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Wow... well i was thinking of entering my half finished atemp at Sternharts secret room, but now ive decided against it. The indy style is very time consuming... every single bloody pixel... I think i will try and finish my background for the practice as its a great style and i'd like to integrate aspects of it into my own. But my entry is unfinished.

loominouse gets my vote for that amazing background(has voting begun yet? or do we leave it till tomorrow?)

Shame fewer people entered, it was a great comp, shame i didnt notice it sooner.

-Rich

I was just joking about the nudity... I have no problem with it... just some people do... but come on.. whats wrong with a T shirt with naked ladies on it thats so insulting?

Thats one heluva sprite venus... next time consider a bikini though... (only joking... its artistic license) Like Progz said most of them were slime.. what a wh...

Loving them all, its a good jam - Rich

PS my chances have been trashed, looking at mine now it seems messed up, speciali the legs.

Well... i supose DragonRose WINS! Contabulations! I guess i let this drag on a bit, sorry. Well DragonRose you get a punishment for being the only person to enter (that how i got this job) you get to start the next one!

Let the kid alone, hes made an effort, so its not that great, so what? I think hes got the message, infact i think hes probably never going to come back.
When i was 12 I took up 3d modeling, looking back at it it looks like crap, but then i thought it was amazing. And since ive improved, when I first showed my work to the world, no one said it was lame. This place seems like a nice comunity, friendly and helpful. But if you tear someone apart like this they are never going to build up the self esteem to try again.
Hes worked hard on this im sure, and hes proud of it, so proud he released it to us. And all we tell him is its lame? When your baby child first scribbles on a piece of paper do you tell him its lame? No you encourage him.
This guy ahs done more than many of us have, hes released a game. Like the first release of any game we should help him improve it. Hes got his foot in the door, with some work he can open it.
So you guys should be ashamed of yourselves to say the least!
For those of you who posted helpful criticism im sure he has taken it into consideration.

My apologies for this rant, but its reli annoyed me. Adults sometimes think they r too great... why not go watch matilda and then youll learn all about it.

Sorry - Rich

Wow... those are some amazing improvements, it looks a lot more alive now, more believable. I don't think it needs the drapes or it would look to crowded. The portraits fit in perfectly, but i agree with Babar about the height of the crocodile (i read what you write souds reli interesting and alive, this room matches that). The menu is fine where it is but the croc is a bit low, maybe you could find somewhere else for him. A celebrity like this cant be left out of the wall of fame, and if you are planning to use him in the next game then people will remember him.
You could put him round the corner, but that might make him too un-noticed, otherwise you could put him above the kitchen door and put the sign onto the door, but im not so fond of that idea either, maybe you should leave him where he is, it looks fine.
Those yellow/blue/green pixels need sorting, but other than that its really looking great!

Keep up the good work, ill be following this project - Rich

Well... at the moment there is a sketch of a room behind that door. it all depends how you look at it, it never says that there isnt a room there.

Henrys house doesnt strike me as offering anything overly interesting, and I dont think i could link it well with the story (if it werent for a few items to link it into teh story i might not make it clear the room is meant to be from the game, as im not sure if i can emulate the style).

Just to point out that there are rooms behind the other 2 doors above the model of atlantis, and for the ones on the side of the screen, they are all used it just dpeneds which path you choose.

Im sticking with my idea, but im sure you could cover one of the other locations if you wanted.

Thanks - Rich

If i could think of a location then i might draw it... I like FOAs style.. so any ideas? Then again FOA locations are quite detailed, but i would have a go. Preferably somewhere outdoors... i cant think of anywhere...

edit: Found one, sternharts secret room at the back of the temple. The place he runs after stealing the moonstone from indy... Luckily he missed the oriculaneum...

True, but drapes would definetly add to the scene... im sure of it... maybe. Too much maroon may be a problem, but the floor definetly cant stay blue, too shocking.
One last thing i just noticed is "le kitchen" should be la cuisine, unless you were going for tacky french spelling and this guy isnt really french, which would be fine.
The painting, i cant really think of anything, but if it was me I would not have one big picture, but a few smaller ones, for example of famouse people that have dined at the ersteraunt.
On the color i would just go for whatever looks good, try diferent combinations and shades.

good luck, its looking like an interesting scene  - Rich

Ã,  The floor should be marroon, like the chairs... an if you wanna be really french then it needs drapes... maroon drapes... just not too much marroon. A big chandalier wouldnt look out of place either.
Ã,  It needs skirting boards around the floor as well as skirtingboard like things around the cieling.
Ã,  On a technical note the perspective on the little standy thing by the door is off in the bottom right. The right edge should point up not down. Im also a little unclear of what is going on in the left side, what i think you are trying to show here is that the left wall has a corner bending away from us a little, however the cieling above it makes it look like its the cieling doesnt do the same. Here the corner between the cieling and the left hand wall should be pointing down, not up. As it is it makes it seem like we are looking down on the scene.

