Messages

I haven't heard of anyone being sued, but it's probably happened.  For unfinished projects, commonly what happens is there will be a cease and desist letter and then the people doing the fangame get scared and take things down.

As far as I have been able to gauge the social climate regarding asking permission, a rule of thumb might be that the bigger the game company, the more likely they will unilaterally deny requests to use their intellectual property for free, whereas the more Indie the game's production team, the more likely you will experience negative backlash from fans for using their intellectual property without permission.  

Take that intuition with a grain of salt, though.

The short answer to your question is: Not legal.  Some people care; some people don't.  If you ask the copyright holder they will not say yes.  Unless your freeware game is very high profile, most likely no one will care enough to shut you down.

Icey.  It occurs to me that your games might be better received if you found an experienced, non-abusive playtester to help you work out the kinks before you release the game to public scrutiny.  Virtually every game that anyone makes is buggy at first, and it is very easy to write stories that make sense in your own head but are hard to follow for people who don't know all the background and what exactly you are trying to tell them.

I don't know who all you have playtesting your games, but from the types of products you tend to produce, I suspect that either you are not using people who are experienced in critiquing games and stories (friends and family are often a bad choice, as they are biased in your favor and often do not know what kinds of problems to look for), or you are simply not putting in enough effort to implement their feedback.

Try asking for playtesters in the help wanted thread, or contact someone who has given you helpful and polite feedback in the past.  Show them what you consider the finished build of your game, listen to their suggestions, fix the problems that they point out to the best of your ability, show them the game with the changes, listen to their feedback again.  Keep doing this until you have the best product you can make, and THEN release it.  Getting more than one good playtester will not hurt, either.

I can't promise that people will like your games, but I think you will have much better feedback from the community than you are currently getting.  If nothing  else you will get fewer complaints about confusing writing and interface issues, and more about comparatively nuanced game mechanics and storytelling issues, which, once addressed, may greatly expand your abilities as a designer and storyteller.

[Dynamic Control of Areas]

Dynamic Control of Areas
An idea that was tossed about a few times and that I have been of proponent of would be the ability to use drawing functions to manipulate WalkableAreas, Regions, etc. from within the script.  I think in some cases this could make changing regions in game easier and less jury-rigged than predefining every possible region in the room editor (though in other cases it would probably just make things more complicated, since scripting is a little like working in the dark).  It could also make it possible to regularize how you use walkable areas and such, so for instance if you wanted to use WalkableArea 2 for wood floors and WalkableArea 3 for shallow water, and then test for them in a global script and set walking sounds and animations accordingly, you could do this and still be able to change walkable areas at run time without messing up your system.  Granted, this could probably be approximated using properties, but it wouldn't be quite as efficient.  

The key use, though, would for things like procedurally generated content and times when you want the player to be able to affect the room environment in a dynamic way.

Drawing Functions
Some drawing functions that could be implemented using the script but would end up potentially causing massive slowdown if used frequently might be nice to implement in the engine as well.  The two that come to mind off the top of my head would be:

DrawingSurface.ColorFill(int x, int y)
which would work like the bucket tool in most paint programs, changing all adjacent pixels of the same color to DrawingColor.

and the probably more useful,

DrawingSurface.ReplaceColor(int color)
replaces all pixels of color with DrawingColor.  Could be useful for imitating some palette functions in 16 bit and 32 bit color games.

Properties
Also editing object/region/character properties in the script, seems to get brought up a lot. I know there are good workarounds and I think Chris said that changing this would actually be non-trivial, but if we have more people working on it.

Pathfinding
And I think it would be good to have access to pathfinding in the script.  Things like:

Paths.IsPathViable(int from_x, int from_y, int to_x, int to_y)
returns true if character will be able to reach the desination point, given the walkableAreas and other obstacles recognized by the pathfinder.  Otherwise returns false.

Paths.NumberOfWapoints(int from_x, int from_y, int to_x, int to_y)
returns the number of waypoints (places the character will change direction or stop) between the starting position and ending position of the path, including the stopping point in a path that will not reach its destination.

Paths.GetWaypointX(int from_x, int from_y, int to_x, int to_y, int waypoint)
Paths.GetWaypointY(int from_x, int from_y, int to_x, int to_y, int waypoint)
return the x and y coordinates of a given waypoint

There are instances when I would like to know exactly where a character is going to walk beforehand.

