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[UPDATE: November 25, 2012]

UPDATE: November 25, 2012

THE ALIEN INVASTION STARTS ON NOVEMBER 30!!!

After two years and three months in development, and some recent, unexpected hurdles, the game is finally allllmost there. The final round of beta testing is almost over and I'm adding some final touches here and there. So unless we get invaded by aliens, the game will premiere on Friday, November 30!

Also, my long-time friend, Ellana Dayligaun of the incredibly talented band Invisible Animals, let me use one of their otherwoldly songs in the game's outro sequence. The result was MIND-BLOWING!

Ah, I knew right away that the art style looked familiar And the game definitely sound and looks fun. How often do you get to smash or roar at things in an adventure game? Selmiak has a point, too. There are so many fun things a troll could do. Speaking of which... will there be conversations in the game?

[EDIT/UPDATE]

Thanks I'll try both things out later today. That second bit of code might come in VERY handy, because I usually AM very nitpicky about my own work :]

I will get back to you once I've tested it.

EDIT/UPDATE

Tried it - but instead of making it DISPLAY the message, I made the textbox itself show it.

if (gSaveGame.Visible == true  && txtNewSaveName.Text == ""||gSaveGame.Visible == true  && txtNewSaveName.Text == "Enter a save name") {
  txtNewSaveName.Text = "Enter a save name";}

So now if the textbox is blank upon trying to save the game, it is filled with "Enter a save name" - and to avoid saving the game AS "Enter a save name", as you see I added a restriction for that, too.

I also got a little creative with rep_exec_always. I put two things there:

Code: ags

if (gSaveGame.Visible == true && lstSaveGamesList.ItemCount > 0  && txtNewSaveName.Text == " ") {
  txtNewSaveName.Text = "Enter a save name";}

...which automatically fills the textbox with "Enter a save name" if only a space is entered.

And...

Code: ags

if (gSaveGame.Visible == true && lstSaveGamesList.ItemCount > 0  && txtNewSaveName.Text == "Enter a save nam") {
  txtNewSaveName.Text = "";}

...which clears the whole textbox if the last letter from "Enter a save name" is removed -- since the intuitive thing to do when an unwanted text appears is to manually remove it (via backspace). It's not failsafe, since you can still ADD text to the string and save it. It'd be cool to have a way to restrict a name merely CONTAINING the string "Enter a save name" but again, it's not a serious issue, I'm just curious and trying to learn. Haven't tried the second piece of code you gave me -- which may be the answer to that.

EDIT:

Or better yet, it could remove the "Enter a save name" and reduce it to "" if ANY key is pressed -- as in IsKeyPressed() - but what do I put in those brackets? I tried putting an extra condition:

Code: ags

if ((keycode >= 65) && (keycode <= 90)) {

to the Rep_Exec_Always - but keycodes are defined later on and I'm not sure if I can move Rep_Exec to a different position without messing something up. Putting the above bit of code in the keycode section, in turn, does nothing: nothing happens when a key is pressed.

Again, just playing around, trying things out, it doesn't HAVE TO be in the game

Gave up on it, eventually, and left it the way you see in the post right above. Works fine -- with just one little "but". By default, the textbox for entering the savegame name is blank - so you can make a savegame with no name. Again, no big deal - but it'd look nicer if I could have a pop-up urging the player to type something if no text has been entered. Is there some code for detecting whether or not any text was entered? If it's something more complex, where do I put it inside the code (check the post right above to see what it looks like).

EDIT: Nevermind, most likely a hardware issue, something overheating (from playing silly Crush The Castle: Tower Defense earlier today, most likely). I haven't had a problem like this in years, but it isn't a first for me. Repeated tests made it look like it's having a hard time basically loading ANYTHING after a few operations have been performed, leading it to overheating and erratic behavior. It took AGES to load the game, but then it ran perfectly.

Gave it 6 hours of rest, and I probably won't start working on it again till tomorrow.

Wow, looks really, REALLY nice! What software are you using for the graphics/animation?

Also, this fall is witnessing a real alien invasion - Nicky's "Visitor", your game and my little "Gray" (which features a disgruntled farmer with lady trouble, too).

