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Vapourware Asylum (from creator of Scratches)

Boleskine

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wIOqXHh.png
 

Boleskine

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https://www.kickstarter.com/project...ror/comments?cursor=18052089#comment-18052088

Agustín Cordes 2-time creator on September 15
We must be the worst scammers ever then as we're still working on Asylum and posting monthly updates.

In fact, the upcoming update in about two weeks should be more than enough to restore your faith in this project :)

https://talk.senscape.io/t/will-hanwell-be-opening-its-doors/1461/2

AgustinCordesSenscape Team
4d

Not this October, I’m afraid, but we’re progressing fast these days thanks to a new programmer in the team. In fact, we expect to have a fully playable version of the game later this year (with mockup sequences, but still fully playable). As soon as we reach that point, we’re going to confirm a release date.
So… not soon as in soon, but we’re getting there faster than ever! Here’s a couple of new things we’ve been working on – we have refreshed the look and feel of the game in general:




Sorry again it’s taking so long, but I promise Asylum is looking really, really good. It will be more than worth the wait!


It's depressing to read the original Kickstarter page.

It’s true that Asylum is in advanced stages of production. The Hanwell Institute is virtually complete and fully explorable. The script and design have been ready for a long time, most characters have already been modeled, the Dagon engine is mature enough, and the programming is well under way… In a nutshell: Asylum will happen. But we need your help to make it happen sooner.

If we reach the goal, we will lock ourselves inside an office for the remainder of the year until Asylum is complete.

As we've stated before, Asylum is in advanced stages of production (it better be after four years!).

Now it's been almost nine years.

:prosper:
 
Last edited:

Boleskine

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agustincordes/asylum-kickstart-the-horror/posts/2014811

It's Happening

With that ominous title you would expect a strong update. I hope this one fits the bill because I’m planning to touch upon several subjects, most importantly our current goal in the development of Asylum and what comes next.

Oh, right. Hi, my name is Agustín Cordes, you may remember as the creator of this Kickstarter campaign. Sorry about the extended wait, but there’s been a lot going on lately. Let’s talk about Asylum’s “rebranding” first.

Coming to your local video store
The reaction to our “fake” retro poster (which was originally planned as a quick, promotional diversion) was so overwhelming, it’s made me rethink our entire branding. I did hint previously about our intentions to jump into the ongoing retro revival of late, but you’d be wrong to think we’re pulling a “me too” kind of thing. Whereas movies, TV shows and games are attempting to bring back the 80’s nostalgia, we’re taking a hint of horror in the late 70’s period, which is what inspired Scratches and Asylum in the first place. The whole Kickstarter page has already been updated to meet this brand new look:

54efc6d233f1cd84b3b713fbf1af3c60_original.jpeg

I don’t know about you but people in our social networks are really, really liking this new approach. I confess being in love with it, as it reminds me of daily excursions to my local video store, hunting for the next obscure horror film. Many agree this new logo and slight grindhouse look is a much better fit for Asylum. Our intro has also been updated accordingly:



Please note the subtle wobbling of the titles, which mimics the low budget feel seen in Hammer productions and similar movies of the era. And let me stress we’re striking a strong balance between in-game quality and intentional visual effects — Asylum is still the same super-high-resolution, breathtaking adventure you’ve been expecting, with subtle tweaks that make it feel like a product of a bygone era. For instance, we’ve managed to achieve the color grading and artifacts produced by a vintage camera while retaining sharp, high-definition graphics. An upcoming update will make you go "wow", 100% guaranteed.

Expect a fascinating promo campaign, which will be especially cherished by fans of old horror movies. Can you imagine the Italian horror versiyn of Asylum? Hammy TV spots? Badly damaged VHS trailer? We've got you covered.

