Ben X Posted June 24, 2009 Hi everyone! I'm afraid my bi-annual plugfest has now become annual, because within a year of releasing Ben There, Dan That!, Zombie Cow Studios Size Five Games has released the sequel, Time Gentlemen, Please! The new game, co-designed and co-written by me, is available for £3/$5-ish here (demo available). If you haven't played the first game, it's pay-what-you-want, min. £2, but you're probably better off buying the double-bundle for £3 total on Steam. I hope you guys can try it out, and enjoy it. If you do, please pass it on to all your friends, family, employees, people in the street! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted June 24, 2009 Awesome, can't wait to get back home, buy it and play it naked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted June 24, 2009 Good, that's how the designers intended you to play it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Shakesbeard Posted June 24, 2009 Jumping on the naked play bandwagon, I'm at work but now I have something to look forward to when I get home! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brkl Posted June 24, 2009 You have my money. I hope you spend it on pints. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SignorSuperdouche Posted June 24, 2009 I'm stuck a little way in right now, so I thought this would be a good opportunity to take a break and write a bit about what I think of it so far. The writing is hilarious and I've genuinely LOL'd a few times. It reminds me a lot of one of my favourite authors, Robert Rankin. I don't know if he's an influence at all but if you renamed Ben and Dan to Jim and John this could easily be mistaken for part of The Brentford Trilogy (As a quick aside, anyone who hasn't done so should read The Brentford Trilogy - they're ace books). I also love how dense the writing in this game is; often when playing an adventure game you wind up trying everything with everything in order to progress but here I find myself doing so because there's almost always a funny piece of dialogue about it. I particularly enjoyed using the Reveal hidden contents plug on the Reveal hidden contents umbrella because Ben's response was pretty much the exact same thought process I went through. I hope Zombie Cow will consider doing something similar to Telltale's "Did you try?" list of things with funny responses that players may have missed. This is not a major complaint, but a couple (and only a couple, so far at least) of the puzzles have seemed a bit on the arbitrary, illogical side. Putting Reveal hidden contents Ben on the skateboard , for example, is something I did with no idea why I was doing it or what was going to happen - there just didn't seem to be anything else to do. My other complaint is that the orange writing on an orange background in the menu can be a bit hard to read at times. Call me a dullard, but I was very confused during the 10-15 seconds it took me to find the load game button. Given the price though, and how god damn funny it is, these nitpicks are barely worth mentioning. There is no excuse for not buying this game, it's fucking awesome. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brkl Posted June 24, 2009 Brillo game, lads. Signor, maybe there's something wrong with your monitor or settings? Sure, it's pale orangey writing on an orange background, but the contrast is pretty strong. Or maybe your eyes are even more fucked up than mine. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
brkl Posted June 24, 2009 Hmm, if you press tab in the text adventure and then ESC, the game responds with becoming totally unresponsive. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted June 24, 2009 Thanks for trying the game out, and for the feedback (and the bug, brkl - I'll pass it on), guys! SSDouche - I haven't read any Rankin, but I'll put that trilogy on my list! Re. the example of arbitrariness you mention - Reveal hidden contents Dan does mention when he exits the rip that the cold water is very refreshing. We hoped that would be enough to plant the seed... I'm glad you're enjoying it, though! Good luck, everyone! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Noyb Posted June 25, 2009 Haven't had much time to play (only at the Reveal hidden contents professor's house ) at the moment, but I'm enjoying it a lot! Time travel paradoxes are my favorite puzzles. By the way, when trying to run it from the shortcut, AGS crashes before anything happens. Works fine from the actual EXE for god knows why. --------------------------- Illegal exception --------------------------- An exception 0xC0000005 occurred in ACWIN.EXE at EIP = 0x6C1335DE ; program pointer is +5, ACI version 3.12.1074, gtags (1,100) AGS cannot continue, this exception was fatal. Please note down the numbers above, remember what you were doing at the time and post the details on the AGS Technical Forum. in "room2.asc", line 71 Most versions of Windows allow you to press Ctrl+C now to copy this entire message to the clipboard for easy reporting. An error file CrashInfo.dmp has been created. You may be asked to upload this file when reporting this problem on the AGS Forums. (code 0) --------------------------- OK --------------------------- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted June 25, 2009 Glad you're enjoying it Noyb! That error has actually been fixed already - you must have downloaded an earlier version. You can re-download for the latest version, or contact Dan (dan at zombie-cow dot com) for a fixed version. Or, to sort it for the version you've got: If you installed to Program Files/Time Gentlemen Please - right click the icon, go to Properties, and add the following to the "Start In" box: "C: \Program Files\Time Gentlemen Please" (had to put a space in there to avoid smilies!) Have fun! