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Please tell me someone will make that Goonies game!

Sorry if this is inappropriate, but I posted the prelude of the story I'm writing, and since I got some encouragement by this competition, maybe you would be interested: http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/forums/index.php?topic=49991.0

The video didn't loaded for me as well, but other videos did.

Sigh... wrote this before AGA posted. Too late now... Well, maybe that's for the best.
EDIT: Also, if what I said below is right, he will just come back. He will find a way, because that keeps rolling in his head and he won't give up. He have to understand that he has a problem, or else its gonna get worse and worse. I saw this before.

Hello firehate,

I'm new here, but I have some experience mediating Internet discussions, and I've been reading about this particular one. So let me talk to you for a sec. You don't need to tell me what happened, I'm aware of that already. I will assume everything you said is true, and try to work with that. Here's the deal: you have an open mind and you are willing to learn from others how to correct yourself, and so is darkstar. All you're asking is that people explain him what is wrong, so he can understand how to improve his behavior. So, I will ask you to open your mind and pay attention to what I will say now: I don't know you, I'm not judging you, I have nothing against you, and I understand your point. You want people to answer properly instead of just making jokes, right? That's fair enough. So you are only expecting a little respect, don't you? When people don't do that, you feel disheartened, I know how it is. It's not just about darkstar. It's about something greater, right? It's about an noble ideal of tolerance and acceptance. An ideal that is somehow intertwined with a great nation, the American culture. That's easy to understand. You probably look around you, the way people treat each other in the streets, in your school, in your work, maybe in your own home, and you might think: That's not right. Why people have to be so mean? Why can't they accept others, like they say they do, like patriots should do, like they say everybody in the world should do, so we can live in a great brotherhood? Why can't people be more like Superman, or Captain America? Don't they see that the spirit that makes this nation so great is dying? And then you realize its up to YOU. No one else is going to do this, so it is YOU who have to try and fix this, at least doing the best you can. You are doing your part to make this a better world. This is noble, and that makes you some kind of superhero too, isn't? That's great. I think everyone can see the logic of this. People seen to have forgotten what it means to stand for something greater, something good, right? We all know how bad is to be rejected. We all want to be accepted. And not all of us get accepted, not all of us accept others. That seems to be the big problem, isn't? So, when you see that kind of thing happening in a Internet Forum, you know it's not just a minor issue. It's something very important. So you won't give up until people see your reason. In times that everyone seem to have no certainty, no solid values, you found an unshakable base. No matter what happens, one thing is absolutely true, and cannot be questioned: people have to accept each other. You are so sure that this is right, that you cannot believe such a fine group of intelligent people won't eventually agree with you. So you will keep trying, nothing will stop you, that's for sure. And that is remarkable. Few people have this capacity. So I congratulate you. You are a very special person, and I'm not joking here, I'm being very honest, I mean it.

BUT, and you know that we have have to have a "but", your course of action won't help you reaching your final objective, no matter how good your intentions are. Believe me, I'm not trying to deceive you. So what should you do? One thing I know: you can't convince a group of anything simply insisting that they should do it because it's the right thing to do. It doesn't work that way. The more you keep insisting, the more they will reject you, that's who people are, no one can change that. So darkstar's cause in this forum is really a lost cause. Not even if the president of the USA come here and say that Snark should listen to darkstar, or if half million people sign a petition asking for it, that probably won't happen, because a group is still a group, and when a group is formed, they make up rules for themselves, and they follow those rules no matter what other people think, because there can be no group without some "we are apart from the others" thing. There's nothing wrong with that. You have to tell darkstar that he will achieve nothing trying to break in and insisting to be heard just because America is America. Not he, nor everyone else, can teach how mods should or shouldn't be. As long as they don't break any laws, they can do anything they want, and they are also free to do it, and they will do it. See? America's soul is self contradictory.

