DPChallenge: A Digital Photography Contest You are not logged in. (log in or register
 

DPChallenge Forums >> General Discussion >> Official DPC Adventure Game?
Pages:  
Showing posts 1 - 25 of 32, (reverse)
AuthorThread
07/21/2007 06:19:56 PM · #1
Anyone ever play the old Lucas Arts games? Day of the Tentacle, Sam & Max, Monkey Island? A couple of years ago I played around with some software and made a couple of silly little ones of my own in the same style, but with no real plot or decent graphics due to the limitations of my talent.

However, after replaying some of these old classics my fires have been re-ignited and I want to get creative and make a new one! I was thinking a DPC based one could be really good.

Example Concept:
-Newbie photographer discovers DPC
-Has to come up with the ultimate DPC photo to win blue
-Has to solve adventure type puzzles such as
---how to catch the insect
---how to keep it still
---how to "acquire" that shiny 1ds mkII in the shop window
---how to get transport to the perfect location
---how to get rid of shannon who seems to have found the location before him
---how to upload his photo once he's stuck in the perfect location with no internet and a looming deadline

I thought it would be fun to come up with a nice funny story, with lots of DPC in-jokes and also have challenging puzzles (using objects with other objects, talking to DPC characters, etc.) I thought it would also be cool to use our little pixel icons as a start point for character design. If we can make it appeal to a general audience too, even better, as there is an active community out there for these style games since they've dried up in today's graphically led industry.

I really enjoy making the games and coming up with puzzles, but as a community I'm sure we could get a team of people together who could do much better than just me on my own. If 2 heads are better than 1, what could, say, 20 heads achieve?

The things I had trouble with before were:

Story/Puzzles:
- How to make them make sense, but not be too obvious
- How to make them part of the story, and not just puzzles for puzzles sake
- How to plan them enough in advance that you acquire the necessary objects throughout the story, not just before you need them (that problem was me being impatient and wanting to start before I really had a good plan, making it up as I went along!)

Graphics:
- Backgrounds, these were the hardest thing as they should be cartoony, but detailed, so you really get sucked into the world but keep that retro feel
- Animation, basic things are ok (like walking and talking). They take time but they're possible. Harder is making the character interact with inventory objects and background items.
- Characters, detailed enough to not look out of place in the backgrounds, but simple enough to animate with some ease

Sound:
- I suck at acting! A text based adventure is fine, but voice acting is the icing on the cake.
- Good music is the key to evoking a mood which simple character animations alone can not display. I just stole midi files off the internet for my first attempts since I can't compose :P

So...
What do people think of the idea? I think it would be really fun, but would require quite a dedicated team effort. I know the ingredients are out there in this community though.

We have artits, duh!
We have creativity!
We have dedicated people!

So, who's up for it? The first step is coming up with the story, puzzles, and script, but if you can see yourself helping in any other way feel free to post too! Even just to bump the thread, hehe :)

Message edited by author 2007-07-21 18:21:19.
07/21/2007 06:25:01 PM · #2
I can take the photo's if you want :P

no, just kidding. I'm not creative in making up puzzles (most of the time I can't even solve them!) and gaphics.. hmm.. my better half (hubby) is better at that.

But, it sounds like something very ool cool. Lots of luck with the concept and finding the right people to help you out!

Message edited by author 2007-07-21 18:43:41.
07/21/2007 06:49:09 PM · #3
Ever played the old game The 7th Guest? It has some killer, fun puzzles in it that could keep you entertained for quite awhile, yet they were not really indepth. (LOVED that game. - it's on the other 'puter, lol!)

07/21/2007 06:56:03 PM · #4
When it first came out my mum didn't let me play it! But then after a few years she let me but I think I was still too young to understand it. Maybe I should try installing it again now :)
07/21/2007 06:59:02 PM · #5
Originally posted by bergiekat:

Ever played the old game The 7th Guest? It has some killer, fun puzzles in it that could keep you entertained for quite awhile, yet they were not really indepth. (LOVED that game. - it's on the other 'puter, lol!)


I didn't get very far in that one at all... Remember the Quest series? Hero's Quest, Space Quest, Kings Quest? Those were the bomb in their day...
07/21/2007 07:03:37 PM · #6
King's Quest...and Return to Zork! I've still got envelopes full of disks to play those games, lol. And they, too, had some basic puzzles I think...or was it just getting used to pc gaming and that was the puzzle??
07/21/2007 07:05:41 PM · #7
Originally posted by TooCool:

Originally posted by bergiekat:

Ever played the old game The 7th Guest? It has some killer, fun puzzles in it that could keep you entertained for quite awhile, yet they were not really indepth. (LOVED that game. - it's on the other 'puter, lol!)