Hope you understood that an it helps - Rich
Ã, 

edit, just cuz i felt this was a little unclear about the perspective i just quickly drew on 2 lines to show how the perspective should look (they arent perfect as im no perspective expert, but i think they look a little more accurate, they probably need tinkering)

I present to you ... PAN greek god of... PAN pipes!!

Thats right, this ugly buger is responsible for thos little wooden pipes, as well as being greek god of sheep and herds! If you ever got struck by a sudden fear, especially in lonely places then this is the guy to blame, hence the word panic.

Without further ado... give a warm welcome to the council of olympiad tonights uninvited guest... PAN!



Blown up to double size, 75x75, i can only find 14 colours but im sure it came to somewhere around 20... oh well.

SpacePirateCaine - Yours rocks but maybe Persephone needs to pul her top up a bit, her right breast is showing... i can hear those complaints to MTV now...

Not my best, but hope you like it - Rich

great... well... its the deadline... thansk for all the entries... i dunno what to do now... i could extend the deadline otherwise i dunno what to do.

Admittedly it was a pretty crap (can i say crap?) puzzle...

A little help from anyone in telling me what to do now would be appreciated...

help! - Rich

I really like the style and it all seems to fit much better now, the only thing that is really bothering me is the base of the big jacko lantern tree... all the other objects seem to fit into the ground now except the tree, it still looks like its floating, the ground needs to be more distorted where the roots enter the ground. It needs to bulge around the roots, where they have burrowed into the ground.

Hope that seemed clear - Rich

I hang my head in shame 

I have failed to meet the deadline, this being the first story line i have ever got around to scripting (all other attempts never reached this stage) has shown me that making the story work in game is much harder, especially when using act based scripts where characters have free roaming abilities. So i will not be meeting the deadline, and the extra work i have discovered will take at least a week to get finished (i should hav eremembered i was going skiing before i started).

The project ahs been fun, but as i have already missed the deadline i will be slacking work on it as it was taking up a lot of time and i have exams in about a week.

My apologies for not finishing, and sorry to all fellow enthusiasts. I will probably finish the game within a few months... depending on wether i remember or not.

This has taught me a lot (not least about the importance of deadlines). So it has been a helpful experience none the less.

Thank you everyone for the support and help, and sorry for letting you down.

Good luck to any remaining entries! - Rich

Right, just got back from ski trip (which was amazing) and am about to get back to work on the game, it should be ready by the deadline, but it MIGHT be a close call. The plot still needs a little work, but all the rooms and most of the room scripting are complete, most animation is complete, there are still one or two charatcer sprites to complete but they take 5 mins each based on a simple template. The big job is scripting the story because at all times you have free roming of the hotel and the story will take place in acts and at the end of each act people move about, new things apear and things change, this will be the hardest part of the game to create.

Other than that still going well, reviewing all that makes it look less work. I did however leave out the music, im no musician so there might not be any music, if your lucky you might get a few chords outa a keyboard, but i have no clue of how i would turn that into midi or mp3. If you can point me in the right direction that would be nice.

@Goél: Characters were my problem which was why I made the game with lego because all characters are the same shape, as well as being easy and fun to animate. I didnt copyright the idea or anything, next time you try a game why not do something like that?

Good luck and godspeed to all other contestants (not that i dont need it) - Rich

Well apparently i won the last one, so i have to post a new one, i have however been on holiday so its a bit late, my appologies. I hope I'm doin this right, here goes:

Rules - Figure out a unique solution to a puzzle and its goals using the inventry items at your disposal and a few items of your choice.

Voting - After the deadline is reached voting will begin so a winner can be chosen. (No one voted for me, an i still won, so theres still a chance if no-one likes you, go on... enter!)

Prize - The winner get the honour of posting the next puzzle time, what a prize. And the first runners up get to enter next time! (So can anyone, but the runners up can as well)

Scenario - Seeing as i just got back from an amazing ski holiday i thought I would make this weeks puzzle time snow/ski based. (loosely based on the time I lost a ski in 6 foot of snow and spent 20 mins looking for it). So here goes: You are trapped in a ice cave after escaping an avalance and must escape and get to safety (and maybe throw in a few sick trix along the way).
Within the cave is the body of a snowboarder that wasnt so lucky either, other than that it is pretty bare. The enterance is blocked by snow.

Inventory - Three or more of the following must be used along with up to three items of your choice (found on the body of the boarder) in the most unique way necesarry to complete the puzzle.
-One ski
-A broken ski pole
-A very large icicle
-A small shovel (recomended to be carried by all skiers going off piest, of course i was too stupid to carry one. Just to note this is too small to dig your way out with)
-Backpack
-Disgusting gurkin sandwiches
-Fizzy water
-A broken snow board
-Bandages
-Broken ski goggles
-A SWISS army knife
-Head torch
-Chocolate

Can you escape a death beneath the snow? (Unlike the boarder who couldn't, but we all know they arent much use, all they do is cut you up and wreck the snow)

Post entries bellow, voting will take place on the 27th of feb.

