The Dome

Started by gnoard, Fri 22/05/2020 23:50:38

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gnoard

Hello all. I've just finished my first AGS effort, The Dome. It's the story of a man's fascination with, and attempt to reach, a mysterious domed structure that lies beyond an impassable mire.

Gamejolt link: https://gamejolt.com/games/thedome/489770
AGS game database link: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2448-the-dome

I know the graphics aren't up to much - I'm no artist :-) Hopefully some people may find the story interesting, though.

Some screens at the original 320x200 resolution (upscaled versions in Gamejolt link):






CaptainD

Congrats on creating and releasing your first game! Looks good.  :smiley: Your art is better than mine :grin:
 

Shadow1000

I just finished the game. Overall, it is a really impressive work, especially for a first release!

Great story and the way it unfolds and makes the player realize the balance between determination to achieve goals and making moral decisions is really awesome. Animations, music, sound are good too! There's a great balance between inventory puzzles and dialogue puzzles and the game is a great experience.

Some things to improve:

The graphics are certainly adequate. However, when you create a game, you have to make a decision as to how game items can be identified to the player. You can either use hotspots that change a label or at least the cursor when you hover over game items, OR if your graphics are designed in a way that game items are apparent visually, then players will just intuitively know that something is a game item. If you look at the questions in the hints section, both are based on game items blending into backgrounds in way that players could not identify them. As much as I loved the puzzles, I spent considerable time clicking around backgrounds to find things and probably would never have found the items that are discussed in the hints without knowing what I'm looking for.

If you really want to take the experience to the next level, try to put in more responses to attempts. Maybe if you give a character an item he doesn't need it should say "Bob doesn't need that can" or something rather than no response from the game when the player tries different ideas.

So, as I said, this is an awesome game in the sense that the story and puzzles are really good. The way it really has meaning to real life really makes the player think rather than just being a funny story that ends with the credits. The fact that this is a first release is even more impressive. So, please take the points I made more as suggestions for your next game rather than criticism!

Congrats

gnoard

Thanks very much for the feedback. I'll definitely take all that on board :)

selmiak

this looks very interesting. sadly the linux version doesn't start. even after allowing the starter and the engine to be executed ???

sthomannch

Perhaps you can make it run by changing the permissions. Unpack the thing and open a shell in the directory containing "TheDome"

chmod +x TheDome
chmod +x data/ags64
./TheDome

Worked for me. The problem with permissions is recurring in a lot of Linux versions, do not know if certain archivers strip the metadata.

Good luck!

sthomannch

I just see that you "allowed the starter and engine to be executed", so you already set the permissions. Any error message? Worst case you can run the windows version with wine, works also on most AGS games :-)

KyriakosCH

#7
I am playing this too. Atm I am at
Spoiler
the point where I have the strange potion...
[close]

edit: finished now (with some help from the hints...)

Nice :)
This is the Way - A dark allegory. My Twitter!  My Youtube!

gnoard

@selmiak
Sorry you couldn't get it working.

I'm not that familiar with the way the GNU/Linux engine works, but the game works for me by making executable both the shell script and executable file, as sthomannch said. However, I did originally need to install some missing dependencies, such as allegro. If you run the game from the shell, you should hopefully get a message about what you're missing, if anything.

FYI, as per the info on the GameJolt site (https://gamejolt.com/games/thedome/489770) under <GNU/Linux users>, the Windows exe should run fine in Wine, so you can hopefully use that if you still can't get the native GNU/Linux version working.

Athanor

I really like your graphics, very unique. Looks and sounds great! I'll try it for sure.

Sledgy

I'd want Space Quest fangame in this graphic style :)

heltenjon

I played this today, and I found it to be a deep, somewhat philosophical story. Very well done! I liked the conversations, the character's relationships with other people and how the story flows. While there may be some pixel hunts, I wasn't stuck. Probably just lucky.  ;) Good and fun puzzles, too, but I liked the story the best.

While you excuse yourself for the graphics, I think they worked very well. The generic look actually adds to the story. I also found the music and sound to be very well integrated into the story, adding atmosphere or giving feedback about player breakthroughs.

