Messages

To be honest, Barcik, you shouldn't.

Iraq is just as dangerous as it was before the war.

Instead of one dictator, there's now no real leadership, which just creates utter chaos and anarchy.

And I don't think the soldiers who are stuck in the country are feeling any safer, considering they're still getting shot at even after the war "ended".

Let's not forget those mythical WMDs, which haven't been found.

Iraq has the same nuclear capabilities it did before the war -- Sweet bugger all.

And now it's an even poorer country.

[What is a Photoshop Phriday?]

What is a Photoshop Phriday?

Photoshopping isn't drawing a completely new image -- It's editing images to create a new image, such as editing one image or combining several images.

Also, you don't have to specifically use Photoshop -- Paint Shop Pro, MSPaint, or any other programs can be used.

See this link:
http://www.somethingawful.com/photoshop/

And for other examples, see here:
http://www.worth1000.com/

The two above websites should give a fair idea of what is involved.

Also, make sure your image doesn't exceed the width of the screen -- If it does, I will delete it.

-------------------------------------

What do I have to do?

This week's Photoshop Phriday is: "Freestyle II"

I've been pretty busy this week, so here's a phreestyle photoshop phor you!

Simply make the funniest image you can with two or more different pictures.

It can be AGS-related or not.

I took a look at some past posts and tried to frame them in a current context, especially with the recent announcement that the US government is seeking help from the UN to maintain order in Iraq.

First, from Panda:

A final decision on whether to take action or not has not been finished, but Bush has made it clear that UN or no UN, the US will attack Iraq.

Aye, Panda's prediction happened.

And as a result the US government made a mess that's costing them x amount of soldiers and billions of dollars per month.

Now they need the UN's help.

Idiots.

From Darth Mandarb:

But the bottom line is that diplomacy failed. The U.N. failed.

And yet the US is returning (nay, sucking up) to the same organisation that has "failed".

From Karius:

Or you think Bush said to the people in Iraq "just don't blow up your oil resources" because he is thinking about the ambiental consequences it would have?

Funny how the coalition destroyed most of the hospitals and schools in Iraq, but left the oilfields.

From Evenwolf:

Pro War argument #1:

We are liberating Iraqis from an evil power. They will be happy once he's gone and they will have democracy. Assuming the majority of Iraqis wish for democracy- that sounds fine and dandy.

I especially liked how post-war the Iraqi people started looting the country.

Let's not forget the lawlessness that's causing at least one soldier a day to die from street-fire.

GO DEMOCRACY! WOO!  

Yeah, yeah, they're still continuing, but it's costing a big-ass amount of lives and cash to do it.

From Dark Stalkey:

Why has the prime minister of our country (being the UK) risked his job, his cabinet members, diplomatic relations with the rest of Europe, and general political disaster to go above the UN's head and go to war with Iraq, knowing full well all the consiquences good and bad of such a major decision?

One defense expert is dead, a spin doctor resigns, an inqury is launched and Blair is up shit creek!

"Sexing-up" my bollacks! "Lying and pissfarting" more like it!

From Darth Mandrub again:

We had/have evidence people.  For the love of God open your eyes (and your minds).

And now the CIA has spoken up and disproven most of the "evidence", especially the African urianium link that Bush mentioned very promiently in his State of the Union address.

And I also refer to the "sexed-up" dosier in the UK.

And:

The UN failed. Actually, I don't really blame the UN. I blame France. I'm disgusted by France's unwillingness to help the US. The 56,681 Americans who died liberating France in World Wars I and II are rolling over in their graves.

I mentioned before that the US government is already asking (nay, butt-kissing) the UN.

But they've also got the hide to ask the surrounding international community (including France) for help, saying they're obligated -- even though THEY DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO DO WITH THE MESS OVER THERE NOW!

Isn't that ironic? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!  

And I'm sure the French would love to help out, even after all that name-calling most of the US population did during the war.

Freedom fries -- HAHAHAH! Still makes me laugh!

From CJ:

First of all they say 'Saddam might have weapons of mass destruction and must be disarmed' - but North Korea does have nuclear missiles, so why aren't we attacking them?

Funny, they've still got nukes and no one's attacked them yet.

For some reason, we're all still using diplomacy -- How fucked up is that?!

From Helm:

There's no global counterpoint to the US. imperialistic aggresiveness, since the UN has been to indecisive and not cohesive enough to act as such. This has resulted in wars in bosnia, serbia, afghanistan and now iraq (again). And in none of those countries, has there been eshtablished anything else than an 'fake' goverment after the US. intervention. Certainly no freedom has been given to the people. Merely a switch of the power structure so it's controlled by the US.

And still are.

Funny how the Iraqi people are saying "Get out of our country" and the coalition soldiers continue to block their ears.

From Bob the Hun

Who said we were done with Osama? We're still looking for him, but it's just that we don't need a large-scale military operation just to get him.

And a fine job they did too.

Only one problem: They still haven't found him!

Or Saddam.

But, hey, they killed Saddam's sons so all that military intervention and taxpayer money went to some good use.

Even though they had NOTHING TO DO WITH SEPT 11, which was why the US government started the whole war in Iraq issue.

And finally, this gem from CJ, which in hindsight reads more like a soothsayer's prediction than an opinion:

Let's think for a moment what exactly this war is going to achieve.

So lets suppose that the US charges in, and does manage to kill Saddam. Then what?

The Iraqi people are brainwashed with propoganda to such an extent that they hate the West, and are hardly likely to hail the invading troops with party poppers and champagne.

Iraq is a very unstable country. Saddam has, by his stern harsh leadership, kept it all together because people are afraid of him. If he is removed, the country will most likely descend into civil war, killing many thousands of innocent people.

And finally, if this attack goes ahead, it will only be a reason for Al-Qaeda to launch more terrorist attacks against the Western world.

