| posted by auriond on Saturday 05th April 2008 |
Hello all :) After 6 months of inactivity - real life interrupted me - I'm working hard on this again. The expected finish date is again pushed back, but I have confidence that I'll finish it this year.
Meanwhile, I would like to update you on the status of Team Effigy. After three key members (all scriptors) had to stop work due to real life last year (oh, if only we all didn't have real lives...), I had to scramble around looking for people to replace them. Unfortunately, I never did manage to find more scriptors, so I'm still doing art and scripting myself.
However, I have had the most wonderful luck in finding advisors. I now have the honour of having Nikolas Sideris of the AGS forums to advise me on mainly sound. He has an uncanny talent of being able to use sound to create an atmosphere like you wouldn't believe.
In addition, I would like to welcome Khyle to the team. Khyle is a mysterious godsend who emailed me in response to the previous news update, and proved to be an experienced individual in game design.
And of course there's my brother who still does the music. The music for the game is in fact almost complete. So we're slowly, but surely, getting there.
And of course, there are all the kind souls who have offered help and encouragement along the way. Thank you for your support, and I hope I won't let you down. |
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posted by auriond on Wednesday 12th December 2007 |
I'm looking for an advisor.
What kind of advisor, you ask? Well, my background is in storytelling. I don't design puzzles too well. So what I need is someone who is experienced in adventure game design, to tell me if what I'm planning is too easy, too difficult or just plain not making sense.
If you think you can help out, drop me an email at webmaster[AT]themarionette.game-host.org . Bonus if you are an accomplished beta-tester! |
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posted by auriond on Friday 19th October 2007 |
Hey all, long time since the last update. Progress is slow but steady, and hopefully that'll win the race.
In the meantime, I've downloaded a game for the mobile phone called Silent Hill (yes, THE Silent Hill!) Now, anyone who's asked me about The Marionette's influences knows that I'm a huge Silent Hill fan. So this Silent Hill game for the mobile phone was a wonderful surprise... and an even better surprise was that it's a first person adventure game!
Sound familiar? ;)
So I'm getting lots of inspiration for The Marionette from this little mobile game. One of the things I'm planning to learn from it is their battle system. I've long toyed with the idea of battles in The Marionette, but I didn't know how exactly to make it work. Now I have a better idea, so you can all look forward to a couple of battles (not many, though) in TM.
This will take me a little longer to do though. My initial target for the finish date was in 2007, but as we draw closer to the end of the year it's obvious that I won't make it alone. The initial target was estimated with the assumption that I would have two people helping with the scripting, while I just take care of art and dialogue. Well, I'm doing everything myself now (except music, which is still done by my brother), so it will definitely be slow.
However, I do have lots of lovely backup :) In addition to Krss, who's been testing the game for me since the beginning and still does so even though she can't help with scripting anymore, I've gotten Nikolas Sideris and Gypsysnail from the AGS forums to help out with testing and feedback. I could still do with another tester though, one who can really test every part of the game and give me feedback on story. And a scripter is always welcome!
... Well, that turned out to be a really long update! Thanks for reading so far, and thanks especially for those who have been leaving such kind comments on the pictures in the gallery. You guys rock. :) |
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posted by auriond on Sunday 26th August 2007 |
New screenshot in the gallery, although nothing spectacular. Just proof that we are still working.
I think I'm definitely going to miss the Nov 2007 deadline at the pace I'm crawling. But there's always hope for an early 2008 release instead. I don't think I could bear postponing it for anything longer than that anyway.
Thanks to Adventuresoul.com for their Turkish walkthrough for The Marionette! Link |
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posted by auriond on Friday 01st June 2007 |
Game is officially 40% complete :)
New screenshot in the gallery (though it's not very exciting; I didn't want to give away any spoilers.) |
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posted by auriond on Wednesday 23rd May 2007 |
Hey everyone :) This past week has been productive, and even though I'm currently the only person working on the game, it's moving along quite well. I'm probably somewhere around the 35% completion mark for graphics and scripting. Not sure how long this pace can last, though...
In the meantime, some of you kind people have been giving me suggestions for things to do in order to financially support the game, and gain publicity at the same time. Well, all I can say is... expect a little store selling merchandise for The Marionette soon. :)
I'm not putting up any screenshots for now because they're rather spoilery. Will put up another screenshot once I've passed the 40% completion mark. :) |
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posted by auriond on Thursday 17th May 2007 |
After a 3-month break, you'll be glad to know that The Marionette is back in production :) Not much has been done as yet, but I am still eager to get this game out there by the end of the year.
Unfortunately I could have been a little too optimistic in my initial assessment of the release date, so it could be early 2008 - after all, I have a lot on my mind this year, including my upcoming wedding. Still, we can always hope.
In the meantime, to motivate myself, I made myself a t-shirt of the hanging mannequin. :)
Picture here
I love it, and it got lots of positive responses over at Deviantart. I might sell it later as another means of supporting the game, since the soundtrack has not been very popular so far.
Well, that's it for now, hope to have more exciting news very soon! |
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posted by auriond on Wednesday 28th February 2007 |
I've got good news and bad news...
First, the bad news: As some of you might be aware by now, work is going slowly at the moment mostly because I'm busy, and also because I don't have anyone helping me with scripting at the moment. So if you or anyone you know can code using AGS, drop me a line.
