The Samaritan Paradox - available now!

Started by Andail, Tue 10/07/2012 23:10:23

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Andail

My game The Samaritan Paradox is officially in production.




A writer has died. His daughter seeks the help of you, Ord Salamon, to find his secret last novel. During the search, questions will emerge. Did her father really kill himself? What is the secret novel all about? What is going on on the island of Fardo?

I estimate that I've done roughly 10% of this game, all areas counted (except for music and voices, which I will probably pay someone to do).

The finished product will be for sale at a reasonable price in about a year from now.

For more info + updates, check my blog at
http://faravidinteractive.wordpress.com/

Derrick Freeland

This looks excellent.  Downloading now...

Miguel R. Fervenza

Very interesting plot and nice art, sounds good.

EchosofNezhyt

Andail!

First I have to give you kudos for your art, I love how beautiful the rooms are and the subtle animations of stuff like the tv/fireplace/fishtank.

I didn't play through it yet but in the backroom of the house(Epic Bookshelf/Fishtank) the walkable area is a bit close to the chair in the bottom left so the character renders over it.

The story is compelling so far.

I'm not sure if its just me and it seems wierd to comment about it since your a better artist then me but his walk cycle seems a bit to much.
But that's just being picky I can't really find anything I don't like a ton in your art.

I'll try to do a full playthrough and fill out your sheet.

QuoteThe finished product will be for sale at a reasonable price in about a year from now.
Good :D

AnasAbdin

Very interesting story Andail, great art too. downloading demo now :)

nads

Really enjoying the demo so far, thou some of the walking areas need adjusting but I'm stuck at the following

Spoiler
I'm at the Art Gallery, I can get behind the painting with the buzz saw but I need to distract/get rid of the Gallery owner somehow, A little hint would be nice :D
[close]

Also

Spoiler
I don't know how I did but I'll see if I can do it again, But I was able to take saw out of the Gallery, as I said I don't know how I did it, but if I do I'll let you know how I did it and I'll put it in the notes, I don't think its game breaking or anything
[close]

david

Andail, I saw your pics in the Release something and I am verry happy that you've started this thread. Those pictures look amazingly beautiful :)

keep up the great work, man!
I will really keep an eye on this project. The atmosphere totally hooked me up

Snarky

Quote from: nads on Wed 11/07/2012 09:55:12A little hint would be nice :D

Spoiler
Maybe there's some way to cover up the sound. What else is sometimes compared to "sawing logs"?
[close]

Andail

Thanks for the nice words so far, it's really warming.

And thanks Snarky for your initial feedback and good advice, which I followed to the letter.

david

Is it a bug?

Spoiler
the first time I went to the gallery I was able to get the rope and the saw, at that point I could go behind the painting...then I went out of the gallery to the island and get the paper knife, got back to the gallery assuming to use the paper knife on the painting from behind. But this time I am not able to go there, no matter what. I still have the saw and the rope besides other things in my inv.
Does it have to do something with the saw as nads mentioned?
Thanks
[close]

Andail

#10
David and Nads:
Spoiler

I don't really know why you can't re-enter behind the wall, but I'll look into it. I just discovered it's possible to leave with the saw, by simply interacting with the exit while holding the saw in the inner room, which will trigger the character to walk away before he's prompted to leave it behind. I will fix this bug.
[close]

Anian

PM-ed you, unfortunately very elaborately, but in general I liked it.
I don't want the world, I just want your half

Andail

#12
Fixed the errors David and Nads pointed out, I hope. The download file has been updated.
Thanks Anian, nice thorough c&c :)

CaptainD

Unfortunately right now I don't really have time to give this a playtest but I must comment on  how beautiful those screens look!

Storyline sounds good too.
 

Tabata

That was a nice and entertaining little demo.

       

m0ds

The Smarties Paradox... Looking good Andail and I hope to give the demo a whirl soon! Best of luck

Shadow1000

I enjoyed the demo. Graphics are sharp and puzzles are about average. Maybe with sound indicating that you've acquired an item it would be smoother (I once spent 10 minutes trying to find an item that I KNEW was there a minute ago. Turns out that I had taken it already but hadn't realized it.)