That one worked perfectly -- and it's so neat and simple. Can't believe I overlooked that option. But I'm currently pretty much a zombie -- not sleeping very well, and my eyes feel like they're about to pop. But I will try to get back to the problem. I just need to clear my head.

If you'd like to look at the whole thing, here are the two main components:

1. The SAVE button in the gSaveGame:

Code: AGS

function btnSaveGame_OnClick(GUIControl *control, MouseButton button)
{
  int gameSlotToSaveInto = lstSaveGamesList.ItemCount + 1;
  int i = 0;

if (lstSaveGamesList.ItemCount > 0 && txtNewSaveName.Text == lstSaveGamesList.Items[lstSaveGamesList.SelectedIndex]) {
  gOverwriteYN.Visible = true;
  gSaveGame.Clickable = false;}

else {
  while (i < lstSaveGamesList.ItemCount)
  {
    if (lstSaveGamesList.Items[i] == txtNewSaveName.Text)
    {
      gameSlotToSaveInto = lstSaveGamesList.SaveGameSlots[i];
    }
    i++;
  }
  SaveGameSlot(gameSlotToSaveInto, txtNewSaveName.Text);
  close_save_game_dialog();
  gPanel.Visible = false;
  if (cGray == player) {
    gIconbar.Visible = true;}
  mouse.UseDefaultGraphic();
  }
}

2. The OK button in the Y/N pop-up gui (which is an almost exact copy of the part after "else" above):

Code: AGS

function Button12_OnClick(GUIControl *control, MouseButton button)
{
  int gameSlotToSaveInto = lstSaveGamesList.ItemCount + 1;
  int i = 0;
  while (i < lstSaveGamesList.ItemCount)
  {
    if (lstSaveGamesList.Items[i] == txtNewSaveName.Text)
    {
      gameSlotToSaveInto = lstSaveGamesList.SaveGameSlots[i];
    }
    i++;
  }
  SaveGameSlot(gameSlotToSaveInto, txtNewSaveName.Text);
  gSaveGame.Clickable = true;
  close_save_game_dialog();
  gOverwriteYN.Visible = false;
  gPanel.Visible = false;
  if (cGray == player) {
    gIconbar.Visible = true;}
  mouse.UseDefaultGraphic();
}

I intentionally put the i++ in the sequences that save the game (the one after "else" and the "OK" button), not in the preliminary code (or whatever you want to call the part before the if's and else's). That's because there's a NO button in the Y/N gui -- and the game isn't supposed to be saved when it's pressed. If nothing happens, there is no reason for "i" to change value. I did try it, and the i++ did give me trouble if placed too early.
In its current form the whole thing seems to work just right -- so if you could just weave the extra code into that without re-arranging it, so I could just copy the whole thing in the right place, it'd be the easiest and safest way to make sure it'll work.

Thanks for bearing with me. If you still feel like helping me out, we have as much time as we need on this, I'm in no hurry. Before the game is out -- and it IS almost done -- I *just* have to translate over 5000 lines of dialogue for "Gray" from English to my native language. So yeah, there's PLENTY of time

Nope, still can't get it to work. One time it added a blank one (no name) and another time it overwrote something without asking. Maybe I'm doing it wrong -- because I simply don't always get what's happening there and what and how exactly detects that the entered name matches the name of the items already there. So let's just drop that. Asking whether to overwrite the checked one is good enough. But there's still one bug my in my code: when there are no saves, you can't save (I'd noticed that only after I tried deleting them all to check the Erase Savegame -- which works fine). It crashed, pointing me to the line

if (txtNewSaveName.Text == lstSaveGamesList.Items[lstSaveGamesList.SelectedIndex]) {

probably because the list is empty and there is no selection. So I could probably use a condition checking if there are any items in the list (that I'd && to the string quoted right above)? Or something else?

