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Well I did have every intention of joining everybody at the ceremony, but it's looking as if we've got a mandatory family outing at that time.  Dualnames, if you're reading this, please stand a cardboard cut-out of me in a prominent position.  Congratulations to all the nominees and of course to the winners -I'll be sure to read up on the results afterwards.  Happy ceremony!

I did something similar a couple of years back.  The AI opponents basically have to make decisions based on probabilities, the actions of other players/AIs (the equivalent of watching for a tell in the real world), or a combination of both.  Each AI opponent should deal with this information differently, making them more/less aggressive.  It's fun to experiment with variables -a timer to track how long it takes the human to play, what part of the "bet" button they click on, how big bets are, etc. etc. etc.

Let me know if you invent the perfect poker player so I'll know not to play online anymore.

Where do we download from?

The Beacon download keeps telling me it's expired.
I've tried La Sol 3 times and have died at progressive stages.  It sounds like I'm about as far as Calin, so at least I'm in good company.  It's a very immersive game so far..... 

Does View 24 have animated frames in all of its loops, especially the loop related to the direction of travel in question (loop 1 = left, for example)?

Nice!  I think the doodles and sketches make for a great game universe.  I second Pinback's call for a sketched main character, though.  Or at least gray him down a little bit (not to blend in with background, just to make him seem part of the universe) -something.  Otherwise this looks like a good game in the making. 

Define "latest games".  Does he experience the same thing with the classics?  Can we narrow it down to an AGS version?

CHAR files sent and signed up!

I have one minor critique left: The bottom of the one rock behind the log should be covered by flowing water, especially in the animated version it looks as if the rock is hovering in front of the water, having its black contour line untouched by any water.

Hmmmm....  Now that you mention it, it does look a little funny.  I'll be sure to patch that up in the game.  Thanks!

  I thought the spelling slang added atmosphere, but I could see how it might be hard to discern a Chinese stereotypical accent in written form if you weren't a native English speaker. 

I was specifically thinking of the knife-throwing chef mixing his Rs for Ls when I wrote that (since that's what I had the most trouble following myself).

Scanned the thread, although I read through most of the first page.

   I think I agree with Snarky most, especially his characterization of AGS game development as folk art.  I deeply appreciate uoou's admiration for my skills, talents and potential as a forum member, but I don't see the AGS community as the Moulin Rouge c. 1900.  While not quite wood carving, the fact that we fans are creating games that the "artistic establishment" wouldn't make for us inevitably leads to imitative, derivative and even kitchy game styles.  And there's nothing wrong with any of that, in my opinion, because these games are fun to make, fun to play, and fun to be around (meaning the sense of community I feel here). 

     Just like other folk art communities, I doubt many developers spend a lot of time overtly contemplating the advancement of the genre (Scavenger's "philosophical masturbation" aptly characterizes the attitude of the common man).  Unlike high art or literature, whose tone is more set by the elite avant-garde who might intentionally set out to "break the mold", the folk arts have a greater tendency to evolve organically.  If a new concept plays well, then it will be incorporated into ever more games (and thus frustratingly cease to be novel and cutting edge...).  Uoou's concession that a few exemplary games have pushed the envelope a little bit is evidence that the process is a slow one, but I think he misses the cumulative result in the big picture. Adventure games have indeed evolved since the 1980s - "key in door" puzzles, walking mazes, intentional walking deads and "what word was the developer thinking of" (text based interface) are either extinct or on their way out, while social commentary, deeper story telling and the episodic format are all now in vogue.

     I think the OP should be tweaked and reposted in collage, knitting and scale-model railway forums as an amusing study in the universalism of hobbyists response to not being cutting edge enough.

I've finally finished it -incredible work.  The sprites and animation were awesome, the backgrounds were amazing, and the cutscenes blew my mind!  I thought the spelling slang added atmosphere, but I could see how it might be hard to discern a Chinese stereotypical accent in written form if you weren't a native English speaker.  Truthfully the only constructive comment I can offer is setting up some lighting regions so that the main character sprite doesn't stick out so much in darker environs -when he's standing next to the ship captain all shrouded in shadows he looked quite a bit out of place.  But the characters, game-world, and dialog were all top-notch in my opinion.  Really a must play -good job and good luck with the commercial edition.

That's disappointingly clear to read and understand.  I prefer the Original Google Translation for its poetic weirdness.

There's been some pressure for me to up the ante by posting something hot and sexy to generate votes for Snakes of Avalon:



Maybe if we win something she'll go skinny dipping....  :o

I like a sense of decay -it really adds to the sense of place.  Clean cut and well-kept is for me boring, sterile; a place that's falling apart has character, stories, atmosphere.  Examples (I'm in a sci fi mood tonight):

Space Quest 3

Space Quest 4

[Time Gentlemen, Please!]

