Messages

[new]

is proud to share the launch of the new Forge fan-game website and domain. Unfortunately "forge.com" wasn't available, but I think "forgegame.com" is simple and clear enough. This choice comes with some changes in the website: don't expect flying swans and interactive distaffs though. There's been a complete revision of the text and some invisible yet useful changes in the code.

For those who aren't familiar with the project, please visit the Story section in our website. There you will find a synopsis of Forge's mother-game, Loom, along with a brief explanation of what our fan-made sequel seeks to accomplish.

But since I've posted here, the least I can do is giving a brief explanation:

Forge is an adventure game in the style of early nineties LucasArts' games. It's a full-length game, which will require some hours to be completed. Following the steps of his predecessor, Forge will be less interactive than most of the adventure of those days, because there will be neither a text-parser nor a verb GUI as the main interface. All basic interactions will be done with a single-click, but a special GUI will be used to "draw schematics". Schematics are some sort of spells that can be cast by the main character thanks to his special gauntlets, allowing him to control reality and achieve wondrous effects.

But I think it's time to give you something to "nibble". Let's start with a couple of backgrounds:

Here you can see GUI and the home of Prof.Penumbra, that will help Rusty in his quest.


This is the Guild of Miners, in all its splendour.


And this one's a charming view of one of the caves.

You can find some more in the Gallery section of our website of course.

Some tech info:

Resolution: 320x200
Colour depth: 16 bit (there are rarely more than 256 colours on screen at the same time, though)
Music&SFX: ogg, 128kbps
Dubbed: complete, only English
Translations: multi-language
Engine: Adventure Game Studio

Current team members:

Abisso: game designer/coder/touch-ups
Selmiak: webmaster

A lot of other people have been outsourced in these years: graphic artists, animators, musicians.

We're in desperate need of:

-Spriters (pixel-art)
-Background artists (pixel-art)
-SFX technicians
-Public relations publicists / journalists

And we gladly accept also:
-English voice-actors
-Translators
-Beta-testers

I strongly encourage you to check our Tech Demo, visit our Forum and drop a message in the Project Assistance Sub-Board. Or just send me a PM or an email if you don't intend to sign in.

The plan is to release a demo this Spring: that will be the last demo before the full-game release and it will look exactly like it, except it will only be playable until the end of Chapter One.

I hope the demo will trigger a cycle of enthusiasm and help us fill the missing positions in our team. Even now any contribution is more than welcome, be that a Donation or an offer to volunteer your skills.

Donors will receive:

• CREDIT! It goes without saying that you'll receive credit for your generosity on our website / forum / completed game.
• CUSTOM REQUEST! Want to see something personal in Forge? You'll have the chance to ask our team to include something meaningful to you, be it a bit of dialogue, an item, a special animation, etc. We do have to keep this within reason ( e.g., no chickens with pumpkin heads ;p ), so conditions do apply; but we'll work with you to make it special.
• BRAG! You have the right to tell people: «Hey, I worked on that game!» wink.
• PERSONALIZED THANKS! I'm in no way a fan of standardized "thank you" messages written by bots, so you'll receive a heartfelt and personalized one. The answer will be sent to the email address linked to your paypal account. In case you didn't receive any reply, the email probably got lost in the web jungle, so feel free to contact us and claim it!
• PRIDE! Even without the perks above, you'll know you contributed to a project that means a lot to a group of Loom fanatics out there; and supporting art and creativity is something anyone can feel good about.

To donate, please click on the button below. Thanks for your kindness.



Here is the link to our website (new domain): http://forgegame.com/

Stay tuned for more information, and please visit us often!

*********
February 25th, 2013 - Update:
We're close to the ending of the first beta-testing stage. There will be at least another one, but as soon as all the bugs have been killed, Forge: Chapter One will be released publicly. This is the last demo-step before the release of the complete game, but it's a crucial one, as further development of the game will depend on the success of this demo. Not only we hope to see a huge crowd downloading and enjoying it, but we hope someone in that crowd will decide to join the team or at least allow us to outsource and pay an artist thanks to some donations. With the current money we can afford outsourcing only 4 backgrounds, which is about one fifth of what we need to complete the game; and then there are in-game sprites and animations.
Speaking of money, I'm proud to announce a new section of our Donations page that shows and explains how each cent has been (and will be) used. We also introduced a way to help us even for those who don't feel skilled enough to join the team and can't afford donating some money: since the team relies on Dropbox for backups and project related file-sharing, we offer the chance for you and us to increase our web-storage space by signing in (for free) to the same service.
Check our Donations page to know more about all these news.

