The Prisoner - Arrival

Quintaros · Wed 05/08/2015 01:54:15

After resigning his post, a secret agent is abducted and taken to a remote seaside village. Although superficially quaint, beneath the Village's surface it is a high-tech interrogation camp. Surveillance abounds. The guards walk amongst the prisoners without uniforms to identify themselves. The other prisoners are mindless sheep, kept docile with amenities and rhetoric. The commandant will use every means at his disposal to break the will of the new arrival and coax him to divulge his secrets. The Prisoner must resist his captors and find trustworthy allies within the Village to make his escape.

Screenshots:
The graphics are works in progress, placeholders that will get an eventual paintover after the initial build is complete.

Progress:
I'd started this game back in 2003 and worked on it steadily until 2009 when I lost all momentum. I was about 75% complete at that time but couldn't see the finish-line. When I resumed production earlier this year, I salvaged what I could from the older version but AGS had developed so much over the years that it was actually simpler to start from scratch. And with a more focused approach I'm almost as far along now after 6 months as I was before after 6 years. Crazy.

Scripting: 60%
Background art: 40%
Character Animation: 30%
Audio 80%

11 Oct 2015 Update

The scripting is progressing along nicely now and I'm aiming to have a build that is playable from beginning to end by the end of October.

Meanwhile on the days when I'm not in a programming zone I'll take another pass at some of the background art. I'm slowly starting to learn what I can get away with without fully modelling and one of these days I'll take the time to learn to draw a tree.

Here is a location as it appears during day and night:

And some character animations:

The Prisoner

A potential ally? (So much trial and error in getting the cloth simulation for her cape.)

And everybody's favourite: Rover - The Village watchdog that apprehends escaping prisoners...

...and incapacitates them.

Mandle · Wed 05/08/2015 03:48:23

Be seein' ya...

Amayirot Akago · Wed 05/08/2015 07:46:40

Quote from: Mandle on Wed 05/08/2015 03:48:23
Be seein' ya...

Dang it, you beat me to it

I couldn't get through the TV show myself but this looks pretty interesting

Gurok · Wed 05/08/2015 07:50:58

I like this. I think you've done a great job with the variety of different camera angles in rooms. Really makes the game seem dynamic. I'd love to see how the final paintovers improve things, but this is great. There's a strong sense of direction here. Good luck completing it.

CaptainD · Wed 05/08/2015 10:13:42

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much potential here. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

Mandle · Wed 05/08/2015 11:10:33

Quote from: Amayirot Akago on Wed 05/08/2015 07:46:40
Quote from: Mandle on Wed 05/08/2015 03:48:23
Be seein' ya...
Dang it, you beat me to it I couldn't get through the TV show myself but this looks pretty interesting

I remember the best episode for me was the one with the dream-reading machine...

Spoiler

When number 6 opens the door to the observation room in his dream and the staff in the real world all turn around to look at the door like he is actually about to walk in...that cracks me up every time...but is also a little eerie in a way as well...

[close]

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Quintaros · Wed 05/08/2015 20:08:16

Quote from: Amayirot Akago on Wed 05/08/2015 07:46:40I couldn't get through the TV show myself but this looks pretty interesting

I can understand that. Some of the early episodes can be a bit inaccessible. I've always preferred the more straightforward episodes over the really bizarre ones. Still I do hope to retain some of the show's surreal flavour for the game.

Quote from: Gurok on Wed 05/08/2015 07:50:58
I like this. I think you've done a great job with the variety of different camera angles in rooms. Really makes the game seem dynamic. I'd love to see how the final paintovers improve things, but this is great. There's a strong sense of direction here. Good luck completing it.

Thank you. The freedom to reposition the camera was definitely part of the appeal of working with 3D sets. There were several rooms where my first selected angle really didn't work when imported into AGS but no time was lost by trying them out.

Quote from: CaptainD on Wed 05/08/2015 10:13:42
SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much potential here. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it!

Thanks. I've always felt that the series' premise was rich enough to explore further. My goal is to tell more adventures with this character in this setting but not to expound on anything that was deliberately left ambiguous in the series.

Quote from: Mandle on Wed 05/08/2015 03:48:23
Be seein' ya...

And you.

Slasher · Wed 05/08/2015 20:29:50

You can't leave out the killer balloons.....

good luck

Quintaros · Wed 05/08/2015 20:33:48

Quote from: slasher on Wed 05/08/2015 20:29:50
You can't leave out the killer balloons.....

Wouldn't dream of it.

Slasher · Wed 05/08/2015 21:17:25

Like this (from Deadly Consequences)

Spoiler

Spoiler

[close]

It's now demanded..

good luck and be seeing yer'

edit by Darth - non game-related image removed

Mandle · Thu 06/08/2015 16:45:00

Quote from: slasher on Wed 05/08/2015 20:29:50
You can't leave out the killer balloons.....

good luck

There should also be a penny-farthing jigsaw puzzle just like in the closing credits just as an easter egg....maybe on a table out on the terrace...Doesn't get you anything but maybe an achievement...

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Quintaros · Thu 06/08/2015 16:50:37

Actually that would work well with something else I have planned so thanks for the suggestion.

Quintaros · Mon 12/10/2015 07:25:33

11 Oct 2015 Update

The scripting is progressing along nicely now and I'm aiming to have a build that is playable from beginning to end by the end of October.

Meanwhile on the days when I'm not in a programming zone I'll take another pass at some of the background art. I'm slowly starting to learn what I can get away with without fully modelling and one of these days I'll take the time to learn to draw a tree.

Here is a location as it appears during day and night:

And some character animations:

The Prisoner

A potential ally? (So much trial and error in getting the cloth simulation for her cape.)

And everybody's favourite: Rover - The Village watchdog that apprehends escaping prisoners...

...and incapacitates them.

Slasher · Mon 12/10/2015 07:30:26

Looking real good

be seeing 'yer

Mandle · Mon 12/10/2015 10:39:11

Soooo awesome!!! The show is in my top five favourite TV shows of all time so I can't wait for this release!!!

selmiak · Tue 13/10/2015 01:05:21

Now this is pretty cool! I really dig that weird setting of the TV show. Please don't forget about these huge old bycicle thingies.
That rover caption animation is awesome!

Mandle · Tue 13/10/2015 05:16:56

Just one slight thing: It kinda looks to me like one frame of animation is missing from the woman's walkcycle. For me it always "jerks" a bit between the end of the loop and the restart of the loop. A minor point but with so beautiful an animation it would be a shame to not have it just right...