Messages

Hmm, did you create the dialog option in the editor or just put the script in? Silly question I know, but that's all i can think of.

EGA is nice, but I'd prefer either the cartoony one (possibly with more shading?) or the VGA one. Awesome work on all three anyway

Spoiler

Well, there's a shop nearby that's easy to miss, it's on the right of the Lottery machine.

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Hope that helps

Nice animation PureGhostGR! One thng that bothers me in the latest version is that only the head bobs up and down, and the helmet now seems to be floating. maybe if you try bobbing it too?

Interesting, I've been wondering about AG design documents for a while too. I once found a game design doc, but it's geared more towards action games, or game with what they call "winning conditions". I guess it could be altered to fit AGs though.
I don't remember where I found it but if you're interested I could e-mail it to you or upload it.

I'm not quit sure what you mean when you say design documents though. Do you mean the kind that game designers pitch to publishing companies, or do you mean more like a to do list of everything that needs to be done for a game in general, broken down into story, artwork, scripting, sounds etc?
I wrote a sort of general To do list that might be useful if you meant the latter.

edit: here is the To Do List:
http://102269515.home.icq.com/GameDesignList.html

Try to ignore the annoying banner on top

*Ginny tries to dig up the perspective tutorial in her favorites and fails miserably*
*Instead, she finds it on the AGS resource page *

Here it is, by 2ma2:

http://user.tninet.se/~vqb114l/ilb/tutorials/pers.htm

marcus: don't be so hard on yourself that is a wonderful first sketch imo.

Whoa, you call that bad? That sketch is awesome! It looks like a very busy room, like somone's one room appartement which he pays for by being a waiter or something

I can't tell if you're going for a slightly wacky style or not, but the bed looks a bit deformed if not

The cabinet is huge for the room, but all the stuff on it are wonderful. The pen/pencil might be a little off perspective, dunno, and the opened notebook is odd, that is, I wonder how it's being held up. unless of course we're seeing the back of it in which case the curves fo the spiral binding are upside down
I love how the carpet is under the desk, it really gives it a cramped look (if that's what you're aiming for of course). Also the carpet itself is great, as is the UFO (thing? it looks like a Post box, or is it a bird-house? I can't really tell).

Last note: the door is (IMO) too wide.

My favorite parts of the image: The books, the bowl, the carpet, The Thing (tm ) the notes, the pillow and blanket, and the poster (awesome!).

Too bad it's useless to ask for a tutorial, eh? Or is it...

:o

edit: Oh one more thing I noticed is that the legs on the bed look weird, and the handles on the cabinet drawers are a bit too big. Then again, maybe when the cabinet is smaller they'll look fine too

 :o Whoa, those two are some of the best works of art I've seen in a while! The secind one especiially. yes, please make a tut. Also, can you link to your other tutorial? thanks

The more I try to be picky and look for things to criticize, the more perfect it seems Once again, Great work!

heh minime, I guess you've got a point, but better upload a cropped version and link to the full image.
Anyway very nice stylish drawing, I like the rough lines and the overall sketchiness of it

Heh, silly me, i forgot there's a possibilty to display a message. I always use script so it's easier to edit

Anyway just in case- game_start is in the global script.

Just use the "first time player enters screen" interaction for the room and write Display("Bla Bla bla"); in there if you want it to only happen once of course.

Edit:

If you want this to be displayed as narrator speech, you can set the game to Always display text as speech and in game_start put:
game.narrator_speech = -1;
I think you also need to set "Skip Speech" to "Mouse or Key(no autoremove)".

[Unskippable text]

Heh, great issue Vel, that review was totally unexpected I must say you ovverated my game, heh

Anyway I was pretty sure that the article was satirical, but oh well:

Unskippable text

Only if the text is fast enough (not so good as some people read slower) or if it's adjustable. From my experience though, waiting for text to finish being dispalyed gets frustrating. If you want a pizza, pause the game
However, in games that have decent or even bareable voice acting, i tend to never skip text unless it's the global message being repeated, even if i've long before finished reading. With games like TLJ and Grim Fandango, I could listen to the characters saying the same thing over and over again and not get bored, cause the voice acting was so great.

