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The font is effective and the colours ork well, but I think you should choose a title that's easier to spell and doesn't have the Hitchcockian connotations.

There's couple of things you might want to think about with regard to that plot.

Firstly, is it believeable that a man could forget he worked for an agency while still remembering everything during his time with them?

Also, at no point during this gameshould the MIB threaten the lead character's life, because if they are prepared to kill him they wouldn't bother convincing him he was crazy.

Finally, your vision of the MIB seems to relate to the Will Smith film rather than the urban legend / conspiracy theory (in with the MIB were usually not human). Perhaps it would be worth inventing your own agency based on the MIB.

-Ali.

This isn't so much an entry as the-first-thing-I-though-of-and-drew-scruffily:

Hi m0ds,

I'm not able to listen to the FoY tunes, but I have listened to the Nelly Cootalot tunes. Because they're for my project. Yay!

I mentioned in a PM that I thought I heard a few duff notes in the latter three tunes. My lack of a musical vocabulary may have been to blame there, I think the main thing I was picking up on was the changing velocity that Vel noticed.

I don't know enough about music to suggest any way of improving though, I'm just posting to let you know that I  like the style. Let me know when you have a midi you're happy with so I can add it to the in production thread.

-Ali.

I'm really pleased to see this too. I think improving on the puzzles and atmosphere would be really great. The first game just isn't quite as Ben-Jordanny as the rest. Maniac Matt would do well to play the others.

I think the graphical improvements are subtle but significant. I know this isn't the Critics Lounge, but I find the graphical style to be functional, likeable and in all but part 1, consistent.

A total revamp of the graphics with the help of this mythical "professional" is something I think you should maybe consider for part 8, but I don't think it should be your priority.

If we are to assume that 'better quality' means 'higher resolution' then I think there are a number of reasons that most AGS games are low res:

1. Low-res is quicker (not easier) because there are fewer pixels.
2. Low-res has the nostalgia factor of the games we grew up with.
3. Low-res animation is usually done through pixel-pushing which is less practical in hi-res animation. I suspect more AGSers have the means for pixel pushing than for hand-drawn cel animation.

That said, there are higher resolution AGS games around, and some in production (hint: click the link in my signature...).

I think the text is most readable and effective in example 2.

The mouse-over glow is a good idea, but the magnifier does look blurry. Try taking just the blurry icon and blending it with the non-blurry version of the same icon using Additive or Screen blending and maybe some transparency. that should add a brightening glow without the icons losing clarity.

Ali: I'm not offended. I'd be offended if you opted not to pay my game when its done just because of how girly my gui looks. And I did try it in blue actually, to see what it looked like. Pink just seemed to go better.

I'd play the game because it's girly! I'm making a game about rescuing fluffy birds. More cute games, says I!

I would also suggest lowering the cabinets on he near side of the room. If you're keen they stay I think you should reconsider the shadow on the red cabinet. There don't seem to be any other shadows in the room and I find it a little visually confusing.

I like the flatscreen. Very swish.

Like the idea of doing isometric graphics, that's not often seen in adventure games. I can only recall Mystic Towers, but that's more arcade-like than adventure.

Sanitarium is another isometric adventure, but it had pre-rendered 3D graphics.

"Mythos" is greek for "repeating without understanding". What most fantasy and sci-fi writers of today are doing falls into the cathegory of "mythos". "Logos", on the other hand, means "to understand". I consider "logos" the pinnacle of creativity, and "mythos" merely a form of creative stagnation.

I think this distinction is very interesting, and I wasn't aware of the meanings of those words. I do think there is some value in repetition, reuse or reappropriation of ideas.

The importance of originality has decreased with the advent of postmodernity, but I think it's interesting to look at pre-modern (stay with me here) narratives.

With folk tales, unoriginality and heritage were very important. Stories were told in such a way as to indicate that they had been told many times before. Folk tales were always set in the past, even in the past.

I think it's possible to strike a balance between the transcendent originality of "logos" and the mindless repetition of "mythos". By reappropriating a familiar fantastical narrative it is possible for a storyteller to express a unique conception of "happily ever after".

When doing a horror story suspension of disbelief is very important. Using existing folklore IMHO could be much more exciting, especially when the player already knows this legend.
Recognition triggers an involvement which a new story cannot.

