Nightmare Frames (Demo on STEAM)

[Postmodern Adventures]

WISHLIST ON STEAM: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1650590/Nightmare_Frames/

After Urban Witch Story, Dead Dimension and Billy Masters Was Right I´m happy to share with you my new project. It's my more ambitious game to date. I hope you like it!

Story

A frustrated slasher writer sets out on a quest for a lost film: the scariest movie ever made. From the Hollywood in the mid-eighties to a small town  where strange things happen.

Features:

- 320x200 pixel graphics.

- Two button click-interface

-Music by: Heclysma.

Overall Progress: 65%

[TheFrighter]

Looks good, PA! 
But  slasher writers are dangerous? 

_

[------]

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[Postmodern Adventures]

More screenshots:

There are three acts in the game. One of them is complete and all the music of the game is done.

[KyriakosCH]

This looks really cool.......

[heltenjon]

Oooh, great lighting effects!  Looks like another high quality game from you.

[ukz530]

The background art and atmosphere are so cool! I'm looking forward to the game! 

[Darío]

This looks better every day. And if you are more that 1/3 that is a steady path!

[KyriakosCH]

I hope he ends up finding La Fin absolue du monde 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cigarette_Burns

Like your previous game, I will certainly be looking forward to playing!

[luisdementia]

Love the concept, mixing adventure games with 80s horror cinema?? I'm IN!!! Can't wait to play it.

[Postmodern Adventures]

Update the main message with trailer, promo art, Steam page and some screenshots!

[Hobbes]

Looks really good!

I'm curious, the lighting effects from the police car's lights, how were they achieved? They look like a shader effect almost, but as far as I can tell, AGS can't really render that in real time.

Looking forward to this one - wishlisted on Steam!

[Postmodern Adventures]

Thank you, Hobbes.

All the lightning effects are animated .png's.

[The Last To Know]

This looks great. I really enjoyed your previous games so I'm looking forward to this one. Will this be a commercial project?

[Postmodern Adventures]

Oh, thank you! Yes, it will be a commercial game.

[Potajito]

Looks great, best of luck!

[ThreeOhFour]

This looks so good! So much atmosphere. Looking forward to playing this!

[Chomba]

is already on my wish list!
Impossible not to remember 8mm with Nicolas Cage, so cool!

[TheVolumeRemote]

Love your work mate. Just came here to say that

[Postmodern Adventures]

Thank you to all!
Here's a pic of a bunch of characters for the first act (Hollywood):

One of the most gratifying things when developing the game is that having a template for the sprites for the characters, there are no limits to implement them. Not only the key characters, but people who pass by on the street, extras, etc. It's easy and fun!

[mkennedy]

Thank you to all!
Here's a pic of a bunch of characters for the first act (Hollywood):

One of the most gratifying things when developing the game is that having a template for the sprites for the characters, there are no limits to implement them. Not only the key characters, but people who pass by on the street, extras, etc. It's easy and fun!

The guy with his brain exposed, Is that an actual zombie or just an actor in makeup portraying a zombie?

[Postmodern Adventures]

I don't want to spoil anything, but... yes, you're right!

[Behis1995]

Tell me, is this poster your final decision?

[Postmodern Adventures]

The demo is out on Steam!

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1650590/Nightmare_Frames

[mkennedy]

Something that may wish to consider is allowing the user to access the menu system using the escape key. Also sometimes the text changed before I could read it all so you might want to add an option to require a key press to advance it.

[Postmodern Adventures]

I don't usually implement a key to access the menu, but I can do it for the final game.
There is an option in the main menu (Text Speed: Fast/Slow) so that the text does not advance unless you click on it.

[mkennedy]

Thanks for that info. You may want to make slow the default as there was some dialog in the opening scene at the start of the game that I missed.

[Nowhere Girl]

I just played the demo and I liked it. I wanted to give some feedback, because as a passive-only social media user (I read, but don't have accounts), I can't comment on Twitter. (Why don't game developers use good old e-mail these days?) I wanted to ask to include a windowed mode option. It's OK anyway because alt-enter works in this game (in many games it doesn't), but it would be simpler to have the option in the settings menu.
And second - are you considering more language options? Because I thought that I'd like to translate it to Polish... You can send me a PM if you are interested.

[Postmodern Adventures]

Thanks for playing the demo, Nowhere Girl!
The button for Fullscreen Yes/no it will be added in the final game. It was on the to-do list.
And for the translation, there are no plans to add more languages by now. But I'll keep you in mind if the situation changes and thanks for the offer!

[selmiak]

I enjoyed the demo (though it is way too short and just a glimpse into the story) and longplayed it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_YWSR7zFjo

[SarahLiz]

Yasssss, I've had this one wishlisted & now I get to try out the demo!  I've been eyeballing this one...can't wait!!!

[Michael2968]

I really liked the demo and I am looking forward to the full game when it comes out.

[Elvis Tanner]

I've just finished the demo and it looks very good. You've put a lot of effort in the small details (like the wonderful movie posters) and created a great atmosphere. I love how historical facts and persons and fictional events intertwine in your game. Nice graphics and very good use of music in a strange story that's set in the 80ies. I am thrilled to find out how the story evolves.

Spoiler

The movie-within-a-movie beginning is a fun start for your game, I really enjoyed this and wish I could have  played longer as a character of 'Lunatic II'.

[close]

[heltenjon]

I just played the demo. The graphics are really outstanding, with all those cool lighting effects. Together with the sound track, this sucked me right into this world. I spent a long time looking at posters and checking out all the "unnecessary" stuff that brings this piece of 80s Hollywood to life. Great!

