the threat of rain looming hard on the distance. Tired, hounded, sleep still stinging my eyes and wearing the same clothes I had woken up the previous morning with, I set out into the dark, derelict streets in search of a cheap takeout, the sodium glare of innumerable street lamps masquerading as stars lighting my way. I was nothing a cool, collected hacker ought to be. Before I knew it, I was calling on four hundred thousand bytes.

The virus called destiny copied itself to my master boot record. There was no going back.

I wanted to go home.

It's tough being a hacker in the mean cities of Albion. Between the megacorps trying to destroy your rig and the Flock demonising you at every turn, you would think you would have had enough on your plate. You just want to kick back, pirate a few good passives and curl up for the night. But it's not that easy. It's never that easy.

Seven years ago, the cracking group Black Sun fought the megacorp software giant Kankakusakujo in a battle of skill and programming might, a swashbuckling tale of copy protection and cracks, of keygens and counterattacks. But when an early alpha build of Kagi To Mon, a top secret game, was released early, one with protection that surpassed even the rig-destroying DRM that had come before it, the whole of Albion was consumed in the fallout. It did things no computer program could do - it reached inside the minds of the pirates who dared crack its secrets, and it destroyed their sanity. It showed them images of things beyond human comprehension. Acting quickly, the CEO of Kankakusakujo, the mysterious and enigmatic Ms. Eigermann, blamed the pirates for releasing a terrible virus, and gained control of the entire island in one fell swoop. People feared technology. They feared the hackers, and drove them underground, Black Sun being all but wiped out.

So now, on the outskirts of society, living in derelict apartments and run down hovels, the hackers fight back against the megacorps. Their futile efforts to release every bit of software, freed of the shackles that are placed upon them by the megacorps, still run on, long after the battle was won by Kankakusakujo. Until today.

When Kagi To Mon is to be released officially, and the original members of the Black Sun reappear. It is up to the hackers to learn the secret behind this game and stop its release, before it's too late.

Featuring:
- 8-bit graphics with hand drawn backgrounds!
- Several playable characters, each with their own unique way of interacting with the game world!
- Fully animated cutscenes!
- Heapings of Retrofuture and technology from the past, present and future!
- A diverse and intricate game world!

PROGRESS
Story 100%
Graphics 20%
Scripting 50%
Sound Effects ??%
Voice Acting 0%

[MoodyBlues]

Yay!  I was looking forward to seeing that purple guy in a game ever since he showed up in the Critic's Lounge.

Good luck!

[Cyrus]

About that start screen... Is it a reference to Discworld?

[Kromagnon]

This looks great!
Good luck 

[Snake]

Sweetness! This sounds and looks fantastic! Reminiscent of DOTT.

I've got to say though, I know this 'aint the critics lounge, but I find the notes and flyers in the first screenie to be a bit distracting. At first I thought they were all part of a big wonky GUI

[Scavenger]

About that start screen... Is it a reference to Discworld?

Yes. x3 I've always imagined Death to be the Death from Discworld, but it's also an attempt to make some ridiculous and nonsequitir art for the intro. And an excuse to make a big

I've got to say though, I know this 'aint the critics lounge, but I find the notes and flyers in the first screenie to be a bit distracting. At first I thought they were all part of a big wonky GUI

Then it's fulfilled its intention! They're physical manifestations of distracting popups. It's not as distracting in-game, though.

[Cyrus]

So, when will you release it? Tomorrow is the last day of June.

[Eggie]

Cartoon + Cyberpunk + Hot girl with a boys name.
You have ticked all my boxes, sir. God speed with this!

[LUniqueDan]

Yeah Cyberpunk
This is on to-play list.

God luck on completion.

[Snake]

Then it's fulfilled its intention! They're physical manifestations of distracting popups. It's not as distracting in-game, though.

Oh, wow! Cool then

[SuperDre]

nice, nice nice.. Hope you really turn it into a full game as this looks really great...  Keep up the great work..

[Scavenger]

Time for an update!

