Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[odnorf]

Yeah, it's here...!!!!
It's just a demo so it doesn't have many puzzles yet, the character is not fully finished and it doesn't have music or sound effects.

http://master.math.upatras.gr/~odnorf/files/Dreams_v01.part1.rar
http://master.math.upatras.gr/~odnorf/files/Dreams_v01.part2.rar
http://master.math.upatras.gr/~odnorf/files/Dreams_v01.part3.rar
http://master.math.upatras.gr/~odnorf/files/Dreams_v01.part4.rar
http://master.math.upatras.gr/~odnorf/files/Dreams_v01.part5.rar
http://master.math.upatras.gr/~odnorf/files/Dreams_v01.part6.rar
http://master.math.upatras.gr/~odnorf/files/Dreams_v01.part7.rar
 
All together are about 30MBs. It took me hours to upload them with my stupid and ancient 56kbps modem. The files are multi-volume rar3.x archives. A great, free and opensource tool to decompress them is www.7-zip.com

You should run the game in 32bit colors or one scene would not be displayed as it should.

If anyone wants the scripts, the manual in greater resolution or anything else, just ask.

sample pictures of the game:
http://master.math.upatras.gr/~odnorf/prison02.jpg
http://master.math.upatras.gr/~odnorf/02-1.png

I would like to thank Jerrot for the web space. Without him I wouldn't be able to upload it. I would also like to thank mnemonic for his great engine.

EDIT 17/9/03 : I'd like to thank my friend NotHere for the new webspace.

[Jerrot]

Cool, congrats!  

I just finished playing it, and as you promised with your screenshots: it's really a strange new kind of scenery in an adventure game, but I got used to it after the second screen and it works great for the atmosphere.

You wrote, the Poser animated character wouldn't fit to the backgrounds (and I was sure you're right!), but it was not the case, I wouldn't change too much about it. (But the walking looks strange somehow, did you use the walk assistant in Poser ? Never mind - you already wrote the character is not finished!)

Ohhh, and I didn't get the paint puzzle the first time! For reasons I won't write here now.

But now I finally escaped - and BTW: it's grey color, but the item says "red paint" ? Am I dreaming or what ?  

Well done, and I was happy to see a parallax scrolling in one scene. Yeah. Liked it. Funny monologues. Nice manual. So far for my first impression. Thank you!  

[odnorf]

Cool, congrats!  

Thanks!

You wrote, the Poser animated character wouldn't fit to the backgrounds (and I was sure you're right!), but it was not the case, I wouldn't change too much about it. (But the walking looks strange somehow, did you use the walk assistant in Poser ? Never mind - you already wrote the character is not finished!)

When I wrote that the character is not finished yet I meant the animations. The walking is bad and other animations (take, talk) doesn't exist yet.

But now I finally escaped - and BTW: it's grey color, but the item says "red paint" ? Am I dreaming or what ?  

Oh! In the begining it was supposed to be red paint for another puzzle. It seems that I forgot to change the description.

Well done, and I was happy to see a parallax scrolling in one scene. Yeah. Liked it. Funny monologues. Nice manual. So far for my first impression. Thank you!  

-The parallax scrolling is going to change completely. I don't like the way it is now. Wait to see it... I believe that is going to be much better.
-The green computer is going to change completely. I have/had many ideas for it, i just didn't have the time to implement them.
-About the monologues : Tyler is not going to meet someone else (until the end of the game - strange, I know, but I believe that it fits), so I had to make him talk to himself.
-There are many screens that there is nothing to do. That's because of the lack of time. I will implement more puzzles.
-The first dialogue is very smalll. I have (in papers) a bigger and better dialogue ready.
-I have to add some kind of intro (which I have allready designed)
-The game menus (and probably the inventory) are going to change a lot (as you can see i only used mnemonic code from wme_demo and just add the dialogues speed option).
-The items are bad-designed... they are going to change too...
-I can say much more but there is no reason. You are going to see them. It's only a beta demo after all....
-Oh... and the last scene when Tyles goes into the secet door, is going to change completely. I just had to put something in there in the time I got.

EDIT: You didn't say anything about the interface and the font.

And I also forget to thank the NSIS team for the installer I created. It's really cool, it doesn't even leave traces in the registry after the installation. It's really computer friendly.

[Musta Kaapu]

Great demo!  

I managed to escape after been stuck for like a 8 hours. The puzzles are quite easy, though maybe not very logical sometimes.  The backgrounds work better than I expected, but unfortunately becuase they look like they do, they contain lot of pixel hunt. It's not easy to spot things that "don't belong" to it, ie. something you can interact with.  The character animation looks funny (but it's nothing compared to my project), but as you said it's not finished. The installed was a definitive plus. It added the feeling of a "finished" product. Where can I get it?

