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Well, after a few months on Greenlight, Absent has made its' Steam debut.

Enjoy, everybody!

-James

My adventure game, Absent, was released on Steam recently!
http://store.steampowered.com/app/398450

Any chance you could add that one to the list on the front page?

I've updated the games' credits and put you in there for designing the plugin too.

[GAME FEATURES]

Hey, everybody! Hope you've all had an amazing Christmas and hope you all have a happy new year too!


Well, after just over three weeks, we have three days left on our Kickstarter! Take a look at the link below!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fentonfilmgames/absent-ii/posts

For those unfamiliar with the game, here are the features in a nutshell…

GAME FEATURES
- Two Playable Characters.
- Full Voice Acting.
- Full Digital Soundtrack.
- 320x240 Resolution.
- Icon Based Dialogue System.
- Entirely Mouse-Based Interface.
- Streamline Inventory System.
- Approximately 3-5 Hours of Gameplay.


Our Kickstarter funds will be used to fund the returning voice actors to the game (seven voice actors will return on the initial budget we have set) and we will be able to re-recruit our composer, Adam Haynes, to compose a brand new digital soundtrack. To listen to the first games' soundtrack, take a listen here:
http://adzin.co.uk/album/absent-original-soundtrack

To download the first game for free, visit its' Desura page here:
http://www.desura.com/games/absent


Take a look and spread the word to fellow adventure gamers, guys! We have three days left to ensure that this project will see the light of day!

-Fenton

As you may have noticed in the Game Development Thread, the Kickstarter for our sequel, Absent II, is currently in operation!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fentonfilmgames/absent-ii

We need to raise £1,600 in the next sixteen days to ensure that we secure the talent from the first game that we need for the sequel.
Take a look and help us spread the word, guys! We really want to give you this game next year. Thanks!

-Fenton

Hey, thanks for posting my presentation on Absent II to YouTube. And cheers for the write up at Adventure Gamers too! Was a really great event and looking forward to next year!

Also, the Kickstarter for Absent II is in effect now as noted on the day:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fentonfilmgames/absent-ii

Thanks!

-Fenton

Hey, cheers Mark! Yeah we had a good amount of people looking at it, thankfully. Was a really great event and looking forward to coming back next year.

And now the Kickstarter is live!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fentonfilmgames/absent-ii

£1,600 will be needed to gather our original talent together, and this will be our initial target to ensure that we have a game. Further earnings will be used to enhance the project in the form of artists and animators, and a vocalist to perform a newly written song for the closing credits. Following this, further voiceover and musical talent can also be gathered and the project can be expanded further yet.

Backer rewards include the soundtrack, a copy of the game, a concept art collection, an opportunity for your own image in the game and a personally recorded message from the main cast. See the new video in the link for more details.

The Kickstarter will end on January 4th 2015 22:00GMT.

For more details:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Absent-Absent-II-by-fentonfilmgames/182883021888320

Thank you, everybody!

-Fenton

Hey, everybody!

Absent II has been in development for over six months now, and, as we revealed at AdventureX this weekend, we intend Absent II to be a commercial venture this time around! We still want to release the game in late 2015, but we are going to need some help in order to get there.

In exactly one week from today, we will be launching our Kickstarter campaign! This will primarily aid us to secure our voiceover talent and our composer from the first game once again. The fine details are still being finalised, but we will be looking at an initial goal of approximately £2,000 in order to put everybody in their place for the project.

Should we exceed that initial target, there would be further opportunities for improving the games' quality. For example, recruiting further animators in order to speed up the process, introducing further new voiceover talent to the game, and possibly even providing a song for the games' closing credits!

All in all, very exciting stuff! We'll be teasing some of the backer rewards on our Facebook page (here) throughout the week and we'll report back next Monday once the Kickstarter is underway.

Don't forget to like our Facebook page and follow our Twitter for more details!
Facebook!
Twitter!

Thanks very much to all of the support!

-Fenton

I'll be there first thing tomorrow with Absent II!
Looking forward to coming back for another year and meeting you guys!