Views
A way of getting the number of loops in a view and the number frames in a loop would make VewFrame functions and properties a lot easier to play with without crashing the game.
How did I miss that?  Thanks, Monkey.

Do you mean "Sci Fi Monster" as a blanket term for monsters from Sci Fi, Fantasy, and other paranormal horror or do you mean it to refer specifically to monsters boasting scientific or pseudo-scientific explanations as opposed to more mystical specimens?

There's a lesson here: you don't patch boobs. You integrate them from the beginning. God didn't make the same mistake as you ;-)

Oh the irony.

I haven't had a chance to really play it yet, but you just about got me with the Title screen.  Seriously.  Awesome title screen.  Probably will post some more thoughts once I've made some more progress.

Anyway, I wanted to direct your attention to this thread in Technical:

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=42958.0

It seems to have to do with games made in old versions of AGS, in general, but since at least two people so far have had trouble playing Gemini Rue on machines running in 32 bit color mode, I assume you have or will have other customers facing the same problem.  TL;DR is that the screen won't update, but it will (or did at least in our cases) if you set your settings to 16 bit color.

Studio3:
Same happens with games I made on this machine in the past.  I didn't think there would be any difference, but thanks for the idea.

hedgefield:
Thanks!  That solved half of my problem.  I was able to get Gemini Rue to display properly in Windowed mode as well as an old "movie" game I made several years ago.

Now that I think about it, I used to use 16bit color on this machine based on the logic that True color probably used more of SOMETHING.  But somewhere along the way I switched to 32 bit, I think when I was trying to diagnose my video card.

I still can't run anything full screen, though.  So they must have been different problems after all?  Still no idea what's causing this.

I never noticed this behavior on my new computer, which is always True Color.  I'll have to try it out on some older AGS games when I get it fixed.

At least now I have an acceptable work around.  Can you play any AGS games in full screen?

Have you updated DirectX and your graphics card drivers?

Hmm.  I don't remember doing so, but it is possible.  Is there any reason why a newer version of DirectX might cause problems?  Or might gettnig the latest version solve them?

My current version is DirectX9.0c.  Not sure from when.

When you tried to run a newer game full screen, did you leave it at 320 or did you try changing the filter to x2?

It seems like most of the new games are defaulting to 2x or 3x these days.  I've tried with and without multipliers.  My screen has no trouble switching to the resolutions, but I still don't get visual.

The other important question is: what has changed with the old computer since you were able to play games on it fine?

This is essentially what I am trying to figure out.  To my knowledge when I stopped using this computer primarily, AGS games worked fine.  Since then, this computer has basically been gathering dust.  I think my parents sometimes used it for Facebook and E-mail, but little else to my knowledge.  I've installed automatic updates for some things.  Flash, Java, Windows system updates, Antivir.  I installed Skype and uninstalled AdAware because it was hogging virtual memory.  It is entirely possible that I'm forgetting something key, and that this could make it impossible for someone to diagnose from the outside, but I thought with a little luck someone with a bit more knowhow than me might be able to point me in the right direction.

I've returned to using an old computer on a temporary basis while my laptop is out of commission.  I've had the laptop for a couple of years, but before that, I used this computer for everything and it never had any trouble running AGS or AGS games.

Since I have come back to using it, however, I haven't been able to run AGS games full screen.  I thought maybe this was due to some change in the latest version of AGS, but I tried playing some older AGS games (Ben Jordan 7 and when that didn't work 6 Day Assassin), but the problem persists.  Basically what happens is that the screen resolution will change based on the game settings and then the game window will fill the screen, so that I see the edges of the window, but nothing else (I think this is normal: it usually happens for a second when I start a full screen AGS game before being replaced with the game's visuals).  In 6 Day Assassin the screen goes black.  In either case, I will hear the games intro sounds/music if they have any, and I can still get out with alt+x, so it's not really frozen.

In Focality, Technobabylon 1 and 2, and ~Airwave~, I can get around this problem by playing in windowed mode.  In Ben Jordan 7, Gemini Rue, and Vegetable Patch Extreme Turbo 2, I encounter a problem that seems basically the same.  I will see the window outline and hear sound, but the graphics will not appear; instead I see whatever was behind the window before.  If I hold the mouse button down on the top bar (as if to drag the window around the screen) the game will animate normally until I release the mouse button, at which point the image will freeze again.  The most obvious dividing line seems to be age of the game, Gemini Rue being the exception (was it made in an older version of AGS?)

