Hello all LBA and Prequel fans.
The time has come to reveal everything and end everything.
As you know, for the last few years we have been working on the LBA Prequel demo, to show you a glimpse of what the full game could become.
The demo is now finished! You can download it from the Download page. This is the good news.
The bad news is that the project is now officially cancelled. Yes, the Prequel will not be made. Before you start hating us, please read below about why it has to be this way.
The idea of a fan-made LBA game has been conceived by me and Alexfont about 8 years ago, in 2005. The plan was to use the original engine (+LBAWin), original character models (plus some more created by us), and most of the original map elements (bricks). Then we decided that more people are needed, so we have gathered the Team, and it has started its life. We were discussing the story elements and Double-J wrote a wonderful script, Jesse made some great pieces of music, Lewi-G and Bot13 made some awesome concept sketches, and we were working on the tools. Later more people came that have put their work and ideas to the game. Everyone was doing their job, and everything was fine.
At some point we got ideas for improvements of the game. The ideas were quite good – completely new engine, new models, new environment graphics, everything made from scratch – a completely new quality (but with aim to save the LBA 1 mood). The ideas were noble and we were charmed with the vision of the eternal glory if we succeed this. OGRE has been chosen for the engine, and someone even made a test program with it (map rendering), that looked very promising. But then everything stopped – no more news, no more new work was being shown. The engine guy disappeared, and no one knew anything. Most people of the team were busy with their jobs, schools, and lives. I was working on the LBArchitect and some other supporting software, hoping that the lack of tools is what holds the development still. I worked on the software for over a year, and in that time nothing else was moving. After I finished it I realised that something was wrong there. No one had any time any more (for me too it was really hard to find some), we had some great content already made, but not connected and with important pieces missing. The Prequel was almost dead.
Then the concept artists had an idea to make a comic book out of its story. I was strongly against it, because I still believed it could be made. I then decided (encouraged by a former member of the team) that we should forget about different engines and come down to Earth (or rather Twinsun) and return to the first concepts we had, that is using LBAWin and keeping some (much) of the original content. I struggled very hard to find time to work on the LBArchitect, because it still lacked some features that were absolutely necessary. They took me another year. After I made them, I started trying to gather the team again to revive the project, but without luck. Still no one else (besides alexfont) had time for this. Then I made probably the most important decision in the Prequel’s history. I decided to make the demo and close the project. I decided to make it even if no one can help me. Having watched the Prequel history through the recent years, this was the best solution that had a chance of success.
Why haven’t I cancelled it without making the demo? There are few reasons for that. First, I didn’t want the project to vanish, and all the great work to be for nothing. I wanted to make at least something useful. Maybe the guys were right when they proposed to make the comic book. I don’t know. It’s too late now. They will probably not have time for this any more. Second, I really hate to disappoint people, especially by giving up promises I made. We have promised you the game and we failed. I wanted to give you the demo as a consolation. It is not the (full) game, but it is as close to it as it can be. We cannot make the full game. This fact is more depressing for me than it is for you, believe me.
So why not the full game? Most simply: because it will not work. It took us 8 years to make the demo only! And it’s like 1/20 of the full game. None of us really wants to be bound to this for the next 20 years, sorry guys. Even if we had a dedicated team, it’s a tremendous amount of work. It could be possible if we had a team of dedicated people working 8 hours per day on this project, but that will never happen.
For these reasons I decided to give you the best experience you can get for the short story like this. The demo has got over 20 maps (grids), most of the maps have at least one NPC. There are two music tunes composed especially for the Prequel. There is a good amount of hidden features, jokes, and easter-eggs that I’m sure will be much fun to discover. One of them is a special thing. There is a credits list sequence that I took special care for. The list credits all the people who contributed to the demo, regardless whether or not they were in the team (I hope I did not forget anyone). It is not like anything you have seen in LBA 1 or 2, and absolutely worth seeing. But to make it even more fun – it is very well hidden. If you find it, please don’t tell others (at least for some time) – they should have the fun of discovering it by themselves.
I want to thank you all for being here for all these years and supporting us. We know that it is not what you were expecting, and be sure that it is also not what we were expecting, until recent time. This was a great and (little) big adventure, and we have learned very much through it.
Enjoy the Demo and keep the good memories.
Kazimierz Król (Zink)
P.S. I wanted to sign this post “This Prequel Team”, but I realised that I cannot do that. Although this would be better in context of the demo, which summarizes the work of all the people, but in this article I summarized mostly my own thoughts, which the rest of the Team may or may not agree with.
P.P.S. We have not decided yet what we will do with the concept art and other content we have made for the Prequel. I would like to publish it somehow, because it is a great piece of art, but I cannot speak for the whole team in this area. We will discuss this and let you know.
Hello,
I think, if it’s legally feasible, that you should release everything you have as open source. Perhaps the project will be saved by an external team, you never know.
