Guard Duty - Available for Windows, Mac and Linux!

Started by Chicky, Sun 07/12/2014 09:52:15

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Chicky



Guard Duty is an ambitious puzzle adventure game, following in the footsteps of titles like
Monkey Island, Day of the Tentacle, Simon the Sorcerer and the Discworld series.

The game features a unique three act story with an open world to explore, carefully paced
puzzles and two radically different timelines.

Story

When a teenage apprentice stumbles upon his mentor's collection of Demonic literature he
learns of a long forgotten ancient ritual, a recipe for destruction, death and the promise
of immortality.

With evil in his eyes the apprentice embarks on the journey of a lifetime, one reaching
far across the depths of time and space.

'An exchange of royal blood for an eternity on the throne, to be king of the underworld,
ruler of the mortal realm.'








Characters

Take control of the first dynamic duo with a heritage line spanning multiple millennia!
Destiny speaks of two men that can stop the young soon-to-be ruler of the world, well,
more like one and a half men:

Agent Starborn, time travelling Lieutenant General of the Guardians of New Haven!





...and Tondbert, Night's Watchmen of Wrinklewood, part time drunk and three quarter dwarf.




Gameplay

As you puzzle your way through this unique three act story you will get to do a bunch of cool stuff like:
Catapult yourself across a bottomless chasm of doom, save a Knight from a giant Sandworm
or even TRAVEL THROUGH TIME AND SPACE.





---

Guard Duty is due to release in Spring 2019.


Art, story and game design by Nathan Hamley
Programming and additional game design by Andy White


---

Follow us:



Web
Twitter
Indie DB
Facebook



Cassiebsg

Looks and sounds great! (nod)
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

selmiak

I don't get how the scifi and the fantasy setting are connected but I really want to find out! These are some gorgeous pixels!

AnasAbdin

Awesome story/art/everything!
The contrast between the backgrounds -realms- is amazing. I can't wait to play this game.

Gurok

THIS IS BEAUTIFUL!
I want to play it nowwwww!!!

Story sounds like a true adventure too.
[img]http://7d4iqnx.gif;rWRLUuw.gi

Dropped Monocle Games

WOW this looks great! I love the art.. nice work :D

Dualnames

"I can't make games" he said.

"I can't draw" he said.

CHICKY, YOU CHICKY BASTARD!
Worked on Strangeland, Primordia, Hob's Barrow, The Cat Lady, Mage's Initiation, Until I Have You, Downfall, Hunie Pop, and every game in the Wadjet Eye Games catalogue (porting)

Fitz

Quote from: Chicky on Sun 07/12/2014 09:52:15resurrect a dead horse

I'm getting a strong Bioshock: Infinite vibe here! Well, the Bioshock: Infinite early promos, at least :P

KodiakBehr

This may be the most wild plot I've seen here in ages.  Very interesting in learning more.

I<3Pindorama!

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Matti

This looks very nice!

CrashPL

Yes, the graphics and the general art style/direction is awesome! Looking foward to playing it!

Eric

What a wonderful thing to have sprung on me this morning. This looks great!

miguel

It does look fantastic! Great stuff so far, good luck!
Working on a RON game!!!!!

Chicky

You're all awesome! Just got back from AdventureX to see all these lovely comments :)

selmiak: You'll have to trust me on the story, it's wild but should feel like something fresh. I wanted each act to add something new for the player, like three interwoven mini-stories. If there was a subtitle it would probably be something like 'Horseback to the Future'.
Dualnames: It's been a long ride but I eventually found my style, all thanks to this very inspiring community (and you too bbz)
KodiakBehr: Thanks! Hopefully the story isn't too wild ;) Watch this space for a dev-blog link.
Fitz: Score! The first 30 minutes of Bioshock: Infinite were my favorite, I loved walking around Columbia and watching all the NPC's. If I can come close to this i'll be happy!
I<3Pindorama! Um. Thanks, I think! :D

To all commenting on the artwork, you're the reason I do this. Big grin on my face right now!

You can follow me on Twitter @Chicky___ (three underscores!)

Dualnames

Hey babe, i'm gonna stalk you so hard! Wonderful to see you pumped <3.
Worked on Strangeland, Primordia, Hob's Barrow, The Cat Lady, Mage's Initiation, Until I Have You, Downfall, Hunie Pop, and every game in the Wadjet Eye Games catalogue (porting)

Sslaxx

Shall be keeping an eye out on this one!
Stuart "Sslaxx" Moore.

Stupot

Looks sweet, Chicky. I knew you had something up your sleeve. (laugh)

Baron

Awesome that this has been revived rebooted!

Mati256

My Blog! (En Español)

Armageddon

Oh my it looks so pretty!

shaun9991

Oh wow, this looks amazing! Great art and story, will keep a close eye on this one!! :)
Support Cloak and Dagger Games on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/user?u=460039

Andail

Goodness, that's beautiful! Best of luck with completing this project.

Lasca

Stunning! Looks like this is going to be awesome.

ThreeOhFour

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

theo

Curious to see more! Show more! Go go go!

Michael2968

Looks good I look forward to playing it next year.

m0ds

Fantastic stuff Nathan! I didn't know you had it in you! ;) Best of luck, I can't wait to play it (if not before you bloody bring it next year to AdvX!) - nice to see you!

monkey424

Quote from: Chicky on Sun 07/12/2014 09:52:15


I spot cleavage! ..And bosom! ;)

I'm excited! :-D

Nice work Chicky!
    

Adeel

Quote from: monkey424 on Thu 11/12/2014 11:32:44
Quote from: Chicky on Sun 07/12/2014 09:52:15
Spoiler
[close]

And they are so heavy that she had no other option left but to rest them on the table! This only indicates that the game's really worth playing. ;-D Good luck!

Fitz

Quote from: Chicky on Sun 07/12/2014 22:58:29Fitz: Score! The first 30 minutes of Bioshock: Infinite were my favorite, I loved walking around Columbia and watching all the NPC's. If I can come close to this i'll be happy!

Wasn't the part in the church just mesmerizing? And then the beach, with a retro version of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" playing in the background. It's a shame that the rest of the game was pretty much all a non-stop urban battlezone. I *liked* it, and enjoyed playing it quite a bit, there were plenty of fun twists and tasty tidbits -- but expected it to be more like the initial part.

