But seriously, progression continues to happen, and while it may not be at the most exciting pace ever, it’s still progressing quite steadily.  In fact, we’re getting very—and I mean very—close to the end of the second quarter of the game.  I know I’ve said that for the last few months, but I really mean it this time.  We are literally one scene away from that benchmark.  One very long scene, actually.  And that scene involves one new character, (at least) one new room, and lots and lots of dialogue, sooo chances are I’ll be talking about how close we are to beginning the second half of the game for a few months yet.  Ah well, savor it while it lasts!

Here’s some behind-the-scenes development that you might find interesting:  Real!Paul and I did some brainstorming recently about a couple of the characters in testgame and a relationship they may or may not have had at some point in time.  (See if you can guess who these characters are!  Post your guesses in the comments section.)  We went into quite a bit of detail, and it’s pretty exciting and explains some things, so this relationship might very well surface at some point in the future of the game!  I had absolutely no idea these characters even had a connection, let alone a Relationship (with a capital “R”) before that point.  And strangely enough, this whole line of thinking was all generated by chance from a single phrase of dialogue that was meant to fill comedic space.  It’s crazy how these things work.

Besides the new plot stuff (oh, the new plot stuff), there’s also some updated background work, a fixed glitch, and some other various things to check out.  But you can just look at the bulleted list below to see what I’m talking about.  In fact, I don’t even know why I’m still typing.  I really don’t have anything left to say.  So yeah, go play testgame!  You know you love it, and it loves you!  It’s a symbiotic relationship of sorts, with me stuck in the middle.

Just play the game so I don’t have to struggle with words anymore!

TestGame v. 36

(no extra programs needed to run this file)

Things to do/new features of note: 

·        Ability to give the slingshot to Hans (finally).

·        After this, Hans and Lily now occupy new spots in the castle courtyard screen, and the various interactions with them have changed (at least, to the extent that I’ve put that stuff in so far).

·        Most importantly, Paul can talk to Lily and get to the point where she will take him to Herkimer.  Of course, that doesn’t actually happen yet.  But it will, someday in the future.

·        Also, after Amazing Anthony’s successful show, the guard captain now exists again—try looking for him on stage with Amazing Anthony.

·        When Amazing Anthony tells Paul the amount of time until his show starts (and when Paul tells the Guard Captain), this amount is now given in minutes AND seconds (as opposed to just seconds).  The solution to this coding dilemma was so easy that I was sure it wouldn’t work.  I love intuitive coding.

·        Fixed a small glitch in which Amazing Anthony’s second show didn’t happen if Paul finished the guard captain puzzle immediately after giving the petition to Amazing Anthony (as opposed to the other way around).  This should work now.

·        Background work: forest screen outside Paul’s room.

All the graphics and design are by Lizo. The dialogue was written by Lizo, with significant input by Paul. The background music is by Lizo. "Let's Go Skateboard" is written and performed by The Word Problems.  Adventure Game Studio (the program used to create this game) can be downloaded at http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/

-- Elizabeth "Lizo" Medina-Gray {05-2008}

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