Hello, everyone. You probably have no idea what this topic is about. I can't blame you. I mean it's been about 6-7 months or so, and well, you probably wouldn't recall it anyhow.
In case your memory fails you:
http://i.tfster.com/cache/therealrevo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/lesbians-kissing.jpg
Right, so, we're planning on improving the same model used last year with certain stuff, so any suggestions and anyone willing to paint over the background we're using, would be nice.
Our first priority is to improve the speed as much as possible and increase stability to a maximum. But adding cool stuff isn't prohibited.
So please give out your suggestions on how to make this cooler and better.
Quote from: Dualnames on Mon 21/11/2011 20:23:34
http://i.tfster.com/cache/therealrevo.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/08/lesbians-kissing.jpg
Our first priority is to improve the speed as much as possible and increase stability to a maximum.
To increase the SPEED of lesbians kissing, give them some motivation to do it really, really much faster. Maybe tell them there's a price.
To increase the STABILITY of them kissing, I'd suggest duct tape, but that could be seen as somewhat odd.
ON TOPIC:
I'd happily share some character files, seeing that last year was extremely "hare"-heavy ;)
Second. P.S. Dualnames couldn't you just use manual sets scaling for different characters cause I remember that was the problem last time.
*Lesbians kissing in live action.
*Also, I would like to see more options for avatars since it was hard to tell who was who last year (at least for me). I think we should all do our own specific avatars, I think that would be neat.
*Option to pick stage background beforehand...?
*Definitely more than one song, or an option to preview and pick which ceremony song to play at any point during the ceremony.
I'll think of more useless ideas.
I'd be happy to do a paintover of this background:
(http://www.screen7.co.uk/junc/agsawards.jpg)
In the style of the one without enough space what I done:
(http://img441.imageshack.us/img441/781/theatrer.png)
But if you'd rather go with something new/better/morelesbianrelated that's fine with me!
You are should totally include a outside lobby where people can just walk around outside of the awards room. Ooh ohh and there should be a bar with a guy selling C.V.B haha
and I could even give give you Dave(PMQ) seeing how hes a pub master and all. ;D
@Ali: http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/JustLedZep/1-32.png
There it is. The paint over is crucial, cause that means we save a lot of time defining every single coordinate. Main part being the stage floor, the exit (right) and the podium, those kind of have to stick there, the rest is totally allowed to change. Anyhow, just draw something, and I'm sure arrangements can be made.
Get rid of the clapping. If you must do it have the client PM the clap calls to the server instead of having them flood the channel. But ideally I'd prefer just removing it altogether.
I'm not sure what resolution it was at before, but obviously going for the maximum resolution possible will allow you to fit far more low res sprites on screen comfortably.
I think there should be two channels, only one of which is muted during the official parts of the ceremony. Because honestly, it can get a little slow, and you want a bit of backchat/heckling/etc. The system could be smart enough to post automatically to whichever channel was currently not muted.
You could also have two rooms, the other a lobby or maybe a bar where people could hang out and talk at all times (and maybe watch the ceremony on a screen or something :o), but I think that might suck people away from the awards hall, and I'd rather have people in front of the stage.
Quote from: Ishmael on Tue 22/11/2011 06:05:50
Get rid of the clapping. If you must do it have the client PM the clap calls to the server instead of having them flood the channel. But ideally I'd prefer just removing it altogether.
Do you mean the sound effect, or having designated times in the event for people to congratulate the winner? Or do you just mean that people typing "*clap*" appears in the chat?
I would disagree with the first two. You need to have the open congratulations, of course. They're a tradition, and they're how people show their support and enthusiasm.
I think the sound effect worked quite nicely, and I would actually recommend adding more of them. Particularly, when you see the ceremony in action, the sequence feels a little off the way it was this year. You had the list of nominees, in silence. Then you announced the winner (in silence, if I remember, though maybe there was a drum roll?). Then the winner gave a speech (in silence, though there was a good bit of heckling once people figured out they could post by changing their /nicks; if you take my idea for two channels, this hack wouldn't be necessary any more). And only THEN there was applause.
So I think it would be cool if there was some music during the listing of nominations, the drum roll that may or may not have been there already before announcing the winner,
applause when the winner is announced, and then the winner's speech and the congratulations.
If what you're talking about is just having all the *clap*s flood the channel, then yeah, there could be a smarter way to filter those out. Maybe have stuff like this just appear over the character's head for a very short time?
Quote from: Dualnames on Tue 22/11/2011 00:52:22
@Ali: http://i133.photobucket.com/albums/q53/JustLedZep/1-32.png
There it is. The paint over is crucial, cause that means we save a lot of time defining every single coordinate. Main part being the stage floor, the exit (right) and the podium, those kind of have to stick there, the rest is totally allowed to change. Anyhow, just draw something, and I'm sure arrangements can be made.
Thanks!
Quote from: ProgZmax on Tue 22/11/2011 06:49:52
I'm not sure what resolution it was at before, but obviously going for the maximum resolution possible will allow you to fit far more low res sprites on screen comfortably.
I was thinking the same thing, but that doesn't fit with Dual's keep-everything-the-same suggestion... I'll try to work something out.
