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[Download now!]

Hello, you guys! It's been a while since my previous adventure game. I know most of you have been anxiously awaiting for my next project!

*crickets*

Well, that still doesn't change the fact that we made a quick little point & clicker in roughly six days with a team of four. So here it is:

Download now!

Made with Unity using Adventure Creator, created by Chris Burton, ICEBOX Studios (IceMan).

It's a short one so if you have a couple of minutes you want to spend doing some mysterious adventuring, this is the game for you!


Let us know what you think!
Thanks!

Ooooh. So tempting. Unfortunately for me, the dates currently leading the poll are right in the middle of a big work deadline chaos. But at least I'll get to play all the games you guys make!

Holy crap, it's been four years since my last OROW and ten years since my first. So, this is basically the 10 year anniversary of OROW? WOOO!

Awesome, thanks!

[Backup, backup, backup to be sure you don't break your valuable game.]

If anyone's feeling adventurous, here is some sort of a plugin implementation, ready for testing. Documentation hasn't been updated. Requires AGS 3.3.
https://bitbucket.org/AJA/dialogdesigner/downloads/release-1.3-plugin.zip

Backup, backup, backup to be sure you don't break your valuable game.

And here's how you use it, roughly:
1. Copy AGS.Plugin.DialogDesigner.dll to your AGS directory.
2. Run AGS, open your project.
3. Double click Dialog Designer node in the project explorer tree.
4. Select Dialog Designer.exe.
5. Write your dialog.
6. File -> Export to AGS -> Settings -> Set the dialog name. (In this version, all these settings are dialog file specific!)
7. Make sure AGS is open and your project is loaded.
8. In Dialog Designer, select File -> Export to AGS -> AGS Plugin (or Ctrl+E)
9. Switch to AGS, there should be a pop-up saying the dialog was imported successfully. You should see the dialog in your tree view, and hopefully it will work.
10. To edit a dialog that you've already imported, open the dialog in AGS and double click on Dialog Designer in the project explorer tree.

Known issues:
- If you re-export a dialog that is already open in AGS (but is not the current active editor pane), the ui is not updated. Instead you need to close and reopen the dialog pane. I didn't find a way to fix this with the current editor plugin API since it has no way of accessing all the open editor panes. The active editor pane (if it's the dialog you're re-exporting) should be correctly updated.

Since July 2013 there has been the IRePopulatableComponent interface which is implemented by editor components which can have their child nodes repopulated (e.g., the DialogsComponent). [...]

Cool. Might have to take a look at some point to see how much work integrating it with AGS will be.

[edit]Well, seems to be working fine with AGS 3.3.3! Just needs some ui for defining the name of the dialog and it's pretty much ready for testing. Pretty good for three hours' work.[/edit]

You shouldn't put the compiled binaries into the repository [...]

Yeah, you really shouldn't. Imagine the fun times I had committing ~1GB (uncompressed) binaries of Barely Floating a couple of years back.

Anyway, I put them there for convenience reasons since it was a private repo. But since it's not anymore, I figured out some way to automatically upload the binaries to bitbucket whenever I push my changes to the server. Seems to be working ok, unfortunately it doesn't overwrite the old files and I gave up trying to get my script for deleting the old ones working (stupid bitbucket doesn't have a rest api for downloads ). Anyway, 1.3 branch no longer contains the binaries.

Not sure if I messed with all the correct switches to make it public: https://bitbucket.org/AJA/dialogdesigner

If you feel brave, try out the 1.3-scripting branch that allows you to write simple Lua scripts to make converting dialog lines more flexible. (If you don't have or don't use git, go to https://bitbucket.org/AJA/dialogdesigner/downloads and download the zip; up-to-date binaries are included in the bin\Release directory.)

[Download v1.2.1]

Good news, everybody! ...Erm, anybody?

I found the source code for Dialog Designer 1.1.3 completely by accident, so I decided to take some time to save this turd in some version control system and try to recreate the fixes and features implemented in versions 1.1.4 and 1.2. So, here we go, the first update in almost four years...

Download v1.2.1

Changes since v1.2

• Added drag & drop support for opening dialog files.
• Fixed random crash on startup on Windows 8 (64-bit only?) platform.
• Fixed ArgumentOutOfRangeException crash when loading MRU list on startup. (Pirate pm'd me about this issue way back in 2013.)
• FIX REMOVED: The original v1.2 had the following fix which I haven't reimplemented since I have no idea what the problem originally was: Fixed errors in custom dialog line conversion (in both the settings window and the actual conversion).

Also updated the website stub to include the complete changelog: http://www.serpentpictures.net/dialogdesigner/

This release also means that if you guys encounter any issues or have feature requests, just let me know and I'll see if I have some time to work on them at some point.

I have a bad feeling that the agsCreditz source code has been lost in time and space, unfortunately.
But I'll go through my backups just in case when I get back home within a couple of weeks.

Also, holy crap, the plugin is over ten years old already! I feel dizzy. And old.

Wow, this looks really promising. I'll have to check it out properly at some point.

