an occasional player's review

RSS Feed Homepage

Articles: 1, 2

Toeing the party line
2009-08-17 07:38:00
Beyond Exile is Doug Shanahan’s adaptation of author Lawrence Johns’ epic poem, written in Quest. During most of the game, the player dons the role of Frank Glendover, continuing his philosophical and personal journey during the 1970’s which is said to have started out in Johns’ previous work Love and Hate. However, the game also ...
More About: Party , Games , Line , The Party

Crying Uncle
2009-08-03 00:14:00
I recently spotted an IF game on the Artsy Games Incubator website called My Uncle George, written by Filipe Salgado (download page here; web version here). It’s a one-room piece written using Inform 7, which casts the player as 17-year-old Matt, trying to kill some time before school, having a “criminally awkward” breakfast chat with ...
More About: Crying

Two of a Kind
2009-07-27 00:34:00
One of the things I generally look for in games is how well-meshed the gameplay is with the narrative. Inform author Graham Nelson himself wrote about it in his introduction to his essay The Craft of Adventure, where he refers to adventure games as “a crossword at war with a narrative.” Fortunately, Ben Chandler’s games Shifter’s ...
More About: Games

Editor Releases Game, Gets Interviewed
2009-07-18 20:34:00
Jimmy Maher, editor of the online magazine SPAG (Society for the Promotion of Adventure Game s ) and recognized IF historian, recently released his new game The King of Shreds and Patches. From his original rec.arts.int-fiction post: The King of Shreds and Patches is a novel-length work of interactive fiction. In it you will explore an historically accurate recreation of ...
More About: Editor

The Color and the Shade
2009-05-29 14:16:00
Since I had some available time this week, I went on a lark and visited the AGS forums to see what’s cooking. One link led to another, which led me to their Pick of the Month for May 2009: Fading Shades. The blurb for the POTM also reminded me of another first-person game I’ve always ...
More About: Games , Color

The Silliness of it all
2008-12-29 07:32:00
Title: The Strange and Somewhat Sinister Tale of the House at Desert Bridge Author(s): Jonas Kyratzes (design and programming), Verena Huber (graphics), Helen Trevillion (music) Release Date: November 2008 License: Freeware; click here to download Author’s Site: Jonas Kyratzes I don’t know what to make of Desert Bridge (better than referring to the game as “TSSSTHDB”). After playing through nearly ...
More About: Games , Adventure , Silliness

New Jonas Kyratzes Game Released
2008-11-24 00:43:00
Here’s a new title off Jonas Kyratzes’s drawing board: The Strange and Somewhat Sinister Tale of the House at Desert Bridge, released just 2 days ago. Desert Bridge opening screen The game features music by composer Helen Trevillion and colorful hand-drawn art by artist Verena Huber. I still haven’t started playing the game yet, but the screenshots ...
More About: Adventure , Released , Game

And the winners are
2008-11-17 05:13:00
The 14th Annual Interactive Fiction Comp is finally over! A huge applause to the winners of this year’s competition: Violet by Jeremy Freese, Nightfall by Eric Eve, and Everybody Dies by Jim Munroe. These games were also chosen as winners of the Miss Congeniality award in this year’s comp. The rest of the entries and their ...
More About: Games , Winners

Killfun is a Name No One Forgets
2008-10-27 02:46:00
Title: Nanobots Author(s): Erin “The Ivy” Robinson (design, art, writing); Vince Twelve (scripting); Chris “Scorposer” Moorson (music) Release Date: June 2008 License: Freeware; click here to download Author’s Site: Lively Ivy I’ve seen Nanobots being announced before on the AGS boards, but since I was floored at work back then, I decided to let the game simmer first. The same ...
More About: Games , Adventure

Tool Updates, Part 3: ACK
2008-08-24 18:01:00
Those familiar with Rogue-like games and other tile-based adventures (such as Ultima IV) would be happy to know one of the tools for creating these games is still kicking and breathing. Unless, of course, you’re not into designing games… Enter the Adventure Creation Kit, otherwise known as ACK. Its latest version (3.212), though essentially a DOS ...
More About: Software , Tools , Games , Updates

