[OLD THREAD] Forge: Loom sequel

[Da_Duke2000]

ATTENTION
A new topic has been created for the further development of this game:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=45408.0

We Bring You:



January 15th, 2010:
Well, Happy New Year to everyone here on the forums, registered or not. Its been a while since we've had a formal Update here on the board, so I thought it was time to do so. (That, and one of our members was scared we've stopped working!).

True, progress has been slow in this last 8 weeks. Our lead scripter is busy with his studies, and I recently began new work in mid-November which has dedicated a lot of my focus. Not to mention, Christmas!

But, lets talk FORGE for a bit.

In the last two weeks we've had remarkable outreach from the public, and from old contributors. We've got 5 wonderful new audio tracks, and contacted our artist for THREE more lovely backgrounds for Chapter 2. We've had offers for plot and puzzle help, (You know who you are ), and even an offer for sound effects! Offers for translations are coming in, and while thats a long time away its wonderful to see the support from the public.

On the topic of Donations, the Donations we've received from those on the list have been so tremendously appreciated i truly have no words. The first two Chapter 2 backgrounds were all but entirely paid for by those donations ($160 is what was charged, for the two) and the next three will be in the area of $240. We still have $87 in Donation funds available, it will be insufficient to cover the costs of all three, but I have faith that between now and the completion of the backgrounds, we will see more donations come in.

In the spirit of not sounding preachy, I want to remind everyon here that all of Chapter 1 (And its 13 backgrounds, AND portraits, AND sprites) were all paid for without the help of donations. So be assured, as much as your donations are a cherished gesture to the success of FORGE, the team will ensure its completion one way or another.




December 15th, 2010:

Well, Christmas has been a busy season for everyone, so not as much progress as we'd have liked. After a discussion with Abisso, I've resolved to seek out another individual to help with puzzle and plot developments. If anyone might be interested, please email me directly.


October 22nd, 2010:

First off, a big thank you to all the current names on the Donations listing. It is through the efforts of those people, that the second Guild is coming to life, and Chapter 2 is well under way and our first panorama sized background is simply gorgeous...really it is sexy! A BIG hats off to Matt Walkden our background artist.

Chapter 1 has been completely finalized in terms of Background Art, Plot and Puzzle points, and Dialogue. We're currently in heavy active scripting with the final 10-20 animations to be completed.

FORGE is still going strong, and I'm gratified to share this good news with everyone.

Until next update! Thanks again![/B]


Update: September 15, 2010:
-We have enabled our Donations page. Take a look .

Update: September 4th, 2010:
-We have just finished our twelfth full color background, which is entirely whats needed for Chapter 1 to be considered complete.
-New full time spriter joined our team in August, bringing our backgrounds to life.
-Full size printable poster (of our box art) will be available in a few weeks, just finishing touches now.
-To ensure the fanbase stays excited and remains hopeful, we will most likely be launching a formal release of Chapter 1, upon completion.
-While art and scripting are in progress, side additions are being worked on. Such as a companion Book of Schematics, and even perhaps a companion Audio Drama.


ABOUT:
We at Quill O' The Wisp (our team name), are continuing the story of the Age of the Great Guilds. A time and place where Chaos has been unleashed to the Inside and a small handful of people, each from a unique Guild have the power to stop it. One such character is Rusty, a young Blacksmith first introduced in LOOM.

Through the story of FORGE, Rusty will need to find his way back to the surface, after falling through the earth and into Sable Shaft, home of the Guild of Miners. Dodging encounters with the horrific Dead Ones, Rusty will use the fabled Blacksmith Gauntlets to unleash powerful Schematics through a legendary Drawing technique.

A completed game and a planned release will vary on additional assistance. But realistically we are looking for a Fall 2011 launch, with the team we have now. To anyone (especially BG artists and spriters) that want to lend a hand. Please contact myself, we would love to hear from you.

Note: This game is FREEWARE

We are in active development and have launched our new website and forum.

