Immersive Realms Forums

[News & Announcements] CGDG

srecinto — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 14:53:45 -0500

As you may already know, Immersive Realms has sponsored the [url=http://www.cgdg.org]Chicago Game Developer Gathering event[/url]. The intent of this event is to encourage local developers to open communication channels, share some resources, offer advice, and provide constructive support/motivation for businesses and our projects. It is a coopertition based goal and I feel this quote summarizes it [quote=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRST_Robotics_Competition]The whole concept of "coopertition" is based on the idea of teams helping each other to compete.[/quote]

This meeting is not specifically geared towards indies, although it will probably consist of many indies. The gathering is geared towards any game developer who is willing to help other developers be successful and who is also willing to receive help from the other developers in return.

The date/time and location can be found at http://www.cgdg.org

[New Projects] Re: Another Aw Nutz!?

srecinto — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:47:48 -0600

As you may have read in the TEHI Project thread, we have paused production due mainly to the epic nature of the game. Since most of the design process has already taken place on Aw Nutz already (we went all out on what we wanted first then scaled back for the mobile version) We can begin immediately on a demo to test out the new features we wanted to have in the original idea. I will keep you posted on the details of this.

[New Projects] Re: Project: TEHI

srecinto — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:13:24 -0600

Ok so after a bunch of soul searching, analysis and many many cups of coffee. I am placing project TEHI on hold. The main reason being is that the game maybe too epic for our targeted platform(s) as well as outside of the time line we would like to make it in. This does not mean the project is dead, it means that we will focus on a lighter project to prove ourselves on our targeted platforms as well as work out any of the administrative bugs required to get our games on those platforms.

So we are looking to create an XBox live / Casual portal version of Aw Nutz! The good news is that the current version was scaled down for the mobile platform but we have a bunch of game play mechanics and designs that were intended for a heavier platform and are currently focusing our efforts on the demo for that. So look in the Aw Nutz! section for new project for the latest news

Regards,
Shawn Recinto

[New Projects] Re: Project: TEHI

srecinto — Thu, 24 Jan 2008 08:26:43 -0600

We have engaged [url=http://www.flipsidegames.net/]Flipside Game Studios[/url] to assist us with this project and already they have posed some good questions to us regarding scope and meeting the [url=http://www.microsoftcasualgames.msn.com/developers_xla.htm]XBox live Criteria[/url]. We have been going over our options and estimate that we will have some key decisions made on the TEHI project by Monday next week.

Regards,
Shawn Recinto

[New Projects] Re: Project: TEHI

srecinto — Mon, 07 Jan 2008 10:43:13 -0600

I hope everyone had a great new year. Here is the latest news on Project TEHI.
We are now zeroing in on the demo for TEHI which will basically consist of a tutorial level and a level with heavily armed mech/pilot to give everyone as well as reveal pats of the story. The demo is slated to match up with these [url=http://www.microsoftcasualgames.msn.com/developers_xla.htm]Xbox Live Requirements[/url] and it will consist of the following items (Intro sequence, start and configuration menu, tutorial level and the "Sand box" level as well as some story cinematic) to whet everyone appetite. With out much info on all the details we are looking to get a demo by end of May but before that I will release the project plan so you all can track exactly where we are at with it.

[New Projects] Re: Project: TEHI

srecinto — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 13:50:34 -0600

Here is the latest and greatest news for Project TEHI. We have pretty much wrapped up the inception phase of the project but there are some minor details I still need to clarify/add to the design doc but other then that we have completed this phase. We are also well into the second phase of the project, the elaboration phase, and are hammering out the details of the story as well as getting our script and character detailed out. We are also working on the second proof of concept for game play mechanics and, for the most part, have locked down the core game play elements. As always, these things are not set in stone and are subject to change but we do have a formal project plan we are following to track these changes and adjust our estimates accordingly. At some point we will make out project plan public so everyone here can track the progress of the project. We wanted to have this level of transparency as a way to show people how we approached the project and how we also kept it within a reasonable time frame.

