Messages

Got it and done--thank you Shadow1000!

Great! You're welcome. Enjoy the game...

SHADOW

Yep--can't figure out how to get the squirrel out

Ok, step 1:

Spoiler

grab the clock in the workshop

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Step 2:

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affix the walnut to the clock

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See if that gets you close

SHADOW

Yes, I know where to get the zinc, but don't have the right tool.

Ok,

Spoiler

the right tool is in the hole in the tree. Have you located that yet?

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SHADOW

I am stuck...

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I have the bow/arrow, balloon, potato with copper coin, tongs, and walnut. No clue what to do next.

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Try

Spoiler

finishing the battery. You need zinc, right? do you know where to get that from?

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SHADOW

Yes.. It does... It doesn't have a name when you move the mouse over it.. Sorry for the mistake!

You can also walk with the middle mouse button

Ok, got that now. If the game has the clickable hotspots with captions then they really should all have captions.

SHADOW

I'm in agreement with the first poster. I gave up at the same time for the same reason. The hint you provided didn't help.

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there is no hotspot for the flowerpot

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I'm not abandoning the game completely but I hope it gets more smooth than a 20 minute fruitless pixel hunt..

SHADOW

That was fun! It took about an hour to complete (once I redid the first part). Cute puzzles and story. There better be a good ending to this!

Thanks for the game

SHADOW

Hi Elen

Glad you liked my review

I presume the puzzle you are talking about that took you 45 minutes of sliding things around is the puzzle box in the Black Dog Manor section.  Not everyone's cup of tea, I accept

Correct, but my concern was not the puzzle. It was that there are too many one after the other.

, but as I'm sure you noticed, each section of Adventure Island pays tribute to a different genre of adventure game, and in the type of game that Black Dog Manor is a pastiche of, puzzle boxes were very common, often with as many as four or five puzzles one after another!  Just be thankful that I kept it to two.

No, I did not realize that Black Dog Manor is based on any specific genre of game. I'm just glad I didn't play those games. I would have just deleted a game with five sliders after another!

Like a lot of my references, this is a bit cryptic.  Annie is based partly upon Lara Croft, and I deliberately gave her a T-shirt similar to Lara's in style and colour.  Lara Croft has been considered by some people (feminists in particular) as not PC (Politically Correct).  Annie, on the other hand, as a computer game character is definitely PC (Personal Computer)!  Sorry, it's a groan inducing pun, I know.

LOL...thanks for the explanation

Cheers

SHADOW

[OVERVIEW]

So, after completing the game, I`ve decided to offer my comments:

OVERVIEW

Adventure Island pays tribute to many popular games, movies and cultural references. I consider it a full length game of exceptional quality that only emerges on the AGS scene every few years. Graphically excellent with professional quality voice acting creates a perfect environment, covering a vast range of contexts, all rendered expertly. As a tribute game, Adventure Island is a departure from the traditional, linear, plot-based adventure offering a unique, modular approach instead.

NOTE:
- The game contains brief partial nudity so it may not be suitable for younger players or players who find this offensive.
- A number of puzzles (I can think of five offhand) require good colour recognition. If you are colour deficient like I am, or your screen's ability to display colours happens to suck, you will find a number of them impossible to complete without assistance.

WHAT I LIKED

- As I said, the game is modular, in the sense that instead of having a strong plot that unfolds as you play, the main goal of the game receives seldom reference throughout the majority of the game and only is revisited near the end. The worlds the player visits are self-contained mini-games with their own story or theme. This approach could have led to disjoint gameplay but is actually rendered exceptionally well. I will elaborate shortly
- The graphics and environment were among the strong points of the game. The backgrounds and exceptional detail including voice acting and sound clearly took a lot of meticulous work and make a huge difference. I am amazed at the sheer variety of contexts that converge seamlessly as a result of this effort. (See next section for some points on this).
- Just to add about the sound, I've rarely seen so much detail put into background sounds from walking on the bridge to birds chirping and so on. Often voice acting doesn't really add to the game but in this case it was perfect.
- The puzzles are also a strong point. Being a work composed of many sub-environments, the variety of puzzles is exceptional. The puzzles in this game range from the inventory-based puzzles to object puzzles, to gathering clues from dialogue and reading details puzzles to a maze, to arcade-style games and many, many more. There really is something for everyone in this game and the player will never tire despite the length because of the variety. I have to say that some of the best puzzles I've encountered in any adventure game are contained in Adventure Island.
- Overall, the creativity is sheer genius. The attention to detail is exceptional. Great sense of humour!

