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Slender -- Beta 0.9

Discussion in 'Works In Progress - Archive' started by AgentParsec, Jun 27, 2012.

  1. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    *** EDITED WITH v0.9.7 LINKS ***

    The completed "beta v0.9.7" version of Slender: The Eight Pages is ready:

    Download page

    Preview video (recorded during v0.9):

     
    Last edited: Sep 6, 2012
  2. Sir-Tiddlesworth

    Sir-Tiddlesworth

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  3. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    Apologies also if anyone has trouble downloading it for the next half hour. I have to reupload because there was a very small change I had to make.

    *EDIT* Okay, it's finished uploading.
     
    Last edited: Jun 27, 2012
  4. drb1992

    drb1992

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    I've been following this game for awhile, and I am impressed with the quick progress you have made. I have a friend who loves to play scary/creepy games, so I will have him play this game some time soon. I'll let you know how the play session goes haha.

    *PS We always play scary games at night in a dark room. I'm sure you are not surprised by this, but it can amplify spookiness/scariness immensely.
     
  5. pivotraze

    pivotraze

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    As with drb1992, I've been following this project since the first page of your original WIP.

    I have to say... it's coming along really well, and pretty fast. I love it :) I will wait until night here to play the beta, so my review will either come on late tonight, or early tomorrow :)
     
  6. Thunderent

    Thunderent

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    Oh my god!

    It actually happened on the third page...freaked me out the first time even if I was expecting that creepy "guy".It took me a few seconds to calm down and I started approaching him(well,I thought that he doesn't do anything...just stays there like a creepy guy).

    Then,ahh the horrors...the screen froze,and that noise...it was horrifying!Especially with my headphones on...

    What about adding a slow effect the first time you meet him.Slow the player as he runs away...it could give a more intense experience.Also before meeting the creepy guy,you could make the flashlight stop/fade and then,suddenly the scary guy pops up.

    Keep it up!
     
  7. bucco

    bucco

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    Sweet!

    Looks cool :)

    Unrelated question: Is anyone else (on Mac) getting this bug where no matter what you click, the app opens in fullscreen?
     
  8. ludiares

    ludiares

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    Not here
     
  9. xKroniK13x

    xKroniK13x

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    Well... got to note 4 and he got me and scared the crap out of me. Good game dude.
     
  10. helioraanswer

    helioraanswer

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    Wow, that has some really nice atmosphere there.

    I never could make it dark in Unity, must give it a try again. It increases
    coolness in a gothic game I'm making.
     
  11. blender51

    blender51

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    So, it's my first time playing the game, and here's my thought process. I was running it on a Mac at full resolution, with graphics set to "Beautiful".

    "Whoa, nice trees!"
    ***After searching for a while, found 1 note***
    "Ok, I'm safe. The forum thread seemed to indicate he would appear after 3 notes."
    ***Sees SM*** "I guess not..."
    ***Finds another note***
    "Hmm, I think I can do this. It's not THAT scary..."
    ***Turns around to look for SM while still walking. Turns back and is scared out of mind by a tree***
    "Never mind..."
    ***Finds 3rd note***
    ***Lost in the woods***
    ***Horrible sound makes me jerk the mouse around and lose my orientation even more***
    ***Dies horrible death a few seconds later***

    I LIKE IT!!!!!

    Here are some things I noticed though:
    * In the brick building with the tile floor, as I exited, I noticed that my flashlight wasn't shining on the "outermost" section of the tile and brick very much. However, I tried shining my flashlight back into the building after I went out, and it lit up the tile and floor. So it seemed to be a directional thing...
    * Also, the footsteps are the same indoors as outdoors. Maybe if you added in a muffled "knock" sound, and mixed it over the footsteps? That way, you'd have a regular floor sound, but it would also sound like you still had dirt on your shoes
    * At one point, I turned to see if SM was there. I couldn't see him, but I heard the static, so it gave away his position. I looking down the path, so I'm guessing SM was in sight, but not within flashlight range.
    * Would be nice to be able to set mouse sensitivity

    This is just an idea, but what if you made it so that whether the player has the flashlight out or not matters? Maybe if SM is a long ways away, having the flashlight off makes him approach slightly slower (ie. SM takes longer to spot you), but if you have your flashlight off when SM is close, he decides to go in for the kill slightly earlier?

    This would make it so that every time you want to use your flashlight, you'll be worried about where SM is. Just an idea though, the game is looking amazing already! :D
     
    Last edited: Jun 28, 2012
  12. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    Thanks for the feedback! I agree about the indoor footstep sounds, I'll see what I can do about it.

    Right now, SM moves the same whether or not you have the flashlight on, with the exception that he can potentially jump within capture range of you (normally there's a minimum distance). I could add that sanity loss is cut down if the flashlight is off, but not eliminated entirely.

    No idea how to change mouse sensitivity in game. I will look into it. I'm thinking of adding a menu, so I'll put it there if I figure it out.
     
