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Hey all you evil monsters that devour children in their sleep!

Remember me?  No?  Good.

I'm bspeers, and about 9 years ago I came up with the name "Reality" for a town others had developed on these boards.  Yahtzee thought he would add "on-the-norm" and create the first in a series of community games featuring his own character, Davy Jones.  Since then, dozens of writers, scripters and artists have created their own twist on the Reality-on-the-Norm series, adding many new characters and ideas.

I made one of the first elongated demos for an ugly but bizarre game called "Edge of Reality"  Bugs and life issues, and just creating the huge amount of content this game required kept me busy since mid 2000, but I'm back, and though buggy, the game is now 99.9% complete.  It's on an old engine of AGS, meaning bugs (save early and save often) and it's about 70% ugly, and it also may not run on some newer computers, but it's done, and just needs a few polishing touches.

Only thing is, I need beta testers.  This will be a very quick process.  If you can't solve the puzzles, email me and I'll give you the best answer I can.  You won't have to actually finish the game, just tell me if it works on your system, and any major crashes.  I WILL NOT fix all the bugs, since they are largely harmless, and after 9 years of development, I haven't been able to fix them.  I will not add new content, new quests etc, but I may be convinced to add a new clue or two.  BETA wlll be short though as I have already thoroughly tested the game, and just want some impressions.  It will also be very limited, so post your email below (in any format you like) or PM me, and I'll put you on a shortlist.  The game should enter BETA in about one week's time.

The basic info is here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hpQU76sUGdY

STORY:



When Mika Huy (the underused character, at least, 9 years ago) has trouble dealing with Davy Jone's recent death, she seeks a fortune teller to develop direction for her life.  At her consultation, however, Mika learns of a much greater disembodied threat to all of Reality.  As Mika searches for Thakbor the Great, the only person who can stop this terrible power, she realizes more and more about the universe in which she lives, and crosses over into the very edge of her reality.  But what is real, and what is not?  And why did somebody glue the silo shut?



Along the way, Mika will meet celebrities, the undead mayor, a mime with a death wish, a man who loves hotdogs, a hovering sombrero, and many other bizarre characters from my mind and from the minds of the RON community.

GAMEPLAY

A traditional point-and-click, but with numerous buggy mini-games, four playable characters, and two endings that represent anywhere from ten minutes to an hour of optional content.  Also, special bonuses for completing with different numbers of points.  If you ever complete it.

This game has more rooms and more puzzles than any AGS game of its time.  Almost every feature I put in the game strained the very limits of the AGS version I used, from the number of Global Integers, to dialogue trees, to screens, to characters and items.  A lot of tricky coding allowed me to by-pass some limits, and others I had to rub up against.  Trust me when I say this was an ambitious project.

Are you ready for it?



BETA tests begin in ONE DAY!  Release is planned for January 24th, barring total harddrive meltdown.

Different kinds of knots were having a race.  Who won?

Spoiler

It was a tie.

[close]

It's quite possible to understand things you can't experience.  It's called an imagination.  Most blind people know what "white" is.  It's not like they live in an enclosed commune only for the blind.  They certainly know that white is a blank, bright colour.

Also, many blind people aren't born blind.  Many lose their sight through an accident or as they age.  Most blind people aren't going to have any problem at all with "white house in field."

That said, shape and feel are probably better choices to appeal to blind people.  You could be in a quiet field with tall grass brushing against your leg where you have heard there is an old house.  The house could feel dry and worn up-close, with curled flakes of paint that are brittle to the touch and fall away into dust.

I can see a lot of value in making a blind version and a sighted version of a game, rather than adapting it for both on the fly.

Take a risk.  Fail horribly.

You can thank me later.

No RL&BAT = No list.

You do everything by a detatched crank that puts holes in a wooden punchcard.

OCD is a serious condition that interferes significantly in your daily life.

