Well, After i finished Tales of Chickenry my aunt saw the game and was impressed. she teaches a gifted class at a school in Witchita KS and wants me to talk to the class about ags and my game. What do you think I should tell them?
Well, first tell them about AGS and what it does, and then mention some games made with it maybe, and describe your own game. Maybe print out some screenshots of things to keep it interesting?
PS- It's spelt "speech" :)
Yep, and besides your own game you could also do a little research into the growth of the popularity of video-games, and the so called "de-crease" in popularity of adventure games, room for debate as to whether that's just a commercial stance or not, etc. You could make a powerpoint presentation with screenshots of your game, etc. You could just tell them facts, how long it took to make, how much effort went into each room, the complications of making the game and what has happened since its release...
You know your class best though, what do you think they'd want to know? :) It might also be worth telling them that THEY can make games easily and for free, too.
Quote from: m0ds on Sat 02/12/2006 18:56:00
It might also be worth telling them that THEY can make games easily and for free, too.
Unless they are going to make Maniac Mansion games.. ;)
Hahaha! True! But that could also spark the debate about remaking games, infringing on copyrights etc... So there's a lot to talk about with your class, and it doesn't all have to be about your game :)
Let them gather around and watch while you play "Warrior of Light"
If I were in your shoes I'd do a demonstration of the editor using a laptop, a short little 1 room thing using roger for your protagonist. Make it an interactive affair and let them make the game. After you've killed most of the lesson with that demonstration show them what kind of quality a bunch of people can make if they put some gumption into it, i.e. show them your game or someone elses
You might also like to see how Dave Gilbert presented his games to people :)
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=28507.0
You also might want to include in the speech that this style of gaming was popular and considered incredibly high-tech 12-14 years ago but in spite of all the advents, innovations, and advances made in the gaming industry,
there's a select group of people in an underground network who wish to carry on this lost art of old-school point 'n click and lo-res/VGA graphics, through original stories, remakes of EGA and text-parser games, and parodies/crossovers of the classics.
This is an underground network that cares more about purity, not profit. :)
Oh I don't know, profit would be nice ;)
Indeed, profit would be nice. But it's just that, well, I consider adventure gaming to be an underground network just like my music/culture: Sometimes bastardized by the mainstream, the true concept it was founded on is kept alive by those who care about it and believe in it and want to continue it.
Seriously, I'd given up total hope on the games I grew up with and seeing more of its calibre being made, til I found out about AGS and the people who really care to keep old-school gaming alive. That was also the same day I quit taking Comp Sci at uni then switched majors and never looked back!
But to stay on topic: Some people care more about keeping concepts and ideals strong and going rather than making money off it. Which we can't legally do with AGS anyways since no one but Chris Jones himself has rights and loyalties to the engine.
But if you make up your own interface/engine/language and want to make money off it...more power to you!
Whatever you do, make sure it ends with you all beating on a mansized pinata.
The Speech went really well.
It did not turn out to be a speech. I mostly showed them how to make a game with AGS.
The first class had 7 or so 7th and 8th graders. Also two collage students from my aunts church showed up. I showed them how to import sprites and make characters. I also showed them how to make a room and how to use walkable areas and hotspots. I was supprised that the next class of 4 fith graders got much more out of it. there games had sound effects and some animations and had very good graphics. and they only had 45 minutes. I only told the 3d graders a little bit about my game. They only had 30 minutes and we barley got through that. My aunt also learned a lot about ags so she should be able to help them out later on.
thanks for the help.
Congratulations on the public demo!
No surprise in the difference in response between the two groups. 7th and 8th graders tend to be stupidly cynical. Trying too hard to make a game would be unbecoming. Younger kids are more interested in having fun than in looking cool.