Kaptain Brawe Demo Available

[Kaptain Brawe]

Hi all.

Freeware demo of Kaptain Brawe is available here:

Kaptain Brawe Demo (http://www.naphtalite.com/files/KB_Demo.exe)

Must point out that there are some glitches on higher end NVidia Cards, so please try the game both in D3D or OpenGl Mode. We are working to solve this problem.

Hope you'll like it.
Enjoy,
KB.

[Polycount Productions]

Oww, the graphics look just so Monkey Island 3ish... and so does the music. Beautiful!

Couple of suggestions though:
1) I would like to press some button to read faster... like tap space or mouse - in the intro.
2) Man I would like to hear speech! :)
3) I think one mouse click should automatically be the USE-PICK/VIEW/TALK. Like... if I see a knife I could pick it up by clicking it. If I see captains assistant, I could talk with him with one mouse click. Maybe have left mouse button for USE-PICK-TALK (depending on who you target) and RIGHT click to VIEW something. Any idea on this?

Looks great though. I liked it.

[Gilzu]

fan-tastic :)

I do have some suggestions though:
1. Just like Polycount Productions suggested, i would change the long-click scheme. Took me a while to figure it out.
2. Also, other controls aren't so obvious.:
(load-save screen, took me a while to notice the buttons in the lower row.
oh, and... download link in the website... sorry, but till i understood its not just a picture, but a download )link... :rolleyes:
3. Why don't you show-off music in the main menu?
4. Oh man... Those funny dialogs like when you try to zap the Ensign... the more, the merrier. I can even remeber Sam&Max had a special interaction button for asking stupid questions ("Can you spit fire through your...?")
5. Invest some time in the installation. it isnt so hard to add buttons like running after installation, links on the desktop, and giving name for the startup link rather leaving it like its system name ect.

But overall... Me likes. Me VERY likes.

[TheMysteriousStranger]

I'll third the long click scheme issue - maybe a double click to activate the object? And the long click for more options.

I've played through the demo now, so...

bugs:
When I fixed rowboat and went back to the cockpit, I got the sequence of the ensign talking to the precinct, but a thin line kept flashing up between background tiles. It only lasted a few seconds, and seems like it's related to where braw was standing - some kind of dirty rects updating problem maybe?

Speech skipping - sometimes I could click and it would skip a line of speech, other times it wouldn't skip it.

irritations:
the nag screen at the end was irritating. If you must make the screen last for a short while, then please add a timer so I know that I am waiting. I spent all that time trying clicks and keypresses trying to skip it.

Brawe's walking anim is out of sync with his move speed - he feels like he's floating.

His arms move too much during talking - when the random frame selector chooses two frames that are far apart, it makes him look really jerky and ruins the feel of the game.

suggestions:
Get a proper email address. It's a professional looking game, but ending it by asking for bug emails to be sent to a yahoo.com address ruined that feeling.

Make the button hover sounds on the main menu quicker. When I started the game, my mouse moved across an option and out again, then a second later the sound effect played and I was wondering what it was because the mouse was no longer over a button.

Make it so that when you are in the inventory screen, you can place an item back where you picked it up from (eg one of the shelf places) with a left click. I kept trying to place stuff back and getting annoyed by the "no that's not right" speeches.


In summary - I liked it a lot. It had a lot of charm and the puzzles were clever and very much in the style of monkey island puzzles (which is a very big compliment). I feel it could benefit from some improvements to the animation, and maybe some extra sounds such as footsteps or a sound when you open your inventory/action windows.

All in all, very good work.

[Kaptain Brawe]

Thanks alot guys for downloading and playing it.

I was kinda hessitant to reply to your comments, as it is really unproffesional to defend your work. I should just sit back, absorb and implement your suggestions.

But I can't resist =)

* I would like to press some button to read faster... like tap space or mouse - in the intro.
*Speech skipping

Impossible. Giving controls back to the player, in this case mouse clicks, would be interpreted as moving. Imagine what would happen if the user could move the character during a cutscene.

*I think one mouse click should automatically be the USE-PICK/VIEW/TALK.
This is virtually the same interface Monkey Island 3 had. Exactly 400 ms you hold your mouse the verb interface appears. I could put it 300, maybe 250, but below that could get worse. You know how some people are not skilled with mouse, so their clicks tend to last longer =). I know my Mums do =)

* Maybe have left mouse button for USE-PICK-TALK
I've always hated those interfaces, like in Sam and Max, because I had to click like crazy to get to the action I wanted to do.
On the other hand, putting only one action per object isn't very adventurish. Alot of comments and remarks would even be possible.

