Hello, I made a complete translation of the game in French and I wanted to know if I could share it to introduce this game to more people? If you want I can send you the file.
Thank you, that's very kind of you. You can send the file to grahf.metal@gmail.com if you like. we may revisit the game to add some new options and if we do, we can certainly look at adding the French text as well (with credit to you, of course). We don't have an idea if/when this will happen, but we will try our best :D
No, there isn't, unfortunately. We didn't add windowed mode until our second game, Spectacle. The only way around it is to Alt+Enter for the 1:1 size window and then Alt+Space to Maximize the window or resize from there
Let me start by saying, that I think this project is absolutely fantastic. It's fun and definitely brings back some nostalgia. I grew up in the 90's playing Shadowgate for NES and always found the MacVenture games to be amazing. I was always pretty disappointed that there were so few of them. I was working on a Shadowgate video for my channel and BAM! You popped up! "Infested" is such a great ride and it makes me so happy to see that people are making these style of games again. I was actually planning on learning how to code so I could create my own tribute to the genre.
Grahfmetal, I greatly appreciate the work that your team has done and look forward to playing "Spectacle" next. Please, please, PLEASE, tell me you guys have another project you're currently working on because I'm so geeked on this first game, that you probably have a fanboy for life due to the incredible amount of respect I have for you guys.
(By the way, loved the "Lakmir" and "ICOM" references. Top notch!)
Thank you, that means so much to us that you enjoyed the game as much as you did :D
It's really wonderful seeing so many Shadowgate fans out there that appreciate this niche sub-genre. I also grew up on these games and eagerly anticipated a fourth NES game in the series, which I predicted would be on a space ship, but it never happened, so we figured why not make it ourselves.
Have you played Deja Vu or Uninvited for the NES? Spectacle is actually an unofficial prequel to Uninvited, so if you like references and easter eggs, than that game has plenty!
Thanks again and we really hope you enjoy Spectacle. It would be awesome to see you make a tribute to the genre. There's a few devs out there currently making "shadowgate"-style games, so it would be great to bring this sub-genre back full swing :D
Hey, this game was great! There were some really subtle but cool nods to the old ICOM games in there. I really liked how the power switch killed the synth track in the music, too. Really subtle, but a nice touch.
Came across one bug in the game - if you try to use the self destruct code on yourself, it uses the game-over scene for eating a CHEM.
If you have plans on adding more to the game, you should add another death scene either if you stay on the ship for too long near the end, or if you walk into any rooms you don't need to use between the crypto port and the bay (as a punishment for not making it out IMMINENTly).
Overall, though this game was really fun to play through. The original Kemco games on the NES have been some of my favourite games of all time, and I really appreciate that somebody has taken the time to pay homage to them and create some new games like them! I'm really looking forward to trying out SPECTACLE in the near future :D
Having an actual timer or any sort of scripted death during the escape actually caused a lot of issues when testing, so we figured we'd drop it and let the player assume they need to be as quick as possible. Most players don't even notice :D
The NES trilogy are among our favorite games as well, so we're glad people think we did them justice. I hope to see more and more devs tackle this sub genre, for sure
Just finished this little gem. I might have found a bug, if you use the boots and the suit right after finding them instead of when you're supposed to be able to go outside the ship it's as if you didn't find or equip the boots and you're sucked out in space anyway. I started all over again and i used the items right before going outside and everything worked fine.
Jeff, Jason and Orie — I just want say thank you for this fantastic game. I grew up playing Shadowgate, Uninvited, Deja Vu, as well as countless other point-and-click adventure games. Nothing has haunted me (in a lasting, good way) more than my experiences with Shadowgate. I stumbled upon INFESTED when checking on updates for some horror games I was following. I immediately downloaded and installed INFESTED when I saw the KEMCO influence. I don't like reading about a game's contents or reviews if I can help it — so what followed was a completely blind (no commentary) playthrough of the game:
INFESTED absolutely nails tribute to those NES era games in design, graphics, audio and presentation. To top it all off, it takes place in a unique setting that those games never occupied — unless you include beyond a certain mirror). I felt that same horrifying dread from decades ago return as I stepped into new rooms, never sure when I was safe from harm. Lastly, the music is outstanding and completely nails the "macabre whimsy" that the NES-era games had. If INFESTED is any indication of quality, I know SPECTACLE is going to be quite an experience. I will be doing a blind playthrough of SPECTACLE soon.
I have read every single comment on this page as of this post and it seems everyone shares the same sentiment. If I had any additional criticisms, it'd have to be the following:
The game's setting/atmosphere was so engrossing that the rare typos momentarily took me out of the experience. I'm sure you've moved onto SPECTACLE updates and other projects, but if you are interested, I'd be more than happy to do another thorough pass of INFESTED to grab all the typos I could find if you ever feel like correcting them.
As you can see in my blind playthrough above (at 12:50), I tossed the "BLOOD PACK" at the slime creature but then spent the entirety of my playthrough worrying if there was a hidden time limit. This is because of the one bit of text that says, "It is very focused on the bloodpack, for the moment." The "for the moment" led me to believe that the slime creature was only temporarily distracted ("How many screen transitions or actions can I take until it eats the blood and finds me or kills me when I pass it?"), when in reality, it was in a permanent state of 'occupied until disturbed'. I felt like my time limit worries were justified because, in addition to the above, my suspension of disbelief could only stretch so far: This thing rips me apart and devours me whole — with that kind of ferocious hunger, a "BLOOD PACK" shouldn't last that long! It would have been really helpful if after tossing the "BLOOD PACK" at the slime creature that the text said something like, "Satiated, it seems to have stopped moving. Better not get too close." (I wouldn't dare suggest an additional sprite of the slime creature with its eyes closed, though that would be amazing.) That way, if a player does any of the wrong things the game currently has programmed, it can 'wake up' per usual and attack the player when 'disturbed' from eating the "BLOOD PACK".
