Beauty & Hope in the 21th Century

Nikolas Sideris, who I remember as one of the first "original musicians" I met at the forums, has been asking for comments, help and critique on logo illustrations recently... And we may have thought he'd sit there somewhere, brewing up a small project maybe.

But, no. Now finally he has revealed what he's been up to right here. He's running a Kickstarter for a project called Beauty & Hope in the 21th Century, and I won't spoil his surprise here. You'd really check it out for yourself.

This is the Kickstarter video.

It's a beautiful concept. And it really MUST happen.

Fly me to the Moon...

The entire AGS site may be down, but that didn't stop Dave Gilbert announcing a new game for Wadjet Eye Games. Well, a friend's game. Anyhow, I don't care much about such stuff.

The important fact is that, you need to go here, and check this amazingly amazing game called To The Moon. A tale of epicosity and well, really worth it and glad Dave picked it up. The music is fantastic, and the game is quite an experience.

Saturday Night Fever 4: Shake that ***

I'm gonna rant a bit before I get to the interesting part. Well, I have a fever as we speak, so I believe I'm typing really weird stuff. You must excuse me.

Anyhoo. Francisco Gonzalez, the creator of the fantastic series called Ben Jordan, has let's played and commented on the fourth installment of his game. Which he didn't accept as the masterpiece it is. Watch the 2 hour long thing, uploaded by himself, on the Tube.

Interview Part 16: STOP IGNORING ME I'M BEN F#@#@%^ JORDAN

I decided that instead of doing this the standard way, to do this the WEIRD AND RANDOM way. In sort, my way. So here, an unprecedented event in the online gaming community. That was my intended 1000th post. I have to say, thanks to SSH, for putting up with me. This is totally dedicated to him.

BEHOLD AND DESPAIR

Thanks to Jonas Thiem for the Music and Sound.
And bicilotti for some feedback.

And Matt Frith, for being an incredible FRIEND. Cause all you need, is matt. Matt is all you need, really,


From my first post here, a true blast from the past:

"We've yet to work the final details, but we've agreed that as a slave must do, according to global slave rules, I'm obliged to post frequently, so that the followers and believers of the Ol'Mighty Super Scottish Hero, get their fun."

While my Guitar Gently Bleeps!

Abstauber, a really cool funny and really nice pixel-artist, after teaming up for his game with Ben304 and all these cool guys, he now brings us the 'considered' impossible thing to be done with the AGS engine.

Click on the image to be amazed..

Smells like Guitar Hero?

Interview Part 6: Nikolas

1)How did you find AGS? I mean as a musician it's not the first place you'd visit on the internet.

Back in 2003/4 I was in the army (it's compulsory in Greece, as you very well know) and I had tons of time to spare. So I started trying to find older games to play on a very old computer in the camp. I found underdogs, then abandonia and finally I spotted "Cirque du Zale" by Kinoko. I fell in love with this game, based on an pretty much abandoned genre, thus I decided to visit AGS forums and attempt to contact Kinoko, in order to work on her next game (Gift of Aldora, never to be completed I think).

My very first post was greeted by Don the barbarian, who welcomed me in such a nice manner, that I decided to stick around and make the AGS forums my homepage (until today).

2)You have any favorite AGS games or any AGS games in production, you can't wait for ?(apart from Resonance :D

Resonance... DITR, ATOTK, etc... No kidding.

I think that 'The Forgotten Element' could be great, but all 3 of us have been working on different projects for a long time, so I can't tell what the future will hold for the completion of that game.

Legend of the lost lagoon, although probably not to be completed either...

Picaroon and anything by Ben, ProgZmax, Vince and others who I trust blindly!

3) From the very first moment I do recall seeing your name in these forums, it's highly weird how you've managed to work on games, that eventually ended up a huge success (Tales of Two Kingdoms, Linus Bruckman). How do you manage to select games that have success written all over them?

