This instalment was much more complex than the previous ones, perhaps in part due to the amount of time you were able to sacrifice on it. Combined with the changing narration and motivations of each protagonist it made this one the best thus far. Whatever the reasons, you still outdid yourself, so bravo. If you opt to bundle the each book into a complete novel to sell on Steam eventually as you have deliberated doing (rather than how it is currently, something that can be played for free, for which the following criticism cannot reasonably be leveied against it) I hope that you will consider cleaning up the occasional oversight or very minor grammatical error that slipped into earlier episodes - which may only exist due to the time constraints imposed upon you, and that you were making it out of the goodness of your heart. Thank you for your diligence otherwise and overall nice work!
Cheers, I was definitely over-ambitious with this one, mainly because I'd spent a year thinking of ideas and had too much stuff to cram in to set up the next one ha ha. And yeah, I'd do a fix/polish pass for any combined steam version. If you have more specific feedback it'd be helpful for sure! Can email me dave at powerhoof.com if you dont want to here ;)
I just absolutely love this series. It's so gripping, unpredictable, and the story beats hit like a freight train.
There's a sense of wonder from a lost age that I feel when I play the Telwynium - and I don't think it's just the retro graphics. It's that feeling where time evaporates and you meld with your computer, like the first time I booted up Monkey Island on MS-DOS, or Heroes 3, and you need to know what's just beyond, or what's going to happen after your next action. Then I realize I'm actually at home sick and shouldn't be forgetting to rest or eat dinner!
Thank you for making this - I can't wait for the next installment.
Thanks Stepwise, that really means a lot to me. Made my day! I love that feeling you describe, definitely elusive as I got older but it still hits me from time to time too, and yeah it's the memory of that which makes telwynium so enjoyable to work on.
I just played all three parts and loved every minute. The world and the story are so engaging, and the twists and turns always kept me guessing. Fantastic work. Can't wait for part 4!
The games have serious "cliffhanger" endings... Anyway, please remember that some people (those without Twitter accounts) can't check your updates now.
I'm no longer able to check out your updates, because Twitter blocked the last back door for users who aren't logged in and/or don't have an acocunt in the first place, which Nitter had utilised. Do you perhaps post updates anywhere else? I wouldn't like to miss Telwynium 4... (And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you manage to finish the full version during game jam or soon thereafter, because the series deserves a real, interesting and hopeful conclusion...)
But best place to hang out and chat currently is the discord, we're in every day chatting about adventure games with other people making them too. https://discord.gg/powerhoof
Thanks! Really appreciate that! Well, there's a lot of the Wheel of Time series in it (at least the initial setup)... I think if it were a book it'd be a bit *too* similar :P
As for the error, it's possibly just a temporary issue with paypal/itch. You could try again in a few days if you like (though don't feel you have to!)
Loved the 2nd part as much as the previous chapters ✨ The crazy architecture of the shadowfell city almost got me crazy, but that was plenty fun nonetheless to be back in this beautiful universe. I'm eager to discover the next chapter, and hope you'll be able to do many more 💫
However, I also have a graphics-related question. My screenshots from Telwynium 1 and 2 are in 640x400 px size, but when I play book 3, I can't set the resolution to anything lower than 1176x664... Why and what can I do about it, so that I could have screenshots from each game in the same resolution?
I'll keep waiting for part 4, and when it's out, I'll want to play all four, because honestly I don't remember the whole story too well anymore...
Hmmmm, not sure about the resolution. You could try setting to windowed mode and see if that lets you choose lower resolutions. Or just resize the images after...
I did, it's in windowed mode. I dislike follscreen anyway and always prefer windowed settings. And resizing won't work because 11764:640 is not a whole number and the screenshots don't have clean, "crisp" pixels. "Telwynium 2" theoretically has the same settings and yet it opens in 640x400, I don't remember how I made it work lke that...
Telwynium has the crt filters so there's no crisp pixels anyway. There are some keyboard shortcuts to change camera filters 'C', and 'M' has some extra settings for people using an actual CRT. Maybe that's what you used for screenshots?
