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If it was up to me, I'd rather stay home, sleep till 2 pm and stay up late doing stuff on my PC... But now that I'm a dad, I see this heatwave as a great opportunity to take my son for long walks and spend lots of time outside... which is really nice, actually.

I'm 30 and I feel old more and more often... but I guess that's the lack of sleep combined with having all those new responsibilities... I know what it is- my mind is still young, and I hope it'll always stay this way, but my body feels weak and tired. I look at my son running around like a madman and wonder where he gets all this energy from?

  It's a survival horror game for shits' sake. 

You see, I don't think it is! It's some strange hybrid, a horror for sure, but not the kind of horror in which you have to make bullets and healthpacks last... If you are reluctant to call it an andventure game, I will happily settle for the term "interactive story". It's  not for everyone, it's at times quite simplistic, and it is definitely a console game... but how can I explain that I've had so mych fun with it and can't wait for part 2? I've been a keen gamer all my life, and I can tell a shit game from a good game. I've murdered thousands of zombies, great deal of them with a frying pan;) But it just worked for me, and more- I felt like posting here and praising it up to this community. I don't normally do that!

   I guess you can't have it all in one game. It'd be awesome to play a game Ryan descibes... But I don't think it's gonna happen any time soon. Sometimes it's all down to our expectations. If you get all hyped up for something it might then let you down too easily...

  One more thing- while other Tellatale games have terrible graphics imo, The Walking Dead and its sketchy/pencil drawn textures rock! I think the game looks absolutely fantastic!:)

[LTGiants2000 and Chicky:]

LTGiants2000 and Chicky: Thanks:) And very kind of you to offer! For the moment mOds is in charge of voice acting and in case he's missed this I'll PM him, so he can PM you if needed. I know he's got some actors lined up already, but we can probably always use some more.

Dualnames: You will kill me when you see what I've done with your brilliant interface!!!:)

I read this... and made a load of pancakes today! Thanks for the idea!:) I went with peaches and cinammon. Dualnames requested a dozen, but I'm not really sure how to send them to the island he lives on...

My 2 year old son wasn't impressed, though... He's really more of a "meat" kind of guy.

I'm thinking that it might be. I've read all about it before, but while it will not number the speech files for me, it probably will make numbering them by hand much easier.

I've managed to produce a txt file speechref. that's got all text from the game numbered in it. At least that's better than nothing. I can use that for recording voices and reference, and then number speech lines in the game manually... With Speech Center I might not have to look for text that's spread out everywhere- if it does what it says on the "cover" I will have an easy access to all speech + playback option...

I still wish there was some way to fix this...

Consider me another victim of this bug... I'm searching through all the rooms looking for a commented line that contains unfisnihed player.Say command... but there are so many lines I really can't find it;( Is there a better way of tracking it down?

I enjoyed most of all the fact that a lot of cut-scenes were interactive. Even little things like being able to move your head while events take place add lots of value to the game in my opinion... And the button mashing... well. If there was some kind of proper fighting system in the game they would get totally slaughtered for it. People'd start to expect some kind of God of War clone or something... But when you have a choice of just watching a scene in  which a zombie gets killed or actually having some- minimal or not- input, I really prefer the latter. It doesn't require skill, true, but just adds to intensity of it all.

I'm thinking that maybe

Spoiler

Doug, the IT guy could turn out to be some really great character further along the line?... There was a moment in that game, silly as it sounds, while me and Doug sat behind that locked door watching zombies as they strolled the street, talking and kinda bonding as friends. I thought it was a really good dialogue there. I thought: hey, this guy's alright. Maybe that's why I saved him? I hardly spoke to the reporter. I got an impression she was some kind of cold bitch, actually... Anyway, if Doug dies in next episode, I will be seriously disappointed...

[close]

Finished.


Now external testing is starting and voices will be recorded and added. The game is fully playable, though, and I can't find any bugs- surely some will be found by other testers...

Looking good! At first I thought that McCarthy's Chronicles was actually getting a long- anticipated sequel... But no, it's a whole other game, and really great, too:)

I'm a sucker for black & white screens and generous  red splashes of blood... so I'm definitely interested in this one!

[digital platform for horror games only]

Hey guys, an idea hit me last night- what about a digital platform for horror games only, like a specialized shop for all (indie mostly)games horror-related?... A quick google search shows there is no such thing yet. Do you think it would take off, or would it be a massive flop?

I have a question that's been bothering me for a while (I think I saw it explained once, but can't seem to find it again). In my game I often use objects that are set to tween transparency in reverse-repeat (useful for shadows overlaying the whole room). So I've got something like this in room_load: object[1].TweenTransparency(2.0, 50, eLinear,eReverseRepeatTween), yeah? But as player re-enters the room that object's transparency won't be tweened from 0, as it was initially, but from whatever value it was at the time of leaving the room. I don't think setting object's transparency at room load just before tween command will make any difference- I believe it might get ignored unless I reset the tween. How do I do that?...