[SPOILERS]

A huge congrats to Pablo and qptain Nemo! I was very conflicted about which game I liked best, since there were so many good ones this time, but I really can't complain that yours won, it was absolutely hilarious!

Okay, time for reviews! I'm probably going to repeat some of what Vince has already mentioned but here goes anyway, in alphabetical order... There may be SPOILERS ahead!


The Addict
This fun little game didn't have much graphical oomph but the weird gameplay and writing held my interest. The dialogue between the protagonist and the narrator was fun, as was contacting god himself. As I started chatting with the mirror and the cup, I was certain someone was having a mental breakdown, in a good way. Gladly it wasn't me. One thing that drove me a bit crazy was that the cursor was almost the same color as the back wall and got lost really easily. Other than that, good work!

Betrayal
Wow, that was one mind-bendy game. The door puzzles were a really nice and novel idea and the whole room transformation thing was really effective and creepy. The story itself was as confusing as I'm sure it was meant to be. Was there any use for the pendant at all? A nice little game, well done!

The Butler Didn't Do It
Oh the hilarity! The writing was great! Silly, insane and brilliant. Loved it! "How did you open the closet?" "Let's just say I googled a walkthrough." HOW DID YOU KNOW!? (Yeah, I had some trouble finding the book hotspot.) There were so many utterly ridiculous moments in this game I can't even remember them all. The brother admitting being the murderer, the detective's murder, the doctor turning out to be a horse, the piano. The ending was a bit of a letdown but not so much that it changed the way I felt about this game. Also, the graphics matched the style of the writing really well. My only problem with the game was that you couldn't skip the intro and quickly restore your save. Awesome job, all in all!

The Crystal Ball
At first I thought the game was broken since the only interaction I got was for clicking on the exit. But thanks to Nemo and his OROW8 trailer video, I finally realized that it was in fact a verb coin GUI. I really loved the concept and the atmosphere of this game. The art style was very fitting and I happen to like art that's a little rough around the egdes. Gently pumping the criminal for information was really interesting. I just wish there was more of a chance to fail, ie. to scare the criminal away, and more actual gameplay to properly figure out how to get the info out of him. But it was great for a week's work! I hope you'll keep polishing the concept for a future game.

Draconis!
At first I was slightly concerned that the game would be just about running around with the dragon, collecting some gems and burning up some knights, but I was happily surprised to realize that it was actually a proper puzzle game. The second level was quite hard, it took quite a few tries to completely understand the different gameplay mechanics and how they worked together. (Some of the stuff was probably mentioned in the help screen but I forgot about most of it quickly.) The third, and sadly final (proper), level was much easier than the second. The biggest issues I had with the game were that you couldn't save the game and that the dragon moved so damn slowly. But overall it was lots of fun!

Educating Adventures of Girl and Rabbit
I was sold at the first slap. I enjoy playing silly and absurd games even more than I enjoy making them so this was definitely one of my favorites. After the intro I paused for a while and hoped the game would remain funny all the way through, and as I reached for my drink... *SLAP* "Don't just stand around! Do something!" Biggest grin caused by a game in a long while! The writing in this game was so much fun. The only downside was that towards the end the puzzle solutions became a bit too obvious. A well deserved win! Thanks, guys!

Fly paper
Perfect length!

Jack Trekker
Oh boy, I got off on the wrong foot with this one. The intro was awesome but as soon as the game started, I realized that this protagonist guy was a total asshole. I have issues with these kinds of macho idiots so I was really hoping he would end up totally mauled and shredded to pieces by the end. (That's how I justified writing one such beast myself.) Sadly, it didn't happen. I liked how much effort had gone into the art and animations (so many gradients!) and the puzzles were very nice as well. I had some problems with not finding the "open mouth" hotspot for a while but I got there in the end. Also, save & load wasn't supported but the reload hotkey was still available, and no way to skip the intro. While the protagonist wasn't really my cup of tea, the game itself was very enjoyable and chatting with the three dames did produce some laughs. Good work!

Kanji Gakusei
I'm ashamed to say that I haven't finished this one yet. I'm still missing the kanjis for cat and fish. I enjoyed the cute and simple graphics and the challening puzzles. It took a while for me to realize that I could get the mountain kanji with the coal and the piece of paper. Boy did I feel stupid for not realizing that sooner. I clearly suck at adventure games. The music was a bit annoying at times but overall it's been a nice little game.

MI
Beautiful art style and overall atmosphere! The voice acting was a nice cherry on top. The gameplay was a bit simple but otherwise enjoyable. The problem for me was that the game was just sooo slow-paced. Everything seemed to take a really long time from the slow running to the slow fade outs/ins when going through doors. And on top of it all, bringing up the UI interrupted the movement compeletely. Also, the save/load GUIs weren't working (I'm assuming they weren't even meant to be accessible). I would've really liked to know more about the characters and especially the back story - who were the bad guys and why were they after the heroes? But even with the slowness issue, I did enjoy the game, good job!