  13. ludiares

    ludiares

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    You can change the sensitivity in the mouselook script of the first person controller, just by adjusting two values
     
  14. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    Okay, I believe I figured out what's causing the lag for some people at the beginning of the game. A couple of the textures I was using were actually some sort of procedurally generated thing instead of a normal texture. I noticed when I first started using the texture that there was suddenly a few seconds (only about 3 or 4) of lag at the beginning of the game before it started, but I dismissed it and didn't make the connection with the textures I had just imported. Then when people started talking about startup lag, I took more notice of it but still didn't remember the additional textures until recently. I took them out and replaced them with normal textures, and the few seconds of startup lag on my computer was gone, so I expect the long lag some people are getting should be gone too. Uploading a new version, will edit this post when it is ready.

    *EDIT* Okay, updated first post. Besides the texture fix, I also slightly modified flashlight mechanics, and I also slightly increased walk/run speed (but increased SM's speed as well to compensate). More details in the readme.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2012
  15. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    The biggest feedback I keep getting from people is that the Slender Man model looks a bit off. I thought he looked all right, but I guess a lot of people hold a higher standard than I do when it comes to SM.

    That said, it's hard to pin down a specific set of measurements for him. I don't think the current model is bad by any means, but I guess if there's one weird thing about it, it's the wide shoulders. If that was drawn in a bit, he would definitely look more 'slender'.

    Also, I've been giving thought to the whole tentacle thing, and I realized how might be able to implement tentacles without really worrying about if they're visible to the player. I could just make it so that they are not present normally, but at about 70% sanity or so, the animated tentacles object appears on his back, and gradually grows larger in inverse proportion to the sanity level. So as sanity drops, the tentacles get larger and visibly stick out from his back. This effect ends up only showing up when he's being looked at, therefore, and will only rarely be visible otherwise (only if sanity is low and SM is just barely not visible, such as behind a tree or around a corner). If SM suddenly vanishes in this situation, instead of making the tentacles vanish I could just have it stay put and very quickly shrink away before they are removed.
     
  16. timyung

    timyung

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    This is cool, i personally like horror fps games. There's only one thing :
    In the first person view it clearly says the light source is supposed to be a flashlight, while in the first person camera it looks like he's looking through his flashlight or something. It would look better if you showed like a hand holding a flashlight ( just like in first-person shooters ).

    All by all, it's looking great, and i can't wait to see more of it!
     
  17. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    The average person holds a flashlight at their side, not at arms length in front of them (your arm would wear out quickly holding it like that).
     
  18. pivotraze

    pivotraze

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    The coppers hold it right by their head ;D
     
  19. mikethebassist

    mikethebassist

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    The PC link gives the following error: Service Temporarily Unavailable. I am very eager to try this out! hope the link works soon :D
     
  20. Scaredashell

    Scaredashell

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    Hi, looks great and I also watched PewDiePie play it... I can't seem to download it on mac though, the link gives me a server error thing.. Please fix it so i can piss myself soon!
     
  21. SevenBits

    SevenBits

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    Oh, a horror game. I'll see it later.
     
  22. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    I swapped the links in the YouTube video to a Mediafire mirror. Now that traffic is shifting over to those links, my normal links are freeing up again (the problem was too many people downloading at once).
     
  23. blender51

    blender51

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    PewDiePie played it??? I have to see this :D
    And congrats AgentParsec!! This is great exposure for your game.
     
  24. GibTreaty

    GibTreaty

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    Last edited: Jul 2, 2012
  25. xxxDjdogxxx

    xxxDjdogxxx

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    Still uh.. need another map :3 id be willing to make a detailed one now ;)

    (This is xxxDjdogxxx)
     
  26. DJFreakyB

    DJFreakyB

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    It's absolutely fantastic! Totally unnerving! I do have a couple of suggestions, though:

    Some dude on Reddit (where I found out about it) thought it might be a good idea to have multiple faces for slenderman based off other people's interpretations of him. I know it would be a pretty complex script to do so (I've worked with Unity before myself), but I think it's a pretty neat idea too.

    As for my own thoughts, I agree with the other comments about the model seeming a bit 'basic' and the shoulders being too wide, but my main issue with it is that whenever you shine the flashlight on him he's lit up more like Splendorman than the dark, amorphous being he's supposed to be. I think all it would really take would be his suit being completely black, rather than gray, or perhaps making the flashlight malfunction when you look at him (another complex script, I know).

    Other than those little nitpicks, it's fantastic! Hope this helps!

    EDIT: On a side note, what program did you use to make the models? 'Cause if you used Maya I'd be more than happy to help and even do some animation! I can also work with Unity if yon need a hand with level design.
     
    Last edited: Jul 3, 2012
  27. Cnaff

    Cnaff

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    looks really nice! :D
     
  28. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    The modeler's already making some modifications to the SM model along those lines (bringing in the shoulders, darkening the suit). We're also looking into adding tentacles, if we can make it look good.
     
