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Thanks for the input. I haven't tried using on_interface_click yet. I was aware that you could do it, but in the globalscript it says the function is obsolete. As I've redone my entire GUI with the object based system, I was trying to avoid old script functions.

Posting the code won't do much good, as the part dealing with the activate script was just done by:
1) Naming the textbox
2) Clicking in the Run Script field for the textbox
3) and then double clicking the textbox to open up the script editor on the relevant script.

Then I just entered  Display("Textbox was activated"); or similar in the script to see if it was actually triggered, so that's pretty much the code that's in there. I did the same for all three, and as I said, it works for one of the text boxes, but not for the two others, which seems strange.

Is there some logical reason why some of my textboxes doesn't run their Activate script when the enter key is pressed? One of them works perfectly, but the other two simply don't register the enter key being pressed. I even put a really simply action in their script, just to see if ANYTHING would happen, but not even a simple display-command could be triggered.

They do react to typing and backspace, but pressing enter does nothing, even if their set up to run a script.

Could it have something to do with other text boxes, even though they are on completely different GUIs and aren't visible at the time? The one working is the first text box I set up, if that has anything to do with it.

I'd probably do it with a listbox on the gui. And then use object/hotspot property's to specify the available options for each object/hotspot. Assuming that you'd never have more actions for an item than there are available cursor modes, you could have properties like this:

Hotspot: Door
   property LookAction = Examine
   property InteractAction = Open
   property PickUpAction = Knock
   property TalkToAction = Listen

Object: Christmas present
   property LookAction = Read note
   property InteractAction = Unwrap

This would allow you to still use the normal Interaction editor to set up responses. But of course you'd have to remember the sometimes arbitrary links between the options in game and the engine interactions they refer to.

I have yet to see a game with a maze that was actually fun. As for ones that weren't, see Still Life, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Countdown, LSL3, etc. etc.

i really dont see why this needs to be done at runtime. isnt this very simple to set up within the editor, and play out during the game. essentially, I'm asking what are the benefits of this over what you can do now? you can do everything mentioned already. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm just curious.

First of all, vertical flipping would be a VERY welcome addition (or should that be horizontal? I always get confused about this in Photoshop. What I mean is turning the sprite upside down - which I suppose would be around a horizontal axis). Secondly, I assume the engine already DOES this at runtime whenever you're using flipped sprites(?), except you can only select it when assigning sprites to views. If so, the mechanics are already in there and just needs a command to control them.

Free any-degree rotation would be even cooler, but seems a lot more work.

Thanks for your response. The thing is that view flipping is currently, as far as I know, horizontal only. Or have I missed something?

I'd like to use the effect for reflective floors, parsing the current character view, loop, frame directly to a semi transparent follow-character, but flipping it in the process. Rotation would be nice too, but as CJ says, it tends to look rubbish.

Would it be possible to implement horisontal/vertical sprite flipping at runtime, writing it to a temporary sprite slot? I could really use this feature.

Who uses joysticks these days anyway, except for flight sim geeks? Aren't gamepads a lot more common? I would probably never use the option, but full gamepad support would be an intersting addition. With two thumbsticks you could add ultimate confusion, with one controlling the cursor and the other controlling the character

hardcore porn (which in British law means I believe containing an erect penis).

Then Shadowplay is in the clear. Hooray for lesbians!

Well, if you by "pornography" mean something that is meant to tittilate, I agree. I just read the word as meaning full frontal nudity, graphic sex and whatnot. I think it's very possible to use these elements without the game being pornographic per se. In fact, I think breaking taboos can be a very effective way of trigger emotion in people, positive or negative. Some of the most disturbing scenes that I've seen in movies have been of a sexual nature - Cronenberg, Lynch, Pasolini etc. etc.

As for the promised update, I've posted a little bit in the GiP forum for now.

As I was just reminded by Zooty, I'd promised an update. I'll do the full update later, but for now, here's what's going on:

Most of my recent posts in the forum were intended as a setup for an April's fools joke we were going to pull about Shadowplay switching engines to SCI .  However, Grundislav beat me to it with his "BJ5 goes Wintermute" announcement, so we decided to cancel the joke at the last moment (you can expect to see the screenshots and hear the midi in the special features section of the finished game).