Good luck - Rich

PS - If i did any of this wrong mods feel free to edit, also its a pretty suckey puzzel cuz i couldnt thin of anything.

One last question about use of keys...

Spoiler

Can there be a spiritual key?

[close]

its kinda stupid, but i might use it near the end of the game, but it probably wont show up in a puzzle, other than as a reward.

My game is coming along wonderfully. If i wasnt going on holiday for a week and a bit i would have it finished by the16th without too much hassle, as it is i will only have from the 19th to the 24th to finish it and im leaving on friday. I still shouldnt have any problems but there wouldn't be as much time to iron out creases. :

The graphics are rather simplistic, but i really like the way it looks, ive attached a pic at the bottom of the post. What ive really leaned though is a lot about story making (not that this story will be amazing, but im hoping people will find the characters interesting as well as the relationships between them) and how to use a single cursor, which was a steep learning curve.

If this picture is offensive to any LEGO lover and i have included custom LEGO pieces then I appologise. I've loved working with them, and may even to do so again.

  After hastilly whipping the sheets off the bed and tying them into a makeshift ladder you realise you aren't sneeking out of your bedroom window on a friday night and that the sheet is too small.
  You take the pillowcase off the pillow and fold it skillfully into a nurses cap, which is pretty convincing thanks to your napkin folding skills. you then place this on your head and tuck the clup of hair underneath, making you look like a rather ugly nurse. Wonder if that police officer is lonely?
  Well your not going to pass as a nurse that easily, for a start your medical robe has no back and your but is showing, you decide to put on the pants just to keep warm. But you arent very nursey. Need to find a way to make the robe more like what a nurse would wear.
  You remove the ballon from its anchor and untie it to breath in the helium, your now sounding slightly more femanine (ish) you then reinflate the balloon with normal air. Behind the other patients bedside table you find anotehr ballon that ahs deflated, you refil this one also with air. A unconvincing pair of breasts, but they will have to do.
  You take your sheet rope and untie the sheet and fold it carefully into a pinny(apron thingy) a little ketchup to make a cross and your looking almost like a rather ugly nurse with oversized breasts. Perfect.
  A handful of cutlery spread out across the lunch cart making it look more like a surgical trolly, the bag of sand for balast(turning the trolly into an effective battering ram should anything need battering), and the disguise is complete. You stuff a coat under your "nurse uniform" for when your outa this joint.
  To make it seem like you're still in bed you place the skeleton model in your bed, covering it with a sheet "borrowed" off your neighbor.
  Now for the escape. You unplug the vital signs machinery and replug it in setting its alarm off. This attracts the attention of the police officer and some nurses and a doctor who imediately rush in and try to resussitate the other patient, the officer stands barring your exit.
  You say to him "Out of my way you oaf" (in your newfound femanine accent) "I have to go get dr Scape." Supprised and scared by this angry harpy the officer stands aside, taking the trolly you leave.
  When you get out into the corridor there is another officer wating outside, as you turn and leave he notices the fact that your "nurse uniform" is missing a back, standing to raise the alarm you turn and thrust the trolly at him catching him square in the gut.
  You turn and run rushing to the nearest bathroom to ditch your naughty nurses uniform and put on the coat. You walk calmly out the front door, cool as a cucumber.

hee hee that was fun

Hope it makes some sense - Rich

I hope that to get the spoiler thing you use the hide tag, if not im sorry for the spoiler.

Spoiler

Would using the room numbers off keys that are hanging off a board be considered as using keys in a puzzel? otherwise i need to find another way to conceal the safe code but i would like to use that way

[close]

Also i have just remebered im on holiday for a week so finishing this might be a close call, i may not even finish, but i should be fine as i am making good speed so far. Im counting on all the votes of those hardcore LEGO fans

Clipping is the technical term used for when a part of the mesh (model for those of you who dont understand that) sticks through another part of the mesh.

You notice that as his right arm swings back a bit of pink starts poking through the mesh. This is where the arm mesh "clips" the T-shirt mesh.

And if you didn't understand that im sorry, its technical modeling talk.

Now to revel in the fact that i know something someone else doesn't... this hardly ever happens.

Be enlightened - Rich

To me it doesn'tlook like it is meant to be perspective its erm... i should know this... not oblique, not isometric... that other one.... i forget what its called, but everything is drawn front on and "extruded" back at 45 degrees. It makes for a quirky style (at least i hope) im using it to create my game for this months MAGS.

The only reason the background looks uninteresting is the lack of any other objects, just chuck in some floatsam and rubish an sea weed washed up on the beach.

Also some of the lines for the shadow have specks of white along them, this is because you havent turned off antialias.

With a little improvement it will look good.

Great atempt - Rich