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I tried to replicate this in 3D, to check on light.

I think I kind of failed -- with different "outside light" setups, AND light bouncing off surfaces, my final result was still times darker than your image... might be realistic, might be not

Basically, I think your idea of shading is on correct path, but light reaches MUCH lesser visible area of pillars, with viewer side almost in total darknes and lighted part is much thinner edges. I mean - 90% of pillar should be super dark and only light-direction edge should get maximum of light. You have it more gradient and light vs. shade much more balanced, which isn't correct.

EDIT: That's pretty much what Khris said
Also, I did press printscreen at some point



Actually, I don't think it's hard to get absolutely right using a desk lamp, and handful of copier paper or something even more solid cut & folded into pillars and an oval room...

Wha..? 11 killstreak is simple, you're missing the key element of MW2, the chopper gunner.

Kind of makes me wanna try MW2 on XBox... are players really so crippled? AFAIK, pulling out predator laptop results dying in 70% of time while picking a target

But I used chopper gunner at some point all the time. I'll try again tonight

EDIT: chopper gunner hunting sucks. I got NOWHERE getting predator most of the time and few rare cases when I did, I died before I could use it. All the wasted time and multikills I got while hunting would have resulted in loads of lighter stuff - and not impossible - a chopper gunner in a care package also.

My "going back to square 1" setup is FAR more enjoyable.

@Chicky:

I despise M16, it's inaccurate and when getting shot, it's impossible to force crosshairs back at target.
BUT

After entering prestige mode and having basically nothing to shoot with, I found out that FAMAS is deadly insta-sniper. I guess it's pretty much like your M16 setup -- 3 round burst, long range, accurate and kills in 1 or 2 clicks. But with accuracy better than ACR!

It's quite awesome to stand near palace under palm tree (one corner Invasion map) and famas-snipe aaaaall the way to the other end of the map, to the gas station. Even through 2 windows of a jeep (behind which victims often crouch). It needs a bit more skill though and makes you almost useless in close combat. Scavenger instead of "sleight of hand" since 2 claymores placed all time help alot.

Knife runner class I have and sometimes use. Not so much lately though...

Grenade class I used at first 20 levels or so. Somehow, I don't want to touch grenades ever again. Lately, many players "honorably" refrain from using nades too, unless hunting for a perk. Atleast PC audience.

My k/d breaker class is and probably stays like this:

* random sub machine gun I never use (usually mp5k)
* SPAS-12 & grip/stinger/claymores/random secondary nade (when that mobile, you stop to throw anyway)
* Marathon pro, hardline pro (stopping power for bigger maps), ninja pro (steady aim for bigger maps)
* martyrdom
* care package, predator agm, harrier

Mentioned Famas class for very long maps (derail, afghan)

Why? First, you get care pack quite quickly. Shotgun puts you in the middle of carnage and 3 lucky shots is all you need. Claymore can contribute also. Now, one kill more and you also get a predator. Getting 2 kills with predator = harrier.

So I basically enter action, get predator quickly, shoot it for 2 kills and launch harrier. If I'm still alive, retreat and call care package. If not, I have new toy when respawning... getting chopper gunner or other "cool toys" from care package isn't much less likely than actually getting them "legally" (I mean, how often do you have a 11 killstreak?) so I don't consider this setup wasting reward slots on low ones.

Plus side is I get stuff quickly and it's enjoyable to rain hell and chaos all the time, not struggle & hunt for it for majority of the round...

A call for petition maybe? I'd give my +1   Even tough yes, we shouldn't act like this at forums

[best]

Uh-oh, lots of interesting replies. I took some time to analyze and also played few rounds to check theories.

It's quite strange. First, I decided to motivate/handicap etc myself, by limiting kill-death ratio before I log out from game and pick another server (thus going through loads of nerve-eating iwnet connection failures). I said myself that i have 3 more deaths than kills, I restart.

So, adrenaline and rush to stay in game was there. A game. I picked a quick class (to stay in the battle all times) and started out.

I managed to keep my score high enough not to quit but at round end, first three players in my team had around 25-35 kills and I had 12. With 8 deaths. Even positive, but not "as usual". No killstreak rewards.

What happened? Well, I moved around all the time, game mode was HQ Pro (which means lots of moving and rapidly changing and KNOWN conflict points) and did my best to get into action.
Point is -- there wasn't much people straying infront of my gun. Somehow, my movement paths around the map are quick and very safe: when I started playing, people told that this game is all about finding cover. Well, I was too covered! Even when I saw enemy in the open, he was usually mowed down by a teammate before I could react (shotgun works at close range). My knowledge of the game and maps has trained me to be safe at all times and use surprise. Well, safe means away from bullets.

So even though I was on the move all time and saw enemy all the time, I rarely could close in for attack since enemies usually ran uncovered and relied more on reflexes than skill. But so did teammates...

Okay, so shotgun needs closing in and I'm not moving close enough to where action is I thought. Next round, picked ACR - the most accurate assault rifle in game. So I won't get close, just shoot.

