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Flux World had now been released.  After rigorous testing, this game, which introduces the player to the new genre of Flux-Based Computer Gaming, is now available as shareware.  The full version game may be downloaded free of charge at the Flux World website.  This is a complete version; no features have been disabled, and you can play the game through to its surprising conclusion.  When you have finished playing, if you enjoyed the game, there is a page on my website for you to make a payment.




Here, basically, is what the game is about:  You are alone in your home when, suddenly, you are taken away to a strange place.  You are constantly attacked by beasts.  You have a weapon to fight the beasts, but, much to your horror, the laws of physics in this world are different from what you are accustomed to.  You fire a missle at one of the beasts, but it veers off to one side.

You come to learn that there is an everpresent Flux that alters the way things behave in this world.  As you progress in the game, you come to learn the nature of the Flux and to use it to your advantage.  The object of the game is to escape from this world and return home.

Although the game does contain combat, completing the game is accomplished primarily through problem solving.  Every object in the game is symbolic of something, and unlocking the symbolism is the key to the game.  And, although Flux World has an alternate physics, you don't need to know any physics to play the game.  Like everything else in the game, the physics is simply symbolic of something else.

EDIT:  Replaced screenshot with one in PNG format.

Thanks, I missed that.  I was looking for a recruiting category.  I hope it is okay to post in both places.

I'm looking for one or more background/sprite artists to work on the graphics for my game Flux World.  My website is http://www.replinemeadowsoftware.com/fluxworld.  If I can get one or more background/sprite artists to work on the game, I will offer the game for sale and split the proceeds with my artists.  If not, I plan to offer the game as shareware with my original graphics.  If you are interested, please send an e-mail to fluxmaster@replinemeadowsoftware.com.

There is a thread in the AGS Games in Production forum with more information about this game.  Someone there suggested that I also post here; I hope that it is okay to do so.

After much deliberation, I have decided to go with choice number 1½.  I shall fix the remaining bugs and offer the game as shareware. However, new artists are still welcome to apply. If and when a commercial release with enanced graphics is available, those who have paid for the shareware version will be able to apply the amount that they have paid to the cost of the commercial version.

Maybe post a post in the recruitment thread with a link to your game documents!

Where can I find the recruitment thread?

EDIT:  Although I intend to fix all the logic errors before releasing the game, I will be unable to make changes to the original graphics because the original graphics were drawn at low resolution, and I have converted the game to high resolution.  In particular, there are two bugs that must remain unfixed:

1.  The Lumberjack changes color slightly after he has cut down a tree.  You may, if you wish, think of that as being due to prespiration.

2.  Twice in the second half of the game, one of the barracks shifts by one pixel while under construction.

For a more detailed discussion of this issue, see the following thread:

http://fluxwarrior.bplaced.net/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3=9

EDIT:  Actually, I just discovered this morning that AGS has an option to import a sprite at the original resolution, so I was able to correct the problem of the barracks shifting by one pixel.  I think that I will leave the color of the Lumberjack as is, as it gives the effect of prespiration, and it would be a lot of trouble to fix it.

I am still recruiting one or more background/sprite artists for my game, as Fribbi is no longer on the team.  All team members will be paid based on a percentage of sales.

I would also like the opinion of some of those who have tried the beta version and/or posted on this thread before.  I have basically two possibilities here.  I can recruit artists to provide better backgrounds and sprites, or I can release the game with its current backgrounds and sprites.  Some posters here have said that they prefer my current backgrounds and sprites.  Since there is a lot of symbolism to the game, and enhanced backgrounds and sprites will be able to bring out that symbolism better by adding subtle hints that do not appear in my graphics, I would perfer to recruit some artists who could do that for me.  Howerver, I do believe that the game is playable with its current graphics.  So we have

Choice 1:  Finish testing the game, do the remaining bug fixes, and release the game as shareware with the current graphics.  Ask for monetary contributions from those who have liked the game.