One important comment: You should colour the pushpins on the map to contrast with the map better. I didn't see them at first and sat there clicking all over in order to proceed. I contemplated that perhaps the demo was over. Red would be nice :)

Thanks for sharing the demo

SHADOW

JSH

We already talked, but I'll say it here as well:

This game is very promising, the graphics looks great and the story is intriguing. I'd definitely buy the full game just from playing the demo. The puzzles are the weakest point of the demo in my opinion but I'm sure you'll be able to use the feedback from everyone here to improve those aspects of the full game.

I also love the fact that it's set here in Sweden! :)

Andail

Thanks Krusbert, your input is highly appreciated :)

All right people, please go ahead and try the new and final version of the demo, now with a SOUNDTRACK, yes you heard me!
http://www.esseb.com/andail/samaritan.rar

Shadow1000

Quote from: Andail on Thu 19/07/2012 21:36:34
Thanks Krusbert, your input is highly appreciated :)

All right people, please go ahead and try the new and final version of the demo, now with a SOUNDTRACK, yes you heard me!
http://www.esseb.com/andail/samaritan.rar


Is there a change in this version?

Namely:
Spoiler
there used to be 4 slots in the pedestal. I don't seem to be able to get past that part of the game this time. Do you use the horse differently in this version?
[close]

Andail

Quote

Is there a change in this version?

Namely:
Spoiler
there used to be 4 slots in the pedestal. I don't seem to be able to get past that part of the game this time. Do you use the horse differently in this version?
[close]


Spoiler

The description has been removed (now Ord cannot see anything special with it until Signe has mentioned it), because it would be an obvious place to put the horse, and people were frustrated they could not do it at once. However, the puzzle and its solution are still identical.
[close]
Thanks for the report though!

EDIT: Responding to below (I'd hate to bump my own thread for a oneliner):
I will change the pins ASAP!

Shadow1000

Oh, thanks.

Don't forget, I mentioned that the push pins should be a different colour. They are very hard to see on the map...

...


I played the demo again.

My comment on the sound: most of the sound is music which may or may not be an improvement altogether. The sound indicating that an object was acquired is good and helpful but for the sound to enhance the game, there should be effects corresponding to actions.

Examples:

Spoiler
Snoring, saw, perhaps walking, door opening, etc. The first 2 are particularly important as using text to replace effects just doesn't do it :)
[close]

SHADOW

edit by Darth - double post combined.  Please use the modify button to avoid doubleposting.

Andail

Ok, just wanted to update to say that I'm moving through the first part of the book-world, and am making steady progress.
Here's a screenie:
[imgzoom]http://esseb.com/andail/graphics/incave2.png[/imgzoom]

As you can see, this parallel fairy-tale world differs slightly aesthetically...

david


JSH

Quote from: Andail on Tue 31/07/2012 22:26:45
Ok, just wanted to update to say that I'm moving through the first part of the book-world, and am making steady progress.
Here's a screenie:

As you can see, this parallel fairy-tale world differs slightly aesthetically...

Looks great! Love the lighting in that scene. "book-world", eh? I'm intrigued! :)

Saren

Quote from: Snarky on Wed 11/07/2012 11:23:34
Quote from: nads on Wed 11/07/2012 09:55:12A little hint would be nice :D

Spoiler
Maybe there's some way to cover up the sound. What else is sometimes compared to "sawing logs"?
[close]

Bleh, I'm still stuck. Another hint?

Eric

Played a bit, and the only problem I've run into thus far is not being able to play because of my being overwhelmed by extreme jealousy. I'd pre-order this one in a heartbeat!

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens

#27
Pretty slick presentation and the animations are really nice, too.  The only problem I've encountered is exiting some rooms from the bottom (like the study) and having the gui pop-up instead.  I think a really easy way to overcome this would be to have a visual cue, like a semi-transparent arrow, appear near the bottom of the screen that you can click on to walk and transition to another room.  Aside from that I think you've got a nice game going here.