Regards,
Shawn Recinto

[General] Re: Aquiria

srecinto — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 17:34:48 -0600

I just learned that on December 12th Aquira launched! Congrats to the guys at [url=http://www.bit-blot.com]bit-blot[/url]

After playing the demo, this game is a high quality adventure game. The only complaint I could have so far is sometimes it can be difficult to know where to go next. The mini map can be tough to navigate at times but other then that, the mouse control seems new and intuitive, I love the "song" system that activates certain powers and the graphics and music are very detailed, beautiful and fitting for the theme. This indie developer know how to release a well designed and polished game.

Try out [url=http://www.bit-blot.com/aquaria/]Aquiria[/url]
I already made my purchase and I highly recommend you do as well :)

[New Projects] Re: Project: TEHI

srecinto — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 11:36:00 -0600

I'm heading out to Las Vegas :)-D This weekend so I figured I'll give you a quick update.

- We have completed our story outline, it will be a "living" document but the framework and all the high level details (characters, history, main story) are complete. The next step for this is the detail character descriptions, an initial script and further refinement of the story details.

- The initial game play ideas are in the process of being formally documented right now and slated to be complete this Friday. The next step for this process is to lock down the core game play and create and prioritize a "nice to have list" for certain game play features that are not core but would enhance the experience.

- The final piece is the design doc draft, which will contain the story out line and the core game play elements but it will also contain additional details about the project such as average game play time, target audience details, comparable games etc. This draft is targeted to this Friday to be completed as well.

Once these tasks are completed (including the next steps described above) we will being with concept art and mocked up screen shots and show you guys a select few... this has been estimated to being in February and we will publish some teaser images as well as the project plan around that time >:D<

Thats my update let me know if you have any questions.

[Aw Nutz! [Mobile]] Performance Problems

srecinto — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:34:38 -0600

We have discovered that a new release of the Mpowerplayer version (2.1.2147)
is different from the SDK version which is still at 2.0.1185. This appears to be the culprit causing the slowdown in Aw Nutz!.

We are looking into resolving this issue ASAP so you can continue to have a good experience playing the game.

Regards,
Shawn Recinto

[Game Ideas] Re: an INNER body experience

srecinto — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 16:38:42 -0600

LOL thats an cool idea. I was actually thinking over game setting ideas like that before too. I would like to hear more details about a story/gamplay for a game in that type of setting

[Game Ideas] an INNER body experience

mkenley — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 15:36:07 -0600

I also had a dream about a game idea, and needles to say it was pretty weird(most of them are I guess). Anyway, it would be similar to TEHI in the fact that you are in a mech of sorts, but THIS mech can change its size at will, and go to microscopic proportions. The reason being is that you need to travel into the body of someone to fight off a new rare disease.

However, this wont be like any normal trip through the body(not that there is anything normal about that anyway, but you get it). Inside of the body would be a completely different world which would have a pretty extensive cartoon feel to it where the viruses and diseases are bad guys with personalities who are hell bent on taking over the "world". If anyone has ever seen osmosis jones, this is definately taking inspiration from that. I love the way they have great characters in that movie and would love to build on that. The world is set up for lots of exploring and a great opportunity to have some classic bad guys and awesome battles.

[New Projects] New Forum Features! :)

srecinto — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 11:50:18 -0600

Hey Everyone!
As you may know by now, we added new features to make the forum more interactive such as Smiley support, User Avatars, BBCodes, YouTube video support and CAPTCHA Spam protection.

Let us know if you guys have any problems with the new features

[New Projects] Re: Project: TEHI

srecinto — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 09:00:35 -0600

Here is another update... perhaps I should make this weekly or bi-weekly to keep everyone in the loop on our status.

I just updated the project plan and it looks like we will start creating concept art around January 4th (this is after all our initial planning and documentation is completed). This will also put us in the middled of the [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Process]Elaboration Phase[/url] of our project. Once this gets approved by the team we will make further adjustments to the project plan and release it to the public as well as some of the select artwork and a story overview for the game. By this time we will probably have an estimated date for the release but you will probably see that in the project plan ;)

[News & Announcements] Signing up for this forum

srecinto — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 09:02:59 -0600

Hey guys,
Just an FYI when registering to the forum, check your spam box because a few people have told me that they did not receive the confirmation e-mail when registering. So make sure you check your spam boxes after registering to verify your account until we resolve this issue.

