Headbanger's Heaven - A Rock & Roll Adventure

Frodo · Sun 22/12/2019 21:46:24

Hey everyone. I'm very happy to announce my first game.

Hope you enjoy it.

Jason Miller is a typical teenage rocker. Loves to stay up all night and sleep all day. And of course, headbang to his favourite music.

When he enters a competition in Kerplow Rock Magazine, he never dreamed he would actually win first prize!

But won, he has. And now he gets to spend the afternoon with his favourite band, Uptempo Maniacs, and get a private performance of their new song.
He is SO excited! He still can't believe it, even when the limo driver drops him off at the band's mansion.

He has his autograph book, all ready to get autographs from all 6 of the band members. And he CANNOT WAIT for the special private performance.

But if he thinks he's in for an easy afternoon, he's got another think coming...

The game is 88 MB.

Download Links
Dropbox
Itch.io

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/Bl53D4P.png[/imgzoom]

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/XSDn4qO.png[/imgzoom]

Cassiebsg · Tue 24/12/2019 10:52:10

Congrats on releasing your first game!

Frodo · Tue 24/12/2019 11:27:08

Thanks Cassie

Ponch · Tue 24/12/2019 15:43:15

Congrats on getting your first game out, Frodo. That's not something that every AGSer can say.

I did a bit of playtesting on this game about a month ago. I found it made me very nostalgic for the early days of AGS, and Reality on the Norm. Back in those days when CJ still walked among us and every other game had that "explore a big house" Maniac Mansion vibe to it. The graphics especially remind me of a lot of those classic efforts made with AGS 2.x. There's a lot of quirky personality in these doodles. Also, as someone who banged his head in the 80s, I could have easily been Jason. So many memories of early AGS and my even earlier, be-mulleted youth. Ahh, the good old days.

I hope in the sequel, we'll be able to play the games in the arcade room.

Short take: If you like very retro gaming (and who doesn't in these forums), guitar licks, and walking around a multi-floor mansion until you've memorized the floor plans without realizing it, then give this game a try.

DBoyWheeler · Tue 24/12/2019 20:50:04

Congrats to you, man! Welcome to the world of the AGS-er!

MorpheusKitami · Wed 25/12/2019 05:14:14

Weird, the game freezes for me as soon as I start. I've never had that happen before. Despite playing under Linux through WINE this is the first AGS game to cause that for me. I'm honestly not sure if there's anything you can do about it beyond noting it.

Also, you have your game's assets in there three times. Makes a considerably larger download than it needs to be.

lorenzo · Wed 25/12/2019 09:45:10

Congratulation on the release!

Downloading it now!

Frodo · Wed 25/12/2019 13:30:56

Ponch, thanks. I'm really glad you like the game.

And I'm just waiting for the day when CJ walks amongst us again.

And thanks for all the playtesting you did.

DBoyWheeler, thanks. It feels good to get a game out.

Morpheus, I'm sorry you're having problems getting the game to run. It works fine in Windows, but I can't guarantee Linux\Wine.

As for the game assets being in there 3 times... hmmm, that's odd. I'll look into it when I'm back home in a few days.

Lorenzo, thanks for giving it a spin. Hope you enjoy it.

Frodo · Sat 28/12/2019 14:46:41

Quote from: MorpheusKitami on Wed 25/12/2019 05:14:14
Weird, the game freezes for me as soon as I start. I've never had that happen before. Despite playing under Linux through WINE this is the first AGS game to cause that for me. I'm honestly not sure if there's anything you can do about it beyond noting it.

Also, you have your game's assets in there three times. Makes a considerably larger download than it needs to be.

I'm back home now, and I checked the game's assets, but I'm not seeing anything wrong. What exactly are you seeing 3 times? Could it be something that Linux\Wine is causing?

MorpheusKitami · Sat 28/12/2019 17:24:08

No, that's not something related to Linux. The zip contained the files in three locations. One in the base folder and twice in two folders inside the base folder. The extra folders being called Data and Windows, meaning you just copied the game's files from the Windows directory to what would correspond to your Compiled directory and then zipped up the whole thing.

Frodo · Sat 28/12/2019 18:02:36

Ahh, right, I get what you mean.
Yes, I copied the .exe into the main folder for ease-of-use, so the player can just get stuck straight into the game, instead of looking in folders.
You can delete it if it really bothers you.

Cassiebsg · Sun 29/12/2019 11:59:08

You're suppose to only pack the "windows" folder inside the compile folder, not data or compiled...
As a rule I just rename the windows folder to the game name and then pack it, so it's ready to be unpacked into it's own folder. But no matter if you do that or just pack the files inside the windows folders, you are not suppose to pack anything else.

Unless you made a Linux version, and then you pack Linux in it's own zip file.

Slasher · Sun 29/12/2019 13:25:43

As Cassiebsg said.

Data Folder is not generally needed in the compiled folder.

If you have a Linux build leave in Linux Folder and Windows in Windows Folder within the Compiled Folder.

The player can then choose their O/S..

It's not big deal to have to choose.

Cassiebsg · Sun 29/12/2019 14:11:32

Actually, you should not pack them together, IMHO.
People that want a windows build don't normally want a Linux build, and vise-versa.
I don't mind too much if they're packed in the same zip, but only because I have a fast internet connection and no download limits. But not everyone is privileged this way, and then it might be a big annoyance and inconvenience for them.

lorenzo · Mon 30/12/2019 10:23:05

I'm really enjoying the game! I've been exploring the mansion, solving puzzles, finding missing items (these people seem to lose everything!