Why on earth is that weird? As it appears I'm capable of making the 'right' choices!

In all honesty I try to get as much information as I can before I say yes to any project, so I try to pick where I work for. I, no longer have the time to work on freeware games, sadly, but still on commercial games I've had to say no, only because there were things I would do hugely different, or the inexperience of the dev team was a problem. With a publisher these things tend to dissappear, but also the freedom in composing.

4) I'm not really into music ways the way you are, but where do you compose all that music into? A personal studio?

In the music world it's called a 'project studio'. It's exactly a studio for personal use. Recently I've managed to get a grand to build a normal studio, so now I have my own acousticaly treated space, where my monitors, amps, microphohes, computers, etc are.

But my music is 95% computer based. I use samples, since it would be impossible for indie budgets to fund a normal orchestral recording, and the computer is the heart of my studio. Only very recently I got some high quality preamps and mics, in which case I can start recording live instruments, voice, and do custom sfx. Resonance has a huge bump upwards in the quality of audio (especially the sfx).

5) We all know that you've now been hired by VinceXII to compose for Resonance, care to tell us more on what style of music should we expect or at least what you're aiming for?

It's a rather weird mix of aesthetics. The story is based on 4 different characters, so I tried to give each character their own aesthetics and motifs. It's worked so far and I have to admit that it doesn't sound disjoined!

There are orchestral tracks, dissonant tracks, electronic ones, more pop/rock oriented and even some solo piano in there...

6) From all your collaborations (even non-AGS games) is there one (if any) you could separate from the others?

Apart from Vince, with whom our love is a public secret :P ?

There is Alkis; We're good friends now and see each other as frequent as we can and our other obligations permit! I value him greatly as a person, as a writer, and as a collaborator.

Actually now that I think about it, pretty much all the people I've worked with, I've become friends. Vince, Alkis, Peeter (ATOTK), Rebecca (Kinoko), etc...

I'd also seperate a non AGS game, from a negative point of view however. The specs and whole concept seemed to be going very well, and the team even got requests from publishers, but they decided to pretty much abandon it and abandon all hope for further fame and fortune! This was one experience I try to stay away from, from thereon.

7) What's with that signature of yours (quoting a reply from Emerald to you) ? Meaning what's the story behind it.

I actually don't remember exactly what happened, but it does appear that I was being a little 'smart' to Emerald and he decided to tell me off. Instead of being frustrated and flame back, as I would normally do, I took it the light way and put the quote in my signature, so it would never go away.

8 ) How hard is to have a family and have AGS developers on your back as well, apart from your other projects...?

It used to be hard, since there was no money coming in and it was quite frustrating to try and explain to a wife and two kids, why you have to work late, talk through MSN/Skype and other details.

Recently it got a lot easier, since it became apparent that even playtesting is a part of working in games and this has been accepted, thankfully.

Now, it just feels normal. After all, since I'm no longer doing freeware games, it's a part of my daily job (my income is 90% based on composing) and there's no need for even an excuse to work... on your daily job! ;)

Definitely a very interesting interview with Nikolas..(mind the love affair with VinceXII!!)

Interview Part 4: Ben304

Nevermind the badly drawn screenshots!!

The man behind quite a few cool games this year (and we ain't done yet believe me, is now the fourth horseman of the Apocalypse(s). Yes, indeed its THE BEN 30FUR. Also known as Ben304. The guy is definitely wanting the award for short game, for he'll probably have all nominations as well.

1)Do you have a favorite AGS game?Or a non AGS game?

I have a lot of favorite AGS games. Favorite overall would probably be Reactor 09, favorite recent game would have to be Death Wore Endless Feathers. As for non AGS games, I have a ton of games I'd like to talk about, but instead of doing that and being boring I will only mention Planescape: Torment, which I only got around to finishing last year. Torment was a game that repeatedly surprised and impressed me, and really showed me that games have the potential to be a lot more interesting than they often are.

