Dunningmals
A downloadable retro experience for Windows
Credits:
Code, Concept and Art Direction - Mark "Happy Ferret" Bauermeister
Additional puzzle design - Kirill "Ken"
Character art and animation - Sandisieh@Telegram & Mark "Happy Ferret" Bauermeister
Music - Luan Conzett
Special credit: Michael Sheail's OpenQuest whose backgrounds I used as a basic template. I couldn't have done it in time without this awesome open source project.
Welcome to "Dunningmals", my contribution to the $108US Adventure Game Challenge (https://itch.io/jam/108-adventure-game-challenge).
This year's challenge was about creating a game in which all characters suffer from "Dunning Kruger", a behavioral pattern that results in people thinking they're smarter than they actually are (similarly to an idiot savant, although not necessarily with the same level of unique talent).
Tewin Bunbrush, our main character, is stuck in a school full of rather noxious and arrogant people just like that. Snow is blocking the only exit and our protagonist is the only person with a plan.
My game uses the SCUNK Engine (an evolution of ScummC) and I'm hoping the final result will eventually serve as a show piece for that engine.
Games developed in SCUNK can be run on modern PCs, consoles and even older home computers such as the Atari ST and Amiga. As a retro game developer with interest in console development, I consider this its major strength.
While this game runs in a bit of an odd resolution of 320 x 192 (due to an issue in my rendering code more than on purpose), the final engine shall support both low resolution modes like 320x180/320x200 as well as resolutions up to (and possibly exceeding) 1920x1080 and everything between.
If you're interested in the game's general progress, feel free to check out my YouTube devlog
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLtwK8RgezTNrOX8160M6v3yi52aSWyCwB
Do note that the game is in a generally alpha-like stage. I wanted to accomplish a lot more but, due to ongoing issues in my family (my own father is suing me for thousands of euros), I got a pretty late start.
The music doesn't represent the original artist's vision, unfortunately (the original vision is include as "theme.mp3"). I ran out of time so couldn't provide the proper soundfont. Guess I myself need to graduate from SCUNK-U still ;)
I will continue working on this game post-jam, as well as on the engine itself.
The code for the engine and the game will both be released once an appropriate layer of polish has been applied.
If you're interested in my situation or know any way to help, please check out my GoFundMe. It contains all the information and a video of my father's insanity and just outright nastiness.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-me-save-my-homehilf-mir-der-obdachlosigkeit-entg...
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Comments
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I understand that this is a work in progress, and not really ready for release at this point. I tried to play, and watched the video after ending in unwinnable states a couple of times.
I'll try to come with some constructive advice. That may be silly, because I don't know how SCUNK works, but at least in AGS, some of your issues are easily fixed. In AGS too, a character may be present in a room where the player is not, but dialogue is not limited to that room. There is a character.sayat - command that can be used even if the fly is not in the room. If that is not the case here, then surely there must be a display command or something that can show the sound effects?
Do not hide jokes. I didn't try the same MI-line several times on the spider because it was the same line. If you want the player to keep talking, swap the dialogue option with a new one.
I'm sorry to say, your game is totally buggy! I tried to play it anyway, but there are barely any reactions if you try to interact with objects or hotspots. I could only manage to solve at least one puzzle and then I got stuck again. There are barely hints and I don't even know what to do.
This game is unplayable to me. I don't even get the characters and the story of this game.