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i am published "Mess Goblins" on the very popular Russian tracker

I hope you've asked Dropped Monocle Games for permission first, Inventive Mind

It looks lovely! I'm looking forward to playing it. Mess goblins? I'm quite sure some of them are living at my place

You're just  too kind, Amy! Wish I had some more time to actually draw something.

Hey, I'd swear that something had changed... I feel like I'm looking at your portrait in higher resolution now... Like somebody was messing with my options menu
I remember Heart of Darkess very well! Happy days

...
I'll try to find some spare time next week, maybe I'll be able to wreck some proper background.
I wouldn't count on winning anything though, this wrecking crew is too strong already!  And I'm still eager to see what will Yakatakatulla paint.

Hi guys and gals, this is old AGS junkie trying to go back to his point-and-click compulsion and reintroduce a healthy dose of code to the system. Any free slots out there?

Interested in Group: Yes
Game Dev Skill : somewhere between Beginner and Intermediate
Project Status: Starting
Estimated Project Completion: 6-10 months (positive thinking FTW!)

[Kasander]

Ooh, Kasander, your haiku expresses such a nice compliment    I hope it was devoted to me, otherwise...^^

There's no other maiden in this thread whose avatar's eyes would encapsulate the essence of yin and yang in only six pixels

[imgzoom]http://i5.minus.com/io7NzZnYQykEa.png[/imgzoom]

This is beautiful, Amy! I love it! You would undoubtedly win that prize

I miss the love-wreck trophy too, but I believe Mr OUXX pulled it for greater good.
But before it happened, the Muses were unable to stop me from writing this:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/ze50trw.png[/imgzoom]


...

I sincerely hope adventuress comes back to the forums and will keep on making cool art as she did before. I'm certain we're all friends here and no one meant to cause harm to anybody.

My thoughts are with you, adventuress! Hopefully you'll come back to us ASAP.

I'd like to take part in this Blitz but I don't know if I'll have some spare time to paint my wreck... So it's very fortunate Monsieur OUXX thought about people like me and added another trophy. Without further ado, please let me express my exaltation for the other rare and radiant maiden gracing this thread with this simple haiku:

[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/aAK7iR9.png[/imgzoom]

PS: I'd like to apologize all the maidens as well as gents in this thread for this unexpected outburst of pixel adoration. Surely it won't happen again  

Thank you I do wish I could move faster. I know exactly where I want to go and I work hours every night to get there, but it feels like running in slow motion.

I was talking to a friend last night about TKC, so it's good to check back on forums and see that you're not slowing down! If only Mr Hyde could swap places with Dr Jekyll Also, we should all have life remote controls with slomo, pause, rewind and fast forward buttons... Oh well. Carry on with with TKC Bavolis, don't let life press stop!

PS: Man, gotta love that Horse's Ass! (sorry, couldn't help myself)

Just managed to dig out my steam account password and voted

Come on guys and gals, this beauty of a game needs some steamy love from you!

Also, carry on with your quest, noble sir declerfayt!

I got to ask. Why a Polish surname?

GRIBBLER DUDE!!! why U not get it?? We Polacks are so awesome so they finally realize this and make a game with one! And we make best pirates ever this is so true! Just reading this news make me I wanna pirate this game so hard!!1! And then maybe I play with it, yes?

I kid, I kid, you know I did


On a more serious note... Although I've once stated here (in Nelly Cootalot 2 thread I think) that I have a soft spot for all things pirate / marine (since my early days with Sid Meier's Pirates and Monkey Island on Atari ST), sadly I'm siding with Cat on this one. Having only played Vampyre Story instead of GPoVI, but I was equally unimpressed.

Polish jokes or not, this looks like another mainstream game for kids that lacks a bit of originality (well, except of protagonist's nationality...but from what I gather, we're dealing with stereotyping here, so it's not that much original, right? ) This, and I'm just not the biggest fan of ‘Disney's school of style', and that's where Bill Tiller & co. come from. I guess I'm just not the 'target audience' for this one...

Wish they'll do nicely though. Hopefully the humor will be a bit subtler than you can tell from pictures and press releases, and governor Elaine's look-alike will get a facelift so the game won't appear like just another attempt of ‘privateering' Monkey Island franchise and its nostalgic fans (and their innocent kids ).

For the sake of point'n'clicks, I hope they'll prove me wrong somehow. Meanwhile, I'll set my sails in expectation of other games (among them, Nelly Cootalot 2).

I like your idea of a combat system, that hit/miss bar reminds me of penalty/free kick shooting in some football games, but I don't remember I've seen that being used in RPG. That seems refreshing I love oldschool proper RPGs and being sentimental towards all things post-apocalyptic I'll make sure to play DB demo. Seems quite a challenge by the way, to make a RPG with AGS. I can only imagine it needs some serious counting and coding skills. A rocket science to me

I see that instead of putting down some more or less abstract percentage stats, you're measuring your work progress by the number of emptied bottles
I'm guessing the release date is near, as the table is almost full

Jokes aside, I'm glad LH is coming along nicely! Great artworks IMO, simple and very fitting.
That's a fine brush line that you have. I'm curious, what kind of software do you use, if you don't mind answering, is it Manga Studio?

