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I have loved writing and adventure games since I was old enough to do both. I found AGS after looking for the games Yahtzee made, that I had played years earlier. I learned that there was an engine to make the games I loved and after talking to Sox we decided to start writing a plot for his original characters. I'm physically disabled and suffering with a chronic illness that leaves me bed bound most days and housebound always. AGS and game making gives my life purpose. I would have been considerably more adrift had I not found it. So it has helped me a lot in the long run.

Just wait till you see his animated cut scenes. I have refrained from posting them because I don't want to give the whole thing away, but I am blessed to be working with an animation wizard. I am blown away every time.

I completely agree. I don't think many great writers would pass the hemingway app's grading system. That's why I think it should be used with the authors best judgement. Maybe a more dynamic word could be used in place of an adverb. Maybe that sentence really is too long and would benefit with shortening. If you have basic ability you should know if a longer sentence works or is needed though. I ignored many of Hemingway's suggestions, but I really did feel my story benefited from changing some of the stuff it highlighted.

It would be boring if everyone adopted Hemingway's style, and silly to follow every suggestion a computer program makes that doesn't actually know what you are writing. It's just an additional tool that can be helpful when used with a bit of common sense.

In my use of the app it didn't make any such errors. So maybe my experience is unique, but I genuinely found it helpful. I am relying on my own anecdotal experience from using it with one essay so I cant speak for the other people's experiences. It's one of those things you would have to try to determine whether or not it was helpful to you. If someone relies on an app to tell them exactly how to write, I would argue they are not really a writer. Again why I stress the importance of an author using their own best judgement and using it as an objective tool. It's not like if you run your text through it, you are then forced to go along with any of it's suggestions lol. I freely ignored many of them knowing that the sentence structure was fine, just above a grade 10 reading level which is what I think app aims for.

I've read all the negative reviews of it, but having used it myself, I personally found it very helpful and think others might too. Not for everything but for passive voice, overuse of adverbs, and complex structures in particular. I'm not saying it makes bad writing good, or repairs broken sentences. I'm saying as one of many tools it can be helpful at highlighting long, complex structures and pointing out excessive use of adverbs and passive voice. For that I have found it very useful, but I would say I am a reasonable writer and was able to make use it along with my own best judgement.

I'm sure many of you have seen this already, but I thought I would post it here for people who haven't.

Hemingway app is a site that basically simplifies your writing. It is not perfect by any means, but attempts to help writers create bolder, more concise prose. Writers all have their own voice and it is best to use your own judgement when using the app, but it has helped me break out of my passive voice a bit more and highlights when my sentences get too complex. Sometimes, complex is needed and right for the individual, but I am often guilty of lengthy, meandering sentences. This has given me an opportunity to assess things objectively, without forcing my friends and family to read my work. Anyway, it's totally free and might help some of us out when writing out game documents and dialogue.

http://hemingwayapp.com/

No problem with porn. No problem women doing what they want with their bodies. No problem with bisexual women. No problem with straight women who want to pretend to be gay for money. At no point has anyone said anything regarding an issue with sexual imagery outside of this specific context as far as I am aware.

I do not presume to speak for all the women of AGS, I speak only for myself. I would also never presume to tell someone what they can or cannot make jokes about. If people want to make jokes in poor taste they are free to do so, but they cant then be surprised to receive negative feedback and act like it's unfair. You can criticize my views as much as you like. I put them out there, so you are free to say what you like. It's not going to upset me to hear negative feedback.

In my opinion, some women being okay with female objectification being part of the ceremony still does not make it cool. I used to be one of those women who said I was "one of the guys" and a few years ago I would have been screaming "Boobies!" and thought the lesbian gif was so funny. To me it all stopped being funny when I realised how pervasive casual sexism in society is. So many women deal with it every day, sometimes we need spaces to be safe and neutral to feel welcome. Not because we are fragile victims, but because we are asking to be treated with respect. Do we really need to see this stuff every where we go? If the roles were reversed and men were feeling uncomfortable with gay men making out, would it be acceptable to continue? As a female dev I am aware I am in a minority and I hate rocking the boat. I don't like to upset people and I don't like people to think badly of me. I worry that they will say "Eugh, female devs whining again!"

