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Could be the way your soundcard/speakers are set up. I was having a problem with a (midi) background sound drowning out other sound effects, until I realised Winamp had played around with my global sound levels. Have you checked the settings on Windows 'Volume Control'? (I'm assuming you're using Windows, but if not I imagine there'll be a similar thing in whatever you are using)

Otherwise - how big is the mp3 file? Could you upload it, and a sample room, so we can see if it happens to anyone else?

Actually, it's limited to 500 sprite folders, not 500 sprites. The limit is, I think, 15,000 sprites (in AGS 2.62).

The number of rooms is slightly irrelevant, since background graphics aren't counted in the 15,000 sprites, and some can be re-used between rooms (e.g. the number of character sprites isn't going to be massively affected by the number of rooms, unless you have a different view for each room).

By 'number of messages', do you mean Room/Global messages or Dialog messages. Dialog mesages are limited to 3,000 - which is quite a lot of talking, if you think about it, and can probably be boosted by a determined scripter. Also, while the Global / Room messages are limited, if you really need that many, you're probably advanced enough to use scripting, and an unlimited amount of Display() or DisplaySpeech() commands.

I had a point around here somewhere, lemme see... right, got it.
While AGS does have some (fairly arbitary, to be honest) limits, most of them are set where they are because no-one has yet needed them to be higher. I think most of them are arbitary, as I said, and would be easy enough for Pumaman raise as and when significant numbers of people find them, well, limiting, but for the time being they either suffice as is, or are easily worked around.

Whether I count as an 'experienced game-maker' or not is a matter for debate, though.

You could just add the question in the first post, or just leave the first post alone and add it later, like Scummbuddy did in his edit.

Anyway, what exactly was your question (since it's been deleted)?
Do you want to run your game windowed, or one you've downloaded?

Either way, as Zor said, run the setup exe (usually called winsetup.exe), and select 'Run in a window instead of full-screen', then 'Save', or 'Save and Run'. If it's a game you downloaded, and it doesn't have a setup exe, then I think you just have to live with full screen.

I would've entered sooner, but I had a cold, and couldn't think too good. Then I kept getting carried away, and having to restrain myself.

I present :
"Paparazzi Pete: Celebrity Stalker"

Getting into the hotel was surprisingly easy. Finding out which room she was staying in ever easier - her agent had booked the entire first floor for her and her entourage, but only one room had a guard outside. Now, the fun begins.

STARTING ITEMS:
Notebook & Pen, Camera, Dictaphone, Yo-Yo and Personal CD Player

LOOK AT notebook and pen
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “I'm a reporter. Sometimes I need to write things down.”
LOOK AT camera.
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “My shiny new digital camera, with EasyPrint PC connectivity.”
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Or something.”
LOOK AT Dictaphone.
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Quite why I have this AND a notebook, I don't know.”
LOOK AT yo-yo / cd player.
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Do you have any idea how BORING waiting around for celebrities can get?”
LOOK AT guard.
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  On close inspection, the guard is a gorgon - a mythical creature capable of turning you to stone with a glance.
Ã,  Ã,  Ã, PETE: "Best not get too close, then."
NOTE: If you attempt to approach the celebrity's room without getting rid of the Gorguard, you will get turned to stone, and have to reload and try again.

USE elevator, head to the second floor.
LOOK AT housekeeping cart.
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “It's the cart the maids keep their cleaning things in.”
LOOK AT broom.
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “A sturdy broom.”
TAKE broom.
IN INVENTORY:
Ã,  Ã,  USE cd player.
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  PETE: ”Nothing. Batteries must be dead.”
Ã,  Ã,  USE cd player, again.
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  PETE: ”Ah, I see the problem - I put the wrong disc in, it's a blank”
Ã,  Ã,  GAIN Item: blank cdr.
Ã,  Ã,  LOOK AT blank cdr.
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Mmm. Shiny.”
Ã,  Ã,  USE blank cdr with broom.
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “It's a shiny thing on a stick.”

