Messages

It was Christmas time. Everyone was making versions of their icons wearing Santa hats.

I was too lazy to change my avatar. So I just changed the text.

Now I'm too lazy to change it to something else.

Wow! Thanks, Babar! And yes, there probably ARE some errors in what I wrote- one of the people writing it had REALLY bad hand writing.

But I'm really confused now. I don't think I know anyone who speaks Urdu. I had at least narrowed it down to a shortlist of people I knew who spoke Hindi, but Urdu has me mystified.

Hello, all! I've got a mystery, and I need some help.

I was looking through an old journal, and I flipped through to the end pages. On the last two lined pages, I found some writing- not in my own hand, not even in my own language. I've showed it to some friends, and they think it might be Hindi. It looks to be three different people writing, maybe four. I have NO idea what it says. I don't even know who would have written it. Anyone got any ideas on what it says?

Khudi ko ker buland itna
    Keh Himalya kee choti
    per ja pohanchay
    Aur khuda tum se poochay
    abay gadhay tu utray ga kaisay

    Gul Gay Gulsham Gaye,
    Gul ke Patte ah Gaye
    Sare Shayair Mar Gaye
    Tum ullu (I think) ke Pathe Rah Gaye

    Mere Mare ke bad mera
    closton (might be doston), yun Ansoo na bahana
    Agar emeri yada aye lu
    sidha eefar chaleye ana

    Ye did tumpe aaya

    Kasur is ka nahim
    Mili yeh nigahain tumse
    Minka milna humari
    galti nahin
    Kuch kho se gaye hum
    Jab Jab dekhe lage tumhe
    Pyar hogaya hume tumse

And if you DO know what it means, and it's insulting, please just e-mail me rather than posting it in a comment? Thanks!

My most disgusting injury is from when I was at a sleep over for Brownies at the local church. I was coming out of the washroom with another girl, and we were in that weird little air lock thing they have in bathrooms. As the door to the bathroom was closing, she thought it would be funny to turn off the lights. So I was groping around in the dark, when I got my finger caught in the hinge side of the door.

All the meaty parts of my finger were squished right down to the boneThere was a huge groove running along the length of my finger.  I completely flipped out and don't really remember anything until my Mom told me to shut up. I'd apparently managed to get free from the door and went running down the hall screaming, thereby terrifying all the other girls. My Mom is the sweetest lady and had never told me to shut up in my life, so it shocked me enough to get me out of the fit.

Some fifteen years later, my finger is still a little lumpy.

Ten bucks is going out to dinner at the pub.

Yum.

As I remember the book, it was told to do things like "chop wood," "follow me for months" or "spend time with dragon." There's no real thinking involved for the player.   It's not an interesting puzzle- guy gives you an axe, tells you to chop wood. Wood is chopped. There's a big honking dragon in the scene with you, and you're told to spend time with it. It's hard to avoid.

All the interesting things he did he was forced into- "do magic spell because you can't control it," "run away," "have a vision."   That type of thing would be conveyed in a cut scene, because it's not a consious decision made by the player. It just happens.

Now, if you had to figure out how to get firewood without an axe, or if you had to get to the dragon in order to spend time with it, or if you did magic on purpose, THEN it would be interesting.  The whole point of the story is that the character is swept up by the winds of fate and can't control his actions. And that's just not as fun to play.

However, there is a lot of skill building- learning how to ride, how to do magic, and I think how to fight (it's been a while since I read it).  That sort of thing is perfect for an RPG. It could be a good game- just not a good Adventure Game.

However, I'd still play it. It's got DRAGONS!

I'm reminded of Shema's dance from QFG2.  Much nicer than the Girls Gone Wild style picture. Plus, the shading looks really nice.

There is an Eragon text adventure already. Check out the Eragon website.

I personally don't think it would make a very good adventure game, since a lot of the main character's actions are out of his hands- he's told to do this, he's forced into doing that, and a bunch of random chance. The actions that he actually does for himself are mostly gaining skills.

Maybe an RPG would work better than an adventure game.

You might want to look at some comic book inking tutorials.

http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/farp/sharp_inking/shinking.html
http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/farp/inking/ink.html

These two are really aimed at someone working with pen and ink, but they're good examples of how to use light and shadow in monochrome.

Sorry to drag this away from the topic, but what are you trying to sell that you're getting hate mail? And what is the hate mail saying?

TerricMoonborn: Amazon.com

[1. How long have you been involved in the AGS community?]

