Topics

Hobo With A Shotgun is coming very soon now. And I have to say I'm really impressed by the 70s/8os lighting/music/cheese style of the trailer and the lovely featurette with Hauer and the director:

http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/magnolia/hobowithashotgun/

Nevertheless, this film begs a similar question as the Sucker Punch one:

"Will the storytelling be as deep as its exterior is stylized for fans of cheesy B-movies?"

Also, who would win in a hobo duel: Rutger Hauer or Jack of Avalon?

Perhaps someone here has their own thoughts on these topics?

Hey, guys,

Someone I know experiences very strange cursor movement in all the latest AGS games.

What happens is (I'm quoting): "The cursor moves left and right reasonably well, but up and down the cursor staggers horribly. Also, as it passes over interactive objects in any AGS game it slows to a stuttery mess."

Here's the guy's config:

Win 7 64bit
i5 750 @2.67GHz
4GB RAM
DX11
ATI Radeon HD 5800

Any ideas? Anyone experienced anything similar?

And it might go on still.

I'd welcome any suggestions for this 3rd year of the site's existence, as well as for some more distant future.

Just don't ask me to work any harder!

Hey, are there any readers of PC Gamer UK here?

I have heard there might be a copy of Snakes of Avalon on the cover disc in the newest (x-mas) issue (PC Gamer 221). Could anyone confirm or deny this? I will be grateful for that info.

I've found the sword, but still can't enter the disco (nor the ninja den).

Any help here would be hot.

[Life]

Here's something that has been troubling me lately:

The game/notgame Life did get a panel review, but without any rating due to it not being a game. I think that was actually a good idea.

Later on, 2 titles I enjoyed as short storytelling experiences with interesting presentation Diquiet and Huong Jiao Ping got 1 cup each for not having any gameplay.

I think panel should establish some uniform policy for titles without gameplay, because such discrepancies in evaluating different titles shouldn't happen.

Anyone agrees/disagrees?

This is big! The famous never-before-scene of Luke constructing his new lightsaber. And they tease with there being more scenes like that planned for the Blu-ray release of Star Wars.

http://www.mediafire.com/?hnvs7sgpyx3f2x5

Wanted to have a classy logo for the game - particularly for the game's main menu - so I designed this:



Any thoughts? I'm particularly interested if the colors are ok, and if the important elements are easy to understand.

Like it says in the title.

Hey people,

I wanted to ask if getting rid of the thick dark lines that showed where walls connect was a good idea, or does it make the whole thing more confusing?

Old:



Old-New:



New-New:

Hey guys, we had some really fun times creating the Snakes of Avalon trailer (editing, original music, voiceover recording). Music was done by Thomas Regin.

So I'd love to hear your honest opinions about it.

Vimeo version (better!): http://vimeo.com/12800581

YouTube version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MFvV6vdyQ8

Also, if there's enough time I plan to create a second, richer trailer for the game's release.

[UPDATE!: This is version 2.01 - an entirely new experience + fixed bugs from ver. 2.0!!!]

UPDATE!: This is version 2.01 - an entirely new experience + fixed bugs from ver. 2.0!!!

for the newest info and answers to your questions - go to the snakes site: http://snakes.hardydev.com

OVERVIEW:

Snakes of Avalon is a dark comedy point & click adventure game about alcoholic incapacitation and people obsessed with murdering their other half. It mixes the style and atmosphere of Hitchcock suspense films with a surreal game world inspired by your favorite trippy movies.





HISTORY:

Originally an "one month, one room" MAGS competition entry, Snakes of Avalon nearly beat down Eternally Us in popular vote, as well as won considerable media acclaim.

http://www.slightly-deranged.com/?page_id=1389
http://www.slowdown.vg/2010/05/16/mags-april-part-iii/

But this was then, and things got even better. Our new, fuller version enhances the game with more content, better interactivity, further developed characters and story themes, as well as an original soundtrack by Thomas Regin (Blackwell Convergence).



Features:

- an unique, never-before told tale of murder and deceit in 4 exciting acts
- countless hallucinations
- several brutal killings
- ugly toddlers
- a tragic story of love between a man and a fish
- constantly changing environment filled with dirt, booze, piss, and disgusting bugs
- time-travel
- scratchy, but classy Jazz recordings
- cannibalism?
- and much more



You can download the full game using the...

DOWNLOAD LINK!!!



