Sphonx - Science Fiction meet Ancient Egypt

ToxicTuba · Mon 30/05/2022 00:36:58

Sphonx lets you discover scientifically advanced technology and antique artifacts on an archaeological expedition in an ancient Egyptian pyramid.
You are Ignacio "Iggy" Dias, a young and interested archaeologist in the near future.
He helps Dr. Allan Nowicz, an experienced scientist and archaeologist who was involved in the development of some of the most advanced technological breakthroughs in recent archaeology.
He is leading the current research on the dig site and he's also managing the bureaucratic side of the expedition in Egypt today.
Dr Nowicz is very proud to have a Death Erasing Multispectral Ultrawave Mummified Material Igniter Ray Device with him on this site.
It's purpose is to revive even partially conserved cells in old, very old and even ancient Egyptian tissue and give it back its previous human form.

Of course, such advanced technology needs careful use and planned application.
So Dr Nowicz wants to wait for Dr Sebranovic to arrive, the spiritual and logical father of the very advanced tissue reviving device.
Ignacio Dias, a studious but a bit clumsy apprentice working for Dr Nowicz instead wants to finally see results and start the live study of ancient life with support of the DEMUMMI-RAY rather yesterday than waiting even longer.
Tension between the two clashing opinions escalates and late at night Iggy sneaks into the excavation / laboratory deep inside the darkest parts of the age-old pyramid only to get involved in a centuries spanning adventure.

Playtime is still manageable in one to two lunch breaks...

DOWNLOAD

https://toxic-tuba.itch.io/sphonx

Price: 3,20€ /// $3,00
You can take a look at the demo for free and see if you like the game and
then buy it for the price of a burger or a good coffee and taste all the flavors of the game.

(AGS Database entry)

CREDITS

Story
CaptainD, selmiak, Toxic Tuba

Programming
Toxic Tuba

Graphics & Animation
Toxic Tuba

Additional Character Animation
Indrek

Voice Actors
Iggy - Durq
Professor Nowicz - Captain D
Stanley Worthington Smythe - Leigh Harvey
Narrator / Tutorial - Durinde

Music
Edwin Montgomery

Sounds
Toxic Tuba and from freesound.org

Tween Module
Edmundo Ruiz & Tzach Shabtay

Testers
CassieBSG, WatchDaToast, Lorenzo, Hobo, Letch, durinde, CaptainD, Durq, Flo, Yannik

Big thanks to all the fine people in the credits, this game wouldn't be possible without you!
The voice actors did an amazing job, this adds so much more to the game, go check it out!
And thank to the testers that went through quite a few rounds of betatesting with me.

CaptainD · Mon 30/05/2022 09:10:15

Great to see this released! All those years after we originally made the MAGS game together where the main connective theme was "pink socks"!

TheFrighter · Mon 30/05/2022 09:34:33

Still in development? What is missing?
_

CaptainD · Mon 30/05/2022 15:01:17

Quote from: TheFrighter on Mon 30/05/2022 09:34:33

Still in development? What is missing?
_

Ah... nothing. He just needs to update the Status on the Itch page for the game. I've made this mistake before myself!

Hobo · Mon 06/06/2022 12:45:57

Congratulations on the release! Had fun testing it!

I think it would make sense if the default "name your own price" sum would match the game actual price, right now it feels a bit confusing

ThreeOhFour · Tue 14/06/2022 13:08:56

I enjoyed my time with this! Some nice details, particularly some of the effects you used. Loved how you showed the planet's rotation with the starfield on the title screen. Some interesting puzzle ideas, too, even if I think I may have gotten slightly lucky to get the colours puzzle right on my first attempt - I certainly wasn't 100% sure what each one stood for.

Length was, as you say, a couple of nice little sessions.

One thing I did notice is that the zip file and directory are named "Sponx Windows" which confused me a little! The executable itself is named fine, so probably just a last minute typo in the upload.

Other than that, good work!

ToxicTuba · Wed 07/12/2022 01:39:30

Quote from: ThreeOhFour on Tue 14/06/2022 13:08:56Some interesting puzzle ideas, too, even if I think I may have gotten slightly lucky to get the colours puzzle right on my first attempt - I certainly wasn't 100% sure what each one stood for.

Thanks for your feedback ben, that is intentional, to make you feel like the person translating actual hieroglyphs without any clue whatsoever. Glad it worked out and you had fun. Noone really complained about that puzzle yet, not even the many testers, so it should be really intuitive on a level I cannot explain but somehow got right

I'll have to look into those folders now and fix that typo there...

and guess what, SPHONX now has a trailer!
That was quite challenging to put together, took me only half a year or so, but it is out now in all its glory, thanks to durinde for the voice and emont for the music

lorenzo · Wed 07/12/2022 21:06:51

I tested this game and it's a really fun short adventure!
Nice graphics with some really cool particle effects, funny characters with good voice acting, an enjoyable story, and puzzles that are fun to solve and sometimes tricky. Definitely worth playing!

ToxicTuba · Mon 19/12/2022 15:41:01

Almost forgot to add the game to the database since MAY!!! But that happened now as well, phew right on time for the year closing and awards nominations

heltenjon · Fri 03/02/2023 21:46:52

I played this one today and liked it a lot. It looks and sounds great, which really sets the mood, but it's all the bickering between the characters that sells me on the story, and some very nice puzzles that lift it up from the crowd. I wish the story was longer and wouldn't mind seeing Iggy again in the future. Well worth the cost. Now, I think I'll have a replay to see if a couple of those problems have an optional solution...