A new screen, of a lighter and more colourful nature:


and so far, the game is undergoing some major and thorough beta testing, hence the big delay. There's lots of complex conditional scripting, so it needs it (as well as parts with AI).

Update for the music, as well - the game might recieve the music of kaputtnik in the soundtrack! I really, really like what I've heard from him so far, and I hope he stays on :3

I'm pretty excited about this project.

[ginanubismon]

This looks great, I cannot wait to play it.

[Nlogax]

Just want to say that I'm playing this at the moment and loving it very much!

[Takyon]

Is there a demo available yet?

[Scavenger]

JJ
It's here: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=38293.0

[Scavenger]

An Announcement to announce Death Wore Endless Feathers Disk 2 is in production, and here's some new concept art to tide you over while I do the new graphics for the game.

New Concept Art:
IRS Agents
William and Williamson's Cybernetic Surgery

New locations, new characters, and a much smoother interface for this episode. More concept art is forthcoming, screens will arrive after that, since I've got some more new, more complex things planned for it.

[ThreeOhFour]

Nice concept art!

Still really looking forward to this one

[Chicky]

Just wanted to wish you all the luck with this one! Looks very promising and i love the name.

[CosmoQueen]

Looks wonderful! I'm gonna go play the first part so I can be all caught up by the time this is done.

[PuNKKoMmANDO77]

beautiful style , good work , now play 

[Scavenger]

This project isn't dead yet! I have been working tirelessly on it all summer. I don't want to give too much away at the moment, so here's a selection of what's been going on.

Some concepts for a new background aesthetic.


Limited animation closeup mattes. This one hasn't been set into the game yet, since the background behind him is still a temporary lightmap. His eyes, mouth, and arms will be animated. This is Sugar Loop, one of the original members of Black Sun, when the player first meets him in the flesh - at an old arcade machine.


This is Desiree, the game's femme fatale, walking and showing off her.. uh.. assets. She was the most difficult to animate, as she isn't strictly a cartoon.

[Igor Hardy]

2 words: At last! (some news)

[ThreeOhFour]

I agree - It's great to see this is still going along.

[GreenBoy]

Awesome.  Good to hear this is still being made, I really enjoyed the first one.

[Jimbob]

I was just thinking about this the other day. Awesome news that it's well on to getting another chapter...

[Jared]

Awesome, I was worried this project had just faded away...

[Scavenger]

It's encouraging that people were thinking of this game even when it vanished! It spurs me ever forward. Even now, the whole thing is taking a more organised shape than it has ever done.

But while I'm reforming and reviewing, were there any parts in the original game people didn't like? Parts that people thought "Heck, this game would be better if it weren't for this thing!". And parts that people want to see more of? If I knew, I'd be able to revise it for the final game.

[Bulbapuck]

I could watch that side view all day....
..!!!! I mean... ummm.... Nice backgrounds

[Eggie]

I yam yeksited.

[Igor Hardy]

I loved the entire disk 1 and didn't notice any need for improvements or change of style... except for Jakob's walkcycle.

There was really something grating on the eyes in the way the front and back view switched to the side views - it always felt to me not like he turned, but like he teleported to a different position. Possibly it was some incompatibility of his visual weight and the quickness of the turn, but I'm not sure.

I'm curious if anyone else felt something is wrong.

[Scavenger]

I loved the entire disk 1 and didn't notice any need for improvements or change of style... except for Jakob's walkcycle.

There was really something grating on the eyes in the way the front and back view switched to the side views - it always felt to me not like he turned, but like he teleported to a different position. Possibly it was some incompatibility of his visual weight and the quickness of the turn, but I'm not sure.

I'm curious if anyone else felt something is wrong.

Yeah, I'd love to put a little turn animation in for him and other characters, since the transition is a little grating -  I'd prefer something like Broken Sword's turning (with actual turning frames rather than the standing frame). I'm not sure HOW I'd implement it, though. Maybe that's why people have waif-like leads most of the time.

[abstauber]

Wow Scavanger, Desiree's animation is amazing!
I'm dying to see her back walk animation

Awesome work!

