Messages

What is big 5' s counters? Does it have something to see with oranges?

You mean do, something to DO with oranges.  And yes.  Big 5 is a store I worked at once.  They made you clean the counters with this orange smelling stuff, got all over your hands...smelled great, but horribly difficult to get off, so you'd be forced to smell it everyday for hours and hours.  Yuck. :p

yah like the lovely smell I had in my hands when I was forced to clean Big 5's counters to earn cash? lolz.  I know it all too well.

Yup.  I've never played it, though the screenshots look pretty nifty.  I found some kind of official website for the more recent game, but I noticed the flag choices didn't have a UsA one.  No big deal, I will check it out.

LOLz.  No, I don't think that game must've been very popular in the US, cuz I haven't been living under any rocks.

And who said I wanted to roll with you exactly?  I know the adventure games I like, and that's good enough for me.  And I found out why I never heard of it.  It's called Circle Of Blood in North America.

I've never ever heard of this game.  Screenshots anywhere?

["cow on the loose! NEED cow hunter. must have own equipment."]

Actually I believe they need the identity of the butcher because hiring thugs to hunt down your escaped cow is illegal.  You're probably supposed to notify some kind of animal control at the very least.   I can't speak for Canadian law personally, but it seems more logical than putting an ad in the paper for "cow on the loose! NEED cow hunter.  must have own equipment."

They're num nums.  satsuma is also the name of a plum, very confusing.  And why do they call them satsuma's in the UK ...but in Japan they now refer to them as mikan when satsuma is obviously a japanese origin?? But in north american countries we call them tangerines?  how did that happen?

Awesome, but just looking at the Minimum Requirements for Police Quest Collection (which is my favorite),  I was surprised a little:

Pentium III 800mhz?!?!
128mb of ram
windows "XP"

So they must have altered them to work on the new systems obviously, does that mean when I get to the driving sequence in PQ3 that I won't cry and run away to load DFend?

Oh nevermind I just read Al's website:
http://www.allowe.com/Larry/collections.htm

Apparently the collections may be incomplete - and they INCLUDE dosbox to play the games on XP.  So really if you've got the games already just download dosbox.

I know I said I was out...but just wanted to add this:

USA is not the leader of homicides, not by a long shot - but that doesn't matter.  And I'm an American, and I hate guns and the gun laws.  I vote and I do whatever I can, but things stay the same and it pisses me off.  I know I'm not alone either, like I said earlier, there are millions of Americans that are sad that guns exist and that they exist in our country.  And we'll blame everything in a day.  We'll blame foreign nations who build them in their factories and sell them/market/ship them here.  We'll blame tv and video games and the movie industry till we're blue in the face.  You can blame history or individuals or anything you want.

This should not be a discussion about countries and their guns and the number of murders they have, but rather change.  How do you change things when voting is not enough? How do you change opinions if they are unhealthy and bad for the human race as a whole?  Sometimes they do it with force, that's why weapons were invented - to win wars.  Removing guns is a step in the right direction in my opinion, and so is doing away with missiles, torpedos, and the like.  At least then we'd be better off a little and could start discussing the dangerous "baseball bat". 

Yes I said it.  The baseball bat.  It's not a wonderful item built to hit balls out of the park.  No, it was originally called the club and it was designed to smash male rivals over the head and take their women!  That someone discovered it was useful in hitting balls out of the park later, is irrelevant! Down with the baseball bat! Down with America's pastime!! ^^

A few ideas:
- I couldn't figure out where the water was coming from, so I created a lake
- When the sky is so red, the surroundings would be quite affected. So I tinted the scene.
- The cliff edge seemed a bit rough. I also made a couple of cracks for variation.
- Added a new version of the stream at the front. A bit rough this area, but you'd get the general idea.
- Added some definition and details to the castle.

This paintover is messy in places, and I went overboard with the smoothing-tool to speed things up. I don't really like that tool though, brings to many ugly tones in.

For the actual background, I think it's nice and very creative. It's quite a job to pull off a scene like this.  In some places it seems a bit rough though. I think the major problems left are around the grass fields below the waterfall. I believe there should be more hills defined, with darker and brighter shades, not just the hard left-right smoothing. There could be more definition in the foreground to.

