Hi !
I teased about it last month, and today I would like to share with you a working demo of the video game I'm working on, Flight of the Swallow ! As a reader of my blog, and probably a Second Life resident as well, you are among the first to be able to play it. I will probably publish the link soon on DeviantArt or somewhere else, but for now, this is just for you ! And just in time for the holidays, so Merry Christmas !
The current version of the game is 0.3.14, you can download the demo here :
https://mega.nz/file/lqsEFa6D#_clK4uy7HLH-TSvvpWgTvJIk2ShbrMuOc_y-9QwCeU0
Unzip the file where you want, it does not install itself. When you want to remove it, simply delete its folder. You won't lose your settings nor your save, for those are located in your "Documents/My Games/Flight of the Swallow" folder. If you want to move it to another location, feel free to do so, the game does not care where it is on your hard drive.
Normally, the retail game will come without voices, but since the demo is free (and only a part of the retail version), there is no point in providing the voices separately, so they are part of the zip.
Speaking of unzipping, you need 7-zip to extract the files. If you don't have it, you can find it here :Attention : If you get an error while decompressing the files, it is probably because of the voice files. Some of them are very long (for example when DAL says "attention, all personnel, aligning with the retrograde orbital vector now, blah blah blah"). To fix this, unzip in a folder with a very short path (not just the name, the whole path), for example "C:\FOTS", and move the files elsewhere afterwards. This is because Windows has some limitations when it comes to path lengths. If it still happens even with a short path, try to decompress the archive with a right-click and using 7zip's menu item, instead of the regular Windows extractor, that helps too.
Don't hesitate to run an antivirus or two on the files, you never know. My machine is supposed to be clean, but it costs nothing to check.
Also, please read the Readme text files, alright ? They're not long. I know nobody reads them but they explain a lot of stuff that would leave you confused otherwise.
In this game, you play the little voice in Sandy's head, the main character. Only she can hear you, and of course, you control her (even if she'll never admit it). So, in a sense, you are Sandy. Sort of.
This is a complex and challenging game. Not because it is hard on purpose, but because you mostly float in zero-G, in 3 dimensions, and you have to use a controller to navigate. Sorry, it isn't playable with the keyboard and mouse yet, although some parts are already implemented.
So, I recommend that the first thing you do after launching the game is to go to the Journal, then read the Tutorials. Sandy will eventually ask you if you've read them anyway, and if you didn't and pretend you did, she won't explain anything and you will feel lost.
Once done, start a new game, watch the short cinematic...
Give Sandy some time to wake up...
Let her realize how much trouble she is in...
And then you can start trying to get your bearings and controlling the girl. To put to test all that you've learned by reading the tutorials. Because you will read the tutorials, right ?
Of course you will. That's the only way you'll move Sandy efficiently and make her go where you want. Winners don't use drugs, but they do read the manual.
And just when you've gotten the hang of it, things will snowball from there. Between one A.I. going haywire...
And another one shutting it down...
You'll have a lot of work to do and a lot of places to go in order to set things right again.
Once that's done, you'll start getting answers to some questions... and even more unanswered questions.
You'll learn that everybody loves Sandy...
And you'll meet interesting people.
As a demo, it is meant to show you most of the mechanics of the game, not really to reveal the story. As such, it is not limited in any way except its length. It stops when you reach a certain point, and when you get there Sandy will tell you that this is the end of the demo.
This is not the whole game, far from it, only the first part of the first day. At the time of this writing, Day One is complete, I have started working on Day Two, and I want the game to span over more than two days. And by "complete", I mean the story of the first day and all its events are written and implemented, not that the levels are finished, not by a long shot. Most of the places are still empty and unfurnished. You'll see what I mean by playing the demo. But you'll also see the mechanics of the game, how it is played, that kind of stuff.
I work on the game itself every day so it changes often, but I am not publishing it yet. The demo is stable and seems like a good way to show people what I'm working on, but it won't be updated as often as the game. It will be when it strays too far from the retail game to be called a "demonstration" anymore. I'll probably lengthen the demo at some point, though, as it feels a bit short to me at the moment. But one thing at a time.
The demo is free but the retail game won't be. However, I don't know yet how I will sell it, nor on what platform, nor what its price will be, I'm still far from that point at the moment, as the game is like in pre-alpha stage. It is still probably a couple years in the making so there is time. For now, have fun with the demo !
By the way, "pre-alpha" stage means there are bugs. Lots of them. Most of which I am probably not even aware of yet. I have done my best to fix the ones I spotted, of course, but a game that is under development cannot be bug-free.
So, expect bugs and surprises while playing the demo, and save often ! Your saves will remain compatible as much as possible throughout the development of the game anyway, you won't have to restart a new game every time a new version comes out. Unless absolutely necessary, naturally, but I'm doing my best so that doesn't happen.
Lastly, Flight of the Swallow is a game of skill. Sandy won't gain levels or learn new powers, but you, the player, will. Every step along the way is a new challenge, an increasingly difficult one. The very first one, when Sandy asks you to "grab that handle over there", you will wonder how the hell you'll manage that feat. But if you persevere, fulfill the challenge and keep going further, you will realize that this very first challenge was child's play, in comparison to what comes after. You might want to give up at some point. Don't. This game requires precision and patience, but Sandy gives you all the tools you need to beat it, and more. She's a resourceful girl. Show her that you are too.
But if the game feels too difficult for you, I have one word for you : "Options". You can turn on "Gecko Girl" mode which allows Sandy to grab anything she wants, not just handles, you can activate the predictors (I think they're active by default), you can modify the power curves to give yourself more precision, and you can use slow-motion pretty much at will. I want the game to challenge you, but more importantly, I want you to beat those challenges, to learn new stunts and tricks, and to feel good about it. That's what this game is all about.
Have fun with the demo and happy holidays !
Marine