Topics

Hi all,
Some time ago I finished reading Niezwyciężony (The Invincible) by Lem and the first thing I did after was to check the web to find out what others made of it (personally I really enjoyed it). The first web forums that came up were fully devoted to Lem's work, however, most of the posts were like 10-year old, or more. What struck me, though, was how the threads were organised.

What they did at that forums was to create a sort of pen literary club. Some of the threads were 'The Invincible - chapters 1-10 - by 21.02.2006' etc. This meant the users participating in the activity would read the selected book and then share their thoughts, ask questions or whatever. At the time and age of sharing everything online I thought this was brilliant. I myself often find that after completing, say, a game I crave for an opportunity to chat about it. What I liked, disliked, or what was unclear.

I have finished some point'n'clicks playing together with someone, but a lot of things must line up for this to work. Essentially, I would say playing a point'n'click is a rather solitary activity. But still, after finishing one, it would be nice to be able to have a chat about it.

So here is my idea, maybe some of you would be willing to a start a monthly activity of playing a specific game by a specific deadline. It's not school, so it's not about finishing it on time or finishing with or without a walk-through, but about playing the game 'together' and having a little discussion club. So again, you haven't finished the game - fine, you didn't like the game - still fine, you loved it and but still haven't finished it - also fine. Or, you played the game years ago when it was released, but would like to revisit - great. Let's just get together at the end of the month and talk about what made it a good p'n'c game and what didn't.

In a way, I find this could be very motivating to finally play games I've got collected on my GOG account but never actually played it. Or try the very new games? We could do a test run and see how this plays out. I am open to suggestions what the first game could be, but here are some of mine:
Gabriel Knight - Sins of the Fathers (a classic some would still like to play),
Whispers of a Machine,
Sanitarium,
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Machinarium

Let me know what you think.

Hi all,

I am planning to take a closer look at games that were made predominantly in order to share devs' life experience. I am not taking necessarily heavy stuff (but this is very much welcome, too), but in general about games, where the aim was to show a specific corner of the world at a specific point in time.

The best example of I have in mind is La maleta by potajito (or, you know, Absurdistan).

I tried to find something by the title in the database, but I wasn't very successful. If you know a game like that, could you share it with me, please? I'd be grateful for any suggestions.

Hi,

I uploaded a game yesterday (Knorrig the Gifted Troublemaker) and remember adding a link to the downloadable built, but when I click the download button there is no option to download it.  I tried adding the link again and again, but in spite of pressing Update and being redirected to the updated game page, the link is still no there. I've checked a couple of other recently updated games and they don't have the download options either? The link points to an itch.io page, which I have used in my other game pages, too.

Has anything change with regards to the links, or am I doing something wrong?

[Knorrig the Gifted Troublemaker]

Knorrig the Gifted Troublemaker
Who said having a pet piggie is a bad idea? Well, you did. Just now. It's 10 minutes before the festive dinner and you find yourself in a pickle thanks to your pet. Or should we say 'pigle'. The lovely gift for your sister is gone. Will you manage to get it back in time?

Manual:
You control Timur, the main character, with mouse using only left mouse button. The right button is used only to click out from menus or to display inventory descriptions.
In settings, there is an option to disable mouse highlights when hovering over interactive hotspots - the game is rather short, so this way you may try to challenge yourself a bit : )
There is also a setting enabling Colour Blind Mode, which makes certain parts of the game more accessible.


Link:https://lazy-squirrel.itch.io/knorrig-the-gifted-troublemaker





Enjoy!

Hi everyone,

After finishing my last game, Absurdistan (https://lazy-squirrel.itch.io/absurdistan), I was left with a few leftover assets that never made the cut. This got me thinking and after a few days of brainstorming I ended up having a design document for a short puzzle game.

However, as much as proud I am of Absurdistan, I know that pixel-art isn't my forte. So, rather than doing the same thing again, I thought I would scrap the leftovers and try to buddy up with someone who can actually do pixel-art.

Hence my offer: if you enjoy playing point'n'clicks and doing pixel art and would like to work on a game, feel free to get in touch with me. Who knows... maybe together we will create something absolutely mind blowin' : ) Probably we will not, but at least we might have some fun with it.

The game is fully planned out (plot, logical puzzles, etc.).

