Topics

Hey, it's been a while since I've been in these forums! Last week, but 20 years ago, I posted Take a Break, a game I made to the Internet for the first time, here in the AGS forums.

So for the occasion I wrote a few words on my website, and I also streamed a full playthrough of Take a Break. It was a really nice experience to play a game I hadn't seen in quite a while. I remember a few things on how to solve the puzzles, but it did take me a while to figure it all out. I was also very amused at my skills at writing in English in 2003 I also had very good comments while playing: at the time what I posted I considered it a demo, but because I didn't continue working on it, the demo became the full game. I lost the source with a hard drive failure, sadly, so the binary is all what is left of it. That, and the miracle that Windows can still run it 20 years later. Not even Adobe Flash can say that!

I wanted to express my admiration at the efforts made to preserve the contents of these forums. I may not read them as often as I used to, but I remember them as a good thing. Preserving the Internet is a very difficult task, so for me to be able to read my posts from then is a really nice thing. Kudos!

Guys, I've absolutely loved this book, and I'm still far from finishing. I think anyone who is serious about making an adventure game should read this book.

If you've been into graphics programming for some time, you'll recognize the name Andrew Glassner. He's the editor for the long-standing Graphics Gems, and he wrote this book about how to mix stories and games. He warns from the beginning that this is no easy task.

The book gives an introduction to storytelling, story formulas, and why do we like stories. Then gives an introduction to games (in general, not just videogames), and tells how does the public like to be entertained, and how would it like to be involved in a game.

The book also points to several pitfalls which are common in game design (I've seen them everywhere, including this community), and how can you solve them.

I'm still at a little more than half of the book, but the content is surely very interesting for people in this forum.

Stumbling on the Internet I found this interactive flash animation. It's a walking cycle with a rather abstract set of points (which you can connect with lines). The data is motion captured from real people.

The fun thing here is that you can switch between male or female, heavy or light, nervous or relaxed, and happy or sad. You can even rotate the figure so you can see all directions.

I though it was interesting for animators or would-be animators around here, so there you go.

[Update:]

Hey guys, long time since I got in this forum,

I'm writing right now a tutorial to create adventure games, using AGS as a tool, so it's general rather than technical. I plan to write a bit about an informal design document, and all the activities you would have to do even before firing up AGS. It's in Spanish, mostly because there are few AGS resources in this language, and because it's my native one :-).

So, if you can read it, stop by: http://www.ciroduran.com/blog/2007/04/10/creando-juegos-de-aventura-con-adventure-game-studio-i/

I would appreciate any comment of what you'd like to see in future parts. ¡Muchas gracias!

Update: The tutorial is completed. The index goes like this:

- First part: Introduction to AGS and Adventure Games
- Second part: Game planning. Writing a design document.
- Third part: Guided tour through AGS
- Fourth part: Sprite import. Character creation.
- Fifth part: Room creation.
- Sixth part: Room scripting.
- Seventh part: Dialogs, dialog scripts and messages.
- Eighth part: Wrapping up. Menus, credits, manual and publishing.

[Sam & Max 2 Developers Form New Studio]

Although I haven't read further about this note, it sure looks interesting, my best wishes to these guys, who have the nerve to produce professional adventure games in these days.Ã,  :=Ã, 

(Taken from www.gamasutra.com)

Sam & Max 2 Developers Form New Studio

The lead team members of LucasArts' recently cancelled Sam & Max: Freelance Police have left the publisher and developer to form their own company, named Telltale Games. With most of LucasArts' senior developers from the company's halcyon adventure days, already gone, the loss of Dan Connors, Kevin Bruner and Troy Molander, alongside other key LucasArts personnel, make it even less likely that company will ever again attempt a traditional graphic adventure.

The trio's stated goal, according to an interview with consumer site GameSpot, is to “reenergize” the adventure game market, with the decision to start the new company apparently coming about after the fan outrage following LucasArts' cancellation of Sam & Max: Freelance Police in March. Since then, LucasArts has also trimmed the majority of its San Rafael development staff, with rumors indicating at least some game development will be conducted in the new LucasFilm Singapore office.

The company intends to create games based on popular licenses, in order to attract more casual customers, and although there has been no indication which licenses are being pursuing, it has been strongly implied that Sam & Max is amongst them. The characters are not owned or created by LucasArts, as many assume, due to regular cameo appearances in unrelated games, but are in fact based on a comic book by sometime LucasArts and current Pixar artist Steve Purcell.

