02-28-2011, 02:47 AM
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#121 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Australia
Posts: 468
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Nice death!
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Mindtank Studios |
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03-03-2011, 10:33 AM
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#123 |
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Old timer - Adv. Addict
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 193
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WOW, I have to visit these forums more often!!
Let me join everybody in congratulating you on your amazing work!! Do you need any help? I'm a 3D modeler/animator, and I'd love to help you with this. Keep it up man |
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03-06-2011, 10:38 PM
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#124 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 153
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Thanks orient. I recently completed an electrocution death, complete with melting skin and exposed skeleton. Twisted, I know....
 donatelli, thanks mate. marvio, Thanks for the compliment, and for the offer to help! Right now with just me, I'm quite enjoying the challenge of going 'solo', but If I need help Ill definitely give you a shout. The game is going to have full CG cinematics, so there is still a TON to do! Im pretty sure Ill hit a brick wall at some point. Wanted to share something I've been testing out since the 'multiple solutions' question.  http://www.stasisgame.com/chance-and-choices/ And for those who dont wanna link through to the blog: I have always been fascinated by the idea that seeminlgy small choices in your life can lead to drastic changes. Misplacing your keys on the day of a car accident….tying a shoelace and delaying bumping into someone from your past. Hell, for all I know if my grandfather forgot to brush his teeth when he first met my grandmother, I may never have been born. When it comes to choices in games they tend to be of the ‘door number 1, or door number 2′ variety-but what if those subtle choices you made, to pick up something in one room, and look at the scenery through a window, actually influenced the outcome of your game? Then there comes the idea of moral choices in games. Computer games tend to be black and white…good and evil. But in reality, moral choices arent always so clear cut. Is mercy killing a suffering person good or bad? How does that effect a persons moral compass? These are two areas Im am going to be exploring in STASIS. Ive taken a look at the story, and developed 4 separate endings, which differ quite a bit. The choice of the endings wont come down to a simple ‘door A or B’ approach, but rather the path of the character will be steered towards those endings depending on how he (or she. ) plays through the entire game. Now Im sure that some of the people that come here (all two of you) arent JUST interested in the WHAT, but also the HOW. THE HOW Now, learning from past experience, I needed to develop a system that was very simple to use and modify on the fly. I have nicknamed the system C&C (Chance and Choices). Now what C&C does is have 8 separate values. 4 are representative of CHANCE in the game (hanging around for an extra few minutes, opening one door before another, etc) with the other 4 representing CHOICES (actual moral choices). Each value will have influence on the different endings. Now throughout the game, certain choices that you make will influence the values, either adding to them, or subtracting from them. CHANCE The 4 chance values will change based on random acts. Opening a door may change the chance value by 1, or 2. Staying in an area for a certain amount of time may decrease one of the values. Any value can randomly be altered by the chance value. CHOICE The 4 choice values are the biggest influences in the system. Unlike the CHANCE values, these will alter based specifically on the choices you make THROUGHOUT the game, and the morality of those choices. Not all choices will be apparent, with there being a ‘good and evil’ choice. The choices provided arent there to let you create an ‘evil’ character, or a ‘good’ character-they are mearly there to drive the story in the direction that you, as a player, want to go. Chances are, if you continue making choices that are ‘wrong’ by moral standards, your ending will reflect that. Making a moral choice in one area (+2), may cancel out an immoral choice in another area (-1). This way, the game is constantly balancing out the choices you make, to ‘customize’ your ending. BUT REMEMBER, that with the randomness of the CHANCE value, even if you play the game in the EXACT same way, you may end up with a completely different final chapter. THE ENDINGS Before you get to the final act, the value’s of choice, and chance will be added together. The value that is highest, will be the final chapter that you go to. Now, Im not going to give away the endings-but they are different enough to warrant a second or third play through. I didn’t just want the endings to be a different voice over with some different screens. Infact, for the 4 endings, the entire last chapter is completely different. Different environments to explore, different puzzles to complete. I’m keeping it to four, so that I can be certain to construct endings that are satisfactory to the player. I dont want the cheat a player out of one excellent ending, with one boring one. Trust me when I say that each ending is completely awesome! |
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03-07-2011, 08:46 PM
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#125 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 153
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I was feeling a little ’bogged down’ with the space ship stuff, so decided that every now and then, I am going to throw together one of these.
Inspired by the obvious (Blade Runner), I thought what it would look like if I was going to design a Sci-Fi Noir style adventure game. I love the old buildings, and neon lights that made Blade Runner so atmospheric. I have always loved the idea of layered cities. Cities with levels that are only accessed from catwalks, elevators, any flying cars. Just to reiterate, this isnt a screen from STASIS! This is just a ‘what if’ thing I put together quickly, as a break from space ships. 