So, if I was darkstar, I would stop insisting, and I would rather do what most people here do. I would play the games, praise those that I enjoyed, try to help others anyway I can, and be a good fellow. That's why this forum exists. Letting people know me, what I like, what I dislike; that takes time. You have to live together for a while. And maybe, just maybe, if something is really troubling me about the forum rules, I would try to talk about this later, much later, in the appropriate space, following the rules of the forum, and being as kind as I can. That's because the forum rules precedes me, I was not here when they were done, I didn't helped this community to grow and be what it is today. So who am I to start changing rules here? If people don't care about what I say, I have to live with that, and move on. You have to weigh what is more important: pointing at the issues that could or should change, or being a pleasant company. You can't do both at the same time.

I also don't know darkstar, but I think he might have an slightly obsessiveâ€"compulsive personality. He seems to have a strong will. It is very common for people with this type of personality to have long standing conflicts with a particular group. Most of the time it is the family group, but it also can be an Internet group. These people can stay a long time discussing about details they feel important, with oscillating degrees of emotional tension, and they want others to hear and understand everything they feel and think about that particular subject. If this is frustrated, they feel lost, like something is missing, and they will bring this back at any moment, trying to make this come to a final resolution, that never seems to happen. If that is the case, the best he can do, to his own health, is to avoid the place of conflict until he can control his obsessiveâ€"compulsive tendencies, that is, forget about that group, find a place he can relax, and occupy his mind with other things.

Sorry for the length. I hope this could help.

EDIT: Thanks to Andail criticism, I will try to do something different.

First, this would be a blurb for a short story, a back cover text, to introduce the story and main theme (I got this idea from this post, so that explains why I chose to write it like that):

---

“Memory. Memory is everything...

What are photographs if not crystallized pieces of memory? And who would we be without those pieces to tell us who we are? Memory encompasses the whole mental and emotional universe inside of us. Our knowledge, our identity, our affection, our love… Memory is what makes us real. It's everywhere, at every second of our lives. It's our reality. Without memory, there would be just a blank emptiness; there would be nothing but death. Memory is life.

Memory is everything. And now memory is failing me…”

Mia is an artistic photographer whose life is turned upside down when she discovers that she can erase other people's memories with a simple thought. Now, she has to learn how to control this newfound ability in order to protect her family from those who want to use it for hideous purposes, while crossing paths with a dangerous psychopath that has a special ability of his own…

---

That was my first draft, I was still conceiving the story, and it should become a readable short story in the end, if nothing goes wrong. But I realize now that I wrote too many poems, and when I try to write short stories I still get something like a mix of poetry and reality that makes the reader confuse. I actually like that, but other people seem to need to understand things in order to enjoy them... I like Kafka and Jorge L. Borges, so that explains a lot about my style.

So, instead of actually writing the story, I chose to simply describe it as it came to my mind. Maybe a more gifted writer will be interested in this, so consider it as it is.

I think about this story with a prelude titled "Trauma", 3 chapters, relating to the 3 stages of trauma recovering: "Safety", "Acknowledgement" and "Re-connection", and one conclusion, titled "Fully recovered".

The story would go more or less like this:

Prelude: Trauma

Starts with Mia trying to get her photography art project approved for founding by the campus art department. She talks a lot about the philosophy of memory and photography. During her interview, she discovers that she has the power to erase people's memory whenever she wants, and soon she figures that she has being doing that for a long time, unconsciously.

Chapter 1: Safety

Her father works at a big corporation. When visiting her father at work, a company man named Edgar unwittingly discovers her powers by listening to his recorder. First he is only curious, but then he realizes she is a mine of gold, and he will eventually threat her family to get her by his side. He sets up a radio com-link so his associate can remember him of anything while keeping a safe distance from the girl, in case she tries to erase his memory to escape, so he is somehow immune to her powers. He tries to force her to erase specific business memories from his competitors.

Meanwhile, one of Mia's boyfriends, Richard, the only one who could never forget her no matter how many times she erased his memory, is attacked by a mysterious man in the park. This man has a power similar to Mia's, but he does not simply erases memories, he drains all the good memories of a person for himself. He has become addicted to it. The victim, having nothing left from it's own life but the painful and distressing memories, often commits suicide a few days later.

