Messages

What do I do about the skunk?

Try this:

Spoiler

It has a sweet tooth. Give it the candy from the package you get from the mailbox. Use the Multi Tool to open the package.

[close]

Hope that helps. And thanks for playing!

- Ponch

CJ,

Downloaded it and played around with it a bit. It left me feeling tingly all over. Once all my ongoing (i.e. "old" AGS engines) projects are finished, I look forward to plunging into 3.0.

Thanks for all the hard work! 

- Ponch

[Barn Runner Xmas 2: Wreck The Halls]

Oh, what the hell. I never win anything, but here goes.

For your consideration.... (drum roll please)

Barn Runner Xmas 2: Wreck The Halls

CLICK TO DOWNLOAD (RAR Format)

- Best Dialog
My puzzles may often come up lacking, but I think the writing is the most solid part of the Barn Runner universe.

- Best Non Player Character: The Chief
I love writing dialog for her as much as my hero loves pining away for her.

- Best Background Art
I think I've come a long way with my ColorformsTM inspired design for the world of Barn Runner. The silly Ark/Church and its interior shots are something I probably have no right to be so proud of, but there it is.

And just to get my hopes up way too high...

- Best Short Game
Not a chance in hell of winning this one, but damn, this game has some Christmas spirit! And everybody loves Christmas!

Well, there you have it. Feel free to break my heart... *sniffle* 

- Ponch

Just saw Cloverfield.  Mostly spoiler free review hidden just in case.

Spoiler

Parts of it were amazing, but the characters the movie follows were mostly unlikeable and prone to the bewildering sort of Hollywood decision making that always gets people killed in movies like this.

It sort of struck me in the same way the remake of I Am Legend did a few weeks back. The first half is really riveting, but the longer it goes on, the harder it was for me to buy into the experience. It's a breezy hour and a half (if that!) but, in the end, I was a bit let down. More than anything, I wish they had never showed the monster in its entirety.

I knew nothing about the movie except for what I saw in the trailers (I knew there was viral marketing for it but didn't follow it... maybe that would have filled out the story more, I don't know...). For most of the movie, what little you see of the monster is so disjointed and brief that I couldn't figure out how to connect all the dots. Actually, that "bits and pieces" approach was smart and well done. They should have left it at that. When the finally showed it, I thought it was a bit of a let down. Several people in the theater laughed at the big reveal. But that may have owed more the the sudden, ninja-like appearance out of nowhere trick that the monster pulls. My girlfriend loved the movie but she complained even more than I did about the monster on the drive home. That's the trick with something really alien. In small doses it's frightening. Once you see the whole thing, it may just look silly instead. I feel it's important to say that with the exception of The Thing and the first Alien movie, most movie monsters usually leave me cold, so your mileage may vary when the big reveal comes.

The mini-cloverfields (or whatever they were) are pretty cool though. However, they are wildly inconsistent. They can tear through a platoon of machine gun toting soldiers like tissue paper, but a couple of slacker with cell phones in a dark tunnel can fight them off with only a few scratches to show for their trouble (except for one poor girl... her fate is the only moment in the movie that really shocked me).

The military is typically inept (as you would expect in any monster movie). They can't hit the broad side of a barn for the most part and when they do, the monsters is unaffected by their firepower, for no adequately explored reason. Standard stuff, really.

If you can overlook good looking young people doing very dumb things as the world goes to hell around them, then you'll probably like the movie. I did, but it's a bit like a run of the mill adventure game. Once you've played it, you know you'll never play it again. I can safely say, I don't think I'll buy it on DVD but it was worth seeing on the big screen. In fact, I'm not sure it would work on the small screen at all. I would recommend seeing it on the biggest screen you can, with the best sound system available. The sound design is amazing. The little cloverfield's chittering, chewing sound was creepy as fuck (pardon the language, but the noise really chilled me. Hair stood up on my neck and everything!)

Some of the people in the theater loved it. A few booed and shouted "bullshit!" at the end. I thought it was pretty middle of the road... which is too bad. It could have been GREAT. It SHOULD have been great. Oh well. Still worth ten bucks.

[close]

That's my take on it anyway.

- Ponch

I'm a big fan of rar. On my site, I had 7zip linked so people could unpack my games after they downloaded them. However, I received a couple of e-mails almost every month asking how 7zip worked (apparently, 7zip's right-click trick isn't entirely user friendly).

I'm sticking with rar format for the foreseeable future, but I replaced the 7zip link with a link to a program called ExtractNow. It's a drag and drop unpacker. No one seems to have had a problem figuring it out.

Just my two cents.

- Ponch

Very cool. Thanks for the link (and the interview).

I dig the little robots. Very cute. Personally, I was hoping that poncho was some sort of futuristic shirt, so of like Zap Brannigan's uncomfortably short skirt on Futurama. Also like the Robotech pennant. Loved that show as a kid.