Eh, why not.

Name: Forum Name- DragonRose. Real name- Chris McLeod

Age: 21

Female/male: Female

1. How long have you been involved in the AGS community?

Four years

2. Why did you get involved in AGS?

Someone asked me to help with a game as an artist, so I came here to find out what I was getting into.

3. How do you feel that the fact that AGS is a freeware programme affect the community that has built up around it?

One of the things that draw people to AGS is that you don't have to pay  to start working on a game. If you want to make a full game, you can get everything you need to do so for free. People don't like to pay for things. However, it has been proven several times that people would be quite willing to pay for AGS if they needed to.

4. How big a part does the AGS community play in your life?

Until this past year, quite a large part- checking the forums more than once a day, browsing around to various sites about people's games... now I check things once a month, if that.

5. Have you been involved in making any games using AGS? You may list them if you want

I've been a sounding board for people talking about their game ideas, and I've worked on a couple of my own games, but nothing I've ever really considered a full game.

6. Answer these questions if you have been involved in making AGS games:


a. Were you interested in game design/programming before you started using AGS?

Heck yes. I even tried to make my own games with HTML and BASIC. They weren't very good.

b. If no, do you feel that you would have got into game design without AGS?

I don't think I would have kept trying without AGS.

c. Do you make games using other programmes, either freeware or not? How does the eperience differ?

I attempted to make other games, as mentioned above. The difference is that with AGS I've got a community of people to ask for help if I'm stuck.

d. Has AGS inspired you to try and take up game design professionally?

For a while, yes. Then I discovered just how HARD this game making thing is!

7. Do you feel that there is a gender divide in the AGS community?

When I first joined, yes. Some people were actually shocked when they found out I was a girl. I can think of only one other girl in the community at that time.  Now, it doesn't really matter.  Girls and guys come and go, and no one really notices unless they did something memorable.

8. Are you likely to feel differently about a game if you discover it's made by a female? In what way?

I might feel a little bit of "you go, girl!" style pride. But I don't think the game will automatically be any different from a game made by a guy.

9. Do you feel that AGS makes it easier for females to get involved in computer game design? In what way?

AGS makes it easier for people of either gender to get involved in computer game design.  Gender doesn't play in to it.

10. Do you feel that there is a difference between the types of games created by males and females?

Nope. Unless someone tells me that a game is made by a guy or a girl, I can't tell.

11. Any other comments?

I like pie.

I just asked everyone that there is contact information for.

Ta da!

Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree
Hitting all the monkeys he can see
Stop, Kookaburra! Stop, Kookaburra!
That's not a monkey that's me.

Kookaburra sits on the electric wire
Tears in his eyes cause his tail's on fire
Ouch, Kookaburra! Ouch, Kookaburra
Hot your tail must be.

I don't think those are official verses, but I enjoy them quite thoroughly.

From a recent production of Henry V



I never seem to have any pictures of myself in, you know, NORMAL clothes.

Wow. I've really fallen out of the loop. I didn't even know there WAS an AGS wiki.

My first ever "adventures" were simple choose your own adventure type things written out on paper. I even sewed them up into little books.

My first ever computer adventure was a HyperCard game I made for Social Sciences class. You could talk to people and they would say random facts about the Incas. That was pretty much it. I got an awful mark on the project because the teacher had never played an adventure game and couldn't get the idea of "click on the door to open it" through his head.

A friend of mine one day was getting poked with a broom (don't ask).  His response was "Stop brooming me!"

So instead he started getting punched in the arm. His response was "Stop fisting me!"

Oh god... I know exactly what you went through.  I'm phobic of just about any kind of bug, spiders included. I also happen to have a Dad that is fascinated by them. He loves showing off the newest bug he's found, completely forgetting that I'll be scared out of my wits. 

The most recent time he came to see me perform at the local renaissance faire and found a tree full of cicadas (eeeeeew...) and picked one off to show whoever would look. I was the first person he found. I ended up having to run through the faire to hide backstage and have hysterics.

This is my kind of recipie.

ingredients:

Couple of bananas
splash of oil
enough sugar to coat the bananas
couple of splashes of rum
squeeze of lime
vanilla ice cream

1. slice up bananas
2. fry bananas in oil
3. throw in the sugar
4. notice you don't have any rum
5. yell at housemates for drinking rum without asking
6. attempt to eat un-flambed flambe
7. be sad, because it just doesn't taste that good