Second round - almost same results. Plus, I managed to miss ENTIRE ACR clip on a sniper unaware of me and sitting in almost knife range. This is weirder than weird. Why can't I aim anymore? After he got over the shock of entire clip going into wall next to his head he turned around, scoped at point blank range and shot me into face.

...
I'm all outta excuses.
Maybe it's still all mental? I've noticed that I had best results at competitive multiplaying when I was pwning people. You know, you have few amazing rounds, and then you feel all invulnerable. And ironically, you continue to do amazing stuff, because you know you rock.

Maybe stressing about "losing it" works exactly opposite thus making problem worse?
Are we what we believe ourselves to be?

EDIT: Thinking about last paragraph, cheered myself up, concentrated, gathered confidence, tried again. Mercenary Team Deathmatch on wasteland, used steyr AUG w/ stopping power and scavenger whole round.
Wandered close proximity or inside of underground tunnel crossing, because there's not much else to do in this sniper-infested map with weapon I had.

Teams were balanced, with about half of players few levels higher than me.

Ended up being best on my team, with 22-6 (plus 3 Harrier kills). Second best was 14-10. Best enemy (that lousy camper!) was 17-3...

Mentality - atleast for me - DOES count. Alot.
And, no XBOX for me, chicky PC-purist here

[worse]

Story goes like this: I get a new multiplayer fps game, suck at it as every noob for few games, then gradually master the game. Normal, right?

This period lasts few months of active gameplay.

But then, just like that, I'm getting worse at game. Skills that went up all the time somehow get worse!

I mean, wtf? Experience should accumulate, not reduce! Soon I'm the worst of the worst, playing even worse than first-timers, whatever I try. I do know every corner of the maps, I can pick most suitable weapon for game type and map, I can consider all the variables I couldn't before... and this makes me -- suck.

First logical explanation is that "game is new, other players improve also so at some point your uber skills simply suck compared to others".

But no. It goes same for games which have years of history (Counter-strike, Team fortress 2, etc), therefore mostly experienced gamers. I tried to rest, try playing in different states of stress and tiredness, everything. It's still same.

[mw2] For example: month ago, my shotgun class in ground war domination game in Modern Warfare 2, map Runway, usually ended match with 20-30 (30+ with killstreaks) kills and <10 deaths. Past few weeks I'm unable to gather even 10 kills, yet closing to 30 deaths... it's inverted. On "high" period, I bathed in AC-130 killstreak rewards (11 kills without dying) and now struggle to get even damn care package... (4 kills w/o dying) (which I usually don't!) [/mw2]

Okay, MW2 could still be somewhat new game, but data is almost same for any game I play, from Battlefield 2 to CS to TF2 to UT3...
Also, I don't see highly changed style of playing. I still explore, surprise, camp and rush. Simply, I suck at aiming, reaction times AND luck... yet other forms of reaction testing, like online tests or different games I play at time - don't show that my overall reaction speed or aim were worse. Only for that particular game at hand.

Am I only one with such strange paradox? What could be the real cause? I'm not old enough to write this off as aging yet!

EDIT: Thinking about it - there MIGHT be another (scientific) explanation:

As game gets more and more known to my brain, so does the psychological experience of this game. So excitement goes down day by day and therefore - less adrenaline is released. And adrenaline is what gives us quick reflexes and instant reaction/problem solving, right?

To support this case, if I fire up counter-strike: source after every 4 months or so to play a quick round, I'm always amazed that I play much better than when I quit. But after few days, suckage is back and so is ragequit.

Ugh JBurger, your twitter looks like prime example of broken, encrypted dialogue. Like muting one of the characters in a tv-show

charater A: "Please express your opinion about matter at hand"
character B: ...
character A: "Yes, this is an excellent point and quite fascinating story you just told! How did you manage to escape?"
character B: ...

I still do not understand how reading something you said to someone about something (if I got this right) we have no knowledge about would be worth reading or showing... or following.

It's a mess, a mess I say!

Ever noticed this button?


(Just wanted to stretch thread out  8))

[Grundislav]

I don't get twitter - not a single bit - but please, convert me. I see AGSers twitters here but um - mostly "woke up, took a dump, fed cat" content...

Show me something really great!

...unless Twitter is what it seems to be from where I stand -- digitized way to be a groupie or a stalker.

and Grundislav, "Just released Ben Jordan: Case 8!" is ONLY acceptable tweet from you   "With great power comes great responsibility". That is, with power to make awesome games comes need to release them

amirite?

This thread should be marked "not work safe", for that horrid lovely pic of Disco.
infact, it's not anything-safe...

1) Lose ass movement. It looks really strange
2) De-sync cane movement with right foot. Limping person puts cane front first, makes it support the body and THEN moves that foot forward. This way, cane acts as third foot and character always has two "feet" front or back on both body sides (just like he's standing) while he moves foot that left behind.


Like this: Whatever state walking is in: character actually always has 2 foot on the ground, with walking stick acting as missing foot

Or maybe I'm wrong sounds reasonable though

http://physicaltherapy.about.com/od/devicesandorthotics/qt/WalkingwaCane.htm

In your walkcycle - cane looks more like accessory, not something to support walking.