Since the last update on these boards, the team has lost one of its members, Valecene, our proofreader. We're looking for a possible replacement but there already is a candidate. Though it's not official we can also announce that Jamison Alderson, the musician that has composed about 85% of the original soundtrack, expressed his interest in continuing to donate his skills to the project for the next Chapters. A good thing, since he's a great guy to work with and, most importantly, a really talented composer.

This is more or less everything. Stay tuned for more, but please don't forget to check our website at forgegame.com for frequent updates.

See you there,
-Gabriele "Abisso" Nannetti

*********
October 3rd, 2013 - Update:

Some good news: a talented artist has completely reworked one of the backgrounds for Chapter One, which only served the purpose of a short cutscene before. I had to paint it by myself previously, and the result was only decent. Now it's gorgeous, and the new design called for some extra features. Now there are really interesting elements of gameplay and some cool features which make that room different from the rest of the game and yet coherent with it.

Of course, all of this required time: not just for the extra design, coding and sfx creation, but also because when you start working with someone on such an important part of the game, you need to instruct him about the game's back story, the atmosphere, and the technicalities.
In the end it was worth it, I believe, especially if the guy will be available to work on Chapter 3-5 backgrounds. I'm still unsure if this is the case.

Another potentially interesting news is I'm working with a lively amateur film director, who's also interested in doing some PR work for the game. A position far more crucial than it might seem, as spreading the word seems to be our best chance to find more and more people to help us developing Forge. Art is still a huge issue, and what slows up development the most.
Still on the topic of news, I've been recently interviewed about Forge, but I'll tell you more about that in the next update.


Some bad news about voice-acting: several unexpected issues and some of the suggestions of the beta-testers required some dialogues to be added, and some to be reworked from scratch. Some people didn't do what they were supposed to, and so I had to do some scouting for new voices. That meant a lot of selective work, with extra bad surprises from some of the contacted people. Not many choices are left now, but some good ones with professional equipment, and the lines that have to be recorded are not that many, so I think everything will work out fine, in the end.
I still haven't contacted the new guys because I have to be totally sure there won't be extra lines to be recorded.


Bugs: I think I've fixed all the ones spotted during the 2nd beta-stage, but I definitely need another beta-stage because of all the extras and to check the fixes. I'm totally positive that this is going to be faster and smoother than the previous tests, to the point that I'm finally going to make the long awaited announcement:

Forge's release date has been set to the first half of December!

And I'm talking about 2013, so this should be great news for all of you weavers. Or so I hope.


I'm not sure I'll manage this beta-stage as the previous ones, with open subscriptions. Somehow that didn't turn out that well, so I'll probably come up with a different approach. I'll let you know in the next few days, and anyway I intend to begin the testing in the third week of October.

Stay tuned and please visit our official boards for further info and updates.

May the Forge be with you,
-Gabriele "Abisso" Nannetti

*********
December 16th, 2013 - Update:

Chapter One has finally been released! Download it NOW before it's too late!

CLICK HERE FOR THE DOWNLOAD PAGE

Dec 17th, 2013 quick edit: in case you have trouble with the installer version, I've added a simple archive just below the standard download.

*********



P.S. The previous thread has been abandoned because the first post wasn't mine and so I couldn't change the topic's title. The old messages are still there though, but the topic is locked: link to the old AGS topic about the game

[EDIT for the administrators:]

Hey it's been a while since I last posted here. I hope some of you still has been following our progress on our website though.

Anyway, here's some important news:

First of all we have a new team-member: Valecene. She's a native English speaker, and so she'll cover the role of proofreader; but she's a good concept-artist as well.

Moreover, the website has been revamped a bit, with most of the text revised and even a new domain: forgegame.com

Progress on the game itself is slow but constant, and things are turning out better than I could have imagined, actually.

We're still looking for skilled artists, anyway, so spread the word, and please support us as much as possible!

Thank you!

EDIT for the administrators: since I'm not the one who started this topic, I'm unable to change its title of course, and sadly this prevents me from showing the correct date of the last update, instead of "Forge: Loom Sequel (Updated Jan 15th, 2011)". Is there a way to solve this without starting a whole new thread, and without asking Duke to change it every time? Unfortunately I've almost completely lost contact with him so that would be difficult to do. Thanks.

I based this sprite on a picture of me  :'(

You left me speechless and a bit embarrassed too. I hope I didn't offend you, really.

Anyway, if you're shaded in real life as your character is, you look cool.  

