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what I was seeing in my head was a series of close up stills, not unlike the cutscenes from Trilby: Art of Theft, except with more character detail.

In an ideal world thats very much what i would like to have. High contrast, very dramatic looking.

unfortunately i cant draw too well so we will see what i come up with :p

Anyhow... why do your sprites always remind me of 5 Days a Stranger? 

Likely because i shamelessly  rip them off to get proportions :p

I'm not really an artist so im still trying to 'find my style' if you like.

I have decided that i can't animate.. i just can't. I dont have an artist's visualisation skills

I'll figure it out eventually.

I quickly remade your sprite, changed  contrasts and the lineart a bit, used only 15 colors.

feel free to do anything you like with my edit. 

Thanks very much... it irritates me how you 'quickly' redid it and improved it massively.

I hate you people.

C&C on my main character sprite?

I need to decide whether or not i can do this whole pixel art thing 

Btw. not directed at the acting, I really don't get:
When you're strung up by a man you shot between the eyes with a .38 revolver not 10 minutes earlier
So you shoot somebody and then he hangs you? I guess it'll be clearer with the graphics and all, though yes, the poetry is there if that's what happened.

Yeah i thought that might cause problems but as the story progresses it would become clearer

Essentially yes, McCarthy shoots a man between the eyes and gets hung by him.

The man is not altogether human when he is shot between the eyes and thus doesnt have the usual human reaction.. i.e dying

There is a strong supernatural theme throughout the story.. Think Max Payne meets Clive Barker.

Hmm i'd really rather not be one of those "I have an idea for a game, now make it for me" kind of people.

I see that all the time and it irritates me.

If possible i'd rather keep close to my vision and not do things by commitee.

While i do love collaboration with like minded people i want to create this in a similar way to that of the author of a novel. Focused and, in this case, allegorical.

I'm hoping it will be original when it gets going. Film noir always opens like this.. its just genre specific. What im trying to do is generate character interest and make you actually care about the characters.. especially McCarthy.

</pretentious spiel about artistic vision>

Voice Actor availble.

I work best with with posh british characters but im willing to try anything

I have a good, pro recording studio and a small sample can be heard in this thread

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=38599.0

Interestingly there's just been a thread about this on another forum i frequent (asrai.org if you care)

It seems that people who have socialised medicine wouldn't give it up for the world and people that dont have it (americans mainly) rabidly oppose it.. I'm not sure what that tells us.

I beat you all since i work 12 hour shifts and spend about 8 hours of that with unrestricted internet access.. The other 4 hours i have to do work.. :'(

So yes i am posting this from work :p

How do you plan your games?

Since im doing voice overs for mine (see my voiceover thread in TCL) a modicum of planning is pretty necessary and i wondered how detailed everyone else goes into it.

Do you have your full story/dialogue planned before you even start up AGS or do you wing it?

How do you plan rooms? load up paint and scribble or map it out first?

The below is a 'room plan' for one of the rooms in my game.. is that how most people do it?

Room: 3, Chapel
Room Description

A small derelict chapel with a young naked girl strung up on a cross/satanic alter of some kind. Its dark with only candel light and the moon to illuminate the room.
There's blood everywhere and messages are scratched into the wall.

Room Hotspots

Girl.
Look: She looks young, 17 maybe. Smells like gasoline. I hope they weren't planning what i think they were.
Touch: She's dead, theres nothing i can do.
Talk: She's recently become the silent type.
Use Matchbook: Do i look like the type to burn dead bodies? Don't answer that.

Blood Stained Rope
Look: It doesn't look like its supporting her in anyway. maybe they used it to get her up there.
Touch: [Pick up] Blood is stickier than you might think.
Talk : It doesn't answer me.

Tattered Match book
Look: An old matchbook, how beautifully cliche. It's from the Grovesnor hotel. Sounds like a good next stop.
Touch: [Pick Up] An old matchbook, how beautifully cliche. It's from the grovesnor hotel. Sounds like a good next stop.
Talk: It doesn't answer me.

Window
Look: Seems like a good way out.. cant reach it though.
Touch: Can't reach it.
Talk: It doesn't answer me.
Use Blood Stained Rope:
    [If got matchbook]: Lets check out this hotel shall we. [Leave Room]
    [If !got matchbook]: I can't leave yet, I need something more to go on.