Chapter 2: Acknowledgement

Richard's mother notices her son is different and calls Mia's mother, which is an old time friend, thinking that he is suffering from depression because of Mia's rejection. Mia believes her powers somehow messed up with his head, and tries to help him. He explains to her that the only thing he can remember about her is bad feelings, feelings that come when they were arguing and when she rejected him. Yet, he would rather have this than have nothing about her. I've planned Mia describing Richard as something like this: "I used to love him, but he is too irresponsible to be in a relationship. For instance, he only cares about making stupid point and click games".

Having such strong memories of love for Mia in his head, the "serial killer" who attacked Richard, a man who introduces himself simply as Ben, is now obsessed about Mia. He figures out she is special, and goes after her. He finds her in the very moment Edgar is confronting her, and "saves" her from Edgar for good. She then believes he is a good person, and tells him about her power. He tells her he is just like her, and then tell her that the only reason she can erase specific memories is because she can actually read the memories of someone, if she tries. He teaches her how to to use her power to steal someone else's memories, but she refrain from doing it. When she reads his memories and find out who he really is, it's too late for her to run.

Chapter 3: Re-connection

He ties her to a chair and start torturing her by telling that she was done it already many times, she has forgotten because she used her powers on herself. Using the memories he stole from Richard, he tries to convince her that she is actually his partner in crime, and that she enjoys to see people suffering. She resists, managing to call the police while erasing the "real-time" memory from his head, temporarily paralyzing him. But she can't hold it much longer, and he suspects that she used her powers on him, so he tries to use his power to make her "life" just miserable and empty enough so she would rather join him. But somehow, his powers don't work. He realizes she just erased the memory of how to use his powers. He then tries to attack her, but she starts to erase ALL of his memories.

When the police arrives, they see a man with a frighted expression. He doesn't responds to the police commands, so they threaten to shot him, but Mia unexpectedly jumps in front of the guns shouting "Don't shot. He is innocent. He is just a little boy". She tries to explain his mind is now of a 10 years old boy, and is not guilty of any crime, and should be taken to a place where they could take care of him.

Conclusion: Fully recovered

Mia thinks about all that happened and tries to figure out what to do next. She can set herself the goal of trying to restore, somehow, the memories that Ben stole from Richard, even though she would like him to completely forget her, she realizes the memories he has of her are an intrinsic part of his personality. In other words, he can't live without them. If this is enough as a proof of love, it is her choice. The other choice is to completely eliminate from her own mind any part related to her power, including the ability itself, in the same way she did with Ben, so she can be just an ordinary person. That's the end.

Hope someone eventually gets to read it.

Encouraging. Thanks.

It's a pity I lack the artistic skills so very much. I gave up trying to draw a long time ago. I wish I could make some pixel art.

I tell you that my dream is to have Ben Chandler making art for me. Oh, the games I would make!

Do you mean walking path finding or the speed of walking?

The path-finding. I guess AGS doesn't have an imbued path-finding algorithm, isn't?

The speed of walking also troubled me, but mostly because I'm too impatient to wait. I know it's possible to change the speed using the options, right?

Yeah, I had no idea you guys held writing competitions too. That was great, I saw a lot of talent, but to me, Baron is the winner already (sorry guys, you did great, but he's my favorite). In fact, I got so inspired by this that I woke up this morning with a fixed idea for a first paragraph and a blurb. I wrote them down, and the moment later, I was writing the first chapter. I am now actually writing chapter two, and very excited about it! Is there any specific section in this forum where we can post short fictions or something like that?

