2016-08-31 05:25:30

Another idea would be maybe
www.gog.com
though I haven't tried it yet. But as far as I know, this platform works without DRM, meaning you might not need a special client for it. Has anyone tried using this platform?

2016-08-31 05:57:35

Hi idea cabin!
well shades of doom?
I think the only game which will help you to make this game better is descent into madness.
the game is very buggy but you can get the idea of which puzzles you can add.
I tried this game but failed.
the game run smoothly but I found no horrer at the anker's voice.
also the footsteps lags very much.
the man said that get the tranquliser but there is no beaps which can tell you where it is.
I think the heart beating sound you use is very shrill. Look at the blind legend sound of heart beating. it is more balanced.
Thanks
and welcome to the forum!
Ishan

life's battle do not always go to the stronger and faster man,
But sooner or later who win the one who thinks he can!

2016-08-31 07:47:42

Hi Dan.
It would be nice if the Mac version would work in the future, but that's not a huge requirement for me, but others might find it awesome.
The demo is so great. I look very much forward to any future updates. Keep up the good job.

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sorenjensen1988
Twitter: https://twitter.com/soerenjensen

2016-08-31 17:45:13 (edited by IdeaCabin 2016-08-31 17:49:58)

Hello all, thank you for your interest.

Last night I worked with a friend who is another developer but has much more knowledge in Mac and Linux, we tried to get the demos for Mac and Linux working and ended up making a deployment environment which will allow me to release the game and any changes to it very easily for these platforms. Please could you try out the Mac and Linux demos and let me know if it works. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uuezvppey91a … bxZca?dl=0

No feedback has been incorporated or game play elements changed as of yet, currently focusing on getting each platform working and then we'll go from there. When I do make changes, I will also release a log of patch notes.

Dark: Thank you for your work and support, I will definitely make a thread there once I've got all three platform's demos working and then link to them in the new thread. I would feel honored to get some news on the site when the game is a bit more polished and closer to release, this community is great for feedback and I can feel people's passion for new games. Also, that Ios screen reader sounds awesome.

the player: Yeah, I really like the look of Gog, especially since they actually play your game and give you feedback on it. I'll see what I can do to get the game on there.

Ishan: When you say the footsteps lag, what do you mean specifically? That the sounds play too late when moving or do you mean that you hear the sound even after you have stopped moving? Thank you for your recommendations, I'll be sure to check out blind legend too.

SLJ: Thanks, let me know if the Mac demo works if you can give it a try, hopefully it runs this time!

2016-08-31 18:25:43

@IdeaCabin

Hey! Thank you for that, with that I'm definitely going to try the demo. This game sounds like it might be a lot like BlindSide, which in my opinion was an excellent game. If you want, you can find out more about it here http://www.blindsidegame.com.

I understand completely about Steam and don't blame you for wanting to have your game on it. It is a venue for sales and you'd be crazy to ignore it. But it is a problem for visually impaired people who depend on a screen reader. To that end you might want to look at Guide Dog Games, if I am correct, it is a game sales and distribution system specifically for the visially impaired, https://guidedoggames.com:7081/.

@Others

I don't understand what the objection is to asking if this game will be available without Steam. I agree that my comments about Steam were a bit harsh and did nothing to add to the conversation, for that all I can do is apologize. But the question about whether the game will be available without Steam is no different from anyone asking if a game on the macOS will be available on Windows, if the answer is "no", then there's really not much point in looking at the game any further, unless you are a Mac user.

2016-08-31 19:43:26

Hi Dan.
I can confirm that the Mac version works now. thanks a lot. You're awesome! big_smile

Best regards SLJ.
Feel free to contact me privately if you have something in mind. If you do so, then please send me a mail instead of using the private message on the forum, since I don't check those very often.
Facebook: https://facebook.com/sorenjensen1988
Twitter: https://twitter.com/soerenjensen

2016-09-01 08:44:31

Hi Idea cabin
the footsteps lags means that when the man says that the tranquliser is on your right I press right aero and it brings me one step forward
but when I press right again it din't work. if there will be a beap system as we know in the most audio game have I can get the tranquliser
same is happening with up aero and left aeros also.
can you creat a logo and a menu system in that game?
Thanks
Ishan

life's battle do not always go to the stronger and faster man,
But sooner or later who win the one who thinks he can!

2016-09-01 22:36:18

hey cabin,
could you ad a beeping sound to indicate where the object is?
I don't know if I'll download the demo because I don't know if the game is self-Voicing or not.
I use steam and I have NVDA's OCR adon so that I can use NVDA with it.
and also can you add a menu system for the game?
I use steam and I would like to play the game using the steam client.

2016-09-01 23:00:48

Hello folks! Yes, the game is fully playable and it is selfvoicing.
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

2016-09-02 10:53:32 (edited by IdeaCabin 2016-09-02 11:21:22)

Hello,

I would first like to address a mechanical issue that I would like to solve and get your feedback on the matter:

It seams an issue with the game tends to be not knowing when the player is moving into a solid object such as a wall where they cannot pass, I originally thought to circumvent this issue by having the player's footsteps audible when moving. Therefore if the footsteps cannot be heard, the player is not moving and may be hitting a wall... I don't think this is working too well as it can be quite awkward to navigate out of tight areas by not being able to tell which direction the walls are in as well as footsteps sometimes being not very audible due to other sounds that may play at the same time.

