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Or watch this nice movie called "A Serbian film"

Note: do not watch this.

Sorry about that. I should've added waaaay more smileys to my last post. (unlike Tabata, I really don't like smileys! <- )
I hope, I didn't come across the wrong way or tick you off or something along those lines!

Oh, god no.  I've joked about how often I ummm and uhhh in interviews many times.  Maybe it is I who needs more smileys.

Wow.  This looks amazing!  If the quality of the story matches the quality of those graphics, this should be a killer game!  Keeping an eye on this one.

No tutorials that did much for me, but I might make one myself one of these days!

[Coding:]

I wasn't kidding about the FPS!  It will be the best game of 2018.

I don't know why I didn't ummm so much.  Maybe because I was laughing so much.  Out of all the podcasts I've done over the last couple weeks, this one is the only one that makes zero attempt to be professional, which makes it hilarious and easy going.

Anian's right, I could have given some tips!  I AM FASCINATING AND INFORMATIVE! Here's two for you, Anian:

Coding: repeatedly_execute_always is your friend for making crazy stuff.  Don't worry about it slowing down the game.  Resonance has thousands of lines of code jammed in there!

Art: Particle Illusion 3.0 (Available here) Was used to make almost all the special effect graphics in the game.  Fire, smoke, birds flying, sparks, explosions.  It's awesome, and I figured out a pretty good pipeline for using it in conjunction with AGS.

Writing: Do it in the shower!  But not on your computer, that's dangerous.  Use your noodle!  Not that one!

I'm going to be interviewed in about ten minutes live on http://vognetwork.com So, if you're into that... join in!

Edit: It's done.  I guess a recording will be put up at some point.

Interesting question, Stu...  I might release my design doc at some point.  I'd have to think about it.  It's so personal!

Thanks David, I'll have to try and struggle through a Google translator interpretation of that review later!

If you reload your most recent save and try again, it might work.  Try doing things in a slightly different order.  I haven't gotten this bug myself, but I know other people have managed to work around it.  Again, really sorry for this, we'll get it fixed eventually, but have to make sure any changes and fixes are extremely well considered so we don't have a Fez debacle on our hands.

1.  Come up with great idea for a game.
2.  Work on it alone.
3.  Game explodes in size and scope.
4.  Loss of interest.

Never give up!  Never surrender!  (By Grabthar's Hammer, what a savings!)

[Ed wasn't trapped in the vault. There was another door in that room. And if you look at the map of that floor in the thermal scanner, you'll see that the door led to another one of the ventilation shafts like the one the group used to get down into the supercollider. The idea is that this other door is probably a much easier way to travel to and from the vault and is probably how Dr. Morales was getting in and out. Ed was out of the vault faster than Bennet & Ray]

Yeah, thanks.  We've had a few people point that one out to us.  We'll probably be releasing a new version eventually that fixes that and the other handful of bugs we've seen.  That one is definitely the most serious bug we've gotten, though.

Sslax: That puzzle wasn't really cut, but instead turned into something else:

Spoiler

Bennet was going to get a paper crane in there, instead, we had him go to Edgetown to have that first meeting with Reno.

[close]

There wasn't much cut from the game, actually.  If you look at my original design doc and the final game, they line up remarkably well.  Two things that I wish we could have left in, but were cut:

Spoiler

The character of the police chief was going to be introduced the first time Bennet goes upstairs in the police HQ.  Then, after tracing Ed's cell, the police chief would catch you and hold you at gunpoint until Reggie would swoop in and save you, pointing a gun at the chief while you escape.  This would have given a heroic wrap up to the character of Reggie.  This was cut because I was already overworking ProgZ, and because these two scenes were non-interactive and only padded the game out more without adding meaningful gameplay.

[close]

Spoiler

I wanted to have a "new game plus" mode unlocked after beating the game.  When playing through this mode, we would see the extra bits during the game of Ed enacting his plan.  Calling Amul & Reno.  Setting the timer on the Resonance device before going to meet Anna on the subway.  Talking with Amul/Reno about the thug sent to scare Anna, allowing Ed to be the hero, etc.  This was cut for time and because you can basically get all this information by asking Ed about the right LTMs during that crane scene.

