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[Narcoleptic Weight Loss Expert]

Narcoleptic Weight Loss Expert

Narcoleptic Weight Loss Expert is a strategic button clicking game in which you must help a man get fit, whilst struggling to stay conscious. Using calorific transubstantial technology you are able to trade the calories burned by your client to purchase new items to stay awake and keep motivated.

But really it's all about the music.

This was originally a 4 hour random name generator game jam that we made a year ago and added some more crap to later and then promptly forgot about.

ddq: Coding and direction
Azure: Writing and item sprites
MattFrith: Background and animations
enkerro: Music
Grundislav: Voice acting

Download the game.

Download the soundtrack.

I need someone to write a very simple story in like two days under certain restrictions. Basically, me and a few mates are going on a little holiday this weekend and we're going to make an FMV game, so I figured since everyone likes writing I'd throw this out there so we don't have to think. PM for the full details.

[It's all about context:]

I want to have a serious, level-headed discussion about rape jokes, so please keep it civil.

Let me begin by saying two things: first, I think rape is deplorable and hold nothing but contempt for rapists; second, I think rape jokes are freaking hilarious. Not universally of course, but as a form of black comedy, they can bring great humor through well-timed offensiveness. However, I know that it's a popular idea on the Internet that rape jokes are always terrible and that rape is too weighty and sensitive a topic to take so lightly as to joke about it. I definitely respect that opinion, but allow me to illustrate point by point why I don't hold it.

It's all about context: Like I said, I don't think a rape joke is necessarily good or appropriate by the mere merit of being a rape joke. Far from it, in fact. There are certain fora that I personally believe are pretty much universally inappropriate for jokes about rape, particularly those with groups of people you don't know. Twitter I think is one such place since context is often ambiguous, and especially because text isn't great at conveying tone and sarcasm, which I think also eliminates a lot of online text communication. Some areas I do think rape jokes can be appropriate are one-one-one personal interactions if your friends share your interest in offensive humor and comedy, particularly stand-up. The effectiveness, however, is in the hands of the comedian; people like George Carlin and Louis C.K. use rape jokes in such a way to evoke a strong emotional response while at the same time communicating, implicitly or explicitly, that it is just a joke and neither an expression of personal belief nor approval.

Rape jokes are funny because rape is so goddamn awful: They wouldn't be humorous otherwise; as black comedy, their entire point is to offend. I am probably in the 95th percentile in terms of hating rape; I think it's fucking awful. But to say that it is exempt from humor seems to give it more power than it deserves, making it somehow "untouchable". How much worse must rape be than things like racism, murder, the Holocaust, and AIDS to warrant such an exclusion? Maybe it is, I don't know, but the point is that they are all awful and and offensive and that's the point.

There is a very important difference between offending someone and hurting someone: In the words of Penn and Teller (well, just Penn, I guess) nobody has the right not to be offended. By contrast, everyone has the right not to be hurt, or at least I believe so, and rape jokes are actually capable of both. Specifically, they can act as triggers to victims of sexual abuse, prompting panic attacks and extensive emotional trauma in a way that other offensive jokes rarely can. I am of the opinion that in any context where there is a non-negligible chance of someone being hurt by the joke, you shouldn't tell it. "But ddq!" you cry, "what about the stand-up comedy you so adamantly defended?" Well, that's a tricky one, but I sort of think that given the context of stand-up, one should not expect any particular topic to be sacred to the comedian in his or her pursuit of laughs, and that in some cases a comedian's offensive reputation can serve as its own trigger warning. This, I admit is one of my weakest points, and I'd love to hear counter-arguments.

Rape jokes aren't evil, RAPISTS ARE: A common response to this issue is that rape jokes "promote rape culture" or that those who tell them are "rape apologists".  Accusations of being "sexist pigs" abound, ignoring actual intent. The one thing that infuriates me the most is those who joke about rape get way more hate than THE ACTUAL FUCKING RAPISTS. Rape is widely under-reported and far too many rapists never see trial for their horrid crimes. Still though, couldn't the prevalence of rape jokes marginalize the horror of rape and increase acceptance of rape in much the same way homophobic humor promoted homophobia? I don't think so, but I could be wrong, so here's my reasoning. Rape is not about wanting to have sex with someone who won't let you. It is an act of power. A rapist seeks to utterly dominate their victim and exert complete control over them through the use of sexual force. The mindset of a rapist is severely disturbed and could arguably be qualified as a mental disease. My point is, no one, no one is going to think "Man, I really want to have sex with that person but they will not let me, but someone made a joke about it so I guess it's just a funny thing that people do! I'll go rape them now!"