- Consider a kickstarter campaign
Since you already have a demo, it is viable that you could kick on and make a complete game; you have done a lot of the hard work already in terms of getting an engine together, getting assets together. Creating the rest of the game should be (theoretically) less intense work, focused instead of level design and additional assets. You could get funded to do this.
- Consider fully open source
That way the project can be worked on still by others when they have the time. The project never officially dies, just stalls when developers are busy (possibly perpetually stalled).
- Consider both
Kickstarter could be used to push on and create a fully open source game \o/ that could resurrect LBA.
Kickstarter won’t work, but open source may. Open source everything you can!
I’m sorry to hear you’ve cancelled the game after all the hard work you’ve put into it.
It’s a shame when a project you work so hard on has to die but sadly, these things happen. Be proud of what happened and what had been done.
I’ll say what i think of the Demo when i’ve had time to play it ^_^
(oh and most of these ‘ideas’ to save it.. seam to have missed half of the problems but oh well)
Congratulations for the demo!
I’ve worked for other volunteer projects and the story is usually the same.
For something like this to really succeed, what is needed is the possibility for each person to create something without a lot of coordination with others. At the same time, each contribution should be checked by others to make sure it meets a minimum standard.
Anyway, good job with the demo.
a couple of minor bugs and bits of annoyance (I’m discounting all the known bugs with LBAWin (like the bloody colour issue)) but alot of interesting bits and potential.
Though i am wondering, does it have a ‘true end’ like the old LBA Demos, where you get to a point and it comes up a ‘End of Demo’ screen, or just carries on?
Thanks for all the comments, we will consider all the ideas.
Manic Man: no, it does not have a true end.
^_^ no problem with the ending, i just wondered cause, no matter what, there is only so long you can wondering around enjoying the place.. There are a couple of points which i take it i can’t follow up on because bits weren’t created but that’s no problem ^_^ trying to count to maps to see if i have visted everyplace really. 20 done you said?
23 to be exact. But one of them cannot be accessed past specific point of the story. If you haven’t seen it, you will have to start over
Awesome. Will download and try this now!
PS. I am toying with the idea of having twinsen guy running on webgl and/or android tablets.
Unless you can sell, you should defently post your code and assets to be learned from. Google code, git hub or sourceforge / otherwise they will be lost bits.
ping http://zproxy.wordpress.com/2008/12/07/little-big-adventure-remake/
I think i’m stuck around 14 maps.. Storywise, i think I’m at the end.. There are a couple of ‘rooms’ that dialogue comments about but i can’t find, so i guess they weren’t complete but i can’t figure ou the rest of them maps.. must try harder..
Storywise, you can be at the end and visit only like 6 maps. Demo-wise you are halfway, I would say
. As far as I remember, there are no rooms mentioned in dialogues, that are not available in the demo (not counting those on other islands of course).
mm.. so most likely that hidden room in the pharmacy is someplace, the Storeroom for the Taven is someplace and possibliy the cave…
okay.. Pharmacy room and cave were both easy to find ^_^ no clue why i over looked them.. still a number of places i need to find though..
Please post about the game here in the Showcase forum:
http://forum.freegamedev.net/
Actually isn’t LBA Prequel already open source? Or is that currently just the engine?
http://code.google.com/p/prequengine/
Manic Man, have you seen the lighthouse?
Charlie, why should I? From what I understood, this forum (section) is for searching people to work on the projects. Prequel is not searching for people, because it is closed. This may change if it becomes opensource, but now I see no point in posting there.
Yes, only the engine is opensource now.
Yep. Nice bit with the posters ^_^
Oh and i forgot to say, Love the Credits Roll.
I think i’m still only on.. erm.. 20-21
Have you seen the locked shop?
Ah.. i wondered about that place.. locked.. so that’s that place that you need to open at one point in the game?
so lets see.. the only places i haven’t been able to get into (not sure if they are possible) the Storeroom of the Bar, the House/shop where the person has gone out to Principle Island. then maybe one more..mm
Yes, but a bit more flexible. You can open it at any time before a certain point in the story, and cannot open after the point. And it’s not the shop you are talking about (that one is not accessible at all). Stockroom of the Tavern is pretty easy to get into (a part of the story, kind of).
I thought the one with the sign wasn’t opennable but i can’t figure out the stock room.. there are 3 doors i can see in the tarven.. 2 are the exit/entrace and one goes behind the bar. I talk via the bar, i get the key and give it to Jac, and he gives me the magic/soft ball and says there storeroom is there but i can’t see the door or anything to it.. mm.. can’t even see where it might be hidden either… interesting.
