Messages

Mike S:

Spoiler

Try searching the pile of rubble in one of the rooms just to the right of where you entered the labyrinth.

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I've never had a need to waste a gui on a title screen, but it could easily get the job done.

Using GUI button text and/or labels makes it easier to translate the game to other languages since you won't have to create separate graphic resources. If you need any special effects that can only be done with graphics (glowing fonts or similar) however, you might as well use objects.

Dudley:

Spoiler

Ask Alice to distract the creature, then use the trident on it

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Mike:

Spoiler

WHICH cave are you in? I'm beginning to suspect that you're on the island of the oracle, which is a completely different puzzle

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Don't worry Mike, it's not much of a spoiler. The proper use is

Code: ags

[spoiler]Spoilerish text here[/spoiler]

.

As for your problem:

Spoiler

If you look at the right frescoe, there should be a shimmer on the nose of the minotaur animating every few seconds

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ThatOneChick87:

Spoiler

Look for a glint somewhere in the cave.

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Bumping this to make you aware that the videos of the Blackwell Unbound presentation are up now. I just started watching, and Dave's speech is every bit as interesting as his excellent The Shivah presentation.

- Blackwell Unbound Part 1
- Blackwell Unbound Part 2
- Blackwell Unbound Part 3

Edit: Be aware that the first two vids contain a couple of spoilers. But as with the Shivah presentation and the game commentaries, it's utterly fascinating as well as fun to listen to your take on game development, Dave. Every time I watch or listen to them I feel greatly inspired and motivated to work on my own game. I'm looking very much forward to trying the game.

JBurger:

Spoiler

The crank doesn't fit because it's too long. Try to look around the boat for something to shorten it with

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Ledz:

Spoiler

You're right, and this also had me stumped for a couple of minutes since I knew exactly what I intended to do but couldn't figure out how. You have to click the hand icon on the dough in the inventory before you can use it.

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Mr. Buckéthead:

Spoiler

Notice the nail on the wall behind the two guys? Maybe you could cheat by putting something on it...

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silversparkle:

Spoiler

Your first objective should be to get through the crack in the rock on the leftmost screen

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Nikolas, thanks for the advice. I should clarify the 40$ figure on the site is only for the shock mount, the microphone itself sells for 80$ on Amazon but the retail price (such as in local music stores) is much higher, around 200$. The reviews I read also mentions the latency as a problem, but since I'm mainly going to use it for voicework and sound effects that's not really an issue.
I don't mean to hijack the thread, but if anyone has a better suggestion for a good all-round microphone (for use with a laptop as recording device), please let me know.

Slightly off-topic, but Nikolas, do you have any experience with USB microphones? I've been looking at this one and I was wondering if using USB to circumvent my crappy mic port would be an alternative to getting a semi-pro audio card?

Nikodemus:

It could be a very simple problem:

Spoiler

I have a feeling that you've missed an exit on the lower edge of the second underwater screen. If not, read on

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If that's not the case:

Spoiler

Use the octopus on the door.

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Eva,

Spoiler

As far as I know, it's just a matter of reflexes. Try moving your cursor to the top of the screen while Alice is distracting the monster (cutscene). That way you can click the inventory icon as soon as it becomes available. Alternately try using [TAB] to open the inventory.

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I finished the game one point short though, so perhaps there's a better way to do it.

SSH:

Spoiler

Just keep walking left and you'll come to the exit doors.

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Adamski: Ah, that explains it. I didn't compare them, but the instrumentation sounded almost identical. Thanks for clarifying. What pieces did you compose?

BiggerJ:

Spoiler

Did you pick up the stick next to the path on your way to the siren?

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Eva:

Spoiler

Use your notepad on the mosaic to draw a sketch of it. Show this to the captain.

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Edit: And of course it's OK to shorten my nick

Eva:

Spoiler

Did you go to the location of the sea people's lair? If I recall correctly, doing so will end the day.

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Reaper:

Spoiler

Notice the inscription on the statue? You can't read it because it's in Greek, but if you copy it on your notepad, maybe someone else can...

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I sat down to play for a couple of minutes and didn't stop until I'd completed it an hour and a half later. Excellent game, and certainly an improvement on BJ5, though it could perhaps have been a bit scarier. I'm happy to see that the overarching plot is beginning to shine through.

Spoiler

First of all, I'm intrigued by the appearance of Prof. Sanbourne who I've been wondering about for a while. The dialogue with him in the restaurant was an excellent way of handling exposition - and, I assume, foreshadowing the sequels. Ben's nightmares were also genuinly creepy, and I'm looking forward to find out the connection between Alice and the Smailholm case.

The overall gameplay was near perfect. At first I was a bit sceptic of the "escape from the airport" introduction, but the photography puzzle made it all worthwhile. The rest of the game flowed better than most commercial games. I was never in doubt what to do, and the puzzles were logical, fun and not terribly difficult. A few comments on minor design details though:

1) Due to the larger emphasis on natural backgrounds, it's rather difficult to make out where the exits are - or rather which screen edges doesn't have exits. Perhaps a highlighting of exits similar to the highlighting of hotspots (for example labelled "To bungalow") would help a little.

2) A walk-skip function would be very welcome. After a while, traversing the beach does get a bit tedious, similar to the path to the village in BJ5.

3) The drinking contest was a fun idea (and any illogical part is forgotten after Simon's comment on the silly rules). However it would be nice if you could "cancel" the game and place the mirror after the guy explains the rules. Of course you can place it beforehand, since the function of the nail is so obvious, but it would be nice to do things in the natural sequence instead of going through a drinking game that you know you will lose.

4) Perhaps a death scene could have been added for Simon in the end (even just the same picture as when the creature attacks Ben). I went to the kitchen and got some tea, and when I returned after several minutes it was still strangling him.

The background artwork was great - even better than BJ1 Deluxe, I think. Especially the nighttime scenes were very atmospheric, and the underwater scenes reminded me of Eco Quest. I'm guessing that the artistic references to King's Quest VI were on purpose, seeing as that game also had islands, a minotaur and all? My only small criticism is that I liked the forward walkcycle in BJ5 better than the new one, something about how his hands move. I also noticed two place, were the object edges were a bit too visible: The boulder, after it falls has a very straight right edge, and the bottom edge of the drag marks on the beach is also a bit too sharp for it to blend in properly. But those are minor things.
I loved the music. The island of the siren was particularly haunting (setting up for one of the few moments of genuine horror in the game). Is it just me, or did the electronic style of the music in the bungalow remind anyone else of Blackwell Legacy?

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Great work, Grundislav. I'm looking even more forward to the sequels after playing this.