The Portal (A NEW Mystery Adventure Game) - Chapters #1-3 Released!

[WolfraverXemnas]

11/24/13 - Chapters 1, 2 and now 3 are Available!

Hello everyone,
For the past couple of months, I've been in the development process of creating a new Point-and-Click Adventure game series. There will be 25 chapters in this series. The first chapter, I've released is the called: "The Winery".

The Story

Spoiler

I could say you wake up one morning after a long night of drinking and you find yourself in a winery. I could say you wake up one morning after having a major concussion and find yourself in a winery. I could also say you are in a dream and you're in a winery. Are any of these statements true? Possibly, but the only way you're ever going to find any answers is if you continue to play through the game series. (Or just wait until they're all released and read the story online. - But where's the fun in that?)

The Characters

Spoiler

???
An unknown individual you are using to play through this game with.

Screenshots

Spoiler

Instructions Screen

Actual Gameplay

I have added the download link here for all of you to play it. Please tell me your thoughts as I hope to continue this great series of games. Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/download/83p48yek115xlk5/Chapter1.zip

Here's the downloads to the other chapters:
Chapter #2: http://forums.rpgmak...sed/#entry53609Chapter #3: http://forums.rpgmakerweb.com/index.php?/topic/4867-the-portal-a-new-mystery-adventure-game-chapters-1-3-released/?p=193577

If anyone gets stuck, I will be more than happy to post the walkthrough.
Thanks, Wolfraver

 

[Archeia]

Wait, is this a fully completed game or is it episodical?

 

[WolfraverXemnas]

Yes, there are 25 episodes in this game, but its broken down into 25 different games. Part 1 is fully completed and playable. Mods, if this topic doesn't belong here, feel free to move it. (Keep in mind all 25 games will not be released as a full Rpg Maker VX game.)

 

[Archeia]

But are they heavily relying on each other or can they be standalone?

 

[WolfraverXemnas]

The games can be standalone, yes. You don't NEED to play the previous games before playing the next. The story will slowly unwind as each game is released. I will be releasing all 25 games on a CD when they're all complete, but not as ONE complete game.

 

[taboo54]

-----Spoilers Ahead-----

Hello WolfraverXemnas!

I just played through this first game of yours and I have a few criticisms.

Now, of course, while I have created a few personal projects with RPG Maker, I've never released a completed project before, so I am by no means an expert.

First thing I should mention is I didn't complete the game. Or rather, I couldn't complete it because I got stuck after around ~15minutes or so, so I can't speak for the ending.

I guess the biggest criticism I have is that I don't really understand the scenario. Now, like I said, I didn't get to the ending, so that may be a big part of that.

Still though, the player should have some idea of what they're supposed to be doing from the beginning; there needs to be a goal to work towards. There has to be a reason for me to be doing what I am doing. Why am I mixing chemicals together? What is the significance of the clock? How did I even get into this room with no doors and no windows? Am I supposed to be escaping from here?

There has to be a reason for everything the player does, or they simply won't really care all that much about it.

Second thing is the gameplay it self. There was really no rhyme or reason to which objects in the room were important or not which led to me just walking around searching every wall and every barrel I could see. Randomly searching a room is tedious and ultimately boring.

On a similar note, there has to be some degree of consistency in the world. If I can climb up one set of vines, I'm going to be confused when I can't climb up another that looks exactly the same. Another example is the invisible doors. Once you've shown me that searching a wall (that looks exactly like every other wall) can take me to new places, I'm going to start checking every single wall in the game which, again, is tedious and ultimately boring.

After all that criticism though, I'm not saying it was terrible; there was definitely some promise in this game. It was really well researched (or at least, it gave the impression of being so, which is just as good) and had an interesting atmosphere from the start that made me want to figure things out.

I recommend that, if you haven't already, you play the game called "Ib". It's a free RPG maker game that can be downloaded online (a quick google search will find it).

I think it would be a great source of inspiration and really shows off all those things I just talked about.

I wish you good luck in your future game creation efforts and I hope this wall of text is useful one way or another!

 

[Choco-Elliot Wyvern]

I'm gonna download this now then I'll give feedback

It does seem pretty interesting though...looking forward!

 

[WolfraverXemnas]

Thank you everyone! I look forward to more feedback!

 

[Latterization]

Played it, loved it, and can't wait for the next chapter.

 

[slimmmeiske2]

I'm completely stuck and feel like I've clicked on everything twice already. T.T

I've got two empty botles, a mixing bowl and vitriol. I really have no idea where t look for the other mixin ingredient. A little help would be appreciated, thanks.

