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From what I can see, money was never the issue. We've offered to pay folks before to improve AGS, and the answer has always been no. It's a hobby for most people here. So there's no reason to make AGS a commercial engine.

Well not lead per se, but it will have to seriously involve you in some way. We literally can't do it without you. Obviously you'd work together with a developer. I'm happy to be involved, whether it's just me or a group.

For a long time we were used to the way CJ did things, where one guy made all the decisions and everyone generally deferred to him. You (CW) inadvertently stepped into that role, so we all reverted to habit. At least, that's the way I see it. And that's kind of what you are? You have the most intimate knowledge of AGS than anyone right now (as far as I can tell), and have taken the initiative in making the next official version. Nobody else has done that, because nobody wanted to step on anyone's toes. You took the bull by the horns and it's much appreciated!

I learned awhile ago not to butt into discussions about the future of the engine because I approached it from an entirely different place. Most of the devs here were looking to improve the way they MADE games, while I was more interested in improving how they were played. Most of my concerns (like save game compatibility between versions, the monitor resolution issues, steam overlay problems) were met with confusion when I raised them, or shrugged off as low priority. So eventually I just shut up and dealt with it. (which is why I am so happy by 3.4 - it fixes a whole chunk of the issues I was having). I suppose this is less of an issue now that more commercial games are being released and more devs are on the same page as me. CW, I know that you expressed frustration in the past that devs like me don't voice their concerns as often. I'm trying to change that!

I'm pretty sure you were nominated to lead the committee back in the day, Dave! We took a straw poll and everything...

Yep! And when I tried to get things started, the replies I got were akin to "What's the rush?" Nobody wanted to do anything and there seemed to be some resentment about it. So I backed off. But to be fair, I don't think anybody really knew what was needed. CJ had just left and there was no organization at all. It's been 6 years since then. CW pretty much has the reigns of the engine. He knows what's possible and what's not. So if we're going to have ANY kind of committee, it probably should center around him? What sort of group would be useful for you? A group to discuss the current issues with AGS and what should be fixed? WOULD any other AGSers be willing to be part of such a thing? I know I would.

I remember that at the very start of my work I proposed to form a "comitee" which would define the development plans for AGS. Unfortunately, that never seem to interest people here. So I continued to follow my own bad decisions.

If there was a call to form a committee, I never saw it. Ironically, the folks who use AGS the most are probably the ones least likely to visit the forum on a regular basis. I know I am one of them. (heck, it took me several days to see this thread!) I'd be happy to be part of that committee, if there's still a desire to create one.

I am confused as to why backwards compatibility is so important. Surely it's up to the developer to update their game to the latest version of AGS if they want to get it running on newer computers? I know when I updated Blackwell Legacy and Gemini Rue, there were several out-of-date functions and script commands that I had to redo entirely from scratch. For some other games, we had to find new fonts because they didn't display properly. So from where I am standing, there's no 100% backwards compatibility anyway. Unless I am completely misunderstanding the term?

As for why I keep using AGS? It knows EXACTLY what I'm trying to make. Studying Unity (or adventure creator) is like learning how paint is created in order to draw a picture. There's just TOO MUCH too learn, and so much of it unnecessary. I'd rather just jump in and paint. AGS lets me do that. I'm making a traditional point-and-click, AGS is set up to do exactly that. It has its quirks and issues, yes, but I know how to work around them. Switching to another engine would just mean dealing with a whole new slew of quirrks and issues that I DON'T know how to deal with. So I stick with the devil I know. Out of the 100 things I need from an adventure game creation tool, AGS does 95 of them perfectly.

I admit to not knowing much about the engine and how it works (I know a lot about scripting within it, but the engine itself is a mystery), which is why I typically stay out of discussions like this. But as others have said, you really underestimate the value of your work CW. Your work recent work on the engine has allowed AGS games to be played on a MUCH wider variety of computers and monitors, something that was a major issue for us in the past. Our technical support emails regarding weird monitor resolutions have all but disappeared. So if you are not feeling like you are making a difference, you most definitely are.

