Nine Hours to Dawn

Started by Cogliostro, Fri 13/05/2011 22:20:21

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Cogliostro

Today is FRIDAY THE 13th so I am finally releasing my first game...











During a thunderstorm in Northern California, five strangers find shelter in an abandoned log cabin.  As the hours pass, they become increasingly aware of a supernatural evil that lurks in the cabin, in the woods, and in the dark corners of their hearts.

Down the game here. (28.3MB)

My goal was to create a game that was heavy on atmosphere and storytelling.  As a result, the puzzles fit the story and none of the beta testers had to ask any questions to find the solutions.  In the end there are 37 rooms, 4 playable characters, three alternate endings, and one mini-game.

A few suggestions for the game.  Talk to the people around you, and expect them to have something new to say after a significant event.  (i.e.  After every hour they have something new to say.)  Also when you complete the game, watch the credits through to the end.  I give an epilogue there.

It was never my intention to create an offensive game, however, there are scenes containing profanity, violent death, and posterior nudity.

All comments are welcome,
Cogliostro
"First things first, but not necessarily in that order." - Dr. Who

Ian Aloser

Found a bug:
When trying to leave to the forest to the west ( screen the garden hose)
the game locks up, i.e. the message box doesn't close

Cogliostro

#2
Sorry about that bug.  New version already uploaded.

WORK AROUND: For those of you who don't have the bandwidth to do a new download, hold down the ESC key while moving away from the edge and it will eventaully unlock.

- Cogliostro
"First things first, but not necessarily in that order." - Dr. Who

Ian Aloser

Need help on hour 7

Spoiler

How do I get past the blue sphere?
[close]

Ian Aloser

Quote from: I am a loser on Sat 14/05/2011 12:38:35
Need help on hour 7

Spoiler

How do I get past the blue sphere?
[close]

Nevermind !
Found it out.

Very nice game !

Ian Aloser

#5
Still need help:
Spoiler

I cannot get the combination for the gate's lock.
Used magnifier to read writing but I get no message
except that it's in Enlish, no in Latin.
I guess it must have to do with the letters I and V, i.e. numbers one
and five, right? Or did I miss something in that screen?
[close]

Found it, too :-))

Ian Aloser

#6
Another bug , this time it's severe!
Spoiler

I took the girl to the cave, gave her the magnifier
Then she's gone, nowhere to be found
I already have the bible on me, maybe that's why?
[close]

vertigoaddict

I am so happy that this is out  ;D congrats, downloading now.

Cogliostro

#8
Loser - Sorry about that bug.   I managed to get three amazingly dedicated beta testers on my team, and I still blow it with my last minute updates.  At any rate, I've corrected the bug and uploaded that version already.  Check you PMs for the conversation that would have occurred.  It'll let you continue.

vertigoaddict - This game was anticipated?!  I love the sound of that.  Thanks!

- Cogliostro
"First things first, but not necessarily in that order." - Dr. Who

Ian Aloser

Thanks for the help!

A real nice game. Hope to see more from you


Cogliostro

#10
I'm glad you enjoyed it.  If you could go to the games page and review it, I'd really appreciate that.

EVERYONE ELSE: Make sure you're playing version 1.3.0.2   I made a last minute change to the earlier versions and made it impossible to complete. 

EDIT -- This warning really only applies to people who downloaded the game during the first 24 hours it was available, by the time I posted THIS reply, I had already replaced the incorrect version with the working version.


- Cogliostro
"First things first, but not necessarily in that order." - Dr. Who

vertigoaddict

Quote from: Cogliostro on Sat 14/05/2011 16:16:36
I'm glad you enjoyed it.  If you could go to the games page and review it, I'd really appreciate that.

EVERYONE ELSE: Make sure you're playing version 1.3.0.2   I made a last minute change to the earlier versions and made it impossible to complete.

- Cogliostro


I seem only to be able to download version 1.3.0.1 (from the games page and here) is there link up for the most recent version?

minero

I just downloaded the zip file. I haven't installed it yet but the program file 9h2d.exe shows a product version 3.2.1. I don't know how to relate that to your recommended version number 1.3.0.2. Do I have the right one, and if not how do I get it?

Cogliostro

#13
VertigoAddict -- It's the only one available on the server.  When you get to the opening page the version # is listed in the lower right hand corner.

Minero -- 3.2.1 refers to the version of AGS that I used to build the game.  Again, the only version on the server is working version.

- Cogliostro
"First things first, but not necessarily in that order." - Dr. Who

Cogliostro

#14
Okay, it's been three days and more than 200 downloads.  Which has resulted in exactly two comments totalling 21 words with an opinion about the game.  Perhaps my expectations were off, but I was hoping for a little more feedback.  Positive feedback keeps me motivated, and negative feedback means I can fix my mistakes.  I really do want to know what everyone thought of the game.