As you can see in my blind playthrough above (at 18:06), I end up tossing in "CHEM.A" before I even knew there was a mixture that would need to be made — I especially didn't know that there was a specific formula. To top it off, I didn't even know why I was putting "CHEM.A" in there, just that I thought I could maybe kill the man-eater plant in the vent that I found in the beginning. My point is, I hadn't even seen the actual roots in the Lab yet, nor that there was a sprinkler in there. I feel as though there isn't a logical reason that the player's character would think to dump chemicals in there so soon (and arguably even less-so for players themselves). I think it would be more effective if the player said, "I think it's best not to mess with this yet," when attempting to OPEN or USE the nutrient injector — or at the very least, when they are trying to put things into it. Then, when the player investigates the "SLIME SLIDE" and the formula is revealed, they could then be able to USE the nutrient injector or put things into it. I know that this adds a few mandatory steps in order to complete the game but this would only affect speedrunners as a new player would need to find out the formula anyways. Ever since I put in that first "CHEM.A", I spent the entirety of my playthrough, up until I finally killed the plants, worrying if I had broken the game or created a "walking dead" scenario.
I know these suggestions add a lot more work to the game (especially the last two), but they had a profound impact on the game's feel for me. While my criticisms take up more than half of my post, it's only because I wanted to be as descriptive and thorough as possible. This game is absolutely phenomenal, and like others have stated, I would gladly pay money for continued games of this genre & caliber.
Thank you for your hard work, dedication and passion. You've made such a phenomenal creation.
Thank you so much. It brought us so much reading your comment. It's so amazing meeting so many passionate Shadowgate fans on here. When I (Jeff) was younger I eagerly anticipated the 4th entry in the NES series and predicted it would be on a space station, but when it never came, I was sad that the sub-genre kinda died off. Cut to many years later and we decided lets make it ourselves for fun and take a nostalgic trip. We actually thought that only a handful of people would play it and we never thought we would get so many amazing messages from awesome people :D
As for the criticisms and suggestions; they're all spot on and excellent ideas. We LOVE receiving constructive criticism and feedback, it's made us want to revisit Infested for a while now in order to do some tweeking here and there, which we may yet still do. We actually considered reworking the Chemical puzzle so that you NEED to use a slime sample on the slide and microscope first before dumping any of the chemicals.
The blood pack "...for the moment" quote is actually something I never really thought of beyond "This'll make the player sweat". But I like the idea of it being satiated and stop moving unless you disturb it.
As for the typos; no need to do a pass, we've already done that, but we really appreciate the offer. That means a lot
Thanks again for your comment, it means the world to us to read stuff like this and hear about other fans of the sub genre. Also, thanks for the video, I'll be checking that out very shortly.
Hope you enjoy Spectacle, if you're a fan of Uninvited than there's a few treats in there for you :D
I just finished playing this, and I wanted to say that I had a lot of fun. The music, the artstyle, and the gameplay were great, and I really enjoyed the game. I also liked the little details, such as the music changing slightly when the power is turned off. I also liked that dying only sends you back one room instead of forcing you to replay chunks of the game, as I felt that I could try out more things just to see what would happen.
I was really excited to check out this game. The description and comments led me to think it was a modern addition to the very niche menu-based point and click genre. But unfortunately, I was disappointed with what I found. The lack of an EAT verb (a staple of "MacVentures") soured my experience right from the start. And when I discovered I could not defeat the slime monster with the stethoscope (a classic trope), I knew this was a shallow attempt at recreating "MacVenture" games. I couldn't bring myself to play beyond that point.
jokes aside, this game was awesome, as literally every other person has pointed out :) excellent work. i look forward to spectacle's release!
That's very kind of you, thanks, but we're not going to add a payment option until our next game that's coming out in the new year. In the meantime if you would like to donate than how about purchasing the soundtrack on Bandcamp. That would mean a lot to us :D
Awesome write-up. Thanks a lot and I'm glad you like it! Stay tuned for our next game "Spectacle", another MacVenture style adventure game, but in 16-bit with mythological themes, mainly Arabian Nights with a few Greek Mythos peppered in ;)
My first experience was watching an older person play through Shadowgate at a house party. I was just a kid but others sat around and watch the guy go through it. We were all captivated. I loved the cryptic puzzles, creepy isolated vibe, and how the castle became deeper and more mysterious. *spoiler* In Infested, I was just killed by the pilot and didn't see it coming. That is also a major element I think you nailed.
Thank you very much! Always glad to hear that we captured the feel of the originals. We were planning on making it more challenging with stuff like moon logic and unwinnables, but figured we'd tone it down to introduce newer gamers to the genre while maintaining the nostalgia
You could probably fit the moon logic and one-pixel-clickables into an optional hard difficulty setting -- introducing a few additional puzzles that only come up for people who are actively going for the Full Experience. Maybe one of the keycards is broken, so you have to glue the two pieces together with partially-chewed gum that's stuck to the bottom of one of the magboots, or the chemical recipe is found only in a PDF manual as copy-protection, or ....
The game we're working on now actually does have a, well, sort of moon logic puzzle. It literally involves the moon and it's pretty logical...so I guess it's a "logical moon puzzle"? ;)
I post occassionally on Twitter @GrahMetal. No ETA yet, but the graphics, story, design, etc. Are all complete, now we're putting it all together whenever have free time :D
Thanks for your support! We just started work on our next adventure game "Spectacle" which takes place in a fantasy world with some Arabian Nights inspired environments and monsters. The game also features a Day/Night mechanic and an outdoor map to mix up the formula a bit. There's no date yet for release, but I'll keep updating this comment section as well as my Twitter @GrahfMetal with new info and sneak peeks.