Quote from: S3 on Mon 21/11/2011 20:48:24
Second. P.S. Dualnames couldn't you just use manual sets scaling for different characters cause I remember that was the problem last time.
Maybe using this: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=30129.0
I say we get some real class up in that award room, maybe a nice red rug, with tassels! Give it some real authenticity.
Before I go further, here's a rough sketch at 1024x768:
(http://i.imgur.com/jQYkO.jpg)
Would that be functional? Cool enough?
Looks quite nice, fine by me :D
Some stuff though I forgot, see I have a black part at the bottom cause that's where the text appears, and the game's resolution is 640x480 and increasing it more, means kind of like killing speed and performance here, I can downscale the background to 640x480.
Just I am nitpicking, see? I am an ass. Here you are volunteering and I am already bossing you around.
I'm happy to draw it at 640x480, it'll take less time. I didn't realise that a bigger background would cost speed.
There is a gap at the bottom of this one for text the same size as your black area (give or take some wobbly sketching). Does the text area have to be black or can I draw a frame of some kind?
Just black. The gui fills it so no frame is needed.
I can't wait for this!
Ali, your background already looks great. :D
As for suggestions:
1. I loved the 'clapping', and like Snarky said, it would be nice to have more sound effects, like 'cheer', 'whistle' and maybe even 'boo' (to be used when theo gets his 15th award) ;
2. I liked the idea of a lobby room.
3. A button that will allow you to search for a specific person in the crowd.
4. And now for the unrealistic suggestion that will never happen: being able to upload your own character with the animations, and having all other clients download your character and show it... Now wouldn't that be cool? ;D
Here's what I am planning to do:
1) Using the AGS theora plugin to play videos, that way, each video on each instance of the client program plays at its own speed.
2) Clapping needs to be reduced, at least i'll disable the annoying cluttering and still allow it to occur, just without flooding.
3) Lobby room, yeah, out of the question. I mean, yeah, it's fun and all, but if you want to have that, just join before the ceremony and stay afterwards. It's kinda pointless, and well, I am still not convinced it's that useful.
4) About the button for specific search, can you be more specific on how does that work?
5) If somehow, AGS could take a bunch of sprites and create a view in-game, I'd be willing to do allow your fourth point, tzachs.
Increasing the resolution as progz suggested means that performance is killed. And since this is via IRC, then it's doubly killed.
The way the client work right now is that it has an extra channel for all meta stuff. We could easily move the claps to that channel so they won't flood the main channel.
Changing the resolution will be a lot of work for Duals. Adding a lobby also for me. :D I'll leave that up to Duals, I'd be up for it though.
Dynamic loading characters is not possible unfortunately since AGS won't allow views to be added at run time. But hey, they can be included in the game just (or a reasonable time) before it goes up.
I don't mind heckling but obviously there need to be some order or things will get out of hand. :D Maybe we could add whispering or something. (so only people (literally) close by will hear it).
Finding people is quite easy, just as in the real world shout their name and have bystanders look behind their backs. ;)
Well the names are shown when you hover over the character, but maybe a command could be added.
About the button, I remember the hovering but with all the people logging in and out all the time, it's hard to keep track, especially since I want to know where Ponch is at all times.
A button would actually probably be too much, but perhaps pressing Ctrl+F would open a "Find" dialog with a text box, and when you insert a name, if the user is in the crowd, his character will glow or flash or do something pretty for a few seconds.
you could create a bunch of blank views with a placeholder sprite in frame 0 of loop 0 and make a function that checks for 'free' views by looking for this frame...or do you mean not being able to populate a loop of a view at runtime? I admit that I've not tried this myself but since you can effectively overwrite sprites you could, in theory, populate views with a sequential series of small, black sprites that are all unique and then overwrite these with dynamic sprites as needed. Of course, this could get very tedious depending on just how many views a character uses and how many loops and frames per loop. If kept to a reasonable number like 2 views, 6 frames/loop and 4 loops/view, that would be 48 sprite placeholders per character maximum. I'm not saying this is something that needs doing, but I'm pretty sure you could do it this way if you wanted to.
QuoteA button would actually probably be too much, but perhaps pressing Ctrl+F would open a "Find" dialog with a text box, and when you insert a name, if the user is in the crowd, his character will glow or flash or do something pretty for a few seconds.
A pop-up gui that displays the names of everyone in the room irc-style would work exceptionally well for something like this. Just leave like a tabbed edge in the lower right that when clicked on opens it, then you can move it around, click a name and it will display a glowing arrow above the character (or something to that effect).
Quote from: tzachs on Tue 22/11/2011 16:08:55
it's hard to keep track, especially since I want to know where Ponch is at all times.
Ponch was over in the corner, suffering defeat in stoic silence. ;)
(http://www.barnrunner.com/pics/promos/A-Life-Of-Quiet-Desperation.PNG)
One thing I noticed during the ceremony this year was that I would sometimes lose track of which award was going on, particularly during some of the more rambling acceptance speeches. I feel like there should be a big caption somewhere on the screen displaying the current category (e.g. as part of the sign, "AGS AWARDS: Background Graphics"). You could probably make it a free-form label that you can set the text of with a mod command. And maybe a results board or something that gets filled in during the ceremony, so you can see how things are going? (This probably as a menu you can bring up.)