The story seems like it's going to be told in an investigative manner, which we know from Urban Witch Story that you do very well. I certainly enjoyed going back and forth to ask people of stuff in order to advance the story. The Taxi Drivers are a great addition!

There's very little to point the finger at here. "Proficient" was misspelled in one instant ("Profficient"). Occasionally, the descriptive text points out things that the main character probably doesn't know, making a clash with the usual POV. For instance, we are treated to details about the police officer's personal history, yet Alan doesn't seem to know him. Personally, I can live just fine with that.

Game wishlisted, of course. 

EDIT: I hope that I can play that arcade game in the full version!

[Postmodern Adventures]

You're right, heltenjon. I can say that Nightmare Frames is a detective game.

The narrator here is ubiquitous. He knows everything about the world and the people and the people who live in it. There are times when he gives us details of things that Alan (the player) does not know. I like that kind of narrator in such games like Mytho's Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes. It adds a lot of depth to the world and information that the protagonist does not necessarily need to know.

Thank you very much for playing and wishlisting it. And thank you to all for the positive feedback! The demo is just the tip of the iceberg!

[Rik_Vargard]

I played the demo and liked it very much. Good graphics with a lot of ambient.
Great writing, I got into the character and his world quickly

During the dialog with the fanzine boy there's a phrase with "there's there's"

And I don't know if it just on my screen (16/9), but in the right bottom corner there's a weird grey box.

Good luck in the developing!

[Postmodern Adventures]

Fixed that phrase. Thank you very much!

I'm aware of the grey box at the bottom corner. It's the remain of the Steam popup's "Acces the Steam Community while playing". I notice this happens with the 3.4.3  version of AGS (Nightmare Frames Demo),  but not in 3.5.1 (the full game). You can make disappear this grey box doing alt+enter two times.

Thanks for your words, Rik!

[rongel]

The demo was great! I liked especially the setting, which felt original. I got the feeling that the authors of the game know what they are talking about.

Spoiler

The intro part where you were inside the movie and played as a character from it was fun! I hope there's more of that in the full game!

[close]

Wishlisted!

[heltenjon]

The narrator here is ubiquitous. He knows everything about the world and the people and the people who live in it. There are times when he gives us details of things that Alan (the player) does not know. I like that kind of narrator in such games like Mytho's Lost Files of Sherlock Holmes. It adds a lot of depth to the world and information that the protagonist does not necessarily need to know.

Yes, what I meant was that the narrator usually talks to Alan: "You have already leafed through that fanzine", but these background detail explanations talk to the player, over Alan's head. So the slight jarring in narration is there, but personally I'd agree those comments add so much depth and makes the world feel more real, that I wouldn't sacrifice them just for the sake of author's purity.

[Postmodern Adventures]

That's right. That line in particular shows that the player does not start from scratch with Alan. There was life in that world before the player started playing. I hope that the players understand the concept.

[Postmodern Adventures]

The demo was great! I liked especially the setting, which felt original. I got the feeling that the authors of the game know what they are talking about.

I was one of those teenagers who devoured the Fangoria magazine every month. I was fascinated by that Hollywood outside the big studios (b series production companies, FX workshops, etc.).
In the first act I wanted to create the version of how I saw that world as a teenager in accordance or not with reality.

Thanks for your words and for the wishlist, Rongel!

[Laura Hunt]

I personally loved the idea of the narrator. Giving players info that characters don't have and viceversa (something I did in Act II of IOAWN4T) and playing with different POVs is a very interesting narrative technique with a lot of potential for subverting expectations. In this case, I feel like the narrator definitely helps players feel part of that world by making them identify with Alan rather than breaking immersion. It's a great artistic choice!

Yes, what I meant was that the narrator usually talks to Alan: "You have already leafed through that fanzine", but these background detail explanations talk to the player, over Alan's head.

But those remarks actually help establish that the player *is* Alan."You" is not "you, the person in front of your computer playing this", but rather "you, Alan, the script writer", so I don't see them as breaking the fourth wall. Of course, as with any experimental narrative form, there's a risk that what one person considers "interesting" might be "jarring" for someone else, but those risks are well worth taking in my opinion

[heltenjon]

I personally loved the idea of the narrator. Giving players info that characters don't have and viceversa (something I did in Act II of IOAWN4T) and playing with different POVs is a very interesting narrative technique with a lot of potential for subverting expectations. In this case, I feel like the narrator definitely helps players feel part of that world by making them identify with Alan rather than breaking immersion. It's a great artistic choice!

Yes, what I meant was that the narrator usually talks to Alan: "You have already leafed through that fanzine", but these background detail explanations talk to the player, over Alan's head.

But those remarks actually help establish that the player *is* Alan."You" is not "you, the person in front of your computer playing this", but rather "you, Alan, the script writer", so I don't see them as breaking the fourth wall. Of course, as with any experimental narrative form, there's a risk that what one person considers "interesting" might be "jarring" for someone else, but those risks are well worth taking in my opinion

No, what breaks the fourth wall is not the You-remarks, but the observations Alan doesn't know anything about, like the police officer's personal life. That's what I meant by "these background explanations". Sorry I was unclear. But that's not a problem for me - I'm not a purist. I'd rather argue that with enough talent, you can throw the rulebook out of the window. Like Laura did with IOAWN4T.

I think the demo is very good at establishing that this is a "real" world. Of course we get to know Alan's hopes and dreams, but also the personal projects of nearly every other character we've met so far. The writing is brilliant.

[Postmodern Adventures]

Updated with the Final Trailer! The game will be out on June 16th!

[The Last To Know]

Very cool trailer. I'm sure your game will really take off.

[Chomba]

By the way, this game is already out!  (can be found on itch and Steam)
Was announced on the AGS discord!

Edit: I had not seen the post in Completed Games