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Perhaps Portal of the Orange Box fame?





After drawing Chell, I realized she was quite tall, but I'm still happy. The game would be more like an adventure puzzle, arrows controlling movement/look, A as jump, B as shoot/interact, and select changes portal "color". The Aperture Science logo changes from dark to light, signifying what color portal, either light or dark, the gun will shot.

He does look a little sloppy legged, but it's not something I'd think I'd notice much in game. He's leading his run at the waist which looks really weird, and I think Jim Reed did a great job improving that. A full on run with a large weapon light that, you'd have to run from your chest and shoulders.

I like the style of the background, but the vast areas of negative space aren't working in your favor. The black horizon looks okay, but I think adjusting the horizon line higher would lower the negative space, and also make the physical area of the background more realistic.

The building is really plain, and the design is making the perspective look funky. There definatly needs to be some detailing to the windows, like ledges, slight shadows, just something that gives the face of the building some depth. Dithering might look cool, but it may be too much of a distraction.

The cars look good, and that shadow on the ego really does look nice. Still not sure how I feel about the white ground, it's shouting "texture me!" but it may turn a great simple background into a disaster.

Damn, now I really want to make a black and white game... ^_^

I made something similar for a Sprite Jam back in March. Pretty tiny compared to what you're doing, but very similar in concept. Doubt that these will help, but I thought I'd share them anyway.

http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=37013.msg487228#msg487228

As your characters develop and vary more, you might find it helpful to make standard height templates and adjust them here and there by a few pixels, that way you don't end up with a legs or arms that are too long or short. It's also not a bad idea to draw the resting stance of a character before posing them, this will also help arms and legs stay the same length.

Can't wait to see where this project leads you to. I'm curious how you attempt to tackle a background.


Edit:

Btw, the original version of Evil reminds me of a character of mine. At least with a few alterations they look rather alike.

For some strange reason, I frequently render women who like very similar to Chiaki Kuriyama. Hmm, I wonder why...  :

Yesterday I made a few characters based on what you already had. Just remembered now that I hadn't posted them. Yours look pretty good, I just thought I'd take a stab.

To me, it sounds like a Canadian that's moved to the midwest. But if I met you on the street, I'd believe you were an American.

When I reach out for something, I don't extend my arm the whole way. To open a door or flip a light on the position of my elbow doesn't change much beyond resting position. As long as he gets his hand up past his elbow and maybe moves his elbow up a pixel or two it'll look fine. I'd suggest animating a profile version of this action, then do a frame by frame matchup of a rear view, which will not only make it faster and easier, but more realistic and consistent. But really, making it look right is all in the timing of your frames.

What about "Magic House of Leaves"?

[can not]

I really hate to jump into this, having not read all (but most) of this thread. I'm all about the legalization, and not just because of my-erhm... "personal investment."

The tobacco argument blows my mind. Yes, it is true that smoking is bad for you, and smoking pot is bad for you. However, there is a lot of mixed scientific data about it's dangers. Some groups say it'll give you cancer, others say it will cure it. There isn't a lot of good data available because there are so many drug users that smoke cigarettes. Anyway my point being:

There is more tar and things in pot and hash than in cigarettes, but the amount a single person uses in one sitting is way smaller than the amount of tobacco in a cigarette.

And when was the last time you saw someone smoking a cigarette out of a bong? People who smoke pot regularly use devices to filter out the bad stuff. Plus, dealers literally can't cut stuff into pot. Sure, they can lace it with some other drug, but no where near what big tobacco companies put into cigarettes. Not that I'm putting down big tobacco, but it's true that tobacco companies process their product with chemicals. People who GROW pot don't put any chemicals in their product, other than some healthy vitamins and minerals.

Yeah there's something like 3 times the amount of tar in cannabis compared to tobacco but the legality of tobacco means addicts smoke it everywhere, therefore smoking 10, 20 or even 30 times more than the recreational cannabis user.

Cannabis certainly shouldn't be treated the same as tobacco, we would have stoners falling asleep at the wheel everywhere but should be treated in the same sort of manner as alcohol. The problem with this is that alcohol is easily tested for, but cannabis can stay in your system for up to 3 weeks so blood tests would be useless.

The whole "there are no marijuana related deaths" myth is silly.  While nobody overdoses on it, there are still related deaths/injuries but they are dwarfed by the number of alcohol/tobacco related deaths.  I couldn't find any reliable "yearly deaths caused by marijuana" facts but that right there says something in and of itself.

YES YES YES! Pot can not be legalized until someone can come up with some way to test how high someone is. Field sobriety tests aren't set up to test for how high you are, they just test if you're slightly impaired at all. If someone invented some device to accurately and definitively judge, in real time, how high someone is, pot would be legalized nationwide in a flash, I'm sure of it.

