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function parabol(x1,y1,x2,y2,top,object,time)

That function would do the following thing:
-move an object(object)
-from location (x1,y1)
-to location (x2,y2)
-with a top height(top),
the top height is reached in (time) seconds

There are two ways to satisfy all those conditions - scale gravity or scale time - I guess both of them boil down to the same thing, which is:

Change the gravity parameter fg so that ft1 = time:

ft1 = sqrt(2*s*s*fh1/fg);
(substitute ft1 = s*time)
=> int fg = 2*fh1/(time*time);

So, replace the int fg = s*9810/100 line with this line and off you go.

Steve

BerserkerTails - go for it!

I did a quick paintover...



I strengthened her chin, lowered her shoulder and breast, thinned out and lengthened her arm, raised her buttocks, and squared off her trouser cuff. Plus twiddled a couple of pixels here and there for the heck of it.

Looking at it again, maybe she's standing a bit hunched over. You could try putting a bit of a curve in her back as if she's pushing her stomach out a bit, or maybe moving her shoulder and arm back a bit.

Or, for a completely different look, draw her at 3/4 view like the old LucasArts games do for a stationary character. That works much better for a side view. Takes a bit more time though

Steve

Hmm, that sounds like a lot of work.
Each background is probably two days of work for a pro, so 34 days there.
Then walk cycles for the four main characters, and event specific animations, probably another 10-20 days.
I'd say it'd take at least three months, given that Christmas is coming up, so it's unlikely you'd hit the January release.
Unless you compromise on the graphics, or get two people working on it, or preferably both.

I like your friend.
I also like the Breakfast Club.
Sure it's cheesy, the dialog is unrealistic, and there are appallingly bad moments that make you cringe (the dope smoking then dancing scene, the elephant trunk scene, etc), but... actually, it's pretty bad really isn't it?

[Steve takes off rose-tinted specs]

You only need to emulate continuous functions if you are trying to predict or force the results, such as the highest point, which you don't if you're trying to be realistic.

Well he did ask for the object to hit a point on the screen and go through a top height. You have to supply *some* start conditions, and what better than those deltree suggested? Presumably the object is being thrown at something.
It's still "realistic" motion...

I like what you've done with the start_throw() and repeatedly_execute().

Cah! The youth of today. They just don't understand us.

Where's Dave Gilbert?

No - *everyone* can astrally project.
Right? ... Right?

Steve

PS I am typing this from the bath.

I-Spy I (part of the RON series) has a nice morgue made by Cornjob.
Take a look at it here.
It shows a couple of nice details (lighting, jars, the autopsy table).

http://www.junk.dk/reality/index.asp?foo=details&bar=96

Steve

Technical archive it!

EGO: "Well â€" there wasn't anything we could do. Our fatalism lead us directly nowhere else than to the pub. Sentence "Let's piss on the hop, let's go for a beer." became a real motto of our entire brigade."

Damn, I like Czech beer.
I hope this game isn't going to put me off it.

Here, try this...

function mod(int a, int b) { return a - (b*(a/b)); }

function sqrt(int L) {

 int temp, div, result = L;

 if (L == 0) return 0;
 else if (L < 5 ) div = L;
 else if (L < 256 ) div = 7;
 else if (L < 65536 ) div = 63;
 else if (L < 16777216) div = 1023;
 else div = 16383;

 while (1) {
   temp = L/div + div;
   div = temp/2;
   div += temp & 1;
   if (result > div) result = div;
   else {
     if (L/result == result-1 && mod(L,result)==0) result--;
     return result;
   }
 }
}

function parabol(int x1, int y1, int x2, int y2, int top, int object) {

 int s = 2*GetGameSpeed();
 int fx1 = s*x1;
 int fy1 = s*y1;
 int fx2 = s*x2;
 int fy2 = s*y2;
 int ftop = s*top;
 int fh1 = fy1 - ftop;
 int fh2 = fy2 - ftop;
 
 if (fh1 < 0 || fh2 < 0) {
   Display("Error in input to parabol.");
 }
 
 int fg = s*9810/100;
 
 int ft1 = sqrt(2*s*s*fh1/fg);
 int ft2 = sqrt(2*s*s*fh2/fg);
 
 int fuh = s*(fx2-fx1)/(ft1+ft2);
 int fuv = sqrt(2*fg*fh1);
 
 int ft = 1;
 
 while (ft < ft1 + ft2) {
   int x = (fx1 + fuh*ft/s)/s;
   int y = (fy1 - fuv*ft/s)/s;
   y = y + (fg*ft*ft/(2*s*s))/s;
   
   SetObjectPosition(object, x, y);
   
   // since we're scaling to twice game speed
   ft = ft + 2;
   Wait(1);
 }
}

Do you realy mean that 'if score<10' works? I've never tried it..