CONTROLS

left click - walk/look at/choose inventory item/use inventory item
right click - look at
Esc/F5 - Menu

FULL CREDITS:

Designed and Written by: Ascovel and Baron
Music: Thomas Regin
dialogs: Ascovel
sprites & animations: Baron
background art & additional graphics: Ascovel
Dirty Beer Mug: Baron
scripting: Ascovel
beta-testing: qptain Nemo
beta-testing: ddq

Hey Ethan, could you tell where did you take that quote from?

Well, I found it at:
http://thinkexist.com/quotes/socrates/4.html

I'm not sure where that quote is actually from though.   

I'm sorry to say, but it seems like most of these quotes are fakes.

Socrates never wrote down any of his thoughts, as he considered it is not possible to really learn anything from reading - the only way to learn is through live discussion. In consequence, the number of exact quotes from Socrates is close to 0. The quotes at the website might have been spoken by Plato's character of Socrates in Plato's dialogs, but these are no historical accounts and served various philosophical agendas. Anyway, the attribution to the real, historical Socrates and the lack of sources makes the quotes very suspect to say the least.

Inspired by the blue cup ratings discussion thread, I have a totally unrealted question concerning the user ratings system.

Several demos in the database (older ones) have user ratings like the full game releases. However, the majority of them, including those with high download counts (like the demo of The Marionette), as well as Best Demo Award winners (Dust to Water) seemingly don't have enough votes for the rating to be shown.

It seems to me unlikely that the players would not choose to encourage through positive ratings the creators of their favorite demos to finish up their games.

So my question is: Are the voting templates for demos actually active at the moment, or is adding ratings for them a thing of the past?

Did anyone play this great-looking AGS-made game by some Toronto-based illustrator? I couldn't find it in the games database, or any threads about it here in the forum.

Since January I run an indie adventure gaming blog (occasionally about other topics as well) called "A Hardy Developer's Journal". Outside of it being something I like to do for fun, I want to show in it that modern indie adventure games can be at least as cool, creative and relevant as other genre productions. Similarly, the stories and storytelling possibilities can be no less intriguing than in movies, comics etc. And AGS games are a big part of this of course.

I want the blog to constantly grow, improve, and experiment, but because of the time I can devote to it is shrinking, it's becoming very problematic to just provide new content regularly, even though I'm not working on it alone anymore (two of my friends have joined me in June).

So I wanted to ask if anyone would be interested in contributing. I'd really use the help of:

1) People who would be interested in writing articles about designing their own games and the challenges involved. The articles should be interesting, honest and educative.
2) People interested in writing about other people's games, who should be unafraid of being critical when needed.
3) Someone to deal with the webmaster/technical stuff.

Anyone interested please PM me, or send me an email to igor at hardydev.com. You should be prepared to provide some kind of example of your writing.

Hey,

Anyone got a clue why saving could work on some systems, but not other ones?

I haven't modified anything from the default AGS setup (No custom-made Save GUI!)

The situation is described in detail in this thread here.

[Getting Started]

I'm posting a complete walkthrough for the game. You can also ask me for hints. I would certainly like players to figure the game on their own, or as much as possible, so don't give up easily.

Getting Started

Spoiler

- try a random action with the verbcoin on a random hotspot except on Franko and his axe
- click on Franko
- click on Franko again, you'll get the tying & untying skill
- in the inventory open the bag with  the tying & untying skill
- smell the Smell-Me-First Manual for instructions how to use the bag's items
- use the flag on the flying man to get a conversation started

[close]

The Puddle Quest && The Cactus

Spoiler

- choose moustache as the method of talking to the old man
- talk with him about everything until he flies away
- (bonus)combine flag and polish and use this in the fire to create a torch
- go right to a new location
- inspect the puddle, try using items on it, for example the torch if you have it
- start a conversation with the old man using one of the items from the bag
- the wind has blown something into Franko's nose - you'll have to get it out, or he'll be complaining
- click on Franko, he'll produce a bone
- click on the bone to take it
- (bonus) use the stamp on the bone to create a new way to talk with characters - The Bone Death Paean
- carve the bone with the axe
- choose the nose icon over the sharpened bone, you'll get a seed covered in snot
- go back to the location with the fire
- put the seed in the mutilated ground
- go up and high up you'll find a hotspot for the foliage
- throw axe at the foliage
- a peyote cactus will grow from the seed, cut it with the axe
- go to the puddle location
- try to bite the cactus
- in the new location smell the only hotspot available
- talk to the moon-thing by.... choosing the mouth icon over it
- to get back to the real world, tell the moon something about his face

[close]

