Messages

No, $29.99 is pretty standard for what you pay for a PC game. Not just nowadays, it's been like that for decades. The fact that we're a new company doesn't mean we can't ask what's pretty much a standard price for a fair amount of PC games.

Its unbelievable how you guys just dont listen. You hear or read only what you want to.

You cannot see past what your fan boys have told you and now that you get some constructive criticism you keep on defending on everyboard you have.

I'm not sure what you're referring to but not every person saying he doesn't like the game is giving constructive criticism. Of course, everybody is entitled to his or her own opinion, but that doesn't make his/her posts automatically contain constructive criticism. And er...where did the obsession with fanboys come from anyway? There's a sense of irony in the fact that despite your affinity with the word, you seem, to me, to be the poster in this thread displaying the most fanboy-like attitude. (turned around 180 degrees, anti-fanboyism if you like, but still sharing the same core attributes)

Adv Dev too, you should have done some research and noticed that your character is way too similiar to that of Larry and already should of had some doubts there.

We dont care that Britney never played Larry prior to the idea/ concept however have not one of you played it prior to the developement?

I played it before, but Larry and Al Emmo aren't the only "40 year old virgin"-types ever created. (ask Ben Affleck) Al was based on an existing person. What's your definition of "way too similar" anyhow?

The facts remain the facts and we merely point them out, no amount of excuses or any avoidance of the topic will change that.

How can it be a fact that something is derivative if the person who came up with the idea isn't familiar with the principle from which it is supposedly derived?

I think there's been thousands of games made in this particular community and if you start comparing all of them, I'm sure we can label at least 50% of them as "factually and blatantly derivative" and therefore label the creators as not having come up with any ideas of their own. But reality might be somewhat more nuanced.

You've basically made a Royal Quest.

Heh, trust me. Royal Quest was MUCH more in-your-face than this.

All you did was take Lesiure Suit Larry, stick him in the wild west, change his name, and do your own graphics.

Ironically, Britney never played Leisure Suit Larry before coming up with the game design. The one thing both have in common is a protagonist who is particularly dweeby. Al Emmo does contain some mature humor (not R-rated like Larry though, it doesn't go as far as the LSL-series), but the game isn't centered around it...most of the humor in the game is of the non-naughty type variety, nor is the objective to get laid. (again, unlike Larry) Such a reasoning would make nearly all fantasy adventures King's Quest games with different graphics.

Personally, I think that's very sad. You guys could have made an incredible game, but you basically made garbage. Then again, I played the game assuming it was a kids game like your other stuff.

If you played the game assuming it was a kids game, I can understand the shock. Al Emmo was never meant to be a kids game like King's Quest, so it isn't really fair to judge it by that particular standard. It's a bit like comparing Quake to the Sims and concluding Quake is too violent.

It's true Al walks around fairly slowly. But is that really a disadvantage worth mentioning when you can instantly skip to your destination by pressing Escape while walking?

I am sure you guys think you know how to make games

Hmmm, now that sounds suspiciously like an assumption to me.Ã, 

in fact you claim to have single handedly brought back adventure games.. Wait there is one thing I HATE MORE ... ARROGANT GAME DESIGNERS!

I already adressed that one in my previous post. Please re-read it.

You want to place me in the same box... as a prffesional game designer LOL I never claimed to be that you did however and now you cant handle the criticism... then your in the wrong game. People tell you this looks nice and that looks nice.. guys NICE doesnt cut it in the PROFFESIONAL world.

I dont mind you hating me, infact I welcome it. One day when you dont cut it you would wish you would have listened to me...

The question remains, why SHOULD we listen to you if you can't even claim any experience that would lend any credibility to your statements? (and you admit you can't claim it) For all we know, you might just be some random person who likes to spout even more random stuff at people based on (disclaimer: this is an assumption) equally random justifications.

We can generally handle criticism just fine.

Al Emmo is a commercial release, and well done! I've not played the demo, and I hate westerns (second one after Radiant...), and sorry for that.

