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(Sorry for double posting, but this is another bug (in the editor) totally unrelated to the above, and I didn't want to confuse things)

A minor issue, but if you create custom cursor modes, their events in the room editor's Object Event pane will refer to "hotspots" instead of "objects".

I've run into a strange problem that I've been trying to troubleshoot, and although it behaves a bit inconsistently, I've narrowed it down to this:

I'm using a GUI as an effect overlay (for rain etc.), and while converting some of my old functions to use the new DrawingSurface routines, I tried applying a DynamicSprite as the GUI background in the repeatedly_execute_always. This works fine, until I bring up other (tried normal as well as pop-up mode) GUIs on the screen. For some reason, this freezes the animating overlay, BUT whenever the newly opened GUI updates in some way (mouseover buttons, updating label text), my animating GUI background is also allowed to update for one frame.

As far as I can tell, the problem is that while the other GUIs are visible the GUI.BackgroundGraphic isn't actually updated, possibly due to some kind of engine optimization, because I pass the same DynamicSprite.Graphic to it every frame. If I pass a random sprite number instead, it updates correctly.

To rule a couple of other things out: The DynamicSprite IS being redrawn every frame, I've confirmed this by RawDrawing the same sprite to the screen within the same function for debug purposes, and the function IS running every frame, since the background RawDrawing updates correctly no matter what GUIs are open (and even if the game is paused).

Edit: I just tested that this is independent of whether the DirectX or Direct3D engine is used.

Edit 2: Blocking events such as Say also freezes the animating GUI.

Edit 3: I found a workaround. Now I'm forcing the GUI to update by changing GUI.BackgroundGraphic to 0 before resetting it to the DynamicSprite.Graphic.

Or better yet, convert the sounds to .ogg format and decrease your file size.

I wonder if "dead baby" has been suggested in the "things that haven't been inventory items" thread yet?

You know, this thread might make for an interesting MAGS topic...

Oh my bad, I actually thought it was part of the FOREGOs, which were cancelled. But then  he actually has more than a month to finish his epic masterpiece of obscenity. Go Lionmonkey!

If you're aiming for a P3N1S award, you should know that those were cancelled a couple of years ago. Keeping inside the limits of the law, according to CJ the only thing that will keep your game from being featured on the AGS games page is to have it feature a massive erect cock, so throw in plenty of those to be on the safe side.

As for punishments... let me get back to you on that, I'm sure we can come up with something appropriate.

Does anybody else have problems with DynamicSprite.CreateFromScreenshot creating only black sprites when running the Direct3D version? I haven't had time to test with previous betas, so it might have been there since the start, but I don't remember seeing the issue before. My game is 640x480 with 32-bit color.

Edit: I should add that this happens no matter whether I run the game windowed or full-screen. If I run the game in DirectX everything looks like it should. I also made sure to test with CreateFromBackground, which worked normally.

Hats off to anyone who managed to unlock the minigame. I just barely finished the normal game after acquiring the forgetfulness skill, but just starting the bonus mission in the lazy sunday suit got me two alarms immediately. I don't think I'll be trying for that achievement anytime soon.

Well, the other option would be to automatically convert the backgrounds to the game colour depth at run-time, rather than the editor. This might make room transitions a bit slower, but it would mean that there'd be no need to worry about colour depth mismatches screwing up RawDraw.

That would be awesome. I suggested exactly that in one of my previous posts, but didn't think it would be possible for speed reasons. But I guess with DynamicSprite now converting the sprites to the game's color depth, it'd be pretty much the same process.

Oh, I more meant along the lines of human resources people in charge of employment digging up my ancient forum posts, but of course you have a point. That's not really the case though, since I never smoke when doing work-work.

No it's not, not at all.  Videogames by nature do not impair normal thought processes.