AprilSkies

All is so good! The concept and the art. Oh the art! Stunning!
Grand job!

www.apemarina.altervista.org

Chicky

Hello all ;-D

First I would like to say a huge thank you for all of your kind words and support so far. I left it too late to reply before but I really appreciate each of your comments. I've got lots of friends on Twitter now and everyone is constantly producing really inspiring stuff. It's like a little app I can go to whenever I want to get pumped for making Guard Duty. Oh and Fitz I totally agree, it's a shame the studio split.

Anyway, i've written up the first Devlog, it covers the game's art direction and history over the years. Lots of fun old screenshots from the various revamps of the game. You'll have to excuse my daft sense of humor.

You can check it out on www.clicknpoint.co.uk It's just a tumblr page so you can probably follow it or something ;)

Oh and something new, here are a couple of stills from a flashback sequence we implemented recently. They only appear on the screen for a second and are cropped, so they're not mega detailed.





Until next time!

NickyNyce

Looks great Chicky. I love the art, very very nice.

Dor Hajaj

This is by far the best graphics i have ever seen,  including famous and commercial games.  I wish u success and will play this for sure!

Darth Mandarb

Dor Hajaj - please review the forum rules before further posting.

Chicky - let me know if/when you want to post an update and I can unlock this.  Sad it became necessary.

Chicky

Update!



We have rebranded! The pseudo-studio I released my games under 'Clicknpoint' is no more, we decided a more funky name was in order and I wanted to keep the chicken theme so I present:



The further we get into development the more serious this feels (this project has completely taken over my life), so a decent web presence was in order. I'm planning on starting a Greenlight page somewhere around Christmas and will be putting some form of trailer/gameplay video out around the same time. I'm pretty rubbish at this whole social networking jazz but if anyone fancies following us on any of our social links at the bottom of the website, or sharing the website with friends that would be damn swell!

So, progress update.

I was way too ambitious with my initial predictions for how long this beast would take to make. It's a long way off being finished but i'm chuffed to bits with what we have achieved over the past two years.

We've been working hard behind the scenes, we've reworked our gameplan, we removed some sections of the game that were unnecessarily drawn out, reworking puzzles to allow for more player satisfaction and less backtracking. We have lots of things implemented that i'm really proud of and we've (fingers crossed) managed to keep a consistent quality throughout every location. We're at the point where i'm finally happy to call it the second 'act', that is, the player can progress through the entirety of the first act, with *almost* all of the assets in place and all of the core puzzles.

I've finished the majority of the background assets for the second act and am now starting to put the locations together in AGS with placeholder characters and objects. Thankfully I've already created the big cutscenes for the final act and some other bits and pieces.

Anyway, here are some new screenshots from the first act, please note the font is due to change and a couple of the animations need cleaning up.


Princess Theramin has a run in with a mysterious stranger...


Tondbert enjoys a little tipple on his Birthday shift.


Tondbert's face is horrifically mutilated after a run in with a beehive.

That's all for now, thanks for all of your support so far!

AnasAbdin

Those are some amazing screenshots  8-0
For some reason, this first one reminded me of Ghosts 'n Goblins. The drunk moving talk bubble is really a great touch  (laugh)

gameboy

Can't believe I missed this thread before.

This game looks just lovely!

Jack

Whoa, great art style. Even the speech bubbles look good.

That guy is never making any progress digging like that though.

Danvzare

Wow, I love that artstyle. It reminds me slightly of the artstyle on the Discworld games.

I look forward to seeing this progress. :)

Matti

Great new screenies, this looks very exciting! Keep it up.

dactylopus

This looks very interesting.

I love all of the different effects added to the screenshots.  They look great!

As far as the background art itself, I'm partial to the second one with the castle wall.

Squall_Leonheart

Oh mine, this seems a masterpiece.
I'm very surprised about the animation of the man who hoes the ground.
The style of your backgrounds is very likeable to see and the characters colours appear very well on it.
Good job and good luck!

Chicky

Thank you for your words of encouragement! Since my last post I've finished the artwork for one of the largest locations in the game, which i'm really happy with.

AnasAbdin: Thanks! GnG is pretty rad (nod)
Gameboy: Ta dude, in your defence I haven't updated this thread as much as I could have.
Jack: His digging is looping in the gif, missing one of the animations but I think he deserves a break, he is blind in one eye! Haha, thanks though. My coder Andy worked wonders with the speech bubbles.
Danvzare: Hurrah! Discworld is a big influence, there are more than a couple of homages. I've tried to keep Guard Duty's puzzles on the more logical side of things though ;)
Matti: Thanks for the support :)
dactylopus: Thanks, most of the environment effects are created in Adobe After Effects with the colours limited to keep with the retro aesthetic. I was actually considering adding some more details to the Castle Wall, but worried it might get a bit too busy.
Squall_Leonheart: Thank you, every character in the game will have at least two idle animations, most with many more!

Here's one of the backgrounds I was streaming on Twitch, the entrance to the enchanted woods. It's a fairly basic one but will feature an interesting character for the focal point, which I have yet to draw :-D




SilverSpook

Looks awesome!  Is that some sort of dinosaur skeleton on the ground, center-left?

selmiak

looks more like a deer to me.
The gfx lool nice but also like some sloppily upscaled pixelart. Why would you do that?

Chicky

Thanks SilverSpook, selmiak's right it's meant to a deer of sorts.

selmiak: Ahhhh! That's the last thing I want people to think! I draw everything at 320x240, so no upscaling there. I upload the screenshots at 2x the original res using nearest neighbour, but do put a slight blur on the image afterwards to soften the edges slightly. I find pixel art looks a bit sharp when viewed in a small screenshot, personal preference I guess.

Or maybe it's the blur I added to the far background hills? I'm still not sure if I should keep that, I have a version without the blur too.

Thanks anyway, let's discuss this over PM :)

mercenario

This looks amazing, the art reminds me a lot to Simon The Sorcerer one of my all time favorites, I'll be on Guard Duty until the release date.

Chicky

Thanks mercenario, StS is a beautiful game, it's one of my many artistic influences :=

I recorded my background making process recently, this one took me about 12 hours or so. Yikes!



[embed=640,390]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xw81opD14rY[/embed]

Gradir

This looks absolutely amazing!!

