Messages

I agree with Ryan Timothy, that it is intuitive to think of 3/5 as average.  The bell-curve of games in the database is heavily skewed in that there are very few 4/5 and 5/5 games.  Perhaps those categories should have been merged into a "really good" 4/4 or 5/5 category....  But it's all pointless to debate it now, since you'll never muster the enthusiasm to go back and re-rate the 900+ games already in the database.  For consistency's sake we are more or less stuck with the status quo, so us game makers are just going to have to roll with the punches.  If a game has been perceived to be slighted, recent evidence suggests that raising a ruckus will correct the problem -that's good enough for me.

I think a section where you could provide links to reviews in the games database is a wonderful idea, but it will have to be author driven.  Any serious potential player would rely more on in-depth reviews than some ill-explained rating system when deciding whether or not to download, and the sorry fact of the matter is that the non-serious player is just going to judge the game on its screen-shot anyway. 

OnAnyClick, or something like that  (under interactions for characters, objects, hotspots).

Unless you mean how to achieve this in terms of game play, in which case it's all about very careful puzzle design.

It looks like your dialog is non-blocking (the script just keeps running after dWindow1.Start ).  What you probably want to do is delete the lines after the dialog and do it with RunScript (old versions of AGS) or script it directly in the dialog script after the last thing is said (newer versions of AGS, I believe...).

There are complications, depending on how "wild" you want to make it.  My walkcycle for Charlie Foxtrot after he gets drunk was the hugest pain, because he would stumble all over the place and "appear" to walk off the walkable areas and through/over solid barriers.  Players seemed to like it though, but then it was integral to a puzzle and furthering the plot.  If it furthers the plot or character development I say go for it.

I've had a crisis of confidence in my English grammar paradigm:
     I've always been told to use the subject "I" instead of the object "me" when pairing myself with someone else as a subject.  For example, it is proper to say "Johny and I made an adventure game," while it is improper to say "Johny and me made an adventure game."  I understand now, after a Latin class in university, that "I" is nominative and "me" is accusative, dative, etc.  I was comfortable with the fact that English inherited these rules from Latin, or at least had these rules successfully grafted onto the language, so assimilating them into my everyday usage was easy.
     But just today I noticed a quirk in French: nobody says "Johny et je avons fait un jeux aventeur!"  They say "Johny et moi avons fait un jeux aventeur!" (all verb conjugation and spelling errors are mine, but stay focussed on the pronouns).  French, classified as a romance language and descended directly from [vulgar] Latin speakers (compared to the germanic English), doesn't obey the Latin rules!  And English is much more influenced by French (spoken by the ruling classes for three centuries during the formative period of Middle English) than by Latin (known only to the elite clergy virtually until modern English had fully formed).  So my question is, shouldn't it be proper to say "Johny and me...." after all?!?

Wow!  :o
    A review of the Winter Rose on the same page as one for Machinarium.  You honour me greatly!

Interesting read, especially the analysis of production values vs. profitability.  Do you keep track of all your inputs for each aspect of each project (money spent obviously, but also your time/effort)?  I also wonder how feasible it is to survey your customers, so that you could get more of a sense of what they like and don't like.  I'm always intrigued by the crude stats produced on the AGS Games page, but more detailed information would be helpful to the decision making process.

Sounds like something most easily done in Flash to me.  You can usually get good discounts on it through educational institutions.

Meh, I've been sicker.

Very interesting.  We'll replace artists with machines yet! 

Ha, beat you by two minutes!

I consoled myself by imagining that the crash was due to ten thousand people spontaneously deciding to download my game all on the same day.

Needless to say, this was not the case.

Is there any proof that this wasn't the case?  Maybe Discordance is getting too popular for the good of the community....

On trying to visit these very forums.....

Sorry, SMF was unable to connect to the database. This may be caused by the server being busy. Please try again later.

Sure, life was very fulfilling while I wasn't wasting time around here, but..... you know.  I missed you guys.  This isn't the first time I've had this problem recently, but it's definitely the longest outage (Sept 18-21).  Does anyone know the cause, the remedy, or the secret back-up meeting place url?  I can only reread SSH's blog many times before going squirrelly.

Baron 

Hello AGSers,
        Here's the offer: I will exchange my game making abilities (art, animation, programming, writing, puzzle design, consulting, etc.) for voice-acting services, roughly in a time-ratio of 1:1.  We need some reliable and motivated voice actors for a completed project.  The time commitment on your part could range from an hour (for a bit part) to as much as 10 hours (audition, sound-testing & voice-acting included) for a main part.  In exchange I will expend an equal amount of time working on whatever you need work on in your game.  To see the type of work I do in AGS you can view my profile and check out my games.  On request I can provide AGS member references who can attest to my diligence and timeliness of my work when collaborating (within reason).  If you think your game could benefit from my services, and you have a voice, please send a short .wav (10-20 seconds) showing your voice range to me via PM.