No problem, I'm just extremely happy to discover a game like TKC is in production. And being a creative person myself (well, like pretty much everyone here on AGS forum!;)) I know how important a word of appreciation can be.

Yeah, I know it's in the Crook's interest to stay mouse painted, I know it has to be consistent and better not to change things after all this time, but man... I'm a graphic artist too and just reading about you doing all these blades of grass with mouse made my right wrist feel the pain! I knew a guy once who was doing realistic fantasy-style illustrations with mouse but those were only b/w and it was in the previous millennium!
Sure, lots of people still do low-res pixel art with mouse, but the thing that you do is quite different cup of tea... I mean, how much more hardcore can one get? Kudos! And when you finally decide to Kickstart this, please do some video showing you at work with your trusty computer rodent. It would certainly make my day

As for the weirdos making/playing weird games, I'd say there are probably more of them than you think. Surely there should be enough of them on Kickstarter to fund TKC and spread the word. I'm not a PR expert, but I think people will know unique game when they see one, you just need to show them what you've got (and show them that sprained wrist, too!). There are few people here to turn to for a bit of advice regarding Kickstarter (you probably know a bit about it too, having the Ubi-connections and all).

You certainly have people here that believe in what you do and I'm pretty sure that once TKC gets spurred by Kickstarter the apologists of your work will grow in numbers. Well, I guess I better stop writing before I drown you in this sweet sea of TKC fanboyism Please, get back to work on your game and keep us posted.

Cheers mate and good luck... Can't wait to visit Horse's Ass!

[FAR TOO FUCKING BRILLIANT TO BE FREE]

This is going to be a long post, and one can only blame Bavolis for this.

I second every single word of praise that has been written above. Can't believe how I could overlook The Knobbly Crook and lived in ignorance for so long I second what Cosmo Queen said. I know cursing doesn't suit AGS forum so to all the mods and sensible people here: please pretend you've overlooked... But this game looks and feels FAR TOO FUCKING BRILLIANT TO BE FREE. Honestly. I'm a financially-challenged person, but I'd consider robbing old ladies if that meant this game would be made.***

I sincerely hope you guys will get this thing completed. 7 years in the making is a bit long (now, that's the positive thing for me not knowing about the game earlier â€" the release date must be sooner rather than later). You should at least do yourself a favor and steal some Wacom from your Ubisoft co-workers. Gamers, unlike mouse-painted grass, won't stay green forever, you know?

I rarely play games anymore, but I know I need to have and play this one. A lot of other people need to know they need this game. Obviously Kickstarter needs it, too. So why not scratch the itch? There's so many poor-looking, and not-particularly-original games begging for one's buck, that it suddenly sounds refreshingly rightful if a great-looking unique game like this needs one, for a change.

You've certainly set yourself a crazy high bar with the art direction, Bavolis. I'd like to encourage you and your cooperators to do your absolute best trying to match the visual brilliance with dialogues (staying clear of cliches, whenever possible).

I agree with what one fellow AGSer said about the protagonist's voice â€" it doesn't suit him, but I understand it's only temporary solution until you'll do a proper voice over. IMO, you could voice a decent Simon the Sorceor or Guybrush-style character with your voice but if this little guy O'Sirius is (even if partially) made of metal, then maybe he should sound metallic? (whatever that means). I have some (a bit similarly, magically created) steel humanoids in my (WIP) comic book and I've always imagined them speaking with ‘metallic' voices. Not Transformers or Dalek-like but more human yet still somehow... metallic I'm sure you'll know better.

The world that you guys created sounds and looks so unique and original. Obviously people are seeing some references to this or that, but regarding the genre of adventure games, I've never seen anything like The Knobbly Crook and that is certainly a good thing. Lucasarts/Sierra-like games come and go, but this here has a chance to be one of a kind, just like Amanita Design games. Anyway, even if the writing is going to have 1/3 of the quality the graphics have, I think we've got an instant classic here.

One only wonders, how many more gems of game-creativity like you remain hidden out there among the pebbles of big studios, busy cutting out the Assassin's Craps of this world, instead of bringing forward works of art like this. *Sigh*

PS: As for the New Orlean association SilverSpook was writing about, I think it's because of the hat.

PS2: Fuck Ubi$oft and make it happen mate. I know it sounds easy especially when you have kids and I don't, but look at the guys here for inspiration: VinceTwelve, Dave Gilbert, Andail... they all have 'made it', so you can too.

I must admit some time ago I contemplated buying Watch Dogs or AC to choke my old PS3 with, like any regular console veggie devoid of raw point-and-click meat would... Please extirpate my (and possibly other people's) unhealthy tendencies by making me buy & play The Knobbly Crook instead! ASAP.

