Messages

To fitz & Gribbler : Opps, didnt know you both had wordy games, but each to his own. Will give monty a look.

To Stupot+ : thanks for the input, no three-headed monkey island jokes I promise (though there is a visual nod to MI, its very brief 1 second at most). The jokes will mostly be puns and visual gags. I have no idea how good an animator I am as its not something I've tackled before. Currently reading the Animators Survival Kit.

Thanks for the enthusiastic responses, I'm fired up and raring to get this done.

To Tabata : My hope is that in future when someone is asked 'Are you a mouse or a man?' the correct response will be 'squeak'.

Perhaps someone out there can help, Ive been trying to find subtitles for episodes of Danger Mouse but cant locate any. I'm beginning to think that they don't exist, but if anyone comes across any please let me know.

I take your point fitz & gribbler, trying to satisfy everyone will only end up in satisfying no one. Good point and certainly the approach I'll be taking is making a game I enjoy. The trouble is you can get too engrossed with a project your working on and not look at it in a critical light, was trying to get a feel for what others think.

Perhaps some clarification is in order. I personally have played games where the player and an NPC are chatting along quite nicely while I'm at my keyboard screaming 'GET ON WITH IT' (really hate games that don't allow you to skip chat). In the game I'm developing humor is a big part of the appeal, but that can lead to long(ish) periods where you as the player feel like your a spectator not a participant. I'm just trying to get an idea if others feel that way. To tackle that issue I've thought of using visual gags in the background as one approach, leaving the player free to continue exploring etc. Its a more tricky approach, its just something I'm mulling over.

Hi,

I'm currently designing a game which will have a lot of jokes in it. I'm worried that it might be a bit joke heavy, so I'm seeking sage counsel.

What do you think is the right balance between jokes/puzzles/action?
Do you prefer visual gags or wordy puns?
Do you like old school, pythonesque or satirical jokes?

In short I'm trying to get an idea of what my target audience likes and what the right balance is.

Any thoughts or suggestions would help.

If this game contains Nanny smashing through a wall shouting "I'll get it duckypoos" then it already has my vote for game of the year!

It wasn't going to, but after nearly laughing myself on to the floor at the thought of it I'll have to put it in somewhere.

Nanny was going to appear in an segment of the game called 'The Final Countdown' (think of the old joke 'how do you get down from an elephant?'). Sort of a cross between 'Countdown' & 'Castle Duckula'. I'll fit it in there (somehow). Nanny in dictionary corner prehaps...

As long as we forget the film...

I take your point, just didn't want to waste my time working on something only to be shot down.

Yes Baron Greenback is the main villain, at the moment my idea for the game is to set it as 'episodes' each feeding into the next 'episode' and the overall plot. To be clear this is not going to be a series of games, I mean as in TV episodes (this way the announcer comes into play, and lets face it he's why we watched).

Some characters I hope to use...

I've posted an announcement in 'AGS Games in Production'.

Thanks for the encouragement all.

For those who guessed...

Danger Mouse

The Story:

Become the worlds greatest detective/spy Danger Mouse aided and abetted by his faithful assistant Penfold. Thrill as he battles the evil Baron Greenback to save the world (again). Based on the 80s cartoon of the same name.

Some screenshots:





Video promo for the demo (just a teaser only minor spoilers)

[embed=420,315]http://youtu.be/nbJIxgwId-g[/embed]

The demo can be downloaded from this link: DANGER MOUSE DEMO


Development Progress:

Story: 40%
Scripting: 35%
Graphics: 50%
Sound/Music: 20%

Expected completion date: August 2015

Development Diary:

August 6th 2014

The game is very much in its early stages, the germ of a story has begun to grow in my fevered little brain. Progress is slow as I have never used AGS before and am trying to fully understand how things work before adding them. I am giving myself a year to complete the task, though I hope to be finished much sooner.

August 13th 2014

Created some more backgounds. Trying to come up with female characters to add in as DM has very few. Done some work on walkcycle for DM and Penfold.

August 20th 2014

Mostly been working on scripting. Complete rewrite of the way I was dealing with using repeat_execute so that the game does only one action per cycle (dramatic speed improvement). Worked on creating speech bubble that changes size .

Also I have completed drafting a dependency chart & I have planned out dialog/story for the first section of the game.

August 27th 2014

Have designed a couple of new female characters, and have worked on a new background. The work I did using dependency charts has led to me working on an internal system that handles puzzles which should lead to fewer bugs. I'm working on a test game to flesh out my theories. Work on game scripting will halt until I have the system in place.

September 3rd 2014.

De-cluttered main post by removing some screenshots.

Added several new backgrounds to game, and one new character. Work on puzzle system nearly complete, integrating it into the main game this week. Worked on story, and have second section plotted.

September 10th 2014

Puzzle system completed and integrated into main game. Further work needed to make this a rapid development tool but that can wait until after game completion. Working on scripting first section of game, using placeholder graphics where necessary. I aim to have this completed by the end of this month.

September 24th 2014

No progress last week needed a break. Adding the scripting using the puzzle system I devised is slow, I may have to build a tool to help with this even though I wanted to wait until after the game is completed. I am also working on completing the backgrounds for the first section of the game.

October 8th 2014

Been working on building a tool to help with the scripting needed for my puzzle system. Alternating between that and backgrounds (depending on which I get stuck/bored with).

October 16th 2014

95% of backgrounds/characters for first section of the game (which will also be the demo) are completed. Working on animations (which will probably just be basic for the demo). The demo will be used to refine the approach for the rest of the game.

October 22nd 2014

100% of backgrounds/characters/objects completed for first section of game. I have a team of testers waiting in the wings to help me refine the demo. There will be no further updates until the demo release.

November 23rd 2014

Demo passed to testers. Working on refining and debugging for general release.

December 4th 2014

Demo released.

Intense Degree & AGA. Well done from such small clues. Yes its DM (with a little Duckula). Didn't want to reveal that at this stage as its very early in its development, but couldnt leave your guesses just hanging there. Guess I'll have to post an announcement earlier than  I'd wanted to.

Thanks for the swift and concise replies.

What your saying is generally what I thought.

The game is intended to be pretty faithful to the original, I chose a cartoon so I had a frame of reference for artwork & characters. As stated my intent is to learn the ins and outs of AGS without the added difficulties of creating original artwork etc. I will release it when its finished and hopefully not tread on too many toes.

The show its based on is a British cartoon, and has a very English comedy style. Though being from the 80s its stereotyping of ethnic characters disturbs my fond childhood memories. I don't want to reveal too much as I don't want to tease a game that may never be released. When I'm more confident that I'll be able to complete it I'll post an announcement.

Thanks again for your counsel.

Hi all, this is my first post so I hope this is the right forum.

I have a simple question, what is the legality of creating a game based on an old TV show (80s cartoon)? The game I'm developing started out as a simple project to learn the ins an outs of AGS, it has become something of an addiction and I would like to eventually share it with others. It would be free and something of a homage to the original. Would sharing it have any legal issues?

Any ideas and suggestions would be gratefully received.