I'm lookin forward for the next demo.  

[odnorf]

Great demo!  

I managed to escape after been stuck for like a 8 hours. The puzzles are quite easy, though maybe not very logical sometimes.  The backgrounds work better than I expected, but unfortunately becuase they look like they do, they contain lot of pixel hunt. It's not easy to spot things that "don't belong" to it, ie. something you can interact with.  The character animation looks funny (but it's nothing compared to my project), but as you said it's not finished.

Thanks!
Yeah, the puzzles are not very good. That's true because this game was a school project (how many times have I said that? ) so I focused 99% of my time to the graphics and not the puzzles. That is going to change too.

The installed was a definitive plus. It added the feeling of a "finished" product. Where can I get it?

The official NSIS page at Nullsoft (the creators of winamp) :
http://www.nullsoft.com/free/nsis/

The home page at sourceforge (an opensource host) :
http://nsis.sourceforge.net/

If you'd like to be a developer, browse the cvs, ask for a feature etc :
http://sourceforge.net/projects/nsis/

Keep in mind that NSIS is a scripting language which also contains a compliler. But there are many examples (Dreams installer, was a combination of 3 different examples, If you'd like to use/see the sources just say so.)

I'm lookin forward for the next demo.  

Yeah! Me too! But I believe that this would take 1-2 more months as I can't upload new versions very often with my modem.

PS. Those screenshots from The City2 are *G*R*E*A*T*!!! I am downloading "The City" right now to check it out.

[Jerrot]

Oh! In the begining it was supposed to be red paint for another puzzle. It seems that I forgot to change the description.

Well, it didn't hurt finally. For the next release you might want to add a new text to the box where you find the spray - it should be empty when you look at it again.

-The parallax scrolling is going to change completely. I don't like the way it is now. Wait to see it... I believe that is going to be much better.

We'll see - but I liked the front layer... it looka like watching the player walking behind a wall of glass !  

-The game menus (and probably the inventory) are going to change a lot (as you can see i only used mnemonic code from wme_demo and just add the dialogues speed option).

But it liked the way how you changed the windows and inventory elements to match the "dreams" design.

EDIT: You didn't say anything about the interface and the font.

That's a good sign, isn't it ? Hehe, well the font was fine, it seemed to be a little small sometimes (when reading the password) but it did not really disturb at all. Did you change something of the basic interface technics ?? I didn't have a second look at it, it seemed to be the original from the demo - everything worked fine. I just had problems to find all items just by looking at the backgrounds as Musta Kaapu already mentioned.

Oh and yes - the installation is really good, I used Inno Setup (+ IS Tool ) before, but I'll compare them now.

[odnorf]

Well, it didn't hurt finally. For the next release you might want to add a new text to the box where you find the spray - it should be empty when you look at it again.

Hm... i thought I have done that! It seems that I finally missed!

-The parallax scrolling is going to change completely. I don't like the way it is now. Wait to see it... I believe that is going to be much better.

We'll see - but I liked the front layer... it looka like watching the player walking behind a wall of glass !  

That's exactly what I wanted it to be! I didn't believe that someone is going to understand it! Maybe I won't change it afterall! Or maybe I'll recreate it and let you choose the best one

But it liked the way how you changed the windows and inventory elements to match the "dreams" design.

I won't change the style of the graphics. But I am going to change their shape and add a few more options (like volume and stuff).

Did you change something of the basic interface technics ?? I didn't have a second look at it, it seemed to be the original from the demo - everything worked fine.

It is the original scripts form the wme_demo, but I also add some shortcuts. Have you tried them? IMHO, it's much easier and faster the way. I also like to have different options on how to play the game (I am thinking also add some kind of keyboard only vanigation for people that don't like the mouse, like some friends of mine you eat & breath linux).

Oh and yes - the installation is really good, I used Inno Setup (+ IS Tool ) before, but I'll compare them now.

There are 6 things I like about NSIS : it's light, fast, computer friendly, powerfull, opensource and it's improved all the time.

[Musta Kaapu]

The official NSIS page at Nullsoft (the creators of winamp) :
http://www.nullsoft.com/free/nsis/

Thanks, I have to check that out. Maybe I'll be using that too   If I get the hang of it.
I've have actually heard from it before. But I have never had a project that could have been even pontentially released.

PS. Those screenshots from The City2 are *G*R*E*A*T*!!! I am downloading "The City" right now to check it out.

Oh, don't expect too much, it's not very long and it has low res. graphics. The games was made by our team's graphic artist, "back in the good old days" when he was still programming.  

[odnorf]

Oh, don't expect too much, it's not very long and it has low res. graphics. The games was made by our team's graphic artist, "back in the good old days" when he was still programming.  

