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I'm sorry, I searched for help with AGS and Avast through Google and I didn't find the topic you linked or any that seemed to match this issue.

I did manage to change some settings and get Avast to make exceptions, so this doesn't appear to be a problem anymore. Sorry about the bother.

I've been trying to run an AGS project, but I'm having some problems that appear to be linked to my antivirus software. The game doesn't open and I get this message:

Error: Access is denied
Version: AGS 3.4.0.16

System.Exception: Access is denied ---> System.ComponentModel.Win32Exception: Access is denied
   at AGS.Editor.Tasks.RunEXEFile(String exeName, String parameter, Boolean raiseEventOnExit)
   at AGS.Editor.Tasks.TestGame(Boolean withDebugger)
   at AGS.Editor.InteractiveTasks.TestGame(Boolean withDebugger)
   --- End of inner exception stack trace ---
   at AGS.Editor.InteractiveTasks.TestGame(Boolean withDebugger)
   at AGS.Editor.Components.BuildCommandsComponent.TestGame(Boolean withDebugger)
   at AGS.Editor.Components.BuildCommandsComponent.CommandClick(String controlID)
   at AGS.Editor.ToolBarManager.ToolbarEventHandler(Object sender, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.RaiseEvent(Object key, EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripButton.OnClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleClick(EventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleMouseUp(MouseEventArgs e)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.FireEventInteractive(EventArgs e, ToolStripItemEventType met)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.FireEvent(EventArgs e, ToolStripItemEventType met)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mea)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.WndProc(Message& m)
   at AGS.Editor.ToolStripExtended.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.OnMessage(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.WndProc(Message& m)
   at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)

I'm using Avast. Temporarily deactivating it makes AGS run the project normally, so it definitely seems to be the problem. I've tried making exceptions for the AGS folder and the folder for the project itself, but I still get the same error. Is there a way of getting my antivirus to work around it, or do I need to deactivate it every time I want to run a preview of a project?

Sorry it's taken me a while to reply. The character is supposed to look pretty cartoony and exaggerated, and I don't intend her to have that facial expression the entire game; I just A: thought it'd be more interesting than her standing there with a neutral expression in the preview and B: I wanted to practice facial expressions a little as I don't think they're my strong suit.

Edit: Also Khris, that's a really good edit of the sprite. I'll see if I can learn some things from it.

I don't really like her look, or maybe I just can't read what she's expressing.
I've tried to adjust the proportions in her face a little, and cleaned up unnecessary pixels. I've also worked with the colours and shadows/highlights to add some depth to her shapes.

[imgzoom]
http://esseb.com/andail/graphics/punkedit.png
[/imgzoom]

Hm, the shading works pretty well but I'm not a fan of the face. I've tried adding in some shading and altering the face a little bit. I've also started on a front-view sprite but I haven't gotten round to the head yet.

[imgzoom]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/EnoRed/Sprites/PunkyV3_zps004f4a15.png[/imgzoom]

And yes, her shirt is getting more and more low-cut. I think if I continue down this road the next update is going to have her in a thong, so I'll try to show some restraint next time.

Thanks for the comments and suggestions, everyone. I've made quite a lot of modifications to the sprite in the meantime and I've used some of Anian's edits (mostly a somewhat modified version of the legs on his sprite) as well. The main and most beneficial changes that I did myself are probably the eyes; I changed their position a bit and made them larger and a bit more "cutesy" you could say, and I'm hoping they make the character look a bit more expressive and attractive. I also added a belt and a few pixels that are meant to represent ear and nose studs. The legs maybe still need some work, but I think they look a little less stiff now, mostly thanks to Anian's edit giving me a few pointers.

[imgzoom]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v85/EnoRed/Sprites/PunkyV2_zps04b586a4.png[/imgzoom]

I've been out of practice with spriting for quite a while so I decided to try and get back into it again. Here's something I recently made, a character that I might use for a future game if I ever get round to it.



I'm kinda happy with it for the most part (there isn't much shading but I wanted to keep it simple) but there's something not quite right about it... I want to see if anyone has any suggestions on how to improve it or what might be wrong with it.

Thanks a lot for the feedback so far, guys. It's a lot more positive than I expected...

I've attempted to add a neck on, but I don't know if it worked out too well. Maybe it's just my rather lame attempt at it... Here it is, anyway.



