Summerbatch - sale has ended

[m0ds]

THE 2012 PAY WHAT YOU WANT SALE HAS ENDED. FOR A LIMITED TIME BUY VOLUME 1 FOR £4.99 HERE

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GIVEAWAYS AHOY

4 days left of the sale. I invite you to watch the AdventureX webcast between 15:00 and 15:30 GMT on Friday, Saturday and Sunday where I will be giving away codes to get a free copy before the end of the sale*! That's the webcast at http://www.screen7.co.uk/adventurex

Thank you to everyone who's bought, played, enjoyed and reported back - we've recently crossed the 1000 purchases mark, woohoo!

* It's also a test to see if the webcast works okay, as it's the system we'll be using at AdventureX

They're ready! 5 new games from AGS developers are available from Screen 7. It's our first product, our first commercial venture - and the aim is to help the developers earn from their work, not us. Show your support for their creative skills and buy the batch. We'll also make sure a worthy charity gets a donation if we reach certain targets.

Please remember you'll need DirectX 9 to play, Windows XP, Vista or 7, and a stable internet connection to get the download that's roughly 280mb. It requires about 1.8gb HD space to install the games.

Volume 1 has five games inside:

BARELY FLOATING
A traditional point & click adventure by Stemshock Interactive (led by AJA). Playing time is about 2 to 3 hours.

Somewhere along the east coast of Africa, pirates have attacked a luxury yacht! They have taken a few seemingly wealthy passengers as their hostages, a family and an old man, hoping to collect a hefty ransom for each of them. When the hostage negotiations go awry, the rescue duties land on the weak shoulders of an unlikely hero. Little does he know that the ship's crew, that stands in his way, is composed of some very weird and silly individuals.

Production thread: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=46264.0



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JAILBREAK
A top down stealthy action 'escape the prison' game by Virtual Illusion (led by Rocco). Playing time is about 1 hour.

Jailbreak is an action game - an intrigue has brought you to prison, so your goal is to escape and find the evil who brought you in this mess.

Production thread: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=46136.0




NANCY THE HAPPY WHORE
A low-res traditional point & click by Technocrat Games (led by Technocrat). Playing time is about 1 to 2 hours.

Nancy, the titular sex-worker with an unshakeably optimistic attitude, runs out of fuel on her way to the Big City. With the help of her best friend & crack-fiend Susie, she must not only procure the petroleum for her car, but help defeat an armed robbery, a disillusioned amateur hippy and THE PROPHETS themselves to help uncover the evil lurking within - the PERFIDIOUS PETROL STATION!

Production thread: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=45593.0




PATCHWORK
A traditional point & click adventure with high-res hand-drawn art by Ivan Ulyanov (Ilyich). Playing time is about 1 to 2 hours.

After a teleportation experiment goes wrong, a young scientist finds himself, and a good part of his laboratory, in someone else's house. In a parallel universe.

Production thread: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=46250.0




PISS
Another low res traditional point & click game by Ben Chandler (Ben304). Playing time is about 2-3 hours.

Moira may have forgotten everything else, but she's not about to forget this. The debt will be collected, even if it kills her... There are, however, those who remember that which she does not, and they're about to remind her.

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=45940.0



More info on all the games can be found on the website. Do you write for a publication? You might want to read our press release!

You can get all these games right now from the Summerbatch website (URL below). Add it to your cart, and then adjust the price you wish to pay by changing the editable field next to the product name*. We use PayPal, you don't need to sign up if you have a debit or credit card.

From everyone on the team, we hope you enjoy the games, thanks for your support along the way!

http://www.summerbatch.co.uk

NOTE: "Buy as gift" option, trailer and press reviews are coming very soon. Please remember this is also a trial run for everyone involved!

* There's a minimum price of 50p (10p per game)

[Technocrat]

Don't forget, for all you allophones and ancient Romans, Nancy the Happy Whore also comes in German and Latin! Come on up, and pay for some fun with Nancy!

[imgzoom]http://i116.photobucket.com/albums/o33/Nedraed/Nancy4.png[/imgzoom]

[MadReizka]

I love the Summerbatch!

[Andail]

Awesome
I will download and make a donation when I get my next salary in a couple of weeks...

Especially PISS is intriguing, if I'm allowed to pick favourites like that.

[AJA]

Piss is always intriguing.

Great to see this finally released! Maybe there should be links to the games' GiP threads for additional information? And maybe the BF trailer right here?

[Stupot]

Bought.  Looking forward to these beauties

[MadReizka]

To celebrate the release of this great bundle, we released a new trailer for our game:

[embed=560,315]<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/L88-9Jd19gM?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/embed]

[Fitz]

Congrats on your first release Got it right away, of course. It's the best thing that happened since Humble Amanita Bundle!

[ThreeOhFour]

Doing a game for this was crazy, sleep depriving, fun and frustrating and I don't regret it. It's an honour to be a part of this and I hope everyone who picks up the bundle enjoys what they find within!

[Nikolas]

Bought it!

I just wish I could offer more... 15 quid for 5 games is a steal... However with our current situation that's all I can give. I just hope that more people will start buying!

More to come when I've played the games! ^_^

[Fitz]

Doing a game for this was crazy, sleep depriving, fun and frustrating and I don't regret it. It's an honour to be a part of this and I hope everyone who picks up the bundle enjoys what they find within!