EDIT: spelling

I really like your edits.  Very nice and thank you so much for doing them.  It should be quite rough, this is only my ninth background or so ever (and only the second to look even remotely good) and I don't draw often at all.

I didn't think to add all the things you mentioned, they're all very good suggestions.  I'm especially fond of what you did with the stream and I can't understand how you thought of that - how it would be appropriate etc. :/ Very much more exciting now, and also the color of the water seems nice.  The tint on the scene surprised me as well, but it also seems to add to the atmosphere greatly.  The mountains (and the lake) in the background are fantastic too.

I see you added windows to the castle.    You shaded the small area of the tallest tower the way I originally did, but I altered it because it looked weird to me.

The gun started in China.  It developed into a "firearm" to arm many troops quickly, since training of arrows/etc took too long.  The purpose of the invention was probably not for war, but it did become so.  It was the desire to kill better that fathered the gun, and it is the desire to kill and human nature that keeps the gun from disappearing - not a 2nd amendment or any other such law. 

And it is not America's fault or any other country's alone, but OUR fault as a whole people.  I think it can't be helped though, I think it's a human nature that is unavoidable.   

A man is murdered in a kitchen because he puts the silveware in "face up" instead of the other man's way, "face down".  The one man refuses to back down, so the other stabs him to death with a utensil.

I think that little incident sums up our entire world.   People kill over gas money, over women, over bad tea, over land, over oil, over who can and can't have massive killing missiles, over smoking, over anything that can't be settled without force.  These things sparked the inventions, the tools, the weapons of our worst moments in history - the wars, and the sad after effect of a nation that gives guns out like candy to anyone.  Maybe it sucks, but is it my fault?  Am I a bad American/person because my vote isn't the popular one?  I mean what do you think you're saying when you refer to us all as "AMERICANS".  It's a sad generalization that so many of us do to all of you "whatever country you're froms".  It's not right and I think we're all big enough adults to quit doing it (at least I hope).

There are so many people in this country who hate firearms, weapons, violence, and vote and fight each and every day to get rid of them ALL.  They'd even take them from the police if they could do so.  And each and every day our brothers, neighbors, sisters, and the criminals that want guns to stay who get to vote - fight back.

We're just like two men in a kitchen arguing over the silverwear.  What do you do?

Anyway, I've said all I want to, I'm out on this one kids.  Hope your debate goes somewhere beneficial at some point.  Cheers.

There are areas of US that are so crazy dangerous that you need guns--that is, unless you don't mind having everything you value taken away. The second ammendment exists for a very good reason.

No, there are areas of the ENTIRE WORLD where you CAN have everything you value taken away ... I've lived in some of the most crime filled cities in the US, and I still have all my stuff.   It's called chance, and it exists every moment of every single day always has and always will.  The 2nd ammendment may give you a gun, but most people don't keep their guns with them 24/7 and they're not exactly quick draw-mcgraw, so it won't be protection for everyone.  Lots of senior citizens buy guns for protection against thugs who might break in and take their stuff, but I bet most of them just shoot themselves with them.

And if he doesn't have a gun or is unable to steal a gun, he uses a knife, or a baseball bat, or the candlestick in the billiard room.

Of course, that's why it's called a weapon of opportunity.  The gun maybe was bought for target practice at the range - but it became a weapon for murder at a moment's notice.  It's changed by the rage of emotions and intent to kill.

So you're saying that if guns were inaccessible, murders would cease, if not dramatically decrease? Guns are merely just another amoral accessory which can assist a murder--along with knives, baseball bats, etc.

No I'm not.  I completely agree with you.  Murder is about the intent to kill, the method doesn't matter.  And as a matter of fact guns are not the only effective and fast projectile weapons available that can be used to kill.  I just don't think everyone needs a gun, but someone will disagree with me because they always do.

