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I added a new screenshot at the site. Furthermore, I recently created a lot of artwork for use in further development meaning next stage will progress more quickly. Overall I think I'm at 75%.

The site is up! You can go there via
www.mrparkle.com

What am I working on now?
- Third avi sequence
- 2 new logical puzzles
- Changing a few 'finished' rooms

Best of all: it looks like it's not getting as big as I first thought. (But who knows... )

Finally got time to eliminate the bugs Rian mentioned and to upload the corrected version.

@LimpingFish: Correct me if I'm wrong, but what I understand is this: You'ld prefer a simple arrow cursor as default and the hand icon as the interact cursor?

[But what happened to me now and then was]

First of all thanks for trying out and big thanks for your comments. You are very helpful.

Quoting Rian in bold;

But what happened to me now and then was

Spoiler

that I couldn't conversate on certain topics with the nun (e.g. diary entry, Annicka etc.) but was able to read about it in the notepad afterwards as if a conversation had taken place.

[close]

That was a bit strange but OK for a demo.[/b]
Well,

Spoiler

I played with the idea to make a conversation about the diary but there is nothing more the nun can say about it than you already know. Furthermore, it reveals the fact you are snooping around in stead of looking around - something the nun doesn't want. By reading the first diary pages Isabel writes 2 notes about it in the notepad, one where you've found it and another one about the contents of the pages.

[close]

If you are referring to these two, than it is set like that. Sometimes the most logical things for me as the writer are for others not so logic. I keep a look on this and maybe rephrase the notes.


... you couldn't read previous pages after clicking on the following so that you had to leave inventory and then reopen the notepad again.
A bug... It's weird how I overlooked many things in every stage - but than again, that is why I posted the demo and that is even more why I appreciate your comments.


The save option didn't work for me so that I had to play through the whole game from the start after leaving the game and coming back. Maybe it was intentional in the demo, maybe just a bug. So I will describe what happened exactly: When I tried to save (no matter which slot) the game crashed with an "internal error" message. Starting the game again and going to the load option brought me the picture of the saved screenshot but it was impossible to load it.
Major bug here, I build the save/restore-function from ground up but it was tested successfully on different PC systems. Was the internal error a bit more descriptive?


About the inventory screen I must say I was not too satisfied cause of several bugs (?)
I feel ashamed. The bug you mentioned is something I should have found myself. It looks like I forgot to enable a hotspot or something. The inventory screen is something I'm considering to change as at the beginning I didn't expect to make so many inventory items and this screen is doubtfully handy for many items.


Then there was something strange concerning

Spoiler

the art book. It was in my inventory since the beginning so that I first thought I brought it with me. But then I found it in the artist studio and could pick it up again.

[close]

A bug? [/b]
Not a bug, rather stupidity. Easy fix. ("Player starts with item" is accidentally been chosen.)


Concerning the mentioned Pixelhunting - I did not stumble on such a thing while playing so to me all hotspots were quite clear.
Unfortunately I guess you have stumbled upon one. And I cannot blame you as the sprite is not showing up - or too vaguely. My guess is made on your other comments like the next one.


So finally can you please tell me if I reached the end of the demo?
I coded the end of the demo such a way you are sure it's the end of the demo. So no, you haven't reached the end yet. The game makes use of a Global Integer to keep track of your progress. I can't tell naturally what you have missed except if it's that vague pixelhunt thing what I suspect. If it is you can read it here, if it's not maybe you can pm me for more details on what you have done without me giving away too many spoilers.

Spoiler

Check the tables in the classroom. There is something engraved which raises a question.

[close]

And a big thanks for the overall opinion.

Okay, the "not so beta, yet no alpha" version of the demo is available.

What to be expected:
- Completely coded first part of the Lily Light Lane story (remember, it's more a story than a game);
- High quality png images, playable at full screen (800*600*32b);
- Two avi files, also playable at full screen. One as introduction for the main characters, the second one for developing the story;
- Sound effects and music ;
- You can read the synopsis of important and less important events;
- A suggestive horror story with a whodunit approach;
- Custom cursors, quitscreen, save/loadscreen.

Gameplay to be expected:
- Help Olivia, Anthony and Isabel by searching  several rooms as the kitchen, the hallway, ...  to reveal clues & items to help you in your quest to reveal even more clues ;   
- A few inventory puzzles (maybe a bit too easy, I don't know);
-  Logic puzzles, including one that can be finished in this demo (let me know if they are too easy);
- Pixelhunting - though not impossible puzzles;
- Conversate to advance;
- Read the synopsis of important and less important events ;

Executable:
- I added the AGS "winsetup.exe"  so you can change the resolution to windowed screen if you prefer. Also, this works too if you are one of the unfortunate ones that can't play video in fullscreen through AGS;
- 158Mb (23Mb video) for only a demo? Unfortunately, I started with this ambituous project as a complete dummy - something like that can't but result in it's ending. I can only say that it improves very well (and luckily it zipped to a 90Mb) and this executable includes many frames and sounds for future use. Try it out and see if it is worthy enough for a complete game download.