Chicky

Thanks Gradir :)

...

UPDATE!

Progress is going really well, I've dropped my hours at work so I have a WHOLE EXTRA DAY (!!) to work on Guard Duty each week.

AdventureX was amazing, I took our current build along with me and the reception to the game was fantastic, really encouraging stuff. Apparently I need to post more updates though... :)

Anyway, on that note:

I'm working on making a small video showcasing some early gameplay, I've been having tonnes of fun creating all sorts of quirky folley sounds for the game. I'm especially happy with the GUI sounds and a neat gate mechanism sound I created using my squeaky chair, a metal tin lid and a wooden box. You'll get to hear some of this stuff in the next thread update, for now here's the gate mechanism:

https://soundcloud.com/sick-chicken-studios/guard-duty-wheel-crank-sfx

I've also recorded 100 or so lines of dialogue for Tondbert, I decided to have a go at voicing him myself and somehow, people really like it. So you've got that to look forward to. Here's a teaser, let me know what you think :)

https://soundcloud.com/sick-chicken-studios/thebusybarmaid-guard-duty-vo-test

Also, here's an animation from one of the Sci-Fi sequences that didn't get much love on Twitter. So maybe you guys will appreciate it more ;-D

(Click image for animation, imgur converted it to a video, so I can't embed)



I've also been working on getting the game to a full playable state, from start to finish. I've got most of the art finished for the first Act, but am using good ol' programmer art for the rest of the game.


(work in progress)


(work in progress)

I also created this neat-o high resolution logo for the game. I'm not sure if it needs more details but I got fed up with using Adobe Illustrator so called it quits here.



So that's about it for now. I'll do another update once the gameplay teaser is finished, I have a really good musician on board so you'll get to hear a bit of that too :)

Thanks for all the support so far!




cat

I loved what you showed at AdventureX! Looking forward to the finished game :)

Cassiebsg

Loving it! (nod)
I'm not sure what is happening at the end of the scene there, but up until then looks great. (nod)

Ooohhh... nice game voice!

The logo looks nice, though a bit too big. Not sure if it's the size, but I find it hard to read, specially the G... if I didn't knew what was written in there I might not have gotten it.
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Blondbraid

How exciting, best of luck to you! ;-D


Chicky

Cat: Thanks again! I wish AdventureX was every weekend, haha ;-D

Cassiebsg: Thanks :) I'll have a think about the logo and see if it needs changing. I'd already made a low res version for the main menu, which is animated so that could take a bit of work to change :P

Blondbraid: Ta! I need all the luck I can get :=

Here's something I've been working on recently: A basic rope tether system using AGS's dynamic sprite and draw functions. I don't normally code this complex stuff (Andy does) so It's a bit rough.

https://youtu.be/xGTUhbx0u6c

xil

Quote from: Chicky on Thu 15/12/2016 19:02:17
Here's something I've been working on recently: A basic rope tether system using AGS's dynamic sprite and draw functions. I don't normally code this complex stuff (Andy does) so It's a bit rough.

https://youtu.be/xGTUhbx0u6c

That is awesome mate!
Calico Reverie - Independent Game Development, Pixel Art & Other Stuff
Games: Mi - Starlit Grave - IAMJASON - Aractaur - blind to siberia - Wrong Channel - Memoriae - Point Of No Return

Haggis

QuoteThat is awesome

I concur - please tell me the goat features throughout the game. GOAT.

Cassiebsg

There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Stupot


CaptainD

This is looking amazing!  Just hope that goat's more friendly than the one in Broken Sword...
 

Retro Wolf


SilverSpook

Fantastic job here.  Definitely a must play!

Chicky

Me again!

Firstly I would like to say thanks to xil, Haggis, Cassiebsg, Stupot, Captain D, RetroWolf and SilverSpook for all the Goat love, he really appreciates it! :-* (I promise he's nicer than the angry fella in Broken Sword)

I'm going to be announcing some big new shiny things tomorrow morning, you can expect a bunch more content and an opportunity to help us with the project :) Our fanbase is fairly small, but I'm hoping to increase that with this new promotional push. Any reposts, retweets or shares would really help us out!

Anyway, I made a rad poster that I'm really happy with. So to tide you over until tomorrow, I present our box art!


Creamy

Stunning art and animation, it looks like a lost gem of the 90s

I like the poster too, the upper part especially. Just don't tell Anita Sarkeesian.
 

Cassiebsg

Nice, looks great and nice dynamic. I like the 4 contrasts. (nod)
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Chicky

It is time!

So I've been working really hard for the past two weeks, frantically putting together two promotional campaigns. With the death of Steam Greenlight on the horizon it was a race against time to get these out before Steam pulled the plug.

You can find lots of new information about the game on our Kickstarter page:



If you have a Steam account, please consider voting for Guard Duty on Steam Greenlight! It would help me out so much!



Along with the Kickstarter we've released two new videos for Guard Duty, debuting some of the locations and gameplay that feature in the game.

Guard Duty Kickstarter Trailer



Guard Duty Gameplay Teaser



And to sign off, here are some new screenshots from the game:













Thanks for taking a look and all of your support so far! We need as much exposure as possible across this first week, so any shares, retweets or recommendations to friends would be really appreciated!

Oh and remember to vote on the Greenlight page! :)





CrashPL

Voted and shared the news on FB, my friend! Hoping your wonderful game gets the green light before spring and GL shutdown!

Chicky

I saw that, thanks so much Crash! And me too... It also would have been a shame to miss out on the extra promotion Greenlight generates.

We have just reached £94 pledged on Kickstarter, in the first hour! (woo!)

AnasAbdin

Offf I was waiting for your post since you mentioned it yesterday! Totally worth the wait!
Voted: Hell YES! (laugh)
Always wishing you the best :)

Peder 🚀

Voted!! Wish you all the best with the kickstarter! :D

Chicky

AnasAbdin and Peder, thank you both for the shares and votes today (and everyone else who has shared on various social platforms) :) Your help is working!

We've just been picked for Kickstarter's 'Projects we love'! I'm not 100% sure on what exactly this means, but it seems someone at Kickstarter liked our game :) I'm so happy right now ;-D Thank you all for the support so far, it's been such an exciting day!

