Infamous Quests
The Games => Quest for Infamy => Topic started by: Blackthorne on January 25, 2013, 12:28:03 PM
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Hi friends, and backers. My name is Steve, otherwise known as "Bt", and I'm one of the leaders of this here operation, and I'm a Writer, Producer and Director on "Quest For Infamy"!
I've gotten to know many of you over the these past months, and it's been awesome - hopefully, in this backer's forum, you'll find, see, and explore more goodies of the game and get insight into its production.
We'll also be releasing exclusives - like playable demos, deleted stuff, maybe even hits at future ideas.
Around here, though - we want you to be involved. I want you to be involved. I'll be posting various kinds of random blogs in this here thread of mine - but you can also ask me questions here.
With that, welcome to the backer's forum!!!
Bt
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Hey guys - I just want to thank you for the positive response to Demo 2.0 - I've been working on the game a lot this morning, and I literally get excited thinking about you guys playing the final version. We have so many little interactive pockets of life and interesting quests and people for you to meet.
Feel free to comment here, or ask any questions you might have, as well.
Bt
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First off, let me start by saying that it's been great getting to know you, too. I so look forward to getting my hands on the finished product. After playing through the demo again I can tell that you guys put a lot of love into it.
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I can tell that you guys put a lot of love into it.
Hell, yeah. You could say, they "spread the love" ;)
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I ate the Marmite after we finished up the demo stuff. Thank the maker.
Bt
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Hey Friends, here's a little video blog for you. The first of a series.
Anything you want me to talk about? Topics to cover? Things to show? Please, feel free to suggest something. Interaction is the best around here.
http://youtu.be/cC_YD9gXbfY (http://youtu.be/cC_YD9gXbfY)
Bt
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Anything you want me to talk about? Topics to cover? Things to show? Please, feel free to suggest something. Interaction is the best around here.
I think the answer is obvious.
BT's acoustic guitar renditions of classic Sierra themes.
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Heh...nice. Just watched this, finally. I'd love to hear you do more Klytos impressions. ;)
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Acoustic Guitar Renditions of Classic Sierra Themes? I can do that.
Bt
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"Girl in the Tower", Bt unplugged. With vocals.
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"Girl in the Tower", Bt unplugged. With vocals.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNUr__-VZeQ# (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aNUr__-VZeQ#)
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Yep. You and me both, Colonel Kurtz.
But, it is requested of me by my loyal fans. It shall be done.
Bt
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I would love to hear about e challenges of making a hybrid rpg / adventure game. How you strike the balance of getting the right amount of rpg elements without disturbing the adventure feel. Also about what affect the rpg elements have on development and testing times
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Yep. You and me both, Colonel Kurtz.
But, it is requested of me by my loyal fans. It shall be done.
Bt
Only if it's sung in Shatner style.
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};->
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Girl in the Tower, Acoustic, Shatner Style. I'm so doing this.
Bt
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I would love to hear about e challenges of making a hybrid rpg / adventure game. How you strike the balance of getting the right amount of rpg elements without disturbing the adventure feel. Also about what affect the rpg elements have on development and testing times
Well, it's definitely a balancing act, for sure. Though I do find it fun - having attributes that may affect the outcomes of traditional adventure game elements. For instance, there's multiple ways to solve situations depending upon what your skill is. It makes the game a different play for each class, that's for sure. Striking the balance is hard, because I enjoy the puzzles, exploration and conversations of adventure games - and I enjoy the character building, fighting and thought processing of the RPG. For me, as a designer, it's the best of both world's really.
The RPG elements definitely affect testing time, sure - but we're also extra careful in our programming because of it as well. It may keep Chuck and Shawn on their toes a bit more!
Bt
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I would love to hear about e challenges of making a hybrid rpg / adventure game. How you strike the balance of getting the right amount of rpg elements without disturbing the adventure feel. Also about what affect the rpg elements have on development and testing times.
Hey mate, good to hear from you! I'll add to what Steve said, because I have done a lot of the work with the stats.
The main difference between this and a standard adventure game is that the stats effect the ability to do something. So for example, in one of the Kings Quest games you jump and grab the eagle. If that was in an stat driven game you might need a "jump" stat of 50 to grab the eagle or you'll fail. So it just adds another level to the game. From a design point of view, it's not too much more difficult to design in this way.