Not quite. Its 95% done, we just had to put it on hold for the last year cause of personal, work and family engagements, but It should be done soon. Sorry for the long wait :D
Hello! I admire these types of games, especially uninvited and shadowgate. I saw your work and I absolutely love it! I want to make these types of games myself, and I am interested on how you did it in game maker. I would appreciate it if we talk about . Love this dude! Here is my email in case: blackrossilupin@gmail.com
I'm afraid the visual grand epics like the classics are far beyond the scope of my humble little games, unless you are refering to the religious aspect, to which I don't do religion or politics
No Infested 2, but in the future I'd love to make another game (or two) in this style. I have a few ideas I'm playing around with and on my free time I'm working on some concepts
Will there be a "Pirate" theme menu-based point and click game? Or a western theme menu-based point and click game? Maybe even a Pre-historic theme menu-based point and click game? Possibly a menu-based point and click game that takes place in Egypt or a menu-based point and click game that takes places in the setting of the timeline of the movie "The 10 Commandments"
The one I'm currently working on, Spirit Quest, is Arabian Nights themed in 16-bit. It will have more of a focus on Spells and visual puzzles. It will also feature Day and Night cycles. It's rather ambitious so it'll be a while before it's done.
I hope you can also make a "MacVenture" style game in the format of "Shadowgate" "Uninvited" "Deja Vu" & "Infested" that takes place in Egypt. Also 1 that takes place in either Antarctica or Alaska. Plus 1 that takes place in Japan.
I had been interested in trying Shadowgate for the first time. At the sametime though I was also curious what other similar games there were out there, and when I did a google search, I came across Infested.
Played it yesterday and really enjoyed it! I must say you totally nailed it! I really hope to see another game from you soon.
Thank you very much, I'm very happy you enjoyed it :D
Make sure to try out Deja-Vu and Uninvited from the makers of Shadowgate as well. It would be nice to make more "Shadowgate" style games for sure and hopefully we'll be able to sooner than later :D
I hope you can a "Western" theme menu-based point and click game after "Spirit Quest" and the "Nature" theme menu based point and click game have been made okay?
I really wish I could say more, but this game is just perfect. I loved the music, the art, the sounds, the puzzles, the interface... it's literally perfect. The only complaint is that you don't have more of these to play. I wouldn't have minded if this one was longer and with some slightly more involved puzzles. It was really a treat to play. This is a top notch example on how to make a game in the same/similar style or genre. I would love to see you make more just like this as well as higher resolution versions with the same/similar interface. (updated/improved versions of this style) and with different story genres. Keep up the amazing work. I look forward to seeing more from you! Thank you for letting us play!
Wow! Thank you so much for these wonderful words. This means so much to us to hear that we achieved what we set out to accomplish with this tribute. I'm very glad you enjoyed it. We have a couple similar "Shadowgate-style" projects on the back-burner, but work and life obligations have been getting in the way. Hopefully We'll make the time to release another game like this
You're very welcome. It's great to see a project come to completion and that's done with such love, care, and attention to detail as well as seeing a team take real pride in their work. I totally understand that sentiment and can't wait to play those future projects.
Hi! I was just playing Uninvited the other day when I saw this. Very excited to play it. If only every classic game series got sequels made like that look and sound as authentic as this! I'm having some trouble running the Mac version. It runs but nothing comes up on screen. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. I hope I can get it working. You guys have obviously worked really hard and it shows.
Sorry, unfortunately none of us are Mac experts and it works fine on one of our Macs, so we don't know what the problem could be. We've looked into it but don't really have any idea. Really sorry about that. Otherwise; thanks for the kind words, we really appreciate it
also i hope your programmer doesnt take it personally but i found a really fun glitch where if you enter an input before a dialog box fully pops up (easy to do by mashing the hot keys), the box wont prevent you from taking actions. you have to memorize where certain stuff is on the screen but thats definitely got more potential than i got out of it
edit: i uploaded a small sample, as you can see it makes the game very fast! i didnt get a lot of practice with it yet though, it's a very temperamental trick despite being very simple.
Awesome! I'm so glad you're getting so much out of this game, that means a lot. We're actually aware of that exploit and I sometime use it myself, to be honest. We kept it in cause it's a fun little speed-running trick. There's actually another little trick you might figure out down the road ;) . Do you plan on uploading any playthroughs on YouTube? We'd love to check it out.
That's an incredible time. About 3 1/2 min. faster than my own time. Good stuff :D
oh awesome! im glad you left it in haha, it feels great when you can get a bunch in a row. i might post a demo soon - im pretty sure i have the route nailed down but ive been testing your logic looking for another little thing to skip (being able to head toward the bridge area first cuts out a huge portion of backtracking & lets you do basically everything you need to on the other side at once). gotta hand it to ya, its really robust!
oh suddenly im curious if i could override a death scene by moving to a different room or something before it activates. the only use i could think would be on the way to get the coords but hey an idea's an idea. edit: this does not work haha
What a gorgeous tribute to a forgotten genre. The music, the pacing, the writing, the art, it's all spectacular. I know you're past this, but if you were to make more and release them on Steam, I bet it could be lucrative for you. (I want more, waaah) Thanks for all your hard work on this project (everyone involved).
Thank you so much, that means the world to us. I'm currently working on another "shadowgate" style game and when the three of us have the time we'll definitely put it together. I'm glad to see more and more people looking forward to games like these, they've always been a favorite of mine :D
I'd thought about making an NES Macventure-esque game for years, but feared I'd never match the overall feeling the original three gave me when I was a kid. You've accomplished it perfectly. I hope to see more from you guys someday. Thank you for making this.