We're currently at £653, so about 33% of the way towards out goal with 29 days remaining. Fingers crossed we make it!

Frodo

This looks fantastic!  Really reminds me of Simon The Sorceror.  :grin:

Already backed it on Kickstarter.   :thumbsup:
The steam logo is very off-putting, so it's good that your tiers show that it's also DRM-free, so we're not forced to use steam. 

How will the DRM-free release be distributed?  :smiley:

Chicky

Hey Frodo, thanks for contributing to the project.

I've amended the campaign page after seeing your suggestions. The DRM free version will be available via a download link, we've yet to decide on the platform but we will likely go with GOG or similar.

Thanks again for your support!

Sslaxx

Stuart "Sslaxx" Moore.

Peder 🚀


Frodo


Chicky

Haha, looks like there's plenty of choice out there for us ;) Thanks.

Just a quick update to say:

We have reached the 50% mark! In just two days!

Wow, I'm so happy with how well this is all going. We're actually at 58% funded as I'm writing this, having raised a staggering £1,163 so far!

We've had quite a few comments regarding the poster/promo art above and it seems the general opinion is that it's not doing the in-game art justice :~(

Luckily I'm not a proud man, I'm happy to admit that someone else could do a much better job than me and therefore we now have the very talent Benjamin Sawyer working hard on a poster for us. Something much more in-line with the classic Sierra and LucasArts box art.

In regards to Greenlight, it seems Steam is a bit of a minefield when it comes to it's users. We're currently at 317 'Yes' votes but that only account for 54% of our votes, with 42% being negative. I'm starting to see the problem with Greenlight, we've had 43 positive comments (not a single negative one) but yet there are still hundreds of users mindlessly downvoting our game.

Anyway, if you'd like to help our cause please give us a vote and comment on our Greenlight page :)

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=869710250

Thanks guys!

Cassiebsg

Quote
I'm starting to see the problem with Greenlight, we've had 43 positive comments (not a single negative one) but yet there are still hundreds of users mindlessly downvoting our game.

Wonder if others, are deliberately "hiring" ppl to down vote games, so they are less of a competition to them? (wtf)
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

Sslaxx

Stuart "Sslaxx" Moore.

Chicky

Quote from: Cassiebsg on Sun 26/02/2017 15:23:12
Quote
I'm starting to see the problem with Greenlight, we've had 43 positive comments (not a single negative one) but yet there are still hundreds of users mindlessly downvoting our game.

Wonder if others, are deliberately "hiring" ppl to down vote games, so they are less of a competition to them? (wtf)

Yikes, I sure hope not but this is the internet after all...

I've been doing a lot of promotion on Facebook groups with other Greenlight developers, luckily there are some nice guys out there and this seems to be helping sway the votes in our favour. It's a shame that this is necessary though, I honestly think a lot of the problem is how Steam have phrased the question 'Would you buy this game', it leans towards asking people's taste in genre rather than their judgement of quality/innovation.

Frodo

Quote from: Chicky on Sun 26/02/2017 13:54:04
We've had quite a few comments regarding the poster/promo art above and it seems the general opinion is that it's not doing the in-game art justice :~(

I liked the promo poster  :grin:


EDIT:
Chicky, I looked at your steam link - the full question is 'Would you buy this game if it were available in steam?'
It's badly phrased, cos a lot of people want to buy the game, but just not on steam.  :confused:
So please don't take that as people being negative of your game.  :smiley:


EDIT 2:
And congrats for reaching over 50% of your goal already.  :grin:

Riaise


Chicky

Hey Frodo, thanks for your support so far :) Much appreciated.

Looks like Riaise beat me to the punch but... WE REACHED OUR GOAL!



Super happy with how well received the game has been. We've added stretch goals to our Kickstarter and could still do with your support on Steam Greenlight:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=869710250

Shout out to Riaise who also pledged to the campaign! ;-D

Stupot

Well done! That's how to do a nice humble Kickstarter. I hope you reach at least 6000 so that more people can enjoy the game.

CaptainD

 

Mandle

As long as you never stop using that Japanese porn star's avatar (not that I've ever seen her in anything to know that she is a porn star or anything) you will always have my undying support!

Riaise

Quote from: Chicky on Mon 27/02/2017 22:05:53
Looks like Riaise beat me to the punch but... WE REACHED OUR GOAL!

Heh, sorry about that. :P The game looks fantastic, so I was really pleased for you when I saw the Kickstarter update. :-D

Chicky

No hard feelings Riaise ;P It was cool that someone beat me to it!

Just a quick update to say that We have been Greenlit!



Thank you all for your votes and support with sharing the game about :-D This'll all be over soon and we can go back to seeing game updates rather than crowdfunding links! :=

If you didn't catch our Kickstarter update, Benjamin Sawyer created some lovely fan artwork for us:



Look at Tondbert, all HD and heroic-like.

Anyway I really need your help! Does anyone have any advice on pushing the Kickstarter campaign out to a wider audience in these last 7 days? We've had exposure from Adventure Treff, Adventure Gamers and a few smaller websites, but I have no idea who to contact to get a retweet/mention on some of the larger accounts/sites. Any emails I sent out seem to go unanswered and most of our marketing so far has been achieved via word of mouth.

I'd really like to achieve our next stretch goal so any help/shares/information would be really helpful.

Cheers guys, this year is going to be amazing ;-D





Blondbraid



Chicky

Howdy all!

Production on the game has now moved to full time (for me at least!) and I have been working my socks off for the last few months.

I have a couple of things I wanted to share with you, firstly I created some fancy new box art for the game:



Also today I have released our first behind the scenes video featuring some clips from Norwich Games Festival and a lengthy chunk on my asset creation workflow:



Let me know what you think :) As always you can follow me on Twitter or follow our progress on Facebook

Cassiebsg

Great news, very cool video, thanks. (nod)
Looking forward to see it to the end once I'm back home, as my internet here is very crappy (read unstable).
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

horusr

Video is so much to atch. I wonder if there is normal speed version of animating kart in photoshop, I would watch it!

And is there a problem with licence? It says title1 and artist1...

dactylopus

I'm so upset that I missed the Kickstarter for this game.  I don't know how that happened.  But I'm also very happy to see that you reached the goal and got the Greenlight!

Everything I've seen is awesome, and I'm very excited to play this game.  You guys are doing some amazing work.  Keep it up!

