Messages

I know you said no more of these would be accept, so forgive me. But I didn't see this thread till today (haven't been online for a while) and simply couldn't resist.Ã, 

I don't think you can really use your imagination up but rather exhaust it by pushing yourself/being forced to write something.

Inspiration and imagination need some time to recover, after you've completed something.
Since you mentioned the Simpsons, I think this is pretty much true for most weekly series. Most of them run dry after a while - and that's most likely because the writers are urged to churn out a new episode each week. They often don't have the time to rekindle their imagination and to draw new inspiration from somewhere.

There've been a couple of times, when I thought my imagination would've been used up and I couldn't come up with any original story. But really, it was a mere matter of time; sometimes a couple of weeks, once about half a year.
But then, suddenly it was just like "Flash" and I had a great idea for a comic.

Hmm, the word "writer's block" comes into my mind... but then again this might be something different... ^^;

Anyway, the fact that you came up with the idea for an RPG, is a proof that your imagination hasn't run dry, isn't it?

Just one question: I want to make a rpg with a female character. So I'm trying to figure out why should would go into a magical castle (with traps, moving doors, monsters and all). You see I don't see any reason, and I'd hate to put that she has to save the world or that kinda bullshit.

Motivation is what keeps any of us going. And I can't find hers...

Well, I think in first place you should develop her character, if you haven't done so already. Usually that should lead to a good motivation by itself.
Also, it's important whether this is the very premise of the story itself or just part of it...

Mh, some reason I could think of without knowing anything about her would be:
- She's a treasure hunter and heard of this nifty, valuable treasure hidden in the castle.
- Or she's some sort of ghost hunter and was hired to get rid of some sort of ghost that hid away in the castle.
- Maybe she's a mage and needs some ingredients that only grow in the castle's basement.
- Or she's looking for her pet/brother/sister/friend/granny, who got lost in the castle for some reason.
- She might be a traveller who accidentally found the castle when looking for shelter from the rain.
- Her courage is put to a test by the gang she'd love to join.
(Or a combination: Looking for a friend who took this courage test thingy)
- Or the other way around, she wants to prove to her gang how wrong they are about spouting such rumors about a "monster castle".

Most likely none of those options are that original. But then again, personally I think it's not necessarily the premise that makes a story original, but the way you tell it and put your own spin to it.

Well, hope this is of any help! ^^;

* Secret passages are frequently connected to not-so-secret triggers, like a candle or a book. You know, things that anybody dusting the room might stumble on. That's what makes them SUPER SECRET.

*lol* I've got a vision: "The coincidental adventure of Harriet, the cleaning lady"! 

[justified]

Mmh, AFAIK the Hiroshima bomb was dropped *after* the war was already ended. And it was dropped in full conciousness of that fact...

Why don't you check your facts before you post looking like an idiot?

What the hell is wrong with you?
Yeah, should've checked the date before posting, should've double-checked, whatever.
I'm the first to admit any mistake I made.
But you don't have to jump at me like that! Man, how old are you?

And BTW

I'm not the one who argued the nukes were justified.

I hope this one isn't aimed at me.
I never said anything like this and I never would.

The dropping of these two bombs, which killed 155,000 Japsanese, was the definitive action which ended World War II.Ã,  (many more would die later as a result of radiation, but I'm talking about the initial blasts)

Mmh, AFAIK the Hiroshima bomb was dropped *after* the war was already ended. And it was dropped in full conciousness of that fact...

But anyway, as this is OT, I won't dwell on this.

It's downright horrible, what happened to New Orleans.

I read an indeep article about it today, that went far deeper than those "horror-of-the-day" news you have on German tv.
Yeah, Guybrush is right, there are terrible events happening all over the world, most likely each and every day, and they're no way less important, than what happened in New Orleans.
But, we're talking about a whole city, and not just one, that's been virtually wiped out.
That isn't meant sarcastically, but I honestly thought this would rather happen to Venice before any other city I could think of!

But what is about as shocking for me is the very fact, that all the things that would lead to this destruction, already were known for several years! I read there were reports out that forecasted all of this, and they're from 3 years back!
Jesus Christ, what were the persons in charge thinking? Any of them!
As worst came to worst, it seems as if everything went wrong, that could possibly go wrong, because they weren't PREPARED for it or what!?
It's sickening me.


Oh well, sorry for the ranting...

Heh, that professor reminds of Dr. Ed! XD
Some funky looking sprites you got there!

She looks like one of those girls from "Full House"! 

In Germany:

- Bild
- Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ)
- Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ)
- Die tageszeitung (taz)
- Die Welt
- Berliner Zeitung
- Handelsblatt

Can't think of anymore right now.

How many clishees can you put in one ASCII?Ã,  :

Code: ags

________________
Ã,  BURGER KINGÃ,  Ã, |Ã,  I'm Elvis
________________|/ and I'm evil
______Ã,  Ã, _____Ã,  / _____
Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  | (____Ã,  \|(____  \
 @@@Ã, Ã,  |Ã,  (>< | || (>< | | - Yeah, me too!
/ ..\ |Ã,  (o__\_/| (o__\_/
|__o_||Ã,  o/Ã,  Ã,  \o o/Ã,  Ã,  \o

Last night the BK drive-in was attacked!
40 hamburgers lost their lives...

Next: Revenge of the hamburgers!

Edit: Gee, it didn't look that crappy in Notepad. 