USE elevator, head back to first floor.
USE shiny thing on a stick with pot plant.
WALK TO behind pot plant.
USE yo-yo on Gorguard.
Ã,  Ã,  You skillfully flick the yo-yo towards the Gorguard, making it turn in your direction.
IF you're behind the plant:
Ã,  Ã,  Fortunately, you don't catch it's eye.
ELSE
Ã,  Ã,  Although, why you wanted to is a different matter, as you immediately turn to stone.
and have to try again.
AND IF you used the shiny thing on a stick on the pot plant.
Ã,  Ã,  Unfortunately, it catches it's own eye, and turns to stone.
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: ”Now I just have to get in to her room.”
USE door.
Ã,  Ã,  CELEB:Who's there?
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Reporter. I wonder if you'd mind…”
Ã,  Ã,  CELEB: No comment.
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Huh. Playing hard to get, are we.”
TAKE shiny thing on a stick
Ã,  Ã, 
USE elevator, and head back to 2nd floor.
USE door to room above Celeb's room.
Ã,  Ã,  GUEST: “Yeah?”
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Housekeeping. We need to clean your room.”
Ã,  Ã,  GUEST: “Oh, OK. <opens door> Hey, shouldn't you be in uniform?”
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Uh, I'm just filling in. Because of the Celebrity downstairs.”
Ã,   Ã, GUEST: A Celebrity! Hot damn!”
Ã,   Ã, PETE: “Yup. Hey, why don't you nip down and get an autograph, while I'm cleaning up?”
Ã,  Ã,  GUEST: “Wowee!” <leaves>
NOTE: You could, of course, have sent the Guest down before you dealt with the Gorguard, but that would just have been mean, wouldn't it?

WALK TO room.
LOOK AT luggage.
Ã,  Ã,  Hm, what have we here…”
TAKE shoe polish and comb.
USE shiny thing on a stick on window.

CUTSCENE:
Reaching down with the shiny thing on a stick, you tap the Celeb's window, pulling back in before they look out.

USE shiny thing on a stick on window, again.
CUTSCENE:
As before.
AND AGAIN
CUTSCENE:
As before.
AND AGAIN

CUTSCENE:
As before, except this time the Celeb looks out quicker, sees you, screams and calls for the manager.

IF you try to leave the room now, you'll be caught be hotel security (the Manager, and his brother Frank), your things will be smashed up, and you'll be thrown out of the hotel never to return. You'll also lose your job, for failing to get the interview. This would be the ‘Bad' ending.

IN INVENTORY:
Ã,  Ã,  USE shoe polish on comb.
Ã,  Ã,  USE polish-y comb on self.
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  PETE: ”A crude disguise, but effective.”
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “(I hope.)”

WALK TO 2nd floor hallway

USE elevator, back down to 1st floor.

USE door.
Ã,  Ã,  CELEB: “Who's there?”
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Police, ma'am. The hotel called us about your intruder.”
Ã,  Ã,  CELEB: “Oh, OK. <opens door> How can I help, Officer….”
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Uh, Smith. I just need to ask a few questions.”
Ã,  Ã,  PETE: “Maybe take a few pictures, for the .... report.”
PAT SELF on back. You got the interview, got the pictures and fame and fortune (or at least continued employment) await. Well done you.

Sorry I couldn't be bothered giving the celeb a name.

For hints, try looking back to the earlier, better entered ones, and see what they did.
I think the problem has been, that the last few have been a little too restrictive:
     yaron - set in Discworld, which probably put some people off, not wanting to play with established characters/setting they know nothing about.
     Ashen - fiendishly brilliant, of course, but might've been a bit too random for some people. Alright, most people.
     Radiant - I didn't think was too bad, but didn't think I was allowed to enter, having just hosted one. I can see, though, that the 'not being able to see' thing might be off-putting.
     Edwin Xie - For me, personally, this looked a bit too structured, too much like you had a story in mind, and I didn't really want to play with that. Also, re-creating 9/11 in adventure game form might be seen as a tad tasteless.

That said, I don't think any of the competitions have been as popular as they were, for example, a few months ago. Maybe it's just a bad time of year for them.

Oh, and Congratualtions, Radiant. You get to host another Puzzle Time. I bet you're really looking forward to that.