WHAT I DID NOT LIKE

- I mentioned the puzzles as part of the strength of the game. That said, there were puzzles that I found to be impossible to solve, even when given the solution. Too many of these roadblocks did diminish the overall fun of the game.
- More on the puzzles: personally, I am not a big fan of "object puzzles" (AKA "stare at a wall and click/slide/press/move thingies around trying to figure out some pattern until something happens"). A few of them are fine and expected in a game but this one was too heavy in this type of puzzle for my liking. There was one such puzzle that took me about 45 minutes of sliding stuff around to finally solve and when that was complete, I was smacked in the face by a combination lock! Grrrrr! It's possible that testing of the game with a broader group would have helped with this aspect.
- The graphics were really beautiful as I said, but ironically, Annie's face looked zombie-like. (Note: I raised this point to the author and she explained how that happened). Another thing Is that the animation of the people, particularly the articulation of limbs while moving looked somewhat stiff and unnatural.
- I don't mind that the interface took some getting used to but I found that moving from room to room was sometimes difficult because the hotspots for the arrows were placed inconsistently.
- My biggest complaint:

Spoiler! Don't read till you've completed the game!

Spoiler

The ending was disappointing. I won't elaborate because some people will read this before completing the game despite my warning but a game of this length should definitely reward the player with something more spectacular. The game is very polished in almost every aspect and a proper ending would have really completed the project

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CONCLUSION

Elen's second game is really an impressive work, demonstrating exceptional creativity and graphic skill. The ability to construct an enjoyable environment and compelling puzzles was expertly executed in Adventure Island. If you are willing to be patient and persistent in solving puzzles and don't mind requiring assistance from time to time, then this game will be a rewarding and fun experience.

Congratulations to Elen and to all who participated in this game!

SHADOW

PS What does "Who says I'm not PC" mean???

Manor...

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I finally solved amulet including sliding puzzle, what's pattern I need consider with those numbered buttons?

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time of death...

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SHADOW

Manor...

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where can I find this other half of dog amulet? There also an extra hotspot inside drawer (office) which I can't access yet. Other than hole from attic, I thought I came across another hotspot in attic but I can't seem locating for some reason. If there a way using hole (roof) will be great

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Answer:

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I'm not sure which half you have. One half is in the drawer in the office (click the button then you can pull the drawer out further and the other half is being held by the corpse

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SHADOW

You are correct that you use only the three middle grids.

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You need to identify 5 games.  Where you saw the first four - 1 to 4, left to right - keep moving right and you will find a clue to number 5.

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Aha...got it. Thank you!

SHADOW

Do you remember..

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seeing some Big Game Entertainment?

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Yes, I loaded a saved game and found the numbered games. I will see if I can figure out how to use that for the code...thank you

Hmmmm...still having trouble:

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I assume that I'm to look at the 3 middle grids and they relate to the 3 grids on the bottom. What I did was click the corresponding position in the sequence matching the numbered games from the "other" place in the game to the position in the grids on the top. My problem is that there were only 4 games listed and it seems to want me to click 5 buttons. I'm also not sure that my approach is correct because there are 5 panels and I was ignoring the outer panels because the 4 games are all contained in the centre 3

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SHADOW

I can see that there 3 4x4 grids of game covers and 3 4x4 grids of buttons below. But I'm not seeing what to do with that.

Side note: my goodness you've played a lot of adventure games. Some of those even I haven't played.

I haven't played all the games on the wall of fame, though I have played quite a few.  I tried to get as broad a selection of adventure games as I could.  And they are the clue....

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Somewhere else in the game there are games on display - with numbers!

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Ok, I'll bite.

Where in the game...?

SHADOW

I'm stuck at the same place. There are no hostpots on that machine, you can't use any inventory item, nowhere to enter the incantation or draw the sigil, etc. I don't even see a starting point or something to experiment with.

SHADOW

You CAN use an inventory item...on another inventory item.

Hint:

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Specifically, the wand and the book.

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Spoiler:

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Turn the book to the page on colour magic and use the wand on the sigil there.

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Thank you. I honestly don't know how anyone was supposed to realistically figure that out, even now that I know the solution.

I appreciate your help; I can now continue.

Thank you

SHADOW

I understood all that from the book but where and how do you

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draw the sigil

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?

I'm stuck at the same place. There are no hostpots on that machine, you can't use any inventory item, nowhere to enter the incantation or draw the sigil, etc. I don't even see a starting point or something to experiment with.

SHADOW

The game icon is simply a small compass, which I thought was suitable for the game.  Perhaps Apple liked it as well.

Well, then I think you should sue Apple for stealing your icon design and make a lot of money! Samsung did that and won.

SHADOW

Just two small comments, now that I'm into the game by two weeks:

- There is a lot of walking back and forth. This often includes rooms that don't include hotspots or actions to be taken. It might be a good idea to allow the user to adjust the game speed so navigating doesn't take as long. Another idea would have been to create teleports once you complete certain tasks or discover new areas. This would affect gameplay so it would have to be done carefully.

- I am wondering if it's a coincidence or deliberate that the icon for the game is so similar to Apple's Safari icon?

Otherwise, I'm having a lot of fun playing.

SHADOW

Not impossible...


SHADOW

Yes, you can get pass the shark without killing it.

Hint:

Spoiler

You'll need some fingerweed

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Thank you. I completed the game with all the possible endings. I don't think that I would have ever imagined the solution you led me to so thanks!

SHADOW