Looks intriguing and fun Good luck with this!
I am also using an icon based dialog system for the first time (like The Dig) and it is a lot of fun

Yeah I'm preferring using icons to text-based dialogue. Not only can the game's background animation continue now, but they're far easier to script as the Icon dialogue module I am using uses the general scripting commands. This makes it far more straightforward to change characters' talkcycles (and expressions) and anything else.
You finding it a better alternative to text-based dialogue too?

Great news! I enjoyed the first game and I'm looking forward to the sequel

Great to hear you're looking forward to it and thanks for the kind words on the first game. It's interesting when looking back on your older projects makes your mistakes and faults stand out so clearly, though. Luckily, I think learned a few lessons on which elements to fix from the first game before tackling the sequel!

I loved the first game and this looks like a very promising sequel! Good job....looking forward to more info!

SHADOW

Thanks for the kind words about Absent, Shadow. Hope you'll enjoy the second one too! A huge announcement for the project will be here in about six weeks time, but for now, it's about time for a new screenshot!



Eve (Esme Brand) and Danielle (Rebecca Hanssen) return for Absent II and will be prominent characters in the upcoming demo in December. The Absent II AdventureX Demo will give you the chance to switch between playing as Murray and Eve.

To keep up with the games' progress more regularly, follow our Facebook and Twitter pages.

Thanks everybody, and stay tuned for more!

-Fenton

Think I've filled the form in okay. Got an error message the first time but seemed to work the second.

Little thing, the Absent II links to a Kickstarter for "The Slaughter" from last year. :p Could it be linked to here instead? Thanks!  I'll get another image mocked up for you for the site as well.

Thanks!

Update!
Absent II will see an AdventureX exclusive playable demo on Saturday 6th December in London! The demo will highlight the games' revised interface, the icon-based dialogue system, introduce a new character, and feature newly recorded voicework from the original cast of Absent! For more details on AdventureX, see m0ds' thread here.

There will be a major update announcement for the project within the coming month or two, but for now stay tuned for more updates to the project on the Absent Facebook Page and Absent Twitter Page. Once we get past the majority of the games' programming and scripting stages, I'll have a couple more visuals of the project to show for you guys.

-Fenton

It was a great event last year and looking forward to coming back!
I'll be there on the Saturday with a playable demo of Absent II on show.

Speaking of which, think it may be time to update the official thread... :p

Great to see we've got at least couple of fans already! :p

Stay tuned to the development of the project through the official Facebook page. I'm focusing more on the pre-graphical content at the moment, but I'll update you guys when the project meets certain milestones, i.e. when voicework begins, etc.

Give the page a like here:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Absent-and-Absent-II-by-fentonfilmgames/182883021888320?ref_type=bookmark

In other news, the first game launched on Desura two weeks back and reached the #4 spot on the site during its' initial week!
http://www.desura.com/games/absent

Stay tuned for more development!

-Fenton

[Absent II]

Well, after only eight months, Absent: The Game can now be grabbed from Desura right here! Give it a go if you've not checked it out yet!
http://www.desura.com/games/absent

(Also, it's kindof on the main page today!)


And in an unbelievable timing coincidence (yeah, right!), Absent II has just been announced! Follow the link below to the development thread.
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=50547.0

The new game will be released in 2015.

Hope everybody's going good!

-Fenton

[Announcement Trailer]

Announcement Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltSFpQbM0-k

Eight months after the events of the first game, Murray and Eve return for their top-up year at college. It would seem that the strange happenings at their campus have not lessened in their absence. A smashed window of the main entrance is present to welcome them back, followed by an introduction of a mysterious new top-up student whom it would seem it not to be trusted.

From the first introduction to their new term, the happenings only turn stranger. A series of blackouts from a former Reaper victim, a locket that has the ability to read others' minds, an all-new threat to the lives of Murray and his friends, and just what is the premises' new-found connection to these paranormal happenings?



