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This game's got Steve Ince as the main creative force and is due for release on PC, Wii, DS and Playstation 3 on 24th October.  Seems pretty nice; I had a few issues with the preview build but they will hopefully have been fixed by the time the official release comes out.

http://www.indiegamenews.com/2011/09/preview-captain-morgane-and-golden.html

* Mods lower cased the title

This is an adventure game due for release on 28th October (English language version - it's already a bit hit in Germany) - I've played a preview build and it's very enjoyable.  I think it's going to do very well in the English-speaking adventure game world!

http://www.pcgamereviewsandnews.com/2011/09/preview-book-of-unwritten-tales.html
http://www.pcgamereviewsandnews.com/2011/07/book-of-unwritten-tales.html (screenshots and trailer in this post)


DEMO NOW AVAILABLE!

Can anyone recommend a free sound recorder / editor?  I'm experimenting with a bit of voice acting but all I've got at the moment is the Sound Recorder package which comes with Windows, some editing tools & effects would be very useful.  I've done a quick search but not seen anything that looks good and easy to use so far, was wondering what other people used?

Might consider a commercial package as long as it's relatively inexpensive.

Now I'm not looking for suggestions on improving these as such... basically my drawing ability is pretty limited, so I've developed a technique for turning photos into retro style backgrounds, with maybe some simple drawing to supplement / change things.  While I'm quite happy with some of the results, I don't really know if someone playing the games would be put off because they thought the backgrounds were awful!  So basically I'm asking, if you played an adventure game with background graphics like the images below (320x200), would they put you off playing?  Or would you actually like the backgrounds?

[Space Madness]

I just wanted to give a shout-out for a new adventure game called Space Madness by a new developer in Germany, which was developed using Wintermute.  It's a commercial indie release ($9.95, which I think may be a bit high as it's a short game - I've already suggested to the developer that people might find the price a sticking point), but it's a really nice game - great interface, simple graphics but they're nice enough, surreal music, lots of humour and the puzzles seem okay so far (haven't completed it yet).  I'll let you know when my full review is up or if a demo becomes available, but I'm certainly enjoying the game so far.  Reminds me a bit of Charlie Foxtrot; also for some reason Frasse and the Peas of Kejick (made with SLUDGE).    Space Madness is the first game by this particular developer and, from its quality so far, I certainly hope it won't be his last.

More information: http://www.indiegamenews.com/2011/08/space-madness-new-sci-fi-adventure-game.html

[1/ Drabble]

For the next writing competition, I have a challenge for you: write a  drabble or a mini-saga.  If you've never heard of those... a drabble is a story of exactly one hundred words, while a mini-saga is a story of exactly fifty words (that can include or exclude the title, whichever works for you).  I've always found trying to tell a complete story in such a short space incredibly challenging and fun, so hopefully others will too.

Here are a couple of examples from my own meandering writing:

1/ Drabble

The alien looked at the ship's controls. This time it would work! There would be no mistake, not like the last time. Last time his ancestors had tried to contact the people of the planet earth, his father had gone down to the surface, and received a most unfriendly welcome. It was later discovered that his name translated into English ("Ivcumtodestroilahuminrase") was somewhat offensive to humans. But now, with his son bearing a different name (despite similar looks), the message of peaceful benevolence would come across.

This alien, the ambassador for his (its?) people, was called, translated into English:

"Dyeurflingskum".



2/ Mini-Saga

Vegetable wars

Fruits, legumes, vegetables; lend me your ears â€" or at least your tubers.  I say to you, enough is enough!  For too long we have had warfare; carrot against broccoli, cauliflower against tomato, kidney bean against celery.  It is time to stop!



All I am saying is: give peas a chance.


So, over to you.  Competition closes on 12th August.

Have fun!

And now, finally, I bring you the trophies!

[A Princess Bride]

Not sure why it popper into my head, but it occurred to me that A Princess Bride could make an awesome adventure game.  Any other films you'd love to see converted to our favourite genre?

Not all that much of an adventure game really, but fun anyway.

http://www.pcgamereviewsandnews.com/2011/02/pc-adventure-game-review-back-to-future.html

M0DS: Edited title so it can be our main BTTF game discussion.

