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Sorry I can't reproduce it. Did it exactly the way you described it.

Anyone else getting that bug?

Works for me. Did you try to stand on the left side?

It's now fixed! sorry guys.
Actually this is the first time I ever coded anything. I kinda still suck and unfortunately Abduction has a lot of custom code done by me ^^

sorry guys I've been away this week. I'll look into this can't finish issue tomorrow

EDIT: Found the bug. Really stupid! It apears if you trigger the blacksmith from the wrong hotspot. It's easily fixed. Post it tomorrow
EDIT: Ok it is fixed now!

There's nothing more numbing and basically atmosphere killing than making a game (platformer) so precise and unforgiving that the player has to remember every every move they have to make.

Like for example...
Skip to 7:08. It is all memorization.

Great start mode7! It is VERY Prince of Persia.

\\--EDIT--//
I remember the lighting part of that level being a lot longer than that

Ah Battletoads. Always liked it. Bot on the other hand I never made it that far ^^. Many classics rely on memorization e.g. the brilliant Megaman 2. But these days are over - and this is a good thing.
Yeah it is very prince of persia - But unlike PoP these parts will not be the main gameplay element. Still till they shouldn't be redundant. So I'm still looking for advice in 2d level design.

Thanks guys. This really helps. Actually here's a video of what I've done so far. Still too early to post this in the production thread. It works out really well:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8IePkB9GCw

Thanks GarageGothic. This was really helpful. You bring up a good point and a classic game movie dilemma. In a game the player is no super hero. Unlike in a movie it's possible that he or she wont make it. There are two aproaches none is perfect.
1. Let the player die and replay the scene which is somehow unsatisfying and makes some trial and error (or try and die gameplay.

2. The second, your aproach, is using so called game time. E.g. give the player a feeling he or she is just in time. Many modern games do this. The big problem is it completely removes challenge.

The modern day equivalent to the first one would be active time events like in Resident Evil 4. Here they worked because they were rarely used, well choregraphed and you were able to replay them right away.
On they other hand they didn't work in Fahrenheit because they were 80% of the game.

I think a solution lies in between. Have them were its necessary and only there. Have auto save points. Give the player a fair chance to master. And have some "scripted" moments in between to keep the action high and the frustration low.

Hm design wise I'd say Monkey Island 2. I think this is as good as any adventure can get. CMI is my favourite for graphics and music and just overall feel. I also think "Snatcher" for the SegaCD was a great adventure. For the recent ones I really enjoyed Book of Unwritten Tales.

@ptpt Dark Eye seems really interesting. I saw it on underdogs some time ago before it went offline. Should have gotten it.
For Morpheus: I think I played the demo way back, thought of it as a mediocre myst clone. Maybe I should have given it another try. These days the market was so oversaturated  with CG 1st person adventures

@placebo: Feeble Files was a huge disapointment for me. It had some great moments...and some really frustrating ones.

Hi Guys!

I recently started thinking about designing a so called cinematic platformer. For those who never heard of this term you might now Games like Out of this World/Another World, Flashback, Heart of Darkness or Oddworld and ultimately Prince of Persia (the old one). Also the (brilliant) AGS game 1213 would fall into this category (I wonder if there are any more of these here?)

From the technical side this is coming together quite well. Actually coding the basic controls took me only a few hours (the stuff I learned when making Abduction really helped). And with the rotoscoped animations it looks already pretty cool.
Story and art-wise I already got (at least) a concept.

Whats puzzling me is the gameplay. When I think about these games mentinoned before I've mixed feelings.
I love the degree of immersion they create compared to classic point'n'click games. Of course the graphics and animations and that they actually try to balance action and adventure unlike the so called "action adventures".
On the other hand I don't like the trial and error gameplay, the fact that you die on every corner, the sluggish controls and the lack of adventure style dialogs.

So I'd like to know from you what you liked and what you hated about these games. To avoid mistakes other games made before.

The other thing is, when doing a platformer you really have to design stages in a functional way (very much more than in a classic adventure).
So maybe someone has some article, link or advice concerning 2D level design.

