Are you up to playing dozens of great adventures?

Started by fernewelten, Fri 21/05/2021 22:06:40

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heltenjon

#20
I made some progress on IMAGinE. I really recommend this one. I can't begin to understand how they could have made a full length game of this complexity in 14 days! It's difficult as ten foxes in a Volkswagen, too. But a lot of fun.

Snarky

Quote from: FormosaFalanster on Mon 24/05/2021 07:37:48
Someone posted an interesting graph showing what game engines were used for entries in the jam:

Spoiler
[close]

AGS is the second-most used engine, at almost 20% of all games. Second only to Unity which towers at 25% and if you add the Unity/Powerquest you reach almost 42% of all games made with an Unity engine of sorts.

After AGS the only ones coming close are Godot and Visionaire at 6.5% each.

This kinda shows how AGS is still popular nowadays amongst indie devs.

I think listing things in percentages tends to obscure the scale we're talking about. Presumably the 3.2% entries represent a single game, so in raw numbers we are talking:

  • Unity: 8
  • AGS: 6
  • Unity/PowerQuest: 5
  • Visionaire: 2
  • Godot: 2
  • Others: 8
For 31 in total.

FormosaFalanster

Quote from: Snarky on Tue 25/05/2021 06:51:48
Quote from: FormosaFalanster on Mon 24/05/2021 07:37:48
Someone posted an interesting graph showing what game engines were used for entries in the jam:

Spoiler
[close]

AGS is the second-most used engine, at almost 20% of all games. Second only to Unity which towers at 25% and if you add the Unity/Powerquest you reach almost 42% of all games made with an Unity engine of sorts.

After AGS the only ones coming close are Godot and Visionaire at 6.5% each.

This kinda shows how AGS is still popular nowadays amongst indie devs.

I think listing things in percentages tends to obscure the scale we're talking about. Presumably the 3.2% entries represent a single game, so in raw numbers we are talking:

  • Unity: 8
  • AGS: 6
  • Unity/PowerQuest: 5
  • Visionaire: 2
  • Godot: 2
  • Others: 8
For 31 in total.

It still means that, besides Unity, then AGS is the only one which was used by more than 2 games. Not trying to trumpet AGS here, just trying to get a picture of the situation. In short, AGS is dwarfed by Unity, but it's the only one else that gathered more than a couple users.

heltenjon

I did the stubs today.  (laugh)

I played TBFTW_ADVJAM2021 (That dinosaur game), The Climb, Darts 2 and Train to Amber Coast. These games are all short or unfinished.

The dinosaur game is huge at 2 Gb, and still it's just a proof of concept-thing. You can run around in a forest and presumably eat and fight, but I never met anyone and didn't understand why I got some points. This is the Unreal Engine, so a high end computer will do it more justice than my system. Stunning visually, but nothing to do yet. I wouldn't call this an adventure game anyhow. The same people have made a game with a similar title in Visionaire, so perhaps that one's more of a point'n'click dinosaur game. (Haven't tried that one.) I was a bit bothered by the sound. Bird song? A bit early for that...

The Climb "looked a bit like Minecraft", my son said. And it does. There was a tutorial that was ruined by a bug, and I could play what will presumably be the first level of the game. Why I have a sword and shield when the guy in the tutorial says he has plenty of shotguns is beyond me, though.

Darts 2 is a joke game that won't win any prizes, buy okay. It is what it is.

Train to Amber Coast is unfinished and works as a demo for the full game. This one I liked, though the emphasis is on storytelling. I didn't encounter any puzzles at all. Click to continue...but the story seems interesting. This is probably the only one of these I'll check out later.

heltenjon

#24
Hope this doesn't sound like the personal blog of Mr. Poststoomuch.  :-[

IMAGinE has a professional walkthrough up for downloading. I needed two peeks to get through this game, which I cannot recommend enough. But it's a game for puzzle lovers. Be warned. I've played this extensively the last days. There are hours of gameplay here, if you don't look at the hints right away.