I didn't get very far in that one at all... Remember the Quest series? Hero's Quest, Space Quest, Kings Quest? Those were the bomb in their day...


I still have the 5 ¼" floppies!
07/21/2007 07:07:02 PM · #8
Oh yeh King's Quest! I played 5 6 & 7, great games! Not so much of the humour which is in the LucasArts ones, and harder since you can DIE!!! :O But definately still great games :)
07/21/2007 07:14:37 PM · #9
Ok, I have to go here, just because the first two were such crude versions of a computer game compared to now. Leisure Suit Larry anyone? rofl!! My sister gave it to me in college! :P
(embarrassed, now runs and hides)

Note: 1st one came on 5¼", lol.

Message edited by author 2007-07-21 19:15:18.
07/22/2007 06:34:03 AM · #10
The first game I ever played was Lemmings but not even that was on 5¼, hehe :P
07/22/2007 08:04:36 AM · #11
Originally posted by bergiekat:

Ok, I have to go here, just because the first two were such crude versions of a computer game compared to now. Leisure Suit Larry anyone? rofl!! My sister gave it to me in college! :P
(embarrassed, now runs and hides)

Note: 1st one came on 5¼", lol.


I spent HOURS on Leisure Suit Larry!!! The original one, #2 was not as entertaining. I think I still have it on my 1985 PC, it might still work! LOL.
07/22/2007 08:57:18 AM · #12
>Open door

Can't do that

>Pull door handle

Can't do that

>Turn door nob

Can't do that

>Push door

Can't do that

>Shove door

Can't do that

>KICK THE FECKIN DOOR IN

Can't do that

>




07/22/2007 11:17:28 AM · #13
rofl!! Did ya ever get IN the bar??? (giggles)
07/22/2007 11:43:09 AM · #14
Originally posted by WaysOfSeeing:



>KICK THE FECKIN DOOR IN


I would always try cursing. Different games had different responses, but most were pretty funny, like threatening to tell my mother or to wash out my mouth.

*grin*

Ben, I'd be up for helping. I think to plant items you'll need later, it's a good idea to write the script backward. That is, think of the end result, then think of the steps needed to get there, then think of the items needed to accomplish those steps.

Then you can drop the items into the story at opportune moments.

Leisure Suit Larry was a terrific game. :)

Now playing Aazor.

Message edited by author 2007-07-22 11:43:58.
07/22/2007 01:15:07 PM · #15
Originally posted by bergiekat:

Ok, I have to go here, just because the first two were such crude versions of a computer game compared to now. Leisure Suit Larry anyone? rofl!! My sister gave it to me in college! :P
(embarrassed, now runs and hides)

Note: 1st one came on 5¼", lol.


A funny story about that game:

When I was a student, I used to do installations and technical support for the residential network at Lehigh University. At the time, the university used a Novell network, so we needed to install both Novell IPX/SPX (for file/print access) as well as TCP/IP (for Internet) support. This was in 1996, when Windows 3.11 was still very common, and at the time I had established myself as one of the "go-to" techs for tricky DOS/Win3.x installations (someone reading this was probably a DOS/Novell guy at one point and knows where this is going).

Anyway, I get flagged down in the hall by about 3 techs (good Windows and networking guys, but not overly solid on DOS) who were having a strange problem with a particular computer. They'd installed the network card, loaded the card drivers, loaded the Novell drivers, and edited the startup files as per our instructions, and as they'd done on a couple dozen computers previously. Once they did all that, though, every time they started up the computer, Leisure Suit Larry would run! Once they exited Larry, Windows would launch normally. Internet access worked fine (if I recall correctly) but Novell file/print access did not.

Anyway, since I was familiar with the game, I had a pretty good idea what the problem was -- and a look at the user's startup files proved me correct. The user's PATH statement had been previously edited so he could run Larry from the DOS prompt without having to worry about changing directories. Our hapless techs had added C:\NOVELL to the end of the path (as per our instructions) and added JUST the filename (not the path and the extension) of each of the required Novell drivers to autoexec.bat (again, as per our instructions).