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03-07-2011, 11:28 PM
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#126 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 153
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Did a video aswell.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwuWeRdha3I My brother suggested that I work this into STASIS's intro sequences. Originally I was going to do the cinematic sequences as a more classic 'movie' type of thing-but perhaps having the cutscenes also play out in ISOMETRIC could be pretty cool. Thoughts? |
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03-08-2011, 04:58 AM
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#127 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Lund, Sweden
Posts: 301
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I've been following this thread and your blog for a little while now, and I just wanted to tell you that I too am massively excited about this game! I especially share your affection of spectacular death scenes.
 From what I've seen it looks like you've got an excellent story, a great setting (Event Horizon is one of my favourite films) and fantastic graphics, and you seem to be working at an impressive rate too. I really can't wait to play! But why do you put so much focus on alternate puzzles and endings? Sure, they're cool to have, but is it really that much more than a gimmick? Especially if it will extend the development time of the game... Also, I think I'll be wanting to pick this game apart - see every little detail that you've put in the game as it all looks right up my alley - did I mention that I love the isometric graphics from Sanitarium for example? But alternative puzzles pretty much guarantee that I will miss things, and with my luck I'll probably end up stumbling upon the simpler route (like the more 'action-oriented' ones you mentioned) and miss out on the complex inventory puzzle...Also, the fact that you let random factors affect the outcome of the game worries me. What if I finish the game and want to see the other endings? Playing through the game differently won't guarantee I get a different ending, apparently. I don't see how the completely random variables add anything to the gaming experience, other than possibly cause frustration for those who want to pick a different final chapter. I have no specific opinion on how you choose to do the cutscenes; I think all of the visuals you have presented so far are stunning, really. And regardless of how you decide to implement the branching of the story, this game is more or less already on my to-buy-list. 
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03-08-2011, 07:11 AM
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#128 | |
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Old timer - Adv. Addict
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 193
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Quote:
About the subtle choices affecting major events... I'm not sure how if your system will work the way you want it to, but if done right, could really be one of those quamtum leaps in adventure gaming, like you said, up to now, choices are black and white, the reason for that is because I don't think anybody has figured out how to do what you want to do properly. You really have to avoid the one of the biggest pitfalls in adventure gaming, when something only happens if something else has happened, do you know what I mean? I know, real life sometimes works like that, but this is a game, not real life, and specially in adventure, the player really needs to be in somewhat of a "rail", so he/she doesn't get completely frustrated waiting the "day to be over" so the next event happens... Does that make sense? Like I said, may be true in real life, but in gaming it's just a source of frustration... This sounds truly exciting man! I would absolutely love to be part of it! PS> Also, might I suggest you resize the pictures for the forum? It makes it really hard to read the posts when the pictures streches the frame
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03-09-2011, 08:03 AM
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#129 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 153
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Harald,
Seems we have the same taste in movies. The alternate puzzles was something that I was exploring, but ultimately have decided to drop for sanities sake. There were just way to many issues with it. Some of the puzzles DO have multiple solutions tho-but that was to avoid the 'you cant use the knife to cut the rope, only the sword' issues. With regard to the endings, the reason to add multiple ones is really two fold. The first, is that the story in the game really lends itself to multiple endings. There is a theme of redemption that runs through the narrative, and I honestly feel that the emotions I want to draw from the player can only be brought on by allowing moral choices in the game-and honestly if those moral choices dont 'lead' anywhere, then they are kind of pointless. So its not really something that has kinda been shoved in the game to be cool, or add in features for features sake -but rather its something that has been tied into the core story of the game. The other reason is that I want STASIS to be a game that I would want to play. Every feature, from the story, to the main characters name are things that I would find cool in a game (his name is an obscure reference to a dead chararacter in ALIENS. ). I really like the idea of multiple endings in games. One thing I didnt like about FALLOUT 3 was the linear nature of the main story. No matter what you did, no matter the character you played, the ending was ALWAYS the same. It almost robs you of that feeling of accomplishment. Plus, if I can give the player another reason to explore the game again, I sure as hell am gonna do that! I agree about you with the chance effecting the ending of the game. Instead, I have altered the chance system to only effect certain in game events. So for example, seeing something run across the screen, but only if you stick around in a certain area. Hopefully it will add a nice layer of 'randomness' to the replays... Marvio, I know what you mean about reality making things boring-but dont worry, I've carefully designed the puzzles and the thing that chance effects to make sure its consistantly interesting! Ill resize the images in future! |
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03-09-2011, 08:24 AM
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#130 |
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Old timer - Adv. Addict
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 193
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Just another offer....
