Messages

I am almost done writing the prologue to my game which is very cutscene-heavy. I decided to go for a state machine approach.
(...)
I use the room_load() function to set up the room according to the current state.

That's what I'm doing too. And that's precisely why I'm trying to avoid having to set up any state manually, and risk setting it up differently from how the cutscene just before ends.

I'm curious to what article you're referring though, maybe I missed this the entire time.

Maybe I dreamed. Or maybe I dreamt. I guess we'll never know which one.


However that would be an interesting feature to have, because in many point n' clicks, some cutscenes are shown only once (e.g. when the character tries some action that will fail -- the first time, the game shows the entire sequence, then only the unfortunate conclusion)

[The thing is, I don't know how to trigger a key press]

Hi all,

I'm scripting the following feature : When the player enters a room for the first time, the corresponding cutscene (yes, there is a one-time cutscene in that room) will be played or not, depending on a variable set in advance.

Completely skipping the cutscene (that is, not calling the cutscene instructions at all) is not the best solution, because then, I'd have to manually set up the room (variables, characters positions,etc.) to look exactly like it would look if the cutscene had been played.

I think the best way to do it is to play the cutscene but force-skip it as soon as it starts, by script.
The thing is, I don't know how to trigger a key press  (*shame*) I couldn't find it in the manual (even though I remember having stumbled on the relevant article one billion times, when I didn't need it).

So how do I make my game press Escape 'by itself'?

[didn't write it]

Hi all,

Here is a fragment of code from my global script. I didn't write it :

Code: AGS

function on_key_press(int keycode) {
     
  if (IsGamePaused() == 1) {
    keycode=0; // game paused, so don't react to keypresses
  }
  
  if ((   keycode==eKeyCtrlQ ) 
      || (keycode==317)//ALT-Q
      || (keycode==eKeyCtrlC ))
  {  
    if (IsGamePaused()==0) {
      PauseGame();
      DisableInterface();
      Mouse.Visible = false;
    } else {
      UnPauseGame();
      EnableInterface();
      Mouse.Visible = true;
    }
  }

  ...
}

I have two questions :

• I don't understand what is this half-baked "pause" triggered with weird shortcuts such as "Ctrl+C", etc. Could it be that it was originally something else (e.g. an "Exit" shortcut) and the developer removed some bits of the code?
• When I use those shortcuts during the game, it pauses the game: The cursor disappears and everything is paused. However when I press them again it doesn't exit the pause. Am I missing something? Aren't shirtcuts like Ctrl+C ro Alt+Q also "system shortcuts" that make the window lose the focus or something? If not, can you imagine any reason why the pause wouldn't be interrupted?

EDIT
Haha, silly me. That chopped-down version of the function put the answer right in my face: When the game is paused, keystrokes are dumped by the very first "if"...
Solved!

Proof-reading feedback

Spoiler

• "First thing's first" is not correct. "First things first" is correct.
• "lose that and your dead" should be "lose that and you're dead"
• "your still hungover" should be "you're still hungover"
• "I was wandering" should be "I was wondering" (at least 2 times in the dialogs)
• "cancerpatients" should be "cancer patients"
• "illegalisation" should be "illegalization" (at least 2 times in the dialogs)
• "intresting" should be "interesting"
• sometimes you wrote "hottub" and sometimes "hot-tub"
• "then simply looking" should be "than simply looking"

After that, I stopped keeping track. I suggest you export a translation file and have someone proof-read the English.
That is said without mockery; just an OCD guy being OCD.

[close]

Debug Feedback

Spoiler

• When Vinitil speaks, the font appears black on a black outline, it's unreadable. (Note: I'm using DirectDraw5 with a x3 nearest neighbour filter on Windows XP) OK my bad, that was just a puzzle

[close]

Gameplay Feedback

Spoiler

• It's really annoying to have to "use" every door. I suggest you make it the right-click action by default.

[close]

Quoting one's own post as a response is a highly passive-aggressive thing to do.

Any response I had for Mr Ouxx was already adequately expressed by my earlier post. It seemed like he had missed it, so I pointed it out, without malice or animosity. It's no bigger deal than that; no need to stir up drama.