OK, I'm trying to get my head around how to incorporate that into my code - and failing Here's how it looks:

Code: ags

if (the condition that triggers the Y/N gui) {
  gOverwriteYN.Visible = true;
  gSaveGame.Clickable = false;}

else {
  int gameSlotToSaveInto = lstSaveGamesList.ItemCount + 1;
  int i = 0;
  while (i < lstSaveGamesList.ItemCount)
  {
    if (lstSaveGamesList.Items[i] == txtNewSaveName.Text)
    {
      gameSlotToSaveInto = lstSaveGamesList.SaveGameSlots[i];
    }
    i++;
  }
  SaveGameSlot(gameSlotToSaveInto, txtNewSaveName.Text);
  close_save_game_dialog();
  gPanel.Visible = false;
  if (cGray == player) {
    gIconbar.Visible = true;}
  mouse.UseDefaultGraphic();
}

Everything after "else" is standard AGS SaveGame gui. The script behind the "Yes" button in the Y/N gui is an exact copy of that. Now, how do I set up the condition for Y/N pop-up without doubling anything.

[lstSaveGamesList.Items[lstSaveGamesList.SelectedIndex]]

I introduced a Yes/No GUI popping up when you try to overwrite an existing savegame. I disabled the feature that fills the textbox with the first savegame's name, so that you can enter a new one each time - but if you click on one of the list, the game asks you if you're sure you want to overwrite it. Got all of it figured out and it seemed to works like a charm - except for one thing that I didn't even notice at first. The script (the part in bold letters) that I used as a trigger:

if (txtNewSaveName.Text == lstSaveGamesList.Items[lstSaveGamesList.SelectedIndex])
    {
    gOverwriteYN.Visible = true;
    }

...is not right. It recognizes if the name of the new same is identical with the selected savegame - even if I try to modify it and revert to previous state (say, delete a letter and then put it back). But I need it to recognize ALL the savegame items, not just the one currently highlighted -- and I can't seem to find the right code for that.

Of things that I played this year, I'd say Gish. It's not that it's terribly difficult -- even though it came from the same guys that made Super Meat Boy and The Binding of Isaac -- but given my two left hands, finishing ANY game on a difficulty level higher than Easy feels like that Even defeating the Captain in "Barely Floating" felt like an achievement. Still, I'll compulsively finish every game I've started and go to great lenghts to complete every achievement I can. Like completing 100% of the 250+ settlements in Just Cause 2... And then I hated myself and promised myself I would never let another game suck me in like that I will still play it once in a while, just driving around, pissing soldiers off and blowing up whatever's left. I don't really NEED the challenge and the oh so frequent frustration. I have that at work

Sounds fun -- and looks very nice, too! I really like the watercolor feel to it. Is it going to be 320x240, as the screenshots would suggest? Because that walking animation is BEGGING for hi-res!

I'd say Mudder would be a good name for this Fokker -- in the best tradition of naming planes after one's mother combined with unintentional innuendos. Notable examples include the plane that bombed Hiroshima -- Enola Gay.

Oops, my bad - I did menton

Spoiler

turning the valve for the leak to change direction right after you enter the room

[close]

, but I forgot to specify what it does exactly, that is

Spoiler

get him stuck completely rather than just slow him down.

[close]

A lot has been answered in detail before. The easiest and fastest thing to do sometimes is just check other people's questions.

For what to do with Herr Hindenburg -- and then the hacker -- check my reply to Frederic
HERE

For the karaoke -- which is indeed very tricky -- check Frederic's and my replies to AndyFromVA  HERE.

This is FUN! I'm actually in the middle of adding sound f/x to "Gray", and I've done some WEIRD things in Audacity (forest fire -> spaceship sound) -- but manipulating the sound this way is something else entirely. Might be VERY helpful. Thanks!

The alien in my avatar might make me look distant and aloof. That's not true. I'm a very cheerful person

I guess it's still hard to top J.Lo, who said "you know" 75 times in 15 minutes. That's one "you know" every 12, you know, seconds

These were fun to watch. Loved the game -- so a little behind-the-scenes footage was nice. I think what surprised me the most was that Aki actually used CAD to model the ship.

Oh and btw, the link to the band's SoundCloud, Sine Cadenza's is misspelled as "sinDecadenza" -- and so the link is broken. It'd be too bad if people missed out on the great music.

It's not that I didn't like the old one, either But it had to go - because the intro has an animated sequence of a spaceship doing exactly what you see in the  logo. Ergo, it'd be kinda redundant to repeat it, especially that the said sequence comes right after the logo.

Aw, darnit, you beat me to it, Nicky!

Hey, everyone! To celebrate Gray's two years' anniversary of being in production, I posted a little update in the original post. The alien invasion is nigh!