Oh, and her dad looks like Tolstoy Eddings with a beard!  Beard-Ed, get it?

m0ds

Given it a try and I'm intrigued by the mystery. I also want to know someone called Ord, which is a nice but ridiculous sounding name ;) Good to see you working on such a project after your hiatus!

Andail

Thanks guys!

Que Tran:
Spoiler
Make the gallery visitor even more bored by reading something for him..."
[close]

Progz:
Thanks, yeah the exits have been mostly re-made, but a transparent arrow is rather nifty, I might give it a shot. The father portrait is based on a friend of mine, with a beard added :)

Mods:
"Ord" is a faux-Swedish name, and actually means "word". I want the feeling of the game to be as if a foreigner tried to make up Swedish-sounding words and names. I think if I make it a talkie, I might even pull a "girl with the dragon tattoo"-stunt and have the actors do fake-Swedish accents...


Andail

Ok, a little update. I have now done around a third of all locations. Progress is a bit slow, due to my having a day job...
Anyways, there is now a little preview movie on youtube for those interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXT5gAu4Eoo

And an IndieGoGo-site if you want to pre-order the game, or just help fund the coming voice-over job.
http://www.indiegogo.com/samaritanparadox

I'll still leave around the Demo, although it doesn't reflect the newest improvements. 

Thanks :)

SeamanNaranja

Just watched the preview video and I have to say that this looks A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. Are you sure that this isn't Jane Jensens Mystery Game X?  :-D
Developer of Hjarta, Providence and Skumring.


theo


OG

Really liking the look and story of this game thus far, very polished.

Best of luck, hope it works out successfully for you.

ThreeOhFour

Funded last night, and wrote about today. Hopefully you get a bit more funding before the campaign ends! :)

Andail

Thanks a lot, Ben, I'm super-grateful for your support :)

Here's a little screenie to make this post more than a one-liner of gratitude:

JSH

The game still looks great Andail, I finally pledged now :) Best of luck with the crowdfunding, I'll try to spread the word also.

m0ds

BUMP! Cos there's only 66 hours left... Give Andail money, not an egg!  ;)

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens


Takyon

#40
Like a Broken Sword type game or something, looks great. Love the storyline too.
ghost.

Andail

Thanks, J.H.

Ok, I just wanted to inform everyone that I've set up a little blog, to keep track of the progress of this game, but also to discuss the various aspects of indie game development, like graphics and story telling and stuff like that. I hope you will find it useful!

http://faravidinteractive.wordpress.com/

Oh yes, this also means that I've settled for the company name Faravid Interactive, I hope it will work out alright.

OG

#42
I was honestly sad to see that this weren't fully funded. The whole thing looks pretty professional and definitely commercially viable. The problem is your trailer could be better. If you really want to grip someone with the game you need to think about showing a screen for only a few seconds, maybe perhaps a puzzle being half solved a quarter the way through the trailer and some voice acting. Voice acting would be a bonus, however, if you just spoke over the game or introduced yourself that would have got you more browny points. I guess everyone is scared of you cause your a bad-ass veteran, so they would not tell you, but yeah. It's the truth. When the game comes out I'll prob buy  it.

Goldmund

Je voudrais un demo, mais il donne moi l'erreur 404. :-(

Andail

No demo at the moment, will upload a new one shortly. I want the demo to reflect the latest version of the intro, and all the guis and stuff. To be updated...

Takyon

Congratulations Andail, your game has been mentioned on PC Gamer's best games of 2013

http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/01/01/2013-preview/3/
ghost.

JSH

Congrats Andail, must be some nice publicity for your game! :)

miguel

Congrats Andail. Good to see the genre alive with so many projects due to 2013!
Working on a RON game!!!!!

Andail

Ok, I felt it was time for a little update, just to keep this thread alive. I've been working a lot lately, and I think the game is coming along nicely. I'm pretty confident I'll make the 2013 deadline.

I simply nicked this update from my blog entry I wrote today!




Ok, so I've begun painting some real Gothenburg locations. There aren't many exterior scenes planned for the game, but I felt that having some “famous” places featured was kind of necessary (and probably expected), if only for cutscenes.