And was it just me, or was the single podium a little awkward? Maybe the announcers and winners should each have their own podiums?
Another idea: Falling confetti, like when you win a case in Phoenix Wright, for when winners are announced.
Quote from: Wyz on Tue 22/11/2011 14:49:50
The way the client work right now is that it has an extra channel for all meta stuff. We could easily move the claps to that channel so they won't flood the main channel.
I thought the way it worked right now was that claps are just regular chat messages that contain the word "clap". How are you going to get them into a separate channel? And do you really need to? If you're going to parse them anyway, couldn't you send them over the same channel, and just filter them from displaying in the chat window? (Maybe only displaying them over the character's head instead, like I suggested.)
And is it going to be impossible to write any chat messages that include the word "clap"? That doesn't sound right.
Like tzach says, it'd be nice to support even more types of actions, so it might be best to come up with a general way to distinguish chat messages (things you say) from stuff you want to DO that shouldn't flood the channel. (Probably using the IRC /command or *action syntax.)
Quote from: Wyz on Tue 22/11/2011 14:49:50
I don't mind heckling but obviously there need to be some order or things will get out of hand. :D Maybe we could add whispering or something. (so only people (literally) close by will hear it).
What about my suggestion of another (technically a third) channel for "backchat," that would be open when the regular channel is muted (with messages going to the right channel automatically)? If you make it collapsible, each attendee could choose whether they want to see it or not.
Oh, that reminds me: It would be great to have some usability improvements to the chat window. I don't remember exactly how it worked this year, so correct me if any of this is already in there, but here's my wish list: arrow-up to copy the last line you wrote, scroll-wheel support on the chat history, Page-Up/Down, Home and End-button support to jump around in the history, scroll-bar indicator to show where you are in the history, and smart auto-scroll so that it keeps you looking at the latest line unless you scroll up, and doesn't move while you're looking at the history.
Quote from: ProgZmax on Tue 22/11/2011 16:13:58
A pop-up gui that displays the names of everyone in the room irc-style would work exceptionally well for something like this. Just leave like a tabbed edge in the lower right that when clicked on opens it, then you can move it around, click a name and it will display a glowing arrow above the character (or something to that effect).
Isn't that what the little # button in the top left corner does? (Apart from actually highlighting the character on the screen, which would definitely be a cool addition.)
Quote from: Snarky on Tue 22/11/2011 16:44:07
Quote from: ProgZmax on Tue 22/11/2011 16:13:58
A pop-up gui that displays the names of everyone in the room irc-style would work exceptionally well for something like this. Just leave like a tabbed edge in the lower right that when clicked on opens it, then you can move it around, click a name and it will display a glowing arrow above the character (or something to that effect).
Isn't that what the little # button in the top left corner does? (Apart from actually highlighting the character on the screen, which would definitely be a cool addition.)
(http://i.imgur.com/tGz0M.png)
Edit:
And I loved doing the claps ;D
Particle effects and please make the stage explode at the end plus a motorbike stunt. Cheers Duals :=
Yes, I meant the "*clap*" texts appearing the IRC channel. Move that to the meta channel or wherever.
As for all this lobby talk. In the past it's been two channels, #ags was for general chat all times, ie. a lobby, and the awards channel followed the pattern -- which I think is good, should not be changed. It's a tradition and stuff after all. And it would work just as fine as it worked last year. No need to reinvent the wheel here I think.
Quote from: m0ds on Tue 22/11/2011 21:50:20
Particle effects and please make the stage explode at the end plus a motorbike stunt. Cheers Duals :=
That would be awesome, but who is going to pay for that. The last time renting that venue already costed a small fortune, and that place was a dump. :=
Well I guess clicking on the names in the list and highlighting the character sounds like a great idea. Also maybe a /find command for the ones that prefer to type.
Quote from: Snarky on Tue 22/11/2011 16:44:07
One thing I noticed during the ceremony this year was that I would sometimes lose track of which award was going on, particularly during some of the more rambling acceptance speeches. I feel like there should be a big caption somewhere on the screen displaying the current category (e.g. as part of the sign, "AGS AWARDS: Background Graphics"). You could probably make it a free-form label that you can set the text of with a mod command. And maybe a results board or something that gets filled in during the ceremony, so you can see how things are going? (This probably as a menu you can bring up.)
And was it just me, or was the single podium a little awkward? Maybe the announcers and winners should each have their own podiums?
Another idea: Falling confetti, like when you win a case in Phoenix Wright, for when winners are announced.
Great ideas if you'd ask me! There will be bumpers played at the stage screen for the different categories so that is covered. I do like the idea of more then one stand for speakers. Also confetti and visual effects sounds like fun.
Quote from: Snarky on Tue 22/11/2011 16:44:07
Quote from: Wyz on Tue 22/11/2011 14:49:50
...
I thought the way it worked right now was that claps are just regular chat messages that contain the word "clap". How are you going to get them into a separate channel? And do you really need to? If you're going to parse them anyway, couldn't you send them over the same channel, and just filter them from displaying in the chat window? (Maybe only displaying them over the character's head instead, like I suggested.)