[Azure]

This looks awesome,

[Scavenger]

I thought I'd update this thread with some assets I've been working on, it might keep me from slipping . Unfortunately no new backgrounds, as all I have to work with at the moment is MSPaint and Microsoft GIF animator (my computer is in for repairs, rage!), so I might as well show my work.

Ollie's updated design:

Yes, she's now recognisably a human, not a marionette with softballs up front. She also contrasts more with Desiree now, being more tomboyish and casual. She's also MUCH easier to animate, thanks to her hair.

Diagonal Walk cycles!

Good news: Fully animated jiggle physics!
Bad news: Lack of busty women to apply them to!
Very bad news:

Loop has a walk cycle. Well, that's good news, really. Walking is healthy!

Anyway, that's a flavor of what I've been working on for Death Wore Endless Feathers.

I've actually been working on a whole lot more, but I can't show you without spoiling the entire game.

[Igor Hardy]

All the improvements look great - remarkable attention to detail.

Just don't kill yourself with all that subtle animation work - I don't think even games like Day of The Tentacle or Full Throttle had walkcycles this carefully animated.

[markbilly]

The animation is fantastic!

And it all oozes character!

[Scavenger]

All the improvements look great - remarkable attention to detail.

Just don't kill yourself with all that subtle animation work - I don't think even games like Day of The Tentacle or Full Throttle had walkcycles this carefully animated.

Well, these are walk cycles, they need lots of subtleties to make sure the player doesn't get bored of it. And I want to impress people, too. Just going through the motions (heh) isn't enough.

Talking of, here's an improvement on the worst animation that was in Disk 1, Jakob's forward walk!

[theo]

Great job on those walk cycles, man!

I realize what insane amounts of work must lie behind making them feel that good. (I too found the forward walk cycle to be the trickiest, it's a very odd thing to animate isn't it?!)

I like your backdrops too, though I believe they could use some brightness/contrast tweaks and some cleaning up - but in essence the magic is already in them, and that's the tricky part!

I hope you keep the passion for this project boiling, I am very much looking forward to its release.

[Sslaxx]

Quite like the way this one looks! Hope this doesn't cause you too much grief to complete.

[Dualnames]

This looks great, wow, I've been meaning to let you know long time. I really like the new style on the backgrounds, and I'm terribly looking forward to this!

[mkennedy]

So will the game have character portraits? That would be a cool addition.

[Scavenger]

So will the game have character portraits? That would be a cool addition.

Only when really necessary, if at all. I really don't like the Sierra style portraits for talking, they take up a huge amount of screen real estate. But if I was to include them, I'd probably do it when the characters can't move or emote properly on screen (like if their back is turned in a matte).

There are portraits in the bottom right hand corner of the new GUI, to act as the "Use on Player" button. It'll also probably act as the character's general mood (ala IHNMAIMS). But not for talking.

[Scavenger]

I felt the backgrounds were weakest in the last version of the game. Now they are not. It's amazing what painting at 320x200 can do for the details. You can really get stuck in there and work it like pixel art rather than traditional painting.



Now if only the writing could go as smoothly as the art. I'm having trouble pinning down puzzles and plot, though I have the majority of it done (in the design document I had earlier). Once the links between plot points have been fully fleshed out, work will become a lot easier.

Though if anyone wants to have a stab at looking it over for me, I'd be much obliged. I'm afraid I'm not much of a game designer yet.

[Igor Hardy]

I'm kinda missing the old crazy 8-bit colors in the backgrounds - they added a great, retro-like vibe to DWEF's cyberpunk world.

[markbilly]

That looks excellent. And bear in mind, Igor, that's a small indoor room. I'm sure Scavenger can bring in some crazy colours for the larger exterior scenes, with neons lights and things...

[Kaelem Gaen]

Wow, first time I've heard of this (Or the first game) and I have to say it looks awesome.  I can't wait for the release.

[Scavenger]

It's not all remakes here in the production of DWEF. Here is a suburb on the outskirts of the city. Very rustic, very open, unlike the cramped inner city we've seen so far. This is where the normal folk live.