Looking forward to this one.

- Ponch

Looks like... Hell

Well, I certainly hope that's a good thing!

And thanks to the rest of you for the kind words. This game has been a hell of a long time in the making, and it's the biggest game I've ever done (and probably will do for a while... until the big finale, Barn Runner 10: This Shameless Tomorrow around 2014 or so).

It's also worth noting that this is also the first game I've ever done an "in production" thread for, so I had no idea what to expect.  Nice to see my hype machine didn't land with a gigantic thud of disinterest!

Well, back to the grindstone. Just got another batch of play test reports back for chapters one and five and, of course, there are bugs to be battled to the death.

- Ponch

It's been a while since I played around with Dreamweaver, but doesn't it have an interpret command just for php? At any rate, you can embed php into html fairly easily.

This site helped me in the past. Maybe you can find something you can use there.

Hope that helps.

- Ponch

[Click on any screen shot to see the full size version!]

In production since early 2004, Barn Runner 5: The Forever Friday has become more than just an albatross around my neck, it's become a coding adventure, my own personal Duke Nukem vaporware hell!

This game has beset by many obstacles: the great hard drive crash of 2005 (destroying absolutely everything I had spent a year and a half working on), two complete overhauls since starting over from scratch, three AGS engine upgrades, plug-in incompatibility issues arising from the engine swaps, and, on at least two occasions, utter lack of interest in the project on my part that resulted in nothing getting done for weeks at a time.

But, at long last, I am happy to announce the impending release of The Forever Friday! What began as a bundled, two part game similar to The Armageddon Eclair has steadily grown into a five part epic that will be released in episodes, every two months, starting June 1, 2008.

The game features (at this time) two player characters, branching story lines, multiple arcade sequences (completely optional, by the way!), six weapons, over two hours of animated cutscenes, and a very 80s "super machine" (think Blue Thunder, AirWolf, Firefox or any similar world-shaking prototype of which 80s fiction was so very fond) with which the heroes must face down and defeat the greatest single threat the Robot Revolution has ever unleashed upon the incredibly lazy citizens of Arcology 19: Evansville.

As of this time, all games are complete (or nearly so) and in various stages of beta testing (part four is already complete and ready for release!). Aside from squashing bugs and padding out the game with more "filler" interactions to make the world "breathe," all that really remains is to finish the cutscenes and tweak character animations. Barring some terrible tragedy (with this game, I won't rule anything out), making the projected release date should be no problem at all.

Well, enough rambling. Once the game is complete and all episodes have been released, I'm going to write a lengthy essay (with tons of screen shots from the various builds over the years) over on my website detailing just how and why the game changed so much and why it took so damn long to get this thing out the door. Until then, enjoy these screen shots!

Click on any screen shot to see the full size version!

(Don't be afraid! Click them! I paid for a lot of bandwidth. Go ahead and burn it!

The interior of Prick's familiar flying car, the AutoDyne.

A new exterior shot of Arc 19, showing how the hangar bays are arranged around the mid-section of the towering fortress city.

A barn! At last, a barn in a Barn Runner game!

Darkness falls on a log bridge spanning a small creek in the BGCZ.

The HackLink. With this handy little device, electronic locks won't keep you out anymore!

Prick and his partner on the case, cruising to the scene of the crime in Prick's car.

Our heroes investigating a crime scene.

Use your DataLink to select from a list of suspects to investigate in any order you choose.

And there you have it! Barn Runner 5: The Forever Friday, coming June 1, 2008 from TackyWorld Interactive... and I really mean it this time!


- Ponch

________
UPDATED: Game now released!

I sure hope there's another Barn Runner game in the works?

There sure is (are). Five more in all, making for ten games in the series (not counting little side games like this one). The next big game, The Forever Friday will come out next June and will be released in chapters, every other month until Christmas. Look for a thread about it in the "In development" forum next month.

Glad you liked the game!

- Ponch

hi loving the game but I'm still stuck, ive been down well and used the chip down there and cant go back down how do i get more light in the room to use the blue radio can you help me thanks

If you've already completed the blue computer puzzle in the well, are you in the monk's room? If so...

Spoiler

Use the lit match in your inventory on the welder (in the lower right corner of the room) to shed a little light on your situation.

[close]

Hope that helps.

And thanks again to Frodo for keeping on top of this thread!

- Ponch

Good to hear, Ponch! ... the whole "You can't play Cyclone Alley because you weren't there at the time" deal bothered me.

Glad you like my games! Check my website on January 2nd. Forum superstar Rui Pires contacted me and convinced me to dig Cyclone Alley from the depths of the "Hell of Many Boxes Filled With Old CDs." When I take the Christmas tree down in a couple of weeks and start packing everything away for the New Year, then I'll dig around until I figure out which CD in what box has that old nugget on it.

