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If you change the configuration of your hardware to such an extent that it is very different from the original configuration, Windows may flag itself as non-genuine as it uses hardware profiling.

Also for Windows 7, the way to tell if you have a genuine 'Non-genuine' error, you will have this in the bottom corner of the screen:



If not, then it will be some kind of malware.

You should really have a look around before digging up old threads. A recent thread about this very topic is on the first page of the Adventure-related talk and chat board. http://www.adventuregamestudio.co.uk/yabb/index.php?topic=41713.0

And welcome. If you make a good enough game, perhaps by the time this is finished you can release it on iphone.

I'm pretty sure Hardware dongles were ditched around 3ds Max 5. I think by this time they realised fighting piracy with hardware add-ons were a stupid idea. It probably also made it easier to implement floating licenses over a network. Nowadays it's just authorised over the internet.

Fun fact: VRay, a third party rendering system, still employs a USB dongle for licensing.

haha. Probably not. Admittedly I didn't notice the original posting date.

Hey Yoke. Out of a strange curiosity, I actually tried searching for a copy of 3d Studio. I was unlucky in my attempts.

3ds Max is currently going through a few changes, with an update to a node based material editor (which works much the same way as the original), a ribbon based interface for new modelling tools (most of which used to be plugin's/scripts) and SNAPS. They finally managed to fix Max's shitty snap tools. They actually behave as snapping should, unlike old snaps which were really broken. I'm not sure why it took 12 years to fix that, but damn, they finally did.

3ds Max 2011 is still buggy as buggery, though not so much as 2010 was on release.

I really wouldn't suggest going back to 3d studio dos though. There are many options when it comes to 3d packages nowadays. For a more simple interface and less clutter, perhaps check out Nevercentre Silo. It doesn't have any animation tools though.

Oh and since this board does allow abandonware discussion, http://tinyurl.com/2frxoe3

I disagree.  Do you think that Mac/Linux users only want to play AGS games and not create them themselves?

Of course there are some people that do want to do that. All I'm saying is that, with AGS having a user base of 2260 people, considering that 1% of desktops run Linux and 5% are Macs, a Linux port would only cater for 22 people and a Mac port for 113 people.

I think those figures might be slightly off due to business computers primarily being Windows XP or 7. And there are a lot of business computers in the world. I'm very doubtful people willingly buy Dell computers for personal use.

Also, with the Mac App store, there will be a lot of developer interest in making cross platform Windows/Mac games. If with opening the runtime code someone is able to produce a stable Mac release, you might find a lot more interest in AGS. And with that, someone will properly port to iPhone and Android. With that you have the potential to have a large number of sales of a commercial game.

I'd like to add that I am in agreement with Eric over the 'proprietary' format issues and the possibility of having a decompiler. This really hasn't been an issue for a long time in the games industry, what with most developers releasing their own tools.

Hahaha, DGMacphee's old toilet avatar. Damn I miss that guy. He got married and responsible and all that...

so did Dave, but he is still here.

Me and DGMacphee, 2002ish was the first. And I've been to 2 mittens and a brittens. I totally owns it on you guys. 

Sell your story to the local tabloid, or even better, the Sun newspaper, take the riches and move to another country.

Lets put it this way. I know this image is the largest you produced as I can see where you have used pixel outlines. There is no anti-aliasing, which pretty much confirms this.

Your image is 227 x 278 pixels.
A full wraparound DVD insert is about 3220x2180 pixels. I should know, I have made on in the past.

Your typography is mostly taken from King's Quest and it seems little thought has been put into this.

Your composition needs work. It's a little unbalanced and plain. Where are the characters. What about a more exciting pose for the main character.

Ditch the esrb thing. You only will need that if you are selling it in a retail outlet.

If you are selling it, hire a graphic designer or a good artist.

If you can't afford a good artist, stay freeware.

Very few artists will work for royalties, and if they do, they won't be good workers.

A little cash goes a long way.

If you are going to sell this game, get someone to correct your spelling and grammar.

Is Pubmembers actually a registered Trademark? If not, you have no right to use the ® symbol. Use the â,,¢ symbol instead.

Do the Japanese symbols mean something? If so, make sure your wording is correct to avoid localisation insults.

Yeah Alien Swarm is ok.. but its no L4D2..

Also L4D2 is like $10 now or something... no excuses

I missed it when it was $10. And in Australia we have a shit German censored version.

T-Rex arms. Knees are bending outwards. Normal people don't do this. If you are making a horror game, his facial structure is too cartoony to be taken serious. Look at some anatomical reference. (www.3d.sk if you have money for reference, if not check out some 3d forums).

btw what modelling package/rig are you using?

Because I'm a doof, my clock speed should have been 2.4 not 1.4. Only realised this after I had submitted.

Damn jealous guys.

Mark, love the trailer. Can't wait to see the full thing. It's just a shame ol' Jean Pierre couldn't make an appearance.

Moar Pictures!

He also programmed Emerald City Confidential for Dave.

3ds Max is far easier to set up a skeleton system as it has 2 built in rigs to use. Biped and CAT. CAT is a more traditional IK/FK rig whereas Biped just breaks all the laws of rigging, but that says, is pretty easy to use anyway. Also, as Buckethead mentioned, the Modifier stack is brilliant. It's non destructive like photoshop layers.

Maya you have to build a rig and set up the necessary IK/FK systems, which for a beginner is actually rather difficult.

For a beginner, neither is going to be easy, but to get animating faster I would choose 3ds Max over Maya any day.

To Mark Borg: You might want to look at TexTools if you find the Max unwrap tools to be insufficient. Personally I find it very quick using a combination of pelt, quick planar and cylindrical mapping with a bit of stitching where needed. Oh and the relax tool is a godsend. You can get pretty clean unwraps with little distortion this way.

Just change the names and no one will care. IP for a video game is actually really hard to protect which is why they threaten with cease and desists. If you steal physical assets like sprites and whatnot that is protected by copyright and you can get in trouble and be sued by a company with a hell of a lot more money than you (yay!).

Don't make a remake, that is pretty much protected. Don't use their assets and try not to use their character names. The rest is pretty much free game.

I've played it. I kinda agree with what GarageGothic said, there isn't much new additional content other than the cutscenes.

It would have been nice if they had used higher resolution textures as they look really blurry.

Gameplay is limited, as it more or less tells you what to do and where to go. This may change as it is the first episode, but there were really no puzzles whatsoever.

Camera can be annoying at times.

Animation is really good for a freeware game with the exception of Graham's walkcycle, which is poo on a stick.

Otherwise, it's good to see they got it released.

I just registered using my not for reals email address. It's quite simple but it is something they should have avoided.

How about checking out some of the reality on the norm sprites? They have animations. Or do what people did in the early days of ags and paintover Indy.

You can get building bitmaps from any good photo storage site. Flickr is my choice for REFERENCE images.

If you happen to pass through Brisbane you should swing by Yahtzee and Co's Mana Bar.  It looks like fun.

Every second Tuesday is trivia night hosted by Yahtzee. But get there early, it gets busy early on.

That said, it's not a family friendly bar.

The Sunshine Coast (just north of Brisbane) has great beaches, and are far less chavvy than the Gold Coast. Noosa is a good spot to stay for a few days. They have excellent beaches, nice walks, great cafe's etc. October would be an ideal time as it wouldn't be too roasting hot (maybe 27 degrees). It's a good stop off point to head towards the whitsundays and Barrier Reef.

Where you go and how much you do really depends on the amount of time you have.

Brisbane City itself in my opinion doesn't offer too much. It's a city, and not a terribly interesting one at that.