As for the assets the following would be needed:
- 4 characters (3 would need walking cycles, too).
- 4 rooms (ideally with animated objects).
- 4 puzzle panels.

Because I am planning on reusing the interface from Absurdistan I thought that this game could also be a 2d side-scroller with a part of the screen dedicated for the text.

If you are interested please feel free to drop me a PM and I could provide you with more details about the game, so you can tell whether or not it's something up your alley : )

[Link:]

Link: https://lazy-squirrel.itch.io/absurdistan

Dear Comrade,
The Party needs you! You must come to Absurdistan immediately and join Leszek on his little quest to save his father's name's day! A trifle you say? Oh, Comrade, how wrong of you! Don't you forget that Absurdistan is a place where logic is nowhere to be found and that Absurdanis are reluctant to help each other out. Where keeping your profile low and showing your devotion to the Party is your bread and butter. Hope now you understand that in this place even a simple task becomes an adventure in its own right.
There is no time to lose, so get your passport ready and hop on the first train to Absurdistan!
Glory to the Party!

About the game:
Absurdistan is a partially text-based, side-scrolling adventure game featuring simplistic graphics.
You play as Leszek, a young Absurdani, who, just like his family, is fed up with the regime imposed by the Party. But, dear Adventure Gamer, fear nothing! Despite the seemingly gloomy setting, the game doesn't intend to get you down, as its main goal is to poke fun at many absurdities of the daily life in a totalitarian-communist state. 

The game features a whole variety of puzzles, which, unlike the state of Absurdistan, do make sense. Some of them may even require you to grab something to write and figure them out in real life.

Manual:
-You control Leszek with the mouse and occasionally with the keyboard.
-Left mouse click is used to BOTH inspect and interact with objects/hotspots/characters.
-Right mouse click is used only to click out of GUIs, interfaces or deselect active inventory items.


This is probably a matter of opinion but I think that due to low resolution the game looks best when played in a windowed mode in native resolution. I think it gives it a Yoda Stories vibe : )

Poster by: https://www.instagram.com/marianna.illu/

 

Hi all,

The full version of my game is practically finished and hopefully it will be out within a fortnight or a month. I've been wondering, though, if anyone here would like to help me with proofreading the dialogues, since I am not a native English speaker.

I've been also thinking about having the game play-tested by two or three people, so if you like the concept for the game and have a little bit of free time, feel free to send me a PM.

If not, then you may at least scroll to the top and admire the new poster for the game : )

Link to the game's thread: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=58366.0

I feel like this question might have been already asked on the forums, but I am struggling finding the answer to it.

Where I can filter the parser input before it gets displayed in the TextBox? I want to check if the key pressed by the player isn't a letter.

I tried checking the last char from the TextBox in repeatedly_execute_always() and removing it if necessary, but this still shows the letter for a split of a second.

Thanks

Hi, I've got a question about how to script whole cut-scenes that involve changing rooms/characters and keep them in one function.

In my current code I am trying to change the room and the player at the same time and then make the character go to a certain position. So the code looks pretty much like this:

Code: ags

cSuper.SetAsPlayer();         
player.Walk(1334, characterYPos, eBlock, eWalkableAreas);

From the documentation I know that if the given character is not in the current room, .setAsPlayer() changes room to the one the new player-character is currently in. And this part works fine, however, if I add .walk() the game produces an error saying that "character not in current room".

If I display player.Room, it returns me the correct id (after the room change), so I don't really know why I am getting the error. I am assuming it's got sth to with the room not being fully loaded before .walk() is called (but this is just a wild guess of mine).
Is there a way to do this?

Thanks!

When working on my demo I noticed that there was sth weird going on with String.truncate(). If the game is run with a non-default language and you are using String.truncate(), it returns the truncated string from the default language, rather than from the language that's selected.
Is that a feature or a bug?

I guess that I'm not the only one who spent most of the lockdown playing or making small adventure games. My last produce can be seen here: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=58366.0. If you like what you saw, read on.

The game is far from being finished, but a short demo is practically ready to be released. What's missing, though, is audio of any kind. As much as I enjoy writing, coding, and (even) drawing, I don't think I've got what it takes (i.e. time) to create a nice audio ambient. That's why, if anyone of you out there enjoys making sounds and music and has got a little bit of free time and will to join me in my endeavours, feel free to PM me.

