BOH, brand-new game launched

[saimo]

@gazgod

Not to be confused with BOFH :-D

Definitely :lol:

saimo

[saimo]

@easy_john

very sorry, my fault - invalid font for this size.
after fixing - site looks better.

No problem.

bad. a4000 only have 233 mhz.

CPU power is needed because everything is done by the CPU - and there are some demanding tasks going on there: 24-bit interpolated rotation, 24-bit real-time lighting, 8-bit alphachannel, etc. The upcoming update will include the possibility of disabling interpolation, which maybe could make the game perfectly playable also on your machine.

there is no such thing as faster shipping for some country, for example get package in Russia faster then 4 weeks - miracle, because 2-3 weeks spent for custom procedures..

Oh, well... strange... the delivery time of the International Express Courier is said to be 2-10 days for Russia... the only *slight* problem is that it costs EUR 46.70! :-o

saimo

[saimo]

@ChaosLord

I produce an immediately downloadable game for Amiga OS: Total Chaos AGA. Most people are happy with it but a few complain: "I want a real CD and a printed 100 page instruction manual! Gimme something tangible, not just an internet download! Gimme gimme gimme!"

No matter what you do, you just can't win. :crazy:

Yeah, right. But, after all, it is just normal that one cannot please everyone...

saimo

[saimo]

@hooligan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNLBcx1EZec

Amiga version was a really good game

You are right, it definitely has more than something in common with my game.

saimo

[saimo]

@Trezzer

The game is looking pretty sweet, Saimo

I'm glad you like it ;-)

I love the combination of the soundtrack and the visuals in the trailer.

Yeah, I spent some time to sync the visuals with the audio...

saimo

[saimo]

Hi all,

I just wanted to inform you that now the DOWNLOADS page of the website allows you to get hold of the PDF version of the user's manual (including the updated version relative to the upcoming update). Having a look at it is highly recommended to get a good idea of what the game offers ;-)

edit: I have also added a screenshots page, which includes 3 new grabs (more will come later).

saimo

[NovaCoder]

OS4 needs games, well done  :-D

[saimo]

@NovaCoder

Thank you :-)

saimo

[saimo]

Hi again,

as promised, I uploaded a new video showing a real-world session: the direct link is http://www.bohthegame.com/data/game_session.wmv (the file size is about 129 MB).

Moreover, I added 4 new screenshots to the SCREENSHOTS page of the website.

Enjoy,
saimo

[motorollin]

This really looks like my kind of game. A playable demo would be great as I don't like to buy games I haven't had a chance to try. BOH has an oddly Doom-like feel to me. I think it's the claustrophobic feel combined with the maze-like maps which mean that you can't see what's around the corner (or sneaking up on you!)

--
moto

[motorollin]

Oh, and a Mac version would be nice ;-)

--
moto

[saimo]

@motorollin

This really looks like my kind of game.

I'm happy to hear this :-D

A playable demo would be great as I don't like to buy games I haven't had a chance to try.

I have been thinking about a demo, both before and after I got requests, and the conclusion is this: unfortunately, it cannot be done. I will try to explain why.
Two of the main design choices of BOH are these:
 * it can be expanded by just adding data files to the missions/themes/translations directories;
 * at any time, the player can freely choose any mission among those that he has installed - i.e. the game is non-linear (although some missions are subdivided in phases, so the player can access the later phases only if he manages to complete the previous ones).
This means that distributing a full-working demo would be a sort of self-piracy (as the distribution of data files would be trivial), also if one looks at the future: when expansions will be released (by me or third parties), the "demo" version will allow to enjoy them without problems.
On the other hand, if I distribute a feature-wise crippled version, the game would not be really enjoyable, and maybe make a bad impression.

