The Blackwell Convergence

[Dave Gilbert]

It's out!  It's oouuuuuttttt!!!  There was a bit of trouble with the online store so I put off announcing it here, but it's all fixed now so here we go...



A new film opens to rave reviews, despite its bloody history.  A beautiful uptown office remains unoccupied, despite its prime location.  A downtown artist berates himself for selling out, while a Wall Street investor congratulates himself on a job well done.  Just normal life in the big city?  Or is somthing more sinister binding these events together?

Bizarre connections are a dime a dozen for the Blackwell family, but just how far back do they go? Medium Rosangela Blackwell and her spirit guide Joey Mallone are about to find out.

View the teaser/trailer here!

Buy it:
HERE!

Screenshots:


A job well done.


Rosa's not in New York anymore...


Hot on the trail of a killer ghost.


Joey is asked a difficult question.

Team:
Writer/designer/coder: Dave Gilbert
Background artist: Luminous Arts
Portrait artist: Ian Schlaepfer (Big Brother)
Sprite/animation artist: Shane Stevens (ProgZMax)
Music: Thomas Regin
Poster art: Dan Lee

Some voice samples:
- Rosangela
- Joey
- Rosangela and Joey

Demo:
Get it HERE

In case you missed it, view the teaser/trailer here!

Price:
$14.99

For more details on the game (like character info, concept sketches, and other goodies),  please mosey over to the Wadjet Eye Games website.

[Peder 🚀]

Bought (pre-ordered)
Downloaded
Played
Finished

Great game!! .
Maybe now its time to for me to finally play the previous games properly and try and finish them? .
Allready looking forward to the next game! ^^

[Takyon]

I need to buy this asap. Most anticipated game for ages since I played the demo.

[Trihan]

Bought (pre-ordered)
Download was broken
Download was broken
Download was broken
Download worked!
Played
Finished
Turned on commentary
Finished again
Had a wonderful conversation with Dave about the whole thing.

My life is now complete!

[Ghost]

Played Finished Turned on commentary Finished again

Are you that quick, or is the game on the very short side?
Also, congratulations on releasing it, Dave!

[Dave Gilbert]

Peder and Trihan managed to get the game much earlier than this announcement.  I had a bit of tech trouble with the store, which is why I put off this announcement until it was fixed.  But... it's fixed now!  Glad you guys managed to get the game.

[Peder 🚀]

Download was broken
Download was broken
Download was broken

Hehe same here, though I decided to leave that info out .

I have yet to replay it with the commentary on!

Also Ghost, as Dave said, we Pre-Ordered so we had our hands on the game alot earlier than this announcement!

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Hooray! Now to sit back and have people send us money!

Thanks to everyone who buys/will buy/has bought this game I have spent so many hours doing artwork for .

[Vince Twelve]

ProgZ, it's like I'm finally paying you for all this Resonance work you've done for me!  Enjoy you bathtub full of whatever your percent of my $15 is!

Dave, I've had it for a while, as you know, and I haven't beaten it yet.  But it's looking awesome so far!  Congrats on the release!

[Brad Newsom]

FYI the demo link doesn't go straight to the demo file.

Anyways, I look forward to playing this. I wish the download link to the original game was still working. Damn it. I don't want to rebuy it just to play it....so I don't know.

[Dave Gilbert]

Hi brad.  By "link to original game" what are you referring to?

[IndieBoy]

Great game, certainly the best out of the series. Well done for all who was involved, you guys did a good job. Although some teething problems getting the game out there Dave has handled the situation professionally and this shouldn't discredit how excellent this game is.

I liked how this game is much longer than the others and is 100% worth it's price tag.

Keep bringing out these epic games Mr Gilbert. Today AGS, tomorrow the WORLD!

[GarageGothic]

Congrats on the release, Dave! Really looking forward to play the finished version (not that the beta wasn't excellent in itself).

[Peder 🚀]

Hi brad.  By "link to original game" what are you referring to?

Maybe he is referring to the previous games?

[Brad Newsom]

Hi brad.  By "link to original game" what are you referring to?

When you purchase the game a year or so ago, you were given an exclusive link to the game through email. I recall say it had an unlimited lifetime, but the link became 404.

[Peder 🚀]

Yeah. You should of burned it on a CD! .
I think Dave can fix that for you .
It's because then he had his own shop, now it goes through some company.

[Brad Newsom]

Yeah. You should of burned it on a CD! .
I think Dave can fix that for you .
It's because then he had his own shop, now it goes through some company.

Exactly what went through my mind. I also bought a couple of other games.  Lost those too, except they were time limited....

Seriously, you guys should look into Steamworks. Selling it over Steam will definitely raise profits, especially for an independent game. Plus, the download sticks with you forever...