I also managed to topple the evil king in Path, more of stubbornness than anything else. Not recommended, but if anyone plays it and gets stuck, I'll be happy to share which equipment to use in the final battle. This is an action game of sorts where you can go up and down to avoid attacks while launching projectiles of your own at the enemy.

Both Anamnesis and The Creator is Mean is a sequel. Does anyone know whether one ought to play the number one games first, or if it doesn't matter?

lorenzo

Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 25/05/2021 22:51:24
Hope this doesn't sound like the personal blog of Mr. Poststoomuch.  :-[
I'm enjoying your mini-reviews, so keep posting them! They help me decide what to play next. :)

Hobbes

Quote from: lorenzo on Wed 26/05/2021 17:33:19
Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 25/05/2021 22:51:24
Hope this doesn't sound like the personal blog of Mr. Poststoomuch.  :-[
I'm enjoying your mini-reviews, so keep posting them! They help me decide what to play next. :)

Me too! Though first on my list is Breakfast on Trappist-1. As a Dutchie I feel I should be playing some Belgium-related game first. :)

FormosaFalanster

Quote from: Hobbes on Thu 27/05/2021 10:27:58
Quote from: lorenzo on Wed 26/05/2021 17:33:19
Quote from: heltenjon on Tue 25/05/2021 22:51:24
Hope this doesn't sound like the personal blog of Mr. Poststoomuch.  :-[
I'm enjoying your mini-reviews, so keep posting them! They help me decide what to play next. :)

Me too! Though first on my list is Breakfast on Trappist-1. As a Dutchie I feel I should be playing some Belgium-related game first. :)

:-D De speel is meer Wallen dan Vlaams, maar ik hoop dat jij vindt het leuk!

heltenjon

I played a couple of entries:

Exodus Terram: This is demo at this point. There's a pretty long walk in the start that seems to have little bearing on the game (except showing the world), and then there is the beginning of a conversation with an AI. The conversation bit may turn out to be interesting if the game is finished. So far there are no puzzles except that walking is unnecessary tricky because of objects in the way. I like the idea of the story, it just isn't developed yet.

Rideshare: This is a rather long visual novel with very limited interactivity. There are a few places where you get to choose what to say, but it doesn't always influence the story much. The story itself is surprising and grossly funny, so there is some entertainment to be had here, if click to proceed is your cup of tea.

I just realized that Nadir is made by Akril, who's behind the excellent Adventure trilogy, some of the highest rated games in the AGS database! I'm eager to play this one now!

heltenjon

I played Nebraska Smith and the mask of Minkhamanna by Gugames, the guy behind the great AGS games The Halloween Party, Kill Yourself and Duty First. This time he's used Unity. As expected from him, this is funny and irreverent. As the title suggests, it's a parody of Indiana Jones (one of two in this jam). Even though it's humourous, the puzzles are rather good and quite original. This is a funny one. Gugames usually has great endings, and this game is no exception. Playtime will vary depending on if you solve the puzzles at one go or not. I had to return to the game a couple of times before I had the necessary revelation. The game in itself is fairly short.

heltenjon

#30
I finally found the time to play another game, and this time it was  Nadir. And it's a work of art. Unsettling and story-driven. The player finds himself with little to no memory in a submarine badly needing repairs. He's got to piece it all together. There's a lot to read, and the pace is slow, so this probably won't be everyone's idea of a good time, but I liked it a lot. It's really well written, and the graphics and interface are clear and functional at a professional level.

heltenjon

I played Allie Cat Game. This one's unfinished, but works as a demo of the basic story and the first few screens. I liked the wild graphics of a kind of dream world, but the items and the backgrounds don't really match. The text was too fast to read for me, but the story wasn't difficult to follow anyhow. I'm not a fan of the verbcoin interface either. I'll say that the game looks interesting and may be worth a look later, when there's a bit more to it.

