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I'm trying to implement a puzzle that involves sorting some objects that are initially randomly oriented.  The code below was intended to initialize the objects orientation but instead of replacing the object's sprite with a rotated sprite, the objects get the famous blue cup sprite.  Any suggestions for what I'm doing wrong?  Thanks.

Code: ags

function room_Load(){
  DynamicSprite* sprite[19];
  for(int i=0;i<19;i++){    
    sprite[i] = DynamicSprite.CreateFromExistingSprite(object[i].Graphic);
    int starting_rotation=Random(3);
    if (starting_rotation!=0){
      sprite[i].Rotate(starting_rotation*90);
      object[i].Graphic=sprite[i].Graphic;      
      sprite[i].Delete();  
    }    
  }
}

Is there a way to invert the transparency mask from an existing sprite before copying it to a dynamic sprite?

[Screenshots:]

After resigning his post, a secret agent is abducted and taken to a remote seaside village.  Although superficially quaint, beneath the Village's surface it is a high-tech interrogation camp.  Surveillance abounds.  The guards walk amongst the prisoners without uniforms to identify themselves.  The other prisoners are mindless sheep, kept docile with amenities and rhetoric.  The commandant will use every means at his disposal to break the will of the new arrival and coax him to divulge his secrets.  The Prisoner must resist his captors and find trustworthy allies within the Village to make his escape.


Screenshots:
The graphics are works in progress, placeholders that will get an eventual paintover after the initial build is complete.
















Progress:
I'd started this game back in 2003 and worked on it steadily until 2009 when I lost all momentum.  I was about 75% complete at that time but couldn't see the finish-line.  When I resumed production earlier this year, I salvaged what I could from the older version but AGS had developed so much over the years that it was actually simpler to start from scratch.  And with a more focused approach I'm almost as far along now after 6 months as I was before after 6 years.  Crazy. 

Scripting: 60%
Background art: 40%
Character Animation: 30%
Audio 80%

11 Oct 2015 Update

The scripting is progressing along nicely now and I'm aiming to have a build that is playable from beginning to end by the end of October. 

Meanwhile on the days when I'm not in a programming zone I'll take another pass at some of the background art.  I'm slowly starting to learn what I can get away with without fully modelling and one of these days I'll take the time to learn to draw a tree.

Here is a location as it appears during day and night:





And some character animations:

The Prisoner


A potential ally?  (So much trial and error in getting the cloth simulation for her cape.)


And everybody's favourite: Rover - The Village watchdog that apprehends escaping prisoners...

...and incapacitates them.

I think I'm missing some fundamental concept when it comes to using the audiochannels.  I have a function that is supposed to play a ambient sound file based on a room custom property that is called from the "Enters Room Before Fade-In".  It seems to work for the very first room but when I go to another room that also calls the function the music stops and won't restart even when I go back to the room that was working before.

Can anyone help me to understand what I'm missing?

Module Header:

Code: ags

enum AmbientSounds{
  eQuiet=0, 
  eBirds=1, 
  eBeach=2
};

import function StartAmbientSound();

Module Script:

Code: ags

function StartAmbientSound(){
  if((AmbientSound==null)||(AmbientSound.IsPlaying==false)){
    int atmosphere=Room.GetProperty("AmbientSound");      
    if(atmosphere==eQuiet){//Don't play a sound      
    }else if(atmosphere==eBirds){
       AmbientSound=aBirds.Play();
    }
  }else{    
    int atmosphere=Room.GetProperty("AmbientSound");          
    if(atmosphere==eQuiet){       
      AmbientSound.Stop();     
    }else if(atmosphere==eBirds){
       AmbientSound=aBirds.Play();
    }
  }
}

Room Script:

Code: ags

function room_Load()
{
  StartAmbientSound();
}

I have an NPC that is essentially a ball with a bouncing walk-cycle.  I figured there were two ways I could animate it: include the bounce in the walk cycle sprites or create the bounce by coding the characters z coordinate.  I tried the first approach with frame 0 and 47 being the character on the ground and frame 24 being the peak of its bounce.  But I run into a problem when the character stops moving and the animation goes to frame 0 of the walk-cycle regardless of what frame it was at when the character stopped. I tried the code below to complete the remaining frames in the cycle to bring it to the ground after it stops moving but even with this there is a momentary stutter of frame 0 displaying.

