Is there such a thing as an adventure game graphics archive?

[Wolfmage]

Hi, as I'm sure you can tell, I'm new here. I'm starting work on an a small two or three room basic game in preparation for really starting to make stuff. I'm not going to go on about how great it'll be (though it will ) til I can put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.

I want to start on the room graphics, and I was wondering: is there such a thing as a gallery of sierra/lucasarts game backgrounds? I mean I could pick a few and just go to town taking screenshots, but if someone has done this already, it'd save me a ton of time. Heck, I wouldnt mind shots of the sprites, either. I don't intend to use a single pixel of anybody else's work, but I do want to sit down and really analyze what a good adventure game background is; what tricks they used to make stuff look impressive; what amount and types of detail they put in in good 'ol VGA resolution. I mean I played through all the big Sierra games a dacade or two ago (KQ 1-7, SQ 1-6, QFG 1-5), plus Fate of Atlantis (missed a lot of the Lucasarts games unfortunately; did get my hands on The Dig and will be playing it soon).

So has anyone done this or should I just shutup and get to it? And on the other hand, would it be worth it to keep those screenies and start such a gallery if there isn't one already? Would there be interest in that?

[Jared]

I can't speak for anyone else, but I think that the AGSers who would be interested in using ripped graphics would, generally, know how to get them. Of course, I could be wrong and, when I think about it, some of the good ol' backgrounds could aso be used as a reference point for people who want to do work of a similar calibre.

There is the matter of copyright violation, and LucasArts and Sierra traditionally being quite touchy about it..

[TerranRich]

I think a ripped graphics archive, while of questionable legality, would be great. Then again, I can't say anything about questionably legal sites, as I run a wrestling themes download site, so...

But yeah, I think a site like this would be a great idea, and to my knowledge, does not yet exist.

[lo_res_man]

There is all the graphics from the Reality-On-The-Norm series. There is a lot of stuff in there that one may find useful.

[Lionmonkey]

Don't forget the LotL!!!

Okay, as some guys have already said, it's not a too good idea to rip sprites and background. I'm pretty sure that people will not appreciate a game with SQ backgrounds more than one with ones made in MSPaint.
Still, if you don't want to draw them,  this may be a useful thread.

Alternatively, you can hire some people for ending credits over there and there. But I very very strongly advice you to make a game by yourself first.

[Babar]

http://www.juncmodule.com/ used to have a large number of resources, but it seems to have...changed? Perhaps junc can be of some help here.

[Radiant]

Don't forget the LotL!!!

The what?

Okay, as some guys have already said, it's not a too good idea to rip sprites and background. I'm pretty sure that people will not appreciate a game with SQ backgrounds more than one with ones made in MSPaint.

I can think of a fair number of games with ripped graphics, although these are generally remakes or spinoffs of whatever they're ripping graphics from (e.g. Quest for Glory 4.5) Whether people appreciate these is debatable. I suppose it's better than MS paint, actually.

However, these days there are plenty of freeware graphics available on the 'net.

[Wolfmage]

Please guys, like I said:

I don't intend to use a single pixel of anybody else's work, but I do want to sit down and really analyze what a good adventure game background is

I am an artist first and foremost; I don't intend to rip any graphics. But if do make a game I want to make it of professional/commercial-level quality, and I think the best way to do that is by figuring out what worked for those great old games. But thats ok; I'll start taking some screenies myself I only need to design two or three rooms for my first project, anyways.

[TwinMoon]

Try googling for "sprites monkey island" and other game names. It's surprising how much you can find this way sometimes.

And if you don't know these nifty devices, they might help you:
SCI viewer and Scumm Revisited. They're for opening the resource files of Sierra and Lucasarts games, so you can examine them from the inside

[Wolfmage]

Twin Moon: Thats fantastic! Those tools are exactly what I needed. I have all the games I wanted to look at Thanks a lot!