Messages

A big CONGRATS to Dave & Wadjet Eye Games team. I just noticed the game on the Steam front page today under the new-releases section and thought I should get my butt over here to post something.

You've come a long way, and getting a game up on Steam is a big step.

I'm working hard on some projects myself that I hope may possibly get on Steam too in the future (I can only try my best, and if I can't get it on Steam, I still have other options available to me), though my projects are not AGS related.

Anyways, from one old time AGSer to another, I wish you all the best and good success.
Cheers!
--- Don "Barbarian"
("LoneWolfDon" on the Steam forums).

Looks like a bunch of legalize mumbo-jumbo and it seems like LucasArts should be after SteamPowered instead as apparently they are the ones supplying Users with "illegal downloads".

Don't know what else to suggest other than what I had mentioned previously. You may be in the right and done nothing wrong, but it would probably be a waste of time, effort and money to try and pursue things legally against them.

My sympathies. I'd probably be rather frustrated and peeved-off too if something similar happened to me and I did no wrong doing.

PS: Another thought.. the whole thing could be a type of elaborate scam and/or hoax from the supposed office of "LucasArts" (which could be a hacker / phisher / general-trouble-maker, etc..), and I also suggest no one click on any of those links as seen in that email-notice-letter and not reply to the email addresses.  What real proof is there that the notice was actually from LucasArts?  The domains listed/used in that email-notice also seem quite inconsistent.
I dunno, the whole thing just seems very odd.

PPS: Found a thread on Steam forums, that basically had the same Monkey Island 2 problem and an email posted by a User (unless that was you),
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php824395
but the sender's email is different than the email you posted here.

Also, your email later says it was from:
Regards,
Mack Ishilana
BtyTTP.com Inc.

And the email posted on Steam is supposed to be from:
Mark Ishikawa
BayTSP.com Inc.

"Mack Ishilana" and "Mark Ishikawa"? Hehe. What are they twin brothers from the Twilight Zone. Bizarre.
And part of your email your posted reads: "If you do not wish to reply by email, please use our Web Interface by clicking on the following link:
*******webreply.bagtsp.***"

The domains listed are different too.
Seems like some inconsistencies, and it could very well be a big scam of some kind.

Also, this "zapper221" User who posted on the Steam forums (and is Banned) does admit to piracy of video-games and music:
http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php905979
 

I'd be curious to see the email from LucasArts and the Agreement Erenoth was told to sign (and who told him to sign it, and under threat of what legal action?)

I mean, if the game was bought legitimately, there was no account sharing involved, no piracy involved, no hacked account problem, no wrongdoing on Erenoth's part, then yes I agree that Steam should not have banned/closed his account on him and they should have been able to help him resolve things. 

Major bummer man.
In hindsight, I guess you shouldn't have signed anything admitting guilt to pirating that game if you didn't.

I guess you should count yourself lucky in the sense that you only lost access to around 30 games.
I know that's still a fair chunk of money and games, but some Users (such as myself) have over 100+ games purchased via Steam.

I've never had any account or billing problems with Steam, and I always keep an up-to-date anti-virus running, firewall, never share my account login details with anyone and keep things legit.

They are rather fussy about anyone suggesting they support piracy in any way on their forums, but, I feel your pain, and DRM is a pain-in-the-aaa and doesn't stop piracy at all, (and Steam in itself is a form of DRM, but it's more acceptable than most, such as when compared to something like UbiSoft's horrible "always must be connected to internet while playing, even a single player game, or get dropped from the game", or some games that install some DRM crap that's equivalent to malware), and often times seems to "punish" the legitimate paying customers rather than the Pirates.

When it comes down to it, as you already signed something admitting to "guilt of piracy" on your part, then you might be out of luck in this case. If you still wanted to use Steam, then, you'd probably have to start all over again with a brand-new account, and any games you had bought before are lost and would have to be re-bought for your new account if you wanted to play any of those same games again.

Or, you can look at alternatives such as http://www.gamersgate.com/

If you had tons of money to burn and wanted to pursue the matter with a Lawyer, then good luck with that.. but, chances are you won't have a leg to stand on (especially if you already signed something equivalent that basically admits to "guilt of piracy" on your part), you just end up wasting your time and money, add stress to your life, and if you look at the big picture, it's not worth it. Steam has a team of lawyers on their side, and basically their wall-of-text EULA already preemptively covers their butt against most cases or claims against them.

I still like using Steam, it's convenient, I have easy access to my games Library all in one interface, and about 95+% of the time if I do buy a game I'll wait 'til it's on a good discounted sale price.  But, I've been cutting back on my spending, so I only perhaps get the odd deal once in a while for some game I may have had my eye on for some time that I really wanted.