Passive-agressiveness is accepted when it was my own fault in the first place Not to mention I have the same arguments as you for not using plugins.
But I do think the Lua plugin could be a good compromise.

a database of stick figures might be good but it'll be a lot of work to cover everything.

yeah but we could have a dedicated thread where artists could contribute over several years, a bit like modules.

[Could you make it possible to "export" the animation skelettons]

Can I suggest something? Could you make it possible to "export" the animation skelettons, so that AGSers can exchange them? We could have a small database of walka animations: "animation for a man's walk", "animation for a woman's walk", "animation for an old person's walk", "animation for a vixen", "animation for a gorilla", "animation for a nerd", etc. All those stereotypical characters that we find in most point n'click.

Calin, didn't you create a plugin or something to store arrays?

If not, Snarky, just find "EasyPlugin" in the forums and start making your own, biatch. No more limitations caused by pointers!

I think that the Telltale Games episode was carrying some hope and renewal, and started well, but very quickly they got lazy after the success of the first MI chapters, and started screwing up MI and Sam&Max.

Ok I went about as far on this picture I think I'll go for now

There's still one thing you could do that would take just 3 seconds!
The part of each lamp that's immediately above the light source (i.e. the top part of each lamp) should be almost black.

Apart from that the scene has made enormous progress!

[1. Making the player's ship's moves faster.]

I hope this version is better:

There's still something unnatural-looking. But it's hard to tell because you never move horizontally AND vertically at the same time, so the demo looks very artificial anyway.

I'd recommend :
1. Making the player's ship's moves faster. Like he's piloting a real dogfighter. At the moment it looks like moving the yoke has very little impact.
2. Making the enemy's moves relative to the actual universe, not relative to the screen. What do I mean? At the moment it looks like whatever way the player's ship is going to move, it's going to move the planets and the stars accordingly (that's good) but the enemies have their own movements like they're just moving around the 320x200 screen rectangle (that's bad).

There shouldn't be, what's your Minecraft username?

It's 'jeancal'.
I think the reason is because I have a non-genuine copy of the game and you have 'online-mode=true' or something similar set in server.properties (thus refusing connections from non-genuine clients).
I've never played Minecraft and I wanted to try it out before I buy it. I heard the multiplayer is the most exciting mode. Nevermind, I'll play solo for a short time and then come back after I buy it. If it's as good as they say it should be very soon

hey guys,

Are there some connection restrictions to the server? I connect using the IP and port, abd it seems to work, but then I lose connection instantly.

OK thanks.

In this script I don't think there is any good reason for using 'game.inv_activated' for the "give" action and 'player.ActiveInventory.ID' for the "use" action, except messing with my head.

Alright, I have to confess I'm still struggling. So I'm asking the question in the revert order:

Imagine the following scenario :
- I have clicked on the "Give" action button
- Then I have clicked on one of the objects in my inventory
- Now I'm just moving the mouse on the screen, without clicking anything.

In every game loop during that final stage, isn't 'game.inv_activated' the same as 'player.ActiveInventory.ID' ?
When will they become different?

[Is there a way to circumvent this limitation?]

Almost every single element in AGS (hotspots, characters, etc.) has the event "any click on" (related function: '_anyClick')available for scripting.

That event can replace every other event put together with one single function.

However, Inventory Items only have event "other click on inventory item" (related function: '_otherClick'). That event is triggered only when the player uses a cursor mode that is NOT interact,lookat,talk to or use on.

That doesn't seem very consistent and forces to split the script into all the built-in functions (_Talk, _UseInv, etc.).

Is there a way to circumvent this limitation? That is, to intercept any action on an inventory item?

Sorry guys, but it's a grey zone and I'm sure that the artist also had his reasons..

We're not questioning his reasons, this is just a tip for project managers. If you think that's unfair, think of the way it works in companies: they own everything you did with your work computer, even if it's not related with your work at all.

I'm not sure if the script I'm reading here is the 9-verb template or if it's written from scratch. I see some very odd things in the code. Actually the reason why I'm trying to understand it is because I'm splitting everything into separate module scripts.

If I slap you, do we become the same person?

I guess we'll never know (Never say never )
Thanks for all the explanations! Now I should just read the script again and again until I understand. I'm sure that will eventually happen. At some stage.