Synthesis' New Point & Click Adventure -- "Riddenhurst"

synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
edited November -1 in Non-GS Game News
Hey all...

I thought some of you might be interested in seeing what I've been working on the past 4+ months. It's Riddenhurst - a new point and click adventure that we are planning to submit shortly.

Below are our preview shots for iTunes. The game will be universal and iPad compatible as well. You can check out a bunch of samples of the artwork for the game on its support website: www.riddenhurst.com.

Let me know what you think! Thanks for checking it out.

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Comments

  • David_GryphonsRealmDavid_GryphonsRealm Member Posts: 459
    Graphics look great ! If you could post a video for the game play that would help as well !!
  • gyroscopegyroscope I am here.Member, Sous Chef, PRO Posts: 6,598
    Looking terrific! I'd love to check out playability but just from the visuals/screenshots it deserves 5 stars in my opinion. Looks the business!

    Just a small point which I feel I have to make: in the 3rd and 4th screenshot, you've shown a diagram of a hand with circles emanating from the touch point. If the emanating circles actually are used in the game, I'd want to make it clear to you and all other GS members that when my adventure game is finished (eventually) that I didn't copy this idea from you.

    Here's a post from 10 months ago, where I show I'm using the circle effect (2nd video):

    http://gamesalad.com/forums/topic.php?id=13484#post-104223

    OK, got that off my chest ;-)

    Best of luck with your game; let's hope it sells tons for you! :-)

    ----------------------------------------------
    http://davidgriffinapps.co.uk/

    ""You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike." - Zork        temp domain http://spidergriffin.wix.com/alphaghostapps

  • IsabelleKIsabelleK Member, Sous Chef Posts: 2,807
    Looks cool! It's more like Myst (no NPC, many puzzles, and the game puzzle-oriented), or more like Broken Sword or 1112 (many NPC, game story-oriented)?
  • QuinnZoneStudiosQuinnZoneStudios Member Posts: 452
    Looks great!
    I also liked those three panoramic images on the web site. That's so much work, lol but I'm sure you are having fun! Can't wait to see the finished game!
    Good luck with it in the mean time!
    Mike
  • butterbeanbutterbean Member Posts: 4,315
    Looks incredible!! Your preview shots looks very professional, GL! :)
  • UtopianGamesUtopianGames Member Posts: 5,692
    Looks great, i would probably add something to the title such as Secret or Adventure or Mystery etc etc as a lot of these games on PC do similar this way the potential buyer will know what kind of game to expect just by reading the title.

    Darren.

    image
  • old_kipperold_kipper Member Posts: 1,420
    great images. I really like the rendering and lighting style in the panos- a style with a mix of the sense of the real, CG and graphic novel illustration. Though this is not a genre I normally would buy I think I would certain get this one. Really nice.
  • gyroscopegyroscope I am here.Member, Sous Chef, PRO Posts: 6,598
    synthesis said:
    @Gyro...
    Don't sweat it. You won't be the first to use circles in a game...or the last. :)

    Hi synthesis, no sweating here, thanks! I mentioned it "for the record"; I thought the circles emanating from touch point in an adventure game was an original idea of mine ten months ago, that's all; not seen it in any other adventure game up to that time. :-) We'll leave it there.

    Can't wait to play your game! Checked out your website too; excellent stuff.

    Just love your illustrations. What program were they created in, for interest?

    ""You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike." - Zork        temp domain http://spidergriffin.wix.com/alphaghostapps

  • QuinnZoneStudiosQuinnZoneStudios Member Posts: 452
    Ahhh now I see the other 18 images on the other pages - not sure how I missed those. Definitely worth going back to the web site to enjoy them.
    As TSB said, you'll do really well with this.
  • RedlerTechRedlerTech Member Posts: 1,583
    Looks like a great game!

    -----------------------------------
    http://matthewredler.com
  • synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
    hey everyone...
    Thanks again for checking out the game. I too am hoping this one pans out well. We've been at this for a while and are overdue for something to stick to the proverbial iTunes wall. We poured a lot of sweat into this one and are hoping (praying) for it to crack into the ranks.

    It was a lot of fun to build it...but sure would be sweeter if it made a little $$$.

    @OldKpper
    You hit the nail on the head there. We wanted something that "felt" real without going to the time expense of photo real modeling. Sketchup has a vector look to it by default but we wanted something a little more stylized and multi-dimensional. So we played around with the combinations of mixing Sketchup with 3DStudio and Photoshop and this is what we ended up with....something along the lines of a modern comic book.

    @Gyro...
    As for the illustrations creation process...
    The way I made them was that I modeled EVERYTHING in sketchup. Then I set up all of my view shots there. Then I exported wide screen panoramas from sketchup with shade and shadow on.

    Then I used photoshop to add overlay filters and highlighting. For the interiors where there is interior lighting, I exported my sketchup model into 3DStudio and added lights and painted everything white. Then I rendered the same view as a black and white light map and brought that into photoshop and used it as an overlay filter...thus adding dramatic lighting to some of the views.

    70-80% of the work was in sketchup with about 20-30% in photoshop processing and touchups.

