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Concluding by this thread, I'm thinking one of the problems we're having is that people aren't reading the thread completely. There's no chance for discussion when it's just several monologues in the thread.

Come on, interact! That's what makes forums great. It's no fun just stating your opinion after reading the original post and then disappearing. You should read what others say and disagree or agree with that. Otherwise you won't know whether to learn or teach.

I must add, there are people who also tend to go too much for the dialogue, posting one sentence each time.

And once again I'm back at the main issue: why do we have to stress ourselves out by teaching how to use the forums properly? Probably half of everyone's posts deals with this. And I think that is one of the issues why the oldbies want to have their own forum - there wasn't need for moderating or telling what people should post and what not to.

Makri and Taryy: I don't think the threads at Ezboard's forum were 'mature' either. They used to be though, in the beginning. When people just started to know each other better. And it wasn't THAT bad in the end either, but it's not something I'd call mature. No one has pointed out yet, (I think) that there was this very same discussion in the Ezboard's forums as well. And in fact, it was the immature way of discussion that got me resigning from the moderator's place at about the same time. If people can't chat with each other without constant moderating, I don't know if the discussions are worth it then.

SO PLEASE, DON'T POST ANY MORE SUGGESTIONS ON HOW TO PICK THE MEMBERS FOR THE NEW FORUM. At least read the whole thread first so you can comment on other people's suggestions, for there are many. And there any many that have been suggested more than once!

I don't mean to sound harsh with this post. I hope I'm not attacking anyone or anything, because it's the last thing I want.

The games made with Game Maker 5 seem pretty cool! I'm really surprised of the variety of game types you can make with it. Really impressive!

Have you ever tried 3DRad? It seems pretty good for 3D games as well. I made one little tank game with it about a year ago. Fun stuff. Too bad I don't have it anymore.   Check http://www.3drad.com if you're interested.

By the way, I really don't get other members' reactions. I suppose it's just because of bad experience, but it still doesn't justify the surmise, in my opinion. I'm sorry for that, as a member of AGS forums.

DGMacphee: check out the links. Each program is created by a different author. I don't think he'd be advertising them as they're kind of competing products. But then again, I wouldn't know because the Game Maker link can be found in the Slime website.

Sigh. Actually, I don't care to do any more investigations. I'm just glad he posted the links!

OK, point proven, I think.

No?

I think there's a little misunderstanding here.

Some people say there should be another general discussion forum for thought-out discussion, and the oldies would obviously get there.

And then some other people say there should be a new forum for the oldbies because the certain bunch consists of 'old friends', so to say. It would just be a place for them to hang out. Not meaning they would only post thought-out stuff. Just fooling around like they used to. And I think this was the original idea.

Basically, as far as I can see, the selection of the members wouldn't be that hard. I mean, the bunch knows who were there then and are here now.

In the final analysis, I'm thinking the new forum might be also a bad idea (contrary to what I posted earlier). People - those who supposedly wouldn't get to visit the forum - are taking it surprisingly hard. If it splits the community into newbies and oldbies, I don't think we should go for it - it would be less of a community. If it would have been just a place for the veterans to hang out when they want, it would have been good. But it seems like the first option is where we are going right now...  

Finally, I think we definitely shouldn't go for picking like 10 or so members a month that would get into the forum. I mean, at first, Chris made the forums (only technical discussion) so AGS users could help each other when they confront problems as it leaves more free time for CJ, and more time for him to concentrate on developing AGS.

As there were discussion on the technical forum about adventure games in general as well, CJ decided to make another forum for that - so it wouldn't clutter up the techincal forum, as well as making the community stronger. And it was the very same way the other forums hit the light of the day.

And look where we're going: we're separating good and bad members and making separate forums for each (to exaggerate a bit). It's silly and it doesn't serve any of the original purposes of these forums. In fact, the forums would become more of a burden for CJ, than a place to help and on the other hand, a place where to relax. It seems like we're not building this community - we're breaking it down. And in this way, the original idea is better... In my opinion!

I say we should either make games or discuss about them with our foreign acquaintances. If it goes beyond that - to general discussion - we should remember to respect each other as we would if we were to meet in real life. Debates are great, but when they get negative and serious connotations... it's not why we came here. We came here to have good time.

This reminds me of the situation I had with my real life friends. When one of my friends first discovered IRC and I got an internet connection, we made this channel and called some of our friends that also had a connection to join in. IRC does beat talking on the phone cause it's cheaper and we could all talk at the same time. We see each other often but this way we could contact each other really easily.

Anyway, after a while there was more and more people on the channel and I realized that I didn't even know all of them. I had never seen them and they weren't talking about the things we're interested in. In fact, it was BORING, when it used to be everything but. So... we decided with my closest friends that we'd make our own little channel, that no 'outsider' could join. And so we did.

In my opinion, it has worked really well. It's sometimes a bit quiet but when we're all there we can talk about the things we want without some guys we don't even know, disturbing the converstation just with their presence.

I don't know if that goes for this situation as it is, but it reminds it very much, I think. Hopefully it also shows where I stand on this issue.

There's one negative thing that I can think of, though. I really don't like those guys that are on the old channel. The new guys that is. I actually never even visit the channel because I'm having a lot better time in the new one. And I suppose that would be kind of a bad thing here.

PS. Don't get me wrong, I don't use IRC all the time. In fact, I use it very rarely nowadays. I try to stay off the computer as much as possible as it kind of makes one lazy in "real life". And contrary to what one would think, it makes me work on computer art, for example, much more effectively. Not that it could've been seen lately though.

That rocks, Ghormak!

Iqu, really neat work! Very smooth. Gotta love that 'U'.