I also played Dem Villa. This is a Twine story with multiple choices. Well written, but it tries to be scary and funny at the same time. While I enjoyed some of the through-the-fourth-wall humour, it breaks immersion. There is one puzzle in here that I thought was a bit clever. Can't say anymore without spoiling it. The game can be played with speech, and the German (the mother tongue of the author) is quite good, while the English is a tad slow. Perhaps ten minutes of play time.

heltenjon

I played Coffin Valley. I really liked this! It's a medium long western where you have to prove to the sheriff that you're tough enough to be the new deputy. Cartoonish characters on more realistic backdrops, but it didn't really bother me. Also nice Western music throughout. The voice acting is adding immensely to the atmosphere, really great casting! The game is quite family friendly, despite the tougher-than-nails characters. And it's made with AGS.

Also started on All Demons Must Go to Hell, the last AGS game in the bunch. This is probably a game people are going to hate or love. There are ridiculously many verbs to choose from, and you must be prepared to accept that "look", "search", "inspect" and "read" may give different results. There's also a maze that I'm now realizing is so big that I'll have to map it on paper. And a monster that's going to kill you several times. And a save system by hilariously long passwords that doesn't work properly. But all this is wrapped in humour of a dark, dark kind. Add great voice acting, and I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt and try to beat it. Mind you, infinite verbs and maze mapping was par for the course when I played text adventures.

Is anyone else playing anything?

heltenjon

Ah, a new version of  All Demons Must Go to Hell has replaced the broken passwords with a bookmark-type save a la King's Quest 7. It would have been much better if they simply used the normal saves, but all right. At least I got one save slot, and that was enough to make it to the end of the game. It turns out I was stuck because
Spoiler
some objects are randomly placed in the maze,
[close]
which I suspected when
Spoiler
I found something where it shouldn't be according to my map.
[close]
The humour is really what makes this game work, though there are some decent puzzles in here, as well. But I wonder how a German takes this...to Scandinavian ears some of the German music in here is tremendously funny. My favourite has to be either the chewing gum song or the devil jingle. Some times I felt like playing this game is like being pranked by a practical joke. There is, for instance,
Spoiler
an auto-map system that isn't revealed to the player until he's found the way through the maze without it.
[close]

heltenjon

#34
After swaddling through All Demons Must Go to Hell, I see that the creators have issued some sort of challenge to other streamers (I guess) to play it, claiming it to be deliberately bad-designed and user-unfriendly. There appears to be a lot of posted videos of people "taking the challenge". So, perhaps this is a way to do PR? (I wouldn't know, I have a hard time understanding why someone would want to watch other people play instead of playing themselves, anyway. I stay away from Let's play videos in fear of spoilers.) User-unfriendly it is, but not bad-designed, simply because it is designed. While it may be a parody, it still plays better than games that are badly designed because noone thought of x or y.

I played Georgiana Bones and the Hapless Heist. This is the second Indiana Jones parody in the jam, and by far the weaker. It's still a funny short game, with emphasis on the comedy. Voice acting is pretty good, too. I'm amazed that so many of the entries are fully voiced. Perhaps ten minutes of play time. There may be an extended version after the jam, so I'll watch out for that.

I also played Yowie. I've never heard the term before, but apparently it's an Australian sort of bigfoot monster. I liked this game, even though it breaks some of my personal rules for enjoyment.  :-D The player character walks slowly, but it's because of an injury, so I totally buy that.  There are long walking areas without anyhting, but the eerie atmosphere and sense of that something could be behind the next tree made me accept that, too. The game is a side-scroller, but the plot makes this the only logical choice, as well. I had to turn up the brightness on my screen to see anything a couple of places, so I guess this one is best enjoyed when played at night in a dark room. The game looks and sounds well - yet another brilliant voice!