Notes:
- You call your inventory screen by a rightclick. You can close it like that too. Selecting an item from your inventory results in a changecursor in that screen, but in the game itself it only changes on places where you can you use them. You keep carrying the item as long as you don't rightclick;
- The savegame feature makes screenshots and saves them on your harddisk. This uses an extra 46kb per saveslot (3 available). I really hope that isn't going to be a problem;
- This game contains offensive language about religion and drugs;
- The Option-screen and the Credit screen are not finished. What you see is a draft. So don't worry about them.

What I would like to ask you:
- Bugs Galore… hopefully not but if they are, let me know. I would appreciate it;
- Applause welcome but critics too, but please be thorough. I can't do anything with a "I didn't like it"-remark. Just add a "Because…"-line, those I can use.   

Finally an update:

There are a few things that most likely occur with every "serious" AGS'er:
1) a crash,
2) a 'find the missing ; or " in a +1000 line roomscript',
3) a fed up feeling,
4) the need to redo several rooms because you can do it better now that when you started,
5) ...
I experienced them all so I decided to take a pause for a week or two, three, fourish...

That pause is now a long-time-ago-memory so I'm glad to mention the following:
- Ground Floor and garden is near completion - which also means a demo is soon up and will be available via a direct link on it's website (which is also in post production).
- The file size, due to the resolution and color depth is growing every day. I guess the demo would be a 200Mb big file (includes avi sequences) and the entire game a witty 700Mb. Thank God for adsl or cable 

PS: Thanks to everyone who pm'd me for information and support. Love it.

Two new screenies to bump the topic.

You can always change the background frames (using the animating background frames, you'll find this in the manual).

Even better, I never think of the easiest solution first. Use the solution of Creator, almost no scripting needed.

I think there are several possibilities to achieve this but it'll ask a bit of scripting.
The easiest solution I think is the following:
You can make an object (like a black square with the size of the room) and use transparency to achieve a darker see-through overlay (object[0].Transparency = 50).

The prettiest solution however is creating a new room:
Room1 is the room with lights on, Room2 is the room with lights off. Depending on the interactions available in the room, the scripting is relatively easy.
You can use a graphic editor to make the same background darker and play with lightning effects. This will be a lot easier than using AGS to alter the background.
To copy your existing room you can choose "save room as" in AGS. In the new room you load the other background. A nice feature with this is the fact that all objects etc stay at the same place.

Like the manual says: for a bit advanced gamemaking you have to script - but we are all here to help. Anyone else a suggestion?

Here are some screenshots of the introsequence.

I'm not going to set a deadline on this project as I often see too many people doing that and changing it multiple times (that annoys me  ).

The game will be freely available but I'd like to include voice-overs. Obviously I need volunteers for this (hopefully I can find them here) and there is a chance that I would charge the download for a buck or two. Than I can divide that small amount amongst the volunteers and me. Thus: the game with music will be free, the game with voice-overs will be very cheap.

I finally finished my inventory screen btw, so here is a screenie.

Don't worry about it Dualnames, I'm not easily offended 
Besides, I should have mentioned it before - stupid me. I did mention it on the 'poster' as credits but it's very small to read naturally (however I think you can recognize it: second line, last words.)

Also, it seems easy but it's not. Naturally the Sims 2 Engine isn't used for this artwork so expect a lot of keying and photoshopping. 

I haven't said otherwise 

I'm a storyteller, not an artist. As it's my first attempt at ags I googled all I could find about the gamebuilding engine and that's how I came onto several games using sprites from commercial (old) games. I thought further. To make music people uses keyboards and synthesizers, to draw I use the Sims. Easier and still a bunch of work too. But I like doing it and that's what matters.

A first attempt... (32bit, 800*600).

Like I said: it's more an interactive story than an adventuregame. Thus expect lots of text and less of puzzles.

Story: Three students visits an orphanage located at 1-66 Lily Light Lane. The house has a bad reputation ever since several people dissapeared in it.

Build in 1926 ordered by Mr Sandersen, the mansion was first a place of joy. The man, Jacob, and his wife Abigail were both high-qualified doctors in neurology and biochemistry. They had one daughter: Eve, a beautiful sixteen year old girl with alas a seven year old mental state. To spend more time as a family her parents decided to quit their job.

Years passed in which the family Sandersen enjoyed pure happiness until destiny struck: both Mr as Mrs Sandersen disappeared. The only one who probably could have explained it was incapable: Eve.

Fortunately for Eve her parents left a will including what to do in such a situation. The mansion should be used as a small orphanage by a monastry so Eve could stay home. Once habited, children start to disappear...

Years later, the three students start to understand.