Adventure Game Studio

ShockingBlue: Hello, my name is ShockingBlue, and I'm an Adventure Gameaholic.

Everyone: Hello ShockingBlue.

I'm new to the forum, but not new to AGS or adventure games. Just wanted to make my presence known. You are all pretty nice people judging from your various posts.

Really quick since you probably don't care: I'm seventeen, male, been playing adventure games since I was nine. My first was King's Quest 5. I own most of the Sierra adventure games. My favorite adventure game series is the Gabriel Knight trilogy.

AGS was a Godsend for me. I didn't know what it was, but I came to it while looking for a way to make my own SCI games. I have been using AGS since early 2003, though have not yet produced a full game.

Thank you for humoring me by reading my mini-bio. However, I do have an actual problem that I was hoping you guys could help me out with.

My drawing skills are... minimal at best. I was wondering what tips you guys have for making backgrounds. Right now I've decided to make a detective game with actual photos as backgrounds, which eliminates drawing altogether, though I would really like to make a fantasy game some time, and, well, there aren't exactly any photos. I would go with paintings, but it will look really lame if all my backgrounds are of a different style. Any tips would be appreciated.

P.S. sorry if this is the wrong forum to post this in. At least I TRIED to post it in the appropriate forum.

welcome ShockingBlue. you could check out the many tutorials we have in the criticsforum and ask for help anytime... the AGSmembers are very helpful

Welcome ShockingBlue!

As 12431 said, check the tutorials to see if they can help.

Aside from that your best bet would be to create something, work on, work on it some more, then post it in the Critics Lounge.  

Trust me ... we'll help you then :)

What graphics proggy do you use?  I make backgrounds by just throwing pixels (on a layer) into the scene to get a really rough outline of what I want.  Then, again in layers, over top of it I begin refining.

I'm a stickler for details ... so I usually spend a long time just pumping details into the scene.  My background files have, on average, about 50-60 layers!

Anyway ... good luck with your backgrounds and we'll see you in the Critics Lounge!!

cheers,
])]v[

Welcome aboard! Enjoy your stay!

Welcome, SockingBlue! It's always nice to see new faces.

As the others have said, there are wonderful tutorials in the critics longue. I suggest just tinkering around with whatever paint program you got. And yes, Layers can be your friends. Just play around with it, and post in the longue to get some critique. There is lots of talent in there and thry have advice on anything you can throw at them.

So goodluck, and I hope to see more on your detective game :)

WHO TO AVOID:
Pumaman. Pumaman goes around trying to get addresses off small children and old people so that he can send them Skunk Juice in the mail.

Yufster. Yufster goes around trying to get addresses off game designers so she can send them useless leprechauns that other various assorted items she has no use for.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS:
We recommend you visit Lili's house. Her little sister is playing Pop Idol, and there are plenty of popular UK pop songs being sung out of tune over there.

PLACES TO EAT:
DGMacphee constantly has a spray of spit mixed with biscuit crumbs coming from his mouth.

Thanks.

I use Paintshop 7.  I know it's not quite as good as Photoshop, but it is an incredible program still, and I think it does most of the stuff.

In response to the Critics' Lounge thing... I don't think you understand. My drawing is terrible. Sometimes I have these spurts of inspiration and I actual end up with something passable as a drawing. Most of the time not.

I have checked out some of the tutorials. The most helpful one was the one that tells you to make a new layer over an image and draw over it. I'm not as skilled as the author at coloring and shading, unfortunately.

Quote from: Lili on Tue 06/01/2004 20:41:46
WHO TO AVOID:
Yufster. Yufster goes around trying to get addresses off game designers so she can send them useless leprechauns that other various assorted items she has no use for.

::)

But she does. Do you know she has a restraining order that says she must not stray within 1000 metres of Ron Gilbert?

I mean, I know we all want to know what was up with that ending, but...

Hello ShockingBlue

Do you mean you have no inspiration or no talent? (joke) seriously everyone has a bit of both is small amounts at least, it just isn't so obvious it hits you in the face! (cos it hurts)

Heres a tip for inspiration try looking at the competitions on this site that give you an idea of what to draw, or even better  get other people to challenge you to draw something they tell you to. Like a cat in a clown suit. Things that come out of other  peoples heads sometimes look better than things that come out of your own head because you have not really got  a high expectation for that.

Bit long winded, hope it helps, best thing is practice, and don't expect to be perfect first time, second or third maybe! Mhahahah

top tip: draw...draw...draw...draw...draw...  it is just all about training!
Try different styles and so. ;)

Quote from: Lili on Tue 06/01/2004 22:30:36
But she does. Do you know she has a restraining order that says she must not stray within 1000 metres of Ron Gilbert?

I mean, I know we all want to know what was up with that ending, but...

Didn't she stalk him, kidnap him and try to make him her bride? :P

Quote from: Lili on Tue 06/01/2004 20:41:46
WHO TO AVOID:
Yufster.

We cannot emphasize this enough.  

QuoteDidn't she stalk him, kidnap him and try to make him her bride?

No no, that wasn't Ron Gilbert. That was an insanely handsome individual known as 'Tim Schafer'.

