I was planning on having Rinku editing the old Fedora Spade thread, but he's offline, so here it is, the last episode of Fedora Spade. If you've enjoyed the previous Fedora Spade games, you'll probably like this one as well. It's more of the same game with a new cast of zany characters and plenty of tomatoes.



Name: Fedora Spade
Category: Adventure/Detective
GM Version: GM 6
Screen: Windowed at 640x480
Controls: Z - Confirm Button, X - Cancel button, C - Skip button.
Website: http://studioeres.com/games/fedora

Downloads:
Episode 1-3
Episode 4 (NEW!)
Hint file for Episode 4
Fedora Spade OST

Screenshot:

Okay, I've never heard of this series since I haven't browsed the GMC much, but wow, playing through episode 1 now, and this feels very professional. The graphics look like they came out of an early-mid 90's adventure game. Kinda reminiscient of Snatcher in a few ways (I think one of the sound effects I've heard so far is from that game, actually...).
The writing is pretty good, too, and the music is pleasant. Once I get to episode 4, I'll have more to say.

I really like the style of these games. Very funny, very unique... And very tomatoey.
I give two thumbs up to you.

Since I'm Roger Ebert, and apparently base my ratings for games on how many thumbs I have up now.

-PF

. Very impressive game, very professional and well thought out. Great to play a game genre/type that I haven't seen the likes of in the last few years

Yeah, I use the suspense chime from Snatcher for the game (I'm pretty sure that's the only one though) along with a couple of SFX from Phoenix Wright. And thanks guys, I'm glad you all enjoyed the games so far .

Here are a couple of shots from Episode 4 (taken by sciere):






Orchard,

Oh jeez, and I still never beat the 3rd game D:
I suppose I better go get cracking on that then.

Too bad about this being the last game, I was sorta hoping for an epic saga of sorts to be made of this

I wish I could keep playing until I complete all 4 episodes but there are a couple of annoyances preventing me from fully enjoying this game:
(I did manage to complete Episode 1, though)

1) To move the cursor only one step you have to give the key a very quick tap. I wish you would make it so that the player has to release the key before he can move the cursor again. Because of the way it is now I often move it too far and end up choosing the wrong option.

2) When it comes to skipping dialogues (that I've read a hundred times) there doesn't seem to be any difference between the keys Z and C. When I read that the C key "skips" I thought it would skip the whole dialogue, but it doesn't.

3) No offense, but the music is good for about 1 minute then it starts to annoy me. An option to switch off the music would be nice so I can listen to my own music while playing. I had to disable the Wave channel in Windows and listen to Midi files to achieve that

4) Personally I think an extra set of controls which enables you to play this game with one hand would be much more comfortable (especially if you're eating popcorn or whatever while playing).

Control layout suggestion: ("Skip" means to skip whole dialogues)

1) [Arrow Keys] = [Move] ---- [Z, X, C] = [Confirm, Cancel, Skip]
2) [I, J, K, L] = [Move] ---- [Space, M, N] = [Confirm, Cancel, Skip]

Since you've already released the games in the Creations forum (and since 4 episodes have been released) I don't feel good about asking you to make any changes. At least keep these things in mind next time you make this kind of games?

One last thing: You might want to put a warning in the first post that this game contains mature language, or "immature", rather. Episode 1, at least. That sounded like an insult. It's really not. I'm calling the character immature, not you.

And now, the well deserved praise.
This game looks incredibly professional.
It has very impressive graphics. Did you make them yourself?
Keep up the good work.

Oh crap, another FEDORA game! this is so amazing (haven't tried it yet)-judging by older stuff, this should be awesome as well. already downloading

Clystron: Regarding the C key, you can just hold it to quickly go through a conversation. With Z you need to wait for the text to scroll, with C you can skip a text box without having to wait for the text to scroll in, so they aren't the same thing. And, there *is* a warning about the language on the site, although there isn't one on this thread itself.

I absolutely love these games. These are great examples that graphics don't have to be cutting-edge to make awesome games (although, of course, they are very nice). Still very stuck on Number 4... you couldn't possibly do me a favour and upload the hint file as a .zip? That would be very helpful, thanks. Sorry to put you out of your way about it!

Great game! I remember downloading episode one a while back, but I forgot about the game really. Just made it through episode one; I should start working on the next one.