The other thing that would be good for the project is proofreading all the text that appears in the game. I think that all the text is comprehensible but because I'm not a native English speaker I assume there might be bits that are clunky or odd. So again, if you think this is something you could help me out with, I will be more than grateful.

This is a hobby project, so I can't offer you any money in return.

[Demo:]

Demo: https://lazy-squirrel.itch.io/absurdistan-demo

Dear Comrade,
The Party needs you! You must come to Absurdistan immediately and join Leszek on his little quest to save his father's name's day! A trifle you say? Oh, Comrade, how wrong of you! Don't you forget that Absurdistan is a place where logic is nowhere to be found and that Absurdanis are reluctant to help each other out. Where keeping your profile low and showing your devotion to the Party is your bread and butter. Hope now you understand that in this place even a simple task becomes an adventure in its own right.
There is no time to lose, so get your passport ready and hop on the first train to Absurdistan!
Glory to the Party!

About the game:
Absurdistan is a partially text-based, side-scrolling adventure game featuring simplistic graphics.
You play as Leszek, a young Absurdani, who, just like his family, is fed up with the regime imposed by the Party. But, dear Adventure Gamer, fear nothing! Despite the seemingly gloomy setting, the game doesn't intend to get you down, as its main goal is to poke fun at many absurdities of the daily life in a totalitarian-communist state. 
The game will feature a whole variety of puzzles, which, unlike the state of Absurdistan, do make sense. Some of them may even require you to grab something to write and figure them out in real life.
The goal is to provide at least 1,5 hrs of gameplay.

Manual:
-You control Leszek with the mouse and occasionally with the keyboard.
-Left mouse click is used to BOTH inspect and interact with objects/hotspots/characters.
-Right mouse click is used only to click out of GUIs, interfaces or deselect active inventory items.


Progress:
Writing: 20%
Puzzles/Story: 95%
Scripting:40%
Graphcs: 20%
Sound: 15%
When: It's a hobby project, so in a very distant future. But a demo is just around the corner.

The screen shots come from a version before proofreading, so they may contain some typos etc.

     

EDIT: Shoot! I'm sorry but I've put this topic in the wrong section... Could someone mightier than me move it to the Beginners' Technical Questions?

Hi,
Am I right to think that AGS handles interactions with hotspots and objects differently? I've got one function which is called when the player interacts with either a hotspot or an object. To my surprise, when I click the object all instructions in the function are called in order but when clicking the hotspot it's not the case. First the walking function is triggered and then all the rest. I'm guessing it's got something to do with blocking mode? Could anyone point me in the right direction how to work around it?
I'm using a clean template in version 3.5.0 P2.

Code: AGS

//my function called when interacting with both the object and the hotspot
function cf_handle_elevator_interaction()
{
  if(!elevatorDoorsOpen)
  {
    hijackOverMouse = true;  
    sayTextAsTypingMachine("I need to get to floor one. I'm afraid though that the sysetm might have been messed up again.", cLeszek);      
    cLeszek.WalkStraight(528, 270, eBlock);
    oElevatorDoors.SetView(4, 0, 0);
    oElevatorDoors.Animate(0, 3, eOnce, eNoBlock, eForwards);
    elevatorDoorsOpen = true;
    hijackOverMouse = false;
  }
}

//event handlers
function hElevatorButton_Interact()
{  
  cf_handle_elevator_interaction();   
}

function oElevatorDoors_Interact()
{  
  cf_handle_elevator_interaction();    
}

Hi,

Is there a direct way to control the speed of the idle animation? I've checked all (or most of) the tabs in the editor and looked it up in the manual but couldn't find any information about it.

I'm guessing I could always trigger the animation "manually" with character.Animate() and then apply the delay I need but I'm still wondering if there is an easier way to do it.

