Topics

I thought I should try my hand at doing some hi-res characters, since I've only really done lo-res. So here is my 1st attempt:

I thought that if I explained the procedure, it would be easier to find out if I'm doing something wrong, because basically I'm doing exactly what I do with lo-res, except much bigger.

1st I drew the outline of the character, and filled in the basic colours:


Using the outline as a guide I took a darker skin colour and shaded that in with the paintbrush. I then took a lighter skin colour and used that for the highlights:


I dislike that it looks so messy, and seems exactly like a lo-res picture, except more blurry. Also, I don't think the shading worked well with the cheekbones bit, and the part where the bones (muscles?) stick out of the neck. Aside from that, the same method of shading doesn't seem to work well with clothes (not shown)

I made the hair and clothes outlines on a separate layer to add later, so please excuse the obvious anatomical inconsistencies .

I'd really appreciate a step-by-step.

(BTW, just as a heads up, all of the links in the first post, and many after that in the tutorials thread do not work)

I did this just for fun, I little friendly competition between friends, and I realise it's more rhyme than reason, but I needed some help. I'd like some assistance with the weak rhymes, and whether the AAAA BBBB CCCC thing works, but if you can help me otherwise, I'd be extra happy too:

(BTW, if you haven't seen the original Star Wars trilogy, you might not want to read this)

One day, on the ol' Deathstar Darth saw:
OB1 Kenobi, then his lightsaber did he draw,
Swish, Bzzt, Whoosh, and Kenobi was no more,
And Luke in the background was screaming: "Naaaaw!"

Next time Darth met Luke he set a trap
Darth thought it would all be a snap
But after beating Luke till he was soft as sap,
Luke got away, but now he couldn't clap.

Last time they met in space near a rock,
Luke knew he was a chip of the old block,
And while he gave Darth quite a knock,
Darth still saved him from the Emps' electric shock.

Before his death one thing did Darth ask,
He said: "Could I see you without my mask?"
When he died Luke had to do one more task,
And burn up his dad, so in fire he would bask.

3x
I need to touch up on my character art, so I thought this would be a good way to do it. I'm not so much interested in the hippiness of the sprite as I am in the technique.

I've always had problems with drawing poses for game characters, especially considering that if it's a playable character, you need the "At ease" position, but it not being too much of a pose (sort of how a normal person would stand around in between adventuring). My characters poses always end up looking boring. I realise this might not be the best sprite to work with, seeing as he's holding up a pipe, but I would still appreciate some pointers.

Also about the art. You might have seen from my previous sprites that I dislike using outlines and too much detail in favour of showing the shape through shadows and blocks of colours. Maybe this is a flawed "style", but if so, help me. If you think it's an OK direction to go, help me.

I should apologise, as this is not so much a "Crit my sprite" call for help, as it is a "This is how far I can go, teach me what else to do, please". I hope this is still an acceptable place to post this.

Hello all!

I've decided that since I can (basically) handle graphics, programming and story on my own, I should attempt to learn something about how to handle music. I've also decided that it would be simplest for me to use MIDI or some similar format for music.

My problem is that I know nothing about music at all. I have the basic ability of "This sounds right, this doesn't". I know nothing about notes, octaves, etc. I have a Synthesizer at home that I've scotch-taped "DO RE ME FA SO LA TI DO" to, and can plonk out "The Snake Dance" from memory. Aside from that, I can make random tunes that "Sound right" to me, but then am never able to repeat them. Figuring that the Synthesizer would be my best bet, I scouted around the market for a MIDI cable, but could not find any.

On the PC, I can cut and paste songs and come out with something the whole family can laugh at, but I don't think that is very useful. I had downloaded Microsoft Music Producer, which gives out random tunes according to the inputs you specify, but even to my untrained ear, it all sounds alike. I downloaded Midimaker, and although I enjoyed it's apparent ease of use, it seems to me that it would literally take hours to even come up with a semblance of how I'd like a piece to sound. I then downloaded Anvil, but that just got me confused. I just get frustrated, and load Boyd's "Keyboard Madness" program, where I can at least understand what's going on

I realise I will have to do some heavy help-file reading, but can someone suggest a good (and free) program that a beginner can start using easily? Also, can someone point out some tutorials for a beginner (I am having A LOT of difficulty finding these)?