What a great addition to the story. This book really stands out for providing comic relief, transporting us to a creative new location, and deepening the lore/gameplay for "the breath". The fire swamp is definitely a fine place to build a city ...because the magical fire doesn't spurt or give off heat ...and there's no rodents of unusual size... anyway, I really liked this section because the art is impressive and the maze is well executed. I also really appreciated the music on the scene changes/developments. Diabolical ending...
Third episode of a truly excellent point-and-click adventure that harks back to the classic games I grew up with. The fact that this whole series is free to download is just incredible - this is well-worth your time to play!
I _loved_ every book in the series and this one is no exception. The writing, the atmosphere, the deep dark setting intermingled with spots of light... it's all my jam. I also enjoy that the puzzles are exceedingly fair.
I'm sorry to keep asking, but are there any news about the full version? "The Drifter" seems interesting too, but of all your games, I like "The Telwynium" series most because of its very retro graphics and low level of violence.
I love the hints of comedy in this one! Loving the trajectory of the story thus far. Still have so many questions but hopefully the rest of this book answers it!
My idea was to get it out by Christmas like book 2 last year. But I bit off more than I could chew I think, and super busy with The Drifter, so no promises!
Definitely needs the rest of this chapter - it doesn't hold up to the first two at all as-is. Book 2 is fantastic however and hopefully the full Book 3 will be much more fulfilling
Hahaha, but why? I lived the MSX Era, Hercules screens, the CGA graphics, the EGA, the 16 colors VGA, and then 256 and 16 bit VGA...and EGA was indeed horrible. Why would you choose that style? Do you have any preferences for that? Even dithering looks nasty. :D
Its a pure indulgent nostalgia thing, lots of people love it! I actually prefer it as pixel art than the blurred stuff you get in VGA era games. There's just something about crisp pixels I love. Plus, dithering masks my shoddy gamejam art haha.
VGA era games aren't blurry, though? And since (back then) all monitors are CRT monitors...no pixels would've been sharp and crisp, they would've blurred
Oh yeah, not all VGA games for sure, but a lot of adventures at the time went to scanned and downscaled art, lots of anti-aliased lines. I do love them too of course, but there's something really evocative about the lower pallete stuff I really like as well.
And 90s CRTs were plenty crisp! Especially at 320x200 like most games around then. I think 1024x768 was a pretty common desktop res on CRTs. When people talk about pixel art being designed for blurry monitors or with big scanlines, I think it's more console games on NTSC TVs.
Also, the nostalgia is a cultural thing, rather than an individual experience thing. People that never lived the 80s, or this style, are also nostalgic of it, even tho they never lived it. This is an interesting sociological phenomenon.
Yeah, interesting! I've definitely started enjoying a lot more old movies/music myself even though they're before my time and I never watched/listened as a kid. But something about the style I like, even though it's outdated. So can definitely be an appeal to older styles even when nostalgia isn't a factor
Actually, is there going to be a fourth part? I thought it would be a trilogy, but perhaps the reviewer was wrong. (In fact, I found the review bland and disappointing - the text itself, because I am hopeful about the quality of the game. I decided not to play it until the full release.)
These games are awesome. Read about them on indieretronews and had to try them myself. There's so much personality in the characters, I'm more invested than I'd expected. Now I'm really excited for the next part.
I really loved the premise of this one. The initial scene was really fun. I didn't find it too difficult to spot things (save for one item) having become it more familiar with the mechanics. Really enjoyed how you resolved the ending of the last book. The ending of this one was engaging as well. I'm glad you put the effort into those teethy grins. Brought a lot of new personality to Witt. Really funny moments as well. Great entry. Very much on par with the first two and the story keeps getting better.
That was great! Excellent writing, art, animation and music. Original and interesting story and lore. I haven't played the first two games in this series (yet!), but I felt able to piece things together (although, I have to say, I didn't find the recap all that helpful). My only real gripe is that the game was very pixel hunt-y, especially the first part. Still, I made it through without a walkthrough, and the puzzles themselves were solid. The final chapter was also much easier than the first two, but that didn't really matter. Again, fantastic work! I'll definitely check out more from your back catalogue. Looking forward to The Drifter, too!
Thanks, yeah the final chapter is really where the "main" part of the game was going to kick off, so it was just the kind of opening "setting the scene" puzzle for her section really. But I was way overscoped already so didn't have time for more :) Planning to tackle it later this year.