That's a pity. It's not a western in the traditional sense of the word. (but then again, I'm not familiar with your definition of the word western, so who am I to judge) But if south-west American settings put you off, that's indeed a big road block to enjoying the game the way it was meant to be enjoyed.

Actually price wise there is a thing in makreting that states that if you 'undersell' something, people will definately consider it infirior (sp) to the other simmilar products out there.

The price 29.99 is really fair. Just because it was made with AGs (and hat's off for this), it does nto mean that the price should be 10 bucks!

I would even argue to take it to 39.99 as a normal game. Is it not a normal game? Is it not a full lenght adventure game? Did you not spend 2 yesr struggling and trying to find the resources (human wise, art wise, any wise)? Don't you deserve the best?

CDs have a price of 15-20$ (dunno really )... If I see a CD at the price of 5$ I simplyt won't buy it, because it will be BAD! Isn't this a simple reasoning?

It's a reasoning we definitely employed ourselves. It IS a full-length adventure game and as a poster on another forum pointed out, if it can give players the same amount of enjoyment as other games offered (regardless of the technical stats behind it), there's no reason to slap a 5 dollar label on it and show people that we're desperate. (it would also cost us tons of money as printing alone costs more)

Personally, when I come across something I don't like in a game I paid 5 bucks for, I'm tempted to shut it off. After all, I only paid 5 bucks for it. If I come across something I don't like in a game I paid 30 bucks for, I will usually dismiss it and see if I can enjoy the game anyhow because I did, after all, pay 30 dollar for it.

What really blows my whistle is that you guys claim to have single handedly brought back adventure games! Now that is a joke! Some of these guys have been making adventures when you will still chucking chalk in class rooms. (There are pracicly thousands of IGD on the net using alot of simmiliar tools like AGS, and even AGS that create the exact same style of Sierra games.

So a qoute like that my friends is not appreciated. I wonder how much support you lost due to that single sentece? I think you should run a pole...

In the famous words of ERPY "I must say..." that you need to look at stuff from a gamers perspective!

And are you that reknown gamer that can supply that particular perspective to us? Or are you simply a seemingly disgruntled fellow developer?

It's hard to judge how much support we lost due to that quote you mentioned, because it was changed the day after the initial website went life. Again, clinging to that makes it seem like you're looking for an excuse. But this one is not particularly valid anymore and I'm amazed you still insist on using a quote with a one-day lifespan two years after it was removed.

If you guys want to waste money on employing part time workers thats your problem,
everybody here does there own work and does it because they love it. Hence sharing the experience with thousands of people that also love it. I believe that AGS is here to help us develope wonderfull skills and to help us make a smooth transition into the world of gaming. Teaching us principles of gaming, such as :

a) Creating and developing your idea characters and story (Hence no crappy remake BS)
b) The concept design and story board of how your world looks and feels... Time and time again.
c) The time it takes to create the awesome graphics on the pc.
d) Scripting and pulling it all together.
e) Beta testing and testing and testing... you get the point? Dont you?

Further more the patience it takes to make these things happen the commitment etc.

I'm not sure what you're trying to say here. We know exactly what you're talking about. We've experienced all of this during the creation of this project. It's not a remake, it's a completely original game, so I'm not sure why you're raving about the remakes so much. They have nothing to do with this project.

Labelling the game as a cheap Larry clone is a hasty decision. When Brit came up with the concept, she never even played Leisure Suit Larry. (or Freddy Pharkas for that matter...the setting is based on the area of the US Britney grew up in and Al is in fact modelled after a former school teacher of hers...middle-aged, not married and flirting with females many times younger than him. If that makes someone a Larry-clone...you'd be surprised how many Larry-clones wander this world.)

I mean for heavens sake you waste your time on remakes of games! Remakes give you no game design experience! You are just redrawing someone elses game and putting the graphics into someone elses engine... Result King quest with nicer looking pictures...