Tool Updates, Part 2: TADS 2
2008-08-22 13:23:00
Mike Roberts had recently posted on the IF newsgroups about the TADS 2 update. Those who have been more-or-less involved in the newsgroups are probably aware that the last version Roberts had released for TADS 2 was v2.5.10. This version consisted mostly of compiler and run-time engine bug-fixes, but nothing much in terms of UI ...
More About: Software , Games , Updates , Tool , Part

Tool Updates: AGS
2008-08-21 13:57:00
I’ve previously written about certain adventure game authors shifting their gears over to other software that are more regularly updated. This post will feature the recent (and not-so-recent) changes to some of the game design software I’ve been checking out, so readers can have a better clue of what they need to be looking for. First ...
More About: Software , Tools , Games , Adventure , Updates

Something Else
2008-08-19 12:11:00
Title: The Vacuum Author: David Proctor Release Date: August 2008 License: Freeware; click here to download Author’s Site: Serious Business [SPOILER ALERT: This article contains some spoilers.] You get off smelling clean, looking prim and proper in your red long-sleeved shirt from the bathroom. When you reach the kitchen, one of the other passengers on your ship apologizes for grabbing that ...
More About: Games , Adventure

Care to chat?
2008-08-17 09:28:00
Title: Chat room Author: TheJBurger Release Date: July 2008 License: Freeware; click here to download the game Author’s Site: None [SPOILER ALERT: This article contains some spoilers.] There’s always something to be said about objects that allow human conversation, even interaction, without the extras that provide other important clues, such as facial and body movements. Like most other new technologies, a ...
More About: Reviews , Games , Care

Now it all comes together
2008-02-11 01:03:00
Title: All Roads Lead to Paradise, The Good Dr Ferrer, Jack French and the 7 Dwarfs[sic] (Jack French series) Author: JohnnyBDesign Games Release Date: 2006-2007 License: Freeware; click here to download all three games Author’s Site: JohnnyBDesign.com Having further exposed myself into other game “genres” the last month or so, I’ve gained a better appreciation of different kinds of game ...
More About: Adventure

SLUDGE goes Open Source
2008-01-07 01:36:00
Finally, Tim Furnish has decided to officially declare SLUDGE as open source! He had recently uploaded the source code to Sourceforge, and has renamed the whole bit as OpenSLUDGE. Here’s hoping all the bugs get fixed once people start tinkering with the engine’s code, especially those memory leaks some authors had been experiencing. Definitely w00t! [ Thanks go ...
More About: Software , Open Source , Games , Adventure , Sludge

Moving forward
2007-12-26 10:32:00
Several game designers are switching to other development systems for their projects these days. Deidra Kiai, aka “Squinky”, has shifted gears from SLUDGE to the Wintermute Engine, as evidenced by her new game Chivalry is Not Dead, which she announced 2 months ago in the WME forums. In fact, she released her second game in ...
More About: Moving , Forward

Games, game stuff, game design stuff
2007-12-23 05:26:00
I’ve been playing different games and juggling work duties during the whole 2 weeks (or was it 3?) I’ve been out. I initially thought replacing dial-up service with broadband was overkill, since we mostly use the Internet for emails and regular browsing, but it’s turning out to be different. Now bittorrent downloads, RSS feeds, and ...
More About: Design , Games , Stuff , Game , Game Design

Some house that was
2007-11-25 20:07:00
Title: The House Author: “vdweller” (Emilios Manolidis) Release Date: May 2007 License: Freeware; click here to download Author’s Site: Vdweller’s website [SPOILER ALERT: This article contains some spoilers.] I came to this game primarily after browsing through Gnome’s Lair (where it was featured) looking for any new games I could sample on. Since The House was entirely homebrewed (having been made ...
More About: Games , Adventure , Some