On the other hand...: Immediately countering myself, however, I do believe that rape jokes could increase the tolerance of sexism and sexual assault, which is quite different from rape in terms of mindset and action. However, casual sexism is still a major undercurrent in our culture, and it's not something that will go away easily. A product of sociocultural evolution, the perceived divide between the sexes manifests itself not only as sexism, but through many more subtle avenues as well: why there aren't many women in the maths and sciences, why men are promoted to leadership roles, why boys play with Legos and girls play with Barbies. Things biological differences and neurological predispositions do not adequately explain. Both misogyny and extreme feminism miss the point that we're all human beings who deserve respect, but gender is one of many issues that will hopefully be set right in time.


There are dozens of examples of rape joke controversies, especially recently, and I leave it as an exercise for the reader to go look them up. Essentially though, my whole argument boils down to my two commandments of personal morality: Don't be a dick, and be excellent to each other. In the context of comedy, I think that in some situation, rape jokes can abide by these two rules. While they should be handled with tact, I don't believe that there is anything intrinsically wrong with rape jokes.

discuss

SCOUT



They give you medicine when you're in hypersleep so you don't dream. It's a one-man mission. The longest ever attempted. Science must march onwards.



Scout is the story of a lonely astronaut on the mission of a lifetime. This top-secret expedition requires absolute commitment, every order coming from a set of mysterious instructions. So the Scout follows the orders. No matter the uncertainty, the mission must come first.

Arrow keys to move. Space to interact.

Featuring:
-Pixels
-Space
-Four whole colors

An experimental interactive movie designed to take your mind off how well things are going. Turn off the lights, put on headphones, and play the game in full screen for maximum effect. Written and created in 24 hours.

Be aware that this is not a game; all "gameplay" is merely to immerse the viewer. This is a dynamic short film, an interactive movie, machinima. And above all, it is experimental.

DOWNLOAD

[Oceanspirit Dennis Gets Textual]

Oceanspirit Dennis Gets Textual
Game by me, some sprites by Ponch, music by Dualnames, beta testing by Arj0n and Wonkyth.



Oceanspirt Dennis and his new Japanese boyfriend have to stop the dark lord Internet! But will he instead banish them to a torturous realm of existence so horrible that none have returned alive and sane? Maybe!

Recently update with numerous improvements, including...
-Auto-target if only one enemy remains.
-Monster sprites, with help from lovable Ponch
-Enemies can now randomly respawn.
-More balanced difficulties, easy is now default. "Hard" is now "Expert".
-New dungeon room and new rare item.
-Bug fizes.

Download

Get the source

[STARTS AT:]

This. Is. Hourgame! You make a game in one hour with a given theme.
STARTS AT: 7PM UK time this Saturday. (1PM my time)
SHIT GOES DOWN: In this THREAD and ON IRC.
DOCUMENT YOUR GAME MAKINGS: Please CAMWHORE or BLOG.
UPLOAD TO: TerranRich's SHUTUPLOAD.


Details: The theme is set by the last hourgame's winner (me) and will be announced on IRC and in this thread at 7PM BST, whereupon you will begin making your entry. You'll get one hour to make the game, plus 15 minutes to debug and upload it. Making a game from scratch is strongly encouraged, but you can use a pre-made template and music from one of the hoursong competitions. I can make a game too but I won't. There will probably be trophies. Please don't use one of those upload sites with 30 second waiting periods and crazy pop-ups for Yugoslavian pr0n sites. ShutUpLoad works, so just use it, unless you have your own hosting.

If you are busy on Saturday and want to have an "early submission", post here!

[Blades of Passion: An Oceanspirit Dennis Adventure]

Blades of Passion: An Oceanspirit Dennis Adventure

Read an interview about the game.
Tell me what trophy you got at the end.


Join everyone's favorite spiky-haired androgyne once more on his epic quest to find his sexuality. In this installment, our hero has to deal with the threat of an explosive bologna sandwich in the mayor's motel room and survive an encounter with his sexy daughter. Will OSD resist her feminine charms or succumb to the temptation of heterosexuality? You decide!

Things:
-Freudian choice system, decide OSD's sexuality
-Voice acting all up in this bitch
-Two whole minigames and two whole rooms
-Author commentary
-Trophies at the end
-Actual gameplay

More things:
Left click: Interact, Right click: Look, deselect inventory item
Left and right arrow keys for a minigame
14.3 MB
320x200, 32 bit.

