New Agon - Mysterious Codex Website Launched

[Not Addicted]

Private Moon Studios have finally updated their Agon website at www.agongame.com (http://www.agongame.com).

Unfortunately it only seems to be concerned about the first 3 episodes - i.e. The Mysterious Codex and makes no reference to future episodes. I fear this means that the release of Episode 4 - Lost Sword of Toledo will slip another year - if it is released at all. :frusty:

No word of the Hungarian FMV Yoomurjak's Ring either.

I guess at least the new website shows there is still some life in the company.

[gcsorba]

Yoomurjak's Ring was recently released in Hungary, and here's the official site, in english: http://www.yoomurjak.com/

The game is wonderful, with great actors, an interesting time-travel storyline and a wonderful setting (the town of Eger is beautiful). On the downside there are 2-3 INSANELY difficult puzzles, but apart from those the game is simply fantastic!

There's also an ad for AGON, the Lost Sword of Toledo in the game's instructions manual: "Coming in 2007!"

Hopefully, this means that having finished the development of Yoomurjak's Ring, the company is back on track with the latest AGON episode.

[Not Addicted]

Excellent news - that's exactly what I had hoped. I guessed that Agon had gone on hold until Yoomurjak's Ring was finished but hadn't heard that it had now been released. Do you know if there is a version available with English subtitles?

May I congratulate you on your first post here by the way and at the same time pat myself on the back for finally posting after years of reading this forum:) .

[Crapstorm]

Wow! This is the first time I have felt any excitement for a new adventure game project in years. Gcsorba, are the INSANELY difficult puzzles hard because they require incredible mental gymnastics, or because they require laborious guesswork, massive clue hunting or barely make any sense? If they are at least logical, I can tolerate tough puzzles.

[Jackal]

Sorry to break the first-time-poster string, but welcome to you both! :)

AGON was never abandoned. Along with a focus on Yoomurjak, the main reason for the delay was Private Moon losing one of their key artists mid-episode, whom they couldn't adequately replace. But finally they decided to partner with MZone Studio (Secret of Da Vinci, Egypt III, etc.) for the graphics, and they're hoping to have the game complete sometime in this quarter.

The other reason why it's taking so long is because of how much longer and more complex this episode will be. According to Private Moon, the content for Toledo should be similar to the amount from the entire Codex episodes put together.

I'm pleased to hear the full Yoomurjak turned out well. The (press) demo was certainly promising.

[gcsorba]

Thanks for the kind words.

I admit that I've always been more of a 3rd person adventure gamer, and I haven't played many 1st person adventure games over the years. However, I always felt that 1st person adventures were a lot harder in general, so what might seem like insanely difficult for me, might not be so for seasoned 1st person adventurers.

All the same, some of the puzzels are not simply challenging, but are badly signposted, and a lot of people got stuck in the same places, judging by the Hungarian forums. They did seem logical for the most part, but only AFTER I found a couple of hints online. You really have to keep an eye out for small clues, and always keep a notepad by your side! And a warning: there IS a MAZE in the game (horror!), but you can find a map, and instructions to navigate it (and figuring out how the instructions work is a puzzle in itself, so it's not so bad). Other then that, the puzzles are challenging, but not impossible and it gives you great satisfaction when you've figured one out! :)

I've no idea how the English version is coming along, but I hope they'll realease it soon. There are a lot of behind the scenes extras on the discs, and they show how much work was put into this project. I may be biased, being Hungarian, but I really did enjoy the game. :)

[Not Addicted]

UPDATE:
looks like Agon 4 might finally be out - you can purchase it at:
www.lexiconentertainment.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=38 (http://www.lexiconentertainment.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=38)

Has anyone got it yet?
First impressions?
Worth the interminable wait?

[Crapstorm]

Maybe that's a pre-order? The official website (www.agongame.com) says it is "coming soon," as it has for the last 2 years or so.

[Melanie68]

On our release dates page it says September 28. They did start actively working on it again (http://www.adventuregamers.com/newsitem.php?id=1420).

[Melanie68]

This is blatant pimping of our news items but there's an international release for Yoomurjak's Ring (http://www.adventuregamers.com/newsitem.php?id=1543) planned AND AGON: Lost Sword of Toledo is finished and there's a demo (http://www.adventuregamers.com/newsitem.php?id=1544) available. :)

Just a head's up if you didn't see it on the main page.

[Iceadventure]

Will this be the last agon game since it won´t be in episodes anymore. I liked the mysterious codex but the board games in the end of those first 3 parts were something I disliked. So if toledo is to kind of replace the rest of those 14 episodes will there be lots of board games or just one. I think I remember correctly from the first games that there should be at least 12 games that Hunt had to search for around the world.

[Jackal]

No, Toledo is not meant to replace the remaining episodes. It's simply the next one. It's not that they've scrapped the notion of episodes entirely, just that the episodic model they were using (short, downloadable chapters) needed to be changed. This new episode is the equivalent in length and amount of gameplay to the first three episodes combined, so they're skipping the download process and went straight to a full retail product instead.

The remaining episodes, at least as originally planned, are a combination of both. Some are again quite short and meant to form part of a larger whole with other episodes (like the first three did with the Mysterious Codex) while others will be Toledo-sized and stand alone as full-fledged games.

That's the idea, anyway. Whether they return to downloadable distribution for the short episodes in future or wait to bundle them together remains to be seen. At this stage, I think all bets are off on when and how future episodes will be released. But the developers certainly haven't given up on the series.

[Crapstorm]

I'm an AGON devotee, so I will be snapping the new episode up as soon as it's in a store near me. I loved the boardgames at the end of each episode, and I thought they served as great climaxes. Of course, I've loved classic boardgames ever since I could hold a checker in my hand.

I'm a little less enthusiastic about Yoomurjak, because I know so little about it, but if it's the same developers as AGON, it will probably be great!