We very much like where this is going. It feels like we’ve finally found the identity of our game.

https://ksr-video.imgix.net/assets/018/744/812/66f09fc9abbecfcd1c965914a64b638a_h264_high.mp4

The observant among you may have noticed that we switched hands. That's right: the protagonist will hold the notepad with his left hand, and attempt to use items with his right arm. Feels way more natural. Also —and this may sound strange on text but it works great in the game itself— there's no longer an "inventory" in the usual sense of the word. You just use the mouse wheel or combination of keys to cycle through inventory items. Since you're never holding that many items simultaneously, it makes sense and feels terrific. Extremely immersive and diegetic.

Vertical slicing
In my previous update, I explained our intentions to hit a vertical slice milestone by the end of the year. For once, we may actually fulfill a goal! Take that, naysayers!

Seriously, things have been progressing fast in the past two months, thanks to the brilliant programmer we hired (actually one my Unreal Engine 4 students). They’re going so fast in fact, we’re planning to have a completely playable version of Asylum by the end of this year. Before you get too excited, this is going to be all in mock-up form, meaning it’s not quite beta. It’s basically all the puzzles and interactions in the critical path (as in, the stuff you strictly must solve to complete the game) with temporary assets. As you can imagine, it’s a hugely important milestone to start getting a feel of the final game, see what needs adjustments, test its duration, alleviate eventual backtracking, etc. It’s also important because it will allow us to estimate a more accurate release date.

Currently, we’re looking at mid-2018. Ultimately, our plan is to do an epic crunch during our summer (from January to March) to end with a solid beta in our hands. I still expect three long months of beta testing, so the numbers fit. Please keep in mind this all a rough estimation — in another two months, we should be able to pinpoint our upcoming milestones more accurately.

One aspect of the underlying components in the game we’re effectively finalizing is the hotspot system. I’m truly proud of this one, so please bear with me. First, a video:

(BTW, I know nitpickers will complain, but the scene is not final; we realize Bertrand is too far away from our arm)

https://ksr-video.imgix.net/assets/018/744/822/dc5dd0927abcb31c2b65f21df13f147c_h264_high.mp4

Yes, we’re just giving an item to an NPC. Ooooh, aaaah, so magic, much exciting. But there’s a lot going on there, and we do things like this so often in the game, we needed to come up with a streamlined way to do them. We have one hotspot, two different videos (looping idle Bertrand + Bertrand picking item), then we need to wait until one video ends before showing the next one, etc. Moreover, we can click when Bertrand is idle, but we shouldn’t be able to click when Bertrand is picking the item. Such logic is often resolved in the general game code — that is, the hotspot itself is usually a clickable region and that’s it. Our UE4 implementation of our Dagon engine (the one you also backed) is already making use of… well, USE, which stands for Universal Spot Environment.

Hehehe, this is fun, trust me. The following diagram should speak for itself:

396ec241d925c6d4924d619c1a7facc5_original.png

And this is exactly what is happening with Bertrand, as you can see in the following example:

09191e181f5a03911c656800bd525964_original.png

There’s further details in that forum link. USE (seriously, we’re calling it like that!) will be a feature of the open source Dagon plugin for UE4, and of course it will eventually make it to the C++ version as well.

Intelligent hotspots for all! Woo!

Kinda happening
The project feels more focused than ever, and our bold new direction has resulted in renewed hype and posts going viral. Asylum is very much alive and still kicking butt. The stuff we planned when we made the switch to UE4 is paying off as expected, and seeing the USE (seriously, it’s officially called that) system at work is a thing of beauty. I’m going to be doing a private livestream soon to show you what it feels like coding the game now — it’s almost a fire-and-forget affair: create spot, attach video, create state, attach interaction, set next state on click, and bam! It’s done.

As I said, we’re determined to have that playable by the end of 2017, and it definitely looks like we can make it.

It’s not all 100% good news, though — an investment by a passionate fan of Scratches that I mentioned in my last update didn’t come through as expected. We did get some additional money which helped a great deal, but not the amount we were expecting. So we’re now effectively a larger team running on fumes. And it’s a damn shame because we’re working amazingly well together.