The difficulty, as BT said, is where to draw the line. We want to have an adventure game with RPG elements, not an RPG. We design the game as an adventure, we wrote the story first, then we overlay the stat side of things onto the story.
Another thing is not having too many stats to play with. We've got 10 stats in QFI, 5 of which are directly related to combat. The other five are specific activities. Athletics covers everything like jumping, climbing, throwing etc. Bluff, Stealth and Thievery are all for sneaky activities. Influence is how much influence you exert over other people. All these things are very much about driving the story forward, which is what we always want to do.
The other thing we've got in our game is hard caps on the stats. While most stats will go to 100, if you're not a rogue sub-class you won't be able to get Thievery above a certain level.
Honestly, most of it is just a gut feeling. We do what "we" would like to play!
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Yep. You and me both, Colonel Kurtz.
But, it is requested of me by my loyal fans. It shall be done.
Bt
Only if it's sung in Shatner style.
Just giving the peeps what they want...
"Girl... In... TheTower.
I'm... Reaching. Out.
PleaseTellMe... What... ToDo.
And.I.Think. It's Going ToBe Aaaaaaaaa Long. LONG. Tie-um."
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This video is unfit for human consumption and therefore should not be viewed by anyone.
http://youtu.be/iYrS5HQ3Rrk (http://youtu.be/iYrS5HQ3Rrk)
Bt
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Oh god it's glorious.
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There... just aren't words, Bt... ;D
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DUDE! You NEED to submit the video to Agustín on the ASYLUM Kickstarter for the "Backer's Spotlight" video:
Understandably, many are also wondering what to say. Basically: we want you to be yourself. We don’t want you to act as a marketing person — that is, don’t worry to talk about the campaign itself, or the need to have more backers, etc. That’s not the spirit. I will give you a few guidelines but, in reality, we have no rules for this. If you want to talk about anything that comes to mind, that’s fine! As long as you don’t appear naked or murder someone on screen, we’ll include it.
(backer's only post) https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agustincordes/asylum-kickstart-the-horror/posts/404672 (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agustincordes/asylum-kickstart-the-horror/posts/404672)
It has to count... it's pure insanity, and I love it...
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Haha, that was pure awesomeness! First marmite, now a concert!
...hey, let's see what else he'll do...?? ;) :P
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Steve, you amaze me man. You got skills.
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I've tried to come up with an appropriate response to this video all day. I think the fact that I'm still stumped about it speaks greater volumes than any measly joke I could make.
Oh, also--my suggestion for the next Bt musical humiliation video is for him to ad lib lyrics to well-known Sierra instrumental themes. GO! ;)
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Thanks guys. See what I do for y'all? Heh. It was fun.
Bt
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Dude, that was epically awesome. Or maybe it was awesomely epic. Either way, it's going up on my Facebook page!
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Blarrach.
So today, I'm going over the QFI script, adding and deleting things, as I often do, and I decided to work on a few puzzles in the game.
I love adventure game puzzles. Some are so creative, others aren't - and some are just really damn frustrating. Some of the later ones in games were lame copy protection manual hunts and such....
So trying to find and figure out the kinds of puzzles I want is, in and of itself, a challenge! We've got a lot of people/object quests and hunts - I enjoy those. Finding out details about things you are searching for by talking to people and exploring the environment. I also like object/logic puzzles... I have a few of those. I even enjoy combining old mathematical puzzles with graphical puzzles....
What are some of your favorite kinds of puzzles in Adventure games - any memorable ones from games in the past you like?
Bt
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I always liked the multi-part information gathering puzzles that would span the entire lengths of some adventure games--and then you'd get to a point at the end where you had to put all of that accumulated knowledge to use somehow, and it was usually pretty satisfying.
There are two that come to mind instantly, both from Lucasart's Indiana Jones adventure games. The first was in Last Crusade, where you had to gather knowledge about the appearance of the Grail by cross-referencing information gained from in-game inscriptions that described its shape and material with a painting that you view later on in the game that told you whether or not the Grail glowed. If you hadn't done these things earlier in the game, choosing the correct Grail at the end was something of a crapshoot. But it was a really interesting and fun way for you to "figure out" its appearance. I loved the fact that Indy would respond "Now THAT'S the cup of a carpenter!" regardless of which Grail you looked at, as if to taunt you with the movie's ridiculously simple "solution" to this dilemma.