Anyway, what I find worrying about possible findings on cannabis is that it would allegedly exacerbate existing mental conditions or render more likely to develop one, schizophrenia being the example that was given. Maybe the physical effects are less dangerous than that of tobacco or arcohol but that doesn't mean effects on mental health should be treated lightly. Governments should tread carefully, is all I'm saying.

I've never heard of this, but I'm sure those people already have a predisposition to those types of mental illnesses. If you know your Grandma had schizophrenia, and you're concerned about also having a mental illness (which you should), then don't do drugs. It's not like smoking pot every once in a while will make you go ape shit crazy.

Well, legalizing cannabis would at least make all the ongoing research on its effects easier.

Yeah, remember in the early 1900's when a crazy group of feminists (yes they were feminists, don't kid yourself ) suggested that alcohol be made illegal? And then everyone drank anyway? And even though it didn't work in the slightest, it proved something to America: You can't tell Americans what they can and can't do. Even a temporary legalization would be beneficial, even to non-advocates, giving everyone a chance to personally witness it's effects on both people and the economy.

Oh, yeah, and the whole several billion dollars flowing back into our completely tanked economy. Something about that too.

PPS: I haven't read about the legalization of the sale of THC rather than marijuana itself. Ingesting THC, though dangerous dosage wise, is way safer than both smoking pot and cigarettes. Probably even safer than secondhand smoke...

The University I attend, like a lot of others, have taken up a policy that if you feel like you have any type of the flu or flu symptoms, then you are excused from classes on the day you were sick. I'd bet over half of our student population has "had" the swine flu this year!

I tried Maya Angelou and it didn't guess it. Didn't set a lot of guidelines for choosing characters, though.

Showing more of his face will make it obvious that he is a person and not a blob. Adding a bit of highlight to his face, like a normal skin tone color vs. a blue/grey one, will also make it more apparent, but don't over do it or it will be distracting.

The messes on the tables look great, but the size of the ashtray in the foreground is too similar to the table "next" to it. I'd either move it to the black space in the bottom right or remove it all together.

[José Luiz]

I was really surprised at the quality of these entries. Everyone did an awesome job!

I'm going to have to give this one to José Luiz. Not only a great concept, but well thought out, in location and possible game function. All of the sprites are consistent, pleasing and believable.

Great job, José Luiz! And a great job to everyone else too!

All in all, a pretty successful Sprite Jam.  8)

Empty bottles and cans, food and stains on the floor, torn posters, broken floor boards, cracks in walls, ripped stage curtain, etc. But like Snake said, finishing the background first will make it easier to messy up. Even things like knocked over chairs and tables can really make a place look trashed.

Looking great! I'll pick a winner when I get home from work, so that still leaves another 10 or so hours left for a few last minute entries!

Wow, fantastic entries so far! Lets see some more before tomorrow night!

Sorry about the delay in response, maybe I could have helped you!

IIRC, I ended up downloaded a really early version of AVG or Spybot or something, like a beta that's two or three editions behind the most recent. The virus was old enough, or the software had updated virus identification, and found it right away. At the time I only had what remained of a Norton demo I got with my laptop several years prior, so if you had at least one virus protection running, you should be fine. Hopefully that might help someone out in the future. I'm pretty sure I caught mine on a bad torrent that I was certain I desperately needed.  :

What's the deal with really poorly photoshopped movie posters? That poster looks like garbage.

I feel it's time to visit an old friend

Ah, a very helpful thread indeed! Don't hesitate to use this great resource!

Also, don't stress about what objects to use. It's more important to have fun than to adequately represent a chicken with a pulley. Heck, make a bunch of quick entries, if you like.

[Theme: Combined Inventory Objects!]

Sprite Jam (October 7th - 14th): C-c-c-combined Inventory Objects!

Welcome everyone to this week's Sprite Jam!

Everyone last week did a great job, and I hope this week results in another group of great entries. This week I thought we'd try something maybe a little different. I've noticed these types of rules don't result in a lot of entries, but I'll take the chance.

Theme: Combined Inventory Objects!

How many times have you found yourself struggling with a puzzle only to realize you've completely forgot about combining inventory objects? I know it's happened to me more than a few times. It's always those blasted crazy combos! Who comes up with those ideas anyway? You do!

So this week, draw two or three inventory objects that combine into one crazy contraption or device.

Rules:
- Draw two or three simple inventory objects of your choice
- Draw an additional inventory object that combines all of your original objects
- Resolution: 150 x 150 pixels max., but try to keep your objects on the small end, like 50 x 50
- Colors: Keep the unique colors low, but it's more important that all sprites have the same style

I'm not going to say the crazier contraption the better, but this is a forum activity! Not only are you workin' your noggin' but you're having fun on your favorite Adventure Game Studio based forum! Lets see a bunch of entries this week!

Have fun!

!