[close]

Edit:
Urpney, I forgot to answer one of your questions:

Spoiler

Well, that's another point - last time we saw Ed, he was trapped in the vault. And next he's armed with gun and a resonance device and free - if Amul freed him, why did he let him have the device? And if he escaped all by himself - why did he leave the remaining devices for Amul to take? (yeap, I know, I'm moaning far too much for an excellent game Resonance is)

Ed wasn't trapped in the vault.  There was another door in that room.  And if you look at the map of that floor in the thermal scanner, you'll see that the door led to another one of the ventilation shafts like the one the group used to get down into the supercollider.  The idea is that this other door is probably a much easier way to travel to and from the vault and is probably how Dr. Morales was getting in and out.  Ed was out of the vault faster than Bennet & Ray

[close]

No way to open those, Stu!  They were involved in a puzzle that was cut.

Thanks Snarky!  I've got no excuses for those places you got stuck or puzzles you had issues with, so I won't try to defend myself!  I should have added extra/better solutions and better hints!

Regarding the phone tracing puzzle:

Spoiler

The strategy there wasn't very clear and I would agree that this puzzle isn't very readable.  You are supposed to use aggressive options (avoiding the ones that piss him off too much or make him hang up right away) until his mood changes.  He says something like "Please believe me. I'm not a bad guy." and Ray says "Then prove it to me."  This is your chance to switch to interrogative and ask him some questions.  After two questions (I think) he says something indicating that you're wearing his patience down and you have to switch back to aggressive.  There are a couple ways you can solve it, but the gist is that you have to ask one of the two(?) interrogative options that gets him to mention Amul and Reno, and then ask the question that that unlocks.

I would like to have revised this more with a little more readability, but didn't do it well enough before the voice acting schedule caught up with me and it was locked in!  My bad!

[close]

And the thing you didn't find the use for:

Spoiler

How did you figure out "Te Prometo" without it?"  After Anna's recollection of her not-father's (uncle's) death, you have the B&W scene in the cemetery.  Use the key paper on the father's (uncle's) grave and you can make a rubbing which reveals the code.

[close]

Thanks for the feedback Snarky!  Always appreciated!

Urpney, thanks for the bug reports, and that is nuts about the Hellraiser thing!

[Yeah, I definitely thought of this, but for clarity and ease of understanding, I just brushed past it. Though he isn't the leader, Reno pulls all the strings!]

Hey everybody!  I just got back from New York and had a blast at the release party, and then avoiding the internet for a few days!  The reviews have been great and all the feedback I'm hearing from players is very positive, so I couldn't be happier.

Wow Urpney, I never even considered that someone might solve that puzzle box by brute force.  That is hardcore!  Also, it's a totally optional puzzle! 

Urpney, responses to some of your other spoiler-heavy thoughts (not for people who haven't completed the game):

Spoiler

-   Why does Batra â€" leader of powerful secret organization runs his own errands (minor ones, like a random act of burglary) and uses his public name while doing undercover job? It’s kind of against being secret society : )
Yeah, I definitely thought of this, but for clarity and ease of understanding, I just brushed past it.  Though he isn't the leader, Reno pulls all the strings!
-   Ed acts kind of irrationally: why does he use the very last pair of priceless resonance devices to destroy the mainframe? Bomb placed somewhere there would do the job pretty well. No time! Use what you have I guess! Why does he shoot Anna no matter what she chooses in the vault? The idea is that he doesn't know what button she's reaching for.  All he sees is that she's reaching for the screen and isn't answering him when he calls to her.  It's supposed to tie into the theme of fate/predetermination and the meaningless of choices in the presence of a "cosmic" plan. Why does he even bother entering the vault if he still has the devices used to destroy the laboratory and knows how to build them? If you read Morales' journal, you'll see that Ed had stolen one single Resonance device, but had no way to make more without Dr. Morales' full research on capturing the Resonance particles.  He needed the contents of that vault.
-   Isn’t Tolstoy a surname rather than a name? Like in Leo Tolstoy or Alexei Tolstoy. There are ways to ask Ed about this in game.  His parents were book nerds and he hates his first name, hence he goes by "Ed"
-   The “Lament Configuration” puzzle in Tortoise’s was truly hellish! Is there any other way than trail and error? After some time I really felt like Frank Cotton, messing with the box for several hours. BTW, Tortoise himself shares some similarity (like his headgear and moustache) with Camerahead the Corny Cenobite â€" was that intentional? I can assure you that this was all unintentional! Also, as mentioned above, I meant for you to use the ultra-sonograph to solve this one.  You can get one in the morgue.  Much easier that way!  Also, you can skip this puzzle by black mailing Tortoise with the picture of Amul!

