Limey Lizard: Waste Wizard! (A Halloween Gift)

[SpacePirateCaine]

Well as an animator to a fellow animator, I can tell that work really must've added up. Considering the volume of small animations on each screen - even four or five frame loops, that's redrawing at least part of each frame and effectively quadrupling your work even on a simple animation. It must've taken you ages to finish all that, because I know at least that it can take me four or five hours to get a good smooth animation for one character sprite.

But truly, those ambient animations in there really do add up to something special. I don't think enough amateur game creators really realize just how much a small animation - though it takes a bit of extra work, can really change the whole feel of a room. Also, the balance necessary to make sure that rooms don't become too busy as well. My hat is off, old friend.

Thanks for mentioning that I'm behind, I'll definitely need to go play it again soon and see what kind of rating I can scare up next; though at the moment I've been inspired by your hard work and decided to do some of my own, and finally see if I can get something awesome done for a gaming project. Stay tuned... if you dare.

But Personal PR aside, I'd like to say that though I haven't played all of the games around right now, I can definitely say that in my opinion - humble though it may be,  Limey Lizard has to be one of the best AGS games of '08.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

You have made my day, sir.  I love you.



Oh, and here's that $20 we agreed upon for your vote... 

[Layabout]

I played it. I found it quite an annoying game. Sorry.

[Buckethead]

hey I want my $20 too! 

[Nickydude]

Just downloaded and played this and it's quite good

[blueskirt]

I finally got around to play that game, it was far from perfect, with its extremely difficult puzzle right at the begining of the game (If I hadn't played and loved your past games, I would have deleted that game after spending an hour without making any progress whatsoever on that puzzle), the untie command that I would have never figured out if I didn't use every inventory objects on everything out of despair, and the SPACE key to talk that I managed to miss even after reading the readme file, but in the end it was a great and funny game, the voices were bloody amazing, and I can't wait to play that belated Xmas Limey Lizard game.

There are only 3 things I hope you will solve in your next games:
First, unless if a puzzle require you to physically interact with someone, simply combine the talk action with the interact action, the game will be more intuitive that way.

Secondly, the game can get quite confusing when you use inventory objects. To use an object on the background, you must click the left button, but to use an object with another inventory object, you must use the right mouse button. For the whole game I found myself de-selecting whatever item I had selected because of those contradicting buttons functions.

Lastly, add more savegames. I know you have that philosophy regarding the number of savegames, but the reason why I won't bother finding the secrets and alternate endings in Limey Lizard (unless if someone release the list of secrets) is because I am not interested in restarting the game from scratch everytime I want to try something in a section I can't go back to.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

the untie command that I would have never figured out if I didn't use every inventory objects on everything out of despair, and the SPACE key to talk that I managed to miss even after reading the readme file

Both of these are very clearly described in the readme, on the main page and in the database.  I think some people have a tendency to expect every adventure game they play to work the same way and get annoyed when they don't, and while I understand the initial frustration it's still just an expectation.  I do admit that the Primer doesn't slap you in the face with the commands, which is why I added them to the first post in this thread and to the database page.  I certainly don't think the puzzle you mention was illogical or misleading in any way, so it seems to be more about growing pains with learning the new interface.

First, unless if a puzzle require you to physically interact with someone, simply combine the talk action with the interact action, the game will be more intuitive that way.

Handling the talk option is something that bothered me on release and I already have a solution that will make it into future episodes .

Secondly, the game can get quite confusing when you use inventory objects. To use an object on the background, you must click the left button, but to use an object with another inventory object, you must use the right mouse button. For the whole game I found myself de-selecting whatever item I had selected because of those contradicting buttons functions.

Many people have told me how much they like this approach, and it actually makes sense.  Left click always picks up an item from your inventory, right click without an item always examines your inventory, and right click with an item always uses that item on another item.  Right click outside the gui is reserved for examining or defaulting the cursor back to walk, and with an item left click uses it on your surroundings.

