Remnants of a long project - the Fountain of Youth

Miez · Tue 30/11/2021 20:59:06

As some of you may have already heard, the Fountain of Youth project was terminated recently. Sad but true ... I left the project over a year ago but I was part of it for years (when it was still known as "Indiana Jones and the Fountain of Youth").
Because it seems a shame to have all of my work gather digital dust on my harddisk, I've decided to share all the graphics (and some lore documents) I've made. Perhaps someone can put them to good use or it might just be a fun browse. I've removed a number of files:

- all sprites made by other artists
- all background art made by other artists
- all music made by other artists
- all graphics with the "Indiana Jones" logo (no wish to anger the Disney legal department

)

All the rest is my own work and I release it under a CC Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.

Download the archive from Google Drive HERE.
Download the archive from Dropbox HERE.
Download the archive from MediaFire HERE.

cat · Tue 30/11/2021 21:36:51

Oh wow, this seems like the end of an era. I found the Fountain of Youth demo many many years ago somewhere on the internet, played it, loved it, and found a mention of AGS in the credits. This is how I ended up here

I was loosely following the project with its ups and downs and team changes. It was a very ambitious project, maybe a bit too ambitious, but it is still sad to see it now end for real.
I remember how you were working on an animation of a giant rotating head or something at Mittens. Your art really made this project stand out. Thank you for sharing your work. (btw, it seems you need to login with a Google account to access the files - is this intentional?)

FOY RIP

Miez · Tue 30/11/2021 21:40:20

Quote from: cat on Tue 30/11/2021 21:36:51
(btw, it seems you need to login with a Google account to access the files - is this intentional?)

Ah yes ... it's stored on Google Drive. I'll add a Dropbox link as well!

cat · Wed 01/12/2021 09:19:25

Thanks! You might also want to put your name in the license file, people might otherwise have a hard time when doing a proper attribution.

Such lovely artwork, and all the sketches make me wonder what the full game might have been like. Having read 'Smilla's sense for snow', Thule seems like a great place for the finale. This also explains the many Christmas specials

Miez · Wed 01/12/2021 09:55:26

Quote from: cat on Wed 01/12/2021 09:19:25
Thanks! You might also want to put your name in the license file, people might otherwise have a hard time when doing a proper attribution.

Again, good suggestion! I've updated the file...

And thanks for your kind words! Ultima Thule was indeed a great location to end the game. We didn't want hot deserts or steaming jungles for the penultimate location (as they have been done in Indiana Jones stories A LOT) so we opted for arctic. Antarctic in fact

Bonus points for mentioning Smilla's Sense of Snow. Such a great book!

Babar · Wed 01/12/2021 15:55:52

Thank you for this awesome resource!

Could you share the tutorial you made relating to FoY as well? I remember it being very useful, and it would be a shame to have it lost!

Miez · Wed 01/12/2021 19:05:47

Quote from: Babar on Wed 01/12/2021 15:55:52
Could you share the tutorial you made relating to FoY as well? I remember it being very useful, and it would be a shame to have it lost!

Haha, that old thing? Sure, I've uploaded a copy! Google Drive, Dropbox, MediaFire

cat · Wed 01/12/2021 19:34:04

Ah, so not Thule in Greenland, but a place in Antarctia? Very cool (literally)

Thanks for also sharing the tutorial, it's one of the best tutorials for pixel backgrounds.

Creamy · Wed 01/12/2021 23:28:22

Nice backgrounds, at various stages of completion.

Many are sketchier than in the demo - for instance the ones in the Â«placeholder Â» folder - but I wouldn't mind playing a game in this style.

Mati256 · Thu 02/12/2021 01:12:22

Thank you Miez!
I would have loved to play that fight inside a truck or to be in Buenos Aires.
But, the thing I'm most curious about is the character creation... what was that about?

Miez · Thu 02/12/2021 09:54:23

Quote from: Creamy on Wed 01/12/2021 23:28:22
Nice backgrounds, at various stages of completion.