Obviously, yours is the first game I pounced on when I got my hands on the bundle Played it for some two hours now, and I'll say this: it's not just my favorite of your games, but one among the most captivating games ever, high up there with The Longest Journey. It's just so much fun, with its own little mythologies, culture, magic, technology (the bugs!) and philosophy (the Mortician's ideas about the three centres of thought were great, especially). And of course, the characters! Banse is probably my favorite, the design itself -- and the backstory that goes with it - is brilliant. Speaking of which, I'm having the best time just going around and talking to everyone, asking about everything. I also love how you leave choice what to say, and how that affects how the conversation progresses -- and how things can't be unsaid. Can you actually get stuck after saying something you shouldn't have? Because I'm stuck right now, and I'm not sure if that's the reason.

Aaanyway, love it! It's beautiful, as always -- and very innovative, too. Non-linearity and the freedom of choice you give the player in a bunch of situations plays out in very interesting ways. I'd go as far as saying they're moral choices, dynamically changing the character (for better or for worse). Same with the way you spend your money in the game. I remember you talking about implementing actual currency in the game on your blog a while ago -- and that's a fun mechanic. Reminds me of Little Big Adventure.

I will try to post a review of every game in the bundle when I get the chance to play/finish each of them. I lurk way too much -- and play far too few games these days.

[SarahLiz]

Buying now!  Excited to see this come out & always happy to support this community.  Congrats on the final release of all you guys' hard work!!  I know I sincerely appreciate you all.



Sarah

[ThreeOhFour]

Can you actually get stuck after saying something you shouldn't have? Because I'm stuck right now, and I'm not sure if that's the reason.

Your words are very kind!

No dead ends exist in the design. If you've found one (none of my testers found any) then it's my error, but hopefully you're just stuck the normal way!

[Wonkyth]

So bought, definitely going to enjoy these ones.
Also cheers, Nemo, for letting me buy your stuff in album form! :3

[m0ds]

For those who are interested, the stats are in for day 1! And many muchos massivo grazias thanks again for a brilliant first day of Summerbitch!

http://www.screen7.co.uk/games/summerbatch/#!/pageStats

[AJA]

Nice! Good to see a fellow Finn leading the contributor list.

I've added Barely Floating to the games database: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/Games.aspx/Detail/1597

Hopefully, our website will be up and running later today, or tomorrow at the latest.

-edit-
And it's up: www.stemshock.com!

[CosmoQueen]

Just bought mine! Whooo can't wait to play em!

[Eric]

According to an email receipt, I was the first person to buy the Summerbatch. I seriously doubt that's true, but in my heart, I will be proud of this regardless.

Found some spare time over the past two days to play Patchwork, which I've been looking forward to playing for awhile, since seeing the preview art in the WiP thread. What a lovely little game with an interesting premise! The art has to be among my favorite I've ever seen in an adventure game -- the characters, the portraits, the backgrounds, everything. Gameplay was excellent too, for the most part. If there's any tweaking in the future, the only suggestions I'd make would be to provide a few more clues about the order of certain things in the end:

Spoiler

I got hung up not realizing I had to play the harmony first before using the rainstick. I was walking all over the place trying to do something with the rainstick. I also kept trying to give the phone to Lin because I thought she'd need to do everything -- perhaps some sort of gentle nudge there ("I wouldn't know what to do with that; you can play it when the time comes during the spell process.")

[close]

...And to make the top GUI harder to trigger (its trigger point is awfully close to

Spoiler

the pixie

[close]

).

Here were some seriously spoiler-ridden stand-out things for me:

Spoiler

I loved the bloksmith. Though he wasn't really animated, his portrait evinced such an amazing amount of character, ESPECIALLY with his spectacles on.

Brilliant effect when I took my glasses off to offer them to him too. It was pretty much like me taking my glasses off in real life.

The transition between Lin and Daniel's viewpoints in regards to the Dryad was also a brilliant effect. Also, the "patchwork" nature of the two worlds put together.

Speaking of which: the reveal of the Volkswagen in the cave. I laughed out loud.

My favorite part of the game though, for whatever reason, had to be the rainstorm, as brief as it was. I wish there was a loop of that which I could watch. How was this effect achieved? Hand-drawn? I was captivated watching the drops colliding with multiple surfaces on the screen, and then, with a flash of lightning it was over.

[close]

Will there be a sequel?

[m0ds]

According to an email receipt, I was the first person to buy the Summerbatch. I seriously doubt that's true, but in my heart, I will be proud of this regardless.

Hehe, oh, I just looked into that, I had got it wrong. I thought it would display quantity sold but it's actually displaying quantity purchased (by you). So, you bought 1 copy, therefore you were the 1 (st) person I've taken that out now though. What a douche! Glad you like Patchwork, enjoy the rest of the games!

[Wonkyth]

And the award for best surprise lesbian sex goes to....


EDIT: Also it would appear that more than a few people are worried by the download limitations and lack of proper a distribution system. :/

[m0ds]

Yep, they are With a bit of investigation they could easily find out the background of the company, the limitations behind the first Summerbatch, etc. The people who are interested in the games and not the installer are buying it though, so it's a moot point until we can afford a better system behind its distribution (which we can't yet). If people are talking about it, negatively, positively - for a first product that's a major breakthrough. People could be saying nothing at all!

The banter is quite fun, the comments will be absorbed - my bottom line for now to those folks would be to lump it, as many already have - if you want the games, and this is about the games, this is how you'll get them this time round. You be a poor person and start a business! If the methods behind it annoy folks then all I can do is say sorry for now. We have a game titled with urine, a whore who is happy and my next game features tits. People are going to be put off with absolutely anything Screen 7 do, but that creates healthy speculation and curiosity.