I'm not sure exactly what System specs are most relevant.  But my computer is running Windows 2000 Professsional.  NVidia.  One of the reasons I switched to the laptop was that my screen has been displaying artifacts (randomish colored pixels) and some people have suspected problems with the video card (Radeon 9200 series), so that may be my answer right there, but I don't recall having any problems with AGS games either after the artifacts started appearing or after a friend's unsuccessful fix attempts.  But it was two years ago, so I suppose I could have forgotten something like that.  And even if not, if tthe card was already deteriorating then, it has had plenty of time to get worse.

Just trying to explain this behavior to see if there is an easy fix.  Right now any computer related funds are going toward repairing my laptop, but I'd like to be able to play AGS games in the meantime, if I can.

EDIT:  I should note that I haven't noticed these problems with any other applications, as yet.

Nothing like a survey, every now and again.

* If you had to list 3 things that make up a good game what would they be?
1. Perhaps the word is "atmosphere," but I really mean the holistic experience of the game--how well the parts jive.  There's no one thing in a game which will automatically make me stop playing due to its absence (including "gameplay" though at that point perhaps "game" becomes the wrong word).  But are the elements present enhancing the experience in a complimentary way?  Are there elements whose absence truly is detracting?  This means gameplay and interface and story and visuals, and sound, coherence of the game world, characters, humor.
2. More specifically, most of my favorite games have been story games.  If a game can tell a moving or thought provoking story, I am generally happy, even if some other elements fall short.  Bonus points, of course, if the story is able to use the medium to its benefit.  This often tends to happen through the introduction of non-linear elements, which actually tend to irk me, though these are certainly intriguing in their own right.  I like it when the story has the nerve to assert itself over the game, but uses the interactive elements to help involve the player.
3. Close related to number one is the general "fun factor."  If #1 describes the artistic integrity of the game, some games can be a complete mess with an absolutely wretched story, if any, and still manage to be fantastically enjoyable.  And it is entirely possible to make a game with a great story, and a level of depth and consistency that works perfectly, but still manages to be rather boring.  This is in much the same way that we have great literature, and then we have books that are fun to read, but there is no guarantee that one will ensure the other.

* What is it about a game that inspires you?
See above, really.  I think really that inspiring things are often unanticipated, so it could be anything, really.  Make me think, or make me feel something.  Music and story are big, though.  Visuals, too.  Gameplay can do it in art-games, sometimes, or if it's really innovative.

* What do you consider 'off putting' about a game?
The story.  Especially the writing.  It's really hard to find good stories in games.  A lot of the best game stories would make decent B-movies and so-so genre fiction.  Adventure Games and JRPGs have set themselves up as the two great linear storytelling genres, but the more I replay my old favorites, the more I think the potential is wasted.  This is true of both commercial and amateur games.  It's unfortunate, if understandable.  It is, in fact, rather difficult to write a good story, and the constraints of the game medium only make things worse.  I think people also expect less from game stories, so writers know they can get away with more.  Over-reliance on tropes, plotholes, unbelievable dialog and situation, etc.
If I can't win without stellar reflexes, which I don't have, then that is also a no go.
Too much slowness or finnickiness of controls/movement.  Slow text that can't be skipped.
Too much open endedness is fun, but leads to existential angst.

* Your Preference: Lucasarts or Sierra or other?
I'm in the do what works camp.  VinceTwelve has sold me on the idea that LucasArts and Sierra both have rather clunky and redundant systems, though honestly I'm used to both well enough that they don't get in the way of my enjoyment.  I'm not sold on the one-click system, though.  Text-input is intriguing in small doses.  Right now I'm interested in context menus and keyboard/gamepad controls.  Tailor the gameplay to the controls and vice versa, and I'll be happy.
With regard to dying--Not too many shocks or surprises, and keep time limits reasonable.  Autosaves are a reasonable compromise.  If I need to save often, make sure I know that.  I think a quick-save key would be a good addition to more games.  Been loving that feature in Deus Ex.
Sometimes I actually like a penalty for dying.  I think I'm too used to being able to save anywhere, but the way they make savepoints in a lot of console games seems like a good way to go, although I advocate having some way of at least temporarily saving progress for people who have to leave in a hurry.