-Dave

Sorry for the double post. I feel like an idiot here (not an uncommon occurrence, I know) but I can't seem to find the specific version of the engine that this acwin file will work with. The ones I download seem to be either too early or too recent. I hate to impose, but could you link me to the proper version? I'll give it a quick test and see what I find.

Ah OK. I'll have to redownload that version of AGS and give it a test. Thanks.

I'll give it a test.

I am using the most recent beta (3.4.1.3). Is the build compatible with that?

Aaand spoke too soon. Now the "G" is invisible. Sigh.

Here's a link to the font.. If you can find anything, I'd appreciate any help as I really dig the font.

The font came with Windows, but your post made me wonder if the font got corrupted somehow. So I redownloaded it and... it works now.

Should have tried that AGES ago. I am an idiot. "Advanced" forum indeed.

The AGS editor, as well as font editors like Font Forge.

And yes, that is the correct font.

A single S is still invisible!

Thanks for the help, CW!

@Dayowlron: Yes, it's the capital S that disappears. Should have been more specific.  The example I showed you IS all capital letters, but the letter does not appear regardless of what combinations of capital/lowercase letters there are.

@Gilbot: No, the S does not appear if I add a space before it.

Appreciate the help!

edit: Also, this problem occurs in every situation where text is displayed. On a GUI, on dialog options, display messages, text speech, you name it. That capital S does not appear. I loaded the font up in an editor, and it seems to look perfectly normal? So I am at a loss.

I am encountering a bizarre problem and hopefully someone can help!

I am using the font "Cambria Bold" at size 16. When I set "anti-alias TTF fonts" to TRUE, The letter "S" goes magically missing:



But, when I set it to FALSE, the S displays just fine, but slightly smaller than it should be:



-Dave

I experimented with this font at various other sizes, and other letters go missing (or are shrunk). Specifically, the letter "H" at size 15.

Any light shedding is appreciated!

Awesome! Downloading now...

I downloaded and ran. I got this error on startup:


edit: I notice the folder has much fewer files than normal, which makes me think that some files might be missing from the zip?

Played and finished it! All-in-all, I enjoyed it. Ron & co created exactly what they said they would: a Maniac Mansion style throwback with gorgeous retro visuals and fun characters. The puzzles were logical (if spread out a bit thin), the town was fun, and the sound design and VO acting was GREAT. My only issue was the ending. Which was... an ending. Personally I didn't like it, but I seem to be in the minority.  I know my own ending to the Blackwell series was kinda divisive so I won't throw stones here.

Like it or lump it, Steam is THE place PC gamers get their games. There are other places, but Steam accounts for at least 90% of them. Getting your game on Steam is the bare minimum of what you need to do in order to sell your game. And like Mark says, passing through Greenlight is ridiculously easy now. You just pay the fee, submit it, and wait. Valve hands out Greenlight approvals like candy and it's rare that it will take more than a month or two. It's better you do this now than later, because Steam might be dropping Greenlight in favor of the more expensive Direct. So get on it soon. And for your next game, I would strongly suggest starting your Greenlight campaign before you launch!

Thanks CW. I already do that. I was kicking myself that there might have been a much easier way that I had been missing all these years! Not a crazy prospect, as I only recently discovered the DoOnceOnly command exists.

Ohhh you mean change the sprite NUMBER? Yeah, I already knew you could do that. I thought you meant that you could actually give a sprite a unique name, like "eli_run_1." That would have been very useful.

edit: And just for reference, I change the sprite numbers all the time for the precise reasons CW mentioned.

You can set unique sprite IDs? I must be dense. I swear I never heard of this magic before. This sounds incredibly useful. I've looked through the manual and can't see any documentation for it. Under what topic should I be looking?