People:
Voice acting - Crimson Wizard, Drew Wellman, Igor Hardy, Kconan, and Vince Twelve
Graphics - Drew Wellman, with stuff by Ponch and ProgZmax, too
Music - Drew Wellman and Kevin MacLeod (Incompetech.com)
Beta testing - Kconan and Wonkyth
Being awesome - Everyone in Square Peniks
Game design, scripting, and the rest - Drew Wellman

Download Page

Download ZIP right now (for impatient types)

Download SOURCE (25.9MB RAR)

Oh hey, another website

I'm trying to figure out what the starriest component of a horror game is.
Is it the fear of dying and having to start a section over? Is it gruesome sights and sounds? Sudden jumps? Mysterious, oppressive, looming threats? A combination, and if so, which is the most important?

For me, it's always sounds. Whether it be gradually building footsteps or ominous whispers, sounds are what get me in the horror mood.

Brought to you by Square Peniks, the joke that just won't die!



Now with:

• Full voice acting!
• An all new character!
• Brand new story and dialog!
• Spine-tingling new sound effects!
• A totally unnecessarily hue-shifted background!
• Credit where credit is motherfucking due!

Ben304 did the game template! Sebastian Pfaller did the soundtrack! Snake birthed the manhood that is Oceanspirit Dennis! And Drew Wellman on drums! I mean voice acting, concept, sound effects, et al!

If all goes according to plan, Ray (the hombre on the left) could star in his very own vidya game!

But enough tomfoolery, DOWNLOAD IT, BITCHES!

And now... IN OPEN FUCKING SOURCE!

Have you ever been so passionate about or driven to an idea that you just can't stop thinking about it? Sometimes you just want to create, but something is stopping you, not enough time, skills, resources, etc. I'm currently in this state and I wondered if it's happened to anyone else.

For my game, I would like in scrolling rooms to have the camera follow the cursor when it is in look mode. Not completely strictly, but as if the cursor and player character are two endpoints of a line that is the length of the screen, so that the camera will not pan far enough so that the player character is not visible, with a few dozen pixel margin.

Though it sounds a bit complicated, to me at least, I'm putting this question in the beginner's tech forum because it sounds like it could be implemented with some pretty simple scripting that I would almost certainly botch. But tell me if it's impossible so I can cry myself to sleep.

Everyone remembers them. Made popular in the 80's, CYOA books could be thought of as the natural precursor of adventure games. It would also be quite simple to adapt one into a game with AGS; add a few graphics, maybe some animation, and voila, retro-gold.

I was wondering...
a) What your favorite CYOA is/was.
b) Are there any good AGS games in this style?
c) Have any links to online CYOA's?

I wrote a CYOA a while ago and am planning to convert it to AGS in my spare time. Unfortunately, I don't have any of that nowadays. If you feel compelled, you can read it here: http://ddq5.com/choose-your-own-adventure/

Thanks!

Alright, I have these two backgrounds with characters for perspective. While they are relatively large, the actual display onscreen will be cropped to 640x480. To see in game screenshots, look at this post.





I'm mainly wondering about the things listed in the topic, such as the shadows, use of perspective, and general impact. The house the rooms are in is under construction, and the stairs in the first image lead to the second one. The visual feel I'm looking for in my game is a higher resolution, more legible, stylized interpretation of simpler games, at least when it comes to the colors and shading. On the characters, the colors are mostly continuous and the shading, mostly absent. In the backgrounds, beside the Photoshop lighting filter, there is hardly any shading or texturization. I'm kind of going for a clean, simplified look.

Also note that in the second image, I'm planning to the soft shadow as an overlay or object or something, to preserve the fading. I tried it without the gaussian blur, but it didn't have the same impact. Finally, notice the vertical locations of both rooms. I'm positioning the base in the first image higher up and extending it to the top to show that it is a tall, lower floor, room. I do the opposite in the second image, with a low ceiling and floor, though I do not actually draw the ceiling, as it gets in the way.

Please tear these pictures apart. You hurt me because you love me.

When either developing or playing an adventure game, who do you find more important: the player character or NPCs?

While there are usually more NPCs in number, the PC is the one with whom the player spends the most time. From whom should the majority of the humor come? How well does each connect with players?

I know that I often gravitate toward well characterized NPCs when playing non-adventure games. This seems especially true in, for example, Half-Life 2 and Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door, where your protagonist is mute or vocally suppressed, respectively. In adventure games, however, the player characters usually grow on me the most.

So what are your thoughts? Who deserves more design attention? Have you ever strongly disliked a game for its poor protagonist despite its good NPCs, or vice versa?
Thanks.

Canceled until further notice!

but you haven't heard the last of me!