I didn't compare playing video games to taking drugs (though some of the best games DO create an altered state of reality for as long as you play them). I referred to Nachos intentional misquoting of mchammer (who said that people on drugs do have interesting experiences) as if he had said that drugs were the ONLY way for him to interesting experiences, which he never did. I was merely showing the absurdity of that statement by comparing it to the unfairness of someone who found video games interesting (maybe "fun" would be a better word), like most people around here, being attacked with the same line of reasoning: That since you're playing them, they must be the only thing that makes your life interesting, and hence you're a very sad person.

And I totally agree with your recommendations of counselling to either, if that was actually the case. But nobody ever claimed so in this thread, except Nacho.

I don't mean this to be offensive, though it will likely sound such, but what potential, exactly?  Are you actually suggesting that drugs open up grand new vistas in the human psyche, allowing you to develop some zen-like abilities?

Nothing so grand, I'm afraid. But I think I gave a perfectly good example describing my own experiences. No matter how creative I am without drugs, I definitely feel that cannabis helps me free associate and make connections in surprising ways that often bring on entirely new ideas and avenues of thought,  that I can then use in my work. It's no miracle drug, for sure, it won't bring creativity by itself. But it's surely an enhancement drug, whether you're contemplating your own art or enjoying someone else's. I'm not recommending others to use it without caution, because I think it's a highly individual thing. And obviously there are situations such as attending school or performing work that requires concentration or physical precision, where it's downright counterproductive - I'm myself taking a break while finishing my thesis. But the effect is certainly something that I'd like to explore further once I have only my game to worry about.

[You must also take into consideration, than most creative activities have several stages, where some might benefit from drugs while others won't. I wouldn't like to do scripting while high - or rather, I'd hate to try to debug it later - due to the effect on short term memory. Cannabis does however boost lateral thinking, and I've solved several concept-level problems in scripting, such as function optimization, after smoking a joint, scribbled it down on a piece of paper and implemented it later on.]

Edit: Something tells me this thread will come back to haunt me one day when I'm applying for a job.

This is the first and probably last time I participate in a drug debate on the forums, but Nacho's comment "Do you do need drugs to bring interest to your live? I feel sorry for you, mate." pisses me off. It's like saying: "Do you need video games to make your life interesting? What a loser".

Just because alcohol might be your drug of preference (not saying it is, just an example), it doesn't mean it's the right thing for everybody. I personally gave up drinking after trying cannabis, and I'm quite happy with that decision - I replaced one drug, which I've had very few good experiences with, with another that I've yet to have a negative experience with. Of course I can be perfectly happy without any drugs at all - throughout the last 10 years (that is, before changing my habit), I've only been drunk maybe three or four times a year. However I do enjoy taking drugs for recreational use, while watching certain movies, listening to music, or chilling with friends, and I've used drugs for creative purposes - sometimes even when I didn't intend to be creative, such as inventing four elaborate magic tricks while attending a concert.
Of course I don't think that drugs by themselves bring creativity, or that I can't be creative without them. But I cannot deny that they allow me to view ideas from different angles and lets me see connections that I never made before. I rewrote huge parts of my game design under the influence of drugs, and even when sober those changes are all for the better. I really can't believe some of the secrets I discovered in these characters that I wrote myself - stuff than now seems like the most natural things in the world and explains clues that I originally had put in there without knowing their meaning.

I can't really comment on the effects and misuse of shrooms, since I haven't tried them, but as a social libertarian I resent the ways that drug laws prevent the individual from exploring the potential of his own mind. Drugs have different effects on different people, and what may be good some may be bad for others. Stupot had a bad experience and learnt from that, mchammer seems to have the opposite idea. But  as long as the drug is non-toxic and non-addictive, and doesn't present any increased risk to anybody but the individual drug user, I think adults should be able to decide for themselves.

Jesus H. Christ, why is it that I'm always misunderstood in these bloody forums. Are my communication skills really that poor?

I have never said that we shouldn't have 32-bit backgrounds. I merely responded to CJ's mention of forcing 32-bit color games to convert all background to 32-bit, asking him to please keep the current feature where it's possible to import backgrounds in 16-bit and then switch back to 32-bit before importing your sprites.