AnasAbdin

Box art is my phone background now (laugh)
You already know my opinion from twitter. The video is freakin amazing. While some of us may think the video is a little too fast, I think it's considered slow mo for slasher (laugh)

SilverSpook

Really cool to see the behind-the-scenes of the animation! And that festival looks like it was a ton of fun! Very jealous! :D

dactylopus

Just watched the video, and it was very interesting.  Quite a lot going on there, and it looks great.

Mandle

Wow Chicky! And here I was thinking you were just a pretty face... (laugh)

SilverSpook

Yeah I might have to stop following Chicky now that I know he isn't a hot Asian girl.  :) Jk.

Chicky

Haha, thanks guys :) I *could* put together a slower version but I'm missing the footage for the start of drawing the kart. I'll try to remember to record my next animation proceess for ya'll.

Really happy you like it though, I'll definitely put out a few more as time goes by.

Pretty cool that you've set it as your background AnasAbdin! I'm honoured :D

Oh and the avatar... she's actually a TV commercial actress. I've had it so long it would feel weird to change it now! It's funny because I originally picked it because the gif was crazy high quality compared to others at the time, despite that I've had to hunt out the source and remake it twice since at various resolutions.

I'll keep you posted on the updates!

Chicky

#101
Hey guys!

Progress on the game is moving along nicely, I've been churning out backgrounds, adding new animations and generally working at 110% :-D

I have another episode of our 'Behind the Gates' series for you. I decided to keep this episode a little shorter and with a faster pace. Less waffle more content! In this episode we run through the process of revamping Tondbert's animation set, adding fake AI to chickens and take a look at a newly added location.

You can watch Episode Two at the link below:


selmiak

That  frog looks funny and cool! He should be on that poster too :)
Yay for chickens, chicky! :-D

Chicky

Thanks Selmiak, It would be pretty neat if he was ;-D

Here's one of the new locations I've recently added (was also featured at the end of that video), the Wrinklewood Forge:


Click'd

That smith is hardcore, touching hot metal with his bare hand.

Hobo

Quote from: ClickClickClick on Sat 09/09/2017 21:45:51
That smith is hardcore, touching hot metal with his bare hand.
Interesting, I actually thought he was banging at a cold sword, :) hot metal would probably have some more color to it.

Great background, but it would be be even more incredible, if you'd add a bit of smoke, occasional sparks and more soot to the place. Guard Duty is defenitely one of my most anticipated AGS games, glad to see that it's progressing nicely.

Chicky

I was actually planning on having the end of the sword glow, but forgot to add it!

Thanks Hobo, I will definitely be adding some smoke, a couple whisps of flame and some sparks when the Blacksmith hits the blade. Happy to hear you're looking forward to release, here's hoping we don't disappoint :)

Dave Gilbert

So the player character gets a SHIRT eventually. Good to know!

(also: lovely work!)

Chicky

Thanks Dave, yeah he does! Because he starts shirtless I end up looking at that outfit when testing the later parts of the game (having not been through the trigger to change the views). I think in my last video he was walking around in the rain shirtless, which may have confused some viewers :)

Dave Gilbert

#109
Heh. Resonance had the same issue. Ed spent 90% of testing in his boxer shorts.

edit: What we eventually did was add a keyboard command that changed the character's view number to the correct one. It helped when creating screenshots and things!

Chicky

Neat :) Tondbert wears Long Johns because it can get mighty cold in the Castle spire. I think it's about time I added some sort of keyboard debug menu for variables and views and such, would definitely help with screenshots and general testing.

Blondbraid

The latest GIF looks cool!
Plus I immediately came to think about this scene from the Simpsons! (laugh)


Chicky

Hello again!

I'm really bad at keeping this thread updated, far too busy making the game! :-D

Anyway, since my last post I've released a new 'Behind the Gates' video. This one
takes a look back at AdventureX and shows some of my 3D - Pixelart workflow that
I've been using for creating one of the animated SciFi scenes, the one seen in this gif:



Also, here's Guard Duty's stand at AdventureX :)



You can watch the video at the link below:



--

I've also recently written a new Development Retrospective post over on my
Tumblr blog, talking about the move to full time development and a few of my thoughts
on how this has affected development:

https://sickchickenstudios.tumblr.com/post/170264939506/guard-duty-a-development-retrospective-devblog

---

On top of that I have a few updated screenshots for you! The game is always improving, sometimes
these changes are minor and some are a bit more significant. Can you spot the differences?
(hint: our SciFi antagonist has had a bit of an overhaul!)

Here's the updated screenshots from our latest press pack:


















---

Oh, we also have a new shiny logo for the game. I'm still tweaking it but I think it gets
the theme of the game across a lot better than the last:



--

Last but not least, SilverSpook recently invited me onto his podcast! We chat about gamedev
and cyberpunk 8-)



--

Phew! That really was a lot of stuff, I apologise to your internet provider. Hopefully the shiny new screenshots are worth the download :)

Thanks again for all of your support, be it on twitter, facebook, discord or here on the forums. We couldn't do this without you guys!

Please follow along on Twitter or Facebook if you'd like more regular updates on the game.

Cheers!





Matti

This looks quite epic! :shocked:

Keep up the good work!


CaptainD

Great to see this coming together so well.

It's going to be EPIC.
 

Tabata

WOW!  This is looking really cool!
That's the way to go! (nod)

       BRAVO!



Creamy

#119
These updates are always a pleasure to read/watch. They make the wait delicious. Glad to hear that things take shape. I hope you won't go BANANAS from the work.
 

SilverSpook

Thanks again for doing the podcast, it was great to get the scoop on this awesome game and geek out on some cyberpunk with ya. :cool:

And yeah, wow, this is looking even more awesome than I thought! You weren't kidding when you said some of the new trailer material was leagues ahead of the original Kickstarter one!

(I hope my voice acting for that Guard Duty demo thing was alright! That's some tough footage to live up to! :D )

xBRANEx

This is the pnc game that I am most excited about in years. I'll be buying this.


