Sniper and spotter being patriotic

[Blondbraid]

I guess this all started when I in my boredom browsed you tube for increasingly weird parodies of Donald Duck and ended up watching old propaganda cartoons from the second world war.
At first it was strange to see the horrors of war and oppression depicted through cute cartoons, but the stylized characters struck a cord which all the realistic war fps had failed to.
A few years later I played a game called Valiant Hearts, which also used the combination of war and a beautiful animated style to great effect, and I was further inspired.

But enough of my pretentious ranting, what about the actual game?

Sniper and spotter being patriotic is a game which takes place in an eastern European town torn apart between the Axis and Soviet forces. The protagonists are the titular sniper and spotter fighting in what would be known as
the great patriotic war in the Soviet union. It is a darkly humorous story serving partially as a satire of the many other games about WWII and the mindless action movies which inspired them.



This game tells the story of how a newly recruited red army soldier finds himself assigned to a new partner and the two of them soon find themselves in a series of misadventures in a wartorned soviet town,
and proceed to commit several great acts of valiant heroism and defiantly leaps into the arms of death in duty to the motherland!

Or maybe not...

Get the game here:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2050/

For those interested in the process of making this game, check out the production thread here:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=52586.0
And the Critic's lounge thread here:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=52409.0

[Cassiebsg]

Got it!
Pitty I need to have dinner and then go to bed.

[Frikker]

Congrats on the release Ive followed your progress on this since you started so I know how much time and effort you have put in. Well done .

Ill be downloading and playing this on Friday night when I can give it the time it deserves to really play it properly. Looking forward to it

[Mandle]

Looks awesome! The backgrounds are wonderful, and I already know how much care you put into the character design via these forums. I can't wait to give it a try!

[Kumpel]

Oh I am soooo excited! *DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD DOWNLOAD!!!!*

[Haggis]

I completed this tonight, good job!

The game balances humour alongside the reality of war which can be hard to do. It didn't take too long to complete and I was able to work out all the puzzles without the need for help.

The things I liked were:
- humour, there are some good jokes in here ranging from characters and dialog jokes to cutscenes

Spoiler

My name is Ivan

[close]

- this particular war setting is not one I have seen in a point and click before and was very atmospheric
- The two lead characters were an interesting pair and it would be good to see them in a follow up as they continue their missions.
- The animation and artwork is superb! The animations are really well put together
- In a weird way...

Spoiler

I was impressed by the surprise of being shot dead on the roof near the gas room! Didn't see that coming!

[close]

If I had any constructive feedback it would be:
- look into developing some of the puzzles - for example:

Spoiler

When getting the new pants () - you have a lovely room full of various characters but in the end all you do is ask Olga for a pair and then go change in the room. Unless there were other ways of solving this that I missed, you could expand this puzzle so you need to trade for pants, or win some pants off one of the characters in the medical room (although maybe not the person with one leg... that would be mean ).

[close]

- These are only minor things but you could also add a little polish to some parts of the game - there's a few walk behind issues in the two level room where the player appears in front of the ceiling when they should be under it. But these are easily fixed. There were also a few times where I would click on something and he just rolls his eyes and shrugs - it might be good for him to say something about those objects but no biggie.

Overall I enjoyed playing the game, it asks some good questions about the morals of war while entertaining along the way. Like me, I know coding is something you've been learning along the way and I think you've done a good job.

Look forward to potential sequels!

[Danvzare]

Congratulations on the release.
It looks like this will be a very fun game to play.

[Blondbraid]

I'm so happy that you like my game!

If I had any constructive feedback it would be:
- look into developing some of the puzzles - for example:

Spoiler

When getting the new pants () - you have a lovely room full of various characters but in the end all you do is ask Olga for a pair and then go change in the room. Unless there were other ways of solving this that I missed, you could expand this puzzle so you need to trade for pants, or win some pants off one of the characters in the medical room (although maybe not the person with one leg... that would be mean ).

[close]

As for the puzzle,

Spoiler

I thought it would be funny that the spotter had to ask Olga since many real women soldiers had to use men's underwear (for some reason communal unisex underwear is a very overlooked aspect when discussing the horrors of war!) but I find your suggestion interesting.

