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In Our Midst



In Our Midst is a short point and click adventure paying homage to a certain popular multiplayer game. You play as an alien who has managed to infiltrate a spaceship and disguise itself as one of the crew, and now you have to eliminate the rest of them...

Download the game!
Play the web browser version here!

This is an entry for April 2024's MAGS competition "Finish Your MAGS Game". Check out the thread here to play the other entries and vote for your favourite.

As always comments, bug reports and games database ratings are very much appreciated!

[Brian Eggs Is Lost In The Woods]

Brian Eggs Is Lost In The Woods



My acquaintance the (self-proclaimed) video game auteur Brian Eggs has asked me to upload this game on his behalf. I asked him how he wanted to describe it, and he said "it is a tale of adversity examining a persons resilience and resolve when separated from the rest of humanity and also theres a squirrel in it". Having played the game myself... well... there certainly is a squirrel.

I convinced him to let me fix some game-breaking bugs, but he wouldn't accept any of my other suggestions. So this is his unhindered artistic vision.

You have been warned.

Download the game!
Play the (test) web browser version here!

Brian Eggs Is Lost In The Woods is an entry for the February 2024 MAGS competition "Into the Woods" by noblonski. Check out the other entries and vote for your favourite in the MAGS thread.

Please also let me know if you have any comments, feedback or bug reports!

Links:
AGS database entry
Game's website
MAGS February 2024 "Into the Woods"

[Background Blitz: Unexpected Shelter - voting now open]

Background Blitz: Unexpected Shelter - voting now open


You're a long way from civilisation... or so you thought. Suddenly you come across a strange structure. It looks man-made, but what's it doing here? Who built it? Are they still here?

Your goal is to draw a background suitable for an adventure game that fits with the theme of Unexpected Shelter. Use the pictures above for inspiration if you like, but also feel free to think outside of the box.

You have until the 2nd of June to get your entries in. Have fun!

It's now voting time! As per usual voting is open to all and I want to hear your favourite for each of the following three categories:

Concept: What is the background about? What sort of mood does it spark? What is, as it were, the big idea?
Playability: What is its opportunity for gameplay like? Walkable areas, hot-spots, and so forth?
Artistic Execution: How well does the picture convey an atmosphere? How well is it executed?

The deadline for voting is the 9th of June.

Entries:
[imgzoom]https://i.ibb.co/J3tQ1Bf/shelter-copy.png[/imgzoom]
by stylez75


by Mouth for war


by Hannah_Banana


by newwaveburritos

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/n6NJJOI.png[/imgzoom]
by Nr. 2698


by milkanannan

[Santa Claus in A Flight To Remember (remastered version)]

Santa Claus in A Flight To Remember (remastered version)
Santa needs your help! After some distracted flying he's dropped several of his presents and needs your help to find and repair them. This short Christmas-themed adventure game features high-resolution hand-drawn art and animation, a comedic storyline, and classic point and click puzzles. Originally an entry for the December 2021 MAGS competition "Gift Trouble" it went on to win the competition and was one of two winners of the 2021 MAGGIES award.

The "Remastered" version of the game is an update to the original for December 2022 featuring new animation, an improved save system, bug fixes and additional polish. There is also a new test version of the game that can be played in a web browser.

Download the game!
Play the (test) web browser version here!

Please leave your ratings on the AGS database, and if you have any comments, feedback or bug reports I'd love to hear them!

Links:
AGS database entry
Game's website
MAGS December 2021 "Gift Trouble"

For April Fools day the IT company I work for built a website where our clients could 'watch us solve their IT problems in real time'. April Fools day's over now, but I thought some AGSers might get a laugh out of it too:

http://cam.birchenallhowden.co.uk

Hi all, it's been a while since I posted anything in the Critics' Lounge. I've been trying to pixel a female character and got as far as a turnaround for the head. I also did a couple of pallet swaps for her hair colour, though I think the brown one works best.

[imgzoom]http://www.onedollarproductions.co.uk/uploads/PixelLadyHeads1.png[/imgzoom]

Personally I'm fairly happy with the front, back and 3/4 views, and not too sure about the side views. I'm also really not sure when it comes to shading and lighting, especially at low res. The light source is supposed to be above and to the left of the character. And there's the ponytail, which could use another pass.

What do you think?

[The Search for Oceanspirit Dennis]

Three years ago today ddq introduced the world to Oceanspirit Dennis' life partner, Ray. Now see the story behind their first meeting in...

The Search for Oceanspirit Dennis

Story:
Ray's village is under threat and the only one who can help is the legendary Oceanspirit Dennis. Tasked with tracking him down Ray sets off for the next city, but quickly runs into problems...

Features:
* A brand new adventure game set in the Oceanspirit Dennis universe!
* Several exciting locations to explore!
* Minigames!
* Loads of original art and animation!
* New and returning characters!
* Original music!
* An unlockable director's commentary!
* An unlockable medal system - earn medals for performing specific actions!
* Exclamation mark!