    The great thing about this process is you need very little "Art talent" to do it. Its all modeling. If the model looks good...then the art will look good...so really anyone can do it (assuming you have the tools).
  • beefy_clyrobeefy_clyro Member Posts: 5,394
    Looks great Synthesis and like TSB said, good to see you back. This looks like it has every possibility to be a success and your screenshots do look very pro .. Congrats and good luck with sales. Any promo video we can check out?
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  • synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
    Thanks Beefy. I hope its a success. I'm way overdue for one. :)

    No trailer yet....will probably do one later on. We still have 3 updates to the adventure to do. You can check out plates of the artwork on www.riddenhurst.com. There are 21 panorama art plates to browse through.

    -Syn
  • gyroscopegyroscope I am here.Member, Sous Chef, PRO Posts: 6,598
    Hi Syn, quite a complex and lengthy process then! Thanks for letting me know, appreciated.
    synthesis said:

    The great thing about this process is you need very little "Art talent" to do it. Its all modeling. If the model looks good...then the art will look good...so really anyone can do it (assuming you have the tools).

    Don't put yourself down, I say!! Still takes expertise even if you know the tools, and you definitely need an artistic eye for all aspects of the process, surely. They've turned out to be excellent; good enough for Big Fish, I reckon. :-)

    ""You are in a maze of twisty passages, all alike." - Zork        temp domain http://spidergriffin.wix.com/alphaghostapps

  • synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
    Hey gyro...
    My process really isn't that complex...but it is time consuming...especially with 100's of view plates to process and all of the visual combinations to accommodate for.

    I wasn't really putting myself down...as I have had 6 years of college in architectural design...so that comes in handy at times. :)

    I was just saying that with the proper tools and some ingenuity...most anyone can create compelling art...even if they don't have a trained eye. It just takes time and dedication to a goal and when something feels right in the gut...it usually works visually. Best of all...many of the tools are free (ie: sketchup, blender, gamesalad, etc.)

    I agree Big Fish's stuff looks good...but their games are starting to become boilerplate apps with different themes. Hopefully we have something here that is unique and interesting.

    Thanks for the feedback!
    -Syn
  • synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
    Hi everyone...

    I'm excited to say that Riddenhurst is now out on the appstore for anyone interested! Its been 4+ months in the making and hope you check it out. If you download it...we love getting good reviews and ratings (hint, hint).

    I think you will like the game. Its got a lot of love, blood, and sweat in it.

    Links:
    iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/riddenhurst/id479228178?mt=8
    website: www.riddenhurst.com
    touchArcade thread: http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=102732
    (feel free to bump it to your heart's content :)
  • LuckyLurcherLuckyLurcher Member Posts: 343
    Hi, the game looks great, any chance of a promo code?
  • synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
    WOW!!!!

    Thank you all for your support. Already within 6 hours of release, Riddenhurst is in the TOP 200 US GAMES on iPad at #168 as of this writing.

    I have some PR to do tomorrow. If I have promo codes left, I'll share a few. If you can't wait until then...the game is only $2. :)

    Thanks again for all your interest and support everyone.
  • beefy_clyrobeefy_clyro Member Posts: 5,394
    Awesome, will pick this up later Synthesis.
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  • UtopianGamesUtopianGames Member Posts: 5,692
    Congrats !!!! it looks ace m8.

    #140 last time i looked.

    Darren.

    GS TOOLS
    GAME TEMPLATES
    Video Tutorials
  • synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
    Up to 129/130 now. Slowly but surely climbing higher. Getting harder to climb in amongst the big guns. It does look like the iPhone store is catching up finally a bit.

    So here are a few promo codes. Sorry its only 5 for now as we still have a lot of marketing to do.
    Get them while their hot!

    FMYMFX3KKP9A
    YEF6K63RNHRK
    LHRJ33JEEF7A
    K37F9PA3HK9X
    NWEWHNLR6Y7N

    Just make sure you take them from the top and note which ones you take for the others.

    In exchange for the promo codes, I ask that you go over to TouchArcade to the thread below and do a glowing review of it there and throw on a 5 star rating for us. :) Thanks!

    http://forums.toucharcade.com/showthread.php?t=113464
  • beefy_clyrobeefy_clyro Member Posts: 5,394
    All codes used and surprise surprise the douches taken them couldn't even be bothered to let people know which ones they had taken :(
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  • synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
    Riddenhurst is on sale for a limited time (75%) off. Get it while its at $1 before the price jump after the update (which is coming very soon).
  • synthesissynthesis Member Posts: 1,693
    An update has been released.
    We've implemented a hint system to help you along if you get stuck and there is also a map of the castle grounds to assist.

    The new update has a TON of new story in it with several puzzles and lots to do. I should add...navigation becomes much easier inside the castle walls as there are many more reference points to help you. Dark forests tend to be disorienting...both in games and real life.

    For those of you that have already downloaded it. We are glad to hear that and hope you enjoy this next installment. It will make use of the mysterious control panel in the outhouse, the windmill and the locked pump house. And yes...the castle gates will open (if you can crack the code inside the gate guard's quarters).

    And as always...there is still more to come soon. Stay tuned and thanks for choosing Riddenhurst!
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