This is the long awaited status update of James D. Ant in Catching Crooks. We have made some really great progress in the last couple of weeks and we are proud to show you everything we have created so far.

In the next couple of weeks we will be documenting everything for our graduation and after we are graduated we will focus on releasing our first beta version. It still could take a couple of months before the first beta is ready but we'll do our best to get the beta phase started as soon a possible.

What have we done so far?

I could write pages of text which describes every feature we have implemented, but that would be boring for most of you readers. Instead we will show a vew different screenshots showing some features we made.

We would also say thanks to Tippy for his creation of the buildings we used in the pre-beta version of the game.

In this screenshot James D. Ant went to one of the corners of the village. The 3d model of James D. Ant will be replaced with our own at a later stage.

 

In this screenshot you can see a working inventory system with the possibility to merge different objects. The stick could be combined with the rope and that combination itself can be combined with the hook to create a fishing rod. The merge system is designed to have an infinity level of possibilities as long as we predefine which objects could be merged together.

 

This is an example of a conversation with a NPC. The conversation system is designed to be very flexible. Conversation choices will be based on the following:

• Previous conversations with the same or even other NPC's
• Objects in the inventory
• In-game events
• The number of times a conversation has taken place
• The mood level of the NPC

Yes yes, we need to implement some more conversations in the game :-)

In this screenshot the camera system is changed so it can track the player's movements. In the town there are different triggers which will change the active camera when triggered.

This is a screenshot which shows the walk decal. If the player clicks the right mouse button this graphic will be put on the terrain for a set amount of time and the player model will try to go to the set position.

 

Here you can see the start of the game. The three guys standing across the street are the bad guys of this episodes. The 3d models will be changed at a later stage.

We still need a long way to go to make this a great game, but we are progressing in a way we just couldn't wish for when we started.

Hopefully this status update will make you as excited as we are.

Call me Sploofy, call me Ed, call me whatever you want, but this, this is me!

 

In this episode of the Lunch time blog I'm going to talk about multiple storypaths and outcomes in point and click adventure games.

In computer games it is very difficult to implement a (story)path system in which any player can play the game the way they want. In RPGs like Mass Effect, Dragon Age and Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWToR) Bioware did a good job by providing the player a good/lightside and a bad/darkside rating system on which dialogue options become available. It is even possible to kill a companion character in SWToR. If all of the choices are dissected it will become clear that even in these games the variaty of outcomes is limited. This is because every choice and every action that shapes the path of the player should be designed and created and this will cost lots of development time. If the player(s) only play certain paths and other paths aren't played at all it will be a loss of development resources. It's difficult to keep a good balance.

The above mentioned games do have one thing in common. They are build with a large amount of resources (manpower and money). Because the sales numbers for point and click adventure game are much lower than for RPGs the number of resources that are put into point and click adventure games are also lower. This means that every bit of resource is needed to create great content that is shown to every player. Because the games are focused on one story that should be walked from A to Z without much distraction the replay factor of the game could be better. This means that the game will only be played one or two times. Even when the price of the game is far less then the famous RGPs players will find it difficult to compare the two in a choice between price and quality/quantity. A lot of times they will choose the more expensive game. More expensive should be better most of the times is the general thought. I think that replayability is one of the most important reasons to win over a large group of players.

One of the things to create better replayability is to include multiple storypaths and outcomes for the game.

Let players play the same game from a different perspective. Let them choose to play a sweet and caring person or let them be the most evil character in the world. Don't make these choices for the player, but let them choose themselves.

It is an art to create many and versatile choices all over the game. Not only in dialogue options, but also in gameplay. Do you want to have a key to a secret chest. Persuade the one and only person who knows about this to give you the key or go searching the forrest for clues, it should be the players choice.

The choices should make sense to the player, There should be a purpose on the action he or she takes. There should be a reward for acting the way they do and it should be reflected in the outcome of the game.

 

If you always bullied a certain NPC in the game it should hate you no matter what kind thing you do to the other villagers. If the other villagers throw in a party because you saved them from doom, the bullied NPC still won't show up at the party or he could even come to party only to crash it. There are lots of options to play with. Give the story a bit of a swing by designing a few twists by connecting the story to the choices made by the player and its status to the other NPCs.

Thank again for reading my lunch time blog. Next time I'm going to spend some time on side quests.

Welcome back at the second episode of the Lunch time blog. This time I'm going to talk about character customization in point and click adventure games.

Character customization helps the player to build an avatar the way he or she sees it fit in the game world. This works just like you create an image of the protagonist of your favorite book all in your mind. In a computer game however it is necessary for the developer to give the player something to let him or her shape the main character.

Character customization is a common feature founded in many role playing games. In these games you can shape the visual appearance of your character and sometimes there are some basis options like gender, class and race or origin. Sometimes these visual options are also related to player statistics like strength or lifepoints. Player statistics are also something that could help you as a player shape the protagonist the way you want and also have impact on the playstyle. If you can choose between having more wisdom or more strength as a 2-handed sword fighter you problably choose strength to deal more damage.

In MMORPGs it is common that visuals and statistics are blended to a certain degree. In these games it is common that the uber looking helmet contains more statistic improvements then an avarage looking helmet.

This way you can make the player show to others that he or she dedicated much time or other effort (money for example) to the game and by doing this he or she is rewarded with a great looking protagonist. This system is very popular because it gives the player a reason to continue the game to compete to his (online) friends. And a larger playerbase usually means more turnover.

I cannot see any other reason for this system to exist other then marketing reasons. I can image that a bigger and heavier armor gives the player more defence stats, but strength or agility? How would that ever be possible. Ok, It could be that the heavier armor does have this added weight because of all the motor controls that enhance the stats, but in a medieval/fantasy style game it would make no sense at all.

In single player games it isn't necessary to use this feature to show off to your friends (unless the game is integrated with social media. I will talk more about this subject in a later episode).

I think it's easy to imagine that character customization could be a nice addition to a point and click adventure game if performed right. The visual aspects would help the player to shape his or her ideal protagonist. There are many possibilities for the use of player statistics in a point and click adventure game in a refreshing way.

Wouldn't it be nice that you can choose between strength or wisdom to complete a quest? If you build a strong character it would be possible to climb a drainpipe to jump in an open window and if you choose to have lots of wisdom you could talk to a NPC to get the frontdoor key.

It would even be possible that these statistics present a certain difficulty level to the game. If your character needs to take part of a run competition and he doesn't have any endurance he or she would never be able to win the race. The outcome of this race could be used to let the player select different dialogue options while talking to a NPC.

How would you see character customization in a point and click adventure game?

In the next lunch time blog episode I'm going to talk about multiple storypaths and outcomes in point and click adventure games. Take care...