You are viewing an archived version of the site which is no longer maintained.
Go to the current live site or the Adventure Gamers forums
Adventure Gamers



 
 
LinkBack Thread Tools
Old 07-21-2008, 11:43 AM   #1
Cake Maniac
 
bbX1138's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 66
Default Ben There Dan That!

Hi everyone!
Adventuregamers recently posted a news item about my freeware title, 'Ben There Dan That!', here:

http://www.adventuregamers.com/newsitem.php?id=1703

and I was wondering if anyone has had a look at it. I'd love to get some feedback from adventuring experts!

Cheers,

Ben
bbX1138 is offline  
Old 07-21-2008, 12:01 PM   #2
Red Bicycle Brake Unit
 
Harald B's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 177
Default

I thought it was great! Easily one of the funniest underground adventures out there. Also, combining random things gave a specific funny line more often than I expected (instead of a default doesn't-work line). And I was pleasantly surprised a few times when I thought I'd ended up in a dead end but then found out what to do, though I need to think about how good a thing that is.
Some downsides:
- you sorely need to allow keyboard shortcuts instead of right-click cycling, though that's probably a limitation of AGS. AGS sorely needs to allow keyboard shortcuts instead of right-click cycling.
- Yin is the dark one, Yang is the light one.
- I never got into the "castle" or got Cecil (whoever that may be) to get to work. I normally like a nice red herring but these are agonizing even after you finish the game.
- The dialog was occasionally far too long, so that I found myself skipping it. Some of the dramatic pauses were too long too.
__________________
"The golden age of mathematics - that was not the age of Euclid, it is ours." -Cassius Jackson Keyser
Harald B is offline  
Old 07-22-2008, 01:22 AM   #3
SSH
Super Scottish Hero
 
SSH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Edinburgh, UK
Posts: 2,872
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Harald B View Post
- you sorely need to allow keyboard shortcuts instead of right-click cycling, though that's probably a limitation of AGS. AGS sorely needs to allow keyboard shortcuts instead of right-click cycling.
Nope, its the game, not AGS. Remember that platformers like "Art of Theft" were made with AGS... it has very few limitations.
SSH is offline  
Old 07-22-2008, 02:00 AM   #4
Red Bicycle Brake Unit
 
Harald B's Avatar
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Posts: 177
Default

Hm, ok. Then why does every AGS adventure I've ever played suffer from this problem? I hope it's not some misguided sense of nostalgia.
__________________
"The golden age of mathematics - that was not the age of Euclid, it is ours." -Cassius Jackson Keyser
Harald B is offline  
Old 07-22-2008, 02:48 AM   #5
SSH
Super Scottish Hero
 
SSH's Avatar
 
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Edinburgh, UK
Posts: 2,872
Default

Because Game authors are too lazy to add the code to do it!

A Tale of Two Kingdoms has the shortcuts, for example.
SSH is offline  
Old 08-04-2008, 02:19 AM   #6
Cake Maniac
 
bbX1138's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 66
Default

Thanks for the feedback, and sorry for the Josh Roberts-esque delay in response!

Firstly, an updated version is here:

www.zombie-cow.com/btdt

with keyboard shortcuts and a few other small enhancements/fixes. We never really bothered with it because we personally don't use them, but as the game grew popular and this point was raised surprisingly regularly, Dan coded it in.

Re. the yin/yang dark/light: they're from alternate dimensions, where it's the other way round. (Sci-fi is great for explaining away mistakes!)

I suppose the castle could feel like a loose end. It's basically there for exposition, but I like the dialogue with the king, and I don't think it's necessarily bad design for things being there just for fun or cementing the game universe, like say the guests at the yeti party in Sam And Max Hit The Road.
Cecil is the T-Rex. He may never get to work, but he certainly learns his lesson for being a lazy games programmer!
bbX1138 is offline  
Old 11-26-2008, 06:52 AM   #7
Dread Pirate
 
chapter11studios's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Beverly, Massachusetts, USA
Posts: 452
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by bbX1138 View Post
Thanks for the feedback, and sorry for the Josh Roberts-esque delay in response!
I had no idea my response time was an official unit of measurement.
__________________
Josh Roberts
Project Coordinator
Rise of the Hidden Sun

Last edited by chapter11studios; 11-26-2008 at 07:02 AM.
chapter11studios is offline  
Old 02-04-2009, 04:20 AM   #8
Cake Maniac
 
bbX1138's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 66
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by chapter11studios View Post
I had no idea my response time was an official unit of measurement.
The 'Josh Roberts Delay' is more like a phenomenon than a unit, where the longer you have to wait, the more satisfying the end product is...
bbX1138 is offline  
Old 02-07-2009, 08:30 AM   #9
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 189
Default

I didn't finish it and it was a while back, but I really did like it and it was funny. So while I don't have much to say, it was good!
__________________
"Oh yeah?"
youfightlikeadairyfarmer is offline  
Old 02-10-2009, 03:03 PM   #10
Junior Member
 
Join Date: Feb 2009
Posts: 19
Default

I played BTDT for about 3 mins and automatically knew i didnt like it. at least its only 13mb
Ste. is offline  
Old 02-13-2009, 04:17 AM   #11
Cake Maniac
 
bbX1138's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 66
Default

Thanks dairyfarmer! There's a hint-through here if you fancy giving it another try: http://www.zombie-cow.com/?page_id=107

Sorry to hear you didn't like it, Ste. How did you know after 3 minutes?
bbX1138 is offline  
Old 02-23-2009, 08:23 AM   #12
Cake Maniac
 
bbX1138's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 66
Default

Thanks to everyone who voted for us in the Aggies!

http://www.adventuregamers.com/article/id,981/p,14
bbX1138 is offline  
Old 06-24-2009, 03:02 AM   #13
Cake Maniac
 
bbX1138's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 66
Default

For anyone who doesn't regularly browse the 'Adventure' board, our sequel to Ben There, Dan That! has been released, and has a thread here! It's ÂŁ3/$5ish, so it can't hold hands with its predecessor on the 'Amateur' board!

If this prompts anyone to have a go on BTDT, then I'm glad to hear any feedback in this thread!

Cheers!
bbX1138 is offline  
Old 07-17-2009, 02:43 PM   #14
Cake Maniac
 
bbX1138's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 66
Default

Oooh, what's that Steve Ince is playing..?

bbX1138 is offline  
 



Thread Tools

 


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.