So one thing I’ve discovered during the past month is that it reeeeally helps to have a plan for what you’re doing. It’s a big motivator, let me tell you. For example, since the last installment of testgame.exe: Making the Adventure, the entire second fourth of testgame (er…the first half, I guess?), including roughly 95% of the puzzles and storyline, has been ironed out. Lizo likes this a lot. And to prove how useful having a plan is, just check out the insanely long list of new things in this update! (No sarcasm here!)
You’ve got your new room, your new character, new cutscene, and that’s just the stuff coming from the actual planning. You’ve also got your usual background work and animation and general prettiness.
So, um, yeah. Lots of new stuff.
Sorry guys, my mind’s a little occupied right now, as I’ve just been brainstorming ideas for a paper I’m writing on videogame music. Yes. Like, for school.
Wait, I can make this distraction work to my advantage. I can think of all the interesting things I could do with music in testgame. That’s something I’ve been wanting to work on again, actually. I’m pretty happy with how the two bits of music in already in the game have turned out (although every once in a while I wonder whether they should be changed so that they’re constantly looping, without a distinct beginning and end).
Woah, I just thought of something cool to do with the music later in the game, but I can’t tell you what it is right now. 🙂
OK, I don’t think this is going anywhere any more! So just play the game, OK? Believe me, there is plenty more stuff in store in the future, and, I must say, some of these puzzles in the works are positively ingenious if I do say so myself.
(no extra programs needed to run this file)
Things to do/new features of note:
- New room! Go through the left hand doorway in the castle.
- New character! He’s in the castle.
- And speaking of new characters, there’s now a cutscene when Paul first walks into the castle introducing said new character, as well as another character who used to be new… at one point or another…. Anyway! Yaayy plot.
- Redrew Lily standing behind her stall in the castle courtyard so that she actually fits there.
- New animation for the forest creature in the vine screen—it visibly drinks now, and the water in the pool ripples!
- Background work: castle courtyard, vine screen (I know, I said this screen was finished. What can you do?).
- Tons of planning! Pretty much the whole second quarter of the game is planned out now. 🙂
All the graphics and design are by Lizo. The dialogue was written by Lizo, with significant input by Paul. The background music is by Lizo. “Let’s Go Skateboard” is written and performed by The Word Problems. Adventure Game Studio (the program used to create this game) can be downloaded at http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/