So there, thats my Steamworks plug for the day. lol

[Wesray]

Played and finished it in one (extended) sitting, which shows how much it pulled me in. It was a very enjoyable experience, especially the ongoing bickering between Rosa and Joey. Gotta love those two! I also liked the bonus material - still have to listen to the commentary, though.

Only downside... now we probably have to wait a long time for the continuation of the story. When does Blackwell 4 come out, Dave?

[Dave Gilbert]

Brad:

You probably bought the game using the old Cubecart store, which was hosted on the Wadjet Eye Games site.  When things became more busy for me and the traffic got too much to handle, I switched over to Plimus.  But, all teh orders are still archived.  If you go to http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/oldstore and enter you login info, you should still be able to nab your games.  Let me know if it works.  If it doesn't, give me a shout and I'll get you your copies.

[Brad Newsom]

Brad:

You probably bought the game using the old Cubecart store, which was hosted on the Wadjet Eye Games site.  When things became more busy for me and the traffic got too much to handle, I switched over to Plimus.  But, all teh orders are still archived.  If you go to http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/oldstore and enter you login info, you should still be able to nab your games.  Let me know if it works.  If it doesn't, give me a shout and I'll get you your copies.

Thank you for that! Never was redirected there, so I lost hope. It worked like a charm.

[buddha]

Well that was another great game in the series, Dave! Nice voicework and music, it sucked me right back in. My only real complaint is that I have to wait for the next chapter haha :'(

[Dualnames]

Sorry to quote an image..

http://www.wadjeteyegames.com/mayoco/project/media/conv_shot12.png

but this one looks greatly amazing!!!

[Ozzie]

I also liked the bonus material

There's bonus material? Yeah, it was also referred to in the commentary, but I couldn't find it. So, where is it? 

[thomasregin]

Well that was another great game in the series, Dave! Nice voicework and music, it sucked me right back in. My only real complaint is that I have to wait for the next chapter haha :'(

Hi Buddha,

Glad you enjoyed the game and the music!

Thomas.

[Dave Gilbert]

I also liked the bonus material

There's bonus material? Yeah, it was also referred to in the commentary, but I couldn't find it. So, where is it? 

Pay attention to the final credits.  More specifically, the "special oogle code"

[m0ds]

Basically, do something sexual with Dave Gilbert and he'll tell you about the special material.

Well done on the release, I'll probably play the game myself when I'm 40 and have some money

[Ozzie]

Ha, I saw that mention of the oogle code the first time around, but I thought that it was still part of the credits! Like the password is the name of a forum member here.

Anyway, thanks for another great game! Storywise it's the best so far, and we finally get to warm up to Rosangela a bit more. I kinda had hoped that the gameplay wouldn't have been so...slight, though. It feels like a backwards trend, taking elements away instead of adding anything to it. That was a bit disappointing.

It was unquestionably great entertainment though, even played it a second time to listen to the commentaries and look how things might turn out slightly differently.

[Andail]

Heya Dave, just played the demo and will probably buy the game soon, just to support a fellow game maker.

The game so far looks pretty polished, with a nice atmosphere and lots of efforts into music (great soundtrack by the way), gorgeous artwork, and professional-sounding voice acting.

I have to say the demo probably wasn't a 100% up my alley, probably because the game play was a bit too "chatty" for my taste (I've never been a fan of this constant hero-sidekick bickering/joking, but it's probably a part of contemporary american jargon). And also:

Spoiler

Since it was very obvious that the guy on the window ledge was the one in the obituary, the process of combining the notes just to reach this conclusion was a bit painful.

[close]

Then again, the option to switch characters and utilise Joey's ghostly abilities seems very promising.

[Ozzie]

Well, the demo is an old one, the graphics look different, are less detailed. I think except for the inventory GUI all graphics changed. I just started the demo again to examine the differences.
Maybe Dave Gilbert should make a demo of the final game? Because even gameplay-wise this work in progress demo is misleading. You can't combine clues in the final game anymore, so you won't feel any pain there.

[Dave Gilbert]

Andail's comments mirror the feelings of many others, which is why I removed that note combining interface in the first place.  The sense of "I figured this out, why isn't ROSA figuring it out too?!" really frustrated a lot of players, and they would often forget the note combining feature was even there.  After three games of using it, I realized it was not very intuitive.  Maybe it'll come back for the next game.

I really do need to update that demo.  It's on my to-do list.  I am so burnt out from getting this game done that I am taking a break this week.

[voh]

That. Was delicious!

I'm glad I shelled out the measly 10,68 EUR to play what I can only call another amazing game in the Blackwell series.

After four games, I still have the feeling that I just want more. MOAR!