She suspended Ron Gilbert over the side of a building and shook him until the Secret of Monkey Island, and that ending, fell out.

But they never did.



They never did.

Quote from: Lili on Thu 08/01/2004 04:27:55
No no, that wasn't Ron Gilbert. That was an insanely handsome individual known as 'Tim Schafer'.

Ohh, thats right... that poor, poor man... :P

Actually, I think it's quite funny how we always complain about newbies who can't seem to behave as we would like them too, but whenever someone starts a serious thread like "Hi, I'm new to the forums", often without violating any rules, there are plenty of joke posts that make fun of him. Well, not the really mean kind of jokes, mostly directed against other forum members, and rather content-free, most of the time.
Don't you think we give them kind of a... bad example?  ;)

Anyway, welcome to the forums, ShockingBlue - have fun creating your games. And don't be fooled too easily. Most of the people around here are quite nice.
Freaked out, sure, but nice.  :)

Welcome to the club...

By your avatar I see you like Dune... have you read the books?

Yes, I do like the Dune books and have read the first three. My picture is from the Sci-Fi miniseries "Dune" if you guys didn't know.

Don't worry about setting an example for me. I may be new to this forum, but I have haunted other forums for many years. I can obey  the rules without another person's standards, anyway.

By the way, I can't seem to get my email thing to be unhidden. Anyone who's interested can PM me and I will give you my address. I only do this because you guys mentioned something about a forum member who mails people junk mail, and I don't want any.

Quote from: ShockingBlue on Thu 08/01/2004 20:26:22By the way, I can't seem to get my email thing to be unhidden. Anyone who's interested can PM me and I will give you my address. I only do this because you guys mentioned something about a forum member who mails people junk mail, and I don't want any.

But what if that member who sends junkmail asks for the email address? Do you know who it is?

That would be Yufster, but in all honesty, I have no experience with her. Is she really that bad?

Just so you don't get some misconceptions, the potential spammer was Jodo Kast and he only intended to do it in reciprocity.  Yufster's alright, her quirk being more in the massively hyperactive vein.

Oops.. forgot.  Welcome!  It's nice to see a new person that is well-spoken, replies with a bit of thought and isn't an irritating pain in the arse.  Take BOYD for example.  He just joined 3 weeks ago and already has 3, 246 posts, most of which are about his fondness for dachsunds.

Ha ha! You're kidding me!! That's a big number. My personal favorite newbie (if it isn't too much of pot calling the kettle black) is PhilRoberts2004, who posts the most, profound, thought-provoking posts I've ever seen.

More like the most anger-inducing, judging from the responses he gets.

Sorry about keeping this thread alive so long. Am I beating a dead horse? Anyway, thanks for the warm welcome, YakSpit, and everyone else. I won't post here again unless something is directly asked of me. I think I'm overstaying my welcome on this one.

Not discouraging anyone else from posting, of course!  ;D

Yay, hello ShockingBlue.
But what is this crying about drawing skills already?
Drawing means you gotta have at least 1 of following things:

1) A digital camera
2) A scanner combined with skill to waste paper
3) Long practice with getting mouse to respond however you want it to

Personally, I started drawing at the age of 5 or 6, copying Walt Disney's characters. Me and my friend used felt tip pens to draw them to paper. Then sold these papers to every kid at home playground. Idea was simple - make yer hand wet, put drawing onto wet spot, wait few secs and remove. A tattoo! And first self-earned cash. And the skills came too...

If anyone wants to make his first million, just ask me. Have lots of ideas....  :D

Quote from: ShockingBlue on Fri 09/01/2004 04:12:40
That would be Yufster, but in all honesty, I have no experience with her. Is she really that bad?

No. By far worse.

Let's stop talking about Yufster... talk about Tim Schafer instead! He is truly awesome.

I am sure that, if Yufster was here, she would say something like this, "Welcome to AGS! Dude, are you gonna love it here or what?! Man, I love it here! You should check out my Livejournal Account (http://www.livejournal.com/users/yufster") or my Awesome Website!!! (http://www.geocities.com/yufster)

But she is not here. Indeed, I am beginning to believe that Yufster is merely a figment of the imagination of a madman. Much like I am starting to believe that Psychonauts is only the lunatic attention seeking of an insane genius. Except the difference I have drawn between these two conclusions is this; Tim Schafer is far, far more handsome than Yufster.

Not to mention all that other stuff.

Lili, i have to say one thing... IE crashed opun viewing Yufster's website :P, thank you very much...  
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Quote from: Lili on Tue 06/01/2004 20:41:46
WHO TO AVOID:
Pumaman. Pumaman goes around trying to get addresses off small children and old people so that he can send them Skunk Juice in the mail.

True - but then, who wouldn't want Skunk Juice?

QuoteBy the way, I can't seem to get my email thing to be unhidden.

Currently everyone's email address is hidden following a spamming incident we had a while back. You can't un-hide it for now, but we're reviewing the situation.

Quote
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Well that is what I get for being nice to the Self-Aware Double Fine ACTION news.

Hmph.