Page 1 of 1

Leadlight - a brand new horror adventure for the Apple II

Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 12:03 pm
by blurgle
I couldn't decide whether to post in 'classics' or 'modern', as the idea of this game is to appeal to both camps - so I've posted in both!

I've just released a new adventure game for the Apple II called Leadlight. I bill it as 'Survival Horror Interactive Fiction' which, while being a mouthful, accurately describes what's going on in this game - it's a text adventure informed by survival horror console games like Silent Hill and Resident Evil.

Image

The game just competed in the 2010 Interactive Fiction Competition where it came 14th out of 26, a very strong result for an 8-bit game competing against games with unlimited resources and state of the art authorship systems at their disposal. Leadlight was built with the Apple II's Eamon engine, though a highly customised version of it necessary to make the game's features possible. As well as featuring puzzles, it's a CRPG - you have stats, can heal yourself and try out different weapons and items.

The game website provides downloads and info for running the game in an Apple II emulator on nearly any system - or in a browser based emulator on the site itself - plus there's an illustrated manual and a Scott Adams style coded hint sheet.

The Leadlight website is at http://leadlightgame.com

I hope you enjoy the game.

- Wade

Re: Leadlight - a brand new horror adventure for the Apple I

Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 5:46 pm
by Gunness
Hi Wade,
welcome to the forum!
I wouldn't know where to post this if I were you, either :) But it looks really interesting - congratulations with getting it released.

Re: Leadlight - a brand new horror adventure for the Apple I

Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2010 6:40 pm
by Mr Creosote
I enjoyed Leadlight - definitely recommended. Excellent documentation, too!

Re: Leadlight - a brand new horror adventure for the Apple I

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 2:45 am
by blurgle
Thanks guys :)

Technically I'm not 100% new to the forum, but obviously I am for practical purposes. I posted a topic a ways back asking for help with 'Passengers on the Wind'. I had a French walk-through for the game, but what's 'famous' about PotW is that nobody knows how to implement the walkthrough. The first review I read of the game in a Commodore 64 games mag in the 80s said the same thing at the time.

Then last year I had a bit of a breakthrough. Clicking randomly about the interface, I found the crucial thing needed to move on in the game. So I actually made it to the end of PotW and have meant to get my act together and write a walkthrough for CASA.

Re: Leadlight - a brand new horror adventure for the Apple I

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 12:08 pm
by Samwise
Gunness wrote:I wouldn't know where to post this if I were you, either :)
Jacob,

I guess the confusion lies in the current description of the two main games forums.

I think they should probably either be divided into classic and modern IF platforms OR classic and modern IF games - in the latter case, which is based around separating games by when they were released, there should be some idea of when that transition between eras took place (mid-nineties?).

Personally, I'd go with the first option. I think it makes sense to separate playing games between platforms as I can imagine some ppl not wanting to bother with working out how to use emulators ... and dividing games up by the date they were made seems a bit arbitrary to me.

In which case, just updating the The modern era forum's description to read something like:

"Text adventures that can be played on native interpreters for modern platforms such as Z-Machine, Glulx, TADS, CAT, HUGO and similar belong here."

This means Leadlight would fit in the classics forum, because although it's a new game it's for a classic platform.

That would however mean that games like Zork would end up in The Modern Era... because they're still natively playable on modern machines ... but, isn't that the point - Zork would remain just as fresh to someone coming at it new, today, as someone coming at it back in the 70s. Alternatively, you could argue that the original interpreter shipped with the games wouldn't work on a modern platform, and so they belong in classics forum.

Of course, you might disagree ... in which case, you could just agree on a date like 1/1/1995 or something to split them.

Just my 2p's worth ... it's a hard one to call!

Sam.

Re: Leadlight - a brand new horror adventure for the Apple I

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 1:03 pm
by darius
Here is another thought. Why even separate the two? It's not like the forum is flooded by messages.

Re: Leadlight - a brand new horror adventure for the Apple I

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 1:27 pm
by blurgle
Leaving it open to interpretation works okay when you're not flooded with traffic.

If you wanted to harden a split, I think one of the only only fair ways to do it is by the date of the game's first release. It deals correctly with anomalies like Zork and Leadlight and removes issues of interpretation.

Re: Leadlight - a brand new horror adventure for the Apple I

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2010 4:27 pm
by Gunness
@Blurgle - yes, Passengers has always been a pain in the butt. Dare I say it - very French, ie. great visuals and somewhat incomprehensible gameplay ;)

@Sam et.al: Re. how the subforums are divided. I think the current description is fairly workable and understandable in most cases - all the 8-bit platforms in Classics, all TADS/Inform/etc. in Modern. In that respect, I hope it works much as Sam's first option.
A distinction by year of release would be very arbitrary (when selecting the year) and confusing in many cases (C64 and Spectrum adventures are still being released)

I think it's absolutely terrific that we have this new release, but other than that and a few other borderline cases, I can't recall a lot of confusion over where to post. That being said, I'll be happy to look at the descriptions as you suggest.

I'd say that Zork belongs firmly among the classics, but that probably just says a lot about my background :D

@Darius - yes, the thought of merging has crossed my mind, too. As we can all see in the forum and the main site, the modern games are still something of a bastard child around these parts ;) But if things should pick up at some point and more modern titles start making the rounds, I think it would be practical to have the division.

At any rate, I'll make a news update later today and give a nod to this ...er...modern classic ;)

Re: Leadlight - a brand new horror adventure for the Apple I

Posted: Tue Mar 01, 2011 12:19 am
by Nikioko
Hi guys,
Passengers 1 is quite easy with the walkthrough, I could finish the game with this one:

http://www.abandonware-france.org/ltf_a ... soluce=105

But part 2 has been an unsolvable obstacle to me for the last 20 years. E. g. Isa is always drowning. The linked walkthrough says I should click onto her face to wake her up, but it doesn't work.

A good reference are the comics, so that you know what people have to say in certain situations and that Aouan has to get killed by the lion etc., but it doesn't help for the whole game.

Is there anyone who solved the game properly an has a mre precise walkthrough than the one posted here?

Re: Leadlight - a brand new horror adventure for the Apple I

Posted: Wed Mar 02, 2011 3:16 pm
by Gunness
Thanks for the heads-up regarding the first game - as for the second one, I'm not familiar with anyone who has solved it. Sorry!