When I voice my opinion I know plenty of people will roll their eyes and think "Pfffft, feminism." and switch off, but I say it anyway because I hope to affect a small change somewhere and so I deal with the fact that my opinion might not make me flavour of the month with some people. I know I probably seem like a confrontational person, but it's only because this issue is one that I care a great deal about. Not this specific issue of lesbians in an awards ceremony (the more i have to type it the more that string of words is losing all meaning) but sexism in general, especially within the gaming community.

I appreciate it didn't bother you, BrutalSlakt, but I dont think it is appropriate for a public ceremony. It made me and several others feel uncomfortable. As a new comer I didnt get it was a running gag and as I said before if no one gets that its a joke, its probably not a very good one. If a joke ends up looking the same as the sexism it mocks, how are we supposed to differentiate one from the other?

Many people have apologised for not realising it bothered some people, and others have come forward and said it bothered them, probably because this thread opened up and they finally could. If Kiira had not posted I would not have been brave enough to open this discussion even though it really bothered me at the time. It feels horrible to have an unpopular opinion and I would have been afraid of the potential backlash. I dont think anyone really attacked Dualnames until he was bluntly unapologetic and told the women who felt uncomfortable not to be part of the awards game.

What was funny once, does not always remain funny. Black face was once considered funny, some idiots still think it is funny, but we have progressed to the point where the majority find it offensive. Communities are always evolving and changing, and so the argument that in the past people were asking for lesbians is not that relevant. People are saying something different because there are new members and they don't want people to feel alienated. Dualnames is not solely responsible for the lesbians being in the game. No one said that. But he is the person who basically told the people who were uncomfortable to fuck off, whereas other people who were shouting boobies and asking for lesbians admitted it was a bit much and apologised for their part in it.

I think its sad that to ask to not have to see sexualised imagery of my gender in every god damn situation in life, makes me seem like a total killjoy. It's not generally a request men have to make and why I hope there will be some understanding. But there we go. My two cents. Misinterpret away!

Selmiak, here is a suggestion for you. Open google, click images, type "beautiful lesbians" in the search bar. Now you dont need it in the AGS game because you can have them on your very own computer! A revelation, I know! Then everyone can enjoy the awards and you still get to look at pretty women without making people uncomfortable and the awards seem juvenile.

So I'm not allowed to vocalise an opinion without working on a new awards ceremony game? Wow. I didn't realise my freedom to speak was based on giving free labour to an awards ceremony I was willing to boycott if necessary. I never said anything about wanting a game made specially for the awards, Bicilotti, so how about no? How about I am allowed to speak and contribute regardless. Don't be so ridiculous. And why would I want to work with someone who seems to hold such disdain for my views?

I would be happy to attend an entirely IRC awards ceremony if no game was made. I never asked for anything other than the lesbians to not be included, so I'm not sure why you are calling me out for having an opinion like I'm demanding a new AGS Awards game be made.

Dualnames chose to devote time to a well made engine. Many aspects of last night were wonderful and he should be congratulated for his excellent work. However I'm not going to ignore the fact that Dualnames has decided that getting upset about the lesbian gif is pathetic because he himself had no qualms with it. I am guessing you feel the same way. That is fine, you run the awards your way if that's what you want to do and I wont attend. I'm making a reasonable request for change, not being nasty or getting personal. My refusal to be segregated to an IRC boils down to the fact that it doesnt actually fix the problem of the content. Just because I cant see the lesbians doesnt mean I dont know they are there. I have no issues with a solely IRC ceremony, but why should women be pushed out over such a stupid gif? A joke didnt work, big deal. You apologised so why not take it out and move on instead of telling the people who dont like it to gtfo, or throwing your toys out the pram and leaving AGS?

I will stand by my opinion, respectfully disagree with yours and continue to make games.

But where was it apparent that he was mocking people who will use lesbians as an incentive? It's not like he posted a stick figure drawing of two women next to each other. That would have been more obvious it was a joke. Like a sign that says "SEX! Now that I have your attention..." he could also have just not shown any pictures of lesbians and said "I just said that to get you here!" Instead he just used real, sexy images of women during the ceremony. If the joke ends up being the same thing as the sexism its mocking, the intention behind it doesn't make it any less sexist. Especially if the joke is so subtle that no one gets it and you have to explain it to us all. In fact if you have to explain it, it's probably not a very good joke.

Thank you. I'm sorry I didn't make my original post clearer too. I can understand why you would object to that, I would too! All just a misunderstanding. I am in agreement with you 100% regarding the crass nature of it all.