Oh and took me a little while to figure out the horses but that was fun ^_^
You can’t see the door, because it’s behind the wall. Just imagine where it could be and walk there
In the Tavern? still can’t find it.. I would have imagined it behind the bar, behind that long table (where the floor is darker) but not there.. and I can’t see any place hidden by the walls.. The Pharmacy was pretty easy to find, it was clearly a wall that stuck out but..
tricky…
It seems to be a bug in this part, that sometimes prevents the door from opening. Do you hear an unlocking sound after Jacques tells you about the stockroom? If not, that may be the problem. Someone found a solution here: http://forum.magicball.net/showthread.php?t=16549#20
Ah ^_^ Yep. That seams to be the problem.. I did wonder why the ground was a tiny bit jumpy there..
Okay, no problem.. Found now.. So.. lets think… that’s 22-23 maps.. i think 23 but maybe 21.. i’ll have to recount when i get the time, but i got a very busy day tomorrow..
Well, have you considered releasing the game code as open-source at some point? You could talk with the team about this, if so, maybe someone else someday can finish it… Well, it’s just a idea…
Yes, we are discussing about it, but some content is not so easy to decide. Some people don’t want their work to be used for any other project (that could happen if we released it as open-source).
Do a Kickstarter campaign!! I will donate and help spread the word!!! You have nothing to lose. Do it do it do it!! It can definitely get funded. Especially now that you have the demo.
Hi Fishos! Unfortunately, I don’t think that would work. I cannot be a leader, and I don’t want to do such project alone
. Also, any financing would cause legal issues, because all the modifications technically break the game’s license.
and they have said, if people could be bothered to read and know thing one about anything, that MONEY isn’t the issue!
Kickstarter, while good, despite all the idiots that use it, is for getting Funding for projects. Unless they decided to change the project from a fan game and paid programmers and artists, it wouldn’t do a thing..
Sorry but gee.. This is why i’m probebly happy to be out of all of this.. despite not officially putting a can on my works ¬_¬
I would like to thank all the team members that made the demo possible. In particular a special thanks to the last survivors of the team.
“So why not the full game? Most simply: because it will not work. It took us 8 years to make the demo only! And it’s like 1/20 of the full game. None of us really wants to be bound to this for the next 20 years, sorry guys. Even if we had a dedicated team, it’s a tremendous amount of work. It could be possible if we had a team of dedicated people working 8 hours per day on this project, but that will never happen.”
I see your point, of course I’m sad, I was really hopping to play another LBA adventure sometime, but I understand.
I’m a Java programmer, but don’t have any game programming experience… I’m case a kind of a miracle happens and you change your mind about going through will the full game, and if you think I can help, please reach me using my email address.
Best regards and a happy new year.
Oh, man… It sucks that the project had to be cancelled. I wish I could’ve helped with something, but unfortunatelly i only found out about it today. =(
Anyway, I hope you guys manage to release the game as open source, so it doesm’t end up being nothing. Happy new year Zinc, and thanks for the gigantic effort you put on this project, it restored my faith in humanity.
Wish you all the best!
ok, what “locked shop” zink you are referring to ?!!
there is a room near the Clock that is ALWAYS locked. is that it ?!
also the house beside your own house is always locked.
& “the House/shop where the person has gone out to Principle Island” is always locked.
These 3 rooms are always locked or am i missing sth ?
I have seen all the rest i believe [cave, lighthouse, pharmacy room, ...]
oh & what about horses, can we ride em ? :S coz i didn’t figure out how IF we can.
& man, i wish you folks continued this, great job on the demo.
i just LOVED & lived LBA [back in time] & would love any kind of resurrection of the game.
Honestly, this is the only game my soul is connected “this deep” within. lol
~ Respect for all your efforts.
~ hope you are enjOy life
I didn’t suppose someone could have trouble finding the features after such a long time. I see I made a good job hiding them
. The shop I am talking about is the first one – the door near Clock, that is “always” locked, unless you get an idea how to unlock it 
. I will only say that you cannot get inside after you have done the Jacques quest. It should be easy now 
.
And yes, you can ride the horses, but for that you need a…. special fuel
I too miss it that the Prequel will not be made, but there are other LBA projects going on. Alexfont is constantly working on his Prequengine, I am working on two projects right now, one of which will be announced in a few days, and the second… is going to take some more time, but I can say it is LBA2-related. Check the MBN modifications forum from time to time.
well, it was 4AM last night while i was searchin, lol
yeah, obviously if that’s the room, only 1 very simple solution to get into it.
[i thought that room is not coded yet or sth ! readin from your old words here, i thought there is door that is "always" open before takin a quest & i checked all the doors since start :p]
& i did search for the “fuel” myself last night, but in Bottom of the room mainly instead of top ! after you confirmed there is a fuel, it was 2 secs to find, lol
can’t wait to hear from your new projects mate.
i would offer help if i could, but life is not on the right track recently, & it takes my full-time to keep it on rail.
Maybe in 1,2 months, i would be able to contribute alittle.
Again, tnx for reminding me/us the joy by creating this, much appreciated.
You made my day.
~ all the besT man
I’m glad I could bring smile to someone’s face
. The projects I am working on will be open for help from others, and you will be welcome to join (programming skills will be helpful, but not required).