However, everything that was said, was true in some way or another. Shadowplay has changed a bit, because we decided to pull the interactive flashback scenes from the design, and possibly insert them again once the game is finished. That way, we'll have a finished game, even if the flashbacks turn out to be too much work.
In other news, a demo will be out sometime this month. I had hoped to have it ready for 2 April, but it wasn't - so that's even more reason for cancelling the joke. The interface has evolved a LOT during the last few months, and I'm really looking forward to showing it off. Among the features that I'm most proud of, is the searchable conversation log.

Oh, all right. Cool, so then I can keep in the fisting scene

Thank you very much for the character tint function. This relieves me of much cheating with the AmbientTint command. Does this mean that region tints will also get luminance settings in the near future?

Well, obviously we are limited by the law, so if you made a game that involved graphic hardcore porn or peadophilia, then it would not be allowed on the Games page.

There's a law against graphic hardcore porn  :o? Is that a British law, and if so, what's their definition of graphic and hardcore?  (would hate to have to censor Shadowplay just to have in on the games page)

I got a message from the airline company that I've collected enough frequent flyer points to get me as far as Lithuania and back, but that doesn't seem a likely location, so Sweden or Finland would probably be best

Yes, the multimedia part of the manual is pretty useless as it doesn't link to the proper commands.

Try using the index and search for PlaySound and PlaySoundEx. If I remember correctly, the music commands are on the same page.

Adventure games can have a relaxed pace, "dead" rooms, optional stuff to do, and shouldn't always be action-packed and closely cut.

I'm all for optional stuff. And sometimes a slower pace benefits a story. I don't expect a Jim Jarmusch film to move at the speed of a Jerry Bruckheimer blockbuster. But on the other hand I'd hate to watch Bruce Willis and his crew smoking cigarettes for 2 hours instead of blasting space rocks.
My main point is: "Don't waste my time". Over the last hundred years filmmaking has developed us a set of  tools to tell a story efficiently, and we'd be fools if we didn't take advantage of those techniques.

This game made me laugh more than any other AGS game in a long, long time. Especially the quiz part and the disco scenes were wonderful. Puzzle-wise it's really not my cup of tea, but I managed to get through with a few peeks in the .exe file (and the help of a German dictionary). A few thoughts on the puzzles that annoyed me:

Spoiler

Why do you have to remove the plank to fall into the water, why not just jump? There's no logical reason for why you can't leave the telescope at the top of the cliff while fetching the plank. Why does the girl need to drink the milk, when you could empty the glass anywhere to find the coin?

[close]

I did find a bug though, where you could have one plank in your inventory while another was still lying across the stream, thus allowing you to use the telescope without visiting the quiz master. I wasn't able to pinpoint the exact cause, but I think it involved picking up the telescope while having the plank in your inventory, but I'm not sure.

Overall, great writing, wonderful use of music and great comedic timing.

Now that this thread has been dug up again...

I've been playing around with the plugin, and I was wondering if it would be possible to add a "center of gravity" to the plugin. So that raindrops/snowflakes would fall towards a coordinate (on or off screen), instead of straight down, and then disappear when they reached it?

I'm going to start a series of game theory discussions soon, taking a filmmaker's approach to game development. One of the discussions will be on "editing", which includes, amongst other things, some thoughts on what you call "dead areas".

My idea is that you shouldn't waste the player's time with walking through empty screens, as Syberia tends to do. Especially games that involve walking back and forth through the game world, such as Simon the Sorcerer and some sections of Other Worlds, need to learn something from film editors.

In Shadowplay, I've taken the approach that most interior locations  need exteriors to establish the building and the neighborhood. This is known as an "establishing shot" in film editing. And once you've shown it, there's really no need to show it again. Hence, it's shown at the first visit to the location, but when the player leaves the interior, he skips straight to the map. One location is a hotel, where one of the NPCs is staying. The hotel consists of four screens - exterior, lobby, hallway, room. There are puzzles to find the right room, get into the elevator and convice the NPCs to let you into his room. But once you get in, you will never see the lobby or hallway again - unless it's needed for plot development (perhaps the NPC doesn't open the door one morning...).

If you think the "dead areas" really have no purpose, scrap them. But if they add atmosphere and helps establish location and character, by all means keep them in. The real question is when to let the player skip past them.