[close]

There were also a few times where I would click on something and he just rolls his eyes and shrugs - it might be good for him to say something about those objects but no biggie.

I thought his expression was comment enough...

Look forward to potential sequels!

While it would be fun to make a sequel, I dare not make any definitive promises yet.
I do like the idea of either continuing the story or have the characters play a part in one of my future games.
(I like cross-references, I did in fact add a little reference to the characters from my two previous games in Sniper and spotter being patriotic! )

I am so happy that all of you seem to really like my game!
Does anyone have problems solving the puzzles? I'm pondering whether to start a Hint's and Tip's thread for this game...

[Haggis]

Haha - it was a very expressive eye roll, well animated!

Spoiler

The eye roll worked best on the dead body outside the church, I could understand it with that - it was the 'object under the bed' that I thought needed an explanation as to why he wouldn't take it - I wanted to pick it up (thought I might need to cut some trousers off someone ). Speaking of which that's a nice historic reference re: women's underwear - maybe you could get it from the nightwitch? Of course you could leave it as it is - it works.

[close]

Ooo I haven't seen these games before (I was basically on a non-game playing mission until my own was finished), I'll give them a play.

[Blondbraid]

Haha - it was a very expressive eye roll, well animated!

Spoiler

The eye roll worked best on the dead body outside the church, I could understand it with that - it was the 'object under the bed' that I thought needed an explanation as to why he wouldn't take it - I wanted to pick it up (thought I might need to cut some trousers off someone ). Speaking of which that's a nice historic reference re: women's underwear - maybe you could get it from the nightwitch? Of course you could leave it as it is - it works.

[close]

Ooo I haven't seen these games before (I was basically on a non-game playing mission until my own was finished), I'll give them a play.

Happy to hear this, I hope you like my other games as well!

Spoiler

As for the saw under the bed, he was probably thinking about what it was used for, what with all the bloody rags and amputated limbs, but I suppose I could have been clearer.

[close]

[Mandle]

I just finished playing the game and I LOVED IT!!!

I am an absolute sucker for any movies/games set in WW2, but I have never played a point-and-click adventure game in the genre: It mostly lends itself to strategy games...

The backgrounds were lovely in their dark destruction. I especially loved the long scrolling one with the smoking city in the background!

I jumped every time...
(SPOILER ALERT)

Spoiler

I got sniped by surprise...but the autosaves were well thought out so I never felt frustrated by dying...

Oh, and the fakeout when you win the dialog puzzle against the two german soldiers is classic! I was about to scream: "WELL WHAT THE FRICK AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?!" but then was like "Oh....nice....HAHAHAHAHA!"

Haggis mentioned it above, but the funniest joke was the "Ivan" one...Second place for me was "That's because they are already brown."

As for the underwear puzzle...
(EXTREME SPOILER ALERT)

Spoiler

I would suggest maybe having the option to ask Olga for hers turned off until Ivan has exhausted all other possible male characters in the area, including the basement, to make it feel like more of a last resort...I got it way too fast and then the rest of the area was just exploring for the jokes instead of for a goal.

[close]

Splitting up of the pair near the start was awesome as it made their reunion feel special, especially considering the rather touching ending...

I was also actually rather shocked by all the corpses, especially as they were done in quite comedic styles, so you really pulled off not cringing away from the horrors of war in a comedy...

It was also great that you actually did include an area where Ivan had to be a competent spotter instead of just a hinderance and comic-relief.

(Two repeating typos are "whish" instead of "wish" and "dont't" instead of "don't". There might have been a few others here and there but those two happened quite a lot and, even if you don't re-edit the entire game, maybe those two deserve a fix.)

[close]

Very well done all round. Absolutely adore this game!

[Shadow1000]

I played this game last night. Haggis and Mandle essentially captured what I want to say. Just a few points, some redundant:

- The graphics and animation are very impressive
- Very nice range of different puzzles, including some inventory puzzles and some dialogue puzzles.
- Nice touch to have the player switch between the two characters who have COMPLETELY different personalities.
- The puzzles were mainly simple and pretty much classic. I don't think that anyone will really get stuck. HOWEVER, that was not the point of the game...