[Game Ideas] Re: Corporate Lemmings

srecinto — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:33:05 -0600

LOL you should flush out the idea more... you may be on to something like a fun cell phone game ;)

[Game Ideas] Corporate Lemmings

Paco — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 14:18:54 -0600

So my idea is a simple mod of the famous lemming game, but with commuters.
They get out of the Metra and move forward like the lemmings, you can slow them down by making one commuter read the news paper, you can make them change direction by strategically placing homeless people asking for change, etc.

I think it will be funny and people will relate to it!

F.G

[News & Announcements] Game Idea Section Added

srecinto — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:39:04 -0600

We added a Game Idea section so we as well as all of you can post ideas for games, game play mechanics, stories etc. So check it out and post your ideas up there. You never know but we may actually use some of those ideas in one of our games

[Game Ideas] A Baba Yaga Adventure

srecinto — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 11:20:19 -0600

Hey guys,
a while back I had this Idea about createing an adventure game, probably based off the [url=http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk]AGS Engine[/url] by Chris Jones, about [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga]Baba Yaga[/url]. My first encounter with her was with [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Glory_I:_So_You_Want_To_Be_A_Hero]Quest for Glory 1[/url] aka Hero's Quest (the EGA version). Since then I have seen her in other games like [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Glory_IV:_Shadows_of_Darkness]QFG4[/url] and [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baba_Yaga_%28D%26D%29]pen and paper AD&D[/url].

[b]How it all started[/b]
Now what is my big fascination with Baba Yaga? It probably stemmed from a nightmare I had about her when I was a kid where she was this little old lady who owned this apartment complex which, like her hut, was much larger on the inside then on the outside and it was nearly impossible to get out once inside. I remember in my dream one room I call "The Cloud Room" where it was full of thick fog with some type of pale blue light illuminated the room (with no identify able source) and I recall he figure slightly forming from the forg or mist that was surrounding me and her ever so slight evil laughter when her figure would semi-form. Then there was this one room, "the Crazy Room" which I can only describe it with having floating shapes all over the place and was kind of twisted like an MC Escher illustration. The thing that freak me out about this room was every now and then Baba Yaga's Face would push through the wall... as if it were a rubber material and her face would form behind it to scare the crap out of me. One of the last rooms I remember was a dark room with these sickly light phasing in and out like a green, red and a yellow. I called this the invisible room because Baba Yaga would follow behind me and laugh in my ear but she was invisible. IT was that dream that probably started my fascination with her ([i]and I should probably come up with a game based off of that[/i]) and let me to the adventure game idea I will describe next.

[b]The Story[/b]
So back in time probably around the 1800s in a Slavic/Eastern European setting, there is a small family that live by the edge of the forest. The Father is a hunter/tanner and the mother a seamstress who would sew the hides together to make tunics, coats, blankets, etc. The daughter, is a well behaved, obedient and helpful young woman (probably appropriately named Katarina around 14 years) and the young brother who is a very mischievous, spirited and curious young boy (Probably named Viktor around 8yrs old). As I said earlier the family lives in a log cabin near the forest for economical reasons but living near the forest comes with a price as well. While the outer forest is relatively safe and tame as side from the stray wolf every now and then, the deeper, darker parts of the forest are rumored to have creatures of a darker nature wandering around as well as sinister beings residing in the blackest parts.

