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[Double Header]

This jam's theme: Double Header

Because two heads are better than one!

Okay, sorry; that's a very old joke.  But anyway...

The theme of this sprite jam involves characters or animals with two heads.  Well, let's say at least two heads; three or more is okay too.  The heads don't have to be on the same pair of shoulders, or even on a pair of shoulders at all, as long as they belong to the same creature.  A person with two heads is fine, but you can also draw a pushmi-pullyu, or a monster with a second head on the end of its tail, or something like the mythological Geryon who, according to some accounts, had three bodies all joined to one pair of legs (but each with its own head).  As long as it's a single creature with multiple heads, it's fair game.

No restrictions on colors or size, as long as the sprite would be usable in an AGS game (which isn't much of a restriction, but, you know, 2000 pixels wide is probably too big).  Animation optional, but may be worth some bonus points.  Trophies for all entrants.

And... go!

So... this post got me thinking about Insta-Game.  You know, the resource pack of pre-made graphics for people to make games with who may not be good at graphics themselves, or who may just want to try things out in a hurry.  The Insta-Game resources always seemed to me to be a good idea... but it seems not much was done with them.  If I'm interpreting the Insta-Game site correctly, there hasn't been an update since 2006.

Granted, not all that many games were ever made with Insta-Game.  But I think part of that may be because the Insta-Game only ever had graphics for a single setting and genre.  Maybe if there were more graphic sets available -- modern-day, maybe fantasy, maybe a pirate set? -- it would be used more.  Couldn't hurt.  (For that matter, couldn't hurt to have some Insta-Game resources in different resolutions and color depths, too, rather than only in 8-bit 320x200.)

I'm not bringing this up because I want more graphics to be available for my own use and am trying to use a roundabout means to push people into providing them.  Quite the opposite, in fact; I'm interested in contributing graphics myself.  (I'm working on a number of games of my own, but I don't want to seriously start on the graphics for them until I have the story and puzzles completely planned out... and, since I'm a bit of a perfectionist in that regard (and also since I have about a thousand other projects I'm working on), that's taking a long time.  But I'd be very happy to contribute to the community by making some Insta-Game graphics in the meantime.)  So what are the chances of getting Insta-Game going again?  Are Mr. Colossal and Sylpher still interested in maintaining the project, and if so should I send any contributions their way?  Is anyone interested in having more Insta-Game resources available, or am I just beating a dead horse here?

[Edited to change the subject... no need to associate this with Insta-Game...]

Okay, we've had two separate threads now--one by Goldmund and one by Pstonie--both arguing essentially (as I understand them) that adventure games need to open up the gameworld more, give the player more freedom of action, and build a more dynamic and realistic gameworld.Ã,  They've chosen different ways to illustrate their arguments--Goldmund by comparing the adventure game with RPGs, and Pstonie by comparing it to FPS games--but it seems to me that what they envision for the progress of adventure games is pretty much the same.

Now, it seems to me that this sort of thing isn't necessary for the future of adventure games.Ã,  In fact, it wouldn't represent so much the evolution of the genre as it would be the creation of a whole new subgenre.Ã,  But...on the other hand, it's a subgenre that I think could be worth creating.Ã,  While I don't think it should replace traditional adventure games, I admit that I'd love to see a game like that.Ã,  It would mean a whole heck of a lot of more work for the game creators, of course, but it would make for a new type of gaming experience that might be worth the effort.

So...I've created this thread for a discussion of how it could be done.Ã,  Let's leave off with dubious comparisons with RPGs or FPS games, and let's please not argue any further about whether the adventure game has to progress along these lines to survive... let's just use this thread to discuss what could be done along these lines, and what innovations in this direction may be worth trying out.

Comments, anyone?

Excuse my ignorance, but...

I've seen in a few game descriptions and comments on the AGS site mention of a "dead man walking" situation (or something similar).  For example, the author's description of Escape From Evergreen Forest includes the sentence "I tried to avoid 'pixel hunting' or 'walking dead-man' scenarios. "  What does this refer to?  I know what pixel-hunting is (and yeah, it's definitely something worth avoiding), but what's a "walking dead-man scenario"?

Just wondering...