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As a child I watched a cartoon which upset me so much I can still remember it vividly, but I have no idea what it's called so I can't get a copy. I think it might have been shown on Tony Robinson's Toon Time. It's old, but it's in colour.

As a last resort, I thought the cartoon-literate denizens of these forums might be able to help me:

The main character is a mole. He lives with his mother and is almost totally blind. The film starts with him going out to play and taking in his surroundings. He thinks that they're all very beautiful, but he longs to visit a Palace he can see.

Along comes a travelling salesman (fox, weasel?) who opens up his suitcase. Out springs a wheel of fortune. He tricks the little mole into buying a pair of glasses.

Once he has the glasses on he sees that he lives in a junkyard, and the palace is nothing more than a mound of tyres. He crys profusely and at length if I recall, and falls into a river where his glasses are washed away and though the current is dangerously fast, it brings him home to his mother.

Does anyone recognise this story? There may have been less crying, I can't remember what was the mole and what was me.

Old cartoons were weird...




EDIT: Betty Boop, and she made films to begin with rather than TV shows.

To quote Helm again:

You can see the 'numbers' behind the game more, the walkable areas, the simple design. it's not a game world and you're not 'beat it' you're just trying to figure out what the designer had in mind...

There are times when playing a less-than brilliant game when a walkthrough can save you from seeing the bones of a game. On many occasions I've been stuck and the solution has struck me as absolutely illogical. (See: getting-into-the-tower puzzle in Simon the Sorcerer II).

A walkthrough can help players to escape the mire of a poorly constructed puzzle and enjoy the game's story. Admittedly, I'd rather all games were great, but as long as many adventures have engaging stories but ill-concieved puzzles, walkthroughs will be a boon.

If you make the sun a flat bright yellow, and make the sky brighter nearer the sun rather than darker it could look quite nice.

I would suggest, though, that the sky is the only part of this image that should have a gradient. Outlines can look very nice in vectors - try working with them.

While the Lucas Arts webpage opens Star Wars games a-go-go, the Microids homepage includes a statement of their philosophy including this passage:

Video games should push the boundaries of creation and inspire those who play them. Much like cinema, which has been enriched by the influence of art and literature, video games must draw from other creative spheres in order to find inspiration.

(http://www.microids.com/index_en.html)

We shouldn't look expectantly towards Lucas Arts because all of our heroes used to work for that company. People who have a real interest in producing adventure games exist elsewhere.

[Darth Mandarb]

Who told you you needed oxygen, huh? Some loser who was trying to make you feel small...

And the winner is: Darth Mandarb!


It may not be your most skillful photoshop, but it's muchly entertaining. Bravo!

Geoffkhan's criticism was such a good one, that I though it was worth mentioning twice:

It's a great idea for the base of the game. There's no need to complicate it. What you do want to do is to add subplots and stuff like that.

You can complicate and complicate a well known storyline and it will never transform into a startlingly original piece of work.

The problem with this plot is not that it's a standard fantasy plot, but that the world & characters it suggests are standard rather than fantastical. Exciting subplots, entertaining interactions and strong characters would make the basic 'collect four x' plot a great deal of fun.

Remember the map in Monkey Island 2?

Most well known storylines are well known because they are entertaining. I played Legend of Zelda, thinking that "rescue the princess" was an overused premise, but it didn't stop me enjoying the game immensely.

Thanks for your thoughts guys and sorry for the link problems! Darth, thanks for making my pictures see-able. Yes I have seen one or two Tim Burton films and I may have been influenced by him... slightly.

I will look into dusty, paint-like textures. I'm worried that the character's jacket/coat/thing might be too plastic-like, so I'll look into what texturing can do for that. I'll post with an update in the not-too-distant future.

they look almost like models and puppets...
Of course it doesn't hurt that Hector looks a lot like Peter Lorre

I'm glad you spotted that, I had Peter Lorre in mind while sketching. I also designed the eyes to sit inside the eye-sockets in the manner of Vincent-esque stop-motion animation.

I'm also out of ideas as to what the painting on the wall should show. A gothic blue cup? no...

[In a time long ago, there existed four crystals.Ã, These crystals kept the balance of the elements: Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire.Ã, Until one day the crystals were stolen by a jazz maestro who planned to destroy the world with the crystal's awesome power.Ã, The kingdom in chaos, one man stepped forward to challenge the evil.Ã, This man, armed with nothing but the ability to play slap-bass, set out to retrieve the crystals, and restore peace and order to the land.Ã, And he was simply known as...Jonny Twotone, Funk Virtuoso]

I don't think a twist in the story is essential - a simple story with great puzzles and great characters can be a lot of fun. In my opinion, what this story needs is a twist in the telling...

In a time long ago, there existed four crystals.Ã,  These crystals kept the balance of the elements: Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire.Ã,  Until one day the crystals were stolen by a jazz maestro who planned to destroy the world with the crystal's awesome power.Ã,  The kingdom in chaos, one man stepped forward to challenge the evil.Ã,  This man, armed with nothing but the ability to play slap-bass, set out to retrieve the crystals, and restore peace and order to the land.Ã,  And he was simply known as...