Code: ags

function repeatedly_execute() {


    if(cRover.Moving==true){
        RoverLastFrame=cRover.Frame;//global variable
        RoverWasWalking=true;//global variable
    }else if(RoverWasWalking==true){//Rover just finished walking
        if((RoverLastFrame>0)&&(RoverLastFrame<24)){// Rover is still ascending
          cRover.Frame=RoverLastFrame-1;
          RoverLastFrame=cRover.Frame;
        }else if((RoverLastFrame>=24)&&(RoverLastFrame<46)){// Rover has already begun his descent
          cRover.Frame=RoverLastFrame+1;
          RoverLastFrame=cRover.Frame;
        }else{
          RoverWasWalking=false;
        }           
    }
}

Anyone have any ideas to resolve this?

I've been modeling my game setting in Sketchup and I really like the sense of geography it instills and the flexibility it provides for tweaking compositions.






I'm trying to do some work in Paint Shop after rendering to combine photographed elements and to soften some of the textures.  Does this style work?  Any suggestions or paintovers are welcome.


Here is an example of an interior as well:

My friend and co-worker, Pedro, hasn’t had a haircut in several years so his hair is 20+ inches long.  Our company is now into its annual fundraising drive for the United Way charity and Pedro has decided to use his long hair as an event for getting donations.

A site- wide email was sent out this afternoon saying that for every $1000 donated, Pedro would cut 1 inch of his hair.  I expected the donations to be cumulative, a $100 here a $100 there, that could add up with enough participation (there’s probably a thousand or so employees on site who received  the email challenge). 

Within 10 minutes, one of the business units’ Vice President (Joy) replied to the challenge saying she would put down the first $1000 for an inch.  As a VP she earns probably somewhere between $200-300K a year, so of course she can afford to do this but personally I find it to be a bit tacky.  There’s a lot of yes-men within our corporate culture that try to impress VPs by jumping on the bandwagon, so it is smart for her to take advantage of that and be the first to donate to get the ball rolling.  But I think she set the bar too high, so that nobody but the most senior people can afford to participate.   Sure enough, the next 4 replies were all matching $1000 bids from other business unit VPs. 

During all this, my girlfriend (Sepideh, who also works for the company) and I are exchanging an email commentary on Joy’s grandstanding. I tell Sepideh that I think it would be funny for me to reply to this chain of VP emails with a pledge of $63 for a 1/16” of Pedro’s hair.  I think this is funny but Sepideh thinks it’s absolutely hilarious and that I should actually do this. 

So I type it up and hit “reply all” to this site-wide email and am feeling pretty good about it… feeling that most people are going to get it.  But hold up, I’m not a VP.  My email privileges do not grant me permission to send an email to the site-wide distribution list.  I need to have an admin assistant send the reply out on my behalf.

So Sepideh and I are both kind of disappointed about this but she wants to stay the course.  In a way, it has the potential to enhance the joke because VPs routinely have Admin Assistants send out emails on their behalf that they could just send out themselves.  So we decide we better send our request to Bonnie, the only admin assistant with a brain in her head.  So I send out a request for Bonnie to reply to the email on my behalf with :  “Put me down for  1/16”; I ought to be good for $63.”  Sepideh and I are both thinking: “Bonnie’s cool.  She gets this.”  Shortly after I receive a reply from Bonnie saying that she’s added my contribution to the pledge form. 

That was it.  No mass email.  No high fives from co-workers.  No awareness generated in the VPs for the gulf between their salaries and mine.  At the end of this event when all of the VPs have donated their $1000, Pedro will have to cut 7 and 1/16” of his hair and it will still be over 13” long.  Hopefully, that’s short enough that he’ll stop soliciting  Sepideh to braid it for him.

I'm trying to write a script that reads from a text file using:

String letter= String.Format("%c", input.ReadRawChar());

I use: (letter.CompareTo(" ")==0) to check if the letter is a character or space but I run into problems when I reach a line break. 

Can someone tell me what kind of check I should do for line breaks?

Thanks.

