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That trailer was fantastic, I love the mansion's new look, it's so spot on between B horror movies and Chuck Jones that all that's missing is Scooby-Doo.

I am sooooooo hyped, keep up the good work!

Please delete this post

A friend gave me this link today.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccqJ9W_E3jI

Someone apparently got their hands on a beta version of the canceled Warcraft adventure game and made a video walkthrough with it. Since they hyped that game like there was no tomorrow just to put it on the shelf afterward I figured some of you might be interested to know what it could have been.

Good call, if all the lines were spoken in panicked voice I would have played it with the speakers turned off.

Cool game, the water rising was a nice use of a timer, I liked the various challenges that sprung at different time and walking slower the more water there was, it really added to the experience and the emergency.

How many endings were there?

Spoiler

I wouldn't ask if what I think is the good ending wasn't so ambiguous, with the guy getting through the window, giving the thumb up to the diver while huge glasses sticks out of his back.

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I don't think he's right but he's not entirely wrong either. Adventures games progressed technically but the core design remained the same since Zork, Myst and Monkey Island, you don't see much procedurally generated murder mystery or multiplayer adventure games or brand new ideas like that, and you don't see much games like Loom or The Last Express, people tend to stick to Zork, Myst, King's Quest or Monkey Island in term of design.

In the case of IF, sure you can now type stuff like "Pick up the vase, the keys and look under the desk" but do they react to commands like "How big is the vase? What color is it? What's under the desk? Where am I?" You don't see much articles about design or the actual mechanics of adventure games like Vince Twelve's article on badly designed interfaces and how useless it is to have two different verbs to talk and interact when you never talk with objects or physically interact with NPCs, an article that left a huge impact considering the number of AGS games released in the last years that used only two buttons, one to walk and interact and another to examine.

I also don't think anyone should feel offended or take Blow's remark personally or get the impression they're part of the problem either. There's absolutely nothing wrong with using the same old mechanics or making a game like Monkey Island if that's what you want to make, Abbaye Des Morts was one of the best platformer I played last year and it was a very basic yet fun platformer, same thing with Tiny Barbarian released earlier this year. You don't have to tread new grounds if you don't want to, I forgot who here keep saying this but to quote him or her, make the game you want to make. But I think we should all feel concerned that adventure games design are still stuck in the nineties.

Tell him that at best he'll just receive a cease and desist telling him to stop making it, that's it, he won't get sued. Fangames get in trouble when their creators contact the rights holders or start hyping the shit out of their project until it's picked up by mainstream news outlet, if their biggest fans are not aware if the project is still alive, I doubt Telltale or Steve Purcell are aware either. Case Gilbert could be out for months before they notice its existence, at which point there's not much they'll be able to do to stop it.

If he's still paranoid, all he has to do is change the title, not put his name in the credits, and upload it from an internet cafe or something.

My bottom line - f**k episodes. When as a kid did you ever buy & play an episodic game.

I pity the fool who missed Commander Keen, Epic Pinball, Duke Nukem and all the good old games from the shareware era.

Awwww... for a sec I thought Technocrat patched the game... :<

Also, I couldn't buy more units in this level - is this intended?

My memory is rusty but if I recall correctly there are two resources in the game: Money and reinforcements. You start each levels with 15 or so reinforcements, each unit you build cost you money and one reinforcement, when you run out of reinforcement, that's it, you can't build anymore units. Bringing units that are no longer useful in a city you control and disbanding them is the only way to increase your Reinforcement. If units are killed in battle or if you disband them outside a city, the reinforcement will be lost forever.

Then it's your typical platformer.

just another run-of-the-mill platformer

If you guys played three more minutes you would have discovered that it's a completely different game when more than three enemies are thrown at you. That game requires planning, stealth and evasion, it's totally not your typical platformer.

Back on topic, if I had to improve that game, I would make checkpoint visible, maybe with a differently colored crystal in the background, so I know when I can restart breathing after a difficult moment. Also, keyboard controls really need improvement like ProgZ said, I had to stop at level two, because it was impossible for my keyboard to record Left, Z and X pressed at the same time, making a long jump necessary to progress impossible to complete.

Were it not for that jump, I would have certainly completed it, the stealth and evasion made the gameplay interesting and the story was intriguing.

From best to less best:

Time Gentlemen, Please!
Blackwell Unbound
The Adventures Of Fatman
Blackwell Legacy

I can't choose the last game, not that it would really matter since there's good chance the whole list will have to be rewritten when Gemini Rue is out.

For a first game it was awesome! Don't stop now, I look forward to your next games!

2 weeks ago, a friend of mine invited me on his server and before I knew it I was addicted. I build houses, farm, mines, subway stations linking the spawn point to all our constructions, I managed to survive more than 12 days in a row away from the comfort of our castle, collecting exotic resources during the day and hiding in my makeshift camp at night, and I can't wait for the next updates and for the Nether to be added in multiplayer.

