Let's build a new AGS demo game!

[Crimson Wizard]

Alright, I went ahead and added LICENSE and COPYRIGHT files. Please check them out here:
https://github.com/adventuregamestudio/ags-demo-game

@RootBound,
I did not follow the asset discussion; could you make a list of people participating in their creation? I suppose this may go without specifying exact sprites, as I will simply add everyone under "AGSQuest Contributors".

But also, I noticed that the game features sounds by different authors, likely downloaded from somewhere. Please tell their sources and if they require any attribution? Ideally there should be a list
 - asset - by X (url or email).
 - asset - by Y (url or email).
etc

Also, does anyone know, who is the actual author of the Roger sprites that the wizard character(s) are based on, and cursor icons? I know these come from our default templates, but these templates mention a list of authors without specifying who did what.

[RootBound]

Hi @Crimson Wizard I did my best to locate the creators of all the sprites and credit the authors of the sounds. These are included in the in-game credits.

EDIT: Here are the in-game credits:
Original Roger sprites by ProgZmax (Shane Stevens), recolored by Hobo.
Roger sprite mage paint-overs by Rootbound.
Background art by Rootbound.
Inventory item art by Danvzare.
Cursor icons by CaeserCub
APOLLO color palette by Adam C Younis (lospec.com).
Public Domain sounds by Freesound.org users egomassive, kyles, maodin204, and splicesound.

[Crimson Wizard]

Thank you, but there's something else:

Public Domain sounds by Freesound.org users egomassive, kyles, maodin204, and splicesound.

So, I am reading here:
https://freesound.org/help/faq/#what-do-i-need-to-do-to-legally-use-the-files-on-freesound

and it sais that you must tell a license these sounds are distributed under.
They refer to this example of attribution from Minecraft:
https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/attribution/sound

Do you still have links to each sound?

[RootBound]

@Crimson Wizard I don't have links, but i made sure when downloading that the sounds I used were all Public Domain (CC0).

[Crimson Wizard]

@Crimson Wizard I don't have links, but i made sure when downloading that the sounds I used were all Public Domain (CC0).

Ah, that's a pity, but I guess they may be found later, using the names of authors.

Anyway, I amended contributors list, and also uploaded palette.png into Assets, for the future artist reference.

[Crimson Wizard]

Unfortunately, after RootBound have completed a part of this new Demo game, there was no more interest to develop it.

The game is still present here in this repository:
https://github.com/adventuregamestudio/ags-demo-game
It contains 4 rooms, 2 of which are intro and 2 are playable rooms. The script is relatively small too.

Since there's no progress, I propose a medium effort to wrap this up and add to the distribution of AGS Editor.

If there are any volunteers, then following needs to be done:
- Test that the game is at least formally working (no glitches, crashes etc).
- Check if the game script is fine (clear, consistent, easy to understand, no obvious errors).
- Provide fixes if necessary.

[brushfe]

I'm happy to volunteer ! I'll write back on the points listed as soon as I can.

[Rik_Vargard]

When I start the game I get this error message:

[Crimson Wizard]

When I start the game I get this error message:

The sprite file is not contained in the repository, because binary files do not work well under git. It is supposed to be recreated after opening the project for the first time.

If this error occurs when you clone the project to a new clean folder, then this is a mistake in AGS Editor, which displays a wrong error message.

EDIT:
here's what it should normally display:

---------------------------
Adventure Game Studio
---------------------------
Spriteset file (acsprset.spr) was not found. Would you like to try reimport sprites from their sources? Otherwise, we'll generate an empty spritefile.
NOTE: you may always try reimporting sprites later using respective menu commands.
---------------------------

[Rik_Vargard]

So how can I fix this?
I created a new folder and moved eveything in it, but I still get the same error.

[Crimson Wizard]

I created a new folder and moved eveything in it, but I still get the same error.

I dont really understand, did you unpack this repository in a folder where something existed before, or into a completely blank new folder?

In any case you can do File -> Restore all sprites from sources.

[Rik_Vargard]

I dont really understand, did you unpack this repository in a folder where something existed before, or into a completely blank new folder?
In any case you can do File -> Restore all sprites from sources.

OK I tried the unpack in a new folder and that works
Restoring all sprites also works

Thanks!

[Rik_Vargard]

Hello, for me everything that's been done is working well.
There's just the thing where the player, inside the tree, doesn't move to the bed noot or the shelves when "Looking", but he does move to the wash basin.

I launched it with AGS 3.6.2 and I got this error message : "GUI (4) gInGameMenu's event OnClick function "gInGameMenu_OnClick" not found in script GlobalScript.asc."
It doesn't stop the game for launching and I couldn't experience anything that was impacted by this error in the game.
But it doesn't "look good", I guess?

[brushfe]

This is a wonderful step up from the current demo! It's stunning, fun, elegant, and full of charm. The characters, art, and the world itself really give you a sense that any adventure game is possible. I was genuinely sad that it ended so soon...

I've written down everything that came to mind along the way: a few bugs, some smaller tweaks that I think would help a new user play (and establish good practices), and finally a couple of larger food-for-thought ideas.

Take or leave whatever is useful of course - hope it's helpful!


BUGS

Spoiler

-TEXT: In the introduction text after ego first arrives, "environment" is misspelled.

