Shadowplay (updated 27 Jun. 2005)

[GarageGothic]

Hey Vel, thanks for reminding me of my true calling while I toil for the Dark Gods(tm) of the gaming industry. Ok, so maybe the 19th floor of EA's Black Box studios in Vancouver isn't excactly the 7th circle of Hell, but I'm kicking myself for not buying a laptop computer, so I could sit and work on my own stuff back at the hotel. Especially after I found out that my room has free high speed internet access. Well... perhaps next time around.

I did bring a lot of paper though, and I plan on doing a lot of artwork, as well as working on the structure of the game. Things got a bit unbalanced after I introduced interactive flashbacks to the otherwise very linear 10-day structure of the game. Maybe it'll be good to work away from the computer, to get a birds-eye-view of the story rather than seeing it a screen at a time. The other day I went out and bought a pack of index cards (which to me has always been this mysterious American phenomenon as they are always mentioned in books on screenwriting, but aren't very common in Europe - or at least not in Denmark), and I've started filling them out with a scene or event each and spreading them all over the floor of my hotel room, moving them around, trying to visualize the flow of the game.
While I'm at it, I'm coming up with more puzzles (most of them optional) to add content without adding new locations. And to tie things together more organically. The original script had many events that just happened, or options that were unlocked on certain days (somewhat like the Laura Bow games), but now I'm letting one thing lead into another - for example, instead of a person suddenly responding to your previous phone calls, you will meet him at an event triggered by your previous actions (sorry for being vague, but its a big plot point, and I don't want to reveal too much).
And then there are, as I mentioned, the flashbacks, which have yet to be designed. Originally they were just dialog, then they became cutscenes, and now they'll be interactive - mostly just for the hell of it, but it also adds an ironic edge to the Rashomon/Citizen Kane-aspect of the story. How do you play the protagonist in a false memory?

I hope to return from this month-long trip with a complete script for the Shadowplay demo, and will start coding it as soon as I get home. Modgeulator has written the coolest theme music for the demo - nothing like his dark, dark theme for the game itself, but a very upbeat Pixies-style ditty and he even had a friend play the guitar and bass parts on real instruments. It captures the character of Lucas, the demo's player character, perfectly, and I really hope that the rest of the demo will live up to its audio. The demo isn't actually part of the game. It's a comedic spin-off featuring Lucas, the sidekick character of Shadowplay. It's a silly little story made to introduce the characters, show off the interface (which still isn't perfect as I'm waiting for a text box positioning feature to be added to AGS - if not for the demo, at least for the finished game) and give a small taste of the story to come.

With my current working schedule, a month abroad and a month at home, the release date could easily be postponed another year. Hopefully less if I get a laptop computer before my next assignment

Edit: See the first post in the thread for another short update.

[Vel]

Sounds great, I am quite a big fan of optional puzzles. Can't wait for the 1st day.

[darkx5]

one word

KEWL..

i definitly want to give this one a try

[Grim Ripper]

Can GG send me GK1 script ? I can find it anywhere on net... (and I don't understand Franch ) PLEASE

[Darth Mandarb]

I have a great idea, let's dig up a thread that hasn't been posted in for almost five months.

I don't suppose anybody reads anymore ...

GarageGothic - if you're still working on this let me know and I'll unlock the thread.

Grim Ripper - read the FORUM RULES before posting.  I know they're hard to find, so deeply hidden right at the top of the board in bold print in all caps saying "FORUM RULES - READ BEFORE POSTING".

[Goldmund]

Darth, I understand that sometimes a mod has little to do and yearns for some action (it must be hard for a sith, dozing in torpor) -- but why locking promo threads?
Somebody might find it, I don't know, through Google or just browsing this forum, and this somebody might post some encouraging & praising message, resulting in a heightened motivation for the developer.
It's always nice.
And it might happen even after five months.
Why this locking?

[GarageGothic]

The locking was fair enough, it was a long time since I updated this thread. There was a lot of reason to think the project dead - I know a lot of people in other forums do. And as soon as I asked Darth to unlock it, he did. Thanks Darth!