Easily done! The way I'd suggest, is that you make two black objects, one for each part of the screen you want to hide. Make sure their walkbehind base is something really high, like a 1000. Starting inside, make sure only one of the objects is visible. In the doorway, I'd place 2 regions that trigger the object that's visible to dissapear, and the other one to become visible instead, covering up the inside of the house. You can alternatively use transparency instead visible=false/true and try playing with Tween module to fade those objects in and out smoothly.

I hope that's helpful:)

EDIT: Just noticed about transition with  hotspots! That's even easier- you won't need regions. Just switch those objects on and off in that hotspot interaction!;) If it's the same hotspot you might want to determine which object to disable by either a room variable, like this (sorry, guys, don't know how to post code... ) :

if (int outside == false){
object1.Visible=false;
object2.Visible=true;
outside=true;
player.walk(x,y);   /////walk outside the house
}

if (int outside == true){
object1.Visible=true;
object2.Visible=false;
outside=false;
player.walk(x,y);   /////walk inside the house
}

Or you can just use the player's coordinates to determine which side of the door they're on and switch between the objects accordingly, thus avoiding creating too many variables (can get confusing sometimes).

Man, making this a series won't solve those problems with AGS that you have! Make one short game and focus, and remember it takes a lot of time just to make one decent fully functional room... So, tackling Star Wars is not the best choice for someone who's just starting off- that'd require you to make a whole galaxy of rooms!;)

Well, first thing you notice about this game, just few seconds in, is how brilliant the voice acting is. There's one scene in the demo, in which you listen to 3 recorded voicemail messages, as they go from your usual "some crazy guy bit me, we're off to the hospital" to panicked screams of "don't leave the house, call 911!!!" and such. The acting is just fantastic, its quality almost unheard in videogames.

Spoiler

Nicky, you mention you cared about Clementine- and so did I. All through the game I felt I wanted to keep her safe and acted in her best interest. I was honest with her from the start- about her parents, the undead and my own past. Zombie apocalypse is no time to lie to kids....

When I got to decide between Doug the IT guy and the lady reporter, I chose to help Doug. Why?  Because reporter knew of Lee's past. She was a threat and if she'd told everyone in the group they could've split up Lee and the child... At least,  that was what went through my head in those few seconds I had to think about it. Apparently, only about 22% of players did that. Doug is a chubby geek. The reporter- now dead, was an attractive outspoken woman. And she had a gun... My wife didn't understand my decision- I should've saved a woman- always save women and children first!;) But that's exactly what I did- Clementine needed Lee to save her from the world, and I made this strange sacrifice for her.

[close]

So, to sum it up, this game works pretty much like a personality test, but under pressure and with only seconds to think about your decisions, it truly shows what kind of person you are. And you might be surprised... I still am!;)

Played through the entire part 1 on PS3 today and personaly I really loved it!!! Never cared much about other Telltale games, but this one I think was excellent. They are definitely heading in the right direction. I can't wait for another chapter! I wonder what you guys think. Anyone had a chance to play yet?

I'm absolutely in favour of the idea of combining AGS with this wonderful program!:) The possibilities would be just insane! Just reading about the sub-animations and I'm falling in love... If only there was a way to use it for AGS....

Hello;) Yes, it's true. It seems it takes me about three years to make a game;) It was much more intensive this time, though... While Downfall started as a little "once a week" kind of project, the new game has been very much a full-time job and I can now see that if I ever make a game again, I will not do it alone, because it's just bordering on impossible... I do hope this effort will pay off. I feel I've done my absolute best... 

I started speaking with mOds about a month ago and I have a feeling he understands what's the best route to take with TCL and is very passionate about making his new business glow. He's offered to help in areas I'd otherwise struggle with- I'm particularly excited about the voice acting! With mOds being an AGS legend for a long time, I think I can trust my "baby" is in the right hands!:) Maybe I'll finally find out what's that "I love Mark Lovegrove" thread all about!:) (it was too looooong to read;))

   While I'm trying to add the final polish to an otherwise finished game, there are things that get in the way. As most of you here make games too, you'll probably agree when I say the main one is "life" No, this actually sounds awful... But while there are times I feel like I should spend some time working on the game ( as I see it pretty much as my second job these days) life comes along and I always choose wife/family, who need me to be there for them, and they'll always be the priority. I think they've put up with enough from me, anyway.... My mind has been somewhere else for a very long time- the dark twisted world of the Cat Lady, and it's been a tough ride and my shield from a grim reality, something I could always fall back on to.

  I don't know if it makes sense... I am pretty tired and stuck on a 12 night shift in the hospital. The main thing I wanted to say is this: screen7 and Harvester Games are working together and I am really excited about this!!! Watch this space!:)

   

The detail on this baby is just insane... Beautiful art!

Can't help thinking that this background looked much better without the shading... I don't know if we're allowed art ctitique in this thread, but I'd suggest breaking down those strong black lines at least in some places and rethinking your whole shading formula- sometimes less is more!;) What's really missing there is contrast. Some bright areas of strong light would add more life to that sccene, IMHO;)

Really?... All these years I believed he went into Roman Polanski's house and slaughtered his whole family. I must've got my facts wrong... Or wait a second- was it actually something that happened in Amityville Horror film?...