This time round it's the payment system, and the costs involved getting them up to scratch currently beyond our reach - next time it could be negative issues over the content, and I'm sure the time after that someone will be offended by a credit sequence font... You just can't please everyone, but I am seeing proof that we are pleasing all the right people for now. Naturally, I'm not going to go round saying that all over

[Dave Gilbert]

Bought this the other day. I seem to be the first person to have bought the bundle, according to the email I got ("You're the 1 person to buy Summerbatch! We hope you enjoy the collection of games in Volume 1."). Congrats on getting this finished and out! Can't wait to dig in.

[Andail]

Dave, go back some 4-5 posts and read

Mods, really inspiring to see so many copies sold already! Let's hope it keeps this pace for a while.

[m0ds]

Thanks Dave! You were actually the 8th person, and you remain in the top contributors list (see here). I'd used the wrong bit of code for that "you're the 1" person. I've started playing Gemini Rue that I got with 'bundle in a box', very enjoyable!

Thanks Andail, plenty more sold today! Definitely impressed with its popularity despite the delivery shortcomings and currently minimal press coverage.

[JSH]

Excellent work guys, bought the batch yesterday, played through PISS and Nancy so far and got started on Patchwork.

I have to agree with Fitz about PISS, marvelous writing, intriguing world and unique characters. So much imagination has been poured into this game! I finished it yesterday but I'll definitely have a second go after I've finished the other games in the batch. Then I will try to really exhaust all of the dialogues and make different choices. I got some serious Planescape Torment vibes from PISS, has it by any chance been of some inspiration to the game Ben?

Nancy was really fun too, felt like a genuine flash to the past wacky adventure. I laughed out loud more than once. Nice going Technocrat, cool seeing you do something different from your usual sci-fi repertoir and excelling at it!

[ThreeOhFour]

I got some serious Planescape Torment vibes from PISS, has it by any chance been of some inspiration to the game Ben?

My entire goal with the game was to make an adventure game based homage to Torment. Glad this came through! Thanks for playing and for the feedback. 

[Ilyich]

Yay for the release of the Summerbatch! I'm very happy to have my first game in such a great company, and it's nice to see people finally getting to enjoy all the stuff we've been working on!

I've been lucky enough to play all of these games already and I've thoroughly enjoyed all of them, so I'd like to give my thanks to the developers from the position of a player. Thank you, guys, you did a great job!

I've especially enjoyed:
Nancy the Happy Whore, which plays exactly like a good old adventure of yore, but with more sensible (yet still delightfully wacky) puzzles and more sreamlined gameplay. I really liked the humour and the general fun and carefree feel, and it's great that it's a really sweet and warm game, despite the seemingly racy subject matter.

And, of course, PISS. It is by far the most ambitious of Ben's games to date, both thematically and in terms of size, it feels a lot like Planescape, it's beautiful, sad, funny, intriguing, inventive and has a lot of heart. And altough it's bigger than your usual 304 game, I still wanted it to go for a while longer, which I think is a sign of a really good game.

Eric, thank you! Glad you liked it!

Spoiler

I think there is a hint as to in which order you should use harmony and rainstick in the Book of Summonings, and I doubt that Lin would've been able to operate a modern smartphone. I do agree that a few extra interactions could've helped clear some things up, though.

The rain is indeed a hand-drawn 5- or 6-frame animation, done with some help of custom scattering brushes. It's probably my favourite thing in the game as well. I can make you a gif or psd of it if you'd like.

[close]

[Peder 🚀]

The rain is indeed a hand-drawn 5- or 6-frame animation, done with some help of custom scattering brushes. It's probably my favourite thing in the game as well. I can make you a gif or psd of it if you'd like. [/spoiler]

I want it too! XD.
I loved Patchwork btw, music was nice, GFX was REALLY nice, game play was nice! All around, the game was nice!

[SarahLiz]

So far I'm really enjoying the games (woo! Unexpected scene in PISS...lol!) and my only complaint is about myself...because my computer is retarded I had to buy it 3 times.  But you know what?  I don't care & stand by what I said before--just happy to support you guys that work so hard to entertain us. 


Sarah

[Eric]

Ilyich -- a PSD would be fantastic!

[Peder 🚀]

because my computer is retarded I had to buy it 3 times.

What? You actually ended up paying for it three times? :O. What kind of problem do you have with your computer that would cause you to do that? :-/.

[SarahLiz]

because my computer is retarded I had to buy it 3 times.

What? You actually ended up paying for it three times? :O. What kind of problem do you have with your computer that would cause you to do that? :-/.

It just wouldn't stop "loading" the pay now screen through my Paypal account, if that makes any sense.  I'd click to pay and it never updated, even though it went through my account, unbeknownst to me.  I'm not the most computer-savvy however.     Honestly, it's fine though because when it finally quit screwing up I ended up paying about how much I intended.  All good.  (My computer however, may be thrown through the window soon.)

Sorry to get off-topic.  I just finished PISS tonight (beautiful and thought-provoking of course) and currently playing Nancy, so far it's an entertaining game!  Love the fun graphics.


Sarah

[DBoyWheeler]

Hey, Technocrat, do you have a YouTube Trailer for Nancy?

