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The Blackwell Legacy is the first case in a miniseries of games that stars a medium named Rosangela Blackwell and her spirit guide Joey Mallone. Their mission, it seems, is to assist tormented spirits and investigate supernatural goings on. They don't understand why they are thrown together, but they do the best they can.

The duo's first case will involve a series of suicides at a local university. Something unnatural has forced these students to kill themselves, and nobody knows why. Rosangela, who is just coming to terms with her new status as a medium, finds herself cast as the unwilling detective in this gruesome mystery.

Demo: FREE

Price: $14.99

Download demo HERE.

TRAILER ON YOUTUBE.

For more information, check out our new website at http://www.wadjeteyegames.com

Screenshots:


Explore haunted locales, in the heart of New York City


Old photographs and letters give clues to the Blackwell family's past


The first adventure game to include a begging Boston Terrier.  Revolutionary!


Just a normal day in the life of a medium


A visit to the family shrink provides little answers

The team:

Writer/coder - Dave Gilbert
Background art - Tom Scary (Dr. Scary) and Chris Femo (Joker)
Sprite art - Ian Schlaepfer (Big Brother)
Concept artist: Matt Gardner
Additional art: Eyal Jammer
Music - Peter Gresser

Enjoy!

In my current game, I am using character portraits that have a variety of facial expressions and blinking animations. I had wanted to flip them so they match the direction that the character sprite is facing, but I find myself unable to do that. 

I can create extra views that contain the flipped sprites, but since each character has about 3-6 expressions and 3-6 blinking animations, that would nearly double the number of views in the game.  Is there any way around this?

Those of you who don't want to pay for the game, here's your chance to get the game for free!

From today (December 1st) until the game is released (December 16th), I am hosting a little fanart contest. 

Email or PM me a drawing, sketch, or visual representation of any character from The Shivah or the upcoming Blackwell Legacy.  The top three entries will win a free copy of the game.  The three runners-up will receive a free copy of the soundtrack.  Every other entry will receive a consolation prize.  NOBODY will leave empty-handed!

For more details, check out the website (www.wadjeteyegames.com).

-Dave

Hi all,

I'm having a little issue that probably has a simple stupid solution.

I have a line, made with rawdrawline, that I want to move around the room.  Basically the line starts from a specific point and is always pointing at a character.  The character walks around the room and the line moves with it.  (This is, in essence, to simulate a dog on a leash).

I did it like this:

RawSaveScreen();
RawDrawLine(220, 193,cDog.x, cDog.y);
RawRestoreScreen();

and put it in the repeatedly_executable section of my room script.  It seems to have worked, but it happens so fast that you can't see the line.

I put a Wait(1); between the second and third lines, but that didn't work well because the line flickered and it slowed down the game.

Any suggestions appreciated!

Cheers,

-Dave

[Fanart contest in progress! See the last post for details!]

Fanart contest in progress!  See the last post for details!

From the team that brought you The Shivah, now comes:



The Blackwell Legacy is the first case in a miniseries of games that stars a medium named Rosangela Blackwell and her spirit guide Joey Mallone. Their mission, it seems, is to assist tormented spirits and investigate supernatural goings on. They don't understand why they are thrown together, but they do the best they can.

The duo's first case will involve a series of suicides at a local university. Something unnatural has forced these students to kill themselves, and nobody knows why. Rosangela, who is just coming to terms with her new status as a medium, finds herself cast as the unwilling detective in this gruesome mystery.

WE ARE NOW TAKING PRE-ORDERS!!  Plus, for a limited time, you will receive a free Shivah Soundtrack when you pre-order the game.  This offer is limited, so don't be slackin'.

The Blackwell Legacy will be available for purchase on December 23rd, 2006 for $14.99.  Mark your calendars.

For more information, check out our new website at http://www.wadjeteyegames.com

The team:

Writer/coder - Dave Gilbert
Background art - Tom Scary (Dr. Scary)
Sprite art - Ian Schlaepfer (Big Brother)
Concept artist: Matt Gardner
Music - Peter Gresser

In lieu of the recent release delay, here are some more screenshots to taunt you:


An update of one of the backgrounds above


The first adventure game to include a begging Boston Terrier.  Revolutionary!


Just a normal day in the life of a medium


A visit to the family shrink provides little answers

In August, I presented "The Shivah" at an IGDA meeting here in New York.  A reporter from Gamasutra was there and did a write-up about it, in addition to interviewing me.  It took a month, but it's on there now.  You can read about the event, read the interview, and learn about some of the other games that were presented.

