Messages

I wrote some time ago a little room transition script for our game, which makes the actual room sliding away.
It's not finished and badly scripted, but I thought I could share it, in case someone would find it useful.

Transition source

Transition test game
(the GUI middle button is still experimental...)

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Captain, I've sended you an email.

Barbarian, the plugin is still experimental, when it's finished, I'll make it accessible for everybody.

erm no, I don't think it's a good idea... it wouldn't be Pacman anymore

[string ReadWebPage( string url);]

No problem, I will send it to you by email.

In fact, there is only one function :

string ReadWebPage( string url);
which returns the web page content.

It works the same way as any browser.

you could have for exemple :

ReadWebPage("http://mywebsite.com/scores.php?action=add&score=123123&name=Dorcan");

[Big Brother]

Big Brother : It's also my fault, I should have asked for constructive comments, and ask questions. Just showing what I've done without asking for help wasn't really wise.

MrColossal : Thank you. Could you be a bit more specific about the chair ? Is there a problem with perspective, or do you feel like it was unbalanced and about to fall ?
Yes, the thing next to the safe is supposed to be a door... A glass in fact! I wanted it to be a tinted glass, but I obviously missed the effect. I will make it more transparent.

Fawfulhasfury : well... thanks

loominous : Wops, never thought about it, I was just putting highlight there and there, feeling it would look "ok"... How exactly do you determine where highlights are supposed to appear ?
I think I will have to change the lamp position, because otherwise I will have to change all the casted shadows. I was considering the lamp as being just over the monitor, as you can see on my previous shema.
Thank you for pointing this out !

DanClarke : Yeah thank you, I also can't wait to see more from your upcoming game!
Well, my background has nothing really special... It was a big improvement for me, but I'm always whiling to get advices on how to improve my work

Jaz : hehe thank you, but I think you shouldn't think like that. You know, I never thought I could achieve what I've been able to do. It's a matter of time you're spending on details, on colors you choose which give a mood/atmosphere to your background, etc.
I've seen a lot of beautiful backgrounds, and mine is far from being as good as theses. Just an exemple from conceptart.org.
So, as I said before, the idea is not to be better than others, but to be better than ourselves. I think your art is really good. You've been able to try different styles from what I've seen so far, something I haven't really been able to do for the moment. I keep with an old-fashioned style, so eh !

Clueless3 : I hope so

Hollister man : I'll see what I can do.

Johnny Odd : I already answered to MrColossal.

Hi mister !

I really liked your game, but I could never figure out how to obtain a big score... In fact I didn't really understand the tutorial But eh, I still have to learn english

Anyway, I have made a plugin wich allows an AGS game to read / access an internet webpage. You could for exemple acces a PHP page from your game which would update the page with best scores, each time someone who has played your game wish to put his score on the net.

Just an idea though. Tell me if it interests you

I hope you have experience in scripting, or you have the motivation to learn, because it could be really difficult to achieve otherwise If you want to make a Pacman game, I you need to script the AI, and maybe a map generator too.


I'm actually working on the pathfinding algorithm for a bomberman game, and I alread have done the map editor. I think I will make a template from it when it's finished.

Just in case you would find it usefull 

I love your characters. The walkcycle looks good, except the arms which seems to jerk a bit.

It is possible to do a strategy game with AGS. There is many possibilities on how to achieve it. You can for exemple create a script which can generate a map from a data file, so you would avoid having to make a different room for each place... I've made something like that for my bomberman game btw.

Controlling more than one character at the same time shouldn't be a problem with some scripting. You could also work on the AI, so you can assign a job to each person, as in Age Of Empire.

Good job

I like the background, nice colors


I have a question. Why do you need a scrolling room ? I think there is no point in making a background so long if you don't add intersting / useful elements at different place of your background, because it would be a pain in the ass for the player to take 20 secounds to go from left to right if there is nothing to do in there

I suggest you to vary this background.
Put a big Rock, a post with a lamp hanging on it, a signpost, a tree maybe, even if it seems your game will take place somewhere near Mexico... Or an abandoned little house, a handing-over, where the player could find a tool...

Also, make your mountains more interesting. You could for exemple lower one of the top, it could get ride of the repetitive impression.