If you can't stand boring talk about ethics, please don't bother reading the hidden section below:

Spoiler

I hate to push this one a little further, since all involved parts have agreed in closing the case with no grudge, and now its time to settle down the virtual adrenaline, AND I'm a total stranger in the scene. But I  think this is an opportunity to learn a bit about non-violent communication. I'm sorry if I look like a moron just by saying this, but I think Abisso's first message was in fact a note for peace, not at all like he was offended for no reason or worried that someone was saying that Forge is not good. He had a point, the sentence does looks rude. But then, all it takes is an apologize. This is part of day-to-day social interaction. When I talk to my close friend, I can say his game interface sucks, and he wont be offended, because he knows exactly what I mean. But when I post in a public forum, I need a whole different approach. So selmiak's snarky commentary didn't helped at all. Before asking others for "peace", you should put a little "peace" in your own remarks, and then you will see the quality of your social interactions will raise substantially, really.

[close]

Ok, back to topic, I'm an Indiana Jones fan, and this game is looking very good. I'm sure the people working on it are doing a fine job. I played the demo, it was enjoyable, but so short! I'm waiting to see how the plot will develops. Can I expect to see some Nazi bases hidden in Latin America?

Oh, and I have to say the walking gets odd sometimes... Anyone else complained about that?

Yeah. I haven't noticed that before, but watching again, it really looks like the walking is out of sync. But that's probably just a minor issue, easy to fix. The game looks amazing, and the story really got me interested.

I really like the graphics/animation, it kinda reminds me of Genndy Tartakowsky's later work. The muted color palette is nice on the eyes, too. The one thing that looks a little off is the walking animation, which looks out of sync with the walking speed: maybe it's just me, but he seems to be walking in huge steps, while the actual distance he covers seems oddly small.

Well, this is really a riddle. Are you sure it's an old game, and not an indie retro game inspired by KQ, maybe?

EDIT: Here, see if this one looks like it:
https://www.google.com/search?q=Armaeth:+The+Lost+Kingdom

I began to play the AGS community games very recently, so I will try to play all the nominated games I can before voting. But I already have my favorite for Best Short Game.

Yeah, Ghost quotes are the best!

[Character:]

Character:
Baron

Plot:
Wham

Atmosphere:
Baron
Ghost

Background World:
Wham

Word Choice/Style:
Baron

Connection:
Stupot+

Sorry about it, but who is allowed to vote?

Oops, sorry for the mistake. I meant before the end of the 75% discount. Thanks for your answer anyway. I'm very interested in playing this game.

Will the demo be ready before the end of January?

I've completed the first chapter and I'm absolutely amazed! This game is fantastic! Every detail about it is in the right place. Loom is one of my favorite games ever, and so far this is the most awesome AGS project I saw. It's a shame it still didn't got all the attention it deserves.

At first, I thought about writing you to say that it's "too much like Loom". Loom is unique, there can be no sequel worth of Brian Moriarty genius. But then I realized that you are making your own game after all. A new unique game, with a new unique design and game mechanic. I believe you can do it, because it looks very promising. I'm willing to help in any way I can. Thanks for this marvelous initiative.

I think KodiakBehr wants just one person, who can do both writing and pixel art, since he said "a partner" instead of "partners". I guess they want a small team.

[Translator - English to Brazilian Portuguese]

Hello,

I'm offering my services as Translator - English to Brazilian Portuguese. I've translated a number of articles, subtitles and games.

I'm also a creative writer and game designer since 1996. My main influences are George Orwell, Aldous Huxley, Ray Bradbury, Kafka, Michael Ende and Paul Auster. I designed some computer games based on my experiences running D&D, Shadowrun and Paranoia RPG sessions. I reviewed several indie games and wrote some articles on game conception and game studies.

As I'm graduated in philosophy, I can handle concepts and topics concerning metaphysical, ethical, epistemical and political problems. I've made some research in the fields of theology and sociology.

Don't hesitate to e-mail me, either if you want to expand the reaching of your game (by making it available to the Brazilian public, which is huge), or if you want to enrich your gameworld (by adding side stories or some narrative, who knows).

My website is now offline, but here's the link: http://www.janosbiro.com.br/