But not all is as it seems in this happy little burb. You'll see why in Disk 2.

Just thought it would be nice to present all new content.

I'm kinda missing the old crazy 8-bit colors in the backgrounds - they added a great, retro-like vibe to DWEF's cyberpunk world.

Actually, looking back at the game, I think most of the crazy colour choices were because my monitor was uncalibrated. I can't bear to look at the sprites in the old version, simply because they were that oversaturated.

Never fear, though, the neon aesthetic will return in the exterior scenes in the city. It'll just be easier on the eyes. I'm still using a 256 colour palette, though.

[theo]

looks good man! Don't be afraid to throw some light on the ground from those streetlights.

[Scavenger]

Update: Battle system has been fully programmed and implemented. To spice up the game, I added random battles and a levelling up system, so people don't get bored with it.

There are only two playable characters at a time, so left click controls Jakob, and right click controls Ollie. Just mouse over their target and choose your action, verbcoin style!

[Armageddon]

I don't know if this has been mentioned yet, but in this image.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/2035/outsidesubway.png

Is that a nod towards Mad Max 3: Beyond Thunderdome?


Great looking game though, can't wait to play. The house reminds me of the one from the Sam and Max TV show.

[mkennedy]

Looking good! So will you be able to engage in combat with anyone on the street or will your opponents have to attack you first?

[Scavenger]

Looking good! So will you be able to engage in combat with anyone on the street or will your opponents have to attack you first?

Opponents will regularily attack you. In fact, there is a 9/10 chance any step will lead to a random battle.

It will be intense.

[TomatoesInTheHead]

When I defeat an opponent, can I pick up his or her clothing/items and customize my player character? That would be cool!

[Scavenger]

When I defeat an opponent, can I pick up his or her clothing/items and customize my player character? That would be cool!

Yes, in one beta test we left every NPC in their underwear and stacked their clothing on the player model. It ruined the tension of some of the scenes, so we removed the ability to stack clothing.

[Scavenger]

!!HUGE UPDATE!!

Game is back in production on an official capacity. Check first post for prettier screenshots and less outdated information. More screenshots forthcoming as they get tightened up to my satisfaction.

[Armageddon]

Yay!

[Eggie]

Woo!

[OG]

Give us a demo!

[Takyon]

This was one of the first AGS games I ever delayed. Really happy to see this back in production.

[Scavenger]

I'd better show some of my work that I've done.

As part of the huge update, the entire metaverse section of the game is being reimagined. This is part of it!


Doing spritework in the c64 palette is really quite fun.

And things can only get better from here.

[Scavenger]

So I figure it's been too long since I gave you all an update on where I was making this thing.

Firstly, have some screenshots:


Secondly, some other news:

• The interface for three of the characters has been completed. The game will change entirely when you're playing as them, right down to how you access the in game menu.
• I have someone working on creating a plugin for FMVs, based on the Smacker codec. Hopefully (and I mean hopefully), we'll be able to see actual animated cutscenes in the game! There's a lot of palette issues at the moment, but I'm sure they can be ironed out.
• The fonts have all been tidied up. Gone is the amateurish and disjointed font of old, replaced with snazzier new fonts.

[Sslaxx]

I have someone working on creating a plugin for FMVs, based on the Smacker codec. Hopefully (and I mean hopefully), we'll be able to see actual animated cutscenes in the game! There's a lot of palette issues at the moment, but I'm sure they can be ironed out.

Why not use the inbuilt AGS video codecs?

[Scavenger]

Why not use the inbuilt AGS video codecs?

Because my game uses the 8-bit colour depth, for various reasons (I can't use 16bit or higher because of this). I can't use the in-built codecs because of this. Smacker is an 8bit video codec, so it'll fit the technical and aesthetic requirements of the game. Besides, the plugin can play non-blocking video.

[Armageddon]

"No one" is two words.

[mkennedy]

Here's hoping that the game feature's some high res artwork of the two human females. Desiree looks quite lovely! 

[Scavenger]

"No one" is two words.

Fixed. I'll try to be more careful in future.