[Stupot]

Ha, my email also said I was the first person to buy it, but I knew it wasn't true because a couple of people on FB had already said they'd bought it. I mustve been in the first several though, I reckon :-)

So far, I've only got around to playing a bit of Barely Floating, before my laptop overheated, but it's looking lovely so far :-)

[Peder 🚀]

I wish there was a loop of that which I could watch.

Now there is, accompanied by the soundtrack! XD
[embed=425,349]<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/m2m7n1NgsxA" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>[/embed]

[Eric]

So beautiful. Thanks, Ilyich and Peder!

[m0ds]

Emails don't lie. Coding errors never happen. You MUST'VE been the first person to buy it. All of you! 

Number of copies sold: 443
Highest contribution: £40 (Olli)
Total: £1111.21 ($1743.48)

More stats at: http://www.screen7.co.uk/games/summerbatch/#!/pageStats

Great stats considering we didn't include a game by Mog dot net! Thank you for the support, we just added another £50 to the charity pot.

Ah, that rain anim wasn't in the beta I tested, but it is a pivotal part of the tale, I really need to play again and experience it! 

[m0ds]

As we reached £100 in the charity donation, here's a free copy for one lucky pissy whorey person to celebrate! Just enter discount code gh58hgjr8476 in the Cart, update and checkout for a free copy. When it's gone it's gone! Thanks for supporting teh batch

Claimed! Possibly by Babar. Are you sure that's the right email address you entered Babar?

[Fitz]

Finished Patchwork yesterday I really liked it -- for the same reason I like Ben's games: a gallery of funny, fairytale-like characters. The talking croc was my favorite, I think. He looked bad-ass with those glasses on! All the characters were likeable in their own way.

The interactions between Lin and Daniel were fun, too. It was interesting to see how differently each of them perceived the world. It might've been even more interesting if Lin saw things from Daniel's world differently, too -- so much that they'd look differently to her than to him. But there was no real use for that, so it's not an issue.

The idea of parallel realities itself and the way they mixed was carried out very nicely, too -- with the roadside ad being my favorite. Oh and thumbs up for Cacodemon

Great, funny game with absolutely beautiful graphics Felt a lot like The Whispered World.

[Technocrat]

Hey, Technocrat, do you have a YouTube Trailer for Nancy?

I'm afraid I don't. I'm not enough of a multimedia expert to cobble one up! Maybe I should contract someone for that?

[piperhcombs]

There's a bug in the PISS game.

Spoiler

If you click on the stone behind the guy who helps you with the hieroglyphs in one of the memories, the game crashes.

[close]

Otherwise it's awesome so far. I've also finished Nancy the Happy Whore which was lots of fun.

Errr...I think I clicked too fast. Missed a few lines or something, because I missed what happened at the end of PISS.

[m0ds]

Thanks for letting us know about that error. It will be investigated!


You can download the banned trailer here 

[Dualnames]

I just bought my copy of it. Paid like a cheapshot, but I shared the rest of my paypal money to AGSers, so it kind of counts as karma bonus.

[Eric]

Last night, I gave Nancy the Happy Whore my best. A delightful little game, with Sam n' Max style wackiness. I finished without a walkthrough nor without having to sling my stuff. I feel as though there were some references I didn't get -- like the name of the gas station, for instance. I hope Susie manages to get off the stuff and that

Spoiler

I didn't kill that snake

[close]

. PISS is up next for me.

[fire]

As we reached £100 in the charity donation, here's a free copy for one lucky pissy whorey person to celebrate! Just enter discount code gh58hgjr8476 in the Cart, update and checkout for a free copy. When it's gone it's gone! Thanks for supporting teh batch

Claimed! Possibly by Babar. Are you sure that's the right email address you entered Babar?

Sorry, that was me. Claimed it for a friend. I'd be down for throwing in 3 pounds for you to give away another copy, though.

[Babar]

It was you? But...but... then what is this Summerbatch volume 1 setup I have on disk?! :O

[abstauber]

Is it already over? At least I can add anything to the cart

[m0ds]

Still another 85 or so days to go abstauber!! Perhaps if you're having issue adding it to cart on the Summerbatch website, you could try it via www.Screen7.co.uk (go to Budget games > Summerbatch > Add to cart). All the best! M

Alternatives:
Try going to the noframes site at http://www.screen7.co.uk/games/summerbatch
Try right clicking on the "Buy now" button/link to open the cart in a new window

[piperhcombs]

Yeah, on Firefox, clicking on "Add to Cart" on the Summerbatch website does absolutely nothing. It works just fine on Google Chrome though.

[Mati256]

I bought it last Sunday using Firefox and it worked perfectly. Are you using 14.0.1?

[abstauber]

Yeah, I just checked again with FF 14.0.1, there's simply no "Add to Cart" button.

But I successfully purchased it via the Screen7 store, thanks for the tip, Mark

[CaptainD]

Enjoying Barely Floating, a bit stuck on it at the moment - love the fact that you can use hotspots in the room as topics in conversations.

Completed: Patchwork... enjoyable though very easy but wow, the graphics are some of the best I've ever seen in an AGS game.

[Khris]

I'm using Firefox (14.0.1) and a) there's an "Add to cart" button on the purchase page and b) it works just fine. It's simply a link, not some javascript stuff anyway, and you can see the target in the status bar.

About the games, don't they each deserve their own thread?

[david]

I just bought a bundle, very exited to give them a try
hope I helped a bit support a good thing

[m0ds]

Thanks david! It does Hope you enjoy. I've also removed the 720 link expiry time, now it's just 7 attempts (I can't actually make that much higher).

