Messages

Awesome!
Your obsession with this film is starting to worry me.
I don't think I can visit the "Post your picture here" now thread for fear of seeing you in speedos.
Luckily you're not making a fan game about it, or I'd really be worried.
Hudson Hawk - I just don't get the bad reviews. I thought it was most entertaining. I enjoyed Cutthroat Island too. Almost makes me want to see Ishtar.

I agree with Tanker - ProgZ's edit does make the face more masculine.
I think it's the heavier eyebrows and the shape of the chin.
Otherwise, the edits are awesome! I especially like the "happy face" of #3 and the rework of the leg spacing.

That would explain the glowing disc and computer terminal floating off to the left.

I loved The Life Aquatic, even though Zissou's character was pretty hard to identify with, and didn't make the most of Bill Murray.

The cutaway shots of the boat are crying out to be adventurized.

Hmm, films that would make good adventures...
Harry Potter of course - but that's asking for trouble.
National Treasure? Terrible film, but good adventure plot.
Back to the Future I & II.
Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I'm sure that could work.

I for one like Andie [EDIT for spelling!] MacDowell. Sure, her voice can be annoying, but she has other... qualities...

You ought to be able to run it from repeatedly_execute... (not _always because NewRoom is blocking).

repeatedly_execute()
Called every game cycle (normally 40 times per second).
repeatedly_execute_always()
Called every game cycle, even when a blocking routine (eg. speech/cutscene) is in progress. You cannot call any blocking functions from this event handler. You can have a repeatedly_execute_always function in both your global script and in any room scripts where you require it.

Looks superb!

I agree with the yak about the burn on the wood and file cabinet. I think the problem with it on the panelling is that it's continuous across panels. You wouldn't expect that if it was variation in the wood, and it's too random to be lighting differences.

For the cabinet, it's too blobby, and makes the side of the cabinet look highly rippled.

I'd put a line of white pixels across the top of the monitor screen to thicken the casing slightly there. And I didn't recognise the keyboard.

Perhaps the side of the desk opposite the window should cast darker shadows on the floor.

You have great lighting on the walls and floor, but on the ceiling it's as if the foreground wall doesn't exist.

As far as making it a background goes, there's not much space around the desk to get to the file cabinet, and the exit isn't very clear.

yet Roger's character sprite looks like shit.

You said it Darth!
And no, it's not because it's animated. Post that sprite in Critics' lounge (err, right here I guess) and we've got plenty of people who could make it much better without increasing the shading detail.

If you didn't like The Ring, I wouldn't bother with Ringu. It's almost the same film after all.

As for The Ring 2, from rottentomatoes.com:
Ringu 93%
The Ring 73%
The Ring 2 28%
Oh dear.
I think I'll give it a miss.

(Foreign films tend to review better on rottentomatoes, partially because there are less reviews of the film.)

Maybe you can't spell, but you can certainly pixel! Excellent character!

Great feely!
http://www.feelies.org

I'm considering making feelies for my game when it's finally released...

[int i;]

How do you make a dynamic variable then? As far as I was aware, you make a variable, it's a static one. It's always around. How do you 'destroy' it?

AGS will do this automatically for variables "intstantiated" (created) inside functions. Variables outside functions are static.

In the case of "textid", "length", and "i",  in the example, I would declare these inside each function where they are being used.  You will of course have to eliminate the curent declarations that are outside any function bounds.

Not to be rebellious, but why?

There are a number of reasons.

1) You can guarantee the value isn't changed between functions. Consider this code:

Code: ags

int bah;
int meh;
function psshaw(int pff)
{
   bah = 1;
   meh = 2;
   while (bah < pff) { meh *= meh; bah++ }
   return meh;
}

function whatever()
{
   bah = 0;
   meh = 0;
   while (bah < 5) { meh += psshaw(bah); }
   Display("%d", meh);
}

Calling psshaw from whatever tramples all over bah and meh, and you don't get what you expect.

2. Creating variables locally makes things more legible - you can see what type the variable is (string, int, float, etc) without having to scroll up and down the code. You don't have a lot of temporary variables cluttering up the top of your script, and you can use whatever name you want for a variable immediately.

3. If you decide to change the type of the variable (say from int to float) you don't need to worry about where it's been used.

4. Static variables have to be saved in the save game, even though you don't care about their contents. Not a big deal normally, but it could add up.

5. There are other reasons in languages that are compiled and optimised, but we don't need to go into that.

Actually, let me ask for clarification here. When people say 'declare' a variable, are you talking about creating it, ie. int i; or giving it a value ie. i=0;

When I said I'd declared it outside of the function, I meant that it's created at the top of the global script (where I pretty much create all my variables), and I use "textid=0;" inside the function just for... extra security I guess.

Declaration is for example "import int i;".
Instantiation (creation) is "int i;".
Instantiation and initialization is "int i = 0;".
Assignment is "i = 0;".

For statics in a single script file (not exported) you can call "int i;" a declaration as well as an instantiation as it's the first occurrence of "i".

Umm, vegetable is not spelt vegi-table...
Maybe you should use VegeMight instead. Or Marmite.

I live in Belfast (where the DeLoreans were made) but I've never seen one outside of BTTF. (Although there was a shop called "trotter's independant traders" but I think they got sued).

Some of my dad's friends worked in the plant assembling Deloreans...
And I remember rushing across the road from home to a car showroom where they had one of the first cars off the line. That stainless steel sure took fingerprints well!

I think the problem is that Plant by itself is an exceptionally boring name, with boring associations.
If you really want to keep Plant in there, you could try:
Instant                                Games
Nuclear     +    Plant     +     Studios
Trans                                   Inc
Digital
Purple

None of these are great, but they conjure up a unique brand image.

steve, is that for the game in your sig? i clicked the link and liked what  I saw, unfortunatley, no updates

Yup, still working on it.
I'd say it's only about 30% done unfortunately.
I've completed scripting on the first chapter (15 or so rooms).
The slowest thing is animation of course...

So what makes the brunt of most of your code? Or rather, what functionality did you add to your game to boost the global script lines so much?

Here's what's taking up most of my global script:
Non-default GUI and inventory system.
All interactions with characters and inventory items.
Dialog requests.
That comes to about 2000 lines so far

Sounds good!
A bit like the Adventures of Fatman.
I like the screenshots!

You should probably flip the lines dividing the walls and ceiling so that the perspective is less messed up - the three lines at the corners should form a Y shape, otherwise you wouldn't be able to see the roof. Also, in the first shot, there's a lot of roof. But this isn't critic's lounge.

I'm just going to chime in on the side of Snarky, Traveler, and CJ here.
If you're counting votes.

Pretty nice - those tiles on the sides must have taken you ages!
I think the map doesn't fit in very well. At least it should have some kind of frame.
The walls around the tracks should probably be more bricky too.

Sneaky use of a bmp renamed as png - the 1Mb gives it away though! A real png-8 of this image is only 9k...