Another point, will it really be necessary for me to learn notes? I know I shouldn't whine so much, but it seems such a troublesome thing...

* Babar curses his parents for never getting him in piano classes

What I mean is that I can write reasonable stories without having read up on things like "Catharsis", and I can make reasonable graphics without knowing all that much about "Colour Tables". I suppose I have an intense dislike to the idea that there should be a scientific way to make these things. I realise that I might (have to) learn all these things later on to be able to get better, but I don't think it was necessary to learn it all at the beginning. Is there an equivalent of a MSPaint in music where I can just choose the pencil tool and draw stickmen, childish backgrounds and have fun, or do I have to directly jump into knowing everything?

Bahh....perhaps I'm just moving into the Old Dog stage, but please, HELP!

Heh, no, I'm not trying to get you to do my homework. See, my problem is that I want that when the player clicks with the right mouse button anywhere on the screen, a dart is thrown by the character in that direction, that only stops when it comes to a wall. I used the tangent formula here, but then realised that because of the inverted screen coordinates, every thing is wrong, and I really can't figure out how to fix it.

Code: ags

else {Ã,  Ã, // right-click
Ã,  Ã,  int tan;
Ã,  Ã,  tan=(cEgo.y-mouse.y-20)/(mouse.x-cEgo.x);
Ã,  Ã,  cDart.ChangeRoom(cEgo.Room, cEgo.x, cEgo.y-20);
Ã,  Ã,  cDart.Walk(320, cEgo.y-(tan*(320-cEgo.x)), eNoBlock, eAnywhere);
Ã,  }

In repeatedly execute I've got a chunk of code that checks if cDart is in the room, and if it has reached x=320, then changes cDart's room to -1 (I don't really mind right now that the dart can go off screen from above and below).

Someone mentioned a while back that the popularity of adventure games went down with the increase in usage of the internet, this allowing people to obtain walkthroughs easily.

I'm not to sure about that. I mean, the whole reason for needing walkthroughs is puzzles. The puzzles are the problem. If the whole gameplay of a game is centred around something that can be gotten off the internet, something is wrong. You can't check off the internet the best way to kill the baddy in level 4, or which is the best path to take to dodge the ghosts in Pacman, or which tile to move so the picture puzzle is complete.

I got stuck in adventure games way before I had any internet, and the frustration was enough to put you off the game for years (which it did, until I got the internet). If you notice, it's never the awesome puzzles that pull you back, but the wish to continue the story. The puzzles were a nuisance, put there to lengthen the game. I realise we have a thread for "Favourite Adventure Game Puzzles" (which ironically, has more hated puzzles that favourites), but then again, how many games do you replay to relive the puzzles?

Thinking about it, puzzles are pretty absurd. An example - Getting a statue head to place in a socket to be able to get lava in a cup to be able to use in a machine to get beads to power a robot to trample a guard - An interconnected sequence of this for that for this for that, where after a while, you lose sight of the original objective. This from a fellow who's main puzzle (which technically failed) was swapping a golden idol for a bag of sand, before running away as fast as he could.

The question arises, are puzzles really necessary for an adventure game?
If the answer is no, then something needs to replace the interactivity that puzzles brought. You could make an adventure game with nothing but clicking away while the main characters do their bit, but wouldn't that be a movie rather than a game? I think this has been done a few times (I myself have a CD of "Interactive Batman and Aquaman Game Comics"), but would it be enjoyable? If you want to stick to "Pure adventure-ness" then the only way I can think of to have some interactivity would be to give the player control over the path of the story: If the player saves the damsel in distress, he'd get an extra hand to help him defeat the evil wizard. If he sacrifices her and drinks her blood, he'd grow more powerful, and be able to defeat the evil wizard anyway. The only problem with this approach is that it would be difficult to design and code such a large and complex story (unless the branches were as superficial as my example) - but that seems to be the solution of all problems: Work harder and longer . Another advantage of this sort of game would be it's replayability. Unless you are a hardcore adventure gamer, or playing for nostalgia, once you know the solution to the puzzles, it's boring: just clicking away.

