The Marionette (02 November 2009: Final round of refinement)

[auriond]

Story
You play as Martin, a struggling sculptor. One evening he finds in his mail a strange white envelope, unmarked except for the number "1011" written in the top right corner. Inside is a photograph of a room with ropes hanging from the ceiling. He has barely registered that fact when he is struck unconscious, and later wakes to find himself in completely unfamiliar surroundings, with only a house nearby to offer any hope of help...

Screenshots (click to view larger versions)



     


Download the demo: 13.1MB zip file (version 2)
http://www.bigbluecup.com/games.php?action=detail&id=842
Download walkthrough


Development progress:
Story: 100%
Scripting: 100%
Graphics: 100%
Music: 100%
Sound: 100%
Puzzles: 100%
Cutscenes: 90%

Expected completion: End 2009

For more information, please visit http://themarionette.game-host.org .  


Development Diary

02 November 2009
One week to go. Cutscenes complete, minor bugs hopefully fixed. Final round of refining art and interaction.

05 October 2009
First round of testing done. Major bugs fixed. Mostly cosmetic changes from here on, plus the cutscenes.

27 August 2009
Complete. Beta testing in progress. Bugs abound.

[ManicMatt]

Fan-smegging-tastic!

Oh, and just to be on the safe side, I'll say that I hope you change the font before release!

[thewalrus]

     Wow, looks very interesting. Nice to see so many new projects popping up in the community. I wish you the best of luck with the game. Nice work so far......

[auriond]

Thanks for the comments, ManicMatt and thewalrus!

ManicMatt, does the font really look that bad?  I was actually planning on leaving it like that. *g* But I don't think it's a problem to find a better font, so yes, it will be changed before the demo is released. Thanks very much for the feedback

thewalrus, I'm glad you found it interesting - I hesitated to post at first because I was afraid I didn't have enough to generate interest yet. But I figured that I could at least get feedback based on the screenshots, so I went ahead. I'm happy that I did.

[Buckethead]

It reminds me of a game I once bought! Which is a huge compliment!   

[ManicMatt]

Your game has a feel to it that is more modern than the text implies. The font is that basic one that work's alright in lower resolution games, but looks blocky and ancient on a game like this!

Another thing. Does the game have visible hotspots? So you know your cursor is over something of interest? I often ask this question, but it really does affect the gameplay in a big way.

[auriond]

Thank you, Mr. Buckethead, it's indeed a huge compliment that the game looks like a commercial one!

ManicMatt, I guess you're right about the font. I'll start looking for a more suitable one.

As for visible hotspots, no, there aren't any. I wanted it to be like the old Sierra games where you could click on everything and anything for hours and discover cool stuff like Easter eggs (though I'm not planning on any Easter eggs as yet). It makes the game harder, though, because you're likely to miss important things. It can still work, though - should I have visible hotspots?

[GreenBoy]

*Slow Whistle*

Man Im loving the story and the graphics.   Looking forward to this one.

[Nikolas]

Hey! This is looking extra good! And after checking the website I found the info I was looking for: Tell your brother that his music rocks!

Another game to be waiting for...

[i k a r i]

Your graphics look amazing!.. And the story is very intriguing, I was wondering if the backgrounds were going to be static or if you were planning to make them animated.
It'll be a game mostly static?

[Reven]

Looking good!

And looks REALLY interesting!

[auriond]

Thanks, all of you, for the wonderfully encouraging comments

Nikolas, I've passed the message on to my brother and he's amazed that you actually checked the website to find out that he wrote the music! But he says thank you very much

ikari, yes, the backgrounds will be static too, unfortunately. I've tried my best to make it interesting despite the lack of animation, but we'll have to wait until the demo is released before we can tell if it can do without animation.

Anyway, I've added one more music clip and I've also changed the screenshots to reflect the new font I'm using in the game, following ManicMatt's feedback. It's Lucida Sans Unicode. I hope it suits the game better than the default font.

[Nikolas]

New font, looks much much better. Thanks for listening to Mat It shows how much you care about your game, about teh result and about your "audience".

[auriond]

I'd be very happy if my suggestions were included in a game in progress, so I will try to incorporate feedback as much as possible. It's why I made this thread.

[gypsysnail]

WOWWWW! Double WOW auriond!! You are one talented game developer and artist! Are you an artist also, in the way of painting/drawing I mean? I am one too and this game REALLY appeals to me in so many senses. I can relate to the playing character, having done life drawing myself and trying to find funding for art projects (like your character was before he had to abandon the life drawing project then the girl went missing - yep I read your website!). I cant wait for the demo and for the actual game release. What I was also wanting to ask is, will this game be commercial, are you going to sell it? I hope so! I really believe this game is of commercial quality, infact I would say it exceeds commerical quality in terms of its graphics and storyline. I will be keeping my eye on this thread and your website .

[auriond]

Wow right back at you, for reading the website in so much detail!  Thanks so much.

I don't call myself an artist, just someone who draws for a hobby. I've never had any professional training so I hesitate to say I'm any good at it! But it's very therapeutic and I go crazy if I can't draw for more than a few weeks. 

The game won't be commercial, because I don't feel good selling the game engine written by CJ and all the mp3 engines too. But the music - that's a different matter... I might be able to persuade my brother to produce a proper soundtrack CD that we can sell, to support the free distribution of the game.

But I don't want to get anyone's hopes up... looking at the rest of these forums, gameplay is as important as graphics or music or storyline, and I know I'm not too good at thinking of puzzles.

[gypsysnail]

Ah you are a good artist from what I can see even without formal training - I dont think we need to have formal training, though I have had formal training because being deaf I missed out on much of what was heard and said so I didnt quite know how to develop my concepts when I was younger, but I feel I have developed in that area thankfully with the help of Tafe (in australia we have a tertiary institution called Tafe which is like uni but more flexible and cheaper but gets the same qualifications and is more practical than theory). Anyway I better get back on topic again, sorry .

I have to say I can relate to you totally, I go insane when I cant get the time to paint or draw, or create! Thats why I am always making time for creating after work and at the weekends and at the moment it is drawing on the pc, loving it .

I guess auriond that this would be your best start and I think later you should think about becoming commercial cos your work is great and I am sure you will develop on the puzzles part over time, and if you go on to play quite a few AGS games you can get ideas on how puzzles can be developed. I am sure CJ wont mind you making it into a commercial game. Infact I am sure he would be quite flattered and happy, and you put him in your credits most importantly, and I reckon a bit of a donation from your sales to him wouldn't go astray . Give yourself some more credit and go for it . Your brother's work is great - I just wish I could actually hear his works , being deaf I cant but I can tell from others' comments he has contributed well so again keep working at what you love most.

[Ghost]

It's amazing, just the photo and the small note "ropes hanging from the ceiling"... make me recall some movies and games. Sends comfy cold shivers down my spine, and the setting looks very interesting and professional. I would give you thumbs up, only I can't since I press them right now- that you'll release that thing 

11th hour (game), Puppet Master (movie) and Flesh Doll(novel) all spring to mind, did I get a reference right?

[auriond]

gypsysnail, I'll think about it - thank you for the kind comments And you have my respect for being an artist!

Ghost, I'm afraid I haven't experienced any of those references, although I have heard of 11th Hour and Puppet Master... heh. But the theme of the puppet is a very common one, especially in horror. My personal influences are more along the lines of Silent Hill and Gabriel Knight.

[Ghost]

Good on yer, then. Those are brilliant references.