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I like the idea of using a view, it's like a pre-built data structure where I can keep the first few frames of the loop for stuff like the cover and corners and such, and the rest would be images in the book (or sprite index 0 if that page has no images).

The game is low res, but I don't want the whole book to be images, because there might be translations at some point down the line, and having multiple translation images in a loop feels like it would get very complicated.

I'll try to come up with a demo over the weekend, using an external text file, and then if (when) I have problems, I'll ask more here!

EDIT; I wanted to share a mockup, but imgur doesn't seem to work anymore. Someone have an alternative?

Imgur worked a day ago, I've posted one image here, and it's still showing:
https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?msg=636684832

Are you sure you are using the correct BBCode link?

It wasn't even letting me upload.
But I've shared an image now with imagebb, thanks eri0o.

About the book GUI system, you need the images? If you want you can try using the Fancy module to see if it can handle images in the strings themselves and assign the resulting image (with text and sprites) in a button to be the page contents. Not sure how well that will go but it's an idea.

I once did a text only book system and used a directory that I packaged along the game (using the option from general settings) and had a bunch of "book_001.txt" text files which I edited in a different text editor that had spellcheck and made they be loaded by the game (using the $DATA file token). It worked nice but I didn't have images or any need for complex layouts so there wasn't much testing of the text of each book to get it to render correctly in the engine.

I was thinking about simplifying the images by just having them be full page width in the background, and text on top of them, and manually spacing out the text if an image is there. So the images array could have one value for an empty page, and another for an image (could just be the sprite index, in fact).

The plan is for my game to have maybe about a dozen books. These can be read where they are, and some maybe picked up and carried as inventory. I figured instead of making a dozen different GUIs or a dozen different rooms, I'd make a "book GUI system" instead. I haven't completed it yet, but I'd figure I'd mention how I'm planning on going about it here, and get input on if I'm doing something wrong or overcomplicating stuff.

Things I'm doing to simplify my life:

• No page turn animations
• Books always open to the middle (the border image would stay the same, and you'd never see the cover from the front)
• There can be images, but if a page has an image, it'll only be in a fixed position (center top)
• No position saving when you close and reopen a book

EDIT: I wanted to share a mockup, but imgur doesn't seem to work any more. Someone have an alternative?
My idea was to have a struct that would contain:

• The text of the book (likely not going to be more than 5-6 "pages")
• A variable to hold the colour of the cover (will be used to assign relevant images to the visible edges of the cover)
• A variable to hold the colour of the pages (will be used to assign the relevant images for the edge of the paper, as well as the "page turn" button)
• (Getting complicated for me here) An array holding all the images in the book, with the index having 0 if there is no image on a page

Then when the player picks up a book and reads it, set up the GUI with the variables of the relevant instance of the struct, and make it visible.

Two things are currently worrying me:
Could there be an easier way of having the book than just typing it all out as a string in the script?

Splitting the text of the book into pages- I'm guessing I'll need to figure out a max number of characters, and if a word extends beyond that, move it and the rest of the text to the next page. Will need to figure out a way to calculate that includes whether the page has an image or no image

Is there something I'm missing that vastly simplifies this all? Is there something that I'm missing that will complicate everything? Is there a better way to do this? Thanks in advance for your help!

EDIT; I wanted to share a mockup, but imgur doesn't seem to work anymore. Someone have an alternative?

Hello, I am 90sNick (or 90sNick_Pinesal in some places). I have created a couple of RPGmaker games, but there's the thing with those, I modeled the gameplay after a point and click adventure, no battles, just dialog and puzzles.

I have known about AGS for a while but was always too intimidated to use it because it's more code heavy than RPG maker. However, after switching careers recently, I have been doing light coding for work and now I am much more comfortable, though still very armature at program coding and logic.

I hope to use these forum to discus idea, find out what I don't know I don't know, and get help with AGS specific syntaxes and practices.

I do have a quick request, if I may; I there a game that I can play and load into AGS for the purposes of dissecting the game and figuring out how it works? The build in templates are good but they don't represent a full working game.

Thanks.

Welcome!
In case you didn't find it, there is a list of open source games you can check out here: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/advanced-technical-forum/a-sticky-list-with-open-source-ags-games/

Make sure to investigate the newer ones if your purpose is to figure out AGS!

[phone]

If that is not a word, then I will pick up the phone tomorrow morning, book a plane ticket to Africa and let a rhino trample me.

Either that, or I'll just make more effort to increase my vocab.


All the above words have their own entry in the paper dictionary currently sitting in my lap. Why does everything always have to be one thing or another? Can't a word be BOTH an abbreviated form AND an acceptable word in its own right?

I guess it comes down to generalised expectations of where and how far language has progressed. I guess I'm a little behind 'public opinion' (as defined by what the NYT Wordle decides is a valid word) in that I don't consider that (or vocab) to be a valid word, but would be fine with 'phone' (plane being a special case because it has another meaning anyway). Checking the dictionaries cat linked, MW specifies that 'fam' and 'dis' as slang, but OED does not (and even lists 'fams' as the plural of 'fam'). Again, I'd not consider those valid Wordle words either (even if they were 5 letters long).