2)What's with the short games? ManBoy Vs Doctor Shock, Shoot!, Annie Android, Shifter's Box, Heed, Awakener, and probably another coming up while I ask this..

As I tell everyone when they ask this, I like short games. I consider myself very much a learner when it comes to making games, and I discover new things all the time! I consider all these games that I have made to be sketches - rough concepts or drafts of games, if you will. In order to make longer length games that I am actually satisfied with, I want to try out all these crazy ideas that I have in my head. Shorter length games allow me to test the waters, and see what works and what doesn't. It's also the reason that I don't make sequels.
3)When you first started posting artwork from a game you were working, we were all captured and excited about it. Yeah, its the "Where is Lode?" question. So where is it Ben?

Lode is on my hard drive, and hasn't been touched for ages. I do plan to release it eventually, however it had gotten to the point where I didn't enjoy working on it anymore - and when you're not enjoying your hobby, it isn't much of a hobby. Working on Lode was a fantastic learning experience for me, and I really benefited from working on it, however as a game I didn't think it was very fun, so I decided to leave it for a while and come back to it when I had a better grasp of gameplay design. And it isn't like I haven't given you other games to play while you wait!
4)You seem to have a standard team for most of your games(mostly Kaputtnik and his brother), does that affect the quality of them? And how flexible is that team?

I enjoy working with Sebastian. He has a passion for games and always tries experimenting with new ideas with each project we tackle - something which I feel is quite important. And his tunes capture the moods I try to fit into my games! He also is always suggesting things with regards to game design that I should focus on, and when I'm not being stubborn and try them out I realize he has some darn good ideas. David is someone I've only worked with a little bit, but he has that crazy Pfaller flair I've come to look for in sounds and music, and he's a swell guy as well. As for flexibility - I've never had a reason to look for anyone else to help me out, as they've been more than willing to tackle whatever I've thrown at them.

5)Long time ago, you complained on your blog, that you couldn't complete any games, now you're all into short game-making. What changed?

We all have ups and downs(edit: shhh!!!). I was disappointed at how little I got done last year, and going into this year I tried to approach it with a positive outlook and encourage myself to be productive and motivated. Game making has become my number one hobby, and I really enjoy doing it, even though I have slumps where I'm not interested in it at all. I've also been fortunate enough to have a lot of people say very nice things about my games, and if that doesn't encourage one to try harder and make even more and even better games, nothing will.
6)Are you planning on going on a ..medium length game?

I am in the process of building a longer game as we speak - and have been for a couple of months now. However, I very much consider this a long term project and I do not want to rush it and release a flawed game, so I am taking my time with it, and trying to get everything just right. This also means I will continue to work on other short projects while I am building it.
7)Which one (if any) of your games, you consider as your pride?
That's an extremely hard question to answer... and I guess I'd have to say all of them and yet none of them. Every game I make is built for a different reason, and try new things, so in a sense I love them all for the new things I learnt creating them. On the other hand, I always look back at a game and think "I could have done this so much better", so I guess you can say that I feel I have yet to reach my potential. If I have to pick one, I'd probably have to say Shifter's Box - Outside In, even though in a sense I wish I could go back in time and do it with the graphics that I produce now.
8)You don't quite attract any attention with topics on the games you're making, so I have to ask, any game you're currently working on? And care to tell us (or even show us)?

I am currently working on three projects (as well as ShattenReyze) - the long term one I mentioned earlier and two shorter ones that are more experiments than anything else, so whether I pursue them to completion remains an uncertainty. All three are science fiction stories, and the two shorter ones are a lot less lighthearted than my science fiction stories in the past, so they're really something new for me as a storyteller. As for showing you, you may have a screenshot of each (whether you choose to show all or one is up to you) - but bear in mind that all of the graphics here are still unfinished and will be polished further before any of the projects sees the light of day.

Soviet Unterzoegersdorf : Sector II

Capitalist pigs must stop reading here.