Checking 6 times to make sure the iron is off every day is not OCD.  It's might be compulsive or obsessive, but it isn't a disorder.

There's one puzzle in my game that I love because it is so hard and so easy at the same time.

There's a character that seems to have no purpose in the game and virtually nothing you can do with "it."  Every time I go back to test after a long absence I'm completely lost.  I think there must be an error because I can't find this one key item.  Then, at random I use the one item in the game this one character might want, and instantly the problem is solved.

It's like I can't figure out the solution if I think about it.  If I turn off my brain and just do the most obvious thing in the world though, the puzzle is solved.  I can't even complain that the thing to do is too obscure because it's so obvious from the get-go.

The thing I hate most in puzzles are items you must arbitrarily pick up.  In Teen Agent there's a stone that you must pick up, but you can't pick up any other stone.  There isn't even a clue that this one stone is useful.  Similarly, Wizard and the Princess has the stones and scorpions puzzle--the only way to find a safe stone is to go through a desert maze.  Also, Grim Fandango had 2 or three "randomly use x on y" puzzles that were virtually impossible to solve.  All puzzles should have an underlying motivation.

Er... all the graphics are really obvious rips.

You can like the game idea if you want, but don't compliment the man for his graphics--he didn't make them.

Of course, the RTP pack for RPG-Maker is commonly used, so I'm not complaining about their use, but it just seems ridiculous when more than half the comments are complimenting something not being done by the game creator.

As someone who has used the RPG-Maker program, I look forward to how you integrate RPG elements through AGS, but not so much towards seeing the same old graphics again.

[Edit by strazer (Use the "Modify" button!):]

Hi all,

My schooling is almost done, so I'm back trying to finally finish Edge of Reality.

Problem is, I've been stuck on the same 3 problem for what feels like years.

Firstly, I have a room with 2 elevators I want the player to be able to summon at will and walk in at will (rather than automatically forcing the player to step into the booth as soon as she hits the button).  The elevators never seem to work, but it's a complicated problem involving one door being animated and one being done with objects and I can't seem to crack it.

The second problem is a small one.  I have a mask Mika puts on, but after she takes it off, there's always a flash of it on again before she goes back to her normal walkcycle, and I swear I've tried everything to get rid of that frame.

Finally, there's a puzzle I'm almost ready to give up on altogether.  I want to drop a stone down an open hole and then trigger a switch in a cutscene based on how many rocks you drop down and which hole you drop them down.  For some reason I can't cause anything at all to happen in my puzzle room (and no it isn't a room # higher than 200 or whatever).

There's one other bug that I can't seem to fix, but I think that one may be literally impossible.

If anyone out there has Ver 2.2 chops and some patience, I would LOVE some help.  I want to make some progress on this damn thing, after all.

Edit by strazer (Use the "Modify" button!):
Okay I will!

Edit: And just to clarify, I'm hoping to either send you the scripts in question for your analysis or the whole game if need be.  Your prize is my eternal gratitude and credit in the longest RON game ever made.

Oh yes, and as I've stated before, I can't upgrade because of a few scripting "tricks" I'm using and some graphical scripts.

Mash takes the expression from "snide" to "fulfilled" and that's the main problem with her expression.  The other examples people have shown have a similarly satisfied look, so I would also go with Mash's edits.  Except for the white lines, obviously, but I don't think those are intended.

I'm no photoshopper (I prefer to shop for food), but imagine this vague chuckle inducing joke:

Tiny Tim            6748
Hanson            2402
Fifty Cent         2101
Rancid                402
Sharon, Lois       402
and Bram
Hitler                    23

Oh, I'm so alsmost amusing.

And lazy.

Yes, I too was inspired.  This was a good topic, and if there aren't many entries, it's not the fault of the topic but of people's schedules around this time (or something).

Yeah, they're not that funny, but I thought it might work as a concept.  It's somewhere between "clean joke" humour (IE: lame) and metacomedy (IE: funny).