Here's hoping that the game feature's some high res artwork of the two human females. Desiree looks quite lovely! 

Of course, there will be plenty of high resolution images of all the main characters.

And I really shouldn't be sharing this yet, but I just wanted to show off some of the animation that will be in the final game:

[Secret Fawful]

That is beautiful.

[Gribbler]

Animation looks fantastic. It reminds me of first Sam & Max.

[Igor Hardy]

Animation wise it actually seems more complex than Sam $ Max Hit the Road.

Scavenger, frankly it looks so good that I'm starting to worry you may not manage to finish the project while aiming at such high standard. Or have you a team of animators working with you now?

[Matt Frith]

Wow, that animation... Just wonderful.  Now you've got me all excited again.

[Ali]

That looks really, really, really good.

[Scavenger]

Animation wise it actually seems more complex than Sam & Max Hit the Road.

Scavenger, frankly it looks so good that I'm starting to worry you may not manage to finish the project while aiming at such high standard. Or have you a team of animators working with you now?

Hah, no, it's just me doing the animation, I'm afraid. Would that I could have a team, that would be amazing. But I'm carefully balancing what I can and cannot do, making sure that only the important parts of the game get full animation, and the rest gets limited animation.

I can tell you all, you ain't seen nothing yet. I'd show you, but I don't want to spoil ALL the surprises :3c

[ThreeOhFour]

Have always been excited for this, now even more so.

[Tabata]

You do a fantastic job with this project!
         

[Igor Hardy]

Animation wise it actually seems more complex than Sam & Max Hit the Road.

Scavenger, frankly it looks so good that I'm starting to worry you may not manage to finish the project while aiming at such high standard. Or have you a team of animators working with you now?

Hah, no, it's just me doing the animation, I'm afraid. Would that I could have a team, that would be amazing. But I'm carefully balancing what I can and cannot do, making sure that only the important parts of the game get full animation, and the rest gets limited animation.

I can tell you all, you ain't seen nothing yet. I'd show you, but I don't want to spoil ALL the surprises :3c

Best wishes to it all working out. It sure looks amazing already.

[selmiak]

this is really cool.
for a better effect let me suggest to keep the frame where the overweight guy in pink wakes up and looks shocked visible for a bit longer otherwise the cool expression is lost. And as it already looks cartoony why not add some dustclouds when he hits the ground again. Or a fish or something else drops out of his pockets and disappears to somewhere offscreen when he crashes down.

I'm very interested in the final game now

[Scavenger]

Here's a new update! Rev up your Voodoo2s and prepare your processors, your 486 ain't good enough for this baby!

Introducing:
[imgzoom]http://khato.furrified.com/DWEF/Promotional/Metaverse_title.PNG[/imgzoom]
The METAVERSE. It's a place where worlds collide, where all your dreams can become a reality.

[imgzoom]http://khato.furrified.com/DWEF/Promotional/Metaverse_WIP1.PNG[/imgzoom]
Walk around a full 16 colour three dimensional landscape, populated by a groundbreaking number of your online buddies!

[imgzoom]http://khato.furrified.com/DWEF/Promotional/Metaverse_WIP2.PNG[/imgzoom]
Meet exotic people from another country in a friendly and cordial manner!

[imgzoom]http://khato.furrified.com/DWEF/Promotional/Metaverse_WIP3.PNG[/imgzoom]
(Translation software sold seperately)

Innumerable thanks to Austauber for his incredible help with the tile engine. I literally would not have been able to make this part of the game without him.

[ThreeOhFour]

My pentium 70 is ready!

[Crimson Wizard]

So, is this a game inside a game or a separate game? I got little confused.

[selmiak]

I so hope there are little arcade cabinets in the metaverse where you can play 2color space invaders...

And I'm currently reading snow crash, any chance you did read that too?

[Scavenger]

And I'm currently reading snow crash, any chance you did read that too?

Snow Crash is my favorite cyberpunk novel!

So, is this a game inside a game or a separate game? I got little confused.