Still, I have a plan B, a plan C even, and I’m sure things will turn out well. But, in the interest of full disclosure, I must let you know that my “money is fine” statement from my update in August has turned into “money is not so fine anymore” now. The project is certainly not the least in jeopardy, especially not its current state, but it’s going to be a rocky landing.

https://ksr-video.imgix.net/assets/018/745/075/0173e7bae25b8cac07e45c4071c8428c_h264_high.mp4

Anyway, it’s still more good news than bad news — Asylum is fairly soon going to be in a fully playable state. Granted, we’ll have to complete the game with hundreds of additional interactions and engrossing details here and there, but soon we’ll be able to hit New Game and reach the incredible ending we have prepared for you. And let me tell you that, every time we finish a new sequence or room, the general consensus is "yeah, this looks awesome".

That will be all for today. I won’t take much longer for my next update. I promise. Seriously. Please believe me. Every time I write one of these I feel like my lifeblood is being sucked away, but I promise —nay, I vow— that I won’t take too long to deliver the next one.

Have a gruesome weekend,

—Agustín

PS: (not really)


I don't know what to add that I haven't said many times before. It's taken almost five years since the kickstarter campaign to "find the identity" of a game that was supposed to be in "advanced stages of production." If the videos of an arm holding out an inventory item or a flipping through a notepad are supposed to represent the main progress the team's made in these past few years, it's really disappointing.

Vertical slice by the end of 2017. Beta around March-April 2018. Release in mid-2018... That's not going to happen. If it's taken this long to nail down the visuals I don't know how implementing all the puzzles, gameplay, and dialogue plus debugging could be finished in nine months, especially if they're "running on fumes" after the windfall of cash announced in August wasn't as much as needed or expected.
 

Boleskine

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agustincordes/asylum-kickstart-the-horror/posts/2079421

Amazing End-Of-Year Update With Many Announcements And Videos And Screenshots And Love

Hello, dear backers! I know, you were probably thinking we would leave 2017 without a decent update, but nooo, you thought wrong! I’m going to make this one short and sweet because key facts are usually lost among my endless walls of text, and today I have important ones to share. Worry not: if you enjoy my babbling, there are many more words coming your way soon!

Status report
  • Things are looking great as we’re achieving one of the key milestones we set for December, namely a vertical slice of the game with a full, solvable puzzle.
  • We expect to reach GDC (March) with a polished and long demo. Backers would be able to play it shortly after (April).
  • We’re optimistic about the status of development and feel we could reach a proper beta of the game around June.
  • We’re tentatively aiming to release the game around September 2018, after an intensive promo campaign during Gamescom (August). You know we’re going to confirm this as soon as we can.
  • Steam page featuring the new “grindhouse” branding and official screenshots will go live in late January, allowing tens of thousands of fans (well, hopefully) to wishlist the game.
  • New astounding and super-disturbing trailer planned around June.
  • A few people have expressed concern about the financial status of the project: I’ve been funding these past months with money from my own pocket, as well as a generous assistance we received from a fan. Given the status of the project and how close we’re getting to a release date, we’re now ready to dive into a (healthy) period of crunch with possible new team members. This would make that September deadline even more rock-solid. So I’m exploring options, namely signing a publishing deal soon — it’s also the right moment to renew hype and start working on a glorious promo campaign with the right partner. We may have news about this soon.
And that’s all I wanted to tell you before we dive into new materials from Asylum, including a sneak gameplay peek with features you’ll be seeing for the first time. I hope you like these, and be sure to let us know what you think in the comments.

We all wish you amazing holidays and here’s hoping 2018 will be an unforgettable year. Thanks for sticking with us throughout all this time and remember that we’re going out of our way to deliver the most engrossing horror adventure game ever made, all thanks to you!