Current plan is to continue making a book a year, then wrap them all together for a steam release at some point in the distant future after I get The Drifter out ;)
I guess I'd rather wait for the release of the full third part. At least this time you have given a time when to expect it, so I'll keep checking your Twitter from time to time to see if there are any news.
Will the game be updated also here, or will the full version have a separate entry?
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This instalment was much more complex than the previous ones, perhaps in part due to the amount of time you were able to sacrifice on it. Combined with the changing narration and motivations of each protagonist it made this one the best thus far. Whatever the reasons, you still outdid yourself, so bravo. If you opt to bundle the each book into a complete novel to sell on Steam eventually as you have deliberated doing (rather than how it is currently, something that can be played for free, for which the following criticism cannot reasonably be leveied against it) I hope that you will consider cleaning up the occasional oversight or very minor grammatical error that slipped into earlier episodes - which may only exist due to the time constraints imposed upon you, and that you were making it out of the goodness of your heart. Thank you for your diligence otherwise and overall nice work!
Cheers, I was definitely over-ambitious with this one, mainly because I'd spent a year thinking of ideas and had too much stuff to cram in to set up the next one ha ha. And yeah, I'd do a fix/polish pass for any combined steam version. If you have more specific feedback it'd be helpful for sure! Can email me dave at powerhoof.com if you dont want to here ;)
I just absolutely love this series. It's so gripping, unpredictable, and the story beats hit like a freight train.
There's a sense of wonder from a lost age that I feel when I play the Telwynium - and I don't think it's just the retro graphics. It's that feeling where time evaporates and you meld with your computer, like the first time I booted up Monkey Island on MS-DOS, or Heroes 3, and you need to know what's just beyond, or what's going to happen after your next action. Then I realize I'm actually at home sick and shouldn't be forgetting to rest or eat dinner!
Thank you for making this - I can't wait for the next installment.
Thanks Stepwise, that really means a lot to me. Made my day! I love that feeling you describe, definitely elusive as I got older but it still hits me from time to time too, and yeah it's the memory of that which makes telwynium so enjoyable to work on.
I just played all three parts and loved every minute. The world and the story are so engaging, and the twists and turns always kept me guessing. Fantastic work. Can't wait for part 4!
Awesome, thanks! Not sure when I'll get to book 4, but I have big plans :D
The games have serious "cliffhanger" endings... Anyway, please remember that some people (those without Twitter accounts) can't check your updates now.
Yeah between discord, YouTube and Twitter I dunno if I can handle any posting to any more places ;)
I'll definitely post an itch update when there's new telwynium though, you haven't missed anything on that front :)
How can I find your discord?
https://discord.gg/powerhoof !
cant wait for book 4 to release i love these games keep up the work
Finished all three books. Storyline is sooo good. pls pls pls let there be book 4
There will be for sure! Just might be a while :P
I'm no longer able to check out your updates, because Twitter blocked the last back door for users who aren't logged in and/or don't have an acocunt in the first place, which Nitter had utilised. Do you perhaps post updates anywhere else? I wouldn't like to miss Telwynium 4... (And I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you manage to finish the full version during game jam or soon thereafter, because the series deserves a real, interesting and hopeful conclusion...)
Yeah if you follow powerhoof here, you should get an email. We also have our YouTube channel https://YouTube.com/user/powerhooftv
But best place to hang out and chat currently is the discord, we're in every day chatting about adventure games with other people making them too. https://discord.gg/powerhoof
is there a walkthrough anywhere? I'm stuck, I learned how to soul lash and ash walk, but I can't find a way to earn money.
I think there's one in the game folder (unless I forgot!)
I found it in the read me, I didn't see it at first lol. thanks though. I am in love with your Telwynium game and its lore. wish it was a book.
Thanks! Really appreciate that! Well, there's a lot of the Wheel of Time series in it (at least the initial setup)... I think if it were a book it'd be a bit *too* similar :P
I was wondering if Robert Jordan was an influence, those books are amazing.
I have yet to see a free game with the same level of storytelling as this one! Can't wait for the conclusion.
By the way, I can't pay for it getting
Thanks Adoru, really appreciate it!