Since the village was a few day ride from their cabin, the parents would load up their carts with the furs and clothes for trade and sale at the end of every month. They were grateful that Katarina was old enough to mind the cabin and Vikto because when they were younger Viktor caused many problems for them in the village with his mischievous behavior. One way Viktor's mother was able to get him to behave was to tell him the story about the With Baba Yaga and how she lived deep in the forest outside of their home; she would tell him about how Baba Yaga hear and smell bad little children and how she had quite the appetite for them as their rotten core was a delicacy to her. One morning just before Katarin's and Viktor's parents left for their monthly trek to the village, Viktor played a mean prank on Katarina which made Katarina so upset she cried. Viktor's mother then warned him about Baba Yaga to wich Viktor's defiantly challenged his mother story as being false. Katrina never believed the stories of Baba Yaga either and thought they were meant just to scare Viktor in behaving but she was so angry at Viktor that she wished Baba Yaga would come and take him away. After the parents left Viktor was in a particular mean streak with Katarina and continued to tease and play pranks on her through out the day as well as disobey her request to stop and help her mind the cabin. That evening a bad storm was rolling in and Viktor play a particularly mean prank on Katarina by placing a spider in her tea. Katarina was so angry with Viktor that she started calling out loud for Baby Yaga to come and take her brother away to which Viktor shouted the old hag was to afraid of "Viktor the Great" to take him away and laughed at Katarina for trying to make him think Baba Yaga was real. Later that evening Viktor had settled down and Katarina was throwing the last log on the fire for the evening after putting put him to bed. She sat on her fathers chair near the fire so upset with how her brother was behaving with tears streaming down her cheeks, hoping and wishing Baba Yaga would take her brother away. She slowly blinked the tear from her eyes until she was overcome with a dark and troubling slumber. In her mind she felt Baba Yaga laughing and smelling for the rotten child until came upon a log cabin at the edge of the forest. She peered into the window and saw a young woman sleeping on the chair next to the fire but the smell wasn't coming from her it was coming from another room. Katarina felt in her mind each time lightning flickered, a shadow through the window which moved through the house towards the door of the room where her brother slept. She hear the door creak open, felt her brothers scream through his bedroom window as he was enveloped by the shadow.

Katarina woke up and saw the fire was nothing but embers now and the house felt unusually cold and she was shivering, probably from the remains of her dream she was still shaking off. She then felt a cold draft at her back as she was stoking the fire. She turned around and noticed that the draft was coming from her brothers bedroom door that was slightly ajar. Panic started to flood in her like an icy wave crashing on a rocking shore in a storm as her dream came rushing back to her. Katarina tried to remain calm while walking towards the door thinking it was because she left Viktor's bedroom door open so she could keep an ear out for him, but dreading when she walked in the room she would see him gone and his window open. He was gone and his window open with lightning illuminating the empty fur blankets. Part of her was thinking Viktor was playing another prank but the dream. The dream Viktor would never know about. Fear and panic finally set in with the last flash lightning exposing a black figure holding a bundle disappear into the edge of the forest and the realization that Katarina was not dreaming. With the thunder drowning out her screams, no one would be able to help her and her brother.

[b]The Game Play[/b]
So the game would probably start off at this point in time. You would play as Katarina. The setting is supposed to be very dark and as creepy/frightening to a 14 year old girl as possible. The play is the same as a typical [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adventure_game]point and click adventure game[/url] with some stealth mechanics involved as well. Since Katarina is a 14 year old girl, we probably can not have her running around killing creatures with swords so instead I figure she can use stealth and brains so avoid or stop these creates as well as find her way to Baba Yaga's hut.

First part of the game would take place in her cabin and edge of the forest where she picks up some supplies (i.e. lantern, cloak, etc.) and follow the point where the black figure disappear into the edge of the forest.

After finding clues as to where the figure may have gone, Katarina enters the forest. There are wolves in the forest so Katarin must hide to avoid being found and even if found there are ways Katarina can flee and avoid the persuit of the wolves. Having grown up by the edge of the forest and being in the forest frequently through her life, Katarina is familiar with where things basically are in the outer parts. She has never been in and has been forbidden by her parents from venturing into the deeper parts though and does not know her way around those areas. So a Map of the outer part as well as the new parts she has explored would be another element for the game.