Thank you so much for playing it and thank you for the kind words. It's always very satisfying to hear that players got their nostalgic macverse fix playing the game :D
Just wanted to mention that for years, I've been yearning for a romhack, an indie game, anything, in the style of the old MacVenture games on NES, and not only does this game fit the bill, but this is easily one of the best adventure games I've ever played. In a lot of ways this game even surpasses the quality of the originals. Thank you so much for making this! I'm sharing this on my social media and buying the soundtrack!
Thank you very much for the kind words and for the support. Very glad this game was what you were looking for as we too were yearning for a return of the NES MacVenture style game :D
Awesome! Thanks for playing. I love the CRT filter, that's a good touch. I always enjoy watching play-throughs and seeing those gleeful moments of discovery after some frustration and deaths. I look forward to seeing the rest.
I was curious... Do you have any other projects like this; or links to any other similar point and click adventure games that have been released in the last few years? I tried very carefully to read the entire comments thread before posting here. I see you are currently engaged in a "Spirit Quest." Sounds super exciting!! :) Any input would make a super-bored kid über-happy!
Nothing else, unfortunately. I'm currently working on another game [Spirit Quest] on the side but I don't know when that will be completed. Hopefully next year. As for other similar point and click games; I can't think of any off the top of my head that are specifically this style. Actually, the reason we made this was because nobody else was really making Shadowgate style games
Well, thanks just the same! I was elated when I saw this brew. I can't thank you enough for bringing something such as this to our minds and eyes. Took me FOREVER to figure out what to throw at that darned switch to suck that creature out. I admit to cheating... once. I looked at a walkthrough and saw where there was that "carbon rock" in the grating. I was stuck on that for an hour. So, great challenge there. I played it through four times. A bit short, but I'm delighted just the same. I can't wait for your next one!I'll keep checking every month here to see if there are any updates. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for your kind words. Very happy you enjoyed it. It was a huge relief when we saw how many people were craving an old-school point and click like this. I hope I can have some new updates soon :D
Wow, ICOM Simulations has done Fantasy, Detective Noir, and Haunted Houses, and now they've even done Sci-Fi!
Wait, this wasn't done by ICOM?
In all seriousness, this was a fantastic game. About as long as the actual ICOM Simulation Macventures (At least on the first playthrough, perhaps slightly shorter when going through it a second time, which is really just a speedrun like the others), and just as fun.
Given the resurgence of Point and Clicks in recent years, if something like this was slightly expanded, or perhaps a new game in the style altogether, Macventures having always been my favorite style of Point and Click games, I honestly wouldn't think twice about buying this. Hell, for five dollars or so I probably would have bought this anyway.
It has the same pitfalls that the Macventures did, with cheap deaths and whatnot, but you did keep the NES mechanic of starting a screen prior to death. Also, being able to simply right click to close is pretty handy, although the text speed is a bit slow and can't be skipped like in the NES games, the text is also a bit too close together at points, and the while the screen transitions use the same sprites as the NES games, though don't animate as fluidly. Those are all really minor complaints, but it's otherwise a fantastically put together little game. I'll likely revisit it before I do Deja Vu at least.
Thank you so much. Any complaints you have, minor or not, are certainly welcome as that allows us to improve for next time so, thanks for the awesome feedback and I'm very glad you enjoyed it. I wanted the game to be free so everyone can be introduced to this wonderful style of game and so "old-school" gamers like us can take a trip down memory lane. Of course, if you would like to donate than you should consider purchasing the soundtrack by Orie Falconer. We would greatly appreciate that :D https://oriefalconer.bandcamp.com/album/infested-original-soundtrack-2
What a fantastic game! I'm a huge fan of those classic NES "MacVenture" games, and this was, well, definitely one of them, heh.
My only big complaints are there's no way to make the text appear quickly (like you could in the NES ones), and that thing where a word starts to appear on one line before suddenly jumping down to the next after realizing there's not enough room (it just looks really unprofessional).
Also a shame there was no "You messed up!" music before dying, though I think only Uninvited had that...
But I really liked how examining everything gave plenty of hints on what to do, and I especially liked finding things I could do before finding out why they're necessary (like being able to turn the power off), plus the inclusion of "useless" items, especially with how most of them you can't tell they're going to be useless until the very end.
Oh, and I especially liked how, if you die from the infection, the counter resets when you continue (just like with that ruby in Uninvited).
In any case, great job on this! I definitely enjoyed it!
Thank you very much. I really appreciate feedback and constructive criticism 'cause it helps me improve for future projects and you made some really good points here. I'll definitely keep them in mind and I'm glad you enjoyed it :D
Unfortunately we can't create any Linux builds at the moment, but it is something we could do in the future! We will post any updates here if it happens
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Just found this wonderful little gem of an adventure. Are there any options for adjusting the in-game sound/volume?
Thank you. Unfortunately no, we only added that in our follow-up game. Sorry about that
:here's a walkthrough made by Seclusionloner
also record 1500 on green wall machine
and put chemical A twice in vent machine and then put chemical B once in vent machine and then put chemical C twice in the vent machine
Hello,
I made a complete translation of the game in French and I wanted to know if I could share it to introduce this game to more people?
If you want I can send you the file.
Thank you, that's very kind of you. You can send the file to grahf.metal@gmail.com if you like. we may revisit the game to add some new options and if we do, we can certainly look at adding the French text as well (with credit to you, of course). We don't have an idea if/when this will happen, but we will try our best :D
is there a windowed version?
No, there isn't, unfortunately. We didn't add windowed mode until our second game, Spectacle. The only way around it is to Alt+Enter for the 1:1 size window and then Alt+Space to Maximize the window or resize from there
ok thanks
i was just clicking around and ended up jumping out the lab window and dying on accident. lol
Let me start by saying, that I think this project is absolutely fantastic. It's fun and definitely brings back some nostalgia. I grew up in the 90's playing Shadowgate for NES and always found the MacVenture games to be amazing. I was always pretty disappointed that there were so few of them. I was working on a Shadowgate video for my channel and BAM! You popped up! "Infested" is such a great ride and it makes me so happy to see that people are making these style of games again. I was actually planning on learning how to code so I could create my own tribute to the genre.