That proves it!

CJ is a god -- an all-seeing and all-knowing one!



Well, what a trip down memory lane -- Shit, if I was in the UN, I'd tell Bush and Co to fuck themselves sideways and clean their own goddamn mess (only I'd state it in diplomatic double-speak, so as not to offend anyone).

(P.S. Bush is still a loser -- He can't run his own country, nor a foriegn one without the UN, and even lost a fight with a pretzel!)

(Pussy!)

I still think Flynt's platform sounds way better than Arnie's plaform.

I especially wonder about Arnie's position ethically when you consider the recent allegations and older footage (i.e. the orgies, the drugs, the racial comments about South Africa).

Flynt I can understand running as Flynt has been responsible for some liberal press freedoms in the US.

I don't care about his porn factory -- I care that people can't sue for libel or defamation when others are critical (or more so satrical in Flynt's case) in the US.

If only Australia would adopt the same law.

In any case, if I was Californian, I'd vote Flynt!

There's a set of archetypes used in most narrative fiction that sets the fundamentals of relationship:

1. The hero/protagonist (or rather "Uber protagonist" in the adventure games) i.e. Manny

2. The villian/antagonist -- to create conflict i.e. Hector

3. The sidekick/supplementary/mirror characters -- to reflect/supplement the attitudes of the main character (and, as Duzz says, to provide to comic relief). i.e. Glottis

4. The object/goal character -- Most of the time a love interest, but not always, as the character symbolises the goal for the protagonist i.e. Meche

There are numerous others, but these are the main four.

Note, I use the term "archetypes" instead of "stereotypes" or "formula characters" -- There is no magic formula that can create deep relationships in adventure games.

It is up to the designer to paint the large gap left by that particular archetype e.g. Manny and Guybrush are both protagonists, but both are very different in their portrayal of their heroism.

And that it the purpose of this particular GTD -- to fill the many blanks of character.

Aye, it should be a small sticker either on your manual, CD disc, or on the side of your computer (as the techies who assembled it might have stuck in on the case).

If not, then you're on your own boy-o -- Warez is naughty!

* DGMacphee continues downloading a game off Kazaa.

And Ben would just eat the sandwich and kick the door down.  

As for personality I agree with everything that's been said here, especially Dave Gilbert's comments on backstory.

Backstory drives the psychology of a character, IMO.

For example, in Grim Fandango, although Manny's backstory is never revealed, we learn that he's done something wrong and needs to work off the time.

His backstory creates a goal of redemption and that's one of the things I find so interesting about Manny's personality -- Even if he was bad in the land of the living, he still wants to make things good in the land of the dead.

Even backstory aids smaller details -- Like (also Grim Fandango) the whole mini-story about the Christmas party and the punch-up between Domino and Manny.

Other games with good examples of backstory:

The Gabriel Knight series -- As Dave pointed out, Gabe's family history forms a large part of Gabe's personality.

Season of Sakura -- Yep, it had to come up sooner or later, but the game has a great amount of backstory to the different characters.

The Tex Murphy games -- All the games feature many humourous brushstrokes to paint Tex's character and his relationships to other characters.

Why? You want some?

I don´t like man with big muscles, but thanks anyway DGM  .

In that case:


His name is Reggie, he's a tiger in the sack, and he's all yours!




Somehow, a little skinny guy doing diddly just doesn't have the same comic value.  :

He could pull up his pants a couple more inches though.

Wow, that's a great job you did with Dave and... WAITAMINUTE!!!!

Hi La Lore!

Here's a gift to you from the AGS Welcoming committee:



Enjoy!  

He has Rob Lowe as his campagin advisor.

I think Arnie's been watching too much West Wing.

Nevertheless, I see this ending badly.

[What is a Photoshop Phriday?]

What is a Photoshop Phriday?

Photoshopping isn't drawing a completely new image -- It's editing images to create a new image, such as editing one image or combining several images.

Also, you don't have to specifically use Photoshop -- Paint Shop Pro, MSPaint, or any other programs can be used.

See this link:
http://www.somethingawful.com/photoshop/

And for other examples, see here:
http://www.worth1000.com/

The two above websites should give a fair idea of what is involved.

Also, make sure your image doesn't exceed the width of the screen -- If it does, I will delete it.

-------------------------------------

What do I have to do?

This week's Photoshop Phriday is: "Dave Gilbert Meets..."

This one was inspired by Dave's meeting with Jackie Chan, and Eric's subsequent photoshop:

http://www.sylpher.com/kafka/junk/ohnodave.jpg

In this photoshop, you have to pair Dave Gilbert with someone famous.

It can be anyone, as long as they are famous -- however, the crappier the celeb, the better.

For example:


You can find pics of Dave here:
http://www.davelgil.com/jackie/jackie.htm

Or here:
http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=2310

So sit back as we explore the world of Dave's lifestyles with the rich and famous.

It looks like LeChuck wins.

So, here's the final image, like I promised!

YOU MAY BE TALKING ABOUT MONEYCOSTING ONE 12431, but the problem is selling several games together opens up a legal can of worms.

Yes it is.

Download 'em all for free!

Then burn them onto a CD -- it's a lot cheaper than Chris buying the CD, burning them and shipping it to you.

Besides, Chris probably has more important things to do that burning heaps of collectors CDs.

And he already owns a make-shift brothel in his shed.

WTF?!?

This title of this thread said this was supposed to be a 'good idea'!

You lied 1232134!!1!

In all seriousness, why pay for something you can get for free anyway?


BTW, both Rode and I (and others) mention Instagame in our signatures!

You all can enter this comp, but I'm not going to.

The way I see it, there's no way I'd tell anyone my most original plot idea -- I'd rather make a game out of it before someone else does.