I know you asked for constructive criticism, but I really have to say what I'm about to say:

You made my day. Really, I almost can't describe the feeling when I looked at that sprite. It's been like some sort of flashback, like being dragged into the past, but not only that. I'm not saying it reminds me of something... it has that look... really, I'm not kidding, it's one of the most prepossessing things I've seen in quite some time. It captured me somehow... what an atmosphere. You'll all think I'm high or on LSD or something, but I'm not, stay assured.
Finding this background in a game would be great, and suggest uneasiness and mystery.

With such a premise I can't be very objective, but I'd keep the first one: I think its 'hollowness' contributed to its charm, and I preferred the skeleton and the cup as well.

By the way, thanks Jason, I owe you one hell of an emotional state. Seriously.

The skull on his belt shouldn't be too big cause it seems out of place seeing how the one in the picture is small. Plus it looks kinda weird being that big on a sprite of his size.

I agree as well, except that I don't think it's a skull at all. It looks like a white baby face, some sort of Casper or such. In the side sprites instead, it really looks like a bald dwarf peeping from his pocket. But I understand that reducing the small head's size will make it impossible to understand that it's a face at all.

Another thing I dislike is the pirate's eyes, that look like really furry eyebrows. Comparing it to the painting I also might add that he looks a lot more badass in the sprites. I dunno what he's supposed to be like, though.

All in all, I think he qualifies as an interesting space pirate, and needs just some touch-ups here and there.

This could just be me but did anyone think this might be a more philosophical post based on the topic title?

Actually the first thing that came to my mind when I read the title was: "Throw a party when I'm gone."

First of all, great job. It would be helpful if you'd describe what he's SUPPOSED to look like. I mean, is he smart? Is he an athlete? A goofy?

I'll tell you what he looks like to me: a mostly ordinary teenager, not very smart, maybe even a bit retarded or slow. But this last thing is mostly due to the fact his eyes are too close to each other as AnasAbdin pointed out. And, maybe, the head is a bit too small, but I can't be sure if it's a real issue.

The body and clothes look really well drawn to me. He looks like a slightly slim guy, I'd say 1,80-1,85 and 70-75 kgs.

Love the shading too, except on the shirt. The fact you don't shade the centre of it at all looks somewhat unnatural and visually disturbing. I'd add some shading there too, in order to simulate the waves and curves on the shirt's fabric.

Still, I'd use your sprite as it is with no remorse.

Nowadays, as my drawing skills have greatly improved, I just try to make everything seem like it was designed by a kid with little skills who just wanted to make a nice game and had fun doing it. 

Can I borrow this line to justify my not-so-remarkable drawing skills? 

Just kidding. I really do agree that purposely giving the background a childish look can be effective sometimes, and save lots of time. I don't know what your game is about, but looking at the character I think of some kind of fairytale, so both the backgrounds and him fit.

On a side note, I can truly relate to the story of your early attempts at making an adventure game, and so I wish you a good luck for your project.

I dunno... I don't see a significant improvement to be honest. The layout and the colours are more or less the same ('more or less' because I'm comparing it with Darth's edit, since the old version of your site is gone).

I'd still recommend darkening the white and the azure.

But if you look at my website, you'll probably understand that I'm a huge fan of darkness, so it's just a matter of personal taste, I guess.

Wow, now I'm glad I decided not to enter that MAGS. Would have been pointless against this diamond from another world. I almost had a flashback when I was playing.

Seriously, great game, just a bit too buggy. For instance

Spoiler

I managed to get past the closed door in the room with the console and the rod by simply crouching and rolling forward. Then I tried about 30 times to go past that closing door but never managed to. But I liked the game so much that I decided to give it another go from the start. I passed the first door by crouching once again but then managed somehow to pass the 2nd one before it was closed at my 2nd attempt. Wonderful ending there

[close]

Can't wait for a polished full version.

all these jumping and popping animations make me think of lemmings

Sorry, but I definitely had to do this:

There's nothing to do... ProgzMax = King Midas. When he puts his hands on something it instantaneously turns into gold.  

That bouncing hair doesn't look too good though... gives the impression that he's winking. And in your edits' list you forgot to mention you made his penis look bigger. If you didn't, and I'm just imagining things, I've got a serious problem here. Everything else is an improvement, since a bit more detail is always good.

That said, your last edit is definitely ok Charles. I'd say you can be fully satisfied with the animation, and the chest looks fine too. You could try to add some detail like ProgzMax did, but not necessarily... it all depends on the style you're looking for, and on the time you want to spend on every sprite, cause more detail in one character forces you to add more detail in EVERY character, to match the style. And when you have to make a game, a compromise between extreme quality and reasonable time is always necessary.

