Messages

So I decided to play it again to settle my mind on what I felt iffy about regarding the dialogue.

The opening scene in the car where they discuss the uncles suicide was oddly forgettable. A scene like that should give the player a clear idea of where he is going and perhaps also plant some seed of what to expect. Instead, having them talk in loose terms regarding the auspicious circumstances in the death of both the uncle and his wife, both of whom where never properly introduced. Isn't really an effective opening.

Instead I think id prefer the discussion to be more focused on where rather than what happened 'there'.

for instance:
Male Wake up, were almost there.
Lady ...how far?
Male Don't you recognize this road?
Lady Not sure, all roads look the same at night.
Male We just passed the lake.
Lady yeah, then were close...
Male It feels strange doesn't it.
Lady I don't know, I really love that house, even though he killed himself there.
Male Still, its just a weekend right?
Lady Unless you like the place.
Male I just don't feel right about living in a house where your uncle killed himself.
Lady That's the turn.

In this example the dialogue establishes the lady's familiarity with the area, suggesting she spent quite some time here in the past. We understand that they are going to spend a weekend in the house where her uncle killed himself. We also establish that the protagonist feels a bit disturbed about these circumstances. There is also the sense that they travelled quite far to get there. That can be very effective for the atmosphere of the game since most horror functions in the realm of unfamiliarity. You might even say that fear is just what's unknown.

It's easy to think that using non-specific and loose terms in dialogue adds a sense mystery fit for a horror game. But you really just end up with some bad dialogue that doest add to the atmosphere or give the player any direction. Loose terms are forgettable for the most part.

Hope this helps.

What I'm trying to do is have the cursor mode change depending on what the cursor is currently hovering, so if its a character, then talk to, if there's a hotspot, interact, etc.

To do this I've changed two functions in the global script.

Code: ags

function repeatedly_execute() 
{
  if (Character.GetAtScreenXY(mouse.x, mouse.y)){
    mouse.Mode = eModeTalkto;
    }
  else if (Hotspot.GetAtScreenXY(mouse.x, mouse.y)){
    mouse.Mode = eModeInteract;
    }
  else {
    mouse.Mode = eModeWalkto;
  }
}


function on_mouse_click(MouseButton button)
{
  if (IsGamePaused() == 1)
  {
  }
  else if (button == eMouseLeft) 
  {
    ProcessClick(mouse.x,mouse.y, mouse.Mode);   
  }
  else
  {   
    ProcessClick(mouse.x,mouse.y, eModeLookat);
  }

The right mouse work's perfectly, but when I try to walk with the left mouse button nothing happens (it does dynamically change though).

Played the demo and I've got to say that it plays really well, allot like Clock Tower with a mouse (not a bad thing for sure). The only real problem I had with the game is that it takes a while for it to kick off. Allot of the dialogue felt a bit long and for some reason the relationship between the protagonist and his lady felt a bit stale.
Then again, spending some time actively settling into the house might help build up tension for the freaky events that follow.

I really enjoyed the demo, especially the freaky stuff.

very exciting, good luck sir.

It's actually pretty good for what it is.

next, Oceanspirit Dennis fight's the flying whale? only time will tell...

I wouldn't say I'm a smoker, but I do get profound enjoyment out of smoking cigarillos. It's a very different thing, its not chemically addicting in the least, lovely to drink with too.

Pipes are quite nice as well. Although personally I prefer smoking Japanese koiki tobacco(in a koiki pipe) rather than any western blends.

For commercial games its definitely Grim Fandango.

For the independent games, I haven't played many good ones, I've played allot of games that disappointed me however. But the best one I played would be trilby's notes, closely followed by 6 days a sacrifice.

This just looks extraordinary, well done on the graphics.

I'm almost getting excited for this one.

What can I say but that I enjoyed the one minute I spent.

I made the mistake on the 'Anger' level. i tried to select the pipe again using the number keys instead of actually going to the menu.

I have been playing a bit of oblivion lately and i use the quick-keys quite a bit. Still, its very strange that anyone would ever come across that.

I found a glitch. I'm guessing its just something you forgot to take out, but something strange happens when you press '1' '2' or '3'.  It doesn't work during the credits though.

Yes i know that there is no rational reason as to why i would press those keys in any ags game but it happened.

still, i really enjoyed playing the game, its one of the good ones for sure.

I'm sure there must be something left in the world of straight colour to use.

like white, blue, magenta...

Thanks Kaio, its right there in the ol' signature now.

I'm quite interested in this. In regards to what I would like to see in the game I feel like the question is a bit redundant. surely a good game would give the people what the didn't think they wanted.

Still, i think there is some interesting potential here. I'll keep my eye out.

The shape is... a zombie? a melted head, look at this thing, disgusting!

I don't know if I'm comfortable making a call on that Mr. Matti. I certainly don't mind the wait, even though there isn't mush going on right now.

[Nickel]

The Jam has ended!


here are the top 3:

Nickel: You pulled off allot of interesting features with a very small amount of colours. For one its the shape of the feathers on the wings, the blend from skin to wing and the overall shading. Just a great piece of work.

ProgZmax: Very nice colours and all that, great actually. But what I enjoyed the most was the staging of the characters. It doesn't so much tell a story as it displays a moment. good stuff.

Arboris: The thing that makes me appreciate your entry in a different way than both Nickel and ProgZmax is the size of that bird. It looks great, nothing really feels off at all so the fact that its such a large piece of work is impressive.


The winner is Nickel!
So, take this;, and start the next Sprite Jam!

The entries so far have really blown my mind and all of my expectations.

I have prepared a trophy to the winner, the golden stash:

       

truly, a trophy fit for a hero-artist.

 
I made this genie creature.

Just for the sake of it, its not an entry.

[Pixel artists]

Id just like to say that i cannot deny the fact that I did not fully understand the issue at hand. Ultimately it may be unfair to not allow digital painting as it is a very prominent part of many AGS games. I do not want to exclude anyone from entering because I declared something haphazardly and in ignorance.

Because there are two very distinct categories of AGS game-art I will refine the rules regarding color as follows.

Pixel artists: You can only use 6 colours (not counting black, white or the background alpha-colour), this also includes shading colours.

Digital painters: You can use 6 base-colours (not counting black, white or the background alpha-colour), as with pixel art, shadows and highlights should be accounted for in the base-palette.