Don't get your hopes too high, though. It's a really short game that was meant as a sort of "icing on the cake" for The Prick Who Came In From the Cold. It's only a little longer that Don't Jerk The Trigger of Love (I was in my micro game phase back then, what can I say).

And largopredator, thanks for the praise. 2008 will be a banner year for Barn Runner, with five (count 'em, five!) new Barn Runner games released episodically, bi-monthly, starting in June. I'll start a thread in January in the "Games In Production" thread with screen shots and details.

- Ponch

[I]

Well, I was visited by the Ghost of Christmas Future last night and he convinced me to reform my ways and let poor ol' Bob Cratchit put a bit more coal in the stove. Oh, and also to ditch the whole "limited time only" thing for Wreck The Halls.

Oh, all right. The ghost didn't specifically mention the game by name, but I'm reforming my ways anyway. Surprisingly, this game has been downloaded faster than any Barn Runner game before it. Either I've become better at using AGS during my three year absence of any new Barn Runner games, or you guys are really desperate for something to play while you're snowed in for the winter. (We both know which one it is, but let me cling to my dreams, okay?)

Also, I've received a lot of e-mail about this game in the last two weeks... more than I've received about any other Barn Runner game in such a short time (thanks guys!) and, apparently, my "limited time" offer is equal parts baffling and infuriating. So, I've slapped up a page for the game on the New Games page and decided to make the game available year round. I promise never to do something so asinine again (though I thought it was a good idea at the time -- really I did!). 

I also know that my download counter will suffer a bit for missing out on all those sweet, sweet clicks from that early momentum, but them's the breaks. And is that really what Christmas is really about? Download counters? No way! It's about giving! So if you've already played it and you want to say something nice about the game or vote for it, then CLICK AWAY, good sir! and God bless us, every one!

- Ponch

Thanks, Frodo! Two nights in a row, I've surfed into this thread to see if anyone needs help and find you on top of things! I appreciate the timeliness of your hints! You're like the ghost of Christmas Future making me believe in the goodness of mankind again 

- Ponch

Last Stand of the DNA Cowboys by Mick Farren.
Love this book. I must have read it a dozen times. Also love Phaid The Gambler by the same guy. Something about it just clicks with me. Very strange but self-consistent world. It was a nice change of pace from all the increasingly generic cyberpunk that was swamping my local Waldenbooks back in the day.

An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro
Someone got this as a gift for me years ago. I lived in Japan for a while and this book really "brings that place back" for me every time I read it.

American Journeys: An Anthology of Travel in the United States Edited by E. D. Bennett.
A collection of letters written by people who were traveling America when it was still a brand new country. Makes me appreciate the interstate and air conditioning!

Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
Best coming of age story I've ever read. Also one of the last truly great things Twain wrote before he got old, cranky, and bitter.

Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy.
Not a big fan of techno thrillers, but Clancy more or less created that genre with this book, and it's still about the only book of its kind I actually want to read (and for a while there, books of this sort were about all I could find to read at airports! -- thank goodness that fad, along with so much of the uninspiring cyberpunk that followed in Gibson's wake, seems to have faded at last.)

Faerie Tale by Raymond E Feist.
Another one of those book I purchased while I was desperate for something to read and my options were limited. I bought this thing while my sister was in the hospital. Maybe it was the circumstances, but this book really struck a chord with me (this sort of thing isn't normally my cup of tea) and I still read it from time to time all these years later. The poor paperback is practically falling apart by this point!

Well, there you have it. Sort of a long list, but these are the books I can't get enough of.

- Ponch

Lakerz,

I found your question in the hint forum and posted an answer. Hope that helps!

- Ponch

I hate to admit it, but I'm stuck again.  This is a great game!

Try this, Lakerz:

Spoiler

Go to the bookshelf in the Pastor's room and get the Bible translated in Binary from the King James Version from the bookshelf ("A really big book" or something like that). Also get the King James Bible ("A Red Book") from the same bookshelf. USE one on the other while you have the old sermon notes in your inventory and, tah dah!, you have some handy binary translations to use on the radio!

[close]

Hope that helps, and I'm glad you like the game!

- Ponch

Ponch, I think your cow is free and liberated from all the controversy surrounding food and genetics and mistreatment and all that crap. She is dancing because she is alive, and free. At least, that's my take on that thought-provoking work of art that is your avatar.

Yes! That is exactly what I was trying to say! No blood for oil, er milk! Thank you for summing it up so succinctly -- otherwise I was going to no other choice but to quote Kirkegaard or Rand or Super Dave Osborne or somebody smarter than me and try to piggyback on their greatness... which I may have just done anyway...

Everyone digs marionettes, by the way. And, yes, everyone loves kittens... even puppies love them.

Mine is a dancing cow, which is a powerful symbol about something important and metaphysical no doubt. Possibly a commentary on today's society or something about animal experimentation or race relations or something.

It's incredibly deep, is what I'm saying.