Apologies for the top of the head getting cut off slightly while I was cropping the image.

Hm, haven't posted here in a while... I've been trying several different styles to try and find one that's functional and that I'm comfortable with using. Here's just something I made a day or two ago. I decided to base the sprite on Davy Jones from RON, just so I had something to work with (part of my problem is trying to design a character while I make the sprite without a clear view of what I want; I think basing a sprite on an existing design makes it a tad easier).



I tried to minimize outlines and instead use shades to separate the particular body parts on the sprite (like using a lighter grey colour to differentiate Davy's arm from the rest of his jacket). I dunno if it worked too well, and the shading probably isn't very consistent, but I thought I'd let people see it to judge for themselves.

Admittedly I'm not sure if I'll continue to use this style, at least not before I try a few other ones first.

Wow, been a while since I've posted here...

I just wanted to ask how to make events refer to a different script other than the "GlobalScript" for interactions and such. Basically I'm afraid the GlobalScript will get pretty cluttered, having to put in interactions for every single character and item not confined by one room script, so I wanted to check if there was a way I could make seperate scripts (like one for all characters or inventory items etc.) and how to make the events refer to them intead of the Global Script.

I tried DualNames's code, and it appears to work perfectly... Except right clicking doesn't work when clicking on the inventory window part (the bit that actually has the inventory items in it, not the surrounding border with the other inventory GUI buttons on it). Is it possible to change that at all? If not, it's no big deal since I've altered the inventory system so it'd be easy enough for the player to move their mouse cursor away from it and right click anyway.

Okay, I got that far, but I'm not sure what I put in the {...} after that in order to perform the following:

Left click: Select an item and use the item on other inventory items when selected.
Right click on item: Examine the item (I think this works automatically anyway, but still)
Right click with item already selected as current cursor: Deselect the item and return cursor to normal.

Could you explain the "OnClick handler" part a bit to me as well? There's a lot of stuff I can't really find (or at least don't know where to look for) in the AGS manual and wiki... Are there any other resources I could use that explain this sort of thing a bit more in depth?

Could someone tell me where I can find the code for the default AGS inventory? I mean, after I enable "Handle inventory clicks in script", how do I script it so that it works exactly the same as the default inventory with this option disabled?

I know it sounds like a pretty pointless thing to ask, but I want to make some small modifications to it that I can't make while the inventory is essentially being dealt with automatically. Can anyone help me out?

I'll take this moment to also ask about this too. This is how the function I've used looks in the global script:

function on_mouse_click(MouseButton button) {
  if (IsGamePaused() == 1) {
    // Game is paused, so do nothing (ie. don't allow mouse click)
  }
  else if (button == eMouseLeft){
    if (GetLocationType(mouse.x, mouse.y) != eLocationNothing)
      ProcessClick(mouse.x, mouse.y, eModeInteract);
    else
      ProcessClick(mouse.x, mouse.y, eModeWalkto);
  }
  else if ((button == eMouseRight) && (mouse.Mode != eModeUseinv)){
    ProcessClick(mouse.x, mouse.y, eModeLookat);
}
  else if ((button == eMouseRight) && (mouse.Mode == eModeUseinv)){
    mouse.Mode=eModeWalkto;}
}

I added in the part at the bottom, which I've also italicized. Basically, if the player doesn't have an inventory item selected, and thus the cursor is in the default, all-purpose mode, then the player will look when clicking the left mouse button. However, if they do have an inventory item, it will instead change the cursor back into the default (in this case simply "Walkto").

This works fine, however it doesn't work this way in the inventory screen; whenever I right click there, I can only look at the objects. As in if I select an item then right click, or I try to select a different item instead, nothing happens and I'm stuck with the item until I leave the inventory screen and right click. How do I make the right clicking to remove the item function work inside the inventory screen?

Thanks for all the support, everyone. I will admit, both in her intended personality and look, the character is a little too similar to Mandy from "Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy", so I might alter her design in future, even if it's just to change her hair colour.

Nice stuff Xellie, although I'd say the front view maybe need his hair to be a bit thicker. As it is it looks a bit like his hair only covers the top of his head like an odd wig.

I think for now I'm going to leave this sprite aside as, while I like this style, I'm not so good at trying to create backgrounds in a similar style. I might try a much simpler style of sprite so that I can get away with having more simplistic backgrounds, to avoid the visuals in an actual game clashing too much.