Because I can see this shaping up to be a really good game and I'd love to be part of it! I'm also a musician, I have a degree in Classical guitar and music theory, so, ya know, if you ned any music at all in the game....
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Don't worry about understanding it; Living surpasses any comprehension. |
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03-12-2011, 02:49 AM
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#133 |
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Junior Member
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Greece
Posts: 13
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Hey Pyke,
I'm a professional actor from Greece and an adventure games enthusiast! I'm really really excited about your project, i thing you have something wonderful in the making over there. Is there going to be any voice acting? If yes I would be honored to assist you on anything including acting-voice acting. Thanks for this diamond you're working on and keep up the good work man!! |
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03-14-2011, 05:58 AM
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#134 | |
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Junior Member
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 17
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Quote:
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03-14-2011, 07:52 PM
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#136 | |
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Old timer - Adv. Addict
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Boston, MA
Posts: 193
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Quote:
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Don't worry about understanding it; Living surpasses any comprehension. |
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03-15-2011, 08:22 AM
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#137 | |||
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 153
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Quote:
Ill definitely let you guys know about it. Quote:
Quote:
 
Last edited by Pyke; 03-15-2011 at 08:28 AM. |
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03-15-2011, 08:24 AM
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#138 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 153
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And here is the latest blog update for you guys.
http://www.stasisgame.com/506/ I was going to do a blog post on the pitfalls of building assets for an ISOMETRIC game-but through a ton of testing this weekend I didn’t get around to actually creating any graphics…so that post will come a little later! Plus side, the game is now 100% working from the time you board The Groomlake to the time you get to the train station (17 minutes of game time on a pure critical path run through*). I suppose without knowing exactly what happens in between those two screens, that doesn’t mean much-but trust me when I say its a really cool mini-milestone. *ie, not having to figure out the puzzles, or explore the environment THE QUESTION… I was reading THIS THREAD over at the AGS forums, and saw that there are quite a few developers who are really trying to change the way that adventure games play as a genre. Ill be honest, after I finished the thread I started to quetion the interface design in STASIS. Am I playing it safe? Being ‘boring’ with my interface? THE ANSWER…. And then I went through another playthough of the game…and decided NO. The ‘old school’ interface of graphical adventure games really is perfect for…well…adventure games. Now while some AG’s do a cross genre thing, where they try to bring in action sequences, or interface designs that stray away from the classic LOOK AT, MOVE, USE, TALK TO design, honestly I think that, for me at least, designing a new way for the player to interact with the game seems a little like reinventing the wheel. Now while I know that the advantage of being ‘indie’ is that you can take chances, and try out different things. But from the outset, I wanted to make an adventure game. When I think back to the early adventure games, I dont remember the really cool interfaces…I just remember shoving a banana up the exhaust of an android, talking to Murry, the haunted demon skull, or wearing an american flag shaped like a tentacle. The interface shouldn’t be something that shouts out LOOK HOW CLEVER I AM! It should just ‘be’. In STASIS, I have really tried to keep the interface in the game as simple as possible. All of your commands are on screen ALL the time. The circular cursor always has SCAN, MOVE, and INTERACT. I hope that this encourages players to scan, and interact with EVERYTHING they can see, or touch. The INVENTORY is accessible with just moving your mouse over the HSD in the corner. You don’t even have to click! And thats it. Combining objects is as simple as clicking and dragging them over each other. Accessing the menu is a mouse click away, and with auto saves every new screen, I’m hoping to minimize the player ever needing to access the menu. I am fully confident that anyone, from veterans, to new comers to the genre will be able to get RIGHT into STASIS from the minute the opening screens petrified skeletons and floaty dust particles greets them. In keeping with an interface that I KNOW works…in keeping with an interface that is simple to use, yet allows very complex interactions, I know that I can concentrate on THE most important aspect of an adventure game. The adventure. |
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03-15-2011, 10:08 AM
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#139 | ||
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 295
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Quote:
Quote:
=P Last edited by ZeframCochrane; 03-15-2011 at 03:51 PM. |
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03-27-2011, 12:18 AM
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#140 |
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Posts: 153
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http://www.stasisgame.com/the-music-of-stasis/
Here are two tracks I’ve completes for STASIS. I’ve tried to ‘mimic’ the feel of the Sound Tracks of awesome 80′s sci-fi movies, specifically referencing ALIENS (which is my favorite movie of all time. ) These tracks will be played VERY faintly in the background, with some of them coming more to the foreground when needed. I’m still doing tests with having there be ‘constantly’ music in the backgrounds, vs ambient noise, with music sporadically throughout the game. I’m thinking the latter is a better idea… Let me know what you think… . Airlock To The Scanner . The Ghost Ship . -Chris |
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