Well, we're already partially leaving the remake path and trying to gain some footing with original games. So what's the complaint about? Nobody's forcing you to play either our remakes or out original games. If you really believe remaking a game is just putting flashy graphics into an engine and it gives no game development experience...well, I'll just say it's SLIGHTLY more complicated than that.

I must say, the ferocity of that last post isn't doing your credibility any good.

Yeah, those minimum system specs were based on my machine, which is a Pentium III 450. I'm able to play through the game, but sound can stutter a bit, there's slowdown when entering/exiting a scene and you can't enable the effects (like sunlight or dust devils) without the game turning into a slideshow. We figured it was better to put the specs a little higher, just to avoid people complaining about performance issues. Our beta test applications indicated 99% of everyone could STILL play the game even with the slightly upped requirements.

Himalaya Studios has, since yesterday, released an official demo of Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's mine. It's available at www.adventuregamers.com. It's a huge showcase of what can be done with the AGS engine.

After several years of production, the end of the tracks are in sight! Al Emmo, the hero of Himalaya Studios' adventure game “Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine”, is ready to tackle anything the Wild West can hurl at himâ€"anything except for bugs.Ã,  It's our duty to track down and eliminate these pesky showstoppers.Ã,  We'd ask the local exterminator to aid us in our search, but his insistence on using “force” in the form of explosives has prompted us to look elsewhere. Therefore, we've decided to invite a small group of qualified, daring, and responsible individuals to join us in the arid region of Anozira to embark on a bug hunt!

Himalaya Studios is currently on the search for qualified beta testers to help us track down these bugs.Ã,  You may be exactly who we are looking for!

Desired Qualifications:

- Do you have a tendency to interact with everyone and everything in an environment?

- Do you tend to play a game in a way it's NOT meant to be played?Ã,  Ã, 

- Do you like to break things?

- Do you feel a need to correct other peoples spelling and grammer?Ã,  Did you find the spelling and grammar mistake in the previous sentence?


If you answered yes to most of the previous questions and would like a coveted position on our beta testing team, please complete the following application:

Application:

- First and Last Name
- Date of Birth
- Your System Specs
- Education and/or Job History
- Favorite Game
- Why you'd like to beta test our upcoming release
- Any additional information about yourself that you feel we should know

Please email your completed application to beta@himalayastudios.com with “Beta Testing Application” as the subject by February 1st, 2006.

Chosen beta testers will be contacted, and the final team will be announced on the official Himalaya Studios website.Ã,  Beta testers will be granted access to our official beta testing forums, and will be responsible for reporting spelling/grammar errors, glitches, crashes, and design oversights.Ã,  This process of reporting and bug fixing will continue until the game is deemed suitable for public release.Ã,  All beta testers will receive a free copy of “Al Emmo and the Lost Dutchman's Mine” after its release as well as a spot in the game credits.Ã,  Ã, 

Best of luck, and see you on the frontier!


The Himalaya Team

You know, the fast textboxes have nothing to do with computer speed. What you need to do is get the darn CD in the drive. Two reasons:

1) QFG4's voice acting is pretty good. There's lots of famous actors doing the lines.
2) The game is designed to skip to the next textbox after the current voice sample stopped playing. Without access to the audio-file, the game keeps skipping through all dialogue because there are no voice samples to wait for.

You'll still want to visit http://geocities.com/belzorash/ and get the timer patch to avoid more grave bugs along the way though.





In case you lost your CD, don't like the voice acting or pirated the CD version; the control panel of the game has a checkbox named "audio". It's turned on by default. Turn it off and the dialogue boxes will remain until you click them away.

Ah, so you were the guy Relight got that message from? Anyway, I contacted the webmaster with the request to have our games removed from there. He mentioned taking them off the server. The page mentioning the game is still there, btw, but I'll give him a little bit more time to remove those too before I start nagging him again.

Question: Who's the guy with the big "Astro-boy-looking-hair" you are posting in your messages? Is that some character that will be in your game? As I don't see it over at your main website anywhere.

