Messages

I've been playing for about 40 minutes and I will echo what Mandle has said:

- Graphics and music outstanding and stunning
- Story is pretty interesting
- So far I'm waiting for some puzzles. The game seems to basically do what you're told?

As far as my progress, I am up to

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the photograph was just taken

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Will keep enjoying it and comment...

I agree that it was not an easy decision this month.

Hopping Homeward

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I liked the game. I have to agree with what others have said: confirming everything took away from the game. Otherwise, a nice set of puzzles and pretty graphics

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Research Reservations

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I have to make specific mention that I think that this is the first full entry from Vampire Wombat. Unless I'm forgetting something, most previous entries were just some characters and some dialogue, so congrats on the entry. Two characters working together was a nice touch, and the idea was a good application of the theme.

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Birdy Birdy

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It took me a while to get a hang of the interface and to get the aim right. I had trouble seeing the item in the fountain. Graphics a bit inconsistent. But overall, a good experience and story, with a beginning, middle and end. And as I said, we all love a "redemption" story

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My vote did go to

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Birdy Birdy because I did feel that it was most complete, including a bird-controlling interface!

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Great entries, everyone!

What an interesting idea! Combining video/acted scenes with puzzles. Unfortunately, I could not get the setup to work so I couldn't toggle the language to English. When I do it says something about "Pistermatrissi" not being in the folder or something? So I had to play in whatever language it was originally in, which I don't know.

Still, it was fun to play mainly for the effects. I would love to see more games like this, perhaps with a more complicated plot and puzzles.

Good job.

Yes, sorry the graphic is a bit small, and I didn't had time to improve it.

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It's on the fountain. on the middle "ring". Look for a little blue thing. (or move the mouse slowly until the text shows "Bracelet")
I'll play it another time just to make sure it's there, and that the water isn't in the way.

Edit: Just tested it and the water isn't blocking it. It's on the second "ring" from the top, on the left half of it. More or less in the middle of the left side.
If you still can't find it I can probably get a screen shot and circle it.
Sorry again. I only got the last graphics, including that one a few hours before the deadline, so I didn't managed to improve the click area and make the object more visible. The inventory graphic is bigger, but very ugly (my fault, as I had barely just enough time to pick that little tiny object and scale it up  ).

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Goodness, I'm glad I asked. I would never have seen it! What a sweet game with a "redemption" theme too!

[Birdy Birdy]

Birdy Birdy
A game by Sandra T. Almeida
Graphics by Kastchey & Music by Ibispi

DB entry: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/2366/
Direct link to the game: http://www.mediafire.com/file/38pzzzys4hqzkac/BirdyBirdy.zip/file

I am up to

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he needs to wash the sh*t out of his hair and he says "I'll put the bracelet here". But I don't see where he's putting it or any way to grab it from there....

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Thank you

Would it be okay to publish a revised version that cuts down the solution length in the ice cream room? Say,

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make it 5 steps instead of 6 steps

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?

Could you instead just tell us the order in which the machines have to be activated? Or do you mean by random that this is randomly generated for every game? In this case: please stop doing this. The randomness is what stopped me from finishing your rat game because I couldn't get a hint where to find what and I got bored with exploring and drawing maps.

In case you want to randomly generate something because it's easier to code, why not make use of this handy module https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=40952.0?

The way I solved it was by writing down each of the possible switches and then by trial and error crossing one out as it was wrong or writing it on a list on the right side of my page when it was right. As you go along, the list gets shorter so it's not AS bad as it sounds

We can debate later whether this is a "good" puzzle but it really shouldn't take more than 10 minutes or so.

Sorry I couldn't give a more specific solution but that's the nature of the puzzle!

I had the same experience as Cat. I assumed it was pretty much game over so I didn't say anything.

I voted for

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Mama Mia. Lots of laughs, great idea and fun puzzles

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[MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT!!!]

This game is an amazing resume piece for a commercial game. It required an impossible amount of effort to get all the rotoscoping done, obviously, you even have separate animations for opening top and bottom drawers FFS when this could have easily been fudged, but...

MASSIVE SPOILER ALERT!!!

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I do get the feeling that it was written as the game progressed, which is fine for an indie game.