As for the error, it's possibly just a temporary issue with paypal/itch. You could try again in a few days if you like (though don't feel you have to!)
Loved the 2nd part as much as the previous chapters ✨
The crazy architecture of the shadowfell city almost got me crazy, but that was plenty fun nonetheless to be back in this beautiful universe.
I'm eager to discover the next chapter, and hope you'll be able to do many more 💫
Oh, I love that you released a "part 2 only" version ✨
I'm eager to get back on the run with the fellowship!
There seems to be a bug. :( When I try to learn ash-walking, Al'nar says to lean forward... but I have the hourglass icon and can't do anything.
System: Windows 7 64-bit.
Ah sorry you hit that bug. If you update to version 1.2 it's fixed
Thank you a lot, it helped.
However, I also have a graphics-related question. My screenshots from Telwynium 1 and 2 are in 640x400 px size, but when I play book 3, I can't set the resolution to anything lower than 1176x664... Why and what can I do about it, so that I could have screenshots from each game in the same resolution?
I'll keep waiting for part 4, and when it's out, I'll want to play all four, because honestly I don't remember the whole story too well anymore...
Hmmmm, not sure about the resolution. You could try setting to windowed mode and see if that lets you choose lower resolutions. Or just resize the images after...
I did, it's in windowed mode. I dislike follscreen anyway and always prefer windowed settings. And resizing won't work because 11764:640 is not a whole number and the screenshots don't have clean, "crisp" pixels. "Telwynium 2" theoretically has the same settings and yet it opens in 640x400, I don't remember how I made it work lke that...
Telwynium has the crt filters so there's no crisp pixels anyway. There are some keyboard shortcuts to change camera filters 'C', and 'M' has some extra settings for people using an actual CRT. Maybe that's what you used for screenshots?
What a great addition to the story. This book really stands out for providing comic relief, transporting us to a creative new location, and deepening the lore/gameplay for "the breath". The fire swamp is definitely a fine place to build a city ...because the magical fire doesn't spurt or give off heat ...and there's no rodents of unusual size... anyway, I really liked this section because the art is impressive and the maze is well executed. I also really appreciated the music on the scene changes/developments. Diabolical ending...
Just got to watch for the lightning sand... But that shouldn't be a problem if you can ash-walk ;)
Third episode of a truly excellent point-and-click adventure that harks back to the classic games I grew up with. The fact that this whole series is free to download is just incredible - this is well-worth your time to play!
I _loved_ every book in the series and this one is no exception. The writing, the atmosphere, the deep dark setting intermingled with spots of light... it's all my jam. I also enjoy that the puzzles are exceedingly fair.
Congratulations on the release of Book 3!
Nice little game, a tribute to the EGA era even though the graphics are heavy on dithering IMO.
I'm sorry to keep asking, but are there any news about the full version? "The Drifter" seems interesting too, but of all your games, I like "The Telwynium" series most because of its very retro graphics and low level of violence.
I'm starting back on it today! Love to get it out by the new year, fingers crossed ;)
YAYY IVE BEEN WAItinGĜ¡¡
This is so, so good! Can't believe you're putting these out while working on other stuff, great work as always.
Think I'd go crazy if I just spent 5+ years working on the one big project with nothing else ha ha
Makes total sense, didn't think about that. :) It just feels, looks and sounds so polished. Really looking forward to Book 3 part 2!
I love the hints of comedy in this one! Loving the trajectory of the story thus far. Still have so many questions but hopefully the rest of this book answers it!
When will the full version of Book 3 be available?
My idea was to get it out by Christmas like book 2 last year. But I bit off more than I could chew I think, and super busy with The Drifter, so no promises!
LOVED THIS. Please make more!!!
I LOVE 8-BITS GAMES!
Amazing story, can't wait for the next game. I would gladly read if devs come up with books exploring the lore in more depth btw.
Definitely needs the rest of this chapter - it doesn't hold up to the first two at all as-is. Book 2 is fantastic however and hopefully the full Book 3 will be much more fulfilling
Can't wait for the rest of it.
Looking forward for the 2nd part of the game :
No gamepad support?
Nah, very much a mouse driven game
Wow, was it necessary NOWADAYS using EGA color palette? I love retro pixel style, but EGA????