About Firefox - the buttons occasionally display with no background, so the link text (black) sits on top of the page background (dark color), but I thought I'd fixed that. But if both of you are running the same version yet experiencing different things, I don't know how to fix..perhaps you use different ad ons or settings enabled/disabled to one another.

The developers are keen to start their own threads... LimpingFish?

[abstauber]

That's how the page is rendered on my browser and there's no chance to add the bundle to the cart.


The highlighted summerbatch writing doesn't do anything.

[m0ds]

Strange, that's a version from about a week ago! Your FF is for some reason with-holding the latest HTML. Did you clear your cache?

[SquirlyGirl]

what a fantastic way to spend my weekend off hooray!

Is there a lot of traffic right now to the download? Its telling me like 2 hours remaining to download and normally a file that size I download in 15 minutes >.< Nothing else is running slow for me so I don't think its being caused from my end.

[Fitz]

Finished Nancy The Happy Entertainer last night! Another game with a morally skewed, yet extremely likeable character -- who, unlike Moira from PISS, is not in the least conflicted. It's so nice to see someone who actually LOVES their job Also, it's fun to play someone who makes mean FUN! In PISS, I tried to be nice to everyone for Moira's karma's sake. Here, I'd always chose the baddest, most mean-spirited thing to do or say - just for the laughs And laught I did - a LOT! The game makes fun of sex, violence, drug abuse, death, gender stereotypes, popular media and the occult in such wacky, unpretentious way that it's hard not to love it. There's a serious Sam'n'Max vibe to it - not just the humor or the graphics, but the puzzles, too. And as crazy as they were sometimes, they seemed intuitive and logical -- at least at 1 am -- and most of the time I knew right away what to do. Kudos for that

Now playing Barely Floating -- and again, having a great time controlling a not-so-pleasant character. The humor in this one seems different from the games I played previously, a lot more abstract and absurd most of the time. The info dude's eye-patch and the bartender's beard are my favorite examples of that. It's things that either go unnoticed or may seem a little quirky -- but when you ask about it = WTF? Snakes of Avalon comes to mind. It has the same surreal atmosphere, where no matter how crazy things happen, you just go with it.

[m0ds]

what a fantastic way to spend my weekend off hooray!

Is there a lot of traffic right now to the download? Its telling me like 2 hours remaining to download and normally a file that size I download in 15 minutes >.< Nothing else is running slow for me so I don't think its being caused from my end.

Thanks squirly, it's that fatfreecartpro thing, it's a pile of poop. I'll make some enquiries, find out why it's so annoyingly slow.

Fitz - nice round up! Glad you're enjoying them

[Fitz]

Fitz - nice round up! Glad you're enjoying them

My pleasure! You know, I've been so busy with my little game/job/little side jobs, so focussed on becoming an accomplished 'professional' (for the lack of a better word), that I totally neglected my hobbies. Haven't played a single game, read a single book or comic, or even sat in my living room to listen to a new cd in... a year? Making it up to myself now. I missed the challenge: tapping into someone else's logic to solve a problem, getting to know a different world through going around, asking, listening and most of all, forming hypotheses and then seeing them work It's so different from making a game.

I'll *try* to play at least one game a week and post a review. The "To Play" list's been growing for a loooong time.

[david]

So I just finished playing the PatchWork

What a lovely game this is
amazing style you have, one of the best, for sure
and those puzzles are just alright; not easy, not hard
the toughest part for me was to find a rattling sound for the stick,
really highly recommended this gem
thank you for this

[m0ds]

Thanks david, glad you had fun! And indeed Fitz, I'm the same - I'd forgotten how good it is to actually get your teeth stuck into a game, involve yourself in the writers world and above all, understand (a little) about what's going on to the extent where you can actually progress. I played the games (and haven't finished them all yet) but not in long stints. But I found going away from a game for a bit gave me time to think over what I could do to beat that puzzle, and it worked, and that made me feel like a right old 90's adventurer

To let you all know - you've helped us raise £100 for SpecialEffect, and so today I sent that to them. Many thanks!

[gamerwiz]

LMAO! I just played Nancy the happy whore and it was hilarious!  The graphics look almost identical to MiraMagia with a much more interesting storyline! Loved it!

[Ishmael]

Strange, that's a version from about a week ago!

The site's being a bit quirky for me on Chrome. It seems to cache way too much, and only randomly actually loads a new page. Been stuck on the previous day's stats on several occasions, for example, and then it eventually decides to refresh the page properly when I go look at it for the nth time.

[m0ds]

Thanks Ishmael. That page is updated manually by me when I have the time. Yesterday I wasn't at home at all, so didn't update it until...just now. So I'm not worried about that page particularly, but definitely the others if they're staying cached! But then, that is just cache. I can't clear that for you

[david]

and now a little bit of PISS
well, at the beginning of the game I thought what the hell is that?
but the more I delved into the game and the atmosphere the more I liked it
What an incredible built story
Wow, Ben, the title PISS, you certainly nailed it down, it fits the atmosphere totally
I am really speechless about this game, because this is something everyone must experience on their own

One suggestions: please don't put so many lines at the beginning of the game because it can distract the player and eventually they can quit the game
and that would be a shame.

You really deserve anyone who starts to play this will finish it to the end

[Ishmael]

Thanks Ishmael. That page is updated manually by me when I have the time. Yesterday I wasn't at home at all, so didn't update it until...just now. So I'm not worried about that page particularly, but definitely the others if they're staying cached!