But this also means some jarring moments, especially in a game developed over a long time-frame:

There was so much charming dialog with Patti, the daughter at the beginning, getting to know and learn of her relationship with her father, and then we never get to interact with or see her again. (well except to show her stuff)

There was a lot of exposition of Judy and our relationship and a mystery about why we just ran away. This is never addressed again and Judy just vanishes at the end.

I'm guessing there were plotlines imagined with them that never got fully developed and then they just fell through the floor in the rush to get the damn thing finished? But you didn't have the heart to go cut out all the initial relationship exposition and the effort that went into it?

The puzzles: Some were great, some were intuitive, some were...ummm filler?

I felt that most of the puzzles kept the fun level of the game up there, and you did limit the areas of searching for answers to puzzles to the bare minimum, which helped.

But, in an investigative game, I feel that the puzzles should be based on that element and not weird stuff like making a fake mustache that the character could just go to a shop and buy. I even have money in my inventory to do so with.

If you're gonna go with the evaporated coffee solution at least let there be two alternatives. The second being using the character's kitchen without the excuse of "That would stink up the whole apartment.".

On the flip-side of the coin, I felt that the puzzles in the museum in Iran were just right, as the character is out of his element and has to make do with what he has on him. Very fun!

The translation puzzles were exactly what I wanted them to be! Perfect! Gabriel Knight vibes plus the unexpected multiple symbols and additional hints in the museum brochure. I thought the final translation puzzle to be a masterpiece!

The ending: I would have preferred (and kept looking for) a way out of our character's eventual fate. During the final cutscene I was on the alert for an inventory option to pop up to allow me to do something other than just watch. I was thinking I would pour the alien blood sample into the goblet just before being forced to drink it and that would make me more powerful than the master, or something like that.

But no, it just ended. Which is fine. It was an amazing game and I hope it leads you guys onto greater things that you actually get paid for and thus have the (extra headaches and) luxury to develop to the max.

Thanks for the great time!

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Thank you very much for your comprehensive review. Much appreciated. Also...

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As I already mentioned, our game tried to accomplish something that hasn't been done that many times so far - true lovecraftian hopelessness. Our hero has been destined to be doomed. Not everyone likes it, but we do and so do many others. I very much appreciate your opinion on this matter as we really want to know how all the players feel about our decisions.

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In my review, I didn't want to give anything away, even in spoiler tags, but now that we're talking about it:

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I loved the ending. I did not expect it, and I actually thought that the text that foreshadowed the event depicted was actually a hint as to how to defeat the boss. Boy was I wrong! I liked the twist over the old "hero saves the world and the story ends there". In fact, the story is just starting! Bwahahaha!

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Some nice puzzles and a few good laughs. Good job!

My thoughts on the game:

Overall the game is awesome! The strong points are the graphics and animation which are completely professional grade. I had to look on Wikipedia to find out what rotoscoping is, but I was amazed at the ultra-smooth animation. It's rare that backgrounds and sprites are so well-done that it tops the list of strong points of a game but I have to mention this aspect first. Most of the voice acting, particularly the protagonist and some others could easily be Hollywood-grade.  Someone pointed out

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the silence of the lambs nod which I also recognized.

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I liked the story. Without giving away any detail, the plot and characters were interesting and engaging and the pacing of the story and how the backstory and interactions between characters unfold compared to the game was really good. This is a real art and really impacts how enjoyable a game is. When stories get too complicated or detailed, I usually find myself lost and unengaged but in this case it was spot on.

The puzzles were fun! With little exception, they were challenging enough to be a challenge but almost never to the point of frustration. There's a great variety of puzzles ranging from dialogue to inventory items, to pass-code deciphering and so on. I only had to get one tip from the forum.

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That said, I did need help with the puzzles at the end. I don't want to get into detail because people read spoilers before playing but while the idea was good, I'm not sure how many players would be able to solve those independently

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There really is a lot more to be said about this release but it's hard to be specific about many of the aspects that I enjoyed without giving away too much so I'll conclude here.

In all, it's clear that an incredible amount of work was invested into this game by a talented team. All of  you have a lot to be proud of. After the celebration, get to work on your next release!

Cheers

Thank you for the PM!  I understood everything you were saying previously and HOW the puzzle needed to be solved, but like Shadow I knew something somehow got messed up in translation, and no clue where it could be.  I think I spent well over 2 hours trying to figure out where I went wrong.  This was a really tough puzzle for me.