100% necessary, yes :P
Hahaha, but why? I lived the MSX Era, Hercules screens, the CGA graphics, the EGA, the 16 colors VGA, and then 256 and 16 bit VGA...and EGA was indeed horrible. Why would you choose that style? Do you have any preferences for that? Even dithering looks nasty. :D
Its a pure indulgent nostalgia thing, lots of people love it! I actually prefer it as pixel art than the blurred stuff you get in VGA era games. There's just something about crisp pixels I love. Plus, dithering masks my shoddy gamejam art haha.
VGA era games aren't blurry, though? And since (back then) all monitors are CRT monitors...no pixels would've been sharp and crisp, they would've blurred
Oh yeah, not all VGA games for sure, but a lot of adventures at the time went to scanned and downscaled art, lots of anti-aliased lines. I do love them too of course, but there's something really evocative about the lower pallete stuff I really like as well.
And 90s CRTs were plenty crisp! Especially at 320x200 like most games around then. I think 1024x768 was a pretty common desktop res on CRTs. When people talk about pixel art being designed for blurry monitors or with big scanlines, I think it's more console games on NTSC TVs.
Also, the nostalgia is a cultural thing, rather than an individual experience thing. People that never lived the 80s, or this style, are also nostalgic of it, even tho they never lived it. This is an interesting sociological phenomenon.
Yeah, interesting! I've definitely started enjoying a lot more old movies/music myself even though they're before my time and I never watched/listened as a kid. But something about the style I like, even though it's outdated. So can definitely be an appeal to older styles even when nostalgia isn't a factor
I bet the last book will be about Autumn.
Actually, is there going to be a fourth part? I thought it would be a trilogy, but perhaps the reviewer was wrong. (In fact, I found the review bland and disappointing - the text itself, because I am hopeful about the quality of the game. I decided not to play it until the full release.)
Yeah, this book will have a second part, and there'll be a fourth at some point too. I've been doing an instalment every year so far.
These games are awesome. Read about them on indieretronews and had to try them myself. There's so much personality in the characters, I'm more invested than I'd expected. Now I'm really excited for the next part.
Can't wait for book 4!
Actually I can, I just find it really hard to wait.
Absolutely loved the first 3 books.
I really loved the premise of this one. The initial scene was really fun. I didn't find it too difficult to spot things (save for one item) having become it more familiar with the mechanics. Really enjoyed how you resolved the ending of the last book. The ending of this one was engaging as well. I'm glad you put the effort into those teethy grins. Brought a lot of new personality to Witt. Really funny moments as well. Great entry. Very much on par with the first two and the story keeps getting better.
That was great! Excellent writing, art, animation and music. Original and interesting story and lore. I haven't played the first two games in this series (yet!), but I felt able to piece things together (although, I have to say, I didn't find the recap all that helpful). My only real gripe is that the game was very pixel hunt-y, especially the first part. Still, I made it through without a walkthrough, and the puzzles themselves were solid. The final chapter was also much easier than the first two, but that didn't really matter. Again, fantastic work! I'll definitely check out more from your back catalogue. Looking forward to The Drifter, too!
Thanks, yeah the final chapter is really where the "main" part of the game was going to kick off, so it was just the kind of opening "setting the scene" puzzle for her section really. But I was way overscoped already so didn't have time for more :) Planning to tackle it later this year.
Awesome adventure. The music, the graphics, the puzzles - all top notch.
Wow this made me buy part one now, didn't know it yet. Thx for supporting Mac.
Will you release the trilogy on Steam? Would 100% buy for my collection there.
Current plan is to continue making a book a year, then wrap them all together for a steam release at some point in the distant future after I get The Drifter out ;)
Cool thx. Didn't have The Drifter on my radar yet, looks fantastic, instantly wishlisted :)
Awesome series!
I guess I'd rather wait for the release of the full third part. At least this time you have given a time when to expect it, so I'll keep checking your Twitter from time to time to see if there are any news.
Will the game be updated also here, or will the full version have a separate entry?
Yeah I'll update this version, though I'll make a separate upload for people that have played this part.
Excellent work as usual! I particularly liked the first part with Witt and the camp.
Omg! It's ready I'm excited cos I know it's gonna be great, Good job Powerhoof!