Messages

Throw pillows.

Ah, yes, the sofa parasites.

Does AGS engine allow saving/loading during dialog scripts? I don't really recall any AGS games having this feature and was wondering if that's something that can be done easily or would it require building a completely new custom dialog system?

Hey! It's great to see this back in the production.
That monster looks like it's about to poke it's own eyes out with those fangs 
How much of the game is planned out anyway? Got any ideas yet, how it will compare with previous entries in terms of scale and lenght?

Yeah, reading through this thread, I do feel a bit confused about what people consider to be traditional gameplay mechanics or classic point and clicks. I've never really felt the need to define those for myself, is there some sort of consensus? When I look at 90s adventures then a lot of them seem quite varied in terms of design philosophy and user interface. For example, is Loom a traditional point and click game, how about Legend of Kyrandia or Beneath a Steel Sky? Are obtuse puzzles, inventory and mouse-driven interface the shared attributes?

For me personally, it seems that there have been noticeable improvements in modern adventures, especially in terms of puzzle logic and certain small mechanical tweaks. I mean, isn't pixel hunting and screen scanning a thing of the past? Don't most games these days have hotspot indicators, similarly how other genres added stuff like map markers, witcher senses etc.

Speaking of other genres, then there's plenty of fan bases that cling to older games and mechanics. Point and clicks are not alone in this. There's groups of people who still consider Super Mario 64 the best 3d platformer or enjoy original Doom more than modern shooters, there's Super Metroid, Chrono Trigger, Symphony of the Night. Also, have MMO's or RTS games made any huge strides as a genre in recent decades?

Yes, many indie devs try to emulate the retro experience or create something similar to old games, but probably because that's what they love developing and there's sufficient demand for it. And it's all fine, there's room for all sorts of games. Calling them knock-offs seems a little unfair. Sure, there certainly are a bunch, but I feel that many of the modern games have actually refined the formula with either some quality of life improvements or added/removed mechanics. Nothing wrong with building upon a solid foundation and learning from history.

Not that I have anything against evolving or innovating, as I said there's room for all, and I'm really eager to hear ideas and opinions about the genre going forward and things I could test out or experiment with in my future games. I think the influence that the hardcore purist crowd supposedly has over the genre is overstated, seems like a vocal minority thing and I don't think many developers care about those voices.

As for AGS games, I also don't see much point in criticizing amateurs making games as a hobby, often for the first time, for not necessarily being in the vanguard of design; any more than in criticizing teenage girls for imitating manga artists. Of course, the more experienced and dedicated designers, particularly the professionals and semi-professionals, are a different matter.

I can admit that I've never made a complete, well-planned and thoroughly designed game, because all of them are made with game jam time constrictions and their main purpose has been to test out some technical aspects, explore the engine capabilities or simply practice pixel art. It's a fun hobby and I honestly don't feel the urge to start pushing the whole genre forward, I simply try to focus on things that matter to me. If we as a community should want more variety or modern takes in our games, the first step would probably be to release different easy to use templates that allow to explore and use new mechanics.

Seconding Snarky with Grim Fandango here. Played it for the first time a few years ago and compared to some older Lucasarts games the controls and interface seemed like a step backwards to me. In addition to the issues mentioned, I sometimes also had trouble identifying the exit points and was stuck because I didn't know there was a "hidden" area around the corner, but I guess that's more of a design problem than game mechanic. I know that a lot of people like direct control over the character, but I definitely prefer the mouse for navigating the 2d adventure space. I actually enjoy games that can be fully played with a mouse only, it leaves my other hand free for other, erm... activites.

We should also remember that the now ubiquitous dual analogue stick control system wasn't immediately welcomed by critics or players.

As someone who's never owned a modern console, the few times I've tried to use a controller with analogue sticks, it felt like the most unintuitive and uncomfortable thing, there's a learning curve for sure. But I'm also a weirdo who draws and animates with a laptop touchpad, so I don't really judge people's choice of input devices 

I don't think I've ever used the engine to run older games and to be honest, I didn't even know it was considered to be a prominent or important feature.
So, obviously I'm completely fine with dropping the backwards compatibility and I'd probably be fine with any other change or cut, no matter how drastic.
I mean, you're working voluntarily on an open source engine, so from my perspective you can go wherever you want with it.

Congrats to all the winners and a huge thanks to everyone who were involved in organizing the event.
Watched via stream this time and it was as fun and heartwarming as always.

Also, everyone should start playing and rating this years games already, to be fully prepared for the next one!

Thanks for trying the game, Pogwizd!
Yeah, that Ice Climber comparison totally make sense, similar setting with a limited palette and low resolution. And who knows, maybe I was even subconsciously influenced by it, certainly played the game a bunch in my childhood.

Looks to be working now.

For some reason I'm not able to rate the games in the database anymore.
Even if I mark it "I've completed it" there's an error: Database query G.35.6 error: Column 'gaveupreason' cannot be null

Tried downloading it today and (at least for me) the Windows link is not working, Linux one is fine. So, I guess there's something going on with it.
Grabbed it from ich.io instead.

