Messages

I don't think it would be much more difficult just using GetTextWidth, which would allow you to use any font. The main problem seems to be the spacing (or rather, not being able to use spaces for alignment), so you might see the highlighted text slightly misaligned.

Problem solved. It turned out that the the error in:

Code: ags

string buffer;
if (GetSaveSlotDescription(101, buffer) == 0) {

wasn't actually in THAT piece of the code, although that was the script line number returned in the error message. The problem was in the code run after the if statement.

Another stupid oversight on my part was that I'd changed "string" to "const string" in my global script, but forgot to update their import statements in the script header.  :

I can now compile and report that sprite rotation works perfectly!

I need to upgrade the AGS version because the fix for the sprite rotation is vital to my dynamic shadows script. But all these weeks of scripting conversation longs, html-formatting, custom dialog modes - all of them using strings intensively... There must be some way of making it work.

I don't think I even need the new Strings for any of these functions, and now that it works I'd rather not mess with it again. I just want AGS to compile it without complaining about my perfectly good functions

If the character stands still, just make a small special walkable area for him, which the player can't enter (have a 4-pixel wide non-walkable ring around his x,y coords) and then set the scaling percentage of that area to the size you want.

Um, I wish I could give some feedback on the new beta, but I haven't even manage to compile my game with it yet. Could somebody please explain how to modify my current string-using functions to work with the new beta?

As far as I understood, you'd have to add "const" in front of the word "string" in your function headers, like this:

Code: ags

function AddText(const string inputtext)

but then when I compile, I get error messages that it can't convert const string to string or something like that, referring to lines within the function.
To fix it, I try to put "const" on the string declarations within the function, it tells me to use "readonly" instead, but that doesn't work either.

Also, a piece of code like this gave me similar error messages now:

Code: ags

string buffer;
if (GetSaveSlotDescription(101, buffer) == 0) {

How can I fix this, short of rewriting everything to use Strings with capital S?

Ok thanks. Could the solution may be to use a room above 300 then so it wouldn't be state saved? And then use a global ints/struct for the few settings that are used later.

Thank you so much Gilbot, I had considered writing it in AGS, but for some reason I couldn't see past the 200 character limit. But of course that's no problem when writing raw characters. This was very much what I was looking for. I'll just refine it a bit to handle some other formatting codes, and it'll be ready to include with my script module.

You just earned yourself a big "thank you" credit!

Is there any quick way to clear out all values in a struct? Or do I have to do a

Code: ags

while (num <= maxnum) {
mystruct[num].array = 0;
num++:
}

on all values?

I'm not even sure, does it save memory if you reset the values to zero? I use a large amount of structs and arrays, and frankly I'm a bit worried about all the trash being stored in memory and in savegames.

Ok, so the Shadowplay Hypertext Engine (also known as SHYTE) is finished. However, due to AGS' string length limit, I need to chop the text into units of 200 characters (198 + 2 characters of formatting code if the line continues/is continued), and frankly it's a bit of a pain doing it by hand.

So I'm looking for a macro text editing program, preferably freeware, which will take a raw text file, split it into units of 198 characters (or the last spacing) and - if possible - auto-insert my code at the beginning and end of every line (AddText("*string*")), so that it can be pasted directly into my script.

Any suggestions?

Try looking into the great freeware installer program InnoSetup
http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php

Another beta, awesome! Glad to see that the 90+ rotation is fixed - I've had to work around that one until now And thanks for fixing PgUp!

I was thinking whether it'd be possible to apply the transparent pixels from a similarly sized sprite as a mask when cropping the dynamic sprite from the background. I suppose it would actually work by copying the "pink pixels" from the existing sprite onto the dynamic one.

Can you clarify what you mean -- using the non-transparent area of another sprite as a mask to decide which pixels are copied from the background onto the new sprite?

Yes, that's basically what I meant, except I imagined that it would be done by first grabbing the dynamic sprite, then apply the transparency (which would also make it useful for sprites that aren't copied from backgrounds).

