[Jinxy]

Dark Secret Is released!

We at Dreamcraft entertainment is proud to announce that our title Dark Secrets has finally become available to the public!

"Dark Secrets is a first person adventure game set in small isolated Scandinavian village. After five years, Arthur returns to home due to his father's sudden death. He inherits the family's old antique shop and the countless of strange objects within that his father had collected over the years. Through these mysterious objects Arthur begins on a journey to uncover the dark secrets that are hidden behind the facade."

Two years ago we got together and said “Let’s make games!” and well. This is the result of that first step. It has been a long journey, and we have used every step on that journey to hone our skills in the various departments of development.

This however doesn’t mean we are done because we want to be able to deliver the best possibly experience. We are currently working on the last touches of the 1.01 patch, which fixed a lot of small things in the game as well as restoring some minor content that didn't make into the released version.

As soon as the patch is green-lit and has gone through our rigorous quality control we will release the patch which if everything goes smoothly will be sometime next week.

For more information about Dark Secrets please visit our IndieDb page.

Dark Secret have been released in the following Online shops.

GamersGate

AdventureShop

We have also Released a demo to match the quality of our release. Just in case you wanted to try before you buy. You can find it by simply clicking here.

And as always, don’t forget to spread the word so that more people can find our title. You can do this by either Liking us on Facebook, subscribe to our Youtube channel or just talk about the game too your friends over a warm cup of coffee.

Have a great weekend and feel free to ask questions. I will try to answer them to the best of my abilities.

Best Regards.
Peter Zippert, Community manager Dreamcraft Entertainment.

[ZeframCochrane]

I'm looking forward to trying the demo. Any idea how long it will take for it to be approved?

[Jinxy]

Originally Posted by ZeframCochrane

I'm looking forward to trying the demo. Any idea how long it will take for it to be approved?

It usually takes a day or so. it should be available by tomorrow morning.

[Oscar]

I've just grabbed this without even trying the demo, as it looks right up my alley. Hope it's good! Thanks for the info.

[Oscar]

Jinxy - are you part of the development team? I think there might be a bug because lockpicking the music box doesn't work. I've got all the pins in the up position and nothing happens.

[Jinxy]

I am.
And speaking of the lockpick minigame. you arent supposed to get all the tumplers uptop. but in the middle position so the black line matches with the tumblers split in the middle

I hope that helps.

Jinxy

[Monolith]

^Yeah, I got to that part in the demo and thought about his post.

Anyways, one thing i found very annoying and was missing in the demo was the lack of Gamma correction.

Besides that, really awesome and you can expect a purchase from me.

[Lermontov]

Waiting for the Last Crown, Asylum and similar games in the first-person, point and click, horror sub-genre, so thought the synopsis sounded intriguing and purchased Dark Secrets.
From the OP, it sounds as though their heart is in the right place and I feel rather saddened typing this, but I'm afraid the game isn't very good. So much so, that I have stopped playing it out of frustration and, sorry to say, boredom.
There are things to be applauded:
The scenario was quite intriguing (although, contains a huge plot hole - explained later);
The setting was great that was very accurately rendered - I know, having been to Northern Sweden and seen small towns just like Calmwood;
I didn't have to wade through tomes that filled in a backstory - immersion within the game's narrative was achieved with alacrity.

However, these pluses were more than negated by the game's problems:
1. Continuity issues:
- The small village had an antique store, but no post office!
- Playing the main character I was trying to discover what had happened to me 4 year previous, but I didn't suffer from amnesia, so I would already know that, wouldn't I?
2. User interface:
- It worked in an extremely ponderous fashion and the cursor was coloured in a very similar manner to the backgrounds, so I couldn't always see where I was. Moreover, it was difficult to position the cursor where I wanted it to be;
- Spinning objects was extremely frustrating and I had to 'fanny' about with my mouse and keyboard for an eternity sometimes to see the other side;
3. Transitions and Delays:
- These took forever, especially when going back to the town's main square (upwards of 5 minutes). 12 visits to said place = 1 hour of frustratingly dull waiting.
4. Translations and spelling mistakes:
- My wife is fluent in Swedish and she picked up a legion of issues with poorly translated words and phrases that lead to clunky English sentences;
- Spelling mistakes are unacceptable; these weren't mistaken homonyms or homophones, these were just words spelt incorrectly and would've been picked up by a spellchecker.
5. Lack of any problems:
- 3 hours into game I had met a few people, and opened a couple of doors, two with the interminable lock picking game.
6. No speech
- A real pity, this sucked the atmosphere and the verisimilitude out of the game.
7. The embarrassing childhood dream section:
- It was all a distraction and felt really ridiculous
8. The saccharine music:
- Awful, like something out of an early James L Brooks' movie. The writers should be locked in a room and have to listen to that tune for days on end.

However, this is just an opinion and perhaps you should take a look yourself. Perhaps I've been spoilt with the quality of similar games - thematically - over the past few years: Rhiannon, TLC, Barrow Hill, et al. And yet, I am a paying customer, it is in the public domain and therefore scrutiny will follow - good and bad.
There may have been secrets of a dark nature to uncover, but all this player found was a rather tired, well-worn, soporific path of frustration and monotony.

[Oscar]

I actually thought the music was the best part.

Where do you go after opening the safe? I've met the man in the playground and now just wandering aimlessly.

I think the game believes that telling me what to do should be a Dark Secret too.

Originally Posted by PeterKarlsson

Regarding the safe puzzle. Look at the last 2 digits of the year were each painting was made, the Fables of Calmwood book should help you figure out which order the number goes. Hope that helps!

It helps, but it doesn't explain why William wrote in his diary that he forgot the code when the number was sitting there right in front of him on the paintings. The fact he said he was bad with letters misled me into trying letter combinations converted into numbers.

[Castledoque]

OK, so I just finished the game. It was a valliant effort, but it was unexpectedly short and the ending left a lot to be desired (actually a complete anticlimax). Nice graphics though.
Maybe the upcoming patch will improve the ending...

[Fantasysci5]

If you are having trouble with the game and would like some hints, please refer your questions to the thread in the Hint Requests forum here: http://www.adventuregamers.com/forum...ad.php?t=30508.

This thread is for discussing what you think of the game.

[Monolith]

Yeah I was wondering why this thread was ending up with more 'I need help' than 'What I think of the game'. :/

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by Fantasysci5

This thread is for discussing what you think of the game.

It sucked. No other way to say it. I'll be surprised if the AGers review (if there is one) gives it more than one star. I think from now on I'll have to think twice before buying games from developers with no track record without first reading the reviews.

[Monolith]

Sarcasm? I haven't played the game yet though. Just the demo, which was better than I thought.

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by Monolith

Sarcasm?

Not at all. This game is the Dead Mountaineer's Hotel of 2012.

If the demo was just the prologue then I'm not surprised you liked it, that was easily the best part of the game.