Grahfmetal, I greatly appreciate the work that your team has done and look forward to playing "Spectacle" next. Please, please, PLEASE, tell me you guys have another project you're currently working on because I'm so geeked on this first game, that you probably have a fanboy for life due to the incredible amount of respect I have for you guys.
(By the way, loved the "Lakmir" and "ICOM" references. Top notch!)
Thank you, that means so much to us that you enjoyed the game as much as you did :D
It's really wonderful seeing so many Shadowgate fans out there that appreciate this niche sub-genre. I also grew up on these games and eagerly anticipated a fourth NES game in the series, which I predicted would be on a space ship, but it never happened, so we figured why not make it ourselves.
Have you played Deja Vu or Uninvited for the NES? Spectacle is actually an unofficial prequel to Uninvited, so if you like references and easter eggs, than that game has plenty!
Thanks again and we really hope you enjoy Spectacle. It would be awesome to see you make a tribute to the genre. There's a few devs out there currently making "shadowgate"-style games, so it would be great to bring this sub-genre back full swing :D
Hey, this game was great! There were some really subtle but cool nods to the old ICOM games in there. I really liked how the power switch killed the synth track in the music, too. Really subtle, but a nice touch.
Came across one bug in the game - if you try to use the self destruct code on yourself, it uses the game-over scene for eating a CHEM.
If you have plans on adding more to the game, you should add another death scene either if you stay on the ship for too long near the end, or if you walk into any rooms you don't need to use between the crypto port and the bay (as a punishment for not making it out IMMINENTly).
Overall, though this game was really fun to play through. The original Kemco games on the NES have been some of my favourite games of all time, and I really appreciate that somebody has taken the time to pay homage to them and create some new games like them! I'm really looking forward to trying out SPECTACLE in the near future :D
Thanks you very much, glad you had fun :D
Having an actual timer or any sort of scripted death during the escape actually caused a lot of issues when testing, so we figured we'd drop it and let the player assume they need to be as quick as possible. Most players don't even notice :D
The NES trilogy are among our favorite games as well, so we're glad people think we did them justice. I hope to see more and more devs tackle this sub genre, for sure
Just finished this little gem. I might have found a bug, if you use the boots and the suit right after finding them instead of when you're supposed to be able to go outside the ship it's as if you didn't find or equip the boots and you're sucked out in space anyway. I started all over again and i used the items right before going outside and everything worked fine.
Weird, just played through the game today and it worked fine for me. Maybe it's been patched recently?
Thanks for the heads up on that bug, we'll definitely check that out. Glad you enjoyed the game :D
Hello, will we have the chance to see this game translated into French?
I can help if needed.
Hi, unfortunately there are no plans on updating Infested for the time being, but we appreciate the offer, thanks.
If sometime in the future we do revisit the game we'll certainly consider adding languages for sure :D
pt-br brazil? :D
Jeff, Jason and Orie — I just want say thank you for this fantastic game. I grew up playing Shadowgate, Uninvited, Deja Vu, as well as countless other point-and-click adventure games. Nothing has haunted me (in a lasting, good way) more than my experiences with Shadowgate. I stumbled upon INFESTED when checking on updates for some horror games I was following. I immediately downloaded and installed INFESTED when I saw the KEMCO influence. I don't like reading about a game's contents or reviews if I can help it — so what followed was a completely blind (no commentary) playthrough of the game:
INFESTED absolutely nails tribute to those NES era games in design, graphics, audio and presentation. To top it all off, it takes place in a unique setting that those games never occupied — unless you include beyond a certain mirror). I felt that same horrifying dread from decades ago return as I stepped into new rooms, never sure when I was safe from harm. Lastly, the music is outstanding and completely nails the "macabre whimsy" that the NES-era games had. If INFESTED is any indication of quality, I know SPECTACLE is going to be quite an experience. I will be doing a blind playthrough of SPECTACLE soon.
I have read every single comment on this page as of this post and it seems everyone shares the same sentiment. If I had any additional criticisms, it'd have to be the following:
I know these suggestions add a lot more work to the game (especially the last two), but they had a profound impact on the game's feel for me. While my criticisms take up more than half of my post, it's only because I wanted to be as descriptive and thorough as possible. This game is absolutely phenomenal, and like others have stated, I would gladly pay money for continued games of this genre & caliber.
Thank you for your hard work, dedication and passion. You've made such a phenomenal creation.
Thank you so much. It brought us so much reading your comment. It's so amazing meeting so many passionate Shadowgate fans on here. When I (Jeff) was younger I eagerly anticipated the 4th entry in the NES series and predicted it would be on a space station, but when it never came, I was sad that the sub-genre kinda died off. Cut to many years later and we decided lets make it ourselves for fun and take a nostalgic trip. We actually thought that only a handful of people would play it and we never thought we would get so many amazing messages from awesome people :D
As for the criticisms and suggestions; they're all spot on and excellent ideas. We LOVE receiving constructive criticism and feedback, it's made us want to revisit Infested for a while now in order to do some tweeking here and there, which we may yet still do. We actually considered reworking the Chemical puzzle so that you NEED to use a slime sample on the slide and microscope first before dumping any of the chemicals.
The blood pack "...for the moment" quote is actually something I never really thought of beyond "This'll make the player sweat". But I like the idea of it being satiated and stop moving unless you disturb it.