I've postponed painting these, since it's rather tedious work â€" city scenes aren't my favourite type of backgrounds to render, with all the repetitious details and textures, and getting the right balance between photo-realistic and cartoony is actually very difficult. While there's a lot of tracing going on, you can't be too exact or the picture won't look handpainted, but if you simplify too much it will look flat and cell-shaded. Which isn't what I'm looking for.

I want all the Gothenburg scenes to convey the cold, damp autumn feeling you'd probably hate this city for, weren't it for some other redeeming qualities (which I can't exactly pinpoint now). So there's this constant overcast, and the patches of snow will appear to risk being washed away by rain any minute, I think this will make the contrast between the real world and the book world much more palpable.

ThreeOhFour

Looking good! Glad to hear you're confident about that deadline, it'll be great to see this one released.

Mati256

Looks awesome Andail. I can't wait to play the full game.
You should consider creating a twitter account for quick and small updates.
My Blog! (En Español)

arj0n

Lovely artwork you've got there Andail.

Just hit the paypal button on your blog to support this awesome project.


Monsieur OUXX

What I personally love here is the color palette : very 64-colors-esque. Half tones. Sort-of amiga. Reminds me of "cruise for a corpse" in some ways.
 

m0ds

#53
They certainly are nice scenes :) Can't get jizzy's club in san andreas out of my mind after seeing that first one under the bridge, haha! Probably should brush up on my swedish locations. Unless you have a jizzy's club in Gothenburg?? :D Nice stuff Andail.

frenzykitty

Just wanted to say that this looks incredible! Def my most anticipated AGS game of (hopefully still) 2013!!!

kaput

Really looking forward to this, Andail. If ever you happen to need another tester let me know as I have some free time coming up ;)

Andail

Thanks everyone for your support and kind words. Right now I'm in the extremely tedious phase of fixing bugs and adjusting stuff, so I can really use the encouragement!

Someone requested a tutorial on sprite animation, so I wrote a blog post about it. Check it out if you're interested!
http://faravidinteractive.wordpress.com/


festilligambe

I feel bad every time I break your game and find a new bug, but I can assure everyone that it looks amazing and parts are incredibly difficult but rewarding when you figure them out and very enjoyable, well worth purchasing and playing when it's done.
New to programing, old school to adventure games

kaput

WOO, come on Andail! Yoooou can dooo it :=.

Stupot

Nice one Andail. Can't wait to play the finished game :D

Andail

Dear AGSers,

I've decided it's time to put up a proper demo of my game, showing the intro, the first room, and some key members of the cast.

http://www.esseb.com/andail/SamaritanDemo.rar

I reckon it's about a month now to final release.

Can't play the game?
Open the setup file, and change the window mode setting. Changing filters may also help. Lastly, if you're on a laptop, it might help setting your energy saving mode to "entertainment", or something like that.

Like this? Please comment, and share it with your friends!

Armageddon

Yay! Going to give it a play right now.

kaput

You've been busy, Andail! The voice acting is pretty great. Nice work - it really brings it all together really nicely and suits the characters well. Good job by the cast. Looking forward to the full release, mate.

arj0n


nihilyst


StillInThe90s

Nice looking little demo with a fun little puzzle. :)
I'm not sure if it's relevant at this point, but the book gui seems to have a lower z-value than the bookshelf. I.e. when right clicking at the book (inv object) in bookshelf view, Ord says "Let's take a look." but the book never shows up.

Looking forward to the full version.

TheBitPriest

Andail,  This game is amazing!  I'll be looking forward to the full release. 