Grolly!
2007-11-23 12:48:00
Title: Trilby: The Art of Theft Author: Ben “Yahtzee” Croshaw Release Date: November 2007 License: Freeware; click here to download Author’s Site: Fully Ramblomatic Here’s another testament game to AGS’s versatility as a game design engine: Ben Croshaw’s Trilby: The Art of Theft, another mission-based platformer based on an improved version of the engine Croshaw used for his other more ...
More About: Reviews , Games , Adventure , Olly

IF Comp 2007
2007-11-18 22:51:00
The competition has finally finished, and the winner is Admiral Jota’s “Lost Pig” (see the full result here). Though I registered as a voter last month, I regretfully was not able to play and vote on at least 10 of the games because of busy schedules. I was able to set some of the games ...
More About: Reviews , Games , Comp

Who?s afraid of the big bad?goat?
2007-06-28 01:57:00
Title: Beyond the Threshold Author: Thomas ‘Nihil’ Busse Release Date: June 2007 License: Freeware; click here to download Author’s Site: None [SPOILER ALERT: This article contains spoilers. It is recommended to play the game first before continuing to read the review.] Beyond the Threshold is one of the two graphical adventure game entries from the HP Lovecraft Commonplace Book Project organized ...
More About: Games , Adventure , Raid

Short & Snappy
2007-06-18 07:36:00
Title: La Croix Pan Author: TheJBurger Release Date: June 2007 License: Freeware; click here to download Author’s Site: None When the author announced La Croix Pan’s completion on the AGS forums, Vince Twelve remarked this is what new designers should aim for their first game. “Short , but with a high degree of polish, and trying out some complex scripting to ...
More About: Reviews , Games , Adventure , Snappy

'You mean this, this thing...is ALIVE?'
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Title: SpooksAuthor: Erin RobinsonDate Published: 2006License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: none[SPOILER ALERT: This article may contain several spoilers. I recommend playing the game first before continuing.]Imagine receiving a live fish as a prize for throwing darts. Not much to expect right? But then imagine doing so in a world populated with a beer-guzzling demon, a fallen angel, a fortune-reading eyeball, a talking scarecrow holding a floating ship *and* a three-headed invisible, um, ash vendor.You can't help having a real attitude. So what will you do with the fish?Welcome to Spooks, Erin Robinson's debut game and the second title to be feature in XII Games' website. The game was developed using the popular Adventure Game Studio engine, with the help of Vince Twelve (scripting) and The Scorposer (music).The game starts off with the player assuming the role of a sardonic ghoul named Mortia, who decides to pay the Carnage-Val a visit to see the sights. Not ...
More About: Live , Thing , Alive

AGFW: Space adventure and more
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Title: Adventure s in the Galaxy of Fantabulous WondermentAuthor: Ben CroshawRelease Date: July 2005License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: Fully RamblomaticFinally finished Ben Croshaw's Adventures in the Galaxy of Fantabulous Wonderment (henceforth called "AGFW") after several hours this morning. Well, all right, granted that there are certain elements in the game that I no longer completed (like the research quest), and that I heavily used the walkthrough, I was still able to enjoy it.The story begins when you as Daniel Gordon gets berated by your boss playing a game 5 minutes before your shift ends. Seeing where this would eventually lead, Daniel decides to take a bus home...where he gets abducted and sold as a delivery guy to a group of alien mercenaries en route to their target. However, the mercenaries' target disappear, along with their own captain. Since this is the only way to get back to Earth, you agree to cooperate ("I can't believe I'm being threate...
More About: Venture , Space , More , Pace

Cool comeback
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Title: AnacreonAuthor: George MoromisatoDate Published: 1988, 2005 (v2.1d, Windows version)License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: AnacreonJust recently discovered there's already a great-looking Windows port of George Moromisato's classic space conquest game Anacreon. Its original title, back when it was still running in DOS, was "Anacreon: Reconstruction 4021" and there had been about 11 to 12 scenarios available then. The graphical port (version 2.1d), which happily runs on just about all Windows versions, sports a classy title screen and exhibits several improvements from the last DOS release (version 1.3.0). Cool .Moromisato admitted moving on from Pascal to C++ for this new version (which he had somehow maligned in the Anacreon's first manual) and is now at work on another space combat game (Transcendence). He is still very much optimistic about Anacreon's evolution as a game, and is planning to incorporate better multiplayer features in the future. The DOS...
More About: Back , Come , Comeback

