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For the five people who've been missing my Independent Adventuring column, I'm happy to say that it's back on-line.Ã,  I started a blog where I'd be publishing it, along with reviews of the more interesting games and whatever else I can think of.

Most games that were released between June 2005 and January 2006 (the period when DIYGames was not updated) are now covered in my columns here.

Currently, I know of no more than perhaps 5 AGS games that require payment, in fact, I can't even think of 5. Only one, and that's Fatman, and even that's free now.

Most recently there has been Hauntings of Mystery Manor

But you're right; commercial games created with AGS are far and between.  I still see them as a positive trend, though; it shows that both AGS and the game designers are getting sophisticated enough to hope for a payoff.  I'd hate to see AGS becoming commercial, but seeing one or two commercial games created with AGS every year would give it a whole new level of credibility, and may increase the demand for free AGS games at the end.

[Ponch:]

Why is there actually a big lack of updates on diygames.com? The last entry is from 28th June.....

Only one person, the editor and owner of the site, has the right to approve updates.  He's on vacation right now, which is why there haven't been no visible updates, even though there are articles, including my July column, in the queue.

Ponch: Holy crap!  I knew you had to have worked on the setting, but I would never expected you to have 100 pages of the backstory.  What a great way to waste your time!

Ponch, I was actually thinking od the Barn Runner series when I was talking about "entire vision of a world where the stories take place".  I still think the description and history of Kentucky is one of the most original (and hillarious) settings I've seen in a long time.

It may be partially a matter of perceptioin.  When you play a game, you tend to compare its various elements to each other.  So gameplay may look worse, relatively to the graphics, if the graphics are better.  I'd use the example of The Watchmaker whose production value was one of the worst I've ever seen in a commercial game.  Poor graphics, and one of the most awful voiceovers I've ever heard.  Yet, many people said that the gameplay was great.  I thought so, too.  However, disregarding production and focusing only on gameplay, it was several levels below that of Syberia 2, where I complained of gameplay, because I didn't feel that it was on par with the graphics and voiceovers.

[Jozef will receive any questions or shameless flattery you may have for him now.]

Jozef will receive any questions or shameless flattery you may have for him now.

I'd also accept bribes

Many thanks, Vince, for your interview.Ã,  I really enjoyed it, and I'm happy I'm contributing to amateur adventures in a meaningful way.

Only thing I don't like is that I think the he could sympathize with the developers much more while reviewing the games. I mean, he sometimes writes discouraging things like "There's nothing to see here. Move along.", "You'll have the chance to cringe at even more bad jokes, including one that really turned my stomach. Avoid this title.". Yes, I can understand the point: protecting the players from the bad games. But if I were you, I would also think about the feelings of the developers. These words would be so discouraging for the young person who made their first game; and they wouldn't want to make another games after reading that comments.

Many thanks about the kind words you said about my column .Ã,  But I highlighted a different part of your comment, because I wanted to respond in a little more depth.

I personally am all for encouraging young and new developers.Ã,  However, sometimes they include things into games, which I'd hate to see along, and would prefer not to play another game from them rather than having another title with similar features.Ã,  The stomach-turning comment I made was about a puzzle, which involved jerking off on a donut, and eating it.Ã,  While I wouldn't like to censor games, sometimes I can't help but to let my mind speak, especially when I run across something I really don't like.Ã,  As far as the "There's nothing to see here" comment goes, I really couldn't encourage that particular developer.Ã,  He used an established franchise name and background and character graphics, without very little creativity.Ã,  I'm not against the practice of recycling graphics and other elements of a game - I really like the Maniac Mansion Mania series, for example - but I saw no contribution in this case.Ã,  And as Helm said, I also have the readers to think about.

SSH: Now about the fee we agreed on

It saved me obscene amounts of money, by allowing people to give me plenty of great games to play, for free.  By extension, it allowed me to spend this saved money on hookers.

Real Arcade offers very poor deals - those who mentioned 10-15% didn't lie.  There are other indie game publishers, such as Garage Games, which offer at least 50%, but they are very selective which games they'd feature.

I like the cartoonish look of the background.  But if that's where you've aimed for, I'd make sure that the black lines are uniformly visible and there's no color overflow between the clouds and the sea, just like there isn't any between the land and the sea.

I'd like to point out the forum for the Maniac Mansion Mania games (sorry; it's in German).Ã,  Whenever somebody posts a new game thread, it's in the form of a poll, with a five-pint rating scale.Ã,  This encourages the forum goers to rate the game, and to write short reviews.

I haven't been active here for long enough to see if it worked, but if it did, the voting could be time limited, and once it's closed the overall score would be posted in a sticky thread, which would capture all the games, with a link to the original thread for people to add their reviews or read others'.

Jozef, did you ever get to reading the comment I left on the March 2005 edition of your article. netmonkey linked me to your site, which I appreciated your words on my game, but I left a comment to hopefully straighten somethings out.

Yes, I did see the comment, but at that time I've been still working on my Master's degree, and didn't have the time to check the site every day.  So by the time I saw it, it was about two weeks old.  Still, I think you did a very good job explaining the background to the game; in fact, I'm always happy when the authors provide more information.  After all, they know more about their games than I could ever learn.

Oh well, I decided that it was time to step out of the closet

And thanks for the really generous coverage of my column over at AGU; I really appreciate it.

Speaking of Timothy Lande, just wanted to give you a short update on the project I was working on with Archive.org.  We wanted to create a database of free games there, and I was responsible for the adventure section.  Unfortunately, the project was not as sexy as publishing TV shows and music, so it was canned for now.  Maybe one day it gets revived, when there's nothing else to publish.

Thanks, guys

I really enjoy adventure games, and in particular those with a great deal of personal touch, which is why I enjoyed the Princess Marian games very much.

I just submitted my May column; it should be posted in a few days, and until then I'll spend some time hunting for more games and participating more on this forum.

Josef Purdes does a great job reviewing pretty much every AGS game that comes out on http://www.diygames.com/index.php?p=889&more=1

Wow, this guy is really making an effort! Such a nice site! Is he one of the forum regulars who goes under another name 'round here?

Actually, I've been lurking around for something like two years now, but never created a login for myself