Topics

[What the Hell am I doing Wrong??]

I had my game set to 16-bit colour, & imported an image that has 254 colours.  It said the image has more colours than are allocated to backgrounds.  The image was imported, but it looked as if it were missing, like, 10 colours?!?  Whatever, I switched the game to 32-bit, & I got the same message....with the same problem.

On 16-bit, (Definitely on 32-bit) I should be able to have 254-colour backgrounds.

.....What the Hell am I doing Wrong??

I know a guy at work who just got his shiny new GP2X, (gamepark 2), a couple of days ago.  Yesterday, at work, he was showing it off.  I must say, it's fantastic!!  He was showing how well it was handling Maniac Mansion Deluxe using the AGS Linux player!

I don't know if this ushers in a new age for AGS games or not, but it sure was cool. 8)

My computer crashed, & the techs at work say they can't recover most save files.  My wife plays the Moment of Silence; so I was hoping someone had the game & a save file relatively close to where your character gets on the blimp for the first time.

Hey techies!

Does anyone know of a software-only way of opening up a patch bank file to retrieve the MIDI sound effects treasures it hides.  I really don't want to go out and buy one of those MT-32....(or whatever) thingy's.

As some of you may, or may not, know; I'm well underway in a VGA remake of Police Quest 2.  I would like to use a map screen for navigation, (Gabriel Knight).  I was wondering if anyone still owns any of the paper resources for any of the games.  I'm looking for an illustrated  map of Lytton.

if someone has this and could scan it for me I'd really appreciate it.

[Developer Diary]

I am officially announcing The release of Police Quest II Vengeance.  A remake of the popular 1988 title that many believe to be the best in the series.  A cat & mouse game from start to finish, you must hunt down a drug lord turned serial killer within 2 days.  You'll have to use true police procedure to solve puzzles.  The game features expanded puzzles, story, and original scenes.

Release Date: Q2 2006

Oakwood Mall

Shooting Gallery



Training Room


Developer Diary
Background Graphics: 75%
Music: 100%
Sound FX: 30%
Sprites: 1%
Scripting: 1%

Is there an emulator that emulates 16-bit applications on a 32-bit Windows XP system?

When I bought my computer, I could play, occasionally, 16-bit apps, but after my restart....NOTHING!!!  Not a single 16-bit Windows app.

I've tried everything & called everybody.  So if anyone has an idea, I love to hear it.  My software isn't very old; circa 1997 - Blade Runner for example.  This is the time period I can't run on my system.

Well, my last game went bust, but I'm trying again - slowly.

After multiple PQ2 remakes have been dropped, I've counted 3, I'm thinking of taking a stab at it.  Here is the main character sprite for critique.  Any help is appreciated as I haven't done much work in low-res sprite work.  As it stands, it will be 16-bit colour as I can't get the character lower than 116 colours & still have any quality.  It's original, no rips or edits, but I did use both the PQ2 & PQ3 character sprites as reference, but I suppose that's a given.

Anyway, thanks for looking.

[Adventure Army]

I just saw another interview in GameSpy talking to an upstart company about being able to revitalize the adventure genre even though "most" people consider it dead.  They gave the, expected, response about "love of the genre" & German markets as being a way to make money.

I don't understand how these conversations are still taking place?

A couple of years ago, I would've stood by the Adventure Army taking a stand against the mainstream of "FPS-Action" & the purity of gaming, but this idea is so antiquated I wonder what hole-in-the-ground these Worldwide sites come from?

There are 11 Nancy Drew adventure games.  The series is based on one of the longest-running characters ever.  It has been featured in Time Magazine, & is a multi-million seller.  All electronic stores within driving distance of me has adventure sections. 

I was at Fry's the other day - The #1 store in the richest city, in the richest state of the richest & most powerful nation on Earth - Gaming sales here, occasionally, outpace the sales of the entire country of Japan.  Anyway, their Top-Ten list was headed by......
1 - Grand Theft Auto 4
2 - CSI: Dark Motives
3 - Sims 2
4 - Doom 3
5 - Half Life 2

Take-it-or-Leave-it, GTA IS an adventure game, & it tops the list.  CSI is a "point & click" adventure title based on the #1 show in America & it's number 2!!!  First-Person shooters don't appear until #4

CSI has even outsold PC copies of Doom 3, so how exactly are adventure games dead?  How, even, are they trailing their action-shooter cousins?  Most importantly, what will it take before the genre is considered "alive" again?

Anything going on with separate GUI's for Text & Speech?

[NEMESIS]

My 4-year old's biological Grandfather, (her genetic father's father), is my exact opposite in every way.  He also hates me, my position, & tries to undermind anything I try to do with my daughter.  I, in turn, try to stop each one of his plans.

I never thought about this before, but he's, technically, my NEMESIS!

I've seen EX's, Enemies, & people you hate, but does anyone else have an actual nemesis?  It's very interesting, in a way.  Makes me feel like a Super Hero!!

I heard some people were trying recreate The Sierra Network, (or INN - depending on when you discover the online game).