Now, if you've played the game, you remember the fact that the catacomb inscriptions pointed you to the hard copy Grail Diary that came with the game, adding a copy protection element to all this--but that aspect could easily be removed by just having the inscriptions themselves give you the information that you otherwise had to look up. The idea of accumulating that "research" throughout the course of the game with archeological detective work was really satisfying, in my opinion. And it was made even better by the fact that every step of that process was entirely optional. You could still finish the game without doing any of it--you just had to rely on luck in your Grail choice. The game even let you replay the Grail Temple part over and over, so you could just eventually use process of elimination to get the right one.
The second great archeological research type puzzle from the Indiana Jones games was the many uses of the Lost Dialogue of Plato in Fate of Atlantis. I particularly liked the Wits Path, where you had to use the clues in the Dialogue to create a makeshift orichalcum detector (you'd just find one lying around in the other two paths.) And the increasingly cryptic stone disc combinations required to access later areas of the game were also really nicely implemented. I loved the fact that it wasn't completely clear with you--you had to interpret the language a bit to figure out the right combinations. And then the last one where the text had the clue about "contrary minds" and you had to do all of the combinations backwards--amazing.
We should have shit like that in our game.
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I'm pretty sure I've said this elsewhere in the forums, but what I really appreciate in adventure games are puzzles that are something other than "find object X, go to place Y, use X to Z". Flight of the Amazon Queen offers some of my favorite examples - there are quite a few puzzles that are solved through dialogue, including at least one instance of going down a conversation path, failing to accomplish the goal but learning something vital, then returning down the same path and using that information to get where you need to go. Other puzzles involve reusing the same item in multiple, clever ways - there's a vacuum cleaner that serves a number of purposes, and a knife that's handy almost any time you need to cut something. I'm not talking about the Myst-style puzzles where you toss the inventory aside and just push buttons until something happens, but things that don't make you feel like you're trudging down an ordered list of events that lead to a conclusion. Retreading old ground in a new situation can be fascinating if done properly, but it rarely is. Remember finally navigating the cave maze in the first Legend of Kyrandia, getting the Will-o-wisp spell that made moving around the cave trivial, and realizing there was no point to it anymore? It would be nice if some of the objectives could wait until after you had the spell so there was a reason to continue exploring with it. Lambo's suggestion is a similar element, where you put together information to come to a conclusion that solves a puzzle. If there's a lot of reading, though, there has to be SOMETHING to make it not boring. Voiceovers like Alone in the Dark are one possible idea, for ironic effect.
Basically, I love using inventory items to solve puzzles, but I hate feeling like an item exists just to be the solution to a puzzle. It makes the game feel contrived.
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Latest VLOG update - http://www.infamous-quests.com/forum/index.php?topic=474.msg8134#msg8134 (http://www.infamous-quests.com/forum/index.php?topic=474.msg8134#msg8134)
In Klytos's thread!
Bt
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Arriving late to the party to praise the valiant efforts....nay....successful achievement of Bt to entertain us with that Shatner unplugged rendition of GITT.
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heya people, I just finally realized after all this time that there was indeed a backers part to the forum and had to get my status here.
I have quickly seen a few videos and whatnot to catch up on the whats new and glad people are actually making comments :P.
Blackthorn I like your guitar playing and your willing to do as some people ask i wont be doing that but thought it was past time to check in here and let my hair down...
Ill look forward to comming back and seeing what else is new in the near future. thanks for all the updates so far :).
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Hey, welcome to the party, Lemonrev! Thanks for the compliments, and for stopping by!
Bt
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Hey Guys!
Whew... well, I can tell you - it's been a BUSY month over here at QFI headquarters. We've been swimming in amazing backgrounds, crazy fun animations, and lines and lines of code.
We're really closing in on completing ALL the backgrounds for Quest For Infamy - at this point, we have over 170 for you to explore. It's... well, frankly crazy. But it's a pretty big adventure game world - the kind of large world I always wanted to explore in a game. It's amazing that we can do all this now.
