10 quick questions from inexperience.

[Caravaggio]

Hello there, I'm new to this program so I thought I'd ask a few questions before I start getting too far along with my game.Ã,  I apologize if these have been asked too much before or if I didn't catch them while skimming through the tutorial page.Ã,  If you're wondering, I've got a story laid out concerning a steam/microscope age murder mystery in an alternate reality, and here's a few concept images...

http://pages.prodigy.net/1157/mods/background_test.jpg

Anyway...

1. Is it possible to have a sprite scale down all the time slightly to create anti-aliasing on characters so you don't have to worry about alphas for each frame?

2. Have there been many games with an isometric or more top down view than the regular adventure game?Ã,  I'm thinking I might do a game like the old shadowrun games (both the SNES and Genesis version) and was wondering what the limitations on a screen like that might be, especially with how for it can scroll in 800x600 mode.Ã,  I imported a 7200x5400 png and the file size became rather ominous.

3. I'd also like to include simple combat.Ã,  I've seen some threads going over it but I wanted to ask if there's a way to make it so the chance of being hit decreases if you are behind a desk or something?Ã,  Maybe a modification to the walk-behind areas or something?

4. I was going to ask about XP and money but I guess that's been covered in numerous other threads...

5. Redefinable keys in-game.Ã,  I take it there might be scripts needed for that.Ã,  Are there?

6. I'm a little confused about animated backgrounds.Ã,  Do you have to make the entire background switch out frames?Ã,  If so maybe all my animations (fountains, fans) should just be inert objects.Ã,  Also, is it possible to have a parallax view?Ã,  Like if you're up in a tower and the ground out the window scrolls only when you move.Ã,  Is that possible?

7. If I wanted to have something like a bird or a car enter the screen, move through it and go out the other side, would I have to make the sprite itself as big as the screen and animate the car's movement in that, or could I define a path for an unanimated sprite of said car/bird?

8. Is it possible to get the characters to scale as they walk to and from the camera?Ã,  I want to have large areas and if I can't have them scale to a smaller size when they are further away then I'll have to go with the isometric view.

9. Another thing about scaling, is it possible to have a global scale function where the screen is usually 800x600 when walking around but then zooms in a bit when you enter a conversation with someone?

10.Ã,  Finally, is it possible to have items be able to be dropped in the walkable areas and picked up later?Ã,  You know, in case you want your character to have a limited inventory space?

I appreciate any help.Ã, 

[TerranRich]

1. Check the manual.
3. Check out scripting tutorials.
5. Check the manual for "on_key_press" function
6. Check the manual for background frames. They can animate or be static and be used for day/night scenes, for example. Parallax scrolling is possible with a plugin. Search for it on Games.
7. I don't understand what you're trying to do.
8. Check the manual for continuous scrolling. I thought this was in the BFAQ as well.
9. Could be done with scripting and additonal background frames. Check out SetBackgroundFrame().
10. There is a thread about this somewhere. Check out the Technical Archive or search for it on the forums.

[Caravaggio]

Thnx.  I'm trying to keep reading but it's a lot to take in.

For number 7, let's just say I want a car driving by in the background at random intervals.  I'm thinking I'll need one big sprite.

Found threads on the parallax and item switching, I just didn't look hard enough...

[Snarky]

You can create a sprite the size of your car, make an object from the sprite and move the object around. This is all in the manual.

[TerranRich]

As for the random movement (like characters randomly walking by in the background), look ini the Technical Archive for "random walk-bys" or something like that. Just search for "random".

[Radiant]

2.You can draw isometrically if you want, but AGS is not really suited for a tile-based engine (Which is not to say it isn't possible, but you'd be better off with some sort of RPG maker)
3.Certainly, if (GetRegionAt (character[EGO].x, character[EGO].y) == 2) to_hit_chance -= 10;
6.Yes, you switch the entire background. For small animations (candles etc) use objects instead. You can also do parallax, if you search for the parallax plugin.
7.What you do is create a small sprite with animation of a bird (or car) then move tht around the screen as it animates. You could also have one huge sprite but that's just inefficient.
8.Yes, simply set the continuous zoom values in the region editor
9. Sort of, you can use RawDrawImageResized for that, but walking/animating in the zoomed-in part is going to be nasty to code.
10. It is possible to code but not very easy.