It's a little embarrassing to post this sort of thread but I do appreciate the feedback I get from people here as it tends to lack the bias that can occur when discussing with friends in the real world.  So here goes:

My co-worker, Meredith, is a pretty judgemental person and believes that very few people she meets in this world are worthy of her respect or friendship.  Despite this attitude, the two of us actually hit it off immediately because of our similar senses of humour.  We became friends and she and her husband, Dave, have served as a hub for me to make other friends in a town where I didn't know many people outside of work.

My girlfriend, Anita, is also someone with a very similar sense of humour to my own.  I assumed that she and Meredith were going to hit it off great and that we'd all be friends.

The first time I introduced them was when I took Anita to a Halloween party at Meredith and Dave's.  We were about 2 hours late in arriving and Meredith was already well drunk.  She was loud and raunchy and did awkward things like pretending to get grabby with Anita's breasts and asking us if we were having anal sex.  I don't why but it's one of Meredith's running jokes to act like she's into other women's boobs and inquire about “doin' it in the butt”.  Anita was not amused but she dismissed this as drunk behaviour and she didn't let it spoil the rest of the party.  The next morning when we returned to M&D's house to retrieve my car, we went in briefly to ask about some of the music that had been playing the night before.  While there I mentioned rather casually to Meredith that she'd said and done a lot of awkward things the night before and she did not apologize.  The lack of apology bothered Anita much more than the night's antics as it implied Meredith did not care if she offended Anita and made her feel uncomfortable.  I more or less forgot about the incident in the following months.

Last Friday was my company's Christmas party and was the first time since Halloween Meredith and Anita saw each other.  Along with a 3rd couple, we all road together to the party.   Within minutes of picking us up, Meredith said something that offended Anita.  There's a little backstory required for Meredith's offending comment so bear with me. 

Two weeks earlier Anita and I had taken a little vacation together.  We did not check-in for our flight in advance so when we arrived at the airport we discovered we'd not be seated together but instead were one behind the other.  We were rather annoyed at this since we had booked our flights together months in advance.  We decided that we would try to guilt another passenger into trading seats with one of us so that we could be together.  We should have just politely asked but instead we thought it would be fun to see if a passenger would volunteer.  So during the flight we talked to each other over the back of my chair and at one point she said to me:  “Wanna make out?”  (this is a running gag unto itself as I frequently ask her this in public places and she always gets embarrassed).  Anyway despite the fact that we were obviously supposed to be together our neighbouring passengers made no offer to swap seats.  I thought this was a funny, interesting anecdote and I told Meredith about this when I returned to work the following week. 

So Meredith's offending remark in the car was “How was your trip?  I heard you guys played tonsil tennis on the plane and you weren't even in the same row.”

Is this really such a bad thing to have said?  I interpreted it as gentle teasing.  Anita interprets it as a malicious attack intended to make her uncomfortable.

When we arrive at the party and are hanging our coats, Anita told me how she felt about Meredith's comment and I dismissed her interpretation defending the comment as just a joke.  The rest of the party seemed to go okay.  Anita was having a lot of fun with Dave ganging up on me to make fun of my nerdy ways.  She shared a dessert with Meredith.  I thought everything was copasetic.  But then abruptly Anita wanted to leave the party. 

She went to the coat room and I told her I'd be right out after I finished my drink.  I probably took about 5 minutes to drink my drink and say my goodbyes and by the time I left the main room Anita was gone.  Her coat was no longer next to mine on the rack.  She wasn't in the ladies room.  She wasn't outside waiting for a cab.  I thought maybe she'd already caught a cab and returned to my place without me.  This was not good and was certainly a sure-fire sign that she was mad at me.  Some other friends at the party had seen her exit angrily and recommended I just return to the party for a little while and go home in half an hour or so after she's had time to cool off.  It seemed like reasonable advice and so I got myself another drink and decided to enjoy myself for the meantime.  This turned out to be a terrible idea as she hadn't in fact gone home but was out in the freezing cold trying to hail a cab for 15 minutes.  She came back inside to find me having fun again with a new drink in my hand and that only made her more angry.  So I abandoned my drink and we left for home.