BOH has an oddly Doom-like feel to me. I think it's the claustrophobic feel combined with the maze-like maps which mean that you can't see what's around the corner (or sneaking up on you!) :-D

Perfectly spot on!!! Some of the AIs are precisely coded to work that way
Just think that several times, while testing the missions I was developing myself, I found myself jumping on the chair ;-)
Unfortunately this aspect is not really represented by the videos, because when I recorded them, to keep them short, I was playing like a robot knowing perfectly where to go and what to do (although in a couple occasions I wasted some time for the pure fun of it) - but, believe me, when one, surrounded by darkness, does not really know whether to turn left or right, the tension gets high ;-)

BTW: I'm putting up a page where videos can be streamed from.

saimo

[saimo]

@motorollin

Oh, and a Mac version would be nice ;-)

It is the next thing on the TODO list after the update and the additional themes I am working on, if the game has success ;-)

saimo

[motorollin]

@saimo

Saimo wrote:
I have been thinking about a demo, both before and after I got requests, and the conclusion is this: unfortunately, it cannot be done. I will try to explain why.
Two of the main design choices of BOH are these:
* it can be expanded by just adding data files to the missions/themes/translations directories;
* at any time, the player can freely choose any mission among those that he has installed - i.e. the game is non-linear (although some missions are subdivided in phases, so the player can access the later phases only if he manages to complete the previous ones).
This means that distributing a full-working demo would be a sort of self-piracy (as the distribution of data files would be trivial), also if one looks at the future: when expansions will be released (by me or third parties), the "demo" version will allow to enjoy them without problems.
On the other hand, if I distribute a feature-wise crippled version, the game would not be really enjoyable, and maybe make a bad impression.

I fully see your point, that distributing the full version of the game engine with a demo data file may not be an attractive prospect. However, look how well it worked for Doom. In fact, Id Software even released the source code for the engine. This has been so successful that Id are even still selling the original Doom games on their web site for people who want to pay for the full version of the data files. So distributing the full engine for free and charging for data files can work well. I believe in Doom that you needed the full WAD file in order to use 3rd party expansion WADs, so users of the shareware WAD could only play the shareware levels. If they wanted to play the full game or 3rd party episodes, they had to register. In my opinion, it is no more difficult to pirate the data files with the engine than just the data file by itself. But of course, it is your decision. I do not intend to criticise - I'm just making a suggestion. You could even distribute a demo version of the engine which is crippled in only one way - that it only works with the demo data files and nothing more.

Saimo wrote:
Perfectly spot on!!! Some of the AIs are precisely coded to work that way

...

believe me, when one, surrounded by darkness, does not really know whether to turn left or right, the tension gets high

Sounds brilliant! This is *exactly* what I loved (and still love) about Doom. It sounds like BOH will be a really atmospheric game. Lots of missions too means that even once completed players can keep coming back again and again. I can't wait to try this game out! :-D

[motorollin]

Saimo wrote:
It is the next thing on the TODO list after the update and the additional themes I am working on, if the game has success

Excellent :-D Will registered users get a free upgrade to the Mac version? If it will help to ensure success of the game and encourage further development, I would like to buy the Windows version and play in Parallels on my Mac, to encourage you to port it to the Mac ;-)

[saimo]

@motorollin

I fully see your point, that distributing the full version of the game engine with a demo data file may not be an attractive prospect. However, look how well it worked for Doom. In fact, Id Software even released the source code for the engine. This has been so successful that Id are even still selling the original Doom games on their web site for people who want to pay for the full version of the data files. So distributing the full engine for free and charging for data files can work well. I believe in Doom that you needed the full WAD file in order to use 3rd party expansion WADs, so users of the shareware WAD could only play the shareware levels. If they wanted to play the full game or 3rd party episodes, they had to register. In my opinion, it is no more difficult to pirate the data files with the engine than just the data file by itself. But of course, it is your decision. I do not intend to criticise - I'm just making a suggestion.

I believe that one of the reasons why that worked for ID Sodtware is that Doom was a groundbreaking milestone of gaming - which BOH is not. I do not think that the interest in BOH would be so high to live just on expansions.
But I do understand you.

You could even distribute a demo version of the engine which is crippled in only one way - that it only works with the demo data files and nothing more.

I will take this into consideration. As soon as I have time, I will see what I can do. No promises, though.

Sounds brilliant! This is *exactly* what I loved (and still love) about Doom. It sounds like BOH will be a really atmospheric game.

Yeah, that was one of my goals. That's why the default theme does not even have graphics for walls ;-) I understand that it is not the kind of game for everybody. I had a few friends cursing me for driving them crazy or stealing too much of their time :-D

Lots of missions too means that even once completed players can keep coming back again and again.

As a re-play factor, I added the saving of the best records for each phase of each mission - eventually, sometimes I ended up competing again myself to break my previous records :crazy:

saimo