A Hardy Developer's Journal – as written by indie adventure game developers

May I present the interview I conducted for ACG with Larry Ahern (Full Throttle, Curse of Monkey Island, Insecticide) concerning a bunch of adventure games that sadly none of us – the players – ever got our mandibles on – like Vanishing Act, Full Throttle 2 and Insecticide Part 2.

The highlights include not only some really cool behind-the-scenes stories from up to 20 years ago, but also a gallery of concept art from the aforementioned games, as well as the never before seen cutscenes from Insecticide: Part 2 which wrap up most of the storyline!

http://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8oWnnsJ_GWBQwZyzmFgVPA/videos?view=1

Lastly, I’ve been recommending the relatively unloved Insecticide: Part 1 for ages and still do. You can get it cheap on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/16710/

If you’re looking at this game thinking you’ve seen it before, you may be right. It is in fact a completely revamped and extended HD version of the freeware The Journey Down: Over The Edge, which was reviewed by HDJ back in 2010. I, however, haven’t played that version, so what you’re going to read is coming from the perspective of someone completely new to the wondrous world of The Journey Down.
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Has nothing to do with U2's guitarist.

Over The Edge is the first chapter in the four-part series, The Journey Down. Written and designed by Theodor Waern, the game tells the story of Bwana, a simple fuel station attendant attempting to get he and his sidekick Kito’s plane airworthy in order to take a strange and beautiful woman to the mysterious area known as “The Underland” by going over what is known as “The Edge.” If you haven’t already, prepare yourself for some incredible freeware adventure gaming.

When playing an adventure game

there are many different factors that can make the experience an enjoyable one, some love puzzles, some the visuals, for me personally, it’s the story that has to be great, and a great story needs a great main character to drive it forward. (more…)

Finally, there has come the moment that I was waiting for a very long time – I can start a production diary for my own adventure game! Not because I have just put together a loose concept or created the first artwork, no. It is the right moment to begin writing about the game because I have now finished a working version of one of three acts of the full project – to be tweaked and released soon (next month) as a WIP demo. So, while much much work still needs to be done, even on the demo, from this moment on there will be always  some solid virtual entity to refer to. In other words, Frantic Franko now lives! (more…)