Choice 2:  Recruit one or more artists (and possibly a composer), improve the graphics, and then offer the game for sale for around $20 or so.

Choice 2 will add at least another year to the development cycle.  Note that if I cannot recruit any new artists, I will be limited to choice 1.

Could I have some opinions from those who have posted here before and/or have tried the game (or even from those who have done neither) as to whether you would prefer choice 1 or choice 2.  Thank you.

I have started my own forum for the game.  You can find it here:

http://fluxwarrior.bplaced.net/phpBB3

Bug reports and speculation about the meaning of the game can be posted there.  Of course, you can still post comments about the game on this thread.

I have also uploaded a new version with more bug fixes.

I do plan to start my own forum, but I want to wait until there is enough interest in the game that there will be enough people reading the forum and posting to it.  Perhaps I'll look into that next week.  As of the moment, this thread has been read over 6700 times, so maybe this would be a good time.

I just looked over the forum rules, and it said that this is the forum to promote one's game.  It didn't specifically address the issues of bug reports and such.  I thought that giving readers the chance to read these things would help promote the game.  If I start my own forum, then I can move bug reports and detailed communications with my artist there and only post new completed backgrounds and sprites here as they become available.

Could the mods comment on this.  Is this forum okay for posting bug reports and communicating with my artist?  I was only trying to stir up interest in the game, but if that's objectionable, then we can limit this thread to new completed backgrounds and sprites and comments from forum members on the progress of the game.

I just sent you an e-mail explaining some more secrets of the game.  This should help you with the map.  Please remember to keep everything in that e-mail secret.

Your close-ups of the barracks are a lot more than I expected.  How will that work?  Will the player click on the barracks on the long view to see the close-up image?

I want to offer this game for sale (and you're getting half the take, remember), so all the graphics in the game must be free of copyright restrictions.

I can't wait to see your test game.

Thank you for offering to beta test my game.  I have sent you a copy of the latest beta to your e-mail address.  In the future, you can always download the latest beta at

www.replinemeadowsoftware.com/fluxworld/FluxWorld.zip

I'm glad that you like Fribbi's backgrounds.  Wait till you see the new ones that he's working on; they're going to be really good.

That is good, but I have a couple of comments.  First, you understand that some of the roads and buildings will not be built until later in the game, so they will not be part of the background but will be objects.  Also, each building except for the one in the intro should be right up against one of the roads.  Finally, the river looks good, but I want to make sure that it is visible in both of the "rooms" in Troforia.  There doesn't have to be only one river; you can have several rivers if you can fit them in, or one main river with several small brooks or streams.

See also the map that I e-mailed you.

That's basically right, but there are a few things I'd like you to correct.  First, could you start up that special version of the game that I made for you and start the game at the point named "Making Progress."  Watch what happens.  You will see the lumberjack cut down a tree to construct barracks.  Then walk one screen south.  You will see a lot more construction in that scene.  Several trees will be cut down, several buildings will be constructed, both military barracks and civilian residences, and roads will be constructed.

Ther are a couple of things you should notice.  First, when trees are cut down to construct barracks or other buildings, there is an "opening up" of the scene.  In other words, parts of the scene that were previously blocked from view by the trees are now visible.  There is space in between the barracks, so they are not so close together.  The second thing to notice is that the newly constructed roads form a 'Y' shape, not a straight line.

So there are a couple of things to correct in the map.  First, the barracks are too close together; there should be visible space in between them  Second, there should not be a straight road that runs all the way through Troforia.  The road should go only as far as there are buildings.  When new buildings are constructed, then new roads will be built, but in Troforia they will be in the shape of the letter 'Y', not a straight line.

If you don't know how to start the game in the middle, let me know.  It only works in your special version.

If you like, I can draw you a rough map of the entire game, if that would help.  Please let me know if you need that.

Okay, I've finished the game.  Very interesting and original.  I've never played anything quite like it before.

Thank you!

After seeing the ending scene in context (and talking to the shopkeeper), I think that I have an idea about what the symbolism of the game is.  Should I mention it here or in a private e-mail?