About:
This is the first game I've completed that didn't have a MAGS time limit attached, so it's my biggest and most polished adventure game to date. It was originally started three years ago then put on hold for a long time, but over the last few months I've finally finished it. If you have any comments, feedback or bug reports I'd love to hear them!

Links:
AGS games database page: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/site/games/game/1684/
Website: http://www.onedollarproductions.co.uk/games/osdsearch.htm
Several of the music tracks in the game were written by Diane Webster. You can see more of her work here:  https://www.facebook.com/dianewebstercomposer

DOWNLOAD THE GAME!

Update:
The Search for Oceanspirit Dennis is now open source! If you want to poke around in the game's code you can grab the source code from the following link:
Download source code
Alternatively if you're interested in using any of the artwork in your projects, but don't want the hassle of extracting it from the source code, you can grab the resource pack which contains all the art and sounds used in the game.
Download resource pack

[Edit: Position filled]

Edit: Position filled

I've got a game that has been in the works for a long time and is now approaching completion. My deadline is May 12th, but I'm still missing music for most of the game. The game is set in the Oceanspirit Dennis universe so the overall tone is spoofy and comedic, though I'm going for a slightly more sensible tone than some of the other OSD games. If you've never played an Oceanspirit Dennis game, think an adventure game version of an old school Japanese RPG.



I need at least three tracks:
1) Battle music for an old school RPG-style battle sequence. As epic and over the top as possible.
2) General 'wandering around a sleepy village' background music.
3) End credits.

If someone was really keen it would be cool to get some more individualised music for some or all of the different locations in the village, but I realise I'm not allowing a lot of time.

If you are interested in writing some or all of the above, or want any more details, send me a personal message or reply in this thread. Again, the deadline is May 12th, and I'd really want to get the music implemented a few days before that.

Some friends and I used Minecraft to make a short video. It's called The Yawning Dark:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_vxWLkCPFpw

What do you think?

I got an iPad 2 recently and was wondering about using it as a graphics tablet for drawing and painting. Does anyone have any experience doing that? I don't expect it to be anywhere near as good as something like the Cintiq, but is it possible to draw accurately with something the size of a capacitive stylus?

Also does anyone have any recommendations on apps and styluses? I've played a bit with SketchBookX (the free version of SketchBook Pro) which seems pretty good. Wacom are bringing out the Bamboo Stylus shortly, do you think it's worth waiting for some reviews for that, or are there styluses out there that are cheaper and work fine?

[you]

You've just come off the phone with the head of a major studio. They're considering turning one of their movies or TV shows into a game, and after discovering the AGS forums they've decided adventure games are the future! Now they want you to show them a mockup of what it might look like!

Take a famous movie or TV show character and turn them into an adventure game sprite. You'll get serious bonus points for a mocked up screenshot of the game in action.

No restriction on colours or size, as long as it's something AGS can handle.

Hey guys, I spent the morning pixeling this character. He's a school kid and supposed to be towards the more science-y electronics-y end of the spectrum. Not an out and out nerd, but quite geeky.

Regular size...


...and x3...


There are areas I'm not happy with, but I'd love someone else's opinions. Thanks!

Is anyone following the crazy goings on with the new Portal update?

The main action is in this thread which is now getting seriously long. There's a good summary here, but here's the quick version...

- Valve release an update for Portal, with the subject "Changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations". There's also a new achievement called "Transmission Received" with the description "..?".
- The radio in the relaxation chamber has a red light instead of a blue one, and the cameras have changed slightly.
- Carrying this radio into the room with the button turns the light green, and morse code is heard. You get an achievement update 1/26.
- Turns out there's now 26 radios hidden in each of the test chambers and in a couple of rooms in the ending. Carrying these radios to certain points plays sound files.
- Radios thrown into the exit fields play a wierd sound file which sounds like it says "Get out of here" at the end.
- People have also hacked the resources and pulled out the sound files (named Dinosaur#) manually.
- Two of the sounds are morse code, which when translated sounding like boot up procedures.
- One morse code sound is an MD5 hash for "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog"
- One code is "LOL"
- The other sound files are actually encoded images.
- You can get a series of numbers from the images, which turns out to be another MD5 hash, this time of a phone number in the area where Valve was founded.
- On the phone number is a BBS, which when connected to with a username and password kicks out some ascii art and some other documents linked here.
- The BBS originally gave a message that was something like "use the Backup account to relieve pressure, pressure level high". This has since gone through medium to low.
- People are speculating that there isn't anything more to find yet, and that they might need to wait until the 11th of March (couple of references to 3/11 - the BBS is GLaDOS version 3.11 for example) when Gabe Newell is receiving an award at GDC.

Radios locations and images here.

Fun stuff

[Features:]

Robbing the Princess

Download

Alec and Suzy have tracked a stolen cargo crate to the dock, but it looks like it's already been stowed onboard a ship called The Princess. Playing as both characters you'll need to help them find a way onboard and into the hold.