About your church, I can't suggest you a better way than looking at a picture for reference :

http://www.rtfcam.org/images/mexico/church_tzajalukum.jpg
http://www.globosapiens.net/picture/mexico-2030-2922.jpg
http://www.postcardmexico.com/ixcateopan/Ixcateopan_Church2002_74k.jpg

I really like the drawing, I like the clouds, but I think the sky and clouds don't match the rest of your background.

As buddha showed, the background needs to be darker and tinted in blue.
I think mountains should fade into the sky. it's night and they shouldn't be so bright...
There shouldn't be so much stars. I would suggest you to make them more subtle, just a few very bright, and others gray.
I don't think clouds are so visible at night. They normally hide the stars, leaving a sky completely black.
What would be nice, is having a light somewhere, maybe a window from a house, or a lamp hanging somewhere...

[Darth Mandarb]

Darth Mandarb : Well, if you quits being an artist, I commit suicide !!
The mouse indeed needs shadow, thanks for pointing it out, and thank you for your comments

YOke :Ã, 

mätzyboy : oouh yeah good idea, I'll change the safe lock !
About the lighter shadows, mmh well I guess I exaggerated the chair "radiosity". I'll fix that.

Andail : Hey Thanks, but nah it's far from perfect, and nothing can be perfect ! ...what for a philosopher I am

blackbird :Ã, 

lgm : that was nice thank you.

Nhazgul : yeah I don't really now about the character. It's been a while since I worked on it (actually I did post it in the critics lounge. It was very constructive) and I'm thinking about redoing it... Well, I have to see with my "collaborator", who's at the army for the momentÃ, 
I actually have finished two little games, and I hope I will be able to finish this one.
Thanks for the praise, even if I still don't deserve itÃ, 

ThunderStorm : A tutorial ? hehe why notÃ, . I have to finish redoing my website first. Don't ask me why

Ryz : well yeah, I learned the basic colors & volume theories at school (I choosed the "Art" section ) but I'm not sure if we had any theory on lights & shadows. I think I learned much more by looking at others artwork.
Thank you very much for your commentsÃ, 

Morgan : hehe sorry, in fact I wasn't sure at all if it was a joke or not. It seemed so... real that I thought you should have been posting in the wrong threadÃ,  .
I'm not getting sick of compliments, because, and I don't think someone will object, it's pleasant for the ego, but you're right, it's better to get advices and critics.

Oh, in case you weren't being sarcastic this time, Nazhgul said something quite interesting :

And to all other sad facec, you're wrong! this shows that with hard work (and ofcourse good technique) you can do miracle. It's just to start with something that seems impossible and fight!

I'll add my 2 cents : We should keep in mind that the point is not to be better than the others, but to be better than ourself ! yeah ! Keep practicing and be happy for the others.
It was easy, but so true.

Vel : * Dorcan gets Vel up. Thank you sir !

Great ! I was wondering when this one would come out
Will there be an online version on your website ?

Wow that's really great! Your game obviously deserves to have a place in a publication   
Man I have to buy this publication, just to see it with my own eyes 

wow congratulations !

** Dorcan puffs on the said inoffensive cigar, and hope to see a picture of Nikolas **

www.mgentertainement.com or
www.themonkeygames.com

but I think lgm got the best name : www.monkey-games.com

[SteveMcCrea]

Wow, lot of repliesÃ,  :o



SteveMcCrea : hehe thanks

Mr_Frisby : lol yeah, now it's in full color

Darth Mandarb : He, glad you like it
You're right about the monitor, I think it's better defined now.

Surge : In fact I've never done before a background with this amount of details, because I used to thought I could never finish one... But I realise now that I actually enjoyed a lot taking time for each detail. In fact, much more than when I just wanted to finish as quickly as possible...

Clueless3 : Thank you

TheDude : Yup, coloring in B&W first was quite usefull, because for exemple, it's easier to adjust the contrast & luminosity and to keep the balance between elements.