Please use private e-mail.

EDIT:  Your interpretation of the symbolism of the game is correct.  There is much more to it than you wrote in your e-mail, but your interpretation is correct as far as it goes.

At the end (and I'm assuming that this is the end this time, although there was one false ending before), the game asks me whether I want to quit or keep playing.  If I choose to keep playing, I can't leave the hardware store or do anything else.  So is that really the ending, or is there more stuff to do in this game?

That's the end.  The option to keep playing is for those who really want to return to Flux World and play some more, but there's nothing new to do, so it would just be repeating the same stuff over again.  I doubt that very many players would actually want to do that.  I'll add that functionality when I get around to it.

Beta testing is still open, and new beta testers are welcome to join.  Each beta tester plays the game a little differently and tries out different things, so the more beta testers I can get the better the game will be in the end.

[NO!!!]

In the first half of the game, at one point the Telmorg cursor came up instead of the right crosshairs cursor.

You see why it's important to keep testing the first half of the game.

In the second half of the game, there were several instances where a paticular sprite appeared twice in the same scene where one would expect to see it only once.  This occured in various scenes and with various sprites.  It looks like some clean-up code is missing.

I'll look into it.

At what appears to be the end of the game, a message comes up telling me that I have satisfied all the gods and asking me whether I want to go home.  When I answer yes, the game returns to the original scene, . . . .  If I hadn't read your comments posted on this thread, I would think that that was the end of the game, since it seems like a reasonable way to end the game, with the player returning home.

Yes, but there is one more thing to do.

Perhaps the whole thing was nothing but a dream.

NO!!!

But since I had discovered that bug that prematurely allows the player to walk south from the bedroom to the hardware store, and you confirmed that the game ends in the hardware store, I'm assuming that the player is supposed to be able to walk south from that scene, but that that functionality was broken by some other change to the code.

I have just put in a quick fix and uploaded the new version so that you can finish the game.  I only had to change one of the room scripts.  Since I didn't change the global script, you will not have to start the game from the beginning.  You can simply download the new version, load one of your saved games near the end, right before it asks you whether you want to return home, and play the final scene.  Good job!

The rest of the bugs I'll put on my to-do list.  I have also made a few more bug fixes to the 8-bit color and 16-bit color versions (even though I said that I wouldn't) and uploaded them to the server so that these two versions can be played through to the end by anyone who wishes to.  But these two versions will not be getting a complete set of bug fixes; they are for comparison purposes only.

I have corrected this problem and uploaded the new version.  You should now be able to finish the game.  There are no more difficult problems to solve after this point, so you should be able to finish it in a couple of minutes.  (Of course, you still have to play the game from the beginning!)

Have you made the offering to the god of Melloria?  Making the offering to the god of any precinct generally triggers the next sequence.

The second image is very good.  The scene must have a lot of plants, vines, and fruit, but they don't all have to be the same.  I just used the spray paint tool to paint those violet dots on the lanscape to look like grapes in my graphics, but it would be better if there were more variety of plants.

The background that you drew is about 75-80% sky.  The sky is important because in one scene there is thunder and lightning, and then the sky turns dark.  But the sky should be no more than 25% of the background.

Because the sky takes up so much of the background, the buildings are very small.  Small buildings mean small people.  As I stated in my private e-mail, each of the NPC's must have a distinct uniform so that players can tell them apart.  In my graphics, all the NPC's look the same, but that makes it difficult for the player to understand what is going on.  In order for the NPC's to have distinct uniforms, they must be larger, and so the buildings must be larger.  That means more ground and less sky.  If you need to make the room scrolling in order to make the buildings large enough, that is fine, provided that at least five buildings can be visible at the same time.

So, in short, the second image is good, but (1) the plants should have more variety, (2) there should be more ground and less sky, and (3) the buildings should be larger.