And I played Pato and Lobo. This was a fun change of pace. Pato is a bird who is in love with Lobo, a wolf. Through daydreams/minigames she has to build up the courage to talk to him. The puzzles are easy, but the atmosphere and the design of entering surreal daydreams made the game enjoyable.

heltenjon

I played The Florist. This time I think I need to somehow slag off this game and praise it at the same time. The game is about providing care for the plants in an apartment until grandma comes home. Basically, you have to follow the instructions and water, spray or fertilize as much as needed per day for each plant. The graphics are nice, albeit limited to the one room. It's relatively easy to do what you want, and there's also a shelf with music and short stories from public domain to entertain you. So if you like this kind of feel-good, meditative game, then perhaps this is something for you. Personally, I found it incredibly boring. There's little or no story, save from the letters from grandma. If I want to listen to music or read a story, I certainly won't do it in the form of a game where it's totally on the side of the game's purpose, and there aren't really any puzzles, only instructions to follow. I think the game can be easily beat if the player bothers to take notes. I discovered that a spray bottle didn't work (a bug I think is fixed after I downloaded), so I quit and found out that the game doesn't seem to have any save feature. Now, I think the game is nicely done (except for the bug) and does what it intends to do, so this isn't really me saying that it's a bad game, but that it's a game that doesn't offer anything of what I enjoy about adventure games (or games generally).

FormosaFalanster

That's all very enjoyable to read heltejon, thanks for your involvement in the jam!

heltenjon

I played Shark Riders. This is a visual novel, or short story. The writing and graphics are excellent. I really liked the fantasy setting/world building with a tribe and their rituals involving riding a shark. Truly original and well done. Now, the interaction the player has is limited, so this will not necessarily appeal to everyone. There are some choices to be made along the way and four endings. I think I found them all (though the numbering didn't work properly on the build I was playing). I prefer normal adventure games, but in its genre, this one is pretty good. Recommended if you like VNs.

fernewelten

Quote from: heltenjon on Sat 12/06/2021 16:44:03
Is anyone else playing anything?

So here's my list:

  • The misadventures of Jeffrey Jetsam:
    This fairly short game shines by its British humour.
    Graphics were fine.
    The music fits the situation and is unobtrusive.
    I didn't find the tasks for the player too hard: to the contrary, I solved one of the puzzles before I found out what the problem was. 
  • A weekend at Villa Apate:
    Recommendable.
    A very long game with good puzzles.
    I like the proposition of being able to "rewrite" the past.
    There were some glitches where I got into situations that I wasn't supposed to see yet which prevented me finishing later on. For instance,
    Spoiler
    quite early on I was in the foyer, the staff wasn't there but I was able to talk to them. I went into the back room  and activated the device therein. I was treated to a cutscene of characters I hadn't even met yet, and later on, I didn't have a chance to redo this when I was supposed to.
    [close]
  • Thinker
    Can't say anything to that, for obvious reasons.
  • Coffin valley:
    A game with middling play length.
    The graphics had atmosphere but were too blocky for my taste. The font used for dialogues was too small.
    The music fit the atmosphere, but was a bit too intrusive for my taste.
    I did a lot of actions because I could, reasoning that thus I was supposed to do them -- without knowing why I was supposed to do them. For instance,
    Spoiler
    I'm in a shop and I've got three pence, so I suppose I'm meant to buy the only article to be had for three pence. Why? Don't know yet. Do it anyway.
    [close]
    The characters were rather cliché, which might be a tribute to the genre (Western).
  • Breakfast on Trappist-1
    A visual novel with lots of atmosphere.
    Recommendable.
    Graphics were first-class: game screens as well as GUI graphics.
    Music fit the situation.
    Story was engaging; characters distinct and memorable.
  • The creator is mean 2
    Recommendable.
    I like the proposition of characters being trapped in the screen of an operating system.
    Graphics were fine.
    Music was unobtrusive, not memorable.
    Puzzles were on the easy side.
  • Long in the tooth
    More of a demo than a game, but still complete.
    Graphics are outstanding. Several remarkable, well-executed animations.
    Music unobtrusive, fitting the situation.
    Story line: Oh well. An exhortation to floss your teeth.

heltenjon

I discovered quite by accident that the author of The Florist also is an AGS-er, though last active here in 2016 (Navidad).

And the last days I have had three Germans listen to the bubble gum song in All Demons Must go to Hell, but none of them manage to make out the words following "Ein grosses Kaugummi-". Aargh!  8-0 (laugh)

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