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Original music is always better imo. It gives the game more style and adds to the overall athmosphere. So I'd say, try to get a composer for your game.
I would offer to help you, but I already have too many projects running. But we have a lot of good musicians here, I'm sure you will find someone.

Spoiler

you have to throw the sock up into the attic

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@flocking

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I had the same problem. Just search the house. LOOK AT everything you can

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Well, I just think some of their reviews are not fair. You can't just say: "It's a quality game, but I don't like the genre" and give it a C.
You wouldn't let an FPS fan review "Lemmings", so why let a Myst fan review monkey island?
I think their ratings are very random, let's see:

Other Worlds: A
Two of a Kind: B  (I agree the review was terrible, the reviewer didn't seem interested in the game at all)
Monkey Island: C

This isn't meant as an insult to these two excellent AGS games, but I think this can't be right. So Monkey Island is much worse than other worlds?

Of course not all revies on JA+ are bad, some are really good to read. But still, something is completely wrong with how they rate games.
But that's just my opinion.

Sometimes I got the impression that you felt insulted be any kind of criticism. Not everyone who criticizes your work wants to insult you. I believe that criticism is the most important thing if you want to improve. It's nice to hear that people love your work, but it doesn't get you anywhere. Helpful criticism is everything you need to improve, maybe you should change your attitude towards that. Noone wants to insult you (except of some idiots you'll find in every forum, but just ignore them)

Okay, thank you for the suggestions.
You're right, it looks way too regular, and the trees still look too lifeless. I'll try to make it more blue, like you said, and make the trees look more naturally.
I always have problems with the leaves. I don't think filled areas look any better than pixelspray (I already tried that ). Oh, and I'd really like to have some ideas how to paint leaves, so if you have any suggestions, stuh505, i'd like to hear them. I'm not afraid of trying complex things. Maybe someone knows where to find a tutorial about painting leaves, I already searched, but all I found was the well known pixelspray.

Hello,

The last time I posted a background, I wasn't satisfied with the trees, so I practised a lot. This is a background showing a forest at night. It's even hi-res this time.
Any ideas how to improve it?

Problem, have you made a game yet? Do you know what it's like to spend a long long time on a game and then finally get it done? Maybe he's very proud of his game and is 1: Shocked that people didn't vote for it more because he loves it and 2: Very proud that his game has gotten the good press that it has. Being proud that people are giving you good reviews doesn't mean that he only made it for the reviews and awards. I think your outlook is pretty awkward and rude.

Yes, you are right. My post was rude, and I apologise for it. I didn't mean to sound rude, and of course I know that alkis didn't make a game because of awards and reviews. I just had the impression that he acted as if it was the most important thing.
Really, there are many quality games who didn't get nominted at all. What if all the creators of these games opened new topics to tell the world how disppointed they are? This can't be the way, and this why I was so annoyed.
Again i apologise for being rude.

(BTW I made several games before I found AGS, so I know about that. But it doesn't matter imo. There is no rule that says "don't post your opinion unless you made a game" as far as I know.)

I have to agree with Vel. I found his "advertising" very annoying, this thread is the best example. Or some post about the score dropping to 90% etc., who wants to know about that?
Don't get me wrong, I liked the game very much. But I think it doesn't deserve that many awards. The only one I can think of is "best story", and I expected it to be nominated for this award.
But think of the other awards. Best graphics? Animation? Music? Best Gameplay, with some annoying pixelhunting? - there were better games.
"Best Game", maybe. But there is a very strong competition. I don't think there are many categories where this game stands out. It has a good story and lots of immersion, but I think it is highly overrated in some of the reviews. That doesn't mean the game isn't good.  It is very good. But it's not the new Monkey Island.
Sometimes I really got the impression that he made the game only because of the reviews and awards. That's a strange attitude.

I think some people might feel insulted if you just include them in your game and make jokes about them. Don't do this unless you know someone personally!

Oh, and is it really THAT difficult to come up with your own ideas?

You should use more different colours on the couch, now without the outlines you can't see them very well.
And unless you really need it, you shouldn't use guybrush, he really looks out of place. Try to draw the painting yourself, it will fit the style better.
Other than that, good work!

This game is very good. The Ben Jordan Games keep getting better. I think the story wasn't as interesting Ben Jordan 3 and the puzzles were very easy, but you did a fantastic job at character development. I liked the overall athmosphere and the dialogues. The only thing to complain about is the way the cellphone works, but I got used to it.
Take the gameplay and athmosphere of Part 3, combine it with the characters of part 4, and Ben Jordan 5 will be absolutely brilliant 

Here's a new practise bg, different style and theme.

I'm not quite happy with the trees, but I don't know what to change. Any Ideas?

Okay, that's much better! Thank you very much, that gave me some ideas how to improve my style 

Thanks for the suggestions.
Yes, you may be right about the background looking pale. At least the shelves could have stronger colours. I don't agree about the walls and antialiasing, though. If I made the lines sharper and added more contrast it would look too cartoony imho. But I think that's a matter of style anyway.

But you're perfectly right about that plant, it looks out of place in that "modern" room. So do the paintings. Maybe I will replace the plant with something else, and make the paintings more like modern art.

New Version:

- fixed the shelves

- added more furniture

- added a little more shading to make it less flat

- changed some minor things

edited: I had scaled it up to 640x480, although it should have been 640x400 (as it's a 320x200 background)

Thank you 

The shelves don't look complete (some of the planks are not drawn fully).

Ah, of course you're right. I totally overlooked that.

Hello,
I really like programing and music, but when it comes to backgrounds, I usually don't have enough motivation to do them. But today I tried to draw my first "serious" room, and it took me about three hours. Please tell me what you think and what I could change or improve.

(I know it's not finished, as there is nothing in that cupboard etc.)

I think the biggest problem with this game is that the player has no idea what it is about, and what all those rooms are. Really, if you click something and suddely find yourself in another room, without any idea what you are actually doing, this is very frustrating for the player. Make clear to the player what the game is about and what the rooms are. Make clear what the player is supposed to do, where there are puzzles to solve, and how the puzzles are linked to the story.
If you do this, your games will make more sense and be more enjoyable to play.

It's much better now. I think the pcitures stand out too much, maybe try different colours? I like what you did to the floor, you could also try something similar with the rest of the room, the walls, chairs etc.
I think some of the outlines look too dark, but that might be your style