Mati256

Great! I can't wait to play the final version!
My Blog! (En Español)

m0ds

Happy to say that this game will be released under Screen 7 in the very near future, with an aim for March 1st :) But please wait on announcements for info on pre-orders, DVD-roms etc etc. It's too early to tell you about those things just yet. Anyway looking forward to it! Very nice game and great voice acting indeed.

bangerang101

#69
Looks really great... and I can already tell by the screenshots that I will like it. Can't wait to try the demo! EDIT: ... and you got my pre-order, as well.(nod)
- Luke

Stupot

Quote from: Mods on Mon 13/01/2014 03:29:16Happy to say that this game will be released under Screen 7 in the very near future, with an aim for March 1st :)

Ahh, lovely. Congratulations to all parties. This game is gorgeous. I smell a tidy profit. :)

Andail

Thanks everyone for the kind words! And yeah I look forward to cooperating with Mods and Screen7 :)

Grim

I've had a very good experience with mOds and screen7. Your game couldn't be in better hands!:)

NickyNyce

This looks absolutely amazing. Every pic is full of atmosphere. Best of luck to you and the team.

Gribbler

Holy crap! This is fantastic. It feels like modern Shadow of the Comet! Great stuff, can't wait for the full version.

Creamy

I'm done with pre-orders and early accesses, but as soon as the game is out, count me in !
 

GMD1984

I've check your devblog! really amazing 3D/2D paint-over. Like your process a lot! Smart way of using SketchUP (nod)

m0ds

#77
[embed=640,400] <iframe width="640" height="400" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/OI93zkGJ89A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> [/embed]

(the website isn't quite ready, but thought I'd share this preview video - turn the subwoofer on and enjoy ;))

Still aiming for March 1st or as close to then as possible :)

Grim

Playing BETA right now, courtesy of screen7 ;)

My favorite thing about this game so far is the excellent puzzle design and music. Really well made.

Mati256

I agree, there are some really clever puzzles in this game.
My Blog! (En Español)

Gribbler

Quote from: GrimMy favorite thing about this game so far is the excellent puzzle design and music. Really well made.
Music in just this one demo room makes me wanna buy the Soundtrack :) Great stuff. I hope the rest is in similar style.

Stupot

Wicked trailer.  I can't wait to see this game kick ass.

Fitz

Looks brilliant -- and sounds brilliant, too. The music, the voice acting is top-notch, and you really found a great guy for the role of Ord. Kudos! :)

arj0n

Quote from: Fitz on Thu 06/02/2014 05:15:34
Looks brilliant -- and sounds brilliant, too.
+1

And thanx so much for the portrait Andail! I finally got a realistic avatar ;-)

cat

Ah, I was already wondering where the avatar was from :)
Great trailer (although the editing with the cheap video effects and stock footage was too cheesy for me), I'm looking forward to playing this game!

Vince Twelve

That is a great trailer guys!  Well done!  I'm looking forward to seeing the finished product!

m0ds

Thanks! A quick update - translations are continuing so that the game can be released in EFIGS from the beginning. Even some of the images in game will turn into their translated versions! Oh joy, of AGS code ;) But this is a cool thing, thanks to the translators for their help so far and Petter keeping up with it all. Lannie has also worked to expand the music.

The game will be available initially from Screen 7, Desura, GOG and Steam. Fingers crossed - before the end of March. Pre-orders will of course be sent out and you'll get drm-free copy, Steam & Desura key for that. Not quite got round to sorting that out yet though or sent an update myself as it's been handled by Petter up to this point, but you can expect an email in the next week or so to confirm your pre-order...order.

And of course in case you haven't seen it yet - the cover art!


Nikolas


arj0n


m0ds

Thanks chaps! Not long to go now. The website got an update this morning, meaning, it exists now: http://www.samaritanparadox.co.uk/ :=

Gribbler

Will it be available on GOG day one? I buy my games there.

arj0n

Quote from: Gribbler on Mon 10/03/2014 09:36:03
Will it be available on GOG day one? I buy my games there.
Check the buy now page:

"COMING SOON TO Steam - GOG - Desura"

:)

Stupot

Cool site.  So excited for this game :-)

Mati256

Nice site, works amazing in a tablet, you can flip the pages with your fingers.
My Blog! (En Español)

m0ds

Great! It has been known to spaz out on occasion though, just refresh if that happens :D It's a bought design, all I did was add the text.. ;) I had to cram that in, sorry, it's not a very "roomy" site for text. But I'm glad the tablet elements work well. It doesn't work so well on my smartphone... :P

So here's the game's situation, it's completed, Lannie even wrote some extra music for it. Two of the four additional languages are completed. We're also making sure the important images in the game come with translated versions too when a particular language is selected. There will be a final proof-reading stage hopefully starting next week. There's also the extras that will come with Steam, like a few achievements and such, so despite the game being completely finished, there are a bunch of publishing tasks both for me and for Petter still that are being attended too right now - so end of March is an optimistic - but not impossible - release time.