The Third part is to where she finally finds clues that lead her to an unknown, darker part of the forest. At this point in time it is early dawn and the storm has calmed to just a light but oppressive drizzle. This part fo the forest is thickly grown does not allow much of any sunlight in at all on top of the fact that the day is dawning and cloud cover makes it almost as dark as night in this section of the forest. it is quiet with the exception of the drumming of the rain and the occasional animal scurrying. This is where Katrina will begin to encounter other creatures of the forest and will be clued into their approach by the odd sounds of their movement in the forest. We may have 1 neutral creature who will help point out the direction of Baba Yaga's hut in exchange for a few tasks it would have Katrina perform (i.e. retrieve an item, find something out, or stop something.. not sure yet).

The fourth part is when Katarina finally makes her way to a clearing in the forest where the hut of Baba Yaga sits on its chicken legs (they should probably look like grotesque tree trunks) surrounded by a fence with human skulls surrounding it. She must then figure out a way to get through the gate and in to the hut... probably with the Baba Yaga rhyme or some thing but it should be a puzzle element here about this.

The fifth part is the interior of the actual hut its self. Now legend has it that Babayaga hut is much larger on the inside then on the outside, as well as the rooms constantly shift so mapping out this portion of the game would be nearly impossible. This first part of the hut would be to find out how to stabilize it so it wont shift any more (maybe) or find the pattern of shifts in the hut so Katarin can make her way through it. There are wandering creatures and guardians that Bab Yaga has so much like the wolves and forest creatures, Katarin will have to use stealth tactics and even set up trap to stop certain creatures from wandering around or guarding portions of the hut. Eventually the point of this part is to find where your brother is being held and to get past his guards.

This next part is to try and escape from Baba Yaga's hut but at this point she is aware of the escape and step up guardian patrols to find you. this time it is more difficult because you have to keep your brother calm and you have to place him in a hiding spot before you can hide. Now you can use a combination of your brother pranks and your with to avoid or trap the guardians. Eventually you stumble upon Baba Yaga's main area and are probably captured and placed in a cell in her room as she goes about preparing your brother for a meal. You must use both your brother pranks and your wits to trick her into letting you both go or allowing you to escape. The trick or prank is so bad that it causes Baba Yaga to pick up and leave the area which has the effect of turning the forbidden portions of the forest into a normal forest and taking all the dark inhabitants with it.

The end scene is probably where you return home just in time for your parents arrival back and they notice how well behaved Viktor is now and ask about what made him changed... This ending needs work but i was also thinking of an alternate ending thats not as happy. Who knows.

[New Projects] Re: Project: TEHI

srecinto — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 10:00:55 -0600

Just to give you guys an update, it looks like we are moving forward a bit more in this project; we set up a private section in the forum for TEHI and are flushing out the details. We already have a proof of concept for game play worked out and close to completed, the next step are to fill out the story, level designs and art concepts as well.

When we get further along i.e. screen shots and completed story, we will post the project plan so you can see how much further until launch ;)

[General] Are adventure games dead?

srecinto — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 18:30:31 -0600

I have been following Anonymous Game Developers Interactive [url]http://www.agdinteractive.com/[/url] guys since around 2002 and since then they have release three high quality games. [url=http://www.agdinteractive.com/KQ1.php]Kings Quest 1[/url], [url=http://www.agdinteractive.com/KQ2.php]Kings Quest 2[/url] remakes and
[url=http://www.himalayastudios.com/alemmo/]Al Emmo[/url], their commercial game as [url=http://www.himalayastudios.com]Himalaya Studios[/url].

The current project they are working on, Quest for Glory 2: Trial By Fire, is a point and click remake from the popular Quest for Glory series. This is probably one of my favorite games and probably the gateway game that got me into RPGs. Those were the days when Text and Point and Click adventure games ruled the PC market. I still remember playing it on my Tandy 1000 RLX with DOS 5.0 and the PC speaker for sound/music but I digress :-). The AGDI group still shows that there are many people out there still interested in playing adventure games. Just look at their forum community.

Although not the dominant genre like they were back in the late 80's early 90's they can still be made to be very entertaining. Perhaps if they can be made non-linear they can make somewhat of a comeback, especially on consoles with point and click interfaces like the Wii and, of course the, PC. Old school adventure games probably just need some creative new school approaches to make a resurgence.

