Messages

I have been toying with some of the new DrawingSurface functions and I noticed that the auto complete seems to work inconsistently.  For example in

Code: ags

  DrawingSurface *surface = Room.GetDrawingSurfaceForBackground();
  surface.DrawingColor(14);
  xd=radius;
  while (x+xd>=x-radius){
    yd=Maths.Sin(Maths.DegreesToRadians(45));
    surface.

typing "sur" on the line immediately following the definition of surface will call up the auto complete, but typing "sur" inside the while statement will not.  typing "surface." will also not bring up the list of associated functions within the while statement.  I have not tested this with any other Pointers.

This doesn't happen exclusively within while statements either.  I've had it where on one line "sur" will bring up the auto complete and on the next it won't.  But I'd need to dig up the code to verify that one.

This is great.  The graphics are cute and atmospheric and it is immediately apparent you put a lot of work into them.  The music does a lot for the atmosphere as well.  The animations really brought it to life.

Puzzles are pretty easy, but logical.  I never had to look at a hint thread, which is a plus in that too much back-and-forth between game and Internet can be a bit jarring.  A little heavy on the fetch quests.

Overall a very nice little game.

I quite enjoyed this.  Short and funny with some excellent artwork.

I didn't recognize most of the music, and I thought it at least fit pretty well.  You do what you've got to do when there are time constraints involved, I guess!

The English in the game was very good, for the most part, but there were a few errors.  I'd point them out, but it's been a couple days since I played.

Thank you both so much.  The codes work great.  It never occurred to me that  that I could just plug a predefined string in without using the "%s" first.  I always saw it used that way in the manual, albeit with other text involved.

I will also keep your advice in mind, regarding padding.

Thanks.

I'm trying to make a custom text display function that puts text on a GUI with a fixed size.  I want to cut off the end of any string that gets too long for the GUI, but in order to do that I need to be able to test the string's width.  I could test the length in number of characters, but it would mean having to use a font in which all characters are the same size.  I thought I would use the GetTextWidth function like so:

Code: ags

function TextIt (String sa, int width) {
  int beginning=0;
  int end=sa.Length;
  while (width < GetTextWidth("%s", sa.Substring(beginning, end), eFontFont1)){
    end--;
}
  Display("%s", sa.Substring(beginning,  end));
}

But it won't compile.  It seems GetTextWidth doesn't work with any sort of string formatting.  Is that an accurate assessment or am I doing something wrong?  If the former, is there any other way to test the width of a string in number of pixels instead of number of characters?

I searched my global script and my room 1 script and couldn't find anything that said room_Load, but I found the "player enters screen (before fadein) section and I changed the function from room_b or something to room_Load.  I had to do the same thing with Repeatedly Execute, and then the game loaded.  Problem is when I try to leave the screen I get an error saying

Code: ags

. . . trying to 'room_LeaveBottom'

I've looked all through the room script and all I have is a bunch of region scripts and the two I already mentioned.  There is nothing that refers to leaving the room from the bottom or any other direction.  It is supposed to make me go to room 2, but I must have used the editor or something.  Is there any way to recover the function if there is nothing pointing to it?

EDIT:  Nevermind.  I see I can just add the script manually and it stops it crashing.  But there are enough instances of this to hunt down that I am beginning to think it is time to move the relevant code to a new test game and start fresh.  Thanks much, ProgZmax.

I tried to load a game in beta 13 that I'd been working on in beta 8.  (It was originally from 7.2.)  It loaded fine, but it didn't prompt me to upgrade anything, and now when I try to run the game itself it compiles and then crashes with this message:

(ACI version 3.00.953)

Error: prepare_script: error -18 (no such function in script) trying to run 'room_Load' (Room 1)

When I run my backup in beta 8 it still runs without problems.

Admittedly, I don't know how useful it would be for anyone or how difficult to implement, but a brainstorm I think worth mentioning:

RawDraw functions for Walkable Areas/Regions/Hotspots/Walk Behinds?

I imagine they would be somewhat unintuitive and of limited use in a program that deals primarily with prerendered backgrounds, but I still think they could produce some really interesting effects, as well as simplify SOME scenarios in which a creator needs to use many small areas that are constantly switched on and off.

And on a tangentially related subject, what about a z-baseline for Walk Behinds(Walk Belows?)?

Ah!  LockView didn't look right to me either, but I got scared off from ChangeView by the disclaimer.  Good to know.

Name: Charles Moor

Age: 20

Female/male: Male

1. How long have you been involved in the AGS community?
Been lurking on and off since early 02.  So about five and a half years?

2. Why did you get involved in AGS?
I've wanted to make games since I started playing them.  I found out about AGS through Home of the Underdogs and had to check it out.

3. How do you feel that the fact that AGS is a freeware programme affect the community that has built up around it?
Free things are more accessible, so the community is more accessible.  I guess?  I know I probably wouldn't have paid for the AGS back when I first found it.

4. How big a part does the AGS community play in your life?
Not a big part.  Although my brother and I still occasionally quote the AGS Show at eachother.  I mostly just browse the forums to amass information about the scripting language and keep up to date on forthcoming games.

5. Have you been involved in making any games using AGS? You may list them if you want
Not any completed games.  I did make a movie based on a conversation in an unrelated IRC channel, a couple years ago.  It was somewhat of a success there, but I figured it was too injokish to post here.