It's a game within a game. You'll be seeing a lot of these. After all, it IS cyberpunk.

[Scavenger]

Working on DWEF again exclusively now! After learning how to speed up some of my graphics programming, the game should run even smoother with fancier effects. I should be able to release a working demo in a couple of months!

Have a screenshot of one of the cutscenes in the meantime, just to get some interest flowing:

I'd show more, but I wouldn't want to spoil anything!

And if you cannot wait for this game, please play it's gaiden game, Heatwave. I promise you: you will not be disappointed.

[Adder]

Looking great!  Well and truly worth the wait (and all your dedicated effort!). Downloading Heatwave now - very excited.

[Scavenger]

Some new assets for you to peruse:



And it's animated friend:
[imgzoom]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/50882197/art/albion_map_small_pal_anim.gif[/imgzoom]

The island that the game takes place on.

[selmiak]

sweet

[ThreeOhFour]

Yes yes yes!

[Scavenger]

Well, this section of the game is almost done. I need to do some more programming on the interactions, but it's almost there.

I'm a bit excited!

[Gurok]

Damn, this game is so pretty. Especially that close-up shot in the first post. I am really pumped for this game!

[CaptainD]

JRPG Mini-Game?!?

[Scavenger]

DWEF is a game of many games. I'm experimenting with the feel of each genre of game to partially tell the story. Not all characters will interact with the world in the same way. Some see the world differently. It's difficult to program, but worth it.

I wanna keep y'all updated on the game, but a lot of the stuff I'm working on isn't very pretty. It's very rough still, and I'm not sure how to present it without doing the art for it first. But here's some in-production stuff.

[Daniel Thomas]

Love the backgrounds and really like the experimenting you are doing with all the different genres. It's like a game packed with all the games I played as a kid

[Scavenger]

Have an animation I'm currently working on. I'm quite pleased with how it's coming out:

[arj0n]

Looks awesome scavenger

[selmiak]

Sweet!

[Scavenger]

Might as well show some more stuff I've been working on, since I haven't been idle these past few months:





The game is going well, the story is all written and I'm currently working through making all the puzzles work. Some bits are harder than others to do, but the game is looking real nice and I'm psyched to get it to a place where it can be played all the way through. I've not been in a good place this last year, so progress has been slow, but I'm hoping to get much more work done it in this year!

[ThreeOhFour]

That Eggie guy was telling me this is being amazing just a few hours ago and HE WAS RIGHT.

Amazing work. Keep at it!

[AprilSkies]

Your art is wonderful!
Can't wait to get my hand on this!

[Mandle]

Your art is wonderful!
Can't wait to get my hand on this!

Ditto

[Haggis]

Looks great Scavenger, keep up the good work!

[CaptainD]

Awesome is becoming too ordinary a word for this game.

[Hobo]

All of it looks incredible, but I especially love those sweet animations.

[Cyrus]

These new shots look absolutely awesome!

By the way, it just popped into my mind: is the "Black Sun" based on this?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Sun_%28occult_symbol%29

[Scavenger]

Not at all, it's literally taken from my favorite cyberpunk novel.

[Scavenger]

This week, I've been focusing on the more codey aspects of my game again, and I'll tell you, this is a major breakthrough in terms of visual effects for DWEF. I had translucent stuff before, but it always bogged the game down to such a low frame rate that it was utterly useless. So, I wrote a plugin that would do the rendering for me, just like the original DWEF had, and this time, it will be a lot better. The plugin will be open source in case anybody wants it, but I doubt anybody but me is using 8-bit anymore anyway.

Here's a quick and dirty test with some placeholder pizza on a placeholder background. Look at those smooth 60fps, I would use this plugin for pretty much anything:


Don't worry, I have been working on the actual game as well, this is just a quick brain refresher before I dive back into the scripting of the game. It's just that I haven't been working on art assets for it, and so what I do have is not in any position to be shown. I hope to have many things to show in the future!

[AnasAbdin]

So, I wrote a plugin that would do the rendering for me...

I love this dude. And I love DWEF

[Cassiebsg]

Great work there Scavenger!