You've got things a bit mixed. Let me explain it:
There are two channels, one is the official IRC awards channel. That channel is accessible with a general IRC client like mIRC. Everything that Duals and I added to the experience like walking and choosing avatars is transferred to a different channel so it doesn't interfere with the regular channel. Because previous years the phrase *claps* was used extensively Duals decided to simply trigger on that word. We can add a separate command for clap (and boo, cheers whatever) so it no longer is visible in the regular channel.
I don't really feel the need of a separate channel for chatter during the ceremony. I try to vision it as much as reality as possible with interactions, so feel free to twitter about it. ;)
Quote from: ProgZmax on Tue 22/11/2011 16:13:58
you could create a bunch of blank views with a placeholder sprite in frame 0 of loop 0 and make a function that checks for 'free' views by looking for this frame...or do you mean not being able to populate a loop of a view at runtime? I admit that I've not tried this myself but since you can effectively overwrite sprites you could, in theory, populate views with a sequential series of small, black sprites that are all unique and then overwrite these with dynamic sprites as needed. Of course, this could get very tedious depending on just how many views a character uses and how many loops and frames per loop. If kept to a reasonable number like 2 views, 6 frames/loop and 4 loops/view, that would be 48 sprite placeholders per character maximum. I'm not saying this is something that needs doing, but I'm pretty sure you could do it this way if you wanted to.
Hmm interesting... I'll look into that. I guess the real problem will be the fact animations might not have an equal number of frames, I don't know if that can be changed at run-time.
Quote from: Wyz on Wed 23/11/2011 00:06:28
Great ideas if you'd ask me! There will be bumpers played at the stage screen for the different categories so that is covered. I do like the idea of more then one stand for speakers. Also confetti and visual effects sounds like fun.
Cool. By "bumpers", do you mean like a text screen that is shown to announce the start of each new category? That's good, but the thing is that it goes away, so if you weren't paying attention or you step away for a minute (and since the ceremony goes on for hours, I for one tend to multitask during it), you can't necessarily tell what's happening. For you who are running the show it's probably obvious, but as an attendee, my experience this year was that it isn't; not always.
Quote
You've got things a bit mixed. Let me explain it:
There are two channels, one is the official IRC awards channel. That channel is accessible with a general IRC client like mIRC. Everything that Duals and I added to the experience like walking and choosing avatars is transferred to a different channel so it doesn't interfere with the regular channel. Because previous years the phrase *claps* was used extensively Duals decided to simply trigger on that word. We can add a separate command for clap (and boo, cheers whatever) so it no longer is visible in the regular channel.
No, I got that. My concerns were that if delegated to a separate channel, the system for detecting a "clap" command should probably be less aggressive than that used this year, and secondly that the pure-IRC version of the ceremony shouldn't lose the sense of applause and congratulation. But I guess it doesn't really matter that much how you implement it.
QuoteI don't really feel the need of a separate channel for chatter during the ceremony. I try to vision it as much as reality as possible with interactions, so feel free to twitter about it. ;)
As Ishmael mentions, in the past we've had the general #ags channel as a "lobby" where people could chat while the awards channel was muted. It would be good to have a similar thing in the AGS client. I can understand your desire for realism, but in this case I think solutions like a whisper command limited to those nearby are clearly worse than the simple-minded solution. If it helps you come to terms with it, imagine that the avatars are chatting over IRC or twitter on their smart phones. ;)
Yeah, I kind of understand the issue with the "clap" thing. It was distracting, and kind of filled up the screen with something that wasn't REALLY necessary.
So I agree with what is being suggested... when someone uses the "trigger" by typing "*clap*", instead of showing up in the chat area on screen (i.e. the awards chatroom), it is only processed by the...system-management room(?), which can maybe create the sound effect (out of a random pool of clap sound effects, for variety ;D), and maybe a clap animation or something. Also the addition of boos! :D
Quote from: Dualnames on Tue 22/11/2011 13:47:22
1) Using the AGS theora plugin to play videos, that way, each video on each instance of the client program plays at its own speed.
Watch out, from what I've experienced, if players start your client with Direct Draw 5 (non accelerated), the video will always be played in the
foreground, whatever-ish you try to display on top (I can't remember if GUIs and characters can overlap non-accelerated videos, though). I recommend you test that to avoid disappointment.
My suggestions:
- Each avatar has his
name written over his head
- When they say something in the chat, a little
icon appears briefly above their head (something simple and discreet like this (http://www.arianlevin.com/images/500px-Speaker_Icon_svgerer.gif) ). That way the crowd will look more dynamic (the watcher not only thinks "wow, those guys can actually walk around" but also "wow, this guy I like is saying something right now, let's look at the chat window I can't wait to read his pun").
Suggestions I support:
- Tabata's list of who is present
- Snarky's visual reminder of what award is being given
/snake clicks to see OUXX's "pun"
Another suggestion: There needs to be an intermission or breaks during the ceremony for people like me who always need to leave the computer to go to the bathroom and/or get a beer.
Quote3) Lobby room, yeah, out of the question. I mean, yeah, it's fun and all, but if you want to have that, just join before the ceremony and stay afterwards. It's kinda pointless, and well, I am still not convinced it's that useful.
