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Post by Discoalucard on Mar 8, 2016 20:28:25 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/shardlight/shardlight.htmBack in 2012, Wadjet Eye Games and Wormwood Studios released Primordia, a post-apocalypse adventure about machines surviving the world man left behind. In 2016, Wadjet Eye decided to return to the wastelands with a more human story with Shardlight. Unlike Primordia's focus on black humor and existentialism, Shardlight is much more grounded and, well, human. FULL DISCLOSURE: Though I didn't write this article, the composer of this game is the husband of the ex-roommate of the artist who did the cover for the HG101 adventure game book.
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Post by drpepperfan on Mar 8, 2016 20:40:18 GMT -5
Wow, you're practically cousins.
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Post by JDarkside on Mar 8, 2016 22:48:38 GMT -5
Please buy Shardlight, it is fantastic.
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Post by Gendo Ikari on Mar 9, 2016 9:15:23 GMT -5
It looks familiar. Just some time ago, clearing lots of freeware downloads resting on my disk, I stumbled in a couple short adventures, made for some AGS contest I think; one was set in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear attack, as the protagonist, a government official, had survived due to his office bulding's shielding system (and the blast being not too close, of course); another was instead set at some other point in time, but linked by the presence of a mysterious painting in the ruined location explored by the protagonist. Unfortunately, since I was in a "frenzy" of clearing stuff, I already forgot the titles, but the atmosphere and art felt very similar to what I see here. Given the "humble" origins of Technobabylon, I'd be not surprised if Shardlight originated in a similar way.
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Post by Elvin Atombender on Mar 9, 2016 10:06:36 GMT -5
Please buy Shardlight, it is fantastic. So far I'm two hours in and I'm liking it a lot.
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Post by JDarkside on Mar 9, 2016 11:26:21 GMT -5
It looks familiar. Just some time ago, clearing lots of freeware downloads resting on my disk, I stumbled in a couple short adventures, made for some AGS contest I think; one was set in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear attack, as the protagonist, a government official, had survived due to his office bulding's shielding system (and the blast being not too close, of course); another was instead set at some other point in time, but linked by the presence of a mysterious painting in the ruined location explored by the protagonist. Unfortunately, since I was in a "frenzy" of clearing stuff, I already forgot the titles, but the atmosphere and art felt very similar to what I see here. Given the "humble" origins of Technobabylon, I'd be not surprised if Shardlight originated in a similar way. No, the dev commentary states one of the main people involved had an idea for a game, pitched it, and then they made it. I'd describe the pitch, but it's a massive spoiler for the end of the game.
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Post by paperchema on Mar 9, 2016 14:47:07 GMT -5
Wadjet Eye = Insta-buy. So glad it's as good, if not better, as their other titles.
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Post by Gendo Ikari on Mar 13, 2016 1:49:39 GMT -5
No, the dev commentary states one of the main people involved had an idea for a game, pitched it, and then they made it. I'd describe the pitch, but it's a massive spoiler for the end of the game. I see. Still, those mini-adventures must have had at least Ben Chandler involved: the OP screenshot looks incredibly similar to the second one of those.
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Post by JDarkside on Mar 13, 2016 8:40:50 GMT -5
I did see the main dev tweet out early prototypes, wasn't aware of those at the time. Didn't ccatch the date on when they were made, though.
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Post by Elvin Atombender on Mar 15, 2016 15:52:11 GMT -5
So, I completed Shardlight sunday night and I liked it a lot. Yes, other than that puzzle mentioned in the review it's not a particularly challenging game but everything else is excellent: the atmosphere, the pixel art, the animation, the voice acting (with another great performance by Abe Goldfarb) etc. Everything make the world in Shardlight worth being explored in its tiniest details. That said, it's me or does Milton look very similar to John Hurt in 1984? It may be a coincidence, but the resemblance is uncanny.
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Post by JDarkside on Mar 15, 2016 18:11:36 GMT -5
So, I completed Shardlight sunday night and I liked it a lot. Yes, other than that puzzle mentioned in the review it's not a particularly challenging game but everything else is excellent: the atmosphere, the pixel art, the animation, the voice acting (with another great performance by Abe Goldfarb) etc. Everything make the world in Shardlight worth being explored in its tiniest details. That said, it's me or does Milton look very similar to John Hurt in 1984? It may be a coincidence, but the resemblance is uncanny. Wouldn't be surprised with the game's themes and story. A tagline from Children of Men is graffiti in the quarantine zone, so I'm sure other movie references were scattered around. I think the church of the reaper cult takes inspiration from the Planet of the Apes films.
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Post by onionski on Mar 17, 2016 9:43:13 GMT -5
It looks familiar. Just some time ago, clearing lots of freeware downloads resting on my disk, I stumbled in a couple short adventures, made for some AGS contest I think; one was set in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear attack, as the protagonist, a government official, had survived due to his office bulding's shielding system (and the blast being not too close, of course); another was instead set at some other point in time, but linked by the presence of a mysterious painting in the ruined location explored by the protagonist. Unfortunately, since I was in a "frenzy" of clearing stuff, I already forgot the titles, but the atmosphere and art felt very similar to what I see here. Given the "humble" origins of Technobabylon, I'd be not surprised if Shardlight originated in a similar way. Are you referring to these? They were sort of teasers that the devs Francisco Gonzalez and Ben Chandler made for the Adventure Game Studio community in anticipation of their announcement of Shardlight. It'd be cool to see them covered in the article as well!
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Post by JDarkside on Mar 17, 2016 9:45:50 GMT -5
It looks familiar. Just some time ago, clearing lots of freeware downloads resting on my disk, I stumbled in a couple short adventures, made for some AGS contest I think; one was set in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear attack, as the protagonist, a government official, had survived due to his office bulding's shielding system (and the blast being not too close, of course); another was instead set at some other point in time, but linked by the presence of a mysterious painting in the ruined location explored by the protagonist. Unfortunately, since I was in a "frenzy" of clearing stuff, I already forgot the titles, but the atmosphere and art felt very similar to what I see here. Given the "humble" origins of Technobabylon, I'd be not surprised if Shardlight originated in a similar way. Are you referring to these? They were sort of teasers that the devs Francisco Gonzalez and Ben Chandler made for the Adventure Game Studio community in anticipation of their announcement of Shardlight. It'd be cool to see them covered in the article as well! I'll ask Kurt about them and see if I can add them in.
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Post by actraiser on Mar 18, 2016 14:27:09 GMT -5
Big thanks for the article! The game turned out to be really good for my taste. I like Point'n'Click adventure games, but unfortunately I drop about 9 of 10 good games on the first hour of it... This one was kind of boring for me too, but somehow intriguing. And it's much longer than I thought it will be. So personally I'm happy about the simple puzzles. I would drop it too otherwise.
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