***I never thought that one day I'd volunteer to rob old ladies so I could pay to be allowed to hang out in Horse's Ass

Hey declerfayt,

as I said, I did play it over the weekend. I've just sent you PM with some feedback. I hope it helps. It would take too much space here, besides I think it belongs more to Critics' Lounge than to the game thread.

Well, I'm waiting for the next Beta then! Hopefully this beauty of a game will deliver us a couple of puzzles next time

Great, I was waiting for news about Lancelot's Hangover since you've announced it.

Reminds me a lot of the animations in Monty Python and The Holy Grail already!

Having re-watched MP&tHG only yesterday after a few years break I second what Mandle said. Gilliam's animations made me instantly thinking of Lancelot's Hangover As I said before, the visual style of your game is spot on and I can only applaud the decision. Well, I've downloaded the beta and will surely try it over the weekend.

EDIT: By the way, I'm not the most percipient person around but being fresh after MP&tHG I've just noticed the title of this thread It's The Title Who Says THE WORD

I don't think I know the book you're talking about, Kasander (not like I know many, either), but it reminds me of a French cartoon Ovide in some way. I smell a degree in Arts here.

It took me a while, but I've managed to find them. The books were about a bunch of animal friends having adventures in Africa (it seems there was some animated film series, too). I guess the animals and exotic locations in Zniw Adventure rang the bell with me. It's strange how childhood memories get photoshopped as time passes. I remembered those books as much more vibrant and colorful than they really were (on the other hand, that Ovide show still looks great!). One can only applaud Twarda's skills, her backgrounds alone easily surpass the ones in books.

Hey, I didn't know about that Polish AGS forum, thanks for the link!

I love the charming cartoony/comic book style, with the speech bubbles, cute icons, stylized pop-up windows and all that. The protagonist looks very cute and likeable. I also dig the warm and peaceful color palette, I think it's spot on. It reminds me of a series of illustrated books for learning English I read as a child in PL but that is certainly a good thing. The overall quality of graphics is so high I wish you were making it in even higher res (640x480 is pretty high by AGS standards, though). I'm really eager to play it

On a side note, I can't help noticing the Polish branch of AGS is growing & getting stronger year by year... Way to go, way to go!

This is brilliant! I can only applaud your pseudo-medieval style. The plot sounds fun, too. I'm looking forward to playing the game. Cheers

[img]

Tried to fix her legs. I got down in the position she was in and tried to match it comfortably. Not going to repaint it until the positioning is correct. It's actually kind of frustrating to not be able to do it right, I've been trying to fix it all day :\ I could just cut my losses and have one of her legs overlap the other one, but I really want this pose to come out right.

Hey Scavenger,

IMO the warrior and the tech-guy are looking good now (samurai looks much better than before and the 'beaver type' (or whatever type of animal he is) didn't need any special treatment in the first place.

I wonder if you don't expect too much from the lady? She has to:
1) convincingly hold the diskette (as if some important data were written on it)
2) at the same time reaching for her gun (I'm not exactly sure what makes her reach for a gun here but I understand she's supposed to look alert or/and dangerous)
3) while sitting in the extremely uncomfortable position (as Creamy pointed above).

I *think* I know what effect you want to achieve but I'm not quite sure if it's possible. You've said you had tried the pose yourself, but I think you should go a step further and actually take a reference photo of yourself or preferably a relative/friend whom you could direct in the hacker-girl's role. That way you could see if 1) 2) and 3) are possible all together, and how convincing is the RL pose versus the one you had imagined.

Considering the right hand, I think Eric made a good point with his paint-over. Supporting the body weight like that is both natural and comfortable.

Alternatively, you could think about making her sit cross-legged. That's the most comfortable sitting position I can think of and she could rock the cyberspace all day while being in it. If sat cross-legged, she could have her arm let loose along the side, with forearm resting on thigh and hand between legs, with palms on a gun, which would be resting somewhere there (or maybe put between her legs? Gulp! ) Obviously that would probably require redrawing/bending forward her upper body a bit and it would make her 'coolly (or is it carefully?) reaching for a gun' pose rather impossible. I suppose she would seem less dangerous and more casual then.

If you can't find people for modelling, try searching google images with phrases like 'woman sitting/kneeling (crosslegged)', that could help a bit. 

Unfortunately I can't do a paint-overs since I don;t have access to any painting tools on this computer.

-----

On a side note, as a fan of your games (having played DWEF and Heatwave) I have to say I adore your furry kind of cyberpunk.
I find your characters (especially the chubby protagonist) very charming and original. It's a welcomed break from typical, deadly boring protagonists of most mainstream games (I'm looking at you, George Stobbart and Kate Walker!). I also admire your color decisions (even the most risky ones like using that killer pink in Heatwave).

I look forward to playing full version of DWEF (BTW, this is a Dick'ian / dickish great title, but I guess you already knew that)!   

[@Andail]

@Andail

Kudos for organizing and supervising the workshop. I'll be looking forward to the next one (if I have time!;))

@all participants

Well done! I'm glad we could learn something from each other.