Getting the Baloons Method 1

Spoiler

- use the jar on the old man
- talk until he puts up a darth shooting contest
- you can take a break from the contest any time by again using the jar on the man
- try throwing a darth at the head
- try talking to the head using the bag of junk items
- put a darth in the mouth
- spit a darth at the head
- use stamp on the head
- spit a darth at the head
- try using the axe on the line
- use the pig on the man (or choose it during conversation)
- spit the last darth at the head - you won't win, but you'll get the baloons anyway

[close]

Getting the Baloons Method 2

Spoiler

- in the campsite location click on Franko until he starts jumping
- if the darth contest is on, use the jar on  the man and tell him you need a break
- when the baloon man is close to the fire, throw some polish in the fire
- quickly click on Franko to jump and retrieve the baloons

[close]

Flying up to the Moon

Spoiler

- go to the puddle location and use baloons on Franko
- use the flying skill on the moon - but Franko is afraid to without some kind of safety device
- click on baloons and go to the other location
- stoke the rubber chicken with the sharpened bone
- put the chicken in the fire, you'll get some goo in effect
- the goo needs molding and there are two methods to do that
- (method1) use the jar on the goo
- (method 2) cut the sharpened bone with the axe and then use the goo on it
- go to the puddle location
- use the gooey cord on the tree, then on Franko, then attach the baloons to Franko again
- fly up to the moon
- too bad that Franko can't reach the moon, or can he?
- take a bite of the peyote cactus
- enjoy the end cutscene and a teaser of things to come

[close]

Hey, it would be great to receive some Frantic Franko DEMO critique. I would use it to make the game even better. Just tell me what you like and what you don't like. I'm interested the most in opinions about the gameplay - are the puzzles fun?; are the presented situations interesting?; how do you find 'the bag of junk' in use? etc.

Download it here or here.

And here is the official game demo page.

[1. The Story]

Hi there, everyone

Two months ago, after years of deliberations I finally started making my first adventure game - Frantic Franko: A Bergzwerg Gone Berserk.

The game tells of a hero's long journey, but it doesn't make an epic story out of it, focusing rather on the personages and puzzle solving. I'd compare the structure to the adventures of Leisure Suit Larry who would always jump around all females he accidentally meets on his way and solve their problems for them, but I should make it clear that Frantic Franko's interactions with other characters will not be about sex (sorry, folks), as a matter of fact they will be primarily about revenge...

The puzzles on the other hand may be a bit in the vein of the Gobliiins series, yet with lots of dialogue puzzles among them. And for the game interface I used the verbcoin, but there won't be any eyes, magnifying glasses or hands to choose from... So anyway, everything in the game should seem reasonably familiar and a demo should be out pretty soon.





1. The Story

The game is set in a fantasy world. The main hero of the story is a ferocious dwarven warrior called Frantic Franko. As the game begins he goes on a long journey to a far away land just to get to the guy from a rival clan who unforgivably insulted his own. And the challenge is considerable as the offender is none other than the notorious Kinky Koval. Yet it won't be easy for Franko to reach Koval in one piece. In fact it's during the journey that his real problems and the true story start while revenge becomes an even more important issue...





2. The Main Hero

...really isn't a nice person. Actually he is something of an egoistic, sadistic psycho. He has a mother complex, problems with verbal communication, a tendency to attack anything that moves with his axe, and other appropriate quirks.

Also, Franko  is nearly blind (blinder even than most other dwarfs as he lost one of his eyes) so he catches the scents of things instead of looking at them. And what of an accute sense of smell he has indeed - ideal for examining hotspots in the game. Most importantly though, Franko is also equipped with a highly destructive nature in consequence of which he chooses swing his axe at things as the primary action when interacting with game objects.


High Res version of the concept art here

3. Game Features

- a short-sighted, foul-mouthed anti-hero with a strong revenge motif and who constantly smells his way either into or out of trouble

- hand-drawn third person adventure presented in stunning 16 bit SVGA graphix

- includes music composed by Łukasz Pawlik and performed by the jazz band Kattorna

- wacky puzzle solving focused gameplay

- Full Throttle/Curse of Monkey Island style  "verbcoin" interface with some little, neat twists

- three completely different environments (the screennies despite contrasts are from the same one) - each with its own style, mood, pacing and ways of dealing with problems

- the innovative "a persuasive dwarf's bag of junk" conversation system - Franko's special equipment that helps him to manipulate conversations in exactly the way he desires, or at least makes him to appear as a complete fool, but allows to get the job done nevertheless



4. Progress

Download the DEMO here or here.

Here is the official game demo page.

The game should be ready before the end of the year 2011.

In the meantime you can follow entries in my development diary here.

some gameplay footage on YouTube (Beware as it contains solutions for solving the first few puzzles): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XuB0RPN_eQ