Now please don't be a fancy news reporter and spin more of my discussion, I was simply trying to point out that being "crazy" doesn't make you a killer.  Upright citizen Bob, the friendliest man in town, can become a killer at a moment's notice without even a single "sign".   It's human nature - just like arguing :p

Edit:
I completely agree with Darth Mandarb.  If we didn't have the gun and a group of kids were slashed with a sword, or a man takes out a bunch of walking chaps in NY City with his trusty crossbolts, would we not be discussing the banishment of swords or crossbows? It's the human element and desire to cause harm to others that is in question and we all know it.  It's tough, but you can't remove it...you can't ban it, you can't do away with it no matter how much we do.  But we fight the good fight.

I'm American and I don't care if they take away my right to have a gun.   For starters, I don't have a gun and I don't need one.  I've never been robbed, or accosted, or had anything even thrown at me.  I grew up in OC California and spent my life there and in LA - and I've never even been in one fight with a person.  I'm very outgoing, and I know many people.   So what's a gun for exactly?  Hell, if not for my brother's standard police issue, I never would have seen a gun close up.

If lots of people go out and buy guns, it's not because the US is so crazy dangerous that you need them, it's because they're paranoid - or the house next door was robbed and they're worried about little Katie.  lolz.

This past year a bunch of hunters were gunned down by another hunter one state over from us.  I guess he went mental.  I know my ex-wife's brother is crazy.  And they sometimes ship him to the funny ward and force him to stay there.  But you know what? They always let him go.  He's CRAZY.  Certifiable, thinks there are multiple realities and people are out to get him. 

I mean, this guy is dangerous and they just let him walk out.  I know there are reasons for this, but the fact is he's one dude in South Dakota alone - he could shoot up anything, and I know for a fact that he owns guns, plural.

Yah having a gun makes it easy to shoot up anything.  Maybe they buy it for a good reason (whatever that is) and never intend to shoot anyone.  Maybe they're not even crazy....but something goes down.  It's 9am and he's a level headed guy - but his girlfriend dumps him and his checks bounce and his best friend is sleeping with her - and that's it...he snaps.  He doesn't see it coming, but he sees red and gets the gun...

What I'm trying to say is that everyone is singling out mental crazies who kill people - they're out there - but the normal everyday Joes who would NEVER do such a thing are equally unbalanced when their emotions go disco.  :p

For the record, there are school shootings almost every day - just not 33 at once so they don't hit the big news frenzy.   Sad life.  *checks watch* wellp, there goes another car bombing in distant country of choice.   What do we do about it? Argue more?

Hmm I have to disagree with you.  So many games use tile scrolling it isn't funny...  Maybe you're confused about what I'm talking about.  This is an example of tile scrolling:

tile scrolling

Refers to tile scrolling:
zelda_scrolling

The gb/snes/nes and all subsequent zelda styles all pretty much work the same way.  Only the graphics/sound/gameplay improved, but the overall method used on the consoles were very similar if not the same.   In the snes version of Zelda there is scrolling 1 tile at a time as well as scrolling full screens full of tiles at once for transitions.

Not too shabby.  ^^  oh another light pole.  sweet.

The rest of the edits are very good, but...

If the river at the front of the scene is getting closer to the camera rather than falling off a hill or something it needs to get progressively wider as it comes towards the front of the background.

This has been mentioned before, but I still don't think it is wide enough.

Like this maybe, but touched up and much better, with the rivers flow extending outwards as well.

Maybe I'm not getting it, but I don't see what you see.  I really want to, I've been staring and editing this thing for the last half hour - how can I keep it the same size at the front, conveying that a small stream breaks off from the river and continues towards the viewer and is the size it is when it arrives?  I can't see this falling perception.

Modified the sky, as well as a few other things.  I've started working with the backgrounds in game now and it has helped me with a few things.  The mountain top was fine but I made the area smaller for various reasons.  There are other obvious changes, for the most part the biggest rework was the sky.

Hmm, I don't want to nag, but that perspective is off in both backgrounds.  You don't have to care about this, but at the very least lower the top line of both doors so it doesn't standout quite so much.

His arms hang weird, seems zombie-like in a way.  Facial features are so light I can barely make out his face.   Otherwise I like it.

Looks excellent.  Glad you went with the log ^^  Oooo a lamp!