) and turning on radiators.

I love the over-enthusiastic main character, he's so funny! Some of his dialogues with other people has made me chuckle. Especially his interactions with the shifty manager.

The mansion is huge, but I'm starting to find my bearings.
Graphics aren't perfect, but who cares? Fun gameplay always beats graphics, in my opinion! It's always clear what you can interact with, what you can pick up, where you can walk and so on, and that's what matters most.

My only complaint, and it's a big one... why the hell can't I play Manpac in the arcade?!?

Frodo · Mon 30/12/2019 19:04:55

Okay, I re-uploaded the game, and edited the new download link into the first post.

New Download Link

It's 88 MB now. Hopefully that is preferable to those that have limited internet access.

It's a Windows game, so there's no Linux version.

Happy gaming.

Frodo · Mon 30/12/2019 19:48:48

Quote from: lorenzo on Mon 30/12/2019 10:23:05
I'm really enjoying the game! I've been exploring the mansion, solving puzzles, finding missing items (these people seem to lose everything! ) and turning on radiators.

I love the over-enthusiastic main character, he's so funny! Some of his dialogues with other people has made me chuckle. Especially his interactions with the shifty manager.

The mansion is huge, but I'm starting to find my bearings.
Graphics aren't perfect, but who cares? Fun gameplay always beats graphics, in my opinion! It's always clear what you can interact with, what you can pick up, where you can walk and so on, and that's what matters most.

My only complaint, and it's a big one... why the hell can't I play Manpac in the arcade?!?

Thanks for your comments Lorenzo. I'm so glad you're enjoying the game.

It's shocking how much stuff the band lose.

Jason is definately awe-struck at meeting the band he idolises. And the manager enjoys making things awkward for Jason, and being such a jerk.

Hope you liked some of the book titles in the main library.

Yeah, the graphics are not great - art is not my strong point.

But I'm glad you're having fun anyway.

Jason plays some ManPac every time you aren't looking.

Thanks again.

lorenzo · Wed 01/01/2020 14:43:16

Thank you for making the game! It's been a lot of fun, so far. I'm still trying to get all the autographs (and the manager's requests...).

Quote from: Frodo on Mon 30/12/2019 19:48:48
Hope you liked some of the book titles in the main library.

Haha, yeah, I definitely spent too much time reading all the titles!

Frodo · Wed 01/01/2020 14:49:08

If you get too stuck, feel free to ask for hints.

lorenzo · Mon 06/01/2020 21:57:42

I just finished the game, I really enjoyed! In the end, I knew the mansion better than my own house.

I really liked Jason and meeting the members of the band was fun. And, of course, the evil manager, my favourite character!

Puzzles weren't too hard and logical. The only one I didn't like was

Spoiler

getting the cushion. There must be 200 cushions around the mansion, but Jason only likes that particular one in the living room! He must have a passion for yellow cushions.

[close]

All in all, a very good and fun first game!

Frodo · Mon 06/01/2020 23:01:21

Hey Lorenzo. Thanks for playing my game. I'm really glad you enjoyed it.

And I hope you're not too tired from walking up and down all those stairs in the mansion.

The manager was definitely being a pain in the a**

Spoiler

Jason is very picky when it comes to cushions.

[close]

Gendgi · Tue 07/01/2020 11:48:27

I am playing it now, so far I found it very cool, specially if it is your first game, the music is a bit repetitive but overall the game has been fun, I am trying to start making something on AGS myself but I guess the hard part is just to start doing it lol, thanks again for the game

Shadow1000 · Tue 07/01/2020 17:10:04

I spent a lot of time playing this and it's overall a really good game, especially for a first release!

The gameplay is a nice twist on the "complete the list" theme and any rock lover would be able to relate to this. I found there to be a LOT of walking (I set the game speed to the fastest) and a lot of the game environment is repetitive (i.e. a lot of similar rooms with similar decor and bathrooms). The flow of the game is pretty good, with being given tasks by characters you meet.

Unfortunately, I did not finish the game. I found that I was spending too much time restoring from crashes rather than playing that I felt that I would pass on this one until the bugs are ironed out.

As I said, great effort and great idea for a first game. I do hope to see more releases from this author.

Frodo · Wed 08/01/2020 10:25:23

Gendhi, thanks for playing the game, I'm so glad you're enjoying it.

Shadow, and anyone else who's experiencing crashes. I'm really sorry about the problems.

I'm trying to figure out what's wrong in the code, but it's kind of tricky, since I'm not seeing any crashes myself.
I hope you can still enjoy the game anyway, and I'll keep trying to figure out what's wrong.

Drmcscott · Sun 12/01/2020 20:52:56

Congrats on releasing the game.

I like Jason Miller's perky lil' butt!

Frodo · Thu 21/05/2020 19:04:05

Hey everyone

I've been playing around with the game code, giving it a new & improved ending. You can now actually do stuff in that last location, instead of just watching a cut scene.

Also, some of you said that the game crashed for you, when you

Spoiler

gave apple juice to the Manager

[close]

. I *think* I fixed that problem now.

If anyone wants to give it another try, that would be great.

You can download it from HERE
It's 88 MB.
I also updated link in the first post.

Old Saved Games won't work with this version.

Have fun.

Stupot · Thu 21/05/2020 20:32:07

Congrats on releasing your first game, Frodo. It looks fun. \m/