Hi all,
because I couldn't find anything similar on the web, I decided to cobble together a Lucas Arts font with Polish characters myself. If there is anyone wanting to make a game in Polish they may use this font. The .ttf file is "ansi compatible" so it works fine in AGS.
Example:


The glyphs are far from being perfect but I believe the characters are legible. I reused strokes from other characters and pasted them where appropriate. I used the LucasFan font that came with AGS 3.4.3.
If this is not the right place or something similar has already been done then please forgive me
Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=1kBQ1yZjkG_ef0TQJU4OxkQG0cjyxvC5z

Hi guys,

Is there a way to detect if a mouse click happened on the transparent background of an image (of an object)? I'm sorry if this question's been asked before. I did go through many old threats but couldn't find the answer I was looking for.

Me and my wife would like to present our first game: Good God!

Story: If there is one thing Zosia really hates about her younger brother, Bartek, it would be the fact that he always copies everything she does. Every time she picks up a new hobby, you can be sure that a couple of days later her brother will do the same. Can you imagine how frustrating it must be? A couple of days ago, Zosia’s grandfather sparked her interest in Slavic Mythology which she absolutely fell in love with.
Although Bartek doesn’t know anything about Slavic Mythology, it’s just a matter of time when he comes to Zosia claiming to be an expert on the subject. When that happens, Zosia might need your help...

About: Good God! is a short adventure game developed in AGS. It offers up to an hour long gameplay and features a Game Boy-inspired artstyle, although the mechanics and controls are of a point'n'click game.

Note: the game uses Slavic paganism as one of its main themes but it's not meant to be treated seriously or as a reliable source of information.

Note 2: the game originally was supposed to be submitted in the October 2019 MAGS, but we simply ran out of time : )

Link: https://lazy-squirrel.itch.io/good-god

Any comments about what you think of the game are welcome : )

 

Hi Guys,

I'm afraid I've hit on a wall and I need to ask you for help.

In my game, the player has to walk onto a number of regions in a specific order to solve a puzzle. However, the order changes depending on which region is walked onto first. There are four regions in total and the player can decide from which they are going to start the sequence.

In order to do that I set up four regions in my room and used four region_WalksOnto functions to detect the event of walking onto them. What's more, I've got a counter of how many regions have been walked onto in a correct order (I called it a numberOfTrues) and an array of possible paths (there are four: "1,2,3,4,1", "2,3,4,1,2", "3,4,1,2,3", "4,1,2,3,4"; the numbers represent the IDs of the regions; each path has five values, where each five stands for a whole round). This way I've been able to check if the next region the player walks onto is the next one on the given path. If the player walks on a region that is not correct and breaks the sequence, then the numberOfTrues gets reset to 1 and a new path is selected.

Now, I'm not saying it's the best way of doing it but it seemed to be working fine. At least I thought so until I stopped displaying the current value of numberOfTrues during the game. What I mean is during the development I would use either Display() or a label to show the current values of numberOfTrues or what region had been walked onto. Without displaying those values the game seems to be working randomly... Sometimes it would work fine and the character would recognise that the path has been completed and then it would not. And that happens only when the values are not displayed.

I've tested it now about 30 times... (at this point, even thought it's a game I've made, I am sick of looking at it ) and I'm sure it works fine with the values displayed (with the use of Display() or labels) and that it works randomly without.

I'm far from saying that this might be the case, but could it be possible that for some reason AGS may be failing to detect walking onto a region?

Here is the excerpt of my code that handles the walking onto regions plus variables used in them:

Code: ags

int tablePaths[20];
int pathSelected;
int numberOfTrues = 0;

function room_Load()
{  
   //starting from south
  tablePaths[0] = 1;
  tablePaths[1] = 2;
  tablePaths[2] = 3;
  tablePaths[3] = 4;
  tablePaths[4] = 1;
  
  //starting from east
  tablePaths[5] = 2;
  tablePaths[6] = 3;
  tablePaths[7] = 4;
  tablePaths[8] = 1;
  tablePaths[9] = 2;
  
  //starting from north
  tablePaths[10] = 3;
  tablePaths[11] = 4;
  tablePaths[12] = 1;
  tablePaths[13] = 2;
  tablePaths[14] = 3;
  
  //starting from west
  tablePaths[15] = 4;
  tablePaths[16] = 1;
  tablePaths[17] = 2;
  tablePaths[18] = 3;
  tablePaths[19] = 4;
  