We were up for hours fighting.  I learned that the reason Anita wanted to bolt from the party was because Meredith again said something offensive.  This time the offending remark was:  “I can see your side-boobs.”  Apparently this was said right in front of me but I didn't hear it and don't know how I would have responded if I had.  I don't know what a side-boob is but Anita interpreted to mean her dress looked bad on her and that her breasts were hanging out.  I really had no rational way to justify Meredith saying such a mean comment.  Anita's explanation was simple:  Meredith is a catty bitch with a low self-esteem who elevates herself by slamming other women.  In addition to her thinking Meredith was a wicked person, she felt betrayed by me for defending her comment in the car.

This is a very large issue.  It hasn't gotten better in the past 6 days.  Anita continues to believe that I value my friendship with Meredith over my relationship to her.  She thinks I'm either a stupid moron for not seeing how awful a person Meredith is or that I'm a liar who recognized Meredith's maliciousness but is refusing to accept it out of stubbornness.

My stance is that it's impossible for me to believe that my friend would deliberately be cruel toward my girlfriend.  I can accept that Meredith is an uncouth boor but I can't assign malice to her actions only ignorance.  I'm not trying to convince Anita she should give Meredith another chance.  All I want is to preserve my right to formulate my own opinion of someone.  I think it's unfair to treat my differing opinion as a betrayal.

I don't know what to do.  Am I risking my relationship to Anita over semantics?  Are people's intentions unimportant?  Am I a fool for not seeing Meredith's true nature?

Any advice is appreciated.  Thanks.

Scenario 1:  You are at a club with a group of friends.  Your boyfriend isn't with you so you dance with some other guys.  One of the guys is obviously attracted to you but instead of letting him know you're unavailable you continue to be funny and warm toward him.  Eventually, he kisses you and you go along with it for a moment.  Later in the week he phones you and you let him know that you're attached and apologize for misleading him.  You never tell your boyfriend of the incident.

Scenario 2:  You have a crush on a co-worker but you tell your boyfriend about it right away.  He's secure enough in the relationship to trust you and doesn't protest when you start socializing with this co-worker outside of the workplace.  The conversations with this co-worker grow increasingly sexual but are never physically manifested.   You disclose everything to your boyfriend and he does not respond with any jealousy.  This continues indefinitely.

Do either/both of these situations demonstrate unfaithfulness?  Is one worse than the other?

Recently, I decided that I wanted volunteer as a Big Brother (not sure if Big Brothers/Big Sisters is an international organization but for anyone who doesn't know they pair an adult with a child of the same sex who is looking for an adult friend/role model).

The screening process is pretty rigorous to make sure the children are going into safe/responsible hands so it's been about 2 months since I started the process and I only received acceptance today.    Anyway, now that I've been accepted it's my turn to look at the case files for the potential Little Brother's to find one that I think I'd be best matched with.

There were four files to look at for kids ranging from 7 to 13.  Most of them had some male figure in their life in terms of a step dad or mother's boyfriend, but for whatever reason they were not close to these men. 

Anyway, I'm kind of drawn to the extremes.  The 7-year-old sounds like a pretty fun little guy with a sense of humour that reminds me of myself at that age.  He's on Zoloft because he's prone to depression and has also been in a few fights at school but he's outgoing and has friends and generally seems well adjusted.  One thing that comes up often in his file is that he wants a Big Brother who is cool.  I can relate to that thinking back upon my childhood relationship with my older brother. 

Then there's an 11-year old who sounds very troubled.  His mother has been living with his step-dad since he was 5 months old and yet there is no relationship there.  There is a half sister whom the step-dad shows clear favourtism towards because she's his biological child.  This is compounded by an incident that happened between the boy and sister several years ago involving some kind of sexual exploration that wasn't explicitly disclosed to me.   The boy was 8 while his sister was only 3 so clearly he was the instigator of the incident but it was the parents who left pornographic materials where they could be found to initiate his curiousity.   Three years later the parents are still afraid to leave the children alone together.  I'm not sure it should be that huge a thing as I can recall being sexually curious as a child.  I think it's the parents fault for being delignquent with addressing the topic earlier and leaving materials that would trigger his curiosity.  Anyway, this boy has virtually no relationship with anyone in his family other than his grandparents.  He can't confide in anyone and it sounds as though he doesn't have a very good go with other kids either.  Listening to his story I think that he is somebody who needs an understanding figure in his life.  I just don't know if I'm the guy.