My problem with the monsters wasn't that I didn't like the thrill and danger of dying, it's just that they were bugging out - especially creepers would hardly ever die even in broad daylight meaning it was impossible for me to move out of my home without risking ruining other people's hard work in the village by having one of them explode on me.

It's not a bug, it's a feature. Creepers and spiders don't die in daylight. Skeletons and zombies burns, spiders become peaceful during day (unless if you provoke them, or unless they enter a shadowy area, or unless they set their sights on you during the night, in which case they'll still be hostile), creepers are always hostile and won't die with sunlight. If there is a creeper blocking your front door, it's time you build a back door, or a tower where you can shoot arrows at them.

If there are dark areas in a 70 blocks radius around you, monsters will appears in them, if they see you, they will give chase. I suggest you unite your forces and put torches in the streets, on your rooftops, in your dark alleys, in your houses, and every 8 blocks in a 70 blocks radius around your town.

It's also a good idea to have a huge cactus farm (more than 64) and trim them daily to build a huge cactus rampart around your precious stuff, so monsters that try to reach you will just stings themselves to death (watch out, spiders can climb and do high and long jumps, it's possible for them to jump above the fence). Until then, you should only go out during the day and stay in your home at night, find a Let's Play you can watch while you wait for the morning to come, or find something you can build in the safety of your house (like a communal basement) lest you provoke spiders and creepers and lure them into town.

I knew I was not crazy when I asked for higher res backgrounds, these are stunning! :o

As for working on JD1 HD after you're done with JD2 or the next chapters, think about it for a moment, if you do JD1 HD after JD2, people will complain you're remaking that old game instead of working on the next chapters, and if you remake the first game when you're done with the last chapter, you will have lost most of your market already because most people will have finished your game and only the hardcore fans will be interested in revisiting it. Nah, if you want to update that game, you don't have much choice but do it before JD2 is out.

I don't know if you should release them at the same time however. You said it yourself, it's all about exposure, both before and after release. If you release both at the same time, you'll have your week of glory and that will be it. What you could do instead is finish JDHD, keep it in a drawer and bring it out some months before JD2 is ready, this way you'll maximize your exposure. If you play your card well, you'll hype JDHD, release it, spread the word, give interviews "Oh, btw, here's a teaser of JD2, which is coming out in a couple of month"... beating the iron while it's hot.

But the expert on the subject is Dave, it's him who should be giving you advices.

I could be mistaken and I don't want to fire up Maniac Mansion just to find out, but I think the door to the pool is closed and you can't access the rest of the house during the final showdown with the meteor, you can just enter the garage. But I'm really not sure about that one.

Alright, let me look at my folder of indie games...

Fedora Spade, if you're a fan of Ace Attorney,
Emerald City Confidential
Puzzle Bots
Jolly Rover
Machinarium
Rorschach (Only a demo but awesome demo)
The Dream Machine
Enclosure
That Night Before

The Dead Case
Peasant's Quest
The Trader of Stories: Bell’s Heart
Fallen From The Moon
Earl Grey And That Rupert Dude
Gretel And Hansel Pt 1-2
Samorost 1-2
Questionaut

I actually heard of the site for the first time ever in this very threat. Dang. Seems I'm in for an archive binge.

You're in for several archive binges then. They updated their site last january, the only thing that's working right now are news and half of the media database. Their games and features section, with their extremely long LucasArts adv. games articles and columns, have not been uploaded yet.

I found it weird that I had to unlock the front door. Surely, if you want to lure someone into a trap, the first thing not to do is hamper their way to said trap, the front door should have been unlocked.

Also, I think I found a bug in there:

Spoiler

When the fridge has electricity, use it once to get the sandwich, then, use it a second time, while the sandwich is still in the tray and you'll never be able to get the toaster.

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I'm not done with the game yet but I think it's pretty good for a first game.

http://io9.com/5713638/ron-gilbert-delivers-the-deathspank-in-episode-27-of-the-geeks-guide-to-the-galaxy

In case you missed it, that was posted on Mixnmojo some days ago, Ron talks about Deathspank, Limbo, Roger Ebert, games as art, On Stranger Tides, POTC, Monkey Island, humor, puzzles, death in adv. games, death of adv. games, the state of the industry... all interesting stuff.

Say, since I find myself reposting a whole lot of stuff from Mixnmojo here, just so I know, is there anyone here who doesn't visit Mixnmojo?

Ah yes, I played some of those. The problem is not immersion or flash, when I'm done with a very good flash game, I check the webpage's source for the location of the .swf file and I save in on my hard drive, so I can still play it 10 years later if I feel like it. My problem with Dream Machine is that I've paid for it AND I can't save it on my hard drive. 10 years from now, if they decide to pull the plug on their site, it will be gone forever.

Care to suggest me some?