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Now that plugins can be written to affect to editor directly, (did I get that right?), I have a couple of questions & I don't really want "technical" answers.

For a begginer programmer, does this mean someone could, hypothetically, create a plugin that inserted the command "Create Object", or "Zoom Image", or adds a Combat System.  Then these plugins would transfer to a game that uses them?

Is that what is possible with plug-ins for AGS at this point?  I just wanted to know if I was understanding this aspect of the program correctly.

Here's something I found that may give people hope in this forum if they think their art/shading/perspective is bad, just know that everyone makes these mistakes

It's a screenshot from "The Colonel's Bequest" at the time, it was touted for it's INCREDIBLE graphics.


Check out the SHADOWS!!!

1 side bounces off the ground while the other side cuts through the floor like a knife!!

I was thinking, this year a great birthday present for our grand creator CJ would be the formation of AGS - The religion.

Is there a protocol for this in the U.K.?  In the U.S., anyone may form a unitarian faith; so long as it has:

- A form of scripture
- A tangile leadership
- A strong, (small or large), group of followers

these rules are VERY interpretive, there's even a Beer Church & a Music Church

Faith leaders have key benefits including:

- Complete exemption from Federal, State, Income, & Property taxes
- Their children go to college free of charge
- Free health care, (does that matter in England?)
- Elligable for certain Federal Grants

I think it's a great idea.  If it's formed, the only thing we would have to do is agree to join, to show following.  We wouldn't have to tithe, go anywhere, do anything.  It's EASY!!  I would sign up.

From what I understand, SCI studio 4, (the program that opens, edits, & creates official Sierra games), will be out in a couple of months.  So late in the game, this is the first release to support VGA & SVGA, I don't think it will EVER be an AGS contender, but it will be exiciting to easily "BORROW" sound fx & official/original templates from the best Sierra titles.

I have a feeling SCI studio 4 will become, instead, an incredible AGS resource.  One could extract their favorite frontend to use with their games; adding authentic MIDI sound effects.

If you want to follow its progress check below -
http://www.bripro.com/scistudio/index.php

I was browsing Himalaya Studios site, and they were advertising their commercial title, (Al Elmo if anyone doesn't know), would have 640 x 400 high resolution.  AGDI's great & all, but can they compete in today's market at such a low resolution by today's standards?  This isn't a rant; it's an honest question.   

King's Quest on IBM made us throw out our Apple IIs.  Everyone played catch-up to their EGA titles.  When sierra went VGA, their company aquired a net worth of 800 million U.S. dollars.  KQ6 supported 16-bit colour in Windows, and it was their highest selling game to point. 

Can an adventure game succeed with low-tech graphics when the company that invented them succeeded by ALWAYS being at the TOP of technology ladder.  Some argue that if you want graphics to go play Doom 3, but Doom exists only because of Dynamix-based physics & Sierra-based graphical acheivements, (John Carmack and John Romero are the first to admit this) - so Sierra started this trend.

I just don't know....

Recently, I read an AGS post stating that Wintermute, (a comparable AGS-type program), had introduced 3D character support into it's programming. 

I checked it out, and two things were really odd:
 
1 - Wintermute doesn't SEEM to have any COMPLETED games.  I looked around, and could only find demos or previews of upcoming titles, (even though this engine has been around for , like, 2 years or something.

2 - Wintermute forum members seem INCREDIBLY militant against AGS, and the subject, apparently, comes up often.  I found quite a few posts involving AGS.  When an AGS member warned about a Spammer on the AGS forums, all that followed was constant flaming.    It's weird that Wintermute hates AGS so much when both are completely F-R-E-E!!

I had no idea there was a war going on.   No one told AGSers.  Wintermute rarely comes up...... if at all.  Has anyone else noticed this?  Did I just catch them on a bad day?

I have no idea where to put this but I need a screenshot of Jesse Bains hideout, ( the FINAL screen in the game pq1 VGA).  I sent the game to my brother, and have since deleted it.  I could get it myself, but it would be an ordeal.  If anyone has Gimp & a save close to the end I would appriciate it.

P.S. It's for reference....It doesn't have to be good, or even that clear.

Thanks

I'm pretty sure I'm in the right forum; as it would help AGS users.

Is there a program that can convert standard music formats to midi?

Now Object Scripting is getting overhauled, I was hoping to see "Create Object", (where a sprite can be placed anywhere on screen).  It's common for "platformer" engines, but it has some purpose in AGS.  A good example is the first puzzle in "The Island of Dr. Brain".  Players grab an object off the ground, and place it on the screen to solve a puzzle.