I think there's more potential to help the 11 year old because his need is greater but I think it will be more stressful and maybe a bit of a lost cause.  The other seems fun and simple but perhaps a little unrequired.  What do people think? 

I'm still fumbling my way through the use of pointers, structs, and arrays trying to follow some of the tutorials that have been written on the subjects.  Currently I'm stuck with the following error:

---------------------------
Adventure Game Studio
---------------------------
An internal error has occurred. Please note down the following information.
If the problem persists, contact Chris Jones.
(ACI version 2.71.894)

Error: run_text_script1: error -6 running function 'interface_click':
Error: Null pointer referenced
in Global script (line 1091)


---------------------------
OK   
---------------------------

These are the relevant sections of code:

Code: ags

//module global script
View vView[50];
export vView;



//module script header
managed struct BoxNum{
  int x1;
  int y1;
  int x2;
  int y2;
}
;

managed struct BoxType{
  BoxNum *boxnum[4];
}
;

managed struct Frame{
  BoxType *boxtype[1];  
}
;

managed struct Loop{
  Frame *frame[19];  
}
;

struct View{
  Loop *loop[15];  
}
;

import View vView[50];

And this is line 1091 that crashes the game when it runs:

Code: ags

//within global script interface-click
vView[vw].loop[lp].frame[frm].boxtype[0].boxnum[HB].x1=X1;        

Can anyone explain to me what I'm doing wrong?

Is there a variable which can be called in a script to determine if a room is using the "Hide Player Character" feature?

I spent almost an hour searching the manual but eventually resorted to a work around with a custom room property.Ã,  If such a feature does not exist, I suggest it would be a useful addition.

[July 20th-27th in Bayfield Ontario on Lake Huron]

Update: Feb 20, 2007

After a rousing game of telephone tag, I've finally confirmed a cottage rental for the week of July 20th-27th in Bayfield Ontario on Lake Huron which is about 3 hours west of Toronto (according to Mapquest).    There may be a closer airport to fly into and I will update later when I've done some research.  Anyway here are some photos from the cottage's website.











The owners of the cabin are negotiating a purchase of a new cottage which would be right on the water and would offer more activities.  If that purchase goes through they'd be selling the current cottage and transfering our booking over to the new property.  I don't have any photos of it at this time though.

The sleeping capacity of the property is 20.  I currently have confirmation deposits from 11 people with 4 others in transit.    So there is still room for 5 additional attendees.  The ultimate cost of the rental is based on the number of occupants so the per person cost is not affected by the number of attendees.  The cost per person is roughly $200 CND.  For those that have paid a deposit, only about $140 CND will be required in July. 

If you're interested in claiming one of the remaing 5 spots, please PM me to discuss.  There is no deadline for this but it will be handled on a first come first serve basis. 

Confirmed attendees thus far:
1.  Quintaros
2.  Grundislav
3.  The BaRoN
4.  Disco
5.  The Ivy
6.  Mr. Collossal
7.  Jess (Mr. C's g/f)
8. Renegade Implementer
9. Dave Gilbert
10. mattgoble
11. AGA
12.  Radiant
13. Pumaman
14.  Jet
15. Scummbuddy (pending)
16. Lo_res_man (pending)

Update: March 21, 2007

The BaRoN is organizing a vehicle rental for the week.  It will be used for day trips as well as airport pick-ups and drop offs.  He estimates the cost would be about $100 per person but needs to know how many people would be riding with him so he can select a vehicle size.  My guess is that all those flying-in will be interested but you should PM The BaRoN directly to let him know. 


Flying-in:
1. Quintaros
2. Matt Goble
3. AGA
4. Radiant
5. Pumaman

Driving-up:
1. Disco
2. Mr. Collosal
3. Jess
4. Dave Gilbert
5. Grundislav

Local:
1. The BaRoN
2. The Ivy
3. Renegade Implementor


Here is the schedule The BaRoN has put together for the airport rendezvous's:


          Leave Yorkdale at 3pm, Friday July 20th
          Arrive at Pearson Int'l at approx. 4pm.
          Gather people up between 4-7pm (while making shuttle runs to a nearby bar/restaurant?)
          Hit Munroe Int'l up by 8-8:30pm (if necessary)
          Get to Bayfield around midnight.