Thanks for the comments, arj0n and Slasher, glad to see it's still getting plays.

@Slasher: If you only played the original MAGS version, then yes, there are some changes and additions, but compared to the 1.1 version there's not much else besides the above animation, so it might not really be worth a replay, but then again... it's only like 5 minutes or so

Also, a big thanks to the person, who bothered to play and rate it for the AGS Panel Rating, it's crazy to see that it's the only rated game in the past 2-3 years

New version up! One of the players found a game ending bug, so I took care of that.
And also fixed some typos, added up and down walk cycles and another small animation instead of the fade out/in.

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/4WjBUU7.gif[/imgzoom]

Is there still a way to aquire a Windows version of this?
Game's AGS page leads me to a supposed Windows download link, but that actually is the Linux one.

I would certainly try to be more bold with colour contrast and shading. Bigger contrast also gives you more options when drawing facial features and hair or creating different textures. I'm seconding cat, the waist looks too thin, but if for some reason you want to accentuate that part, you can try a bigger belt or use some other fabric/colour tricks to draw attention. The shoulder-to-hip ratio might also need some adjusting, but that really depends on what sort of body type you are going for. Additionally, the front and back views look kind of stiff and the feet size seems slightly different when compared to side view.

As for the outfit itself, then as others have implied, it reminds me more of the first half of the 20th century, something you'd see in an Indiana Jones type of setting, like Faye in the Flight of the Amazon Queen, for example.

Some quick mockups to illustrate:
[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/BgdxSJn.png[/imgzoom]

It was great to play a Reality-on-the-Norm game again after such a long pause, thanks for that.

I kind of like the look of this RON style and Eric Matyas makes great music, so it was quite pleasing both visually and aurally. A few puzzles required some logical leaps and slightly unintuitive connections, but mostly they were good and a couple of them I found particularly satisfying, there was also a nice balance of variety. Writing was decent enough, a fair amount of funny stuff, but sometimes a bit too random or unfocused.

I agree with Retro Wolf's "quality of life" suggestions and I would've probably also liked some sort of basic options screen and maybe better defined room exits for some screens.

Overall, an enjoyable gaming experience and hopefully you'll have time and motivation to create more such games (either RON or non-RON) in the future.

First of all, if you're simply planning to make a game, then make a game, your sprite looks already fine enough for that. Don't let the lack of artistic experience hold you back, there's plenty awesome games with more simplistic or minimal art, if it's got decent design and lots of heart, it'll be welcomed in this community.

But if you're aim is to improve as an artist and create something more complex in the future, then Jim Reed has already started with some really good advice. I agree about the background color, that pink has max saturation and strong burning colors like that have a way of affecting the colors next to it. And what looks good on pure pink or white, might not look good in an actual game environment. Medium gray is a good neutral choice and I've seen some pixel artist use more saturated tones of blue or green, for example. If possible, then I'd also recommend using your game background as a reference to set the final colors and shading, to make sure that the sprite actually looks like it belongs in the game.

As for poses, then Jim's base is again a good example and a solid foundation you can build upon. Your original sprite probably feels a bit too stiff and Jim's done an excellent job of creating a more natural and interesting pose. When you're shading and coloring your sprites, then I know that it's very tempting to mirror some of the stuff and make both legs and arms look exactly the same, but occasional non-symmetry, even a few pixels, can sometimes help to make the character look more varied and organic. Your original sprite could also use a little more contrast between the colors, especially in the face area. In pixel art, you don't have a lot space or options to add small details, so contrast and clever color use is sometimes a good way to create more distinct shapes and features.

The type of shading you used for the arms is usually not recommended, since it bands the colors and lines together in a weird way. So, I personally try to avoid it if I can.



Links to the tutorials, where I took the images from:
http://pixeljoint.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=11299
https://medium.com/pixel-grimoire/how-to-start-making-pixel-art-4-ff4bfcd2d085

I do recommend keeping the sprite as simple and comfortable to draw as possible, since I assume that you will eventually need to animate it and when you go overboard with the polishing and details, it'll be a nightmare to animate.

And finally some edits, one with very slight changes and then a complete redraw:

[imgzoom]https://i.imgur.com/UA2IXr4.png[/imgzoom]

Played it, enjoyed it, recommend it! Could probably do with a little less conversation and a little more action, but it's fine, it's a solid MAGS game. Visually satisfying, music from Eric Matyas is always good and the writing, although a bit too suggestive for me at times, is pleasurable to peruse. Great work, Retro Wolf!

I did spot a little typo:

Spoiler

When you ask help from the Clitorian, "Thank you" at the end of the conversation is missing a space, but since there's already so much space in the game, I don't really mind or who knows, maybe it's Xenamorphian slang or something.

[close]

This is probably going to the most animated AGS game (or even adventure game?) ever. The amount of sprites in this game is astonishing, especially when considering the quality of the work.

Awesome news! That's already less than a month away. Have a great launch and hopefully it'll end up being both a critical and commercial success.

Unfortunately, I can't see the original images at all. They show up as broken image links for me and when I try to open them in another tab, it asks me to log into google.

Edit: Working fine now.