Anyways, where was I.. I think from the details you've given, you might be fighting a lost-cause if you try to pursue it. So, like I suggested, you might just have to cut your losses and start anew with a fresh account, or use some other method to get games (Such as GamersGate or Retail Stores).

Best regards.

Trying to get help from Steam Support on the Steam Forums won't work.

The only way to get official Support from them is to open up a Support Ticket with them here:
https://support.steampowered.com/newticket.php

More details about how to go about submitting inquires to Steam Support here:
https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=1223-QROC-4460

Explain your situation in detail, proof of purchase, and whatever other details you deem important.
And, then, you'll have to be patient until they reply (which can take a couple days, up to a week or more sometimes depending on how busy / backlogged they are).

If you did nothing wrong, and if they see you got your game for your account legitimately, then they should fix things for you.

Good luck.

RetroJay:  Yes, a bastard I am  

Sorry I didn't have a defined "ending" for this project as it now stands. I did have a lot more things I wanted to add to this game. And I was going to have it so the Player character would be able to fight some of the the zombies he would encounter (or, in some cases, rather than a "direct fight" the Player could find alternative ways to either defeat or get around the zombies safely). I had quite a bit more of the story planned out too, and of course there was to be a lot of good 'ol Adventure gaming in there as well.

But, alas, the project is now I think already over 5 years now since I last worked on it, and though I didn't like to leave it incomplete like it is, if I'm going to get back into making Adventure-games again, I think I'd rather start fresh on a whole new Adventure game now.  I'd still like to make a good survival-horror-adventure like this.  

Still, I wanted to share this project with other adventure-gaming fans as I thought it would be a waste if no one else ever got to see this (even in it's incomplete state) and thought that some people could appreciate the time and effort I put into it.  Plus, after getting a taste of this little project, perhaps it might churn up interest and support from more people in perhaps wanting to see me make more survival-horror adventure-games like this (though with fresh story, ideas, art, puzzles, challenges, etc...) in future.

JRock: Thanks again for your interest and support. Well, who knows, if I did decide to complete this particular story, I'd want to still start it "fresh" though in many ways. Ya never know, I could be persuaded to continue this story if there was enough interest!

JRock: Yep, will, we gotta take care of other more important priorities and responsibilities in life sometimes (especially as we get older). But still, I do hope to get back into making some Adventure-games again at some point. Hope you'll be able to as well when / if you get the chance again.

Cog: Thanks for the comments. Nice to see some people are enjoying the game as it is.

Arma: Yep. Thanks' for your kind suggestion that I "make my own", and for telling me about how you make your own maps for adventure games. 
And I intend to do that when/if I ever get back into making adventure-games again.  As I noted on the games page for it, "* Yes, I did "borrow" the graphics from other sources for these projects (Such as the Silent-Hill, Half-Life, Obscure games), which was supposed to be "place-holder" graphics (and in reflecting on it, I probably shouldn't have). The games were just free non-profit projects I put together for fun.".  

Eigen: Hey dude, nice to see you here. Yeah, "The Great Stroke Off!" game I think turned out rather well considering the relatively short time we had to work on it. You did a great job on the music for it and it really helped to set the various scenes quite well. For nostalgia, I played through it again recently myself, and I still got a good laugh from it.  I know there was lots of things that could have been better, and a few mistakes in there, but still, we crammed in so much game during such a limited amount of time (1 month from start to finish if I remember correctly). Yep, we had a pretty good team on that project.

Well, perhaps we can work together on some future project(s) together. Now, I'd have to relearn some things about AGS again though (as it's been so long since I've used it, plus the newest version is different in several ways too it appears). I'm eager to get back into making some Adventure-games again, but it's a matter of finding the time, learning (or re-learning) some skills again and coming up with some good ideas. Cheers!

Congrats and best wishes to you and your family.  Cheers!

Peder: Right, I forgot about checking the set-up file. Also, the copy you had on your site before had a save-game file with it. But, anyways, you now have my version with the sound enabled by default.  So, get a chance to try any of my RailWorks projects yet from my RRYard.com site?

Domino: Hey there. Nice to see you're still about.  Yeah, I was sooooo close to having that part in a Jackie Chan movie. I was supposed to play the role of a Bodyguard for the main "bad-guy" in the movie, then I was supposed to do a little fight-scene with Jackie.  But, alas, they kept changing schedules, changing shoots, changing actors, and changing the script. They kept postponing my part, but said they still wanted to use me... then one day I  got the dissapointing news, "Sorry, the script has been changed, and we might not need you now. But, Jackie still likes you and may want you for another movie later".  Well, that's sort of like Hong Kong style film-making... slap-together a loose script, and often times it's fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants with multiple times changing the actors, locations, shoot-dates, story, etc... Anyways, that was the last I heard from them, then, well, now I'm back home in Canada now.  I guess that movie was a real dud anyways and didn't do well.