As Ghost says, if you have any kind of smooth gradient (eg. the sky) then converting to 16-bit can make it look grainy.

Well, that's really beside the point. A lot of games that don't even use gradients - pretty much anything with hi-res line-drawings - would benefit from anti-aliased characters while 32-bit backgrounds are not really necessary.  I would probably convert my whole game to 16-bit if it wasn't for anti-aliasing only being availble in 32-bit.
I'm just asking you to please not force me to use 32-bit backgrounds just because the final game will run in 32-bit mode. I appreciate that you might not consider it important enough to make a special checkbox for it when importing my art, but please don't force the editor to convert all my backgrounds to the game's color depth automatically (as you said in your reply to monkey and dkh), bloating the size of my distribution file for no good reason.

This looks like a great plugin. I'll definitely be using it as soon as the final version of 3.0 is out, I've been a bit reluctant to do any actual work on my game in the betas.

Um, one word? Flawed.

Of course a single word can't do any game justice, so I'll use this chance to elaborate: I honestly disliked the game after my first playthrough, which is also why I haven't commented on it so far out of a "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything" philosophy. However, replaying it with the help of a walkthrough, I enjoyed it quite a lot, discovering how much I'd missed due to a couple of unforgiving design issues.  I could discuss these at great length, but the major failure of the game, as I see it, is that it shuts the door to some of the most interesting part of the story without even letting the player know of his mistake*. And what could have been a really interesting whodunnit subplot is so poorly clued that even the most observant might be in doubt when pointing their finger at the culprit (quite like some of the lesser subplots in the finale of Dagger of Amon Ra).

That said, A Tale of Two Kingdoms is a major achievement in amateur game development. I can't think of any other large-team game of this scope that has actually been finished, and even less so with such a consistant and professional looking result. Hats off to the developers for that impressive feat.

I think A Tale of Two Kingdoms would benefit greatly from a Deluxe editions, where some of the event triggers/inventory items were handled differently and the whodunnit plot was beefed up a bit. But as most of these seem to be design decisions rather than oversights, I doubt it'll happen.

* Let me give my favorite example:

Spoiler

Having to pick up the rope at the beginning of the game to be able to retrieve the bridle is madness. First of all, you have absolutely no reason to even try picking it up. At this point of the story you're getting to know people and trying to locate the scepter, not robbing generic inventory items from your hosts. Second, it doesn't seem very likely that there's only a single piece of rope to be found in the whole land. I mean, isn't there always coils of rope lying around in harbors? And third, why can't they just go over the wall on the vine like you've been doing for the rest of the game?

Some other things that bothered me were the disappearance of the iron rune (why shouldn't we assume that using it on the thief would count as its single use, which then wouldn't have been a very wise decision), and the fact that despite being noblemen none of your friends can borrow you a coin or two.

[close]

Very little is impossible to do in AGS  . Check out the KeyboardMovement module.

Naming it ac2game.ags works just as well, and I said "pretty much the same", not "exactly the same". But thanks for pointing out the difference which I couldn't be bothered to explain.

Would it be possible to for the AGS maintainers to address this problem?  For example, by adding a new display mode that runs 320x200 content at 640x480 or higher?

You'll be happy to know that this actually already exists in the setup. It's called graphics filters, and if you run a 320x240 game with a 2x nearest neighbour filter, it's in fact displaying in 640x480 resolution. The smoothing filters however require the game to be created in 32-bit color. I think it's only supported since v. 2.72 however, so with older games you're out of luck.

Edit: I did actually manage to get 7 Days a Skeptic to run with filters. Rename the game .exe to ac2game.ags, then copy acwin.exe from AGS 2.72 into the game folder. Run "acwin.exe --setup" to open the setup screen and choose a filter from the drop-down menu. The game starts, but I'm not sure if there'll be any problems later on. And it looks pretty much the same as the game would if you just ran it normally with 640x480 resolution selected. Also, the game is 16-bit, so no high quality filters are available.