Messages

A new event for on_event(int event,int data),
event=CHAR_STOP, data=CHARID.

It seems that scripters are routinely having to put

Code: ags

if(character[EGO].walking==0){ ...stuff... };

in repeatedly_execute(), which may well be more clutter than they really want in their main loop (bearing in mind that it's all unoptimized bytecode).

Also, I imagine that the engine already knows about this event, and needs only to share the information.

Note: The event of ceasing to walk is not the same as the state of not-walking, but I think this is generally what scripters are trying to emulate. At least that's what I've been thinking about lately (and trying decide how far to go with it).

Oh, sorry. I didn't realise having the gun was a mistake or I would've mentioned it.
I didn't really use it, so I didn't experience that bug. I only got killed for trying   :

I believe that GUIs appearing in front of everything else is intended as a feature, and generally preferable to the alternative.
Whether it would be worth having both I couldn't say, but here's an idea that may let you do what you require for now ... assuming it works:
Make the drawable areas of your GUI transparent (index 0), and draw behind them. They would still be clickable.

Feel free to insert "Similarly," between "ambient sound." and "if Ray made".

I'm not short of codecs, but I'll have to see whether there's some issue with my configuration.

I played the previous update and liked it.
I stopped though because I reached a stage at which I couldn't tell whether anything else was finished yet (and I can't be bothered with 'try everything just in case' scenarios).
But when there's a clear objective I'll be all over it again.

On Win2k. After the (part 3) end credits music finished, when additional (spoken) audio started. No user action. Flash Player was active at this time.
---------------------------
An exception 0xC0000005 occured in ACWIN.EXE at EIP = 0x00459B22 ; program pointer is +9901, ACI version 2.53.466, gtags (0,0)

AGS cannot continue, this exception was fatal.
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2.21.167 - Carver Island 2
2.21.168 - Night of the Plumber, Monkey Plank.

[...]
There are LOTS of games outthere that require you to die a few times to get used to it. This is just one of them. In SIMON THE SORCEROR 3D, there was a situation where you had to die to SOLVE a puzzle.
[...]
I can't really change the game based on your suggestions because the game would lose its dark and scary atmosphere unless other people back you or you can specifically suggest an improvement.

I understand that, and I'm not suggesting that you change the character of the game (even if there is a popular movement to do so).

The frustration comes from the impression that no efforts of mine are going to reduce the effects of chance. So the announcement that you have defeated me doesn't have the intended effect.
The player will feel it more if they are immersed in the game and more strongly identified with Ray than by having the idea foisted upon them in words (which only leads them to question whether they accept the statement).

And speaking of atmosphere, I think it really needs more ambient sound.
If Ray made a walking sound and the bots could be heard just before they fired from off-screen, the player would be a little more nervous, and have a moment of panic before dying.

I think this game has great potential, but it's difficult to 'tune', so all I can add is, good luck.

[edit]
Oh yes, I forgot ...
Still has "Video playing error: File not found or format not supported: .\3.dat" on game over. I don't know whether this relates to the MPEG-4 disclaimer in the readme, but it should really fail silently if it doesn't work.

Any bots visible on game over remain visible during end messages.

The hand icon should show where the hotspot is as there's no distinction between a miss and nothing.

Whether Ray will walk to position for a given interaction should be consistent. On the bridge, he walks, elsewhere its click-"I need to get closer."-walk to target-click-"I need to get closer."-walk to another part of target .... Closer to what?

Tactical gives a false impression of continuous fire if button held. It actually hits nothing in this state (or doesn't display hits correctly).

Aww ... I wanted to play the one with inexplicable bouts of head-smacking  

then try "\}". It works for quotemarks (").

Hmm... and what about "\n", or ascii codes? I'll have to search again for the the regex section in the helpfile.
It has a "c-like scripting language", but the actual list of legal operators eludes me.
I saw some post involving structs too.
Can I pass arrays? I'll have to code it and see.

I wonder how much needlessly ugly scripting arises from using only what the manual covers.

It's a great idea, but also a potentially huge project.

I agree with not rushing it to be on time.

Maybe you could use just a very small part of the story - just enough to acheive something interesting. Of course, that would mean that you won't get to introduce as many characters and settings as you may have wanted. Just a thought.

I dl'd it, but haven't finished the game yet. Seeing as no-one else has responded, I thought something would be better than nothing.

I haven't found any bugs, as such, however it's still very difficult in places. I'm not convinced that it can be won on a first attempt without inside knowledge.

The first pair of bots seem to have a different idea about the room's perspective than what I perceive it to be. This coupled with the fact that the player character is difficult to control precisely (especially near walk area edges) makes this room a pest no matter how often I've been through it.

The "You Failed" messages ... hmmm.
Well, I wasn't playing that game, so maybe I did fail to identify the game's intended function.
...Which is to say, they are annoying. At least speed them up so that I don't have to terminate them manually via the most convenient means.

I am not sure that the 'puzzles' needed to be more obvious from what I've seen. It's always a question of getting to the 'pieces' on time, without any critical mis-mousing. It's the clicking, not the thinking that's tricky.

walkbehinds: All that share a common baseline can be combined, so you have 15 'depths' available. But the biggest problem I see is managing the isometric view; you will either have to make large non-walkable areas around the walls where they slope away from their baseline, or dynamically modify baselines, being careful to prohibit any conflicts with other objects or characters.

hotspots: If you're not using regions, you can have hotspots*regions effective hotspots and still distinguish them by testing both.

But... you don't need to interact with the window after shooting the bat and you don't need to leave the house after getting rid of the plant.

Well, that's ... er ... quotable. I await your next article on game design with trepidation.

Also, the cat seems to depend upon the order either of events or rooms entered, I'm not sure. Anyway, the game freezes if right-clicked during the second cat sequence.

Otherwise, nice surrealism.

Strange ... I remember what to do, but I can't remember how I thought of it originally. So, here's my attempt on that basis at a subtle hint.

Spoiler

You have something of greater value to someone else, than of use to yourself.

[close]

Oops - I just checked your actual site for the first time, and there was the windows version sitting in plain sight.
Looks like my pirate-deficiency woes will soon be over

Yay!

And it's definitely better to round out a project with a fresh interest than feeling that you have to 'get it out of the way'. 8)

Hmm, I still have Fry 1 in my /DOS/2.21.168 maybe-I'll-make-it-work-somehow folder ... and now you're skipping part 2 as well? :o

Yea verily, behold the craziness.
Maybe I'll have more luck playing them in reverse order ?

Finished (10 pts short though).
End credits say "Book of Speels".

Spyros, yes.