As for the typos; no need to do a pass, we've already done that, but we really appreciate the offer. That means a lot
Thanks again for your comment, it means the world to us to read stuff like this and hear about other fans of the sub genre. Also, thanks for the video, I'll be checking that out very shortly.
Hope you enjoy Spectacle, if you're a fan of Uninvited than there's a few treats in there for you :D
Can I port this awesome game to the NES?
That would be amazing, but sadly the file is too big and it doesn't use the NES' colour palette :(
No problem, I think I can handle it. Do I have your permission to try it at least?
As of right now, I'd rather not, but we'll see how things go down the road, for sure.
It's a pity that we can't play this game on a real NES console. Anyway, if you change your mind, send me an email to andre.paris@gmail.com
You know it would be quite funny that if someone ended up making a doom mod about this game.
I would definitely be fine with that :
Is the game finished and needs no more updates?
yes, its finished
I just finished playing this, and I wanted to say that I had a lot of fun. The music, the artstyle, and the gameplay were great, and I really enjoyed the game. I also liked the little details, such as the music changing slightly when the power is turned off. I also liked that dying only sends you back one room instead of forcing you to replay chunks of the game, as I felt that I could try out more things just to see what would happen.
Thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed it :D
I was really excited to check out this game. The description and comments led me to think it was a modern addition to the very niche menu-based point and click genre. But unfortunately, I was disappointed with what I found. The lack of an EAT verb (a staple of "MacVentures") soured my experience right from the start. And when I discovered I could not defeat the slime monster with the stethoscope (a classic trope), I knew this was a shallow attempt at recreating "MacVenture" games. I couldn't bring myself to play beyond that point.
jokes aside, this game was awesome, as literally every other person has pointed out :) excellent work. i look forward to spectacle's release!
I don't think any of the NES ports had the EAT option (though I could be wrong). As I recall, it was replaced by [USE]ing an item on [SELF]
Would love to be able to donate to you. Can you make that an option?
That's very kind of you, thanks, but we're not going to add a payment option until our next game that's coming out in the new year. In the meantime if you would like to donate than how about purchasing the soundtrack on Bandcamp. That would mean a lot to us :D
https://oriefalconer.bandcamp.com/album/infested-original-soundtrack-2
Oh didn't know there was a soundtrack. Will gladly get that. Thanks!
Just stumbled across this and had a blast. Just like the old classics (but slightly more forgiving). Did a quick write up:
https://newretrogames.wordpress.com/2019/10/02/infested/
Awesome write-up. Thanks a lot and I'm glad you like it! Stay tuned for our next game "Spectacle", another MacVenture style adventure game, but in 16-bit with mythological themes, mainly Arabian Nights with a few Greek Mythos peppered in ;)
I'm on a trip and playing this in my van at night. It's really nice to feel like this micro genre is still alive. I'm stuck and I like that? :)
I'm really glad you're enjoying it. We wanted to keep this sub genre alive cause it meant so much to us when we were younger :D
My first experience was watching an older person play through Shadowgate at a house party. I was just a kid but others sat around and watch the guy go through it. We were all captivated. I loved the cryptic puzzles, creepy isolated vibe, and how the castle became deeper and more mysterious. *spoiler* In Infested, I was just killed by the pilot and didn't see it coming. That is also a major element I think you nailed.
Really nice work. It captures the feel of those games without the frustration of accidentally-unwinnable situations.
Thank you very much! Always glad to hear that we captured the feel of the originals. We were planning on making it more challenging with stuff like moon logic and unwinnables, but figured we'd tone it down to introduce newer gamers to the genre while maintaining the nostalgia
You could probably fit the moon logic and one-pixel-clickables into an optional hard difficulty setting -- introducing a few additional puzzles that only come up for people who are actively going for the Full Experience. Maybe one of the keycards is broken, so you have to glue the two pieces together with partially-chewed gum that's stuck to the bottom of one of the magboots, or the chemical recipe is found only in a PDF manual as copy-protection, or ....
The game we're working on now actually does have a, well, sort of moon logic puzzle. It literally involves the moon and it's pretty logical...so I guess it's a "logical moon puzzle"? ;)
Hah, cool! Where's the best place to keep updated about your next game? Still too early for ETAs?
I post occassionally on Twitter @GrahMetal. No ETA yet, but the graphics, story, design, etc. Are all complete, now we're putting it all together whenever have free time :D
How?
I just started playing Infested and I am blown away! Thank you so much for continuing this great legacy of this style of game!
I will play everything you make in this style! Thanks again for your hard work!Thanks for your support! We just started work on our next adventure game "Spectacle" which takes place in a fantasy world with some Arabian Nights inspired environments and monsters. The game also features a Day/Night mechanic and an outdoor map to mix up the formula a bit. There's no date yet for release, but I'll keep updating this comment section as well as my Twitter @GrahfMetal with new info and sneak peeks.
Is "Spectacle" ready yet?
Not quite. Its 95% done, we just had to put it on hold for the last year cause of personal, work and family engagements, but It should be done soon. Sorry for the long wait :D
That's okay let me know once it's ready.
Putting the finishing touches on the game and doing some final testing. Should be very soon. It'll be available on this itch.io page :D
Not very much "Alien deaths"
I am unable to unistall this game. Every time I try unistalling it through the Itch app, it fails. :/
Edit: Restarting Itch helped.
Hello! I admire these types of games, especially uninvited and shadowgate. I saw your work and I absolutely love it! I want to make these types of games myself, and I am interested on how you did it in game maker. I would appreciate it if we talk about . Love this dude! Here is my email in case: blackrossilupin@gmail.com
Remarkable, atmospheric homace to the adventure 8bit nes. I wanted to ask if there is a window display option to do a video of this adventure?
Thank you very much, that's much appreciated. Unfortunately there is no window display option at this time. Sorry about that
Will you GrahfMetal make a menu-based point and click game based off of "The Ten Commandments" which is a religious movie from 1956 but modernized?
