A profesional looking game? bits and bobs.

Gemmalah · Tue 11/11/2003 09:59:18

I am trying to get a few things that make the game look like it was made well, not by me!

a few things i may, may not need, space is not an issue because this is coursework so i can have sound and other things.

1. Cutscenes
2. Speech (should I have this an opitional feature)
3. Easter eggs, little things to find, how fun!

4. A readme file (in notepad)
5. music
6. a setup file (is this automaticly created by AGS so my game can be played on other computers)
7. System requirements?
8. own icon?
9. save/load system
10. witty comments, or a real dumb main charactor.
11. a moment where you can let your inner child free and create mischief, or kill someone? he he.

*edit* sorry i'm not clear, you can add stuff or just tell me if i'm right, if these things are what i need for my game to look proffessional, it's for schoolwork.

n3tgraph · Tue 11/11/2003 10:03:14

what do you want as a reply?

do you want us to add stuff or something?

LordHart · Tue 11/11/2003 23:53:04

Uh, yeah. That'll do.

Duzz · Wed 12/11/2003 00:59:08

use pdf for the manual, like in rodequest2
your own GUI is a must if its to look proffessional
and your own icon helps yeah.

Snake · Wed 12/11/2003 03:34:21

Quoteuse pdf for the manual

Use both WordPad and PDF since some people may not have Acrobat Reader.

Compress the game using both WinZIP and WinRAR so the downloader will have an option.

--Snake

Gemmalah · Wed 12/11/2003 10:40:24

what is PDF? I am planning to use notepad for my user manual.
I'm getting it put on CD to hand to my teacher does it still need to be compressed?

scotch · Wed 12/11/2003 10:46:21

No, but you could make an autorunning installer, like a professional game, if you wanted. Although it's simpler for everyone not the have one.

AGA · Wed 12/11/2003 10:47:16

A lot of people hate having an installer with amateur games though.

remixor · Wed 12/11/2003 10:48:20

PDF stands for Portable Document Format. It's a cross-platform format that is most commonly read (and created) with Adobe Acrobat (but it's not a purely Adobe format, as many people think). To create them, you'll need some sort of software that will convert a document from something else (like a Word .doc) to a PDF. The full version of Adobe Acrobat does this, but is expensive (their free Acrobat Reader only reads PDFs, it does not create them). I'm sure that at download.com you'll be able to find a free or limited-use one.

remixor · Wed 12/11/2003 10:49:33

Yeah, installers really aren't needed for AGS games because there's nothing to install. All you have to do is run the game's, and winsetup.exe if you need to make any changes to the configuration (which you usually don't).

AGA · Wed 12/11/2003 10:49:47

I think you can do it online, with a 10-uses-free thing, on abobe.com - I think it's a PDF-creator anyway...

remixor · Wed 12/11/2003 10:51:25

http://www.docudesk.com/

That's also the site of a company where you can download a free-for-the-first-5-uses PDF creator.

Mr Jake · Wed 12/11/2003 18:52:58

also use the menu creation facility to make a run menu

(see crit.board)

Pau · Wed 12/11/2003 19:57:18

About the PDF generation, the OpenOffice suite is free and can create PDF documents.

http://www.openoffice.org

And I completelly agree with Hotspot. Customized startup menu also helps your game to look professional. You can get one from http://www.paused.tk (Auto-promotion

)

AGA · Wed 12/11/2003 22:47:37

The download link is dead, Pau...

Duzz · Wed 12/11/2003 23:03:11

just so I know, are self extracting zip's type things held in the same regard as those 'evil installers'?
cause my preference is to release games in a self extracting rar, as not everyone can extract .rar files...

Pau · Wed 12/11/2003 23:43:49

Quotenot everyone can extract .rar files...

There are lots of free compression programs, I use IZarc: Free, lots of formats and can create self-extracting files and do the opposite operation (extract the zip file from a self-extractor file).

QuoteThe download link is dead, Pau...

I've tested it and It worked well. This is part of the misteries of internet...

If the problems persist PM me, and I'll try to change the file to another server.

Duzz · Thu 13/11/2003 01:11:35

I know anyone could extract a rar file if they downloaded one of a multitude of programs that can do this, but most people just use winzip, and i don't want people to think they have to download a rar extractor just to use my game....

i was more wondering if self-extractors annoy people, or is it just the full installers, that plant stuff in the start menu, and registry, etc ?
i know installers annoy me...

remixor · Thu 13/11/2003 04:28:40

Just go with zip. There's really no need to put it in .ace or .rar or something, honestly. I don't know how much the compression algorithms vary, but AGS games have so few files anyway that it really doesn't matter. Everyone can do zip, so just stick with it. I wouldn't even bother having two versions. It's just more space on a server. Who can extract rars and NOT zips??

InCreator · Tue 18/11/2003 07:33:59

Readme IN NOTEPAD and small enough for notepad to open it!!!

Why people do use acrobat, at all?
* It's terribly slow
* Documents look awful
* HUGE file size! Sometimes, when downloading oldies, i find out that game is about 50KB and .pdf doc 23MB! What's the point?

Viva la notepad!

Anyway, HTML gives opportunity to make a nice manual. Like pleurghbug had.