However, Oxford English Dictionary lists it as noun

Spoiler

https://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/definition/english/admin?q=admin

[close]

So, definitely a word. Since Wordle is originally British, it makes sense to include the word.

We already discussed that it is quite random what is accepted and what not.

But even the OED link you shared states it is an abbreviation 

I also got it in 4.

Today's word...is not a word.

Yet, presently I mostly use generative AI to help me build my backgrounds. Not just by writing a clever prompt. But mostly by using a photograph I made and ask the AI to create a background based on it in a certain pixel art style. And then use that as a basis to further edit it into something that fits in my game. Or I ask generative AI to make a nighttime version of a daytime background. So far I've managed to get a consistent enough style. And enough of myself in it to not make it feel as 'soulless' as Generative AI art often feels. Again: not Generic mediocrity.

Could you share an example of your process? Maybe one or two BGs to show the matching consistency of the style?
Because as it is now, even putting aside all the ethical issues with using generative AI, I've just never had successful use cases with it. Obviously, I'm not a prompt engineer or anything, but while my "See it in my mind's eye->Draw it out" conversion process is really bad, my "See it in my minds eye->Write a prompt->Have something generated" is even worse, and for detailed art (like you'd have in a BG, compared to like "draw a picture of a cat!" prompt), there's always so much nonsense and incorrectness there, that even using it as a reference seems pointless (maybe that'd be less relevant at pixel art level?). I've not used it with having a picture as input, but I feel it'd be faster for me to just shrink down a photograph and pixel over it.

Not really related to the new site specifically, I think, but apparently the AGS awards are currently underway.

Wordle 1,385 X/6*

⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟩⬛⬛⬛
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩
⬛🟩🟩🟩🟩

Bit annoyed, seems wordle long ago gave up on the most common words.

The AGS versions listed on the main site: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/#create
As well as the CREATE page: https://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/create/

Are out of date, pointing to a download (and forum page) of a version from June of last year.

I have had this happen as well. Its been for the past few versions of 3.6 as well (I think I noticed it since the beginning of last year). Sometimes typing something and searching just crashes the whole of AGS.

I've gotten into the habit of not opening the .chm through AGS.

Ah, that's true, fair enough! I wasn't thinking of that, as I think this year I played so many of the games the month they came out 

I know this is far too late to ask this, but since cat mentioned it, I figured I might throw it out there:

Could we have all the MAGS games that came out this year included?

(totally understand that this is an unreasonable request!)

The problem of the 21st century individual 

I think the usual solution is to engross yourself in whatever addictive form of social media is closest at hand (on your phone) and "doomscroll" until you look up and 4 hours have passed.

Look at each game you want. There is "AGS panel rating" was this rating done by AGS PANEL? If not why call it AGS panel rating? It's the simplest English.

Again, yes, nobody is denying the word panel is used. I don't know why you keep going on about that. The point being made is that it is only YOU who assumes that because the word "panel" is used, that automatically means something involving every member of that panel playing every game and rating every game together.

This is why I said there appears to be a language barrier. You are the only one who seems to think that's the way a panel has to operate. Nobody else has claimed that here.

Reviewing and rating every game is part of categorising them, yes. The rest of it, I don't know what you are saying or asking.

So now that we've established:
- There is an AGS Panel
- The Panel rates games as part of their function
- "The Panel rates games" does not mean that ever person in the panel played the game and rated it, and had their ratings averaged for the panel score.
- Nobody, ever, anywhere, at any time, suggested any system like the one above
- No system like the one above exists at this scope (including rottentomatoes, which you now accept does not work like that)

I don't understand your point. I'm not the one who brought up rottentomatoes, you did. If now you feel they don't fit your meaning of how ratings should be done, then...why mention them at all?
As per the link I've already shared with you, the Ratings panel's function is to bring order to and categorise the vast number of games in the AGS DB.

Critical ratings on rottentomatoes don't work anything like that. Rottentomatoes takes reviews from other sources (individuals and newspapers/sites/magazines) who have given them permission (and they have accepted), and combine and average those ratings. Every person/group who qualifies doesn't have to have written a review before there is a score for something on rottentomatoes. In fact, for new movies or obscure/unpopular movies, it is very possible that there is only a single critic's review when the score goes up, and more may or may not be added later.

Nobody is specifically writing reviews for rottentomatoes. It is a review aggregator with a selection process for reviewers.

Yes, it definitely does seem like there is a language barrier at play here. No, "Your game was rated by the AGS Rating Panel" does not inherently imply that multiple people played your game and collaborated to decide on a rating. Such a system would be impossible, and we'd never get any ratings done at all (even as it is, the Ratings panel is far behind the released games).