Creating detailed background with exact resolution

[CharlieSaysUK]

I've had a look through the FAQs and tutorial, but I'm either extremely naive or this wasn't covered (I'm going with the former). So I'm hoping someone might be able to explain things to me in idiot-proof terms...

I'm trying to create a point and click game very much like Machinarium (very similar in terms of style and game play but with different characters/settings/story). I definitely have the art and writing skills to do this, but lack the programming experience (all my art has been done old-school with canvas, paint and pens). I figured AGS might be more user-friendly than Flash, so starting here.

I've got the storyboard completed with dialogue, characters, cut scenes, etc, and want to start creating the backgrounds, as these will be the most detailed graphically. I've set up a new game and chosen the highest resolution (since the background will be detailed - I think Machinarium was done on 1200 x 800) and 32-bit colour. Now here's my really naive question...

Do I have to make sure I create the background using a canvas the exact same size as the resolution I've chosen for the game (i.e. open up a file in Paint or whatever and stretch it to 1200 x 800 before I start drawing)? I don't want to spend ages on the picture, just to find out that when I load it in the game it rescales and looks different! I know it's probably REALLY obvious, but I don't trust my computer skills and want to double check before I begin!

(running to hide behind the desk before the mocking begins)

[elegantmechanic]

If you want the screen to be a single, non-scrolling background that fills the entire window then, yes, you would need an exactly-sized image.

If you want the background to scroll you need an image bigger than the resolution of the game, for example if you want a room that scrolls horizontally so that it's two screens' worth of background it needs to be twice as wide (2400x800). AGS will treat any "too big" background image as a scrolling image, it won't resize it to be smaller to fit the resolution of the game.

AGS also won't resize "too small" images for you or centre them in the window; using a too-small image results in an error. You could make a "too small" image in your paint program and give it a black border to boost its dimensions to 1200x800 if you wanted, though, to give the impression of a smaller room in the high resolution game.

I hope that makes sense.  My suggestion would actually be to make a few test rooms with simple backgrounds and just make a character walk around in them so you can be confident of how it works before committing yourself to creating all that art.

[CharlieSaysUK]

Yes, that's perfect! Thank you!

[Khris]

The latest official build of AGS (3.2.1) doesn't support resolutions above 1024x768.

You can use a custom build but I don't really follow the current developments so you'd have to take a look for yourself here: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?board=17.0 or wait for Crimson Wizard or one of the others working on that to post here.

[CharlieSaysUK]

That's ok, 1024 x 768 is close enough for what I'm doing. Thanks guys

[Crimson Wizard]

There is also a custom editor+engine build made by Skygoblin, which works with 1280x720 resolution, and judging by what people say, it *may* work, but it is made in a hacky way and requires either following some "magic" steps, or not deviating from some exact path, to make your game work properly.

I know that AJA's "Barely Floating" (nominated to AGS award, btw) game was made using that one, but IIRC AJA mentioned he had to make some extra fixes to the engine code. So, I can't give any recommendations. But if you are interested in trying, here it is:
http://gitorious.org/skygoblinags/skygoblinags/trees/master
To get the editor, click on "Download master as tar.gz" button at the right panel. When package is downloaded, unarchive and look in the "bin" folder (there would be another ZIP archive with the editor program itself).

Also, there's a custom build made by Gord10, that supposedly works with 1280x720 too. Haven't tried it myself, but here's post by author:
http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=47344.msg636446893#msg636446893

[Cerno]

Just out of curiosity: Why is there a limit to the max resolution after all?
Is it some technical reason or do you want to cater more to the old-school approach?

[Crimson Wizard]

Just out of curiosity: Why is there a limit to the max resolution after all?
Is it some technical reason or do you want to cater more to the old-school approach?

Legacy code reasons. The AGS internal logic is still much based on old resolutions.

[Gilbert]

Also, there are still people whose monitors cannot display a resolution higher than 1024x768. One of them is me.

[Cerno]

So it's a bit of both then?