Home Page
Quill O' The Wisp - Forge Page

Demo Download link:
Download here

Contact:
Da_Duke2000@hotmail.com


Chapter 1 Progress:
Story: 85%
Sprites: 50%
Backgrounds: 95%
Music: 10%
Voice Acting: 0%
Scripting: 5%

About the Demo
The Demo starts with a Loom recap and then moves into some Forge Screen shots with a description of the initial plot. To replay the preview, you can do so from the Tapestry Selection. To learn about the new GUI, use the Tutorial. And to play with the GUI freehand, enter the Mini Game section.

Thanks to everyone for their efforts in the release of this Tech Demo.

Screenshots!

 

 

[Crimson Wizard]

Looks sweet!
And I checked your team on website. Your page sais that music is done by Bosa. If that is Bosa I have a luck to know, these are good news, cause he writes good music  .

I wonder, however, is it copyright safe to make a sequel to Lucas Arts game?

[Da_Duke2000]

Thanks!

Yep, Bosa helped write a few tracks for us initially. As for Copyright, this is a non-profit Fan-Game. I have no intention of asking permission, or attempting a partnership for something potentially commercial *coughSilverLiningcough*.

In a worst case scenario, the project would go deep underground and scared among private circles and exist as an internet myth (I'm kidding of course).

But with the amount of Indy fangames, and Maniac Mansion remakes, and Monkey Island ScummVM edits, I think we're safe. Safe enough anyways.

[Dualnames]

*Beauty incarnate those backgrounds*

Reminds me how bad do I actually draw..
Anyhow, weird enough of a coincidence, I've been searching for a loom template on the forums just yesterday, and noticed nobody had actually done a sequel. (Only Besh tried to). These are great news!

Also, hope you haven't gone into that whole trouble for just an April's fools prank.
Also, though I'm about to download the demo..is the interface based on mouse gesture module?

[Da_Duke2000]

The GUI is inspired by, but from what I recall (would have to check with Abisso) not built around the Mouse Gesture system. The GUI went through some MAJOR re-hauls over the last years. Directly from a LOOM clone, to a complicated Spark Sequence + Drawing system.

We are very satisfied with the results.

As for the April fools joke...guess we'll know tomorrow... 8)...

...kidding of course. We're very serious.

[SarahLiz]

Just tried out the demo...now I know absolutely NOTHING about making an AGS game, but I am completely blown away.  This game is going to be absolutely beautiful (please finish it!)...the music, the artwork, and I really enjoyed the minigame.  Very creative idea about using the "schematics"!  Great work so far! 

[joelphilippage]

Hey Duke. Looks great. Sorry I didn't have more time for your project but I'm very glad you've found a scripter more suited for the task! My best wishes.

[Da_Duke2000]

@joel; Hey joel, that's more than alright. As you can see we turned a real 180 degrees from the original idea of the animated Audio Drama (still a plan for the future though).

@SarahLiz; Thank you! Just remember that the art from the Loom portion of the preview is EXISTING art, that will not be featured in the game. Except perhaps in cut scenes of flashbacks.

We want our game to be as close to 100% original art as we can. Hence our revamped Distaff.

[GreenBoy]

Cool, I have to say even for a technical demo I was really impressed.  You've managed to capture the spirit of Loom while still creating something very original.   

[SarahLiz]

Just remember that the art from the Loom portion of the preview is EXISTING art, that will not be featured in the game. Except perhaps in cut scenes of flashbacks.

We want our game to be as close to 100% original art as we can. Hence our revamped Distaff.

Oh I know, I noticed that...at first (before I knew you were just telling the complete story of the first Loom) I was thinking, "hmmm, all these backgrounds are the same...?"  But of course, then I saw your own artwork...and like I said, was blown away.  So incredibly pretty.   

[Knox]

Wow these are nice backgrounds...the color balance in those pics are awesome

[subspark]

Outstanding background work. 8)
I haven't seen a 'LucasArtStyle' like this in over 17 years. Bravo!

I noticed these screens weren't featured in the short Tech Demo however I am desperately looking forward to exploring these wonderful environments in the final release.