Ah, alright, I didn't realise. So that explains a part of it :p But it does take a few tries for me to get the new version, noticed this a few days back when other people were looking at newer stats than me.

[david]

What a shame, I cannot run the Barely Floating game
I am not able to set the resolutions right for my PC
no winsetup.exe, just a setting for the full or windowed mode and for sound muted, nothing else
can anybody help?

[Rocco]

hey david, i think when your monitor doesnt support the widescreenresolution,
then you must play the game in windowed mode, and it should work.

[david]

no, still no hope to run it, I guess if this game is set to directX, then I must say that it will not run for me unless I am able change the mode

@Rocco
I am playing your game right now, very interesting story, I am happy that you can avoid fighting by switching to the stealth mode
I made me remember the times when I played some fight games at my friend's house on Atari, especially those close-up fights with the opponents Thanks for that
how many levels are there? I think I am now outside the prison, will play it later tonight

[m0ds]

Sorry to hear that david. AJA did discuss this during development. Perhaps this answer will help you out!

The thing is, with the custom resolution AGS, the graphics filters and some of the other settings no longer do anything, and using the DirectDraw renderer crashes the game (unsupported as well), so I decided to just simplify it so the users won't get confused when the settings don't work. So, basically any of the graphical options, except the windowed/fullscreen checkbox, are useless. I don't remember if I've ever seen reports about the default audio settings not working, but that'd be the only purpose for using the built-in setup. We'll just have to ask them to run "Barely Floating.exe --setup" in that case, I guess.

Try running "Barely Floating.exe --setup" and changing the settings. But this may still be a fairly grim situation for your PC. If this doesn't work out, can you tell us anything about your graphics card?

There's also a poll for your general anonymous feedback

[Ishmael]

Try running "Barely Floating.exe --setup" and changing the settings.

As said, the settings literally do nothing. The game is in 1280x720 res and there's really no scaling that -- but it's the same renderer still, so what's the actual issue? Any modern computer should be able to handle that resolution...

[david]

If this doesn't work out, can you tell us anything about your graphics card?

VIA/S3G UniChrome Pro IGP

I think this card is integrated, so no support of Direct3D
If the default settings are set to Direct3D I obviously am not able to run it, for sure
On my laptop, however, this certainly is possible to run it


about the poll: despite the fact of this issue I'm totally in love with this bundle 
I get this Error:
There was a problem initializing graphics mode 1280*1024 (32-bit)
Problem: The requested adapter mode is not supported
Try to correct the problem, or seek help from the AGS homepage

and then possible causes:
about graphics card drives - not supported by this resolution
graphics driver - not working
graphics filter - not working

thanks

[m0ds]

Thanks David. There's not a lot we can do about it, AGS has out spec'd your gfx card it seems... Hope you're able to enjoy it on your laptop. Sorry about that!

[AJA]

Sorry to hear that, David.

I tested the game on one computer that had an S3 graphics card and it was the only computer I've tested that couldn't run the game. I hope you'll have a chance to play the game on some other computer with proper DirectX support!

[Rocco]

@Rocco
I am playing your game right now, very interesting story, I am happy that you can avoid fighting by switching to the stealth mode
I made me remember the times when I played some fight games at my friend's house on Atari, especially those close-up fights with the opponents Thanks for that
how many levels are there? I think I am now outside the prison, will play it later tonight

Thanks, David.
There are 3 Levels outside the prison, and after the prison the escape driving level.

[T.Hi]

I too am not able to play Barely Floating. I do have DirectX9, so that's not the issue; the problem seems to be that my convertible laptop/tablet - a Compaq tc4400 - does not support 1280x720. I tried changing the info via the .cfg file, but that also didn't help so I guess I'm just out of luck. And that was the game I most wanted to play.   

[david]

Hey Guys, thanks for your replies

It seems that I would run the game on my Desktop due to this program...http://transgaming.com/ ; Swiftshader is just a demo version, but clearly can help anybody out to solve their problem

[AJA]

I too am not able to play Barely Floating. I do have DirectX9, so that's not the issue; the problem seems to be that my convertible laptop/tablet - a Compaq tc4400 - does not support 1280x720. I tried changing the info via the .cfg file, but that also didn't help so I guess I'm just out of luck. And that was the game I most wanted to play.   

That's a shame. Yes, 1280x720 is required and the game won't run in any other resolution. Sorry.

[T.Hi]

Are there any programs that will allow me to play, that will maybe simulate or mimic that resolution? Kind of like I can use DosBox to play DOS games.

I guess my only other option may be to buy another power cord for my Flat Panel TV (dog chewed up the first one), then connect it to the comp and have the program run on it, since the TV does have the option to run via comp and hopefully will support that res.

[david]

Hey T.Hi, you don't need to buy anything, just install that software I have posted earlier today and it will surely work for you, I have tried it, it worked
try swiftshader

[T.Hi]

David,
I did try that and I still got an error that it can't support 1024x728, which I have...or am I supposed to do something other than put the .dll file in with the game?

[david]

That's strange, cause, yeah, I copy the .dll file into the game directory, right there, and it works
But do you get the Configuration Settings also?
If no, I will send it to you, and you can adjust some parameters there
http://uloz.to/xLRJKbt/swiftshader-dx9-sm3-build-3383-zip
It is the ConfigSettings file included, so paste those two files into the game's directory and try to set it for you
hope this helps

[T.Hi]

David,
Thank you, but when I use your link, I think I'm asked to log in(?) And I DO have the Config file from my dl of SS but it's a link and when I click on it, I get "Oops! Google Chrome could not connect to localhost:8080"!