* Also, other controls aren't so obvious.: LOAD SAVE
I agree. I was kinda torn should I leave them subtle, or really visible.

* a thin line kept flashing up between background tiles.
Glitches I mentioned in the first post. I have NO idea why this happens, and cannot reproduce them on my computer (or any other that I have access too)

* download link in the website
Agreed. Will be fixed

* Make the button hover sounds on the main menu quicker.
I agree. I think it has something to do with the lenght of the sample. I think I'll just make it a short beep.

* you can place an item back where you picked it
Right click?

* Why don't you show-off music in the main menu?
Hmmm. There should be music in the Main Menu.

* walking anim is out of sync
Yet another thing I cannot reproduce, unfortunately. But then again, it could be the fact that I know NOTHING about animation, hence the jerky movement ? =)

* Get a proper email address.
Yeah, well...A proper domain would be nice but...G MAIL?


Again, thank you for downloading and bothering to post comments, it really helps alot. And it is great that you seem to like it.

Take care,
KB.

[luggage]

It's a really nice game. I liked the interface, it took a while to figure it out. Maybe if there was an icon in the corner of the screen for inventory (or maybe use the center of the one that pops up giving you verbs). Then you could have one button for walking, and another for menu.

Skipping text would be quite nice. Can't you just do something like...if (mouseIsClicked)
{
if (conversationIsActive)
{
// skip to next line of text
}
else
{
// move the player
}
}The sound effect thing on the menu appears to be a problem with playing the sfx multiple times.

[Polycount Productions]

* I would like to press some button to read faster... like tap space or mouse - in the intro.
*Speech skipping

Impossible. Giving controls back to the player, in this case mouse clicks, would be interpreted as moving. Imagine what would happen if the user could move the character during a cutscene.

Impossible?

Do both? Have a checkbox for "anxious players" somewhere... so that people can start playing faster. Next time I start the demo I DON'T want to see the intro.

I didn't mean about moving. I meant skipping text :) You are a programmer. Make an IF :)

Anyway, demo is top notch work. Good luck with the game.

[Kaptain Brawe]

IF (you don't want to see the intro)

then {
Press ESC;
}

I think I'll add a tutorial at the beggining of the game, as it seems people don't like to read README.txt =).

Cheers and thanks for the input.

[luggage]

I wanted to read the intro but I can read quite quickly so it becomes a chore waiting for the text to move on. Same goes for the rest of the game - being able to skip a line of text would be great.

[Kaptain Brawe]

Luggage: You are able to skip the line of text with a left click, but I couldn't implement that in the cutsequences, as the player would be able to move during that period.

While in cutsequence mode, the user interface is disabled, and if you wish to skip the cutsequence, you do so by clicking ESC.

I really should give an option for the brief tutorial, as it seems this might really confuse people. Oh and btw, you don't have to walk between the rooms, double click on the on the exit send you immediately into the next room.

Thanks and take care guys.
KB

P.S. Gilzu: I fixed the thing on the download page, is it more understandable now?

[luggage]

Ah, I see. I'm sure I tried that but maybe I only did during the cutscenes. It's a really nice looking and sounding game. I'll put some effort into giving it a good test at some point.

I was a bit confused with the save\load screen. I thought the blank boxes were supposed to have graphics in them and it was a bug. Maybe have it so if you click Save while not highlighting a particular slot it just adds an additional save in the next available slot. if none available grey out the button until you highlight one. A bit of text would help.

I did also find the font slightly hard to read for conversations but that may just have been me. Like I was wishing for a darkened backing to the writing or something.

Keep up the good work!

[MingooX]

I have some words:

FAN - BLOODY - TASTIC

This is an amazing piece of work. I've never been a keen fan of games like monkey island because of their often awkward nature (you have to get in the mind of the developer more than the character in my opinion) even though they are amusing.

But Kaptain Brawe really caught me. I loved it. Without giving too much away, I really felt myself thinking "Kaptain Brawe is an idiot, so where would HE leave the disc?" and that totally helped me find it :D

I also liked the quirkyness. I think voice-overs would be nice but of course are no necessity. I really did love the demo and there were a couple of bits that made me laugh out loud.

In my opinion if it carries on this way throughout the game I would push to get it on shop shelves and not just downloadable.

Oh, and i like the click system, having to bring up that menu each time stopped me accidentally clicking things and also constantly reminded me that there is more than one thing you can do with an object.

Lemme know when its released!

[Surrealix]

Brilliant!

The screenshots struck me the firts time you posted them, and I'm really pleased the game does them justice :) Just played it through, and have to say I really enjoyed it.

I'm not sure what people are complaining about with the text (unless you've just fixed that?), I read really fast, and was able to skip to the next line by right-clicking. The cutscenes do need this support too, though it's not as big a problem as the rest of the game was fine.