          Fortunately dropping people off at airports is much more predicatable:
          Leave Bayfield by 10am Friday July 27th
          Get to Munroe (Hamilton) by 2pm
          Get to Pearson (Toronto) by 3:30pm

Okay so last November I broke up with my girlfriend of 3 years.Ã,  The decision was a hard one to make because the relationship was very comfortable but ultimately I felt that I wasn't in love and that remaining with her was settling.Ã,  She was in love and was quite devastated by the break-up.

For 3 years we'd been each others best friend and confidante so it was unimaginable that we would just cease being there for each other.Ã,  She was hurt and I wanted to support her even though I was the source of her pain.Ã,  And so we continued to see each other…ostensibly as friends although the reality of the situation was that we still behaved as a couple except without any promise of commitment.Ã,  This was partly motivated by a sense of obligation to continue caring for her but mostly it was just two people falling into a trap of familiar behaviour.Ã,  The part of me that felt obligated to her was encouraging her to move on with her life and meet someone new so that I could be relieved of my “duties”.Ã, 

We both began to meet new people. Histrionics followed whenever I mentioned a slight spark between me and another girl and it became clear to me that I had to let her move on before I could begin a new relationship.Ã,  So in the mean time she would go on a date, there'd be no chemistry, and she'd return to me.Ã,  I kind of liked it because it was very flattering to my ego to hear that no one else lived up to her expectations.

So this went on for months until about 3 weeks ago when she began telling me of a connection developing between her and a new guy.Ã,  At first it was great to hear as she talked about those butterfly in the stomach feelings that go along with being excited by somebody new.Ã,  She talked of the awkwardness of the first kiss and hug and the first time they held hands and I was totally cool with it.Ã,  I asked her if they had become a couple and she informed me that each of them were still meeting new people for the time being.

So 2 weeks ago was her birthday and she felt it was too early to spend a birthday with a new guy so we made plans to spend the day together and that I would take her to dinner, a movie, and to go shopping for a gift.Ã,  So as we're discussing the plan, I non-chalantly enquired if there was a possibility of sex.Ã,  It seems an insensitive thing to suggest when I know that she is developing feelings for someone new but she'd made it clear to me on the previous encounter that she was taking things slow with him and was still interested in sex with me.Ã,  But this time she guffawed at me and informed me that she'd already begun sleeping with this new guy.Ã,  Well that floored me in a way that I never would have imagined but I tried to play it cool and not let her know.Ã,  Ã, Then I spent the next 36 hours absolutely nauseated by jealousy as I imagined her sleeping with someone else.Ã,  Then, because we have this best friend and confidante relationship, I went ahead and told her just how insane with jealousy I'd become.Ã,  She was really surprised because I'd never once expressed jealousy during our relationship.

So by the time her birthday rolled around my jealousy had runs its course.Ã,  I picked her up and we set out to do all the activities that we'd planned.Ã,  But as the day progressed it became pretty clear to me that she was holding me at a distance.Ã,  She had no sense of humour in conversation, barely made eye contact when we spoke and always maintained a physical distance.Ã,  By dinner, you could cut the tension with a knife and conversation had grinded to a halt.Ã,  Then seemingly out of nowhere she bombarded me with a barrage of criticisms for all the atrocities I'd committed when we were a couple.Ã,  These atrocities ranged from cajoling her into eating her vegetables and buying her pajamas instead of a gift certificate to a spa for her birthday.Ã,  I just sat there dumbfounded as she lambasted me for 3 years worth of petty grievances.Ã,  It was very hurtful and seemed intentionally so as though she was consciously trying to alienate me.Ã,  I had become obsolete to her and wasn't even worth maintaining as a friend.Ã, 

By the time I took her home, we had agreed to break contact for the next couple of months until we had a better handle on where we fit into each other's lives.Ã,  In my head I was deciding that I'd leave it completely up to her to re-establish contact if she chose to.Ã,  Because this was quite possibly the last time I'd see this person who'd been so important to me over the last few years, I felt it was appropriate to go in for one last hug before parting ways.Ã,  She went for the hug but when I kissed her on the cheek she totally pulled away.Ã,  Maybe I'd pushed my luck, but it felt like she was adding insult to injury.