The other option is mixing the adventure with elements from other types of games: RPGs, platformers, FPSs, even strategy games. Or perhaps having puzzles as their own genre, with games like Myst, Golbiiins and Hodge and Podge. However, I'm not so sure how successful this would be. I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to be replaying 1213 in the near future for its enjoyable action. I'd say it'd be better to get something newer rather than mixing it with the old stuff.

Now if you say that puzzles ARE an essential part of adventure games, and should not be removed, then what should be done? Where is the balance between walking through simple key in the door puzzles, and bashing your head on the screen in frustration? How puzzling should puzzle be so as not to need a walkthrough? CAN there be a specific (good) amount? Personally, I don't think so (Heh...Unless it's the 'Work harder and longer' answer again). I realise that it may seem I am against puzzles, but it's is because that is the path my thoughts were taking. I can't seem to find a satisfactory answer to these questions. Maybe the use of some intrinsically solvable puzzles (like how dialogue puzzles are handled?) Any ideas? Because I can't think of anything.

* Babar  promises not to quote Shakespeare

What's with a name? Does it help the story in any way? CAN it help the story in any way? Does it make the characters more memorable?

For example, no one who's read LotR/The Hobbit while paying any sort of attention to it would forget the name "Gandalf". No one who's seen the Indiana Jones movies would forget the name "Indiana Jones". Same with Guybrush Threepwood.

Is it the absurdity that makes the name memorable? For example, I cannot remember the names of the twins from "Two of a kind", or the name of the character from yodaman's game, or the names of the characters from "The Dig" or the names of the characters from the movies "AI" or "Pay it forward" or "Hearts in Atlantis" (sorry, I give these examples as they are movies I saw recently). From Ocean's Eleven/Twelve I can only remember the Ocean guy.

Another trend I noticed, is that in team games/movies/books the character names become less memorable. Like The Dig, Ocean's, Two of a kind, Maniac Mansion. However, this is not always true (In Lord of the Rings, despite there being such a large number of active characters, I remember them. Of course, I am interested in LotR, so that might be it).

Personally, when I'm writing a story or making a game, the main character names really do not play much part. I usually end up making the name a joke, or getting it by mixing random characters.

For example, in Alien Time Zone (shameless self promotion, I know. But I have a point!Ã,  ) the main character's name is Ejak U'laithe, this being a play on a certain #AGSer's name to make it sound like an action (which the character does many times during the game).

My point is that despite being an absurd name, I really doubt that anyone thought of the character as "Ejack". In fact, I can't believe anyone would think of the character as anything other than "The little green guy". Then again, the name of the character is only mentioned once.

That's another point. If the name is really complex, or fancy, there is also less of a chance of remembering it. Like the names of the main orcs in Lord of the Rings. Or some of those characters in Star Trek.

At least to me, it seems that the name of the character has no function other than something that it can be called by other characters. Am I wrong? I admit, there is something wrong with just choosing a name randomly as well. But what possible purpose can a name play in the story?

Again, Indiana Jones wouldn't be Indiana Jones unless he was Indiana JonesÃ,  , and the same with Guybrush etc.

I don't know, there seems something wrong to me to give the character a name that describes it's character (or describes the opposite of it, for humour). It becomes unreal, and somewhat silly.

How should I get a name, then? Would it make any difference? Can it improve the story?

New contest!
For this here round, you must have a journey-type adventure. Preferably involving someone gamingly famous- Anyone from Indy to Grundislav.

Ready, set, go!

Can someone help me with what colour the walls/floor should be? I've been told the current colour combination doesn't look so good. The floor is supposed to be wooden planks.

Also, can someone help with how to make foreground objects? Just plain black outlines don't look so good.




BTW, just so you know, it's not complete yet.

I'd appreciate help on how to do the stones properly. They seemed a good idea while sketching, but when I started colouring, I couldn't visualise how to make them proper.

