Messages

[Name:]

Name: Telemachus Stavropoulos

Age: 21

Female/male: Sex

1. How long have you been involved in the AGS community?

About... I'm not sure... before 2000?

2. Why did you get involved in AGS?

I wanted to make my own Quest for Glory-type adventure games.

3. How do you feel that the fact that AGS is a freeware programme affect the community that has built up around it?

I have no opinions about the ags community.

4. How big a part does the AGS community play in your life?

I spend time with some of the people here in the summers, but I consider them friends and not 'community'. I'd say the AGS community itself doesn't have a strictly defined role in my life.

5. Have you been involved in making any games using AGS? You may list them if you want

I have. I've made three Snail Quest joke games, The Crown of Gold, a hour game named Pyramid, Sol, Gladiator Quest with Ghormak, Caverns with the help of Unilin. There's at least another orow game in me, maybe two. I don't think I'll ever attempt to make an adventure game of reasonable length ever again.

a. Were you interested in game design/programming before you started using AGS?

No. I was into role-playing games and designing and world-building in that sense, but no actual code for me until I encountered Displayspeech(ego, "lol!");

b. If no, do you feel that you would have got into game design without AGS?

Probably, attempting to do platform games like Flashback.

c. Do you make games using other programmes, either freeware or not? How does the eperience differ?

Barely can play around with Game Maker. Yes, it's very different because 'simple' adventure games are very easy to script and behave predictably once you iron out bugs. Other games have much more input and ongoing code and break a lot more than adventure games. Adventure games truly are the genre for artists-who-program-a-little rather than coders-who-do-a-little-art

d. Has AGS inspired you to try and take up game design professionally?

I uttered some such foolish notion once a few years ago. Inspiration did not turn into action.

7. Do you feel that there is a gender divide in the AGS community?

No.

8. Are you likely to feel differently about a game if you discover it's made by a female? In what way?

No. In none.

9. Do you feel that AGS makes it easier for females to get involved in computer game design? In what way?

Adventure games are story-driven and that usually means there'll be more girls attempting them than attempting a generic shooter game.

10. Do you feel that there is a difference between the types of games created by males and females?

Not particularily. Adventure games are very girly anyway.

11. Any other comments?

If he doesn't want them I'm kinda hungry

I can't finish the VGA version of Quest for Glory 1 on my current machine,

why would you bother playing that awful thing?

baggage man

Man, I've exhausted the hell out of NSkit, and I do know I gotta step it up, but the Drumkit From Hell I've been eyeing is 7 gigs or something, and I can't find it anywhere currently. Jamstix looks interesting as well, I must say...

www.locustleaves.com/music/suddenstillpart7.ogg


This is a song that I've been recording for a month now. It's 12 minutes, no macrostructural repetition of parts (a theme may be repeated in a row, but once evolved or abandoned for a new theme, there may be no return to it later on. no versebridgechorus stuff here) and is currently instrumental all the way. It's a remake of an old track, named 'Sudden' which in turn was a remake of an even older track named 'Still' so there you go. The original was played (badly) by a full band, two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums. The middle version was recorded as guitar tracks to teach a then new guitarist the song, and now that there is no more live band, this has been all done at home. No real amps were used, guitar to distortion pedal, signal to sound card, Sonar for mixing. There's a string quartet in the background, a full pipe organ, a bassoon and a flute, courtesy of Garritan, and the drums are an extensively equalized and tweaked verson of the free NS Kit.

For people with such weird kinks, you can listen to the old sudden here to check how far it's come since it's two-years-ago-incarnation. The 'still' version isn't even online, it's that bad. The song was mostly composed 3 years ago or so, although it's fair to say that there's been extensive reworking of parts along the way.

There's going to be vocals eventually, but it'll take a few months more to work up to this, so this is a mix to critique and comment on for the time being.

Known issues are this strange crackling at 2:00ish and 3:00ish... I'm not sure where it's coming from. I think it's the result of my CPU struggling when I mix down without having frozen all the tracks, so hopefully on the final mix that'll be delt with. Otherwise, fire away! Nitpicks, major blunders, ideas and opinions are all welcome.

Here's your slippery treat.

Haha, what? Kings Quest games aren't even good on their own, much less in contest with QFG, of which 1,2 and 4 remain some of the best adventure games (in the full sense of the word. Exploration, discovery, plot, characterization, excitement, humour) ever developed.

Character death is essential.

SIGH.

don't you mean CUNT?

Right! So who would then spead stupidity?

We have a lot. If I were a moderator you would not be banned just for saying that.

I think if you take out the cool, maligant overtone out from 'misinformation', you're left with is 'stupidity', which aptly describes this.

Please leave the internet now. Forever.

yes, everything with more contrast, lighter, more distinction, thicker outlines. Children don't do earthy subdued tones, they break out the red crayon and go insane.

Anna Lee? I hear you prefer it orally.

You talk to your drummers and the drummers tell you what goes on in Portnoy's mind when he plays, right? I have no interest in judging Portnoy's intention when he overplays. It's progressive metal, everybody who can, overplays. I haven't listened to much of Theater's 3 last albums because I don't like Theater much, so I'll give you that he might have radically overtaken the sound of the rest of the band, but I don't think that would really be the case.

Vanden Plas are very much unknown compared to Theater.

King Crimson are a Progressive Rock band. They can as you say get pretty hard, but I don't think the aesthetics of heavy metal have anything to do with the Frippian mindset.

OSI are not at all like Chroma Key. Kevin Moore singing is Kevin Moore singing, but they don't sound anything like Chroma Key's three releases. As I said, modern Fates Warning is the closest parallel. What does 'play for the band' mean, Tuomas? All I hear is 'whine whine Portnoy's very fast and overloads'. So what? You don't like his playing, you don't like his playing, that's fine. Let's not judge his intentions and his reasons to play like that. You don't know the man and neither do I.

Tuomas, I see nothing 'random' in the way Portnoy plays, and his style can handle any tempo. I basically cannot follow your line of thinking at all since you even say OSI are like Theater. If there's one progressive project Portnoy has been involved in that was a total departure from his main band, OSI are it. It's much, much more a Jim Matheos (of Fates Warning non-fame, now here's a shame) thing than it is a Theater clone. And his playing there even I had to appreciate, who was initially grumbling because Mark Zonder didn't play instead. He's a very solid drummer with great chops and a good sense of accompaniament. He gets overbearing in some Theater releases, true, but then again, all of Theater get their change to get overbearing. I get bored of his drum solos, but hey, drum solos.

There's nothing wrong with manga, but there's a lot wrong with 'manga influence' in my opinion, and Bernie is doing well to try to evolve his style so it's more cohesive.

Dream Theater are underrated? Okay now you've gone on the other end. EVERYBODY knows, listens and appreciates theater, lots of non-metal people and stuff. They're very visible and respected.

The progressive metal (not prog metal) I listen to is of a different school: Psychotic Waltz, Watchtower, Sieges Even, Deathrow, Megace, Confessor... the technothrash variety.

I don't care for theater much, but Portnoy sucks? What the hell? One thing to not like someone's style one thing to discredit him completely.

Personally I liked When Dream and Day Unite, and the Majesty demos.

What kinda music do you play?