Actually, it's Working Designs who published the game. 

And yeah, it's from an RPG called Lunar:Silver Star Story. (for the PSX) I've been using that avatar as my signature even before I arrived at AGDI. (which was in 2001)

So if they want me to part with it, the lynch mob had better be big.

My apologies. I thought the rules merely wished to have screenshots available, rather than literally posted here.

Still, if a quick copy-paste job makes you happy:

A new game, "Al Emmo & The Lost Dutchman's Mine," by start-up company Himalaya Studios (of AGDI fame) has been announced.Ã,  The game was postponed in 2002, but is now back in production full-time.

It will be an original and commercial product using the AGS engine.

Game resolution will be 640x400 with handdrawn backgrounds, as well as 3D models as sprites. The final game will come with digital music as well as a voiceover.

Currently, there's a competition on the website where visitors can win a free copy.

We're still looking for 3D artists for a paid position, as well as 3D artist interns (non-paid internship).

In addition to info about the upcoming game, the website also contains the travelling journals from the (former) AGDs if you're interested in a good read.

Website is at www.himalayastudios.com

Screenshots:

I remember this one as well. Happens on the XP systems at school. And I don't think it just happens when testing it for the first time; it happens when saving the game and running it for the first time as well. What I do is open the task manager, end the game (which has a "stopped responding" description) and rerun it. After that, no more hangups.

You're missing the mirror, the chest or both.

I notice Vel's comments were removed, but they were justified in this case. Anyone can see that the site's html-code is taken from this site and if you look at the discussion in the general folder of the forum mentioned at the top of this thread, this whole thing is referred to as a joke as well.

The only reason why it's posted here is because I removed something similar from the AGDI forums a few weeks back.

I can't even read the Tierra forums so I'm not sure why he thinks I can, or even care to.

Actually, I was referring only to posts you typed before your ban, so I assumed you still remembered them.

About you ignoring my wavelength, that's a shame, but if you would have been willing to respect our decision without attempting to post new threads, it wouldn't even have been considered. A pity you took it so personal.

Also, if this whole thing is actually what you call a public relations strategy, you're taking it waaay too far. Yes, bad publicity is also publicity, but every developer sooner or later needs help to get ahead and you may someday have to depend on someone whose respect you've wasted with this whole spectacle. There's a saying that says: "The toes you step on today may be attached to the ass you have to kiss tomorrow."

I *did* have to start over here in your forums, and the first thread did mention the demos I made for the folks over at AGDIforums. With this new thread, I removed the references to the problems I encountered at AGDIforums, and removed references to the demo, but Erpy is still bringing it up again.

Okay, but we didn't know whether you had a demo or not. Everybody was under the impression that you had one and nobody understood why you didn't want to let people have it. Nobody would have brought it up if we would have had clarity regarding this matter.

If I was banished from this forum, I would not return or acknowledge any of the work I had done here as well. That's how it is when you are banished. Both parties say 'Fthis' and go their separate ways.

You don't do work on a forum. That's just where you communicate with people about your project in order to keep them informed and answer their questions and comments. So as I removed the thread on the AGDI-forums, no work was lost because you just posted there. You didn't use the forum itself to program or draw anything.

So please Erpy, Vel, Blackthorne, MuzlakOofmay, go your own way and please ignore my project. Or use fake names so when I see your message I don't automatically ignore it as Spam/Flame.

Blackthorne's and Vel's comments could be argued about, but I'm curious where in this thread I flamed. If you can quote me on a post where I insulted you, I'll apologize. As for Muzlak, of all the people, he was probably one of the most supportive towards you and you can't accuse him of flaming and keep a straight face at the same time.

About fake names, I can't believe you're suggesting us to lie to you about our identities in order to be taken seriously. Does this also mean you've been judging each post on the poster, rather than the contents?

Ah well, it's a pity we couldn't communicate on the same wavelength.