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060926/hawkins_01.shtml

The event was also videotaped, and was recently placed on Youtube.  You can view the videos here:

Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P18jOFoiyR4
(Where a trailer for the game is played, and some features are demonstrated)

Part 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWJ6BN4wokI
(Where I open up AGS and recreate a small scene from the game)

Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xsy-n17i4ig
(Where I answer questions from the audience)

So I've been looking into rpg engines lately, and I came across this nifty piece o' software called "Explorations".  It's not freeware, but it looked cool so I thought I'd check it out.  In looking through their site, I couldn't find any demos or game samples.  There were small demos of the engine itself, but no examples of games actually made WITH it.

This was a surprise, since they have a small but active community. 
So, I hopped on their forum to ask about it.  The results were... unexpected.  I get the strangest feeling that I totally offended the community there, without intending to.  It seems like a reasonable question to ask. 

Here's the thread:

http://www.explore-rpg.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.cgi?board=ERPGInfo;action=display;num=1158249580

Am I totally offbase?  Or are these guys being totally oversensative?  Has anybody out there heard of this engine?  It looks quite nice assuming it can do what they say it can do, but the unwillingness to provide a game demo totally turns me off.  Even AGS has a small demo that, while certainly not epic, shows the basics of what it can do. 

Hi all,

Manifestogames has offered to distribute one of my games on their website, but when they tried to put their usual security measures on it it did not work.  They tried to explain to me why, but I'm afraid it all went over my head.  I thought I would forward the message to this forum and see if anybody had any brainstorms.

According to the guy from Manifesto, it isn't worth it to implement this method in AGS, but it's certainly something to consider if there are more commercial AGS games in the future.

Here is the response:

-----Original Message-----
From: Greg Costikyan [mailto:greg@****.com]
Sent: Saturday, August 26, 2006 4:24 PM
To: Dave Gilbert
Subject: RE: Manifesto Games product integration instructions: The Shivah

Dave:

Here's the basic problem:

1. As far as HASP SL is concerned your exe file has a "non-standard
data structure." Apparently, it believes -any- exe where the build
includes data tacked on after the actual executable code is
"non-standard" (which it is, but this is common for things like
Shockwave and, I assume, AGS, which like to produce one neat file for
people to distribute).

2. Other DRM solutions (such as Trymedia's) have a 'switch' you can
flip to allow these kinds of .exe's tobe protected anyway. HASP SL does not.

3. As far as I can tell from Aladdin's site, they aren't supporting
SL any more, anyway.

4. So we're probably going to have to move to a different solution
down the line, but it works okay for now.

But 5., it probably isn't worth the AGS' folks spending a lot of time
trying to solve the problem themselves.

But if you want some documentation, see
http://library.aladdin.com/

At 09:33 AM 8/26/2006, you wrote:
>Hi Greg,
>
>
>I am curious as to what DRM actually is.  Is there some literature I can
>look at? I'd like to forward to the techies of AGS and see if >they know
>why it won't work.
>
>-Dave
>

Hi all,

There's a weird bug in "Shivah" that has me stumped.  Upon reloading a saved game, the talking portraits do not reset back to where they are supposed to be.  For example, if you save before a character is "happy", then the character becomes "angry", and then you restore, the character portrait remains "angry". 

I am flummoxed by this.  Any suggestions would be helpful.

-Dave

[HERE]

Winner of the June 2006 M.A.G.S competition.

Download HERE


Shivah: The seven days of Jewish mourning following the death of a close relative

Russell Stone works as a Jewish Rabbi at a poor synagogue in New York City.  He is a devout man with a problem.  Membership is way down and he lacks the funds to keep his synagogue open. Things are looking very bleak, and he has grown progressively more cynical and bitter with the passage of time.

Just as he is on the verge of packing it all in, he receives some interesting news.  A former member of his congregation has died and left the rabbi a significant amount of money.  

A blessing?  Or the start of something far more sinister?  Can Rabbi Stone just accept the money and move on?  His conscience says no.  Step into his shoes as he travels all over Manhattan in his attempt to uncover the truth.

Features rabbinical conversation methods, a unique method of fighting, an original score (around 10 musical tracks), and three different endings!

Demo: FREE!
Full version: $4.99

(The demo allows you to play the first few scenes of the game, and then shows you a movie-style trailer to give you a taste of the rest)

Some screenshots:


Rabbi Stone does not like visitors.


Bring hope and joy to others


Make friends easily


Shmooze with your rabbinical brethren.

This game was made for the June 2006 MAGS competition, so I consider this version a "public beta".  I was working up until the deadline to get rid of all the bugs, but I'm sure some still fell through the cracks.  Any comments are appreciated.

Update v1.1 - July 2, 2006: fixed a small bug that could cause the game to give you the wrong ending.

Two characters!  Three shadings!






I am reasonably happy with the old man's shading, but there is always room for improvement.  The younger man I am not happy with at all.  Everything I added to his lower face just looked painted on.  Any help is, as always, appreciated!

[If game characters were to breed, what would their kids look like?]