Alright!! Fedora 4 I remember playing the older versions and having a blast.Too bad it wont work... could be due to the fact that it isn't vista compatible...

http://www.yoyogames.com/wiki/show/Making%...Windows%20Vista

EPISODE 4! Yay! I was really excited for this when I downloaded it yesterday. And so far, it's lived up to my expectations. Still on Side A, slowly working away at it as I get time.

As always, it's brilliant. Fortunately, my computer seems to have come right regarding this game (and all other GM6 games), so I won't be having the weird problems I had with Episode 3.

Playing Daphne is an interesting twist, and I really didn't expect it. Although I feel you overdid her girliness a bit, but I'm presuming that was on purpose, for humour and such.

One thing I don't understand is that, if Baldie got promoted to the main homicide unit (back in Case 2), why is he hanging around the SHU building, all worried about it closing? Or have I forgotten about something that happened in Episode 3? It's been a while since I played it.

In summary, this is a great game, and I'm sure I'll find it to be a great series conclusion. I'm be sad to see this series finished, but I'm sure you guys have plans on using the Tomato Engine for other things.

On an interesting sidenote, I recently read a very damning review of Princess Tomato In The Salad Kingdom. So well done, you've outdone what your engine was based on! =D

To anyone who hasn't played Fedora Spade: Download it NOW!

At one point in the beginning Daphne says that he was moved back to the SHU because she quit.

// Great game, I played through case 1-3 now, but I'm stuck in 4. I don't have the evidence I need for the interrogation with Coffey, and I don't know where to look now.

However, 11/10, just a perfect game!

Necromian, Actually... I just don't know how I can "extend" the series for long without having excessive filler episodes. I'm pretty sure this is a good point to conclude the series before it gets too tedious.

Noir, you can get the file here: http://studioeres.com/fedora/Final/FAQ2.zip

Flaker, Baldie was moved back to SHU because Daphne left. This was mentioned when you first visited SHU in Side A. And actually, I like Princess Tomato a lot, otherwise I wouldn't have created an engine similar to the game (although admittedly the GUI leaned more towards Snatcher.) I think people probably just expect too much out of the game. It's lighthearted adventure game made to appeal to kids, and it worked for me as a kid.

Valore, hmm... which part of the interrogation? I'll need more details before I can help you. Also, Have you tried the hint file, by any chance? I think I covered just about everything there.

Thank you very much!


I'm stuck on the end of EP3: anybody have any hints as to what the imposter Jules' real name is?

It's the second time you have to show him a piece of evidence, when Daphne says
'I'm talking about a specific case in which your role is much more than just an investigator.'

I don't have a clue what she's talking about and none of the items I have helps me here.

The help file only describes what you have to do before you can meet him.

I visited every place again, but found nothing.

////////////

@ Noir

It's 4471, i thought that was pretty obvious.

Phew, I just got past Case 2. That case was a lot longer than the prologue.
I hope to catch 4471 soon! >.>

Valore, have you tried looking up the photographer's name in the database room once you found out about his last name? I think that's what you need to pass that part of the interrogation. Hope this helps.

That's funny

The first time I typed that in nothing happened. Must have made a typo. Thanks!

ehh.. name is such a vague word

Anyways, I'm really glad you released episode 4, a shame it's the last. I'll be sure to solve the case and post my review after.

Um.. i don't know if this was an error or was intended to be like that

As you can see it says what year and the choice is 1-12 shouldn't that be what issue instead of what year?!!

lol, input a year and see what happens

I guess I missed that typo when proofreading it for Orchard

@Orchad-L: Ah, that must've slipped past me. Oops.

Fair enough, I see what you mean about that game. Not having played it myself, I can't really judge it, so meh.

Judging from the contents of this thread, I'm the first one to finish Episode 4. Yay!

This post contains spoilers from here on in.

The ending felt rather abrupt, and somewhat weak. Although, even though it was unsatisfying, it really did fit the mood of the game, and, even though I had expected something different, something different probably would've felt unnatural.

Also, and this is really a minor issue, but I feel that, in the sequence in which you had to answer questions about the applicants, it would've been nice to have a few synonyms (like TALL as well as HEIGHT). But that's really not a huge issue.

The odd new puzzles are fantastic. By that, I mean the really not-obvious, difficult ones, like finding Eddie's number in that book, or finding the department store's number in that other book and then phoning them to get Seamus's number.