The sprites and animations that have been made lately... they're just mind blowing. Jerm, "Dr. Slash", Matt and Jon have been making incredible animations that will populate the world. Jerm's also made all the backer cameo sprites for the game - and Jenny Pattison is working on the portraits to accompany them. I'm very excited for people to get to see themselves! It's fun to be able to offer our supporters a part of the game and a part of the story.
The backgrounds that Fizzii, Ivan, Jon and Lambonius have been making are just breath-taking. Heh, I mean, I wish I could do them more justice with my words - but seeing them come to life, and watching the separate areas of the Valley of Krasna come to life - and thus bring the game world together - has been amazing.
We're toiling along here - working very hard. The team is really giving an extra push these days as we barrel towards completion.
I just wanted to check in with you all, and let you know!
Bt
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I've seen my sprite and I have to say that it's wonderful and I can't wait to see it incorporated into the game. And I look forward to seeing what Jenny has in store for my portrait. You all have done incredible work and I'm proud to be a part of it in all of the ways that I have.
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You've seen your sprite already?? Wow, awesome. I'm jealous! I have no doubt you guys have all been working your tails off. I wish, as much as making & playing these kinds of games interests me, that I had the talent to do what you all do. Not only am I a proud backer but also an enormous fan. Keep up the great work. I feel like I sometimes say these same things over & over again but I truly mean it. Huge. Fan.
Thank you so much for the update! Just makes me all the more excited. :D
Sarah
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Sarah I think I created your in game sprite. Along with some other backers, it's kind of hit or miss what we have or have not gotten completed, but I will say we're really moving behind the scenes with all this stuff.
I'm sure Bt can get you a sneak peak at the sprite, and I know Jen does beautiful work from pics to in game portraits!
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You have done her sprite! I talk with Serena and Mike on facebook pretty frequently, that's how I showed them.
Bt
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We're really closing in on completing ALL the backgrounds for Quest For Infamy - at this point, we have over 170 for you to explore. It's... well, frankly crazy. But it's a pretty big adventure game world - the kind of large world I always wanted to explore in a game. It's amazing that we can do all this now.
Umm... what?! I'm hard-pressed to come up with a point-and-click adventure beyond ~100 areas. 170 is beyond crazy, it's flat-out brain-gobbling. Can anyone come up with another hand-painted VGA graphic adventure with 170 backgrounds? Anywhere near that many?
I do believe we're in for an amazing treat.
Also... I'd surely love to see my sprite and/or portrait :-D
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Umm, yeah, heh - it's kind of crazy. There's a really rich world to explore here. Keep in mind, this is 170 not including the 100+ rooms of the Zork-like maze-mines that you can explore and loot, as well.
Bt
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Did...did you say Zork-like maze-mine?
*faints*
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Oh no! No adventure game is complete without a horrible annoying maze section :)
The problem with those mazes is when they are just added to pad the game length but I'm sure these guys added them for the right reasons. Humour is a valid reason ;D
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I'm sure we'll be amazed when the game comes out.
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I'm sure we'll be amazed when the game comes out.
I hope so. Incidentally, I implemented your portrait into the game this past week. Looks good - I hope you like it, and your character.
Bt
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The mines are awesome. I may even write a bit of a blog about them for you. Maybe. If you're nice. :)
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I hope so. Incidentally, I implemented your portrait into the game this past week. Looks good - I hope you like it, and your character.
This is so exciting. I can't wait to use and abuse all the backers. MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!
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Wow, this just keeps getting better and better. I don't know how you guys keep raising the bar again & again but yet you somehow do. Evil spirits in the mine mazes, even MORE looting to do...my head is spinning.
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The mines are awesome. I may even write a bit of a blog about them for you. Maybe. If you're nice. :)
Double-dare you!
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I hope so. Incidentally, I implemented your portrait into the game this past week. Looks good - I hope you like it, and your character.
This is so exciting. I can't wait to use and abuse all the backers. MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!
I'd say the same, but that would be too much like kicking my own butt
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This video is unfit for human consumption and therefore should not be viewed by anyone.
[url]http://youtu.be/iYrS5HQ3Rrk[/url] ([url]http://youtu.be/iYrS5HQ3Rrk[/url])
Bt
haha my love for you and your team and fellow fans just keeps growin hahahahah
beers n cheers!