Keep working this one, it has alot of potential. (BTW, you don't have to apply any of these ideas... I'm just throwing ideas your way.)

Some good ideas you've got there. Actually, they pretty much inspire me, exactly what I need now, as I put this BG aside for a few days now (Me lazy bum, meÃ,  ).
I especially like the one with the tiki statue. Would be a nice way to give a slight hint of the history of the island (I've got most of it lined out, even though I wouldn't need it for this game).

it looks good, only you might have to mess around with walkable areas if you want to make your char walk to the hill at the back

Yeah, I already played around with the sketch in AGS, and it's a real pain in the ass, I tell you.
It's manageable, but getting there...Ã,  :

Ooh, goody! And here I thought of reviving this thread myself (after having read the whole 28 pagesÃ,  :)

Code: ags

Ã,  __Ã,  __
Ã,  \ \ \ \
Ã,  Ã, \ \ \ \
Ã,  Ã, /Ã,  Ã,  Ã,  \
Ã,  Ã, (o)(O)Ã,  \
Ã,  |_____/Ã,  Ã, \Ã,  __
Ã,  Ã, | uuÃ,  Ã, |Ã,  \/Ã,  \
Ã,  Ã, |_|Ã,  |_|Ã,  Ã, \__/
___\Ã,  Ã, nÃ,  ___> \
|_____o_o|_____/

Oooh, Bunny likes viagra!Ã, 

Next: Be inventive cuz I'm lazy!

One of the worst "puzzles" (if you can call it one) must be the one in LSL2, involving a boat and a spinach dip. It was useless, senseless and could get you killed. But if you don't do it, you'll be missing some 30 points or so. WTF!?

As for the best, getting the navigator's head in MI was pretty brilliant. I rarely encountered such a well thought wordplay in an adventure.

Those terrorist attacks must've been most welcome to the government.
After all, as was pointed out before, they get the opportunity to attack other countries legally (virtually) and they can pass laws to gain more and more control over their folks.

So why even bother to seriously stop terrorism, when it works for them?

This is a sketch for a background (outskirts of a small town), I want to use in the game I'm working on. I'm not really sure whether this works or not though, as BGs really aren't quite my forte.

As for something else, I originally intended this to be a scrolling screen. As it turned out however, the format I chose can be shrunk down to exactly 320x200.Ã,  :
Though it isn't hard to make a scrolling screen by pulling one half of the pic to the right, I'm currently pretty clueless on how to fill out the gap then.

If someone had an idea, I'd really appreciate it!
As well as any comment & critique of course!

khrismuc: Thanks! I'll never ever again use the wide and lenght image commando again but stick to the "enlarge your pics and then Print Screen it" technique.

Thanks for the tips, those are really helpful. I'm not sure about letting Syd having a big hairdo since the style of the late 80's isn't the same as the 90's or 00's fashion (at least not when it comes musicians, football-players, punkers etc., not sure if that was the same with geeks).

As for geeks, I guess they always were out of time. 
For Syd I'd suggest taking a look at those singers and bands that are hot these days. Maybe you'll get some inspiration from them.
Currently I can only think of this scrubby, uncombed look of The Libertines, or, on the other hand, the "60's Beatles style" of Franz Ferdinand or The Hives.

Dambuilder: I don't know who Billy Idol is, because I never heard of him. I'll check out Altavista for pics and see if that's right (because maybe seem too aggressive if Razor really shows her teeth but maybe if she give a aggressive smile you something).

I wonder, do you think I should stay with the long hair style for Razor (which I personality prefer) or the mohawk?

Caricature-wise a mohawk certainly has a lot of potential. 
But I prefer long hair too. I'm thinking of something like, say, that thing Tina Turner had on her head in the 80's.
Kind of like she played with a fork and an outlet.

I also agree with Chicky.
DOTT's characters are designed to make them look like walking talking clishees, that are sent up by exaggerating certain features which are credited to them by prejudice.
This includes both, personality and looks.
That way, the DOTT Bernard looks like your arche-type of a computer nerd.
In other words, they're caricatures.

Your characters are cartoonish, yes, but you're sticking too close to their original look. You should distort them much more, like they did with Bernard. If you compare the MM one to the DOTT one, you'll see that only his main features remained intact, like his clothes (with the pulled up trousers and so on) or the opaque glasses.

Your Razor f.ex. looks pretty tame for a punk singer. Make her hair big and wild. The mouth should be big and aggressive looking with the teeth showing (just think of Billy Idol!Ã,  ). Her dress should be shredded and torn at the ends, and put some really big spikes at her collar.
Take those features, punks are widely known for to an extreme.

Or think of the stereotyped image one has in mind for footballers (big, wide shoulders), cheerleaders (blonde, cheery, fashion victim) or rock singers. If you'd stick to the 80's feeling of MM, give Syd a big hairdo as most rock singers had these days. And so on.

Great entries, it was a tough choice...

But [insert Highlander reference here]:

The winner is largopredator
I really liked the style and the pacing.

i am again sorry to say no, no maetel. I feel like i am dissapointing the world. NOOOOOO!

Heh, can't have everything!   

Besides, with so many great characters out there, it must be hard enough to decide on which to have in the game!
(At least I couldn't make up my mind, I guess  : *lol*)

Cool idea, I really like it.

That Alucard looks great, I'm really curious what you'll do with Guts! 

But, hmmm, since I'm more into "retro" anime, is there any chance we'd get to meet Maetel at some point in the game?