KyriakosCH

This was a really nice game. I am not sure if I got the ending right, though... Can the creator (or others) explain :)
This is the Way - A dark allegory. My Twitter!  My Youtube!

gnoard

Thanks for the comments, everyone :)

@KyriakosCH
Sorry for the late reply. I didn't realise there was a question here. Anyway, the short explanation of the ending is:

Spoiler
Sed is consumed by his desire to reach the Dome. He sacrifices everything to reach it and his desire eventually destroys him.
[close]

The long explanation - what the game is actually about - is:
Spoiler
The game is essentially an allegory illustrating the Buddhist concept of "pursuing one's desires leads to suffering". Sed's attempt to reach the Dome represents the pursuance of such desire and it ultimately leads to his destruction.

Aro already understands this, but also knows that Sed is too determined to leave his chosen path. We learn from a conversation before his phone rings that Aro once was interested in the Dome (i.e. he was pursuing his desires) but realised that this was fruitless, so he learnt to accept things as they are and is now happy. In this sense, Aro is something akin to a Bodhisattva.

Aro runs the bar purely as a service to the people of the settlement. His door is always open and though Inu/Rac remark that he "must've made a tidy profit", he cares nothing for the money and (though this is not covered in the game) uses it purely to sustain himself and help others. When Sed steals from him it doesn't bother him in the slightest and he remarks that money is nothing special - he realises that it's a fundamentally "bad" concept that will lead to suffering.

There are (in some cases, very) oblique references to Buddhism in the game. For instance:

1) The ship's wheel in the bar is not a ship's wheel but a Dharmachakra. The ship is a red herring.

2) In the conversation before Aro's phone rings, we learn that Aro grows trees. Later, he is planning to serve "home-grown fig treats". This fig tree motif is a reference to the Bodhi Tree. Aro also remarks that he doesn't think he's "cut out to be an arborist" - i.e. the path he's taken, though he realises it's the correct one, is not easy.

3) Sed's "And a noble path it is" comment to Ips after receiving the Urf disguise is a joking reference to the Noble Eightfold Path.

There are certain references to Sed's ultimate fate in the game, such as one Look description for the Dome (they change slightly as the game progresses) in which Sed remarks "This is what I'm dying to get to.". This literally turns out to be the case. When Sed encounters Aed, Aed informs him that he is "at peace", as he has died - i.e., he has been relieved of suffering - and he insinuates that Sed will soon die too. There are other indirect/coded references. On a side note, you may notice that both Aed and Sed have black hair (with the low-resolution graphics, characters are mostly distinguished by their hair colour). This is the only time in the game that this happens and it's because they will end up in the same state.

When Sed reaches the Dome, after symbolically offering all his possessions and his own self at the door, we find out that there's no "pot of gold" there - i.e. it's futile to chase one's desires. The Dome world is a mirror image of his own and the people there are struggling and suffering in exactly the same way. As he is dying, Sed realises - to a point, at least - that what he's done has indeed been futile. Aro too understands what has happened - that Sed's relentless chasing of his desires has ultimately destroyed him. He remarks that "it was the only way he could ever have been happy", which is unquestionably true.

In case you were wondering, I'm not religious in any way (I'm definitely not proselytising!), but I agree with the "desire leads to suffering" concept and thought it would be an interesting idea for a game. (I've left out the concept of rebirth, as I certainly don't agree with that.)

If you or anyone else has made it this far, thank you for reading :)
[close]

heltenjon

That's a really interesting peep into the author's mind.  (nod)

I liked that
Spoiler
I got the feeling all along that I had to make the wrong choices to advance the story. Sed has to betray everyone he could have had a happy life with in order to pursue the dream that turns out to be false. I reckoned that he was kind of reborn when he entered the parallel universe that turned out to be just like where he came from.

It's an interesting setup for a game, as most games take the opposite approach, where the player has to go for their dreams/risk their life to achive something against all odds.
[close]

KyriakosCH

Quote from: gnoard on Sun 11/04/2021 13:34:38
Thanks for the comments, everyone :)

@KyriakosCH
Sorry for the late reply. I didn't realise there was a question here. Anyway, the short explanation of the ending is:

Spoiler
Sed is consumed by his desire to reach the Dome. He sacrifices everything to reach it and his desire eventually destroys him.
[close]

The long explanation - what the game is actually about - is:
Spoiler
The game is essentially an allegory illustrating the Buddhist concept of "pursuing one's desires leads to suffering". Sed's attempt to reach the Dome represents the pursuance of such desire and it ultimately leads to his destruction.