If you've got the newest release of AGS (2.62), you can use NewRoomNPC (CHARID, ROOM, X, Y),
e.g.
if (runscript == 1) {   // Takes the reporters away.
  NewRoomNPC (BBC, -1, 0, 0);
  NewRoomNPC (BBCTWO, -1, 0, 0);
}

Otherwise, you'll have to change it manually,
e.g.
if (runscript == 1) {   // Takes the reporters away.
  character[BBC].room = -1;
  character[BBCTWO].room = -1;
}

But, I'd recommend NewRoomNPC (), so try that first.
If it doesn't work, you can download AGS v2.62 from here.

So, like Ishmael says in the post just above yours,

Nest all your run-scripts under one dialog_request

E.g.:
function dialog_request (int runscript) {
  if (runscript == 1) {   
// Takes the reporters away.
    MoveCharacter(BBC,0,0);
    MoveCharacter(BBCTWO,0,0);
  }

  if (runscript == 500) {
    SetGraphicalVariable("Fakestreet 13", 1);
  }
}

Then, any other run-script x commands get added in there as more if (runscript == x) conditions.

Patience, it's only been a couple of hours. That said:

How exactly do you want it to work?

The simplest way would be to use something like:

Code: ags

//in 'Interact Hotspot'
string pass;
InputBox ("What is the password?", pass);
if (StrCaseComp ("WHATEVER", pass) == 0) { // replace WHATEVER with your password/code
  NewRoom (ROOM); // or NewRoomEx
  //Anything else you want
}

Or you could set up a custom GUI with a text box, and use GetTextBoxText (GUI, OBJECT, pass); instead of InputBox();.

Finally, probably the most complex but best looking way - since it's only a number, you could have a keypad GUI pop-up to take the player's input. This is the code I've used to make a phone, but you could use something similar:

Code: ags

// from 'interface_click', obviously
if (interface == PHONE) {
    if (button == 0) { // 'Submit Code' button
      if (StrCaseComp ("WHATEVER", number) == 0) {// Again, change WHATEVER to your keycode
        NewRoom (ROOM);
        // Anything else.
      }
      else {
        Display ("Invalid code. Access Denied.");
//These lines reset the code
        StrFormat (number, "");
        SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
        dial = 0;
      }
        
    }
    if (button == 11) { // 'Hang Up/ Exit' button
      GUIOff (PHONE);
      dial = 0;
    }
    if (button == 13) { // 'Clear Number/ Try Again' button
      StrFormat (number, "");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
      dial = 0;
    }
    if (button == 1) {
      dial ++;
      StrCat (number, "0");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
    }
    if (button == 2) {
      dial ++;
      StrCat (number, "1");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
    }    
    if (button == 3) {
      dial ++;
      StrCat (number, "2");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
    }
    if (button == 4) {
      dial ++;
      StrCat (number, "3");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
    }
    if (button == 5) {
      dial ++;
      StrCat (number, "4");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
    }
    if (button == 6) {
      dial ++;
      StrCat (number, "5");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
    }
    if (button == 7) {
      dial ++;
      StrCat (number, "6");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
    }
    if (button == 8) {
      dial ++;
      StrCat (number, "7");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
    }
    if (button == 9) {
      dial ++;
      StrCat (number, "8");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
    }
    if (button == 10) {
      dial ++;
      StrCat (number, "9");
      SetLabelText (PHONE, 12, number);
    }
  }

objects 1-10 are buttons, numbered 0-9
Object 0, 13, 11 are Dail, Reset, Quit buttons
Object 12 is a Label, showing the number dialed so far.
I also have a global string declare OUTSIde of the GUI script ('number'), which holds the number dialed, or the Passcode in your case. My 'Dial button' script is a little different than the one here, but would be pointless for you.
There might be a simpler way to code this, that a more advanced scripter could tell you, but one of these should do the job.