       If you can't think of anything to say, say "The big blue cup is a handsome mug" in as many different voices you can make.  We are primarily interested in finding an innocent sounding voice, young male, but variety for background characters is always appreciated.  I will try to get back to you within two days letting you know whether or not we can make use of your voice, and then the deal can proceed.
       Please do note that a couple hours of my time will not suffice to create an entire game, so don't be that guy.
       
Baron

Why would you leave your toothbrush on the ground??  Especially behind a walk-behind: nobody cleans behind there!

Ha!  You know, with these low res graphics it's whatever you imagine it to be.  I personally thought it was hair when I designed it, but now that I re-examine my inspiration (Henry V of England) I'm not entirely sure either:



It's probably hair or a hat, although there's an outside chance it is some sort of space brain slug a la Futurama.

But, in an other hand, I'm more into organising a Canadens for Brokens AGSers who can't afford Scotland / Miami. Something like an old Sugar Cabin that we can squat for almost nothing. A place like Ryan flat.

You're in luck.  We just recently added a new poop hole out back of the sugar shack.  Room for two poopers at a time now!

So..... was Canadittens at the sugar shack canceled too?  This is truly a dark day for *ens. 

Yes I know I'm not a beginner but this seems pretty simple.  I've created a pretty crazy font, which I like, but it's hard to read quickly -because it's crazy.  I'm finding the default speech delay is set too quick: is there a way to reset it so that speech text automatically displays longer?

Greetings All,
       I've created a game template based on Studio Mediocre: Case of the Bedeaded Dramatist.  If you've never heard of this game it's because you weren't perusing the MAGS competition thread back in February 2008.  Shame!  I never made a completed game announcement since it was just thrown together and was never really "complete".  It's mostly a dialogue based mystery: read the MAGS thread if you're interested.  At any rate, I always had intended to release a basic version as a template and I've finally actually gotten around to doing it.  

Screenshot:


WHAT IS STUDIO MEDIOCRE?   My original idea for Studio Mediocre, even before making a game of it, was to create a world that could easily be adapted to making experimental games.  The characters run the gamut from serious to sketchy, and since all are actors they can play any part as needed, change personalities on a whim, or even be killed off without repercussions.  The sets have nothing in common with each other, liberating the game author from the shackles of stylistic continuity and game-world plausibility.  If you're new to AGS or experienced and just want to have some fun, this template may be for you.

THE TEMPLATE:  The template consists of all the sets strung together as they were in the original game and the game characters -I think there are ten of each.  While there's nothing very complex about the empty game all of the scripts are commented to help beginners pick up the programming language.  All the graphics are also in the download, including character templates so that you can design your own characters.  You are also encouraged to replace some of the default sets with your own, in your own unique style, or indeed expand the studio as your plot may require.  It's already a hodgepodge of styles since I was experimenting with various drawing programs and scanning methods while I was rushing to complete the original episode: the more incongruous the better!

THE BIGGER PICTURE: If you do use the Studio Mediocre template for one of your projects then I'd love for you to send me your sprites/backgrounds so that the resource can be expanded.

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EDIT JUNE 26 2009: Due to compatibility issues between recent AGS versions I have created two differentiated templates.  The 3.0 version features default inventory handling, while 3.1 features a custom-made inventory GUI and supports native (640x400) resolution.  Make sure to check your version of AGS so that you download the appropriate template.
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THE DOWNLOAD: Template for AGS 3.0
                            Template for AGS 3.1

So... what does the winner of the special event get as a prize?  When I've entered MAGS it has been due to two coinciding factors: 1) A really interesting topic and 2) the reasonable expectation of having enough spare time to devote to the project.  What motivates me while I'm frantically making the game, however, is the fact that if I win other people will make a game based (however loosely) on my ideas.  This is the best of all possible prizes, in my opinion.  If one month becomes a special topic month -and I'm not saying it shouldn't - then there is no avoiding the fact that there will be 12 winners in a year, but only 11 themes to set: somebody is going to miss out.  Something to think about anyway.
     As for how the competition has been run in the past, I've been pretty happy with it.  It's a little disappointing when there's only one entry, but it's so hard to predict how well a topic will be received and how much spare time potential participants might have.  A possible modification might be supplying sprites/backgrounds to speed up the process in short or busy months, but that's a lot of work for the person who does it, and it would probably dissuade some people from entering since they would no longer have complete artistic control.  Capping the number of rooms or other limitations might bring the amount of work involved down to a level where a broader population can participate, but this could well be a straight-jacket for some developers.
     In summary, change is risky but potentially rewarding.  The only way to see how it is received is to run some pilot projects: if it doesn't work out we can always revert back, right?

Intriguing.....