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VAST STUDIOS #1137074
01/01/18 10:19 AM
01/01/18 10:19 AM
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8dognight Offline OP
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Happy New Year, all.

Lately I have been on a Vast Studios kick. I've only run across one game from VAST that I actively disliked and one that was so-so. The rest I like whether fantasy or detective story.

Does anyone know if VAST is still in business?

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137075
01/01/18 10:36 AM
01/01/18 10:36 AM
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Marian Offline
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After doing some googling, it looks like they may have gone out of business - I found a comment made in January 2016 saying that they had closed up shop (although it's always possible that they were talking about a different Vast Studios).

Have you been able to compile a list of most or all of their games?

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137091
01/01/18 11:11 AM
01/01/18 11:11 AM
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8dognight Offline OP
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I can make one if you're interested.

I found something that said a Spanish company called Tangelo acquired Vast; however, Tangelo's site doesn't list its games so I don't know.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137094
01/01/18 11:15 AM
01/01/18 11:15 AM
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I saw a mention of Tangelo as well, so it's possible they were bought out/absorbed by another company.

You don't need to make a list on my account - I was just thinking about Vast Studios and I am pretty sure that I am aware of all or most of their games; they had been around for quite a while.

It looks like their last Big Fish release was Dark Canvas: A Murder Exposed in 2015.

Which game of theirs did you actively dislike? I know I have a few of their games in my Purchase History that are yet to be played.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137100
01/01/18 11:43 AM
01/01/18 11:43 AM
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 83,267
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There is a list of games here.


Don't feed the Trolls
Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: BrownEyedTigre] #1137103
01/01/18 11:48 AM
01/01/18 11:48 AM
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Thanks, Ana. smile12

I didn't know that Time Relics: Gears of Light was Vast Studios.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137126
01/01/18 02:49 PM
01/01/18 02:49 PM
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Vast Studios apparently got some funding from Ontario Media Development Corporation because it gets a big credit in the opening of Nightfall Mysteries: Black Heart. On the OMDC website I could find no mention of Vast.

Here are some I quite liked, both Forgotten Kingdoms: Dream of Ruin and Forgotten Kingdoms: The Ruby Ring although I can't swear to liking Ruby Ring, which I believe is the sequel, as much as Dream of Ruin as I have only replayed Dream of Ruin recently.

I heartily recommend Dark Canvas: A Murder Exposed and Nightfall Mysteries: Black Heart. The games as a whole do not feel rushed, and particularly with regard to Black Heart but to some extent with A Murder Exposed as well, I don't feel condescended to or patronized by the developers.

I haven't finished Black Heart because, son of a gun, after some minor hair pulling I figured out how to do a clock puzzle, which was swap the numerals into the correct slots when one pair of buttons goes clockwise and swaps with one space between, and the other, counterclockwise with two spaces. I got all the way to the last two numbers which had a doable space between them. Instead of swapping them, I hit the puzzle reset button. That was a little stupid of me; nevertheless I like playing games where the overall construct and the individual puzzles show enough ingenuity that I get the impression the developers respect my intelligence. I certainly don't want to skip the puzzle after all that, so I'm giving it a rest.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137152
01/01/18 07:10 PM
01/01/18 07:10 PM
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Thank you for the recommendations. Since Big Fish is having a 2-for-one sale today, I'll try demos of some of those. I don't have the latest "Dark Canvas" or the "Forgotten Kingdoms" games you mention.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137206
01/02/18 12:13 PM
01/02/18 12:13 PM
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Dream of Ruin will feel as silly as the usual fantasy game at first. It isn't.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137207
01/02/18 12:25 PM
01/02/18 12:25 PM
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Marian Offline
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Originally Posted By: 8dognight
Dream of Ruin will feel as silly as the usual fantasy game at first. It isn't.


I have this game and haven't played it yet. Thanks to you for reminding me of it!