Question: How long does one background scene take to produce on average and what software was used?

Best wishes and happy forging!
Sparky.

[Abisso]

Just wanted to say "hi" and "thanks" to everyone. AGS forums is a place I love and care for. I'm not really that famous here, but I've been a member since 2004 and someone might remember me.

Well, that said, I'm proud to be the scripter in this project, and I'm glad to read all those wonderful comments.

For what concerns Besh and his work: well, some years ago, he was in search for people who could help him on his game (not really a Loom sequel, just something "inspired" by it).
I offered to help and we started to discuss a bit. I found his Mouse Gesture System really nice. Basically it's the same as the one you can see in some commercial games, like Black&White and Arx Fatalis.
Unluckily, after a few days of cooperation, Besh had to travel over the Ocean for his studies, from Italy to United States, and told me he decided to abandon the project.

Last year, around July, someone in the Recruit a Team topic asked for help with a "game". It was years since I last worked on a game, and I just wanted to give a hand with the plot and maybe some advice with AGS. After some days of chat, finally that guy (Duke) revealed his intention to do a Loom Sequel. Day after day I became more and more interested and finally I decided to do the scripting job too.

The point is that I suggested the current interface, and schematic-drawing system. Of course I've been inspired by Besh's work, but our system is completely different and I didn't even take a look on the code of the Mouse Gesture System. Let's say something visual like the current system fitted wonderfully in the game, doing visually what Loom did with sounds (notes).

That's all.

[Chicky]

Gotta say, this looks great! What sort of length are we looking at?

[IndieBoy]

Brilliant! 

[Da_Duke2000]

@greenboy
Thank you for noticing. Its very important to me, to keep that true LOOM spirit alive. We want people to feel that they are playing the direct continuation, without any hiccups, or massive 2.5D or 3D overhauls. I'm glad that you feel we succeeded.

@Chicky
We've discussed the "number of hours of gameplay" question at length. Rather than bulk this story up unnecessarily just to fill time, this game will be the length it needs to be to serve its purpose in the Great Guilds Trilogy. Story wise, we hope to have about 4 locational Guilds to visit, with the 5th being a return to the Forge.

With the Rewards section, and the Mini Games, the player will have a much more immersive experience, and I hope will crave to unlock all the little stories and tidbits we'll be putting in there.

But, we WILL be doing FOLD as well, once we're far enough along with development. Its hard not to get so excited and want to work on it too. All the thoughts for the Shepherds GUI. So many possibilities.


@IndieBoy
Thanks

[Radiant]

Excellent backgrounds, and nice character art. The music is good but that's still Tschaikovsky I'm hearing

I like the dialogue by the scientist; I was less impressed by all the "voiceover" exposition at the beginning, and would opine that this is better represented as dialogue as well. As I recall, LOOM has zero exposition that isn't dialogue.

The idea for the interface is nice, but I found it hard to stay on the line with the cursor; perhaps it is a bit too sensitive?

Overall, I'm looking forward to seeing more of this.

[Da_Duke2000]

For the Loom portion, yes, original music was used. With the exception of the Loom portion, the other music is original.

You're not alone in your opinion of the exposition. Its a long read, and does feel a bit drawn out. The full release will will most likely forgo the LOOM exposition, and leave that up to the player. For the Demo, we wanted to include it as many here who downloaded the demo may have not played LOOM before.

We are aware of the difficulty some are having drawing, and it will surely be addressed. Options for this also include potential keyboard (numpad) support.

Oh, and Radiant, if you can, tell Corby to email me, lol. I haven't heard from him in a while, and he might have something finished for me soon. He hasn't responded to my emails. Thanks!

[Greenskull]

Nice Project

Please this project terminates, so far has it very beautiful ideas. A worthy successor would be and with ideas with the Minigames is also good

Sorry for my English

[agentbauer]

Great techdemo,
if you can keep up this quality the game will be wonderful.

The control with the gauntlets is a nice idea, hope you can do some nice puzzles with it.

I'm looking forward seeing more of this project.