—Agustín & The Senscape Team


Everything you loved from Scratches but bigger and better! In addition to the similar atmosphere and writing from the cult hit, you can now examine items in 3D and explore "zoomed" locations in greater detail. Plus lots of neat, moody details here and there.


Our recent bug-squashing marathon has allowed us to properly compose this complex scene. There are several things happening here, but note how the blending of flat 2D and realtime 3D elements is seamless, even with particles and an animated light source!


The first scene you'll see when you start playing Asylum. Yes, we've been tweaking this one a lot, and now the atmosphere has been turned all the way up to 11 with wind carrying dust and leaves.

Finally, super high-resolution screenshots of the above scenes, and then some:







 

AdolfSatan

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Just like everyone else, I wanted to believe back when this game got kickstarted as well, but the truth is that you should never trust Argentinians.
 

AdolfSatan

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Users giving the racist tag to that post should know that I am an Argie myself, I know what I'm talking about.
I'm not saying that the whole project was a scam to get money, but one should be wary of trusting my fellow countrymen with these kind of tasks because the concepts of planning, discipline, and order are completely foreign to our culture. I don't doubt the intentions of the author, but this game has been a mismanaged clusterfuck from its conception.
 

Outlander

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Divinity: Original Sin Wasteland 2 Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag.
Users giving the racist tag to that post should know that I am an Argie myself, I know what I'm talking about.
I'm not saying that the whole project was a scam to get money, but one should be wary of trusting my fellow countrymen with these kind of tasks because the concepts of planning, discipline, and order are completely foreign to our culture. I don't doubt the intentions of the author, but this game has been a mismanaged clusterfuck from its conception.

Que hacé boludo!
 

Jasede

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Insert Title Here RPG Wokedex Codex Year of the Donut I'm very into cock and ball torture
To think I used to defend Scratches, despite all its flaws.
I guess in the end, most of its success was really owed to the weirdo who did the music who disappeared off the face of this earth. (Cellar of Rats)

 

Boleskine

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https://steamcommunity.com/app/230210/discussions/0/1693788384134920689/

AgustinCordes [developer] Feb 24 @ 5:55pm

Would you play ASYLUM on Early Access?

Suppose you could purchase the game soon and play a polished and lengthy segment of the story, say 2-3 hours long. Suppose we'd commit to release additional segments (we could even call them chapters, really) until the game is complete -- say, a new chapter every 2 months worth another 2-3 hours of gameplay.

How does that sound to you? Of course, should we go this route we'd be very interested to hear feedback and ideas. In that regard, the Scratches beta-testing period was amazing as testers contributed with great suggestions to make it a better game. I have the fondest memories of those discussions.

Please note this is NOT an indicator that we're planning to do Early Access right away. It's just a thought. Not many adventures have done this, so it could be risky, and we don't like risks at this stage. We'd only do it if there's enough interest and fans willing to share their insight.

Thank you for your comments!
 

Barbarian

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"Hey bros, we only have two hours of gameplay ready. Is it okay to start selling it for budget and then release the rest as episodes?"

:hmmm:

Of all the adventure and rpg kickstarters that didn't deliver, this is by far the most pathetic.
 

J_C

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"Hey bros, we only have two hours of gameplay ready. Is it okay to start selling it for budget and then release the rest as episodes?"

:hmmm:

Of all the adventure and rpg kickstarters that didn't deliver, this is by far the most pathetic.
They should just close up shop and call it a day. We all know that the game will never come out. They are just postponing the inevitable and they are too much of a pussy to acknowledge that they fucked up and all the money is gone.
 

Barbarian

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For a game that had its graphics remade so often it sure looks like shit.
 

Harkin Hails

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Wait, wasn't this game being created in like Unreal 4? Why is visual style same as scratches (pre-rendered, even the trees are still static)?

I liked Scratches so I don't mind the visuals (I like them tbh), but I thought it was going to be full blown UE4 title with "next gen visuals".