Damn! That sent chills down my spine. You seem to have a great talent. You mentioned Vangelis in your sig. Reminded me a lot.
Would you currently do music for games or are you busy. Just asking because I might have something this kind of sound would really fit.

Dualnames, I'm trying to figure it out.
Questions:

Spoiler

1. were you already standing in front of the castle before the last guy arrived?
2. Who was the last Character that entered the castle area
3. Did you try running around the screen and then returning to the castle while all three guys were standing there?

[close]

I very much enjoyed this game. The music and visuals created a very good mood. Interesting characters and some creative puzzle design.

Thanks questionable!

Actually I've promised a tutorial, but I've been struggling to do that.
I tried to record it, but I normally try some things, I delete later whic does get confusing.
Also my PS version is german which doesn't make it easier.

So basically I'm asking you guys: Would you rather like a video tutorial which might be a little confusing and you have to listen carefully to get the English names.

Or a classic tutorial with a few images.

This is really strange. I will try to reenact the situation to find out if i can recreate that bug later. I might have come across it, but coudn't recreate it

is princess Peach  ?

very nice graphic

Let's say heavily inspired from Paper Mario. Not only by Princess Peach but also the whole room layout.

Thanks Cyrus, I thought so too. The effect works really well.

BTW: How do I hide text when posting.

There were some serious bugs in the earlier releases. Some might have rendered the game unfinishable if they occured. They should be fixed now. Also fixed some issues with sounds not playing. If you downloaded an earlier version you might want to get this.

The reason for this is that this is the first game I've ever done and also the first coding I've ever done. I apologize again.

I'm sorry storyteller that so many bugs spoiled the experience. The last bug is strange. They way you described it a sequence should start playing when entering the area. It works when testing it. Would you mind testing it again with the new version?

ßHey guys is it still ok to post a bugfixed version here? Even though it's 1.10 already.

Anyway I did it: Sorry for the bugs all reported should be fixed now. Some might have rendered the game unfinishable if they occured. You will know when it's over. there is no "open end".

[ABDUCTION]

ABDUCTION

Overview:
You take the role of a Hijacker who only has one goal: Abducting the Princess!

It's a Game about human desires, about fame and fortune, about love and hate and ultimately about life and death itself.

I made this game for MAGS September 2010. It's what I would call an Arcade Adventure. It controls like an arcade platformer, it plays like an adventure game.

Features:

• Keyboard or Gamepad (recommended) controlled!
• Upbeat retro sountrack!
• Animations galore!
• Parallax backgrounds!
• No bothersome dialogs!
• And one extra life!

Link:
Download:
Download Link! (Rev.4)


Screens:




More Info:
Please keep in mind that this game is rather easy and really short. It was created in only a month.
I first got the idea for this game when I was replaying Sam'n'Max Season 1. I still thought it was cool but what really bothered me (and thats the problem with all classic point'n'click games) was the redundant walking around and having to go through lot's of dialog (again). Overrall that really makes the game's pacing slow and feels outdated.
So I came up with the concept for Abduction. A game without dialog and an arcade like gameplay. This is a radical and time consuming (for the creator) aproach but for me it could serve as a blueprint for future games with a similar style. It is my first game and there are a lot of things I just learned while making it.
So I'd like to hear your opinions and of course a report of possible bugs.

Known Bugs:

if using the candle -again- where the spring apeared near left of the blacksmith- the game froze. (thanks to LUniqueDan for reporting)

Update: 1.10 10:56. There were some serious bugs in the earlier releases. Some might have rendered the game unfinishable if they occured. They should be fixed now. Also fixed some issues with sounds not playing. If you downloaded an earlier version you might want to get this. Sorry for the inconvenience.

Update: 10.10 10:56. If you had problems finishing the game this issue is now fixed.

@ mode7:

Psst:

Spoiler

Minor thingy: setup.exe asks for smooth scroll.exe in stead of Abduction.exe

[close]

Thanks for pointing this out. I started off with the smooth scroll module demo and ended up using it as a template. It's fixed now.