Messages

I'd just like some input. Is this a good idea? Bad idea?

Yup, good idea, go for it. Especially if you can find a game that you can solve or complete in an unexpected way.

(for instance, I wrote a walkthru once on completing KQ1 with as little points as possible, which can go as low as 30 / 158 iirc)

Sorry. As I see it, an AGS group prject would be someone coming up with an idea for a game (like me), and placing that idea on the forums. Other people would start making music and sprites. After that's all done, the team would wither have a really good programmer, well, program, or do it themselves.

I think many AGS games are written that way, albeit not on a public forum.

Anyway, my point being, if you were playing the game, and you had to solve a puzzle, but if you got it wrong it teleports you to some random room in a cave and you had to roam around to find your way back, would it frustrate you?

...probably.

After the first time, I would just save in front of the puzzle, and restore when I get it wrong.

I don't mind mazes as long as there's something clever like a puzzle to the maze itself. I do mind mazes if they're just there.

Computer security is not something I would trust Microsoft with, based on their track record.

I am not fond of the former, and consider it artificial lengthening of playtime.

But I wouldn't write it off completely. Depending on the design of the game, it could be tailored to certain gameplay mechanics.

It's probably possible to do something good with it if you think it out very carefully, though I cannot actually think of any adventure game that has done that. And I can certainly think of a few adventure games that do it wrongly.

What I would probably do is either make the protagonist unable to take the item, or make the player not realize the item is actually important (although the latter is hard to do with a Sierra interface, because players tend to click the hand everywhere).

I just realized that there's one adventure game that solves it cleverly (if in a way that's otherwise annoying): Dreamweb. yes, you can pick up all the cups and plates and knives and forks if you really want to, but there's way too many of them and your inventory is limited to some 20-30 items.

Normally, a limited inventory is something that seems to work well in text adventures (IF games), but not really in graphical ones.

Player sees a crowbar > "I don't need a crowbar." > Player later discovers a crate that's nailed shut > Player goes back to crowbar > "Ahh! This should do!"

vs

Player sees a crowbar > "This might come in handy." > Player takes crowbar > Player finds crate > "Lucky thing I picked up this crowbar!"

I am not fond of the former, and consider it artificial lengthening of playtime.

Another one I've heard about is from one of the King's Quests where the location of a secret lever is revealed in a cutscene that the player character isn't in the room for.

I think that's the labyrinth KQ6, and the thing is that the player character is peeking through a hole in the wall. On the other hand, it's probably metagaming to know that you need to use the hole on that particular wall...

Metagaming: player using knowlegde he/she posesses to succeed in a game, even when the player character has no way of having the necessary information yet.

Is this good or bad? Should metagaming be encouraged, or weeded out?

Obligatory link...

I'm curious how this person had talked your friend into doing this without threatening.

While I suspect some alcohol may have been involved, it's mostly fast talking and lots of it.

I met this guy once at the airport, who in a polite and professional fashion explained to me that he was importing cars into the country, and the one he had just imported was held by customs because he had not enough money to pay the import tax. He couldn't sell the car until customs released it, so could I please loan him some money to pay this fee?

Sounds like a classic Nigerian scam, doesn't it? I kindly told him to fuck off, but my point is that this guy wouldn't be there in the first place unless he could make a decent income that way. So yes, I assume that if you speak to enough people each day, you'll probably be able to convince someone. There's one born every minute.

Surprisingly, a friend of mine met a total stranger in a train, and this stranger fast-talked him into going to an ATM, withdrawing $500 and giving it to said stranger...

Awww, I thought this topic was about Kenneth.

Okay, but how is this different from yet another Cyber Cafe?

(ok, most cyber cafes don't have Yahtzee; but other than that?)

(if he was lying how could we provide even more accurate information?)

Time machine?

The movie? I'm sure it's been said: it's a decent movie but really not a Sherlock Holmes movie.

I'd like to join, but have no idea yet what my summer schedule will be. I have no preference towards either date, though.

Thanks!

What's more, we also have a German translation now, courtesy of Marco Rosenberg. I think we're running out of languages here

Me Go Store was a fastly created game. Not rushed in terms of quality.

Sure, but it was (to my knowledge) created in a few days. Come to think of it, there have been several other MAGS entries made in a short amount of time. Now this may not be what you intended, but the sentence does appear to disallow games made in a few days.

Please do not just enter the competition with a rushed entry (a game created in just some hours or a few days)!

Why not? I remember having lots of fun with the Me Go Store series.

On most Mac computers, you can copy/paste the icon for "shut down computer" into the folder called "start up items". Guess what it does

Now suppose this bard got transported to a parallel universe where he spreads his philosophy, and the society comes to revere these virtues in much the same way as the original eight virtues were venerated on his home world.

Oh, Ultima does a lot of that. U6 offers the Gargoyles with their society based on Passion, Diligence and Control (which incidentally I found to be a good paradigm for game design). U5 has the virtue variation of "thou shalt, or else". Serpent Isle has the virtues of Chaos, Order and Balance. IIRC U8 also has morality with a twist to it.

Interesting, but all I get is a black screen...

(with good music, though)