Well, no, but a quick look at the manual reveals "game.score < 10" will work.
So,

// item costs 10 "dollars"
if (game.score < 10) { // do not use <= as in Squinky's code!
Display("You're too poor.");
}
else {
Display("You buy it. You feel a buzz of buyers' excitement, quickly followed by a pang of spendthrifts' guilt and a jolt of suckers' disappointment.");
GiveScore(-10);
AddInventory(1337);
}

Steve

In a similar vein is Joseph Campbell's "Hero with a Thousand Faces":
http://www.jitterbug.com/origins/myth.html
Famously used by George Lucas for Star Wars.

Steve

Ummm, it seems you have answered your own question.

Well, it would probably help to use the floating point numbers plugin that was talked about somewhere else. Here's the gist of how to do it...

First, work out how much time it takes to get to the top height.
Considering the vertical movement only,

v = u + a*t

v = 0, a = -g (g = acceleration due to gravity = 9.81m/s for sea level)
therefore u = g*t

s = u.t + 1/2 a*t^2

s = top - y1 = h1, a = -g, t = t1
therefore h1 = g*t1^2 - 1/2 g*t1^2
therefore t1 = sqrt(2*h1/g)

Similarly for the fall back to y2

t2 = sqrt(2*h2/g) where h2 = top - y2

So the total time is t1 + t2
the initial vertical velocity is u_ver = g*t1 = sqrt(2*g*h1)
and the horizontal velocity is u_hor = (x2-x1)(t1+t2)

Then for every frame, you can predict the movement as follows:

x = x1 + u_hor*t
y = y1 + u_ver*t - 1/2*g*t^2

where t goes from 0 up to t1 + t2 in increments of 1/GetGameSpeed()

You can probably get away with using fixed point if you premultiply everything by 100, and scale back down again after the calculations.

Hope that helps,

Steve

Once you have a H1B, you can change jobs quite easily I think - you just need to convince your employer and your future employer to cooperate, which could be difficult.

I highly recommend getting some experience in Ireland or the UK before attempting to go to the states. To get a H1B, your employer will need to convince the immigration authorities that you have something that can't be provided by someone from the US. In your case that would probably have to be good experience working on games in the field.

As for the games company, I think it would be easier to get a job with Lucas initially, although less rewarding. Lucas these days tend to get people straight out of college and exploit them for a couple of years, then fire them when they get too expensive. So that might work in your favour, since you'd probably want to move on anyway.

I don't know anything about DF, so this is just speculation: they'll be looking for people that have good published games in their resume, so moving over from Lucas could work there.

Another possibility is to get a position at a smaller company in the UK, where you can rise to a higher level more quickly, if you demonstrate talent. Then the H1B will be easier to get. The problem there is that a lot of small UK developers have folded recently, so there's a lot of experienced people in the market. I guess that doesn't apply to you though since work is a couple of years away.

It's a shame both Lucas and DF are on the west coast - if it was the east coast, I suspect immigration would love your Irish passport

Anyway, to actually land a job, the important thing is to have a good portfolio. AGS games would certainly help there - if you want to be an artist then you'd obviously be better off with a 3d game engine of some sort, but for a designer role it might be enough next to a bunch of paper designs.

Good luck!
Steve

[edit] Something I forgot to mention, that's probably relevant. In my experience US games companies have a lot of foreign programmers but not very many foreign designers or programmers. I think it's partially because programmers are more adventurous than designers and artists (go figure! - that could come from it being easier for a programmer to change job) but also probably because good homegrown art and design talent is more readily available. Not that should put you off - if it's your mission in life to work for DF (and you're good and not just some psycho!) that's a huge plus.

I don't think it's just a technical limitation that the sprites were small. You also need to give a sense of the room/area that the characters are in, since there isn't much in the way of change of viewpoint.

Bill Tiller would complain - he's an artist, and I don't mean to generalize, but sometimes they think about visuals to the detriment of gameplay.

Cheers,
Steve

PS - to get back to the topic somewhat, the character designs I see here are superb. Very professional!

I, also, have been foiled in my quest by the locked door bug.
I was enjoying the game immensely.
Lots of great interactions!
Is there a good ending?
Is it worth starting again?

Steve

Edit:
Very nice game.
There is a good ending.
It was worth starting again.
But you should really fix that bug!

When I was living in the states, my apartment number was 1337.
It took me a year to "notice".