Never mind that last part; I figured out that I just put that link in with the game also and it'll create the config file. Unfortunately, it still didn't work and I get another error. I already paid for a cord for my TV - need it, anyway, have been minus telly waaaaaaay too long! - and so I'll play it on there when the cord arrives... I do thank you for trying to help, though. 

[Frodo]

Just bought this through Mod's Screen 7 site.   

[m0ds]

Thank you Frodo. If you are the most recent buyer then that is one interesting surname! I can confirm that you did not spend £1mil on it. Hope you enjoy the games, and glad to hear you were able to do it via the s7 site!

I've noticed Chrome makes buttons go a bit funny and Opera simply won't ever load it. Can I ask what browser you viewed the website with?

[Frodo]

Hehe.  Glad you liked the surname.     I'm playing Barely Floating first, and I love it!   

I use Internet Explorer, and it seemed fine on there.   

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

I'm quite happy with my purchase overall, and three of the games were quite exceptional.

[m0ds]

Cheers ProgZ & Frodo! You folks have helped us reach £1500 ($2371.65) so that's another 50 quid to charity. Thank you!

1 free copy as thanks, when it's gone it's gone! Use discount code "fKrdxU2"

[Chicky]

Just dropped some money your way via my good friend Simon! Downloading now

*edit* Patchwork is awesome! A very charming little adventure. I think Ilyich did a fantastic job in establishing a world in which the player is instantly involved in, with some really charismatic characters. The artwork was beautiful and i really liked the animation at the end! Making my way through PISS now.

[Ilyich]

Hey, I just wanted to say big thanks to Chicky(Chook?!  ), david, CaptainD, Fitz and everyone else who played and enjoyed Patchwork! I somehow missed the right moment to respond and thank you guys for the feedback, but I really appreciate it, and it's better late than never, right? Cheers!

[CaptainD]

Ilyich - you thanked us all in advance by making such a great game for us! 

[m0ds]

There's also a new review of Patchwork here: http://yctag.com/patchwork-review/

And one of PISS can be found at: http://www.wraithkal.info/piss-review/

Also, a quick trailer is on page 1, as the first one got banned by YT .^^

[And-or]

Hey, just wanted to say that the batch is totally worth the money! And I'm actually a little guilty that I bought it so cheap, 'cause they games are awesome
First I played "Barely floating" - man, this game was hard! Was stuck several times. Yet, this is why I liked it, it's challenging.
Then I played "Nancy" and I really liked the humor and the graphics and a wacky storyline - reminded me of DOTT a bit
Now I'm playing "Patchwork" - first impression: "wow, what a cute graphics!" And: "If this game is long enough, I might like it even better than Simon the Sorcerer"

That said, I'm going back to enjoying the batch.
Big thanks to all the authors!

[Nix]

Hi there, Ive just finished patchwork and i loved it, beautiful! Currently playing barely floating but keep getting stuck!

Ive had a few problems with my games, right from the beginning when the download kept glitching and not opening. Now it have them setup I cant change anything in the winsetup window, so I cant run it in windowed mode or anything. If i click the actual "play *game*" link in my menu the game works ok, all but PISS which is just failing to run. I have enough memory available for it. Has anyone had similar problems or can anyone advise me on what i should try next? sorry im a bit vague i dont have access to my laptop the games r on right now so cant repeat the error messages i get!

[Ilyich]

Thanks, Nix, glad you liked Patchwork!

The problem you are having with winsetup probably has something to do with Windows' permissions. Try running winsetup as administrator (right-click -> Run as administrator).

[Paul Franzen]

Just finished playing my last Summerbatch game this morning! (Almost made getting up at 4:30AM because I was too sick to keep sleeping worthwhile. Almost.)

I bought the bundle for Nancy the Happy Whore (and honestly, I was only planning to play that one and just skim through the others), but Barely Floating and PISS really took me by surprise--both fun, intelligent games which kept me trying to squeeze more time in the day for just one more puzzle. I was also impressed with how much lore PISS and Patchwork were able to pack into such short games; they both seemed very much like they had expansive worlds beyond themselves that they were drawing from.

I posted about the bundle a bunch on Twitter, too; hope I can send a few more sales your way!

[AJA]

Thanks, Paul! Happy to hear you enjoyed Barely Floating!
(And sorry about the karaoke puzzle since you seemed to have slight problems with that one based on your tweets. Be thankful, though, that we simplified it quite a bit from its first iteration. )

I see the one review for BF that I've come across hasn't yet been mentioned in this thread, so here goes:
http://yctag.com/barely-floating-review/

Since the sale is getting close to its end, we'll release some more stuff in a couple of days to try and persuade any who haven't yet bought the batch to do so.

[m0ds]

Annnd thanks to AJA you can now play a chunk of Barely Floating for free, see the demo page

[Igor Hardy]

November 11th is the Polish Independence Day. Nice touch, m0ds.

[kalirion]

So, when can we expect the sequels to these games?  Good to know that another Nancy title is in the works, but what about the rest?  Particularly PISS - leaving the story at that point would be as criminal as letting Deception be the last Blackwell game .  Would also love another (now self-actualized) Old Man adventure, and to see more of that parallel universe as well.