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I obviously didn't read the brochure as carefully as I thought.  In my translation notes I had written down  "drink = water + mouth" instead of "MOUTH + WATER".  A small oversight that screwed up the whole dang thing!

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Anyway, I finally got through it just now and paused to write a quick note on the boards.  Now back to the game!   

I actually don't know where I went wrong the first 11 times! I made the mistake you described the first time but then double checked and corrected it for the next 10 times. Who knows...

Hi Shadow1000!

Did you pick up a brochure from the table in the museum? That helps a lot if you read it. It helps with the language construction you need.

Cheers!  Wiggy

Yes, I did. As I said, I think that most of us understand what we are trying to do. I just tried it a few more times with no success. It seems that others are having the same experience.

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Hey Shadow, Vincent's post above mine should get you started in the correct order. It's definitely not an easy puzzle. My best advice would be to double check all of your symbols, you are most likely clicking some that you think are the best fit, when really there is another symbol that matches much better. I'm not near my computer but at some point today/tomorrow I will be and I can spell out the whole button sequence for you if you'd like.

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I agree. I checked Vincent's start and I definitely got that far correctly. I'm probably missing something or making some incorrect assumption. I usually like solving puzzles on my own but I have done this one 11 times so far and nothing happened so I'll wait for the full solution to see where I went wrong.

Thank you.

Hi Shadow1000!

Did you pick up a brochure from the table in the museum? That helps a lot if you read it. It helps with the language construction you need.

Cheers!  Wiggy

Yes, I did. As I said, I think that most of us understand what we are trying to do. I just tried it a few more times with no success. It seems that others are having the same experience.

Gahhh...I'm stuck on the Island puzzle.  I drew out a "map" on paper of each word (or partial word) that's represented by the symbols.  I don't know if I've screwed up royally or what, but I keep trying to no avail.  Please tell me if I'm missing something or mis-translated! 

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goblet(2)          cut           demon(1,2)           blood          transform(1)   

snake         demon(3)      darkness        temple

hand          goblet(3)        dagger         demon(4)       water

big             transform(2)/mouth      dwell      goblet(1)

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Does this remotely look correct (sorry if my "drawing" seems weird or confusing!  Hope you are able to see what I'm trying to show you)?  I've clicked the poem about a million times and it doesn't work.  I'm so frustrated!!

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Hi SarahLiz, first off, thanks for playing!

Ok let's take a look. I'm going to link a screenshot, let me know if this is where you are:
https://imgur.com/1v1SGgC

If it is, then:
On the bottom right, you have the script that tells you which buttons to click (like the ruins puzzle). The first two significant words in that are "Demon" and "Dwell". If you look on the left, you'll see that "demon" is a pretty long symbol. On the top right (dark green), you'll see that my mouse cursor is hanging over a button that looks like the first part of the word "demon". So, what you would do, is click this button, then click it again (because in Demon it is symbolized twice), then immediately down 1 row and to the right you see the next symbol, this one that looks like the next part of "demon". Click that. Then, you will see immediately under THAT button and to the right, is what looks like the symbol that finishes the "demon" word on the left script. Sorry if that's confusing, let me know if it makes sense!

As for your map, I'm not really sure how to read that. I see Goblet 2x up top left... but you don't have to do any mapping out like that, since you will have 1. the parchment 2. the poem, 3. the buttons, all in front of you on the page

If you aren't there yet, let me know and I will help further.

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Same with me. I think we all get the idea

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especially after the version of this puzzle in the ruins

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but I tried it 7 or 8 times and so far no luck.

@Shadow1000:
It seems to have something to do with your PC settings, antivirus, a slow internet connection or something similar.
Try to download it from these sites:
https://thanyx.itch.io/metaphobia
OR
https://gamejolt.com/games/metaphobia/420856

Gamejolt worked perfectly! Thanks!

I am stuck on the first puzzle: downloading the game.

I tried three times last night and twice today and the download failed after about a minute each time. Is there another site where I can get it?

[START PLAYING!!!!]

I just finished the game and I want to post while I'm still "in it"

All I can say is WOW. I don't remember the last time I was this thrilled with an AGS release. I LOVE the RPG genre and I can't remember many good ones made using AGS.