One Dungeon One Week
Holy fcking shit! That's really impressive for a week's work! Apart from the blinking doorways, the tech worked well and it was a real pleasure to explore the dungeon. A couple of times it was a bit hard to start fighting since I walked past the enemy and had to keep turning around to see where he'd gone but I did get those green buggers in the end! The eery mood was really enjoyable. My main gripes were that sometimes the input seemed really laggy and that I would've liked it to go on a bit longer. Great work!

Sinking
I found the concept of this game really interesting. The gameplay was exciting and hectic and I was surprised to find myself enjoying the feeling of hopelessness. The graphics looked good and worked well in the context. There were some problematic bits, however, as there usually are with quickly made prototypes of new kinds of gameplay. First of all, I think the experience could have been improved by removing fall damage altogether since you had to keep running around the place all the time and the enjoyability of the funny sound/animation of the poor sod falling on his face wore out quickly. And the crew seems to be utterly useless? It was also weird that I got more points for getting killed than for winning the game. Even weirder: needing to completely restart the game in order to try again. Anyway, I feel like this game has lots of promise to be fantastic if it's developed further. A really impressive effort for one week. Great job!

Tattooroom
The art was really pretty. The gameplay itself was a bit confusing. First of all, in all four of my tries, the customer wanted the exact same tattoo: a siren. I would've thought the tattoo would be randomized since there was a bunch of books with different tattoos but maybe it was just a matter of running out of dev time? Also, I had some trouble putting items back on the table. Nevertheless, it was a fun little game, well done!

The Reaper
Wow. Gorgeous. It's amazing how much Ben's art has improved over the years. Simply stunning work, including all the animations! Definitely the prettiest of the bunch. And the music completed the athmosphere really well. The main issue with this one was... "Have you tried turning it off and on again?" YES! MULTIPLE TIMES! It's a bit of a pity it seems to have been only a prologue to something bigger and even awesomer. I was hoping to find out more about the characters and the game world in this game but I guess I can wait. Overall, this game looks and feels like a completely polished little adventure. Awesome work!

The Rebirth
The story of this game was really intriguing and very dramatic. Too bad we didn't have the chance to get deeper into the backstory. The dialogue was really well written and the art & animation looked great! There wasn't much gameplay (like most OROW games) but all of it was good and kept the story going without stalling at a difficult puzzle. I guess The Reaper happens in the same universe some time later? You should've named these differently so we would have played them in the "correct" order. Oh and, to be continued? Not you too, Grundislav! Great game!


And wow, I just realized none of the games crashed for me. There's usually been at least one game that goes out in a flash of press-ok-to-replay-through-everything. But not this time. Great job, everyone!


Holy hell, that was a lot of games and a lot of words to write. I hope at least some of you find these comments useful in your current or future projects.

Thanks again to everyone who managed to complete their game for this OROW! It was a blast playing them all. Can't wait for the next one, I just wish I'll have time to participate myself.

Played and voted, finally! That was quite a bunch of OROW games. Great work, everyone!

Mini-reviews coming after the official results!

Has this been a problem previously? Everyone's been free to vote for whatever game they please and not many, if any, people have had a problem with that. Then again, we haven't had much variety in the winner for the past four or so OROWs. But preventing people from voting altogether is definitely not the way to go, since that's part of the fun.

OROW is not about winning, I see the competition format merely as an incentive to get people to join in on the fun. OROW is about getting fun little games made and then giving the creators feedback both in the form of votes and, more importantly, comments. It's as much a playground for testing ideas as it is for going crazy with concepts that would never work in a longer game. That's how I see it anyway. And that's why I keep asking for a rating based voting system, but I'm okay with the top-3 or top-5 idea that's been thrown around. That's much more preferable to a choose-your-favorite voting system.

Haven't had time to play any of them yet but today or tomorrow I shall begin my sacred task!

I think you can make a poll like that with google drive's survey system. Just add a bunch of headings (graphics, audio, gameplay, etc.) and under each of them one 1-5 or 1-10 rating thingy for each game.

Speaking of voting, if possible, let us rate each game in each category (eg. 1-5) instead of just picking our favorite.

Sorry guys, but I'm out as well. With approximately two hours of work behind me, I haven't even managed to break the story I was trying to turn into a barely interactive OROW experience. Working on the big damn feathery smashy game some of you may have played (aka. Angry Birds) has sucked all the creative juices out of me.

But I'm happy to hear many of you are doing quite well so far. Keep it up!

Yesterday, I only managed to fill one sheet of paper with sketches and pieces of dialogue before I fell asleep. If I keep going at this pace, I will either submit a game made in four hours on Thursday or nothing at all.

Oh boy, I might not make it this time. But I'll try.

And in any case, I expect to have some weird and innovative OROW games to play early next week! Good luck, everybody!

Did someone say OROW!??!?

I'd like to join but I'm not really sure whether my job contract forbids me to do so. July/August might be okay for me.

Bummer.

Sorry to hear that.

Cogliostro, unfortunately the custom resolution mod the game requires using the D3D9 graphics driver. That's why it won't run.

No idea if there's a way to get round the fact that your graphics cards don't support 1280x720. Probably not.


Cold comfort but someone's making a let's play of BF (not finished yet): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P-vHg1zCl0