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chrissieGabriel

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re-Introducing the Black Cube series

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Total Posts: 487

Joined 2012-10-03

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Hi everyone,

I am trying to put some order in my games and explain a bit more the current state of my work if some of you are interested.

You might be familiar with my first title ASA, a bit less with Myha and Catyph, and you might have never heard of Blue Moon, Boïnihi and Kitrinos. The purpose of this thread would be to allow you to ask me your questions (even in several months or years, following the evolution of the Black Cube series).

All of these games are based on a book that I had written in 2011, but I continue to enrich it, and the book is still unfinished (and it will be very difficult for me to publish it in English language).
When ASA released I didn’t know that so many people would be interested in playing it, and I am always very grateful to all of you every time I think of it. Then the following games stayed a little bit hidden in the shadows and had less success, but I received very nice feedback regarding many of the ideas, the world, and some of the puzzles.
However it’s easy to get lost!

Here’s a list of the games in the series, sorted by release date (or estimated release date), with some details about their current status.

ASA: A Space Adventure (original edition) (released): first game in the series. Encouraged me to continue making adventure games.
2057 - walk in the steps of Forté, the first astronaut to discover a Black Cube in orbit of your planet, Terra.

TBT: The Black Tower (cancelled): it was a project of J-Rpg with a small team, set in the world of the Black Cube series. Crowdfunding failed on Indiegogo in 2013. Project was too ambitious and we failed to convince. The story exists however and I hope to bring it to life someday, either as a J-Rpg as intially planned, or either as an adventure game.
2032 - play as Yan, the son of Philip Forté, and fight during the troubled period of the Red Rebellions to save the planet from an all-powerful company that wants to get its hands on the legendary Cubes.

ASA: Remastered Edition (released): when ASA was greenlighted on Steam, it was a nice surprise and for the occasion I decided to re-create the game with the help of developer Andrea Rinaldi. I rendered the original 3d scenes in HD, improved the videos and we tried to fix some issues of the original game to provide a better experience.

Myha (original edition) (released, free): created in 10 days during a Myst Game Jam, the project was well received by players, much more than expected for such a short game. However I didn’t have any specific plan to continue or improve it. A surprise would come one year after and give birth to a remake (see below).
2012 - the year after the mysterious disappearance of astronaut Philip Forté, a distress signal is received from the moon. You’re sent to investigate.

Catyph: The Kunci Experiment (original edition) (released): it took me 2 years to create Catyph, mainly because I wanted to include video cutscenes between each scene to simulate the walk of the main character, in order to make the orientation in the world easier compared to ASA. I consider the game as good, and as my best achievement so far, and it contains some ideas of puzzles that I still find very interesting. But in retrospect I realize that some of these puzzles were unfair and that the gameplay was still clumsy. The game has not always been understood by players and I discovered my mistakes too late. During a long period I have been disapointed and had decided to stop making 1st person adventure games on my own, at least for an undefined period. But life is life and many other things happened after that!
2062 - After the events of ASA, the scientists of Terra develop the Blue Matter from a fragment of Black Dice, and this new source of energy allows you to travel through the Solar System for the first time in Terran history. Your destination is planet Catyph, where strange events force you to land on one of its moon, Tytaah.

ATOS
Kel Leda

These two games were released as short demos during game jams, but are still unfinished, so I just notice them quickly. If you have the opportunity to try these demos, don’t hesitate to tell me what you liked and disliked, and how and if I should continue these projects.
A nice remixed soundtrack of Kel Leda is available on the site of composer Python Blue.

The Ruins of Riddoh (released, free): I wasn’t involved in the development of this short game, but it’s really good to try. It was created by 2 italian dev girls known as Similia (project Anamedia) during the Black Cube Game Jam in December 2016.
date unknown - Terran researchers have found evidence of a new undiscovered planet in the galaxy. Your journey begins landing on Riddoh.

Myha: Return to the Lost Island (formerly RealMyha) (kickstarted, in development): During the Black Cube Game Jam in December 2016, Denis Martin released a nice surprise: a demo in full 3d, Unreal Engine, of the island of Myha. It was the beginning of a long story that lead us to run a Kickstarter campaign in 2017, and thanks to all the great backers this project has come to life. I am excited because Denis creates quality games (RoonSehv) and it will be the first game in full3d in the Black Cube series. A private demo has been sent to backers who chose this reward. If you have the time and opportunity, please let us know what you think of it!

Kitrinos: Inside the Cube (released, free): This game was created in 15 days during Adventure Jam 2018 with Yazorius (programmer and music composer). We enjoyed this cooperation and find the resulting game interesting and quite complete, and we would like to encourage you to give it a try.
1961 - A Terran archaeologist discovers a hidden Black Cube in the depths of the continent of Meridia. It is a prequel to the other games.

     
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Joined 2012-10-03

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Catyph: Light Edition (Beta Test in progress, free for owners of original game): In 2016, a few months after the release of Catyph, I lost all my work data when my backup drive died. For a long time I felt frustrated for not being able to post new updates for the game in order to try to improve it. In the beginning of 2018 I decided to take some time to recreate the whole game, after that I could recover a part of it from the Original version (mainly graphical assets). It took me several months but this new version is now complete and almost ready to release as a free update, with many changes.