[General] Aquiria

srecinto — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 11:20:45 -0600

[quote]A beautiful hand-crafted 2D adventure[/quote]
[url]http://www.bit-blot.com/aquaria[/url]

I could not agree more. If you check out the youtube video posting they have, the game play looks awesome... I'm guessing it can be played one handed with a mouse so that would infer some unique game play aspects. In a world of 3D next gen graphic oriented games, this game has beautiful environments/visuals/sounds/music that has a professional quality on par with the big boys. If you don't believe just [url=http://www.bit-blot.com/aquaria]look for yourself[/url]

It is very rare that I feel this now a days but I can't wait until this game gets released... they will have my business when the game is available.

[General] Independant Inspiration

srecinto — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:30:39 -0600

Over the years I have followed groups such as [url=http://www.agdinteractive.com/]AGD Interactive[/url] (formerly known as Tierria Entertainment), [url=http://www.retro64.com/]Retro 64[/url], [url=http://gbgames.com/blog/]GBGames[/url] and new comers like [url=http://www.bit-blot.com/]blit-blot[/url].

It is guys like these that have inspired to leave the business tech industry after 11 years of service (doing time?) and pursue the American Dream in the game industry. It is guys like this who have made things like casual games a booming segment in the industry and have pushed the envelope on game play that even the big developers have learned from.

I am glad the successful independents continue to inspire and motivate others and I hope the new Indies serve as reminders to us of where we came from as our businesses grow. Never forget our roots.

[New Projects] Another Aw Nutz!?

srecinto — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:06:19 -0600

We were considering creating the more complete version of Aw Nutz! that would give a fuller gaming experience by focusing on puzzle elements and adding items to alter game play as well as adding many more levels and even a level editor tool so you can post your own creations on line for others to try. The mobile version was build with five to ten minutes of play time in mind. The complete version would probably be targeted at about an hour. We also would like to incorporate the story we originally create for Skitters and Nino but could not implement due to cell phone limitations.

Let us know your thoughts on this.

[Aw Nutz! [Mobile]] Bugs

srecinto — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:40:13 -0600

This thread is reserved for reporting bugs or strange anomalies in Aw Nutz. Please be as specific as you can when reporting an issues (see sample below).

Sample bug report (not a current issue):

[i]Description:[/i]
Skitters fails to jump on log

[i]Step to reproduce:[/i]
In level 1 when jumping on the first log, Skitters stands on the water while the log move out from under him.

[New Projects] Project: TEHI

srecinto — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 09:18:54 -0600

The title we are currently working on, [b]TEHI[/b] (The Event Horizon Incident), is currently in the [url=http://www.ibm.com/developerworks/rational/library/1826.html]inception phase[/url] of development. It will be an [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action-adventure_game]Action Adventure[/url] game targeted for both XBox Live and the PC platform. One approach we are considering is exposing our project plan for this game on the web. This will have a level of transparency in the development life cycle process that is not typical of developer studios. The result of this approach will give everyone a chance to see exactly where we are at in the development life cycle and eliminate the question "when is it going to be done?".

We will have more information on this game once we wrap our heads around all the details and complete our formal documentation (i.e. Project Plan, Design Doc, etc.) on it.

[Aw Nutz! [Mobile]] Questions?

srecinto — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 16:58:59 -0500

Please ask any Any question you have about Aw Nutz! here.

[News & Announcements] The forum has launched!

srecinto — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 15:07:48 -0500

It is our goal to create a community of our players, developers, testers, designers and anyone else who is passionate about playing and creating games. While we do encourage expression of opinions and ideas, there are some rules we would like to start out with on our forum to keep things pleasant for everyone.

* Please no profane, vulgar, or explicit references/links/pics/language. (If your mother wouldn't approve of it, neither would we.) These will be removed and you will be banned.

* Please no spam posts. These will be removed and you will be banned.

* Please no threats of harm to posters or flaming. (We only encourage violence in games and not in real life.) These will be removed and you will be banned.

Thats all for now.

Enjoy!