After consultation with my graphic artist Fribbi, we have decided that Flux World will utilize 32-bit colors when it is released, so all further development and testing will be with a 32-bit color depth.

Supporting an 8-bit color version, a 16-bit color version, and a special version for Fribbi was causing problems keeping all three versions in sync.  In particular, the code to add the silver mirror to the players inventory was added to the 8-bit color version and the Fribbi version but not to the 16-bit color version.  I have added this code to the 16-bit color version and have uploaded it to the server.  The 8-bit color version and 16-bit color version will still be available to download, at least for a while, but they will not be further updated or supported.  From now on, only the 32-bit color version will be updated.  The 32-bit color version is now available for download on my website and contains several bug fixes not found in either of the unsupported versions.  Fribbi's version will be updated with the new backgrounds as he draws them, but, to avoid syncronization problems, most bug fixes will not be made to his version unless they are crucial ones.

Utilizing 32-bit color depth, as well as higher resolution, will allow Fribbi to add significant details to the backgrounds.  Several people have commented that the game looks interesting but difficult to understand.  The new high-resolution backgrounds will provide important clues to playing the game and understanding its symbolism that will make the game more playable and enjoyable.

It appears that very little testing was done on the second half of the game, compared to the first half.

Well, if you thing about it, you can't get to the second half without going through the first half, so, of course, the first half had to be played through thoroughly before I could do any testing at all on the second half.  That's why I made the special test version, but that version had its limitations, as you have seen.

in my opinion original flux world graphic was better than the revisited one, btw I only saw this few screenshots, so I can be in error with myself

You may prefer the simple style of my original graphics over Fribbi's style.  However, I would like the backgrounds to give subtle hints to the nature of the symbolism of the game.  When Fribbi understands the game thoroughly, I think that he will be able to add those hints to the background much better than I could.

Here's my latest bug report:

In Skefalia, after I encounter some new vortex that looks like a heart beating, I get the following error message:

An error has occured.  Please contact the gam author for support, as this is likely to be a scripting error and not a bug in

AGS.
(ACI version 2.72.920)

In FluxWorldView (line 384)
from Global Script (line 279)

Error:  DisplayMessage:  Invalid message number to display

That message was triggered by a timer, so I assume you left the room before the timer went off.  I have changed it to a global message and updated all versions.

. . . I talked to one of the soldiers (the Phylotist, if I remember correctly) and asked about using the Lanvorst.  He said that to use the Lanvorst I must also use the Silver Mirror.  But I have no silver mirror in my inventoy, only a Gold Mirror and some flux jars.  So where do I get the Silver Mirror?

That's exactly the reason that I don't want to give you a copy of the special version I made for Fribbi.  That version is based on a testing version that I made for myself so that I wouldn't have to test the game from the beginning everytime I made a change.

The reason that you don't have the Silver Mirror in your inventory is that the code to put it in your inventory is only found in one of those special versions that I made.  You can't get it if you play the game from the beginning.  This is also the reason that you cannot get the weapon to start your own business.  I will fix this promptly.  Please discontinue beta testing until I fix this.  It will probably be done by tomorrow.

EDIT:  I have uploaded a new beta and updated all versions.  This update corrects the punctuation error in the armory and fixes the problems with the Donatist cursor and the Silver Mirror.  In addition, the F9 key now works as I intended it to in all versions.

Have you tried starting your own business?  Go to the armory and see what weapon you can create for starting your own business.

I have tried every possible permutation of memories and workbench, but I cannot create any new weapons.

You have to drop the hotspot of the memory on the foreground of the target memory or workbench, not on the background.  The hotspots are not marked, but wherever the hotspot of the hand touches the memory (i.e. the painting), that is the hotspot of the memory.  It's a bit tricky, so you may have to try it several times to get it to work.  I'll try to get the hotspots marked to make it easier.

And why would I need a weapon to start a busines, anyway?  What kind of weapon would you use to start a business?  A hostile takeover bid?

Don't forget, everything in this game is symbolic, so weapons are symbolic of something else.