Game News Quest for Infamy released on Steam and GOG

[Excidium]

Because it is a lot of money

 

[majestik12]

I love how people on GOG and Steam forums are already complaining about Blackthorne charging $20 for AGS graphics when Crystal Shard gave it away for free, but somehow nobody brings up Wadjet Eye.

Crystal Shard should start charging the same.

 

[Metro]

 

[Jaesun]

Art on this so far is just BEAUTIFUL! <3

Anyone know is there a default key in the engine ro take screenshots (this engine doesn't work with STEAMS default F12 screenshot function).

 

[Blackthorne]

Hey guys, thanks - it's been a massively busy day, and of course, there's hiccups with getting everything out to backers. Sorry about that; doing the best I can. But I'm glad some of you are enjoying it.

I will note that in older trailers, the voices were not leveled and mastered; they are in the final game.

If any backer is still having issues, please let me know. You know I'm a small developer, and I like being able to give personal service.


Bt

 

[mindx2]

Hey guys, thanks - it's been a massively busy day, and of course, there's hiccups with getting everything out to backers. Sorry about that; doing the best I can. But I'm glad some of you are enjoying it.

I will note that in older trailers, the voices were not leveled and mastered; they are in the final game.

If any backer is still having issues, please let me know. You know I'm a small developer, and I like being able to give personal service.


Bt

Still haven't received my email GOG code...

 

[Blackthorne]

Yeah, Mindx2 - GoG hasn't sent me the codes yet. I requested them, but I didn't hear a thing from them today. Usually they are prompt, so I expect something tomorrow. Sorry about that. At the mercy of other people here.


Bt

 

[mediocrepoet]

Fuck yes!! I know what I'm doing this weekend.

 

[Zed]

I was personally not really complaining about the voices. I was just wondering if there's something to read as well.

 

[mindx2]

Yeah, Mindx2 - GoG hasn't sent me the codes yet. I requested them, but I didn't hear a thing from them today. Usually they are prompt, so I expect something tomorrow. Sorry about that. At the mercy of other people here.


Bt

No problem. You've been a true Codex Bro since you came here... . I'm stilling thoroughly enjoying D:OS and won't get to partake in your contribution to the probably until you send out MY BOXED COPY AND CLUE BOOK!!!!

Spoiler

 

[MRY]

I love how people on GOG and Steam forums are already complaining about Blackthorne charging $20 for AGS graphics when Crystal Shard gave it away for free, but somehow nobody brings up Wadjet Eye.

As absurd as it is, I think $19.99 "feels" materially different from $9.99 (which was the price point on all WEG games until the latest Blackwell). Also, I think part of why people are taken aback by the price is that the game is launching right after the GOG/Steam sales. So the reference point isn't $10 for, say, Resonance vs. $20 for QFI, it's $2.50 for Resonance vs. $20 for QFI. Finally, Heroine's Quest is much more similar to QFI than it is to the Blackwell Epiphany, so it's more likely to draw comparisons.

FWIW, though, I saw a fair number of complaints about WEG upping Blackwell's price; and plenty of people complained that $10 was too much for Primordia when it came out. People just don't like to spend money, especially for things that don't look "new."

All said, though, the Steam reactions to QFI seem glowing, and Steven is doing a great job managing the few people who are unhappy.

 

[evdk]

I pray for your sanity Blackthorne (The STEAM forums). I wouldn't wish that hellhole that is the STEAM forums on my worst enemy....

Said the Codex moderator.

 

[DeepOcean]

Jaesun has an easy time, being annoyed by the occasional dumbfuck on the codex is way better than staring at the black abyss of human depravity that is the Steam Forums. I can read the codex and even think the dumbfucks are funny but you can't read the steam forums without losing hope on the human race, after a few threads, you are certain that the apes are winning.

 

[twincast]

Game looks stunning. Combat looks stunningly awful.

Out of all the good things you could copy from old-era RPG/adventure hybrids, why copy the horrendous combat system? QFG's SUCKED ASS and this looks just as bad.

Hey now, QfG2 (especially the remake) has a great combat system! QfG1's and the very similar one in QfG3 aren't so bad either. QfG4's though is atrocious - basically unplayable on manual due to lack of keyboard controls for the first time in the series despite a newfangled combat system modeled after arcade fighting games (WTF?) and a terribly boring grind to watch on automatic. And QfG5's? ... If only the original development hadn't been canceled, then we probably would've been spared that poor excuse for a Diablo clone combat system.
(HQ has an okay combat system, by the way - not as good as even original QfG2's but slightly above 1's and 3's.)
That said, the combat is really the one thing I do not like about QfI. The above games all have tells for the enemies you could (and should) react appropriately to, but in QfI I'm just randomly clicking attacks/block and silently hoping that I'll get beaten unconscious, so I'd be back at full health. If there are tells, they must be minuscule, as I have yet to notice any.

Yes, hearing the trailer, it is really bad. I assume they didn't recorded it in a studio (understandable with a tight budget), instead random people sent them their home recorded lines. The volume is quite different at the voices, and some of them has a small echo.