I agree with MingooX, too, that the click system you're using works well, although possibly you could have an option to change the time delay? I didn't really find it a problem though.

Also, if the rest of the game turns out at this quality I'd agree that it'd be nice to see it in shops as well.

Finally, no complaints about the gameplay, except I spent ages looking for the disk! It was the one point I really got frustrated, mainly because of the pixel hunting, which the rest of the game did well to avoid.

Oh, and more funny messages instead of "Hmmm, no", and "I don't think that would work" would go down well, if you have any time.

Can't wait for the final version!

[Reactor]

Well, your webpage says the setup is 24MB, but I downloaded one that was 45MB. When it ran it, nothing happened.

You might want to look into that one.

[Chris Evans]

I have to say I haven't been this excited about an Indie game in a long time. I've already downloaded it, I'll give you impressions later. :)

[dustin1138]

Great work!

I had the minor line glitches as well (geforce 7800). I could use a little more ambient sound. Of course, as mentioned, spoken dialogue would be great.

I'm really looking forward to this game.

[spellcaster]

I really liked the game. Here are some comments in random order:

Ok, right now if I click on the screen, the character walks to that position.
If I long-click and then select something, the character first walks to the position, and then performs the action.
I'm not sure if this would work, but: what if left clicking an object would always open the Action Menu, and left clicking a position of the room will move the character? By doing so, you can remove the "long click" without loosing any options.

Right click for the inventory - well, that felt strange, but I got used to it very quickly.

No indication on how to get to the load / save screen, etc.


If you read the posts here, you'll find that users ask for features that are already in your game, like a way to skip text, etc.
But the problem is, that your players don't find these features. We're all used to operating games and computers. And yet we have some problems operating your game.

You should try to streamline the interface a bit, or at least show some hints on how to operate your game.

I had a lot of fun playing the game. And I totally agree that some voice acting would be absolutely great ;)

[Kaptain Brawe]

Once again, THANK YOU for your comments.

I will sure implement these features you requested and already found a way how to solve this verbcoin problem.
I decreased the delay time from 400ms to 100 ms, and I think it will be fine this way.

More comments have been integrated and I took care of the SAVE LOAD menu.

I'm in the process of doing a short tutorial that the user will be able to run through or not at the start of the game.

Also implemented a small button while in cutsequence mode, that says ESC=SKIP

Reactor: I really don't know what happened, the only thing I can think of is that you somehow got an OLD BETA demo, which was 45 Megs and then optimized to 23. But I don't how is that possible, as that demo was taken offline 3 weeks ago. I'm really puzzled. I added more dowload links on my site, maybe if you try another one?

I know you all wish for speech text, I know that I do, but that would really push the size of the whole thing alot. Also, getting a decent actors, as mentioned before, would be hard without ANY budget, and if I eventually got some cheap ones, I could end up with a rather amateurish product.
On the other hand, you know how you read a book, or a comic, and you get a picture in your mind how a specific character sounds and feels. I think it is somewhat a personal affair, and I take it from my experience.
Forrest Gump never sounded in the book as did Tom Hanks =).

But, I digress. All of the problems that seem to repeat will be corrected, and the new demo will come out soon.

Thanks for playing.

[spellcaster]

Regarding voice actors:
A friend of mine needed some for a animated shortfilm project. What he did was asking some moderators of a local radio station. They liked the movie and dubbed it free of charge.
Today you could also check pod casts and internet radio sites.

If you have an acting school or something similar in your area, you could ask there. Sometimes having a role in a portfolio is already a nice thing so the money isn't that important.

Regarding the filesize: You could make the language-pack an additional download.

The point is: Your game is pretty amazing. The art and the feel of the game is so good, that you expect voice samples.

Oh, let's say you can't add voice samples. But then you could prepare voice samples. That would allow fan made speach packs ;)

[Bad Sector]

I LOVED it!

There are a few issues, but generally is a very good game. I don't play adventure games anymore, but last night i couldn't get to sleep if i didn't finish the demo :-).

Very good job!

[Kaptain Brawe]

Hey, thanks Bad Sector, that one is the biggest compliment, if you couldn't get away from the game. I'm really thrilled.

I just wanted to let you know of some updates (this version is not online yet, and won't be till weekend).

- Made SAVE/LOAD menu more readable
- Added interactive tutorial INSIDE the game
- Speeded up the verbcoin appearence
- ADDED option to skip text during cutsequences
- Added more ambiental sounds
- Fixed (hopefully) de-synced anims
- Added more download links to my website
- Added more comments for unusual/non working actions
- Removed the BUGS text

As for the installer, I've used Advanced Installer Freeware. I know that Inno Setup is very popular, but it involves alot of heavy scripting, right?