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137208
01/02/18 12:36 PM
01/02/18 12:36 PM
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About that clock puzzle in Nightfall Mysteries: Black Heart, I should have mentioned that what makes it tricky is a code which requires putting the numbers in a particular non-numerical order, which is probably a lot easier if you have grown up with digital clocks and aren't wedded to to seeing the 12 twelve numbers in their ordinary positions.

***************

ETA: Nightfall Mysteries: Haunted By the Past is pretty good, too.

Last edited by 8dognight; 01/02/18 02:33 PM.
Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137238
01/02/18 10:08 PM
01/02/18 10:08 PM
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AAACCCKKKK!!!

Trying to do this paint puzzle from Forgotten Kindoms: Dream of Ruin
https://bfgblog-a.akamaihd.net/Walkthrou...-of-ruin077.jpg

Thought I'd finished it, but had the colors in the tiny areas wrong because I couldn't tell if they were supposed to be red or orange. It's not easy to change them because you have to drain so many colors to get at them and recolor them. You practically have to start all over.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: Jenny100] #1137306
01/03/18 10:52 AM
01/03/18 10:52 AM
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Marian Offline
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That kind of paint puzzle is not at all easy.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137308
01/03/18 11:10 AM
01/03/18 11:10 AM
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 7,402
marietta,georgia
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do not feel bad in dying for daylight i skipped the singing pig i could not do it.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137320
01/03/18 12:09 PM
01/03/18 12:09 PM
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Yes, those paint puzzles can get to you and when I haven't done one for awhile I always forget how they work.

Did you get it after taking a breather Jenny?

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137329
01/03/18 02:14 PM
01/03/18 02:14 PM
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(Forgotten Kingdoms: Dream of Ruin)
It's not that the puzzle was too difficult. I don't dislike this type of puzzle. I don't mind doing the puzzle once, but I don't want to have to redo the puzzle two or three times because the clue is bad and doesn't clearly show where the correct colors go. The picture in the Big Fish walkthrough was also poor because it was too small to see what the colors in the tiny bat-wing sections were.

I eventually found the correct colors with a YouTube walkthrough. The YouTuber actually skipped the puzzle, but it briefly flashed the correct answer onscreen and I managed to pause the video at the right time.

The clue given in the game was practically worthless. You couldn't tell blue from green and the purple areas actually looked black in the clue. I understand they were trying to make it look "water-colored" but they made it worthless as a clue.

The picture in the Big Fish walkthrough would have been better if it were full size. How many people can distinguish a pinpoint of red from a pinpoint of orange -- especially when the colors are a slightly different hue on the two sides of the picture?

The game had other problems too -- full of floaty animations that made response to clicking sluggish in many places.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137367
01/03/18 08:26 PM
01/03/18 08:26 PM
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(Forgotten Kingdoms 2: The Ruby Ring)
I finished The Ruby Ring -- at least I finished it insofar as I was able. The game wouldn't allow me to put the "Trigon" on the imprisoned parents at the very end of the game. The father said I had to confront the shadow, which I'd already done. I checked Big Fish comments about this and other players have encountered the same problem, both with the SE and the CE.

I checked a playthrough on YouTube and I didn't miss too much at the end (your parents thanking you and Vincent bringing in Naya safe and sound). It would have been much worse if I'd bought the CE and not been able to play the bonus game (because of the game not registering that I'd finished the main game).

Most puzzles in Ruby Ring were pretty easy, except for the checkers-type puzzles near the end where you have to leave only one piece on the board. Those require a little planning. Storywise I think Ruby Ring and Dream of Ruin were of similar quality.

Both Forgotten Kingdoms CE games have bonus games where you're playing as the character who was the "villain" (sort of) in the main game -- and redeeming yourself. Going by YouTube playthroughs, the bonus game in the Ruby Ring game seems to be quite a bit longer than the bonus game in Dreams of Ruin -- at least if you do all the puzzles.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137388
01/03/18 10:48 PM
01/03/18 10:48 PM
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8dognight Offline OP
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Jenny 100, you get a nice great big picture of the correct colors if you click on the sheet with the correct code in the upper right hand of the puzzle itself which brings a large and quite readable rendering front and center. You didn't have to go to all that trouble and use what are apparently much smaller copies in the walkthroughs. I found the enlarged template because I figured there had to a more accessible better rendering within the puzzle itself--not just a small, crumpled one in the corner--and I eventually found it right in front of my eyes by clicking on it.