I don't see why not, really. Yeah, I don't like the idea of people missing bits and pieces of the ceremony due to the "coolness" of walking around the place and chatting in different rooms, but I really don't see that happening either. We are all mature AGSers here (well, most of us) and which one of us would be fapping off in another room during the ceremony? Seriously, who'd be off messing around and not caring about it? If I can make it this year (for the first time EVAR), I'll be planting my ass in the hall and not miss a moment. I sure the hell wouldn't be off in the other room.
And you know what, if they miss something, they miss something.
But anyway, Duals, if that is the main concern, which I believe it is, then why not just be forceful and move everyone directly (or wait for everyone to come in - if moving everyone with a command isn't feasible) to the hall when it's time to start and lock the doors behind them?
Either way you decide to go, I don't care, honestly, but the main reason I'm bringing this up again is that I think it would be a neat thing to do - having a "lobby" type place for us to hang around and chat (as well as the hall to go back and forth through) before the ceremony starts, whether it's an hour before hand or an hour after. I'm sure it'll be packed... and I'm not an elbow-to-elbow kind a' guy, James.
\\--EDIT--//
Also, if there's a lobby and there are people out there (for whatever reason), there should be a speaker out there in the upper corner displaying all the text that is being said in the hall at the podium.
Quote from: Snake on Wed 23/11/2011 14:29:08
But anyway, Duals, if that is the main concern, which I believe it is, then why not just be forceful and move everyone directly (or wait for everyone to come in - if moving everyone with a command isn't feasible) everyone directly to the hall when it's time to start and lock the doors behind them?
Escape the room puzzle!
Quote from: Wyz on Wed 23/11/2011 00:06:28
Also confetti and visual effects sounds like fun.
If the game can handle the physics processing, how about balloons that people can knock/toss around and pop?
I want some actual gameplay in this "game", is what I'm saying. ;D
If we're going to have a lobby, then I demand an arcade attached to it. With Pac Man, Space Invaders, and Street Fighter II. Plus, every attendee gets 10 free tokens. Also, I want to have a "pick pocket" button on my GUI to steal other people's tokens.
Also, there should be bathrooms. And a stack of back issues of AGS Today to read while I'm doing my business in the stall. And all the issues should have a random crossword puzzle for me to work on while I'm in there.
Lastly, at the end of the show, Larry Vales puts on a funktastic AGS blue jumpsuit and jumps ten school buses on a motorcycle. :=
Quote from: Ponch on Wed 23/11/2011 15:36:56
Also, there should be bathrooms.
... with a 10% change that you drop the soap...
Quote from: Ghost on Wed 23/11/2011 15:38:41
Quote from: Ponch on Wed 23/11/2011 15:36:56
Also, there should be bathrooms.
... with a 10% change that you drop the soap...
Ponch, what are you doing in the bathroom with the soap?? Erm... don't tell me, forget it ;)
If your not going to include a lobby(with a bar :] ) because your worried about someone missing out on something cause they are sitting in there then I think that's a little unreasonable seeing how there are people on the IRC chat who can't see anything that's happening in the there either. I really think there should be a lobby cause staying in that one small room with everyone is kinda boring. Now I'm not saying that the lobby will be even better but all I'm trying to say is it will extended the time of someone staying on the game and not switching to something else.
Are you kidding me? Since when have the awards been boring?
Quote from: S3 on Wed 23/11/2011 18:15:11
... staying in that one small room with everyone is kinda boring.
(http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/userpics/12962/naughty.gif) You can't have been there, if you think like this!
The more, the funnier!
Imagine how it is, when all bunnies (suddenly there have been a very lot ;)) are running after another to the door for hiding or some chars running through the crowd to catch each other ...?
It's interactive, it's cool, it's fun â€" it's a very special and wonderful family-meeting! ;D
I loved the awards last time, I can't believe it's coming around again already..um when exactly is it?? :-\
My two cents:
Custom characters - ..mmm yes please if it's possible! Not sure how it works but if people don't provide enough frames, let them suffer the dodgy animation..either that or have Duals make everyone a unique character with multiple animations - me first please - I mean, it's not like he has anything better to do!
The lobby - this would be cool but I don't think it's a must-have for the awards imho, the one room worked fine last time.
More interactions - gimme stuff to click on and play with please :)
Being able to toggle on/off names
*clap* - it was pretty distracting for me, maybe have the sound effect and the words above the character's heads, but not in the chatbox itself
Icons above characters' heads such as the 'talking' speech bubble already mentioned or a some snoozing zzZZs for when your away from the keyboard. Tabata's emoticons are the only thing missing from the Awards imo ;)
Videos - That would be really cool and was something I would've loved to see last time, but how will this work? I see you said they'll run at their own speed on each client but does that mean they might fall out of sync with the rest of the show or will they be stored locally on the client machine? Basically i'm asking 'can I accidentally break it?' as I know nothing of such technical wizardry!
+1 for a reminder of the award being presented
It wasn't boring last time. I had fun but all I'm saying is it was long :D
I guess the biggest thing I'm trying to ask is if there can be more to do.
If you need something else to do during the ceremony, then simply run the awards in a window and do something on your computer. Or put on the radio in the background or listen to the TV.