 What is a Photoshop ...Monday?

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. The contest usually lasts for a fortnight. Also, you don't have to specifically use Photoshop -- Paint Shop Pro, MSPaint, or any other programs can be used. Please make sure your image doesn't exceed the width of the screen.

See this link:
http://www.somethingawful.com/photoshop/

And for other examples, see here:
http://www.worth1000.com/

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

This week's topic: If game characters were to breed, what would their kids look like?

Choose any two characters, pair them together, and give em kids!  Man/man couples, girl/girl couples, robot/animal couples!   Go crazy!

Here's a quick example.  This is what would result if Max and Laverne got busy in the LucasArts break room:



Enjoy!  I'll judge this contest in two weeks!

I'm doing this design for a friend of the family.  He wants to have a "splash page" which contains his logo. I put his logo on the front page, but he isn't sure he likes it.  It looks great on a business card, but on the website it lacks "weight."  I can sort of see what he means.

If anyone has tips on how to give it more weight without altering the logo, i'd appreciate it.

EDIT:  And duh.  here's the link.  http://www.davelgil.com/mark

[Okay. The game is, for the most part, playable. I'd like to get a few fresh pairs of eyes to check out the game before the deadline. If anyone is interested, PM me.]

Okay. The game is, for the most part, playable.  I'd like to get a few fresh pairs of eyes to check out the game before the deadline.  If anyone is interested, PM me.

Shivah: The seven days of jewish mourning following the death of a close relative

Russell Stone works as a jewish rabbi at a poor synagogue in New York City.  He is a devout man with a problem.  Membership is way down and he lacks the funds to keep his synagogue open. Things are looking very bleak, and he has grown progressively more cynical and bitter with the passage of time.

Just as he is on the verge of packing it all in, he receives some interesting news.  A former member of his congregation has died and left the rabbi a significant amount of money. 

A blessing?  Or the start of something far more sinister?  Can Rabbi Stone just accept the money and move on?  His conscious says no.  Step into his shoes as he travels all over Manhattan in his attempt to uncover the truth.

Written and Conceived by: Dave Gilbert
Music by: Vel
Backgrounds by: Dr. Scary
Talking Portaits: Dave Gilbert & Progzmax
Character animation: Dave Gilbert

This game is being made for the June MAGS competition.  Since progress is being made fast enough, I think I can safely say that it will be ready by the deadline.  Be sure to look for this game on June 30th!


Some screenshots:



Rabbi Stone does not like visitors.


Meet all sorts of nice and helpful characters

Two more screenies, because you're all so patient and lovely:


Bring hope and joy to others


Make friends easily

EDIT:

The talking portraits have been edited somewhat, thanks to Progzmax who generouslly offered.

How many pics can I post in one day?  Here's a character portrait that I've been futzing with over the last few days.  An indian woman, named Rajshree.  I'm trying to keep her expression on the sad-end of neutral.

I'm really unhappy with the nose thus far.  She looks like a Mrs. Potato Head.  I'm trying to make her a bit more attractive.  Not super hot, but somewhere up neat the "nice to look at" level.

Here's my progress thus far:



edit 1: Made the neck slimmer, and adjusted the eyebrows



edit 2: Changed her expression, and lowered the facial features so she's no longer looking "up"

[New character below.]

Since I'm crazy motivated today, I'm merging some of my WIP threads into one. New character below.





A detective character, unshaded.  His fedora is giving me major trouble.  The bits underneath the brim just look generally awful and wrong.  Any tips are, as always, appreciated.

Better than my usual work, but still... ugh.  Going for a noirish tough-guy shading look.

Any help appreciated.

Any pointers?  I'm happy with the overall composition, but that dome is driving me batty.  Any shading I add to this just turns it into a poorly pixelated pile of poo.  Help is definitely appreciated.

-D

Spent about 2 hours on this.  He is supposed to be in a "battle pose", but he looks like he is pelvic thrusting more than anything else!  Any advice appreciated.

Either it's a glitch or I'm doing something stupid.  Probably the later.

from the manual:

There is also another special use for this command. You can pass the special value FOLLOW_EXACTLY as the DIST parameter rather than passing a number. If you do this, then CHARID will always remain at exactly the same X and Y co-ordinates as CHARTOFOLLOW. This might be useful for effects such as a temporary halo over the character and so forth.

I am using this quite nifty feature to put different heads on different body models.  It works perfectly in theory.  The head pops right on the body and follows it normally.  However, when the body turns the head doesnt turn with it.

The head has it's own up,down,left and right loops.  It seems like the head should "turn" when the body character turns, but that doesn't seem to be happening. 

I know that it's possible to set the loops equal to each other in repeatedly_execute, but I will be doing this with nearly every character in the game so that could get really messy. 

Any advice/help/scornful accusations appreciated!