There has been quite a bit of progress made on Shadowplay, but not in an entirely positive direction. I've had to make some big decisions on the future of the project, and I'm sure that some people will be disappointed. I can't say too much about it right now, but expect another update in a week or two.

[hms]

Thats sounds nice!

(Ive read your articel i >pcplayer thanks a lot man! Whitout that articel i woulnt be here!)

[GarageGothic]

Nice to hear that my article had some effect.  I've actually been wondering if it inspired anyone else to try their hand at game making.  Good to hear that it did.

When Shadowplay is released (somtime in the distant future), we'll probably run a follow-up article.

[hms]

Loads of people have read it! And effect it relly has!

Nice to hear there maybe comes anthoer one!


Looking forward to your game too!

[Queen Kara]

"There has been quite a bit of progress made on Shadowplay, but not in an entirely positive direction. I've had to make some big decisions on the future of the project, and I'm sure that some people will be disappointed. I can't say too much about it right now, but expect another update in a week or two."
Uh - oh , that doesn't sound good.
I hope things won't be TOO bad as I was / am looking forward to seeing the finished game too...the screenshots looked / look great and although its been a long time since I've seen this thread it seems like it would be a great game if you can find some way to pick up and finish the way you intended....but it sounds like maybe you aren't going to be able to....Hmm...*worries*
( sorry if I'm not making much sense...I'm trying to.
I know ...I know...I probably shouldn't be posting when I'm grumpy and tired and stuff....and I know some people are going to think..."if you're tired...sleep" but I wanna stay up / can't sleep either...lol )

[GarageGothic]

Don't worry Queen Kara. The game will be finished. Only in a somewhat different shape. I've had a talk with Modgeulator who is doing the music, and I'm happy to report that he's still part of the project, despite the changes. And he's been very supportive in making these difficult decisions.

Expect a proper update in a few days' time, including some new screenshots.

[Andail]

Yay, new screenshots! I really loved that themepark background

[GarageGothic]

As I was just reminded by Zooty, I'd promised an update. I'll do the full update later, but for now, here's what's going on:

Most of my recent posts in the forum were intended as a setup for an April's fools joke we were going to pull about Shadowplay switching engines to SCI .  However, Grundislav beat me to it with his "BJ5 goes Wintermute" announcement, so we decided to cancel the joke at the last moment (you can expect to see the screenshots and hear the midi in the special features section of the finished game).

However, everything that was said, was true in some way or another. Shadowplay has changed a bit, because we decided to pull the interactive flashback scenes from the design, and possibly insert them again once the game is finished. That way, we'll have a finished game, even if the flashbacks turn out to be too much work.
In other news, a demo will be out sometime this month. I had hoped to have it ready for 2 April, but it wasn't - so that's even more reason for cancelling the joke. The interface has evolved a LOT during the last few months, and I'm really looking forward to showing it off. Among the features that I'm most proud of, is the searchable conversation log.

[hms]

Im rellay (!) looking forward to play the demo!!

[GarageGothic]

I'm also rellay looking forward to releasing the demo

The first demo (which was supposed be out in late April) is a pure interface/technology demo without any actual puzzles or gameplay, and I'm only releasing it because the full demo - an actual stand-alone game - may take a while longer.
I had promised to release the full demo in April, but due to work and my long overdue thesis, I ended up postponing it and calling off a planned interview with The Inventory. Then, I thought I'd better release the interface demo instead, to follow up on my promises. However, I started coding a really cool game feature and decided that it would be nice to show that off as well in the demo. So... it'll be a while more, unfortunately. I do hope something can be released within this month though.

Sorry about the empty promises.

[Cyberhead]

Is there a website?

[GarageGothic]

Nope, no website.  And there won't be one until just before the release of the full game. It would probably never be updated anyway

[Cyberhead]

when should it be out?

[GarageGothic]

Winter 2005/2006