Still, I did spend several years in Asia, I got to see and do some amazing things. I wrote and published a book on the Martial-Arts during my stay there (so, I can say "I'm a Published Author", if that counts ). I got to train with some of the Masters in Martial-Arts there, as well I taught Martial-Arts. I did play a few bit-part in a few movies, commercials and even a TV documentary on Martial-Arts. I even did a bit of fight-scene-choreography. So, I was "semi-famous" for a little while there in Hong Kong.  Overall, it was a great life experience being there. I do miss it in some ways, but for now I think I'll be living home here in Canada and try to get-back-on-my-feet again.  It's been difficult though, almost like "reverse culture shock". But, I'll keep working towards improving my situation.

Cheers!

JRock: Thanks for the nice comments. Glad you enjoyed it and that it "scared the crap" out of you 
And yes, this game was somewhat of a homage to the "Silent Hill" and "Resident Evil" games.

But, I'd like to make a whole new survival-horror-adventure-game, that would have all new concept / story, and with using "legit" graphics. 

I've got some other things on the go, and you're right, sometimes it's hard to fit in working on projects like this.  But, perhaps I will dive into AGS again to make some new adventure games in the future. My creative side longs to do it.

Or, who knows, I may be able to team-up with someone on a project too.

Thanks again for trying this project and for your kind feedback.
Cheers!

I'll welcome you back if you welcome me back too  
Cheers!

Heh!   I remember you telling us about this game loooong ago!  Always wanted to give it a go!  Finished or not, it looks cool!  Will post after I play through.

Hiya JRock. Nice to see you here.    Yeah, I haven't been around AGS in a long while and just came back to the forums here a couple days ago.
This was one of the last projects I was working on, but then life kinda got in the way, and I got side-tracked by other things.  

I think I'd rather start on a whole new project rather than working on this old one anymore for various reasons. Still, I thought it would be a good idea to share this project with you guys, as I recall there was quite a bit of interest in it and I did put in quite a bit of work on it.

Anyways, I hope you'll still enjoy it for what it is. I'd be interested to get's people's thoughts on it.

I'll have to give anything horror related a shot!

I'll let you know how it goes.

Cool. Hope you have fun with it as it is despite it's "incompleteness".
Well, I think it could be a nice little diversion for people who like horror-adventure type games.

Just been playing this game for over an hour now. Quite fun and addictive!
I wanted to say thanks for an excellent game and for sharing with us.

The quality of the game shows that you put a lot of time and work into it.  It's a neat art style, story is interesting, great characters, nice music, good humor, puzzles are good, easy-to-use controls. Overall, congrats on a job well done! You've got some real adventure-game-makin-skillz there!

*Edit: So, I've just finished this great little game. I think it took me perhaps a little over 2 hours to complete. Kudos! I eagerly await the next chapter (that is if you're not totally burned out now and still plan on making another chapter). The ending cinematics were quite well done too, but of course left me wanting more.  Cheers! 

Eh? I guess I missed something in my absence.

Anyhoooo....

ProgZ: Hey dude, nice to see you're still around. Well, we can all get busy and side-tracked in life at times.

Peder: I downloaded "The Elevator" from your site. Gave it a try and noticed the sounds were broken/missing on that version. I don't know why. But anyways, I managed to find it on one of my backups. I've now uploaded the version that everything appears to work as it should, you can get it here if you wanted to update the file on your own site:
http://www.mediafire.com/?kxhxngm90hh763b
If you needed some screen-shot images for my old games you might have on your site, I've now updated my old games pages here on the AGS library, so you can grab screenies from them if you like.  For a list of my games you can just check out my profile:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?action=profile;u=2428

Nik: I haven't used MSN (or any online chat messanges for that matter) in ages. But yeah, perhaps we can chat and catch up sometime hopefully. Or we can do PM's or emails.

Nikolas, my old friend, good to see you're still about.
Hoping things are well with you and life's been good. We should chat soon and catch up on things.
Best wishes! ---Don.

Hi guys.

I wanted to share an old project I was working on, "The Elevator - Rise from the Abyss"


This is a much improved, and expanded upon follow-up game based on the concept of my short "The Elevator" project.

Though this game is in-complete and I don't think I'll ever bother to fully finish it, I did spend a fair amount of time and work on it and thought it would be a shame if no one ever got to see it. There's still probably around 30 - 40 minutes of playtime to be had from it though. I guess in a way you can think of this as a type of "Demo" for a game that might-have-been.  

You can probably consider this game "Over" when:

Spoiler

you encounter the zombie that chases after you.

