Adventure Gamers - Forums

AliBK - 07 July 2021 08:33 AM

Nelly was essentially a birthday present that got out of hand. In 2007, I made a freeware game called Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! The main character was based on my girlfriend, and then I foolishly ended up making the Fowl Fleet a few years later. Obviously, the game owes a big debt to Monkey Island and other Lucas Arts adventures, though I think the humour is more British.

We remastered the original freeware game in HD recently, with super-cheap voice-over. (Basically, me doing most of the voices.)

I’m so glad I invited you to play! And thanks for joining. I’ve got lots more questions for you. Like, do you think a CPT of Spoonbeaks would work? It’s only 99 cents, so it’s tempting to recommend in the future.

Well, we’ve got it made, great point and click game and developer comments, this is going to be so much fun!

AliBK - 07 July 2021 08:33 AM

Nelly was essentially a birthday present that got out of hand. In 2007, I made a freeware game called Nelly Cootalot: Spoonbeaks Ahoy! The main character was based on my girlfriend[...]

I hope that means we can’t die. I’m new to the Cootalot world, but I’ve played Feria d’Arles, funny game. Hope you will stick around and give us inside information.

Luhr28 - 07 July 2021 08:54 AM

Your girlfriend was a pirate?! 

...was?

EDIT: Come to think of it, Michael Gentry based the main character in his text adventure Anchorhead on his wife and she could get killed many times. Even by her husband in the game, whose name was… wait for it… Michael!

I had a rough late shift, not much sleep and today I’ve been coasting/day drinking, which is as close to being a pirate as I’ll ever be. Like.. a deckhand, just trying to cope.

Now that I’m slightly intoxicated, I have very little control over the VP-dial: jokes will be baffling jokes, commentary will rambly. So.. the usual, really.

I like the music and general style. That monkey, El Mono: creepy af. From what I can tell right now, the game seems quite puzzle-oriented, which is nice.

I just ran into a competition that I’ll probably have to rig, which is one of my favourite AG tropes.

edit: just met an easy-going surf/gym bro sailor, who needs chest hair, apparently. My AG mind immediately starts thinking of possible solutions like distilling pirate moonshine or cutting some hair off of a lama or golden retriever.

Docking board puzzle was fun!

Hey now I’m day drinking in-game as well.

AliBK - 08 July 2021 09:39 AM

Karlok - 08 July 2021 06:58 AM

EDIT: Come to think of it, Michael Gentry based the main character in his text adventure Anchorhead on his wife and she could get killed many times. Even by her husband in the game, whose name was… wait for it… Michael!

I got stuck in a walking dead in my playthrough of Anchorhead, because I dropped a broomstick in the one room you can never return to. Damn you, Michael Gentry!

Regarding CPTs, Spoonbeaks Ahoy is pretty short. I’m not sure what the average playtime is, but it’s probably about an hour? That said, The Fowl Fleet is not the longest game in the world. (I cut out the maze I originally planned to put around the Guttering Howls…)

Thanks for that, I won’t recommend it for a CPT now. The Fowl Fleet is actually just fine for a CPT lengthwise. Many people love your game because it fills a Monkey Island hole in their lives - and others actually prefer your game to Monkey Island - which is high praise.

What’s your opinion?

I can’t get Nelly to start, error code 51. I reinstalled the game and checked the file integrity, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go. I don’t want to turn off my virus scanner or fiddle with firewalls, so I guess I can’t participate after all.

Aw.

Did get it up and running. I don’t recall anyone recommending whether or not to enable narration. I did. It’s amusing, but not informative so far. Picked up three inventory items, but haven’t been able to use them yet. Will not be able to really get into the game until Monday. My current problem is trying to find a way to exit the mailroom. So far it seems as if the only cursor options are left and right. Perhaps I need to do something to enable forward and back.

rtrooney - 10 July 2021 02:55 PM

Did get it up and running. I don’t recall anyone recommending whether or not to enable narration. I did. It’s amusing, but not informative so far. Picked up three inventory items, but haven’t been able to use them yet. Will not be able to really get into the game until Monday. My current problem is trying to find a way to exit the mailroom. So far it seems as if the only cursor options are left and right. Perhaps I need to do something to enable forward and back.

I didn’t use forward or back myself to solve the first puzzle. I did need the 3 inventory items you have to complete the puzzle. There are many walkthroughs that can help solve the first puzzle.

This has been a busy week, but I have a nice block of time to play tomorrow.

I tried to post an edit to my last post, but something went wrong.

I looked at a WT, and was very surprised to find that the entire introductory sequence was missing from my Steam download. No yelling from the loudspeaker. No interaction with Bloodbeard. No anything. Just dropped in the middle of the mailroom. Makes me wonder what other glitches await. Would hate to see this go the way of Karlok. Would also hate to see this go the way of Fahrenheit. Will try to see if there is a way to make progress tomorrow.

Lady Kestrel - 10 July 2021 08:49 PM

This has been a busy week, but I have a nice block of time to play tomorrow.

That’s all you will need to catch up, the first part of the game is a short intro, with a fun little puzzle to solve. It can be easily accomplished in a few hours.

After that, THE REAL fun begins with the next section of the game.

Karlok - 10 July 2021 12:45 PM

I can’t get Nelly to start, error code 51. I reinstalled the game and checked the file integrity, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go. I don’t want to turn off my virus scanner or fiddle with firewalls, so I guess I can’t participate after all.

I looked this up:

“There are instances where the game you are trying to launch either has incomplete installation files or some of the files are corrupt. In this case, the game will fail to launch and cause Error code 51.”

https://appuals.com/fix-error-code-51-game-failed-to-start-on-steam/

Hope that helps.

Adv_Lvr - 12 July 2021 08:46 PM

Karlok - 10 July 2021 12:45 PM

I can’t get Nelly to start, error code 51. I reinstalled the game and checked the file integrity, but that’s as far as I’m willing to go. I don’t want to turn off my virus scanner or fiddle with firewalls, so I guess I can’t participate after all.

I looked this up:

“There are instances where the game you are trying to launch either has incomplete installation files or some of the files are corrupt. In this case, the game will fail to launch and cause Error code 51.”

https://appuals.com/fix-error-code-51-game-failed-to-start-on-steam/

Yes Adv_Lvr, I know. That’s the reason I posted: I “reinstalled the game and checked the file integrity but that’s as far as I’m willing to go. I don’t want to turn off my anti-virus software.” I can play Nelly if I disable it but I’m not going to. I’ve had the same problem with one or two games before.

@Karlok: understandable. Would’ve been nice to have you as a participant, though. It’s too bad the game threw soot in the food, to use a Dutch expression that sounds like an AG puzzle.

I realize I failed to heed the checkpoint! I’m not too far ahead.

My schedule for this month allows me some leeway, August is going to be brutal. Depending on the length of the game, I might have to turn my mistake into a strategy. I’ll be careful not to post spoilers.