Also, since this is going to be in a 256 colour game, I was hoping someone can explain how I can do the sky nicer. I realise I could use dithering, but I'm not too fond of dithering, and was hoping that there is some other method.

Any other help would of course, be appreciated also.

Is there any way to check the height and width of an object? Or even the height and width of a sprite? Objects in my Room can be manipulated and moved by the player within a certain box. I'd like to be able to set limits. Right now I'm using an x and y limit I set on my own, but I'd prefer to have each object checked individually and the limit set according to it's size. Help would be most appreciated.

Comic Contest!
This time round, the round is time!
Make a comic about time travelling, or time anomalies, etc.

Roger Wilco's adventures, or unseen bits from the Day of the Tentacle, be creative!

Hello all!
It seems I have been going in circles. I've been trying to achieve this style for at least a year, but I keep making the same mistakes. Looks I have a problem with clothing.
Now I have read a few tutorials on clothes shading, and they have helped me with making little folds and loops while sketching, but I can't seem to incorporate them here.

Two examples:



It seems that all the clothes in my sprites look like square or hexagonal boxes, or look like random patches of colour on the cloth. I'd be most thankful if someone helped me with these specific sprites, though if you gave a sort of "general rule" or even a tutorial on how to handle cloth folds and shading in this sort of sprite, you'd make me a very happy person.

I generally dislike writing serious poetry, it usually sounds pretentious and snotty, and shows my lack of skill all too openly, so I have no idea how this got here. I realise that I've mixed up too much of "Ye Olde English" with "Yo, not so old English", and I've placed too much importance on rhyming. Any help would be appreciated:


A stone with which my life compared:
The uselessness that both have fared.

I gaze, I gape, my maw awide,
My usefulness and stone's: Denied.

He drones on, building word on word,
His simile, my wrath incurred,
I tune out, his voice just in background sense,
Unbeknownst to him, I take offense.

I stare at it: this useless stone,
It's characters like mine alone,
A double life it lives throughout,
One hidden, under; One open, out.

I muse to myself: If this stone was not,
Would it, in a flash, be forgot?

I tune back to find no background sound,
His voice is gone, he's not around.
I rise, and stand above my twin,
I pull it out, and look within.

A horde of insects I find inside,
A horde my stone was meant to hide.
They run around, annoyed, distressed,
I replace the stone as I see best.

The stones secret has been kept awhile.
"As useless as the stone" - I smile.

I have a problem. I cannot finish my projects. I come up with enormous ideas, connect them all together, create enormous game design plans (and even actually complete the design for every single thing in the game), but am then unable to complete making the game.

So I thought, why not make a smaller game? Sounds like a good idea, but it is impossible for me. I start out with the basic story, little elements in it then give me big ideas, I think "why not add this? and this? and this?", until the game is huge. Then if I leave those elements out, it feels like I am restricting and worsening the game somehow.

For example, my one succesfully completed game, "Alien Time Zone", had most of the graphics, music and sound taken from elsewhere, had a grand total of 12 rooms (inclusive of all intro, outro, menu screens), and despite all that took me almost my whole summer to make. It was the only story I could think of that actually limitted itself in that you don't travel from room to room in space, but in time. Even then, I had zillions of different "times" I wanted to add.

However, all games cannot be made like that. Another example. One of my first AGS game ideas (that never got off the design stage) involved a rather RPGish story involving a group of "tribes" in a fantasy world. I got so caught up in making legends and histories for the world and connecting them to the story, that it was never finished.

Ok, then how about a not-so-fantasy world type story? Tried that too. Random little kid in the city who wants to do something incredible. I still ended up making a history and "current events perspective" for the game so large that it never got past the "few BG sketches stage". Even without the history, I tried adding a zillion "good ideas" that could be in a city, a zillion personalities that I happen to want to see in existance, etc.

Ok, then what about a completely new city? Sounds too suspicious. Why is it completely new? What was it before? etc, etc.

Sure, I could make a non-serious game, (and I have tried), but they need backgrounds too. And again, all those "elements" that you think of adding, that would be incredible, advance the gameplay, rock the story on and shit, that would never allow the project to finish, but you don't have the heart to cut out.