[AJA]

I don't think there'll be an Old Man Adventure 2. He's earned his rest.

Nor a prequel. He's past should remain a mystery. Every player can fill in whatever they think he's been through in his long life.

[m0ds]

I'm dishing out a few free copies for the next 20 mins or so at http://www.screen7.co.uk/adventurex

Watch the live feed on the main page for the discount codes

EDIT: Over now. I will do another one in the next couple of days!

[Crimson Wizard]

Yeah, right, I was actually going to pay for this.
Strange thing is, though, I can't make paypal checkout. I click "Purchase", then "Add to Cart", then enter "Amount", then click on "Checkout with Paypal", then it starts to process something and I end with PayPal error:

Sorry â€" your last action could not be completed
<...>
If you came to this page from another website, please return to that site (don't use your browser's Back button) and restart your activity.

I tried few times with no luck.

[m0ds]

How odd, it happens to me too. Seems it stopped working around 8pm tonight. I haven't touched anything, so no idea where the problem originates but I'll look into it.

Edit - it seems to be a PayPal issue, something their end, like a service outage. Sorry about that (not a lot I can do though :/) I'd suggest trying again in 24 hours or so.

Seems to be working again! Try it not (you may need to clear your recent history/cache, Crimson Wizard)

[selmiak]

you should contact some more magazines and blogs to write about it now as this will draw some last minute customers in as the pressure of it closing is so close

[Crimson Wizard]

Seems to be working again! Try it not

No, ofcourse I won't .

Actually did. DLing now.

[m0ds]

4 days left of the sale. I invite you to watch the AdventureX webcast between 15:00 and 15:30 GMT on Friday, Saturday and Sunday where I will be giving away codes to get a free copy before the end of the sale*! That's the webcast at http://www.screen7.co.uk/adventurex

Thank you to everyone who's bought, played, enjoyed and reported back - we've recently crossed the 1000 purchases mark, woohoo!

* It's also a test to see if the webcast works okay, as it's the system we'll be using at AdventureX

[m0ds]

This bundle ends in less than 24 hours! Last chance to buy a teh copy! Log in to http://www.screen7.co.uk/adventurex at 15:00-15:30 GMT today Sunday 11th or a little later at 00:30-00:10 AM for some final give aways of free copies! Be sure to tune in too if you just want to see some funky live programming that probably won't stream very well via my mobile broadband That said it DID work today for one lucky person who used one of the coupon codes to claim a free teh copy

[m0ds]

Viewership didn't quite reach 1.9mil so there are still a few free copies left over from the live stream. Add Summerbatch via "Purchase" at the website (click the image in my sig), use code "CHRISJONES" in the shopping cart, press "Update" and it's yours. A limited amount so when they're gone they're gone! And there's another giveaway in the dead of night at 00:30-01:00 tonight before the sale officially ends. Hope you enjoy(ed) the games!

(Haha nice one DKH. Guess who I'm listening to as that notification pops up )

[m0ds]

It's over! It's been a blast, have to do it again sometime Here are the final figures from the sale. I'm amazed how they rounded themselves off right at the end, but that's thanks to everyone who bought it over the sale period - nice one! 50p was of course the most popular payment, but a lot of folks also stuck to the 3.00 suggested price. Below are the top contributors who added quite a bit extra, we're grateful to those who gave generously, those who gave anything at all - and those who managed to pick up a free copy and send their wishes (you know who you Ponch are!)

Total copies sold: 1170

Top contributors:
Fabio T (66.6)
Ivan M (50)
Delia B (50)
Olli K (40)
Daniel O (30)
Sarah W (30)
Daniel M (25)

Total raised: 2500.18 GBP
Charity (x1): 250.00 GBP
Individual (x6): 375.03 GBP

[Technocrat]

I'll just add my thanks to everyone who got it!

[Ghost]

Congratulations on the sucessful bundle, guys. It's great to see adventure games making their way out into the world

[SarahLiz]

Glad you guys had such a successful sale!  It was a pleasure to be a supporter & great fun to play. 

[AJA]

Yes, thanks everyone for your support! I'm glad so many people seemed to enjoy our little games.

[Peder 🚀]

So Summerbatch developers, who is planning on continuing selling your games?

[Technocrat]

I certainly plan to. I'm engineering the voiced version of Nancy to sell, and then I just have to set up my website for e-commerce.

[Peder 🚀]

m0ds, how come the Summerbatch (Volume 1) is still sold on the screen7.co.uk website? :-/.

Technocrat, Awesome! I'll have to re-buy it to get the talkie version .

[m0ds]

Because it's still a Screen 7 product til the years' end. "Pay what you want" is over, for a little while post sale it's "pay the price we've set" Also means it can still be given away & sold exclusively over AdventureX, etc. That said, the developers are free to get their games on sale wherever else now, so feel free to pester them to put their games on Steam, etc!!

[lackey]

Hey there, I'm new to the forum and I was wondering if there was any chance to get the games you were selling? Specifically Nancy and Patchwork.
I will of course pay for them =)
I have paypal if that helps =)
Thanks

[Relight]

Ah, posted a "where can I get these?" message myself, but then found the answer.

For anyone else wondering, check out http://www.summerbatch.co.uk where download / purchase links for some are available.

PISS: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/01/16/fancy-a-decent-adventure-then-go-for-a-piss/
Patchwork: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1642/

Apologies for the massive bump Looked for delete option, didn't find one