It serves its purpose: spooky and unnerving. The base melody reminds me of
Diablo's Tristram soundtrack

I honestly can't imagine the first idea to be enjoyable, or lasting more than a couple of minutes. Second one seems like it could work though, but it's not that original. Reminds me of this game and a lot of time-travelling stuff ranging from movies to books. Anyway, this doesn't mean it can't be the base for a great game. And since I've played Arden's Vale and enjoyed it a lot (I still can't get 50 points, damn   ) I'm pretty sure you have what it takes to make a good one room game.

The colours are quite disturbing to me... both the light blue background and the white page are too bright.
Except from this issue, the site is very simple but very functional at the same time.

[LOOM]

I hadn't played LOOM didn't even know it existed, until you guys introduced me to it.

I need to ease back into game-making, attaching myself to someone elses project, I'd be obligated to keep moving, keep working, and eventually I'd burn myself out. Like I said, I'm not very reliable.

It was meant as a joke actually, since in the last PM I swore I wasn't going to try and hire you back.
But now I'm spamming this thread too much, so, to the topic:

This last version is worse than the 2 previous ones. A bit of torso/chest side-movement was nice, and now Roger really looks fat, it kinda looks like his tits are bouncing a bit. I'd stick to the muscular Roger, or the previous one.

Despite the fact he's constantly walking, Roger seems to have put up some belly. Maybe he stopped to an interstellar Mc.Burger. No, actually he's fine even this way, though I believe this version and the previously are equally correct, and it's just up to you if you want a more muscular Roger or an ordinary one.

You people are never satisfied sob!
I will say I want to make one, and intend to do some project with material I'm very familiar with like Space Quest to get myself back into game making.

Want to make one uh? Some project with material you're VERY familiar with uh?  
Should I be more specific? I think you know what I'm implying.

Until I make more progress, I don't want to get peoples hopes up. Considering the number of projects unfinished, shutdown, or cancelled. I don't want to disappoint the SQfan base anymore than they have been.

And what about Forge fans?  :'(

In my attempt to make my new game, I came up with the idea of an elder deity who's followers gain absolute knowledge.  There is a cost to that, but in the sense of the wording, it is absolutely true to gaining knowledge.  I'm trying to get a decent hold on the early texts of the teacher, the ones that would bring followers into the faith.  

An excerpt from the Book of The Teacher

"May he who desires knowledge come to me and learn through me.  Let his mind expand and his thoughts flow.  Let those who learn from me go and tell others of the gift they have received."  

The Enlightened Ones knew the will of The Teacher.  They spread through the land to teach the men of ignorance.  The men of ignorance did not take kindly to the Enlightened Ones.  They were persecuted, for they did not understand.  They hated, because they did not understand.  


For some reason this early stuff gives me a hard time writing it.  I've got the more meaty stuff, what happens to someone when they become an Enlightened One.  The ending of the Book of The Teacher is still rough as well.  Any thoughts or suggestions?

"May he who seek enlightenment approach my glorious essence and be overwhelmed by my unchallenged wisdom. May his mind thrive and his soul embrace the whole universe. Let the knowledge of my power and glory spread throughout the world of mortals, and rejoice for you have been granted the most precious gift."

Consider that I'm not a native English speaker, but I hope my quick rewrite helps you understand the concepts. You should use more uncommon words and enrich them with adjectives. Don't be afraid to be verbose, and make good use of metaphors and paragons. Also, I think using archaic English would give a touch of "sacredness" to the hole thing.

I could suggest a thousand books. Just search for Occult texts, there's a lot out there. This is a good place to start your research: http://www.esotericarchives.com/esoteric.htm

An excerpt from the Heptameron: "I exorcise thee, O thou creature of fire, by him by whom all things are made, that forthwith thou cast away every phantasme from thee, that it shall not be able to do any hurt in any thing."

I did a quick contrast adjustment, and more importantly changed the arms a bit, I think it makes worlds of difference.

And I do agree. You were probably correct about the arms being the main issue. Also, colours are more vivid and cool now.

Well, let's make a Space Quest game now. 

I recommend in-game death animations, 2-3 seconds long at most. If you're against blood, add an option to deactivate it (if you find a way to do so without too much effort), and maybe even an option to disable death scenes completely.

If you really have a cool, breathtaking and scary death animation in mind (which means you've got some mind issues probably ) make an exception and do a separate cutscene, or a longer sequence. But as a rule, I second what Darth said: when there's the chance you're going to watch a cut-scene frequently, for as good as it might be, it will get booooring, and possibly frustrating.