I was wondering, does anyone know more about this?  Also, was anyone else part of the $5 per minute software program?  I remember going on whenever I could, and it was always so quiet.  I found it hard to get people to play cards.  Occasionally, I'd meet a Sierra employee, (I guess they were the only ones who could spend any time on it).

Here's me representing if you have NO idea what I'm talking about.  It was an overpriced online game where you could play games, (mostly lame), & talk to people, (mostly ones you'd wish you hadn't).

What's a good HTML editor for people with no skill or experience in HTML.

Like AGS for Web pages?

[1]

Pretty much every company on Earth has complained about piracy.  No longer limited to nameless criminals, many companies now threaten every citizen on the planet with the consequences of file-sharing, (as much as they complain - I think they love being able to attack everyday people).  Pirates, however, didn't just steal the riches & properties of merchants.  A just-as-common activity of pirates was to "hijack" a person's method of transport, (in the old days - their ships).

Everyone knows about, & hates, spyware.  It slows your computer, (method of transport), steals your ram, and a host of other problems.  It takes special software to remove it, and even then it doesn't always work.  Lately, I've had problems with 2 spyware programs.  One keeps advertising different CD's, (all from Jive Records), the other shows me upcoming titles from Electronic Arts.  I had to update my software to remove the EA spyware.  I still haven't been able to remove the Jive Records one.

it could be argued, & probably is, that these come from independent companies, but I've never heard of a store that sells music from 1 label or 1 store.

Spyware isn't, technically, illegal & neither is filesharing.  I say, if large companies want to gain any ground on filesharing, they're going to have to stop acting like the pirates they hate sooooo much.

........Although the truth is they just hate that, for the first time, you can hurt them as much as they can hurt you. 8)

[looks]

Here's what I don't understand.

Every time someone makes a game in 3D, many people say, "I like the old 2D art much better."  Rightly so, as you would have to be a large company, (or have a workstation & a lot of free time), to make a 3D game that looks half-way decent.  To make a good 2D game you simply have to be a good artist.

There aren't many of those, however, leaving a lot of our art lacking.  The lure of 3D being you can make any object look good if one were to care enough to take the time.

My question is why doesn't anyone try using the sega-inspired, now mainstream, cell-rendering.  Once only for high-end packages, it's now available for every platform; even the free Blender.  Cell-rendering doesn't require hardware-intensive radiosity lighting or shading.  At low-resolutions, it's a joke, but at, about, 800x600 & up, it really looks like a drawing; creating a piece of artwork similar to the size Sierra used in creating their beautiful low-res games.

Like Sierra, one could take this art, shrink it down, & viola!  A true low-res gem!!

I really think this would affect the quality of our games.

Does anyone know where I could get some Sierra Online art cells.  They don't have to be original, but I'd really like to see them, or have copies.

I don't know if the job is ever funny, but I was wondering if there were any humorous stories of being a "moderator"?

Stories involving - you getting reported to yourself, or being PM'ed something like "Have you read what Pumaman wrote, I really think he should be banned!"

You know......Funny Stuff

I keep beating this around in my head....

What if Sierra never went crazy?  Forget FMV & Mario 64 point & click embarrassments.  What would adventure games be like if they were like every other game right now & pushed the envelope of technology?

I'm thinking of something like Max Payne where you have your character who walks around 3D enviornments with "crosshairs" representing the mouse.  You could "right-click" to toggle actions, (like look, talk, use, etc.).  Maybe you fight, maybe you sneak, (Splinter Cell), maybe you don't.

Adventure games used to be about assuming a role, using a simple interface to allow you to do most anything you could do in real, or semi-real, life.  They started using text parsers, then mouse control; so I refuse to believe they reached their ABSOLUTE epoch in 1991.  No other genre that exists today is using a 14-year old interface for their games.

So does anybody have any other ideas of how the evolution of adventure games might've gone?  Please, no nostalgic flaming about adventure "purity".  People say the same things about platformers & action games.  I'm asking for something a large company might've actuallly put into practice.

[So let's make a game out of it]

Everyone complains about Star Wars prequels...... So let's make a game out of it

List 3 - 5 of your favorite BAD movie moments, because let's face it, in 10 years they're going to be considered "B" movies, (think Escape from New York & Escape from L.A. to put it in perspective.

- The Japanese.....ahem...I mean the Trade Federation: short, asian accents, always bowing, like to build robots - Awesome!!

- Qui Gon's force reading blood tester: My God! Anakin is REALLY A-K-I-R-A, or Jesus, or Both

- The padawan hair code: That spike thing with the braid that Obi-wan & Anakin have as padawan learners......that would've kicked ASS on Yoda.

- Episode 1 (Anakin "I'm cold" Padme' "Space must be a lot colder than you're used to"): Apparently, the ship uses Outer Space to regulate cabin conditions.  Don't fly too far from the sun guys 

- Finally..Episode 2, Colloseum Battle: 5 Jedi battling evil are actually the members of the biggest band on Earth.....Nsync!!!

I own this old game Darkseed, and it doesn't recognize my mouse.  I'm using XP with a P-4 computer; so I know that can be an issue.

I'm running it in DosBox, however, & this is the first time I've had this problem.

Has anyone else had problems with this game?  If someone's fixed it, please help me out.