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But seeing as the kickstart roms are illegal.. We can't really tell you where and how to get one.

And of course, you need to own the original Amiga games to play the roms

Says the guy who has a gagillion illegal MP3s on his harddisk.

As for kickstart ROMs, here's a tip: try googling "kickstart +ROMS", then do some hunting. I found several versions in only a few minutes.

Afterwards, read the WINUAE instruction manual fully so you know how to get everything working.

Yeah, that's what I meant -- a fast pool. But the way you described it sounds like mumbo jumbo. "Physics"?? What the hell is a "physics"?? Sounds more like sorcery to me!

Har dee fucking har! 

I just want to remind all you toffeeheads that this thread is devoted to PHOTOSHOPPING the mysteries that lurk under BOBBIN'S HOOD.

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.

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

Ever wanted to know what was under Bobbin's hood?

Well, too bad, cause that's what we're going to do for this week.

Take this image (or a similar image of Bobbin)...



And photoshop it to show what horrors lie under the hood. As always, you have one week.

Special thanks to Pesty, who did not at all come up with this idea. It was totally mine!

(Okay, maybe she came up with a little bit of this idea, but only a smidge!)

((Fine! It was all her's! Happy now!))

so CJ, what you say, is that I can't comment on an obvious n00b game, with lousy graphics and 2000planned rooms, that it just plainly stinks?

Actually, what CJ said was...

so long as... criticism is constructive.

I think you need to say a little more than "your game plainly stinks". Perhaps some advice on how to make it better?

I think it's like Rebel without a Cause how they made the motorcycle gangs appear ... totally feeding off of a stereo type of how the masses envision those people.

I should point out that the director of Rebel Without a Cause, Nicholas Ray, researched the movie by riding around with several LA gangs, so it's not exactly feeding off a stereotype of how people envision them. Also, the film used one or two real gang members to teach other James Dean how to street fight. If anything, RWAC is a more accurate movie than most.

Check it out here: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0048545/trivia

Also, I can't remember many motorcycle gangs in the mvoie. From memory, most of them drove around in souped-up cars.

But most Hacker-like movie aren't very accurate.

I remember The Net with Sandra Bullock. There was a scene in the beginning where she was playing Wolfenstein 3D while on the phone to some guy telling her it was such a violent game and that the kinds would love it.

And that time, Doom was already out.

Also, I don't remember any virus being uploaded when you press a certain button, but maybe I had an older version.

Let that be a lesson to you: Wolfenstein is spyware!

Another sign of how evil the Nazis were!

Didn't they also claim that the pool in the Sydney Olympics was some kind of "magic pool" too?

Sometimes you just wish he would just go out of business...

McAvaney or Rugs-A-Million guy? 

It looks more like petrified cow turd than a prop from Indy 4.

They should, but they're a bunch of slack dole-bludgers!

I have to agree, Denton is the funniest of the lot. However, Enough Rope isn't really a funny show. It's more just an interesting and insightful talk show -- a rip-off (of Clive James) that's done with extreme competence, mostly due to Denton's part.

I never got into The Fat, though.

Strange how we're talking Aussie comedy and no one mentioned Gold Logie Winner Rove, yet? Any thoughts?

My opinion: I think he's crap.

No wait, make that: absolute crap!

...

...

Oh wait, we were talking about the Olympics, weren't we?

Errr...

Isn't Thorpie great?

I like The Dream. If there's one thing Aussies do better than winning swimming medals, it's taking the piss out of people who win swimming medals.

"You are now sitting in the nude wearing a tinfoil hat! WHEEEEEE! Make up a photoshop tomorrow when you wake up!"

> GO TO BED

EXACTLY. That's why this forum was created to begin with - To show everyone what you've got on the stove. Think of the game's thread as a movie poster or a preview of an upcoming game in a magezine.

Actually, the whole reason (as far as I can remember) why the Games In Production forum was created was to separate the demos from the full games in the previously titled "Announcement Forum".

People were just sick of having to wade through demos to find full games, so they got separated (The games and demos, not the people). It didn't really have anything to do with hype or criticism or any of the other reasons people have specified in this thread, although such reasons are good reasons to have the forum too.

Now here's my take on things:

First, ask yourself the purpose of the forum? As I said, it was to seperate demos and full games. So, what is a demo? A demo is used to show progress. Ergo, the games in production's main function is to show thes progress of games. This now not only includes demos, but screenshots, animations, sprites, music, etc, etc.

But doesn't the Critic's Lounge also do that, some have asked?

Yes. It does. Except the Critic's Lounge wasn't designed for demonstrating progress of a game. It was mainly set up to gain feedback on individual talents, like art and music.

However, both forums were designed with the principle of improvement in mind. The critic's lounge was designed to help others gain feedback for improving their individual talents. The Games in Production was to demonstrate the progress and improvements of a full game.