I'm going to collate some of the thoughts that have been expressed earlier:

- The strongest reason I love this game is because there is SO MUCH TO DO! I don't want to ruin the discovery for people who haven't played so I won't be specific, but I'll leave it that there is such an incredible range of puzzles and quests with a huge variety. There are mini-games and arcade-style games and you name it. There's something for everyone and it's really not linear and if you don't want to do a quest, that's ok! I actually didn't bother with a few. I'll specify later.
- Needless to say, the attention to detail with the art and animation, effects, music, and all are fabulous.
- The game system was well designed, with the money and food management, sleeping, recharging and so on.

As far as the fighting system, Mandle and I said what there is to say:

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The fighting in the cave is perfect. Putting enemies of a set level in a location is the way to go to help pace the game. My beef is mainly with the enemies on the island. The way I was able to beat them was by using my LOWEST character rather than highest!

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More specifics about the quests:

I finished the game with 65% complete and 3 outstanding quests:

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I did not complete the Jen quest, the horseshoe/Sudoku quest, the farm quest or the game boy quest. With 65% complete, that would only bring me up to 85% which either means that completing the boss battle is 15% or that I'm missing some quests. I cannot do the apple quest and I just don't feel motivated to do the others, which is part of the beauty of this game.

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I enjoyed the fact that I did not need a lot of help. I just got two tips from the board:

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- I still don't know how the player was supposed to solve the barrels in the cellar puzzle, other than literally mapping out each barrel to see how it moves and then planning a route on paper? That would take dozens of restarts...
- Finding the troll in the cave: that required walking through the cave all over again to find ONE spot. The batteries only really work properly until about 40% and I went through 11 batteries before asking for help. Maybe it would be better if he came to find YOU when you're in a range? Just a thought...

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In conclusion, it is clear that a LOT of work went into this game and it will undoubtedly be an AGS masterpiece.

Vincent, Jason, Barbara and Lee (and anyone else involved): please pat yourselves on the back for a huge success.

Anyone reading this review who hasn't played yet: WHAT are you doing?? STOP READING and START PLAYING!!!!

Congratulations to the authors! Looking forward to more games from this talented team

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Fighting in the cave leveled my character up to level 20! One problem I'm having in the cave is that I got barrel #9 and I "heard something". I assumed that opened the locked door on the top right of the maze but that wasn't it. I burnt through 11 batteries wandering the maze seeing if there is a new open area or a key or something to no avail. What do I do now?

I caught a bunch of fish! Fun addition to the game! it was pretty exciting once I figured out what I'm doing. Not difficult at all.

I tried the apples one more time. It's just not going to happen...I really can't figure out what apple is what colour

The only way to not use shields is by LOADING up on arousal/deelectric/decalcify and so on.

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• Regarding the cave dungeon when Jayvin say "I heard something" you should return to that corridor where there is the locked door you mentioned. Now you must walk to the left side til the end of that corridor and then you will meet the Troll boss!

• Regarding the fishing game I am much glad to hear that you like it! Please keep it in mind that each season has different fishes to catch!

• Regarding the Apple farm quest I don't know if this screenshot it's going to be helpful somehow:

• Regarding the shields they were not designed to be into the game, we have added this content a couple of days before releasing the game.

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Thank you! With that hint I completed the game

As far as the colours, a sincere thank you for trying to help. I looked at the illustration and strangely, there's no way I could tell the brown from the red. The green looks like a lighter colour so I'd be able to identify that, but there's no way to play just with that. Thanks for the effort to accommodate!

I think I know what you mean... It must be a little like looking at colours through those old 3d glasses.
Obviously not that bad but... maybe you know what I mean... or not.

Anyway... Bloody typical that we made a section that you can't play.

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The end creature is, if I remember correctly, Level 35.
You will need to be around level 10 to complete the "Barman Quest". and In the Casino you will need to be around Level 20.
Another point I would like to make is... You don't always need a lorry load of shields. One of our testers completed the game twice before we even added shields.

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Fighting in the cave leveled my character up to level 20! One problem I'm having in the cave is that I got barrel #9 and I "heard something". I assumed that opened the locked door on the top right of the maze but that wasn't it. I burnt through 11 batteries wandering the maze seeing if there is a new open area or a key or something to no avail. What do I do now?

I caught a bunch of fish! Fun addition to the game! it was pretty exciting once I figured out what I'm doing. Not difficult at all.

I tried the apples one more time. It's just not going to happen...I really can't figure out what apple is what colour

The only way to not use shields is by LOADING up on arousal/deelectric/decalcify and so on.

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