6. Answer these questions if you have been involved in making AGS games:
a. Were you interested in game design/programming before you started using AGS?
Yes, at least since I was nine or ten.

b. If no, do you feel that you would have got into game design without AGS?
I was already involved with game design, and I probably would have stuck with the idea, at least.  No saying whether or not I would have completed anything.

c. Do you make games using other programmes, either freeware or not? How does the eperience differ?
I tinkered with The Games Factory, Q-Basic, and the Playstation edition of RPG Maker.  I never got far enough with Q-Basic to make anything.  RPG Maker was clunky and kind of limiting.  The Games Factory was pretty powerful, and I made a couple simple games with it, but I think I prefer scripting in AGS to the more visual style.  It might be worth looking into again, if I still have it.

d. Has AGS inspired you to try and take up game design professionally?
Right now, I don't want to join the game industry.  As to whether I'll ever want to sell a game I make as a hobby, I don't know.

7. Do you feel that there is a gender divide in the AGS community?
I think there are more males than females.  Is that a divide?

8. Are you likely to feel differently about a game if you discover it's made by a female? In what way?
Perhaps I am nominally more receptive?  Ew.

9. Do you feel that AGS makes it easier for females to get involved in computer game design? In what way?
Not females specifically.

10. Do you feel that there is a difference between the types of games created by males and females?
If so, it's not as big as the overall person to person difference.

11. Any other comments?
Pass.

What about putting the somewhat clunky code in its own function, like this?

Code: ags

For 2.8:
function StopCAnimating(this Character*) {
  int currentview = this.View;
  this.LockView(0);
  this.LockView(currentview);
}

For 2.72:
function StopCharacterAnimating(int chara) {
  int currentview = character[chara].View;
  character[chara].LockView(0);
  character[chara].LockView(currentview);
}

It's still the same solution, but at least you don't have to keep typing/pasting it if you're going to be using it a lot, and it will look neater in your script.  But perhaps I am a little function happy.

If you can live without transparency and tinting/lighting individual sprites, you might be better off doing your game in 256 colors.  Then create a function to modify every slot in the palette and remove/gray/whatever any colors a wolf shouldn't be able to see.  Palette stuff is a little tricky to figure out, at first, but it would mean that you never have to redraw/recolor anything manually.

If that makes sense.

Hey thanks, ProgZmax.  I went and started over on the templates based on your examples, working back toward the original style.  I've now got male and female templates in all five directions, and they need some work, but they're worlds better than the old ones.




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I'm reasonably satisfied with the front and diagonal-front views on both sexes, though I think the male's arms are a little awkward.  Shouldn't be too hard to fix. 

The side views I'm less satisfied with, but I'm not sure what I'd do differently.

The back and diagonal-back poses look off to me (especially the diagonal-back on the female).  The overall shape should be -about- right, so I think the problem is mostly to do with shading and the smaller details.  I think this is where I need the most help.

I'm also not too sure about the shading on any of the heads.  I'm sure hair and headgear will go a long way toward making them irrelevant, but it still bugs me.

So I'm in concept stages on a new game, and since the story I have in mind will likely call for more characters than I feel entirely comfortable drawing and animating from scratch, I decided to draw one character and make a template (or templates) from it, so that I can more easily mix-and-match clothes and features, and save a ton of time on mass production (at the admitted expense of breaking the "Unique Silhouette" rule).

Anyway I drew a basic character (that I may or may not use in the game) at a few different angles and then "undressed" it to make the template:






x2




I was going for female, this time around, but everyone who has seen the character has automatically assumed it was male (I've edited it a little since showing it to anyone but I'm not sure it was enough), and the template has come out looking more like some sort of alien baby than anything.  Any tips on defining gender at this scale?  Or help with proportions in general, really.

Something looks off with the side view, but I can't place it.

This is also my first time working with eight (five) directions, so pointers there would also be greatly appreciated.  I will probably ask more specifically about them when I start trying to animate.

Snoopy -

Spoiler

The paper allows you to take notes, without running to fetch a REAL pen and paper, but it doesn't do anything else as far as I'm aware.  Certainly nothing vital or part of any major sidequest.

[close]

hystericbliss0 -

Spoiler

He's to the north, just between the main city and the goblin camp.

[close]

Random item locations:

Spoiler

I've had the pigeon appear south of the goblin's camp.  I also had the coin appear in the room south of the mushroom circle.

[close]

Nostradamus -

Spoiler

You can still finish the game in 1.0 provided that you don't find out the assassin's identity.  If you do, you will later encounter a crash during a non-optional cutscene, and you won't be able to forward the plot or get the happy endings.

[close]

May have found a walking dead. 

Spoiler

If you return the comb to the changeling after uniting him with his counterpart, there is no readily apparent way to retrieve it from him.

[close]

Edit: Oh, nevermind.  You guys really did think of everything.  Haha.

If you decide to make an endings section, I found another I haven't seen mention of yet.

Spoiler

Complete the assassin finding sidequest.  Then break into the Jeweller's shop and when she comes, kill her with the dagger.  Once you have zero honor, show the truth gem to the assassin and thank him.

[close]

Edit: Oh!  As this came up in the help thread a few times,

Spoiler

You might want to specify that to turn back from a rabbit you need to walk ON the mushrooms, not around them on the outside.  It can be tricky and a little frustrating if it doesn't occur to the player initially.

[close]

That sounds like a bug.  You're doing the right thing.

Spoiler

Make sure you're not standing -in- the pond.  And have you returned the comb to Blossom yet?

[close]