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Hey guys, nothing's in the pipeline at the moment. We're still working on manufacturing all of the reward items for backers of the Mage's Initiation Kickstarter project.

yeah kickers and EA are a mixed blessing. On one hand many projects could literally never happen without it but then Devs are trapped in this strange environment that is no really the best way to develop things. All that transparency can lead to all sorts of issues and I know a bunch of devs that have gone broke trying to satisfy all the donation levels way way after the game has had its burst in sales. EA is even worse though, as normal development things do not exist.. you can not scrap systems if the game is not working as someone will think that is the best part of the game and leave bad review on steam that will haunt you for all time. I could go on and on about it, as i pages about how much I think EA and Kickers are restrictive... but the sad this is that without them.. many things have no chance at all.

It is a catch 22.

So there are some major movement in ScummVM... it now supports AGS... it is still in the nightly unstable branch.. but recently it has been making huge strides into AGS compatibility. I recently tested it by playing Quest for Glory 2 Remake and Mage Initiation and they both worked great.

In fact, I think the gameplay experience with Mage was BETTER in scummVM. Due to how smooth and awesome the way ScummVM works as a window. Lots of people complained about crashing and alt-tab issues, flickering when window mode.. this is not a issue with the devs, it was a ags issue... well none of that is an issue.

Also, as scummVM plays on pretty much any platform none to man it played it on my phone, my pad, my AndroidTV.... pretty frickn awesome. ScummVM also has a mapper to add controller support.

Anyway... just a heads up for those that might be interested. Remember this is not even beta, it is just a branch not included in the official builds.. but I think it is getting really close now. I did have a few issues, but nothing that I believe will not be fixed.

ScummVM News : https://www.scummvm.org/news/20210404/
ScummVM Daily Builds (get "ScummVM latest") - https://buildbot.scummvm.org/#/snapshots

Any new projects on the horizon you would like to let us know about?

I 100% disagree with multiple classes

Yeah, I like the idea of different mage classes as well. All I was saying is that it is difficult to make a game feel unique to each type of mage. As essentially the gameplay is identical.

Adventure Games, particularly classic or emulated classic ones have always suffered by "pack and rub". As in you pick up everything not nailed down (put it in your pack) and then rub it on everything you see until something works. The problem with spells is that they are basically permanent items. So running out of ideas and then randomly trying your spells is basically the same for all types of mages in MI. So casting one mage spell over another mage's spell [spoiler]on the chains to break them[/spoiler] for example is identical as far as the player is concerned.

MI seems to try and get around this by sometimes using alternative puzzle solutions. A good example is how you do the Wasp Puzzle and bad example is how you help the wounded prince. In that example as an earth mage [spoiler]you just cast the spell on the wound to take the rock out of his leg[/spoiler] but on all the other mages you [spoiler]click on the leg with your hand icon[/spoiler]. While this is technically "different" it is no negligible that it may as well be the same. MI tends to have a non-magic solution and a magic solution. So if your specific mage has a magic solution the game then bars you from the other solution. I am not sure this is the best way to do it.

I just think it is a very hard thing to do, design wise.

I am also fine with continuing to use AGS. This is supposed to be a retro game, right? It should have a retro look and feel.

Having the game "look" like a classic adventure is not dependent on it being done in AGS. The look and feel can be replicated if that is something someone wishes no matter what the engine is. The biggest factor for AGS is the vast experience the devs have in it, and now that the 1st game is done, much of the development process of panel beating AGS into shape has been done. I would imagine a new game would be significantly less work than the original was.

You would get access to things like audio fidelity for example. Something this game has been heavily criticised for, as the voice acting is very good, but the compression format leaves heavy artifacts in the audio that is pretty hard on the ear. Things like the cartoon sequences could be done a lot better with higher framerates and less chopping. Being able to alt+tab cleanly, be ported to all platforms. I have made many games in AGS over the years (at a hobby level) and the engine does have many limitations. This can not be denied. I would bet the farm that there were design concepts in the game that didn't make it to release as the engine prevented them.

Retro gaming is a complex thing, imo. You want the retro feel, but we only really want the good stuff from those days. There are plenty of things about gaming in the 80s that sucked. They sucked then and they still suck and making a modern retro inspired game shouldn't, as far as I am concerned, bring all those terrible parts back as well as the good stuff. For example MI has an autosave. That is not "retro" but dying and loosing progress is lame as!!

We do have multiple sequels already written in rough form and, yes, an arc for the series already exists. Potential future sequels would delve deeper into discovery of things left behind from the Old World and what happens in West Ele'wold and Dominatra etc.

It also became apparent in development that it's very difficult to do an RPG with multiple classes when all of them are Mages with only their spells and personalities differentiating them. It severely limits how different the solutions for puzzles can be between the classes. For example, a thief could climb to pick an apple from a tree, while a Mage could cast their Retrieve spell, whereas a fighter might use strength to barge the tree with force and make the apple fall. But when all of your classes are spellcasters, the solutions are pretty much limited to their unique spells.The only way around that is to add other non-Mage classes. Or perhaps to make certain Mage classes specialize in a trade that mimics the techniques of a fighter (e.g. Fire Mage) or a thief and then make puzzle-solving more reliant on their physical stats rather than magical ones.

Of course, if there are sequels. we'd really need to find a good way to streamline the development process because we can't be taking ten years to finish each game. Maybe it'd be more realistic with an investor or publisher behind it. And of course, it all depends on how well the first game does.

I 100% agree with the multiple mage class thing in this post.

The biggest problem with Mages is that spells basically act like items, items you may need to collect (as in learn the spell from the sphere) but they lack any intrinsic meaning. A "key" opens a lock.... but an "open spell" can open anything.. maybe.

What this meant for MI, imo, was that when playing the different classes the act of the "gameplay" is nearly identical. Following the example above, one mage may not have a "open spell" but another may have a "melt" spell.. one opens the lock, one melts the lock but the act of opening the chest is the same.. open your spell book and see what spells can trigger.

I think it is a complicated issue caused by the multi-use nature of spells. As far as gameplay is concerned a key or a crowbar or a lock pick or a bolt cutter or a spell, or a spell, or a spell, or a spell.... everything but the spells feel different.

I do hope the game does well and we see more. I personally loved this game and it has re-sparked my interest in adventure games.

I know this maybe heresy.. but I think that maybe it might be time to move away form AGS. I mean obviously you guys know how to use it very well, and that is cool.. but maybe it is holding you back as well. I would like to see the same style and art, but maybe produced in a more modern engine. Even if that engine is overpowered for a 2D project. I think it would free up a lot of design ideas as well as fidelity like resolution, frame rate, audio quality and more.

I'm impressed with anyone who has an avatar from Gabriel Knight, no matter what character.

haha... well spotted.

Yeah Grace is awesome in that game. I thought her sarcastic and cynical personality was a great pic for a adventure game reviewer.. plus I love that game and love that character!!

ha... ok.. I'm not sure what to say to that.... thanks I guess?

I made a review of this game if you are interested in seeing it....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvyIhbSezJc

This is my review of Mage's Initiation : Reign of Elements. A game I have been following the development of for years and years. I'm hella rusty at making reviews, and hope I can still make decent videos! I kinda forgot to slow down how fast I talk... lol... anyway, I hope you like it. -- A4L