Messages

Ooh ohh!  Here's something that would be very useful for those using voice speech.

Speex format integration!

Seriously, this stuff is like magic.  It's an audio format specifically geared for voice speech.  We used it for ECC and it turned 800mb of raw .wav files into about 30mb when we converted it to .spx format.

The downloadable for Blackwell Legacy was about 180MB, and only 30 of that was for the game.  Being able to shrink the size of the audio would be a huge boon.

I have to agree with Layabout.  If I was able to compile a stable Mac executable (or a Linux executable, even) in AGS, I'd never bother using another engine ever again.

Hahaha, DGMacphee's old toilet avatar. Damn I miss that guy. He got married and responsible and all that...

so did Dave, but he is still here.

Married, yes.  Responsible... 

Woah.  Holy 2002, Batman.  Yeah, I did give up on AGS for awhile to deal with some personal stuff.  I'd almost forgotten all about that.   No worries, Dual.  I get the joke now.

I don't think AGS is going downhill at all.  If anything, more and more professional-looking games are being made with it.  Every year an AGS game is showcased at the IGF (last year there were two), and not every game made with AGS is made by a member of the forum.  The whole "indie game movement" of the last few years has made old-school genres of all types popular again, including adventures.  The fact that AGS makes those adventure games possible is bound to have an impact.

Dave Gilbert once said (don't make me link, cause I have it bookmarked) he's going off AGS. Well f*** him.

Um, could you elaborate?  I'm in the midst of making three games with it, so I don't see where this is coming from.

or Wadjet Eye themselves do some soundtrack downloads/buys 8)

You mean like this, this, this, and this?

One thing my wife reeeallly wanted when working on Puzzle Bots was the ability to get the value of variables when the game pauses at break points.

Yeesh I started a trend of terrorism.

Well, far be it from me not to hop on the bandwagon!  I blew up my tower yesterday.  All that's left is the waterfall that was inside...

Darn it, Darth.  You should have recorded it while it was happening!

It wasn't me!

When you play in a small window at the lowest resolution because the game overheats your computer, dynamite looks surprisingly like brick!  It was only later when I saw the pixels written on the side were actually letters spelling TNT. 

I found a whole bunch of it in the Darthville community chest, so I built the whole second level of my house with it.  I placed one block out of place, then used another block of the same type to remove it. Then it started smoking.  Five seconds later... BOOM.

Um.  Sorry?

I really don't have much to add here, since I'm just a user and I am not much of a programmer per se.  I've used AGS for almost 10 years now (!) and I've grown so used to it that I always hesitate before using something else.  But, if I ever *do* use something else, the lack of portability would be the biggest one.  The ability to natively run an AGS game on a Mac, or any other platform for that matter, would be a huge boon.

That said, I owe my livelihood to this little engine and no matter what happens I'm eternally grateful to CJ and the community here that made it happen.  As someone in this thread said, AGS is currently near perfection already and I'll continue to use it for the time being.

-Dave

Darn you people and your talent.  You make my attempts at a tower look like a big pile of poo.

In other words, that saucer is amazing!  I'll have to hop in and find this stuff.  My computer can only run Minecraft at smaller rendering distances so it's harder for me to find everything.

Yikes, I had no idea that the AGScraft world so so huge! Amazing stuff, guys.  I wish I had seen half of those buildings.

It's interesting how involving the game is when you're on a server.  I tried doing the single-player and there didn't seem much point.  I really like being able to see what other people are making, and having them see the buildings I make (crappy though they might be!)

Tremble before the might of stick figure statue!!

Hi everyone!  I've never posted here before, so hopefully people read this thread.  I'm looking for a new background artist for the next game in the Blackwell series.  We had a background artist, but it wasn't working out so we are going with someone new.

The backgrounds will be LOW-RES (320 x 240), and be mostly urban environments - apartments, street scenes, and the like.

We are able to pay $50 per background, for a total of around 35 backgrounds.

You can read more about the Blackwell series on our company website: http://www.wadjeteyegames.com.  Don't worry if your style does not match the screenshots.  Every Blackwell game has been drawn by different artists and this will be no exception.

If you are interested, please contact me at dave@wadjeteyegames.com (or PM me on this forum) with a link to your portfolio.

Thanks!

-Dave

EDIT: This position has been filled now.  Thanks!

This game is... strangely involving. 

Regarding noir, the one thing to really remember is that it's not all foggy streets, dark alleys, men with fedoras, and femmes fatales.  What makes the best noir, for me anyway, is the anti-hero.  Someone who does the good thing for the wrong reasons or vice versa.  An essentially "damned" character who is constantly on the edge of redemption, and the suspense comes from waiting to see which way he will fall. 

Ascovel mentioned Night and the City, and it is terrific at doing this.  The main character does something that's kind of questionable, and then things go horribly wrong, then keeps digging himself even deeper trying to get out of it.  Then he is faced with A Choice that could either redeem him or damn him further.  The ending is extremely powerful.  And there wasn't a single trenchcoat or foggy street to be seen in the entire movie!

Going indie is always an exciting prospect.  I was doing the 9-5 thing for several years (working in the garment center, of all places) before making the plunge myself.  First off, let me say that it is *never* too late.  I don't know how old you are, but I was 30 years old when I wrote my first AGS commercial game.  I am 34 now, with 6 more commercial games to my credit (5 in AGS) and more on the way.  I can't say it's easy, and there are many times when I long for the security of the 9-5 world (especially in this economy) but it is definitely a satisfying way to live.  

Some bits of advice...

1 - Start freeware.  Have you ever made a game before?  Do a couple of small ones and release them to get your chops before even thinking of going commercial.  The feedback you get will be invaluable.

2 - Have a cushion.  When I started, I had about ten months worth of savings in my bank account.  Be prepared to live like Ghandi to get by, at least for a year or two.

3 - Keep it tight and simple.  If you want to go full time indie, you will have to accept that you'll never be able to make that 30+ hour gorgeous epic you have in your head.  That takes lots of time and lots of money, a luxury most don't have unless you are independently wealthy.  You don't want to spend 3 years making a game.  You want to spend a maximum of 6 months.  If the game totally flops it will be much easier to bounce back from it.

4 - Hang around other game designers!  I can't stress this enough.  When I went to my first game industry event, it was like coming home.  Nothing is more inspiring than talking to other people who feel just as passionate about making games as you.

5 - Accept that your first game will probably flop.  You always hear the success stories, but 90% of us aren't that lucky.  Don't let it discourage you.  Take the experience, learn from it, and keep making games.  My first game (The Shivah) sold practically nothing, but I learned a ton from the process.

Anyway, that's all I can think of at the top of my head.  If you ever plan on making the leap, feel free to give me a shout.

-Dave

...

Not the Abby ending we expected, but awesome nevertheless!