-Soviet Unterzoegersdorf-Sector II (or Time to kick some Nazi Ass, and not cartoony styled one):

From the team that brought to you the first part, surprisingly enough (:P) they bring you it's glorious sequel. With a graphic style of realistic rendering of all actors, who happen to be real persons, or at least I think them of as such, and with the humour being it's best asset, it's time to have some real communist party fun. The story takes you after the fall of the great Soviet Union, where you must be save a comrade. The game's audio is probably compared to few, if not to none. With a nice collection of music and a very nice job done in the voice acting sector (II), there's really some job put there. Visit the site of the team here. A site that really has a cool style. Especially the choice of language was really inspired. Also a small review (size doesn't matter) can be found at the Gnome's lair

Dare I beg for an excuse for not posting about this sooner, comrades?!

Give me your poor, your walkcycles, your animations

Over in the competitions and activities forum, I've done an appeal for art, sound, dialogue and other assets for the AGS Awards Ceremony 2008 game. Please read it and send me your CHA files, animated GIFs, backgrounds, etc. for the awards game!

Prizes can make you less miserable, crook!

-Are you less miserable?

It appears that Chris Tolworthy is on the final 10 days, separating him from releasing Les Miserables. It appears that yesterday, he fixed a lot of stuff on the game. If you haven't figure this out, this game is taking you inside the book. Yeah, the famous book. It appears that Tolworthy is planning on making us play every book we loved. Next is Dante's Divine Comedy.



-The Knobbly Crook is back in black:
While AC-DC have nothing to do with the game, the bloodiest and most disgusting ags game seems to be resurrected today. There's even a demo game with one room, but it still looks good, and well, I think we might play this one day.You play as a simple paper farmer who realizes he has a power. Something that has to do with the rock, paper, scissors theme , has a big part in the Knobbly Crook.


-Competitions on the fly:

Musical Feud(Phema):
As nobody would expect it, not that dkh doesn't really deserve it, DKH has won the first prize. Runner up was Thomas Regin , considered as a winner by me, sorry for that, and third place was taken by Funkmast(the man who composed for Besieged).

Sprite Jam Gender Bender(Pslim):

Well, if you want a booby prize like this, you better hurry. Can you draw a sprite so manly that it looks like a woman?



Fortnightly Writing Competition(rock chick):

"Okay the theme is Vivid memory or memories, basically the restriction is the memory or memories need to be real in the story." appears to be the theme as rock chick said, well, go take your pen and write something,sonny.

Dualnames View on what's New

Le Woltaire Strikes Back:
A Second Face-Eye of Geltz:

This was dead for a while, but from the man that has one of the five games that have a 5 blue cup rating, you can't expect less. Quality needs time. This is definetely something that I'm waiting for. The graphics are outstanding for an indie game, the plot is definetely worth(at least I can imagine it as so), and well, this game has style.




Empty Mind just go totally empty..:

Well, as I was about to make a short review on this, checking it out, for some reason, unknown, to me and probably the most of the community, Nergal has deleted the game. I do however hope that this will be back soon. Concerning to Nergal's previous games, I'm sure this one can't fail.


Ace Quest: the world is not big enough..literally:



Ace Quest:

Well, it appears that one of the most favorite AGS games of all times, is about to get resurrected. Or at least we can hope for it. Originally created by MillsJRoss , who still is going to work on it(at least I hope so), the game's audience bothered to dive in and post . Progz even drew the wonderful fan picture; a parody to James Bond. I suggest you go and check out the game and MillsJRoss's website.

MAGS News:

Well, I praised Buckethead's entry. But then I saw Cheerios(yep, like the cereals) entry, who only joined the forums to post his game and enter the MAGS. That's definetely one thing to consider. Anyway, to his entry; I find Man VS Fish very cute and charming, as you play from the view of the man and the fish changing at your own will. Seems like a solid idea, and definitely got me.