I was pretty mad after that and felt she owed me an apology for the way she'd treated me all day.Ã,  Now, I don't care if I never get an apology…I'd just like to hear from her that she still values me.Ã,  She wouldn't even have to articulate it…just a phone call to rant about a bad day would be enough.Ã,  Alas, two weeks have gone by and this is the longest we've ever gone without communicating.

I don't understand the clues in the Lost Dialogue to align the different stones.

Can anybody please explain them to me?

I'm still having a bit of trouble using Structs.

In my script header I define a Struct:

Code: ags

struct Goal {
  int destinationroom;
  int destinationx;
  int destinationy;
};

import Goal goal[29];

Then in my Global Script:

Code: ags

Goal goal[29]; // 29 is the number of characters in the game

Then in a room script I have a function that makes a character follow a path and to a room exit and defines the destination parameters for a ChangeRoom.

Code: ags

function FromPavilliontoFreeSea(int chara, Direction dir) {
  if (dir=eForwards) {
    character[chara].AddWayPoint(path1[1].x,  path1[1].y);
    ...
    character[chara].AddWayPoint(path1[6].x,  path1[6].y);
    goal[chara].destinationroom=3;
    goal[chara].destinationx=140;
    goal[chara].destinationy=170;
  }
  else if (dir=eBackwards) {
    character[chara].AddWayPoint(path1[5].x,  path1[5].y);
    ...
    character[chara].AddWayPoint(path1[0].x,  path1[0].y);
    goal[chara].destinationroom=24;
    goal[chara].destinationx=160;
    goal[chara].destinationy=200;
  }
}

In the before fade-in section of the room script I call the FromPavilliontoFreeSea function for one of my background characters.

And then in the RepeatedlyExecute section of the room script I call a function called UpdateGoals() which checks to see if the background character has reached the last node of his path and calls :

Code: ags

  character[i].ChangeRoom(goal[i].destinationroom,goal[i].destinationx,goal[i].destinationy);

Anyway everything compiles but when I go to the room in question the game crashes and I get the following error message:

---------------------------
Adventure Game Studio
---------------------------
An internal error has occured. Please note down the following information.
If the problem persists, contact Chris Jones.
(ACI version 2.71.894)

Error: Unable to create local script: Runtime error: unresolved import 'goal'

Could somebody please tell me what I am doing wrong?

While experimenting with the rotate sprite function I got the following error message:

An exception 0xC0000005 occured in ACWIN.EXE at EIP = 0x0043B598 ; program pointer is -42, ACI version 2.71.894, gtags (1,130)

(...)

in Global script (line 76)

The code from this part of the script is:

Code: ags

  DynamicSprite *Plane=DynamicSprite.CreateFromExistingSprite(1);
  Plane.Rotate(angle(0,1));
  RawDrawImage(vectors[0].x, vectors[0].y, Plane.Graphic); // line 76
  Plane.Delete();

If anybody could shed some light on the problem it would be greatly apreciated.  It's been quite a while since I've done any scripting so it may be a pretty obvious problem.

A local game company put a job posting for a writer on the careers page of my university's website.Ã,  I think I've heard the company name mentioned once or twice in these forums (BioWare) so they must be doing all right.Ã, 

The posting was available to all faculties so it seems as though they're scouting for talent more than experience or a background in computer science.Ã,  The one requirement they do have is that the applicant has a familiarity with RPGs and fantasy.Ã,  I've never played an RPG but I gather from discussions here that they have some similarities to Adventures.Ã,  The primary duty of the position would be dialogue writing.Ã, 

How similar/dissimilar are conversations in RPGs with those in Adventures?

Is the player character in an RPG a blank slate for the player to define or does he/she have a pre-defined personality?

The applicant has to submit a sample dialogue with his resume.Ã,  They would prefer the submission to be created using their Neverwinter Nights toolset but I have no experience with that and the submission deadline is too soon to learn it.Ã,  I was thinking of making a 2 or 3 room demo in AGS with minimalist backgrounds and a few NPCs to meet.

Any helpful ideas/comments would be appreciated.

