Messages

do what cat says. You need more depth. That's what's trolling you. You treat stuff that's right in front of the camera the same way you treat things that are far off. This is a no-no. Add some distance fog to layer it up!

Also I'd definitely recommend adding shadows. You could have a nice shaft of sunlight come down right on the bridge to create a nice simple focal point in the middle. Sorta like this, but not as crummy:



You wouldn't need to have all the shades I have in there. If you for some goofy reason need to keep it at a smaller palette, just chose one color for light and one for shadow. (for each material that is.) (ofc you'd have to blend them a smidgen in the distance to create fog though..)

I'm happy to see that your drawing skillz are improving! This looks real sharp.

Definitely looking forward to this. I loved the first part. (though I was stuck on the confounded "throw driveway at window" puzzle for an embarrassingly long time.)

Ascovel: That's why I call it an economically suicidal venture:) They main issue, as you pointed out, is that it will make the wait for chapter two even longer. This I can not deny no matter how much I wish I could. It's perfectly true. This however is only an issue for people who have already played the game, and not for a wider audience. And let's face it, 14 000 downloads sounds like a lot, but it's nothing but a small, small fraction of the potential players this game could reach out to. If anything, I see JDHD as a good pilot project for trying out more heavyweight stuff. It's a convenient testing ground, as everything else is already in place.

Regarding sharpness, it's just me being clutzy with my sharpen filter, thanks for pointing that out!

Pinback: I agree to the fullest. 3d characters in games usually tend to end up looking really awkward and out of place. In this case however, I'm certain there's a lot more to win, than to lose by going 3d. (For one thing, I wont be doing the animation, but a trusted, madly skilled animator friend of mine will, so say goodbye to awkward stances and jerky movement.)

Everyone seems to like the 1+2 release idea and honestly I too think it sounds like the most profitable and smooth way of doing it. Again however, I'm not sure I'll be able to stop myself from releasing chapter 1 standalone when I actually have it finished. That would be quite the amazing feat of self control, which certainly isn't something I'm known for having.

Again, thanks everyone for encouragement and feedback!

I'm currently looking for free voice actors. If you know one (or are one) that you think may fit into the JD sound scape, please, let me know!

Kaonandodo's charter exterior, and the unwelcome note from the ominous Armando power co.

Stupot: I think the free chapter thing has a lot going for it but I do not believe the TDM solution to be an optimal one. I personally would have chopped it off right before the chapters end, alternatively let the player try out the next chapter a bit before being told to pay up. (sor of like a soap opera "on the next episode of ...")For the very simple reason that a player is more prone to continue when engrossed in something. Anyhow, I certainly see your point about not wanting to pay for something you've more or less already received for free. It makes perfect sense. I thank you for your opinion:)

cianty + ddq: That's actually a really interesting idea. The thought had not crossed my mind.

Ali + armageddon: Agreed. I like this thought. It would make a very nice package. It is however quite daunting. I've come quite far on chapter two, but having both of them finished will not happen any time soon.

The pump (smoke and water will be replaced by animation)

wersus and mode7: thanks!

Releasing the full game in one blast would no doubts make a bigger splash and would definitely justify charging money for it. However, there's no way I could ever scrounge up the resources to build the entire game in one go. Also, in the long run, I'm not sure I'd generate more revenue on one single full title than on the grand total of four separately sold chapters, but that's just a side note.

The obvious way to make chapter one a more attractive stand alone title is to sell it really cheap, and expand on it. Hopefully I'll be able to add enough game play that people don't feel ripped off. I have considered bundling chapter 1 with the first half hour of gameplay or so from chapter 2, sort of as an in-game teaser trailer to make people hunger for chapter 2. Another alternative is waiting until chapter 2 is finished and then releasing 1+2 in the same bundle. It would take me forever, but it's way more feasible than releasing the full game in one blast.

Regarding giving away the first episode for free as a hook, I'm confident the chapter 1 release I've got out now for free is working magic as a PR gimmick. It's spreading nicely, so that was no mistake. However, I'm not sure the "one chapter free" model is the best. Gamers tend to stop playing at certain milestones, and there's no milestone like the ending of a chapter. To combine that with a sudden "pay now to play more" pop-up, I fear may create a combined effect of making the player lose interest.

Thank you all for your thoughts and feedback, I value it highly. Please keep it coming

[What is JDHD?]

A month or so ago I realized I'm an idiot for not so much as attempting to monetize on The journey Down. Thus I made up my mind: For better or for worse, chapter two was going to be a commercial release. After having done loads of painting and some early prototyping I realized I needed a better testing platform for the new framework than a brand new chapter.... So, the idea of JDHD was born.

What is JDHD?

In short, JDHD is (hopefully) going to be the polished up commercial release of chapter one of the Journey Down. A rather odd and economically suicidal venture, I must admit, but a fun one to build nonetheless!

So what makes JDHD more awesome than the original you might wonder?