...The point of the game was to portray the horror and human side of war in a framework of humour. The two elements of horror and humour complemented each other very well. One of the most brilliant highlights of this dichotomy was the

Spoiler

"Maria" scene. This scene could be completely overlooked and the player could probably just bypass it and continue with the mission but then you'd be missing the essence of what the game portrays

[close]

- Strong character types: contrast between an incompetent noob and a fanatical nationalist. Olga's comedic but possibly somewhat realistic extremism and courage reminded me somewhat of Victor Reznov from Call of Duty World at War.

- As Haggis and Mandle pointed out, a bit of spelling correction such as "probably" and some coding improvements would complete the game. If I'm not mistaken

Spoiler

if Olga tries to interact with the rope one she's on the second storey, it says that she can't get up there or something

[close]

. A few small things like that don't make sense but are not significant enough to detract from the game.

Overall, very different and very well done. Congrats

SHADOW

[AnasAbdin]

I can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this! Ssshhhh no none talks to me until I finish the game

[Slasher]

hi

i have only just begun to play.

whilst the graphics and animations are fab i find having to click each time to skip speech is too much for me.

also the guy going into the woodshed is much taller than the door

i will endeavour to play more at some point..

[CrashPL]

Success! (and after only 40 tries)

Found a while to play it. I really liked the artworks and animations, as well as the fullscreen cutscenes, though I already liked them, when you were still developing it. Gotta love Ivan and his dialogue lines too. Motherland surely needs more men like him!
I totally enjoyed playing it, though I encountered a small thing, that forced me to restart (hooray for autosaves!)

Spoiler

On the wide screen with the city, Ivan got stuck on the pavement between two buildings on the left. He couldn't get out, and fiddled in place, while Olga was standing still, most likely she was the character that was blocking his walking path.

[close]

There were some other things, but very minor, didn't affect the gameplay at all.

Overall - a great game, nice atmosphere, characters and graphics. Grand job Blondbraid!

[AnasAbdin]

I finished it. After falling in love with the characters and atmosphere it ended soon.
I hope this game is the beginning of your series of more AGS games Your style is beautiful and -I know I sound like a broken record- but your characters are ALIVE. I found myself speaking with what I thought how they might have sound like! So no worries if you didn't include speech, I did it anyway

Spoiler

When Olga shot the two soldiers I think I had to change my pants as well!! I swear I was on my nerves all the time expecting a bullet from somewhere!

[close]

<3 <3 <3

[Shadow1000]

Spoiler

On the wide screen with the city, Ivan got stuck on the pavement between two buildings on the left. He couldn't get out, and fiddled in place, while Olga was standing still, most likely she was the character that was blocking his walking path.

[close]

I had that right before the church. I didn't have to restart, though. I found that walking around and reversing their positions did the trick.

SHADOW

[Grok]

Played through it.

Very nice. A hard topic that I think you handled very well.

[SilverSpook]

Yay!  Awesome job with the game Blondbraid!  All the horror of war in a tight little animated package. 

[Blondbraid]

I am an absolute sucker for any movies/games set in WW2, but I have never played a point-and-click adventure game in the genre: It mostly lends itself to strategy games...

While rare, there are a few adventure games set in WW2, such as Undercover: Operation wintersun and A stroke of fate: Operation valkyrie and it's sequel, Operation Bunker, which I have played, but those games are more about secret plots and espionage rather than simple soldiers. Another game which in part inspired me, and an AGS game no less, wold be La Croix Pan.

- Strong character types: contrast between an incompetent noob and a fanatical nationalist. Olga's comedic but possibly somewhat realistic extremism and courage reminded me somewhat of Victor Reznov from Call of Duty World at War.

Actually I was was partly inspired by Reznov and his dynamic with Chernov when I wrote Olga. Ivan on the other hand, was heavily inspired by The Good Soldier Š vejk!
I'm very happy that so many of you played my game, and that you liked it.
Thank you so much, everybody!