AGS ezine issue 5

Vel · Sun 05/10/2003 18:03:20

Here it is, the fifth issue of the AGS ezine. This month:
Art tute by Garage Gothic
Scripting tute by Scorpiorus
Previews of the cloak and buccaneer 2
reviews of 5 days a stranger, conspiracy of songo and mags games
7 dirty ways to lengthen your game
Download doc version here
Someone please convert it to .pdf

Hobbes · Sun 05/10/2003 18:34:22

Good read!

Perhaps to improve the professionalism, you could layout it a bit further? So far most areas use the standard Times New Roman font. Perhaps you could use a different font... also, try working with tables on your page. Even simple black outlines can help define the different sections of the E-Zine.

And for future E-Zines, how about doing code-stuff in another colour? That way the story in the Techie Corner becomes more readily identifiable.

All in all: lots of stuff, loved reading it!

Vel · Sun 05/10/2003 18:43:35

I am using book antiqua font

Privateer Puddin' · Sun 05/10/2003 18:50:55

* Privateer Puddin' needs pdf.. now

Evil · Mon 06/10/2003 01:30:04

EVIL NEED PDF! EVIL NEED PDF!

jetxl · Mon 06/10/2003 11:03:29

About friggin time.

Miez · Mon 06/10/2003 11:30:13

Okidoki - get the PDFed version of the AGS Ezine 5 here (1.54 Mb)

Meowster · Mon 06/10/2003 13:41:59

Great. Only I will say one thing...

Vel... "Critics do not mean to offend anybody..."

BAH! Critics should strive to offend and disgust! Critics should be heartless bastards! Critics and Journalists and Lawyers are all from the same family, Vel!

EDIT: Oh, yeah, you need any articles/interviews/anything at all, give a shout, I'd be happy to help.

Vel · Mon 06/10/2003 15:15:21

Infact, sometimes I need a review or an article, but nothing else.

Evil · Tue 07/10/2003 02:33:48

Vel, I am always willing to do tutorials. I have the AA background one and I am working on a preportion one. I have been working with portraits lately too so I could post some of those and gets some crits and go off of that... Just give me a buzz if you need something...

MrColossal · Tue 07/10/2003 02:56:40

can someone link me to the file linked in the scorpious tutorial?

i can't open it in anything other than pdf and the link no work

this is why html would come in handy

Minimi · Tue 07/10/2003 06:52:33

the link to the demo, of the scorpiorus tutorial go's to here :

http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/paltutor.zip

Vel · Tue 07/10/2003 12:57:14

Guys, if I need anything from any of you Ill either contact you via pm or irc.

GarageGothic · Tue 07/10/2003 13:36:17

Vel, if you want me to contribute anything else (not sure what it could be - you can only do so many background tutorials

), feel free to pm or mail me. I enjoyed doing it.

Edit: Great issue by the way. You should work on a consistent layout though, to get a more professional look.

Vel · Sat 11/10/2003 17:02:23

So who will lengthen their game using these cool methods?

Evil · Sat 11/10/2003 17:08:17

I will Vel... That is if I ever make a game

Meowster · Sat 11/10/2003 17:22:41

Actually, if there's one thing I can't stand, it's people using dirty tricks to lengthen their games. It means they don't have any real content.

Vel · Sat 11/10/2003 17:29:12

I disagree with you, yufster. Using a way of the described, you could, for example, lengthen your game from 4 to 5 hours or so. And, those tricks work ONLY if the game is worth playing - otherwise the player will throw it away.

Meowster · Sat 11/10/2003 17:45:55

Nu-uh. Why does a game need to be long? Wouldn't a short, action packed game be better than a long, dragged out game? Length doesn't make a game better, it'll just frustrate players. My priorities when making a game would be to (1)make it enjoyable, (2) give it a good story and characters and (3) give it some sort of purpose.

If you need to lengthen your game in any way, it only suggests to me that you couldn't think of content to fill it with, which suggests bad design.

Beyond Reality isn't gonna be as long as I planned for it to be. That was bad design. I hadn't planned for it, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna make it longer by using dirty tricks; I'm gonna hope that what content I do have is gonna be entertaining enough to pull it through without being 50 hours of gameplay.

That's not to say that those dirty tricks weren't funny to read. But I wouldn't use them.

PeaceMan · Sat 11/10/2003 17:58:53

Quote from: Yufster^_^ on Sat 11/10/2003 17:45:55
Nu-uh. Why does a game need to be long? Wouldn't a short, action packed game be better than a long, dragged out game? Length doesn't make a game better, it'll just frustrate players.

Thats a point I happen to aggree with. Full Throttle wasn't all that long but it was still a good game because it kept the story moving.

If you have a game with hundreds of pixel hunt puzzles, mazes, and timed sequences but the plot is weak it will piss off the player and they will probably give up.