I find it to be very intuitive and much quicker than dealing with extra buttons or toggles and it's not something I will be changing, sorry.

Lastly, add more savegames. I know you have that philosophy regarding the number of savegames, but the reason why I won't bother finding the secrets and alternate endings in Limey Lizard (unless if someone release the list of secrets) is because I am not interested in restarting the game from scratch everytime I want to try something in a section I can't go back to.

The alternate ratings can all be reached within a few screens of each other intentionally so you wouldn't need multiple savegames to see them (unless you miss one item before going down to the grotto).  While I understand that you like the safety of multiple savegames, it's not something I consider a high priority for a game without walking deads.  If multiple savegames are the only thing that would get you to replay a game then that's your call, and all those bonus yummies missed are your fault .  That said, the GUI is bound to get some feature upgrades in later episodes to tie in with it being one of Limey's tools rather than just an interface, so who knows!

[blueskirt]

Many people have told me how much they like this approach, and it actually makes sense. Left click always picks up an item from your inventory, right click without an item always examines your inventory, and right click with an item always uses that item on another item.  Right click outside the gui is reserved for examining or defaulting the cursor back to walk, and with an item left click uses it on your surroundings.

I find it to be very intuitive and much quicker than dealing with extra buttons or toggles and it's not something I will be changing, sorry.

I am not asking for extra buttons, what I am asking for is that once you pick an item in your inventory, left click will use that item, and right click will de-select it, and this no matter if you're using that object on your inventory or on the background.

How the game is right now:
Left click with item on background = use the item
Right click with item on background = deselect the item
Left click with item on the inventory = choose another item
Right click with item on the inventory = use the item

How I think it should be:
Left click with item on background = use the item
Right click with item on background = deselect the item
Left click with item on the inventory = use the item
Right click with item on the inventory = deselect the item

Maybe that's just me, but I personally find the second method less confusing and quicker than constantly having to remember that in order to use an inventory item I must click the left mouse button on the background but the right mouse button on the inventory. Anyway, your call, that won't stop me from playing the sequel.

[Ryan Timothy B]

How I think it should be:
Left click with item on background = use the item
Right click with item on background = deselect the item
Left click with item on the inventory = use the item
Right click with item on the inventory = deselect the item

Actually I completely agree with this.  It works the same both ways, and much much simpler on the little ol' brain.

Oh.  Hey Progz.  I notice you're suggesting people read the readme, you're right, we should.  But honestly, my brain completely bypasses txt files (or wordpad files) and considers it a file rather than a document.  How about including a Tutorial GUI similar to what I have in Road Racer, along with the readme file. 
Anyway. it's just a suggestion.


I'm excitedly awaiting the second installment of Limey, Git 'er done. 

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

Left click with item on background = use the item
Right click with item on background = deselect the item
Left click with item on the inventory = use the item
Right click with item on the inventory = deselect the item

Hmm, I might be able to do it this way, but as I recall some of my testers complained at not being able to quickly just pluck items from the inventory if they had one already, which is why I didn't go this route (it could also confuse players if they accidentally pick something up and wanted something else, since they would now have to click the right mouse button before being able to select another item).  If a majority of people would rather have slightly slower inventory access in favor of a more consistent control scheme I'll certainly consider it.

[Dave1985]

Very nice and funny game. The only beef I had with it was the dead-man-walking at certain points (killing off Lucky in another way than I'm supposed to and when I miss an important item before going through the vent); it wouldn't have been that much of a problem if there had been a possibility to save to multiple slots. The voice acting was really well done.

[buloght]

Great game! The voice acting was brilliant, very reminiscent of Simon the sorcerer. Do I even have to mention the graphics.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

The only beef I had with it was the dead-man-walking at certain points

Not sure how many times I'm going to have to say this, but there are no walking deads in this game.  Lucky's death doesn't, in any way, prevent you from finishing the game or even getting the best ending.  There is one point where missing an item will make one of the three primary endings impossible, but there are no dead ends.  I hope this clears the issue up .