Now, I feel criticism is important for developing a talent. I am reminded of a story of a student dancer who auditioned for a big musical company. Her audition started, but within five minutes the musical direction stopped her performance and told her she didn't have what it took to be a dancer. Years passed. She married, had kids, and worked in a book-keeping job during this time. But one day she met that same musical director in the street. She stopped him and asked if he remembered her. "I do," he replied. She then asked what was it that made him decide she didn't have what it took to be a dancer. She replied, "If someone tells you within five minutes that you don't have what it takes, and you quit, then you definately don't have what it takes to be a dancer."

Lovely little story! So, what's my point?

Well, if one or two people offensively criticise your game, and you give up instead of developing it further, then the game wasn't meant to be made. And I'm sure that for every one or two of those cruel bastards ( ) there are about ten people willing to give decent constructive criticising in hope of helping someone improving their game. To people who feel that we shouldn't criticise games in the production forum at all, I say if we do then there is no chance for progress or improvement. After all, people are releasing demos and screenshots for a game other people are going to play, so they might as well gain some decent feedback from such people. Otherwise, don't post screenshots or any demos. Finish your enitre game and then post it. But either way you do it, there will be criticism.

This entire forum represents a hive for advice for improvement, whether it's personal/non-adventure game (AGS General), beginner's steps (Beginner's Forum), theory (Adventure Game Discussion), individual talent (Critics Lounge), game development (Games in Production), and Final Product (Completed Games). CJ even has the Technical Forum where people give him criticial opinion on the latest release of AGS.

But if you stop the criticism in one area, you shut down improvement in an important step in the game development process. I think as long as people remember that this whole community is devoted to making each adventure game release better than the last one, then criticism is hunky-dory.

And with that, I rest my case.

"You rest your case??"

Oh, sorry. Case closed!

Whoa! Squinky's back! I haven't seen him in weeks!

That poster made me cream my pants! How embarassing!

Welcome back, Gold!

Thanks to Mark Latham's FTA amendments, our cyclists don't have to worry about spending big money on generic sterroids!

What's with this sudden hippie ranting?
Since when did hippies become reactionary and prudent?

Sometimes I wish less people could share their two cents in threads like this one

The hippie thing was just a silly joke I started. Don't worry, I don't hate hippies (Some of my best friends are hippies), and I'm sure no one else here hates them.

They also make top-notch brownies!

Okay, I decided to research all this to see if point n clicks are commercially dead or if I'm just talking crap. It was tough because various top ten lists from around the world aren't archived (if they are, please point me in the right direction). But, here's what I found from 2-3 hours of research:

Runaway was successful in Europe (It reached No. 2 when released according to GfK). But I checked out its status in the US. It was released on the 28/8/2003 and I checked the top ten games around that period:

http://pc.ign.com/articles/437/437834p1.html
http://pc.ign.com/articles/451/451669p1.html
http://pc.ign.com/articles/452/452396p1.html

Runaway didn't feature on any of those lists. These figures were from NDP Group, which monitors PC Games sales in the US. I also checked the Top Ten Games sales for 2003 in the US:

http://www.npd.com/press/releases/press_040126a.htm

I did not see Runaway (and any other adventure games) on the list.

As for Westerner, you'd be hard-pressed to find much information on it outside of Europe. From what I found out, it only got a decent release in Europe. And there, it only reached No. 15 in the charts.

The information on Runaway and Westerner comes directly from Focus Interactive's homepage which links to German research group GfK (which is similar to NDP).

I also checked out what was happening with the UK Charts this week. The only adventure game that made the top 40 list wasn't a point and click (It was Grim Fandango), and even then it only reached No. 17. Click Here for info.

I checked the point and clicks too. Most of the games there were budget games (But I question what Grim Fandango is doing in the list when it's not a point and click. I guess I'm being being picky over small details). Click Here for info

Now, sure, point n clicks might be popular in local and niche markets, but when it comes to worldwide appeal, point and clicks don't sell as well as they used to. The success rate has dropped significantly. Hardly anyone is making new ones. And hardly anyone is playing them compared to other games like The Sims and Doom 3.

Granted, Runaway and Westerner may have been profitable enough warrant sequels in Europe, but in terms of reaching a similar worldwide popularity as the games on the lists above, they failed. I remember that many games like SnM, DOTT, etc used to reach high sales worldwide. But it doesn't happen anymore.

As for the Nancy Drew games, granted, that one from Esseb's post made that top ten list. But I still call it a one-off. The other Nancy Drew games haven't reached any top ten success, as far as I could tell. And like I said, Runaway didn't even make the US's top ten and Westerner wasn't very popular. I couldn't find much on the latest Myst game (which I heard was crap anyway). The question is: will the latest Nancy Drew game make it into top ten lists in other countries?

Perhaps, only time will tell.

Now, get ready for another shock.

I found many articles that say PC Game Sales were in decline last year. Why? Because people are buying more consoles and console games. I don't see many point n click adventures released for consoles either (fewer than PC, I'm guessing. But that's just a guess). But it seems punters are spending their dosh more on console games rather than PC Games. This affects the commerciality of PC PnC Games.

Will things improve this year?

Once again, only time will tell.

But like I said, this all still gives credit to my "commercially dead" claim.