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Messages - CaptainD

#61


I'm not likely going to have time to develop this any further and since the game itself is fully playable with 20 levels plus random level generator, I've released it. It's a fun little puzzle game, absolutely no frills (also no sound), but beating all the levels should give you a solid challenge.

For those who've played Snow Problem this is obviously a similar concept, but with water, and levels built on equations instead of hand-crafted. I struggled to optimise the code enough for a realistic water flow effect, but I don't think it's too bad.

https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2741-flow-problem/

#62
Belated congrats on the release!  ;-D
#63
All the best with development! I love making AGS do non-AG stuff. 7 days is a really tight deadline though!
#64
Quote from: heltenjon on Fri 16/02/2024 21:26:09
Quote from: Sinitrena on Fri 16/02/2024 19:52:26While we're on the topic of explaining jokes; Can anyone explain Dinner for Two, or maybe One to me?
I guess it's no fun for the Captain to explain his own joke, so I'll try.

The first merge is Hungarian actress + Gungan + wild pig = Jar Jar Gab Boar (Zsa Zsa Gabor/Jar Jar Binks/Boar). She says "How rude!" like Jar Jar does in Star Wars, then marries and divorces like Zsa Zsa did some times.

The second merge is Samuel Barber + Elle McPherson + Jackfruit = Samuel L. Jackson.

(Hope I got it right.)

Yes you got it right  :-D , sorry been so busy at work this week I haven't been keeping track of the forums.
#65
44? Not sure if it's my bad memory but that seems better than the last couple of years already?
#66
It's a really good chart as long as you definitely want to stick with that exact structure. Personally I tend to change my mind about specifics as I go along so my puzzle dependency charts tend to be more about actions that depend on each other rather than "pick up x to do y to allow z to happen". But that's just me, if this works for you then that's great. My view is that game design is a rather organic process and that it needs room to breathe, as it can be difficult to know what really works until you try it out.

In my day job I sometimes create system process maps, which is a similar but much more rigidly structured process because you probably want - in fact need - things to happen a very specific way. When designing games I prefer a somewhat looser structure to work from. However again, that's just the way my mind works. If you're not sure (since you say this this is your first game) maybe try mapping out a smaller section (perhaps a closed-loop section of what you've already made) and making it to see if you're comfortable using such a detailed design to make the game from or not. (I do also appreciate the value of a detailed plan for keeping track of everything, which can be valuable.)
#67
"What has a nose and is attached to the ceiling?"  (roll)  (laugh)
#68
Quote from: cat on Wed 07/02/2024 08:59:25On the other hand, it usually smells (of smoke) when the fire alarm goes off  ;)

In fairness it's not the fire alarm itself that smells though  :P
#69
Quote from: Stupot on Mon 05/02/2024 21:50:12I've got one:
What doesn't smell when it goes off?

A fire alarm?
#70
I wish I could remember a specific puzzle to contribute to this thread! There was definitely one in Metro City that I thought was really nice, but I can't for the life of me remember the details. :embarrassed:
#71
As always, life is hugely busy and just finding time to dev and talk about the game is a major challenge, but we have continued to make good progress on the game overall. Here are some highlights:

Development

Acts 1-4 are essentially feature-complete, minus voicing and achievements, which I plan to add when the game is otherwise completed.
Act 5 is in development, quite a bit of work has been done on the early puzzles for this. This act is probably going to be a bit more dialogue-heavy as a significant amount of the history behind what's happening is revealed here. I've been very pleased with the dialogues I've written so far - every character has a unique way of talking, and the information is portrayed in what I hope is an engaging fashion rather than an exposition dump. I'm delighted with the way all the plot strands are weaving together seamlessly (at least, it seems that way to me) and slowly revealed to the player throughout the game.

Testing

Acts 1, 2 and 4 have been fully tested and most bugs / issues found have been corrected already.
Act 3 is currently in testing. Although obviously this is to pick up bugs and issues, the main focus is to ensure that the game flow works as intended. I may add an extra small section to this act, although I am reluctant to open myself up to scope creep - I've got enough work to do already!! :-)
Game structure

As you already know, the game is split into 6 different acts (plus an epilogue cut scene). I've been trying to work out what I can tell you about the different acts without revealing too much. That's always a tricky business, but here's my attempt:

Act I

Correlates to the demo, if you've played that. Captain Disaster gets a distress call, meets some aliens, frees some aliens... nice easy puzzles and a bit of dialogue to get things started and set the scene.





Act II

CD lands on a planet with more aliens, and discovers that they have a significant problem Being a nice chap he decides to help out. He also finds that a character already known to him (from "Death Has A Million Stomping Boots" is on the planet, and is demanding an apology for certain events in the past!

This act has quite a number of characters to talk to and many puzzles involving inventory items. Just like in the good old days.










