[lemmy101]

For as long as anybody can remember the good people of Seahorse Island had lived a blissfully simple life.

A place where nothing unexpected ever happened, a place where everybody knew everybody else’s name. Beyond the fishermen and traders that sailed the surrounding seas, Seahorse Island folk didn’t concern themselves much with the outside world.

Visitors were looked at with suspicion, but welcomed none-the-less. The strangers brought with them tales of fantasy and myth, but the people of Seahorse Island had no time for superstitious nonsense. As sure as the waking sun would follow the sleeping sun, things would always be as they would appear to be.

But soon, a chain of events will begin that will thrust the inhabitants of Seahorse Island into an age of uncertainty and fear.

One day the trees and crops began to wither in spite of an abundance of rain to nourish them. Slowly, the grain reserves began to dwindle, and no seed would take purchase in the sterile soil. Yet still the rains fell desperately. The brightest minds of Seahorse Island tried in vain to offer an explanation, let alone a solution, and murmurs of a famine and a coming apocalypse began to emanate from every corner of the island. Hope was beginning to fade.

Until one day, the island doctor happened upon a small wood which, unlike the world around it, was still in summer bloom. In the centre of the flourishing wood lay a girl, curled up asleep in the roots of a dying tree... It transpires she could be the key to everything. But is she the cure, or the cause?


Coming 2006


------------------------

The Forgotten Element will be released in three acts of the adventure, the complete three act game will be comparable in length to commercial point-and-clicks.

The demo will feature the entire prologue of the game.

All Art, Scripting, Music & Story by CaptainBinky & Lemmy101

-----------------------

Prologue completion:

Final Art 15%
Placeholder art: 100%
Scripting 100%
Dialogue / Story 100%
Plug-ins 50%
Music 50%

[2GooD]

Nice boo... eh, never mind.

That sounds like a really intriguing story!

Good luck finishing the game!

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by 2GooD

Nice boo... eh, never mind.

Ouch, you could poke an eye out with those things...hey wait a minute, if you switch these 2 around...



For shame Father, for shame...

[Kurufinwe]

Boobs apart, the style of the characters is quite reminiscent of Shadow of the Comet (which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned). Was this intended, or just a coincidence?

[Dasilva]

Wow, the art direction is amazing. Its about time a great looking free game has been announced. I think people are tired of waiting for KQIX.

[jjacob]

Looks awesome! Will there be voice acting too? Not that I'd mind if there weren't, just curious.

[lemmy101]

Originally Posted by jjacob

Looks awesome! Will there be voice acting too? Not that I'd mind if there weren't, just curious.

No voice acting. We feel it's hard to pull off talkies well in a non-commercial game unless you're lucky enough to have lots of actor friends ;D we'd probably end up detracting from the game. Maybe for the deluxe edition

Thanks for the kind words!

[CaptainBinky]

Originally Posted by Kurufinwe

Boobs apart, the style of the characters is quite reminiscent of Shadow of the Comet (which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned). Was this intended, or just a coincidence?

This was completely unintentional - however, I'm deeply touched that you should compare them - I remember being really impressed by the talkie screens in SOTC when I was a kid and they were quite inspirational.

[Ninth]

Wow. That looks really promising.

[Squinky]

Originally Posted by Dasilva

Wow, the art direction is amazing. Its about time a great looking free game has been announced. I think people are tired of waiting for KQIX.

Now all we need is AudioSoldier coming in here and musing "if only all fan games were this boobylicious!"

[Tobbe]

Lookin GOOD!! Keep up the good work, and update us as soon as you got news!

[Dasilva]

If possible voices would really boost the game, the voices in KQ1 & KQ2 remake is what really made me play them.

[CaptainBinky]

It's not that we don't want to put voices in the game, it's just that naff voices can detract from the game rather than add to it. And not being a talented voice actor and knowing nobody who is, this is very much something that we'll leave until a "deluxe" version that may or may not ever exist

[the gnome]

No, please...don't put voices in the game... They are rarely decent, and the graphics come from an era when voice-overs were just not there...

[Karmillo]

No they dont, the come from the era when they were just getting introduced

[Dasilva]

Originally Posted by the gnome

No, please...don't put voices in the game... They are rarely decent, and the graphics come from an era when voice-overs were just not there...

Your telling me I was hearing voices while playing KQ5, KQ6, SQ4, QFG4 (etc) and they werent from the games?!

Voice acting makes a game much better, It can seem boring and stale at times if dialog isent done properly, besides who wouldnt want to play QFG4 without the voices? The atmosphere would be taken away.

[Squinky]

http://www.deirdrakiai.com/2006/01/22/voices-in-games/

[Karmillo]

Originally Posted by Dasilva

Your telling me I was hearing voices while playing KQ5, KQ6, SQ4, QFG4 (etc) and they werent from the games?!

Voice acting makes a game much better, It can seem boring and stale at times if dialog isent done properly, besides who wouldnt want to play QFG4 without the voices? The atmosphere would be taken away.

IMO voices dont make something better or worse, something without voices is just as good as something with voices.

[Jackal]

Welcome to AG, lemmy and Binky. (You two weren't in Laverne & Shirley, were you?)

Impressive looking screens! The quality of the art of obvious, but I'll be the first to question your decision making about the girl. I thought the only games that still depicted women like this were the action games intended to lure 15 year old boys to slobber over. I mean, does any serious game go this far overboard anymore? Unless there's some internal game reason for her to look like a total sleaze, I think you'd be much better off showing SOME discretion in how you present her.

And in case anyone points to this thread to show how the portrayal still works, there's a big difference between a screenshot and a whole game of something. It's one thing to look at, and another to accept as a believable character.

I wouldn't have said anything, but since your final art is only at 15%, I figured a little constructive questioning wouldn't hurt.

[lemmy101]

Originally Posted by Jackal

Welcome to AG, lemmy and Binky. (You two weren't in Laverne & Shirley, were you?)

Impressive looking screens! The quality of the art of obvious, but I'll be the first to question your decision making about the girl. I thought the only games that still depicted women like this were the action games intended to lure 15 year old boys to slobber over. I mean, does any serious game go this far overboard anymore? Unless there's some internal game reason for her to look like a total sleaze, I think you'd be much better off showing SOME discretion in how you present her.

And in case anyone points to this thread to show how the portrayal still works, there's a big difference between a screenshot and a whole game of something. It's one thing to look at, and another to accept as a believable character.

I wouldn't have said anything, but since your final art is only at 15%, I figured a little constructive questioning wouldn't hurt.

Thanks for your comments Jackal!

Her look and ample proportions are actually somewhat important to the plot, and themes explored in the game. We hope, in fact, that despite the conclusion you may jump to by her appearance, when playing the game women will actually identify and like the main character as much, if not more, than men would.

We've gained a bit of negative feedback on different forums about this very same subject, some not quite as diplomatic as yours our thoughts on the subject are that once the game is released, and played, this negative feedback will seem somewhat ironic considering the themes and events in the game.

Thanks!