New text adventure - "Tristam Island"

[hlabrand]

Hello everyone,
I am working on a retro text adventure called "Tristam Island", which will be released on 34 platforms, including all Atari 8-bit computers and the Atari ST. (I'm cross posting this in the Atari 8-bit forum, let me know if this is bad form...)

I released a free demo a few days ago at hlabrande.itch.io/tristam-island-demo. It's about 90 minutes of gameplay (~1/4 of the game). After a plane crash in the middle of the Atlantic, you wash up on the shore of a deserted island - which, as it turns out, was inhabited decades ago, and holds many secrets...
If you like the demo, or want to support the project, you can preorder the game at hlabrande.itch.io/tristam-island ; the full game comes out on November 20th.

Let me know if you have any questions! And feel free to post pictures of it running on real hardware, I always love to see that Thanks!

Edited September 29, 2020 by hlabrand

[ataricrypt]

Downloading the ST version now. Thank you!!

[MasterMotorola]

Always nice to find a new game for the ST.  I used to write text adventure games back in the late 80s until the early 90s.

 

Have downloaded the Tristam Island demo and will try it on my TT later.  I see you are also living in Calgary, hlabrand!

[hlabrand]

Thank you both for the support!
@MasterMotorola : oooh, a fellow calgarian! I sent you a PM

[MasterMotorola]

Below is a photo of TRISTAM ISLAND running on my NoirTT.

 

 

You will notice there is a canvas next to the computer that looks exactly like the loader screen.  That is because my wife painted the background art and I created the logos and loader screens for the English and French versions after learning we lived in the same city as the author, Hugo Labrande.

 

The full version of TRISTAM ISLAND is now available.  I hope you all enjoy the game as much as I have so far.

 

Cheers,

Stephen

 

[hlabrand]

Yes, I am really fortunate to have found you here

[+davidcalgary29]

5 hours ago, MasterMotorola said:

Below is a photo of TRISTAM ISLAND running on my NoirTT.

 

 

You will notice there is a canvas next to the computer that looks exactly like the loader screen.  That is because my wife painted the background art and I created the logos and loader screens for the English and French versions after learning we lived in the same city as the author, Hugo Labrande.

 

The full version of TRISTAM ISLAND is now available.  I hope you all enjoy the game as much as I have so far.

 

Cheers,

Stephen

 

First order in for a boxed copy! Please tell me, at least that you're making "feelies" for sale to go with this.

 

Also: please provide more pix for your Noir build. What!

[+DarkLord]

Has this been released yet? Thanks.

 

[hlabrand]

It has! hlabrande.itch.io/tristam-island

 

There are digital feelies with the game: a postcard set in the game's universe, and an Invisiclues-style hint sheet. There were 2 exclusive digital feelies for pre-orders, but note the "digital" - they probably will end up in the physical edition Along with other feelies that you can't digitize, probably...

Edited November 21, 2020 by hlabrand

[+davidcalgary29]

11 hours ago, hlabrand said:

It has! hlabrande.itch.io/tristam-island

 

There are digital feelies with the game: a postcard set in the game's universe, and an Invisiclues-style hint sheet. There were 2 exclusive digital feelies for pre-orders, but note the "digital" - they probably will end up in the physical edition Along with other feelies that you can't digitize, probably...

I was joking in my initial post, but then thought how awesome it would be if you included postcards from Bow Island and Elk Island National Park. And there really IS a physical edition? Awesome!

 

Not joking: where the pics for your Noir Build? I SO want to do this to my Mega STe.

[Tillek]

4 hours ago, davidcalgary29 said:

Not joking: where the pics for your Noir Build? I SO want to do this to my Mega STe.

BLASPHEMER!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[+davidcalgary29]

3 hours ago, Tillek said:

BLASPHEMER!!!!!!!!!!!

 

That, my friend, is the apex of coolnessness. It makes me want to wear my sunglasses at night while driving a black car.

 

Then again, I have another Mega sitting in a box, doing nothing. Maybe I should jazz that one up. 

[Atari8guy]

Nice to have all this Alberta representation!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Tillek]

3 hours ago, davidcalgary29 said:

That, my friend, is the apex of coolnessness. It makes me want to wear my sunglasses at night while driving a black car.

 

Then again, I have another Mega sitting in a box, doing nothing. Maybe I should jazz that one up. 

They aren't mutually exclusive.   

[Clint Thompson]

I'd just like to quickly say how super cool of a release this is: 36 platforms!? Stop the madness!

 

Cheers! ?

 

P.S. - Stephen, that canvas is super cool, you wife did an incredible job on that! Also, that's one awesome looking TT!

[+DarkLord]

Never mind my earlier post, just bought it...

 

PS Hmm... There is an .ST file in the archive

I downloaded. This runs on ST hardware?

 

Thanks.

 

Edited November 23, 2020 by DarkLord
Additional info...

[darwinmac]

1 hour ago, DarkLord said:

Never mind my earlier post, just bought it...

 

PS Hmm... There is an .ST file in the archive

I downloaded. This runs on ST hardware?

 

Thanks.

 

Yes. I don’t have actual ST hardware anymore, but I know ST image files can be directly run on an ST. I used Hatari to run the ST version. 
 

I purchased it and downloaded the Atari 8-bit and ST versions. 
 