Visit the MAGS site and pick your favorite one(2 entries so far).

Local Celebrity Enters Competition:

Well, it appears that Thomas Regin has entered the AGS Music Competition, check his entry here.

He recently achieved an honorary mention award for his song "Take Me Home" in one of the world's largest songwriting contests, Unisong. Surprisingly that's the music he posted at the competition..

Things to Check Out:

Ghost's deviant art page. One of my favourites. There's a Ulysses deviation. WOOW. Ghost seems to be a likeable folk everywhere he goes, regarding the comments he got. Carry on.

So let's have a look at what competitions are running at this point at the AGS forums:

Competitions on the Fly:
MAGS:

Buckethead posted a wonderful entry on this one, and as far as you can read from the topic it seems that it's probably the only legitimate entry.

Musical feud! - 18/11/08 -- 02/12/08 - Threeway:

Well, this is an entry I'm trying to enter, but I probably won't. You can select from three ways(Threeway), either a pop song, a detective theme or a mexican song. So far Funkmast and DKH have posted and they both selected the 2nd theme. And Thomas Regin has also posted..it's getting popular.

Sprite Jam-Seasons:

Theme: Pick a season, make a usable sprite personification of the season, and have fun with it! Could be a man, could be a beast, could be...I don't know. You think of something.

Ghost has my favorite entry so far, but Ben surely made me laugh,pslim also posted a very good looking sprite. There seems to be an argument about Sylvr's entry

Photoshop & Friends:

Go and see Progz entry, it feels like he actually drew it, but he didn't.
Abstauber added a totally gross entry. Eww.

Colouring Ball And Blitz have no entries, hope they get some.

Oh almost forgot, abstauber's hosted the animation competition(one entry so far)

Small Foreword:

We've yet to work the final details, but we've agreed that as a slave must do, according to global slave rules, I'm obliged to post frequently, so that the followers and believers of the Ol'Mighty Super Scottish Hero, get their fun.

Competition Commision

So, voting is open in the "Under the Earth" background blitz and there's a good selection to choose from.

You can also draw CJ in the Sprite Jam Halloween edition. Spooky!

And a new Tune Contest with the theme of metamorphosis has begun. Get composing!

Compo Update

• Background Blitz is open with the theme "Underworld"
• People want the Animation competition to restart (so go and do so, people!)
• No-one voted in the Tune Contest so Questionable will choose the winner himself

Vote for change!

Well, none of the entries may be as maverick as Sarah Palin or as committed to change as Barack Obama, but the voting is already open in this year's biggest most important plebiscites:

Tune Contest (10 Electoral College votes)
Background Blitz (17 Electoral College votes)
Stefano has already won the Golden Granny in the Sprite Jam (27 Electoral College votes)

Current Contest Cue (or queue)

Here's what's up in the man from C&A:

The Score: make up a brief description of a scene and then set it to music in the Tune Contest.

Granny: make a sprite for the granny who runs an orphanage in the Jam.

Shop till you drop when you make your Background for the blitz.

Questionable: content?

I should thing he'll be content with his "golden axe" for winning the tune contest. Congrats and we await the new theme.

SepTuneBer

Voting is open in the latest Tune Contest with 3 choons to choose from. Listen, enjoy, and don't dimple your chad.

New competitions

Gilbot won the last sprite jam with his self-and-cat-portrait, so he's set a new theme of a forest encounter. Entries in by the 20th August.

Also, a new tune contest is up with no theme at all! Entries close 1 September.

Algorithm is a dancer

The last of the bad rhythm puns as the Tune Contest draws to a close. Nobody voted, you lazy lot, so Magician chose the winner himself: Twinmoon. We await the new competition and hope that someone votes next time.

I've got algorithm, I've got music

Yes, these algorithm puns will continue until this tune contest is over. Voting is open on the four tune contest entries. Listen, post your vote in the thread, then do a little democracy dance.