Topic: Animal Cruelty - Demo available

[Fanomatic]

Hello!

I'm Fanomatic and I'm currently working on an old school 'Lucasarts style' game called "Animal Cruelty". It's a game kind of similar to 'Day Of the Tentacle' where you alter between three different animals who has to join together to escape the castle of the evil Doctor Petson.


Let the maniacal laughter commence!

This is my first game in AGS. It started out when me and a friend participated in a game-jam at Idle Thumbs and came up with the initial idea. He drew the nice looking background for the first room while I focused on code and characters. We didn't come so far back then, but we decided to resume working on the game after the game jam. After some time my friend decided to honorably withdraw from the project and ever since I've worked mostly solo, but with some input and feedback from another friend as well as the AGS forums.



So far I have put together a fully playable PC windows demo of the first room. It features two playable characters, sounds, music, an NPC and many interactions. The game uses the 9-verb system by Abstauber, so there's quite a lot of dialogue for you to find. For the full game I will also include a how-to-play so people who didn't grow up with the 9-verb system can easily get into the game as well

If you feel like trying the demo out you can do so here:

https://fanomatic.itch.io/animal-cruelty-demo


Character concepts

The full game will be free and will include two more playable rooms (plus an intro and an outro) as well as one more playable character. I try to keep it somewhat small and manageble.

I will post updates here, but you can also follow my progress on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/munchercow

And on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Animalcrueltygame/

Full game status:
- graphics 33%
- puzzles 33%
- scripting 60%
- music/sound 50%

Current version:
Demo 1.2

Latest Changes:
* Changed character talk positions (Characters now walk to specific position when talking to NPC and Fuzzy)
* Player characters now faces each other when speaking!
* Minor bugfixes and tweaks

[VampireWombat]

I think I've seen you asking for help making this game before.
Looks interesting. I'll give it a try sometime.
One note. When I downloaded it, my browser wanted me to discard the file saying that it's an uncommon file type.

[Shadow1000]

That was really funny and some good puzzles. I am impressed by how almost everything you do has a response from the system. Many games cut corners in this area, especially for a demo!

It's probably a bit late now but I am just not a fan of verb coin interfaces. I know some people like it but in my opinion there's often just so much more clicking and mouse usage to solve a puzzle and that usually detracts from the gameplay.

[RetroJay]

Hi, Fanomatic.

Some points I would like to make.

1: I just have to say, WOW!!
2: Had no problem downloading.
3: I LOVE what I have seen, so far.
4: I LOVE the story, The graphics, the animations, the verb coin interface and the entirety of it all. I can't believe that this is your first game.
5: I am sorry to use the word "Love" so much but... Hell. I "Love" how this is looking and playing.

I hope to see more updates and hopefully... The full game, soon.

[Fanomatic]

I think I've seen you asking for help making this game before.
Looks interesting. I'll give it a try sometime.

Hey thanks! I hope you enjoy it when you do!

One note. When I downloaded it, my browser wanted me to discard the file saying that it's an uncommon file type.

Hmmm, it could be because I use Google drive. I've gotten similar messages when downloading from other peoples drives. I think it's because the file hasn't been downloaded much before, but it should be perfectly safe

That was really funny and some good puzzles. I am impressed by how almost everything you do has a response from the system. Many games cut corners in this area, especially for a demo!

It's probably a bit late now but I am just not a fan of verb coin interfaces. I know some people like it but in my opinion there's often just so much more clicking and mouse usage to solve a puzzle and that usually detracts from the gameplay.

Thanks! The verb coin inteface is really old-school and clunky by today's standards, but it has the advantage that you can throw in a lot of hidden gags. But yeah, it's something you either like or dislike

Hi, Fanomatic.

Some points I would like to make.

1: I just have to say, WOW!!
2: Had no problem downloading.
3: I LOVE what I have seen, so far.
4: I LOVE the story, The graphics, the animations, the verb coin interface and the entirety of it all. I can't believe that this is your first game.
5: I am sorry to use the word "Love" so much but... Hell. I "Love" how this is looking and playing.

I hope to see more updates and hopefully... The full game, soon.

Thanks a lot, I'm really glad you like it!

I'm just gonna fix some remaining bugs in the demo and then I will start working on the full game.

[morganw]

I was a bit confused when I tried the game as all the comments are talking about a verb coin interface, but that isn't what is used

The game uses the 9-verb system by Abstauber

...but anyway, I got quite stuck for while because of issues I was having with the interface. It seems that if you left-click on the verb 'USE' and then on an inventory item that it is an instant use of the item (not option to use the item on something else), but clicking on the inventory item directly lets you use it on another object. Is this by design or was I doing something wrong?

[Fanomatic]

I was a bit confused when I tried the game as all the comments are talking about a verb coin interface, but that isn't what is used

Aha, for some reason I thought "verb coin interface" was synonymous with 9-verb, but after googling it I realise that's not the case.

...but anyway, I got quite stuck for while because of issues I was having with the interface. It seems that if you left-click on the verb 'USE' and then on an inventory item that it is an instant use of the item (not option to use the item on something else), but clicking on the inventory item directly lets you use it on another object. Is this by design or was I doing something wrong?