Chicky

That really means a lot xBRANEx, music to my ears ;-D

Your voice was great Spook! Thanks for helping a brotha out :=

Also thanks for your continued support Creamy!

selmiak

the new stuff is getting better and better. I love that planet destroying animation :D Really BIG!!!! :-D

Riaise


Chicky

A new screenshot for you fine folk :)

What ferocious beast has our dear hero uncovered? Tondbert helps save one of the Knights of Wrinklewood in his epic quest to find Princess Theremin.


AnasAbdin

Oh my that Wrinkleworm is nightmare material :~(
Guard Duty is one of the best pillars when mentioning games made by the AGS engine.

CrashPL

Man, this is beyond excellent! Can't wait to play this! :D

CaptainD

This looks so awesome... stop attending game exhibitions so you have more time to actually finish making the game!! (laugh)
 

Blondbraid

Wow, that really looks like an exciting puzzle! 8-0


Chicky

Thanks again for the lovely comments all!

Quote from: CaptainD on Mon 26/02/2018 17:49:06
This looks so awesome... stop attending game exhibitions so you have more time to actually finish making the game!! (laugh)

Well, about that...



Guard Duty has been picked for the Indie Prize finals, showcase at Casual Connect London 2018 at QEII Centre, London, United Kingdom on May 29-31st, 2018

If anyone is in London and fancies a week of Indie goodness, do drop by and say hi :)

We're also showcasing at Norwich Games Festival again this year, the event will be held at The Forum, Norwich from Monday 28 May â€" Sunday 3 June 2018. Guard Duty will be showcasing on the Saturday and Sunday (2nd and 3rd of June).
This is a bit more of a relaxed event with free entry on the door to anyone who wants to drop by.

---

Anyway, how about some non region-locked content:

Guard Duty has a new poster!





It's the last one this time, I promise! Created by the incredibly talented Exit Mothership.

---

We also have a new blog post, discussing some of the progress we've made this year and our future plans in a bit more detail:

https://sickchickenstudios.tumblr.com/post/174115159151/guard-duty-a-development-retrospective-devblog

---

...and to finish it off, here are some new screenshots for you :)








Thanks for keeping the positive vibes going, we've got a lot of fun things to show in the coming months. *cough* a proper trailer *cough*



SilverSpook


AnasAbdin

Quote from: Chicky on Mon 21/05/2018 17:38:41
Guard Duty has a new poster!
It's the last one this time, I promise!

Not that we're complaining! The more the merrier (laugh)
Congrats! Really well deserved (nod)

ManicMatt

Awesome cover!

I've been looking at the clips, and I'm in shock at the butterflies, the parralax like scrolling, the animation, everything is sooo polished!

Privateer Puddin'


Blondbraid

That poster looks awesome, totally something I'd put on the wall in my room!


Beezy

I say indeed, with utter confidence that this game looks to have a lot of potential! I'm excited to see where it goes, and the development process.

dactylopus

Very exciting to see progress.  Looking forward to the release!

Crimson Wizard

See what horusr have found (posted on discord):
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=22529.0
:D

And it was not locked through all these years.

Now THAT's a progress.

Chicky

#139
Haha, yes this project has been about 14 years in the making. :=

I wrote a blog post about it a while back if you're interested: https://sickchickenstudios.tumblr.com/post/121221180521/guard-duty-a-development-retrospective-weblog

Also thanks for your lovely comments guys!

Hobo

Quote from: Chicky on Thu 24/05/2018 22:58:38
Haha, yes this project has been about 14 years in the making. :=
Can't wait to see what the project looks like after the next 14 years :-D
Great poster and loved the new blog post, glad to know that the game's nearly done. And I wouldn't worry too much about the promised release window, take you're time and polish it until it's perfect.

Chicky

The official trailer is here!

I told you we had some neat stuff coming up :)

Guard Duty has a brand new trailer and is now available to wishlist on Steam.

Trailer on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/NcVo4-fc5Dw

Steam store page:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/872750/Guard_Duty/

Help us spread the word:

It would really help us out of you could share the Steam page on any social platforms you might use. We're trying to really push the word out for this trailer and it's people like you that can help us do that!

Point and click that share button ;)

As always, thanks you!

dactylopus

Awesome trailer!  So much great art and animation, and the music and voices add a lot as well.  This just makes me that much more excited.

Chicky

Thanks dactylopus! Despite my best efforts, the reach for this trailer/Steam page promotion seems to be pretty limited. If anyone could help us out by sharing the Steam link on their social platforms it would help us out immensely.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/872750/Guard_Duty/

AnasAbdin

Got your back buddy (nod)
I'd encourage everyone to do so, Guard Duty is one of the games people need to see what AGS is all about.

FireFlower

Story rich DRM-free games - http://fireflowergames.com/

Jim Reed

This is gonna take all the awards, it's just that wonderful.

MrPr1993

OHHHH Wow. This is beautiful! Woah. That long it took? whew... That is quite a project
Born from the 93's

Chicky

Hey all!

Guard Duty is coming along nicely, I've got somewhere around 95% of the art and coding together now. We're at the stage where we're doing internal alpha testing and working on the sound design. We're also tweaking a few things along the way.

We've recently updated our inventory to allow for my items on screen at once:




I was also looking for some input from you all! Which of the two mouseover styles do you prefer? I'm leaning towards B, as I feel A clutters the screen a bit too much (even more so when using X on Y)

A:




B:




dactylopus

Glad to hear that this is coming along.  It looks wonderful.  I really like how large and detailed the inventory items are.  Looking forward to seeing what they all do.

As for your question, I agree completely that B is better and that A feels a bit cluttered.

Keep up the good work!

Durq


Matti

Yes, definitely B, I always prefer a fixed hotspot label to a hovering one. It's a very nice font btw :)

Good luck with the final stage(s) of the game!

Riaise

Good to hear that things are progressing well! ;-D

I'd also say B. It looks a lot neater. :)

Cassiebsg

Looking good! :D
I also rather have the fix text at he bottom. ;)
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

ManicMatt

Guess I'm in the minority here, I say A. I don't have to glance at the bottom of the screen, it's right there where I'm looking.

Frodo

I'd have to say A.
I like the floating text, next to the cursor.

SilverSpook

Also a fan of B, even though I think Neofeud used A, lol.

