Two persons left. Both of them had a game idea.

The first of those was quite different from Frasse. More serious in its tone. I liked that, as it’s the kind of story I don’t think I’ll ever be able to write myself. But he hadn’t seen Frasse yet, and when he got around to looking at what I’d done before, he realised that he doesn’t think that my style (which, particularly when it comes to graphics, is limited) would suit his game.

The final game idea is also something that I hope will become a game some day. It is a bit interesting and show some promise, but after a lot of thinking I turned it down anyway. Partly because it’s too similar to Frasse in style, and partly because I’m dumb. The proposal was for a one-room game that would sort of be like a demo for a bigger game. That’s a very sensible idea, and it’s probably the best, most intelligent way to approach a collaboration like this. “Start small” is also the most common advice given in game making forums. But somehow it doesn’t appeal to me.

That leaves me alone, which means that my next game will be the not-quite-sequel to Frasse. Unfortunately, I didn’t bring my notes for that game along with me on my summer vacation because I was expecting to start on a collaboration instead, so I won’t be able to get to those until I get back home in August, but I do have the basic idea in my head and I can reinvent the rest, so the plan is to get started now anyway.

I can also use this time to work on the SLUDGE engine, practice my animation skills (or lack thereof) in Plastic Animation Paper (a really good program that I’ve finally purchased) and do things that are not related to game making. (Such as practising on the clarinet. I really need to do that, as my clarinet playing skills are far behind those on bassoon, trumpet or tuba.) And I should mow the lawn.

But my thoughts keep drifting back to the topic of a collaboration… I would like to do a collaboration project, and as I’m currently between projects I’ll throw the question out there: Do you want to design a game for me to make? I haven’t done a successful collaboration yet, but I have proved that I can do the work needed to finish a game, and I’m making sure not to bite of more than I can chew this time. I also have an idea for the division of labour the would make the project manageable.

I’m looking for someone who wants to do the story and game design. Then I’ll take care of the implementation of it.

The game should be an adventure game (and not in 3d). That way I’m confident there won’t be any technical obstacles. I have a game engine that I know well.

Serious? Weird? Whimsical? Traditional? A bit experimental? I’m open to most suggestions. You don’t have to have any game making experience. If you don’t have anything to show what you can do, you’ll have to have a better sales pitch, but please don’t hesitate to contact me if you’re interested!

Send me an e-mail if you’re interested! Questions can also be put as comments to this post.

The new version of the game runs on Mac OS X as well as Windows (and even Linux, but then you’ll have to get the game engine separately). It also has added voices, improved music and some improved graphics. It still isn’t perfect, but it’s good enough for me to be proud of what I’ve made, and now I can move on to make my next game. (Unless someone finds any bugs in this one.)

Enjoy, and please let me know what you think of it!

I’m still working on the Special Edition of Frasse and the Peas of Kejick. The main reason that I failed to meet the deadline I’d given myself was that I hadn’t received all the voice recordings from other people (I’m still waiting on two persons), but that wasn’t the only reason. When I realised that it would be impossible to finish the game on schedule, I didn’t push that hard to finish the things I could have finished either. And now that I’m waiting I’ve also started to go through all the background graphics, updating them to take advantage of the unlimited colour palette in the new version of the engine, and touching them up a bit where I find things that I can improve.

I’m now really looking forward to when I’ll finally be able to wrap up the game and finally call it done. (This has gone on a lot longer than I originally planned.) I can’t make a new estimation of a release date today. As soon as I have the parts created by others that I need to finish, I’ll put it together as quickly as I can, but until then I’ll keep making small updates all over the game. I just hope the end will come soon, so that I’ll be able to move on.

Today I’ve spent some time on a piece of music from Frasse. This time it’s a piece from the last part of the game, so if you’re afraid of minor spoilers, read no further.It’s the music playing in the princess’ room, and this is what it sounds like in the released game: Flute Concert (old version) Here’s what it will sound like (unless I change it further) in the Special Edition: Flute Concert (new version). I think you’ll agree that it sounds a lot better, even though it’s almost exactly the same notes, and it’s still played by a computer.

Update: Oops. Encoding it to MP3 caused both versions to lose clarity, so I’ve now re-uploaded them in higher bitrate.

I am looking at the game and considering how I can make it better. The graphics will get some small improvements, and a few added animations. The menu system probably should be made prettier (but I’m not so good at that kind of stuff, so we’ll see…) I’m considering adding a short intro to the game, and also give the player a clear goal from the start.

The biggest updates (aside from the ones coming from the upgrade of the game engine) will be in the area of sound. I’ve already revealed that I’m reworking the music and adding some sound effects. What you probably don’t know is that I’m also adding voice acting. I posted in the Voice Acting Alliance Forums (which I found out about through the – mostly good voiced – game Dirty Split) and when I got some really good voices in reply, it got quite interesting. This may even make the game worth replaying for those who have already played it.