Many are sketchier than in the demo - for instance the ones in the Â«placeholder Â» folder - but I wouldn't mind playing a game in this style.

Yeah, I made these placeholders so we could do development on rooms and puzzles while "final" backgrounds were being made.

Miez · Thu 02/12/2021 10:00:08

Quote from: Mati256 on Thu 02/12/2021 01:12:22
Thank you Miez!
I would have loved to play that fight inside a truck or to be in Buenos Aires.
But, the thing I'm most curious about is the character creation... what was that about?

We decided that working with the Indiana Jones IP was a huge risk, that we were no longer willing to take. But we still wanted to make an Indiana Jones game ... so the character creator was our sneaky way of still making this possible; because players got to pick outfits and the name for their character (and yes, there was going to be a fedora and a fine leather jacket in the selectable outfit parts

) you COULD if you wanted to, turn it into the next Fate of Atlantis. All up to the player.

It wasn't the worst idea...

Darth Mandarb · Fri 03/12/2021 12:55:44

This is fantastic!

Thanks for sharing (and good to "see" you again old friend)!

I still want to make that Firefly game someday...

vga256 · Fri 03/12/2021 17:42:54

Just dropped in to say thanks for your work on FoY, and sharing these great assets!

I first heard of AGS and FoY through the original Barnett College site back in 2004. If it hadn't been for this brief exposure, I would have never made note of Eternally Us several years later.... and several years after that, work professionally in the (adventure) game industry.

So, my hat's off to your project - it lives forever in a happy time when adventure games became exciting again. Thank you.

With your permission, I'd like to upload these files to archive.org so they have more permanent lifespan... our AGS history seems to vanish any time files live on external hosts

Matti · Fri 03/12/2021 19:27:07

Sad to hear that the project is abandonded, especially when I look at all those beautiful and interesting sketches and pixel art pieces. Nice work, and thanks for sharing!

Miez · Fri 03/12/2021 21:30:49

Quote from: vga256 on Fri 03/12/2021 17:42:54
Just dropped in to say thanks for your work on FoY, and sharing these great assets!

I first heard of AGS and FoY through the original Barnett College site back in 2004. If it hadn't been for this brief exposure, I would have never made note of Eternally Us several years later.... and several years after that, work professionally in the (adventure) game industry.

So, my hat's off to your project - it lives forever in a happy time when adventure games became exciting again. Thank you.

With your permission, I'd like to upload these files to archive.org so they have more permanent lifespan... our AGS history seems to vanish any time files live on external hosts

Thanks for the kind words and feel free to upload it to archive.org - that's actually a great idea!

vga256 · Sat 04/12/2021 00:58:41

Quote from: Miez on Fri 03/12/2021 21:30:49
Thanks for the kind words and feel free to upload it to archive.org - that's actually a great idea!

Done! All of the above files are now available on archive.org Sorry about the weird music/sound preview in the header - I'll iron that out another time.

Ali · Sat 04/12/2021 14:10:17

It's the end of an era! But clearly the right decision, and one that can't have been easy to make. It remains a lovely portfolio of pixel art backgrounds.

heltenjon · Sat 04/12/2021 14:39:56

Quote from: vga256 on Sat 04/12/2021 00:58:41
Quote from: Miez on Fri 03/12/2021 21:30:49
Thanks for the kind words and feel free to upload it to archive.org - that's actually a great idea!

Done! All of the above files are now available on archive.org Sorry about the weird music/sound preview in the header - I'll iron that out another time.

Could it possibly be made a part of the "Adventure Game Studio Depository" collection at the same site, as well? To make it easier to find? i don't know how others search archive.org, but I usually start there if I'm looking for anything AGS.

vga256 · Sat 04/12/2021 18:11:54

Quote from: heltenjon on Sat 04/12/2021 14:39:56
Could it possibly be made a part of the "Adventure Game Studio Depository" collection at the same site, as well? To make it easier to find? i don't know how others search archive.org, but I usually start there if I'm looking for anything AGS.

Great idea. I will send a request over to the maintainer of that collection and ask to have it added.