Who's sexuality am I policing? In the privacy of the bedroom, I have literally zero care what people enjoy. In a public forum that is not about sex, in a public awards show, I dont want to see pay for gay lesbians because it's in incredibly poor taste and is disrespectful to lesbians and women in general.

Calin, I literally don't understand how you think I am policing sexual preference. I can find gay men attractive and not spout that in public. I'm not going to hang a picture of two sexy guys making out on my pin board at work. It's inappropriate, even if I like it. And that is my issue here. It's not cool to publicly fetishize a sexuality in a place like AGS that is supposed to be neutral. This is not a lesbian porn appreciation forum, this is not a sex website. Its a game dev community and last night made men, straight women and lesbians feel uncomfortable.

As Kiira said in her first post, would we think it was cool if we had jews or black people as the butt of the joke thanks to the shivah or the journey down. I don't want to argue with you over this Calin, I just dont think it's ok to sexualise groups of people in certain contexts, such as last night.

Again, I dont want a censor button. Because its not a child/adult issue. It is inappropriate and alienating and I'll just not go at all if it has to stay.

Edited: To add the men felt uncomfortable also. I know some did.

The butt of the joke is that they are gay. That being gay is somehow funny or sexy? It's a completely male gaze thing. How is that not homophobic when the entire joke is that these women are gay and so "Tee hee hee its fun to look at them"?

I am not saying Dual names is a bad person at all. I'm not saying he's intentionally being homophobic or sexist, but I'm not going to skirt around the issue here.

So you think that being homophobic and sexist is cool and that us women who don't like it should go sit in the IRC where we cant see it, but know its going on? Just so you can look at kissing ladies, because "Tee hee hee they are gay! Isn't that funny and sexy and risque!"?

Yeah, that makes more sense that just taking out the lesbian stuff and letting the women enjoy the ceremony in game with everyone else. I loved the music last night, the set was awesome, there was a lot of fun stuff. That one thing was off putting though and I wouldnt want to sit in the IRC knowing I was there for that reason.

Thank you so much to all the guys stepping up and being true allies in this. I'm really glad so many of you heard us and get it. You are exactly the kind of devs I'm proud to be in a community with and makes me feel encouraged.

Thank you Snarky. I second this and will be boycotting the ceremony next year unless things change. I am unwelcome on Dualnames terms.

Miguel, boys will be boys is basically trivialising our feelings. It's not a valid excuse. You dont need to tell us to calm down either. None of us are in a rage, we are all actually calmly telling you how we feel about last night. You guys are capable of critical thinking and not alienating forum members so please reflect on that.

Sadly residual hasnt really worked that much magic for me and it was still constantly crashing. I remember being upset about it, installing fallout three and then that was constantly crashing as well so I had a little huff with my pc and went and became solely a DS gamer for about a month lol.

Kira thank you for speaking up. I felt very uncomfortable too with the gay for pay lesbians. As a female it gets very alienating when we are fetishized and sexualised needlessly. Dualnames, the lesbians joke is alienating to some degree and makes it feel like a boys club. Telling us to lighten up about it is not helpful. I didn't see anything in the show last night that would have made straight men feel uncomfortable.

We are telling you as members of the community, female members who are in the minority, that it made us feel uncomfortable. Other progressive members have acknowledged that and apologised because they clearly want it to be a welcoming place for female devs. Because you were not bothered does not really prove that there was nothing wrong with it. And because it's been a running joke in the past doesn't mean its okay either. I'm not saying the awards need to be high brow, but come on.

I just wish I could play Grim Fandango without it crashing horribly. I'm using all the patches, launchers, and emulators that are supposed to make it run okay, but it glitches out way too often to be playable. I kind of wish they would release a HD remastered version or a "classic" version that went all 2D pixel art. I'd even settle for a tablet port. It was such a good game I'd love to play it without it going crazy. 

Seven, that's a real shame. You can always update it after MAGs. Consider it as an alpha release. It would be a shame to have worked hard to the point of completion and then not release it. No one releases a perfect MAGs game. People know that you have only had a month, and probably not had the ability to work on it full time so no one is expecting perfection.

I really hope you release it, because the spirit of MAGs is to have fun and release a game. Billbis is right in saying only the public can judge,and it's all one big learning curve. Worst case scenario, it is a bit rubbish. In reality, what does it matter? You had fun and learned something. But odds are people will really enjoy it and you are depriving us all of a trip to fun city!

I think I'll join you with that popcorn Selmiak

Looking forward to these games. Can't wait to play them all!