[Phoenix Online Studios]

I interviewed Katie Hallahan of Phoenix Online Studios about The Silver Lining, why they chose the Torque game development tool, and their plans for the future...   I  thought she gave some really interesting answers, hope anyone who reads it will likewise enjoy reading them.

Here's the interview:

http://www.pcgamereviewsandnews.com/2011/02/captaind-interviews-katie-hallahan-of.html

I just wondered if anyone else felt like I do that the Special Edition of SoMI was a bit of a missed opportunity.  The game itself is still fantastic of course, and the music / voice acting is great, the backgrounds are nicely painted etc... but there's no new content (surely a couple of extra puzzles could have found their way in there?) and the animation is disappointing (presumably they exactly matched the animation frames used in the original?).  I can't help but feel this could have been an amazing restoration of a classic game with a bit more effort.

Also, did it surprose anyone else, looking back, just how sparse many of the locations were?  Quite a few had only one or two hotspots.  I'd really criticise an adventure game for that nowadays!

On the plus side, the sequence of Guybrush robbing the Governor's mansion still made me laugh out loud. 

This is an issue we're currently looking at with the Journey of Iesir development - in a typical location, how many hotspots do you need to make the game feel immersive without becoming over fussy?  A bare location with nothing to do is boring, but having hundreds of things to click on can feel overwhelming and frustrating, particualrly when the action is not important to progressing the storyline or solving puzzles.

So... how many hotspots do you think are a good baseline?  I'm tending to think 6-10 is a reasonable figure, but I'd be interested in everyone else's thoughts (especially as I'll be writing all the interactions for them, so I hope no-one suggests 20+ per location!  )

Has anyone else played this?  It's a real Monkey Island pastiche but also a very good adventure game in its own right.  The only problems are its shortness and relative easiness for most seasoned adventure gamers - the game incorporates some casual gaming elements as well, which I felt were a bit of a mixed blessing...

I've also reviewed it if anyone's interested.  It's definitely an enjoyable game, though probably a little over-priced right now (though the game's author told me that there's a special offer starting tomorrow).

Hmm... got to room 203, fixed the problem, found the AI doodar, but now seem to be in a dead end and the light beam's not letting me go anywhere else, just telling me to report to room 23.  Bug / something I've not done? 

[Exception error 0xC000000005 occurred in AGSEDIT.EXE at EIP = 0x0049C90A; ACI version 2.71.631 while saving the room]

I was just trying to fix a scripting error in a room (and thought I'd managed it... drat!) when I got Exception error 0xC000000005 occurred in AGSEDIT.EXE at EIP = 0x0049C90A; ACI version 2.71.631 while saving the room.

Gah what have I done this time?!?!?!  :

Dave

[CaptainD]

Apologies if this has already been answered before but I couldn't find it anyway.

I have a hotspot on one screen that has options fo all the normal interactions, but I want to make it so that if you click on it whne the mouse cursor is on the WALK function, it will take you to a new location. 

I'm using the script belopw:

if (mouse.Mode == 0) {
player.ChangeRoom(4,185,280);
}


I'm using the RON template, I'm not entirely sure if zero is the figure for the walk cycle but I'm not sure how to work it out from the global script and from trial and error testing 1-3 seem to refer to the other functions.

Any ideas?

CaptainD

[Latest Demo Version:]

Latest Demo Version: http://www.games.darscom.net/LODD1.2.zip

Game's website: http://www.games.darscom.net/live_of_death.html

Version 1.2 features:

- some redesigned locations
- a few new puzzles and some extra random stuff like a statue of a 2-headed squirrel
- several bug fixes




Storyline

Without going into too much detail, this game puts you in the role of Death, who has been having trouble sleeping (yes, Death sleeps - bet you never knew that...)  An odd character materialises and suggests that he can help, firstly by Death performing a number of good deeds... which is where the game stars.  This is Act I, most of the locations and some of the puzzles are in place.  I've not tried to do anything particularly clever coding-wise because... I can't.    The storyline will develop far beyond this initial premise and go into Death's background history, but that's for when the game is actually finished...

Screenshots











NB - I've emailed Dave Gilbert who introduced the Death character to RON, and he seems happy with my ideas for this game.




Thanks all,


CaptainD (or Dave if you want to use my less pretentious real name!!