3) Body movement is somewhat unbelieveable too. I'd redo the walkcycle and result would probably be with much less body movement and simpler overall. I say: make full walkcycle first, then add hand and a cane. This workflow would produce much better results.

Since you're using Photoshop, it's easy since you can put cane hand onto separate layer.
But for overall walkcycle making, I suggest using a sprite sheet instead of image-per layer. Of course, you can successfully mix both! On a sprite sheet, you can easily see how walkcycle progresses and compare it to image before and after. Turning layers on and off will show that also, but it's still easy to miss changes in color and so on.

Plus, it's much easier to visualize the animation without actually having to put it together into GIF file or export to AGS. Just look here. Can you FEEL how this character moves just by looking at image strips?

AGS supports tiled sprite import too - which is exactly for sprite sheets. You define frame size and number of frames and bam, much quicker than importing every frame separately.

4) What's going on with jacket switching colors at back?

Dos-era AGS games run often horribly bad in DosBox.
Main issue seems to be digital sound.

Pure Sugar - Delicious

And anything Stars on 45 has recorded... Beatles medley for example...

Try the resolution thing (right click on desktop, "screen resolution")

It's strange, but it works. If it fails due some reason -- make sure you closed everything else that isn't reso/game/dosbox related, and that you didn't actually minimize resolution window - just switched to dosbox/d-fend.

Also, switching drawing mode from "surface" to "ddraw" or vice versa from d-fend helps too sometimes. Fullscreen ahoy!

For me, Dosbox has failed on some early 3D games, such as 3drealms' games (Duke Nukem, Blood, etc) and Carmageddon.

Not directly "failed" but emulation is too slow for proper gameplay. Especially in Carmageddon.
Then again, some other 3D games, such as my lately rediscovered Dungeon Keeper runs perfectly.

Also, I second on D-fend Reloaded. Using Dosbox without it is pure masochism.
Some games have issues with my video card vs. 256 color mode vs. Windows 7 though - producing a crazy, inverted palette... Simplest fix to it is to open screen resolution adjustment window on desktop and leave it open when I start the game. Works like a charm.

No?
No?

But I do see how playing Day of Tentacle or Guilty II over multiplayer could work.

Great style but colors are a bit too much.

Hard to describe, but so much dark simply makes eyes tired. Figuring out what's drawn her is a challenge to my eyes, because everything's so dark.

Maybe try to lighten brown surfaces up a bit? Blue rug and nightstand makes me want to stare at them only, not to hurt eyes with everything else.
There's very little of rooms in the world with so dark walls... And if nighttime is the factor then everything not-dark is too light.

Also, sooner or later you should decide on light source: there's no way left side of cans can be same brightness as right side if there's only window in this room giving any light whatsoever.

In Soviet Union, it kinda was like that... respect points.

Newspapers didn't write about Paris Hilton - such section was all about great workers. That miner is a hero, mined 3 times the monthly norm of coal and that woman is a superb farmer, her cow gave 3 times more milk... Medals were also given. Great workers were set as examples to others and praised. Or sometimes... purely artificial and made by propaganda machine  

It was pretty cute, actually. For any hard-working person, getting noticed for his/her labor - who wouldn't want that?

But I think capitalist system can abuse ANY resource. Call it money, respect points or something else.
Someone ends up profiting from respect points produced by worker class, haggle them to someone with low RP, etc...

Eh well.
The games have become artsy and weird anyways -- just look at first few pages in Completed Game Announcements forum! For every "normal" game, there's 20 with strange art, content and point. Like not a game but something you see in modern/digital art museum.

Interesting observation really -- have adventure games became a form or art or something? Not that it's bad or anything...

...but still, I want a Ben Jordan sequel!   This stuff doesn't inspire me.

[is no]

I gave this topic another thought and reached rather strange conclusions:

Maybe I was too eager to blame capitalism. There is NO form of economy where democracy would actually exist.
There is no good democracy.

For example, let's take Iraq/Afganistan war. It is clearly capitalist war. Ruling class needs resources/stabilty/power image/whatever and people fight. If anyone's doubting in democratic support in this, polls are being made (ideally, I doubt that IRL). And people support the war. Sounds democratic, right? Wrong.

To have fair opinion in should we go to war, every person asked should be competent at matter. Know truth about everything, be able to calculate billions of variables behind the war and possible outcomes, etc.
Not some redneck or kid loving guns overwhelmed with abstract words "nation", "people", "country" etc even though none of those exist. Also, humans are mostly idiots. For every 10 people 8 of them are dumber than you. And you're not too intelligent yourself (with some rare exceptions)...!

And even if every human could give opinion correctly, actually considering stuff and not be moved by propaganda, there's still a chance of human error or emotion. So how can power of people be good if it's factually wrong at its roots?

Which led me to another thing: What if such decisions would be made by a computer instead of human beings? Computer would surely do all the math, wage every pro and con on the matter and make the best choice?

But then I suddenly realized in such "computer" people believed and hoped for already 5000 years ago... all-knowing-always-correct-deciding-everything-seeing every piece in puzzle... it's called God.