Remember that game?, a game from Broderbund where a guy running around a level colecting crates while avoiding some crazy monks who are chasing him, well, I released a remake of the game in Flash, done for a videogames course I took this term , it still lacks the monks' AI (hence there are no monks), but the rest of the game is ready :-P, and you're free to test it if you want.

Yes, I want to download Lode Runner (119Kb).

Just download and if you have Flash player execute loderunner.swf, or if you don't but have the plug-in for your favourite browser, browse over loderunner.html, cheers!

...with this kind of short 'adventure game'. You are being warned: LOTS OF PIXEL HUNTING YOU WILL HAVE TO SORT IF YOU CLICK THIS LINK. Enjoy .

http://www.fasco-csc.com/works/crimson/crimson_e.html

Hi. It seems that the world map that CJ created some months ago got lost in the middle of thounsands of messages. Would it be possible to pin in the forum the address to it?

The idea was cool, but all the rush and all the hype lasted just a dozen messages.

Well... It's finally here, although only in its spanish version. I'm starting to work in the translation. Enjoy it!  

EDIT: New update. It has now an english translation.

The game page - Tómate un descanso. Full version.



Comments are welcome.

Hello everyone:

I'm stuck in Fate of Atlantis... it seems that my interpretation of the Lost Dialogue is wrong , the text says this:

To approach Atlantis itself a Worldstone was required as well, with darkest night soon to rule the western sea

I'm in the Map Room, and I'm trying to align the three stones, the Sunstone in 'darkness', the Moonstone in 'new moon', and the Worldstone in 'west sea', but it doesn't happen anything...

I could try a brute force, but my patience is limited... any ideas about the alignment?  Thanks a lot!

Oooh, what the hell, with my university life killing all my aspects of life (social, most of all), it'll be a while until I release my game.

Download this sneak peek (at the intro) here, hope you enjoy it :

Take a break - English!

Tómate un descanso - Spanish!

Lo... I'm having difficulty building this cutscene, it goes like this:

1.Character triggers something noisy
2.Fade to another room, NPC says something.
3.Fade to previous room, same NPC enters room, walks to point
4.Fade to even another room, animation occurs.
5.Fade to first room, some conversation, yadda yadda yadda.
6.NPC returns where he came from, repositions himself where he was (this does not occur on-screen)

I'm having problems in room changing, as NewRoom is a function that executes only after finishing the script (in short, I can't use this function). I don't know if I missed a "Hide character" function (except if I use transparency option, couldn't find one in the API), or if I should make another view of the character "invisible". I've searched scripting tutorials, but most of them look to me for non-programmers (these are the variables, these are the functions, functions use variables, etc.).

What would you suggest me to do?  

WARNING: This is serious stuff, if you really tend to have epilepsy episodes, do NOT, I repeat, DO NOT see this site. It would be like watching The Ring movie and fast forwarding 7 days.

http://www.seizurerobots.com/

Well, here it is...

I don't know if this goes against the rules of this forum in particular, but...

According to almost every walkthru I've read, when I finally reach outside of the castle with my father, I use the motorcycle, and Indy goes automatically to Berlin, and has to pass a guard post.  But in the game this does not happen, it goes directly to the airport, and I want to go to Berlin in order to Hitler sign my travel pass.  Am I missing something from the game?

¿What software are you currently using?, ¿Do you use a piano or another instrument with MIDI interface, or do you put the events with the mouse?
I use Cakewalk for composing, and forced to put the events with the mouse, because of my total lack of money to buy a piano.

Hey, man, just to comment out , scripting an intro is quite a though job , had to help myself with Flash in order to do the timing of the subtitles.

Hello everyone, I'm currently doing a rather complex interaction with a button, after some other commands I run this script:

if (light_fixed == 0 && sound_fixed == 0) {
   PlaySound(0);
   ObjectOn(5);
   Wait(220);
   SetCharacterView(BARNEY, 10);       //This
   AnimateCharacter(BARNEY, 0, 5, 0); //won't
   ReleaseCharacterView(BARNEY);      //animate
   ObjectOff(5);
   PlaySound(10);
   if (conv1_taken == 0) {
     conv1_taken++;
     face_right();
     RunDialog(10);
   }
 }

The game compiles this ok, the problem comes with animating the BARNEY character, it has the view number 10, the view number 10 it has the loop number 0, and when I had animated him with the Interaction editor directly, it worked.

But now, the character is not moving (the rest of the script runs), I've checked everything I can.    Any pointers? am I doing something wrong?