Fool Around

[MIGGO]

Alright! So, after lurking around the forums and learning to use the AGS for some months, I've developed this adventure game called Fool Around.
It's ready and I'll post it here for you to enjoy!

Here is a link: https://wavey-games.itch.io/fool-around
And a link: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2519-fool-around

Fool Around

Fool Around is a surreal point 'n' click adventure game.

Venture through dream landscapes of a 19th century flaneur! Find hidden records and speak to characters.
Find a music generator that has no effect to the game whatsoever! Solve puzzles to eventually wake up and face the day.

The initial idea was to make a non-linear exploration game in the vein of, say, Yume Nikki, but in the point and click genre. That turned out to be a bit too ambitious for a first time developer. However, what is left of this early vision are a bunch of secrets, like hidden music, that can be uncovered if the player is willing to fool around in the game.

Update!
You can now speed up the player character from the menu bar.
Fixed a music bug too.

[Honza]

Congrats on releasing your first AGS game! I like the surreal atmosphere, imaginative art and ambience. I got stuck quite early on though and I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or it's a bug:

Spoiler

I went all the way to the right and didn't have oars to use the boat. When I tried to go back, in the room with the fountain, I couldn't enter the passage I came through. I restarted the game and tried leaving the first screen to the left, but there also seems to be no exit. Am I missing some hidden exits or are the exit hotspots not working properly?

[close]

[MIGGO]

Wow, thanks for downloading the game!

Spoiler

You can enter the three passages by using the hand/interact icon on them. I've been a bit inconsistent with the doors in the game, because sometimes you have use the hand icon and other times you can just walk through them. Definitely gonna avoid that in the future.  Hope this solves the problem!

[close]

[Honza]

Wow, thanks for downloading the game!

Spoiler

You can enter the three passages by using the hand/interact icon on them. I've been a bit inconsistent with the doors in the game, because sometimes you have use the hand icon and other times you can just walk through them. Definitely gonna avoid that in the future.  Hope this solves the problem!

[close]

Ah, got it, thanks!

[Shadow1000]

I started playing the game. I really enjoy the beautiful graphics and quirky atmosphere of the world.

I wish there would be a way to speed up the character, though. There is a lot of walking and I find myself spending more of my playing time waiting for the character to walk than actually playing. Maybe I'm just impatient but I usually set the game speed pretty fast when I'm given the option from the settings, and this is especially true with a game with a lot of walking. I plan to continue playing but so far this is my thought.

In case you're interested, I got as far as

Spoiler

getting the rehearsal tape from the band

[close]

[MIGGO]

Thanks for the feedback!

The idea of creating an option for the player to change walking speed is actually a good one. I honestly just thought that point and click games are pretty slow and that's that. 

Awesome to hear of your progress!

[Shadow1000]

I honestly just thought that point and click games are pretty slow and that's that. 

My opinion is that it depends: if it's a game in a limited walking area (e.g. all inside one house or something) then I would be ok if it's a bit slower. But Fool Around has a LOT of walking so there's a lot of waiting for the character to cross the screen. I happen to love exploring and it's a real bonus to me if a game has a lot of rooms (+1 for Fool Around) but not when I spend more time waiting than playing.

[MIGGO]

I honestly just thought that point and click games are pretty slow and that's that. 

My opinion is that it depends: if it's a game in a limited walking area (e.g. all inside one house or something) then I would be ok if it's a bit slower. But Fool Around has a LOT of walking so there's a lot of waiting for the character to cross the screen. I happen to love exploring and it's a real bonus to me if a game has a lot of rooms (+1 for Fool Around) but not when I spend more time waiting than playing.

Yes, good points! It can be thought as relative to the size of the milieu.

[heltenjon]

I've played this a bit yesterday and today, and now I don't really have any idea what I'm supposed to do. Maybe I'll start a help thread after writing some feedback here.

For a first game, this is quite good. It's HUGE with loads of locations, quite a few characters and objects. There's a lot to do. The graphics are diverse and nice - I like the different styles you're experimenting with. I guess a dreamworld is about the only way to incorporate all these different pictures. And the music is varied - I liked a lot of the tunes. Some were grating, but I suspect that's partly on purpose.

The strength of the game is also its weakness. At times, the mileau feels like one big maze. There are lots of walking, and retracing one's steps gets tedious fast. I agree that the walking pace could be speeded up. The maze-ness of the whole world or worlds makes it difficult to remember how to get from one location to another, and especially when making a "jump" with no obvious way back, this can be a bit daunting. But sure, finding your way is part of the puzzle.

I've found two bugs: After making the first "jump" by

Spoiler

looking at the apple

[close]

, I did the same thing again. I was transported to the same location, and the music started again, but without silencing the already playing music. This meant that there were two versions of the same tune playing, one slightly ahead of the other. This didn't break the game, but it wasn't nice either. It stopped when I reached a location with a new tune.

The other bug was in the ghost house:

Spoiler

After trying to take the brandy with the ethereal bottle, I tried to speak to the ghost upstairs, and the game gave an error message and ended prematurely. Some sort of script error, but I don't recall exactly.

[close]

My progress:

Spoiler

I've found and played the ghostly VHS, two cassette tapes and two LPs. I've found the mysterious music machine in the tower in the desert, that from your description doesn't play any part in the progress in the game. Last thing I did was buy pink grapes. I had no way back except by appling.

[close]

I think I will start a help thread, because I'm a bit out of ideas at this point.

Congratulations on realeasing the game!

[sthomannch]

More or less at the same point

Spoiler

Have two records, one played, two VHS cassettes but not played (did not let me, strange), apple, oar, and pink and purple grapes. I have been to the desert and accross the lake (or sea). Up to here I had good progress, now I am also stuck. Can wander around and re-visit all locations that I have found so far again and again...

But the atmosphere is good and I like how the game is made. Feel like dreaming :-)

Na, restart ant try the records and tapes on different devices

[close]

Got a little further

Spoiler

Try to give the berries to the waiter in the tea house, rest is logical

[close]

Spoiler

woke up, but it seems I am locked in another room now: pipe, cup and kettle of green tea, straw bed, picture, door

[close]

Be persistent!

Made it finally. It was a nice game, sometimes a bit confusing, but at the end not illogical. I liked the graphics and the sound and the atmosphere. Thank you for giving us another nice game!

[heltenjon]

Thanks, Sthomannch, I also found that now. 

[MIGGO]

heltenjon and sthomannch, thank you both for playing the game! Also thanks for the feedback and notifying about the bugs.

Concerning the ghost house bug:

Spoiler

This once happened to me too while I was playtesting. I don't think it has anything to do with the brandy. I remember the message being that a certain view didn't have a second loop. And that view turned out to be the idle view. So I think the bug is due to trying to talk to Bulbhead while the game is playing the idle animation for the player. I didn't know how to fix it and I also thought that there's a slim chance anybody would get it. Turns out you did!

[close]

The music bug slipped past me!

Awesome to see you two finished the game!

[KyriakosCH]

Great that you completed it! I will give it a go and report back 

[MIGGO]

Great, have fun with it!   

[KyriakosCH]

This is a pretty big game!
And I like the artstyle and feel. Well done

[MIGGO]

Thanks for playing Kyriakos! Glad you liked it.

[Athanor]

Congratulations to the release! Looks very nice and sounds interesting. I'll play it soon.

[MIGGO]

Thanks! Give it a go.