Nightfall Mysteries: Black Heart (I think it's Black Heart) has a similar much easier puzzle using only blank areas and red.

I'm still replaying Dream of Ruin and am on the slider, which for me is rather complex because there are more than 12 or 9 tile slots, nothing like as diabolical as the larger one in that Umberto Eco "Name of he Rose" inspired abbey adventure game but tough enough for the likes of me. I've quit for a bit because, unlike the earlier Dream of Ruin watercolor mixing puzzle, I have no notion what the completed slider image is supposed to look like at least in toto yet there is no handy in game reference picture. Thus far I have refused to consult the guide. I get that the scene is a warrior/scholar in front of a dragon headed shield; other details are elusive even with lighted shapes that can clearly only in certain rectangles.

Last edited by 8dognight; 01/03/18 11:22 PM.
Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137390
01/03/18 11:30 PM
01/03/18 11:30 PM
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Originally Posted By: 8dognight
Jenny 100, you get a nice great big picture of the correct colors if you click on the sheet with the correct code in the upper right hand of the puzzle itself which brings a large and quite readable rendering front and center.

No, I got a bigger picture with terrible coloration.
Practically unusable even for the first paint puzzle.
Useless for the second one.

Quote:
You didn't have to go to all that trouble and use what are apparently much smaller copies in the walkthroughs.

The walkthrough at least had reasonably accurate colors, though they weren't distinguishable in the four tiniest sections. And the video walkthrough was best of all, because it was both large and the colors were clear.

Quote:
I found the enlarged template because I figured there had to a more accessible better rendering within the puzzle itself--not just a small, crumpled one in the corner--and I eventually found it right in front of my eyes.

Yes I clicked that small picture and got it bigger.
It still had terrible coloration.

If yours was clear, and with accurate colors, I have no explanation for why mine would be so different.

Quote:
I'm still replaying Dream of Ruin and am on the the slider, which for me is rather complex because there are more than 12 or 9 tiles, nothing like as diabolical as the one in that Umberto Eco "Name of he Rose" inspired abbey adventure game but tough enough for the likes of me. I've quit for a bit because, unlike the watercolor mixing one, I have no notion what the completed image is supposed to look like; there is no handy in game reference picture; and thus far I have refused to consult the guide. I get it's a warrior/scholar in front of a dragon headed shield; other details are elusive even with lighted shaped that can clearly only in certain squares.

I looked up what the end result was supposed to look like. I had trouble with it because my first try somehow got into an unsolvable configuration. When I restarted the slider, I was able to solve it without much trouble.

Dream of Ruin certainly had more challenging puzzles than Ruby Ring.

Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137392
01/04/18 12:07 AM
01/04/18 12:07 AM
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Hmm, this curious. My puzzle had no purple whatsoever. The finished colors in the picture were yellow, blue, and aqua. I only got black when I incorrectly mixed or overmixed, say by adding yellow to an already aqua (made by mixing yellow and blue) area. Maybe you are talking about a more difficult puzzle later in the game that I have forgotten?

Last edited by 8dognight; 01/04/18 12:08 AM.
Re: VAST STUDIOS [Re: 8dognight] #1137459
01/04/18 07:12 PM
01/04/18 07:12 PM
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Originally Posted By: 8dognight
Hmm, this curious. My puzzle had no purple whatsoever. The finished colors in the picture were yellow, blue, and aqua.

That was the first paint puzzle. The game had two paint puzzles.

The second paint puzzle in the game is the one had yellow, red, and blue, with the mixed colors being orange, and purple.
Like the picture in the walkthrough
https://bfgblog-a.akamaihd.net/Walkthrou...-of-ruin077.jpg

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