Bob C

[+DarkLord]

1 hour ago, darwinmac said:

Yes. I don’t have actual ST hardware anymore, but I know ST image files can be directly run on an ST. I used Hatari to run the ST version. 
 

I purchased it and downloaded the Atari 8-bit and ST versions. 
 

Bob C

 

Right. I was just expecting it to be the usual .tos or .ttp or .prg or... Well, you know. 

 

Somehow I was thinking that .ST files were emulator files. Guess I'm think of .STX.

 

I downloaded it on my 'Nix box, I'll transfer it to my Mega STe and see if it will launch

by doing the 'ole double-click song 'n dance.

 

Thanks!

 

[darwinmac]

32 minutes ago, DarkLord said:

 

Right. I was just expecting it to be the usual .tos or .ttp or .prg or... Well, you know. 

 

Somehow I was thinking that .ST files were emulator files. Guess I'm think of .STX.

 

I downloaded it on my 'Nix box, I'll transfer it to my Mega STe and see if it will launch

by doing the 'ole double-click song 'n dance.

 

Thanks!

 

Inside of the ST image, you’ll find a TTP file along with the z3 interpreter file. You start up the TTP and enter the z3 file name (tristam.z3) as the TTP parameter. 
 

I assume he packaged it that way to make it easier for people to run in an emulator. However, I thought some Gotek devices could directly access an ST image as well as using ST image runner (or whatever the program is called). 
 

Bob C

[hlabrand]

I assumed (maybe I'm wrong?) that ".st" files were disk image files, just like ".dsk" files for other computers. I think there is a tool (Omniflop?) that'll write the contents of a .st on a floppy. For what it's worth, hatari opens the contents of an .st file as a floppy.

 

The disk also contains, in the "AUTO" folder, a program that displays the splash screen. The intented behavior is that, when you start the ST (or emulator) with that floppy (or .st file) in, the splash screen displays. But you can just start the ttp program on tristam.z3 !

 

And yes, no idea how it runs on a gotek... i suppose you can extract the contents of the floppy from hatari? @MasterMotoroladid it once for me but i couldnt replicate the feat

Edited November 24, 2020 by hlabrand

[darwinmac]

@hlabrand - On the ST, it may be helpful to provide the files separately in the zip file. That way, it is easily usable for people using an actual ST. 

 

With Hatari, it is a simple matter to extract the files if you have a GEMDOS drive set up. 
 

On my Mac, I can sometimes simply change the extension from .st to .img and it will appear as a drive on my desktop. That only works if it’s a standard double-sided disk. 
 

Bob C

[+DarkLord]

1 hour ago, darwinmac said:

@hlabrand - On the ST, it may be helpful to provide the files separately in the zip file. That way, it is easily usable for people using an actual ST. 

 

Bob C

This would be what I prefer. There's a problem with all the non-ST computers in my man-cave, both Linux and Windows - they don't have emulators on them.  :)

 

I'd be reluctant to install one. Not knocking emulators per se, mind you, just don't want one. The people who wrote them and maintain them are absolutely amazing and brilliant. But I've got the real thing, baby. Accept no substitutes.  :)

 

I'll see if I can do some research and find a way to extract them here using real Atari ST hardware.

 

BTW, this is not a criticism in any way, shape, form or fashion. It's so rare that we get a good, quality software release

on our beloved platform that I'm extremely grateful when it does happen.

 

Thanks gang.

 

[darwinmac]

55 minutes ago, DarkLord said:

This would be what I prefer. There's a problem with all the non-ST computers in my man-cave, both Linux and Windows - they don't have emulators on them. 

 

I completely understand. I can't justify the inflated prices for an ST today. I'm hoping to eventually get a MIST system. It's not as good as an ST, but it'll do for my purposes and I won't have to worry about finding a 15Hz monitor since it has a built-in scandoubler.

 

On my Mac, I can simply rename the .st image with a new extension of .img. That allows it to mount on the desktop and I can easily copy over the files to extract them. Unfortunately, I can't find a similar way from Windows to do this. The trick only works for a standard 80-track, 9 sector disk (I think I have the terminology right). If the disk was formatted to be more than 720K, then the trick doesn't work.

 

However, I think this might work for you:

http://www.atari.8bitchip.info/imgrun.php

 

I think you can access the ST image file and extract the files you want. The splash screen is nice, but it just exits to the desktop where you have to run the TTP file with a parameter of tristam.z3. I'm sure there's a way to automate that, but my ST knowledge (especially for TTPs) is way too rusty.

[hlabrand]

@darwinmac I was under the impression that it was good form on the ST that a splash screen exit to desktop instead of launching the program, as it allows the user to, for instance, choose the resolution. (The interpreter supports both low and medium res.) I initially had a GFA Basic script that does both, but not everyone has GFABasic. I think i'll leave it like that.

 

@DarkLord no worries! Thanks for the suggestion. I have a small quality-of-life update for a few platforms planned for tomorrow, so I'll include that too. Wait 24h and you'll be able to play it

[darwinmac]

@hlabrand - For a text adventure, I would expect the splash screen to run the program and change the resolution to medium (assuming a color monitor). However, it does not really matter. The important thing is someone created a new game for our platform.  
 

As far as packaging the ST version, it would be best to include both the ST disk image and the individual files. 
 

Bob C

Edited November 24, 2020 by darwinmac
Wrong word