Boïnihi: The K’i Codex (in development): I started this project as a quick short development of 1 month in May 2017. With time passing, I transformed it again and again, trying different game engines, until I came back to using Visionaire Studio (like ASA-R and Catyph). I want this game to be much easier than my other main projects, but still challenging enough, with a better gameplay if possible. I try to learn from my previous releases. However the game is progressing slowly because of personal/familly issues, and also because I must admit that I have been very busy with the other cooperative projects -which is a good thing!
2065 - With the discovery of the Blue Matter, the Terran governments send more and more spaceships at the discovery of the solar system. Your mission started a few years before, but terrible things happened and you are the last survivor of your crew. Almost dead, you are saved by a kind of ghost in the depths of space. He guides you to his moon, Boïnihi, where you will have to rely on your skills and the surrounding elements to translate the K’i codex, a very old book.

Blue Moon: The Lucium Project (in development): This project is a cooperation with Juanjo Barcelo Molina (Blurred Games / Luminy Studios). Juanjo is a master of graphic creation in Unity and has worked on a lot of nice demos on his own in the past. When he suggested a cooperation I immediately accepted. Even though the game is progressing slowly, we hope to release soon a playable demo in full 3D, as a short introduction to the whole project.
2060 - After the events of ASA, the Blue Matter is being created secretely. But the main scientists seem to have disapeared and give no sign of life. You steal a spaceship from a secret company called Lucium, who employed your sister, one of the missing people. Her last location was around planet Mapk, on a blue moon with mysterious crystals…

As usual you can learn more about the series on the official website:
http://www.theblackcube.fr

     
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Joined 2015-02-06

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Thanks Simon, very interesting and informative! Always looking forward to future Black Cube projects Smile

For anyone who hasn’t played Kitrinos: Inside the Cube yet, what are you waiting for, it’s free Wink A very nice introduction to a great series if you are visiting it for the first time or if you are already familiar.

The demo for Myha: Return To The Lost Island is incredible. Denis has outdone himself, a beautiful living breathing environment. I can’t wait to explore and puzzle my way through the final game!  Thumbs Up

     

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Total Posts: 33

Joined 2011-03-02

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Wow! This is a great informative compilation of the Black Cube games, thank you Simon.

I see there are several projects in development, this is really good!

Thanks again for the info, and please keep us informed Wink

     
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Total Posts: 487

Joined 2012-10-03

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Thanks a lot to both of you Smile It’s great to see that there are still people curious to discover more games in the series. I’ll do my best!

@Sir Beardalot
So glad to know that you liked the demo of Denis! He really did a great work considering the quantity of work to create something in a different island than the full game.
Have you sent feedback to him? I know he was looking forward to read people feelings.

     
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Joined 2015-02-06

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@Simon

Yes, I’ve spoke with Denis on Discord and given lots of great feedback. Laughing I’m not sure if he told you but he contacted me about a month ago and asked if I wanted to help test it, which of course I did! He even created the main puzzle in reference to my “special object” that will be included in the final game.

     

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Total Posts: 487

Joined 2012-10-03

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This is great, if you are directly in touch with Denis, it can only result in something good.
I didn’t know that you chose to have a ‘special object’ in RealMyha! Can’t wait to see it, and everyone ideas and how they will be included! Smile

     
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Total Posts: 487

Joined 2012-10-03

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Hi everyone, I hope you’re safe and going well. In France and a large part of Europe, people are contained at home because of covid19 as you know, despite the sunny weather, and so many parents with kids don’t know what to do and get bored. For the occasion, I took the decision to make ASA free during the next 5 days (100% free). If you have kids around, or if you have not had the opportunity to discover it yet, this is your chance to play with them to a different kind of video game (Myst-like adventure - which is not just about killing monsters and people for once), and to try to solve the challenging puzzles by taking notes on a sheet of paper!
https://itch.io/s/28734/asa-a-free-adventure-covid-containment-offer

     
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Total Posts: 487

Joined 2012-10-03

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Hi! Following my previous giveaway of ASA: A Space Adventure last week, in the current context of crisis around coronavirus and containment, I am now happy to give you Catyph, a “sequel” to ASA in the Black Cube series. ASA has been downloaded by almost 800 people last week, thank you! This time you will download Catyph: The Kunci Experiment, both the Original and Light Editions, but please I would recommend you to play the Light Edition, which fixed several issues (even if a part of the Original’s graphics have been removed - it’s a long story).
https://itch.io/s/29161/catyph-continue-containment-on-a-scifi-moon

I am giving these games in an attempt to entertain adventure fans and help them stay safe at home. I know it’s hard to stay at home, so hopefully Catyph, with around 30 hours of gameplay (without walkthrough), will keep your mind busy? It took two years of my life to create this game, at home and on my own, with my personal money, and thus it’s difficult for me to set it 100% free like this, it means even less revenue and it’s a sacrifice. So please don’t just download the game while it’s free, please do me the favor to try to play it Wink I know there are many offers for greater games everywhere and I can’t ask you to play my game first, but if you like my work and want to support me, I’d be grateful if you could play Catyph during your containment!

You can find a walkthrough on GameBoomers’ website if you’re stuck in this challenging adventure. Also please note that, like ASA last week, this offer is only available here on itch.io and during that time claiming Steam keys is not possible. This is also a way for me to celebrate the 1st year anniversary of the release of Myha: Return to the Lost Island, and the upcoming release of my new game Boïnihi: The K’i Codex. If you want more info, please take a look at http://www.theblackcube.fr and subscribe to my newsletter! Thank you and have fun!

     
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Total Posts: 487

Joined 2012-10-03

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Hello!
And now Myha is on sale for its 1st year anniversary. Save 33% on Steam here: https://store.steampowered.com/app/890280/Myha_Return_to_the_Lost_Island/

     

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