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[KodiakBehr]

Hi everybody,

I wanted to share a project with you that I have been working on over the last year with Little Red Dog Games. The game is designed by fellow AGSer KodiakBehr, and you may remember us from AGS games like "Rogue State" and "Conspirocracy". We are currently working on a new (non-AGS) game called Deep Sixed, and we have just launched a Kickstarter for it:

Deep Sixed on Kickstarter

So if you happen to like this kind of game, please consider supporting us, or help us spread the word.

Hi folks,

We're looking for beta testers for Rogue State. The game has been in beta for a while, but we think we need a few more testers to get some fresh feedback. We also want to test the Linux build and see if it's stable enough, so it would be great if some people could test the game on Linux instead of Windows.

Rogue State is a complex strategy game that needs a lot of testing. So if you join our testing team, you should be prepared to spend a lot of time playing the game over the next few weeks and give us detailed feedback about your gameplay experiences. We are looking for two or three reliable people who like to play strategy games and who can give us valuable feedback.

It's time to create female 3D characters for Rogue State, and since I don't have too much experience in this area, I'd like to get some feedback.
So please comment and criticize this 3D model:

[the following background is not my work.]

First of all, I don't want to take credit for something I haven't done, so let me express that the following background is not my work.

Okay, so what is this about?
We're a small team making a game (surprise!), and we'd like to get some feedback on our graphic style. Our background artist UnLady is a little shy, so she asked me to post this background for her. She'd love to get some feedback on colors, shading, composition or anything else you can think of:

Spoiler

[close]

...and after that, please have a look at the room again, but this time with a character I've created:

Spoiler

[close]

Yep, it's the same 3D model that I've posted here a few days ago. We worked really hard to create a consistent style, so we'd like to know what you think of our 2D/3D combination? Do like the style? Does the character blend well with the background? Is there anything we should change to make it better?

I'm really enjoying this game so far. But now I'm stuck on day 4:

Spoiler

So I have to dress as a doctor before I can visit Pemberton. There's a white coat in the van, but it's locked. I've revisited all locations and I can't figure out what to do, I guess I must have missed something.

[close]

[can you limit a character's movement to 8 fixed angles somehow through scripting?]

I'm not quite sure if this is the right forum, but I have a few more advanced questions about character movement.

1. Usually AGS moves the characters freely in all directions at all possible angles. This can look bad, especially if you use diagonal walkcycles. If, in your animation, the character walks at 45°, but AGS decides to move the character at 55°, it looks really awkward, as if the character is sliding. I know it's a common problem in many adventures, but are there any ways around this?
More precisely, can you limit a character's movement to 8 fixed angles somehow through scripting? I'm not talking about keyboard controls, but point & click. It doesn't look too bad at low resolutions without diagonal walkcycles, but if you make a highres game with smooth animations and diagonal views, it looks plain wrong most of the time.

2. When I set UniformMovementSpeed to false, I can have different speed values for X and Y. But this doesn't seem to apply to diagonal movement? You can test this easily by trying to set a very low value (such as -5, which would translate to 1/5) for MovementSpeedY. Now you get a much faster y-speed by moving diagonally than by moving vertically, which just doesn't make any sense. Normally you wouldn't set the speed levels that low, so you won't always notice it, but it makes the movement inconsistent when using different speed settings for X and Y. Is this behaviour intended, or is it a bug?

So generally, while the speed settings work fine for low resolutions and simple animations, I recently got the feeling that character movement in AGS can get quite messy when you try to make it look more real. Does anyone know of any good workarounds? Have I missed something?

Hi everybody,

I'd like to get some feedback on this walkcycle:

[imgzoom]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1891681/walkcycles.gif[/imgzoom]


It's a 3D model animated with Blender, and so far I'm quite happy with it. But please feel free to tear it apart and comment and criticise everything. This walkcycle will be used as a base for quite a few other characters, so I want to make it as good as I possibly can.

[a piece for solo instrument]

For this tune contest I want you to compose a piece for solo instrument. Just choose one instrument and compose a tune for it, with no additional instruments or sounds. The most obvious choice would be a polyphonic instrument like piano, organ, guitar etc. But you could also compose a monophonic tune, e.g. a piece for solo trumpet. Or maybe a drum solo? It's up to you.

The rules in detail:

• Compose a piece for just one instrument.
• It should be possible for one person to perform (no four-hands piano or something like that).
• Polyphony is fine, if your chosen instrument allows it.
• A drum set counts as one instrument, as do paired instruments like bongos.
• A synthesizer counts as one instrument, but don't use more than one sound. No auto-accompaniment, no switching between presets.
• The most important rule: If there aren't at least two entries, I'll be very upset!

You have two weeks, so the deadline is July 24th. I'll announce a winner on July 25th or shortly after.

Happy composing!

Hi everyone!

So I finally got some webspace and built my long-overdue website. Essentially it's a simple online portfolio, and I'd like to get crit on everything: design, layout, text, colors... just tell me what you like and what you don't like, and if everything works as it should. I'm a non-native speaker, so please report any spelling and grammar mistakes, bad phrasing etc.

http://www.problematic-music.com/

Thanks!

[April 1st]

EDIT: The new deadline is April 1st.


Deus ex Machina (Latin: "god from the machine") is a plot device that is used to resolve a seemingly hopeless situation in a sudden and unexpected way. As the name suggests, this could be the intervention of a higher power, but it can also be something completely different.
A more detailed explanation and many examples can be found on tvtropes.org (beware, this website will kill your time once you start reading!)

For this contest, I want you to compose a tune for a "Deus ex Machina" scene. The rules are simple:

* The tune should start in a pessimistic, depressing or dramatic way.
* There must be at least one sudden, unexpected twist.
* It should end on a positive note

You have two weeks, the deadline is March 29th.