That said, the game looks promising, congratulations for the guys who made it.

There's less (but not no) unevenness in the final game; I enjoy it quite a lot despite the occasional hiccup (aside from people being unable to agree on how to pronounce "Roehm"). And for anyone still wondering: Yes, you can switch the talky off in the options/save menu, just like you can in Heroine's Quest and Quest for Glory IV.

Art on this so far is just BEAUTIFUL! <3

A general problem I have with retro look AGS games is that shrunken down sprites look too crisp/high-res compared to the rest of the game world, making them stick out weirdly, but that aside it's beautiful indeed.

As absurd as it is, I think $19.99 "feels" materially different from $9.99 (which was the price point on all WEG games until the latest Blackwell). Also, I think part of why people are taken aback by the price is that the game is launching right after the GOG/Steam sales. So the reference point isn't $10 for, say, Resonance vs. $20 for QFI, it's $2.50 for Resonance vs. $20 for QFI. Finally, Heroine's Quest is much more similar to QFI than it is to the Blackwell Epiphany, so it's more likely to draw comparisons.

FWIW, though, I saw a fair number of complaints about WEG upping Blackwell's price; and plenty of people complained that $10 was too much for Primordia when it came out. People just don't like to spend money, especially for things that don't look "new."

All said, though, the Steam reactions to QFI seem glowing, and Steven is doing a great job managing the few people who are unhappy.

It is twice as much money. Frankly, I wouldn't pay more than a tenner for most Wadjet Eye games, if that much, simply due to their length. (I think I got 'em all* for about 60% on Steam way back and again for about 20% on GOG just now.) But Crystal Shard really should've asked for at least ten (better twenty) bucks for Heroine's Quest. They deserve the money, and Patreon was a doomed (and thus odd) endeavor right from the start; you need a steady output for that one! And yes, the timing of Quest for Infamy's release is suboptimal, but the day those spoiled brats on Steam don't cry bloody murder over the price of a non-AAA game (while perfectly willing to shell out ridiculous amounts of money for games with "AAA" graphics, no matter how short and/or shallow) will be the day His Noodliness finally touched everyone with His Noodly Appendage and saves us all.
*Minus The Shivah and Blackwell Epiphany, of course. And I didn't buy any of Dave Gilbert's games again on GOG because I suspect The Blackwell Bundle to come with a single (un)installer for all four games, as is the case with all the collections of (parts of) series of "good old games", and that just irks the hell out of me.

 

[MRY]

If you switch to DDraw rendering mode, it solves the mixed resolution issue.

 

[DarkUnderlord]

I hope there's an option for text instead of voice overs?

Speaking of which, did they record the voice overs in their toilet? Dat echo.

 

[Zed]

I will just assume there is no text to read and I'll just pass up on this then. Thxxx.

 

[crawlkill]

I have no nostalgia about old-school adventure games, and I still think this is absolutely gorgeous to look upon. also this thread informed me that the writer/designer on Primordia posts here and I went all wide-eyed.

 

[Infinitron]

I will just assume there is no text to read and I'll just pass up on this then. Thxxx.

Google image search

 

[Zed]

I knew that would generate an answer, finally.

 

[Crooked Bee]

I will just assume there is no text to read and I'll just pass up on this then. Thxxx.

I just checked and you can disable the voices, if that's what you were asking about.

 

[Zeriel]

I will just assume there is no text to read and I'll just pass up on this then. Thxxx.

I just checked and you can disable the voices, if that's what you were asking about.

I wish you could disable the weird-ass animation when they speak. That was the only thing that turned me off in the demo, even more than the voices themselves. It's too bad, because the art itself is quite good.

By the way, game is still awesome. It's so nice to see multiple QFG-likes in such a short time period.

 

[Blackthorne]

Heh, we didn't really have the budget to record voices in a full blown studio - and we used people from all over the world who would work cheap for a bit of pay. Mixing those, cleaning them up best we could and levelling them was a chore. We did the best we could with little budget, basically. I was joking with my friend and I said "We made this game for the cost of Skyrim's LUNCH budget! For Tuesdays!" We did what we could - we just tried to make an entertaining game. The reaction has been very positive - and though the game has a few hiccups and things I'd do differently and better next time, you take notes so you can make your possible sequel BETTER!

You CAN turn off the voice, and trust me - there's a shit ton of text. I know because I wrote it all!

Combat is always a delicate thing; we wanted to try and make a system that could appeal to a casual player as well as a more advanced player. I think we learned a lot in making it, and next time around that is one area we are going to improve on in spades.

Anyway, you all here have been absolutely fucking fantastic, and honestly many of you very helpful. As an indie developer, I strive to get better within the confines of what we have to work with, but I think the greatest asset you get being small is that you really do get to interact with actual people who play your game - you don't just have some lame fucking focus group, and some needledicked assholes with clipboards trying to do "market research" to find the best ways to dick you out of your cash with some new kind of DLC. You paid me one fair price, and I gave you one fair game. I like that model.

Bt

 

[LusciousPear]

I bought this game because of this thread. Much love <3

 

[Blackthorne]

Hey - thank you. Right on.


Bt