 

[WolfraverXemnas]

I'm glad you all enjoyed it! I will let you all know the next chapter IS complete, but I'm a bit hesitant on releasing it right away. However, I will give you a picture.

Spoiler

Preview of the Next Chapter

Also, slimmeiske2, I may be able to help you. I'll give you a hint for right now...

Spoiler

Ready for it?

There's something in the clock.

Good luck!

 

[slimmmeiske2]

Also, slimmeiske2, I may be able to help you. I'll give you a hint for right now...

Spoiler

Ready for it?

There's something in the clock.

Good luck!

Ugh, I was one click short apparently to getting that, when I posted. ^.^; Thanks, I was able to finish the game.

I agree with taboo though: it's hard to understand the game's scenario, but as there will be more chapters, I suppose we will find out later.

Other than that, the graphics were all RTP, which I found a shame, specially Ralph (and his angry faceset) being used as "the player". The game takes place in a winery, but you can't see it's a winery through the graphics, which also was a shame.

But I enjoyed it and will be playing the other chapters when they are out.

 

[WolfraverXemnas]

Alright,
Considering I'm moving at a pretty solid pace here right now, so I'm gonna reward you all with the next installment: "The Portal - Chapter #2 (The Prison - Part 1)"

The Story

Spoiler

Your gameplay continues after you transported through the portal. Unfortunately, you're now stuck in a prison. It's your job to escape from that prison. This game is longer than the last one, with more puzzles to solve, but the puzzles don't drive you AS insane this time around. You should be able to get through it without a walkthrough.

The Characters

Spoiler

???
An unknown individual you are using to play through this game with.

Screenshots

Spoiler

The Prison Cell #1

The Prison Cell #2

Download Link:
http://www.mediafire.com/download/hhw9xdv2f8yzsy1/Chapter2.zip

Final Thoughts:
I WILL be moving over to Mediafire to allow for faster download times. I'm hoping to have The Portal - Chapter 3 released sometime next week. Don't get your hopes that there will be a chapter every week though! There's no way I can promise that...It just happens that I'm releasing them a week at a time. You can continue to follow our work as well on my company's new blog:
mariartzgames.blogspot.com

The same rule applies as before, if anyone gets stuck, I will be more than happy to post the walkthrough.
Enjoy, Wolfraver

 

[B2tR]

Hey,

I've played both parts of your game...

The first part, I don't really like. While the idea is just fine, solving puzzles and all, it really is just 'click everything', there is no real logic behind which stuff is important to click and which's not. In some vessels, there are notes, in most aren't. You can climb some vine trellis, can't climb all the others... what's the point?

I also know, these games aren't about the visual presentation, but wouldn't it feel better to at least get a title screen? That would add so much more personality to your game series and make them much easier to identify as part of a series to the player.

The second game has a title screen! Nice one! The second game is overall much better than the first. Even though it's still mostly 'click everything', there are actually some puzzles/riddles where you need to think instead of trial/error. Also the notes give the place a little bit of atmosphere, the music also helps, why not try something like a screentone or really anything visual to increase the density of atmosphere in the levels? Also thanks for the chemistry lesson.

I really didn't finish both games, but played them until I got stuck. The concept is kinda decent, but it's not really fun to me, sorry

 

[slimmmeiske2]

Hi, I'm stuck (again) at chapter two.

I'm trying to open the door next to the three switches, but I can't seem to get it right.

I've found the note, which says

Spoiler

One and three are fakes.

So I've tried the other one, but it doesn't help much ^^;

Spoiler

Is it like in the previous game, where you need to switch a number of times?

 

[WolfraverXemnas]

You're extremely close slimmeiske,

Spoiler

Did you find the 3 Hidden Tablets? That I'm sure will help you.

 

[slimmmeiske2]

I actually did, but can't seem to understand the message behind it. :/ I'll just try again.

 

[WolfraverXemnas]

Slimmeiske, if you get stuck again, here's the solution:

Spoiler

Hit the middle switch 8 times, which calculates to 40. 2 = 5. Total = 40. If you hit any of the other switches, hit the switch to the left to reset all the switches to 0.

 

[slimmmeiske2]

Thanks, I finished the game. Now that is a cliffhanger.

Part 2 is definitely better than the first one. So congrats on that. (Speaking of 'congrats' you misspelled that quite a few times. I would suggest asking someone to check your spelling.)

 

[WolfraverXemnas]

Damn... I had a feeling that was gonna happen. Guess I'll have to go back and check for spelling errors. In the meanwhile, here's an image of Part 3, for those of you who completed Part 2:

Spoiler

Guess someone is being watched...