Any help would be much appreciated if there is some more easier FREE installer available?

Cheers guys, and

T H A N K S !
KB

[DrWilloughby]

Positives:
-Graphics are top-notch
-Music is fun, wish there was more
-Right/Left mouse clicking, double clicking easy to learn and use

Negatives:
-Load/Save interface pretty wonky, why not something a bit more standard?
-Script could probably use a little tightening up, its a tad long winded (though the humor that is there is great)
-Instructions should be included in-game. They're simple enough, why make casual users have to find that readme?
-Didn't like the "find the hidden item" puzzle
-Exit screen gives you no indication that it is waiting, so I think the computer is hung

Bugs:
-At one point, I got the bucket as my cursor and I couldn't do anything, couldn't switch off of the bucket. I think it happened when I was en route for another room and I opened my inv and selected the bucket
-Full-screen on a dual screen machine doesn't lock the mouse (a little pet peeve of mine)

Well done. Cheers!

[Surrealix]

As for the installer, I've used Advanced Installer Freeware. I know that Inno Setup is very popular, but it involves alot of heavy scripting, right?

Any help would be much appreciated if there is some more easier FREE installer available?

I use inno setup for my games, and find it easy enough to use. The first few times I used it I didn't do any scripting, as it has a special setup wizard, which writes the script for you.

When I needed more advanced functions, I had no problem implementing these - the help is pretty useful, and most things seem self explanatory. Mostly it's just a matter of editing the generated script, I can't think of a situation where you'd want to write one from scratch.

I havn't updated the version I use for ages, but I'm guessing the newer versions are even easier, if anything.


Apparently Nullsoft has a good setup creator too, but I've never used it.

[spellcaster]

Regarding the bucket:
At first I tried to use the cup and just got the "no use" message. If you could change the message here to something like "Hm... not quite large enough" it would make the world feel more responsive.

[Greg Squire]

Most Excellent! The graphics and music are AAA quality. You certainly have been working hard on this. It was very enjoyable to play. I only wished there was more. ;)

I took me a bit to figure out the control scheme though. Perhaps a quick tutorial or "getting started" screen could help. Also hitting F1 (the standard help key) did nothing, so pehaps you could popup some help page(s) (or even the same "getting started" screen) when the user hits this.

As far as using Inno Setup goes, you can use the ISTool (http://www.istool.org/default.aspx/) wizard to create the scripts needed for Inno Setup. Using those two together you can create an installer in about 5 minutes.

As a side note I noticed you are using the Visionaire (http://www.visionaire-online.de/) engine. I was just curious why you picked that engine over some others out there (like AGS (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/)).

[Kaptain Brawe]

Thanks for the nice comments.

I will most definately give Inno Setup a go, I didn't know it had a Wizard. Should be easy enough to implement a decent setup there.

Greg: Because I know ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about programming. If I had ATLEAST some knowledge I would pick Wintermute in a jiffy (AGS lacks alot of features that I needed). I tried it tho, and it took me about 2 months to make atleast an interface.

Visionaire lacks a BUNCH of stuff (like music crossfading, some general variables to tweak), but is by FAR the best authoring tool out there.

Last thing I heard, Visionaire 3 will rule, with a whole new sound system, bunch of options etc.

[Anthony Flack]

Oh, and I thought we had another programmer/artist here (I do both, but I'm marked as a freak).

Just played the demo. The music is good, everything is as it should be (barring minor glitches). The lack of speech is a pity, but apart from that it is an extremely authentic Lucasarts-style experience (something that many people have tried, and failed, to do before). I liked it.

The animation was a bit rugged, which is a shame. But any criticisms are pretty well negated by the game's strong points. Of course, #1 is the background illustrations, which are obviously totally awesome. And the other thing is the setting and characters, which are fun, interesting, and come over very well. Nice one!

[Kaptain Brawe]

YAY! Managed to make an Inno Setup, with my own graphics and other features people have requested. Guess I am not that dumb afterall =).

The only thing that bothers me is that the Uninstall icon is the same as my main exe file, people might get confused. I'll figure it out.

Anthony: Yeah, people have been complaining about animations a bit. I think I'll let the demo like this, and while working on the rest of the game, I'll try to make them better. It would delay the release for atleast a week, so I'll better release it to get more feedback.
But, thanks for the comments, I really appreciate them.

[Kaptain Brawe]

Hi all.

I've put the newest version (just follow the same link above), and I tried to fix most of the stuff you didn't like, so if you have time, could you give it a go?

Thanks in advance.

KB