Aro already understands this, but also knows that Sed is too determined to leave his chosen path. We learn from a conversation before his phone rings that Aro once was interested in the Dome (i.e. he was pursuing his desires) but realised that this was fruitless, so he learnt to accept things as they are and is now happy. In this sense, Aro is something akin to a Bodhisattva.

Aro runs the bar purely as a service to the people of the settlement. His door is always open and though Inu/Rac remark that he "must've made a tidy profit", he cares nothing for the money and (though this is not covered in the game) uses it purely to sustain himself and help others. When Sed steals from him it doesn't bother him in the slightest and he remarks that money is nothing special - he realises that it's a fundamentally "bad" concept that will lead to suffering.

There are (in some cases, very) oblique references to Buddhism in the game. For instance:

1) The ship's wheel in the bar is not a ship's wheel but a Dharmachakra. The ship is a red herring.

2) In the conversation before Aro's phone rings, we learn that Aro grows trees. Later, he is planning to serve "home-grown fig treats". This fig tree motif is a reference to the Bodhi Tree. Aro also remarks that he doesn't think he's "cut out to be an arborist" - i.e. the path he's taken, though he realises it's the correct one, is not easy.

3) Sed's "And a noble path it is" comment to Ips after receiving the Urf disguise is a joking reference to the Noble Eightfold Path.

There are certain references to Sed's ultimate fate in the game, such as one Look description for the Dome (they change slightly as the game progresses) in which Sed remarks "This is what I'm dying to get to.". This literally turns out to be the case. When Sed encounters Aed, Aed informs him that he is "at peace", as he has died - i.e., he has been relieved of suffering - and he insinuates that Sed will soon die too. There are other indirect/coded references. On a side note, you may notice that both Aed and Sed have black hair (with the low-resolution graphics, characters are mostly distinguished by their hair colour). This is the only time in the game that this happens and it's because they will end up in the same state.

When Sed reaches the Dome, after symbolically offering all his possessions and his own self at the door, we find out that there's no "pot of gold" there - i.e. it's futile to chase one's desires. The Dome world is a mirror image of his own and the people there are struggling and suffering in exactly the same way. As he is dying, Sed realises - to a point, at least - that what he's done has indeed been futile. Aro too understands what has happened - that Sed's relentless chasing of his desires has ultimately destroyed him. He remarks that "it was the only way he could ever have been happy", which is unquestionably true.

In case you were wondering, I'm not religious in any way (I'm definitely not proselytising!), but I agree with the "desire leads to suffering" concept and thought it would be an interesting idea for a game. (I've left out the concept of rebirth, as I certainly don't agree with that.)

If you or anyone else has made it this far, thank you for reading :)
[close]

Indeed, very nice plot :)
I really enjoyed this game. I hope to see more games from you!!!
This is the Way - A dark allegory. My Twitter!  My Youtube!

gnoard

Thanks. I'm very glad people enjoyed the story as I wasn't sure if anyone would be interested :)

MIGGO

Just finished the game!

The story was very impressive and deep. The changes that occured as it progressed made a strange, a bit unreal atmosphere. The world and lore too was interesting.
I think the graphics were decent! Maybe the walking animation put me off a bit at first, because it felt clumsy, I guess, but then there were all these supporting animations like opening and closing a door, climbing a ladder and stuff like that, which gave a more polished feel.

The music and sound design were good when there were some. I only would've wished for more ambience or background music for the game, as it was terribly silent at times.

Congrats on making this game and thank you for the experience!
What is Palace Cheese?
A dodge move in Romanian swordplay.

gnoard

#18
Thanks for the feedback and your comments on the music/sound in particular. FYI, Yubatake’s soundtrack is here if you’re interested.

I do value good audio in a game - and am quite surprised that audio doesn’t feature in the AGS game ratings, actually - but didn’t want to distract the player too much, so mainly just went for short musical cues for new areas/discoveries etc. and chose not to loop the longer ambient SFX (e.g. Mireside’s water/birds). I suppose it’s quite difficult to judge what others may think.

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