Buloght:  I'm glad you enjoyed it! 

[Layabout]

Left click with item on background = use the item
Right click with item on background = deselect the item
Left click with item on the inventory = use the item
Right click with item on the inventory = deselect the item

Hmm, I might be able to do it this way, but as I recall some of my testers complained at not being able to quickly just pluck items from the inventory if they had one already, which is why I didn't go this route (it could also confuse players if they accidentally pick something up and wanted something else, since they would now have to click the right mouse button before being able to select another item).  If a majority of people would rather have slightly slower inventory access in favor of a more consistent control scheme I'll certainly consider it.

I would go as far to say with the inventory mouse click functions as they stand are actually a slower inventory access due to illogical button mapping. If I wanted to use an inventory item on an inventory item, I would click the current selected inventory cursor with my left mouse button on the inventory.

And no I'm not being a dick about things.

Just making an observation.

Why would you possibly need rapid inventory selection abilities? Did your testers forget to take their happy pills when they suggested the current in-game inventory panel mouse button mapping? I mean seriously who chooses chaos over logic?

[BOYD1981]

nope, we didn't forget to take our happy pills, we just figured out how to use a GUI that actually is different from those used in other games and not just a variation on a theme.
i really don't understand why it bothers people so much, it takes all of 5 seconds to get used to the way it works in this game.

[Layabout]

Perhaps it's just because it's a very odd set of controls that people are not used to. There is no use getting so worked up about it, people just have opinions.

I had my opinion, that it was an odd choice to use that set of controls. I never said it was incorrect. It was an opinion.

You say it takes 5 seconds (I beg to differ, I kept accidently right clicking over the inv out of habit) fair enough, some people don't see it that way.

Which is why people are people. They all have opinions. I never claimed I was right and everyone else was wrong. I voiced my opinions on what I thought about the game and the inventory.

The reason (in my opinion) that people are bothered (me included) is that the GUI seems to overcomplicate the game.

You all seem to be reacting in a rather hostile way about constructive criticism. That is all I am going to say on the matter, since it seems irrelevant to raise any more points about this game.

[Dualnames]

Yeah, the interface is different from what we've played so far, but it's easy to get used to and the game's amazing overall.

[BOYD1981]

You all seem to be reacting in a rather hostile way about constructive criticism. That is all I am going to say on the matter, since it seems irrelevant to raise any more points about this game.

so insulting the game's testers by suggesting we need happy pills isn't hostile?
and your criticism isn't really that constructive, the first thing you said about this game is that you found it irritating, without even giving a reason why.
it's not the points that are being raised that's the problem, it's the way in which they're being raised.
perhaps instead of people going "urgh this isn't like the interface in other games, i hate it" they should actually try to get used to it.
yeh okay, it can be confusing when you're not used to it, but if you actually make a little effort you do get used to it, but if you make your mind up that you don't like it and never will like it then guess what?

[saluk]

I loved the game, but I have to say I totally agree about the interface.  Just because some people can get used to it, doesn't mean that's a universal.  It's not due to it being different, it's due to it being confusing.  I struggled with the left and right clicks through the entire game, and really didn't like having one of the controls (talk) be relegated to a hotkey. 

It's cool to see that at least talk will be fixed in the next one.  Having two sets of controls for inventory screen and game screen will still be confusing I think though, at least for me.  Every time you move the mouse from one area to another, you have to make a switch in your mind and remember that it switched.

Can't wait for the next one though!

[DrWhite]

I have to say that I do like the interface even if I also find it confusing having the mouse buttons switched when using the interface.

What I don´t like is the beginning of the game. You´re trapped in the first room and have to solve a really hard puzzle. Now that I´ve solved it, I´m stuck in the second room without any hint what to do. I would prefer having some easy puzzles at the beginning so you can get used to the style of the game.
I really want to like this game, as it looks good and has got nice voice acting. But until now it seems as it doesn´t want to be liked.