So help me! What should I do? How should I limit myself? Or what kind of a story limits itself? Fellow trapped in a room needs to escape? Why? How? Where? Overdone.

I was bored on this PC with nothing but Paint, so I started this up, and really liked how it was going. However, when I got to the face, I had a problem. I don't know how I can define the nose properly. Can it be defined at all?
I saved it as 256 colours by mistake, so the colour scheme may look a bit odd:
http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/winner.bmp

Other crits are of course, welcome. I realise I probably made a lot of shadow, anatomy errors. It was just a 15 minute piece of fun.

This time round, the competition is a little more peaceful. You must create a trading system. Like the shopkeeper guy in RPGs, or the lonely space station in in trading sims. You know the stuff- buying, selling, profitting, etc.

Here are the rules:
1. Must be open-source. We can hardly inspect your coding if we cant see it.
2. Must contain instructions for how to add to an existing game, this will obviously be easier if the scripting is done as a module
3. Only use of the 3D, TCP/IP and maths plugins are allowed
4. Must provide sample game using the trade engine (obviously!)
5. Team efforts are allowed, and you're probably expected to get help for sprites, etc from elsewhere.
6. As far as possible, entries will be judged on their scripting and gameplay rather than GFX, SFX, music, etc.
7. Winner will be decided by 1 week of voting at the end.

And please, like MAGS, post here if you're thinking of entering. And please post if you're a spriter, etc. who can offer their services to scripters who need a few images of a shopkeeper or space station or whatever.

Let the peaceful trade commence!

EDIT: Bzzzp! Fwap! What?

Ok, I have this lil' ol' room of a minigame that uses keyboard, so in the before entering room interaction I disabled the mouse. I also have this GUI that shows up after playing the minigame asking if you want to retry or quit. However, since using the mouse is the simplest way I can think of operating a GUI, I tried re-enabling the mouse. It doesn't work.

Aside from that, there is the problem that the game continues running in the background when the GUI is called. I was using a Visible= Popup Modal GUI (it says that Popup Modal is the only "blocking GUI"), but I changed it to Normal just for the heck of it, and it had the same problem (in fact, the only difference I noticed between the two was that I had to disable the GUI in the beginning for normal). I have a feeling that this is related to the first problem. I asked around #AGSTech first, and they seemed to be experiencing the same problem with commands around the one to enable the GUI.

The code is simple enough. This was in the Rep_ex:

if (hbar.Value<=0) {
  mouse.Visible=true;
  gEnd.Visible=true;
}

For those interested in looking more closely, here is the rarred source.

Canyon Runner
Just something I made. This is open source, so you can check any mistake I made. What I wanted to know: Is there any way to make this more enjoyable? Challenging? I mean, sure, I can smoothen things out, music etc., but I am talking about basic gameplay.

I am trying to make it so that a (loopable) room is always scrolling with the character going along with it. When the player presses an arrow key, the character moves in that direction. The problem is that for some reason, you have to press the arrow key a long while before the character starts moving. This happens right at the beginning, and then (randomly?) while moving around.

Here is the code. All the code I used was placed in Rep_ex:

Code: ags

function room_a() {
  // script for Room: Repeatedly execute
cEgo.y--;
SetViewport(0, GetViewportY()-1);
if (GetViewportY()==0) {
  cEgo.y+=400;
  SetViewport(0, 400);
}

if (IsKeyPressed(375)==true) {
  if (GetWalkableAreaAt(cEgo.x-1, cEgo.y)==1) cEgo.x--;
}

if (IsKeyPressed(377)==true) {
  if (GetWalkableAreaAt(cEgo.x+1, cEgo.y)==1) cEgo.x++;
}

if (IsKeyPressed(380)==true) {
  if (GetWalkableAreaAt(cEgo.x, cEgo.y+1)==1) cEgo.y++;
}

if (IsKeyPressed(372)==true) {
  if (GetWalkableAreaAt(cEgo.x, cEgo.y-1)==1) cEgo.y--;
}

}

I had substituted IsKeyPressed for on_key_press, but it didn't help.