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SignorSuperdouche Posted June 25, 2009 Being an unemployed bum, I was able to sink in several more hours today and finish the game. It was a blast, I got my monies worth several times over. I think the best compliment I can give this game is that if someone told me this was an old, forgotten, LucasArts game I'd believe them. I did find a couple more bugs though: It's possible to use the tights Reveal hidden contents to make a fan belt without putting the other cog on first . If you do this and then use the starter motor the game becomes unresponsive. I used Dan on Reveal hidden contents the microphone in Hitler's mech and left him there whilst I went outside. There's a little square just outside the entrance which you can interact with as if it were Dan (If you look at it, Ben says "It's Dan" etc), and if you try to use it Dan's sprite vanishes. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted June 25, 2009 (edited) SignorSuperdouche said: I think the best compliment I can give this game is that if someone told me this was an old, forgotten, LucasArts game I'd believe them. Lumme, that's a compliment and a half! Thanks SSD! Thanks for the bugs. That last one was found just recently and should be fixed in the latest build - I know that's not much comfort to you now you've played through it! The second one is bizarre and new! It is frustrating to have these bugs found after we've released, but unfortunately we can't afford to employ proper full-time playtesters. And, hey, we're still less buggy than a Bioware release! Edited July 3, 2009 by bbX1138 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Noyb Posted June 26, 2009 Found another bug. After the absolutely hilarious scene where Reveal hidden contents Dan revives Ben , trying to use anything on the Reveal hidden contents localized time machine makes the game think it's Reveal hidden contents Dan trying to put his leather jacket in there . Not sure what I did to trigger that. I'd send the save file to you, but I'm not sure where they're located. And Jake, if you're reading this, get Telltale to contract Zombie Cow to design the next Sam & Max season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted June 26, 2009 Thanks Noyb! We can't recreate that bug of yours at all, so I think it must have been a weird one off. Let's just think of it as a paradox... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
OssK Posted June 26, 2009 Listen here fucker, I got tired of my fellow thumbs making awesome games I can't play so I bought Crossover games just to play your shit... I better be good, buying it right now. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted June 26, 2009 OssK said: Listen here fucker, I got tired of my fellow thumbs making awesome games I can't play so I bought Crossover games just to play your shit... I better be good, buying it right now. Sorry! And good luck - did you try the demo? I think it works on Parallels, but not sure about Crossover... SuperDouche, I pm'ed you... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted July 3, 2009 Any luck with Crossover, OssK? PS - two big reviews! http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/time-gentlemen-please-review http://uk.pc.ign.com/articles/100/1000790p1.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
twmac Posted July 4, 2009 Yeah I read the Eurogamer review, the writing style is all over the place but at least it was enthusiastic and the comments thread was generally very positive. Congrats! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Noyb Posted July 5, 2009 Stuck again. Trying to find a Reveal hidden contents makeshift pen , even though Reveal hidden contents I have plenty of sharp inventory items, and a rasp to make the dull ones sharp . Tried everything I had with the Reveal hidden contents inky sap , so I'm probably missing an item somewhere. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted July 5, 2009 Oh, shit! I had totally forgotten about this game, and now I'm off to bed. Idle Thumbs, what should I do? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted July 5, 2009 All right, I just bought it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted July 5, 2009 All right, this is going to be great! Awesome graphical effects, racism slider... I can't wait to get started on this tomorrow. BTW I'm naked. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ben X Posted July 6, 2009 (edited) Toblix: Yay! Enjoy! Have emailed Dan re. your PM, and will let you know... Noyb: Reveal hidden contents You need an old-school pen... EDIT: Oh, apparently the whole game works great on Crossover. Edited July 6, 2009 by bbX1138 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toblix Posted July 6, 2009 Everyone who hasn't bought this already, just do it. Even if you aren't planning on playing it, and even if you have adventure games in general or Ben There, Dan That in particular for some reason. Give these people money, that they can make more hilarious games for me to play. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