Therefore, I propose a solid object collision sound system where if the user impacts a solid object they cannot pass, they hear a sound in the direction they have crashed into for example if the player approaches a wall straight on, they would hear a bumping sound in the direction straight on from the user. If this is also a tight corner and they cannot move to the left, they will also hear a bump sound to the left when they try to move that direction.

Please let me know what you think or make any suggestions. Now onto the most recent comments:

SLJ: Glad to see the Mac version is working! Thanks for testing it.

Ishan: I can understand the confusion of not being able to find the tranquiliser, there is currently an audio cue for a computer humming which hints where the tranquiliser is, as stated by the guide; the tranquiliser is near the computer. I'll re-record that part and make it a bit clearer, espically since the guide states that the desk is to the user's right, which is not correct.

Ishan: Yeah, I think a menu system may be useful and will be encoperated shortly. I originally envisioned not having a menu system as I felt it would ruin the purity of the game not having any visual elements. But in the end of the day, a menu is not always displayed on the user interface and is not part of gameplay either. I figured I'll instead bind typical menu items to hotkeys but that is a fallacy in itself because the user would need to actually tab out of the game to look at a README file to know those keys... So yeah, a menu is coming. Let me know what options you would like in here and any help into how I can make this accessible for blind users would be great.

So far I'm thinking...

Escape button opens menu

Menu Items:

Restart from Last Checkpoint
Checkpoint selector, which activates after first completion of the game
New Game
Volume Controls
Exit Game

The game auto-saves at each checkpoint and auto-loads the most recent checkpoint each time it is re-opened so I don't think we need specific save and load mechanisms as checkpoints are very common.

I should have a new demo with feedback encoperated into it by the end of Monday, I'll also put up a thread in the new releases room section of the forum with links to the demo.

Thank you for your feedback everyone.

Cheers,
Dan

2016-09-02 13:28:40

Hello folks! Dan, this approach is quite common in the audiogames scene, I'm perfectly fine with that.
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

2016-09-04 06:51:38

Hi idea cabin.
I think first you need a logo sound.
a menu options are ausam but what you need a voice acter who can say very horribly since it is a horrer game.
I am sure that I can do it for you but I don't have mic at this time.
Thanks
Ishan

life's battle do not always go to the stronger and faster man,
But sooner or later who win the one who thinks he can!

2016-09-04 12:24:43

hi ideacabin, could you add a kind of a quick-time events in the game? for example, you have to press a displayed buttons to do certain actions like when the guard is chasing you, press a button to kill the guard or when you are trapped, press a button to break free from the trap.

going in to the wilds, collecting pokedex, and capturing them are my kind of thing,
training them, making them evolve, and generally making them stronger is my ultimate goal,
fighting other manamon tamers, winning the tournament, and fighting octoros are what these manamons like to do,
and ultimately, I become the master of mana!

2016-09-04 18:48:40

Hi hanif!
I rather interested to chase a guard and kill it I am not interested to kill with a single button pressed or some menu based combat.
it will ruin the fun of the game do you agree with this?
Thanks
Ishan

life's battle do not always go to the stronger and faster man,
But sooner or later who win the one who thinks he can!

2016-09-04 20:46:14 (edited by JasonBlaze 2016-09-04 20:53:14)

@ishan:
QTE (quick time event )  usually is on the , well some event, not on evry enemy that you counter.
for example , there's a sceen about a   guard is nearly    grabbing  you, and  you need to press a button to avoid the guard...
and well, kill kill and kill is borring, ya know.
accept you need to set a strategy, something like move slowly to the enemy and stab/shoot it will be more fun,   
-
so that's a nice suggestion, hanif smile

2016-09-06 00:24:14

Hi guys,

It's new demo day as promised! I've uploaded a new version of the game with some changes as found below.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/uuezvppey91a … bxZca?dl=0

Patch notes:
Dark Passenger Demo V2 - 5th September 2016

General Changes:
* Added a short audio intro when the game starts.
* Players will now hear a bump sound when moving into a solid object such as a wall
* Made many areas much wider and made the walls less obstructive.

Bug Fixes:
* Players should no longer stick to walls, movement should be much more fluid when moving near walls.
* Fixed footsteps sounds and other sounds meant to be at the player's location not being centred.
* Footstep sounds should now play while moving up and right at the same time.

Level Changes:
Starting area:
* Made the starting area much wider and restructured the area, changing the location of almost everything.
* The heart beat has been made a bit less rapid and a bit quieter.
* The player has been given an extra 10 seconds to find the tranquilliser, the guide now tells the player to hurry up finding the tranquilliser 10 seconds later than previously to compensate.

Second area (Sleeping guard area):
* Reduced sleeping guard's detection range and slightly increased his sound threshold before he awakes.