And now the good news: I found people who are willing to help translate the demo to Italian, and possibly even Czech! Stay tuned. :) |
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posted by auriond on Friday 16th February 2007 |
| As requested, a walkthrough is now avaliable for the demo in the downloads section. Enjoy! |
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posted by auriond on Thursday 15th February 2007 |
New screenshot in the gallery! It shows the Geimann art gallery, which is the room behind the hangman door from the demo.
Also, The Marionette has a mention in Independent Gaming's "Top 20 freeware adventure games released in 2006 (roughly)":
http://indygamer.blogspot.com/2007/02/
top-20-adventure-games-part-2.html
We slipped in somehow at #14, despite having a demo released in January 2007 (we're in the "bit too late/too early" category).
So a big thank you to Independent Gaming for TM's first "award" :) |
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posted by auriond on Monday 05th February 2007 |
The Marionette mini soundtrack is available for purchase from Lulu.com: http://www.lulu.com/content/669161
It's about 10MB and costs US$4. More details on the product page.
Currently only available as a digital download - if you want a CD version, drop me a mail at the address at the bottom of this site and I'll get back to you about it.
Thanks for all the support and feedback we've gotten so far about the demo - I for one am overwhelmed by it all... will say more about it later :) |
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posted by auriond on Monday 05th February 2007 |
New concept picture added to the gallery, with the longest comments I've done on a picture thus far ;)
Work on the game has recommenced... wish us luck. :) |
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posted by auriond on Tuesday 23rd January 2007 |
Hey guys,
Just to let you know that The Marionette will feature a song from guitar great Justin King and his band. He's given his permission to use one of his songs for a cutscene later in the game. I'm completely over the moon because he's one of my favourite artistes ever.
Here's his website, go check it out!
http://www.justinking.com |
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posted by auriond on Friday 19th January 2007 |
The demo is done!
The Marionette demo (13.1MB zip file)
There are a lot of things left unfinished in there, but you'll get a feel of what the game is really like.
The doorway in the living room doesn't work, by the way.
Tip: Move your cursor to both sides of every room - sometimes you can turn around or exit the room. |
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posted by auriond on Saturday 30th December 2006 |
| To make up for the late demo, I've uploaded a new screenshot in the gallery section. Also, I've decided to put up one of the tracks in the soundtrack for free download. You can find it in the new downloads section, or alternatively you can download it here. |
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posted by auriond on Thursday 28th December 2006 |
New picture of Giuseppe in the character section of the gallery!
Also, I have the four tracks from the soundtrack all ready. I just need to hurry up and finish the demo, then I can put the tracks up for sale! |
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posted by auriond on Monday 25th December 2006 |
Merry Christmas from Team Effigy!
We're late with the promised demo, mostly because I've been sick and the graphics have been moving along even more slowly than usual. And with the new year coming up I'll be very busy again, but we are close to finishing the demo, so we will frelease it very soon! |
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posted by auriond on Monday 04th December 2006 |
Thanks for the great response on the trailer! I was quite anxious about that since it's a taste of how the game will be without animation. I'm glad it was generally well accepted. =)
We're about 60-70% done with the demo. Hope we'll be able to have a Christmas demo! That would be a lovely present to Team Effigy and to all of you who are waiting for it. :)
Some people have asked if we're going to make the game commercial. I'm gonna say the answer is no. We're not going to sell the game, mostly because the game engine is not ours, and also for most of Team Effigy this is out first game. It can't possibly be good enough to sell!
But if you want to show support in some form other than passively waiting for news, you can do one of the following:
1. Comment! Leave feedback on the gallery, in this news section, at the AGS forums, anywhere. Or email us. We love to hear your opinions about the game, and we'll try our best to incorporate feedback (though keep in mind that we can't please everyone...)
2. Donate! We have this nifty little PayPal Donate button at the bottom of the site next to the copyright footer now. If you have PayPal, you can just drop in any amount at all. We appreciate the intent, not the amount. =)
If you don't have PayPal, but you still want to contribute financially towards the game, you'll get your chance. We're going to release a three-track MP3 sampler for download through Lulu.com at the same time that the demo is released.
Coming soon: new screenshots =) |
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posted by auriond on Monday 27th November 2006 |
I took a break from drawing backgrounds, and threw together a quick 40-sec trailer of what we've completed so far. Enjoy!
Youtube link
Download .WMV (3.88MB, right-click save as) |
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posted by auriond on Friday 24th November 2006 |
Added another screenshot.
I think we're moving along really really well, but I don't want to give away too much... or else nothing will be left for the demo ;) |
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posted by auriond on Thursday 16th November 2006 |
| New character sketch added in gallery. |
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posted by auriond on Monday 13th November 2006 |
New music clip added in the music section!
Also, I've changed the font of the game, and changed the screenshots too in the gallery section to reflect that. |
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posted by auriond on Friday 10th November 2006 |
| Well, we've been busy, but work on the game is progressing well :) I'm pretty sure we can have a demo ready by December. Meanwhile, have a look at the new screenshots in the gallery if you haven't done so already. |
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posted by auriond on Thursday 26th October 2006 |
Well, I stupidly accidentally deleted the database for this site, so you'll see that the old news entries are gone.
But in a way this symbolises the fact that The Marionette is no longer developed by just one person, but by a team! We call ourselves Effigy, and we're made up of Krss, Gijs and myself. Hopefully this will result in faster completion of the game. :) |
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