- Cogliostro
"First things first, but not necessarily in that order." - Dr. Who

Tabata

Interesting story, packed in a game with lots of love to details, very nice drawings and well done animations. The atmosphere is wonderful and I had fun to play it (and nearly got a heartattack at one point). 

Thank you very much for giving this to us! Hopefully this novel won't be your last one.

Quote from: Cogliostro on Sat 14/05/2011 16:16:36
...  If you could go to the games page and review it, I'd really appreciate that.  ...
I did it and those of you, who are not familiar with this - it's to be found here   ;)


Even if you don't like to do comments or user ratings for games ...


                                               ... you shouldn't miss this one to play!   


I really can recommend it!
                                                 

Tabata

... a bit of sad 

Is there something serious about this game, I don't know?

Here we have a game, which is downloaded hundereds of times and I know, that it is done with lots of love to details and also in a quality, you'd not expect for a first game. The creator offered us a wonderful story, gave us a nice gameplay and only want's some feedback for it.
Quote from: Cogliostro on Mon 16/05/2011 19:15:55
... I really do want to know what everyone thought of the game.
The lack of responses doesn't sound like the forum I used to know and love so much!?
Did I miss something? Did you all download, but not play? 

Since I recommended it (and still do) I'm asking myself,
what the meaning of this silence is about.
Please enlighten me!   

If you don't want to post a reply in here, you are also welcome to send me an answer via pm because I really want to understand!       

david

just finished it and I must admit that it was a very interesting experience

here are my thoughts on this
pros:
as I said above - a very interesting experience,  I haven't played any adventure that had so many characters guided by the player  :D
- multiple endings, I reached all of them (I hope) and every single ending was unique and almost the hidden thruth was revealed there :)
- excellent story, at one specific moment I almost pissed in my pants   :P
- I really like the part you take role of that guy that is searching with his camera for the existence of ghost, that was really clever part,
- detailed characters' discriptions, funny dialogs and remarks  :D

cons:
some typos here and there, but not so much
may be a bu: after second attempt to get a different ending I played it pretty fast, and tried to skip some obious parts and I stumbled on some weird things, e.g. warning spoiler below
Spoiler

the 6th hour - the mini-game I tried to escape the wolf several times, but I could not pass the third screen. Every time I got kiled, even though I pushed my hero as hard as I could.
When you use shears BEFRE the guy is cought by the skeleton on the necklace, then it everything is ok, BUT when you try to use them AFTER the skeleton part, the shears are no longer in your possession..

the 7th hour - after you either throw or tied up the bold guy, you have to return to the cabin to tell the news and only after that you can go down the cave and talk to the blue thing otherwise you cannot show him your fake badge, and maybe you have to explore the cave especially the blue wall in case showing the badge.
And the most funniest part is in front of the gate; when you know the code you can simply put the right combination and then easily go through without the puzzle and with the girl as well.
[close]
hope this info helps, other than that this is A MUST PLAY for sure and must COMMENT too 8) 8)
I wish more games were out like this one
Even though this is a non-commercial andventure I would give it more points than those commercial ones in these days

vertigoaddict

Quote from: Cogliostro on Fri 13/05/2011 22:20:21
My goal was to create a game that was heavy on atmosphere and storytelling.  As a result, the puzzles fit the story and none of the beta testers had to ask any questions to find the solutions.

Sorry for commenting on the game a bit too late I was still trying to figure out how to word my opinions on it.
The game was pretty engaging and I enjoyed it.

I felt the graphics were a little inconsistent, for instance the bg colour for Astreid's speech sprite is darker than everyone else's and in some occasions the main character's face would change, I'm guessing you had rushed a bit to release it on Friday 13th. Some of the other character's mesh quality (for lack of a better word) were not as good as others. Personally it didn't bother me much, but I needed to find a con somewhere.

I would often have trouble finding exits and enteries to other 'rooms' paths were a bit ambiguous and often the cause of me getting stuck in the game.

I liked the cause and effect aspect of it, how the actions that you took earlier in the game would affect the ending.

I found it funny how the characters did not comment on the bloody floor in the kitchen, even if it was not blood, it looked like it.

Spoiler
It was strange finding a red star behind the painting, if it was a christmas ornament, wouldn't it be more logical to have found it on a decorated tree, or a box in the shed?
[close]

PS: I noticed you took out the painting of the girl who was thrown out the window (I played the demo when it got out). There's nothing wrong with that, but it just made me wonder why you did it, was there supposed to be a puzzle behind it that you decided not to include?

Tabata

Thank you both for posting your opinion!
It's a good feeling to get confirmed and I am a bit relieved.  :)

Maybe you want to vote about this game or/and leave a comment for other users outside the forum, too? You can to do it here.


@david:
If you push up the gamespeed, naturally the speed of everything changes. So you have to be very fast at the point, you told about.  ;D 
- But there is a way to get a benefit for Jack only. 8)

a little hint:
Spoiler
Also a broken flashlight can be usefull sometimes for something ...  ; - )
[close]


Still hoping for more to come ...

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