Happy composing!

[KodiakBehr's lovely new game "Conspirocracy".]

Hi Guys,
I want to share some of my latest work with you.
I've uploaded two tracks that I composed for KodiakBehr's lovely new game "Conspirocracy".

The first one is the background music for a typical city setting. If you look at some of the screenshots (especially the isometric view) you'll get the idea. For this preview, I mixed the music with background sounds, so this is what it should sound like in the final game:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1891681/music/conspirocracy/city-preview.ogg

The second track is intended for a short cutscene. I don't want to give away too much, but as the title says, it's about ascending a mountain 
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1891681/music/conspirocracy/mountain-preview.ogg

Any feedback for these tunes would be highly appreciated. Maybe I'll upload some more tracks later.

[maximum length]

One of the most interesting challenges in writing game music are the cut-scenes. So much can happen within just a few seconds, and it can be tricky to get the timing right and keep the music short enough.

This time you'll have to do a little bit more than composing a tune. Here's what I want you to do:

• Make up a typical adventure game cutscene.
• Compose a tune for your cutscene.
• Post your tune along with a short description of the cutscene.
• Make it short and dense. The maximum length is 1 minute.
• No further restrictions, it can be any style and genre.

You could also take a cutscene from any existing adventure game and compose your own theme for it. You'll have to write a description nonetheless, because I might not have played that game.

You have two weeks, and I'll pick a winner on 7th February.

Happy composing!

[completely]

Hi folks, it's been a while since I posted here.
In this thread I'll share some of my music with you. I'd like to hear your opinions, criticism and suggestions.

So let's start with two completely different tracks:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1891681/music/demo/captain.mp3
This is actually an old tune I did for a game that was never finished. I re-recorded it completely and added a new part, and I'm quite happy with the result. This is a "loopable" version, so it doesn't have a real ending.

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1891681/music/demo/scifi1.mp3
This is a new track, more on the eletronic side and much darker. I did this one as an exercise and it has no special purpose (yet). It was tough to mix, and I'm still not sure if I got it right, so any criticism is welcome.

That's it for now, but I'll post more music during the next weeks.



Links to all the tracks scattered over this thread:

https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1891681/music/demo/captain.mp3
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1891681/music/demo/scifi1-loop.mp3
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1891681/music/demo/hesitation.mp3
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1891681/music/demo/grounded.mp3
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/1891681/music/demo/blacksmith.mp3

[Episode 51 - Place Machine II]

Maniac Mansion Mania
Episode 51 - Place Machine II





After the events of episode 15, Dr. Fred and the purple tentacle are lost on an unknown planet. Michael wants to rescue them with Bernard's help, but Bernard isn't allowed to leave the house. As if this wasn't difficult enough, he doesn't even believe the whole story...

This game is part of the german "Maniac Mansion Mania" series, and the sequel to "Episode 15: Place Machine". It is actually finished, and I'm working on an english translation.

As I'm not a native speaker, it would be great if someone would beta test the translated version and look for spelling and grammar mistakes. Please write me a personal message, if you want to do that.

While trying to play a certain XM file in AGS 2.62, i got this message:

An Exception 0xC0000005 occured in ACWIN.EXE at EIP = 0x0045938F ;
program pointer is +1004, ACI version 2.62.772, gtags (356,22)

I get this error when using playmusic(1) to play the file music1.xm. There is only one XM file that causes this error, but it was saved exactly with the same software, so there shouldn't be any difference. The only difference is the file size. The file is about 3 MB, bigger than anything I used before.

EDIT: I optimised the file and was able to reduced the size by 1 MB. Now everything works fine, so there might be a problem with big XM files.

Hello,

I'm composing XM music for my games, and I always wondered why there is no way to get the current line/pattern of a MOD.

I know that there is a tracker entry for this problem. But I'd like to know if there is a way to work around it, because I don't think this will be implemented soon, as only few people seem to use MOD or XM.
I'd like to do some advanced music scripting with XMs, and I tried many things, but I didn't get very far. So, does anyone have an idea how to work around this problem?
I tried to do something tempo-based, but it would require the exact tempo of every MOD used, which is difficult in some cases.

[Maniac Mansion Mania]

Maniac Mansion Mania

Episode 15: Place Machine




Finally the english translation of episode 15 is available. I hope there are not too many mistakes, and that you enjoy my episode as much as the people on the german forums did.

Like all MMM episodes it's a short game, but it is the first game in the series to have different solutions to some of the puzzles and a completely original soundtrack.

Download HERE. You can also visit the  games section and vote for it if you like.

[Maniac Mansion Mania]

Maniac Mansion Mania

Episode 15: Place Machine

Michael just wanted to test his new camera at night. But on his excursion he discovers a strange cave. Curious and hoping for a big story to write about, he tries to find out what is going on...





The game is actually finished, but in german. I'm translating it to english at the moment. It is a short game, like most of the MMM episodes.  I hope I get it done in about 2 weeks, and I also hope that more translations will follow, as there are many funny games in the series.

As said, it is not very long, but it has different solutions to some of the puzzles, some eastereggs and a completely original soundtrack. To my surprise it was very well received at the german Adventuretreff-Forum, so I decided that a translation would be worthwhile.


If anyone wants to play the german version, get it here

Hello,

The last time I posted a background, I wasn't satisfied with the trees, so I practised a lot. This is a background showing a forest at night. It's even hi-res this time.
Any ideas how to improve it?

Hello,
I really like programing and music, but when it comes to backgrounds, I usually don't have enough motivation to do them. But today I tried to draw my first "serious" room, and it took me about three hours. Please tell me what you think and what I could change or improve.

(I know it's not finished, as there is nothing in that cupboard etc.)