Should I buy ASA ? news

Hey,

However, you're probably here for your personal entertainment :) And you're absolutely right ! After all, that's the point of buying a game ! So you're wondering if you should buy ASA ? Let's see step by step...

First point, check if you can play the game. This is very important ! What's the point of buying a game you can't play ? And many people with a low system won't be able to play ASA !

Recommended system requirements :

PC system only !!!
CPU: 2 GHz processor
Memory: 2 GB RAM
GPU : video card with 256MB VRAM (this is the most important !!!)
Free Disk Space: 1 GB
OS: Windows 8, 7, vista, xp

Note : on XP, you'll have to install a video codec to play the in-game movies. Don't worry, it's easy and you'll find a link in the ASA launcher. The video codec installer (ffdshow) is included with the game.

Note 2 : why won't it run on my good old computer ?
Because the 360 panorama views, which are made of very big pictures, require a lot of memory.

So, what if your PC seems to meet the requirements except one, and that makes you unsure the game will work ? Then, maybe you should...

... try the playable demo first !

There is indeed a demo of ASA: A Space Adventure ! It's quite short, but it's a good way to try the challenging puzzles. You'll see that they're not easy !

Demo link : Bit.ly

Beware that this Demo is a Pre-Beta version. It means that it has been created on an early version of the game and is not exactly as good as the final version.
Some of the differences of this demo are :
- fullscreen unsupported (but it is, of course, in the full version !)
- no voices
- can contain some bugs
- puzzles can be a little different.

So OK you have all you need to know if the game will work. But you still want to know more.

What's included with the game ?

When you buy ASA, you automatically get some free bonuses, which are in the [_Bonus] folder :

- CD and DVD covers for your personal backups of ASA, and for the OST too
- A special 5 tracks music album, called The Cobalt-5 light album
- The game guide, in both english and french. That is to say a walkthrough, because you will need one, you know ? Or are you very very good at adventure games ? You have to tell me if you beat ASA easily !
- Wallpapers : a set of 7 large pics to put on your windows desktop.

So you tried the pre-beta demo (http://bit.ly/SwdGAf ) and you know what's included in the game, but... That still doesn't answer your question ? Will you like ASA ? Maybe you should know a little more about me ?

About the author...

Well I'm quite a discrete person and I don't like to speak of myself, so I won't come back on my cursus, and I'm sure you don't really care.
What I can tell you is that I made ASA with a deep idea : I really enjoyed Riven at the time, and I never found such a game since a while. That's a good way to know if you can like ASA : if you're a Myst or Riven fan, it's more likely that you will enjoy ASA too ! I can also tell you that a lot of Rhem fans enjoyed my game. But don't stop on the Myst idea ! I know that ASA can seem outdated because of the slideshow thing, but this is first a game for people looking for space, solo exploration or puzzles !

Great, but...

What about ASA itself ?

Owww ! I speak, I speak, but... you don't know a single thing about the game ???
My, you should have stopped me to ask !

The game :

ASA is a 1st-person slideshow Adventure with great graphisms, based on exploration and very challenging puzzles. This was a solo-developped project created in 6 months with Adventure Maker in tribute to Riven and other Myst clones. ASA has been rated 4 stars out of 5 on the serious magazine Adventure Gamers.

Story :

You're an astronaut sent to repair an old satellite. You just finished your mission when you notice a mysterious black cube drifting near you. You're totally hypnotized by this thing and suddenly jump in the space, breaking your security cable ! That's crazy, you seem to have forgotten all the dangers here, and when you finally catch this cube,your oxygen is low and you have no way to go back !!!

Features :

- visit 9 different environments
(6 areas on the main spaceship, 2 planets, 1 satellite)

- benefits of ponctual 360° views for a better immersion.

- over 20 minutes of in-game CG movies, and 2 possible ends !

- rythmed with an original soundtrack by Karreo.

- walk in the steps of another astronaut, who will help you to find your way. Read his diary to find clues and make the storyline evolve.

This game will mostly please lovers of "old-school" adventure games :
L'Amerzone, Atlantis, Cydonia, the Myst series, Rama, Rhem, Schizm, etc...

More links :

ASA pre-beta demo : Bit.ly
ASA launch trailer : Vimeo.com
Gameplay video : Vimeo.com
OST in streaming : Karreo.bandcamp.com
Screenshots gallery : Flickr.com

ASA on indieDB : Indiedb.com
ASA on Steam greenlight : Steamcommunity.com

And I kept the best for the end :

ASA reviews

If you're still not convinced, then I'm definitely sure that you should read this serious review on AdventureGamers.com : Adventuregamers.com

Here's an extract :
"With a captivating backstory and engaging, challenging puzzles, ASA: A Space Adventure is a welcome addition to the pantheon of Myst-style puzzle-adventure games.

NASA may have been in a financial slump these last few years, but our fascination with the great unknown that is our universe has never diminished. Are we alone? Are there other life forms out there? Are they watching us? These questions are the focus of ASA: A Space Adventure, a slideshow puzzle-solving game independently developed largely by one man, Simon Mesnard. For those of you who miss the days of Myst and are looking for a challenging puzzle game with a great sci-fi premise, you will be more than satisfied with what ASA has to offer.

In ASA, a nameless astronaut is distracted from his work by a mysterious black cube floating in the middle of space. Entranced by it, he attempts to reach the object, but to do so he must cut off his own oxygen supply (a baffling move to say the least) and is left to drift in the vacuum of space. Instead of dying though, he is transported to an enormous seemingly-abandoned spacecraft. That's where the player takes over, but before you can even get a sense of your surroundings, another spacesuit-clad figure emerges to steal your recently acquired cube. Your task, naturally, is to explore this strange ship (or the Ark as it's called), find the thief, retrieve the cube, and try to discover who built the Ark and for what purpose..."

You'll find more reviews on the web, for example :
Gazoinks.blogspot.fr
Indiestatik.com
Mysterymanor.net

French review :
Jeuxvideo.com

And last but not least :

Localization :

ASA is fully in english, but as i'm french I included a french translation patch, so you'll find everything you need to play either in english or in french. I'd be willing to add more localizations, but that's impossible for a single indie dev like me. If someone is courageous enough to make a serious translation in his own language, don't hesitate to contact me, so we can try to make this possible.

Links :

ASA homepage :
Aspaceadventure.fr

ASA dev blog (news and updates)
2011asa.blogspot.fr

ASA fanpage on facebook :
Facebook.com

Conclusion :

- You like Myst, Riven, Rhem... : you will certainly like ASA
- you don't like Myst : you may still like ASA if you like puzzles, space or exploration
- you don't like 1st-person adventures : you won't like ASA
- you don't like slideshow (2D) games : you won't like ASA
- you don't like when a game is technically outdated : you won't like ASA
- you like stories in space but don't really like puzzles : you may still like ASA if you use the walkthrough
- you like puzzles but not when they're too hard : you may still like ASA if you use the walkthrough
- you like to support indie games whatever they are : you have to like ASA :P
- you don't like french astronauts : you won't like Philippe Forté, but you should still like ASA ! :)

Thanks for reading, I hope you made up your choice ! If you decide to buy ASA, all I wish is that you enjoy your trip in Space ! Have fun !
Simon