Features:
*Classic 320x240 res graphics
*Several puzzles of different difficulties
*Occasional bursts of animation
*Two playable characters
*Unlockable director's commentary
*As much plot as Mission Impossible 3

This was an entry to the November 2009 MAGS competition and was made over the course of 25 days.

All comments/feedback/bug reports welcome.

Changes
Version 1.16
Fixed a bug where the game would crash when using one of the crates when both characters weren't in the same room. Thanks to LimpingFish for reporting this.

Version 1.15
Fixed a section where the game would appear to hang when you changed rooms with the commentary on, thanks to paolo for reporting this.

Version 1.10
There is a *very* occasional bug when walking around in the dock scene where Alec will seemingly randomly jump to the roof of the pub. Because he cannot climb down from there this effectively renders the game unsolvable and forces the player to restart. Version 1.10 should now detect if Alec has jumped to the roof, and immediately jump him back down to the ground again.

If anyone can figure out how to reliably reproduce this bug please post here, PM or email me and I will try and work out a more permanent solution.

[Theme]

Theme
Archery! Your animation must show someone or something firing (or attempting to fire) an arrow with a bow. The type of bow and arrow are up to you.

Rules
- Your animation must follow the theme above.
- No size, colour or frame limits.
- You may animate the supplied sprite, modify and animate the supplied sprite or draw and animate your own sprite.
- All entries must be posted in this thread by the deadline below.
- The host of the competition will judge the winner.

Supplied Sprite

Remember you don't have to use this sprite, you can draw your own!

Deadline
All entries must be in by the 16th of August

Hey there, I just came across a strange bug in AGS 3.1.2 SP1. I imported this image...
http://www.onedollarproductions.co.uk/uploads/Background.png
as a background to my room. It shows up fine in the AGS editor, but when I ran the game some of the detail on the bricks was missing - screenshot of the relevant part of the screen:
http://www.onedollarproductions.co.uk/uploads/ingame.png

The game is 640x480 32-bit, and I was importing the background over an existing one if that makes a difference. It does this windowed, full screen and in both Direct Draw and Direct 3D.

Any ideas?

[Breakdown]

Breakdown

Story
The Captain has damaged his ship's engine, and now the Engineer won't repair it. It's up to you, a lowly Ensign, to reactivate the Auto Pilot and get everything moving again.

Features
*Classic 320x240 graphics
*Comedy scifi setting
*Lots of animation and sound

About
This is an entry to the April 2009 MAGS 'Space Derelict' competition

Links
Direct Download: http://www.onedollarproductions.co.uk/games/Breakdown.zip
Mirror: http://files.filefront.com/13655763
AGS games page: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/games.php?action=detail&id=1155
April 2009 MAGS: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=37346.0
Website: http://www.onedollarproductions.co.uk/games/breakdown.htm

Please rate and leave any comments on the games page or in this thread.

Edt: MAGS is now over, thanks to everyone who voted!

There's a question I've been meaning to ask for a while about dynamic sprites. In the manual, under creating dynamic sprites, it says

IMPORTANT: This command loads an extra sprite into memory which is not controlled by the normal AGS sprite cache and will not be automatically disposed of. Therefore, when you are finished with the image you MUST call Delete on it to free its memory.

I know that means that if I was doing some kind of cutscene-based visual effect or using a sprite in only one room I should call the delete function on all the sprites once I'd finished with them to free up the memory they were using, but what if I want to use the sprite for the entirety of the game? Does quitting an AGS game free the memory as well or should I try to detect which sprites are in use and delete them before QuitGame() is called?

For a while now I've been thinking about writing some tutorials for AGS. My original idea was video guides (about 2 weeks before Densming more than covered that angle with his great videos), then I moved onto the idea of a series of specific tutorials for making different GUIs (How to make a 9 verb GUI, how to make a verb coin GUI etc). Lately I've been wondering about making one large document that walks through making a game from scratch and then adding to it with more and more complicated ideas.

The other thing I've been thinking about is the AGS Wiki, which (as keeps being discussed) is in a rather empty state at the moment. Writing tutorials that would fit into wiki articles might be helpful, but its a much more restrictive writing style. I don't think I could write a 'game from scratch' type how to in the wiki.

So... what kind tutorials would you find useful? What tutorials *did* you find useful? Is there a type of tutorial you found helpful for another program that's missing from AGS? What topics want covering, and how and where should they be covered?

Currently the following general AGS tutorials (unless I've missed any) are around...
*Manual entry for getting started with AGS (and web-based version)
*Manual entry for scripting in AGS (and web-based version)
*Desming's video tutorials
*Handful of specific topic tutorials in the Wiki

So I was Googling walkcycles and every result I clicked came up with a "Warning: This site may harm your computer" from Google.

What's going on here? Googling Microsoft and Google Maps also get the same results...

...and now it's stopped happening. Looks like someone at Google published something they shouldn't have.

Anyone else see this?