Messages

I big the emails some African Prince/Leader/Dictator sends you, asking to give him you bank details to he can hide a large some of money in your account.

I get penis enlargement and debt reconciliation spam.

Do they seriously think I'm just a poor guy with a little dick?

...

Hmm...

[What is a Photoshop Phriday?]

What is a Photoshop Phriday?

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.
-------------------------
What do I have to do?

Today's Photoshop Phriday is this: "Dude, Where's My Genre?"

To quote from the Full Throttle 2 post in the General Forum:

GarageGothic:

Imagine "Loom 2" as a cutesy PS2 platform game with Bobbin jumping around, shooting musical notes from his stick - Harry Potter-style. Or how about "Maniac Sims" where you take control of the Edison household and get the chance to purchase a bigger nuclear reactor for the basement, breed tentacles and, of course, take care of trespassing kids.

scotch:

Sounds like a good Photoshop Phriday idea

Indeed!

In the style of the upcoming arcade/adventure Full Throttle 2 game, your Phriday this week is to combine any adventure (AGS or commerical) with a game in a different genre.

GG's above examples are good ideas.

Others example off the top of my head: Daytona of the Tentacle, Mario and Luigi Hit The Road, etc, etc.

Thank you and good luck to you all!



Note: That FT2 post is here:
http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=1;action=display;threadid=5842;start=0

What Andail said, plus my comments here:

http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=5939

Chrille is making a platform game called urban Joe (but not with AGS).

Check out the GASPOP webite.

http://www.gaspop.com/

Not to be unfriendly or anything, but maybe you should start off in the beginner's board.

Also, I don't think there are too many people who'll want to write scripts for you.

My advice is to read the manual that comes with AGS before posting.

Then when you have a question that's not in the manual, post a query in the beginner's board.

Battlefield 1942?

Never played it.

But I guess it might say something about the horror of war blah blah blah blah.

On the topic of violence in games:

I think that violence in games in a big consumer point, especially in young testosterone-charged boys.

However, I would like to see a move away from that.

On the other hand, I thought the violence served a point in Hitman, and raised several interesting questions about the nature of man.

Can someone be truly born to kill?

If so, can we kill our creators/gods?

Does god control us, or does our ability to kill mean we kill him?

Does man's ability to kill make him free?

Its interesting to see the philosphical questions raised from violent computer game such as Hitman!

* DGMacphee applauds bspeers

I think adventures have melded with other genres.

Take Hitman, for example.

I'd consider some of the elements to be adventure inspired, such as the inventory system and the fact that the game progresses based upon meeting certain plot-specific objectives (as opposed to just shooting everything in conventional action games).

However, as for pure adventure games, I wouldn't say they are dead -- more so, they've become an indie industry.

I think the fact that adventures are becoming less commercial gives it strength.

I say this because it allows for less conventional methods to be employed (i.e. experimentation).

For example, I had an idea for an adventure game based on the movie The Pianist where you play a Jewish man trying to hide from Nazi soldiers in World War 2.

A commerical company would probably never be able to make this game because many would see it as capitalising on a tragic event for purposes of entertainment.

Not only that, I doubt it would sell too well.

However, an indie game maker would be able to make it successfully because: a) profit isn't a motive, and b) indie releases are seen as more of a form of artistic expression.

I could be wrong upon this matter -- what do you think?

Neil Simon had a technique for writing his comedies.

If he thinks of something that makes him laugh out loud, he'd write it down.

I think that's how I came up with the jokes in my games.

Stickmen was created partially out of the joke I used at the end of the game: "We're both naked!" "Not me! I have a hat!"

For some reason, whereever I thought of that, I would laugh out loud and gain strange looks from people around me.

The game grew from there.

Same with Ultimeer and the Pimp of Persia scene -- but most of the jokes from Ultimerr I thought of in the shower, so no strange looks when I'd laugh out loud.

I dig satire.