Thanks a lot for your help guys. I've managed to get a relatively simple two-click interface made, with your help, and this has definitely helped me understand some elements of coding with AGS much better. I'm still taking a rather slapdash, trial and error approach to trying to get things right, but hopefully this sort of thing should become second nature once I learn more.

I was wondering what code I would need to use to check if the mouse cursor is either clicking on or is in the vicinity of a hotspot, object, character and anything else that isn't a walkable surface (or is completely empty). I'm trying to create a two-click interface from the default template where the right click will simply look at an object or hotspot and the left click will perform all the main mouse modes all in one, depending on what the player clicks on. Here's the code I have so far:

function on_mouse_click(MouseButton button) {
  if (IsGamePaused() == 1) {
    // Game is paused, so do nothing (ie. don't allow mouse click)
  }
else if (button == eMouseLeft){
    ProcessClick(mouse.x, mouse.y, eModeWalkto );
  }
  else if (button == eMouseRight){
    ProcessClick(mouse.x, mouse.y, eModeLookat);
}

Right click works fine obviously, since it's pretty simple, however left clicking can only perform the WalkTo function. I want it so that the WalkTo function will be the default for if the player only clicks on walkable and/or empty areas, but it will react in whatever way I want it to in the individual room's script towards individual objects, characters and hotspots. Being pretty new at this (I've only just learnt most of the basics...) I'm sure this is pretty simple, but then that's why I'm posting in the first place.

Alternatively, if someone can link me to a template for a two-click interface that works (I've only found ones for older AGS versions) then that might be a nice shortcut, but I'd prefer an answer to this question instead if that's possible. Thanks in advance.

I like the overall simplicity of the system Telltale uses in their Sam & Max and Strong Bad games; left click to move and interact in whatever way is appropriate for the object, right click to examine, inventory opens up with the click of a button at the top of the screen. It makes it a lot less annoying having to guess what particular verb you need to use in certain situations. It saves a lot of space too, considering all the near-useless verbs that early Lucasarts games loaded half the bottom of the screen with. I'm certain there had to be games that had the "push" and "pull verbs" where you never actually used them...

If we can mention interfaces we disliked, I have to say the The Secret of Monkey Island SE annoyed me to no end. Having to press a button to open up the inventory and verb menu felt like a step back from the original game, which just boggles the mind. I can only imagine they must've thought something like: "Hey, you know how we have all the verbs and the inventory at the bottom of the screen where they're easy to see and click on? They need to go! We need more space to show off all the pretty pictures we've drawn."

For some reason I'm more a fan of the idea of Doctor Who more than the actual show... It's the type of thing I like to research and read about, but I hardly ever actually watch it. I couldn't really get into the new show since my friends are either disinterested like me or adamantly dislike it because they're fans of the older one, and I never really got the chance to see any of the older stuff.

As I said though, I like the idea of it, and putting that idea in an adventure game format seems like a pretty good match. I like seeing collaborative works come together too.

I really like it, well done! Your  limited palette will also make animation easier. I have no real suggestions, just felt like doing a paintover. I made very minor adjustments, tried to make it a bit less cartoony with a bit more depth. Really like your style, I couldn't do it!

Thanks a lot, the added details are very good, especially the shoes... Who would've thought you could make them that much more detailed looking by just adding a few pixels? I think I'll stick with my more limited colour palette though, for ease of animation as you said. I'll need to work on some walk cycles soon enough... Man, I hate walk cycles. They're rather boring to make, they're difficult to get to look right most of the time and yet they're also the most important sprites to make, heh.

Here's a few more, as well as the original with some changes. I redid the shading on the hair because I wasn't happy with it (it looks a bit more uniform now, but maybe a bit too smooth. Your thoughts?) and I tried flattening the cheek out a bit as anian suggested. Think it looks any better?

I also made front, side (I'll probably make the walkcycle starting from there, since it'll probably be a bit easier and look the best and back views for her. You can maybe tell I got a bit lazy in many places, like essentially completely reusing the arm from the original sprite for the side view and simply copying the front sprite and redrawing it to make the back sprite, but I hope they serve their purpose and don't look too jarring. Let me know what you think.

I'm admittedly not all that up on Doctor Who since I don't watch it all that much, but as far as I know Colin Baker isn't exactly a fan-favourite... Still, as they say, every character is SOMEONE'S favourite.