  29. nugget850

    nugget850

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    This game is awesome and creepy. Me and my friend were playing in complete darkness at night. It scared the crap out of us. Good work.
     
  30. Broadbandcorpse

    Broadbandcorpse

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    I downloaded the beta and when it gets to the slender logo I hear footsteps and then the game crash's I have tried multiple times to get it to work try every possible combination of the settings but to no avail just letting you know in-case this is happening to anyone else.
    Even though I haven't been able to play it my mate said it's one of the scariest games he has ever played.
     
  31. virror

    virror

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    Hahahahahaha!
    Best ever
     
  32. Broadbandcorpse

    Broadbandcorpse

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    It finally works and all I can say is WOW that game has almost broke me.
     
  33. jimmyismike

    jimmyismike

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    I got 6 notes... I turned my flash light off for one second... Turned it back on and I was literally walking RIGHT into slenderman... Holy S*** had a heart attack.
     
  34. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    Okay, my newest version I'm working on (not finished yet) will have both big and small changes:

    Biggest change is the sprinting system. I'm replacing it with a new system which I hope people will find more 'organic'. Basically, you can hold shift to "jog", which moves you slightly faster and drains stamina at a very slow rate. But, as a penalty and to encourage regular walking, your flashlight lowers down so that you can't see what's in front of you (effectively like turning it off). In addition, SM can glitchport into the area you're facing (normally he can't if you have less than 6 pages) while jogging.

    If SM startles you (where it gives you the dramatic tone), it gives you a small boost of stamina, and for 10 seconds your jogging is replaced by sprinting. You can run much faster like this, but your stamina also drains much faster. The effect is kind of like an adrenaline rush. Until the 10 seconds are up, you cannot get startled like that again (I might make it longer to prevent trying to use it to your advantage for escapes).

    Also, a smaller but effective change: I added tentacles to SM. Rather than making a tentacle model, I just made a twisty branch in the tree creator, colored it black and stuck it on SM's back with a script that rotates it. A twisty branch rotating gives the impression of flailing. Then I made it so that it's invisible unless your sanity is low (less than 50%), then they grow in relation to how low your sanity is. So the effect is that they kind of sprout out and get larger. It's kind of creepy, actually.

    Finally, I fixed a bug where the lights used for the intro/outro weren't rendering correctly if you chose a low graphics setting. Fixed simply by setting the lights as "important".

    Still planned to do before finishing the build:

    1. Modify SM's movement slightly so that he might teleport or jump when chasing. Slim chance, but I needed to make sure people were 'leading' him, since right now being within a distance of 30 will cause him to always chase.

    2. Tweak the sprinting numbers so that it feels more natural, and so that it doesn't make the game any 'easier'.

    3. Add menus. No idea how to do this, so I might defer this to the next version. I need it so that people can change certain settings that I can't figure out how to have the user change from the configuration screen (such as mouse sensitivity and inverting the mouse).

    4. Add a lamppost or something to the pillars area. Right now, it's the one place people miss the most. I'm reluctant to do this, since Unity Free doesn't have shadows, but I don't see much alternative.

    5. Modifications still need to be made to SM's model.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2012
  35. ThomasGh

    ThomasGh

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  36. LeHaine_

    LeHaine_

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  37. LeakySink

    LeakySink

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    This is getting some serious press coverage! Congratulations!
     
  38. xxxDjdogxxx

    xxxDjdogxxx

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    Last edited: Jul 5, 2012
  39. Finjitzu

    Finjitzu

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    Looking good! Glad to see some well- deserved press coverage!
     
  40. xxxDjdogxxx

    xxxDjdogxxx

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    Is using textures and sounds from cgtextures.com and freesounds.com okay with you?

    Edit: Could have a choice if maps before the game starts.
     
    Last edited: Jul 5, 2012
  41. n0mad

    n0mad

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  42. Duskling

    Duskling

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    Saw that earlier.

    Grats on the kotaku feature man. Grats.
     
  43. virror

    virror

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  44. Vanamerax

    Vanamerax

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  45. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    v0.9.2 is up. Will fix the links in the first post. I did a complete overhaul to the sprinting system in this one, seriously dunno if it will make things easier, harder, or about the same.
     
  46. timyung

    timyung

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    Perhaps, you could work on a new Slenderman model? That would make it 100% awesome and more scarier!
     
  47. higgs

    higgs

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    I was wondering: are you going to release the source for Slender after the game is completed?
     
  48. feloxy

    feloxy

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  49. AgentParsec

    AgentParsec

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    Updated first post with v0.9.3 links. Had to make a quick update because people were having framerate issues. Also gave me the chance to put a few more fixes in.
     
  50. MellowNinja

    MellowNinja

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    its looking great, you're not really responding to all the fuss about slender becoming quite popular. what do you think of this ?