As a personal example, Ultimerr used a lot of satricial references to other stories, games, movies, and famous people, such as: Psycho, Jack and the Beanstalk, Indiana Jones, Prince of Persia, Ultima, Monkey Island, Calvin Klein, Sigmund Freud, and Bruce Campbell.

I especially like news satire because it mocks current events, and most of the time showing the hypocrisy present in this day and age.

For example, there was a show on TV here called CNNNN, which parodied news and cable services, such as (obviously) CNN.

I also like war satire, like MASH -- I own the book, the DVD movie, and several TV episodes.

Hawkeye Pierce is one of my many idols.

And like Altman directing MASH, I also like the use of visual elements to tell a joke -- for example, when he did that last supper scene.

I tried a "visual pun" similar to Altman in one of my puzzles in Stickmen -- the puzzle where you have to movie the large monkey out of the way and you have to spank him with the boat paddle.

I also dig stand up comedy -- my favourite artist would have to  be the late and great Bill Hicks.

Others include Lenny Bruce, Rich Hall, Judith Lucy, Robin Williams, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, and Denis Leary.


And the rest of my humour I pull from my arse -- it's as good a place as any.

I just finished "The Black Dahlia" by James Ellroy and didn't really like it. It was contrived,  predictable at times and the characters were boring. I really have no interest in tough guy detective stories, but I read it as part of my research for my game as the novel is set in LA in the late 40's.

I haven't read Black Dahlia, but I have read LA Confidential.

I liked it a lot, especially considering it traced the lives of three different detectives, instead of that one "tough guy" detective.

The movie was damn good too, and after reading the book I'm suprised that they even managed to convert it to film.

If they filmed it the way it was written, it would span several years and go for four or five hours.

It would also be 18+ rated.

Sounds like a good Photoshop Phriday idea

I do believe you're right!

And so it shall be for next Phriday!

Just wondering if anyone is reading (or has read) any good books of late?

As for me: I just finished Kinky Friedman's "Elvis, Jesus and Coca-Cola" and have just started on Arthur Golden's "Memoirs of a Geisha", which I think is damn good so far and I've only read three chapters.

Q: Which is easier to unload -- A truck full of dead babies or a truck full of bowling balls?
A: The dead babies -- You can use a pitchfork!

Q: What's worse than that?
A: There's a live one at the bottom.

Q: What's worse than that?
A: He's trying to eat his way out.

Q: What's worse than that?
A: He made it.

Q: What's worse than that?
A: He's going back for seconds.

They finally screened it in Australia.

And yeah, I watched it.

I was very disappointed.

There's nothing funny about a Tony Hawk cameo, or a bunch of over-used "Gen X" phrases, or a Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon/Matrix joke that is completely out of context and not very funny.

However, I did find the 301st episode to be a funny one and a big step in the right direction.

I especially liked the Requiem For a Dream joke with the Rib Burger -- AND IT WAS IN CONTEXT!

Not only that, the episode stayed true to the characters -- something the Simpsons hasn't done for a long time.

Two paraplegics walk into a bar...

Okay Gil -- enough 1337.

What about Shakespeare:

And lo and bequeath,
Thy gift of amusement to thou
Of St. Christopher's dominion
Extends beyond the hourglass
Of many 'a moon and sun.
But I cast aside the man
Who names himself before the creature
That lies upon the streets of Rome
And paints his life with crimson colours
Which seep through the cracks upon the cobblestone path.
I cast him aside,
For his brief moment of entertaining St. Christopher's masses
For his produce does not conform to the sanctity of an amusing entity
Where thy remove the soul from one great man
And cast thyself within his body
For moon and sun enternal.
And all the vital elements remain within thy product of the soul
(Lest, they be consumed by darkness).

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

Translation:
Rodey's game isn't a 1000 hour RPG.

Mine is, because I have stats in my game.

(But they're hidden)

I had to do a double check there because I thought that was Roger Wilco.

Hey, maybe Roger is a decendant of George and Nico!