Jonny Twotone, Funk Virtuoso

I'm not saying that story would be any good, but it's more striking (I think) than your synopsis. By putting an interesting, imaginative or funny slant on a well worn plotline you can tell a story that feels doesn't feel hackneyed.

Only a dagger?
The world don't really care about their future, do they?

Read The Subtle Knife, and you won't think that!

These images are works in progress and are untextured. I'd love to hear any thoughts on the modelling composition or what direction I should move in regarding texturing or lighting.

http://themonkeyhut.tripod.com/Chairscene.gif
http://themonkeyhut.tripod.com/hector.Gif
(Drag links into address bar, or scroll down to view Darth Mandarb's generosity)

These images haven't been produced with a specific game in mind, I hope that isn't a problem.

-Ali

2 isn't really a joke and 4 isn't very funny. The other jokes would work, only if delivered well. They're jokes to be heard, not to be read. Not one of the jokes in South Park works on paper - when they are funny it's because of good delivery. For this reason, the jokes mightn't fit well in an adventure game.

Humour is a tricky thing to critique, but I would recommend that you under no circumstances attempt to emulate the humour of teen movies. It can damage the health of you and those around you. Look instead towards comedies that play with words.

That doesn't rhyme.

Also, I understand why CJ wouldn't want to implement 3D blah blah blah, but the argument "erm n00bs will make shit-looking games with it" and other similar ones are just silly and you should stop saying that. N00bs make shit looking games anyway.

Indeed it does not rhyme, but I didn't mean to say that "erm n00bs will make shit-looking games with it". I too would love 3D character support, but the proponents of this often seem to suggest that animation &c is easier in 3D than 2D. It is technically more complex and of equal difficulty in terms of asthetics. I think Helm is right too, that graphically weak games would be more palatable in 2D.

I repeateded it 5 times and I'm STILL not back in Kansas. What the hell?

Try saying it backwards.

I remember that picture from 'The Illusion of Life', but I didn't spot the similarity. Bravo!

The production art for Pinnocchio is marvelous though, a good place to look to for inspiration. If I remember correctly that book shows a scene in several stages of completion - pencil & paint. That's something that might be of great interest to backdrop artists.

[When 3D looks good it looks very very good,But when it looks bad it looks awful]

They were pre-rendered and they ruined the game for me. I could forgive them low-poly characters (machines didn't have enough welly back then) but the crude, technicolour pre-rendered backdrops were unforgivable and, with a few exceptions, had none of the charm or style of the previous 3 games.

Remember the (edit:) 'rhyme':

When 3D looks good it looks very very good,
But when it looks bad it looks awful

(Repeat x 5)

As a feat of modelling, the track is quite impressive, though a lighter wood might look nicer. It might also be fun, since it's a toy trainset, to see the jig-saw joins where the track has been put together.

The shadows aren't raytraced are they? I think the self shadow bias is a little too high, beneath where the track dips to go under the bridge instead of the shadow becoming denser, it disappears.

Finally, the top of the tunnel, the middle carriage and the edge of the track could do with smoothing. With some careful re-lighting though, the model could look really nice!

[Riven]

It would be a lot of fun if AGS did support 3D, but it's no tragedy that it doesn't. Though 3D animation can be quicker to produce, 3D is no more 'easy' to produce than 2D. Amateur 3D work is also consistently less visually pleasing than amateur 2D work.

If there was really a need for AGS to be 3D, I suspect there would be alot more pre-rendered 3D games made with AGS. Riven and Blade Runner are some of the best looking 3D adventure games around and neither are realtime.

Something I find rather bizarre about today is that there has actually been less media coverage than when Diana died.

In a sense that's not such a bad thing. I think the authorities (including Blair) and particularly the BBC have dealt with the attacks calmly and without hyperbole. This is appropriate to the nature of this attack.

It is not an iconic strike or one designed to kill on a grand scale. It is an attack designed to spread disruption and fear. The best defence is then for us to continue, as far as is possible, with "business as usual".

My hope now is that this attack isnt allowed to disrupt the G8 talks, and doesn't give our leaders the opportunity to sidestep the question of poverty.

[What is a Photoshop Phriday?]

What is a Photoshop Phriday?

Photoshopping isn't drawing a completely new image -- It's editing images to create a new image, such as editing one image or combining several images. The contest usually lasts for a fortnight. Also, you don't have to specifically use Photoshop -- Paint Shop Pro, MSPaint, or any other programs can be used. Please make sure your image doesn't exceed the width of the screen.

See this link:
http://www.somethingawful.com/photoshop/

And for other examples, see here:
http://www.worth1000.com/

-------------------------------------

This contest's topic: Lost In Space!

Put pictures of your favourite game characters or AGSers in space. Like putting a monkey in a hat - easy to do and instantly hilarious. Unless the monkey doesn't want to wear the hat.

Have you ever wondered where astronauts keep their luggage?

I agree, lets see new pictures!

(welcome back)