Adventure Island - new point-and-click game launched

[dbuske]

Looks impressive.  Did you try to get it published by an Adventure game company.
Downloading now. I will report back with my impressions.

Wonderful game. I love it. I can see the length is full commercial lenght.

[CelticWarrior72]

Elen:

You asked for some suggested improvements to Adventure Island.  Here's my 2 cents:

1) Being so big, there's a lot of walking around to do sometimes particularly when trying to figure something out.  I'd love to see a clickable map like you provided for the theme park that builds as the player explores a new world.  It'd provide a quick way to navigate the island.
2) Some of the hotspots need to be bigger or more obvious.  I think that many players automatically run their mouse over the entire screen in these types of games to discover what's available to click on or walk to.  If the hotspots are too small they can often be passed over and can get a player stuck because they have missed something. I.e. it took me a long time to discover the closet with the disguise and the safe behind the picture.
3) For The Maze puzzle, it was obvious to me that moving between point A and B withing a certain time was required.  When I calculated that 30 seconds was all that was allotted and that a minimum of 45 seconds was needed, I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for another solution rather than the one that was actually needed.  For timed puzzles (including the very last one), give the player enough time or find a way to tell them exactly how long they have to complete the task.

All in all though, I really enjoyed playing.  And, I've played a LOT of adventure games in my life.

- CW

[elentgirl]

1) Being so big, there's a lot of walking around to do sometimes particularly when trying to figure something out.  I'd love to see a clickable map like you provided for the theme park that builds as the player explores a new world.  It'd provide a quick way to navigate the island.

A map of the island is a possibility, though I would have to think about how to implement it without causing any problems.  One or two people have commented that they think there is a lot of walking involved, but maybe that is partly down to expectations.  I thought my game was reasonably compact compared to some of the games I enjoy playing, particularly the Myst family and its clones (Rhem, Schizm, etc).  Compared to other types of game, however, there is a lot of walking around, especially those where you have to solve all the puzzles in one room before you can move on to the next.  These tend to offer rather linear play, whereas I prefer more non-linear games.  I've certainly made Adventure Island in that mould.  Maybe a map would be a good compromise.  Time for me to start thinking about version 3 of my game!

2) Some of the hotspots need to be bigger or more obvious.  I think that many players automatically run their mouse over the entire screen in these types of games to discover what's available to click on or walk to.  If the hotspots are too small they can often be passed over and can get a player stuck because they have missed something. I.e. it took me a long time to discover the closet with the disguise and the safe behind the picture.

Have you been playing version 2 or one of the earlier versions?  I enlarged many of the hotspots in version 2 as players were having difficulty finding them.  However, I do prefer hotspots for activating something (a door handle, button or lever) to be focused on that object rather than a big area around it.  And one or two are for hidden things when it is intended for the player to do a bit of searching.  Adventure Island is designed to be about exploring and looking for things as well as simply solving puzzles.

3) For The Maze puzzle, it was obvious to me that moving between point A and B withing a certain time was required.  When I calculated that 30 seconds was all that was allotted and that a minimum of 45 seconds was needed, I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for another solution rather than the one that was actually needed.  For timed puzzles (including the very last one), give the player enough time or find a way to tell them exactly how long they have to complete the task.

You are not the first person to find 30 seconds too short for this puzzle and I will extend it to the suggested 45  seconds when I next update the game.  Howver, I would not have fixed it at 30 seconds if I have not been able to complete the task in that time myself.  A little tight, I'll admit, but I have done it a number of times.  I can get between the two at quite a leisurely pace in 45 seconds!  Maybe different computers play the game at different rates, though the game is supposed to run at 40 frames a second as standard.

All in all though, I really enjoyed playing.  And, I've played a LOT of adventure games in my life.

I'm glad you enjoyed the game overall, and many thanks for your comments.  My aim is to improve the game if I can.
Elen

[elentgirl]

VERSION 2.1 of my adventure game, Adventure Island, is now available.  I have added a new map feature which allows players to move around the island more quickly once they have explored it.  This version also fixes a couple of minor bugs that were reported to me.  I have added Version 2.1 to the AGS games page.

I have also made a patch to upgrade version 2 to version 2.1 if anyone wishes to do so.  I cannot guarantee that games saved in version 2 will load successfully in version 2.1.  The patch can be downloaded from: https://app.box.com/s/slsj6dp3m8cpo6m6ht41

[donkeymilk]

Blimey!,fast worker!
Thanks.