New Open Public Beta

Hello all members of the ColdStone Community.

I've just completed the first beta stage of my game. The site is up and running (very lo tech), and the beta is ready for download for those who wish to play/test it.

I'm not even sure it this is the direction I wish to follow with the game, so I thought feedback might be in order.

Things to remember about the public beta;
- Very early in the testing and creation stage.
- May contain bugs overlooked. (Eg; the "ReadMe" menu doesn't load; wrong URL.)
- Graphics need major overhaul.
- QuickTime cut-scenes are nowhere near complete. (Pre-Vis stage.)
- Textures are not yet made for objects, maps, interface, etc.
- Lots more features have yet to be completed.
- Includes Windows version in package, but is in ".sit" format. (I'll upload a ".zip" format in next beta or due to request.)
- The download is big due to QT movies, not game content.
- Read website to see what is intended for next beta. (Maps, etc.)

I have only be working on this game for about 2 and half months, and have only received the ColdStone CD in later October/November. I have only worked on this in my spare time. I teach 3D animation and imagery, so I have the knowledge, but not the time. I'm on holidays now, so I'm hoping to put more time and effort into the game.

Again, thank you for any one wishing to download this beta or give feedback.

Regards,

-Gray, Australia.
(url="http://"http://homepage.mac.com/brookebs/taken_by_darkness/")http://homepage.mac....en_by_darkness/(/url)

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Gray,

Ha! This was cool. I'm glad to see an actual game comming out.
I applaud your efforts.

I look forward to seeing this game develop!

To the vampires!

Cheers,
CG

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I don't know if I'm on to something, but there seems to be a recurring theme of darkness in these coldstone games. Call of Darkness, Shadows of the Past, and now Taken by Darkness?
Seriously though, its excellent that games are finally getting released.

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Poor little Johnny, of whom we'll see no more, for what he thought was H2O was H2SO4.

Ya, I was laughing about that myself.
Shadows, darkness, calling, evil shadowy bad guys......

CG

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Quote

Originally posted by Gray:
Hello all members of the ColdStone Community.

Hello Mr. Gray,

Welcome to the boards!

Quote

I've just completed the first beta stage of my game. The site is up and running (very lo tech), and the beta is ready for download for those who wish to play/test it.

Woot!

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- Includes Windows version in package, but is in ".sit" format. (I'll upload a ".zip" format in next beta or due to request.)

If anyone is running a pc and is having problems with the .sit format, I'd strongly encourage you to encourage them to download Stuffit Expander for Windows. It is the windows version of the popular program for macs that we all know and love. It is free and will handle just about every extension out there including .zip. It will also save you from having to remember which format to compress your different files in, etc.

Quote

Thank you for any one wishing to download this beta or give feedback.

Thanks for coming to the boards and sharing. I hope a lot of people check your game out and give you the feedback that you are looking for.

Good luck, and nice work!

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Great game. It was nice to see something that had a lot of originality to it. It looked like you didn't use any of the pre-fab graphics that come with CS.

The game worked great on my machine (G4, 10.2) I got my butt kicked.

Like the others, I applaud your efforts. I can't wait to see more.

-Asylum

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The game it's self has been made from scratch. There's no graphics or events used from Beenox. I have copied then altered a couple of the events from the tutorial, to begin with. The next beta may be re-written from scratch now that I have some experience with ColdStone. (Yes, this the first thing that I have ever created with ColdStone; The manual (printed) is by side side when I have ColdStone open!)

It's great to see that feedback has been positive as well. I've only just started using CS in October, so I have a lot to still learn.

I'll try to get another version out soon..

Quick question: If I update the beta, do I just need to upload the app and .dat files? Or do I need a complete download? (At home I'm at 56k, work I'm on Cable, uploading is painful at home!)

-Gray

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This should be good, I'll rate it when I play it (I'm downloading now)

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join my (url="http://"http://www.avidgamers.com/wraith_hive")site(/url)

Very nice sir.
One suggestion, make this statement larger:
Known Bugs

Runs on a PC.

Seriously, I did not see a bug/wish list or an obvious way to contact you in the download. A text doc placed inside with this info, or a template for a bug report would probably garnish you more results. Your email is easy enough to find, but hey, we're gamers, make it easy on us 🙂

Another suggestion:
Visit EVula.org, sign up for an account and a webboard and hold a beta discussion over there. Hey, it's free, and you get to support Evula. Or was that evula, or EVula?

(Edit: Added EVula plug, then picked on him.)
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(This message has been edited by dampeoples (edited 11-28-2002).)

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Originally posted by dampeoples:
Evula

thwap

Even though (url="http://"http://www.evula.org/")evula.org(/url) is currently closed to public submissions, if you email me I'll give you the working address for the form that still works.

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dampeoples; Currently the only way to contact me is this board or an email via the game menu while the game is in progress.

Under your advice, I will include a feedback section on my site. I didn't consider a feedback section since the site was made in under an hour.. It's all about planning, and I didn't have the time once I first uploaded my site.

This game will have major changes by the end of December. I have a new artist working on the game, and the game will take a new direction.

I will include updated information and a screenshots (and concept art) section soon. I will be remodeling everything from scratch in LightWave 3D (The package I teach.).

This new version will have classes and more maps. Expect the game interface to suit the game style as well.

Thanks for every one that has either played or reported feedback.

-Gray

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