There is, however, a tiny typo in the lighthouse geriatric's text, at some point a 'But' is simply 'ut'. But given that that's the only thing I can whine about, hey, good job!

[loontje]

Playing Blackwell Convergence was like reading a good book that you can't put down until you've finished it. Apparently other people share that opnion. I liked the references to the two previous games, they made sense and put everything in a context. Now it's on to the bonus material for me 

[Dave Gilbert]

Woo! Reviews!

Jay Is Games calls it "a rare treat" and that Rosangela Blackwell is a "heroine we can relate to."

Yesterday's Salad calls it a "joy to play" and "hard to put down."

There are other reviews, but they aren't in English.  Will post 'em when I get them translated!

-Dave

[SSH]

Also, thanks to the pound being the highest so far this year against the dollar, its cheaper for Brits than ever! 

[Vince Twelve]

You also had a review on IndieGames.com.

I finally finished the game over the weekend and started it again to have a run through with commentary.  Unlike other people who ran through it all in one sitting, I had plenty of trouble finding time when I could play, and so had to play through in five one-hour-ish sittings. 

I loved the story and how it brought together a lot of threads from the previous games and started some new ones to be followed up in the upcoming games.  Voice acting, as always, was first-class.  And the updated graphics were amazing!  ProgZ nailed those character graphics (naturally) and Big Brother's portraits were fantastic.  All around a solid game well worth my moneys!

Thanks!

[Snarky]

I just played Convergence. It's definitely a solid, well-built title. The graphics and the music and the voice acting is all very much up to par. The Blackwell series is starting to feel a bit same-y to me, though, and I think I'm losing interest in these characters and the mysteries that remain. Also, the game is really very, very easy, and that makes it feel even shorter than the first two installments. There's just not a whole lot of gameplay here, not a lot to do. I'm getting the impression that this game is being targeted towards a casual audience, or at least not at hardcore adventure gamers. And that's fine; Wadjet Eye has to appeal to the market that will support the title. It does make the game less appealing to players like me, though.

If there's one thing I appreciate about the Blackwell games, it's the way they seem really grounded in New York, drawing both on specific locations and neighborhoods and on the history of the city. Similarly, even many of the non-historical characters (such as Monique) seem like they're based on real people. Even if famous New York eccentrics or smalltime gallery openings aren't really among my personal interests, that stuff feels a lot more genuine and a lot more compelling to me than all the mystical mumbo-jumbo and by-the-numbers ghost-punchouts and soul-freeing.

But despite the game not being quite up my alley, congratulations on the release! I'm looking forward to Puzzle Bots, and will be interested to see what else Wadjet Eye Games has to offer in the future.

[Igor Hardy]

If there's one thing I appreciate about the Blackwell games, it's the way they seem really grounded in New York, drawing both on specific locations and neighborhoods and on the history of the city. Similarly, even many of the non-historical characters (such as Monique) seem like they're based on real people. Even if famous New York eccentrics or smalltime gallery openings aren't really among my personal interests, that stuff feels a lot more genuine and a lot more compelling to me than all the mystical mumbo-jumbo and by-the-numbers ghost-punchouts and soul-freeing.

This was my favorite aspect of the game as well. Although I did very much enjoy the whole package.

I didn't feel the puzzles were too easy, but there could be more of those that don't rely on searching things in the computer and asking things around.

[Dave Gilbert]

"A must have!" says Unigamecity

"Unforgettable!" cries Gamezebo

"Touching and smart!" exclaims Rock, Paper Shotgun

Even more reviews here.

It also has gone up on Big Fish and PlayFirst, so if you are a member of their respective game clubs you can get the game for cheaper.

[blueskirt]

Andail's comments mirror the feelings of many others, which is why I removed that note combining interface in the first place.  The sense of "I figured this out, why isn't ROSA figuring it out too?!" really frustrated a lot of players, and they would often forget the note combining feature was even there.  After three games of using it, I realized it was not very intuitive.  Maybe it'll come back for the next game.

Interesting, I didn't see it that way. I would understand if you decide to not use it again. If it doesn't come back, I hope you will come up with a new interesting mechanic to replace it, without the note combining aspect not much gameplay remains except Oogle and Joey your way through puzzles.

[Dave Gilbert]

"Joey your way through puzzles."  - hah!

I knew removing the notebook interface would be a controversial move, since it's almost a Blackwell/Wadjet staple at this point.  But, in the end it seemed more like a hinderence than a help.  While the critics touted it as being a cool, innovative thing, most of the players found it incredibly annoying.  Andail's experience above is a prime example of the feedback I got. 

So, in the end, I decided to remove it altogether for this one game.  It does remove some of the challenge, but I do believe it makes the overall experience much more pleasant.  I'll be working on reconciling the two camps for the next installment.