Putting in "things to do" at the ceremony will only take away from the most important part of it,
the ceremony.
I mean I agree with Snarky, or who ever said it, about bouncing a few balloons around or something little like that, but things to keep you occupied while the ceremony is in progress? Eh? The ceremony should be the only thing you care about while there.
Now if there's an after party, now that's something that can have activities and games and beer.
By the way, Isiah, I am going to be the... ah... "pub master"... and I will be carding ::)
QuoteTabata's emoticons are the only thing missing from the Awards imo
OMG I KNOW!
Quote from: Snake on Wed 23/11/2011 21:47:50
I am going to be the... ah... "pub master"... and I will be carding ::)
So there's a QUEST there, finding your card?
But really, the whole thing is a frontend to a chat. Its lovely to have characters standing around, and a bit of confetti never hurt anyone, but that should be it.
So I'd really be happy if the way Progz mentioned would work- that there are placeholders and characters can be added by ourselves or a moderator.
Any news on that?
Quote from: Snake on Wed 23/11/2011 21:47:50
QuoteTabata's emoticons are the only thing missing from the Awards imo
OMG I KNOW!
I'll come along with a bit of color for the bathroom
(http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/userpics/12962/normal_boring.gif)
and a magazine for Ponch
(http://i.imgur.com/TNtxB.gif)
..but don't tell the pub master ;)
Quote from: Ghost on Wed 23/11/2011 22:02:17
But really, the whole thing is a frontend to a chat. Its lovely to have characters standing around, and a bit of confetti never hurt anyone, but that should be it.
Yeah, I think the focus should be on improving the chat and ceremony experience. Stuff like the UI improvements to the chat window, some additional dazzle to the presentation (i.e. sound and visual effects), and - I'll make one last pitch for this - a sidechannel so that all talk doesn't have to stop during the announcement parts of the ceremony.
QuoteSo I'd really be happy if the way Progz mentioned would work- that there are placeholders and characters can be added by ourselves or a moderator.
Any news on that?
Loading the graphics into AGS is one thing, but how do you broadcast them to all the other clients in the first place? (And what if new people log on later, do you have to resend it to them?)
Since Wyz and Duals have offered to import characters you send them ahead of time into the client, isn't that a good-enough solution?
If that's the way to go, it's fine by me, and (probably) the best solution, yes- just wanted to make sure about the "current development".
Quote from: Snake on Wed 23/11/2011 17:05:03
Quote from: Ghost on Wed 23/11/2011 15:38:41
Quote from: Ponch on Wed 23/11/2011 15:36:56
Also, there should be bathrooms.
... with a 10% change that you drop the soap...
Ponch, what are you doing in the bathroom with the soap?? Erm... don't tell me, forget it ;)
Do you NOT wash your hands before you leave the bathroom? Is that how things are in the Snake household? As a cow, I was raised in a barn. But what's your excuse? ;)
Snake as the Pub master... That's fine by me. It will give me a break :D
Also maybe there doesn't need to be a lobby in the game but what if someone took the source and created a 1 room game that contain the lobby. This way both games can run in the background and you wont miss anything. It's full proof ;D
If you ask me, I'd go back to the IRC-channel only ceremony. All this visual stuff is just a bonus. And while it is nice and all should remain just a bonus so that you can actually enjoy the show through an IRC client just like in the past. Hence, I don't like the fuss about lobby rooms or whatnot. Even the characters walking around the room in front of the stage is a bit of an extra.
No need to reinvent the wheel, just fix the few quirks that were discovered last year, ie. the clapping, possibly have the award in question shown on the stage screen, etc. And you'll have more than enough time to get it working right and tested rather than having to spend ages figuring out implementations and then run out of time polishing it.
Quote from: S3 on Thu 24/11/2011 03:45:40
Also maybe there doesn't need to be a lobby in the game but what if someone took the source and created a 1 room game that contain the lobby. This way both games can run in the background and you wont miss anything. It's full proof ;D
That's already been sort of done. It's called an IRC client.
Quote from: m0ds on Tue 22/11/2011 21:50:20
Particle effects and please make the stage explode at the end plus a motorbike stunt. Cheers Duals :=
Agreed. Apart from the glaring lack of explosions and bike stunts, last years show pretty much had everything you could ask for.
Using ogg video for presenting stuff is a good idea though since it would give viewers a way better insight into the games being presented (provided someone finds the time to actually produce these videos - a task not to be underestimated in size)... And on a more technical side of things you'd have to find some way to sync the sound with the video.
I look forward to the next ceremony, whenever it is! I was very impressed with how well it worked out technically last time around.
Quote from: theo on Fri 25/11/2011 20:51:14
I was very impressed with how well it worked out technically last time around.
Yes, I remember. Let me quote: "PLACE ME BETWEEN THE LESBIANS, I WANT THIS TO BE PERFECT"
It is late and I am going to bed. But first, here is a draft of the new backdrop:
(http://i.imgur.com/7RKe3.jpg)
Dualnames, please let me know to what extent it satisfies your requirements regarding lectern/s projector screens etc. I was also planning to have a curtain which comes up and down at the front of the stage. Would that be good?
