Leonardo DaVinci was revered for his technical ingenuity and love of engineering. During his lifetime, he managed to produce some 13,000 pages of diagrams, drawings, and notes which combined art and science. He devised many contraptions and engineering wonders ahead of his time, and many which could not be built with the materials and science of the day, including hydraulic pumps, crank mechanisms, and even a steam cannon. Many of his drawings of machines and contraptions contained missing elements, as if he had not fully developed the drawings and schematics. It is said he purposely left certain items out, or put in parts that would not work, in order to prevent it from being used in harmful ways. With that theme in mind, here is a screenshot teaser for our first release...coming in a few weeks... And another test for a level... That's all for now. More screenies and video coming soon... -AbovegroundDan Aboveground Systems
This game looks amazing, I'm definately adding it to my watch list. How many levels will be in the game?
We're still playtesting and cranking them out. Art isnt final yet, and we're busy with the business side as well (phooey!), but we're going to try to give out more specifics as they come available, as well as some goodies... We'll also try to keep folks updated via our website (which is in need of some lovin') and communicate our progress through there as well. We're gamers too and we know the importance of keeping people informed. Building high hopes and then disappointing is a no-no for us. This is just the beginning...the next two titles in our pipeline should make people happy too -AbovegroundDan Aboveground Systems http://www.aboveground.com
Oh wow, I love the theme of this game. Drop me an email at [email protected] when you guys are a little bit closer to releasing something playable.
I like the idea of this game, and it looks pretty cool to play too. I wanted to know if there was going to be a level creator where you could share your levels online with others or be able to share strategies for levels, similar to the system in Fantastic Contraptions.
We're still working out the social aspects of the game. We're on a tight schedule, and we're not sure how much is going to make it into the final build. We're going to have player interaction for sure, but it may end up on an update. We're making excellent progress though, so we'll see.
Wow... Nice looking theme. Considering that I completely love Crazy Machines, this game would definitely a must buy for me If possible, please do give us more screens or videos when you have them
So is the DaVinci theme just something to play off to set the theme or is there actually going to be info about his inventions? Obviously it's more of a game than a learning tool but I really liked how California Gold Rush had facts about the actual gold rush in 1848, I didn't think it'd interest me much but it made the game really fun.
Sounds (and looks!) great! Cool theme and you guys really nailed the interface. Love the parchment and wood grain. Very pleasing. I seem to remember reading a post about developing a game based on DaVinci's drawings a few months ago. Was that you? Any more info about the gameplay? It looks like a puzzle game where you have to construct things based on the blue prints, or maybe fill in the 'missing pieces'.
@MidianGTX - Are you spying on our offices or something? We are putting in interesting facts about DaVinci and his work between levels. We're still building up the objects in the game, trying to provide a number of ways to solve the 'machines' in the game. Will put up some more screens as those get done. Level editor may not make it into the first build due to the way we're doing some of the background static objects for the game. We're using an external editor at the moment, but we're looking for ways to integrate it in-game. One thing I forgot to mention is that the game uses real physics, including gravity, forces, elasticity, restitution, etc. Makes things a bit more complex, but provides a nice level of unpredictability which makes for great replay. We're also trying to keep with the theme of the game, and base it on the era of DaVinci's time (with certain artistic liberties, of course -- we're trying to create a fun game). We may look to expand our base of playtesters. We'll post here once we're ready. @Hodapp, you're on the list. @Nausicaa - Wasnt us (darn competition!). Thanks for the kind words, everyone. Puts an extra spring in our step (and a few more hours a day codin').
I have many books about DaVinci, his life, his Art, his anatomic researching and his unbelievable constructions. The game looks like a Crazy Machines, combines with the Artworks of Leonardo. Instant buy for me.
You spoke. We listened. We coded. The in-game editor will be part of the initial release. We're working out some of the kinks now, and commissioning the art for the interface aspects of it. We're working on the OpenFeint integration as well, and are looking to use the Challenges feature for players to share their levels, and stump their friends. Time allowing, we may also integrate a Submit feature where you will submit levels for consideration to be integrated in the game in future updates. Also looking at allowing a player to choose their own background pictures for the levels, but we have to see how that works out with the existing UI elements. It's padded about a week into our schedule, but we feel its worth it to give players a quality game, instead of the crap that's flooding the store these days. Our schedule looks something like this right now: Editor->OpenFeint->Music->Levels->Polish, Polish, Polish.
Some more screenshots. Options screen and some of the first few levels. Still playtesting the first 10, making adjustments, so these may change by the time we finish. Options screen Some early levels More pics soon. Working hard to get the levels 'tight' and to think up frustratingly hard levels The UI still has some dev elements, and couple things that still need to be changed, but we like to keep folks in the loop, so there ya go.
I cant get one past you guys. Was futzing around with the opacities and forgot to change it back. Nice catch! Obligatory screenshot:
game looks awesome, been waiting for another in this genre since finishing crazy machines ages ago definately keepin my eyes on this