Yeah, I have undesrtood this, but it was funny! Althought the character walks REALLY fast. In what engine the game is created? Is it a known one or is it a "home-made" engine by the graphic artist?

[Musta Kaapu]

Yeah, I have undesrtood this, but it was funny! Althought the character walks REALLY fast. In what engine the game is created? Is it a known one or is it a "home-made" engine by the graphic artist?

It's home-made. It doesn't use any sprites, only backgrounds, that's the reason the game is huge compared to the length. Maybe it's better that he's now just a graphic artist  

PS. I updated the website, it's lot more clearer now. Plus there's one new screenshot.

PPS. These topics are going offtopic with an increasingly fast speed.  

[Mnemonic]

I just finished the demo (ok, ok, I'm slow... ). Congratulations odnorf! I pretty much agree with everything that's been said in this thread. The graphics are truly original and novel. I like that even Tyler's clothes texture fits the "jerky" style. Of course, the downside is the items are hard to find. I was thinking whether it would be possible to make some items glowing or something, to make them more obvious.
Now I understand odnorf's question about dynamic shadows. It would look absolutely amazing if Tyler was casting long shadows on the walls!
I have one question: how about sounds, are they planned? IMHO some ambient sounds would boost the atmosphere quite a lot.
It's a bit shame you don't plan more character interaction. Personally, I love games with lots of characters and vast dialogues.

[odnorf]

The graphics are truly original and novel. I like that even Tyler's clothes texture fits the "jerky" style.

I was wondering why nobody has said something about that. It's a small addition so that the character would try to fit into the backgrounds but in the same time looks different. Without that texture Tyler looked like an "alien" on the backgrounds.

Of course, the downside is the items are hard to find. I was thinking whether it would be possible to make some items glowing or something, to make them more obvious.

Well, that's true as everyone has noticed but I am trying the best I can to keep the pixel hunting as less as possible (it's not easy with those backgrounds). For example: Tyler says about the nails when you look on the window. Most regions are really big so you can't really miss them if you move the curson around (like the wall with the code, but that's not the case for the items). I think that the most difficult part is with the (really agly designed) box that I plan to change (along with other things).

Items glowing? Like what? I think that it wouldn't look very good. Maybe I'll think something else. I haven't even finished the backgrounds. I want to change MANY things if I find the time. It looks like that dreams is not going to finish as soon as I hoped in the beginning. I am thinking of new things for the graphics everytime...

Now I understand odnorf's question about dynamic shadows. It would look absolutely amazing if Tyler was casting long shadows on the walls!

He! He! That's exactly what I was thinking! Actually I thought about the dynamic shadows when I created my first background (which was the third scene).

When (note that I am not saying "if" ) you implement the 3d models of the scenes then it would be possible to have even 5.1 ogg vorbis files for music too (along with all the other possibilities). But you have to change the panning into three dimensions and not two.

I have one question: how about sounds, are they planned? IMHO some ambient sounds would boost the atmosphere quite a lot.

Music is not planned. Ambient sounds are planned (If I find a way to create them... I know nothing about sounds but it's time to learn I guess). Speech is not planned but... if there is anyone that want to do the Tyler voice and have good music equipment (the voice should sound like it comes from a dream...) maybe that will change.

It's a bit shame you don't plan more character interaction. Personally, I love games with lots of characters and vast dialogues.

Well there won't be any face-to-face interaction. But there will be some kind of interaction (man behind the walls, into shadows etc). I too like very much when a game has many characters but in "dreams" it's not in the plot/script. I want the player to feel like he is alone in this world. If you want characters wait for the my second adventure game (I have thought a basic plot but I won't touch it until I finish dreams).  

[Musta Kaapu]

POSSIBLE SPOILER FOR PEOPLE WHO HAVEN'T PLAYED THE DEMO












Ok, I know that my mind is sick and twisted, but why not adding the possibility to turn on the security features on the computer? I mean on the same machine that controls the door. Something "nice" could happen to the player.

[odnorf]

Ok, I know that my mind is sick and twisted, but why not adding the possibility to turn on the security features on the computer? I mean on the same machine that controls the door. Something "nice" could happen to the player.  

Well, I don't want the player to die... BUT... I have much more plans for the computer.

Oh... and almost all my posts contain spoiler... but I don't mind. This version is only a preview of the first chapter...

[Brassfire]

Hey, I know a lot of musicians. Would you post what pieces/bands/games have a similar kind of sound as what you're looking for?

[odnorf]

Hey, I know a lot of musicians. Would you post what pieces/bands/games have a similar kind of sound as what you're looking for?

THANKS! But I still don't know what I want for the music. I am doing a big rewrite of the whole game now, so many things maybe change... But when I really know what I want I'll let you know Thanks again

Did you try the preview?

[Mnemonic]

What *I* think would fit Dreams is something like Fallout or Planescape Torment type music.