** The Hamresanden Chronicles I: The Rising

Started by barefoot, Tue 12/04/2011 19:10:38

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barefoot

GAME DISABLED...

This is the first episode and is a prototype version for future episodes. (Episode II in production with new sprites and style.) V1.0 April 2011. Version will be revised throughout the year.

STORY:

You are Magrid, a powerful royal wizard and you have received an urgent letter from the King of Hamresanden.

You have to find 6 prisms to stop Asgrim, the evil Red Wizard, who is returning to Earth from the Neverworld and is planning to take over the Earth through blood, violance and tyrany!

Seek out the wise Sage's. Each Sage knows where one prism is.

Sage's are high priests and frequent the towns and villages of Norway.

Search the towns and villages to find the Sage's. They will tell you where a prism is hidden.

Each prism is guarded. You will need to defeat a guard to obtain each prism.

Confront an evil Troll, a Snow creature that packs a punch, a Wolf, Overcome a Neverworld Beast, Ride on a Dragonfly, meet a Gypsy fortune teller and much more...

After you have got all 6 prisms you must put the prisms in place in a special way.

When Asgrim calls for the power of the moon's lunar power's the prisms will then alter the moons rays as they enter Asgrim, thereby defeating him!

* You have your very own pet owl who will be with you all the way and will help you whenever you need him!

Can you defeat Asgrim??!!







16 colour 640x480

Mouse controls

Music and Sound

Uses Media Player 9 video codecs (Esc Key  to bypass.)

Download:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1419

Please report (pm) any found bugs to me and I will endeavour to correct them asap.. Thank you

barefoot






I May Not Be Perfect but I Have A Big Heart ..

Matti

Sorry, I thought I'd better check one of your games out without being put off by the randomly ripped sprites and BGs you use, but I was still very disappointed. I only played for a few minutes but I encountered enough annoying issues to quit the game.

- You didn't use the SayBackground command and the result was that all GUIs were greyed out every few seconds and you had to click to make the market people shut up. That was unbearable.

- You made a thread about this issue in the beginner's tech but still didn't manage to set the walkeable area or the baseline correct, thus the well was drawn on top of the player while he was actually standing in front of it.

- There were around five different characters but no dialog options at all. Every dialog was done automatically, even when buying some stuff. That's definitely NOT what adventures are about.

- The player doesn't know where the room's exits are. Both the left and the right side of the room were open (and even looked the same), but I could only leave to the right. That was illogical and annoying.

- There was no indication about where the hotspots are, no label, no changing cursor. While this isn't a problem for everybody and might be personal preference, in your case it was especially annoying as the totally differently styled sprites weren't the only hotspots, but parts of the sometimes consistently drawn BGs too.

Well, I don't want to say too much about the graphics, except maybe that you could at least make the different cursors and inventory items somehow consistent and equally sized. But you should really put more effort in your games and polish them instead of releasing a dozen half-baked games within a few months. It doesn't seem like this game has been tested at all.

Sorry if I sound harsh but I really mean it. Better do a few solid games than a throng of crappy games.

barefoot

#2
Hi Matti

your comments are welcomed.. everyone has their own opinions... I guess others see things that might have been done a better way.

I did not plan to release this version just yet, but your comments are noted and i will endeavour to amend it over time as was stated.

My philosophy is learn, practice, practice, learn,  practice, practice, learn etc etc.

Maybe I have not got it right just yet... but that's where I'm heading..

I myself have played a lot of AGS games and some have been really really dire yet people seem to comment well on them, maybe its about 'who you are' I don't know.

Anyhow, your points are duly noted and I would have preferred you to have PM'd me with your blatant, constructive comments in this inst.

cheers

barefoot












I May Not Be Perfect but I Have A Big Heart ..

Khris

Quote from: barefoot on Wed 13/04/2011 05:32:09I myself have played a lot of AGS games and some have been really really dire yet people seem to comment well on them, maybe its about 'who you are' I don't know.

I have yet to see a badly executed game lauded by people because the author 'is someone'. On the other hand, if you PM'd me a few examples, I could probably tell you what's going on.

Nevermind that now though, the problem is that you're making lots of basic gameplay / interface mistakes and those can usually easily be fixed.
The thing is though that the standard issues are so well-known by now that people don't want to put up with correcting them any longer it seems. And since they filed you under "still makes broken games", they don't even try, let alone comment your new stuff.

Here's a short list off the top of my head of things that must be avoided at all costs:
-slow walking (simply un. bear. able.)
-unclear exits
-unskippable scenes (the second of them and it's Alt-X for me)
-pixelhunts
-too many illogical puzzles
-trial and error situations (e.g. four doors, three of them -> death)
-walking dead (even worse than all others, worst possible game design sin ever)
-clumsy/annoying interface (imagine eating with a pencil and a sock instead of fork and knife)
-bad scripting i.e. obvious errors in how to code stuff

Some minor deal breakers:
-inconsistent graphics style
-bad spelling
-long walkways without map feature or at least exit-double-clicking

If you want to release a polished game, there's a well-known, easy way to do it: just get some beta-testers! Start with friends or family if possible, then move on to people online. And if you make sure your beta version doesn't violate the points in the list above, they'll only find minor stuff.

Another helpful link: http://americangirlscouts.org/agswiki/Why_Your_Game_Is_Broken

barefoot

Thank you Khris

very well put and an a intelligent 'points of view'...

Most of what you said is what I am aiming at now to produce better things for the future.

Cuts scenes:
Yes, should be able to skip if you already know that part, especially if it's a bit too long... Small cut scenes 15 seconds maximum I find  ok.  I have played a couple of unskippable cutscenes that seemed to go on forever, hated that..

I have also witnessed photographs being used and then normal painted scenes, I agree, too much style change can be annoying at times... But I believe any style has a % of fluctuation, if it fits...

I also find that some beta testers are not always as dedicated or reliable as they make out to be.. which is a shame...

All in all I thank you for your views/tips Khris.

cheers

barefoot

















I May Not Be Perfect but I Have A Big Heart ..

Peter Bear

Hello, is there any way to download your game ?

Not much time for gaming neither creating, but keeping an eye on everything :)

barefoot

Hi OBKINSKI

I have discontinued The Hamresanden Chronicles I: The Rising.... for the time being..

I have The Hamresanden Chronicles II: The Black Prism being tested and tweaked at the moment and should be ready to download by 21st May

barefoot
I May Not Be Perfect but I Have A Big Heart ..

Peter Bear

alright then, but , to my mind, you should have let this available to the community as a beta test
and everybody could provide you with good advices and bug hunting - for you to upgrade your existing version

or MORE interesting ( in a OPEN world ... ) release the sources  - AGS files and graphics -  in a subversion or CVS somewhere to let the community itself corrects the issues of the game and complete it to a fully functionnal software.

Anyway, good luck with all your remaining projects ! I know how hard it can be to finish some of them
Not much time for gaming neither creating, but keeping an eye on everything :)

barefoot

Hi

Yes I agree..

anyhow, i have just uploaded V 2.00 of Part II.. which has been beta tested.

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1419

barefoot
I May Not Be Perfect but I Have A Big Heart ..

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