Whether or not this beast actually existed is besides the point.

You're absolutely right. All I meant to say was that Werhwolf could also incorporate the genuine mystery of the beast's existence into his story as an added layer of intrigue.

If you were to take something from the beast of Gevaudan then you should consider the 'monster' not really existing.

To my mind reports of the beast of Gevaudan were inconsistent, and in some cases, almost certainly invented.

I think the idea of a terrible things being wrongly attributed to a monster is more terrifying than just a monster itself.

I hope you won't be offended that as soon as I saw this image I clicked on your username to see if you were a girl.

The girliness is good though, especially since cutesy is  what you were aiming for. The only thing that strikes me as odd about it is that the icons seem very tall and narrow, while I'm used to seeing square icons. That isn't necessarily a problem though, it's just unusual.

'Archetype' is much better because it doesn't have the pejorative connotations of 'cliché'.

Many entries on that list were over-used hackneyed ideas and were inherently quite poor. Plenty of others were perfectly good ideas that have been used and reused because they are good.

I don't think we should worry about this too much. Homer's Odyssey includes more than one of these including:

Someone goes to the underworld, either spiritually or physically

Heroines who always remain pure no matter what, even if all the other women around them are defiled.

No such thing as an atheist in the world; everybody believes in a god/gods (the exception being worlds where the gods are a real physical presence.)

Then why did people cry when the pope died?

He owed lots of people money.

If you try to walk the way you just showed, you'd have a nasty heel injury. You step on the ground with the whole foot, not just with the heel.

Maybe I've misunderstood this observation but I step on the ground with my heel first - then my toes. Other people I know walk this way too.

I think the feet are mostly fine. Apart from the balance problem, the knees lift a bit too high, it looks a little like he's marching.

PS: I love the Redcup comrade Slava!

This was a really good game, and genuinely funny. The music and graphics were perfectly in key with one another and the use of colour was very effective. Sarcastic player characters can often be tiresome, but Mortia was really likeable. Spooks was also supercute.

Best of all the game didn't feel like a full-length game cut short (as some short games can). The story was short but satisfying.

If you were to make a sequel, the only suggestion I'd make would be to consider MrCollossal's diagrams in this thread. I think perhaps the player has too much access to the Carnage-val at the start of the game. It would be nice if there were a few rooms that would allow the player to get an understanding of the world. Then later, a wider area could be opened up.

It felt slightly odd in this game to have many rooms to explore right away, and then (without giving too much away) very few towards the end.

That's a minor point though, this is definitely one of my favourite short adventures.

This is really exciting. Brilliant, Besh.

Though, since you asked what the plugin was lacking I though I'd ask if you planned to expand the types of mesh Character3D can use. I did look at escultor but found it's .obj import didn't work.

Compatability with blender would be great (but probably to much to ask for). It would be particulary good because it's possible to bake the textures/lighting of a highy poly chracter onto a low-poly mesh. Which could look pretty flash.

Is it worth me just *cheapskate shudder* buying Milkshape or are you planning on expanding the plugin's compatability with other3Dapps?

Is the issue that most object formats don't have accompanying animation files, while escultor and milkshape files do?

I don't mean to look a realtime 3D gift-horse in the mouth. This is great as it is!

[better]

The premise is a familiar one, but that's not a problem. It could definitely make for an interesting game.

I don't like using ripped stuff, but I don't have any other option, unless you want background and characters drawn in Paint in 2 minutes.

You asked whether people would download that story, and I think ripped high-quality graphics will definitely encourage people to click on your game. I think over-all it might leave them feeling a little cheated.

If you're asking whether AGSers would play your game I think you'd get a better response with backgrounds drawn in paint (as long as you took longer than two minutes).

If you are detemined to use ripped graphics, then I wish you the best of luck. If you add plenty of plot intrigue I'm sure that people won't be disappointed.

As usual, none of the other planets have got us anything. Not even a card...

[brilliant]

I don't think punishment is a good idea. I think the best thing we could do would be to leave the matter alone for a while and give the individual in the wrong a chance to rethink his position.

Also, I think Sprite Jam Trophies are a brilliant idea, they really brighten up the forums.