I'm afraid the visual grand epics like the classics are far beyond the scope of my humble little games, unless you are refering to the religious aspect, to which I don't do religion or politics
Could you make a "Nature" themed menu based point and click game?
Once I finish the game I'm currently working on I'll think of the next idea, but thanks for all the suggestions
Will there ever be an "Infested 2"?
No Infested 2, but in the future I'd love to make another game (or two) in this style. I have a few ideas I'm playing around with and on my free time I'm working on some concepts
Will there be a "Pirate" theme menu-based point and click game? Or a western theme menu-based point and click game? Maybe even a Pre-historic theme menu-based point and click game? Possibly a menu-based point and click game that takes place in Egypt or a menu-based point and click game that takes places in the setting of the timeline of the movie "The 10 Commandments"
The one I'm currently working on, Spirit Quest, is Arabian Nights themed in 16-bit. It will have more of a focus on Spells and visual puzzles. It will also feature Day and Night cycles. It's rather ambitious so it'll be a while before it's done.
I will love it when it's done. Let me know when it's done GrahfMetal i'm so happy i can't wait.
I hope after "Spirit Quest" you can make a western theme menu-based point and click game.
I hope you can also make a "MacVenture" style game in the format of "Shadowgate" "Uninvited" "Deja Vu" & "Infested" that takes place in Egypt. Also 1 that takes place in either Antarctica or Alaska. Plus 1 that takes place in Japan.
I had been interested in trying Shadowgate for the first time. At the sametime though I was also curious what other similar games there were out there, and when I did a google search, I came across Infested.
Played it yesterday and really enjoyed it! I must say you totally nailed it! I really hope to see another game from you soon.
Thank you very much, I'm very happy you enjoyed it :D
Make sure to try out Deja-Vu and Uninvited from the makers of Shadowgate as well. It would be nice to make more "Shadowgate" style games for sure and hopefully we'll be able to sooner than later :D
I hope you can a "Western" theme menu-based point and click game after "Spirit Quest" and the "Nature" theme menu based point and click game have been made okay?
I really wish I could say more, but this game is just perfect. I loved the music, the art, the sounds, the puzzles, the interface... it's literally perfect.
The only complaint is that you don't have more of these to play. I wouldn't have minded if this one was longer and with some slightly more involved puzzles. It was really a treat to play.
This is a top notch example on how to make a game in the same/similar style or genre.
I would love to see you make more just like this as well as higher resolution versions with the same/similar interface. (updated/improved versions of this style) and with different story genres. Keep up the amazing work. I look forward to seeing more from you! Thank you for letting us play!
Wow! Thank you so much for these wonderful words. This means so much to us to hear that we achieved what we set out to accomplish with this tribute. I'm very glad you enjoyed it. We have a couple similar "Shadowgate-style" projects on the back-burner, but work and life obligations have been getting in the way. Hopefully We'll make the time to release another game like this
You're very welcome. It's great to see a project come to completion and that's done with such love, care, and attention to detail as well as seeing a team take real pride in their work. I totally understand that sentiment and can't wait to play those future projects.
Hi! I was just playing Uninvited the other day when I saw this. Very excited to play it. If only every classic game series got sequels made like that look and sound as authentic as this! I'm having some trouble running the Mac version. It runs but nothing comes up on screen. Any ideas? Thanks in advance. I hope I can get it working. You guys have obviously worked really hard and it shows.
Sorry, unfortunately none of us are Mac experts and it works fine on one of our Macs, so we don't know what the problem could be. We've looked into it but don't really have any idea. Really sorry about that. Otherwise; thanks for the kind words, we really appreciate it
im kind of obsessed with speedrunning these games, i managed to get from start to finish in 7:41 if anyone wants to try and beat that haha =)
amazing game, grahf. good scenario, great music, and a wonderful interface all around. looking forward to future projects!!
also i hope your programmer doesnt take it personally but i found a really fun glitch where if you enter an input before a dialog box fully pops up (easy to do by mashing the hot keys), the box wont prevent you from taking actions. you have to memorize where certain stuff is on the screen but thats definitely got more potential than i got out of it
edit: i uploaded a small sample, as you can see it makes the game very fast! i didnt get a lot of practice with it yet though, it's a very temperamental trick despite being very simple.
Awesome! I'm so glad you're getting so much out of this game, that means a lot. We're actually aware of that exploit and I sometime use it myself, to be honest. We kept it in cause it's a fun little speed-running trick. There's actually another little trick you might figure out down the road ;) . Do you plan on uploading any playthroughs on YouTube? We'd love to check it out.
That's an incredible time. About 3 1/2 min. faster than my own time. Good stuff :D
oh awesome! im glad you left it in haha, it feels great when you can get a bunch in a row. i might post a demo soon - im pretty sure i have the route nailed down but ive been testing your logic looking for another little thing to skip (being able to head toward the bridge area first cuts out a huge portion of backtracking & lets you do basically everything you need to on the other side at once). gotta hand it to ya, its really robust!
oh suddenly im curious if i could override a death scene by moving to a different room or something before it activates. the only use i could think would be on the way to get the coords but hey an idea's an idea. edit: this does not work haha
thanks again =)
I loved Infested!! Can't wait for more MacVenture style games. Deja Vu was a favorite of mine when I was a kid.
Thank you very much. Glad you enjoyed it :D
What a gorgeous tribute to a forgotten genre. The music, the pacing, the writing, the art, it's all spectacular. I know you're past this, but if you were to make more and release them on Steam, I bet it could be lucrative for you. (I want more, waaah) Thanks for all your hard work on this project (everyone involved).