[close]

As for my next game, I'm almost done with it!  I'll announce it soon and then release it in 2017.

Thanks everybody!  And even though this thread is sneaking up on the record for the most replies of any In-Production post... it's time to lock it up!

Resonance is released!
(or will be in just a few hours.)

Darth... do your thing!

[After five years of development...]

This won't actually be released for 12 hours or so, but I'm going to be on a plane then, so I hope you don't mind me posting a little early:

After five years of development...

is finally available!



Buy Now via Wadjet Eye Games: (will be available for purchase as soon as Dave flips the switch at about 10AM EST)

 

Story:

A particle physicist's mysterious and spectacular death sparks a race to find his hidden vault and claim his terrifying new discovery. The player will take control of four characters whose lives become entangled in the search for the scientist's vault. They will have to learn to trust each other and work together to overcome the obstacles in their way and to keep this new and powerful technology out of the hands of a dangerous organization.

Screenshots:

                 

Features:

• Four playable swappable characters
  
• A twisting, riveting storyline
  
• Full voice acting featuring Logan Cunningham (Bastion)
  
• Unique long-term and short-term memory systems
  
• Cheat death by rewinding time
  
• A unique and intuitive interface
  

Team members:

• Dave Gilbert - Voice Acting directing
  
• Janet Gilbert - Programming
  
• Nauris Krause - Backgrounds
  
• Nikolas Sideris - Music and Sound
  
• Shane Stevens - Characters and animation
  
• Vince Twelve - Design, programming, story
  

Steam Note:

We had a snafu with scheduling and cannot formally release the game for purchase on Steam until next month.  However, everyone who buys the game via Wadjet Eye's website also gets a Steam key, and those keys will work on Steam right away!  So, you can get a Steam copy right now by buying from Wadjet Eye via the link above.  And if you absolutely insist on sending your money to me via Steam, you'll just have to wait a month.

Personal Note:

Thank you guys for sticking with me through this!  I haven't been as active in the community as I used to be over the last two years or so because I've thrown myself into this game mind-body-and-non-existent-soul.  But I owe so much to this community!  Thank you thank you thank you!

Glad you guys are enjoying it!  Years and years of hard work in there!

And for the record, I disagree with Dave about that puzzle being the hardest in the game!  It's a puzzle that either clicks with you or doesn't.  It's definitely one that might resonate (pun not intended) with Myst/Riven fans who like more mechanical puzzles.  There are a few like this in the game.  Some, like that one, are optional.  And some, I feel, are harder!  Lot's more to come!!!

I would also kick in money to a Kickstarter for that gorgeous looking game!  (Do you have a US bank account, though?  It's required for Kickstarter.  You could use a proxy, if you have a trustworthy friend in the US *cough* and I'm sure you have several on this very site!)

I held a Kickstarter for Resonance two and a half years ago, and had a generally positive experience.  The site is easy to use for the most part. The reporting features leave a lot to be desired.  It's really hard just to get a mailing list of all your donators, for example.  But all the updates, video, and media are easy to handle.  And all the money was handled really well and shunted into my bank account easy-peasy.

Things have changed a lot on Kickstarter since then, though.  At that point, Kickstarter was very new and the $20,000 projects were the amazingly big ones. So, $2,000 seemed like a significant achievement for me.  Now, of course, the big ones are in the millions and $2,000 would be a tiny blip on the radar.

It is very hard now, from what I understand, to get attention on Kickstarter without a recognizable IP or a big name attached to a project.  You'll need community support and lots of people getting the word out (which I'm sure you'll get a lot of from this community!).  And maybe don't set your goal in the $500,000 range.   Make sure you have a video that stands out and some good pictures to go along with it.  Set a low-ball goal and hope you smash past it.  Better than setting a big goal, falling short, and getting nothing.

Another big tip:  Make sure the rewards you offer are either digital (desktop backgrounds, downloads of the game, thanks in the credits) or sufficiently over-priced to make it worth it.  If you're spending all your effort making and mailing posters and t-shirts and you're making only a few dollars profit on each, it's a waste of time and not at all worth it.  It's KickSTARTER, not KickSELLER, so you're looking for generous donations, not product sales.  Most backers will understand that the site is for supporting creativity, not for getting good deals.

Finally: put a ridiculously high donation level even if you think no one will ever give that much.  You might be pleasantly surprised all the way to the bank.

The Demo is out this morning!  http://resonance-game.com

Rockin' stuff ProgZ.  Love those chars!

Those are gorgeous screens, Andail!