Also, does anyone else think the award for backgrounds should be called the Wonky D'or?
No?
It's a play on words you see.
Sorry.
It looks amazing. I am literally typing with one hand cause the other one is busy holding my jaw. The curtain would be nice, if you make it a separate object of course. As for the screen size is kinda of irrelevant (the bigger the better) but definitely make it exactly square, at least the inner part, the frame can be a bit round here and there.
I think I need to lie down..that's gorgeous :o
I'm going to have to rent a tux this time around..
Oh yes, it looks very solemnly! A good start, Ali!
... clap, clap ... (http://www.smileyvault.com/albums/userpics/12962/clap.gif)
Do we need party or banquet this time?
Would be funny to see all the chars with a black tie or feather-boa
(and all the bakers in their leather-pants or a chef's hat) ;D
In this case I will shoot countless family-pics for my album:
(http://i.imgur.com/Bt2zb.gif)
I just have to say this - that's an amazingly wonderful backdrop, Ali! I'm definitely going to watch the ceremony now! :D
Ali, that's incredible... to say the least :) I love it.
That is definitely a place worthy of standing around all LucasArts like getting drunk! Nice one Ali
Lookin' great, Ali! Good job.
Would be fun with a non interactive exterior shot as well. Skylights 'n all! 8)
I'm glad you guys like the background! I just posted it in the Critics Lounge (http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=44869.0) to ask some colouring questions.
We'll have to wait and see regarding the Exterior / Explosions / Dumbledore's-Office-Style-Portraits-Of-Classic-AGS-Characters.
Great drawing Ali.
Dual : keep it simple : all that AGSers want is to run arround dressed like Max and stare at lesbians. Last years was fun. The olny thing that was sad was the muting of the room during speeches, kiling A LOT of joke. Is this possible to split it ? A big gui on top with speeches (or the standard .Say) for anyone OPed (with a biggest priority) and the usual window for spontaneous Clapping, cheering, laughing and puns.
Yeah, redirect the talk when the main channel is muted to #ags or another #awardstalk channel. This can even be a separate box above the chatbox.
Yay! People agreeing with me! :D
Guys, we've had thoughts over this, this isn't just up to Wyz and me. It's how the irc ceremony works. If you guys want I could have you guys unmuted during the silence mode on the ceremony, but only people inside the ceremony would talk, and let's be honest, this doesn't work.
Even if all of you agree there are some points you forget.
1) We're talking about a semi big crowd.
2) We're talking about a chatbox of 7-8 lines visible at all times
3) Have you seen the rate in which about 38 people type?
4) AGS crashed twice on me because we got a crash i never even knew it existed. "AGS Has Just Crashed: Too many overlays".
5) What if someone loses a line said by an announcer
I want to make this better, but what you guys are proposing, is creating more problems than it should. I loved the last ceremony more than the entire time i have been around. m0ds and I had a talk some months ago, and we both agreed it felt like 2006. (yeah, well, that.)
I want to enhance this, make this ideal for everyone. Stable, fast, lesbianlike, amazing, COZY. The best way to go here would be a separate room for idle chatting. Otherwise we're compromising too much i believe.
Quote from: Dualnames on Mon 28/11/2011 11:24:14
Guys, we've had thoughts over this, this isn't just up to Wyz and me. It's how the irc ceremony works.
As people have pointed out, on IRC the way it works is that you have a general channel where people can always talk, even when the awards channel is muted. That's what we're asking for in the AGS-IRC client.
QuoteEven if all of you agree there are some points you forget.
1) We're talking about a semi big crowd.
2) We're talking about a chatbox of 7-8 lines visible at all times
3) Have you seen the rate in which about 38 people type?
4) AGS crashed twice on me because we got a crash i never even knew it existed. "AGS Has Just Crashed: Too many overlays".
5) What if someone loses a line said by an announcer
Well, points 1, 3 and 4 apply just as much to the current version, don't they? Point 2 isn't even true (the current box is 4 lines in the smaller state, and my suggestion was always that you'd be able to hide/minimize this other one if you didn't want it there), and for point 5, why would that happen if you have it in a separate chat window, and what would be the big deal if it did? (You can't force people to pay attention to the ceremony anyway.)
QuoteI want to make this better, but what you guys are proposing, is creating more problems than it should. I loved the last ceremony more than the entire time i have been around. m0ds and I had a talk some months ago, and we both agreed it felt like 2006. (yeah, well, that.)
I want to enhance this, make this ideal for everyone. Stable, fast, lesbianlike, amazing, COZY. The best way to go here would be a separate room for idle chatting. Otherwise we're compromising too much i believe.
The ceremony this year was awesome, but it had some frustrations, too, and shutting down all conversation whenever things were announced and during acceptance speeches was one of the main ones.
I think a separate room is not a good solution, because it's telling people that you can EITHER chat OR participate in the ceremony, but not both at the same time, and that will make no one happy. That's just my opinion, though.
A switchable chat window seems like a fine idea.
OK first of all: Ali, that is gorgeous! I don't know where we're going to get the money to rent a venue like that! :=
I a bit worried about the size though, last time was completely stuffed with around 35 people. We might need to scale up the resolution (and also scale down the stand I guess). Meh, Duals and I should discuss that.