Great looking stuff as well! Really looking forward to this. :)

Cassiebsg

Uhm... if you already have both coded... make it an option. You can default it to your favorite B, and for those picky like MM and Frodo they could just check the A box. ;)
There are those who believe that life here began out there...

josiah1221

Wow, this is looking really good! Love the big inventory, reminds me of the Discworld games. I'm with Cassie, if you've already coded it then use both and the player can choose. It's a win win. :)

BunnyShoggoth

I really love that combination of fantasy and sci-fi, reminds me of Chronicles of Amber!

Riaise

Cassie makes a good point. Extra options are always a bonus. :)

Chicky

Thanks for your input all :) We're going to go with B for the time being and if we have the time we will add an option to switch between the two styles. Adding the option is a lot more than just creating the GUI switch, sadly; We'd have to test both systems extensively to ensure they don't cause any bugs that can only be replicated with one style of mouseover (it also involves redesigning the way our inventory windows and subtitled dialogue work, which could cause other conflicts. Best to settle with the majority vote I think, also my personal preference ;)

Chicky

Hold up! An update?

Heck yeah!

Guard Duty has a brand new trailer! Check it out below:



I'm also very happy to announce that Guard Duty will be coming this Spring to Windows, Mac and Linux on Steam! Wishlist the game at the following link:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/872750/Guard_Duty/

We're super close to launch now and I couldn't have done it without the support of good folk like yourselves. Thank you!





FireFlower

Nice! Hope it releases on other sites as well. :)
Story rich DRM-free games - http://fireflowergames.com/

Blondbraid

Awesome trailer, it reminds me of the Discworld adventure games!


selmiak

this looks so nice, totally looking forward to it! ;-D

Tycho Magnetic Anomaly

i have had the fortunate pleasure of testing this game,  im getting through it slowly but surely and will keep my final thoughts till im finished, but so far this is one of the best ags games ive played without a shadow of a doubt. Just like to say well done and wish you every success.

dactylopus

It's on my Wishlist now.  Looks fantastic!  The new trailer is great, but the voice was a little hard to hear over the music.  Still got me very excited about the game, though!

CrashPL

It's looking better and better with each screenshot and gif animation, can't wait to finally try it out! :D

Chicky

So many kind words from you all! We really appreciate the support  :) I'm glad to hear the Discworld vibes are coming through and thank you to those who have wishlisted over on Steam  ;-D

A release date announcement is coming soon! We recently sent out the preview build to a bunch of press folk and have had some lovely responses so far.

This one came in yesterday and it seems the writer really got what we were going for: https://vulturehound.co.uk/2019/03/carry-on-camelot-guard-duty-pc-preview/

You can find a roundup of some others over on our Steam page: https://steamcommunity.com/games/872750/announcements/detail/1803034103869859122

Thanks again x


xandmatt

This looks ace! Wishlisted on Steam already.

Chicky

Thanks xandmatt!  ;-D

Here's a little feature we added recently:


Crimson Wizard

Quote from: Chicky on Wed 27/03/2019 19:51:36
Here's a little feature we added recently:

does it say "Raf, raf, LeChuck"?

Spoiler
**NOTICES GUYBRUSH AND LE CHUCK SHADOWS IN THE CORNER  :-D
[close]

Jack

Very nice art, and a rich environment in that room.

FireFlower

Story rich DRM-free games - http://fireflowergames.com/

Chicky

Glad to see someone noticed the MI reference CW  :) Thanks for the kind words.

I was recently interviewed on the This Week In Video Games podcast, I go into detail about our influences, the process behind creating Guard Duty and talk a little about the industry. You can listen here:

https://anchor.fm/this-week-in-video-games/episodes/10-Baba-Is-You--Guard-Duty--Interview-with-Nathan-Hamley-e3jrki

Durq

Quote from: Chicky on Sun 31/03/2019 19:54:58
Glad to see someone noticed the MI reference CW  :) Thanks for the kind words.

I was recently interviewed on the This Week In Video Games podcast, I go into detail about our influences, the process behind creating Guard Duty and talk a little about the industry. You can listen here:

https://anchor.fm/this-week-in-video-games/episodes/10-Baba-Is-You--Guard-Duty--Interview-with-Nathan-Hamley-e3jrki

Great interview! Thanks for sharing.

SilverSpook

So much awesomeness going on in that gif! That guy being terrible at darts is a nice touch as well!

Damn I need to get you on the Silver Spook podcast again in the near future before release of Guard Duty!

Chicky

Some of you who follow along on Twitter may have heard the news but if not... this is a big one!

We announced today that Guard Duty will be coming to Windows, Mac and Linux on May 2nd! Eeeeeee! I can't wait to make the Complete Games Announcement thread  :-D

https://store.steampowered.com/app/872750/Guard_Duty/


Frodo

That's wonderful news Chicky.  Really excited!   :grin:

So how will the DRM-free release be distributed?  GOG?  Direct Download  Itch.io?  Humble Bundle? 

Chicky

Our publisher is looking into alternative storefronts at the moment, gog didn't accept Guard Duty sadly.

For people like yourself who backed on Kickstarter and want a DRM free copy I will make sure you get a copy regardless of which storefronts it's available on.

dactylopus

That's very exciting news!  Looking forward to it!

JSH

Quote from: Chicky on Thu 04/04/2019 21:59:22
Our publisher is looking into alternative storefronts at the moment, gog didn't accept Guard Duty sadly.

What the heck, that makes no sense. They've published a number of AGS games in the past  :-\ Did they give any explanation?

In any case, the game looks amazing :) Will 100% buy and play on launch!

Chicky

They gave us some feedback and it seems they might reconsider if it does well on Steam, so I guess we'll see. I get the impression they're being a little more selective with their games recently, also with GD being our first commercial game I can understand why they might be a little cautious.

Good to hear you're hyped JSH, really looking forward to getting my hands on WoaM!

--

Less than three weeks now, I can't wait for everyone to finally play Guard Duty.  ;-D

Andail

While I think it's a good idea to be more selective about their games (Steam should be, too) it sucks that Guard Duty won't appear on GoG on release day. Let's hope it sells enough elsewhere for them to change their minds!

Athanor

Quote from: Chicky on Thu 04/04/2019 21:59:22
Our publisher is looking into alternative storefronts at the moment, gog didn't accept Guard Duty sadly.

For people like yourself who backed on Kickstarter and want a DRM free copy I will make sure you get a copy regardless of which storefronts it's available on.

