Object or Character?

[ScottDoom]

Alright, in all of my AGS days I've only scripted half of a game and it was pretty easy. I was able to make an intro scene, some other little checks (such as making sure the character has a certain item before progressing), making an NPC animate on command, making a semi-complex puzzle, etc...

But I've got one simple question:
Object or character?

What I mean by that is say I want a TV or something in a room that you can turn on, switch the channels, turn off, pick up, or even break and repair... Is it better to make this sprite an object or character within the game? What's the difference? Does one have an advantage over the other? I mean either way I can connect it to all the animations needed, and make it appear/disappear and enter or leave the player's inventory so why is there even a choice? To me they seem the same, except character has more option commands than object.

What do you use?

[JRock]

.....except character has more option commands than object.

What do you use?

Well, I am not a pro at AGSÃ,  , but if the character has more options and functionality, then use it.Ã,  I have ran into this same issue before too, and I have always used Character instead of Object.

[Khris]

One main difference is that objects belong to rooms and can be placed in them using the room editor, while chars are room-independent.

There are situations though where using an AGS-char to represent an object is better. If the player is able to drop the object in any location, it would be a pain in the ass to create the same object in each room. Or if you're using a LucasArts-GUI that allows only characters to be talked to, but you want the player to be able to talk to an intercom, for example.

Another reason why I prefer objects and chars to be handled seperately: It is way easier then to make a dynamic cursor that automatically changes to a talk icon when moved over a char and a hand icon when moved over an object.