Time Gentlemen, Please! was easily the best $6 I ever spent.  You will never find a better laughs per dollar ratio (and that includes hilarious freeware games since you can't divide by zero -you just can't!).  I recommend it to anyone. 

After that the only other AGS games I've paid for would be a few of Dave's Blackwell series.  They were good, just not really my thing.

Or maybe something simple like connecting Kinect body movement and speech recognition.
Or while we're on camera recognition, why not make the player actually use stuff, like say you need to photograph a crime scene, the way you preform that action is by using a flash aimed at the pc camera. Open a jar by getting a jar and opening it. Getting a key by showing a key pointed at the camera. Looking up clues in real books at the library etc.

Something like Nintendo's Wii system where different Wiimote motions result in different interactions would be cool, but still a stretch for two students without much of a budget.

I once toyed with the idea of using AGS as a social science research tool.  The idea was to create the city's downtown as an AGS world, and then let the player roam around it while recording their impressions of each sub-area using some sort of Fear-o-meter.  This could generate a nice neat dataset and save the logistical hassle of recruiting volunteers to go downtown with an interviewer.  Never panned out in the end, though.

Option #5 - Nothing finances worthy causes better than a nude calendar.  You can pose every month yourself, or see if you can recruit 11 other prominent AGSers to take one for the team.  If you distribute it digitally your costs will be minimal and, pending good taste and creative posing, you may be able to satisfy both your artists and your voice actors (er, financially that is).

Option #6 - Have you considered defraying the financial risk with some sort of informal partnership or corporate structure?  Everyone invests time and effort, and then reaps a proportionate fraction of the rewards on a contingency basis should the venture prove successful.  So, say the game corporation is broken down into a million shares, and every acceptable line of voice acting is worth 10 shares, or every usable sprite is worth 100, etc. (you'll have to break it down exactly according to the amount of work required so that it seems fair).  Every quarter for a year after the release date you divide the spoils proportionately, and then you fold the corporation (to cut down on long term hassle), with any remaining profits going to you as the ultimate owner of the franchise (obviously that would have to be made clear in the original agreement with your partners).  It depends on your jurisdiction, but setting up this kind of share structure for a private company can be dirt cheap, and anyway you could probably get away with doing it informally (but written contracts are a good idea so there are no misunderstandings).  If many people have a vested interest in seeing a commercial McCarthy widely distributed, they might just help with the marketing.  Indeed, you could set aside 50K shares for a designated pimp position....

Just throwing ideas out there.

    These "gamer survey" threads are interesting to read as a developer -it's kind of like market research, albeit anecdotal and from a very self-selected group.  Sure they're often repetitive, but there's always a couple of insightful comments that make you think.
    What would really take it a step further, however, would be a broader survey of adventure gamers.  A database that could tell you that 80% of the Sierra camp hate dialog trees or 98% of the Lucas Arts camp despise mazes (unless in dialog form.... : ) could really inform development.  Does anyone know if this has been done and where to find it?

    Since I've cluttered up your thread with semi-on-topic musings, I'll finish by answering your questions:

* If you had to list 3 things that make up a good game what would they be?

Atmosphere, plot and puzzles, probably in that order.

* What is it about a game that inspires you?

As a developer?  I'm always kicking myself playing other people's games thinking "Why didn't I think of that!"
In a broader sense, I am inspired by the satisfaction of solving problems and being appropriately rewarded.

* What do you consider 'off putting' about a game?

Unedited material.  I can handle the occasional glitch, but obvious spelling errors or information overload is a real turn-off for me.   

* Your Preference: Lucasarts or Sierra or other?

Sierra, more due to familiarity than because I think their "style" is any better.

* Mouse or Keyboard controls?

Indifferent.

* Anything else you can think of....

Bismark is the capital of North Dakota.  In terms of AGS games, I'm a little put off by the recent surge in graphically awesome projects.  Don't get me wrong, awesome graphics are great (and awesome), but they really eat into productivity.  I remember when (it seemed that) there were two or three new games released every day, but now the culture of quality seems to have really slowed up the release rate.  Too often I'm reading amazing WiP threads started years ago, with no release date in sight.  Many times these games are so awesome they are just abandoned, because they could never be finished to such a degree of quality (given the constraints of freeware or highly risky commercial business models).  Do bear in mind my response to the first question: graphical quality is way down my personal priority list, so I'm biased.  Nevertheless, AGSers,  I say turn down the graphical quality and churn out more games!

I've had a couple concussions from hockey, and I'll tell you that's no fun.  I've never had a bionic arm, though, so I can't relate on that front.  On to quads, they rock!  One summer treeplanting they helicoptered a quad in for me on this remote access block -you haven't lived until you've driven one of these things through swamps and clearcuts.

Evidence:


Yes, that's right, they PAID me to do it.  Buwuhahahahahah!