Alter
Look: I haven't seen anything like this before. Let's hope i don't ever again.
Touch: I'd rather not.
Talk: It doesnt answer me

Wall
Look: Someones scratched something into here. "Valui ad satanam invocandum". I succeeded in summoning Satan. Nice
Touch: Feels like it was scratched in with a knife. Or claws.
Talk: It doesn't answer me.

Ha ha, you and me both, sir.

Unfortunately i suck at drawing, but im trying to force my way through it. I hope I dont ruin a perfectly good game with sub par artwork.

It was a single take, chopped up.

I did increase the low end of the narration but its difficult to get the balance between warmth and 'boxyness'

I kind hoped the church reverb would sell it.. i guess not. I might try boosting the high end alittle on the dialogue

The sound effects are largely self recorded (recording is kinda what i do with my life :p musician you see :p) or taken from freesound.org .. the best website in the history of websites.

The S sounds are called sibilence.. and yes i screwed up recording too close to the mic and using the wrong kinda mic.. but it happened to be the one plugged in. *lazy*

Any comments on the actual acting? the sound quality is fixable fairly easily.. its the acting im concerned about.

The story will be told in a kinda film noir style. I'm thinking possibly a Sin City influenced art style. i.e black and white with flashes of vibrant colour for certain things (cigerette embers, blood etc). Max payne was certainly an influence too :p

The story could be considered a mixture of a dick tracy story and a clive barker occult themed video game.

Now if only i could get those walk cycles looking less like epiliptic fits..

In other news i'm also available for voice acting on anyone elses work if they need someone.

Hello there.

I'm new here, feel free to victimise me until im a twisted ball of rage.

I decided to finally start my game and i'm thinking of doing the voiceovers myself so i thought i'd let the community give me their thoughts on my vocal talents.. its very hard to critique your own voice.. you're kinda used to it.

I'll post the script along with the link since it might not make sense without stage directions.

I'm also possibly looking for collaborators on the graphics side.. I can do it myself but not as well as some and if anyone likes the tone of my piece it can't help to take on talented people.

thank you

http://www.thethoughtradar.com/songs/gameintro.mp3

Prologue

Room: A small room, washed with moonlight with a silhouette of a man hanging from the ceiling.

RM Narrator: As i hung by my neck gentle swinging side to side in the darkened room, I couldn't help but feel my life had been something of a farce up to this point. A parade of nonsensical events marching past me taunting me to give a damn.

When you're strung up by a man you shot between the eyes with a 38 revolver not 10 minutes earlier, you begin to wonder if, in this world, there is any reality to accompany the poetry.

As my vision began to fade and euphoria washed over my body from lack of oxygen to my brain, all i could think about was how I got here [pause] and not how I could get out.

[Run Titles]


Room: Outside an office door with frosted glass with Rick Mccarthy: Private Eye written on

RM Narrator: When you start your day still in your clothes from the night before, being jerked awake by a blend of nightmares and the phone on your desk ringing, things are never immediately clear. The line between the dream and the cold light of day is blurred somewhat by the incessance of the telephone.

Answers Phone

RM: Mccarthy.

RM Narrator: I hadn't had a case in weeks. The headlines after my previous job saw to that.

RM: Where are you?

RM Narrator: The young woman on the end of the line sounded breathy and seductive [pause] and just a little terrified.

RM: I'll be 20 minutes.

Room: Car interior. Silhouetted driver.. dunno how i'll work that yet but i need some kind of transition to explain the phone call

RM Narrator: She'd asked to meet me in a small church across town. I knew the place, it's been abandoned for quite a while. The gang activity in the area was maybe too much for the preacher. [pause] Heh, I guess even God can be convinced to leave with a kind word and a blood stained baseball bat. I arrived with all the bravado of a comic book hero.. and none fo the talent

Maybe more narration here or possibly a news report on the radio.

Room: Church with a naked young woman strung up on a dais with all kinds of occult stuff around

RM: Christ! (Not frightened, Irritated by the inconvience)

RM Narrator: She was dead when I got there

Walks over and touches the corpse

RM: Still warm, No wonder she was terrified.

Sound of sirens

RM: Shit!

RM Narrator: I had been set up. I had to get out of here

Start gameplay. First puzzle: How to get out of the church.