Evil : I understand how you're feeling, but my game will be a fantasy game, and I want it coloured. But, I also like contrasted and dark backgrounds, so I will try to get some inspiration from Tim Burton's movies. I said "try".
About the character : I imported the background in the game, and I think the character blend into the background pretty well : Screenshot

Ryz : Absolutely, you advised me on making the lines subtle, and I thank you for that. I simply changed the oppacity to 20%, like GarageGothic said. So, thank to you both
It took me... eerm I should have timed that...
Let's see : It took me about 3 hours to sketch and draw on paper. Making it B&W took me 10-12 hours, and 10 hours to color it...
So, I would say about 24 hours distributed on 6 days (I had to work for my exam too)

Ali : Hey thank you ! Well, a B&W detective game would be cool, but... I prefere a fantasy colored game

loominous : Thanks.
Yup, adjusting the level gives the background a stronger effect, but as I said before, that's not what I'm looking afterÃ, 

Nhazgul : Wow, thank you, but I don't deserve these praiseÃ, 
About the shading, I tried to make them as right as possible, using a technic I saw a long time ago in a book.
Here you can see what it looks like (click on the picture to see it bigger):


Mätzyboy : Hehe me too

Morgan : mmh I haven't seen anybody saying the background sucks...




Ok thank you everybody. Just some informations about the coloring :

As in photos, colored pictures are much less contrasted than B&W pictures. So I first had to change the luminosity & contrast balance.
I set the b&w layer blending mode on "Hard Light", and filled the color layer (which is under the b&w one) with the "neutral" gray (127 127 127).
Then, all I had to do is select a color with a value near the "neutral" gray one, and painted over the color layer... yeah
I would have said it better in french

[OSC :]

OSC : thanks

Hollister Man : Right. It took me a long time, but finally I've succeed in entirely refining my background.

Evil : Wow thanks ! ... Hey don't give me bad ideas ! I'm likely to be tried
What do you exactly mean by "You need to scrap that character too" ? I don't understand the "scrap" wordÃ, 

Preparación De Ensalada : Lol
Unfortunately, I don't think I will keep this background in B&W becauseÃ,  it doesn't match the game style.

TheSaint & Scotch : Thanks !

I'm not sure the fact the character isn't shaded will really be a problem...
If you look at this picture...

GarageGothic : Thank you.
Well, the technic I used in the old background was very frustrating and boring... And the result wasn't good. Now, I enjoy much more the coloring process
I gived the drawing layer a low transparency level : 20%, as you advised. Looks good



Pfiuu... At last I have finished the b&w coloring. Happy. Now, I must add colors and posters :

[Ryz]

Thank you everybody !

Ryz : You're right, making the lines subtle could be the solution !

Echarin : Thanks ! Hehe I thought it was interesting having Manny somewhere in an life-insurance company office I think I will add some other secrets in the next backgrounds.

The tutorial from GarageGothic is a really good one, but I don't want to keep the pencil layer, and I didn't feel like it was appropriate for what I want to achieve.

This thread caught my eye : http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?topic=14810.20

Basicaly, he (PixelCat) start drawing in black & white, and then add colors... I usually do it the other way, adding shadows after colors, but I found this idea quite interesting actually.

Also, lot of tutorials advise to draw in hi-res, and then reduce the image size, which is a good idea too.

So I started painting basic shapes and light area in b&w (the image size is 3485 x 2465)
I'm now working on details, but it's really time consuming, drawing everything with the paint tool (I don't want to use the burn tool too often...)
Took me almost all the afternoon :-\Ã,  but what I've done so far is satisfying. I hope to finish tomorrow:

[Colored version]

Colored version : http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?topic=15031.msg185878#msg185878

B&W version : http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?topic=15031.msg185235#msg185235






I completely redrew the first background of our game, because I wasn't satisfied with the previous version, and I'm happy with what I've been able to achieve.
It's supposed to be a life-insurance company office.



I would like to color it and get ride of outlines while the background stays consistant...
but my problem is that I really don't know how to start, and which technic to use.
I've tried with selecting area with the magic tool, but I don't like the result. I've tried making two layers, one for colors and some others for highlight & shadows... but the result isn't as good as I would like, it takes me a lot of time, and usually it makes my background blury.

I haven't found any appropriate tutorial on the internet for the moment, but I certainly will keep searching.

So I really would appreciate if someone could just give me a tip or some tutorial link

oh btw C&C pleaseÃ, 

err... yes ! It's been corrected, thank you ! I allways do this mistake

Don't worry, I will ask someone to translate my game