}




function region1_WalksOnto()
{
  
 
  if(listHasBeenRead == true && tableWalkedAroundThreeTimes == false)
  {
    if(numberOfTrues == 0 && justEnteredKitchen == true)
    {
      pathSelected = 0;
      numberOfTrues++;
    }
    
  
    else
    {
      if(region[1].ID == tablePaths[pathSelected+numberOfTrues])
      {
        numberOfTrues++;
      }
      
      else
      {
        numberOfTrues = 1;
        pathSelected = 0;
      }
    }    
    
    if(justEnteredKitchen == true && numberOfTrues == 2)
    {
      justEnteredKitchen = false;
      
    }
    
  }
  
  

}

function region2_WalksOnto()
{
  
  
  if(listHasBeenRead == true && tableWalkedAroundThreeTimes == false)
  {
    if(numberOfTrues == 0 && justEnteredKitchen == true)
    {
      pathSelected = 5;
      numberOfTrues++;
    }
    
    
    else
    {
      if(region[2].ID == tablePaths[pathSelected+numberOfTrues])
      {
        numberOfTrues++;
      }
      
      else
      {
        numberOfTrues = 1;
        pathSelected = 5;
      }
    }
    
    if(justEnteredKitchen == true && numberOfTrues == 2)
    {
      justEnteredKitchen = false;
      
    }
    
    
  }
  
  
  
 
}

function region3_WalksOnto()
{
  
  
  
  if(listHasBeenRead == true && tableWalkedAroundThreeTimes == false)
  {
    if(numberOfTrues == 0 && justEnteredKitchen == true)
    {
      pathSelected = 10;
      numberOfTrues++;
    }
    
    
    
    else
    {
      if(region[3].ID == tablePaths[pathSelected+numberOfTrues])
      {
        numberOfTrues++;
      }
      
      else
      {
        numberOfTrues = 1;
        pathSelected = 10;
      }
    } 
    
    if(justEnteredKitchen == true && numberOfTrues == 2)
    {
      justEnteredKitchen = false;
    }
    
    
  }
    
}

function region4_WalksOnto()
{

  
  if(listHasBeenRead == true && tableWalkedAroundThreeTimes == false)
  {
    if(numberOfTrues == 0 && justEnteredKitchen == true)
    {
      pathSelected = 15;
      numberOfTrues++;
    }
    
    
    else
    {
      if(region[4].ID == tablePaths[pathSelected+numberOfTrues])
      {
        numberOfTrues++;
      }
      
      else
      {
        numberOfTrues = 1;
        pathSelected = 15;
      }
    }
    
    if(justEnteredKitchen == true && numberOfTrues == 2)
    {
      justEnteredKitchen = false;
    }
  
  }
}

P.S.
I know the code inside WalkOnto functions could be put into a separate function but I got bogged down with this problem and haven't got time to do it.

I'm using AGS 3.4.3.

I would appreciate any suggestions as I feel defeated by AGS

Hi all,

me and my wife are working on a short adventure game (some of you might have already seen it here https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=57616.0). As we are getting close to the end of the project and most of the writing is finished, we could use some help with proofreading the dialogues that may sound jarring to native English speakers.

The game is a hobby project, so we can't offer any money in return. However, we would appreciate any help (whether you proofread one paragraph or the whole game), and we could put your name/nickname in the credits.

So, if you have a bit of free time and a will to correct some grammatical mistakes please get in touch 

PS.
You can send us a PM.

Do you remember when as a kid you were fascinated by ancient cultures? When the books about the Greek and Roman mythology were simply impossible to put down? Well, Zosia is currently experiencing a similar thing after her Grandfather told her about the ancient Slavic tribes. That's why, on this particular Sunday she was planning to... do absolutely nothing, but right after that to explore the fascinating world of the Slavic Mythology even more. However, her plans get thwarted by her nagging mother and incredibly irritating younger brother, who dares to claim to be more of an expert on the subject than she is! I know...  outrageous. That's why Zosia may use some help in proving her brother how wrong he is!

Note: the game uses the Slavic paganism as one of its main themes but it's not meant to be treated seriously or as a reliable source of information.
Note 2: the game originally was supposed to be submitted in the October 2019 MAGS, but we simply ran out of time : )

Scripting: 80%
Dialogues: 80%
Sound: 0%
Puzzles: 95%

When: if Christmas festivities don't make us even more lazy, the game might be finished by the end of the year : )