[close]

** Warning: "The Elevator - Rise From The Abyss" is a Horror-Adventure meant for adult players and may contain scenes of violence, gore, nudity, sex, profanity, etc... so, play at your discretion.

Download the "Rise from the Abyss" game from this link:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=download&game=548&mirror=1

The game controls are fairly easy to use. You have a top control-GUI when moving your pointer towards the top. Standard options such-as Walk, Talk, Look, Interact, Inventory, Save, Load and Exit are there.

You can also use your mouse scroll-wheel to cycle through the pointer-control options (walk, talk, look and interact).
For alternative movement controls, you can use the arrow-keys on your keyboard.
To toggle the "Health-GUI" on or off, press H.

For changing any of the game's options, such as resolution-size, windowed or full-screen, etc.. run the "winsetup.exe" from the same folder as the game's executable "T_E_R.exe" file.

It's all fairly standard stuff. I'm sure you'll be able to figure it out easy enough.

*Note: Yes, I did "borrow" the graphics from other sources for these projects (Such as the Silent-Hill, Half-Life, Obscure games), which was supposed to be "place-holder" graphics (and in reflecting on it, I probably shouldn't have). This game was just a free non-profit fan-made project I put together for fun in my spare time.  

I hope people that play it will still enjoy it as it is.
Cheers!  

Well, if anyone was interested, I've uploaded my "The Elevator - Rise from the Abyss" project to one of those file sharing sites. The download-size is 65.3 MB.
*Notice: The game is meant for adult players. The game may contain scenes or situations relating to violence, gore, profanity, nudity, sex... etc.
You can get it from the following link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?hl9nqw2kkxum93g  ,then on that page click on the line that reads "Click here to start download from MediaFire.."
or
from a mirror-download location:
http://oron.com/njxl6xm6d1ox/Rise_from_Abyss.zip.html
For the free-download, scroll down that page a bit and click on the "Regular Download" button, then you'll get a count-down timer when it reaches 0 you get a "Captcha" thingy you have to type in the words that appear, then you can download the file. I know, a hassle, but hey, it's a free file-sharing service and as it's a somewhat sizable file, I didn't want to eat-up too much bandwidth on my paid-for-hosting site.

Dualnames: Hi. I remember you too. Egads! Someone actually liked that silly little "Dark of Night" made-for-Halloween-game? 

Chicky: Hi there. I don't remember your avatar-pic looking so "evil" as it does now (I had a bit of a crush on your earlier avatar-pic of her.. heheh). Yeah, I don't know what, or where my old avatar-pic is, so I've now put-up some other "Barbarian" suitable looking one now.

Peder: Thanks. Hey, another RailWorks fan. Yeah, I didn't think I'd become so addicted to a train-sim, but I do get a lot of enjoyment from it. And the things one can create with the powerful editor can be real works-of-art.  Yes, if you get a chance, check out my RRYard.com site, and you can find and get some of my projects in the "Routes & Scenarios" section there.

Darth: Nice to see you still around good man! Thanks for the welcome back.

Buckethead: Hiya. I think I remember you too.. didn't you used to have your avatar pic of you wearing a KFC bucket your head?  
Yeah, I was experimenting with making an adventure-horror games of sorts with AGS, "The Elevator - Rise from the Abyss" I was calling it, and yeah, I "borrowed" graphics from some games such as Silent-Hill and Half-Life for some "placeholder graphics"
I was making good progress on it too (and I may yet perhaps put it out as a "Release Something" in-completed game if there's enough interest... and if I can manage to find the old project.. I think I have it around somewhere on backups).

But, then, life got kinda got in the way. And while I was living in Asia, my Dad passed away, and plus some other difficult hardships life threw at me, for a long while I just kinda lost interest in working on any gaming projects.  But, I've found my creative-side again these last couple of years (as I mentioned in my first post), and kinda longing to get back into perhaps making some Adventure games again with wonderful AGS.

Ascovel: Hey, thanks for your kind words. Well, I didn't know my Escape From Evergreen Forest game was "legendary", but, I knew it did have some positive popularity about it. It was the first full game I made and released with AGS. It's rough, and I see a lot of mistakes in it, and there's lots of things I probably would have done differently if I could jump into some time-machine and redo it. But, as it stands, I think the game has a bit of a unique charm to it , and despite it's shortcomings and mistakes I made with creating it, it still turned out to be a fairly good game I think which I hope people enjoyed.

*Edit: Hey, I found that old adventure-horror game I was last working on via AGS. A player could probably get perhaps 30 - 40 minutes of playtime with it as it is (but it's unfinished of course). But, if enough people thought it was still worth seeing (I don't think I'll bother to finish that particular project, but it would be a shame to let all of the time and work I put into go to waste without anyone seeing it), I could probably upload it so people can give it a try.