Glad you've sorted it, but I noticed this, might as well post it anyway:

Check your braces ('{' and '}'). They need to match:

Code: ags

function interface_click(int interface, int button) {
  
  if (interface == INVENTORY) {
    // They clicked a button on the Inventory GUI
    if (button == 2) {  // show inventory
      GUIOn (ICONBAR);
    }
    if ((button == 3) && (game.top_inv_item < game.num_inv_items - game.num_inv_displayed)) {
      // scroll down
      game.top_inv_item = game.top_inv_item + game.items_per_line;
    }
    if ((button == 4) && (game.top_inv_item > 0)){
      // scroll up
      game.top_inv_item = game.top_inv_item - game.items_per_line;
    }
  } //end if interface INVENTORY. 
    //You were missing this one, so everything after was counted as still part of INVENTORY

  if (interface == ICONBAR) {
    if (button == 0)    // save game
      SaveGameDialog();
    if (button == 1)   // load game
      RestoreGameDialog();
     if (button == 2)   // quit
      QuitGame(1);
    if (button == 5)    // look away
      GUIOff(ICONBAR);
  }  // end if interface ICONBAR

  //  any other interfaces

} // End of interface_click

You can use Ctrl-B in the script editor to check whether braces match up, rather than having to wade through the code yourself.

Don't know if this was the problem, but it's worth keeping an eye out for.

Try
else if (GetGlobalInt(16) <= 0) {

Just < 0 won't accept values of 0, which I assume is what it's set to.

Well, the obvious thing is the missing braces:

Code: ags

    else if (button == 9)    // SPELLS
SetPlayerCharacter (4);  //SPELLS CHARACTER
      GUIOn(6); //SPELLS MENU

Should be:

Code: ags

    else if (button == 9)  {  //SPELLS
      SetPlayerCharacter (4);  //SPELLS CHARACTER
      GUIOn(6); //SPELLS MENU
    }

See if that helps.
The way you've got it now, it should open the SPELLS GUI whatever button you press (if it's set to 'Run Script', anyway).

Could you use regions to mark the areas (e.g. water, paths) and if (GetRegionAt (character[CHAR].x, character[CHAR].y) != x) StopMoving (CHAR); or something similar, in rep_ex to limit them to those areas?
So, using the analogy in the first post, the entire screen would be a walkable area, and the path would be marked out in Region 1. Then you'd have

Code: ags

if (GetRegionAt (character[EGO].x, character[EGO].y) != 1) StopMoving (EGO);
  //EGO has walked off the path, so stops moving.

The plane wouldn't need limiting, as it's free to fly around the whole screen.

I'm not sure how well this would work with path finding though - although it might work in the situation stuh505 has.

Seems fairly gratuitous to me. Oh, and he's meant to be trying to pull his arm out, not giving a thumbs up.

NEXT: An unsuccessful movie-based breakfast cereal.
(By which I mean that the cereal would be unsuccessful, not that the film was)

Will the game still time out when you want it to (i.e it's just the display that's not working), or is the clock not working at all?

Either way, can you post your repeatedly_execute code.

HOW does the game determine what method of interaction function hotspot2_a is vs say hotspot2_c?

Magic. That, or golbins. Maybe goblin magic.
By which, of course, I mean - I think it's handled by AGS internaly, the sections and comment lines (Hotspot2_a, etc) are generated more for our reference & convenience than anything else, and are, as you said, based on the order the interactions were set.

They may, however, be a hold-over from earlier versions, where you could create the hotspot/object interactions directly in the Room Script (i.e. without selecting the hotspot/object, opening the editor, selecting 'Run script'. Obviously, you can still edit them in the Room Script), when they would probably have followed some system. Not totally sure about this bit, though - you'll have to ask a longer-term user than me.

When do you want the animation to start? I'm guessing as soon as the player enters the room?

At the momemt, it looks like you've got the code just loose in the room script, which won't do anything. Move it to a run script command in the Player enters screen (after fade in) interaction. (Access the interactions with the red 'i' button, next to the '{}' script button on the 'Room Settings' window.)

Set it to 'normal', then add a InterfaceOff (3); to the game_start function. It'll function just like a popup modal GUI, except the cursor change should work. If it doesn't, just change it back and remove the InterfaceOff ().

I don't think youre version of AGS will pr-date InventoryScreen, but you're not using it, so it doesn't matter.
Did you try setting the GUI to 'Normal' visibility? As I said, if that doesn't work, I'm fresh out of ideas.

It's not bad as an early, non-zombie, non-cyborg Jason - so the clean boiler suit and mask are fine. He just needs to be a bit broader I think - even in the early films he was a big bugger, while here he looks a little scrawny. And yes, he needs his machette.

What have you got so far? How is it not working - not counting down, starting from wrong time, not displaying, generating an error, just not doing anything?