SERIAL -- a first-person nightmare adventure -- Downloadable Demo!

[FrankSlimski]

I'm working on a game called Serial, which will be done sometime in 2013.
It's a horror game, so please avoid it if you have a weak constitution.

http://frankslimskigames.com/FrankSl...erialDemo1.jpg
http://frankslimskigames.com/FrankSl...erialDemo2.jpg
http://frankslimskigames.com/FrankSl...alDemo3Alt.jpg

This game is not for children. Don't even play it around children.
Lots of nudity and gore.

The demo is roughly 250mb.
Follow this link to my website to download it.

http://frankslimskigames.com/

And don't forget to vote in the poll above.

[juguefre]

downloading now but It seems too dark in the pics.....

[ironbelly]

let's hope for a flashlight

[FrankSlimski]

Yeah, I was worried the pics may be a little dark. The game plays with light and darkness a lot, though. It fits the horror theme. There is no flashlight, but you do find a box of matches.

[Private Tux]

Sounds good, but I'm a little bit more frightened at the horror games, so this one does energetic.
Downloading...

[Max Power]

What are you supposed to do exactly?

I ghosted around this level forever. There's nothing here but some BSP and platforming to the top of a fire escape. Current gameplay is first person platforming.

Why all the spook talk? "horror game", "avoid it if you have a weak constitution" "Lots of nudity and gore". None of this is in the game. There's a blood splat, and a dead body prop once. It just seems like hype.


I really have no idea what you're going for, but here's some technical feedback:

This is not a beta. The term refers to a game that is done, and is now is bug testing / finishing phase. At this state, I'd call it pre-alpha.

No objects are referenced, so nothing looks real. Odd scales, weird shapes. The fire escapes, for example, is a smoothed box with holes cut in it.

All the objects are just randomly placed, again no reference used.

There 's a roof tile used as a brick wall for a building.

There's essentially no UDK features used. Just diffuse on bsp and planes. Basic features, like decals, could be used instead of tossing planes everywhere.

I think you credited more texture artists than there are textures in this level.

[FrankSlimski]

@ Max Power : You didn't make it past the first map. The demo ends shortly after entering the third map. So, you can find more nudity and gore and horror and work from all those extra texture artists if you can figure out how to get all the way through the "pre-alpha". Thanks for the input.

[juguefre]

Now this is what he meant when he said HORROR!!!





no textures.....I'm horrified!

[bauriema]

I think the whole point is telling people that you have a downloadable demo, and that it's a horror game full of gore and not for children etc etc, and then when ppl dl it, they just see an unfinished map, with not much to do and as Max Power said, with no UDK features.
Of course ppl from the forums won't mind taking a look at your levels and give you their opinions, but I think you started wrong by 'selling' something to people that it's not even close to what you're promising.

[FrankSlimski]

Well it is just a work in progress. I'm not rolling out any multi-million dollar product here. And with all due respect Juguefre, you're taking shots of angles the player will never reach, so all those untextured areas are hidden, unless there's some way to the rooftops that I don't know about. Also, there are 3 maps in this demo. Everyone seems to be unable to get any further than the first one. If you explore a little bit, I'm sure you'll find all 3.

[juguefre]

Well it is just a work in progress. I'm not rolling out any multi-million dollar product here. And with all due respect Juguefre, you're taking shots of angles the player will never reach, so all those untextured areas are hidden, unless there's some way to the rooftops that I don't know about. Also, there are 3 maps in this demo. Everyone seems to be unable to get any further than the first one. If you explore a little bit, I'm sure you'll find all 3.

Oh come on I got bored after a few minutes of wandering around doing NOTHING, don't you think that giving the player something fun to do will help your game? I mean ANYTHING ELSE besides finding the way to the next level where I suppose the objective is....... find the way to the next level!!!........ thru an EMPTY scenario.....

Now seriously, not long time ago in a conference in my city a pro game dev said something like this "if you don't capture the player in the very first 5 minutes of the game then your game is doomed" I guess he was right.

[FrankSlimski]

That's good advice. Perhaps I do need to spice up the beginning. I use the term "nightmare adventure" to describe the game because I am toying with the concept of confusing the player and revealing plot points slowly and not concretely enough to form any exact idea of the story...the player even being confused as to what role they are playing in the story. Later in the game this really becomes apparent as architecture appears to change when the player isn't looking, and an overall nightmare feeling sets in. I appreciate all the feedback from you and everyone else. Thanks.

[Max Power]

Please explain how to exit the first map. As stated, I ghost'ed around, F7'ed all the tricks and saw nothing.

Also, you can't use the "WIP" excuse when you call it "beta". Again, beta is a DONE game sent for bug-testing. It goes back to marketing. Call it a pre-alpha, and you won't get so much flak due to misrepresentation.

[FrankSlimski]

Yeah, I didn't really know what beta meant. Sorry about that. I thought it was synonymous with demo. This is more of just a demo of the very early maps of the game.

I'll tell you how to exit the first map, although I really wish people would just explore and have fun with it and find the exit that way. Platform up the railed walkways until you get pretty high up and it looks like you might be able to jump to the rim of a broken pipe and get higher. Well, you jump to the broken pipe rim, and if you don't miss and fall inside of it, you'll fall inside when you try to platform off of it.

[FrankSlimski]

And when you fall down that pipe it brings you to the second map. Kind of like Mario.