GOG is becoming more and more an embarassement, they reject many great games which would fit perfectly to their "Good old Games"-criterion (A Tale of Two Kingdoms and Grimoire come to mind but there are many more). A shame really. I find itch.io to be a great alternative to GOG.
I'm no backer but I don't like DRM of any kind. Now many indie-developer publish their games on Steam without the actual DRM (Steamworks), which is a good thing. For me, a game is DRM-free if I can play it (once downloaded) right out of the folder without any clients attached, being able to copy it to my laptop and play it there as well. May I ask if your game will need the Steam client to run in the background or if it will be DRM-free in my definition?

Thank you and all the best with your very appealing project!

Chicky

Hey Athanor, we're still waiting to get the final word on storefronts to buy the DRM free version. I'll update this thread when I have some more info.

--

Update: We're just SIX DAYS away from releasing Guard Duty now, I still can't quite believe it myself  8-0


Frodo

Can't wait can't wait can't wait can't wait can't wait can't wait can't wait can't wait can't wait!    :cheesy:

Chicky

Thank you all so much for the support over the years <3 These final few days are crucial to getting the word out and making sure I can work on another project after Guard Duty.

Please help support the release by sharing the Steam link with your friends, on social media or with strangers on the bus.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/872750/Guard_Duty/

Three days!

Hype!!


CrashPL

Thursday can't come soon enough! So hyped for this!

Frodo

Quote from: Chicky on Mon 29/04/2019 11:35:02
Thank you all so much for the support over the years <3 These final few days are crucial to getting the word out and making sure I can work on another project after Guard Duty.

Please help support the release by sharing the Steam link with your friends, on social media or with strangers on the bus.

Have you got the DRM-free link ready, that we can share around?   :smiley:


Chicky

Please help support the release by sharing the Steam link with your friends, on social media or with strangers on the bus.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/872750/Guard_Duty/

Two days!

Super hype!!


Frodo

I'm excited for this.   :smiley:

You should really post a DRM-free link that we can spread around. 

Chicky

21 HOURS TO GO!



(gif compression has kinda killed the colours in this one)



Chicky

Guard Duty is launching TODAY! 09:00 PT / 16:00 GMT

https://store.steampowered.com/app/872750/Guard_Duty/



Excuse me whilst I hyperventilate in the corner.

Athanor

I'm so ready, bringt it on! :D
I absolutely adore your graphical style! It looks very unique and individual.

Pardon me, but may I ask my question again: If I buy the Steam-version of your game, can I play it "out of the folder" once downloaded - or does it need Steam running to do so? If it runs without the Client, I'd even prefer Steam because of the delayed updates I've experienced with many games on other platforms.

Frodo


Athanor

Unfortunately GOG has become a bunch of nuckleheads lately so I don't have high hopes. But I gave it my vote.

Frodo

Quote from: Athanor on Thu 02/05/2019 16:42:06
Unfortunately GOG has become a bunch of nuckleheads lately so I don't have high hopes. But I gave it my vote.

Yeah, have to agree with that.  They've gone downhill a lot. 
Still, they're better than steam. 

Athanor

Quote from: Frodo on Thu 02/05/2019 17:24:40
Quote from: Athanor on Thu 02/05/2019 16:42:06
Unfortunately GOG has become a bunch of nuckleheads lately so I don't have high hopes. But I gave it my vote.

Yeah, have to agree with that.  They've gone downhill a lot. 
Still, they're better than steam. 
But only because of their DRM-free policy. They have a terrible update procedure for example (some games being outdated for months or even abandoned). Another thing I like about Steam: They allow me to get a refund for a purchased game without questions which is a good thing as I can try if a game is DRM-free or not (many indie games are DRM-free). If it is DRMified I simply demand a refund.
I just purchased Guard Duty on Steam, I just couldn't resist - and it seems to be DRM-free once downloaded! :)

@Chicky: In the game menu the game version is stated as "0.92" - shouldn't that be "1.0"?

Chicky

It's here! Guard Duty is now available on Windows, Mac and Linux!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/872750/Guard_Duty/

Thank you all for your support over the years, we honestly couldn't have done it without you.

Guard Duty was a true passion project, an idea initially conceived way back in 2006.

The game started life as a hobby project, something developed in any spare evening after work, since then I've changed job three times, been to three weddings and four of my friends now have children!

We've learnt so much throughout development and have truly grown as the game developed, after 4.5 years it's finally here.

I can't wait to hear what you think of the game, thank you all for your support and words of encouragement.

Enjoy your time in Wrinklewood, don't forget to stop by the Drunken Monk.

Complete games announcement coming soon!

--

Athanor: Thank you for the kind words. Honestly I've not tried pulling the game files from the steam installation folder and running without Steam, we're using the AGSteam plugin but I'm not sure if Steam adds something extra after you upload the build. We will be updating the version number soon :)

Frodo

I think you can only get a steam refund within the first 2 hours.  After that, you're out of luck. 

Athanor

Quote from: Frodo on Thu 02/05/2019 18:15:33
I think you can only get a steam refund within the first 2 hours.  After that, you're out of luck. 
Within the first 2 hours of playing the game, yes. That's more than enough time to try to start the game without the client and figure out if it's DRM-free or not. ;) And you don't have to justify your refund demand at all (on GOG that's only the case for their early access titles if I remember correctly).

@Chicky
Congratulations to the release, I'm looking forward to sink into the game soon. :)
As far as I understand the matter, Steam itself doesn't add DRM by itself, it's always the game developers who decide if they want to pollute their game with DRM. I'm glad you didn't so I'll be able to play the game on my cozy old internetfree laptop. ;)


Amir

Truly, truly, I say to you, blessed are those who play adventure games, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Dualnames

Worked on Strangeland, Primordia, Hob's Barrow, The Cat Lady, Mage's Initiation, Until I Have You, Downfall, Hunie Pop, and every game in the Wadjet Eye Games catalogue (porting)

Chicky

Thanks for the kind words all! I'm running on 4 hours sleep  :-D

I've created a Complete Games Announcement thread if anyone wants to continue the discussion  :)

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=57137.0

Darth Mandarb

It's bittersweet to be locking this thread... I feel like an era in the GiP has ended now that we won't be seeing this in here anymore!

Either way; congrats on the release and best of luck (and get some sleep)!

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