The problem was simply that Leisure Suit LLarry was C:\SIERRA\LARRY\LSL.EXE, and one of the required Novell drivers -- the Link Support Layer driver -- was C:\NOVELL\LSL.COM! When the system got to the startup line which called for "LSL", it was finding Larry first and dutifully running it!

The fix was simple -- change the startup file to call "C:\NOVELL\LSL.COM" instead of just "LSL" -- but it was hard to describe the issue with a straight face at our meeting that night!

~Terry
07/22/2007 01:20:46 PM · #16
You definitely need to include:

- Trolls
- Blatent cheaters (sic)
- Avoiding flames in the forums
- A Grue
- A rake
- Iceland
- Godzilla
- Ducky and Woody
- A vast conspiracy against the hero, masterminded by Site Council
- "WWYT?" (perhaps fully spelled out) as a response to nonsensical input from the user
- A rarely-seen, possibly mythical being named "Drew"

~Terry
07/22/2007 01:28:04 PM · #17
IsaacM88 was playing Monkey Island just the other day. Perhaps you could recruit some of our younger members to contribute ideas or act as testers ...
07/22/2007 04:26:32 PM · #18
Originally posted by GeneralE:

IsaacM88 was playing Monkey Island just the other day. Perhaps you could recruit some of our younger members to contribute ideas or act as testers ...


I thought Konador WAS one of our younger members!

~Terry
07/22/2007 05:01:04 PM · #19
Originally posted by Konador:

Anyone ever play the old Lucas Arts games? Day of the Tentacle,

...


I really liked that game. I probably have it on one of the floppy disks somewhere. Too bad they don't make games like that anymore.

Nick
07/22/2007 05:23:51 PM · #20
Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

Originally posted by GeneralE:

IsaacM88 was playing Monkey Island just the other day. Perhaps you could recruit some of our younger members to contribute ideas or act as testers ...


I thought Konador WAS one of our younger members!

~Terry

Of the SC, yes, but of the DPC community no longer : (
07/22/2007 06:09:05 PM · #21
I can do voice-acting.

I've also been known to write stuff.

There has to be a sequence about neutralizing Iceland, perhaps with laser satellites.

Oh, I can also draw stuff, especially cartoony stuff.
07/22/2007 07:11:34 PM · #22
Cool ideas! What is the best way to communally write the story? We could use Google Docs where everyone has access to the text file and it updates in real time if multiple people are editing? We could have an ideas file, and a narrative file, where we gradually try and weave all the ideas into a coherant story.

Do you think we should tackle puzzles and "how-to's" once we have that down, slotting them into relavent places, or should we create the twisted web while spinning the story? The ideas file could be accompanied with possible solutions to certain tasks for example.
07/22/2007 08:52:36 PM · #23
Originally posted by ClubJuggle:

You definitely need to include:

- Trolls
- Blatent cheaters (sic)
- Avoiding flames in the forums
- A Grue
- A rake
- Iceland
- Godzilla
- Ducky and Woody
- A vast conspiracy against the hero, masterminded by Site Council
- "WWYT?" (perhaps fully spelled out) as a response to nonsensical input from the user
- A rarely-seen, possibly mythical being named "Drew"

~Terry


Don't forget Orbs and She-who-shalt-not-be-named! :D
07/22/2007 09:16:57 PM · #24
how about making it a bit of parody, like side quests where player had to seek out the wise Mr L in a swamp (yoda wannabee of sorts)... and then go kill some godzilla's who's terrorizing the kingdom (thanks to sinister Mr Roflmao) or something like that? :P
07/22/2007 09:59:53 PM · #25
Originally posted by crayon:

how about making it a bit of parody, like side quests where player had to seek out the wise Mr L in a swamp (yoda wannabee of sorts)... and then go kill some godzilla's who's terrorizing the kingdom (thanks to sinister Mr Roflmao) or something like that? :P


Yes! Art Roflmao inside the head of his giant robot Godzilla!
Pages:  
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 04:12:40 AM

Please log in or register to post to the forums.


Home - Challenges - Community - League - Photos - Cameras - Lenses - Learn - Prints! - Help - Terms of Use - Privacy - Top ^
DPChallenge, and website content and design, Copyright © 2001-2024 Challenging Technologies, LLC.
All digital photo copyrights belong to the photographers and may not be used without permission.
Current Server Time: 03/28/2024 04:12:40 AM EDT.