I also love the way you mix things up with the security protocol on the trusty old database, and with Bong's newsstand closing. One thing that irritated me, however, was having to input your username and password every single time you used the computer. However, seeing as you only have to use the thing once, it's not that big of a deal.

Spoilers end here.

Something that's been on my mind, especially with this case, is text-skipping. For future Tomato Engine games, I think it'd be nice if you could use X during speech to skip entire sequences, as going over the same interrogations multiple times was annoying, to say the least.

I'd like to say that I really, really love all the small touches and extras you've put into the game. Things like extra phonecalls, Immortal Defense references, and silly interrogations.

PS: Am I right in saying that the silly, unimaginative names are a homage to Princess Tomato In The Salad Kingdom's unimaginative names? And I mean unimaginative in the kindest possible way. =D.

Ooops, yup, that's a mistake alright. I'll upload the newest version once I have more stuff fixed.

"The ending felt rather abrupt, and somewhat weak. Although, even though it was unsatisfying, it really did fit the mood of the game, and, even though I had expected something different, something different probably would've felt unnatural."

I actually like how I ended the game, but I understand why people felt letdown by it. I've gotten a couple of emails about it too. There are still something that I haven't really explained. Such as the reason why Tex had to do the hitjob. The earlier version of the game did have this explanation, but I ended up removing all of it. My writing skill is pretty lacking when it comes to writing emotional dialogues, so I figure I'd rather save you guys from the punishment of having read through the cheesiness .

"Also, and this is really a minor issue, but I feel that, in the sequence in which you had to answer questions about the applicants, it would've been nice to have a few synonyms (like TALL as well as HEIGHT). But that's really not a huge issue."

This problem's been nagging me since the beta version. The current password system can only take one answer so I had to choose the keywords carefully. Hopefully we'll be able to add alternative answers in the future to circumvent this problem.

"PS: Am I right in saying that the silly, unimaginative names are a homage to Princess Tomato In The Salad Kingdom's unimaginative names? And I mean unimaginative in the kindest possible way. =D."
Actually, this is mostly a homage to the Phoenix Wright games ("**** Gumshoe", "Wendy Oldbag", etc.)

EDIT: What the hell? Gumshoe's first name got censored? Oh well...

whoo, finally finished case 3.
I'm starting this one now

Well, now I can say I've finished all three cases, and I love the whole series! What with the 8-bit graphics and the extremely awesome music, this is one of the real gems on the GMC. Very nice job, all the way through. And with Spade's juvenile sense of humour, it's very funny.

Hm, don't you mean four cases? Well, the first one isn't very long I guess.

There's a little typo I want to point out at the beginning of side B

When you examine the case_2 fax, it says that hellen keller was a witness, not hellen killer.

Also (possible spoiler)- Was the photo in the beginning of side A supposed to be an alias for her? Since the power was out from 9-10, and the picture was taken at 8 with the lights on?

A shadow gate style game
I remember i used to make these in power point when i was about 8.

Ooops, I completely missed that. I'll fix that in the next release. And the thing with the photo will be explained at the end of side B .

I also thought the ending was a bit lacking, although it did fit pretty well. I was hoping you would tie in 4471 to the fourth game, but alas, no such luck.
I noticed that there was a lack of interrogations in this game compared to previous games, and I didn't remember this having some of the music from the previous games (Rising temperature, Great struggle, Unfriendly encounter).
Also, I think I only had to use the "take" button once in this game. What's up with that?

SPOILER

Anyways, here are a couple of loose ends I'd like you to clear if you could.
(Note, I might have mixed up Raquel's and Rachel's names)
Why was there blood on daphne's bed? And why was the bottle with the hole in her room, and not in the hotel? Did Rachel flee to Daphne's room after she was shot?
What was the signifigance of being able to go into room 402 and fancyhat in side B?
When daphne was working for hunter, was that really Rachel in disguise?
Was Rachel the sole purpose of all the killings in crimson april?
What did Tex's death have to do with the crimson april case?
Was Tex hired by Rachel to knock off the D.A so it wouldn't be investigaed further?
I can't remember, but do I ever learn what Don Flamenco is hiding about Raquel?

END SPOILER

Anyways, brilliant game, great writing, amazing graphics. Perhaps the best games/series I've played on the GMC. A definite 10/10.

