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I tend to like different beverages at different times of the day. First thing in the morning, its pure orange juice, then in the afternoon hot, milky tea. Fizzy pop with dinner (ginger ale for preference), and if I'm not up early the next day, a glass or two of red wine in the evening. Course, I drink several glass of water in between times, and it has to be tap water - filtered crap is tasteless, I like the impurities!:P When out drinking with my mates, its usually cider in the afternoon, and alchopops at night. Yup, I think that covers everything!

Didn't want to jump into any of the debates going on, as I'm still at odds with some of my particularly religious mates, because my best friend's gay. I mean, they're still friends with me, they just don't approve of my company. Anyhooo...

Good luck, especially with the test. I'm not a particularly devout Christian, but God loves us for who we are. Something to remember when things get difficult. And remember, your parents love you, no matter what (something I'm only beginning to appreciate myself).

Most of my early gaming experiences involve my old Atari ST. Amazing the thing still works, because I was feeling a bit nostalgic a few weeks ago and dug it out. I recall playing Monkey Island 1 for the first time, and Loom aswell (classic game!). I did have a spectrum before that, but most of my memories are of the atari. Oh, and of course, Elite 2 is a mega nostalgia trip for me. For all their proclamations, X, and X-2 just don't measure up!

Happy Birthday!

Thanks for all the encouraging comments in the critics, my artwork is a hell of a lot better for it!

Valentine's Day can be a bit of a nuisance sometimes. Mostly because I don't like to be pitied for being single. I LIKE being single. My life is the best its ever been right now. Why do people assume I'm just waiting around for someone to make my life complete? Though, one of my more sane friends just mentioned about getting some flowers, and having to fashion a vase out of a pringles tube, and some silver wrapping paper. Ahhh, the romance, eh?

Admittedly, I used spend a lot of time wishing for a special someone to wave a magic wand, and suddenly make my life better. Then I realised, that the only person who could make my life better was me. And I did. I've got some wonderful friends, I'm doing a course I enjoy, and my life is finally going in the direction I want it to.

That said, wouldn't pass up any offers!Ã, 

And mine will be called....

Ha! I ain't telling until its done!

But, at the moment, I've done a few backgrounds, and I'm working on the character sprite (man I hate doing walkcycles). I've got a rough-and-ready plot, and I'm just trying to sort out some puzzles to fit it. It shant be terribly long because I'm trying to improve my scripting skills by playing around with the GUI. I don't know if I can compete with the lego though!

Ahhhh... Dragon's Breath, I used to have that for my old Atari. Ooooh, the nostalgia! Shame I never really got to play it much. Lost the manual for it, when we moved house. Stupid bloody copy-protection.

I think I tried a CD case on it a while ago, and stumped it good.

It's kinda amusing though. The answers/opinions in its database, come from people playing the game. Makes you wonder what they were on when they played it, for it to have such daft answers!  :

Heh, evidently you had the wrong kind of English teachers, Pelican

Yep, my english teachers were pretty crap. Especially the pervy one in second year. Ewww... No wonder I didn't like English classes much.

You didn't think it was interesting enough on its own? You have no soul.

It is an interesting book. But having to read it for school, makes any book seem boring.

Just a note to Nellie and anyone who found that the Sims 2 messed with their internet settings. There's a patch on the Maxis website now which seems to sort it. Was really starting to annoy me!

Man, that's hilarious. I had to read To Kill a Mockingbird for English class, back in school. Woulda been a lot more interesting, if we had this version instead.

Yeah, it was really neat, when the screen would start to slant as the sanity went down. And occassionally baddies would appear and overcome the character, and then disappear. On one occassion, I cast a spell with low sanity, and my character literally blew up, and then flashed back to normal. And there were one or two funny ones, where it would seem like the tvs volume was turning down. Trying to involve you, by suggesting you were losing your sanity too.  :

I have to agree, that once you see the 'monster', the horror movie is over (at least in the case of Jeepers CreepersÃ,  : ). But I think brief glimpses of it are a good tool. Just so brief that you're not even sure you saw it. Alien is a good example - you didn't see the alien much, but it was still darn scary!

There's a game for the gamecube called Eternal Darkness, which had some good ideas. It had a sanity bar, and when this was low it would affect the surroundings. Statues turning to watch her movements, sound of banging on doors, and occassionally blood running down the walls.

Still, sounds are definitely the best tool. The first ever time I played Resident Evil, I was seriously creeped out whenever I heard the shuffling footsteps of a zombie, or the clicking of claws of zombie dogs...

However, both the games I refer to are action/adventures, so most of the scares come from baddies appearing abruptly. For an adventure game I would suggest a more subtle approach. Something like, you look in a mirror and see something standing behind you, but when you look theres nothing there, and when you turn back, there's nothing in the mirror. Or very faint sounds of footsteps. The problem is, unless the character can be killed, a lot of the fear is taken out of it. You will quite happily explore the haunted mansion, if you believe you are invulnerable. I guess the challenge is to make the player feel like they are in danger, without resorting to action sequences. And at the moment, I'm stumped!Ã,  :

If anyone played my MAGS game, you'll know who this is meant to be! It's a redone version of Connie the Barbarian! Xena wannabe (but without the body for itÃ,  )

Actually, its still a bit crap, but I'm getting better! I think I've at least got the proportions right! I'll prob put this in the critics after the JAM to be honest.

Hmmm... sounds interesting. Might have a go at this one. (seeing as I'm probably one of the few people who hasn't entered the ATC  )

Slackers usually don't make it through engineering or computer science...

That's because they all come to the dark side the Arts and Humanities. Come, slack with us and know the joys of slackage!

(Hey, I'm only half joking. About 25% of Engineers and 10% of Science students at my school can't handle the stress, so they switch faculties after first year and become Humanities students)

Heh, I used to do Computer Science. Now I'm doing Archaeology. Need I say more?Ã, 
(actually, its technically Science, but its more like Art/Humanities)

Well, the main emphasis of adventure games is story, so why not read a few horror books for ideas? You can get some from your local library, so you don't even have to spend money on research!

Or if you're not much for reading, rent or buy a few horror movies. You could invite a few mates round and quiz them about what bits of the movies they found scary.

Good luck with your game.

Hmmm...... my vote goes to Blade. Isn't the point of it to make it seem like a love poem?Ã, 

Yeah, its kinda sad that so many peeps, register, ask a few questions and disappear. This is most definitely one the most welcoming internet communities I've come across. Well, I plan to hang around for a while!

Sorry, bit offtopic!