But there is a problem. The most interesting replies I got from that forum were all from women, and there are fewer females than males in the game. (I may have more females in my next game.) I’ve managed to fill most roles, and I’ve decided to voice the title character myself (nobody even auditioned for that part!), but there are still five parts left without an actor to play them. Blake, Ike, Tom Braider, the Huge Dog and the King. (I’m still waiting for the recordings of several of the other characters that people have agreed to do, but I hope that I won’t have to worry about those.) So if you who are reading this know another place where I could ask people if they’d be interested to voice a character, I’d like to hear from you. Maybe you’d even be interested to do it yourself? I’m not offering any other compensation than a place in the credits, though. (Or some small favour in return. I’ve agreed to record a few lines for a project of one of the actors, or if you want a piece of music or something that could also be arranged.)

The thought of an in-game hint system has also crossed my mind, but I don’t know if I’ll add that.

I’m aiming for a release around Easter-time, and it still seems realistic to think I’ll make that deadline.

And finally, since the few people who are reading this are likely to have played the game already: If this post reminds you of something that you think I should improve in Frasse, please don’t hesitate to let me know!

My first attempt (in 2002) at making a game with the SLUDGE adventure game engine was a collaboration.

A scene from Mathias Ferguson, Crime Scene Photographer

Mathias Ferguson, Crime Scene Photographer was designed by a man calling himself Ashikaga that I met in an adventure game forum (comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.adventure on Usenet). He was to design the game and I would implement it. We got a few scenes done, but in late 2003 Ashikaga found himself too busy and suggested we put the project on hold.

At this point, I started on Frasse (after looking around a bit for another collaborator without success). In 2006, after I’d released Frasse, I wanted to pick up development of Mathias again. Ashikaga was not only still busy with other stuff, but he’d also stopped playing adventure games, so he was not interested and instead gave me permission to do what I want with the game. (Even though we never got far with it, I still would like to pick it up again one day, maybe with another collaborator.)

I then made contact with Deirdra Kiai, asking if she would be interested in a collaboration after she was done with TGTTPOACS. When the reply came a few days later that the game was almost finished and she would indeed like to make a game with me I was thrilled. Not only am I a big fan of her games, we both had a track record of actually finishing games. Surely this time the collaboration would result in something great? We thought a while on what kind of game to make (a platform game? a kart racer?) and decided to try a small one-room conversation-based 3d adventure game. Deirdra would do the design and model the room, I would do character graphics and for the rest I don’t think we had a clear division.

Character concept art for Bob, one of the main characters.

But as St. Edmond’s Second-Best Coffee hasn’t been released, it’s clear that something went wrong this time, too.

Concept art for Child of the Warriors, the other main character

Bob again. This time as a model in Blender.

As there didn’t exist any ready-to-use engines for 3d adventure games, we looked around a bit and decided on Ogre3d. Learning to use that wasn’t as easy as I’d hoped, and it was made even more complicated that I had bought my first Mac and I wanted to make it cross-platform. Trying to learn Mac-coding and Ogre3d at the same time was not the smartest thing I’ve ever done. Add to that the fact that Ogre3d wasn’t as well supported on Mac as on Windows, and you see what we were up against. We never got the engine to a state where we would be able to start making the actual game.

So the obvious failure here was that we bit off more than we could chew. Even though the scope of the game itself was deliberately small, the technical side of it turned out to be too hard for us. That was definitely the biggest reason for the death of the project.

But there’s more to it than that. The thing that broke the project was once again lack of time, but this time that lack of time was mine. A hobby has to take second place to paid work and other stuff, and when (after a long period of slowly making very little progress) I ended up unable to work at the game at all, the project died. (I don’t remember the exact details, but I think it was something like that.)

I also suspect that the vague work division was a bad thing.

(Deirdra then made Pigeons in the Park. It has some of the spirit of St. Edmond’s Second-Best Coffee even though it’s a different and smaller game, so play that game if you want a taste of what could have been.)

I’ve also played a smaller part in the creation of some games that actually have been made. I’m thinking of Handyman Wanted and 8 Squares in the Garden in particular, where I made the music. It was fun, but I’m not 100% happy with my contribution there. If I get to make music for someone else’s game again, I want to have more control over how it sounds in the game and not just mail some MP3 files to the game maker and then become surprised by how it actually sounds inside the game when it’s released.

I’m still hoping to be part of a collaboration in the future. Feel free to contact me if you have an idea.

I got a lot done on the SLUDGE adventure game engine during the summer. (If you’re interested in knowing more about that, and maybe trying it out, you should head on over to the Adventure Developers forum. That’s where the SLUDGE action is.)

Now my SLUDGE-making speed has slowed down a bit, for two reasons. One is that the vacation is over, and my paid work naturally has priority over this stuff. The other is that I’ve been spending a little time [i]using[/i] the SLUDGE development kit, making Frasse and the Peas of Kejick: Special Edition. No estimated release date for that yet, but I’m hoping to get it done this side of Christmas.