Well, in all honestly, I never really did get to use the TAKE command that much from episode 1-3. Actually, I can only remember one instance in which you get to use it. If I ever make another Tomato game, I'd probably replace it with a THINK command (which will give a vague hint of what to do.) As for the music, I just got tired of using the same old tunes so I replaced them. I thought it'd be a nice change of pace to introduce a couple of new tunes.

SPOILER SPACE









Let's clear up a couple of things first before I answer the questions. Raquel is the Chief's daughter and the main villain for episode 4. Rachel is a close friend of Raquel who helped her fake an alibi in the Crimson april case. A friend of mine also asked why I had chosen to use two very similar names, so let's go over that first. I used two similar names for the purpose of making the players think that Raquel is just another alias for Rachel when in actuality Rachel and Raquel are two very different people.

>Why was there blood on daphne's bed? And why was the bottle with the hole in her room, and not in the hotel? Did Rachel flee to Daphne's room after she was shot?
If you still remember, in side B, Daphne told Fedora that the cops have found a bag loaded with cash in her apartment room. It is assumed that Raquel went to Daphne's apartment to plant incriminating evidence after she was shot. As for the bottle, she took it with her and dumped it in Daphne's apartment. There's really no reason to leave behind an incriminating evidence at the crime scene.

What was the signifigance of being able to go into room 402 and fancyhat in side B?
I'm pretty sure this has been explained in last part of the game. The room is there to establish the fact that the room and the victim's room is connected via the fire escape. There's also a flyer about Don Flamenco's exhibit in Spain which was premiering the same night Rachel was killed. It implies that the Don Flamenco guy you've been talking to is a fake.

When daphne was working for hunter, was that really Rachel in disguise?
Daphne was working for Raquel, who was disguising herself as Rachel. Remember, Spade found documents stating that Rachel's company filed for bankruptcy some months ago (hinted in Side B ), so the whole thing must've been a hoax.

Was Rachel the sole purpose of all the killings in crimson april? What did Tex's death have to do with the crimson april case?
I'm not sure if I understand this question. The Crimson April case refers to the string of murder cases in April that happened after CA-744. First Desire Shwing/Chinwell Squarejaws died, then the witnesses to the case mysteriously disappear (it was hinted that they were killed), there was the case with the prosecutor, and of course... Tex's death. This as a whole, is referred to as the Crimson April case (because it all happened in April.) This was hinted with the conversation with Charlie (in Side A). I'm pretty sure I already explained why Rachel was killed at the end of the game. She was killed because she knows too much. She was an accomplice that provided Raquel with an alibi when Desire/Chinwell were killed. Tex was killed when Spade tried to confront him about the D.A's murder.

Was Tex hired by Rachel to knock off the D.A so it wouldn't be investigaed further?
He was hired by someone to rub off the D.A so it wouldn't be investigated further. I think I'll leave this unanswered for now. I'd like to leave a possibility for some sort of a sequel in the future.

I can't remember, but do I ever learn what Don Flamenco is hiding about Raquel?
I left a number of obscure clues about this. Don Flamenco is really Raquel since the real Don Flamenco is in Spain having his dancing exhibition. Also, remember, Coffey left a message asking Raquel about the VoiceSynth. I never really explained what the VoiceSynth is, but I'm sure you can tell that it's probably a voice changer device of sorts (this was hinted in both Side A and Side B.) And I also made it sound as if Don Flamenco was suffering from great pain when you talked to him in Side B. There's only one person who are suffering from a severe wound by the end of the game, and that's Raquel.

Thanks alot for clearing all of that up
Possible spoiler-
I'm afraid I didn't catch the part about Don being Raquel when I was playing the game, but I'm starting a second play through now so hopefully I'll catch all the stuff I missed. The only thing I really noticed was him holding his stomach the whole time when you were talking to him in side B.




Edit-

Unintentional innuendo?