* Mouse or Keyboard controls?
When there are mouse controls I feel like I am telling the character what to do.  Is this more "cerebral"?  Keyboard controls put me inside the character more.  Are we playing a game about bodies or a game about minds?

* Anything else you can think of....
I'm with the camp that says that amateur developers should make what they want to make.  You probably aren't going to be famous.  If you are really lucky you will get internet famous.  But odds are if you like what you are doing, and you make it to your own satisfaction, someone else will like it too, and you'll get more out of the project if you make it for yourself and the people that think like you than if you make it for the lowest common denominator.

But of course advice is good too, so this isn't really a criticism.

Not a movie, but you might also want to keep an eye on the upcoming HBO series "A Game of Thrones."  The series of books it is based on are very adult (in both maturity/complexity and the sex-and-violence sense of the term) and have a number of child characters in key roles.  Obviously, as the series hasn't aired yet, I can't really speak to the quality, except that the footage I've seen -looks- promising and at least one of the child actors they've found looks pretty sharp.

Not sure when it airs, but if memory serves, maybe fall-ish?

'Where the Wild Things Are' was marketed as a kids' movie, and it certainly isn't adult in the way that gets the MPAA rating marked up, but it's so damn ambiguous and depressing that I think it deserves a mention.  I guess it is sort of a deconstruction of the whole Magical Land with Fuzzy Animals genre.  Don't expect a really tight plot, but it is definitely sentimental, and the kid in it is fantastic.

Can't go wrong with Blackwell.  This looks absolutely lovely.

I learned to write by roleplaying on Internet forums.  I mean, I did finally take a creative writing class in college, and I did learn from it, but it did more to make me worse at bad writing than it did to make me better at good writing.

All the scripting skills I have I developed through unfinished game building attempts with AGS.  The same is partly true of my art (pixel and freehand), as well, but drawing for me has also always been a peripheral hobby, so while I'm not very good, and I'm certainly not very efficient, my freehand drawing skills tend to increase gradually even when I am not working on a game. Internet tutorials and tracing have probably affected my work more than outside input, with the exception of walking animations, which my dad has often critiqued for me (he is a prosthetist, so he has to know that stuff for his job).  I usually get bored of drawing before I really get a chance to bog down the Critics Lounge, here, though I learned things the one or two times I did post there.

Not really a music person at all yet, though I would like to learn theory.

Excellent work these past years, Chris.

I'm a fan of open source on principle, but I'm not much of a coder, so I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been said.

At any rate, I can't wait to see what sort of new functionality people are able to add using whatever code you end up releasing.  It's rare I've found myself even theoretically limited by the current feature set, but I always get excited when I see lists of new functions.

Next: When in doubt...

So if this is to be a pimping adventure game, what other genres has the OSDverse yet to explore?

Was that DOOM style AGS shooter module ever finished? That could be the next one. Oceanspirit Dennis and the Haunted Tunnels of Perfect Squareness.

Someone should make that happen right away.

Here's a mock-up!

Though not exactly a mystery, I recommend The Wire.  More honest portrayal of crime solving than what you will usually see on television, or so I hear, but also rather gritty.  I figure any influence that comes from that show can only be a good thing, even if it does kind of set itself up counter to genre writing.

I don't think you can really go wrong with black and white or sepia.  You could go wrong with full color if you pick a bad color scheme, but you could conversely go entirely right with full color by choosing a good color scheme.  Do what seems the funnest/easiest to draw or the most fitting.  It is unlikely that people will complain regardless and there isn't really a "Best Choice."

If you want to take a supernatural angle without going overboard or too explicit, I would read up on magical realism.  If you want my personal preferences, I would say avoid monsters and demon summoning cults.

To the extent that I have a grasp of the Noir sort of feel, there is no reason why you couldn't achieve that feel in a more modern or futuristic era.  Although if you can really nail the depression or World War 2 era beyond just dress and slang, you could probably make something great.

There's even no place to speak of ethics -- it's outright stealing.

Well, technically, people talk about ethics when they attempt to justify for instance the use of the atom bomb in World War II, or apparent deital endorsement of the Old Testament genocides.  So even if outright stealing is a fair characterization of the situation you describe, I wouldn't say it leaves NO room for ethical debate.