Fourth areas (Patrolling guards area):
* Guards have not been skipping leg day, they are now a bit faster.

Final demo area (Escape area):
* Changed the guide's pathing to allow the player to more easily follow the guide and be less prone to walking into traps.
* Added a voice segment to let the player know the demo is over once completed.

Not yet implemented:
* No menu as of yet, will try to put this in later but no schedule on this as of yet.
* No Controller support as of yet, will look into this shortly.

Recent Comments:
Ishan: What do you mean by Logo sound? Do you mean the sound that plays when you see a developer's logo in a game? If so, I'll admit I never even considered that! especially since no logo shows since there's no graphics at all!

hanif: I think Quick time events can be really hit or miss, they are very Marmite... people rather love them or hate them! Currently there isn't much of a focus on combat in the game as its simply moving around paying attention to sound to avoid enemies.

At the moment I would like to keep things simple, especially since sighted people will likely struggle without the use of their eyes as it is playing the game. Me and my friends have already died countless times due to not being used to relying on our ears, it's a good laugh.

That said, the game does become quite a bit harder a few levels after the demo ends, if the first release of the full game turns out to be too easy or too simple, I'll certainly look into how I can mix it up a bit, it's no fun if the player never dies after all...

I'm going to get some sleep, tomorrow I'll get that new thread started. Let me know what you think of the latest demo!

Cheers,
Dan

2016-09-06 03:41:51

Hi dan!
good work I am downloading the new demo.
the logo sounds mean that yes when you enter in to the game it plays the logo of the developer.
thanks for making the heart beating more quietter now I'll see how it will look like.
Thanks
Ishan

life's battle do not always go to the stronger and faster man,
But sooner or later who win the one who thinks he can!

2016-09-06 04:22:46

Hello Dan. Just finished the demo. I'm not sure if you're going to add more content in the full version, but yes, if you work with a few more pusle or hard situation, I'll definitely buy it.
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

2016-09-15 12:21:12

Hello everyone,

I am currently working on polishing some later parts of the game and will now start releasing information to the media as I try to build up exposure for the game's launch in October. As per Dark's suggestion; I have also made another thread in the New Releases room which can be found here:

http://forum.audiogames.net/viewtopic.p … 38#p278938

Thank you for your interest in the project, I am hoping to have an early access build available on some indie platforms within a few weeks, in the meantime any other feedback and constructive criticism would be most welcome.

Cheers,
Dan

2016-09-16 06:55:52

would the full game be released in October?

2016-09-16 10:53:26

Hi Nick,

Yes, the game is on schedule to release in October!

2016-09-28 17:50:15

Hi guys, quick update with some good and bad news...

Good news:

I will release the next version of the game on Wednesday 5th of October to as multiple distribution sites; some may take a little longer due to their approval process.

Bad news:

Apart from that, I would like to ask for your assistance.

Steam is likely where this game would see the lion's share of sales and therefore have a decent chance of raising some money. Unfortunately, the Steam Greenlight campaign is rather stagnant. I've spent quite a few hours each day trying to market the game but nobody seems to bother voting, even though there are over eight hundred views on the page itself, just over a hundred and thirty people have voted yes.

I would greatly appreciate any assistance in getting the word out about the Greenlight page for Dark Passenger so hopefully I can launch the game there as I've enjoyed working on this game and would like to make more games like it in the future. I will keep trying to make this project a success, but I am finding it quite a struggle when it comes to marketing.

In the current state, there just doesn't seem to be a market for audio only games or I'm marketing in the wrong way, to the wrong audiences.

If we can get more interested people to push the campaign up a bit through tweeting about it, talking about it or making a video about it etc, any exposure at all would be greatly beneficial.

The campaign is located here:

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f … =749798341

Thanks,
Dan

2016-09-28 21:50:39

Yo Dan. Maybe you're aiming for the wrong public. Most sighted people I know that can be interested in an audio only experience are the old gamers looking for the challenge this gaming generation is not whiling to give them, or people that know blind and sighted friends and are looking for something to play along with them. So, perhaps if you change the marketing behind the product...
Best regards, Haramir.

The true blind is the one who refuses to see.

2016-09-28 21:51:24

Hey man, I am new to audio games.  I come from the mainstream scene, but lost my vision back in December.   I like what I played of the demo.   I don't have Steam, but I'd like to get my hands on it come release.  I"ll help promote as much as I can though.   I'm also an audio engineer, so if you ever need help with anything sound, let me know.  SO far though, I like what I've heard.   Great job and keep it up!

My Solo album, "A Life Seen Through Broken Eyes", available now:
iTunes Spotify YouTube
My YouTube Channel

2016-10-05 22:51:00

Hi guys,

Just wanted to chime in, Dark Passenger is released and can be found on Gamejolt here: http://gamejolt.com/games/dark-passenger/195463

More sites to come very soon, I'm currently in the process of getting up onto many other services, though its being slowed down a bit due to bureaucracy around taxes and oversea sales that I didn't expect.

I'll update as more services become available.

Cheers,
Dan