I hope it's implementation won't be used for evil - (Twiddleware)

I just started working on 3D art, and I have a fast system & video card, but my computer seems to top out at 1 million polygons in design programs.  Now I understand that in modeling cpu performance takes a hit, but I loaded an entire level of Unreal 2004, (which runs on my system fine at topped-out settings, into Lightwave, and it was just under a million polys.  What gives, my Card should run 353 polys per second, and Unreal looks better than any N64 game I've ever seen, (1-million polys per second specs).  What does all this mean?  How do people rate Poly levels?  All I know is, if games ACTUALLY ran a million polygons, they'd look a lot better.

http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/NewBath.png

I took everyone's ideas, and tried to implement them, except the organizing the tiles due to Boyd's & Darth's suggestions.  Tell me what you think.

P.S. - I'm still working on the mirrors, and I haven't addressed Intermalte's question of the gravity-defying sinks yet.

- I keep posting because I'm trying to get it right.

Thanks for the Help

You can view the original pic here:
http://www.2dadventure.com/ags/bath.png

I'm sure I'll get banned from posting any more suggestions, but here goes one more.

It would be nice if the main background screen had a zoom feature in the editing room.  On high resolutions, it can be very difficult to colour a "walk-behind" area with much precision.  Once you play the game, however,  the sloppiness of drawing your walk behind in 320x240 box is all too obvious.

(P.S. - This is the last suggestion.....Promise)

[By moderator:(See next post)...So, everyone is encouraged to post your suggestions about adding more functions to this thread, to let Chris knows more about what we really want.Note that this is NOT a thread for posting general suggestions/feature requests, it's just for posting something that is already possible via text scripting but you want it to appear directly in the interaction menu.]

It's not like it's life-threatening, but I always see a lot of new scripting functions and no expansions to the point & click options, (give inventory, move character, etc.....you know the options in the main list).

Is that not how it works.......Scripting eventually gets shortcuts in the main option list???

Do these options ever get upgraded, or am I just not noticing.

By moderator:(See next post)...So, everyone is encouraged to post your suggestions about adding more functions to this thread, to let Chris knows more about what we really want.

Note that this is NOT a thread for posting general suggestions/feature requests, it's just for posting something that is already possible via text scripting but you want it to appear directly in the interaction menu.

AGS Olympic is great......I still wish it supported GUI's for speech & GUI's for general display messages to be independant of each other so they could look different from one another.

P.S.Ã,  People may say this is stupid, but I love that this edition of AGS has a name.Ã,  That's one of my favorite gimmicks in software.


[edit to make title more descriptive]

Is there a place where people can give feedback as to new features in future AGS versions?  I've seen heated debates about 3D characters and Rendering engines, but those are huge!  Where can people simply drop lines like when people were asking for 16-bit colour?  I don't want to give a current example; in case a place exists and I just need to be redirected.

I've set up my text GUI as blank, (I'm using the Gabriel Knight method - 640x480 lettterbox with text in the black area below the image).  Is there ANY way to use a different GUI for speech.  I wouldn't kill me to make it blank, (all black looks sloppy), or using the QFG 4 full screen, but I'd prefer a sierra-style+background if it's possible.

Occasionally, I see someone post a game at 640x400 or even 800x600, and there's always someone who attacks them for their graphics choice.  They give redundant argument of it's not the graphics, it's the game; or go play a Shooter.  Some AGSers even heckle people who use higher-end painting programs.

As a 640x400 game designer myself I'd like to tell all the people who say these things what I thought was painfully obvious.

People don't use Hi-res because they're graphics hogs, they do it because they can't draw like the 320x200 crowd.  Drawing at a lower resolution takes a LOT more skill than hi-res.  I assumed people knew this, but apparently some do not.  We aren't all AGDI.!!  We ARE all entitled to make games though, even if we have to go large format.  After all AGS isn't as clean as C++ or the Sierra Creative Interpreter, but we all use it because we can't do it ourselves and we still want to make games.

So Please, the next time someone attacks somebody else about graphics, make certain the game is rushed, sloppy, etc.  before making the "BIG GAME VS. GRAPHICS" speech.

Is there any way to set the default position of the text window.  I'm going to get carpel tunnels if I have to write DisplayAt  for EVERY line I enter.

I know I'm posting a lot, but these things have been eating at my brain.

Does anyone have any thoughts about porting AGS to Palm or Windows CE?  To desktop users, these games are nostalgic, but to owners of PDAs,  AGS is current to all the other software available.  I have no idea as to the difficulties of porting the system, but it seems like it could be a great opportunity for AGS.

As much as I love AGS, (I'm deep into my own game), I love all forms of adventure games.  I was wondering if anyone knows of an engine similar to AGS that specializes in Zelda-type 3D adventure games where little-to-no programming is required.  Point & adventures remain pretty unchanged in their transition to 3D, but it's hard to be nostalgic about "cosole-style" adventure games when their 3D counterparts are so much better.

Please Help!!!!

I have Cinema 4D, so anything that supports 3DS Max or Maya files will work.