Yes, it's been approved by GOG (they asked for the extra music) but they'll probably want to give it another go before having it up on the site. But every intention of it being available from all the distributors at the same time. That's new for me though so it might not quite work like that. But Screen 7 and GOG will certainly have it DRM-free from the beginning. Thanks for your interest and support! More news soon :)

Andail

Ok hopefully this will be my last post in this thread, before it's time for a completed games thread...

Right now testing the various translations - as Mark said he's going for full EFIGS localization on release day, a bit ambitious perhaps but hopefully worth the extra work! It's great to see your own creation fully translated - educational even :)

And great job Mark on getting it on Steam, GoG and Desura! This is why I need a producer - I hardly know what those sites are all about, much less how to get your game approved there!

So, sorry for the delay everyone, but we're soon there :)

David Ostman

Congratulations on getting so close to release! I'm looking forward to the final release with great anticipation :)

Will us who sent 15 EUR before via PayPal as a pre-order be getting Steam keys as well?

arj0n

Good news Andail, can't wait to play this game.

m0ds

#98
Yes, you'll get deal 1: Cryptologist if you pre-ordered thru Andail.

Edit. Release date is 18th April (Good Friday). In what could be described as adventure fortnight, with Moebius, The Samaritan Paradox and The Blackwell Epiphany all within days of each other :)

Pre-orderers will be sent the game a 1-2 days before the public release.


abstauber

A good thing I haven't spent my screen 7 gift certificate yet :D
Can't wait for the release!

m0ds

Hahaha! Ah that makes me chuckle abstauber I had forgot about those. Great!! I think Arj0n and Tamara used theirs up recently ;)

PS. Pre-order copies of the game will be sent out within the next few hours. It's time to play The Samaritan Paradox!!

arj0n

Yes, but i backed this one 😊

m0ds

#103
Ha, yep - great! :) (good job you mentioned it, one email address was missing from the pre-order list... guess who's!!! ;) Fixed now though.)

All pre-orders have been issued, so you can now enjoy the DRM-free edition and soundtrack. If something didn't work let me know.

Public release: The game will be available DRM-free from Fri 18th April at Screen7.co.uk* and GOG.com around midday GMT. Also Fireflower Games and Zodiac Store same day or very shortly after. Other (DRM versions) such as Desura - should be the same date or shortly after but we're on different time zones so it's hard to co-ordinate with them sometimes.

And Steam...well, it'll certainly be there next week, but 18th is maybe a little optimistic. Oh and DVD-roms will be available from Friday also.

*Get an early Steam & Desura key with one of the Screen 7 deals :) http://www.samaritanparadox.co.uk

arj0n

OMG, the pre-orders are out! 8-0

A huge congrats to Andail for making this great gem.
And thanx to mods for publishing it.

I'm off playing TSP now...

m0ds

#105
A quick one to say wahey - the game is now available to buy!

http://www.samaritanparadox.co.uk/
http://www.screen7.co.uk/
http://www.gog.com/game/the_samaritan_paradox
http://fireflowergames.com/shop/the-samaritan-paradox/

and should be live on Desura later, and Steam any day now, Zodiac Store sometime soon also.

YOU CAN USE DISCOUNT CODE CHRISJONESAGS FOR £1 OFF THE DRM-FREE (ON IT'S OWN) VERSION FROM THE OFFICIAL SITE OR SCREEN7.CO.UK

Those who pre-ordered, you can use the Steam/Desura code you got for £5 off the single DVD rom copy. Please remove the dashes from your code and it'll work.

Congrats Petter on your first commercial game! And thanks to everyone who helped me make it an EFIGS game (as best we could!).

A (non-English) review!  http://niveloculto.com/analisis-the-samaritan-paradox/

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