Thank you so much, that means the world to us. I'm currently working on another "shadowgate" style game and when the three of us have the time we'll definitely put it together. I'm glad to see more and more people looking forward to games like these, they've always been a favorite of mine :D
I'd thought about making an NES Macventure-esque game for years, but feared I'd never match the overall feeling the original three gave me when I was a kid. You've accomplished it perfectly. I hope to see more from you guys someday. Thank you for making this.
Thank you so much for playing it and thank you for the kind words. It's always very satisfying to hear that players got their nostalgic macverse fix playing the game :D
Just wanted to mention that for years, I've been yearning for a romhack, an indie game, anything, in the style of the old MacVenture games on NES, and not only does this game fit the bill, but this is easily one of the best adventure games I've ever played. In a lot of ways this game even surpasses the quality of the originals. Thank you so much for making this! I'm sharing this on my social media and buying the soundtrack!
Thank you very much for the kind words and for the support. Very glad this game was what you were looking for as we too were yearning for a return of the NES MacVenture style game :D
Playing this has reignited a burning passion for point & click narrative games, after I played this I started to play even more point & click games.
Your style was very reminiscent of some classic games from my childhood and it was blast to play this.
Awesome! Thanks for playing. I love the CRT filter, that's a good touch. I always enjoy watching play-throughs and seeing those gleeful moments of discovery after some frustration and deaths. I look forward to seeing the rest.
I was curious... Do you have any other projects like this; or links to any other similar point and click adventure games that have been released in the last few years? I tried very carefully to read the entire comments thread before posting here. I see you are currently engaged in a "Spirit Quest." Sounds super exciting!! :) Any input would make a super-bored kid über-happy!
Nothing else, unfortunately. I'm currently working on another game [Spirit Quest] on the side but I don't know when that will be completed. Hopefully next year. As for other similar point and click games; I can't think of any off the top of my head that are specifically this style. Actually, the reason we made this was because nobody else was really making Shadowgate style games
Well, thanks just the same! I was elated when I saw this brew. I can't thank you enough for bringing something such as this to our minds and eyes. Took me FOREVER to figure out what to throw at that darned switch to suck that creature out. I admit to cheating... once. I looked at a walkthrough and saw where there was that "carbon rock" in the grating. I was stuck on that for an hour. So, great challenge there. I played it through four times. A bit short, but I'm delighted just the same. I can't wait for your next one!I'll keep checking every month here to see if there are any updates. Thanks again!
Thank you so much for your kind words. Very happy you enjoyed it. It was a huge relief when we saw how many people were craving an old-school point and click like this. I hope I can have some new updates soon :D
Lovely game, enjoyed it very much.
Just the right lengths for a single sitting, yet not too short. Also hits the nostalgia mark, reminded me of J.E.S.U.S. and of course ICOM.
Some nice puzzles and no illogical problems to get stuck with.
Great work guys
Thank you so much! I'm very glad you enjoyed it :D
Wow, ICOM Simulations has done Fantasy, Detective Noir, and Haunted Houses, and now they've even done Sci-Fi!
Wait, this wasn't done by ICOM?
In all seriousness, this was a fantastic game. About as long as the actual ICOM Simulation Macventures (At least on the first playthrough, perhaps slightly shorter when going through it a second time, which is really just a speedrun like the others), and just as fun.
Given the resurgence of Point and Clicks in recent years, if something like this was slightly expanded, or perhaps a new game in the style altogether, Macventures having always been my favorite style of Point and Click games, I honestly wouldn't think twice about buying this. Hell, for five dollars or so I probably would have bought this anyway.
It has the same pitfalls that the Macventures did, with cheap deaths and whatnot, but you did keep the NES mechanic of starting a screen prior to death. Also, being able to simply right click to close is pretty handy, although the text speed is a bit slow and can't be skipped like in the NES games, the text is also a bit too close together at points, and the while the screen transitions use the same sprites as the NES games, though don't animate as fluidly. Those are all really minor complaints, but it's otherwise a fantastically put together little game. I'll likely revisit it before I do Deja Vu at least.
Thank you so much. Any complaints you have, minor or not, are certainly welcome as that allows us to improve for next time so, thanks for the awesome feedback and I'm very glad you enjoyed it. I wanted the game to be free so everyone can be introduced to this wonderful style of game and so "old-school" gamers like us can take a trip down memory lane. Of course, if you would like to donate than you should consider purchasing the soundtrack by Orie Falconer. We would greatly appreciate that :D https://oriefalconer.bandcamp.com/album/infested-original-soundtrack-2
What a fantastic game! I'm a huge fan of those classic NES "MacVenture" games, and this was, well, definitely one of them, heh.
My only big complaints are there's no way to make the text appear quickly (like you could in the NES ones), and that thing where a word starts to appear on one line before suddenly jumping down to the next after realizing there's not enough room (it just looks really unprofessional).
Also a shame there was no "You messed up!" music before dying, though I think only Uninvited had that...
But I really liked how examining everything gave plenty of hints on what to do, and I especially liked finding things I could do before finding out why they're necessary (like being able to turn the power off), plus the inclusion of "useless" items, especially with how most of them you can't tell they're going to be useless until the very end.
Oh, and I especially liked how, if you die from the infection, the counter resets when you continue (just like with that ruby in Uninvited).
In any case, great job on this! I definitely enjoyed it!
-Andrew
Thank you very much. I really appreciate feedback and constructive criticism 'cause it helps me improve for future projects and you made some really good points here. I'll definitely keep them in mind and I'm glad you enjoyed it :D
- Jeff
Shadowgate is one of my favorite games ever. This is great. Thank you for making it.
Thank you very much! Glad you liked it.
Hi there! Could you release a Linux version for us Linux gamers? :)
Unfortunately we can't create any Linux builds at the moment, but it is something we could do in the future! We will post any updates here if it happens