-TEXT: Looking at the pond, "think" is misspelled

-TEXT: Ending dialog with the red wizard, "about" is misspelled.

-TEXT: Looking at the shrine -after- finding the key, the wizard still says "there's no key in here." Same applies to the pond and mushrooms.

-GAMEPLAY: Looking at the mushrooms gives the "I need to get closer" response that other objects give when you're too far away. However, ego walks to the mushrooms directly afterward. Either ego should say it's too far away and that's all (like the other objects) or don't say they're too far and just walk there.

-GAMEPLAY: Clicking the key icon on the open treehouse door walks the character into the door. For new users, that could be confusing. I'd either remove the key after use or switch back to the Walk To cursor.

-GAMEPLAY: Speaking to the red mage after selecting an option in "Room areas" starts the dialog in the "Room areas" list of options (regions, etc), instead of the root level of dialog. I think this applies to Objects as well.

[close]

POSSIBLE TWEAKS

Spoiler

-ART: The inventory icons should have pixels indicating their hotspots. It's hard to use the item on ego if he's standing against another hotspot (such as the treehouse).

-ART: The "O" in the corner looked like a score. I didn't realize it was a menu popup. The inventory is such an big part of the genre that I'd suggest this button be larger, and have a "satchel" icon or something that makes the inventory more attractive and visually important.

-ART: The mouse icons could be more distinct from the game art. It's hard to tell when they switch from walk to look to interact, and there's a lot of switching on/around the treehouse.

-ART: The game is so beautiful that the basic GUI stands out; is it possible to add some of the flourish found in the title screen to the rest of the GUI?

-TEXT: The generic use inventory item response "That doesn't seem to be useful" was a confusing reply in some places (use key on pond). Maybe it's the grammar of it? I'm not sure what the "what" is referring to in that response (the key, the pond, the combination...) For example, while a typical phrase like "Nothing happens." is less interesting, it's clearly talking about the combination I was attempting.

-GAMEPLAY: The exterior treehouse door hotspot could be larger. Or maybe this is solved by the point above regarding hotspot pixels on inventory items?

-GAMEPLAY: It's a bit tricky to get back in to the treehouse from the balcony, since the clickable ego blocks the door.

-GAMEPLAY: I wasn't sure what the other gem was for. After all the conversation with the red mage, I also forgot I was meant to find a gem at all.

-SPEECH: Many of the red mage's lines felt long, so I lost track of my instructions trying to take it all in. I would limit each dialog line to one sentence, and each topic to three sentences total. (See below)

-SPEECH: Additionally, maybe remove the red mage's dialog when ending the conversation. For example, after he walked me through Walkable Areas and told me to try CTRL+A to see them, I had forgotten what keys to press, because of how much reading there was after he told me.

[close]

LARGER IDEAS

Spoiler

1
I think the red mage's dialog could drastically cut back. If this is an introduction, I'd suggest staying very surface, and just introducing the AGS concepts rather than explaining them. Let the manual do the heavy lifting, and use this game to get people excited about the engine's power.

There were so many topics, and so much information in each one, that I fear we'll lose interest and no information will be retained.

For example, each dialog option could contain two sentences:
A. Definition
-"Hotspots let the user interact with areas of the room in different ways: examining objects, entering rooms, and much more."
B. In-game example
-"There's a hotspot over the stove. It triggers some dialog. Try clicking on it now."

Something like applied to all dialog options could make this demo feel more like an interactive introduction game (if that's the goal, of course!)

2
Another option could be replacing the items in the mage's house with (forgive the typical example) crystal balls, and each one would teach you about a different feature (GUI, Scripting, etc). Essentially bringing the dialog tree to life visually. This would showcase the categories engine's power at a glance, and add more interactivity, versus having it all contained in the mage's conversation.

3
One last question was whether to include inventory combination. Perhaps there's some item that requires adding a gem to, and then placing on the shrine to complete the game?

[close]

[OneDollar]

I had some thoughts when I last played the demo which I put here:

I found some time to play through the game and have a quick look through the project...

I don't think there's been a new version since (correct me if I'm wrong) so I think those opinions are still relevant?

I'm happy to edit things when I get some free time, or someone else can, or you can tell me I'm wrong and not to bother Just conscious that we don't want multiple people editing the game at once, and the discussion basically stalled last time when source control was mentioned.

[Crimson Wizard]

I'm happy to edit things when I get some free time, or someone else can, or you can tell me I'm wrong and not to bother Just conscious that we don't want multiple people editing the game at once, and the discussion basically stalled last time when source control was mentioned.

Well, the game is currently under source control, so it has to be used this way or another.
If you really are against working with git, you can send me your patches (modified game files), and I will apply them myself.

EDIT: simultaneous edits are a problem in any case, as people may do conflicting changes and/or waste time, but the difference with source control is that it's is easier to ... well, control the merging process.

[Rik_Vargard]

I didn't re-read the whole thing again, so I apologize if it's been discussed before, but once the player finishes this little demo game, what's the plan?
If, for example, I talk to the Red Mage for explanations and I choose "Rooms > Walkable Areas", what's supposed to happen?
(I can read the explanations,  and the invite to open the game in the editor and explore the scripts and the properties etc.)