What a great idea, Femme Fatale! It's really interesting to see how people see theirselves.

Here's how I sometimes think I look, but I'm actually not that untroubled looking. Anyway, it's not a longshot. I obviously took the concept from Plasticman - that is one great image, man!

Yufster's 'watercolor' looks hot. Hehe.

Eh...

:o

Holy shit, Igor... That is HUGE!!! That is amazing. I love it!

I feel the very same way about it as I did when I saw "The Incredibles" trailer last week.

Keep your magic going, man. It's completely stunning.  

I'm afraid there isn't.

I tried to search for it as well but never found it. It's really irritating trying to guess where the crosshair is. I hope someone has a way around the problem.

Magnificent! That really is a great background. I really like the glow on the background. The overall look is really professional!

I would second Proskrito's point about the flowing tree. At first glance it was really the focal point of the image for me. And that's not necessarily a good thing. And the other thing that made me wonder a bit was the blurry edge on the trees at the same place. But otherwise it rocks.

Have you tried working on a bigger resolution? It would be good in that the shapes would be more definite, which is something I like, but on the other hand, it might destroy the wonderful King's Quest, MI2 look...

Well, at least this one looks like a monkey. Didn't care to finish it. Too anxious to make a new one. I didn't know drawing monkeys could be this much fun.



One more. Phew.

Great stuff!

Mine's more of a crossbreed of monkey, superman and a teenage mutant turtle. A good excuse for not knowing how to draw a monkey.

I'm going to give it another try though.

Oh, yeah, that's it! Didn't even notice the edge was off perspective!

Those are all professional quality. Really, REALLY great work, Proskrito!

I like the second walk cycle better. The first one seems like the guy is half-jogging.

I agree with Eric, the farthermost arm does look a bit weird because it isn't seen on the left. Perhaps you could show it just for a pixel or two... I think because of perspective it wouldn't be seen as much as the nearest arm on the left though. But perhaps just a bit.

It was pretty obvious for me what happened in the third animation. And I like that animation a lot!

Man, this is some really quality stuff!

My definite favourite is the cyborg woman. Such great anatomy, such a solid pose! Unbelievable.

Rock on, Neole!!!

I love that brick wall - you should definitely go with that!

I think the perspective issue on the wall on the right could be resolved with special tools. Like the perspective tool in Photoshop (Edit -> Transform -> Perspective). But then again, I'm not sure if the change is very big.

The tool would make this:



I can't think of a better way without any new shapes. Which would mean for example a concrete base for the building or some windows or something. But I'm not sure if that would serve the correct purpose.

I think you have a wonderful image coming up. The look is really cool. The only thing that in my opinion would need fixing is the thing that has already been mentioned many times here - brightness.

You should accentuate the light coming from the campfire. It is always a great source of moody light. Take the campfire scene in the beginning of Monkey Island 2 for an example: http://www.worldofmi.com/thegames/monkey2/screen01.gif .

I recommend using the orange color from the campfire to light up the ground and the surrounding environment. The ground right next to the campfire should be pretty much orange-red and as it gets further, have more of its own color. Brown or green for an example. It's not necessary though, but just in case more of the environment should be seen...

By using blue, for example, you can light up the scene and retain the dark atmosphere, even though it really wasn't dark. It usually works a lot better than actually dark colors.

Try to work some more on the image and after that compare with this (pretty bad [dark], but still...) : http://pelu.jns.fi/~teropa/Crits/AGSKingCampfire.gif . It might be of help for you to learn from mistakes this way. Or, then it could be that I will be learning from you. Hopefully that way.

OK, you win, SuperScottishHero.  

I'm actually glad to be proved wrong. New information is never for bad. But on the other hand, it doesn't really change the way I would act. I do not want to kill in any circumstances, no matter what it's called; murdering, homicide, euthanasia... To me, they're just different expressions. Although, I do understand the differences.

But anyway, thanks for pointing it out!

[murder]

The commandment in the Bible is not to murder, not do not kill.

Actually, it's "Thou shalt not kill". For reassurance, check out http://www.positiveatheism.org/crt/whichcom.htm , for example.

I won't get back to my arguments concerning ArchAngel85 mostly because everyone's tired of this discussion, and on the other hand, because he has a point. I'm in no place to argue, cause I don't have it figured out either.

Back to the drawing board.

"Someone who murders deserves to die."

Now, I could answer this like you, and all the other 'hardcore Christians'. "That's not right. Open your eyes and see." See what? What's the use of saying that? What would you learn? Nothing! Be more specific or it's nothing more than a couple of nice words. "Use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking." The very same logic holds true in this case.

Furthermore, if you murder a murderer, doesn't that make you a murderer? Don't you deserve to be murdered? "Judge not, that ye be not judged."

Related to aforementioned, I encourage you to give some reasons for why the evolution theory for example is so flawed. I'm not saying it's a complete and indisputable theory, but I'd like to be proved wrong about the fact that you don't have very good reasons behind your arguments.

"Many of you seem to have views and make statements about the Bible, Christianity and Christians, but don't seem to grasp them very well."

Could it be that this applies to you as well? Or even more so.

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:  But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." How much more directly can you be in controversy with what Jesus teaches? You even say that killing is OK, when it is in The Bible: DO NOT KILL.

"Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch."

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye."

(Ironically, this applies to me as well.)

I know I am being offensive and perhaps too strict, but being the blind leader is worse than being blind.

Please, prove me wrong or continue seeking.

(By the way, I apologize for taking the discussion ever more off-topic. This just seems to be the most logical place for this discussion. It doesn't seem reasonable to take the discussion elsewhere.)