Any good ones out there?  It would be nice to see some less clean ones too.

Yo Mamma so fit, she's no sleepwalker, she's a sleep triathlete!

Yo mamma so fine, she's got a point on the end!

Yo mamma so fat and ugly... in bizarro world!  Oh, your mother's great!

You mamma so kind, when people call the goodwill, they get her!

You mamma so clean, when she sneezes, windex comes out!  OHHH! (spritz, spritz, spritz)

It's very nicely detailed, the technique I like, and it's functional, but too fuzzy.  Try smoothing out some of that noise, or just using less.  Step back and look and the effect for a moment.

Otherwise, I very much like!

I have a RoN game that is soo closed to finished, but game-harming bugs are making it impossible to complete.  As Dave knows, it is a very long game that branches out from the RoN universe.

My advice is to ignore consistency.  Have a character you like leave RoN and go to Swaziland, or start a colony on Mars in an alternate dimension.  My game has been in the works for too many years (it's dos only I think), and now the continuity is all messed up, but you know what?  I don't care!  Just play any RoN game and then branch off in any way you like.  Hell, remake all the characters in pointalism style, who cares.  People should be able to follow spin-offs anywhere they like, introduce as many characters as they like and follow other people's plotlines wherever they like.

Obviously there is an overall story in RoN, and if EVERYBODY sent the characters off in every imaginable direction there'd be too little consistency, but that already hasn't happened.  So don't be intimidated, just play one or two.

However, I also support the idea of a new series, as long as it is about (thinks of something stupid and obvious) three roomates whose home happens to be directly on a rift in time and space.  Or about kittens with superpowers, one of the two.

BTW, I really haven't abandoned Edge, I just keep thinking my thesis will be done and it still isn't, so probably when that's done I'll polish it up. -Yo

I liked your old style as well, bu this one is quite good.  You'd want to use some in-game lughting effects to wash-out characters a bit.

The one thing I don't like is the tree.  The shape doesn't seem natural or sculpted and the colours are too saturated.  I think it detracts from the scene at the moment.

Otherwise, I really like the style and composition.  you might want to play around with stylized animation and characters.

I think His band would be awesome and would play all style of music, combining them into something not even the Beatles could front on!

You seem to be assuming that he'd be good at everything, just because he's Jesus.  I mean, he didn't even succeed as a carpenter--why do you think he turned to being a messiah?

But here's the real question -- could I be taller than Jesus?

Think about it--

Think.

Okay, stop thinking.

Nice pic!

I think what 2ma2 is writing has more direct use for your drawing than you allow.  I think some simple lighting choices will draw the attention a little better.  When it's stormy out, clouds don't blanket a street in darkness quite as black as you've used.  Some highlights through the clouds and in patches of the road will help.

Although lights in the windows may not be the best solution, in any darkness (whether it is day or night) you would see inside areas well, if they have any light at all.  Perhaps some dull details through the windows would help rather than as strong  a lightsource.

I googled some appropriate images, and while the windows are in fact dark, you can see slightly more detail than you can at night, there also isn't as much gloom and shadow as you have in your drawing, which may be there for stylistic reasons but doesnt' carry the mood as some of the photographs I found.  The two linked below are not the strongest, necessarily, but do fit with the style you're working with.

EDIT: For whatever reason, the first of these links (the only one directly pertinent to your picture) isn't linking directly.  You can do the same search though, there are some good references out there.

http://www.suffolkcam.co.uk/bramfield_village.jpg/

http://www.roatanisland.net/images/images_touristguide/P1150002.JPG


I would play a game with *my* graphics, and they suck.  The only thing I care about is whether the game is fun/enlightening and effort was put into the graphics.  If your graphics are as bad as mine (mine are much worse than yours), I'm looking for details you put in whether well realized or not.  Your graphics exceed those expectations, and in fact are quite good.  Functional, well-drawn and moody.  Few complaints here.