EDIT: Reading above posts, apparently it's still UE4. Seems kinda pointless, could've just made it in Unity..
 

Boleskine

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agustincordes/asylum-kickstart-the-horror/posts/2346505

Update #79
Nov 16 2018

Nobody expects an ASYLUM update on Friday! (not really)

Greetings from beyond the grave! It's all moist and dirty in here, but that doesn't prevent me from sending you this timely Friday update. Listen up, because I have many things to tell you.


Demo just around the corner!
Yes, for really real this time. We're putting the final touches to a big playable segment, and it's more than living up to our expectations. While there's always going to be tweaks and polishing to be done before the actual 1.0 release, this demo will be as close as it gets to the real deal. It features the first moments of the game, including a lengthy and intriguing conversation with Julia, tons of locations to explore (including drawers!) and a particularly devious puzzle. One I'm sure fans of adventures will enjoy.

VIP backers may start playing this demo by the end of November, around two weeks from now. After hearing their feedback, adjusting a few more details, and potentially squashing a bug of two, all remaining backers will be able to enter the Hanwell Mental Institute by the end of December, just in time for the holidays.

Take a look at the gameplay video that we showed in our local conference EVA 2018 a few days ago for a taste of what's to come:



Please note the footage was captured at 720p and the game itself looks much sharper. Also, we haven't recorded dialogues yet, but there will be voice overs during conversations.

Oh, and no, there are no action sequences in the game. Some people were worried, but that baton is a bit misleading and we'll be modifying the gesture of the hand next.

We can't wait to hear your thoughts about this demo — it's been a such a long time, but it's all coming together now. I'm sure you'll fall in love with this game.

Rewards
Of course, we didn't forget about your rewards! Work has begun on filling several environments with your in-game presence and we'll be making sure every reward is properly implemented for this demo. So many of you will be able to read their names inside the institute soon — the exception is the artists and students with creative works featured elsewhere in the institute.



Assorted Goodies
There's plenty of stuff we showed or discussed in our community since my last update. Speaking of which, there's still many of you who did not register in our Discord server. Folks, I mean it, you don't know what you're missing — at least give it a try: https://discord.gg/senscape

So, we added a minimal crosshair that has greatly improved gameplay. I thought it would hurt the immersion, but no, it's subtle and helpful:



We added tons of interactive items to the game, with the mandatory hidden references and mysterious details:

f06ab1250ca4459c6c5d9973d12952e3_original.gif


You love opening drawers? Of course you love opening drawers! Just as much as we love implementing them:

https://ksr-video.imgix.net/assets/023/292/195/b54be64ee1e6a672afdb0fc49523bd78_h264_high.mp4

(not really)

We also released our exclusive paperback edition, the ideal gift for nostalgic family members these holidays:


(not really, but people wanted to buy it)

Another interesting milestone we reached just today is 16.666 wishlists on Steam! Woo! It's unlikely we'll ever reach 66.666, so it's a good opportunity to celebrate.

Look, apparently it rubs some people the wrong way when I talk about our wishlist figures. I don't want to make it sound like I'm bragging, it's just that I'm genuinely thrilled ASYLUM is gaining traction again. We're going through one of the trickiest periods in the game industry, with indie games selling next to nothing, companies shutting down, and an uncertain future. The fact that a niche adventure is getting this much attention should make us all happy.

I'm hoping you backed this project because you wanted it to succeed — right? That wishlist count is a good indicative that ASYLUM may see a successful launch. After nearly 10 years of work, please allow me to be excited about it

Finally, to answer the eternal question (is ASYLUM ever going to be released?), let me quote Jerry Dandrige:

b09ae11e1acf49836d379da9f4281261_original.gif

But seriously, it's looking good and following the demo we will have an accurate deadline to share with you.

Have a bloody weekend!

—Agustín
 

Solid Snail

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I don't even remember when I wishlisted this.
If there's a demo they should be confident in what they did, we'll see.
 

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