Eve has an uncomfortable meeting with Elisa in the park.


Murray runs through his small-talk topics with Eve before his shift at On£ders.



Features
- Play as multiple characters throughout the game.
- Streamlined Inventory System.
- New Icon-Based Dialogue System
- Fully Voiced and Returning Voice Cast from Absent: The Game (Esme Brand as Eve, Shannon Hayes as Crystal, James Fenton as Murray, etc.)
- New Digital Soundtrack courtesy of returning composer Adam Haynes.
- New walkcycle for Murray(!)


Very excited about getting this project off the ground and delivering you guys another game! I'm looking at a late 2015 release date right now considering the development time of the first game. Stay tuned for further updates to the project, and follow the game's development on Twitter at:
http://www.twitter.com/fentonfilmgames



---DECEMBER 15TH UPDATE---
Absent II's Kickstarter is LIVE!
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/fentonfilmgames/absent-ii

£1,600 will be needed to gather our original talent together, and this will be our initial target to ensure that we have a game. Further earnings will be used to enhance the project in the form of artists and animators, and a vocalist to perform a newly written song for the closing credits. Following this, further voiceover and musical talent can also be gathered and the project can be expanded further yet.

Backer rewards include the soundtrack, a copy of the game, a concept art collection, an opportunity for your own image in the game and a personally recorded message from the main cast. See the new video in the link for more details.

The Kickstarter will end on January 4th 2015 22:00GMT.

For more details:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Absent-Absent-II-by-fentonfilmgames/182883021888320



Thank you, everybody!

-Fenton

[FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION]

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION

Absent: The Game
by fentonfilmgames


Absent is a story which follows the character of young-adult and college student, Murray Schull. He and his two best friends, Eve and Steve, attend a college in which students are disappearing daily. It's up to them to find out how this is happening, why this is happening, protect their other friends, and to put a stop to it once and for all.

Steve's girlfriend, Crystal, has mysteriously disappeared on her way home from college. But further into the investigation, and through Murray's new-found paranormal visions, Murray realises that whatever caused Crystal's disappearence was not anything from this earth. Alongside his vision, Murray is confronted with puzzles, with friends turning against each other, and all for one reason. The Reaper.


Special Features:
-A point/click, easy to use interface.
-Approximately twenty NPC's to interact with.
-Around forty playable rooms in the whole game.
-A completely original story with original art and characters created by myself. 
-A game so varied, I flipped a three sided coin to choose it's genre!
-Full Voice Acting.
-Full MP3 Soundtrack.
-It's completely free!

2012 Trailer
http://www.youtube.com/embed/zFV8vfTD1S4

Promotional Videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raDsUQ7sEto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Teelt_OF14
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yItvAqt_9aY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4LVApR8sMY
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFLqQ82mW1I


DOWNLOAD THE GAME FOR FREE HERE



PLEASE CONSIDER ABSENT IN THESE CATEGORIES

Of course, we'd be grateful for a nomination in any category, but I'd say the areas that we are the most proud of overall are in the sound department:

Best Voice Acting
Many have praised this aspect of the game already, and I'm extremely proud of the voicework contributed by our cast.

Best Music
Originally intended as a MIDI soundtrack, it was since expanded and converted into a full MP3 soundtrack in collaboration with Adam Haynes.
Really proud of the final result. Take a listen to the full soundtrack here.



Thanks a lot everybody and enjoy the game!

-Fenton

I should be there around midday on Saturday and I'll be there till half 6. Looking forward to it and finally meeting some of you lot!

Looks like it's possible for me to be there on the Saturday! Looking forward to it!
Um... any chance we could put Absent on one of the PC's ?

Yikes! How'd you manage that?! That's never happened before. Sorry about that, hope you managed to save.
If he just randomly teleported in the midst of walking there then it's probably an AGS thing. Must have something to do with the walkable area in the left of the screen being left on. Ill get it looked into.
Has anyone else experienced this?

Spoiler

Look at the pad and the bag. Might give you a clue...

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