[Igor Hardy]

I'd also consider having much less Oogle, or a portable Oogle in the future. Constantly having to go back to the computer in Rosa's apartment was the only low point of the gameplay for me. Get Rosa an yPhone or something.

[Ali]

Congratulations on another charming game Dave! And congratulations on making yet another adventure in which the player carries a plausible number of items in their pockets.

So, in the end, I decided to remove it altogether for this one game.  It does remove some of the challenge, but I do believe it makes the overall experience much more pleasant.  I'll be working on reconciling the two camps for the next installment.

I really enjoyed Convergence and I continue to enjoy the 'talkie' puzzles, but I didn't realise how much I missed clue combining in the notebook until I read the last few posts. I loved it in Discworld Noir and I loved it in the Blackwell games. I admit that it could be frustrating (I've worked out that AZILE is numbers upside down, why hasn't LEWTON?!), but it was a feature that allowed the player to actively solve a mystery, instead of just helping the detective get from place to place in order for him to do the work.

The answer could lie in a more fleshed out version of Oogle (like cross-referencing in the paranormal encyclopaedia in Gabriel Knight 3). The Disworld Noir notebook was most successful when it offered Lewton's thoughts when you combined red-herrings and gave you encouragement when you were almost right. Perhaps there is a more intuitive way of implementing this kind of puzzle - and I hope you discover it in time for the next game!

[Dave Gilbert]

Bit of an old thread, but I just wanted to share the news that Blackwell Convergence was just awarded two Aggie awards from Adventure Gamers!.  It received both the Staff award and the Reader's Choice award in the category of "Best Dramatic Writing."

It wouldn't have won the Reader's Choice award without your votes, so thanks to all of you who chose it!

-Dave

[GarageGothic]

Congrats on the award! Convergence surely deserved it - great dialog as always, and what a way to tie up the first Blackwell trilogy. It's a shame that the game isn't eligible for this year's AGS Awards, I would totally voted for it in a handful of categories.

[Dave Gilbert]

Hah. Yes.  I forgot to add it to the AGS database in time.

[Crimson Wizard]

I finished this game not long ago. Took some time to get used to "new" Rosangela (she is much different from "Legacy" one), but I guess we may think she became more mature 

What really dissapoints me is the length of these games! You just start to really enjoy the game, and then - bam - it's the end. Yeah, I know that you are making this in your free time, and all, yet I don't stop hoping that one day there will be a full-length game from these series.
BTW, are there any future "Blackwell" series planned? Being curious.

[Dave Gilbert]

I actually do the game thing full time.  I'm not limited by time so much as budget.   I'd love to do a full length game some day.  Probably not a Blackwell (and yes there will be more coming!) but something else more stand-alone. 

[GarageGothic]

Purity of the Surf DELUXE!!!

[Calin Leafshade]

It was fairly clear I'd get around to this one eventually since I am one of those "it's all about the story" people. So I thought I'd give my thoughts.

I actually bought and played all three Blackwell games this evening in a row so presumably that's a fair indication of my opinion.

The games are expertly written and quite beautiful save 2 unfortunate blemishes.

Firstly, that rain effect in Convergence.. seriously though? THAT rain effect? I would've preferred it to have not rained at all.

and secondly the countess' VA. Now I think it was 2 difference actresses each time and both suffered horribly from putting on a voice they couldn't do. They delivered the lines perfectly well but that voice just grated on me. I assume the reason is simply that you're a hip young kid in the New York scene and you don't know any old women. Court an old woman or two, ya never know, you might like it.

Besides those 2 minor 'issues' I really have no other major gripes. The game performs what it set out to perform perfectly.

On a purely personal note I would've liked it to be much more sinister & creepy. It all seemed very PG-13 to me.. but thats just preference really.

I also did miss the 'connections' system a little in convergence but frankly I soon forgot about it half way through.

My only other thought is that this format you have for the Blackwell series will very soon become a little stale. Essentially you have an over arcing story punctuated by these little 'mini quests' in the ghosts. I feel there should be less of mini quests and more of the 'big picture'

- Steve, using inverted commas incorrectly since 1986.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Oh no, it's that rain effect!  HEAVY RAIN, y'all!

[Kweepa]

Not the CHOCOLATE RAIN!

[Calin Leafshade]

I never meant to cause you any sorrow Progz
I never meant to cause you any pain.
I only wanted to one time see you laughing
I only wanted to see you laughing in the purple rain.

[IndieBoy]

It's raining men, Hallelujah! 

[Dualnames]

Here comes the rain again (No it's not Green Day)

[NsMn]

YOU JUST GOT RAINROLL'D!!!!!111111one

...wait, that doesn't work like that.

[Crincoq]

Hey Congrats! i played it!   really good game : -D