Audiosyncrasy
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Just got hold of Joey "Pepe" Smith's recently released solo album Idiosyncrasies yesterday. The album features Smith at the helm, writing almost all the songs and doing the acoustic guitars. Fellow musicians Jun Lopito and Dondi Ledesma handle lead guitars and the rhythm section, respectively.Listening to it strangely reminded me of two things: Johnny Cash's rendition of "Hurt" (old Nine Inch Nails song) and the character Sal X in Eric Gamalinda's novel Empire of Memory. Despite Smith's so-called "vocal jabbing" here (which is reminiscent of his singing style in Juan Dela Cruz), one can hear the years that's behind each song, especially in tracks like "Eto Na Ako!", "Ihip ng Hangin", "Jueteng Shed", even "Hi-Tek Babe." And yet, as one listens to the songs, one feels as if he's as young as Sal X, still as irreverent, impulsive, and a bit unpredictable.The eleven songs included in the album definitely has that "old school" feel to them, with most, if not all, harking back to the...
More About: Audio , Audi , Dios , Sync

Emily Enough: Twisted (but) fun
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Title: Emily Enough : ImprisonedAuthor: Logan WorsleyRelease Date: 2005License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: (None)I'm currently playing another AGS adventure game called Emily Enough: Imprisoned (EEI) by Logan "Anarcho" Worsley. It's a tale about Emily Enough, the highly intelligent heiress to the Enough estate, who decided to murder her parents and everyone else in their household because her birthday demands were not met. She was then tried and sentenced to live in an asylum until her 21st birthday. But that's not the fun part yet.The fun part is in the asylum. The game begins during Emily's arrival in the asylum. It turns out the mental institute is owned by a chemical company, which is currently undergoing several "infrastructure changes," so to speak. To save money, the company had to move their offices over to the institute so they could try recovering there.Emily shudders at what she sees happening inside, and wants to escape. How she does that is up to...
More About: Fun

Afloat on The Infinite Ocean
2006-12-02 15:49:14
Title: The Infinite Ocean Author: Jonas KyratzesRelease Date: 2005License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: http://www.jonas-kyratzes.net/Just finished playing Jonas Kyratzes's short graphic adventure The Infinite Ocean. The current version available for download is actually a complete rewrite (done by programmer Kevin Clancy) of the original release, which helped fix all the bugs and improved some minor details as well. Freelance composer and sound effects designer Adam DiTroia provided the haunting music which excellently sets the overall tone of the game.[SPOILER ALERT: This section of the commentary gives out heavy hints on the game. If you have not played the game yet, it is recommended to do so before continuing.]Similar to his older piece Last Rose in a Desert Garden (which he has just recently re-released), Kyratzes expounds further on his pacifist views in the game, making effective use of the artificial intelligence concept in conveying his philosophy and c...

Last requests: On 'Mourir En Mer'
2006-12-02 15:49:14
(For now, I'll be posting some of my older articles from at least a few years. These articles were written at a time when I've been going back and forth between switching blog hosting services and getting into other Real Life (tm) events, so part of the articles themselves bear some comments about what's been happening with me.)Title: Mourir En Mer ("To Die At Sea")Author: Daniel "Dorcan" MullerRelease Date: 2003License: Freeware; click here to downloadAuthor's Site: Digital Mind StudioI'm currently enjoying our remaining weeks in training, or at least trying to. Apart from having to absorb a lot of information (even for someone who's worked fairly long in tech support), I'm planning how to possibly finish TGR and do my other stuff within the next 1 to 2 weeks. Hmm. We'll see.In the meantime, though, I've finished playing Daniel Muller's adventure game Mourir En Mer, thanks to a Len Green hint near the final stretch (yeah, yeah, so much for playing with no walkthroughs). T...
More About: Last , Quest , Requests , Quests