Act III

In order to help the inhabitants of the planet, we travel to another area to put a plan into action. This part of the game features only one character to talk to (unless you count remote communication with Zero-Bit, the ship's computer), and a handful of inventory puzzles, but the main focus here is more technical puzzles and use of interfaces for devices.







Act IV

We again journey to a different area, but this time (and because the screenshots give it away instantly, I don't consider this too much of a spoiler) Captain Disaster finds himself thrown into a digital world, having fallen foul of a security application. Obviously a skit on TRON, a movie I have always loved and made Lorenzo watch for reference even though he's not a fan of Jeff Bridges, it has a completely different look and feel to the rest of the game. You still have inventory items, but they are mainly things like mods and viruses. Defeating the security application is key to finding out about the history of the planet, however, and of course you have the opportunity to escape, because you need to get back to the real world for the next act...





Act V

This is where I don't want to reveal to much. I will simply say that we will journey to a very different part of the planet, and meet completely new aliens. The dialogue here will really give you a feel for what has happened over the centuries on this planet, what has led up to the present state of affairs, and why the stakes are so high. I have decided, for better or worse, to not include any of the screenshots from this act just yet. I don't want to say too much about the puzzles and other aspects of this part of the game, but let me just say this... you may well find yourself very surprised by one aspect of it.

Act VI

No screenshots for this one yet as we haven't made it! Don't want to say much about the plot here really, just that Captain Disaster will be largely acting as a peacemaker. Which won't be easy...


Planet location walkthrough

Just a little tour of some of the locations in Act 2. The park with the kids playing is one of my favourite places in the entire game.

#72
Quote from: cat on Mon 05/02/2024 08:11:00I thought it might be a bit too obscure.

For a normal audience it probably would be, but not for us!  (laugh)

Quote from: The Great Underground Empire on Sun 04/02/2024 22:27:12Only question I had was that music didn't play until the very end when [...], was that intentional?
No, there should be music. It plays directly from the start screen. I just downloaded the game again to make sure it works and it does for me on my work PC. Did you hear the rain sound effect? Did anyone else have a silent game?
[/quote]

Music and sound played fine for me.
#73
Tino!!!!!!

Wow this is a blast from the past, can't remember when I did some testing of this game (and apologies if I was supposed to have done more  :-[ (. Glad to see you've still been working on this.
#74
Just played it - download link was broken at first but okay when I tried it again - made me smile, prods at the old obsession with fractals I had as a kid!  (laugh) The ending made me laugh even though I saw it coming. Nice one!

Favourite joke:

Spoiler
I only extract the root of -1.
[close]
#75
Congrats to everyone! Especially my pal Lorenzo for about a million nominations there  :-D

Some of these are going to be VERY tough to choose between when it comes to voting  8-0
#76
Quote from: Mandle on Sat 27/01/2024 09:42:55
Quote from: CaptainD on Sun 21/01/2024 13:07:56Holy Ghost Pepper?

hahaha i made that exact joke just the other day!

This is the ultimate proof that great minds think alike!  (laugh)
#77
Dinner for Two, or maybe One



Professor Carvarlho invited two friends, a Gungan and a Hungarian actress, for a meal. What he hadn't told then was that he was conducting a ground-breaking experiment without their consent.

The three chatted pleasantly through their aperitifs and starters. The guests gasped when they saw the main course being brought in - a whole wild hog on a spit. In their enjoyment of this unexpected culinary delight, they failed to notice that the professor had started taking notes instead of devouring the meal as they were doing.

Curious, they asked what he was doing.

"Oh, just making a record of what happens," he said cheerfully. They continued to eat.

Eventually, however, they became perplexed at his actions and demanded to know more.

"I have genetically modified this creature," he said, "to merge with those who ingest it. It will merge with them, and they will merge with each other.." With a shock, the guests realised that meant them.

"You see, I never really liked you, but gave enough of an appearance of friendship that you would accept my invitation readily enough."

The pair were outraged and stood up to leave, but somehow they couldn't - they felt impelled to eat every last morsel of the delicious meat. Their taste buds exalted whilst their brains were tormented.

Having no moral scruples at all, the professor simply continued to observe and make notes. For a while nothing seemed to be happening, but all of a sudden there was a loud POP and for a while no more noise was heard. Then a bit of a snort and a whining sound.

Professor Carvarlho looked up. His "friends" and the food were nowhere to be seen. Instead, on the table, stood a new (and very confused) character - Jar Jar Gab Boar.

"How rude!" exclaimed Jar Jar.

Inevitably, Gab Boar then married and soon thereafter divorced the professor, who decided to try the experiment again with Samuel Barber, Elle McPherson and meal made mainly of jackfruit.
#78
Thanks, feeling stupid now  (roll)  (laugh)
#79
Holy Ghost Pepper?
#80
Is the nomination stage still open? I've nominated already but was hoping to play another couple of games that seem like they might be worth a nom and add them, but I can't see a link to the nomination page anymore.
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