About missing information, I find this can actually happen, or even not information but just text being missed. The solution to this isn't to make text unskippable though - it's, IMO, to allow the player to see a full transcript of the text. Suppose you forget something someone said a long time ago, like something important. Ideally you shouldn't forget, as good design is about drawing attention to important things, but if you do, you can look through the text. Or you can read it just for fun, also lengthening the game a bit if you look at it that way. Rewatching cutscenes is also a great idea, though in AGS games this is not quite as easy cause the cutscenes are mostly just animated sequences where the player has to wait, and that can be skipped by pressing Esc or something. if they were all avi or mpg files (or flc) then this would be easy.

Move player as slow as a slug

No, bad, I can't stand this, no walking animation is so awesome that I can watch it for hours.

Crappy GUI with lots of menus

Well, you contradict yourself, or kinda at last. A crappy GUI doesn't have to have lots of menus, and a GUI with lots of menus can be great. Making a crappy GUI on purpose is asking for trouble though.

Timed puzzles

I dunno, this could be fine as long as the player has something to do while he waits (and i don't mean playing with some intercative element, like a panel or something). I think the best way is to a) let the player know he's supposed to wait and provide him with lots of things to do like talking to someone, playing a little mini-game, or something else, like a bonus puzzle that isn't neccessary for finishing the game. 10-20 minutes should be the limit of this though.

Illogical puzzles

Whacky puzzles are good, illogical puzzles (like carve apple shape out of steel using hat) are bad.

Cool music

The best of them all . May I also add cool voice acting and sounns in the background. Graphics can also contribute to making a player just stare at the room for a short while.

No map

Well, I think it depends. If you have lots of locations (like Syberia) then a map is better. However sometimes a map can detract from immerdsin, unless it's a top view like in MI games, or just a map you have in your inventory. personally I think the player should be able to both use a map and walk through the scenery. Obviously he can't get into the kitchen of a restaurant by using the map, he just gets outside the restaurant, like in MI with major locations on the map.

Overall, I think length shouldn't be added artificially. the best way to make a game longer is to make it have more content in it, and be more interesting. Btw, games with high replay value can seem longer just because someone has played them through 12 times. Games using trick to add length will ultimately detract from length because playing them through once would be bad enough, not to mention replaying

All this isn't meaning to say i didn't like the article, it's really funny and started up a nice debate here too

Well, I am 17, going on 18. I know that I'm niave. Fellows I meet may tell me I'm sweetly, and willingly I believe.

I think I'm noticing a pattern here
*chants "these are a few of my favorite things"*
heh

CJ: There's an age limit? I had no idea

Oh that sounds like great fun! We'll miss you

Enjoy your piracy time

Spoiler

Maybe someone knows it? Too bad that someone isn't around, eh? Well, maybe he left it somewhere he hangs out...

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hmm, maybe that's too vague, so if it doesn't help here:

Spoiler

You'll know it's the real vow cause it's written in stone. Literally.

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Great, thanks again, works perfectly And thanks to Scummbudy too

Many thanks Spyros and Scorpious I had been trying to use an autosave but had made a strange error I added one bracket pair too many to the "if" statement. thanks I'll probably use the File I/O function (btw, what does I/O stand for?) after I dechiper the code

Once again, thank you!

edit: gah, damn explorer.. Well, I'd better make some use of this post..

tootsie:

Spoiler

Have you clicked on the tombstone or on the ground?
As for the screwdriver, you'll find it by accident when it's appropriate

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Yep, thanks Grundislav I hadn't realised I could just take the handle.

Great game once again Grundislav! Definetly harder though
I'm stuck:

Spoiler

I have found a bribe and the proof of misconduct, but can't figure out what I need for a Contact Localizer and what is close to the heart... I have a hat, a shovel, the funeral shroud, the art supplies, the voodoo list and the screwdriver/bottle-opener thingy.. help?

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