Ok Snarky GODAMNIT :D, yes we can allow the chat that appears above characters to continue during the mutes technically. We decided not to allow that last time, my personal reason was that heckling would only be visible to people that have the client, then people could talk behind the backs of those without the client. Whispering would solve that. Meh, Duals and I should discuss that.
All in all I'm totally lost, could someone make a list of ideas? :D
I'll make one in the first post and well, you'll see.
Quote from: Wyz on Tue 29/11/2011 01:15:50
Ok Snarky GODAMNIT :D, yes we can allow the chat that appears above characters to continue during the mutes technically. We decided not to allow that last time, my personal reason was that heckling would only be visible to people that have the client, then people could talk behind the backs of those without the client. Whispering would solve that. Meh, Duals and I should discuss that.
All in all I'm totally lost, could someone make a list of ideas? :D
Yay, stubborn insistence wins again! ;)
But, uhm, what? What you describe sounds different from what I've been saying. First of all, if the chat during the mutes was sent to a different channel, people without the client could just join that channel and participate in just the same way. Second, I'm not sure what this "whispering" you're talking about is. I was talking about literally a second chat window, either above the regular one, or maybe even better, tab-able like in a regular IRC client, as LimpingFish seems to be saying.
Here's a list of (serious) feature requests, grouped into a few categories:
SUGGESTIONS WITH LOTS OF SUPPORT- Make the clapping not flood the chat history (e.g. only appear over characters' head)
- A "find" feature to locate individuals in the crowd
- More different sound effects (cheering, boos, whistling, hooting, crowd noise...)
- A persistent sign/label showing which award is currently ongoing
- Ability to still chat during times when main chat muted for ceremony (in a different channel, and not appearing in the same chat window)
- Falling confetti/balloons and other visual effects
OTHER GOOD IDEAS (IMO)- More different music cues (fanfares, drum rolls, AGS Awards theme song...)
- Usability improvements to the chat window (scrolling, shortcut keys, scroll bar, text editing)
- Individual scaling per-character (for consistency)
SHOULD BE SIMPLE TO DO- Intermissions during ceremony
- More different avatars
MAY BE HARD. NOT WORTH IT?- Increase resolution
- More interactivity (in the environment, I guess?)
- Custom animations for avatars (runnable through command in chat window)
- A second room for lobby/just chatting
- Upload custom animations "live"
PROBABLY HAVEN'T BEEN THOUGHT THROUGH- Name constantly displayed over head of each character
- "Talking" icons over the heads of each character
Quote from: Snarky on Tue 29/11/2011 08:11:22
- "Talking" icons over the heads of each character
What about just using the talk view of the character?
Sounds like this year will be a blow out! :o
Quote from: Wyz on Tue 29/11/2011 01:15:50
OK first of all: Ali, that is gorgeous! I don't know where we're going to get the money to rent a venue like that! :=
I a bit worried about the size though, last time was completely stuffed with around 35 people. We might need to scale up the resolution (and also scale down the stand I guess). Meh, Duals and I should discuss that.
Thanks. I did draw it at a larger resolution, but I scaled it down before sending it to Duals. Let me know if you need a different version.
I had no problems tabbing between the AGS client, the awards channel in an IRC client AND the #ags channel last year, so that might be why I still fail to see the point of this second chat box thing complicating things.
Quote from: Snarky on Tue 22/11/2011 07:58:55
So I think it would be cool if there was some music during the listing of nominations, the drum roll that may or may not have been there already before announcing the winner
There was a track for when the nominations were read out, but it wasn't used. There was no drum roll either. But I agree something to build the tension a little would be great! With that in mind, it would be kind of good if one person could control extra sounds or visual effects, rather than them just happening when the right piece of text is said, a bit like a lighting/sound control box, so if someone cracks a joke, someone can press the "badum-ching!" button and that sound is played. But that's just a suggestion, I have no qualms with the way it worked last year. When you're drunk, the most important thing is being able to follow the dialog :=
Long time no see. I started working tonight a bit on this, I've been swamped with some other stuff, and Wyz too. Here's Snarky's list, and here's what's left to be in.
SUGGESTIONS WITH LOTS OF SUPPORT
- Make the clapping not flood the chat history (e.g. only appear over characters' head)
- A "find" feature to locate individuals in the crowd
- More different sound effects (cheering, boos, whistling, hooting, crowd noise...)
- A persistent sign/label showing which award is currently ongoing
- Ability to still chat during times when main chat muted for ceremony (in a different channel, and not appearing in the same chat window)
- Falling confetti/balloons and other visual effects
-Clap button, and clap toggle
OTHER GOOD IDEAS (IMO)
- More different music cues (fanfares, drum rolls, AGS Awards theme song...)
- Usability improvements to the chat window (scrolling, shortcut keys, scroll bar, text editing)
- Individual scaling per-character (for consistency)
- Videos
SHOULD BE SIMPLE TO DO
- Intermissions during ceremony
I've talked to bici about this, and I'd pretty much like someone's plan on this. Last time the ceremony took 2.5 hours. That's a long time. Provided we put 5 minute breaks and such we can go up to a half an hour total in breaks. I guess.
- More different avatars