Here's an example. Let's say that you want to create a UV-flashlight effect, so you create one normal background (background frame 1) and another, ultraviolet lit version of it (background frame 2). Now you cut out a 64x64 area of frame 2 at (mouse.x, mouse.y), getting a square shaped dynamic sprite. However, we want a circular flashlight beam. So you take a pre-existing circular sprite, resize it to 64x64 and copy the transparent area of this (the pink, rounded corners around the circle itself) onto the dynamic sprite. Finally you either rawdraw this or assign it as an object at (mouse.x,mouse.y).

The images are broken, but when I drag-n-dropped (and remove the anonymizer part) I could see them anyway.

WOW, they look almost like models and puppets - not at all like 3D. There's something very Tim Burton-like about the chair/phone as well as the character, and they remind me of his early animated film 'Vincent'.
Of course it doesn't hurt that Hector looks a lot like Peter Lorre

Awesome work man! I could easily see this style used in a game a la Discworld Noir.

Edit: To answer your question, I'd go for a "painted" look in the textures, as if these were actual models that had been handpainted. Perhaps you could scan some painted paper (acrylics or water colors) and apply them. I also think it's important to stay away from the usual shiny look of rendered images. The surfaces needs a dusty feel to them. Try to look at The Nightmare Before Christmas for inspiration. I think those colors and textures would suit these models.

A lot better. Perhaps his pupils should keep looking towards his mouth while it's drinking?

Perhaps the big creature could at least move his eyes while the green creature is drinking? He seems very static. Also, I think it would be funny if the big creature burped or something afterwards

LOL, that was really cool. I love the way you've animated the liquid going through the green creature. Of course I don't know if the big creature is just supposed to be some kind of suit, but otherwise I'd expect some kind of reaction from him?

I think that the problem is this line:
if (GetWalkableAreaAt(cEgo.x, cEgo.y) != 0)

cEgo.x and cEgo.y isn't totally exact, so when you move along the edges of the area, the sprite would flicker. I've had the same problem with GetAreaScaling. You'd be better off just to check if (player.Room == cShadow.Room) and just not move the shadow character to the rooms where you don't want to use him.


Also, I can't think of very many situations where you'd need a floor shadow to appear on top of another object (only if you had a moveable rug or manhole cover or something), so you might as well set the baseline to 1 once and for all. That also allows you to use a walkbehind as a "shadow mask" for any area where you don't want it to be drawn.

Beautiful edit loominous. The contrast issues are gone, but I still think the saturation could be turned up a bit, at least if it's supposed to look like CMI.

I wasn't suggesting it was an exact copy or even that the artist looked at this specific drawing. But look at the style of the houses - the way the second floor juts out. Notice the windows on the righthand side of both pictures. Also the perspective and composition - though not identical - is similar. The tower as the centerpiece. A sign hanging on the building to the left.

The style is great, but overall I'd suggest you mess around with the saturation/color balance. As it is now, the soft pastels on the lefthand side look very pale compared to the dark righthand side.

I don't think you need to make the bar brighter, but the sky and ocean could easily be bluer and the sand more yellow, even reddish/brown perhaps. I remember CMI MUCH more saturated than this. Take a look at

http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/curse-of-monkey-island/screenshots/gameShotId,28908/

and

http://www.mobygames.com/game/windows/curse-of-monkey-island/screenshots/gameShotId,28906/

Looks awesome. PQ2 is one of my favorite games, and it certainly looks like you're doing it justice. The graphics are great, and the character seems to fit the PQ3 style. I see that Sonny decided to keep his bleached hair from PQ1, like in the original .


A few suggestions/concerns though, from a PQ2 fan:

A larger police station could  make for a lot of empty hallways to walk through and elevators to wait for. I found this quite annoying in PQ3, PQ4 and the PQ1 remake. Perhaps you could add a map on the lobby wall, from which you could teleport to other floors/rooms?

Have you decided how you're going to do the evidence gathering? The new interface could make it too easy to find all the clues in the cars by just clicking wildly everywhere. Perhaps changing to close-ups of interesting areas (under seat, dashboard and wheel, glovebox) for closer scrutiny would work well, somewhat like in the CSI games.

I wonder how the airplane hijacking scene will work in these terrorist sensitive days... But perhaps the game would be better off without it - it did detract somewhat from urgency of the Bains case.

The sewers with their trial-and-error gas pockets scream for a re-design.

Good luck with the project!