Here is the information from the posting:


Organization Name    BioWare Corp
Job No    1904
Job Title    Writer (Competition # 11-WD-WR-05)
Term    Permanent Fulltime
Job Start Date    June 01, 2005
Target   
   Faculty of Arts
   General (All Faculties)
   Faculty of Science
- Computing Science


Job Description
DUTIES
Primary Task: Writing dialogue. Must be able to write interesting dialogue in a timely fashion.
Secondary Tasks: Coming up with level designs, story and puzzle ideas.

Familiarity with the fantasy genre and role-playing games is a must. Should have some experience with the NWN editor. Examples of work must be provided (see below).
Required Submission: An example of writing via the Neverwinter Nights toolset must be provided for you to be considered for the position. However, an exception can be made if you have appropriate experience (eg. previous relevant experience) and education, and do not have access to the NWN toolset. If you are eligible for this exception we will contact you with an alternative submission option.
Here are the guidelines for the module:
- Make the module short. It should be a short interesting story that can be played within 15 to 30 minutes.
- Start the story off with a bang! If it doesn't catch our interest with the first character, your submission will likely be discarded.
- There should be at least 3000 words of dialogue within the module.
- We will be judging your ability to write dialogue that is interesting and has personality. The characters you are writing have to be engaging in a manner that immediately draws in the reader.
- The dialogue must be fun and easy to read, not overly verbose.
- We will also be judging the structure of your dialogue. Does the dialogue flow logically? Does the player feel in control of the conversation?
Examples of the style of game dialogue that we are looking for: Baldur's Gate 2. Planescape Torment. Neverwinter Nights.
COMMON WRITING SUBMISSION MISTAKES:
1. Overly verbose dialogue. Dialogue should be succinct & easy to read.
2. Dialogue where the player has very little interaction. The player should feel that he is talking to an NPC, not being talked at.
3. Modern sounding dialogue. Do not use modern anachronisms or slang. Fantasy characters shouldn't sound like they come from the 21st century.
4. Boring first character. The first character the player talks to sets the tone for the entire module.
Note: Resume submissions not including an example dialogue will not be considered.
Job Qualifications
Experience: Must have familiarity with non-linear storytelling techniques in interactive entertainment.
Minimum education - Canadian applicants: post-secondary diploma, certification or degree (preferred).
International applicants - for immigration purposes, minimum education requirement: post-secondary degree or diploma.
Application Instructions
Please submit a resume.
Please include a covering letter.
Contact   
   Leanne Korotash
200, 4445 Calgary Trail
Edmonton, AB T6H 5R7
All submissions must be accompanied by a signed and completed Product Submission Agreement. It should be faxed to 1-780-439-6374, and the module and resume emailed to writer-jobs@bioware.com. Please quote the following competition number in the subject line of your electronic application: 11-WD-WR-05 Due to the volume of applications we receive for our job postings, we are unable to respond personally to telephone inquiries regarding the status of an application. As well, only candidates being considered for interview will be contacted at this time.
Application Deadline - May 19, 2005

I have a couple of minor problems with a few areas of my game that may or may not be caused by bugs in the engine (haven't yet upgraded to 2.7 so this is version 2.62).

One problem involves a room that doesn't seem to save properly so that changes in the room script are not executed when the game runs.Ã,  Specifically, I removed a command to create an overlay in room 35.Ã,  However the overlay continues to appear when I visit room 35 during the game.Ã,  But if I save a duplicate of room 35 as room X, room X functions properly without the overlay.Ã,  So a work-around is to change all my NewRoom references in the game from 35 to X and ignore the problem.Ã,  Still I'd like to find out what caused this particular room to go wonky in the first place.

Another problem occurs in a couple of different rooms.Ã,  I know the cause of this one but not the fix.Ã,  In pursuit of organizing my characters and sprites, I changed the slot that my blank character (used for phone calls, etc.) is stored in from slot 7 to slot 0.Ã,  What I mean is I changed character 0's script name from EGO to PHONE and changed the view referenced.Ã,  Additionally I changed character 7's script name from PHONE to HANDY and used this slot for a handyman character with a different view.Ã,  Now when the game runs it shows the handyman where the blank graphic should be even though the script calls the character by its name PHONE rather than number.Ã,  It seems the game still thinks that PHONE=7 and hasn't updated to PHONE=0.Ã,  I attempted a rebuild of all the room files but that did nothing.