Well, let me sum up some of the features I hope to implement:

* I hope to have a 1280 x 800 px canvas (depends on AGS development)
* pre-rendered 3d characters for smoother (and additional) animations
* a full voice cast
* more sound effects and feedback in general
* built in hint system for n00bs.
* additional puzzles and backstory.

So what is the purpose of this thread?

Well, at first I was going to create a "games in production" thread, but seeing how strictly those rules are being followed, I figured I'd stay clear of it until I have any real screenshots to show off. So the point of this thread really is primarily for me to vent some of my thoughts on this project, but also, hopefully a good place for discussions regarding the improvement from the original game.

Did you play it? Did some specific puzzle bother you? Did you encounter anything that felt broken or out ouf place? Was it too easy? Too short? Please, take this chance to make yourself heard! I am interested in improving as many aspects of the experience as possible.

Thirdly (is that a word?) I intend to post updates here with new assets as they drop in, to have a nice quick place to receive feedback in.

Kaonandodo's loft in the HD version of chapter one (downsampled). Note the fancy floating GUI!

Both games looked like they hired some mediocre flash artist from newgrounds to do a slapdash job so they could make some quick bucks off guybrush's revived corpse.

I couldn't agree more.

ah! It's good to know that the gods are listening and are at least considering answering my prayers.

*naively and ecstatically begins work on the HDJD backdrops.* 

[This however poses a problem.]

Due to a huge bunch of silly and fun things coinciding at once in my life I am now considering releasing a special edition of chapter one of the Journey Down - as a cheap/humble commercial title. Apart from trying to fix voice acting, remaking the animations and adding a couple of puzzles + back story, I am for obvious reasons planning on releasing the game at a higher resolution than the original version. This however poses a problem.

In my experience, most players run my game on 16:10 wide screen monitors (not to mention the fact that I'm producing it on one). The only alternatives available in AGS as of now are 320x200 and 640x400 - both far too low if I want the game to have a nice, modern, polished feel. (Which is why I'm considering remaking it in the very first place.)

Adding 1280x800 support would be a nice step in shaking off some of AGS's image in the public eye as being a "retro game maker" and would allow future AGS titles to reach out to a larger audience than just us old "golden days of adventure gaming" nerds who love big pixels, thus opening up a bigger market for games created in AGS.

Is this a realistic request? Is it even feasible?

[without]

If your target is limited resolution mobile platforms (i.e. cell phones) then you will need artists that know how make impressive stuff from a handful of pixels and colors, not as easy as it sounds. 

I was about to nod in agreement, but actually, when I think about it...

The j2me low-res days are more or less over. Handheld devices no longer force artists to work with full games squeezed into 50 kb with 8 color palettes on everything. Your average handheld game now is a big bloated production with real time transformation, 24 bit transparency and high res 30 fps animations.  The skills you refer to have now become obsolete and replaced by the -honestly- even more daunting task of making it look good without these limitations.

As an answer to the original post: Android suffers from having a very wide range of different resolutions. Also, as pointed out: Running AGS on android/iOS now is still highly theoretical. (Though no doubts interesting!)

Insane yet highly impressive project!

Definitely interested in seeing where this leads. Keep up the good work!

promising! Looking forward to the next trailer. 

calin: yeah. 16:10 is both nice and common. I'm not after low res though. If 16:10 is the rule, I'd prefer it if I could chose 1280*800 as the resolution for my game. 640*400 doesn't really cut it.

ascovel: true, but I'm not after multiplying, I want the original dimensions to change.

anian: agreed. it's a mess!

wyz: I'd love that too. Let's keep on dreaming, lol.

I can't even select 1280x960 in the general settings pane of my game. Can you? What am I doing wrong, lol?
I'd like to run my game at 1280x720. A nice resolution in my eyes. I wonder if monitors in general can handle it in full screen...

I think as long as you're going for windowed you're fine. Most people should be able to fit it onto their screen. I think it's a real shame not to run games in full screen though... For me, windowed really ruins the immersion.

Perhaps the default selection tool in your version is a new fancy one. Most likely you can click the selection tool in the menu and there select a different mode for it. (or cycle through them pressing the hotkey)

[So another question then:]

Steam does seem random in many ways.  Anyhow, thanks for your thoughts on this, guys! Confusingly enlightening! 

So another question then: Many players have widescreen monitors, many don't. Is there a common solution to this issue when building AGS games? I'd like to be certain my assets aren't being squashed and stretched at random.

Is anything stopping me from making a game in AGS and selling it on steam?

If not, is anyone doing this?

If nothing is stopping, and no one is doing it, why is that?

DuncanFX: I'm looking forward to your report. Feels far from obvious that this would run smoothly today.

Thanks for the heads up Ben! I've been wanting to try that game out for a long time...

Lookin' good nightfable! What happened to the asimov project? I remember it looking promising too.

keep up the good work:)

Just started playing this during lunch, I like it a lot so far. Nice style! I really appreciate the attention to detail.