Knowing Orchard, the innuendo was intentional D:

Ok, first off, I just want to say, that I really like this series. So this criticism (that will follow) is just things that I think you would be interested in.. you still made a great bunch of games, regardless!
(NOTE*, may contain spoilers, if you haven't played the game, don't read)

Okay, first off, the controls. I know, I know, trying to have an 'old school' set up, but seriously, they got VERY annoying. There's a reason that mice were invented, it was because it was such a pain scrolling through tons and tons of text. (I got frustrated, yes)

Second. For me, the longer the game, the more it lost 'it' (for me, anyway). It just started getting a little, tedious? Again, This is mainly because of the controls. (of course the more I got frustrated, the more I hammered 'c' to get through text, meaning sometimes I would accidentally 'repeat' the conversations.)
Possibly my favorite episode was Episode I, even though it was a lot shorter than the others, it's length meant reduced frustration at the keyboard, which me finding what happened out faster. (I'm the kinda guy who, if he likes a book, will read it 3 hours straight, cover to cover).

Third, I hate Coffey Expresso. No questions. I literally HAD to take the headphones off, his slurping was driving me insane. It didn't help I didn't have vital infomation, and was trying to interview him numerous times.... I'm glad he didn't come in Side B at all.

Umm, I think that's all my gripes so, now on to my questions, and queries about the game! (including my praise )

I really liked Episode I, you did a great job in creating the atmosphere, and hooking me into playing Episode II, III, and IV. I mean, I just really got into the mood, feeling like a washed up drunken detective! (I love mystery/detective stories! And this is actually my first detective 'game',)

I liked Episode II, probably my favorite of the series, and I believe, the correct length, not to short, nor too long. Bong made me laugh so hard, and I liked the mystery atmosphere you conjured up.

Episode III, wasn't as good as Episode II, although still good. I was beginning to wonder if Spade was 4771! (Well, my train of thoughts was, 4771 was a expert shot, and also an expert in close hand-to-hand combat. Well, I already knew that Spade had shot his partner, and how many people do you know who can knock out a professional boxer who's weilding a knife? In ONE blow?)

Episode IV was a bit of a downer for me, maybe it was time for me to take a break from the series, but like I said, when I got a good book, I don't like putting it down. Even the 2 day break I had, because of a particularly hard puzzle in IV, didn't help a lot. I confessed, I got stuck and succumbed to the lure of the walkthrough. (I only used it minimally!) Some how I missed that I could go out the fire escape. :/

Also, Bong just seemed to 'lack' what he had in the the other two episodes. I dunno, he seemed a bit lifeless in this version. He made me laugh, though in the other two!

And the 'finally', the big build up, finished in a hiss. I didn't even see the dame, :/ It's sad, that he sold out, and let her go, for Daphne, yet killed his own partner/friend. Spade growing soft?

Oh, last question. That random bit, that Eddie was investigating in Episode IV. (the blown up car, and the slobbering dude). Anyway..
Was the slobbering 'gangsta' dude the dude that came to Rachel's Investment office before, trying to talk to Raquel? Also, did Coffey Espresso blow up that car? (I know he was a demolition expert)

Ok, you might be interested in this, so I'll tell you, that I practically never use 'hints' or walkthroughts, especially in the adventure games. However, the controls were so frustrating, and in Episode IV, the texts seemed a LOT longer than in the previous episodes.. I was despairing to even think of confronting Coffey Espresso, or the Two clown detectives. Their huge 'spouts' just annoyed the heck out of me. Although I soldiered on, just to finish the story I couldn't put down, I just want to let you know I HATE those three (but mainly Coffey)

Yeah, I probably should have taken a break between episodes...

I noticed a few typo's, are you interested if I compile a list? Or are you not going to do any future updates on these current releases. (off the mark, in the beginning of Episode I, he was saying stuff like 'the days I were a good detective' [isn't that 'was'?]) Also, In Episode, umm, III? He said 'safe' instead of 'save' (or maybe it was the other way around.), and also, in the convo with Coffey, it spells his name 'Coffet' in one of the text boxes.

If you want a list, I would happily go through, and write down the episode, and places of the ones I noticed, for ya. (Although those where the three big ones, I noticed)

Anyway, great series, love the graphics, love the story, there were some good puzzles(tasks, whatever), and tedious controls. Good job on this lot!
(you should probably mention some where in the first posts on the GMC, that the games contain strong language, etc. though)

~DD

[Oh, and there was a spot in Episode III, in a final confrontations with the 'lawyer', you had to confront him with that random name, which I only JUST remembered. Umm, it was... Timbucktoo? (I had to google the spelling, when I was playing )
I actually had to rely solely on my memory for that one, which was just as well, because there was nothing in the evidence to suggest it. If I hadn't remember, I would have been stuck Possibly something you want to fix?]