Yeah, that a good point. There's no real reason for just 'using' an inventory-item without context. I'll see if I can fix so that using an inventory item will automatically become 'use with something'. Thanks!

[Shadow1000]

I was a bit confused when I tried the game as all the comments are talking about a verb coin interface, but that isn't what is used

The game uses the 9-verb system by Abstauber

My bad! I misunderstood the term "verb coin". Here's some clarification in case others make the same mistake: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/wiki/Verb_coin

[Fanomatic]

Demo version 1.1 is out! I fixed so that using an inventory item now results in "use with". I also added some more item uses and fixed some bugs.

The new version can be found here, or from the first post:
https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kzOgsrThyNCB8SwxEYurMR3T5cmPxUWR

[Dualnames]

I absolutely loved this demo and would gladly pay for this!! <3

[RetroJay]

Ah... Yes. Of course. This game does NOT use a verb coin interface.

Great to hear about the update. I am downloading now.

Edit: This is really very good. I just did something that for some strange reason I didn't even think of last night and managed to get a little further.

[LameNick]

I really loved the demo.
Great, funny dialogues, even the simple facial expressions on the characters are awesome.
Made me laugh out loud when Five read: “The fools think they can keep me locked up.. I'll document my brilliant escape so it can be added to the history books.” from the journal lying next to the corps in the next cell.

I once had a similar idea, but as it goes with me, ideas rarely gain enough traction in my dopamine circuit to turn into something more. 
I hope you keep on working on this, really enjoyed it!

[Fanomatic]

I absolutely loved this demo and would gladly pay for this!! <3

Thanks, I appreciate it! I do this for fun and for learning, so people playing the game and sharing their experience is rewarding enough.

I really loved the demo.
Great, funny dialogues, even the simple facial expressions on the characters are awesome.
Made me laugh out loud when Five read: “The fools think they can keep me locked up.. I'll document my brilliant escape so it can be added to the history books.” from the journal lying next to the corps in the next cell.

Glad to hear you like it! Have you tried "looking" at the journal multiple times?

I once had a similar idea, but as it goes with me, ideas rarely gain enough traction in my dopamine circuit to turn into something more. 
I hope you keep on working on this, really enjoyed it!

Thanks, will do!

[LameNick]

Glad to hear you like it! Have you tried "looking" at the journal multiple times?

Yup, the whole account of the escape was fun. But the first paragraph, that I read immediately after entering the cell with the corpse, expressing overabundance of hope and confidence, put into stark contrast with the grim outcome, laying right next to the journal, really cracked me up.
I did try almost every kind of interaction many times since I didn't find out how to use inventory items until I checked this thread again. Even came across Five's pick-up lines.

[kconan]

I absolutely loved this demo and would gladly pay for this!! <3

I second the notion of paying for a full version.  Kudos!

[Flugeldufel]

WOW! It's awesome. That's really your first game? I love the graphics, details, animations, the whole style. And it's really funny. Looking forward to playing the full game 

[Stupot]

Looks like a fun project. All the best with it.

[selmiak]

hey, I longplayed this nice demo

[Fanomatic]

WOW! It's awesome. That's really your first game? I love the graphics, details, animations, the whole style. And it's really funny. Looking forward to playing the full game 

Glad you like it! Cheers!

Looks like a fun project. All the best with it.

Thanks!

hey, I longplayed this nice demo.

Cool! It will be useful as a walkthough too

[Frodo]

Played it. 
LOVED it!   

Excellent story, with lots of funny dialogue and amazing art. 

Can't wait to see more of it.   

[Fanomatic]

Played it. 
LOVED it!   

Excellent story, with lots of funny dialogue and amazing art. 

Can't wait to see more of it.   

Thanks, I will keep working on it!

Slight update. I decided to use itch.io to host the game instead of using my Google drive. It gives a more serious impression and gives me better overview of the project.

[PlayPretend]

Fantastic art and animations, great dialogue.  Would make for a great full game.

One tiny suggestion:

Spoiler: ShowHide

Assign hotspots for the characters to walk to that keep them in full view of each other when talking.  When the guinea pig first talks to Fuzzy, he walks directly in front of Fuzzy so the zombie hand is completely blocking the view of Fuzzy.  Maybe set the hotspot to the left of Fuzzy, facing him.  Same thing with talking to Sarah - the characters walk behind the cell door bars where you can't see them.  Cheat the hotspot so they're standing in full view to the right of the bars, even though they could walk closer.

[Fanomatic]

Thanks! Yes, the hotspot thing is an issue I'm still working on.

[Fanomatic]

The talk position issue has now been fixed. Thanks for reminding me PlayPretend

The player characters now stand in more sensible positions when talking to Sarah. Also Five stands in a set position when talking to Fuzzy until you've 'activated' him. I found an old thread where Khris had come up with an elegant solution to the problem, so once more, big thanks to him.

There's now a new version, "Animal Cruelty Demo 1.2" on itch.io that can be reached from the first page, or from the link below:

https://fanomatic.itch.io/animal-cruelty-demo

I'm currently in the planning phase for the full game. Time to weave all those loose ideas together!

[KyriakosCH]

The demo was very cool

[Fanomatic]

The demo was very cool

Cheers! Glad you like it!